Nerves to the Nines
Fandom: Resident Evil 8: Village
Pairing: Alcina Dimitrescu x Reader (Gender Neutral)
Rating: T (for negative self-talk in some parts)
Summary: Reader is attending the Gathering of Lords with Alcina and is too nervous to even dress themself properly. Luckily, their lover is here to save the day.
Notes: I have no idea if Alcina may be OOC here, just know that I love the thought of very powerful and intimidating people being soft and protective only for those they love, and that’s partly what spawned this thing. That, and the idea of how intimate it is to have your significant other help you get dressed for an important event (that I completely made up for the sake of this fic.)
Also thank you so much for 50 followers :D May not be a big number, but it’s more than I expected when I started writing here a few months ago haha
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Two hours to go before the Gathering of Lords.
You went through the mental checklist as you assessed yourself in the mirror. Hair done, make-up done, clothes… well, most of them were on.
You wanted to dress to impress, but not stand out either. A black button up rested on your frame and loose wide-legged pants to match, where your cream-colored shoes peeked out from the bottom. The burgundy blazer you were going to wear over it was hung in front of your closet, and the white rose you would pin onto the lapel sat on the vanity.
It was meant to be an inverse of Alcina’s usual attire. She was going to bring a burgundy shawl as well to complement the outfit. Daniela said it would look cute.
But right now, the idea of wearing an extra layer was unwanted. You were too warm right now, and the last thing you wanted was to sweat through your clothes. Everything had to be perfect – you had to be perfect, lest you sully the “good name of House Dimitrescu” in front of your lover’s siblings, and Mother Miranda.
You knew how important tonight was to Alcina, and she wanted you to be a part of it all. She was looking forward to it as much as you and the girls were; when Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela were told they could come, they immediately squealed and started chattering away with you about what they were going to do, what to wear, what you were going to wear, and seemed to already have everything planned in their heads. Their excitement rubbed off on you for the rest of the week, and the happy jitters only got more intense with every passing day.
But the closer the time got to leaving for the Gathering, the more those jitters made you feel like throwing up.
You sat in front of the mirror and idly fiddled with your unbuttoned sleeve cuff, feeling the nerves of tonight bundling up in your chest. One leg bounced under the table impatiently; you had to get the energy out somehow.
You want to go, you reminded yourself. You wanted to go. You still want to go… right? You had been looking forward to this all week, of course you want to go. Just pull yourself together. You took in a deep breath and clapped your hands together.
Wait, when did they get so sweaty? If you tried to shake anyone’s hand, they’d be weirded out and disgusted. How can you get it to stop? This is so stupid, why are you worried about sweaty hands all of a sudden?! Control yourself, idiot! This was not the time to worry about such trivial matters, but why did it feel like your heart was about to burst out of your chest? It’s going so fast, you started to wonder what it could be running from.
This was a mistake, you shouldn’t go. You’ll just embarrass yourself, and Alcina, and you can’t handle that kind of pressure. The scrutiny you’ll be under would be crushing, you could practically feel the air getting sucked out of you. This was a mistake, this was a mistake.
You undid the buttons on your shirt, ready to take it off. Just say you don’t feel well, that’s a good enough excuse. This was a mistake, this was a mistake–
“Y/N, are you alright?” You heard her voice in your room, and she had already ducked inside by the time you turned around. You sucked in a sharp breath.
I’m not feeling well, I think I should stay home.
The lie you had concocted got stuck in your throat as you looked up into her golden eyes, clearly concerned. You didn’t want to worry her. You wanted to go. You did.
Instead, you swallowed it and tried to keep your voice steady, “Yeah, yes. I’m just, I’m having a bit of trouble with…”
You looked down at your fully opened shirt, gulping again. “I can’t…” Why won’t your hands stop shaking?
“What’s wrong, my love?”
Alcina was standing at full height, and to any other person, having her look down at you like this might have felt condescending – an effort to exert power and establish authority. But somehow, being under her shadow in what had felt like a bright room… it was comforting. Just to know she was there, physically. To know that she saw you as you were at the moment, trying to be brave.
“I’m just… nervous, that’s all,” you finally managed to admit, and it felt like a weight had just been lifted off your shoulders. You relaxed only a fraction though, remembering what the night was going to bring.
