#tiefling x reader
Male! Tiefling x Female! Reader
Warning: None (as far as I know)
Word Count: 3.2k
Author’s Note: First of all, I’m so sorry—I can’t seem to make the story gender neutral when the setting is not in modern times so bear with me. And for not posting for a month. Anyways, this story actually has a small connection to my other story, Swords Clashing where our tiefling comes from Xaenait, the dynasty the other reader comes from. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
LIKE,COMMENT,REBLOG, please!
The Arathia Kingdom was beautiful, with dome-roofed architectures with sandy walls and matching warm-coloured sunsets. The city was located on a series of ravines and cliffs and the tall buildings loomed over the ocean to greet the weary travellers on boats. It was the most beautiful place you could ever step foot on and you always admired the city from one of the highest cliffs of the kingdom.
You were a humble weaver who weaves various tapestries of patterns, landscape, and many imagery. Some were displayed in your shop for your customers to view, and some—the ones you especially liked—were kept away in your bedroom.
From behind the counter, you watched your buyers and customers silently view your tapestries. Most of the customers who were looking around were your neighbours and locals who cannot afford the big, elaborate tapestries that take weeks and months to make, and buy small yet beautiful ones to decorate in their rooms as an ever-lasting flower. Few of them were rich locals who, even though despises this side of the city, step into your shop to buy another pair of your weaving to hang in their room to brag the cost of it to their friends.
The wind chimes rang through the shop and you perked up to see a neighbourhood friend—Aadil. She was a sorceress in your age, with rich tan skin, green almond eyes, and sandy brown hair. Her father has been part of the government of the kingdom for a very long time and Aadil had a reputation for using that as an advantage to get all the gossip about what is going on around the city. And true to her reputation—and despite her regal composure—she was… too immature and mischievous for your liking. However, the years of friendship were enough for you to endure her erratic way of her life.
Your eyes slightly narrowed at the excited manner in which she walked and prepared yourself for her to burst out from whatever she was holding back.
“I have big news.”
“Hello, Aadil,” you greeted, smiling at another customer who entered from behind her.
Aadil dashed towards you impetuously to the counter, the loose purple dress she was wearing today swayed as she moved. You involuntarily jumped back from surprise when she dramatically placed her hands on the counter.
“I’ve actually never seen you this excited before,” you remarked, smoothing down the material of your long, bright yellow pants.
According to the Society of the High ‘ridiculous’ Council of Women, it was not formidable to wear pants. They say that being in the society of women meant to be dressed up in beautiful gowns and dresses to find an excellent suitor to marry. Yet, most of the clothes inside your wardrobes were things they would make the old, wrinkly women in the council horrified enough to drop them dead to the ground and they would definitely scold you for your lack of ‘taste’ and ‘desire’ for finding a ‘perfect suitor.’ (It’s not as if you’ve followed their ideal tastes in the past anyways).
Her eyes gleamed and her fingers tapped the wooden surface of the counter. “I found the protection spell you asked for,” she whispered.
“Oh…” For a moment, there was a silence before you broke out into a relieved beam. “That’s great news.”
Your shop, to your surprise, was increasing with customers and buyers and it was hard to keep an eye on them. On top of that, crime rates have been increasing around your neighbourhood—most of them were robberies—and that was when Aadil came up with the idea of finding a spell for protection to the tapestries displayed.
“And there’s another thing.” This time, Aadil’s eyes gleamed and you knew her long enough that this was a sign of her sharing a piece of gossip she hunted down.
“Why do you have so much gossip to share?”
“That’s because there are only a few exciting things that happen to this boring kingdom.”
A faint scowl creased on your face. “I don’t really agree with your statement,” you said. “But go on.”
“The eldest princess of Xaenait is coming to Arathia.”
Xaenait Dynasty. You’ve heard many stories about Xaenait—a dynasty located in the east of the map, a place of peace and benevolent rulers where discrimination against creatures are the most calmest amongst all the kingdoms in the world. You’ve also seen many paintings and tapestries brought by Xaenait and you even traded one with your own tapestry and hung them in your room. Yet despite all the splendours of the dynasty, you couldn’t find why Aadil was so excited about their arrival.
