#let me know if I should post it on ao3 idk if I will because it’s not very good | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nocasdatsgay · 2 months

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Be Good

Pairing: Female Reader/Azriel/Eris | Rated: E🌶️

Neapolitan bonds Master post | Word Count: 2493|

Summary: Eris had an important meeting so he told you to listen to Azriel, but no sex. He didn’t say anything about the shadows having similar restrictions

Warnings: edging (female reader), daddy kink, light bdsm, mentions of rope and wax play, praise kink, mating bond three-ways. No use of y/n just second POV.

A/N: Eris=Daddy and Az=Sir. Reader=Princess, baby girl, my love. I also never claimed to be an expert in light bdsm. Idk what happened I wanted praise kink with Eris and Az and got this.

Read it here on ao3| Read below

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eris said to do what Azriel said.

That’s how you ended up in your study, hands pinned to the desk by shadows. You sat on his lap with his hard cock pressed against your backside. He didn’t touch you; he wasn’t allowed to fuck you and you both knew if his hands met your bare skin you’d both be in trouble. But his shadows however weren’t under those constraints.

“Open up your bond to our mate, baby,” he whispered in your ear. The cool breeze of shadows slipped up your skirts.

“But he’s still in a meeting.”

“I know.” You could hear the wicked smirk in his voice as he pressed a kiss to the back of your head. “We’re just going to tease him. He’ll let you in.”

“But I’ll get in trouble.” You whimpered as those shadows swirled along your thighs.

“You want to be a good girl, don’t you? You have to listen to me. I won’t let you get in trouble.”

“You promise?”

You gasped as something cold- another shadow- slipped down the front of your dress.

“Have I ever lied to you baby girl?”

You twisted your shoulders around to look back at him with a skeptical look. He only chuckled at you. You normally kept your bond shut down during the day. Mostly because with two mates, nothing would get done if emotions were shared all the time. The three of you learned that after your frenzy. Azriel seemed to read your mind since your bond was wide open to him. You focused on opening the bond to Eris while he ran his hands down your sides.

“Remember the day when we accepted the bond?” Gods did you ever. His hands fisted the skirt of your dress, dragging the fabric up just slightly. “That night you took both of us so well.”

You remembered.

You’d winnowed to the cabin when the frenzy started. They both had their turns with you individually and with each other. But the bond was still squirming in your chest and you begged them both to take you at the same time. Eris was behind you and Az in front. You’d never been so full in your life. You’d never screamed so hard when all three of you came together, the bonds between you wide open and flooded with pleasure.

“We should do that again.” Azriel’s voice brought you back from the memory. “Take a week at the cabin. I want to work you open real slow.” His hands slipped over your dress and pulled your thighs apart without actually touching you. “I want to see you take us both in that pretty pussy of yours.”

“Az!”

You squirmed in his lap, both legs now draped over each side of his own. A shadow had slipped into your panties and ghosted along your clit. Another shadow was stroking along your breasts. Azriel’s chuckle rumbled in his chest. He brushed your hair side and nipped at your neck.

“Be good and Eris will come take care of you. Then next week, I get to play.”

“And do what?” you panted.

“First I’m going to fuck our mate so stupid, he’ll be calling me High Lord.”

“And me?”

By the Mother, the shadows were doing too good of a job teasing you. You couldn’t think about anything else but getting Azriel’s fingers into your cunt.

“I have ropes and a paddle waiting for you, princess.” You whimpered and wiggled your hips back against his cock. He growled into your ear and added. “Careful. You know what happens to brats when it’s my week.”

That brought a moment of clarity in the haze.

“Punish me then. I’ll just lick your wings until you beg.”

You yelled. Azriel was out of the chair and shadows were pulling you by your wrists down the desk so you bent over it. He didn’t take off your panties nor did he throw up your skirts. He kept you there for a moment not touching you. Then you felt him crowd around you, wings blocking the lights.

“Try that again.”

“I’m sorry,” you said quickly. He hummed at that.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.” He whispered in your ear.

“I want your hands on me.” That shadow in your panties was rubbing your clit faster. Your breath quickened. “I want your fingers. I want them- I want them in me.”

“What else?” Az pulled back and spanked you. Not enough to hurt but enough to make you yelp and stand on your toes. “I thought you were my good girl.”

“I am!” Gods you were close.

“Then why are you being sassy?” He laughed but you didn’t think it was funny.

“I’m not!”

Your skin was on fire. You could smell the arousal coming off Az in waves, torturing you on top of what he was pushing down the bond. You flexed your hands and stood on your toes, wanting to fall off the edge. Then the shadow left. You sobbed out a whine, tears in your eyes.

“Sir, please.”

You slumped on the table. A low primal growl behind you made you shiver.

“There she is.” He crowded you again. Shadows were back on your thighs, the cool brush of them teasing you more. “Hi baby. Close your eyes and listen to me. Don’t speak unless I ask you too.”

You did as you were told. Hazy want settled over you and you wished he’d touch you.

“Good girl.” You whined and pushed your hips back but he wasn’t having it. He held your hips in place. “Don’t be greedy, Princess. Our mate isn’t here, remember.” You nodded. “I want you to think about the last time I really fucked you.”

Last week came to mind. He had you by the hair, fucking your mouth while tears streamed down your face. Or when he had you on the bed, arms tied and legs pressed back so he could get in as deep as he wanted.

“Send that down the bond.”

You were sure Eris already knew what you were thinking but you pushed it through anyway. You thought a hum of approval came back to you.

“Think about what our mate is going to do to you when he’s done with his meeting,” Az whispered. Warmth in your chest bloomed at the thought of Eris coming back. “I know for a fact he’s been wanting you all day.”

You bit your lip, flashes of Eris fluttered through your mind. Shadows were in your panties again. You kept your eyes closed even while you squirmed.

“I showed him how to tie the rope but he still needs practice. Do you want me to put you in the rope tonight, baby? I could tie you up like a present and leave you on the bed for him. You can answer.”

“Not allowed,” you shook your head.

Az hummed approval. “You listen to us so well.”

You nodded. You did listen. Eris said no sex and no rope. Not unless he was present. You weren’t sure if it was a test of your honor or a test of patience. Probably the latter.

“We will practice on you later.” He kept talking. “He can get out the safe candles. I want to see you squirm again.”

You squeezed your legs at the thought. You knew it was going down the bond but the images you weren’t sure if it was from yourself or one of them. Flashes of Eris dripping wax on you while Az had his head between your legs. The snug feeling of the soft rope on your skin. You were close again, pleasure building in your pelvis and thighs. The shadows left again and you wanted to cry.

“Az,” you couldn’t get out the rest, a smack on your ass taking your breath away.

“That’s not my name right now, princess.”

You pouted. “Sorry sir.”

“You’re forgiven, baby.”

Az kept you like that for what felt like hours. His shadows would tease and tease, getting you close and then stopping, denying you of release. You’d beg and plead but Az wouldn’t let you cum.

“You can’t cum without Eris here, baby,” Az would chuckle.

At one point you heard his leathers being undone. You were so wet, you could feel it on your thighs.

“Sir please. I want it. I need it. I’ve been a good girl.”

You fucking knew he was stroking himself. Your mouth watered at the thought. You wiggled your hips, pesky shadows damn near overstimulating you. Az was still laughing at you like he wasn’t the cause of your current duress.

“I know Princess. You’ve been the best girl. You have to be patient and wait for Eris.”

But you were done waiting. You needed Eris right then. You needed him so bad you were throbbing from it. If Az wouldn’t take care of you, Eris would. You tugged on the bond without thinking, sending all your want down it. Come get me please is what you sent. The bond tugged back twice. I’m coming for you. Your eyes fly open. Eris was coming.

Daddy was coming.

“Daddy’s coming,” you whisper out loud. You pull at your wrists but the shadows don’t budge. “Daddy is coming for me.”

“Okay Princess,” Az was running his hands through your hair, instantly calming you from the frenzy of the moment. “You’re going to sit down in this chair and act like nothing happened. Okay?”

“Yes sir,” you sighed.

Shadows enveloped you smelling like Az and that calmed you down a little. Wrist shadows let up and he guided you back into your chair before the shadows went back around your wrists.

“Don’t say anything. I want him surprised.”

You nodded and waited.

Not even a minute passed when the door to your chambers opened and slammed shut. Heavy footsteps echoed as they approached the study and you had the nerve to hold your breath, waiting. You really shouldn’t have been surprised when a warm hand dug into your hair and pulled your head back over the top of your chair.

You blinked and stared up at Eris. His short red hair was askew, like he’d been running his hands through it constantly. He was breathing heavily.

“My love,” he said, looking down at you. You squirmed in your seat at how blown his pupils were. “You knew I had an important meeting today. Explain to me why, for the last hour and a half, you’ve been sending very distracting things down our bond.”

A shadow tightened on your wrist. A warning. You looked up at him and pleaded with your eyes. Eris was smart; his gaze flickered to where your hands laid on the desk. His grip loosened.

“Azriel.”

Laughter filled the room and behind you, you knew Azriel had stepped out of the shadows where he was hiding. Eris still didn’t let go of your hair.

He looked back down to you. “Did Azriel make you tease me, princess?” You nodded. With a heavy sigh, he let you go.

“Azriel.” Eris’s voice was low, and even not addressing you, it went a shiver down your spine. “You almost got our girl in a lot of trouble.”

You could feel the heat off him, his anger mounting. The shadows holding down your wrists left you and you were free to turn in your seat. Another shiver ran through you. Both your mates were staring each other down. You looked at Eris.

“Are you mad at me, Daddy?” you said softly.

“Not with you, princess,” he didn’t look at you, but still glared at Azriel who was still chuckling to himself. “You think this is funny, Azriel.”

“Of course I do.” Azriel gave him that arrogant grin he always has when he was riling his mates up. “You shut me out. I knew you’d let our girl through the bond. I’d pay good money to have seen the look on Rhys’s face, you reek of arousal.”

“And this room reeks of sex,” Eris grumbled. He glared down at you and you shrunk in on yourself. “Did he fuck you while I was gone?”

“No,” you shook your head, eyes wide. “I was good. I was a good girl. I promise.”

“She was the best girl,” Azriel smiled at you proudly. “I edged her a few times. You didn’t bar me from using shadows. They helped paint the picture of what I wanted you to feel down the bond.”

Eris glowered at Azriel. “Of course you’d find a loophole.”

You bit your lip. “Am I in trouble Daddy?”

There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, like he just realized how deep in you were.

“No,” Eris took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. “I did tell you to listen to Azriel while I was busy.”

Az came over and stroked his fingers down your cheek. “See. You’re not in trouble. I wouldn’t let you be punished for following my instructions. You know that.”

You did but after playing with you all afternoon you were in a headspace and easily convinced otherwise. You looked up at Eris through your eyelashes.

“Is your meeting over?” You asked softly. You couldn’t help but drop your gaze to his pants.

“No, it’s not.”

“I’ll go,” Azriel said while he ran his fingers through your hair. You instantly relaxed at the touch. “It’s just Rhys.”

“And Tarquin. And Helion.”

Eris put his hands on his hips but you could stare at his crotch. Maybe you could convince him to use your mouth. You’d been so good for Az, you wanted to be good for Eris too.

“I can handle them while you take care of our girl.” Goosebumps crawled up your skin from his words and the way he played with your hair. “She’s been so good. She deserves it.”

“Good for you, maybe.” You whimpered and Eris looked down at you, a flash of regret on his face.

“I can be good for you too, I promise.” You whispered.

Eris sighed and looked at Azriel. “Go. But don’t think you aren’t getting punished later for making me look like a fool.”

“I look forward to it.” He leaned down by your ear and whispered, “Show our mate what a good girl you are.”

“Okay,” you nod.

Azriel hummed an acknowledgment and you looked to watch him disappear into the shadows. You didn’t have much time to react to Eris walking up and lifting you out the chair. He marched with you draped over his shoulder and laid you onto the bed.

“Daddy expects you on your best behavior.” You bit your lip while he stood by the bed and took off his jacket. “Is your bond to Azriel open?”

“Yes daddy.” Your eyes widened with want while you watched him work on his shirt next.

“Good. Take off that dress and let’s show our mate what it feels like to be toyed with.”

Sequel here: Now Behave

#acotar #azriel acotar #azriel x eris #eris vanserra #eris acotar #eris x reader #azriel x reader #azriel x you #Eris x Azriel x you #acotar x reader #acotar x you #praise k!nk #edging kink #idk man #omg they were mates #Neapolitan Bonds

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sofiadragon · 11 months

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Hey fanfiction loving friend!

AO3 has the ability to turn off comments, moderate comments, restrict comments to logged in users only, or let anyone comment on your story. Most other fanfiction hosting websites do not allow comments to be turned off and in the case of some (wattpad) highly encourage comments even on individual paragraphs.

Over on reddit, someone said it is an unwritten rule of fanfiction that you should never leave a negative or critical comment on a story. This was countered most strongly by many arguments. Despite many people asserting that their stance was the one truth and that there was no debate on the topic - there was a lot of debate about what criticism even is and where the line should be for if giving concrit is alright.

So give this some thought:

If you have tea to spill, examples or an argument you want to make, please do. I have some that go both ways, but I'm going to wait for a few responses so I don't pre-empt the results. I'm not going to vote myself for a while, either, so I won't know which way the poll is leaning when I do pour my tea. I tried to cover all the flavors of debate I've seen in the many "definitive" posts I have read here and on reddit. Please reblog for a wider sample!

#fanfiction discourse #fan fiction #fanfiction #fan work #fan etiquette #commentary #fanfiction.net #ao3 author #ao3 reader #ao3feed #ao3 #wattpad comments #comments on fanfic #looking for constructive criticism #constructive criticism #concrit welcome #concrit not welcome #concrit

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quirklessidiot · 6 months

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title: Y/N and her boys [sneak peek] pairing : Upper classman/popular kid!Gojo Satoru x F!reader, Exchange student!Eren Jaeger x F!reader, MMA Fighter/Celebrity!Ryomen Sukuna x F!reader, Childhood Bestfriend!Aki Hayakawa x F!reader, Varsity football player!Itoshi Rin x F!reader (use of she/her pronouns) Genre: Alternate Universe-University setting, romance, fluff, angst (if you squint), slice of life, drama, all cliche romance genres unite! (Based on the Manhwa, Bunny and her Boys)

Summary: Y/N’s denied the existence of pretty boys and god forbid she’d ever end up dating one yet with one horrid break-up, she decides that relationships aren’t just meant for someone stupid like her but the problem is — five of them suddenly appear and god, why does it seem like they can’t get enough of her?

General warning for the story: mild sexual content, cliche tropes (help), mahito is his own warning, minor character death, mentions of depression, a lot of second-hand embarrassment from y/n's part (shes not a cool girl, SHE IS A BUBBLING MESS AND THATS OK <33), insecurities, bullying, and mentions of cheating Notes: english isn't my first language! (dont judge me) this multi-chaptered story will probably be 20-30 chapters (idk) in ao3. you can totally tell this story is rooted from self-indulgence LMFAO. Im not sure if i should cross post it but im leaning towards ao3 more either ways, can't wait to release this on friday!

also can u guess who she ends up with :P rb’s are appreciated yay FULL VERSION IS RIGHT HERE!

SNEAK PEAK

“Maybe…Maybe we should break up.”

There's another round of silence between you two, and you know that you can’t exactly take it back anymore since you had said it loud and clear, “Woah, woah, I told you I wasn’t with Misa.” his voice turns louder, and the background noises are good as gone as if he had left the noisy place, “Where are you? I’m coming to get you-”

“I said,” you try to control the stammering of your voice, trying to avoid the stares of the people who cast odd glances, “We’re done. I don’t want to see or hear from you again.” and before he could let another excuse out of his mouth, you end the call. It is only now that you notice how your legs have been quivering and your mouth has gone dry, seemingly like a pup who had just been born and trying to walk. You lose your footing and sit down on the dirty pavement.

No tears were shed at that very moment, probably because you were only stupefied, and it was written clearly on your face that this wouldn’t be something you’d recover anytime soon. Heck, you couldn’t even grasp the idea entirely that someone you’ve been friends with for years and, eventually, a lover would do that to you.

Was it as easy as a snap of a finger?

“Miss? Miss?” someone calls out, but it only bounces back to him like an echo in a cave. You remain still, eyes blinking rapidly while the rest of your face is slack. Everyone around you continued to move, but you remained there like a decorated statue.

“Miss? Christ, you’re about to be–” the husky voice also stops, and it’s only now that you look up to find a man. He seems stocky but, simultaneously, smaller, as if he didn’t want to come off as intimidating when he maintained eye-to-eye contact.

He is incongruous with everyone who walks by since he desperately tries to hide his features with a baseball cap and a dark face mark. The only thing you can see are strands of his bleached hair, his eyes that resemble the sunshine that peeked through the glasses of whiskey, and the swirls of ink becoming visible underneath his coat when he stretches out his arm.

If this were any other day, you’d run in the opposite direction because he looked like an unscrupulous loan shark, but your body remains in a state of unknown fatigue that you just wanted to stay still.

You watch as his face softens, the lines on his forehead somewhat disappearing when he watches the color bleed from your face. “...Alright…” he stops, squinting as he crouches to your level. His thick thighs encompass the rough expanse of his straight jeans, and you wondered if he had been an athlete or something. Aside from his built, his presence was rather invigorating, “oh…” he continues, “Sorry, you-uh…” The confidence he had to throw you off is gone like the evening dust as he motions his index finger up and down his face.

At that moment, you feel something wet running down your cheek. It seemed like the waterworks were late.

You didn’t want to be a pity party in front of anyone, and you’d expect there to be only bystanders, not ‘good samaritans’.

You sniffled, violently wiping the tears away as you felt your ribs were too tight when you took one long breath, “I’m fine…” you respond monotonously.

Who were you even fooling?

“Right…” you carefully watch him take out a handkerchief, “Fine, sitting on a dirty pavement near my car doesn’t make you look fine, Miss.” he prodded.

“Well, what do you care, anyways?” you tried to keep your voice from cracking, but the stranger showed no qualms of anxiety or fear, nor did he seem mad at your snappy attitude. The blue handkerchief is laid on his palm, waiting for you to take it, yet you exhibit no signs of accepting his kindness. Instead of forcing you through like the usual status quo, he returns it to his pockets.

The odd man.

“Well, for one, I don’t want to run your feet over since I’m parked over here,” he thumbs towards the black jeep that’s parked in front of you, “And my mom didn’t raise me to leave a girl sitting alone, crying her eyes out…”

“Well, did your mom tell you to mind your own business, as well?” your body remains heavy and distant from the stranger, not minding if it came off as rude, but you’ve always been wary of them, especially the ones who claimed to be nice. You wouldn’t be swayed even if you were in a vulnerable place.

He sucks in a deep breath, quite surprised that you had the energy to exchange a vehement response to him. Weren’t you just about to bawl your eyes out?

“Well, you honestly looked like you deserve some niceness after whatever happened.” he conceded, remaining suspiciously friendly, “Piece of advice, though, if it’s a guy, he’s not worth it.”

“I-what makes you think it’s a guy?” there it goes again, the unknown tightening of your throat and the way the gummy lids on your eyes would heat up as if a pipe of water was about to burst and flood the segways any moment.

“It’s always an asshole who doesn’t seem to know how to treat a woman right.” he lamely explains, and slowly but hesitantly, as if he was waiting for you to move away, he places one hand on top of your hand.

Unlike a while ago, you weren’t as hostile, but you were confused about why the stranger suddenly did this and didn’t seem to tilt away like you usually would, “So go home tonight, Miss. Cry it out and wake up tomorrow for yourself. You’ll be fine.”

You don’t even see his entire face, but the way he gently caresses your hair as if you were a long-time friend had your lips quivering, and without even realizing it, your torso bends forward. You bury your face in your arms, finding solace in your makeshift fetal position.

The stranger says nothing more; honestly, you didn’t even mind. His newfound presence is comforting.

#jjk x reader #jjk imagines #gojo x reader #sukuna x reader #aot x reader #eren x reader #blue lock x reader #rin itoshi x reader #csm imagines #aki hayakawa x reader #aot imagines #guess who the guy is lmfao #📝📝.y/n and her boys

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genshinluvr · 1 year

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Another Small Problem

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: After the first incident of your boyfriends turning into children (except for Zhongli and the newly added men to the harem), the men find themselves having to deal with another small problem that relates to the previous issue. You turning into a child.

Note: This is part 2 of "A Small Problem." Sorry it took me a while to make another part for "A Small Problem," I had a lot of things to do, and I didn't really get to plan the story out until way after the first part had been posted. My finals week is officially finished, and I have no idea how I did! I'm actually pretty scared because idk how I did, and I really hope that I did well 😭 anyway! I am officially on my winter break! >:D until I have to deal with the worst schedule for my winter quarter 🥹 Anyway, I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: None that I know of 🤔 Pierro is kind of mean to Itto and Itto got sad after it 🥺

Word Count: 11.4k

Read part one of Another Small Problem here: [A Small Problem]

You’re at the Harbingers’ estate, in Dottore’s lab, assisting him with one of his experiments with Albedo and Tighnari at your side. The three men are scattered around the blue-green-lit laboratory, scribbling down notes onto a sheet of paper and the other instructing what to add to the mixture. You stand to the side and let your eyes wander around the fascinating lab. You’ve been inside a few laboratories before but have yet to see a laboratory like Dottore’s lab at the Harbingers’ estate. The contrast between Albedo and Dottore’s lab is fascinating, and here you four are, inside Dottore’s lab, assisting Dottore with an experiment.

“Here, drink this,” Dottore says, handing you a glass vial that contains a turquoise-colored liquid inside of it. You reluctantly grab the glass vial from Dottore’s hands and lift it up to your face, your eyebrows knitted together with skepticism.

You clear your throat. “What’s this supposed to be?” You ask, holding the glass tube beneath your nose to get a whiff of it. The liquid is unscented, but you’re worried about what it’ll taste like. Dottore looks over at Albedo, who takes his goggles off and lets them hang around his neck.

“I recall you wanted us to make an elixir that will help you focus on your studies. Therefore Dottore, Tighnari, and I have come up with this potion for you to drink that should make it easier for you to concentrate,” Albedo says.

You nod your head slowly and bring the glass tube up to your eyes to examine the liquid inside of it. You swirl the turquoise liquid in the vial and clear your throat quietly. “This better be flavorless because I just ate some delicious Liyuen dish, and I do not want it to come back up my throat,” you mutter.

“It shouldn’t taste like anything, really. There’s a faint taste of mint and maybe a little bit of henna berry,” Tighnari says, peeking his head from between Albedo and Dottore’s shoulders.

You continue to stare at the glass vial in your grasp, debating if you should take the elixir or use it whenever you’re studying. “Do I need to drink it now? Can’t I drink it whenever I’m studying?” You ask.

“We don’t know how long it’ll take for the elixir to kick in, so you might as well take it now,” Dottore says, crossing his arms behind his back as he, Tighnari, and Albedo waits for you to drink the experiment.

You nod your head before downing the liquid. You make a face and shiver when the elixir slithers down your throat. You hand the test tube back to Dottore and stare at the three men in front of you. “Now what?” You ask, rubbing your stomach when you feel your stomach heats up and tingle.

“Now we wait!” Tighnari says.

Albedo looks over at you. “Again, we do not know how long it’ll take for the potion to kick in, so we might have to wait a while for the effects to show,” Albedo says.

You look over at the clock on Dottore’s desk and notice that it’s almost ten in the evening. You stretch your arms in the air and clear your throat when you feel a burp coming up. “It’s getting late. I think we should stop the experiment for today. Hopefully, we’ll get our results by tomorrow morning,” you said.

You, Albedo, and Tighnari leave the Harbingers’ mansion, bidding the four Harbingers goodbyes before walking back to your estate. When the three of you walk into the estate, the rest of the men are already asleep in their bedrooms. The light in the living room was your, Albedo, and Tighnari’s source of light. You each bid each other goodnights before departing ways and walking to your bedrooms. You quickly change into your pajamas and brush your teeth, your eyelids beginning to feel heavy with each passing minute. You rinse your mouth, brush your hair and walk out of your bathroom, turning the lights off behind you. You collapse onto your bed and roll yourself into a burrito with your blanket and close your eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.

Morning soon rolls by, and every person in the abode starts to wake up from their slumber one by one slowly. Diluc is in the kitchen brewing his coffee, leaning up against the counter while reading the Teyvat newspaper, his hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Zhongli enters the kitchen, dressed for the day; he fills the kettle with water and places it on the stove.

“Man, I slept like a baby last night!” Childe says, entering the kitchen with a bright smile on his face.

Diluc rolls his eyes. “Must be nice not to have to sleep in a bedroom that is close to someone that does snores in their sleep,” Diluc mutters, looking over at Itto, who stops in his tracks and gives the men a sheepish smile.

“Listen, if there’s a way for me to control it, I would! But guess what? I can’t control my snoring, okay?” Itto retorts, giving Diluc a dramatic pout with his arms over his chest.

Thoma walks into the kitchen and scratches his head, still tired from his sleep. Thoma yawns and walks to the refrigerator to pull a few ingredients out and places them on the counter beside the stove, waiting for Zhongli to make his cup of tea.

“Has anyone seen [Y/N] today? I know they got back from the Harbingers’ estate late last night with Albedo and Tighnari, but both Albedo and Tighnari are awake,” Thoma says, opening the cupboard to pull out a pan, whisk, and spatula.

The kettle begins to whistle; Zhongli grabs the handle of the tea kettle and pours the hot water into the teacup, waiting for the tea to steep. “It is the weekend. I’m assuming that [Y/N] has decided to take a day off from their studies to get extra sleep,” Zhongli murmurs, turning the stove off and placing the tea kettle off to the side.

“If that’s the case, then that’s good to hear. [Y/N] needs to get more sleep considering they’ve been staying up late to study for school,” Diluc murmurs, pouring his coffee into his mug and blowing on the coffee, taking a small sip from it. Before any of the men could say anything else, a loud crash coming from upstairs startled the men, making them jump.

“What was that crash?” Childe asks.

They trade looks before rushing out of the kitchen and heading towards where the loud crash came from. There stands Tighnari and Albedo, looking down at something, appalled. The glass tubes that once held a turquoise-colored liquid are now broken and shattered on the ground in front of Tighnari and Albedo.

“What happened?” Cyno asks, walking out of his bedroom, his hair messy from his sleep.

Al Haitham and Kaveh look at the ground of shattered glass. “You’re going to need to clean that up before any of us steps on broken glass,” Al Haitham says, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a slow sigh through his nose. Tighnari and Albedo didn’t say a word. Instead, they continue to stare at the small bookcase on the second floor.

Kaveh cocks an eyebrow at Albedo and Tighnari. “What are you guys staring at?” Kaveh asks.

A tiny sneeze fills the silence. “Bless you,” Venti says, looking for the source where the sneeze came from.

“Thank you,” answered back a small voice.

Dainsleif grabs onto the back of Childe’s shirt and pulls him to whisper into his ears. “Is that a voice of a child?” Dainsleif asks, looking at Childe from the corner of his eyes. Childe slowly nods his head without answering Dainsleif’s question, his eyebrows narrowing as he stares at the small bookcase with scrutiny.

Xiao slowly steps out from behind the men and approaches the bookcase; his jade spear materializes in his hands, and his grip tightens around the base of his polearm. “Reveal yourself this instant,” Xiao orders, glaring at the bookcase.

“Xiao, I don’t think we should be pointing weapons at anyone. Especially a child,” Baizhu warns, holding his arm out in front of Xiao. Xiao looks conflicted for a moment before hesitantly letting his polearm disappear in thin air. Baizhu walks towards the bookcase and kneels, peeking behind the bookcase.

“Who’s behind the bookcase? The suspense is killing me!” Aether says loudly.

Heizou smacks Aether upside of his head and glares at Aether, shushing the blond man by pressing his index finger on his lips. “Keep your voice down, Aether! [Y/N]’s still sleeping, remember?” Heizou whispers loudly.

“Should we go check up on [Y/N]?” Gorou asks, his eyes wide with concern.

Kazuha shakes his head. “I don’t think we need to check up on them….” Kazuha trails off, not taking his eyes off where Baizhu is kneeling. Gorou gives Kazuha a questioning look, only for Kazuha to nod his head toward Baizhu’s direction. Gorou looks over at Baizhu; Baizhu stands up and turns around, holding a small child in his arms. The small child is wearing a t-shirt that is way too big for them; the child is staring back at the men with wide eyes that are filled with tears.

