felinis: I don't know it seemed fun...
When told upfront that you're getting a promotion the natural inclination of a person is to be happy but also a little terrified. There is, of course, the obvious joy and moving up in the ladder that is bureaucracy and nonsense but also the newfound dread of responsibility- or more importantly just fucking up in general. Nobody wants to get a promotion only to fail at all during the first week if potentially ever. It's sad, it haunts you at night, it's wholly unpleasant, and for some reason, the very idea keeps people from even asking for stupid things like directions. Because of this unexplainable irrationality that Flynn can only explain as the desire to not fuck up, he ended up lost in the palace for five minutes despite himself looking for princess Estellise's room.
Guard duty… He's on guard duty, Flynn takes in a very deep breath as he arrives just barely on time with the last bits of sun filtering in. It's a simple job, guard the princess at night and make sure she doesn't leave her room. Straightforward, easy, a surprisingly high turnover rate that makes sense when considering standing in front of a door for an entire evening is not an exciting job.
It's temporary and his captain assured him it will serve him well in putting him further towards his goal. One last deep breath and then he'll give her door a knock as instructed.
"The princess is to always be aware that there is someone keeping guard"
He raps lightly against the wooden frame and waits for an answer. The door opens and it's funny to think but she's so small compared to him. He's never really gotten to be up close to the princess for more than a few moments. It's always a passing thing before something pulls the other away and they only have time for a few spare greetings. She knows Flynn, but really not much more than he knows her.
To him… well, sadly he's never gotten to see her as more than the passing treasure of the castle.
"Oh… Flynn, was it?" She says and her eyes flitter past him as if she's looking for someone. "What… what has you here?"
"I –" a small cough, "Well, Lady Estellise I am here to inform you as of today that I am will be in charge of keeping watch at night."
Her face falls and the joy slowly deflates with a soft 'oh', "I see... May I ask what happened to Jillian?"
"Miss Hernes has been reassigned to work in Aspio."
The only response he gets is a tiny nod as she gives a single good night before shutting the door. It's only sunset… Dear god, this will be a long night…
The night is especially long with the silence of the halls and the cold formality of the castle walls. Several times Flynn finds himself holding meaningless conversations with himself as he paces just to stay awake. Next time he's bringing a book or something even if it isn't technically allowed because this is an absurd level of boredom. Nobody even walks these halls at night in general. The only sounds he hears are his own breath and feet against the cold marble.
It's moments like these the castle makes him want to be back in the Lower Quarter surrounded by the bustle of poverty. It gives him time to think about that life though. What everyone is up to? When was the last time he visited? Has Yuri finally gotten off his ass? That question really only comes up when they see each other, but he does just wonder how his friend is living. But the rest of his thoughts eventually drift to how his day will be tomorrow and how he'll have to adapt to this new night schedule.
When morning finally comes his commanding, officer greets him with a smile, "Good job. First night is always a drag. Go get some sleep, you'll need it."
By god he will. Night shift is a bitch.
"I'm sorry if I was cold to you last night," Lady Estellise says the next time he knocks. "I just… I didn't think Jillian was going to leave since it already been so long."
"Was she a friend of yours?" Flynn asks and Estellise ponders this for a moment scrunching her brows over and over as if flipping her decision endlessly.
"Perhaps…?" Estellise finally says. "She was just one of the few who ever bothered to talk with me… Most don't and just make do with announcing themselves from behind the door after a while."
Flynn curls a little at that. Whether or not she's a princess is irrelevant manners are manners and to address anyone carelessly from behind a door is rude. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I don't blame them," Estellise says tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Nobody should be forced to put up with me."
"If it's any consolation Lady Estellise, I would like to actually… um, putting up with you would be my pleasure," Smooth, Scifo… Smooth.
He gets a smile, a little one, but also a frown in her eyes. "That's very kind of you to say, Flynn. Goodnight."