“And…”
“And,” she said, pausing a bit, “they’re passing down the street right in front of this shop. There’s going to be this big parade. Isn’t it exciting!”
A silence passed over before you sighed. “Well that explains why the officers came here to urge me to decorate outside the shop.” You took the broom and started to sweep the floor silently.
Aadil’s lips formed a pout. “Why do you have such light reactions?”
“Because”—you continued to sweep the floor—“most of the things you say don’t concern me in any way.”
“That hurts.”
“I know it does.” Pausing, you faced her suddenly. “But why are they exactly coming?”
“I… don’t know. I was too excited to ask the ‘why’ part.” She smiled sheepishly, scratching her neck while avoiding my eyes.
You chuckled softly.
“I assume that your business is going well,” Aadil remarked, changing the subject. She stared at the customers coming and going.
“It is,” you admitted. “I almost don’t have the time to weave.”
“And that is exactly why I need to cast that spell as soon as possible.”
“Exactly.”
Cleaning the broom away, you opened the drawers to check your supply of yarn. You were running out of a few colours and you purse your lips.
“I need to go to the market,” you murmured.
“Oh, speaking of going to the market,” Aadil said, “can I ask you a favour?”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m running low on supplies, so can you go buy it for me? I would pay you back.”
You shrugged. “Sure.”
She handed you a piece of paper with her scribbling of things. “Here. All the things should be in the place we usually go. Just ask a clerk if you can’t find it.”
“Okay. Got it.” Taking the paper, you smiled at her. “Thank you, Aadil.”
She winked. “Don’t thank me yet: we don’t know if the spell will work properly.”
“Then I’ll save it for tomorrow.”
———
The bustling city was more vibrant than usual, probably because of the decoration for the upcoming arrival of the princess from Xaenait. However, as you watched the city landscape from the window, you realised that there were much more carriages and horses in the street than usual. You sighed—you regretted not asking Aadil for the time when the princess was coming, then you wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of stumbling yourself in the peak hours of the streets.
Guess you would have to do this the hard way.
Today was the weekend and the shop was closed, not that anybody was coming from all this excitement. Lowering your hood over your face, you stepped out of your house and into the crowd. As usual, they pushed and shoved past you like a flood of strong waves and the carriage horses blocked every step you took. After fighting through all the trouble, you finally reached a darker alley where the loud noises of the main street started to fade away into the background. You knew well enough that the people here were friendly, but for precaution, you held your guard and avoided bumping into people you didn’t know. After all, robberies were very common around your neighbourhood.
Then again, luck wasn’t really on your side. A hard surface appeared so suddenly that you collided on it without being able to comprehend what was happening. With a yelp, you stumbled and finally fell back-first, the bag you were holding tumbling out of your arm. Clouds of dust swept up to the air and you coughed violently.
“Are you all right, miss?”
A hand appeared. It was a lithe, muscular arm with sharp claws at its fingertips and sunshine orange skin. When your eyes trailed to the shoulder, staying on the person’s sharp collarbone for a while, and finally landed on the face. The person was a tiefling… a very handsome tiefling. All of his face bones were structured inhumanly beautiful that made your eyes hurt looking at him and had a thin stubble on his jaw. But then there were his eyes. They were a dark, stormy-grey that contrasted drastically with his skin like one mist of cloud in a bright sunset. It was so strange that you almost thought you were hallucinating.
“I am,” you said quickly. “I am.”
He flicked his fingers slightly. You took his hand into yours, involuntary gasping when his fingers gripped strongly to your wrist as he pulled you up. He passed you your bag and you took it with a smile.
Observing, he was relatively shorter than most tieflings you have met, yet was slightly taller than you. His horns were a milky colour of brown and gracefully long that curved backwards. Your eyes almost narrowed when you saw that his clothes were not entirely from Arathia. It must have come from a kingdom from the east because the material of his clothes were silk and the weaving of it was just gorgeous: the threads perfectly lined, tightly held together, the colour shifting as it moved… Your hands almost reached for the cloth but—
“Are you all right, miss?” the tiefling repeated again.
