#i could embroider but i won't. for some reason | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

In Q3 of 2020, 31% of US users access the Tumblr app daily.

#i could embroider but i won't. for some reason

bookish-bogwitch · 3 days

Text

Hello! Thank you for the tags, @blackberrysummerblog @mooncello @monbons @artsyunderstudy @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @thehoneyedhufflepuff @nausikaaaand and @alexalexinii. You are wonderful!

Today I'm sharing an anxious plea for reassurance + a snippet of chapter 9 of Basil Pitch's Diary, posting June 7. Below the cut for spoilers and anxiety.

<ANXIETY> I'm working on chapter 10 now and friends, it's slow going. I still love this fic with all my heart, but chapters 1-9 I had mapped out more or less scene by scene months before I started posting, and before writing most of them. Writing them was like novelizing a movie I'd watched in my head a countless times.

For the rest of the fic, though--Ch 10-13--I had only broad strokes figured out. I knew the very ending, and a handful of key emotional beats along the way, but the connective tissue was basically "Collect Underpants ... ? ... Profit."

I've now plotted the rest out in reasonable detail, with help from the extremely kind and insightful @facewithoutheart and @thewholelemon. But I am a plotter to the core and it feels much scarier to be writing a story I just made / am still making up than one that's been living in my head for years.

Also, you guys: Chapter 9 is really fucking good. I'm really proud of it and excited to share it. And also scared that the rest of the fic won't live up to the promise of all I've set up. This fic is my baby and I just really want to nail it.

Intellectually I know I'm just swinging on the creative-confidence pendulum, and that future me will be able to write as well as past me. These doubts are just intrusive thoughts, skittering around my head like the mice that live in my walls. Harmless, but such a nuisance. </ANXIETY>

Anyway! Here are some sentences of Chapter 9, which, did I mention, is really good. Baz is finally going dancing with DeNiall.

“So, cousin. What’s your strategy?” I just raised an eyebrow and gestured at myself. My shirt was a perfectly cut navy so sheer that it read as cobalt over my pale skin. Climbing my chest were embroidered red and pink roses, between which you could clearly see my nipples. I’d changed out of Oxford cloth at Fiona’s. (I didn’t tell her I’d stopped in Blackfriars to drop off my grandmother’s furs and my grandfather’s Dickens.) Through my sleeve you could also see my mother’s wand holster, which my father now insists I wear whenever I leave the house. He’s also looking for a second dog. Something more territorial than Rusty, whose lick is worse than his bite. After the numpties he spent a week teaching me defensive spells. His skill surprised me, though it shouldn’t have. Once, when I was small, someone tried to mug him as we were leaving a theatre. My father didn’t panic or capitulate, just calmly kneecapped the man with a vicious Why me, why now.

Tagging @angelsfalling16 @brilla-brilla-estrellita @palimpsessed @cutestkilla

@comesitintheclover @confused-bi-queer @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @drowninginships @dragoneggos

@emeryhall @ebbpettier @aristocratic-otter @hushed-chorus @youarenevertooold

@ic3-que3n @shrekgogurt @ileadacharmedlife @ivelovedhimthroughworse @j-nipper-95

@katatsumuli @valeffelees @martsonmars @whogaveyoupermission @whatevertheweather

@messofthejess @nightimedreamersworld @alleycat0306 @raenestee @wetheformidables

@onepintobean @run-for-chamo-miles @skeedelvee @alleycat0306 @iamamythologicalcreature

@twokisses @shrekgogurt

#wip wednesday #my writing #basil pitch's diary #baz pitch #imposter syndrome #me being scared #malcolm being hot #america's sweetheart nancy kerrigan

47 notes · View notes

escherbug · 1 year

Text

YEAR OF THE GRUB: JANUARY

Project: Needle Felting with Wire Armature

CRAFT STORE RUNS: 2

(The sleepy but patient Lt. for scale)

This year I started a Master's Degree program in Entomology. I wanted to make sure I was still making fun things while I'm so busy (mostly reading papers and books), so I arranged a set of media-based projects centered around my favorite insect (scarab grubs), trying to complete the project by the end of the month.

I didn't quite make it this time because I ran out of supplies a couple times and made the project a good deal harder for myself than I thought, but I think that's okay. This is just for me, after all.

STEP BY STEP:

First, I used sculpting wire and a pair of pliers to twist the skeleton of the grub. I wanted to be able to move all the legs and the main line of the body. I thought I'd be able to get an easier anchor in on the felt if I covered the hard wires with pipe cleaners, but I was pretty much wrong about that.

Next, I felted a bunch of spare roving into the general shape I wanted, and felted the head and the back end of the grub on in brown. I also hand-sewed six little socks to cover the wires on the legs and secured them as well as I could to the rest of the body so they won't fall off at random. This came out messier than I'd have liked, but I think also that I should cut myself some slack for having designed and patterned most of this on the fly.

Next came felting on the bulk of the fatty, cream colored body of the grub. Part of the reason I didn't end up making my deadline was that I ran out of white/off-white wool roving, and was unable to find it in stock at any stores, so I had to order it online and wait for it to arrive in the mail (it absolutely did and honestly, the new stuff from Shepswool.com is way softer than the wool I was using and a softer color, so it was well worth the wait).

From here, mainly all that was left was detail work. I didn't get a ton of photos of this because all these steps ended up being my Sunday (day of posting), but I used a finer wire, the same pliers, and super sculpey to make gently posable antennae, mandibles, a clypeus and labrum (as well as a pair of maxillae that absolutely did not show up in the end, just much too small), baked the clay on the wires and then affixed them to the existing framework I'd set up on the head for most of the face. The mandibles are attached to the antennae, so they move together, and the clypeus/labrum and maxillae are held on by the wires supporting the mandibles. I also glued on some cute little eyes that came standard with my felting gear.

All that was left at this point was final detail work-- I didn't feel like embroidering on a ton of hairs in the end, but I embroidered on some spiracles and felted those little sclerotized buts near the head.

And voila! A needle-felted beetle grub about the size of a small ferret. Wouldn't it be nice if we had more grubs around this size?

Further notes:

1) it's nice to be making something big enough for once while felting that I didn't stab my fingers constantly! I only stabbed myself like twice.

2) I bought a multi-needle felting tool for this, but I didn't really find it helped much beyond having a safety cover. It was also super noisy to work with, so I ended up going back to using a single felting needle halfway through.

Catch you at the end of this month, hopefully having completed my February project: WATERCOLOR ILLUSTRATION!

#i get excited about bugs #year of the grub #YEAR OF THE GRUB 2023 #escherbug art #needle felting #felting #soft sculpture #beetle #coleoptera #scarabaeidae

1K notes · View notes

teaboot · 2 months

Note

Any ideas for how to get a Hawaiian shirt with custom text on it somewhere in a way that looks good? (supposed to be a band shirt for a mock band some friends and I made up)

It has to be a Hawaiian shirt for inside-joke reasons(tm)

But all shirts I can find are completely plastered with (lovely!) patterns, and just writing over that with fabric dye probably won't look very good, because of suboptimal colour contrast and the lack of a border between the text and the pattern.

Maybe I could sew a patch of fabric over the pattern and then put the text on that? But I fear that colour-matching the patch to the shirt will be difficult, and also I can't sew.

I tend to overthink stuff instead of thinking practical, and I don't have much experience with this kind of stuff, so any input, however obvious it might seem, would be appreciated :)

Iron-on transfer paper.

Example:

There is Light transfer paper, where the white part of the paper goes transparent upon ironing, and Dark transfer paper, where the white remains opaque. You need access to an inkjet printer, typically, but if you don't mind your lettering white you can buy dark fabric transfer paper, cut out the individual letters (mirrored), and iron them on like that to get plain white lettering.

Only downside is it'll crack over time, worse on stretch fabrics, but on a Hawaiian shirt it should be okay for a long while provided you wash and dry it on low heat.

You could also buy appliqué lettering, which are pre-made iron-on letters, usually embroidered, but transfer paper is cheaper and lighter tbh.

#Teaboot asks

134 notes · View notes

kurogane2512 · 6 months

Note

KURO!!! That one post you did about Chameleon (table fucking one 👀) got me feeling some type of way 😩. Would it be alright if i ask for a fic for it? Love all your works btw 🙏🙏

Oh boy this is really late but yes I wanted to write this for so long as well!!😩😩

post being referred to here

18+ CONTENT

Game: Path to Nowhere

Characters: Chameleon x gn!reader (reader has a cock)

Type: Smut (creampie, table sex, semi-public sex)

You didn't like attending official gatherings but as the Chief of MBCC you were obliged to attend a few, especially when your boss from 9th Agency would force you to attend. Here you sat on an empty table in the corner with a drink in hand and watched the influential people from Eastside indulge in their empty flattery and facades.

"Oh my, didn't expect to see my lovely Chief here~"

A familiar sultry voice spoke to you and you looked to the right to see one of your Sinners walk in. It was Chameleon, what was she doing here?

".....That should be my line, Chameleon."

"Hehe~ I see. So, she didn't inform you about me."

"You mean Langley? Ah, now it makes sense why she called you away these days. She didn't state any reason in the notice and I didn't bother delving further."

"Is that so? Were you happy to have me away from the Bureau? Have some of your burdens eased?~"

"It's not like that..... I just figured she needed you for some interrogations and I don't exactly have the authority to ask what she does."

Chameleon smirked then walked closed to you and leaned on the table, "Well, you aren't wrong about that. I was indeed called to investigate and interrogate some people. This party is also included in the mission."

"I see...." You hummed then discreetly trailed your gaze over Chameleon’s clothes, she was wearing a rather provocative dress that you had never seen on her before. A black skintight dress clinging to her curves with a netted embroidered top and a long skirt having a thigh high slit on the right and fur extensions on her sleeves. Her shining light brown hair were tied in a low slightly messy yet elegant bun, the strands pinned with a silver clutch and her signature red lipstick completed her stunning look.

"Ahem, Chief...." Chameleon called out causing you to snap out of your thoughts as she leaned near your ear to whisper, ".....Your thoughts are rather loud, Chief. Do you need some help to calm down?~"

Your eyes widened in shock realizing what she was implying. You didn't realize when your simple glance turned into staring, and when your appreciation for her appearance turned into sinful and downright unspeakable debauchery. And of course, she was well aware of them. You clearly let your guard down, and she was going to make full use of it. She sneakily moved her hand towards your crotch and palmed your semi hard erection, earning a low and stifled groan from you.

"C-Chameleon, not here. This isn't the place for it...."

"Relax, Chief. I can assure we are perfectly well hidden, and I won't let your dignity be exposed here~"

You swallowed thickly when suddenly she removed her hand and right then someone came to your table asking to take the chair in front of you away, you were going to deny but Chameleon acted faster and let them take it followed by her moving in front of you and sitting on your lap. Oh, this sly woman.

"How cozy, Chief. I feel your lap is much more comfortable than the chairs~"

Your face turned redder feeling her rub against your erection. On top of that, you didn't see earlier but her dress was backless..... her fair and smooth back was completely exposed to you, so much so that you found it hard to control your urges now. Chameleon glanced over her shoulder and could easily tell your flustered state, she was having so much fun with this. She sneakily grinded on your lap more and you had to keep her in place with your arms but that didn't help much.

"Chameleon, don't.... Anyone could see- ngh~"

"I'm sure you know how to keep quiet, Chief~"

You gritted your teeth and held her closely by wrapping your arms around her waist, your face was buried in her back and you hesitantly placed small kisses on her skin. She didn't expect that but was more than willing to do more, she looped her right arm around your head and pulled you even closer letting you nuzzle into her neck and place more kisses.

"Hmm.... you look beautiful. Why didn't you show me this dress earlier?" you whispered in her ear, continuing to lick and suck on her skin.

"Mmm.... there was no occasion to~"

"Yet you wore it here despite not knowing I would be attending. Or perhaps...." you paused then suddenly pulled her closer and snaked your left arm under her breast to cup it, "....You knew I would be here all along, didn't you?"

Chameleon softly sighed and arched into you, tilting her head back to lay on you shoulder while you toyed with her breast, "Mhm~ What makes you think I'd wear it for you? I think you are overestimating yourself, Chief~"

"There's nobody else in this party deserving to be your toy. You must have seen the guest list through Langley's subordinates and planned this."

"Hmm, I wouldn't say so. I did come across a few interesting people earlier; I would have chosen one of them easily~"

She was making you annoyed intentionally, you knew how much she wanted this.

"Yet none of them would satisfy you the way I do. Don't forget you are my Sinner, Chameleon."

Chameleon smirked; her provocation was working so well.

"Heh~ Just your Sinner, Chief? Is that all we are?~"

"You know what I want, but you don't want it. If this is how you want things to continue then I won't change it."

You bounced her on your lap slightly making her gasp in surprise and hold on to the table in front for support, giving you the opportunity to lean close and kiss her bare back more.

"Mmm.... becoming bold, aren't you, Chief? Do you want to do everything here in public? I don't mind, you did choose a convenient spot to sit in. Not to mention, if all things fail then I can make it seem that they never saw anything~"

"Hmph, why did I expect better from you?"

You let go of your hold around her and sat back in a normal position, she chuckled then stood up from your lap and rubbed your erection more before leaning near your ear to whisper, "Aww, don't be upset, Chief. I know a place where you can do whatever you want~"

You glared at her then she grabbed your wrist and both of you hastily yet discreetly made your way over to an empty conference room that was surprisingly unlocked and had no security around. There was a long table in the center with office chairs placed around it and a small couch in one corner, you assumed it was used for a meeting earlier that day and left to be locked after the party.

You watched Chameleon leisurely walk up to the long table and lean on it facing you before beckoning you to come closer. You gritted your teeth then swiftly walked towards her and pinned her on the edge, picking her by her left thigh and slotting yourself between her legs. She sighed and rested back comfortably, wrapping her left arm around your neck and leaning on the table with her right.

"So impatient, Chief. I know what you wanted to do the moment you saw me, it's commendable how much you held back up till now~"

"Your provocations are useless, Chameleon. Both of us know each other's thoughts well, you can't hypnotize me anymore and my shackles detect your power which lets me peer into your mind as well. I know you were aware I would be coming, and you wore this intentionally just for me~"

Chameleon softly chuckled then sneakily moved her hand towards your bulge and rubbed it then unzipped your pants, "Fine, you win, Chief. You should know I wouldn't dress this way just for anybody, you are the only one~"

You smirked then pulled her closer making your throbbing cock rub between her thighs, she sighed and wrapped her legs around you and directed your head on her breasts as well. Your hands caressed her exposed upper back while your lips placed kisses on her chest before removing the clothing from her breasts to suck on her hardened nipples.

"Mhm!~ C-Chief...." Chameleon moaned in a low voice before her hands fiddled to unbutton your pants and take out your cock, she pumped it a few times while you kneaded and pinched her breasts before swiftly turning her over, her back facing you now. You pushed her down on the table and flipped her dress up her ass then slid down her panties and rubbed your fingers over her folds.

"Hmph, you are the impatient one here, Chameleon. You are practically dripping~"

You leaned on her back and licked and sucked on her skin while fingering her folds, gathering up her slick and thrusting in and out a little to make her wet. She moaned so lovingly, her soothing voice filling your ears showing you how much she liked this.

"Oh, come on, Chief. Don't waste time now, you aren't better off yourself!~"

Making Chameleon desperate was a rare feat, but it was all the more rewarding to see her that way. The woman who thinks she has everyone in control becoming needy for you because she cannot control you- it turns on both of you to no extent. You finally lined up your cockhead with her cunt and slowly pushed in, both of you gasping together at the sensation then you sheathed in one go and hilted to the base.

A breathless moan left her mouth the moment you penetrated her, her body convulsing from the stimulation. Her walls immediately tightened and held onto your cock in a deathly grip, the feeling making you groan and slowly rut into her. You hissed through gritted teeth and began to thrust, grabbing her hips and pushing into her with all might. Her moans gradually turned louder as you pounded faster and harder, the sound of your skin slapping against her ass resounding in the room as well.

"Fuck.... you are squeezing me so tight. You wanted this more than I, didn't you?~" you questioned while continuing to thrust, earning a low chuckle from her.

"You want me to say it, Chief? You aren't satisfied with this?~" Chameleon looked over her shoulder and pouted mischievously; oh, how much you wanted to make her go crazy now. But she wasn't going to let you do as you pleased so easily; even if she couldn't hypnotize you like before, she still knew how to wrap you around her finger.

She pushed herself up on her elbows then suddenly thrusted back into you, your cock hit her deepest part yet and your eyes almost rolled to the back of your head. She smirked and did the same movement more, taking away control from you as you could only hold onto her hips and try to match her thrusts.

"Ngh.... you....why are you like this, Chameleon- haaahn~"

"Oh, but you love it, don't you, Chief?~

You gritted then held her waist firmly and stopped her movements then slammed into her deeply at once, a loud gasp followed by whimpers spilled from her lips as you drilled deep and fast. You squeezed and kneaded her butt then suddenly turned her over and hiked her up in your embrace. She wrapped her arms around your neck and you both lovingly gazed at each other before she moved in to passionately kiss you, taking you by surprise.

You kissed back passionately as well, your tongues moving in sync and tasting each other hungrily. You placed her on the table again and held her legs up to your shoulders then resumed thrusting into her, the sound of squelching and skin slapping became even louder than before. You gazed at her pleasured state beneath you, her breasts jiggling with every motion and her walls clenching around you.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door followed by someone speaking and asking if anyone was inside since the door was locked from inside. You had ensured to lock it the moment you came in but didn't think someone would come before you would be done, you thought this would be a quick encounter but you both had no idea how long you had been at it.

"Shit, they can't open the door from outside.... How will we explain?" you said in a tense voice as you stopped thrusting into her, and she didn't like that. She sat up and embraced you by wrapping her arms and legs around you then snuggling into your neck to whisper, "D-Don't stop, Chief. Answer him.... use your authority~"

"W-What?! Are you crazy? What do you expect me to say to explain why I'm here with you in a locked room all away from the party?"

"Mmm, I don't know. You could just say you are doing some work and don't want to be disturbed~"

You sighed then nodded, "Fine, then you better be quiet."

She nodded as well before gasping out in shock as you suddenly started pounding once again, more knocks and questions were heard from the door and she held you tightly then bit your shoulder to stifle her voice while you finally answered.

"It's the Chief of Minos! I'm sorry, I'm doing some urgent work and don't want to be disturbed- hnng~"

You hissed and desperately tried to hold your voice in the end from the pain of being bitten by Chameleon, the 2 men at the door apologized and left soon after then Chameleon released her biting as well and you both giggled at each other.

"Impressive, Chief. Look at you lying away just to have sex with me~"

"You speak as if you wouldn't do the same~"

Chameleon grinned then rested herself on the table by stabilising her body with her arms, signaling you to continue like before. And you did, but even harder this time. You held her waist and drilled like an animal in heat, both of you approaching your orgasms rapidly. The thrill of being almost caught definitely made you both more sensitive, you had felt her walls tighten around you more the moment the knocks came.

How cute. So, even Chameleon could be caught off-guard despite keeping her usual calm facade and acting as if she can control everything. You were going to have so much fun with her for the rest of the night.

"Aaaan~ Chief.... come on.... cum in me~ You want to, don't you! I know it, so give it to me!~"

"Take it! I'll fill you up so well!~"

You rutted a few more times then released your hot and thick cum inside her and soon after, she too released on your cock. Her body arched in your embrace feeling your cum seep inside and coat her walls alongside her own orgasm overwhelming her. You both laid panting for a while but continued not long after as she pushed on a chair and straddled your lap before taking your cock in deeply and riding you.

#path to nowhere #ptn chameleon #ptn x reader #ptn smut #chameleon #chameleon x reader #ptn chameleon x reader

188 notes · View notes

yellowocaballero · 2 months

Text

Ashen Wolf Byleth & Teen Dad Yuri

The blade fell, and the beautiful ghost stepped away. “We don’t like surface people here. If you two are plotting anything, I’ll kill you.”

She said it so simply and easily, as if Dimitri’s death would be the work of nature or the Goddess and not her own two hands. Dimitri turned around, heart jumping into the throat, and met the eyes of his beautiful ghost for the first time.

The girl was solid, real, and around his age. She was wearing a strange, bastardized version of the Academy uniform, silver and embroidered with a strange symbol over the heart. Her hair gleamed navy blue and her lace stockings barely hid her defined thigh muscles. Her grip on her sword was excellent and her stance spoke of barely restrained power. The woman could kill him in a flash, and the stroke that cut his throat would shine like moonlight.

Like Dimitri loved a long fall and short impact, like he loved the light at the end of the tunnel, like he loved betting all in on the longest chances, Dimitri fell in love instantly.

I need to update Weekenders but there's about twenty reasons why I haven't done it yet. But while I've been posting it I've been writing a shitton of other stuff, only some of which is decent, so I thought I'd post the beginnings of this story while I finish up the New Game+ Claude POV fic. This is most of what exists so far, and I probably won't finish it. Writing Dimitri's POV actively made me feel more insane as a person.

TW for references and flashbacks to Yuri's canon past. Around 15k of an absolutely demented Dimitri, a deeply smarmy Claude, a disturbingly feral Byleth, and a Yuri who is just doing his best under the cut.

Dimitri was rapidly growing obsessed with the beautiful ghost.

He tried to confess to his colleagues in the Blue Lions, but they just gave him sympathetic eyes and confiscated his training sword. A typical lack of faith in their leader, but Dimitri had to accept that it was well deserved. He was perfectly aware that Felix, Sylvain, Dedue, and Ingrid didn’t believe in ghosts, much less beautiful ones. Mercedes, Ashe, and Annette believed whole-heartedly in ghosts, but they thought he was being weird about it. So Dimitri was silenced, ostensibly for his own good. It was for his own good - future kings couldn’t exactly run around talking about beautiful ghosts - but it still felt like an odd form of betrayal.

And he still couldn’t get her out of his mind. If only he had proof, Sylvain would make fun of him just a little bit less. All he had to do was be patient and wait for his time to come. Sylvain would see. They’d all see.

The time came sooner than expected, with unexpected company. Dimitri and Claude were walking back from an important (Edelgard’s words) and mind-numbingly boring (Claude’s words) administrative meeting when he saw her again. They were walking a side path along the very edge of the monastery, using it as a shortcut between the main building and their own dormitory, and in the thick night their solitude was complete. Complete save for a shadow in the distance, darting from the forest and across the path like a minnow in a stream.

