: chapter 21; the forestSummary:
Mythology/Fairytale!AU in which Louis is a dainty fairy with a temper who wants to be intimidating and Harry hurts people. Naturally, they hate each other.
(Featuring Liam, the big and not-so-bad wolf who's got a thing for humans, Zayn, a human with supernaturally good looks, and Niall, the cupid who just wants his job to be easier.)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for .)
Chapter Text
It takes Liam three days to get better. The boys don't really mind staying.
It's quite nice, to be honest. It's a happy time to be there, Thor and Sif young and alive and healthy and beautiful and always so, so very grateful—soon joined by the other gods too, even Loki after a while (though things are slightly stiff between him and Harry and Zayn). They all throw a big celebration the second night, inviting all of the now recovered gods and goddesses, and Louis has positively never been more starstruck than he is during that dinner. His self-esteem has probably never skyrocketed more than it does right then, either—because that's what being heartfeltly thanked by god after important god will do to you.
Louis also ends up spending a lot of time with Harry—it just kind of happens that way with them sharing rooms and everything. They talk about everything and nothing until the early hours of the morning, they shower together—an amazing concept that Louis is not opposed to at all—and they go exploring the castle and end up getting horribly lost. Which, of course, is Louis' idea, and also something Harry will not stop pestering him about for the remainder of their stay.
It's overall both the most amazing thing ever because Louis is constantly overwhelmed by how well they actually fit together after spending so much time thinking they would never be able to agree on even the smallest of things, and it's also the worst thing ever because. Well. Louis kind of constantly wants to scream out how gone he is for this boy, and he can't. He's never been one to keep any sort of feelings to himself, and it's extremely draining to do it now, especially with how strong they are.
In general, they all have a great time, and it's with slight dejection and some urging on from Thor, they finally leave on that third day to spread their newfound information about the portals along.
When the boys finally have their stuff packed and are entering Thor and Sif's portal, Louis sighs wistfully, because he thinks this has most definitely been the high point of this adventure and he's pretty sure it won't really get better than these three past days have been.
~
As it turns out, Louis is wrong. And he's... Never been happier to admit so in his life.
He feels it in the air before he even opens his eyes. There's only one place he knows where the air is this crisp and the scent of nature this sweet.
He puts his hands down in the grass, feeling flowers break through the earth and blossom in the spaces between his fingers, and a massive, bright smile is making its way onto his face as he flutters his eyes open. Leaves from the big oak tree where his mother used to tell him stories every sunset are rustling quietly above his head, and it sounds like a "welcome back".
The meadow is sparkling and bubbling with life and colors, the sun is in their eyes, the sky is the brightest of blues, and Louis?
Louis is home.
He knows this place better than he knows anything else and he feels like crying from pure joy, the weight of traveling and risking his life and being away from everything he's known so far finally making itself known. He hasn't even realized how heavy that weight has been until it's now lifted from him, ascending somewhere else, leaving Louis so light and feather-like he feels like he could just catch the sun in his palm.
"Is this..." Liam starts somewhere next to him. "Is this the Forest?"
Louis is pretty sure a genuine tear actually slips through.
"Yeah," he confirms. "Yeah, it is. I'm home."
A laugh slips out of him, and he turns to look at the other boys, checking if any of them are also feeling the immense euphoria he's feeling.
They don't really seem to. Niall just looks relieved, Zayn is still spaced out, glove clad hand clutching Liam's really tight—evidently not quite used to the whole portal travelling thing yet—Liam just looks kind of awed, and Harry—well. Harry is looking at Louis with a small smile. So small you barely notice it if it weren't for the slight deepening of his dimples and even smaller glint in his eyes, but by now Louis feels like he can tell exactly what signifies Harry's happiness. And it's there.
"You're home," the spirit confirms.
"I'm home." Unable to keep the ecstasy down any longer, Louis springs up from his spot. He reaches out to feel the rough oak bark under his hands, pulling at its lowest hanging branches, skipping along to circle the whole meadow just to really get a feel of it, and also ends up spinning Harry around a couple of times just for the hell of it, before stopping to just digest the situation for a moment.