“Who’s baby is that? Last time I checked, none of us got [Y/N] pregnant,” Scaramouche says, scratching the back of his neck while staring at the child nervously.

Baizhu bounces the small child in his arms, a small smile on his face. “Everyone, this is [Y/N],” Baizhu says.

Thoma clears his throat and turns to the men. “It looks like we may or may not have another small problem on our hands,” Thoma says, laughing nervously.

“That’s [Y/N]!?” Aether exclaims, his eyes widening with shock, pointing his index finger at your tiny form. You cling to Baizhu before burying your face into Baizhu’s neck, tears wetting his neck. Baizhu chuckles and pats your back as you whimper into his neck.

Heizou laughs nervously, turning to look at Tighnari and Albedo. “Care to explain how [Y/N] turned into a child?” Heizou asks, propping both of his hands on his hips while waiting for either man to give him an answer.

“Great! First, we turned into children, and now it’s [Y/N]’s turn to turn into a child,” Kaeya says, running his hands through his hair while examining your small trembling body.

Ayato tilts his head to the side; a smile appears on his face. “So this is what [Y/N] looked like when they were a child,” Ayato mused; he crossed his arms over his chest as he watched you cling to Baizhu for dear life. You’re just too cute!

Childe walks up to you and Baizhu, squatting slightly in front of you. He gently pokes you to grab your attention. You peek from Baizhu’s shoulders and lock gazes with Childe. Childe gives you a smile and gently brushes your tears away.

“There’s no need to cry, [Y/N]. I know you’re scared and confused, and that’s okay! But the most important thing right now is to make sure you’re aware that you’re not who you originally were,” Childe coos. You blink away your tears and nod your head slowly, clinging to Baizhu tightly.

“I think the most important thing is to make sure that [Y/N]’s okay,” Xiao says, glaring at the ginger-haired Harbinger.

Venti giggles lightly and pats Xiao’s head. “I don’t think you should be making a scary face right now, Xiao. You’ll scare little [Y/N],” Venti coos, trotting over to you and rubbing the top of your head gently, trying his best not to scare you.

“From what I can tell, [Y/N] is very well aware that they’re not in their original form. Being aged backward scared them, and they didn’t know what to do. Isn’t that right, [Y/N]?” Baizhu looks down at you, continuing to rub your back.

You nod your head shyly, loosening your grip around Baizhu’s shirt and flinching when Changsheng hisses softly and gets close to your face. You and Changshang stare at each other for a moment before you turn to look around helplessly, trying to find an escape route to get away from Changsheng. Even though you know that Changsheng isn’t going to harm you, your mind, which is now reduced to a child’s mind, sees the complete opposite.

Gorou frowns, and his ears flatten on his head. “Aw, it seems like [Y/N]’s afraid of Changsheng,” Gorou says softly.

Baizhu slowly places you down on the ground, and you stand there awkwardly. You make eye contact with Scaramouche before slowly making your way over to Scaramouche. Once you’re halfway across the room, you sprint towards Scaramouche, hoping to escape from Changsheng. Scaramouche kneels and opens his arms out wide; you run into his arms and cling to him, face burying into his chest. Scaramouche wraps his arms around your torso and stands up, fixing your bedhead.

Itto stares at Scaramouche with his mouth agape. “Wow, I didn’t know that this little fella is fond of children,” Itto says.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Kazuha whispers to Itto, who nods his head in agreement.

“Why don’t we all go downstairs and get ready for breakfast now that everyone is awake? Albedo and Tighnari can pay the Harbingers’ a visit after breakfast to discuss the situation with [Y/N],” Zhongli says.

Everyone begins to slowly trickle to the dining room one by one while Scaramouche stays back with you still in his arms. Scaramouche looks down at you; you’re looking up at him with those wide eyes of yours, making him blush.

“Have you brushed your teeth yet?” Scaramouche asks.

You shake your head in response. Scaramouche sighs softly and walks to your bedroom with you clinging to him tightly. You’re not much of a talker, are you? Scaramouche helps you brush your teeth and makes sure to brush the knots out of your hair. As for clothing, Scaramouche isn’t so sure about that considering all of your clothes are way too big for your current size, so you’ll have to parade around the estate in an oversized shirt for now.

Scaramouche hears your stomach growl; your face pinches up with discomfort, your tiny arms hugging your stomach. Scaramouche carries you out of your bedroom and down the stairs to the dining room, where everyone is waiting for the both of you.

“Ah, so this was the issue you two were talking about,” Pantalone says, eyeing your tiny body with mirth. Scaramouche glares at Pantalone and sits at the furthest part of the table, and sits down with you on his lap, looking around to see if there’s any temporary seat for you. What Scaramouche can recall is that last time, you mentioned to Zhongli about getting a high chair for those who turned into children, but you never got one because you assumed that the situation wouldn’t happen again; unfortunately, you were wrong.

“I’m sure [Y/N] can still sit in their seat with a little assistance,” Dainsleif says.

Kaeya tilts his head to the side and looks at Dainsleif quizzically. “Oh? And what would that assistance be, Dainsleif?” Kaeya asks, taking a bite out of his pancakes.

“We can make a temporary high chair for them by stacking their textbooks on the chair and letting them sit on it,” Cyno says, getting up from his seat and walking over to where your backpack is lying and pulling out five textbooks that are the same width of cinderblocks. Cyno places the textbooks down on the empty seat where you usually sit and adjusts it close to the table.

Scaramouche gets up from his chair and walks over to the empty chair that is occupied with your Akademiya textbooks. Cyno moves the chair back and lets Scaramouche place you down on the makeshift high chair, making sure that there’s no way for you to fall out of the seat. Cyno pushes your chair close to the table and pats the top of your head awkwardly. Usually, he would kiss the top of your head, but since your mindset has been reduced to a child’s mind, Cyno and the rest of the men are going to tip-toe around you.

“You three need to find the solution to the issue as soon as possible,” Pierro states, looking over at Dottore, Tighnari, and Albedo with a stern look on his face.

Ayato huffs. “I’m sure they’ll find the solution in no time. After all, the last time this had happened, the effects only lasted twenty-four hours,” Ayato says, poking his breakfast with a fork.

“It better be within twenty-four hours because [Y/N] has a final presentation to do at the Akademiya,” Kaveh says, scooping up the scrambled eggs into his spoon and taking a bite out of it.

“Do you know the date of when [Y/N] will need to present?” Capitano asks.

Al Haitham nods his head. “I remember [Y/N] telling Kaveh and me that their presentation is on the seventh,” Al Haitham says, looking over at you.

You reach for the fork and lift it to your face, staring at it with amazement, your mouth agape and eyes wide. Thoma walks over to your table and begins to slice the huge pancake into bite sizes, making it easier for you to eat without having to use a knife with those tiny hands of yours.

“And what day is it today, exactly?” Pantalone asks, looking around the estate for a calendar.

Pierro replies, “Today is the currently the fifth. Their presentation is in two days, and they need to change back to their original size before their presentation.”

“Do you three think you can do that? Make the concoction and reverse the effects of the elixir that [Y/N] had ingested that landed them in this situation?” Capitano asks, looking over at Dottore, Albedo, and Tighnari.

Albedo nods his head. “If we get started on the experiment as soon as possible after breakfast to make the concoction to reverse the effects of the elixir that [Y/N] has taken, then we should have it ready by either tonight or early tomorrow morning,” Albedo says, stroking his chin.

“That is if we have the ingredients and plenty of time to make the concoction. The main issue is that we do not know how long it’ll take for the concoction’s effects to start kicking in to reverse what has been done to [Y/N],” Tighnari says.

Dottore crosses his arms over his chest. “Another issue that we’ll need to figure out is how long [Y/N] has been a child,” Dottore mutters.

“Let’s figure everything out once we’re done with breakfast,” Thoma says slowly, bringing his fork up to his lips and taking a bite of the slice of pancake.

While everyone is eating their breakfast, you’re struggling to eat your breakfast because of how clumsy you are. Due to you being a child around the age of three years old, your motor skills are lacking and clumsy, causing you to knock over a glass cup of water, spilling it all over the table. Silence falls over the table; everyone looks over at you with wide eyes, unsure of how you’d react. You end up mistaking their silence and reaction as a bad thing, so tears begin to flood your eyes, your bottom lips start to tremble, and you begin to let out small sniffles.

“No, no, no! Don’t cry! It’s okay!” Childe reassures you, quickly getting up from his seat and cleaning the spilled water off the table with a cloth napkin.

You begin to hiccup as you cover your face and wipe your tears messily. “‘M sorry,” you hiccup.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. There’s nothing to cry about,” Ayato coos, leaning towards you and wiping your tears away with his thumbs.

“I made an oopsie,” You whine, kicking your little legs with a deep frown on your face.

Itto gives you a sympathetic look. “It was an accident, onikabuto booboo bear. You didn’t do it on purpose,” Itto says softly, gently rubbing your back.

Aether clutches Heizou’s arms and bends over, clutching his chest with his other hand. “[Y/N] called it an oopsie. I’m going to cry; my heart can’t take this much cuteness,” Aether grunts.

“Just when I thought [Y/N] couldn’t get any cuter, they continue to prove me wrong,” Heizou says, pressing his hands to his chest with a pout on his face, trying to refrain himself from throwing himself at you and squeezing you in his arms.

Cyno strokes his chin while analyzing your pouting face. “This makes me wonder if their vocabulary changes as well,” Cyno murmurs to himself.

Kaveh looks over at Cyno. “Did you not hear [Y/N] call the accidental spill and ‘oopsie’?” Kaveh asks, propping his hands on his hips.

You cross your arms over your chest and let your fork clink on the ceramic plate loudly. You have an evident pout on your face, your cheeks stained with tears, your eyes bloodshot red from the crying you’ve done.

“How about I feed you, hmm? You won’t have to worry about making an oopsie,” Scaramouche says softly, kneeling beside your chair.

Al Haitham’s eyes widen. “Oh? How sweet of you, Scaramouche,” Al Haitham crosses his arms over his chest with a small amused smile on his face. Scaramouche shoots a quick glare over in Al Haitham’s direction before turning back to look at you for a response.

You nod your head and throw yourself at Scaramouche. Scaramouche laughs softly and pats your head, placing you back down on your makeshift high chair. While Scaramouche was feeding you, Diluc couldn’t help but notice how your hair would get in the way whenever you were eating. Diluc finishes his breakfast before excusing himself to go to the kitchen to wash his plate.

“At least [Y/N] isn’t a picky eater. Children that are picky eaters are nightmares,” Kaeya says, watching you chew on your pancakes, your cheeks puffed up while Scaramouche and Zhongli gently tell you not to stuff too much food in your mouth or else you’d choke. You nod your head while slowly chewing on your pancakes, making sure not to rush or else you’d choke on the pancakes. Just when Scaramouche is going to feed you another slice of pancake, you shake your head and stare at the small piece of pancake on the fork.

“Oh? Are you full?” Baizhu asks.

You nod your head in response and place your hand over your tummy. “‘M full. No more pancakes,” you said softly.

“That’s okay! We’re happy that you ate breakfast today,” Gorou says, smiling at you happily. You look over at Gorou, and your eyes immediately light up at the sight of his ears. You point your dainty fingers in Gorou’s direction, slowly looking over at Zhongli and Scaramouche.

“It looks like [Y/N] is curious about Gorou’s ears,” Venti whispers, nudging Gorou lightly as he walks behind the general.

“Careful now; children like to pull on things they can get their hands on,” Pierro says, cracking a smile as he watches you get off your seat with the help of Zhongli and Scaramouche.

You pout at Pierro and cross your arms over your chest. “I won’t pull, I promise,” you said.

You waddle over to where Gorou is kneeling and stand on your tippy toes, reaching up for Gorou’s ears as he bows his head forward. Your tiny hands brush against Gorou’s ears before you let out a soft gasp. Gorou looks up at you through his lashes, a small smile on his face as he watches your eyes grow wide with awe.

“So soft,” You said, rubbing your fingers against the furs on Gorou’s ears.

After petting Gorou’s ears for some time, you finally release Gorou’s ears and look at the men blankly. Gorou gets off the ground and ruffles your hair affectionately, a shy smile on his face. Once Diluc returns to the dining room from the kitchen, Diluc stops in front of you and kneels in front of you, gazing at you with the softest smile.

Diluc brushes your hair away from your face. “Do you want me to put your hair up to make sure your hair won’t make you feel itchy?” You look at Diluc and then grab at your hair, feeling it tickle against your flesh.

You nod your head shyly at the redhead. “Yes, please,” you said politely.

Diluc smiles and stands back up, holding his hand out for you to take. You grab Diluc’s hand and let him guide you out of the dining area of the estate. Once you and Diluc are out of earshot, the men begin talking amongst each other.

“[Y/N] is a cute kid,” Pantalone says softly, finishing up his breakfast with a smile on his face.

“They’re….” Capitano trails off, unsure of how to finish his sentence, “they’re an anxious child, I notice,” Capitano murmurs, his eyes trailing over to where you and Diluc had exited.

“Do we know much about their childhood? Perhaps they’re not an anxious child when they were in their world,” Dainsleif says slowly.

Zhongli sighs and shrugs his shoulders. “Other than them having separation anxiety when they were a child, [Y/N] has never mentioned anything about their childhood,” Zhongli replies.

Xiao crosses his arms. “They probably didn’t mention it for a reason. They’ll tell us more about their childhood when they’re comfortable with it. Let’s not push them to talk about their past,” Xiao states.

The men nod their heads in agreement. The silence was soon occupied with the sounds of tiny footsteps running through the hallways on the second floor, small panting and giggles echo the estate.

“[Y/N], be careful. Don’t run down the stairs, or else you’ll fall,” everyone in the living room hears Diluc say.

“Sorry,” you reply meekly.

Diluc holds his hand out for you to take. You grab his hand and let Diluc guide you down the stairs of the estate. Once you reach the last step of the stairs, you release Diluc’s hand and hop down to the ground. You look at the men with a big smile, bouncing on the balls of your feet.

You reach up to your hair and lightly touch it. “‘Luc tied my hair,” you said softly with a bashful smile on your face.

Childe walks up to you and squats in front of you, smiling at you. “Aren’t you a cutie?” Childe coos, caressing your face in his hands and lightly pinching your cheeks affectionately. You feel your face heat up before you cover your entire face with your tiny hands and run back to Diluc, hiding behind his legs and peeking out from behind Diluc, looking at Childe shyly.

Pantalone chuckles. “It looks like the little one has a crush,” Pantalone coos, giving you a teasing smile.

You feel your face heat up, and you grumble under your breath, clutching onto Diluc’s pants before burying your face into the back of his thighs. Diluc reaches behind and places his hand on the back of your head, lightly stroking your hair. Childe stands back up and chuckles, running his hands through his ginger hair. He looks like a prince.

Kaeya crosses his arms over his chest. “Usually, I would say that the ponytail on top of [Y/N]’s head makes them look like a radish, but they look cute with it,” Kaeya says cooly, smirking at his brother.

Kazuha laughs. “Usually? Are you implying that you would call them a radish whenever their hair is pulled up in a ponytail?” Kazuha asks. Kaeya smiles and nods his head.

Ayato nods his head. “He calls [Y/N] a radish all the time, especially when he’s teasing them,” Ayato says. You step out from behind Diluc and stick your tongue out at Kaeya, who chuckles at your childish response.

“Now that we’re all done eating let's do something to keep [Y/N] occupied while Tighnari, Dottore, and Albedo make a concoction that’ll turn them back to themselves,” Gorou says.

Al Haitham raises his eyebrows at Gorou. “And do you know how to keep a child occupied?” Al Haitham asks, looking over at you, who is slowly trailing over to the giant fish tank in the estate, staring up at the fishes in awe.

“We’ll figure something out,” Heizou says, walking over to where you’re standing and gazing at the fishes with you.

Heizou squats beside you and points at the moonfin swimming around the fish tank. You gasp softly, staring at the beautiful fish with wonder. A thought pops up in Aether’s head. He turns to Itto and taps him on the shoulder to grab his attention.

“You’re good with kids, aren’t you?” Aether asks.

Scaramouche makes a face and points at Itto. “That oaf? Great with kids?” Scaramouche asks, letting out a scoff of disbelief and humor.

“Didn’t he make a kid cry after beating them in beetle fighting and taking their candies as a reward?” Thoma asks, the corners of his lips curving up. Itto gasps loudly and begins to sputter out excuses, his cheeks and the tips of his ears turning almost as red as his horns. Itto scoffs to himself as he props his hands on his hips, his nose sticks in the air as he lets out a loud huff of breath.

“Hey, hey, hey! I did not make them cry! They were being sore losers and cried because I beat them fair and square in the beetle fight!” Itto says defensively.

You walk up to Itto and stare up at him, reaching both of your hands up and making grabby motions. Itto’s heart melts at the sight of your big eyes staring up at him, wanting him to pick you up and carry you in his arms. Itto squats down and grabs you by your waist, lifting you and placing you on his shoulders so you can sit on them. You hold onto Itto’s long hair and begin tugging at it, making Itto wince and whine softly.

Pierro chuckles. “See? What did I say?” Pierro asks, raising an eyebrow at Itto with a faint smirk on his face.

Itto reaches up and slips both of his index fingers into your hair to get you to release his hair. You end up replacing his hair with his fingers, squeezing them as tightly as your tiny hands can. Itto looks at the other men and smiles in relief when the tugging at his hair ceases.

“Let’s get started on making the concoction. The earlier we work on it, the faster we’ll be finished with the elixir, and [Y/N] should be back to normal by tomorrow,” Albedo says, turning to look at Dottore and Tighnari.

Dottore sighs wistfully and looks over at you; you’re occupied with tugging on Itto’s fingers, not paying attention to what’s going on around you. “It’s a shame that I won’t be able to spend time with [Y/N] while they’re in this form,” Dottore says, his head hanging low.

Tighnari rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “Oh, don’t be dramatic, Dottore. It would take some time for the concoction to affect [Y/N]. I’m sure you’ll have a few hours with them before they’re back to normal,” Tighnari says.

As the three men are about to leave the main estate, Venti pats you on the shoulders to grab your attention. “Don’t you want to say bye to the three men before they leave?” Venti asks.

You look over at the door and wave at Albedo, Tighnari, and Dottore. “Bye,” you said softly, getting back to playing with Itto’s fingers, poking at his black nails. The three men bid you goodbye before exiting the mansion and heading over to the Harbingers’ estate.

“So, how are we going to keep [Y/N] occupied again?” Baizhu asks.

Cyno smirks and crosses his arms over his chest. “I have a few ideas in mind,” Cyno says.

Everyone sits in the living room, scattered on the ground, sofa, couch, and loveseat. You sit across from Cyno, sitting on Itto’s lap. In front of you and Cyno are cards; three in front of you and three in front of Cyno.

“Why in the world are we teaching a three-year-old how to play TCG?” Kaveh asks, pinching the bridge of his nose before letting out an irritated sigh.

Zhongli looks at the cards in confusion. “Don’t you think this will confuse [Y/N]? They’re a child; I don’t think they’ll understand how to play this game even if you try to teach them,” said Zhongli, lifting the character cards up to his face and inspecting them closely.

“Perhaps Itto is playing for [Y/N]. Children get bored of things easily, so it seems like Itto will be the one to play against Cyno in this game,” Dainsleif speaks up.

Xiao sighs and rests his head on the couch cushion, closing his eyes. “I have a bad feeling that this isn’t going to end well,” Xiao mutters.

Xiao ends up being correct because Cyno beat you and Itto in the TCG game. Itto demands a rematch so many times but continues to lose. Itto stands up suddenly, causing you to tumble off of his lap and onto the floor. Itto points his index finger at the general mahamatra, his eyebrows furrowing, and his mouth pulls into a scowl.

“Instead of us having a rematch in this rigged card game, I challenge you in a beetle fight! My onikabuto versus your scarabs!” Itto proclaims.

Kaeya walks up to Itto and places his hand on the oni’s shoulders. “Wait a minute, Itto. Don’t people call you Arataki “The Ultimate TCG Champion” Itto?” Kaeya asks, raising his eyebrows.

“What are you up to, Kaeya?” Diluc asks, narrowing his eyes at his adoptive brother, approaching the duo with his arms over his torso.

“Saving him from humiliation, I hope,” Dainsleif mutters under his breath. Zhongli presses his lips into thin lines to prevent himself from smiling at Dainsleif’s comment.

You whine softly and get up from the ground, tossing the TCG cards on the table. “I’m bored! This game is confusing,” You said softly, crossing your arms over your chest. Everyone around you was too busy bickering with each other to notice your small tantrum. “I’m going to sleep,” you grumble to yourself, walking to the nearest room away from the living room.

The closest room you stumble across is the library; it’s quiet, and the temperature is cool enough for you to fall asleep without any problems. You walk to the furthest part of the library and sit on the couch, pulling the blanket from the corner of the couch and tossing it over yourself. As much as you want to continue to be with the tall men, you’re tired, and TCG bores you to death. You sprawl out on the couch and close your eyes, curling up into a ball, feeling your eyelids growing heavier and heavier as you let your body relax on the sofa. Maybe a little nap will wake you up from the nightmare you’re currently experiencing.

Back in the living room, everyone was still bickering with each other, slightly shoving the person they were arguing with. The first person to notice your disappearance was Kaveh after scanning the room to find your tiny head amongst the big heads in the room. Kaveh suddenly stands up from where he’s sitting, grabbing the others' attention. Everyone falls silent and looks at Kaveh quizzically while the blond man looks around the room almost frantically.

“Where’s [Y/N]?” Kaveh asks.

Childe’s eyes widen, and he suddenly gets up from his seat. “Oh shit, did we lose [Y/N]?” Childe asks, running his hands through his ginger hair, his blue eyes wide with fear and worry.

“How did we lose them already? It’s been a few minutes!” Heizou says as he searches the living room for any sight of your radish-looking hairstyle, according to Kaeya, not his words.

Capitano sighs and covers his face (mask?) with his hand, shaking his head. There’s no way these men will be decent fathers and babysitters if they can barely watch over one child. Capitano gets up from the sofa without saying a single word and begins to look for you himself while the other men are distracted with trying to figure out how you managed to wander off without their knowledge.

There was no way you’d wander into the kitchen and dining room because if you were to do so, everyone would’ve been able to see you. So, the kitchen and dining room are out of the question. The next room Capitano decides to investigate is the library, the room where you’re usually at the most other than your bedroom. Capitano peeks his head into the library and slowly walks into the quiet room, surveying his surroundings. So far, Capitano doesn’t see any signs of you being in the library. The more he steps into the room and walks around, the more he hears quiet breathing coming from somewhere inside the library of the estate. Capitano ends up coming across your little study corner, notebooks and books stacked upon each other, a trash bin next to the desk filled with paper balls and scrap paper. Capitano stops in his tracks when he comes across the small sofa that is tucked at the farthest part of the library.

You crack your eyes open when you hear the sound of quiet footsteps walking around the library. You sit up on the couch and rub your eyes with your fist. You look up and make eye contact with the masked man.

“Now, why did you wander off in here, little one?” Capitano asks, squatting down in front of you, gazing at you curiously from behind his mask.

You rub your eyes and yawn. “I’m tired, and everyone was arguing, so I went here to take a nap,” you said, patting the couch with your hand.

Capitano sighs and watches you take your hair out from the ponytail, letting your tresses fall and frame your face. You rub your head and plop back down on the couch, sprawled over the sofa with the blanket draping over you. Capitano lifts his hand up and lightly scratches your head, making you snuggle up against the palm of his hand.

“We should head back to the living room. Everyone is worried sick about you,” Capitano states, looking at the entrance of the library.

You grumble and sit up on the couch. “Okay,” you mumble, hopping off the couch.

Capitano stands up and holds his hand out for you to take. You grab his hand and let him guide you out of the library. As the two of you got closer to the library, the voices grew louder and louder with each step you took. You stand close to Capitano when the two of you arrive at the living room where everyone else was at (aside from Dottore, Tighnari, and Albedo).

Aether sighs in relief when he sees you enter the room with Capitano at your side. Aether hops off the couch and rushes over to your side, pulling you in his arms and hugging you tightly, his cheek resting on top of your head.

“Oh, thank the archons that you’re okay,” Aether says, pressing a kiss on your head.

Thoma walks up to you and Aether, squatting to your eye level, and gazes at you worriedly. “Where did you go?” Thoma asks, brushing your hair away from your face.

“I went to the library to take a nap,” you said softly, resting your chin on Aether’s shoulders. “I was tired and wanted to find a place to nap,” you add.

Ayato sighs and shakes his head, rubbing his throbbing temples with his thumb and index finger. “Sweetheart, if you wanted to take a nap, you could have at least told one of us instead of wandering off on your own. You made us worried,” Ayato says sternly, causing you to flinch and shrink in Aether’s arms.

Ayato’s eyes widen slightly before softening; he mutters a soft apology before running his hands through his light blue hair. Scaramouche walks over to you and takes you from Aether’s arms, holding you in his arms.

“Lord Ayato doesn’t mean to sound harsh, [Y/N]. Like everyone else in the room, Lord Ayato is just as worried for your safety as we all are, and you wandering off on your own scared us,” Scaramouche says, rubbing your soft cheeks lightly with the pad of his thumb.

You frown and bury your face into Scaramouche’s chest. “‘M sorry,” you said softly, holding onto Scaramouche’s shirt tightly.

“Hey, cheer up, [Y/N]! We’re not mad at you! If you want to take a nap, we could all take naps in the entertainment room,” Venti says, popping up from behind Scaramouche, startling the both of you.

You hum softly and begin playing with the item hanging from Scaramouche’s neck in a daze. “I don’t know if I want to take a nap anymore,” you said softly, resting your head on his shoulder.

Cyno crosses his arms over his chest. “Then what do you want to do, [Y/N]?” Cyno asks, looking at you closely.

You feel your cheeks heat up under his gaze, and you bury your face into Scaramouche’s neck for a brief second, slowly peeking from his shoulders and looking at the men around you shyly. Now that you have come out of your easily distracted thoughts, you notice that you’re surrounded by handsome men who tower over you. Tall, attractive men with nice hair and perfect smile are protective over you and would lose their minds if you were to disappear for a few minutes.

You shake yourself out of your thoughts and clear your throat. “I need to potty,” you stated, squirming out from Scaramouche’s arms.

Scaramouche squats down to put you down on the ground. You look around the room and walk to the nearest person and tug on their pants. “Can you take me to the nearest bathroom?” You ask, looking up at Kaveh, who stares down at you.

Kaveh opens his mouth to say something but stops himself when Al Haitham and Xiao give Kaveh a look. Kaveh nods his head and reaches for your hand, guiding you to the nearest bathroom on the first floor of the estate.

“Remember not to leave them alone in the bathroom. They could fall into the toilet if they are not careful enough,” Baizhu calls from afar.

The men all collectively chuckle when they hear a faint grumble from Kaveh from afar as he walks to the closest bathroom with you in tow. You push the bathroom door open, and Kaveh turns on the bathroom lights. You quickly walk over to the toilet while Kaveh closes the bathroom door behind you two.

“Turn around and no peeking,” you said, shimmying out of your underwear (which you noticed had shrunk with you as well) and climbing onto the toilet.

Kaveh shakes his head and continues to let his back face your direction while he stares at the bathroom door in front of him. After a few minutes of peeing, you wipe yourself, hop off the toilet, pull up your underwear, and flush the toilet. You tap Kaveh’s calf. Kaveh turns around and looks down at you.

“Can you lift me up to the sink so I can wash my hands?” You ask politely, staring up at the blond man with your large doe-like eyes.

Kaveh nods his head and lifts you up to the sink, helping you wash your hands while imagining what you and his child might look like if you two were to have one together. Definitely a mini abyss mage with blond tufts of hair like their father. Kaveh reaches over to the hand towel and gives it to you, slowly putting you down on the ground.

You wipe your hands on the fluffy hand towel and hand it back to Kaveh. Kaveh hangs the hand towel on the towel rack before unlocking the bathroom door and opening it for you. Both you and Kaveh walk out the door, and you sprint over to Scaramouche’s side, tackling his legs and snuggling up against him.

