#* I’M NOT PAYING TWENTY FOR A SHOT ; ooc

[exigencism]

[[ currently revamping! thanks for sticking with me if you still are <3 ]]

#* I’M NOT PAYING TWENTY FOR A SHOT ; ooc #[[ i got a lot to do before this is back to speed lol #[[ but ....... i'm happy to be back :D

[jade-qilin]

once upon a dream | jujutsu kaisen (nanami kento x f!reader) • 1/?

notes: i’m back with a new fic! this was self-indulgent because i love nanami kento with my entire heart <3 i don’t post on tumblr often but i swear i’m writing stuff! i still mostly post on wattpad </3. anyway, this is my first time writing in second-person POV so please be kind! also apologies if Nanami is OOC; i love him but i find his type of character is hard to write in a romantic view </3

this was originally meant to be a one-shot, but it got too long so i’ll be splitting it into two (maybe three) parts! i’ll add the link here once part two is added! this work will also be cross-posted onto wattpad and ao3 under the same name.

notes 2.0: part two will contain manga spoiler, f!reader, second-person POV, reader is an older student in university/joined university late, angst, nanami x reader. not proof-read.

details & content warnings: f!reader, fluff, manga spoilers

part two || ao3: xxx || no reposts; reblogs and follows appreciated

you were an older student at the university of tokyo, having had financial troubles which delayed your enrolment straight from high school. after a receiving a hefty sum of money from a recently deceased relative, you decided to use the money towards paying for a degree. the elation you had felt upon seeing the acceptance letter was a moment you would never forget.

having started later than most other freshmen, who were still baby-faced and so new to the world outside of high school, you often found yourself feeling out of place among your younger peers (though most were too busy studying to truly care and notice). still, classes went smoothly and, in your older age, you found that studying alone wasn’t as bad as your teenage self used to believe.

you were thankful that your apartment was within a reasonable distance from the university, so that you didn’t have to pay more towards a dorm room that was surely much more expensive than your one-room apartment. the cherry on top of this arrangement was how close your living space was to your job: a decent sized book store owned by a local group of friends. the job paid a living wage, the managers were kind (yet they always made sure there was no slacking), the regular customers were always so kind, and most importantly — on days where you were placed at the cash register — you were allowed to sit!

the job was truly a blessing. in fact, it was a bit suspicious how everything played out. nonetheless, as long as you remained vigilant and responsible, you were certain nothing bad could happen. the main reason you had decided to go to university was because you had a dream you wanted to make a reality, and a bachelor’s degree was the first step in doing so. the bookstore merely helped you survive thus far, and was a great fallback in case your original plans crashed and burned.

if anything, you felt more inclined to continue working at the bookstore, all thanks to a certain handsome stranger who stopped by many times.

nanami kento, his name which you had learned after asking if he wanted to sign up for a store membership account. he was as mysterious as he was handsome, with his nice suit and well-kept hair, and the ever-present sleepy look in his eye that was quite charming in its own right. you learned that despite his very mature — albeit still good-looking — face that he was only in his mid-twenties.

‘he’s very professional-looking.’ you had thought to yourself the second time he had come to shop. ‘i wonder what job he does that requires him to look so well-groomed.’

on his fifth or sixth visit, you decided to ask him directly.

“i’m... a salaryman.” he had responded, shifting his gaze elsewhere as he handed you his bounty of the day. “sorry, it’s not that interesting.”

“oh, please don’t feel bad! i apologize if i overstepped my boundaries. it’s just...” you trailed off. “you always look so well-dressed, and you always buy an enormous amount of books every time you stop by. i just got a bit curious, sorry.” nanami stifled a deep-pitched laugh behind his hand, causing your face to heat up and your eyes to widen.

‘i made him laugh!’

“sorry about that.” nanami regained his composure (not that it had changed much). “i can assure you though, it’s all for looks.” you quirked a brow playfully as you began scanning his items.

“i didn’t realize being a salaryman was a messy job.” you teased. the corners of nanami’s mouth stretched further, his smile growing.

‘by the shinto gods, he’s so handsome.’

“well, i wish it wasn’t, but when you have, ah, messy coworkers, things start to get unconventional. but,” he paused, a soft look adorning his beautiful eyes. “it pays well.”

“i can tell.” you point playfully at the large bag containing his newly purchased items. nanami laughs softly, not bothering much to hide it this time. you felt your cheeks warming up once more that day.

“you yourself seem to enjoy your job.” he says suddenly, causing you to look up from the cash register. noticing your surprised face, nanami coughs and continues, his ears now red. “i mean, every time i come by, you seem to be enjoying yourself.”

you give a little hum. “well, it does pay well, and it’s close to both my apartment and the university.”

“oh? i didn’t realize you were still a student.” you become flustered, this time with embarrassment, as you shake give an awkward laugh.

“well, some things got in the way of me pursuing post-secondary education straight from high school. you know how it is, haha. but, better late than never, as they say.”

“there’s no shame in that.” surprised by nanami’s answer, you look at him straight in the eyes. there’s a gentle smile on his face. “shit happens in life, but knowing when make a chance and take hold of it is, as you said, better than never.”

you’re so elated at hearing nanami’s kind words that no answer comes to mind. thankfully, as if cupid himself was watching, nanami’s cellphone begins to ring. the man gives a curt bow and goes to answer it. you let out a silent sigh in relief as you finalize his purchase.

‘thank you kamisama! i don’t know what i’d do with myself if he just saw me staring at him like that.’

by the time you finished your task, nanami had gotten off the phone. his face became serious, and it worried you slightly. you handed him his items.

“sorry i kept you waiting.” he apologized. “something urgent came up at work.”

“it’s no worries! if anything, i should be the one apologizing for taking up your time asking you such questions.” you bow quite frantically. not only was nanami a regular, but you really didn’t want him to stop coming because of how nosy you were. “i... i hope everything goes well with your work.”

nanami looks slightly surprised at your last words, before he smiled. he grabbed his items and gave a small bow again before heading out the door.

“thank you, miss. i hope all your dreams come true. take care now.”

you remained still in place, watching nanami leave the building. your face is warm and your heart seems to be elsewhere, thumping loudly in your chest. it isn’t until your coworker comes to tease you that you break out of your reverie. your coworker continues to ask many questions about the “strange man” and what he said to cause you to blush as hard as you are. it takes your manager’s calm intervention for you and your coworker to return to your duties.

the next time you saw nanami was after a few weeks. he looked more tired than usual, walking into the store at a slower pace. he was much more tense than when you two last spoke, and it caused you to worry.

‘i’m sure everything’s fine.’ you chastise yourself. ‘he’s a grown man who can take care of himself. besides, you’re thinking like a stalker, y/n.’

despite this reassurance, the anxiety in your heart refused to quell. from your seat at the register, you take quick glances as nanami maneuvered between the bookshelves. thankfully there weren’t many customers today. when the man began heading towards the cash register, you straightened yourself up and pretended to be doing other work.

nanami laid down a few books onto the counter, and you noticed how small the pile was in contrast to his usual visits.

“i’d like to buy these please.” his deep voiced seemed much more strained than usual. you only noticed the difference due to how often he visited. you gave a short nod and began scanning his items. nanami shifted his gaze towards the stand that held handmade bookmarks.

