Wilting Light (Vaati x reader)

The Book

    "Get your ass back on this bed!"

    With that simple, loud exclamation, you awoke. A small arm was clamped around your waist, and kept you from falling off the edge of the bed. Remembering the nightmare and the eyeball, you flinched away from that arm, and thus fell off the bed and onto the floor. You fell on your side on the rough, wooden surface and you whipped your head to look at the intruder. A face illuminated by a fire's orange glow peered over the side at you. Slowly, you came to realize that that face was indeed one you knew.

    "Vaati...?" You squinted, your eyes adjusting to the firelight. "Is that you?" The purple teenager nodded. "What're you doing here?" you asked as you pushed yourself into a sitting position. You felt a headache coming on, and your feet were still sore. "And where's that fire coming from?" 

  "Get up here and I'll tell you."

    Obediently, you nodded, and climbed onto the bed. As you pulled the sheets over yourself once again, your question was answered: in his hand, there was a fire burning, swaying this way and that in the slight breeze that came from the window. It was bright and warm for something so small, and it lit up the room quite well.

    "You can do magic?" you asked, gazing at the small flame in aweful wonder. If it wasn't fire, you would touch it, admiring it. Never had you seen someone do magic. Seeing something like it was simply stunning, with how it bent logic to its will.

    Vaati nodded. "Yes, I can."

    "I had a hunch, with the way you dress. But why didn't you tell me?"

    Sighing, he shrugged and looked away towards the window, parts of his hair concealing his face. "I saw no need to, and the subject was never spoken of, so I didn't think to." Oh, yes, he could have easily told you. He had practiced when he was sure that you were asleep, to make sure he didn't lose his power and skill with time.

    You frowned when he hid his face with pieces of hair, and wondered why he did it. You didn't say anything, though, thinking the move to be nothing. "Oh. Did you warp here, then? How did you know where I was?"

    "I didn't."

    "Lucky guess?"

    "I can't teleport to a place I don't know."

    You furrowed your brow, curious. "Then how?"

    He shook his head. "It's difficult to describe." He yawned. "I am going back to sleep. Good night." He then laid down, crawling down into the covers until you barely saw the top of his head.

    You listened as his breathing soon slowed, and the covers gently rose and fell with his chest. For once, he seemed...vulnerable. He was relaxed, his arm limp on his face, his hand barely holding on to the blankets as he quietly breathed. In the day, he always held his head up. The wind never seemed to touch him, so his hair fell around him like a cage. His face never seemed to show anything but boredom or anger/annoyance. His demeanor didn't make him appear very trustworthy, but you could trust almost everyone in these seas, what made Vaati any different? He's only a teenager.

    You slid under the covers with Vaati, feeling drowsy once again. You still had a headache, but you could probably sleep it off. You closed your eyes, willfully sinking into the blackness that greeted you...

    Until you saw the demon eye, its glare piercing right into your heart and soul.

    You jolted awake, your heart pounding like a hammer, and your eyelids no longer heavy. Why did that eye send such fear surging through your veins? It was only something that had been made up in your dreams, and even then you'd dreamed worse than an eyeball coming out of a sword—so why did it have such a huge effect on you?