#Modern AU is generally not my style but I gave it a try anyway

[tiyasrocks]

Elsa's Moment of Triumph

Elsa found herself amidst the stark, antiseptic walls of the hospital room, her frame writhing and contorting with the merciless pangs of labor. Her features were contorted with agony, and she clenched her fingers around Tadashi's hand with an unyielding force, so hard that it threatened to cut off the circulation of his fingers. The pain surged through her body like an electric current, causing her to take quick, shallow breaths, each one filled with a soft, plaintive moan as the intensity of her contractions escalated.

Tadashi sat beside her, his eyes trained solely on his beloved wife, willing her on with his unwavering support. He knew that the birthing process was no easy feat. He had been there for Elsa every step of the way through the entire pregnancy, but right now as she writhed in pain, he felt utterly helpless and insufficient. 

He murmured soothing words of comfort, his voice a soft caress against her ear, an unspoken promise of his steadfast presence through thick and thin.

The room was filled with Elsa’s tortured moans overlapping with the monotonous beeps of the machines, which measured the life-giving heartbeats of Elsa's and Tadashi's unborn child. Despite the agony, Elsa felt a wave of serenity wash over her as she gazed into Tadashi's reassuring eyes, filled to the brim with love and concern for her well-being. She knew that he would be her rock through this arduous journey, as he had been through all of life's trials.

With each passing moment, the pain grew more and more unbearable, and Elsa felt as though she were caught in a vice of torment. Her body trembled and perspired profusely as she struggled to summon the strength to endure. In this moment of vulnerability, Elsa clung to Tadashi, relying on his unwavering presence and comfort to help her navigate this harrowing experience.

It had been a long journey for Elsa and Tadashi, from their first meeting to falling in love, getting married, and now welcoming their first child into the world. The couple had faced many obstacles along the way, but they had always overcome them together.

Elsa gritted her teeth as another wave of pain washed over her, but she refused to give in to the ache. She was a fighter, and according to Tadashi’s words ‘a queen who had conquered the elements themselves’, and she would not falter now. With a deep breath, she summoned all of her strength and pushed with all her might, grunting with the effort.

Soon enough, a cry filled the room, sweet and high-pitched. Elsa's eyes widened, tears of joy welling up in them as she gazed upon her newborn child cradled in the arms of the doctor. Tadashi's own eyes were awash with emotion, a smile stretching across his lips as he looked upon the newest member of their family.

"Congratulations, you're a father," said the nurse with a smile, placing the swaddled bundle into Tadashi's arms. Tadashi looked down at his child, their head a mop of black hair but the instant they opened their eyes, Tadashi was filled with a sense of deja vu. 

Their child had Elsa’s eyes. 

Their son.

It was a boy. 

"He's perfect," Tadashi whispered, tears streaming down his face as he held his son close to his chest.

Elsa reached out and placed a gentle hand on the newborn’s head, marvelling at the tiny little fingers and toes that wriggled in the blanket. "He's so beautiful," she said, her voice soft with emotion.

Tadashi nodded in agreement, his heart swelling with pride and love for his family. "We need to give him a name," he said, looking down at his son.

Elsa smiled.

”Do you have any name in mind?" she asked, curious to know what he was thinking.

Tadashi paused for a moment, his eyes focused on the sleeping infant in his arms. "How about Asahi?" he suggested, his voice barely above a whisper. "It means 'morning sun' in Japanese. I think it's a fitting name for our son.”

Elsa's face lit up with joy, and she reached out to touch her son's face. "Asahi," she repeated softly. "I love it. Welcome to the world, Asahi.”

Tadashi gently handed Asahi to Elsa.

Elsa's heart swelled with a multitude of emotions as she beheld the precious little life that she and Tadashi had brought into the world. The sight of her newborn son, filled her with an indescribable joy and sense of accomplishment. It was as though all the difficulties and hardships that she and Tadashi had faced throughout their journey had led them to this exact moment, where they were blessed with the greatest gift of all - a child of their own.

As Elsa gazed at Asahi's delicate features, she couldn't help but marvel at the miracle of life. The way his chest rose and fell with each breath, the tiny fingers that curled around hers, and the soft cooing sounds that emanated from his small mouth - all of these little details seemed to make her heart overflow with love and wonder.

She looked over at Tadashi, who was still staring at their son with a look of pure adoration on his face. Elsa felt a deep sense of gratitude for the man who stood by her side through thick and thin, who had supported her and loved her unconditionally. Together, they had created this new life, and Elsa knew that they were both committed to doing everything in their power to ensure that Asahi had the best possible future.

The realisation that they had created this little bundle of joy together, a tiny being with all his life ahead of him, filled Elsa with a sense of responsibility and deep love that she had never felt before. She knew that there would be many challenges ahead, sleepless nights and endless diaper changes, but she was ready to face them all.

As she looked out through the window at the warm, bright sunny day, Elsa took a deep breath and looked around herself. The world seemed brighter, more vibrant, and full of possibilities. With Tadashi by her side and their son cradled in their arms, she knew that they were capable of overcoming any obstacle that came their way.

The journey of parenthood was just beginning, but Elsa was confident that they would make it through with their love and determination intact. With a sense of peace in her heart and a smile on her face, she prepared herself to begin the next chapter of their lives, ready to face the future with all its joys and challenges.

Note - I blame @blunaowl for making me fall in love with #tadelsa

#frozen #frozen 2 #big hero six #big hero 6 #tadashi #elsa #tadelsa #pregnancy #frosen fanfic #frozen fanfiction #big hero 6 fanfiction #big hero 6 fanfic #fanfic #Modern AU is generally not my style but I gave it a try anyway #I love them #they are literally perfect for each other

[impactedfates]

You're taking requests?

Could I request your opinions on how Jing Yuan, Blade and Dan Heng confess to their crush please? Modern School AU if you don't mind :D

A/N: Yes yes, I am taking requests, and I don't mind at all doing a Modern School AU! Thank you for the request (and being my first request lol) and I hope you like this :)) I also wrote how I believe they would've met you and/or fell in love <3

Jing Yuan is most certainly one of the more popular boys at school. With his charming smile and pretty face. It's no wonder he got a good handful or more admirers. Let's be honest, you probably are also one of the admirers right? (Or not, who knows)

I can picture Jing Yuan and yourself being childhood friends. His feelings developed when you two were young, and what he thought would disappear in fact grew the more the two of you hung out. Oh but he is absolutely NOT complaining at all. It's you, if he wanted to be in love with anyone it'll be you.

Perhaps during a quiet and peaceful moment, where he would lay his head on your lap after an especially tiring day at school, he'd close his eyes to rest, feeling your fingers play with his hair. He'd mumble out a soft "I love you" as he drifted off to sleep.

He's not even embarrassed when you bring it up to him once he awakes. Just confirms what he said and even specifies that he 'like likes' you.

Blade seems like that one quiet kid in class, but instead of being bullied, people are scared of him. One glance from him and people may shy away. It's tiring to him when he just wants to ask for a pencil or something but he doesn't care really. He has his own small friend group anyways. However when you are partnered up with him and don't shy away from his glance and treat him as a regular person. He can't help but feel a bit surprised.

He couldn't even help falling in love with you due to how kind you were and in general how you treated him normally among other factors. Assuming the two of you became close enough to be friends. I think his way of confessing wouldn't even be him, I don't think he'd confess, not really. I feel like he'd be afraid to be rejected or just not care too much about his feelings, though Kafka for sure noticed how Blade acted a lot softer when you were around. Even if it was unnoticeable by others, you think she wouldn't notice?

On Valentines day at school she would plant flowers and chocolate in your locker or on your desk, sign it off as a secret admirer and request to meet behind the school. And with the help of SilverWolf, convince Blade to go behind the school at the time you'd be there.

With you looking at him softly and the gifts "he got for you" in hand, and the snickers of his friends from behind a nearby corner. It seems he may as well be honest with you about his feelings right?

Dan Heng is also a quiet kid in class. I feel like he'd have a mix of people who secretly talk behind his back, though he always knows what they said and who they are no matter how discrete they try to be. But also he would have admirers. (have you seen how pretty he is??)

I think what would've got his attention on you is when you stood up for him. Some kids were talking bad about him during a free class, and he was going to shrug it off like always when you suddenly called the kids out. He's quick to step in before a loud arguments ensues but gives you a small thanks. He didn't mind what people thought about him but the fact someone who was practically a stranger to him stood up for him? He definitely acknowledges that.

March 7th probably introduced you too the friend group, he gave a small nod hi as he saw you. Due to this, you two hung out more and more together. When he realised he grew feelings for you, he consulted March who almost instantly outed his feelings for you due to how surprised and happy she was for him. And although March tried, none of her suggestions to confess was really Dan Hengs taste or style...He eventually decided to just write a small poem for you to confess instead. Giving it to you after school before retreating to his own house.

First time writing for HSR characters, hopefully it's alright aha. Proof read but I tend to miss things anyways, so feel free to correct me if I missed anything :)

#hsr imagines #hsr x you #hsr x reader #Blade #Dan Heng #Jing Yuan #honkai star rail #honkai starrail #honkai starrail x you #honkai starrail x reader #honkai star rail x you #honkai star rail x reader #Jing Yuan x you #Jing Yuan x reader #Blade x you #Blade x reader #Dan heng x you #dan heng x reader #HSR Blade x reader #HSR blade x you #HSR Jing yuan x reader #HSR Jing Yuan x you #HSR Dan Heng x you #HSR Dan heng x reader #HSR Blade #HSR Jing Yuan #HSR Dan Heng

[purpleprincessonfyre]

OUAT AU - I Gave My Blood, Sweat and Tears For This

Characters: Liane St James, Cassandra Sean, Belladonna St James

Mentioned: Bruce Banner, Melissa Wallace, Alexander, Rochelle Romanoff-Felton

Location: Fighter-Town, Cursed Modern Day

IB: Once Upon A Time, You're On Your Own Kid by Taylor Swift

"You did what?"

"Cass you've been saying for years that he doesn't treat me right. It's almost all we talk about!"

"Yeah but I didn't expect you to-"

"Wow so you tell me to stick it to the man and then when I actually do, you freak?"

Liane sighed, sipping her tea. Cassie stirred her tea busily, trying to get her head around it, her gaze landing on Liane's bandaged nose every so often.

"He really hit you?"

"I hit him back. Pushed him over his desk."

"Lia..."

"Okay I lost it but can you blame me?"

Liane questioned. Cass just lowered her head and sipped her tea. Everyone knew Liane could lose her temper, she just hadn't really done it in a while. She could be pretty volatile when she lost it. She had a history of breaking things, screaming and generally just going a little mad. But Cassie had never seen Liane get violent. It was not her style. Cassie very delicately tried to change the subject as she drank her herbal tea.

"So are you still gonna be a lawyer?"

"Of course just...on my terms. I'll be my own boss. I'll be fine."

"Well I'm here if you need me, you know that."

"Oh I know. But I'll be alright. Bella will keep babysitting, I'll find clients..."

"You don't have to do this alone."

"Don't worry Cassie. I'll get by."

Liane relaxed into her chair and reached into the fruit bowl for a snack pulling out a shiny red apple. She was a little confused since she hadn't remembered buying apples at the grocery store but maybe Cass had brought them. She plucked it from the bowl and raised it to her mouth when Cassie stopped her suddenly.

"Don't eat that!"

"What? Did you want it?"

"No I just....I uh thats wax. Its a wax apple I thought your fruit bowl was for decoration."

"Oh shoot! Damn." She put the apple down on the table, instantly seeing Cassie's shoulders relax as she did so.

"You okay?"

"Yeah sorry its just I didn't want you to break your teeth or something."

"You're good hun." Liane smiled, finishing her tea as she saw the time on her watch, realising it wasn't long until school ended for Belladonna.

"Oh shoot, school let's out soon! I told Bella I'd pick her up. I should go, this has been lovely Cass but I gotta shoot off."

"Oh not at all, go right ahead I gotta do the books at the shop anyway."

"I'll talk to you later."

Cassie got up and slipped the apple into her pocket as she left the house, taking it towards the trash can and throwing it in. That had been close. She looked over her shoulder and checked no one had seen her before she headed down the road back to her florists shop. It was clear that Liane would need watching a lot closer for now.

Liane waved off Cass and shut the door to get ready to pick up Bella from school, getting in her car as she saw a bottle of apple juice sat on the front seat.  She didn't recognise the brand in anyway but it looked pretty fresh. She assumed it was probably Bella's and decided to leave it until she saw her. It was a little odd though as she thought about it. Maybe she'd left it this morning. That made sense.

As she finally pulled up at the school she turned on her tunes with the windows up, just waiting patiently for Bella to walk out. She was just nodding her head at first but as she got into it she was singing at the top of her lungs when Bella opened the passenger seat car door.

"Cause you got that James Dean, daydream, look in your eye and I got that-"

"Mom."

"Thing that you like and when we go-"

"Mom!"

"We never go- Oh sweetheart! I'm so sorry!" She instantly turned down the music as Bella climbed in the car, aware she might be embarrassed by her.

"Sorry sweetie I got caught up. Oh here's your juice."

"Thank you and I- what? What juice?"

"Oh yknow, this one. I figured you forgot it in the car this morning."

"That's...not mine."

"Oh well. Waste not want not." Liane uncapped the bottle and lifted it to her lips as Bella's eyes widened and she slapped the bottle out her hands and it flew out of the window onto the road.

"Bella!"

"Where did you get that?"

"It was on your seat, kiddo."

"Don't drink things you find! Especially apple flavoured things..."

"Bella stop it-"

"What did you say to the Mayor?"

"I...I told him I quit. Hence my nose. But I got my own back I shoved him over his desk. He deserved it."

"Mom now he's got it out for you, he's going to poison you!"

"Enough! Enough with this fantasy stuff, I'm glad you worry about me and I know he's an asshole but he's not some evil king in a high castle! He's just a guy that has too much power that sucks. Okay?"

"Just- be careful."

Liane smiled, stroking Bella's hair kindly, kissing her forehead gently. As she drove out of the school parking lot, a thought did cross her mind as she headed back towards home.

"Honey?"

"Yes?"

"Why would you be worried about me eating something apple flavoured?"

"Well...the Mayor has an apple tree."

"Okay...and why is that bad?"

"The apples...aren't normal."

"I know there are tiny apples that you can't eat because they're for the birds. And cooking apples you shouldn't eat raw.

"Wait, so you think he juiced one of those bad apples, bottled it, wrapped it in a fake brand label, somehow broke into my car and planted it on your seat for me to find?"

Bella rolled her eyes, tossing her braid over her shoulder. Liane chuckled and continued to drive as they reached the front of their house and saw a basket on the porch. A wicker basket with steam escaping from it. Liane immediately panicked, worrying something was on fire and rushing to open the basket. But when she looked closer she realised there was a steaming strudel inside, a gorgeous golden crusting coated in toasted brown sugar.

"False alarm! It's a strudel, Cassie probably baked today."

"A strudel? Does she normally drop food on our door?"

"Well, no but I guess she feels bad because of the- yknow quitting." Liane scooped up the basket and carried it inside as Bella followed quickly.

"Did she leave a note?"

"Uh...no. But it probably is from her-"

"Mom! Don't eat it!"

"Sweetie-"

"Mom please don't eat the strudel!"

"I'm not gonna waste good food young lady."

Bella rubbed her eyes in an affected manner, really wanting to get her point across.

"I know you think everyone in this town is good and kind and nice but do you really know everybody? Like realistically how well do we actually know these people?"

"Pretty well I'd say since they trust us to watch each others kids and the parents trust you to babysit their kids."

"Just...let me have the strudel. I'll....feed it to the twins tonight. Just if you're gonna eat a pastry, get it from the diner. We can trust them."

Liane considered, staring at the golden pastry then seeing the look in her daughters eyes. There was real concern there. She relented at last, leaving the strudel be.

"Fine. I won't eat it. But don't throw it out either. When does Rochelle want you?"

"5pm. She's gotta talk to Cole about something and needs me to watch the kids until she's back."

"Alright. Maybe I'll eat at the diner then since you suggested it."

"Yes. And please no moping. I know what you get like." Bella responded, packing up her bag for spending the night at Rochelle's House. Babysitting often meant sleepovers which also meant telling the twins more stories about their fantasy lives. Bella went to fetch some pyjamas, leaving her Storybook on the table by Liane's phone.

Whilst Bella was gone, Liane peeked inside the pages and saw an illustration of a blonde woman with large black horns, sweeping dark purple wings, a long trailing wispy dress and purple eyes. Her face looked incredibly familiar but she couldn't quite place it and something in her mind felt different as she looked at the image longer. As she heard Bella's footsteps though she closed it quickly, going back to her phone.

"You need a ride?"

"I'll take my bike. I'll see you on Saturday."

"Alright sweetie, love you!"

"Love you too, be careful!" Bella called, clipping on her helmet and heading out the door. Liane sighed and waved her off at the window before grabbing her car keys and heading off to Bruce's Diner for a nice meal. She deserved this. And it did feel nice to get out of the house. She parked up and headed for the door, the warm lights feeling inviting as she stepped inside.

The little bell on the door chimed and Bruce himself raised his head from by the coffee maker and smiled at Liane as she walked in. She sat herself at the bar and waited for someone to take her order, just taking space to relax.

"Hey Ms St James, good to see ya. What can I getcha?"

"Hey Melissa, uh what's the pie of the day?"

"Oh uh it's a fruit pie tonight. Is that okay?"

"That's absolutely fine. Uh in that case I'll have the pie."

"A slice? Or..."

"Melissa. Honey. A whole one thanks."

Melissa nodded and headed into the kitchen and went to go and put in her order as the door's bell went, alerting the staff to a new customer arriving. Liane turned her head and beckoned them over, smiling.

Thanks for reading! Watch this space for Part 2 to see who just walked in and see if Belladonna is right about Alexander.

Tagging: @jackiequick @gcthvile @rooster-84 @blueboirick @cherrysft @meiramel @askstevella @ask-missparker @ask-starrk @therealdaydreamstark @thechoooooosenone @wizzzardofoz @finlayholmes @missstrawbs2001 @rickb-chaos @luna-d-marsh

#liane felton #liane's blog #askliane #marvel roleplay #violet pyre #ask my ocs #ethane #cassandra ashfield #rochelle felton #melissa wallace #once upon a time #ouat au #ouat #maleficent au #fighter-town #marvel ask blog #belladonna daughter #jenna ortega #amanda seyfried #taylor swift lyrics #midnights #yoyok #youre on your own kid

[bambirex]

It's A Game We Play

Pairings: Geraskier, Yennskier, Radskier

Characters: Jaskier, Geralt of Rivia, Yennefer of Vengerberg, Radovid, original female characters, Essi Daven, Priscilla, Ciri of Cintra, Valdo Marx

Additional tags: inspired by Mamma Mia! (movies), crack, alpha/beta/omega dynamics, omega jaskier, alpha geralt, alpha yennefer, beta radovid, awkwardness, jaskier is a good parent, protective jaskier, weddings, found family, post mpreg, fluff and humor, alternate universe-modern setting

Rating: teen and up audiences

Word count: 2,390 words

Chapters: 1/?

Summary: Jaskier's daughter is about to marry the love of her life, and she decides she wants both her parents at her wedding. Only problem is that Jaskier has slept with a little too many people in his youth, so the identity of the other parent is a mystery. That does not stop the bride-to-be from inviting three potential daddy candidates and unleashing absolute chaos in the process.

*

Otherwise known as Jaskier's terrible horrible no good past decisions leading to terrible horrible no good outcomes. Also known as the Mamma Mia! AU nobody asked for, but I wrote it anyway.

Author's notes: It's time for some crack!!!!! What do you get when you have canonically slutty Jaskier, and add Bambi being a multishipper who loves chaos? That's right, you get a Mamma Mia!AU !! I'm planning on using the plot of the first movie pretty loosely. As in, I will probably not do scene-to -scene recreations, but take advantage of the general idea and the setting!

Feedback is super appreciated!!! Let's get the party started!

Read on Ao3

*

“I can’t believe this day has come.”

“Papa, it’s not my wedding yet. I’m just trying on dresses, remember?”

“Still,” Jaskier smiled, blinking against the sentimental tears in his eyes, “my child is getting married. She’s picking out her wedding dress, how am I supposed to cope with this?”

Amaryllis cooed and leaned up to kiss her father on the cheek. Jaskier immediately wound his arms around her, enveloping her in a crushing hug.

“You promised no crying until the ceremony,” Amaryllis reminded him. Jaskier chuckled against her hair.

“I’m failing, obviously.”

But who could blame him, Jaskier mused as Amaryllis finally managed to pull away. He let his daughter take his hand and lead him inside the saloon, her steps happy and prancing, so adorably enthusiastic. Amaryllis was his only child, his baby, his light in this world. Of course, he would become emotional (over and over again) over the fact she was soon to be a married woman. Amaryllis’s fiancée, well, soon-to-be-wife, Sara, was the sweetest thing. Jaskier loved and trusted her, but that didn’t mean he didn’t worry. He always did: he was a parent, that was what he was supposed to do. His child was facing a huge milestone in her life. Jaskier was filled with fear, hope, and a tremendous amount of pride at the same time. He was just overflowing with emotions, and they manifested in constant weeping, apparently.

He decided to try and shut off the waterworks at least while they introduced themselves to the seller. She was a cheerful middle-aged lady named Kate, who heartily congratulated Amaryllis on her upcoming marriage, then she gave a sympathetic hug to Jaskier as well.

“It’s a huge thing, one of the biggest days in our lives,” Kate chirped as she led them further inside the saloon. “Therefore, it has to be perfect. Any ideas on your dream dress, dear?”

“Not sure,” Amaryllis admitted. She still held onto Jaskier’s hand as she looked over the numerous racks and shelves. “My fiancée will have a strapless dress, and it would be nice to match with her, but I think sleeves are more my style?”

“You should pick whatever you’d feel comfortable in,” Jaskier reminded her softly. “You will look beautiful in everything, anyway.”

Amaryllis gave him a bright smile and a squeeze to his hand before she followed Kate into the jungle of dresses. Jaskier raked his eyes around with a sigh. Fluffy dresses and sleek suits hanged everywhere from floor to ceiling, in every shape and every size. They all looked so pretty. Jaskier’s chest tightened for a second before he decided to look away and check on his daughter instead.

Amaryllis was an absolute dream to shop with. Instead of turning into the stereotypical “bridezilla”, she was calm and collected, listening intently to everything Kate told her. Jaskier was immensely proud of her. He also knew that if he were in this situation, he would probably break down five minutes in.

While Amaryllis disappeared inside the fitting room to try on a couple dresses, Kate approached Jaskier with a smile.

“Beautiful girl,” she told him earnestly. Jaskier grinned, proudly puffing his chest out.

“Thank you.”

“Yours, right? I can tell by the eyes. Same set of beautiful baby blues.”

“Ah, you’re so kind. Yes, she’s my daughter.”

“Are you planning a big wedding?”

“Not that big. More people on her fiancée’s side.”

Saying that out loud tasted bitter on Jaskier’s tongue. He wished he could give his daughter an epic ceremony, but unfortunately, he wasn’t on good terms with his family. His parents divorced while he was still a child, and he has only rarely seen his father after that. He’s always had a stormy relationship with his mother as well. She was a very strict, traditional woman, whose pride was greatly hurt when her husband left her. That was probably why she got so angry when Jaskier told her at the ripe age of twenty-one that he has gotten pregnant and had no clue from who. She wanted Jaskier to fulfill that idyllic family picture that she did not manage, and seeing her own child fail at it, too, caused her to cut ties with him. The only relative that Jaskier could count on was his aunt, the only person who has supported him after he ended up alone, pregnant, and scared out of his mind. Her death devastated Jaskier, especially because she didn’t get to see Amaryllis’s birth. She has left his beloved nephew a lovely gift, though, the Dandelion Inn. Jaskier has spent most of his childhood on the small island his aunt lived at, and he really enjoyed staying over at the Inn, even when he was an adult. It was a friendly, warm little motel that felt more like his home than his actual house. He has also met his two best friends there, who have helped him through many hardships.

Jaskier now lived on the island with his daughter and managed the Dandelion Inn. It was idyllic in many ways, and not very idyllic in other ways. Jaskier knew that an unbonded, mate-less Omega would always be the hot topic of every gossip, especially one that got pregnant so young. He has gotten better at handling the acidic insults, but he wished he could have protected his daughter against them, and he wished he could have provided her with the big, happy family that she deserved.

He quickly waved away the sad memories as Amaryllis exited the fitting room. Jaskier gasped and clutched a hand over his heart, willing himself not to tear up again. As expected, Amaryllis looked beautiful in her mermaid- style dress. Her smile shone brighter than the gemstones on the hem when she twirled around.

“My God, you look beautiful,” Jaskier whispered in awe. Amaryllis ducked her head with a shy grin.

“I like it. I think I’m gonna try the high-low dress, too.”

She tried on four more dresses, and Jaskier told her she looked gorgeous in every single one of them. Amaryllis groaned as she plopped down next to him on a pouf.

“You always say I look beautiful in everything, Papa.”

“But that’s the truth! No matter what you’ll pick, you’ll be the most beautiful bride.”

Kate disappeared to find some accessories to go with the dresses. Amaryllis waited until she was out of sight, then she turned to Jaskier with a look that indicated she was about to say or ask something potentially uncomfortable. Jaskier knew that look too well. It was the same, head ducked down, nose twitching, jaw slightly wobbling face she gave him when she told him she accidentally broke his acoustic guitar, and when she presented as an Omega and had to ask her father about the birds and the bees. Jaskier braced himself with a sigh, and a free cupcake that he retrieved from the tray next to him.

“I was thinking about checking out the suits, too,” Amaryllis started, choosing her words obviously carefully. “But then I was like, I’d rather have a dress. It’s traditional, and I know we’re both free spirits, but I think I’d like a really traditional wedding, you know? An Omega girl in a big fluffy dress, her Omega father weeping into his tissue in the front row…”

“Hey, I won’t cry in the front row,” Jaskier objected with a huff, “I’ll cry while walking you down the aisle.”

Amaryllis cleared her throat. She fiddled with the tulle on her dress. The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the silence. Jaskier didn’t even dare to breathe.

“What’s wrong, honey?” He asked, scooting closer to her on the pouf. “I feel like you’re trying to tell me something.”

“Well,” Amaryllis squeaked, avoiding Jaskier’s eyes, “iwantmyotherparenttowalkmedowntheaisle.”

Jaskier blinked in utter confusion. Amaryllis turned an alarmingly bright red, which was only accentuated by her snow-white dress.

“What… what was that?”

“Papa.”

“You said it so fast I couldn’t make out a single word!”

“God,” Amaryllis sighed, grinding her teeth in embarrassment, “don’t be angry! Just… I… I said that I want my other father, or mother, I don’t know? To… to walk me down the aisle… you know, all traditional…”

Jaskier was very glad he was already sitting, otherwise he would have probably collapsed on the floor. He waited for Amaryllis to reveal it was just a joke. For several, uncomfortable moments, Amaryllis stared at Jaskier, chewing on her lip. Jaskier stared right back, his brain drawing a complete blank page.

“Honey…” Jaskier squeaked out, “you know exactly I don’t know who that is.”

“But, maybe there’s a chance we could find them?” Amaryllis asked hopefully. “I was thinking a lot about this, lately. I would be really happy if we managed to find out who it is, so they could be there, too. I don’t know… maybe you still have some phone numbers? A hunch? Anything? It’s just… it would be nice.”

Jaskier let out a deep sigh. It’s been literal years since Amaryllis has brought up this subject. With each passing year, as she has gotten older, it has gotten easier to explain: it was the worst when she was still a little child, not understanding why everyone had two parents while she only had her Papa. It was even worse with her overhearing all those nasty gossips about how Jaskier was such a lowlife Omega, sleeping with everyone and having bastard children. When she was a little older, Jaskier could give her a vague explanation on how her other parent left, and how they were unfortunately not coming back. Amaryllis was already a teenager when Jaskier eventually revealed the truth that he had absolutely no idea who the other parent was. He didn’t give her all the details about how he was definitely enjoying his youth. He was a pretty hedonistic young Omega who gladly shared his heats and non-heats with many, many… many people. He didn’t tell her about his short-lived, heartbreaking romances and everlasting loves that only lasted for about a week. She was a smart child, she managed to put the pieces together anyway.