Dimitri dropped his books in shock. Claude stopped short, raising an eyebrow at him.

“What’s -”

“It’s her!” Dimitri cried. “That’s her! Hey - miss, please wait!”

The books and company were no longer important. Dimitri set off after her at a run, only barely aware that Claude was hot on his tail. As always, the ghost disappeared almost instantly - she crossed the path and dove into the tall shrubbery against the stone walls of the monastery, where she disappeared. Dimitri had seen her appear from the ground and disappear into walls before, only barely visible from the corner of his eyes, and every time she slipped like water from his fingers.

This time was no different. Dimitri skidded to a halt at her disappearing point, pushing aside thick branches in a desperate search for terrestrial beauty. There was nobody and nothing - the girl had walked straight into the monastery walls. Foiled again.

“Dammit!” Dimitri yelled. Claude’s eyebrows jumped up. “I was so close that time!”

“You know curse words? I owe Hilda a hundred gold.” Claude poked his head over Dimitri’s shoulder, watching his desperate search without helping whatsoever. “What was all of that about? Did you see someone?”

“Didn’t you?” But Dimitri already knew the answer, even as he said it - nobody ever saw her but him. “I’ve been seeing this girl since I arrived at Garreg Mach. She appears from thin air and disappears into nothing. I suspect she may be a ghost. I’ve searched high and low for her, but I haven’t been able to find her. And she slips through my fingers again!”

Claude hummed, scratching his chin. “Now that you mention it, maybe I did see a figure…”

Dimitri rocketed upwards, snapping several branches. He whirled on Claude, who took a large step back. “You did? Was she short, wearing silver clothing, unmistakably beautiful?”

Claude held up both hands in a plea for innocence. “...it looked kind of humanoid?” Figures. Dimitri turned back around, scanning the area again. If he could just follow her trail - maybe there would be a scent of death? Of ozone? Of the unknown? “Hey, if it matters that much to you then I’ll help you look. Can’t afford to rule anything out - even ghosts.”

“You’re a true friend, Your Grace,” Dimitri said seriously. Claude nodded back, equally seriously. “And even if she isn’t a ghost, an unknown person at Garreg Mach is highly suspect. She doesn’t seem to wear a habit, armor, or a uniform. It’s our responsibility as leaders to investigate mysteries like this.”

“Uh huh.” Claude slipped into the thicket with him, easily fitting into the barren spots where Dimitri already accidentally snapped off all the branches. Dimitri was already seriously knocking on the castle walls, searching for secret passages or weaknesses. “But not to tell a staff member?”

“I decided a while ago that I could handle this on my own,” Dimitri said stiffly. Wasn’t like anybody was willing to help him, anyway. “Some endeavors are personal.”

“I know that feeling.” Claude hummed, and Dimitri heard the distinct screech of metal scraping on metal. “So are you this invested because of the ghost thing or the beautiful thing?”

“With the potential non-invited guest at Garreg Mach thing, Your Grace.”

A terrible grinding sound split the night, and Dimitri winced. He was a bit sensitive to unexpected loud noises. Felix knew, and liked to sneak up on him and yell in his ear. “I’m a future duke and you’re a future king, Your Highness, I think you’re meant to speak less formally to me.”

“We’re both future leaders of our respective countries,” Dimitri said seriously. “Isn’t that more important than a discrepancy in titles? I’d like to show respect to you as it befits your station, not your title.”

More awful screeching filled the air, accompanied by a final grinding scream and a muffled thump. “Is that why you’re the only person who calls Petra ‘Your Highness’? I think that’s why you’re the only guy in this school she approves of.”

“Really?” Dimitri asked, pleased. Politeness always paid off! “I simply think it’s disrespectful to treat her as anything less than royalty simply because she is here as a political hostage - an outdated practice that I believe - I’m sorry, what’s that sound?”

“Oh, just opening a secret passage.”

“I see. I just think it’s an outdated practice that ought to be illegalized, and just between you and me I actually highly disapprove of - I’m sorry, a what?”

Dimitri turned around from his fruitless inspection of the wall for the first time and saw Claude squatting nearby. He had cut away the brambles surrounding the area with the tip of an arrow he pulled from somewhere, and a large manhole was resting on the grass next to him. He was currently sticking his head down a dark hole of indeterminable depth. Dimitri hadn’t even noticed a manhole!

Well. If the beautiful woman was a beautiful ghost, then she had undoubtedly gone through the wall. But if the beautiful woman was an everyday extremely attractive girl, then the manhole might be how she had escaped so quickly.

Finally, a lead! A path towards her! Dimitri did not know why he was a little disappointed. Was he secretly hoping she’d be a ghost? That would be a little impractical. Maybe he was just upset Claude had found it?

Claude popped his head back up, upside-down braid swinging back against his cheek. “Now isn’t this interesting?” For the first time, Claude seemed invested. “The sewer system doesn’t run underneath this path. So what’s an access point to the sewers doing right here?”

“...why do you know the sewer layout of Garreg Mach?”

“I’m a fan of a good mystery,” Claude said, completely ignoring the question. Perhaps. “How do you feel about a little exploration on this fine moonlit night?”

Oh no. Dimtiri abruptly felt a little anxious. “Your Grace, I don’t believe students are allowed in the Garreg Mach sewer systems.”

“What if it’s not the Garreg Mach sewer system?”

“That may be less allowed.” A little awkwardly, Dimitri added, “And I really wouldn’t want to accidentally break a rule and get in trouble.”

Claude gave him a look of blatant disgust. Dimitri hung his head in shame.

Finally, Claude took pity on him. He sighed and clapped Dimitri’s shoulder - once in camaraderie, twice in sympathy. “Your Highness. Are you really going to let some little rules get in the way of you and your soulmate?”

Dimitri perked up. Putting it like that…and he really didn’t want to look uncool in front of Claude, who was probably the coolest person at the school… “I suppose Lady Rhea would understand if it’s for the sake of love…”

“Attaboy.” Claude shoved roughly at Dimitri’s shoulder, pushing him into the hole. “Now let’s dive into the sewers. Lords first!”

Thankfully, Dimitri wasn’t obligated to fall down a hole face first. There was a wooden ladder descending downwards, warped and fragile from the damp air, and although Dimitri descended into the dark with no hesitation he had to force himself to move slowly and grip the fragile rungs with utmost care.

The darkness was absolute, and Dimitri and Claude navigated by feel. They climbed for what felt like ages, and Dimitri’s absolute concentration made the period of time span even longer. Claude prattled on above his head with some random thoughts and observations, but Dimitri was focusing too hard on the ladder to register what he was saying.

A boot knocked him on the head. Dimitri’s hands spasmed, crushing the rung into splinters, and his grip was completely lost. Dimitri bent backwards a terrifying foot before he righted himself and regained his balance, grabbing the side of the ladder and swinging himself heavily downwards. Of course, that broke the side of the ladder, and suddenly Claude was yelling a great deal of expletives as one side of his ladder began to slide downwards.

“Let’s readjust our approach,” Dimitri said mildly. He changed his grip to grab the two sides of the ladder, his metal gauntlets digging into the wood. “Get ready to slide, Your Grace.”

“Are you nuts -”

Dimitri kicked off, taking his feet off the rungs and loosening his grip on the sides. His slide downwards was alarmingly fast, and he could feel the musty air rise up to meet him. Claude was still yelling, his voice echoing up the empty tunnel, and a familiar wave of adrenaline rose to wash Dimitri’s mind clean.

He couldn’t help but grin. The wind tousling his hair, the swooping sensation in his stomach, the possibility of death and the high probability of injury - a recipe for excitement. Dimitri’s favorite sort of excitement - the sort that cleared out all of the nasty little thoughts that clouded his mind day to day, that made him forget all of his problems and memories and wounds and that focused him onto the present moment. It was a thrill that conquered all ills, and it was more or less the only time that Dimitri was ever happy.

His professor didn’t like that about him. Before Garreg Mach, Felix was the only person who was aware of Dimitri’s little addiction, but the Blue Lions professor had sniffed Dimitri out fast and never stopped giving him a hard time about it. Dimitri honestly didn’t think it was the professor’s business, but he knew they did not agree regarding that fact. It didn’t matter - Dimitri wasn’t about to change.

A light sprung from the darkness, and Dimitri immediately kicked his heels against the ladder and slowed his descent. The light brightened as Dimitri fell, and he was able to make out a hard-packed dirt floor just in time to bend his knees and soften his landing. The impact still rattled his legs down to the bone, but he hadn’t sprained anything.

Dimitri immediately jumped backwards, watching Claude come to the same conclusion and slow his descent. Unlike Dimitri, he didn’t stick the landing - he fell in an ungainly heap on the floor, gasping for breath and groaning. His hair was wildly mussed, and he looked a little green. His cape had ripped off his shoulders, and was currently hanging like a defeated flag several feet above their heads.

“What is wrong with you.”

Goddess, they’d be here all day. “You’re the one who kicked my head.” Dimitri wiped the splinters off his gauntleted hand, extending it down to Claude. Claude squinted at him in increasingly ill-hidden hatred. “Come on, have a little adventurous spirit. I thought you were here to explore the unknown?”

Claude pushed himself upwards, and Dimitri silently curled his hand and returned it to his side. Figured that Claude wouldn’t want to touch him. An expected reaction, honestly. “Sure I am. Now our way out of here is unknown too. Guess we have no choice but to press onwards.”

“I’ll lead the way,” Dimitri said - perhaps betraying the fact that he had no intention of going backwards. “I believe we’re already out of the woods. Look yonder - see the exit?”

There was, indeed, an exit. They had landed in a narrow rectangular room, and there was clearly a door at the far corner where the right wall intersected the back wall. Light shone from within, and Dimitri eagerly led them forwards towards the light.

He could even hear sounds, signs of life - the distant coursing of a river, and a familiar quiet symphony of sounds. They were the sounds of life - a soundscape of an ordinary day at the marketplace at the base of Garreg Mach, marked by shuffling feet and quiet voices.

“Is that people?” Dimitri whispered, excited. “What are people doing this far underground?”

“Is that people?” Claude whispered, incredulous. “Does Rhea know about this?”

“Perhaps they’re ghosts!”

But Claude just shook his head, and for the first time he seemed a little grim. He sped up, walking briskly until he overtook Dimitri. Dimitri fell back, letting him take the lead, and listened curiously as Claude muttered under his breath. Dimitri couldn’t make out the words at all - too quiet, perhaps.

“Ghosts!” Claude hissed. “Perhaps they’re ghosts, that’s fun, not dangerous -”

“Maybe they’re an army of ghosts,” Dimitri volunteered. Claude hissed something that sounded suspiciously similar to the Almyran term for the Fodlan ethnic group. He probably mishead. “Honestly, Claude, what happened to your thirst for adventure -”

“I thought I would get to see Dimitri Blaiddyd stomp through some sewers for an hour! I didn’t expect to stumble into real life people!” Claude stopped at the entryway, peering forward into the cavernous expanse beyond them. Dimitri stopped too. Quite involuntarily. “Holy - that’s a settlement! What is a settlement doing underneath - that’s a village! There’s no way Rhea doesn’t know about that. What else is that woman hiding?”

Dimitri coughed, frozen perfectly still. Cold steel kissed his neck. “Ah. Er. Some help?”

Claude ignored him, steadily working himself up. Dimitri had never seen Claude actually unbalanced before. It was unsettling. “Just when I thought I had five percent of that woman figured out, she pulls the rug on me again. I’ll never get anything good out of her this way. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I might have to fall back on the B&E plan -”

“Some help, Claude!”

Instantly, Claude said, “What B&E plan?”

“Don’t move,” the beautiful ghost said.

Claude turned around.

Dimitri had to assume it was the beautiful ghost. The sword was raised against his neck upwards, showing that the wielder had to significantly lift her arm to hold it. The voice was unmistakably a woman’s, light and delicate and young. It wasn’t ethereal - rather, it was solid, as solid as the steel against his skin - but there was still something otherworldly about it.

Claude stared at Dimitri, wide-eyed. His eyes traveled downwards - yes, the ghost had to be short - and he froze just as solid as Dimitri for a flat second before he relaxed. Over Claude’s shoulder, Dimitri could see the settlement stretching out before him - at the lean-tos and tents and shacks, at the people in rags milling about who were already beginning to stop and stare. The underground people were dirty, and the underground village was filthier. Dimitri immediately saw some elderly hugging the walls, and more foreigners.

Undoubtedly, Claude had seen what Dimitri saw. Claude was currently ahead of him - he was staring at the beautiful ghost with mouth agape, eyes wide. A hot flash of jealousy burst in Dimitri’s chest. Claude got to see the ghost’s face before he did! How incredibly unfair!

“Hello, there. Sorry for…uh, dropping in.” Claude slowly raised his hands, showing himself unarmed. Dimitri wondered where he had stashed his extra arrows. “We…come in peace?”

The sword at his neck flashed. It was well-kept, but clearly old and cheap. “Who are you with.”

“We’re not with anybody!” Claude said hurriedly. Bizarrely, he had immediately adopted an accent - a thick, regional Almyran accent, coarse and rough. “Please, ma’am, stay your sword. Don’t you have any idea who you’re holding hostage? He’s a very important person. If he goes missing your entire house will be endangered. It’s safest for everybody if you just let him go.”

The blade stilled. “...is he rich?”

“Oh, very! I know people who would pay thousands for his safe return!”

“What did I expect,” Dimitri muttered.

“And who are you?” the beautiful ghost asked. “Are you rich too?”

“I am but this man’s humble aide!” Claude said instantly. He bowed flamboyantly, with a distinctive Almyran flair. “A loyal and devoted servant am I, to His Royal Highness! My ten brothers and sisters wouldn’t have two coppers to scavenge together to pay a ransom, honest! Tell you what, tell you what - let me help!” Claude straightened, pulling out his most roguish and charismatic smile. “Let’s be friends, Fodlan beauty. Give me your demands, and I’ll deliver them straight upwards all the way to the top. I’ll be back with thousands! You can give the pale boy back later. If you want. How about it?”

The sword wavered. The ghost spoke again, her voice laced with doubt. “You’re both wearing the Academy uniform. Brother did say that the prince was attending school this year.”

“Beautiful and good intel sources! Surely you’ve heard of me, the Almyran vassal that follows around the prince and attends school with him?”

Dubiously, the ghost said, “Brother says that the vassal’s Duscuran…”

“I am disappointed that your brother cannot tell the difference between the Duscur and Almyran people!”

“It’s not like that…”

Claude promptly said something in - Almyran? When did Claude learn Almyran? The ghost said something back in Almyran, undoubtedly dubious. Claude pointed at Dimitri’s shoulder, showcasing Dimitri’s fine cape, and then at his own - and the distinct lack of yellow cape, which was probably still pinned to the ladder. The beautiful ghost murmured in assent - obviously Claude was a poor vassal, not a rich king, see his complete lack of cape.

The beautiful ghost said something, and Claude’s eyes sharpened. He grinned and bowed even lower - a vassal to a princess.

In the Fodlan language, Claude said, “Then His Highness and his loyal vassal would be honored to hold an audience with the lady’s esteemed brother.”

“You talk stupid.”

“You would really get along with my best friend, my lady.”

“I’m not your anything.” The blade fell, and the beautiful ghost stepped away. “We don’t like surface people here. If you two are plotting anything, I’ll kill you.”

Like Dimitri loved a long fall and short impact, like he loved the light at the end of the tunnel, like he loved betting all in on the longest chances, Dimitri fell in love instantly.

“Night night,” the love of Dimitri’s life said, before hitting him on the back of his head with the pommel of her sword, drawing black curtains over Dimitri’s eyes.

__________

Dimitri sat in an office. A rather inauspicious turn in this kidnapping saga.

He was sitting down because his head still hurt. He wished he was standing and showing his future brother-in-law the respect he deserved, but his future brother-in-law insisted that he tend to his probable concussion and sit. Dimitri wanted to protest - the man had already personally healed him, and his head didn’t hurt any more than usual - but the man seemed stressed enough, so Dimitri sat obediently in front of his desk. In an office. In an underground slum funded by the church. Which existed. Was that what taxpayer money was going towards?

Yuri explained the entire situation to him and Claude as he healed the bump and gash on Dimitri’s skull. For a given value of ‘entire’ - so far, Dimitri mostly just understood that the church organized a homeless encampment underground that accepted any members unconditionally and functioned roughly like its own little nation. The main encampment of Abyss was Garreg Mach itself - a basement floor of the monastery that had sunken into the ground after some unfortunate geographical events around seven hundred years ago. Dimitri wanted to ask if it was a possible problem that Garreg Mach was located in a sinkhole, but Yuri didn’t leave much time for questions.

The name of the slum was Abyss, and its inhabitants had little contact with the outside world. There were children in Abyss who had never stood in the sun, and infirm who hadn’t felt the sun’s warmth since they were well. Apparently the few inhabitants who regularly left Abyss used one of a series of secret passages in Garreg Mach, with entrances and exits that spanned the width of the monastery. These secret passages were very well-hidden, and an Abyssan well-versed in their usage could disappear and reappear throughout the monastery like…a ghost.

They didn’t have visitors very often. Not many people knew about Abyss, and strangely enough the people in the loop didn’t care to visit a damp, filthy underground slum. They had even fewer Academy students fall down manholes and stumble into this inverted land of wonder. Hence why the sight of Dimitri and Claude caused certain Abyssans to panic. With their swords.

These Abyssans were named Byleth, which was a lovely name. Potentially alliterative, too.

“Your Highness.” Yuri was gritting his teeth together. “I am…so sorry.”

“No harm done,” Dimitri said instantly. He wanted to express to Yuri that it was actually a great honor to be harmed by his sister, but he didn’t know how to say that in a normal way. “We were the intruders, after all. Byleth was just defending her home.” He turned to Byleth, who was standing stiffly behind her brother in a perfect match to Claude’s stiff stance behind Dimitri. Dimitri had barely taken his eyes off her, and yet she had failed to make a single facial expression. Fascinating. “Your swordplay was incredible, by the way. The way you held that sword to my throat was impeccable. I assume you’ve been professionally trained.”

“Here and there.” Byleth looked pleased, making Dimitri feel like a star. She pointed awkwardly at the silver sword at Dimitri’s hip. It was the same old sword Dimitri always had - some antique of the royal family, passed down from generation to generation. “I like your sword.”

Instantly, Dimitri said, “Thank you! Do you want it?”’

Byleth hummed. Yuri’s eyes widened a fraction, and Claude stifled a groan. “My sword is pretty old…”

“Here, take it.” Dimtiri immediately undid his belt and handed the sword over to her, belt and sheath and all. She held it up and admired it, testing its weight. Yuri’s jaw clenched. “Consider it my apology for following you uninvited into your home.”

Byleth nodded, twirling the sword easily in her hands. It was tremendously attractive. “Apology accepted. We’re even.” Her mouth twitched infinitesimally into something that may be loosely deemed a smile. Yuri’s eyes widened severely. “Thank you.”

Dimitri looked away, coughing. His face felt like it was going to melt off. “You’re welcome. It - ah, it suits you.”

“Do you think so?” Byleth asked, pleased. Perhaps. It was very hard to tell. Her voice was in a very strict monotone, but their deep spiritual connection meant that Dimitri could vibe these things out. “It does match my outfit.”

Dimitri would never be able to think of silver again without thinking of her. “I’m hono -”

“Your Highness.” Yuri’s voice hadn’t changed; nor had his words. His expression didn’t seem any different and his body language hadn’t shifted. But something about him was far now far less welcoming - something was different, all the same. “We’re very grateful for your gift, and for the forgiveness you’ve extended towards us regarding what happened. But it would be highly irresponsible of me to keep you here any longer. Abyss isn’t safe for somebody like you and your…vassal.”

“Khalid, sir.” Claude winked loudly at Dimitri, making absolutely certain that Dimitri understood that Claude was giving a fake foreign name. Yes, Dimitri picked up on that. “Really, wonderful place you have here. Very chic. Couldn’t possibly be that unsafe - if we had a good tour guide.”

Frostily, Yuri said, “I’ll have some scouts escort you back topside immediately. I’m certain Lady Rhea is looking for you.”

“It took her three days to notice that I tossed Lindhardt into a well, so I’m certain we have at least that long.” Claude leaned forward eagerly. “Who founded this place? Whose idea was it? Why is it underground?”

“Somebody who is no longer with us,” Yuri said, curt and even. “I’m the leader of Abyss now. And as the leader, it’s my responsibility to get future leaders of Fodlan back to their cozy beds.”

Claude flapped an easy hand. “Sure, let’s get the future leader of Fodlan back to bed. But this humble vassal’s awfully interested in this operation you’re running. Don’t suppose you could allow me to run around a bit? Check some things out? See your tax records?”

“I think even vassals have someplace to be, Khalid.”

“Why are you saying his name like that?” Byleth asked Yuri. She paused a beat. “Never mind. I don’t care.”

“There’s a great deal of places this vassal should be,” Claude said cheerfully, “but I think there’s only one place where I have to be.” He easily slid into the unoccupied chair next to Dimitri, leaning forward and folding his hands on Yuri’s desk. He had to nudge apart several scrolls of parchment and pieces of paper to do it - the man’s desk was stacked with forms, work, and quills. “Let’s put our cards on the table, huh? There’s a lot the church doesn’t tell us peons, Yuri. I’m willing to bet you know a lot of it. So in exchange for you telling me what you know, I don’t tell Lady Rhea what I know about a certain somebody trying to lop off the head of the future king of Faerghus. Sound good to you?”

Yuri crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, one thin purple eyebrow arching. “You have a lot to learn about the art of the deal, kid. What will Rhea say when she learns that Prince Dimitri and Duke Claude were out past curfew skulking around slums?”

“Duke Claude’s happily asleep in his warm bed, and every member of his House is sufficiently paid to corroborate that story.” Claude smiled winningly. “Khalid is a humble vassal interested in touring your fine slum. Khalid might also have some other gossip that you might be interested in.”

“Like what, kid?”

Claude’s grin widened. “I might tell you tomorrow morning. After my visit.”

Yuri was silent. His eyes flickered to Dimtiri, then to Claude. He glanced at his sister. “By, wait outside?”

Byleth nodded and exited the room. Dimtiri yearned for her achingly. But Yuri just straightened, face as blank and unreadable as his sister’s, and said something to Claude in Almyran.

