King of the squirrels x reader
King watches the rain from the living room window. It coats the world in silver fingers, shaking the trees like a giant holding the world in between their hands.
He waits for the thunder, for the lighting. For the clashing and banging, the flashing and striking, his shoulders shaking at the thought of all the flooding that will happen in the woods. Shivering, he draws his cape closer, steadying himself. He has to watch the rain for flooding. To assess the damage. To make sure every squirrel is inside of his bedroom, safe in his bed in all the nests he made for them.
He could feel his breathing grow heavier as the rain poured down harder, drumming against the house, he feels the air fizzle and snap on his furry arms and tail.
A flash of light fills the room, everything becoming white as a shriek escapes his lips.
When it passes, the room fills with the sound of rain again, and he knows it what comes next. Thunder roars, cracking against the sky and yelling inside of the house and in his ears as he dashes underneath the dining room table, knocking over chairs. Lighting flashes again and he whimpers, covering himself with his cape, burying his face into the white fluffy collar.
He hates thunderstorms. Every time one happens, he is always reminded of brown, drenched bodies clinging to trees, of branches knocked over and small animals crushed underneath their weight. Of birds nests destroyed and cracked eggs, of so much death. Especially during storms in the summer, where the wind shrieks and howls joyfully like a witch from a an old fairytale. He also remembers drowning. His limbs flailing and fighting the waves, arms pushing against the harsh waters, the thunder laughing and the lighting cackling as he drowned, the river ready to swallow him whole like the mouth of a mountain lion. It chewed him and swirled him in its tongue before spitting him out, not liking the way he tasted.
His breathing grows heavy as he thinks of it, and he feels his lungs constrict, like they're tied with rope, or metal rods have been wrapped around his body.
Lighting strikes again, and he flinches, whimpering as the thunder comes, shaking the house with its voice. The rain stomps its feet on top of the house, and kicks the walls as the storm laughs at him with its booming laugh, making fun of him for crying. He doesn't even notice that you're in the room till he hears footsteps.
"King?" A soft wind of a voice against the thunder, a lullaby against the explosions outside.
"King? You okay?" You're whispering, and he hiccups, his chest heaving as you kneel down in front of the table.
His sobs are so heavy, they feel like a hail on his body as he curls up tighter in shame, whimpering.
"Oh, King.. hey, it's okay.." You slowly lay down next to him, and he cries again, wanting to reach towards you, to be comforted.
"It's okay..." Your voice is so soft, like the sun shining in through a window and gently nuzzling him awake, or like a squirrels' fur. Gently, you reach towards his cheek, and rub it.
He's still shaking, sobbing as you wipe away the tears, feeling the warm salt underneath your fingers as he uses one of his clawed hands to cling to your arm. You watch him try to speak, but the words get stuck in his throat, tangled up with the sounds of tears and his heavy breathing.
"It's okay, King, it's okay.." He bawls as he tries to breathe, shoulder jolting up as he tries to calm down. "Shhh, shhh, just breathe, for me, okay? Really... slowly, okay? In through your mouth, and out your nose, okay?"
King follows your instructions as you soothe, stroking his face gently and scooting closer, cooing like a mother bird comforting her chicks after they find out they can't fly yet. Your presence reminds him of softness, of dandelion fluff and fallen feathers collected to make clothes.
"It's okay, it's okay— shh, you're safe, you're safe, and it's okay, it's okay."
King manages to open his eyes, which he didn't even know had been closed till now, and looks at you. You look so concerned, worrying over him, your eyebrows furrowed and your eyes looking like two soft pools of sunshine.
He presses your hand to his cheek, nuzzling into the warm, pudgy flesh.
He tries to nod, but shakes his head.
Scooting over, you wrap a arm around his waist as your hand strokes his cheek.
King breathes in deeply, and lets it out.
The sky shakes again, rumbles.
He cries out, burying his face deeper into your hand. He wants to bury his nose in your neck and hold you close, hold you tight, keep you safe and warm. He doesn't want you to go back to Dark's office and go back to work, he wants you to stay, stay with him and be safe and keep him safe as the sky continues to shriek and bang on the earth.
"Oh, King, it's okay.. it's okay.. shhh, shh...." you murmur. He whimpers again, feeling tears start as wind howls, joining the thunder in a chaotic duo. He feels the house shake as another boom echoes outside.
"Here, look, how about.. we go to my bedroom, and.. play some music, okay?"
He shakes his head, and removes his grip from your arm, gripping your waist instead.
You feel his face bury itself into your hair, as his shoulders shake.
"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better, Kingy?"
King breathes a sigh of relief, sniffing and blinking tears away, nuzzling your head. You shyly nuzzle into his chest, curling your legs slightly as you cuddle him, warm underneath the cape. Gently, King puts a hand on your hair, starting to pet and stroke the soft locks.
You feel yourself fight off drowsiness, because he is so warm.. and ohhhh.. his hand feels sooo niiiiiceeee...
