terato-romance:

Next morning you awoke to the sound of rain hitting the roof of
the cottage. After getting up you noticed you were still wearing the
dress and you had to smile. Graal probably didn’t bring it over
himself to undress you.

Downstairs you found him cleaning up the cottage. He turned when
you greeted him.

“I was gone a while, have to clean the place up. Lots of spider
webs.” He placed down the broom. “Did you sleep well?” he asked

“Yes, your bed is very comfortable.” you answered with a smile
to which he only nodded and turned away, but not before you saw his
cheeks getting a bit darker. You wouldn’t have guessed that orcs
can blush.

---

“I’ll help you!” you said while grabbing the broom and
starting to sweep the floor. After a while, when you were both done,
you noticed that your dress was covered in dust and you tried to
sweep it down with your hands.

“You know, I was supposed to do the laundry anyway, I have a lot
of it after the quest, so you can give me your clothes too. There is
a small room in the back with a tub, so you can…you know, take a
bath as well if you want. I’ll heat up the water.”

“I’d love to, thanks. But… what should I wear while my
clothes dry?” you asked him and he got nervous for a bit.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll give you something of mine.”

He carried the water from the well and washed the laundry while
you were in the bath. Later, when you emerged in one of his longer
shirts, that reached almost to your knees, he was hanging up the wet
things to dry near the hearth. He turned around and wanted to say
something but when he saw you, he fell silent. At first you didn’t
know what was wrong, but then he rushed past you, saying something
about his turn to clean himself up, and then he was gone in the back
room.

Obviously you made quite an indecent sight and you smiled at how
shy he was.

You felt your stomach rumble and decided it was your turn to cook
something, especially since you both forgot breakfast in the heat of
cleaning up the place. You found some victuals and tried to make
something edible. It was quite a while since you cooked something.
You usually got some takeouts or frozen pizzas on your way back from
work. You hoped Graal won’t be disappointed by your cooking skills.
He came back after a while when you were nearly done, and sat down at
the table. You took the pot from the fire and filled two plates that
you carried over to him. He was quiet, giving you quick looks. His
hair was still wet and his braids were loose.

“It stopped raining.” you noticed. He nodded and said that
maybe tomorrow the weather will be better.

“We’ll go to Akmar tomorrow.” he said not looking at you,
and you wondered if he wanted to send you back as quickly as
possible. Maybe it was inconvenient for him to have you there. He was
probably used to living alone and now you took his bed, paraded in
his house in a shirt and your food probably tasted horrible to him.
So you only nodded and continued eating.

Later, sitting on the furs, you tried to braid your hair the way
Belanor did it before, but you were not really successful.

“I could try to do it, if you’d like.” you heard Graal
saying.

“I would appreciate it. I never braid my hair like that, only
wear it loose or in a pony tail.” you admitted.

He sat behind you on the furs. He was very delicate when he
gathered your hair in his hands and you found it pleasant how he
brushed his fingers through it. You noticed he took much longer to
braid it than Belanor, but if it was because he was less skilled and
needed more time, or… he intentionally made it last longer, you
couldn’t say.  Then, suddenly, you felt his finger drawing out
the edge of your ear and it made you hold your breath.

“I never saw round ears before.” you heard him saying quietly.
“Like an otter.” You giggled and he apologized.

“No need to apologize.” you answered “Otters are cute.”

“Yes, they are…” he said, and you didn’t dare to think
that maybe he thought you cute as well. Silly thought.

“There, it’s done.” he said and got back up.

“Thank you.” You checked the braids with your hands and found
them perfect. So he knew how to do it well.

You spent the rest of the day talking. It was probably your last
day here, so you wanted to find out a bit more about him. He told you
about growing up in a stronghold with his parents, but then he moved
out to live by himself. You didn’t ask if he ever had someone, you
didn’t want to pry, even though you were really curious about it.
He also told you about going on quests from time to time, because it
was not only a way of making money, it also had its perks of seeing
new places and meeting new people. At that he took a quick glance at
you.

“Do you miss your home?” he asked suddenly and you had to
think for a second.

“Actually, no.” You realized. “My family lives far away from
me and we don’t really keep in contact anymore. My days are all
about working and coming home to sleep. Really, there is nothing I
miss about my world.”