For the first time, Claude was struck off balance. He looked at Dimitri, eyes wide, then back at Yuri. He said something empathetically, shaking his head, but Yuri just responded curtly.

In the Fodlan language, Claude said, “On the honor of my father and mother, no. I’m not trying to -”

“Really?” Yuri said. “You’re a novice at this con artist thing, kid. You’re too rich to do it well. Word of advice - don’t smile like you’re hiding something, smile like you’re keeping a secret.”

Claude pulled back a little, and Dimitri saw that he was almost pouting. “You don’t know me.”

“I know things about you that you don’t know about yourself.” Yuri looked at Dimitri, expression gentle and soft and bland. Like sheep’s wool, or dandelion fluff on the breeze. “Do you want to hang around Abyss a little longer too, Your Highness?”

Images of Byleth wielding his silver sword, flicking the blade in a deadly dance, spun through Dimitri’s mind. If he left Abyss now and never saw her again he would lose what little scrap of will to live he had left. Dimitri couldn’t keep losing good things. He was running out.

“Yes!” Dimitri said - a bit too quickly, a bit too empathetically. He coughed, forcing himself to settle down. “I mean - yes. As a future ruler, I should see how the other half lives. It’s important for a ruler to understand the needs of all of his people.”

It was perfectly true. It wasn’t what he was thinking, but it was perfectly true. Dimitri had the faint notion that perhaps he and Claude were missing the point of something important, something much bigger than them - than Claude’s secrets or Dimitri’s love story - but the allure of secrets and love was fairly overpowering at the moment.

Easily, as easily as he said everything else, Yuri said, “My sister’s not on the market to entertain you. I can steer plenty of other lovely ladies or gentlemen your way, but she’s a little busy with her own work.” Yuri tilted his head, looking at Dimitri through half-lidded eyes. Dimitri flushed a little. “If you insist, I’d be happy to spare some time for you. But I’m afraid my sister is just too busy.”

Claude stood up, chair skidding against the hard stone. “I just put my family’s name on this! As -” Claude said something quickly in Almyran, which completely flew over Dimitri’s head. “ - I am vouching for Prince Dimitri. I wouldn’t even say that for me, but I can sure as hell say it for him. You can trust us.”

Yuri’s face was unchanged. “I’ve heard that one before.”

And although Dimitri didn’t understand half the conversation - although he knew that there was subtext he wasn’t getting, that there were things about the world he just couldn’t see - he understood the right thing to do well enough for now. Standing in the midst of Abyss, it was clear.

Dimitri stood up, bowing low at Yuri. “I apologize for our intrusion. I see that my classmate and I have overstayed our welcome. I have no desire to add to the heavy burdens you and your village already bear. Please, if you can help escort us back to the surface, we’d be very grateful.”

When Dimtiri straightened, he saw a peculiar look on Yuri’s face. It was a little thoughtful, and a lot of another foreign emotion. “What will you do now that you know we’re here?”

“Ask Rhea how we can help,” Dimitri said immediately. Left implied: and confess to our wrongdoings, like good children. “Or you, if you’re amenable. Abyss is not located within my lands, but I am aware that many places like Abyss reside in the darkness of Faerghus. If I can do anything for you now - learn what you can teach me - then I consider it education on how to provide for my subjects in the future.”

“He’s sincere,” Claude said firmly. He stood up too, thumping his heart with a closed fist. “I haven’t been sincere since the poisoned fig incident, but I can swear too. We just want to help. So let us help - it can’t be every day you have two future leaders of Fodlan asking you what we can do for you.”

Yuri stared at them for a long few seconds, expression glazed smooth and unreadable, before he finally sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “And I suppose you want my sister as a tour guide.”

“You just said she’s busy,” Dimitri asked, tilting his head in confusion. “I assumed she wouldn’t be available to show us around.”

Yuri narrowed his eyes - damn, the man was impeccable. Dimitri had attempted one subtle fib and he was caught out immediately. But the lie served its purpose, and something subtle in Yuri’s shoulders untensed. Dimitri hadn’t realized that they were tense at all.

Yuri opened his mouth and said -

“Boss! Did we really kidnap the prince of Faerghus?”

The door thumped open with such immense force that it smacked against the far wall. A truly giant man strode inside, followed closely on his heels by a blonde woman wearing an unsettling smile and a short dark-skinned woman picking at a cuticle. On the tail end of the party was Byleth. She nodded at Dimitri, who nodded back in a daze.

“I told them you were busy,” Byleth said serenely.

“Yeah, busy with His Royal Highness!” The large man stopped in front of Dimitri and carefully scrutinized him from head to toe. Dimitri allowed himself to be scrutinized. “Damn! What are they feeding you Academy kids these days? You’re solid muscle. Not as much as me, but not bad either!”

Dimitri fought the urge to sweat. The women flanked the big guy, blinking at him curiously. “I train frequently.”

“Really? Guess Bye-Bye’s found another freak.” The dark-skinned woman yawned, nodding at Byleth as she stood at her brother’s side. “You should hang out. Hit each other with swords or whatever.”

“Greetings to His Royal Highness and friend!” the blonde woman yelled, almost at the top of her voice. She put her hands on her hips, lifting her chin in the air. “Welcome to the home of Constance von Nuvelle! Our decor may be lacking, but our hospitality is second to none!”

“Really?” the other woman drawled. “I think the rats add some pizazz.”

“Silly Hapi! The rats are disgusting!”

“Bye-Bye eats garbage too, but we don’t give her a hard time about it.”

“Hospitality, huh?” Yuri smiled, and for the first time it seemed a little real. “Balthus, obviously you don’t have anything more important going on. Can you host our two noble young visitors? Who we didn’t kidnap?”

“We were a little kidnapped,” Claude said.

Balthus grinned, propping a hand on a hip. “I dunno, are you paying me?”

Quickly, Dimitri added, “We’ll compensate you for your efforts, of course.”

“Wait,” the dark-skinned woman asked the room, “are we holding you hostage? Because it sounds like we’re holding you hostage.”

“Sold, kid!” Balthus thumped a friendly hand on Dimtiri’s back. He didn’t stumble, which seemed to shock Balthus before he withdrew his hand and quickly covered up the motion. “You look like a good hand with a weapon. Not you, Almyran guy, you look like a wimp.” Claude narrowed his eyes, but Balthus just looked backwards at Byleth. “You should spar with our new friend, Byleth. I’ll finally get to see you knock a different musclehead on the ground!”

Constance squealed, clapping her hands. “Byleth and the new children can play together! Oh, how heartwarming! Socialization is a rare opportunity for Bylie indeed!” She looked at Yuri and stage whispered, “We cannot afford to lose this chance, Yuri!”

“Byleth doesn’t know a lot of kids her own age,” the dark-skinned woman told Dimitri and Claude. “She’s…a little awkward.”

Byleth blinked at them.

“Wow,” Claude muttered, “you don’t say.”

“I forgive you for holding a sword to my neck,” Dimitri said earnestly. “You were doing the right thing.”

“Seriously, are we holding you hostage or not?”

Yuri’s eye twitched. But his posture had fully loosened, and the presence of the strangers seemed to make him breathe a little easier. “We aren’t. And Byleth isn't a puppy we need to socialize, Hapi. You know how noble boys are.”

“Noble boy and his loyal vassal,” Claude added quickly, sticking stubbornly to the bit. Dimitri had no idea why, but Claude rarely vocalized his reasons for doing anything. “What do you think, Byleth? Want to hang out with us, or want to stay with your brother?”

Byleth stared at both of them unblinkingly. Finally, after a long few seconds of thought, Byleth said, “I want to train with Dimitri.”

Hapi shot a canny look at Yuri. “Balthus’ll supervise. Connie and I too, if you want.”

For a long second Dimitri thought Yuri was going to say no anyway. Dimitri would have accepted it. It would have robbed Dimitri of the only good thing left in his life, but he would have accepted it. Good things came and left all of the time, and part of life was learning how to deal with that. Dimitri liked to fancy himself an expert in it. He could lose one more thing - one flash of hope.

But Yuri only sighed. “Alright. Supervised. Now get out of my office, all of you, I’m far too busy to juggle nobility on top of everything else.” Claude perked up. “All of you. You want to talk about Rhea - we’ll do it after dinner.”

“Understood!” Claude bowed at Yuri again, and Dimitri hastily copied him. “You won’t regret opening your doors to us, sir!”

“Uh-huh.” Left unsaid - he definitely already was. “Out of my office, then. I’ve been away for too long and I have a lot of work to catch up on.”

Byleth tilted her head, a frown tugging at her lips. “You should leave less often. Your work piles up. It stresses you out.”

Yuri gave her a big smile, as if he was keeping a secret. “But if I don’t leave, I’ll never experience the joy of seeing you again.”

“You’re corny, Yuri.”

“Love turns even the best of us into cornballs.” Yuri and Byleth shared a look, empty and opaque, but in that blankness Dimitri saw something far deeper than he had ever experienced. “Just look at Constance. Every time she looks at herself in the mirror she gets sillier.”

“Excuse me, my sweet Yuri -”

“You’re excused, my darling Constance.”

“Must we fight,” Hapi panned, monotone and disinterested. “We’re a family. Look. You’ll make the baby cry.”

Byleth blinked at Hapi. “But I can’t cry.”

“Look. You’ll give the baby psychological issues.”

Balthus laughed again, cracking his knuckles with a pop that echoed throughout the cramped office. “This’ll be fun! It’s been a while since we’ve had a good adventure, eh Yuri?”

“Yes,” Yuri said, “that’s altogether what I’m afraid of.”

Truthfully, at that point Dimitri was no longer listening. He was just looking at Byleth, the girl who could not cry. And Byleth looked back at him, the boy whose heart was always crying. They saw each other, the heart-burdened and the heartless, and something in one reached out to balance the other.

And although the weight of the world above them crushed Dimitri’s shoulders, although they stood within damp and filthy slums tucked into the bowels of the planet, for those precious few seconds Dimitri and Byleth existed in the world with no obligation to anybody but each other.

_____________

ii.

Yuri was sitting in this bathroom fruitlessly scrubbing blood out of his one good outfit when he received word that Lady Rhea was requesting an audience. Because it was Rhea, he also received word that she was already waiting for him in the destroyed classroom.

Damn it! He had just returned! And he didn’t have anything to wear!

In the end, he was forced to keep Lady Rhea waiting another fifteen minutes because he had to dig out an older, rattier outfit and re-do his makeup. Approach: ‘I’m in my twenties, my stare is cold and piercing, and damn it I belong in this conference room’. Then he had to waste another five minutes because his hair was a wreck and his hands still smelled like blood. By the time he finally speed-walked down the halls and skidded to a stop in front of the classroom doors Yuri was twenty minutes late and already fighting the urge to freak.

As always, he halted at the doors. He took a deep breath in, then out. His outfit was dingy, which made him feel like crap, but the power makeup helped pick up the slack. He inhaled, exhaled, shook out his limbs, and entered the classroom.

Rhea was standing in front of a blackboard, her back turned to the door. She was dressed in an old brown cloak, but with the hood down and her beautiful green hair left to flow over her shoulders the figure was unmistakable as Rhea. She was writing in beautiful and flowing script on the blackboard with a piece of stubby chalk, and speaking in a low voice to the child standing next to her. The child was staring up at her, eyes wide, chewing on a knuckle. Th child’s dark blue hair was pulled into a stubby ponytail, and she was wearing only a tattered black dress and swimming in a brown jacket sized for a large adult man.

“ - your name. See, this is the B…like ‘bye’. Can you say ‘bye’?” The child blinked owlishly up at Rhea. “That’s alright. You’ll get it. You’re doing a great job already.”

Yuri coughed, and Rhea quickly turned around. With a strange start Yuri noticed that she was dressed down even more than usual, her face plain and wearing only a simple white dress underneath the cloak. Without her own makeup, she seemed tired. She smiled wanly at Yuri, who bowed back. The child turned around too, gnawing fastidiously at her knuckle.

“Yuri. I’m sorry to call upon you again so quickly after your return. Did all go well?”

“The job was done.” Deepen your voice, sound older - sound disaffected, yet sincere. Yuri wondered if he would ever live long enough that he could stop pretending to be older. “The deceased is no longer a threat to the church.”

“He was a threat to the safety of Fodlan,” Rhea said firmly. Yuri wasn’t sure about that one, but he did appreciate Rhea’s conscientious efforts to only toss absolute bastards into his pen. “I’m afraid I must ask something of you yet again, Yuri. This is important. I cannot fully disclose to you why this mission is so important, but please trust me when I say that this is a matter extremely close to my heart.”

Yuri straightened, folding his hands behind his back. He wanted to die a bit. Another important mission? As if managing Abyss, captaining his rogues, and assassinating bastards weren’t enough missions?

How long would she keep punishing him?

But Yuri just bowed. It was no effort at all to keep his expression placid. “I can accomplish any mission you give me, my lady.”

“I know. That’s why I’m trusting you with this.” Rhea put both hands on the girl’s shoulder and squeezed. The girl squirmed uncomfortably. You and me both, kid. “Yuri, this is Byleth. Byleth, this is Yuri. Why don’t you say hi?”

Byleth stared at Yuri, gnawing on her finger. Somebody probably ought to slap those knuckles with a ruler. She wasn’t a young child - twelve or thirteen, perhaps - but the habit and the wide eyes made her seem younger.

Yuri gave her his special ‘talking to vulnerable kids’ smile. “How do you do, my lady?”

Byleth stared at Yuri. A theme.

Rhea frowned, squeezing Byleth’s shoulder one last time before dropping her hands. “She hasn’t talked much since it happened. She…doesn’t seem to remember anything.”

“Anything about what happened?”

“Anything at all. She can’t seem to recall anything about her family or her life. Darling, you ought to get your knuckle out of your mouth.” Rhea ducked her head, staring steadfastly at Byleth. The girl slowly dropped her knuckle from her mouth, looking a little spooked, before Rhea lifted her head again. “Byleth here was kidnapped. There are…some forces in Fodlan that place great value in Byleth. I don’t know how they learned about her, but they haven’t left her in peace since they found out. They’ve tried to kidnap her several times, but their latest attempt was successful. The Church knights were only able to rescue her two days ago. The knight who rescued her brought her to me immediately, and now I must bring her to you.”

“Have you spoken with Aelfric about this?”

“Of course. He’s already given his consent.” Rhea’s eyes glimmered strangely in the light. Sometimes the only emotion from that woman Yuri could truly understand was the dark depths of her sadness. “Discretion is of the utmost importance. The people after her will not give up.”

Ah. Yuri understood. “Does she have a valuable crest?”

Rhea put a hand on Byleth’s head, slowly stroking her hair. Byleth went cross-eyed looking upwards and gawking at the hand. “Byleth is a very special girl.”

Alright, so don’t tell him. “You want to hide her and her family in Abyss?”

But Rhea just shook her head, expression mournful. “Byleth is an orphan. She will be alone in Abyss. That’s why I must ask for your help, Yuri.”

In the girl’s big dark eyes Yuri saw only trouble. Abyss sheltered plenty of people in hiding, but the people after Byleth seemed to be on a different level. If hiding the girl here brought danger into Abyss, then…

Then she was still a girl who needed help. Yuri would deal with any danger as it came.

“Madame Birch will be happy to take her in.” Yuri smiled at Byleth again, taking care to crinkle his eyes and gave it positive energy. “My friend Madame Birch takes care of kids just like you, Byleth. She’ll be so excited to meet you. I know some girls her age in your house who’ve been begging me for another friend.”

But Rhea just shook her head, expression somber and firm. “The forces after Byleth are powerful. I need to place her with the strongest person in Abyss - the person most able to protect her. That’s you, Yuri. Please take her yourself.”

Ah. What?

For the first time, Yuri had to fight to keep his expression and tone still. “My lady, my workload frequently takes me out of Abyss.”

“Then I can reduce your workload.”

That perked Yuri’s ears. He was a fool for not recognizing it immediately. Rhea was desperate. Her emotional involvement in this was far greater than keeping a tool out of the hands of the enemy. Byleth had to be family somehow - maybe even a secret daughter. Having a secret daughter of Lady Rhea in Yuri’s back pocket…under his exclusive supervision…

It was a death knell if anything happened to the kid. But the leverage was too good to pass up.

Fuck, he could even negotiate right here and now. He ought to send Byleth out of the room for this, but it was important that she understood what was happening and why. As much as she seemingly could - the girl may be a little touched. It didn’t matter, obviously, but it would necessitate a change in approach.

“Well,” Yuri said slowly, “the greatest distraction from Abyss would be my jobs. I would like to stay in Abyss full-time. Give her a more consistent upbringing.”

Rhea’s eyebrow quirked upwards, but Yuri was unrepentant. She knew what she was doing by looping him in. “I’ll reduce the quantity of jobs I assign you.”

“To once every four months, perhaps.”

“Once every two.”

“That would be highly detrimental for Byleth’s childhood development.”

Evenly, Rhea said, “Going forth, I will give you a job every three months at maximum. Is that a deal?”

That was fucking fantastic. Yuri was almost lightheaded, but he pressed on. “Sounds like a deal. But raising a child is no simple matter, my lady. Child-proofing the environment, educating her, feeding her…Abyss is run on a razor-thin budget. The expenses concern me.”

Rhea sighed. “I will funnel more money into your personal budget to compensate for the expense.” Yuri waited patiently. “And into the Abyss orphanages. Anything else, Yuri?”

She could be such a sucker sometimes. Sometimes Yuri wondered if she let him do it. Definitely not. Probably not.

“I’m satisfied. You’re as generous as always, Lady Rhea.”

“This is in exchange for Byleth’s safety.” Rhea’s expression sobered, the soft silk solidifying into stone. “In exchange for what I’m giving you, I need her safety absolutely guaranteed. Nothing can happen to this girl.”

“No need to fret, my lady. Abyss is the safest place in Fodlan. Nobody even knows we exist.” Yuri bent down a little, smiling at Byleth. She had regained access to her knuckle, and was chewing it fastidiously again. “What do you say, Byleth? Want to go home with me?”

If the girl wasn’t touched, she must have understood. She must understand that the woman who would not admit to a relationship with her had just bartered for her residency with a teenage assassin, den mother, and prostitute. All things considered, the price had been insultingly low.

Byleth just stared at him. Alright, maybe she didn’t understand. That would make this harder. Yuri really should have asked for more money. Teach the girl the first and most important lesson of her new life: that you should never sell yourself for less than what you were worth. Or market value, if you couldn’t get any buyers otherwise. Maybe this was just market value.

Smile, Yuri. Smile. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together, Byleth.”

Byleth blinked. At least she was a quiet child. This would be easy.

______________

This was impossible.

This was shit. Absolute and complete shit. Why wasn’t she like Bernadetta? Yuri had thought she would be like Bernadetta. All Bernadetta did was nap, read, exhaustively detail the plot of her book, and cry. Byleth couldn’t even read. Apparently, when children couldn’t read, they decided to follow you around instead.

Everywhere. She followed him everywhere. When Yuri sat in the small storage room he co-opted as an office she crawled underneath his desk and swiped at his ankles. When Yuri visited the rogue’s encampments and gave the leadership its newly tightened security measures, she ran around the training field and started waving wooden training swords around. It took three rogues to wrest a sword from her. When Yuri made the rounds of Abyss and talked to its citizens, hearing every problem and offering every condolence he could, she hovered at his heels and gawked at every conversation with wide eyes.

It was like having another googly-eyed shadow. Yuri didn’t have five seconds to himself anymore. He couldn’t even visit the tavern and unwind by flirting with one of his regular hook-ups - something about having a thirteen year old (twelve? Fourteen?) hovering at your elbow really killed your game. This must be what the older girls used to refer to as cockblocking.

Byleth still hadn’t said a word. She observed, but never really listened. Still couldn’t read or write. She could catch the rats scuttling around the gutters with her bare hands. The girl may be touched. Which, again, didn’t matter - but it made it extraordinarily difficult to convey to her the importance of ‘me time’. Or ‘don’t eat that’. Or ‘put down that sword’.

It was official. Byleth was a demon. Figured that the wolf in sheep’s clothing would spawn a feral little wolf cub. Yuri should have charged more.

At least Aelfric had his back. The cardinal had little time to sneak down into Abyss, but he had begun sparing whatever time he could towards playing with Byleth. Aelfric practically begged Yuri to allow him to spend time entertaining Byleth, saving Yuri from the effort of begging Aelfric to take her. Last time Yuri checked, Aelfric spent their time together teaching Byleth her letters in the destroyed classroom. And thank the goddess for that.

“I don’t understand why she didn’t ask me,” Aelfric said, for roughly the hundredth time. They were sitting at a stone desk in the classroom, eating a coarse but filling breakfast. Byleth was cramming a hunk of bread the size of her face into her mouth. “I have my duties, but I would have gladly forfeited them for the sake of this child. You’re barely more than a child yourself, Yuri -”

Yuri couldn’t help but bark a sharp laugh. “You do realize that you and my mother are the only people who have said that in a decade.”

“That doesn’t make it untrue,” Aelfric said gently. Yuri ducked his head, focusing on pressing a napkin into Byleth’s hands and directing her to wipe her own face. There was no way this girl even knew how to do her makeup. Ridiculous. “Rhea shouldn’t have put this responsibility on you. I don’t know what she was thinking, honestly.”

That made Yuri feel a little defensive. Byleth pushed away her plate, gnawing on her final hunk of bread, and Yuri pulled over her writing tablet. Aelfric had even sprung for a few pieces of paper and pencils dyed bright colors. Yuri hurriedly placed the paper and pencils in front of her. Last he remembered, drawing was an activity favored by younger children, but Byleth couldn’t exactly partake in the age-appropriate activities of gossiping, bullying other girls, sewing, or reading. Goddess, did she even know how to sew or embroider? Yuri would have to teach her.

“I could beat anybody in Abyss in a straight fight,” Yuri said. He hoped his defensiveness didn’t show. It was a little harder to hide with Aelfric. “Even you. More importantly, I know how to be stealthy and hide myself and others. I know the Abyss system like the back of my hand. As far as Abyssans go, I understand why Lady Rhea thought I was the best choice.”

“I’m not doubting your talent, Yuri,” Aelfric soothed, “I just don’t understand why Rhea couldn’t have put Byleth in the care of an adult. You have enough responsibilities of your own without adding another one on the heap.”

Yuri bristled. “I’m almost eighteen.”

