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fruit-teeth · 1 year

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Chronicles of Love And War (chapter 22)

Tilly found the small cottage she’d been given to stay in to not be of her liking. It was small, uncomfortable, and not at all what she was used to. She could go home, she supposed, but…somehow, she didn’t want to just yet. There was much more freedom to move around and fewer obstacles to collide into in the nearby base, at least.

She sat on the sofa in the recreation room, her cane beside her, and listened to the soap opera on television. The main love interest on the program was saying, “But Jessie! I know Gerald, he would never kill Lauren! He’s my brother, for God’s sake!”

“Oh, yeah?” The woman replied, her voice sounded as though she was close to tears. There was the crinkling of a paper bag, and then she said, “Then what is this!?”

Dramatic music swelled, and judging by that alone, Tilly figured it must have been a gun or a knife. She turned as she heard footsteps coming toward the couch that she recognized.

“Tavish?” she called out. “Is that you, my boy?”

“Aye,” came her son’s reply. Demo joined her on the sofa, taking a moment to put his arm around her for a quick sidehug. “What’s on the telly?”

“Soap opera,” Tilly grunted. “It’s the stupidest one yet! I prefer radio dramas over this shite,”

Demo gave a little laugh. “I know, mum…I know you do. Thought I’d let you know, though, that I’m leaving for another mission today. It’s a real important one.”

“Oh?” Tilly glanced in his direction, head tilted up towards his face.

“We gotta go to the town hall again,” he explained. “See, its a long story, but we need to stop the mayor from trying to summon those demons I told you about!”

“That’s right,” Tilly grunted, recalling what he’d told her and what she’d overheard everyone talking about. “This whole bloody thing’s a twisted web, aye?”

Tavish laughed, patting his mother on the back. “You said it, mum! But, I won’t lie, its exciting…”

He began to speak, but Tilly interrupted him. “Tavish,” she began, head still tilted up in his direction. “Suppose it should happen that those demons show up here - and, I’ll tell you, my boy, I fear they might - what do you suppose you’ll do?”

“I…” Tavish trailed off, thinking for a moment. Finally, he said, “I assume Merasmus will handle it? He’s got the magic, but you know that. Not to mention Medic claims he’s been to hell many times! He’s got to know a thing or two about defeating demons, outsmarting them, all of that,”

“Lad,” Tilly put up her hand to silence him. “You told me these are no ordinary demons. You said it was The Corrupt, aye?”

“Aye, mum, but–”

Tilly cut him off again. “You should be more concerned. That’s my feeling. This is no game. You understand?”

Judging by her voice, she sounded quite serious. Tavish frowned, shifting closer to his mother. “Mum? Is everything all right?”

Tilly said nothing for a long moment. Soon, though, she asked, “Have you ever seen someone get possessed before?”

“Huh?” Tavish inquired, unsure if he had heard her right.

Before he could press the issue any further, Scout shouted from the other room, “Yo, Demo! We’re about to go, you ready?”

“I…” Tavish shook himself, before standing up off the couch. “Yep, I’m ready!” he turned back to his mother, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll be back, mum!”

Tilly held onto his hands moments before he slipped away from her. She could hear his footsteps following the others up the stairs and down the hallway to the exit. She returned to the couch and listened to their muffled chat dissipate as they left for the mission.

Soon, everything was quiet. Miss Pauling waited for the return of Heavy, Medic, and Engineer. When they finally arrived, she stood up and headed out to meet them.

“Hey!” Pauling shouted as she opened the front door to the base. Engineer waved to her as soon as he saw her after getting out of his truck.

“Hiya, Miss P!” Engineer greeted as she jogged over to meet him. “We got my pa, and the way we got him is quite the story!”

“Can’t wait to hear that, but first,” Miss Pauling took a breath. “There’s a mission going on, and everyone’s out in town dealing with it! I’ll have to catch you up to speed - are you gonna stay here and get your dad somewhere?”

Before Engineer could respond, Fred opened the passenger side door and climbed out. “Have we met?” He called out to Miss Pauling, squinting at her.

“I…maybe?” Pauling shook her head quickly. “Sorry, I’m kinda in a rush, I had to wait here for all of you so you knew what was going on,”

“And what is happening?” Heavy wanted to know, having left Medic’s car just seconds ago. He noticed how stressed Pauling was and clicked his tongue, plucking some hair out of her face. “Messy…”

Pauling just blinked, before she took a breath. “I’m fine. Here, let’s get inside and I’ll tell you guys everything…”

Everyone in town was getting ready for the clock tower’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. In the tiny dressing room trailer Nita watched her husband practice his speech, but she didn't feel the typical excitement that came with going with him to his engagements.

Bill was pacing behind her, grumbling to himself and poring over his planned speech. Finally, he let out a shout of exasperation and hurled it against the wall in irritation.

“Forget the script!” he exclaimed. “Its terrible! Who wrote it!?”

Nita jolted slightly at how he yelled, turning around to look at him. “...you did, honey.”

“Oh,” he looked down at the papers, and then rubbed his eyes. “I’ll improvise…they won’t care. I improvised my community center speech, I can do the same here,”

Nita rose from her chair, standing beside Bill to place a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not well, Bill,” she told him, her voice quivering slightly. “You haven’t slept all! Won’t you please let me send you to a doctor?”

Bill just shook his head, shooing her hands away. “I’m fine! I’m fine, Nita…besides, I have sleeping pills–”

Before he could continue, Nita gasped. “Sleeping pills? Oh, good! Finally, you can rest,” she checked the gold watch on her wrist. “You have thirty minutes before the event starts – how about you take one of those pills and have a nap right there?” she pointed to a small couch that was at the far end of the trailer.

Bill protested, “No, I can’t! I have to take them once I’m done with the speech, and then…then…” he trailed off, squinting. Why did he have to take them after the ribbon-cutting? He suddenly didn’t remember why. He'd also forgotten about the caffeine pills he'd taken, which had failed to improve his mental state.

Nita shook her head, reaching up to fix her husband’s tie. “That’s not a good idea. You need to be a little sharper than this before you go out in front of all those people! Now, look: take one of those pills now, sleep on the couch, and I’ll set a timer. Once it goes off, I’ll come wake you up. Okay?”

Bill tried to think this over, but his mind was too scrambled to think properly. “...all right,” he decided. “All right, Nita. Thank you…”

Nita smiled in relief, and she kissed his cheek. “Of course, honey,” she turned away, collecting the papers for his speech and setting them on counter. “If you want, we can skip the party and go right home. How’s that sound?”

