LaaLaaLaand

You ignore your growing panic as you get ready, putting on a cute forest-green dress (and mentally hoping that seeing his favorite color will make him at least let you down easy). Worrying your lip, you put your shoes on, grab your bag with the box of chocolates, and begin your walk to Bahari Bay. It’s early enough that he should be leaving his grove soon and you hope to catch him before he does. Kind of. 

Greeting and chatting briefly with the few villagers out this early helps to take your mind off what you’re about to do. But before you know it, you find yourself reaching the entrance to Hassian’s grove. You raise your hand shakily to knock when the door suddenly swings open and Tau bounds out excitedly, almost knocking you over. Laughing, you regain your balance and accept Tau’s excited kisses. 

“Tau, calm down,” Hassian says, his deep baritone slightly annoyed. Looking up, you meet his gaze. Those vibrant green eyes send a jolt of electricity through you as you rise to your feet, taking a deep breath. Okay. It’s now or never.

“Hi Hassian,” you say with a small smile. That’s good. Just keep your cool.

You can’t keep something you never had, supplies the super unhelpful voice in your head.

“You’re out early.” Hassian says, shaking you out of your insane inner ramblings. “Is there something you needed?”

You nod slowly and say “Uh yeah actually. Do you have time to talk really quick?” Oh Dragon, please say no.

But he only nods and crosses his arms, waiting for you to speak. Well, fuck. Here we go, I guess.

Tau licks your hand in what you’re choosing to take as a gesture of good luck before trotting off towards the lake. You resist the urge to call him back so you don’t have to do this alone and instead turn to fully face Hassian.

You bite your lip as you try to think of what to say. Why the hell didn’t you think of what to say earlier??

You clear your throat nervously. “Um. So I know we’ve been…friends for a while now but lately I’ve been…wanting more?” You look at him, unsure. 

He looks at you blankly. Oh this is not going well. Is it too late to run?

You blow out a breath and reach into your bag, pulling out the chocolates. You try and steady your hand as much as possible as you hold it out to him. His eyes widen slightly but he doesn’t move to take them. “I-this is for me?”

“You don’t want them?” You say as you start to pull your hand back, your heart sinking.

“No-I mean, yes! I want them. Hand them over,” he exclaims. You hesitate, mouth falling open a little before you slowly hand them over. 

“I didn’t realize you felt-I mean,” he clears his throat. “I…will accept this. For now.” Whaaaaat??

Frowning a little, you say “Hassian, you don’t have to take them.” But he’s already opening the door to his grove and placing the chocolates on a nearby crate with a certain sense of finality. He turns to face you again. “Thank you.”

You press your lips together, unsure of what to say now. You nod before turning to leave. You take a few steps before you suddenly turn and blurt out “Did you want to get lunch sometime?” Smooth.

“I can’t today. But…I appreciate the thought.” You nod quickly and turn to get the hell out of there when he surprises you. “Tomorrow, maybe?”

Your eyes fly to meet his, and maybe you’ve truly lost it but you swear for a second you can see a hint of a smile. “Yeah, tomorrow is good.” You smile at him before you turn and leave, your heart threatening to burst out of your chest. 

_______________________________

Hassian

“Stupid chapaas” he mutters as he hauls the meat and fur from today’s hunt into town for his daily game with Auni. Tau trots happily alongside him, drifting off every now and then to say hello to the humans they pass (and take every single treat offered). Hassian rolls his eyes and keeps walking, hoping no one stops him to “chat”. Eventually he makes his way to the inn, stepping inside. He stops short when he sees the small crowd gathered there. He makes a face and starts to back out of the room but stops cold when he hears your name uttered in a panicked voice. Naio’s. 

“I’m starting to really freak out! We agreed to meet up three hours ago and no one can find her!” Naio exclaims.

“That’s not like her” Ashura murmurs, before asking “Has anyone checked her house?”

“I did” Auni says quietly, “But she wasn’t there and The Gardener said she hasn’t been there since early this morning”. A flurry of worried conversation follows. 

Hassian was so distracted he didn’t notice someone coming up to stand beside him. He looks over to see his mother. Sifuu looks at him with an uncharacteristically serious expression for a moment before turning to the room.

