Requested By: -MISSFERXANII

Genre: fluff

Spoilers: none

Warning(s): none

Dialogue Prompts: “I can't stop thinking about you.” and “I trust you, more than anyone else.”

Extra: Y/n in a Cervitaur/Deertaur. She is like a centaur, only with deer features instead of horse features

Also, the first dialogue prompt was provided by WinterBlue_Angel22 . Thank you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Varian's POV:

“Mushrooms, mushrooms, grabbing some mushrooms…” I sing softly, plucking red, spotted mushrooms from the forest floor below me. “Gonna put ‘em in my pocket for my potion tonight– Yeah!”

I conclude my brief musical number with a round of jazz hands. Then I resume, cheerfully humming as I pick more mushrooms.

This section of the forest is covered in these mushrooms, and they will be of great assistance to me with my recent experiment!

I try to gather in haste since rumors of a snowstorm have been floating around. It plans to arrive any day now, and I don't want to get caught in it. It's a miracle in and of itself that these mushrooms are out in the first place.

I must say it's getting to be chillier outside now. I can see my breath every time I exhale a warm breath. My coat and apron pockets are nearly filled to the brim with my precious mushrooms, so I decide it's time to head back home. I take a few steps in the direction I need to take before a strong wind blows through. My eyes instinctively shut as I bring my arm up to my face. The wind blows harder and strips my scarf from my neck, leaving it cold and bare.

“Hey–!” I cry out, turning around to see that my scarf has already flown several feet away from me. I take off in a running speed. “H-Hey, wait–!”

My boots crunch against the frosty grass as I take off towards my flying scarf. Short, rapid huffs of breath leave me with every heavy step I take. I struggle to keep up with it.

Luckily, a large tree branch snags the scarf just in time for me to unhook it and catch my breath. Its red fabric is cold to the touch. I shiver when I wrap it around my neck once more. Glancing around the wooded area, I realize I don't know where I ran off to. With a frown, I sigh helplessly.

“Come on…”

A melodic tune fills the air, catching my attention. Flipping my head around, I don't see anything but trees and shrubs. The music pauses for a moment and starts back up again right as I'm about to leave.

“That's strange…” I mutter to myself, suddenly feeling inclined to find the source of the tune. Once my feet start moving, they don't stop. The more I walk, the louder the sound becomes.

I eventually come across a small pond with a thin layer of ice surrounding the edges. The source of the song seems to come from here. My eyes catch someone, and I instinctively kneel down behind a nearby shrub. Hidden from this person's view, I carefully peek over my hiding place.

There is a girl graciously moving around the pond. With the shrub partially blocking my view, I can only see the upper half of her body.

The first thing I notice are the antlers sticking out of her hair. When I see furry ears poking out the sides of her head as well, my eyes stretch wide open.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YD7Q2MoR_gY&pp=ygUccmVtZW1iZXIgdG8gYmUgcGF0aWVudCBvbW9yaQ%3D%3D

(Play this song, if you would like to)

Is it a costume? Maybe an accessory? I think to myself. I try to get a better look at her, but she keeps bending down to grab something every few seconds. I stretch my neck a little higher to see better…

… and the one my eyes discover is nothing I ever would've expected.

This girl has the body of a deer.

She looks like one of Princess Rapunzel's paintings, delicate like glass and too fantastical to be real. My eyes are locked on her, paralyzed by her infatuating abnormality.

(Y/n’s tune is the melody that plays from 0:20-1:20 in the song)

She starts up the tune again, humming this time. I notice the large wads of moss resting in her arms. As she hums her song, she reaches down to collect more. Her front deer legs kneel down to touch the grass each time.

Once she is finished collecting, she moves around the pond until she finds a spot to rest. Her front legs curl back, while her back legs curl forward. Her ears give a flick before her hands pull a sewing needle out from a small bag she has wrapped around her human waist. I curiously watch as she sticks the needle through two patches of moss and connects them so perfectly that I can't tell they were apart in the first place.