“did... did something bad happen at your workplace?” you finally mustered the courage to ask. nanami stares at you in slight bewilderment, and you force yourself to speak more. “i mean, last time you came by, you said something came up at work. and you seemed a bit troubled so, i was just wondering if...”

your sudden courage failed on you as you began to stammer and trip over your words. you finished by apologizing politely, your words barely coherent. there’s a small silence before nanami speaks up again, and when you raise your head to catch his gaze, you find that his face his red and that he’s struggling to hide a smile (okay well, not really, considering how large his hands are).

“um,” his voice cracks ever so slightly. “i didn’t realize, um, sorry.” he begins whispering to himself, his words incoherent, before regaining his composure. “in short, something did come up, but everything’s been resolved. there is no need to trouble yourself, but thank you.”

you nod your head slowly, but you must still appear to be visibly unconvinced as nanami continues with a soft smile, the one that melts your heart, that you haven’t seen in weeks.

“how about i, um, take you out for coffee. and i can explain a bit, if that will help quell your worries.” your eyes widen and your heart begins to race.

“no no, i could never ask to take up your time! i’m sorry for being nosy; i just couldn’t help but be a bit worried.” you apologize.

“it’s no trouble to me, miss. i just do not want you to fret over nothing.” nanami checks his watch quickly. “besides, i appear to be taking up your time on the clock. if anything, i seem to be continuously imposing on you. i would hate to see you get fired; then i’d have no reason to keep coming here.”

you barely catch nanami’s last few words, but they still reach your ears in the end. your heart is beating so hard, you’re scared it’s about to burst. nanami’s face is a deep shade of red, his hands awkwardly clasped together. despite this flustered look, he’s able to maintain eye contact with you, and his gaze is intense, fiery, and you fail to find any other message behind them. tripping over your words once more, you begin nodding your head.

“yeah,” you swallow hard. “coffee sounds good.”

nanami’s smile grows slightly. he takes out his phone and you give him your number. after tearing out a blank piece of paper from the receipt printer, nanami writes his name and number down on it before handing it back to you.

“so you won’t be surprised at the random number texting you.” he says.

you both agree to arrange the outing via phone, after your shift is done. after finishing nanami’s current purchase, the goodbye is awkward, but not in the same way as usual. after he leaves, your coworker once again saunters up to you, her face plastered with an incredulous expression.

“did you just score a date with mr. hottie?! girl, how did you do it?! all the men i attract have been so trashy.”

you can’t really come up with an answer as your coworker continues her barrage of questions, and it isn’t until your manager (once again) comes around to gently remind you both that you’re still on the clock, and that rush hour was about to begin (on weekdays, the rush being in the evening when students are let out of classes. they often enjoyed spending time in the bookstore checking out the manga).

though you are able to finish your shift with no problem, nanami’s handsome face and alluring voice fail to leave your mind for even a second.

once you arrived in the safety of your apartment, you get yourself cleaned up before preparing a quick meal for yourself. as the stove heats up, you unlock your phone and spot a text from a new number. opening the LINE app, you fish for the paper nanami gave you and begin comparing the two numbers together.

“it really is from him... this is real.” you mumble, studying both nanami’s text and his messy (yet somehow still charming) handwriting.

[ Nanami Kento ]

Hello, this is Nanami Kento, from the bookstore.

[ y/n ]

Hello Nanami-san. This is y/n.

[ Nanami Kento ]

I assume I got the correct number then?

you giggle softly.

[ y/n ]

Of course. :) did you think I might have given you the wrong number?

There’s a pause.

[ Nanami Kento ]

No, I was just afraid I might have scared you off. I’m glad I didn’t.

‘kamisama, even through text he manages to be so charming.’ you blush.

you and nanami continue texting until the stove needs your full attention, to which you tell the man you’ll be right back. even as you’re eating, you continue conversing with him. you are also able to arrange a date and a location for where you’re going to meet up. nanami offers to pick you up, but after sharing each other’s address, you find that he lives in the opposite direction from both you and the café. you don’t let this damper your excitement though, and the texting finished as nanami says he must leave. staring at your last texts to each other, you begin to feel warm and fuzzy inside, excited for your date.

***

nanami turned off his phone as he heard gojo and itadori’s voices heading his way.

‘right,’ he thinks to himself. ‘i’m still technically at work.’

he hated lying to you about his profession, but the jujutsu world was not for non-sorcerers to be affiliated with. besides, you both had just started talking more casually with each other. it was far too soon for nanami to share such information to someone who wasn’t quite yet his lover.

nanami’s mind was more unfocused than he thought, as he failed to hear gojo and his pupil actually enter the room, his daydreaming broken only by gojo’s bright blue eye staring at him from under the six-eyed sorcerer’s blindfold.

“what’re you thinking about, nanamin? you have this weird look on your face.” gojo says before gasping. “have you been texting someone naughty things?!” nanami could feel a headache coming, and sukuna’s vessel wasn’t helping.

“eh?! i didn’t know you had a girlfriend, nanamin! you have to tell me about her!” itadori and gojo continued to pester nanami, bombarding the bespectacled man with numerous questions.

“she’s not my girlfriend.” nanami retorts sternly, annoyed now. ‘at least, not yet.’

big mistake. itadori and gojo now focus on the “she” aforementioned, and nanami tries his hardest not to punch gojo right then and there. it’s not until ichiji and itadori’s classmates, fushiguro megumi and zen’in maki, arrive that gojo and itadori quiet down (although the former continued to make teasing jabs at nanami throughout the meeting).

the meeting seemed to drag on longer than usual; it wasn’t supposed to be a formal thing, just a catch up on the strange patchwork curse nanami and itadori had fought about a week or so ago. as itadori and his classmates began making idle talk, nanami’s mind started to wander back to you and your concerned face upon seeing him earlier that day.

shoko had done a good job healing up the wound inflicted by the cursed spirit, but nanami’s muscles still felt like they were on fire. the medical sorcerer had told him to be careful when moving about, but nanami was insistent on seeing your face again. the missions he had been assigned gave him little free time.

while the man did love his books, the biggest reason he continued visiting that bookstore was to see you. the first few times he came around was by chance, but he soon began to notice how regular your shifts were. after that, it became a habit for him to appear when you were on the clock. the books he bought were nice, and he truthfully did hope to read them all sometime, but he could have easily had the books ordered from a bigger bookstore chain and shipped straight to his place, or he could have used the e-reader gojo had gifted him awhile back to buy digital copies at a cheaper price.

but no, nanami wouldn’t change a thing. his last mission truly was an unassuming blessing in disguise, as it gave him an opportunity to ask you out. nanami recalled feeling so relieved when you accepted his request, and he felt like a high school boy who had just gotten Valentine’s Day chocolate from their crush as he stared at your contact profile.

nanami couldn’t wait for your date to come, and he hoped your relationship could deepen even more.

[END]

#ren writes #qilin writes #jujutsu kaiden #nanami kento #nanami kento x reader #jjk #jjk fic

[nerdyfangirl67]

44, 50, 15, and 12 off of the list of prompts you recently added if that’s okay, they range from fluff to hurt/comfort! Spencer x Reader, any pronouns is fine! Thank you so much, and if you can’t do this right now, that’s okay, don’t worry about it! I hope you have a lovely day 💛

Pairing: Spencer Reid x GN!reader

A/N: Prompts are bolded in the fic. I’ll be honest, I enjoy writing Spencer but always fear that I’m not writing him true to character. If you think he’s OOC in this one, please let me know. (I got a bit carried away with this one, so it’s longer than I expected 😬😅, like I should have just written an actual fic out of it) Thank you so much for the request darling! I hope you enjoy this one 😁❤️

44. "You're bleeding — how long have you been hiding this?!"