The door shuts with a small slam and Flynn rests back against the wall slipping out a book he'd stolen from the library along with a tiny lux blastia for light and reads. It's quiet again and the only times he's pulled into a state of alertness is the small bits of shuffling on the other side of the door. The kind that he recognizes from years spent living in a creaky room with a roommate that liked to get out of bed at night to use the outhouse.
It's just simple shuffling and a bit of walking. Probably something that would go mostly unheard but Flynn had rather sharp ears. Morning comes again, and he goes back to bed.
A casual conversation, a few noises, a boring night- rinse repeat
Working the night shift had left Flynn socially in a rather odd state. He was only awake for a handful of hours before his shift inevitably started again and he used that time to maintain himself and to just try to make sure nothing was secretly falling apart in his life while he looked away. Life has a habit of doing that. The big thing though is it left him socially isolated in a sort with everyone else either just ending their job or the rest already going home. The few also working the graveyard shift seemed to care absolutely nothing for talking when he did see them. They'd rather enjoy their small hunk of peace before returning to work.
It's while he's sitting in mess hall eating what's essentially his breakfast someone sits in front of him, a man with a mess of red curls, splotchy freckles, and a chipped tooth. "Hi?"
"What's it like?" The guy asks and Flynn ideally takes a bite of his curry.
"Meaning?"
"Ya know? Guarding the princess." He spouts and Flynn wonders if spinning a yarn to get some company for a minute is worth it because this guy is looking for a spectacle.
He decides not to, "It's just like any other post. The princess is lovely to talk to but other than that it's pretty standard."
The man lets out coarse 'pffft', "Don't give me that. I just wanna know if the rumors are true?"
"Rumors?" Flynn raises a brow.
"Uh yeah, you know why everyone leaves that post." He seems unamused by Flynn's lack of knowledge on the subject. "Where have you been under a rock?"
"It seems…"
He leans across the table trying to look inconspicuous in that way that always makes you look conspicuous because everyone is aware of what that sort of body nature means but somehow works despite its ridiculousness by some unknown means Flynn is going to just shrug at. "People hear stuff at night in that part of the wing. Creepy things. And you don't always hear about those knights who transfer out ever coming back."
"Yeah well, I haven't heard anything."
"Personally, I think the silence is the creepy part."
Flynn finds that Estellise is not just pleasant but good company to be around. She's smart and sweet with a smile that makes one curl onto his lips without any effort. Beautiful in all the right ways is how he would describe her. He's not supposed to but he has tea with her before the sun sets for the day and he's commented a few times about the bizarre strictness of her curfew.
"Why not a set hour?" He says and Estellise pours the cup careful not to spill a drop.
"Because a lady should be in her room when the sun sets, whenever that should be," Estellise drops a sugar cube into the cup.
Flynn took the cup and gave a small hum, "That sounds wrong… but I can't say I'm an expert on the odd nature of aristocrats."
"Are we really that strange?" She tilts her head like a small dog might curiously and it's very adorable.
"From my view? Extremely… yet not really at the same time." The nobility from what limited experience he has are just people. Different but still just people. "I guess that doesn't make much sense."
"Not really." Estellise shakes and gingerly sips her tea. "I found a book you might like. I'll go get it." Estellise had taken to giving him books she was fond of or had taken to reading to help him pass the time while he waited outside. It was another kind gesture and he really can't see why anyone would ignore such a person. Why was this part of the castle is always so quiet? She stands and runs to the door and he trusts her to be back soon.
He's never been alone in here and suddenly Flynn finds he feels out of place. If anyone saw him in here he was sure to be in trouble and be questioned about his rather warm relationship- not that anything was going on. But people like to use this as cannon fire for causing problems in this sort of place.
It's idiotic workplace politics.
But, he's also curious because he has never gotten the chance to just look around her room. So he stands up and takes small steps, the dresser is as expected, the bed is large and plush, the desk is covered in books despite their being a shelf full of them, and the carpet has… scratch marks.
That's weird.