As she sews, I gaze at her with curiosity through the bushes. What is she making?

Then, a soft chattering followed by paws trotting in the snow turn my attention towards Ruddiger, who is running directly at me. His tail wags eagerly, and his little legs stretch forward with every running leap he takes.

“Oh, no–” I whisper harshly before getting plummeted by a cutely overweight raccoon. “Gah– Ruddiger!”

Ruddiger crashes into me hard enough for me to topple over into the bushes. The branches and leaves below me crunch and rustle, and a startled gasp echoes around the surrounding area.

She heard me.

Clutching Ruddiger tightly in my arms, I stand up, stumbling a bit. My eyes search around until they lay on the frightened deer girl.

She backs away significantly and gives me a look of terror; just like a deer in lanterns. “Who are you, and– and what are you doing here?”

I throw my arm up defensively, holding onto Ruddiger with my other arm. “I'm not here to harm you in any way, I swear!”

When she gives me a skeptical look, I pat my mushroom-filled pockets. “See? I don't have any weapons on me. Just mushrooms.”

“Mushrooms?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Y-Yes!” I pull out a couple of the bright red mushrooms and hold out my hand to her. “See?”

After a short while, the girl’s mouth curves up to a smile before she bursts out laughing. Gripping her stomach, the human half of her body lurches forward and shakes with laughter. I even see one of her deer hoofs stomp against the snow at least a couple of times.

“What are you laughing about?” I ask her slowly. A warm feeling brushes around my cheeks as I try to hide my embarrassment.

“Oh, sorry, sorry,” the deer girl says, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “It's just that I've never met a human quite as strange as you before.”

I stare at her blankly, taking note of… well, everything about her. She's nowhere far from strange herself. “Uh-huh…”

“I mean, what human goes around with mushrooms in his pockets?” she continues. “Most humans carry guns and slaughter my people–”

“Oh–”

“ – But you're different.”

She's more willing to approach me now, her eyes studying me in interest. Then, she smiles.

“I like you,” she concludes. “My name is Y/n. What's yours?”

“Varian,” I answer, holding out my hand for her to shake, to which she does.

With her finger pointed out, she then asks me, “What about the raccoon?”

“Oh,” I move him around to where my chest is, “This is Ruddiger. He's my animal companion and a bit of a menace.”

Her eyes light up in an instant upon getting a better look at Ruddiger. “Aww he's so adorable!”

I smile shyly and let her pet him. “Yeah, he is.”

“You really are strange for a human,” Y/n tells me. “First the mushrooms and now you're telling me you have a raccoon for a pet? What are you using those mushrooms for anyway?”

Wanting to ignore the fact that she called me strange, I decide to answer the mushroom question. “I'm using these red mushrooms to cook up a cure for insomnia.”

“Oh, how interesting! I didn't realize those red ones had any use,” Y/n says. “You cook?”

“Yes,” I reply. “I cook, bake, and indulge in alchemic sciences.”

“Alchemic sciences?”

“Alchemy.”

Y/n tilts her head and her deer ears give a flutter. “What's alchemy?”

Time Skip

“What's it like having two feet instead of four?”

“Uh… Fine, I guess,” I say, looking down at my boots. “I don't really think about having more than two feet, so I wouldn't know any differently.”

“How many stomachs do you have? Is it true that they have less than the amount we have?”

I lean against a tree that's rooted behind me. “I have one stomach.”

“Only one?” Y/n gasps. “Wow, that's unique! What about your other sets of organs?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about my organs?”

Y/n flicks her hand dismissively. “I'm not sure, but I'm interested nonetheless.”

“Well, I have a heart, one pair of lungs–”

“One pair? My folk have two pairs of lungs.”

My brow raises. “Two pairs of lungs? What– one for each half of your body?”