"I don't care," Bill said, taking one of the pills from his pocket and removing a water bottle from the little cooler. “I’ll see how I feel…”

The ribbon-cutting event would begin in half an hour. Spy silently eyed the looming clock tower as he stood in the shade of one of the stores, hidden near his parked car. Although he had a fuzzy recollection of seeing construction workers gathered nearby, he was taken aback by how quickly it had been done. Knowing that this was Bill-Bel’s project, though, made him wary of just how sturdy the building itself was.

Just then, he sensed Scout nudging him from behind. Spy turned around, asking, “Did Miss Pauling arrive?”

“Yeah, but keep your voice down, I think I saw some cops around here,” Scout urged, passing Spy an earpiece. “I told her I don’t need one, I got these,” he pointed to his headphones.

Spy accepted the earpiece, discreetly lifting just enough of his mask to secure it onto his ear. “I see…did the others return as well?”

“Uh…Medic and Heavy are,” Scout paused in thought for a moment. “But Engie’s back at the base, apparently. He’s helping his dad – you stabbed that guy, right?”

“I’d rather not discuss that,” Spy said rather bluntly, taking a moment to lean against the wall behind him.

“Yeah…I get that…” Scout looked down, digging into some dirt on the ground with the tip of his shoe. After a moment, he looked back up at Spy. “Can I tell you something?”

Spy looked over, meeting Scout’s gaze. “Of course. What is it?”

Scout rubbed the back of his neck, before asking, “Have you…ever seen Pyro’s face?”

“Pyro?” Spy paused in thought for a few seconds. "I must have. Years ago, when I was going through their files, I think I saw a picture of them, but I'm not sure how recent it was.”

“Yeah, yeah, well…” Scout took a breath. “I think I saw their face today,”

Spy let this sink in for a moment, blinking. “You…saw their face? What do you mean? Did you see a photo of them?”

“No,” Scout shook his head. “Today, during the meeting – when they were coughing, I went to go make sure they were okay. I gave ‘em a cough drop, and they, like…pulled part of their mask up to take it. I ain’t never seen them do that before, caught me off guard!”

“How much of their face did you see?” Spy inquired, curious. “And did they speak at all?”

“They didn’t say anything,” Scout shrugged. “But I saw their chin and hair, when they took the cough drop…I dunno, it just took me by surprise, y’know?”

Spy just nodded slowly, taking this in. “I should advise Medic to see about what could have caused such an awful cough, though. Hopefully its not a cold, that’s the last thing we need right now. But in any case…” he glanced back over at Scout. “Perhaps they felt comfortable around you,”

“Oh…me?” Scout smiled a bit at that. “I mean, I just wanted to help. I used to be all freaked out about them, but they ain’t so scary, really.”

Spy gave a little chuckle, patting Scout’s back. “Yes, I agree…”

Just then, a crackling came over both their ear pieces. “Iniating systems…can all of you hear me?” It was Helen’s voice, coming in over the static.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Spy confirmed, and he could hear the voices of a few of the others chiming in to confirm it as well.

“Excellent,” Helen cleared her throat. “I’m at the office with Olivia – she and Lucy are staying here with me, as I requested that Merasmus go and deal with Zelda. But I had Miss Pauling set up a few cameras so I can see what’s going on as well,”

“Cameras?” Spy asked, confused. “You set up cameras in the Teufort town square? What if someone notices them?”

Helen scoffed. “Oh, please. These are very small cameras that Miss Pauling is very experienced with, trust me when I say no one will notice,”

Medic’s voice filtered in through the line, “I cannot seem to find my watch – when does the event begin? How much longer do we have?”

“Less than twenty minutes!” came Miss Pauling’s voice. “To review: we’re just gonna stay as discreet as possible and follow him into the party afterwards. Any questions?”

“Aye,” Demo piped up. “I’m with Solly, and he says he cannot get his earpiece to work!”

“Does he wear it backwards?” Heavy wanted to know.

“Oh…” there was some shuffling, before Demo confirmed, “Aye, he had it on backwards!”

“Hello!” Soldier’s voice filtered though. “I can use technology!”

Spy just snorted. "Oh, Lord..." He moved his gaze to the town plaza, where people were already gathered around the clock tower. Spy slipped into the crowd and motioned for Scout to follow.

“Come along,” he prompted his son. “Let’s try and blend in.”

No one knew what was really happening behind the scenes of the mayor's upcoming speech.

The sleeping pills, while helpful, had locked Bill-Bel in the dreams he'd struggled so hard to avoid. The next thing he knew, he was looking into mirror, face-to-face with his child self.

“Are you almost ready for bed?” His mother Gla-Dra’s sweet, sing-songy voice called from outside the washroom.

Seven-year-old Bill-Bel put his little hairbrush down onto the cool, smooth washroom counter. “Yes, mother!”

As he trotted out into the hallway and into his bedroom, she perched on the edge of the bed, smoothing down his sheets.

"Your father is at a council meeting," Gla-Dra said, reaching for her small boy and picking him up to tuck him in. “But if there is anything you need during the night, you can come to me. You understand?”

Bill-Bel nodded, settling in as she pulled up the thick, woolen blanket to his neck. “I understand, mother. Where is Basil?”

“Oh,” Gla-Dra searched the floor for a moment, before retrieving the stuffed bear. “Here he is! He must have fallen over during the night,” she smiled at him, watching as he quickly took the toy and tightly cuddled it. Her hand came up to stroke his mousy brown hair, but her smile faded just a little.

“Mother?” he prompted, noticing the shift of energy.

Gla-Dra smiled again, shaking herself. “I’m all right. Kisses,” she beckoned him, and when he sat up, she kissed his cheek, and he kissed her in return.

As she switched off his nightstand lamp for the evening, she murmured to him, "I love you," but her voice was quivering. Bill-Bel could feel his mother's warm hand stroking his cheek and hair as he dozed off while holding Basil.

The next thing Bill-Bel remembered was the howling wind and the waves. He blinked a few times, a shiver going through him as he was suddenly aware of how cold he was. While he had his blankets, Basil, and his pillow, he soon realized that he was not in his bed.

He sat up quickly, looking all around. He was on a small wooden boat, and not only that, but he was currently stranded in some large body of water.

“Mother!?” he cried out, panicked. For a brief minute, he assumed he was dreaming, but the howling of the ocean wind swiftly erased that notion. He gripped Basil tightly and stuck his hand into the water, trying to row himself back home. But where was home? He didn’t even know where he was…

For a good hour or so, little Bill-Bel tried desperately to row himself back home, but he couldn’t. The water was too cold, the boat had no oars, and there wasn’t another soul in sight. He was alone and stranded in the ocean, with nothing but his teddy bear.

