Hopelessly Devoted ~ Garroth x F!Reader

Ch. 9: The Lord's Family

*New plot update: this chapter will be partially reshaped soon*

You rolled onto your back and slowly lifted your eyelids, greeted by the gray stone slate of somebody's ceiling that definitely wasn't yours. Your moment of slight confusion-induced panic subsided as the familiarity of the scene set in. Pushing yourself into a seated position on the bed, you confirmed your suspicion. Having such limited space and a sole two pieces of furniture (a twin-sized bed and armor rack in the corner), there's no way you weren't in a guard's bedroom.

On the other side of the door, you slowly crept down a set of stone slab stairs, into the small dining room next to some jail cells. There Garroth was, passed out cold at the table. Laurance sure as heckfire wouldn't have approved of the sheer level of intimacy Garroth displayed, his lips slightly agape and cheek firmly squashed against the tabletop. But alas, Garroth wasn't making moves on the real table. The real table is situated in the watch tower.

During your attempt to tiptoe past him, Garroth immediately jerked upwards on knight instincts.

"Oh... ____, you're awake." A complacent look of relief washed over Garroth's features.

"Was I sleeping in your room?"

"Yeah, I figured it'd be best to relocate you from the site where . . . it all happened." His pause came not only from his drowsy drawl, but also from alluding to an incident he took care to distance you from.

You stopped in your tracks. "I'm so—," you cut yourself off. "Thank you for acting so quickly. You should get some rest."

His posture shot up almost immediately. "No. Not now. I shouldn't have even let myself fall asleep last night with the attack so fresh on our trail. It was foolish of me."

"You were up all day and night. You can rest now. We're in knightly living quarters, which probably makes this one of the most guarded places in town by default." You attempted to reassure him—to give him a break after such devoted work. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"I need to be. A knight with his guard down is no more useful than one who lacks training and discipline." He lectured his core values stoically, but his tone began to fall. "I might as well not even call myself a knight. I failed you."

"Garroth," you asserted. "This is exactly what I mean. You hold yourself to such impossibly high standards, and still somehow manage to exceed them."

Garroth listened intently, but still resented himself. "You were injured right under my nose. I wouldn't classify that as exceeding any standards."

"I'm safe now because of you, and you did that by yourself. You're the only one your best isn't enough for."

For the sternly set-in-his-ways knight who always had some retort that aligned with his strict moral code, he was shockingly at a loss for words. "I—" he began, but could only choke on his tongue.

"You know I'm right. Please, Garroth. Rest."

***

With your guard asleep and unable to follow, you took the opportunity to visit Aphmau's purple house on the hilltop. You felt safe going out in broad daylight, so you weren't all that concerned about being alone. Which, speaking of, the reason you were leaving was to request an exemption from having a personal body guard. As useful as he was, you planned on moving again.