(Harry doesn't really come off as the type to appreciate being spun around in a thrill of happiness, but he lets it happen and Louis is happy he's letting him have this.)
I—fuck, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me," he exclaims, shoulders shaking with disbelieving laughter.
He is not even being dramatic. Not even s'mores or orgasms can measure with the comforting feeling of coming home after being shoved from one dangerous place to the other for so long.
"Yeah. We can tell," Harry states with an eyebrow raise and a meaning look behind Louis.
Louis follows the spirit's gaze and realizes that proud, shining yellow sunflowers have bloomed up around his feet and back in a trail where he's been stepping, and he bites his lip loosely.
"Ah. Well, yeah. That tends to happen," he shrugs.
He realizes he hasn't really been able to showcase his powers properly until now. Mostly they've been in places that don't have any connections to Grimm, Wonderland was too confusing and in Asgard he spent most of his time inside a castle made of stone and, well, it's not like the plants inside Thor and Sif's home aren't already magical.
It's a bit unfair, really, because Harry's or Niall's powers function in more places than Louis' do. But Louis has his now, and that's what matters, so he figures he's fine.
"You just. Bloom sometimes?" Harry clarifies, and Louis rolls his eyes.
"I'm a nature fairy. Does that seem like a weird thing for me to do to you?"
"I guess not," Harry allows and shakes his head. "It's cute, though."
Louis struggles greatly with keeping down a blush, and looks away defiantly. He could choose to take offense to the term, but Harry doesn't seem to mean it offensively, his deep voice a tad too soft and sincere.
"Yeah, well," Louis instead says and dusts off some grass from his pants. "I'm known to be gorgeous."
And that's all he says before taking off.
He doesn't wait around to see if the rest are making any attempts at following him, but just flies away into the forest, wings fluttering swiftly with excitement. They others are just going to have to catch up. Louis isn't usually the patient type, but he's especially not very keen on waiting when he's just arrived here.
The other boys do catch up with him, luckily, and when they do Harry grabs Louis' hand and yanks him to the ground, forcing the smaller boy to slow down.
Which. What the fuck. He's not allowed to do that. Under no circumstances should Harry Styles ever feel like he has the audacity.
Louis yells a series of profanities revealing just how rude he thinks Harry is, which Harry just rolls his eyes at.
"Lou, slowing down a little isn't going to kill you."
Louis inhales sharply.
"I am so sorry for being excited, Harry, I promise I'll never be happy in your immediate vicinity ever again."
"I'm fucking—" Harry looks up to the sky momentarily, as if to gather strength for this conversation. "You're such a brat. I'm just asking you to wait for us."
"Ah, no, you're not. You're forcing me to."
"I'm not forcing you to do anything."
"Yeah, you are. You're holding my hand."
"Didn't realize hand holding was your kryptonite."
Louis does not have time to deal with Harry's sassery right now.
"Shut up and let me go."
"Let go yourself."
"Don't fucking tell me what to do."
"...Well. I'm not letting go, anyway."
"I'm not either."
"Looks like we're stuck here, then."
"Yeah," Louis just gives Harry a defiant glare. "Looks like it."
"Jesus Christ," Zayn mutters behind them.
So they keep walking, hands determinedly laced together and this is positively the most bizarre fight Louis' ever had with someone. He's not going to budge, though, he has no problem at all with hand holding, could get used to it any day any time, if Harry's not going to let go then Louis isn't going to stop him. Harry's so fucking exasperating. Louis hates him and wants to hold his hand until the end of time.
"Where are we even going?" Harry mutters at last to break the tense silence, looking around and Louis can imagine him feeling a little out of place here with his black spirit marks and his dark powers. Like this place is supposed to be too bright and lively for someone like him.
Louis doesn't really think he looks out of place, though. His curls are soft and his free hand is fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and Louis decides in that very moment that he's going to make Harry feel like he belongs here. That he's worth a life in a place where the sun always shines and magic is beautiful.
(Harry's still insufferable, though.)
(Stupid. Harry is stupid.)
(Louis' emotions might not be entirely intact.)