Bill-Bel finally laid down on the floor of the wooden boat, sobbing. He cried for his parents, but there was no sign of them. Someone must have taken him and stranded him all the way out here…but who?

At some point, he got too exhausted from crying and fell back asleep on the floor of the boat. However, he was awoken by the sound of shouting.

He looked up just in time to see a fisherman’s net being thrown down to him.

“Grab on!” A voice shouted, and without thinking, he obeyed.

Before he knew it, he was tugged up onto a large fishing boat by a group of fishermen. They didn't look like any men Bill-Bel had ever seen; they wore odd clothing and had peculiar accents.

“Hey, boy!” One of the men exclaimed, pulling him towards him and looking him over. “Why were you out on a boat all by yourself?! It’s bloody freezing out here, you’ll get hypothermia that way! Where’s your parents?”

It took Bill-Bel a moment to find his voice. “I don’t know…”

“Look at his clothes,” another man remarked. “I think he must be from New Zealand — we’re not that far from there, are we?”

“No, it’s only an hour away from where we are now,” the first man said, though he grimaced. “How’d he get out here?”

Bill-Bel gripped tightly onto Basil, shivering from the cold, ocean air. “My blanket…”

“We’ll get it for you, don’t worry,” the man assured, and he led him down some stairs into the lower level of the boat. “We’ll get you back home, too, it’s not trouble…”

Inside the boat was a small room, which was heavenly warm compared to the outside. In the room, a boy who appeared only a few years older than Bill-Bel sat spread out on a bed, flipping through a book. When he saw him, he quickly set the book down. “Oh! Where did you come from?”

Before Bill-Bel could answer, the man explained, “We found him in a boat in the water. He’s from the neighboring country, so we’re going to drop him off there. You don’t mind if he stays here with you for a bit, do you?”

“No, I don’t mind,” the other boy affirmed.

“Good,” the man replied, relieved. He stepped out of the room, before turning back just a bit. “It’s awful late, too, John! Once we drop him off, you put those books away and go straight to sleep. Understood?”

“Yes, Papa,” he agreed. Once he’d left and gone to the upper level of the boat, John turned his attention to Bill-Bel and beckoned him. “Come on! What’s your name?”

Bill-Bel climbed onto the bed, observing him for a moment. He was tall and lean, with a set of glasses on his freckled face. “Bill-Bel,” he introduced himself, before shyly showing him the bear. “And this is Basil,”

“Oh, he’s nice!” John exclaimed, pleased. He reached under the pillow of his bed and pulled out a plush owl, showing it to Bill-Bel. “I got this a couple days ago, when Papa took me to the market! I call him ‘Hoots-A-Lot’,”

Despite the fearful situation Bill-Bel had found himself in, he smiled a little when he showed him the owl. John set Hoots-A-Lot down and then offered Bill-Bel one of his blankets.

“Here– Papa always says to be nice to guests!” John turned away, reaching for a box of something that rattled. “You wanna see something really cool?”

“Yes,” Bill-Bel murmured, looking over his shoulder to try and see what it was.

John opened the box, revealing a collection of rocks. “My rock collection! I’m always looking for new rocks. When Papa took me on this trip, I got a couple new ones,” he pointed out a few angular looking rocks, as well as a shiny blue one. “See? Well, the blue one’s not new. My friend Ellen at school helped me find it!”

Bill-Bel sniffled, the color blue reminiscent of the way his mother would paint her nails. When John noticed him tearing up, he frowned and set the box down. “It’s okay,” he urged quietly. “My papa promised to take you home. It’ll be okay…”

By the time they made it to New Zealand, the sun was beginning to rise. As the fishermen's boat entered the harbor and docked, a woman dressed in council costume met them. The chief fisherman then took Bill-Bel by the hand and led him onto the pier.

“State your name and business,” the woman ordered the man.

The fisherman carefully nudged Bill-Bel towards her. “I’m from Australia, ma’am. My name is Ray Mundy and I’m with the Australian Fishing Guild on a trip. We found this child stranded on a boat in the water, and–”

Before he could finish, the woman suddenly turned around and shouted, “Rel-Kal! They found your son!”

Rel-Kel seemed to come out of nowhere, swooping in and gathering up Bill-Bel into his arms. “My son, my boy!” he exclaimed, breathless, his body noticeably quivering as he held him close.

Bill-Bel gripped his father like a lifeline, bursting into tears. Rel-Kal hugged him back, before taking a moment to examine him. “Are you hurt?”

As Bill-Bel just shook his head, Ray cleared his throat. “Do you have any idea how he got out there by himself?”

A shadow seemed to pass over Rel-Kal’s face, before he said, “It’s none of your business. But thank you for saving him…” he reached into his pocket and fished out a stack of money, which he handed to Ray. “Here. I will be taking my son home, now,”

Without another word, Rel-Kal left the scene, carrying his son in his arms. Bill-Bel peeked over his shoulder, watching as the boat got further and further away. He could see John standing on the dock as well, and could only stare as he disappeared from view.

During the trek home, Rel-Kal said absolutely nothing. Not only that, but everyone they passed on the streets seemed to be in a state of terror, although remaining silent. All they did was stroll around swiftly and nervously look over their shoulders, all while avoiding eye contact with Bill-Bel.

The house was eerily silent when father and son returned. Bill-Bel instantly got a bad feeling the moment they entered, and he went straight for his mother’s office.

“Where’s mother?” he asked, his heart pounding as he found the room empty.

Rel-Kal stood in the doorway, his face expressionless. “She’s not here, Bill-Bel. Please go to bed,”

“But where is she?” Bill-Bel pressed, worried. “Is she in the water, too?”

“No!” Rel-Kal barked. When he noticed that he’d startled his son, he knelt down to his level and tugged him close.

“Listen to me, child,” he began, smoothing his son’s hair away from his eyes. “While I want you to forget all of this ever happened, there is something I want you to remember: your mother was wrong. She saw a version of you in the future that was wrong, incompetent, and destructive. She couldn't see the truth: you are my miracle son, and the only thing you are destined for is greatness. Many will not understand you, but that is never your fault. You are my son, and no fortune-teller will tell me otherwise. Do you understand? I will make sure you understand this, until the day I die!”

Bill-Bel just stared into his father’s eyes, before nodding once. “Okay…”

Rel-Kel reached forward and pulled his son close, hugging him again. “I will always protect you, my son…there will never be anyone like you.”

