Chapter Text
The sun had risen over the horizon, a beautiful orange and red sunrise.. Pure often woke up early, early enough to watch the sunrise, as often they were pretty calming.
He hummed, sitting by a specific black-haired wizard who’d passed out sitting in the garden, well, now laying down in the garden.
Pure sighed, smiling. He knew licorice always liked the night better — the moon, the stars, a lot of things about it — However, he was worried about him staying up so late, it could take a pretty bad toll on his health.. he was proud of him, for the progress he’d made recovering, the progress he’d made with his redemption.
He was stubborn a lot, sure, but he knew there was no way to change someone’s personality. Even though pure was always suspicious, as if some of the personality seemed almost forced. Which wouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as he also knew that he had quite the fear of being seen weak.
But Pure vanilla knew better than anyone that he wasn’t as bad as he made himself out to be. Licorice often tried to stop people from interacting with him, becoming friends with him, and Pure Vanilla always assumed it was because he was scared of showing them a side of himself that was considered weak, though noting there could be other reasons.
He was always good with others emotions, he wasn’t just taught in physical healing, he was also taught in emotional healing —However, never thought he’d see the day where he’d be taking care of a former enemy — who definitely needed some sort of true parental love, or care. Licorice also needed.. a lot of emotional help, and support.
But that’s okay. Pure would be patient with him, he always was. There were a couple more things that concerned him, for example, the fact that Licorice still did dark magic. Even though he’d tried to hide it, it was easy for Pure to tell. Eventually, he’d have to figure out how to ask him about it without making it seem that he was upset about it. He knew it would take effort to just stop doing the magic that was so familiar to him.
Pure eventually determined that the other wouldn’t wake up just yet, considering he was out late enough to have fallen asleep here and not made it back to his room. Carefully, as if one wrong move would shatter the smaller person, he put his hands under him and scooped him up cautiously. Praying silently that he wouldn’t wake licorice up. He quietly sighed in relief when he just curled up a bit, but didn’t wake up.
He walked past the colorful rows of flowers, one of the specific patches had a chocolate-colored flower, a golden flower, a sunflower, and a white lily. He glanced at it as he passed, happy that they hadn’t wilted away. Pure decided he’d start coming out to the garden more regularly, though, it seemed like someone had been taking care of the garden despite him not being out there. He looked down at licorice, holding back a chuckle. Guess he has a soft spot for flowers, he’d keep that noted.
He slid open the garden door, stepping inside the palace. The familiar scent of the vanilla candles floating through the air, a calming atmosphere for most, which he enjoyed trying to make guests feel as welcome as possible. Though, licorice wasn’t much of a guest anymore.
He hummed as he passed through the hallways, pausing as he felt something grab his shirt. Concerned, he looked down at the other, opening his eyes slightly. Licorice was shaking, holding onto pure, pressed up against him basically. His breathing patterns seemed off, and the pace of his heartbeat quickened. He looked scared, even terrified. He slightly remembered that licorice once had mentioned something about nightmares, then quickly changed the subject. Pure assumed he was having a nightmare, but it seemed more like he was fully panicking. Tears pricked the others eyes, and Pure pulled Licorice closer. Hugging him tightly but not tight enough to wake him up or harm him. He was trying to offer as much comfort as he could — not completely knowing what to do in this situation — since licorice wasn’t exactly awake.
He heard a few things as Licorice started mumbling in his sleep, quickly. Most of them were apologies, repeating the words “I’m sorry”, “No”, and some other stuff. Pure continued walking towards Licorice's room, he was asleep so there wasn’t much he could do for comfort. Opening the door, it was quite a mess. The bed wasn’t made, pillows were on the ground and a few empty cups were scattered around the room. He set licorice down, pulling the blanket that was still on the bed over him and going to pick up the mess of pillows. He put them on the bed behind licorice, slightly lifting him up to lay his head on the pillows.
Licorice held onto the blankets tightly, as if he was hugging them, like something would disappear if he let go. He kept on mumbling apologies, the word “no”, and a few unintelligible words. Pure sat down next to the bed, gently squeezing the younger one’s hand — to bring him out of whatever nightmare he was in.
Licorice jolted awake, gasping for air, like he couldn’t breath. Panicked, he looked around the room. Everything on his face only displayed panic, and terror. He looked at pure, pulling his hand away harshly and sitting up, backing away against the wall as if pure was a stranger to him. Pure instantly noticed this was most likely a state of panic, or even a panic attack.
