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clickerflight · 15 days

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Clove: Part 23 - Up a Creek

Benny comfort! Well, as much as I can feasibly give at the moment.

Masterlist - Part 22

Content: Vampire whumpee, fae whumper, abusive marriage, bruising and scratches, brainwashed whumpee, whumpee defending abuser, fae politics

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“Jokel is dead!”

The breakfast suddenly came to a halt, the fae falling silent as they looked to the messenger at the doorway.

Hyrum used the distraction to press himself under Ephraim’s arm, hiding from the fae that had been trying to touch his hair and fur since breakfast began. He’d tried to do the exact thing earlier but the comments of being a rude Guest for hiding had forced him back out, flinching at every move from the strange people around him.

Ephraim held Hyrum close as all of the fae turned their gaze on the Monarch, who seemed rather surprised by the news.

“Dead? How?”

“There was dark magic in the wounds, you’re Majesty, and he was near to the ritual places. I suspect that the sorcerer may have done it.”

The Queen’s sharp gaze turned to Ephraim and Hyrum. “Do you know of this?”

Ephraim shook his head. He looked down at Hyrum who shook his head as well. “We were not there for it, your Highness,” Ephraim said, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice as Hyrum buried his face deeper into Ephraim’s shirt.

The Queen pursed her lips before she broke out into a cruel grin, sharp teeth all on display. There were too many of them. No creature should have that many teeth. At least, no creature living on land.

“Well, it seems we’ll be holding a funeral!” She announced to the table, eyes flitting over through the fae who all suddenly had expressions of jubilee and excitement. “I will have the list for our marching order this evening!” She announced, clapping her hands in glee.

She shot a look at Benny, who hadn’t stopped looking at her through the entirety of breakfast, eyes cloudy and distant.

“You will help me, my dear. And our dear father here will have to join the procession since he was the brave warrior who killed the sorcerer for us! Oh yes, this will be fun, won’t it?”

“Of course,” Benny said almost breathlessly, seemingly overcome by her excitement.

Ephraim bit the inside of his mouth carefully. He had suspected that Benny was charmed, and it was becoming clearer by the moment that this was the truth. His fledgling was completely gone now, a blank doll in the face of the fae queen’s magic.

“Oh, please, your Highness!” a fae with petals for hair and wings called, hands over her heart in what looked like outright ecstasy. “Please can I be put next to our guests? I have been so helpful with the gardens, haven’t I?”

The Monarch’s gaze became disgusted and cruel as she looked at the flowery fae.

“Halia, you are not to ask for such things,” she hissed out with so much venom that the petals on Halia’s head actually withered to black.

She whimpered, sitting back down and covering her head with a napkin, looking down as silent sparkling tears brimmed in her eyes.

The Monarch took a deep breath. “Finish breakfast, everyone. I will start ordering the list with my dear husband here. We will retrieve Jokel’s body an hour before sundown!”

Benny stood up quickly, pulling out his wife’s seat and helping her up before walking away without so much as a backwards glance at Ephraim and Hyrum.

Ephraim watched, listening to the buzz of the fae around the room, no longer paying attention to the two of them.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Ephraim murmured to Hyrum. “I think it’s okay for us to go back to our room.”

“I want to go home,” Hyrum whimpered as they stood up, thankfully drawing no attention their way as they did so.

It broke Ephraim’s heart to see Hyrum’s tail tucked between his legs, shivering and trembling in Ephraim’s hold.

“I know, Goldenrod. I do as well. And we will. We just have to be patient and smart.”

Hyrum sniffled, nodding a little as the two of them snuck off to their rooms. Ephraim just hoped they weren’t breaking any rules by leaving, but if they were the Queen’s guests and she left the breakfast, then surely they were safe to leave after she did. Ephraim hoped he would be able to speak to Benny soon about the rest of the Hospitality pact. And to see if there was anything left of his fledgling under the charm the Queen held over him.

………………………………….

Benny was…. Tired. He limped down the hall, hours later, stomach grumbling unhappily at him. His wife had gone over the fae in her court, picking out the ones she wanted to have in the procession to retrieve Jokel’s body. She then made sure to line them up so everyone would be standing next to someone they hated, laughing gleefully over the drama that was sure to ensue over the next three days.

And Benny was tired. He couldn’t even remember helping her with decisions. All he knew was that he stepped out of the room and exhaustion, hunger, and pain hit him like three carts lined up one after the other. His arm hurt now, too. He couldn’t even remember what had happened, only remembering his wife’s glee getting out of hand. Eyes shining and burning and promising pain that she would enjoy and-

He stumbled, a headache shooting through his head.

