This was going to be a oneshot and then it GREW. You don't need to read Lea's Demons Strictly Cash for this to make sense, but it would help a little.

Wood dryads are not meant to be solitary creatures. Jongin used to live in a forest with his family, his tree’s sapling roots drawing on the power of century-old magic from the trees of his ancestors. His parents were soft and warm, keeping him safe even during storms and sweltering heat.

Humans had no magic and were hence not deemed a threat. The reliance on natural laws was his tribe’s downfall.

Colossal and noisy beyond comprehension, human machines tore through the forest and ripped out the trees to be taken away.

His family could not escape, their ancient oaks rooted deep into the earth and immovable. When they fought back with stabbing branches and strangling vines, the humans used bombs to demolish everything.

Jongin was young, then. His sapling untangled its roots so he could run away, cradling it close to his chest as the fires began to range.

That was a long time ago.

His forest is quiet. The leaves rustle in the wind, birdsong fills the air and old autumn leaves crackle as animals walk through them, but the magic is still and only whispers when Jongin speaks to it.

There are no other wood dryads.

A small river passes through his territory, and sometimes water nymphs bring him news of the world and teach him new tricks. In exchange, Jongin attempts to recreate old magic based on stories of legend. His teas have become quite well-known, and once in a while he’ll have a visitor requesting his services. As the seasons come and go, so does his company.

Jongin had long accepted this truth, disappointing as it may be.

Perhaps that’s why finding a boy in his vegetable garden was such a shock.

Jongin stared, blinking a few times in case the morning dew had gathered on his eyelashes. Memories of the last visitor, a bold gnome who’d tried to steal his teas, were still fresh in his mind. He erred on the side of caution and poked the stranger with a long stick until he woke up with a screech. “Hey! That hurts!”

Jongin brandished the stick like a weapon, a mere distraction for the vines in the earth to edge closer for a true attack if needed. “What do you want.”

The boy groaned, pushing himself up to sit and rub at his eyes. He shivered and tufts of black fur rippled across his body before disappearing into his skin again. With a grunt of irritation, the boy seemed to settle for sprouting black wings to wrap around his body. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to crash here.”

Jongin hesitantly lowered the stick, seeing only resignation in the boy’s eyes. As he watched, the boy’s nose rippled into a dark beak. “You are cursed.”

The boy snorted and tried to say something, but it came out as a caw instead. His head drooped as the fight left him, and the rest of his human form morphed into a raven. A soggy, miserable raven.

Jongin’s certain his soft heart came from his mother. “Stay, if you like. There is a storm coming.”

The kind of idiocy that has him inviting strangers into his home definitely came from his father.

The shapeshifter’s name was Jungkook. A foolish teenager, he’d tried to steal sugarcane from a witch and gotten cursed for his trouble. “She locked me into that form, the nasty piece of work. I tried to peck her eyes out and lost a finger,” he mused, nursing a teacup with one hand as he examined his missing left ring finger. “Got one of her eyes though,” he cackled, the sound turning to a caw as his head morphed.

Jongin silently took the teacup and sipped from his own, staring out the window of his cottage into his garden as he waited for Jungkook to shift back. It took an hour.

“Sorry,” Jungkook sighed, cracking his neck with a pout. “She died five years ago and the curse is getting weaker, but it’ll be a while before I’ve got full control again. I can take human form now – thumbs! I was a bird for a decade, man. Not cool. Can’t shift to anything else though.”

Jongin gave a commiserating hum. “That is unfortunate. You may stay here as long as you need.”

Jungkook grinned at him so brightly that some of the leaves shading his heart bent back to let it bask in sunlight. “You’re gonna regret that.”

Jungkook doesn’t leave. Jongin never regrets it.

 

Once is coincidence, twice is a pattern.

Jongin doesn’t even blink when Jungkook flies into him, claws digging through his hair. “What’s wrong?” he asked, reaching up to prevent any leaves from being dislodged.

Two years on, Jungkook still had issues with the curse. Like its caster, it stubbornly clung onto life. He shifted back to speak and looked down with bemusement when he realised one arm was still a wing. “There’s a dinosaur-like thing in the back, near your tree. It’s unsettling the fairies.”

Alarm heightening his senses, Jongin dashed for his tree. His magic suffused through the greenery surrounding him, preparing the grass to attack.

The sight before him wasn’t what he was expecting.

“To your left!” Hyeri called out, her pink wings a blur as she hovered in the air. The other three fairies stood protectively within the fairy circle surrounding his Quercus stenophylla, hands covering their eyes.

