Language
Notes: Sylus x reader, fluff, established relationship, suggestive. Sylus with dragon tendencies, reader knows his dragon side.
Summary: Sylus absolutely loves to melt you into a blushing incoherent puddle by whispering romantic phrases in different languages. When you chance upon his old journal explaining the dragon language, you decide to return the favor by surprising him with a poem in his ancient tongue.
Inspired by polyglot Sylus in this post by @sysjuicebox-archive , i liked the idea so much I was absolutely fixated, thank you 😆 because imagine the asmr. aaaaa and what if he uses dragon??
wc: 1.3k + a lil side story with the twins wc 230~
Sylus has always been able to make you melt by saying sweet nothings in different languages.
Just hearing his voice drop into a husky whisper by your ear, telling you how much he cherishes you in a foreign tongue, has never failed to leave you blushing… even when you have no idea what he said. You always ask what it meant, but he would just give you that smug half-smile, teasing you to find out for yourself. Sometimes, there’s not even a chance to ask, as you’re suddenly busy kissing and touching each other.
When you’re alone, you try your hardest to remember, notes filled with scrambled words and question marks, straining your memory over the phrases as you scour translation apps. Sometimes you get it, bounding back to Sylus to confidently recite it back, to which he’ll give you a proud smile. Sometimes you don’t quite hit the mark, and he’d chuckle at your cute frustrated face.
However, his most recent prose wasn’t even available online, and it’s been bothering you all week. You wracked your brain until you remembered his extensive library collection.
Off you went, exploring the room by yourself, easily captivated by books with elaborate hardcovers and old limited editions of classic works. His range of interests are varied, from history of motorcycles, gun maintenance (of course), to cultural foods and spices and… how to win at claw machines? You slowly slide the book back in place guiltily, promising to let him have his turns at the arcade next time.
Then, almost hidden in the top shelves, tucked away between much larger books, was an old leatherbound journal. Dusting it off and curiously opening it, you gasped when you saw a whole volume of Sylus’ penmanship. Carefully flipping through the worn-out yellowed pages, you discover that he’d essentially made his own translation dictionary, complete with explanations, for… dragon language.
After the initial surprise, your heart softened at the care he took to preserve something so important to him. Gently caressing his handwriting, you resolve to learn it, an idea for a surprise forming in your mind. Perhaps this is your chance to turn the tables and leave him frazzled instead.
Surprisingly, understanding it came naturally to you, though learning to piece words together and memorize them was still a challenge. You had taken photos of the pages on your phone so you could obsess over it wherever you go. Your own journal is almost filled up with sticky notes and scrambled words, phrases crossed out and rewritten over and over again.
When you felt you’ve got a good enough grasp of the language, or at least of the words you intended to say, you finally gathered your courage as you approached Sylus one evening.
He was on the bed, leaning back on the headboard, reading some papers. “Te amo,” you sweetly say, plopping beside him and snuggling by his side.
Sylus sets the papers away and smiles at your choice of greeting. Noting the sparkle in your eyes, he wonders what little mischief you’re up to this time. Your poker face isn't as effective as you thought, but he indulges you as always. He wraps an arm around your shoulders before responding, “te amo.”
You pick at his sweater. “Nuh uh, say it back in a different language instead.”
He raises an eyebrow, but complies. “Je t’aime.”
“Wo ai ni.” You grin as you reply.
His eyes narrow, looking at you with an amused smile. “Are you sure you want to play this game, kitten?”
You poke his chest. “I believe it’s your turn, Mr. Qin.”
“Ich liebe dich.” He plays with your hair, curious to see how far you can get.
“Aishiteru.”
“Ana behibek.”
“Saranghae.”
“S’agapo.”
“Em yêu anh.”
“Jag älskar dig.”
“Chun ruk koon.”
“Ya tebya lyublyu.”
“Aku cinta padamu.”
“Te iubesc.”
You kept quiet on your turn.
“What’s the matter, sweetie? Ran out of ammunition so soon? Since you started this, surely you can fire a few more rounds.”
You say nothing but climb on his lap and sit, wrapping your legs around his waist, hands on his broad shoulders.
“What’s this? Don’t think you can distract me with your body.” Still, he shifts to better accommodate you, his hands finding their way to slowly caress your hips. “It’s still your turn, kitten.”
You close your eyes and take a deep breath. When you open them again, you hold his gaze steady as you whisper, “zu’u ag fah hi.”
“…what.” His teasing grin instantly drops. He straightens, intense eyes fixed on you. “Say that again.”
“Zu’u ag fah hi.” You give him a shy smile, “it’s like I love you in—“
“Dragon.” He interrupts you in disbelief, heartbeat stuttering, hands gripping your hips a little tighter. “You—?”
You press a finger to his lips. “I’m not yet done,” your eyes crinkle with delight at his surprised expression. He suppresses his questions, though a little noise escapes him. Then he goes completely still when he hears poetry fall from your lips.
You spoke slowly, hoping you’re saying it right. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t correct you when you stumble over words or where you lack intonation, the self-taught language still new to your tongue. But he understands. Oh, he understands.