Al Haitham lets out an amused huff of breath, trying to mask his jealousy. “It looks like [Y/N] has favorites,” Al Haitham says, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches Scaramouche lift you in his arms. You snuggle up against the indigo-haired man and rest your head on Scaramouche’s shoulders, playing with the little accessory hanging from his shirt.

“Oh? Is someone perhaps jealous that [Y/N] might have favorites?” Pantalone asks, looking over at the gray-haired man with a teasing smile on his face. Al Haitham rolls his eyes and looks away from Pantalone.

You look up at everyone before shyly saying, “I don’t have favorites. I like all of you,” you said softly, continuing to play with the accessory on Scaramouche’s neck. You squirm around in Scaramouche’s hands; Scaramouche puts you on the ground and watches you walk over to Al Haitham.

You look up at Al Haitham, and he looks down at you; you hold your arms up and make grabby motions. Al Haitham bends down to pick you up and carry you in his arms. You snuggle up against Al Haitham and lay your head on his broad shoulders, playing with the fabric of his tight-fitted shirt.

“So, will today be a leisure day?” Gorou asks, walking over to the couch before sitting on the armrest, crossing his arms over his chest.

Kazuha looks over at you, you seem distracted by the fabric of Al Haitham’s shirt, but Kazuha can tell that you’re close to drifting off to sleep. “That is up to [Y/N] and whether they want to do something or not,” answered Kazuha.

“I don’t know what I want to do,” you mumble, wrapping your arms around Al Haitham’s neck. An idea suddenly pops up in your mind, making you jolt up in Al Haitham’s arms.

“Oh? It looks like an idea has popped up in your head,” Zhongli says.

“Can we go outside of the abode?” You ask, squirming around in Al Haitham’s arms like a worm. Al Haitham sighs and puts you down on the ground.

Xiao looks at you suspiciously. “That depends on what you want to do outside of the abode,” Xiao says slowly, raising his eyebrows at you.

You smile at Xiao innocently, swaying left to right with your hands crossed behind your back. Xiao knows you way too well to know what you’re up to, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Before everyone knows it, they’re close to Dawn Winery, near the body of water where cryo slimes like to roam around.

“Tighnari, Albedo, Dottore, aren’t you three supposed to be working on a concoction to turn [Y/N] back to their normal selves?” Pierro asks, gazing at the three men that are analyzing the mistflower together.

Dottore nods his head. “Of course, we are, Pierro! One of the key ingredients to reverse [Y/N]’s situation is a mistflower,” Dottore says, stroking his chin as he gazes at a particular mistflower that is slightly larger than the ones that surround it.

“This mistflower is strangely bigger than the others,” Tighnari murmurs, looking over at Thoma and gesturing for him to come over. Thoma walks over to where Tighnari, Albedo, and Dottore are standing.

Thoma has both of his hands propped up on his hips. “What can I do for the three of you?” Thoma asks, smiling at the three men politely.

The sounds of your squeals and cheers echos the area as you’re sitting on Itto’s shoulders, holding onto his hair tightly while the oni runs around, chasing a cryo slime with his claymore out.

“Oi! Be careful, you oaf! If you fall, then [Y/N] is going to fall and get injured!” Scaramouche screams from a distance. If people were to look closely, they’d be able to see a giant tick mark on Scaramouche’s forehead as he glares at the loud oni from a distance.

“Pfft! Relax, Scaramouche! I won’t drop [Y/N] and let them get injured! You can trust me!” Itto screams back at Scaramouche, stopping in his tracks and wiping the bead of sweat from his forehead.

You nod your head and cling to Itto’s head, resting your chin on Itto’s head. “I’ll be okay! Don’t worry!” You said hollered back, patting Itto’s head with a smile on your face. Scaramouche sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to remain calm.

Childe pats Scaramouche’s shoulders with a small smile on his face. “It’ll be okay, Scaramouche. Even though I’m just as worried as you are, you can trust Itto on this one,” Childe says.

Itto got back to what he was doing, chasing cryo slimes around with you on his shoulders. Usually, it would be the slimes that attack people unprovoked, but this time, it’s Itto that’s the one that is attacking cryo slimes unprovoked. Itto is mainly doing this because you insisted on chasing cryo slimes around, and Itto didn’t want you to get hurt, so he volunteered to be the chaser while you’re the spectator on his shoulders.

Albedo looks away from Thoma and looks back down at the mistflower in front of him, Thoma, Dottore, and Tighnari. “Can you attack this mistflower?” Albedo asks, pointing at the larger mistflower. “We need the mistflower’s corolla for the concoction,” Albedo says, standing up and backing away from the mistflower. Thoma nods his head and does what Albedo has instructed him to do.

“Great! Now that we got the mistflower, we can finish up the concoction and have [Y/N] drink the elixir to reverse the—” Tighnari gets cut off by the sounds of screaming.

“Watch out!” Aether screams.

The large cryo slime lunges at you and Itto, knocking Itto off his feet and you off of Itto’s shoulders. You fly in the air and plunge into the lukewarm water. Itto groans and rubs his head with Kazuha, Gorou, Venti, and Aether checking up on him to see if he is okay. The other men ran to the edge of the water, panicking over who was going to fish you out of the water while you were flailing around in the water.

You know how to swim, but the longer you flail around in the water, trying to stay afloat, the more exhausted you become. When you plunge into the waters, you accidentally suck in a mouthful of water and breathe in a noseful of water. Your eyes are stinging, your nose hurts, and so does your throat. You cough up water, tears blurring your vision from the water, and you feel sick from the amount of water you’ve accidentally swallowed.

While flailing around in the water, you failed to notice Capitano jumping into the water and swimming in your direction. Capitano pulls you into his arms before swimming back to shore with you in his arms. You cling onto Capitano tightly and bury your face into his neck, feeling shame and embarrassment slowly creep their way up your chest.

“You’re okay, [Y/N]. You’re safe,” Capitano murmurs into your ears, rubbing your back as he walks over to where the men are standing.

You whimper softly and continue to keep your face burrowed into his neck, shaking from the cool breeze that is blowing on your damp body. The men immediately hound you and Capitano, shooting questions in your direction, asking you if you’re okay. You nod your head, refusing to look at the men, fearing that they’ll be disappointed in you (and Itto) for being reckless while messing with cryo slimes.

“Itto, you should’ve been careful!” Pierro says sternly, glaring at the oni, who winces at the volume of Pierro’s voice.

Kaeya glares at Pierro. “He was being careful! No need to raise your voice at him!”

Pantalone sighs and shakes his head. “Even though Itto was being careful, both Itto and [Y/N] were messing with a large cryo slime, thus getting both of them hurt,” Pantalone says.

You peek from Capitano’s neck and immediately look over at Itto, who looks very upset and guilty. You kick and squirm around; Capitano places you on the ground and watches you run over to Itto, latching yourself onto his leg and comforting the tall oni.

You pat Itto’s leg to grab his attention. Itto looks down at you; the way he stares down at you reminds you of a kicked puppy. Your lips quivered, and you immediately buried your face into his thighs, gripping his pants tightly. “Stop being mean to Itto,” you whine loudly into Itto’s legs, letting out a series of sniffles.

“[Y/N],” Diluc says softly.

You shake your head, tears continuing to roll down your cheeks, dampening Itto’s pant leg. You peek at the men with a small glare on your face, cheeks wet with ears and eyes bloodshot red. “You guys are mean to Itto! I don’t like mean people,” you said, swatting away Diluc’s hands when he tried to reach for you.

Childe makes a face and points at Pantalone and Pierro. “Technically, it was the old man over there and Baizhu’s Fatui twin that was being mean to Itto, not us!” Childe says, continuing to point an accusing finger at Pantalone and Pierro.

“Oh,” you mumble, wiping your tears away. You turn to look at Pierro and Pantalone, glaring at Pantalone and Pierro, mainly Pierro, because of the expression he has on his face. “Apologize to Itto!” You demand, crossing your arms over your chest while standing in front of Itto like a lion cub trying to protect its parent from a predator.

Dottore smirks and nods his head. “Yes, Pierro! Apologize to the oni!” Dottore crosses his arms over his chest, entertained by what has unfolded in front of him.

You glare up at Pierro; tiny hands clenched into fists, your small face pinched up with anger, your nose scrunching up. How you see yourself, you see yourself as intimidating, but to the others, you look like an angry kitten ready to throw a hissy fit. It’s adorable, and they just want to pinch your cheeks, but they know if they were to try to, you would most likely bite their fingers off.

Pierro sighs in defeat. “Itto, I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Pierro says, crossing his arms over his chest.

You turn to look up at Itto and tug lightly on his pants. “Do you accept his apology?” You ask.

Itto hums for a second and sighs, reluctantly nodding his head. You give Itto another hug and bury your face into his leg. As much as Itto didn’t want to accept Pierro’s half-ass apology, Itto knew that he had to accept Pierro’s apology or else you’ll cause an even bigger scene.

Dainsleif shakes his head and crosses his arms in front of him. “Let’s head back to the abode. You need to take a bath and change into something clean and dry,” Dainsleif says.

You blink up at Dainsleif. “But I don’t have other clothes that will fit me,” you said softly.

“Aw man, you’re right about that,” Heizou sighs, his head drooping.

Ayato approaches you and squats in front of you, brushing your damp hair away from your face with a soft smile on his face. “It’s okay, [Y/N]. We’ll figure something out,” Ayato says.

Once you all arrived back to the abode, Dottore, Tighnari, and Albedo went straight to Dottore’s lab with the mistflower. You were unfortunately dragged to your bathroom that is connected to your bedroom for bath time. Xiao and Gorou turned the faucet on in the bathtub and plugged the drain.

“You’ll be getting a bubble bath!” Gorou says, turning to look at you with a big smile on his face.

Xiao sighs and takes his gloves off, feeling the faucet water to make sure the water isn’t too hot or too cold. “Just don’t splash and make a mess,” Xiao says, not taking his eyes off the bathtub.

“I promise,” You said softly.

While waiting for the bathtub to be filled halfway, you, Xiao, and Gorou hear a knock at the bathroom door. Gorou gets up from the ground and walks to the bathroom door, opening it to reveal Zhongli with clothes in his hands.

“Childe and Pantalone went out to buy you temporary clothes to wear,” Zhongli says, stepping into the bathroom.

Gorou looks over at you, who stares at the clothing in Zhongli’s hands cluelessly. “What if I wake up the next day and the clothes don’t fit anymore?” You ask.

Zhongli smiles and pats your head. “They’re temporary clothes for a reason, sweetheart. We don’t want you to trip and fall while wearing a much larger shirt,” Zhongli replies.

“Oh, I see…. Okie dokie then,” You said, grabbing the clothes from Zhongli’s hands and putting them on the lid of the toilet.

Xiao shuts the water off and hands the bottle of soap over to Gorou, who pours the liquid into the water and begins mixing it. You stare at the water as bubbles start to form. Once Gorou is finished mixing the water and the soap, Gorou turns to you and takes his hands out of the water, wiping his hand and arms on the towel.

“Your bubble bath is now ready! Take your clothes off and get into the bathtub,” Gorou pats your head before nudging both Xiao and Zhongli to follow him out of the bathroom to give you some privacy.

You take your clothes off and get into the bathtub, letting the bubbles cover you from the neck down. “I’m done,” you said, reaching for the shampoo bottle and squeezing the shampoo into your hands, scrubbing your hair.

Kazuha peeks his head into the bathroom and gives you a small smile. “They want to give you some privacy. Do you think you can handle bathing alone without any assistance?” Kazuha asks.

You nod your head. “Yes, I am an independent small person,” you said, continuing to scrub the shampoo into your hair. “Oh, wait, how do I rinse my hair? Do I…” you trail off and dunk your head into the bubbly waters before popping out from the waters.

You wipe the water and soap away from your eyes and look at the door, only to see an appalled Venti. “Let’s not drown ourselves to rinse our hair now!” Venti laughs nervously.

“If you need assistance with rinsing your hair, you could simply just say so,” Baizhu sighs from outside of the bathroom.

You reach for the conditioner and squirt it into the palm of your hands. “I know, but it feels awkward having people in the bathroom while I take a bath,” you mumble, massaging the conditioner into your scalp and hair.

“It’s okay. It doesn’t really affect us at all. Plus, this can train us to be parents,” Kaveh comments from behind the door.

You scrunch your face up. “I feel sorry for whoever is going to be your child,” you said. You hear Kaveh gasps in disbelief at your comment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it out loud,” you said sheepishly.

Kaveh turns to look at Al Haitham. “When [Y/N] returns to their normal size, I’m going to fight them,” Kaveh deadpans.

Al Haitham rolls his eyes and leans against the door frame of the bathroom. “If you fight them, then be prepared for me to kick your ass,” Al Haitham states, narrowing his eyes at the blond man in front of him.

“Why not just have a battle with them in TCG when they return to their normal self?” Cyno asks, rolling his eyes.

You dunk your head back into the water and scrub the conditioner out of your hair. What your three-year-old mind didn’t comprehend was that it was making your hair even soapier with the bubble bath liquid in the bathtub. When you finished “rinsing” your hair and unplugged the drain of the bathtub, you got out of the bathtub and wrapped the towel around your body, waddling to your temporary clothes to change into them.

You open the door and walk out of the bathroom after putting on your clothes. Childe stops you and stares down at you, his hand stroking his chin with one eyebrow raised. “Your hair is still soapy,” Childe comments, reaching for your brush to brush out the knots in your hair.

“You dunk your head into the bathtub, didn’t you?” Diluc asks.

You nod your head.

“We can’t blame them for it. I think a bubble bath is more suitable after we wash their hair,” Aether says, propping his hands on his hips.

“Well, at least they’re cleaned now!” Itto says, patting your damp head with a smile on his face.

Gorou hums and touches your wet hair. “We still need to wash the remaining soap and shampoo out of their hair and dry them,” Gorou says, wiping the soap residue off his hands with the towel in your hand.

“Back to the bathroom, we go!” Heizou announces. He picks you up by your waist and carries you back inside your bathroom to rinse your hair in the sink.

After rinsing, drying, and brushing your hair, you sit at the dining table for dinner (lunch was skipped because you all spent lunchtime at the lake near Dawn Winery, which ended up in a disaster), waiting for food to be made. Dottore, Tighnari, and Albedo walk into the dining room with a cup that contains the concoction in Albedo’s hands.

“We have completed the concoction that should reverse the elixir that [Y/N] drank yesterday,” Albedo says, walking over to you and handing the cup over to you.

“Drink slowly now. We don’t want you to choke on the concoction,” Tighnari says.

You grab the cup and take huge gulps of the concoction. You nearly gagged when the liquid touched your tongue, but you held back the gag and continued to drink the rest of the potion. It tastes like slime condensate (don’t ask) mixed with lizard tail (again, don’t ask) and mint. Once you have finished the concoction, you hand the cup back to Albedo and clutch your stomach with your face pinching up.

“Oh, dear. Is the concoction making you feel nauseous?” Dottore asks.

You nod your head and rest your chin on the table. “I feel like I’m going to puke,” you whine, kicking your legs back and forth.

“Please don’t throw up,” Venti pleads, kneeling beside you.

You sit back in your seat and sigh, resting your head on the back of the chair and closing your eyes, waiting for nausea to pass by. Dinner was the same as breakfast— instead of you feeding yourself, it was one of the men that spoon-fed you. The first time it was Scaramouche; this time, it’s Kazuha that is feeding you dinner because of your poor motor skills and clumsiness.

“You ate the entire thing! I’m so proud of you!” Kazuha coos, pinching your cheeks gently with a sweet smile on his face.

You feel your face heat up and burrow your face into Kazuha’s arms, shying away from that gentle smile of his. You can’t tell if you’re blushing or if it was the concoction that was making your face heat up, like how it made your stomach hot after ingesting the liquid. Kazuha chuckles softly and ruffles your hair affectionately before kissing the top of your head, thus causing your face to feel even hotter than it already is.

Dinner soon comes to an end, and you find yourself lying in your bed, surrounded by your body pillow and stuffed animals that the men have gathered for you when they see something you like. You lay down and snuggle up against your body pillow, looking over at the door and around your room.

The men bid you goodnight about fifteen minutes ago, and you’re not able to sleep. You couldn’t tell if it was because of the number of thoughts running through your mind or if it was because the shadow at the corner of your bedroom looked like a boogeyman, ready to snatch you up. You whine softly and kick your blankets off your body before running out of your bedroom, running to the closest bedroom you can reach. Actually, you didn’t run to the nearest bedroom you could reach; you ran to the ex-archon’s bedroom because of the stories he told you about his prime time as an archon earlier today. Surely a man as strong as Zhongli can protect you from the monsters lurking in the darkness of your bedroom.

You burst into Zhongli’s bedroom, grabbing the man’s attention. He was sitting in the corner of his room, reading a book.

“Oh? Do you need something?” Zhongli asks, closing his book and getting up from the seat, walking over to you.

You nod your head shyly. “Can I pretty please sleep in here? My room is too dark, and I don’t like being alone in the dark,” you said softly, slowly walking further into Zhongli’s bedroom. Zhongli smiles and nods his head, motioning for you to enter. You scramble towards Zhongli’s bed and climb on the bed by standing on the wooden bed frame and burrow yourself into Zhongli’s pillows and blankets while Zhongli closes his bedroom door.

“Are you going to go to sleep too?” You ask as Zhongli approaches you and tucks you into his bed, pressing a kiss on your forehead.

“I will go to bed in a few minutes. You can go ahead and sleep now,” Zhongli says.

You stare up at Zhongli. “But I can’t sleep without snuggling up to something,” you said softly.

Zhongli chuckles and presses another kiss on your head. “Alright, give me a minute,” Zhongli says.

Zhongli walks over to the book that he had placed down and puts it back on the shelf. Zhongli walks over to his bed, gets under the covers, and turns the lights off. Once the lights are off, you realize that Zhongli’s bedroom is even darker than your room. You squeak and latch yourself onto Zhongli’s arms, burying your face into Zhongli’s chest.

“It’ll be alright, [Y/N]. You’re safe with me,” Zhongli whispers, wrapping his arms around you and letting you lay your head on his chest, stroking your hair gently. “I won’t let anyone or anything harm you. I promise,” Zhongli murmurs, kissing the crown of your head.

You close your eyes and slowly drift off to sleep, continuing to grip Zhongli’s night shirt as you fall asleep. The very next day, the men didn’t see you in your room. It nearly sent them into panic mode until they crashed into Zhongli’s room, only to see you back to your normal self, sleeping beside Zhongli. Topless.

“You pervert!” Scaramouche screams, grabbing the nearest object on the ground, and chucks it at Zhongli’s head.

Before the book can meet Zhongli’s head, he puts up a shield, and the book bounces off and lands on the ground. You hold the blanket up to your chest and rub your eyes, groggy from your sleep.

“Relax, I went in here last night because I was scared of sleeping alone in the dark,” you said, looking around Zhongli’s room. “Can someone hand me a shirt or a coat for me? I am not leaving this bed without something covering me,” You said.

Childe quickly rushes over to you and tosses his jacket over your face. You grumble and slip the jacket on, and zip up the jacket. You slowly get out of Zhongli’s bed and sigh in relief when you notice that your underwear has at least grown with you as well, unlike the torn shirt on Zhongli’s bed. You grab the shirt and quickly peck Zhongli’s cheeks before rushing out of your room to change into something that actually fits you.

Kaveh looks over at Zhongli and shoots him a glare. “You lucky fucker,” Kaveh grumbles.

Zhongli quirks up an eyebrow at Kaveh before the others slowly trickle out of his room. Zhongli runs his hands through his hair and sighs. “What an interesting way to wake up,” Zhongli mutters, getting out of his bed to get ready for the day.

Note: Since Scaramouche's banner is out, I will be changing his outfit in the story and he will still be electro, but he'll be special and have two visions in the newer fics ✨ I hope all of you Scaramouche wanters have Scaramouche himself :> I got him on my first ten pulls along with Faruzan ^^ He's level 90, but I'm still working on getting him decent artifacts because farming for artifacts is not fun at all 💀 I also prefarmed some terrorshroom and dendro cube drops for Al Haitham, only to find out that he uses a completely different material that'll be released in 3.4 🥹 pain. Anyway! For those who are new here or are returning readers, I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

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1K notes · View notes

vmpiires · 4 months

Text

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐎 𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐎

„𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘”

𝐂𝐖;; mature content. afab!reader, stoner!choso, non-curse/sorcerer AU, no uses of y/n. not proofread so i apologize in advance for any mistakes if they’re made.

𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓;; choso’s mind has been spiraling for a couple days now. the fact that you wrote your phone number down on his hand had him going. he wanted to call you. he wanted to text you. but he just couldn’t. in order to be sanitary, he’d write the number down again on a sticky note and scrubbed the ink off his skin. he didn’t have time for a lover…but he felt like making time for you.

₊❏❜ ⋮ part one ⌒

. ݁ ࣪ ، ⌗ masterlist

: ̗̀➛ art creds by;; currently unknown. dividers are not mine, if you own these, you may claim them in comments.

: ̗̀➛ WORD COUNT;; 2.33K

dark mode recommended

do not copy this plot. i’m perfectly fine with inspirations but give creds. if this plot his stolen in any way, the post will be taken down and you will be blocked.

𝐃𝐀𝐊𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 ✉️🖇️;; idk how long this story will stretch but if ya like it,, i’ll make more parts to it. not too many though. i wanna get to geto too (as promised). hope ya enjoyyyy. reblog to support meeee and if you want more :D (also lmk if you wanna be tagged for possible upcoming parts if i decide to continue)

another note: i finally made a masterlist. that shit took me 5 HOURS to make because i was fixing and adding so much stuff. i just wanted it to be pretty. ya should go look at it :P and should i make a AO3??? i see so many writers with them and i was wondering if i should do that too..

final note: guys,, remember this is my personal twist on the mid 90’s era so some things from current time will be put into the story (such as the ability to text without emailing one another or using a pager, familiar current time songs that are added into the 90’s era of this story, certain tv shows/movies that came after the 90’s)

₊❏❜ ⋮ continue to part three ⌒

“choso, we should make the house look like a haunted house!” itadori suggests. october was the season of spooks and scares (as yuji put it) and choso wasn’t into festivities that much but if he had to do it to make his little brother happy, he would do it.

the boys make their way to the nearby department store, letting yuji pick out what decorations should be put up in the house. for a little boy, choso didn’t even even pick up how significantly scary the items were because yuji wasn’t shitting himself out of fear.

“uh…yuji, i know you said you wanted the place to look like a haunted house…are you sure you won’t freak yourself out and start crying?” choso said, stifling his laughter.

“i’m not gonna cry.” yuji crossed his arms. “and i’m not scared of some dumb clowns. they’re just decorations, anyway.”

yuji was more mature than he looked…in the aspect of fear. he was a small boy but things didn’t scare him easily. you could say he’s a risk taker outside his moments of vulnerability. choso knew that he’d might jump back behind him, tightly holding the hem his tan sweater if he saw kechizu. the male finally smiles at the pink haired boy and nods.

“you’re right. they’re fake.” choso says calmly.

as they approach the checkout area, yuji sees the food area. serving simple things like pizza, hotdogs and drinks. the stuff you’d find at a concession stand of a sports game.

“can we get a pizza?” yuji asked. choso paused. he didn’t intend on spending 13 dollars on food from a department store. he had other plans anyway.

“you sure you want that? i was gonna get you a happy meal before we went home.” the male yawned, threading his fingers through his hair. the sudden mention of a happy meal excites yuji like a child on christmas morning.

“never mind, i don’t want pizza.” itadori quickly switches. choso chuckled, knowing how easy it was to get yuji to think about his choices.

“aw, cute kid,” choso heard a voice behind him. the male whipped his head around, his brown hair following along with him, only to see you standing there with a smile.

“is this your little brother?”

choso flushed a red color when he instantly remembered your face, almost making him feel bad for not calling you or texting you since you dropped off your number to him. he was feeling slightly embarrassed.

“uh..yeah, that’s—this is yuji.” he stumbles a bit, trying not to make his embarrassment known. itadori already knows the deal, so he waves at you with a big toothy grin, making you smile and wave back at him.

“um..what’re you doing here?” choso queried, trying to spark a conversation first for once. the male was obviously nervous and you could see his cheeks reddening the more he looked at you. if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought he would explode right in front of your eyes.

“shopping, like everyone else,” you teased. “but really, i just gotta pick some stuff up for my mom and then i’ll be on my way.”

your eyes travel over to the shopping cart that yuji was clinging onto, looking at the halloweeny decorations and you smile.

“you don’t seem like the type to be into holidays really,” you start, “did your brother convince you?”

choso also looked at the shopping cart full of stuff and blushed even harder. he was already flustered enough. it couldn’t get any worse than this.

“oh—no..he didn’t,” he chuckled nervously, “i actually really like halloween. the scary shit—stuff…you know, the movies? they’re cool.”

you giggled at choso’s nervous attempts to speak to you about the festivities that he almost never participated in and the quick fix with his mistake of swearing in front of yuji like he wasn’t there.

“oh, so you like horror movies? yeah, you strike me as that kind of guy.” you said. you couldn’t help but notice his medium length hair, just like you had seen the other night when he was working, flowing in the wind that came through as the store doors slowly slid themselves open as customers exited the building.

the male wore an oversized tan sweater with a pair of joggers and some sneakers. you could tell this was a lazy outfit. something you’d call a ‘no one will see me’ outfit.

his eyes were tired and he had a stoic expression, aside from his profuse blushing that began to die down when he finally got the chance to relax, having his hands shoved down into his pant pockets. his irises were so pretty. a pretty shade of purple. you never seen anyone’s eyes look like his before.

the silence prolonged for a moment. the two of you suddenly ran out of things to say. this was perfectly fine for choso. he would’ve lost his mind if he had to keep talking. it wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy talking to you. he was just too scared.

but it wasn’t long before that silence was disturbed.

“my big brother really likes you. he thinks you’re pre—” itadori starts before choso swiftly covers his mouth with his significantly larger hand, making you giggle once more.

“i’m sorry about that…yuji just likes to say random stuff when the silence is too loud for him.” choso said trying to cover up his embarrassment.

“it’s okay,” you smiled at him. your words seemed to ease his nerves a bit but it wasn’t enough to completely calm him down. you glance down at your phone when you feel it vibrate against your thigh.

it’s your mom texting you, asking if you’re on your way back.

“oh, sh—shoot,” you say, quickly fixing your mistake before you actually said it. “i gotta go. my mom just texted.”

choso is quickly snapped out of his embarrassment trance and his head swings over to look at you, his hair following along.

“you’re going?” he asked. through his dead and serious expression, you could see a hint of sadness. a very small change in his usual expression. you nod.

“yeah. but listen, you should call me. you don’t have my number just to stare at it.” you remarked before hurrying off, waving at him as you did.

once you were out of his sight, his eyes quickly struck down to yuji. he looked like he wanted to scold the poor boy for publicly embarrassing him in front of you but he decided against it and his expression softened.

“let’s just get home…” the male sighed.

choso was happy it’s his day off. he got to stay home with his little brother to help decorate their home with terrifying decorations for halloween. choso couldn’t help but smile at yuji’s futile attempts to scare him with the masks from the store.

“come on, you aren’t even a little scared?” yuji removed the mask from his face and shook his head to fix his hair, which was flattened and sticking to his forehead.

“not even in the slightest.” choso chuckled before ruffling itadori’s hair lightly. “what about your friends? you try to scare them yet?”

“megumi is almost never impressed. he’s kinda lame….and out of the question.” yuji hummed. “but i can get nobara. she’s always screaming.”

“well, you can do that tomorrow,” choso yawned, “you gotta get ready for bed soon. you got school in the morning and i don’t want you to be tired and falling asleep in class.”

yuji frowned before he’d hug choso. it took a moment for choso to process the moment, given that he wasn’t too used to being hugged. choso finally hugged the boy back before smiling softly.

“i’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

yuji nodded and smiled back at his older brother before making his way to his room.

when yuji had finally gone to sleep, the house was quiet, leaving choso staring at the ceiling with his hair in disarray and an unlit cigarette between his lips all while he laid on the bed, doing maladaptive night dreaming.