In about an hour and a half.
She sat down on your bed, her knees tucked in a bit considering its height. “Perhaps if we talk, you can settle your nerves.” She presented the space in front of her, as if she knew you couldn’t bring yourself to sit at the moment.
You started rolling the button on your cuff between your fingers, your arm close to your chest like you were trying to protect yourself. From what, you weren’t sure.
“What are you nervous about?” she spoke softly, quite a contrast from the usual commanding tone she took on when she spoke to almost everyone else. “Are you worried about not looking right? Because I assure you, darling, you look wonderful – you deserve nothing less than the best.”
“No, I… well it was your idea for us to dress like this, so no, that’s not… what I’m worried about.” You looked up from under your lashes. Her eyes were still focused on you. You wanted to squirm, and your next words came out softer than you wanted them to.
“I just… don’t wanna mess up.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear you.” If you were any other person, she might have lost her temper at your mumbling. You almost flinched at the thought, but you knew she would never. Not with you.
“I-I don’t want to mess up.” You said a little louder as you folded your hands, one holding onto the other wrist. “You know, like, in front of your siblings, in front of… Mother Miranda… I’m afraid of embarrassing myself in front of them.”
She frowned and leaned forward, “What could you possibly do that would embarrass me?”
You shrugged, wanting to shrink in on yourself. “I don’t know, I might say something weird or do something that’ll seem off, or just, I’m not sure. Something’s probably gonna go wrong. Maybe even being myself is embarrassing enough,” you joked.
“Darling, you are not embarrassing,” she assured. You didn’t know if she knew that you meant it as a joke, but she said it with such sincerity that it pulled some of that weight off you once more. It brought a small smile to your face.
“Do you not want to go anymore?” she asked worriedly, and you snapped your head up at that.
“No, I want to!” You answered so fast that Alcina seemed surprised but definitely not displeased
“I’m excited to go, I really am. I’m just not sure if I’m, like, ready to face the others. I wanna go, but I don’t know, I can’t explain it, I just don’t want things to go badly because it’ll reflect on you and your daughters and I know how much you want to be in Mother Miranda’s favor so I–”
She took your wrist without a word, so gentle in her handling that you barely noticed it at first, and you trailed off. Her fingers fixed up your loosened cuff – oh, right. Any more stubborn fiddling with it and you would’ve taken the button right off its threads. She did the same with the other cuff, a calm yet unreadable expression on her painted face.
When she finished, she gently smoothed your hair down, traced your jawline with a finger and tilted your chin up to look at her. “If you’re worried about what everyone else would think, I understand. But you are my significant other, my lover. I trust that you’ll be wonderful, so know that at least one person there believes in you.”
It felt like you were really seeing her for the first time that night, looking so proud when she talked about you. She took the opportunity to fix the rest of your outfit, buttoning up your shirt once more, and kept talking to ease your mind.
“Don’t ever doubt me, Y/N, because I’ve seen you at both your best and your worst, and your best is more than enough for tonight. If they can’t see that, then it’s their loss, not yours.”
You could feel her words physically calming you, heartbeat steadying as you saw the loving gleam in her eyes.
The lady sauntered over to your closet, taking your blazer and handing it over to you. “Now, I believe you’re missing a piece, my dear.” You hadn’t even noticed until then that she was already wearing her shawl. A gentle smile finally broke through your facade as you pulled it on in front of the mirror.
Alcina stood behind, laying her hands on your shoulders when you seemed satisfied. “A perfect match,” she cooed, leaning down to face you, so close that you could feel her breath against the shell of your ear. “Wouldn’t you say?” You could feel your heart racing again, but it wasn’t from any nerves this time.
But before anything could be done about it, the moment was interrupted by multiple knocks on the door, followed by a loud thud. “Mother, Y/N, we’re ready!” Bela called out from the other side, fussing over her sisters immediately afterwards. “May we come in?”
Alcina raised an eyebrow at you, a smirk playing on her lips. “Well? We shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
You felt loosened up for the first time that night, ready to face anything with Alcina by your side. You pinned the rose in place and took one last glance in the mirror. “We could always be fashionably late.”