E Rawlins- Puppy Crush

note. This turned out... So long and then I had to cut so much because it was TOO spoilery. So sorry.

At first it was just that they were so… Striking. Well, they just nearly got run over by Kirkland and his horse and all E had wanted to do was apologise to them for it. They had looked down, to see someone… Well, obviously not at their best. Dusty clothes, unkempt, looking like they hadn’t slept since the day before, sweating underneath the sudden, unexpected heat. But their eyes. E had immediately been taken in by them. Shadowed, tired, with something dark lurking deep inside. Their stomach had flipped and they later were so embarrassed by their stutter, their eager to please attitude for a stranger, that they had dunked their entire head in cold water and told themself to get a grip. 

No, that was just an appreciation for a stranger. The puppy crush didn’t come back until their second meeting. Just being able to keep up with their older sibling had done it. Questioning them on what they had done to Luke. Which was nothing… Probably. But everyone else, no matter how much they hated, loved or felt even slightly ambivalent to them, had always struggled to face them head on, look them in the eye and level an accusation at them. E remembered when they still felt like they could do that. Just the memory of that time made their new scar twinge. The knock to their self esteem was terrible. Seeing them do that? That cemented it for them. E had offered to walk them out, asking if they could help them in any way with their investigation. It really did feel… Good. To be with them. 

There was no illusions it was love though. No, they didn’t even know them. They had only met once before. But it couldn’t stop the soft burn of adoration though. 

Now, though? Now they were sick. 

E had gone to their usual hideout, a way to escape the manor, their mother’s attention, L’s stubbornness. What had started as soreness, probably from the day’s exertion had tumbled right over into pain. Like something was crawling through their veins, something sharp that was resizing E’s arteries. They hadn’t been able to move at all, gasping out and spasming with each throb of deep, unbearable pain. It went on for the entire night, before dawn came. The next night came and it was back. Worse now. 

Some nights it dropped off entirely, but other times it seemed to quadruple. To their horror, they even had one of these fits in front of the Witch, stiffening before needing to grip their head, doubled over. But before, where the only thing they could smell was their own blood and bile, they could focus on the Witch’s scent. It was heavenly. E had been wandering around, unable to take the horrible cloying that had crept into their nose, but for just a moment it had stopped. 

Their thoughts crept from how they had admired the Witch, couldn’t help but be awed by them... That they… Were attractive. Crept slowly downwards. They adored the Witch. They were perfection itself. That no one could ever come close to their level. Or should get close.