‘workin out’ by JID played softly from the small radio that sat on the windowsill. his eyes slowly traveled over to the shoe box that stood out from all the other boxes in his closet. there was a bright yellow sticky note at the top with what seemed to have your phone number on it along with your name.

the male sat up on the bed and walked over to the box, snatching the sticky note from the box then walking over to his laptop that sat on the umber colored desk.

choso opened the laptop and navigated to the facetime app and decided to punch in your number. he could feel his stomach turning as the low adverb jingling sound repeated itself.

while he waited for you to answer, he’d take one of the rubber bands off of his wrist and tie his hair back, leaving his bangs to hang down in his face. he even took the time to fix the violet eyeshadow that he always had around his eyes, staining his fingers each time he touched around his eyelids. and finally, he’d press down on the bandage over his nose to make sure it was still sticking.

you suddenly pick up, finally answering choso’s call. your room was a bit dark like his, except you had your tv going on in the background. it was loud enough for choso to be able to hear.

unlike choso, you were sitting on your bed with your laptop. you had your hair tied up in twin messy buns with a little bit of your hair hanging down in your face. you wore a black spaghetti strap tank top, revealing the tattoo on your shoulder, and a pair of grey joggers with mismatch socks.

“i honestly did not hear this thing going off,” you giggled as you pushed the hair out of your face. you had been downstairs grabbing yourself a drink while choso was calling. “i’m sorry i didn’t answer right away, though.”

“oh..no, it’s fine. you aren’t busy are you?”

“no, not really. i was thinking about finishing this show i was watching. have you heard of american horror story?”

“yeah, i heard of it. i just never got around to watching it. i’d rather watch movies than an ongoing series.” choso explained simply before he’d light his cigarette. you nod, completely understanding his side.

“shit, well, what movies do you recommend? horror movies, since we’re in spooky season.” you flash a cheeky smile at him. choso’s heart skips a beat when you finally ask him what he’s interested in. he pauses and begins thinking, taking drags from his cigarette.

“there’s one movie, i can’t tell you all of em off the top of my head,” he begins, “watch midsommar. it’s kinda disturbing but you might like it.”

“is it gory horror or..?” you ask before taking a sip of your drink as you began to type in the movie name into the search bar in another tab, scrolling through websites to catch any good details about said movie.

“you’ll have to see for yourself,” choso places two of his digits around the cigarette, gently adjusting it between his lips before it could slip out. you realize the longer you talked to him, the more comfortable he seemed to be but you could still see that he was nervous.

“maybe we can see about it together,” you suggest to the male. “whenever you’re free, of course.” you add quickly. all of a sudden, choso is blushing just as he did at the store earlier that day. you thought it was kinda adorable how he could look so disinterested to suddenly flustered and scared so quickly.

“i—well..” choso stammered, “yeah, sure…uh, we can watch tomorrow night when i put my little brother to bed. i don’t want him interrupting anything.”

you giggled, “aw, he’s so cute, though. but i get it. little kids can get in the way of a lot of stuff.”

the two of you conversed for what felt like hours. your voice was soothing to choso. each time you began to speak, he just imagined you calling his name…just once.

your call with choso ended around three in the morning, and your cheeks were pink, smiling to yourself as you remembered the random conversations that you two had not too long ago.

you hadn’t felt like this about a guy in a long time. while men were usually throwing themselves at you, choso was clearly the odd one out. he was a bit shy but assertive and smart.

choso’s voice was deep as it came from the depths of the ocean but his words flowed smoothly like butter when he wasn’t tripping and fumbling with his words trying to hide his embarrassment.

his style, his personality, the way he looked. in your eyes he was perfect but there were a million things stopping you from telling him you loved him.

what if he has a girlfriend already? what if he isn’t ready for a relationship? what if he doesn’t want one? he probably just wants to be friends.

aside from all those thoughts clogging your brain, you were aware that you’d be moving to fast by throwing that L word around loosely when you just met him a couple days ago.

“damn it.” choso sighed to himself.

‘you’re falling for her…but you don’t have time for her. what’re you doing?’ choso was beating himself up about the whole entire situation. another cigarette is taken out of the pack and lightened as he tried to calm his anxiety and spiraling thoughts.

he was going crazy. he didn’t know what he would do. he wanted you out of his head. he was starting to feel stupid for letting you swoon him as easily as you did at the bar.

part of him wished he never met you…

but he needed more of you.

𝐄𝐍𝐃.

⋆｡࿇ ·࣭࣪̇˖ 𖦹°༅༚

159 notes · View notes

runawaymarbles · 2 years

Note

Hii!

I don’t understand what’s going on with AO3 and the election? I’ve been using it for about a year so this is all new to me! Is Tiffany getting elected actually bad?

I hate censorship, so seeing posts about them censoring stuff is concerning but idk how much truth to it there is 😳

I just want to be informed, and understand!

Hi! Welcome to AO3:)

since I'm not sure how much you know already, the background (background as interpreted by me: I am not speaking on behalf of the OTW) is: Ao3 is run by the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), the nonprofit that also runs Fanlore and publishes Transformative Works & Cultures. Anyone who has donated $10 to the OTW in the last year, and chooses "yes I want to be a member" at checkout is an OTW member. (This is not the same as having an ao3 account.) Every year, there is an election to fill either 2 or 3 seats on the Board of Directors. OTW Members (i.e. people who donated between 7/1/21 and 6/30/22, in this case) get to vote on this.

Most of the time, this election is only really followed by people on fail_fandomanon. Sometimes, it isn't.

Things the Board of Directors does: writes posts to send out to the general public when Things Are Happening (the recent csam attacks, the requests for more antiracism measures.) Writes posts to send to volunteers when Things Are Happening (see prev.) Keeps track of what all the committees are doing and how it ties in with whatever the strategic plan says they should be doing. Deals with the IRS/US laws. Approves large funding requests. Deals with emails that someone else has deemed outside their own wheelhouse. Herds cats. Proposes priorities. Points at something shiny, pats the org on the flank, and says "walk that way, walk that way!! Come on buddy, you can do it!!". etc etc etc.

Things the Board of Directors doesn't do: unilaterally determine ao3 content policy. Let us use the word "porn" on ao3 drive merch. Make decisions that are going greatly affect other volunteers' work without input and some level of agreement from said volunteers.

Anyway. This year, one of the five candidates for the three open board seats is Tiffany G. (More information about all the candidates and their platforms is at https://elections.transformativeworks.org)

Tiffany is a tag wrangler from an unspecified country that is, from context, assumed to be China. The candidate Q&A can be read here. Her answers were a little bit confusing, but she said she wanted to update the ToS policies on 'pedophilic and illegal content' because, quote, "people think we host child porn content and such things... It might... be helpful to clarify that to the public." Further down she said:

a) I support 100% “maximum inclusiveness of content”, yet there is always a boundary to everything. Since OTW is already an influential org, we need to protect our image and hold a better image to the public. I want the public to think of us as an inclusive and socially responsible community. So in general, we have to do something to change. Things like making the rating system more specific and obvious to users will be what I want to do. b) Not really restricting the content being posted. I hope it is like more warnings and ratings for posting work so people know what to expect. And all of these are not surprising to people who do not wish to see this.

I took this to mean "she wants to clarify to outsiders that ao3 does not host csam, is not only for erotica, and update the ratings and warnings system." I don't think that those things are necessary or should be a focus of the org, which is part of why I didn't vote for her.

Other people took it to mean "Tiffany is against pornographic or underage works and wants them to be banned." Some people took this, combined with her nationality, to the conclusion of "Tiffany is a secret plant of the Chinese Communist Party who wants to join the board, get all the ao3 user data, and then have the users from mainland China arrested" (despite the fact that this is not information the board would have access to, if for no other reason than ao3 is blocked in China so anyone trying to view the site from mainland china has to use a VPN anyway.) Some people are upset that the OTW elections committee "allowed" her to run in the first place, because they think that not letting anyone with opinions the current board or elections committee didn't like is an absolutely great precedent to set.

There are a bunch of comments on tw.org, and some in fail_fandomanon, that give more context to her comments in terms of Chinese fandom (though most posters still disagree with her position.)

This got... longer than planned. But to the question "Is tiffany getting elected actually bad" - If my interpretation of her statements are correct, I think it would be annoying, because she does not have the experience I think that being on the Board requires, and focuses on priorities I disagree with. Which isn't to say she'd never have a valuable perspective or ideas about something, but there are four other candidates that I think are much better suited to it at this point in time. If the people who think she is an antishipper bent on censorship are correct, she could probably make life very annoying for the rest of the board-- but considering the rest of them are not pro-censorship, I can't see how she'd have much influence in that direction in the org as a whole.

If the people who think she's doing espionage on behalf of the CCP are correct, then... look, I can't even finish that sentence because I find the idea of the CCP deciding that a) they need to get ao3 user data and b) the way to do that is to run a clearly unqualified candidate in a public board election absurd.

the tl;dr of this tl;dr is that there's a lot of fearmongering going around, and a lot of accusations and hate (and racism. let’s be real a lot of this is racism) directed her way. I don't know her, so I don't know what her "real" opinions are, but regardless of who wins the board election, ao3 is not going to be censored any time soon.

if for no other reason than if the Abuse team was told on top of all their other work, they now had to assess and remove fics reported for being "problematic", they would say "we'd prefer not to" and then proceed to not do it.

It's awesome that people are realizing the board elections and OTW membership are a thing now, though. We kept talking about how to encourage membership, and "running a very dramatic and wanky election" did not occur to us. In retrospect, I don't know why.

#otw #again not speaking for the org #otw elections #the current wank #op #asks #anons #answers

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sailor-aviator · 6 months

Text

Meet Me at the Sea: Chapter Five

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Summary: Your best friend, Bob Floyd, had insisted you join him for the summer at his family's home along the Carolina coasts. You had been hesitant at first, but ultimately agreed to his request. Now, here you were in a new town with strange locals who spoke in hushed whispers and cryptic retellings about glistening scales, glowing eyes, and haunting songs that echoed from the sea. You didn't believe them at first, but when you wake up on the beach one morning after having fallen overboard the night before, you can't help but think that maybe you hadn't imagine the strong arms and deep, green eyes of the man that had saved you.

Trigger warnings: Language, Mean girl Mandy, Flirting, Alcohol, Siren call, Supernatural elements, Kind of suggestive/smutty but not really? idk

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: Alright, alright! The ball is starting to roll! We've got a lot going on now, I think. Can't wait to hear y'all's thoughts! Also, shoutout to @goldenseresinretriever for letting me bounce ideas off of her! You the real MVP!! If you're feeling kind/generous, please consider buying me a ko-fi! Also, if you DO NOT fill out the form below (Tag List) then you will not be tagged! I will be referring to that Google form from now on! As always, reblogs, comments and likes are greatly appreciated! Asks/requests are always open! 18+ ONLY!! You can find me on AO3 under sailor_aviator where I also post my updates!

Series Masterlist || Jake "Hangman" Seresin Tag List

“I thought the bonfires happened the other night?” You asked Bob as the two of you made your way down the practically deserted streets. It was late, and the only people out were the young adults still looking to have a good time. The family friendly activities had ended hours ago, and now it was time for the partying to start.

“They were supposed to,” he said, eyes scanning the dimly lit street, “but they got postponed because of all the rain the other week. This was the only night that worked for most everyone around town.”

“That works out for us, I guess,” you hummed, hearing the sound of crashing waves grow closer as you neared the beach.

“Hey, thing one and thing two!”

The two of you turned around to see a grinning Bradley jogging up behind you, and you turned with a smile to greet him.

“Hey, Bradley!” You chirped. “We thought you’d already be down at the beach with everyone else.”

“I was, but I forgot my phone at the house,” he said, waving his phone in his hand. “So I ran back to grab it. Everyone else should already be down there, though.”

“We better get a move on before all the drinks are gone,” Bob mused, already moving once again. Bradley fell into step alongside you, bumping your shoulder with his.

“Feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, Skipper,” he joked, casting a smirk down at you. “You been avoiding me?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” you giggled.

Bradley scoffed, giving you an offended look that was made less serious by the grin on his face. “Me? Avoid you? Don’t be ridiculous. Who in their right mind would avoid a sweet, little thing like you?”

“You must not really know her then,” Bob snorted. “She practically cut my hand off when I went for the last fry at lunch today.”

“That was entirely your fault,” you huffed, sticking your tongue out at him. “You know how much I love french fries.”

“Yeah, enough to cause grievous bodily injuries, apparently,” he smirked. You scowled at him before looking back at Bradley who was also smirking at you.

“He’s being dramatic,” you offered with a shrug.

“Barely.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” you griped as the three of you walked down the stairs and onto the beach. You could see the glow from the various fires flicker in the night, groups of different people huddled around each one. “I have to set an alarm every morning to wake up before he does if I want any bacon.”

“Oh, trust me,” Bradley laughed, steering you towards a fire on the edge of the grouping, Bob in tow. “I grew up with him. I know how much bacon he puts away.”

“I am not that bad,” Bob huffed, earning identical dubious looks from both you and Bradley. You giggled when Bradley quirked his eyebrow at you.

“Sure you aren’t, Bob,” you laughed, earning a scowl from your best friend.

“You made it!”

The three of you turned to see Nat waving at you, the rest of the squad already settled in on the towels surrounding the small fire. You felt a shiver run up your spine as you made eye contact with a pair of mossy green ones. You looked away as your cheeks warmed, letting Bradley guide you across the fire and down on a group of towels, Bob on your other side.

“So,” said the brunette sitting next to Jake, blue eyes calculating as she took you in. She was just as beautiful as the last time you saw her. Tan skin glowed in the light from the fire, body lithe and athletic. She looked like she walked off the cover of a fashion magazine, and her narrowed gaze was trained on you, lips curled into waht appeared to be a permanent sneer. “You must be the tagalong I’ve heard so much about. Skipper was it?”

You shifted uncomfortably, glancing over at Bradley as he stiffened next to you, a glare fixed on his face as he looked at her.

“Yeah,” you said, offering an anxious smile as you looked back at her. “That’s what they call me anyway.”

“It’s cute,” she said, tone indicating that she most certainly did not find it cute. “I’m Mandy. You’ve probably heard of me from the others.”

“Oh, yeah,” you smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’m not surprised,” she continued with a smirk. “I’ve known everyone here since we were in diapers. We go way back, you know. Don’t feel bad if you end up feeling left out in our conversations, okay?”

You shifted again, this time knocking your knee into your bag. The shells you carried with you jostled, clinking together, and you blushed when everyone looked at you.

“What was that?” Mickey asked, peering over to get a better look. You lifted your bag as you began to pull each shell out and placing it carefully on the towel.

“Oh, these are the shells and things I’ve been finding everywhere!” You smiled, running your fingers over the conch. “Aren’t they amazing? I’ve never seen so many beautiful shells in my life! And they’re all perfectly in tact, can you believe it? It’s like someone just plucked them up off the ocean floor and set them out for me to find!”

“That’s quite a collection,” Nat chuckled, shooting a smirk off to the side. You followed her line of sight, and your eyes made direct contact with the mossy green ones from earlier. Jake looked at you with an expression that could only be described as awe as he took you in, eyes peering down to where you cradled the conch gently in your hands before looking back up at you. His eyes shone in the firelight, a hint of a smile on his lips as he looked at you. You felt another blush creep up your neck, and you leaned forward to place the conch closer to the fire for everyone to see. You heard a sharp intake of breath, and you looked up to see Mandy with a look of rage and shock on her face as she stared at you. You realized quickly she wasn’t staring at your face, but rather down at the base of your neck. Her eyes darted up to meet yours and her expression shifted quickly into one of cold contempt.

“You actually carry those around with you?” She sneered, scoffing out a laugh. “What are you? Five?”

You frowned up at her, suddenly feeling self conscious as you glanced around the group. Their smiles had shifted into looks of irritation as they glared at the brunette.

“Oh, I just-”

“I mean,” she sniffed, cutting you off, “I suppose it’s fitting for someone who looks like you though, right? You’re not exactly dressed to impress or anything.”

You looked down at your clothes, a frown on your face. You weren’t normally self conscious. Sure, you didn’t look like a model like Mandy, but you didn’t think you were hard on the eyes. You had dressed for comfort though, and it was plain to see in your jean shorts, tank top, and white button up. Mandy wore a pair of cutoffs and a tight fitting tank top that showed off her figure, and her makeup was immaculate. You hadn’t seen the point in putting any on. Should you have?

“Mandy,” Bob growled, glaring in a warning.

“Oh, I know she’s your friend and all, Bobby,” Mandy continued, a viscious smirk poised on her lips. “But let’s be honest. I mean, we’re among friends, right? And friends should be honest with each other. You’d be lucky if anyone gave you the time of day looking like that. Nevermind the silly, little shells you’re carrying around everywhere. You really should have left those back at the house, you know. And tell me you brought something nice to where for the ocean dance festival. Can you imagine if you wore some frumpy shorts to something like tha-”

“Shut up.”

All eyes turned to Jake who was glaring into the fire, eyes cold as the water that lapped the shore behind you. Mandy narrowed her eyes at him, rage clouding her features.

“Excuse me?” She spat, turning to face him. His gaze shifted to her, jaw clenching.

“Was I not clear enough?” He said evenly. “I said ‘shut up.’”

You hadn’t even realized that tears had gathered in your eyes until Bob laid a gentle hand on your shoudler causing you to jump. You looked over at him, sniffling as he gave you a concerned look. You wiped at the corner of your eyes, scrambling to your feet. You felt everyone’s eyes on you as you shifted from one foot to the other, avoiding their gazes.

“I’m, uh,” you gulped, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over. “I’m gonna go get something to drink.”

“I’ll come with you,” Bradley said, moving to his feet and giving you a gentle smile. “I’m parched.”

You turned to Bob with a watery smile. “You want anything?”

He studied you for a second, eyes uncertain. You gave him a look that you hoped communicated your need to pretend like you were okay, and he pressed his lips together.

“Just a beer.”

“You got it!” You smiled, trying and failing to add your usual cheeriness to the statement. You gave a half smile that you were sure came off as more of a grimace as you made your way towards the line of coolers on the other side of the fires. Bradley followed you silently, and you kept your head down, feeling the tears start to stream down your cheeks.

You knew you were being silly. They were just words after all, and you were a grown woman. You shouldn’t be letting silly words get to you like this. But why did they hurt so bad? You knelt by one of the coolers, fishing out two beers and a coke. You handed one of the beers to Bradley, refusing to make eye contact with him as you pushed the lid to the cooler closed.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing onto your arm gently, pulling you so that you faced him.

You kept your head down, and Bradley let out a sigh.

“Listen,” he started, hesitating as if he were choosing his next words carefully. “You shouldn’t listen to Mandy, okay? She’s a stone cold bitch on the best of days, and, well, she’s never been told ‘no’ a day in her life. She’s always gotten what she wanted, when she wanted it.”

“What’s your point?” You muttered, glancing off to the side as you wrapped your arms around yourself. Bradley let out another sigh, taking his hand from your arm to run it through his hair.

“My point is that she’s taking her new experience with the word out on you, and it’s not fair. I know it’s hard, but just ignore her, okay? She’s just jealous.”

“Of me?” You scoffed, finally meeting his gaze. Bradley smirked down at you, casting you a wink.

“You’re pretty great, Skipper,” he hummed. “Anyone with eyes can see it. Now, come on. Let’s head back to the others, yeah?”

You nodded, and the two of you made your way back to the fire. As you approached, you noted that Jake was the only one still there, eyes trained on the flames in front of him, seemingly deep in thought. He jumped when Bradley plopped down next to him, leaving just enough room for you to slide in between them.

“Where’d the others go?” Bradley asked, twisting the top off his beer and taking a swig from the bottle. Jake grimaced, gesturing around towards the other fires.

“Take your pick.”

Bradley hummed, leaning back on the towel with his legs outstretched towards the fire. The three of you were silent for a moment, and you felt a tingling sensation on your left side. You turned to find Jake already looking at you, eyes soft as they took you in. Your breath caught in your throat, cheeks flushing. You thought you should have been been creeped out with how intensely he was staring at you, but you felt oddly comfortable under his gaze. In fact, you found yourelf sitting up a little straighter, almost preening under his gaze, and a small smile tugged on Jake’s lips as he took you in, eyes blazing as they reached your neck.

You jumped as Bradley suddenly leaned over in front of you, breaking the spell you found yourself under. A shit eating grin was etched onto his face as he looked at Jake.

“Did you know Skipper here always wanted to be a mermaid?”

You felt yourself begin to splutter as your cheeks warmed for a different reason, eyes growing wide as you peered between the two men. Bradley waggled his eyebrows as Jake’s own shot up on his forehead. A smirk graced his lips, giving him a devilish look to his already handsome features. He looked at you, smirk intensifying as he saw your flustered state. He leaned forward, smirk growing into a grin as you glanced away.

“Is that so?” He hummed, warm breath ghosting over your face.

“I will remind you that I was, like, five at the time,” you snapped, glaring at Bradley. He only chuckled, resting his chin on his hand as he smirked lazily up at you.

“I think you’d make a cute mermaid, don’t you agree, Jake?”

Jake nodded with another hum, eyes taking on a look you couldn’t place, but it made you squirm nonetheless.

“Just imagine her swimming around with all her little fishy sidekicks,” Bradley teased, eyes alight with mischief. You scoffed, turning to face him.

“As if,” you snarked, “my sidekick wouldn’t be a fish, it would be a stingray.”

Jake quirked an eyebrow. “Why a stingray?”

“Oh,” you blushed, your nerves kicking up again. “Because they’re my favorite.”

Jake nodded slowly, like he was trying to commit that fact to memory. Bradley snorted beside you, and the two of you looked over at where he was smirking, eyes peeking at Jake before looking back at you.

“How could I forget?” He drawled, taking another sip of his beer. “I met Rusty when you and I were snuggled in bed the other morning.”

“That’s not-”

You were cut off by a growl to your left. You turned to see Jake’s entire expression had changed. His jaw was clenched, eyes trained on Bradley as if he wanted to take his head off. His fists were clenched so tight, you wouldn’t be surprised if he was drawing blood from where his fingernails dug into his palms. He was almost too still as he glared at Bradley, the other man looking smug as he took in his friend’s appearance.

“Are you okay?” You asked the blond, and his eyes glanced over at you, gaze seeming to soften as he took in your concern.

“Bradshaw!” Reuben called from across the way. “Get your ass over here!”

Bradley heaved a sigh, rolling his eyes as he got to his feet. “And that’s my cue,” he muttered.

You watched as he strutted over to where Reuben and Mickey were gathered with a group of people you didn’t know, leaving you alone with Jake.

“He’s such an ass sometimes,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Isn’t he one of your best friends?” You asked him with a giggle. Jake’s demeanor seemed to relax at the sound.

“Unfortunately,” he grumbled, casting another glare over at where Bradley stood chatting and laughing.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You frowned, noticing how tense he still seemed to be. He looked back at you, hesitating before letting out a sigh.

“Yeah, I guess I’m just feeling a little overheated or something,” he muttered, flexing his hands as he uncurled his fists. He moved to stand, and you followed suit.

“Think I’m going to go take a walk to cool off,” he mused, rolling his shoulders back. You frowned, rubbing a hand over your arm.

“Oh, okay,” you said, glancing at the ground, shifting your feet in the sand that covered the towel. Jake seemed to hesitate once more, chewing his bottom lip.

“Do you want to join me?” He asked you, his green eyes hopeful as you met his gaze. You felt a smile tug on your lips as you nodded.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” you murmured, moving to grab your bag. You stopped when you noticed it was placed neatly on top of the towel you had been sitting on previously, shells already back inside.

“I, uh,” Jake stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. “I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t want anything to happen to them, so I put them back in your bag. I guess I should have asked first instead of just moving them. I’m sorry if I-”

“No,” you smiled, “it’s okay. Thank you.”

Jake gave you a nervous, tight lipped smile before nodding. “You can leave your bag here if you want. No one is going to take it.”

You returned his nod, gesturing for him to lead the way down the beach.

The two of you walked in silence for a few minutes, the ocean waves crashing off to your right, and the cool, night breeze ruffling your hair.

“Listen,” Jake started, stopping to turn to you, eyes earnest as they took you in. “I’m sorry about Mandy-”

“Oh, no, Jake,” you frowned, shaking your head. “You don’t have to apologize for her.”

“No, but I do,” he stated firmly, face serious as he looked at you. “It’s my fault she’s taking it out on you. She’s been so convinced that she and I are going to end up together, and now that she knows that’s not the case, she’s on the warpath.”

“Jake,” you sighed, “I understand feeling some kind of weird responsibility for her, but her actions are her own. You shouldn’t have to apologize on her behalf. She’s a big girl just like I am, right? We’re adults who are capable of making our own decisions and apologizing for the wrong we do. None of this is your fault.”

He didn’t look convinced, and you took his hand in yours to offer him some kind of reassurance. A bolt of electricity ran through you, causing you to let out a gasp, and a warmth rushed over you, causing you to squirm. You felt like a magnet, drawn to Jake in a way that you couldn’t even begin to understand. You wanted to feel more of him, to consume and be consumed by him. You had never felt anything like it in your life, and you looked up at him hazy eyes to find that he wasn’t any better off.

His own eyes had a haze to them, seeming to glow in the moonlight. His breathing came out labored, almost like he was fighting to maintain his composure. His eyes raked over you, a hand coming up to rest on your cheek, and you nuzzled into it without thinking.

“You’re so pretty,” he breathed, voice barely above a whisper as he inched closer to you.

“You’re just saying that,” you muttered, leaning into him.

“No,” he stated firmly, causing you to jump just a hair. His other hand came up to rest on your hip, pulling you closer so that you were practically molded against him.

“No,” he said again, gentler this time. “I mean it. You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on.”

If it were possible, you were sure your skin would have heated up even more than it already was. As it stood, a pleasant warmth spread through you at his proximity, and the hand that was cradling your cheek slowly drifted down until it brushed the mark on your neck. You let out a wanton cry at the shock of pleasure that jolted through you at the simple touch, and Jake smirked down at you, stroking softly over the mark again and again as he drew more pleasured cries from you.

“It’s okay,” he cooed, leaning his forehead against yours, nuzzling his nose against the tip of yours. “I’ve got you.”

You couldn’t find it in you to feel embarrassed at the intense amount of pleasure you felt at the simplest of touches, too focused on the way his hands felt on you. You raised your own, one hand cradling his cheek as the other ran through his golden hair. He let out a groan as you tugged gently on the soft strands, and you couldn’t help the small smirk that spread across your face. Jake’s eyes met yours, the green of them so intense that it took your breath away. He glanced down at your lips, slowly leaning in-

“Jacob Seresin!”

You gasped, grasping at your ears at the almost inhuman shriek that pierced the night air. Jake pulled back, placing you almost protectively behind him. You peered around him to see Mandy glaring at him, blue eyes practically glowing with rage. Her gaze turned to you, and you shrank back slightly, hiding behind Jake a little more. This only served to make Mandy even more irate, and she snarled as she stomped closer to the two of you.

Jake bristled, standing taller as he continued to block you from Mandy’s warpath.

“How dare you,” she spat at him, lips pulled back into a sneer. “You’re mine.”

“No,” Jake growled, “I’m not.”

You shifted behind him, moving out from behind him slowly, and the pair turned to look at you. You gave them a sheepish smile, as you inched around Mandy, hands up in a form of surrender.

“I’m just going to head back so you two can talk in private,” you murmured. Jake looked like he wanted to argue, but Mandy’s glare had you moving before he could say anything.

You wrapped your arms around yourself as you walked back towards the bonfires, already missing Jake’s touch. You had never felt anything so intense in your entire life, and you wondered what had come over you to make you act so brazenly. You weren’t one for hookups, but you weren’t even sure that’s what that was going to be. He had held you so gently, like you might break or run away at any moment. You had been so ready to give him every part of you in that moment. You knew you should have been worried at that thought, but a large part of you thought that it felt right, that you should give yourself to him. The more you thought about it, the more you found yourself wanting to turn around and go back to him.

You were about halfway back down the beach when it started. It was quiet at first, distant. But then it grew louder, and you found yourself slowing to a stop, turning towards the crashing waves to your left.

