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It never fails.

[break][break] The moment fern delaney walks into the room, all the tension leaves his bones. His body unravels with relief, even moreso as the other leans up towards him, hands sliding warmly against his cheeks. His head leads down towards them, foreheads touching, breath brushing only slightly over theirs. His eyes fluttered closed as he focused on the sound of their breathing, letting it steady him and root him into place.

[break][break] "I still can't believe it," he murmurs.

[break][break] Believe that they appear as often as they do, that they can manage to appear in the moments when he needs them most.

[break][break] Believe that he is King.

[break][break] "But there's no one else I'd rather it be but you," he says back tenderly, lips curved into a smile, as if he's saying a confession. As if he's saying I love you.

[break][break] His hands go to their waist, pressing a thumb against their hips.

[break][break] "It all happened so fast," he says after a moment, pulling back slightly so he could look into their eyes. "I still can't believe I'm king."

[break][break] "How is everything outside?"

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fern delaney

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"Mmm."

[break][break] They tease him, but even in that, there is a fondness in the gesture that makes Jayden at ease. In a world that seems to be constantly changing, it is their word that he finds himself drawn to at the end of the day. And it is comforting to know that it is the same for them too.

[break][break] Eventually though, his eyes open as they talk about the world outside. How different things are, and how confusing it is. Jayden can't help but agree — but it makes him more uncomfortable to acknowledge it. He didn't like not knowing how things worked, and liked the fact that he didn't know how to protect Fern in this foreign memory even less.

[break][break] He shakes his head.

[break][break] "No. No idea," he sighs, but then his hands find his way to theirs. Intertwining. "But at least I have you to figure it out with." He smiles softly. "Come. I want to show you the throne room."

[break][break] WEEKS LATER

[break][break] It is weeks later, that he's settled into the role. The township has all come to regard him as it's king, alongside luka chêne and Rhydia Ver. Even the rubble and ash is piecing itself together, and even so, Jayden still can't help but feel uncertain.

[break][break] Under the cover of the night, Jayden confesses it to them.

[break][break] "I don't know if I can do it."

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fern delaney

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Weakness is not something that Jayden relinquishes easily, especially after a lifetime of having been prepared against it. However, it is fern delaney — and Jayden has always been weak to them.

[break][break] His eyes flutter closed for a moment as he allows the feeling of their hands in his hair to comfort him, brushing against his skin like a butterfly's wings.

[break][break] "Mm," he murmurs, tone matching that of their slightly teasing tone. "And will you still love me if I do?"

[break][break] The newly-named king labors a sigh, blinking his eyes open. Violet eyes catch teal waves fondly, unexplained grief flickering in those tumultuous waves.

[break][break] "I was never supposed to be - " he waves with a hand. "This. I was not - a leader. Not in the way Alexei was. Not in the way father was."

[break][break] "I - " his breath hitches. "It feels wrong, Fern."

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fern delaney

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'I will always love you.'

[break][break] Jayden's own words are said in jest, without a thought, but when fern delaney repeats the reassurances, his heart stills. His voice catches in his throat, ever so slightly — had anyone ever said such a thing to him with certainty? Had anyone ever vowed such a thing to him without wishing to manipulate or brainwash him?

[break][break] 'I love you,' the thought rises unbidden, and Jayden gazes tenderly at them, blinking in the darkness of the room.

[break][break] "Better?" he repeats, and then his brow furrows in disbelief. "What makes you say that?"

[break][break] Better. The thought is a sneer, a shadow, replacing the sweet memories of their adoration. It curls awful and terrible in his chest, like a sinister whisper made to reprimand.

[break][break] As if Alexei's shadow is right in that room with him, mocking him. His eyes flicker to the side of fern delaney's gentle facade, as if he can see his brother's shadow, before he blinks and returns back to his partner's face.

[break][break] "If I'm better," he says softly. "It's only because I have you by my side, solnyshka."

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fern delaney

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fern delaney believes the best in him. Jayden has no idea why — he does not think he is any better than any of the others in Rocket. In fact, in many ways, he is worse. If the people who raised him were to be believed.

[break][break] In some ways, he has grown to learn and maybe even believe the kind of person that his partner believes him to be. It is only through looking at their eyes that he can even bother to see himself as anything besides the monster that his father raised him to be. But in the darkness of the blankets, in the deepest of his hearts, he knows that he sees him just as ugly as an ultra beast. Just as foreign.

[break][break] He blinks his eyes open, comfort trickling through him at the feather-light brush of fern delaney's fingertips.

[break][break] Jayden sighs, content.

[break][break] "Mm," he says. "How can I argue with that? You are pretty."

[break][break] Fingers grip their waist, and with a strong heave, he pulls them above him. His eyes are bright, gleaming with moonlight.

[break][break] He leans towards them, hands going to their face to brush their lips together.

[break][break] "Thank you, my love."

[break][break] If there is anyone who can instill confidence in him, if there is anyone who can help him make sense of this new, confusing world — both past and present — it is them.

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Always.

[break][break] Jayden will remember this in the years to come. That it is Fern, among everyone, who is able to easily soothe the hurt in his chest whenever he thinks lowly of himself; Fern, who is able to so easily kiss away old wounds, like a cooling river that washes away the remains of a burnt forest fire.

[break][break] Whenever he doubts, whenever he worries. He reminds himself.

[break][break] It is for Rocket. For Fern. For them.

[break][break] "And forever," he repeats, that candid phrase, as they claim his mouth with theirs. His fingers grip their hips more tightly, pulling them against him.

[break][break] Letting the night consume them both.

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Kingship is not an easy thing to come by, and it is sheer luck that Jayden begins to do it at all. He is glad, however, to have loyal people by his side — people like Felix Gallagher and mint frost — that will help him stay afloat admist all of the confusion. Eventually, just as fern delaney said it would, Jayden finds himself at ease in his new position.

[break][break] Perhaps it is this that is his birthright. Perhaps the hellsfire that was Kanto prepared him for this.

[break][break] He knows exactly how to instruct their people to prepare their walls, to protect the town. So that when the prophecy comes, they are ready for it.

[break][break] The town morphs and shifts. No longer are they Rocket and League. Together, they are something more.

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One day, he and Fern are walking. Just outside the castle, where the vines still crawl up the slate of stone. Sounds of construction echo thoroughly through the town, but it is the first time in a long while that Jayden is not suffocating from days of endless meetings. Of laws and constitutions that will perhaps never meet their written end.

[break][break] "I caught them again," he says, amicably, eyes flitting towards the setting sun. It washes over Ballonea in a sea of orange and violet. "In the pantry, this time."

[break][break] He's, of course, speaking of the loyal members of his guard. bryan delarosa and mint frost.

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fern delaney

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