So, Amaryllis stopped pushing for an answer a long time ago, accepting the explanation that Jaskier didn’t know. It felt like a bucket of icy water was poured straight over his head when she, twenty years old and ready to get married, brought this up again.

“Look,” Jaskier told her softly, reaching for her hand, “I know this is going to be your big day, and trust me, I would give my left arm to make sure everything could go exactly as you wanted, including a full set of parents if that’s what would make you happy, but unfortunately… I can’t give you that. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Amaryllis squeezed his hand gently, “I didn’t say that to make you feel guilty. This isn’t your fault. I just… I guess I reminisced a little, and I daydreamed a little, and… when I imagine my big day… I see someone else there. With you.”

“Well,” Jaskier forced a grin onto his face, deciding to hide the sudden pain that flared up inside him with humor, like so many times before- the only way he managed to survive the heartbreak, the loneliness and the hopelessness he has felt through his life. That was the only way he could get through the pregnancy alone, that he could get through raising a child alone. The only way he could protect Amaryllis from feeling that pain.

“It seems like you’ll have to make do with your old, single father.”

“You’re not old,” Amaryllis reminded him with a laugh. “You had me when you were about my age. You’re still rockin’ and you’re still smokin’.”

“Such flattery. I assume the dress you want is really expensive, then?”

Amaryllis laughed and gave him a tight hug. Jaskier hid his face in her neck so she couldn’t see the way his smile faded.

Kate returned with the accessories amidst many apologies for going away for so long. She took Amaryllis with her again to try the jewelry with the dress so they could settle for the best option. There was an uncomfortable, churning sensation inside Jaskier’s stomach when he was left alone.

The last thing he expected was this. The idea that Amaryllis has been thinking about this again, that she might have felt sad over not having her other parent there shattered Jaskier. He never wanted to see his daughter sad, especially because of him. And sure, Amaryllis assured him it wasn’t his fault, but it kinda was, wasn’t it? If he wasn’t such a slut, sleeping with everyone who caught his fancy, this wouldn’t have happened. He could have committed to an actual relationship, bonded with a nice Alpha or Beta or maybe even another Omega, could have gotten married, and now Amaryllis would have a beautiful wedding with all her family there, because if Jaskier did that, his mother wouldn’t have disowned him, either. All he had to offer his daughter was his stupid self, a tiny inn, and a herd of goats that he also inherited from his aunt.

He looked into the golden-framed mirror on the wall and sighed at his reflection. He looked younger than his age, something he was very proud of, but when he looked closer, into his own eyes, he’s seen the burden of leaving his careless youth behind.

He spotted a veil on the hanger by the mirror. The ache in his chest amplified. He turned around, quickly checking that no one saw him, then he took the veil off the hanger. He turned it around in his hand, running his fingers over the thin lace. It felt heavy like lead as he put it on his head and checked his reflection again.

You could have had this, a voice inside his head that sounded suspiciously like his mother reminded him, if you weren’t such a loose, immoral Omega.

Jaskier cursed and took the veil off, putting it back on the hanger as quickly as he managed. No, he would not let his guilt consume him. He needed to be strong for his daughter. This was about Amaryllis and her beautiful future, not about him and his tragic past.

Jaskier could only hope Amaryllis would forget about her mysterious other parent.

#geraskier #yennskier #radskier #a/b/o #jaskier #geralt of rivia #yennefer of vengerberg #radovid #omega jaskier #alpha geralt #alpha yennefer #beta radovid #the witcher fanfiction #the witcher fic #my fic #mamma mia au

[missblissy]

Glad you're back!! Miss you! I see about your post, can I have some modern AU maybe of Human! Alastor x reader going to an aquarium? Maybe a cute date? Haha thx amazing to have you again

(( QwQ/ It's good to be back! And I would be honored to do that. I had a lot of fun with this. I hope you enjoy!!))

It was hinted with salt filling the air. Misty and warm, the summer sea winds rolled off the coast and into your hair. The Long Island sound was picture perfect, just as you remember in your childhood dreams. You were staying in a quaint little town your familly use to visiting summer after summer when you were a child. And it was the perfect place for you to bring yourself on a long over due vacation. Work had been too much to handle this past year, and now you could spend the next week relaxing on the soft sandy coastal beaches of Long Island. 

However today you had plans to take the ferry across the sound to the aquarium. Sure... you were going by yourself but... So what. You didn’t particularly have many friends, nor a partner in your life. But so what? You were an introvert natrually and a social gathering over five people where never your thing. 

You had just made it to the ferry docks. As always, you were fifteen minutes early. You couldn’t bear to be late, especially since you considered “on-time” to be late. You were sitting on a public bench facing the sound. Dozens of other people have started to gather around the same place as you. You were just about to take one of your favorite books out of our bag when someone approached you.

“Do you mind if I sit?” You saw a man standing before you. He had a pleasant smile. A soft one that just barely met his eyes. You took one second too long to peer at him.

“Uh-...” You tore your gaze from his soft brown hair and to his polished shoes. They were out of style yet he somehow managed to pull it off, “Yea-.. I mean no...! Help yourself.” You tried to return his smile but you were far more awkward about it. This man had some strange sense of fashion. He looked oddly in place, however, he seemed like he was trying to live in a time long since past. 

“Are you waiting for the ferry too?” He asked, making simple conversation to fill the void of silence. 

You glanced at him quickly a second time and made a nervous little laugh. His dark complexion matched his brown eyes hidden behind perfectly circular glasses, “Oh... yes.” You remember you had your ticket in your hand, “It shouldn't be much longer until it arrives,” 

The stranger nodded his head slowly, “Have you ever been on a ferry before?” You nodded your head to his question, “Ah, first time for me. They don’t have ferries where I’m from.” He said with a cool expression.

He seemed chatty for a stranger. Most of the time when strangers tried talking to you, you’d brush them off. But this man was lucky that you thought he was rather... stunning in the looks department. That, and he seemed rather harmless as of right now. So you indulged in his conversation, “Where are you from?” You asked. 

The man paused only slightly then turned himself to face you. He held out his left hand for you to take. You were hesitant but you still reached out, “Alastor,” He said, “I’m from New Orleans. I’m guessing you’re a local?” You wouldn’t have ever guessed that, he didn’t have any kind of southern twang or drawl to his tone.

You shooked his hand but you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing a little at his question, “No, no,” You waved your hand a little, “Uh- aha... I’m (Y/N). And I’m not from here, but my family and I use to come here all the time for summer vacations.”

“Well, it’s certainly a lovely place to visit. I’m here for business though so I can’t say I’ve gotten the real experience of it all yet. Today was my day off, however, and I thought I’d go see this aquarium one of my friends keeps telling me to go to. She’s rather annoying about it, truly, spoiled even and quite the nagging little thing. But she is my friend after all and I’d rather not deal with the consequences of not listening to her.” 

There was a moment there went you felt your heart stop for a minute, “That’s... really ironic.” You said slowly.

“Oh? You have a bossy friend too?” He jested with a smile. 

You laughed for a second then shook your head, “No, I mean that it’s ironic that you’re going to the aquarium,” You paused for a second then reached into your bag and pulled out your phone. You showed Alastor and said, “I’m going too.” 

He peered at the e-ticket on your phone, the pushed his glasses up on his nose with a deep laugh, “What a small world!” He laughed, then laughed some more, “How truly ironic indeed!” Then without a second to waste, he faced you once again then asked, “Would you like to go together?”

The question startled you. You didn’t expect that. He was very bold, wasn’t he? You had only just met and he was asking to spend probably what would be the rest of the day with you. You were flustered suddenly, then you were tongue-tied, lastly, you cracked your voice as you answered, “S-Sure! Yea- um--....” You felt your cheeks turn a little pink, “Sorry. It’s just... That was unexpected.” Just as you said that the loud horn of the ferry screamed as it pulled into the docks. 

Alastor stood up while smiling down to you, “Life wouldn’t be life if what you expected happened all the time.” 

He then held out his hand, offering to help you up from the bench. You took a moment, sitting there and taking everything in for what it was. Alastor stood before you, looking as though he was some kind of mathematician, or professor, now that you got a good look at him. His red tie was tucked behind a brown sweater vest that stopped just shy of his belt. His hand was offered to you, while the wind dusted his brown hair around in the breeze. And that smile on his face, it was soft yet firm enough to show that he was pleased to help you up. 

So you decided then... why the hell not? He was right, life wouldn’t be the same if it was exactly like what you expected. You took Alastor’s hand and pulled yourself to your feet. The two of you chatted while boarding the ferry, and then stood beside each other while leaning along the guard rails of the top deck.

The both of you talked about all kinds of things. You found out that Alastor was some kind of internet personality, not really. He had a podcast he ran and owned with some friends of his. It was apparently very popular and well known, though not that well known because you’ve never heard of it before. And to say that didn’t hurt Alastor’s ego a little would have been a lie. Apparently, Alastor also had a strong taste for liquor, because at one point he went to the ferry’s indoor bar and came back with two rum on the rocks.

You told him it was only noon, to which he replied, “It’s five o’clock somewhere,” And laughed before taking a sip of his drink. You decided to have the one he got you and told yourself it’d only be one which Alastor stayed true to. He didn’t wander off for another drink once he finished the one he had. There was another point that you learned that Alastor had the habit of ignoring his phone, to the instance where he got annoyed with it and turned it off. It seemed he only wanted to focus on talking to you and listening to what you had to say.

Alastor and you talked the whole ferry ride, which was just under an hour long. And when you docked, you both walked side by side down the three and a half blocks to the aquarium. It wasn’t a massive place, but it was a good size with a decent amount of animals. You originally came here with the idea of looking for inspiration within sea life. For you were an author, after all, writing stories for a living came with its ups and downs. For instance, right now, your much-needed vacation wasn’t really a vacation. The current book you were working on took place in late century seaside town, much like this one. And you had run into the worse possible writer’s block you’ve ever been in. 

As you and Alastor had finished passing the entry gates and showing your tickets, you wondered why Alastor would want to come here with you. Maybe because he realized how terribly awkward it would be if you continued to cross paths all day. You also thought about how you wouldn't be able to focus on working with him around now. You also didn’t really want to out yourself, or your current story. 

But that would soon be unavoidable. You and Alastor had just made it to the open exhibits of the aquarium. You had stopped on an old wooden bridge to briefly look out at a beautiful koi pond. Alastor leaned over slightly while resting his arms on the bridge railing. He had a soft smile that was barely on his lips, “This one oddly reminds me of home,” He sighed. 

You learned along the railing as well, looking over the swampy like pond. It lily pads all over, with a dark green water filled with dead trees and moss. You couldn’t see them, but you could hear the bullfrogs chirping away. Seeing it gave your a sudden surge of inspiration. Something about it made you get several ideas for your book. You couldn’t let them slip away, so you reached into your bag and grabbed your notebook.

While you became lost in your own world, scribbling down idea after idea, Alastor quietly watched you. It wasn’t in a way that you noticed, because he’d only take a side glance here or there. But after a moment or so, he finally asked, “Forgot something to add to your grocery list?” 

It was meant to be a joke but it went right over your head (Mush to Alastor’s dismay).

“O-oh..” You then laughed weakly, “No... It’s for a story I’m working on.” 

Alastor turned to face you slightly while still leaning on the rail, “Oh, like an author?”

You took a dry swallow then glanced away and shrugged, “Yea,” You didn’t want to egg him on. But of course, he asked anyways. 

“Are you published?” He seemed genuinely interested. Yet there was a reason you wanted to avoid it. Oftentimes when you told people about your books, the general reception wasn't that good. There was a reason you wrote under a pen name. 

However, Alastor wasn’t from around here, and you weren’t on New York Time’s Best Selling List yet, and probably never would be. So there was a chance he wouldn’t know or ever heard of your books. 

So you took the chance and said, “Yeah. I’m the author of Sea Rise.”

“Oooh,” Shit. “That book series about the pirates?” Dammit. 

You felt your cheeks burn as you took in a deep breath and nodded your head, “You’ve heard of them?” You wouldn’t look at him though. You just kept your gaze on some turtle resting on a log. 

“Yeah, never read them,” He gave a slight chuckle, “But the girl I work with-”

“You said her name is Charlie, right?”

“Yes- Well, she reads ‘em. She’s a big fan. I’m under the assumption that it’s about fictional pirates?” 

You took in a small breath then sighed, “Pretty much. It’s... not that amazing or anything. It’s okay.” You noticed that Alastor pushed off the rail and started to walk again, but slower this time.

“Tell me about it.” His words surprised you enough to look at him with a shocked expression. He laughed at you while giving a small wave of his hand, “Only if you want to. I’m sure you can’t talk much about spoilers.”

You blinked, then let out a shaky laugh, “I-I don’t know. It’s... A long story. This is for my fourth installation.”

He hummed with a slight chuckle, “Well it’s a good thing there is a snack bar over there.” He pointed to one not that far away, “And plenty of places to sit too.” 

There was something that flickered around in your chest. You felt butterflies you always wrote about in your stories. You peered at Alastor finding it hard to stare at his face. You glanced up from his shoes and got caught in that tilt in his smirk. Heat ran to your cheeks and spread across your nose, you gave a sharp nod of your head then awkwardly stuttered out, “O-okay!” With maybe a little too much excitement. Who knew that today, of all days... You’d run into someone like him. 

#hazbin alastor x reader #alastor #hh #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alaztor x reader #alastor / you #alastor reader insert #alastor imagine #hazbin hotel x reader #short story #cute #fluff #missbliss writes #ask #anon #anonymous

[miekasa]

Headcannons for the kinda style/fashion sense Levi and Eren would have in Modern AU??

EREN

I am once again going to push my Eren lowkey hypebeast agenda because you asked. 

Honestly his general clothing style isn’t anything too extraordinary. He wears jeans most days, sometimes sweatpants and track pants. Never slacks or chinos unless he’s specifically dressing up to go somewhere. 

I think he’d have a pretty damn big collection of sweaters and hoodies honestly. Like... an extensive collection. He shouldn’t need to buy anymore, but he does. I think he’d also wear a lot of crewnecks. 

They’re not always plain though! I think he’d be a box logo kind of guy, maybe something with a design/reference to a show he likes, and probably a few that are plain on the front, but have lettering or a drawing on the back. 

Maybe a little bit of logomania on a few items, but it’s his not his whole outfit, and really only ever once in a blue moon. Expensive things he got on sale or from a reseller for cheap, that he wears because he has, you know. 

You know those half/faux collar things that make it look like you’re wearing a button down under your crewneck, without actually having to wear one? Yeah, whenever Eren discovers that, he’s all about it and suddenly feels all put together and like a real adult LOLOL

He also has a pretty big sneaker collection, and he is a little obsessed with collecting them. I think he’d wear a lot of high-tops, and definitely have one or two pairs of shoes that need to be thrown are but are just so damn comfortable he can’t let them go. 

I could see him having a lot of oversized t-shirts. He’s definitely the kind of guy that has 74485245 white t-shirts in his closet (“They go with everything!”)

He thinks fanny packs are stupid before he actually buys one, and then he acts like he invented them. “Babe, I don’t even have to put my phone in my pocket, look it fits in here! With my keys! I even have the lip balm you gave me--is this why you always have a bag??” 

I think he’d look good with a few rings... I think you’d have to buy them for him first... convince him... build your perfect choker you know 😌

He mostly just wants to be comfortable, but if you wanted him to try out a specific style, he’d do it for you. He can’t promise to like it, but who knows it might grow on him over time. 

He might have a lot of hats (beanies, bucket hats); not that he wears them super often, but he keeps buying them. For safe keeping, he claims. (It’s because he’s an irresponsible spender but we don’t have to unpack all of that). 

LEVI

I feel like business casual is a good way to describe his every day style. 

Not necessarily wearing a suit and/or blazer every day, but he definitely looks smart, tidy, and put together. Slacks and/or chinos, maybe a button down if he feels like ironing the day before, or maybe just a nice sweater or turtleneck. 

He owns jeans, too, like any normal person, but they’re all pretty plain, and never, ever ripped. I also think he would prefer dark washed jeans over light washed or acid washed. And they’re not really skinny jeans either; they’re tapered, but not skin tight. They’re comfortable. 

He would like blazers, though. They might not be an every day occurrence, but he definitely has more than a few. He’s pretty good at styling them, too. I would pay to see him style the oversized blazer trend, but I don’t really think it’s something he would lean towards himself... unfortunately... but he would look so cute omg. 

Chelsea boots oh my god. But also sneakers! I think he’d have at least one good pair of running shoes, and maybe one or two pairs he wears casually. Like air maxes. I think he’d like those. 

He has his casual days, though. When he’s not working or doing whatever he does regularly, he has sweatpants. I actually think he’s a sweatpants and big t-shirt around the house kind of guy. 

On that note, I think he’d run errands in a matching sweatsuit. Not a matching tracksuit -- that would be resident wanna be cool golf dad, Erwin Smith -- but matching sweatpants and crewneck sets. Wears it with his fancy sneakers. Sometimes a pea coat if he’s trying to be extra stylish. 

I don’t see him as a hat kind of guy. If it’s cold, he would either suck it up, or just wear a jacket with a hood. You buy him one of those hats with the pompom on top during the winter and he claims he looks like a child, but you always catch him wearing it when it’s snowing anyway. 

He would accessorize pretty well, but also in subtle ways. Like coordinating his scarf and belt to his outfit, making sure his cufflinks go with his clothes, a proper tie. I don’t know that he’d have a lot of jewelry, but maybe a few daintier necklaces or chains. Maybe one or two rings.

#anonymous #this was so fun #eren is like.... very very very casual street style you know #like he's not trying super hard to have an aesthetic but he definitely has his own style #levi is just put together all the time #hes the person that walks into your class all dressed up and youre like 'fuck now i wish i dressed up too' #but to him its not dressed up its just his every day fit #aot x reader #snk x reader #levi x reader #eren x reader #aot imagines #headcanons #levi.ask #eren.ask

[ssurveycorpss]

You can delete this if this isn't allowed, but can I request X for all the warriors?

asking for multiple characters is totally fine (as long as you're not requesting full one shots lol) i'll update my rules! also the layout of these is a little different than the others bc this one is just a little fun lol.

i included zeke, reiner, pieck, porco, and colt. i definitely wont write for the four kiddos or marcel but i can write for annie and bertholdt if you request them.

tags: modern au, cigarette/nicotine mention in zeke's, alcohol mention in colt's, emetophobia warning for colts, mention of car accidents in porco's, sfw, not every single one is romantic lol sorry and colts is missing one headcanon bc i only have two for him

hc game

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

zeke jaeger:

pretentious coffee fan. owns like a 300 dollar espresso maker and refuses to drink starbucks. spends like 8 dollars minimum on a latte and lurks on the coffee subreddits. its almost comical how he drinks fancy coffee and only smokes cigarettes and not e cigs... so pretentious...

acts like he has no interest in social media but spends hours trying to pick a lyric from an obscure band for his caption. has like 3 posts, lots of followers, and less following. will post the occasional story with you in it but otherwise not much going on there.

coaches little league baseball despite not liking kids that much because he doesn't really have time for coaching middle or high schoolers. his kids are fucking ruthless they are like monsters on the field and every other team is terrified of them. you know how they don't keep score for kids softball and stuff like that? zeke does anyways and he tells them every time they win. does well with baseball moms bc their kids could go pro no matter what and hes really good looking and suburban moms could use the eye candy.

more under the cut!

reiner braun:

his favorite music genre is bubblegum kpop. porco groans everytime reiner has the aux bc he just plays really preppy cute songs kpop songs about falling in love after school. he doesn't like... stan any of the groups like he doesn't know every detail of their lives but he casually watches their interviews sometimes and knows all the member names of his favorite groups. he has a photocard from an album you gave him, and it sits in his phone case behind a polaroid of you two. also he learns the dances sometimes.

likes watching cartoons sometimes, he wont binge watch an entire season of them but if he has sometimes he'll throw on a cute mindless cartoon just to relax. he usually watches slice of life and romance tv shows in general, stuff without much tension or drama and is just cute.

good cook, terrible baker. if he bakes something it will look awful and taste kind of bad. but his cooking is really good, once you guys got comfortable together instead of going out to eat you opt for him cooking for you two instead.

pieck finger:

likes to buy her clothes second hand. she's a really well dressed girl but she's not concerned with being overly trendy, so she finds that a lot of stores don't really have things she likes. she likes long hemlines and almost everything is cropped these days, so she opts for thrift stores and vintage stores to get things her style. plus she saves a lot of money. she really suits pearl jewelry and has a timeless sense of fashion.

she has a minivan and will drive anyone anywhere, and she rarely asks for gas money. often picks up zeke porco and reiner when they hang out and will always pick you up for dates. her car is ancient but runs like a charm because shes knowledgeable about maintenance, and super fuel efficient.

has a really old phone with no cracks or scratches or anything. doesn't see the point in getting a new one until one day she notices how convenient porco's brand new up to date iphone is and starts saving up for one, but every time she saves up enough a new one comes out.

porco galliard:

plays volleyball, and is on a scholarship for it. jumps really high and is really lithe and quick, making him a good libero (but this is the extent of my volleyball knowledge so i will not make anymore comment. please let me know what position porco plays.)

gets in (non fatal) car accidents surprisingly often, and speeding tickets even more. marcel is tired of it because it is throwing his insurance costs over the roof and forces him to enroll in lessons but they really don't help.

he is the one to pay for the streaming services and has everyone else plus you leech off his account. he complains abt it but texts the gc every time he changes the password so he doesn't really have the right.

colt grice:

on the blacklist for several frats because he went to their block parties, drank too much, and vomited in someones bed, another person's cat's litterbox, a different persons laundry basket, a different different persons moms sweater, and another frats oven. he's really apologetic and always cleans up and reimburses everyone as much as he can, but he is a menace and is only allowed in if he promises not to drink. on that drinking note if you need advice, go out for drinks with colt. he will get incredibly inebriated, give you the best wisdom and advice you've ever heard, and forget everything the next day.

really bad at video games but really fun to play them with. doesnt get on very often, but will play when he has some free time or is asked by his friends. only on weekends and only for like two hours at a time. the video game system at his house doesnt even belong to him its Falcos.

#omg these tags #its gonna be #so annoying #to tag this #ok so imma just tag this #snk x reader #aot x reader #aot imagines #aot x you #aot x y/n #attack on titan x you #attack on titan x reader #shingeki no kyojin x you #shingeki no kyojin x reader #annnnd do the rest later #lols

[kjack89]

For the prompts for 300 fics, some kind of angst and reconciliation fic? I know that’s vague but I’m in the mood for some angst with a happy (or not!) ending, and you’re my go to for that :)

Angst with an optional happy ending? Nonny, you know me too well.

This is part 1 of what will be either multi-chaptered or just longer once I get it on AO3, so at the moment we’re just dealing with some light angst, and who doesn’t love that on a Saturday night. Hopefully the second part will be posted in a few days.

E/R, modern AU. Former relationship.

Enjolras pulled his hood even tighter over his blond curls and glanced over his shoulder before reaching up to feel for the key hidden on top of the door jamb. He was surprised, and more than a little concerned, when his fingers touched nothing but very dusty wood, and he chanced another glance over his shoulder before rapping lightly on the door.

The door opened no more than an inch. “Password,” a gruff voice barked, and Enjolras sighed.

He really should’ve known.

“Grantaire, if you don’t let me in, I will break down the door and use one of the splintered pieces of wood to kill you,” he said, as patiently and politely as he could, just in case someone was listening.

Grantaire opened the door enough to admit him, closing it after him and locking the doorknob lock and deadbolt before sliding the chain into place. “Firstly, I’d like to see you try,” he said with a grin that Enjolras did not return. “Secondly, for future reference, the password we were looking for was ‘my full glass’, with a security question of ‘what do I believe in?’.”

Enjolras tugged off his hoodie and balled it up before tossing it onto the couch, one of the few pieces of furniture in the tiny, cramped apartment. “Would you also have accepted ‘nothing’?” he asked waspishly.

“No, but I would’ve accepted ‘absolutely fucking nothing’,” Grantaire said cheerfully. “Adjectives matter.” His smile faded when he caught sight of the shiner beginning to darken around Enjolras’s left eye. “What happened?”

“Same thing that always happens,” Enjolras said.

Grantaire’s eyes narrowed. “Meaning you have other, less visible injuries that you’re not going to do anything about until it’s too late to keep them from getting worse?” he asked dryly

Enjolras rolled his eyes and dug his phone out of his pocket to send a quick text. “What are you even doing here?” he asked, purposefully ignoring Grantaire’s question.

He didn’t see the look Grantaire gave him, but he could hear it plainly enough in his voice. “It’s a safe house,” he said. “I think that’s somewhat self-explanatory.”

“No, I mean—” Enjolras did glance up then, to examine Grantaire for an impatient second before telling him, “I didn’t even see you at the protest.”

Grantaire shrugged. “I’m pretty sure we can charitably refer to that as a riot,” he said.

Enjolras rolled his eyes and looked back down at his phone, which he powered off before disassembling it to remove the SIM card. “Whatever nomenclature you want to give it aside—”

“Speaking of nomenclatures,” Grantaire interrupted, “can we talk about how we’re referring to this as a safe ‘house’?” He flopped down on the couch. “This is a safe studio apartment. And I’m being generous with the term ‘studio’.”

“It’s illegal,” Enjolras informed him without looking up from his phone.

“Well no shit, this place is just plain criminal.”

Enjolras tucked his SIM card in his wallet before setting his phone down on the coffeetable. “No, I mean it was illegally built. It won’t show up on any building schematics or floorplans.”

Grantaire blinked. “Meaning…?”

“Meaning as long as you and I are in here, we don’t exist.”

Understanding flitted across Grantaire’s face. “I can see how that would have its advantages,” he murmured before glancing up at Enjolras. “Speaking of, how long do you think you and I will be staying in this lovely 250 square foot box?”

Enjolras shrugged, going to pour himself a glass of water from the tap in the corner of the apartment designated as the kitchen. “Hard to say,” he said, carrying the water over to the coffeetable and hesitating for only a moment before dropping his cellphone into it. He looked at Grantaire. “I assume you took care of any of your electronics with a GPS signal?”

“Yeah, but unlike you, seeing as how I don’t have the disposable income to just buy a new iPhone after every riot, I just left mine at home.”

“I don’t buy a new phone after every riot,” Enjolras muttered, feeling his ears burning red, and he sat down on the futon with a huff. “Only ones that ended badly and with potential criminal charges.”

“So...every riot.”

“I certainly hope you find yourself amusing enough to get through the next few days,” Enjolras said sourly. “Because we’re going to be here awhile.”

Grantaire groaned and tipped his head back to rest it against the back of the couch. “What did you do this time?” he asked, sounding resigned. “Molotov cocktail? Improvised incendiary device?” He turned his head to give Enjolras a wink. “Of course, that’s more Courfeyrac’s style than yours…”

“None of the above,” Enjolras told him, suddenly wishing he still had his phone to give him something to do with his hands. “I, uh, may have – shoved a cop.”

Grantaire’s eyes narrowed. “Shoved?” he repeated. “What does shoved mean in this context?” He didn’t wait for Enjolras’s answer. “And keep in mind that I’m not a cop or a prosecutor before you decide to obfuscate or lie.”

Enjolras shrugged again. “Maybe not, but you could also be tried as an accessory if I explain further.”

“As if I wouldn’t immediately execute my fifth amendment right against self-incrimination.”

Enjolras half-smiled. “Cute,” he said. “But you weren’t there.”

Grantaire arched an eyebrow at him. “And it’s on them to prove that,” he said coolly.

“So you’d risk a perjury rap for me?” Enjolras asked skeptically.

Something darkened in Grantaire’s expression. “I’ve risked worse for you,” he muttered, and Enjolras looked away, feeling his face color and hating himself just a little for it.

He bit back his initial response of defensiveness, of turning the tables back on Grantaire and asking him just what, exactly, he had risked over the course of what one could charitably call a relationship and more accurately call a friends with benefits arrangement – but then again, when had they ever been friends? – but something in Grantaire’s expression stopped him.

Or maybe it was just because he was stuck with his ex for the foreseeable future, and even he knew this was a bridge not worth burning right that moment.

“A cop decided to beat up a Black girl,” he said. “She couldn’t have been more than 14, and he didn’t even bother with his baton. She was on the ground and he wouldn’t stop, so I…” He trailed off and shrugged. “I stepped in.”

Grantaire let out a low whistle. “So you’re looking at aggravated battery,” he mused, looking up at the ceiling. “That’s, what, a class X felony? So you’re looking at 6 to 30, unless you can plead it down.”