The song was beautiful, melancholic. It was unlike the one you had heard before, this one sounding more animal like than human, but you still found yourself drawn to it. It called to you, begging you to listen, and you did, feeling the sound drift through your mind and pulling you in. You weren’t sure when you started walking, but you felt the sand shift beneath your feet as you slowly made your way towards the water. The fires faded from your sight, the churning waves beckoning to you like gentle hands that promised refuge. The song grew louder, all consuming, blocking everything else out but the need to answer. You felt the wind whip your hair around you, the cold sting kissing your cheeks as the crashing waves grew louder, the song more desperate. The sand beneath your feet grew cold as you ventured into a spot where the water met the shoreline. You’re almost there, the song called to you. You felt a relieved smile tug on your lips at the thought of finally reaching your goal and answering the song. You felt the water come just up to your toes before retreating back. You closed your eyes in anticipation. Just one more step.

You let out a cry as you were yanked away from the water, a strong hand on your upper arm. Your arms reached for the water, your mind still foggy as a loud, keening cry sounded from the water before disappearing entirely. You whirled around to see Javy staring at you with an intense worry, Nat just behind him, worry clear on her face.

“Wha-” you mumbled, pressing a hand to the side of your head as it began to pound. “What happened? Javy?”

“Hey, Skipper,” he murmured gently, pulling you closer, away from the water. “We’ve been calling you for a while now. You okay?”

“I…” you trailed off, glancing between him and the water. “I’m not sure.”

“How about we get you some water, yeah?” Nat suggested, wrapping her arms around you as she led you back to the bonfires. You nodded slowly.

“Yeah,” you muttered, glancing back at the ocean. “Yeah, okay.”

Tag List: @jakeseresinlover @haley-hotchner @queerqueenlynn @dempy @fanficfandomlove @aworldwideapart @stoptaking-the-good-names @maximus890 @sky2nd @devil-angel-winchester @hopip99 @hookslove1592 @lemmons1998 @yuckosworld @uniquedreamlandcheesecake @imamomof8 @pietrothemovie @kmc1989 @mamachasesmayhem @hangmansgbaby @imnotcreativeenoughforthisblog @deliriousfangirl61 @hangmandruigandmav @na-ta-sh-aa @witchybabel @keyrani @i-wanna-be-your-muse @buckysteveloki-me @clancycucumber230 @dreamlandcreations @emotionallysalty @fandom-life-12 @a-girl-who-loves-disney @nouis-bum @topherwrites @squeaky-bumblbee22 @hangmansgbaby @goldenseresinretriever @bobgasm @linkpk88 @number-0-iz @xl-pr @stillreadingfantasy @shibble @horseshoegirl

#jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #top gun maverick #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin x you #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake seresin fic #jake seresin fanfiction #jake seresin x you #hangman fanfiction #hangman x reader #top gun hangman #hangman imagine #hangman top gun #hangman seresin #hangman #mmats #meet me at the sea

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rad-batson · 8 months

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THIS IS FOR FANS OF CASSANDRA CAIN! PLEASE READ! I WANT YOUR THOUGHTS

(skip to the bottom if you just want silly headcanons about her :D)

Hello! So first, I want to thank everyone who read the Wayne pilot I made :) I appreciate your feedback, and I love you all.

As I'm preparing to post it on AO3, I decided to make a few (admittedly small) changes to the script, primarily around Cassandra Cain, because I haven't quite fleshed her out yet.

I don't have much experience with writing Cass, so I decided to do a bit of research on her yesterday, and wouldn't you know? I fell in love. 10/10. She didn't play a huge part in the pilot, but she will have a bigger one in the second episode, and there are a few things I think can or should be added so she doesn't feel too one-note.

There wasn't anyone who told me this, by the way. (In fact, I actually got some nice comments about her so thank you.) I just had it in the back of my mind while writing, and now that Cass is getting more screen time, I'm finding that my lack of knowledge might lead to mischaracterization.

SO TO COMBAT THIS, I MADE A GUIDE FOR MYSELF ON HOW TO WRITE CASS

Is this overkill? Probably Think of it as a silly headcanon list for my version of her. And I'm posting it here because I want your feedback before it's set in stone. (I know Cass isn't written well a lot, so this is my attempt to right these horrid wrongs.)

If you're going to give criticism, please be constructive. Tell me what you like or don't like. I'm all ears. Have fun :)

Writing Cass

(Btw I still gotta read Cass’s first Batgirl run by Kelley Puckett)

Has some sass, has a lot actually

Used to be awkward in social settings. she’s better at it when she’s with people so she can match their energy but she still prefers to just dip

Speaks in short-ish sentences, trying her best tho

I WILL BE ADDING THIS INTO THE PILOT, I JUST WANT TO KNOW TO WHAT DEGREE?? OR IS IT REALLY FINE

Mostly just relies on body language though

I WILL BE ADDING THIS INTO THE PILOT TOO, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ASL SCENE (BUT IT’S NOT REPLACING THE ASL)

also yes i know her using ASL isn't canon, it just works best for the scene, it would have been written the same whether she was in it or not, it is still a cute nod to fanon tho

Steph and Cass are extremely close BUT ALSO HAVE SEPARATE LIVES (I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO STRESS THAT AND I AGREE)

Messy, low-key gross. Bad-ish hygiene but she’s good at looking put-together so only those close know this about her (this is just my headcanon)

Often forgets bigger words so she occasionally uses the wrong one, she ALSO mixes up proverbs but no one corrects her because 1: it’s cute and 2: they don’t want to discourage her from speaking with them more casually (also my headcanon)

Cass: So I pulled the door off its…*makes motion with hand*…metal books. Steph: Do you mean hinge— Cass: Metal books.

Dick: Well that was a surprise. I didn’t know The Penguin would be here. Cass, nodding: Well life gives you grapes Dick: Wut Cass: You make grape juice. Get on the same book, Nightwing

I'M ON THE FENCE ABOUT ADDING THIS ONE BECAUSE IDK LET ME KNOW PLEASE

Is a cinnamon bun AND a little shit, it’s a balancing act

Production: She’s Wayne’s darling Princess Cass: *will break your fingers*

She does appear behind the camera crew to scare them on purpose, she thinks it’s funny, she likes seeing them freak out

She is super competitive, but she's always like "Oh I'm not that competitive" *proceeds to be very competitive*

Because she isn't super confident in her writing or speaking (or just uncomfortable communicating without seeing the other person's body language) she prefers to Facetime or simply reply to texts with selfies of her reaction. It is a thing now. when you need an honest opinion about an outfit, text a photo to Cass. She will either give back a photo of a thumbs up or a photo of a grimace and some not-so-flattering emojis

Her princess persona is her public cover persona in this show, parallel to Bruce’s “Brucie” and Dick’s “born for the cameras” thing

Is surprisingly vocal (and sometimes snippy) about her distaste with things but she mostly gets a pass because her morals align best with Bruce’s

Is most snippy when her family uses methods other than violence when violence is clearly the faster option, god they're such pacifists

Tim: *trying carefully to pick a lock* Cass: Just break through the wall? Tim: We can’t do that. We’re trying not to be noticed. Cass: Wimp

Bruce: Cass, why did you have to dislocate that man’s shoulder? Cass: I put it back. Bruce: That’s not the point. Cass: Fine, I’ll dislocate it again.

Is the best fighter, none of this “oh she’s the best fighter so when people do win against her, it makes them look cooler” thing, shut tf up, she could break their bones (not important to the show ofc but I need to add this because it is important in general)

Horrible at drawing, wretched (again a headcanon but I did see someone else mention it somewhere)

Also bad at writing, refuses to study to improve out of principle (i.e. she told Babs she doesn’t need to and now she refuses to admit Babs was right)

(AND SIDE-HEADCANON IF SHE IS HORRIBLE AT WRITING AND ACTIVELY HATED STUDYING HER ALPHABET THEN WHAT IF LIKE ONE DAY SOMEONE SAYS “hey can you grab me one of these files from last week’s case, it’s under M” SHE’S LIKE “fuck you, how could you do this to me” WHILE SEARCHING FOR M OR MORE SIMPLY *throws something at them*)

That's all I have right now. If you'd like to give me any recommendations, please do. I can't promise I'll add in every single one because this show is still about the whole Batfam, not just her, but I want to do her justice, and that definitely involves more fine-tuning on my part

OKAY THAT'S ALL LOVE YOU BYE

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girlreblogger · 2 months

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also to add to my previous post, when i say blk yn go through crazy situations im exaggerating but i mean (“cause me personally!!!!!!!!!!!”) allowing the character to be treated in certain manner and be put in “awkward” positions. i also want to say that the “situations” seem unfulfilling like i wanted to say in the first place.

because of the unsavory situations she is put in she legit has to have characteristics that are straight up unnecessary if the wellbeing of her character was prevalent. and i have to say that because of blk yn stories that it applies to. (and no ian talking abt how ppl be complaining abt yn being “ghetto” 😒)

drama, comfort, or for fun, is cool and dandy but it’s the same type of thing and i’m not tryna come for the plug stories like don’t nbgaf like omg i’m so tired of hearing bout them freaking stories.

to the ppl who still decide to ignore how damaging fr CERTAIN! blk yn fics y’all remind me of the ppl who support tyler perry movies simply because it’s for entertainment and “he’s telling a story” (that not everyone has)

yep. those things are true but an impact worse than good is being produced. like bffr.

and i feel conflicted by even saying that because some ppl obviously genuinely relate or find comfort in those stories but at what cost. like is comfort worth change and progression?

me rn:

some ppl just really don’t gaf and don’t care to want better. please don’t let the ppl who don’t gaf sway you. for the ppl who do, reblog nice fics or write. blow them up so other blk girls can find them. we deserve it.

there are so many blk fics where yn is not going through those things and if there is “drama” is solved or there’s a healthy resolve. (there’s so many blk writers who need to be publishing books fuck tumblr or ao3 and tryna get reblogs. with all that talent girl MAKE SOME MONEYYYY! YALL STUFF BE GOOD.)

i’m dead serious. why haven’t you thought abt it.

but yeah. it is what it is we have to put more work in to change as people in general. but i really just want my ppl to grow. ppl find comfort in fics for a reason. i really think a good balance of what everyone is looking for and needs should be found. i know ppl gonna feel like ppl telling them what to do but they prolly the ones who don’t want the change for wtv.. reason… ahem..

ppl feeling hit by what i said:

there’s obviously a problem and as a ppl! why can’t we just fix it. like at least try.

side note:

there’s so many ways to get drama. also the smut after arguing piss me off this is off topic cause it applies to a lot of ppl who make fics but like damn. y’all ain’t gon talk it out. and it be the most weird arguments and stuff and you wanna squeeze lemons after that???

idk that annoys me like everyyyy time? and i think smut after arguments can be well written but ….

anyways the blk ff community to damn big for us to be sitting here starving acting like we don’t have food in the refrigerator to make something.

get it together yall. youn want what’s in the refrigerator go get your keys and buy something.

i’m tired of this shit that’s why so many blk writers stop writing or ppl stop reading because it’s too much going on all for some damn fake characters we wanna imagine ourselves with.

and i know for some ppl it’s abt the followers and all that which i mean to each is own i mean

sigh i was tryna be proper and cordial but i really want better for us but it’s so many ppl who go too far or do too little. and some are so sheep that they go with someone else’s opinion too. you know you tired of all the toxic fics say sumn. you know you tired of ppl constantly bringing up yn being ghetto for no reason (that shit piss me off so bad i can’t. they be so close but so farr) say sumn.

me after thinking someone finna bring up how unnecessary struggle love/toxic/extra smutty blk fics are but they end up just complaining abt yn using aave:

anyways i’m ranting. i wanted to say what i felt.

muah

#x black reader #x black reader fluff #black reader #x black fem reader #anime x black!reader #black fanfiction #aot x black reader #jjk x black reader #connie x black reader #x fem black reader #aot x black y/n #eren x black fem!reader #jjk x black y/n #eren x black reader #black yn #i love using gifs theyre so fun🤭#i said what i said again

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autistic-katara · 10 months

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ok i might get blocked by a couple ppl for saying this but the Jackson’s Diary fandom is seriously making me wanna become a proshipper out of spite (read the post before blocking me or whatever please)

like idk if u guys have checked the fandom tag on ao3 recently but theres been a bit of drama surrounding the fact that someone posted a smut-fic of Exer (an 18yo) and David (an almost 18yo, who was aged up A FEW MONTHS for the fic) and they were harassed into taking it down and making a fucking apology post ON AO3, THE PROBLEMATIC FANWORKS WEBSITE.

and this fic was tagged 100% correctly like it was very explicitly tagged as smut n stuff yet there were still a bunch of comments being like “uhm what did i just read 🤨” and when i made a comment defending the authors right to yk, not be harassed for making not even rlly problematic content someone who clearly would suffer withdrawal symptoms if they turned twitter off for too long started arguing with me abt how “erm ackhtually we should be allowed to comment harassment under ppls harmless and explicitly tagged fics cause theres no smut in this fandom and it shocked us” and u could just rlly tell they felt they were more righteous than God in their opinions and yeah so cut to tonight when i’m scrolling through the tag and i see a post titled “i’m so sorry” in which the author made a post basically being like “i’m so sorry for posting that ik it was disgusting it has been permanently deleted” which in the comments a few ppl were telling them that what happened sucked n stuff (myself included // judging by their reply they only did this to stop the harassment which yk, completely fair) and i went back to scrolling since i wanted an actual fic not fandom drama but like 2 posts down there was another post titled “please stop” or smthn like that where someone else made a post basically being like “guyssss can we please not write smut of these characters this fandom is so wholesome i dont wanna ruin it 🥺 anyways sorry this isnt a fic this just needed to be said lol” and like dude, my guy, WHAT THE FUCK?!

this is AO3, this is a fanwork archive that as far as i know was created (at least partially) due to the fact that ppl kept getting their “problematic” works taken down from other sites and the creators wanted to yk archive all fanworks. this is NOT a social media site where u can make callout posts abt how what someone else posted disturbed ur pure wholesome chaste scrolling by daring to uploaded something with *gasp* consensual sex between 2 consenting adults?! (or canonically 1 consenting adult and 1 consenting gonna-be-an-adult-in-a-few-months-but-isnt-much-younger-than-the-first-guy but u get the idea)

like guys, ao3 is not twitter. it is not tiktok, it is not tumblr, its not youtube, its not even wattpad. it is not a social media platform, it is a fanwork archive, specifically one that lets u post whatever kinda content u want (yes, even smthn depicting 2 consenting adult/almost adult participates that are in no way related having sex, ik its crazy what they allow online these days).

and look honestly the callout post wouldn’tve annoyed me this much if it was posted on yk an actual social media. like if it was posted on twitter or tiktok or on youtube as a video essay or even on here, like sure if i saw it id be annoyed that this fandom cant handle the tiniest bit of non-puritanicalism and fuck, maybe if it was on here id even drag myself into a pointless days-long argument that causes me suicidal levels of stress but on archive of our fucking own itself?! for the millionth time, IT IS NOT A SOCIAL MEDIA! u dont make posts like that that u want the rest of the fandom to read or whatever on there because its not that kinda website!

anyways yeah i hope i explained the situation ok, u might be able to check it out urself if u feel like it and yeah idk this whole thing just kinda felt like a wake-up call for me like yes i find incest and pedophilia disgusting OBVIOUSLY and i dont like ppl romanticising it in fiction but idk i’ve seen ppl talk abt toxic antis before and show screenshots of conversations where theyve acted super shitty but idk seeing this all unfold in person and having to argue with these hardcore antis just- i dont wanna be associated with these ppl, if these are what alotta antis r like i dont want anyone to assume i agree with them like at all, whether its other antis, proshippers, or ppl like me who have a super complicated opinion on it. like they harassed a person into taking down their smut and made call-out posts on ARCHIVE OF OUR OWN abt how they dont want their wholesome pure fandom corrupted by gross dirty irredeemable sex. and just yeah hope no mutuals i seriously care abt unmoot or even block me over this since ik a few of u r antis but yeah srry for this i just kinda seriously hate this fandom right now :)

also incase anyone is typing out a “kill yourself pedo” reply/rb rn; i turn 15 on Friday, i am 2+ years younger than ur innocent bb minor boy David and his definitely not already a legal adult boyfriend Exer so yk

#jackson’s diary #jacksons diary #ao3 #proshipping #dexer #fandom discourse #will probably regret making this post by tmrw morning but yk thats future me’s problem #again hopefully i explained this ok i’m pretty sure it was quite rambly

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grandprix-ao3 · 1 year

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i have over 300 bookmarks on ao3, but only some of them are marked as "recs." here is a post of all the fics i have bookmarked as recs, which ofc i will update as i read/bookmark more!

good to you by TheNorthRemembers (@catofthecanals289) -- 72.9k words, 1/1 chapters -> DANIEL/MAX easily my favorite maxiel fic of all time. easily one of my favorite fics of all time. it's nearly 73k words but i've read it like a million times. like i can't recommend it enough 12/10 would let my day be ruined by again

If I were proper, I'd have a chance; not with you, but somebody else by ShiwiSins (IetjeSiobhan) (@deepdowninshipperhell) -- 4.3k words, 1/1 chapters -> PIERRE/CHARLES this is actually the fic that swayed me to the omegaverse side. before this fic i would intentionally avoid any and all omegaverse fics, but i read this one and it is so good. i don't know what to say other than it is perfect and you should read it

hard feelings by orphan_account -- 2.9k words, 1/1 chapters -> PIERRE/ESTEBAN this is an au fic, and i've said it before: i think this fic captures the pierresteban fic dynamic perfectly. the severed relationship, being dropped into the middle of something broken and never given a real answer, it's just - perfect

shark teeth by toastandvegemite (@toastandvegemite) -- 3.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> LANDO/DANIEL i'm not super vocal about it but i am a dando enjoyer. i Love dando. and this was one of the first dando fics i ever read, and it's so good, and it's actually my "if you're only going to read one fic for this ship, read this one" recommendation for dando. so, like, even if you don't usually read dando, maybe read?

nothing but teeth by crescenteluce (@janinaduszejko) -- 25k words, 3/3 chapters -> ALEX/GEORGE my favorite galex tropes are: friends with benefits, george being measurably pathetic (and obsessed with alex), and this exact type of miscommunication. so like, what more could you ask for?

six weeks by dropdeaddeadass (@oversteerey) -- 10.1k words, 3/3 chapters -> MARCUS/CLEM idk why i didn't mark this one before seeing how i read it like once a week. anyways. this is the fic that convinced me of the turned into a girl trope or whatever it's called AND it convinced me of clemarcus so really doing the most out here! cannot recommend it enough

dropping the gloves by loreli (@alpaine) -- 5.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> OSCAR/LOGAN loscar fic ... on the fic rec list ... i think yes. did not realize how much i needed a hockey au until i opened the tag and saw it sitting there like this fic is everything. i was gonna say something after that but nah this fic is just everything

panties in miami by dropdeaddeadass (@oversteerey) -- 3.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> LIAM/OSCAR/LOGAN at some point i told myself 'no repeat authors on the rec list!' but actually i am full of shit. this fic is sooo stupid good i keep re-reading it and idk maybe i just want ***** ** **** ** ** * ***** ******** (censored for good measure)

not yours, not mine by dropdeaddeadass (@oversteerey) -- 18.2k words, 1/1 chapters -> MARCUS/JAMES/CLEM a/b/o. no further comment is available at this time. or any time. people died (me)

hand in hand in hand by RedTailed -- 7.6k words, 1/1 chapters -> CALLUM/KYLE/DAVID did you know i love indycar. and read indycar fic. i love this fic so so much partially because i love this writer so much like i cannot recommend it enough it's just so Yes. maybe i like. poly ships. squints

#fic rec #f1 fic #f1 fic rec #i use the rec function sparingly bc i am annoying like that #but also. fun?#lots of fics i love but these r the ones i thought to mark when i bookmarked them so #yay #if you saw any failed versions of this post earlier #no you didn't!#<3 #i am very bad at tumblr soz

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theharrowing · 2 months

Text

Collateral 🗡️ POV: Seokjin

After a successful day of scheming, Seokjin calls his favorite plaything to join him and Hoseok for a little fun.

PREVIOUS | INDEX | NEXT

❗ THIS IS A CHARACTER POV CHAPTER!!!

if you do not wish to perceive any POV that is not the main character, please feel free to skip this one!

🗡️Seokjin x Hoseok

🗡️ word count: 7.2k

🗡️ mafia au, dishonest characters, established relationship, bdsm, poly, smut, angst, fluff, nsfw, explicit, 21+

🗡️ warnings: top Seokjin with mention of bottom Hoseok; top Hoseok & bottom Seokjin; scheming; mention of the use of heroin; use of the word "whore" not meant derogatorily, but not always kindly; allusion to puppy play; talk of manufacturing and selling drugs with the purpose of getting people addicted; shower play; enema play; light humiliation; ass eating & fingering; Seokjin is...morally grey at best.

🗡️ notes: mc is referred to in 3rd person (she/her) pronouns for this chapter! listen: Seokjin is not the nicest person, so please take the way he speaks with a grain of salt. it is hard to put everyone's full intentions into the POV scenes because i still need there to be surprises later on!!! but i feel like this is going to really help to solidify the way many of you feel about this character hehehe. i hope you enjoy!

🗡️ early draft beta read by @blog-name-idk - with minor unbeta'd edits done since.

🗡️ posted march 2024 - originally jan. 2023 | read on ao3

"She's not going to go for it," Hoseok teases as he reaches around Seokjin's broad shoulders from behind and straightens out his burgundy satin tie.

Seokjin's tie matches a fitted burgundy Armani suit, which he wears with a cream undershirt. His hair is pushed off his forehead, bringing together the look.

He has a meeting at House of Cards with some investors who are looking to build near the Shin territory just outside Busan, in a smaller port city, and Seokjin wants to make sure those men are on Yoongi's side if push should come to shove.

But first, he plans to make a stop by the mansion to discuss something with Yoongi's little pet.

"She doesn't have to go for it," Seokjin responds, watching Hoseok's reflection with adoration swelling behind his lungs. Recently, Hoseok has been letting his hair grow out, and he looks devastating with dark brown waves falling past his eyes and longer bits tucked behind his ears.

Hoseok raises an eyebrow and cocks his head, done with his task and letting his arms hang over Seokjin's shoulders. Seokjin spins on the balls of his socked feet and wraps his arms around Hoseok's waist, pulling him close.

"I am merely planting a seed. I want the actual idea to be hers when the time comes."

Hoseok grins. "Elaborate."

"Well," Seokjin says, "for starters, the plan is terrible. Shipping her off to Busan for a week—or whatever the span of a vacation may be—is hardly enough time to turn her into an informant. She is smart enough to know that much. But I will pose it to her that way, insisting Yoongi cannot know, which will force her to stew on it. I know she wants revenge for the recent attack on Jimin at Paradise, and if Shin sends any more men to try to shake us up, it will only fuel her fire."

"And you want her to do this, because...?"

Seokjin chuckles. "Because, my love, Ryujin has always responded best to the friendships and authority of women. As sweet and empathetic as Hyunjin is, she has not gotten as close to him as we hoped. Yoongi's wolf cub, on the other hand, is the perfect bait. Not to mention, she comes from the honey bee ring, which Ryujin will sympathize with."

"And if Ryujin recognizes her from Serendipity?"

Seokjin pouts, sticking his lip out and down-turning his eyes. "Seokie, baby, you pretend I haven't thought of absolutely everything, and it wounds me."

With a roll of his pretty eyes and a soft giggle, Hoseok says, "Then humor me, love."

Seokjin rubs the tip of his nose against Hoseok's, then places a soft kiss, making Hoseok smile widely. "All we have to do is spread a rumor that Yoongi has harmed or upset her in some way. Nothing too damaging to his reputation, just a simple whisper. Ryujin may be hesitant, but, given her feelings about Yoongi, I think she will fall for it."

Hoseok leans in and mimics Seokjin's motion, rubbing their noses together, making Seokjin's heart pound just a little bit harder. "And if Ryujin doesn't believe the rumors? We don't think Yoongi was abusive to her at any point?"

"Not abusive..." Seokjin drifts off, squinting slightly while he chooses his words. "But when his parents died, he went off the deep end with drugs. All the voices have to whisper is the word heroin, and her ears will perk up."

Hoseok purses his lips, thinking over what Seokjin says but looking unconvinced.

"And anyway, she's competitive," Seokjin continues, gently kissing the tip of Hoseok's nose, "even if she doesn't buy the rumor," Seokjin kisses the apple of Hoseok's cheek, "Ryujin might still take her in, thinking she can convert her to actually become part of her family."

"Or, she might kill her," Hoseok responds with a pointed gaze.

Seokjin places a kiss on Hoseok's other cheek as he shrugs. "Sometimes, the cat must wet its feet, no matter its dislike of water, in order to eat fish."

A soft, pretty chuckle comes from Hoseok, who presses his lips against Seokjin's and then mutters, "Idioms to describe a human life, Jinnie bear? Tsk tsk."

Seokjin hums, says, "Sacrifices need to be made for the greater good," and licks over Hoseok's lips until his partner parts them, pulling him into an eager but soft kiss.

Time comes to a halt in Hoseok's arms, and Seokjin holds him tight, kissing slow and deep, savoring each taste, touch, and sound. There is nothing in the world quite like being in his lover's arms. Even the joy of watching the light die in his enemy's eyes pales in comparison. Seokjin thinks that he would do absolutely anything for Hoseok.

"Join me?" Seokjin asks. "She may be more comfortable with you around; you seem to have made a better impression on her, anyway."

"Fine," Hoseok mutters. "But I do not condone a plan that may get her killed, just so we're clear." Seokjin playfully rolls his eyes, and Hoseok smacks him on the shoulder as he continues, "I do like the idea of her running off to Busan for a while. For her sake and for Yoongi's."

"Oh?" Seokjin asks with a curious cock of the head, studying the microexpressions that tug gently at Hoseok's lips and eyes. To the untrained pupil, one would hardly notice these quirks, but Seokjin sees everything. Hoseok is nervous.

"Namjoon thinks he's becoming unhinged again," Hoseok finally says. "Slipping from reality. He's worried about another bender...so your plan to tell the voices about heroin use seems more grounded in reality than you realize."

"And you think taking her away from him won't just make him worse?" Seokjin teases, bending at the knees to smack a kiss on Hoseok's chin.

Hoseok nibbles on his bottom lip, considering his words. "I think she needs to spend more time out of the house, and out from under Yoongi's shadow. He is still very controlling, despite her willingness to stay, and whenever she's not directly in his line of sight, he gets paranoid and on edge."

Seokjin mulls it over. "I have noticed he is on edge more when we are away from home for extended periods."

"He needs to break out of that loop. We can't have a mad king on our hands. Especially one who could raze the city to the ground."

"So, we need to somehow get him to grant her more freedom, in a way that does not cause Yoongi to completely lose his shit," Seokjin clarifies.

Hoseok nods. "I'll talk to Namjoon about it."

"Good plan."

And with that, Seokjin presses one more kiss against Hoseok's lips, then releases him, linking their hands together as they make their way out of their bedroom, through the hallway, and down the stairs.

"And what is our excuse for visiting the mansion?" Hoseok asks as Seokjin sits on a charcoal grey chaise lounge beside the front door, reaching for a pair of black wingtip shoes. Seokjin slides his feet into both and begins tying the laces on one after the other.

"I am either going to catch Yoongi before he leaves for the day and discuss what he would like me to say to the investors this afternoon," Seokjin sighs, "or I will message to let him know that I was trying to catch him before he left, yadda, yadda, yadda."

As Seokjin stands and rubs his hands over his slacks to straighten them out, Hoseok pulls his black shirt sleeve back to reveal an elegant black timepiece. "He should be home for another fifteen minutes, assuming Namjoon is making him punctual and not late."

With a pleased hum, Seokjin offers an elbow and says, "The weather is nice. Shall we walk?"

The weather truly is beautiful, and the two of them take their time, walking hand in hand along the gravel path. Seokjin does not like to be nostalgic, but it is hard not to smile as he remembers the years spend in this secluded stretch of trees with Hoseok, before there were mansions on the property, and they would steal away to be alone.

As timing will have it, Yoongi and Namjoon are just about to leave when Seokjin and Hoseok arrive. Seokjin can hear the two of them laughing on the other side of the bulletproof door and opts to use the large brass knocker rather than scan his retinas, and all that.

