Keeper of My Heart
ღ summary: Fiyero Tigelaar’s arrival at Shiz reveals a thrillifying secret between you and the prince.
ღ pairing: Fiyero Tigelaar x fem!reader
ღ warning: Scandalicious Fiyero, reader with long-ish hair
"I may be from another country, but my lady you are out of this world."
The day was beautiful. Perfect. Sun warm enough to comfort you without a sweat, the air smooth and sweet. You're leaning against a hidden alcove on the lower floors of Shiz, eyes buried into a stimulating history textbook when you hear the drag of heavy boots against gravel.
When you look up, you're greeted with the astonishing sight of Prince Fiyero Tigelaar standing right in front of you, hands behind his back—picture perfect royalty.
You know him. Heard of him. How can you not, when practically the entire university is buzzing with news of Winkie Country's very own beloved prince arriving at Shiz. These days you can't even walk two steps without seeing students either whispering his name or holding copies of Shiz Gazettes plastered with his grinning face on it.
You're.. neutral about him. Maybe the fact that you yourself came from Winkie Country too had worn down the intrigue that surrounded his presence. Though you are curious about why he transferred. After all, it’s a public secret that the reason he moved to Shiz in the middle of the school year was because he got kicked out of his last academy. Only one of the long list of institutions. Even if you are interested, it’s not enough to warrant you pushing through the obvious crowd he has gathered around himself. You don’t exactly fancy getting stampeded between Shiz students in a charm flaring competition.
But here he is, a perfectly crafted smile showing up without a call. It's like he has a radar or something.
You’d be a terrible liar to say that he doesn’t look absolutely fantastical. There is something about his air of arrogance—more rebellious than regal—that compels you to stare. He stands with the posture of a man who knows he can bring the entirety of Oz under his feet.
"Do you use that line on everything that has eyes and lips?" You raise your eyebrow at his words, unimpressed. But maybe impressed by the gall this man has.
Fiyero doesn't seem to be at all deterred by your dry response. He only uses that momentum to step forward dramatically, hands still behind his back.
"Just the ones with incomparable beauty." You'd kill to know if he rehearsed the timing of that head lift when he finished the sentence. Fiyero isn't done with his.. courting, and he continues to pursue even as you shut your book to slowly back away.
"Might I interest you in a walk through the gardens?"
By this time you're fully holding back a smile at his attempts, tucking the textbook in front of you with both arms as you look at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Prince Tigelaar but I have better things to do with my time."
He seems aghast at your reaction and lags behind when you start stepping away. Once noticing the distance the prince speeds forward to walk by your side. "And what could possibly be better than being alone with me?" He wonders. Genuinely concerned.
Your back is turned towards him and you don't bother hiding the Cheshire grin on your face as you pause to wonder out loud, "For one.. Doctor Dillamonds's riveting history class, which for some of us responsible students-"
Just as you started to jabber you felt him pull your arm from behind, whipping your body around and before you can so much so react to the sudden movement, his soft lips were slotted between yours.
For a moment you're stunned to move and your eyes widen at the contact. But then your face melts into a content smile.
You grin into his lips and drape your arms over his broad shoulders, and he familiarly responds by sliding his palms up your waist. It’s breathless, heavy, and hot to the point of desperation. You want to bury yourself under his skin and Fiyero notes that when your nails dig at his hair, practically burning a trace on his scalp. The thrill has you grinning into his lips, and he replicates the gesture, breath puffing over your face before he playfully nips your bottom lip.
The moment is over faster than you'd like it to be.
"I missed your chatty mouth." Fiyero talks as if you are his lifeline, almost sighing in relief at your touch. You see the impatience in his cadence, the way he moves almost erratically. It's why he couldn't keep up the charade any longer. Not one second later he goes back in to peck your lips which brings a light laugh out of you.
You pull your face away for a moment to look at him through your lashes, grinning cheekily with your hands in his hair. "Just for being chatty?"
Fiyero doesn't bother to retort but instead boldly moves one hand downwards to pinch your bottom. The motion makes you break out into laughter, your body pushing even closer to his.
He takes advantage of this, said hand traveling down to hook under your thigh and hitch your leg up. Fiyero leans your body backwards, using his other hand to hold your waist. There’s a lazy smile on his face and when he leans close, you’re pleasantly surprised to feel him nuzzle the tip of his nose against yours. The tenderness is a far cry from the way he was just about to devour you a second ago.
