18 days of Sylus
Day 3 - Unmasked
“Not everyone is born with the privilege of being a normal person."
Original Post: “Imagine Sylus and MC getting invited by Tara to her new house, and the theme of the party is outfits-you-never-find-a-place-to-wear, and Sylus wears a normal suit but lets his tail and wings and horns wild as his “costume”, and people compliment it well, about how detailed and beautiful it is, he finds comfort in wearing them freely without invoking fear, at least for one night in a lifetime.”
TAGS: Dragon!Sylus x MC!Reader, mostly fluff, identity crisis, loving girlfriend!MC, vulnerability, SoftBoyfriend!Sylus, emotional intimacy, insecurity/comfort, dragon traits (i.e. wings, tail, horns), learning to be seen, public identity, supportive!Reader, Sylus lets his guard down, Sylus needs love too, some light/suggestive touching
Author’s Note: Saw this idea and couldn’t help myself, it was so adorable. I hope I did it justice. From the wonderful headcanon of @terriblesoup , I give you Sylus, nervous to be himself at a party, but then getting all the praise he deserves and thanking you for it. Tags in the comments 🫶🏻 As always, enjoy :)
P.S. 15 days till Sylus' Bday 🎂 🥳 🎉 cant wait to see what Infold has in store for us. If its anything like Raf's I know we shall be fed.
Word count: 1.7k
✨️Masterlist✨️
"Sylus? Are you done showering?” you say through the large black wooden door. He’s been in the bathroom for several minutes now and the steam is seeping through to the bedroom. You’ve been waiting so patiently for him to come out so you can show him the present you got for him. “Come on, we have to get dressed soon or we’ll be late, and you know how annoying Tara gets!” you call out to him again.
The door opens wide, and there he stands, in nothing but the small white towel he has wrapped around his waist. Water dripping down his muscular tan torso, beckoning you. His hair is just slightly still wet, drying perfectly and falling over his ruby irises. The sight has you flushed as always when you see him like this, but the look of concern on his face pulls you out of your improper thoughts.
"What’s wrong, fearless Onichynus leader? It’s just a party.” you jest, but it doesn’t land the way you thought it would. His face drops further. You stand to comfort him, remember your surprise, and hold the present firm behind your back so he can’t see it yet.
“I want to accompany you, but I don’t have anything to wear.” his voice is low as he looks up at you over the bridge of his nose, expecting your disappointment and clearly shocked by the smile quickly spreading over your cheeks.
“Well then it’s a good thing I’m such a smart girlfriend.” you sing as you pull the black bag from behind you and hand it to him. He’s stunned, and lets out a small chuckle of appreciation.
“What is it, kitten?” He takes the bag as you plant a short kiss on his cheek.
“Something to wear.” You look up at him sweetly.
Sylus opens the bag and pulls out the stuffing to see that you’ve gifted him a beautifully made suit. Black and suede with red embellishments, tailored to perfection, designer, something he would normally wear to an auction when trying to show you off and impress lesser men. He’s taken back at the kindness of your gesture. He sighs and smiles softly as he unfolds them from the velvet linen box.
“Why is there a large tailored hole in the back of the trousers…and the suit jacket?” he looks at you suspiciously.
“That’s part of the surprise… I thought tonight of all nights, a party where you can wear anything you want… you may want to wear your true form?”
You look at the look of debate on his face as he searches for the answer in himself while he holds the garments.
“Sweetie…”
“I know it must be hard, Sy, to hold it in constantly. I can’t imagine what it’s like to hold so much of yourself back for the sake of others comfort, even sometimes for my comfort. To not ever be truly seen.”
“It’s a price I’ve always been more than willing to pay, to be with you in this life.” he whispers, moving to wrap his arms around you.
You fold into him, and bring your hands to his face as he leans his cheek into your touch, graceful and handsome. To you, the kindest, most generous man the world could ever imagine; to everyone else, a monster…a fiend.
“Tonight you don’t have to pay it. Let them see you for who you are, safely. No one will notice beyond the idea that it’s a costume. Plus, I bought an outfit to match you. Do you trust me?” you lovingly inquire.
"Of course I do.” he smiles with a need to give in to your sweet offer of acceptance and love. “You really want me to? You haven’t seen it often enough to remember, my tail is long… it gets in the way, and-” he sighs again still somewhat unsure, “-and my wings, they appear to be…unsettling to most humans.”
“I won’t leave your side. The fear of others can’t hold us back, because you and I have the only opinions that matter, like you said when we first got together.” you remind of the resistance you both faced, as a famed hunter and the city’s most wanted criminal. Nothing could possibly stand in your way now, especially not a silly costume party. All is made well with another kiss to his cheek and a hand over his heart, feeling his heartbeat, kissing his neck and chest to bring him some peace.
