𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓘𝓶𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓪𝓵 (Ydris x Reader)

𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓼 {14}

After walking for a few hours I pulled us to a stop "we should camp here for tonight" I say and he nods "I'll start a fire" with a snap of his fingers the pile of wood starts to burn and we settle down against a log watching the fire grow and envelop us into its warmth.

As they sat by the fire, the stars overhead seemed impossibly bright against the night sky, casting a soft glow around the clearing. Y/N wrapped her arms around her knees, watching the flames flicker and dance. The warmth of the fire was soothing, and the world felt quiet, wrapped in an intimate stillness that felt like it existed just for the two of them.

Ydris had gone silent, leaning back against a fallen log across from her, his face thoughtful, even pensive. She could tell he was wrestling with something; he wore the look of a man at odds with himself, his gaze slipping from the fire to her and then back again, as if he couldn't quite decide what to say.

After a long stretch of silence, Y/N broke it. "What's on your mind, Ydris?" she asked softly, hoping to lighten whatever weight was clearly pressing on him.

He looked up, meeting her gaze, his eyes catching the firelight in a way that made him seem both mysterious and achingly vulnerable. A smile ghosted over his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Just wondering how I ended up here, of all places," he murmured, his voice unusually soft. "There was a time I swore I'd never let anyone pull me into their world, that I'd live life on my terms, no one else's."

"And yet...?" she prompted, unable to keep the small smile from tugging at her lips.

"And yet," he said, a hint of that mischievous spark returning to his eyes, "here I am, hopelessly tangled in yours." He let out a quiet laugh, but there was a note of something raw beneath it—a trace of vulnerability she didn't often see from him.

She felt her heart skip, a warmth spreading through her that had nothing to do with the fire. "I don't think I ever asked you," she said, leaning forward. "Why did you come looking for me that day? You could have just... left things as they were. But you didn't."

Ydris's smile faded, and he looked away, his fingers brushing over the pendant at his neck—a motion so brief that she almost missed it. He seemed to hesitate, his gaze turning inward, as though he were considering how much to reveal.

"Because," he said finally, his voice quieter, more serious, "I couldn't bear the thought of you being in danger." He looked up, his eyes meeting hers with a fierce intensity. "I know I don't always make things... easy. And I know I haven't exactly been open with you about certain parts of my past." He hesitated, something heavy in his expression. "But there are pieces of my life—things I don't often speak about—that make people like me... well, let's just say, better off alone."

Y/N felt her heart ache at his words. She could see how much it cost him to admit even this small vulnerability. "You don't have to keep pretending with me," she said gently. "I know there are things you're not telling me, and that's okay. I'm here because I want to be, Ydris. And I trust you."

For a moment, he looked as though her words had struck him, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He reached across the fire, his fingers brushing against hers in a gesture that felt both tentative and earnest. "Trust isn't something I've ever been good at, Y/N," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "But with you... it feels like something I could learn."

She felt a warmth bloom within her, a sense of understanding between them that words alone couldn't capture. It was as though they were sharing a language only they knew, a silent promise spoken through the flicker of firelight and the steady rhythm of their breathing.

As they sat there, she felt the distance between them shrink, the air charged with an unspoken longing. She knew he had secrets, but in this moment, none of them mattered. All that mattered was the way his hand felt warm against hers, the way his gaze softened when he looked at her.