"We're going to find my mother," he answers lightly, only trying a little to stifle his enthusiasm.
Harry doesn't seem to share it, as he chokes on his own breath and aims a wide-eyed stare at Louis.
"I can't meet your mother," he protests.
"Yeah, you can," Louis cuts off before Harry has time to elaborate his argument. "She's lovely and she can help and I've missed her."
Harry doesn't argue back but Louis knows he still isn't all too comfortable with the concept.
And yeah, maybe it does make Louis a little jittery as well that Harry's meeting his mother. It's not like it's a dating thing, a boyfriend meeting parents thing. Because that's one hundred percent not what Harry and Louis are. But still... Louis just really wants his mother to like Harry. He wants her to, well. To see what he sees. Even though Harry's sarcastic and self-important and stubborn.
Harry has been met with too much hostility from outsiders throughout his life, Louis decides. And now that he's made it his unofficial mission to make Harry feel welcome here, a cold attitude from the inhabitants isn't exactly a great way to start that off.
"Good day, Mrs. Louis' mom," Harry mutters. "I'm the underworld spirit who's been boning your son."
Louis makes a distressed sound borderline screech and elbows the spirit's side. He checks behind him to see if the other boys heard anything, but it seems not because Liam and Zayn are too caught up in walking shyly next to each other and Niall is too focused on Liam and Zayn.
"Come on," he scolds. "You're not going to say that. We both know you can make excellent first impressions if you want to, what's the big deal?"
"It's just. It feels weird. It's your mom."
"Yeah," Louis agrees. "It's my mom. Who loves me and trusts me."
Harry doesn't answer, just looks down on his feet and keeps walking, and Louis worries he might've struck a nerve with that.
"Hey," he says, milder now. "It's going to be fine. Really."
It works a little, Harry looking up at him with a small smile, but he still looks hesitant and his posture is still hunched, and Louis is still not used to seeing Harry with his guard this far down, seeing him this visibly insecure.
Louis is going to make this a place where Harry feels safe. He just is.
~
He finds his mother where he knows she would be—by the stream, just where it debouches into a crystal-clear lake holding the life of thousands of fish and underwater creatures and plants. It's currently empty, everyone else most probably off to work or to eat.
But Louis knows his mother, and he knows that this time of day, she usually sits right here and contemplates and ponders. Louis liked to join her sometimes when he was younger, because even though his own mind was always all over the place and he found the silence hard to deal with, he always looked up to his mom. And she always said that to a sensible mind, moments of silence are crucial.
And Louis, of course, considered and considers himself a sensible mind. Somewhat fiery, but sensible nonetheless. So he would sit by her side, quietly, and watch the water striders slide across the calm surface of the lake, practicing his ability to endure silence.
He's not silent today, though. As soon as he sees her, he feels an electric shock move throughout his entire body and he can't even contain himself from crying out a "mother!" and flying all the way up to her in about half a second.
His mother turns with the speed of light at the very first audible syllable of Louis' voice, eyes widened and arms open.
Louis crashes into her and locks both his arms so tightly around her his muscles are straining. She reciprocates the hug with every bit as much fervor, and Louis could honestly cry, sob, wheeze at how happy he is to be back.
"Louis, love," his mom exclaims, pulling away to look at him and stroking his fringe away from his face. "How did you get here?"
Louis gives out a wet laugh.
"It's kind of a long story, mother, and I will tell it all to you eventually, I swear. Given that you won't scold me for it."
"I cannot promise anything," his mother replies seriously, but her eyes are beaming so Louis keeps grinning, too.
She then slowly takes her gaze off of her son to look behind him, tilting her head with a curious raise of the eyebrows. Louis looks back at his friends, too, and his back straightens as he opens his mouth to proudly introduce them all to her.
(It's quite funny, that. How attached he's grown to the four boys within this short time span. Louis feels like maybe they're meant to be friends, with how nicely they all fit with each other. Fit so well to the point where Louis is almost bursting with pride and exhilaration from finally having his mother see them.)
His mom is the one who speaks first, though, inquiring Louis to tell her what he's already going to say.
