Hi y’all! Coming on here briefly to say I’ve now made a separate art blog @demxnx that’s (mostly) sfw, and will also be where I post my art directly from now on :)
You sit in Meryl’s lap instead of Nico’s and he’s so affronted, he’s looking at you like you just kicked him in the chest. He’s moping, groaning, complaining dramatically about how nobody loves him until Vash plops down on him and nearly knocks the wind out of Nico
when y’all are sleeping, the boys keep you and meryl in the middle of the bed, both for safety reasons and so that if anyone is going to fall off it’s gonna be one of them
Gay, transgender, and Jewish fans should be aware: Binging with Babish took a sponsorship from wizard game for their newest video, and are leaving up bigoted comments while deleting trans-friendly ones
CN fear of water, mentions of previous sexual assault, drowning, women drowning or cannibalising their abusers, blood, isolation, mentions of death, accidental bondage and rope play
Notes for better understanding at the bottom!
Beta-read by the amazing @queenquazar.
2.5k words
Masterlist
I am really unsure about this one since i am dragging both character and plot development with highspeed into something dramatic that I have planned. I really would like to have some feedback on this chapter.
Time moved on like it always had. You barely remembered how the summer days had gotten longer as it all flooded into one endless string of memories, closing in above you. Just like the sun rose and set, your mood and memories changed from the highest of highs to the lowest you have ever felt. Nothing was anchoring you anymore, leaving you lost and confused in a sea of impressions.
X
First, there was the Palace.
It was an odd sight as it grew in shape with frightening inevitability.
The lake in which the Palace was built was green, dark, and deep. Surrounded by a thick forest as if blanketing the palace to keep out the harsh outside world. In the middle of it was an island. It had become the centrepiece of the ‘Half-palace’ as König called it. Half in the water, half above it. Half for you. Half for him. Like an odd creature lifting its head out of the water, the Half-palace rose from the lake, reminding you more and more of König as time progressed and the high time of summer approaching with the beginning harvests, merriments, and festivals… And weddings.
The moment König showed you the spot of your new home, you had asked for a boat. There was no way you would be able to fight and crawl your way through the forest to live there. As much as you had gotten used to being guarded and accompanied, there was no way you would ask for help every time you wanted to leave the palace for a simple stroll. At least you hoped you would not have to, not wanting to exchange one cage for another.
Much to your relief, König had obliged without any further question. And so, you had ended up with a boat, built by your fiancé to ferry you to and from the palace as you pleased.
It had a fish head (of course) and little rows for you to move it. Not that you had to do much rowing. Often rusalkis picked you up quickly, accompanied you and curiously asking you about the life on land while pushing your boat where you needed to go as if you were a cousin that rarely visited who had stories to share from far off lands.
Yes, as you had started to move on the water more often you met them - beautiful women with long hair, laughing and playing in the waters and around it. They were human - sometimes. Sometimes they were terrifying goddesses, singing songs about eating unfaithful husbands and drowning rapists. You had shivered when you had heard them the first time, the images of violence invoking memories you weren’t entirely over with. But they laughed and assured you that as long as you were no cheating husband, they would not eat you, making you smile.
“Alright then,”you had replied once, “sounds like I should not become a cheating husband then.”
They had giggled, calling you to play in the water with them but you had only waved from afar. No matter how inviting the rusalkis might be, how nice the thought of finally having friends to talk and laugh with, they were in the water. And you couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying than getting submerged in the dark abyss, be it in play or not.
X
Second, there was the net incident with König.
Once you had tried to fish after finding an old net left by your grandfather.
It had some holes, and you spend half a day trying to fix it with the Heron giving advice about fishing and the Fox sticking around in the hopes of stealing a few bites, should you be successful.
You weren’t successful.
Instead, you had gotten yourself tangled in the net, forcing the Heron to get König as the only one with suited hands and fingers to help you free yourself instead of tearing the newly mended net into pieces.
He had laughed at the sight of you.
“Did I catch myself a bride?” He teased and you felt yourself going from irritated to relieved knowing that König would save you.
“I might have done that for you, dear.” You wiggled, showing how you had gotten yourself stuck, “Can you help me?”
He bowed down and traced the knots and threats with his eyes before tilting his head in concentration.