Flynn kneels down and runs a hand across what are clearly the marks of something raking across the carpet near the bed. As he looks further catches a glimpse of something metallic just behind the bedpost and curiosity itches for him to find out what- chains? Lady Estellise has silver or maybe steel chains in her bedroom. He slides them back into place before pulling them back out just to check.
Yeah, those are chains…
Flynn wonders why Estellise would have anything of the sorts like this just lying around her room and his first thought is the kind of thing that feels like on principal he could get hanged for saying. The second is that it might have something to do with the claw marks.
He goes back to his seat and nervous taps the table as Estellise enters the room a moment later and he tries to ignore what he saw. Even if it is something still relatively normal or harmless it's not his business to pry.
It's especially loud that night in the room and Flynn wonders from the other side of the wall what it is that's making all that noise… What Estellise is doing in there that warrants it, but he stays silent and churns to the pages of his book.
It doesn't stop his mind from churning and sifting through scenarios of what's on the other side.
The next night Estellise doesn't open the door. No. It stays firmly shut with only a small call that she's not feeling well. It's odd, but it's understandable… What is particularly odd was one of the captains stressing to him the importance of keeping watch from outside. Flynn leans against the wall and cups his chin as he ponders it further… It's probably nothing and he's just overthinking things, Yuri's mentioned that he has a bad habit of it once or twice.
But as the night falls and he's left alone in the silent halls the noise is ripped by a noise from the other side of the door.
It's a crash, and a pounding- snapping, a distorted sort of scream- shredding- Something is happening on the other side of the door. His hand goes to the handle but the door is locked and he rams his shoulder against it the wood barely nudges. "What the hell? They enforce this with steel?"
He pounds his fist calling out for Estellise to answer but what he receives back is a growl from the other side.
"The princess is never to leave her room at night"
Flynn hates being one to jump to conclusions, but in this instance, he's left wondering if that's why he was told to stand outside… No, that's ridiculous. "Lady Estellise is a normal girl…"
The sounds on the other end beg to differ. They taper off after a few hours but they echo in quiet halls and in his ears leaving questions in his mind.
Estellise is still locked in her room and when he asks his superior officers on the matter they assure him he has no reason to care. Just keep the door shut unless you hear the window break.
So he stands outside again and tells her from the other side that he hopes she'll feel better soon. "I'd like to have tea with you again sometime as well."
"That- that would be very nice," He hears faintly from the other side of the door. "Flynn…?"
"Yes, Lady Estellise?"
"Promise you won't open the door." There's that heaviness in her voice that he's noticed comes up when talking about his job and her nightly confinement. "No matter what you hear at night never come in."
Flynn shakes his head despite knowing she can't see him. "My duty is not just as a knight but also as a person to keep you safe from harm. If I think you need help I will come to your aid."
"Don't." Is her response.
The noise comes again only this time there's a moment where the door rattles like something is ramming itself against it. He hears raking sounds of scratched surfaces and broken china.
Rattling of chains…
He's not sure why his hand wavers at the door. Why instead he chooses to ignore the noises till they taper off with a book. There's no way…
But really the high turnover rate now seems much more obvious.
"I want to know the truth about Lady Estellise," Flynn says walking into his captain's office and the older man briefly looks from his paperwork before setting them aside. His captain, Kimble, is a rather older man with a rather uninviting pudgy face but a genuinely pleasing smile. "What are those noises?"
Kimble gestures for him to sit down and hesitantly Flynn takes a seat. Kimble's probably the only captain he can think of who doesn't care to have people stand attention at him. "You probably noticed that the door is rather enforced and such?"
A nod.
"And with all you've heard what does your mind go to?"
If he's honest it sounds like a monster is rampaging in the room; running around and slamming against the walls as it growls hoping to get out. He says as much and Kimble gives a nod. "Hmm, this matter is very need to know and you do not need to know what's on the other side of that door. I don't know what's on the other side of that door but I can say it's important that it does not open."
"But, sir-"
Kimble waves him off, "This is for the best. Forget the noises and the sounds… and if she does get out… well, I recommend wearing a brace around your neck. Now if that is all you want to ask I think we can consider this matter done and goodbye."
