#tot reader insert

[3rdgymbros]

━ "𝐃𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲 . . . ?"

━ pairing; marius von hagen & child! niece! reader

━ summary; Giann disappears, and the reader falls silent until Marius appears

━ notes; i haven't written for tears of themis in a hot minute, so please be nice or i will cry. please donate to my Kofi or comission me if you like my stuff. reblogs are appreciated!

❋ Giann’s always been the steady rock in your little world.

❋ You’re a daddy’s girl through and through — his laughter, his scent, his arms around you at night — these memories are burned into your heart like golden light.

❋ But then he vanishes.  

“Missing.” “Classified.” “We’re still looking.”

❋ You’re too young to understand any of that. All you know is that your daddy never came home.

❋ You stop speaking. Completely.

❋ Therapists gently call it selective mutism due to trauma, but it was simpler than that to you: if your daddy was gone, your voice went with him.

❋ Ailine never pushes. Just holds your hand through the lengthening silence and reads bedtime stories out loud anyway.

❋ And when your therapist suggests a visit to the Von Hagen estate, Ailine hesitantly reaches out. “She’s not . . . She hasn’t spoken. Not once. But the therapist thinks seeing family might help. If you’re willing.”

❋ Of course he is.

❋ Marius is nervous. Genuinely nervous.

❋ He’s stood in front of courts, crime scenes, and ruthless boardrooms, but facing his niece for the first time makes his hands unsteady and his heart pound against his ribs. He doesn’t even know what to say to a child who has known more grief than most adults.

❋ You’re a small, delicate-looking thing. Your eyes are wide and glassy. Your hair is long and tangled. Wearing soft blue pyjamas, with a stuffed bear clutched in your arms — a toy Giann had won for you at an arcade once. Standing half-hidden behind Ailine’s skirt.

❋ There’s a tense, fragile moment when your gaze lands on Marius.

❋ His silhouette. His hair. The curve of his jaw. He even smells like cedarwood and citrus — just like Daddy used to.

❋ The world stops.

❋ Your eyes go wide.

❋ Then, so softly it’s almost like a breath:

“...Daddy?”

❋ It’s the first word you’ve spoken in over a year.

❋ Your voice is hoarse and uncertain, as if it's recalling how to move after being frozen for too long.

❋ Marius freezes.

❋ His heart shatters.

❋ It’s not him you’re seeing.

❋ It’s Giann.

❋ But he can’t bring himself to correct you. Not right away. Not when your tiny feet carry you toward him, arms lifting, face crumpling into relief. Not when you cling to him like he’s the sun, little hands gripping tight to his shirt.

❋ He kneels — wordless, shaking — and hugs you back, his heart breaking and blooming all at once.

❋ He doesn't cry.

❋ Marius never cries.

❋ But he’ll remember the sound of your voice for the rest of his life.

[3rdgymbros]

━ 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫.

— pairing; marius von hagen x child! reader (platonic) .

— summary; in which it is revealed how marius learned to braid the mc’s hair in the twilight beauty card .

— notes; this is my first time writing for tot so please be nice . and please donate to my kofi (https://ko-fi.com/thirdgymbros) if you like my content and wish to support me. reblogs are appreciated !!

❋ Since your father’s unexpected departure – an extra long business trip, your mother had explained, with a tightness to the edge of her mouth – you turn to your uncle Marius for affection, demanding to go on outings with him, showing him the drawings that you’ve done at school, and the goodnight kiss your mother so often forgets to give you, sad and pale and strained as she is.

❋ You knock once, then twice on the door to your uncle’s room; when you hear his voice, muffled through the thick wood telling you to come in, only then do you push the door open. You appear in your uncle’s line of sight, and he offers you a smile, which you return, before scampering into his room, a hairbrush and colourful hairclips clutched in your hands.

❋ You’re insistent that Marius does your hair before you leave for school. Marius, who has never done anyone’s hair in his life (except his own), tries to persuade you to go to your mother or one of the maids for help, but when he sees how your cheeks puff out and how your round eyes are aflame, he’s quick to give in. You’ve got him wrapped around your little finger, and he finds himself hard-pressed to turn away his beloved niece/nephew.

❋ Besides, Marius thinks, how hard can it be? The process starts off smooth at first as he slides the brush through all that silky smooth hair, before he starts weaving the hair into a braid with fumbling, almost childish fingers. An hour later, Marius finds himself eating his own words. Your hair is hopelessly tangled, and you’re fidgeting upon the edge of his bed.

❋ “Do you like it?” Marius forces bright cheer into his voice, watching as you run your fingers through your new ‘hairstyle’.

❋ “Nooooo.” Your eyes are pooling rapidly with tears and your bottom lip is quivering in a pout; Marius instantly recognises the signs of the on-coming tantrum and is quick to reassure you before you get too upset.

❋ “Okay, okay, I can fix this, just leave it to your Uncle!”

❋ An hour later, with the help of many, many YouTube tutorials, you’re sent off to school with a braid threaded through your hair and a bright grin adorning your face.

❋ The next day, you knock at your uncle’s door once again; when he opens it, you hold up your hairbrush and hairclips again with a smile. It’s a clear invitation, and with a resigned smile, Marius beckons you into his room once again.