He gasped for a moment, touching his forehead before pushing forward. He should see a healer. These headaches were coming all of the time now.

He held his arm gently, watching his feet take their mistimed steps under him.

He stopped at a door and as he looked at it blearily he realized it wasn’t his bedroom. Why was he here? Where- oh. He could smell his sire. His instincts had brought him here, looking for kindness and love and safety when he was so tired and hurt and emotional.

He closed his eyes, shaking his head and turned to go to his room when the door opened.

“Benny?”

Tears sprang to Benny’s eyes before he could stop them as he turned back. Ephraim looked tired too, but that didn’t stop him from coming out into the hall and cupping his cool hands on either side of Benny’s jaw, tilting his head down so Ephraim could see him better.

“Benny, what’s wrong?” Ephraim asked gently. “Here, come in.”

Benny allowed himself to be led in and pushed into a couch. “I’ll make some tea,” Ephraim said. Tea. Ephraim always made tea when emotions needed to be soothed. Something about the place where Ephraim came from, Benny was pretty sure. Most of the people in the village would just tell you to rub dirt in it and it would be fine. He couldn’t remember… who exactly would say that though.

Ephraim came back from putting the tea on and pulled Benny’s heavy jewelry off, gentle hands brushing over his skin as Ephraim checked for injuries. He always did that.

“Eef,” Benny whispered, vision cloudy from tears suddenly welling up.

“What is it, Begonia?” Ephraim asked.

Benny opened his mouth, but nothing would come out. He was so muddled. Something must be wrong. He was so upset but he couldn’t place why. Maybe because his arm hurt?

Ephraim caught on to the way Benny was holding his arm and gently pulled down the sleeve. The open design of the shirt made it easy to do so.

Ephraim saw the deep bruising and scratching around Benny’s elbow and nearly lost it. He only let his fangs flash for half a second before he bit it all back.

“Begonia, what happened? Who did this?”

Benny blinked at Ephraim, uncomprehending and blank with exhaustion. Ephraim felt desperation rising in his stomach, threatening to swallow him whole as he sat on the couch, pulling Benny into his chest. The fledgling didn’t put up any fight, letting Ephraim move him where he pleased.

Ephraim ran gentle hands over Benny's hair and neck, pressing kiss after kiss to his forehead.

“Come on, my boy. Come on, dear. Come back to me. It’s alright, I’m here now. Come back to me baby boy.”

Benny tensed, raising a hand to twine it in Ephraim’s shirt in a way he hadn’t since he had just barely been turned.

Ephraim sat there and rocked Benny gently back and forth, stroking his fledgling’s head and kissing his forehead and hair, murmuring comforts to him.

It took a while for Benny to come back to his senses, confused to find himself held in Ephraim’s arms.

He took in his situation for a moment before he smiled a little. “You’re not mad at me anymore, then, old man?”

Ephraim did not find this amusing. The swift switch in moods was very much not a good sign.

“Welcome back,” Ephraim said, letting Benny sit up, though keeping a hold on his injured arm. “Tea should be ready. Tell me what happened.”

Ephraim stood up, releasing Benny reluctantly to go deal with the upset kettle as Benny tilted his head, confused. “Happened? Oh, yes, Jokel is dead. There will be a three day funeral where every fae will be trying to win favor with my wife and there will be all sorts of drama.” Benny waved his hand dismissively. “I was just helping my wife with deciding who will be in the procession. It’s important to let the fae know their ranks in the procession so they can see who they will need to pass in favor. The final rankings will be made at the last feast when things settle down again, but-”

“No, what happened to your arm.”

Benny looked down at said arm and clicked his tongue. “Oh, I must have scraped it.”

“You’re a vampire, Benny,” Ephraim said, unimpressed.

“Well,” Benny said haltingly, “My wife is fae, you know? She can get a little excited sometimes. It happens, and she always apologizes and makes it up to me. It’s fine.”

“Was she what happened to your leg too?”

Oh yeah. His leg hurt too. “Um, well, maybe, but we were just having some fun and it got a little out of hand,” Benny said dismissively. “I’ll be fine after I eat, I’m sure.”

Ephraim brought him a cup of tea, which Benny accepted with a thank you. “So, how did I come to be here?”

Ephraim simply stared at Benny for a long moment. “We’re up a creek with no paddle, Begonia,” was his only comment before he downed his tea like he wished it were alcohol.

Part 24

Clove Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @the-blind-one-speaks @whumpsday @extrabitterbrain @inkkswhumpandstuff

@honeycollectswhump @whump-blog-reblogs @pigeonwhumps @mj-or-say10 @percy-frayer

@currentlyinthesprial @scoundrelwithboba @whumps-and-bumps

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clickerflight · 1 month

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Clove: Part 20 - Trapped, Trapped, Run

The new and improved version of duck duck goose.