"But," He starts again but Kimble is already back to filling out his forms and repeatedly saying 'goodbye'.
Need to know, huh? Fuck this noise, he's guarding her so he has all the need to know… He just has to open the door.
Flynn will admit knowing lockpicking is a rather shady skill for a knight to have but years of living on the street had made his hands rather quick and sticky without him realizing it. It came down to the fact that Yuri was a better distraction and when you're hungry picking the baker's lock to steal a few loaves of bread seems more than reasonable. Come nightfall there's no one to see him pick the lock and to slide around the tumblers till he hears that familiar click.
He pries the door open and shuts it behind himself eyes going wide as Flynn takes in the state of the room. The furniture is either turned over or shredded and the scraps of torn fabric litter the floor along with broken bobbles he recognizes as things from Estellise's shelves and dressers. The walls are torn with claw marks and an odd scent lingers in the room.
A musk like dogs and something else… Blood his mind supplies.
Sitting on the bed naked, arms and legs in those chains from before is Estellise who looks at him with her eyes wide with the bare light of the moon making them seem to glow. "Flynn!" She stands up and presses back against the wall, "You have to get out of here!" She screams and before Flynn can ask why she doubles over gripping her chest.
"Lady Estellise!" Flynn runs over and takes her hand but Estellise pushes him away.
"LEAVE!" The noise rattles in the air at a timber too deep and up close he can see the way her eyes are bloodshot and her breathing is ragged. It startles Flynn just barely as he watches her body spasm and her back shakes into an unnatural angle with a snap. A small instinctive voice in the back of his head says to leave but the part of him that's curious watches in morbid fascination.
"Please leave," She sobs but screams again when that snapping resumes and her arms seem to disjoint themselves and break. Writhing as the teeth fall out of her mouth and blood is coughed onto the bed sheets alongside molars only for new thick fangs to spring out.
He should help her! Get help! Do something! But his feet stay still and he watches as those thin fingers seem to swell while her fingernails push themselves out for thick claws. He hears gurgled in pain a cry to leave but his legs merely shake a little and Flynn wonders if something might be wrong with him because instinct says to run and get back outside that door.
Shake claws her own face she grips it in a gesture to hold in the pain, her voice so raw and distorted from that tinkling bell he's used to. Blood on her cheeks as that cracking continues and a wet sound breaks from her skin in the form of a fleshy tail and the sight finally makes Flynn vomit. He looks up again to find that the writhing has mostly stopped as Estellise heaves on the bed while Flynn is left to blink furiously at the sight of hair growing all over her body.
"Pl…ease…" Her eyes look wet and glazed with her face twisted into something that looks closer to a muzzle than her sweet face. Yes, looking closer her body looks like a misshapen hybrid between a human and a wolf…
Well fuck.
Flynn stumbles but his legs finally start working again long enough for him to scramble back out of the room. His chest is racing and his breath shakes- when did that happen? What the hell was that? What the fucking hell was that? THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT?
"So…" Estellise says as she opens the door for the first time in days and somehow during the day any signs he saw from last night of the broken state of the room are gone without a trace. "…You saw…"
Flynn swallows and gives a nod, "Yeah."
There's a long pause as they both stand there looking at the other before looking away and then back. "I guess I should explain?"
"That would be nice, so yes please do," Flynn says mostly just trying to condense the horrors of last night down to a single bead of reason. Estellise gestures for him to enter and like always her evening pot of tea is sitting on the desk that she pours for him.
They sip a bit before Estellise finally speaks up, "So… I guess… you've figured out why they keep me locked here at night."
"For the most part."
"It's a curse. I think," She says and peels back a bit of her dress to reveal a small faded scar on her arm. "When I was little a monster wandered onto the palace grounds and nearly killed me. The Knights took care of it but by then I already had been bitten… It became clear after that I was infected with a lycanthropy curse."