Enjolras made a face. “Battery’s a stretch,” he said dismissively. “I’ll probably get slapped with aggravated assault.”

“Because the state’s attorney’s office is going to take one look at your record and decide to be generous.”

Enjolras barked a laugh and shook his head. “How do you know all this anyway?”

Grantaire shrugged. “I watch a lot of Law & Order reruns.” He gave Enjolras a critical look. “But potential criminal charges aside, are we just supposed to wait here with no link to the outside world until things blow over or something?”

It was Enjolras’s turn to shrug. “Or something.”

Grantaire sighed. “Great,” he said mournfully. “Well, thankfully, I was planning on quitting my job anyway, or I’d definitely be fired after this next round of no-call, no-shows.” He shoved himself up off the couch and slumped over to the small refrigerator humming ominously in the kitchen, and he opened the tiny freezer portion, pulling out a miniature ice cube tray. “That’s just pathetic,” he said, shaking his head.

Enjolras frowned. “Please don’t tell me you’re already making yourself a drink.”

“Hilarious,” Grantaire said. “But I already checked, and the only booze someone thought to stock this joint with is a couple bottles of bourbon, and I take my bourbon neat.” He cracked the ice cube tray into a ragged dishcloth, which he bundled up before carrying it over to Enjolras, holding it out for him. “This is for you, to try to keep that eye from getting worse,” he said, a little gruffly.

“Thanks,” Enjolras said, hesitating for only a moment before taking the dishcloth-wrapped ice and holding up to his eye, wincing at the cold. 

Grantaire looked at him carefully. “I’m guessing from the way you’re sitting, you’ve also got hit in the ribs – bruised or broken?”

“I’m sure they’re just bruised,” Enjolras assured him, but judging by the look on Grantaire’s face, he didn’t believe him.

Instead, he returned to the kitchen and refilled the ice tray, placing it back in the freezer. “So what are we gonna do now?” he asked off-handedly.

Enjolras shrugged. “Honestly? I have no idea. I’ve never exactly been someone good at relaxing.”

Grantaire snorted. “No shit, Sherlock.”

Enjolras arched an eyebrow, watching with his one good eye as Grantaire flopped down on the couch again. “You know, there was once a time when you would’ve given anything for it to be just you and me, alone, with no outside world for a few days.”

He had intended for it to be a funny, lighthearted memory, but he knew immediately by the way Grantaire sucked in a breath that it had landed as anything but that. They clearly weren’t to the point of joking about what they’d once had yet – if they’d ever get to that point. “Yeah, well,” Grantaire said, carefully avoiding Enjolras’s eyes, “that was a long time ago.”

Enjolras felt himself flush, but before he could offer some kind of apology, or explanation, Grantaire cleared his throat. “I think I’m just going to take a nap,” he said, still avoiding looking at Enjolras. “Riots really take it out of me.”

“Oh, right,” Enjolras said, hurrying to stand. “You can have the futon—”

“Nope, I got dibs on the couch.”

Enjolras frowned. “Take the futon,” he said. “I’m not going to make you sleep on the couch.”

“And I’m not going to make the person with potentially busted ribs sleep on the couch,” Grantaire shot back. “Besides, I checked out the futon before you arrived, and trust me, you’re not doing me any favors by switching.”

He said it with a sort of forced levity that told Enjolras not to push it further, so he didn’t. “If you say so,” he muttered instead, standing up and making his way over to the small pile of books stacked along one wall, hoping he could find something to keep his attention. 

By the time he returned to the futon with a novel that looked like it might do the trick – or at least make him angry enough that he’d have written a very thorough letter to the book’s publisher by the time he got out of there – Grantaire had rolled over onto his side, his back to Enjolras, ostensibly asleep.

But even though it had been a while since they had slept in the same bed, let alone the same room, Enjolras still knew Grantaire well enough to know when he was faking being asleep. And as he cracked open the book he had grabbed, he knew that Grantaire’s too-even breathing definitely indicated that he was not actually sleeping.

Which meant he preferred pretending to sleep to Enjolras’s company.

If that was any indication of how their time stuck together in the safe house was going to go, Enjolras couldn’t help but feel that they would both be very lucky if they made it out of there alive.

>>Read part 2 here>>

#exr #enjolras x grantaire #enjoltaire #enjolras #grantaire #ask #answered #hey nonny #fanfiction #les miserables #modern au #former relationship #reconciliation #well sort of #coming down the pipeline anyway #~tension~ #sorry to break this into 2 (or more) parts #writing has been a s t r u g g l e #and I figured i could use the additional motivation to actually finish this #Anonymous

[nuclearanomaly]

Prompt 15 - Thunderous

(Modern (Bookshop) AU self indulgence ft @aethernoise​‘s Alyx as is my standard when it comes to Bookshop AU shenanigans...)

“I really think this might not be such a good idea after all.” Ninira declared fretfully, for the umpteenth time as Alyx returned to their bar table, drinks in hand. 

“Shocking,” she commented sarcastically as she placed one of the drinks down in front of the lalafell. 

“Really, Alyx.” Ninira cast another apprehensive look around the Forgotten Knight Club, they hadn’t been here long and already the crowd was growing. More and more people, with ever increasing amounts of piercings, tattoos, shaved and styled heads. It felt like they all knew what to wear too; studded, patched vests, fishnets and thick leather boots that made Ninira’s cardigan look ever increasingly out of place. “I don’t think I belong here at all.”

Alyx gave an indigent snort. “No one is going to care or notice. Besides, it's not like you can say I’m any better.”  Ninira gave her a disbelieving look. Maybe it lacked some of the embellishments the majority of the crowd had, but her black cocktail dress at least suited the vibe better than what Ninira was wearing. “Anyway, I bought you a drink, so you have to stay and finish it now.” She smirked over the top of her own glass. “And, if you need any more reassurance, here’s Aymeric.”

Ninira twisted on her bar stool to follow Alyx’s gaze. Indeed Aymeric was maneuvering through the crowd towards them, and much like Ninira he looked, perhaps, like he had finished giving a class at the university rather than made plans to attend a punk rock show that evening. He took his pace at the table beside Alyx, giving her a peck on the cheek as he did so before beaming at Ninira. “You came! I’m glad. Are you excited?”

Ninira could only shrug sheepishly. After all, there had to be a reason she’d never been invited to one of these shows before, and now, unfortunately, her argument that it was her look clearly wasn’t going to cut it.

Aymeric turned his attention to the drink in Alyx’s hand as he folded his coat over the back of an unused barstool pushed up against the wall behind him. “What are you drinking?”

“Tonight’s featured cocktail, The Spice of Life--”

Their conversation about the drink and it’s taste was drowned out by the arrival of their table's newest occupant. 

“Look who has finally decided to grace us with her presence!” Ninira quietly wished to simply vanish on the spot as the declaration and Haurchefant’s exuberance were enough to turn a few heads in the crowd. He was unphased however as he gave her an eager clap on the back as he arrived at the table. “Excited for your first Nastrond show, Ninira?”

Ninira could only give a squeak of a reply as Haurchefant had jostled her, drink in hand, and her only chance at saving it from spilling all over her had been to quickly take a drink.

“Been here long?” he added as a question to the others.

“Just arrived,” Aymeric replied. “About to head to the bar if you want anything.”

“A grand idea! I’ll join you.”

“Starting to feel like maybe you do belong after all?” Alyx asked as the men left them alone at the table once more. Ninira shrugged weakly, yes Estinien’s friends had never not made her feel welcome and yet... she avoided the question by giving the crowd another apprehensive look. The club was even busier now, the aera set a little below where their table sat, had a crowd of people eagerly gathered around the front of the stage. Others gathered at tables, like theirs, littered around the edge of the room. And it was easy to tell that the bar was bustling by the din coming from its general direction.

“Are their shows always this busy?” Ninira asked instead.

“Hmm,” Alyx scanned the room. “The other one I went to was a bit smaller, but they're opening tonight. Lots of people are probably here for the band after.”

When Aymeric and Haurchefant returned it was with Lucia and as they all squished in around the table—Ninira desperately trying not to feel self conscious about being the only one needing a seat to see—Haurchefant dumped a t-shirt into her lap. “Nastrond Tee!” He told her as she unfolded it to look at the front. “You need one to commemorate your first show!”

“How much?” but Haurchefant waved her question off nonchalantly.

“Nothing, once I mentioned it was for you I got it special.”

“You’ve made Hilda’s night that’s for sure.” Lucia added leaning across the table so she could be heard over the growing din of the crowd. 

“She usually runs the merch stall before the show starts.” Haurchefant explained, and as if on queue the lights in the Forgotten Knight began to dim. He prodded Ninira in the side, “quick put it on, they’re about to start.”

Perhaps the drink Alyx had bought her had finally loosened her nerves some as she shrugged out of her cardigan and pulled the shirt on over her head without a second thought; popping her head out just in time to watch Hilda romp up on stage, guitar in hand. Her appearance was met by a roar of approval from the crowd, including a very well executed whistle from Lucia. She pumped her free hand in a fist, egging them on, a grin plastered on her face.

“She’s such a mooch.” Haurchefant had to lean close to be heard over the roar of the crowd.

“Who’s the drummer?” Ninira asked, she’d almost missed their appearance entirely. She could have sworn that one moment the drumkit had been empty and the next the figure in the hoodie, hood up, their face hidden entirely in shadow, was sitting behind it. 

“No fucking idea, think they said his name was Fray. Never met him, weird dude by the sound of it. Killer on the drums though.”

Ninira was about to ask more but any thoughts about the strange drummer left her as Estinien made his appearance on stage. He also earned excited yells from members of the crowd though he didn’t display any level of fan service like Hilda had. Instead he simply got to work, making sure his bass was connected to the amp and checking his mic stand. It was surreal. In his ripped skinny jeans and plain t-shirt he looked no different to how he did when he came to hang about her store and yet seeing him lit by the stage lights, with a crowd of cheering people between them, made him seem like he was a world away from the person she knew. 

Ysayle was last on stage, her appearance earning the loudest approval from the crowd yet, and for good reason. She appeared otherworldly, with her hair a glow by the lights above, sparkles in the sheer of her top catching in the light. She raised her hand in greeting as she made her way to the centre of the stage and her mic. Setting the stand aside she raised the mic to her lips, a smirk just visible.

“Listen.”

The music hit Ninira with a physical force, like someone repeatedly thumping against her chest. Beside her she was sure she saw Haurchefant laugh. At least she thought he was laughing, she couldn’t actually hear him at all over the music, she could barely hear anything.

Just as she was beginning to adjust to the noise, to hear Ysayle’s singing and catch the beat, the song ended and Ninira was left in ear ringing silence as the crowd exploded into (now muffled) cheers.

“How’s everyone doing tonight?” Ysale asked, earning another eager cheer. It was during this downtime that Estinien looked over, and froze as he took in the sight of their table.

Unknown to Ninira, Estinien’s view from the stage was of his friends poised with eagerly outstretched arms and stupid grins. All of them doing their best to frame and bring attention to the wide eyed lalafell sitting in their midst. 

Ninira looked away quickly as his own wide eyed, shocked gaze fell on her. 

Alyx gave her a playful nudge to her side. “Someone's happy to see you!” She said leaning in close to be heard.

Ninira didn’t think he’d looked pleased at all, luckily she was saved having to try and convey that to Alyx as the next song started and drowned out any attempts of her replying back.

—

Prompt # | wc 1411 | All Entries | FFXIVWrite2021

#ffxivwrite #ffxivwrite2021 #Bookshop AU #Ninira Nira #I miss.. concerts #and now I've gone and moved to a city that my fave band is never gonna visit 😔 #pls slam my ears and my chest with loud music and leave me with ringing ears for 24h after #if ur interested Dream State is my sound HC for Nastrond they're v good go listen #I've had them on loop the whole time #I've wanted to write this foreverrr #and the ending is kinda incomplete because well it is... #I wanted to submit something and probably am just gonna keep at this unless the new word really inspires me #also don't worry Nini's just being a weenie #WEENINI #and over thinking things : ) #we don't proof read we throw this to the world and run #writing: mine

[chatonyant]

Some hella messy doodles for the shippuden designs! Excuse the every changing details because I am never truly happy with final designs dear lord-

I’ve got design notes! Long wall of words belooowww

Starting with Naruto once again!

his clothes are based off of several unfinished ideas I had of Uzushio and how their proficiency with seals would allow them to be more flamboyant or lighter in their gear. The magic of storage and protective seals!

there are seals embroidered into the inner lining and occasionally the exterior, acting as both armor and pack. Uzushio always seemed like a rather bright place, connected to the sea, so I made the robes generally blue themed but also darker as they are still shinobi in the end and bright colors are harder to hide. 

I added a hood because Naruto just,,,, he has modern streetwear vibes. He’d love hoodies

The whole Uzushio inspired ensemble is cause I was thinking that in this au he finds the opportunity to find and visit the island itself. Probably during the time skip, considering it’s hard to really place the discovery of a long lost village within the six-month period between graduation and the chunnin exams

At first I wanted to give him like a mesh crop top to show his seal but then it kinda didn’t have that traditional vibe that I wanted, so I added the kimono top and a red obi with symbols that kinda symbolize the seal (because Naruto connects with Kurama much earlier in this AU)

The headband was honestly ridiculously tricky to place because i was trying to draw this longer hair without making it poof weirdly at the top. Plus I wanted to keep the headband where it was cause,,, cause i was thinking when he goes into tailed beast mode the ribbons flare up to look like Kurama’s ears :”DDD peek design amiright-

his hair. is longer. because i love long hair Naruto to bits and it makes him look like his parents ;;; both of them

the gloves. I have no excuse. They just Look Cool

Sakura:

I gave her an undercut

she deserves it

I didn’t mention this in the other redesign post but she has dimples (though i’m really bad at drawing them

that one scene where she tied up her hair in the Kazekage Rescue Arc was so fucking beautiful I couldn’t resist throwing it in here lmaoooo

i can’t draw it right but imagine the ponytail kinda flowering out like a sakura blossom 

I took a lot of different things I liked about the older!Sakura designs and smooshed them in one with my own twist

like sleeveless qipao

Belt from pre-timeskip period stays, except now with an extra medical supply bag

longer pants cause they look nice

Sasuke:

honestly I like his normal shippuden design a lot so i kept most of it

I added a cape though, cause he does travel around a bit

and as i was drawing him the collar reverted to a similar shape to his kid clothes

fun fact

the reason that his outfit remains largely the same is because

Sasuke does leave

the action itself doesn’t change, but the circumstances and the ensuing effects do. quite a bit, actually.

and no it does not take the entirety of shippuden to get him back

because he is not a revenge obsessed angry kid here

the biggest reason for all this change is cause I want to change Orochimaru cause i wanna make him live purely because I love mitsuki so fucking much

also i gave him a little half ponytail cause i wanted to give him longer hair but then realized that idk how to draw that and make it look good sO new style boyos

Kakashi? what are you doing here?:

I wanted to change up Kakashi’s look as well because it’s actually really fun to design these outfits no matter difficult it may be bUT it was difficult because I just... can’t see him without a vest. 

Not that i can’t see him without wearing a vest, because i have and it’s good and I like it, but i can’t see him going into battle or on missions without one. 

I’ve got this headcannon that the vest is lowkey like a security blanket and it’s this grounding weight whenever he’s in this adrenaline filled situation where he may suffer many varieties of consequences if he’s not careful. It has his tools and it’s his armor. Replacing it with a robe feels like robbing him of something he’s always had and is always used to

SO

he keeps a vest

i modified it a bit to make it more right hand sided (i may headcannon Kakashi to be ambidextrous but there’s no denying he uses his right hand more) and the collar to be a bit thinner

Kakashi is like, made for biker fashion. like leather or denim jackets on motorbikes. So I gave him a haori that emulates that look 

Naruto came back, saw that Kakashi didn’t change at ALL and took it as a personal offense and dragged him around to get new threads because “Kakashi-sensei, we all upgraded our closet, you should too!”

kind of a sad headcannon that Kakashi didn’t quite let himself enjoy things that wouldn’t benefit him as a ninja and therefore just stuck to his normal outfit of ninja clothes and jonin vest. Icha Icha was the one exception and he picked it up because he had no idea what to do once he was out of ANBU (i would like to back this hc up by pointing to Boruto where Kakashi no longer really holds himself to this rigid ideal of a ninja and lets loose and has fun with Gai and Mirai)

ANYWAYS

he actually likes the stuff Naruto finds for him, though he has no idea where the boy is actually finding all this shit

some misc info about the outfits:

Naruto began learning sealing after the Wave Arc, and he took to it like a fish to water. (i have uzushio spirit hc that I will tell at a later time)

a rare nugget of information he found about uzushio seals was that they were often stitched into the clothing itself

so Naruto went wild with this

he learned sealing while practicing normal embroidery on the side and as he went on his 2-3 year trip with Jiraiya he learned more and just got better and better

He added the seal to his own haori himself and actually made one for Kakashi too. Kakashi just didn’t see him whip the gift haori from one of the stitched sealing scrolls

embroidering takes a really long time and matching it with sealing? oof, hard work. So he actually only got two done and is in process of Sakura’s next. Now that he’s back in the village, he can talk to her about certain things she would want/need considering Naruto isn’t sure what a medic-nin requires.

he made additional gifts for everyone in team seven (even sasuke, even if he doesn’t know what will happen) and hopefully as time passes little trinkets will start to appear

i just really like the idea of naruto being a really craftsy person. He just keeps making small trinkets except these trinkets have sEALING POWER cause he’s very chaotic with his experiments like that

#naruto #naruto shippuden #uzumaki naruto #haruno sakura #uchiha sasuke #hatake kakashi #team 7 #naruto fanart #au #nart au #alp art #doodles #was trying to figure out in what order i should post my thoughts but bOY i have no idea how #so ill just post as ideas come #hopefully that doesnt get too confusing #JESUS THIS WAS ONE OF MY FIRST DRAFTS AND I STILL HAVENT POSTED IT OOPS

[retvenkos]

“are you always this chaotic?”

A/N: i have an inquisitive anon in my ask box that deserves the whole world, and i decided their amazing (sometime hilarious) ask deserved better formatting, so here we are. sweet anon, this is for you.

tw: language

@bladesappreciationweek​​ A COLLECTION OF RANDOM HEADCANONS AND MEMES FOR THE INCOMPARABLE BLADES COMPANY...

who reserves the right to say “fuck”?

mal does not deserve the right. 10/10 he would use it every other word just for the effect of it all (scandalizing tyril who is upper class and thinks there are “better, more intellectual insults” and upsetting nia who tries to play it off like it doesn’t bother her, but she doesn’t like it). no rights, we’re censoring mal.

nia deserves the right, but she would never use it. not even in her dreadlord state did she utter it (the dreadlord is also an upper class elitist, fight me) but she argues with mal that she can say it and she would, but scholar vash is watching over her right now and she can’t disgrace him (scholar vash would be vvv proud if she said it, though, don’t even lie). olinda egged her on one night and she whispered it, dissolving into a fit of giggles afterward, but neither of them speak of it afterward.

tyril does not deserve the right. he believes himself too good™ for such a word, so he doesn’t get rights. he says he’s better than banal vernacular, thank you very much, but that’s awfully presumptuous of him and fails to take into account that, at all times he’s 5 seconds away from saying it, now that mal has entered his life. 100%, mal is trying to get tyril to say it by startling him at unnecessary times or just being generally irritating, and he never gets tyril to crack. i imagine tyril does end up saying it, though. aerin turns out to be the bad guy and nia falls into the portal or whatever and tyril is just like “...... fuck.” mal is bitter he wasn’t the one to make it happen, but he doesn’t whine about it until after the dreadlord has been defeated. nia is slightly upset that she was the reason tyril broke his solemn vow, but she also laughed thoroughly at mal’s rendition of the moment and regrets that she wasn’t there to see it.

imtura deserves the right and uses it. imtura curses like a sailor. .....get it? because she’s a— alright, you get it. but yes, imtura gets to the right to say fuck and she says it enough for everyone. if mal ever wants to express himself using the expletive, imtura will gladly say it for him. solidarity. but she’s also sweet, deep down, and she keeps her swearing to a minimum when nia is around. 

olinda deserves the right, 100%. she doesn’t say it often, but when she does, it has such power. mal wishes he had the commanding presence. olinda is generally too intent on finding a solution to the problem to ever dwell on failure, but when she goes into battle and realizes her group is terrible outnumbered? oop, there it is.

kade. oh, my sweet summer child, who swears often enough to rival imtura. 100%, he deserves the say “fuck” because every bard deserves free access to every word they can get their hands on. it’s rather funny that kade has a terrible mouth, since he’s like the golden retriever of the group (barring nia, ofc), but it’s also rather fitting. imtura was taken aback and mal had mad respect after hearing one of his tirades (directed at threep, ofc) and tyril is just like,,,,,, will i ever rEsT? anyway, let kade say fuck.

threep does not, under any circumstance deserve the right. threep will go off if given the right to swear, and it’s terribly annoying. everyone is trying to travel through a small town and then, out of the priestess of light’s travel bag you hear the worst string of curses you’ve ever heard - so many outdated and upper class curses picked up through the millennia and then you hear the most country, farmer swears (thanks, kade). it scandalizes everyone and nia is the poor girl who has to carry threep around. don’t let threep swear, whatever you do. it’s a power far too strong for this world.

what they get a tattoo of...

mal tries desperately to have the ~aesthetic~ so you know he gets something like a compass or a dagger or something equally as wanderlust and vague. it’s hella intricate and it’s probably on his forearm or something. i feel like mal is 100% that guy who has a tattoo for his mom on his chest but is also deeply terrified of commitment so the mere idea of getting a tattoo for someone else paralyzes him with intense fear. i don’t feel like mal is the guy to have writing for tattoos - he’s much more open to drawings than words. he’s all about the imagery. mal probably has a couple of tattoos though - he might be starting a sleeve or something, idk.

nia would deliberate long and hard before getting a tattoo - it’s permanent, after all, so she wants it to be something special. she 100% puts it on her lower back, which she grows to regret because she can’t actually see it? it is probably a flower a drawing of the temple of light, or a light crystal or something. i have a feeling there’s a prayer written in cursive that kind of wraps around the image she has tattooed. mal took her to get her tattoo and he was a proud brother™.

tyril was 100% that emo kid who wrote angsty song lyrics in a notebook, and that has not changed. i 100% guarantee that his first tattoo is a poem or something that he either wrote himself or desperately wishes he had written. he probably has it tattooed on his side or something equally as dramatic. mal wishes he had the flair that tyril just naturally carries. he’s iconic™ without even trying. he probably only has a few tattoos and most of them are small. he was one big tattoo on his back - it’s elaborate and kind of works like a family tree. it’s unique to him - he likes the idea that he carries his ancestors with him, no matter where he goes. nia notices one night that the company is on it, too, and she never says anything, but she’s touched.

imtura gets all the NAUTICAL IMAGERY. she 100% has one of those bands wrapping around her bicep, made of waves. i also imagine that imtura has a lot of ink? it’s what she deserves, and i feel like orcs are really artistic with their tattoos - their tattoos are culturally relevant and she has a story for every single one. mal knows every single story - they get sentimental on night watches. i imagine that imtura also knows how to give tattoos, so i headcanon that she gave olinda one that represents the company. imtura thought it was very sappy, but deep down, she was honored to do it.

olinda. similar to imtura, olinda has a lot of ink. the only difference is that she gets hers later on. there is one (1) person who knows how to tattoo in riverbend, and olinda got a few from them, but once she goes out to see the world? she’s going to the good™ tattoo artists and she’s fulfilling her dreams. i feel like olinda get’s her tattoos in very pointed spots - she definitely has a sleeve and you can “read” it from top to bottom - the story of her life. kade jokes that olinda’s memory is shot and so she has to get tattoos to remember her story, but he also really admires them. olinda has a lot of constellation tattoos, including some of the ones that kade made up. she’s very sappy, tbh.

kade got one (1) tattoo when he and olinda were piss drunk. it’s a matching tattoo with olinda that’s very weird and makes no sense at all. you had to be there, and tbh, even if you were there, it doesn’t make sense. to top it all off, it’s on his bicep so that when he flexes, it wiggles. at the time, olinda and kade thought it was the funniest thing and they died of laughter. does he regret it? kade maintains that he doesn’t. does he know the story behind it? he likes to say he does, but he actually doesn’t. olinda knows, and sometimes she’ll drop vague hints to see if it jogs his memory. kade maintains that he’ll never get another tattoo. once was enough.

modern! au ethnicities

disclaimer that there are a lot of great headcanons out there, and i’m here for most of them, these are just my ideas..

i imagine that mal is indian or pakistani, nia is brazilian or dominican, tyril is japanese or mongolian, imtura is maori or samoan, olinda is latina, and kade is half hispanic, half filipino.

when texting.... (and some handwriting thoughts)...

a modern! au? idk, maybe just an au where they somehow have modern technology? anyway...

mal grossly overuses emojis. his favorites are these: 🤑🔪😎😏. he also never uses proper capitalization and punctuation, and he uses abbreviations far too often. you need a key to figure out some of his texts, but imtura and olinda just know what he means. his philosophy is style and speed over substance. when he writes handwritten notes, though, his handwriting is a very fancy cursive and the care he puts into each letter is amazing. he only ever handwrites love letters to olinda and “i hate you <3″ letters to tyril, though. he did write a heartfelt birthday letter to nia, once. she framed it.

nia is my favorite because she texts like a grandparent, where they format texts like a letter and have perfect punctuation and capitalization. when she got a text from mal, she was very confused by what he was trying to express, but she wanted to know how he got the “cute faces” and mal immediately dropped everything to teach her how to use emojis. she loves them and probably uses a string of emojis at the end of her text as a part of her signature, like: [ the body of the text ] Best, Nia 😇🥰👑💖🌸 but her handwriting! it’s very nice. the temple of light had penmanship classes and nia excelled. ngl, she probably does caligraphy.

tyril uses no capitalization. punctuation only. you can hear the sarcasm through his text. he also hates emojis and memes with a burning passion. he has used this, though: -.-  he did it for nia. she loved it and now every time they text, he ends his texts with his “emoji”. mal teases him because it’s dumb and now it’s a running gag that everyone send the weird emoji to each other. it’s the tyril face! tyril wants to jump off a bridge, but also finds it very sweet? he has people giving him emoji’s? is that like.... friendship? anyway, his handwriting is terrible. glorified chicken scratch. it’s efficient and nearly illegible. perfect.

imtura, on the other hand texts the most “traditionally”. she doesn’t really adhere to capitalization, and she never has the ending period, but you know what she’s saying. it’s decent. she doesn’t like to complicate things, but kade introduced her to memes and now she and him communicate together solely using low resolution memes that no one else likes. it’s very annoying but very endearing. her handwriting is nice - simple and easy to understand. she uses a lot of shorthand and a lot of sailor jargon that goes over some people’s (read: tyril’s) heads, but is smart and to the point.

olinda, actually, is the one to have proper punctuation and capitalization, with little flavor to her texts. occasionally she’ll send an emoji or two, but mostly it’s just... communication. she much prefers calling, and will call you 20 times in a row until you answer. she forces tyril to facetime her and he rolls his eyes but secretly loves it. communication is much more efficient when you can see each others facial expressions, and boy, does context go a long way when talking with tyril. oH! I FORGOT TO MENTION - olinda grew up on a rural farm. olinda chronically says “y’all” and has all of those weird, farm related sayings. kade doesn’t have this problem because he “trained himself in verse” and said that he had to be “worldly” not “farm chic.” anyway, her handwriting is kind of careless in nature - not especially nice, but not especially terrible, either. it’s a hybrid between cursive and print (whatever is fastest is best).

kade texts solely in dank memes and lengthy prose. he is the most chaotic person in the group chat, either bidding the company to draw near by sending them four stanzas of incredibly vague meaning (only tyril and olinda understand) or he’s sending “vroom vroom bitch” memes that mal and imtura adore. the blades book may not have given kade flavor, but on GOD i will give it to him because a bard requires chaotic vibes, even if he has a tragic backstory. you know what? especially because he has a tragic backstory, kade deserves some chaos. give me chaotic kade or give me death. as for handwriting, i like to think that kade has two modes: “drafting” handwriting (chicken scratch to rival tyril) and “final product” handwriting that is purposefully and beautifully penned. he had a lot of time to perfect his writing, being sick, and boy did it pay off.

