#modern!zoya nazyalensky | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zoyaofthegardvn · 1 year

Text

Modern!Zoya Drabble

A/N: This is just a little something I've been thinking about since I wrote modern!Zoya headcanons, and I wanted to write it since I can't get it out of my head. Ugh. I need me a Zoya Nazyalensky college gf fr. Also, I know I have a lot of requests, but I am a slow writer and I promise I wanna get to all of them! But this is just something I wanted to get out :)

CW: None that I can think of!

---

It's nearing midnight when you hear your phone buzz from where it's laying on top of the coffee table. You're not sure who'd be texting you this late, and you're nice and comfy on the couch. But, still, you untangle from the blankets and grab it from where it had been charging for the past hour while you caught up on your TV shows.

Z💙: come to bed. i want to cuddle.

You smile a bit at the text, imagining your girlfriend, just up the stairs and down the hallway, grumpy and pouty because you still hadn't joined her. You had moved in together just a few months ago, and it was pure domestic bliss. You loved living with her. But she went to bed earlier than you did, and she still wasn't too happy about it. Your phone buzzes again, another message from your sleepy lover.

Z💙: come onnnnn. i can't sleep.

Y/N: i'm still watching my show!!!! it's not a school night don't mom me

Z💙: omfg stop being like that it's so late

Z💙: you really want to leave me up here to just suffer from a lack of sleep?

You can't help but huff a laugh at her antics. Zoya was a huge cuddler, she clings to you all night long. You knew she didn't like going to sleep without you, but you also knew it wasn't all that serious.

Y/N: i think you'll survive

Y/N: come down here and lay with me sweetheart, i miss you 🥺

Z💙: if you missed me like i miss you you would come up here

Y/N: omg i have like one more episode just come let me cuddle you on the couch 😫

Z: no it's fine

Z💙: i'll just lay here and suffer 🫠

You sigh, shake your head, and set your phone back down before getting cozy again. You have to rewind your episode by a few minutes because you had missed some things, but quickly, you're distracted again by the sound of footsteps. You smirk, because just as you had guessed, Zoya decided she would join you rather than wait.

She comes down the stairs slowly, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and panties with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She's rubbing at her eyes sleepily, and she looks just as grumpy as you imagined.

"Hi baby," you coo, clearly teasing her for her change of heart. You lift your blanket up and scoot over, making room for her to lay next to you on the couch.

She yawns and shoots you a glare, which makes you laugh.

"Don't laugh at me, you made me come all the way down here!"

But still, she lays down next to you, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders while you cover her up with your own. "I don't remember making you do anything, my love," you mumble into her hairline as she cuddles into your chest. You press a kiss to her forehead, and she lifts a thigh up to lay over top of you. You rub her back in slow, soothing motions, and she plants a kiss to your exposed neck.

You hum, and after just a few minutes, Zoya's fast asleep. You whisper "I love you" into her ear, then return your attention to the TV.

43 notes · View notes

jaysbraindump · 16 days

Text

Shadow and Bone but I made it modern and gave them Instagram

Aka the sequel to the crows version I did of this (and thus from the same coffee shop au)

@bohemian-rhapsody-in-blue gave me the idea of Tolya having a poetry account that was popular with all the literature gays and I wholeheartedly agreed with that

#shadow and bone #genya safin #mal oretsev #nikolai lantsov #tolya yul bataar #alina starkov #zoya nazyalensky #tamar kir bataar #modern au #social media edit

74 notes · View notes

lilisouless · 2 years

Text

Nikolai trowing a halloween party where the theme is "Disney villains" and the price for best costume involves kruge

Nikolai went as captain hook. As the judge he wanted to vote for himself but also will make sure he deserves it

Genya and David were the evil queen and the magic mirror. Genya will say "magic mirror on the wall" and David would say "you are" before she could finish the question everytime"

Nina, instead of having a pair costume with Matthias, Hanne or both, teamed up with Inej and went and Ursula and Vanessa. Inej is not sligthly bothered that she was to be with Nina the whole time in order for her costume to work

Hanne was Prince Hans, Nikolai was glad he ruled out that idea for himself

Jesper and Wylan made the day of Gaston x Lefou shippers. Also when Nikolai said Jesper was "too skinny for Gaston" Wylan argued he had the perfect baritone voice and both sang the Gaston theme just to prove their point

Kaz was completely focussed on getting the price for the kruge. So, for his Hades costume,instead of just dying his hair blue or getting a wig like a normal human being, he light on real blue flames on his head (over a liquid that would stop it from burning his skin) because he is THAT extra and dramatic.

Nadia and Tamar went as Yzma and Kronk. They wanted to go bigger so they convinced Leoni and Adrik (who did it very reclutantly) to be Kronk´s shoulder angel and devil (hey, it was better than the original idea when Nadia and he were Cinderella´s stepsisters)

Alina and Mal were almost disqualified for coming as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell instead of "villains" but they put the case that Tinkerbell tried to get a child killed out of jelaousy and Peter Pan kidnapped children himself and if those are not villains then what ist is?, so not only they got back into the competition, they also made a lot of people question their childhood.

Zoya was sure her Maleficent costume was going to make her the winner, isn't she the dragon queen after all?

Most people tought Tolya came as a raven in order to be Zoya´s companion, but he actually didn't got the theme memo and just wanted to be "The raven" from Edgar Allan Poe

Kuwei was actually close to winning, who would be as cruel and hated as Cruella de Vil?

Matthias actually won by coming as the hunter who killed Bambi´s mom, his price was worth all of the children that cried when they saw him. ("Is not a real deer head!" "it´s from a plushie and i will sew it later") Kaz was not happy at all because how the heck didn't ocurred to him?