50. "I need you to live… cause if you’re gone I don’t know what the point of it all is anymore.”

15. “That smile could light up a room.”

12. "You’ll always have me.”

Warnings: language, CM level violence,

You breathe out a shaky breath, wondering when the drastic shift in your day had occurred, when the positive start you’d had on the day had been completely negated. Hell, you’d woken up that morning feeling happier than you had in a long time, and you knew it had everything to do with a certain tall, curly haired federal agent.

——

You slowly stretch your arms over your head, relishing in the feeling of loosening your stiff muscles, as you let out a yawn. You let your eyes adjust to the brightened room as you feel a small smile grow on your face. It was Saturday morning, you didn’t have work and you knew that Spencer hadn’t been called into the BAU (yet), meaning the plan for a relaxing, lazy Saturday, something you hadn’t done in a long time, was still on.

“That smile could light up a room.” A voice, still rough with sleep, catches your attention and you turn your eyes towards the door. Leaning against the door frame, is Spencer, his curly hair still tousled from sleep, accompanied by a shy smile and a bright pair of hazel eyes, twinkling with mirth.

You can feel your face heat up at his forward compliment, not accustomed to Spencer blatantly flirting with you. “That’s the kind of cheesy one-liner I usually say to you.” You laugh lightly, peeking out from the cocoon of blankets you were still wrapped in.

The shy smile turns into a wide grin as Spencer saunters up to his side of the bed, turning around to fall backwards onto the mattress. You can’t help but giggle as you watch him awkwardly make his way up until his head is in your lap.

“It’s sounds cheesy but it’s true Y/N. Your smile is absolutely breathtaking.” He whispers as he looks up at you and you can’t help but think the same thing about his.

——

“Fucking look at me.” The man yells, causing you to snap your eyes to his, despite everything in you telling you not to.

“I told you to stand up and move towards the register, so fucking do it.” His voice is louder this time, his face splotchy and red with anger as his dark, cold eyes bore into you.

You can feel your heart beating rapidly in your chest as you scramble to stand up, trying your best to avoid looking at the gun in his hand that he’d been so carelessly waving around. Your fingers had just closed around the forgotten key sitting in the lock on the cash register when you hear someone let out a loud shout, followed quickly by two gun shots.

You don’t even look as you instinctively bend down behind the checkout counter. Your heartbeat thumps loudly, the sound of which echoes in your ears like the beat of a battle drum, drowning out all the other noise. Fear grabs at you tightly as you remember just who had been with you in the dingy little gas station; Spencer. Without a thought for your own safety, you hurry out from behind the checkout counter, scanning the small linoleum covered room for Spencer.

After a few moments, in which time seems to pass by infinitely slow, you find him, crouched behind an end display, watching the gunman. You keep your eyes on the shooter, who had gotten tired of waiting and had started looking for the safe, as you dash over to Spencer’s side. You feel an odd twinge of pain in your side as you run, but chalk it up to being of shape.

Spencer immediately turns his attention to you, a hand coming up to softly caress your face while he wordlessly asks you if you’re alright. You give him a sharp nod, scanning his body for any obvious injuries and thankfully finding none. Your breathing starts to return to normal, the adrenaline moving slower through your body now that there isn’t a gun being pointed at your head. A wave of pain washes over you, causing you to desperately clutch at your side. You realize, as your hand comes away sticky and wet with blood, that you’re bleeding.

It takes everything in you not to gasp out loud at the realization, not wanting Spencer to figure out what was happening. You bit your tongue as a wave of dizziness washes over you, trying to focus all your concentration on staying upright.

“Y/N?” His voice is soft and concerned as he turns slightly toward you. His eyes widen as he notices the growing dark spot around the middle of your shirt. "You're bleeding — how long have you been hiding this?!" He asks incredulously, his voice rising a pitch as he hurriedly pulls up the edge of your shirt to look at the wound.

You let out a hiss of pain at the sudden movement before cautiously looking down at it yourself. Your whole lower torso is covered in slick, half dried blood, coming from a wound in your upper hip. Spencer starts to probe around it, but you recoil quickly.

“Son of a-” You breathe out through clenched teeth. “Watch it Spence.”

He withdraws his hands immediately, a nervous manner overtaking him as he does. “Sorry Y/N, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” You give him a small nod, showing him you understand and forgive him. As another wave of dizziness washes over you, you slowly settle back against the shelf behind you, leaning up against Spencer to ensure you wouldn’t fall over.

“Hey, hey.” His voice is soft but his tone sharp enough to grab your attention. “Stay awake for me. The teller pressed the emergency button under the counter when the guy pulled out his gun, so based on statistics and the average call time for the DC police department, they should be here in three minutes and twenty seconds.” A small smile tugs at the corner of your mouth upon hearing his words. It was so completely Spencer to be spouting out facts at a time like this and you couldn’t help but love him a little bit more because of it.

The next three minutes, and twenty seconds, passes by in a blur and before you know it, the gun man is being hauled out of the convenience store in handcuffs and a pair of paramedics are wheeling you towards an ambulance. Spencer’s hand, linked tightly with your own, is the only thing reminding you that this isn’t a dream.

He sits perched on the edge of his seat, his body poised and waiting to attend to you. You tighten your grip on his hand as the paramedic’s hand grazes sharply across the wound in your side.

Spencer leans forward, his eyes searching yours. "I need you to live… cause if you’re gone I don’t know what the point of it all is anymore.” He whispers to you, his head blocking out some of the bright overhead light out of your eyes as he leans forward towards you.

You don’t pay any mind to the young paramedic who is now currently poking and prodding at you when you murmur back. "You’ll always have me.” He picks up the hand he hasn’t let go of since you’d been loaded into the ambulance and presses a soft kiss to the inside of your palm. “As improbable as that sounds, I hope it’s true.”

Tagging: @madamsnape921 @thisiscalm-andits-doctor @captainxholmes

#spencer x reader #nerdyfangirl67 follower celebration #criminal minds reader #criminal minds imagines #criminal minds reader insert #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fandom #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid x you #spencer reid reader insert #criminal minds drabbles #reid x female reader #Reid x gn!reader #Reid x gender neutral reader

[snowrobin-133]

A Happy Ending Yet to Happen

Characters: Xiao x F!Reader (Y/N), implied traveler x Xiao at end, ft. Venti and Paimon Fandom: Genshin Impact WC: 8.2k words Tags: character death, immortal(?) x mortal, grief, sadness, tears, angst, spoilers for Xiao’s voice lines and stories, Xiao might be slightly OOC in some scenes A/N: I’m pretty sure you can’t call Xiao an immortal since yakshas can die and stuff but like they live a long time so it sorta works HAHA. Also this hasn’t really been beta read and so there’s probably a couple of mistakes, sorry about that!

[EDIT] I FORGOT A PART FLIP- anyways yeah I accidently deleted a part somehow while it was in the doc??? Idk what happened but it’s back slkasdjasldaj

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

In the center of Mondstadt’s square stood a fellow clad in green, playing a lyre as he weaved a tragic tale of an adepti and a mortal. The fellow first introduced himself as Venti before starting the tale to curious onlookers that stopped to listen.

