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shiny-jr · 2 years

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why are you in my apartment? (II)

Warning: Yandere. Gender-neutral reader.

Characters: Jamil Viper, Kalim Al-Asim, Epel Felmier, Rook Hunt, Vil Schoenheit, Ortho Shroud, Idia Shroud, Silver, Sebek Zigvolt, Lilia Vanrouge, Malleus Draconia.

Summary: Everything was supposed to be better when you got your own apartment to call home. So when you got home one day, why was was there some weird guys in your home?

Note: I know I tend to leave the relationships up to interpretation and not divulge into it too much, but know that Ortho’s part is NOT romantic. His part is purely platonic, more like he’s seeking another sibling relationship/dynamic. Whenever I wrote for Ortho, it will always be platonic, it will NEVER be romantic. [ Added ] FINALLY. It’s finished. I feel like it’s way longer than the first part despite there being the same amount of characters and trying to keep the content amount the same. On google docs it says it’s about thirty-four pages. Please, I really hope you guys like this one because I worked hard on it and it took a while. Plus I kept getting stuck on parts.

Previous: why are you in my apartment? (I)

You worked and saved to be able to live in a spacious apartment in the downtown area. The buildings had decent security, the apartment itself was in a low-crime area, and there were a bunch of stores nearby for the basic necessities, not to mention you worked from home half the time and the other time work was just a few blocks away. Everything was perfect...! Until it wasn’t. Your seemingly perfect life was thrown completely off balance when you returned home and found your door unlocked.

Like any reasonable person, you were worried. Were you just forgetful this morning or had someone broken in...? Not wanting to call authorities right away and make a fool of yourself if you had forgotten to lock your door today, you carefully proceeded inside, with your phone gripped in hand and your makeshift key weapon in the other hand. Steadily you crept inside, looking left and right, your heart rate accelerating as you noticed a few things out of place. A remote controller not on the coffee table, a blanket you forgot to fold now folded neatly-- Just then, you heard voices and footsteps, and when the strangers entered your line of vision, you screamed as they jumped in surprise and exclaimed,

“W-Wait!”

SCARABIA

Incense...? Why did your apartment smell like lit incense and expensive perfume? You didn’t leave any incense and you didn’t have whatever type of perfume made the place smell nice–– The room was cleaned. On the living room table was a golden tray filled with neatly packaged and wrapped snacks and even a small box of golden accessories. It almost looked like a greeting gift someone left... If someone really left this, that would explain the whining and scolding coming from further inside. When you heard the voices and footsteps grow louder, a white-haired young man wearing lots of accessories appeared from the kitchen.

Coming face to face with a stranger in your own home was certainly a shock.

It was more of the negative kind of shock when you saw this white-haired stranger smile brightly and their eyes widen as they ran towards you with their arms wide open as he exclaimed with such pure excitement, “Ah–– It’s you! You’re finally here!! I’m so excited to meet you! I’ve wanted to see you forever––”

Of course, any logical person would not be as happy at this guy was. Stepping back, you held up the sharp end of your keys and reached back for the door––

Thunk!

A hand firmly kept the door shut, and before you could even think of swinging or screaming, there was another firm but gentle hand on your arm to prevent you from using those keys to slash at anyone. This second man must’ve appeared when you were distracted.

He had long dark hair and wore a hoodie. Whoever he was, he seemed to sense you distress, because he sent his companion a look. “Wait–– sorry about him scaring you. Can you lower those keys, please? I’ll explain everything.”

One game. You downloaded one game, Twisted Wonderland, on a whim, and now this duo of students claimed to be from the Scarabia dorm from that very mobile game. It was incredibly difficult to believe, almost impossible, if it weren’t for their striking resemblance to the characters and the magic they were able to conjure with their pen. What was more of a shock? They claimed to know you as the player. Of course before they knew nothing of your looks or true personality, but now here you were in your divine grace, the real deal right before them! You can be sure that they will take advantage of your kindness as you allowed them to stay until they could find a way to return home. But really, why want to go back when you were here?

Oh, but you want to know how it’s like living with the Scarabia gang, hm?

Jamil Viper

If he can handle not just the dorm but also duties at home including his normal responsibilities with Kalim, he can take care of you and your apartment.

What’s he usually doing in the apartment? Well, to be fair, he is the one mainly keeping the place together. But when he isn’t busy, he’s taken a great interest in the dances and locations of this new world. Really he seems to enjoy learning about this world firsthand by exploring.

It’s not rare for him to join you. In fact, you welcome it. Jamil is great company, and he’s always there to save you and Kalim from your own mistakes. Anywhere you go, Jamil is there to accompany you to help, he insists, but it might just be because he actually enjoys your company more than he’d like to admit.

Funnily enough, he’s been offered various jobs by restaurants but refuses them all. Apparently they had a taste of his cooking and now want him to be a cook for their business. Although it is kind of funny to see Jamil repeatedly turn them down but accept their free dishes only for him to give them to you and Kalim. When asked why he won’t accept one job, he says it’s because he’s already busy enough as it is. But Kalim guesses its that Jamil doesn’t want to give up any free time he could spend with you.

That’s right, Jamil does so much. He can do practically everything from cooking, to cleaning, the laundry, the dishes, buying groceries–– but there’s one thing he can’t do. Whatever you do, do not ask him to get rid of a bug. He’s probably more scared of it than you are. A bug got into the kitchen once and a mess was made by him trying to get away from it. Then all hell broke loose when the insect started flying.

Oh, but don’t believe he’s all “good guy” playing the role of househusband. Huh, that’s so weird... the apartment owner just informed you that your rent was lowering. Just yesterday when you went shopping with Jamil, the store clerk gave you a huge discount. And last week, that annoying boss of yours suddenly gave you a promotion. But they all had this empty look in their eyes and spoke in monotoned voices... When you confronted Jamil about this, he calmly claimed to know nothing about those instances.

Of course he missed you, but he isn’t as openly desperate as others may be. Did he miss you, you ask? He’ll smile and reply cooly maybe. Yeah, he totally missed you. Why do you think the house is spotless now? He was trying to take his mind off you through chores again.

Yes, your vessel, Yuu, was a pawn he could use in the beginning. Well, he was right about one thing, about you being a diamond in the rough. There was really no one else like you in Twisted Wonderland.

Seeing you before him, the true you, was nothing less than a shock. You, who’s vessel he used and tormented and eventually came to treasure, were here. For now matter how much his heart was picking up speed and now many thoughts raced through his head, he had to keep calm for you.

When he heard rapid footsteps and Kalim’s eager exclamation, he warned himself to prepare for what lay ahead. Ignoring the calm feeling this strange space brought him, he immediately appeared in the scene of the commotion. Deep down, he held hope, he had a feeling, an idea of where he may be. All his worries seemingly vanished when you came into his line of vision, and he relaxed. It was you... and you weren’t a threat. A tiny bit anxious, really excited, even confused, there was so much going on but he forced himself to remain level-headed and he quickly approached you and held you back from attacking. It was you, really you, so real he could touch you! Hold on–– he had to keep calm and hold up appearances. This way he could be a trustworthy figure in your eyes.

“Did you need something? You know I’m at your service... Hm? You want me to take a break? There’s no need. Besides, I’m used to doing this much, but I appreciate the sentiment. Now then, I couldn’t help but overhear you complain about a rude neighbor to Kalim. I can divine a solution to this... thorny problem if you just tell me their name.”

Kalim Al-Asim

Woah, what a small place you got! Is this really comfortable? Even his room back home was bigger than the whole apartment! Don’t worry, he’ll make this place fun and comfy!

What’s he up to at the apartment? Well, besides sticking to you 90% of the time, he’ll do anything you ask or copy you. Cleaning? He’ll help! Watching TV? Ohh, can he sit next to you? Going out for the day? Cool! He’ll get Jamil and all three of you can go out together!

Like we just established, Kalim will follow you anywhere! Doesn’t matter if it’s just stepping out to the vending machine or going several blocks away, he’ll gladly keep you company. Plus, here in your world, he’s not known as the heir of a fabulously wealthy merchant family, meaning no one’s trying to harm him and Jamil has more free time too!

While he may not be the best at chores like Jamil, he does really try his best...! Well, he has his other uses. He’s not just the heir to the Asim family name for any old reason. Believe it or not, Kalim is surprisingly good with money. That means he pays the bills, for gifts, for supplies, etc. And not even out of your pocket! He had on so much gold when he got here, he happily sold a piece or two to pay you back for your hospitality and now you don’t have to pay a thing for months! How much was that stuff he sold even worth...? Wait a moment, when did you get these expensive portraits on the wall and these brand clothes?

You know how I said he’s beside you almost 24/7? Yeah, when you’re not working from home, those are the worst days for him. Jamil has to always keep an eye on him because if not, Kalim will march over to your office for a “surprise visit!” But when you get home after your shift, you’ll be greeted by the warmest smile from him as he practically jumps on you for a hug.

Local “good boy,” too. The neighbors adore him because he’s just so sweet and kind. Even the kids seem to love playing with him, so he’ll be on the playground with them as you and Jamil sit on the benches. It’s because of Kalim that you met nearly every person living in the apartment complex, and somehow you got their favor because of the sunshine guy that’s your roommate. Also he’s the “bug handler,” meaning he cheerfully picks up any bugs that snuck in and bids them goodbye at the window or door.

Kalim misses you way too much when you’re not home. It’s why Jamil is in charge of holding the phone, because if it were up to Kalim, he’d have you on call nearly your entire shift. But just know that even though he doesn’t like you having to go to work, he knows it’s important and he’s really proud you’re working so hard!

Are you kidding? Your vessel, Yuu, is one of his best friends! He’s taken good care of them! Have you noticed? He loves your vessel, but he loves you way more!

All logic went out the window as soon as he saw you. Immediately he became overwhelmed by emotion, he felt so much joy and utter excitement come bursting forth! All he could do was express his pure delight!

Truthfully, Kalim hadn’t expected to see you! He was oblivious to where he was, unsure what would happen. But when he saw you–– all uncertainty and confusion disappeared. Immediately he threw his arms open wide as a large beaming smile broke onto his face, his eyes were practically glimmering with such excitement as he eagerly exclaimed any words that came to mind. It was you, it was you, it was you! He was just so so happy, happy didn’t even being to describe it. Words couldn’t explain the pure amount of glee he was feeling, it was practically oozing out of him in waves as his heart beat rapidly. His heart beat just for you, beating against his ribcage as if it wanted to reach you too, just like how he wished to embrace you!

“You’re home!!! Ahah, I missed you so much!! How was work? Are you tired? Are you hungry? You must be hungry! Let’s eat now! I helped Jamil make dinner today, and your favorite tea! Hold on, I got your coat and bag! Jamil, they’re home!! Tell us everything! I’m so happy you’re back, I could just kiss you!”

As a whole...

Scarabia always makes sure to spoil you rotten, and they’re only two people so it’s not overwhelming. On one hand, you have one more level-headed roommate who would do anything in the world for you, one the other hand you have an easily excitable roommate who will give you anything in the world! Expect gifts and feasts galore from them, even welcome home parties after a simple day at work. The day could be calm and peaceful or it can be fun and activity-filled, just tell them what you want. Whatever you want, whatever you may need, they’ll happily give it to you. For your hospitality they’ll pay you back tenfold with material items, their time, and their affection. You trust them, don’t you?

POMEFIORE

Perfume...? Why did your entire apartment smell of expensive perfume and scented candles? Was that the smell of lavender and apples...? You didn’t even own any candles scented like that. All your coats were hung neatly, the shoes you left by the door were organized, it looked like someone had just cleaned your apartment. On the living room table was a basket of shiny red apples, as if someone left it behind for you. All of this would explain the talk coming from another room. There were light footsteps, you couldn’t tell if they were getting closer or walking somewhere else, until a figure appeared from the hallway–– A short and pretty young man with lavender hair and big blue eyes stopped in his tracks.

Upon seeing each other, you both froze seemingly in shock. You were horrified that some stranger got in your home, he seemed thunderstruck for some other reason you didn’t know.

Shaking off the shock, the young man lifted his hand towards you, his blue eyes wide with disbelief as he muttered, “It... I... You... Hah–– They weren’t kiddin’... You’re actually real? This isn’t some cruel little dream or curse? You––”

Leaning back to avoid his touch, you held up the sharp end of your keys as you eyed him warily, “B-Back off pretty boy, I’m armed...! I–– Oof...!”

That... That wasn’t the door behind you. Your wrist wielding the keys was gripped firmly but gently, and you shrieked in fright when you looked up to see a blonde man behind you. When did he get there...?!

His green eyes peered down at you but his smile on his expression broke into surprise at your reaction as he used his other hand to make a shushing motion. “Shhh, shush, dear one, there’s no need to fear! Please wait, calm yourself. Forgive us for the intrusion!... Ahhh, it’s truly an immense honor, it’s a blessing from the heavens above, to be in your presence! Forgive me...! I’ve wanted to observe your grace ever since the moment I began to worship you...!”

Worship? Wait... was this guy tearing up? “Are you... crying?”

“None of this will do! The whole wardrobe will need to be replaced, furniture will need to be bought, and groceries will be purchased for the refrigerator and pantry. How could anyone live like this? They deserve better! Especially for––” Another tall beautiful blonde man in heels came from the hallway, but his rambling stopped and his amethyst eyes widened once they landed on you, his breath hitching. “...You...” He appeared at a loss for words and he slowly stepped closer, afraid of scaring you off. Carefully his touch grazed over your cheek, apprehensive, as if the slightest contact would shatter you and you’d be gone. Snapping out of his self-induced trance, he retracted his hand quickly and added, “I apologize sincerely, my dear, you must be terribly confused. Please, allow me to explain.”

One game. You downloaded one game, Twisted Wonderland, on a whim, and now this trio of students claimed to be from the Pomefiore dorm from that very mobile game. It was incredibly difficult to believe, almost impossible, if it weren’t for their striking resemblance to the characters and the magic they were able to conjure with their pen. What was more of a shock? They claimed to know you as the player. Of course before they knew nothing of your looks or true personality, but now here you were in your divine grace, the real deal right before them! You can be sure that they will take advantage of your kindness as you allowed them to stay until they could find a way to return home. But really, why want to go back when you were here?

Oh, but you want to know how it’s like living with the Pomefiore gang, hm?

Epel Felmier

Just to even be allowed to stay with you has made him incredibly happy, so he’ll do everything in his power to help out! You can rely on him!

What’s he up to in the apartment? Actually, he’s usually out. After completing chores, he’ll go out. He doesn’t like staying cooped up inside all the time, so it’s normal to find him trying to work out in the nearby park or with the garden he made on the roof of the apartment complex. Also, he’s interested by this world’s sports, especially American football. Look at all those strong guys playing a tough sport!!

Epel is a bit of the jealous type, so he greatly treasures any time alone you spend with him and he tries to keep it to just you and him. His favorite activities with you are working on his garden, making goods from the products he grew by hand and proudly presented to you, and taking you when Vil and Rook are distracted to ride around town on this motorcycle! Yeah, don’t ask him where he got a whole motorcycle from.

He knows he doesn’t have much to offer to pay you back, so he does what he can. Making deliveries on his motorcycle, selling his garden’s products, maybe even winning bets by secretly racing, plus he begrudgingly joins in on Rook and Vil’s... work, whenever he can get paid from it or when Vil pressures him to do it. But, at the end of his day, all his handwork’s earnings go to you. Just take it, he’s not going to let you refuse!

Really, he just wants to appear responsible and reliable in your eyes, that’s why he willingly does a lot of chores too. No task is too big or too small! Leave him a grocery list and he’s off to go buy and carry everything back himself! You mentioned how you wanted to clean the rooms, so he took it upon himself to deep clean the apartment! What else do you want him to do?

Don’t let his adorable looks fool you. He’s a bit protective of you. Well, the other two are as well, but Epel is more openly hostile about it. He knows when to keep up appearances though. If he can guilt trip harassers or creeps with his looks alone so they stop bothering you, great. However, if that doesn’t do the trick, well... Let’s just say that he nearly caused a scene by sucker-punching a rando who cat-called you on the streets once. You two managed to get away but Epel was absolutely fuming. He wasn’t scolded by you or Vil because he defended you, but he was still mad he couldn’t “give ‘em hell.”

Oh, he misses you fairly often. Like mentioned before, he gets jealous. Don’t your coworkers realize how lucky they are, getting to work with you all day? You’ll hear him mumble complaints like that often, but he won’t say anything out loud unless you prompt him to do so. Ease him into a good mood again by simply holding his hand, he enjoys holding onto you like this whenever you let him.

Do you know how annoying it was to be your vessel, Yuu’s, friend after you already befriended members from four other dorms? It was so frustrating trying to keep your attention when they’re all vying for it!

Of course the first thing he felt about seeing the true you was pure disbelief. This couldn’t be real, could it...? Was this some sorta dream? If it was, he never wanted to wake up again. If this was a dream where he could stay with you, he’d be content with staying in an eternal slumber.

When he walked out of the hallway and saw you standing there, he was starstruck. Pinch him, because this dream was too good to be true! Immediately once he came within a few feet of you, he felt that heavenly grace only the player wielded, he knew it was truly you. It wasn’t the puppet you played with and controlled back in his world. You were so... so... amazing? No, that wasn’t it, words couldn’t even describe it. You looked normal, your home was normal, you seemed average at best, but at the same time.... you were wow. It’s as if your entire being had him spellbound. At first, for a brief moment, he felt stiff before getting worked up, eager but anxious at the same time. When he tried to open his mouth and speak, he could only fumble over his words. C’mon, just talk, damn it! If this was a dream, he never wanted it to end.

“Hey! Over here! Heh, surprised to see me? I got out when Vil was busy on the phone. I figured that maybe you’d be tired after workin’ all day so what better then to drive you home on my motorcycle? Hop on. What do you say we make some detours and stops along the way? We can stop at some scenic spots if you want?”

Rook Hunt

Ah, what a lovely nest you have! So this was your temple, the very grounds where you lived. As your loyal follower, he will care and defend this sacred place.

What’s he up to at the apartment? Well... it’s hard to tell sometimes. Although he is extremely fascinated with your world, he wishes to learn and “see all the beauty in the world that is home to the divine player,” whatever that means. Exploring and being generally curious seems to be a big hobby of his.

The guy is a real enigma. Wherever you are, Rook is sure to follow and even when you don’t see him, most of the time you get the feeling you’re being watched... He offers his assistance at every turn, he accompanies you everywhere and anywhere. Sometimes it’s a little creepy how he’s always there, but his smile is nothing but kind and his words of praise are loving. Not to mention he’s a very good listener, he’ll listen to any rant or simple chat, as he admires you with a lovestruck smile.

From what you’ve gathered, Rook is from a fairly wealthy family. So immediately he offers his assistance. How does he do it? Where does he even get the money from? How? It literally makes no sense, it’s a real mystery. For all you know, he could’ve sold some priceless antique or something he had on him, which seemed extremely unlikely but how else did he get that kind of money? When you ask about it, he merely smiles at you and places the money for rent and bills in your palm as he assures you to not worry a single hair on your pretty head. He’s fairly affectionate too, embraces are welcome and if you’ll allow it, he enjoys giving you forehead kisses as well.

Rook also does his fair share of chores, but his main responsibility he’s placed upon himself appears to be your security. Your safety and comfort are of the utmost importance! He, like the rest of the trio, is protective of you, but he isn’t as hostile about it as Epel may be. Usually a warning and his presence with a mere ominous smile is enough to ward off any unwanted guests.

Speaking of unwanted guests, not only is he your personal security but he also manages to find the time to be the apartment security. No one is going in or out of the apartment complex without him knowing, he even keeps watch of the outside apartment grounds. Ever since Rook arrived, there’s been a lot less break-ins and reported stealing. However, you have caught him cleaning his arrows way more recently, that leave the cleaning cloth a little red... Yeah, you know that he knows that you’ve noticed, but you’re too nervous to ask about it.

Yes, he missed you dearly! It’s not very common because he’s always lingering whether you know it or not, but he clearly expresses joy whenever he can see you again. If you ask, he’ll deliver heartfelt words as he describes the pain of being apart from you for even a second!

Ah, sweet precious Yuu, your treasured vessel. Believe him when he says that ever since he first laid his sights on your vessel, he sensed you, and was captivated by your presence flowing through Yuu!

Oh, to meet the true you, was nothing short of a miracle! A miracle he may be undeserving of, but was something he desired deep in his heart. There was so much he wished to know, so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to do–– all for you!

His sharp hearing picked up on the sound of the front door with unfamiliar footsteps quickly. Immediately his heart rate began to pick up speed as if he were feeling the adrenaline of a hunt, but now he felt as vulnerable as the quarry, not the hunter. It was this feeling, your grace, that made him feel so... exposed. As if laying all his secrets bare. When he saw you–– he could easily sneak up on you seeing as you were distracted with his underclassman. When you accidentally bumped against him and he had to hold your wrist, he felt such a feeling of euphoria course through his nervous system. He couldn’t help but smile–– until you screamed. Swiftly he attempted to calm you, he couldn’t bear to be the source of your distress! It’s true, he shed tears because he was just so happy to meet you...! All he wanted to do was bring you joy and worship you.

“You summoned me, mon dieu? Say the word, and I shall make your wish a reality... Heh, but of course I heard you! This loyal huntsman is forever at your beck and call! I implore you to tell me what you desire so that I may carry out your every command!–– Hm? You merely called upon me to see if I were present...? I see! Then if I may, may I be so bold as to offer you my company?”

Vil Schoenheit

Dearest, there’s no more need for fretting. He, Vil, the fairest one of all, will now handle everything from here on out. So just accept his affections and offer to help.

What could he possibly be up to? Lots of things actually. He spends time both inside and outside. Of course he’s no pig, he does his own share or chores and helps keep the apartment clean, but he also spends a lot of time out.

Watching movies, going out for lunch or dinner, simply taking a walk, or even going on a shopping trip. These are all things Vil enjoys to do with you and the others. You choose the movie; you buy whatever you wish to eat (he’s keeping an eye on your diet); and whatever outfits you choose to buy he’ll pay for, and more!

Wait a moment, how the hell does he have over millions of followers on Instagram already? It’s only been a week! What–– what does he mean he’s inviting you to come along to a photoshoot and audition for a huge movie role he has? Yeah, somehow Vil becomes popular almost instantly, maybe it’s because of his looks? He’s practically doing everything he used to do in his world, now here. Movies, modeling, advertisements, he’s got it. What’s more? He’s getting paid handsomely to do it all, and where does most of that money go? To you of course!

With the money he earns, he uses it to spoil you like crazy. Since Rook and Epel already covered the rent and bills, he pays for the luxuries. Luxury furniture; brand clothes; expensive jewelry; is that a painted portrait of you with Vil, Rook, and Epel, hanging on the wall inside a golden frame...? Your whole apartment is getting refurbished. He’d love to rent you an entire condo but if you insist, then he has no choice but to stay here in this one with you.

Because of his elevating status, not only can you live in luxury but you also get to rub elbows with celebrities. However, that and when his fans target you, tend to be when his protectiveness shine through. It’s why he has Rook always watching you. Vil will constantly keep an arm around your waist when encountering fans or stars. Oh, and he isn’t afraid of snapping back venomously. You witnessed how on one occasion, his new manager subtly insulted you and in response, Vil both insulted him and fired him on the spot. From what you’ve heard, that guy has had miserable luck in the industry ever since then. “Any slight against you, is a slight against me,” Vil claims.

Of course he misses you! If he wasn’t so busy while you were at work and he were left alone with his thoughts, he may have not been able to handle it. He has suggested you quit your job and allow him to take care of you, or if you wanted to work so badly you could just work with him somehow. It was a nice suggestion but you had to politely turn him down. It’s fairly common for him to kiss your cheek when he gets to see you after a long day, which leaves a lipstick stain on your skin.

To be frank, he did not care much, if at all, for your vessel, Yuu, at least in the beginning. However, that changed as time passed and he grew close to Yuu then learned the truth. Eventually he deemed himself responsible for helping your vessel and maintaining their health.

To see you stand there before him in all your perfect glory... it left him stunned, you literally took his breath away. Here you were, your true self, your perfect self, before his very own eyes. All his work and effort into perfecting himself, caring for your vessel, and improving his underclassmen in Pomefiore into their best selves–– everything he did was for you.

Now he understood how his fans felt when they were so starstruck that they couldn’t breath, couldn’t move, couldn’t even speak until their mind registered what was happening. When he ended up here and realized where he was, he got straight to work which meant feverishly cleaning and making immediate plans to improve your living environment. However when he saw you and realized it was truly you, his legs started moving on their own, drawn to your presence. Everything he was focusing on before seemingly vanished, as all he could think about now was you. When his fingers grazed over your flesh, he shivered, relieved that you weren’t cold and artificial like your vessel–– you were warm, and you were real. He was in such a state of bliss because you were here–– until he realized how confused you must be. Scolding himself, he prioritized your perfect self above all, so he would first calm you before proceeding to care for you and love you.

“I had the manager set a seat for you right beside the director and the snack bar is stocked with your favorites. All I ask is you don’t indulge too much in the snacks, I scheduled a dinner for us to meet Rook and Epel after I film this scene... What’s the matter? Don’t you want to watch me work?... What? One of the cast members degraded you?... Alas for her. Who dare insult you? Reveal her name!”

As a whole...

Pomefiore is another dorm that spoils you, proven by your new life of luxury with the company of these three who lovingly adore you and are fiercely protective of you. You have a pretty lavender-haired sometimes brash roommate who’s sweet to you, an eccentric blonde hunter who’s obsessed with you, and a beautiful blonde model who adores you wholly and wants to care for you for eternity. What more could anyone ask for? The trio is one of the more affectionate and direct with their feelings, so there won’t be a moment when you will feel unloved. Whether that’s a good or bad thing with them... who knows? You’ll continue to let them pay you back for your hospitality by caring for you, won’t you?

IGNIHYDE

Fire…? Oh god, you didn’t leave the stove on, did you? Or was someone here messing with the microwave or oven? There might even be a fire starting in another apartment in this complex! In your rush to see where the source of the smell was coming on, you failed to notice the new tablet and remotes sprawled out over the living room table. Someone had been here and left these devices. Hurriedly you rushed inside the kitchen, but there was no sign of anything having been left on. Checking the apartment group chat that gave notices and news for the complex, there was no news of a fire and the smoke detector hadn’t turned on. Wait… there were noises coming from a room connected to the hallway and that seemed to be where the smell came from too. Just as you were about to exit the kitchen, someone entered the same space. It was… the figure of a young robot boy with a mop of flaming blue hair…?

“Aha! My scanner was correct! I did detect a familiar life force entering the complex grounds! I’m so happy to see you! Ah, wait––”

He stopped once you backed away, you eyed him warily as you held up the sharp end of your keys to warn him. Although you weren’t sure how much damage the keys would do against his metal body if it came down to having to defend yourself. Plus, you’re sure his blue fair hair, however that worked, would burn badly. Before you could ask or demand anything, he continued just as cheerfully,

“Your heart rate is accelerating at a concerning rate, and so is your breathing pattern–– These are clear signs of fear. Don’t worry! Ah, this is so exciting! I thought I’d never see you like this!” Like a child who just can’t sit still, he practically danced, floating around you, seemingly not caring for the keys in your hand and he didn’t appear to be a threat. Instead he took your hand in his metallic palm, tugging you along towards your room as he insisted, “Come on, you have to see him! Let’s surprise him!”

See who? Surprise who? Your unspoken questions were answered when you were pushed into your home-office where you stored files and your laptop from when you were working at the apartment. There, you could smell the source of the fire, a long messy mane of blue fire that acted as lengthy locks of hair.

Right now he had yet to notice you. He was far too invested in what appeared to be… building? There were parts and tools all around him as it appeared he had connected your laptop to various PCs and monitors. “What a cheap set-up they had… How can anyone do anything on one monitor? Tsk. This should make it more efficient. Their wi-fi speed is trash, so I gotta fix that too. Hah… Ortho, did you find whatever made that noise––? Uh…” As soon as his eyes landed on you, he froze like a deer in the headlights. His glowing yellow-eyes were wide as he gaped, dropping the piece for the computers in his hands. There was Ortho with the brightest eyes, radiating pure joy, and right next to him was… was… “Y-You–– T-This isn’t what it looks like…!”

One game. You downloaded one game, Twisted Wonderland, on a whim, and now this duo of students claimed to be from the Ignihyde dorm from that very mobile game. It was incredibly difficult to believe, almost impossible, if it weren’t for their striking resemblance to the characters and the magic they were able to conjure with their pen. What was more of a shock? They claimed to know you as the player. Of course before they knew nothing of your looks or true personality, but now here you were in your divine grace, the real deal right before them! You can be sure that they will take advantage of your kindness as you allowed them to stay until they could find a way to return home. But really, why want to go back when you were here?

Oh, but you want to know how it’s like living with the Ignihyde gang, hm?

Ortho Shroud

Do not worry! He already helps care for his big brother, he can care for you too! He’ll take good care of your home!

What’s he usually doing at the apartment? Actually, he’s the one that goes out more often, besides helping keep the place together. In this new world, he finds everything interesting. Please teach him about your world, he wants to know as much as he can!

Whenever you go out, Ortho is always the one to join you (he goes unnoticed thanks to the custom-made upgrade and hat his brother made him). When you go out for groceries. According to his scanners, these are the ripest and juiciest of fruits! When you go out for clothes. Here is a hologram and program he and his brother created to let you see how outfits would look on you without trying them on! When you want something specific. He’s searched the stock of every store within a 25 mile radius for the item you were looking for, and he’s located five stores with the item! Shall he call and have them reserve it as he leads the way for you?

He’s a very kind and optimistic kid, so he’s won over a lot of the neighbors, meaning he gets a lot of little gifts he likes to give you. The elderly folks say he’s just the cutest kid, the adults think he’s such a well-behaved boy, and the other children seem to think he’s cool. If only they knew how down right mischievous, almost to a concerning level, he could be. He’s going to vacuum the apartment–– with a wind power blaster on max! Haha, just kidding~! If he did that then he might destroy this whole floor of the apartment complex!

Although he is very responsible. Keeping the apartment clean, vacuuming, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, dusting, organizing everything, handling any mail whether it be digital or written, he even orders takeout and it’s actually good healthy food (half of the time)! He does it all despite you telling him he doesn’t have to, but he wants to! He would do a lot of this stuff for his older brother, so it’s no hassle. Although he would be really happy if you played games with him after!

The only time he isn’t doing something for you or his brother, is when there’s a forecast of heavy storms with lightning. There was a huge crack of thunder followed by his scream down the hall. He’s deathly afraid of the thunder, hiding himself away in your room if you’re away. However, if you’re there, he’s clinging to you like a lifeline and won’t let go until the storm has passed. You and Idia are the only ones he feels safe with during a storm, so comfort him.

Yeah, uh, Ortho isn’t entirely innocent though, he can actually be rather destructive. It’s rare, but he too has his moments. Take for example, when you were scared of the huge spider that ended up in the closet. No, wait, Ortho, don’t use that giant blaster––! Or how when your landlord mentioned he was raising the cost of rent and you complained, he later came back to retract that statement all while nervously avoiding innocent little Ortho. Ortho also acts as security, he has motion sensors that detect movement all around the complex grounds. It’s so effective that he was able to confront a would-be thief by the park and stop them from doing anything bad! Hooray! Wait a moment, you wonder… What happened to that pretty tree in the park? Why is there only a burnt stump left…?

Yes, he missed you so much! Everyday while you work, you’re getting texts and the occasional call from Ortho. Please don’t be mad, he just really misses you! When your shift is done, he’s always there waiting at the lobby, swinging his little feet as he sits and waits. He visibly brightens up when he sees you, eagerly running over to hold your hand and take you home so his brother can see you too!

In the beginning, he just wanted a friendship with you (through your vessel), him, and of course his brother. He just wanted to be your friend, be in your company, just like how everyone else smiled with you and spent time with you. Can’t he be your friend too…?

He detected your presence far before you detected him. So when his suspicions were confirmed, he was over the moon! It was you, his friend! This was his dream come true: the real and authentic you, him, and his brother, all together in one place and living together like a big happy family! Just like in his favorite movies!

As soon as he detected your presence, he had to wait and contain his excitement. He wanted this to be a surprise! When Idia asked him to go check the source of the commotion, he nyoomed right over to where he detected your presence on his scanners. He was so so happy to see you–– he didn’t care about the keys you were holding and he was certain his own flames were increasing. Oh, if he had a heart, he was sure its heart rate would surpass yours! It wasn’t that Ortho was oblivious, it’s just that he was so overjoyed that he didn’t mind your initial fear. You’d get over it quickly, he knows it. How could you continue to see him as a threat? You’ll recognize him soon, just as he recognizes you, then you’ll be happy too! Afterall, didn’t humans say joy was supposed to be infectious?

“Happiness gauge has reached 100%... Yay, you’re here! Hi! How are you feeling right now? How was work today? Do you want me to place a take-out order or place a reservation at your favorite restaurant? I’m sure if you ask my brother to join us out to eat, then he’ll say yes! Hm?... How’d I know what time you got off of work? Hehe, I know your whole schedule for your convenience!”

Idia Shroud

Ah, this was so nerve-wracking being away from his own room. Well… it’s not that bad since you’re here. Just leave him in your home where he can be comfortable.

What’s he doing at the apartment? You’re not completely sure but he does stay inside practically all the time. He’s almost always on some type of device, and will not-so-subtly try to linger around you if you let him.

It’s rare to see Idia go out, especially by himself. However, if you ask him and you seem very eager to go out… well, he’ll impulsively say yes but he’s anxious the entire time. He’ll wear caps to hide his flaming hair and jackets or coats to cover himself. If you take him to someplace like an arcade or merch shop, he’s lightening up and actually enjoying the trip outside.

Your work from home office? Yeah, that’s basically his office now too. Don’t worry, he’s set up a partition of shelves filled with a mix of your office supplies and the merchandise he buys. His side is all dark and lit by the screen light from devices, the room filled with scattered comics, video game cases, and appliances used by Ortho. Apparently he codes things, programs stuff, creates and sells, because every week there’s a transaction notification from your bank account. It’s Idia wiring you more than enough money for rent and bills.

It’s fairly normal to see Idia shuffling around the apartment, sometimes forgoing the comfort of his bed or office to be in the same room as you. He doesn’t do much of chores–– he is a bit messy but at least he keeps it to his area. If you ask him to clean though, he’ll tidy up. But… don’t ask him to cook. He can’t manage that. If you do ask him, you’re getting served those really expensive fancy instant ramen. It’s the thought that counts…?

You’ve never actually seen Idia get angry. But you have heard a loud and audibly frustrated Hah? from his room/office once when you texted him about some negative experiences. According to Ortho, Idia has turned red at times after hearing about your negative experiences. And he means literally, like his calm blue hair had flared into an angry red. Whoever caused those negative experiences whether it be harassment, bullying, or anything else, you won’t be hearing from them ever again.

Even if it doesn’t seem like he does much, he does a lot. Creating personal service and wifi so you don’t have to pay companies, upgrading all your devices, connecting appliances to your phone like the lights and locks of the apartment and such. He wants to spend time with you, but he’s far too nervous to ask you… Which is why Ortho is always bringing you together. Sometimes if Idia has enough courage, he’ll call you instead of text you or purposefully leave something in your space so you can go to him later. He’ll help you out though. He’ll slow down or shut down the computers of your co-workers so it looks like you’re doing more work and you get a promotion. H-Huh…? N… No… He didn’t hack into your laptop’s camera or the surveillance tapes from your workplace just to watch you…

Yeah, he missed you, but why would someone as great as you miss someone as miserable as himself…? Why do you think he’s always watching you through screens when you’re not around? If you mention missing you to him, he suddenly looks very nervous. Great, he’s been found out. Now you must think he’s some creep… as if his constant texts throughout the day don’t give away the fact that he longs for your company whether it be with your actual presence or conversation online.

Ah, right, your vessel… Honestly, he didn’t like Yuu at all at first, but that changed later. They weren’t… that bad. Your vessel was really something special, in some ways it bested his own work on Ortho. Your vessel could be warm or cold, it had a heartbeat, it functioned like a normal human. Perhaps that growing fascination with your vessel was what drew him closer.

When his gaze landed in you, the flames of his hair grew in heat and size, simmering dangerously high as he attempted to keep his cool–– but he couldn’t! You were staring, probably judging, forming negative thoughts already. Any step closer and his hair might flare up, hot enough to activate the sprinkler systems of the apartment.

When Idia connected the dots, realizing where he was, he very nearly went into shock. How was this possible? Why was this happening to him and Ortho? No, wait, it’s not like he was upset. This was like a one in trillionth chance. Something lucky finally happened to him! But at the same time, he was freaking out badly. Breaking into a cold sweat, feeling his nerves spike 100%, he felt sick but at the same time he was so eager he could scream! The two things preventing him from breaking down under the weight of all these emotions, was his little brother and seeing the state of this place. What’s with these simple appliances? No offense but your wifi sucks. Oh god, what kind of PC was this? How do you even play any games on something this simple? This was real beginner tutorial level stuff. Seriously? Don’t you have anything better? Which is how he became so engrossed in improving everything he could get his hands on. He was so focused on improving your things that he didn’t even notice you were here, and so when he did finally notice you, he was right back at square one with the flood of emotions rolling back in.

“Someone will get hurt? Nahhhh. I mean, you know, it could happen. The probability is there. Stuff happens, that’s life, isn’t it? N-No, that doesn’t mean I’ll do anything to them… Anyway! You don’t owe anything to those normies. Seriously, why do you even care about your coworkers? It’d be so much better if you just always worked from home. They just try to boss you around, unlike me and Ortho. Tsk. They’re so annoying. Especially with how that one loser told you to get him a coffee. Huh? H-How do I know that…? Um….”

As a whole...

Ignihyde is probably the most vigilant of all the dorms. They’re always watching, even when you think they aren’t. You’re kept under 24/7 surveillance, but it’s not like you know that. Plus, it’s for your safety! Don’t you know how many creeps are out there? It’s okay though. You have a young and powerful robot boy who looks up at you with nothing but respect and admiration, and an intelligent introverted shut-in who’s obsessed with you but sometimes far too nervous to approach you himself. Not just anyone could get close to this brother duo. You’ll have a lot of fun with them and they’ll be sure to keep you entertained. They consider you family at this point, you know? You’ve offered them your hospitality and company, surely you think of them as family too, don’t you?

DIASOMNIA

Flowers…? The fragrant smell of nature permeated through your apartment. Quickly you found the source of the aroma, which came from some flowers in a vase in the living room. Flowers which you never collected or were gifted. It was a bouquet of mismatched plants, made of some poppies with missing petals, crumpled daisies, red roses so dark in shade they were almost black, and strangely enough there were even thorns in the bunch. Everything was neater than when you left it. No dust, no stray blankets, everything was orderly. The distant sound of chatter filled your ears, coming from somewhere within the kitchen. And with that– Oh god, what was that stench? Was something from the kitchen burning? Were the people here trying to burn down your apartment with the stove?

“I will be the one responsible to check! If I cannot even do something as simple as ensure the safety of the player’s abode, then I have no right to even serve them! For––” The man stopped, halting his marching as he exited the kitchen and came face-to-face with you.

You froze in fear, warily eyeing the tall with light-green hair slicked back. Not only were you frightened of this man who was obviously much stronger than you judging by his build, but this guy had also been talking to someone. There were bound to be others. As his yellow-green eyes widened and his mouth opened, you were struggling to swiftly take out something that may help you. In one hand you held your phone, in the other your keys. Just as you decide whether to call someone for help or try to defend yourself with the sharp end of your keys, the man does the unthinkable––

He starts bawling. This grown man who looked so intimidating and stronger than you, just started sobbing for no apparent reason! Too stunned by what was occurring, you failed to act as he got up close immediately. Yet he didn’t touch you, but he peered down at you as he furiously wiped away the tears in his eyes. “Wait!!! Please… Please, forgive me!! N–Not only have we barged in on your sacred dwelling unannounced, but I–– I must’ve alarmed you!! It’s merely–– I’m honored beyond belief to finally be in the presence of your true self!! How could I be so lucky? What good deed did I do to deserve this opportunity?!”