954 notes · View notes

greensaplinggrace · 10 months

Text

highly specific pet peeve of mine when it comes to sab is that none of the characters act with any kind of wariness when they should. like the grisha would not be celebrating in the king’s court with genuine displays of emotion (and obvious shows of rivalry that can be exploited) for all of the otkazat’sya nobles to see. aleksander shouldn’t be showing so much genuine emotion in front of the king or any otkazat’sya (noble or not, they’re all threats to him after all). everyone should be tenser when they’re in court or around authority figures, and the ways they disregard authority are bizarre. that would have you flogged in any monarchy during that time period.

it feels like the writers don’t really grasp the setting or what it means to the characters. these people are soldiers, and even worse, they’re soldiers that are apart of a persecuted class. they should not be so comfortable in areas or around people where they would be thinking about their every little move and how it could be taken advantage of if it was shown. vulnerability should not be tossed around so carelessly by people who should be startlingly aware of life’s atrocities.

honestly, genya is the only character that even acts remotely like she should, in that she is always tense and wary and holding herself like someone who knows they can be hurt at any moment. and even then she’s loose in the king’s court (the king) when she would be at the height of her wariness and paranoia.

#this follows the same vein as criticisms about the realism #in the way the military works in sab #and the ways mal and alina disregard authority as soldiers when there would be serious repercussions #like nobody raised in these conditions would act this way #genya safin #zoya nazyalensky #alina starkov #shadow and bone #sab #grishaverse #sab critical #i mean a bit #its kind of just a weirdly specific pet peeve lol #i don't actually mind it because lets be real most fantasy is anachronistic in this regard #there's so many characters in modern media that speak to their superiors like they don't fear any consequences when they absolutely should #but its so obvious that lb doesn't know how politics or the military works #(and also how the power allotment within it would actually work)#or any kind of government structure and the way people would operate in it #and doesn't give serious thought to how people in these situations would realistically be thinking #and the writers of the show clearly followed in those footsteps #but its like come on #its kind of obvious #you wrote a story centering around trauma there should maybe be a bit more of that shown #but i guess that's also the whole tell don't show problem sab has #myramblings

104 notes · View notes

ruins-and-rewritez · 1 year

Text

Modern AU where

Jesper and Nina run a wedding planning service, Jes handles decorations and decor while Nina is in charge of food, flowers, and attire

Kaz is an investment banker, brought up by Per Haskell as his benefactor on the condition Kaz repay every cent invested into him

Inej is a world champion figure skater who meets Kaz by chance through he coach who helps her invest her winnings

Matthias owns a flower shop that Nina frequents while planning weddings, he has a bit of a crush on her but doesn't know what to do about it

Wylan is barista at a steam punk themed coffee house that's renowned for its crazy delicious infusions that Wylan makes himself

Mal and Alina run a children's center, to help at risk kids meet their full potential

Nicolai is a trustfund baby who is working toward his goal of being the best actor on Broadway, and is famous for his leading role in the most grossing musical in years

Zoya is a ballerina who has recently been cast aside Nicolai, highly recommended after her graduation from the Royal Ballet School in Europe

David is a librarian who spends endless time in the stacks and is particularly fond of ancient texts and classics

Genya is a model who often visits the library during her days off to peruse the romance section and to fluster the cute librarian

Aleksander is a master of the criminal underworld (obviously) hellbent on controlling the city

66 notes · View notes

krugecrow · 2 months

Text

Zoyalai tattoo artist au for @grishaversebigbang 2023!! Drunk bonding in the shop adding to Nik’s patch collection

You can find @dregstrash fic ‘some things are supposed to be permanent’ here! (AO3 link)

Check out @hagnoart art and @cla-oh art !!

#gvbb23 #gvbb23creations #gang 10 #grishaversebigbang #grishaverse #king of scars #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #tattoo au #modern au #zoyalai #art #artzoya #artnikolai #cawcaw #cawart

8 notes · View notes

dregstrash · 4 months

Text

something is forever (either way, it ends)

a/n: tiff and i decided to keep hurting each other with this fic. the actual title of the google doc was: zoyalai but make it hurt. enjoy.

Materialki: @iri-lynx (x) @tessorange-art (x) @paperplanenomad (x)

Ethrealki: @wafflesandkruge @dregstrash

Summary:

Zoya ends things with Nikolai on a Tuesday. She walks out of their shared home with nothing except the clothes on her back and a secret that's eating her alive. But before there was an end, there was a beginning.

Or, the story of Zoya and Nikolai in two parts.

Ao3 Link

Excerpt of Chapter 1 below the cut

Zoya was going to throw up.

She could feel her mouth watering in preparation for it, but she grit her teeth trying to tame it back.

“What–I don’t–” Nikolai was pale now. The palest she had ever seen him. And it did not look good.

In another setting, in another time, she would have teased him–told him that his good looks did have their limits. He would roll his eyes, of course. Then he would laugh and quirk up his mouth to an approximation of a smolder. Then he’d approach her with that same stupid look plastered on his face. And even if she turned away or clasped her hands over his face, he would make her look at him. He would stick his face so close to hers until she could see that ridiculous, beautiful, silly face until she broke. Until she was also laughing and smiling and wrapping her arms around him–

She gripped the handle of a suitcase tighter, a vague attempt of grounding her to this moment.

To this dreadful, heartbreaking moment.

“Nik–I’m–I’m sorry. I just think we’re–going in separate directions.” Her voice was crystal clear. Like ice.

Which was odd, because everything in her seemed to be crashing and burning.

“What did I do?” He burst out suddenly. The paralysis that had overtaken him was ripped away to be replaced with something a bit more panicked. “Please. I just–I don’t know what you’re saying to me right now. What did I do?”

