TITLE: Untitled Daytonales One-shot
PAIRING: Dayton/OC (if you squint)
RATING: T
CHAPTER: One-shot
SUMMARY: Dayton returns to the Summer Realm when he receives a letter from his sister Delphie concerning his childhood best friend Penelope.
Penelope could feel his eyes on her, but she didn’t turn to greet him. Didn’t flash him that sweet smile meant just for him. She couldn’t even remember the last time she smiled.
Dayton sat down next to her. “Hey sweetheart.”
Normally the term of endearment would have made Penelope flush, but she felt nothing.
“Delphia said you’ve been spending most of your days here,” Dayton said. He almost didn’t believe it when he got the letter from Delphia. His Penelope was always fiery and quick-witted, not this empty husk next to him.
“She just shut down one day. She won’t speak to anyone, Day,” Delphia told him when he arrived in the Summer Realm.
“You’re going to burn if you’re not careful,” Dayton told Penelope. He could see her skin covered in tiny bumps.
Tiny bumps that would snowball into sun blisters.
He pulled out a tin of paste and started to spread it over her arms and shoulders.
Penelope wasn’t as used to being out in the sun as he was.
“Have you been drinking water while you’re out here?” he asked.
She didn’t still answer him. When the sun started to dip below the horizon, she stood up. Penelope didn’t acknowledge him as she started to walk back to the palace. “Goodnight, sweetheart,” Dayton told her.
As soon as she was out of eyesight, he flopped back onto the cooling sand and ran his hands over his face. How was he going to pull her out of this?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next day, Dayton returned to the beach with an umbrella and a picnic basket. “Can’t have you losing your ghostly complexion.”
Her lips didn’t even quirk up.
Damn. That usually got her to blush.
He used to joke that she and Farron could be twins with how pale they were. Dayton wished he knew how to make her smile again.
He took a seat next to Penelope and told her anything he could think of. He told her about the happenings of Castletree and his relationship with Farron and the other princes.
Penelope stayed silent.
When the sun hit its peak in the sky, Dayton opened the picnic basket. He pulled out a sandwich and held it out to Penelope along with a waterskin.
She took it and took a bite. She washed it down with the water.
“That’s my girl.” He gave her a wink, but there was still no reaction from her.
Dayton considered bringing Farron with him so he could maybe read aloud to her. Maybe she was sick and Ezryn could heal her.
“Tell me what’s wrong, sweetheart,” Dayton begged, but Penelope still said nothing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This went on for weeks.
Rosalina and Farron sent him letters asking what was wrong and why he was spending so much in the Summer Realm.
Dayton had even reached out to Keldarion for advice, but the only thing the icy bastard said was “Keep trying. She’ll break one day and she’ll need you to put her back together.”
Dayton was in the middle of sharpening his blades when Penelope said, “I lost my maidenhead.”
Dayton’s head snapped to the side.
“And he…he didn’t even care!” Penelope dissolved into tears.
Dayton pulled her into his chest. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“It should have been you! I waited for you, Day!” Penelope cried.
Dayton said nothing. He just held her and stroked her hair as she sobbed. “I’m sorry,” he told her again, “I wouldn’t have been worthy of it.”
Before Rosalina, he would have done the same thing. He had barely been worthy of being Farron’s first time. There were so many things he wished he could go back and say. So many things he wished he could go back and change.
“One day you’ll find your mate and…”
Penelope scoffed and shoved him in the chest. “Yeah right, Dayton. Mates don’t exist.”
So he told her. All about Farron and Rosalina and Keldarion.
“Are you in love with her?” Penelope asked him.
Dayton wasn’t completely sure he would call it love. “I care about her.”
Penelope rolled her eyes. “You love her. You just won’t admit to yourself. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Everyone I love dies, Pen.”
“Well I’m still here, aren’t I?”
Dayton looked down at her.
She was giving him that smile. That one only meant for him.
He kissed her forehead. “One day you’ll find someone who will love you much more than I ever could.”
“Can…can we just pretend? For today?”
Dayton wanted to say no, but one look from her big green eyes and he found himself saying, “Of course, sweetheart.”
At this point I am definitely rage reading the Beasts of the Briar series. Like I'm trying real hard to not throw my Kindle across the room. Why is it so hard for them to love each other 😭. All of them!!
I can’t believe it’s finally December 5th!! I feel like I’ve waited a million years (it’s only been months but still) for Forged by Malice to drop and I just akddjslaljhskk
I know. I KNOW. I know the author warned us but I wasn’t ready 😂💛 Elizabeth Helen mentioned it on tiktok AND on insta, I’m sure she did on fb too, but I just wasn’t prepared to squeak like this during a reading break at work 😂 When I tell you I screamed! 😂😅💛 I don’t think this counts as a spoiler but just in case, Forged By Malice screenshot under the Read More…
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ARE YOU KIDDING??!! UgggggggGGGGGGGGGGH I’m so fucking feral for our little tin man 🥹💛