What? It was safe to say that you no longer felt threatened. Just… bewildered, and definitely still uneasy.

“Sebek, why are you–– Oh…” Right then, another figure emerged from the kitchen. A calm sleepy looking man with silver hair ambled into the room, but his eyes widened upon landing on you. Slowly he approached, gaze fixated on you, as if in a trance. Yet… he wasn’t very threatening. He had this peaceful air around him. You were still hesitant, but you had your phone and keys at your disposal. Upon getting closer, he lowered his head as if bowing while he spoke, “I apologize for the fright he must’ve given you. Father said this was the moment we had all been waiting for but I didn’t believe he meant… this.” His tone was monotoned, but he smiled, his expression showing his happiness but his voice didn’t match. “I’m so surprised… but so happy too. Ah, Father must be waiting to see you then…!”

With little to no room for arguments, the two men flanked your sides, and hurriedly escorted you to the kitchen. The closer you got, the heavier the smell became. Oh god, it was so bad–– Inside you saw a mess near the oven. There were bowls, cups, spoons, flour, and a tall leaning to the side abomination that could’ve only been a cake only discernible by the recipe page beside it. There was… no one here? Wait… Looking up, you were surprised to see a short guy dangling from the ceiling like a bat–– how was he even doing that?

When your gaze landed on him, he gave a grin, revealing tiny fangs. He lowered himself a bit so dangled upside down in front of you, his black hair with magenta highlights shifting with his movement, his large deep red eyes peering down at you. Judging by the oven mitts on his hands, he was likely the culprit for the mess and the cake as well as the smell of smoke most likely from the oven. But he didn’t seem to care too much for that right now, instead he was focused intensely on you. “There you are! You finally came! I was wondering when you were going to return. I’m sure these two youngins gave you an enthusiastic welcome! As you can see I’ve baked you a cake as a welcome gift from myself. Don’t worry too much about the mess, I’ll clean that up and you can try my cooking! Ah, don’t be so scared~” He floated down from the ceiling until he was standing upright in front of you. The short man was odd, there was something off about him, but he merely patted your head as the over mitt floated off his hand. “Surely you must recognize us by now. So, you know that there’s one more person waiting for you, don’t you?”

That was how you found yourself trapped in a room with one of them. The three you met were so excited to meet you, but they were just as eager for you to see the final fourth one of them. You found him wandering your study, admiring the objects and furniture but not touching, as if he were appreciating the priceless displays in a museum. That is until you, the most precious treasure of all, appeared in his vision. You get it now, you understood why people were nervous around him. He just had this air of elegance and superiority. The tall and extremely intimidating man with the black hair looked down at you with his green eyes, at first surprised before he smiled such a soft smile that quickly became a more menacing looking one. Although he may have just been excited and he might have not meant it to look menacing. Then, he spoke, “It feels like I’ve waited an eternity for this moment with you… I’m uncertain if it was by one of my attempts, mere chance, or by what I hope was your longing to see me as well, that called me forth and brought me and my companions to your world. I’ve dreamt of this moment countless times, ever since you first graced me with your presence through your vessel in my world. Although, I realize I am undeserving, that there’s the possibility I may have arrived here by mistake, but I am determined to make the most out of it. So, please grant my wish, I wish to stay beside you for an eternity. If you accept me, I’ll be forever grateful and remain loyal until the very end of time.”

One game. You downloaded one game, Twisted Wonderland, on a whim, and now this group of students claimed to be from the Diasomnia dorm from that very mobile game. It was incredibly difficult to believe, almost impossible, if it weren’t for their striking resemblance to the characters and the magic they were able to conjure with their pen. What was more of a shock? They claimed to know you as the player. Of course before they knew nothing of your looks or true personality, but now here you were in your divine grace, the real deal right before them! You can be sure that they will take advantage of your kindness as you allowed them to stay until they could find a way to return home. But really, why want to go back when you were here?

Oh, but you want to know how it’s like living with the Diasomnia gang, hm?

Sebek Zigvolt

Worry not, he will serve you just as he serves the young master! He, Sebek, will wholeheartedly dedicate himself not only to being of assistance to you but also to defending your abode!!

What is he doing at the apartment? Serving you, of course! In everything he does, he does for you. Cleaning, cooking, shopping. You actually have to command him to do something for himself, or else he’d be taking care of you non-stop.

Sebek is one of the clingiest members by far. You going out shopping? Say no more, he’ll carry all the bags! You want to take a stroll? He shall accompany you and hold your umbrella to protect you from that wretched sun! The sidewalk is too crowded? Everyone move aside, make room!! It’s terribly embarrassing sometimes, so you have to remind him to try and not attract unnecessary attention. If you ask him why not do something he enjoys for once, he immediately responds with “But… I enjoy serving you…!”

Yes, Sebek enthusiastically does many of the chores and he takes care of the cooking with Silver. Don’t underestimate his dedication to fulfilling your every command. He’s loud so if you ask him to be quiet for a moment, he'll stay absolutely silent until you give him permission to speak again. If you mention having issues with someone at work, he’s marching straight over and only you can stop him before he gives that poor person a multiple hour long lecture mixed with scoldings and praises of you. Say you’re hungry, and he’s immediately in the kitchen starting to cook a whole buffet. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you, you know.

Speaking of food, like mentioned previously, Silver and Sebek handle the food meaning they make your lunch. If it weren’t for Silver placing some restrictions, Sebek would be giving you enough food for everyone on the floor you work on. Still, he makes sure you have more than enough. He’s packed a healthy appetizer and a good main dish paired with a side dish! Oh, and here’s a portable mug with freshly brewed tea!

He says goodbye at the door when you’re leaving for work but it’s a long goodbye because he’s following you through the halls, down the stairs, all the way towards the street. No, no, he cannot follow you this time. Annnnd he’s still following. You implemented a rule for all four of them, they are not allowed to enter your workplace when you’re busy. Before the rule was implemented, Sebek tried barging in more than once. After the rule, he tried to get a job as a security guard for the building. Thankfully, he was rejected because he just wanted to guard one floor which was the one you worked on. He takes matters concerning your security seriously, you must text him at least once every thirty minutes so he knows you okay! At the very least, you haven’t seen him hurt anyone just to keep you safe. And you’re sure he hasn’t harmed anyone… right?

If it’s not obvious by now, Sebek probably has the hardest time when you leave. You haven’t seen it, but since the large portrait he’s commissioned to have placed in his room is not complete yet (he also asked for one of Malleus), he keeps a locket with your picture around his neck. Every once in a while when you aren’t around, others will catch him gazing fondly at your image. The second your shift is done, he’s somehow already in the elevator waiting for you. If the others manage to convince him to wait at home, you arrive to see him standing rigidly at the front door like a soldier waiting to be given commands. He has the brightest smile as he greets you loudly and enthusiastically. Give him a head pat for his good work.

Ah, yes, your vessel Yuu. He’s proud to report that he served your vessel as well!! Although every time he recalls how he used to view your vessel as a mere human of no significance, he scorns himself. If only he wasn’t so blind, if only he realized your importance earlier he could’ve spent much more time in your graceful presence!! That’s the only regret he has concerning your vessel.

Oh, the pure joy he felt upon seeing you––! The overwhelming feeling of your grace washing over his entire being filled him with such bliss! Why, he was simply so thrilled, so shocked but delighted that he was moved to tears!!

When Lilia requested that he guard the front door, he immediately did so. How astute of sir Lilia, he was right, the door had to be guarded in the case that someone arrived! Sebek volunteered to do the job, wishing to take the task instead of Silver. That way he would be the first to see who came through the door! What he didn’t expect was for the player he practically worshipped to be there! Why, it sent him into such a shock, making his jaw drop! That’s when he burst into tears, awestruck by your presence that overwhelmed him!! All his time that he devoted to training in combat, learning from various classes, teaching himself useful skills, it was not just for the young master Malleus but also for you––! You were the only other person he could hold in such high regard!!

“My liege!!! I welcome you home!! I apologize for not being present today to escort you home! I envy my companions who were able to bask in your wonderful presence while escorting you here safely…! Tsk–– However! I’ve spent my time wisely. I’ve cleaned the entire apartment while everyone was absent! Additionally, I’ve prepared everything necessary for dinner! Thank you for working hard today once again!! I sincerely hope that my measly efforts are able to lift some responsibility off your shoulders!!”

Silver

Ah, so this is your home… It’s very nice. He will do his best to protect it. Please, rest assured, he will defend you and your home until his last breath.

What’s he usually doing? Well, when not volunteering to do chores, he’s sleeping. Silver being classic Silver. He tries really hard to stay awake but your home is just… so comforting. And your presence is so relaxing, how can he not just… be lulled into a… deep sleep…

Silver is probably the best person to have with you. He’s calm and manages to charm everyone without even trying, not to mention he’s the only human in the group. He’s grateful whenever you allow him to go with you. It gives him an opportunity to learn more about you, your homeland, and the humans around. Like the rest of the group, he sometimes has difficulty understanding human customs despite being human. Forgive him, he was raised by fae. Please, teach him?

Believe it or not, it’s Silver who’s the most beloved by the neighbors. They’re all crazy over him, especially the women. The old ladies love to pinch his cheeks because he’s such a gentleman, the mothers wish their sons were like him, the younger women all try to flirt with him all the time, even the children adore him because he’s just like the prince in their fairytale books! Whenever they give him gifts, which is often, Silver doesn’t mind sharing with you. In fact, he actually prefers it if you had the gift.

Ah, the animals. Silver really is like a magical prince. For some reason, animals just flock to him. On more than one occasion, you’ve caught them helping Silver with chores. Birds moving wet clothes to dry on the balcony, squirrels helping him sweep up dust, etc. How does he do it? You have no idea. While you were at work once, a pair of pigeons delivered you a bouquet of flowers with a note simply reading: To my beloved. From, Silver. Knowing Silver, it probably wasn’t even his intention to be romantic. He probably just saw some pretty flowers he wanted to give you.

Yes, he’s very chill and it’s difficult to tell how he feels by his expression. In fact, you’ve only seen him get angry once. It was at a cafe, seated at a small table as you awaited your orders to collect the food and meet the others elsewhere so you could have a picnic. You had placed your purse on the back of your seat as Silver sat nearby, dozing off a bit. You weren’t paying attention as you waited for your order number to be called, when a stranger strolled by and reached for your unattended bag–– Never before had you seen Silver snap fully awake so quickly before. Nor had you ever seen his face contort into anger as he gripped the would-be-thief’s wrist before he could even touch your belongings. The situation ended peacefully from what you remembered. But when you weren’t listening, Silver made sure to inform his Father and Master Malleus, which led the two to properly punish the thief without you knowing.

Yes, he did quite miss you… but he doesn’t want to bother you when he knows you are busy. He’ll only act clingy if you allow it and if you spare time for him. To him, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. You could be looking at another person, but as long as he’s in your presence, then he’s content. Although… he wouldn’t deny any attention you do decide to give him.

Yes, he knew your vessel Yuu. Just as he was training to be a knight worthy to serve and protect Master Malleus, he would also do the same for your vessel. In his eyes, you were like the royalty a knight should devote themselves to.

Of course seeing the true you for the first time would put a smile on his face. Do you realize how difficult it is to actually get Silver to visibly smile? If this was merely a fantasy formed by his desires in his dreams, he never wanted to wake up again.

When the sound of Sebek’s loud sobs reached his ears and when Lilia gave an amused glance at him, Silver took both of these as a sign to investigate. He and Sebek had no idea where they were or what was going on, but Lilia and Malleus seemed content, even absolutely delighted to be here. Wherever here was. If they were so happy to be here, then perhaps he shouldn’t be so worried. Then he saw you in front of his crying companion, and it all made sense. They had sensed your presence and knew you would be here. Right then, it felt like he was having an otherworldly experience, just by seeing you. It felt like this couldn’t be real, like this was far too good to be true–– yet here you were. His legs moving on his own, immediately drawn closer until he found himself bowing and smiling up at you.

“Thank you for allowing me to escort you to work today. I’m very happy right now… Hm? I don’t look happy? But I’m smiling? Oh… am I not smiling? Apologies. Please know that being beside you with the privilege of being your protector is everything I’ve dreamed of. If I were to get injured or worse by defending you, I would not mind. I would risk every part of my being just to see you safe and smiling… Ah–– that’s both sappy and concerning you say? But I’m only speaking how I feel…”

Lilia Vanrouge

Oh, don’t fret, little one! Lilia is here now. Not only will he keep all these young ones in line, but he’ll be sure to care for you and love you.

What’s he up to around the apartment? Honestly, you’re not sure. You rarely see him cleaning, but somehow he keeps the apartment spotless. When up to his own devices, he seems greatly intrigued just by the things of his world so he usually explores and shows you his finds or new knowledge. He mentioned something like the unknown making him feel young again.

It’s like having a dad all over again, but a very fun laid back kind of dad. This includes lovingly teasing you for almost everything, embarrassing you by pridefully showing you off whenever the opportunity presents itself, and the talks that include wisdom from a very ancient fae. You’re still stuck with his horrible cooking though.

Lilia probably fits in the most, which is strange considering he’s a fae with a vast past. People don’t seem to look twice at his ears because they assume it’s a prop or they’re hidden by his hair. Not to mention the highlights in his hair combined with his attitude and how he takes a liking to grunge/punk clothes. If you’d pass him on the street you’d have no idea he was from a magic world. Additionally, he seems to get along with most people. It’s very weird to see this short guy wearing edgy fashion and somehow relating to the elderly war veterans in the apartment complex. Although you don’t mind, since he has their favor and they give him extra supplies for the apartment.

He makes sure you’re loved. Cheek kisses, head pats, checking in on you after a long day, willing to do whatever it takes to cheer you up. He’s easily the most openly affectionate out of the group. If you’re tired, he’ll hum or sing you a lullaby if you ask. He can be surprisingly gentle and soft. Once after a full day out with all of them, you promptly passed out upon returning home as your head lay in his lap and he gazed down at you with nothing but eyes filled with adoration. Malleus was nearby, his fingers weaving through your hair as he felt content at seeing you so peaceful. Meanwhile the bickering between Silver and Sebek had stopped, both had fallen asleep on the other couches too. It was a picturesque scene.

Lilia prefers that you don’t see a certain side of him, however, he won’t scramble to hide it. If you find out then you find out, but you’ll still have him. Lilia can be rather… cruel. That’s probably something to be expected of a fae who’s seen war and experienced so much. Any threat to you is quickly snuffed out. He’ll give a firm talk to co-workers who treat you badly, he’ll hunt down creeps who tried to take pictures of you or touch you in public, and if someone ever dared try to mortally wound you? May whatever higher being there may be have mercy on their soul once Lilia gets his hands on them.

Oh, Lilia missed you deeply. In fact, it’s fairly common for him to try to guilt-trip you into working from home today just so he can be with you. Sometimes it’s hard to say no to his cute face and crocodile tears… When you do go and return, you immediately are greeted by a warm hug as he asks to hear about your day.

Ah, your cute little vessel Yuu. Yes, he knew them well. Ever since day one, you had intrigued him greatly. In his several millennia long lifetime, he had never once met someone like you. You were truly one of a kind, and he wanted to know you better.

As soon as he appeared, he realized almost immediately that he was in a place dear to you. Although it was faint, he could feel your presence, meaning you had been here. Well, what an unexpected turn of events! This was not how he expected his day to go! In the meantime, he’d prepare something sweet to welcome you with. Let’s see here, what ingredients were in the kitchen…

Of course he knew it was you at the door! It was why he sent Sebek first then Silver, wanting the two to see you first before he could later keep all your attention and coo over you. Ah, he was patient as it came with age, but he hadn’t felt this impatient in a long time. He put a lot of effort into this… cake, for you! He truly hoped you liked it. Now to surprise you! And it certainly was a surprise to see him floating from the ceiling, and he relished in your reaction, and your presence–– oh, your sweet grace! He can’t ever remember a time where he felt this happy to see someone before. He just can’t wait to take you under his wing, fret over you, and just spoil you silly!

“Good morning, my little bat! Breakfast is almost–– hm?... You’re already about to leave for work? My, my, is it really that late in the morning already? How time flies. Are you not working from home today? Oh… but I planned to spend time with you during your break. I even saved so you can spend at any cafe we pass by… Of course, it’s fine, I know you’re busy and you work hard. But everytime you go, I get so lonely I can c-cry… Oh? Last minute change of plans? I see! Heheh, I’ll be sure to spoil you with whatever you want on your break then!”

Malleus Draconia

So this building is your residence?–– No? Only these few rooms and the rest belong to others? Ah… but you deserve much more. Shall he, Malleus, ward off the rest of the humans and demolish this complex to have a castle built in its place? No? As you wish, he’ll leave you to reside in this apartment since you find it satisfactory.

What could he possibly be doing in your apartment? A majority of the time, you have no idea. He’s just following you endlessly so long as you allow him to. You never really see him do chores, perhaps because his retainers do it for him or he does it when you aren’t looking. Really anything you want to do, he’ll gladly join you. Although you’re not certain what he does when he’s not with you…

As mentioned before, he’ll always try to follow you simply because he does not want to be apart from you. At first it was a little unnerving but you quickly got used to it. He’s able to go out with little to no trouble, since most people think his horns and ears are some strange prop, plus you made him and the others promise to not use magic in public. One good thing about his presence is he always scares off unwanted company. Even if people don’t know who he is, he’s intimidating enough with the way he carries himself.

Malleus believes you deserve the world and more. So he covers all costs. Will this pile of gold from his treasury do? What is he thinking? You deserve much more than this puny sum! No, you insist, that’s more than enough. As to how he even got his treasures here, you have no clue. All he asks in return is for your company. He truly does care for you possibly more than anyone, so he’ll gladly give more gold just to spoil you. If you bring him with you to shop or any simple outing or invite him somewhere, he’s over the moon with joy.

Although it’s hard to believe it since he acts so refined and elegant. You think he’s an enigmatic being, maybe a little peculiar, and he always keeps his cool but in actuality… he’s weak for you. Even if he seems calm, any moment with you sends his heart fluttering. Every glance, every smile, every touch, every word, every gesture, it fills him with so much unbelievable ecstasy that makes his heart beat wildly. Who would have thought that such a peaceful simple domestic life would satisfy a prince like him?

Everything you say, everything you do, even what you think matters. He teased you and such, but never to the point of upsetting you, just because he cannot resist seeing your range of emotions and reactions. One day when he nearly exposed magic to a passerby when attempting to impress you with his skills, leading to you becoming worried and upset, he was absolutely devastated. Malleus believed you were cross with him, how could he do such a foolish thing and anger you? Next thing you know, there was suddenly a nasty storm with powerful lightning and thunder despite the sunny weather five minutes ago, unconsciously formed by his immediate regret and immense guilt. Yet as soon as you spoke to him as he apologized profusely and you explained you weren’t angry at him, the storm quickly cleared upon comforting him. Needless to say, he was not about to make the same mistake twice.

You seem to have no worries recently. Of course he and Lilia handle each little matter stressing you. If you stop, you might actually notice the way your rude boss shivers upon seeing the fae waiting to escort you home from work. If you turned around to see Malleus, you might’ve seen the way he glared down at the shop owner that scammed you as said owner nervously gave you much more than you paid for. Oh, you’re scared of going out at night because of creeps? Fear not, for he will be beside you the entire time. Besides, he and Lilia already weeded out all… potential threats in the area. You will be safe as long as he is around.

You know, he’s actually much worse than Sebek when it comes to clinginess. You just never notice Malleus. If you think you’re alone… you’re not. If you feel like you’re being watched when you leave all four of them at home… you’re being watched. The fae prince never truly leaves you alone. He tells himself it’s to keep you safe and content always, but it’s partly for himself too. He’d feel far too lonely if he actually left you for over five minutes. Maybe his lingering presence, even when you don’t know it, explains some little things. The coffee you left cold at your desk is pleasantly warm when you come back, when you turn around the mess of papers is suddenly an organized stack, that coworker you had a fight with suddenly went home sick and didn’t return for nearly a week and when they did return they seemed… scared.

Malleus likes to believe he knows your vessel, Yuu, better than anyone else. Afterall, he met you early on, he even accidentally helped you. He knew you were a strange one in the beginning, but he had no idea how special you were until later on.

Like Lilia, he was quick to realize where he was. At first, he was shocked, in pure disbelief. This must be some kind of miracle or a cruel joke––! Lilia was quick to keep Sebek and Silver busy, while he was left to his own devices. So, he explored, but never daring to touch anything, as if even the trashcan in the corner were sacred since it belonged to you.

Of course he felt your nearing presence. It felt like time was longer than ever now, like every second was an hour. When he heard Sebek sobbing followed by Silver’s voice, he felt his heartbeat quicken. It was happening. You were almost here. Soon, you would come to see him. When he heard the distant voice of Lilia in the kitchen, he felt nervous for the first time in a long while. The moment was coming when he would see you finally, but the moment didn’t seem to come fast enough. Part of him was worried you would fear him. After all, this was technically like a first meeting, so if that were the case–– he’d simply do everything in his power so you warm up to him. You meant far too much to him, he would not allow you to leave him alone even if you tried. He wanted this, you, or something with you, far too much, more than anything he’s ever desired before. Then he heard the door–– it was happening! His gaze landed over to you, immediately transfixed on you. This was it. He was finally meeting the person he adored and coveted, the very one he sought out.

“You’re relieved to see me after a long day? Hm, as am I to see you… Why am I smiling so ominously, you ask? Heh. Well, because I’ve reunited with you, and because I was thinking of the others who were not blessed and have not seen you. Diasomnia was fortunate enough not only to bask in your presence but to live beside you. I merely find it amusing to remember the countless times others within the college had not invited me to see your plaything Yuu, and yet here I am in the company of the true you. I wonder if they realize, if they know, or even see me here alongside you now. It’s a shame I cannot see them writhing as they wallow in their own sorrows and regret.”

As a whole...

Diasomnia adores you wholly, in their eyes you can do no wrong. They both revere you and adore you. For you, they’ll do anything, they’ve told you as much. If you asked, they’d even tear this world apart and mold it into how you see fit. You assure them that you never want that, that the most you usually want is help with chores and stuff. Still, they do carry out your commands, even if it’s not anything major. You have a dedicated green-haired half-fae eager to please you in any way, a sleepy young man that keeps the calm and peace, an ancient fae who dotes over you, and a fae prince willing to bring this society to its knees should you ask. With these four, they’re practically like family at this point. An overpowered, obsessed, and overprotective family… They treasure you very much, I hope you realize that. You’ve offered them your hospitality and company, surely you won’t think of ever getting rid of them, right?

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theanimeroom · 6 months

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I have been thinking on a 3some with nagireo PLEASE, I AM BEGGINGGG, an as their first time, they go to excited and addicted to it and reader liking the fact of them been so needy

NSFW UNDER THE CUT

okay okay hear me out hear me out… let’s talk about professional soccer player!nagireo shall we?

the last thing you had expected after meeting the pair was for either of them to take an interest in you. you were an avid fan of nagi and reo, constantly coming to watch their team play, getting the closest seats you could in order to watch the white and purple haired men do what the do best. there were even a few times when you’d brought posters to their games, their names written in pretty lettering as you cheered them on.

you’d probably never know that reo had noticed you long ago, bringing the pretty fan with too much time on their hands to nagi’s attention after noticing that it was your second time attending their games in a row. he’d smile in your direction whenever he saw you in the stands, always making sure to show off a little more than usual for his favorite admirer.

when reo and nagi finally got the chance to meet you up close and personal, the purple haired man didn’t waste a second in his pursuits. he sweet talked you with nagi by his side, compliments being thrown your way leaving your face warm. he thought you were so cute, but you were even cuter when you were laying under either one of the men with your eyes screwed shut, needy moans leaving your parted lips were every caress of their fingers against your skin.

“isn’t she just the cutest thing?” reo asks, turning his head to peer at nagi, who’s bored expression perked up when you cried out and thrashed on the bed, reo’s nails dragging swiftly over your perk nipple. had it not been for the large tent pushing against the fabric of nagi’s sweats, you would’ve thought he was completely uninterested in you, but you knew that wasn’t the case when you would lock eyes with him, his pupils dilated to the point where he looked like nothing more than a rabid animal.

his nod was firm and you couldn’t help the way your body ached for him, for them both, your hands reaching out to urge the white haired man closer. “please,” you didn’t care how helpless the request sounded coming from you, not when the two men with you made you feel this good. reo snickered to himself when you extended your arm, repeatedly balling your hand into little pleading fists towards his best friend. looking behind him with a smirk lacing his expression. “you heard her, nagi. why don’t you come over here and play with her a little?”

the taller male stalked over to you, a slender fingertip dancing across your neck, trailing a bit lower to where reo was still pinching and teasing at your nipples. he’d been watching his friend toy with your body, so he knew the reaction he would get when his hand replaced reo’s thumb and index finger squeezing around your nipple, pulling it towards himself with a harsh tug. you cried out once more, back arching into his grip. when your eyes peeled themselves a open after being screwed shut from pleasure, nagi was looking at you with something akin to demented curiosity.

“i want to hear you make more noise,” he drawled, releasing the bud in favor of cupping your heat, palm grinding down against your clit until you were grinding your hips back down against him, desperate pleas and cries leaving your mouth as he requested. “hmm, so pretty. want to hear more.”

it was almost like he was talking to himself, but you couldn’t focus on a word he was saying when the feeling of his hand dragging across your most sensitive spots left your ears ringing and body sweaty. for a moment, you’d even forgotten about reo, who was watching nagi play with your sopping wet cunt, yet still teasing you mercilessly.

broken “please’s” and “more’s” escaped you, and although nagi had all but tuned out what you were saying, only hearing your increasingly higher pitched moans, reo was counting every time the words left your mouth, remembering them later for how many orgasms he owed you after nagi decided to let him have a little more fun with you.

a breath of relief left you when nagi removed his hand, your lips shiny and sticky with your arousal for them.

“fuck,” reo moaned, gripping his own erection through his sweatpants. nagi swiped a finger through your slick, watching the string that left him connected to where you needed them most. a small hum left his mouth, not wasting a second before sinking the digit into you. your mouth fell open at the sudden intrusion, a moan prepped and ready on your lips. before you could muster a sound there was a tug on your hair, head snapping back as your eyes searched for the source of your sudden pain.

your eyes were met by reo’s, who was smirking at you with visage of desire all over him. the look he was wearing worried you, you hadn’t seen him look quite this feral before, but it left your cunt squeezing around nagi’s finger. your wrecked expression was enough to make the purple haired man crack, his bottom lip jutting out in faux concern. “awe baby, you sound so cute when you’re begging for our cocks, do you want it that bad?”

when you nodded vigorously, reo smiled to himself. “then what do you say you take us both, hm? think you can do that for us?”

your eyes widened at his request. you’d been with them both before, but taking both of their cocks at the same time? it only took a wicked grin from reo at your bewildered expression for you realize that this was going to be a long night.

#blues asks 💎#blues anons 💙#HELP SOMEONE STOP ME #I WROTE A WHOLE BOOK GODDAMMIT #this is why i’m not allowed to think about nagireo 😭#also not proofread really so sorry for typos!!#blue lock #blue lock smut #nagi #nagi seishiro #nagi seishiro smut #nagi smut #reo #reo mikage #reo mikage smut #reo smut

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britcision · 5 months

Text

AND NOW: Part Two! One might think I would look at the fic at some point and check what chapter we’re on, but I will not! Mostly for “but that takes effort” reasons but also because by the time I get back here I WILL have forgotten!

Part One of this chapter:

First Chapter:

———————

Well You Did Get Down On One Knee (part 2)

Tucker, Conner, and Tim had actually gotten through another round of Spiderheck in between the rabid buzzing of Tim and Tucker’s phones.

Conner had the good sense to mute his and toss it behind the couch… after sharing the “good news” of Timblr with the Young Justice chat. Without which his phone probably wouldn’t have been buzzing at all.

He regretted nothing, despite Tim’s alternate pouting and threats. Tucker was pretty impressed, and pretty sure that it wasn’t just for the guy’s good looks this time.

Finally, after the fourth time Tim’s ringtone changed itself and blasted at full volume (making Tucker completely drop his controller), the Black tech gave up, sighing heartily and dropping his head into his hands.

Not least to hide the sudden wicked grin on his face as an idea struck. Because yeah, sure, he could help Tim try and unhack fucking Oracle on the sly, or… they could remove the distraction another way.

(Tucker wasn’t a thousand percent ungrateful for the distraction; he was pretty sure even without the merry buzzing of his social life burning down around him he’d have had a hard time concentrating on the game.

It just plain wasn’t fair; Conner was too fucking hot, and so earnest, and excited when he was doing well! All the little shouts and exclamations, the broad grins, Tucker was really beginning to doubt his own demisexual nature.

Although, to be fair, it wasn’t like he actually wanted to… interact while Conner was being cuter than Cujo with a rubber bone. Just. It was hard to think about anything else when he could be appreciating all… that instead.

At least while Tim’s ass was being blown off by at least three separate group chats, Tucker’s floundering was less embarrassing.)

Tim gave him a consoling pat on the back while Conner whooped in victory, probably trying to comfort Tucker in the loss. Tucker let him for a moment, running a couple quick calculations in his head.

Because yeah, he’d never got around to asking Danny to ecto infuse any of the Waynes’ tech; not the batcomputer nor the gaming consoles, but. Well. They’d played for hours the last two nights, and it wasn’t like Tucker had never gotten his hands through a console’s innards.

It had to count as knowing the device, right?

And it wasn’t like it was that hard, doing it for just three people. For just one game.

Looking up at the other two, he gave them both a slightly shyer grin.

“So, like… I know we’re having a good time and all,” he began, and Tim groaned theatrically as he was interrupted yet again by his ringtone.

“I’m about to ask Superboy to toss this thing into space,” he grumbled, glowering at his phone.

Conner reached innocently towards it and Tim snatched it back up immediately. Tucker settled back once it was safe too, grinning sheepishly even if it wasn’t his bluff Conner called.

Conner tipped him a wink and Tucker had to clear his throat and give his head a quick shake to clear his blush.

“Right… yeah, uh, anyway. What if I had a better way to get us away from distractions?” He asked as innocently as he could, staring at the screen instead of that far too attractive face.

He could still see the other two sit up from the corner of his eye, both looking interested.

“We’re not allowed to game in the Bat Cave,” Tim said quickly, with a resigned air that said the question had come up before… and enough disappointment that they’d probably done it and been caught.

Which, yeah, thinking of the size of the screen in the cave, Tucker suddenly really wanted to try that too.

Already banned though. And he and Danny were already on thin enough ice with Batman as it was.

Reluctantly dismissing the thought, he returned his attention to the present moment, grin spreading as he turned to face Tim directly.

(Tim was safe. Tim was, objectively, a very handsome young man and Tucker could appreciate that in a distant way, but being pretty was just so much less interesting that almost anything else about Tim.

Tucker could worship him through a distant computer screen, so the pretty blue eyes weren’t much of a distraction. Looking at Tim face to face was really cool, but Tucker would be more tongue tied watching him code.)

“Sure, but you remember I told you about my technopathy? I can interface with machines I know really well,” he added for Conner’s benefit, accidentally looking over in time to preen as his face lit up with interest.

Tim, for some reason, stifled a snicker.

“Yeah, you mentioned. And that it was a little more complicated, but go on,” he prodded, and Conner shot him a look that Tucker was gonna have to ask questions about.

Later. Once he was done showing off a little. And, probably, getting his ass kicked at Spiderheck.

Tucker Foley was a master of video game controls, sure, and that sorta helped, as did “knowing you’ve been thrust into a video game”. He just didn’t delude himself into thinking it’d be enough to counter the actual literal battle training of superheroes.

But hey, maybe having all those extra legs would fuck them both up for long enough that he’d win a few rounds.

“Well I think you might’ve already noticed, but I know this game really well.”

Danny was doing his best to keep a cheerful face on things, especially the weird shit.

It had been a while since he’d had a nasty new halfa surprise of his own crop up (although he didn’t dare hope he’d had his last; that would surely bring something on), but he still remembered how it felt.

How overwhelming, how hollow and intimidating the world could be when you were learning that you really knew almost nothing about yourself. That at any time, your body could do something totally out of your control.

Something you might not be able to handle.

He’d felt the fear in Jason, deep and bright and smothered a second later, but not before Danny felt it.

At least he could be here for the other guy; he wasn’t going to be going into the whole mess alone. Danny would make sure of that. Understandable as his reservations about reliving his death were, they would face it together, and he had to hope that might help.

Possibly with Jazz too, when it was actually time for that first transformation. Danny hadn’t even really started coping with dying when he’d first changed, and he’d been dead less than a minute; it had almost been part of the rebirth process. By the time he’d had to do it for a fight, he already knew what would happen.

For Jason… well, it had been a while, and even Danny could see he’d not done much more than paper over the cracks with bad ecto induced rage and carry on.

He was trying not to let Jason see how much he worried, but had a feeling it didn’t matter. Jason was plenty worried already.

Good news was… well, there wasn’t much good news. It was going to suck, no matter what, and if they didn’t do it in controlled conditions it’d be fucking awful.

But they did have some controlled conditions, and better yet? Probably wouldn’t be a problem for at least a couple more days.

As little as Danny wanted to talk about the whole… mess that was Jason’s death, Jason himself was all about the detailed planning. Back ups of back ups and all that.

It probably came with the Batman training.

(The mad compartmentalising totally did. Danny had spent enough time with Bruce in one single car ride to be sure about that.)

For the moment, he gave Jason as much support he could; contact, a reassuring aura, and a smile whenever he could, and absolutely no oogling of his mostly naked body while they were doing the checkup.

(Jason had mentioned a pit-related growth spurt last time, and this close Danny could see that the scars all over him were interspersed with stretch marks. Now that he actually looked the difference was super obvious; the different colour, the creasing where they indented the skin.

Danny definitely wasn’t thinking of licking them to see if he could feel the texture.

Or running his fingers over bared skin, which was admittedly less intimate than the licking thoughts he totally wasn’t having, but also seemed kinda more a betrayal. Because Jason wouldn’t question Danny touching him, but Danny would have Nefarious Motives.

Of. Textures.

But it was totally fine because he wasn’t having any of those thoughts at all.)

He just wished he knew what had caused that sudden panic attack Jason had earlier; it had come almost from nowhere, a wave of black and crushing dread that froze Danny’s already-iced core. It filled the room, filled his lungs, and would have cost him everything to not respond.

Part of him had wanted to shove Jason fully inside himself, store the much larger man in the hollow of his chest so that nothing could hurt him.

(And Danny could, technically, kinda do that. Jason didn’t have to be that much bigger than him, at least while Danny was in ghost form. Ghost form was all about self perception and, well, raw power.

Looking like his twink ass self was a deliberate choice, and one he’d never regretted until it meant not curling Jason into the infinite curls of his tail and protecting himself from the universe as a whole.)

Danny was super great at boundaries. Yup. One thousand percent completely normal about them.

But he’d been able to wrap his aura around Jason anyway, because that wasn’t a freakishly massive monster form that would freak him out further. They’d helped him calm down, helped him breathe, and Jason seemed…

Way too fine, frankly, even his aura had cleared, and Danny trusted that about as far as Sam could throw him. Bat-level compartmentalizing, for sure.

That was gonna get real weird when the more emotionally regulated ghost powers kicked in, but Danny was gonna cross his fingers and hope that it made Jason’s transition easier, not infinitely more fucked up. Jazz would be intolerable, for one thing.

Most of the rest of the appointment went well anyway; bar the surprise “Congratulations On Your Soul Bond” news (which he would not be thinking about too hard until he couldn’t possibly avoid it), it was pretty much what they’d expected.

Jason was doing good, Danny was gonna need to work around classes tomorrow maybe for another trip, and there was just the teeniest chance Jason’s fully formed core would manifest like, physically.

Shockwaves had been mentioned. Danny now had questions about how much of his original death light show had been the portal itself opening. Ones that could never be answered, but hey.

If/when Clockwork showed up, Danny was gonna prioritise Jason’s soul contract over his own curiosity for purely friend related reasons.

Danny didn’t like soul contracts of any sort at the best of times, unwritten ones that put a friend into his service? Yeah, maybe he was feeling just a little vindicated that Jason could see what he’d been freaking out about now.

Now that it was too late, but Danny was technically the Ghost King and Clockwork’s boss, so even if he couldn’t fix the whole mess until his coronation, it wasn’t gonna be a problem-problem.

If Clockwork tried to use the contract to push Danny into accepting his coronation more quickly, well, Danny had a real good win streak of fighting ancients in his pocket. And he’d double never get coronated if they spent the rest of eternity playing cat and mouse for Danny to beat Clockwork’s ass, so.

Not that Danny believed Clockwork would, really. The Observants? Abso-fucking-lutely, he’d be swinging before they finished a sentence, but Clockwork genuinely seemed to care.

He pruned the timelines with the ruthless efficiency of a gardener, but always to make the best outcome. The one where the least people got fucked over.

He’d absolutely fuck Danny over in the service of getting that best outcome, but Danny was also pretty sure he’d feel bad about it if he did, and that Clockwork would and had chosen to believe in him over his predicted outcomes more than once.

Danny trusted Clockwork.

Of course, now that he wasn’t trying to hide and actually wanted to see his mentor and regent, the bastard was nowhere to be found.

All jokes about the “Ever-Moving Now” aside, they weren’t directly making for Clockwork’s tower; the only way to find it was with Clockwork’s permission, so Danny didn’t usually bother. As a kid they’d thought they could stumble across it and surprise him, but these days?

Danny knew better. And Clockwork wasn’t exactly subtle; his lair had showed up around the very first metaphorical corner when he wanted Danny to come in once too often. And hadn’t been anywhere to be found when Danny searched, only to show up beside his fucking portal home.

Where it definitely hadn’t been on his way in.

It went where Clockwork wanted it, when he wanted it there. Danny totally wasn’t jealous.

It had been a while since he’d bothered hiding from Danny though; these past couple months, just being in the Zone had netted him an unwanted visit from his regent. Danny was beginning to suspect Clockwork wasn’t actually all that keen on ruling the realms, and was just planning to fob the job off on him.

Which, y’know, fair. Danny wasn’t exactly thrilled with it either. But it was his job as Danny’s mentor to protect him from this shit, right?

Now that Danny actually wanted to see him though, of course he wasn’t around. Which probably wasn’t actually a bad sign, or that he’d done something he didn’t want them to know about.

Clockwork was just a cryptic asshole, and apparently Jason had used up all of his “getting clear answers” cards in their first meeting. If only Danny had ever gotten a single damn one.

There was one other detour Danny wanted to make while in the Realms, but… today didn’t feel like quite the right time. Jason had already had a fucking day of it, and Danny didn’t wanna dump any more on him. Even if Ghost Writer’s library would be a nice trip for Jason, it was something they should talk about first.

And… probably ask Ghost Writer about first too.

If Danny ever remembered to do that.

So they’d thanked Frostbite, gotten Jason a bag of ecto ice chips (Danny wasn’t allowed any, it was totally unfair because he needed an energy boost too! But noooo, his core was “stabilised” and “complete” and he needed to “sleep” and “eat” for energy like a pleb. Unfair!), and agreed to come back as soon as Jason’s core stabilised.