She could feel the pressure in her head start to build. Her vision going in and out.

No. Not now.

She coughed and looked away from him.

“I don’t know how to be any clearer, Nikolai. I think it’s been clear that you and I just–don’t work.”

“Is it because I didn’t take you with me on that last business trip?” He asked. “Is it that I didn’t take your advice on that last legal issue I had with some of the product we were moving? Zo, please look at me. I just need to know what I did, so I can make some sense of–”

“It’s nothing that you did!” She snapped. Her eyes went back to him, and her resolve almost crumbled right then and there.

His face had changed from a deathly white to an angry red. His hands buried in his hair in a manic gesture. He was the perfect picture of a man who looked like he was surprised to find himself at the edge of a cliff, and wasn’t sure if he had a way to get down safely.

And Zoya had to be the one to push him over.

“Look,” She sighed, “We’ve both been busy with work. You have that new merger coming up, and I have a new case that is going to take my time. And it’s been like that for some time. I just think we’re drifting apart. And I’d rather end things now than wait for us to just realize we stopped loving each other.”

She turned to leave, but Nikolai’s hand grabbed her arm, making her face him again.

Another roll of nausea washed over her, and this time she had to swallow down the bile that was dangerously close to rising up.

“That’s it?” He demanded. “That’s all you’re going to say? That we’re both too fucking busy?”

“I–”

“Zoya, you and I have been busy our entire fucking relationship! We have gone weeks without seeing each other. We have been countries apart. Why are you doing this now?!” His hand gripped the fabric of her coat tighter. “Is it someone else?”

“No!” Zoya cried out.

“Is Aleksander back?”

“No.” Zoya replied.

“Then—” The fight seemed to leave him. The grip on her coat was weaker. “Then–do– do you not love me anymore?”

She needed to agree. She needed to confirm his worst fear, so that he could hate her. So that he could let her go. But the words weren’t coming out.

The lie was too bitter on her tongue for them to come out in any disguise of truth.

Instead she just released herself from his grip and took a step back. She needed distance. She needed space.

Because if she spent one more second being close enough to touch him, she would stay.

And she can’t stay.

“Nikolai…I just…think we should just be happy for what we had.” Now her throat felt like it was closing in on itself. “I don’t think we were meant to last forever.”

She was seeing spots in her vision again, but it wasn’t enough to block the devastated look that crossed his face.

It wasn’t enough for her to ignore the way she had completely shattered him.

She turned again, and this time he didn’t grab her. She walked towards their–his– door, but stopped when she heard a faint, “Please.”

Zoya glanced behind her shoulder one last time.

Nikolai was framed in the kitchen doorway. The only light coming from the lamp of the dining room.

“Please, Zoya…please… stay.”

She had joked with him once that he would be the type to beg for anything if it gave him attention. He had responded with his usual smirk and challenged her to it–like he always did.

Looks like she won.

The victory felt like the first of many knives into her heart.

“Goodbye, Nikolai.”

The door shut behind her as she left, and she made it all the way to her car before she collapsed on the sidewalk, her legs finally giving out.

With shaking hands she took her phone out. Zoya’s heavy breathing was all that she could hear until Genya’s “Hello?” was in her ear.

“I need you to come pick me up, and take me to the hospital. I think I’m getting worse.”

“I am sorry, Miss Nazyalensky,” The doctor said. She had a perfectly sympathetic look that Zoya wanted to slap right out of her. “Your results have come in, and it looks like your symptoms are progressing faster than we had expected.”

The beeping of the machines next to her was making her right eye twitch.

“What the hell does that mean?”

The hospital gown was rubbing at her skin all wrong.

“It means…it means we might have to adjust your…life expectancy.”

It was too bright in this room. She wished they would turn the lights down just a little.

“Miss Nazyalensky…we are expecting six months.”

There was a beat of silence. Then Zoya burst into a fit of laughter.

The doctor looked at her with a blank expression that made Zoya even laugh harder.

It wasn’t funny. Hearing that anyone’s life has less than a year to live was anything but hilarious. But Zoya couldn’t help it.

All her life, she has tried everything she could to make all the right decisions. She studied late nights. She got into a good school. She ate a salad every now and again. She worked out. She didn’t smoke. She stopped binge drinking. She made enough money to go to the doctor.

And what does she still get after all the right decisions?

A hereditary disease. A last gift from a mother who had abandoned her for yet another man who was going to leave her anyway.

There was some cosmic irony at play in her life. That as soon as she thought she had everything she had ever dreamed about– money, a career, someone who loves her— that was when life decided to remind her that the very family that she has tried so hard to ignore was the one that would kill her.

And that was why she was laughing.

The doctor coughed, “We need you to stay overnight to run some tests. Is there anyone you want with you? Our hospital does allow overnight stays.”

Her chest gave such a strong lurch Zoya was a little surprised that the heart monitor hadn’t gone berserk.

Yes. The admission was so close to the surface that she almost thought she had spoken it out loud. But the doctor just kept looking at her.

“No.” Zoya croaked. “No, I’m fine on my own.”

It was later that night that Zoya found that statement to be wildly untrue.

She almost hated Nikolai. She wanted to hate him.

It was his fault that there was this pain inside her that was twisting around and making her life more of a living hell. It wasn’t bad enough that she had to wait until her body decided to waste away completely.

Now, she felt like the cracks of her heart were starting to undo her, and all she wanted to do was to lay in his arms and feel his chest move up and down against her cheek. She wanted so, so badly to hear him murmur the office gossip while his voice slurred with exhaustion. She wanted to smell his cologne that lingered on their sheets when he was gone for a business trip. She wanted to tease and watch him cook in their kitchen. In the life that they had built.

She wanted, she wanted, she wanted.