Bill-Bel never saw his mother again.

Then, someone flipped the light switch.

“Bill,” came Nita’s voice. “It’s time! Come on, they’re waiting for you,”

Bill’s eyes opened slowly, taking in the sight of his wife. His second wife – the one who didn’t truly know him but thought very highly of him. He rose from the couch, accepting the hand when she offered it and getting onto his feet.

Nita instantly noticed his expression, her brow creasing in worry. “Hey…you okay?”

Bill’s eyes met hers, and he said nothing for a moment. He brought up her hand and kissed it gently, before asking, “Where’s Pierce?”

“Pierce?” Nita repeated, as if surprised that he would ask about their infant child. “He’s with the sitter, remember? I…” she shook her head, gesturing to the door. "You have to go! I brought you your speech," she handed him the papers he'd thrown against the wall earlier. “Good luck out there, honey!”

Bill accepted the papers, though he couldn’t seem to register any of the words on the page. He leaned in to gently kiss Nita again, before turning to leave the trailer.

The crowd cheered as their maylor, Bill Waters, finally stepped out onto the stage. A narrow set of stairs to his left led to the clocktower's entrance, which was barred by a huge crimson ribbon. A large pair of shears were propped up against the podium, ready to be used to cut the ribbon.

Sniper looked down at the gun in his hand and realized he could easily target Bill-Bel from where he was hidden behind a sign in the town square. But no – no, he wasn’t going to do that. Helen would be furious if he made any diversions from the plan, even if it would have been an understandable one.

Helen’s voice came over the ear piece system. “What’s going on? Why isn’t he saying anything?”

“I don’t know,” Miss Pauling replied. “He’s just standing there…” she glanced over at Lar-Nah, who was just a few feet away from here, obscured by a flower display. Lar-Nah stared at her ex-husband on the stage, catching wind that something was amiss.

It was a full thirty seconds before he actually began speaking.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Bill Waters began, his voice lower than usual. “We're here to recognize the effort and skill that went into the Teufort Clocktower, our newest project.”

Once the audience applauded, one of the workers approached the platform and accepted the mayor's handshake. The worker then handed him the shears, and Bill returned to the microphone.

“But…before we do that,” Bill cleared his throat, beginning to tremble slightly. “I have a confession to make.”

Everything went silent. Sniper’s brow furrowed, poking his head out from behind the billboard.

From her place offstage, Nita looked at her husband in confusion, mouthing to him, ‘what?’. He only gave her a slight glance before continuing on.

“My name is Bill-Bel,” he admitted, his eyes appearing glazed as he addressed the crowd. “And I am from New Zealand. My home country as destroyed because of my actions, and so was my family. I’m not American, and none of you actually elected me. I’ve been lying to all of you.”

Everyone in the crowd exchanged confused looks. There were some rumblings among that this had to be some kind of prank, or part of an elaborate speech.

Sniper stepped slowly out from behind the billboard, his heart pounding. He had no understanding what was going on or why it was going on, but...he couldn't stop himself from cautiously approaching the stage.

Bill-Bel just stared at the crowd for a long time, though his eyes soon met Sniper’s. It was after seeing his son that his face suddenly split into a grin, but it wasn’t one of amusement. Rather, it was anger – anger, and some deep seated pain.

"Oh, god – I am sick…a sick, sick man," Bill-Bel muttered into the microphone, shaking his head, and he gave a laugh that changed into a sob. He covered his face with his gnarled hand, letting out a few of the ugliest cries Sniper had ever heard in his life.

Everything was completely silent for nearly a full thirty seconds as Bill-Bel sobbed. Finally, Nita rushed out onstage and took him by the arm.

“Okay, we’re done, we’re done,” she whispered to him, trying to get him off the stage, but he tugged himself away from her.

He picked the shears back up and wobbled down the stairs to the ribbon. He unceremoniously split the ribbon in half with the shears before turning to the audience and tearfully nodding. Without looking back at his alarmed wife or the crowd, he wandered off, shears still in hand.

No one said anything for a long moment.

“What the hell just happened?” Scout muttered.

Helen’s voice came over their ear pieces, “Go follow him, see where he’s going. But don’t make it too obvious.”

Sniper took a long breath, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he could only watch as the crowd of people mumbled to each other in confusion.

A loud ‘psst’ from behind him caught his attention. He turned around and saw Demo and Soldier, who were gesturing for him to come with them.

“Did you see which way he went?” Demo wanted to know as Sniper walked up to join them.

“Parking lot,” Sniper confirmed, voice low. “Let’s not talk about it, let’s just follow him and get this all over with.”

3 notes · View notes

tsumuchi · 4 months

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summary: whilst on your vacation in fontaine you accidentally end up in jail. fortunately for you, a certain someone is going to make your trip down to the fortress worthwhile

pairing: wriothesley x gn!reader

genre: fluff, strangers to friends to lovers sort of

warnings: none

notes: not proofread (will do so later) around 6000 words long, reader isn’t from fontaine and works in mondstadt (hints at reader working for albedo), reader is also a bit slow and wriothesley isn't any help and sigewenne sides with him, set after archon quest

after spending four days down at the fortress of meropide, you could confidently say it sucked.

the accommodations, the food, the people, the faint smell of oil and grease always lingering around, it was a major downgrade from the hotel you had been staying in previously.

you had originally come to fontaine for a vacation that your boss back in mondstadt insisted you needed. and now you were going to have to spend most of it in prison.

all you had done, was eat ketchup on its own. that’s all. nothing more, nothing less. it wasn't even that big of a deal, you were just hungry and forgot to bring money for fries to go with it so you ended up eating a packet of ketchup. yet during the trial at the opera epiclese the fontainians made you seem like a villain.

sighing you sat down at the coupon cafeteria at an empty table placing your free meal down. it already reeked.

by the time my twenty-day sentence is over, i’ll only have three days of my vacation left... you thought.

in the fortress of meropide, the inmate that led you on your tour upon first arriving explained that you would have to work in the 'production zone' everyday and you only got one free welfare meal a day.

with that information you decided it'd be best to skip out on breakfast and dinner and have your meal at lunch. all your other time you spent working in the production zone under grainville's supervision. the work was at least easier than all the expeditions in dragonspine you'd have to go on with your boss.

that, essentially, was your routine for the four days you had spent here. you didn't want to get in trouble again for some stupid reason so you made sure to keep to the rules.

opening your welfare meal for the day, you were met with the same disgusting grey sludge that had greeted you yesterday and the day before. you immediately put the lid back on.

since you had step foot in the fortress, you hadn’t eaten a single thing and you honestly felt famished. it wasn’t your fault that everything was practically inedible.

you rested your chin on your hand, sighing yet again for the nth time today. you were considering just skipping lunch entirely, it wasn't like you were eating anything anyway.

when you first stepped foot in the fortress, you told yourself you should try and make the most out of your trip here, think of it as an experience, an extra vacation. but it was as if there was something you were missing.

most of the other inmates looked as if they were living the life down at the fortress of meropide. your isolated table was surrounded by others who were happily chatting away, with scrummier meals than you as well.

am i doing something wrong? how can anyone be genuinely happy here?

you thought, pushing away you’re own meal box in disgust and staring longingly at someone else’s meal that looked as if it belonged in hotel debord. the sight alone was enough to fill a fraction of the hunger inside you.

i guess this will just have to do...

