Latest Posts by travellingarmy - Page 7

Holiday Special in Liyue

This was written for 2020 Christmas and decided to wait to upload it here. Be warned that characters revealed/released after December 2020 will not show up here.

Not a oneshot. Platonic!

Characters: Baizhu, Childe, Chongyun, Ganyu, Keqing, Ningguang Qiqi, Xianling, Xiao, Xingqui, Xinyan, Zhongli.

You are the traveller.

Spoiler alert: If you have not finished Farewell, Archaic Lord, I suggest you to not read this until you have done so.

Word count: 4.2k

---

The prosperous Liyue Harbor had gone for far too long with sunshine and warmth, so when the cold air of Snezhnaya decided to blow with greater extent, the people immediately seek warmth in buildings and bundling themselves with layers of clothing.

"Wow..! It's snowing in Liyue?" Paimon looks out the window of the room you were staying in, staring at the snow that fell slowly to the ground, amaze at the sight of it. "Well, it is that festive season around Teyvat," you said, smiling at the sight of your companion being so excited at such a small thing. The first snow falling was indeed a sight to see for everyone to get so hyped for the oncoming day that they were most looking forward to- the holidays.

"Oh, we should start looking for gifts, Paimon," you say, counting down the days left. "Ooh! Is it for Paimon?" Paimon asks, turning to look at you with her star-filled eyes. You laughed and shook your head. "You'll have your present too, but I'm talking about giving gifts to our friends."

"Ooh, it's fun giving gifts!" Paimon nods excitedly. You walked over to the desk in the room, pulling out a notepad and pen from its drawer. "Well, any idea what we could buy then?" You looked at your companion. "Food! If Paimon likes food, so will they," she answers. You shook your head with a smile, dismissing her idea and went to decide the gifts yourself, which took a lot of thinking to do and once you were done thinking for Zhongli's- the last person on the list- you and Paimon headed outside.

"Paimon doesn't get it, can't you just pick whatever looks expensive and give it as a gift?" Paimons hovers beside you, watching as you crouch on the sands and pick up shells. The first gift you were picking up was for Childe. He hasn't left Liyue just yet, saying that he wants to loiter around a bit before you two part for a good amount of time.

You shook your head. "Giving a gift to someone must be from the bottom of your heart to truly be special," you say, picking up a beautiful starconch shell that you think that Childe might like. "Hmph, but why that man? He's a Harbinger," Paimon states, which was something you couldn't argue so you just shrug and stood up, a beautiful shell in hand. "That's one thing down. Now, let's go to the market-- a lot of the items could be found there." And indeed were there the many things you were looking for, each gift different from the last.

"Hm? Hey, why if it isn't (Y/N)." Just ahead, in the middle of the streets, was the brunette whom you had fought not long ago. "You guys shopping?" He looks at the bags your were holding curiously, trying to get a peek inside one of them. "A, ah..!" You look towards Paimon who immediately shoved the gifts inside her infinity backpack, Childe staring quizzically at your hasty action. "Yeah, just grocery shopping," you said, partially lying since you did went and buy food for Paimon.

You gulped, seeing as his eyes revealed skepticism, but was relieved when he didn't push on. "Ah, anyway, it's a good thing that I bumped into you, actually," he says, "I was hoping to invite you to dinner for the holiday-- with Mr. Zhongli, of course."

"Hey, what about Paimon!?" Paimon asks, a bit offended at her disregard of presence. "Ah, of course you too, Paimon. I'd figured that if (Y/N) agrees, you'll come along." With that being said, Paimon agrees in your stead, so that you didn't have a say. "I'm glad to hear that. Then, I'll see you quite soon." He waves and disappears into the crowd.

You turn to look at Paimon. "I thought you didn't like Childe," you state, to which your little companion shrugs and giggles awkwardly. She just wanted the free food from the expensive restaurant that was hard for ordinary folks to get in.

And so, when the first snow on that day fell, you two were already up and ready. "Who should we go to first?" Paimon asks, to which you ponder for a quick second before answering, "To Bubu Pharmacy."

Upon arriving, you didn't see anyone at the front counter, but you know all too well by now that there is. "Hello, Qiqi." You walk closer, leaning over the counter to see the little zombie-child. "(Y/N), you are here," she says softly, cranking her head up to look at you and Paimon.

"Heya, Qiqi! What are you doing?" Paimon asks, seeing herbs beside her on the ground. Qiqi notices where she was looking and said, "Oh, Qiqi was arranging these before Dr. Baizhu comes back, but Qiqi can't reach the higher drawers." At the sight of the pouting child, you and Paimon felt pity. "Awe, Qiqi, don't worry. We'll help you," Paimon says, but when she said 'we' she meant you.

Atfter putting the herbs into their proper cabinet, Qiqi thanked you for your help. "Oh? Well, if it isn't (Y/N). Do you need anything? I doubt you came here to play with little Qiqi." Baizhu enters from the front, a warm smile on his face. You greeted the man and suddenly remembered that you came to the pharmacy with a purpose. "Oh? A present?" Baizhu repeats, seeing Paimon take two boxes from her bag. Humming, you nod and hand one of the present over to the doctor-- the one which was larger of the two.

"Would it be alright to open it now?" he asks, eyeing the box in excitement. You nodded. "Be my guess." Hearing this, Baizhu did not wait a second too long and opened it. In it, contained herbs of all sorts across Teyvat, all in their own mini boxes. You had heard of his incurable illness, and wanting to help him find the medicine, you bought many and all sorts of herbs. "Oh my, thank you, (Y/N)." The look in his eyes clearly showed warmth and love. He truly loved the present.

"You're welcome. I hope you like the things I put in there." You smiled and then knelt to the same level as Qiqi. "And this one is for you. I'm sure you'll love it." Qiqi reaches her small hands and took the gift silently and open it. Looking at what was inside, Qiqi gasps and stares up at you. "Coconut milk?" she asks and you nod. Qiqi carefully places the box and wrap her arms around your neck, saying a 'thank you'. You hug her small frame in return and the two of you soon separate. Qiqi went ahead and went to the back to open her drink, leaving you and Baizhu, him thanking you once more.

"Enjoy your holiday," Baizhu bids, seeing you walk down the long set of stairs and disappearing amongst the crowds. The next place you planned on going to was the office occupied by the Qixing. It wasn't as grand as the Jade Chamber that met its end, but regardless, it was still fancy, seeing as this was in Liyue after all.

When you opened the door, you were immediately pushed to the ground-- though not on purpose. "Ah, my apologies. I wasn't looking where I was going." It was an assistant working for the Qixing, and by the looks of her state and those within the building, you could tell that she was stressed.

"Oh, it's no big deal. Here, let's help you." You picked up a file of papers along with the female and stood up, giving her her papers. "Thank you. I'm sorry, but I must be off." She hastily leaves you on the spot, not giving you time to say anything.

"Wow, Lady Ningguang doesn't even rest on holidays," Paimon says, seeing that there was much chaos in the building. Walking further into the building, you met a familiar face, looking quite distressed. "Ganyu!" You called, drawing her to a halt midway and turning to you and Paimon. "Ah, (Y/N), what are you doing here?" she asks, setting down a brown box thag she was carrying onto a nearby table.

"It looks like you guys are quite busy, so I'll make it short. I wanted to give you guys a gift for Christmas," you say and handed her a box, to which she looks to you before taking it. "A gift? Ah, you didn't need to go to such lengths for me," she shyly says, scratching her cheek. You smiled at the adeptus. "You're my friend. Of course, I won't forget about you," you said, earning a smile from her.

"Then, I'm assuming you want to see Lady Ningguang as well?" she asks and you nod. "Well, I can take you to her, but I'm not quite sure if she would be free to have a conversation with you."

"That's fine. I didn't plan to stay long and keep her from her work," you state. Ganyu nods her head and leads you to her office where you both see her behind the desk, eyes glued on a sheet of paper. "Lady Ningguang." Ganyu lightly taps on the door's frame with her knuckles. "Someone would like to see you."

The Tianquan looks up and sees you. "Ah, (Y/N), what brings you here? It is quite nice to see you, but I'm afraid it isn't quite the appropriate time to sit down and have tea." She stands up from her seat and walks around, her stature hovering yours. Ganyu excuses herself and returns to her work. "Um, why don't you and Paimon sit down first?" She ushers the two of you to a cushioned chair as she took the one opposite of yours.

"Forgive me for my rudeness as I don't quite have the things to brew you tea and give you a snack," she says. You shook your head. "No, it's alright. We didn't plan to keep you away from your work for too long," you say. "I noticed how you don't have a lot of assistants today, although you seem to be quite busy."

"Ah, yes, I have sent home the majority of them, seeing as it is Christmas. Those who are in the building right now, do so of their own volition. It is much appreciated," she states, staring out of the open door to see one of her assistants running past the door. "Wait, so, if no one decided to help you, you would still be here doing work?"

She turns to you and smiled. "Of course. There are many things to do since the incident with a past god that if I take a break, I'm afraid that I might have more work to do," she said, seeing your face turn to disbelief. Lady Ningguang is truly one of a kind. She chuckles. "Don't worry about it, (Y/N). Anyway, what did you come here for?"

"Right! I came to give you a gift.." You took out a small, rectangular box that was beautifully wrapped and adorned with a ribbon. "Hm, for me?" She kindly takes the present and stares at it and then to you, who smiled excitedly. "May I?" she asks and you nodded. It was a two-set jaded hairpin of a dragon and pheonix. She was in awe of the present, showing you her sincere love for the gift. You admit, it was quite expensive-- the most expensive gift on your list. It hurt your wallet and soul, but upon seeing her reaction, it made you feel a little better and felt as if it was totally worth it.

"Thank you, (Y/N). I wish to give you something in return--" You cut her off, putting a hand up and shaking your head. "I didn't give you a gift and expect you would give one back," you said and smile. "I'm happy that you like them." You chatted a bit as to not make it seem a bit rude that you were there to just drop off and leave before getting up and leaving the building.

"(Y/N)?" Drawing yours and Paimon's attention to your right, you see the Yuheng of the Qixing. "What were you doing inside the office?" The female draws closer, much relaxed than when the 'death' of Rex Lapis took place.

"Keqing, I was going to look for you just now!" you greet. "Looking for me?" she repeats and you nodded. "I was going to give you a gift, but you weren't inside." You handed her a small, purple box with a single ribbon wrapping it. The girl stare at the box on surprise and looks up at you. "I don't recall ever doing anything that might make you want to give me a gift," she trailed.

You shook your head. "It's a Christmas gift," you said. "Ah, Christmas.. Yes, thank you. Although, you could just have left it to Ganyu to deliver it to me," she states. "But it wouldn't feel more meaningful if I were to do that," you said, smiling. The Yuheng smiles and thanks you once more and waved you off as you went to look for the others, going to the food street that you know one of them is bound to be at.

"Xianling, hey!" The sudden call of her name draws the little chef  to your direction. "Ah, (Y/N)!" She smiles, seeing you and Paimon draw close. "Oh? (Y/N) is here?" Another voice steps in, bringing your attention to one of the tables.

Placing the book that covered the other person's face, they greeted you with a smile. "Xingqui! And Chongyun?" You look to the side of the male and see that his dear friend was also there, greeting you with a quick 'hello'.

"Xiangling had just recently added a new menu for the holiday, so why don't the two of you come and sit down? It'll be my treat," Xingqui gestures to the two remaining seats. "Ooh, yay!" Paimon floats over to one of them, excited for the free meal.

You shook your head, smiling, and joined the three at the table. "Xiangling, I'd like to order two more of what we ordered just now," Xingqui says to the female and she nods. "You got it!" she says and dashes off to the kitchen.

"What are the two of you doing here? I doubt you came seeking for food." Xingqui turns his head away from the disappearing chef and to you. "We actually wanted to give Xiangling a present. And since that the two of you are here, it makes things easier for me since I was about to look for you guys after," you admit, drawing a curious gaze from the two, young males.

"Oh? You've gotten us presents as well? How sweet of you," Xingqui compliments, giving a close-eyed smile. "We can save the gift-giving after we have our food. That way, it feel much more special."

Xiangling returns to the front, balancing a couple of dishes wherever she could and deliver it to your table. "We have not tried the food yet, so let us enjoy it together." Xingqui smiles.

Paimon was the first to dig in, of course, and the first to feel full. Chongyun, however, couldn't quite enjoy the food and created havoc in the restaurant-- Xingqui ordered a meal with spice, not letting his friend know of it. It was always chaotic with this duo.

"Ah, I think this would be the most perfect time to hand out the presents, my liege," Xingqui says, chin resting on the back of his hands and giving you a cheeky, close-eyed smile as he ignore his dear friend running around in the back.

You eyed the bookworm and Chongyun with a semi questioning and worrying look, not sure what to say at that moment. "I'll also hold onto dear Chongyun's present for when he gets better," he adds. "A, ah.. Alright." After handing him his and Chongyun's present, you excused yourself for a bit to hand Xiangling her present. "Oh, wow! A gift for me? Thank you, (Y/N)!" The girl giggles and gave you an earnest smile.

After that, you, Paimon, Xingqui, and the crazed Chongyun stood outside of the restaurant, ready to bid goodbye and part ways. "It was truly an honour to dine with you and I extend my thanks on behalf of Chongyun," Xingqui says, re-adjusting the arm of Chongyun's around his neck. "We better be off now. Have a wonderful time." With that, the second son of some rich family, turns the opposite direction and drags his passed out friend along, disappearing from your sight.

"Who are we going to next?" Paimon asks, feeling satisfied. "Xinyan," you answered. The search for Xinyan wasn't easy, seeing as she has to move around the city to hide from the Milleliths for when she performs.

"Hey, Xinyan!" you called out when you finally found her sitting on a crate in some corner. The girl stopped whatever she was doing and looks up at you. "Oh, hey! Whatcha doin' here? You finally here to see one of my concerts?" She grins, straightening herself up. You chuckled, feeling a bit guilty. "Ah, actually, I can't do that today, sorry," you said, scratching the back of your head and averting your eyes.

"Haha, it's no big deal. I figured that you were here for somethin' else. So, what is it?" she asks, her usual grin unwavering when she asked. Knowing this, you felt a bit relieved, taking out the present meant for her. "This is for you." The girl looks af the gift with a visible expression of surprise. "For me?" she asks, slowly taking the gift from your hand. "Uh, can I open it?" She looks up from the box and to you, looking for permission.

"Well, it is yours," you say. The girl opens and the look of delight glimmer in her eyes. She looks up at you with a semi disbelief in her eyes. "No way, are you sure this is for me? It looks expensive!" And it indeed was, but it wasn't as expensive as the hairpins for Ningguang. "Of course, it's for you. Who else would it be for, if not for you?" you ask. The girl grins and smacks your back hard, causing you to cough. "Thanks for this, mate. I mean it."

"Ah, it's no problem," you hiss, trying to rub your back of the tingling pain. The girl cackles at your actions, knuckles resting on the side of her hips as she does so. "Well, since ya aren't stayin', it means that you have places to be, yeah? Then, you best be off." She pushes you along. "You can always come and see one of my performances later."

You look over your shoulder, and with a smile, you nodded. "Let's go, Paimon," you say to your friend and made your way outside the city to the inn at Dihua Marsh, hoping that the person you want to see will be there.

"Do you think he'll be here?" Paimon asks as you two took the elevator up. "Well, that is what I'm hoping for." With that said, the elevator safely reached the top and you waltz inside to find Verr Goldett behind the counter as always. "Oh? (Y/N), what brings you here?" The boss of the inn greets with a smile.

"Sorry to drop by so suddenly. I am looking for Xiao. Is he here?" you ask. She brought up a finger to her chin and look at the ceiling, thinking. "Mm, I believe he is out right now. Is something the matter?" she asks, facing you. You shook your head. "I just wanted to give him something. Is it alright if I wait for him?"

"Of course." She nods. You made your way up the stairs, Paimon trailing not too far behind, to the highest level of the inn and waited at the balcony that you two had first met. You remembered it not having the best first impression of the adeptus, but the journey certainly changed that.

"What are you doing here?" A cold, monotone voice of a man asks from behind, drawing yours and Paimon's attention.

There stood the yaksha whom you have been excited to meet, crossing his arms as he gave you the look of questioning and solid eyes. "I was waiting for you," you earnestly say. "Waiting for me? For what?" He walks closer to where you stood and rested his arms on the railing, putting all weight on it.

You took out the present, drawing the male's attention away from the scenery to you, a curious gaze as he does so. "To give you this." You outstretched your two arms that held a larger box than the others that you've given. He looks at you quite surprised, but turned to yet another confused look. "Uh, what's this?" he asks, looking from you to the box.

"Don't tell me you don't know that today is the holiday!" you say in almost disbelief. "Huh? Oh, yeah.. Is it that time of year that mortals get excited about?" he questions and you nodded happily and urge him to take the gift- to which he did. "Uh, um.. T, thank you," he utters almost in a whisper, averting his eyes to the ground and covering his mouth with a hand. You notice that his ears was slightly pink, making you chuckle.

"H, hey, what's so funny?" He snaps his head towards your shaking body as you couldn't hold the laugh. "S-sorry, it's just that.. I never thought that an adeptus could get so shy from receiving presents!" you honestly say. Hearing this, he turns his head away, his face much more red.

He clicks his tongue. "I've never received a present from anyone else other than Rex Lapis, okay?" he states, trying to hide his face. Hearing this, you stopped chuckling and stare with a soft gaze at the shy adeptus. "Well, I won't hold much of your time, and I'm sure you wouldn't want us to watch you open the present, so I'll get going now," you say, beginning to walk down the stairs with a wave.

"W, wait!" You stopped on your tracks and look over your shoulder. He turns his body to face you and took a deep breath. "Thank you.. I mean it," Xiao says, eyes still glued to the ground. You huffed a smile. "You're welcome. Happy holidays, Xiao."

"Ooh, are we going to go to the dinner with Childe and Mr. Zhongli now?" Paimon asks excitedly when the two of you got to the bottom, to which you nodded. "We can also give the gifts to them there."

"Hey, (Y/N)!" Childe waves from a far off table once you two stepped inside Luili Pavillion, standing up to greet you excitedly. "I was worried that you forgot about today," he admits, scratching the back of his head as he chuckles.

"Even if I did forget, I'm sure Paimon wouldn't forget it, seeing as you're treating us to a free meal," you laugh and turn to greet Zhongli who greets back. "It is certainly most enjoyable to dine with others on such a day," Zhongli admits, a small smile on his charming face. "The food should be here quite soon. I have ordered a special dish of Liyue that only comes once a year of this month."

"Ooh, Paimon can't wait!" she squeals in her seat. "Ah, I think it would be appropriate to give you guys your gifts now," you say and took out two gifts-- one for each of the male. "Oh? A present?" Zhongli humbly takes his gift, eyeing the box. "It is quite different from offerings," you state.

"Thank you, (Y/N)," Childe says, taking his present off of your hands. "I'm honoured to receive a gift from you." He chuckles. Soon after saying that, two waiters came to your table and placed a hefty amount of food on the table. "Ah, it's finally here! Well, dig in."

"If you should ever want anything else on the menu, please ask away," one of the waiters say. "Hoho! Paimon is sure to ask!" Paimon says and grabs her chopsticks.

The night was full of warmth and chatter, and a crying Childe who asks for a spoon and fork to eat the meal before Paimon could vacuum. What happened on that day was special and felt as if all the chaos that had now passed didn't even happen at all. You were sure to miss Liyue when you depart to Inazuma, a part of you remaining on this special day on repeat.

---

Happy holidays everyone and have a happy new year! ^♡^

~♡~

Holiday Special in Mondstadt

This was written for 2020 Christmas and decided to wait to upload it here. Be warned that characters revealed/released after December 2020 will not show up here.

Not a oneshot. Platonic!

Characters: Albedo, Amber, Barbara, Bennett, Diluc, Diona, Dvalin, Fischl, Jean, Kaeya, Klee, Lisa, Mona, Noelle, Razor, Sucrose, Venti.

You are the traveller.

Word count: 4.4k

---

Mondstadt was and is your first and forever home. It would be befitting to say the least, seeing as it was the first place tou stumbled upon and start your official journey to find your sibling. No matter where you are in Teyvat, the title of "Mondstadt's Honorary Knight" will be rung throughout that city and you wore it with pride. So, when Christmas came along, it was only natural to come home to your second family.

"(Y/N), is that you?" A voice, that you'd never forget in the many people you've heard speak, calls your name. You turned around and was greeted with the first local of Mondstadt and a whom was part of the Knight's of Favonius- Amber. "Hey, Amb--"

You were cut off as the brunette ran up and hugged you. You stumbled back a bit before returning her hug with a smile on your face. "Oh my Barbatos! It is you!" If you didn't know, Amber had missed you so and would cry, but she was a big girl to not cry over something silly such as a reunion. "Hey, Paimon is here too!" Another voice stepped in and Amber pulls back. "Oh, hey, Paimon! I'm happy to see that you're here too!" She gave the little, floating creature a smile as well.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be off and in Inazumi when I heard the chaos died down in Liyue," she states, though still feeling happy that you returned. "Ah, I will.. I returned to Mondstadt to celebrate Christmas with all of you," you say in earnest. "Aw..!" She gave you another hug- this one being shorter.