Angry tears slipped down her cheeks as she turned her face into the unfamiliar pillow.

Without thinking, she pulled her phone up and hovered over the lockscreen picture of Nikolai pulling a stupid face while at the wheel of his boat when he took her sailing for the first time.

A stronger ache pushed through her, and she was close to throwing the phone across the room. Instead, she moved to her contacts, and hesitated for a brief moment before calling the one person she had no right calling.

“Hello?” The voice on the other hand was rough with sleep and confusion. “Zo?”

“Mal.” Zoya choked.

“What’s wrong?” He was more alert, and she could just picture him sitting abruptly up in bed, jostling Alina in the process.

“No–”

“Don’t lie.” He sighed. “You only ever call me if something is wrong.”

Zoya chewed on her lip.

What the hell was she doing? Maybe she shouldn’t have sent Genya away. Maybe she should have asked her to stay. Maybe that would have stopped her from calling the one-night stand that had been a result of boredom.

“Zo?” He asked in lieu of her silence. “Are you in a ditch? Is that why you can’t talk? Do you need me to come over–”

“No.” She said abruptly. “Don’t come over.”

“Why? Is it Nikolai? I thought we had straightened–”

“I just–”

“Miss Nazyalensky, I need to take your vitals.” The voice of her night nurse interrupted and Zoya was just a hair too late in muffling the receiver.

The nurse came over before Zoya could hang up the phone, and she had no choice but to be under her ministrations for a few minutes before she was alone again.

“What the fuck was that?!” Mal exclaimed. “Are you in a hospital? Zo, what happened? Why isn’t Nik–”

“Just shut up for a second, Oretsev.” Zoya’s headache was coming back. The sharp pain made it hard to piece together how to explain why she was called. Or even to come up with a reasonable excuse to call him.

“How bad is it?” He whispered into the receiver.

She could have lied, she guessed. She could have passed off this late night phone call as an accident. But she had already said her share of lies tonight, and she didn’t think she had anymore in her.

“Six months.” She muttered.

“Fuck.”

She barked out a laugh, “Always good with words, weren’t you?”

“Zoya…Nikolai…He–he doesn’t know, does he?”

She could feel Mal read into the silence. Even from a distance, Mal had a way to read just under the surface of her. It had never been enough for her to let him in–not completely (she wasn’t a fan of being the second thought after the actual woman he loved).

But it was enough that he said, “You didn’t tell him, because of what happened with Alina, right?”

“Nikolai is an idiot, Mal.” Zoya bit out.

His derisive laugh crackled through, “You don’t have to tell me twice. But that didn’t really answer my question.”

“He’s an idiot, who doesn’t know how to quit. If he knew, he’d never leave my side. He’d destroy his life trying to save an incurable disease. He’d hate himself more than he already does, and I’d still be dead in six months.”

These were the words she has been repeating to herself for months after she found out about the diagnosis. She wanted to believe that if she repeated them enough then maybe it would make her feel better about every single time she had to hide from him when she had spent half an hour throwing up, or making up some excuse to go to the doctor’s, or hiding the clumps of her hair that were starting to fall off from her head.

But telling them to Mal with the sounds of monitors and the smells of chemical cleanliness overwhelming her, the statements fell flat.

“He’d want to know, Zo.” He said simply.

She gave another bitter laugh, “Well I’d want to not be dying. But we don’t always get what we want. Not everyone can have miracles like your dear Saint Alina.”

There was silence between them for a while. Zoya knew he wouldn’t hang up on her. Not even after that comment. Because Mal Oretsev may be petty sometimes or pigheaded even more times than that, but at his heart he was kind and he knew what pain sounded like.

“You want me to come over there and try to threaten some nurses to give you the good pillows?”

Zoya smiled for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, “Oh, you’re still the softie, aren’t you? No wonder Alina loves you.”

He laughed and then sighed.

“Zo…it’s okay….it’s okay to be scared of what comes next. When Alina was sick…Alina spent a long time trying to put on a brave face for me, but I just wished she would have let me see her scared. I just didn’t know how much time I would have with her, and I didn’t want to waste one second pretending like everything was okay.”

I’m not Alina. She wanted to say. I’m not going to get better. I’m not scared of what is going to happen to me. I’m scared of what would happen to him if he had stayed with me to the end.

“Haven’t you learned by now, Oretsev?” She said instead. “I’m never scared.”

Mal gave another laugh. There was a noise in the background, and Zoya could faintly hear him talking to someone in the room.

“Alina begging you to come back to bed?” She teased.

“Something like that.” He sighed. “Call again, Zoya. Better yet, call him. You don’t have to do this alone.”

“Yeah, yeah,” She waved him off, “Just go have fun with your saint, Mal.”

“I’ll talk to you later.”

He hung up, and the silence felt more deafening than before.

She didn’t know why she called Mal. She wished she could have even said that at least Mal had gone through something like this situation before–that he would have just the right words to make her feel better about all of this.

But it wasn’t that. Maybe she called Mal because she couldn’t call the one person who would have actually come running to her side.

Zoya flipped open her phone again, and just stared at her lockscreen.

She looked and looked until her eyes felt heavy, and the humming of the hospital faded and she was dreaming. Dreaming of warmer days. Dreaming of him

#zoyalai #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #kos #zoya x nikolai #gvbb23 #gvbb23fic #modern au

15 notes · View notes

nocontextgrishaverse · 1 year

Text

nikolai: zoya likes to say you can be part of the problem or part of the solution but I happen to believe that you can be both.