“not a fan of the food, huh?” a voice suddenly spoke and you jumped slightly looking up to see a man sitting opposite you on your once lonely table.

one glance at the man and you already knew you did not want to deal with him. you had already ran into a couple of inmates, they either ignored you because they didn’t care or gave you a hard time just because.

this man, looked as if he was ready to do the latter.

well, i shouldn’t judge a book by it's cover…

he had messy black hair with grey streaks along with piercing blue eyes. with the way his arms were crossed you could see his muscles flex but also the various scars on them. he also had numerous scars around his neck and one just underneath his right eye.

you’d be lying if you said he was unattractive, you definitely would've noticed someone like him by now so you wondered why you hadn't seen him before.

“well, maybe i’d eat it if it at least looked edible.” you responded watching him in front of you, still taking in his whole appearance.

maybe... he's new here too? why else would he come talk to me?

at your response the man raised a brow, taking in your features. as his eyes scanned across your attire and up to your face, they eventually landed on your own as he stared right through you. his gaze pierced through you and you nearly shuddered from the intimidation.

you also noticed the looks and hushed whispers that other inmates were giving him once he had sat on your table. perhaps people had been giving him a hard time.

"um," you gulped "are you new here?" you asked. maybe he didn't have any friends like you, that would explain why he came and sat on your table all of a sudden.

he stared at you a while longer before giving you a lazy smile and leaning forward slightly. “yeah i am, are you?”, he asked.

"i mean i joined here four days ago so i guess... what's your name?" you asked smiling back, maybe he wasn't as scary as he looked.

he was silent for a bit as he looked down, it was as if he was contemplating whether he should tell you or not. you stared at him expectantly awaiting his answer.

"wriothesley." he said eventually.

"wriothesley." you repeated, "well, i'm (y/n). i may not know a lot about this place but if you need anything i can try my best to help." you smiled warmly at him.

he smiled back, well more it was more of a smirk, but either way there was a glint of something in his eye that you noticed but couldn't quite put your finger on.

—————

after your little chat with wriothesley at lunch, the two of you parted ways and you headed to the production zone to work until bed time.

when you headed to your room, you got ready for bed and tucked yourself in, closing your eyes so that you could allow sleep to engulf you.

except it never did, and you laid in your bed for hours waiting for the sleep to come.

after a while it eventually rolled to 1am, it was dead silent apart from the constant sound of cogs whirring giving the fortress a more of an eerie feel as you slipped out of your bed.

you trudged towards the lift and made your way to the bottom floor, planning on just sitting at the coupon cafeteria for a while basking in the silence. that's when you stumbled upon the place to find that someone was already there.

the same man from earlier sat in the dim light at the same table from earlier with a teacup to his lips peacefully drinking away, eyes closed. a matching teapot was upon the table and sweet smell of tea wafted throughout.

the rich and sweet aroma was nearly intoxicating, and for someone who hadn't eaten properly in the past few days you felt as if you were hypnotised.

at first you observed from a distance, comtemplating whether or not you should confront him. would he let you try some if you asked? you would have to remember his name first...

wriother... wriothesee... wriothesley? wriothesley! that was it!

"wriothesley?" you called out to the fellow inmate as he opened his eyes to meet yours. he help the cup away from his lips briefly and spoke up.

"oh, evening (y/n)." he acknowledged giving you a small nod, as you made your way to sit opposite him.

"why are you drinking tea out in the open? the guards are going to catch you." you asked while he merely shrugged and set his cup down.

"the guards end their watch night duty at twelve." he stated.

oh, i didnt know that.

"i could ask you the same though. what are you doing wandering around at one in the morning?" he asked, glancing at you.

"i just... couldn't sleep that's all." you said turning your head slightly.

you eyes trailed down to the cup that now rested on the table, noticing how the steam frrom the cup swirled and how the smell was even sweeter now that you were close. wriothesley saw all of this.

"...would you like a sip?" he eventually asked watching the way your eyes gazed on his teacup.

at his words you shot your head up to face him properly.

"really? can i?" your eyes practically lit up which he also took note off, he chuckled before pushing the teacup forward in your direction so that it was in front of you.

you grinned at him before taking the cup in your hands, not too bothered about the fact that you were using the same one as him.

you proceeded to take a sip and it tasted ten times better than the smell. the heat from the drink brought warmth inside of you and the flavours had a sense of familiarity.

the warm hot tea that your boss would usually give you in the little cave in the freezing depths of dragonspine was what first crossed your mind. and you were reminded of home.

you were done taking your sip and let out a happy sigh as you set the cup down.

unbeknownst to you, wriothesley had watched the way you drink the tea and couldn't help but be fascinated in the way your facial expression changed. your eyebrows slightly raised with your eyes slightly widened, the way your smile truly met up to your eyes.

a warm feeling came over him to see you enjoying the tea just as much - probably even more than he did.

"do you like it?" wriothesley asked and you nodded eagerly.

"yeah! it's really good, and tastes sort of familiar. anyway, thanks again, wriothesley." you said pushing the cup back towards him.

"no probl-" he cut himself off after looking down at the now empty tea cup that you had given back to him.

"you finished it..." he muttered quietly eyes widened slightly, when he had handed it to you there was still quite a lot left.

your eyes also widened at his expression as you sheepishly rubbed the back of your neck.

"sorry, i haven't eaten much since i got here so..." you said avoiding his gaze out of embarrassment, you hadn't meant to get carried away the tea just tasted that good.

his eyes shifted from the cup and looked at you, frowning ever so slightly, "you haven't eaten?"

"well apart from the few snacks i brought, my welfare meals have been so bad..." you explained still feeling a tad bit guilty.

"i see. the welfare meals are picked at random so you must've been unfortunate." he explained.