“Hassian and I will start searching. Does anyone know where y/n was headed this morning when she left?”

Naio hesitated before saying “I think she mentioned something about the Elderwoods, but I don’t know where.”

Shit. Not the Elderwoods, Hassian thought. Out loud he said “Then we will search everywhere. Mother and I will split up to cover more ground.” He turns to Auni, who had been more quiet than usual. “Tau and I will find y/n”, he said quietly, but firmly. Without another word, he leaves his bag of chapaa meat in a corner and turns around heading out of the inn. As he and Sifuu make their way quickly to the Elderwoods, they devise a plan to search different areas and send up a flare if- no. When they find her. 

“Tau, find y/n.” Hassian says the second they step into the Elderwoods. Hassian takes a deep breath and tries to stay calm, ignoring his growing panic and the telltale smell of the Elderwoods. Always of damp moss and something else he could never put a name to. Something off putting. Tau suddenly takes off in the direction of the central stables, shaking Hassian out of his thoughts. 

“Hassian.” Sifuu’s voice stops him before he could follow Tau and he looks at her, somewhat impatiently. “She’ll be okay, son.” Sifuu says softly, her expression one of concern. He swallows a lump before nodding curtly and turning to leave, splitting off from Sifuu and following Tau quickly. Hassian clenches his jaw as he tries not to think of how familiar this feels. Him and his mother worried over someone who may not come home due to the dangers of the Elderwoods. He shakes his head and focuses on the present, watching Tau track their friend and keeping a sharp and practiced eye on their surroundings, looking for danger, clues, anything. Time goes by as Tau follows your scent all through the caves and into the Deep Woods. He shakes his head at the nonsensical path you seem to have taken today. When I find her, she’s getting a few choice words about how to be safe and sensible in dangerous places, he thinks crossly, letting his anger and frustration drive him for now.

Minutes that feel like hours pass as they search the Deep Woods. Suddenly, Tau barks and takes off in another direction. Hassian follows him, splashing through puddles as he goes. He sees Tau nosing at a dark mass next to some rocks and quickens his pace. As he gets closer, your crumpled form comes further into view. “Dragon” he rasps, “y/n!”

Hassian falls to his knees beside you as his eyes quickly run over your body, cataloguing all your visible injuries, shaking hands hovering over them. He checks your pulse and lets loose a ragged breath before standing and shooting off a flare, hoping his mother sees it. Then he gingerly takes you into his arms and carefully makes his way out of the Deep Woods. He curses silently as he feels how cold you are, your wet clothes doing nothing to protect you against the early evening air. He holds you close and tries not to jostle you too much as he hurries out of the Elderwoods and back towards the village. “Hassian!” Sifuu runs up behind him, panting. “I saw your flare. What happened to her?” 

“I think she fell”, Hassian muttered, quickening his steps. Sifuu looked at him carefully before deciding not to say anything more and just follow him silently to the apothecary. As they got closer to the center of town, people were beginning to take notice of the two worried Majiri, Tau, and their charge. But Hassian couldn’t hear their exclaims and shouts over the frantic pounding of his heart. 

Finally, they reach the apothecary and rush inside. “Chayne!” Hassian shouts. He carefully deposits your body on a nearby cot as Chayne hurries over. Hassian quickly explains where he found her and what he thinks happened and lets Chayne take over, taking a reluctant step back. But he can’t bring himself to leave or even drag his eyes away from where Chayne is working diligently over you. His hands fist at his sides as a feeling of helplessness washes over him. 

Please help her. Please.

____________________________

Ugh. You have the absolute worst headache. It doesn’t help that someone keeps calling your name incessantly. And while you’re trying to sleep? Rude. You frown and try to go back to the dreamless sleep you were having. But someone grabs your hand and squeezes, commanding your attention. You groan. “Y/n?”