#nikolai lantsov #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai x zoya #zoyalai #king of scars #rule of wolves #grishaverse #incorrect quotes #source: modern family

93 notes · View notes

heliads · 1 year

Text

just a short time chapter one: didn't see the news

Y/N L/N and Nikolai Lantsov have already fallen in love. They have yet to meet. Their stories are over and done. There is far more to the world than just one series.

this time: Zoya knows better than to believe that whatever is going on between Y/N and Nikolai will last. It is the believing, though, that might do her in.

this chapter's song: paris

series masterlist / chapter two

Zoya Nazyalensky is accustomed to bad endings. Saints know she’s seen enough, caused enough, even been in enough of them to know. This one shouldn’t faze her, then. It does anyway. The worst part about it, she decides, is that it hasn’t started yet. All of the players are still in the good part, the part where they think they can get away with anything they want. Zoya knows otherwise. She always has.

Zoya is watching one such ending now, trying to figure out how bad it’s going to get. This story is worse than the others; it’s caught up not just her friends in this twisting mass of red lines and knotted thread, but her as well. The conspirator of all this, the one who drew up his sick master plan, didn't realize how much it would consume him. Perhaps none of them truly do.

It was not her idea, this. That doesn’t mean her hands will be clean of blood in the end, only that she was not the one to first plunge the knife into a heart or two. Aleksander set this into motion a couple of months ago. Zoya had sat there, listened, and known that this one would hurt.

She’s tried to rid herself of troublesome things like a conscience. Zoya has specialized in looking the other way over the years: for Alina, for Genya, even for herself. This should be no exception, and at the beginning, it wasn’t.

The plan was simple. In all honesty, Zoya thought it was a sign that maybe Aleksander was finally quieting down, practicing kindness instead of that never ending cruelty. Y/N L/N was going a little too far, everyone knew it. Zoya tried her hardest to course correct, but by the Saints, she’s never met with a person more determined to drag down everything with her. Maybe that’s a sign that Y/N’s rebellion will save her someday, but for now, it just forces Aleksander’s hand, and that has never been a good thing in all Zoya’s time of knowing him.

Zoya had been summoned to Aleksander’s office late one evening. It was not the first time her path had led to the so-called War Room when the lights were mostly off and no one else was around to see what happened. It used to excite her. Zoya has grown up, and now all she feels is fear.

Aleksander had been pacing as he always did when troubles grew to test his mettle more than normal. Zoya cast her gaze around the office, searching for signs of change. That’s the first indicator of his temper, as she’s learned; anything from a picture frame placed facedown can signal the end. The far wall is plastered with the photos of Aleksander’s clients, his conquests.

There’s an empty spot in the top row that he still hasn’t bothered to cover up. Then again, perhaps he keeps it barren in the hopes that he’ll be able to hang the photograph back up again. Zoya knows his delusions, though, and she knows that Alina Starkov will never come back here unless it’s to burn the place down.

Y/N, though, Y/N stays, and it is Y/N that they were to discuss that night. Alexander had stood, gripping the back of the chair in front of him until his knuckles ran of blood and turned deathly white.

“She’s out of control,” he’d whispered, his syllables unsettling and snakelike.

If there’s one thing Aleksander hates more than anything, it’s a lack of control. He fancies himself a general sometimes, the sole schemer in a war no one ever knows they’re serving in until it’s too late.

Zoya cleared her throat. “She can still be convinced to settle down.”

In all this time, Zoya still doesn’t know if she was lying or not. Y/N is Y/N, she refuses to make anything she does make sense. Sometimes, Zoya doesn’t even think Y/N knows who she is. The public sees one side of you; if you let that part of yourself grow too strong, you start forgetting what’s real and what isn’t. Y/N is just starting to fall. Zoya has no idea if she’s going to catch herself or not.

Aleksander, however, seems to have a plan for that. “She needs encouragement to see things our way,” he had mused, “that’s why we’re going to an outside party.”

Zoya’s brows knit together in confusion. “Who?”

Aleksander had slammed a news article down on the table in front of Zoya, the primary photograph winking up at her. It shows a gilded boy, a movie star so lost in the glow of someone else’s fame that he’s half blinded by it. Maybe that’s just Zoya’s lack of trust speaking, however; Nikolai Lantsov has not done anything to her yet, but he has yet to impress her, either.

“Lantsov’s agents reached out to me last night,” he said, “they have an idea I quite like.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” Zoya had asked, realizing belatedly what he meant.

“Of course not,” Aleksander had muttered, “but we can always paint him to look like a criminal. We protect our own, do we not?”

Zoya had not dared to answer that, but swept from the room the second Aleksander turned his back. Even then, both of them had known that it likely wouldn’t last. In fact, Aleksander was counting on them ruining each other. That bloody separation would rattle Y/N, forcing her to run back to Aleksander and his meddling business.

Zoya has to admit that she may have meddled as well. She’d been the one to encourage Y/N and Nikolai to fight to keep the image afloat. They were all dealt a failing hand, but Zoya would not be the one captaining the ship when it went under. No, she’d pull strings and provide advice whenever and wherever necessary if it meant both of them stayed intact. Aleksander never knew. No one did.

Now, Zoya is sitting by herself and wondering if she might have gone too far. The problem is not that Nikolai and Y/N hate each other, far from it. Despite the fact that Aleksander only accepted Nikolai’s gamble because he knew there could never be two more unlikely stars, they’re working somehow anyway. Call it star-crossed lovers, call it Fate liking a good laugh, but regardless, they grow closer by the day.

Too close, that is. Zoya watches Y/N, she sees the way Y/N smiles when she talks about the Lantsov princeling. Where there had once been an irritated glare, there’s a spark, a light. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. It wasn’t supposed to happen at all.