"oh really? so that's how it works..." you said trailing off in thought.

he knew about the when the guards' duty ended and the welfare meals yet i didn't, is this guy really new or am i just slow?

"um, how long have you been here wriothesley?" you asked cautiously and curiously.

"three days." he replied rather suddenly, filling his teacup with some more tea out of the teapot.

"oh, ok then." you said, "it's just you know a lot about this place, probably more than me!" you laughed slightly, he didn't respond and instead kept quiet.

silence fell over the two of you as he sipped his tea looking down at the table and you watched him contently with a small smile.

"you're much nicer than i thought, y'know." you said out of the blue.

"hm?" he said looking back up to face you, "what do you mean by that?"

"i guess it's just that when I first saw you i got the impression that you were the kinda inmate who scared everyone. kinda like a big bad wolf." you explained.

at your comment, he simply looked at you with a deadpan expression. seemingly unimpressed at your claims.

you laughed at his face as a yawn escaped your mouth the same time.

"perhaps you should go to sleep now." he suggested noticing your tiredness.

"maybe i should." you agreed getting up from your seat and stretching, you checked your watch and it was nearly 2.

you looked at wriothesley mildly perplexed, "aren't you going to sleep?"

he shook his head, "no, i still have some things i need to sort out."

what could he possible need to do at 2am?

you decided not to question his motives as yet another yawn escaped you.

"alright then, make sure you get some sleep at least. good night wriothesley." you waved, him giving you a curt nod back before making your way back to your room.

—————

you slept particularly well that night but woke up abruptly the next morning as dread filled your gut. you checked your watch as it read a time around ten in the morning.

i slept in! grainville's totally gonna kill me!

quickly you got out of bed and started to get ready until the same sweet smell from yesterday filled your nose bringing you to a halt.

turning you looked over to the table situated in the corner of your room as you caught sight of a familiar teacup and a grey welfare meal box.

you walked on over to the table, the tea was still warm and there was a small note on the top of the box.

'don't worry about sleeping in, i told grainville that you'd be having a lie in. enjoy breakfast. - wriothesley'

you smiled to yourself before setting the little note aside. you didn't even stop to question how he got grainville to obey his orders, the food inside the box smelled too good.

when you opened the grey meal box, you were met with two croissants and a stack of three pancakes topped with maple syrup and berries. your mouth practically started watering at the sight and you wasted no time and dug in.

—————

from then on, your welfare meals improved drastically and you knew it was wriothesley's doing (yet you still wondered how he had managed to). it had been two days since meeting with him that night and you hadn't seen him since.

you brought the teacup with you everyday since then hoping you'd be able to give it back and thank him but you were yet to see him again.

since food wasn't a problem anymore, you were able to work your shifts at the production zone, and you weren't sure if you were imagine things but grainville had been much nicer to you recently. while you worked, he'd tell you to take break any time you wanted.

on the way, you also happened to befriend the bombshell bros, cuistot and laverune.

"what's with the weird teacup (y/n)?"

"oh it's just uh, for a friend?" you said scratching your neck, looking around to find something else to talk about until your eyes landed upon something,

"oh yeah! what's that room?" you asked walking past the doors at the central part of the administrative area, you had passed it a few times but never knew what it was.

"oh that, that's the duke's office." laverune said.

there's a duke here?

"oh yeah," cuistot piped in, "he's basically in charge down here, a real big shot! the last thing you want is to cross paths with him."

subconsciously, you looked down to the teacup in your hand and pondered.

huh... the duke sounds like a big deal yet i haven't seen him before... i guess that's for my own good though

you and laverune dropped cuistot off at the cafeteria so he could work his shift in the kitchen and then headed off to the production zone.

laverune left after around thirty minutes, saying something about how he was hungry and tired yet you stayed, working tirelessly to process widgets. what the fortress needed all of these widgets for was still unknown to you.

while you were working away, you couldn't help but notice a melusine watching you from the corner of your eye.

she looked a tad bit different from the melusines you had seen up on the surface while on your various excursions in fontaine but still had the same cuteness at least. you wondered why a melusine would be down here of all places.

you didnt think much of her at first, not until she came up to you herself.

"hello! you're mx. (y/n), right?" she said waving at you with a wide smile.

you returned with another smile, albeit a bit surprised she had not only approached you but also knew of your name.

"oh, uh yeah that's me! do you need something?" you asked and she nodded.

"my name's sigewenne, i'm the head nurse down here. I’ve been watching you work and was wondering if you'd follow me? i'd like to give you a check up." she inquired, and how could you refuse to such a cute face?

so you ended your shift at the production zone and considering you had nothing else really to do instead, you followed sigwenne.

one thing led to another and now you were laying down in one of the beds of the infirmary.

“mx. (y/n), are you sure you're feeling well?” sigewinne asked as she looked over your state worriedly taking the thermometer from your mouth.

she had run a couple of tests on you, saying you had 'piqued her curiosity'. but now there seemed to be some sort of problem.

"uh yeah i am, why?" you said confused as she shook her head putting down the thermometer.

"you have a temperature of 40°C, im afraid you're going to have to stay here in the infirmary until it goes down."

"wha- but i feel fine!" you sat up all of a sudden as sigewenne ushered you back down.

"don't worry mx. (y/n), i have just the thing!" she said rushing out the room, you sighed sitting up again and resting your back against the head of the bed.

you had placed the teacup down on the floor beside the bed prior to sigewenne's check up, you bent down slightly and picked it up so you could place it in your lap. then you thought about your current predicament.

is it because i was in the production zone for too long?

it was just a habit of yours to work a lot, but you never thought it would end up in you getting a temperature. the thing was you didn't even feel hot. maybe it was because-

"(y/n)?"

your head whipped to the entrance of the infirmary as the familiar voice fell upon your ears.

"wriothesley! where did you go? it's been two days!" you said smiling upon his arrival.

he didn't necessarily answer your question you noticed, but he came over to your bed and pulled a chair out of a desk nearby to sit right by you.

"sigewenne informed me on your state, are you feeling alright?" he said asking you a question in return.

you blinked. sigewenne told him? wasn't she going to get something? why would she tell him of all people?

oh! maybe they're friends?

"oh yeah i'm okay, i honestly don't know what happened..." you laughed slightly looking off to the side.

"you overworked yourself." he sighed, "you don't have to spend all your time in the production zone."

"i know i know... it's just a habit of mine. i guess that's why my boss sent me here to fontaine, to take a break. it's a shame i have to spend some of it down in prison" you explained.

"i see." he said watching your expression and the way your eyebrows furrowed, "do you miss mondstadt?"

