I wrote a bit of a drabble for week 3 of @sonderfairy's tmptober, for the prompt "whisper." (This was originally going to be on AO3, and it will be there soon, but I realized I wouldn't be able to get it up before the end of the week, so I decided to just post it here first.😅) The title is "something best left unsaid."
Something was tickling Fern's nose. Lots of fluffy little seeds, dancing through the air to settle on the grass.
“What are you doing?” they asked Arcade. He jolted, a puff of dandelion in his hand that scattered at the sudden movement. He watched them wistfully as they floated away, then turned around to face Fern.
“Making wishes?” It wasn't a question, but the upwards lilt of Arcade’s voice suggested otherwise.
“Why? There is no magic here. It will not come true.”
Arcade sighed, but didn't drop his smile. He rarely did, these days.
“I knew you'd understand. Here.”
He shifted closer to Fern, carefully placing a dandelion into his hands. Fern raised an eyebrow incredulously. Arcade continued to grin back.
“And what am I to do with this?”
Arcade laughed.
“Blow on it, then wish for something you want.”
Fern almost complained further, but decided against it. His eyes fluttering closed, he tried to focus on what he wanted. Sunlight was streaming down onto his face. The flower stem was smooth and slightly sticky with sap between his fingers. Arcade was pressed up against his side, leaning over his shoulder. It was so very… something. Warm was the closest word, though it wasn't quite right. Whatever it was, it felt very nice indeed. He settled on his wish.
He smiled, took a deep breath, and blew. And just before his eyes fluttered open, he whispered his wish to himself. Fern wished for everything to stay exactly how it was, with him and Arcade and the very sun itself in that clearing, forever.
As Fern's eyes adjusted to the newfound light, Arcade shifted away, a little stunned (and yet not entirely shocked) by the knowledge of a wish not meant for him. Fern shivered slightly as his warmth left them.
Fern had not expected the wish to work, but he was still a bit disappointed nevertheless. He frowned and let the flower fall from his hand. Arcade continued to smile.
“What did you wish for?” Arcade asked, for the sole purpose of hearing Fern's wish again. He was met with a lie.
“To break my curse, obviously.”
It was obvious. It was what they should have wished for from the start. Not that it would have come true. Not that they cared if it did. How was he to tell Arcade about a wish that didn't come true and that he should never have made in the first place? It's not like he would ever know he lied.
Arcade knew that he lied. He almost pointed it out. He didn't. Instead, he laughed. He made a stupid joke. He stood up from the clearing, and walked with Fern down the long, twisting, bracken covered path back to his cave. He wasn't entirely sure why. It could have been something in Fern's expression, like the slight downward tilt of his lips. There was a chance it was because of the nature of his voice, clipped and curt and guarded. Maybe it was because he knew that Fern had no intention of telling the truth, that he didn't know he had spoken his thoughts aloud. Then again, perhaps it was simply something best left unsaid.
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