Zoya had not meant for Nikolai and Y/N to truly fall in love. She doesn’t think they’ve realized it, either, but they will soon enough. Something like this is impossible to ignore. Y/N and Nikolai are falling farther and farther away from the public frenzy. They ignore headlines, they sideline gossip, they see no photos and hear no lies. All that seems to matter is each other.

She’s monitoring them now, even if they aren’t aware of it. As Zoya sips her coffee in the shade of a small shop, Y/N and Nikolai are sitting together in a bistro down the street. They’re located by a window, which is meant to be a nod to their respective agencies that they’re just doing this for the media attention, but Zoya knows better. No one looks at someone with that sort of verve unless they’re in love.

As Zoya sits there, Y/N and Nikolai get up. He holds open the door for her, and Y/N laughs. Zoya can’t quite hear her from here, but she can imagine that Y/N’s teasing him for being too much of a gentleman. They hear a camera shutter from down the block and their footsteps quicken, stumbling down pretend alleyways and lingering quietly in the shade until they think no one can see them. They’ve left their wine on the table, but they still laugh like they’re dizzy, like they might stop breathing entirely just to experience the full rush of it all.

Zoya sighs, forcing her eyes forward just long enough until they disappear from view forever. She shouldn’t be thinking like this. Zoya has a job to do, which is to keep track of the two lovebirds until their scheduled ruse ends and they break up in full view of the public. The only problem is that Zoya knows that conclusion to something that never should have been real in the first place will kill them just as surely as a blade.

How is it that Zoya is the only one who sees the fact that they’re running headlong towards their own demise? Her knuckles clench around the handle of her mug, and not even the gentle cloud of steam dusting her fingertips can convince Zoya to ever mellow. Zoya has seen countless heartbreaks, even helped them along in the interest of a bigger goal, but this is worse. These are her friends.

Even though Zoya scoffs at Nikolai all she likes, she can’t deny that he’s a good man, and those are hard to come by. He truly cares for Y/N, and Y/N truly cares for him. Y/N, who has been one of the only people to treat Zoya as more than an enemy or a potential pawn. When this ends, it’s going to wreck all of them. Even Zoya, with her habits of keeping her walls as high and insurmountable as possible. There’s no way any of them can let this go.

Someone slides into the seat in front of her. Two someones, actually. Zoya blinks, startled, then realizes that the intruders are hardly worth the barb of a well-timed insult for encroaching on her space. Zoya has already gone to the trouble of tracking down Y/N to make sure she’s doing alright, so she should hardly be surprised that Tolya and Tamar would return the favor for Nikolai.

Tamar’s eyes dart briefly to the street, then return to Zoya again. “You see it too, don’t you?”

Zoya decides that she’ll feign ignorance for the time being. True, the twins haven’t done anything to signify that they’re not to be trusted, but Zoya doesn’t trust anyone. Not even herself.

“See what?” She asks instead.

Tamar scoffs. “You know what I’m talking about. They’re falling in love.”

Zoya exhales slowly. “Are you here to stop it or to commiserate?”

Tolya clears his throat contemplatively. “I believe that not all love is to be stopped. If these two, no matter how unlikely, can find some source of real happiness, perhaps we should let them have it. It will break eventually, why end it before its time? To quote the famous poet–”

Tamar’s eyes widen and she interrupts quickly before Tolya can start another extended poetry monologue. Zoya’s already sat through her fair share. “No poetry right now, I don’t think I can take it. It’s already troublesome enough to see the two of them running around like they’re going to make it through this, I can’t stomach couplets as well.”

Zoya snorts before she can stop herself. “Tell me about it. I can’t get Y/N to focus on anything, she’s too entranced with your golden boy.”

Tamar grins too. “Same with Nikolai. I haven’t seen him like this before, it’s almost funny. They both seemed like such serious performers, and now they’re undone by a schoolyard crush.”

Zoya’s smile fades slightly. “That’s the problem, I don’t think it’s just a crush. This thing has to end, and when that happens, it’ll ruin them both. Saints, this whole ruse was supposed to save their reputations, but the tailspin after they’re separated could leave them even worse off.”

Tolya grimaces. “We’re not there yet, though.”

“No,” Tamar concludes, “but we will be.”

“What do we do about it?” Tolya asks at last.

“Nothing,” Zoya whispers, “we watch it end, just like them. We pick up the pieces. That’s what they hired us to do.”

Tamar’s brow furrows. “Always so pleasant, Zoya. Feel free to hope that they’ll make it out alive.”

Zoya considers saying several things, but in the end she keeps her mouth shut. If she were to dare to voice her thoughts aloud, she would bring up countless stories about how every time someone relies on hope, it lets them down. Zoya knows how this particular love will go, how disastrous its end will be. No, Nikolai and Y/N only have heartbreak ahead of them.

Fleetingly, she wonders if Y/N will despise her for this, for letting her risk her heart after all this time just to break it like a bone. Normally, Zoya would tell herself that it doesn’t matter, that the job is just that, a job, and it will end like everything else.

In the end, Zoya knows that there is nothing to be done. It’s what Tolya and Tamar know. It’s even what Nikolai and Y/N know. The end has always been there, but the middle part is okay. That’s what keeps the heartbreak alive, knowing that even though they cannot avoid the last of their days, the going is good while they still have time.