"Oh, speaking of Christmas, Master Diluc is holding a Christmas party at the tavern tonight for just us- although it was kind of forced," she mumbled the last part, scratching her cheek. "Really? Then I'll be sure to come!" You missed going to the tavern to just loiter around and have a chat with the owner, so you took it as a chance.

"Well, I better be off to do a quick clearing of camps. I'll see you later, (Y/N)." She waves and turned around to walk away. But not even a step forward, you called her name, just remembering something. "I have something to give you," you said and turn to your floating companion who took something out from thin air and gave it you. "We bought you a gift!" It was a small, yet beautifully decorated, red box with golden ribbons.

A smile appeared on the girl's face as she happily accepts your gift. "Aw, thanks, (Y/N)! This is the best gift ever!" You laughed at her words. "But you haven't opened it yet," you point out. "But it's the best since it's from you!" You sigh whilst smiling at the girl and then tell her to go finish her mission.

"Well, where should we go to next?" Paimon asks. You ponder it for a moment, fingers under your chin. Then, "Oh, why don't we go visit Mona?" you suggest, wondering how the astrologist have been. Paimon nods with enthusiasm and the two of you walked to her place, but along the way, you met up with a certain knight in maid's clothing. "Hey, isn't that Noelle?" Paimon asks, pointing at the girl who was just exiting a house, probably was called to help the family in that house. "Oh, you're right! Hey, Noelle!" you call her name loudly, earning her attention.

You jogged up to her with a smile. "Honorary Knight, what are you doing in Mondstadt?" she asks with a genuine look of surprise. "I came to celebrate Christmas with all of you!" you answered and look at Paimon who got yet another gift, one whose colours matches that of the knight in front of you. "And we wanted to give all of you a gift."

She stares at the box in your hand with great surprise. Something so simple, yet so great to her, took her lips and tug it into a smile, looking up at you. "Thank you, Honorary Knight, but you don't owe me anything." You shook your head and push the gift closer to her. "It's Christmas! Of course, I'll be bound to give you something," you say. She took one look at it in your hands before happily accepting it. "Well, I must be off now. Take car of yourself!" You waved goodbye to the knight and continued your way to Mona's house, knocking on the door once at the foot of it. It took a while before hearing footsteps nearing the door. Upon opening it, the girl was caught by surprise at the sudden sight of you. "(Y/N) and Paimon? What are the two of you doing here?" she asks, a look of surprise on her face.

"Surprise!" you and Paimon cheers. "I thought you would have foreseen us coming," you joked, catching the astrologist to a baffled state. "Well, ah, um.. I don't use such power to look over at the littlest of things," she says proudly, earning a giggle from you and Paimon.

"Anyway, what are the two of you doing here?" She clears her throat. "We wanted to return for Christmas!" you answered. "And I also wanted to give you a gift." You outstretched your hand holding a purple box with star-like pattern adorned with a gold ribbon. The female was certainly surprised at the unforeseen event. "I, uh.." Words failed on her tongue, but accept the gift. She had never been given a gift before, so something even as small as your present meant much more than you'd realize. "I, thank you.. It's a wonderful gift," she said. You smiled at the girl, warmth filling up inside you at the sight of her genuinely thankful.

After a short conversation, you bid goodbye in search of the others whom you had planned to give gifts to. Of course, you stopped and gave gifts to the Wagner- the blacksmith- Katheryne, Marjorie, Stanley, and Sara before entering Cat's Tail.

The tavern was full of life with people who wished to seek shelter from the cold while enjoying a good glass of alcohol. Not too far from you, you see Diona behind the bar, making a glass of cocktail and giving it to a customer. You walked up and sat down at an available seat at the counter, waiting for her to come to you. "What can I-- (Y/N) and Paimon!?" she gasped. You smiled at the cat-like girl. "When did you come back?"

"Not too long ago," you answered. "Well, uh, what can I get you?" she asks, talking to both you and Paimon. "Ah, we don't want anything," you say and leave the girl giving you a confused look. "Then, what are the two of you doing here?"

"We wanted to give you a gift." With that, you handed her a pink decorated box adorned with a single, blue ribbon. "It's Christmas, after all." The little female stare at you with surprise. "For me?" she repeats, to which you happily nodded. The girl was then drawn to her mind, remembering that today was the day that she should go to Springvale to celebrate the holiday with her family. "Thank you, I mean it."

You left the tavern soon after, missing the warmth that it brought tou upon entering it. "Since we went to Cat's Tail, we should go to Angel's Share next!" Paimon suggests eagerly and you nodded, agreeing to go to the place next. Nearing the tavern, the booming sounds of laughter and chatter could be heard at a great volume. You opened to door and welcomed the warmth you missed for a couple of seconds when you left Cat's Tail.

A familiar, fiery-haired male was the first to look your way and his eyes reflected that of surprise. "(Y/N)?" The call of your name brought the second, familiar male to turn around in his seat. With a smile and wave at the two, you joined them at the bar, sitting two seats away from the second male. "Hey," you greet.

"Ho~ Why, if it isn't the Honorary Knight," Kaeya greets, a glass of alcohol in hand. "What brings you here, (Y/N)? Missed me that much, huh?" He laughs and you rolled your eyes, turning your focus to the winery owner. "Anything you'd like to drink?" he asks, arms unfolding from their day-to-day position. "What about Paimon? Paimon wants apple juice!" Paimon cries at her dismissal of presence. Diluc eyed her and gave her a quick 'okay' and nod before getting her a glass of apple juice.

"Anyway, I came to return for Christmas," you answered, talking to the Cavalry Captain. "How are you both anyway?"

"I have been doing just fine," Kaeya answers, turning his head to the male behind the counter. "I've been better," Diluc grumbles behind the bar, referring how Kaeya's entrance made his day worse, and gives Paimon her drink. "Aw, come now, dear brother, I know you miss my company~" Kaeya teases, attempting to provoke his older brother, but the stoic-faced, red-head didn't dare do anything, albeit a bit annoyed at Kaeya's presence.

"Ah, I heard you guys are throwing a Christmas party at the tavern tonight," you moved on. "That's right. My dear brother happily allowed us to celebrate here-- with him. I'm betting you that he doesn't want to be alone for the holiday," he grins at the sound of it. "Is there anywhere on my face that shows that I'm a bit happy?" Diluc questions, eyes narrowing as he glares holes into Kaeya, and arms crossed-- truly showing how annoyed he looks.

The interaction between the two of the males was something you had missed and couldn't help but laugh a little. Kaeya turns his head to look at you and smiled at your genuine laughter. "Looks like someone is having a good time," Kaeya points out. You nodded, giving a clear-eyed smile. Then, "Oh, right! I almost forgot to give you guys your gifts!" You turned to look at Paimon who had the gifts in hand. "These are for you two!" You handed both of them their reserved gifts and the two eye at the box with surprise.

It took an awkward second before Kaeya clears his throat. "Thank you, (Y/N). This is the best present." Kaeya smiles softly and ruffles your hair. How long has it been since the Cavalry Captain received a gift? He does not know. He reminisces, recalling the last Christmas spent with his family, where Crepus was alive and Diluc was smiling. That was probably the last time.

"Thank you, (Y/N). I am sure this is a wonderful gift," Diluc says and put the present somewhere safe until the day ends when he could come and collect it. You chatted with them for a while until you had decided it was time to go since you have other people to go give gifts to. "Where are we going next, (Y/N)?" Paimon asks. "To the cathedral." There was someone working there whom you have a gift for.

By the time you made it at the door of the cathedral, you were beat, the way up killing your legs. "Paimon is tired.." Paimon pants, a step ahead of you. You look at her, not understanding how, for someone who only floats, could get tired by floating pass the stairs. You shook your head and straightened yourself up. "Honorary Knight?" Someone calls from your right, on the side of the building.

You and Paimon turn your attention and see the maiden of the hour. "Hey, Barbara," you greet her with a smile. "It is you, Honorary Knight! What wind brought you back here?" she asks in great verve, walking closer to you. "The cold air from Snezhnaya," you answered jokingly.

"Anyway, I came here to give you a Christmas present for the holiday." You handed her a light blue box decorated with glitter and adorned with a darker blue ribbon-- just like the receiver of the gift. She was astounded by the gift in your hand and looks at you. "Is this really for me?" she asks.

"Who else would I climb these stairs for if not you?" The words that left your mouth warmed the idol's heart and accepted the gift. "Thank you, Honorary Knight. May the Anemo Archon protect you in your journey." You nodded and bid goodbye to the blonde and made your way down the stairs. "Are we going to the Favonius Headquarters?" Paimon asks, nearing the end of the staircase. You hummed to her question, seeing as the headquarters was just close by.

You greeted the knights who stood guard at the entrance and made your way inside. You knocked on the door that was the Acting Grand Master's office and hear a mumbled "come on" through the wood. Entering the room, you see Jean and Lisa sitting on the single couch in the office, and Klee on the floor, drawing. "Oh my, why if it isn't the cutie," Lisa greets, standing up. "Honorary Knight, what brings you here? Ah, wait.. You should have send notice of your arrival so that we could be a more welcoming," Jean says, following Lisa.

"Don't worry about it. I actually planned to surprise all of you by coming back abruptly," you say. Klee stood up from the ground and run up to you. "(Y/N), look at this! I drew it!" Klee holds up a sheet of paper with pride, showing you the interesting picture she drew.

"Ah, that's  very nice, Klee," you praised which made the young knight giggle shyly. "Anyway, what brings you here, Honorary Knight?" Jean asks, gaining you attention. "I came to celebrate the Christmas with you guys."

Jean smiles. "If that is the case, there will be a party at Master Diluc's tavern-- I'm sure you have heard of it by now?" she questions. You nodded. "Amber told me about it when I met up with her this morning."

"I see, that is good." You turn to look at Paimon who then again took at boxes from her infinity backpack. "I also came with presents for all of you," you said, gesturing at the three boxes.

"Ooh, presents! I love presents," Klee cheers, clapping her hands excitedly. You smiled and gave her her gift. It was a red box with a darker red ribbon adorned with a custom-made accessory of her bombs that she loves so much. "Yay!"

"Oh, you shouldn't have gone yourself to buy us a gift. Just your return is a great and wonderful surprise from Barbatos," Jean says, to which Lisa chuckles. "Be appreciative that the cutie brought back us gifts, Jean," she says and looks at you. You smiled and gave her a purple box, decorated with purple roses with a darker colour of purple lace as a ribbon. She thanked you and you went on ahead to give Jean hers-- a blue box that was the same colour as her cloak with a golden ribbon. "Then, thank you, Honorary Knight." The blonde smiles. "I'm guessing that we'll see you tonight?" You nodded. "Yeah. And oh, do you know where Venti could be?" you ask, not seeing him anywhere in places where he could be.

"I believe he said that he will be at Starsnatch Cliff," Jean answers and you gave a quick nod before bidding a bye for now. "Paimon don't see why we need to give Tone-Deaf Bard a present too," Paimon states once you two were outside of the headquarters. "Doesn't he get a lot of gifts from the people?"

You chuckled and shook your head. "He is our friend, of course we have to give him something too," you said.  "But before we go outside, let's go see four more people within the walls."

The first two weren't so hard to find as they were both in the same place. "Albedo, Sucrose, hey!" you greet, entering the spacious room filled with strange materials. "A, ah! Honorary Knight, when did you arrive in Mondstadt?" Sucrose greets, fumbling with a tube in her hand when she flinched by the sudden voice that broke through the silence.

"I came back this morning," you answered and stepped inside so you could shut the door from the cool air. "What happened, Sucrose?" Another voice spoke between the two of you, and from the back, emerges the blonde alchemist you were hoping to see around. "Oh, Honorary Knight, what brings you here?"

"Hey, Albedo, just here to drop by and give you two a gift and wish you a Merry Christmas!" you say and had Paimon take out two gifts for the two alchemists, the boxes reflecting that of their colour scheme. "Oh, ah, um, thank you, Honorary Knight," Sucrose says shyly, a small dust of pink on her face. Albedo gave you thanks as well, apologising that he had nothing to give you which you reassure that it was fine.

"We're going to the Adventurer's Guild next, right?" Paimon asks to which you nodded. There was two people that you wished to see.

"A-ah!? (Y/N), you're in Mondstadt?" A certain male bumped into you on your way to the Adventurer's Guild Hall and was quite surprised at the sudden sight of you. "Hi, Bennett!" Paimon greets the young adventurer. Bennett smiles and greets your floating companion. Then, "What brings you here, (Y/N)?" he asks, turning his attention from Paimon to you.

"We wanted to celebrate the holiday here-- in Mondstadt," you answered for the nth time of today. "And we also brought you a gift!" You gave him his present and see his eyes glimmer at the sight. He have been unlucky his whole life and many feared their lives when going on an adventure with him, so often than not, he doesn't receive gifts-- only the elders of the guild does so. "I, thank you so much, (Y/N), I mean it." He avert his eyes from the present in his hand and smiles at you. "You're welcome, Bennett," you said. "I would love to stay and chat with you for a bit, but the sun is setting way too quickly and I have others to see. Let's go on an adventure next time!" The last part warmed the boy and wave goodbye at you.

"What ho," a familiar voice calls upon you not too far away. "Why, if it isn't my loyal subjects. Say, what brings oneself back to thy master?" Before you stood none other than the chuunibyou of Mondstadt, Fischl.

"Mein Fraulein welcomes you back with great surprise and wonders why you are back," her bird companion, Oz, says. "We came back for the holiday!" Paimon says and you nod. "We also bought you a gift. I hope you like them," you said and handed two boxes to Fischl-- one for Oz and herself.

"I, uhm, thank you.." She looks at the presents with eyes agape of astonishment, and her words limited from the surprise. She looks at Oz and back at you and smiled, you returning hers with a smile of your own.

"Are we going to Starsnatch Cliff now?" Paimon asks once you both were outside of the city's walls, to which you nod. When you got close to the cliff, you see a large set of wings flapping in the distance. Knowing who it could it be, you rushed your pace in excitement.

"Venti! Dvalin!" you called, gaining  both of the owner's name attention-- Dvalin looks up whilst Venti turns his head around. "(Y/N)?" A smile appears on the bard's face. "Hey, Venti, how have you been?" you ask, making your way to sit beside Venti and Dvalin.

He chuckles. "I've been doing okay. Not many exciting things are going on since, well, you know.." He hinted at the Dvalin, scratching his head. "So, how was Liyue? Did you meet Rex Lapis?"

"About that.." You went ahead and excitedly talked about the chaos that was soon resolved in Liyue and mentioned how Rex Lapis was now a broke consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, earning a laugh from both the bard and dragon.

"The old coot has finally decided to step down, huh?" Venti laughs once more. "Anyway, what brings you back in Mondstadt?"

"Isn't it obvious? Mondstadt is my first home upon arriving here, so I am bound to come when the holidays rolls in," you say and added, "We also brought you two gifts." Having said so, you gave Venti and Dvalin's gifts, a smile spread on your face.

"For me as well?" Dvalin sounds quite surprised and you laugh at the question. "Of course, why should I leave you out?" you question. The dragon remained silent for a while before thanking you in earnest.

"Oh, right, are you joining everybody else at Angel's Share tonight?" you directed the question to the Anemo Archon. "Do you need to ask? If Master Diluc will give me free drinks, then of course I will!" The four of you broke into another joyous laughter.

The sun was now fading in the distance when you and Paimon had to part ways with the other two to make one, last visit. "To Wolvendom we go, Paimon!"

When you were on the outskirts of the territory, the sun was nowhere to be see, and having the moon as your only light source. "Paimon thinks we shouold give his tomorrow.." Paimon quiver, looking anxiously for anything that might come and scare her.

"We shouldn't wait until tomorrow because it isn't Christmas anymore by then," you state. The walk was silent and you had to admit, you started to become anxious, the sound of crickets being the only thing that was making noise scaring you. You wondered where the wolf boy could be and if he was still out, wandering the forest.

In the dead silence, sound of bushes rustling in the distance came about, scaring both you and Paimon. "Eep! What is it?" Paimon asks, using you as a shield. You took out your sword and took a stance, waiting for whatever was hiding in the bush in front if you.

Then, to scare the both of you even more, the creature leapt out of the bushes. "AHH! Don't eat Paimon!" She closes her eyes and cowers behind you. You took a few moments before realizing what it was that you were staring and sighed a breath of relief, looking at Paimon over your shoulders. "Paimon, it was just a boar." The boar was long gone when it leapt from the bushes, frightened for its life.

"Oh, ah, that's good," Paimon says awkwardly. But wait, "Hey, what do you think it was running from?" you ask, remembering how it didn't simply walk out of the bush and ran, but was running through it as if it was being chased.

As if on cue, more rustling of bushes came from the same direction, but this one shaking the bush to its full extent. You readied your sword and Paimon returns to cower behind you.

It felt slow, but when the thing emerges from the bush, you were surprised to see who it was. "Gah, please don't eat Paimon!" she pleads with her eyes closed.

"(Y/N)..? And Paimon?" The sound of the person's voice made Paimon realize who it was and she opens her eyes. "Razor! So, it was you who was chasing the boar?"

"You see boar?" Razor's eyes lit up. "Yeah, it ran past us just now," you answered, seeing the boy droop his head down. "Ah, do you want us to catch you a boar?" The silver-haired male shook his head. "No need.. Want extra food.. For night.." he says. Ah, he was having those late-night cravings. Understandable, you mentally agree.

"What is you.. Here? Left adventure.. Night now," he asks. You smiled. It has been a while since you last talked to the wolf boy, so seeing him the same as before felt kind of comforting to know. You outstretched your hand with the present and said, "Merry Christmans, Razor."

The boy stare at the object in your hand, a bit confused and stare back up-- into your eyes. "This is for you," you said and urge him to take the gift. "For me..?" You nod, watching him hesitantly take the gift off of your hands. "Razor heard.. Of Christmas. Now know gifts," he says, feeling a bubble of happiness well up inside him. "Thank you.."

"You're welcome, Razor. I wish you a happy holiday with your family," you said, referring to his wold pack. He nods and bid you farewell, waving a hand at your retreating figure, a wolf soon appearing beside him and hint him to go back

"Paimon is hungry," Paimon cries. "Well, it is about time we should be heading to the tavern now, so just a few more walks and you can eat," you said, agreeing that you were hungry as well.

The tavern was filled with light emitting through the crack if the door. Pushing it wide open, you were greeted by a whiff of sweet aroma coming from the many food set before you. "(Y/N), Paimon! Glad you could make it!" Amber was the first to greet, a smile on her face, others quickly doing the same.

"(Y/N)-- hic-- come join me and have a drink!" Venti waves on over, a glass in hand. The bard had long started before all of you, wanting as many of the free wine he could get his hands on. You laughed at his state, joining him at the bar with Diluc behind it, a look of disbelief visible on his face.

The night was filled of warmth with merry people-- eating, drinking, chatting, laughing-- whatever floats your boat. Paimon was stuffed and couldn't take another bite. You watched the people who became your first family, a smile slowly spreading your face, happy of the choice to return for Christmas and join your very first Christmas in Teyvat with your family of this world.

---

Happy holidays everyone and have a happy new year! ^♡^

~♡~

║Jade Leech║ Do You Love Me? / Geraniums

Jade Leech x reader / slight Floyd Leech x reader if you squint

Reader: Gender-neutral/not mentioned

Warning(s): characters might be a little out of character

Word count: 11.6k

Character count: 61.9k

Angst with comfort , but then with a tiny bit more angst.

All rights reserved. Do not steal/copy and paste and upload it anywhere.

—

Note:

I’m still quite new to the Twisted Wonderland community so I do apologize sincerely that the characters might seem out of the norm.

My first contribution to Twisted Wonderland.

Also, is it spelled Grim or Grimm? The wiki says Grim but if I remember correctly, the brothers’ surname is spelt Grimm, if ‘Grim’ is actually referring to the brothers, that is.

—

You loved him and you were sure he loved you too.. Err, you hoped that you were sure he loved you too. You can't deny that although Jade is a gentleman and very kind to shower you with presents which are things you've never dreamt of wanting, let alone ask somebody else to buy them for you, there is something missing in the interactions between you two. It almost seemed like there is no love in everything he does with you.

But you daren't speak of that to Jade and only to appear as a clingy or paranoid lover. Maybe it's just you. Maybe he still needs some time to adjust to the current flow of having someone else to take care of other than his twin. You couldn't fault him, seeing as you were the one who confessed first and the one to take another step in the relationship. You were rushing things, you've noticed. It may have been months into the relationship but maybe he needs years. As a lover, you have to be patient if you want things to work out between the two of you.