“Eighteen with the burdens of a thirty year old.” Aelfric sighed, and Yuri guiltily subsided too. It wasn’t right to get defensive at Aelfric. After everything the man did to help him, he at least deserved the benefit of the doubt. “I just want you to enjoy what remains of your youth. There’s a sweet nun volunteering at the orphanage -” Yuri groaned. “Yuri, why can’t you hear me out on this?”

“You’re always going on about finding a nice girl, Aelfric -”

“Because you’re re-traumatizing yourself with all of these men,” Aelfric said patiently. Yuri looked down at his hands, restraining himself from picking at a manicured cuticle. “Look at you, Yuri. You haven’t changed any of your habits. You’re still trying to appeal to men. You have to begin to heal.”

There was something heavy and old in Yuri’s chest. It was a burden that never grew lighter - a pain that never retreated. The best he could do was ignore it. But Yuri kept picking at it all the same. “It’s not my fault that men continue to approach me.”

“But it’s your responsibility to turn them down. And men wouldn’t approach you so often if you didn’t wear all that makeup.”

When Yuri spoke, his voice was quieter than he expected. He had wanted it to be louder, stronger. But something had cut it down. “It’s not for them…”

A small, bony finger poked Yuri’s side.

He looked over at Byleth, who was staring at him with her usual wide, serious eyes. She picked up her picture and presented it to Yuri, who took it and inspected the image carefully.

It was of them. The girl was a far better artist than he expected, and although the proportions were a little wonky Yuri could clearly recognize all three of them. They were sitting on crates outside of a tent - a tent that resembled the ones in Abyss, but was more reminiscent of a standard issue mercenary’s tent. Yuri was drawn with great care, sitting straight backed on the crate and staring straight at the viewer. His makeup was exaggerated and poorly applied. Aelfric sat on Yuri’s left, wrinkles clearly outlined and his blood-red habit engulfing his figure. The red lines on the habit seemed closer to bloodstains.

In comparison to the rest of the drawing, Byleth’s figure was remarkably undetailed. She only drew the faint outlines of herself, with a few expressive lines demarcating an abstract face. The greatest level of detail was in the giant brown jacket she never took off - the careful impressions of its stitches and metal buttons were a strange contrast to the ghost wearing it.

“This is excellent,” Yuri said, genuinely impressed. Sometimes it was easy to think of her as younger than thirteen-or-so, but at other times her true age was perfectly obvious. Even the ghostly Byleth felt more like an artistic choice. “I like your usage of color. It’s very powerful.” He pointed at a spot in the upper left of the page, tucked in the corner closest to Byleth and furthest than everybody else. It was just a tight swirl of green pencil - the gradient of density between the thick middle and loose outsides giving the green a strange halo-like impression. “Is this the sun?”

Byleth gave him a disgusted look. Yuri could guess: ‘the sun isn’t green, moron’. Potentially: ‘what sun? What’s a sun? I know only the Depths’.

“Then what is it?”

Byleth tugged the drawing away from him, replacing it on the table and attacking the page with a pencil. Chewing the edge of the pencil, mind working furiously, she carefully wrote out a word. She stared at the word, scratched it out, and then tried again. She put down her pencil, nodded in satisfaction, and showed it to Yuri again.

He squinted at the page. In messy, juvenile script underneath the halo - with an arrow carefully drawn towards the halo, in case he missed the reference - she had written ‘SOHTHESE’.

“Sohthese?” Yuri asked, hiding confusion. “Is that a friend of yours?” Byleth shook her head. Then she nodded. “Is…that a yes or no?”

“She’s making great progress, but her spelling needs work. Let me see.” Aelfric held out a hand, and Yuri silently passed him the page. Aelfric took one look at the page and his eyebrows jumped. “I think she means ‘Sothis’. Is that correct, Byleth?” Byleth nodded vigorously. “Where did you hear that name, Byleth? I don’t think I ever told you that.”

Wait. That name was a little familiar. “Is that the name of a saint?” Yuri asked. “I didn’t know you were giving her catechism classes.”

“I’m not. And it’s the name of the Goddess herself. It’s not very well used - typically only scriptural scholars use it with any regularity.” Aelfric frowned down at Byleth, and for the first time his expression seemed troubled. “Where could you have heard that word…?”

“Wow,” Yuri panned, “I wonder where the secret daughter of Lady Rhea heard the name of the goddess. The world may never know.”

“Please, Yuri, be serious.” Aelfric was still frowning, staring at the paper intently. Byleth gestured for him to give the paper back, but he didn’t seem to notice. He just stared and stared at the paper, walking mental paths far beyond the provincial little world of Yuri and Byleth.

“Aelfric, I think she wants the paper back.”

“What? Oh, yes.” Aelfric looked up, still somewhat dazed. “Could I potentially keep this, Byleth?” Byleth shook her head no. “I see. That’s alright, then.” He passed it back, and Byleth tugged it firmly out of his hands. She replaced it on the table, smoothing it over carefully.

“I didn’t figure you for the religious type,” Yuri told Byleth. Byleth shrugged. “Are you going to become a nice nun too?”

“There’s nothing wrong with marrying a good woman and settling down,” Aelfric scolded lightly. “A home and a family is the greatest joy a young man can have. If you don’t change your behavior, you’ll never find happiness. I’m only worried about you.”

An extensive, agonizing rip split the air.

Byleth was holding up the carefully constructed drawing in clear view of both men. Making direct and unblinking eye contact, she looked at Aelfric and ripped the paper straight down between Yuri and Aelfric. Yuri and Aelfric stared at her in shocked silence as she finished cruelly ripping Aelfric from the paper, balling up his figure in one clenched fist and carefully replacing the cropped page on the table. Yuri, Byleth, and Sothis looked very happy together. Aelfric’s face was split in half.

Silence burdened the room. Aefric and Yuri gaped at Byleth in pure shock. Byleth happily took a blue pencil and began threading in streaks of blue in the green halo.

A bark of laughter escaped Yuri’s chest. His chest was light and full, and the thick iron bars that held his broken pieces together loosened and allowed him to breathe. Another burst of laughter escaped the abandoned prison, then another, and then the inmates began running the asylum. Yuri began wheezing, clutching his own stomach as he laughed uncontrollably.

Then Byleth laughed too, a light and ugly snort. It was the only sound he had ever heard from her. After weeks, the first and only sound Yuri had ever heard from Byleth was laughter. No tears, no screams of pain, no words begging for help, no moans for food - just laughter. A small smile painting the face of the girl as silent as death.

Yuri and Byleth, two prisoners unrestrained for the first time that they could remember, laughed together in defiance.

In the end, Byleth had given the picture to Yuri. She had forgotten about the whole incident after a few months - a few years later, when prompted about that picture and the Goddess, Byleth would just stare blankly in confusion. She didn’t remember those days well.

Yuri remembered them. He remembered the picture too. He had placed the picture between two pages of a book and hidden it inside a desk. It remained in that desk for a very long time, and nobody but him ever knew it existed.

_____________

And then he lost her.

He lost her. Aelfric asked if he could babysit her for the day, and because Yuri was tired and wanted some time to himself and to actually go on a freaking date for once he said yes, and when Byleth’s curfew at 2100 passed she and Aelfric still were not home. Aelfric knew to get her home by curfew. He knew that Byleth had to stay in Abyss for her own safety. He knew.

Yuri combed all of Abyss, top to bottom. Images of Aelfric and Byleth floating face down in the canal flashed throughout his mind. But a rogue stationed at one of the entrances from the monastery into Abyss said that he let Aelfric and Byleth through the entrance only a few hours ago. Apparently Yuri had asked Aelfric to take Byleth to the chapel to pray. The guard hadn’t thought twice about it. Yuri was Byleth’s guardian, but it was Aelfric. Some people were above suspicion. Some people could take children wherever they wanted.

Yuri sprinted back to his room and threw on his spare pilfered Academy uniform, stolen from the closet of a noble boy who should have known better. He pulled on the jacket as he ran, feet thumping in time with the omnipresent dripping of water and the squeak of rats, and his mind was nothing but blaring static as he unscrewed the entrance to one of the least-known entrances into the monastery.

He climbed the ladder at top speed, stopping only to grab the stone handle at the very top of the chute. He pushed full force against the handle, and after a second he heard the hard grind of stone on stone as the mechanism was activated and shifted the statue of Saint Cethlenn to the side. It was one of the finicky trapdoors that was almost impossible to access from above ground, but relatively easy from below. Yuri often had morbid daydreams about Garreg Mach falling under attack and how he would evacuate the entire population of the school out through the tunnels.

Yuri clambered out of the tunnel, hoisting himself into Seteth’s office. He looked around - empty, but the sound of voices echoed from the adjacent room - and quickly stood up so he could push the statue back into place. The voices were Rhea’s familiar cadence and another unfamiliar deep male voice. In any other circumstance, Yuri would have cared about revealing himself in front of a stranger. Today, he barely thought about it. Yuri burst out of Seteth’s office and skidded into the main chambers, ignoring Seteth’s cry of alarm and the rustling sounds of the guard’s armor. Yuri only halted when he was directly in front of Rhea, looking up into her alarmed green eyes.

Yuri bent double, leaning on his knees and gasping for breath. Rhea leaned over him, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. The other man in the room was absolutely huge, with big hair and bigger muscles. If it wasn’t for the Academy student’s uniform he would have assumed the man was in his thirties.

“Whoah,” the big guy said. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“Where,” Yuri gasped, hard and heavy, “is Aelfric?”

Rhea paled, eyes widening. Fear. Why fear? “He told me he was visiting you today. What’s wrong?”

“Sounds great! So it’s official that nobody knows where Father Aelfric was, then?” The big guy waved around a thick folder of paper, one hand propped on his hip. “Because I hung out in his office for an hour waiting for him to show up to our appointment. He said it was important, too! All this stuff about helping save me from expulsion. And the guy can’t even show up? We’re talking about my future here!”

“Our guard saw him taking Byleth to the surface!” Yuri cried frantically. The big guy’s brows furrowed, but Yuri couldn’t be assed about him right now. “I can’t find Aelfric or Byleth anywhere in Abyss! Lady Rhea, you have -”

But Rhea was already straightening and turning to the guards. In a tone he had never heard before, she said, “Find Cardinal Aelfric and bring him to me immediately. Shut down the monastery until he and Byleth are found. Nobody in or out.”

“I know where he might have gone.” The big guy flipped the folder open, flashing messy stacks of paper and ripped pages from books. “I got bored waiting around for him, so I went through his desk.” No wonder this guy was about to get expelled. “Never knew one guy could get so into his ancient mausoleum hobby. Would you happen to know anything about this, Lady Rhea?”

Lady Rhea was silent. Yuri was still shaking. He should have been shocked, he should have been horrified. But he wasn’t. Yuri knew. Yuri had always known, he just hadn’t wanted to see it.

“This is all my fault,” Yuri whispered. He wanted to throw up. He knew this sort of nausea - the kind invoked by visceral disgust at something you found within yourself. “I let him take her. I let him run off with her. This is all my…”

The way Aelfric looked at her. The way he was constantly volunteering to babysit or entertain her for the day or homeschool her. Yuri had given him everything he wanted - every unsupervised visit, constant knowledge of her location, everything. Because Yuri had trusted Aelfric.

Trusted. He could be doing anything to her right now, because Yuri had trusted.

Hands, unimaginably large and hairy. Sagging flesh pressing against his own. Was this how Byleth felt right now? Were big hands on her chest? Awful pain, burning like fire. What did Byleth look like when she was in that pain? Did she make the same sounds he had? The squeals and moans. Did they like hearing them from her too?

“Yuri. Yuri, you have to breathe.” Lithe, strong hands enveloped Yuri’s hands and squeezed tightly. The melodic sound of Lady Rhea’s voice barely permeated the haze. “You’re at Garreg Mach, Yuri. You’re in the home of the Goddess. You’re seventeen. I’m here. Nothing may harm you so long as I’m here.”

“This is my fault,” Yuri gasped. “This is all my fault.”

“No, Yuri. Look at me.” Yuri shuddered a final breath before looking up at Rhea. Her expression was intent, but she was still so calm and composed. Yuri couldn’t say the same at all. “This is my fault. I didn’t share my suspicions with you. I’m the one who encouraged you to trust him. This was - this was all me.”

It was?

Rhea had known? Rhea had known that Aelfric wasn’t honest? She had known that Aelfric would take Byleth and she hadn’t said anything -

“I know.” Rhea’s expression creased, and a deep pain surfaced in her features. “I just thought…he loved her mother as I once did. Surely he would feel the same as I do…but I suppose not. People still disappoint.”

Yuri tugged his hands out of Rhea’s, and she let them go. He scrubbed at his face, constantly fighting to keep hold of his breaths and sanity. He was not about to have another stupid flashback. He wasn’t. Not in Garreg Mach and not in front of the stupid Archbishop. He wasn’t going to catastrophize. Byleth was fine. He had fucked up and failed her and it’s all his fault that terrible things are definitely happening to her right now, but it was fine.

“I hate men so damned much,” Yuri muttered miserably. Some part of him was appalled that he had cursed in front of the archbishop, but every other part of him was far more concerned with far more important things. “I’m never trusting a man again. All men do is make children suffer.”

The big guy laughed awkwardly, passing the file folder to the somber Rhea before scrubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “On behalf of men, I guess I have to apologize. I like to think we’re not all that bad…not that I can blame a - um, you, for how you feel. Tell you what, alright?” The big guy flexed an arm, as if he was at a bar trying to impress Yuri, and clapped his hand on his admittedly impressive bicep. “I’ll save this little girl myself! I’ll chase down Father Aelfric, kick his ass, get that little girl safely home, and redeem men in the eyes of women and - ah, you, everywhere! Or my name ain’t Balthus von Adalbrecht!”

A von Adalbrecht. Great. Yuri couldn’t repress the sneer. “Your uncle yells the name of his wife’s brother in bed.”

Balthus stared at Yuri blankly. “How do you know that?”

“How do you think?”

“Oh. Oh! Oh, gross! Why’d you have to say that, man!”

“Blame him,” Yuri snapped. “I don’t need the help of some meathead nobleman. I’ll rescue her myself.”

But Balthus just shrugged - as if this really was such a simple thing. “Why can’t we both rescue her?”

“Because I don’t know you!”

“I just introduced myself. Balthazar von Adalbrecht, call me Balthus.” Balthus stuck out his hand, waiting expectantly for a handshake. “And who’re you supposed to be, kid from nowhere?”

“I’m nobody. You ought to forget you ever saw me.” Rhea was already going to give him an earful over allowing himself to be seen. But Balthus was standing so expectantly, and despite that awful little trivia Yuri just shared he was still looking him in the eyes. “What do you even want from me?”

“What, you think that just because I want to help it means I want something from you?” Yes, that was exactly what Yuri thought. He wasn’t stupid. “Listen, pal. Even nobodies need some help here and there. I’m not exactly a saint, but any half-decent person would want to help you out. Since I’m the strongest, coolest guy in Garreg Mach, that means I have to help. It’s not exactly complicated.”

“There’s no such thing as decent people,” Yuri said sourly.

Balthus whistled. “You’re a regular beam of sunshine, aren’tcha?”

“I haven’t seen the sun in weeks.”

“You haven’t what now?”

“Take Balthus with you, Yuri.” Lady Rhea’s tone brooked no argument, and Yuri had to give up. It was always a waste of time arguing with a noble. They would just take what they wanted anyway. “You two will take our elite church knights and rescue Byleth. I can lead the way - I think I know where Aelfric and Byleth are.” Rhea’s expression darkened, sending something crawling up Yuri’s spine. Seeing a dangerous expression on her felt…well, it felt more dangerous than usual. “I suspect he is desecrating a corpse right now.”

“Wow,” Balthus said, impressed. “What the hell did I just walk into?”

“Captain Jeralt will arrive with the forces soon. We’ll leave then.” Rhea turned around, and Yuri and Balthus exchanged troubled looks. Her voice was poisonous. If she sounded like this, what expression was she hiding so carefully? “Aelfric will learn what Byleth’s true family is capable of.”

“Hell yeah!” Balthus cried, pumping a fist. “Go, fam!”

“We aren’t fam!” Yuri snapped. “What does that even mean?”

“But Lady Rhea just said that the bad guy’s gonna learn what -”

“That doesn’t make you fam.”

“But I’m on the team, and the team’s fam, so -”

“What is fam!”

At the time, Yuri’s only consolation had been the fact that he wouldn’t have to deal with Balthus for very long. He was a strong fighter with a compassionate heart, but if Yuri never saw another wealthy and spoiled nobleman again it would be too soon. Yuri hadn’t noticed when Byleth entered his heart, but that final and disastrous kidnapping session had proven it - whether they wielded the weapon or were the weapon, the people closest to you always hurt the most. Better to close your heart.

There were a lot of things Yuri hated about himself. The list was too long to count. But there was always one thing about himself that Yuri hated the most. One thing he just couldn’t stand.

Yuri just couldn’t close his heart. He just couldn’t do it. Every time he failed, and every time he had regretted it. There was no benefit to letting people in. He just couldn’t stop.

But Balthus had saved Byleth’s life that day. So maybe there was a benefit or two. Every once in a great while.

If you were lucky.

_________

Three days after Yuri and a moron saved a little girl from a bastard, Abyss received a visitor.

Yuri received him outside the ruined classroom. It would probably be more professional to bring him to Yuri’s office or something, but Yuri frankly intended to get rid of him as quickly as possible. Team up with the church knights once and suddenly they think that they have the right to go stomping all around Abyss. But you couldn’t exactly tell the captain of the church knights to get off your lawn, so Yuri told Byleth that he would be back in a few minutes and stood outside the classroom in increasingly frustrated wait.

Byleth had made big eyes at him. She obviously hadn’t wanted him to go. Ugh. He really hoped that this wouldn’t turn into a surprise administrative meeting that took five hours and never accepted Yuri’s input into anything. Yuri was re-teaching Byleth poker - she had undoubtedly already learned before she lost her memory, which was another strike against the ‘secret lovechild of Lady Rhea’ theory that had been admittedly punctured by the corpse of her mother - and she was unsurprisingly excellent at it. Girl was a genius in math.

But Jeralt didn’t show up wearing armor. He was wearing casual, battered furs, leather, and a familiar canvas jacket. Surface people were always tense and anxious in Abyss, expecting to get mugged by rats with daggers at any moment, but there was a different quality about Jeralt’s anxiety. He seemed as if he was steeling himself for something.

“Yuri.” Jeralt’s voice was always attractively husky, but it was closer to hoarse now. “Doing well?”

Yuri bowed, noting the bandage on Jeralt’s temple. “Yes, sir. All healed up. And you? That hit you took looked nasty.”

Jeralt huffed a laugh, rubbing the bandage. “I’ve taken hits from bigger monsters. Don’t worry about it. I would have come to visit earlier, but they only let me out of bed this morning.” Jeralt cleared his throat, shifting on his feet. “Ah…is Byleth doing alright?”

“She’s been having nightmares, but she’s fine.”

“She is?” Jeralt looked unreasonably alarmed. “Is she waking up at night? What are you doing to help? Tea -”

“She’s been sleeping in my bed the past few nights, so I’m keeping an eye on her.” Yuri eyed Jeralt, suspicions only growing. There was something off about this conversation. “Can I help you, captain?”

“Right. Ah, right.” Jeralt shifted again and coughed. Mysteriously, he took off his cap and held it tightly. “I was hoping to drop in and say hello. See how she is.”

Like hell he would.

“Byleth is busy doing her schoolwork.” Yuri’s voice could have frozen a flame. “You’ll have to come back later.”

“We don’t have to talk.” There was something old and weary in Jeralt. His husky voice was more of a rasp. “I just want to see her.”

Before he could restrain himself, Yuri snapped, “And why do you want to see her so badly?”

Snapping at the captain of the church knights. Fantastic. This was how you protected people - by alienating everybody else who wanted to help. That would do it.

Jeralt did want to help. The man had been withdrawn and quiet during their rescue mission, but he had been the first to rescue Byleth’s mother’s corpse and prevent it from melting into the monster. He probably would have been the first to rescue Byleth if Yuri hadn’t gotten there first - if Yuri hadn’t used a careful vein of magic to swap positions with her. Byleth had landed safely near the entrance and Aelfric had found a nasty surprise when he turned to look down upon a girl laid out on an altar and came eye-to-eye with Yuri’s dagger.

But that didn’t mean anything. Aelfric had helped Yuri and Byleth too, and look where that got them. Yuri didn’t know anything about Jeralt. He could have ulterior motives. He worked closely with Rhea, who was nothing but ulterior motives. The only person Yuri was certain didn’t have ulterior motives was Balthus, who was just clearly too stupid.

Jeralt didn’t grow angry or defensive. He just looked a little sad. Yuri crossed his arms, fighting the urge to bristle. “How are you holding up, kid?”

“I wasn’t the one who was kidnapped.”

Jeralt huffed a small laugh. “It ain’t exactly easy on the onlookers, either. It’s alright if you’re not alright.”

“I’ll persevere somehow.” Yuri was quickly losing track of this conversation. Why was Jeralt asking about this? “Did Rhea tell you to check up on us?

“Rhea doesn’t know I’m here. She’s…strongly encouraged me to stay away from Abyss.” Jeralt’s mouth twisted unhappily. “She’s right. I really shouldn’t be here. I just…wanted to see her.”

“And why is that?”

For a long, long moment, Jeralt didn’t answer. Great. He couldn’t even think of a good lie. He couldn’t even say that he wanted to make sure she wasn’t injured, or assure himself that he had gotten her out of there intact - Yuri would have even believed those bland excuses. But he had nothing to say for himself at all. How suspect.

The door creaked open, and Yuri spun around just in time to see Byleth poking her head out of the classroom. Yuri opened his mouth, ready to reprimand her and shuffle her quickly back inside where no suspicious men resided, but he was too slow. The second Byleth saw Jeralt her eyes widened, and Yuri saw her eyes light up for the first time.

“Jeralt!” Byleth cried.

She dived forwards, and Jeralt automatically crouched down to accept the hug. They squeezed each other tightly - Byleth hanging on for dear life, Jeralt fighting shuddering breaths. His hand pressed on the back of her lead, warm and protective.

So she could speak. Yuri had been wondering. Her first word of her new life was…Jeralt. That was fine. Good for her. And Jeralt.

“Hey, kid,” Jeralt rasped, throat thick. “How’ve you been?”

Byleth patted the top of his head.