threep deserves to be in this line up, despite not being able to write. in this chaotic technology au, nia has created an instagram page for threep, and because he’s one of the last living nespers, it goes viral. when olinda and mal stumble upon it they have to laugh because it’s full of really expertly done ~aesthetic~ photos with really sweet captions - things threep wouldn’t say in a million years. the account is only up for a few months and at first the posting is really consistent, and then it suddenly falls apart and the account is deleted soon after. apparently, threep didn’t know the instagram account existed and when he found out, he and nia had legendary fights and wouldn’t speak for like, 2 weeks after. nia made a very shady and slightly vague call out post and it was the first time the company really saw her get petty. the instagram page was the perfect fuel for kade’s scathing and petty remarks at threep, and threep came out hard, making a dig at kade’s writing and his stupid tattoo. threep nearly died at the hands of the two sweetest - kade and nia. it was certainly one for the books.

high school! au

(you are right, anon, a high school au would be iconic™)

mal is 100% a band kid. he has the “i play the guitar to be cool” vibes. and besides, the guitar player in the band is always a little more ~rebellious~ than the other band kids (superseded only by the standing bass kids in orchestra, who had unrivaled chaotic evil energy). plus, mal has a flair for the dramatic, which the band kids have in spades. mal is a little too much of a rule breaker to have been on any teams or anything super structured like that, and while we all know that he’s a heartbreaker, he’s not a popular kid™ because (at least in my school) the popular kids are always rich kids who run in the “right” circles. mal is too cool for that.

nia on the other hand is the smart prep that’s really sweet. like, the girl who’s friends with the cheerleaders and could have been one, too, if she wasn’t so shy™. she’s mostly overlooked in favor of the more glamorous, but everyone knows nia and they’re all like, “yeah! she’s cute! and smart, and nice.” she’s probably in like, robotics club or something equally as estranged but smart. 100%, nia is the gabriella montez archetype. she’s in a few clubs, including choir, where her angelic voice earns her a few solos. people are always trying to give her positions of power in their clubs, but she graciously declines because she’s stretched too thin and stress is a thing.

tyril. i know you all want him to be like, the smart one who’s in debate club and is really charming, but tyril’s social skills are not cut out for that. tyril is like that smart kid who sits at the back of history class and knows all the answers but never raises his hand. he has one (1) popular friend who has been close with him since they were both in diapers, but he doesn’t feel comfortable with their friends so he just kinda sits alone for the most part. he was picked up once by the emo artsy kids, but it didn’t really stick. he likes poetry class and does a metal working class because he can be alone with his headphones and thoughts™. in high school he’s just brooding without the mystery. tyril cringes at his youth. he’s too strong and iconic in his current age, so he had to be cringeworthy in his teen years. perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

imtura was 100% that cool, slightly edgy girl on the volleyball team. she was popular with the students and the teachers - like, this is the student that the school mentions is going places, and yet are also like,,,, “let’s try to guide you over here, imtura. you have such potential! don’t squander it!” and imtura hates nothing more than their incessant pleas for her to be the model student. she just wants to travel the world, maybe join a punk band, and get lost at sea. that’s not too much to ask, right? she’s also on the football team, and she’s team captain. she lives in sweatpants and workout clothes, and they actually really suit her? definitely crush material, this one. she’s probably also throws some killer weekend parties with mal’s input.

olinda was harder to place, but i imagine that she’s one of those hands on kids, taking woodworking, metal working, and auto mechanics classes. maybe she was on the soccer team, one year, but that didn’t really work out. she’s a team player and all, but she likes something with a little more purpose. she met tyril in metalworking, she met mal when helping with sets for the school play (he was annoying the theatre kids, as per usual), she met imtura in gym class because imtura picked her to be on her flag football team (which was a great choice, really), and she met nia when she went to the choir room, looking for kade. she’s not popular, per se, but people know her face and they think she’s pretty cool.

kade on the other hand, is 100% an artsy theatre kid. he’s not the super obnoxious theatre kid, and he’s not the snobby theatre kid either, he’s kind of like the older sibling theatre kid who’s infinitely cooler than you, incredibly talented, but also really down to earth and ready to create an elaborate inside joke with you over the course of the year. he has it all: the tragic backstory that adds flavor and depth to his writing, the kind personality that gets him friends wherever he goes, the amazing vocals that make him a shoe in for every performance..... but he often gets overlooked. why? it’s one of those injustices that just don’t make sense. he’s decently popular among the art nerds, and everyone wonders why he doesn’t get lead roles. a real ryan evans, if we want to go with a hsm reference.

AND FLUFF ENSUES.

-- taglist: @musicallisto​, @missameliep​ // message me if you want to be added!

#playchoices #choices: stories you play #choices #bladesAW #blades #bolas #blades of light and shadow #tyril starfury #tyril starfury headcanons #mal volari #mal volari headcanons #nia ellarious #nia ellarious headcanons #imtura tal kaelen #imtura tal kaelen headcanons #kade #kade of riverbend #kade of riverbend headcanons #kade headcanons #blades mc #blades mc headcanons #mc #mc headcanons #fluff #alright idk what day this falls on since it has literally everyone included #but i decided maybe it would fall under realm of light? or mc and wildcard? idk i'm just posting it now #also i sure do hope none of my followers are sick of blades content because i'm going hard oops #tw language

[jaskiersvalley]

hello! first of all I absolutely love your work, thank you so much for all this geraskier content! so it's not really a prompt, but one of the tropes I'm obsessed with is definitely the first kiss. would you write some more of this? maybe in a modern au? (or not!! whatever inspires you) anyway, thank you again for your writing and have a good day :))

First kiss in a modern AU, you say? It’s almost like you reached into my heart and pulled out one of my weaknesses. Plus, I could never say no to such a sweet request. I hope you’ve having a good day, Nonnie!

When Jaskier signed the lease on his apartment, he was a little dubious but money was tight and something about the Kaer Morhen block of flats was appealing. The landlord lived on site, there was a promise of round the clock help for emergencies and issues with the flat. Sure, it was old and looked a bit shoddy but the flat itself was sturdy and the residents all seemed quiet judging by the couple of times Jaskier went to view the place before deciding to sign a year long contract.

Moving in was quite a mundane affair. He had Priscilla and Valdo helping move his boxes but Jaskier was moving from one furnished flat to another so other than boxes of books, trinkets, clothes and kitchen stuff, there wasn’t much else. Still, it would have been an ego boost to have a musclebound man or two gallantly offering to help. Or even for a new neighbour to stick a head out and greet him. Alas, Jaskier was going to have to live without either of those things happening.

What he did end up having was a knock on his door in the evening when he was staring at his boxes, willing them to magically unpack themselves while he drank his wine. He couldn’t fathom who it was, maybe Valdo had left his phone somewhere yet again. Idiot always had it on silent and kept putting it down in places. Last time, they’d found it in Priscilla’s bathtub. Opening the door, Jaskier blinked at the weathered, older man before him.

“Mr. Pankratz. I trust moving went smoothly. I’m Vesemir, your landlord and wanted to say hello. I trust the flat is to your satisfaction and moving went smoothly. Any issues, I’m on the second floor, feel free to knock.”

A personal call by one’s landlord while sweaty and dirty from a move and pleasantly buzzed from the wine that was clutched in one hand was not Jaskier’s idea of an ideal occurrence but he nodded gratefully. The flat was indeed to his satisfaction. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t the absolute shithole he’d fears things would turn out to be.

Of course things don’t go as stunningly well as Jaskier had hoped. Because while the flat was better than most, it was still cheap. Which meant that the washing machine broke down a few weeks into his life in his new home.

Knocking on the door on the second floor, Jaskier felt a little sheepish but Vesemir opened up with a gruff “yes?” that helped words come easier.

“My washing machine is giving me trouble, any chance you could have someone look at it please?”

“I’ll send Lambert this evening.” That was that. Jaskier nodded and returned back home, wondering whether Lambert was the handyman or someone Vesemir trusted.

It turned out, Lambert was one of the most terrifying people Jaskier had ever met. He was spiky and sharp, almost every sentence was punctuated by swearing. It only got worse when Jaskier showed him to the washing machine and left. Initially, it was just grunts and muttered curses but they progressively got louder and more inventive.

“Get to work you bucket of rust and bolts! Or I’m drop kicking your sorry corpse to the nearest tip!” The screaming was followed by loud banging, as if the machine was being punched repeatedly. After a minute of sudden silence, Lambert appeared. “It’s working,” he said and let himself out of the flat.

Almost hesitant to go into the bathroom, Jaskier was stunned to find that the washing machine was merrily chugging away as if it hadn’t been making a death rattle earlier that day. The fist shaped hole in the plaster behind the door was a whole different matter. It was going to be an awkward conversation to have in the morning with Vesemir and Jaskier dreaded to explain that his washing machine worked like a dream but now he had a hole in his wall. How he was going to get the old man to believe it wasn’t Jaskier’s doing was beyond him.

All worries were swept away when, first thing in the morning there was a knock on Jaskier’s door. He was suspicious, especially when he came face to face with a burly, scarred man who looked like he ripped the heads off dolls for living.

“Lambert mentioned you’ll need a bit of plastering. I’m Eskel.”

Too stunned to do anything other than step aside and let man in, Jaskier watched him walk into the bathroom. Half an hour later he was given an almost cheerful wave and the promise of coming back to paint it in a couple of days.

As promised, Eskel was back three days later. Jaskier felt a little braver and trailed after him. Strangely, Eskel seemed shy, he always twisted and turned so the scarred side of his face was hidden from Jaskier. Somehow, it seemed like a habit rather than a conscious decision and it made Jaskier wonder just what had happened to land Eskel with such habits, not to mention such scars. Then again, Lambert had scars as well. Maybe Vesemir had some kind of weird scar fetish he indulged with the handymen he employed.

It didn’t take long to paint the patch and Jaskier was impressed at how well it blended into the surrounding paint. He watched Eskel duck his head shyly at being praised. That was something to file away for later.

The later came a lot sooner than expected because not a month later, Jaskier’s tap gave up the ghost. First on the scene was, as before, Lambert. He looked at the tap like it was offending him on a personal level and Jaskier decided to leave him to it. A wise decision, especially when the clanging of a tap and sink having the ever loving shit beaten out of them started up.

“I could smack my cock and get more of a dribble from it than you piece of shit!” Lambert raged. 

It sounded like Jaskier’s whole kitchen was going to be collateral. Quietly, he just hoped the neighbours don’t think ill of him, surely they all knew Lambert’s unique style of DIY. There was a soft knock on the door and Jaskier was surprised to find a tired looking Eskel offering a soft apology.

“I’ll send Geralt up in a minute. He’s better at plumbing. Let me just get my little spark out of your hair.”

Silently, Jaskier stood aside and gestured for Eskel to make himself at home. He got to watch as there was zero hesitation in Eskel as he stepped into the kitchen with a soft “hey Sparky”. For a few minutes there were only soft murmurs from the kitchen. When the door finally opened again, Jaskier tried not to stare at the linked hands or worry about the fact Lambert seemed to be wearing the hoodie Eskel had arrived in.

A quick peek into the kitchen and it looked surprisingly intact. Deciding to leave it and opt for a delivery for food, Jaskier closed the door. Not half an hour later there was a firm knock on his door. Opening it, a few things flitted through Jaskier’s mind. One, Vesemir definitely had a thing for facial scars. Two, Jaskier had found his muse. Three, he believed firmly in lust at first sight.

“I’m here about your tap. Eskel said Lambert didn’t have much luck with it.”

This must have been Geralt. Jaskier trailed after him into the kitchen and ended up hopping onto the counter to watch him work. Not the most verbose of men but Jaskier found that beauty didn’t come from words.

“I couldn’t quite gather what’s wrong with the tap,” he began, trying to make small talk. “Lambert didn’t say much. Well, he said a lot but nothing of value.”

“That’s Lambert for you,” Geralt rumbled as he shimmied under the sink to look at a pipe. “He usually does electrics and machines, Eskel general decorating and odd jobs while I’m more for plumbing.”

Which was good to know because Jaskier wanted to see Geralt again. It took a couple of hours before water flowed from the tap again but Jaskier was happy to wait. It meant more time watching Geralt get sweaty in small, tight spaces.

From then on, Jaskier had a lot of plumbing issues. As many as he could make up and engineer. Nothing to actually damage the piped but enough to warrant calling Geralt out for them. It also meant he learned a lot about his landlord and the family who owned Kaer Morhen. They were an adoptive family and nothing to do with blood. Ex-army, all served together which explained the scars. While the three younger men called each other brothers, it didn’t stop Lambert and Eskel sharing a flat. It seemed to be a running joke that they all called it saving money and generating more income by freeing up another flat to rent out. However, Jaskier had seen just once how freely affectionate the two were with each other and there was no doubt that the jokes were an old habit while everybody and the world knew just how much those two were very much in love.

Despite all his attempts to draw Geralt out and spend more time with him with artificial problems, Jaskier still found his bathtub was clogging against his will. It was becoming impossible and he had to call Geralt out once more. This time, for a serious matter.

After half an hour of Geralt humming flatly at the issue, he straightened up and looked at Jaskier.

“You need to stop jerking off so much in the bathtub. Your jizz is clogging the pipes. Just use tissue, condoms or even a sock from now on.”

Flushing bright red, Jaskier gawped. “I have never! I mean-” Geralt gave him a half amused look. “Fine. But if you’re so worried about where my come lands, maybe you’d be a willing receptacle for it instead.”

He’d said it out of annoyance rather than anything else but it was too late to take it back. Especially when Geralt kept staring at him.

“I would prefer a dinner date first,” Geralt drawled and stepped closer. They were almost nose to nose.

“Tonight. What time do you finish work?” Jaskier was demanding but he had also had enough of pining from afar. Now was a moment for action rather than dillydallying.

“I have just one job for today. Very annoying resident who keeps calling out for problems he’s obviously created. Once I’ve finished with his bath’s plumbing, I’m off the clock.”

Grinning, Jaskier leaned in. “Well, make it a rush job and don’t be late. I have got my hopes up.”

There was no telling who leaned in first but it didn’t matter. The most important thing was that Jaskier was finally kissing Geralt.

#geraskier #minor eskel/lambert #geralt of rivia #jaskier #lambert #eskel #vesemir #modern au #witcher wolf pack #tldr: jaskier rents a new place and vesemir (plus his sons) are the landlords/handymen

[spaceskam]

i will follow you into the dark

Summary: Lan Xichen invites Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian on a special night hunt.

Warnings: modern cultivation au, sexual content, fight scene where there’s blood but nothing too graphic, happy ending for the most part if you don’t think too hard

ao3

For all that Lan Wangji was, strong and stoic, all it really took was getting him alone.

“Your nails would look so pretty painted,” Wei Wuxian said, a small pout on his face. There was no need for the pout‒he knew his Lan Zhan. If he asked, Lan Zhan would let his whole body become Wei Wuxian’s canvas. Which, honestly wasn’t a bad idea…

“Wei Ying can do as he pleases.”

A smile lit up Wei Wuxian’s face which he knew was effective by the way Lan Zhan’s ears tinted pink in response. He was so cute. How did he deserve someone so cute?

“You really don’t mind?”

Lan Zhan didn’t give a verbal response, but he stared and breathed in that way that answered enough. Wei Wuxian grinned and reached into his qiankun bag to retrieve the black nail polish he definitely didn’t have stashed there waiting for an opportunity. He could already imagine‒his Lan Zhan in all white with black painted nails that pressed into his skin. He felt outright giddy.

Wei Wuxian moved closer, grabbing his hand. He held it for a moment and then placed it on his knee and then picked it up again, trying to decide what would be the best way to go about painting them. Lan Zhan just stared at him, his back straight against the tree trunk from where they sat in the grass. They technically were supposed to be creating a practice plan to show how they would handle a nighthunt with water demons for when they eventually got their own set of juniors in the fall, but plans were boring and Lan Zhan was too pretty to not steal away into the more secluded part of the Cloud Recesses for more fun things.

Lan Wangji had grown up heavily involved in the cultivation world whereas Wei Wuxian had lived comfortably in both the normal world and the cultivation world, going to normal school with non-cultivators until he turned 14, got a special courtesy name, and started taking his summers in the ellusive Cloud Recesses alongside Jiang Cheng.

Now, at 20, he was praised as one of the greatest cultivators in his generation and he wasn’t really given an option on whether he wanted to dedicate his life to cultivating or not. Lucky for all those elders, he didn’t mind. Lan Zhan being there and open to a bit of outside-world corruption definitely made it feel less like an obligation.

Especially when he let him do things like this.

“You know what,” Wei Wuxian grumbled, grabbing Lan Zhan’s ankles and pulling them out of his pristine lotus position. He blinked and looked up at him, lips parted just a little. Wei Wuxian was too distracted to really appreciate it and his tongue jutted past his lips as made himself comfortable on his outstretched thighs, his knees bracketing either side of his hips. “This is okay, right?”

Lan Wangji, proper, traditional, overly strict Lan Wangji, nodded in slow motion. Wei Wuxian smiled until his eyes were squinted and Lan Zhan breathed out like a man trying his best to keep his composure. He decided not to comment on it as he grabbed his hand more comfortably now.

“See, this is good,” Wei Wuxian said firmly, unscrewing the top off the little bottle of black nail polish, “This stuff is cool. It has spiritual energy mixed into it to make it both last longer, dries faster, and keep your nails and fingertips super healthy and strong. Good for musicians, Lan Zhan, like yourself.”

“Mn.”

“My sister gave it to me for my birthday because I kept messing them up. Cultivation is hard on the nails, did you know that, Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.”

“Are you just agreeing or did you really know that? Because I’ve never seen you look less than absolutely put together.”

“Wei Ying’s cultivation is hard on his nails,” Lan Zhan answered. Wei Wuxian snorted and rolled his eyes, but he kept his smile. He knew that was probably true. 

While the Lan Sect was all fairy-like and the Jiang Sect was very clinical and the Nie Sect was very brutal and the Jin Sect was very showy, Wei Wuxian disregarded all of their styles and just had fun with whatever worked or felt right in the moment. It was how he got so good at it in the first place. If that meant ending up with chipped nail polish and messy hair, it seemed worth it.

After a few moments of pseudo-concentration, Lan Zhan’s hand that wasn’t occupied by Wei Wuxian clearly decided to have a mind of it’s own and he could feel it slowly start to slide over his thigh. He smiled and looked up to Lan Zhan’s eyes for a moment to let him know he didn’t mind. That little bit of confirmation seemed to be the best mistake Wei Wuxian ever made.

That hand, big and strong, went past his thigh and up to his side. His thumb got caught in the hem of his shirt in what was played off as an accident, but was so distinctly not an accident when it pushed into Wei Wuxian’s bare hip with absolute purpose. He shook his head as he continued to slowly paint his nails, taking his time so Lan Zhan could take his.

His hand started to travel up and Wei Wuxian lowered his arms to give him free reign. Lan Zhan’s face was rather blank still, but his head was tilted just a little bit and Wei Wuxian knew him well enough to feel excitement brewing in his stomach in response. He grazed over Wei Wuxian’s chest mindlessly even as his thumb seemed to seek out his scars beneath his shirt just to press a little on them. Maybe he was a little foolish to think maybe that meant he had something to look forward to, but he did anyway.

When he started moving to his neck, Wei Wuxian was fully prepared to have his whole hand around his throat. He lifted his chin a little, even, to let him know he absolutely didn’t mind. Except his hand lifted up onto his fingertips and started at the base of his throat. Slowly, his index finger traced up the length of his neck with a feather-light touch and Wei Wuxian followed it until his head was tilted back. His eyes fell closed at the strange, overwhelming sensation that came with Lan Zhan’s penetrating stare on his neck. He’d almost forgotten what he was doing.

“Mn,” Lan Zhan said, gently grabbing his chin to urge him to look him in the eyes again. It was rare that he made eye contact, rare that he willingly touched someone, and Wei Wuxian had never been more aware of those two things until that moment. “Beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Wei Wuxian said, voice softer than usual and a little confused. 

Lan Zhan’s fingers grazed over his jaw, his cheek bones, his ears. He dragged his middle finger over his chapped lips and his index finger down the length of his nose. His thumb gently slid across the skin beneath his eyes. Each touch felt sacred and overwhelming. That excitement in his stomach tightened into desire. Lan Zhan never stopped staring.

“So beautiful,” Lan Zhan repeated, his gaze somehow even more intense.

Wei Wuxian felt trapped in it for all of 5 seconds before he laughed nervously.

“Someone woke up extra shameless today,” he teased. Lan Zhan didn’t even blush. “Ah, stop looking at me like that! What am I supposed to do with that?”

Lan Zhan just blinked all slow and the corner of his lips pulled up. Wei Wuxian took a dramatic breath and he looked over to the side to make it seem like he was just playing. But, honestly, he felt like he was going to explode. Which was not at all helped by Lan Zhan touching his jaw and making him look at him again.

“You know, I’m really struggling to see your motives here, Lan Zhan, truly,” Wei Wuxian said, though he very much enjoyed the way he was being touched. 

It’d taken years of pestering him to get him to act on it because of all the rules in the Cloud Recesses. He’d stayed perfectly pristine until last summer when he was tasked with taking the Jiangs and Wei Ying to the city so they could head back to Yunmeng. It was late, they were getting a room at an inn, and suddenly he had Lan Zhan willing to break a few rules. Even now, with Wei Wuxian finished with regular schooling and willing and able to spend all his time training at the Cloud Recesses, this was the first time he’d been so bold while still in the confines of it.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian sighed sweetly, “You expect me to just go to dinner and back to my room after this? Have you decided to be a giant tease? Isn’t that my job?”

Lan Zhan’s hand slowly slipped from his jaw, tracing down his chest and securing his grip on his hip. Wei Wuxian watched him with nothing short of intrigue as he leaned forward and stole a short kiss. Before he even had a moment to fully process the fact that he’d kissed him inside the Cloud Recesses in the middle of the day, Lan Zhan got even more bold and Wei Wuxian was on his back in the grass.

“And to think someone once called you an ascetic,” Wei Wuxian laughed, smiling helpless at the man who hovered above him. His long, traditional hair that had never seen a pair of scissors and that ribbon that was an age old custom suddenly seemed to make him look even more untamed as he looked over Wei Wuxian, eyes trying to decide what he wanted to do first. Wei Wuxian wished he could peer into his mind and see his ideas‒but, perhaps the element of surprise was also fun. “It was me. I once called you an ascetic. Never again, Lan Zhan! No, you’re not one to avoid pleasures in life. At least, not when I’m the pleasu‒”

Lan Zhan moved down in that moment, kissing him like he’d been waiting the whole week to do so. And maybe he had. Wei Wuxian had been back in the confines of the Cloud Recess for a week and they hadn’t once gotten the chance to really sneak away.

And, well, if they couldn’t sneak away outside of the Cloud Recesses, they would just have to sneak away within them.

Wei Ying watched as Lan Zhan kissed over his clothed chest, slow and patient and like it was important. It had him feeling both insecure and ungodly overwhelmed with adoration all at the same time. His stomach was so tense, like he was seconds away from exploding. And how fitting was it that it was at Lan Zhan’s hand?

“Ah, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, what the hell are you doing to me?” he said. Lan Zhan lifted his head and tilted it to the side, long hair cascading down in a way that was borderline obscene. 

“I’ll stop.”

“What? No, if you stop, I will literally cry,” he said hurriedly. Lan Zhan smiled that little smile of his and blinked all slow with nothing but pure fondness. “Why are you looking at me like that?! Do you want to kill me?”

And without another word, because he typically didn’t have many, Lan Zhan bowed his head again. He kissed down his chest until he lifted the hem of his shirt. Wei Wuxian sighed in approval and closed his eyes, his hands gripping the grass beneath him as Lan Zhan kissed his bare hip. His hands squeezed his thighs for extra measure as his tongue pressed into his skin. 

“Beautiful,” he whispered. Or, Wei Wuxian assumed that’s what he said. He could feel his lips moving like he said something, but it was too quiet and he was too far away from his ears. But that’s what he said before so it seemed like a safe guess.

Lan Zhan kissed up, up, up, his head all but being buried under his shirt. It was all slow, full of teeth and tongue and wet, needy kisses as his hands seemed to touch every inch they could. Wei Wuxian couldn’t make sense of what had gotten into him. Sure, they hooked up sometimes, but that was all in the darkness and it never felt like this. Never…

“Have you ever looked at yourself?” Lan Zhan asked, voice still soft, but he’d kissed all the way up to Wei Wuxian’s heart. His hand splayed across his bare stomach, his thumb tracing from his sternum down to his navel in a slow and deliberate motion. Wei Wuxian’s head spun. “You’re so…”

He trailed off, not finishing his sentence as he kissed back down. He left Wei Ying’s shirt all bunched up five inches above his jeans, kissing over it until he got to the crook of his neck. His long, skilled fingertips trailed over Wei Wuxian’s arms until they got to his hands. He slowly plucked them from where they’d dug into the grass and kissed him harder as he brought his hands over his head.

“I’m so what?” Wei Wuxian asked, his voice more breathy than he would’ve liked, “Go on, Lan Zhan, don’t leave me wondering.”

Lan Zhan breathed him in, a small little groan emitting from his throat as he bit into the skin where his neck met his shoulder. Wei Wuxian’s lips parted in something between shock and absolute pleasure, a moan infiltrated with giggles. Lan Zhan squeezed his hands and dragged his mouth to the other side of his neck.

“Beautiful.”

“You need a bigger vocabulary.”

“Mn.”

“See? Proof that Lan Zhan’s vocabulary is so, so small for someone so smart.”

He wasn’t sure why the hell he was still talking. It didn’t seem like he should be teasing him like that, but he couldn’t stop. Maybe Jiang Cheng was right in saying his mouth was a curse.

Lan Zhan, however, didn’t seem bothered or even minutely phased as he kissed over his clothed shoulder and then up his bare arm. Technically, they were supposed to wear either long sleeves and slacks or traditional robes while in the Cloud Recesses, but they’d given up trying to get him to do that years ago after many, many destroyed articles of clothing. And it all benefited this moment.

Wei Wuxian turned to watch him, adoration bubbling in him as Lan Zhan’s cute little nose smushed against his arm. That same cute little nose got caught in the crook of his elbow as Lan Zhan pressed a wet, open-mouthed kiss to his bicep that was honestly more tongue than anything. Wei Wuxian‒cursed, truly‒let out a laugh that was somewhere between awe and desire and not at all appropriate for the tone Lan Zhan was setting. Still, Lan Zhan smiled in that very tiny way of his and rubbed his nose against his arm just a little.

“You’re so good,” Lan Zhan offered this time, his words quiet and said into the skin of his arm. Wei Ying swallowed, shifting a little as if that would help him get closer than they already were.

“I’m just me,” he said. Honestly, he thought he was pretty average in all aspects on a good day. Lan Zhan, ever the charmer, nodded and moved to kiss his lips.

“I know,” he said into his mouth, “And you’re good.”

Wei Wuxian, for once in his life, found the effort to shut the fuck up for a minute. He let himself be kissed and gave as good as he got. That is, until Lan Zhan moved his kisses over his cheek, over his nose, his forehead, and placed gentle little pecks on his eyelids. Wei Wuxian smiled.

“So, beautiful and good,” he echoed, unable to keep his mouth shut anymore, “I can think of a few more words to describe Lan Zhan.”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan hummed, idle fingertips dragging down his sides. They traveled a more interesting path on their way up, tracing all the scars that he had on his chest and his stomach from years of being inherently accident prone and reckless. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d memorized them like that‒Wei Wuxian hadn’t even remembered all of them and they were on his body. “Perfect.”

“Okay, well, that’s‒” Wei Wuxian cut himself off with involuntary giggles as Lan Zhan tucked his face back into his neck, kissing with such fervor that his whole body seemed to rock back into the grass. Those strong, calloused fingers gripped his thighs in the same instant and hiked them up onto his hips. “Lan Zhan.”

“Mn.”

“You’re, you’re‒You’re,” Wei Wuxian gasped, his mind scrambling with the instinct to speak when he couldn’t make sense of why he was being handled like this. Handled like he was something to be taken care of and wanted and not just someone. As if he was liked and wanted because he was Wei Ying, not because he was Wei Wuxian, cultivation prodigy, golden core “suspiciously strong” for a man of 20 who only began training at 14. He was typically only liked because of that.

Lan Zhan lifted his head, eyes dragging up his face in a way that certainly did not feel real. Once they locked on his eyes, Wei Wuxian’s mouth was too dry to speak.