The door swings open to Namjoon's tired but smiling face, and he walks outside, followed by Yoongi. They are in their standard black outfits, and Yoongi wears a cardigan rather than a blazer. Seokjin wonders what the two of them may be up to; Yoongi only mentioned meeting with some people concerning the mess Jeongguk recently made—which, Seokjin thinks, is a very flippant way to address a killing spree.

"Gentlemen," Yoongi calls with his arms held wide, "to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"Looking sharp, Jin," Namjoon mutters, making Seokjin grin.

"My reason to visit today is twofold," Seokjin begins. "I was hoping the chef was in so I could have a plate of his fabulous eggs benedict.

"Of course," Yoongi responds with a smile.

"And, I wanted to let you know that I will be meeting with the Choi brothers about their desire to open a casino near Busan."

Yoongi hums and then nods. "The chef is in, although, I am surprised you haven't perfected the recipe on your own."

With a shrug, Seokjin lies, "There is something about his hollandaise sauce that I cannot quite nail, but he refuses to give me the recipe."

The truth is that the chef adds horseradish rather than dijon mustard, and just a dash of dried ginger, giving it more of a bite. Seokjin figured it out almost immediately, but he likes that the chef can whip it up on a whim, saving him the trouble of purchasing the ingredients and doing it himself.

"And the men?" Yoongi asks as he reaches into his front pants pocket, pulls out a metal cigarette case, and opens it, revealing a row of perfectly rolled joints.

"Shall we offer to buy them, or shall we threaten them?" Seokjin simply asks.

With a smirk and a shrug, Yoongi pulls a joint to his lips, muttering, "Offer first, threaten second?"

Seokjin nods, watching as Namjoon pulls a lighter from his pocket and ignites Yoongi's joint, feeling glad that the two of them are finally able to be together once more. Yoongi needs a lapdog more than anything, and Namjoon is the perfect fit.

"Excellent," Seokjin says with a small bow, "then I will be on my way to the kitchen. Shall I order an extra serving for the wolf cub?"

Yoongi takes a long drag of the joint, holds it in, and then slowly lets it out, creating a plume of skunky smoke between them. "I doubt she'll be up for another hour or so."

Perfect, Seokjin thinks; he actually was hoping to be fed. "Sounds good."

The front door hadn't been closed completely, so Seokjin enters the mansion easily, stepping aside to remove his shoes while Hoseok does the same. They close the door tight and make their way toward the kitchen.

"You're so hot when you lie," Hoseok mutters, leaning in close enough for Seokjin to smell his cologne.

Seokjin twists and bends to place a kiss on Hoseok's lips, saying, "As are you, my love."

* * *

Despite having to wait more than thirty minutes on the balcony for Yoongi's darling to wake up, Seokjin considers their little meeting a success. He was certainly able to get into her head and could tell she was not ready to completely write off the idea of taking a trip by the time they made their exit, giving him just enough time to get into town on schedule for his meeting.

House of Cards is a raucous place even in the daytime when fewer men are around to throw away their money. The machines ding and play loud soundtracks, and televisions blare with various sport and fighting events.

Seokjin enters through the main doors after leaving his sedan with valet, and he walks past all the drunks and coke heads with a straight face, making his way to his decoy office on the main floor to meet with some men whom Namjoon claims are going to be good for business if they can manage to keep him on their good side, and bad for business if they do not.

Frankly, Seokjin could hardly give a fuck about what is good for business—Yoongi has inherited one of the oldest families in Korea, and by far the wealthiest. House of Cards brings in money simply by existing, and he hardly has to do any actual work. The boxing nights were Jeongguk's idea because he likes watching men fight to the death, and the wealth gained from those simply fuels the family's more expensive drug habits.

The Shins in the east hardly have a stronghold on their own docks, and the Songs in the south are happy to form an alliance when the price is right, showing loyalty to no one but their own pockets.

Rumor has it the Song family turned down the Choi men because they do not wish to be in the business of entertaining tourists, and a casino might bring in the wrong crowds. Let the tourists flock to Jeju, they say, and Seokjin agrees. The Shins, on the other hand, are desperate for anything they can get their fingers on, and more or less offered them a stretch of land.

All Seokjin has to do is offer the Choi brothers more money and an illusion of influence. Seems like the easiest thing in the world. The only variable he thinks that could possibly make those men want to side with the Shins would be an old family bond or rivalry, and as far as he can tell, these men have neither. So now, all he has to do is meet with them and find out what he can find out.

Seokjin has a way with men. A look, a gesture, and a veiled threat are all he needs to get them talking. He has no doubt he will be able to make these men sing.

* * *

Seokjin barely manages to light a cigar before his phone rings. The Choi brothers left mere minutes ago, and Seokjin had been hoping for a moment of alone time, but it is his informant who has been living with the Shin family, which makes this call potentially very important.

"Hyunjin, darling, what's the news?"

Seokjin sits back in his large, black leather chair, listening to the shocks whine as he leans, bending the springs a bit too far. He is in his real office on the second floor, and has a cigar between his teeth, slurring his words around it while he holds his cell phone to his ear. His informant, who works on Ryujin's drug-running team, sighs.

"She plans to intercept Yoongi's next shipment of pills. Apparently, one of his dock men was bought. A man by the name of Kang Daesung is going to steal the shit."

"Fuckers," Seokjin mutters, spit flying from his lips. He takes a puff from the cigar and holds the smoke in, then lets it out with a bitter huff. It feels lackluster now, and he gently stubs the cigar out on a golden ashtray, then sets it aside to let it extinguish itself the rest of the way.

Shin has really been coming for the drug operations, which has Seokjin feeling concerned for Jeongguk's safety. And his sanity.

"I am also one of the only people who knows this information, so now that I have passed it along, I have put a target on my back."

Seokjin hums and considers his options.

"You want to come home, or hop off the peninsula for a while?"

Another sigh comes through the line, and Seokjin gives him time to consider. Hyunjin has been with the Shin family long enough that leaving the country may be his best bet, but he does have a family of his own, which could complicate things.

When Hyunjin does not respond, Seokjin says, "We can get your little girl into a prestigious American school. Or Australian; there are plenty of Koreans in Australia. And we could assist with getting you and the wife nice jobs."

"Yeah," Hyunjin says. "Yeah, you're right. I'll think it over and talk to Jisu. Maybe Australia would be good."

"Let me know," Seokjin says as he thumbs through his files, opening a folder that reads "Hwang Hyunjin'' and pulling out documents. "Your passport is current, and I have a burner identity on the books with a line of credit. I can have you on a flight within an hour, any time, day or night, alright?"

"Thank you, Seokjin-ssi."

As they end the call, Seokjin pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. He hates giving Yoongi bad news. This will also put another man in Jeongguk's crosshairs, and Seokjin really hopes that hunting him down will not also include killing fourteen of this man's closest friends.

Seokjin dials Yoongi and is surprised he picks up on the first ring. "Jin."

"Yoongichi, bad news."

Yoongi sighs and hums, and Seokjin continues. "Hwang called. Says Kang is planning to switch teams and sabotage the next shipment of pills."

"She bought him, eh?" Yoongi asks.

"Yup."

"Fuckers."

"Yup."

"What about Hwang?"

"I offered him an out, and he said he would think about it. Considering Australia."

"Sounds good. I may call everyone to meet later. Taehyung has an engagement until nine, so it will be a late one if I do."

"Alright. I'm headed home soon. Should have my hands full for a few hours, so after nine is perfect."

"Thanks, Jin."

"No problem."

At least Yoongi's tone was pretty flat; no reaction from Yoongi is the best reaction. Especially if Namjoon is worried about him falling off the rails.

This bump in the road aside, Seokjin considers the day a win, and he lifts his cigar, fits it between his lips, and lights it back up before locking up and heading out.

* * *

Seokjin My winning streak continues. This calls for celebration.

Hoseok In the pink dollhouse room?

Seokjin Of course, baby. Where else?

Hoseok ETA?

Seokjin 1 hour. Going to make a pitstop. I called Puppy, and he will be there in 20.

Hoseok I'll be home to get our guest ready.

Seokjin Thank you, baby.

Hoseok Anything for you, Jinnie bear.

To celebrate, Seokjin calls Hyungwon—his and Hoseok's favorite whore—to join them in one of the dollhouse rooms. Hoseok is home to get him ready while Seokjin stops at one of the boutiques to buy him a white leather muzzle that is shaped to fit a dog, with pointed ears on top and a pretty pink bow in the center.

The pièces de résistance, however, is a bar inside the muzzle for Hyungwon to bite down on, ideally making a mess of himself with drool.

One of Hyungwon's favorite toys is an anal plug with a long white tail, and Seokjin wants to see him with a pretty new accessory to match it. And, although Seokjin has plenty of items like this in his puppy playhouse room, this muzzle is a gift specifically for his most special whore. He is feeling rather generous tonight.

The drive home is short and sweet, and when Seokjin arrives, he is pleased to see a motorcycle parked in the driveway and light shining through the sheer white curtains of the first room on the second floor, confirming that Hyungwon has, in fact, already arrived, and that Hoseok must be getting him ready.

Seokjin always finds it incredible how the man can strip down from all his worn, thick leather and stand in the prettiest pink lingerie, and he laments briefly that he was not home to witness the transformation.

When Jimin first hired Hyungwon at Paradise, Seokjin thought that, perhaps, the heavens had opened up and shined just for him. He has a cold indifference to him that makes Seokjin want to break him apart and make him sob. And he does.

Hyungwon is the only man who allows Seokjin to do every little sadistic thing he desires, then leaves at the end of the session with a soft kiss and a promise to return. Seokjin treasures him dearly.

Many whores blacklist him for less.

Of course, now that Jimin has returned to their bed, Hyungwon may have to take second place, but that is a discussion for another time. Seokjin is eager to make Jimin sob again and again, but he worries about coming on too strongly and scaring him off. Jimin has always been quite sensitive, which Seokjin will never understand, but he does his best to respect it.

Seokjin takes his time exiting the car, grabbing the black paper shopping bag with an expensive monogram on all sides. He knows the men have heard his car pull up, and he wants to draw out the anticipation and make them wait.

Hoseok, in particular, hates to wait. His temper is as explosive as the incendiary devices he so enjoys crafting, and Seokjin takes pleasure in pushing his buttons.

As he punches the hex code of his partner's favorite shade of sunshine yellow into the door and waits for the device to scan his retina, Seokjin takes a deep breath and allows a hint of a smile to creep over his face.

Things within the family have been a bit of a mess lately, but everything seems to be going fairly well, aside from their drug runner turning heel. Men on the lower ranks tend to chase money, after all; they are no stranger to these types of incidents.

If he can ensure the Choi brothers remain loyal and convince Yoongi's darling to leave town for a while, everything might even be perfect for some time. Seokjin hesitates to dwell on the thought.

Once inside, Seokjin closes the front door as quietly as he can and has a seat on his chaise lounge to remove his wingtips one at a time, placing them carefully beside the rows of footwear. Then, he takes the handles of the bag gently in his fingers and creeps up to the second floor, stalking like a tiger in the hope of catching the men off guard.

He can hear their voices coming from the room, though what they are saying is difficult to make out. Hoseok has an excited lilt to his voice, and Hyungwon is speaking too softly to be detected clearly. Hyungwon is often quite soft-spoken—another thing Seokjin enjoys about him.

As Seokjin gets to the top of the stairs, he forgets that the landing step is particularly creaky, putting down his weight as the wood whines beneath his toes. He lets out the breath that he had been holding, dropping his head in a defeated sigh as a tuft of brown hair shoots out from the first door on the right, and Seokjin spots his partner.

"Gotta get that step fixed," Seokjin complains as he straightens his posture and smooths down his burgundy jacket.

Hoseok grins from ear to ear, and he stands in the doorway to the pink dollhouse room with his hair disheveled and the top four buttons of his dress shirt undone. The sight of exposed sun-kissed skin has Seokjin's heart thudding behind his ribs, and he lifts a brow, playfully assessing the sight.

"Did my puppies begin without me?" he teases as he approaches with his shoulders hunched forward to give Hoseok the impression that he is stalking his prey.

Hoseok chuckles, and Seokjin can tell he is feeling shy from the accusation as he bites his lip and shakes his head. "Hyungwon messed up my hair because he wanted you to think we had started without you. But we are being good puppies, I promise."

With a hum, Seokjin stalks further, watching Hoseok become increasingly antsy the closer he gets. "And is he all ready for me?"

"He is," Hoseok beams, taking a step back to allow Seokjin to enter the room.

Seokjin, however, pounces, pressing Hoseok into the far side of the door frame and caging him in with his arms, giving him nowhere to go. With a hand on the dollhouse room wall and the hand holding onto the shopping bag on the hallway wall, Seokjin towers over his partner and gazes down at him hungrily.

"But are you ready for me?"

A silly question, since a stipulation to being Seokjin's lover is to be ready at all times. Hoseok cleans himself every morning, and he inserts a plug every time Seokjin is expected to be home so that there is very little need for prep and Seokjin can take what he wants.

Of course, Seokjin is no monster; if they are unable to engage in play, Hoseok simply removes the plug—or gets himself off and then removes it—ensuring that it does not stay nestled up inside him long enough to cause any kind of complications or health risks.

But Seokjin tries to be very clear about his expectations, and they communicate their schedules in order to make sure Hoseok can be ready for him at the drop of a hat. Seokjin's appetite is insatiable, and it is not unusual for them to fuck five or six nights a week. One of the reasons they invite so many whores to play dress up and join them is to give Hoseok a little extra help. That, and whores tend to come pre-used.

A plus side of fucking Jimin back in the day was when he would come home from the club, already stretched from his clients. Even when he would whine about being sore and sensitive, he would be such a good, pliant boy for Seokjin. Not a day goes by that Seokjin doesn't dream about the sweet sounds Jimin would make, becoming an overstimulated, sobbing mess long before either of them would reach their first orgasm.

Hoseok's smile falters ever so slightly, and Seokjin already knows what he is going to say. He must have assumed that, because they have a guest for the night, Hoseok would not be expected to be stretched. He should know by now that when Seokjin calls with good news, that a victory fuck is in order, whether or not they are tending to a guest for the evening.

And this, Seokjin thinks, is the danger of falling in love. Years ago, Seokjin would plot ways to punish his puppy for being so short-sighted and disobedient. But now? Staring into his deep brown eyes, downturned beneath a knit brow, all Seokjin wants to do is kiss him and tell him everything will be alright. His heart has become soft.

Before Hoseok can excuse his bad behavior, Seokjin plants a soft smooch on the tip of his nose and grins. "I'm kidding," he assures softly.

"You're not," Hoseok groans as relief paints his face.

"I'm not," Seokjin admits, taking a step back and allowing Hoseok to breathe. "But I am in too good of a mood to make you cry."

"Lucky me," Hoseok teases with a wink.

Seokjin leans in and places a kiss on Hoseok's forehead, then enters the room. The walls are all painted cotton candy pink, and there is a large bed on the left with plush pink bedding and a white wrought iron sleigh frame with beautiful spiral designs at the head and foot—perfect for attaching restraints.

Hoseok's favorite addition to the room is a pale pink sex swing that hangs from the center of the space, with vines wrapped around the long arms that stretch to the ceiling. Seokjin is partial to the vanity with a large mirror that is very sturdy and perfect for humiliation play.

The wooden furniture and wainscoting are all painted pink with gold accents, the floor is covered in pink carpeting and large, white cloud-shaped rugs, and every light fixture is a giant, white orb. In the corner of the room furthest from the bed is a chair in the shape of a giant pink high-heel, and when Seokjin enters, that is where he finds their guest.

Hyungwon is breathtaking in sheer pink babydoll lingerie with little ruffled sleeves that hang from his shoulders, and a skirt that falls just above his thighs. He reclines on the shoe chair with one knee bent, bare foot adorned with pretty silver chains and rings, perched delicately atop the chair, and the other leg down, spread slightly to accommodate for the chair's width. His hair is long enough to be styled behind his ears—straight and black as a raven's feather—and he wears a thick silver choker of shimmering zirconias and a glittery lip balm.

"Master Seokjin," Hyungwon states as he moves from his reclined position—which Seokjin assumes he only sat in to be a tease, in the first place—and slowly lifts his leg, leaning forward and getting onto his hands and knees. "You look ravishing tonight, sir."

Seokjin turns to Hoseok with a puzzled expression, then back to Hyungwon, "Baby, did you give our pet permission to speak?"

"I did not, sir," Hoseok responds simply, standing near the wall with his arms flat at his sides. "But you do look ravishing tonight, sir."

How in the world Seokjin wound up with two disobedient puppies, he will never know, but he cannot bring himself to be upset when they are so devastatingly pretty and so good to him. Seokjin reaches to tap the underside of Hoseok's chin with the pad of his finger—a playful gesture that also tells him to keep that gorgeous fucking mouth of his closed unless he is asked to open it.

Hoseok smiles, winks, and does not say another word.

"I got you something," Seokjin beams as he turns back to Hyungwon, closing the gap between them.

He reaches into the bag, pulls out the leather dog muzzle, and holds it up. Hyungwon's eyes widen, and a soft smile plays on his lips. If the man truly is excited, Seokjin has no idea; all he cares about is that he acts the part, as he is paid to do. And Hyungwon, as always, is a brilliant performer.

* * *

The shower down the hall in the guest bathroom runs as Seokjin pushes a hand through his hair, walking from the dollhouse room to his bedroom. His cream shirt is unbuttoned and hung open, burgundy pants are undone, and he is covered in a sheen of sweat.

Hyungwon practically needed to be carried away when Seokjin was finished with him, and Hoseok is currently assisting with washing him and tending to his various marks with creams. Seokjin was not too hard on him, but his nails did break skin a couple of times, and he spanked him until both cheeks were tomato red.

Although it is getting late, Yoongi has called to request everyone to congregate at the mansion at the top of the hour. It gives Seokjin thirty-five minutes to change into a black dress shirt and slacks and see that Hyungwon is able to get home on his own or has a suitable bed to sleep in for the night. Ordinarily, Seokjin is not as kind to his whores, but after what he did to the guy's ass, he takes pity on him for driving out on a motorcycle.

The sound of the shower shutting off is followed by muffled voices, and Seokjin shrugs out of his shirt, dropping it into a hamper near the closet door, and grabs a black shirt from a hanger. He attempts to listen for the men—to get a sense of whether or not Hyungwon will need to stay—but all he can make out is Hoseok's bright, happy laughter.

Seokjin loves it when Hoseok laughs loud and unabashedly. It rings like music to his ears.

"Baby?" Hoseok calls down the hallway.

Seokjin takes a step out of the closet as he buttons his shirt and shouts, "Bedroom," then returns to the racks of clothing and wiggles out of his slacks, picking them up and placing them into the hamper, and then reaching for a black pair to slide into.

"Ah," Hoseok says as he rounds the corner and finds Seokjin dressed in all black. "Yoongi called."

"He did," Seokjin responds.

"For all of us?"

"For all of us."

"Hyungwon should be good to drive, but I'll go check on him."

Seokjin flashes Hoseok a smile. "Thank you, love."

Once he is ready, Seokjin switches off the light and exits his and Hoseok's massive closet, then he leaves the bedroom and makes his way down the hall, to the pink dollhouse room. The dark wood wainscoting and blood-red walls adorned with pretty brass sconces is such an abrupt change of scenery compared to the pink playroom, and from time to time, it makes Seokjin chuckle softly when he leaves one atmosphere for the other.

Hyungwon sits on the edge of the bed dressed in blue jeans, a blue and white flannel shirt, and a black leather jacket, with his hands in his lap. Hoseok stands before him, dabbing a salve to his lip, which Seokjin split from slapping a little too hard once the muzzle came off. To Seokjin's credit, Hyungwon was the one who begged him to hit him harder.

As Seokjin enters, both men turn to him with smiles, and Seokjin leans against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"How is our puppy feeling?"

"Amazing," Hyungwon responds, always saying so no matter which state he seems to be in.

"Good. And I take it your ass isn't too sore for the bike?"

Hoseok shoots Seokjin an incredulous glare, which he pointedly ignores.

Hyungwon chuckles quietly. "No, sir. Not too sore."

"Good. I will be downstairs, then." He turns his gaze to Hoseok. "Join me soon?"

Hoseok nods and screws the cap on his balm, then leans to place a soft kiss on Hyungwon's forehead as Seokjin takes his leave and goes downstairs, to the kitchen, to have a few shots of whiskey before heading out to Yoongi's place.

It does not take long for the others to join him, and they bid Hyungwon farewell with kisses to his cheeks and forehead, then link hands and take the long way to Yoongi's property, up toward Taehyung's place and cutting through the gardens. It is eerie out here at night with low lighting and tall, dark shadows. They walk all the way around the mansion, to the front door, and find Taehyung and Jeongguk on the stoop, smoking a cigarette.

"Fellas," Seokjin calls, and everyone lifts their hand hello.

"Is it just us?" Hoseok asks, and Taehyung shakes his head, saying, "Jimin is inside."

Seokjin takes a puff from Taehyung's cigarette, then goes inside, happy to find Jimin and Namjoon seated on the couch as he takes his place on the far end. Seokjin assumes Yoongi would be upstairs and is surprised to see him enter through the front door with Taehyung and Jeongguk. Once they are all seated, Yoongi begins.

"We have two orders of business, which are somewhat related. The first is that Jeonggukie has been working with a team to formalize a new type of ecstasy that contains amphetamines, to give the user more of an upper-type high. It will be smoother than the shit the Americans sell, which contain meth, and the users will crave the experience, ideally getting them hooked on it."

This news comes as somewhat of a surprise to Seokjin, but he does not show it, keeping his expression stoic. He is curious when Yoongi decided to pivot into selling drugs for the purpose of creating addicts, and thinks perhaps the man really is losing his mind. He sounds like his late father, which is no compliment.

Yoongi continues. "So far, the trials have been pretty positive, and we should have those on the streets within the next month, or so. Let Jeongguk know if you would like samples."

Yoongi sits up and sighs, "And for our second order of business, it seems our main dock man Kang has been bought, and he plans to fuck with our next shipment of pills. I will be orchestrating a hit some time this weekend."

"I can go," Jeongguk offers, and Seokjin is pleased when Yoongi holds his hand up, turning him down.

"I need you to stay here this weekend. I want us to start going to the range again, and there are some other things I want you around for. I'll put Changkyun on the job."

Jeongguk opens his mouth to complain, and Yoongi cuts him off. "Ggukie, we have men hired to carry out hits. Let me utilize them."

Silence falls, then Namjoon clears his throat. "Is there anything anyone else would like to share?"

Seokjin cannot believe everyone was called over for this, and he crosses his arms over his chest and glances around. When nobody says anything, he shrugs and says, "Guess that's it."

"Alright," Yoongi says as he slaps his palms over his knees and stands with a sigh. "I thought this would be more of a conversation, but it seems pretty cut and dry. Thanks for coming by."

Seokjin studies Yoongi as he stands, curious about what Namjoon sees that makes him so paranoid. There are bags under his eyes, and he seems quite tired, but he does not seem jittery or pale, or any of the other symptoms Seokjin tries to remember from his last bender.

It could be his more recent shift in seeming colder than usual. Prior to the pet moving in upstairs, Yoongi even went so far as to have a nasty little violent streak. Still, violence is not an indicator of drug abuse.

Yoongi has always been good at hiding shit until it is really bad, however, and he has always been quite unreadable, wearing parts of himself on his sleeve while keeping the rest locked away. He hopes that Namjoon's suspicions are false, but nobody would know better than him.

With that, everyone stands to leave, including Yoongi. In fact, the only person who seems to hang back is Namjoon. They say good night, everyone begins to head back to their homes, and Namjoon locks up the mansion as Yoongi slides his hands into his pockets and sets off in the direction of Namjoon's home.

Something is definitely amiss, but Seokjin does not feel like asking. The warmth of Hoseok's hand pulls him from his thoughts as he is tugged in the direction of home.

When they return from the meeting that could have been a conversation via group text, Seokjin sits with a huff on his chaise lounge. He bends his leg to lift it in order to untie his shoe, but Hoseok drops to his knees and places a hand on Seokjin's foot, guiding it to the floor.

"You seem off, baby," Hoseok mutters sweetly. "Let me take care of you."

With an affectionate smile, Seokjin crosses his arms over his chest and lets his posture droop in a sigh. "Always taking care of others."

Hoseok's eyes shine as he mutters, "I live to serve."

Seokjin chuckles and sits up straight as Hoseok removes one shoe, then the other, and places them neatly aside. "We both know that is untrue."

"Yes," Hoseok responds, also laughing.

Seokjin leans forward, takes Hoseok's chin in his hand, and pulls him close. Hoseok strains to get near enough, sitting high on his knees, but Seokjin stays just out of reach as he says, "You can still take care of me, though."

He revels in the way Hoseok's tone drops as he asks, "And how would you like me to do that, baby?"

Seokjin begins to think of all the ways he would like to make Hoseok whine, but Hoseok continues, "It's been a while since you've submitted to me and completely let go of control."

It has been a while. Probably months. Seokjin mulls it over with a squint of his eyes. There is nothing in this world that he likes more than pulling sweet sounds from Hoseok's lips, but he knows that Hoseok also enjoys being in control. However, relinquishing power does not come easily to a man like Seokjin.

"You are correct," Seokjin finally responds. "It has been a while."

Hoseok's eyes glimmer with mirth, and even if Seokjin had not been considering it before, he would certainly cave now. With a nibble of his bottom lip, Seokjin leans close enough to kiss Hoseok.

"I'll let you fuck me tonight. Give me twenty minutes to get ready?"

With a pout, Hoseok shakes his head. "I want to get you ready."

"Oh?"

"Please."

"Enema play, Seok? Really?"

Hoseok shrugs. "I want to watch you tremble and whimper as the water falls out."

Seokjin, admittedly, gets it. "Alright, let's go."

Hoseok is gentle as he takes Seokjin's hand and leads him up the stairs and down the hall to their master suite. He is gentle as he undresses him and leads him to their shower. Gentle when he bends Seokjin over—hands splayed on the white tile bench that runs along one wall—and inserts the nozzle of the enema. Seokjin gasps from the sensation; he hasn't done this in quite a while.

When Hoseok takes Seokjin by the hair and lifts his head, pulling him into a standing position, he is less gentle. Lifting the bag, which is full of tepid water, so that it can enter his body makes Seokjin gasp, sending a shudder through him.

Hoseok holds his chin, firm and not very gently as he says, "Eyes on me," and slowly pulls the nozzle out, releasing the water to the floor of the shower.

Seokjin keeps his eyes on Hoseok as the water rushes from him, a sensation that he thinks should not be in the least bit erotic. Hoseok knows that this is mildly humiliating, which, Seokjin thinks, is the reason he is insisting on it.

Hoseok inserts the nozzle two more times, sending water rushing from Seokjin's rectum, holding him in place while they stare into one another's eyes. Warmth covers Seokjin's face in a mix of embarrassment and arousal, and when Hoseok bends him back over right there in the shower to eat him out, Seokjin practically blacks out.

"Fuck, feels so good," he whimpers as Hoseok teases his hole with his tongue, circling the rim and prodding inside.

"You like it, baby?" Hoseok groans, biting Seokjin's buttcheek and circling a finger over him, gently pushing inside and pulling out, making Seokjin sigh and tremble from pleasure-pain.

"You know I do," Seokjin whines.

Hoseok groans. "Too bad I won't let you cum until you're begging and sobbing."

Evil. Pure fucking evil. Hoseok loves making someone like Seokjin beg. He whimpers before he can stop himself, and Hoseok chuckles and crashes a hand over his ass with a loud, wet smack.

"Come on, big boy," Hoseok sing-songs "Let's tie you to the bed and make you scream."

Seokjin already fears for his life, knowing that Hoseok will edge him for hours. But the earth-shattering orgasm that tears his world asunder, followed by Hoseok's sweet, pretty smile, makes everything worth it. How could he possibly resist?

THANK YOU FOR READINGGG!!!

i didn't give Hyungwon a relationship tag since he's not a main character in the story, nor does he appear again. for those of you who aren't monbebe, this is the man i was talking about:

i also remember being too exhausted to write a smut scene when i was putting this POV together, which is why we don't get to experiencing these three together hahaha. i think i wrote Hoseok and Seokjin back to back.

REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF THIS SITE, BUT LIKES ARE ALSO SUPER APPRECIATED!!! THANK YOU FOR READING, I LOVE YOU!!!

tag lists will be on separate reblogs! they’ve gotten too big to contain as one! if you would like to be tagged in this fic, please let me know!!! 💜💜💜

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#seokjin mafia #hoseok mafia #yoongi mafia #bts mafia #seokjin x hoseok #seokjin smut #hoseok smut #bts smut #bts angst #bts poly #fic: collateral

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

Note

Why DO fandom olds get angry about TWs anyway? "TW: CSEM" is two words long but I've had people tell me in comments that it's offensive and hand-holding and I'm just over here going, "Bro it's a 100+ chapter fic of related oneshots, the cloud of tags doesn't do shit to tell people what content is where, this lets them know so they can skip this chapter if this isn't something they want to read." But it really seems to anger a lot of people, even people who read your blog, and I don't get why. I wouldn't go so far as to say it 'triggers' them, because that word has an actual meaning, but it definitely induces anger that is disproportionate to two words being uttered in the author's notes.

And at the risk of this being seen as a bad faith ask... well, don't like, don't read is a thing. Skip the author's notes where the TWs are if it angers you or "breaks immersion" or whatever (I would argue all authors notes break immersion and not just this, so if that's a concern people should be skipping beginning and end notes on AO3 regardless). This feels like an extremely easy to fix problem. I don't like it when one author I read spends the author's notes addressing individual commenters instead of replying to them in the comments, so I scroll past it. It's a fairly easy thing to do.

IDK, maybe I'm hardened by years of death threats, rape threats, suicide baiting, slurs, antisemitism, accusations of pedophilia, being told I'm faking being trans, etc. but I feel like 1. this is not a big deal and 2. the back button/blocking/a quick scroll of the mouse is a very easy solution to this "problem". What I don't get is why it's a problem at all. Why is this inducing any anger in anyone in the first place? Why is it even worth raging about? In a fandom climate rife with harassment, queerphobia, racism and sexism, two words letting you know this is the chapter with this in it is the *real* enemy here? Why?

I hope none of this came across as angry because I'm not. I'm just confused. All of this seems so unnecessary and dramatic and I just want to be able to post my fics without drama. That's all I've ever wanted from fandom.

Who says it's the old? That's the thing that makes this asks sound like it's in bad faith.

A lot of olds would just mute you for posting a 100-chapter selection of oneshots instead of posting separate fics separately.

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genshinluvr · 2 years

Text

Secrets of the Akademiya

Pairings: Various Genshin Men x Isekai'd!Reader

Summary: You applied to be a student at the Akademiya and were accepted! What you had in mind was to study and do well in school. What you didn't expect was to go on a field trip to the Mausoleum of King Deshret where everything goes downhill from there.

Note: I decided to add a little ✨ twist ✨ to this request because it's been a while, and I wanted to type out this request! I have decided to include the Eremites in this request; treasures are mentioned, but it's the Eremites that are the "center" of this story. Kind of. Not really. More like a brief mention. I took a while to update this story because the university has been keeping me busy, and I didn't have much time to work on this fic. Yes, this fic is over 10k words, but I hope you all liked it either way 🥹 To all of my new readers and returning readers, I don't post anywhere else but on Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and on AO3 (Aaliah_exo).

Warnings: Religious themes, mentions of human sacrifice, mentions of blood, somewhat of a hurt/comfort, but at the same time, it's not a hurt/comfort. Idk what to categorize it

Word Count: 11.3k

Today is the day when you should be receiving a letter from Sumeru Akademiya on whether you’ve been accepted or rejected from the prestigious institute of all Teyvat. You pace back and forth in the middle of the living room in the estate, rubbing your hands together anxiously while taking deep breaths. You feel your heart racing against your chest, sweat gathering in the palm of your hands, and you can hear your heart beating in your ears.

“Just seeing you pace back and forth for almost forty minutes makes me nervous,” Itto commented from the comfort of the couch, his legs propped up on the coffee table.

You stopped pacing and laughed nervously, “Sorry, Itto. I’m really anxious about getting the letter from Sumeru Akademiya.” You sighed, squeezing your hands nervously.

Childe perks up, “Oh? A letter from a prestigious institution of all Teyvat? Pray tell.” He gets up from his seat and walks over to where you stand.

You took a deep breath and let out a slow exhale, “Well, I applied to be a student at Sumeru Akademiya, and they informed me that I should be getting a letter from the institute very soon after I had submitted my application.” You explained.

Heizou looks at you with confusion, “I thought you didn’t plan on going to school in Teyvat because of how different education here is different from your world.”

You let Childe wrap you up in his arms, your left cheek pressing up against Childe’s chest while he rests his chin on the top of your head. You let out a defeated sigh, “I wasn’t planning on it, but I feel like the more I am away from an academic setting, the more my intelligence deteriorates.” Diluc lets out an amused chuckle after hearing your response, his head shaking and a small smile appearing on his face.

“Are you implying that the longer you’re out of school, the dumber you become?” Aether asks, resting his head on the cushion of the loveseat.

You sigh and nod your head, “That is correct, Aether.” You murmur, turning your head to bury your face into Childe’s chest. You had taken gap years within your education before and loved it, but you also hated it.

“This letter from Sumeru Akademiya, is it an acceptance letter?” Thoma asks, placing his right leg over his left leg.

“I hope it’s an acceptance letter.” You answered, your voice muffled against Childe’s chest. You turn to look at the men and give them a pained smile. “If I get rejected from Sumeru Akademiya, I won’t know what else to do with my life! Heck, I don’t even know what other schools to go to because the only institution I’ve ever heard of in your world is Sumeru Akademiya.” You talked at a rapid pace.

Ayato laughs softly and approaches you, “Calm down and take a deep breath. I’m sure you’ll be fine! Whether you get accepted into Sumeru Akademiya or not, we’re still proud of you for stepping out of your comfort zone and applying for the most prestigious institutions of Teyvat.” Ayato says, gently caressing your face with his left hand.

Venti giggles, “Choose your choice of words carefully, Lord Ayato. It looks like [Y/N] is going to cry.” Venti coos from where he is sitting.

Dainsleif turns to look at you, “Does no one ever tell you that they’re proud of you?”

You shoved your face back into Childe’s chest, wailing, “No!” Your arms automatically wrap around Childe’s waist, your tears beginning to soak through Childe’s burgundy shirt.

Gorou whimpers softly before walking over to where you and Childe stand. He comes up behind you and wraps his arms around your waist while giving you a reassuring head rub. You slowly pulled from Childe and chuckled to yourself. You turned around and hugged Gorou, your arms wrapping around his neck while petting his ears.

“We’re very proud of you,” Gorou whispers into your ears. He presses a light kiss on the top of your head, continuing to stroke your hair.

Tighnari clears his throat, “[Y/N], I know you’re an intelligent person, but you do know that the Akademiya is a very strenuous and stressful institution. It’ll keep you busy for days and hours.” Tighnari looks at you worriedly, and you don’t blame him for worrying. You get stressed out quickly, and when dealing with stress, you cry it out because it makes you feel better and less stressed out.

You nod your head, “Yes, Tighnari, I understand that the Akademiya isn’t a walk in the park. It’s tedious and will most likely cause me to start having gray hairs in my twenties.” You laugh nervously.

“If you don’t get accepted into the Akademiya, you can always work for the Knights of Favonious,” Kaeya says, leaning up against the wall near the staircase.

Diluc shakes his head immediately. “Absolutely not. They can work at Dawn Winery instead.” Diluc crosses his arms over his chest while giving Kaeya a glare from the corners of his eyes.

“Speaking of working, are you still working at that cafe? You worked there for two months, and all of a sudden, you’re not.” Baizhu tilts his head to the side while looking at you curiously.

You laughed nervously and slowly let go of Gorou from the hug. “I was working there, but I was fired.” You coughed into your fist, feeling your face grow hot under their gaze.

“What did you do to get fired?” Kazuha asks, looking at you worriedly.

“It’s nothing bad! I was simply defending myself!” You huffed, crossing your arms over your chest while looking away from the men with a small pout on your face.

Xiao narrows his eyes at you, making you squirm under his scrutiny. “What did you do exactly that caused you to get fired?” Xiao asks, crossing his arms in front of his stomach with an amused look on his face, waiting for you to respond.

You puckered your lips and rocked back and forth on your feet. “Do I have to say it?” You muttered, looking over at the four Harbingers who were waiting by the entrance of the estate.

“Yes, you have to tell them.” Pierro nods his head.

Pantalone chuckles while nodding his head. “Of course you do! You can’t keep your other boyfriends in the dark about it.”

Dottore snickers. “I’m sure they won’t be mad at you for doing the thing that got you fired. We’re proud of you for doing it.” Dottore says, smiling widely.

You sighed in defeat and nodded your head. “Okay, but please don’t be mad at me for doing it.” You mumbled, rubbing your sweaty hands on your pajama pants nervously.

“Well, whatever it is, I’m sure you had a valid reason to do it.” Albedo shrugs his shoulders.

You looked down and mumbled. The men squinted their eyes at you and looked at one another, confused. You peeked up from your lashes and let your gaze fall. You know that some will be disappointed in you for doing it, but you know there will be others (Childe, Scaramouche, and the other four Harbingers) who will make a comment on how you could do much better than what you’ve already done.

“Can you repeat that? We didn’t hear what you said.” Zhongli cocks an eyebrow at you, his arms crossed over his chest as he sits on the couch with his teacup in his hands.

“I punched a customer in the nose, and I broke his nose.” You blurted out, looking at the men nervously. “I was fired because I punched a paying customer in the nose.” You sighed, shoulders slumping while gazing at the wooden floor of the estate.

“And why did you punch the customer in the nose? I’m all for violence, but I want to know what lead up to you breaking someone’s nose,” Scaramouche says, gazing at you with interest.

“Who nose! Perhaps it's because the customer is an annoying person and needs to be punched in the face every once in a while!” Cyno says, walking into the living room with a faint smile on his face after saying his joke. Following Cyno was Al Haitham. He has an envelope in his hands. Al Haitham rolls his eyes after hearing Cyno saying a pun joke the minute they enter the estate.

Al Haitham sighs. “I’m getting tired of your jokes.” Al Haitham said, rubbing his face with his left hand.

Capitano points at the envelope in Al Haitham’s hands. “What is in the envelope?”

Heizou held up a finger. “Ah, ah, ah! We can’t be talking about one thing and then change the subject! I want to know what led up to [Y/N] punching the customer in the nose and breaking said nose!”

The men turn to look at you, waiting for your explanation. Perhaps it was a bad idea to say that you punched a customer in the face. You should’ve lied and said that you tried to steal mora from the cash register, but that wouldn’t work, considering one of the men had to pick you up from work.

“Okay, before any of you get mad at me for physically assaulting someone, I did it because he deserved it.” You said, looking at every man in the room. They slowly nod their heads, waiting for you to give them an explanation of the following events that led to you being fired. “Okay, so the reason why I punched the customer was that he groped my ass when I walked by him. The kicker is that I didn’t hit him the first time he did it; I warned him and told him to stop. And what did he do? He decided not to listen and continued to do it every time I walked by his table.” You clapped your hands sarcastically before rolling your eyes.

“You know, it’s a good thing that you don’t work there anymore! You look like you were in pain when you worked.” Venti says, giving you a sympathetic smile.

You scoffed and nodded your head at Venti’s comment. “It’s because I was! The high heels made my feet hurt so much that I could barely walk. Ask Albedo, Baizhu, and Tighnari! I was a frequent visitor at the infirmary while I was still working at the Maid Cafe.” You said, gesturing toward the three men.

Childe smiles. “Whoever that customer is, I’ll find him and beat him to a bloody pulp for sexually assaulting my snookums.” Childe clenches his hands into tight fists.

“Please do because we don’t need people like him roaming free in public,” You said, rubbing your eyes tiredly.

“Here’s your letter.” Al Haitham says, walking up to you and handing you the mint green envelope with the seal of the Akademiya. Your eyes widen, and you slowly grab the envelope from Al Haitham’s hands. Dear archons, this is it. The envelope in your hand is either an acceptance letter or a rejection letter.

“That is a fancy seal,” Aether says, letting out a low whistle.

Your hands drop to your side, and you look at them nervously. “I’m scared; I don’t think I can open the letter and read it myself.” You said, biting your nails anxiously.

“Do you want one of us to open the letter and read it for you?” Baizhu asks, walking over to where you stand. You nibbled on your bottom lip and looked down at the intimidating letter in your hand.

“I think [Y/N] should open it because it’ll be special, and it’s their letter! If someone else were to open their letter, it would take away that special moment of theirs!” Itto huffs, crossing his arms over his bare chest while puffing it out.

Gorou blinks at Itto before turning over to you. “Well, whenever you’re ready!” Gorou says, smiling at you reassuringly.

You nod your head and take a deep breath before opening the envelope. You pull the paper out from the envelope and unfold the thick paper. While you were scanning the letter to yourself, the men around you leaned forward with anticipation. Your eyes widen, and you look at the others.

“I got in.” You whispered.

“You got in?!” They ask simultaneously, walking over to where you stand.

Tears blur your vision as you hold up the letter, “I got accepted!” You sobbed. Al Haitham was the first one to tackle you into a hug. Al Haitham wraps his arms tightly around your waist and twirls you around.

“They got accepted!” Al Haitham smiles widely, burying his face into your hair and hugging you tightly.

“Congratulations, [Y/N]! We’re so proud of you!” Diluc says, rubbing your back.

Dainsleif’s eyes widen, “Why are you crying?” Dainsleif looked panicked.

You pulled out of Al Haitham’s arms and wiped your tears, laughing tearfully. “Tears of joy and disbelief because, holy shit, I’m officially a student at Sumeru Akademiya!” You gasped.

Zhongli wipes your tears away with a small smile on his face. “We knew you could do it, and we’re very proud of you,” Zhongli says softly, cupping your face in both of his hands.

“Oh! Does that mean we get to see you wear those fancy uniforms those Akademiya students wear?” Kaeya asks, stroking his chin.

You nod your head. “Yes! Speaking of uniforms, when do I get my uniform exactly?”

Tighnari hums. “That, I do not know. Perhaps you’ll get your uniform on your first day at the institution.”

“Are you ready to be an Akademiya student? If you have any questions, you can always refer back to Tighnari and me.” Cyno says, giving you a small smile. Al Haitham rolls his eyes and gives Cyno a sharp jab to the ribs with his elbows. Cyno slowly turns to look over at Al Haitham with a glare. His jaws clenched tightly as if he was refraining himself from saying something.

Thoma chuckles awkwardly. “So, [Y/N], do you know when your first day at the institute is?” Thoma asks, trying to change the subject.

You blinked at Thoma and looked down at the letter in your hands before skimming through the words. The letter did not mention anything about when the quarter at the Akademiya is going to start. Shit. Does that mean you’re going to have to guess what day you have to show up?

You clear your throat. “The letter didn’t say anything about the first day of class.” You muttered, looking over at the three men.

“If you’d like, we can walk you around the campus to help you find your class and get your uniform!” Gorou says. You think about it for a moment. If you were to walk around Sumeru Akademiya with over twenty people following you around, would that draw unwanted attention? Actually, would that be allowed? You wouldn’t mind if the men accompanied you around the institution on your first day to help you find your classes and get your uniform and your textbooks. Plus, the men are also young, so they would blend in just fine! Minus their attire since they won’t be wearing uniforms like the students.

You were about to say something when something fell from the paper you held in your hands. You grabbed it off the ground and looked at it. It was your class schedule. Your eyes nearly popped out of your sockets after seeing how many classes you were taking. Twenty units in total—that’s a total of five classes you’re taking, and each of the course you’re taking have four units.

Ayato peeks from your shoulders, “Oh, it seems like you’re taking mostly biology courses.”

“I’m not mentally or emotionally prepared for anything.” You sighed dramatically. “But I’m kind of excited to see where this takes me!” You said.

Looking at your schedule, the class that starts first is your botany class. Tighnari’s eyes immediately lit up when you told him the courses you were taking and insisted that he could help you with your studies if you needed any assistance. His tail was wagging so fast with excitement that you were worried that his tail might fly off.

Xiao looks over your shoulders and stares down at your class schedule with his eyebrows furrowing. “Your first class is tomorrow morning,” Xiao stated. He crosses his arms over his chest, eyes scanning through your schedule to memorize them.

“Yeah, that means I’ll have to get up early tomorrow morning for school.” You rubbed your eyes.

“Well, the good thing is that your morning class starts around eight in the morning. We’ll wake you up around six.” Albedo says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Your eyebrows shot to your hairline. “Why six in the morning?” You look at Albedo with wide eyes in disbelief.

Kazuha chuckles at your reaction. “Well, you need to eat breakfast before going to school, and you need time to get ready for school.” Kazuha answers.

You sighed in defeat and nodded your head. Kazuha is right. You need time to get ready for school and have breakfast before leaving for your first class of the quarter. Even though you’d skip breakfast and lunch when you were still in your world, you know the men wouldn’t allow you to fall into your bad habit of skipping meals.

“I think the earlier we get you to school, the more you’ll be able to grab your uniform and textbooks sooner without having to deal with an influx of Akademiya nerds,” Scaramouche says. The corner of Scaramouche’s lips quirks up when Tighnari, Al Haitham, and Cyno shoot a glare in his direction.

Dottore releases a sad sigh. “As much as I would love to show you around the Akademiya, unfortunately, I can’t,” Dottore says. A small pout appeared on his face.

You look at Dottore quizzically before looking at Cyno, Al Haitham, and Tighnari. They shook their heads as if telling you not to question it just yet. You nod your head reluctantly and approach Dottore to give him a small squeeze on his shoulders.

“It’s okay, Dottore! If you’re not able to accompany me and the others around the Akademiya, you can always stop by when you’re able to in between my classes.” You said, showing him your schedule.

“How about you return to the abode in between your classes? How big is the gap between your morning and afternoon class?” Pierro asks, towering over you as he tries to get a glimpse of your schedule for the quarter.

You looked at your schedule and calculated the time gap between each of your classes for the week. “Well, it varies. The courses that I’m taking on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays have a five-hour gap, whereas the courses I’m taking on Tuesdays and Thursdays have a three-hour gap.” You answered

Pantalone claps his hands with a smile on his face. “Wonderful! Then that means you can return to the abode to focus on your studies in the estate’s library before your afternoon class begins!” said Pantalone.

“What do you think, [Y/N]? Do you want to stay at the Akademiya while waiting for your afternoon class to begin, or do you want to return to the abode and study in the estate’s library while waiting for the afternoon class to start?” Capitano asks, looking at you curiously from where he is standing.

You tapped on your chin. “I think I’m going to alternate! Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I’ll return to the abode to study because the gaps between my classes are longer compared to the gaps on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” You stated, nodding your head with confidence.

Diluc nods his head. “Alright! That sounds like a plan.” Diluc says with a slight smile on his face.

Thoma perks up. “Oh! Since you’re going to be studying at the Akademiya’s library on Tuesdays and Thursdays, do you want us to pack lunch for you by any chance? I believe that eating homecooked meals is better than having to spend mora every day for lunch at school.” said Thoma.

Your eyes lit up at Thoma’s suggestion, and you nodded your head eagerly. “Yes, please! That would be nice!” You said. You paused for a brief moment, growing shy. “Since I have a shorter gap on Tuesdays and Thursdays, can we have lunch together somewhere in Sumeru?” You asked shyly, swaying to the side with your hands behind your back.

Aether smiles widely. “That sounds fun! We should do that!” Aether exclaims, looking over at the others, who nod their heads in agreement.

“Perhaps we can go to the desert one day and have a picnic there with all twenty-five of us,” Heizou says, smiling at you cutely.

Cyno’s eyes widen. “Ah! Speaking of the desert, I also need to collect some scarabs while we’re visiting the desert,” Cyno says.

Itto’s eyes light up, a big grin stretching across his face. “Dude! We should totally have a beetle fight! My onikabuto versus your scarabs!”

“What will the prize be for the winner?” Kazuha asks.

You snorted. “Definitely not mora, because we don’t want this to turn into gambling.” You said, giving Childe and Pantalone a look, who slowly put their bags of mora away without making eye contact with you. “Anyway, I need to prepare for tomorrow. I don’t know what I’ll need, but I’ll bring two notebooks and three pencils just in case. Once I attend all of my classes on the first week, I’ll get the supplies that are needed for those courses.” You said.

The entire day, you and the men planned on how the quarter was going to look for you. From your study habits when you arrive at the abode on Tuesdays and Thursdays to how many breaks you should take in between your studies. All of the preparation and planning made you feel nervous, and you’re just hoping that the first week of school goes well. You let out a small cough and cleared your throat, rubbing your throat.

“Uh-oh. You’re not getting sick, are you?” Baizhu asks, looking at you worriedly. Baizhu walks up to you and places the palm of his hand over your forehead, and lets out a relieved sigh. The others step up to you and look at you worriedly while you look at them sheepishly. It’s been a while since you had nervous coughs. You start coughing whenever you get nervous about something, and it’s never a big deal.

“I’m fine, you guys! Whenever I get nervous about something— like an event, an appointment, and other things like that, I start coughing because of how anxious I am.” You cleared your throat, mouthing a thank you to Zhongli when he handed you a cup of water. You take a sip from the cup and clear your throat.

Tighnari places a hand on your shoulder and gives your shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay to be nervous about your first day of school. It’s normal, and you’ll be fine.” He gives you a small smile.

You huffed sadly. “I hope so. My heart is beating out of my chest.” You grumbled, rubbing your chest with your hand. “I want everything to go well for my first quarter at the Akademiya. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t do well in school.” You muttered.

Venti pouts and hugs you tightly. “It’s okay, [Y/N]! You got this! We believe in you!” He nuzzles his cheeks against yours before pressing a delicate kiss on the apples of your cheeks.

You continue to let Venti smother you with affection. Affection and comfort were something you needed right now before getting thrown into the world of Akademiya. After getting things ready for tomorrow, you and the men lounged around the abode, basking in each other’s presence. From time to time, the men would take turns cuddling with you, making sure that you were at ease instead of being riddled with anxiety.

Monday came sooner than you expected because the first things you woke up to were Kaeya and Gorou, shaking you awake while your alarm was blaring. Xiao rushes over to your alarm and turns it off, rubbing his ears with a wince.

“I’m impressed that you can sleep through an alarm that is blaring into your ears,” Kaeya says, crossing his arms over his chest with a small smirk on his face.

Gorou whimpers and rubs his ears with a pout on his face. “My ears are sensitive. [Y/N]’s alarm clock blaring for five minutes is giving me a slight headache.” Gorou rubs the back of his neck with a tired sigh.

Xiao crosses his arms over his chest and gives you a look. “I thought you were a light sleeper,” Xiao stated. He raised an eyebrow at you while tapping his right foot on the floor, his arms crossed while waiting for you to respond.

You rub the sleep out of your eyes as you slowly sit up on your warm and comfortable bed. “I am, but I guess I’m so tired that I slept through the alarm.” You answered.

Scaramouche peeks his head into your bedroom. “Well, you need to get up, get dressed, and come downstairs and have breakfast before we leave!” said Scaramouche.

You nodded your head and tossed your blanket off your body before you got out of your bed sluggishly and stretched your limbs with a big yawn. No matter how much you slept that night, you’ll always feel tired. You grabbed your clothes from your dresser before going to the bathroom to get ready for school. You were finished within six minutes (you were rushing because you slept through your alarm and you didn’t want the others to wait for too long) and were downstairs almost immediately.

“You need to be careful when you run down the stairs. You could’ve injured yourself when you slipped.” Dainsleif says, sipping on his coffee.

“Sorry, I was in a rush.” You mumbled, stabbing your pancake with your fork. “Today is not going how I hoped it would.” You sighed, shoving a slice of pancake into your mouth. Today better be a good day because if it continues to get worse, you don’t know how else you’ll have to cope with it throughout the day at school.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about this! Today has barely begun, and you’re not late for school!” Childe reaches over and caresses your head with a reassuring smile on his face.

Zhongli nods his head. “Childe’s right. Today has barely begun. I’m sure today will progressively get better as time goes by.” Zhongli says, giving you a small smile.

You rest your head in the palm of your hand with your elbows propped up on the table. “But I’m going to be away from the abode for hours and won’t see any of you until my last class finishes.” This was going to be the first time you were going to be away from the men for hours. Are you nervous? Yes, because you don’t like being in an unfamiliar place surrounded by people you don’t know. It was one of your biggest fears when you were a child, hence why you always scream and cry when your parents drop you off at school.

“You’ll be alright. If you like, we can take turns visiting you at the Akademiya’s library every hour to make sure you’re okay and how your studies are going.” Ayato suggested. Ayato reaches over to your left hand and gives your hand a comforting squeeze.

Dottore chuckles and leans back in his seat. “While it’s sweet for you all to want to check up on [Y/N] throughout the day while they’re at school, it seems like you’re all like their babysitter rather than a significant other,” Dottore says, reaching over to grab his mug of coffee.

Albedo frowns at Dottore’s comment. “[Y/N] doesn’t like to be alone. They get nervous when they’re alone in an unfamiliar place. We want to make sure that they’re okay throughout the day.” Albedo says, giving Dottore the side eye.

Capitano elbows Dottore in the ribs. “I believe that they will be checking up on [Y/N] every few hours for the beginning of the week. After all, the first week of school is always nerve-wracking.” Capitano says.

After finishing up your breakfast, you grabbed your backpack and walked out of the estate with the men (excluding the four Harbingers) following after you. The twenty-one of you left the abode and stepped foot into Sumeru. You clutched onto your backpack straps tightly until your knuckles turned white, your heart beginning to race against your chest.

This was it; today’s the day when you’re officially a student at the Akademiya. The inside of your throat begins to itch the closer all of you got closer to the large doors. You subconsciously rub your throat and start clearing your throat, wincing at the unbearable itch inside your throat. Oh no. You swallowed your saliva, hoping it’ll ease the irritation, but it didn’t do anything at all.

“Are you okay?” Venti asks, patting your shoulders.

You nodded your head and continued to clear your throat. “My throat itches. I’m trying not to cough.” You sighed, stepping into the building.

“Why not cough once? I think it’ll help if you cough at least once.” Thoma suggested, his green eyes scanning the interior of the Akademiya.

You frantically shook your head. “If I cough at least once to soothe my throat, I’ll have a coughing fit.” You reply.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about! You have us with you!” Heizou says, throwing his arms over your shoulders while snuggling up against you with a smile on his face. You give Heizou a wary smile and let yourself melt into his arms. Heizou is right; you have the men with you, and there’s nothing to worry about at all! Other than the fact that this will go on for today, a few days, or only a week.

“Pluuuuus, Al Haitham, Tighnari, and Cyno can help guide us around the Akademiya to help you familiarize your surroundings,” Aether says. Aether butts in between you and Heizou with a Cheshire smile on his face, ignoring the glare that Heizou was giving him.

“Let's go pick up my uniform.” You sighed, letting Al Haitham lead the way.

After picking up your uniform, you and the others stood outside of the Akademiya. Since it was still early morning, there weren’t many students hanging around on campus. Diluc held your backpack in his hands while Al Haitham was helping you put on your uniform.

“Awwwww, snookums! You look so cute in your uniform!” Childe squeals, tackling you into a hug once you’ve correctly put on your uniform.

Al Haitham smiles at you. “You’re officially an Akademiya student! How does it feel?” Al Haitham asks, adjusting the minor things on your uniform.

“It feels weird, but I’m not complaining.” You said. You waved your arms and watched the sleeves flutter from the movements. “Now I look like I’m part of a cult.” You said.

“Speaking of cults. If there are any students that approach you and invite you to join the Eremites, do not join them.” Tighnari says, clutching both of your shoulders and lightly shaking you.

You look at Tighnari cluelessly, with your head tilting to the side. “What are Eremites?” You ask, looking over at the others with a questioning gaze.

“They hail from the desert region of Sumeru. They also worship the Scarlet King, also known as King Deshret. Do not associate yourself with them, do not speak to them, do not let them lure you in.” Cyno states.

You look at Cyno with wide eyes after hearing his explanation. “Alright, I will not get near them or anything of the sort,” You said slowly.

Kaeya smiles. “Good because that’s the last thing we want to hear when we ask you, ‘how was school today?’” Kaeya pats the top of your head.