You blinked a few times. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Well,” the tiefling said, “I am the one who made you fall so…” He winked.
Chest heaving unnecessarily fast and deep you smiled crookedly. You weren’t able to utter a sound, either from embarrassment or unknown nervousness, you didn’t know why.
“I would not keep you from your destination.” He took a step back and gestured for you to walk past him. But then paused. “May I ask what you are doing walking around this part of town?”
“You may not,” you said instinctively.
His brows shot up and his lips parted, revealing two white, pointy teeths. He blatantly looked shocked.
You closed your eyes for a second. The musty smell of dry, sunbeam basked sand made your nose sting for a moment before the familiarness calmed your heart. Opening your eyes, you were more than surprised to see that his cheeks were now dusted with a colour of red clay.
He lowered his head rather bashfully. “My apologies, miss. I spoke too irrationally.”
Your head involuntarily tilted to the side slightly. It was perplexing for you to hear someone talk so formal. It was very new for you.
“Is there something wrong, miss?”
“You’re not from around here are you?” you only said vaguely. Smiling, you didn’t wait for an answer as you started to walk past the rigid tiefling. “It was very nice meeting you.”
———
The market was a big open field next to a small village that was filled up with big tents and tables that showed different and most exotic kinds of merchandise. It was less busy than normal that nobody bumped into each other or forcefully pushed their way past, but was still crowded with people of all kinds.
Smiling, you breathed in the mixed scent of spices, herbs, woods, and flowers that was unique here. Once in your early years of business, you had a small tent of your own where you sold your tapestries. Everything was very nice until you were robbed of half of your merchandise that left a toll on your business; however, by that time you earned enough money to afford a small building in the city and immediately decided to move there. On the bright side, you knew around the market enough to know the shortcuts of the area you wanted to look through.
The place Aadil usually purchased all of her resources for sorcery was located in the shadowed part of the market. You hear all kinds of wind chimes ringing and piercing through the hot air to create a small source of coolness in the hot weather.
Pushing back the flap of the tent, shadows fell over you as you walked inside the tent. The faint breath that entered with you rustled the wooden and silver ornaments inside. There were no customers at the moment, making the tent quieter than usual.
A big, buff black minotaur wearing a blue toga looked up. “Hello,” he said. For a moment, he looked behind you as if expecting something, or someone.
Setting your bag on the table, substitute for a counter, you took out the list for your shopping. “Aadil is not here, Silan,” you said, eyes on the paper.
Looking up, you see his eyes wide open.
“I wasn’t looking for her,” Silan said weakly.
“Oh, I am sure.” You slid the paper towards him. “Aadil sent me here for these. Can you get them for me, please?”
“Of course.”
As he searched for all the herbs and other things Aadil asked for, Silan started a conversation to fill in the gaps of the silent room.
“Did you hear the princess of Xaenait is visiting here in Arathia today?”
“I am aware.” You picked up a mixture of herbs and observed it without a thought. “I heard from Aadil that they are having something similar to a parade in front of my house to welcome the princess.”
“I am guessing that you’re not thrilled about it.”
You shrugged. “Well… yes. Politics aren’t exactly my speciality unless it is about women’s right to wear anything they want and not follow the rules of Society of the High Council of Women.”
Silan’s laughter was like a booming thunder that left your ears ringing. You knew that he didn’t exactly take the statement seriously; like all men in Arathia, he never really cared about women’s rights. Perhaps that was why he liked Aadil—she never cared about it as well. She was a perfect housewife: beautiful, elegant, and followed the High Council of Women.
He placed the goods inside your bag and handed it to you. “That would be four gold pieces and two silver pieces.”
Placing the money on the table, you took the bag and smiled. “Thank you.”
“I wish you luck going through that crowd in your street.”
———
Turns out, you actually did need that luck. You stared, horrified, at the sheer amount of people that were on the street like an army of ants trying to push their way through to reach a small piece of food. And the noise—oh, the noise was above what should be the safe level of volume for the ear to carry. Even standing on a bench didn’t enable you to look above all the heads to see what was going on in front of you. And, unfortunately, your house just happened to be across from the place you were standing right now.