“..--man..” Inside the depths of your mind, thoughts regarding Jade and the rocky relationship you have was all that mattered that you didn’t realize that a certain furball was calling out to you until blue flames were in your line of sight, scaring you. “HUMAN!” “Gah! Grimm, don’t do that to people!” You said, although the tone of your voice did not sound as angry as one should, seeming that your mind is still elsewhere to not care enough. “Yeah? Well, you were spacing out that you didn’t even realize we walked past your classroom!” He snaps back. 

You look at the number above a classroom door and he was correct. “Oh.. Sorry..” You turn around and walk back down the hall and to your respected morning class. Grimm, who was tailing not too far behind you, had judging eyes; you have been spacy ever since the last date you and Jade had- which was 3 days ago to be exact- and had barely replied to anything he’s saying. He could be cursing you for all you’d know, but got either silence or a quick hum that didn’t even sound like you were acknowledging him. 

He was furious at first since a henchman should always listen to their master, but now he wonders if there is something wrong with you. He is aware that humans like you, who have no ounce of magic and are susceptible to anything, will find it difficult to live in a twisted world like his where magic holds supreme. The stronger you are, the more you are feared in this twisted world.

“Hey, is something wrong?” he asks, crossing his arms as he stands on the desk, looking up at you with questioning eyes. “Yeah, I am. Have I done anything to worry you?” “Gah, whatever, it’s nothing then.” He turns away, feeling stupid for even asking such a question. “You humans can be so confusing.. Saying that you’re fine when you aren’t,” he mumbles, which you didn’t hear nor bothered to ask to repeat since you were mostly in your own world. 

‘Maybe.. I should buy him a gift?’ You thought. He said that he has rather been awfully busy, you noticed. With what exactly? You weren’t too sure, but on top of whatever he’s busy with, he has Monstro Lounge. You don’t have much madols in your pocket, but you’re sure you can buy something heartfelt that he might like. 

Deciding on it, your spirits lightened and in your heart, a burning flame of determination. Maybe what Jade needs is to relax and if you come to him bearing a gift, he might get the message that should he need to seek comfort in someone who he can be himself around with, you are there. You can hope that this will work and that the feeling inside you of having a strained relationship will disappear.

Grimm, who was watching you closely beside you, eyed you judgmentally. To him, and to anyone who was looking, you looked like a crazed person who switched from being  unbearably depressed to smilingly widely in a span of a few seconds. 

-

Come after school, you make your way to Crowley’s office for permission to go outside the school’s premises– and hopefully get a little more madol out of the bird man– this weekend, which isn't too far away, seeing as it's tomorrow. It would rather be a tiring thing– to go outside over a gift you planned to make– but what you needed couldn’t be found in any of the campus shops. 

“Oh, Shrimpy! There you are.” An all too familiar voice calls you from a not too far away distance. “Floyd!” You smile. “What do you need?” 

“Nothing. I came on an errand for Jade,” he states plainly. You tilt your head to the side. It was odd for Jade to have someone- let alone Floyd- to do something for him instead of coming to you himself. This made you worry. Was he starting to feel burned out? Was he falling sick because he wasn’t resting enough? “O, oh.. What does he want?”

“Mm.. This.” Floyd reveals a single flower. “He said that this is a.. Uh..” Realizing that he forgot the name of the flower, he took out a small paper- presumably with the flower’s name on it- before continuing his sentence. “This is a geranium.” 

“Oh! They’re lovely.” You happily accept the flower. Although it may be only one single flower, knowing who gave it to you- your significant other- meant more than receiving the world given by someone else. Floyd wanted to say something else, eyes briefly looking at the small piece of paper in his hand and to your bright expression, seeming as if he wanted to say something more. But he didn’t. He dared not read aloud what was on the next line and opted to smile his familiar, goofy smile that you’ve come to love. Platonically, of course. 

“Hah..” He sighs after a while. "This is tiring.." He mumbles, which could be interpreted as being tired from doing errands for Jade although in truth, it meant something different.

"I'm going back to the dorm now. Bye, Shrimpy~" He says lazily as his entire, sluggish body turns around and walks off before you could get a word out. Nonetheless, he knows how appreciative you are towards him for bringing the gift. After all, it was a gift from your beloved Jade. 

Jade who, despite being so busy and probably under stress, still thought about you and even if he couldn't come to you personally, still sent someone else to deliver his heartfelt words of love in the form of a flower.

Safe to say that you completely forgot about your plans and head off to Ramshackle to preserve the flower for as long as you can.

-

"What's with that look?" You finally asked when you snapped back to reality. Grimm was staring at you so intently that the reason you came to, was that you felt a gaze on you. Turns out it was just Grimm. “Hmph, you’re really a weird one..” He mumbles, which you could barely make out, before he walks off to the kitchen downstairs, leaving you alone with the geranium placed in a glass vase filled with water to gaze at O’ so lovingly. 

Unbeknownst to you, back at Octavinelle, Jade was in his room, completely unoccupied– well, if you don’t count him admiring his terrariums as something to be busy about, that is- opposite of what you were thinking about the past couple of days. Now, why didn’t Jade come to you to deliver the flower if he was so free? That is something only he knows the answer to. 

Sluggish footsteps could be heard dragging outside the halls of his room until finally, it stopped at his door. He didn’t need to answer nor did the person outside need to knock- as if they ever- since the two knew each other well. “I’m back~” Floyd says lazily the moment he opens the door and slumps on the bed, face plastered on a pillow. Jade looks at his brother from the corner of his eyes– eyes with two completely different yet beautiful colours that allured you to him in the first place, but were mysterious, mischievous, calculating, and always looking as if they were plotting something– and spoke, “Thank you, dear brother.” His lips curled upwards into a twisted smile. 

This prompted Floyd to look up at his twin, hugging the pillow that supported his chin. “You owe me one..” He began to say, but sighs. “Eh, Shrimpy’s smile was worth it though so I’ll consider this favour done.” He yawns and places his face back on the pillow once more, still eyeing his brother who was now doing something with his terrariums. After a couple minutes of more comfortable silence, Floyd speaks up once more, with a tired yawn. “Why do you still bother with Shrimpy, brother? I know that you don’t really like them.” This halted Jade from whatever he was doing– actions with his hands stopped mid air before they continued to work away. “You know why, brother.” 

Indeed, Floyd knows, but he doesn’t agree with the method Jade has opted to use. Eh, this was Jade’s problem and not one he wants to involve himself in. If anything happens, he’s sure his brother can make the situation turn to his advantage. After all, Jade was the brains out of the two while he was the brawns. If he were in a similar situation– Eh, what is he thinking about? It’s too tiresome to even achieve such a thing in the first place. And so with that, he turned the other way and took a nap.

-

“I think these are good enough!” You exclaim as you look through the bag at the stuff you bought from Mr. S’ Mystery Shop. He surprisingly has all the stuff you wanted to buy, and at a cheaper cost too! It was a good thing because one, you weren’t sure if the money you had was enough for the shop outside and two, you totally forgot about your plan for the first day of the weekend that you had only the last to go out and do what you sought out to do. “Can’t you hurry up? I’m starving!” Grimm complains. “Right. Sorry!” You apologized as you walked a little faster to catch up to your tiny, floating companion. Glass could be heard clinking inside the bag which reminded you to be careful of where you step. One trip and fall might be enough to break the glasses inside.

“And I also haven’t forgotten that I should be giving you extra tuna today.” You smiled at the furball. Hearing about extra food made Grimm a little less pressed on the matter of rushing, but he pretended to not seem to care about it, opting to turn away with his paws over his chest. 

You stifle a chuckle, not wanting him to get angry. Then, from just barely what your ears could reach, you hear students talking amongst themselves in a.. Somewhat suspicious tone. You look over your shoulder and see students from Savanaclaw on one side and Octavinelle on the other. A bit far from each other but all the same, eyeing at your direction– at you–, grinning and snickering. You suddenly felt uneasy. Being the only magicless student made it a bit tough on adjusting to life at Night Raven. Predators seemed to lurk everywhere you went and without your first year friends around with even a bit of magic, it felt as if you were a naive rabbit who stepped into a den of wolves without knowing. 

“Hey, uh, human..?” Grimm noticed their presence too and with better ears, could pick up their up-to-no-good conversation. You quickly turn to face Grimm and force a small smile. “Let’s just hurry back.” 

Every step you took, you noticed that they, too, took the same amount of steps. You didn’t mean to panic, but you felt too frightened, and so your brisk pace broke into a run, the glass in the bag clanking aggressively. You weren’t the fittest out there so whatever amount of stamina you had, you felt slowly slip past you. Nevertheless, with the help of Grimm’s shouts of attempt encouragement and urgency, you pushed your legs past their limit, and a good thing that you did since you crashed onto a hardened chest– but still better than running into a tree. 

It was a sudden surprise that, fortunately, was received with a quick response; arms wrapped around you and a foot stepped back to stabilize the both of you. “Oh? And what is this?” A familiar deep and smooth voice makes its way into your ears followed along with a chuckle. 

Upon recognizing it, you look up in an almost tearful joy as you look at the familiar mismatched eyes of your lover. “Jade!” You smiled, tears pricking at the corner of your eyes, threatening to fall.  Your racing heart begins to calm and Jade looks up at the incoming herd of students. He could surmise what is happening, but he did not flinch or take your hand to run away with him. No, he stood and watched as they drew to a halt once they were close enough. “My, don’t tell me you were running away from.. Fufufu, no good nobodies,” Jade said to you while eyes never leaving the students. “Come on, you’re on a much higher standing than these men.” He said the last words with an almost spiteful tone, but one can never tell with Jade. 

He spins you around to face your pursuers, both hands on your shoulders and leaning down to the same eye level as you. You look at him, confused and scared. “Don’t look at me– look at them.” You followed where his eyes stared at– at the guys. “See, they don’t look much. They don’t even look like they’re worth your time. What’s so intimidating about them?” He says in that voice that would cause your legs to quake. 

One of the students got ticked off, but Jade, wasting no time, narrowed his eyes and the air around them seemed to suddenly grow cold. “Oh? A nobody dares challenge me? Fufufu.” He straightens his hunched back, looking ready to fight. His height, although not the tallest ever seen, was intimidating enough that inflicted hestiance in the students that they grumbled a few words and scrambled with tails between their legs.

After they had disappeared, paired with a few more long minutes of silence, you turned around, ready to say you thanks. “Thank you, Jade!” He smiles slightly, saying nothing, and brings a hand to hold your cheek, wiping what small tears you had that lingered at the corner of your eyes. “No need to thank me. Although, I do wonder what would have happened if I wasn’t around to protect you.” You dare not dwell on the thought. “Well, we’ll never know,” you joked.

“.. Mm, a shame..” He says under his breath with a smile, continuing to brush your cheek with the hand that was already touching your face. You were in a trance as you looked at him but broke out when he noticed your bag and asked about it. “O, oh! Uh, these are for a.. Uhm..” You sweat, eyes darting everywhere and nowhere all the same. “Oh! Right, these are supplies for a class assignment!” You mentally slapped yourself. It was a poor excuse of a lie but thankfully, Jade bought in, although it did look like he was suspicious of you. He asked no further questions, probably not interested in whatever class assignment it was, and just escorted you to Ramshackle safely before bidding goodbye. 

“That was a close one..” Grimm states to which you agreed.

-

“Eh? Shrimpy was chased?” Floyd knitted his brows with a deep frown, eyes following Jade who sat down on his chair to work on his terrariums again. “If I find those guys.. You let me know who they are if we see them!” Jade sighs. “There is no need for that, Floyd.” 

“But we need to let these guys know that Shrimpy has us!” Floyd said. “We should teach them a lesson so that they don’t try to hurt Shrimpy again!”

Shrimpy this, Shrimpy that. It makes one wonder who you were dating. “Floyd, are you perhaps interested in [Name]?” Jade asks, eyes not leaving his work. “Huh~? Of course I am! Shrimpy is a human without magic~ Hehh~ They’re fun to play with,” Floyd answers, rolling around on Jade's bed. Jade sighs, not meaning the question that way. Nevertheless, he knows the answer. “Well, would you like it if ‘Shrimpy’ was with you forever?” 

Floyd halts his actions. “Huh?” That was all Jade needed to continue. “Since you find them so fun to play with, I don’t mind giving them to you,” he said nonchalantly as if you were nothing but an object that, if no longer wanted, could just be tossed away– or in this case, given away to another man. 

“Heh? But what about–” Floyd asked, sitting up on the bed. “I’ve changed my mind,” he quickly responded. “Is there any need for me to keep a fragile pearl that is always looking for someone else to protect it and not find themselves a shell to protect itself with instead. You know how boring it can be when the same fish stays around you like a fish stuck to a hook.” Such cryptic words flew over Floyd’s head, but he understood that Jade had grown bored of you. 

“You’re going to break their heart if they hear you,” Floyd said. “Don’t worry, I’ll personally tell them myself.” 

-

“Gahh!” Back in your room, you have yet to perfect the gift you planned on giving Jade. Another failed attempt. It was late at night and you were nowhere near finishing. You followed the book down to a T but you can never seem to get the result you wanted. “Grr, I’m trying to sleep here!” Grimm roars. “S, sorry!” 

You look at Grimm and then to the work on your table that has yet to go anywhere, contemplating over something before returning to attempting at perfecting it. You allowed yourself to work on it for a little bit more before heading to bed. Sleep is crucial after all.

-

Sleep is crucial, you had told yourself last night, however, you never really pulled through with that statement since the first thing your friends are greeted with is a zombie you, yawning every few seconds. Throughout the day, your friends will point out how you looked like you haven’t slept at all yesterday– which, they weren’t wrong. You had completely lost track of the time and before you knew it, your alarm clock went off and that’s when you realized that you haven’t slept at all and would have to survive classes without falling asleep through any of them.

It was a challenging task– you either try to put effort in paying in class or try to not fall asleep. Listening in on the subject would be the first option but classes tend to live up to their reputation of being boring and make you sleepy. You opted to stay awake by keeping note of when you feel yourself nod off. 

At the final stretch of classes, you may have drifted off once or twice but you were thankful for your friends to wake you up.

As you walked down the halls, happy that your were finally able to go back to your dorm, Grimm was poking at you about how dumb you could be, saying how not getting any sleep was a much dumber move than having an hour or two of sleep. But to you, it was worth it since at the break of dawn, you have finally perfected the gift. You were honestly excited to see it work its magic itself, but that excitement was hidden under the layer of drowsiness.

You ignored your tiny friend as you pulled yourself sluggishly. However, your attitude completely changed when you saw the familiar back of your lover talking to his twin. It could not be a more perfect timing since you couldn’t wait to look at your gift to fruition. Before you could walk up to them and call out their names, Floyd sees you over Jade’s shoulder and tells his brother so. 

Jade looks at you over his shoulder. You were smiling despite how dizzy you were from how tired you were. You were about to call his name but before you could, he turned around and brushed past his brother. You were confused and.. A little bit hurt. Nonetheless, you decided to talk to Floyd instead. “Shrimpy~!!” He leaps onto you, tackling you in a bone-crushing hug. He rested his cheeks on top of your head and rubbed them, like how a cat would rub their head against their owners. “F.. Floyd.. A little too tight..!” You patted his back in hope he understood and he did, getting off of you. You take a deep breath in and out before asking your question.

“Where is Jade going?” you asked, tucking away the hurt deep in your heart’s darkest corners. “Mm~ He said he has things to do,” he answers, shrugging. “Oh.. Okay. I’ll just send him a text then,” you whispered the last part. “Mm? A text? Do you have something to talk to him about?” he asks and you nod. “It’s more like I want to give him something and I was hoping he would like to come with me to receive it.. But then again, I can always give it to him during school.” 

Floyd was silent which made you concerned for the eel. “Is something wrong, Floyd?” you asked. “Hm? Oh! Hehehh~ Nope!” He puts a hand behind his head. “If it’s a gift for Jade, I can give it to him.” It was a rather attractive offer since you couldn’t wait for Jade to receive it but.. “Thank you, but I would like to give it to him personally. I want him to know how much I appreciate him and care about him,” you said and added, “And besides, I want to watch it with him..” 

-

When you got back to your dorm, you passed out after quickly changing out of your uniform. You didn’t wake up at all that day and it was only when your alarm went off that you woke up, feeling fresh. 

You looked at your table in a small jar– the gift– and made a note to message Jade to meet up after classes are over since you wanted to give him something. You didn’t get a reply, but that didn’t bother you at all since he was still probably getting ready at this time.

But it did bother you later on when classes were about to be over and you’ve had zero text notifications from him. It also made you worry. Was he in danger? Was he sick? You doubt that he got into some trouble since he didn’t seem the type to. Maybe he was sick and couldn’t answer? But he seemed fine yesterday.

“Hey, you have been looking at your phone so intensely.. You can’t burn a phone with your eyes, you know..” Ace said once the bell rang, signalling that classes are over for the day. “O, oh! Was I?” You laughed awkwardly. “I have been waiting for a text actually..”

“Hm? A text? From who?” he asked. “From Jade.” You smiled, thinking about Jade. The mention of your boyfriend draws a halt amongst your friends. Noticing that your friends weren’t keeping in pace with you, you stopped and turned around. “Uh, hey, what’s wrong?”

“[Name], you haven’t heard?” Deuce asks. Your heart dropped. Did Jade go and got himself hurt? “W, what? What haven’t I heard?” you almost demanded shakily. “Well, we heard that–” Before Ace could say anything further, Deuce clasped his mouth with a hand. “It’s nothing. We just heard that Jade wasn’t at, uh, school today,” Deuce quickly makes up a lie. But this did not calm your heart. Was he sick? If so, you should go over to him right now! 

You sprinted away from your friends and Grimm, not hearing them bicker over something. When you turned a corner, you were greeted with the students from the day you went to buy things for Jade’s gift. “He won’t show up, right?” one asks which another answered. “Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Oh no. Was Jade’s sickness made aware to these guys and knew that no one will be able to help you? The only way to go to Jade right now was to pass through the guys but you don’t have magic to defend yourself nor know any self defense. It seemed that the only option was to turn around and run, but when you turned around, you couldn’t take a step forward before being grabbed by the arm. “Hey! Let me go!” you shouted, hopefully loud enough for something to hear and come to your aid. 

“Heheh, you’re weak and hopeless. No wonder why he left you,” the student who grabbed you laughed. “But I can take better care of you and I won’t dump you because you’re weak.”

“What are you talking about? No, nevermind that– let go!” The more you struggle, the tighter the grip on you becomes– to the point that you wince. The grip on you became tighter and you felt tears trickling down your cheeks. “Hahah! Look, look! They’re crying,” a student watching pointed out. “What a cute thing, eh? Hahah.”

“Ehh~? What’s this?” Down the halls, the heels of a shoe echoed and soon a silhouette appeared in the dark. You felt relieved that someone had come and even more so when that silhouette revealed itself to be Floyd, a hand behind his neck.

He looks at the situation with lazy eyes; first at the guys surrounding you before his mismatched eyes landed on your terrified yet slightly relieved form. “Shrimpy!” His eyes widened and before you knew it, he ran at an incredibly fast speed and punched square in the face at the guy holding your arm in a bruising grip.

“So are you the guys who were chasing Shrimpy down?” he asks in a demanding tone, referring to the shopping incident not too long ago. He cracked his knuckles and neck; ready to beat somebody– or in this case, the guys in front of you. 

He was about to grab the one nearest to him but you stopped him, grabbing his arm slowly and carefully. When you got his eyes on you, you shook your head. If he were to fight them, he would get into trouble and that is something you don’t ever wish to see him in. 

He hesitated. And by the look of the pained expression he had, it seemed as if it was a hard thing to do. But thankfully, he listened, but not before saying some threatening words to the guys who scampered off for good. 

“Shrimpy, are you okay?” Floyd ask you, having his full attention on you. You nod, wiping off the streak of teas on your face. “Other than this bruise that can be treated, yeah, I am. Thank you, Floyd.” You look up at him and smiled a genuine smile. “Hehe~ Anything for you, Shrimpyy~” he said and added, “Those guys won’t ever come back and if they do, make sure to tell me. I won’t let them go this time.” You laughed. “I promise to tell you.”

You would have thanked him once more and left, but you quickly remembered why you were there in the first place. “Oh! Right, is Jade okay?” you ask, catching Floyd off guard. “Mm? Why wouldn’t he be?” he ask, raising an eyebrow. “W, well I heard that he wasn’t at school today and thought that he might be sick.. He hasn’t answered my message from this morning too!”