“I’m?” Lan Zhan asked, voice deep and smooth and dear god.

Wei Wuxian let out a breath of disbelief as he took in his face. Sweet, reserved Lan Zhan had just been casually hiding what felt like a goddamn seductress inside him.

“Unfair,” Wei Ying eventually said. Lan Zhan’s face faltered just a little.

“Unfair?” he repeated. Wei Wuxian reached out to touch his lips, damp and a little swollen from kissing him all over. He wouldn’t be able to hide that in the time they had before they had to go take dinner with his uncle. It would just be on display.

“How come you didn’t tell me you could be like this? You little minx!”

Lan Zhan made that face that was the equivalent of a full body eye roll for someone on his level of expression and Wei Wuxian instantly started laughing. Lan Zhan signed, but the fondness was obvious on his pretty features. He moved down more, his lips hovering over Wei Wuxian’s and his long hair creating a wall around them. He’d teased him a lot for never having had a haircut in his life, but he was suddenly grateful for it. He didn’t want his Lan Zhan to be any different.

He pressed a kiss to Wei Wuxian’s lips, slow and careful. Wei Wxian put his arms around his neck to hold him there, cautious of the ribbon that didn’t hold as much weight as it once did. Wei Wuxian had touched it before, but only when he was teasing. It felt different to touch it when he was serious.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan breathed against his lips. Wei Wuxian nearly melted into the ground.

He considered making a joke about how he was so charmed that they would have to get a shovel to remove the pile of Wei Wuxian goo he’d reduced him to, but, instead, he just said, “Yeah?”

Lan Zhan repeated a careful, “Wei Ying.”

He was going to respond, but then Lan Zhan’s hand laid over his golden core. He breathed a soft, shaky breath as he felt just the tiniest pulse of spiritual energy being transferred to him. It was strange because he wasn’t hurt or drained in anyway. All it did was make it feel like a momentary high. He made him feel powerful in a way that was just theirs.

Wei Ying chased his lips for a kiss in response, feeling more than a little overwhelmed and breathless and he was met with the same enthusiasm. He traced his fingers down the length of Lan Zhan’s back in that stupidly expensive dress shirt and gave a little bit of his own spiritual energy right back. Lan Zhan, Lan Wangji, Hanguang-Jun, moaned quiet and low in the back of his throat and had Wei Ying feeling thoroughly fucked. How had life ever felt complete without that noise?

Lan Zhan’s hand slid down, finding itself tucked between where their hips met. Wei Wuxian squeezed his thighs around his waist a little tighter in a mix of anticipation and approval. As that big hand palmed him over his jeans, he smiled.

“You’re such a rebel,” Wei Wuxian said, unable to keep his mouth shut even when he knew he probably should. Or maybe not. He wasn’t quite sure how sound traveled in the Cloud Recesses. He knew it was quiet, but they were also relatively secluded. “Never imagined the pristine Lan Wangji would be feeling me up‒outside of all places. I can hear your uncle blaming me for this. You’re such a bad, bad bo‒wow, okay, wow, wow. Ah, what was your fancy title? The, the dumb one that‒ah, holy fu‒Hanguang-Jun! Is that a superficial title they gave you like a courtesy name or, or is there a‒fuck.”

Lan Zhan just listened contently as he kissed his jaw, pushing his hand down a little harder before he moved to unbutton his jeans. Wei Ying breathed in, giving him small words of approval all the while. His hand slid inside his briefs, warm skin against skin.

“Beautiful,” Lan Zhan said again, fingers curling around him in a way that had his heart pounding. Wei Ying took a shaky breath and nodded his head. He never liked hearing a word more in his life.

“Wei Wuxian?! Lan Wangji?!”

“Oh my god,” Wei Wuxian whined, genuinely almost brought to tears as Lan Zhan removed himself and fixed his jeans with a simple hand movement. He returned to his spot against the tree, unaffected, and barely sparing Wei Wuxian a second glance as he laid there. “This is it. This is where I die. This is hell. I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”

“There you are,” Jiang Cheng said as he appeared. He looked between them like he suspected something was off, but couldn’t quite place it. Sweet, innocent, horrible Jiang Cheng. “Why do you look like you just ran? I thought there was no running in the Cloud Recesses.”

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian said, “I mean this in the most loving way possible: I hate you.”

Jiang Cheng glared at him, clearly still not catching on. Wei Wuxian would’ve thought it was adorable if he wasn’t frustrated or if he had as much self-restraint as Lan Zhan clearly did. He looked completely fine‒even his hair was perfect!

“I was trying to help you both not get in trouble, but fine, get punished for all I care,” Jiang Cheng said, his eyebrows all furrowed and angry. Wei Wuxian slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. His body felt awkward and tense and simultaneously over and understimulated, but he clearly didn’t have a choice but to power through.

“Why would we get in trouble? We aren’t due to dinner until sundown,” Wei Wuxian, pointing to the sun that was still high in the sky and making Lan Zhan look like a goddamn painting, “Sun is still very up.”

“Lan Xichen has just arrived,” Jiang Cheng said, looking to Lan Wangji before looking back to Wei Wuxian more pointedly, “Early.”

That was enough to get their attention.

“Okay, we’ll be there,” he said, pushing himself to his feet. He held out his hand to Lan Zhan to help him up, but he disregarded it completely as he grabbed Bichen on his way up. Wei Wuxian still smiled at him and his overly red lips. “Did he say anything to you about coming back early?”

“No,” Lan Zhan said.

“Then I guess we’ll have to go see for ourselves,” Wei Wuxian decided, swiftly turning on his heels and grabbing his bag and Suibian. 

He made it two steps before he remembered that he’d been painting his nails before all of that. He quickly looked around and saw not a stray drop of it anywhere and Lan Zhan’s singular painted hand wasn’t even smudged. The little bottle was closed securely and had found its home in Lan Zhan’s hand. He’d clearly used a bit of spiritual energy when he’d pushed him into the grass to prevent a disaster from happening.

“You clever boy,” Wei Wuxian teased quietly, elbowing him lightly as they followed Jiang Cheng through the trees. Lan Zhan didn’t respond, but he didn’t miss the smile threatening his lips.

Wei Wuxian stared for a moment, taking in that adorable little expression before he jogged up to be beside Jiang Cheng. His brother was still glaring so he shoved him a little.

“Stop pouting.”

“I’m not pouting.”

“Sure,” he said, grinning, “Did Sect Leader Lan say anything about why he showed up early?”

“No, he just did and I was tasked with going to find you,” Jiang Cheng said, “A thankless act, really.”

“Well, thank you, Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian offered, a little more exaggerated than necessary if only to bother him. He rolled his eyes.

“If I’d known you were just distracting Lan Wangji from getting any work down, I might’ve found you prevent us being thrown out of the Cloud Recesses because of your bullshit,” he said. Wei Wuxian snorted, ruffling his clueless brother’s hair.

“Ah, Jiang Cheng, trust me, you’ve misunderstood. Lan Zhan and I are very close, I don’t annoy him one bit. Isn’t that right, Lan Zhan?” he said, looking over his shoulder.

“Mn.”

“See!”

“Yeah, that was real convincing,” Jiang Cheng grumbled. Wei Wuxian smiled and pinched his cheek.

“Don’t be so hateful, Jiang Cheng,” he cooed. Jiang Cheng shoved him off and Wei Wuxian just laughed.

He managed to regain composure by the time they got to the Yashi, the very traditional and very old meeting room. Wei Wuxian almost felt bad for entering it in jeans and a t-shirt. Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren were both waiting for them in their business-esque clothes‒which was honestly a relief considering they usually broke out the formal robes for serious meetings‒and they all bowed in greeting.

“Brother,” Lan Zhan said, stepping closer, “Has something happened?”

“Must there be a reason to return home? This is my Sect,” Lan Xichen said, casual enough, but something about it sounded off. Lan Xichen was always a portrait of what a cultivator was expected to be‒smart, kind, and humble. But even that was too friendly for Lan Xichen.

Lan Zhan seemed to notice that as well, eyeing him slightly even as he nodded. They all seemed to disregard that though as they all sat and spoke of their training to eventually lead juniors in nighthunts. Lan Qiren was, as always, reluctant to praise Wei Wuxian, but even he couldn’t deny that he had some level of talent. The spite was definitely a driving factor in what kept Wei Wuxian on track.

Eventually, they took dinner in silence‒all silent except for when Lan Qiren nearly choked at the sight of Lan Zhan’s nails. Wei Wuxian’s eyes kept drifting back to Lan Zhan, body still craving him from their unfinished encounter. Well, he would still stare at him without that. He was hard not to stare at. But then being rudely interrupted didn’t help sway him. He found himself shifting in discomfort just from watching the way he used his chopsticks with those goddamn fingers and the way his lips wrapped around, well, everything. Literally what the fuck.

“Stop fidgeting,” Jiang Cheng hissed as they finished their meal. 

Wei Wuxian looked at him with pleading eyes, willing him to understand that it really wasn’t his fault that he was being tortured. Even worse knowing that he couldn’t even meet up with Lan Zhan after this. He would probably be with Lan Xichen until curfew and if there was one thing Lan Zhan refused to break, it was curfew in the Cloud Recesses. Stupid Lans and their stupid ability to pass out immediately after nine.

“Young Master Wei,” Lan Xichen, regal as ever, said. Wei Wuxian perked up. “I understand your cultivation levels are rather impressive. Wangji has told me you’ve created a few new talismans.”

“Yes, Sect Leader Lan,” he said. Outside of the Cloud Recesses, Lan Xichen easily blended in and requested that they call him by his courtesy name rather than any other titles. But, still, in the Cloud Recesses, he had to be formal. As annoying as that way. “I can show you a few.”

“Later, yes, please. I am particularly interested in the way you’ve updated a few older ones, though. Wangji spoke of one you used on your last nighthunt. He said it’s some sort of reusable talisman?” Lan Xichen said. Wei Wuxian nodded and smiled, stealing a glance at Lan Zhan whose eyes were downcast as they usually were. It was even cuter when he realized he was bragging about him.

“Yes, I’ve found if you use a more durable item, not paper, but plastic or even a softer cloth, then it’s easier to sort of load more talismans and spiritual energy within them. They don’t last forever, of course, and I still have a lot of tinkering to do, but it came in handy! I was able to send multiple flame talismans in a row without needing to rewrite them. I still haven’t figured out how to put multiple different talismans on one of them, but I want to,” he explained. Lan Xichen was smiling at him in that way that seemed a lot deeper than just a smile, but that’s how his smiles always seemed. Wei Wuxian had long since accepted them as just the exact same thing as Lan Zhan’s blank stares.

“You’ll have to show me, that sounds very interesting.”

He then turned to Jiang Cheng and asked about his own cultivation progress along with a soft question about his inheritance of Zidian. Yu Ziyuan had given it to him after her own cultivation had begun to blend with her pre-existing anger and she’d made the right decision to retire from it before it killed her. As cool as Zidian was to have, it was still a touchy subject.

“But you’re handling it well? It’s not too much?” Lan Xichen clarified, “A spiritual tool often takes a lot of discipline, if you need any help, just ask.”

“It’s going alright,” Jiang Cheng said honestly, “But thank you. If I have any questions, I’ll be sure to ask them.”

They spoke a bit more about the logistics of it and how it was very unique and Wei Wuxian began to tune out. His eyes drifted to Lan Zhan who was staring forward, still as a rock. Wei Wuxian had a theory that he simply went into a meditative state every time he didn’t feel like being involved in a conversation. He liked to think he sunk into daydreams of doing things that were very Lan Zhan like making spreadsheets of different talismans or taking a nap in a field surrounded by bunnies that wake him up with little licks to his face. The idea alone was too adorable to handle and he was smiling at him across the table.

Lan Wangji looked at him from the corner of his eye and raised his eyebrow a bit in question. Wei Wuxian just smiled even more, his eyes squinting into crescents from the force of it. He was so cute. How was one person so cute?

All of it was ruined by Jiang Cheng elbowing him and Wei Wuxian turned his head to him in confusion. Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren were both looking at him, one with a very fond smile and one with something that could be classified as well contained rage. Wei Wuxian felt his cheeks turn a bit hot and he let out a fun laugh.

“Sorry, sorry, was there a question?” he asked. Lan Xichen breathed out of his nose in something akin to a laugh.

“I had asked if you’ve found a spiritual tool,” he said. Wei Wuxian’s mouth formed an ‘o’ in acknowledgement and he nodded before quickly shaking his head.

“No, I haven’t. I only have Suibian and I can only carry that around sometimes, you know,” Wei Wuxian explained, patting the sword that rested beside him. Lan Xichen nodded with a smile.

“I know,” he said, “Your cultivation is unique, you might not have one at all.”

“Who knows.”

Lan Xichen eventually suggested they retire to their rooms and that they would meet in the morning to go over their plans they’d made for their mock water demon hunt. Wei Wuxian hoped he wouldn’t need paper and that Lan Xichen would accept his rambling. He probably would, Lan Xichen was nice like that.

“I thought Lan Qiren was going to murder you,” Jiang Cheng said as they walked to the dormitory. They were the oldest there at the moment and some of the only non-Lans since the younger cultivators from other Sects weren’t coming for a few more weeks. They just so happened to be the only competent ones from their year next to Lan Zhan that were eligible to learn to teach. “You’ve got to stop bothering Lan Wangji or he’s going to throw you out.”

“I’m really not bothering him,” Wei Wuxian insisted, “I promise.”

“Look,” Jiang Cheng sighed, turning to him with the utmost brotherly face. It looked like he genuinely cared. Wei Wuxian almost pinched his little cheek. “I know you have a crush on him‒which is fine, no judgment from me‒but he’s one of the most traditional cultivators alive. If he was interested in you back, I think it would be more complicated than just casually dating.”

“Why would it be complicated?” Wei Wuxian asked. There was absolutely nothing complicated about it in his mind.

“Well, wouldn’t he expect you to court him? I mean, the Lans all still court properly,” Jiang Cheng said. Which, honestly, was the first time Wei Wuxian ever thought about it. “I’m just looking out for you, but do whatever you want. If Lan Qiren murders you for it, it’s not my fault.”

“Ah, Jiang Cheng! There’s no courting happening,” he said. The idea alone was scary. He was 20 and had the whole world ahead of him. Besides, Lan Zhan hadn’t said anything about it. They were fine. “And he won’t kill me, Lan Zhan won’t let him.”

Jiang Cheng sighed and rolled his eyes, shoving him a little. Wei Wuxian just grinned as they stepped into their rooms. Wei Wuxian stayed on one side while Jiang Cheng stayed on the other, both of their own spaces had doors and in between had a little common area for them to take dinner. He quite liked the whole set up, it made it feel very quaint and homey in a way staying with the Jiangs never really felt. Not to say that it didn’t feel like home there, just that he didn’t have to walk on as many eggshells in his own space.

He closed the door to his space behind him, reveling at the disordered mess it was. It felt nice to be a bit messy. As long as Lan Qiren didn’t know about it then he could be as messy as possible and he’d stop having mandatory room inspections when he turned 18. It made him smile.

Wei Wuxian waded through his mess to get to his bed and took his hair out of the messy bun he’d had it in, sighing in relief as he flung his red ribbon to the side. He’d kept it short back when he was younger, but he’d started to grow it out once he got the lecture that cultivators usually kept their hair long. Something about helping them stay in tune with their ancestors and their own spiritual energy‒Wei Wuxian was pretty sure it was more about the aesthetic. That being said, it sat at his shoulders and he was still learning how to work with it.

He fell onto his bed and dug underneath his pillow for where his phone sat on the charger. It was technically forbidden to have phones inside the Cloud Recesses, but that usually just meant when they were out and about. Even Lan Zhan had one‒that he barely used, but it existed.

He checked it, only seeing a message from his sister saying she hoped he had a good day because she sent him that every day and he might actually get it in the morning if the Cloud Recesses weren’t so ridiculous about waking up at five in the morning. He replied saying he did and asked her how hers went before he pushed himself up to contemplate a shower.

He’d resigned to forgoing it until the morning after realizing it was already two minutes away from 9 and was already stepping into his sweatpants when his phone lit up. He expected another text from his sister, but it wasn’t.

Lan Zhan: Jingshi.

Wei Wuxian found himself blinking far too many times as well as closing and reopening his messages. Jingshi. Lan Zhan wanted him to go to his personal rooms after curfew. His skin slowly started to feel warm again and that desire he’d spent hours trying to ignore came back without any trouble. He’d never been inside the Jingshi at all before.

“You little rebel,” Wei Wuxian whispered to himself, unable to hide his smile as he quickly put his shoes on and started to tiptoe out of the building so Jiang Cheng wouldn’t notice.

If he ran to the Jingshi, no one was awake to witness.

When he got to the secluded room, the lights were still on and Wei Wuxian was straight giddy. He didn’t bother knocking since Lan Zhan had asked him to come, just pushing open the door and eager to pick up where they left off.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, dinner was torture! All I could picture was your hand on my‒” 

Wei Wuxian paused as he rounded the corner and saw Lan Xichen kneeling at the table, a pleasant smile in full swing. Lan Zhan knelt beside him, a glare in his eyes as his ears burned bright red. Wei Wuxian let out an awkward laugh.

“Sect Leader Lan,” he greeted, bowing as well as he could, “Funny meeting you here.”

“Young Master Wei,” Lan Xichen said, nodding to him, “Glad you could make it.”

“Yeah,” he said, clearing his throat, “Uh, what’s going on?”

“Come, sit,” he urged. Wei Wuxian did so, feeling out of place in his sweats and t-shirt when they were both still prim and proper. He looked at Lan Zhan, but he was looking down at the table and not a trace of what was going on was obvious on his face. “I needed to speak to you two.”

“I take full responsibility and I apologize and accept punishment, Lan Wangji had nothing to do with it,” Wei Wuxian said quickly. It wasn’t the first time he’d given that speech and he figured he’d say it a few hundred more before he died. Lan Xichen, however, just smiled a bit brighter.

“You aren’t in trouble,” Lan Xichen promised. Wei Wuxian nodded slowly. “I actually came back early for a reason, but it needs to be kept a secret. I presume I can trust you both to keep a secret?”

“Yes, of course,” Wei Wuxian said. Lan Zhan nodded in tandem.

“When I was in Qinghe, Sect Leader Nie and I traveled a bit after hearing a few stories of a clearing of sorts with a mythical beast residing in it. It was a large burnt space in the middle of the woods that it was using as housing, but the creature we saw was rather unconventional,” he said. Wei Wuxian, interest already more than piqued, leaned forward. 

“Unconventional how?”

“When we got near it, as much as it would allow, but it seemed to be very similar to the Vermilion Bird,” Lan Xichen said. Wei Wuxian smiled and looked to Lan Zhan who didn’t seem excited at all.  Boring. “Obviously, it needs to be taken care of if it’s able to burn entire sections of trees like that, but I don’t want to worry the cultivation world. I was hoping you both could come up to Qinghe and the four of us could try to eliminate the situation.”

“Yes, absolutely, when do we leave?” Wei Wuxian said. Lan Xichen laughed a little.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Young Master Wei. Tomorrow evening is when I’m planning to leave.”

“Perfect. I can’t wait. Did you gather any more information on the creature, or just that it resembles the Vermilion Bird? Does that mean it’s wings are made of fire? Are they aflame at all times? Should I bring pre-made talismans for things? Lan Zhan, do you think I could make a reverse flame talisman that snuffed flames‒or maybe even water itself? We should work on that tonight or in the morning because I know you like your sleep. Xichen, eh, Sect Leader Lan, do you think it’ll be in the same place or will it have moved?” Wei Wuxian rambled, already picturing it in his mind. Lan Xichen laughed softly.

“We’ll talk about all of the details when we meet up with Sect Leader Nie, but, yes, as far as we could tell, it’s wings were flames. And, please, work on talismans and bring whatever you think might be useful. There’s a reason I’m coming to you both,” he said. Wei Wuxian nodded his excitement and then turned fully to Lan Zhan to get excited with him. Only he was still looking down with that faraway look in his eye.

“Lan Zhan, what do you think? You wanna make some magic with me?” Wei Wuxian said suggestively, nudging his arm. He just stared blankly.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen said softly, “Is something wrong? Do you not want to?”

Lan Zhan stayed silent for a long while and they both waited for him to find his words. Sometimes it took him a bit longer than others. Wei Wuxian glanced over to Lan Xichen again and the smile he gave him was one of the most forced ones he’d ever seen. So Wei Wuxian scooted a bit closer to Lan Zhan.

“What’s going on up there?” he asked, tapping his forehead above his ribbon. Lan Zhan’s eyes formed a glare and Wei Wuxian smiled bright right back. 

“Is it safe?” Lan Zhan asked, looking to his brother, “To go without a formal report and with only four cultivators?”

“Ah, who cares? Cultivation isn’t safe! I could go alone and it’d be fine,” Wei Wuxian insisted. Lan Zhan’s jaw clenched. It took a lot of willpower not to touch it until he relaxed.

“I think it would be safer with three men I trusted than an army of people I couldn’t keep a proper eye on,” Lan Xichen explained, “And, truly, I would’ve taken it on with only Nie Mingjue, but I felt this would be very good experience for the two of you. If you aren’t comfortable, you don’t have to come.”

“But I can still come, right?” Wei Wuxian clarified. Lan Xichen nodded. 

“I’ll come,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Wuxian smiled even brighter and turned his gaze to Lan Xichen.

“Perfect. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

They all said their goodnights and gave respectful bows before Lan Xichen left with that knowing smile on his lips. It didn’t bother Wei Wuxian one bit. At least one of them had a brother that wasn’t completely clueless. Wei Wuxian leaned to make sure the door was closed all the way before he scooted even closer to Lan Wangji.

“Since when do you ask if something is safe?” he asked, reaching out to pull all of Lan Zhan’s hair off his shoulder. Lan Zhan was watching him from the corner of his eye despite his stony glare, so Wei Wuxian smirked and pressed a kiss to his bare neck. “Lan Wangji fears nothing, I thought.”

Lan Zhan kept his breathing annoyingly even  as Wei Wuxian pressed slow kisses on every empty space he could. He was even more eager than before to pick up where they’d left off. Something about a super fucking cool nighthunt had his adrenaline pumping and there was truly only one way to put that to good use at this time of night.

“Is Hanguang-Jun worried about failing?” Wei Wuxian teased, finally dragging his fingers over that perfect jaw, “Or, maybe, Hanguang-Jun is scared of someone getting hurt.”

Lan Zhan swiftly stood up after that, leaving Wei Wuxian on the ground as he walked over to his little vanity and started to unpin his hair. Wei Wuxian didn’t bother to be offended as he laughed, leaning back and watching how pretty he looked with all of his hair down.

“I’m messing with you, I know you’re just as curious as I am,” he said, tilting his head. Lan Zhan ran a comb through his hair despite the fact he was still fully dressed. Well, aside from his shoes which had been left at the door. His socked feet, however, were adorable. “I think you’re just scared you’re going to get in trouble because we aren’t giving a formal report, but we’re doing this with two Sect Leaders. Two really powerful and badass Sect Leaders. It’s fine.”

“I do not care.”

“Seems like you do,” Wei Wuxian pointed out. Lan Zhan said nothing and Wei Wuxian just sighed and laid on the floor. “You know, I’ve never been in your room before, Lan Zhan, it looks like you. Very white and blue, pretty, put together, fancy. I would say I’d be scared to touch anything, but I like touching your things.”

He lifted his head a little to see what Lan Zhan’s reaction was and was pleased to see his cheeks were a bit red. Wei Wuxian huffed a laugh and let his head fall back to the ground.

“Come on, Lan Zhan! Don’t be boring! Let’s be productive tonight, I have so many ideas of things we can create! Help me play with some talismans or invent something or, or anything. Come play with me,” he pouted. When he looked over at him this time, he was significantly more red. He smiled to himself.

“Go to bed,” Lan Zhan said simply. Wei Wuxian gave an admittedly obnoxious whine.

“I came all the way here and you’re going to make me go back? Are you trying to torture me?”

“Wei Ying.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll go to bed,” Wei Wuxian said, pushing himself up. He watched Lan Zhan carefully as he just walked right over to his bed, throwing himself down. Lan Zhan’s face turned into something truly scandalized and he whipped around to face him, glaring. Wei Wuxian just laughed. “What? Why are you acting like you didn’t just have you hand down my pants a few hours ago? Are you that worried about this hunt? It’s going to be fun!”

Lan Zhan didn’t answer, he just sighed and turned back to his mirror. He put his comb down and carefully grabbed his nightclothes from a drawer, walking away and into the bathroom to change. Wei Wuxian grabbed his pillow and tucked it under his head. A few minutes later, Lan Zhan emerged looking all soft and cozy with his forehead ribbon retired for the night. Wei Wuxian patted the space beside him on the bed.

It took a few moments of thinking which Wei Wuxian gave to him without judgement before he actually sat on the bed. Wei Wuxian pushed himself up and reached out, putting his hand on his cheek and leaning in to rest his forehead against his. Lan Zhan’s eyes stayed firmly downcast.

“Lan Zhan,” he said softly, softer than he ever usually was because he knew that’s how he got his way when it came to this man, “What are you worried about?”

A long, long stretch of silence sat between them before Lan Zhan’s eyes flickered up to meet his. They were so pretty, all pale and golden and perfect. 

“If the bird is staying in place, it’s guarding something. If it’s what the Vermilion Bird was modeled after, it’s old and it’s fierce. How are we sure unleashing what it’s protecting is the best option?” he said. A pulse of complete and utter adoration clenched around Wei Wuxian’s heart. He was so pretty and smart. Unfair.

“We don’t know and we can’t know until we find out. But if you help me create some spells and talismans, we could be prepared to deal with it. I’m sure your brother is fully aware of what we could be walking onto. Do you honestly think Nie Mingjue would back off from something just because it could be a teaching lesson? No, they both think it’s something bigger than just that,” Wei Wuxian said, rubbing his thumb over his cheekbone. Lan Zhan’s eyes half-heartedly followed it. “It’s going to be fine. And, well, if it’s not, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Lan Zhan looked at him like that was the worst question to ask which, granted, it probably was. Still, Wei Ying laughed and nudged his nose against his. 

“It’s going to be fine and fun. Let me do the overthinking, I’m better at it,” he insisted. Lan Zhan blinked slowly and reluctantly nodded once. Wei Wuxian smiled and kissed his lips, finally. His free hand slid up his chest, taking a fistful of his shirt beneath his collar. It wasn’t hard to twist and push him into the mattress, carefully moving to straddle his hips. “Now, tell me, what were you saying about me earlier?”

Lan Zhan’s hand squeezed his thigh with a small pulse of spiritual energy and Wei Ying was barely on top for a moment before he flipped them, settling comfortably between his thighs. Wei Ying laughed and held him closer as Lan Zhan bit into the skin of his neck.

“Perfect.”

-

“I get to go because I’m a trustworthy and reliable student, that’s why.”

“Bullshit.”

Wei Wuxian grinned as he leaned into Jiang Cheng, prodding him in the stomach and laughing when it earned him a harsh shove. If he earned a few concerned looks from Lan disciples, it didn’t matter. 

Lan Xichen had decided to tell Lan Qiren that they were going on a much different, much less interesting nighthunt. Water demons, he’d said, and it was perfect because their current project was about water demons! It took a little more explaining to Jiang Cheng, however, and he was still not happy about it. As much as he wouldn’t admit it, Wei Wuxian could see that he just felt left out.

“Look, as soon as I’m back, we’ll find a much cooler nighthunt to go, just you and me,” Wei Wuxian promised. 

“Why, so you can just annoy me the whole time?” he complained. Wei Wuxian threw his arm around his shoulders all over again.

“Don’t be like that, we’ll have fun.”

“I honestly don’t think you were even asked to go on this nighthunt,” Jiang Cheng said, a little bit of bite in his tone, “I think you’re just following your little boyfriend because you can’t be alone for five minutes.”

Wei Wuxian bit the inside of his cheek, his free hand mindlessly rubbing over his neck that had thankfully been free of any bruising by the time he woke up in his own bed. Thank god for golden cores.

“I was invited! And you can play all you want, but you know I’m good enough to be personally invited by Sect Leader Lan,” Wei Wuxian said. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes so hard it looked like it probably hurt.

“Shut up, stop bragging.”

“Is it bragging if it’s simply honest?”

“Yes.”