Danny figured he could always come back on his own for a visit to Nocturn. That was gonna be a whole ass emotional mess; Dan was technically in the database Tucker had handed over, but Jason hadn’t mentioned it yet. Danny didn’t know if that meant he didn’t know, or was just being actually tactful.

He wasn’t even sure what he actually wanted to say yet, how to ask for what he wanted, and he should probably do this right. Nocturn hadn’t challenged him again since he’d become king, and had actually been super helpful so far, but… well, the spirit of dreams was proud, powerful, and Danny was pretty sure he helped specifically to have something on Danny. He’d already decided that his main job tonight was to help Jason relax, feel better, and work out if he needed to sicc the Sam-Tucker combo on Bruce Wayne’s social media.

…

Who was he kidding. Of course they’d be setting Sam and Tucker on the guy, as soon as Jason gave the green light.

Jason had never exactly gotten all the way through the explicit details of how Bruce had fucked up this afternoon, beyond just siccing Constantine on Jason, but honestly?

He didn’t have to. Jason had been almost tangibly frustrated from the minute he rolled up to Danny’s dorms, though he was gonna shoot Tucker a thank you for his little “revenge”, since it had cheered the guy up right away.

Danny was totally not considering a little spectral revenge for himself too. Mostly because Batman would probably know all about ghosts by now, and probably had Constantine doing his spectral condom act all over the cave.

But it wasn’t like Bruce liked Danny anyway, so really, what did he have to lose? Not like Jason hadn’t already shown whose side he came out on on this one.

Danny didn’t exactly know what having over protective parents was like, but Jason could not be more clear that he didn’t appreciate Bruce’s interference. There was clearly a lot going on with those two, and while they’d already talked about Jason’s death and technically he had permission…

Well, Danny didn’t wanna push. Ask literally any ghost, dying could leave you with a whole stack of issues. Jason wasn’t even close to the most homicidal Danny had met.

That poisonous rage, though… Danny pushed it from his mind. It didn’t matter, wouldn’t matter, Frostbite said Jason was doing well and Pitty would be out of him soon.

…

Maybe, just maybe Danny was also starting to worry what that might mean, since it sent Jason into a full panic attack and he’d seen what the rage was like when fully under control.

Maybe they’d bump up the schedule on taking care of those Lazarus pits. Get that Obsession dealt with, see if it calmed things down.

Yet another thing Danny would have to talk to Clockwork about, and was his irritatingly omnipresent mentor anywhere to be found? Of course not.

Which probably meant this wasn’t a timeline threatening problem. Yet.

What a comfort.

Which left them flying home through the Zone, and Danny totally wasn’t overthinking literally everything. He was being considerate, quiet, giving Jason time to process everything they’d seen that day.

Maybe himself too. Just a little. But it wasn’t like Jason was hurrying to start a conversation, and they both had a lot on their minds. It was a good, comfortable silence.

They had nearly reached his preferred portal spot too, so today’s quick trip to the Ghost Zone was nearly over, unless Danny actually wanted to go Clockwork-hunting… which, while probably less emotionally fraught, wasn’t likely to go great.

(Realms geography could be more than just hinky; they were infinite after all, so he tended to open portals back out in the same place he’d previously opened a portal from the living world in. It seemed to help, and he didn’t usually wind up in the wrong dimension that way.

Especially if there was a nearby, powerful anchor.

Going searching up and down the whole ass Zone for the Ever Moving Now? Yeah, that’d fuck his portal plans right up.)

Danny could feel a steady building trepidation rising in Jason like the tide, but he had no idea what the hell to do about it. Back there in the world were Bruce and Constantine, and all the problems that kept Jason balanced precariously on a knife edge.

Here in the Realms, all the problems were new and interesting and could almost all be solved by punching, which really suited both of them. Danny would have been tempted to suggest that sidebar to see Ghost Writer, but it was late, he had school in the morning, and his super handy time manipulating mentor was being a dick and wasn’t here.

A couple years ago, he’d have said fuck it and gone on the sidebar anyway, and probably not slept all night to help his friend. And had Jazz harping in his ear about “developing bodies”, “needing his sleep”, and “this is why you haven’t had a growth spurt since you were fourteen”.

Which totally wasn’t a valid argument or at all what had made him start taking care of himself. He just… well, he just actually really fucking liked his classes these days.

Against all the odds, Danny Fenton had gotten into a prestigious college, into an engineering program that actually let him stretch his talents. And take apart old or broken lab equipment from the other buildings for fun and profit.

And if he hadn’t slept the night before, they didn’t let him use the welding torch. Danny was pretty sure Clockwork might be behind that, since they somehow always knew.

Maybe that was how Nocturn was already betraying him… conspiring with Clockwork to make Danny sleep more and absorb his power?

Danny considered that seriously for about half a second before discarding it. Sure, Nocturn was the King of Sleep and an ancient, but he was also a canny motherfucker and not likely to mess up badly enough to accidentally become King of the Infinite Realms too.

For all that he wanted power, fucking no one wanted to deal with the Observants. Danny had practically begged.

It wasn’t like they had to go back to Gotham and then immediately straight to bed though. Just, y’know, something that wouldn’t take hours and hours. There had to be something they could do in the city that wouldn’t keep them up all night, but would keep Bruce Wayne off their asses.

Unless Jason had shit to do. Danny… kinda hadn’t asked. The only plans he’d known about for the day was busting out Waylon, and then the potential trip to Frostbite.

Maybe he hadn’t meant for it to go so late? Maybe Danny should ask?

Maybe Jason was getting sick of him.

Maybe Jason was getting a little too good at reading auras, since that thought barely settled in before he broke the silence.

“What the fuck?”

And alright, that might also have been a coincidence Danny decided, brows furrowing as he looked for what had caught Jason’s attention.

It all looked normal up ahead to him. Bright green zone, a couple purple islands (was that the ghost of a Bat Burger? Maybe they should check this place out more), the haze of black smog that always surrounded…

Ah.

Yeah, they hadn’t really had that conversation yet, though Danny had meant to bring it up on the way home. Riiiight up until all that overthinking started.

Guess that made this introduction time. Sort of put a stop to wondering how to cheer Jason up… although depending on how Jason felt, it might just be a distraction.

Danny pulled to a stop, Jason coming in close before stopping alongside him, just in front like he might need to protect Danny from something.

Or like he overshot the stopping. Could be either, really. But Danny had a feeling it was at least a combo. He and Jason were just too alike, but it looked almost automatic. Vigilante training, and Danny’d bust his ass later about treating him like a civilian.

Jason was the civilian here, and his citizen.

He cleared his throat, wondering how exactly to go about this, since ghosts didn’t have an introduction protocol that wasn’t “throw down”. And spent about half a second wondering if that was actually on the table before deciding against it.

Sure, most ghost introductions involved a friendly punch up, but Lady Gotham had always been a little different. And this wasn’t exactly your standard “new ghost who dis”.

“Right, yeah… we didn’t see her last time we were in the Zone. Jason, this is-”

“You think my own boy wouldn’t know me, Phantom?”

The voice came from all around them, low and dark and smokey sweet like molten chocolate with just a hint of whiskey. Jason stiffened and glared around harder, conscious caution battling with the sudden wave of relief from his core.

She spun herself from the smog of the city, like she always had. A tall, curvaceous woman built to Jack Fenton proportions, easily seven feet tall with dark mahogany skin and pitch black lipstick, perfect black hair coiled tight into an afro about her head. Smoky black makeup lined her eyes and caressed high, generous cheekbones in a line of clouds.

Long black gloves covered her hands and arms, one of which was held across her body, hand cupping the elbow of her other arm while the other held what probably was a full sized orange traffic cone like it was a cigarette holder. It looked wrong clasped in her hand, scale thrown off by her size. A thin plume of white smoke even spiralled from the wider end.

She wore a short flapper dress covered in layers of tassels, each of which flashed with beads of jet all along the length except for the last bead on a scattering of the strands, which were large, blood flecked pearls. Below the end of the skirt, her legs were lost in the spills of black smog surrounding her, though occasionally more flashes of pearl could be seen shifting through the murk.

It was her eyes that captured all of the attention though as she caught and held Jason’s gaze, a sly smile on those black lips. They glowed yellow from lid to lid, each pupil shaped like a bat.

The fight dropped out of Jason instantly, jaw dropping.

And yeah, maybe Danny should have expected that he’d… sort of recognize her? Jason was a Gothamite to the core, had been one of her true defenders since pixie boots were in style… right up until his own death.

And if Danny read that twitch right, it was costing him an effort not to automatically drop to one knee. So apparently that was just wired into him, and not just a Clockwork-thing. Good to know.

Her smile spread, showing sharp white teeth dripping with tar.

“My son,” she purred, her voice filling the air around them and sending almost visible ripples through the ectoplasm of the realms, “it is so good to finally meet you in person.”

In front of Danny, Jason tensed again. Whatever he’d recognized didn’t quite cut through bat-paranoia, apparently.

“Danny, who is this?” He asked cautiously, his voice low and not taking his eyes off the twin bat signals pointed at him.

Lady Gotham sighed heavily, taking a deep pull on her traffic cone and blowing out a billowing plume of smog. She gestured to Danny, who nodded quickly.

Totally not gonna “I told you so” the city spirit for the city he was living in. King or not, he had some manners.

“Jason, Lady Gotham. She’s…” he hesitated, not sure how exactly to phrase it.

Had they talked about city spirits? It felt like they had? But it had been so little time, he wasn’t sure.

Lady Gotham stepped back in smoothly, shooting Jason a laconic smile and spreading her arms.

“I am exactly what it sounds like. The beating heart of the city, born from the well of souls and desperate hopes of those who call it home. Every shadow in the alley, every gargoyle you shelter under, every parapet that caught your grapple and let you fly…”

Jason had stopped breathing, which was alright as long as they were in the Zone but might not be later, his eyes tracking desperately over the ghost before them. Her smile softened, becoming fond, tender, her free hand now reaching out towards him.

“… and you have been mine since the day you were born, Jason Todd.”

Jason was…

Jason was. He didn’t know what he was.

He hadn’t realised just how much noise his heart made thumping until the first time it stopped. Until he’d slammed back to life, heard its drumbeat thudding in his head, every second of every day.

This felt a little like that.

Like a sound he’d been hearing all of his life had gone quiet, and then come roaring back in full swing. It was too much, and not enough, and everything he’d missed in Nanda Parbat and around the world when he’d been training, left with only the thudding of his heart.

The sounds of Gotham. Normal city noises, most of them; the honks and occasional screeches of cars, the buzz of people. And then the screams, gunshots, mad cackling laughter that most cities usually only saw in designated areas.

And underneath it all, a low, throbbing pulse, a hum in the back of his head that meant he was home. That told him where he was, every street corner or shady alleyway.

He could navigate the city blindfolded, knew every gargoyle, every running gutter and rusty grate, listening to that beat. That beat that told him it was his place, the one thing that nothing and no one could ever take away from him, not even all the bullshit with the League of Assassins.

He hadn’t really noticed it going quiet in the Ghost Zone before. Which, y’know, they’d been busy. He’d had a lot on his mind, and… well, it happened any time he left the city.

Going away with the Outsiders, it didn’t matter if they crossed the bay to Metropolis or went to space, Jason knew when he wasn’t in Gotham. Knew when he woke up in a hospital bed whether or not he was home just from that beat.

He’d started thinking it might be the city’s ectoplasm, since Danny was so sure that was why he’d risen before. Might have explained why the Zone was a little different; it was all ectoplasm.

And then he’d looked at this woman made of smog and shadows and smoking a fucking traffic cone, and the beat almost brought him to his knees.

How could he not know her? They danced every night, her hand in his, guiding his guns, his grapple, cupped gently around the back of his neck and showing him where to look. Hiding him from Oracle’s cameras, pointing him at those who attacked the weak like he was the gun himself.

Familiar as his own shadow. Constant as gravity.

And it was that familiarity that pulled at every ounce of Bat training, that unconscious recognition and trust that forced him to doubt.

Hypnotists were the fucking worst. Magic users were all annoying, but Jason would tangle with any of the rest before dealing with a hypnotist. They were worse than Condiment King and Kite Man combined into some ketchup splattered hell kite.

And the more something deeper than the Pit whispered that this wasn’t hypnotism, wasn’t an outside influence, was just the deepest part of himself recognising the deepest part of his home, the harder he fought that feeling.

Until her hand reached for his, and she said his name, and his hand was in hers before he could stop himself.

Contact was… it was a lot.

A barrage of sounds, smells, the backs of every alley flashing through his mind as he was bombarded with memories. Memories? Or was that what was happening now?

Flashes of rooftops, bodies tensed in the shadows, goons working below in blissful ignorance that was about to be shattered. Breaking windows, sprays of bullets or gas or worse, moving and punching and taking down without killing.

He caught sight of Cass for a brief moment, her shape outlined in glowing shadows that definitely weren’t visible to the men running past her hiding place. But of course they weren’t; that was the point.

Cass was the perfect shadow anywhere on Earth, her stealth unparalleled by anything but actual magic, but in Gotham? In Gotham the darkness wrapped her in loving arms, held her close, made sure she was never found.

His baby sister, Gotham’s child even if she’d never been to the city until she was nearly an adult.

More flashes, Dick flying across an alley in Bludhaven (thankfully in his current suit, not the Discowing, which might mean this was the present? Or just that Jason had been seeing him so much more lately that there were just more memories of him like this?), and that made Jason pause.

Bludhaven wasn’t Gotham. That was literally the point. That was why Dick lived there.

And he heard her low chuckle, smoky and soft in his ear.

*Just across the bay, my dear? No, he would have to go so much farther to be free of me, to stop being mine.*

The voice was warm and fond, soft like crushed velvet and so full of affection and pride it tugged at something in Jason’s core.

Something from the little boy who’d watched Robin fly through the air and could barely believe he’d touched the same dream.

Lady Gotham hadn’t moved, her hand still in his in the exact same position, and while he couldn’t see her past the images to know if she’d spoken with mouth or mind he had a feeling he knew. She was in his head, in his heart, and he’d not spoken aloud.

Before Jason would work out how to reply, if he even wanted to reply, his attention was caught by something else in the cascade of images.

A dark spot, not in every scene (at least not that he noticed), but often enough. Something that looked like a shadow, but just a fraction deeper than the rest, a fraction darker, that moved when all the shadows around it were still.

Now that he looked for it he could see it everywhere, the sight of it sending a shiver up his spine that made his hair stand on end. It wasn’t fear; Jason was well acquainted with fear, as little as it bothered him.

This was… tension, anticipation, recognition, the same thing he’d felt when there hadn’t been an Outsiders mission in a while and Roy had decided to hunt him for sport. Something, someone so familiar, with such a strong place in his life, someone he knew was damn capable, setting their sights on him.

(It was always play when Roy did it, a game to keep them both on their toes and get a different kind of training in. Jason didn’t know if Roy ever hunted the others; asking felt like cheating somehow.)

And then suddenly the shadow turned in a different way, its attention locking on to Jason in return and adrenaline shot through him like a bolt of lighting.

It had to be live. Or the shadow knew when someone saw its image. But it had looked back, raising the hair on the back of his neck until it felt like he’d become a Studio Ghibli character, and it was still looking at him.

His hands itched for his guns, the All-Blades, the Fright Gun, and he felt the large, hot hand still holding his tighten for just a second, felt Lady Gotham’s chuckle through his whole body like he was a speaker, and then he was looking at her face again, fond and smiling and larger than life.

“Now now, my sons,” she purred softly, definitely speaking with her mouth this time even if it was just as warm as when he’d heard her in his head, “play nicely.”

Had she been that tall before? She’d been taller than him, certainly, her hand completely enfolding his the way Bruce’s had when Jason had first come off the streets, but now she loomed almost twice as large.

Still holding his hand in hers, only now his was positively dainty, a doll’s hand held by the child who adored it. Her thumb was almost the size of his whole hand, brushing gently over the back.

She could probably snap him in half in an instant.

He’d probably let her.

Her smile spread, reacting to the thought, and her other huge hand came up to gently cup his face, all the pride and love he’d only ever seen from Catherine Todd before.

“My brave little knight…” her eyes closed for a moment and she sucked in a deep breath, her whole body gently expanding as she savoured… something. Then those signal eyes opened and fixed on him, full of lazy satisfaction. “Your belief is so sweet.”

The effect was somewhat spoiled by the traffic cone now pinched effortlessly between two fingers. It hadn’t changed size, which Jason supposed had to be his answer.

She totally wasn’t that big before. And apparently it was his fault? His… belief?

Danny was hovering in the more figurative, mother hen way now (literal not being optional at the moment), and Jason could feel his tension now that he was focused. He’d gotten closer, his aura putting him just behind Jason’s shoulder, but hadn’t gone further.

Not moving between them, which he already had the feeling would have been Danny’s preference after the gala. Jason would tease him about that if he hadn’t already put himself between the stranger and Danny without thinking. At least Danny hadn’t actually done it.

Whether that was because they weren’t in any danger or Danny was waiting for his go ahead didn’t actually matter; Jason couldn’t quite believe either of them would walk away from a fight with Lady Gotham no matter that Danny was the king.

A part of him deeper than the pit knew that she would never fight him. That it was his job to fight for her, to make sure she never dirtied her hands more than the streets already did.

Forcing himself to suck in a breath - and wondering why his lungs ached - Jason gave her hand a hesitant squeeze. Tried not to think about how ludicrously small his hand was tucked into the curl of her fingers.

“Uh… I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but…” he paused, words failing him, and wondered how the actual fuck you were supposed to talk to a whole ass city’s soul all at once.

Lady Gotham laughed softly, giving his cheek (and consequently whole damn head) a gentle pat before pulling away, leaning back to sit as if in an invisible chair and regard him.

“But we’ve known each other from the day you were born,” she agreed gently, her voice still heartbreakingly warm.

No one had ever been so open in their love for him. It all but coloured the air in a rosy pink.

And alright, that was probably at least 90% because his family were in constant contest for Most Emotionally Constipated Soul On Earth and Alfred was British, but Jason still had no idea how to handle it. He had her full, undivided attention, which part of him knew he’d never had in the physical city.

She had so many protectors watching over her, even the crankiest parts of Jason couldn’t begrudge her that. He wasn’t exactly sure he was enjoying it now.

“Ask,” she said softly, gently, the word still echoing around them but in a way that suddenly seemed more enclosed. More private. The echo of a bathroom instead of a grand cavern.

Sucking in another deep breath, Jason realized he had about a thousand questions. But he had to start with the most pressing.

“That shadow, what was it? It was… following the others, all of them. And you called it your son?”

She’d called him her son too, and for the first time since he’d died the word didn’t rankle. But that could be the next question.

The smile she gave him was blatantly approving and she waved a hand gently, a patch of smog in her surrounding cloud suddenly taking on a darker, more solid shape. It wasn’t the shadow itself, there was none of the buzzing adrenaline or life in its movements. Just a facsimile.

He still kind of wanted the All-Blades. Just, y’know, for evil testing.

“Yes, your… brother,” Lady Gotham said slowly, rolling the word over her lips as if tasting it. “That is the Curse of Gotham. Older than the city itself, technically, but before more people came it was simply a malevolence on a patch of land.”

She waved a hand, dispelling the temporarily solidified smog easily.

“It was only once the city was founded, then filled with souls and then despair and superstition and belief that he became a true Curse. As you are mine, the rogues are his. Bearing his mark, flying his flag, putting fear and doubt into every soul as they huddle against the chaos and swear to each other that there is a darkness here like no other.”

Somehow, this did not endear Jason to his “brother”. It didn’t please Danny either, who leaned just a little into Jason’s shoulder, a sudden wariness pinging through his aura.

“Wait, so the curse is older than you? Then why are you…” he trailed off, cheeks flushing suddenly as he asked what Jason was pretty sure was the least important question.

Gotham bestowed him with a gentle, somewhat less fond smile too. Favouritism where he was the favourite kinda make Jason’s skin buzz.

“As I said, it was the city which gave him form. Land can hold a myriad of curses, and any city built here would certainly have felt his affects. But belief…” she paused for a moment, lips pursing as she considered her next words.

Yellow eyes flicked back towards Jason, measuring him, and her smile spread into something distinctly self satisfied.

“Belief matters, for the Neverborn. It’s food and drink, our lifeblood, a source of power. And people believed in Gotham long before they made more than jokes about the curse. No one says that Gotham is on cursed land; they speak of Gotham’s Curse. And so he is mine.”

Jason got the distinct impression that while everything was well established now, it had been more touch and go at one point… close enough that having won was still a point of pride. He didn’t even realize he was smiling back.

It was also probably what she’d meant before… when she’d grown. His belief fed her. Which… kinda meant that him thinking they couldn’t possibly win a fight was a self fulfilling prophecy.

Not quite sure if that was funny or worrying, Jason dismissed the thought and refocused. Some curse was still stalking his family after all, and probably him when he went back to the living world.

“So if this Curse owns all the rogues… is he going to try and hurt the others?” He asked cautiously. Because if none of this was new, the Curse had been stalking them all since they put on the cowls.

How many close calls…

No. Jason hadn’t been in Gotham when Joker got him. He’d thought it was the arrogance of youth that had made him feel invulnerable in Gotham as a Robin, but now he knew there really had been hands hovering over him.

Hands that hadn’t dropped him until he’d left the city. Half the world away and all alone, still sure he was invulnerable… right up until he wasn’t.

He only realized his attention had been drifting when he snapped back, a large and achingly gentle thumb brushing his cheek. Now bigger than his head, still smelling of the smog of the city.

Lady Gotham smiled gently, the dark bats in her eyes crinkling.

“He is no danger to you,” she told him softly, focusing on the question that was asked. Not his wandering thoughts, though he got the feeling she knew anyway.

Drawing back, she looked thoughtfully from him to Danny, taking another drag on her traffic cone, apparently thinking. Held the smogs in for a long moment, until she seemed to come to a conclusion and blew out a long stream.

“The Curse makes the rogues; takes those already on the edge of something bad, and pushes them over. Turns the stagnation of despair into frantic, violent action. It is what he is, what he does… a lingering rot land deep, which feeds on the darkness and breeds more in the souls of Gotham’s inhabitants.”

That definitely sounded like something dangerous to Jason, but who was he to interrupt Gotham herself? A sidelong glance made him wonder if she’d caught that thought too; just how well could she read him?

She waved the smouldering traffic cone in his general direction, blanketing him in a wave of almost comforting black smog.

“And yet, you notice, so few of the rogues seek to permanently remove any of your heroes from the board?”

Danny sucked in a sharp breath beside him, Jason’s heart clenched, but before either could protest, Lady Gotham gave a heavy sigh and inclined her head, smile slipping entirely for the first time.

“The Joker is an unfortunate exception. There is… something worse there, deeper, darker, but I will explain later. For now, consider the others. So many who could, so many chances that they could have taken to kill each of you. I would not allow it, of course, yet even those who wish to see Batman permanently defeated rarely even try to end his life. It is not for no reason.”

There was a true solemnity, almost pain in her face as she spoke of the Joker, eyes fixed on Jason and full of sorrow. Yet nothing in her aura, no push of regret-sadness or anything similar. Nothing to affect his own emotions, and Jason had the feeling that that was deliberate.

As if she knew how much he hated being controlled, pushed around. Or she just… didn’t want to do that to him. It was tough to say, but he was also self aware enough to know he was puzzling that out rather than thinking much about her words.

Of course the Joker was something worse than the fucking Curse of Gotham. Naturally. And y’know what else he was?

Not Jason’s fucking problem right now.

Lady Gotham had paused with him, waiting for his acknowledgment apparently, and Jason gave a stiff nod for her to continue. He’d asked the damn question. He needed to focus on the answer.

A gentle incline of her head the only sign she’d seen anything at all, Lady Gotham continued.

“The Curse will not harm your family, and nor do most of the rogues seek to actually remove you, because your family’s activities are integral to powering the Curse,” she said simply, and that snapped any fragments of Jason’s attention firmly back into place as he stiffened.

Danny tensed beside him as well, still hanging back, but it was Jason who spoke. He didn’t need help on this one.

“Wait, what? How the hell are we helping the Curse?!” He demanded, brows furrowing.

If the Curse made the rogues by taking people on the edge and throwing them off, sure, that kinda made sense. Gotham had always been a cesspit of crime, but it used to be at least 85% less brightly spandex coloured before the Bat came along.

Much as Jason didn’t think Bruce took his mission far enough, he could admit that at least the “normal” gang violence had died down significantly. For one thing, most of the old gangs had been driven out by the rogues, or absorbed by converts like Penguin and Black Mask. There wasn’t much space in Gotham these days for just run-of-the-mill crime.

And Jason himself had gouged a chunk out of what was left, which he used to find extremely satisfying… but how would that help the Curse? Unless… the Curse had pushed that darkness in him…

Lady Gotham shook her head, that fond smile curling sadly at her lips as she reached down to gently tip his chin up with a massive finger.

“No, my dear… you are not helping the Curse. He could no longer exist without you,” she explained softly, the dark and dusty smogs building heavily around them. Just seeing them made Jason’s throat itch…

He clenched his jaw shut, focusing on her face instead. Waiting for that to make some fucking sense.

Lady Gotham hummed thoughtfully, holding his chin a moment longer before releasing him, waving a hand vaguely through the smoggy air.

“It is… contrast. There are no shadows without the light, no sweet without bitterness, no… no hope without despair. And no despair without hope.” She seemed pleased with the metaphor, bat signal eyes bright in suddenly building gloom. Which then fixed on him.

“When people lose hope… when they give up on Gotham, accept the awfulness in their lives as mundane, it drains them of their will, their power to believe. If nothing fights the Curse, pushes back on the tides of corruption, then who’s to say there is a curse at all? Just mundane bad governance. Certainly nothing unique about that, in this world.”

A hand cut through thick black clouds and Jason realized abruptly that he’d lost sight of everything but her eyes, shining in the darkness. And then the shadows spiralled in front of him, whipped by her fingers into a familiar black silhouette.

“But the Bats… the birds, all of Gotham’s caped defenders? No other city in the world could fail to be safe under your constant attentions. No other city could take the stream of wealth and charity Bruce Wayne pours into it and be less than utopian. And yet Gotham remains, a far better city than the one you were born in, but still one of the most dangerous places to live in this country.”

The shadowy bat began to glow, lined in a bright golden light, yet somehow it only made the surrounding shadows all the darker. It swished its cape, striking at invisible foes, and the clouds curled in around it.

“What else but a curse could cause this? And what a powerful curse it must be, with a new vigilante showing every month, and still not a dent?”

The blackness around them grew darker still, the bat’s glow suddenly seeming weak and fragile. Jason’s chest lurched, his heart screaming to reach out and catch the faltering figure, pull it close and keep it safe, but he stamped it down.

It wasn’t Bruce in danger. It was just a light-show, a visual demonstration. And it sure as hell didn’t need his protection.

And then a skewer of pure blackness plunged through its heart and the golden glow winked out, leaving them in pitch darkness.

Jason’s heart clenched, a dread chill running down his spine and he spun around, searching for Lady Gotham and her searchlight eyes, but he couldn’t see anything. Not even Danny, who always glowed faintly in his ghost form.

Still, her voice continued, completely calm and unshakeable.

“If the symbol falls… if the Bat is broken, the Curse will gain a great deal of power for a day. Perhaps a generation. And then people will forget, and forget that they believed, and it will wane once again. A much worse loss, now that he knows the power he can have.”

The billowing clouds of darkness pulled back and the glowing green of the Ghost Zone almost made Jason shield his eyes. They hadn’t moved, of course they hadn’t; Danny was still right beside him, his aura a heavy throb of new understanding-exasperated-mildly amuse.

Which… well, yeah, now that he could breathe again Jason could admit it had all been pretty dramatic. If she was his first ghost, he’d have assumed it was just a Gotham thing, but Danny was also a dramatic little shit, so.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jason blew it out slowly, calming the beating of his heart. Lady Gotham looked quite pleased with herself, still sat reclined a little ways away.

It was one hell of a powerpoint, and he was pretty sure he’d got the gist of things. Not that it made any of this make sense, but it was pretty much what he’d expect from magic.

“So… the Curse makes the rogues, to make people think the city is cursed, but it also wants to keep the vigilantes safe…” a phrase from an old book tugged at his mind, and Jason couldn’t resist a slight smile, “because you gain status by the quality of your enemies?”

It startled a short laugh from Danny, quickly stifled as Lady Gotham beamed her approval.

“In essence, yes. The struggle will be unending, because it must be, but we have come to… an understanding of late. Despair and death feed my Curse in the immediate sense, but when both are only to be expected… it’s a paltry meal. There is inevitability, even boredom, when it’s all despair all the time. So now the city has hope, and I prosper.”

Lady Gotham preened, plumping up her perfectly round curls, the same self satisfied smile she’d had when mentioning how she had become the dominant spirit. Maybe the Curse hadn’t quite worked out just how much she got out of their little understanding too. Then she shrugged.

“And the rogues have their little obsessions, their tricks and games, and sometimes there is despair and sometimes there is death. But what matters is that you are there to fight against it, to nobly win the battle…”

“Even if we’ll never win the war,” Jason finished grimly, his mood souring.

Wasn’t that what he’d always told Bruce? That his damn rules, his “No Killing” standard meant that everything else he did was pointless? That just locking people up in the bloody sieve that was Arkham was never going to change anything?

Lady Gotham’s smile softened to something bittersweet and sad, and she nodded gently.

“Gotham city will never know peace, Jason,” she told him gently, and suddenly she was smaller again, scant feet taller than him, and holding out a hand he’d be able to close his own around. “It will never be like any other city. But the only reason I stand at all is because people like you will look at this city, with its soot and its smuts and its people who have nowhere else to go, and decide that it is worth fighting for.”

Those eyes were fixed on him again, black bats on yellow lights, and then suddenly… suddenly the irises were black, and the bats a familiar deep red. It might have been a blink; it might just have been that sharp moment of change.

“There is one way that the war will end,” she told him softly, stepping closer through the void until he could have counted the pearls skittering across her dress, and every jet bead around them, if he could have looked away from her face.

“On the day that those heroes turn away, that all else give up on Gotham and turn their backs. When no one stands against the tide of night and it is dragged down and away into the dark heart of the Cursed land beneath. It is only hope that stands in the way of that end, my Jason Todd… my Robin.”

His brow furrowed and a fleeting smirk dashed across her lips, the faintest flicker of her gaze to Danny beside him, and Jason understood. It wasn’t Robin’s colours in her eyes, no matter what Damian had done to the suit.

Her Red Hood.

But she wouldn’t out him to Danny, not even now.

His gaze fell to her hand again, suddenly bare and dark and open and nails that were a rich, bloody red. His blood, and Bruce’s, and every vigilante, and every citizen, and every rogue that stood, and fought, and died for her. Every life that was ruined or ended, all in this fight that could never be won, only lost.

He met her gaze again, felt the red bat he’d emblazoned across his chest once more pierce his soul.

Because… this was what it really meant, to wear the bat. Not just that he had forgiven Bruce, that they’d reconciled, that he’d rejoined the family. That he wasn’t going to kill unless he had to, and there was no other choice.

No.

He wore the bat because he wasn’t just the Red Hood, a name he’d stolen from the damn clown and carved across the city in blood until people only thought of him when they said it. He wasn’t the crime lord who’d filled a bag with the heads of his rivals’ best lieutenants, took Crime Alley in a bloody fist, and was just another gang leader. Just a bigger, scarier, nastier guy than the people who’d wanted that alley before to strip mine its people and poison its kids.

And sure, being that guy had worked. It kept the worse gangs out. Kept his street kids fed and occupied, and mostly out of jail. Did what all of Bruce’s crusade had never managed to do; he’d cleaned up Crime Alley.

And it hadn’t been enough.

Hadn’t made anyone feel safe; not when all they had was Red Hood’s whim that kept them from going right back to the mess they’d been left in.

The Alley was different too, this last year. He’d always tried, as Hood and Jason. Wanted people to come together, build a community, to feel safe in their home and protect it.

To feel like someone finally, actually cared about them. That someone cared about Crime Alley for its people, not what they could take from them. That they would be defended.

And people had played along, back before he took the bat. They’d come out, cleaned up the street, fixed up some store fronts and made careful conversation, because that was what you did when the man with the big guns said he wanted you to play nice.

And they’d been wary, cautious, watching the Hood like he’d snap at any second no matter what Jay told them. And he’d known they were just… humouring him. Didn’t believe in it. And he’d thought the only way to get them to see was to keep going, keep giving back until they realized he really meant it all.

He’d patrolled since the first day he’d come back, but it had been the day he’d gone out in his modified uniform, the red bat on his chest, that things finally changed.

His working girls and boys didn’t straighten up when he approached. The street kids didn’t run when his shadow passed overhead. People looked up into the night and they smiled, thanked him, reached out to the gang and left little red bat signs in their windows.

With the red helmet and black body armour, he’d been just another thug to fear. And oh, he’d fucking hated it at first, turned his vision to sickly green that all this acceptance only came with B’s goddamn bat on his chest.

When the kids tagged it on walls, dumpsters, taunting threats at the edge of their territory to every other gang in Gotham, they finally had a bat-approved protector.

Never enough that he’d taken the bat off, though, and now he could see what all those little signs really said.

“We have a protector too.”

“Someone will find justice for us.”

And, his personal favourite (love those little Alley bastards), “Our bat’s bigger than yours.”

Bruce had put the shape on the symbol when he became the night and wanted to drive fear into the hearts of criminals instead of the ordinary citizens, but it wasn’t really his. It was Superman’s S, the symbol of the House of El, the symbol of Lady Gotham turned to something humans could see.

The symbol of a protector, a guardian, and uniquely Gotham’s own.

It was all there, in those red on black eyes, in that soft, knowing smile.

“Have you ever backed down from a fight just because you knew you couldn’t win, Jason Todd?” She asked softly, so softly, and he had to smile back.

She’d known him since the day he was born, and there was only one thing he could say to that.

He took her hand.

“Never.”

——————

LISTEN Y’ALL I HAVE BEEN HOLDING THIS LADY GOTHAM REVEAL SO CLOSE TO THE CHEST.

HER DRESS. HER HAIR. HER GODDAMN TRAFFIC CONE! Anyway she’s wonderful and she’s perfect and she will be back next chapter too, but fuck knows when that will be, so! Hopefully a little less time than this last one, but We Shall See.

This chappy will go up on AO3 tomorrow, I usually try and do same day but I gotta be up early Yet Again and I still…. Haven’t done replies on the last one, so 😅

Wish me luck for the next chapter, I have SO MANY things planned and the outline is just sizzling and we are finally out of introductions territory and it’ll be time for the Plot! Ah, my beloved plot, which will hopefully pick up and speed things along a little more in-fic timewise…

Next Chapter:

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf f @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake e @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish h @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof f @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor @lyra689 9 @itsparadoxlacuna @alcorbearson @asphyxia778 @why-must-i-be-like-this s @tkiesai @greenpyrowolf @frivolous-pastel @honeysuckletook @adorkable1291

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #danny fenton dead and loving it #chapter 17 part 2 #well you did get down on one knee #AND HE’LL DO IT AGAIN #jason 10000% has a worship kink he really just wants to worship someone #danny meanwhile is just a lil freak and i love that for him

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lavendermunson · 6 months

Text

Little secret, big secret - steve harrington

chapter 2 of miss americana and the heartbreak prince

summary The little secret it's not so little anymore since you tell your best friend. She gets to the questioning part but you can't focus on anything else but Steve.

tags famous!singer!reader and famous!baseball-player!steve. Robin, Nancy, and rockstar!Eddie make their appearance! the only warning is consumption of alcohol again, they are adults 'kay.

w.c 2.7k

series masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

When Sunday comes, you sit in the living room of your house in LA. A generous bowl of ice cream, complete with crushed cookies and whipped cream, sat before you while the tv showed the sports channel. You couldn’t quite call yourself a sports fan, but there’s a reason you are tuned in – you wanted to see his face again.

Pictures as nice as they were, simply didn’t do him any justice. You needed to see that genuine smile, and maybe, just maybe, when the camera focused on him, you could see that smile you liked so much.

Friday night was one of the best nights in your life, for sure. But between all the giggles and your racing heartbeat, you’d forgotten to ask for his number. It’s the only thing you regret from that night. Because when you let your mind wander back to that backyard, your entire body quivered with excitement.

His lips are soft against yours. The whiskey lingered on his lips but he had a sweet natural taste. His hands are squeezing your face with just the right amount of pressure, sending you to the moon. You wished that night would have lasted forever.

As cheers erupted from the TV, you got out of your pool of thoughts as the game started. The stadium’s music fills the place as the teams line up to greet the crowd. The camera pans from the fans to the players, capturing their energy.

The announcer’s voice presents with enthusiasm to the MVP – “Most Valuable Player,” which you quickly deciphered. Perhaps you needed to get your hands on a baseball magazine to stop feeling so lost.

When the camera zooms in on his face, you see his big pretty smile. He waves to the crowd, everyone chants his name clapping and jumping. They love him, he is a big deal.

His eyes make contact with the camera lens, and you blush, feeling he is watching directly at you. He waved at the camera, slightly winking. He winks at you, he knows you are watching.

“Good luck, Steve” you mumble, grabbing your bowl of ice cream and getting comfortable to watch the game.

—

Your cat jumps at you, falling on your tummy and waking you up. You weren’t sure when you fell asleep, but you glanced at the TV, and the game was over. Steve’s smile is bright as he celebrates with his teammates - they have won.

You felt guilty for falling asleep, but thankfully the sports channel has a segment that analyzed the game's best moments afterward. So that’s what you focus on for now, watching Steve being a natural talent, swinging the bat like he is the king of the stadium while everyone is enamored by his smile.

Your phone dings for the first time in the night. You sigh, the bright screen a bit harsh on your sleepy eyes as you check the text from an unknown number.

unknown: “hey :)”

You try to guess who it is but nothing comes to mind. Your friends are all saved in your contact list, you haven’t made any friends recently. Then it hits you like a wave, it was him. You try to match his chill tone, hiding your excitement like a little kid on christmas.

you: hi, who are you?

unknown: did you see how I winked at you on tv?

you: oh, Steve. yes, I saw it!

You think about a clever way to save his contact before he responds.

you: if you couldn’t already tell… I blushed right away

little secret: Really?? I wish i’d see that, i like it when you blush

you: next time I will send you a pic, hope is not a big of a distraction :’)

little secret: Are you kidding? I was thinking about you all the time and i did good

you: I saw, congratulations! You are amazing!

little secret: Thank you, gorgeous. Hey, my team wants to go out for drinks but, can I see you over the week?

His charm even shows over texts.

you: Sure, uh is this a date?

little secret: Absolutely, I have something in mind. I hope you are free on thursday

you: I am, see you then

little secret: Can’t wait, good night beautiful

you: Goodnight, handsome ♡

You lock your phone after the text and lay back on the couch, holding your phone to your chest with the biggest smile on your face. You are going on a date, you haven’t been to one in a long time, it’s something exciting but also makes you nervous. You know you can't tell anyone about this, it has to remain a secret. But if anyone could keep a secret, it was your best friend, Robin.

You quickly send her a text, inviting her to your place tomorrow. She says yes, assuring you that she’d catch the next flight to LA as soon as possible. You’d mentioned you had good news and bad news about a boy, and she couldn’t wait to talk to you.

Robin was about to have a heart attack over the news. Her jaw nearly hit the floor and you remained frozen in your seat. She leaned in, placing her hands on your shoulders, giving you a swift shake.

“This is fucking insane!”

“So?” you ask.

“I mean, everything sounds like something out of a movie and I didn't think you were into athletes? You only date actors mostly…”

“Robs” you interrupt her before she says something even more embarrassing than your dating life.

“Yeah, it’s great but you… are you sure of this? Can you keep it a secret when both of you are being constantly harassed by paparazzi? And are you sure it’s worth all the trouble? Are you sure that he is good for you and not just looking for his fifteen minutes of fame?”