Alright, that was enough. Yuri took the white collar of Byleth’s neat little navy blue dress, pulling gently until he reeled her back away from Jeralt. The effect was somewhat like a scruffed kitten, but whatever worked. Yuri’s carefully tied puffy twin pigtails didn’t help the kitten impression.

“Don’t run towards strange people,” Yuri scolded. “This is why you keep getting kidnapped.”

Byleth wriggled around until Yuri finally sighed and released her. Jeralt slowly rose, but Byleth ran back towards him and tugged hard at his jacket. Jeralt raised a patient eyebrow, watching Byleth carefully.

Yuri had distantly noticed it before, but now that Byleth drew attention to the jacket it was obvious. It was a very familiar jacket. Not identical to Byleth’s old one - the giant canvas jacket that she never took off - but it was similar in fit and cut.

“What do you need?” Jeralt asked. Byleth tugged harder at the jacket, as if she was trying to pull it off him. “Use your words, kid. You can do it.” Byleth heroically attempted to rip the jacket from Jeralt’s body. Yuri made a strangled noise, but Jeralt didn’t blink. “You have to start speaking up sometime. I bet Yuri over there wants to hear your voice too.”

Byleth’s eyebrows ticked together, but she finally released the jacket. She stared fixedly at Jeralt, who amicably allowed himself to be stared at. Finally, she said, “Aelfric lost jacket.”

Automatically, Yuri corrected, “Aelfric lost my jacket.”

“Aelfric lost my jacket,” Byleth parroted. She poked at Jeralt’s canvas jacket again. “I want the jacket again.”

Turned out that there was one way Byleth could be even more trouble - opening her mouth. Yuri sighed, already regretting his life. “Byleth, you’re being incredibly rude. You can’t just ask adults to -”

But Jeralt was already shucking his jacket, with no hesitation or thought, and passing it to Byleth. She brightened, clutching the thick material tightly and burying her face in it. She smelled it deeply, making Jeralt’s expression crease into something absolutely unfamiliar to Yuri, before swinging the jacket on and allowing it to swallow her up yet again. This edition went to her knees, looking far more like a baggy coat than anything else, but she beamed up at Jeralt in absolute joy anyway. She turned to Yuri, spreading her arms out and silently bragging about how great her new jacket was.

Something that should have been obvious weeks ago suddenly became extremely obvious. “You’re the one who gave her that first jacket. The one she never took off.”

“She never took it off?” Jeralt smiled a little, but the weight on his shoulders only seemed to grow. “I gave it to her after I rescued her from her kidnappers last time. She was - ah, she just seemed cold. I assumed she had thrown it away or something.”

“You’re the one who rescued her?” Hadn’t Lady Rhea mentioned something about this? “Wait - are you the one who brought Byleth to Garreg Mach?”

“Yup. It’s why I wanted to see her again.” Jeralt patted the top of Byleth’s head, who swelled her chest in pride. “She’s picked up a habit of getting into trouble.”

That did explain it. No wonder he was invested. After so much work invested in keeping her alive, Yuri would want to check up on her too. Why couldn’t he just say that?

Byleth looked seriously up at Jeralt. “Thank you for the jacket.”

“I knew you had manners in there somewhere.” Jeralt crouched down again, looking just above Byleth’s head. Yuri had noted weeks ago that she didn’t like eye contact, but it seemed that Jeralt knew that too. “Try not to lose that one. But if you do, come right back to me and I’ll give you another one. Alright?”

Byleth nodded.

Jeralt sighed. He put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. Byleth leaned into the touch a little. “Be more careful from now on. Your world will only grow more dangerous as you get older. You have to be ready, so train hard.” Impulsively, he took the cap off his head and placed it on her own. It fell over her eyes immediately, far too large for her, but she hurriedly pushed it upwards. “Listen to that brother of yours. His life looks hard enough already, so don’t make it any harder.”

Byleth’s eyes widened. “Brother?”

“Brother?” Yuri squawked. “Please, Captain, Rhea hired me to supervise her. This is just an arrangement.”

Jeralt shifted to look at him, and Yuri saw flint in his eyes for the first time. “We need to separate Byleth from her past life even further. We don’t know if Aelfric told anybody about the identity of Byleth’s mother. Connecting her to you is safest for both of you. Guess I should have asked first, but it’s a matter of her safety.”

“This is an arrangement.”

“Then arrange a fake relationship. You need some excuse for why you’re joined at the hip. Pretend she’s some orphan you took in under your wing - it’s not even a lie.” Jeralt straightened, turning to look at Yuri for the first time. His expression was somber and serious, but he looked smaller without his jacket. “Look, kid. I admit I wasn’t happy when Rhea passed her off to you. Rhea has her own reasons for everything she does, and you’re…”

He trailed off, clearly struggling for political correctness, before Yuri took pity on him. “An ex-whore who moonlights as Rhea’s lackey?”

“Saints, kid, that’s not what I was about to say -”

“What’s a whore?” Byleth asked loudly.

Yuri looked down at her. “Somebody who’s so good at something that they never do it for free.” Byleth nodded sagely, and Yuri looked back up at Jeralt. Jeralt didn’t seem happy, but Yuri wasn’t paid enough to entertain him. “And even if you weren’t crass enough to say it, it’s the truth. You don’t trust Rhea and I do whatever she says. Trust me, Captain, I wouldn’t be happy either. You don’t have to cozy up to me.”

“I wasn’t happy because you’re seventeen years old,” Jeralt said firmly. Yuri rolled his eyes. Not this shit again. What was with adult men always reminding him that he was in his teens? Did they get off on it or something? “I knew Rhea would put her with somebody she trusted absolutely. I just didn’t want that person to be you.”

Of course he didn’t! Who the hell would? Yuri was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion about Jeralt’s relationship to Byleth - nobody else would have thought to rescue a corpse before an imminent battle - and no self-respecting father would want their daughter around somebody like Yuri. Byleth was pure and innocent. As innocent as a thirteen year old could ever be - wiped clean of her old life, completely noncognizant of the world around her. How often had she seen the sun since she met Yuri? She hadn’t even spoken before now. The girl had a damned imaginary friend, for heaven’s sake. Byleth was innocent in every way, and Yuri was filthy.

“Saints, kid, don’t give me that face. It’s not because of your background. It’s just obvious that you have more than enough on your plate. Don’t you have a city to govern? Evil errands to run for Rhea? I just don’t know how the hell you have time.”

“Do you think I can’t do it?” Yuri snapped. “I have more than one skillset, you know.”

Jeralt exhaled heavily, scrubbing his face. “You are the least charitable - never mind.” He was uncharitable? Maybe he just didn’t buy stupid lies. “None of this is coming out right. What I’m trying to say is that you need whatever help you can get. Calling yourself siblings would make your life easier. But I’m hardly going to force you into it. Do whatever you want, kid. I’m not in charge of you.” Slightly quieter, he said, “I’m not in charge of either of you.”

Yuri wanted to call Jeralt a bad father. He knew already that Jeralt was probably the best father he’d ever met. Taking up a job with somebody he clearly hated for the sake of staying near a daughter he was barely allowed to see. Who he couldn’t even claim, because some mysteriously evil people were after her and she was safest in complete anonymity. Some fathers would cheer at the opportunity to ditch their daughters, but the pain in Jeralt’s voice was real. And yet he wanted to tie her to Yuri.

It would only contaminate her. He was already ruining her. Yuri had to stay away, he had to keep her out - if only for her own sake. To protect her from Yuri, and to protect Yuri from the world. Yuri couldn’t let anybody else inside. Too dangerous for everybody.

But refusing Jeralt’s proposal wouldn’t protect her from the world. And maybe a father was thinking about a factor that Yuri had missed completely.

The fact that her mother was a shockingly well-preserved corpse and her father had to disown her. Rhea was somehow related to her, which was bad enough, but she couldn’t claim her either. Even Yuri had a mother. To the world, Byleth was alone. That was…

“Fine.” Yuri had lost this battle. He had probably also lost the war. Whatever. He fought for his own side anyway. “But I won’t force her to call me that. She’s not terribly attached to me.”

It was the rational thought. Yuri had repeatedly left her alone with a freak and allowed her to get kidnapped again. It was a miracle her real family hadn’t fired Yuri the second she got kidnapped.

But Byleth’s brow furrowed in outrage. Yuri fought the urge to startle - he had almost forgotten she was there. “I like you.”

The words stopped Yuri short. He wasn’t sure why. They weren’t strange words, were they?

His hesitation must have been obvious, even to Byleth, because she promptly grabbed him in a giant hug. It was small, comforting, and warm. Her small body fit nicely next to his, and when he folded his arms over her he could almost envelop her.

Jeralt just gave him a wry grin. “I guess you were too far away to hear. Remember how I was right next to you when you swapped positions with her?” Yuri nodded. “When she appeared in your place, I scooped her up and put her on my horse immediately. I think she knew what had happened. She called out your name. Damn near tried to jump from my horse and run towards you too.”

That didn’t seem right. But she had hugged him after the fight, hadn’t she? Balthus had called it adorable. Come to think of it, Balthus had asked if Byleth was his sister too…Yuri hadn’t known what to say. He didn’t know what to say now.

Jeralt propped a hand on a hip, smiling. “You see that, Byleth? Yuri didn’t know you liked him. From now on you’ll have to speak up and tell him you like him a lot.” Byleth nodded fastidiously. “Attagirl. Hey, can you take that book from the inside pocket and pass it to your brother? It has something he might want to see.”

Byleth eagerly separated from Yuri and completed the errand, pulling out a small book from a jacket pocket and passing it to Yuri. Yuri opened it and began flipping through it, just barely catching scraps of documents and notes that came slipping out.

“Check the last few pages,” Jeralt said. “We found it in Aelfric’s things. Actually, that klepto student found it. Is that guy a friend of yours or something?”

“Or something,” Yuri muttered.

Byleth stared up at Jeralt. “Is Balthus my brother too?”

“No,” Yuri said.

Jeralt shrugged. “If you want. He’s rich, so maybe you can fleece him.”

“I already tried,” Yuri said distantly, flipping through the book. Something about four crests…notes on a very familiar crest. Balthus’ pilfered paperwork had already revealed that Aelfric had targeted him for his crest. That had burned. Yuri was trying not to think about it. “He’s broke and only attracted to older women.”

Pity, too - Yuri could have had an excellent sucker on that reel. He made his move during the ‘post-rescue a little girl drinking party!’, but Balthus just pointedly pretended he didn’t pick up on what Yuri was doing and started talking loudly about how Yuri reminded him of a hypothetical younger brother. It was frustrating. Yuri still didn’t know why Balthus had helped him. There was probably a secret motive that Yuri just hadn’t picked up on yet. Or maybe Balthus actually -

Yuri stopped short. This page was about Balthus. About the von Adalbrechts, and some sort of mysterious crest in their family legend. Right alongside a personality profile on Balthus…notes on his attendance and conduct issues…character notes…records of meetings and conversations with Balthus…lists of broken school rules…apparently psychologically unstable…

Yuri flipped a page backwards. It was on him. He caught a few paragraphs on his history before he quickly flipped forward. He didn’t want to know what Aelfric thought of his personality. Probably just called him a slut for two straight pages. Definitely marked him down as psychologically unstable.

But there were people besides Yuri and Balthus in the notebook. Right after Balthus’ incomplete profile, there was another name and short descriptor. Constance von Nuvelle. Another rich bitch noblewoman. Current student of the Fhirdiad School of Sorcery…extremely high grades for her first few years at the school before they plummeted half a year ago. Now at risk of dropping out. Extensive record of conduct issues, same as Balthus. Aelfric made note of…severe psychological instability, whatever that meant. And a certain crest…

Yuri flipped through Constance’s profile until he found another. Hapi, no last name - a commoner. Extensive hypothesizing on the power of her crest and little information about her. Current resident of a church in the middle of nowhere. Psychologically unstable.

“This explains why Aelfric was having those private meetings with Balthus,” Yuri muttered. “I guess we both have powerful crests. These two women must also have powerful crests…but why keep tabs on them specifically? Why keep tabs on all of us?”

“Aelfric talked about blood a lot,” Byleth said seriously. Yuri really shouldn’t have left him alone with her.

“I should contact Lady Rhea about this,” Yuri said. He continued flipping through the book - going through Yuri Leclarc, Balthus von Adalbrecht, Constance von Nuvelle, and Hapi’s profiles again and again. Four strangers placed right next to each other, thrown together by fate. “She’ll definitely be interested in learning about Constance and Hapi.”

Byleth peered over his arm, trying to take a glance at the book. Yuri let her. She could barely read. Maybe secrets would incentivize her to keep learning. “Are they important?”

“Probably not,” Yuri said.

But even then, he had lied. Even then, he had already known.

Call it intuition.

#my writing #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #dimileth #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #yuri leclerc #byleth eisner #fun fact. writing claude in his story was so incredibly fun #that i stopped writing this and turned around and wrote a #60k claude POV fic #instead of finishing this.#the claude pov fic is exclusively for me nobody will read it that is fine but it is fucking insane.

43 notes · View notes

ms0milk · 1 year

Text

𝟐 | 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠

ー✧ prince!bakugou x royal guard!reader

"Magic can manifest a million ways, but from forever til today the only way you ever pictured proper magic was flowing from sweaty palms and jagged fingers."

no cw the Terrible Roadtrip™ pt 1/2, bkg is a huge asshole, i can't promise you won't fall in love with kirishima, you have to put your faith in me for this fic, pls trust me. 3.1k

PREV | M.LIST | TAGLIST | NEXT

Kirishima Eijiro has always been kind to you. A wave, a nod, a sharp smile, he never ignored you in the castle when you happened upon each other, but thinking about it, you’ve never actually spoken. There was never a need and the prince always maintains the perfect amount of hurry to keep his companions from acknowledging staff.

Kirishima likes to dance with the girls who work in the kitchen so they’re too giddy to lecture him about stealing snacks. He likes to sleep in, and for some reason he likes training with his violent prince. Kirishima gets bruises but not cuts and you think it’s probably because of his magic. He sometimes cries while feeding the birds. Now Kirishima crouches so close to you that your shoulders touch and his warmth feels so familiar.

“Like this,” you correct. You stop him from placing another log on the fire before he knocks over the entire structure. Across from you, Sero huddles closer in the chill of evening while Denki investigates the kettle hung on irons to check if hot water is ready. Mina rummages for mugs. Camp tonight is tucked in the clearing of a felled maple tree much to the prince’s dismay, as it’s too dark to read by the sunset under foliage. So he busies himself untacking horses and with anger taken out on leaves, twigs, and the general inanimate.

Early in the morning, just an hour into the journey, a pink finger poked out of the carriage window ahead of you and beckoned you closer. The pink finger was of course attached to the pink girl, who rested her head on her arm while you rode beside her. “I don’t think you know who I am,” she cooed and you were quick to apologize to the nobles; they must be noble if they were guests of the prince; and if you had been on solid ground you would have taken a knee.

“My Lady, please forgive my behavior this morning.”

His Highness scoffed and you didn’t dare look his way.

Mina, Denki, and Sero. Kirishima introduced the travelers to you from his spot beside the prince, who took up at least a quarter of the small space with his spreading and growling and kicking of friends.

From what you could see on horseback, the inside of the carriage was just as delicately beautiful as the outside. Silver stars held the royal blue quilting in place and a little chandelier twinkled in the very center of the ceiling. White silk draped above them. Bench cushions trimmed with silver tassels and decorative knots, and when you dared to lean closer you could see the wallpaper wasn’t all quilt– there were rows and rows of flat ribbon with embroidered shells, and figures depicting some sort of scene across the trim.

“Get your bigass head outta here!”

It was your turn to be snapped at by the prince and it startled you backwards a bit in your saddle. His showy red eyes trained on yours for a second before he shut them tight and leaned back in a cross-armed huff, “Already got four fucking twats suffocating me, I don’t need more hot breath'n my ears.”

“Apologies, Highness,” you spoke this line clearly in lieu of, once again, formal introductions. But you couldn’t be fazed. It counted as the second time he looked at you, twice in a day, and that was more than the last fifteen years combined.

A sneeze from Denki ignited the prince’s fury in full and soon the carriage was a ring match. Sparing a glance to Shinsou, who chuckled at Denki’s misfortune on horseback through the window opposite yours, you slowed to let the travelers sort out their frustration alone. As you fell back, the silver of the window framed Mina’s pretty pink smile.

Mina is very nice. Across from yours and Kirishima’s little fire now, she hoists a red tin cup above her head and mouths, “Tea?”

“Please. Thank you, M’lady.”

She beams every time you call her that. This time she shouts through the clearing to the prince and all of the horses, “Hear that Kats? I’m a Lady.”

“You’re a fuckin' menace is what you are.”

These were strange nobles– friends, even. To be speaking with the prince so casually. What was Sero doing in soldier’s gear earlier?

Before departing, you and your travelers were instructed to change into the riding clothes provided to you. “No gambeson,” droned Aizawa when you tried to avoid removing your red Aldera uniform. “Your measurements were sent to our royal tailor, I promise these travel clothes are much more comfortable for riding.”

So now your dragontooth brooch, pinned rebelliously to your collar, is all you’re allowed to remind you of home. It clicks softly against the silver details of your lifeless white blouse. You feel sick riding another queen’s horse, and wearing another queen’s colors is almost all you can handle. On solid ground beside warm Kirishima, you’re sore and thankful to be finished traveling for the day.

By the time the sun began to set, the prince had a sparkling fist swung out the window and his companions let out yelps of pain from the receiving end of his anger, “I’m sick’a breathing your stinkass air!”

Mina and Sero, both carried under one of Kirishima’s strong arms, melted from the carriage doors with much moaning and many grumbles. Denki tripped on the single step again, directly into Shinsou’s back and the two of them hit the ground. Only the prince seemed to have any amount of energy left and took to immediately examining the grounds Aizawa chose for camp.

“No bitchin,” Master Aizawa grumbled before bundling himself up in the driver’s seat of the carriage in a thick woolen blanket. The blunt interaction was all you would get from him tonight.

These woods gnarl with the same vines and fruit that wrap up your Aldera castle so safely, which meant Jeanist’s halberd made quick work of the familiar trees when it came time for you to chop firewood. Kirishima loved watching this part most, as you instructed and explained the basic nature of maple and the best angles to hit it. “The axehead here,” you tossed your halberd higher into your grip to point at the blade, “isn’t at all made for this. But the carriage ax is too heavy for me.” You were quick to nurse your finger between your lips after forgetting just how sharp your mentor keeps his tools and Kirishima jumped at the opportunity to take over.

Jeanist takes you camping sometimes. He calls it playing favorites when other soldiers ask, but rarely do you do anything with Jeanist besides train, camping included. Splitting wood was day one. You can recognize nuts and leaves, hunt creature and beast by bow, dagger, and lance. A fire was the simplest thing you could think to do tonight and it has Kirishima drawn in with sparkling eyes, begging you to teach him how to lean the sticks to one another or shave kindling from bark.

“Y/n, won't it go out?”

Your name brings you back. You place a hand over the Champion’s before you’re completely aware of your surroundings, to keep him from fiddling with anything else, “I promise it won’t. Look.” And point to the white hot hollow just below the tent of flames. Embers are what’ll keep your campsite warm all night, not a raging fire on big logs. It’s a simmering sense of pride you feel that if you were good for nothing else, you could at least start a fire in a rainstorm.

Aizawa is long-asleep on the driver’s bench. The carriage twinkles at the very edge of the clearing, you imagine to keep it safe from flames or potential explosive fury in conversation around the campfire. You smile behind the hot mug that Mina hands you at the thought of arriving in Takoba on a single singed platform– all that would be left of the fairy carriage after the prince’s companions antagonized him a few words too far.

“For you,” Shinsou murmurs while he winds his way around the campfire with bedrolls for each traveler. He drops yours beside your seat and overcome with– something– laziness? His master’s contagious exhaustion?– tosses one over the fire to the prince who is approaching camp, having given up on his mission for readable light.

You’re one step closer to that singed carriage, you think, when the prince catches the bedding in a fist and drops it where he stops at the farthest point from all of you in the circle. His broad chest vibrates inside furs.

“Keep it down.”

This is a very obvious assertion to everyone but you, that it’s time for the prince to go to bed. The sun just set, you bewilder and then he does in fact kick open his roll beside the fire and settle down with his back turned. Other than yourself and Shinsou, the company lets up a knowing chorus of, 'G’night Bakugou's that catch you by surprise. You look to Kirishima for confirmation and when he’s too busy poking at your fire to notice, you lower your face into the steam coming off your mug.

“Is that your magic?”

When you cast your eyes up to see which company member has taken to immediately disrupting the prince’s peace, Mina is the one watching you. You’re supposed to be checking the carriage for wear and reinforcing the perimeter before tucking in for the night, and you suppose it was only a matter of time before someone noticed you slacking in your duties. You breathe the steam in from your tea slowly, so it doesn't burn you, but enough that it warms your motivation to move away from the fire. Kirishima is looking at you now too, when you pull your dark Takoban cloak around your shoulders and dust off your knees.

“Y/n?”

“Stay,” you smile at him, “Eat, be warm. I have to check in with Master Aizawa.”

Shinsou peers up at you from his seat between Denki and Sero. Mina clears her throat, “But you didn’t answer the question.”

Did you miss something? You glance between the faces of your sitting company to try and sort out the pieces of their conversation, but she’s looking only at you.

“Are you a flame mage?”

“What?”

Then Sero laughs. He laughs like he doesn’t mean to and covers his mouth, which ignites the purple blush across Mina’s face. “I–I didn’t–! Was that weird? You guys are thinking it too, c’mon–”

“I don’t say everything I think, Mina.”

“Spare me, yes you do!”

The prince, laying deadly still and very much not asleep, grunts. The Champion leans back to look up at you as you stand above the group, still a few steps behind in their conversation. He offers you up your mug again as an invitation to sit, “They’re just curious is all.”

“I don’t do magic,” you murmur, only to him. You take your cup from his hand but before he lets go, he tugs downwards to pull you back to his side. The fire is hot but not so big that you can’t sit exceptionally close to it.

“So no to fire magic?” Mina pipes up again, “What do you do?”

“I don’t, M'lady.”

“Don’t…do anything?”

“I do plenty,” you chuckle, “but I can’t do magic.”

A growl sounds off from the prince who’s dragged himself up to sitting in the single blink of an eye. He seems less irritated with the lack of sleep he’s getting and more by your apparent lack of magical aptitude. Like it’s a personal slight.