Floyd was about to directly deny Jade's absence but pondered on it a bit. “Heh~ Where did you hear that?” “From Deuce!” you answered without a second to waste. He tilts his head, looking at you blankly before his expression changes, smiling widely with closed eyes. “Ehh~ So is that it?” You nodded. “Hehe, don’t worry, Shrimpy. Jade is not sick,” he said and patted your head reassuringly. “So he did come to school today? Why didn’t he answer my message?” 

His eyes wandered to the upper corner of his eyes, thinking, before smiling his closed-eyed smile again, stroking the top of your head. “I’m sure he was just busy. I’ll tell him about it.” You smiled. “That would be great. Thank you, Floyd!” You give him your own bone-crushing hug– which couldn’t even hold a candle to his hugs– and walks away, turning every once in a while to wave goodbye to Floyd.

Once you were gone, Floyd’s cheery expression dropped along with the hand that waved at you, a darkness shadowing over his eyes. Mix that with the surrounding light and it made it look like his eyes glimmered. With a deep frown, he went back to Octavinelle where his brother most likely was.

-

Several, long and agonizing days went by and you still haven’t heard from Jade. You didn’t see him around campus and so is Floyd. You wanted to ask him if he told Jade or forgot about it, but he was nowhere. Soon, it was to the point where your gift had to be remade again because it was.. Fading, let’s say. This made you tear up and frustrated when you had to remake it again. Once again, it took some time to make it, but this time you couldn’t bring yourself to perfect it once more. Your mind was too busy with other thoughts concerning Jade. It felt like he just up and disappeared on you. Frustrated, you get up from your seat and go to bed, hoping to catch some sleep with what remaining hours. However, not long before you lay your head did you get up again to work on the gift again. Tomorrow, you will make it so that you will see Jade, even thinking about storming up to Octavinelle’s dorm and demanding answers from him should he not be around the halls.

It was going to be raining the next day and if the sky was telling you something, you wished you listened. There was yet to be rain when you head off to school though and you presumed that it would be raining some time after classes. You showed up to school tired the next day and sat through each class impatiently. It was only after the ring of dismissal that you rushed out of your class, leaving Grimm and your friends, and walked around the main school building, hoping to see any of the twins. When you couldn't, you went to your dorm, got the gift for Jade, and headed off to his dorm. 

Once you got here, you cleaned yourself up a bit to not look like a ghost like your friends had stated, taking deep breaths before you went and looked for Jade’s room. When you got there, you prepared yourself again, giving yourself some encouraging words in your head before raising a hand, knuckle facing the wooden door, ready to knock. 

However, before you could ever make contact with the door, you heard your name. It made you curious so you stayed silent, hoping to know what they were saying.

“Mm, I haven’t seen Shrimpy today.” Floyd takes a deep breath before letting out an even deeper sigh. “When will I be able to see Shrimpy, Jade?” Well, at least you now know that both of them were in the room together. But this begs the question, were they purposely avoiding you? Based on the second part of what Floyd said, it really seemed like that.

“Tell me, Floyd, did you ever tell them what Geranium meant?” Jade asks, not answering Floyd's question. “While it can mean happiness and friendship, it originally represented stupidity.” Jade, who had a vase full of geraniums, plucked one and brought it close to his lips which tugged upwards in a sly smile that was most easiest to do if you had been dealing with the dark for a long time.

“Fufufu, soon, Floyd. But not now. I can’t have them use you as a middleman to get to me,” you hear Jade say. Why didn’t Jade want you to reach out to him? “You haven’t been replying to their messages too, right?” Floyd asks, hugging a pillow as he situated himself on the bed with crossed legs. “Don’t you think you’re being a little too mean, Jade? At this point, I would have come and stormed to the dorm to find you.”

Floyd frowned, feeling bad about how his Shrimpy isn’t aware about the heartbreak that would follow up soon after a few more days of avoidance. “Fufufu, though they were much fun to tease, it’s no longer needed to keep up with this charade. I have gathered all necessary information for Azul should he need to blackmail them,” he chuckles. 

You gasped and quickly put a hand over your mouth, hoping they didn’t hear it. Tears gathered at your eyes and slowly took small steps back before breaking out into a sprint to hurriedly get away from the dorm and Jade. Geraniums.. O’ how it fitted you so. A naive, foolish human like you could never hope to hold a candle to Jade so how dare you think it so? 

Back in Jade’s room, Floyd sighed while Jade returned to his work as if nothing had just happened. Both of them knew that you were coming and purposely started talking when you were at the door, as instructed by his brother. 

“Jade, why couldn’t you just break it off to them yourself? This is way too mean,” Floyd said. “Fufufu, I need one more fun out of them before I can no longer have that chance.”

-

When you got out of their dorm, it was raining heavily and to rub more salt on how stupid you could be, you forgot to bring an umbrella. The only thing to do was run in the rain, the raindrops hiding your tears as you ran through to get to Ramshackle. You clutched onto the jar tightly that glowed much brighter in the darker skies, your heart shattering with every step you took. 

If the rain wasn’t enough to obstruct your vision, your bleary eyes made it worse as you ran. Suddenly, and without warning, you tripped on a tree’s roots, causing you to trip and fall, the jar shattering into pieces like your heart. The pain you felt cursing through you from your hands couldn’t compare to the pain in your heart. All this time, Jade had only seen his time with you as an errand for Azul where you, on the other hand, felt something more. You had felt happiness beyond what friends and family could hope to offer. A much more intimate stage of love.

You cried harder, allowing the rain to drown out your cries and hide your tears, not caring about the gift that had spilled. It was only when the rain had died down and the sun had set well beyond the horizon that you made your way to Ramshackle where Grimm awaited about to get angry with you. But upon seeing your state, he said nothing, eyes following your retreating form to go to your bedroom. 

Grimm and the ghosts in Ramshackle stayed silent that night, hearing the wails that threatened to break your vocal cords. But you did not care and only fell asleep when your eyes felt heavy and forced itself shut.

-

It was a bad idea– going to bed in soaked clothes and open wounds that weren’t treated because in the morning, not only did you feel cold, you felt the pain from the wounds become much worse. You hissed as you got up, making your way to the bathroom and finding the first aid kit to treat yourself. It wasn’t an easy thing to do since both of your hands were in pain and that everything that it touched felt like thorns were pricking on your skin. 

You wanted to shower with what had happened yesterday and getting soaked in the rain, but you felt that the water would just add more pain to the wounds on your hands and knees.

When you showed up to classes that morning, you had your friends question what happened to your hands and legs and why your eyes were red and puffy. You made an excuse of having forgotten to bring an umbrella and having to run out in the rain and tripping on a root which made you cry. It wasn’t a complete lie, but you did omit the part of why you were out and about during a rain and about the heartbreak, though that part did not need to be said, and that your teary eyes only confirmed the rumour that was up in the air a couple days ago. 

You were in shambles and it was only at your downfall did Jade make his appearance in school normal again. To every hall you walk from class to class, you saw him. You stopped at some point and made eye contact with him. You felt your heart tightened at the sight of him. The eyes that you thought were clouded with love for you seemed ordinary. Were his eyes always like that? Did it never hold any feelings towards you? Was it all a delusion that you had convinced yourself? It most likely was when you see that he looks ahead and ignores you.

You felt slightly dizzy and nauseous so you returned to your dorm where your sickness grew worse. You didn’t feel like eating that night so you promptly told Grimm to have dinner by himself and went to bed.

The next time you woke up, which was in the afternoon of the next day, your state turned for the worse and you knew you were having a fever. When you got up, you had the immediate urge to puke so you ran to the bathroom. Grimm stayed home when he noticed you weren’t waking up and looked really out of it. He and the ghosts watched you in silent worry. 

Once you were done puking out whatever you puked out, you looked at your hands, realizing you had forgotten to change the bandages on your hands so it looked very unsanitary. You groaned and got up, looking for the first aid kit to change them again. “Human, your friends came by this morning..” Grimm begins, hoping to get you to talk to him. “They were, uhh, worried.” This was not so Grimm of him and it made him almost shiver but he pushed past that. 

When he got no word out of you, he stayed quiet, fidgeting a bit. He didn’t know what to do. I mean, what should he do in a situation he had never encountered before? 

“Grimm..” You groggily say. Man, was it hard to force yourself to speak. However, Grimm’s ears perked up; ready to listen to what you have to say. “Could you.. Get me a glass of water.. Please?” you asked. “You got it!” He said quickly and went downstairs. 

After he disappeared from your sight, you returned to your room and changed your clothes from the uniform worn yesterday to proper, comfortable clothes. The moment you sit down on the edge of your bed, Grimm comes back with a large glass of water. You would chuckle at the state of urgency he was in, but all you could master was a small smile and a close to a whisper ‘thank you’ before you downed the glass to almost nothingness. 

It made you feel a little better. You rested your head on the pillow again, checking your phone just in case and later scrolling through Magicam. Your friends texted you– just the Adeuce duo, Epel, and Jack really since they were the ones most closest to you seeing as you guys were in the same year– saying that they heard about your state and wished you a good and speedy recovery. Sebek.. Well, Sebek was Sebek and off to care about his young master more.

When you opened Magicam– you shouldn’t have– the first thing you saw was your page and your profile. It was of you and Jade. Your bio was some along the lines of ‘I would never trade you for the world’. Although it was true that you still would never trade Jade up for anything the world had to offer, it looked like Jade would do the opposite; ready to trade or throw you away. 

Now that you look at it properly, you noticed that Jade never posted a thing about you, had a profile picture of you like you had, nor mentioned you in his bio or any text post. He knew that it would be only a matter of time before he ended things with you. How heartless he was.

You started to cry silently at first but it quickly turned into messy sobs. 

The routine of waking up at random hours of the day, going to the bathroom to puke and change your bandages, then later crying yourself to sleep occurred for the next three days.

One day, however, something was different. You had a dream. You quickly forgot what it was the moment you opened your eyes. Your fever has gotten worse at this point since you did forget to do one thing: to take care of yourself; maintaining a healthy appetite despite being ill. 

When your eyes fluttered open, the room was pitch black except for the light coming from the moon outside. You heard shuffling somewhere around you and you assumed that it was Grimm so you quietly called out for him. “Fufufu, you called out my name throughout your sleep, yet you now call another the moment you wake up?” You were confused at who the voice belonged to, still in a daze with your fever. 

You meant to ask who was there, but you couldn’t voice it out so you opted to look at wherever the voice originated and surely enough, you see a human silhouette– not Grimm’s– just a metre or so away from you. You tried to call again but nothing came out. 

Whoever was in the room was not Grimm, but you didn’t feel scared. I mean, if it were some other student, you were sure Grimm or the ghosts would have chased them out by now. And besides, the presence was very calming.

The figure made its way to your bed, sitting down at the edge of it, their back facing away from the moon’s light so you couldn’t see their face. “Here, why don’t you drink some water?” They help you sit up and support you up, having a hand rest on your lower back while the other guides a glass of water up to your lips.

Once you downed the glass, they helped you lie down before standing up to fetch a wet towel to place over your head. “Don’t speak,” the voice orders and you listen surprisingly.

Scared that whoever the person in your room would leave, you held on to one of their hands. So far, this person was very kind to have helped you in your worst state and you could not bring yourself to let them leave. This gesture made the second party chuckle and stroke your head with their free hand. “My, what would you become if I wasn’t around to guide you? Look at you– it hasn’t been long and you have already went and gotten yourself sick.”

Whatever they were saying flew out of your other ear as you allowed them to stroke your head since it made you feel sleepy. The person only stopped when they were sure you were asleep, your light snoring to prove it. 

At a specific angle, did the moon cast a light at two different coloured eyes. They seemed to glow as they watched you intently, mind running a million miles a minute with thoughts that no one else could guess. 

However, after a while and in the moment of you dreaming, you whispered something that caught the figure off guard. “Do you love me.. Jade?” The way you said it sounded broken, but the person did nothing to console you– not even say under their breath what you wished to hear and hope it makes it into your dreams. 

-

Jade was on his way to his dorm when a loud and annoying furball was racing at him with flames in his eyes and shouting at him. He and Floyd stopped on their tracks and watched as Grimm came crashing into Jade. He quickly pulls away and proceeds to hit Jade with whatever strength he’s got. 

“Hm~? What are you doing here, earless seal? Aren’t you supposed to be with your master?” Floyd asks. “[Name] has gotten worse and keeps calling out this jerk's name,” Grimm states angrily. “This is all your fault! After all the things they went through to make you a gift– failed attempts, broken shards that cut their hands, not getting a wink of sleep–”

“Woahh, calm down there–” Floyd was cut off. All Grimm could see was red. “You go and do this to them!?” At the high level of rage, one would think he would unleash magic that would cause an overblot any time soon and that was something the twins weren’t excited about. 

Floyd reached a hand out and clamped his mouth shut, ears ringing from the shouting. “You’re annoying.” 

Grimm was silent and when Floyd was sure he wouldn’t go and yell anymore, he pulls his hand away. “Now, why don’t you start from the beginning? Make it one sentence only while you’re at it,” Jade said. Grimm crosses his arms. “Hmph. If you haven’t noticed by now, my human isn’t around because of a fever caused by a jerk.”

“A fever? Shrimpy has a fever?” Floyd repeats. He wasn’t aware of this since he wasn’t in any of your classes at all this week– not that he attends them frequently. “And I assume that jerk would be me, yes?” Jade asks, not needing to hear an answer. 

“Mm.. I think you should go and check on Shrimpy, Jade. You’re being a little too mean to them,” Floyd suggests. Jade honestly felt like it wasn’t his responsibility to go over to you and take care of you, but he did agree with his brother that he would just be lower on the standing compared to the guys who chased you days ago. 

After drawing out a long sigh, he eventually agrees. Floyd kept Grimm with him, wanting to play a game of chase. When Jade arrived at the front steps of your dorm, the sun was quick to almost set and the dark colours of the night skies slowly took over. When he entered, he was met with the ghosts that dwell in the building. They were ready to give him a fright, standing right at the door, but he dismissed them and made his way upstairs and to your bedroom where a clutter of things obstructed his path. 

He moves them aside with his legs, sometimes just stepping over them with his long legs until he is finally at the side of your bed. You were mumbling incoherent things by that point that Jade had to bend down to hear what you were saying with that pained expression. “Jade..” Ah, so it was him you were calling out even in the midst of your dreams. How funny it is that you were still uttering his name despite being the one to make you feel worthless. 

Eyes tearing away from you, he looks around at the mess and sighs. Here he thought he would just check up on you before leaving, but remembering Floyd words, he decided to clean up the mess. It would be a bad thing if the dirt of your room made you even more sick. And if you were to become worse, he knows for a fact that his brother wouldn’t stop nagging him.

While cleaning up, he would hear you mumble his name under your lips as if it was a chant; as if it would bring him back to you. He would often stop, close his eyes and take a deep breath in and out before continuing. 

When the floor was spick and span of obstacles, he felt that he did not need to stay anymore. But when he turned around, his eyes caught a glimpse of something in the far corner of the room– where your desk is at. There was a faint glow on the table. It was much dimmer than the light of the moon, but still noticeable if you weren’t in a rush. Curious, he made his way over and noticed all the jars and potion bottles messily scattered. In the garbage bin beside were broken pieces of glass. 

He thinks back to when Grimm had come running towards them in fury, his arm hugged around his waist, supporting the other arm that was drawn close to his face, a finger to his lips. “These must be the failed attempts..” He mumbles, eyes scanning the desk until he was satisfied, though he did not see a book or note of what you were trying to make. 

He recalls you saying that they were for a class assignment, but it has seemed to stretch on for quite a long time and wonder when the due date is. He ponders if you were being foolish again in wanting to be ‘creative’ in potion making or not. You weren’t Rook and you know that so why would you attempt to do something dangerous like potion making without supervision? He would never know with that head of yours. 

He chuckles at that. You were truly a foolish human.. His foolish– Oh? What’s this? Why is he now just thinking about you in this way? He doesn’t believe his feelings towards you have changed. You were always seen as somebody dumb and always needing protecting to him. 

“Jade..” The call of his name snaps him out of his thoughts and looks over his shoulder over to your bed. Your breathing had become quick and shallow. “My, what a dream you must be having,” he says under his breath before leaving the room for only a short duration of time and returning with a bowl and towel in one hand and a glass of water in the other. 

When he returns, he notices your eyes flutter open slowly. And though in the dark, he could tell that your vision was hazy. His shoulders relax at the thought of not being easily identifiable to you. He would hate it if you were to cling onto him again. 

Not wanting to waste anymore unneeded time away from his terrariums, he got you to go to bed after making you drink water and place a cool, damped towel on your forehead. But to his dismay, you held on to his gloved hand. Are you that naive to trust your life to a person you can’t properly identify? He might have been a bad guy and if he truly was one, seeing your vulnerable state would make him think that you were easy to deal with.

The light of the moon and the darkness of the room sculpted out his face perfectly and mismatched eyes that looked at you glowered at that thought. Had you not learned your lesson from being chased by those students? He was amazed you had come this far in life– to make it to Twisted Wonderland. Were you chased at school back in your world? You do come across as the easy type for any predator looking for a prey. Then again, in your world, humans there are also defenceless like you, right? 

At that thought, he was curious about your world. How do so many magicless and helpless humans manage to survive– let alone create a community– without any magic? He wished to ask you, but you were happily snoring away. 

What is he talking about? He was shocked that he wanted to know more about you and the world you came from. He never had asked a single question that would be considered as personal to you.. However, he was amazed. The corner of his lips pulled slightly upwards and in the cast of the moonlight, did he have a genuine smile. Just how did you do it, he asked himself, not realizing the small smile.

After a while, he decided that he should go but once he was about to pull his hand back, his attention was caught on to something else– Despite having a temperature that skyrockets past roofs, your hands were awfully pale and cold.. And poorly wrapped in bandages? He wouldn’t have known through touch by his gloved hand, but both of your hands were indeed wrapped in bandages that were too loose to even prevent whatever wound you were trying to heal to be treated properly. 

He sighs once again at how much tending you needed. It was annoying but he did not complain. He went to your bathroom after carefully getting your hands off of him and searched for the first aid kit– which was just sitting on top of the counter. It was scattered like how your room was just before he entered and decided to clean up. You were almost running out of bandages, which makes him concerned– though he won’t admit it– to just how deep of a wound you have gotten. Just what type of injury did you have anyway?

When he returned to your side again and carefully undos your wrapping, his eyes were shocked to see the deep cuts on your hands. What the Sevens were you doing to have gotten ugly cuts? He would have bombarded you to tell him the truth, but since you were asleep, he couldn’t. He thinks back to the coward guys a week ago now. Were it those guys? He purposely spread word to only a small few, but to think that those guys took advantage of you when they thought he wouldn’t be around you anymore to hurt you? He wished he hadn’t let them go at that moment. 

Pushing his anger aside for now, he wraps your hands in the bandages nicely. It wasn’t too tight nor was it too loose that it would come undone quickly. 

Just when he was about to get up from the bed to return the kit, you weakly ask a question in the midst of your dream. “Do you love me.. Jade?” Your voice was hoarse despite having drank a large glass of water not too long ago. It sounded hurt– no, broken as well.

Does he love you? No, he did not. But, so then what was this unnecessary anger? If he did not love you, he should not feel angry for you. He said nothing and decided that it was rather past the appropriate time to be loitering around your room.

It was at this point that he was sure he had no further tending to, so– subconsciously– he took away the towel on your forehead for a short while, only to place a kiss on the middle of it before putting the towel back on. He hadn’t realize what he did, only doing something routine to him when he would come by your place. 

He would come by your place to chat or do some baking and when it had gotten past the time, you would urge him to tuck you to bed and place a kiss on your head. It was a distant thing to him now that his heart– unknowing to him– still holds onto. 

-

When you woke up, the sun had yet to peak through the cracks in the horizon, but you were feeling much refreshed after sleeping days away. When you wake up, the first thing you notice is the feeling of light pressure on your forehead. Your hands reach for it, and sitting up, you realize that it was a towel. 

You try to think hard of what happened yesterday, drawing a finger to your chin as your eyebrows knit. You closed your eyes and eventually, you did recall someone being in your room, but you just couldn’t remember who it was.

“Human!” Grimm says almost happily when he opens the door to see your figure sitting up. “About time you got up.” He makes his way over to your bed and climbs on top to be by you. 

He crossed his arms and observed your state. Colour had come back to your cheeks and you looked much alive, though you do seem to have lost weight by just sleeping the majority of the time. 

“Oh, right, thank you, Grimm,” you said, making your little companion make the sound of confusion with a raised brow. “You know.. For taking care of me last night.” 

“That wasn’t me,” he said coolly, though did not speak further. “What? Then who..?” Your voice trailed as your eyes wandered to the towel in your hands. That’s when you noticed that your hands were wrapped nicely– a much nicer job than what you could ever do. This only proved that Grimm couldn’t have done it because well.. He doesn’t have proper fingers to grip the bandages– and let’s not forget that he has never done these kinds of things to easily get a beautifully wrapped hand.