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

Many centuries ago, a young girl, in her twenties perhaps, clad in strange attire, arrived in Tevyat, injuries scattered across her body. She was somewhat near the Liyue Harbor of that time and the millileth found her, quickly bringing her to the doctor where she was treated. The injuries were severe as if she had been slammed with a heavy rock that flew out of nowhere. With some healing and herbs, the doctors managed to save her life.

After a couple of days, she awoke. The millileth arrived and they asked her many questions.“Where did you get those injuries? What were you doing out in the wild? Where did you come from?”

Every question they asked was either given vague responses or a simple “I don’t know”. It seems that she had lost her memory. The millileth was in a tight spot. They then asked her one last question, hope shining in their eyes, “What is your name?”

The girl looked down at her lap, searching through the hazy memories in her mind. One word stuck out to her, perhaps that was her name. After a few more seconds of pondering, she answered with, “Y/N.”  

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

After a couple of weeks, Y/N was released from the hospital. She was given a home to stay in and got a job as a waitress in one of Liyue Harbor’s most popular restaurants. She quickly fit in with the atmosphere of the city and got along with the city folk, a drastic change from when she first appeared in Liyue.

After some time, Y/N decided to take a couple of weeks off to travel around Liyue, although not all of it, just to places she had heard of from customers and colleagues. Her first stop was near Dihua Marsh. According to what Y/N was told, on an islet of the marsh stood a stone pillar with a large golden-leaved tree sitting on top of it. There were also rumors of a young man, called the Conqueror of Demons, that would be seen in the area. There was little to no details of the man other than that he seemed to hold an anemo vision and fought with a polearm. 

Y/N was slightly curious about this man but thought little of him, being distracted with simply trying to get to the area unscathed first. The monsters that stood in her way were rather easy to trick and avoid. Some were slightly persistent but she managed to shake them off after a couple of minutes. Although she lacked her memories, she, strangely enough, seemed to remember some pointless, or in this case, useful survival tips. 

After a couple of days, Y/N arrived at the islet as the sun began to set. She decided to look around to set up camp but was quickly interrupted by the growls and yells of hilichurls. Looking around, she quickly spotted them, getting into a position to run if needed. Y/N then paused, noticing something sinister coming from them. 

“There’s something different about these hilichurls…” she murmured to herself, attempting to back away quietly and hide. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to notice her movement and she hid behind some bushes nearby. She noted that they seemed to be walking towards her and she quickly put a hand over her mouth and nose, muffling her breathing as she hoped they wouldn’t notice her.

Before they got too close though, something suddenly came out of the sky, slamming down into the ground with green-colored spears shooting out of the ground. The force of whatever had slammed into the ground nearly blew Y/N away but she thankfully only fell on her butt.

She quickly regained her balance and watched the scene unfold in front of her. As the dust cleared, she could see a young man with black and teal hair and green tattoos standing straight with a polearm in hand. 

He was a somewhat distance from her with his back towards her but his head then turned around, making eye contact with Y/N. She flinched at his piercing gaze but he quickly turned away. Y/N was unable to think more of it as the young man started fighting the hilichurls. As she watched him fight, a sudden bad feeling started to stir up in her stomach. With the bad feeling in mind, she decided to back away a bit more as the fighting got more and more intense. 

The young man handled the hilichurls quickly, treating them as if they were ragdolls. Y/N watched in awe and slight terror at his strength. In just a few minutes, the hilichurls laid on the ground, not moving at all, and the man stood over them with cold gazes. He then whipped around and walked towards Y/N.

Y/N flinched at the sudden attention and leaned back as the young man loomed over her. His glare pierced through her, making her sweat bullets, “I- uh...thank you…!” she squeaked out under his intense gaze. 

He scoffed before speaking, “Night. When the darkness comes to envelop you, Don’t stay outside,” he turned around, preparing to leave.

“W-wait! What’s… What’s your name?” she stuttered out.

He looked at her, pausing before saying, “Adeptus Xiao,” and seemingly evaporated as he looked away.

Y/N sat on the ground, frozen, as she attempted to comprehend what just happened. After a couple of minutes, she snapped out of her daze and decided to heed Xiao’s words. 

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

Venti hummed a bit before speaking, “After that first meeting, the girl and the Adeptus would run into each other many more times. Each run-in brought the two closer and closer, far more than they would realize” he smiled mischievously.

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

The first run-in with each other happened only a couple of months after they first met. Y/N hadn’t seen Xiao once since the incident and returned to Liyue Harbor with little trouble. She attempted to look up some more information on him but came up empty. The only thing she managed to find out was that he was a Yaksha, an adepti that protects Liyue from demons and mutants that appeared when gods fell during the Archon War. She figured that the hilichurls she saw Xiao defeat that day were likely mutants. 

I’m glad I didn’t get involved with them at all… Y/N thought to herself as she set up some tables early in the morning.

“Ah, Y/N!”

Y/N turned around to see her boss, “Ah, Zhang Wei*. Do you need something?”

“Yes, is it fine if I trouble you to find some of these ingredients for me? I’ll give you a couple of weeks off to do so!” He handed her a small piece of paper with a list of ingredients with locations listed next to the names.

“Ah… Sure,” Y/N took the piece of paper from him. 

“Thank you so much! I’ll be sure to pay you double for this!” Zhang Wei smiled.

Y/N nodded, her mind focused on the location next to Horsetail. Dihua Marsh. Y/N wondered if she would see Xiao again.

She decided her first stop would be Dihua marsh, hoping to see the young adepti once again. Y/N doubted she would see him again, but why not try?

Y/N looked at herself in the mirror of her small home, she wore simple clothes that would make traveling easier, and over her shoulder was a satchel to put the ingredients in. Double-checking that she had everything, Y/N put on her shoes and left her home.

Y/N finally arrived at Dihua Marsh, although she was on the ground and out of breath. She had already grabbed some horsetail just moments earlier but then a group of hilichurls came up. They were different from regular ones though and she noted that they were similar to the hilichurls she had seen when she first met Xiao. After a while, she finally managed to lose them by hiding in some large bushes.

She threw her head back, taking a large breath of air. “Damn those hilichurls, huff… Why must they all be so… persistent…!” she muttered.

“You’re lucky they didn’t find you out.”

“Yeah… Wait-!” Y/N jolted and whipped around, seeing the familiar cold stone face of Xiao standing behind her.

He closed his eyes and sighed, “It seems I’ve caused you trouble again. I apologize.”

“...Huh? How did you cause me trouble?”

“That is because the changes that occurred in those hilichurls came from me, or more precisely, from the karma I’ve accumulated.”

“Ah...but you just killed those monsters, right? So if anything, you did me a bit of a favor,” Y/N laughed quietly and smiled at him.

He scoffed, “Anyways, there will likely be more of these monsters, so you best watch out,” he then turned to leave.

Y/N jumped up, “Ah! Wait!”

“...What?”

“Can you, uh, act like a guard for me? I doubt I’ll be able to avoid those monsters like normal ones…” Y/N laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck.

“Huh? Why should I?” Xiao asked coldly, crossing his arms.