Zoya’s phone vibrates in her hand and she checks it absentmindedly. It’s Y/N, something about how she’ll be late to an evening meeting. She gives no reason, but Zoya knows it anyway. Zoya dims her screen again, and lets herself wonder how Y/N will react after this is over. It is only a matter of time, but Zoya will fight to give the unlucky couple every moment she can. It’s what a friend would do, and Zoya is just that. A friend, even one that seems to be fighting on the other side of the war. What a cruel coincidence. What an unavoidable truth.

all by design universe tag list: @neelia-ficrecs

grishaverse tag list: @rogueanschel, @deadreaderssociety, @cameronsails, @mxltifxnd0m, @story-scribbler, @retvenkos, @thatfangirl42, @amortensie, @gods-fools-heroes, @bl606dy, @auggie2000

30 notes · View notes

zoyaofthegardvn · 1 year

Note

hiii, love your work sm! i was wondering if you could maybe write headcanons for dating modern au!zoya? thank you sm 💓 keep doing what you are doing

Modern!Zoya Headcanons

A/N: Awh thanks so much! That's so kind! I love this idea, thank you for requesting :)

CW: None that I can think of!

I think you two def meet at school, maybe the same university

Like I really think it'd be an academic rivals to lovers type thing

Maybe you two have different majors though, like you're doing English Literature and she's in Political Science

But, your minor is Poli Sci, and her minor is English

So, you two have a crossover class at least once a semester

You're way better at writing essays than she is, but she can memorize and recite the hell out of court cases, laws and legal standards, current events, etc.

You're always neck and neck for top of the class, and you two share an equal amount of wins

It took a solid three semesters before you two realized you worked better as a team

So you two very hesitantly started studying together, doing homework together, even collaborating on projects and papers

Then slowly, study dates turned into date dates

And I don't think either of you really noticed

Until you were suddenly not letting her pay for her own coffee and meals

And she was picking you up from your apartment to drive you to campus every day, even when you didn't have a class together

And when you packed some snacks, you brought her some, too

And she always brought another sweatshirt, because the campus Starbucks is freezing and you never bring one

And then you start going off campus, grabbing dinner at local restaurants, seeing movies, going to the damn farmer's market every Saturday morning

She comes to see you at work, bringing you a drink

You start staying over at her place when studying runs a bit late

Until eventually, you're having a wine night, at your place this time, and Zoya kisses you

You're struggling to uncork the first wine bottle of the evening, and she's laughing, but you refuse to give up and let her try

Your hands are sweaty, and you can't focus because you're laughing too, her happiness being infectious

She grabs the bottle from your hand, and when your skin meets, you blush

She doesn't let go of your hand as she sets the bottle on the counter

You look at her funny, her laughter dying down quickly, her face serious

Before you can ask her what's wrong, she surges forward, pecking your lips

It's so quick, you don't even get the chance to kiss back

She pulls away, eyes wide, apologies spilling from her lips

Then you're grabbing her face and kissing her too, stopping her rambling, soothing her worries

When you pull away, breathless, you ask, "How long have you wanted to do that?"

"Since sophomore year," she says, and kisses you again

You two are exclusive immediately after that

And she lets everyone know

She posts a sweet picture of the two of you on her socials, you kissing her cheek while she smiles big

It's not the first time you appeared on her page, and the comments were flooded with "It's about time," and "omg finally!!" and "I knew it."

You hold her hand all the time in public, wrap an arm around her waist, keep a hand on her lower back

She's always kissing your cheek when you two depart, and she even steals a kiss on the lips if campus isn't especially busy

You make a highlight on your Instagram page of pictures of her, because you post one nearly every day

And her profile picture is from the day you had told her you loved her for the first time, and she decides that it will literally never change

Second semester of senior year, though it's just one more semester, you two move in together

She plans to begin working for an agency she'd been interning with, and you'll start a Master's program right after undergrad

Your apartment is full of pictures together, bookshelves, plants, string lights, good food (Zoya cooks for you a lot) and lots of seating

You two host your friends all the time

Genya, David, Alina, Nikolai, Tamar, and Tolya are there at least twice a week

Your home is always full of laughter and love, I truly think you two almost never fight and when you do, it's over in minutes

You two graduate, party with your friends, and spend the evening together.... celebrating in other ways (iykyk)

Her first day full time at her new job, you pack her lunch and make her take a "first day" picture, and she's scowling in it but you don't mind

When you start your Master's after a summer off, she's helping you with homework even when you insist she doesn't have to do that

You two make it a priority to have at least one date night a week, even though you have busy schedules

She works weird hours sometimes, and you have to juggle school on top of your part time job

But you make it work

You either see a movie and grab dinner, or go for a walk in a local park and bring home take out, or grab drinks and cheap food, or you go to a local museum and get coffee beforehand

Anything that's just you two

Nights with friends don't count as date night

You like to be alone together, to fall impossibly deeper in love the closer you grow

And I think that after your Master's program is over, when you get a job offer in another state, you two have the biggest and really the only terrifying fight of your relationship

You propose long distance, and Zoya resists, claiming that you two had been way too serious for way too long for that kind of relationship to start now

You want to go, and Zoya wants you to, too, but you need to start the job within two weeks, and Zoya isn't ready to leave your college town behind so fast

But the opportunity is one you thought you'd only ever dream of, and Zoya would never deprive you of that

But Zoya needs time to find a position in the city you'd move to, she needs to talk to and say goodbye to her friends, she needs to find a home for the two of you to start over again in, because she loved your shared apartment and is scared to leave it

After two nights of staying in different rooms, snapping at each other, crying, even throwing around the idea of breaking up, you have enough

"Damnit, Zoya, we're going to be together forever and you fucking know that!"

"I thought I did, but you're the one that's so ready to leave!"

"This is my dream, Z, how can I turn it down?"

"I'm not asking you to say no, I'm asking for time."

"Time you know I don't have."

It feels like your heart is broken, and Zoya feels the exact same way

She'd follow you anywhere, but she didn't think it would come so fast, with so little time to adjust

And she knows it isn't your fault

So when you climb into the bed in the guest room, crying and shaking, she holds you to her chest, she rubs your back, she kisses your head

She lets herself cry, too, and the both of you fall asleep, finally finding comfort in at least being back in the same room

The next morning, you ask her to talk to you, calmly. No more yelling, no more anger, no more sadness

She agrees, of course. Apologies are exchanged, kisses are shared, and you two begin to figure out how to make this work

You confess to her that honestly, you're ready to really start a life together. Marriage, kids, a permanent home.