He's heard of it before. Werewolf disease is the more common phrase thrown around but it's supposed to be one of those fairy tales parents make for children. Apparently not. "After that, I was moved to a sperate wing of the castle and assigned a nightly guard in case I changed. Or for when I get out."
"How often is that?"
Estellise pours another cup. "Two-three times a year, maybe. I one time got loose long enough to bite six people apparently… Most people end up hurt sooner or later." The solemn tone in the air and knowledge that a lot of knights transfer out after serving as her guard says all it needs to. "I'm afraid you were sent to guard a monster."
He reaches across the table and holds her hand. "I rather like this monster."
It becomes routine to talk with each other about various things and Estellise's far over her own body. The more Flynn listens the more he sees that there is a heavy guard over her heart on brought by what she is. A fear that she'll hurt him and he sees it in the way she stands, her caution in so much as brushing against him, her need to keep the door locked when they both know she won't shift till nightfall.
It hurts to see her not trust herself. It hurts to know she sees herself as a burden. It hurts knowing she wants him to stop watching over her for his sake. It's why he tries to take her hand when it's there. It's why he smiles at her and talks with her each night. It's why he wants her to be happy.
"Is there really no way to keep it under control?" He asks one day as they sit on the bed together.
A shake of her head as she looks down to the floor. "It's alright. It's just something I have to live with."
"But you could live with it better," He says and she pulls away from him but Flynn takes her hand. "You shouldn't have to be afraid of the world." He tucks one of those lovely locks behind an ear. "You're a wonderful person Estellise."
A sudden awareness of how he's too close hits him and Flynn jerks back rubbing the back of his head giggling awkwardly, "I mean anyone can see that just after meeting you…"
"You're sweet Flynn." She says and a soft sort of silence falls over them as they enjoy the other company.
He asks dumb questions sometimes about her condition like if she has any wolf-like qualities even outside her transformation which leads to the discovery that her senses are naturally sharper than his along with a constant craving for red meat.
"It's sort of embarrassing how much meat I eat." Estellise pouts one night that they decide to have an early dinner with each other.
Flynn idly points out that back home a hearty appetite on a girl is a wonderful and normal quality to have. "If you need food you need food that's all there is to it."
"I guess. My teachers just always sad it was unladylike to constantly want hearty meals like that."
"I think a girl who doesn't want steak over salad is little weird personally," Flynn says in between bites.
He likes the small blush and smile that covers her cheeks as she takes another hesitant bite of steak. "Thanks."
"Do you ever want to be petted?" He blurts out and Estellise laughs turning beat red, that's all the answer he needs.
The door is locked again that night and despite what he knows Flynn opens the door once the snapping sounds and the screams of her shifting turn into growls. He doesn't get close but he pulls her desk chair up and watches as she pulls at the chains on her bed; clawing the sheets and the walls. Fangs glinting in the moonlight as she gnaws at the shackles.
It looks wrong to see her covered in that red-pink fur looking more like a beast than a person. It's wrong, but it's also Estellise… He stays despite and pulls out his novel reading her the words the pages in hopes it's a comfort. She'd mentioned the worst part about her curse was how everything faded away once she shifted completely. That people stopped looking like people and the world stopped being anything but shapes and smells. That it all faded into a blur of gray that she couldn't stand but would have to deal with her whole life.
So he hopes somewhere in that fog this calms her. That it lets her feel even an ounce of herself. Estellise howls at the moon and Flynn wishes she could see it as herself.
It's a dangerous game he plays each time around. One brush is all it would take to get burned but he gets closer to her during those nights secure in the knowledge the armor will, for the most part, keep him safe if anything ever does happen.
It does happen. Sometimes she'll jump at him and try to claw at him before seeming to grow bored and just stare at him.
Flynn gets bold and touches her face one night and it's terrifying to do. Holding his hand out with the knowledge it could go wrong waiting for Estellise to sink her fangs into him only to find her leaning into his palm after a time. She has such green eyes. Such rich and vibrant eyes…
"I think I'm falling in love with you." And Flynn can't quite believe he said it out loud.