You were quiet for a while that Grimm became concerned. Then suddenly, your head shot up and looked at your bedroom. It was clean. Your eyes then landed on your desk where your stuff lay– organized. Someone had come by. Someone other than Grimm had some by and that someone had come to care for you in your worst state possible. If you could just figure out who they were.. 

“Do you know who came by?” you ask. “Nope.” Such a quick response made you raise a brow questioningly. You were about to force it out of him but decided against it; knowing Grimm, he most likely will get angry and call you annoying. You did not push the topic and just hoped that your silent thank yous would be carried by the wind to the recipient. 

Grimm did not want to tell you about Jade and how he came to be in your room which was fine with Jade since he did not want you knowing. After leaving Ramshackle, he warned Grimm to not speak of him to which Grimm replied snappily about not wanting to tell you about him in the first place. Both worked in their favour.

You might have forgotten what happened last night and your dream, but when you woke up, you were very happy. Whatever dream you had, it grew into a new burning desire inside you and you quickly got out of bed and headed over to your desk. This time, you were sure you could make the gift in one go. 

Although you still haven’t forgotten the pain Jade had caused, you still want him to receive your gift and your silent words of appreciation. 

-

When you got to school, your friends came rushing up to you excitedly. “[Name], you’re back!” Epel said, a smile adorning his beautiful complexion. “Man, aren’t we glad that you’re back!” Ace said, a wider smile on his face.

You chatted with your friends and at the corner of your vision, you see two teal headed guys walking inside the building. Knowing that they could belong to no other, you quickly made an excuse and apologized and went to try to catch up to the tall eels. “Jade!” 

Surprised to hear his name come from a voice he had heard many times, he turns around. “Shrimpyy! You’re okay!” Floyd was the first to speak. When you got to a few feet away from them, you stopped. You were brimming with energy and Jade couldn’t help but chuckle at that, though it did not appear visibly. It was only last night were you calling his name and clinging onto him as if your life depended on it. Let’s not forget that he was the one to have broken your heart.

“Uhm, Jade, do you.. Do you have time to meet up with me after school?” you said shyly, looking down at the ground while you fidget with your hands. A clear sign of nervousness. He was surprised and it showed when Floyd looked at his surprised face and snickered.

Don’t tell him that you were still trying. Had he not hurt you enough? “I wanted to give you something.. As a friend, of course!” You quickly added the last part. After not hearing a word out of him, you became doubtful that he would accept. “I, it’s okay if you’re busy.. I–”

“No, I’m not busy. We can meet up,” he said after recomposing himself to how he normally is. You look up, a smile so bright that it was hard to describe with words how it would make one happy. “Okay! I’ll see you then!” You wave and hurried off, presumably to look for your friends once more. 

“Isn’t Shrimpy so nice?” Floyd said once he sees that you have turned a corner. “Shrimpy’s been wanting to give you a gift for a loooong time now. You’re a true villain, Jade.” Jade’s eyes narrow, still looking at where you had disappeared, and smiled slyly. “Indeed, I am.”

-

You had texted him to come meet you at Ramshackle the moment the sun started its descent in the distance. It was such a long wait that you almost couldn’t bear it. But, just as told, he was at your door when the sun began to set. 

“You came!” you said, failing to hide the excitement and relief in your tone. “Fufufu, well, I did say I would come. Now, what is it that you wished to give me?” 

“Follow me!” You got outside, without Grimm and walked to the direction of the forest beside the dorm. The walk was silent, but there was no air of awkwardness between the two of you; as if you two were just merely friends on a stroll. He notices that you have something wrapped in a cloth which he assumed was the gift, held tightly in your still bandaged hands. So why did you need to bring him all the way out here?

By the time you got to a small clearing in the forest, the day’s light completely vanished and in place, was the queen of darkness– the moon– and its colours in full for display.

He stopped walking and so did you, after taking a few steps forward to be in front of him. Without saying anything, you sat down and urged him to do the same things, patting the grass beside you. He complied and sat down where you wanted him to. 

Putting the gift on your lap, you began to unravel what was inside. It was a jar that he had seen in your room. The only difference is that it now had glowing specks of light inside of it. No, they weren’t fireflies.. Just tiny floating orbs of light. 

“Watch.” Was all you said. Silently, you remove the lid and the both of you watch as they proceed to fly out. Some glowing orbs seeped into the soils and before you know it, blue flowers sprouted from where the orbs had gone under. The flowers glowed a faint hue of blue to add more to the enchanting feeling. It was a sight to behold and made him feel much relaxed.

He recognizes these flowers to be smeraldo flowers– a flower that some had come to believe to only be an urban legend. But some do beg to differ and believe that they were flowers of the distant past that no longer grew for some unknown reason.

He was about to ask you how you had come to make these– now true– flowers to grow by yourself, but when he looked at you gazing at the floating orbs of light so fondly– looking so ethereal– with a relaxed smile, he decided not to. 

After a while, your eyes looked at the ground and gasped. “Oh! These are beautiful! I didn’t know that it had this effect.” You smiled widely, happy about what you had created. You had found a book in the dustiest part of Ramshackle’s library and after reading it, you were intrigued. You had never made it yourself– as proven with the many catastrophic explosions– but when you decided to give something in return to Jade, you thought this would be a beautiful present. Though, you must say that the book never said anything about it growing flowers. 

You pluck one closest to you and draw it closer to Jade, hoping he would take it. He eyes the flower, before taking it, a small smile evident on his face. “This is the gift I wanted to show you.. Well, not the flower part– it was something I wasn't aware of– but still, it turned out beautiful,” you said, your voice barely audible that should there be a wind to brush past, you were sure that no one could hear you.

“I heard you were busy lately and I was sure you were stressed so I thought of this in hopes that it would make you relax.. Even if it’s just for one night.. But some failed attempts were inevitable.. As you can see with my hands.. So it took some time.” You chuckled at your foolishness. You didn’t add the part where the bigger cuts were from the time you tripped because you felt that he would just make fun of you again and you didn’t want that to ruin the mood.

What? The cuts were from the times you couldn’t perfect the gift? It wasn’t anybody harassing you? He now felt like he was the stupid one. Ah, he should have guessed as much when he approached the cowering students after talking with you that morning. They were truly scared out of their wits when he showed up. He should ask Floyd what happened as he felt that his brother had done something to them. Nevertheless, what was done is done and he’s sure that they will never look your way again.. That is if they could leave the infirmary. 

When you smiled, your eyes were on your hands that sat on your lap. “Even though we aren’t together anymore.. I was hoping to still give it to you and maybe.. Hope that we could at least be friends after this..” 

Friends? His eyes widened slightly. He was confused, but knew one thing for sure: your heart are like these smeraldos; they are delicate. And you yourself would be what the field of flowers would be; a one of a kind amongst millions. 

“Friends..” he repeats, looking away from your eyes that seemed to make his heart race slightly, and to the field of flowers. “Yes..” He gulps back a lump in his throat that he didn’t know he had. “Yes, that would be nice.” 

When you returned to gazing at your gift to him, it was at this moment that he knew that your heart had pieced itself back together.. And that he had messed up. 

“[Name]..” he calls you, voice almost in a whisper. You hummed in response. “Do you know what these flowers are?” He looks at you to which you do the same. You shook your head. He chuckles. You were still the [Name] he had known before this. “These are smeraldos.”

“Wait, smeraldos?” Your eyes widened in recognition. “I thought they weren’t real!” You felt really accomplished to have found that the flowers of myth were actually real and right in front of you. “Fufufu, I thought the same.”

You returned to look at the sigh before you, now with a newfound pride. Jade looks at you in earnest and before he knew it, one thing struck inside him that made him smile bitterly as he fondly gazed over you.

Now, it was his turn.. It's his turn to go through the heartache you went through because of him, because the look in your eyes tells him that you weren’t looking to go back to the past with him. 

And at that moment, in the field of flowers, did he realize one thing: geraniums aren't fit for you at all. These smeraldo were. They fit your once in a lifetime love for him and that once these flowers dwindle and fade to urban legends once more– as if they were never there– it represents the end of your love for him.

But he chuckles bitterly upon remembering what the flowers represent: the truth that couldn't be told. It seems that the flower could fit him as well. 

His newfound and growing love for you will forever be kept a secret between himself and nobody else for he does not wish to hurt you anymore. 

The truth that couldn't be told, huh?

~♡~

.·:*¨༺𝙽𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗༻¨*:·.

Genshin Impact Masterlist (DISCONTINUED)

Genshin Impact Materlist 2.0 (Coming soon)

Honkai Star Rail (Coming soon)

Twisted Wonderland Masterlist

---

The Golden Will (Coming soon)

~

More coming soon!

Note: I update really slow so if you're patient enough to wait for next post, I would be so much appreciative. ^^

~

Wondering if I've taken your request? Check the master list and see if there is something for the character with "coming soon" + "request"! :)

✦❘༻𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚆𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍༺❘✦

As you are drifting off to sleep, you feel as if you're being carried by the waves of a calm ocean. However, when you wake up, you find yourself trapped in a coffin, floating idly up in the air, waiting for someone to open it.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Please read the rules first before requesting.

The ones that are not specified are gender neutral. ^^ (Or I've forgotten to specify it)

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Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts

The Queen’s Favourite Rose (Female)

The Queen's Favourite Rose Pt 2 (Female)

Trey Clover

Cater Diamond

Ace Trappola

Deuce Spade

Brat Tamer (Female reader)(Coming soon. Request)

Savanaclaw 

Leona Kingscholar

Soft For You

How Naughty~

For You, I’d Do Anything (Coming soon. Request)

Ruggie Bucchi

Jack Howl

Octavinelle 

Azul Ashengrotto

The Depth of the Ocean's Beloved Pearl (Coming soon. Request)

Floyd Leech

Jade Leech

Do you love me? / Geranium

Scarabia 

Kalim Al Asim

An Oasis for the Desert King (Coming soon. Request)

Jamil Viper

Pomefiore 

Vil Schoenheit

Brother, I'm in Love! (Female)

Rook Hunt

Epel Felmier

Ignihyde 

Idia Shroud

Ortho Shroud

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia

Oneshots:

Eternity Without You Isn’t What I Want

A Tiny Predicament

Not Enough Time For You and I (Coming soon. Request)

Encased in Glass (Coming soon)

Series:

Read My Heart - Royality AU

Lilia Vanrouge

A Little Show (R-rated)

I’m All You Need 

Just A Dream

Sweet and Naïve (Female reader)(Yandere content)

Sweet and Naïve / Invisible Chains - Part 2, Version 1 (Female reader)(Yandere content) 

Sweet and Naïve / “Our” Happily Ever After - Part 2, Version 2 (No pronouns used)(Yandere)

Sweet and Naïve / "True Ending" - Part 2, Version 3 (Gender Neutral)(Yandere)

I Can't Love You for an Eternity

Opposites of the War

Opposites of the War - Part 2

Not Enough Time For You and I (Coming soon. Request)

Encased in Glass (Coming soon)

Silver

Sebek Zigvolt

NRC STAFF

Dire Crowley

Divus Crewel

Sam

Mozus Trein

RSA

Neige LeBlanche

Behind Closed Doors (Female reader) (Coming soon. Request)

Che'nya

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Paimon or paimon

Eh? •^• Why not PIEmon? ;3

My poor attempt at being funny. ;-;

Hello!! I'm officially back to write for Genshin Impact again but I have added some other games I want to write for such as Obey me and Twisted Wonderland and others soon since I can't bear to write for Genshin alone with what I had experienced in the fandom.

This is a warning to others who want a Genshin-specific blog.

Hello.. ;-; I've been taken a break for a while now, if you guys haven't noticed. I feel that that break from the negativity from the Genshin fandom was really needed.

I'll be taking a little more time for myself to get my head cleared. I'm writing this because I need to get some motivation to write again. My contractor might become unhappy if they see that I haven't written anything with an original story that I've been making.

Dottore with short drabble “You only ever brought me pain and I’m sick of it.”

Something angsty pls? Thank you!

Tainted Glass [Dottore x Reader/Genshin Impact]

Synopsis: Can you escape the prison you made?

(A twisted Cinderella story. The girl was covered in cinders because she was fatally addicted to drowning in flames.)

Warnings: angst, emotional abuse, violence, death

(A/n): To be honest anon, I didn’t know what the word ‘drabble’ means until I googled it. I uh...hope you don’t mind the length :> 

-----------------------

You fell back against the cold hard floor with your arms bent and head turned sideways. The stinging pain spreads across your cheek. It burns. But your mind was still trying to register what had just came into fruition. 

Why?

The thought was so foreign somehow as if you could hardly believe he was doing this. But then the scene plays in your head again. You froze, your gaze enlarged and clueless while staring at the pale ground as it slowly begins to darken in the seeping movement of his menacing, haunting shadow. 

"Insolent woman, you wretch!" He spat in a disgusted tone, "How dare you speak to me in such demanding manner? Have I already told you, only talk when you have something important to say?"

You didn't respond, rather you merely let the strands fall in front of your vision as you gingerly pressed your hand against the place where he hit you. 

I…don't quite understand…

Dottore glowers down at your hunched form. He was never a man known for the virtue of patience. This man, the one who calls him your husband, you learned a long time ago to not meet his eyes as they would signal a hint of dominance amidst his authority, especially during moments like these. You came to feel his eyes instead, they were usually intense and full of wrath, sometimes crazed and curious while looking at his finest creations. He always loved experimenting in his labratory. After all, it was the only thing that could truly make the madman smile.

What is it that I'm missing? Where did I go wrong?

And you would do anything to obtain at least a fraction of the love he had left in his heart. 

He marches onward with heavy footsteps, paying no mind to your well-being, "Tch get out of my sight. I don't have the time to entertain with anymore these theatrics."

At the sound of him leaving you darted your attention towards him, "Wait, come back. Come back, " you plea softly, "Hector…" But he ignores your call. The back of your fiance disappears behind the door and slams it with a resounding thud. He was gone. You couldn't save him.

"No," As a result, you burried your face into your palms and cried.

“I'm sorry.”

…

What is love?

Being raised in one of the most prestigious bloodlines of Fontaine, a life filled with riches since your parents were well known scholars throughout Teyvat, they provided you and your family with everything you needed. From exquisite dishes to priceless jewelry, yet even among those riches you never did find an answer to your question. They were tangibles and short-lasting, eventually leaving you with nothing until the glass of your heart was filled empty. They seemed to have cared more about their fortune along with the brightest child of their family line, your brother, a male heir, someone who fulfilled their expectations where you couldn't do so. And because he was able to give them what they wanted, he was loved.

I see, love is conditional.

Realizing that you possessed no talent to achieve what your brother had accomplished, you came to accept that you were undeserving of their love. Love was for the smart. Love was for the gifted.  Love was for everything you are not. There was no place for your kind and thus you locked yourself up in your bedroom chambers along with your fragile heart where no one would try to find you, picking up the books upon the shelves and getting lost in their fantasies. 

They told you many beautiful things about the world and many reasons why it was so tragic. Because they weren't real. The story begins with a princess who was a kind-hearted soul, deprived from the care of her evil stepmother and dreams of marrying a prince from a land far far away. They often end on a happily ever after with the princes finding her one true love. You've never seen anything like it. Where two people, despite the struggles they went through, loved each other unconditionally.

Unconditional love only exists in dreams.

Or so you thought to believe.

One day a man marched right at the doorsteps of your mansion. He was a student coming all the way from Sumeru Academia and had high hopes of building a business partnership with your father. The man was declined of course, you watched from the garden bushes as he was sent off back into his carriage. He stops abruptly and turns his head ajar to catch your figure, his inquisitive eyes were both striking and sharp. Like thorns of a rose that was ready to prick anyone who dares to come close. Even so, they made a very lasting impression.

Red eyes.

It was the first time that someone had looked your way.

Couple of months later, the government had arranged a grand ball where all nobles would gather and commit to building their social circle. Useless events. There was no reason for you to engage. While your parents were occupied with the latest gossips and your brother surrounded by fathers who were eager to marry their daughters to him, you snuck outside to the balcony and hid away from the crowd. Quiet at last. And as things should be. The moon was your only friend because she was just like you; half empty. Maybe that was why you still had a glimmer of hope for the other half to be filled. 

Part white, you inquired, pristine and untainted. From far away it looked similar to snow. 

"My, how pleasantly surprising."

While the other part was stained with black cinders.

You glanced over your shoulder to see a man leaning against the pillar. His mint coloured bangs were slicked back in a trendy fashion, complimenting the white suit he adorned himself with. The golden chains hanging around his ebony boots dangled and clanged with each step he took forward until the light finally reveals his face.

"You seem familiar," you say while squinting your eyes, "Are you the person my father rejected back in February?"

He quirks one brow and you were afraid if you had offended him. But before you could utter an apology, the man splits his lips into a toothy grin and bursts out into a maniac-like laughter. He was completely insane, you thought to yourself. Though he paid no mind to your discomfort and continued to dwell in his amusement, "Hahaha straightforward, I like it! So what if I am? Is it a requirement to be a noble for me to simply have a chat?"

"And if I may ask why?"

"Hmmm, why?" The man reaches for the balcony and presses his back there. He threw his head backward before drilling his ruby gaze into yours, "I too am not fond of annoying crowds. Those snobbish fools thinking they're above everyone else just because they have a couple of mora when that is all they are worth. It's almost too hilarious for my own good."

You could tell there was disdain in his tone. Mainly towards your father who were one of the many unkind nobles of Fontaine and was only liked because of his success. Gripping your hands upon the stone railings, you looked down at the distant trees below while the wind rustled them apart, "I can't deny that," you say dissapointedly, "It's common for nobles not to associate with lower classes as it could potentially ruin their image. Though I may not have been there but I'm sure you had much to offer in terms of your brilliance, erm, Mister…?"

"Hector," Hector placed a palm on his chest with a polite bow following suit, "Hector Dufour-Lapointé. It is a pleasure to make you an acquaintance Lady (Y/n)."

"You know my name?"

"How could I not?" Hector smirks lazily as he danced around you, "I saw you before hiding behind the rose bushes back in your estate. Quite curious why you didn't attempt to say hello."

He even remembers that too. You fiddled with the fabric of your dress, "My apologies. I'm not use to socializing so much."

“Is that so? I think you're not giving yourself enough credit," he complimented while shrugging, "This is much more entertaining than hanging in that insufferably crowded room, it was an unexpected occurence to meet you here of all places. However, I must say time can fly if I'm able to enjoy myself."

You shifted away from his stare, "You flatter me. We've only been talking for a few minutes."

"I have yet to realize it then" Hector's cheerfulness remains at stance despite your gloomy response. He leans forward like a curious child and tosses you a question, "Then allow me to ask, what brings you out here Lady (Y/n)? I don't see any reason when your family are such highly respected people of Fontaine." 

"I'm not like them!" You retort instantly, causing the man to glance at you with skepticism, "I mean, I have nothing to do with them and they have nothing to do with me. That's just how it is. They already have Clement after all…"

Why am I telling him this?

"Ah your brother I assume. Yes so I've heard much about his genius mind. There were a few instances where he and I collaborated at Sumeru Academia," Hector speaks as if regarding to his unpleasant memories, "Although he never said anything about having a sister."

"We're not that close. And I'm not very fond of him," you confessed bluntly.

"Neither am I," Hector agreed with a scowl, "He claims his position using the knowledge derived from history books but never tries to think beyond the norm. That ignorant mindset of his will surely be his downfall one day."

"Ignorance can lead to anyone's downfall. If they turn a blind eye to the truth, so much can be taken from them," you paused shortly from rambling too much, "That's what I read in books at least."

"As expected of your lineage," he sighs whimsically, "Such avid readers."

"Well my family prefers documents and research. I've gone through them too but I will always love reading fiction."

"Ha! Seems you really are trying to be different from the rest of your family."

Seconds turn to minutes and minutes to hours, you had already forgotten about the cold breeze despite your dress being less than ideal for the outdoors. The man, although he can be a little to blathering at times, was more than what seemed to be on the surface. At first you thought of him as someone here to take advantage of your relations to your father but he seemed so sincere when listening to your stories, so eager while expressing his thoughts and even made you laugh a couple of times. You didn't realize that the clock had already struck twelve as the guests were preparing to leave but you just weren't ready to do the same.

"Until next time (Y/n)," he takes your fingers and pressed a kiss on top of them, though you were more struck by how he addressed you without honorifics, "I look forward to speaking with you again."

A warm smile graces your lips as you cursty, "Likewise Hector. Thank you for listening to me. I know I must have taken a long time."

Hector sneered but you already learned that it was simply his way of expressing amusement, "Hardly. I was thoroughly entertained."