A large monster was just metres from his tree, green scales glistening in dappled sunlight. Thick, muscular arms covered the creature’s face, a bulky tail trailing in the grass behind it. “Left,” the creature muttered. It paused, sniffing the air, then promptly backed away. “Newcomer,” it hissed. “Dryad. I did not mean to intrude.”

Jongin narrowed his eyes and approached warily. “Who are you?”

The creature ducked its head. “Basilisk. I mean no harm. I smelt food but didn’t realise there were others here.”

Hyeri fluttered to Jongin’s shoulder, grasping a lock of his brown hair for stability with a tiny hand. “He smelt honey,” she murmured, staring very determinedly away from the basilisk. “You smell of the forest and Jungkook smells of a bird. He truly did not know.”

“It’s okay,” he replied, stepping forward. “I’m coming closer,” he warned before placing a hand on the basilisk’s forearm. “What is your name?”

The basilisk was silent for a long moment. “…my name?” he rasped. “You want to know?”

“Sorry if it’s sensitive,” Jongin winced, trying to recall what the water nymphs had told him of basilisks. “I don’t know what beings are protective of them.”

“Not that,” the basilisk shook his head. The scent of iron grew stronger and Jongin realised with a jolt that his hand was wet with blood. “Nobody has asked for my name in a long–”

A shout breaks through the forest’s noise and they both stiffened. “Humans,” Jongin growled.

The basilisk backed away from his hand. “I do not want to kill,” he said lowly, “but you asked my name. It is Yoongi. I will protect you both. My thanks.”

Before Jongin could say anything, Yoongi charged through trees and vanished.
 

Human screams filled the air for a while. Jongin only goes to find him after he’s ensured Jungkook and the fairies were inside for the night, safe from a basilisk’s stare.

He followed the trails of blood, reaching out to encourage the grass to drag the dead bodies into the earth. He finally found Yoongi sprawled on the ground amongst the bushes, blood glistening in the moonlight. He sat next to his face and poked him until he opened his eyes with a start.

Golden eyes met his for a second before Yoongi gasped and covers his eyes with a wail. “No! I am so sorry! You were not meant to die, I should be the one to perish,” he hissed.

Other than a faint tingle at the back of his spine, the eye contact didn’t affect Jongin. “My tree is my source of life. Trees do not have eyes. You cannot kill me that way.” Jongin paused and tilted his head, thinking back to the water nymphs who had taught him to read off books thrown into waterways by reckless humans. “You are very dramatic. Like Romeo and Juliet. Stupid way to die.”

Yoongi went very still. “Wood dryad. I cannot kill you?”

Jongin shook his head and opened his bag to retrieve a clay container of salve he’d made. “Trees do not have eyes,” he said again and set to work covering the many wounds tearing into scaly skin. Yoongi remained quiet while Jongin worked, minutes stretching into an hour.

“I am sorry,” Yoongi eventually said. “I have been nothing but trouble.”

“My friends are safe,” Jongin said neutrally. “Humans make good fertiliser. The forest thanks you.”

Yoongi’s laugh turned into a sob that didn’t stop until his throat ached.

Jongin didn’t address him again until all of the wounds were treated to his liking. “What do you intend to do now? I do not know much of basilisks, but I believe you can transform to human form?”

Yoongi nodded miserably. “As we age we develop more control- first to look human, then to control the lethality of our gaze. I am slow. My agemates have mastered the gaze and yet I can barely change form. I was cast out.”

Jongin hummed in sympathy. “Can you change your face? At least the shape.”

Yoongi pushed himself up and focused. After a few minutes, he sighed as his body shrunk to match Jongin. It took more effort but eventually his face lost its snout and he almost looked human, if not for the green scales and tufts of white hair protruding from his scalp. “Sorry.”

“Shifting is not easy,” Jongin said simply. “Wait here.”

He stood and traced his steps through the forest, redirecting his senses to sift through the dirt until he found what he’s looking for. Roots grasped the object and it up from the earth to Jongin’s waiting hand. The dirt falls off with a wave of his hand and Jongin inspects the item carefully, holding it to the sky to see the moon through the lens. Satisfied with the diminished glow, he returned to Yoongi and held it out.

“Water nymphs like to collect these,” Jongin said with a shy smile at the wonder in Yoongi’s golden eyes. “Humans wear them in sunlight. I do not know why they brought them here at night, but it is fortunate.”

“Humans are dumb,” Yoongi said absently, taking the sunglasses with smaller hands than he’s used to. He slid them onto his face and looked up hesitantly. “Better?”

Jongin peered into the lens. “It is too dark to tell. We will check in the morning. Can you see?”

“Better than walking with my hands over my eyes,” Yoongi muttered.