All of these questions make your head spin. You didn't think about it like this. Like a serious thing. You were having fun texting Steve in the morning before you had to pick Robin at the airport. But she is right, all of this feels like it belongs to a movie. Deep down, you believe it could really work.

“No, that’s why we are keeping it a secret and I believe we can make it. He is a good guy, Robin”

“You have known him for what? Three days? How can you be sure? I don’t want to see you crying over a douchebag again”

And she is right again. Her lawyer-like ability comes in handy when she is giving you advice. You grew up together, both of you have a great career but she has never left your side and always supports you. As your best friend, she just wants to protect you too.

“I’ll take it slow. I will be so careful, I promise” You smile at her, and she hugs you tight.

“You have to think about it with the seriousness it requires”

“Can you stop talking like you are in a courtroom?”

She laughs. “Tell me you haven’t written a song about him”

You pulled away from the hug, gently. Your gaze falls over to your lap to hide your cheeks, which are tinted pink.

“Oh, you did… in two days?”

“I wrote it all at midnight and finished around two. I still need the melody”

“Your fans are going to go crazy when they find out” She bumps your arm slightly with her fist.

“Now, what are we doing? There is a concert at night of that metal band you like”

“Corroded Coffin?” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“Yeah, them. Do you want to go? I can get special tickets”

“Of course. I can get special tickets too”

“How?” you ask.

“I’m friends with the lead singer, I helped them with some legal issues. You know, rock stars and their passion for destroying hotel rooms”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” you take her hand and lead her to your room, where you can get changed while dancing. You pop out a bottle of champagne to celebrate her company. You two are usually busy with work, but it’s always good to see her.

—

The concert is great. It’s one of those private concerts, with no cameras, no obsessive fans taking thousands of pictures, and no one from the media. You enjoy the music as you sit next to Robin, who chats with Corroded Coffin’s manager, Nancy.

You want to ask for a fancy drink, not just a beer as usual. You watch the bottles of whiskey and just as magic, you hear a voice.

“Soft spot for whiskey?” He sits on a stool beside you and asks the bartender for two cups of whiskey.

“Steve!” your first instinct is to hug him, you throw your arms around his body and he wraps his on your waist.

“Hey, gorgeous. What are you doing in a metal concert?”

The bartender hands you both your drink, uninterested in your interaction and you keep your hands on Steve’s arms.

“My friend-” you turn around but Robin is nowhere to be found. She’s probably somewhere with the band’s manager you met before. “She worked for this band when they had a problem with their hotel rooms”

“Yeah, typical rockstar shit” he laughs, drinking his whiskey and never taking his eyes off you.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were resting, you had a great game yesterday”

He smiles as bright as ever hearing your praise. “Thank you” he nods. “I’m friends with the lead singer, we used to go to high school together”

“Oh, you guys have been friends for a while?”

“No, not at first, but now we’re pretty good friends. I’m glad he moved out of town and now he is a big star. He’s had this band since before we met, and I’m proud of them”

“You sound like a great friend. You are a big star too!” you tell him, taking a sip of whiskey to encourage you.

“Look who's talking, the biggest star ever,” he chuckles, his hand finds the edge of your stool and pulls it closer to him. Your body loses its balance and Steve places a hand on your back to catch you. His arms are strong, and his touch on your body feels just right. He is looking at you like a masterpiece in a museum.

You blush immediately, your heart thumps against your chest.

The music gets inevitably louder, you turn to watch the stage. Steve keeps his arm around your waist for the rest of the night. Everyone jumps and head bangs with the rhythm of the music, this is nothing compared to your shows. It’s a different energy, it’s good and it’s fun and it makes you laugh. Steve turns to see you smile, he grins and leaves a kiss on your cheek.

Noticing no one is paying attention to you, you get brave and turn to kiss him. Your hand is pressed against his cheek while his lips move softly against yours, he squeezes your body with his arm pressing you against his chest. This is a different kiss, it’s quicker and it feels hotter.

Robin’s question lingered in your mind. Are you moving too fast? Is this going to work? But you know she had a point, you promised to be careful.

You break the kiss, leaning your forehead to touch his. His breath mixing with yours, he feels something is wrong but decides not to ask.

The place goes louder as Corroded Coffin finishes his shows, the lights go off and that’s when you get back to your seat. Steve decides it’s not really the place or time to talk about what’s going on. He’d figure it out soon, even if it meant losing some sleep over it.

“I have to go get my friend, it was lovely to see you again” You reach for his hand and he takes yours, giving a gentle squeeze. You get closer to his face as before, only to press a sweet peck on his cheek “I’ll see you on Thursday, Steve”

The lights are now bright so people can find their way out. It makes both of you nervous that people can see you now. Steve doesn’t care much, getting close to you and leaving a peck on your cheek, just like you did. He hugs you wrapping his arms around your neck and getting close to your ear to whisper “Have a sweet night, beautiful”

His soft but deep tone makes the butterflies in your stomach flutter. It was as if honey dripped from his mouth.

You smile as Robin gets to you, perfect timing. Steve walks off to join Eddie backstage, and you head home with Robin to have a perfect sleepover for old time's sake.

“Are you sure about this?” Nancy asks, as Eddie gets lost in his six pack of beer that some groupie left in his dressing room.

“I am! She is amazing and beautiful” Steve insisted. He knew he’d only officially met you for three days now, but he had had a crush on you for a long time. “I made a move, and things are moving swiftly”

“What’s wrong with that, Nance? Big boy is finding the love of his life!” Eddie helps Steve, trying to make him feel better. However Nancy keeps her arms crossed in front of her chest. He knows Steve has a big heart, but sometimes he can be so out of touch with his emotions, it tends to hurt people.

“Nothing is wrong if he’s sure he can take care of her,” she says, both of the boys in the room glance at their friend like little kids being yelled at by their mom. “And what is Hopper going to say about it? You know he doesn’t want you distracted from your games”

Hopper had taken Steve under his wing, training him after he recognized Steve had talent. The four of them left behind so much in Hawkins to follow their dreams, they just can’t risk it.

“He doesn’t mind. I’ll be okay, really” Steve tried to reassure them.

But Steve knows it is going to cost. Because his ego can get to him, he needs to be the best to show everyone he is capable of it. He likes the winning, the praise, the trophies. He couldn’t handle losing. He can’t afford getting distracted.

“And she is not just another girl in town for a one night stand” Eddie adds. “She is the prettiest, most loved, and most talented girl in… the whole world actually”

Then there was you, the girl Steve had fallen for in just one night. The girl who had him waking up earlier than usual to send you a ‘Good morning, gorgeous’ text as soon as the sun peeks from his window. He loved it when your sleepy ‘Good morning, handsome ♡’ showed up in his notifications and he would reply as soon as he finished off with training at his home gym.

God. It has happened one time and Steve wants it to be forever. But it would be so much better if instead of you waking up with a text, you wake up next to him. He can already imagine you sleepy face, your disheveled hair falling on your naked shoulders after a night of– Earth to Steve!

“Exactly, but only if the secret plan works. If this goes public and you hurt her, everyone is going to make your life miserable, starting with her best friend”

“Ooohhh, and that’s when we leave Big boy alone and focus on little Nance, getting a date with that fancy lawyer I see?” Eddie teases, Steve sighs in relief that the conversation shifted away from him.

“I do have a date with her. But Eds, please stop destroying hotel rooms” Nancy says, and Eddie couldn’t help but chuckle at their playful banter.

Steve laughs at his friends and how they start bickering, but an uncomfortable feeling of anxiety sits right in his stomach. This has to work, he better not fuck it up. He likes you, he wants you.

tags @eddiesguitarskills (comment to join the tag list!!)

I hope you like this series, feedback is appreciated! don't forget to REBLOG TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR! . ♡

if you want to collaborate and make a story about rockstar!Eddie in this universe you are more than welcome. I saw this idea a few weeks ago and I loved it

#꒰ leia writes ⊹ ㅤ꒱#steve harrington imagine #steve harrington angst #steve x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington au #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x female!reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x y/n fluff #steve harrington x y/n smut #steve harrington x fem #steve harrington x female reader smut #leia’s ma&thbp #singer!reader #baseball!steve harrington #꒰ leia's steve ⊹ ㅤ꒱

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thearchvillain · 1 month

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gardenias. | nikolai

part II (part I)

nikolai lantsov x reader

summary: the setting is a grand event hosted at os alta with the intention of finding a future queen for crown prince vasily. the reader is a merchant's daughter trying to keep a low profile after her parents had dragged her there (against her will) with the hopes that she might catch the prince's attention. she, on the other hand, has different plans. plans that get entirely upheaved by none other than the younger prince nikolai who interrupts her illicit late-night meeting in the winter garden. now she's caught attention of one of the two people whose scrutiny she'd been trying so hard to avoid for the last few days of the event and she's not entirely sure she actually minds it.

preview: He held her gaze for a moment, hardly moving a muscle himself, before he spoke again, his voice firm. “No games. Remember?” The huff that left her might have been a chuckle, only completely devoid of any humour. She stared down at him for a moment, eyes glassy and tired, like it had all just caught up to her and she was finally crumbling. “I almost believe you. I think it’s the face. It’s a kind one.” Her eyes searched his face, clinical, like one would observe a painting of him on the gallery wall. “Or maybe you’re just handsome.” “Why, thank you.” He offered her his best attempt at a self-assured smirk and decided it fell flat. Even his ego was dampened by the moment, which was a feat in itself. He sighed. “What did they do to you?” “Is that a rhetorical question?” Kind of. “Do you want to answer it?” She shook her head. “Then it was rhetorical.”

word count: 3.4k (compared to 5k in the 1st part this is tiny)

pinterest 📸

tropes/warnings: not cannon, adult language

a/n: well, this is like a year too late to the game, but i could not get it out of my head. keep in mind that pieces of information and explanations are left out intentionally, we are only aware of what nikolai is aware of (which is not much, as he'll come to find out) and yes, i might have engineered some ✨drama✨ to bring them closer together emotionally, so we don't all get stuck on surface attraction and vague suspicions

nikolai's POV

If one imagined the Court to be an organism - which was not a hard thing to do, given how reliably it behaved - then the whispers of its courtiers were the lifeblood, coursing steadily through its golden vessels. And if rumours were a sickness, then one could hardly be surprised to see them spread to every last corner of this monstrous creature as quickly and reliably as a plague would. Which was very quick, indeed.

Nikolai had hardly managed to get his hands on a plate of some highly garnished and questionably nutritious food before the whispers reached him. It was not a particularly subtle affair, as these things rarely were, and Nikolai had a sneaking suspicion this was entirely by design. He didn’t think he imagined that the ladies had been standing a bit further away just a moment ago, and he knew with certainty that as far as whispers went, these could hardly be classified as hushed. They made a show of leaning in and raising delicate hands to their lips, but it was the eyes that betrayed them - sharp and quick, glossy with excitement, and slipping surreptitiously in his direction as if to check if he was listening. He was.

And if he took his overly-decorated food elsewhere in the garden, then the mill would start all over again, like a broken melody. She does have that look about her. Her poor parents, they’d say, but Nikolai did not believe their pity. It was, he thought, just a well-aimed knife. Hush, someone’s mother reprimanded, voice sharp, her mother’s right there. But by the looks of her, Nikolai doubted it was anything Mrs Braam hadn’t heard before. She sat, straight-backed and completely devoid of colour, at one of the wrought-iron tables set around the palace gardens. There was an abandoned tart on the plate in front of her, forgotten and replaced by the glass of brandy she gripped with a shaky hand, and next to her was an older Kerch woman who was valiantly attempting to drown out the whispers with conversation. Nikolai averted his gaze, unwilling to participate in this cruel charade.

But when his gaze landed in the distance it caught, as if on a shard of glass, on the pale green silk of her dress. Around her, a few ladies and their handmaids had formed a tactical formation of sorts, attack dogs in the finest silks, their eyes sharp and vaguely threatening. If even one of them caught someone staring, they’d turn in unison like hounds that scented blood and stare them down into submission, then turn back around and smile sweetly at Miss Braam, as if nothing had just transpired. Nikolai was therefore very careful to look only when one of them was taking a shot with her mallet, lest he meet the end of one of those glares.

And so he watched her in increments, like a series of paintings of an obsessed artist - the twist of her body as she swung her mallet, the errant lock of her hair cascading over her shoulder, the lovely twist of her smile when the ball went through the hoop. The fourth time he looked she was leaning on her mallet, watching the girl in purple take her shot, and he realised she had her mother’s eyes and none of her pallor. There was a brush of colour high atop her cheekbones so that in her green dress she looked like a maiden of spring, vivid in her liveliness. If she was concerned with the gossip, she did not show it. And when she caught him looking the fifth time, she met his eyes the same way she did last night in the greenhouse, steady and unflinching. And then she smiled.

_____________________________

She was smiling again when she entered the library in a flurry of silk later that afternoon, her voice light as she called out to the librarian, “Have you found it?”

Nikolai flipped a page, eyes skimming the blueprints and the calculations, and waited for her to notice him. If it was a bit theatrical, he blamed it on the boredom and not the fact that her irritation was a source of great amusement for him. And he knew before she even let out an annoyed huff, that she was bound to be irritated by his ploy.

“Your Highness.” Her voice was even, though it seemed to require not an unsubstantial amount of effort to keep it so. “I didn’t know you were using the library.”

Nikolai flipped another page and looked up at her only long enough to offer her a smirk. “No need to play coy, Miss Braam. I’ve sent everyone away. We’re alone.”

“Wonderful,” she said dryly and shut the door behind her, pressing her back against it. Nikolai allowed himself a private, self-satisfied smile. If she had been so keen on getting away from him she could’ve simply walked back out, but she hadn’t. “And I presume you were also the one that sent someone to tell me the book I was looking for was found?”

“Catching on quick.” Finally, Nikolai shut the book he was perusing and looked up at her. She was wearing the same dress she wore to brunch, the colour a muted jade in the soft, warm shadows of the library. And when he looked up to her face she had her eyebrow raised, like a school-teacher that had caught him staring. Nikolai offered his best boyish smile. “You look lovely.”

“Oh, shut it.” It was not the response he usually got, but he was still amused as he watched her turn her back on him and start fiddling with the lock. He had half a mind to ask if she was blushing again but she jerked that pin in place with such ferocity that he decided against it. Besides, it was answer enough.

Instead, he said, “And a personality to match it.”

She checked the door once, then jerked it again for good measure, and finally when she was satisfied that no one could enter and catch them speaking, she turned around and levelled him with a look. “Careful, I might decide to be polite and bore you out of your mind.”

“You’d combust.”

She pursed her lips but did not deny it. “What do you want?”

Nikolai uncrossed and crossed his ankles again, sinking deeper into his sprawl across one of the chairs that were neatly arranged around a long table, his gaze following her as she made her way towards him. “Only the pleasure of your company.” Then, his voice gone low and serious, he continued, “That, and to ask how you were doing — after the brunch, I mean.”

“Oh, that.” For a moment he saw something cross her features, a look of startled confusion, as if she hadn’t quite expected him to ask, or at least not in such a way. Or maybe he was just imagining things because next he knew she was propping her hip against the table and looking distinctly unconcerned. “As any scandalous woman - basking in the attention, utterly debauched.”

He must have frowned or made some sort of unstudied expression because suddenly she was laughing at him and using the brief moment of confusion to lean forward and steal the book from his lap. She smelled like something sweet and flowery, like a late summer afternoon.

There was a tone of playful accusation in her voice as she said, “So they did find the book.”

He ignored it. “You don’t seem particularly upset.” It was hard to tell if it was a statement or a question, but even Nikolai could not push down the bewilderment that coloured his words.

Y/N, to her credit, didn’t seem to mind his confusion. She moved one of the chairs and sat on the edge of the table, legs crossed, the book open across her lap as she ran her fingertips along one of the blueprints. “It would be quite counterproductive to be upset,” she said conversationally, flipping a page, “given that I’ve started the rumour myself.”

Slowly, Nikolai eased himself back into his chair, allowing the confession to settle over him, eyes never quite leaving her. He could tell from the too-casual way she flipped the pages that she was very much aware of his gaze and very intent on pretending she wasn’t.

He lost his patience after she flipped the fourth page. “How?”

She stroked the edge of the book fondly, like it was a pet or a lover, and took her time with flipping the page before she deigned to answer him. “I made sure to be seen sneaking into my room last night. Then I told one of my maids to talk about a handsome lieutenant she’d seen sneaking around the place at roughly the same time.” She flipped another page and sighed happily at whatever she saw on it. “Anyway, I figured someone would piece it together into a scandal sooner or later. By breakfast, the story was that we were seen together, and by brunch, well…” She looked up at him and smirked. “I’ll spare you the lurid details.”

Nikolai was rather proud of the way he didn’t wonder about the lurid details and instead focused on the matter at hand. “Why?”

“I wish to spare your princely sensibility.” She was flipping the pages and ignoring him again, though he could tell she was thoroughly amused by the game she was playing from the way the corner of her lip twitched slightly.

He drew a furtive breath in through his nose and closed his eyes to steel himself against the taunts. He was not fifteen anymore, he could hold it together. “No, I meant why in the name of Saints would you do that?”

“I do very little in the name of Saints or Ghezen these days, Your Highness.” Nikolai did not doubt that. She let the book fall open on her lap and leaned back against her hands, watching him thoughtfully. Then she shrugged and said, rather matter-of-fact, “I told you I bite when cornered.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think that meant you’d bite yourself.”

There was something vaguely unsettling at the way she smiled at him then. A woman cornered, a desperate snap of the teeth, a final show of defiance. Her voice was oddly flat in comparison as she said, “An animal will chew its own leg off to be free.”

For a moment, all Nikolai could do was stare. It occurred to him only then that the two of them seemed to have in mind two vastly different versions of last night’s events. He felt that on an intellectual level, this was quite a jump from the playful threat he’d left her with last night. His hands gripped the armrests, but he could not feel his fingertips, and for a minute he seemed to be overly aware of the blood rushing through his ears and the steady beat of his heart. He could not hear his stumbling thoughts over the sound of it.

Then he heard himself say, as if from far away, “Is that what you think of me? That this had been my intention?”

“I think,” she said, having gone very still where she sat, “that I’m not going to play your game.”

The air between them shifted, growing raw and strange as if someone had cast a strange spell over it. Belatedly, Nikolai realised that this was not the question he’d truly meant to ask, but he also knew that she wouldn’t have answered it either way. Not when her spine was so rigid and her fingers white-knuckled where she wrapped them around the edge of the table, not when she looked at him carefully as if half-expecting him to lash out. What are you so afraid of? He’d meant to say. But he thought she might not know the answer anyway, or that the answer would simply be everything.

Slowly he reached up to rub his face, careful not to shift from his spot and startle her. Then he leaned his head back against the backrest of his chair and observed the point where the tall shelves met the ornate ceiling. The silence between them felt like being underwater, still and suffocating.

“Okay,” he said after a while, to no one in particular. Then he drew a breath and looked back down at her. “Alright. No games.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.” He was looking at her down his lashes, head still tipped back, his voice carefully bland. She looked like she might object, so he continued, “So let me just make this clear. You attempted to shoot your reputation to pieces because you thought that would stop me from approaching you tonight?”

She hid her uncertainty like a snake hid its legs, but Nikolai saw it flash briefly across her features before she pressed her lips together and stared him down. “You and the others. But mostly you, yes.”

“You lashed out without thinking, didn’t you?”

A muscle feathered in her jaw, but she kept looking at him, tenaciously stubborn. If she was afraid of him still, she did a very good job at hiding it. Which, Nikolai thought, was a pattern. “What does it matter?” she asked, defensive.

“It matters because I didn’t think you’d go about it so self-destructively. And that’s on me.” He pushed himself up from the chair, a bit too quickly, and regretted it the instant he saw her flinch. He froze for a moment, allowing the uncomfortable feeling of it to wash over him and fuel his determination, before he turned away and headed for the door. “I’ll fix it.”

“What? No.” From somewhere behind him he heard her produce a high-pitched, panicked noise followed by the sound of her feet scurrying across the library. By the time she caught him, he was two-thirds of the way out. “Stop. No. Nikolai!”

As he felt her fingers dig into his wrist he thought, quite obtusely, that her hands seemed deceptively delicate from afar. Then he voiced the very next, stupid thing that came to his mind. “Is that all it took for you to call me by my name?”

She tugged at his wrist for good measure, clearly frustrated, then let go when she was sure he’d stopped attempting to leave. “What will you do?” she ground out after a moment, her breath quickened. Nikolai knew that if he reached out to touch the inside of her wrist again he’d feel the same panicked flutter of her pulse. He held back.

“I’ll discredit the source. Which shouldn’t be hard since your sources are pitifully unreliable.” He shrugged, falling easily back onto his confidence. “Or I’ll simply tell them all to shut up.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“Isn’t it?” He smiled down at her, amused by the way she had planted herself firmly between him and the door as if he couldn’t simply go around her. “Just trust me. I’ll make it go away.”

“Well, that would entirely defeat the purpose of why I did it!”

It took an astronomical amount of effort for him not to laugh, though by the look she shot him the amusement must have slipped past his defences. He looked at the door above her head and did his best to collect himself before he answered. “Don’t say I didn’t try to spare your feelings.” He lowered his gaze back down to her. “But I would have asked you to dance even if they called you the whore of Ketterdam. So it was a moot point anyway.”

He noted again, the same way he had last night, that her blush seemed to creep up on her quickly and that it started not on her cheeks, but below, as a smattering of colour just beneath her collarbones. It rose like the tide, but she did not let him see it reach her cheeks, and instead let out a frustrated sigh before going around him. Nikolai turned to watch her as she went back to the table and threw herself down into the chair, sullen and rosy-cheeked.

“So the bottom line is that I have no choice?” she said eventually, looking up from her hands, her voice thin and tired.

Nikolai’s amusement melted into confusion. “What?” He’d miscalculated, again.

This seemed to frustrate her further because she shot him such a vicious glare that he nearly flinched from it. “Oh, don’t play stupid. You’ve got me cornered. Either I confess or you throw me out into the limelight tonight. Is that what you want to hear? That you win?” Whatever energy she had poured into this display of ferociousness seemed to drain her completely, because in the end she just slumped back into the chair and closed her eyes. “Fine then. You win.”

Nikolai just stared at her, confused, and it was a while before he remembered that he had use of his limbs and that he could just walk over to her. He did so slowly, cautiously, like one would approach a snared animal, before lowering himself into a crouch in front of her. “Hey Ketterdam?” She did not respond. “Look at me.”

She seemed so fragile then, eyelids fluttering with the effort to keep them closed, the skin thin and so translucent that he could see the bluish outlines of the fine vessels beneath it. Nikolai had no idea how she’d extrapolated all that from their conversation, but he suspected she’d been spinning herself into a frenzy since last night. He thought that if he looked at it from her side, and at an angle, he might see the logic behind it. If she felt her hands were tied and she’d tried to bite her way out of it, then he supposed what he’d just done must’ve felt like having her mouth taped shut. He ignored the faint wave of nausea that rolled over him then. She opened her eyes, so slightly that Nikolai might have missed it had he not been right in front of her, looking for the smallest twitch of muscles on her face. He held her gaze for a moment, hardly moving a muscle himself, before he spoke again, his voice firm. “No games. Remember?”

The huff that left her might have been a chuckle, only completely devoid of any humour. She stared down at him for a moment, eyes glassy and tired, like it had all just caught up to her and she was finally crumbling. “I almost believe you. I think it’s the face. It’s a kind one.” Her eyes searched his face, clinical, like one would observe a painting of him on the gallery wall. “Or maybe you’re just handsome.”

“Why, thank you.” He offered her his best attempt at a self-assured smirk and decided it fell flat. Even his ego was dampened by the moment, which was a feat in itself. He sighed. “What did they do to you?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?”

Kind of. “Do you want to answer it?”

She shook her head.

“Then it was rhetorical.” Nikolai leaned his elbow against the table, steadying himself, and propped his cheek against his hand as he looked sideways at her. She seemed calmer now, if entirely deflated. “At least now I know you’re not mounting a coup d'état,” he supplied, unhelpfully.

She made a derisive sound, and it took him a second to realise it was a snort. “Because I’m such a sorry mess? Yes, you’re right, nothing so grandiose.” Her fingers slipped absentmindedly across the book that was left forgotten on the table. “You could though, if you wanted to. I think.”

“Yeah, probably.” This time, he did smirk properly. Then he patted the armrest of her chair and pushed himself up. “Now go rest. And wear something ugly tonight, so I won’t even be tempted to look your way.”

This, he found, caught her attention, because her gaze snapped to him almost instantly, suddenly alert. “What’s the catch?”

“Saints, you would not believe me if I told you the Sun set in the West, would you?”

She didn’t answer that, just raised one delicate, precise eyebrow. Well, at least she didn’t look so defeated anymore, which Nikolai decided he’d take as a win.

“Try not to start any rumours in the meantime.” He winked at her, tapping his fingers against the table before he turned to leave the library. “One fire at a time.”

tags (i'm so sorry to bother you if you completely forgot about this 😭): @star-flecked-soul ; @meg-the-second-greatest ; @plowdenkm ; @londongirlcamefallingdown ; @ all the lovely anons in my inbox! <3

#nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov imagine #nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai lantsov fanfic #nikolai x reader #nikolai lantsov imagines #nikolai lantsov x y/n #nikolai lantsov x you #shadow and bone #shadow and bone imagine #nikolai x you #nikolai x y/n #grishaverse #nikolai lantsov my beloved #gardenias

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ganondoodle · 10 months

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genuine genuine genuine question- wwwhy do you not like the zonai? (zonau? not sure if thats like. the worlds coolest plural or a translation difference) given your content with more monstery designs i would have thought they'd be up your alley!! however. i have also not played skyward sword (as much as id like to) and i know most of peoples upset with their existence and the totk storyline is because of its conflicts with that plot? i'm very excited to see what you do with your rewrite/botw2!! given their slight presence in faron in botw, it would be cool to see you repurpose the zonai in some way that doesn't conflict with the plot you're going for, something that makes more sense with the cryptic kinda bare minimum we had in botw? sorry if you've explained your stance on the zonai before <3

hhhhhhhh i had ranted alot about it but i hope you are prepared- (also "zonai" is sonau in german but im choosing to write it with a z so people recognize it at least, im pretty sure zonau is also the orignal japanese word for them)

i am fine with their design, in fact, i LIKE their character designs, however i dont like everything else about them.

and no its also not bc it affects skyward sword bc it doesnt affect ANYTHING in skyward sword, bc skyward sword is the VERY FIRST zelda game in the timeline and totk is nowhere near it, totk draws several paralels towards skysw bc its meant a sort of soft reset for this new era but its really just thematic overlap and references bc those are cool (i know alot of people are trying to convince the entire fandom that totk somehow is crammed into the old timeline but trust me its never anywhere near confirmed nor does it make any sense, heres the lil graphic i made last month to clarify how i think its meant to be understood .. quite obviously even -

i dont mean to sound .. mean, but some people read too much into little phrases or references to older titles (like first king of hyrule .. doesnt have to mean the literal firstest of the first ones in all of forgotten history ever, just the first of THIS hyrule for example), and while im not against theories i am very annoyed when people try to say its somehow canon when its NOT)

with that out of the way;

i dont like how they are 'integrated' into botws world, they feel unnatural and shoved in everywhere, they have been everywhere and did everythign better and cooler and no part of (this) hyrule was untouched by them their architecture feels not integrated well either and design wise its rather bland, while the sheikah shrines for example while obviously not natural and very 'techy' they still build a harmonizing contrast while the totk shrines are pretty laughably unfitting compared to them the basically complete disappearance of all sheikah tech related stuff bothers me immensely bc why would you just get rid of it istead of developing it further (i know about purahs towers and think they are just like a worse version of the previous ones; and before this argument comes up again, them destryoing it all -somehow- bc they were afraid of it being taken over again is a dumb excuse bc then they should be even more scared of zonau tech- even MORE unknown and advanced tech literally falling from the sky) you could have done SO MUCH with the ancient shiekah tech it drives me nuts

i also think it tipped the delicate balance of the kinda medival setting + high tech that botw had set up compeltely over, the zonau tech just .. is so painfully obviously only the way it is to give you little lego parts to glue together (i know its a focus of the game ... or at least the gamePLAY but it could have been done better, again i think they managed the balance perfectly with shiekah tech, its weird and isnt natural but doesnt endanger the believability of it ... the zonau tech just throws that out the window rly ... how cool would it have been if you could built lil guardian walk thingies djknhfkd )

in general they just feel like a complete replacement for the ancient shiekah and are so SO desperately trying to make the zonau the COOLER and BETTER versions of what the shiekah were (you COULD have connected them in a cool way, like there being ancient shiekah labs build in the old zonau mining facilities bc they used zonau tech as basis for their own tech etc)

like instead of building on the set up and potential botw had prepared, they just scrambled to make a 'better' version of botw, like oh no forget THAT ancient civilization we have an EVEN MORE ancient, and EVEN MORE highly developed peoples there that were also everywhere before you but also were never really hinted at- and then repeat botws structure .__.

having an old and forgotten civilization of whom only some withered ruins remain gave botw a much more real feeling, a world with a history that you will never know (you know, bc that makes it intriguing and is just .. a good choice of worldbuilding imo)- and then totk comes along and reveals everything and also nothing, we know too much of them to be intrigued by their mystery and also not enough to actually care about them (also them beign presented as the good perfectly perfectestest kingdom of light that can do no wrong other than underestimate the eeeevil guy while they also had their hands on every part of the land and made all other races be their face and nameless servants just ... thats weird man!! i know its a game, even if its only aimed at kids my god they arent stupid either!! you really present me with that and expect me to take it at face value what argh)

again i think they COULD have been integrated into it, but the way it was done completely threw me off, im not mad about them EXISTING but about how it was DONE in the game

the way they were done robs not just totk but also botw of mystery and intrigue, for example i much rather had them stay a mystery, only ever talked about in some text and some old and almost completely withered ruins left, you never get so see what happened there in the past, you can only guess, but you have to deal with the fallout anyway and thats just ONE possibility, there are so many and it feels like they chose the most boring one every single time

sometimes knowing less is better than knowing half

(maybe i can make it clearer when .. or if i can get to illustrate what could have worked -in my opinion- better .... sorry for ranting again ;__; )

#ganondoodles answers #ganondoodles talks #zelda #totk #ganondoodles rants #i WANT to like this game so damn much #but cant with the way it was done #and i didnt have big expectations either #sorry if i sound agressive #the way i type just reads to others like that somehow #im desperately yelling in my cage with tears in my eyes thinking about the potential it all had

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baddiecarl · 9 months

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Streamer! Carl Grimes x Streamer! reader

Like Chandler Riggs, Carl Grimes in a normal world would also totally be a streamer. Here’s a peek into what it might be like to be his streamer crush! (Also I’m pushing a slight resident evil agenda in this, I grew up watching my dad and brother play them and waited with bated breath to actually be able to play them myself! It’s my favorite video game series of all time if you can’t tell lol)

For maximum enjoyment, please watch the clip I put right under this because I referenced it in this story!

“Do I know who (your screen name) is?” Carl says, reading his chat. “No, I’ve never heard of them, gimme a second.” He picks his phone up off his desk and types the name into google, coming up with endless pictures of you playing video games, doing cooking and baking streams, making art, reacting to the memes people made for you, all the things your streams are widely loved for. Realizing he was quiet for longer than he probably should’ve been, he speaks up. “Oh yeah I’ve seen her before, she does awesome resident evil speedruns! I didn’t recognize the name at first, but yeah, I know who she is!”

“Omg he’s blushing!”

“Is bro blushing rn?”

“Looks like no one’s immune to the charms of (y/s/n) lmfao”

The teasing comments poured in while Carl did his best to play it cool and laugh them off, “yeah she’s pretty cute,” he admits through a soft smile as he focuses on the game he was streaming before he looked you up. Teasing chats trickled in every once in a while, but for the most part, the topic was changed completely and by the time the stream was over he had almost forgotten about the situation entirely.

Little did he know that the next day your viewers would also ask you if you knew Carl. Having been a streamer for quite some time you’ve seen a lot of clips of other streamers and you immediately recognized the name Carl. “Oh my god, is that the dude who sucks at fall guys?” You joked as you pulled up the clip of him failing epically at fall guys. “If you get eliminated at this part then you don’t deserve a single win,” he said, seconds before getting eliminated on the exact part he was referring to. “He’s fucking hilarious,” you remarked as you smiled while you watched the video. Well, that didn’t go unnoticed by any of your viewers either.

“She’s straight up giggling and kicking her feet lol”

“He called you cute on his stream yesterday”

Man, did your fans come in clutch or what? Returning to your game, you saved that bit of information for later, knowing that it probably got clipped and posted by now. After you finished up your game and ended the stream you finally got to look up the clip. You couldn’t help but laugh while you watched him read the comments and grow more and more red with each one that came in. “Yeah, she’s pretty cute.” THERE IT IS! HE ACTUALLY SAID IT!! This was all you needed to want to reach out.

A couple of days later, Carl was streaming again as usual when he felt his phone vibrate. A DM from…(y/s/n)?? Holy shit, okay, play it cool. He tried to hide his shock and excitement as he opened the message but still, a goofy smile crept onto his face while he read it.

“Hey, Carl! It’s come to my attention that we have quite a bit of an overlapping fanbase so I thought it’d be a great idea to play a game together sometime! Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to play fall guys ;)”

By the time he was done reading your message, the grin had broken out into a full-blown smile and he hid his nervous and excited laughing behind his hand. To no avail, his viewers saw this immediately and began teasing him, asking if (y/s/n) was making him blush again. “No guys, that’s not it, don’t worry about it,” he said, still trying to hide his bashfulness. Yet, again clocked by his fans, they knew he was lying. But they weren't the only ones who knew he wasn't telling the truth, because you had joined the stream just before you sent your message. You wanted to see him blush just by the sheer mention of you one more time, so you arranged to send it while he was streaming. You were overjoyed to see him pick up his phone, and judging by his reaction you knew he had to have read it.

He’s quiet for a minute while he types on his phone and you watch the text bubble pop up on your phone.

“I’ve noticed the same thing haha! I think that’d be awesome, but for the record, we will be playing fall guys so I can prove I’m not ‘the guy who sucks at fall guys’”

You grinned at his message, not failing to see the humor in the fact that he did the exact thing you did, looking up the clip from your stream where the chat had brought him up. You respond to his message simply and sweetly.

“Fair enough! I get to pick the game we play next time we do it then!”

“Sounds like a deal!” Carl replies, his heart skipping a beat at the implication of you wanting to do a stream with him more than once. Carl’s voice coming from your computer removes your attention from your phone. “Alright sorry about the pause there guys, I had a very important message to respond to,” he says, refocusing on his game all while he's still being teased for his very obvious change in behavior since his phone buzzed. Giggling at him regarding your message as very important, you sat back and watched him play his game, cracking up at the jokes he made. After he wraps up his stream, you’re left sitting at your computer, alone with your thoughts and they’re all about Carl.

About three minutes into zoning out, you're startled by the buzzing of your phone. You unlock your phone to see another DM from Carl.

“Do you think I could have your discord or maybe your phone number if you don't have that? I just thought it might be easier to communicate that way if we’re going to be doing streams together.” How does his nervous dorky voice translate so well through text? It’s almost like you could hear him stammering over asking for your phone number. Doing your best to reassure him, you reply: “I do have discord! But you can have my number too! It’s ***-***-****!”

“Thanks (y/n), I’m really excited about collabing with you! I was kinda shocked to see that you messaged me, even though I’m pretty sure this was orchestrated by our followers lol”

What can you say? Your followers really do come in clutch!

Me again! I hope you guys like this while you wait on the next part of Carl Grimes x Dhampir! reader! Also I hope you enjoyed that clip of Chandler sucking at fall guys, I really wanted to include that in this fic lol

#carl grimes #carl grimes fanfiction #carl grimes imagine #carl grimes x reader #carl grimes x y/n #carl grimes x you #Streamer! Carl Grimes x Streamer! reader #my work

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brighter-by-the-daly · 2 months

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Rachel Daly x Reader

Part Six: Dashed Hopes

AN: I know it’s been forever since I added to this series, tbh I thought part 5 would be the end but I kept writing for it and it’s been sitting in my drafts for ages. There’s another part after this but I just gotta figure out how to end it so idk when that will be coming (do we want them to get back together?), just wanted to get something out so I didn’t feel like I’d completely abandoned writing.

In America, off season starts a lot later than in Europe meaning all your friends from back home go off on holiday while you’re still playing competitive football. By the time it was your off season, your friends would be back to work and trying to squeeze in a vacation with them was pretty impossible. You loved visiting your parents and extended family but sometimes you wish you played in the WSL with them so you could have more time together other than international breaks. You weren’t even sure if you’d get called up again but knowing England are competing in America this break gave you a better shot seeing as you’re already here.

Since returning home to The Dash, Rachel had been hard at work trying to win you over again - staying up until the early hours in the morning to be able to call you, often paired with FaceTime. You rarely gave her the same luxury, you didn’t stay up at all hours of the night so you could speak to her and everything was on your terms; every Monday she asks when you’re available and makes sure she calls you in the allotted time frame you give her. It was obvious that she was doing everything within her power to get back with you, whether that meant long distance or you eventually going back home to England.

You looked forward to seeing your national teammates in a few weeks time when England compete in the She Believe’s Cup, it meant that for once, you wouldn’t be doing the 8 hour flight to base camp and they’d all be coming to you! Rachel had been talking about the camp nonstop and didn’t hide her excitement of being able to see you again. She was happy to take what she could get, be that as a friend or even if it just meant acquaintances, at least your were speaking again and that was enough for her. You couldn’t lie that you didn’t look forward to her evening phone calls and the attention she gave you made you feel good but you weren’t allowing her to consume your every thought like before. Propping the phone up on the kitchen counter as you cooked dinner her voice floated through the speaker from another continent, “I saw you got the call up!” she beamed, knowing your fears of Sarina forgetting you existed, “I told you after your World Cup performance, nobody could forget you!” You smiled into your saucepan of steaming pasta, pleased for yourself before sitting on the sofa to eat and stream Love Island. In America the series was being aired 2 weeks behind England and Rachel had avoided all spoilers to watch it with you, she’d often fall asleep half way through and you’d be lying if you didn’t think she looked adorable. Still, you were determined not to get sucked into the facade she played and as soon as her eyes closed you hit the red button. You hadn’t forgotten what she had done the year previous but your feelings towards her had certainly softened.

Reaching the last few games of the season you were mostly packed and ready to fly to South Carolina for the tournament next month. Tying up your boots and trotting out for warm ups ready for your game against the Red Stars you noticed louder than usual cheering when shooting practice began. “Is today something special?” you asked Ebony as you lined up to take shots at goal, she didn’t say anything but subtly nodded upwards towards the East Stand. Looking towards the source of the noise you spotted a familiar face you’d been getting used to seeing through a 6inch screen. ‘What the fuck is she doing here?’ you thought, rolling your eyes at the sight of her hyping up the crowd from her seat. Standing in the middle of the pitch in your bright orange jersey with your hands placed on your hips and an unamused pout, you waited for her to notice you and when she did you pulled a gesture that can only be explained as “what the actual fuck?!” Rushing down the stairs in excitement you’d be cancelled in a second if anyone knew you hoped she’d trip and roll down to the bottom, chuckling to yourself at the thought. “If you wouldn’t come to me, I had to come to you didn’t I!” she shouted, her grin expanding as she neared closer to you. ‘That’s rich’, you thought! “Or an even better idea would have been to not leave in the first place” you said sarcastically, one of your eyebrows raising to display an unamused look that your ex knows all too well. “Hey, be nice. I thought you’d be pleased to see me!” she jeered, acting like she thought her appearance would be like something out of a rom-com. “Shocked more like! You’re wearing my shirt” you said, arms still folded as you spotted your number under the club badge. “Yeah! Bought it at the gift shop, they’re flying off the shelves!” bouncing around to do your signature celebration by pointing at your name on her back, you couldn’t remember the last time you’ve seen her with so much energy! Shaking your head in amusement it was time to go and get changed and as you jogged away she shouted out to you “good luck captain!” smiling and waving like a fan girl which was seriously giving you the ick. You turned and stared at her smugly while walking backwards towards the tunnel, “have you seen the league table lately? Don’t need your luck mate, we got this!” Running back up the stairs to her seat she placed herself next to your parents who had agreed to also be bought along for the journey. With everything going on you hadn’t spotted them - it was either that or the fact they were hiding behind their programs!