His large and warm hand moves over yours to press it further into him as he draws a calming breath and exhales into your touch and lips on his skin.
“Alright then. Give me a moment.” he takes the suit and goes back into the bathroom. You squeal with excitement and babble encouraging words as he steps into the doorway and shuts it behind him.
“I’ll put mine on too!!” You giggle.
You wait on the bed in your black fairy dress and make sure your fake small dragon wings are attached properly to the back of it, and your headband adorned with two little sparkling dragon horns is perched correctly on your head. You’re just about to feel a rush of confidence as he opens the door, but the first thing that becomes visible is the immense black mass of his left wing.
It unfolds swiftly and precisely in the air, through the doorway. His large frame follows, and another large unfurling wing follows behind him. His suit fits perfectly, and he’s careful not to close the door on his tail, having been without it, suppressing it for some time now. A pang of amazement rushes through your chest as you take in the sight of him. Horns protruding through his silver hair, bright red eyes glowing, black armored shards of his dragon skin smoothed over his jawline. His wings fold behind him so elegant and ethereal, he doesn’t even look real. His tail swings and curls effortlessly around his feet.
“Do you think they’ll notice?” He says, arms folded, cheeks red with embarrassment already, not realizing for a second that you’ve just registered the sight in front of you as the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.
By the time he looks up for a response, he can’t help but laugh at your “dragon” costume. He moves over to you gracefully to cup your face with his hands and smile down at you.
“Is this your true form, too, sweetie?” he pecks you on the forehead teasingly. “You’re so good to me, so perfect. Let’s go. Tara will be angry.”
With that you’re whisked away to her housewarming party.
~~~
Upon your arrival, as Sylus releases his dark wingspan again out of the car, no one is quite around outside to get a good look at him, but eyes are wide as saucers as soon as the door to Tara’s new home opens.
“MC!!! I’m so glad you made it,” she happily bounces and hugs you, “and you brought Skye- woah…” she gives him a full-bodied look over.
You can see Sylus blush, he looks to his feet and puts his hands in his pockets like a teenage boy at a dance and your heart sinks. You look at Tara who’s still taking in the sight of him. He is rather tall and menacing as is, let alone the dragon features he’s now adorned.
“These are our dragon cosplays for Renfaire! We didn’t get to wear them last year… that is the theme right?” you smile with a hint of fear behind your eyes.
“Um YEAH, I just didn’t expect you both to steal my shine!” Tara steps back to reveal her K-pop idol outfit. “Skye, your wings are kinda scary but I love them… come in besties!”
Sylus’ ears turn blood red, but he smiles at the endearment in her voice. You take his hand to guide him into the rest of the party, where immediately people are drawn to the sheer size of his dragon anatomy. He is used to being the one in the room people can’t stop staring at, but tonight is different.
You never let go of his hand, and he never lets go of yours, not even as people begin to come and introduce themselves to him just to get a closer look.
You start to hear so many compliments, he’s being showered with attention and affection. As you sip your cocktail you hear:
“Skye, right? Dude where did you get those…you mean they’re CUSTOM?”
“How do they move like they’re real? They’re so cool, bro. Can you do that again, my girlfriend didn’t see. Hey Julie, come see this!!”
“How long did it take to put those on?? MC did you help him??”
“Wow… those are fucking dope, man. I never realized how badass dragons are until now.”
You start to feel his grip on your hand loosen, and eventually he moves his hand to your hip, keeping you close by but clearly ten times the confidence he had when he walked in. It gives you so much joy to watch him in his natural form, to be his true self and not be judged. Everyone seems to love him exactly how he is…they don’t need to know he really is a dragon. Your dragon.
“Are you enjoying yourself, handsome?” You whisper in his ear as he pulls at the frills on your dress.
“Not as much as you will be later." He smiles at you and delivers a sensual kiss to your lips in front of everyone seated around you both.
“Get a ROOM.” Tara yells from the kitchen bar as the others laugh and scoff at your expression of adoration for one another.
Sylus settles his arm around you and wraps his tail around your waist out of the view of the party.
“You know, I think I am enjoying myself a little too much. There’s so much I want to do together like this. How would you feel if I stayed in my true form when I take you to bed this evening?” he looks at you for approval and is met with a flash of desire in your eyes. He smirks at you subconsciously squeezing your thighs together at the thought of that tail doing all kinds of wild things... and whatever else is hiding underneath that suit...
“I wouldn’t have you any other way.” you say to him softly, joyfully surrendering yourself.
“Thank you, kitten.”