Masterlist - Part 19

Content: (Heavy one today) Werewolf whumpee, human whumper, cuts and bruising, tormented, side character death, (somewhat graphic and definitely gross) creepy whumper, vampire whumpee, fae whumper, angst, emotional manipulation, implied noncon/dubcon

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“Voicebox, heart, liver….. Just have to be patient, Jack. You can be patient. Eyes, skin….. It will all be yours. All of it.”

Jack shifted where he crouched, invisible in the mists as he watched Hyrum. The werewolf pup started circling the ritual place, looking for a weakness to escape through. As if Jack would allow that. Years of preparation would not be wasted here.

“Voicebox, heart, liver,” Jack murmured, fingers twitching as he cast a wind to buffet Hyrum. His lips twitched as the pup stumbled, arms curled around his bare and bleeding torso. His eyes were so wide that Jack could see the whites from here. It made him hungry. “Eyes and skin. You can’t keep them much longer pup. They’re mine. They’re all mine. This land will be mine. That queen will be mine.”

He flicked a finger again, the gravel rising in waves and sending Hyrum to the ground, struggling to get back up.

Jack laughed lowly, entertained for now by tormenting the werewolf until he was too exhausted to keep defending himself. His concentration was broken by the sound of wings above.

He let the gravel fall still again as he looked up, seeing the shape above him. It appeared to be a fae with a hawk-like outline above him.

Jack gritted his teeth. He could hide himself from the pup in the ritual circle, but he couldn't keep hidden from the fae above him.

The fae whirled around, flying quickly away. Jack hissed to himself, standing up and dashing after the fae, gathering his energy and concentration as his ragged coat flew about behind him. He lifted his hand, growling ancient words of power, ill gotten and hard won, and the fae screeched, falling out of the sky.

To the fae’s credit, he rolled smoothly as he hit the ground, bouncing back up to his feet and running across the hills.

“No you don’t, pest,” Jack hissed. “I am the ruler of these lands? Don’t you understand that!?”

He threw his hand out, mushroom flesh enveloping the bird man’s legs. He screeched as he fell to the blue grass and thrashed as Jack caught up, straddling him.

Jack laughed maniacally as he tore the fae apart with long, jagged nails, blood and ichor welling up under his fingers as he ripped and shredded flesh and feathers alike, the dying sounds of the fae singing to him like a siren’s song.

When he was done, the pile of flesh, blood, and feathers was still, killed by the dark magic that infused every inch of Jack’s body. He panted, licking scraps of ribboned flesh off his fingers.

“A scout,” he said thoughtfully to himself. “From the queen? She will know what I intend to do. Not much time, then. Not much time at all.”

He stood up, stalking back through the mists towards the ritual place.

“The pup is mine. No more games. No more waiting.”

He stopped in place when he could see the ritual place again. It seemed there would be more waiting. The pup sat at the top of one of the tall obelisks, shrouded with the magic there, unintentionally finding the best place to be protected from Jack’s magic, even if he couldn’t get down the other side.

Jack snarled, stalking up to the obelisk. “Get down here!”

Hyrum looked down, face set in a hard, fierce expression.

“We’ll do this the hard way, then,” Jack said in a low tone.

…………………………………………………

Ephraim had been in the bathroom a long time after Benny had given him new clothing and showed him the way silently. Ephraim had been fuming the whole way, so Benny decided to stay quiet, but he couldn’t take it anymore.

He knocked on the door and cleared his throat. “Hey, Ephraim? Can we talk?”

There was silence for a long moment on the other side.

“Eef?”

“Oh, you want to talk to me now?” Ephraim replied, sulkily on the other side over the sound of the shower.

“Well…. Yeah,” Benny said nervously. “I’m sorry, really. I know I made a mistake now…. Are you done? Can you come out here to talk?”

“No.”

“Ephraim! Come on. I don’t remember you being so sulky-”

“I have had a very bad day today, Benny. I don’t want to talk about this.”

‘Benny.’ So he wasn’t too mad… hopefully.

“I-I know. You were here for another kid, right?”

“..... Goldenrod. His name is Goldenrod. He’s a werewolf pup I’ve kind of adopted.”

Benny tapped his fingers gently against the door. “What’s he like?” Who did Ephraim choose to have live in his house after Benny was taken?

“Quiet. He’s been coming out of his shell lately. He’s a very sweet pup. Why do you want to know?”

“Just… cause. I missed you.”

Ephraim hummed. “Not enough, apparently.”