He fumbled with his fingers, as if he was nervous, and then he
took a deep breath.

“You don’t have… anyone, back home? Beside family, or
friends, I mean. Like a sweetheart?”

That was new. Graal never asked you private questions, and never
anything about romantic relationships.

“No. I was on a couple of dates in last time that really
disappointed me. I never found anything in common with anyone.
There’s only me” you shrugged.

He was looking at you and there was something in his eyes that you
didn’t see before. You couldn’t decipher it but it was something
like… hope?

Nonsense. Not Graal. You were imagining things. But you couldn’t
deny the fact his demeanor changed a little. He got less reserved,
and after supper, when you were both washing the dishes in a big
bucket, his hand brushed against yours quite often, when you were
handing him the plates to dry. It made you feel lightheaded and
excited, but you brushed it off. Tomorrow you’ll be sent back and
you’ll never see him again.

This made you sad a little. You grew to like him.

The warmth of the fire dried the clothes and you pulled your
things down from the line. You wanted to give Graal back the dress he
bought for you but on second thought you decided to keep it. He
wouldn’t have much use of it anyway and the thought he could give
it to someone else, another woman, made your stomach feel funny. You
didn’t like the idea of it.

Before going to sleep, you approached Graal and placed a hand on
his arm.

“Graal, I wanted to thank you. You were very nice to me and who
knows what would happen to me if I was accidentally summoned by
someone else. That goblin from when I arrived here, he wanted me
dead, and I think if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have made it
in your world. So, thanks for your kindness, and for trying to help
me get back.”

He exhaled and covered your hand with his, which was much larger
and warmer.

“It was my pleasure. And you’re always welcome here.” He
smiled, but his eyes were sad. You didn’t want to imagine things,
that he didn’t really want you to go. He never mentioned anything
like it.

You gave him a smile back and went upstairs, but even after some
time, you couldn’t fall asleep. You were nervous, restless, you
kept turning, adjusting the covers but sleep didn’t came. Only
after hours you managed to drift away.

Even in your sleep you felt sad. You kept chasing something.
Someone. A big, hulking shadow that you couldn’t reach. Then you
felt someone gently caressing your cheek. The warmth of the hand
reminded you of someone and you leaned into the touch. You said a
name, whispered it, and the hand on your cheek stilled, and then
disappeared. 

When birds outside started chirping you awoke and dressed. Asking
yourself if Graal was already up, you went downstairs to spend the
last hours with him, but you found the furs in front of the fireplace
empty. You looked around and then went outside to find Graal sitting
on the short wall surrounding his cottage and garden. He held a cup
of brew in his hand.

“Good morning.” you said and when he turned, you saw deep
shadows under his eyes. So it wasn’t only you who had troubles
sleeping.

“Morning.” he answered and lowered his head to stare at the
cup. “I’ll make us breakfast, and after that we can go. Akmar
lives about an hour from here.” His voice was hoarse.

You nodded and went back to the cottage. The unpleasant feeling in
your stomach from yesterday was back, only stronger. This was it, you
were about to leave. Graal came in and didn’t look at you, only
started preparing the food. You ate in silence and after he made sure
you had everything, he put on a cloak and you went out.

On the way to Akmar, you admired the views for the last time. You
kept looking at Graal too, waiting for him to say something, but he
was stubbornly silent. But you noticed he clenched his fists a lot,
something you haven’t seen him doing before.

When you reached Akmar’s house, Graal pounded on the door, and
after a moment it opened, revealing a very old man. He could be held
for a human, if not for the long pointy ears peaking out of his gray
hair.

“Ah, Graal, what brings you to me?” he smiled and invited you
both in.

He gave you an up and down look and his brows furrowed.

“I sense something odd about this one. Tell me child, who are
you?”

“Well, s-sir…” you felt silly but you didn’t know how to
address a mage. “I’m a human.” At this his eyes got big and he
needed a moment to speak.

“Now that is… very rare. We hadn’t had any humans here in
ages. How comes that you landed in our world?”

At that Graal took out the book he used to summon you and showed
it to Akmar.

“It was me. I got it from an evil mage that was defeated on the
last quest I took part in, and I performed this ritual. “ he
pointed at a page. “ Only something went wrong and she appeared.”
He still wasn’t looking at you, which made you sad and a little
angry to be honest.