"Who are your three friends?"
Louis is on his way to explain, but he stops abruptly as the number leaves his mother's lips.
Three friends?
She doesn't look at Harry, Louis notices then, just gives Niall, Liam and Zayn a gentle smile each. Louis frowns, the blinding euphoria missing a beat. Is she... Deliberately ignoring Harry? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
"These are Niall, Liam, Zayn and Harry," he introduces them, careful to give her an emphasizing look as he speaks Harry's name. "That's four people."
"Of course," his mother agrees, "there are. I asked about your friends, is all, and I just assumed you wouldn't be friendly with an Underworld spirit."
Her voice is rigidly nonchalant in a way Louis has always admired. His mother is kind and giving and one of the most caring people he knows, but she has a passive aggressive way of shutting people down that can shake you to the core.
Louis whips his head around for the shortest of moments just to get a glimpse of how Harry's whole figure slumps immediately, and something boiling and blood red is suddenly building up in the pit of his stomach.
"Harry," he says slowly with dripping significance, "has offered his life and proven his loyalty numerous times during this trip and is very much deserving of your recognition, mother."
Seconds tick by as Louis and his mother only engage in the most intense eye contact, Louis determined to barely even blink until he's gotten his point across. What makes it a bit more of a challenge is that he has after all inherited all his stubbornness from his mom, and it shows.
"I do not want to have a conversation like this one in front of other people," Louis utters again when both has yet to budge. "So I suggest that you trust my opinion and judgment, like you always have up until this point, and make my friend Harry Styles feel just as welcome as you would anyone else. Please."
It's not like Louis to do this, Louis knows. He usually doesn't so ardently defy his mom like this, usually agrees with her, usually trusts her to know better than himself. She's always been the person he looks up to the most, throughout all his life. And he knows his mom knows that, too. Which is most likely why there's a clear flash of bewilderment in her stare now. Louis must feel strongly about this if he's prepared to confront her like this.
Another four, five, six seconds of quiet, before his mother finally nods, taking a breath and averting her gaze.
"Forgive me," she says, giving Harry a polite smile. "Perhaps I am too quick to judge. I don't have too much experience with the underworld inhabitants."
Louis nods, pleased with himself, and looks to Harry again, and the spirit looks so dazed, eyes glossy and lips parted as he shakes his head in small, swift motions. As if he can't believe he's just been defended.
"It's okay," he rasps out. "I didn't take offense."
He even manages to push out a tentative smile, and he looks like he could never ever hurt even the tiniest of flies.
To Louis' relief, his mom reciprocates it kindly.
"Louis," she then says. "You are to show these lovely men to the bungalows. Make sure they all have places to sleep. And possibly unwind, as I can imagine your journey has been long and draining for you."
Louis releases a breath he didn't even realize he's been holding, and he mouth a soundless 'thank you' to her.
"Of course," he then says out loud, turning with a wide grin. "Let's go, boys."
~
The forest has a lot of beautiful places, open meadows and gloomy thickets, glowing rivers and rocky mountain tops. But Louis must say, one of his absolute favorite places is the bungalows.
It's not only the fact that it's beautiful—because it is. It's right in a meadow surrounded by the tallest of birches, and when the sun rises and sets the branches always cast the most beautiful shadows across the area, intertwining and falling into each other like a spider web or a delicate maze dancing across honeysuckle-clad cottages and jasmine bushes. It's colourful, lively, and because it has more different kinds of flowers in one place than any other part of the forest, it's got a lovely scent that always makes Louis feel safe.
But, as aforementioned. This isn't the only reason as to why Louis loves the places so much.
It's the creatures living there. This is an enchanted forest, so naturally everything is always alive, but this place—this place is living and breathing and singing and dancing and laughing and running. It's where all the fairies live, in blissful harmony and the atmosphere is always so filled with love and music and warmth. Louis thanks the universes every day for having the privilege to grow up in an environment like this.
"Isn't it amazing?" he sighs blissfully, looking to his friends for confirmation of the obvious.
None of them has time to answer, though, because that's the moment that the other fairies currently residing around the bungalows notice that Louis is there, which results in an entire choir of cries and shocked shrieks.