Licorice continued breathing heavily, which started to sound like more of gasps for air as he brought his knees up closer to his chest and hugged them. “This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real.” He kept on repeating between breaths, sobs starting to escape his mouth instead of gasps as tears spilled down his face which he buried in his arms. He pulled at his hair harshly, suddenly, as if trying to wake up from a bad dream.
“Hey, hey, kiddo. No. This is real.” Pure said, reassuringly as he stepped closer. Climbing onto the bed and hesitantly reaching out for licorice. Licorice looked up, quickly moving himself further away from Pure. “DON'T TOUCH ME!” He screeched, mumbling unintelligible words as he pressed his back up against the wall as much as he could, hugging himself. Pure slowly took his hand back. Sitting there, concerned and confused. Licorice's eyes darted around the room, as if he was looking for a threat, as if he hardely recognized the place as tears blurred his vision. Finally, he spoke up again, speaking quickly, panic edging his voice. “‘M sorry. I’m sorry. Very sorry. Please don’t hurt me, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything. Please. I won't do it again, I promise, I promise. I promise I’m sorry.” He started repeating the words I’m sorry again and again, sobs and hics sometimes interrupting his words.
“No, kiddo, it’s okay. You're okay. I mean no harm to you. I am trying to help you, not hurt you. This is real, you aren’t in a nightmare. You’re okay, you’re real, you’re safe. Okay? You’re completely safe.” Pure comforted, his voice stern but full of worry. He was trying desperately to get his kid back — or atleast, he considered licorice as more of a son than just a simple friend.
Licorice tried nodding, tried to accept it, but it was hard to accept. What if he was lying? And this was just another torturous nightmare? He drew in a shaky breath, another sob escaping when he did. “I’m sorry- I’m sorry— I’m sorry, I can’t— No, this isn’t- it can’t be-“ a million thoughts crowded his head, overwhelming, this was too overwhelming.
Pure reached out his hand again, slightly moving closer. Licorice just stared at him with terror, slightly whimpering as he assumed the worst— he was gonna be hurt, this wasn’t real and just another nightmare, or this wasn’t even Pure. He expected something painful, but.. instead, he was pulled into a hug. A warm, comforting hug. His eyes filled with tears yet again, harshly sobbing into pures shirt as he was pulled closer. “Shh… it’s okay, kiddo.. I’m here, I’ve got you..” he gasped for air between sobs, shaking violently. He had a death grip on pures shirt, as if he'd disappear if he let go. He didn’t like being weak like this, he didn’t like being seen weak like this, but emotions are tough to control. “I’m.. sorry.. Please don’t leave me alone, I’m sorry.” Licorice desperately spoke, sobs spilling in between the words he’d said. Though Pure understood what he meant.
“I won't leave you, bud.. I’m here for you, m’kay? I’ll always be with you.. I won’t leave you, Licorice, kiddo, I promise..” he reassured, sadness edging his voice. It hurt to see him like this. Pure knew that Licorice needed some help emotionally or sure, but this was a lot, and he knew he must’ve been through a lot. He hugged licorice tighter, feeling more protective over the younger dark wizard. He had been through too much, despite being just barely over the age of a teenager. Pure wasn’t going to let anything else get to him. He silently vowed.
The sobbing slowed into soft sobs and weak breaths, before the sobbing eventually faded away, replaced by slow breathing. Signaling that the other had fallen asleep. He sighed, Licorice still had a death grip on his shirt though. Which slowly loosened as he fell into sleep. Tears stained his cheeks still, but they’d stopped dripping from his eyes.
Pure took a moment to make sure he hadn’t got himself injured again, finding a few spots where bruises had formed or spots besides the bandages that were still on his arms where Licorice's nails had dug deep enough to draw blood. He frowned, a small bit of light materializing in his hand as he held it in front of the new wounds, healing them.
It wasn’t always easy to heal Licorice's wounds, atleast, it would be harder for healers that weren’t on the same level as him. Light and dark magic usually don’t interact well. Especially if the person you were trying to heal had a dark aura. Despite that, Pure still healed him. Even if it took more magic. He wasn’t going to lose him after everything.
Pure stood up, silently opening the door of the room and shutting it behind him as he stepped out. He still remembered Licorices favorite tea flavor, and decided that he’d make it for him, when he woke up.
He was determined to let this father-son bond last. Aswell was determined to make sure nobody else ever hurt Licorice again.