“Listen, Jiang Wanyin,” Wei Wuxian said, getting a brand new eye roll, “Don’t think too hard. Lan Zhan and I just fight very well together. He’s my zhiji.”

“He’s my zhiji,” Jiang Cheng mocked and Wei Wuxian smiled.

“See, you get it!”

“Fuck off. Go fight your little water demon and I’m holding you to finding something cooler,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Ah, you know I will! Don’t underestimate me!”

Eventually, they found their way to the Yashi where they planned to take lunch before the three of them would be off to meet up with Nie Mingjue. They walked in and bowed, respectful as always. Lan Zhan was already sitting there, eyes downcast and his hair half pulled back along with his forehead ribbon to show he was in his formal state. Wei Wuxian wanted nothing more than to kiss his cheek until he turned so red he looked like he was covered in rouge.

He didn’t, though. Instead, he sat down beside him and spared him nothing but a small smile. Lan Zhan reached out to pour his tea, his nails still only painted on one hand. He adored it more than he should. So much that he didn’t even notice Lan Qiren staring at them like he was about to pop until he was already taking a sip.

“We should be back within two days time,” Lan Xichen said somewhere along the line, after Wei Wuxian had given Lan Qiren a smile and Jiang Cheng had poured both of their superiors’ tea because he was a good little Jiang Cheng.

“And you think it’s wise to bring both of them?” Lan Qiren clarified. Lan Xichen gave his overly polite smile and nodded.

“Wangji and Young Master Wei have been very impressive and are both incredible swordsmen and cultivators. They’ve worked very well together since they were young, you know this. I think it’s very wise to bring them both,” Lan Xichen said. 

It was true, after all. Wei Wuxian didn’t even have to brag to know that. They’d barely known each other and, when they went on their first nighthunt at just fifteen, they’d been nearly flawless at covering for each other while fighting. They were each other’s zhiji, after all. And their bond had only gotten better. His current working theory for why it only got stronger as they aged was that they were now sharing spiritual energy without necessity‒Wei Wuxian’s golden core was just becoming very familiar with Lan Wangji’s.

But, that was only theory.

Lan Qiren eyed them and reluctantly nodded. Lan Zhan’s eyes stayed down.

Their meal was doled out and eaten in silence. Wei Wuxian kept himself as still and respectable as possible, but it was hard when he was excited to see what they were going to be encountering. He’d tried to refrain from coming up with ideas in his mind about what it would look like, but it was difficult. He spent a lot of the morning rambling about nonsense to both Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan while making a supply of talismans, trying to think of anything but getting too excited about this bird.

But, fuck, it was going to be so cool.

They agreed to write up a report when they got back and had a few more words before standing up to be on their way. Wei Wuxian was already ready to go and on his feet, standing by the door with Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen. Lan Zhan, however, stayed in the main room with Lan Qiren for a moment. So, like a responsible adult, he listened a bit closer.

“Remember the talk we had,” Lan Qiren said quietly, “Because I will not have you repeating your father’s mistakes.”

Lan Zhan didn’t respond, but the two of them walked closer looking stern and irritated. Wei Wuxian thought about asking what exactly that was about, but it wasn’t his place so he didn’t. Instead, he put on a big smile and had every intention of having fun. Besides, once they got outside of the Cloud Recesses, he could be more lenient.

“Be good, little Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian said, patting his head. Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes at him, but he didn’t dare actually hit him while Grandmaster Lan of all people was right there.

“Don’t die, I don’t feel like having to explain that to anyone that you’re that stupid,” Jiang Cheng said in response. Wei Wuxian smiled as bright as the sun.

“Aw, you do care.”

Lan Qiren didn’t really give any sort of loving goodbye to either of his nephews, simply bowing and walking off to go teach his afternoon lesson. Neither of them looked particularly surprised.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen said, but Lan Zhan just walked past them and started heading towards the front entrance. Lan Xichen stared after his brother for a moment before he sighed. “Uncle, he’s just…”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” Wei Wuxian said, a playful lilt in his tone but it was true. Lan Qiren didn’t like him and that wasn’t a secret to anyone. Too unpredictable and experimental, he said. As if that was a bad thing!

“Let’s go,” Lan Xichen said. Wei Wuxian gave Jiang Cheng one last salute goodbye before the two of them followed after Lan Zhan. 

The moment they exited the Cloud Recesses, Lan Xichen started to make himself look less like the regal cultivator and esteemed Sect Leader he was. He pulled off his forehead ribbon and held it between his lips before he wrapped his hair around itself in a bun and tied it securely in place with the ribbon. Wei Wuxian didn’t miss the way he unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt, nor did he miss the way Lan Zhan did nothing to make himself look more casual. As much as Lan Xichen was the pillar of what a cultivator should be, Lan Zhan was the poster child of everything Lan. Sort of. Wei Wuxian personally thought he was much better than them, regardless of how much he was a product of them.

“We’re going to scout this evening and then get a couple rooms at an inn nearby. Tomorrow, we’ll take care of it.”

They all drew their swords and hopped on, flying into the sky as a much more convenient way of transportation to get to the Qinghe border. Wei Wuxian spent much of it stealing glances at Lan Zhan, wondering what exactly about him would make him follow in his father’s footsteps. He had limited knowledge of the past Sect Leader, only that he died when Lan Zhan was 15 and had spent most of those 15 years in seclusion. Nothing about Hanguang-Jun said seclusion for 13 years and forcing his brother and son to take on his duties.

He tried to distract himself from those thoughts with more enjoyable ones like what his sister might be doing while on her summer trip to Lanling. He liked to imagine her bossing around the Jin Clan heir and him just having to accept it because how could he tell someone as perfect as her no? He then thought about how Jiang Cheng was probably pouting by himself or practicing his control over Zidian‒he was getting better each day, it was impressive.

Wei Wuxian even let his thoughts drift to the night before, to Lan Zhan taking him apart with careful precision and making use of all the time they never usually had. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel his breath on the back of his neck and his excessive praise that was definitely forbidden in the Cloud Recesses. He wasn’t sure why Lan Zhan, the Lannest of all Lans, was so eager to break rules when it came to him. He was sure that it thrilled him every time.

They arrived in Qinghe before sundown, landing with well-practiced ease. Lan Xichen grinned like the sun itself as he sheathed his sword, eyes on Sect Leader Nie and nothing else. He stood tall and broad, his distinct Nie Clan braids pulled into a low ponytail at the base of his neck. He didn’t really offer a smile, but his eyes still landed on Lan Xichen.

“Mingjue,” Lan Xichen greeted, a fond tone in his voice as if they hadn’t just seen each other yesterday morning.

“Xichen,” he said back. Wei Wuxian held back all the teasing words that filled his mind as he stepped up and bowed respectfully.

“Sect Leader Nie,” he said for both him and Lan Zhan who bowed beside him. Nie Mingjue bowed his head in response.

“Young Master Wei, Wangji,” Nie Mingjue said, “I trust Xichen told you what we’re dealing with?”

“The basics! A big fire bird,” Wei Wuxian stated. He nodded slowly, his chest raising with a heavy breath as he clutched Baxia at his side. “Wangji and I were talking about it and we think it’s guarding something.”

Lan Zhan was glaring at the side of his face at this point, he didn’t even have to look over to know that. So he smiled and nudged him, never taking his eyes off of Nie Mingjue’s.

“Yes,” Nie Mingjue agreed, “It seems to be. I’m unsure of why else it’d be staying in place. But I’m also more concerned on why it’s suddenly resurfaced. This thing is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, but it has to be old.”

“Very old,” Lan Xichen added, “But perhaps whatever it’s guarding is causing it to resurface.”

“Do you think whatever it’s guarding is actually trying to resurface and it’s just forcing the bird to?” Wei Wuxian asked, “Because if it’s something that old, that powerful, it’s bound to come around eventually. The balance of things.”

Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue shared a look before turning back to him. It seemed they were already there. Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Zhan as if to say “see?”. He just blinked and turned his eyes to the distance, his chin still raised high. 

“Whenever we recover what it is, we’ll need to be extremely careful. No blood or wounds near it. The person with the least depleted spiritual energy will contain it and we’ll try to deal with it without having to involve anyone else,” Lan Xichen said. It was the most stern and adult he’d ever sounded. Wei Wuxian almost felt proud of him even though there was no reason for him to be proud. It wasn’t his brother. But, still. 

“Even if it isn’t anything, we’ll still need to be careful. It could easily be extremely misleading,” Nie Mingjue said. They both nodded.

“We’re definitely careful. Right, Lan Zhan?” he said. Lan Zhan just stared blankly towards nowhere. He took that as confirmation. “Besides, I was working on some talismans this morning that might possibly put out flames, but I haven’t gotten the chance to try them out yet. I’ll try them tonight.”

“I can’t wait to see what you come up with,” Lan Xichen said. Wei Wuxian grinned. “Right, let’s go.”

Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan let the two older men walk ahead of them, all four of them clutching their swords as they started to make their way into the woods that would lead them to the Vermilion Bird. Excitement was again beginning to show face inside Wei Wuxian and he couldn’t help the skip in his step. Lan Zhan looked over him and sighed an inaudible sigh, shaking his head slightly.

“What?” Wei Wuxian asked quietly, leaning closer to him. He didn’t smile, but he didn’t not smile. “Hey,” he continued, resisting the urge to move Lan Zhan’s hair off his shoulder, “Do you think your brother is trying to get with Nie Mingjue?”

Lan Zhan snapped his head to face him, eyes completely and utterly scandalized. Whether that be from the accusation or from that fact that they were in earshot, he wasn’t sure. Either way, Wei Wuxian laughed and nudged him.

“I’m kidding,” he said, though he really wasn’t. The two older men were talking to each other in hushed tones, far too interested in each other to hear anything Wei Wuxian was saying. “I would never assume anything about a Sect Leader’s love life. Your love life, however…”

Lan Zhan watched him, eyes narrowed as if just waiting to see what he was going to say. There were a lot of things he could’ve said. Wei Wuxian plucked the fabric of his sleeve and nudged his shoulder into his.

“Jiang Cheng said the Lans still court formally,” he said, smirking as he kept his eyes forward, “Got anyone in mind?”

There was a long, bated silence with nothing but the crunch of leaves and sticks beneath their feet before Lan Zhan gave his staple, “Mn.”

“You do?” Wei Wuxian asked, jumping over a tree root, “Is she pretty?” He laughed when Lan Zhan sighed. “I simply want the best for you, as I want the best for my sister and my brother, so she must be pretty. Oh, and kind.”

Lan Zhan didn’t entertain his teasing, walking a bit faster to be closer behind his brother. Wei Wuxian hid his wide smile to the best of his ability as he caught up with him. He didn’t have much more time for teasing, though, because it wasn’t long before Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen stopped in their tracks. Lan Xichen held up a hand to ask for complete silence.

And then he saw it.

For a moment, Wei Wuxian felt frozen in place. The Vermilion Bird‒because, honestly, calling it anything less sounded like an insult‒was even bigger than he imagined, bigger than he could properly conceptualize even when he was looking at it. It seemed to be the size of a house‒maybe larger‒and was indeed covered in flames and sharp edges. The large field of space surrounding it was all burnt to the ground, but somehow the trees that circled the charred area were unharmed. The only thing not painted black with ash and soot was the bird itself and it’s makeshift nest. Maybe it had babies and that was why it’d resurfaced after all this time. Or maybe it was something much more complicated.

Either way, Wei Wuxian was in awe. Jiang Cheng was truly missing out, he would really have to sell it to pretend whatever hunt they went on next was as cool as this. How the hell was he supposed to wait until tomorrow?

“You’ll need darker clothes,” Wei Wuxian said instead of any of the other thoughts running rampant in his mind, “As handsome as you both are in white and blue, it’ll be too obvious. You’ll be targets.”

Both Lan men looked at him as if that was a distinctly uncharacteristic thing for him to start with. He ignored them and started walking around the perimeter with a cultivator’s lightness, hardly touching the ground so he didn’t garner any unwanted attention. 

“We’ll go at it from four different directions,” he said, “I’ll perfect the talisman tonight as we’ll each send a few to tamper down it’s flames or, at the very least, disorient it. The rest… is too difficult to predict. I say we hold off on breaking out the guqins unless absolutely necessary because there aren’t any bird-specific songs, are there? We’ll just have to wing it‒ha, get it, it’s a bird.”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said, voice carefully quiet so as not to alert the Vermilion Bird. He grabbed Wei Wuxian’s wrist and pulled him to a stop, forcing him to remember that he wasn’t with juniors or even with Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang. He was with two Sect Leaders who knew what they were doing. He gave an awkward little laugh as both of the older men stared at him with unreadable expressions.

“If you think that’s a good idea, of course,” he offered. Lan Xichen gave his polite smile and nodded.

“Continue,” he urged. Wei Wuxian smiled and pulled his hand out of Lan Zhan’s grasp to walk a step forward and point through the trees. “I think it would be best if I go at it from the front, Lan Zhan attacks from behind, and you two come in at the sides. I’ll be an effective distraction and I can keep throwing and creating talismans quicker since they’re my designs. And we’ll be coming at it from all directions so it will really need to choose which one of us it deems the biggest threat. I don’t mind if it’s me.”

“That sounds like it could work,” Nie Mingjue said, “If you can keep the flames away, then it’ll work.”

“And I’ll make sure that I can. And, well, if I can’t, I’ll just go for it anyway,” Wei Wuxian said, shrugging, “Suibian isn’t scared of a little fire.”

The three of them looked at him like they were beginning to second guess bringing him along if he was just going to be reckless, so he smiled wide and laughed a little to ease their worries. He wasn’t going to get himself killed. People could call him reckless all they wanted, but they could never say he wasn’t resourceful.

Besides, he was intrigued as hell. 

“What if it tries to fly away?” Lan Xichen said. 

“Talismans,” Nie Mingue answered.

“Ah, Lan Zhan can handle that, can’t you? Get it around its neck like a leash, take it for a walk,” Wei Wuxian suggested. Lan Zhan blinked slowly and nodded. “Great, great. Should we walk the circumference to choose spots?”

They ended up circling the area until the sun went down and then they retreated into the small town to find an inn to stay at for the night. The man behind the desk bowed all respectfully when he realized he was speaking to cultivators, thanking them for all they do, and offering a discount on both the rooms and meals. Lan Xichen was far too polite to agree to that.

“Two rooms, two beds in each, please,” he requested before looking over his shoulder to his brother, “That’s alright, Wangji, isn’t it?”

Lan Zhan nodded solemnly and Lan Xichen seemed pleased, sharing that knowing smile with Wei Wuxian for a moment before looking back to the man behind the desk. Leave it to Lan Xichen to be the most effective wingman. Wei Wuxian had to bite his lips closed to keep himself from saying something he really shouldn’t. 

He kept his mouth shut all the way until they got into their room. It had two small beds with only a nightstand between them, a privacy screen towards the far corner, a small table, and a door that he assumed led to a bathroom. Wei Wuxian fell onto the bed closest to the door and leaned back on his hands, looking up at Lan Wangji.

“You think we can both fit in one?” Wei Wuxian asked, “I promise to keep you warm.” 

Lan Zhan didn’t give him a moment of his attention, instead placing Bichen on the table. He reached into the qiankun bag that was strapped on his hip and pulled out a few sets of clothes that all fit inside. All of the clothes were white and pale blue and none of them would do well to camouflage himself. Wei Wuxian laughed softly and grabbed his own bag that was on his hip, standing up and walking closer. 

He laid Suibian beside Bichen, the elegant white scabbard making Suibian look worse for wear. Still, it seemed fitting. Wei Wuxian pulled out his own clothes, all black or dark enough to seem that way. He grinned.

“Go try them on, see how they fit,” he said. Lan Zhan stared at him for a moment as if he didn’t understand. Which in itself was stupid because they were both well aware of the fact Lan Zhan was always three steps ahead of everyone else. “You need something darker and we don’t have time to go on a shopping spree. Go, I’ll start playing with the talisman.”

Reluctantly, Lan Zhan accepted them with an annoyingly formal bow that Wei Wuxian shoved him a little for. Lan Zhan tried to glare, but a smile was playing on his lips and Wei Wuxian was struck by how much he adored him. He had to wait until he’d disappeared behind the privacy screen to remember what he said he’d do.

Wei Wuxian knelt by the table and pulled out some paper, doodling a few different things that were either direct opposites to fire talismans or just them flipped or changed a little. He’d had about three different ideas written out by the time Lan Zhan knelt beside him.

He glanced up to ask him what he thought only for his words to die in his throat. There were very few things that could render Wei Wuxian speechless, but apparently his pristine and proper Lan Zhan in a black t-shirt and his sweatpants was enough to do it. It didn’t help that his nails were still painted and that his ribbon was still in place, nor did it distract him that his hair was already all pulled over one shoulder and leaving the side of his neck closest to Wei Wuxian completely exposed.

He took a shaky breath and tapped the table, trying to clear his mind of anything inappropriate. It was very inefficient to think of him like that instead of focusing on the hunt. Even more so to instead imagine him fighting while dressed in all black and being completely and utterly badass while wearing Wei Wuxian’s clothes like he was meant to. That was definitely not what he should be doing.

“Wow, okay,” Wei Ying breathed, swallowing hard as he blinked and shook his head. The more he tried to get rid of any impure thoughts, the more he was simply erasing the Hanguang-Jun and Young Master Wei Wuxian of it all and replacing it with Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. It was significantly worse. So he decided to just try and focus on the talismans. “Lan Zhan, start a fire for me real quick.”

Lan Zhan looked over at him, eyebrows tugged together in confusion and far more expressive than he’d been all day. It had Wei Wuxian giggling like an overwhelmed child. It seemed the more comfortable Lan Zhan got with him, the more Wei Wuxian had no idea how to deal with it. Was this how people felt around him?

“Just do it! So I can see if it works, I’m not going to burn the building down,” Wei Wuxian said. Lan Zhan tilted his head as if to ask if he was sure and Wei Wuxian found himself laughing to himself even harder, his heart clenching in his chest. 

Lan Zhan’s expression softened into that soft little smile and he lit a fire talisman, laying the flame in the middle of the table. Wei Wuxian gathered his composure as quickly as he could and grabbed the first talisman, casting it forward. The flame ignited even bigger and they both lunged forward to path the flame until it was out. And then Lan Zhan was back to glaring and Wei Wuxian was back to laughing.

"My bad," he said, sliding his hand off the table, "Take two?"

And, because Lan Zhan was nothing but indulgent, he lit another one. 

They tried the following two with much more success and the one that was simply the fire talisman flipped proved to be the most effective. They tried it a few more times to make sure and then settled on it, getting to work making a solid supply of them including some of Wei Wuxian’s more reusable ones. They created until their dinner for the night was brought to their door.

“Thank you,” Wei Wuxian said, flashing a smile to the girl who flushed a bright red in response. If he was Lan Xichen, he would’ve said it was unnecessary for her to bring it to them, that they could’ve gotten it themselves, and to thank her sincerely for her kindness. 

But he wasn’t Lan Xichen. 

So, instead, he kept his smile and his eyes on her as he bowed in thanks and she bowed her goodbye. He let his eyes follow her down the hall if only because he enjoyed the way her ears and neck turned bright red as she all but ran. Once he closed the door, he let himself laugh. 

“Ah, Lan Zhan, she turned so red. Like you do, sometimes, when I’m lucky,” he teased, handing Lan Zhan his takeout container of fried rice, “Let’s eat.”

Wei Wuxian barely made it a step forward, however, before Lan Zhan put his free hand and pushed him back into the door. His eyebrows furrowed and he was about to ask why the hell he was pushing him, but his question was quickly answered when Lan Zhan came in with a biting kiss, somehow not disturbing the food they both held. Wei Wuxian made a noise of surprise, but he managed to keep a hold on his food as he reached up to put his free hand on his cheek. His thumb traced the shell of his ear and deliberately kept away from the forehead ribbon, wishing he didn’t have food in the way. And then Lan Zhan sent a rather overwhelming stream of spiritual energy into him, so clearly a possessive little claim and Wei Ying’s knees very nearly gave out on him.

Then Lan Zhan pulled away and walked to the table like nothing happened.

Wei Wuxian rested his head back against the door and caught his breath, his hand layering over where Lan Zhan’s had been on his chest. He could still feel his presence, his energy in his system, his body adjusting to the influx of it. He pushed himself off the door.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Lan Zhan.”

“Mn.”

Disbelieving laughter filled the air as Wei Wuxian knelt back at the table. Lan Zhan neatly put the talismans to the far end for safekeeping before they started eating. It was simple fried rice with vegetables and chicken‒which very easily became a problem because Lan Zhan didn’t eat meat and his wasn’t supposed to have any in it. Wei Wuxian reached over, using his chopsticks to pick out the biggest piece that sat on top.

“There. I know it still touched, but let’s pretend it didn’t,” he said, shoving the piece in his mouth and smiling around it. Somehow, for some reason, Lan Zhan just looked at him with those unrelentingly fond eyes. Wei Wuxian liked that too much.

They ate in silence and Wei Wuxian would lean over every once in a while to steal a piece of chicken, that fond look on Lan Zhan’s face never leaving. It was becoming overwhelming, honestly, and, not for the first time, he found himself getting distracted from the hunt he should’ve been overthinking. And, truly, he was‒Lan Zhan was just unbearably attractive and he couldn’t be blamed for it. 

And, well, if he slipped and smeared a bit of soy sauce on his neck, he couldn’t be blamed for that either.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian scolded, the man already staring at him like he’d completely lost it and frozen despite the mess on his neck being such a thin layer that he could barely even see it, “You’re making a mess! You really have to be more careful. Here, I’ll clean it for you.”

Wei Wuxian’s smile was entirely conniving as he leaned over and licked him clean. He felt Lan Zhan swallow and heard his breathing change, all of which were very nice signs because he had self-control like no other. If he didn’t want to be affected, he wouldn’t be. But he was because he wanted to and that felt like a challenge.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said as the simple clean-up job turned into sloppy, neverending kisses. He couldn’t help himself. Not only was Lan Zhan attractive, but Wei Wuxian had seen something incredible today and tomorrow he was going to fight something incredible. He was pulsing with adrenaline the more he tried to sit still.

“Ah, that’s the only thing you’ve said all evening, do you know how nice it sounds?” Wei Wuxian asked softly against his neck, sliding closer and abandoning his food all together for something that tasted so much better. He reached his hand up to hold the other side of his neck, his thumb resting at the base of his throat. When he bit down, he could feel the soft hum it earned. “You’re so hot, what the fuck.”

That, of all things, was what got Lan Zhan's skin to grow warm. Wei Wuxian smiled easily and nudged his nose against his jaw.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said again and Wei Wuxian was obsessed.

He slid his hand down a bit to grab the collar of the shirt he was wearing and tugged on it. He really just wanted him closer than he was. Lan Zhan, however, never did things in halves and he had Wei Ying on his back in seconds with his hand behind his head to make sure he didn’t hit it against the floor. The action was such a tender one that when Lan Zhan kissed him in his typical rough fashion, Wei Ying started laughing.

Lan Zhan just moved away from his lips to let him, tucking his face in the crook of his neck to kiss and bite harder than Wei Wuxian had to him. He had no complaints, a moan breaking up his giddy laughter. He took the time to feel over his bare arms and pushed his hands up his shirt to feel his ridiculously strong back. It all convinced him to get Lan Zhan in t-shirts more often. There was infinitely more access than his fitted, tucked in button-ups.

“You’re so hot,” Wei Wuxian groaned, tracing over the muscles beneath his shoulders that were all flexed from holding himself up, “And strong. And smart. Ah, there’s more words, Lan Zhan, I promise! I have them.” Lan Zhan hummed against his neck, an amused smile so evident on his face that Wei Wuxian could feel it. That was new. “You’re so good, Lan Zhan, so, so good. Sometimes I’m sure I’m nothing but your plaything and I enjoy every second of it because you’re just so good.”

Lan Zhan pulled up a little bit, looking down at him. His expression was a bit of a complex one and it was one that Wei Wuxian’s brain was moving too fast to read properly. So, instead, he reached up to touch those lips that he was growing more and more fond of by the hour.

“You are utterly perfect,” Wei Wuxian said, his eyes following his finger as he traced over his face and his neck and his arms to avoid his intense eyes, “Ah, Lan Zhan, excessive praise is breaking the rules, isn’t it? Will you be mad if I give it to you anyway? Eh, well, I like when you get mad, so I feel inclined to do it anyway. Because you are honestly the best person in the world, did you know that? You’re all fair and such a talented cultivator in every sense of the world. I can’t even imagine having to learn to fight beside someone else‒I know you far too well for that and no one will ever compare. You are my match, Lan Zhan, my opposite and my equal‒as a cultivator, I mean, obviously. Because you’re selfless and‒”

“No,” Lan Zhan said suddenly. Wei Wuxian startled to a stop, his hand dropping and eyes finally settling on his.

“No?”

“Not selfless.”

Wei Wuxian laughed a bit, “Lan Zhan, you really are. I can look up the definition for you and we can read it together because‒”

“No,” he said, but he didn’t elaborate. He usually didn’t. It was simply left for Wei Wuxian to decide what about him could be deemed selfish. He came up empty handed.

“Well, you call me beautiful and perfect and I listen to you, so shut your pretty mouth and let me be nice for once,”  he said, raising his hand to cover Lan Zhan’s mouth. 

He didn’t feel like trying to dissect his thought process even further when he really didn’t have the brain power to do so. He was too excited and too pent up with energy of all sorts. He wanted to be kissed and he wanted to theorize and he wanted to go after the Vermilion Bird as soon as the sun rose. Lan Zhan smiled softly and tilted his head to kiss his fingers before moving down to kiss his lips.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, “Perfect.”

“You think you’re so clever,” Wei Wuxian teased, smiling again as Lan Zhan settled a little more weight on him. He was, though. He was clever. It was one of the reasons Wei Wuxian liked him so much.

They kissed for a while in silence, Lan Zhan keeping his mouth occupied. Wei Wuxian dealt with his restless energy by playing with his hair or stroking his back or pinching his hip or kicking any part of him his legs could reach. However, that only kept him content for so long before Wei Wuxian was beginning to bubble over with the need to do something other than just lay on the floor and be kissed. Kissing Lan Zhan was very nice, but kissing could sometimes get boring if his brain was too active. Not that he’d ever tell anyone that. That would be so very rude.

“Lan Zhan,” he said, “We should save our energy for tomorrow.”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan agreed, but he simply moved down to kiss his neck and his hand slid past the waistband of his pants to press his palm against his bare hip. 

“That is not what I meant!” Wei Wuxian laughed, half-heartedly pushing him away so he’d stop feeding him spiritual energy. “I said save it, not waste it.”

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes, pinching his cheek lightly in adoration. He gave him one last peck beore he pushed him to sit up and Wei Wuxian instantly got to his feet. Lan Zhan’s eyes followed him, never rising from his kneeling position as Wei Wuxian started to wander around the room.

“What do you think it could be guarding?” he asked, tapping his fingers against the wall as he walked the longest length of it he could, “Obviously, if it’s something, it’s something ancient. Are there any ancient myths or anything? Well, there are, but are there any that could possibly apply? Something that would make sense.”

Lan Zhan didn’t answer him, but that was fine. He didn’t really expect an answer and it seemed Lan Zhan knew that. Wei Wuxian pressed his back against the wall and pursed his lips. He kept himself pressed against it in thought as he rolled onto his stomach and then onto his back again. When he got an idea, he shoved himself off it and looked at Lan Zhan who was already watching him with the same eyes he’d watched him when he shoved a whole piece of chicken in his mouth.

“The Yin Iron, could it be that? That would be powerful enough to require a giant flaming bird to protect it, wouldn’t it? A bird of myths and legends‒that could be a worthy guard.”

Lan Zhan tilted his head. “It was destroyed.”

“Yes, but all of it?” Wei Wuxian prodded, walking closer. He circled Lan Zhan, patting the top of his head as he ordered his thoughts. “There were four known pieces of the Yin Iron, that’s what the story was, and they were all destroyed when all the major Sects finally agreed on something for once. But they never tried to fit it together‒for good reason. Maybe there was a missing piece and they just couldn’t know. Or maybe they didn’t destroy it well enough and the Vermilion Bird is guarding the remnants?”

“It is possible,” Lan Zhan said slowly, eyes staying forward probably so he didn’t get dizzy as Wei Wuxian kept walking around him, “Unlikely.”