“What’s the point of you then?”

You don’t dare eye contact when he speaks, but you’ve heard this kind of intimidation from his mother. Kirishima is looking, and he points sharp in his prince’s direction to clip short whatever might come next.

You rally, “I swear I’m no less competent than any fighting mage.”

But Prince Bakugou is no longer interested in you, and only barks when Mina throws an acorn cap at the back of his head. Kirishima nudges you a bit when you try to dip into your mug again.

“Have you ever tried?”

“Tried what?”

“Magic.”

What used to be your smile twists into confusion, but the Champion presses on, “You’d be surprised how many people think they can’t do any magic at all, when really their gift is just specific! Like, uh— the man who works proofing ovens in the kitchens at home only has one fireproof hand,” The redhead has himself chuckling along with the rest of his friends but presses a flat, gentle hand into your back to keep you safe from his enthusiasm, “You can imagine the day he found out his other half wasn’t so flame retardant.”

The prince looks like he’s winding up to yell at you all again over his delicate sleep schedule so Denki is quick to butt in with, “Why not try now?”

Today is a lot to take in. Promises, apologies, a lesson in campfires, but you aren’t going to add mage training to the list. You balance the mug under gentle fingertips, “I don’t need magic to do my job.”

“That’s badass.”

“But Y/n, what if you have some crazy world-ending power?!”

You look to Shinsou for a bit of level-headed support but he turns away to let you simmer in the attention alone, smiling.

“Or what if you can, like, bring back the dead? Or heal the sick! How many sick people have you touched recently?”

“Or dead people?”

Mina and Denki try to bounce as many ideas off each other as they can fit into the next few seconds before the prince blasts their heads off and you feel like a real afterthought in all. But the questions subside, the prince doesn’t blow, and now you’re expected to answer. Even the Champion at your side is looking at you with those soft red eyes of his. You dip your lips back into your mug for a warm sip before responding, “I wouldn’t know.”

Kirishima’s the only one who really understands what you mean and tries to change the subject but Mina scrambles across the small clearing and gets a hold of you before he can speak. She’s gentle when she takes one of your hands and stretches it out towards the fire.

“When I use magic, I relax my arms like this,” she wiggles her fingers, “and it just oozes outta me.”

“Literally,” Sero chuckles. Mina shakes you back into focus before you can ask him what he means.

“What if you relax real good– here hold your hand just like this– and then boom! You blow up the whole campsite. Your magic could be really powerful like that.” She has your arm outstretched, the one not holding tea, and she’s miming going limp with her own hand. You give in. She’s a royal guest, and you’re in no position to deny her. Your eyes flutter closed.

You used to try this as a kid, willing your own magical gift to manifest in your bedroom after Jeanist called for curfew. It feels the same now as it always has, not that you’re concentrating as hard as you used to at eight years old. It feels like nothing. Magic can manifest a million ways, but from forever til today the only way you ever pictured proper magic was flowing from sweaty palms and jagged fingers. You curl a little closer to your knees but commit, and flex your fingers the way you’ve seen beautiful magic made before.

“Try to picture something pretty.” You’re not sure who says it, and gods you feel silly, but you comply and focus on the warmth that tingles your fingers from the fire in front of you. For some reason, the first thing you imagine is velvet.

Immediately your hand is so hot you have to open your eyes to keep from snatching it back to your chest.

It’s the light that you see in your dreams in that little cup your fingers made. It’s the stars that fall from the sky in corners of the castle at night. White, purple, orange, and blue. It’s the same as the prince’s beautiful magic, in your own outstretched fingers for a single fleeting, flickering moment. Your heart is in your head. Your eyes wide and trembling. It’s just a second of pure bright light before the spark bounces off your palm hot enough to make your eyes water, and dies as quickly as it is beautiful into the campfire.

Beats of excitement tap your chest as you look to the group, but the prince’s eyes are the first ones you see and he looks altogether too happy with himself for you not to realize. Bakugou shakes the rest of the sparks from his fingers and doesn’t fight the smirk spread across his lips, though, the very second you meet his gaze he bristles. The group around you shifts uncomfortably. What’s he supposed to do with those big eyes of yours, huh?

“Don’t be an ass Bakugou, we’re just having fun.”

“s’not my fault she’s gullible.”

Kirishima’s warmth isn’t enough to keep you at the campfire. The horses started snorting at the fireworks and so you nestle your cup in the dirt around the fire to regain your focus, “Apologies, Highness. I’m acting unprofessionally.”

“Y/n don’t–” Mina tries to salvage your company but you smile,

“I got comfortable before even feeding the horses.”

And you do mean it. You’re standing now and you make sure to nod to every member of the company before you back into the dark of the far camp, “Good night everyone. Thank you very much for the tea.” It’s okay. You’ll set up your bedroll near the carriage in the dark so that the crackling fire doesn’t keep you from hearing footsteps. Yes, you’ll sleep alone like you’re used to, with the familiar smells of horses and finally get some rest.

“Good night Y/n,” Mina whispers. Denki throws a disapproving acorn cap across the fire at Bakugou’s bare shoulder. He ignores it and takes a sip from his mug. Sero throws another.

PREV | M.LIST | TAGLIST | NEXT

tagged angels ✧.* nnubee cherrykamado nonomesupposedto zombiewarprincess kotarousproperty strawberry-mentos69 sveetnn eirlysian lunrai cherripunch26nch26 km74744 arayoflia

(tumblr keeps deleting the end of my fics, including my reader tags! I didn't re-tag the lovelies above because I'm sure they're getting sick of the notifications as I try to fix it. tags will be back to normal next ch! if you've signed up for the tag list, have no fear, I think I've figured it out)

#thank you so much for your support!!#this story is my baby #my slow moving baby #trust is the name of the game folks #theres only excitement from here on out #swearsies #a hymn to black water #bakugou x reader #bnha #bnha x reader #mha #mha x reader #bakugo x reader #mha fantasy au #bnha fantasy au #fantasy bakugo #fantasy bakugou

286 notes · View notes

freaksstar · 24 days

Note

Hi Star!! Just read your enhypen x reader works and I wanted to say that I really love them 💖

If its not too much of a bother, and if you're still taking requests, could you write something about P1Harmony's Keeho confessing to bff reader? Thank you! 😊

ᴛʜᴇ 5 + 1 ᴡᴀʏꜱ ɪ ꜰᴇʟʟ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ.

•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•

pairing: keeho x fem! reader, bff's to lovers

wc: 4.1k

genre: fluff, angst (if you squint)

guests: jay (enha), niki (enha) danielle (nwjns), chaewon (lesserafim),

warnings: mentions of crying, cussing (light), lmk if I missed anything else.

a/n: tysm for requesting nonnie!! it makes me rlly happy when ppl request lol, and it gets me motivated. i'm so sorry for the extreme delay in posting this tho cuz its exam season and everything and im sick so its been a tough week 😥 i hope you like it tho!! I hope how I wrote it is ok tho because i ended up having too much fun with the idea lol but fun fact!! i wrote this while listening to same scent by oneus lmaoo 😭

•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•

i've lost it.

He's absolutely lost it. He's gone insane. That has to be the case, no? Now here's the thing: him and you go wayyy back. Like, you're childhood friends. And so he loves you - platonically. At least, that's what he thought until today. Is it normal that his heart's palpitating like it's going to explode? It must be normal. It's the adrenaline, he swears. Is that how adrenaline works though?...

Maybe not. Maybe he's gaslighting himself. Not that it's his fault. For some reason, today you look stunning, even if you're dressed down as hell. Maybe it's the way your intently listening to the drafted tracks that are for their next comeback, maybe it's the way you're swiftly taking notes as you bop your head along, hell, maybe it's just the fact that aside from his group members, he's never seen someone care so much. Not that he's complaining of course. The fact that you'd embroidered hoodies for their next comeback, for the entire group, gotten them accepted by their stylists so they could wear them in their mv's and performances might be the reason. It was so random too, when you came into their dorm one day, a pile of clothes in your arms as you proudly dropped them on Keeho's bed.

So random. Arguably weird.

But you cared. You cared about them.

And now, suddenly, he's found himself lost in your eyes as he's pitying all the guys you've dated. Pitying them for loosing such a gem. Must suck to suck, he thinks. It's then that he swears he won't loose you. He won't loose you if his life depends on it, even if he has to gaslight himself into believing he doesn't have feelings for you. Because he'd do anything for you to stay.

You're his and his groups biggest supporter, his rock when the leader duties get to him.

If he lost you, he'd be dead.

"Keeho? You good?"

Oh shoot.

2. delusional

"Yoo, guess who's got the goods?" You'd say with a grin, plopping down bags of snacks on the floor without making a noise.

"Girl, you cannot be saying shit like that in my company building. You're gonna get me cancelled! Gonna have controversies of me smoking weed." He'd reply, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice as he turned the swivel chair to face you. "Why're you here?" he questions after watching you pull out a bag of chips and tossing it to him, automatically going to open it. "Bro, can I not visit my best friend... you thought I had other friends to crash with?"

It's a silly question. Of course you have other friends to crash with.

But you choose him.

Goddamn it, he has to stop reading into everything.

"Nah it's just... whatever, forget it. You got the smarties?" Judging from the way his hand goes to the nap of his neck, you can tell something's up. He only tends to do that when he's nervous or stressed, a small detail you've learned about him after years of hanging out. Would you question it though? No, of course not. It's most likely because of the upcoming comeback they have.

And Keeho? Well damn can he figure out that you've caught on. He's not the best liar, or white lie yapper whatsoever, and so he's seen that face of yours - eyebrows unnoticeably furrowed, tongue poking the inside of your cheek - multiple times. He's quick to distract you from the fact that something's up with him.

"Broo, you good? I asked where the smarties were, lemme smoke 'em like we used to back in high school..." He'd drawl lazily, grabbing the polythene bag and rummaging through it for a few seconds, before pulling out a wrapped pack of smarties. You sigh, an endearing smile making it's way to your face as you watch him crush the pellet-shaped candies. "You're such a weirdo..." you'd mutter, your words tinged with a joking tone. "Don't even, you're literally the same," he hits back, a small chuckle escaping your lips.

"Eh, we were made for each other. You're stuck with me for the rest of you life Yoon Kee-ho, whether you like it or not. We're certified weirdo besties after all!" You exclaim, sitting on his dorm room's bed, the cheesiest smile plastered to your face.

"We were made for each other."

He turns away, grabbing a pair of scissors, though the action is only an excuse to hide his blushing face. The way you had him flustered at such innocent words killed him. Damn was he delusional. Those words didn't have anything but a platonic connotation, and here he was, face flushed as he tried to contain the silly school girl-esque smile threatening to appear on his lips.

"Of course, you dork." He mutters softly, quickly regaining his composure before flicking your forehead, to which you recoil away with a laugh.

If only you had the guts to tell him you meant it all romantically.

3. your #1 supporter

The next time he sees you, you're crying. He'd decided to visit you after a long and busy week, since you'd been unable to visit him, and well, he hadn't expected to see you in such a state. He had to make an effort to keep his jaw from dropping as you slowly opened the door to your apartment.

"Kee... you're here." You mumble softly, as he takes in your disheveled state, not having seen you like this since university acceptance exams. "Hey, hey, girl, what's up?" He's quick to turn soft at your appearance, brushing the hair out of your face and embracing you gently, his tote bag abandoned at his feet. The way it hurt to see you like this was unbearable. It was already unbearable when he saw his bandmates, the only people he cherished aside from you and his family, hurt, but from some reason, it hurt ten-fold when it was you crying.

Your arms slowly make their way around his torso, leaning into his embrace, thankful for the warmth. "So much work." is all you'd murmur into the thick fabric of his hoodie, breathing out slowly. He didn't need much more context to understand what had you so stressed.

"Exams?" he whispered softly, only to be met with a nod. He stands there for a few more moments, gently caressing your hair, his heart speeding at the closeness of your bodies. A proximity he once didn't notice nor have any care for. Now, he actively seeked it. God, he was such a simp.

After a few moments of thoughts, and cursing himself in the back of his mind, he asks another question. "You wanna take a cuddle break 'n then work on preparing again? I can spend the night and help you out, yeah?" Another nod. He silently smiles to himself, resisting the urge to kiss your forehead. You pray that he can't hear the way your heart's pounding in your chest right now, praying that the pink dusting your cheeks is unnoticeable.

"I'm so proud of you and the work you put in darling." He says quietly, running his fingers through the locks of your h/c hair. "You're my rock, I hope you know that. So much stronger than me too, if I had to deal with the preparation you're going through for that test, I'd still fail."

His words earn a small giggle from you, and a remark.

"We're ride or die after all, right?"

Sure as hell that's what the both of you were. He'd be dead if you weren't here.

4. 9.27

Why the hell was he jealous? Not like he was in any position to be jealous. So maybe seeing you talking to Jiung, Theo, Intak, Soul, and Jeongseob more than him for the past week was killing him. Maybe the way you'd all shut up and stop laughing the moment he entered the room hurt. Would he attempt to talk to you about it though? Not yet, not until it ate him away so much that he was forced to confront you, before he perished to the thoughts circling his mind.

You were friends with them too.

Now he just wanted you to himself.

He'd slap himself, realizing just how toxic that was. If he did that, he'd loose you for sure. In his opinion though? You looked even better then you currently did laughing at things he said. With a defeated sigh, he'd unlock the door to the band's dorm, kicking his shoes off before looking around the dark room, confused. Where was everyone? He swore they hadn't gave him any heads up about going anywhere. Pulling out his phone, he'd yell, "Guys?"

Before he could process the ripple of quiet murmurs that spread across the room, the lights were on, and there you were, a cake in your hands, the candles on the cake slowly being illuminated as Soul popped out of no where and lit them.

"Happy birthday to you..."

From his peripheral vision, he could see everyone else popping out from their hiding places, Theo with his hands full of gifts, Intak, Jeongseob, and Jiung struggling with unrolling a banner that Keeho could only barely make out the words of. “What?…” He’d mumble, his phone long forgotten as he subconsciously slipped it back into his pocket. Right, his birthday. Man, he’d been so caught up with practice and all of the preparation for the comeback that it'd completely slipped his mind.

"Keeho!" You'd exclaim, suddenly appearing in front of him, Soul to the side twirling a plastic knife in his hand before handing it to Keeho. The others would take their places next to you and Soul, Theo putting the gifts down slowly and Jiung helping Jeongseob put up the banner, while Intak got out a pack of small plates and forks.

"Uh, y/n? Thank you for doing all this but... I..." The way his face flushed as he stumbled over his words was embarrassing, but he really couldn't do much. He was already on the verge of crying, just from seeing all of you guys arrange something like this for him, and even though he wasn't the type to cry, something just snapped. Might've been the stress, might've been the relief, but as he blew the candles out he couldn't stop the warm tears from dripping down his face. Letting out a soft string of curses, his hand would come to his cheek in an attempt to dry the tears quickly, only to be met with your hand doing the job instead.

"Aw man, we didn't mean to make you cry... y/n bro, did we really just spend this entire week trying to hid his birthday plan from him just to make him cry? Swear my plan would've worked better..." Soul would say as he stood off to the side, taking the cake from your hands and cutting it into slices. He'd giggle as you retorted to his comment with something about how a jump scare wouldn't be any better.

Not that Keeho really caught any of the comments the two of you were making at each other, as the gears in his head were turning. Keeho was smart, y'know? It's just that sometimes it took him a good moment to get things, and so when the pieces clicked, he couldn't help but let out a quiet gasp. So that's why you'd been so secretive with the others all this time. When you'd look back at him after your quick discussion with Soul, you'd be met with glaring eyes, though his smile gave away the unseriousness to his appearance. "You... I swear to god, you alway have me trippin' about something..." Keeho would murmur, chuckling to himself as he trapped you in a hug, before breathing a sigh of relief as you returned the gesture.

"Try that again, and I might actually go insane."

"Huh? What're you on about now Kee..."

You'll know why one day.

5. skeleton flower

It'd been a tough week for you. You were busy with work, studying for your upcoming tests, making more embroidered pieces for P1Harmony due to the stylists requesting you to do so. What could they say? They loved your work, and well, you couldn't refuse being the people-pleaser you were. So with all that on your plate, and multiple deadlines, you'd decided to lock in. Locking in... was an interesting experience. When you locked in you tended to be seriously locked in. Like, locked in your apartment complex locked in. You hadn't stepped foot outside in a good 5 days. Now Keeho knew you got like this - so he tended to give you space during your 'im going to ghost everyone and never leave my apartment' phases, only checking in once you hit the 6 day mark of no contact.

You had reached the 6 day mark.

"Shit-" you'd curse under your breath, stabbing your finger for what felt to be the millionth time with the needle. Your ring finger would quickly find its way to your lips as you sucked the blood off, seething at the prick of pain. Sure, it might not be the most sanitary way to approach the issue, but you were on a time crunch, and it got the job done.

That was until it happened again, and this time your eyes would start dripping with water, the salty tears plopping onto the fabric of the hoodie you were currently embroidering. Ah, so you'd reached your breaking point. It was bound to happen at one point. Yes, you were aware that it wasn't healthy to stack stress and try to do everything all at once, but it was a habit that'd carried from your high school years into your university years - and you were yet to break it. That's why you relied on Keeho to keep you rooted.

Just then, as if he'd heard your thoughts, the doorbell would ring. Having no energy to walk to the door yourself, you'd pick you phone up with quivering hands - left abandoned to the side of you, as you hadn't touched it in days - and pulled his contact up, messaging him "you can come in". He knew your apartment's code afterall.

The faint beeping of the code being punched in would ring in the quiet interior of your apartment, and following it, the creak of the door opening. You could hear Keeho's calm steps, a pause, and then a rustling of a bag, as he made his way to your room. Your back was turned to him, as you were sitting at your desk, and you'd hear a faint whisper, before feeling hands on your shoulders, and a bag being put down.

"my skeleton flower... how're you feeling?"

You hadn't heard that nickname since the two of you had crammed for high school finals.

It'd been a while.

It still made your heart race all the same.

"I... I'm not sure, my rain"

A nickname that hadn't left your lips in quite some time.

You wouldn't notice the way he blushed at the statement.

You'd be met with open arms holding you close, as you sank off your chair to meet him on the carpeted floor. "You've been doing great... I think it's time for you to stop self-isolating again though, don't you agree?" he'd murmur against your ear, tracing shapes on your back as you clung to him, your first human interacting in days. You replied to his statement with a faint hum, tightly hugging him back. The two of you would stay like that for a bit, just silent, unspoken words between the two of you.

I love you.

A silent plea that went unheard.

5+1. firework

"Keeho!"

From just the sound of your voice, his head would whip back, meeting your grin. The rooftop firework party in honor of P1harmony's comeback had been planned by you a few days ago, and after a bit of convincing the higher-ups, Keeho and Theo, being the group's oldest, had gotten a thumbs up for your plan. The rooftop itself was being decorated by Soul and Jeongseob, streamers being put up here and there as Jiung set up the couch and chairs - Theo following behind with bottles of soju and snacks, laying them out carefully with a stack of paper cups. Intak would be setting up a folding table, carefully placing a boxed cake down on the plastic table cloth as he got utensils and paper plates out. Jay and Niki were at the barbecue, whatever they were cooking leaving a mouth-watering aroma in the air, the sunset in the background perfecting the mood.

"Heyy! We've been setting up, as you can see." He'd say, greeting you with a quick hug, though he wished he could hold you for longer. Looking around, he asked, "Who'd you bring?" You were allowed to bring two other friends after all. "I brought Chaewon and Danielle! Just gotta make sure Danielle doesn't get her hands on the soju tonight." You'd say with a giggle, brushing the hair out of your face.

Your eyes.

Your voice.

At hearing your sweet laughter, a chuckle of his own would leave his lips. "Mmm, I gotta watch Soul tonight, 'cause I think Jeongseob's responsible enough to not sneak any drinks, and Jay has to watch Niki. Guess we're all on babysitting duty then?" He'd remark, watching you laugh as you set your bag down. Turning to him, you'd murmur with a small smile, "I suppose so."

Your smile.

"Alrighty then, I gotta set up the fireworks. You girls help out somewhere then?"

"Can I help you? Chaewon and Danielle went off to help the others."

"Yeah, it that'd be great" He'd mutter, sheepishly pulling out an instruction manual. "Haven't been able to figure this out all day." You meet his statements with loud laughter, and it'd soon infect him.

Your laughter.

Your kindness.

About two hours later with an evening glow illuminate the rooftop, you'd all be huddled up around a fire pit, eating Jay's cooking and exchanging conversations, every now and then a remark or two causing laughter from everyone. The clinking of glasses, the warmth of the fire, the lighting, the talking, all perfect. The perfect memory. You looked perfect too, as always. Before you realized, Keeho would catch himself staring, remembering the little hand-picked bouquet of flowers he'd made for you sitting in the corner. He had to tonight. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he didn't tell you.

So when everyone would be in their positions, and Jay would be getting ready to set off the fireworks, he'd grab the bouquet, which you shouldn't be able to see very well due to the dark of the night, and he'd make his way to your side. You looked so excited. How cute.

"Keeho, Keeho, Keeho, you ready? He's gonna set them off any moment now!" you'd exclaim, clutching his hand. He'd reply back with the same amount of enthusiasm, as he tried to not be distracted by how you were holding his hand. A second later, the two of you would hear Soul scream, before yelling, "Hey guys back up! I lit the fucking fuse- shooot!" As you two giggled, you could hear the faint response from Theo, telling Soul something about not cussing, before the bang of the first firework would go off.

Collective shouts of joy would come from where you were all huddled together, joined by the clinking of glasses and laughter, as you and Keeho would laugh along with everyone else. Shoot, he had to do it now, or he'd forget and never have the guts again.

"N/n, c'mon, I gotta tell you something real quick," He'd say to you, catching Intak's smirk as the two of you walked off a few feet from the others. He'd mutter something under his breath, before grabbing the bouquet off the floor as you made your way over, putting your red solo cup down.

"Yeah, what's up?" You'd question, tilting your head slightly as you studied his face. Something felt off. A second of silence would follow, before Keeho would open his mouth slightly, the hesitancy obvious.

"Y/n."

"Yeah?" You were now giving him a quizzical stare, stepping closer. "Something wrong?"

He'd exhale, steeling himself for rejection.

"I... I love you. A lot. And... if you're unable to return my feelings, that's completely fine, so please don't feel pressured to say yes. Would you... would you be my girlfriend?"