Once content, he ushers you closer to the wall of the alcove, away from the prying eyes of nosey Shiz students.
There's a quiet moment between the two of you simply taking the image of each other in.
Behind you the bright fuchsia bougainvillea flowers sway gently to the rhythm of the wind, carrying a beautifully sweet scent your way. A tender gust of air caresses Fiyero's cheeks, tugging strands of his golden hair with it. The windchimes and soft ripples of water from the lake sing a melody that reflect in his eyes, and he is the absolute picture of desire. There is a certain hunger in them that can never be satiated, and the way they follow your every breath makes you wonder just how depraved he had been without you.
Being apart from each other for 5 months had to be one of the most depressing parts of your relationship. Fiyero had practically begged you on his knees to stay with him at Winkie Country when you got your Shiz acceptance letter. But all these years growing up in the country almost felt like it was caging your potential. You wanted to explore new heights, see what Oz had to offer and the Shiz curriculum felt like it was calling out your name. Fiyero was stuck at Winkie Academy, both because of princely obligations and urges from his parents. But when even that got scratched out of the list, there was no other choice but to venture outside of Winkie Country. Lucky for him, really.
A part of you believes that he purposely acted up to get kicked out of Winkie Academy just so he could move to be together with you. But if you were to say that out loud you'd feel bad for all the indirect victims of his crusades. You just hope Fiyero will at least behave himself now that you're there with him.
"I couldn't see you through the crowd." The words come out fainter than you intend, the yearning seeping through your tone. As much as you joke around, you feel his absence embedded deep inside your heart. It's like every part of you aches when he is not around, and your voice is the first to betray you.
Fiyero's blue eyes soften at the sight of you fidgeting with the collar of his jacket by his neck. It’s almost pitiful the way you pout and mope, staring at anything but him. But he hasn’t exactly been any better than you.
"I'm sorry, lovebug." He tucks a strand behind your ear, stooping his head down to catch your gaze. His eyes chase after yours, not stopping until you are just a breathe away from him. They’re burning with something that never seems to dim when he looks at you. Finally, he settles to slide his hand down to cup your right cheek. "I've found you now, haven't I?"
He's like a balm to soothe your hurt.
You take the hand on your face to kiss his palm, and you're completely satisfied to lay your head on his chest while he adjusts to cradle your body into his.
Your hands fidget with the lapels of his lapis jacket, fingers going over the intricate gold embroidery before snaking into the opening and prying the indigo wrap shirt underneath open. Absent-mindedly, they trace the edge of the fabric until it meets his skin. "Nice trip to Shiz?" You ask.
Whether by pure instinct or sensation, the Winkie prince turns his head up to the left as phantom goosebumps follow where the pads of your fingers trek. He has to hold himself back and it feels like every inch of him is trembling from the force.
He's missed this. Your touch, your voice, your skin, the gentleness in which you hold him, and the way you admire him for who he is. The (short) months at Winkie Academy felt utterly dull without you by his side. Perhaps it was fate that he was transferred—to put it so kindly—from that institution to Shiz, where he could spend all of his days sweet talking you until you melt under him.
Fiyero holds your body impossibly close, swaying the two of you in a gentle rhythm.
"Dreadful. Entirely dreadful without your hands in my hair and my head on your lap." He throws his head back in exaggeration, his eyes squeezing shut as if the thought of being without you is the bane of his existence.
A smirk pulls at the corner of your lip, though you cannot lie and say that it isn’t sweet. "Such princely words coming from his highness of the Winkie Country."
Fiyero grins almost evilly before diving face first into the crook of your neck, shaking his head to tickle at your skin. You want to flinch back, but his strong grip cages you within his proximity. All you can do is to fist his chest in surrender—though your giggle-riddled pleas fall dear to his ears.
Once he is satisfied with hearing those lovely sounds out of you he moves with gentleness, nosing and kissing your neck all the way up your jaw. With a practiced ease he playfully bites the skin in a rhythm that follows your slowing breaths, and you simply close your eyes to sigh in bliss.
"Come over to mine tonight? I'll give you anything you ask for." Your fingers are already running through his hair, the motion springing the perfectly curled strand at the front. Fiyero looks up to blow the piece away from his forehead before ducking down and smiling.