"Louis!" exclaims in a high pitched tone as she attacks Louis with a bone crushing hug, and Louis instantly reciprocates it, locking his arms around her steadily.
"Lottie," he nearly sobs out into her neck, and it doesn't take long until he's surrounded by warm, trembling embraces from the rest of his siblings too, and he feels like his heart is going to shoot out of his chest with how much he's missed them.
"What are you doing home?" His second oldest, Fizzy, asks as soon as they've all pulled away just slightly to be able to breathe.
"Long story," Louis repeats, too overwhelmed to get into the entire plot. There are more important things at hand right now. Like finally being around and talking to and hugging his sisters and his brother.
"So much has happened while you've been gone," Fizzy gushes, still clinging to his left arm. "Doris and Ernest learned to fly without dwindling! Isn't that amazing?"
"That is amazing," Louis glows and bends down to pick the twins up, supporting them on each of his hips. "You're growing so fast!"
The twins give out gleeful gurgles as they start talking in unison about every little thing that Louis has missed in his absence, and though it's impossible to keep up with them talking over each other and still not quite mastering the ability of articulation, Louis tries his very best. It's going quite well, until his gaze catches on Harry on the way from Doris to Ernest, and he's met with a pair of eyes looking at him like he's made of stars, and with a smile softer than clouds in June.
Harry's watching him like he can't really believe that Louis is real and there and he's watching like he thinks Louis is fantastic, and Louis can feel his ears burning all the way to their tips. He curses having such pointy, long ears, knows they're a dead giveaway every time he blushes, but Harry doesn't seem to care, so Louis tries to ignore it, too.
He focuses his attention back on the twins, fighting through the peach colored giddiness that Harry's attention is filling him with, and smiles crookedly.
"I kind of have to leave for a bit, my loves," he starts calmly. "But I would love to hear about all of this over dinner tonight. Okay?"
The twins don't seem too keen on that idea, and neither do his other sisters, as they immediately start crowding tighter around him again, asking with worried eyes, "you're not—leaving again, are you?" and Louis laughs warmly and ruffles Phoebe's hair.
"Of course not. I've just got to show these lads to their bungalow, alright? And show them around this place." He flashes them all an excited grin. "But we'll be joining for dinner tonight, me and the boys." He gestures towards the boys behind him. "I promise."
"Oh, yeah. Who are they?" Lottie looks at them with big, curious eyes.
"They're my friends and they've come from very far away."
"Oh." She contemplates this for a few seconds and then she smiles widely at the four boys. "I hope you enjoy your stay!"
Well. That's certainly more pleasant than it was with his mother.
With a last hug for them each, Louis leaves his siblings to show the boys to their collective sleeping space. He leads them to the biggest bungalow of them all, the exterior garnished with white climbing rose, and he lets the welcoming scent embrace them as he steps inside to fully reveal the large space. There are several beds in there, only a couple of them already taken as it's in the middle of the day and most forest creatures are already up before sunrise.
"So this bungalow," Louis starts, "is the open bungalow. People just kind of come and go here. It's where lots of creatures from the other side of the forest here on special work and stuff crash, so just grab a bed whenever you feel like using one and it's yours until you leave it, yeah?"
"Great," Niall says and slumps right down on one bed. "I'm feeling a nap."
Louis raises an eyebrow, but he's not complaining. It's nice that the cupid is comfortable.
He purses his mouth to the side and looks back between the three boys who are still standing.
"So you guys just settle down. I'm going to go and take our bags into my bungalow," he says. "Lots of nosy people in here, can't tell you how many things I've lost throughout the years."
He hauls the backpacks over his shoulders and turns to departure.
"I'll go with you," Harry says quickly. "I'm not really that tired."
Louis tries to not show any external signs of how much his heart flutters at Harry choosing to go with him. Like there's some kind of underlying motive to it other than Harry just simply not being tired. Because there obviously isn't. Right. That'd be stupid.
"Yeah, okay," he states lightly, and so they walk away together in silence, hands comfortably brushing against each other's every now and then. The physical contact still makes Louis' skin tickle.
