#i originally had this queued when this wasnt posted but now it is :-) rens art for the sylvain flashback is SO PRETTY i show it to basically

[weirdopponent]

"Hey, Sylvain, come here,"

Sylvain turns the small clam shell in his small fingers. It is the color of pale white foam or undyed fabric. It is filled with the earth, like a little bag of brown sugar. He drops it and brushes the sand from his palms. Miklan is a blurry figure further down the beach, but he'll still know if Sylvain drags his feet no matter how far away he is. Nothing good comes from stalling. Nothing good comes from running, either. Sylvain comes when he is called, but he still comes in no rush.

"Let's play here." Miklan says, pointing. The ocean is still under his index finger. It is in a splint. Father had not taken him to the hospital, so Miklan had gone to a local pharmacy. The money came from Sylvain's pocket. Miklan knows Sylvain cannot swim.

"I can't swim." He says anyway. Feels the hook through his cheek, bait in his throat. Sylvain isn't scared of the water. He's scared of - 

"I'll teach you," there is a hand between his wings. Miklan kicks at the sand, it scatters out like sugar on glaze. The ocean is still.

Sylvain isn't scared of the water. It gets deep. They are at the cusp of the ocean's bowl, the shallows home to scuttling and pinching things that could make him bleed, but not die. The odds that Sylvain will ever know waters deep and wide enough that his muscles would fail to fatigue, and his lungs to the water, are low. Miklan pushes him forward, just a little, and his sandals get wet.

Sylvain wouldn't be able to run even without Miklan's hand on him, now at the back of his neck, small. Indefinably fragile. Sylvain knows. Sylvain knows if he runs, he will only bleed, the hook in his cheek, the bait in his throat. Sylvain isn't a very good fisher. Sylvain steps into the surf.

He learns lots of things from Miklan. He learns how long it takes for different bones to heal. He learns how bad it needs to be to risk nursing. He learns burning, and he learns breaking, and he learns how to be completely still and quiet when he is hurt. Sylvain learns how to hold his breath.

#no stars tonight (wip) #fanfic #fire emblem #feth #fire emblem three houses #anyways technically not a #wip #implied physical abuse #i kinda hate how some people write miklan #ren and i talked A LOT abt miklan and sylvains dynamics #as well as edelgards and dimitris dynamics also #bc like - especially for edelgard - i dont want them to seem like theyre Evil #bc theyre not. theyre victims too #and in miklans case its like. its . really important to me that we remember abusers are also people #fully formed people irl #bc i think its unhealthy to convince yourself otherwise #fanfic friday #dimivain #tagging for rhe link mostly #i originally had this queued when this wasnt posted but now it is :-) rens art for the sylvain flashback is SO PRETTY i show it to basically #everyone lol