If you had known your parents were in the crowd you would have celebrated your goal with them but instead you celebrated with the opposite stand, desperate not to give Rachel any more airtime than she probably already had. You tried not to pay any attention to where your ex was sitting the entire game but according to other players (particularly ones that were unfamiliar with what happened between you) she was your biggest cheerleader, barely in her seat the entire game, shouting and cheering at every possibility. You pretended after the match that you hadn’t heard her but her strong northern accent boomed around the stadium; however distracting, you can’t deny that having someone from home in the stands pushed you on.

Shaking hands and making your way around the field to thank both teams you finally looked up to see not only the blonde but... “Mum? Dad?” you screamed, shielding the sun out of your eyes long enough to see it was undeniably your parents. Launching yourself over the barrier faster than Usain Bolt you sprinted up the steps towards the back of the stands as your dad came bounding down towards you, scooping you into one of his giant bear hugs as you met in the middle. Your mum quickly wrapped her arms around you both to stop your dad from falling over from the shear force you threw yourself at him. Rachel watched everything unfold from afar, a tear rolling down her cheek knowing bringing them along had made you so happy. Surely you’d have to forgive her now, right?!

Rachel stayed until the end of the season, spending time getting to know each other again like it was the beginning. She came to every single one of your games and this time, it was her wearing your name on her back. For so many years it was the other way around when you didn’t play on the same team; you’d go to watch her but Rachel being in a higher league barely had time to show up to your games. Your walls may have been broken down easily but the team certainly hadn’t forgotten what she did to you and how they had to rebuild you after she left. It was extremely messy, it wasn’t a secret that you two were dating and the fans very quickly realised the 6 year relationship was over when Rach abruptly announced her departure from The Dash. Conspiracies and rumours flew around the internet for months trying to guess what had happened and who was the victim - Rach being the bigger name tended to get the most sympathy. You know you shouldn’t have read the comments online but you couldn’t help yourself and it nearly drowned you, if it wasn’t for your teammates you never would have made it out the other side. Now club captain, you had made your own name for yourself, no longer riding off the back of Rachel’s multi continental fame. You are (y/f/n) - striker, captain and leader. You are so much more than Rachel Daly’s ex girlfriend.

Since her return, the rumours had started spiralling again – ‘had they broken up?’, ‘are they back together?’, ‘is Rachel trying to take her back to England?’ – it was relentless! On the last game of the season, Rachel was invited to make a speech at half time, stating how proud of the team she was and how Houston still feels like home to her. She donned a specially made jersey and given a commemorative photo album to take home with her. You couldn’t stand it and waited in the changing room until she’d dispersed back to the stand. She did do a lot for the team when she was here but it’s your turn now, you’re sick of still being in her shadow even when she doesn’t play here anymore! The back stabby feeling stuck around for a while, bitter that the fans and club still loved her, she even handed out the medals for winning the league! Having to stand there and shake her hand, accepting the trophy from her to take to the rest of the team made you want to drop it onto her foot but you saved face and smiled politely when inside you were dying. Just when you think she’s doing everything right lately, she does everything wrong… again!

Celebrating in the changing room you’d had a little too much to drink when she burst in, keen to join in the party. ‘Oh no fucking way’ you muttered under your breath, slamming your bottle down on the table a little to hard and pushing her right back out of the door she’d just entered from. “This isn’t your party, why are you here?” you slurred, becoming a little braver with your words now your body was filled with alcohol. “I just thought-” she started before you cut her off, “no, you didn’t think! This is my first win as captain and you’re here to take over!” your voice becoming louder and louder, earning you a few stares from passing staff. Even after everything that happened, you couldn’t believe that the club had asked her to be such a huge part of todays celebrations, everyone knows what she did and half of them helped her do it. They watched you for months trying to become yourself again after the worst heartbreak you had ever endured and still thought making it all about her was a good idea! “Just leave, I want to celebrate with my friends” you ended your rant, exhausted with still having to fight with her. “Okay” she nodded solemnly, “have a good night” her head bowed as her feet swivelled and she walked off. “Right!” bursting back into the changing room, “let’s get this party started!!!”

#rachel daly #rachel daly x reader #lionesses #lionessss x reader #woso x reader #woso masterlist #woso series #woso fic #woso community #woso imagine #woso fanfics

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commander-rahrah · 4 months

Text

Talking to the Moon: Part V

Pairing: Astarion x GN!Reader Word Count: ~6200 Warnings: emotional hurt/comfort, arranged marriage, slight family angst aka daddy issues? I'm terrible at these

archiveofourown: here

masterlist: here

part I: here part II: here part III: here part IV: here

Summary: Set at the end of Act II, after Moonrise Towers and Kethric. Reader/Tav leans on Astarion and reveals more about their family and their story from before the Nautiloid.

Notes: I've emerged from my cave I made on the couch in my basement and finally finished this update! I got bronchitis a week or so ago and it kicked my booty, but I'm finally feeling better!! YAY! I have no voice still, but good thing I don't need that to write fanfiction!

So this update reveals more of our Selune blessed Tav's backstory that is based off my original D&D character. I was really hung up on whether or not I should include more backstory and lore for this GN!Tav/Reader, since it isn't very typical for a lot of the gn!reader fics I've read. But it was giving me such writers block if I did not include it, as I honestly have the rest of this fic completely planned out and the endgame I have for this pairing relies on more of this backstory, so I decided to include it! Also, its my fic… and my character sooo I hope you enjoy my baby and the little story I wrote for them five years ago. This character will have a special place in my heart forever, and I'm excited to share more of them with you all!

I also desperately wanted to include a scene of Astarion and Tav/Reader kissing for the first time since his confession and them setting boundaries about physical intimacy and contact. I know the game just lets you click the kiss option right away, but I like to think its something that Astarion would build himself up to again and would maybe even have to relearn — not kissing like it was a performance, but instead an expression.

Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts! It means so much to me and every time I see a notification! It fills me with infinite joy ♡♡♡ I know there is lots of posts circulating about this and tags get filled with it, but reblogs and comments are so so appreciated!! :)

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He wasn’t sure how you did it. Astarion was exhausted, beyond that actually — shattered. His feet were stiff and aching, his mind fuzzy with weariness. Yet you were still smiling, accepting the gratitude of every single person at the Last Light Inn with humble nods and smiles. He’d never had a longer day in his life. The temple, the Shadowfell, Shadowheart, Moonrise Towers, the goddamn Absolute. Gale... Gods, you had talked down Gale from fulfilling the desire and demands of an actual goddess. All in one day. All he wanted to do was to fall into a bed with you, and sleep. To just pretend for one moment that there wasn’t any marching armies or impending vampire masters waiting in Baldur's Gate. To ignore the thrum of anxiety and fear that coursed through him as he remembered exactly what was carved into his back — what Raphael had finally revealed to him. Just for today, he had wanted to rest. But no — the end of this never ending day was to finish with a celebration. An annoying, lively celebration. The vampire was being stereotypical as ever — standing in a shadowy corner, moody and silent as he nursed a red glass. It was wine. Gale had found a decadent bottle, buried away and forgotten about on some dusty shelf. The wizard had made an eloquent toast to the group gathered on the bottom floor of the inn. But he was now standing with Wyll — the two of them conversing politely with a pair of obviously flirtatious tieflings. Karlach had her arm wrapped around Damon, the two of them chatting enthusiastically and laughing. Astarion was surprised to not see Shadowheart by Karlach — the two of them inseparable as of late. No, what was more shocking was that the dark-haired cleric was sat next to Lae’zel. Their mouths barely opening as they spoke to each other in low voices, buried under the noise of the celebration in the inn. He almost choked on the sip he had just taken as his red eyes finally returned to you — where several people were forming a makeshift line to speak with you. The next one more bashful than the last as they leaned in to speak with you, all flushed cheeks and batting eyelashes. You always had a certain charm about you, an innate ability to draw out easy smiles and laughs from others. You were also undeniably attractive — anyone who said otherwise would be a blind idiot. But other people being enraptured by you had never bothered him before. He had just silently agreed with them — that yes, you were indeed a prize like no other. But you were his now, weren’t you? As he was yours. Even without the label or words that he still couldn’t figure out how to say. That he was too afraid to say. Regardless, why were you entertaining these fools?

He'd not felt this before — was it jealousy? Gods, he was being like a petulant child who didn't want to share their toy. You were a person, you could make your own decisions. That was the entire point of all of this.

What was he going to do — follow you around like a lost puppy? Drape himself over you, clutch onto you like a coat so others would see he was with you?

You must have felt his red eyes piercing through you as you suddenly flicked your eyes over to meet his gaze. Your face instantly brightened, a smile tugging on your lips. An overwhelming sense of relief went through him as you waved apologetically to the small group in front of you, before weaving your way over to his dark corner.

"Yes, darling?" He drawled as you approached, trying to hide any emotion betraying on his face as he tipped his wine glass in front of it and took another sip.

"Why are you hiding away in this corner? Not feeling like being paraded around like a hero?" You said sarcastically.

Astarion rolled his eyes at you, replying dryly, "I am many things, but a hero, I am not."

You leaned in conspiratorially, lowering your voice until it was just a whisper. "I would beg to differ. But you have a reputation to uphold, don't you?"

He barked out a laugh, before flicking you in the nose gently. "You cheeky pup."

"Ow." You feigned, scrunching your face up at him. "That hurt."

A wave of courage swept through him as he pushed back the little voice in his head. He leaned forward and pecked his lips onto the tip of your nose. He hoped the tingle that spread across his lips as they met your skin would spread to you. It seemed it did as your skin then flashed a delicious, brilliant shade from surprise. A tiny squeak even escaped you, your eyebrows shooting up.

You had not kissed, not since his confession. Not since all of this had started. Not a brush of lips against hands or cheeks, nothing. The look on your face and the sudden increase in the thrum of your heart had him feeling light headed. Did he truly have such an effect on you?

For a moment, he let his gaze from you lapse as he swept his eyes across the inn. To the disappointed glances of a few partygoers, and the knowing looks of his companions, watching the pair of you interact.

A flash of gratification went through him, satisfied at the effect he had not just on you but at those who had eyed you before. It squashed the jealously that had made a pit in his stomach, instead twisting it with a new, slowly recognizable feeling.

"There, all better?" He smirked.

You let out a breathy laugh, nodding at him.

Astarion rubbed his lips together, the tingling sensation on them lingering still. "How much longer does the Hero of the Shadowlands need to stay down here?"

You looked over your shoulder to the gathered patrons, the crowd thinning out more and more as the evening faded into a dark, late night. "Bored already?"

He let out a weary sigh, letting his shoulders droop. "Exhausted, darling. And I know you are too."

You were always a sight to see, holding a beauty he could have never imagined or conjured up in his head. But he could see the purple circles under your eyes, the usual sparkle in them had long gone dull.

Your eyes flickered to your boots, nodding your head in defeat. "You're right."

"I believe they have set some rooms aside for us, if you wish—"

"Do you?" You caught him off, trying to hide your own eagerness.

His gaze softened, a smile tugging on his lips, "Very much so."

The pair of you bid goodnight to your companions quietly, subtle nods and waves as they continued their own conversations or headed to their own rooms. Astarion walked slightly behind you on the stairs, his hand resting gently on the small of your back as you led the way. The path you took was familiar, the worn floor boards creaking before you were outside the private room the two of you had occupied once before.

Astarion let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door softly behind him, the sounds from the lingering party below muffled and leaving you in a peaceful quiet. But as he found reprieve in finally being alone, you suddenly crumbled.

You dived for the bed, a heartbreaking sob escaping you as your hands covered your face.

Your name choked out him before he crossed the room quickly and joined you on the edge of the mattress. Gods, what was it about this Inn and room that had you breaking apart on it? "Darling, what's wrong?" He asked, concern etching every feature.

"I- I, didn't-"

He remembered your words earlier today — gods, was that today? How comforting his touch was for you, being reminded of his presence. He placed his hand carefully on your own that was trembling on your thigh as you tried to speak.

You finally gasped out, "She wasn't there, she wasn't-"

Mol. The little tiefling girl. You had promised those rascal children downstairs you'd find her. And it was you who had told them she wasn't in Moonrise tonight, swallowing deeply as they dipped their heads with disappointment. But you had told them not to give up hope, that she was resourceful and strong. You had sounded so convincing that even he had believed you.

But here you were, sobbing and breaking apart in front of him. "Oh, sweetheart. Gods, I should have seen this, I'm sorry."

You sniffled, glancing up at him with wide eyes. "Why are you apologizing?"

He gave you a sad smile, his eyes shining with understanding, "I know you better by now. It was a mask you were wearing tonight...," He tucked a stray hair back behind your ear. "I hate it when you wear it."

"I just wanted everyone to be okay, I tried so hard..." Your voice cracked and broke.

"You've done so much, darling. Look at what we did today, that was because of you."

You always took care of everyone else. But who took care of you? Astarion thought, perhaps... him. He could… he would.

He had been.

"Oh my little moon, you don't have to carry the world by yourself, you know?"

You sniffled and nodded, silver still lining the bottoms of your eyes.

"May I?" He echoed the question you so often asked of him. You'd never touched him without asking the question first. Your consent you'd granted him was a separate conversation, one where you had told him casual, simple touches were okay. A silent conversation and agreement sometimes was exchanged with a look of your eyes. But with him, you had always asked. He thought that now he would return that favor to you, as you opened yourself to him — vulnerable and upset once again on the edge of this mattress.

He hoped you appreciated the sentiment, as much as he did.

The vampire reached down, hovering his hands over your boots. Your brows furrowed slightly before you were nodding. Your eyes never left his pale fingers as he untied the laces of your boots, gently prying them off before setting them down neatly at the foot of the bed. Then he did the same to his own before he slid his way up the bed, leaning against the headboard before patting the spot next to him.

"Come here."

You hesitated, before beginning to scooch over to him. When he opened his arms as a silent invitation you hesitated again. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please come here." He nodded solemnly.

Astarion willed himself to keep steady and clear, drawing a breath he truly did not need. He enveloped you in his arms as you laid next to him, trying to stop his limbs for stiffening. It was all so foreign, it was terrifying.

But your familiar scent filled his nose, and he could feel the steady rhythm of your heartbeat with your chest pressed to his side. His fingers laxed as you settled into him, bunching into the material of your shirt. Your breaths started calming and eyes fluttering as you laid with him.

"Is this okay?" You whispered — uncertainty laced every word.

"I was just going to ask you the same thing." He said softly, before swallowing thickly. "I don't know what I'm doing." You started to remove your limbs his, but he tightened his hold on you. "Don't, please."

"Astarion if you aren't comfortable—"

"I am, it's not that." He rubbed the soft material of your shirt between his fingers as he spoke, "I want so badly to be this for you, to be what you need. But I don't know how."

You craned your neck up to look at him, "I think you're doing a good job of it."

He looked down at you through his long lashes, "Truly?"

"Yes, Astarion." You sounded genuine, "No one... no one has ever made me feel the way you do."

He let out a sigh of contentment, settling in deeper with you before resting his chin on the top of your head. "I know we have so much left to do... But laying here with you. It makes it worth it."

"Are you scared?" You asked in a whisper.

"Terrified, actually." He admitted.

Your thumb rubbed across his stomach in smooth lines back and forth, "I will be with you every step of the way."

"That's part of what makes it all so terrifying." The vampire whispered, "Sometimes, I know that I couldn't do any of this without you by my side. But other times... when Ketheric turned into that thing, that abomination, with you looking so small in front of him..."

"I know."

Astarion moved his head so he could look at your face, "You were right though."

"Hmmm?" You hummed.

"This is nice. Gods, when did I get so soft?" He chuckled, the movement of his chest vibrating your head until you joined him.

Both of your faces were etched with bliss and contentment as you laid in the bed. On this bed where before he had laid awake, willing himself to fall into a trance, convincing himself to keep his distance from you, trying to protect himself from the inevitably of you.

Now, you both fell asleep like that, still in your regular attire, wrapped in each other's arms with your head buried on his chest.

The stars caressing their moon.

• • •

The journey towards Baldur's Gate was turbulent and nerve-wracking while also... hopeful.

The group was buzzing with energy — the anticipation of returning to Baldur's Gate had made some of your companions restless in more ways then one.

You were all sat for a short rest, relaxing in a patch of long, green grass just off of the dirt road you were traveling on. It was just your group now, the other parties and groups had begun moving at different paces and times until it was just your familiar companions now.

Astarion was laid out in the grass, his head resting on your lap and your fingers absent-mindedly playing with his soft, white tresses. His eyes were closed, basking in the glow of the sun that was set high in the sky at this time of day. Occasionally the shadows on his face would bounce as his long lashes flickered, opening his eyes to glance at you with a dreamy expression on his face.

It made your movements stutter each time you noticed it. But the grip he had on your heart — that was steady and true. He had possessed you in a way you still could not articulate, even all these weeks later.

But you blinked back to reality as Gale's voice broke the silence. "You're a beautiful couple."

You looked up, a sheepish smile spreading across your face from being noticed. Astarion craned his neck, his red eyes rolling back to look at the wizard before settling back into your lap with a disinterested look crossing his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry... I'm made things awkward, haven't I?" Gale mumbled, his hands twirling with the blades of grass in front of him.

You couldn't help the blush that was spreading across your cheeks at the attention. Especially as you realized the rest of your companions were looking over with small smirks.

Gale continued as you remained silent, "I just meant that... Well, its nice to see my friends so happy. That's all."

"Thank you, Gale." Astarion drawled, readjusting himself so he laid deeper on your lap.

The wizard blinked in surprise, "You're welcome. Are you — is it a secret, or?"

"Not a secret, no." The vampire purred with a shake of his head.

"We are just taking our time." You finished, a soft smile growing on your face to match the one spreading across Astarion's.

"Hmm, that's nice." Gale trailed off, a wistful expression on his face.

Before the silence could really settle in again, the rest of the party started a conversation up.

"Won't be long now until we get to Baldur's Gate." Wyll said, his face hard to read.

"Are you nervous?" Karlach stretched her long leg, nudging him in the ankle playfully.

His mouth scrunched and nose crinkled, "I... I don't know how to feel."

"I can't fucking wait! I'll be able to show you guys my old stomping grounds!" The barbarian said excitedly, falling back dramatically into the grass with her limbs spread wide. She addressed you, shouting up to the blue sky, "What about you, Giggles? Excited to see home again?"

"Oh," Your fingers froze, hovering over Astarion's hair. "I had only lived in the city for just under a year. Home will always be in the north."

"The north? I don't think I've heard you speak of your home much." Shadowheart asked quietly, a quizzical look on her face.

"I, yes— near the Ice Spires." Your mouth twitched.

"You hail from a noble line, yes?" Gale asked. Everyone was eyeing you with curiosity, even Astarion still stretched out on your lap. His red eyes shifting slightly as he studied you.

You swallowed, painting on a polite smile before speaking, "My father is a Viscount. He is a formidable figure in the region."

"Ah." The warlock grimaced, his eyes sad. "Why do I get the feeling our stories are more similar than I realize?"

You bristled. "I'm not exiled or anything... It's just been some time. That's all."

"That's all?"

A humorless laugh escaped you, "I am a second born child. And my older brother is much more obedient and better suited to the game of politics than I am." You couldn't help the sad, bitter smile that spread across your face. The thought of home stung in more ways then one.

Astarion noticed how tense you had become, his hand squeezing your knee as he pushed himself up with a dramatic huff. "We are never going to get to the city if we sit here lounging all day."

You shot him a grateful look, and he gave you the slightest nod in recognition as he offered his hand to lift you up. He did so easily, brushing off blades of grass lingering on you both gently.

"You were the one complaining not long ago about how long we had been walking for!" Gale said, sounding completely exasperated as Wyll helped him up.

"Me? I said that? I don't think so." The rogue playfully scoffed, shaking his head so his soft curls bounced dramatically. He looked over his shoulder at you with a conspiratorial smile before stretching his hand out for you. His fingers intertwined with yours easily as he pulled you along the dirt path, away from the questioning and burning curiosity of the rest of the party.

• • •

Your group finally settled down for the night — picking a small clearing just off of the well-worn, dirt path you had been traveling down. Perhaps the last time you would be sleeping in the wilderness. You would be at Wyrm's Crossing by midafternoon tomorrow.

Astarion had set up your tent on the edge of camp, attempting to give you both some sense of privacy from your busybody companions. He knew they meant well, that they hadn't meant for this afternoon to turn into an interrogation. That, like him, they were just curious to know more about you. As kind and good you were to all of them, you were still somewhat of a mystery. You had revealed the origins of your powers to the group yes, but you rarely spoke about yourself or your home.

Not even to him.

The vampire had been content to let it lie. He knew it would come with time — and he certainly couldn't make any demands of you. Not after how gracious and patient you had been with him. But he couldn't deny that part of him wanted to know more. Astarion had somehow become an open book with you — revealing and exploring parts of himself that he had buried down so deep that he was surprised he could find them.

He worried that it all had been about him for so long. His trauma, his past, his goals. That maybe you had kept parts of yourself hidden away, on the back burner for him.

You had your back turned to him at the moment, the golden flickering of the candles in the tent illuminating the curve of your spine and freckles across your bare skin. Your muscles stretched and tensed beautifully as you lifted your arms over your head —pulling your nightclothes over yourself as you changed in the corner. It was a boundary that was set much earlier, that he had slowly started making less and less strict.

He wasn't ready for anything more yet — he knew that. But his red eyes couldn't help but roam your figure. He couldn't help the familiar sensation of want twisting low in his stomach, the twitch of his fingers at his side as he imagined running his fingertips over your soft skin again.

The smile you gave him as you turned around was dazzling, even in the dim light and tight space of the shared tent. You joined him cross-legged in the center of the tent, both of you not quite ready to go to sleep just yet.

He picked at his nail for a moment, trying to seem nonchalant as he opened his pink mouth to speak. "So... the Ice Spires?"

You raised a single eyebrow, a hard to read look crossing the rest of your features. "Yes?"

His fingers continued to fidget in front of him. "It's cold... all the time?"

"Not all the time. Our winters can be brutal though." You said with a scrunched nose.

"Oh, what a lovely sell. I can't wait to go now!" He said sarcastically.

"Ha." You laughed dryly, before your voice turned wistful. "It's beautiful honestly... I miss it."

The vampire studied your face as you undoubtedly saw visions of your home in your mind's eye. The edges of his lips curved up as he remembered your promise to take him there one day. He broke you out of your daydream with a quiet cough before he spoke again, "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want. But why did you leave there, darling?"

Your eyes flashed to the floor of the tent, your mouth forming a hardline. "Promise me you won't be upset?" Your voice was barely a whisper.

His eyebrows furrowed together at your reaction. He took two fingers, dipping them under your chin so you would look up at him. "Why would I be upset? You leaving home for whatever reason is why you are here now. With me."

Your eyes softened with his answer, before you nodded. Yet you still licked your lips nervously before speaking, "Well... you know that Selûne told my mother I would be destined for a different path then the life of nobility. My mother agreed to it all those years ago, both my parents knew and yet... they still hoped they could reel it all back in. That enough etiquette and language lessons would shape me into the perfect child they hoped I would be. But it was never me. I tried for them, I really did. Instead I started to fantasize about the people in our history lessons like they were characters in a book, and I spoke too loud and laughed at the wrong moment at dinner."

Astarion couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he imagined you as a child — your face round and soft with innocence, your brilliant smile with missing teeth. The havoc that you would have caused, racing down wealthy halls as you acted out scenes from your books and danced in an empty ballroom with your melodic laugh echoing in the space. A piece of himself he had long forgotten about twinged inside him. He couldn't remember his own childhood anymore — it was lost to the last two hundred years of darkness. But something warmed in him as he dreamed up what yours was like.

He snapped back to reality as you spoke again. "But I had a duty. I'm the second born, I wasn't being primed to one day take over for our father and run the keep, but I could be used in other ways. I've known of it since I was twelve."

His white brows furrowed again, "Known what?"

"When I became of age I would be married off to secure wealth and political ties with other territories. I'm engaged... technically." You admitted.

His eyes dropped immediately to your fingers, the several jewels that adorned them from the moment he met you. He had never thought anything of them — thinking they were an artful display of rings that matched your personality and appearance well. But there it was — a golden ring of much higher quality then the rest, with a large ruby sitting in the center of it. Gods, how had he missed that.

"Oh my gods. I'm a homewrecker." Then he burst out laughing, his head thrown back and his hands holding his stomach as he howled.

"Astarion, you'll wake up half the camp!" You leaned forward and hissed.

"I'm sorry, I just —" He let out between gasps of breath, "It's so funny. Of course the person I fall for is to be wed to someone else."

You joined his chuckles, shaking your head. "It is like a cliché plotline from some terrible drama."

"It is! Or like a punchline to some joke. Did you hear the one about the vampire and the fiancé?" You both laughed for a moment, before he clutched onto your hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"So you aren't upset?" Your voice a whisper again, uncertainty flooded every word.

"Upset? Darling, why would I be upset?"

You huffed out an exasperated breath, "Astarion, I just told you I am betrothed to another person."

"And you are on the other side of the continent from them. Not married. And sitting in my tent. Is this why you left?"

Your eyes widened in surprise, "Yes, we planned it all out actually— my betrothed and I."

"Really?"

You nodded, "They had also spent the last years troubling over it, attempting to delay it for as long as possible."

"I'm assuming getting kidnapped by mind flayers was not apart of that plan?" He said with a smirk.

"Definitely not. I so badly wanted to travel, to see the world outside of our keep I'd known my whole life. So... they insisted to my family that they needed a spouse that was learned and well-traveled. That I could enroll in a college to become a more suitable match."

Astarion raised a white brow, "And that worked?"

"It did. I think my father was so desperate for it all to work out that they just agreed."

"And how did you attending a college lead you to Baldur's Gate so many miles away from home?"

You let out a dry chuckle, "I will say that I did go to the college like I intended. I lasted a week. Just long enough to purchase supplies and stationary from the college before paying for a spot on the next wagon out of Silverymoon."

"Stationary?"

"I've been sending letters home for the past year, using stationary from the college so my family believes I'm still there studying and being a model citizen."

He raised his eyebrows, a smirk spreading across his lips. "I'm impressed. That's very conniving... I didn't know you had it in you."

You smiled sheepishly, your fingers twisting in your lap. "I'll admit it was a clever idea. I ran out of supplies about a month before the Nautiloid."

He pursed his lips as he finally understood, "They haven't heard from you since then?"

You shook your head, "No. I imagine my father has sent some of his men to check on me, and they have long discovered that I took back my tuition deposit and left months and months ago."

"This whole time we were worried about a vampire master storming our camp, when really it could have been a disgruntled father or worried mother finding us?"

A large exhale left your nose as you shook your head, "Oh, my father would never come himself. He would just send his second-best men and a strongly worded letter ordering me back home. My mother though... I can only imagine how she betrayed and worried she feels."

The vampire squeezed your hand again before running his thumb along the backs of your knuckles. "Why did you never tell me this?"

"Astarion, the hardship and abuse that you went through...," Your eyes shined with pain, "My story is nothing compared to yours."

"Your story is not nothing." He shook his head, his voice earnest. "Your story is you — and you are everything. Never spare parts of yourself from me."

"Even the messy parts that years of etiquette lessons couldn't train away?"

He let out a breathy laugh before smiling at you, "Especially those parts, my lovely moon."

"You have gone soft on me, Starry." You teased before matching his smile.

• • •

After another day of travel, you stood in the abandoned castle in Wyrm's Crossing, bracing yourself on the stone wall. The skyline of Baldur's Gate could be seen from here, the distant sound of the bell's ringing heard even from here.

Your party had finally made it — after all of these weeks. You would walk the familiar cobblestone streets of Baldur's Gate tomorrow. The familiar scents and sounds of vendors and citizens, the bustle and crowds would be so different from the wilderness and forests you had been traveling through.

The group's energy was buzzing as you settled for camp in the abandoned castle — a strange mixture of excitement and nerves. Astarion hadn't hidden his feelings with you — his anxieties and insecurities surfacing with every step closer and closer to the city limits. With every step closer to Cazador and his ritual. Hundreds of different ideas were bouncing around his head, you could tell.

Yet your confession to him last night was still replaying in your head, especially as your stared at the ring on your left finger — the red gem catching the light. You weren't sure why you wore it anymore. A habit, you guessed.

The sound of purposeful, shuffling feet announced that you were no longer alone. Craning your neck you looked over to see the man who normally consumed your thoughts, climbing the stone steps that led up to the falling apart battlements you stood on.

"What are you doing up here, darling?"

"Just taking a moment." You admitted as you loosed a heavy breath. "And you?"

"Oh, just over pretending to be interested the idle chat by the fire." Astarion waved his hand, before sliding in next to you. He braced his elbows onto the edge looking out over to the skyline. You watched him take a deep steadying breath, his eyebrow crinkled with worry for a moment.

You fiddled unconsciously with the golden ring on your left hand as you watched him. The movement caught the vampire's attention, his red eyes snapping to it before looking up at you. He chewed the inside of his lip, before speaking, "Can I ask you a question?"

Your stomach tightened with sudden nerves, "Of course."

"This wedding... Your arranged marriage."

"Hmm?" You hummed.

His pale throat bobbed as he swallowed, "Would you have gone through with it? If there was no Nautiloid, no tadpole — none of this. Would you have gone through with the arrangement?"

A heavy sigh escaped you as you pushed your elbows off of the stone edge and stood up, "I would have... I would have tried. It felt inevitable before — inescapable."

He shifted around, so he was facing you — standing to his full height and looking you in the eyes. "And now?" He whispered, his long fingers reaching to brush the insides of your wrist lightly.

"Astarion... I never could have imagined any of this. I spent my whole life fantasizing and daydreaming of an escape and grand adventure. Nothing I've dreamed up has ever come close to being with you. I have fought mind flayers and ogres, refused Gods and marched across the country so that we can keep going. So that we can have a chance. I will take my father's disappointment and wrath for ruining his plans for financial security."

"Heh — We can add him to the list of people we've angered along the way." He joked, but his eyes were glimmering with unspoken emotion after your declaration.

You studied the handsome man before you, your lips parting slightly as you took him in. He was radiant in the moonlight, his white hair and pale skin shining. The way his usually sharp eyes softened and rounded as he looked at you.

Gods, you loved him. You had known for sometime now that you did. The words had been crawling up your throat, lingering on your tongue and swirling in your mind for days. But you would be patient for him.

One side of his pink mouth turned up, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Your head cocked to the side, "Like what?"

"You..." He seemed like he was at a loss for words for a moment. He shook his head at himself, before he admitted in a whisper, "They way you look at me... you make me feel like I'm poetry."

"You are, Astarion." You said simply. Courage suddenly flooded through you. You knew you would be fine, no matter how he answered. You wouldn't dare rush him. But you wanted to ask tonight. "May I — May I kiss you?"

He blinked in surprise before his red eyes flicked down to your lips and he unconsciously licked his own. Then he locked eyes with you, nodding breathlessly. "Yes," He whispered back, his long lashes fluttering. "Yes."

Moving your hands up slowly and gently, your fingertips gripped the side of his strong jaw. You heard his breath sharpen as you moved your face to meet his — slowly, giving him time and space, allowing him to change his mind and pull away. But he didn't. Instead his eyes closed softly, his head tilting towards yours as he waited for you to kiss him. Then your lips locked as your mouth pressed softly against his, carefully as you waited to see if he would kiss you back. A low noise escaped you as you felt his lips press harder against yours, returning the kiss.

You had long thought of your first kiss with Astarion in the woods near the Druid's Grove all that time ago. You thought you had memorized the sweet taste of him on your lips, the scent of leather lingering from his armor and groans that made the hairs on your arms stand up.

But this — this was so different. Not practiced, not ritualistic like he so often said.

This new first kiss was so painfully soft and tender. He tasted like wine, rosemary and honey. His hair softer then you remembered as your finger toyed with the curled tips at the base of his neck. The happiest of sounds escaped him as he parted his lips for you, allowing you to deepen the kiss as your tongue slid across his teeth. You both stood like that for a moment, relishing in the feeling until you both felt dizzy. Your lips stuck together slightly as you pulled away. His forehead was pushed against yours, like he was no longer content to not be touching you.

Astarion's eyes were ablaze in the moonlight as he looked at you, his mouth falling open as he caught his breath. "Again. Kiss me, again.” “Starry?” You asked, your brow twitched. “Kiss me. Please. I miss it, I've missed you." One of his hands gripped the tip of your chin as you moved your mouth back towards him, halving the movement as he pulled you back in for another kiss. The other intertwining with yours in between you, squeezing your fingers gently.

His sharp teeth dug into your bottom lip, causing a shudder to run down your spin. "Slow down, my love." Your groaned out.

"I have — weeks of this — to catch up on." His voice was breathless and he continued to interrupt his own words as he pressed lips to yours over and over.

You pulled away, studying his face — the skin around his mouth pink from kissing, a slight flush crossing his complexion. But his eyes were fixed on you, filled with want and need. "I'm not going anywhere, Astarion. We have time."

"Good. " He beamed, resting his forehead on yours again as you both breathed each other in. The two of you silhouetted on the crumpling battlements as you held on to each other for a moment longer.

Read Part VI here

#bg3 fanfic #bg3 fanfiction #astarion ancunin #astarion x reader #astarion x gn reader #astarion x tav #astarion/tav #astarion/reader #astarion fanfic #bg3 astarion

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sanjisblackasswife · 1 year

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“Playing a Game You Can’t Win” Sanji Becomes More Dominant (Part 2) (Slightly NSFW)

Dom! Sanji x Sub! Black Fem Reader

Part 1 Here

Bad Summary: Sanji overhears your need for him to be more assertive to what you want him to do to you in bed and he takes you up on that offer

Thank you for 800 followers! I’ll try and finish the final part today!

CW: Kissing, Sensual Massage, Dom!Sanji, Sub! Reader, Fingering, Teasing, Begging

During dinner you felt a shift in Sanji’s mood. He was more quiet, he only gave you short lived answers to your questions, and he barely even looked at you. Did you do something wrong?

The rest of the day was rather busy so you had already forgotten the conversation you had with Robin and Nami. You wanted to speak with your Blonde man after dinner because he seems different and you didn’t really like that.

The clatter of dishes being washed by him was the only thing noise between you both this evening as everybody has left to their own business. Usually, you two would be talking and joking around but Sanji haven’t even looked your way since everybody left. It felt so unlike him and you couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Sanji?” You turn yourself in your chair to face him fiddling with your fingers. He hums still not facing you from the sink, “Are you okay?”

Sanji stops his cleaning, he actually didn’t mean to ignore you he just had a lot on his mind tonight. He began to feel bad, cleaning his hands dry, he turns and walks over to you with a warm grin.

“I couldn’t be happier, Y/N.” He kisses your forehead, your cheeks, and then hovers his lips over yours. Usually you were prepared for a very wet and excited kiss with a small serenade but Sanji made you blink open your eyes in confusion. There was no kiss, just words from him, “I was just thinking about something that’s all…”

“Oh…okay…do y—“

“How about we take a shower together, and then I give you a massage? You been working all day today, Princess I Gatta spoil you.“ His silver covered knuckles brush against your cheek, he looked down at you with a sly smirk holding his unlit cigarette in the corner of his lips, and you look up at him like a little lost puppy pushing yourself into his sweet gentle touch. “You’d like that right?”

“Uh..” You jerked yourself back up for a moment feeling his thumb now rub against your bottom lip. “Yes. I’d —id like that.”

“Okay. Let me finish in here and you just be in the shower when I come, okay?”

“Okay!” You perked up hearing how monotone his deep voice was. He wasn’t fawning over you, he wasn’t sounding like he was offering you something as if he was worshiping your feet, but

It was a demand.

Maybe you were just tired thinking that …and bit horny. You both haven’t had sex in about a week due to troubles with enemies the past few days.

You get in the shower and clean yourself of all the sweat and grime from today’s work. You touched your cheek, still feeling where Sanji’s cold silver rings rubbed against you made you lost in thought. He always wear those rings during sex, but you haven’t been pleasured to feel them wrap around your ne—

“Hey you.” Sanji pulled back the curtain breaking you out of thought. “Is there anymore hot water for me?”

“Mmhm!” You smiled biting your bottom lip. Oh? Sanji not going into a complete bleeding fest? Usually it takes him 5-10 minutes to mentally prepare for seeing your supple golden skin under the water, clinging to your body nearly dry humping you, but nope. Not tonight. Sanji got in and bathed with you.

“Face me let me wash you.” He fingers crept around your waist tightly to turn you to look at him, your eyes immediately trailed down his lips down to his wet chiseled torso, but before your eyes went somewhere else Sanji coo’ed “You’re so beautiful, Y/N..”

He softly scrubbed the soapy towel on your chest down to your tummy admiring every stretch mark, scar, and curve you have, it was a sincere comment that made your heart swoon and reminded you why you fell in love with Vinsmoke Sanji.

“You are too, Sanji.” You giggled, you placed your hand on his cheek making him stop his focus on your body and looked you in the eyes, “I love you, Sanji…always will.”

You kissed him letting your fingers run through his hair you didn’t mind having a little bit of shower sex before bed, but Sanji had different plans.

The kiss got more heated when you slid your tongue in his mouth slowly moving one of your hands down his chest to grab his d—-

“Wait wait wait baby..” he fought his own temptations and pulled off your sweet soft lips holding your arms. “I—fuck..um…”

“Oh I’m sorry—I um…I got carried away I just haven’t…kissed you in a while I’m —-“

“No! No! Don’t apologize, sweetheart—it’s okay…” Sanji breathed out to clear his throat. As hard as it was to deny you of more kisses He had to let tonight go how he wanted. He had to call the shots tonight. “If we have sex now you’ll be too tired for your massage.”

“Oh! Right the massage I forgot I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He patted your head before kissing your forehead. “Let me rinse you off and we can finish….good girl.”

If you were facing him still he would have clearly seen the switch in your face and how quickly you bit your lip. Sanji has never called you good girl and it makes you clench at how it rolled of the tongue for him.

You both got out and got dressed for bed in the bathroom, but Sanji suggested you just put on underwear and wrap the towel around you where in the moment seemed like a good idea since you were getting a simple massage. He walks you back to his room which kind of made you look back when you both passed your bedroom door, but he just rubbed your shoulders and told to he wanted to do something different tonight.

“Oh wow…” He opens his room and it smells so good ! It was perfectly warm coming in from the candles and the aroma was something similar to vanilla and cinnamon. He had a few towels, oil and a small rectangular gift on his bed. You actually forgot how much you enjoyed Sanji’s room. “It’s so nice in here! Sanji you—-“

In a Swift movement he pulled your lips onto his, it was passionate and slow making a small whimper escape into his mouth.

“Strip.”

Was all he whispered to you before pulling away, his natural scent brushed past you as he grab one of his cigarettes to light. You knew Sanji wouldn’t get mad at you for not listening, but we’re you really sure about that?

