Twisted Ties that Bind [Henry x Reader]

🖤[C-III Support]🖤

Unedited

You had brought the Nino family to the training tower to practice their new skill set. You've given Lugh an upgraded new rally skill, refined Nino's weapon, given Jaffar a new Dagger, and had given Raigh both a new upgraded rally skill and a new red tome. You had Lugh and Raigh rally eachother and wait to counterattack two archers bound to hit them. You had Nino on the far left to take on a blue mage and jaffar on the right to take care of a red mage. Jaffar's new dagger had a boon against infantry so you wanted to see how effective it would be with both his high speed and attack. Life and Death baby. Solves all yo problems.

Just as the counterattack quartet did their magic, you felt something on your shoulder. Curious, you turned around to see Henry there. Wait, how did he get here? Didn't he need your special permission just to be here? How did he get passed Anna and Alfonse? Sure enough, Henry doesn't have a specific team yet. Since he doesn't have a team or know a healer/rally magnet you haven't gotten to level grinding him in the training tower just yet. So as the Nino family wipes the entire map in a single turn you were forced to deal with a surprise.

"Nya ha, you look like you've seen a ghost (name). Am I not supposed to be here?"

No he's not! But you can't resist him. If he wants to spend time you're a sucker for it. You definately have a favorite hero now. You call over Nino's family and give them the order to go back home to the Order of Heroes and go relax until the next training tower session. They've been through five rounds. That's worthy enough for a break. Henry held his tome behind him, looking around. Well, looking as much as someone with their eyes closed could. It took a mi Ute to figure out what you wanted to say. You didn't want to interrupt him either.

"Henry... how did you get into the Training Tower without special access?"

Henry faced towards you, raising an eyebrow and laughing at you. Did you say something wrong or was he just having a moment of mania? 

"Nya ha! Bold of you to assume I didn't get special access, (name). See, Sharena helped me out! She actually told me to thank you for bringing her girlfriend here and say hello. Hello! Where was I? Oh, right! How I got in here! See, I know Sharena is a sucker for romance and sweet stories and stuff so I told her I wanted to see you! Well, that's not a lie or an exaggeration. I did want to see you and still do! But I told her I wanted to ask you on a date and she gratefully let me in! I'm not a liar, so do you want to hang out for a while and pretend to be on a date?"

A date?! You felt your face flush a little bit and you cursed Sharena under your breath. Screw her and her romanticism Of the world around her. Maybe it's because she finally has a girlfriend now Of her own that she has made it her solemn duty to get you together with someone. Turns out that the most likely candidate is Henry. You've grown attached to Henry and he is definately your favorite hero to talk to. He's just fun! You know what? You're going to be bold. Why not, amirite? You have a small crush on him, why not build on that?

"Why pretend? Why don't we just go on an actual date? Dates are fun and we get to hang out. Not every date has to be romantic if you don't want it to be."

Henry froze, opening his eyes and letting his smile slightly fall, yet still having that charming curl to his lips. He seemed confused. For the first time you thought you saw some color in those pale cheeks of his. He had this shine in his milk chocolate orbs and he almost seemed like he had hope. He didn't answer for a moment, then he looked down at one of the pins on his cloak. He seemed as though he was about to take it off, but he stopped himself. His arm fell numb at his side. You were starting to worry.

You reached out for that hand, taking his into your own. He looked back up at you. He almost seemed scared. He almost seemed vaunerable. He almost seemed sad. It was so hard to read his emotions, even though his eyes were revealed to you. You smiled at him as warmly as you could. You knew exactly where you'd take him on your date. You can go to the three you and Sharena were always hanging out at. He didn't say a word. He just looked in your eyes. The curl of his lips were gone. That did it. He was completely vaunerable. You didn't know why, but he was.

"If you don't mind, I know a place we can go. But that's only if you want to. Your thoughts and feelings are important too."

Henry looked down, averting his eyes. Tears? Why were their tears? It must have had something to do with the universe he came from. His shoulder started shaking and the first tear fell from his eye down to the ground. You frowned. You took Henry into your warm embrace, holding him. He started crying as if he had never been able to cry before in his entire life. He held onto you as though he had never received a hug in his entire life. You ran your hand through his silver hair and consoled the poor boy, not bothering him with explanations but instead providing solace and sanctuary for the one who needed you most.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything is okay, I promise. You matter and you are valid. Anything you think, feel, or want is entirely okay. You deserve to be happy, I promise."

Your shoulder was getting wet, but you didn't care. You noticed that he was starting to shiver with his sobs, so you tookhis cloak and tightened it around his body as well as your own. Bundle snuggle hugs for the win. You didn't think before you acted, assuming he didn't have that motherly love normal children have in their childhood, and you pressed a warm kiss to his forehead for comfort. After this, Henry lifted his head and stopped slouching his back, gaining at least an inch in the hug. You had to slide your arms down a but because of this. In a sad, broken, high pitched voice he managed to ask:

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do. You mean so much to people around you and no matter what happened in your timeline, you're here now. You have a family and you have friends who need you. You are a valuable human being who deserves to be happy, just like everyone else. All I want is for you to be happy, and if you need an emotional breakdown then I am happy to lend my shoulder for you when you need it. I am happy to go on a date with you whenever you mean it. You matter a lot to us, Henry. A lot to me. I would never lie to you about that."

Henry closed his eyes again, weakly smiling. He cranes his head over to bury it back in your shoulder. He needs time and he needs physical affection. You are happy to give him both of those.

1279 Words