#nymph!au

chapter 1 - chapter 2

Delicate

Cassian x nymph!Reader

lucid dream (/ˈluː.sɪd driːm/): a lucid dream is a type of dream wherein the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming

summary: out flying with his brothers, Cassian stumbles upon a group of beautiful mythical beings - one of them catches his eye.

If the others had noticed that Cassian‘s mood was more somber, not sulking, thank you very much, than usual, they didn’t comment on it. He‘d returned to the already half-erected camp in only his trousers, sodden shirt and undergarments wrapped around the bulk of his armor.

It had dripped down along his back, a constant reminder that he had not hallucinated the dryads, that the rumors of their mischievous nature were true after all.

"Good thing you left Feyre at home," Azriel had commented dryly in Rhysand‘s direction. "You know females can never resist this idiot when the shirt comes off."

"Hello auntie!" Pin said as he pulled his little basket along behind him. To make it easier, Pete had asked Duen who asked Bohn to help attach little wheels to it. The older wolf smiled as Pin drew closer. "Papa sent me to deliver this for you!" Pin removed a little package and handed it over. "He said he hopes it helps your grandpups grow big and strong!"

"How thoughtful! And how kind of you to bring it for me." The elder pet Pin's head and Pin preened under the attention. "Be a good boy and give this to your father for me." She produced a silvery shell and put it in Pin's basket. "And this is for you for being a kind delivery boy." She then handed Pin a small bundle. "I heard your father say you've taken to learning how to weave. These would be nice little things to attach to your creations."

"Thank you!" Pin gave a little bow, which the elder returned, before skipping away to his next delivery which happened to be for Can.

"Sorry little one," Can said as he accepted the package of sinew from Pin. "Tin and Tan are away, but I'll let him know you stopped by and wanted to play later. Tan was looking forward to playing tag again too."

"Thank you Uncle Can!"

"Who are you going to see next? I'll walk with you." Can offered his hand and Pin took it as they both began to walk away from Tin's den.

"Daddy asked me to see Uncle Yo and trade with him for some rosehips."

"Hmm... He should be back in the forest today if we're lucky. I don't think he's gone off to the humans to be with his mate yet."

Pin nodded. "Daddy said he hopes Uncle Yo doesn't make too many more seeds or the forest will be over run with roses."

Can laughed and it was his volume which alerted Yo to their presence.

"So loud so early," Yo complained, but greeted Pin with a hug regardless. "What brings you here today little wolf? Other than your father's concern for how many children I have."

"How many children do you have Uncle Yo?" Pin asked without blinking. "I haven't met any of them yet."

"You'll meet them soon. Right now they stay with their father with the humans. They'll be back for their lessons with me on the next moon."

Pin nodded before turning to his little basket and giving Yo a bunch of peaches. "Daddy says he hopes this is enough for some of your rosehips and maybe a dried rose or two."

"Well since he sent you along, I should be kind." Yo gave Pin a little package of rosehips and then produced three dried roses, perfectly dried with unbent stems and uncrushed petals. "These should do nicely for whatever he's planning. Although I doubt they'd cover up the smell of musty wolf after winter."

Pin pouted. "Uncle Yo! That's my papa!"

"Which is exactly why I said that." Yo gave Pin a noogie, which he protested. "Now off you go."

"Uncle Yo! So mean!"

Yo sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll give you a little treat, just for you." Yo produced a little jar. "This is rose jam made with sugar from my mate's human village and my rose petals. You can enjoy it by yourself, but don't eat too much at once or you'll feel sick."

Pin happily accepted the jar and skipped off. Can laughed again. "Pete's going to be so mad at you when Pin eats that whole thing and runs everywhere."

"He deserves it after thinking Pha and I could populate the whole forest in roses."

"You've been trying really damn hard," Can said thoughtfully. "Four little nymphs already. I'm surprised you haven't gotten ten with how often you go see him." Yo's only reply was to smack Can's arm.

Pin's last stop was Mork's den, made in an abandoned human hut. There Pi rushed out and swung his nephew around, causing Pin to giggle and cheer. "Uncle Pi! You're here!"

"I am, and what did you bring for your Uncle Mork?"

"Daddy wants to trade for some of the beads he gets from humans. He says they're so pretty, he wants to try making something with them." Pin waved in the direction of his basket. "So daddy sent me to get a few things that Uncle Mork might like!" Pi put Pin down and Pin pulled out the shell, rosehips, and dried roses. "Tada!"

"What a pile of treasures," Mork said as he emerged. Pi made a face at Mork, who only winked at him. "I should be very glad to trade for them."

"How many beads will it get my daddy?"

"Hmm..." Mork held the shell up to the light, allowing it's silvery hue and pearlescence to shift in the sun. "I'll trade your father ten beads for the shell alone."