When your parents found out about your meeting with him, they made it clear that you would never see him again. Hector Dufour-Lapointé is what he calls himself but the real name behind this man was Hector Valliere who came from a village hidden in the west of Fontaine. Rumours said that he was chased out of his hometown by an angry mob, claiming him to be a madman conducting unethical experiments on humans. Shortly after his arrival in Sumeru, he abandoned his past identity and replaced it with a new one in order to enter the academy under legal supervision. Associating with a man of a suspicious reputation would only cause harm to your family's name. Though you could barely care much about their reputation. There was nothing for you to benefit from it.

Few weeks have passed and you evetually gave up on the thought of hearing from Hector. They were only fleeting moments, nothing more. Your routine would stay the same as you kept on plucking more books off the shelves, killing whatever time you had. However the activities you used to enjoy somehow lost it's flair and there would be a slight pain in your chest whenever you turn to a page with the princess as she is surrounded by her friends. What exactly changed? Your family still treated you the same. Did you suddenly grow bored from doing the same thing everyday? Why is it that you feel much more lonelier despite being alone for so long? It was hard to tell in a singular perspective. If only there was someone here to give you some insights on things you couldn't see…

A silver bird lands by your front window and you nearly fell out of your chair as it flapped their wings violently. A machine?! They dropped what seems to be an envelope within the thick bushes before taking off and buzzing into the evening sky. You switched off the lock and lifted the glass within a single movement, snatching the piece of paper so that the wind wouldn't blow it away. Hastily you opened it. Both curious and cautious of why would anyone send you mail in such a discreet approach.

Chère Mademoiselle (Y/n),

I can only imagine the shock of your expression once reading this letter. I'm only writing to you since I assume that your father had already told you those nasty rumours about my past. No matter. I trust that you have a good head on your shoulders to not prejudge people using such miniscule details. I wish to speak with you again. Unless you have other plans staying in that stuffy room of yours, meet me behind the clock tower at 11:00 p.m. Don't be late.

Bien à vous,

H.

"It really is him!" The happiness spreads all across your features as you clutched the letter to your chest. For some reason, your heart wouldn't stop racing. It was a simple yet thoughful action on his part but despite how short his greeting was, every word held the weight of a thousand sparks, "I…I can't stop smiling."

And without hesitation, you prepared to leave. No one noticed your absence.

-------

It was only halfway where you realized that Hector didn't give many details redgarding why he planned this sudden event. You caught sight of him standing under the roofs with his hands hidden behind his back. He had on his signature lopsided grin, brows uneven as he glanced at you casually.

"How very punctual, were you so eager that you couldn't wait?" He teases.

"I was surprised when your bird knocked upon my window," you inform, "Is it something urgent?"

"Not at all. I merely wanted to catch up with old times," Hector tilts forward to emphasize his suggestion, "Care to indulge me for a bit?"

You crossed your arms, "Then what is it that you're hiding behind your back?"

"Hmm?" He hums, "You mean this?"

"Ah!"

Roses. A bouquet of bright red flowers were presented to you, nicely wrapped in fabric. In the language of Fontaine, recieving them could mean multiple of things and you couldn't help but feel hesitant despite his thoughtful gesture, "Why are you giving me this?"

"Is it so wrong for me to be a gentleman? I thought it would be best to prepare you a gift after you put all that effort to come out in such a late hour," Hector mused to himself, "Especially when you had to make sure no prying eyes would catch us."

You let out a small laugh before accepting the bouquet, "I wouldn't go as far to say that."

"Oh?" Although it was hard to see, Hector managed to catch a glimpse of your flushed cheeks hidden behind the flowers. A darken smirk climbs onto his face at the inviting thought of what it could mean, "Tell me more."

The whole night you both spent walking around the empty plaza with only the stars as your guide. They paved a silver path reflected in the horizon above, free flowing like one of the many watercolour paintings hung in your chambers, uncertain where they may lead but you followed them regardless. If it weren't for Hector's inivtation you might have never known about the parts of your city due to the restricted lifestyle you lived. He listened to every one of them. The stories you had to tell when there was no one for you to talk to and the complaints about your brother whenever he wanted to snitch on your actions just to get the praise out of your father. You expressed your frustrations when speaking about your incompetences, joy after reading a good fairytale book written by your favourite author, there was so much to say that you were worried if Hector soon grew tired from them.

"Go on. I'm listening."

And your heart flutters again. Suddenly everything felt so light with each step you took, it was as if you walked across the stars in the sky rather than the heavy pavement of the ground you called your home. But even if happiness was a bliss, it tormented you. Because companionship made you realize how poor your were all along. That you had everything yet you had nothing, slowly withering away like the roses you held in your hand. Convinced that your existence was worth nothing more than nothing itself. Doomed to be dismissed and forgotten. Rotting away...Hector stays by your side as you cried softly into the night.

From a distance the bell rings and echoes just like the time before during Fontaine's grand ball. Hector shows you a secret route so that no one could find you.

"Will you write to me again?"

The request was so innocent, purely from genuine intentions and devoided of anything he had in mind. Hector would always laugh in these situations when things have gone unexpectedly yet pleasingly his way but held back knowing that it would be foolish to waste such a priceless opportunity. And so he gave you his smile, one full of secrets where you had mistakened it as a promise, "Of course my dear."

Every night you could no longer fall asleep since he had occupied your thoughts completely. Sometimes you'd dream of him and their tales would unfold similarly to the ones you have read. It gone to the point where the maids would have to wake you up during late afternoons due to the dramatic change in your sleep schedule. Though, you didn't care what they did to you. As long as no one found out about your secret rendezvous.

You never thought that there'd be a day where you would voluntarily give up reading your beloved fairytales. They were now replaced by a stash of his letters that have been accumulated over the past few months. You read them each day, pacing back and forth within the walls of your room, whispering his sentences as if he were the one saying them to you. He made you feel special. You were addicted to this feeling. Eventually you managed to memorize his words by heart. 

The pages of your diary were filled with notes. Like your very own  fairytale carved into reality. From the rose petal, now dried, to the hairpin he snatched from a distracted merchant and a single strand of his hair you found within your cloak after a warm embrace, all of these items, a remnant of the man you loved were taped up in these pages. Sometimes you could even feel his prescence because it was all you needed. It didn't matter if Clement threw insults about how worthless your existence was, your parents could lock you in this prison if they wanted to but they shall never take away Hector from you. Never. You swear it. He was your whole world and the prince who saved you from a life made of aching emptiness. You would do anything to keep him by your side. Anything to gain his affection.

Anything.

"I had a feeling that you were the culprit dear sister."

Your arms stutters as they clutched tightly on the scrolls you took off from the shelves. The light crept into the room like arms reaching out to clutch around your ankles, warning you for trespassing. You turned around dreadfully to see Clement pressing his shoulder against the doorframe with his arms folded and a wicked expression aimed at your pitiful state.

"Why…Why are you still awake?" You say in disbelief, "I thought everyone was asleep."

"Please. Not only are you shameless but hypocritical as well. You truly are a dissapointment to our family."

"Wait," taking a step forward, you stopped him before he makes his exit, "I'll put them back. Just don't tell father about this."

But like your parents, your brother was unkind. Clement doubles over and hugs his torso, cackling through his teeth, "Is that how it is?" He swipes his arm up and you see a parchment paper held between his fingers. 

"No!"

"Ma chérie (Y/n). I must say all this tenacious effort of sneaking in my letters to your window is becoming more and more tiresome. But of course, you are an exception. I want the scrolls you've mentioned the other day at my lair tomorrow evening. Make sure no one discovers this. I'm counting on you. Cordialement! Hector."

"No…" you whispered, feeling the weight of the world fall upon your shoulders as it shattered apart. Hector. If possible, you hoped that the pieces could just crush you right then and there. Your knees felt weak and a fright takes over but despite your turmoil, Clement didn't show a shred of sympathy.

"So this is why you've been acting odd lately. Pathetic," he flaps the paper tauntingly in his grasp, "I can't decide if I should be impressed or baffled by your actions. A secret romance with a criminal and the bloodline of Fontaine's most respected government associates? Even though you've hit rock bottom, you still decided to dig deeper."

"Clement you don't understand!"  Stumbling upon your footsteps, you desperately tried to convey your predicament even if it meant feeding his ego, "Hector is not the man you think. He was shunned by the people of his hometown, treating him as if he were nothing. They…They ignored him! All this time he needed someone to recognize his brilliance, someone to understand." Shakily, you brought your tensed arms to your chest and screamed a silent whisper, "Someone to listen but no one did. He must have felt so alone…"

Clement flinches when you suddenly clutched onto his biceps. When he looked into your eyes, a shiver ran down his spine.

"Hector is counting on me. I'm the only one who can save him. No one else. He needs me Clement, he needs me!" 

"Tch."

An ear-splitting scream of his hand against your face echoes across the room. It knocked you out of your stance and you bumped into the table, grunting while the scrolls to tumbled to the floor.

"Crazy woman, I'm embarassed to be related to you!"

While you were still trying to regain your balance, your brother had already ran off. It wouldn't be long before he alerted your parents, the clock ticking away like sand until the final hour leaves you with nothing but an empty glass. 

"No," despair swallows the strength away from your legs and you crawled towards where he used to stand, "Don't take him away from me…I need him…"

I can't live without him.

I can't live without him.

I can't live without him.

Tears begin to form by the corners of your eyes as you clenched your teeth. This was no time to cry. Balling your fists, you sprinted out of the room, pushing whatever stood in your way as if you were running for your life. 

And if you considered everything else, it wasn't that far from the truth.

-------

"Hector! Hector are you there?" After arriving upon his house, you began knocking on his door aggressively. The lock clicks and you were greeted by an evidently annoyed man gnawing his teeth together.

"Tsk. There better be a good reason-"

"They're coming for us! We have to go. Now. Before it's too late. My father is probably already waking and making arrangements for you to-"

"Enough, I can't even catch what you're saying," He pinches the bridge of his nose while you were still stuck in a frenzy state. He takes a step back and opens the door wider, gesturing for you to come inside, "Get in already. I have a feeling that this will be a long night."

Hector observes intently at the words you tell him.

Not out of concern but akin to the way he watches the insects react when he exposes them to a different environment.

He was a scientist after all. A madman in which you deliberately fell in love with, so much to the point that he was able to feel pity for once. How you trusted him wholeheartedly with all of your vulnerabilities, emotions and secrets like handing him your parts just so he could put you back together again. Tinkering was always one of his favourite hobbies and he couldn't help but feel a twisted sense of pride at the thought of you being completely wrapped around his finger. 

Perhaps that was the reason why he loved you. Because he didn't love you. He loved you in parts.

"It was only a matter of time," Hector sighs. He sneaks his grasp into yours, knowing how much it affects you and puts on an invisible mask of deciet, "I already knew this day would happen long before anyone could have predicted it."

"You did?" With worried eyes you gazed at him, "What shall we do then?"

Knowing he hit the target, his lips begin to curl up towards his ears, showing his sharp white teeth that shone against the dim-litted room. Hector asks, "Do you love me?"

A silly question. You didn't hesitate to answer, "Of course I do. I've said it many times."

"Prove it to me," Forcing his forehead against yours, Hector commands in a dangerously low tone, "Kill your brother and only then you can truly be mine."

Your brain sutters, trying to absorb what he had just said. Kill? As in to take a life? It sounded wrong. But...was it wrong if the life belonged to someone who ruined yours?

Dumbfoundedly, you glanced into the bloody orbs of your lover, his black pupils thinning into knives while burning in the hellfire of his true colours. Hector runs a hand from the scalp of your hair, down to your cheek before gingerly sliding his fingers at your jawline. He pulled you close and whispered into your ear.

"Are you scared?"

Ah, this wasn't about your feelings. This was about him and your future and there could be no future you without him by your side.

You let your eyelids drop and leaned into his touch, "I could never be scared of you Hector. Whether it is within my power or not, I will make sure no one gets in our way. I swear it."

"Good," he continues to have you feed on his affection, "I knew I could count on you."

-----------

The news of your brother's death filled every headline Fontain had to offer. He was driven off a cliff while making a trip towards Sumeru. No one survived. The remains were so crushed to the point that authorities had trouble identifying their bodies. The only explanation they could come up with by observing the leftover tracks was that the horse must have gone out of control and ended up dragging the carriage along with it.

Ha. Serves him right.

Food poisoning. The vial Hector made was very effective. You made sure to bury it away from your mansion.

With no other choice, you became your family's next heir. Hector notifies you that he would be away for several months to solidify a unique connection with a man hailing from Snezhnaya. You didn't think he would arrive at your doorsteps with so much authority. Fatui soldiers followed from behind as the staff paved a way for them to enter. Your father was clearly displeased by his outrageous approach but he knew he was in no place to deny.

"Upon the agreement between Fontaine and Snezhnaya, Lady (Y/n) will become Harbinger Il Dottore's wife," the Duke announces, "This news will be publicly announced at the end of October."

Dottore? Is that what he calls himself?

As if claiming his victory, Dottore shoots your father a devilish smile. You could feel the dining table shake when he kept pressing his fist against the smooth surface, begrudingly congratulating you both for the new engagement. Your mother bursted into tears.

Was it worth it?

You watched both of your parents mourn silently in their own manner. Perfectly knowing that you were the main cause. But you weren't able to feel any sadness because in the end, you now had everything you've ever wanted. 

The inheritance.

Their attention.

But most of all, him.

And when you were convinced that this was your happily ever after, that fairytales were not just beautiful lies for the sake of comfort, you didn't realize  you were already living a life made of beautiful lies conjured by your own mind for the sake of your own comfort. 

"You're nothing without me."

Dried and calloused hands squeezed around your throat as you flailed your legs against the soft fabric of the carpet floor. He encases you in a straddling position, enjoying the sight of your tortured and clenched face. Hector…no, Dottore hated it when you disobeyed him. He despised it when his creations don't work the way he wanted them to and he had no use for things that are broken.

"G-hka--k..-"

"How many times do I have to remind you to not use my birthname. Do those ears of you even function properly? Or must I fix them myself?"

You gasped for air when he relaxed his grip. Vision a blur, you coughed a few times before he pulls your arm so that you lay flushed against his chest.

"Don't forget who saved you dear (Y/n). Because of me you were able to escape that miserable life you've despised for years. I expect the utmost gratitude on your part at all times, it is only fair that I punish you for not meeting my requirements, don't you agree?" Dottore lifts his hand up to pinch your cheeks, pulling your head to stare at your eyes, "After all, there is no one else in this world who can put up with you…but me."

His words were poison in which you drank like a woman starved. It made you feel numb to the pain the more you drowned in their alluring scent, the taste was sweet, a remedy for the bitterness of reality where the man of your dreams was nothing but a cruel monster. You came to believe that the reason why he treated you so harshly was because he was scared of losing you. You were caught in the trap of what seemed to be love and devotion when truly, you were just a toy to be used at a means end. He breaks you and he puts you back together, over and over again, filling in between the cracks formed in your glass heart with the phrases you loved to hear. Just like how he filled the other holes of your life where no one else did. You called it kindness. He saw it as entertainment.

Most people pay attention to the flower's beauty but they never acknowledge the thorns hidden beneath it's blossom.  That is why they bleed. They get hurt. Though, you didn't mind shedding blood if it was for his sake.

Because you would do anything for him.

You would do anything to bring back the memories of Hector Dufour-Lapointé and save him from the Harbinger that ruined his life. Your life. It wasn't his fault. You knew you could change him to what he was before because you were in love with him, that he might still in there. Somewhere.

Right?

…

Please come back.

Time continues to flow like the tears of your dying heart despite yearning for it to turn at the past. Dottore already left the room a long time ago but you didn't. Raising your head away from your hands, you peered at the door in front of you, begging desperately through a chanting record of despondence. 

Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back. Come back.

Images, they slipped through your fingers, slowly becoming more distant until your mind began to see them as illusions. Dreams. Things that were not real. Telling you that your life was a lie. 

"Come back to me…Hector."

Because the man you loved was withering in your memories and you couldn't do anything to save him.

A dry croak robbed you of your breath as you turned to look in the mirror.

Worthless. You were always worthless, it was what your parents told you since birth. It was what you became when he wasn't at your side because without him, your existence was worthless. You lied for him, you stole for him you, took a life for him. You destroyed yourself for him to point that it was hard to believe you were even looking at yourself.

Worthless. It's who I am.

And despite it all, you couldn't obtain his love.

(Crack).

Worthless things don’t deserved to be loved.

(Crack. Crack).

But what if it’s because I’m worthless, that he won’t love me back?

(Crack).

Your eyes jolted open, causing you to gasp sharply. When the sweet lies dispersed in your head and cleansed you of deceit, everything started to make sene. You came to realize why your wish was impossible all along.

Dottore...no, Hector, the reason wasn't because he didn't return your feelings. Neither was it due to the fact that he hurt you through his actions. Nor when he made you cry or scream for help before feeding you with more lies, thinking he would never hurt you again. It was none of those things.

It was because the man you loved this whole time was someone who could love no one but himself.

"Ha...haha," sucking in your breath, a sinister laugh escapes your mouth, "Hahahahahahaha.....!"

Everything was worthless.

You grabbed a nearby hairbrush and threw it at the mirror, watching yourself shatter into a million pieces.

There was only one thing left to do. 

------

"Ugh, where is it?!"

It was late into the night where every staff had gone to sleep. The Harbinger fumbles with his keys while standing at the door of his basement as he was too busy proceeding with his research rather than considering the thought of rest. Usually he acted upon them on his own will, performing various experiments for enjoyment. However, ever since the Snezhnayan court had requested him to look into the ancient arts of alchemy, Dottore was forced to carry it out before the deadline approached. Otherwise his position as Harbinger would be revoked.

"What a bunch of self-centered blockheads. Can't they understand that it take quality time to get quality results?"

Most of his important documents were stored on the otherside. Half of it came from his father-in-law's library. He had you to thank for that.

"Ah finally," he mutters, though still dissatisfied, "I should have a word with my butler for misplacing them."

Dottore shoves the key into the lock but instead of twisting the knob he noticed something strange. It was old and had yet to be fixed but somehow he didn't have any trouble adjusting his wrist. Then he saw there were a set of freshly made fingerprints upon the smooth metallic surface. However, the only person awake at this time would be him-

An intruder!

Dottore drops everything to the ground and yanks the door open. He skittered down the stone stairs while cursing under his breath. Using the delusion gifted by the Tsaritsa, the Harbinger activated his lazer-like pillars as he took advantage of their glow to light up the unlit room.

"What in the abyss...?!"

Except it wasn't dark.

"All of these scrolls, I recognize them," without sparing a single glance, you spoke nostalgically towards the bookshelves, "It brings me so much memories..."

Dottore clenches his teeth together as his eyes shone an angry red, you were holding a torch dangerously close to his hard-earned collection, "What do you think you're doing?!" He fumed, "Put that out, AT ONCE! Don't make me repeat myself!

"They're precious to you aren't they?" You finally shifted to face him, "More than me."

"What has gotten into you?" He was about to hurl at you until he saw your torch lowering, causing him to retreat. You were strangely noncholant and he couldn't help the feeling of disturbance. Accepting that he didn't have the upperhand, Dottore decided to use a different approach, "(Y/n)."

The sound of your name falls from his lips. You faltered.

"I'm sorry for what I have done. I know I was dishonourable to you, as your husband and lover, and that you didn't deserve to see me so aggressive. You have every right to express your anger, my dear. I was in the wrong."

It was only a mask. You knew it well. But seeing him with softened eyes and a tone so comforting, made you desperately wanting to run into his arms so he could wipe away your sorrows just like once upon a time. To live happily ever after.

Hector.

Dottore runs his fingers through his hairstrands in frustration and sighs, "However the Tsarista needed me to do something very important and I can't seem to fulfill her request no matter how hard I try. It angers me. If I don't finish this, there would be no place for us to stay."

"Hector..." you sniffled quietly. He looks so much like him right now.

"Can't you see I'm doing this for you?" He consoles, yet his weapons still remain, "I only intended to make you happy and there's nothing I won't do to achieve that. How about I show-"

"Enough."

Dottore froze upon your sudden command. He didn't sense a hint of subjugation and it seemed that you had perfect control of your emotions. How very inquisitive. Did you grow immune to the style of his voice? In such a short period of time? The facade he had on was now replaced with a growling animal-like expression. You looked at him dissapointedly. His Harbinger self returned. Hector was no more.

"Ha, you're the same as always. Even before the time you became a Harbinger. The same man that I fell in love with but it is me who will never be the same again," For a moment you averted your gaze as if trying hard to swallow your own words, "Remember when we first met at the balcony? That I told you my favourite books to read are fiction? I knew they weren't real but deep down, I wanted to believe in them anyways. And you know what? They did come true, to some degree..."

As the memories come flashing back, he defenselessly watches your expression contort from sadness to a calm contemplation and finally, enraged disgust, "But you only ever brought me pain and I'm sick of it!"