“Bo voth dii sil, dii dovah sunvaar Vos ahrk viing krif faal ven Wundun faal staad kolos zu'u ont hahnu Mu mah kotin faal lok” Fly with my heart, dear dragon fiend Talons and wings defy the wind Traverse the lands where I once dreamed We fall into the sky
His heart is pounding and his blood starts to burn in his veins. You feel his fingers start kneading your hips, nails scratching at your clothes. His eyes are focused yet also soft in wonder, waiting, needing you to continue.
“Zeim mul yol ahrk strun ven Zeymah zii fent siiv gein voth gein Tun hin troz fah aan du'ul do peyt Ko frodde do fahlah mu nok” Through brilliant fire and stormy weather Kindred spirits shall find each other Trade your thorns for a crown of flower In fields of bloom we lie
“Beloved,” he shakily exhales. You swear you saw his eyes flicker to dragon slits for a second before he blinked. Your breath hitches in your throat but you continue.
“Bo voth dii sil, dii dovah zii Kod sahqon vah wa gron un dez Ni ko faraan fen zu'u siiv brit Zu'u frin nunon hi nu” Fly with my soul, dear dragon mate Wield crimson thread to bind our fate No other treasure can I be sate Yearn only for you now
He holds you even closer with increasingly brittle restraint, forehead now pressed to yours. His eyes are bright, and he’s nuzzling his nose against your own.
“Zu'u fen kos mid do hin laas Siiv mul ko daar, un sil los gein Riigro ko pah laas, dii hofkiin, yoli Faal vahzen ko un vaat” With fierce devotion upon my heart Find refuge in me, your counterpart Beloved in lifetimes, my home, my hearth The truth within our vow
The air is quiet for a few heartbeats as you both look at each other.
Then, slowly, reverently, he presses his lips on yours.
He kisses you gratefully like you’d just given him the moon. Tender kisses easily gave way to hungry ones, as he moves and presses you down on the bed.
Breaths mingling, touches burning, clothes are shed in a blur. His deep voice is rough as he whispers, sears across your skin in ancient prose:
“zu’u ag fah hi.” I burn for you.
“Dii lokke los on nid hi.” My skies are empty without you.
“Dii meylaan riigro.” My chosen soul-bound.
This time, his speech is not foreign to you, and you return the phrases back to him word for word, to which he would moan and nip all over your skin.
And when he’s exhausted all the words of affection he could say, he lets the natural language of flesh against flesh be his worshipful litany of how much you are profoundly precious to him, until finally, you both lie quiet and sated in each other’s arms.
A week later, the twins were accompanying the boss-man in a deal when things suddenly went haywire. Kieran was crouched behind a desk, shooting a gun, when he exclaimed in perfect diction and ferocity, “Pahlok joorre! Hin kah fen kos bonaar!” Arrogant mortal! Your pride will be humbled!
Sylus whipped his head back so fast to look at him in surprise. The words barely registered when Luke, to his right, shouted “Sahlo! Hin bormah los ozak!” as he tackled a man down. Weak! Your father is a goat!
Sylus sighed in long-suffering, crossing his arms as he realized that this was probably your doing, shaking his head as a small smile crept up his face.
But the cherry on top was when Mephisto, who was scouting the fallen men for any valuables, proudly flapped his wings and opened his beak not to caw, but rather to play an audio in obvious computerized tone: “zu'u fen gahrot, faraan los nu dii!” I shall loot, this treasure is now mine!
Shoulders shaking, Sylus tried to hold his composure but failed, letting out a low, hearty chuckle amidst the chaos.
No longer interested in protocore deals, he flicked his hand where black and red mist emerged, quickly finishing the remaining assailants.
He turned to leave, impatient to return to you, his precious beloved, and seek a proper explanation as to why his crows are turning into dragons.
🫣 i wanted to do something for Sylus as an early birthday gift… i would learn a whole dragon language for this man ❤️ speaking of, how cute would it be if his custom plushie could have dragon horns / wings? Infold pls 😭
For the dragon language, I chose to use Skyrim’s Thu’um / Dovahzul. My work isn’t perfect but you can try out any online translator for it. I started in english, then had to trade out words into what dragons might say instead. There’s no official translation for things like ‘I love you.’ Rather, the Thu’um fan community agrees to use ‘zu’u ag fah hi’ meaning ‘I burn for you’ which I think is more intense! *fans myself*
Imagine Sylus looking at you with those fierce ruby eyes and ardently declare in his deep velvet voice “I burn for you” aaaaaa (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ
And trust the twins to learn only the insults at least Kieran is still eloquent whereas Luke… sigh. they’re a handful but we love them ❤️and they totally helped you mod Mephie with the audio haha
I hope you liked my little poem too. I spent so much time on it only to edit again and again 😭 if the style is familiar, it is based on Despair by H.P. Lovecraft who I only learned about through this amazing post by @sunsetagain , but I could never write dark fantasy sooo it became romance instead, I’m so sorry horror girlies 🫣
TYSM for reading! Replies, reblogs, comments in the tags very much appreciated, come interact with me! 💕💕