“May I?” he asked, and you nodded, your lips suddenly too dry and brittle for words.
His fingers felt warm on your body, not clammy like when he passed you something right out of the waters or unpleasantly hot like steam for a burned pot.
It was as if his hands belonged on you as they glided over the curve of your waist, your hip, your legs. You lowered your gaze as he untangled you, unsure if you could not breathe from the tight net around your chest or because you forgot how to. König was so close and you wanted to lean into him, stay bound in his arms. The tight threats on your skin made you feel like drunk as he moved your body with his hands like he needed to.
It was over so quickly.
“Thank you,” You rasped coarsely and he turned away from you, leaving as quickly as he had arrived to continue his work on the Half-palace.
That night was the first time you had dreamed of him. A few blurry thoughts and dreamy images of König coming into the house instead of always guarding your sleep. You felt breathless and confused as you woke up and stared at the all-familiar ceiling and not König leaning over your bed, asking you to stay the night. With you.
I am doomed. You thought as you tried to ignore the heat and warmth in your chest and abdomen, burning persistently with dreamy temptations.
It will never happen. Get used to your maidenhood for it will stay. Just be a friend to him like he had become to you. Nothing more.
X
And like a friend you had continued - pushing and locking your desires away deep within you where you kept all those little other maiden secrets.
Instead, you tried to be like you had always been. A nice smile there, a joke here. Physical touch grew rare between you as you kept away from him, not daring to taste more of his warm skin and feeling like a thief every time you accidentally did.
Sometimes, it could not be avoided when he asked for your help.
“Why are you building along the island in the lake and not just on it?” You had asked as you helped König with his hair one day. It had become a nuisance to him while building and he had requested your help to comb and braid like you did with your hair to keep it out of the way.
That’s what friends do. They help each other out. This is normal.
He shrugged, sitting before you as you weaved.
“Don’t you like plants? I saw you grow them at your house. Thought you liked that.” He answered.
His words coaxed a smile out of your concentration pressed lips.
“Yes. I do like that,” You said. “Thank you very much.”
He nodded and you protested he shouldn’t move around so much or else you would not be able to braid his hair properly which had resulted in him groaning but stilling under your fingers.
When you were done with the braid, you tied it with a band you had knotted and dyed for him.
Little things friends do for each other.
You were finished with braiding his hair. Yet you did not want to be.
He was so close, his shoulders strong and that pleasant warmth like his hands had on your body as they leaned against your legs. It would have been easy to lean forward and embrace him as you bathed in his oh so warming presence. You could whisper that you liked him. That every new discovered piece of König was precious to you. That you trusted him and that you wanted more than what he had offered.
And then you did nothing.
Foolish girl. Foolish, foolish girl. You scolded yourself as you stepped away. He is just friendly. You are just a lucky girl marrying a man that became a friend. Don’t be a burden.
Embarrassment flooded you every time the memory arose despite your best attempts to suppress your amorous thoughts and turning to more pragmatic things.
You needed a new dress to marry in. Your old clothes were fine to work in or crawl around the forest. But it would not do for a wedding. More importantly, it would not do for your wedding. You might marry a man from the swamps and waters, but your mother would not stop haunting your dreams if you would not at least attempt to do your part in looking like a proper bride the day you married. So, you spent much time behind the loom spinning and weaving in the hopes of at least finishing something resembling a proper dress until your fingers bled, while you did not even attempt making a kokoshnik in time. I will be his show-off wife. Nothing else. I just need to look and play my part as well as I can - you reminded yourself as you worked on your dress, bloody and in misery while trying to not think much about your life after the wedding.
It was best to forget that part. Best to forget how you had giggled with friends talking about who had kissed whom. Best to forget how you had tasted lips before. None of that for you anymore. You would be a married woman soon – unharmed, unkissed, untouched.
What else could you ask for?
You would be a proper woman with a palace!
You stilled, the spill in your battered hands.
Oh my, you would be a proper woman with a palace!
The dread and horror of it washed over you as the realisation caught up to you. How were you supposed to run a palace on your own? And what was it like to be a proper woman? Suddenly you were hit with the grief of missing your mother who would have known. In your despair you wished for Baba Yaga back. At least Farah was alive and would have had answers for you.