“I said,” You didn’t even feel the clasps of your bra unhook falling down immediately exposing your breast, “Strip, sweetheart….panties too okay?”

You didn’t have much of a response as you moved your hands down from your breast to rid of your underwear. You could feel Sanji’s hungry gaze on you as he was sitting on the bed watching.

“Come here…lay down on your tummy for me.”

It was a tinge of shyness you felt creep up inside the pit of your belly laying on the bed fully naked while he was in his tank top and pajama pants.

Something was different.

“You’re not mad at me are you, Sanji?” The worry in your voice nearly made Sanji break. He never had to hear this level of concern from you, but even though he wanted to prove to himself tonight he can be the dominant man you want him to be he will do it in a gentlemen like manner.

Well try.

“No! Never that, darling.” He placed the towel on your butt caressing it a little, “You could never make me mad I just want to make you feel good, okay? You ganna be My good girl and take what I give you right?”

That damn knuckle caressing again. You feel yourself clench again onto nothing as he rubbed the back of your thighs.

“Yes—“

“…yes..what?”

You froze for a second…what did he want you to say?

He hates “Daddy”

He isn’t a “Captain “

So…

“Yes, sir.”

Sanji could feel his cock twitch, but you wouldn’t know seeing the new twinkle in his eye, so it must have been the correct word. He kissed your forehead and got back on the bed.

You heard his palms rub in the oil and began his magic.

Its been less than 10 minutes and you’ve already felt yourself get embarrassingly turned on. You felt him put the warm oil on your now exposed butt and felt the liquid rush down your slit.

“Sanji!” You jerked at the teasing feel of it pour over your lower body, he chuckled and continued to massage your inner thighs.

“Just relax sweetheart..”Trying to do so seemed too difficult when the up and down motions of his hands kept brushing against your slit.

Eventually you just couldn’t take the subtle touches and your mewls seemed to not be enough for him to get the hint. You never had to beg for Sanji to please you, but now you were under his spell, you felt weak against his touch, and so nearly cried to him,

“Sanji…Touch me…please…”

“I am touching you baby..unless you wanted me to rub somewhere…or something else.”

He was clearly toying with you. Sanji didn’t want to give in to your pleads too quickly he wanted you to ache for it. And you wasn’t used to that, you could almost hear his amusement in his tone when you whine again and he slaps your butt lightly as a consequence for being so impatient and rubbing it right after to soothe you.

“Sanji…please….I wanna…” You were so caught up in the THOUGHT of him inside you you didn’t catch the spit on the side of your mouth until he cleaned it with his thumb.

“You wanna what baby? Drink some Water?”

“I want…your fingers inside me..” you shoved your face in your arms feeling a bit of embarrassment having to be vocal about what you want, but Sanji found it so attractive and hot seeing you like this, seeing you not demand. Maybe listening to that conversation was something he needed to remind himself who’s really in charge.

You whined his name immediately feeling his index and middle finger slide inside your cunt just way too easily, a small reward for Sanji of how good he was making you feel.

“You like that?”

“Yes! Yes Sanji i do please don’t Stop!

Sanji loves you, he really does, he loves you so much he would die for you, however tonight you may question that because after seeing how good you looked so submissive and obedient under his touch, tonight—

He wanted to break you.

Part 3 (final)

#one piece smut #TimikosSanji #one piece headcanons #black reader #one piece #sanji #sanjionepiece #sanji imagine #one piece x female reader #sanji smut #sanji x black reader #sanji x reader #female reader #one piece x black!reader #black foot sanji #x female reader #one piece scenario #x chubby reader

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midnightsun-if · 6 months

Note

There’s no way I can pass up, “i’m gonna remind them you’re mine” for my girl Scarlett please 🙏

You don’t know how you keep getting dragged into these things…

Sure, in the light of day, Aurelian Academy was the picture perfect institute for higher learning and a practical hub for possible connections within the supernatural, and even sometimes human, world, but at night? When the enchanted lights dimmed, when the professors turned in for the night in their wing, and the moon rose above the shimmering lake that made its home on Aurelian’s campus?

That’s when the real fun, as you’ve been told, begins. Parties, secret meetings, illicit affairs, and more all occurred under the cover of night within Aurelian, and you just happened to have been pulled into once such event— a party that Blake hadn’t stopped gushing about since he heard of it: It’s supposed to be the biggest party of the year! How could I possibly miss it? And, since you’re my best friend, I’ll need you by side when I attend. It won’t be as fun without you.

The fact that it’s barely into the second semester didn’t seem to matter to Blake in the slightest.

Seriously, who thought it’d be a good idea for both sirens and succubi to be housed in the same dorm? That’s only a recipe for disaster— added to the fact that the incubi dorm was a relatively short distance away, and you have a whole slew of potentially bad ideas.

Though nothing bad as my idea of actually attending, you gripe, hand tightening around the flimsy plastic solo cup, sloshing an almost luminescent blue drink over the brim. Blake has been lost in the sea of people, I’m not even sure what time it is, and I think I’m going to go deaf if this music doesn’t shift gears soon.

All in all? You weren’t having the best of times. Not that you minded parties, you’ve been to quite a few in your time, but this sort of thing hadn’t ever really been your scene. The air, intermingled with a variety of scents, is almost cloying in your nostrils, the beat of the bass thrumming your ear, and it’s only due to the privacy wards that you haven’t completely keeled over due to the sound. Your only saving grace is the fact that your girlfriend had agreed to come save you after a certain amount of time.

Getting the chance to see Scarlett, even if it’s in a throng of gyrating bodies and a dimly lit room, she’ll definitely be a sight for sore eyes. You just have to hold out long enough for her to arrive. And she’ll hopefully take me back to her room, you muse, taking a sip over the surprisingly sweet concoction in your cup. Which will lead to the actually exciting part of my night.

For now? You’re content with sticking to the sides of the party, the shadows wrapped around you in a comforting embrace, as you waited for your emerald green eyed savior to arrive.

“You’re not having fun are you?” The sudden voice causes you to flinch in surprise. Your attention immediately settling on the form of Isabel, an occupant of this very dorm, who had a charming smile stretched across full lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so miserable at one of these things.”

You shift. “I’m not miserable,” you reply, not wanting to seem rude. “This just isn’t usually something I go to.”

Isabel hums, amber eyes sparkling. “I can see that.” She tilts her head, slowly appraising you in a way that immediately sends alarm bells ringing in your head. “I can say, with quite a bit of certainty, that you haven’t ever been to one of my parties before?”

She’s right.

“Why do you say that?”

“I think I’d remember someone as beautiful as you attending,” she purrs, leaning closer, locks of raven black hair falling over her shoulder. “None of my sisters, or myself, have been able to take our eyes off you since you arrived with that incubus.”

Sisters. The realization hits you instantly. You’ve completely forgotten that Isabel was a Siren, a species that always traveled in pods, a group that grew as close as family. Who also happened to make a game out of who could get the most valuable prize by the end of their hunts. How do I keep getting into these situations?

Isabel’s smile only grows. “I must admit I’m surprised none of them have snatched you up yet.” Her hand trails down your arm, before you’re able to jerk it away. Something she doesn’t seem to take offense by. “It’s possible they’re too shy to.” She tilts her head, eyes flashing carnally. “Pity. But it only means more of you for myself.”

“Look I have a—”

“She’s already spoken for, Laurent.” A sharp voice interrupts your rebuttal, accent thicker than usual due to the agitation you detect laced within her tone. “You’ll have to take your games elsewhere.”

Isabel’s entire countenance shifts as your girlfriend finally comes into focus— Scarlett. Your eyes rove over her form, clad simply in a red-laced corset top, paired with a belt and tailored black pants, as well as her signature heels, she looks every part of the unflinching conquerer that roams the halls during the day. Not a single strand of dark auburn hair out of place, emerald eyes narrowed into slits as she takes a protective stance next to you, the only sign of her anger being the slightest clench of her jaw. Something anyone that wasn’t you could, and would, miss.

“Wasn’t aware she was yours, Voltaire.” The siren holds up her hands, clearly not wanting to get into an altercation with your girlfriend. “Maybe you shouldn’t let her wander off alone without you.”

Scarlett’s brow arches, an imperious look etched across her face. “I’d take that into consideration if your opinion mattered in the slightest to me.” She waves her hand, a flippant gesture of dismissal if you’ve ever seen one, and drawls. “Run along now. I do believe your time in our presence has run its course. No need to insist upon a place that doesn’t want nor need you.”

Amber eyes flash dangerously but she wisely keeps her mouth shut, giving you one last look, Isabel turns and disappears back into the throng of bodies, no doubt heading over to her sisters that stood near the open bar.

A gentle touch to your cheek pulls your focus towards Scarlett’s face, a bit more emotion now showcased— if the slightest downturn of her lips, and the darkened state of her gaze, was anything to go by.

“Why did you entertain her for so long, my heart?” It’s asked softly, no accusation in her tone. A question borne purely out of curiosity.

You rub the back of your neck. “I panicked and sort of froze.”

Scarlett’s eyes narrow at that. “Did she do anything to you?” A darkened gaze, that flashes obsidian, turns to look back at the room, in the direction that Isabel had disappear off to. “If she did all you have to do is tell me and I’ll handle it.”

“Honestly, I didn’t realize what was happening until it actually happened.” You shake your head, taking Scarlett’s hand, that had limply fallen back to her side, in a gentle hold. “She caught me when I was thinking of a fairly distracting topic.”

“Oh?” Dark auburn hair falls over Scarlett’s shoulder, reminiscent of Isabel’s earlier action, but somehow more elegant, and your girlfriend’s gaze darkens for an entirely different reason, the obsidian black telling of a completely different hunger. “And what would that be?”

Stepping closer, you wrap around arms loosely around Scarlett’s neck, tugging her closer until her body is flushed with yours. “You.” A satisfied purr rumbles out of Scarlett. Her head titling into the gentle touch of your fingers running through her hair. “Out of pure curiosity what were you going to do?” At her raised brow, you elaborate. “You said you would have handled it. How?”

There’s a beat of silence, wherein only the party surrounding you both intercepts it, but when Scarlett offers you a sultry smirk, you immediately felt the familiar swoop in your gut, heat building between you both. It’s of no surprise when Scarlett leans closer and places a hard kiss to your lips— somehow making it deep, passionate in a way that only she could, without ever introducing her tongue. “What would I do, my hear?” She purrs, tugging at your bottom lip with her teeth. “I’d remind them that you’re mine.”

She dips her head, placing an open-mouth kiss to your neck. Clearly delighting in the way you arch against her at the familiar action.

“I suppose I have a different course of action now.” Scarlett steps back, keeping your hands interlaced as she leads you towards the exit, hips swaying in a rhythmic fashion. “Something that’ll be far more rewarding.”

Your breath catches. “And that is?”

“Reminding you that you’re mine.”

#midnight sun #asks #midsun: snippets #ro: scarlett voltaire #daniellew24 #changed the wording a bit #hope that’s okay ❤️

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dawn-moths · 1 year

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“Our Love Was Written in the Stars”

Kaeya Alberich x Female Reader

word count: 18,700+

(After losing touch with your childhood best friend and first love, you find yourself face to face with Kaeya four years later while back in Mondstadt for a university research project. While part of you had hoped to see him, you also hadn’t expected it to be so soon. But the more you two begin to reconnect, the more you realize he missed you just as much as you missed him. So, with a lot of lost time to make up for, you and Kaeya explore the relationship you were probably always meant to have.)

disclaimer/content warning: 18+ content! minors dni! Mostly fluff and then smut at the end, some spoilers for Kaeya and Diluc’s backstory (though I’m sure I didn’t get the exact timeline right), childhood friends to lovers, drinking/alcohol, some hurt/comfort with a little bit of angst, slow burn.

*thank you to the anon who requested this fic, i hope you enjoy!*

*ao3 mirror*

***

Things always seemed so much simpler, looking back. Things used to last longer.

A day spent playing with your friends would feel like forever. At least, until the time came to go home. Then it felt like the fun had barely even begun.

And the four weeks out of every year— two in the fall and two in the spring— that your father left you under the care of the Ragnvindr household’s staff while he and Crepus were off on a mutual business trip in one of the other nations…

Those weeks had lasted eons.

That was, of course, until both of the wine tycoons returned and you were once again whisked away back to your own family estate.

However, even as you became more aware of just how short that sliver of time was the older you grew, you never stopped looking forward to spending those weeks with Master Ragnvindr’s sons, Kaeya and Diluc, who were just about the same age as you.

You used to kick and cry and scream when your father told you to thank Crepus and his boys for letting you stay with them before you headed home. Then, after a very stern talking to about how, if that kind of behavior was to result every time your father returned to retrieve you, you wouldn’t be allowed to stay with your friends anymore, you turned to crying yourself to sleep on the last night in the Ragnvindr mansion and the first night back in yours.

By the time you were a teenager, the pain of leaving your closest friends had been reduced to a dull ache in your heart. You knew you’d see them again. By then, you didn’t even have to wait for your fathers’ business trips, because for your thirteenth birthday you’d been given a horse, your father allowing you to ride there any day you pleased— so long as all your lessons where completed with your private tutor— insisting one of the boys accompanied you home before dark.

It was always Kaeya who brought you back, so eager at the first chance he’d practically volunteered himself before you’d finished the explanation of your father’s conditions. And you’d been grateful for the extra time with him, sometimes racing each other through the winding woods that lay in between your home and his as your laughter and playful taunts echoed through the trees.

It had always been Kaeya, in so many ways.

It had always been Kaeya who was so excited to play with you when your father dropped you off, even if just for a few hours while he and Crepus disappeared off to one of the private meeting rooms to discuss more business.

It had always been Kaeya who let you choose the games, who would be enthusiastic whether you were playing war or house or hide and seek.

It had always been Kaeya who held your hand when you got sad, squeezed it a little as he told you not to cry, that you’d see each other again soon.

It had always been Kaeya who wrote to you during the winter months when you’d become snowed in, neither of you able to travel the miles it took to see each other let alone get much further than the front door.

And it wasn’t that Diluc was forgotten. But he’d never been as willing to play along.

For a little while, the three of you had been an even trio, the boys happy to have a new playmate and you, well, you had no siblings of your own back home. You were just happy not to be alone. But as time went on, the scales shifted.

No matter what you wanted to do, Kaeya was always on board. Diluc would argue, say he’d rather sneak out to the back woods that lined the edge of the property and play manhunt or adventurer than sit around wasting time doing stupid arts and crafts projects or dressing up in ridiculous outfits in order to make each other laugh.

You’d start to get upset as the two brothers would fight, Kaeya calling Diluc selfish while Diluc insisted Kaeya was just a pushover.

“It’s all because you like her!” the young Ragnvindr would spit, clearly trying to rile Kaeya. “That’s why you’re always doing whatever she wants, even if it’s stupid and boring!” That was about the time Kaeya would lunge at his brother, the two of them tackling each other to the ground and throwing flailing punches while you yelled at them not to fight, your eyes welling with tears.

In the end, Diluc would storm off and go do whatever he did when he was alone, maybe just sulk in his room for all you knew, but Kaeya would never chase after him. He’d come back to you, assure you that his brother was the boring one for always wanting to play the same games, and then hold your hand and help wipe your tears, giving you a smile as he told you he’d sneak into his father’s study to steal some of the new paints that had recently arrived, maybe snag an old canvas or two he didn’t think the master of the house would notice missing.

You’d smile and hug him, even join him in getting into trouble sometimes, and then it was like all your worries faded away. Because there was something about Kaeya, about being around him, that always helped untangle any knots that had formed in your heart.

But your most favorite thing to do with Kaeya— not that you didn’t love the games and the giggles and the mischief you shared— was to sneak out his window on the second floor and climb up onto the roof with him where you’d both lay side by side, hand in hand, and look up at the stars.

You’d get scared sleeping alone and inevitably pitter-patter your way to his room, giving a gentle tap on his door before cracking it open with a broken whisper of his name on your lips. He’d sit upright in bed, flipping the layers of blankets back and padding his little feet across the floor to come meet you, reminding you there was nothing to be afraid of.

He’d told you that the dark was not an enemy, that it could be beautiful and inviting and that he’d show you how.

The star gazing in itself eventually became a game, as most mundane between you two often did, and you’d gradually begin to cheer up as you and him took turns creating shapes in the stars and trying to guess the constellations that floated above your heads.

Kaeya’s favorite was the peacock— one he’d made up and had quite the time trying to get you to form the shape of as he directed your eyes to all the little twinkling dots of light in the correct order— and once you saw it you hummed to yourself. It suited him, and when you told him this around the third time he pointed it out he’d just rolled his eyes and smirked, coyly suggesting you were jealous he’d found such a cool grouping of stars.

But what you didn’t know was that, as much as the peacock reminded you of your friend, the grandiose bird also began to remind Kaeya of you, too.

The peacock soon made its way into his letters, a carefully drawn eyespot feather in indigo ink signed at the bottom of every message. It made you smile to yourself, your heart full and lonely at the same time.

It was Kaeya’s way of saying “I love you. I want you to never forget that, just like I never forgot the night I showed you the peacock in the sky.” But if you were aware of the symbol’s significance, you didn’t seem to return the favor when you sent a reply.

How could you, when you’d convinced yourself he would never think of you that way? When he’d treat you like a little sister one day only to perform something common of courtship the next?

Kaeya was reluctantly sentimental. Perhaps that was a side effect of being abandoned by his birth father at such a young age, a bitter lesson to never get too attached to anything or anyone in fear of losing them. But he couldn’t help how attached he’d become to you.

In some ways, you two had felt more like siblings than he and Diluc did, for a while.

You used to wish Kaeya was your real brother. That way you two would forever be bonded, no matter how great the distance or time between you. But as you entered into your teenage years, your heart and your mind changing along with your body, something about that notion began to shift and evolve as well.

By the time you were sixteen, Kaeya’s playful flirtations and cheeky winks felt like they held more weight than before. Because your immediate reaction wasn’t to roll your eyes or slap his arm like it had been in previous years. Now, those gestures made your ears run hot and your hummingbird heart bat its wings a little faster. But you could never quite tell if he was joking or not, perhaps just being mischievously mean to get a reaction out of you which, as he’d learned pretty early on, wasn’t that hard to do.

But sometimes, when you replayed his words or actions in your head when you were alone— the way his voice dipped lower, tone smooth and tempting as his eyes scanned your body, his fingers brushing against yours during dinner time or as he handed you a book from a high shelf you couldn’t reach— you asked yourself why you weren’t willing to play this game with him, if that’s all it really was.

Deep down you knew it must be. Because, if you did decide to join in, it might cease to be a game altogether. At least, for you it would. And then what if you found out he’d been joking all along? It would break your heart. It would ruin everything. It was a risk you weren’t willing to take.

So you held your tongue and clenched your jaw when your best friend, adopted brother, star-crossed lover in a different life— whatever Kaeya was to you— gave you those winks when no one else was watching. When he came up behind you and stood just a little too close, said something about how, pretty soon, he’d be a whole head taller than you…

And on slow, quiet days as rain poured from the sky and dark clouds flooded the valley and you both found yourselves huddled on the chaise by the fireplace when you read your book aloud and Kaeya listened like he only cared about the sound of your voice and not the story, as he combed his lithe fingers gently through your hair, smoothing out the tangles while you entertained him— and sometimes even Diluc, if he had nothing better to do— with tales of dragons and knights, talking animals and princesses who wielded silver swords…

You told yourself all of it— every word and glance and ghosting touch— meant absolutely nothing.

It was all for the sake of ensuring Kaeya stayed in your life, just as he’d always been, after all.

How ironic your feeble attempt at control became because of one fateful, unforgivable night.

†††

You’d heard the news from Diluc, of all people— the news that Crepus Ragnvindr was dead and Kaeya Alberich was nowhere to be found.

Though, Kaeya had been found eventually, slumped over in a bar tucked away in some alley, drinking himself stupid as he gazed deep into the miniature snowstorm that swirled within the cryo vision clutched in his palm. But even as his speech slurred and his movements lagged and staggered, he refused to come back home.

Eventually, those who’d been sent to fetch their deceased master’s adopted son gave up. They left the tavern and headed back to report their findings to Diluc, who continued to turn a cold shoulder and act as if he wasn’t worried or bothered about his brother’s well-being in the slightest.

So when he’d told you, his tone stiff and cruel and spiteful, you’d found yourself crying before your brain even had time to process what had just been said.

“Where is he now?” you’d asked, your voice cracking as you tried to clear the heartbreak away.

“If he’s not still drowning his sorrows, well…” Diluc sneered, already turning his back on you and heading into the house that you’d known as well as your own— the house you now might never see the inside of ever again— all that remained being the shadows of your memories left flickering on the walls by the candlelight or echoing eerily down the long hallways late at night. “Then I have no idea where he is.”

However, his long red hair, usually kept so orderly but rather disheveled at the moment, and the dark circles under his crimson eyes told a different story as to how Diluc was dealing with his missing brother.

Your mouth opened to ask what the bar was called, at least, but all that was able to leave your mouth before the door slammed in your face was a broken squeak. From there, you rode into the city, spent nearly the entire night hopping from one bar to the next only in hopes of catching a glimpse of all that navy hair or hearing a burst of that confident laughter.

By the time morning came and your search had yielded nothing other than a widening in the hollow carved out in your chest and the dizziness of the sleepless night, you had no choice but to call it quits. You wrote to Kaeya the moment you returned home, the letter not even making it into the envelope before you finally collapsed into bed. It was a simple message, but direct enough.

Kaeya, it read in your curling scrawl, though this time a little messier on account of the exhaustion. Please, tell me what happened? Where have you gone? I need to see you.

About a week later, when his reply came, your heart nearly lept out of your throat, your eager, shaking hands tearing the gold envelope with your name printed perfectly across it to shreds, letting the scraps of paper fall to the floor around your feet.

Your eyes watered upon seeing his handwriting again. You could hear his voice as you quickly scanned the page, a narration that had once been so enthusiastic and charming now turned regretful and hesitant.

But Kaeya did tell you what happened, both about Crepus Ragnvindr and the arrival of his Vision. When you reached the end of the explanation, however, you began to panic. Because you were sure there had to be more than that. He would’ve told you where he’d gone, wouldn’t he? He would’ve said he was coming to you, that he’d be arriving by the following afternoon.

But there were no words left, only the frayed edge of the parchment’s end.

There wasn’t even the signing of his name, always so beautiful and poetic in his elegant, looping cursive.

There was only a shaky drawing of a peacock feather, the ink smudged at the edge of the eyespot like Kaeya hadn’t been patient enough to let it dry before sending it.

†††

It had been nearly four years since you left the nation of Mondstadt.

Four years since you applied for and got accepted into one of the top universities in Liyue, moving to the nation of contracts and Mora and ore, now only returning to your home territory for a prestigious research project you still couldn’t believe you got approved onto the small team of.

Four years since hearing from the boy you’d grown up with, loved, and then lost.

You stood before the city’s high walls and felt that familiar breeze weaving through your hair, the warm summer air being drawn shakily into your lungs as you took one, long inhale, then exhaled the remnants of your past back out to be carried across the rolling hills on the wind. You forced yourself to step past the Knights guarding the front entrance, hoping to hide your reservations at being back in your homeland while your two eager and excited classmates pointed out unfamiliar and interesting things to each other a little ways ahead of you.

They were Liyue born and raised and had taken you under their wing when you’d been the stranger in a new city, all wide-eyed and anxiously hopeful. You wished you could return the favor in being their personal tour guide, but it’s just that the ache you thought you’d left behind after departing from the city of Freedom is back and it hurts, pulsing between your ribs and making it a little harder to breathe through the season’s humidity.

But it’s the beginning of June, the sky a clear and nearly cloudless blue. The birds are chirping from the eaves of the houses and the cobblestone is sure and strong under your feet, familiar smells drifting out from the Good Hunter restaurant beckoning you in for some of your childhood favorites. Perhaps that would make you feel better.

But, then again, it’s also possible that it could make you feel much, much worse.

“You never told us how lively it was!” one of your classmates, Haoyu, calls back to you. You give him a weak smile and continue with your steady pace.

“Yeah, or how many cute boys live in Mondstadt,” your other friend, Fenhua, slyly remarks as she eyes a trio of Knights strolling by.

“I can’t believe we get to spend the whole summer here,” Haoyu goes on, turning in circles as he gazes up at all the architecture that touches the sky. Then he gives you a mischievous look as he teasingly asks, “First night out is on you, right?”

You scoff as your lips pull up into a crooked smirk. “Yeah, you wish,” you reply.

Fenhua gives Haoyu a nudge and reminds him jokingly, “So much for all that talk about your family owning one of the ports. What, were you overcompensating for secretly being bankrupt or something?”

The two of them bicker and banter back and forth until Fenhua is laughing, but the details of their conversation fade into the busy sounds of the city as your memories fill in the gaps.

You still remember how it used to feel running these streets beside Kaeya and Diluc. It was rare that your fathers let you come here, always so strict about keeping their heirs protected and secure behind the iron wrought gates of their looming estates. But, every once in a while, you were able to convince one of the caretakers who had been put in charge of watching you three for the day to let you accompany her into the city.

You’d all pressed your noses to the shop windows, gazing inside and picking out the object you liked best. Kaeya always had the most expensive taste. You and Diluc used to tease him for it, always guessing which one he’d choose based on what seemed to cost the most Mora.

“Don’t be mad that I can spot luxury just by looking at it,” Kaeya used to defend with his nose up in the air, arms crossed over his chest. “It’s not my fault I enjoy nice things.”

Diluc would tease his brother for it, say he ought to be more humble once in a while, but you’d usually just end up agreeing with Kaeya. The ring or scarf or shoes he’d pointed out as his favorite was usually to your liking too, though you’d never considered yourself confident or flashy enough to pull them off. Kaeya valued beauty over practicality while Diluc liked something simple that could serve its purpose.

You supposed you were somewhere in the middle.

And, maybe, as you were now leisurely pacing the streets, you’d been hoping to catch a glimpse of that flowing, navy hair out of the corner of your eye, hear that devilish chuckle echoing down the alleys. For all you knew, Kaeya didn’t even live anywhere near Mondstadt anymore. Perhaps that would make it easier for you to stay the season here, if only you had a way to confirm it.

But then, something made you stop in your tracks. As two more Knights passed by you and your curious classmates, you glanced over your shoulder, eager to catch what you could of their conversation…

“…Cavalry Captain is always trying to get others to do his work for him,” one grumbled. “I swear, he really thinks he gets a pass just because of his looks.”

“Aww, don’t be jealous,” the other Knight teased his colleague. “Besides, you can’t tell me that if you weren’t as attractive as Kaeya you wouldn’t use it to your advantage too.”

You felt like your blood had turned to ice, veins frosted over from your head to your toes, numbing your fingertips as you just stood in the middle of the street, your friends traveling a little ways ahead of you until they turned and realized you’d lagged behind.

“Hey!” Haoyu called, tugging you back to reality. But it isn’t until you felt a hand lightly resting on your arm that you broke from your wide eyed, seemingly terrified trance and saw they’d both returned to your side. “What’s up? Everything ok?” he asked, looking a little concerned while Fenhua looked dangerously intrigued.

“Oh, yeah…” you nervously giggled, turning to face them and urging them to follow as you slowly made your way further down the street. “I thought I forgot something important back in Liyue but I remembered I have it now. I’m good.”

The rest of the day was spent trying to act like you hadn’t heard the name you’d been trying so hard to let go of.

But now you know.

Kaeya Alberich was not only still in Mondstadt, but the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius.

Maybe it’s a different Kaeya, you spent the remainder of the week trying to convince yourself.

But you know it’s not a different Kaeya.

Kaeya is a rarity.

A one of a kind.

You’ve never met another him and you probably never will.

So the question then becomes, over the years, had he met another you?

†††

The research project keeps you busy and focused…

Until it doesn’t.

June has come and gone and now the saplings of late spring have turned to the blossoms of early July, decorating the trees with pale lilacs and pinks, the air a little thicker, the sun burning a little hotter as it beams down on you, beading sweat on your brow as you and your classmates work day after day to study, log, and produce results for what could potentially be a very big door into all your futures.

You’re up late one night, jotting down a few more notes and trying not to smudge the ink as you struggle to read Haoyu’s jagged scrawl and compare techniques. You keep trying to stay centered and present, replaying the day’s work in your mind to accurately contribute to the project, but every time you go to put pen to paper, his face pops into your head and makes the sharp nib hover over the parchment, the unwritten words captured in the ink desperate to be recorded but denied again and again.

You’ve wondered whether you should reach out to Kaeya or not.

Did he know you were back? If he did, would he even care? Were you overthinking all of this?

Well, at least you knew the answer to the last of those questions, which was absolutely.

But how could you not? You could only assume, with the way things had ended, or rather, faded away, that he had no interest in contacting you. He’d had these past four years to do so and you hadn’t seen a single peacock feather in all that time.

Maybe he hated you.

But why would he? You’d done nothing wrong.

But what if he did? What if he hated you?

You let the pen fall from your hands, tiny blotches of ink that had been knocked loose freckling the page of your notes, and let out an exasperated sigh as you leaned back in your chair, slumping and turning your face up to the ceiling, eyes squeezed shut as you tried to rid his image from your mind.

You wanted to cry. You wanted to go to him. You wished you’d never come back to this city. You’ve been dying to see him. You were so mad at him for torturing you like this. You just wanted to see him smile at you again like he did back when everything was alright. You wanted to hit him. You wanted to kiss him. You wanted a drink, a distraction, anything to still your mind for a little while.

So when Fenhua came scampering into the room a little while later with the proposal that the three of you get out for a bit and have some fun because all this damn research was starting to make all of you slowly go insane, you were grateful for the invitation.

As you approached the Angel’s Share, hanging in the back of your trio, always the quiet, observant one of your pack, you felt a familiar feeling. It wasn’t quite dread, but it wasn’t quite excitement either.

It was more like anticipation.

Something was going to happen tonight, here, at this place.

You just didn’t know whether you wanted to be brave enough to step through the tavern doors and figure out what it was.

But it seemed you didn’t have much of a choice as Fenhua and Haoyu looped their arms through each of yours, guiding you inside with them, clearly sensing you needed the support.

The moment the door swung open, the jumbled noise of constant, lively chatter along with the clinking of glasses and boisterous shouts flooded the air around you, drawing you in. And soon, to your relief, you found that maybe anticipation didn’t always warn of something bad, but instead hinted that something good was on its way. Because, as you took a seat between your two friends at the bar, you found yourself smiling and laughing without even having to fake it anymore.

You made a toast to all your hard work so far, and to all the work that was still to come, may the Archons bless it to go smoothly. About an hour in, you felt lighter, warmer, and, with the help of some of that liquid courage flowing through your veins, a little more confident.

“Hey, I’ll be right back!” you shouted to Fenhua who, despite being right next to you, still might not’ve even heard you over the ever growing rowdiness, each passing hour bringing with it more lively patrons.

You turned and slid off the barstool, heading for the tiny bathroom where the line had finally shortened, leaning against the nook in the wall while waiting for the current occupant to exit and gazing out at the mass of moving people in a daze when you finally caught it— a glimpse of all that navy hair, the charming chuckle of a man blessed with good fortune and even better looks cutting through the noise of the packed crowd.

You and Kaeya locked eyes from across the room and then neither of you were smiling anymore. But Kaeya never let any surprise he felt show for too long, remedying his sudden shock with a small smirk while your heart continued to pound. You hadn’t even realized you’d been holding your breath until the tightness in your lungs turned into a dull ache, reminding you to exhale the air you’d been halfway to sucking down before the sight of him suffocated you.

The bathroom door opened behind you, the exiting occupant nudging your shoulder slightly and giving a startled apology. You turned your head to face her for but a second, jostled by the unexpected contact, and uttered a quiet, “It’s fine,” as she squeezed past you in the short, narrow hallway and back into all the hubbub of the bar.

When you turned back to train your eyes where Kaeya had just been, he was gone, as elusive as a ghost as he carefully slinked through the maze of people and disappeared.

You stepped into the bathroom and locked the door behind you, just standing there for what felt like forever until you were finally able to calm down enough to think.

Maybe it had been your imagination. Between all the late nights and stress and the alcohol, your brain could just be manifesting things to trick you.

You blinked hard, trying to rid the view of him from your thoughts.

He looked the same, but also different. You could’ve sworn he’d had something over one of his eyes. The Kaeya you remembered had periwinkle eyes— two of them— and had still looked a bit like a boy the last time you’d seen him. The person you’d just glimpsed was a man, his stature tall and lean and lithe, shoulders broad and arms strong.

Four years is a long time, a little voice in your head reminded you. You’ve changed a lot too.

Once you crept out from the bathroom, seeing the line having once again grown to stretch down the perimeter of the wall, you began to take a step back towards the direction of your friends but stopped mid-stride.

You couldn’t go back to them. Not like this, when you felt like you didn’t know up from down or left from right or fear from longing.

So, instead, you turned and headed towards the staircase, finding the second floor significantly less claustrophobic, and made your way to the balcony, which you were relieved to find empty.

You leaned against the railing, iron digging into your elbows as the steady breeze sent strands of your hair into your eyes. You hung your head, slumping further over the balcony, and let out a long, deep sigh.

It all seemed like a mistake— Kaeya and Diluc’s fight, Kaeya’s final letter to you, you going off to Liyue, Kaeya not reaching out, you not reaching out, you coming back to the one place you knew you’d secretly been avoiding, thinking about him nonstop, coming to this bar, seeing him here, running away— every last decision or event that had occurred in the last four years suddenly running through your head like a sped up film reel, the images making you dizzy, little bursts of stars spotting your vision when you tipped your head back up to the sky.

You felt the threat of oncoming tears as the memories kept flooding through you— the smiling, laughing face of an eight-year-old Kaeya, you trying to stifle your own giggles while Diluc looked more than displeased— the sparkling, periwinkle eyes of a twelve-year-old Kaeya as he lay next to you on the roof, pointing out shapes in the stars, finding his beloved peacock constellation and giving a smirk of satisfaction when you told him it suited him— the smooth, charming words of a fifteen-year-old Kaeya who leaned up against the wall as he looked at you, teasing that he was getting taller than you by the day, holding something just out of your reach as you jumped to try and grab it, scolding him to knock it off but laughing nonetheless— and, finally, an eighteen-year-old Kaeya, riding next to you through the woods, both of you urging your horses to gallop faster and faster as you raced between the trees, your shouts and taunts and laughter echoing across the land until he inevitably beat you and you broke out into the valley on the other side, already having rehearsed some excuse about how you would’ve won if only he hadn’t cheated or caught you off guard.

That might’ve been the last good memory you had of him— that afternoon with your horses, just passing time until the storm rolling overhead caught up with you— the last good memory you had before you were forced to imagine him distraught, just having lost his father for the second time. You envisioned him spilling over with fury as he and Diluc threw fists or crossed blades. You’d heard that’s when he’d gained his Vision, a sudden blast of cryo shooting an icy frost across the battlefield between him and his brother.

You could imagine the look and both their faces— Diluc shocked, maybe even a little fearful, eyes pleading not to let this go any further, while Kaeya was stunned, only to launch right back into battle as his ego breathed in the sweet drug of his newfound power, his talents recognized by the gods.

And when Diluc had told you the news, told you about Crepus’s death and Kaeya’s gift from the Archons and, with slamming that door in your face, greatly inferring that no more good memories would be born under the roof of the Ragnvindr home, that had been the last that you’d seen of him, too.

It was sort of funny.

With them, there had once been so many beautiful beginnings.

But now, all you could seem to grasp onto was the heartbreaking endings.

You felt your body tense as the balcony doors swung open and then closed, the quiet swoosh and click bringing a wave of annoyance over you.

Was there nowhere you were allowed to be alone in this place? You ought to turn and give whoever had just walked out a glare sharp enough to send them staggering back a few steps, maybe reconsider where they sought out their own sliver of peace and quiet. But before you could so much as glance over your shoulder, the voice interrupted your agitation like a light cutting through the dark.

“Hey…” It was the first rays of dawn splitting through the velvety night on the horizon, chasing the stars away until the moon returned to reclaim the sky. “I thought that was you.”

Your heart was quicker to accept the truth than your brain was, your bones drawn instinctually towards that smooth, sly tone like a moth to a flame. You didn’t want to go, knew if you got too close your delicate wings would catch fire and you’d be reduced to death and ash, but alas, you drifted towards the light, blinded by your yearning to touch it, addicted.

“It’s been a while,” Kaeya greeted you with that charming smile, giving a hesitant wave. “How’ve ya been?”

You could only gawk at him for a while, eyes scanning his entire being as if speaking to the figure before you was some kind of trap, some kind of test, like if you didn’t make sure he was the real thing and lent your voice to his ears you’d be cast into the abyss forever.

And while he felt the same, what you’d thought before had been right. The Kaeya currently standing before you did indeed look different than you remembered.

His skin was still that same warm, honey brown shade, his hair still sleek and navy though worn much longer than you’d ever seen it before, a lock of it cascading over his shoulder and down to his waist. He was taller than you remembered, too, though you supposed he could’ve grown a bit between the age of eighteen and now. His face had lost the last of its boyish softness and in its place was the handsome, chiseled features of a confident young man. And those eyes— those sparkling periwinkle eyes you could’ve gotten lost in if he’d let you stare long enough— were no longer a set of two, but a single one, his right covered with a black eyepatch while the left seemed to gaze upon you apologetically, despite the unbothered, casual stature of his nonchalant stance leaning against the doors with his arms crossed over his chest, one ankle resting over the other.

Your mouth hung open with a million different words to say, the combinations of them endless, but all you could taste was the frantic beating of your heart in your throat, any of the excited reliefs or bitter resentments stirring together in your brain becoming indistinguishable.

Your face suddenly felt too warm, the summer’s refreshing evening atmosphere turning to a stifling humidity as your nerves made it harder to breathe. Your dizziness only increased as Kaeya’s ghost drifted closer, the revenant of your love striding slowly towards you while he continued to speak.

“How long have you been back in the city?” you thought you heard him say, but couldn’t be too sure as your ears were ringing, blood rushing at an alarming rate to your head, vision swaying as you gripped the iron railing of the balcony in a white-knuckled fist behind you. “I would’ve been at the gates to greet you, had I known. I mean, not that you wanted to see me, I just—”

“I’ve been studying in Liyue,” you cut in, only a slight tremble in your voice as you wore a look closer to anger than disbelief now. You cleared your throat, took a steadying breath, then continued, “I’m only back for the summer— for a research project— then I’ll be going back…”

A hint of sadness crossed Kaeya’s face, there and then gone like a cloud of breath fogging in the winter air, and then he grinned at you again, congratulating you on making it into such a prestigious school. “We always knew you were smart,” he remarked, clinking the nearly empty bottle in his hand with a half full one that had been left on the balcony railing, assuming it was yours, cheersing with a stranger’s abandoned drink. He leaned against the railing, his shoulder only inches from yours yet feeling like a world away. He winked and jokingly said, “By the way, next time you see Morax, tell him I said hello.”

Kaeya tipped the final swig of his drink back to his lips, downing the contents and only wincing a little as he swallowed, letting out a quiet exhale as he turned his attention back out to the city he’d continued to make a home out of— the very place you’d been desperate to escape yet now found yourself a willing prisoner in once more.

And the silence that fell over you both then was suffocating. You wanted to say something— anything— so that the final words shared between you two weren’t, “Next time you see Morax, tell him I said hello.”

This could truly be the last chance you got to interact with him. You wanted to take control while you still had a drop of it in your hands, so you dug up some rare bits of courage, cleared the last of the dread from your throat, and asked him, “Why didn’t you try to find me?”