Done. Now he could regret it forever, but at least he got it out. After a few moments, he'd hesitantly meet your eyes, waiting for a response. Maybe he should clarify.

"Once again, I-"

"I love you too."

What?

"You- you what?"

Had he heard that right?

A quiet giggle would leave your lips as your stepped forward, hands taking his as they intertwined.

"Can I kiss you?"

You had him wrapped around your finger. Of course he would let you kiss him. He'd let you do anything.

In return to your query would be a grin, as he slipped his hands out from yours and to your face. He'd hold your face gently as he pressed his lips to yours, the bouquet long forgotten. It's fine, he could give it to you later.

He had what he loved the most now, after all.

You.

•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•

please don't translate, copy, or steal my work!

ty for reading <3

•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•.🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•´¯•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•. 🎇 ❤ 🎇 .•¯´•

#p1harmony x reader #p1h keeho #x reader #freaksstar's fics!#p1harmony #piwon #keeho #yoon keeho #p1h #kpop headcanons #kpop #p1h scenarios

34 notes · View notes

marcelllyn · 13 days

Text

Mother's Day surprise

It's Mother's Day! I wanted to write something cute about it, and since the Supernatural writers weren't kind to Dean, I decided to let him be happy in the stories in my head. And happy Mother's Day!

Synopsis:It's Mother's Day and Dean surprised you. Warnings: Sexual mentions, pregnancy, I don't think anything else.English is not my first language. Can I ask for forgiveness in advance? This was much better in my head, lately nothing I write has been good, I should have posted about five fanfics, but I don't know what's been happening with my creativity in writing.

See the end for more notes. (An important note!)

The sun hadn't even risen yet and I was woken up by my husband's tender kisses. Caressing my face and massaging my legs.

—Dean? — He said in a voice groggy with sleep. — This isn't time… — I yawned.

— It's four fifty-seven, you know that when the children wake up I won't be able to give you your present. — He whispered.

— My gift can be given at another time of the day. — I kissed your face. — And I'm completely exhausted, I just woke up.

—You're beautiful. — He kissed the tip of my nose. — Beautifully scary.

I laughed and looked at him. I was lucky to have such a handsome husband, my children would be beautiful, that's what I thought when I was pregnant with our first child.

Unfortunately, none of them took after the father's green eyes, but I was hopeful that the baby in my belly would come with his father's eyes. Even though I loved my honey-colored eyes, I thought it was unfair that he only had green eyes, maybe he would feel left out.

— What do you look at so much? — he blinked repeatedly.

— You are very horrible, you know that?

— I know, every time I walk in front of a mirror it breaks.

Dean ran his hand over my growing belly.

— I can't wait to meet my little girl, little boy.

—No preferences. — I scoffed. — Are you okay, my love?

I ran my fingers through his hair, thanks to the lack of time, it had grown a little.

— Why wouldn't I be?

— You know, Mother's Day and well, your mother she…

The smile, in its decline, has always been a difficult topic for him, as well as talking about his father. Since our first child, Dean has been worried about whether he's being like his father.

— I'm fine, I promise. — He walked away. — I think we better go back to sleep, I don't want you to be exhausted on your special day.

I snuggled close to him, taking in his soft scent, his fingers gently untangling my hair. I fell asleep shortly after.

.....

I turned around in bed and felt for Dean's side of the bed, he was no longer lying down, the sun was shining brightly.

I got up from the bed straight to the bathroom, let my nightgown fall to the floor and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My belly starting to grow, everything starting to swell, more dark circles, more marks. As a child, I thought the fate of mothers was terrible, even though I loved mine very much, and for some reason I thought that feeling could pass, but I still think it's terrible, but it has always been my dream to have a beautiful family.

I step into the shower and let the water wash away my melancholy thoughts about my own body.

I finish showering and do basic makeup. — Something I rarely manage to do, I comb my hair, apply the least strong perfume I have and put on clothes that allow me to chase any child. A loose blue dress with little margaritas embroidered on it.

I hear light laughter as I walk down the hallway lined with family photos. Ross's first steps, my travels with Dean, everything I loved most was there in the photos I took.

Dean was terrible at making assumptions, thinking I wouldn't be suspicious of the silence in the morning. I approached the kitchen and a bunch of sprinkles were thrown into the air.

—Happy Mothers Day! — Ross shouted.

A genuine smile appeared when I saw the table full of delicious things and some heart-shaped balloons stuck on the chairs, our little Arabella struggling in her baby chair trying to catch the confetti with her little hands.

—How sweet!

— Happy Mother's Day, my love! — Dean kissed me lightly. — Ross, go get mom’s gift.

My son ran around the house.

—This is so cute. And to top it off we have red fruit pie. — I laughed, looking at the table with tears in my eyes. — I'm starving.

—Here! — Ross handed me a medium-sized box with heart-shaped wrapping paper. — It's my gift, to the best mother in the world!

I kissed her forehead and carelessly opened the package. I opened the box and looked at Dean and Ross with raised eyebrows and a big smile on my face and said:

—A camera! — I jumped for joy twice. - Thank you my loves. — I started crying uncontrollably.

My son looked at me like I had done something wrong, so I hugged him tight. I loved photographing everything, I had several photos of Dean and Sam when they were younger, of my college and the places I visited, I lost the habit after being so busy with two children.

— Mom loved your gift very much. — I wiped away the tears.

I sat in the chair as I fiddled with the camera, took a picture of Dean off guard in his hideous robe.

— Well, now let's eat. — Dean said anxiously.

— I'm going to have to outdo myself on Father's Day. — I joked. — Should I buy a giant pie or a day at a SPA?

— Pie isn't a bad idea. — He served me a piece of berry pie. — And Sam is picking up the kids today.

— Where will he take my children?

— A place that entertains children. — He mocked. — And you'll be able to have a day all your own.

Arabela started to grumble to eat right away, I picked her up from the car seat and sat on my lap, giving her some strawberries so she could bite. Belle, as I nicknamed her, was more like Dean, both in her temperament and appearance. Her eyes, even though they weren't green, were similar to his, her dark blonde hair and her smile with her small but sharp canines. I noticed Ross's chewing noise.

— Hey, hey, Ross, the food won't come off the plate.

—Sorry dad. — He smiled with his mouth full. — I want to go to Uncle Sam's house soon.

— I wonder if my nephew is that eager to come here. — Dean joked.

— Considering that you are his uncle, I don't think so, now if you were his father and Sam was his uncle…

—Did you just say that I'm a boring father and uncle?

— I didn't use the word, boring, at any time. — I stuck my tongue out at him. — Ross, do you think your father is boring?

I looked at the boy with his hair properly cut, wearing pajamas from his favorite band, AC/DC. Dean made us all love rock, even though Ross was in my belly, he would play all the songs from these bands for him to listen to.

— Not every day.

Dean raised his eyebrows and said:

— What do you mean not “every day”? — He said in disbelief. — I let you eat candy before dinner, ride in my car and you still call me boring.

—Not every day. — I pointed out. — What do you mean sweets before dinner?

Arabela started making cute baby noises, wanting to get off my lap, I put her on the floor and glared at them both.

— If today wasn't my day, we'd both be grounded.

— But you keep saying that Mother's Day, Children's Day and Father's Day are dates… How do you say it? Ross asked.

— Capitalists. - Smile. — Children really retain information.

The bell rang. I didn't think Sam would come so soon, but he was always very punctual.

— What are you giving in exchange for him to be with two children all day?

— It wasn't my idea, it was my sister-in-law's. Dean got up to answer the door.

Ross ran to get his backpack, leaving half the cereal in the bowl, and Belle walked with her arms raised and her steps slow and uncoordinated.

—Good morning! — Sam's deep voice was always differentiable from the others.

—Sam! — I jumped out of my chair to give my best friend a bear hug.

—Happy Mothers Day! — He squeezed me lightly, being careful with the baby in my belly. — She's radiant.

— You're married, man. — Dean slapped his brother on the shoulder. — How is my sister-in-law?

— Very good, she loves having more children at home. — Sam picked up Bela, she looked like a doll next to him. — She's so much cuter, how can babies get cuter every day?

— They're babies. — I kissed my daughter's cheek. — I hope they don't give you too much of a headache.

— I do not accept returns before 8 pm. — Dean took Bela's two bags. — I owe you this favor.

— And there's my favorite nephew! — Sam shouted, covering the ears of the baby in his lap. — Ross, since you're big, I hope you're as tall as your uncle.

Dean rolled his eyes and snorted.

— Well, time to go, your cousin and aunt are looking forward to seeing you. — Sam kissed my cheek. - See you later.

— Take good care of my children and happy Mother's Day to Eileen.

— See you later, mom. — Ross hugged me gently.

— Bye, son, behave yourself, or you won't see Uncle Sam until you're seventeen. — Dean hugged his son tightly. — And, my flower, I will miss your annoying crying. — He kissed the top of Bela's head.

Dean helped Sam put the bags and Arabella in the chair, while I cleaned the table. I tortured myself for a while, thinking that I didn't offer Sam anything to eat.

— Look, the house arrives, it has an echo. — Dean hugged me from behind. — So, what do you want to do first?

— How about cleaning the kitchen and then watching Twilight?

— I don't like movies with vampires, but can we see The Godfather?

— I thought it was my choice, after all, it's Mother's Day.

— Everything but twilight. I refuse to watch this movie!

— One day I'll make you Team Edward.

.......

Finally, we were sitting on the couch as Twilight played. At the beginning of the film, I was centered, it was good to have some time away from children's cartoons. But Dean's kisses started to become more insatiable, I ended up on his lap, kissing him more and more sloppily.

Dean's hands were desperate. He grabbed my thighs and lifted me into the air.

— Dean! — He smiled between his lips. — Try not to knock me down.

We walked slowly to the room without any difficulty. He gently placed me on the bed. Dean threw away his shirt and belt. I thought it would be something serious before he played Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N' Roses.

I started laughing desperately as he danced and sang as strangely as he could. I laughed until I lost my breath. Dean climbed on top of me, tickling me.

— Dean! — I shouted between laughs. — Dean!

He was also out of breath and panting as he looked at me with those bright, beautiful eyes. I pulled the back of his head for a kiss, even though I was almost out of breath, I managed to kiss him a little.

— Do you want me to turn off the music?

—It is not necessary. — I took off my dress. - I like this song.

— Of course you like it, otherwise I wouldn't be married to you.

.......

Dear few people who read, I love writing about supernatural, especially about Dean, but I wanted to try writing fanfics about maybe Billy Russo, Count Vronsky, anyway some book characters maybe. I still don't know! If you can say the name of a character you like,It's even better if you can say how you would like me to write it. (You know the fanfic “Just one bed.”, I’ll keep writing it, and it will probably be the only one about supernatural for now.)

#dean winchester #sam winchester #supernatural #dean winchester x reader #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #sam winchester x reader #mothers day #pregnancy #family #cute

44 notes · View notes

thewisecheerio · 6 months

Text

Crow Behavior in BG3

One of the delights of BG3 is all of the random items we can collect for no other reason than that it makes us happy; it allows us to indulge in crow behavior, collecting every little knick-knack for our nest. So here are the things I've collected just because I imagine it makes the various companions happy.

Karlach: The plushie collection is currently at 22 teddy bears and 2 owl bear stuffies, and growing. Clive, her original teddy bear, deserves some friends and we're here to find them for her. Additionally, every firework we can find in the game belongs to her, because she deserves to set things on fire and launch them at people. Also, I think she would find the sparkly colors enchanting.

Karlach also has multiple types of beer on hand in her camp space, so any beer we find is saved for her so that she can enjoy herself at mealtimes. If there were a distillery with tasting in the game, we'd take her to visit it.

Artwork by @paranoodle: https://paranoodle.tumblr.com/post/729302166910779392

Astarion: Astarion tells us that he enjoys petty vanity, and yet he has one (1) set of clothes just like everyone else when he shows up. Reading the description of his default clothing lets us know that Cazador largely did not afford nice things--including basic changes of clothing--for the spawn, as his clothes have been repaired repeatedly rather than being replaced. And Astarion struggles with owning his own body and bodily autonomy, part of which is possibly entwined with feeling right in his own skin.

So the man deserves as many nice clothes as he wants now. We got delicately embroidered clothes, clothes of expensive silks, slutty clothes, modest clothes, silly clothes, serious clothes, every change of clothes we can possibly buy or steal to allow the man to engage in some vanity while he re-learns to love himself.

Gale: I have a collection of over 650 books, and it's all for him. He and Astarion (the other one reading all day at camp) surely have a book club, and Gale maintains the collection they choose from. Also, the extensive scroll collection that I refuse to sell regardless of the fact that 75% of them won't get used is for him, because he deserves as many magical tomes as we can get our hands on.

Gale has a crystal ball and telescope in his camp, suggesting that magical and scientific paraphernalia would interest him. So we loot every crystal ball, every scale, every hourglass, every conical flask and separatory funnel, and every slightly-dangerous-yet-intellectually-intriguing potion we can find so that the man can nerd out on a whim.

Finally, Gale has a little space for Tara in his camp consisting of a pillow, a bowl, and a ball; when we find toys and supplies for animals, we keep them around in case he wants them for Tara.

Artwork by Konbu: https://konbu.artstation.com/projects/39Dzmv

Lae'zel: Weapons and armor, in comical quantities. Lae'zel spends all day grinding weapons at camp, so she deserves some nice greatswords and axes to grind (hah hah). We've also sourced every variety of armor we can possibly find in the game, just to allow her to play with and admire the workmanship of different types of craft. As someone with a strong interest in warfare, it seems only fair to give her new toys in the form of a wide variety of finely-crafted armor. Nevermind that we won't use the majority of them; that's not the point. The point is to make the lizard lady happy.

Lae'zel's camp has a bunch of stuffed hunting trophies. So if we could loot the stuffed heads we find or make some out of our various enemy encounters, we would. She deserves a hunting trophy collection larger than Gaston's. Screenshot by @arrenkae: https://arrenkae.tumblr.com/post/724752445632282624/companions-and-their-tents

Wyll: The man deserves access to the finest of wines. He's normally sipping something at camp from a fine-looking goblet, and we're here to provide the finest of drinks. The drinking horns you can find are for him, just to spice things up so that he's not using the same goblet every time.

We also loot every type of food. Yes, we could buy boring camp supply sacks from various merchants, but then how is he supposed to make appropriate pairings with his wine? No, friends: we collect as large a collection of treats as possible so that he can make a charcuterie board of delights whenever he wants.

Wyll's camp includes a quill and ink set, which suggests he likes to write or draw. So those quill and ink sets we find all over Faerun are for him. (On that note, he's probably also the one making the occasional portrait of the vain elf, since Astarion can't see himself in mirrors and would probably love a picture of what he looks like instead.) It's likely that if the inking set is for writing, he's sharing the books in Gale's collection as inspiration for his own writing. He might even join the book club.

And finally, the Blade of Frontiers deserves a nice rapier collection. Maybe Lae'zel even helps him maintain them in top shape.

Shadowheart: Shadowheart tells us that she likes a particular flower, and you have the option of bringing one to her. So we keep some un-extracted flowers around, just for ambience for her. She also spends all day praying at camp, so we loot some clean towels when we find them so that she has something soft to kneel on in place of a prayer rug.

Shadowheart's camp includes a collection of incense and candles. Whenever we find nice incense supplies and tapers, we save them for her to relax and/or pray with.

Artwork by @astrariem: https://www.tumblr.com/astrariem/728597416023080960

Halsin: Halsin tells us that he likes to whittle, and especially whittling animals. Any time we find a finely carved or manufactured object, we loot it for him as inspiration. The toad teapots in Ethels' cottage? A gift for the artistic druid man. The finely carved idols? For him. The delicately crafted music boxes? For Halsin. The slightly-suspicious-yet-well-made Whispering Masks? Also for him.

Halsin's lab is filled with all sorts of strangely preserved curiosities. So whenever we loot bottled blooms and anomalous coral and various seashells, it's so that he can have a curiosity collection away from home. The large bottles we collect en masse are so that he has the option of bottling his own curiosities. His camp has a mortar and pestle, so we take different iterations of those, too, to help with his preservation endeavors. He deserves to have access to a regular one and a silver one and a gold one, just for variety's sake. Artwork by Jackomoria: https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/16arqzc/halsin_and_his_ducks/ or https://www.artstation.com/artwork/PXBAwn

Jaheira: All the jewelry is for her. When we enter her hideout in Act 3, we find a beautiful necklace left by her partner, which suggests that she enjoys jewelry (or someone who knew her well thinks she does). She's even wearing a big ol' necklace in her default outfit. So the rings and the necklaces in number too many to use are all for her. The other thing of note we find in her hideout is a collection of stunning scimitars, which are her chosen weapon. So among the weapon collection that Lae'zel maintains are an extensive number of scimitars, which otherwise belong exclusively to Jaheira. Jaheira's camp has a bunch of "parent-ware", by which I mean she has stuff for cooking and cleaning and generally taking care of others. She also has a thousand children. Given how exhausting it is taking care of others, I think she deserves some time to herself. We take her to the perfume shop in Rivington, and we loot fine soaps and linens for her to relax with. The jewelry is also part of allowing her to spoil herself a bit.

Minsc: Minsc's camp site is pretty barren; as a ranger, he's likely accustomed to a fairly Spartan existence on the road. Boo seems to be his only (regular) companion. So the animal companions in camp are for him and him alone. Boo needs some friends, and so does Minsc. Scratch and the owlbear cub probably sleep at the foot of his bed regularly; in Elfsong, the owlbear sets themself up directly across from Minsc and I refuse to believe that is on accident.

Minthara: I haven't recruited her, so feel free to make suggestions. ;) But from pictures of her camp tent alone, I would think some things she might miss from the Underdark would be welcome. A few varieties of mushrooms and crystalline formations to remind her of home probably wouldn't go amiss.

The Dark Urge: Skulls. We have a collection of over 75 emotional support skulls in a variety of shapes and sizes for this precious little Bhaal-babe.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #karlach #wyll ravengard #shadowheart #lae'zel #gale dekarios #astarion #minthara #minsc #jaheira #halsin #durge #the dark urge #bg3 spoilers

51 notes · View notes

tsams-and-co-memes · 1 month

Note

Frank is Pisces idea:

Imagine that if the theory is canon, gets revealed, and everyone gets used to it, Frank eventually decides to come up with a sort of new appearance. Or at least a new outfit.

Frank looks a lot like Moon to blend in, but now that their friends know the truth, they don’t really need to look like moon anymore. Or at least, they don’t need to copy his outfit anymore.

And it would still fit in with their disguise for the rest of the world, since animatronics can transfer to new bodies.

Maybe Frank’s new appearance looks like how they do now build wise, except with a new outfit and maybe a color change. Like a slightly different shade of blue, or maybe a new color pattern. Maybe they incorporate stars somewhere on their body. Or maybe incorporate fish on their outfit in a subtle way, like a pin or a embroidered patch.

I think they would keep the crescent moon face though. It fits them and their identity as Pisces.

Foxy made some comment about whatever Frank is, he could be simply inhabiting that body. In other words, it's possible that the body Frank walks around in is just a vessel of sorts

I'm waiting for someone to find Frank's body slouched over somewhere, then when they approach him, they see that the eyes are dark, and it's empty. The body is an empty shell now. Frank has emerged into his true self/true form, and he's just lurking around in the background, waiting to make his appearance and reintroduce himself to his friends, who are suddenly acting afraid of him for some lame reason

As far as a new outfit goes, it WOULD make a lot of sense to keep stars as part of the design. Sqarlet (a discord buddy) made a design for Frank's Pisces form that has the constellation of Pisces down the front of his abdomen, and while half of him is black and the other half is white (think a yin-yang look, almost), he also had some flowy silk pieces on his outfit too, which almost kinda sorta reminds me of water, whenever I see it

I so wish I could share her design of him, but I don't have her permission (yet) or her tumblr, assuming she has one, so I won't be doing that ^^" sadly

#anon #asks #tsams frank #tsams forkface #tsams pisces

22 notes · View notes

punsmaster69 · 5 months

Text

9/JAN/20XX

been a minute since i stayed in my room all day by myself.

once upon a time, that was a pretty common occurrence.

and maybe i still won't, but it's how i've spent today so far.

feels a bit different now that i'm actually lifted off the ground.

while stretching out as much as i could, i accidentally knocked something off the bed with my foot. lazily rolling over to see what it was, there was no real intention in me to get up and grab it.

a stuffed plush of a bear laid pathetically on its face.

i glanced back at the other stuffed animals on the end of my bed.

"...but these ones feel special for some reason."

"must be the fabric quality."

..that's what i'd thought the day she won them for me, right?

they're not particularly notable in quality, in honesty.

still, they do feel special.

sliding off the bed and landing on my feet next to the bear, i lifted it to meet my face.

the stuffed animal's beady eyes, obscured partially by fur, returned my stare.

"you're only special because of her, huh?"

i can tell myself i'm not a stuffed animal person.

i'm not the type.

i'm not a sentimental guy.

and it'd probably be true,

if it weren't for her.

the other plush creatures had been arranged by size at the foot of my bed, resting against the baseboard.

the doing of a neater skeleton than i.

and, the un-doing of a messier skeleton than he.

sitting myself in front of the wrecked arrangement, i tried to recreate how they had been previously.

two equally exaggeratedly fat animals start the line off at the largest size - differently colored chickens.

floor bear is the dead-center of the grouping. it's got longer brown fur and a small gold ribbon tied into bow around its neck. the bow and the animal's eyes are somewhat obscured by the fur length.

then, a creature i can't quite determine between raccoon and squirrel which it might be.

either or, whatever that one is has a little fall cardigan on.

smallest, final of the line, is a something that is decidedly not an animal.

stuffed shape is more fitting, it being a heart; that kind of semi-shiny, soft material.

"I never want to be ap-heart!"

reads the front.

the embroidered font is fancy and silvery.

texturally, the words are rough.

really, they're the exact quality one expects from festival booth prizes.

so to be displayed on the end of my bed like this...

it's more a sentiment to the memory surrounding them.

another day like that would be nice. can admit to myself now that i really would enjoy it.

friends can s

the festival setting in particular isn't quite the part i'm thinking about.

where around here could we

....

properly seated, the stuffies feel like an audience in a way i hadn't noticed before.

on the other hand, putting them anywhere but on my bed feels like disrespect.

for now, i'll turn them the other way.