The bungalow Louis' got to call his own is quite small, but colourful, and he especially likes it because it's pretty much like nature's followed him inside. There are tons of plants and flowers in all corners and on all shelves and on his old, wooden nightstand, and it's just how he likes it.
He puts the bags down at the foot of his bed and sits down on it, turning to watch Harry. The spirit is slowly letting his gaze meander around the space, from the braided daisy garlands decorating the walls, to the carved, squiggly patterns on the bed headboard, to the small piano squeezed into the corner right opposite the door.
"It's lovely," he hums. "Very you."
"I would hope so, since it's my room," Louis quips back, and Harry rolls his eyes faintly.
He moves over to the piano, lets his fingers slowly travel along the ivory keys, barely grazing them with his fingertips.
"You play?" he asks with a surprised upturn of his mouth sent Louis' way.
Louis just nods. "Sometimes. I like the way the way it feels against my fingers."
Harry nods, too, like this is valid and noteworthy information to him, and pushes down on a G tryingly.
"I always wish I could. Will you play for me sometime?"
If Harry doesn't stop this whole tranquil and discerning act soon Louis' hands are never going to stop trembling.
"Yeah, sure," the fairy breathes, because he's pretty sure he couldn't deny Harry a single thing when he's like this. So genuinely and gratuitously showing interest for Louis and his life and his mind and reasoning.
Harry's small smile grows into a satisfied grin and he sits down next to Louis on the bed. He opens his mouth and closes it a few times, clearly signalizing that he wants to say something, and Louis just looks down on his hands, waiting patiently for him to find the right words.
"You didn't have to do that," Harry murmurs at last. "The thing with your mom? You didn't have to."
Louis snaps his head up to give him an incredulous look. It's really starting to tear at his heart, how Harry continuously feels the need to essentially apologize to Louis every time the fairy does something remotely to Harry's advantage. It's a pattern that he in the beginning appreciated but as time's gone on he now resents.
Well. He guesses he has himself to blame for a part of it. He still painfully remembers them at the start of this whole trip—how Louis constantly insulted and quipped and gave Harry a hard time. If this had been a couple of weeks ago, Louis would never do something nice for Harry if there wasn't a bigger picture behind it not including the curly haired boy.
Not that it wasn't justified, back then. Harry didn't exactly use to be the most charming either, Louis knows he was just as bad if not worse. He's well aware, and he knows that Harry is, too, or he wouldn't have been able to make the changes he's made. But the fact that Harry has yet to accept decency from other creatures, that he constantly needs to assure Louis that Louis doesn't have to, like Louis is for some reason doing this against his will, is what has the short boy bothered and concerned. Sad.
He doesn't voice any of this, because he feels like that's not a conversation to be had in the haste of showing Harry his sleeping place.
So instead he makes sure to look as convincing and serious as possible as he deadpans;
"Yeah. I did."
Harry purses his mouth and keep his stare fixed on his lap.
"It's not like I can't handle people disliking me. I don't want you to feel like—obligated to go out of your way to make things easy for me."
"What?" Louis's eyes narrow. "That's so not what that was. When have I ever made things easier for you because I felt obligated to?"
Harry is silent, so Louis nods and continues.
"You're good, Harry. And doing nice things for you isn't ever a burden to me."
It's a simple and honest statement, but Harry lets out an almost panicked laugh like it's making him question his entire existence, and Louis just wants to explain it to him, calmly lay out all the facts and secrets hidden in the dents of life in front of Harry and make him always feel alright.
"God," he says, running a rushed hand through his hair. "You can't just say stuff like that."
"Stuff like what?"
"Stuff. Like. Stuff that makes me—"
Harry doesn't finish, but rather just lets his hand fall back to his side and shakes his head, but his dimples are prominent, so it must be a positive unspoken ending. Louis' mind runs through options. Makes me what? Makes me feel important? Makes me happy?
Makes me love you?
Louis kind of wouldn't mind every single option.