Swaying the torch to the side, Dottore flinches forward but he didn't dare to come close when your current state was unpredictable to him, "I JUST WANTED YOU TO LOVE ME," you wail, I just wanted to be loved, bringing a clawed hand against your forehead and trembling upon contact, "It's all that I ask for..."

Dottore narrowed his brows. Perhaps he may have gotten too far.

"But I know it's impossible. The world is a cruel place and there's no point in trying anymore. That is why I'm going to set us free."

"...What do you mean?"

You shut your eyes closed and tossed the flaming torch to the ground. A horrified expression takes over his features. It didn't take long for the fire to begin spreading amongst the room.

"NO!" Dottore yelled powerfully, he frantically darts his gaze at all directions as they continued to flicker and blend into his precious documents. You stood still and watched him grab the ones that were intact, savouring the most he could but they slip out of his arms every time he moved. Dottore glances behind him to see a rising cage of hellfire. Then he turns to you.

" 'Til death do us part!" you laughed maniacally.

The madman looked back with angry dismay, "You're out of your mind!"

Abandoning whatever he held in his hand, Dottore spins around towards the staircase. He covers his face with his sleeve and did whatever he could to prevent the fire from touching him. However, he accidentally stumbled on his footsteps and something fell off the heights, knocking him in the face. He grunts painfully.

"That will leave a scar," you smile while he clutches at his injury, "I can break you too.”

Just like how you broke me.

Knowing that you've managed to leave a mark of your existence on him in someway, you peacefully watched your lover wobble between the hell you created. But the hell you knew was not made of scorching heat and thundering flames. Hell was empty. Hell was a void. This feeling was far too gentle to be considered hell. If he can't return your love, then at least let these caging arms bask you in the warmth you’ve always desired.

Lifting your head, you looked towards the ceiling and closed your eyes.

Ah, this cannot be death.

I’m so sorry that you are feeling this way, your mental health is much more important than the fandom so if you have to take a break you should! And if anyone says anything mean to you I’ll definitely defend my friend (ง’̀-‘́)ง you should do what makes you comfortable and if it’s not interacting with the fandom than that’s okay, I know the genshin fandom can be pretty toxic and people will attack you for having a different opinion or ship different characters together than them and it’s so childish and immature that people will gaslight and harass others for different opinions. I rarely interact with people in fandoms because of this and only write for the characters cause it’s fun for me and I like to do it for people. I have tough skin so it’s hard to effect me and I don’t really care what people say to me over the internet but I hate when people attack or offend the people I’m friends with so if you ever need someone to talk or vent to my private message is always open for you if you ever need it. I hope this gif of baby chicks cuddling a cat makes you smile 💜

Thank you for saying that you'll be there! It really makes me happy. The gif does make me happy as well! It's very cute. ^♡^ And I am going the same route as your perspective; rather than being too involved with the fandom and fighting other fellow lovers of said fandom over childish things, I will write because I love the characters. Even though I left Genshin's fandom, I still can't help but love all the characters. :3 ❤

Ah! To those needing further clarification with my previous post, I will continue to write for Genshin.. Just not really seeing myself as a part of the group anymore. ^^

The Genshin community is scaring me.. Scaring me to the point that I don't want to write anything about Genshin and its characters.. Sure, I still love the game and the characters but being in the fandom.. Will I get attacked by the community that I love for an honest mistake or misunderstanding? Will I be threatened to the point of taking my own life? I'm scared to express my own opinions, likes, and dislikes. I thought a fandom meant that we would all welcome each other.. Not have a war inside it. I will respectfully take myself out from the community and not interact with it. This will be the last time I join a fandom. I just can't handle the toxicity and Genshin's fandom was the last strike. This time, I am writing to make people happy and not because I love being in the fandom.

I'm so happy you tagged me, Eli! I thought you forgot about me. I started to panic and became sad, but I didn't know what to say. •×•

Anyways, I'm actually asexual and I've never really liked the thought of engaging myself into a relationship. I don't like the.. Adult part of a relationship just something less than that?? I really like the thought of a soft relationship?? I've recently realized that I am touch starved and just having someone to hug is all I really need. I need someone who can understand me and not easily snap back at me when I have my moments because I'm pretty hard-headed, if you ask me. I need someone who will listen and comfort me and give me silent hugs when I go through another one of my episodes. I would also like someone who can answer all of my questions, even something simple as 'why trucks have so many wheels?'. But if they can't, I hope they can come up with an answer with me! ^^ I just have so many questions on how the world works. :3 And it would be nice if they share information they wish to share since it will most likely open my mind to new things. I don't care how long they drag their conversation. I'm always happy to listen. I also find the thought of long, quiet moments with someone lovely. Also, I hope they can cook because certain things in the kitchen trigger me and I sadly can't cook.

Looking at this, maybe I can find a friend like this and not be in a relationship. And this kinda reminds me of Zhongli's personality--

Tagging: @ellitx @lightblueexorcist @/anyone else who wants to do this! ^♡^ I'm really curious to everyone's ideal type.

I just saw this picrew tag game going on in astro blr so I wanna do it on this side of tumblr ksksks

Use this picrew to make your ideal type

Mine is this!

((I generally like smart looking men, elegant, mischievous and probably rich, also plus points for megane lmaoo

I like open-minded, mature guys, I mean those who can talk about anything and everything and widely knowledgeable about the world. I talk a lot and what i talk about are usually deep stuff so I like it if they can catch up ksksks i want to grow and learn together with them!

someone who knows how to enjoy life, travel, who's also ambitious and knows what they want in life/// sagittarius/gemini/aquarius energy if ur into astro ))

Tagging: @victor-mare, @love-impact, @mrpenguinpants, @zhongli-cafe, @albehoe, @stargazer-balladeer, @starfell-traveler

...i just realized this is a male picrew....and i dont think it has a female version sorry,,,, if u dont want to do it it's ok!!

I have been tagged by Elli!! Thank you, Elli!! <3

I can explain why I have this-- No, I cannot.

Tagging: @lightblueexorcist @kazuhasfootrest @/anyone who wants to join. I need to find more friends. •~• Anyone wanna be friends with me?

Thank you for the tag tobi @fashionablyfailing12 💕

You moved out of your house and the seventh character/person in your camera roll is your new roommate. Tag 6 people.

Gladly hehe they're precious <3 (and there, another favorite who wants to die 😭😭)

Tagging @fyodcrs @quanxui @nightrayv @gojosattoru @nya-vivi @agathokakological-writer and anyone who'd like to join!

This is a bit embarrassing to say, but I want to share it. So, I had this dream where I was in Genshin. All of the characters were there, inside Angel's Share. For some reason that I don't know about, we made some sort of circle and I was asked who I liked more. Venti said something like, "You'll pick me, right, [my name]?" and getting close to me with that smile of his. Diluc then said something like, "I highly doubt she'd choose you." I know he said something meaner because it hurt Venti. Others agreed with Diluc. Zhongli and Scara looked very smugged in the background because they know how much I love the two. Venti continued to smile despite what Diluc said. I was angry at them all because that was just mean. So, in order to prove them all wrong, I went and hugged Venti and said, "Of course I'd choose Venti!" I imagined him to smell like flowers and was very warm and soft to the touch. He was taller than me too (which I expected, seeing as I am 4'9. Short human). When I woke up, I realized how touch starved I am. It was my first time hugging anybody, even if it was just in my dreams. I don't even remember the last time I hugged any of my family members. don't like the thought of having skin-to-skin interaction with anybody. But I literally cried after having that dream. •~•

Tumblr isn’t allowing me to see any of my messages so I didn’t even realize you said something back 눈_눈 but I’m doing very well! I’m almost done with school, I have one more month left and than I’m done till I go to college! Covid hasn’t really bothered me that much , I did a lot to distract myself, such as cleaning and redesigning my whole room which was super fun and I did a lot of art and baking.

Yeah, for some reason, my notifications are something of the same, either delayed by a day or I get nothing at all. ^□^" Anyway, I'm happy to hear that you are doing well! And also, college!? So you are older than me. •w• I still have 2(?) years to go. Anyway, I wish you luck in college and in your current classes! I saw videos about students in college and it just scares me. >~<

I have too many things to do and I don't know where to start. I seriously need to start writing on that original story because I signed a contract.. >○< Hnng-- I didn't think anybody would contact me, let alone a well-known company(?) too.

Helloooo! I hope you day is going well （＾ω＾）

Hiii!! My day is going okay, thank you for asking. ^♡^ I was starting to get sad when I haven't been receiving notifications for you (I hope it isn't my notifications acting up again) And what about you? Are you doing okay? I hope that that's the case. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I am always here! After all, this whole covid thing does mess up some people. :)) ❤

I apologize for going on and off when it comes to writing. Some days it seems as if I have vanished to only appear the next. ^^"

Also, just a heads up that I will be doing a request from here that has been left on the dusty shelf for months now. It's an Albedo x slightly dominant reader. ^^

║Kaeya║ Flirt

Requested from Wattpad.

Request description: Kaeya x flirty reader.

Gender-neutral reader.

Warning: Horrible, dirty jokes. Mature audience!!

Word count: 500+

All rights reserved.

---

Kaeya Alberich- a gentleman in the eyes of the elderly as well as that of other citizens, or so they think. In fact, he was just a smooth talker that knows which buttons to push and strings to pull in order to manipulate someone. A charm that only he could do.. Well, along with another person.

That person could well charm the citizens, but they had their eyes set on a prey to bother with them. Kaeya sighs just thinking about that prey being him. Glancing at the clock, he knew that you would be entering the tavern real soon.

"Did it hurt?" A flirtatious voice spoke from behind just as he had predicted. The Cavalry Captain closes his eyes and takes hold of his glass, a smirk playing out on his lips. "What? Me falling from Celestia?" he questions, back still facing none other than you. "I can't say. I've never been dropped from there." He chuckles at his own response. "Do you want me to try it?"

You rest a hand on your hip and a sigh escape from your lips. "O' Kaeya, why can't you go along with me?" you ask and make your way over to the bar, sitting on the stool right next to his.

Kaeya just laughs. "Haha, well, you should try better." He looks at his almost empty glass before taking a sip of his drink. "Well then, why don't you teach me?" you half-heartedly joke.

"Oh? Me teach you? I'm not much of an expert in that," he said. "Not an expert of flirting or teaching?" you asked. "Both, I suppose."

You laughed. "Ah, don't pull that on me. Don't think I don't notice how you make people putty in your hands with your sweet words," you said, a suspicious glint goes unnoticed by the ever keen captain. "Oh? Calling me manipulative now, are we?"

"Maybe.. Why don't you try to use that to bend me to your hearts content?" You wiggles your eyebrows, making Kaeya laugh, drinking that last couple of liquid in his cup. "You're very naughty, (Y/N)." He leans closer, face just inches from yours. "Let's see how much naughtier you are in bed."

You admit, you were certainly caught by surprise but regained your composure. "This may be a coincidence, but my bed just happened to be broken-- why don't we use yours." You press a hand on his chest. Now you two were really close. He was eyeing your lips with a smirk, knowing that you were doing the same as well, and probably have some thoughts.

However, that little moment was soon over when a certain someone came to disrupt it. "Ahem. Sorry to ruin the moment, but I think you guys should take this outside. The tavern is closing for the night."

You turn to look over the counter with a pout on your face. "Aw, Master Diluc, did you really have to do that?" Diluc crosses his arms over his chest, clearly not amused at the sight of you two being cheesy.

"As I said, the tavern is closing," he repeated. Kaeya looks at his brother and stood up. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways for tonight. I must say, you did excellent in tonight's attempt," he comments, heading for the door before stopping to look over at you two. "I'll be the first to go. Bye now."

~♡~

║Childe║ I Love You

Requested from Wattpad.

Gender-neutral reader.

Fluff?? Angst??

Word count: 600+

All rights reserved.

---

It has been many years since your first encounter together. At that time, you two were young and did not know what it meant to love another outside of your family.

When you two first met, he used to go by Ajax. You two bicker like the children you were. But when he suddenly disappeared to only the Divine knows, you feared that you would never see him again. Such was a heartache, but didn't quite love him. Again, you were young.

When he came back, you felt relieved. You prayed every night that he was safe and would return safe. However, he came back as a different person. He was a monster feared by the people he used to call neighbours, but you did not turn away like the others. You stood by his side. He was grateful for that and showed you the treatment you deserved in doing so.

It was then that you realized, that you have fallen for the once young boy. And so, you continued to stay. No matter what may lie ahead the two of you- be it an obstacle- you two would get through it together.

Fast forward to when he was eighteen and made up the last of the eleven Fatui Harbingers, he confessed his feelings. It was a joyful moment and wondered how much wonderful it would be when he asks your hand in marriage.

At that moment, you vowed to yourself that even though he was a monster in the eyes of others, you would love him all the same and welcome him to your home with open arms. If he was to go through something, you would be there by his side. If he was feeling down, you would be there to cheer him up.

Such was a beautiful story to tell.

-

"Ajax?" you called. He hums in response, pressing your back closer to his chest, resting his chin on top of your head. "Do you remember the day you proposed to me?"

He hums again. "I do," he said afterwards. "It was months ago, yet I still remember the feeling of the sun at that day," you continued. "It was warm.. Nothing that I have ever felt before."

Ajax listened to you quietly and let you play with the ring that wrapped nicely around his finger. An engagement ring.

You smiled at the ring, wishing that it was a marriage ring instead. It was silent until you spoke again. Today, the sun shone brightly through the window like that day, warming your home. It was a perfect day. However..

"Ajax?" you call his name once again and this time, you turned your head to look at him. Today, you seemed to talk endlessly but he does not care, wanting nothing more than to hear your voice as he dwells in your comfort.

"I love you." You smiled, closing your eyes. Ajax felt himself on the verge of crying, but he told himself that he should stay strong and give you this eternal moment full of happiness.

You looked like an angel underneath the sunlight. Ethereal.

"I love you too," he says back. He wraps his arms around your torso tightly and buries his head in the crook of your neck. "I love you so much, Ajax." You move your hands over his, repeating the words he would later long to hear.

He dares not speak, afraid that if he does, it would come out croaked and give away the hint of sadness, although his shaking shoulders goes unnoticed by you.

You sighed, the smile not once wavering as you leaned into his warm embrace-- not that you could even feel the warmth.

"Once I wake up.." you spoke, eyes feeling heavy as the light in them starts to dim. "Let's get married."

~♡~

║Albedo║ Distraction

Requested from Wattpad.

Gender-neutral reader.

Fluff.

Word count: 400+

All rights reserved.

---

Albedo, for most of his life until now, had followed his master's orders through and through even down to the last one- to seek out the true meaning of life. With that said, his master left him all alone in a foreign land with nobody he could rely on.

Well, that was until he stepped foot in Mondstadt.

Mondstadt-- the city of freedom, bards, and love. A city with so many things to do. Surely, he could find the truth of this world there, yes?

He only had one goal in mind and he shall see his master's orders through until the end-- no added goals or distractions needed.

Easier said than done.

Mondstadt grew to be a challenge. That said, many distractions came along with it-- his new position as the chief alchemist, looking after Alice's daughter, Klee, teaching his students.. But none were more distracting than you.

The first visit was when he was still fairly knew to Mondstadt. You took care of him just as the other knights did, checking on him if he ever needed anything. He didn't think of anything of it. However, with each passing day, that gradually changes.

Albedo grew fond of you, starting from when he first knew of your name that left the lips of the Cavalry Captain. Now, you were something that he couldn't shake his mind off. He memorized every part of you-- the way your eyes shine and reflected him, making him feel as if he was the only one in your worlds, the way the corner of your lips pull upward every time you look at him, the way--

"Mr. Albedo, is there something the matter?" Oh, it seems that he has lost himself at the thought of you. "Ah, sorry. I must have creeped you out.." he mumbles and looks away. "Ah, no, you didn't. But is there something wrong?" you asked once more.

"No, nothing you need to concern with," he said. You didn't feel at rest, seeing that he has been quiet most days now as if he was in his own world.

Albedo notices this and sighs, resting a hand on your head. Soft. Your hair was soft and he could tell even through his gloves. "Rest assured. I am well, I promise," he smiles.

He looks at you with warm eyes that really calmed your thoughts. With a smile, you nod your head, returning to your work with cleaning up the mess Albedo left all the while having his eyes follow you.

Even if you were a distraction, you were a distraction he would happily have all his focus on and never leave. A perfect distraction from his thoughts of destroying Mondstadt one day.

~♡~

║Diluc║ Happy Birthday

Contribution for Diluc's birthday.

A/N: I fell asleep while writing so it's late.. I slept for about 2 days..? ^^"

Gender-neutral reader.

Fluff.

Word count: 2.4k

All rights reserved.

---

Not many knew of today's occasion and that was okay. It was understandable that others were not in a celebratory mood since they aren't close to the red-haired tycoon. But Diluc not caring for today was a big deal for you.

Birthdays, in your opinion, should be worth celebrating. So, even if he isn't in the mood to celebrate, you will make today very special and reserved just for him.

-

When dawn broke, Dawn Winery was just starting to wake up. A few words exchanged in the halls that was barely audible, light footsteps of the workers across the hall.. But you have longed woken up and was full of energy.

You wanted today to be all about him and so you left the manor without telling him where you were heading. This would mean that Diluc will later wake up to the warm sun shining through the cracks of the curtains, but still be empty and cold, and mostly questioning your whereabouts.

The walk to the city would take a while so you had to get up early if you wanted to meet up with Diluc's.. Somewhat allies.

The streets was quiet, aside from the occasional animal sounds and wind rustling the leaves from trees. There were other early birds like shop owners as well but they were yet to fully get into the Mondstadt groove.

You walked past the shops and stalls and up a couple set of stairs to the Knights of Favonius' headquarters.

When you entered Jean's office, Jean, Lisa, and Amber were already there, chatting as they waited for everyone to arrive. "(Y/N), goodmorning," Jean turns towards you and greets you with a smile.

"Goodmorning." You noticed that there were only three people in front of you and looked around the room before asking, "Where's Kaeya?"

The three women shrugged their shoulders. Just then, as if on cue, the door behind you swung open which drew all of your attention.

There stood none other than Kaeya himself. For someone who is late, he looked disheveled; hair not properly brushed, clothes not properly straightened as he covers his mouth to yawn. "Goodmorning.." he says lazily, blinking away morning tears.

"Uh.." You three stared at him but said nothing and excused his tardiness. "Alright, now that we all are here, let's start with today, shall we?" Jean starts but later decided that you should be the one to break down today's plan for Diluc's birthday.

You know that Diluc will go to the tavern today but you needed him to get out and stay away. You've talked to Charles a couple days back and promised him remuneration if he could take over Diluc's shift, to which he accepted.

It was agreed upon that while you distract Diluc from going to the tavern and think about work, the others will be setting up the surprise.

After separating, you went to look for Diluc who, not surprisingly, was heading to the tavern. "Diluc!" you shouted, drawing the man to a stop and turn his attention to your direction.

You smiled as you run up to him, stopping short by him. "Goodmorning. How did you sleep?" you ask. "Adelinde said that you off to the Knights of Favonius' headquarters. Did you have something you need from them? You do know that I'm right here," he said, clearly not amused that you went to the knights so early in the morning.

You chuckled. "It's nothing important. I was asking for for a simple favour is all."  "Then surely you could have asked me to do it." Wanting to dispel the negative energy, you thought fast of a way to make him stop thinking about the knights.

"Oh, Diluc, you're so cute when you're jealous," you said, squishing his cheeks together. He was unimpressed but sighs, deciding to just let it go.

"Alright. I have matters to attend to and the tavern. I'll see you later at home," he said, putting a hand on your head before shortly removing it and continuing his way to the tavern.

"H, hey, wait a moment!" You grab hold of his wrist. He turns his head and look over his shoulders. He hums a questioning tone. "It's a good day today, don't you think? So, let's just stroll around the city."

He arches a brow. "What is it that you want?" he asks, not wasting time to beat around the bush. "I want to spend today with you.."

He gave a simple 'oh' and avert his eyes, saying nothing. "So, can we spend this special day together?" you pleaded. "I can't.. The tavern--" "I asked Charles to take over," you asserted quickly. "Don't worry, I paid him beforehand."

He looks at you and you looked back with doe-like eyes. After a while, he eventually gave in. "Alright.." You smiled brightly. "So, what do you have in mind?" he asks.

"Nothing! I just want to spend time with you and maybe treat you to something," you answered honestly. "I don't really need anything.." Diluc said and that was true. He was one of the richest people of Teyvat after all, ruling over the wine industry. "I will be fine with a stroll."

You nodded and interlaced your hands with his. It was currently quarter past eleven which meant you still had long hours to waste away. You dragged him around the city, looking at everything that is familiar to you yet unfamiliar to him.

Even though Monstadt is his home, he only ever leaves his house to attend to business matters or the tavern, never really taking time off to stroll.