It's a lot of awkwardness as Flynn struggles to hide the fact that he's fallen in love with the princess. He shouldn't have fallen in love with the princess but the more he looks at her while they have small conversation and drink tea while reading books the more he thinks- fuck, he's in love with her. Flynn knows this is a slippery slope that leads to hardship, headaches, and possibly decapitation- that seems like a stretch but he's keeping that in mind.
He's not supposed to love her. Estellise is his charge- his princess- not his potential girlfriend. They decide to sit in the garden today and she looks especially radiant right now.
"I wish I was normal," Estellise mutters as she plucks grass absently.
"What brought that up?"
"I was just thinking how I really can't ever leave this castle. How I'll never know what a forest looks like." It's foolish but lately, Flynn seems to do nothing but stupid things as he pulls her into a side hug.
"What if we learned to control it? If you can snap yourself back to yourself then you won't have to be afraid."
She leans back in the grass. "That would be nice if it could happen."
"I bet it could. You just haven't found a way."
Estellise is the one who kisses him first. It's shy and so soft you could almost miss it in its briefness but it happened. Flynn almost can't believe it and he watches Estellise retreat in fear so he kisses back.
"Is it really okay for me to like you?" She asks and Flynn laughs holding her close to him enjoying the way she fits his arms.
"Is it okay for me to like you back?" He takes the way she squeezes his chest as a yes.
She nearly bites him.
They had gotten careless and forgotten the time but they assured themselves they'd be fine. Estellise's next shift wasn't for another week which was true but they forgot that sometimes it happened out of term. The two of them shouldn't have been holding each other in bed enjoy the others warmth but they were and when Estellise started writhing on the bed Flynn should have been faster to put her in chains and leave. He shouldn't have tried to comfort her through it and say she'd be fine. He shouldn't have believed he just fix this with the right words and gestures.
He knows she was still clinging to herself when she lunged for his neck. Knows that when morning came Estellise sobbed on the floor and told him to stay away. Begged for him to leave her alone and never see her again but he just held her tight.
"It's okay. I'm okay." He coos and she sobs harder.
"What if- what if one day you're not okay? What if one day I kill you?" She sobs and he rubs her back shushing her with any comfort he can.
"I know you won't. Because even like that you've never tried to hurt me," Flynn says hoping he knows that he believes in her through all the trembling in her small frame. "You were just startled this time."
It's a dumb idea but he sees her next shift and holds her close because he needs to see. See that the monster at night is still the girl he loves. That she's there no matter what face she's wearing Estellise has always been Estellise.
She writhes and fights to get out her teeth digging at the thick fabric of his armor but they never pierce. She never bites him. He kisses that furry nose and she doesn't bite him. He holds her one more time and she doesn't bite him.
Flynn tells her that she will always be his Estellise. "You were just always scared and alone before but you don't have to be." She licks his cheek and Flynn wishes he met her sooner. She never deserved to be alone for so long. "One day you're going to see so much of the world. I promise."
He keeps looking for his answer while he holds her tight and they dance in her room. They laugh and play games as he searches for some way to help. He's tried objects, lights, phrases, various stimuli but all fail. Advice though comes in the form of a strange old woman while he's walking through the streets of Zaphias.
"Give her this," The old woman says handing him unprompted a cloth pouch.
"I'm sorry? What?" Flynn asks noting the bag with a fair amount of confusion.
"A pinch in her tea at night will keep the wolf at bay. No more than that though."
Flynn tries to ask how she knows but she disappears as mysteriously as she entered. "That was weird." He grips the cloth bag curiously and wonders if he should trust a suspicious bag given to him by a random old lady. Why not? He's got nothing to lose and a lot to gain. So he goes back to the palace with a cloth bag full of an odd bitter powder and a desire to see his princess cured of what ails her.
If this works it'll be a hell of a story down the road.
I never know how to end one shots ever. I hope this was in anyway entertaining