Thorns: A Garden of Monsters Collection

Fae BF | Pollux | Part 1

TransMale Reader x Masculine Fae Boyfriend

You x He/Him

Content Warning: Swearing

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You decided to be the better person and walk away from it all.

And so you did.

For hours you headed straight through the forest, following no path. Each step farther away from there was more intoxicating than the last.

When you came across him, it was almost like a dream: wandering through the silence of uninterrupted woods for a few hours made the world feel a little tenuous. Away from people, away from reality...so it seemed.

He had wings.

Not many people you knew had wings.

Or eyes like glittering opalite crystals.

He sat cross-legged on a large stump, preoccupied with a bouquet he held in his hands. The natural light through the treetops cast his profile in a silhouette, yet his iridescent wings and fiery red hair lit up with colorful splendor.

You stopped as soon as you saw him, the first time you stopped walking in hours. As soon as you do, the fae makes eye contact with you. He looks at you curiously for a while, and then turns to face you, setting down the bundle of flowers he held in his lap.

"It's certainly been a while since we've had humans walking through these parts...practically ages," he says to you with an air of mischief. "How'd you find yourself all the way out here? Are you lost?"

"No," you say reflexively. "Sorry to bother you, I'm just passing through."

"Maybe I can help," he says, pushing off the stump and walking toward you, getting a little too close for comfort. "What's your name?"

A chill runs down your neck. You've heard the myths about fae and names: you never give them your name. That's how powerful names were: they owned you.

You sigh and mutter your dead-name.

He smirks like he's in on a joke.

"What?"

"Mmm...nothing," he quips. "How can I help?"

"I didn't mean to interrupt what you were doing, I'll just go back the way I came."

"Nonsense," he says, fluttering around you. "It has been far too long since we have had any company. Please...let me take care of you."

He reaches out to grab your hand but you pull back quick.

"I'm not supposed to accept help from strangers," you tell him. "And I don't even know your name."

He flutters down to you so his face is close to yours: "Well it's..."

He says your name.

Your name.

Your heart stops.

He smiles knowingly, and you know he noticed your reaction.

"Humans are so skittish..." he says, plopping down on the grass, laughing heartily. "Just like the tales..."

You don't hear what he says after, as you bitterly walk back in the direction you had been walking for so long, muttering under your breath: "Can't believe I walked all the way to the middle of nowhere and still am not being taken seriously, just fuckin' great."

The fae flutters up besides you: "Going so soon?"

"I want to be alone."

"And what do you actually want?"

"Why am I so interesting to you?" you ask curtly, stopping to peer at this stranger. "What do you really want?"

"I just want to...play!"

He suddenly takes your hand and begins pulling you effortlessly through the forest, weaving through the trees with ease. Your steps feel lighter, and there is no traction as you try to resist. Suddenly you are being pulled alongside a herd of deer bounding through the brush. You are right beside them—you could touch them if you wanted—and they seem not to mind your presence, even the one that you think made eye contact with you. You are then pulled away again, dashing through what feels like and endless forest into an open field. Making a serious effort to see where he is leading you, you see a large rock jutting out in the middle of the meadow and your heart skips again, remembering the legends. This time, when you dig your heels into the ground, the earth responds, and the fae stops and turns to you with confusion.

"What're you doing? Aren't you having fun!?"

"You kinda just KIDNAPPED ME. So NO, sorry."

He waves a hand in front of his face dismissively: "That's so dramatic."

You tug your wrist away from his grip: "Either you don't listen or you don't care, but I came out here to get away from people exactly like you!"

"Oh, really?" He says, crossing his arms and raising a brow.

"Why do I even try—" you stop, being interrupted by something in your pocket: your phone. Seeing the screen light up with missed texts and calls from the people you'd been trying to get away from causes a rage that fills your cheeks and burns your eyes as you pelt your phone at the rock formation, your phone shattering on impact.

"I've cut ties with people that don't care about me, and I'm not stopping, even if that includes a fae that will curse the fuck out of me if I don't play nice!"

His countenance remains amused: "How are you feeling?"

You don't respond; you turn around and walk in the other direction, the tall grasses brushing against your legs as hot tears begin to roll down your cheeks.

"Shit," you say, wiping your face with your arm. "Fucking..."

At the edge of the forest you put a hand against a tree to steady yourself. Quickly turning around to check if that fae was still following you, all you see is an empty meadow and thunderclouds beginning to cover the sky in dark gray. Instead you slump against the tree, hugging your knees to your chest.

"You are loveable," you whisper to yourself like trying to commit a flash card to memory. "You are loveable."

After a moment of trying to calm yourself down, you scoff at yourself.

"Why did I come out here, really?" you ask aloud. "Did I really think anything would be different just because I ran away?"

There is a silence for a while as you try to quell your tears.

But then he addresses you:

"Do you know what they say...about humans?"

You can hear your heart thumping in your ears as he flutters upside-down, circling you.

"That they're soft, weak, and...easily fooled..."

He's just playing games.

"That they are stuck on the material plane...and therefore immutable..."

Don't let him get in your head.

"So change as you might, you remain the same..."

You launch out of your crouch and knock your fist back, ready to swing: "Stop it!"

"But it's not true, is it?"

You lower your fist as he drops down in front of you, standing sheepishly with one arm clutching the other.

"Humans are the only ones who change."

"Well I don't know if we're the only ones...you seem different now than when I ran into you."

The fae looks away, almost as if he was blushing.

"Let's start again," he says, eyes locking with yours once again. "My name..."

He extends a hand: "Pollux."

You extend yours and take his hand. It's soft as snow.

You tell him your real name confidently this time.

Pollux then yanks your arm so you're standing face to face, a wicked grin glowing in his eyes.

"Gotcha."