"Oh! Diluc, Diluc, let's get ice cream!" you burst in excitement when your eyes laid upon a familiar shop. "Ice cream? Isn't it a bit early for you to eat that?" His eyes narrows as he gives you a questioning look.

You turn to look at him and grin. "It's nearly afternoon. It's okay!" He sighs, giving in to your pleas and buying you ice cream. Yes, he's the one who paid and this is when he would not allow to be convinced by you.

"You'll have a stomach ache," he said. But in the end, he was happy with his decision. It was a good choice if it meant seeing you happy when you two stepped out of the shop.

You two walked further down the streets with you sneakily steering the walk away from the tavern. Who knows? Kaeya might slip up and the surprise would be ruined.

At the thought of him, your eyes wandered around, looking for signs of him. But instead of Kaeya, you see Amber carrying a  party box just up ahead which made you nearly choke on your ice cream that you sucked in out of surprise.

"Hey, are you okay?" Diluc turns his head to you, full of concern. "Yeah, I'm fine.." you said between fits of coughs. After you finally stopped coughing, you looked up and look for Amber. Luckily, she was nowhere to be seen.

You sighed a sigh of relief. She must have heard and see you nearly die that she ran away. Diluc notices this and looks over to where you were staring at before looking back at you. "What are you staring at?" he asks.

"Oh, it's nothing.." You forced a chuckle and smile. "You have been awfully weird today.." he finally says. "First, you left early in the morning when it's your day off.."

"What, I can't go out when it's my day off?" you weakly defended yourself. "There is no issue with that.. If only you do that on a normal basis. Typically, you'd be sleeping until 12 in the afternoon," he said. "And secondly, you went to the knight's headquarters of all places for no reason, you said?"

"Ah.." You had to think of something to say. Otherwise, the surprise birthday won't be a surprise. Your eyes darted around the place until finally, it landed on Flora.

"Oh, come here!" You dragged him to Flora's stall and greet the little girl with a smile. "Welcome to Floral Whisper."

"Hey, Flora, can I buy one Cecilia?" The girl nods and picked out a fresh Cecilia and give it to you and you exchanged it for a pocket change of Mora.

You then turned to Diluc who was still waiting for an answer. Smiling, you leaned close to him and tucked the flower behind his ear and moved away.

He crosses his arms, looking unamused. "(Y/N)." You laughed at how funny he looks with that face while wearing a flower. "Come on and smile for me." You stretch his face upwards.

Seeing that you weren't going to tell him, he gives in and sighs. He figures that he will find out later today just what you were hiding all day.

He walks to Flora and asked for another Cecilia and returned back to you. "Hm? Do you like Cecilias?" you asked, looking at the one in his hand. "Having a favourite flower is silly," he said.

He took a step forward and outstretch his hand and place the flower behind your ears. You face felt warm as he remained silent, inspecting you with the newly added accessory.

"Let's get moving. We still have the whole day to spend," he said, turning around and walking away. Seeing his figure moving away, you blinked from a trance and caught up to him, a smile on your face as you interlaced your hands with him once more.

For the rest of the afternoon, Diluc was out treating you to things that have caught your eyes. Funny, since you were supposed to be the one treating him.

Kaeya soon interrupted your little date, casually walking up to the two of you with a smug look to him. "Ah, at last. I found you two," he greets.

"And I was just wondering why you've  yet to show up," Diluc spat. "You were slacking off, weren't you?"

Kaeya laughs. "Come now, Diluc, I didn't get to where I am by being a slacker," he said, raising his arms beside him and shrugs. The redhead scoffs. "You all are incompetent so what do you know about work?"

"Don't be so mean, dear brother. You're hurting my feeling, y'know?" Kaeya said but not even lifting a muscle on his face to express a little bit of hurt. "What feelings?"

"Ouch. You should have gotten a Cryo Vision instead. I think the Gods have made a mistake," Kaeya said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Anyways, (Y/N), we've already finished setting up and I was tasked to deliver you this message."

You smiled excitedly. "Thanks for your help, Kaeya," you said, confusing the redhead beside you. "Now, Diluc, let's head to the tavern."

"The tavern? What for?" he asks, allowing himself to be dragged by the arm. You look at him over your shoulder. "You'll see!"

A couple of steps and the three of you soon stopped right in front of Angel's Share. "Well? Go open it!" you urged him on excitedly while you and Kaeya stood behind.

Diluc eyed you suspiciously but did as told. "Surprise!" Inside, friends greeted him with a loud and enthusiastic voice.

"Hey~ Glad you're finally here, Master Diluc!" Venti waves over from the bar. "Huh? Venti, what are you doing here?" you ask, peeking your head from behind Diluc.

"I'm here for the free wi-- err, I mean, to celebrate Master Diluc's birthday!" he answers.

"Hurry up and get in already," Kaeya said from behind you. "It's starting to get too cold for my liking."

You gently push Diluc inside, somewhat listening to Kaeya's demand. "Well, since Master Diluc is finally here, let's get that cake, food, and wine!" Venti said, already holding a wine bottle in his hand.

Jean came from the back of the room, holding a nicely decorated cake that was lit up with a couple of candles. And everything goes as follows: you all sang to him a happy birthday and wasted the night away. You, like the others, took the partying to the next level, finding yourself too wasted to lift a finger.

"Haha, you can't already be drunk, (Y/N)!" Venti laughs from beside you, drinking his 50th glass and nudges you another one on the cheek.

"Alright, I think they have had one too many glass." Diluc intervenes what used to be a drinking competition. "Wha~t? That didn't even last long!" Venti cries.

"They've already passed out," Diluc said, taking off his coat to put it on you. "I'll be taking them home. You all enjoy yourselves."

"Oh? Well, don't mind me!" Venti said, getting another glass and also looking for Kaeya, hoping he wasn't drunk just yet.

Diluc left the tavern and the rest of the guys, carrying a passed out you all the to Dawn Winery where he immediately asked Adelinde to bring him a large glass of water for you.

He knew you were going to drink but he didn't think you'd be dumb enough to accept a drinking challenge from Venti who could drink beyond a mortal's expectation.

Inside his room, he bears the difficult of changing you. Even though you two have been together for a really long time, it felt wrong of him to do something like this, but you were awfully sweaty and needed to be wiped clean with a wet cloth.

He contemplated but after a while, decided to go through with it, caring about your hygiene more than anything.

He only heaved a sigh of relief once he got you into your nightwear. "You're really a difficult one," he mumbles, getting into his own fresh change of clothes and climbing into bed beside you.

It was still early night, not even near midnight when Diluc allowed his eyes to trace every part of your face, the moon helping him to see. You looked at peace but Diluc knows that you wouldn't be able to go to work tomorrow.

He might not have expressed it, but Diluc is truly grateful for today and to have you keeping him company on cold nights.

Gently, he brushes your cheek with a hand while his other wraps around your waist to bring you close for more warmth, and place his lips on your forehead for a short while.

"Thank you for today.. And I hope you know that I will always love you."

~♡~

If anyone knows a really sad angst about Scaramouche, can you send me a link to it? I'm craving for angst right now.. Actually, it doesn't have to be Scara, but it would be much preferred. ^-^

NSFW scaramouche please

Thank you

-anonymous

║Scaramouche║ Bothersome (R)

A/N: Sorry that this took a while.. ^□^" I was having a hard time to find motivation to write for this shorty. Also, a thank you to @/crownemo on Instagram for a particular edit that gave me motivation (it's been long overdue).

Gender-neutral reader. 

Warnings: Unprotected s*x. Choking. Foul language. Degradation (usage of sl*t, wh*re). Scaramouche.

Word count: 1k

All rights reserved.

---

You don't know how it came to this-- from trying to see if he was okay with his work and offering him something to chow down- lest he starves- to you being forced to be down on your knees, cock forcefully shoved inside your mouth.

Your muffled pleas that were moaned into his cock goes unnoticed by him, his grip tightening on your hair in response. Shoving himself deeper into your mouth, his eyes squinted in disgust. “Tch, you’re so pathetic," he finally utters after a long silence, and just having himself in your mouth doing nothing more than just that.

"Don't try to act so meek now." He tugs on your hair, pulling you from his cock, mentally grinning at the saliva that trickled down your chin. "You know, I hate sluts like you who pretend to only want to help just to get fucked." He stood up from his office chair and with that, along with you. 

Once he got you on your two feet once again, he immediately turned you harshly by the hair and pressed your chest on the desk, moving the papers that he worked so hard to finish for the Tsaritsa. 

Getting on to it, he raised a hand and brought it down to your ass hard before rubbing the spot. You whimper at the stinging pain but secretly wished he'd continue-- "Tch. You're such a masochist," he said as if he could read your mind. "Unfortunately, I'm a little busy so I won't indulge into your fantasies today."

He grabs hold of both your arms and secured it behind you with a hand. His other hand went around your waist, slowly caressing your skin and stopping on your abdomen. Hot breath tickled your ears and you waited in anticipation for his next move. 

What felt like minutes were actually just few, agonizing seconds. "Haha, you look so stupid right now. You want my cock? Then you'll get it." Without much of a warning, he stuffed his cock into your tight hole that was left unprepared for him. 

Your legs failed on you at that moment as you let out a melodic moan. "Hnng- Damn it. I should've, I should've prepared you first," he groans, helping you stay on your feet. "Take.. Take it like the filthy slut you are." He pushes himself deeper until nothing of him is left. 

You moaned in both pleasure of having him stuffed inside and in pain at the burning sensation of your walls being stretched. 

Scaramouche did not care of how you were feeling, only thrusting himself slowly at first until just enough of your cum that coated his cock made it easier for him to go faster. You were a moaning mess under him. "You like this? Good because this is all your going to get tonight," he said, thrusting in the place that had left you seeing stars.

It wasn't long before you felt yourself close to release and Scara knew from feeling your walls squeezing around him. “Don’t you dare-- hngg-- cum yet,” he warned in a cold-sounding tone that was enough to frighten you even in such an erotic state. 

You did your best trying to hold it in but him pounding into you at such a crazy speed made you lose your mind. “P, please, Scara..! Let me.. C, cum,” you manage to choke out after a while through your endless series of moans, drool trickling down from the corner of your mouth. “I, I can’t..!”

“Heh, you can’t? Too bad, you’re not going to cum until I say so, got it?” Even though you couldn’t see it, you knew he was smirking, enjoying your tormented expression. At this rate, you will be cumming twice the load.

The need of release was unbearable and through your tears, you came all over him without his permission. Your cheek hit the cold, wooden desk as drool came down to dirty it. It made you feel so good that you didn’t realize that Scaramouche stopped thrusting. It wasn’t like you wanted to disobey him but your body came on its own, no matter how much you didn’t want to disappoint him.

“Hey,” Scaramouche pulls you by your hair harshly, making you yelp in surprise and joly back to your fear, “Did you not listen to a word I said, you pathetic whore?” He stares down at you, disgust and anger written all over his face. “Tch. You can’t listen to rules, huh?” 

He pushes your head back to touch the desk and grabs you by your neck, and starts thrusting into your sensitive hole once again. If the first time was too much for you, this time, he thrusts in an inhumane speed, hitting every inch inside you crazily good. “Scara..!” you manage to say. “I, I can’t.. P, please no more!”

“Oh? No more you say? First you were begging to cum and now that I’ve decided to make you cum twice, you say no?” His grip around your neck tightens and you could only choke out tears and moan, “You should be grateful that this cock is fucking you twice.” You made no noise, too exhausted to do anything but take him.

Since your first release was not too long ago and you were still sensitive, you felt your need to release build up inside you once more. “Heh, I can feel you squeezing tightly around me,” he says through gritted teeth as he pounds into you harder than before, also close to his release. “You better cum when I tell you to, got it?” He did not wait for an answer, knowing that you were fucked out to answer, but still had fear for him to listen.

Luckily, not too long after, you felt his thrust getting sloppier and sloppier by the second. Then, on his order, you came all over his cock again but this time, you felt yourself being stuffed full with his load. He did not stop right there, however, thrusting to you slowly, making sure that you were feeling full just as what he had thought you came to him for.

Afterwards, he releases his grip around your neck and pulls out. You shuddered at the missing feeling of his cock. 

“You look disgusting,” he says, seeing your messy and fucked out face. His eyes wandered around his desk, sighing at the mess that you’ve made. “I’m going to shower. This place better be clean when I get back, got it?” He did not wait for an answer and made his way out of the office. 

~♡~

I'm thinking of turning my blog (is that what it's called?) into an all thirst blog and occasionally post normal oneshots. I'll leave most of the fluff in Wattpad.. Unless people don't want me to?

Do people go on Tumblr specifically for the NSFW oneshots? 🤔 If so, then I should write more of them.

Just to reassure those requests here, I will get to them some day. I'm doing first come, first serve kind of thing and the request from the Wattpad version was first so.. Thank you for your patience! ^^

║Diluc║ Surprise!

Requested from Wattpad.

Female reader.

Fluff

Word count: 1.8k

All rights reserved.

---

You didn't know how long you have been like this-- constant nausea, vomiting, feeling sick in the morning.. You honestly thought you were just sick until the day that Lisa invited you for tea.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Diluc asks, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, watching as you brushed your hair. You look at the mirror and at the redhead, and with a smile, you answered. "I'll be alright, really."

You could tell that Diluc wasn't buying it, concerned about your wellbeing as you have been feeling unwell for the past couple of days. "Relax, Diluc. I'm really okay, but if something ever happens to me, Lisa will be there," you say calmly and hope that he would loosen up. "And also," you turn to look over your shoulders, "I am one of the captains of the Knights of Favonius. I'm pretty strong if you ask me." You grin, pointing a thumb at yourself.

Diluc straightens himself from where he stood, a small smile adorning his charming face, and moves to where you were. Once close, he cups your face, making you turn your head, and place a kiss on your head.

"Of course," he says right after. You smiled and he brings his lips close to yours until they were touching. He pulls you closer, tangling his bare hands through your locks of hair.

However, that didn't last long and you were the first to pull away to Diluc's disappointment. "You can't trick me into staying, Diluc. I'm still going," you said and lightly laugh. "Fine. Go before I'll make you stay," he said and you laughed once more before standing up.

With a peck on his cheek, you left to go meet up with Lisa who was impatiently waiting on one of the tables situated right outside at the tea shop.

"(Y/N), why took you so long? I almost thought you had forgotten your promise," Lisa greets, crossing her legs one on top of the other. "Haha, sorry.." Was all you could say and took your seat across from her.

"Ah, never mind, as long as you're here, we can spend our day off together enjoying the fresh air," she said. "As much as I enjoy being around the library, it's quite stuffy."

"Although I can't relate with your duties as a librarian, I can understand how nice it is to take breaks from work," you said, beckoning a waitress over to get your order and thanking her once she has written all of your order.

"I knew you would understand, (Y/N)." She sighs, "I don't understand how Jean manages everything all at once.. I insisted that she should take a break today as well but she refuses."

"Well, she'll continue taking all that work until the Grand Master comes back from his expedition. There's no stopping her right now," you said.

"Anyway, enough about work. I don't want to talk about anything related to that as it will ruin my mood," Lisa said, soon bringing up Diluc into the conversation as a change of pace. "So~ How is Master Diluc?"

"Huh? Uh, he's doing well. Why the sudden interest?" you returned with a question, eyes travelling to the waitress that came back with your drink and sweets. It was around quarter to 11 in the morning so you thought that it was okay to eat something a little sweet, and even if it wasn't, Diluc wasn't around to pester you to not eat sugary things around this time.

"What? I can't ask how one of the bachelors of Mondstadt that was suddenly taken by a charming woman is doing?" she jokes, chuckling as she takes a sip of her tea. "You're making me embarrassed," you said, hiding your red cheeks behind your cup

"Haha, you're quite cute like that. I didn't think that the fiery captain could blush like this," she says, continuing to make you embarrass. "Lisa!" She laughs, but stops with her teasing.

You stuff your face with a macaroon, feeling the tingling feeling in your cheeks fading out. However, just one bite and you felt sick, almost vomiting. Oh no, not this again, you thought to yourself.

Lisa was quick to notice and stood up from her seat, making her way to you and resting a gentle hand on your back. "Hey, are you okay?" she asks, clearly showing her concerns.

You waft one of your hands in small motions while the other clutch your stomach, your posture hunching forward. "I'm alright.. I've been having morning sickness is all.."

That was it. That was all that was needed to be heard for the librarian to ask a question you never thought you would hear yourself in public. "(Y/N).. When was the last time you and Diluc have intercourse?"

Your body froze and blinked a couple of times before turning your head back to look at her. "Eh?"

She sighs and goes back to sit down. "I need you to answer my questions honestly, okay?" she says, cupping your hands in hers. "When was the last time you guys, you know, done it together?" she asks.

Your face became warm and pink fast. It was an embarrassing question and felt really uncomfortable to answer, but Lisa was quite serious about this. "W, well, uh, we did it a couple of times the past couple of weeks, I think..?" you gave a vague answer.

She asked a couple more questions before coming to a conclusion. A sigh escape her lips and she looks straight into your eyes. "(Y/N), you're pregnant," she finalize.

"Eh!?" Surprise was written all over your face. You look at your stomach, almost amazed that a human was growing inside you for the past couple of days without your knowledge.

"Well, are you going to tell him?" she asks after she set her cup down, finally able to relax now that the questioning was done with.

You thought about it, taking the long silence to think it through. You loved Diluc just as much as he loves you so there was really no reason to hide this from him. "Yeah, I will tonight." You smiled. But how would should you suprise him?

-

Lisa told you that it would be best for you to go home and rest so here you were, in the comfort of yours and Diluc's home.

It would take another couple of hours for him to finish with work at the tavern, and with his Darknight Hero work, you estimated that he'll be back close to midnight. So, during that time, you were preparing the surprise.

You weren't the best at making clothes, seeing as you were a knight and not some housewife, so you got Adelinde's assistance. She was very excited to hear news that there would be an additional member of the family so she was more than happy to teah you.

"Master Diluc has been quite lonely since his father death and the separation with his brother," she spoke, cutting through the silence. "So when I saw how much he loved you, I was optimistic that he could find happiness again." You turn your head to look at the woman beside you and in turn, she looks at you, a smile gracing her face. You couldn't help but smile as well.

-

It was close to midnight and you had taken your work upstairs in your shared bedroom, telling Adelinde to get some rest.

Happy that you were almost close to finishing the surprise, you put your focus on it that you didn't hear Diluc entering the room. He was about to call for you but seeing as you were so concentrated with something on your lap, he became curious and moved quietly to where you sat. He watches over your shoulder as you stitch the last few loose fabrics curiously.

"I did it!" You smiled, raising your work up to your eye level. "Oh? That looks cute, love," Diluc says from behind you. Your skin jumped at the sudden fright and turned your head back to the redhead. "D, Diluc!? When did you.." You reflexively hid the clothing behind you.

"I came not too long ago. I saw how invested you were so I did not bother you," he said. "Can I have a proper look at it?"

You bit your bottom lip. It was now or never. "Before that, let me get something first.." You moved away from the curious man and over to your bedside drawer, taking a small wooden sword that you had someone paint to look like the sword he wields and then going back to him.

"Here you go." You gave him the sword. He eyed it, clearly not sure what to say about it. You then raised the thing you were working so hard on the whole day and waited for any reaction from him. It was much like his close but one fit for a child.

"Did you do that all by yourself?" he asks, not sure where the conversation would lead to. "Well, Adelinde helped teaching me the basics but other than that, yes!"

"I see. Although that is quite impressive, what is it for?" This is when your smile grew wider. "Take a guess."

"Oh? No hints?" He tilts his head to the side. "Hm.. Well, someday a little someone will get to wear this."

Diluc stood there with his fingers hooked under his chin, thoughts drifting off to what little possibilities there could be, eyeing on the tiny clothes.

That didn't take long as a look of surprise took the place of his once calm face. He stares at you, mouth hung open. "(Y/N).. Are you..?" He couldn't form the words, mouth dry from the news.

You nod, biting your bottom lip, a bit nervous of what he was going to say next.

What took centuries was actually a few, long seconds of silence. Then, he surprises you with a hug so tight and warm. Relief washes over you as you returned the hug.

"Please tell me that this isn't a joke.." he whispers. "It isn't, I promise," you reassured and you felt his hug growing tighter, but not enough to actually suffocate you.

He pulls away not too long after, eyes a bit red from joyful tears. "How did you find out?" he asks with obvious excitement. "Lisa told me," you answered.

He pulled you into a long kiss, arms wrapped around your waist, and you returned it with the same amount of love.

"Thank you, for being my light," he said in a low tone, that was close to a whisper, once he broken the kiss. "And thank you for bringing in another angel." You giggled at that.

"I love you, Diluc," you said, loving eyes looking deep into his red, fiery eyes.

"I love you too."

~♡~

I'm sorry, Zhongli, but I'm filing a divorce. I want to marry Dainsleif.