"...That feels so nice.." you murmur, nuzzling his chest, and wrapping your arm around his waist. "If you... if you keep doing that I'll give you uhhh.." you drowsily reach into the pocket of your suit, and pull out a red package, "Ahhh pack.. of peanut.. butter cookies.."
He smiles, sniffing, and pulls you closer. Feeling calmer now, nice and warm with you, underneath the fabric of his red cape, he feels his bare skin against your suit. You smell of laundry detergent and of perfume that reminds him of cinnamon and fall.
He feels you melt like puddy in his arms as you try to open the package, whimpering when you can't, "Augh.. nooooo.. I want some too.. I haven't eaten all dayyy.."
Giving a chuckle to the air that sounds like a mix of chopped up chitters and giggles, he takes the package from your hand, and opens it with his teeth.
"Ahhh I'm cold now, Kingy.. put your arm back on my waaaaist.. you're so waaaarmmmmmmmmmm..." you whine, nuzzling his chest again, burying your nose into his soft skin (he usually doesn't wear a shirt, unless it's for special occasions).
You hug him again as he grabs a cookie, eating it. You feel so sleepy, you haven't been sleeping lately because of all the work you've been assigned— writing reports, editing Wilford's show, helping clean up bodies, writing more reports but for different things, helping with some murders, washing the dishes- did you even wash the dishes today? Augh, you didn't.. Dark is going to be so mad.. ahhhugh.
King taps your head, and you look up.
"Open your mouth please."
"O-oh.. Okay.." you open your mouth, and he puts a peanut shaped cookie in.
Closing your mouth, you nod, chewing.
God, he is so warm? Like? AhhhhhhhHHHH?? He is so warm. You want to cuddle him all day and nuzzle his cheek and pet his hair as the storm rages outside, still thundering and booming, maybe it's because he's here, but the noise isn't as loud now. You've never told anyone this (mostly because you're used to being mocked for it, and also because you're used to dealing with it alone) but you're kind of afraid of thunderstorms, just a little bit, and maybe.. because your anxiety has been through the roof all day because of all work, the storm today didn't feel so calming today, the rain felt nice... at first, but the thunder scared you out of your wits.
That's why you went to the kitchen, to get a glass of water and calm down, until you noticed King all alone underneath the table, curled up in his cape, crying. It broke your heart in two to see him like that, not only because you considered him a good friend, but also because.. well.. you have a crush on him.
Nuzzling into his chest again, you listen to the steady beat of the rain, combined with the soft rhythm of his heart, and feel your shoulders drop. Why do you have a crush on him, anyway? Is it because he's sweet and cute and cares about his squirrels? Or is it for other reasons, like something stupid? Like maybe you have a crush on him because of his height? No, that sounds ridiculous, and in fact, he even intimidated you when you first met him.
You yawn, and feel your eyes drop down slowly as King starts to stroke your hair again.
It's probably just because he's so sweet, even though the egos often treat him like an annoying unwanted dog. That's why you became his friend.. you know how that feels like.
As you start to drift off, King lets out a sigh, nuzzling into your hair again.
You remind him of a baby squirrel, and it's so cute, the way you nuzzle into him, always giving him affection so freely, because of how close the two of you are. It's nice, usually he's pushed away by everyone except Eric, but only when you aren't here.
"Yeah, I feel calmer now."
"...Okay.." your eyes practically roll into the back of your head as you fight off sleep, "Can.. can I sleep here?"
"Shhhhh..." you put a finger to his lips, and giggle, before burrowing deeper into his cape, and closing your eyes.
The storm outside is a shush of raindrops, all whispering for the both of you to sleep as the tap a soft rhythm on the walls. The storm doesn't feel so scary anymore. It feels nice, like the rain is crying tears of joy on the world so it can be reborn.
You feel King run his fingers through your hair, and tuck your head under his neck, clutching you for warmth. You're so warm... and even he wants to sleep too, even though the flashes of light startle him, you make him feel safe.
Slowly, slowly.. his eyes start to grow heavy, and all he can think about is how warm and safe he feels, and how you smell.. like sweat and cinnamon, you always smell like cinnamon, with a little bit of vanilla...
King yawns, and you yawn in response. He clings to you tighter, and kisses your head. He fills full, his chest and body feel so light, almost like he's floating on a cloud. He listens to your breathing slow, becoming a whisper in the air, accompanied by the soft sounds of sleep. He smiles, and wraps his tail around you, flickering his brown ears on the top of his head, listening for any danger.
It's just the both of you, softly holding onto each other for warmth, and surviving the storm. He never thought he could have anyone to comfort him before, but now, he has you.
With that thought, he feels everything slow, as he finally closes his eyes, falling asleep to the sound of the rain.
An: I tried my best to write present tense, and I’m actually quite proud! Sorry if the formatting is a bit weird, Tumblr is being wonky.
@matronofthevoid (sorry it took so long to post fam)