"Naughty." The hand that lays vacantly on your spine travels down the curve of your back, dipping lower than Shiz-appropriate and you don't bother to push it away. At the same time, his right hand goes to squish your cheeks together, making your lips pucker out so he could kiss them.
He's mid pushing all his sense of affection to you when you start to wonder out loud, "How'd you know I was here?"
The alcove by the smaller lake behind the campus isn't exactly a shortcut that many students use. Mostly because it'd take longer to get to class from there, so a vast majority opt to go through the front atrium. This is the exact reason why you seek this hidden comfort since you began studying at Shiz. It's a nice chance to get some quiet before the bustling of class. That's why you were surprised that your boyfriend found his way to you.
You're not wrong when you think that Fiyero has some sort of radar for you. He's like a magnet and you are the metal that sways all his senses.
Fiyero skips the normal way of answering and simply takes your hand to twirl your body halfway, and you fall right onto his plush chest. He leans in very closely to the side of your face before ceremoniously pulling out his timetable in front of you and purring into your ear,
"Seems that, my darling, we have Doctor Dillamond's riveting history class together."
He joined both his hands to hug your waist from behind when you take the timetable, letting your own hand rest on top of his. To your absolute delight, Fiyero has almost the exact same classes as you do. More time for you to have him all to yourself.
Just as you are going through his schedule, your eyes catch the starting time of previously mentioned history class. You realize that you only have a very quick 5 minutes to get there. The blue-eyed prince must’ve sensed your sudden alertness because without voicing anything he pulls himself away from your body to grab your bag with ease, slinging the thing over his shoulder like it was an accessory.
Fiyero doesn’t bother to turn back, only thrusting his arm out for you to take while he attempts to brainstorm how to navigate the castle-like campus.
You allow him to pull your body wherever he is going, already comfortably relying on him again. This may be one of your favorite things about having him with you. Something about Fiyero is just so.. masculine. His instinct to take care of you often outweighs common sense but you admire that trait of his; it’s how you know he won’t ever leave you behind. To you, those actions were worth more than any words.
You’re humming a lovely tune as you walk beside him, the leisure a contrast to the seriousness Fiyero possesses as he tries to get to your destinations. “Feldspar must’ve grown more handsome than the last time I saw him.”
The thought comes to you after you start recalling all the things you’ve missed about your prince. One of them being his beloved blue steed. Fiyero used to take you around everywhere on Feldspar, and the animal had taken quite a liking to you. You’re about 98% sure that Fiyero rode on horseback all the way to Shiz, so you cannot wait to be reunited with him again.
At your declaration Fiyero pauses his march, eyebrows raised with a deadpan stare as he looks back at you.
“I wouldn’t say “more” handsome. Or handsome at all.” The last part is muttered quietly, but either you have incredible hearing, or your boyfriend isn’t bothered to hide his pettiness away from you.
“Jealous? Of your horse?”
The sight of you grinning brightly beside a disgruntled Fiyero is quite a sight for the passing Shiz students. All with open mouthed stares and crushed spirits. Putting aside the fact that the prince was holding your hand, it’s a change to see anything but a dazzling, pearly white smile on his face. They whisper and gawk at the unexpected reveal, and somewhere in the crowd you glimpse Pfanne and Shenshen causing a storm among themselves. You have no doubt that this will be making it all the way to Galinda Upland. None of that bothers you, because now the sun seems to shine a little brighter and everything feels so much lighter when Fiyero is here with you.
“Well I’d prefer it if my girlfriend only had eyes for me.” He almost scoffs the sentence out but doesn’t forget to squeeze your hand in a gesture of assurance.
Of course, he’s saying this wholly in jest. Because what is Fiyero Tigelaar without his flare for dramatics.
And you, being the loving partner are obligated to follow each and every one of his whims.
“Fine, fine, anything for my handsome prince.” You have to bite your lip to keep the utter joy from bursting out of your body. How you’ve missed this.
You hug his arm to yourself, squeezing it close to your right cheek and most definitely not passing on the chance to feel his bicep through the fabric of his jacket.
“Love of my life, keeper of my heart.” You continue to coo and serenade at him and Fiyero just about inflates at your words. He loves this. Loves you. Loves being your man.
“Keep it coming, sweetness. We’ve got all day.”
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