When you and Kaeya met eyes again, both your stares were wide. To be fair, that hadn’t really been what you’d meant to ask. You’d intended to start out with something much less heavy and accusatory like, “So, what have you been up to?” or “I’ve heard you’ve risen up the ranks. What would the Knights of Favonius think if they knew what a little terror their Cavalry Captain had been growing up?”

Anything that brought the rose before the thorn, feeding him soothing honey before you offered up the bitter pill.

But it was too late. The words that had just left your mouth couldn’t be taken back, and the way Kaeya looked at you now made your next breath catch. Because you’d just ruined everything, hadn’t you? You’d been given one last chance and you’d wasted it. And it was all your fault, all your fault, all your fault.

Kaeya let out a small, sad puff of a laugh under his breath, his smirk struggling to stay steady on his lips, and the fear that he’d morph to hate you only grew in your chest, a hungry monster clawing to break free from your ribs, tear through your body, and devour its host mercilessly.

“I suppose I could ask you the same thing,” he responded with a half shrug, swishing his bangs away from his face, exposing more of the eyepatch he used to cover the evidence of some injury hidden underneath.

You felt a stab in your chest when you considered that he could’ve gotten it after his fight with Diluc, the image of the boys who’d basically been your brothers purposely hurting each other beyond repair breaking your heart.

Kaeya sighed then, flashing a sliver of a sly smirk before the expression turned back to being apologetic, concluding his prior statement with, “Though, I think I have a pretty good idea…”

You still couldn’t quite believe that he was standing before you, standing this close, so much the same yet so much so different all at once. You just wanted to look at him, stare at him until the deep emptiness you’d felt for the past four years filled up with the memories of what could’ve been and overflowed.

“You have a right to be mad at me, y’know…” Kaeya continued, hanging his head a bit and unable to look at you as his mouth curved up into a crooked, nervous smile. “If I were you, I’d be mad at me…”

You remembered the time you two were sixteen and had snuck out to the city at night. It was the first time you’d gone unsupervised and the light that glowed from the tavern windows was like a beacon to your first taste of true teenage freedom.

It had been Kaeya’s idea to check out the bar, of course, and even as you protested and told him you’d never get away with it, that he was too recognizable and you looked too young, you had a giddy grin spread across your face, lacing your arm to interlock with his as the two of you approached the humble little establishment.

“The place is packed,” Kaeya had tried to convince you as you both surveyed the crowd inside through the latticed windows. “We’ll just duck in, check it out, maybe find someone willing to buy us a drink, and then be home before anyone even knows we’re gone.”

Right before he’d reached out to open the door for you, you giggled and playfully pulled him back. When he gave you a confused glance you shook your head and said, “If we get caught and have to make a run for it, don’t expect me to wait for you.”

Kaeya’s smile was soft and serene for a moment, as if he found your every man for himself mentality endearing somehow, but then he cracked another one of those signature smirks. “Whatever you say,” he scoffed. “Just remember that I’m a faster runner than you are.”

In the end, you two had been able to convince someone to buy a drink for you— well, technically, they just ordered. Kaeya had bribed them with enough money for a pint for you, him, and an additional round for your willing participant and their small group of friends— and you’d even danced together among the cramped crowd when the band began to play an upbeat jig of a tune. The night had been mischievous, magical, and probably the most fun you’d had in a long time.

Until it wasn’t.

Because Kaeya got a little too tipsy, swearing he could handle a second round, a third, a fourth— swearing that he drank all the time and had the tolerance for it— and then started to get sloppy.

You couldn’t have been gone for more than two minutes, pushing your way to the bar counter to retrieve some water in hopes of remedying Kaeya’s spinning vision, but when you returned to where you’d left him on the edge of the dancefloor, you nearly dropped the full glasses and let them shatter all over the creaky, wooden floors.

Because, although his back was to you, you knew exactly what Kaeya was doing with the girl you’d noticed who’d been giving him doe-eyes all night. Her hand was twined through his silky hair, their lips too close to merely be talking, and when he put his hand on her hip to shift her slightly to the side, you saw head on just how deeply he’d been kissing her.

Back then, you’d been more than mad.

You’d been absolutely furious, blinded by your jealousy and longing and all those complicated, messy feelings you kept contained for the sake of ensuring things between you two were stable.

You’d slammed the glasses on the nearest table, water sloshing over the brims and nearly hitting the chatting patrons standing off to the side— who shot you scathing looks as they stepped away from the puddle that was forming as the liquid dripped off the edge of the furniture— wetting the floor by their feet. Then you’d stormed out, not caring if Kaeya followed you or spent all night trading saliva with some random stranger.

Or, at least, that’s what you’d tried to tell yourself.

Truth was, you’d started crying before the door of the tavern finished closing behind you and then you’d nearly collapsed in the next alley you came across, pressing your hand to your mouth as if that could contain all the sobs that were trying to barrel out, shakily steadying yourself against the cold brick wall and feeling like you were going to be sick.

Less than a minute later though, Kaeya caught up with you, having followed you out the moment he caught a glimpse of your silhouette rushing out the front doors, and immediately began trying to explain what had really happened through heavily slurred words and stumbling strides.

“I swear— She just came onto me! I told ‘er I was drunk— told ‘er I was with somebody but she wouldn’t listen—!” He’d stammered, all the while you stared him down like a wounded animal ready to strike if he got too close, all scrunch-nosed and sharp-glared, jaw clenched and breathing heavily.

You’d wanted to hit him. To scream that you loved him— you did— not some girl who didn’t even know his name or the types of sweets he snuck from the manor kitchen or his favorite shapes found among the stars. You wanted to go home. You wanted to curl up in bed beside him like you did when you were little and still scared of the dark. You wanted him. You wanted him to want you too.

“Just take me home!” You’d cut him off, marching past him out of the alley and back onto the main streets, the cobblestones feeling much more unsteady than you remembered them before.

So, yeah. Back then, you’d been mad. You’d gotten over it eventually, really heard him out and decided to accept his apology the following day when you both were sober and weighed down with the regret that bad decisions tended to leave behind.

But now, when Kaeya acted like four years of silence was worth the same as some one-off, instantaneous occurrence you’d gone through as immature teenagers…

You felt more hollow than anything, similar to the way tossing and turning through several sleepless, anxious nights left you with the sense that you were no longer a living, breathing girl but a ghost searching for the end of its own haunting, the world moving too fast around you as you drifted along and your thoughts rolled lazily through your mind, too exhausted to be bothered anymore.

“I was trying to give you space,” you admitted with a defeated sigh, draping yourself further over the railing to match his forlorn posture. “After everything that happened, I just thought…”

It came back in quick flashes— Diluc’s scathing, scornful words upon delivering the news of his father’s death and how you’d choked on your tears and sorrow as you rode back home through the woods and the smudged peacock feather used to sign off Kaeya’s final letter to you…

Then you looked over at him and admitted, “I thought you’d come back when you were ready. But the more time that went by…”

Kaeya met your gaze. You still weren’t over the initial shock of the eyepatch. You might never be, if you even got another chance to see him. You looked away again. Holding his stare for too long was like staring into the sun. It left his image burned into your vision even when you closed your eyes and made you ask yourself why you’d taken the risk to steal a glance in the first place. “I dunno… I guess I just thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore.”

His hand was laying itself over yours on the railing now, a hand you’d seen in nearly every stage of its development— the small, clumsy grasp of a six-year-old as he’d fumbled with little knick-knacks given to him by one of the servants so he wouldn’t have to fight with Diluc over toys— the mischievous fiddling of a curious ten-year-old trying to pick the lock of his father’s home office just to see what lay beyond the heavy wooden doors— the awkward, lanky fingers of a thirteen-year-old learning to grow into the first stages of his adolescent body, how he used to nervously fidget with the sapphire newly pierced through his left ear when he was telling you some story he hoped would impress you— the sure, swift strength of a seventeen-year-old who caught your wrist as you’d tripped over your own feet while walking through the woods, helping you back up and no longer attempting to hide how much he liked seeing you blush upon receiving even the simplest of touches from him.

Now, being in his early twenties, Kaeya’s hands were slender and a little scuffed, knuckles scratched from sparring matches among the Knights and a callus on his middle finger from writing one too many reports, sending messages between nations when the Acting Grand Master became too busy with her end of foreign relations and he had to pick up the slack.

But even so, they were beautiful— nails manicured and skin still soft enough to prove that, despite his title, Kaeya wasn’t in the habit of working too hard.

“There is nothing—” Kaeya began, voice stern and reassuring, “Nothing— that you could ever do that would make me want nothing to do with you.” You could read the guilt scribbled across his face, biting your tongue as you felt the threat of tears prinkling in the back of your nose, a lump forming in your throat that you tried to swallow. “It was never my intention to cut you off…”

Kaeya gave your hand a light squeeze, the small pressure enough to burst the dam sealed off behind your eyes, causing your vision to become blurred as four years worth of uncertainty and sadness sparkled on the rim of your gaze.

“Then why—” you croaked, voice cracking as the tears spilled over, clumping your bottom lashes together in watery spikes, pair after pair of sparkling sorrow racing down your cheeks to meet under your chin. Kaeya didn’t let go of your hand as you began to cry. He only held on a little tighter, lacing his fingers together with yours and making a stifled sob slip past your lips.

“I just thought that you’d be upset with me— that you’d blame me. I mean…” he tried to explain, gently wiping away your next round of tears with the pad of his thumb, tracing a soft line across the apple of your cheek. “You grew up with Diluc, too. I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position with having to pick a side but, well…” Kaeya cracked another one of those apologetic smiles and suddenly you became overwhelmed with the urge to bury your face in his chest, to just let him hold you until you felt whole again. “I guess it’s too late for that.”

You just couldn’t stop crying, the slow drip of a leaking faucet suddenly becoming a pipe burst beyond repair.

Because you’d spent the last four years worrying Kaeya hated you for nothing.

All that pain, all that blame, pent up and pushed down over and over and over again until the glass bottle was ready to crack and splinter and shatter into a million shards of glittering glass dust…

It all seemed to be remedied the moment Kaeya wrapped both his long, lean arms around you, pulling you into his chest and running a hand through your hair, combing his fingers through the tangles created by the summer wind and soothing you with a quiet, whispered coo of, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

You could barely get the words out as you nuzzled your face into his shoulder, shaking your head in miniscule motions as you muttered out a pathetic sounding, “S’ok… I never blamed you—” A hiccuped sob interrupted your forgiveness, but your tears were starting to slow, the deep well they’d collected in nearly running dry. “I don’t even think Diluc blamed you… Not for what happened to—”

“It’s ok,” Kaeya cut in, the blade of his voice sharper than before but dulling by the second, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “It’s ok. Even if he does, that’s not your fault.”

“I know, I just—” One last shuddering exhale before you collected yourself, making the foolish mistake to stare directly back up into the bright star of his one-eyed gaze, though this time you didn’t care if it blinded you. You wouldn’t look away. “I just wish things could’ve ended up differently… For all of us.”

All the times you and Kaeya had caught a shooting star arching across the night sky during one of your celestial rooftop escapades, how many times had you wished for things to stay just as they had been?

How many times had you wished the sun would never rise, that the night would stretch across Teyvat’s vast horizon for the rest of eternity so you and Kaeya could stay laying side by side, hands clasped between you while your free fingers pointed out all kinds of animals and imaginary heroes in the tangled constellations?

Not enough times, apparently. And now it was too late. You could barely even make out the peacock anymore, too many misty clouds drifting in to veil the moon. But there was one thing you knew for certain, and that was, even if you couldn’t go back and rewrite the events of your lives so that you’d never have to spend even a single day apart wondering where in the world the other could’ve gone, you would do anything to not lose Kaeya again. Even if it was just ink and parchment keeping you two connected across cities— across nations— you would take up the pen again and again until you received another eyespot feather in the vibrant teal or aquamarine or violet Kaeya liked to sign his letters with.

“I know…” Kaeya mumbled, resisting the urge to press a chaste kiss to the crown of your head. But then he was pulling back from you, just enough so you could see the flicker of appraising charm forcing itself over his features, and said with a hint of those sly undertones that usually spelled some mix of trouble and fun, “But, you know, while you’re here, I’m sure we have quite the bit of catching up to do. How long are you in Mondstadt, anyhow?”

You blinked away the remaining film of tears glossing over your eyes, gave a weak sniffle, and replied, “Till the end of summer…”

You could tell the grin Kaeya wore next was a real one, not just adopted in the moment for your sake, and after smoothing down your hair and using the edge of his glove to wipe away the last of the salt streaking your face, he said, “Well then… I guess we have a lot of lost time to make up for until then.”

†††

Standing by the fountain in the Mondstadt square, the hiss of flowing water and whistle of the summer breeze creating an intertwining melody over the cobblestone streets, you took your first deep breath in what felt like years.

Well, in some ways, it was. And even though you’d waited this long to reconcile with your childhood friend, it was funny how long a week could feel when you’d spent literal years waiting for something you thought might never come.

But, seeing Kaeya approaching you now, it almost made it feel like no time had passed at all.

Because he was giving you that charming, mischievous smile, tossing up a coin and catching it, the glint of shimmering gold flying higher and higher above his head with every new throw, and making your heart flutter with every step closer to you he took.

“I haven’t kept you waiting long, I hope?” Kaeya’s question lilted with melodic smoothness, stopping before you with the gold Mora coin pinched between his fingers.

You smiled, shook your head, and replied, “Not at all. Plus,” you winked, leaning in a little closer as if telling a secret, your past self returning to you for a moment, the way you’d often become absorbed in Kaeya’s own scheming behavior if you spent a little too much time around him, “if you would’ve kept me waiting, I still remember the way to all your favorite taverns.”

Kaeya looked surprised for a moment, then softened as a giggle bubbled past his lips, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “Well, in that case…” He held his arm out to you, his elbow bent so you could loop your arm with his, and as soon as you took the invitation, he began to walk with you. “I guess we should get going before I end up passed out drunk in an alley somewhere.”

And things seemed perfect as you two strolled along under a clear, sunny sky— almost too good to be true. And wasn’t it always when you were blinded by joy that the parasites of doubt began to gnaw at your insides? To burrow their way deeper into your heart and inject poison into your veins?

Because, even as Kaeya complained about working for the Knights and rambled on about the best new bakery in town, the smile that had sat so easy and natural on your face slowly began to become strained, forced.

Because this, too, would end.

This moment, right here, right now, with him…

It would all become a memory once you returned to Liyue, faded and frayed around the edges the more time you spent away.

“—But you’ll just have to wait to try it once we get there.”

You blinked back into reality, glancing up at Kaeya with minor confusion and asking, “What? Get where?”

Kaeya smirked, finding pleasure in keeping you at least a little in the dark, so long as the end result would make you smile. “Heh… Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” he teased, giving your shoulder a soft nudge with his own.

“No fair…” you lightly protested, puffing out a weak chuckle. Then you said, “You really haven’t changed, y’know. You used to keep secrets from me all the time when we were kids…” Now it was your turn to nudge him, harder than he’d nudged you, and soon you found yourself wearing a devious expression as you remarked, “You’re such a bully!”

“Am not!” Kaeya defended, laughing as he knocked some more of his weight into you and nearly caused you both to topple over. “Besides, it’s not keeping secrets! It’s surprising you.” He stuck his nose up in the air, going from goofy to regal in two seconds flat, another habit of his you remembered from back in the day.

It used to drive you crazy, how easily he could recover from a fit of laughter or straighten his posture after scrambling away from one of his schemes— how you’d always be the one to give things away because you could never compose yourself on command like that— but now, you found it endearing. It was unexpectedly familiar. Comforting. It helped settle all the doubts swimming around inside of you for a bit, at least.

“Oh, c’mon!” You begged playfully, pouting and pulling on his arm. “Just tell me!”

“Seems you haven’t changed much either.” Kaeya lowered his voice to something a little more serious, some melancholy longing slipping through. When you gazed up at him that time, you saw the shift with your own two eyes, the way he looked so pained one second only to mask it with playfulness the next. He reached over and pinched your ear with his free hand and declared through a chuckle, “You never were the most patient!”

“Hey!” You scolded through a poorly concealed laugh, swatting him away. “That’s not fair when you were always telling me things like ‘you’ll see’!” You mocked the quote in a deeper voice, as if it sounded anything like the warm, smooth, honey-sweet tone of Kaeya’s vocals. “Admit it! You liked to torture me with the suspense!”

Then you were both laughing, stumbling down the streets with your arms still interlocked as you reflected on a few more fond memories from your childhoods together. You unearthed stories he’d nearly forgotten while Kaeya teased you about embarrassing moments you wished he would forget.

But then the mood began to wither, all the petals of your bright, blooming banter plucked from the flower of your childhoods one by one until all that was left was the thorny stem.

“I’m sorry…” you apologized, trying to swallow the uncomfortable lump forming in your throat. “For what happened— to your family and to you. I’m just… I’m sorry. I should’ve—”

“Don’t—” Kaeya cut in, his voice quiet. Fragile. Like a star made of blown glass. Yet still his words contained the power to draw blood if the shattered shards were touched. His throat bobbed with a particularly hard swallow— he wanted to spare you his tears— and after clearing his throat, he concluded with, “It’s fine.”

“But I—”

“It’s not your fault!” Kaeya snapped, raising his voice over yours, then immediately kicked himself, sighing out a frustrated exhale before remedying his outburst with a kinder, “It’s not your fault, ok? It’s just…” He hesitated, searching for the right words to say. Then he shrugged, grasping your hand and giving it a slight squeeze. “It’s just the way things turned out.”

You realized then, as Kaeya forced himself to give you a smile, how you must look when you tried to fake the same emotions to him.

No matter how hard either of you tried to hide your feelings, to keep secrets, to lie…

The other would always know.

It was a part of your relationship that had never had its sharp edge dulled, never lost the saturation of its vivid color.

It was a side effect of being connected by the stars, the irony that the celestial plane had placed upon two soulmates.

So, if you couldn’t lie, the next best thing was to create a new truth.

You squeezed Kaeya’s hand back, gave him a crooked grin, and said, “Maybe we’ve both been holding onto the past… Maybe, even just for today, we should focus on the present.”

The curl of Kaeya’s palm around yours felt like coming home. Because, though Kaeya’s hands had changed from the last time you’d touched them— gotten bigger, stronger, colder— they still held onto you like you were something he wanted to protect.

“C’mon…” Kaeya nodded towards a nearby alley, the vaguely familiar crookedness of it sending a flash of a spontaneous escape route while trying to evade your chaperone through your memory. “For old times’ sake… Plus…” You started down the narrow alley with him, the sounds of both your laughter and shouts echoing through your brain like the ghosts you’d almost forgotten as your feet tapped over the cracked cobblestones. “This is the shortcut to the scenic route.”

†††

The romantic little row boat rocked upon gentle waves at the end of the dock, waiting for you and Kaeya to board it and drift out to one of the private islands in the middle of Cider Lake.

There was a picnic waiting for you there when you arrived and he’d packed all of your old favorites along with some new treats from that bakery he’d been trying to tell you about earlier. You could tell how much care he’d put into preparing it and found yourself a little taken aback considering this was your first real time together since reconnecting.

You know, aside from when you sobbed into his shoulder on the balcony of the Angel’s Share.

So, as you two enjoyed lunch together, talking and laughing and catching up, you did, for once, allow yourself to enjoy the present.

However, as the sun arched across the sky and the first golds and lilacs of sunset began to blush the horizon, the energy started to shift. Not necessarily in a bad way, but more so in a bittersweet way. Because you two could’ve shared so many more smiles, stories, touches, and tender gazes if only you hadn’t been separated by time.

If only, if only, if only, if only…

If only you’d allowed yourself to fall for him sooner.

If only you’d been brave enough to tell him how you’d really felt.

If only he would’ve told you how he really felt.

If only one of you would’ve reached out during all that time.

If only.

“What…?” you asked in a dream-like daze, laying out on your stomach across from Kaeya on the picnic blanket and gazing into his periwinkle eyes— well, the one that was left visible to you, at least.

You were still getting used to that, but the more you looked at him, the more you thought the eyepatch suited him. You could already imagine all the outrageous stories he’d made up when people asked him why he wore it or what was underneath. It made another tired giggle hum in your chest.

“Nothing…” Kaeya stalled, caught in the same dreamy state as you, his eye tracing all the features of your face. Unlike him, you still looked the same. Just a little bit older, a little more tired on account of all the late nights this current research project was demanding from you, your hair a little different, but your eyes and your smile…

To him, those would always be just like he remembered.

“It’s something…” Your voice was nearly a whisper, only speaking loud enough to be heard over the breeze, your feet kicking lazily behind you, Kaeya’s face only inches from yours. You outstretched one arm, lowered your head to rest your cheek on your shoulder, and stared up at him through your lashes. “You can’t lie to me…” You reminded him with a sated smile. “I always know.”

Kaeya let out a breathy chuckle, mimicking your relaxed posture and allowing himself to sink closer to the earth, the plush grass underneath felt through the blue and white checkered picnic blanket. He placed his hand on top of yours, gently rubbing his thumb along your soft skin, his voice growing even quieter, as if admitting what he was about to say next too loudly would wake him from the serene dream he was starting to believe this was.

He said, “It’s a secret,” which only made you roll your eyes and let out a cynical sigh, pushing off from the ground to sit back up, Kaeya following suit.

“Fine then,” you teased, nose up in the air as you shot him a playfully devious side glance, trying to hide a smile. “Don’t tell me. I’ll figure it out on my own sooner or later.”

Kaeya chuckled. “Oh, you will, will you?”

“Of course I will,” you continued, now absentmindedly playing with a stray thread on the hem of one of the quilted stitches. “And even if I don’t, you’ll tell me eventually. You can’t stand to be the only one in on something.”

Kaeya let out a hearty laugh, one that made you wish you could spend every day like this, with him, skirting on the edge of arguments and making harmless jokes and pulling on each other’s strings in just the right ways.

Just the way you used to.

Just the way you used to…

“Well which is it?” Kaeya continued to tease. “Do you want to figure it out on your own or do you want me to tell you?”

You picked up one of the lingering blueberries left in the basket and tossed it at him. “I want you to tell me.” You grinned as Kaeya caught it, tossing it back at you only for it to bounce away into the grass somewhere.

“Alright then,” Kaeya finally yielded with a resolute nod. “But you’ll have to come closer. It is a secret, after all.”

You scooted closer, leaning in with one ear as if you really expected him to whisper it to you. But then, after his silence stretched on for one moment too long, you looked back to him, your faces closer than they’d been since you two had snuggled up in his bed on a stormy night as children.

You felt your breath catch, unable to tear your stare away from his eye as if all the secrets of the universe were contained within that small pool of periwinkle, and as Kaeya’s hand reached forward to gently cup your cheek, weaving his fingers into your hair, you closed your eyes.

How long had you waited for this? Wanted this? Dreamt of it?

How many nights had you mourned a kiss that would never come as you stared over all the glittering lights that shimmered along every path in Liyue, wondering if you’d ever come close to feeling the way you’d felt about Kaeya with anyone else?

As his lips touched yours, everything else faded away— all the fear and the doubt and the past and the future.

There was only right here, right now, as if this single moment was all you’d ever lived in, all you’d ever known.

And Kaeya was so tender with you, so gentle and caring. Considering how long he’d also been waiting for this, wanting it, dreaming of it, it was a miracle he hadn’t ruined the moment and kissed you the very second you two stepped off the boat and onto the grassy shore, not stopping until it got so late that someone else sailed out searching for the missing Cavalry Captain.

The moment he broke away, the eternal bliss that had just filled you was stolen quicker than a wave pulling back from the shore, and you wove your fingers through his hair, using that as an anchor to keep you two close, tugging him in a little to press your forehead against his, any kind of contact that would make you feel like that wasn’t the first and the last, a silent pleading to hold on and never let go.

“Sorry…” Kaeya nervously whispered through a crooked smile, his eyes closed and careful hand moving to rest on the back of your neck, not wanting to let go either.

In return, you whispered, “Sorry for what?”

Kaeya let out a shuddering sigh, reluctantly pulled away a few inches so he could look you in the eyes. He searched your face for something— some kind of anger or sorrow or hesitation— anything to make the fact that you couldn’t stay easier on him.

But all he could scavenge from your loving, gentle expression was that none of this was ever meant to be easy. Because easy things were fleeting.

It was the hard things— the things you fought for— that ended up sticking around the longest.

It was the things you decided to grab and hold onto even through the thrashing and the clawing and whatever other odds that tried to cause you to give up and let go that you could truly call your own.

So he kissed you again, this time with a little more urgency, a little more passion, as if that was the only response that could accurately express whatever answer he could’ve spoken with words.

He was right when he’d said you two had a lot of lost time to make up for.

This seemed like a good place to start.

†††

Over the coming weeks, the city of Mondstadt had never seemed so small to you before in your entire life.

The once uncharted and mysterious alleys that winded between the buildings were now secret passageways and shortcuts to you. The rising levels of brick and stone that loomed and casted shadows big enough to swallow you whole were now a view of Kaeya’s office from the headquarters of the Knights or the windows of some foreign leader’s favorite hotel suite.

Because, despite the fact the city still may have looked the same on the surface, much had changed in the years you’d been away. Kaeya thought he ought to catch you up, maybe make a guessing game out of it while he was at it too.

“Let’s see…” you pondered, gazing up at some luxury apartment in the distance he’d pointed out to you. “It has a pretty good view, so it must be expensive, aside from its upper level location…” You’d already guessed the vacation homes of Fontaine politicians and Snezhnayan royals, Inazuma CEOs and wealthy Liyue traders. Kaeya had made you guess the residency of someone prominent from nearly every nation in Teyvat at one point or another with the exception of one you should’ve found most obvious in this case. “Wait, don’t tell me… It’s someone from Mondstadt, isn’t it?”

Kaeya gave a smile and a nod, keeping his lips sealed though seeming to struggle the more and more he could sense your wheels turning.

“It’s someone you know personally, isn’t it?” you asked next.

To that, Kaeya gave a conflicted shrug and replied, “I suppose you could say that, yes.”

“It’s the Grand Master of the Knights then— Or maybe the Acting Grand Master?” The two of you continued your lazy stroll through the streets, your hands clasped and on your way to a lunch reservation, which you were going to be late for if this particular game dragged on for much longer.

“Hmm… Close,” Kaeya hinted, and you perked up for a second. Then he said, “But not quite,” and you deflated back into a silent, pouting frustration.

“I give up then,” you resigned, trying to bait him into telling you.

Kaeya gave you a nudge. “No, c’mon, you know it.”

“Archons know what kinds of company you’ve kept over these past four years,” you sarcastically teased. “How am I supposed to guess when I haven’t even met a single one of your friends?”

Kaeya chuckled, amused, only becoming even more so when you frowned and asked him what was so funny. “You know him,” he hinted. That earned him a look caught between confusion and annoyance. “Just think,” he tried to encourage. “If it’s someone that you know, who I also— technically— know, and they’re from this nation…” The pride that settled over his features the moment he saw your eyes light up with the answer was enough to tell you you were right before you even said it.

“No—!” You exclaimed in hushed disbelief, staring at him wide-eyed as if waiting for him to admit he was just messing with you. You glanced from him back to the gilded ivory of the luxury complex then back to him. “So you mean this entire time you were hiding out in some high-rise palace?!” You let out a scoff of incredulous laughter, feeling both slighted and relieved. “And to think,” you added with a certain air of forced pretentiousness as you eyed him slyly, “all these years I was worried you were shivering in a shack somewhere.”

Kaeya let out another burst of laughter and a dramatic response of, “I shiver just imagining living in a shack. You think I would’ve ever allowed myself to end up in such a place?”

The remaining way to the restaurant and throughout the entire afternoon meal as well, the two of you traded more banter and flirtatious glances.

You’d found yourself becoming more comfortable with being on the receiving end of Kaeya’s playful quips or the naughty suggestions he’d whisper in your ear when you two found yourselves nestled within a crowd, always taking pleasure in how flustered you’d become while he remained cool and calm in that easy, calculated way of his, the only evidence of his comment being that sly smirk spread across his lips.

Kaeya was determined to make the most of his time with you— he hadn’t gone to the trouble of rearranging his entire work schedule to match your research hours for nothing. So, at every given chance he would take you out. He’d plan a special surprise. Sometimes, you two would just spend the entire day talking, hours passing like minutes. If you weren’t submerged in research, you were out on the town with what Fenhua and Haoyu had started referring to as your “mysterious suitor”.

As soon as the sky grew dark with the lilacs and violets of night, Kaeya would walk you back home to the quaint little living space you shared with your other two classmates, kissing you on the hand and wishing you a good night and the sweetest of dreams whilst Haoyu and Fenhua watched from the window (less than subtly, you’d noticed on more occasions than not) and began to conjure up a new round of questions and curiosities about who the handsome, one-eyed gentleman really was to you.

Not to mention, how you’d had any time whatsoever to begin a courtship amidst the busy work schedule this research project was trapping you all in.

“So who is he?” Haoyu asked first, unable to contain his nosiness, however harmless it usually was.

“Yeah, and where’d you two meet?” Fenhua would jump in, both of them trailing along behind you as you attempted to retreat to your room to unload your things and take a breather.

“Is he a Knight? I heard you should watch out around those guys,” Haoyu warned. “They get bored with the girls from their own city and latch onto any new face they meet.”

“Oh, but he’s so dreamy, isn’t he?” Fenhua sighed, throwing herself to lay across the end of your bed while you kicked off your shoes and tried to suppress an amused smile. “And don’t listen to Haoyu. I mean, sure, maybe some of the Knights who are on the prowl are a little promiscuous, but if you end up changing your mind about the one you managed to lure in…” She gave you a cheeky wink accompanied by a sly smirk. “Feel free to send him my way.”

Haoyu sat on the other side of Fenhua, rolling his eyes at her and handing you the glass of water you’d left out that morning as you went to reach for it, continuing as you took a sip, “I mean, I’m not trying to sound like I’m—”

“What? Jealous?” Fenhua cut in with a giggle, earning her a sharp nudge in the shoulder from Haoyu.

“What I was trying to say—” Haoyu began again, shaking his head and smirking at his mischievous friend before looking back to you, “—is that I’m not trying to sound like I don’t trust your judgment. It’s just, well… You’ve always been like a little sister to us. We’re protective over you. And you’re so shy most of the time, especially around new people…” Fenhua sat up, taking a slightly more serious stance alongside Haoyu now, nodding along as he spoke. “I’m just wondering why you’ve caught his attention— I mean,” he anxiously remedied, “Ok, that sounded bad. I’m just worried that guy has ulterior motives, know what I mean?”

You set the now empty glass on the bedside table, looking to both your friends with a sense of gratitude, but also a slight twinge of guilt. “Guys,” you began, “I appreciate you always looking out for me, but I didn’t just meet Kaeya.” You paused for a moment, trying to decipher the puzzled looks exchanged between both your friends. “We knew each other when we were kids,” you then clarified, both Haoyu and Fenhua giving a synchronized “oooohh…” of understanding.

You filled them in, explained how you grew up together, pretty much all the way until you were eighteen, but lost touch right before you left to attend university in Liyue.

“We haven’t seen each other in a long time so…” you shrugged, your bashful smile giving you away. “We’ve just been catching up.”

And so came more questions from the two of them, naturally, but as you answered this time— in the moments they both stopped trying to speak over each other and actually lent you a small space of silence to try and address one of their many inquiries— you found yourself being careful about which truths you divulged to them and which ones you wanted to keep for yourself.

Because while the memories of your childhood might’ve been up for grabs when it came to what you were willing to expose, the more intimate details of the recent developments of you and Kaeya’s relationship were under lock and key.

Almost all of your alone time— and, if you were being honest, most of the time meant to be dedicated to your research— was spent thinking about him if you weren’t seeing him. It was spent replaying all the times over these past weeks that Kaeya had held your hand, put his arm around you, pulled you in close, held your face in his palms as you gazed up at him lovingly, kissed you…

Even things that hadn’t yet happened, but you’d very much like to try, if the occasion so arised.

“But you guys have gotta be more than friends, right?” Fenhua pushed, giving you a half-lidded look as if to say, give it up. “I mean, I’ve seen you two walking arm in arm when he drops you off. The guy has kissed your hand—!” She was gesturing wildly now, nearly hitting Haoyu in the face a few times and making him flinch. “We may not be from this city but you can’t tell me that all Mondstadter’s express friendship like that, I mean…”

You admitted that, growing up, Kaeya would harmlessly flirt with you all the time. When asked what you’d do in response, you simply said you’d just scoff and brush him off, tell him to stop teasing, which wasn’t a complete lie. The fact that you were leaving out how you wished he’d just be direct and stop keeping you guessing all the time so you could finally know if you two were more than just friends didn’t make what you’d told them any less true.

“Ok, but did you ever consider,” Haoyu raised, “that maybe he was doing all of that back then because he actually did like you?”

Yes, you thought to yourself, a million times, yes.

But, even now, that made the distance you’d just finally gotten a chance to close all the more painful.

If Kaeya had had feelings for you— those kinds of feelings— all along…

How could he have let you go like that?

“Well of course he liked her,” Fenhua stated like it was the most obvious fact in the world. She threw her arm around you, pulling you in for a side hug and saying with a warm smile, “What’s not to like?”

And so the three of you sat around on your bed talking and teasing each other for much later than any of you had intended, given you had an early start to tomorrow’s work. But for as much as you’d smiled and giggled at all their speculations, by the time you were alone in your bed again, all of that doubt started creeping back in.

Because your time was ticking down every single week, every single day, and soon, every single hour before you had to leave this little bubble of bliss you’d accidentally discovered and return to Liyue.

You couldn’t just skip out on your final year of university to chase some guy, even if that guy was Kaeya Alberich— not when you’d worked so hard to get this far.

And so a war began to rage inside your mind, a constant push and pull of leave, stay, leave, stay, leave, stay colliding every time you tried to focus on your work only to be distracted with intrusive thoughts like how many more times would you and Kaeya get to kiss before you couldn’t anymore?

How many more times would you get to hold his hand, liking the way his cool palms helped stave off the season’s heat as you strolled through the square?

How many more times would you have the chance to memorize the exact shade of periwinkle that glittered in his eyes?

How much sooner and how much longer could you have been able to learn and appreciate these kinds of experiences with him if only things had turned out different?

The dread and regret could eat you alive, if you let it, but eventually, after much tossing and turning, you’d fall asleep.

Some nights, you’d have pleasant dreams, others, vicious nightmares. But by the time you woke up, you’d only be left with one thought, one feeling.

And that was that you didn’t want to leave Kaeya— not for another year or another month or another day. But this version of reality you were currently living couldn’t last forever. You both had your own paths, your own lives and goals and dreams.

It was unfair to choose. Cruel to choose.

It was a painful reminder that to love was to suffer, one way or another.

At least, you thought, this time you wouldn’t be suffering alone.

†††

With summer on its deathbed, so was the stress of completing your research in Mondstadt.

You were relieved to have finished on time, to have all those early mornings, hectic afternoons, and sleepless nights behind you. But that relief was merely the honey that came before the bitter pill you knew you’d have to force yourself to swallow.

Kaeya was better at masking it than you were, all his playful remarks and charming smiles working overtime to put you at ease and brighten your spirits. But, behind that disguise was a sense of loneliness.

Your grins were lonely too, every upturn of the corners of your mouth hosting a silent apology for something that wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Time was running out, Kaeya knew. He could hear it woven into your words and embroidered around the edges of your laughter. But despite the summer coming to an end, he was determined to make every day that you two had left together count.

He’d spent the last few weeks planning a most special surprise for the both of you to share.

“So you really aren’t gonna tell me this time…” you kept on pressing as you leaned closer into Kaeya’s side, both of you strolling along with your arms linked under a sunset sky. “Are you?” Velvety lilacs bled into the sky more and more with every hill you climbed, chasing away the soft blues and pale golds of daylight’s final moments.

Kaeya chuckled, shook his head, and replied, “Nope. You’re just gonna have to wait and see.”

The two of you had left the city, the walls that still held the ghosts of so many childhood memories growing smaller in the distance every time you peaked behind you.

“Well, can you at least tell me if we’re almost there?” you asked a little while later, part of you starting to wonder if he was playing a trick on you.

“Hmm… I could…” Kaeya teased, pretending to weigh his options. Then he flashed you a mischievous grin and said, “But I think it’s more fun to watch you squirm.” That earned him a jab in his ribs from your elbow, but your playful, otherwise painless assault only won you another chuckle from him. “Alright, alright,” Kaeya caved, slipping his arm around your waist and tugging you closer to his side. “We’re almost there.” He kissed the top of your head, his mischief softening to something a little more demure. “I promise it’ll be worth the wait.”

The remaining trek didn’t last long, thankfully for your giddy impatience, and as you reached the top of the final slope and took in the view, you sucked in a gasp.

“Kaeya!” you exclaimed, covering your mouth as if that would muffle your awe and excitement. “Don’t tell me— Is this really for us?”

Kaeya stood next to you, hands on his hips, looking rather pleased with himself as he surveyed the private campsite he’d set up for the two of you, a large tent with an open roof to view the stars placed across from a crackling bonfire, a case full of cold drinks and food you two could cook together doubling as a makeshift bench for the time being.

Kaeya pretended to scan the horizon, sweeping his gaze from one side of the cliff to the next as he shielded his eye from a sun no longer present. “Well, considering there’s no one else here…” he shrugged, sneaking you a wink and a playful side glance. Then, pulling you back in close to whisper in your ear he said, “Think you can still find our favorite constellation?”

And you were so happy in that moment that the reminder of your dwindling time left together was temporarily forgotten. You felt almost like you could cry, though this time for completely different reasons.

You were just taking everything in— the sight of the fire glowing through the dusk and the sound of nature’s ambient buzz and the feeling of longing, once starved, now being fed for the first time in years, swelling in your chest— so you didn’t even notice how long you’d remained silent, awe-struck, until you heard the nervous tremble in Kaeya’s next words.

“I mean, I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay the whole night here if you’re not comfortable…” he gently backpedaled, though where his hand rested on your hip didn’t waver. “I don’t want to assume—”

“Kaeya…” you cut him off, wanting to sound as sure about your answer as you felt, but the emotions flooding you made the end of his name quiver.

You cleared your throat, turned to better face him, and looked into his periwinkle eye, studied how it glittered so brilliantly even in the dark, like he held a galaxy within him, celestial and divine. Then you cupped his face in your hands, his skin cool against your summer-warmed palms, and said, “I have spent years waiting— hoping— for something like this. So please…”

Kaeya’s simmering apprehension turned to the still waters of relief as a fresh smile was cast upon you, offering you his hand the way he’d done so many times before, only this time, you knew the intention held much more weight than helping you up after a picnic in the glade or lending assistance dismounting a horse. He said, “Then, shall we?” and the yes that left your mouth held all the adoration that had been hibernating in your heart during those long, lonely years.

†††

As you and Kaeya sat huddled beside each other after the barbeque, nearly dozing off with bellies full and cravings for all your childhood favorites satisfied, a serene silence filled the place where laughter and conversation had previously been. You stared into the fire, once dancing, now dying, and swore you kept catching glimpses of memories long forgotten forming in the flames.

It made you miss Diluc too, in a strange way, wishing he could’ve been here to recount adolescent mischief and humorous anecdotes that were sure to cause him and Kaeya to bicker. But what had happened between the brothers was still a wound you didn’t dare dress. You doubted the bandage of your comfort was enough to heal such an injury, especially one that was likely already long scarred over, irreparable.

“Ah— Found it,” Kaeya finally spoke, breaking you from your bittersweet pondering. When you followed the line of his pointing finger, your gaze landed on that glittering group of familiar stars. As Kaeya leaned back to lay across the blanket beneath you two, he clasped his hands behind his neck and said through a dreamy sigh, “It’s been a while, old friend…”

After a moment, you lay back to join him. But that’s when the pang of regret and guilt you’d been trying so hard to avoid returned to poke its pointed edge in through your ribs, aiming for your fragile heart.