"...So," Harry starts again instantly, jumping up from the bed and heading straight for the door, and that's clearly him saying that the topic is very dropped. That unfinished sentence will probably haunt Louis' conscience for the rest of his life, but you know. Louis is fine. "How about you show us around, hm? I'm warming up to this whole cutesy forest concept."
A grin breaks out on Louis' face at that.
"I'm really glad, because you have so much left to see."
They happily exit his room and move back to the open bungalow, but Louis stops abruptly in the doorway when they reach it, causing Harry to almost barge into him from behind.
Niall is already fast asleep, and Liam and Zayn are sitting closely about three beds away, knees knocking together as they converse lowly. They haven't realized that they're being watched, and Louis feels like maybe he shouldn't intrude on this.
He cautiously looks back at Niall and nearly jumps out of his skin when he finds the cupid's eyes now wide open and glaring at him with an intensity of a thousand angry suns. He shakes his head subtly and makes swift waving motions with his hands to make Louis leave, and if he were able to speak Louis is sure it would sound something like "if you interrupt those two right now I will fuck you up".
Louis takes the hint with a small nod, before turning on his heel and pulling Harry along with him.
"Um," Harry tries briefly, but he lets himself be dragged away.
"Looks like we'll have to wait with that whole tour thing," Louis says. "True love haltered that plan a bit. But I guess since you and I are stuck together we got to figure something out, yeah?"
They're far enough away from the bungalows by now, and Louis realizes he still hasn't let go of Harry's arm. He immediately does, making sure to put a bit of distance between the two. They're out in public now, at home, Louis' home where creatures really love to gossip, and he kind of doesn't want that just yet. Maybe one day. But not yet.
"Right," Harry agrees. The corners of his mouth are twitching.
They continue walking for a bit, and Louis kind of just lavishes in the feeling of being back. Moving his fingers along bushes and trees on the way, enjoying the tingling feeling in his hands and feet as he finally gets to feel one with nature and sunlight and growth again. He hasn't realized just how intensely he's missed this until now, but he's so glad he got the chance to.
"I haven't noticed before," Harry suddenly voices, and Louis is so caught up in the green, fuzzy feeling of comfort that it kind of startles him. "How nature seems to come a little more alive around you."
"Hm?"
Louis looks away from the willow tree they just passed, dragging his hand behind to linger on the dangling branches, to Harry who's watching him with a meditative tilt of his head and a tentative raise of his brow.
"You know. The grass grows a little greener. Flowers blooms a little faster."
Louis can't help but blush from the statement, a blatant admission to Harry watching him carefully once again, really, truly observing.
"I'm a nature fairy, Harry. It's my job."
"Yeah, I know, but." The spirit cuts himself off to think for a moment. "But it's still really nice. It suits you."
"Suits me?" Louis swallows and tries to sound as nonchalant as Harry is sounding, even though his heart is pounding and pulsating in his ears.
Harry hums in confirmation.
"That's always you, isn't it? Making everything bloom brighter."
He says it so effortlessly, like it's the humblest truth, and Louis' heartstrings wobble all over the place. There isn't a moment he can pinpoint where Harry went from 'you have nice ears' to casually dropping compliments like 'you make everything bloom brighter', but it has happened somehow and Louis wants to cry and lie down and run around and kiss Harry for days and nights.
It also manages to make Louis' cheeks blossom redder than any of the roses they're passing, which isn't quite as amazing. Louis isn't at loss for words a lot.
"You can't just say stuff like that," he settles for, echoing Harry's words from before.
Harry's eyes are twinkling back.
Stuff that makes me happy. Stuff that makes me love you.
Notes:
this is just disgusting. tooth-rotting. almost 6k of fluff. but let me live they're slowly entering their honeymoon phase after all the fighting so it's COOL
also sorry for the wait, i've had tons of schoolwork lately but at least it doesn't take 3 months between updates anymore djfdhj i truly don't deserve any of u
BUT as always, despite of my unowrthiness i'm still so happy ur here and reading and liking and commenting i see n read everything and i smile so wide i pass out every time xxxxxxx and if u ever wanna talk hmu on tumblr @tequiladimples i will 137% love u FOREVER