“That would be correct!” Y/n claps her hands and continues on with her neverending string of questions. “Do humans have tails? What about hooves?”

Goodness, she just keeps talking… I sigh and try to answer her questions to the best of my abilities. Each time I answer, she gets more excited than she was before and keeps asking more. It's starting to get annoying, but I'd feel bad if I asked her to stop. I'll just have to put up with it, I guess.

“What kind of foods do you eat? Is the human diet any different from my people’s diet? What I mean by that is, are you able to digest poisonous plants as well as we can, or can those kill you–?”

“Woah, woah, woah, you're speaking a little too fast there,” I suddenly interrupt her, getting fed up with all the questions. I don't think I can put up with it anymore. “Maybe we can try taking it down a notch? You're asking way too many questions.”

Y/n’s deer ears flatten against her hair, and she takes a step back. Giving me a guilty look, she says, “Sorry…”

“Wait, no, no, no, I'm– I'm sorry, Y/n. You don't need to apologize,” I stammer out, fiddling with my gloves anxiously. “I shouldn't have said it that way. That was rude of me.”

“Oh,” Y/n says, lifting her ears back up. She smiles shyly at me. “I thought I was really bothering you for a minute there. Does that mean I can ask you more questions?”

I take a look around and frown when I notice how dark it's getting outside. We've been standing out here for a while. “I have to get home, Y/n. It's starting to get late. Maybe I can come back tomorrow?”

Y/n claps her hands together. “Ooh, I like that idea! You'll come back and find me, right?”

“Well, the thing is, I got lost on the way over here. I was chasing my scarf, so I ended up just wandering over here without thinking about it much. Maybe I can show you where I live so you can come find me.”

Y/n shakes her head, backing away from me. “No, I-I can't do that.”

“Why not?”

“There are people who want to hunt me, Varian,” she answers, anxiously glancing around the forest. She brings her hand up to her opposite arm and wraps her fingers around it tentatively. “I'm nothing but prey to humans.”

I bring my hand to my chin and think of a plan. “Well… How about this? We can meet up at a checkpoint that we pick out on the way back.”

Y/n nods her head eagerly and says, “Sounds good! I can take you home, if you'd like. I know the way back to Old Corona.”

Time Skip

Crickets are chirping in the nightly atmosphere around my home in Old Corona. Instead of sleeping (like I'm supposed to be doing), I'm working on my insomnia brew.

I know it's not the best decision, but bear with me here.

As I carefully grind the red mushrooms into dust, my mind flashes back to the strange encounter I had earlier. I have to remind myself that magic apparently does exist, but it's still difficult to wrap my head around the concept.

Especially with mythology. I wasn't expecting to see a creature like Y/n ever, but here I am just making new discoveries every day. It's like science, but more complicated and confusing.

I start to grind the mushrooms harder and my wrist picks up in speed when I think of Y/n, who is by far the strangest thing about this whole thing. She's mysterious and dreamy one minute and suddenly she starts talking at the speed of light like a pestering child. It's obnoxious the way she asks all those weird and personal questions, and it drives me nuts!

I don't know what to think of her, anyways. She's so confusing. I don't know whether to like her or be annoyed by her. Maybe if she didn't ask all those questions, I would have made a decision on whether or not I'd like to–

One slip of the wrist is all it takes for me to splash the mushroom dust all over the table. “Ah, geez! C’mon…”

I set down my mortar and immediately begin to collect the spilled dust into my glove and then into the mortar. “Concentrate, Varian, this is no time for distractions! Ugh, if only I wasn't thinking about–”

I pause. “Oh, dear…”

Taking a step back from my work desk, I take a deep breath and bring my hand to my chin.

“I can't stop thinking about you,” I mutter, sighing and pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why can't I stop thinking about you…?”

“You’re different. I like you.”

Her words come back to me, echoing through my mind so strongly. I take an uneven breath when I remember all those things she said about humans. They all want to hurt her, and I'm the only one who's treated her with kindness.