“Now that you got your uniform let’s go find where your classes are located,” Diluc says. He hands you your backpack.

Your classes are, luckily, located in the same building and on the same floor. As for the lectures, the lecture room was located in the next building over, which shouldn’t be a long walk for you. After almost an hour of searching for where your classes are located, you turn to the men and give them a small smile.

“It looks like classes are going to start soon.” You said, looking over at the clock that hung on the wall.

Kazuha sighs. “So soon? I didn’t expect time to go by so fast.” Kazuha murmurs.

“Good luck in school! You’ll do great!” Ayato says, giving you a gentle smile before bringing you into his arms and hugging you to his chest. Ayato leans down and plants a kiss on your temples, rubbing your back.

Itto pouts and walks up to you and Ayato. “You’ll be in school for hours, studying. While I’m going to be bored at the abode, missing your cute face.” Itto reaches over and squeezes your cheeks lightly.

“Remember not to stress out. If you need guidance on anything, you can always ask your professors, teacher assistants, Al Haitham, Tighnari, and Cyno.” Dainsleif says. Dainsleif gives you a firm hug and rests his head on your chin.

“If you need help with anything regarding alchemy, I’m always happy to help,” Albedo says, giving you a small smile.

You smile and nod your head. “If I need help with anything regarding school, I will definitely go to you guys for assistance!” You said.

Students began to walk toward their classrooms, talking amongst themselves. You feel your heart jump into your throat, causing you to cough into your elbow. You cleared your throat and gave the men a reassuring smile to let them know that you were okay and that you were just nervous.

“As you can see, I’m a little bit nervous about my first day.” You said. You scratch the back of your neck with an embarrassed smile on your face.

Baizhu sighs. “We’ll need to get that checked out regardless.” Baizhu pats your shoulder.

You hugged each man before reluctantly pulling away from their hug. It almost seemed like they didn’t want to let go of you as much as you didn’t want to let go of them. Once the hugs were over, you gripped tightly on the backpack straps and adjusted the hat on your head.

“If anyone tries to hurt you in any way, let me know, and I’ll deal with them,” Xiao says.

You gave him a smile and nodded your head. You know you can always rely on Xiao to be there for you if there is any danger. And if you needed Xiao to get you a glass cup of water while you’re in the middle of reading and were too lazy to go downstairs to get the drink yourself. You sighed and pursed your lips. You’re nervous, but you’ll be okay.

“I’ll see you all later,” you said.

You give each of them a smile before slowly walking to where the lecture is being held for your first class. You stopped at the door and turned to look back where the men stood. They were all smiling at you; some were waving goodbye. You smiled back and waved at them before stepping into the lecture hall. The lecture hall was huge; it could hold up to around five hundred people. You chose a seat closest to the front where the lecturer stood mainly because not only did you want to hear them clearly, but your eyesight wasn’t the best, so you needed to be seated in the front to be able to see the board.

Once you have chosen your seat and sat down, you pulled out your notebook and pencil as students began to trickle into the lecture hall. It’s safe to say that your first class wasn’t complicated at all despite the course name looking intimidating at first glance. The lecturer was a lovely man; he was the type of professor that you had when you were still in your world. Despite the lecturer being an easygoing person, you have the sense that he’s not an easy grader, nor does he give a small number of assignments.

The first class flew by despite it being a two-and-a-half-hour lecture class. You walked out of the lecture hall, stretching your arms and legs with a yawn. With the large gap between your morning and afternoon classes, you have decided to explore the Akademiya since you needed to stop by the library to grab a textbook for that class. While walking to the House of Daena, you see a few Akademiya students handing out flyers, stopping other students in their tracks to start a conversation with them, only for those students to decline something and walk off.

“Halt! You there!” You were startled by the voice coming from behind you.

You stopped in your tracks and slowly turned around, only to make eye contact with a tanned male with black hair and glasses. He walks up to you before stopping in front of you, towering over you. You couldn’t help but feel intimidated by the look he was giving you.

“Yes?” You squeaked. “How can I help you?”

You gulped silently and tightened your grip on your backpack straps. Oh, archons; a sudden conversation with someone you don’t know? Someone you don’t have classes in common with? Heck, he wasn’t even in the same Darshan as you! You’re part of the Amurta (specialty is biology), while he's part of the Haravatat (specialty is technology).

“My name’s Na’im, and I am part of a secret student organization! We are currently recruiting more students like you to join our organization!” Na’im says, almost striking a pose.

You look at Na’im with interest. “An organization, you say?” You quirked your eyebrow at him.

Na’im smiles and crosses his arms over his chest. “That is right! Judging by your appearance, I’m assuming you’re new to the Akademiya,” said Na’im.

“And you’re correct….” You trailed off, looking at Na’im skeptically.

“So, new Akademiya student, what do you think about joining a student organization as a way to make new friends?” Na’im throws his arms over your shoulders, startling you.

You slowly take his arms off your shoulders. “That depends on what organization it is and how my schedule plays out for the Akademiya. After all, I’m here for my studies, not to make new friends.” You stated.

Na’im suddenly leans in close to your face, causing you to lean back. “This organization is a secret. Hence why, it’s called the secret student organization.” Na’im whispers.

“Well, if it’s a secret, then why bother recruiting new members out in the open?” You huffed.

Na’im chuckles and takes a step back. “Oh, the other students recruiting for new members aren’t part of the organization I’m in. They’re part of the student body and are stopping students to ask questions regarding their first impression of the Akademiya and what Darshan they’re part of.”

You rub your temples and let out a slow sigh. “Okay, so why are you recruiting me then? Out of all people you could’ve approached, you decided to approach me instead.” You said, frowning at the man in front of you.

Na’im laughs. “Oh, the head of the organization spotted you earlier this morning with your large group of friends! He told me to recruit you specifically after noticing that you’re very close with Al Haitham.”

“And you guys have been actively seeking me out ever since the head of the organization spotted me with my “friends” and Al Haitham?” You raised your eyebrow at Na’im.

He nods his head. “That is correct!” Na’im exclaims confidently.

“Well, since we are here right now. What is this organization you speak of?” You inquired. You prop both of your hands on your hips, waiting for Na’im to answer your pressing question.

Na’im leans into your ears. “Have you ever heard of the Scarlet King? Also known as King Deshret?” Na’im whispers.

Your eyes widen for a brief moment before you slowly take a step back away from him. Was Na’im one of the Eremites? There’s nothing wrong with being an Eremite, but those who are devoted followers of the Scarlet King tend to be…. Unique. Quite frankly, you can’t find the correct word to describe the loyal followers of the Scarlet King, specifically those who genuinely believe that King Deshret is going to resurrect. You must choose your words wisely because there’s no way you’re going to get into some kind of drama with another Akademiya student on your first day of school. The same Akademiya student is part of a secret organization that is dedicated to King Deshret, one that is trying to recruit you to be one of their members.

“I’m sorry, Na’im, but I’m not a religious person. I have no interest in joining any religious organizations.” You shrugged your shoulders.

Na’im gives you a look of disbelief. “What! What do you mean you have no interest in joining the organization!? Do you believe in the Scarlet King?!” He hisses at you.

You pursed your lips and slowly shook your head. “As I’ve previously stated, I’m not a religious person and have no interest in joining any religious organizations. I’ve heard of the Scarlet King, but again, I’m not interested.” You said.

“B-But—” You cut him off with a shake of your head.

“I’m sorry, Na’im, but I’m not interested in joining any religious organizations. Especially one that is a secret,” You said.

Without any other word, you turned around and continued to walk to the House of Daena, ignoring Na’im’s sputters of protest while trying to get your attention. Upon arriving at the House of Daena, you immediately went to check out a textbook that is needed for your class before sitting at a desk and pulling your notebook and pencil out. You leaned on your left arm and began scrawling down notes for the course, reading over the notes you’d taken during the lecture.

As promised, each man would visit you in the House of Daena while you were studying and reading over the notes you’ve taken. Al Haitham, Cyno, and Tighnari were the ones that lingered the longest, making sure you understood the materials your lecturer went over this morning. Tighnari went on a tangent about the plants in Sumeru, which you didn’t mind at all because you know you’ll need to know these things later in your botany class.

The day went by in a dreary blur; you went to your last class for the day, and now you find yourself sitting at the dining table in the abode. Your textbooks are stacked on top of each other to your left on the table, and notebooks and pieces of paper are opened and lying all over the place. Your face was buried in your book, your hand occupied with writing notes, unaware of the looks you were getting from the men in the estate.

“Ahem.” Gorou clears his throat, trying to grab your attention.

Your eyes continue to scan the textbook in front of you as you write down the important information that will be on the midterms. Your eyes feel tired and dry from how long you’ve been staring at the textbook and notebook, but you were able to get down many things for your classes. It was one of your biggest accomplishments for the day, and you hope you can make it routine and pass all of your courses with flying colors.

“[Y/N].” Scaramouche tosses a bread roll at your head, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You blinked and looked up at the men. “Sorry, I was busy.” You cleared your throat, sitting up in your seat and rubbing your eyes.

Zhongli gives you a soft smile. “You should take a break from your studies, dearest. It’s dinner time, and you haven’t touched your food.” Zhongli says, gesturing toward the now cold food in front of you.

You stared at the food intently and then looked around your area. “How long have I been studying?” You whispered to yourself before scratching your head cluelessly. “Sorry, I’ll clean up and finish my dinner.” You said. You stood up and began to organize your textbooks and notebooks.

“Did they assign you homework already? It’s only the first day!” Childe mutters, getting up from his seat to help you organize your things around.

You made a face. “Not exactly, but I want to be ahead of the class in studies. I have a feeling that I’m going to be buried in assignments after this week.” You reply, walking over to the living room with Childe following along to put your textbooks on the coffee table. “Well, maybe after today or something like that. The Akademiya is a prestigious institute; I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow’s class is going to have assignments once the session is over.” You added. You and Childe walk back to the dining room before sitting back down in your seats.

“It’s good to be committed to your studies, but remember to take frequent breaks, or else you’ll burn yourself out,” Thoma said.

You laugh nervously as you pull your bowl forward and reach for the spoon. “I can’t promise you all that! After all, I need to pass all of my courses and do well.” You reply.

Dainsleif sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “We understand that your studies are important, but please, take breaks here and there when you are studying. It’s important to rest.” Dainsleif states.

You nodded your head slowly. “Alright, I’ll take breaks in between my studies after a certain amount of time.” You said.

The rest of your week was the same as the first day of school. All you did was study, go to your classes, start on assignments and take notes. After your first encounter with Na’im, he never approached you after that, much to your relief. Everything was sailing smoothly at school, and you were doing reasonably well in all of our courses. The one thing that bothers you about the Akademiya, or schools in Teyvat in general, is that you’re not able to check what grade you currently have in all of your courses, like how you were able to back in your world through CANVAS.

Sometimes when you’re studying at the abode, the men would keep you company. You’d be sitting at a desk in the abode’s library while the others are lounging around, reading, or taking naps on the chairs in the library. Your nose is always sticking in your textbooks, taking notes, and doing your assignments for your biology courses, hardly sparing the men a single glance. This continued for the next three weeks of being a student at the Akademiya.

While studying, Zhongli would drop by the library in the abode, placing a plate of sliced fruits on the table for you to snack on before pressing a kiss on the side of your head before leaving the room. At the same time, Ayato would give you boba to drink while you were in the middle of your studies, giving you a light squeeze on your shoulders before taking the empty plate out from the library.

By the time night fell, everyone had bid you goodnight with forehead kisses, hugs, and words of encouragement. The men soon went to bed, under the impression that you would go to bed once you were done with your assignments and studies. Until one of them had woken up in the middle of the night, feeling parched. Aether nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw you walking out from the kitchen in the dark estate with a book and a cup of water in your hand.

“[Y/N]!? Why are you still awake?!” Aether whispers loudly in the dark, reaching over to the wall to search for the light switch.

You rubbed your eyes. “I was studying. I went to the kitchen to grab a snack before heading back to the library,” You said.

Once Aether felt the switch, Aether flicked the light switch up; the room was now flooded with lights, blinding the two of you. Aether squeezes his eyes shut and slowly opens his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the light.

“What’s going on?” Heizou grumbles, peeking his head from the top of the stairs, squinting down at both you and Aether.

You blinked at Heizou and then at Aether. “Is everyone in this house a light sleeper or something?” You ask, adjusting the slipper on your foot. “I thought I was the only light sleeper in the house.” You mumbled to yourself.

“And why are the three of you awake? It’s two in the morning.” Itto props his hands on his hips, giving you, Aether and Heizou a sleepy glare.

“I was studying.” You stated, holding up your textbook for Itto and the others to see. “I’m still not done studying either. I’m contemplating whether I should make coffee to continue my studies or just study without coffee.” You said.

“You should be getting some sleep. You have school tomorrow; you shouldn’t be staying up so late.” Diluc says.

“But—”

“No buts, [Y/N]. We understand that you prioritize your studies, but don’t let that get in the way of your sleep either. If you don’t get plenty of rest, you won’t be able to focus on your studies.” Zhongli stated, frowning at you.

Kaeya approaches you and takes your textbook from your hands. “I’ll take that! You should be going to sleep now, young scholar.” He pats your head with a tiny smile on his face.

“But I need to study! I have a midterm coming up, and if I don’t pass, I won’t be able to go on this research field trip my instructor has planned for us!” You said, pouting at Kaeya as you tried to reach for the textbook.

Venti gently grabs your arm. “You’ll be fine, [Y/N]. Getting some rest wouldn’t have a detrimental impact on your grades.” Venti says. He tries to ease your anxiety by giving your arm a reassuring rub.

“Research field trip, you say?” Cyno hums, looking at you curiously.

You nod your head. “It’s in the desert, and we’re going to be taking some plants from the desert and experimenting on whether they can survive outside of the desert or not!” You said.

“Eh, the answer is quite obvious if you ask me,” Tighnari says.

Baizhu sighs. “Whether you want to go on that trip or not, you still need to get some sleep,” Baizhu says, giving you a comforting smile.

“Alright. I’ll get some sleep, even though I won’t be getting much anyway.” You sigh in defeat, walking up the stairs to your bedroom.

Ayato looks at the others. “How do we know that they’ll actually be sleeping? For all we know, they could have another textbook in their bedroom and read that instead.” He crosses his arms over his chest while stroking his chin.

“I’ll make sure they get some sleep.” Al Haitham says, turning around to follow after you.

Kazuha leans to whisper to Scaramouche. “Do you think he’s taking this chance to snuggle with [Y/N]?” Scaramouche quirks his eyebrows at Kazuha’s question.

“That’s a huge possibility. And as much as I would love to intervene and be a cock block, I’m too tired to do anything about it.” Scaramouche answers, scratching the back of his head with a small pout on his face.

You were about to close your bedroom door when a hand stopped the door from closing completely. You backed away from the door and looked at the door curiously, only to see Al Haitham opening the door wider before entering your room. Al Haitham closed the door behind him and turned to face you, his arms over his chest.

“I’m guessing you’re going to make sure that I actually sleep, aren’t you?” You ask. Al Haitham nods his head in response.

You walked over to your bed and laid down beneath the blanket, and patted the empty side of your bed. If Al Haitham was going to make sure that you were going to go to bed, he might as well either join you on your bed or sit at the chair that is pushed into your desk. Al Haitham walked to your bed and sat down with his back pressing up against the headboard before pulling his book out to read.

“Close enough.” You sighed, hugging your spare pillow against your chest before drifting off to sleep.

A few hours later, you woke up to the sound of your alarm blaring in your ears. You shot out of your bed and slammed your hand on the alarm, silencing it. You sighed and lay back down on your bed, rubbing your eyes tiredly. You shouldn’t have stayed up late last night. You did not want to get up from bed at all. You closed your eyes for a moment, trying to calm your racing heart.

“You know you have to get up, right?” Al Haitham murmurs into your ears.

You sigh. “Unfortunately, I do.” You frowned and slowly sat up on your bed, attempting to rub the sleep out of your eyes. You looked down and noticed that Al Haitham’s arms were wrapped around your waist. You looked over at him and realized that he was staring at you. You lightly pat his cheek with a tiny smile on your face before reluctantly leaving the comfort of your bed to get ready for school.

Once you’ve stepped foot into the Akademiya, the atmosphere feels off. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but you knew something was wrong. When you got to your first class, your lecturer informed everyone that the field trip was today. You did a double-take and blinked at the lecturer in confusion. The field trip was today? How could the field trip be today when the midterm hasn’t happened yet? Or did it happen?

“I’m so confused.” You whispered. You adjusted your school uniform before following your instructor and your other classmates. Perhaps the field trip was happening before the midterm. You have no idea what was going on anymore; you’re so tired and out of it.

The instructor claps his hands to grab everyone’s attention. “We will have a joint field trip with other students and instructors from the other Darshan. Na’im is the tour guide because he has a lot of knowledge about the Mausoleum of King Deshret.” Na’im steps forward and waves at the students, smiling widely.

You feel your heart drop to your ass. You audibly gulped and looked away when Na’im looked over in your direction. The field trip was going to take place at the Mausoleum of King Deshret? How come you couldn’t recall the exact location of the field trip?

You lean over to whisper to one of your classmates. “Since when were we going to the Mausoleum of King Deshret? I thought we were just going to explore the desert for the redcrest?” You ask.

Aisha shrugs her shoulders. “The instructor never said anything about the exact location, but him revealing it so suddenly is suspicious,” Aisha grumbles.

“Isn’t it, I don’t know, forbidden to go to the Mausoleum of King Deshret?” Muna asks.

You shrug your shoulders. “I wish I knew. I can’t help but get a bad feeling about this joint field trip, especially when Na’im is our tour guide for the entirety of the trip.” You murmured.

Muna’s eyes widen. “You have a bad feeling about Na’im too?!” She whispers.

“Too!?” You looked at her, stunned.

Aisha rubs her throbbing temples. “Na’im is just some weirdo who is desperate for more people to join his organization. Muna and I declined his offer before he could even mention what his club was about.” Aisha explains.

You tighten your grip around your backpack strap before you and your classmates are taken to the nearest waypoint. The desert was surprisingly warm, and the cool breeze made the heat more bearable compared to the time you and your boyfriends attempted to surf on the sand dunes. It didn’t turn out well. You and Itto got a mouth full of sand after face-planting into the sand.

Na’im was confidently leading the students through the ancient ruins. Na’im was talking about the history of the ruins, talking about the Scarlet King, the Eremites, and many other things you could barely process because of how nervous you were. While the ancient ruins were beautiful, you couldn’t help but get an inkling feeling that danger was looming over your head.

“You may all explore the surrounding area! Please do not stray too far from the site!” The lecturer announces.

The students murmured to one another before reluctantly exploring the surrounding. You walked to one of the monuments and looked at it in awe. The temples in the desert never cease to amaze you. But this temple, in particular, gives you goosebumps.

“So! What do you think of the temple?” Na’im asks, standing beside you with his arms over his chest.

“The temple is beautiful! It’s also eerie in a way.” You respond, keeping a safe distance from Na’im.

“Do you want to see something cool about the temple?” Na’im asks, a big smile appearing on his face.

You look at Na’im in confusion. “I thought we’re not allowed to roam far into the temple. Isn’t it dangerous?” You ask, taking a step back.

“It’s only dangerous if you go alone! Since I’m the tour guide of this field trip, it won’t be dangerous, and you should be okay!” Na’im says.

“No, thank you, Na’im. I would rather play it safe than be sorry.” You politely declined before walking away.

Everyone was called to regroup in the center of the temple. Na’im then guided everyone to the platform that was in the temple. The platform started to rise slowly, only for it to stutter and come to a complete stop. Everyone on the platform went silent.

“Are we stuck?” Muna whispers.

“Dear archons, I hope not.” Aisha whimpers, holding onto Muna’s arms tightly. You looked around the platform, trying to find the solution to escape. You ended up smelling a strange aroma.

“Does anyone smell that?” Omar, one of your classmates, asks.

An overwhelming smell starts to flood the area, causing some students to cough at the overwhelming scent. Your vision starts to become blurry, making you lean up against the wall and slowly slide down the wall. Everyone around you soon dropped to the ground like flies, falling over each other. Your eyelids grew heavy, and you soon lost consciousness.

You jolted awake and looked at your surroundings. You were still in the temple, but somewhere you couldn’t pinpoint. Your hands were tied behind your back, and you were bound against a statue. Your head was hurting a lot; it felt like someone had hit you at the back of your head, knocking you unconscious.

“Ah! You’re finally awake! I guess now we can start the ritual.” Na’im says, emerging from the shadows.

“Ritual? What ritual?” You ask.

“Oh, nothing! It’s something the nonbelievers wouldn’t understand.” Na’im says nonchalantly, his hands crossed behind his back. He stops in front of you and gazes down at you.

“Nonbelievers? Ritual? You’re not doing what I think you’re doing, are you?” You ask, looking up at Na’im nervously.

Na’im laughs and looks over to the people behind him, pointing over at you as if you were some joke. Oh, wait, to them, you are. You slowly leaned to the side to get a better look at the group of people behind him: Eremites, treasure hoarders, and your lecturer.

“Mister Ismat?” You whispered, looking over at him in horror. “What’s going on? Where are the other students?!” You exclaimed.

“I apologize, [Y/N]. But this needs to be done.” Your lecturer says, walking up to you and Na’im.

“What needs to be done? A human sacrifice!?” You exclaimed in disbelief.

Mister Ismat smiles at you. “You truly are the brightest out of all your classmates. I can see why Na’im has nominated you to be the special offering to King Deshret.” Mister Ismat says.

“You still didn’t answer my question, Mister Ismat. Where are the other students?!” You demanded, thrashing around in the rope that restricted your movements.

Mister Ismat lets out a scoff. “How selfless of you! Worrying about your classmates when you’re going to be a sacrifice soon.” Mister Ismat chuckles.

“To catch you up to speed, [Y/N]. Mister Ismat is the head of the organization I told you about.” Na’im says. “In fact, there are a lot of sages that are part of the secret organization.” He smiles triumphantly.

“Am I the sacrifice because I refused to join your little organization that is dedicated to King Deshret?” You whispered.

Na’im lets out a boisterous laugh. “No, no! That’s preposterous!” Na’im wheezes, wiping an imaginary tear drop from the corner of his eyes. “As much as I would love to explain why you’re the sacrifice, we’re on a time crunch,” Na’im says.

Na’im looks over to the tall and muscular Eremites and gestures for them to grab you. The tall blond Eremite stalked over to where you were sitting and grabbed you by your biceps, yanking you up from the ground. You stumbled and hissed when your arm was bent at an odd angle.

“Walk.” The blond Eremite orders. You rolled your eyes and walked to where the blond Eremite instructed you to walk. You wanted to put up a fight, but you couldn’t. How could you? Your arms are tied, you’re outnumbered, and your mind is foggy.

The blond Eremite kicks your back; you stumbled and fall to your knees, your hands still bound to your back. Na’im walks up to you with a sacrificial knife in his hand. This was not how you expected your first quarter at the Akademiya to go. Na’im grabbed you by your hair and held the blade up to your neck.

“This is an honorable sacrifice for the Scarlet King. Once the pure blood of a virgin has been spilled on the grounds of King Deshret, the King shall finally rise.” Na’im announces.

You blinked at Na’im and cleared your throat awkwardly. Pure blood of a virgin? Riiiiiiiiight. Who’s going to tell Na’im that your blood isn’t pure and that you’re not even a virgin? Whoever came up with this ritual for King Deshret should be fired. You feel the cold blade press up against your neck and immediately freeze.

Na’im knelt down beside you. “Don’t take this the wrong way. No hard feelings.” He gives you a cold smile.

“Yeah, no hard feelings.” You give him a fake smile before headbutting him in the lips, causing him to stumble back as blood sprays from his nose. You got up from the sand and tried to make a run for it. The exit was blocked off by treasure hoarders and Eremites with weapons in their hands, ready to attack.

“Oh, I am fucked.” You think to yourself.

You braced yourself and continued to run toward the exit, attempting to dodge every hit that was thrown your way. Your only defense was to headbutt every person that came at you. Needless to say, it was one of the fastest ways to get a headache. You kicked, headbutted, and dodged with all your might until you were cut across the torso by the Eremite Daythunder. Your knees buckled beneath you as you stumbled and landed on the sand. You hissed and doubled over in pain, blood blooming through your Akademiya uniform, drenching them in blood.

“You sure put up a lot of fight right there.” Na’im chuckles, walking up to you. “You put up a lot of fight for nothing. It’s too bad that you’re going to be nothing but a sacrificial lamb soon.” Na’im signals the Eremite to drag you back to where you were previously kneeling.

You were too exhausted to fight back. You couldn’t tell whether it was the loss of blood that was making you tired or if it was from headbutting a lot of people and breathing in the strange scent that flooded the platform you and your classmates were previously in. Na’im ended up putting a bag over your head; your body slumped against the statue, and blood continued to spill from the wound across your torso.

“There’s no need to do the ritual when my blood has already been spilled.” You muttered. “What’s the point of doing it when it’s been done already?” You whispered.

Na’im laughs. “Oh, [Y/N]. Did you forget about the part about sacrificing? Your blood has been spilled, yes, but you’re still alive.” Na’im commented, twirling the knife in his hands. “Hold them still for me.” Na’im hollers.

Na’im stood over you with the blade aiming for your chest. Na’im raises his hand in the air, ready to plunge the sacrificial knife into your chest, when he hears a whizz in the air. Na’im pauses for a moment, and before he knows it, an arrow is sticking out of his back. Na’im lets out a scream and turns around; he sees a group of men standing a few feet from where he, your lecturer, the treasure hoarders, and the Eremites stand.

“Normally, I don’t kill humans, but I’ll make an exception,” Xiao growls, swiping his hand across his face, his mask materializing on his face.

“You shouldn’t have put your hands on them in the first place,” Gorou growls.

The blond Eremite releases you; you crumple to the ground in the pool of your blood, going in and out of consciousness. The sound of chaos in the background was nothing but background noise to you. Your ears were ringing; you could barely see anything with the bag over your head, and your arms were still bound together behind your back.

The bag was soon ripped from over your head, and you saw someone towering over you. It was a blond male, someone you’re not familiar with. You saw his lips move, but you didn’t hear a single sound coming from him. He lifts you up and carries you somewhere. Your head falls on his shoulders, eyes rolling to the back of your head. The man pats your cheeks.

“Don’t close your eyes now. You need to stay awake.” The man says. “Can you do that for me? Just keep your eyes open until Baizhu and Tighnari is able to treat your wounds temporarily.”

“I’ll try.” You whisper.

The blond man smiled. “Good.”

Your face was buried into the crook of the blond man’s neck, trying to desperately keep your eyes open no matter how heavy your eyelids felt. The sound of screaming and weapons clashing soon came to a stop.

“Kaveh, how are you able to track down their location so easily?” Cyno asks, running up to the blond man.

Kaveh sighs. “I overheard Na’im and Mister Ismat’s conversation a few days ago about this trip. Apparently, it was planned from the very beginning.” Kaveh hands you over to Tighnari and Baizhu, who begin to treat your wounds immediately.

“Thank you for informing us about [Y/N]’s whereabouts. I will be informing the Akademiya about Na’im and Mister Ismat’s involvement with the Eremites and their attempts to sacrifice an Akademiya student.” Al Haitham says, giving Kaveh a thankful nod.

“Hey, are you okay?” Aether pokes you lightly.

You cracked your eyes opened and blinked up at Aether. “I’m in pain, but I should be okay.” You mumbled, nestling up in Tighnari’s arms. You scrunched your face before saying, “I’m never going on any field trips ever again.”

“Let’s get you home,” Tighnari says softly, pressing a kiss on your head.

You hum softly and nod your head. “Yes, let's go home.” You murmured.

Note: Not sure how I feel about this story 🥲 I think I like it! It's... different from my other stories... kind of. Not really. This is the latest I've updated for an Isekai'd!reader fic since I do have school, I have stories to write for school, and I have a lot of homework that I need to turn in before its due date (which is usually the day after I receive that assignment). I'm just trying my best to be on top of my updating schedule while balancing school with my other hand. My posting schedule is wonky, but I'm trying my best to post weekly. Anyway! I ONLY post on my Tumblr (Genshinluvr) and my AO3 (Aaliah_exo)! Nowhere else except Tumblr and AO3!

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