Wait- is that? You try to open your eyes but hiss as the afternoon sunlight streaming through a nearby window makes your head throb. You hear footsteps quickly move and the sound of shutters closing. Then you hear Chayne’s voice softly calling your name and you slowly open your eyes. The scene that greets you is…confusing. You’re in the apothecary. Reth is standing by the door holding what must be eight different containers of soup. Tish is comforting a sobbing Jel in a corner. Eshe is standing at the foot of your bed pinching the bridge of her nose as Kenli takes a half-eaten sandwich out of his pocket and asks Chayne if he can give it to you. Elouisa is burning some kind of incense by the windows, muttering something under her breath, and swaying her arms dramatically. And finally, Hassian is sitting at the side of your bed, no longer holding your hand but looking haggard, if not on the verge of losing his patience. 

“What-?” You suddenly break out into coughs, not realizing how dry your throat was. But as you cough, sharp pain ripples out from your ribs. You wince as your hand flies to your wrapped midsection. Hassian braces a gentle hand on your shoulder and eases you back onto the pillows. “Easy” he says, his voice quiet and rough. Chayne helps you sit up against the pillows before holding a cup of water up to your dry lips. You take a few small sips before nodding to Chayne that you’re good. 

Looking back to the crowd in the room, you ask again “What happened?” You look down at your body and see wrappings around your wrist and torso as well as a sling immobilizing your left arm. Frowning, you reach up with your right and feel gauze on the side of your head too. As Chayne comes to sit on the other side of your bed, you look up at him with a question in your eyes. 

He sighs and says “You have three broken ribs, a concussion, a broken collarbone, and a fractured wrist. Not to mention all the bruising you have, well, everywhere else. Do you remember what happened?”

You nod slowly, taking all that in. “I fell. In the Elderwoods.” You choose not to mention what caused you to fall, but instead ask “How did I get here?”

Chayne’s gaze softened “Hassian, Sifuu, and Tau found you yesterday and brought you back. You seemed to have fallen from a great height based off of Hassian’s description. You were very lucky, child.”

Your eyes meet Hassian’s as a wave of gratitude washes over you. Emotion shines in your gaze as your eyes meet. The moment is promptly interrupted as everyone crowds around you, multiple people speaking at once, with Jel even starting to cry again. Your eyes widen slightly as your eyes flit to Chayne for help. He subtly steps in and suggests that you eat at least a little of one of the soups Reth brought. The rest of the day is spent with friends popping in and out of the apothecary with well wishes as Tish feeds you soup, and you relax in your cot. You smile and laugh, eyes sliding over to Hassian every now and then, wishing you had a moment alone to speak. Eventually all the excitement winds down and people start to say their goodbyes with promises to check in on you tomorrow. 

As Hassian also stands, you quickly grab his hand with your good one. “Wait-!” You blush and quickly let go of his hand, but ask “Would it be alright if we spoke for a moment before you leave?” 

He stutters for a moment before recovering. “Of course,” he murmurs, sitting back down again. Chayne wisely heads towards the back of the apothecary, giving the two of you some privacy. 

“I really want to thank you for what you did, Hassian. I know you were just doing what was right, but it really means a lot to me.” You hesitate before gently putting your hand over his. “Thank you for saving me, Hassian.” 

The tips of his ears darken, and you fight the sudden urge to touch them. He clears his throat before responding “That’s not necessary.” Then he frowns at you suddenly. “Actually, you should focus on where you’re walking instead of thanking me. Do you have any idea how lucky you got yesterday?”

You wince before saying “Yeah…about that. I didn’t mention everything when Chayne asked what happened earlier because I didn’t want to cause a panic or anything. Well, any more of a panic I guess.” Looking around, you make sure that no one else is listening before you quietly explain the animalistic growl that startled you and caused you to fall. Hassian’s frown deepens as you tell him everything, his hand tightening around yours subconsciously. 

Finally, the apothecary is silent as you finish talking and wait for Hassian to say something. He sighs and shakes his head slightly. “Then it seems you were luckier than we thought. The Beast spared your life, y/n.”

You blow out a breath and meet his gaze. “Well, shit. I was really hoping you would say I was crazy for thinking it was the Beast.” 

Hassian huffs out a humorless laugh and shakes his head. “Unfortunately not. I need to speak with Mother about this.” He looks over you again and his eyes widen almost comically when he realizes you’re still holding hands. Both of you quickly pull apart and he sputters out “I should…I didn’t- uh…you look-” He stops for a second and seems to collect himself before finally saying “I should go get Tau from Mother and update her about what happened. And you should get some rest.”