“What if it’s an egg? When I saw the nest, that was the first thing I thought. It could be a,” he paused, kneeling behind Lan Zhan and resting his chin on his shoulder, “A new era of beasts. Ah, if it is, can you imagine the Nie Sect?! Maybe that’s why Nie Mingjue is so involved. Maybe he’s not fucking your brother, maybe he just thinks a new beast is about to be born.”

Lan Zhan looked at him again in alarm and Wei Wuxian just laughed, leaning back and grabbing his hair. Lan Zhan hesitantly moved the ends of the ribbon over his shoulder so he wouldn’t disturb it and Wei Wuxian started running his fingers through the long, ridiculously healthy hair. It reached his hips. 

"I'm kidding, you're so cute," he said, "Well, kidding about your brother. It is possibly a new beast. Which would be super cool, right? We could be there when it's born. Ah, Lan Zhan, can you imagine? We could rescue it and raise a giant fire monster together.”

“Mn.”

“Or what if it’s a new mythical object? We think it’s ancient because the bird is ancient, but the bird has just reemerged. It could be something new, something we have no knowledge on,” Wei Wuxian rambled, finding himself giddy at the idea. He would love to play with something so new that there was no text on it. He could write all of them. Then they would make sense instead of being written in an annoying pretentious way that made it hard to grasp on the first read. “I want that, Lan Zhan, I want to have something new that I can spend my life studying. I hope it’s new. Do you think your brother will mind if I take it if it is new? He likes me enough. I could agree to only study it in a secluded area so no one gets hurt. Ah, I hope it’s new.”

Lan Zhan didn’t say anything, staring forward. His shoulders were rigidly straight and his chin was held high. Wei Wuxian thought he was gorgeous. He hummed and separated his long hair into three strands, braiding it to the best of his ability.

“You could help me, of course. I think the best when I can bounce my ideas off your brain,” Wei Wuxian said, shrugging, “I think if it’s new, I could have a lot of fun with it. I want to live with no regrets and I want to be helpful. If I spend all my time making accessible notes‒ones that could go through you as a filter to make sure they’re making sense‒I would be so helpful. I think I could do that even if it isn’t new. Do you think your brother and Uncle would let me start officially detailing my ideas? I have notes all over, but I could have them done in a more official manner. He said he was interested, but does that mean he wants to put them into effect? I want that. It feels good to make something useful, Lan Zhan. It feels good to make something at all.”

Wei Wuxian was rambling, he knew it, but Lan Zhan didn’t interrupt or seem bothered. He was simply listening because that’s what he did.  Wei Wuxian leaned forward to kiss the back of his neck before he rested his chin on his shoulder again.

“What do you think, Lan Zhan? Do you want to spend your life studying and creating with me?” he asked. 

He could easily see a life inside the Cloud Recesses, teaching and reading and creating and being a cultivator like they were long before his time. He could have a garden and be productive with his hands as he thought through ideas. He could lead juniors on nighthunts and show them how to think for themselves instead of just abiding by the sect that they learned from. He could roam and he could cultivate and he could theorize and create. And he could be where he could see Lan Zhan in all his glory whenever he missed him most.

“I will study with Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said simply, his voice tight and rigid like he’d been overwhelmed by such a simple question. Wei Wuxian laughed.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, you sound so excited by that idea,” he teased, but he no longer wanted to talk about that far into the future. Clearly Lan Zhan wasn’t excited about the prospects of being stuck with him for that long. Which was fair enough. 

Wei Wuxian tilted his head to the side and let his body weight and gravity work together and let him fall onto the floor beside Lan Zhan. He looked down at him with slightly concerned eyes, but Wei Wuxian just grinned and wiggled a bit to get comfortable as he pillowed his head on his arms. 

“I spoke too much, my mouth is dry, I’m going to need a saliva donation before I die,” Wei Wuxian decided, opening his mouth and sticking out his tongue. Lan Zhan just stared down at him with a completely serious expression before Wei Wuxian laughed. “I’m kidding.”

Lan Zhan looked up for a moment and stared at the wall as if making a decision. And then he carefully untied his forehead ribbon and placed it on the table. Wei Wuxian watched with intrigued as he did it, not for the first time wishing he could see what he was thinking. Was he thinking about the Vermilion bird? About the fight tomorrow? About a life being stuck with Wei Wuxian? About how they should really go to sleep so they’d be well rested?

Except then Lan Zhan turned to him and put his hand on his chest, still kneeling beside him and looking completely and utterly regal. His hand slid up slowly and rendered Wei Wuxian speechless for once. His hand grazed over his neck and then his thumb pressed into his bottom lip, opening his mouth. Wei Wuxian's heart was thudding in his chest and his stomach twisted into knots while his pants became impossibly tight. His ears were ringing and he suddenly felt the need to give an expansive speech on how dual cultivation was very good for keeping two people in sync during battle–but Lan Zhan really didn't need convincing on that.

An involuntary shaky breath escaped from his lungs as Lan Zhan leaned over him, lips parting just enough to comply with Wei Wuxian’s silly little request.

He found himself again wondering how he always forgot who he was dealing with.

-

Wei Wuxian slept unnaturally sound that night.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said the next morning, voice stern as he summoned him back to the world of the living. Wei Wuxian groaned and tried to pull the pillow over his head. “The Vermilion Bird.”

The mention of their task for the day woke up Wei Wuxian quicker than anything else would’ve. He sat up and his head spun from the quick movement causing him to grip the edge of the bed. On top of that, his body seemed to buzz with a sea of different aches‒none of them bad enough to hinder his ability to fight or even last long enough for him to remember by the time they left the inn, but all there nonetheless.

“Fuck, you really did a number on me,” he laughed, voice rough from sleep. Lan Zhan’s brow creased with concern and he started to reach out, but Wei Wuxian caught his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. “I’m teasing, I’m fine. Save your energy, you little nymphet.”

Lan Zhan’s concern easily bled into vague annoyance and Wei Wuxian laughed, pushing himself to his feet. He stretched up, up, up and let his arms fall onto Lan Zhan’s shoulders when he was done. He stole a kiss and then tilted his head back to take him in. He was already made up for the day, all of Wei Wuxian’s dark clothing to keep the bird from spotting him as easily and he looked good. He always looked good. Wei Wuxian wanted to see him look this good every morning. Could he get away with that?

But then he quickly remembered why they were up and a smile broke out onto his face, pulling away to pull his clothes on as fast as he could. He threw his hair up as securely as he could and shoved everything into his qiankun bag, quickly grabbing Suibian and looking to Lan Zhan.

“Are they up? Can we go?”

Lan Zhan had that look on his face that wasn’t too different from the distant look he’d had the first night Lan Xichen mentioned the whole hunt. Wei Ying wandered closer, tapping Suibian against his thigh to make him focus.

“What are you so worried about?” Wei Wuxian asked, “Very unlike you, Lan Zhan, I have to say.”

Lan Zhan stared blankly past him for a moment, ordering his thoughts and Wei Wuxian gave him all the time he needed despite feeling restless. Eventually, he made eye contact.

“Let me help you,” Lan Zhan said slowly, serious and stoic. Wei Wuxian stared at him for a moment, trying to piece together what exactly he meant. Eventually a smile slowly found his face.

“With what, the bird? Obviously I’m letting you help me,” he said. It didn’t stop Lan Zhan from staring at him. “Ah, you mean because I’m being the main distraction. I’ll be fine! I’m very good at getting attacked.”

“Wei Ying.” 

“Ah, Lan Zhan, I’m not that irresponsible! I’m not going to die, do you know how embarrassing it would be to die in front of two Sect Leaders? Too embarrassing! I just won’t do it,” Wei Wuxian teased, taking a step closer and placing his hand on Lan Zhan’s cheek. He felt incredibly fond. Maybe he had no interest in dealing with Wei Wuxian every day for the rest of his life, but he at least cared enough to want him to live.

“Mn.”

“I’ll be careful,” Wei Wuxian promised, patting his cheek for emphasis even though they both knew he probably wouldn’t be as careful as Lan Zhan might like, “Ah, Lan Zhan, I can’t believe you’re worrying about me! I feel so special.”

Lan Zhan still just stared at him. It didn’t take a genius to know that Lan Zhan didn’t mind when he fought, probably enjoyed watching him do it because that’s how one felt towards the person that was their zhiji, but he didn’t like Wei Wuxian’s willingness to get hurt. They’d been on many nighthunts where he’d thrown Jiang Cheng out of the way and received a new scar or broke a rib or something akin to that. But it was the way he had to be growing up with Yu Ziyuan as an adoptive mother. He had no intention to stop now.

“Sweet, precious little Hanguang-Jun,” Wei Wuxian cooed, scrunching up his nose as he pinched Lan Zhan’s cheek. Lan Zhan’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “Relax.”

He didn’t have much more time to do any extra consoling because there was a soft knock at the door that could really only belong to Lan Xichen. Wei Wuxian slid his hand over his chest and went to the door, opening it up with an excited grin.

“I figured out a talisman that will work, I can show you on the way there, let’s go,” he said instantly. Lan Xichen smiled softly, wearing Nie Mingjue’s darker clothes instead of his pretty blue ones. They were a little bit big considering Nie Mingjue was debatably 90% muscle, but it was amusing nonetheless.

“Alright, I can’t wait to see. How did the two of you sleep?” he asked, taking a step back into smalltalk. It was one of the things that reminded Wei Wuxian why he was such a good sect leader. You had to be good at smalltalk. It was extremely boring. 

“Fantastic, right, Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian, looking over his shoulder. Lan Zhan had gone back to his blank face‒which, in reality, wasn’t that much different from his annoyed or worried or excited face. Wei Wuxian had just gotten very good at noticing them and he was sure Lan Xichen was also talented at it.

“Mn.”

“Good, that’s good. Are we ready?”

“So ready, never been more ready in my life,” Wei Wuxian insisted. Lan Xichen breathed a laugh and nodded, moving to the side so they could get going.

Wei Wuxian unintentionally led the way, a skip in his step as he started to show his talismans and rambled about how he’d wait until everyone was in place and he would send the first one. He doled them out, giving himself the least because he could always make more. Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue tried one each to test them out so they’d be ready. It made him even more excited.

And it all led up to when they got to the clearing again.

Wei Wuxian was excited in a big way, but he managed to keep it contained. He wasn’t going to be reckless in a way that got anyone else hurt. Still, he watched the Vermilion Bird with complete and utter fascination. Its eyes were closed and its head was bowed, still in its nest. In all honesty, it looked beautiful. It was almost upsetting that they had to kill it before it did anymore damage.

“And we’re ready?” Lan Xichen clarified.

“If not now, then we never will be, so let’s stop waiting,” Wei Wuxian insisted. Lan Xichen put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a nod of good luck.

“I’m sure you won’t fuck this up,” Nie Mingjue said which, truly, was one of the more loving things he’d ever heard the man say.

Lan Zhan gave him one last look before leaving to go to the spot behind the bird they’d decided the day before while Lan Xichen headed to the right and Nie Mingjue went to the left. The fact that all three of them were trusting him to be at the forefront didn’t surpass Wei Wuxian. In fact, he was sure Lan Xichen had to talk Nie Mingjue into it. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure how he’d be okay with it. He decided not to think too hard about it.

Wei Wuxian stared at the bird as he waited. It was hard to stay still and his fingers tapped excitedly against Suibian. The last time he’d been so excited over a nighthunt was when he and Nie Huaisang had stumbled upon a handful of ghosts when they were only 15 which, at the time, had felt like such a major challenge. This, however, was a major challenge. So major that two of the most powerful cultivators alive, two men who had already stopped aging, asked for assistance.

And Wei Wuxian got to be a part of it.

He waited until he got the subtle confirmation from all three of them that they were in place. He took one last breath and allowed himself to appreciate the beauty of it one last time before readying his first talisman and sending it.

Directly after he sent his, the others sent theirs and they all hit the bird in rapid succession. It woke up immediately after the impact of the first one, an ear-piercing screech ripping through the air. The flames seemed to ignite even further in response, trying to overcompensate like the lack of flames was in itself burning. Wei Wuxian found himself even more in awe at the pure magnitude of it.

He sent one after the other, using his reusable ones to give the impact of multiple and keeping its focus on him as the others moved in. It only stayed down for so long before it tried to fly up, leaving its nest open. Lan Zhan, already on top of his game, managed to get a binding talisman around its leg and then another around it’s other leg. He kept himself on the ground so that it couldn’t get far. Wei Wuxian smiled and sent a few more fire extinguishing talismans.

He moved as much as he could so he wouldn’t exactly be an easy target if the bird did manage to get close, but that only helped so much as they irritated it more. Nie Mingjue sent Baxia flying and piercing the bird which caused it to violently jolt to the right, sending Lan Zhan to the ground as he focused on never letting go. That just wasn’t an option.

Wei Wuxian unsheathed Suibian and stepped on, raising himself to be on par with the bird. He sent a few more fire extinguishing talismans as well as a body-locking spell that only worked so well on a beast of that size. 

Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue sent their swords at the perfect time, both piercing the bird in the neck from opposite sides. For any other beast, that would be it. For this one, it seemed to only irritate it more.

It screeched and shook itself, flames bursting from it as it threw Lan Xichen’s sword out of its body. Wei Wuxian, for the first time, felt a little out of his depth. However, he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He cast another body-locking spell and it seemed to work for a moment, the bird dipping in the air so it wasn’t flying as high. But then, the moment it wore off, it seemed to send Nie Mingjue’s saber flying straight towards him. Wei Wuxian didn’t have enough time to react as it sent him flying off of Suibian and threw him halfway across the field.

He landed with a thud and his body rolled, aching and bleeding a few different places. But Wei Wuxian didn’t stay down for long, instead pushing himself up as he caught his breath. He looked up at the bird and to the others and then to the nest. He needed to figure something out.

So, he started running.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan yelled once he realized what he was doing, but he never let go of his grip on the bird. Wei Wuxian chose to ignore him, chose to accept scolding for his recklessness later.

He reached the nest with far too much ease, the bird above him focusing on trying to get away from the other three. Lan Xichen spared him a few concerned looks, but he and Nie Mingjue focused on continuously impaling it. Wei Wuxian looked up and found that the underside of the bird wasn’t on fire. Meaning it was much more vulnerable.

With a heavy breath, he launched Suibian towards it and wished he’d thought about bringing his bow and arrows. The bird screeched again at the feeling and Wei Wuxian summoned Subian back to his hand just as the bird came careening down. He braced for impact, waited for the bird to land on him. 

It didn’t crush him though, instead landing a few steps away and bleeding. It’s beak came for Wei Wuxian and he did the only thing he knew how, drawing Suibian and acting like this was a normal way to spar. It screeched at him and threw him and treated him like a ragdoll, but Wei Wuxian was right‒he was a very effective distraction.

On the side of him, as he kept the bird distracted and Lan Zhan kept the bird in place despite himself, Lan Xichen pulled out his guqin. Music poured out of it, attacking the beast and successfully subduing it as Wei Wuxian started sending fire extinguishing talismans again and Nie Mingjue attacked it. Once it was weak enough, Lan Zhan pulled out his own guqin and the brothers effectively waited until Nie Mingjue and Wei Wuxian both hit the ground before executing the chord assissnation technique. 

The energy that it sent slammed together against the bird between the brothers, effectively destroying the bird in one fell swoop.

They all laid in waiting for a moment, waiting for it to come back. It was only then that Wei Wuxian fully allowed himself to realize that he was in the nest and bleeding, something he really, really wasn’t supposed to do. Not when they didn’t know what it was guarding or where it was.

He slowly pushed himself up onto all fours and looked around, seeing if anything stood out. It was all a bunch of pebbles and stones and ash, all grey and black and stained red. He moved to where he was sitting, taking a few deep breaths as he looked around.

Wei Wuxian had read quite a lot about the Yin Iron. It’d been destroyed by the Sects long before he was around and any rumors about it still being around had died over a century ago. Because of that, there was no one really alive that had felt the power of being in the same room as it. 

Still, as his eyes fell on one particular little stone, one that was covered in his blood and one that seemed to be calling to him, he could only imagine it felt something like that. But he didn’t know. He did know that if he said he thought he found something like the Yin Iron, it would be taken away from him and he’d never get to do any experimenting. So he grabbed it, shoving it in his pocket with the same motion that he used to sheath his sword and shakily brought himself to his feet. 

When he turned to the others, they were all already staring at him with varying degrees of worry.

“Wei Wuxian,” Nie Mingjue said first, his voice commanding as ever. Wei Wuxian looked to him with furrowed eyebrows. “What did you find?”

“I didn’t find anything,” he lied, looking around the nest again even though it made him so dizzy he had to steady himself by using Suibian, “Guess it’s a good thing too, I got blood everywhere.”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said, taking a step forward. He looked somehow unscathed and Wei Wuxian managed a smile, though he felt a little lightheaded.

“Ah, Lan Zhan! It’s so good you wore my clothes, you would’ve gotten yours dirty,” he said, laughing a little despite needing to take a deep breath. He blinked a few times and looked down at himself. Dark smoke seemed to hover around his feet, probably due to the bird. Or maybe he was just that lightheaded. How much blood had he lost? 

“Young Master Wei,” Lan Xichen’s soft voice said next, “You’ve found something.”

“I can look through the rocks, but it’s all just rocks,” he said, keeping his voice tame and not at all defensive. His voice must’ve given something away, however, because Lan Zhan was at his side just in time to catch him when his legs gave out. “I’ll look, I promise, just-just give me a second.”

“Brother,” Lan Zhan said sternly. Wei Wuxian tried to look up at his face to read it so he could understand what he didn’t say, but it was too hazy and his eyes were falling.

Even as he tried to stay awake, the fatigue and the blood loss won over and he managed to rest his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder right before everything went black.

-

When Wei Wuxian opened his eyes, he found himself, of all places, inside the Jingshi.

It took him a few seconds to really gather his surroundings, but, once he did, he was just fucking confused. He tried to recount the last things he remembered and none of them made sense to how he ended up back in the Cloud Recesses or in Lan Zhan’s bed. Had he dreamt the whole thing?

But, no. He was far too sore to have dreamt that.

“Drink.”

His eyes then moved to see that Lan Zhan was standing over him with a glass of water. He managed a tired smile and slowly pushed himself to sit despite the fact his body ached and he was still tired. 

“You’re too good,” Wei Wuxian said, accepting the glass and drinking it slowly. He finished it even though it made him feel a little sick, but he had no intention to stress him out even more. “So, did you bring me here to have your wicked way with me?”

“Brother searched the nest and saw nothing that seemed to have any negative energy. Your spiritual energy was depleted, you were bleeding, and you broke two ribs,” Lan Zhan answered in an awful clinical way. Wei Wuxian smiled up at him despite the guilt that filled his system. Lan Zhan didn’t typically stay clinical when they were alone, not anymore. He was mad and not in a fun way.

“Good thing there was nothing in the nest then.”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Wuxian shook his head and opened his mouth to tell him it wasn’t that big of a deal. People got hurt all the time and most didn’t have the healing capabilities that he did with his golden core, he would be fine. However, Lan Zhan wasn’t done talking. “You came into contact with something negative. You had resentful energy around you.”

“Yeah because of the fucking bird,” he sighed, lowering himself down again, “You both exploded it and I was in it’s nest, whatever was left of it probably just came near before it was gone entirely. I didn’t find anything.”

Lan Zhan stared at him like he didn’t quite believe him, but he also seemed like he wasn’t going to argue either. Instead, he reached out and let his fingers hover over his forehead, sending a steady stream of spiritual energy into his system to heal him a little faster. Wei Wuxian offered him a thankful smile.

After a few minutes of that, however, he had enough energy to get up and walk himself to the bathroom. When he was finally alone, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the rock that had thankfully stayed there. It was small, hardly the size of the nail on his thumb, but it was powerful. It was probably what they were feeling. He wondered if Lan Zhan could feel it now.

He shoved it back into his pocket, deciding that it was none of their business. If they couldn’t tell where it was coming from then that meant it wasn’t for them. Wei Wuxian finally had something that he could study. He was fine. 

He splashed a bit of water on his face and took his hair down, instantly feeling a little bit better. He needed a shower more than anything, but that could be done after he got rid of all of Lan Zhan’s worrying.

Wei Wuxian went back into the room and saw Lan Zhan sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor with his blank face. Wei Wuxian took the opportunity to reach out and touch his chin. He looked up at him, making eye contact instantly and Wei Wuxian had to smile.

“You’re very cute when you worry, but there’s no need for it. I’m fine, thanks to your powerful spiritual energy,” he said, grinning as he sat on the bed beside him. Lan Zhan never broke eye contact. “Ah, why are you looking at me like that? Do you have something in mind?”

“Wei Ying.”

“I’m teasing,” Wei Wuxian said softly, leaning forward to rub his nose against his cheek.

“You said you would let me help you,” Lan Zhan said, voice quiet and significantly less controlled. Wei Wuxian froze for a second, letting himself look confused as he leaned back.

“I did. You used the chord assassination technique,” Wei Wuxian pointed out, but Lan Zhan’s expression became a little more open, a little more desperate for him to understand what he was actualy saying. Wei Wuxian swallowed hard. “Can’t get anything past you, can I?”

“Please,” Lan Zhan added. It was impossible to lie to and impossible to even put off. Wei Wuxian sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, don’t make things difficult, alright? Lying is against the rules, but if I say nothing, you never have to lie,” he tried. Lan Zhan didn’t back down. “It’s not that serious. I’m simply going to study it, just like I said, remember? I’ll do it outside of the Cloud Recesses and no one will be hurt.”

“Let me help.”

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian conceded. Lan Zhan nodded, but it was all still so tense. Wei Wuxian wasn’t having any of it, so he leaned in again. “We won’t need to court properly if I whisk you away, will we?”

Lan Zhan let out a breath at that and, in seconds, he closed the space between them. Wei Wuxian welcomed him and put his hand on his cheek, kissing him slowly and trying to ignore all the aches that seemed to stem all to his ribs. He pulled away once he couldn’t anymore, taking a breath and laying himself down. Lan Zhan followed, his hand sliding beneath his shirt and hovering over his ribcage as if just knowing what was happening without needing to be told.

“You’re too good, Lan Zhan, far too good,” Wei Wuxian praised him, looking at him. His eyes drifted to the hand that was pressed against the bed as to hold him up just a little while he helped heal him and saw that his nails were still very nicely done despite the fight. “Ah, see, I told you, very good for your fingers.”

“Mn.”

He still kept his face stoic. Wei Wuxian waited for a solid ten minutes, thinking and debating and folding over things in his mind. And Lan Zhan still looked uncomfortable. Because, no matter what Wei Wuxian said or did, he always would be if he kept this between them. Wei Wuxian didn’t want that. He could handle a lot of things, but not that.

“I’ll tell your brother,” Wei Wuxian said softly, “I’ll show it to him, but you have to promise me you’ll help me convince him to let me study it. It’s all I want. Please.”

Lan Zhan relaxed a bit and looked at him again, nodding once. He probably wouldn’t fully relax until they actually told him, but it was a step. Besides, Wei Wuxian was charming and Lan Xichen was overly lenient‒he would get to study it. Hopefully. 

But, for now, he needed not to think.

“Okay, okay, come here,” Wei Wuxian said, reaching up to grab the back of his neck and pull him down. He kissed him desperately and this time was able to effectively ignore his ribs, even when Lan Zhan eventually stopped giving him spiritual energy and simply touched him.

And it was all fine until Wei Wuxian tried to pass him spiritual energy back like they always did.

Lan Zhan gasped, audibly, and pushed his hand away faster than he’d really reacted around Wei Wuxian. He was looking at him with wide eyes that Wei Wuxian was probably mirroring due to the shock that Lan Zhan had pushed him away.

“What?” Wei Wuxian asked. Lan Zhan swallowed and looked over him, his hand hesitantly reaching to touch the spot Wei Wuxian had tried to pass him energy at. “What’s wrong? What just happened?”

Lan Zhan’s eyes lingered at Wei Wuxian’s chest for a moment‒or, more specifically, where his golden core was. All that did was confuse him more.

“Lan Zhan,” he said seriously, “Did that hurt?”

Lan Zhan’s eyes traveled back to meet his with an uncharacteristic wariness to them. Wei Wuxian stared at him for a long moment, trying to read his mind because he clearly wasn’t going to vocalize it. Eventually, Wei Wuxian reached into his pocket and pulled out the rock. Earlier, in the bathroom, it’d been fine. Now, however, it had a dark smoke hovering around it. Wei Wuxian blinked twice before looking to Lan Zhan.

He was about to apologize, about to say he didn’t really understand what just happened, about to ramble until he couldn’t ramble anymore because he didn’t know what else to do. Studying was one thing. Using it was another. Accidentally putting it into Lan Zhan’s body was something else entirely.

But, before he could, Lan Zhan reached out and took it from his hands. Part of Wei Wuxian expected him to march it over to Lan Xichen right then and there. Instead, he sat up and placed it on the little side table. Then he laid back beside Wei Wuxian.

“I might still draw on it even if it’s not on me, I don’t know how it works,” Wei Wuxian admitted. Lan Zhan took a deep breath and reached up to his forehead ribbon.

He said nothing with his words, but his actions said everything as he took it off of his head and proceeded to wrap it around one of Wei Wuxian’s wrists. He watched Lan Zhan intently in awe and, when he came back down to kiss him and made sure to be cautious of his ribs, he had no intention to ever let him go.

They were in this together, good or bad, and Wei Wuxian just had to hope this wasn’t the start of something bad.

#the untamed #the untamed fic #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan xichen #mdzs #mdsz fic #my fic

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 41

Warning, if it hasn’t been obvious in the movies there is Nazi symbolism within the First Order. 

ALSO, Kylo Ren isn’t really a nice guy. He smashes consoles, chokes people with the Force and kills people. So there are times he is very angry towards Reader. Some of it is verbal, some of it is physical. If you are expecting a super cute full of fluff story this isn’t it. Here is your warning to turn back now. 

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with major canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 41: Going Home

Your hand meets his lips stopping him from kissing you, he was not happy about this.

“Before you get any more kisses you will answer my questions.”

He fully backed away from you, he went to retrieve his helmet and left the room. He left you all alone versus actually trying to talk to you.

You were done. You picked up your data pad and messaged General Hux, ‘I would like a ship to escort me down to the planet’s surface or I need you to send the Supreme Leader back to our chambers.’

You received a ping moments later, ‘I will have an escort ready for you in 20 minutes.’

The door opened to reveal Lieutenant Mitaka, “The allegiant general said you may wish to see me.”

“Yes, send a message that female officer to come down here, I need help packing. I am going away for a few days.”

“Right away ma’am,” he sent a message. “Does the Supreme Leader know you are leaving?”

“He will soon enough, you will not inform him of this. If he would like to know anything about me for the next couple of days he will have to ask me himself.”

“Yes, ma’am.” You could tell he was infinitely worried about the outcome of keeping this from the Supreme Leader. You knew it was part of his job to report your condition to him, to essentially spy on you for him, but that didn’t matter at the moment. You were going to break out of your cage for a few days until Kylo decided that you were his empress and not just a songbird. You were a kitten showing your claws.

The female officer arrived and assisted you in packing. You estimated that you should pack for two weeks, as that would give you enough clothes to wash just in case he decided to be more of a jerk than he already was. But you knew you might not even be gone for more than a few hours.

“Lieutenant, is Phasma still on the OK list to guard me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good, tell her I would like her to accompany me on this trip. I shall have no use for the knights anyway.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Make sure she knows that I have packed for at least a two-week stay. Do you need to pack lieutenant?”

“Yes ma’am but it will only take a few moments. Will I need to pack anything special?”

“Not unless you want to.”

You were all packed. You told the lieutenant to meet you back here when he was finished and to have his and your bags sent to the hangar. The lieutenant was gone all of five minutes before returning. You wondered if his quarters were close because they needed to be or if he just ran frantically down the halls, but he didn’t seem out of breath.

You both made your way to the hangar where you were greeted by the sterling-plated captain and the illustrious allegiant general.

“Where might you be heading off to m’lady, in case the Supreme Leader inquires,” asked Hux.

You looked directly at him before boarding the command shuttle, Kylo’s command shuttle, “to my parents.”

You sat and waited for the captain and lieutenant to board. “Will you require more guard than myself m’lady,” asked the captain.

“No,” you said simply. While you might not have the greatest relationship with them you would be safe with them. You knew you probably won’t be there long, once he caught wind that you had left, but you were prepared none the less.