In a voice strained with tears soon to come, you said, “I have to go back to Liyue in less than a week…” To this, Kaeya merely turned his head to better look at you, that slight crinkle of elegant worry tugging at his brow. You blew out a deep, shuddering breath, hoping to compose yourself. “I just wish—” You swallowed, squeezed your eyes shut, then tried again. “I just wish we had more time.”

You couldn’t look at him. As much as you could feel his gaze studying you, as much as you wanted to glance over and learn those twitches in his expression, read his face over and over again like it was your favorite book, pages dog-eared and passages underlined and annotated with meticulous care, you couldn’t.

The moment you caught your reflection in all that shimmering periwinkle would be the last drop to burst the dam.

But Kaeya had never been much for flowing water. His area of expertise was freezing it, preserving it with frosted, crystalline beauty until such a time came when the heat of a flame or the shift to a warmer season caused his ice sculpture of love to melt.

“Hey, hey…” he cooed, flipping to his side, readying himself to comfort you. “This doesn’t have to be the end.” But you both knew it was more complicated than that. You both had obligations and responsibilities that would keep you apart, people who counted on you who you couldn’t abandon.

It seemed both of you had made a habit of abandoning yourselves, sacrificing what your hearts told you to be sacred and true all for the sake of opportunity or status.

“I’ll wait for you, y’know?” When he first said it, you could’ve sworn you hadn’t heard him right. Blinking back your misting sorrows, you choked out an uncertain, “What?” and when the boy you’d loved for so long, now a man who loved you right back, repeated the first four words of the loyal vow, well…

You didn’t have the strength to hold back your emotions anymore.

But Kaeya was smiling as he wiped your tears. He offered to help you find a position in Mondstadt once you graduated, if that was something you wanted. With his connections through the Knights, after all, he should be capable of pulling a few strings.

It was sort of overwhelming, hearing him ramble off his plans— plans that sounded like he’d already put quite some thought into them, actually— to make this work between you two. You weren’t giving a clear indication to whether or not you were on board with his efforts, but truth be told you were still recovering from being blindsided by his promise.

I’ll wait for you.

How long had he already been waiting?

The way he spoke now, so hopelessly sure of himself, made it seem like just as long as you had. When you finally forced yourself to meet his eyes, you thought it might’ve been even longer.

“Please—” Kaeya practically begged, taking both your hands in his, clasping them between the two of you as if they were a sacrosanct talisman he was praying upon, gracing the very Archons themselves. “I’ve already lost you once. Don’t make me lose you again…”

He’d been just as terrified as you back then, racing through the pouring rain on horseback, blood painting the right side of his face where his eye was matted shut with rusted red, hands numb with the newfound cold that laced its way through his bones— yet as he dashed from the scene, leaving the news of his second father’s death and the remnants of the battle against his brother behind him, what he thought of wasn’t the loss of the only family he’d probably ever be able to recall…

He thought of losing you.

He thought of the scared, sorrowful look you’d give him if you ever came to learn the full truth of that night, and it had torn him apart with every gallop his steed took further into the piney tangle of the woods.

So, finally able to utter a response, no matter how simple, you whispered, “Ok.”

“Ok?” he muttered, tasting the answer with his own tongue and then reveling in the sweetness of it. Pressing his forehead to yours, letting his eye fall shut and feeling his heartbeat drum a little less frantic, he whispered those two magic syllables once more, as if finally granting himself the right to reclaim something from his past that wasn’t marred by mystery or mourning, “Ok…”

Suddenly you felt a giggle bubbling up in your chest, finding it ironic that you now felt the need to comfort him. “You could always find a way to take a business trip to Liyue sometime, too,” you suggested. “But, to answer your previous question. Yes, I would most definitely accept a position in Mondstadt after graduation if given the chance.”

Lightly nudging his nose to yours, Kaeya was able to smile again. Because, so long as the two of you were together, everything would turn out ok. You’d figure it out, lean on each other when things got tough, and whether you were together or apart, you’d forever be linked by the night.

“Just look for the peacock in the sky,” he muttered, his mouth hovering right over yours, the gentle fan of his cool breath melting you from the inside out. “Remember that it’s me looking after you…”

†††

The tent was bigger on the inside than it appeared. Spacious, with an abundance of blankets and pillows and room to nest. The ceiling opened to let the stars in, so many twinkling lights serving as a reminder of just how many times you and Kaeya must’ve looked up at the same exact constellations and had all those fond childhood memories come rushing back.

That, in itself, was its own kind of unbreakable bond.

And he was right. No matter how far the distance between you two spanned, you felt closer to him knowing the peacock was glittering somewhere above your head.

You two were just settling in, getting comfortable when you had the sudden urge to seek him out for another kiss. You’d never grow tired of the way his lips felt against yours, the way he tasted of crisp winter air and dandelion wine. The way his long fingers wove into your hair, so tender yet so desperate to hold you and never let go.

Kaeya deepened the kiss, his tongue teasing along the seam of your lips until they parted for him to give a sample of your flavor, something subtly sweet but no less satisfying. Before you knew it— not even having the chance to think about it— you were being pulled into his lap, your thighs straddling his hips as both your motions became more erratic, any and all savoring smoothness slowly saturating to the vibrant colors of desire, your stomach fluttering with that warm, rolling feeling as yearning turned lazily inside of you.

Your fingers had found their way into the river of his silky, navy strands, reminded how shiny and soft Kaeya’s hair had always been, the envy of everyone, just like most traits he’d been blessed by the Archons with.

It was quickly becoming clear that both of you wanted more of each other— far more than you’d gotten thus far— but before things could go too far too fast, Kaeya pulled back, giving you both a moment to catch your breath before asking if you’d done this before.

Suddenly more abashed by his question than the act you’d fully been ready to engage in, you said that you had, but only once. It had been when you’d first started university. It hadn’t been a particularly notable experience, but also not a horrible one either.

“I imagined it was you…” you admitted, unable to hold his gaze as you confessed something you now had regrets about. If you would’ve known you’d end up here, you would’ve saved the first time for him.

“C’mon now,” Kaeya began, letting out a breathy chuckle as he lightly hooked a finger under your chin, guiding your gaze back up to meet his. “Don’t say that.” You were about to interject, unsure whether the words that would leave your mouth would be assurance that you were telling the truth or a scolding for him not to tease you, but before you could say anything he continued with a sly, flirtatious whisper of, “Besides, if he didn’t leave much of an impression, he could never compare to me…”

You felt your face burn with shame and annoyance, flashing an adorably stunned scowl, mouth agape with a silent gasp which only made Kaeya laugh. Once he regained some of his composure though, he faded back into that soft, intimate security you never get tired of, resting his hands on your hips and assuring you in earnest that he was going to take good care of you. That you had nothing to worry about with him. That you were safe. You were loved.

“I got you…” he cooed as he helped you undress, every article of clothing he rid your body of removed with slow, savoring intention, his gaze tracking the newly exposed flesh with reverence, worshiping your figure with his single-eyed stare.

And you watched Kaeya undress too, enamored with all that beautiful brown skin, the glow of the moon outlining him in its silvery light, tracing over the toned expanse of his chest and broad shoulders, counting the new scars he’d earned over the years but finding they did nothing to take away from his regal beauty.

“Your eyepatch…” you then muttered as he drew closer to settle his skin against yours. “Are you going to…?”

Kaeya then seemed to become a little self conscious, as if he’d forgotten about it entirely until you’d spoken of its existence. His fingers hovered over the black material hiding his right eye, frozen in the decision to show you what was hidden underneath or not.

“No, y’know what…” you assured him, taking his hesitant hand in yours. “It’s ok. I don’t care about that. If it’s a secret you want to keep for yourself,” you said, “I’ll respect that.”

Kaeya looked like he wanted to tell you something— maybe he wanted to tell you everything— but then decided against it. Perhaps another time. Surely when you were both fully clothed and not so distracted by each other’s bodies the way you were now.

And then you were laying under him, and he was kissing you again in that way that made any and all thoughts that weren’t concerning right here and right now dissipate, and his hands felt cold like they usually did but his mouth was so much hotter than before. Goosebumps rose over your skin as his skilled touch explored the soft curves and planes of your form, both eager and patient at the same time, searching for the places that you responded to most and paying them more attention until you were gifting him soft whines and lilting mewls, gasps hitching as his mouth sucked his own pattern of constellations into your skin.

It was almost too much for you and all he’d done was kiss and touch you. It was enough to convince you that, like Kaeya had previously said, whether just a joke meant to fluster you or not, when you’d been imagining the boy who’d taken your virginity had been Kaeya back then, he hadn’t even come close.

This felt like worship.

Heavenly.

Divine.

For a moment, it made you think perhaps Kaeya was an Archon disguised as a human. His natural beauty was enough to rival the gods, a fact that presented itself at an early age, and his bountiful talents for combat and charming conversation were even more evident of such an assumption.

But for Kaeya, he saw you as the otherworldly deity, captivated most by the things only he got to know about you, like the way you sighed his name when he kissed your neck and the way your fingers felt tugging in his hair as he laved over the sensitive bud of your breast, feeling it furl even tighter in his mouth and earning another pleasured whine from your throat.

You felt yourself nearing an edge you hadn’t faced in a long time, and for a moment you tried to push him away, needing a moment to regain even a sliver of yourself before truly allowing it all to let go.

Kaeya prayed that you didn’t want to stop, but was also willing to do whatever it took to make you comfortable in this new, still so unexplored situation. He told you that if you needed to wait, he’d wait as long as it took. He’d already spent years waiting for this, and if it meant getting to have you of your own volition, there was no span of time he wasn’t willing to endure.

“No…” you breathed, cradling his face in your trembling palms, making sure he didn’t take his periwinkle gaze off you. “No, I want to keep going… I just…” You closed your eyes for a moment, swallowed down the fear, remembering his promise to take care of you. “I want to keep going.”

So Kaeya prepared you the best he could, slowly working you open with his fingers and paying close attention to how your body reacted to that slight stretch, letting out a hiss as he felt you clench around him before he was even really inside yet. He couldn’t believe this moment— one he’d spent countless nights falling asleep to or kept wide awake by for years— was actually happening.

By the time he was lining himself up with your entrance, your pulsing little hole already trying to swallow up his length before he’d barely nudged the tip in, Kaeya was sure he was experiencing pure ecstasy. It was hard not to sink into you down to the hilt in one harsh thrust, but he’d made you a promise and he intended to keep it.

After you’d adjusted to the sweet sting of him nestled inside of you, both of you taking time to catch your breath and relax a little, Kaeya began to move, holding you close as his hips rolled slow and rhythmic to meet the apex of your thighs, deepening the connection between your two bodies with each new motion and drinking in every sound of pleasure that left your pretty little mouth.

He couldn’t help but mark you with more bruises, wanting to claim you as his but not go so far as to hurt you. He was first and foremost focused on making you feel good. That way, in turn, you could make him feel good. And so the back and forth, endless cycle of drawing pleasure from each other’s bodies filled the tent with his strained whimpers and your delectable, melodic little whines.

Reaching a hand down to massage more gentle circles on your already overstimulated, swollen little clit, Kaeya’s thrusts picked up speed. Your tight cunt was constricting around him so hard he knew he didn’t have much longer before he lost control, but he was on a mission to make sure you came first.

“Kaeya—!” You called out through a clipped moan. And, Archons, you were so beautiful like this. Always so, so beautiful without even having to try. And Kaeya loved you. Kaeya loved you.

When you reached your limit, entire body tensing as wave after wave of pleasure washed through your veins, Kaeya gave a few more deep rolls of his hips and then he too was coming undone, filling you to the brim and stroking your face with the back of his hand as you both rode out the aftermath of the high.

The next thing you knew, you were wrapped up in Kaeya’s arms again. He held you close, and like this, listening to the steady beat of his heart as your vision swirled with sparkling stars, you felt like you were in a dream, drifting off to sleep on this cloud of warmth and pleasure.

And you loved him. Archons, you loved him.

The last thought you could recall before falling unconscious was that all this had been worth the wait, and a little while later, after Kaeya had cleaned you up, careful not to wake you, and bundled you both up in the blankets, snuggling back in close to you, he whispered those words out loud, meaning every syllable even if you weren’t able to hear them.

“I’ve always loved you,” he said, his voice a ghost drifting away on the next breeze. “And I’m never going to lose you again.”

Kaeya was quick to doze off beside you, and there was just a sense that, by the time you both woke up tomorrow, all your old wounds would be healed.

†††

The final day of your summer in Mondsadt was coming to a close, the city of contracts calling you and your classmates back to begin a new semester. But, as you stared out at the city of freedom, the landscape glowing gold with the setting sun, you were relieved to find you didn’t feel sad.

You, Kaeya, and your two research partners had all gone for a nice lunch that day. You thought it might be important for your friends to get to know your boyfriend a little better, now that you were lucky enough to be able to refer to Kaeya as such. So, throughout a lengthy afternoon full of laughter and banter, food and drinks, the time arrived for you to return to your temporary apartment and pack your things.

Kaeya offered to help, but you insisted all he had to do was make himself comfortable, unable to hide a smirk as he chose to lounge across your bed rather than take the chair by the desk, already acting right at home.

Neither of you really talked about it— how much you were going to miss each other— but that was all well and good with you.

Besides, Kaeya had already made arrangements to come visit you in Liyue a few weeks from now, wanting you to give him the full tour once you’d gotten all settled in and back to the normal swing of your routine. In between now and then though, you’d both spend your time writing letters and counting down the days. You were excited to see his messages signed off with that indigo eyespot feather again. Just the thought had your heart skipping a beat.

Waving goodbye to Kaeya as you crossed the bridge leading away from Mondstadt, his lithe silhouette shrinking by the stone arches more and more every time you dared glance back, the sky entering its era of peach and lilac before shrouding the valleys with its velvet navy, you found yourself craving the darkness of night.

Because, from now on, all you’d have to do to be reminded Kaeya was with you was to look up and find the peacock in the stars.

***

(Hello and thank you for reading! Also, to the person who requested this fic— first and foremost, I sincerely hope you enjoyed, and second, thank you for making such a nice request!

I had a lot of fun writing for Kaeya again. I guess I kind of can’t help but make him soft and tender in the end haha. I think he talks a big game and plays up his whole flirtatious side but deep down what he really wants and needs is a deep emotional connection as well.

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and if anyone else is ever interested in making a request, please check out my request guidelines.

See you next time <3)

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shhh-secret-time · 6 days

Note

hello ^^, i saw your secret soulmate au about craig, i don't have the words to explain how much i giggled, twirled my hair and everything XD! well, when you have the time, could you do a craig x clyde x reader smut? of course, if you feel comfortable with it! reader can be female or gn. it's practically normal smut but just craig fucking the reader from behind and clyde from the front, so that's it! tysm for reading, i love your writing too! <33 -✨️ Anon (I'm still new to tumblr so i might get confused on some things sometimes!)

Completely understandable, I too am confused with how tumblr works and I've been on this godless site since fucking Dash Con. I'm glad you liked the way I wrote those dorks! And thank you for fueling my Clyde agenda!

Warning: NSFW, Strong-Language, Dirty Talk, Slight Sub/Dom dynamics, blow jobs, orgasm denial, threesome

Pairing: Clyde x Fem!Reader x Craig

The sweet air of the votives swirls around the empty church. Empty except for the dim orange and red light that illuminates the book in the man's hand.

A woman at his feet, clothed in fine silks. A mix of reds and whites that twine together. Beautiful patterns of stars flow across the dress.

She dips her head in prayer alongside the man. The father of the church glides his fingers across her cheek as her mouth closes. Reciting scriptures of one's devotion for an unseen God. Everything in that moment was peaceful.

The warmth in the Father's eyes doesn't go unnoticed, the greens darken with a desire that he knows better than to have. It's difficult to hide the growing ache in his pants. More so when the woman's lips curl into a mischief smile, the warm glow of the candles makes them shine with an otherworldly glow. She looks up at him and her eyes fall deep into those pools of lust. Her hands break apart from that folded prayer and onto his black dress pants. They card up further against his thighs where they settle and clutch the material.

"Father, bless me...", a whisper that makes the Father groan.

Temptation never looked so sweet. This woman made his chest pound. Unholy thoughts flood his mind and go straight to his-

You let out a loud groan. Your forehead drops and hits the table beside your keyboard. The forgotten mug with now cold tea rattles.

Writer’s block, the very bane of any author’s existence. It's been haunting you for weeks now, making it impossible to get anything done. You've been stuck on this part of your romance novel the entire time. A part you were so excited to get to!

The buildup was perfect! You had calculated, plotted, and carefully crafted a budding romance between a witch and a holy man. A forbidden romance that took place within the walls of the church, the furthest outside the walls it went were the gardens that surrounded the area. The two fell in love after he saved her from the townsfolk claiming sanctuary.

Inspiration struck you like lightning after you fell in love with your partners. After publishing a sci-fi series, that honestly changed the name of how science fiction would be written forever, you met two fans at a book signing event. You had made a surprise appearance at a local library in some little town called South Park. Coming from the big city yourself, it was a huge surprise that anyone in the little town would actually be a fan of yours.

Apparently, you had quite a few. A man with bright red hair who had a black-haired man following alongside him. Both gushed about how the story inspired some kind of board game they played with their friends. A sweet blond woman who had the cutest southern accent you've ever heard. She gave you a piece of fan mail that had the most adorable sticker on it. Another black-haired man who dressed as Spock for some reason. He went on for a solid thirty minutes about a fanfic he wrote regarding the main character of your book and Star Trek's very own Captain Kirk.

Finally came the oddest duo you had ever met. The two were like day and night, a cat and a dog, fire and ice; the whole nine yards. A bright smile with baby brown eyes on one, and an ice-cold deadpan look with amber eyes to match on the other. At first you thought the brown-haired one was your fan and the man with the blue hat was just along for the ride.

"Haha! No way! I'm not into that..." He paused as if to stop himself from saying something he shouldn't, "...kinda stuff."

"That kind of stuff?" You repeat back at him, raising a brow.

"He means reading. He doesn't know how." The other spoke putting a hand on top of his head. With a little push he forced the brown-haired man's head down.

You giggled at that. The protests coming from the poor man was comical. You almost felt sorry for him, watching him struggle to move the taller man's hand off.

"Then I take it I'm signing this book out to you?" With a click of your pen, you look up at him.

The NASA jacket on the bright blue sleeves of his jacket should have given it away honestly. There's was a small tinge of a blush on his tan cheeks, almost hidden under the skin tone but you were able to make it out under the light. He looked away for a moment before nodding at you.

"Yeah."

"Name?"

"His name is Craig! He's a huge fan of yours by the way! So, if you could write something sweet for him that'd be awesome!" His friend chirped at you as he broke free from Craig's grip.

Craig's face twisted, those piercing eyes of his narrowed down. Before he could reach and grab him, the brown-haired man slid behind your chair. Putting his hand on your chair, he bent down to your level and tapped the blank white page.

"As you can see my big guy has a baaaaaad case of resting bitch face."

"Clyde..." the warning that slipped out of Craig's mouth made a shiver roll down your spine. It was even directed at you, and you felt threatened.

"So, you gotta imagine my surprise when he came home smiling! I was shocked! He didn't even smile when we started going out!" Clyde ignored him, an attest to his bravery. Or foolishness. Either way he continued, leaning down next to your ear. "Your book made him so happy, so it makes me happy. Think you could do that for me? Because he'll never ask you to do it for him."

You look up at him for a while, not even bothered that he had gotten closer to your face as he spoke. The browns in his eyes flickered with mischief but there were layers of love behind them. Chocolate that seemed to melt into tiny hearts when he spoke about Craig. It was honestly sweet, even if he was trying to tease his partner.

"How can I say no to that? I'd love to." You smiled at him and began writing on the empty page.

Yeah, who would have thought that fate would tie you to those two like that. Falling in love with Craig and Clyde was nothing like what they wrote in books or movies. It was a tornado of events that landed you in the eye of it all.

Despite their polar opposite personalities and looks, the two worked off each other well. Then when you got thrown in the middle, you filled in a little spot they desperately needed.

Clyde was social enough for the three of you. He was the one who reminded you and Craig that you needed to get out of the house. When you lock yourself away in your office, he would drag you out with a fun date idea. Movie nights, football games, arcade dates, and his favorite late-night walks. Doing the same to Craig who always seemed buried in work.

Craig gave off such scary dog privilege that you and Clyde never felt threatened. You could take those late-night walks with Clyde because you knew nothing would touch you with Craig following close behind.

That was nice sure, but under that scary looking shell was a soft teddy bear of a man. While he wasn't vocal with affection like Clyde, he was observant. Craig remembered everything, everything about you and Clyde's interests. If he saw something you mentioned in passing it was yours. Clyde needed new shoelaces because the ones on his favorite pair of red shoes were tearing? There was a new pack waiting for him on the table. You complained about the shift key on your keyboard sticking too much? An adorable keyboard that looked like a typewriter was found on your desk the next morning.

Then there was you. You have no idea how these two survived this long without you. Truth be told they don't either. Craig and Clyde couldn't cook to save their lives. Their diet consisted of diner food and Chinese takeout. While their house was clean enough, laundry was never put away or folded. Clyde was horrible at putting his dirty laundry in the bin and Craig was too tired most nights to even make it to bed. The final straw was when you took a shower, and their only soap was 3 in 1.

Absolutely not.

So, when you moved in things changed. When Craig was at work, you would take Clyde grocery shopping. Slowly you started him on simple dishes, working with him until he was comfortable in the kitchen. What was surprising was that he took to it quickly. He was a natural and before you knew it, he was cooking things you had never heard of. He had gone as far as looking up Peruvian dishes, practicing with spices and techniques that had your mouth watering. When you asked how he learned to do all of this, he gave you the biggest grin and told you it was YouTube.

When Craig came home that night to Chupe de Camarones it was the closest to crying you've ever seen from him.

Clyde really stepped up after that, feeling a sense of pride in taking care of you two. Seeing as you worked just as hard as Craig did. Clyde proclaimed something about being more than happy to be a malewife.

In return Craig started taking better care of himself, actually starting to care about his health. He stopped staying up so late and made use of the giant bed. Clean sheets and blankets that felt good on his skin. Even better that you and Clyde would be in it waiting for him. Clyde long passed out on your chest, a bit of drool sliding down the side of his face and onto your shirt. Not that you seemed to care as you just continued to read next to the little bedside lamp. Only pausing when you felt Craig's presence in the doorway.

Craig's smiles were rare, little treats from the universe to you. Ones like these where he smiles with love in his eyes. Where he kicks off his shoes and strips down to his boxers, crawling into bed next to you. Arms wrapping around Clyde and with a hand settling on your hips. A silent squeeze lets you know it's time to put the book down and join him.

How can you say no to a smile like that?

Of course, not every day was perfect. Your relationship took time to hash out. It was different being with two individuals at the same time, but you made it work. The three of you were committed to one another.

Now if only you could commit to this fucking scene.

Your head’s little meet and greet with the table must have been louder than you thought because whatever Clyde was yelling about in the living room stopped. It was one of the rare weekends where Craig was home and off work. Choosing to spend it watching some show with Clyde, listening to the man ramble on about something.

So wrapped up in your thoughts, you let out a scream when you finally lift your head and Clyde is right there beside you. His body bent over just like the day you met him. With his hand on the back of your chair and his face next to yours. Except instead of using, you as a shield from Craig, he's reading your computer screen.

While he doesn't understand what it takes to be an author, he sees the effect it has on you. Days like this where you take on the posture of a shrimp, forgetting to come out to eat.

His lips start pursed, but as he continues to scan over the screen they break out into a smirk. He covers his mouth in a fake surprise, a gasp with widened eyes.

"Babe! This is...scandalous! Spicy, naughty even! What are you doing writing something like this?" His dramatic act continues, forming some feign surprise.

"What are you doing using words with more than one syllable?" You shoot back with a little smirk.

It takes everything in your power not to laugh at the actual pout on his face. Try as you might, the giggles escape your lips, and it makes him smirk. He leans down and nuzzles his nose into your cheek.

"Maybe you're starting to rub off on me babe! I'm getting smarterer with you around!" You know he said that word wrong on purpose, just to get under your skin.

But he kisses you quiet before you can say anything. Holds your face in his hands so you can't pull away. You can taste the cherry chapstick on his lips, and the growing smile along with it.

"So, what's got you bashing your head into your desk baby? Craig and I heard a thump and got worried." He moves the kisses towards your forehead.

"Was it that loud?"

"Heard it over the tv." Craig's voice almost makes you leap out of your skin.

You bite your lip, looking down at the keyboard with a distant stare. The faded green and blue, spots where your fingers had smudged away the paint from typing so much.

"I'm just having trouble with this scene. I've been stuck on it for weeks now." You exhale softly.

Craig raises a brow and leans down on the other side of you. Both Clyde and Craig bent over to take a look at your screen. You're not sure why the fact both men reading your unfinished work makes you feel nervous, but it does. Or maybe it's the fact this is your first time writing a spicy scene like this.

"It's good. Never would have thought you'd go the Priest kink route." Craig says it so matter of fact, there's never hesitation in his voice. You can count on one hand the number of times you've seen him flustered, and even then, his tone is flat.

"I-I’m not into it! I just- you guys are only reading a snippet of my book! There's been a romance blossoming between the two the whole time!" You try to defend yourself, but it only makes Clyde's lips tug into a smirk.

The temptation to tease you was too great, it was being handed to him on a silver platter. Clyde leans up and walks next to Craig, leaning into his chest. The man wraps his arms around himself and lets out a dramatic sigh.

"A forbidden love! A tale as old as time! But what I wanna know babe-" Clyde stops and lets the tension build. It makes you glare at him as you turn in your office chair. "-is why the witch's descriptions are reaaaally close to mine."

"That's a woman Clyde! She's got short brown hair because it was cut off when she was running from the townsfolk! Brown eyes are common and beautiful! There's not enough representation for them!"

"Aaaaaand her dimples?" He points to his, the little spots in his cheeks that sink in when he smiles. "Plus, my eyes are totally beautiful."

"It's not you!"

"Oh, and the Father isn't Craig. Tan skin, black hair? You gave the Father green eyes but other than that, it fits Craig to a T." Craig actually nods along with what Clyde is saying. He's got his eyes closed as if this is some kind of philosophical debate.

"Are you serious right now Clyde?! This is why you two aren't allowed in my study!" Your face was burning now, hot and flushed from his teasing.

"What did I do?" Craig breaks the little fight with a simple question.

"Nodding your head along! You know what he's doing and you're encouraging it!"

"So, you took inspiration from your partners in your romance story. It's cute." He responds with a shrug. He looks down at Clyde who's still smugly leaning against his chest.

Your mouth falls open, you go to respond but nothing makes its way out. Your brows furrow. Arms crossed under your chest in a pout.

Had you unintentionally based your characters off your partners? Is that why the romance novel was easy to write up until this point?

Whatever the case may be here, you didn't like being called out. So, you do what you always do when they get like this, you turn in your chair and ignore them.

Usually this works, let's them know that you're not in the mood for their games. That you'd rather be left alone than entertain another minute of their shenanigans. But this time Clyde wasn't going to let you go. He grabs the back of your seat and wheels you back towards him and Craig.

"Baaaaabe don't pout. Look I'm sorry~." No, he's not. "But hey I've got an idea."

You let out a little huff, enough to where he knows you're not actually mad at him. If you were you would have picked your chair up and walked it back to your desk. Instead, you sit there and wait for him to continue.

"You're stuck on that scene, but I think you need a break. Sitting here and bashing your head against the table isn't going to fix that. Soooo..." He trails off, moving to stand in front of you.

His fingers glide across the side of your face, cupping your cheek so gently. Clyde guides your face up to look at him, behind that cocky smile of his he's got such love for you in his eyes. The way his thumb brushes across your cheek, making your heart flutter so slightly.

"What do you say Craig and I help you out a little babe?" Clyde guides your face up towards him. He presses his thumb against your lips just as his voice dips into that playful whisper.

You raise a brow at him in response. It's not until Craig puts his hand on your shoulders, that you piece together this wasn't just his idea. Thumbs pressed into your muscles working out the knots and tension. For such a hard worker, somehow Craig's hands always stay so soft. The worn-out oversized t-shirt you stole does little against his hands. The material is thin from how often it's been washed and worn.

His hands pull a soft moan from you, it feels too good to keep yourself silent. Clyde pushes his thumb past your lips and into your mouth, the digit presses down on your soft pink tongue. He all but purrs when watches you wrap your lips around it.

"See...let's work out some of that tension. We'll make you feel real good and give you a little inspiration." Clyde hums as he pulls his thumb out, smearing the saliva across your lips.

When he doesn't continue, you realize he's waiting for your confirmation. Waiting for you to agree to their little plan. But that doesn't stop Craig from bending down and placing a kiss on your cheek. He trails the kisses down to your jawline, using his nose to nudge your head to the side. Lulling your head to the side, you gave into the feeling. Craig's lips move to capture the exposed skin. You can feel just how eager he is from the way the kisses turn to nips then to full on bites. His teeth sinking into the soft parts of your flesh pulling another sharp gasp from you.

"Come on honey. Let us take care of you." After he's done leaving small love bites on your neck, Craig moves to your ear nipping the shell.

"Y-yeah that sounds...that sounds good." You move your hands up towards Craig, running your fingers through his hair. One of the rare moments he's not sporting his blue hat. "I could use a little break..."

"That's our girl." Clyde's praise goes straight to your core. He lifts you up from your office chair, hands cupping the back of your thighs for support. They give your thighs a little squeeze, digging his fingertips into your flesh.

Craig moves out of his way and goes to push your office chair back towards your desk. Clyde chuckles softly seeing the confused look on your face. Instead of protesting you wrap your arms around the brunette lazily throwing your arms around his neck.

"We're supposed to be relaxing, we're gonna get nice and comfy on the couch." He drops you down on the couch, making you bounce a bit. He laughs when you let out a gasp of surprise.

"You ass." Your grumbles fall on deaf ears. Clyde just runs his fingers through your hair and gives it a harsh tug. It makes you cry out, craning your neck up towards him.

"Sweetheart, that's not very nice. You're being a brat right now." He tuts, feigning disappointment.

"You dropped me on the-" You suck in another cry when he tugs your head to the side, that firm grip on your roots sending a shiver down your spine.

"Hm? You were saying something? I did what?"

Clyde's smug little smirk made your blood boil. But his fingers in your hair felt too good to protest further. Especially when he switched between tugging and massaging his fingertips into your scalp. You watched his eyes flicker from yours to behind you. Before you could turn around to get a glimpse of what he was staring at, Craig's hands slid down your back.

Gently, much more than Clyde, he pushes you down towards Clyde. His other hand comes down to grab your ankle, pulling your leg back towards him. Once your knee is tucked against the couch, he does the same to the other leg.

If your face wasn't burning up before it certainly is now. Just as you go to hold yourself up with your hands, Clyde removes his hand from your hair and takes you by the wrist. Guiding you up towards him, he places them on the hems of his sweatpants. The grey university sweatpants do little to hide his hardening cock, you watch it twitch against the fabric.

"This is about where you left off right? She was about to take the Father's cock out of his pants?" Clyde says watching as you slowly pull his sweatpants down. He lets out a low chuckle that turns into a moan when you slip your fingers around his cock. "That's it, now keep your eyes on me baby."

There's a moment of hesitation as you bring the tip closer to your mouth. The bright red tip glides across your plump lips begging for you to open. His hand returns to your hair, smoothing down your locks from his earlier manhandling.

The gentle touch makes you look up towards him, just like he requested. There really was something so intimate about those chocolate brown eyes of his. Past that smirk and layers of darkened lust, there was devotion. The feeling of your hands on him alone made him weak in the knees. You put that to the test, pressing just a little kiss on the tip. Dabbing your tongue against his leaking member. Just from that alone he's letting out the prettiest moans.

"Sh-shit, c’mon don't tease me." That cocky attitude of his melts. You almost laugh at how easy it is to break him down. He was puddy in your hands.

With a little hum you move your hand up and down his shaft, creating enough friction to make him buck his hips towards you. He nudges his cock further into your mouth, pushing past your lips. The underside of his cock glides down against your tongue, smearing the pre-cum along with it.

So caught up in your little game, you almost forgot about Craig behind you. Almost. It's hard to forget him when he's got his hands all over you. Large palms cupping any exposed skin. Craig takes his time exploring every curve he can get ahold of. His nose nuzzled into the back of your head. His breath tickling the shell of your ear. Just the sight of your mouth around Clyde's member alone is enough to make him growl.

Neither men are patient when it comes to you. Craig shoves whatever is left of your pajamas down and off you, he doesn't bother with your shirt as it'll pull you away from your lover. Instead, he decides it'll make the perfect handle. He bunches it up until it collects at the collar. His hands grip the shirt and tug it backwards, making your hips rock back into him.

Somewhere along the way he stripped away his pants. The barrier between the both of you was the thin material of your underwear and his dark blue boxers. While Craig wasn't as vocal as Clyde was, with his teasing and little whimpers, he could be just as unfair if not more.

Grinding against your cunt slowly, grabbing and groping at your ass the entire time. He digs his nails into your skin, leaving little crescent moons. Craig rewards good behavior not with sweet words, but by giving you what you so desperately want.

He waits until you've got all of Clyde's cock in your mouth before he finally shoves your underwear down. It makes it to your knees before he just decides to leave them there. Too many times he got impatient and just ripped them off, and too many times you scolded him for it.

The hand in your hair pulls you back from his cock. Clyde moves your head back just enough to where only the tip remains, then slowly he brings you back down. Pushing you all the way down his length until your nose hits his stomach. You watch as his muscles flex under his skin like he's trying to resist letting his head lull back. He needs so badly to keep his eyes on yours, loving the attention you're giving him.

"Your mouth feels so good." He whines when he reaches the back of your throat. You gag around him, and it pulls another whimper from him.

Your hand slides down his thighs, using it to hold you up. The other hand is still being held by Clyde's grip. His hand wrapped around your wrist, holding it up near his shoulder. Craig waits until Clyde rocks you back again, using the momentum to slip inside your wet folds. A pleased hum rumbles from his chest. You can feel it from how he's pressing his entire body against yours.

Just as slowly as Clyde moves your head, Craig pushes further into your cunt. The two find a slow and steady rhythm with one another. When Craig snaps his hips against you, it pushes Clyde's cock further down your throat. Your moans vibrating around him causing him to moan loudly in return. Clyde's whimpers and whines get louder when you dig your nails into his thighs. In return the grip on your hair is tightened. Creating this delicious cycle of pleasure.

"Baby, please. I wanna fuck your throat. You gonna let me? I need it so bad, please." Clyde's begging spurs something in you. Gives you the feeling of control even if you’re physically stuck between the two. From the beads of sweat that trail down his body and the way his body is shaking, you know he's at his limit.

You're able to pull back just enough, his cock springs up with a little bounce. Craig slows down just enough to let you talk, but you can tell he's not happy about it. The way his grip on your shirt tightens, you're sure he'll rip it soon.

"If I snap my fingers, you stop, okay?" You say giving him the okay. He caresses your face and presses a kiss onto your face, letting you know he understands the boundaries you've set.

At first, he's careful when he pushes his cock back into your mouth. You reward him with a swirl of your tongue, rubbing against the veins that are popping out.

"He's so needy." Craig huffs as he leans back up. The assault on your neck stops, but he's left it covered in bright red and purple marks. No amount of makeup will cover up what he's done.

You don't need to see him to know that he's smirking at it. Taking pride in the fact that he's marked you up. Or the pride making Clyde blush from his comment. Craig's hips snap back into you, the force much sharper than his previous lazy thrusts. They're calculated, each time he pushes deep inside you he hits that spot that has you seeing stars. Clyde's hips take up the same pace, shoving his cock into the back of your throat.

Tears begin to well up in your eyes, trickling down your cheeks. Moans turn to muffled cries, yet everything feels too good to stop. They're rough paced fucking brings your mind to a haze. All you can focus on is feeling good and making them feel good.

Craig's close, you can tell from the way he starts to lose rhythm. He's having a harder time controlling those grunts and growls. A hard time not leaving bruises on your skin from how rough he's holding onto you. He's long since let your shirt go, instead grabbing onto the back of the couch. But he waits until he feels that familiar clench around his cock. The way your walls clamp down around him as you cum. The only warning being the high-pitched muffled moan that gets swallowed by Clyde.

His hips slam into you one more time before he pulls out. Grabbing the base of his cock, he shoots that hot thick load onto your back. Heavy amounts of cum drip down your spine making you whine and shiver. Clyde can't take his eyes off the way his partner paints your backside. It makes a trail of drool slip down his chin.

The poor man can't do it anymore, he can't stop his eyes from rolling up to the back of his head. Not when your moans vibrate up him and your throat tightens from choking on him. He needs this release.

"I'm gonna cum baby. Please, let me cum. Let me cum in your mouth." Clyde all but cries in between panting. His begging dissolves into your name and the word please over and over again.

His flickering eyes catch yours again. It's when you give him a little wink and a hum, his cock violently twitches and cum spills from his tip. His cum is sweeter than normal, it makes it easier to swallow.

Slowly he pulls out of your mouth with one final whimper. It isn't until Craig swipes his thumb over his cheek that you realize he had tears streaming down them. Clyde presses his cheek into Craig's hand and lets out a pleased sigh. Once he knows Clyde is okay, Craig stands up and goes to get a towel to help clean your back. He does the same to your face, swiping away the left-over tears.

"Feeling better?" Clyde asks as he helps pull your underwear up. "Nice and relaxed?"

You nod and rest your head against his chest. "You've got good ideas sometimes."

"I've got wrinkles on my brain." He smirks to himself, taking your little praise miles.

Craig comes back after tossing the towel in the dirty laundry with a large blanket. He throws it over both of you before climbing in next to you. He lays his head down on Clyde's and grabs the tv remote.

"Kitchen Nightmare or Hell’s Kitchen?"

"Kitchen Nightmares! I need some petty British accents after my orgasm denial!"

You scrunch up your nose at Clyde’s comment. Almost wanting to pull back. "Smooth brain behavior."

"Smooth brain behavior." Craig chimes in.

The three of you relax into the couch, almost ready for the group nap that comes with the afterglow of love making. That is until inspiration strikes you again. Your eyes light up and you go to wiggle out of their hold. But Craig's arms are faster, they keep you firm against his chest. Clyde's hands come down a moment later, cupping your hips.

"Nope. You're staying right here."

"Guys! No! I just figured out how I'm gonna get that chapter finished! You gotta let me go! I gotta do it!" Your pleads are wasted, like they're not even heard.

"No. You're warm and I'm tired."

"That's not my fault or my problem."

"I'm making it your problem. Sit still."

"You know Tucker bear isn't going to let go. You're fighting a losing battle babe." Craig at least has the decency to let Clyde finish before pinching him. You know Clyde's nickname for him makes him grumpy. His little yelp makes you giggle.

"Fine....at least until you fall asleep."

"Look if you think you can get out of his hold, then be my guest. You earned it at that point." Clyde's smirk returns. He throws his leg over yours and tucks it in between Craig's knees.

"Fuck you." Your eyes narrow up at him. He's not as slick as he thinks he is, trying to cage you in with a sleepy Craig.

"Again? So soon. You're insatiable babe. Let us recover first." Clyde presses a kiss into the top of your head, pulling back before you can headbutt him.

His hand guides your head back down onto his chest and he just chuckles. It doesn't take long before Craig is passed out with his head nuzzled into the curve of your waist. Holding you like a teddy bear against his chest. Clyde's smile grows when he sees you trying to fight off sleep. But it eventually takes you and you lose the battle. He turns the tv down just a bit, deciding to join the both of you.

That chapter can wait another day.

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