"just a bit." you nodded, "i mean i'm going back soon after my sentence but-"

wait a second, i don't remember telling him i came from mondstadt?

but before you could question the fact that he knew where you were from someone else came in.

"your gr- wriothesley, please could i ask you to leave. mx. (y/n) here needs to rest." sigewenne said with her hands on her hips and a pout on her lips.

wriothesley chuckled at her expression before getting out of his chair as you watched him rise, a small frown on your face.

"oh ok. well, thanks for the tea and breakfast a few days ago! it was really really good. here's your cup." you said holding it out for him.

still, i wonder how he managed to get ahold of such nice food down here...

he reached out to receive his cup and you felt his fingers brush against yours sending a jolt of electricity through your entire body causing you to visibly tense up.

"no problem. i'll come visit you again tomorrow." he said with the faintest smile on his face, his eyes not as piercing as they were upon first meeting him.

your breath hitched slightly and you felt your heartbeat start to quicken as you watched him leave the infirmary, eyes still lingering to where he once was. however your actions didn't go unnoticed by a certain melusine.

once he had left, sigwenne came up to you and checked your temperature once more.

"(y/n)! your temperature has gone up again!" she exclaimed bringing you out of your trance.

"o-oh! really? huh..." you said feeling slightly embarrassed, you yourself new the reason as to why that happened.

"here, drink this and your temperature should go down." she said holding out a cup innocently and you received it with a sheepish smile.

"thanks sigewenne." you said taking a massive sip, not expecting the drink to be so bitter with a side of... spiciness? you swallowed it (barely) but starting coughing soon after.

"w-what's in this??" you choked out.

"oh, nothing you need to worry about. everything in there has healing properties." she reassured.

"right... thanks sigewenne." you said handing her back the cup which she took from your hands.

you thought she'd leave you alone but she just stood there, not looking like she's be moving anytime soon. you contemplated whether or not you should ask if she was alright until she spoke up.

"what do you think of wriothesley?" she asked out of nowhere.

you said averting your eyes to the side, trying to get rid of what was in your head prior, "oh he's nice... i mean he's alright i guess?"

the melusine didn't respond after that, so you slowly brought your gaze back onto her only to be startled to see her staring at you with big wide eyes.

you gulped nervously as you gave her a wobbly smile, her stoic expression scaring you, "are you two friends? i mean you told him that i was sick so i figured you must have-"

"do you like him?" she said suddenly cutting you off.

this time it was your turn to widen your eyes as

"of course not! no- wait yes! wait- i mean in a friend way of course! haha... why do you ask?" you said, painfully wincing internally at your stuttering

she didn't say anything at first but simply stared, her eyes boring into you.

"it's ok mx. (y/n), your secret's safe with me!" she said happily as a sudden sense of worry surged through you.

"huh? what do you-"

"you should probably get some rest now, i'll come check on you again tomorrow morning. good night!" she said clasping her hands together and taking her leave.

you were left speechless once again.

—————

as promised, wriothesley came and visited you in the infirmary the next day. but after the events from the previous day you couldn't look at him in the same way.

you told yourself you didn't have a crush on wriothesley, that would be absurd. but for some reason sigewenne seemed convinced you did, as she sorted out her things in the corner of the infirmary she kept giving you glances.

which was terrible because it seemed as if the two of them were friends so if she told him about your 'feelings', you'd be screwed.

it's not like you had a chance with him to begin with, you weren't from fontaine and he probably was. and despite the fact that you two were sent to the fortress around the same time, you had no idea what sort of crime he committed.

now that you thought about it, he was kinda... mysterious.

he was sat beside your bed as you both drank tea in silence, you felt as if it was awkward and didn't know what to say as you looked everywhere but at him.

one time, you accidentally locked eyes with him and immediately looked away embarrassed.

there's no way i have a crush on wriothesley! besides, after my sentence is over i'll never see him again... not that it matters, i don't like him like that!-

"is something bothering you?" he quipped.

your heartbeat quickened again, much to your dismay. the way he had been looking out for you: getting you food, bringing you tea, checking in on you... it was too much for you to handle.

you hadn't even noticed, you were staring at him.

"no!" you said rather loudly coming out of your trance, you didn't even sound convincing to yourself, "nothing's bothering me, nothing's wrong..."

you quickly brought your teacup to your lips and looked down. nonetheless, he slowly nodded at your response as silence welcomed the two of you once more.

"oh yeah! did you know there was a duke down here?" you asked trying to start up some conversation to clear the silence, your talk with cuistot and laverune the day before coming back to you.

he was silent as he looked down to the liquid in his cup, watching the ripples hit the side and gently bounce back. he then nodded.

"oh, you did? i was only told about him yesterday." you said slightly surprised, you had been down here a day longer than wriothesley but he seemed to know way more than you did.

"what's he like? i've never seen him before." you asked as wriothesley looked up in thought but sigewenne came over to the two of you before he could say anything.

"the duke is very hard-working, he's always up to something hence why you probably haven't seen him yet." sigewenne said, a thermometer in her hands which she held out to you.

you received the thermometer and thanked her, "he kinda sounds like my boss. but at least my boss, as stoic as he is, can be nice and funny at times. apparently the duke is someone who should be avoided."

you put the thermometer in your mouth for a while before giving it back to her, she took note of the temperature and scribbled it down. all the while wriothesley frowned at your words.

"i'm sure the duke also has a good sense of humour." he said.

"maybe..." you shrugged.

"the duke also looks after the fortress very well, he's made lots of improvements over the past years to make this place as comfortable as it can be for the inmates here." sigewenne continued "oh! and he really likes drinking tea."

"ooh! i guess you two have that in common huh?" you pointed out looking at wriothesley.

wriothesley took another sip of his cup before speaking up, "i guess we do."

—————

“w-woah, (y/n)! you have loads of credit coupons!” cuistot stammered at the bunch of ‘credit coupons’ you carried.

sigewenne's drink was surprisingly helpful, (despite how weird it tasted) and you only had to stay in the infirmary for a two nights.

the day after, you and the bombshell bros were planning to go to the pankration ring (a place you never knew existed) to watch a match that according to laverune was going to be the ‘fight of the century’.

but before you made your way there you had told them that there was some trash you needed to clear out so they followed you to your room. when you walked out with the bag of credit coupons they’re jaws dropped.

“credit coupons..? i thought they were just pieces of paper. grainville at the production zone kept giving them to me for working.” you said stopping in your tracks and looking down at the coupons in your hand.