Pin pouted. "But daddy said he wants twenty!"

Pi elbowed Mork in the side. Mork, having grown used to his mate, refused to flinch. "Twelve."

"But what about the rosehips from Uncle Yo? Don't you like those too?"

Mork sniffed the rosehips and smiled. "Fine, for that too, I'll give your father twenty."

"You cunning fox, you're trying to make Pin feel better about bartering," Pi mumbled under his breath.

"It's good to encourage kits when they're young," Mork whispered back as he went into his den to get the beads. When Mork returned, he then turned his eye to the dried roses. "Hmm... Since you carried these all this way, how about I give you something extra for them?" Mork presented Pi with two bracelets of soft leather and beads. "One for you and one for a friend of your choice. They even match."

"Oh no," Pi whispered. "Ae will kill you."

Mork's smile grew as Pin's eyes widened. "Friendship bracelets?"

"Oh yes, if you and your best friend wear them, you'll never be apart again. That's a human custom."

"I'll take them!" Pin happily handed over the dried roses and took the beads and bracelets. "Thank you Uncle Mork!" Pin then ran off to tell his fathers of his good fortune while Pi began running for the trees.

"What are you doing?" Mork yelled after him.

Bohn straightened out the cloak he put over Duen's shoulders despite how Duen fidgeted in the pants and boots he'd also been forced to wear. "Now boys, do you remember the rules of coming into town with daddy?"

"Always hold daddy's hand," Con said as he swung his legs from the chair Bohn had made for their little home in front of the original cave love nest Duen had made. River followed Con's feet intently, waiting for one of his brand new boots to fall off.

"Don't go anywhere with strangers," Call said as he put another carved wooden toy into his bag. Bohn noted that one of Call's new boots had a suspicious mark on it that looked like a bite from a wolf. "And if anyone comes after us, whistle for River."

"What's the other important rule?" Bohn said as he kissed Duen's forehead to stop him from pouting.

"Always go back to daddy's house in town if we get lost," both twins said at the same time. "Daddy's house is the medium one next to the town well with one of papa's trees in the backyard."

"And what's the important rule for papa?" Bohn said as he pat both his sons on the head.

Duen made a face but chattered and sighed.

"Papa says he's not allowed to go anywhere without daddy or us to help him," Con translated. "And if he gets scared, he should disappear to his tree or find Uncle Forth."

"Good... That's correct..." Bohn cupped Duen's cheeks and kissed him softly. "I just want to make sure you're safe. We don't know how the other people in town will react if they find out and..."

Duen covered Bohn's hands with his own and nodded before kissing Bohn in return.

"Okay... Is everyone packed?" Bohn looked over the several bags and the things they'd loaded into the hand-pulled cart. Originally, Bohn had wanted to bring a horse drawn one, but Duen had turned skittish at the horse when Bohn had first brought it to introduce them. "Call, you can't bring that many toys this time. Only bring the ones you really want to play with while we're in town."

"But I want to play with all of them! And Con keeps taking mine!"

"Those were my toys first!" Con kicked outwards to slide off the chair and one of his boots went flying. River yipped and leaped for it, but Bohn caught it first and gave River a warning look.

"Stop glaring," Pete said to Tutor as he set down a woven basket of his peaches and handed one to Pin. "You're not going to scare Mork off that way anymore. Pi made his choice."

"Uncle Pi is happy now?" Pin asked, juice already all over his little face from the first three bites.

"Oh he's very happy now, see?" Pete pointed to how Mork curled his body over Pi's and guided his hands in the braiding and knotting of the hempen ropes he'd gotten for Pi. Pi's cheeks were just the slightest pink, but his ears were bright red as Mork nuzzled the side of his face and whispered in his ear.

"Rotten, mangy, the absolute worst," Tutor mumbled under his breath in contrast to the way he wiped Pin's face down gently.

"But Uncle Tor, Uncle Pi is happy! That must mean Mork is a good spirit!" Pin offered Tutor the last half of his peach and Tutor accepted if only to stop his nephew from smearing more juice over his face.

"He better behave, just like you," Tutor said as he pinched the tip of Pin's nose which caused Pin to object and Tan to whip his head around from the other side of the clearing. Tin, unfortunately, stopped his son from running over and forced him to continue focusing on his own tasks. "Or I'll feed him to the wolves, formalities be damned."

"But that would make Uncle Pi sad!" Pin tugged on Tutor's tunic. "I don't want Uncle Pi to be sad. His flowers smell so much prettier when he's happy because Mork visited that day or came to help him babysit all of us."

"So he's been visiting while your uncle babysits hmm?"

Pin blinked. "But Uncle Fighter visits you when you babysit us all the time."

Pete coughed and Tutor's ears turned red. "That's different! Uncle Fighter and I are... mates," Tutor said weakly.