The shuttle took off and you three sat in silence. One look at the lieutenant and you saw that he was ready for some sort of beast to tear into the sides of the shuttle. You were worried yes, but you were mostly angry. Deep down you knew he wouldn’t kill you, but he may try to scare you.

It didn’t take long for the shuttle to land, you all departed. There were two other stormtroopers with you, carrying the bags. You approached your house and knocked on the door. Phasma and the others were patiently waiting behind you.

“Y/N? What is all this,” asked your mother answering the door.

“I thought I would come home for a few days.”

“Unannounced,” asked your father standing right behind her.

“I am not really allowed to notify people of my movements at the moment. Are we able to come in?”

Your parents stepped aside and allowed you all to enter. The two stormtroopers set your bags inside and abruptly left to guard the front door. You then heard the command shuttle take off.

“Mom. Dad. This is Captain Phasma and Lieutenant Mitaka. They will be staying with us.”

“And the others outside,” asked your mother.

“They won’t be disturbing us m’lady,” said Phasma.

Your parents were taken aback at her female voice. You supposed that the only stormtroopers that they came in contact with were all male. In fact, she was the only female ‘trooper you had seen.

“How long will you be staying,” asked your mother.

“I don’t know, hopefully no longer than two weeks but we will have to see.”

“Why are you here,” asked your father.

“Well do you remember why I called the other day, the news I had to tell you?”

“You called a day after your normal check-in date. We talked about your brother getting a new position, your sister’s work, your other brother having doubts,” said your mother.

“Yes, but what did I have to tell you? Or did you not listen past that in favor of my siblings?”

“Don’t be like that Y/N, you called to tell us about meeting your match. Is that what this is about,” at least your father remembered.

“Yes, I am here because I might be going away for a long time and this may be my last chance to see you,” you lied, rather you didn’t know if you were telling the truth or not. Kylo would probably fail to tell you when or if you would be going away for a long time so you thought it best to try and be prepared.

“And the guards,” asked your mother rather annoyed.

“I told you that he was a high ranking officer. They are here for my protection, I can’t go anywhere now alone.”

“Yes, but isn’t this one special,” asked your mother pointing to Phasma. “How high ranking is he?”

“Yes, the captain is special. She commands all ‘troopers. And I can’t tell you, all I can tell you is that he is high ranking.”

Your mother narrowed her eyes at you. “So you aren’t even allowed to tell your own family?”

“Not until the Supreme Leader allows it.” That wasn’t a lie at least.

“I see, are we ever going to meet him,” asked your mother.

“Who?”

“Your match,” said your father.

“Hopefully, he should be the one coming to pick me up at the end of this visit.” You turned to look at the lieutenant who was trying his best to mask the fear he was feeling but he was really struggling.

“Would you like something to eat,” your mother asked the captain and the lieutenant. You could see her start to target the lieutenant, she could sense his fear. She would probably try to corner him at some point to try and get answers from him.

Both said no, but your mother started dinner anyways. You made your way into the kitchen and the captain and lieutenant followed but stayed in the dining room.

“That’s a new look,” said your mother.

You looked down at your dress. “Yes, it was his idea.”

“I like it, you look more like a lady. I always liked you in dresses,” commented your mother.

Of course, she did. You had made the choice of a simple wardrobe for ease and financial reasons, but she had always tried to buy you dresses and more frilly girly things. Things that did not match your style and things that you had nowhere to wear.

“Did he buy you more or is that the only dress?” You could tell that she was eye up the dress to possibly steal it.

“Yes, he took me on a shopping trip, or rather he had the captain take me on one. He bought me a whole new wardrobe filled with dresses and all of the things you like. But I don’t think he will let me share. He really isn’t really the sharing type.”

“And he could afford all of this. He’s that high up?”

“Mother, I told you I can’t tell you. But yes he can. He gets paid really well.”

“He gets paid well enough to buy you a new wardrobe of designer clothes?” She was on to you.

“Yes, but they gave us a rather large discount. They want to be in good favor with the First Order higher-ups,” you lied. But actually, you never got to see the total amount of what you spent. For all, you knew you could be telling the truth.

“So he’s high up, high up. Is he a general? An admiral?”

“I can’t tell you, you should stop asking questions mother. You don’t want to get in trouble.”

She let out a hmph, and turned back to making dinner. You grabbed the dishes to set the table. You entered the dining room and the lieutenant jumped up.

“Let me help you m’lady,” said the lieutenant.

“Lieutenant I am fine. You are guests in my parents’ house. And setting the table isn’t really a big deal.” You urged him to sit back down.

“I don’t think the suprem---” you cut him off with a look before he could finish.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks right now. Until he gets here you are fine.” You tried calming him down. “I won’t let him do anything to you, or the captain for that matter. He likes to blame other’s  incompetence  for things that are his own problems.”

“I appreciate the sentiment m’lady,” said the captain.

“If he wants me to come back he will have to apologize and come get me himself. I won’t have him hurt either of you. I ordered you both to come with me and for the general to arrange this. He will have to deal with this rationally if he wants me to come back,” you said in a hushed voice knowing your mother may try to eavesdrop.

“Rationality is not exactly what he is known for m’lady,” said the captain.  

“Yes, but this time he doesn’t have a choice,” you responded before heading back into the kitchen to finish grabbing what you need to set the table.

Dinner was an interesting affair. Phasma took off her helmet and your parents seemed surprised again to see that she was a woman and a rather beautiful one too. Your mother still seemed to be targeting the lieutenant. You thought the First Order could use her in an interrogation room as she seemed pretty skilled but you and the captain came to his aid any time she asked a question that seemed to be out of line.

After dinner, your father retreated back down to the television your mother was at the other one. This was their nightly routine, your mother made dinner, they ate and then they went their separate ways to watch their different shows until they went to bed. They were matches but you never really saw them agree on much. They had their occasional fights and arguments like most couples but they weren’t the fairytale happily ever after. You wondered if they weren’t matches would they have ever gotten married? Probably not.

Your mother was a complainer, but your father was a sweet man. Even though they both tended to ignore you for your siblings you were thankful that they didn’t kick you out when you arrived. You never seemed to meet their expectations, but that didn’t matter right now. You got two of the other rooms ready for the captain and the lieutenant. You would be in your childhood bedroom. You put the captain in the room closest to you, your sister’s, and the lieutenant in one of your brother’s rooms.

The lieutenant followed you around like a lost puppy trying to let you let him help you. You kept telling him you were fine and that he was a guest. The captain took this time to roam through the house and to check things out. She checked on the ‘troopers outside and she checked the perimeter.

You had a feeling that Kylo would come to get you tomorrow. You had a feeling that he was probably wreaking havoc on the ship, but you didn’t care right now. Well, you did care about officers and their safety, you didn’t want them hurt, but he needed to learn a lesson. One that might cost him and the First Order a bit, but it was one that he needed to learn.

You got ready for bed, your mother came into the bathroom and seemed to inspect your new luxury skincare products and she seemed to follow you into your room and inspect your bags too. She seemed to be very interested in all of your new clothes. You knew if you weren’t careful something might just walk off with her. Not that you really cared about your new things, but you weren’t going to have her think that it was ok to do so.

Once ready for bed you said goodnight to your parents and the lieutenant and captain. Surprisingly you had an easy time falling asleep without the aid of any pills. You did not dream much, but what you did was pleasant and when you woke in the morning you felt rested.

You walked downstairs after getting dressed in another floral dress, but this one was a swing dress that had a nice pouf in the skirt. You greeted everyone good morning and went about finishing getting ready. Your father was making breakfast. Your mother once again came in to inspect your new things.

“You know, I had one of the officers make a list of everything I brought with me. They will inspect my bags once I return,” you lied. That seemed to catch her attention though as she put what she was holding down and walked away. It made you giggle internally.

You joined everyone for breakfast which seemed to be as pleasant as last night’s dinner. Once breakfast was finished you helped your father with the dishes.

“Is he treating you right? Is that why you are here,” you had always had a better relationship with him, he could read you a bit better than your mother could.

“He messed up a bit and I needed a break. I don’t have my apartment anymore. I also needed to send him a message.”

“Does he know you are here?”

“Yes. I left a message. If he wants me to come back he will have to apologize the right way. I obviously can’t tell you much, but he needs to learn what is ok and what is not. How often do girls run away to their parents’?”

“I suppose I can’t really threaten him like back in the old days can I? Well if he is smart he should be here soon. Your mother has been eyeing your bags.”

“I know she has been. But you are right you can’t threaten him it would be treason. I am hoping he will be here soon as it would prove my point that he can’t just treat me any way he wants to.”

Your father and you just went about finishing the dishes in silence. Once done you went to check on the lieutenant and captain. Who were in your room for some reason.

“M’lady your mother keeps checking your bags,” said the lieutenant.

“I know. She wants something, I don’t know what but usually if I have something nice she tries to take it. It doesn’t bother me really but if you want to threaten her captain in regards to my safety go right ahead.”

You heard a chuckle come from her, “will do ma’am.”

With that, you heard the roar of shuttle engines outside. So he was finally coming to get you. You knew you needed to stand your ground, or what little ground you had. You went down to be the one to open the front door.

There was a knock, you opened the door. There stood Kylo in a three-piece all-black suit with a grey tie with First Order symbols all over it. You slammed the door in his face and marched right back to your room and sat on your bed.

There was another knock, this time your father answered the door. You could hear him and Kylo talking. Your mother called up to you, “Y/N your match is here to see you.”

“Tell him to go away,” you yelled down.

The lieutenant and captain just stared at you. You really needed to help the lieutenant work on his poker face.

You heard footsteps climb the stairs. At your door, you saw him. He ordered the lieutenant and captain to give you both privacy. He stood awkwardly for a few moments before saying, “you look nice.”

“I look like a housewife from the 1950s.”

“I said you could buy anything you wanted.”

“You told me, wait, no you told the captain to tell me that I needed to look like an empress. I didn’t have much to go off of other than corsets and huge fucking dresses. So I picked the next best thing I could think of, princesses.”

“I can get you all of the best gowns in the galaxy. Long things that will trail behind you.”

“I don’t want gowns Kylo.”

“What do you want?”

“I want someone who will fucking talk to me. I want someone who will listen to me. Someone who won’t put thoughts into my head. I want a match who will be there for me, one who won’t make me into his trophy wife or puppet. One who won’t lie to me or keep secrets from me. I want a partner. How did it feel for me to treat you the same way you treat me?”

Kylo stayed silent for a while before extending his hand to you, an offering. “I want to take you home.”

“This is home Kylo.”

“No, I want to take you back to my home.  Our  home.” He grabbed your waist and hauled you up into a kiss. It felt much like your first one, all of the sparks and memories came crashing back.

When the kiss finally broke you said, “You said you wanted me to be an empress, you wanted me to be the one to tell you when to strike. I can’t do that if you treat me like a songbird in a cage. I need to be treated better.”

His lips were on your neck, “You will be, but first I need to take you back.”

“What if I don’t want to go back?”

“You have to as we will be leaving Earth soon. The finalizer will take its place as running things and you and I will return to the Supremacy where we will roam and rule the galaxy as we please.”

“And if I don’t want to go?”

“Then I will leave you on this Earth to rot and I will make General Pryde in charge of the planet. I’m sure that’s what you want isn’t it?”

You were afraid. He was about to make the general who he knew you didn’t like in charge of your home, in charge of your people. You were going to have to sacrifice a bit of yourself to keep them safe.

“I will go, but I want to choose who gets left in charge of Earth, and I would like to be able to say goodbye to my friends. And I would like to be honest with all of them about who you are. I should be safe because we won’t be here long.”

He looked at you for a moment, before crashing his lips harshly down on yours. Once the kiss was broken, “As you wish Kitten.” With that, he waited for you to finish packing before escorting you downstairs to the living room where your parents, the captain, the lieutenant and General Hux were sitting.

His grip around your waist was tight. There would be no running away.

“Sir and Madam I am aware that your daughter has told you that I am a high ranking officer in the First Order. This isn’t true. I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order. It would do you both well to keep this a secret if you wish to continue living.” He then swept you out the door while barking to the others to grab your bags.

The look of horrification on your parents’ faces was something that was burned into your mind forever. You tried to look back at the house but you were yanked forward by the man next to you. He practically dumped you into your seat before he buckled you in. You could feel the Force holding you down keeping you from going anywhere.

“If you run from me again, I will have no mercy on your planet or your people. You are mine. You are not the empress yet. Not until you finish your training. For now, you are mine to do with as I wish. I will respect your wish to wait, but just know that I am not a patient man.”

You saw the others carrying the bags. You may have just made things worse for all of you. The man sitting next to you was not the same man you had first met. He was changed. He was darker. He was scarier. He was a beast. And you needed to figure out how to tame him without getting caught in his claws. You were a kitten, he was a lion. You had to think quickly otherwise you didn’t stand a chance.

#kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren imagine #kylo x reader #kylo x you #star wars #first order #star wars imagine #Star wars soulmate au #sw first order imagine #star wars first order #first order propaganda #a soul to mend his own

[artisticflutter]

AU Yeah August - Day Seventeen: Masquerade

I suddenly came up with this idea and ran with it. While it’s not totally an AU for one fandom... it’s a crossover. Something was AU’d for it to work hehe.

Series: Miraculous Ladybug x Final Fantasy IX Rating: G Genre: General, Fluff Pairing(s): Gardane, Adrinette Summary: Lila wants to dance with Adrien at the Masquerade Ball. She moves in to rectify this. Warning(s): Modern!AU for FFIX, Crossover, Identities Revealed, and Aged Up! Minor Lila Salt so take what you will with that.

Lila was annoyed.

Not only had she been forced to some ball celebrating Ladybug and Chat Noir’s defeat of Hawkmoth, but she was not getting any of the limelight she would’ve liked. It was hard to cater to a large crowd unlike that of her classmates in Lycée, but lately, they hadn’t been giving her their undivided attention. What’s worse, with Hawkmoth gone, the possibility of manipulating situations to her favor had drastically decreased.

The ‘lying disease’ Adrien made her admit to back in Collège had worked against her, too. Things she said were now taken with a grain of salt; even the smallest attempted jabs at Marinette had only ended up with the class making sure they never interacted because of how ‘her disease seemed to act up the most around her’.

… Oh well, she still had her ‘friendship’ with Adrien and somehow she still had her contract with Gabriel. One of the few reasons she had to attend, but even if that hadn't been the case, her mother had been invited, too - or, had been expected to attend on Italy’s behalf. There were celebrities, business owners, the works in attendance, and even a few rumored royals. 

If she played her cards right, maybe she could be the next Katie Highland or Michelle Miracle.

Yes, forget a model; a royal would be what she deserved after all her hard work trying to bring down Ladybug and that cat sidekick.

Speaking of those superheroes, as she adjusted her fox mask, she spotted them and glowered. Another take, and she felt her irritation boil to scalding anger: Adrien and Marinette Dupain-Cheng. They weren’t dancing in the spotlight or anything, but even in the dim lighting, they stood out in a crowd.

Marinette wore some gaudy red ball gown with black satin roses around from the looks of it around the waist to imitate the spots of the superheroine. Obviously her own awful design; and of course she’d wear her hair up in a tacky bun with roses clips. Meanwhile, Adrien dared to wear a black suit with green trim and tie to reflect the cat tag along. She’d make comments about his hair being tied up in a ponytail, but his father had given him permission to keep it like that. Something about his new style helped with marketing numbers even if she personally hated it. 

They were smiling and happy and looked so in love that she needed to find a way to ruin it, but how?

She smirked - duh, all she had to say was Adrien had to dance with her. How would it look to people if they didn’t? How would it reflect on Gabriel?

Cheering herself at the plan, she put it into execution.

Carefully and ‘politely’ making her way through the crowd, she reached them shortly and cleared her throat. When they didn’t stop and continued twirling on, she tried again, a little louder this time.

Finally, both stopped and gave her a quizzical look, and that was her cue.

“There you are. You’re supposed to dance with me now.”

She held out her hand and expected Adrien to take it. However, seconds passed with her standing there looking like a fool, and he made no move. She could see his eyebrow raise but - was there something off with his eyes? - it didn’t matter. She straightened her posture a little and spoke loud enough for the two dimwits to hear.

“We don’t want any trouble tonight, right? So we’re going to dance or I’m going to see you’re under house arrest for the rest of your life.”

Usually, that threat would have cowed him into obeying, but Adrien just looked at Marinette and shook his head. She looked skeptically back at him and he shrugged. Lila rolled her eyes at their stupid antics and grabbed Adrien’s, pulling him away with a firm yank. Seeing Marinette stumble was amusing, but it was only passing. Adrien ripped his arm from her hold and took Marinette’s hand, helping her steady. Lila seethed and was just about ready to cause a scene.

However, the lights turned on and she paled.

Marinette didn’t have brown eyes and Adrien’s eyes were not teal.

“Your Majesty!”

Before she could escape, Lila felt a hand grasp her arm firmly to keep her in place. She struggled and shrieked, her voice deadening at the one-eyed glare she received from the brown-haired woman who held her. There was a sword on her hip; who the heck did she think she was?

Meanwhile, a man in military garb had approached not-Adrien and not-Marinette, his eyes stern.

“Are you unharmed?”

“Yes, I’m quite alright Captain Steiner,” not-Marinette said softly. “I believe there was a mix up due to our masks however…”

“Oddly hostile mix-up if you ask me,” not-Adrien said, his eyes leaving the young woman to stare at Lila - no, it wasn’t just a stare. Something about the look had her already wary of what he knew from that look.

A hand on his shoulder, not-Marinette was about to speak when the crowd parted, allowing Mayor Bourgeois and Lila’s mother to approach.

“Queen Garnet, Prince Zidane. Please, I’m so sorry for my daughter’s actions!” her mother immediately said and Lila felt her blood drain. A Queen and a Prince? Another look, and the young woman in red really did have this Princess doll beauty to her. No, Lila couldn’t have really—

But not-Marinette - Queen Garnet - waved a hand, “Please, it’s fine. I’m fine, but you may want to help your daughter find whomever it is she’s looking for.”

“If they are even here to be found,” Prince Zidane added. “You might want to have a private word with your daughter first?”

“Yes, I certainly will…”

Queen Garnet looked Lila’s way, her eyes on the woman holding her arm, and with a nod, she was let go. Not that Lila could escape still because next she knew, her mother was ushering her off the dance floor and to an adjoining hallway to have that word.

                                                    000000

Unbeknownst to Lila, Adrien and Marinette had come to the ballroom themselves upon hearing a commotion and noticing the lights had been turned back on. Adrien was wearing a white tux with gold trimmings and tie, matching Marinette’s white A-line dress with gold embroidery down the thigh of her skirt. It was a modern take of an Ancient Greek dress she wanted to try and he’d gone along with it, suggesting all the while they should try something with Hades and Persephone. 

Anyway, they had been attempting to decide when would be a good time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to appear, but now, they watched Mme. Rossi pull her daughter away for a stern word, and slowly let their eyes drift back to the Queen and Prince masquerading tonight as their superhero personas.

“I am going to have to personally thank them for taking that hit,” Adrien whispered.

Marinette nodded and then added, “And now you see why I said we shouldn’t dress up like Ladybug and Chat Noir as our civilian selves.”

“Yeah. I’m surprised she thought they were us though.”

“Right? Queen Garnet is so beautiful and Prince Zidane is way more roguish than you, kitty.”

“Princess, I’ll have you know you’re gorgeous,” Adrien chided. “But, I will give you that part of him being more roguish. I’ll have to work on that.”

“We’ll see about that, we’ll see…”

#auyeah2020 #auyeahaugust #miraculous ladybug #final fantasy ix #scribbling do #auyeahaugust2020 #au yeah august #au yeah august 2020 #final fantasy ix au #miraculous!au #crossover #does this count? #something's au'd #lol #zidane tribal #garnet til alexandros #garnet til alexandros xvii #gardane #tho #common ship is zidagger #zidagger #adrien agreste #marinette dupain-cheng #lila rossi #lila salt #lila did a whoopsie #adrinette #identity reveal #identities known #day seventeen: masquerade

[raspberryfanfics]

nejiten fanfic binging guide

My recommended Nejiten fics. All stories are complete and are good enough to be reread again and again:)

Narutoverse

Exceptions by IncessantOblivion — The first Nejiten fic I have ever read, also one of the closest to my hearts. Though the author admits it, it does have themes of sexism and homophobia, but not strong. It portrays Tenten as extremely inexperienced and though I’m not a fan of authors who write her that way, I’m glad she is shown as independent otherwise. Despite the criticism and obvious flaws, the romantic scenes are written perfectly and I get a huge wave of feels every time I reread it. Besides the slight hints of sexism, this story is the most favourited Nejiten story on FFn for a reason: you’re so emotionally connected to it. My chest literally constricts every time I read it, it’s so good. 

Land of Pretend + Reality by trilliumgt — The first story, (Land of Pretend), despite being without a super solid storyline, is just so heart-wrenching. I’m pretty sure I cried the first time I read this and the sequel but even if it didn’t trigger as much as an emotional reaction, it was surprisingly not boring. Though “Reality” wasn’t as “feel-triggering”, it was very well thought out. 

About a Daddy and a Nanny by syaoran no hime — Perhaps one of my favourite Nejiten fics of all time. I was originally skeptical of this fic because of the title since Daddy and Nanny fics can be ridiculously degrading. They tend to be overly cliche where the female character is a useless Mary Sue. Yet when I gave it a shot, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was most definitely not cliche in the slightest. It may not be the best fic I’ve read in terms of romanticness, however, the humour is unbeatable. Before class, I had read this on my phone and couldn’t stop laughing because the author writes Tenten to have an alter-ego nanny, (very minor spoiler), and she is absolutely hilarious. The romance lies in the unspoken words and the reminiscence, not in the make-outs, but in a way, that just makes it what it is. It’s the type of fic that makes you wanna laugh and cry and smash your screen at the same time. The story is so so sooo good.

SharpBladed Spirit by FenixPhoenix — Dark and a little gruesome, therefore rated M. It isn’t so much a romance, rather an adventure story with a side serving of the two love interests. Nonetheless, it’s captivating, character development is phenomenal, and every character is strong and moves on the plot.

On Qipao Flirting and Buying Drinks by needdl — While this is only a two-shot, it is such a beautifully written story. The best part of it isn’t the romance, but the reactions to change and change itself. Characters change in subtle ways and the creative ways of expressing Neji’s reactions to Tenten becoming more and more feminine make me smile constantly. What I also love is that it has a slight feminist viewpoint to it in the fact that she embraces her femininity, which is the whole point of feminism (in which femininity is embraced just as much as masculinity and the belief that all are equal, which hopefully you are up to date to because it’s 2020 for kami’s sake). Anyways, the first part of the story is absolute pure fluff but if you read the second part, (especially on Ao3)...well that is some hot stuff let me tell ya.

In Front of Every Star by NessieGG — A short story with lots of fluff, angst, and feminism. (YAY!) It loaded with small snippets of moments, sadness, and really makes you think about your own values. Would you leave the love of your life to save your home country? What I love about this story is that the pain the characters feel may be selfish but they are completely realistic. It reflects off of our own lives, trying to let go of our feelings after letting go of the person. Every piece of it is flawless.

Ms X by Blade Rewind — This was the second-ever Nejiten fic I’ve read, and though short in the chapters, it certainly gives a lot of content. It’s light, airy, fun, and a little bit cliche, but in a strangely good way. The writer executes a classic plot with grace and humour and there isn't’ a point where you wanna die because of the unoriginality. 

On Sex by Lotos-eater — I was skeptical about this at first because sometimes titles like these indicate really bad smut, which is almost as bad as an overused cliche. However, this was exactly the opposite. While there is certainly mature content, it isn’t in the way you’d think. Sex is portrayed as an obstacle in this story and approaching it is awkward in every way. Kissing is awkward, touching is awkward, in fact, this is a romantic story with no romance whatsoever. I don’t know how the author pulled it off, but it was simply amazing. It is hard to read not because it is bad, but because you can really empathize with the Neji and Tenten as they try to have sex with non-existent chemistry. Yet my favourite part of this story is the amount of complexity within each character and the way Gai is written in a much more different light. I never imagined Gai to have a dark side and this story executes it perfectly.

Alternate Universes

Complexities of Blackmail by Aquarius Galuxy — I read the summary for this one and was impressed at the word count so I quickly jumped aboard my first AG Nejiten fic train and just...wow. So like, I don’t know where to start. It’s a military space AU and what I love is that up to a certain point, everyone’s backstory until Naruto Shippuden era is almost exactly the same as the Narutoverse. Team Gai is a predeveloped relationship but had deteriorated. Blackmail is very explicit, lots of smut, but damn is it quality smut. It might not be your cup of tea, but if you don’t mind it, this story is amazing. Neji is slightly out of character, but you can understand why with his motivations, even though I personally wouldn’t write a story with the situation. Development is great, chemistry is over the top fantastic, and there’s a perfect amount of angst. It is a bit lengthy but so worth it. Every other character involved is so unique, I loved seeing Izumo and Kotetsu getting a bigger role, Ino was so in character; highly, highly recommend.

f 2-8, ISO 100 by Aquarius Galuxy — Of course, we have another AG fic and this one has sex scenes, but not as *cough* rough *cough* as Blackmail. The maturity mostly comes from the fact that Tenten is a photographer and art can sometimes be...graphic. Yet I have an appreciation for this fic since it states that art is art and the fact that AG came up with the photography is like aiming a shot, (since Tenten never misses). Neji is a politician and pianist, which is a suitable career that both covers his genius and soft side. Once again, great chemistry. This fic flows like a river, it’s so beautiful.

Cutting Water by Nessie GG — A historic AU in which Tenten the leader of a prestigious clan in China and Neji is an ambassador from Japan. Reads more as an adventure and friendship story resulting in romance in the last few chapters rather than just romance. The details are amazing and the style of the writing makes it so elegant, perfect for the time period. It’s the type of story that mysterious and sophisticated at the same time.

Perfidy by KNO — Similar to Cutting Water as it is a historical AU. Its backstory is vaguely similar to Mulan, however, in this case, the hot general doesn’t forgive her immediately. Tenten, who was saved from dressing as a guy to serve in the army, is sent to train another generation of female soldiers. It’s a great story, a great plot, though it does tend to run on uselessly at times. However, it is solid otherwise. 

Breathe Again by Kicho-Keynote — A modern AU in which Neji is an army veteran. The story is slightly dark, as it deals with PTSD and triggering situations. Each character is complex and the development is simply amazing. Everyone has visible flaws, relationships are so well-developed, and it has brought me to tears several times. There are several mentions of ShinoTen, and even though it’s not my favourite couple, it plays a huge role in the story so just a warning. Thankfully, it doesn’t go into detail about their personal lives and it still is a Nejiten story, despite other love interests. It also runs on at parts but overall, it’s extremely well developed.

Authors

Aquarius Galuxy @aquariusgaluxy — The “Papabay” of Nejiten fics. Every story is beautiful, perfect, and intimate. Chemistry is always there. Everything is so beautiful and each has a different mood. Nothing is half-assed and it is just...I wish AG was still active I love those works so much.

KNO @zealousheart — If Aquarius Galuxy is the “Papabay” of Nejiten fics, then KNO is the “Ghost Bananas”. KNO’s work is creative, light, complex, and meaningful. The best part is, if you compare the earlier works to the more recent ones, you can really see the difference in skill level and how much KNO has improved.

Goldberry — Do you need one-shots? Goldberry has plenty. Though there are only a couple stories, there are one-shot collections, drabbles, and a whole bucketload of one-shots I haven’t even got to. It’s pure Nejiten Heaven

NessieGG — More one-shots but guess what? They’re all AU one-shots! Now, this is Nejiten AU heaven!

needdl — All of needdl’s works are filled with fluff. They are adorable, sweet, yet some of them are sincere and romantic. 

Cyberwolf — There are so many short light drabbles from Cyberwolf, each an idea that seemingly came from random thoughts but ended up on FFN for all of us to read.

MOST OTHER AUTHORS MENTIONED IN THE SUGGESTED STORIES ALSO HAVE OTHER NEJITEN WORKS, JUST NOT AS PLENTIFUL OR MOSTLY NEJITEN AS THE ONES LISTED ABOVE. I SUGGEST YOU CHECK OUT THEIR PROFILES AS WELL!

#neji hyuga #nejiten fanfiction #fanfiction #tenten #team gai #Rock Lee #naruto #narutoverse #nejiten #neji #Maito Gai #might guy #raspberryfanfics