Death or Paradise: Behind the Scenes

i feel the lavendar haze creeping up on me

Mesopotamia

"There you are," Druig walked over to you, sitting down on the edge of the cliff. "I should have known you'd run away to hide here."

You rolled your eyes. "I'm not hiding."

"No? Then what are you doing here?" He questioned.

You paused. In truth, you were hiding, mainly from Ikaris but also from the others. Ikaris had berated you in front of the others after the attack for deviating from the plan. It didn't matter to him that you'd won anyway, that the Deviant was dead and the humans were safe again for the time being. You had left your position to save the human, and according to Ikaris, you had put them all in danger.

"What are you doing here?" You changed the subject.  You didn't want to talk about it, not even to Druig.

"When you ran off and didn't come back, I thought I should come find you," he said. "I imagined you'd be somewhere sulking."

"I'm not sulking," you glared at him.

"You are," he smirked before his face turned serious. "You shouldn't let him get to you."

"Isn't that what I usually say to you?"

"Well, Ikaris doesn't exactly discriminate who he's an ass to," he shrugged. "But you did the right thing, you know you did."

"I know," you said. And you did. You knew you had made the right choice. Your mission wasn't only to kill Deviants. You had to protect the humans. And well, you'd heard the man's voice in your head. You couldn't do anything but help him when you heard that fear. "But he's right too. I could have endangered everyone."

"We're all tougher than the humans," he scoffed. "We would have been fine."

"I suppose." You sighed. You knew he was probably right, but it was still hard for you to get passed this. You could still hear Ikaris's voice yelling at you in your thoughts, you could still feel the shame.

You sat quietly for a few minutes with Druig, watching the waves crashing into the cliffs below you. Since coming to this world, you and the others had grown close, as a family. It was an easy bond especially when the circumstances didn't allow for anything else. You'd grown especially close to Thena and Druig. The warrior had offered to train you to fight better, an offer you had readily taken from the greatest warrior on Olympia. But Druig. You liked this, with Druig, the moments of peace even in silence, the unspoken comfort his presence provided.

Still, now, his presence only offered so much comfort.  He seemed to sense this when he stood up and offered you his hand. "Come with me."

You looked suspiciously at his hand. "Where?"

"Will you just trust me?" He asked quietly.

You took his hand without any further hesitation. You'd always trust Druig. He helped you up and led you into the village. It was evening now, and the villagers were idly enjoying another day of continued life, safe again from the Deviants. You watched them as you passed, unsure of where he was leading you. It was only when he stopped that you understood.

A few meters away, you saw the man from before, the man you had protected from the Deviant, carrying a laughing child on his shoulders.

"Read them," Druig said.

"What?"

"The man, and his child," he nodded towards them. "Read them."

You weren't supposed to read the humans without Ajak's permission. But you trusted Druig. You knew he'd never tell, and you knew he'd never tell you to do this if it wasn't important. You closed your eyes so the other villagers around you wouldn't see your golden eyes.

Faster, Father, faster! The child's thoughts were pure and joyous. The young always had such pure thoughts. You didn't feel the darkness you often felt from other humans.

You focused on the man after a moment, and gasped when you felt it. The joy, the gratitude, the pure and utter relief for another day, for another moment with his son. All his thoughts were on protecting his child, seeing his child grow, a chance he had thought he'd never have again just a few hours ago. You felt the weight of shame lift from your shoulders.

You only realized Druig had not let go of your hand when you felt him squeeze it, focusing you again on reality. You opened your eyes, the golden glow gone as tears formed. You looked at Druig who was smiling at you, not his usual smirk, but a genuine smile, a smile he reserved usually only for you.

"That is why Ikaris was not right," he said slowly. "You did the right thing."

"Thank you," you said. Your eyes met his, and you felt a jolt in your heart.

Druig always knew how to make you feel better, how to get you to see passed the darkness. He knew you, it felt sometimes, better than you knew yourself. He was there for you, always. And you realized, in that moment, that you wanted him to be by your side always. You realized what you had maybe suspected but could never admit to yourself. You were in love with him.

When had that happened? It felt like you'd always felt this way for him, like you never knew any differently. He'd always been your friend, and you knew you couldn't do anything to jeopardize that, but still, you couldn't help this feeling soaring through you, this warmth that took you over as his eyes held yours.

"We should head back," he said softly. You nodded and let him lead you back to the Domo, so wrapped up in your thoughts that you never realized he hadn't let go of your hand.

—

Their love story spanned 31 chapters, only fair you get to see how it started lol hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!

Thanks for reading! I'm going to try to finish these up from the notes I made while writing the original! Not sure how many there will be yet we shall see!

Title credit - lavender haze by Taylor swift