She confesses she felt the same, and she was worried that you wanting to leave meant that that wasn't what you wanted

You two decide that you'll leave first, you'll start the job, and Zoya will come stay with you every so often as you survey the area for a house to buy

It's a huge step for the both of you, buying a house, but you want to prove to each other that this is forever

And you want to show Zoya that you're not running away from anything, but you want her to run towards something with you

It takes about four months, four long months hardly being around one another, but you finally find a house you both feel like you could see yourselves growing in

Zoya has landed a job with the local FBI field office, a huge accomplishment for her, and you two spend her weekend in the city celebrating and crying tears of joy

You get to move in to your home about a month later, and so really, five months you two spent long distance, and you're both beyond excited for it to be over

Alina and Genya travel with Zoya to help the two of you move in and set up, and after a few days, they have to return home

You share tearful goodbyes, but mostly, you're excited to have your home to yourselves

You share a meal, take out from a local place you'd been raving about for months, the plates laid out on your cardboard box coffee table

The furniture could wait to be built, you just wanted to soak in your first night in your home

And you had gotten the bed put together, which was the most important part ;)

But when the meal is done, and you get up to drag her to the bedroom, she stops you, a loving smile on her face

She pulls out a little box from her back pocket, and you instantly burst into tears

She tears up, too, and her hand shakes as she pulls the box open, a ring you couldn't have picked better yourself nestled inside

She can't even finish asking you to marry her before your squealing, nodding, throwing your arms around her and kissing her as you chant "yes, yes, of course I'll marry you" into her mouth

And so, the first night the two of you spend in your new home, alone, the newest journey of your shared life together, you spend as fiancees.

36 notes · View notes

moonshine999 · 2 months

Text

Birthday

Day : 3

Ship : Zoyalai (Zoya Nazyalensky x Nikolai Lantsov)

AU : rival professors (pre-relationship)

Dividers by @cafekitsune

He was supposed to be here to finally finish correcting last week’s assignments..when exactly his eyes decided he was going to fall asleep was a mystery.

He fought the sluggishness and pushed his coat off him. With the greatest difficulty was he able to lift himself up and get a clearance of his surroundings. The librarian had long left, the shelves looked organised as always and a small light hung above- lighting a handful of empty tables. One of those lucky tables was his own and the one directly across.

He wasn’t alone in the library.

The fact was he was in the quiet room with no other but a devil in the form of the college’s business professor.

Her face balanced in the palm of her hand while her eyes remained glued to her laptop screen. Scrolling mindlessly. Or perhaps getting work done, unlike him. Thin rimmed glasses barely sat on the bridge of her nose and sleep coated her eyes. The same eyes that shone in the full moon’s light and the same eyes that gave him but a glance in the hallways. The same eyes that smiled for her lips and the same eyes that left a mark on every soul that had the pleasure to witness them. The same eyes he could go crazy over if he allowed it.

He cleared his throat. “Professor Nazyalensky.” She looked up at her name. A blank expression. As was standard. If only he could figure out what every blank expression meant. Which meant scorn, anger and frustration and which meant amusement, intrigue and pleasure. She lifted herself from her table and looked back with a raised eyebrow. “Professor Lantsov.”

“I don’t mean to intrude in your merry time but I heard everyone wishing you today so I’m assuming it’s your birthday..right?” If he could cringe further into his seat, he would. She sighed and diverted her eyes. How many times had she heard the same thing today. “Your assumption is correct, yes.” “Ah well , you know, happy birthday.” A smile played around on her lips but she didn’t let it. All he got was a nod and her going back to the blue screen in front of her.

“It must be a bit tough no..having to work so late on your birthday..” he awkwardly continued. Where this incessant need to talk to her came from, may the Gods know but it prodded at him. Talk to her. Know her.

She smiled this time. Softly. But she did. “Well, yeah it is a bit pathetic.” He scoffed “Well..if it is pathetic, then we both are pathetic. Working way past suggested timings.”

Her smile grew. Just a smidge. Her eyes looked back at him and his sick mind wished he could drown in them.

He blinked and snapped himself out of his trance. With a look at his watch, he said “You know..working on your birthday is a bit, like, not cool. You have half an hour till today becomes tomorrow, would you, perhaps, like to spend it in some company?”

She cleared her throat and chuckled. He said something stupid didn’t he? The want to talk to her more just grew. Why did she laugh? Was it funny? Was it embarrassing? Was it a nice gesture? Or was it just..him? She sighed again. “Why not?”

His eyes could have popped out of his sockets right then and there. She agreed..? Was it just the intoxication the night brought upon them or was it genuine? He was probably the first person in this entire campus that got her to be genuine if the latter was true. “Lantsov, you just going to spend the last twenty minutes of today staring or actually keep true to your offer?”

He cleared his throat and put his mind to the mess of the table, quickly shoving it into his bag and jogging over the to the table across and sitting next to her.

He sighed, contemplating what he just did in the past two seconds. Nikolai then looked up at her, for the first time being as close as he was. She was looking right back at him. For who knows how long? Her hair fell perfectly into place and imbalanced glasses looked just right. The moon in the window behind painted a halo around her head as her eyes spoke the same blank expression. But this wasn’t just the standard expression. No.

Could it possibly be … some sort of… affection?

#nikolai lantsov #zoya nazyalensky #zoya x nikolai #zoyalai #30 days of fluff #king of scars #rival professors #modern au

5 notes · View notes