"You can't even say the word consistently, Tor," Pete teased as he watched Pi tie the braided cords onto Mork's wrist and press a small kiss to the underside of Mork's wrist. Mork's expression turned completely besotted and Pete approved. "We should be proud our little cousin has finally gotten brave. Maybe he'll start making his flower crown soon." Pete thought for a moment. "Mork's gotten brave too I suppose. It's not often a fox is willing to sit calmly around a bunch of wolves."

"You made Ae talk to all of them," Tutor complained as he sat back down and let Pin climb onto his back and make little braids out of the hair on top of his head. Pi and Mork had moved on to comparing each others bracelets.

"Maybe. But Mork did also talk to them, make a few offers for his safety to be here to see Pi. He's quite clever, even for a fox," Pete said as he combed Pin's hair with a wooden comb. "No no, don't braid your uncle's hair like that, Pin. You'll put knots in it."

"Ok papa."

Fighter approached in wolf form, mouth still damp from being washed in the river, and gave Tutor a look. Tutor pat Pin on the leg and Pin climbed down and ran to the other side of the clearing to play with Tan at last. Pete only giggled and walked off to find Ae.

"Fine, you can have a kiss," Tutor said as Fighter immediately changed forms to press kisses all over Tutor's face. "I said one!"

"Don't worry so much about other nymphs and their mates," Fighter said as he continued. "Just worry about me."

Meanwhile, Mork clung to Pi a little more tightly, causing Pi to object.

"Why are you squeezing me now?" Pi reached around to pinch Mork's side, but the fox contorted himself to dodge.

"I'm just happy I get to hold you," Mork said before feinting a nip at Pi's neck. Pi jerked to the side and Mork took the opportunity to kiss Pi's shoulder instead. Pi pouted, but did not complain. "I'm happy I get to be here with you."

"For a fox that makes so many deals with others left and right, you're awfully pleased with so little."

"That's a lie." Mork pressed his face in to the space between Pi's shoulder blades, enjoying the warmth of skin warmed nymph silk and the smell of Pi's flowers. "You're worth more than anything I could trade to any other nymph, spirit, or human."

"So you own me now?"

"Never." Mork moved and rested his chin on Pi's shoulder. "I'm young, but even I know I can't own a nymph."

"So then how would you describe us?"

"Not yet mates, more than friends, but more special and important than either and both."

Pi's mouth twitched into a small smile and Mork felt his heart leap. "You're stealing words from humans now too?"

"It's not stealing. A human traded me a book for some shiny rocks again. And I asked one of the other humans to read it to me in exchange for some herbs deep in the woods." Mork shrugged. "If it keeps making you happy to hear such things, I'll have to learn more of them for you."

"It's not the words," Pi said softly. He reached for one of Mork's hands and Mork obliged by holding Pi's hand. "Just be with me. It... It's enough."

"Then I'll be with you," Mork said before pressing a kiss to Pi's cheek. Pi's eyes fluttered shut and Mork pressed another kiss to the curve of Pi's neck. "And I won't leave unless you say."

"And if I never tell you to leave?"

"Then I'm here, with you, forever."

"Is forever in the nature of foxes?"

"Of young foxes? No. We don't often live long enough for such things. Fortunately for you, I'm older and smarter. I know what forever is."

"You just had to brag, didn't you?" Pi complained, but there was no mistaking the smile on his face or the curve of his closed eyes.

The sun had still not yet risen when Pharm set down his last order, wrapped in coarse brown paper, on his counter before checking the lot one last time. "One for Bohn in the grove, one for Sarawat in the forest, one for Ram in the western thicket, one for Team by the lake, and two for Pha in the woods." Pharm checked them off on his list and smiled. "And once these are all delivered, I'll be right by the mountain in time to pick ingredients."

Pharm pulled a large basket over with straps to carry it on his back. It was woven carefully to be light yet strong. Peeking inside, Pharm smiled at the pair of linen pants, tunic, and boots at the bottom. "Hmm... I wonder if I'll see him today too." Pharm said with a smile as he looked out the window of his shop towards the mountains. "It is his mountain after all."

Pharm carefully stacked his packages in his basket and hefted it onto his shoulders. After another minute to lock up his store, Pharm set off. The path through all his destinations was winding, but Pharm relished the fresh air, sweet smelling in a different way than the smell of cakes and sweets in his kitchen. Sarawat was the first one encountered, sleeping under a tree; however, his package was received by the sparkling eyed nymph Tine who drew a very pretty flower in Pharm's notebook as signature of receipt.

"You better make sure he sees it before you eat it all," Pharm said while patting the taller nymph on the head. Tine only responded by putting a bouquet of sweet smelling violets in Pharm's basket and patting Pharm's head in return.

Next, Pharm found Ram and Bohn up early setting traps. Both accepted their packages and signed, but only Bohn was amused by Tine's signature.