——

turning them away feels wrong in a way i'm not sure i could specify if i tried, so i rotated the bear back to me.

it's a show of innocence.

of normal-ness.

friendshipness.

(the friendship-adjectives are getting out of hand.)

i held my hands up to further prove to the inanimate object that innocence.

i put them back down because hands don't have anything to do with this.

"you're a gift from a friend. no other way to see it."

not entirely sure at this point whether it was really the bear i was convincing - or entirely sure why i was bothering doing this to begin with - i moved on.

...

i already noted the amount of "friendship" adjectives i've been coming up with over time to excuse things.

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

sure.

unspecific enough.

"friendship" is a nice label you can put over things that you don't wanna give any 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 labels to.

labels feel like making a choice.

labels feel concrete.

labels feel like 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

and, uh.

you know something?

never have been the kind of guy to act first.

another thing calling it "friendship" is good for is...

can't call it "cowardice" when i won't vocalize (or similar) what's occupying my mind

if it's still called "friendship."

maybe the fact that i'm trying to justify it at all should bring light to somethin'...

but that kind of self awareness is reserved for therapy calls.

and i'm hanging up the phone for now.

#undertale #journal #sans #toriel #soriel #the actual worst logic ever seen

40 notes · View notes

dulcesiabits · 5 months

Note

i ADORE the way you write adela!!! do you have any general headcanons for her, or little drabble notes to go along with your fic you wrote with her earlier? 😊

(referencing this fic)

Hi!! Thank you so much for reading my fic and adoring it <3 I do have author's notes where I discuss the thought process behind the fic, but if you're looking for something more comprehensive, then I'd be happy to share some of my headcanons for her!!! Under the cut for length <3

I feel like Adela is really good with her hands! As someone who cuts hair for a living, I think she'd take up other crafts that require a similar level of care and dedication to detail, like embroidering or lacemaking. Any sort of handiwork would flourish under her care. Her hands are quite pretty, too, and she takes care of them very well, since it's what she uses to ply her craft. She often uses a clear nail polish, or darker shades like navy blue or deep purple.

She's a meticulous and careful person. For some reason, I can see her making lists of tasks she needs to complete, and carrying around a planner and checking off every item when she finishes it, haha. She's never late to appointments, and she always arrives 10 minutes early for any plan she makes. She keeps a very consistent schedule!

This is just canon information, but she's polite, charismatic and a great listener. She could approach anyone and have them unloading their worries on her within a few minutes of meeting. It's just so easy to talk to her, and her attention is so genuine and honest. She really does want to hear about your life; it's not just lip service or small talk to her. A downside to this, however, is that Adela spends so long taking care of others that she doesn't really take care of herself. She may know everything about you, but you'll know very little about her in return.

Though she lives a life where it's easy for her to just pack and move on, and she doesn't want to carry around many items with her for ease of movement, I believe that she's actually very sentimental. She loves trinkets and tokens, and treasures presents from friends very dearly, because they serve as proof of her relationship with others. I don't think she's used to receiving things from others at all, either, which is why she values the things she does receive.

I don't think Adela is a very picky eater; she's practical, and she's used to getting by with very little. If you asked, however, I think she'd enjoy home-cooked food. Something warm, savory and comforting, that someone made with the recipient's comfort and happiness in mind.

As a lover, I think it's honestly a bit of a push and pull relationship with her at first. It takes a long time for her to trust you enough to open up to you at all, let alone to stay in the first place. To Adela, happiness feels like a trap, and she's always wary of the happiness that does come her way. It could so easily be lost. If you do manage to convince her to stay, then it takes time for her to settle in and feel comfortable around you. She might treat the relationship as transactional at first; if she makes you happy and takes care of you, then you won't leave. What can she give you? What can she do for you? It takes a bit more time to soothe her worries and convince her that you love her for her and don't necessarily expect her to take care of everything by herself. You won't leave her, and you will stay by her side for the rest of her life. It's a bit of a struggle for her to adjust to the idea of unconditional love.

In any case, Adela does have a habit of being overprotective. A part of it comes from the fact that she thinks she knows what's best for you, and another part of it comes from her genuine care and fear of losing you. A single scratch on your skin is an emergency that warrants a trip to the hospital. If anyone approaches you with ill intentions, then she's intervening before they can even speak a word to you. If anything were to happen to you, she'd lose her mind, so preventing any terrible situations from arising in the first place is the best solution she can think of.

#liya answers #path to nowhere #adela #adela x reader #idk what to say #i literally rotate her in my mind every night at fast processing speeds #OHH ADELA WE R REALLY IN IT NOW!!!!!!!!#me writing this was like. oh #shes a very lonely person

35 notes · View notes

wispofthevalley · 5 months

Text

Rg drabbles #2: Preparation

Oscar took a deep breath, steeling himself before he raised a hand towards a heavy looking wooden door. He was alone now, Aunt em having turnt back after helping him carry the load, if he looked back he could probably spot her but it wouldn’t be long now before she was out of sight.

He hesitated, wanting nothing more but to turn his back to the door and call her back to help him, but he wouldn’t, he had to do this alone. Realistically, he didn’t have to and Aunt Em would gladly help him if he booked it down the road to catch up to her and asked. Even if it would ease some of his anxiety, it felt weird to ask her for help with this part. She had helped enough already.

Before he could chicken out any further he rapped his knuckles on the door thrice, waiting for a response. And then waiting some more, and a little more, for a response that didn’t come. He stood there in awkward silence with nothing but his thoughts for a good bit, when he realised he should probably knock again.

And so he knocked, harder this time.And then proceeded to have his soul forcibly stripped from his body when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder.

“Oscar!” Taiyang said enthusiastically, patting him on the shoulder.

“Ah, good after- good morning Mr. Xiaolong,” he stuttered out, face already starting to flush from embarrassment.

“Sorry I didn’t hear you earlier, I was out in the garden. These plants won't take care of themselves ey?”

“It’s fine, I haven’t been here for long anyway,” he reassured him, waving off the apology.

“Excuse me,” he says, stepping around Oscar to get to the door before he unlocked it and made his way inside. “Aren’t you gonna come in?!” Taiyang called out from inside.

“Coming!” Oscar startled, closing the door behind him after he hurries inside and slips off his outside shoes.

He slowly made his way into the house, stopping in the middle of the living room unsure of what to do before Taiyang popped out from the kitchen carrying a tray that he rests on the table.

“You didn’t have to wait for me, come now have a seat,” he said, gesturing for Oscar to take a spot on the couch before sinking into a corner of the couch himself.

“Ah, thanks!” He blushed before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, dreading bringing up today’s topic. “Did you have a reason to visit or did you just come to keep little old me company?” Taiyang teased, looking thoroughly amused at Oscar’s shyness.

The embarrassed flush spreaded to the top of Oscar’s ears before he placed a potted plant on the table next to the tea tray and slowly pulled out two ornate looking bags both green in colour with yellow embroidered details running along the seams of the bags before offering it to Taiyang. “Thank you?” Taiyang’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as he accepted the bags, the first one being much heavier than the second.

Oscar cleared his throat, steeling himself before he started “Sir, I’ve come here today to ask-to ask for your daughter Ruby Rose’s hand in marriage”

He gestures to the gifts before continuing “The plant is almost mature and should be able to bear strawberries by next spring, the first bag has a few pieces of uncut jade and- and silver jewellery.

He clasped his hands and looked down to his lap, “The second has fresh tea leaves, and a few sweets I made- well tried to make myself.” The last part of his sentence is quieter than the first.

“Oscar,” Taiyang prompted, waiting for him to look up.

“I would be happy to have you as my son, just as I’m sure Ruby would be elated to have you for a husband,” he started gently before he clasped Oscar’s hands in his. Oscar looks up, surprise coating his face.

“Are you- are you sure?” He asked almost incredulously, eyes wide and mouth dry. “Of course, as well as the fact I’m sure Ruby would try and convince Yang to help set something on fire if she ever found out I had said no”

“Oh gods, I forgot about Yang!” Oscar exclaimed, dragging a hand down his face right before the doorbell rang. “Well would you look at that! Perfect timing, now’s your chance.” Taiyang chuckled, getting up to peer out the window.

“Looks like Yang’s here,” he said just before the lock rattled and someone cursed outside.

Oscar silently resigned himself to a fiery death, via Yang.

Surprisingly, that didn’t happen at all, in fact by the end of the day she was just about his biggest supporter. (Y'all want the proposal fic?? lmk)

#rosegarden #rwby #ruby rose #oscar rwby #fanfic #fanfiction #fluff #cartoon

20 notes · View notes

mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 1 year

Text

Dirty mind

Part Two to Entertainment.

I love this AU way too much, pour one out for our boy LXC who's going through it.

---

Negotiating accords is often a boring affair. It takes a lot of back-and-forth, a lot of figure checking, going over past documents, current events and future prospects.

To be honest, it's got to be one of the most tedious parts of inter-sect politics and the one thing that Lan Wangji dreads most during Discussion Conference week. He knows he must help his brother with this - there are, after all, documents and pieces of information that only the innermost circle of the sect leader has access to - but that doesn't mean he has to like it, or pretend to.

After all, everybody knows he's not particularly sociable and since it's Lan Xichen that's doing most of the talking, Lan Wangji doesn't have to attempt to make himself any more pleasant than he would otherwise be. Which is not a lot.

However, today it won't be just another annoying, entitled sect leader that the Lan delegation will be meeting with. In fact, for possibly the first time in his life, Lan Wangji is looking forward to negotiations - because they're meeting to settle some new trade accords with the Yiling Wei sect.

Which means that he gets to spend the day around Wei Ying, something he hasn't been able to do much lately. Understandable, considering the fact that his beloved is a sect leader now, but that doesn't mean Lan Wangji doesn't miss him immensely the more time they spend apart.

If Lan Wangji could have his way, he'd be negotiating with Wei Ying himself, alone, in one of the guest rooms that the Conference's organizers have provided them with - but since he's not the Lan sect leader, he has to just be happy joining Lan Xichen for the talks and acting something of a glorified secretary during. This is probably the first time Lan Wangji has ever wished he was sect leader instead of his brother - but he doubts he would be able to so patiently deal with the likes of Sect Leader Yao or Sect Leader Ouyang without causing a diplomatic incident.

Anyway, beggars can't be choosers. Even just getting to share space with Wei Ying is a privilege, and Lan Wangji is going to make the best of it - he's donning his best robes, the light blue, embroidered ones that Wei Ying likes (taking off) most, and he's even wearing jewelry. Well, one piece of jewelry, but it's not a random one - it's a fine, silver necklace with a teardrop ruby that Wei Ying's gifted him on his birthday. The chain is rather long, which means that the pendant lands just above Lan Wangji's sternum. There's a reason for this - a reason that has Lan Wangji smile to himself - Wei Ying told him he liked the way the ruby dangles in his face when they-

"Wangji."

Lan Xichen's voice interrupts Lan Wangji's escalating thoughts, and he tries his best not to appear flustered. He knows his brother can read him well, but he still hopes that it's not all written all over his face.

Xichen sighs. "Let's go, I would hate to be late." And he smiles, ever so warm and polite, but his brother can see the mischievous edge. "I know you would as well."

Lan Wangji doesn't reply, picking up the stack of paperwork he has prepared for the meeting and follows his brother out of the room. If his ears are a bit too red, nobody comments on it.

---

Lan Wangji is quite sure he will never tire of seeing Wei Ying. His heart will forever do sommersaults in his chest at the sight of his love, no matter how often it may be and no matter what he might look like.

But Lan Wangji would be a filthy liar if he said the sight of his Wei Ying in sect leader robes is not overwhelmingly attractive. God, he looks good in anything (and in nothing at all), but there's something about the ornate robes, the air of authority, the way he carries himself that has Lan Wangji take deep breaths and swallow hard.

And Wei Ying has decided to impress that day. Lan Wangji just hopes he will be able to tear his eyes away from Wei Ying's tastefully cut robes, the sharp V of his neckline and the way his hair falls over his shoulders, a thin drape over the fine embroidery of his clothing and-

"Sect Leader Lan." Wei Ying greets, respectfully, his eyes moving towards Lan Wangji's, warm, loving and teasing. "Hanguang-Jun."

"Sect Leader Wei." Lan Xichen greets with a smile. "Please, have a seat and let us proceed."

Lan Wangji is going to die some time during this meeting, probably. With the way Wei Ying looks at him, it will be a wonder if he doesn't lose his mind within the next five minutes, let alone the two or three hours negotiations usually take.

Wei Ying's head disciple, Wen Ning, hands him a few scrolls, and Wei Ying casually unrolls them, looking over the writing there for a moment before presenting them to Lan Xichen.

Lan Wangji doesn't know why that simple movement seemed so incredibly sexy to him, but he has no time to ponder. He knows he has to provide his own sect's documents now.

Wei Ying doesn't let him lay them onto the table, and takes them from Lan Wangji's hand himself. The touch is tender, brief and electric. Wei Ying smiles at him in that certain way that has Lan Wangji weak and turns to Lan Xichen to discuss it.

Lan Wangji wishes he could be more present. These talks are important, establishing a trade route accord and a cooperation treaty with the Yiling Wei sect is pivotal - the region they reside in is of great strategic value, and the progress Wei Ying has made in cleansing the Burial Mounds is nothing short of exceptional. If the Lan sect manages to establish itself as a primary partner for Yiling Wei, they'll gain a significant advantage over the other sects, economically, politically and in terms of cultivation.

But all Lan Wangji can focus on is how beautiful, competent and, to put it bluntly, hot his partner is. He talks with ease, confidently arguing his points, never raising his voice. He's firm in his demands but not rigid, and he seems to be finding a way to meet Lan Xichen's expectations halfway without placing either of them at a disadvantage.

Lan Wangji is very glad he isn't sect leader now. He would have gotten absolutely nothing done if it had been him to negotiate with Wei Ying. He would have just given him whatever he wanted and then-

"Hanguang-Jun, what do you think of the student exchange initiative?" Wei Ying asks, and he doesn't hide the fact that he knew Lan Wangji has been staring at him, resting his chin on his palm with a poorly concealed sultry look. "Since you're in charge of the teaching at the Cloud Recesses, I figure your input is very important."

Lan Xichen sighs quietly beside him and Lan Wangji feels himself flustered. Still, although he has been thirsting after Wei Ying all throughout the meeting, he hasn't been entirely checked out of the conversation. He's good at multitasking, and he can think with two heads just fine.

"It could be beneficial for the juniors to interact with different kinds of people and encounter new forms of cultivation." Lan Wangji responds, smoothly. "I also believe it would help reduce any stigma about the Yiling Wei sect and its methods among the younger generations."

Wei Ying smiles, fox-like, and Lan Wangji has decided he's had enough of being the only one teased.

So, with Wei Ying's attention still on him, he very casually loosens his lapels just enough for Wei Ying's eyes to catch onto the piece of jewelry Lan Wangji has worn especially for him.

"Not to mention," he continues, "it would contribute to strengthening our sect relations."

Wei Ying's eyes flash red for a moment before he turns to answer whatever Lan Xichen has just asked. Lan Wangji didn't hear it and he isn't that bothered about it - the look on Wei Ying's face is enough for him to know this negotiation won't last much longer.

And if he just happens to busy himself playing with his necklace, that can always be attributed to idleness.

It's a bit funny, watching Wei Ying struggle to pay attention as his eyes follow the way Lan Wangji's fingers trace over the silver chain, and every so often let go in favor of the red jewel, messing with it in a way that shouldn't be so suggestive.

Expectedly, negotiations end shortly after. All vital points of interest have been met, there were virtually no points of contention and the final draft of the document will be signed tomorrow.

When Xichen stands up and bows to leave, Wangji knows he has to leave too, he needs to debrief with his brother and send a few letters back home. He will be visiting Wei Ying later.

However, before he can stand, Xichen places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes a bit too hard. "I will leave you to settle whatever had the two of you so... antsy."

He walks out with Wen Ning in tow, and sets a pace much too quick for the occasion.

He knows the inhabitants of the now empty room won't wait long.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #writing attempts

124 notes · View notes

the-fiction-witch · 2 months

Text

Married P2

Media The Maze Runner X Fantasy

Character Newt

Couple Newt X Reader

Rating Sweet AF

I spent hours pacing around my room in utter fury trying to find a way out of all this. I know my father has been trying to marry me off but I assumed I'd have more time! How on earth does he think it's appropriate to wed me off to some lord, uproot me from everything I've ever known and move me a week away. To live in some posh manor as some regal lady to some grubby lord twice my age! To wear fancy dresses, push out heirs and Embroider! Like some milkmaid! I refuse I utterly and completely refuse! I am not marrying him! I am finding another man to marry me within the day!

Ughhh! But father doesn't let me out I don't know any men!

How does he expect me to find someone willing to marry me If he never lets me go out and meet men!

How am I going to find a man to marry me! When I don't know any men!

Wait…

I may not know any men…

But I know a newt.

Close enough!

I got dressed into something my father accepted a long blue dress before I bolted downstairs but immediately was stopped by the kitchen door by Lillian.

“Where are you going?”

“Taking Ester for a ride. And potentially coming back with a husband,”

“... alright,”

I happily bolted out grabbed Ester and rode off as fast as I could towards the farm jumping fences and creeks riding like my life depended on it I saw him outside the barn bringing in some hay bales,

“NEWT!” I yelled,

He perked up curious why he could hear his name being yelled,

“NEWT!" I yelled again,

He looked up and saw me and almost had a heart attack as he saw the speed I approached, I stopped Ester inches from the water and jumped down onto Newt throwing him into the mud,

“Newt!"

“...oow… hi y/n,” he groans,

"Hi!" I smiled,

"Sallianne hasn't had her lamb, so why are you attacking me?" he complained as he sat up in the mud,

"Marry me."

"... what now?" He gulped,

"Marry me. Today."

"Ah- I- y/n..." he said shocked, "WHAT!"

"Marry me!"

"Have you lost it!"

"Newt. Yes or no do you want to marry me?"

"Well, I- I-" he stuttered, "I... Want to,"

"Good. Then we are engaged," I nodded before heading into the barn,

"What! Just like that!" he rushed in after me, "Don't I need to ask you out? Don't we need to date? hug? kiss? court? don't I need to buy you a ring? don't I need to ask your father?" He asks clearly panicking, "I feel like we're skipping a lot of steps here!"

"Newt I've known you since we were infants I think we can skip the pleasantries," I laughed as I headed to see Sallianne, he came over sheepishly and stood beside me,

"Are uhhh are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure," I shrug,

"Okay... there uhh there a reason for the sudden marriage proposal? Did a fairy come to you in the night or something?"

"No," I shrug, "My father is insisting I act like a lady,"

"That explains the dress." he nodded,

"Yeah," I complained,

"which you look beautiful in! just saying..."

"Awww thanks Newt," I smiled, "But my father is insisting I act lady like, and he has a man coming to sell me off to."

"Ooh..."

"Yep,"

"So... why are we getting married?"

"Becuase my father said, and I quote I have to be married but he doesn't care who too so either I bring him someone willing to marry me or he sells me off to Lord Janson,"

"Ahh..." he nods, "I am getting it now," he nods,

"Yep, so I needed someone to marry." I smiled, "Which is where you come in,"

"what's in this for me?"

"You're debating now? after you already agreed?"

"Okay yes, not my best haggling but still,"

"You're family won't wed you off to Teresa the miller's daughter,"

"they wouldn't Tommy has been after her for like six years,"

"Yes, but we both know her father is never going to let him marry her,"

"True,"

"And your parents have been getting shovy,"

"They have, that's true," He sighed, "So I'd get to marry you,"

"Yep, I don't care if you do your marital duties or not-"

"Ohh I'm doing them." He nodded, "Very happily,"

"Really?"

"If I'm marrying you, it's a proper marriage, we have to love each other, kiss, cuddle, share a bed, and have children someday,"

"EUghh.." I sighed, "I'll allow cuddling, three nights a week sleeping in my bed and I'll learn to love you?"

"Kissing. Cuddling. Every night a week, three children and you learn to love me?"

"Every week, kisses, cuddles, and one child."

"Two children and you learn to love our relationship. And monogamous."

"you are getting a lot out of this!"

"You want me to be your husband or not? you need me to get you out of this on short notice so I get to make the rules little lady,"

"Fine!" I complained, "Kissing, cuddling, we will share a bed But! we buy two duvets so we don't fight, one child Eventually and I will be monogamous and love you,"

"I'm actually with you on the duvet thing," He nodded, "Alright, but you don't close the door on more kids someday,"

"Agreed." I nodded,

"...Wait if I'm marrying you does that mean I'll... be a lord?"

"kinda yeah,"

"Oohh... do I have to do anything?"

"My father doesn't so I assume not," I shrug, "You can handle all the county farmlands,"

"Oooohh Ultimate power! I can make Wintson cut that bloody hedge!"

"See won't that be fun?"

"It would be fun," he smiled, "So we are actually gonna get married?"

"Yep, we'll go see Father later and get things sorted for a quick wedding within the week,"

"Hu..." He nodded, "This is just... kinda a little weird, all so sudden,"

"I know it's sudden I am sorry but I can't marry Janson,"

"I know, I don't want you to," He says taking my hand, "I couldn't bear to see you be married off to some man like that, it's not fair, it's cruel." he said, "I... I have to admit, that I have thought about asking you more than once,"

"You have?" I chuckled, "That's why you agreed to quick?"

"Kinda," he blushed, "I have wanted to marry you for a good while,"

"Awww that's sweet Newt," I smiled, "I admit... I had thought about marrying you too."

He blushed and smiled, "This is really happening then?"

"If you want it to," she smiled,

"I want to," He nodded, "I just... kinda wish I had... I don't know- it all so fast and everything just kinda wish I had something to know this is a good idea," He said,

And just as I said that as if the Gods themselves had heard him Sallianne kicked and moved in her pen as she gave birth to two adorable little lambs both of which she began to lick and clean,

"Awwww Sallianne had her Lambs!" I squealed excitedly, jumping over to help and cuddle her, Newt of course jumped over too as we made sure to help out even if everything went as perfectly as it could have been,

"I uhh I guess I did as for a sign," he chuckled,

"You did," I laughed,

"You think this is a good idea Sallianne?" He asked,

Of course, the sheep didn't care too busy with her two new lambs,

"Well, I guess that's decided then," He smiled taking my hand, "Can I uhh can I give my soon-to-be wife a kiss?"

"You may soon to be husband," I smiled squeezing his hand, before our lips met.