Akmar hummed and read the page, then looked at Graal and at you.

“I don’t know what you could’ve done wrong with that one.
This is a ritual that brings what ones heart desires the most.”

You looked at him perplexed. You never before heard what was the
reason Graal tried out the magical book. His hearts desire? What was
that supposed to mean?

“Exactly.” Said Graal. “I was thinking I’ll get a mountain
of gold, or something like it.”

“Is that what you desire most? Gold?” Akmar looked up at Graal
who didn’t answer. “You should look a little deeper into your
heart, and find out what you really long for. Something that was in
the back of your mind but you didn’t allow yourself to think about,
maybe?” Graal was silent, but his eyes went in your direction, only
for him to snap his gaze back at Akmar, who huffed. “Silly,
stubborn boy!”

You stared at the old man and wondered if he wasn’t aware he was
speaking to a 7ft orc.

Grall grunted. “I also wanted to ask you if you know how to send
her back? She wants to go home.” At this the mage looked at you.
“You really do?” he asked.

Damn him, you thought. Asking questions you didn’t want to
answer. Not in front of them.

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” Good, you didn’t
answer directly. It would be embarrassing to let Graal know that you
actually wanted…well, you had to admit it to yourself. For the
first time it crystallized in your mind. You wanted to stay. With
him. But he didn’t seem to have a similar wish, otherwise he
would’ve said something, right?

Akmar rolled his eyes. “You young people, you always wait for
others to help you out in these matters, don’t you?” He clapped
the book closed. “I’m keeping it, you shouldn’t play with
magic. And take her back home, don’t you see she’s not eager to
go back to her world?” he asked Graal, who looked at you with wide
eyes, and there it was again – hope.

“Y-you don’t want to go?” he asked in a hushed voice.

You gulped. Well, no point in pretending, the mage saw more than
others, apparently.

“I actually don’t, but I don’t want to be a burden or
anything.”

Graal exhaled loudly and you realized he was holding his breath.

“You wouldn’t… you’re not a burden.” he said. “Why
didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what you would think about this. I wasn’t
sure what you think… of me.” you finished, looking at your feet.

You didn’t see his face but you saw him stepping closer. He put
a finger under your chin and lifted your head. That’s when you saw
his smile.

“I like the idea of you staying.” he said, and your heart
skipped a beat.

“Really?” you couldn’t believe it.

“If the problem is solved, can you take your confessions
outside?” Akmar started to wave his hand at you as if he was
swatting a fly. “I have potions to make before the darkness
falls!”

You smiled at his disregard towards romance and both of you
thanked him and got out of his house. Graal took your hand and led
you down the road. You couldn’t stop glancing up at him and he
finally chuckled and stopped, turning you towards him.

“I wished you said something sooner. I was going out of my mind
since yesterday. I thought I’ll never see you again!” He had his
hands on your shoulders. “Especially since I had the feeling
that maybe you… liked me. But I wouldn’t dare to believe it, or
ask you directly.”

“Wait.” you interrupted him. “You had a feeling?”

“Yes. I was not sure at first, but yesterday I heard you tossing
and turning in bed above me, and after I went to check on you, you
were finally asleep, but you looked as if you were dreaming something
bad, so I stroked your cheek to calm you down.” You gasped. Then it
wasn’t only a dream! “And then you said my name in your
sleep.”

You felt yourself getting red. “I did?!”

He laughed out loud. “I got so startled, I though you were
awake at first, but you kept sleeping. And it gave me an idea, that
if you were calling out to me in your dreams, maybe you cared a bit
more about me than we both thought.” he placed his hand on your
cheek just like last night and you turned your head to nuzzle it.
When you looked back up, you saw his beaming brown eyes and then he
slowly lowered his head and placed a sweet kiss on your lips.

“So, I guess you’ll be happy to hear I intend to court you.”
He kissed the tip of your nose.

“Very happy.” you answered.

He took your hand again and you both went back to your home.

Very, very cute orc × reader story.

@ever-hungry-aria couldn’t wait for more orc stories to be written. So she started writing herself. Yay! That’s how you do it – be the change you want to see in the (terato) world!😀