“you’re practically rich! with that many credit coupons you could do all sorts!" laverune exclaimed, the two noticed the confused expression still displayed on your face and decided to explain the whole coupon system.

"...so, this is the currency down here?" you asked in shock.

"basically, yeah!" cuistot said.

wow, i never knew...

once you were done putting away your coupons the three of you headed for the pankration ring. laverune suggested you bring some coupons so you could bet on which fighter you thought would win, so you did.

whilst you walked, you listened in on cuistot and laverune's conversation on who they thought would win.

"'le grappleur' is surely going to win! he is reigning champion for a reason." cuistot said and laverune shook his head.

"oh come on, 'demon horde' has it in the bag. the other day, he even beat 'killer hook'! that makes them tied!" laverune argued.

just what kinda names are these...

"who do you think's going to win (y/n)?" cuistot asked turning to you, you shrugged.

"i don't know... 'le grappleur' maybe?" you said taking a complete guess. laverune humphed disapprovingly.

"well, the duke's going to watch the match as well and i heard he's betting on 'demon horde'!" he said crossing his arms.

oh yeah, the duke, maybe i'll finally see what he looks like?

"but (y/n)'s especially close with his grace so they can just get him to change his mind, bam!" cuistot stated as you raised a brow.

"um, i am?" you asked.

cuistot laughed, "it's not often the duke sits to have a meal with anyone, or visit anyone in the infirmary. why didn't you tell us?" he said only arising more confusion inside you.

he did? but the only other person i've talked to is-

"i believe i heard my name?" a familiar voice spoke up from behind you three causing you all to turn around.

just as you thought, it was wriothesley, you smiled at him feeling your heart beat quicken. you were about to say something until cuistot and laverune beat you to it.

"y-your grace!" they both exclaimed simultaneously bowing slightly as you still stood upright, eyes darting between wriothesley and the pair.

"huh? who... 'your grace'? what?" you were confused until it finally clicked, your eyes widening, "wait, you mean... you're the duke?"

wriothesley smirked at you and folded his arms, "took you long enough."

your mouth was slightly agape as you simply stared at him utterly dumbfounded stumbling to find the right words, "w-what? since when?!"

"oh i dont know, a couple of years ago?" he shrugged nonchalantly.

cuistot and laverune noticed you two were conversing and used it was a chance to slip away off to the pankration ring, leaving you with 'his grace'.

everything suddenly made sense. why he was able to get grainville to listen to him, all the food he was able to deliver you.

"why... why didn't you tell me? and here i thought you were an inmate like me this whole time..." you said bringing your palm to your forehead feeling like an idiot.

"i'll be honest i found it quite entertaining that you didn't know who i was." he said causing you to roll your eyes, he took a step closer so that he was gazing down at you.

"how are you feeling by the way?" he asked, his tone becoming a bit softer making your heart beat even faster.

you sighed, still not having fully accepted the fact that you had been hanging around the duke the entire time, "i'm fine, sigewinne said i should just take it easy from now on."

he hummed smiling slightly, "that's good."

a comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you merely looked at each other. you admired his features not noticing that he was doing the same until he cleared his throat and looked off to the side.

"your friends seemed to have already left so, would you like to head to the pankration ring together?" he suggested and you beamed at him.

"sure!"

—————

after figuring out who wriothesley really was, you decided it would be best if you discarded your feelings for him. your chances with him had gone from about five percent to absolute zero.

you only had three days of your sentence left anyway, but you weren't looking forward to going back. after all, you ended up liking the fortress of meropide life much more than you had expected.

at the moment, you and wriothesley were having your daily tea break in his office. him sat at his desk going through some papers as you sat on the other side of the desk, reading one of the many books from his shelf.

"you know, i could always shorten your sentence. you could go back today if you wanted." he suggested breaking the silence.

"yes but," you started averting your eyes "i still want to spend a bit more time with cuistot and laverune that's all."

and you too obviously you thought but would never dare to say aloud.

wriothesley hummed in response, "ah yes, you're little friend group." he paused for a bit, "are you sure that's the only reason?"

"uh, i'll miss sigewenne too, she's really sweet." you said, subconsciously taking your eyes off your book and instead watching him. it was a terrible habit of yours lately.

"i see." he said rather plainly, "speaking of sigewenne, we both had a chat earlier today and she told me some, interesting things."

you froze at this and immediately shot ur eyes back down to your book, wriothesley this time noticing as he moved his work to one side watched your expression closely with a smirk.

what? there's no way sigewenne would've told him... right? i never admitted it aloud!

"that's nice, what kind of things?" you said still looking down, eyes scanning over the pages 10x quicker than before (the words weren't even going through your head).

"not much, but she did tell me about you." he said as you felt your heart sink.

"o-oh really? by the way this book is really interesting." you said losing where you were as you flipped ahead a couple of pages, a desperate attempt to change the subject.

he watched your reaction contently, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded, he then shrugged.

"maybe it is, i haven't read it yet." he said, "anyway sigewenne told me that-"

you pulled your own chair back and got up, with the book in hand you rushed to the side to go put it back on the shelf. there was no way you were going to let him finish his sentence and humiliate you.

"i just remembered! i need to go find cuistot to try the new recipe he made!" you said getting up from our chair and going over to the bookshelf. you went on your tip toes to place the book back before turning on your heel, ready to dash towards the door.

however when you turned you were met with wriothesley's figure standing in front of you with a lazy smile, blocking you form going any further.

"sigwenne said that you liked me." he leaned down so he was face to face with you, your lips merely inches away from his and a teasing glint in his eyes, "is that true?"

your eyes widened in shock and horror, your pupils darting around everywhere frantically, "uh- i um, i-"

that alone was enough to provide him an answer asall your muffled words came to a halt when he brought his right hand and held your chin up, connecting his lips with yours.

at first you didn't kiss back, you couldn't kiss back, utterly paralysed from the shock. his smooth lips against your own causing your mind to blank out.

does he... like me back??

you couldn't help it, you were a hopeless fool. you wrapped your arms tightly around his neck and kissed back, feeling a smile emerge from his lips, you felt as if you were dreaming.

his hand on your chin found its way to your cheek as the other wrapped tightly around your waist, pulling you even closer to his body deepening the kiss in the process.

eventually after what felt like years, you both pulled away breathlessly. an irresistible smile creeping up both your faces.

"i think i'm going to have to lengthen your sentence." he said, his hand resting on the side of your face as his thumb caressed your cheek.

"really? what for?" you asked playing along leaning into his touch.

he leaned in once more, planting a small kiss on your lips before pulling back and flashing you a grin.

"for stealing my heart."