“I have no way of protecting myself and like I said, I doubt I’d be able to avoid those monsters like normal ones…”

“Hmph… You’re quite bold to ask me that.”

Y/N clasped her hands together, “Please~! Just for a couple of days! That’s all!”

Xiao stayed silent for a few minutes before speaking, “...Fine.”

Her head shot up as she looked at him in hope. Before she could speak though, Xiao spoke again. “But don't think about getting close, and stay out of my way, or all that awaits you is regret,” he warned.

Y/N looked at him in surprise and slight confusion before nodding, “Oh, alright. Thank you so much though! Oh! By the way, I’m Y/N”

Xiao didn’t understand why he was agreeing to protect this feeble girl. There was nothing special about her, no vision, no special aura, nothing. So why is he even wasting his time with her? He sighed as he watched the girl gather more horsetails in the area. “Reduced to being a guard for a feeble girl, how pathetic,” he muttered under his breath, yet he kept his guard up and watched out for her.

After Y/N gathered enough horsetails, the duo made their way to Quince Village to gather jueyun chilis. Night soon arrived and Xiao decided for them to rest, gruffly claiming “You humans barely have any stamina.” 

After a bit of searching, the two found themselves in front of some ruins by Wuwang Hill. As Y/N began setting up a camp, Xiao jumped up, landing on top of one of the ruined structures, “Go and rest. I'll be here,” and sat down.

Y/N tilted her head, “Aren’t you going to sleep as well?”

Xiao glared at her, “You think I sleep? You have no respect for the ways of the adepti!”

She flinched at his sudden outburst, “Ah, sorry…”

His hard glare softened into a cold gaze, “...Just go rest,” and turned away, looking out into the wilderness.

Y/N’s lips curled into a soft smile, He’s harsh… but I think he has a good heart she thought and quietly giggled, settling down into the makeshift bed she made and watched the night sky. 

The two continued to journey for another week before separating. Y/N arrived back in Liyue Harbor with all the ingredients collected feeling a bit more giddy than usual. Her friends in the city all noticed, asking who the lucky fellow is. Y/N simply laughed, telling them that she made a new friend.

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

The next meeting was when Y/N was exploring around Mt. Tianheng as the sun hung low in the sky. She had finished work and decided to walk around. On impulse, she decided to go off the road and was walking past a waterfall when she noticed something in the grass. Raising an eyebrow, she decided to walk closer, only to see the familiar hair and clothing of Xiao. 

Y/N’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of blood and quickly looked over his unconscious body. She hurriedly opened her bag and searched through it, eventually finding a pouch of first aid items.

“I’m glad I had the foresight to pack first-aid items,” she sighed in relief and began to apply first aid. Y/N was surprised with how natural it felt to apply first aid as if she had done it countless times before. Perhaps she was some kind of doctor in the life she no longer remembered. Y/N quickly pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the injured man in front of her. 

After some time, she had patched up all of the severe injuries and she looked over the rest of his body as Xiao awoke.

“Ah! You’re awake! Phew…”

“... What are you doing here…?” he asked groggily.

“I was taking a walk, and anyways, I should be asking you that!”

He attempted to sit up but flinched and Y/N quickly went to help, “Don’t touch me.”

“Huh? But you’re hurt and-”

Xiao quickly cut her off, “Prolonged interaction with adepti will become dangerous, as your souls are not as robust as ours are.”

Y/N glared at him, “We’ll worry about that later! Can you move a little at least?”

“Hmph, of course I can.” 

“Then let’s get you out of the open, it looks like it’s about to rain soon.”

“... Fine.” Xiao finally allowed her to help him up and to lead him away from the open. They decided to take a rest in the cavern behind the waterfall, rain beginning to fall as they neared the cavern. 

As Xiao settled down against the wall, Y/N noted that it was colder thanks to the mist flowers that grew nearby. Standing up, she took off her coat, passing it to Xiao. “Here, it’s cold.”

“My body is used to these temperatures. Your body is not.”

Y/N sighed, “And who exactly is the injured one out of us?… Just take it,” she dropped the coat on his lap before turning away to set up a fire. Xiao sighed, too exhausted to argue.

As the fire blazed alive, Y/N asked, “... What exactly happened to leave you passed out in the grass?” 

“... It’s none of your concern,” Xiao answered coldly.

Y/N sighed, “...Alright.” 

Xiao paused before speaking, “In the thousands of years that have passed, I have taken countless wraiths. If you want no trouble, stay away from me.”

Y/N looked at him in surprise, “... Like I’m gonna do that,” she stuck her tongue out at him and he scoffed in response. Y/N sighed, opting to not say anything more, and turned her attention back to the fire as she began to make something with what little ingredients she had.

After ten or so minutes, she decided to speak up, “... Is there anything troubling you, Xiao?”

“Trouble..? Hmph.. trouble means nothing to Adepti. There is no trouble that can last for a thousand years” Xiao glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

“Ah…”

“...Don’t worry needlessly about me, as I said, you should stay away from me instead of getting closer.”

“You’re still going on about that, huh? Well, guess what! I’m just as stubborn as you so I’m not gonna leave you alone!”

Xiao sighed, “... What a menace…” he muttered.

Y/N pouted in response as she handed him a plate of Almond Tofu, “Here, eat up.”

“...Isn’t this a dessert?”

“Haha, yeah it is… but the ingredients it needed are the only things I had on me that I could turn into a meal, and besides it’ll boost your strength!”

Xiao sighed, “Human meals are rarely ever good.”

“Just try it, Xiao, you need food to get back on your feet y’know!” 

“I’m an Adeptus, my body does not follow the same rules that your bodies do,” he scoffed yet reluctantly put a spoonful in his mouth. 

Y/N pouted in response and turned away, preparing a dish for herself.

Xiao swallowed down the spoonful before speaking, “... dreams.”

“Hm?”

“It tastes like the dreams I once devoured.” 

Y/N paused before staring at him as if he had grown two heads, “... I, uh… Is that a good thing…?”

Xiao opted to not answer, instead, he ate another spoon of the almond tofu. Y/N sighed, deciding that it would be useless to try and pry further. The two ate in silence, listening to the rain pitter-patter outside of the cavern.

Y/N cleaned up the area a bit before leaning against the wall, putting a distance between her and him, and relaxed. Her head turned to the cavern’s entrance, making note of the heavier rain, “It looks like the rain won’t let up anytime soon…” and closed her eyes, falling asleep.

After a couple of minutes, Y/N’s breathing had become slow and steady. Xiao wondered if this was because of the prolonged contact between him and her. 

Once confirming she was asleep, Xiao stood up and walked towards her. He wrapped the coat she had given him around her, whispering a quiet “thank you”. He raised his hand, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear before standing up. His eyes remained on her as he made a conscious decision to avoid her as much as he could. The more contact she had with him, the more danger she would be in. Gazing at her for a few more seconds, he turned around and disappeared. 

Y/N awoke late at night, quickly noting that there was a warm weight on her. As the grogginess wore off, she noticed that the weight was the coat she had given Xiao. Speaking of Xiao, he was no longer where she last saw he was. 

“Ah… he must’ve left already… He better not have reopened his wounds.”

