Soffja

Sage x Reader (but mostly Sage), no specific warnings for this one but there is some angst in the middle!

He hates how loud his purr is.

He's spent so long putting up walls, building up his cool-and-aloof persona- and all that hard work is severely undercut by the fact that scratching him in the right spot makes him melt like a godsdamn housecat. Obnoxious. Mortifying. He hates it.

He doesn't purr in front of others often. When he does it's usually a smug, self-satisfied kind of purr, slipped into the brief minutes between lying in bed with a stranger and sneaking out their window. It's still embarrassing, but, well, they're normally too trashed to care. And it's not like he has a lot to feel good about these days. He'll take what he can get, even if the feeling curdles into self-loathing once he's back in his own bed. He'll forget the whole thing by morning anyway.

~

He's still a little self-conscious about purring in front of you. After the first few times it's starting to feel easier, but it's a kind of vulnerability that he's just not used to. It doesn't help that you've apparently made it your life's goal to get him to do it as often as possible, because you're a menace hellbent on torturing him specifically (and he loves you).

Tonight you have him seated on your bed, leaning back against you while you run your fingers through his hair. His eyes drift shut as you pause to scratch behind his ears; a moment later you feel a familiar rumbling where his back is pressed against your chest. The heat rises in his cheeks when you start to giggle, and he turns to give you a little nip on the shoulder in retaliation. But even as he does he snuggles a little closer, purrs a little louder, because fuck he's a sucker for hearing you laugh. He's still purring as he tugs you under the blankets; you rest your head on his chest and listen until sleep overtakes you both.

~

~

He hates how loud his purr is. He knows the corrupted can't hear it across the water- that they couldn't reach him even if they did- but that doesn't make him feel any safer. Nothing does. There's a deep, instinctual part of him that's convinced the vibration will stave off the corruption creeping through his body like a disease. The rest of him knows it won't. Still, he curls up on his island, bloody and sick and alone, purring himself into a broken sleep, and for once in his life he's not grateful that no one's around to hear him.

~

You're back. You're alive. You hold him close and make a gentle joke about his purring and he's too exhausted, too anxious, too relieved to care.

~

~

He hasn't thought about his purr for a while- he's had bigger concerns, and at this point it ranks pretty low on the list of things he's ashamed of. So when the two of you finally get some time alone and you tease him about his purring (again), he's almost surprised that he's blushing. It feels weirdly...normal. Routine.

He buries his face in your neck, half to pull you closer and half to hide his embarrassment. He hates how loud his purr is.

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I'm clearing out my drafts so this is kinda old.

// Last Legacy // Character: Sage, Anisa, Felix, Rime // MC: no body description, they/them // Flavor: sweet // Summary: playing spin the bottle //