I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy went to pick Leo up the following morning and noticed he had something folded in his arms that he stuck in the backseat. "What's that?"

"Pajamas. If you're going to be comfortable later I may as well be too. Do you mind?"

She shook her head. How could she mind when she had started it? It was rather perplexing though. He had no qualms whatsoever about making himself right at home, did he? What kind of weirdo had she gotten saddled with? 

Daisy really didn't know much about him. She knew he had been a military brat, his entire family was dead, he had most recently lived in Pittsburgh before here, a few foods he liked, and his reading preferences. That wasn't much to go off of trying to figure him out. 

To be fair, she hadn't given him much to work with either. He knew she had moved houses a lot but didn't know she had been a foster kid. Or homeless.

Everyone had things they didn't want to talk about. She certainly wasn't about to tell him about all of that, temporary friend or not. That wasn't how she worked. Spending time together didn't mean she had to trust him with anything beyond her physical safety. She really doubted he was going to attack her. 

Leo was true to his word and didn't go into the building with her. That didn't stop him from chatting with her on their shared breaks though. Could this guy seriously not spend a minute by himself without going crazy?

Daisy wasn't in the mood to cook tonight so she ordered cheese crust pizza for them and his eyes widened as he ate it, as if he had never had anything like it before. His reaction was oddly cute but what sort of person wasn't familiar with cheese crust pizza?

After dinner she was tired and full of pizza so she uncharacteristically wanted to watch a movie. She sat down farther apart from Leo than last time but he looked so pitifully lonely on the other side of the couch by himself that she ended up wavering. She scooted closer to him and gave him a death glare. 

"No funny business." 

"Funny business?" he asked with a frown. 

Daisy raised an eyebrow. Did he seriously not know what that meant? She thought it was a fairly standard idiom. "Well, the last time we watched a movie together things got a little out of control, remember? Keep your hands to yourself."

"Oh. I see. You never specified what was and wasn't allowed. I take it I'm not allowed to put my arm around you then?"

Ugh, why did he have to say it like that? It made her feel like a bad person. She honestly hadn't minded cuddling while watching the movie before. She had actually missed that sort of thing during all of her time watching TV alone. 

"…you can do that," Daisy said lamely. 

Leo happily complied. She curled up by his side and he held her protectively as if he never wanted to let her go. She had no idea what she was supposed to do with him!

=== 

Rukelion had expected Daisy to reject him the day after Valentine's Day but it still hurt so much she may as well have reached into his chest and yanked his heart out with her bare hands. It took all of his willpower not to burst into flames. 

He had never had such poor control of his fire but the emotional instability caused by losing his wife so traumatically had changed that. Nowadays he had to worry about catching fire when he was upset. 

Thankfully, he managed not to do that and to convince her to keep him around. The most nerve-wracking part was over. Now he had to be methodical and not mess up a second time. 

Rukelion couldn't do anything Daisy didn't want him to at this point. He knew he was treading on thin ice. He was sure to be as helpful and unobtrusive as possible, largely blending into the background as if he was one of her plants. 

His plan seemed to be working. After about a week of him hanging around her apartment after work she sang for thirty minutes straight while doing some cleaning and didn't seem self-conscious about it at all.

This was good. He didn't want her to be self-conscious around him. He wanted her to be comfortable, the way she had been before.

Slowly but surely he was wearing her down. One Sunday she wasn't feeling particularly well and because she hated showing vulnerability she hadn't let him know beforehand and proceeded with their plans as usual. But after a while it became rather obvious. 

Rukelion didn't say anything because he didn't want Daisy to send him back to his tiny apartment where he would be tortured alone with his thoughts. He hated that he had to sleep alone. He saw her almost every other second of the day when he wasn't working but when he slept alone the nightmares plagued him. 

He had gotten into the habit of taking naps on her couch where he felt safer and could wake up seeing her alive and well if she was doing something solitary like listening to her podcasts while doing something with her hands. 

She never gave him a hard time for it and let him be, which he appreciated. Someone less kind than her would likely kick him out and tell him to go sleep at home. 

Aside from the one night they slept together Daisy had never let her guard down enough to nap when he was around until today. They were watching a movie and she was wrapped in a blanket like a burrito sitting up next to him when he felt her head droop onto his shoulder. 

Rukelion knew she needed her rest. He wanted her to be more comfortable and not wake up with a crick in her neck so he gently repositioned her so her head was using his lap as a pillow and the blanket wasn't quite so tangled around her and actually covered her feet. He then brushed her hair off of her sweaty forehead and stroked it repeatedly, watching her more than the movie. 

"It's alright, Daisy," he told her despite knowing she couldn't hear him. "You never have to be alone when you're sick again."

After a while he became concerned about her fever and gingerly slid out from beneath her, grabbing a pillow from her bed to take his place. He didn't dare try to take her fever away with his magic since he didn't know what that would do to her so he got a wet cloth and tried to cool her head down the natural way. 

While he was up he decided to make her some chicken noodle soup as well. She had bought the ingredients when they went grocery shopping the other day and mentioned that it was good for warding off sickness. 

It seemed she hadn't made it in time to ward this one off. Hopefully, having it now would help her heal faster. 

Rukelion hummed to himself as he worked. He knew quite a few songs Daisy liked from the many times she had sung them over the years but he didn't know all of the words. He liked the melodies though, which was why he often hummed them out of habit. That was what he got for spending so much time with his wife but he wasn't complaining. 

He was simultaneously happy to have things almost as they were back on the farm and miserable that he was with his wife but not truly WITH her. Going back to the way things had been before she realized she was in love with him was not how he had wanted them to go.

Knowing what it was like for her to love him and having that taken away was almost more than he could bear. He only got through it having her there to ground him for most of the day. 

Daisy was alive. That had to be enough for now. As long as she was alive he had time to fix things and get them back where they were supposed to be. 

Rukelion had to keep her alive at all costs. There weren't any hidden enemies out to get him here so that much wasn't an issue but this world was more dangerous than it seemed. After all, she had only ended up in his world in the first place because she had been gravely injured. 

She tried to hide it but sometimes when the weather was bad or when she did a lot of heavy lifting he would see her wince and roll her shoulder or rub her knee. She may have healed but the aftereffects might never fully leave her. 

He would do everything for her if she asked but he knew she never would.. He did his best trying to pick up the slack for what he could see on his own but wasn't always successful.