"Naughty John, Naughty John, does his work with his apron on. Cuts your throat and takes your bones, sells 'em off for a coupla stones."
- Libba Bray, The Diviners
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My head was starting to pound and my body had burned like fire but then afterwards dipped in ice cold water while burning again,
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I was shivering,
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My eyes had barely started to open as I heard rushed and hushed voices around me,
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"If you don't fix her right here, right now, I will fucking kill you"
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"M-My lord, I-I am t-trying, s-she...." the voice had started sobbing, he sounded very distressed,
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He tried to compose himself,
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"S-She has poison in h-her blood, your highness, b-but she had taken the antidote, I-If she was a-any later, s-she would have d-died"
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I heard the voice snarl at the quivering noises the other person was making,
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The snarling voice had strangely sounded like Cian,
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But a deeper voice than Cian's,
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I decided to save the poor man,
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"C-Cian"
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I looked around, my eyes fully open now,
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I saw a figure running towards me,
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The figure wasn't my mate, it was a man in a white coat, it was a doctor,
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Then the doctor got shoved out of my vision as my mate came closer,
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His hair was messy from what it looked like he had constantly ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes sunken slightly as his lips were set in a worried frown, his eyes ran over my face and body as he let out a sigh of relief,
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He then lowered himself as he cupped my cheek in his palm and gently kissed my forehead,
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As he got further, I realized that his eyes had turned completely yellow, and they were beautiful,
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The doctor had been shivering and whimpering in fear near the bed side and I frowned,
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"Cian, what have you done to the doctor"
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The doctor had kneeled in fear after I had mentioned him, Cian had looked guilty as he tried to cover his expression with stubbornness,
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"Cian didn't do anything"
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I tilted my head confused, until I had realized this wasn't Cian, it was Helios,
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I sighed as I raised an eyebrow at him then pushed myself up to sit up while Helios supported my back with his palm as he tried his best to aid me in every single way,
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I frowned at him "Get out"
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The doctor thought I had talked to him as he tried to crawl his way out and I looked at Helios, scowling as his lips jotted into a pout,
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"Not you doctor, you stay. I'm talking to Helios and Cian"
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Helios's eyes had turned huge at me mentioning him and demanding for him to leave, he started whimpering which had the doctor squeal at the new sound,
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I sighed thinking of a way to make this big baby get out of the room so the doctor could work,
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I rested my palm on top of his big hands and looked up at him with a small smile "Helios, I need you to leave so the doctor could take care of me, you want me to recover, right?"
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He started nodding his head quickly and eagerly as a sudden realization downed on him and he frowned,
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"Why did you poison yourself, little mate"
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I looked around, trying to come up with a response yet coming up with none,
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"I will let it go for now if little mate bribes us"
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I gasped, this big baby wanted a treat and be bribed,
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I quickly planted a kiss on his cheek, letting the few strands of my hair that had come loose hide my burning cheeks, he smiled cheekily,
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"That's not enough, we want more"
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My heated cheeks had started burning by now as I whispered "That's for some other time, I don't want others see us kissing" Helios's playful glint in his yellow eyes had melted into a proud and adoring glint in his now yellow but brown streaked eyes.
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He started leaving the room while leaving the door open, standing in the doorframe as he claimed that he is technically not inside the room, but I had told him to close the door and get as far away as possible which in response his shoulders had sagged and his face frowned up as he closed the door, leaving with heavy steps.
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I looked at the doctor where he had nearly passed out on the floor, I felt bad for the poor fellow, he didn't need to be abused like that,
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"I apologize in his stead, he isn't exactly friendly"
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You don't say, Signy, can you be any more awkward,
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"I-It's okay, m-my queen, you don't n-need to apologize" I smiled at his jumpy behavior to have him slowly relax to my presence,
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"Don't call me that yet" I joked with a smile as he returned mine nervously,
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"H-His majesty loves you"
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My heart picked up as it showed on the monitor frantically, the doctor had chuckled lowly before catching himself which seemed to calm my heart down, his smile had melted into a soft one as he looked up from his report papers,
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"By the looks of it, so do you"
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His words had stuck with me the whole time, my heart picking up every time I had thought of Cian and Helios,
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I wondered if he was right, I've never experienced love for another creature other than animals and my own brother, I wondered how would romantic affection feels like, would it feel what I feel like now? Because if it does, it feels wonderful, it feels great every time I think of Cian, every time he talks to me, the nicknames he would use, all of it would make my stomach do flips, my heart had quickened again but this time with the realization hitting me,
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At the same moment, a frantic Cian had opened the door,
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The moment we had made eye contact, everything stopped around us, we had stared at each other the entire time as I grasped the feelings in my stomach, catching the butterflies one by one,
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I love Cian.
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