“Oh, come on, Eef!” Benny said, exasperated now. “You know the fae are complicated! Living with them is complicated! Being married to one even more so!”

“You’re smart, Benny. You could have figured it out.”

Benny felt something he hadn’t experienced in a while. Something he had been ignoring, rather. Guilt curled in his stomach. There wasn’t much to feel guilty about living in the fae courts. Everyone acted according to their nature and everyone expected as such. No need for guilt here. He’d forgotten how unpleasant it felt. He could have found a way. The courts had made him lazy. His wife had made him feel whole and complete, like there was nothing to worry about or work on. It was the way of the courts. He was a little startled to remember how much he had hated that at first, being stuck on such a plateau of growth, but he’d just gotten used to it after a while.

“I’ll message Margie as soon as we find your pup,” Benny said, more of a promise to himself than to Ephraim. “I promise.”

“Was your wife keeping you from coming back? From sending anything?”

“In the beginning, yeah,” Benny said, another uncomfortable twinge in his stomach. He didn’t like being reminded of the time he spent as her pet rather than as her beloved husband. He didn’t like being reminded that his wife didn’t treat everyone well all of the time.

“You never thought of escaping?”

“I can’t escape. I ate their food. It’s-”

“You never tried?”

Benny felt another sinking sensation in his guts. No. He never had. He’d assumed that to be the truth and made the best of the situation.

Ephraim seemed to sense the answer. “I’m done with this conversation. Leave me be, Benny.”

“Come on, Eef. I’m sorry, okay? This place has an effect on a person! Okay, I admit I might not have been strong enough to fight the effect, but you can’t seriously blame me, can you?”

The silence stretched on, grating on Benjamin’s ears. “I did miss you, really…. Time moves really weird here… like it does in those books you liked to get from the merchants. The fantasy ones. I still remember all of the books you read to me when I was a fledgling. That really helped, you know. You’d think you’d had a fledgling before me with how well you took care of me.”

He hoped the nostalgia would draw Ephraim back into the conversation, but the shower sounds continued on regardless.

“I think I’ll be able to convince my wife to send you home before you need anything to eat,” Benny said. “And I’ll see about visiting, I probably have been here for too long.”

He waited for a response, even an angry one. He just wanted Ephraim to say something.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Benny said, suddenly feeling lonely and scared, like when he first arrived in this place. “Talk to me, please?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin when cool arms wrapped around his torso from behind. His wife rested her chin on his shoulder, humming softly as her antlers brushed up against his cheek. She was wearing her smaller form for him. He’d mentioned once that he’d always thought he’d marry someone shorter than him and she started wearing this form whenever they were alone after that. Her horns were much simpler and her body just a bit plumper, like the healthy women back in his village rather than the sickly stick-thin figure she presented to the courts.

“Hello love. Why are you talking to an empty room?” she purred.

“What?”

He pushed the door open, no regards for privacy anymore only to see Ephraim’s tattered clothing on the ground, the shower still running, and the window open and swaying guiltily in the breeze.

“I think he’s gone to find his pup,” she hummed. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. We should go have dinner, my love.”

“I have to go after him,” Benny said, trying to gently peel Inermis’s arms off of himself.

“Come now, stay, Benny. He can take care of himself. I can send more fae to help him,” she said, pouting and refusing to let go. “Come to the bedroom with me? We can have some fun.”

But Benny wasn’t listening to her, the worry and guilt growing in his stomach as he tried to free himself from her grasp. “Let me go! I need to go help him! There’s a sorcerer out there. Why aren’t you worried?”

“Oh, come on, sweetheart,” she said, moving like a snake to grab each of his wrists in an unbreakable grasp. “He’ll be fine. Come with me, please?”

Benny felt some of that pain in his stomach drift away, a comfortable mollifying mist falling over him despite the bruising grip she had on him. He nodded faintly, taking one last look at the open window before she dragged him off towards their bedroom.

………………………………..

The escape down the jagged side of the castle had been somewhat arduous and painful, but Ephraim had landed at the bottom, clean though cut up and aching. Still, he rolled up his sleeves, made sure his hair was pulled back after that slide and tumble down and took off across the landscape towards the smell of the vampire pit. If he could find that, he could find his way back to the entrance to the fae wilds and then go the direction Jack had taken Goldenrod.

“I’m coming,” Ephraim panted, running faster as he left the silent cobbled courtyard and got into the soft grass. “I’m coming!”

Part 21

Clove Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @the-blind-one-speaks @whumpsday @extrabitterbrain @inkkswhumpandstuff

@honeycollectswhump @whump-blog-reblogs @pigeonwhumps @mj-or-say10 @percy-frayer

@currentlyinthesprial @scoundrelwithboba

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