But your mother was dead, and Farah was away. You did not know how to reach the lady of the chicken legged house, not even able to write a letter because you hadn’t mastered that yet except for a few scribbled words König had taught you until now.
No, you were on your own.
Desperation was another persistent memory of those hazy days, waved into your mind like the blood-red stains into your wedding dress.
X
But there was hope.
Every evening you walked with König, nearly swaying drunk from his attention, and talking about your days, wondering what the personal sacrifice was that König had to do to save you from potential drowning.
“Is it maybe some kind of pendant for me to wear? A pretty stone from a riverbed you kept or some magical jewellery that can protect me?” You wondered aloud as you slowly walked the little beach at the lake.
“It sounds more like you would like to wear something pretty.” König responded.
“Well, I wouldn’t object.”
He chuckled, a deep grumbled sound - like bubbles coming up from the bottom of a forgotten pond.
“I am sure I can dive and find you some pretty stones in the water if you want, Bride.” König said, “but I have none now for I never had use for them. So, I cannot sacrifice what I never possessed or cared for.”
You sighed.
“I suppose just something pretty out of the water for me to wear would have been just too easy, wouldn’t it?”
“We can try it out.” He suggested.
You eyed the lake you walked along, the Half-palace rising in the middle of it surrounded by water – so much deep water.
“No thank you,” You squeaked.
He hummed.
“I am sorry, you know.”
You glanced at König.
“I am sorry how we met and how I…” He tried.
You watched him as the mighty King of Everything from Under the Water searched for words. How he struggled with those dreadful and disrupting things in your odd coexistence.
“I am sorry for being so careless back then and nearly drowning you,” He finally said, “I regret how I, a Ruler from the Waters, instilled you with a fear of water. You will be the queen of a kingdom you not only cannot enter, but fear. And that is because of me. I am sorry.”
X
You stopped. And with it the memory, floating away like a piece of driftwood.
A part of you wished that you remembered what had happened that evening.
Maybe you said something funny or forgiving. Like that you did not blame him or that fear of water was well deserved considering unkempt men from the swamps lived there to snatch away women as brides. Maybe not. You wished you remembered anything, but your memory of those hazy days was slipping out of your fingers as you floated down through the water and the last bubbles of air escaped your screaming lungs.
This was it. Foolish girl. Foolish, foolish girl. You thought to yourself and closed your eyes. I should have said something. I should have been brave when I had the chance.
XXX
Cultural Context Notes
A kokoshnik is a crown worn by eastern european women* of often high status. It’s an old tradition of complex significance so who and why it is worn has changed and shifted since at least the 10th century. The Kokoshnik is part of the traditional Slavic Russian wear. However, it is not a ‘just Russian’-tradition and to say it’s just Russian plays into many cultural imperialist norms perpetrated by mostly Russian nationalists. I read this crown as an important symbol for female dignity and power, noticeably showing up in resistance and empowerment movements in the region. Since it is also a very traditional and romanticised headwear, the kokoshnik can be found among more right-wing, nationalist, and the local equivalent of the ‘trad wife’ movements as well. The kokoshnik has a wide variety of shapes, colours, and decorative elements on it, depending on the region and taste. Also, I personally don’t think that those who have no ties to the region and no interest in learning about us but just want to wear a kokoshnik as a pretty costume, should do so as this head wear is loaded with complex cultural codes. Eastern European heritage and culture is open, and everyone is welcome to participate, but it comes with the commitment to learn and be respectful as well.
At least among Russians it is rare for men to braid their hair, but we can do whatever we want here. This is the gender affirming masculinity hair braiding edition. Also, doing each other’s hair is something done mostly among family and very close friends.
The German word ‘Hochzeit’ = wedding is a compound word of the word high / highest and time. Historically many important festivities were ‘highest times’ or highly honoured celebrations but at some point the wedding as the ‘most highest time’ linguistically stayed. In at least Russian folk traditions, the time for engagements was in spring with the wedding then following in the high time of the year so the summer when lavish celebrations outdoors with good food and enough space for everyone was possible. Kind of leaving this here for a bit of folk practice background on why König and protagonist not really plan but just follow the cultural norm of marrying in the foreseeable future of this summer.
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