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

The next meeting was several months after that incident. Even after traveling to Dihua Islet several times, Y/N did not see Xiao once, even if she had brought almond tofu with her. Y/N wasn’t completely sure if he did actually like her almond tofu but she was going to take any chances to get to see him. Thinking back to their time in the cavern, Y/N wondered if he was trying to distance himself because of the energy situation. She could understand the reason but still couldn’t help but miss the yaksha.

Y/N stared at her cup of tea, lost in thought wondering where Xiao was, as she hung out with three of her friends. They were talking about some kind of gossip when one of them noticed her silence and smiled mischievously, “Y/N~?”

Y/N quickly snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her friend with a hum, “Yes?”

“Just what are you thinking so deeply about? Ever since you went on that journey of yours, you’ve been staring out into space way more than usual~” she teased.

Y/N flinched at her observation and laughed, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about…”

Her friend pouted, “Oh don’t be like that Y/N~! Tell me! Please?” By now, the other two had noticed and began joining in.

Y/N simply laughed with a shake of her head, “No way!”

“A shame…” her friend hung her head and so did the others as they sighed dramatically, albeit did nothing in changing Y/N’s mind. It’s not likely that they would believe in her tale of becoming (sort of) friends with an adepti, a yaksha that vanquishes demons at that. Anyways.

“At least tell us if you’re thinking about a guy !” one of her friends leaned on her as she laughed, deciding to cave in a bit.

“Alright, alright,” at that, her friends perked up immediately, all eyes on her as she looked away, slightly blushing, “... it is a guy.”

They all gasped dramatically, “Oh my! What’s he like?!” they all asked excitedly.

Y/N decided that it wouldn’t hurt to tell them a small bit, “Hm… he’s a jerk that’s cold and rough,” she giggled at her description of him, “…but he’s still a caring person underneath it all.”

Her friends shared a knowing look with mischievous smiles, “It sounds like you got a crush, Y/N~” one of them teased.

Y/N laughed, “Even if I do, it’s not like I’d tell the three of you.”

“A pity.”

“So when are we gonna meet him?”

Y/N smiled at them, “never,” and sipped her tea. 

“Oh come on~ Whyy?” they whined. Y/N only laughed, not answering any more of their questions about Xiao. After a couple of minutes, they gave up on trying to pry answers out of her and moved onto other topics. 

Y/N walked home, humming to herself, planning her next trip to Dihua Islet, “Hm...I wonder if I should bring something else other than almond tofu…”

“Stick with the almond tofu. Other mortal foods are things I can’t stomach.”

“Huh, is that so- wait-” Y/N whipped around to see the familiar face of Xiao leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, wearing his signature frown. She quickly gasped, “Xiao! I was so worried about you! But wait, what are you doing here in the harbor?!” Y/N remembered the journey he had accompanied her on, how he had mentioned hating crowded and loud places. Although the area they were in at the moment was deserted and quiet, the noise of the marketplace could still be heard.

“The constant offerings of Almond Tofu and notes were beginning to get annoying,” he remarked bluntly, making Y/N flinch.

“A-ah, sorry,” Y/N laughed as she scratched the back of her neck.

He glanced at her and sighed, before tossing an item to her. Y/N quickly caught it with both hands, looking at her hands in surprise. “...What’s this?” she asked as she took a look at the item, seeing that it was a butterfly made of leaves.

“... It’s an adepti amulet I made. It staves off evil.”

Y/N eyes sparkled in awe as she looked at the beautiful details of the amulet, “Thank you… but why?”

“You mentioned your day of birth was near this time,” Xiao bit his lip, deciding not to mention that he thought the celebration of someone’s birthday was something he considered redundant. Why he kept his thoughts to himself would be a mystery to himself, but perhaps it had something to do with her happy expression.

Y/N glanced at him in surprise, “Oh wow! You remember that?!”

“Hmph, I was simply reminded of it from that last note of yours.”

“Geh-!” Y/N flinched as the memory of writing her last note to him flashed by, “... I forgot I wrote that…” she looked away with an awkward grin.

“Hmph, I will take my leave now.”

“Ah! Wait!”

“...What?”

Y/N looked at him from head to toe, “How are your injuries?”

Xiao sighed, “They’ve healed already, you need not worry.”

Y/N pouted at him, “How am I not going to worry? You disappeared for countless months without letting me see you once!”

“Did you forget what I had said? Mortal souls are-”

“Are not as robust as yours are,” Y/N finished with a sigh, “Even so, can’t we just meet up regularly? Like every couple months or so!”

Xiao stared at her pleading expression and sighed, “It is not wise to do so.”

Y/N sighed, “Ok then… let’s exchange letters!”

“...Letters?”

“Yeah! We can talk regularly without any physical interaction!”

Xiao sighed and attempted to answer, but was quickly cut off with a pang in his head. He grimaced as he flinched and held up a hand to his temple.

Y/N drew closer at his pained expression, “Are you ok?” she asked, panicking.

“Their voices... I can always hear them. Their screams, their cries, demanding more death... This is my burden to carry. It has nothing to do with you.”

“...But I’d like to at least help,” she smiled sadly at him.

“And just how do you plan to do that?”

“Umm…” Y/N then raised her hands to his face, stopping as he flinched away, “ah, sorry, uh, can I?”

“... Fine,” Xiao muttered, a faint tint of red on his cheeks, and leaned forward, flinching slightly at the feeling of Y/N’s hand on his face. “... Just how is this helping?” his body rigid in her hold.

Y/N pouted, “I’m trying my best! And anyway, just try to relax,” she murmured, avoiding his piercing gaze as her thumbs began rubbing circles on his cheeks.

Xiao sighed, pulling away, “This isn’t really helping me.”

Y/N pulled her hands away with a sigh, “that’s a shame…” she muttered. She then brightened as she thought of something, “Oh! Maybe we can make some kind of potion or medicine that’ll help!”

“...I understand your intentions, but mortal medicine has no effect on Adepti.”

“Wait, seriously?!” Y/N slumped over with a groan, “I’m sorry…”

“As I said, this has nothing to do with you, you do not need to spend your time helping me.”

Y/N looked down, “... Even though it has nothing to do with me… it still hurts to see you in pain as well.”

“...You better not be pitying me.”

“Of course not! I’m being empathetic!” “Huh? Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No! Of course not! Pity and empathy are two different things!” Y/N then went on a rant about the differences as Xiao sighed. Yet he didn’t feel annoyed, instead, there was a warm fuzzy feeling that replaced it. If he hadn’t noticed it, he would’ve let a small smile slip as well.

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

Like Y/N had proposed, the two began exchanging letters. Her letters were usually long-winded and filled with emotions while Xiao’s were short and blunt, reflecting his personality, which amused Y/N. They only exchanged a few letters due to Y/N being unable to go out of Liyue Harbor often, but within those few letters, they found their attraction to each other growing.

Y/N stared out the window in a daze. In front of her was some paperwork from the restaurant, albeit she paid no mind to them. Instead, she found herself thinking about Xiao. She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts as she noticed a light in the sky. It was far in the distance but Y/N quickly realized that it was a lantern.

“Right, it’s almost time for the lantern rite… I wonder if I can convince Xiao to come by…” With a sigh, Y/N returned to the papers in front of her, making a note to ask him later.

Sometime later, Y/N finally finished the letter. Written in it was the general stuff she normally wrote with updates on her life and some interesting trivia she learned recently. At the end of the letter, she made sure to mention the lantern rite. “By the way Xiao, did you know the lantern rite’s coming up? You should come by to watch the mingxiao lantern! I heard it’s super amazing!” 