Taking a deep breath, you proceeded to trudge to the direction of your house. Soon you found yourself just a few steps away from a clearing when something grabbed your wrist. Inhaling sharply, you turned around swiftly to see who caught you and froze.
It was the tiefling.
Your brows furrowed and your eyes definitely glinted into a glare.
“Miss,” he said, his face glowing in amusement, “it is not wise for you to cross the road now.”
“Let go of me,” you demanded, tugging your hand away from his grip.
“My apologies.” He let you go and bowed deeply, almost taunting you.
Huffing out, you adjusted the hold on your bag and turned on your heels. Without another word, you were about to head in the same direction again when the tiefling held you captive once more by pulling you back to him by your shoulder. It was a very story-book-cliche in this position—his hand on your waist, looking at each other chest-to-chest, and faces centimetres away.
“Now, miss,” he smiled, “I am very sorry to say this but I am here to prevent people from crossing this road.”
“What do you—”
“I am escorting you away from here.” He navigated you away from the crowd effortlessly, his hand still on your waist.
“You know, most people will consider this as kidnapping.”
He raised a brow, showing his sharp fangs as he smirked widely. “Are you perhaps one of them?”
“Yes.”
He laughed, a deep, rumbling sound that made you shiver under his touch. “Well, I have never argued with a damsel before, it’s very… interesting.”
“I assume that you’re narcissistic like all men around here.”
“I never thought you would be this…” He stopped.
“What?” you snapped, looking up at him.
“Well, feisty.”
Your eyes widened and instantly elbowed him on the gut. “Well, I’m sure you would prefer a more…”
“What?”
“A damsel in distress more than me.” You blinked and smiled sweetly.
“Now, now,” he chided, “do not make assumptions, miss…”
After a moment of silence, you realised that he was waiting for your name. “Oh.” Clearing your throat, you told him your name.
“My name is Ercus.”
“Let me have a guess”—you narrowed your eyes—“the royal guard of the princess of Xaenait?”
He suddenly stopped and the hand on your waist suddenly gripped harder, almost strong enough for a bruise to form.
“How do you know that?” His voice was impossibly low.
“I’ll advise you to wear something different rather than silk.”
His eyes fluttered a few times and broke out into a laugh. He stepped back, but kept his arm on your waist. “You figured out my identity just because of the material of my clothes?”
“I’m a weaver. Besides, anyone can tell the difference between silk and cotton,” you said. “Silks are mostly used in the eastern kingdoms and we use cotton around here.”
“Impressive,” he remarked. A charming smile adorned his face and from this close, you could see an endearing dimple on his cheeks.
Looking around, you noticed that the surroundings were familiar. “When did we cross the road?”
“Oh, did my charm dazzle your focus, my dear?”
His face inched closer and closer until almost your nose was touching each other. The smell of soft cinnamon swirled around him. You were aghast at the proximity.
Pushing his hand away from your waist you headed for your house. “Thank you for your help, Ercus.”
“Oh, you are leaving me?”
Peeking behind your shoulder you see his grey eyes lighting up mischievously. His hands, however, were fiddling with the smooth silk of his shirt.
“Don’t you want me to?”
The smile widened. “I never have said I wanted you to leave.”
“Well perhaps we could meet another time.”
“Then may I ask when is another time?”
“I’ll see you.” Breathing out in amusement, you opened the door and stepped inside.
Through the window, you could still see him, stuck in place. And he sighed, looking at your door. The cloud of dust started to cover him until when you blinked… he was gone.
LIKE,COMMENT,REBLOG, please!
Last Updated: January 8, 2022
Series of Monsters x Reader
Naga
Slithering Through the Trees (Zion)
Demon
Crawling at Night (Fateh)
Selkie
Student from Afar (Titus)
Kitsune
Suns & Flowers (Ren)
Orc
Swords Clashing (Karguk)
Water Creature
Warm Colours of Scales (Ryo)
Rakshasa
Tracing Fate with Claws (Davash)
Tiefling
Weaving Through Complications (Ercus)
Drider
Requested (Naqia)
Yeti
Requested: Melting Snow(Juma)