Well, not really. I was impatient with her.

Would she even want to see me again after I asked her to stop asking questions?

She appeared excited by the idea of me coming back, so why would she turn me away?

I’ll have to apologize to her tomorrow.

But for now, I remain lost in my thoughts and rendered unable to complete my experiment.

Time Skip

“It's so beautiful out here in the forest,” I say with a soft breath. My breath is a visible fog, floating around us.

“I know, right?” I hear Y/n agree. Since I'm leaning against her deer half, I can't see her face. Instead, my gaze wanders around, observing every nearby tree. Each one is covered in snow and icicles that sparkle in the sunlight. “I’ve always thought the winters here were beautiful.”

“Yeah…” I slowly wave my hand through the snow on the ground. My glove leaves a smooth trail behind it. After that, I find myself drawing a heart in the snow, which prompts me to sigh through my nose nervously. Who knew she could make me feel this way?

Back when I first met her a month ago, I dismissed the possibility of liking her. She was obnoxious and pestering at times, but she's also beautiful and kind. Something about her is just… so endearing. It's hard to explain it. That was the confusing part, but now…

… I want nothing more than I have a shot with her. Even if we just stay friends, that's good enough with me.

“Ooh, what a pretty heart!” Y/n fishes, pointing at my little snow drawing. “I can draw things in the snow, too. Look!”

She presses her finger against the snow and sketches a flower. A simple drawing, but beautiful to me.

In the moment, I take her all in again. Her fur and hair, soft and well-groomed. Her eyes, dazzling in the light. She's wearing the moss she sewed together on the day we met around her chest, which replaced the top she wore before that was made of crinkly leaves. Her antlers remain strong and sturdy. She once told me she has antlers as a sign of royalty, meaning she's the princess of her people. In response, I told her I had a princess as well, and when she asked me what she was like, I told her she reminded me of her. She is kind and energetic in spirit with lots to love about her.

What I love about her.

“Y/n?” I begin, stretching my legs out across the snow. “Do you trust me?”

Finished with her doodle, she looks at me and smiles warmly. “I trust you, more than anyone else, Varian.”

I smile back and chuckle softly, a little awkwardly as I try to contain an overwhelming wave of happiness. She’s a little confused but goes along with it anyway.

“Why do you ask?” Y/n wonders.

Our eyes meet, and I find myself frozen, unable to look away. “Well, it’s just, um…”

She smiles at me expectedly, hoping for an answer.

“I…” I let out a frustrated huff before making up my mind. My gloved hands cup around her delicate face, and before I know it, I’m kissing her. I’m kissing the Deer Princess.

I expect her to pull away, maybe slap me or something, but she doesn’t. Instead, she kisses back– She actually kisses back! Relief washes over me, giving me the courage to look her directly in the eyes when we pull away. She’s just as surprised as I imagined she’d be, but I was already expecting that. What surprises me is when she brings her hand to my face and strokes the side of it up and down with her thumb. Her gaze glows with admiration, and my cheeks, which are already red from the weather, flush a shade deeper.

“You really are a strange human,” she says with a smile. “I’m glad I had this opportunity to meet you, Varian. You’re the most wonderful being I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“I should be saying that about you!” I sputter. “You’re so– so beautiful and– and so unique. Most days I can’t even begin to comprehend how someone so kind, so trusting… It's hard to believe that someone like you could ever want to be with someone like me. You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of, Y/n.”

“Oh, Varian!” Y/n pulls me in for a hug, tight enough to restrict my airways. She then proceeds to pepper my face with kisses and laugh in a giddy manner. I let her do her thing, and I'm just as happy as she is.

No– I'm more than just happy. I'm ecstatic!

“Y/n, I love you,” I tell her, snuggling against her.

“I love you, too.”

Word Count: 3092

Guys I am SO SORRY. I need to get better at getting these out quicker. I keep having you wait for these 😭😭😭