With a smile, Y/N closed the letter and prepared to leave the harbor. As she was preparing, a sudden and small thought popped up in her mind. I wonder what Xiao looks like smiling…. Y/N blushed as soon as the thought registered in her mind and shook her head. 

Quickly she set out for the designated area that they left their replies. Dihua Islet. Xiao often wandered in that area which made it an area that they would both find the replies easily. Silently, Y/N hoped that she would also get to see him once she arrived there.

Surprisingly, her small wish would come true. As she arrived at Dihua Islet, Y/N’s eyes were quickly caught by the familiar figure of Xiao sitting on one of the boulders on the islet. A smile appeared on her features as she quickly called out his name, “Xiao!”

Xiao turned at the familiar call of his name, greeted with the sight of Y/N rushing towards him with the oh-so-familiar smile that made his stomach turn in knots. He nodded as a greeting and he jumped off the boulder, meeting her halfway.

Her grin grew in size at the acknowledgment, even though butterflies began to flutter in her stomach. She quickly rummaged through her bag and took out the letter, handing it to him. “By the way… The lantern rite is coming up,” she informed him.

“The lantern rite? The time for humans to discard their glowing trash into the sea has returned, how childish…” 

Her smile quickly dropped, “... You really think that?”

“I do… the hatred and residual energy of the dead gods from some centuries ago sometimes erupt, and they often erupt in a large scale during this troublesome festival.”

“...And so you’re the one that’s fighting every time, right?”

“Yes.” “... It doesn’t happen every lantern rite though, right?”

Xiao glanced at her and sighed, “...No.”

“Then could you at least stop by to watch the mingxiao lantern? It’ll be worth your time! I promise!”

Xiao watched her as she stared at him with desperate eyes. He did not wish to admit it, but he knew deep inside that he couldn’t say no, and eventually gave in, “...If you insist, I will go with you.”

Y/N’s expression quickly lit up with a smile and she cheered, “Yay! I know a great place outside of the harbor that we can meet at to watch it!”

Xiao watched as she grabbed a map of Liyue out of her bag and began pointing at areas where they could watch it. Although he didn’t say it out loud, he was grateful that she was picking areas where there wouldn’t be many people. Nor would he say that he was growing nervous at how close she was, or how he was looking at every detail of her delicate face, or...

After a couple of minutes, they made arrangements to meet and watch the mingxiao lantern. As she walked away after (reluctantly) saying their goodbyes, Y/N internally celebrated with glee, a light pink blush tinting her cheeks.

The day finally came, the night of the Lantern Rite and when the large mingxiao lantern would be released into the sky. Y/N spent the first half of the day serving customers at the restaurant before returning home to prepare for her meeting with Xiao. She had everything in her bag but was quickly distracted when she noticed a food stall. Although Xiao couldn’t stand most human foods, this particular food stall was selling Almond Tofu. With a smile, she quickly bought some almond tofu as well as food for herself before setting off to find Xiao.

As Y/N arrived at the meeting place, she quickly spotted the lonesome figure of Xiao, standing at the ledge. She quickly called out his name and jogged up to where he was, handing him the almond tofu.

“... why did you get me this?” He asked, although took the plate.

Y/N smiled, “Because the lantern rite isn’t just about the lanterns! Plus I was hungry…” she quietly admitted the last part with a pout. Xiao released a huff of air and the two ate in silence, waiting for the time that the mingxiao lantern would be released. 

After some time, Y/N figured that it must be getting close so she gave him a piece of plaustrite and a carving tool as she took out two xiao lanterns.

“What are these for?” Xiao asked, motioning to the plaustrite and carving tool.

“We carve our wishes on these, then we stick it into the lanterns and let them float away!” she explained to him.

Xiao took the plaustrite and carving tool with a huff, “How exactly will these grant our wishes?”

“Hm… I’m not sure,” Xiao looked incredulously at her as she laughed. He sighed and glanced at the plaustrite sitting in his hand.

Y/N calmed down before she thought about what to wish for. A wish then popped up in her mind after a few seconds, “I wish to spend more time with Xiao”. She blushed at the wish, but deep inside, she knew it was the one thing she wanted more than anything. Steeling her resolve, she quickly carved the wish into the plaustrite with a faint blush on her cheeks. 

Xiao finished carving and glanced at Y/N before quickly looking back down at his own piece of plaustrite. He didn’t write a wish for himself since he didn’t have any wishes or desires. So, he decided to go with a statement, a promise. “If she finds herself clinging onto the past, reluctant to move on, I shall quietly remember the memories in my heart for her”. 

The two placed the plaustrites into their own respective lanterns before letting them fly into the air. They stood close to each other, their hands brushing against each other, as they watched their lanterns fly mingle in the air with the many other lanterns. 

After a couple of minutes, Y/N glanced at Xiao from the corner of her eye, spotting a small smile of awe appearing on his face. Her eyes widened at the sight of the rare smile and blushed before quickly looking away and into the sky. Tightening her jaw, she made the risky move of interlocking her pinkie finger with his. Y/N expected him to pull his hand away, and he did, yet he quickly returned his hand to interlock his slim fingers with hers. Y/N’s eyes widened again, a deep blush spreading across the rest of her face, as she looked down and squeezed his hand. Unbeknownst to her, painted on Xiao’s face was also a deep red blush.

----------------- [Edit: this is a part that got deleted accidently but it’s back lol]

Xiao found himself puzzled. Recently, a strange mortal had been hanging around him, wanting to get closer to him. Even stranger was that he felt the same way, wanting to get closer to them. The feeling and fluttering in his chest and stomach were foreign and even a tinge disgusting. Yet he seemed to crave more, more of their smile and expressions, more of the peace that surrounds them. He knew better though. Yet he found himself persisting against the knowledge of the mortal soul.

Xiao found himself falling deeper into the rabbit hole. Perhaps he could find momentary peace with the mortal. 

Y/N was traveling to Dihua islet, wanting to check if Xiao had left a reply to her previous letter, as well as a chance to actually see him in person. If he didn’t, then she had a letter to put in its place. On her journey, she encountered a traveler, who had told her that there was a group of treasure hoarders camping by the main road. She was told to either go back and or to take a detour. Y/N was confident in her skills though and decided to continue traveling through the main road.

What a bad decision that was.

As Y/N passed some ruins, a small blade flew past her face, barely grazing her nose. She gasped, slapping a hand over her nose as she stepped back. Quickly checking her hand, she sighed in relief at the lack of blood before looking up.

Stepping out of some bushes was a small group of men dressed in the clothing of the treasure hoarders. Y/N eyes widened, cautiously taking a step back.

One of them snickered, “Scared little girl? No need to be. We only want one thing.”

Another threw their shovel over their shoulders, “Right, just give us your stuff and we’ll leave you alone.”

Y/N glared at them, pushing her bag to rest on her back instead of the side, “Like I’m giving you all the stuff I worked my butt for.”

“Hmph, you’ve got a pretty face but a pretty bad sense of danger. Fine, we’ll just take it from you with force.”

Y/N tensed, preparing to run as the treasure hoarders came after her. Quickly turning around, she attempted to make a run for it. Before she could even lift her leg, an arrow pierced her calf, with a scream. Blood splattered onto the ground and she collapsed, “Ack-!”