"Thanks Pharm," Bohn said as he carefully stowed his package into his bag. "Duen's been looking forward to these." Bohn then gave Pharm a bag of dried and pitted cherries. Ram nodded in agreement and offered Pharm his pick of several hares and game birds. Pharm pointed at the ones he wanted and Ram nodded again, setting them aside to be delivered later in the day except for one hare, which Pharm took with him.

Next, Pharm found Pha traveling into the woods with company, the mysterious partner most of the village only knew by the smell of roses. "Hello, Pha. Hello, Yo." Pharm said with a smile before offering them their packages. Yo accepted happily while Pha signed Pharm's notebook.

"I'm glad we caught you here," Pha said while Yo peeked inside the wrapping. "The kids stayed with Pete in the woods last night and we're going to pick them up so they don't miss their lessons. They'll enjoy these for breakfast."

Pharm giggled while Yo snuck a piece of something. "I hope there'll be some left at any rate." Yo pouted at being caught and chastised by Pha, but left a small leaf-wrapped package of rosehips in Pharm's basket in thanks.

At last, Pharm came up to the lake and Team's camp beside it. Team was still snoring away, but beside him, another body stirred as Pharm approached.

"Oh, Win, right?" Pharm sat down a small distance away as Win eyed him carefully. "We met before, remember?" Pharm held out his hand and Win carefully took it and traced the lines of Pharm's palm.

Win's hands began to move further up Pharm's arm when a growl reverberated through the area. Win scrunched up his face and turned to look at the large panther stalking over. The panther nudged their hands apart before curling around Pharm and licking his face.

"Dean!" Pharm said with a giggle while hugging the large mountain cat. "Win is your friend, you didn't have anything to worry about."

Win made a variety of gestures at Dean while his mouth moved and Pharm was sure it was a particular brand of insult between nature spirits, or perhaps he was telling Dean to be irritating elsewhere and not disturb Team's sleep. Either way, Pharm gave Dean a scratch behind one of his ears before offering Win the package for Team. Win accepted and began drawing a crude picture in Pharm's notebook before Dean attempted to bite his hand. Win jerked away, looking scandalized before moving to lay next to Team again.

Dean huffed and then started grooming Pharm. "Dean! I took a shower!" Pharm rummaged in his basket and pulled out the hare from Ram. "Here, I brought you something too." Dean sniffed the hare and took it before walking off to the side to eat it. As Dean stalked off, Win returned, offering Pharm a woven basket filled with dried fish.

"Thank you, Win," Pharm said with a smile. "Next time, no pictures of people humping as your signature."

As Pharm rearranged the items in his basket to account for the things he'd been given, Dean returned and circled Pharm, rubbing the side of his body against Pharm's legs and his cheeks along Pharm's hips.

"Deaaaannn!" Pharm hoisted his basket up once more and pet Dean's head. "Come on, I'm not done yet."

Dean grumbled with a low, disappointed sound, but followed Pharm up the trail from the lake to the mountains. As Pharm began his foraging, Dean's ears stayed perked and alert. Once or twice, something sounded as if it was approaching, but Dean growled and the sounds turned into fleeing.

Later in the morning, Pharm caught the sight of wolves out of the corner of his eyes, in particular, one smaller one with fur in hues of gold and pink following a larger one in dark silver while being followed by one in light gray. Dean spared them no attention and the wolves came no closer, even though the gold and pink one did stop to stare for a moment.

At last, the sun was at its peak in the sky and Pharm looked in his basket, satisfied by what he'd managed to find. "This should last me for another week or two." Pharm turned to pet Dean once more and Dean stretched as he stood up from his position curled protectively around Pharm. "Will you want to come back to town with me?" Pharm asked as he scratched under Dean's chin. Dean purred and there was a shift before a tan and naked human lay where the panther had been. Pharm's cheeks turned pink as Dean's human form wrapped his arms around Pharm and kissed him properly. Pharm could only squeak before thrusting his hand into his basket and pulling out the clothes he'd kept there earlier. "You know the rules, no coming to town naked. I don't want Forth to try and explain things away again."

Dean pecked both of Pharm's cheeks before accepting the clothes and pulling them on. Pharm turned away but Dean still nipped at Pharm's neck, indicating he knew the effect he had on the smaller man.

"Deaaaannn!" Pharm turned around to give Dean the full force of his pout, but Dean had already dressed and Pharm had only turned his face into Dean's chest. Dean's arms wrapped around Pharm again, before nuzzling the top of Pharm's head. Another gentle kiss to Pharm's lips followed before Dean hoisted Pharm's basket onto his own shoulders. "You don't have to... I can carry it, Dean." Dean shook his head and took Pharm's hand before kissing the knuckles and leading him back down the mountain trail, hand in hand.