Pain seared through her from her leg up and sat up with a groan. Shadows loomed over her and Y/N whipped around, seeing the Treasure hoarders smirking above her.

The one with the crossbow grabbed her by the wrist, “If you don’t want to get even more hurt then hand over your stuff.”

Gritting her jaw, Y/N twisted her hand around to grab the man’s wrist, twisting it to release her. He yelped in surprise before being pulled to the ground. Y/N stood up while she could in the shock of the moment and attempted to run. The arrow stuck in her calf made it difficult to run but the adrenaline rushing through her numbed the pain. 

Before she could even get far, a barrage of arrows flew towards her, multiple hitting her and throwing her to the ground. With a screech of pain, she collapsed, arrows sticking out from many limbs of her body.

As she laid on the ground, her mind wandered to Xiao’s smiling face. It was merely a glimpse into his softer side, but she remembered that that mere glimpse was enough to make her fall even deeper into the abyss of love. As her consciousness began fading in and out, she whispered his name, “Xiao…”

The treasure hoarders that stood over her were suddenly thrown to the ground, skidding away from the force that had crashed into them. Y/N squinted up, spotting the familiar black and teal hair of the young yaksha. “I’m here,” he announced, glancing at her.

“Mhm…” She smiled as tears clouded her eyes.

To the yaksha, seeing the state Y/N was in as she laid on the ground brought the deepest depths of his fury to the surface. He turned his gaze to the treasure hoarders, tightening his grip on his polearm before bringing swift justice to them, albeit not killing them. The treasure hoarders laid on the ground, groaning and moaning in pain. 

“Worthless,” Xiao muttered coldly, allowing his polearm to disappear. Xiao turned around and walked towards the injured Y/N. He knelt beside her, picking her up gently, a stark contrast to his hard glare, and avoiding the arrows that stuck out of her.

Feeling the warmth of Xiao, Y/N smiled, snuggling into him as she tried to ignore the pain of her wounds. “Thank you...Xiao,” she whispered. 

Xiao didn’t reply but he tightened his grip on her. He then spoke, “If you awake to a knife at your throat, if monsters dig their claws into you, if death comes knocking at your door, call out my name. Adeptus Xiao. I will be here when you call.”

Y/N pulled away slightly and met his strong gaze. As his words registered in her mind, she could feel her eyes start to water again, and whispered his name, resting her head on his chest “...Xiao.”

Xiao’s strong gaze softened at the whisper, “I’m here.”

The tears clouding Y/N’s vision began to fall as she whispered his name many more times, fisting his clothes and burying her face into his chest. Xiao tightened his hold on her comfortingly, replying every time she whispered his name. 

Some time passed and Xiao had taken Y/N somewhere safer. Dihua Islet. Where he treated her injuries. Due to the amount of blood and tatters on her, Xiao had thought she was more severely injured, but thankfully, none were severe.

Y/N sat on the ground, trying to stay still as Xiao treated the injuries on her arm. She stayed quiet before her eyes wandered to Xiao’s stern expression. Her eyes then fell to his lips, finding herself wondering what it felt like to kiss them. Her eyes widened as she realized what her thoughts were and quickly shook her head, a raging blush on her cheeks.

Xiao glanced up, an eyebrow raised at her sudden outburst. He dropped back down to her arm before speaking, “...It's too late now, you know. The connection between us is too strong. Even if you wanted to, it's too late to sever it.”

Y/N shook out of her flustered state, glancing at him, “Huh? Why would I do that?”

Xiao raised his head in surprise, “... You've never thought to sever it?” he paused and sighed, “This eternal dance of demon subjugation... My fight goes on… But… I would like to know more about you.”

Y/N stared at him in surprise, before her features softened into a small smile, “I want to know more about you too, Xiao…”

The two fell further into the rabbit hole. Deciding to risk everything for the peace they found in each other.

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

Time passed and Y/N’s memory came back in small pieces, but they were enough for her to know a general amount of her past. She came from far away, perhaps a different world, that was far more advanced than the places here in Tevyat. The clothes she first arrived here in as well were similar to what the people wore in her memories as well.

After remembering more and more of her past, she decided to look into the other 7 nations of the continent, hoping to find her home. She brought home some books on the other nations to her house. After only a couple of hours, Y/N figured out that her home didn’t belong to any of the 7 nations. Many were far from advanced than the places she remembers in her memories. 

“I guess I am really in another world…” she spoke to herself quietly. Y/N wasn’t sure what to make of this. Perhaps she had a happy life in her original world, happily living with people that she no longer knew. But now this world had also become a home to her. At the thought of home, her mind flashed to Xiao.

Her cheeks heated up and she rested her head in her arms, warm feelings bubbling up within her. Xiao had only held her for less than an hour when she had been attacked, yet the warmth and gentleness of his hold were addicting. Y/N missed it. She glanced out the window, finding that the night was rather lonely.

After the incident with the treasure hoarders, Xiao decided that he would come to her instead of Y/N coming to him at Dihua Marsh. Y/N first protested, bringing up his distaste of crowded areas, but the yaksha was stubborn. Eventually, she relented, but she came to enjoy the monthly visits of the Yaksha. 

She perked at the knocking sound of the door to the balcony. With a smile, Y/N stood up and walked to the door, seeing the familiar Yaksha leaning against the railings of the balcony. Opening the door, she grinned, “Hey, Xiao.”

Xiao simply nodded but didn’t come inside. Y/N crossed her arms behind her, contemplating a slightly bold question. He noticed her contemplating gaze, throwing a gruff “What is it?” at her.

Y/N tilted her head, “... Can I hug you, Xiao?”

Xiao jumped at the question, his eyes wide and a blush beginning to adorn his cheeks, “Just what are you asking? Do you have no respect for the adepti?”

Y/N giggled quietly, “It’s a yes or no question, Xiao.” Xiao grumbled, not replying. Y/N giggled again, holding her arms open, “Well?”

Xiao sighed, holding his arms slightly open as well, unable to find it within himself to refuse her. Y/N giggled, walking towards him and wrapping her arms around his slim waist. Xiao tensed at the touch but slowly relaxed in her warm embrace. Within a couple of minutes, he wrapped his arms around her as well and rested his head in the crook of Y/N’s neck. Y/N glanced at him in surprise at how quickly he relaxed in her embrace but smiled. Her arms tightened around him, smiling at the familiar warmth of his embrace.

The unspoken words of “I love you” were stuck in both of their throats, yet pushed it down so as to not break the peaceful atmosphere of the hug. Xiao found that all of the yelling and screaming of the voices within his head would quiet down while Y/N found warmth and comfort on a lonely night. Neither wished to let go so they didn’t, enjoying the peace in each others’ presence.

It was unfortunate that the peace they found in each other would disappear as fast as they had first discovered it.

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

Y/N was feeling great and energetic, but that mood quickly went sour as she collapsed. Kneeling on the floor, a series of loud coughs shook her body. As her hand drew away from her mouth, Y/N's eyes widened in shock at the sight of red liquid, dribbling down her palm. She was unable to think further about it as her arms gave out, falling on her side with the cold tile.

People around her panicked, yelling for healers, doctors, anyone that could help her. Their yells were quickly drowned out though, as Y/N succumbed to sleep.

The week that passed was nothing but a blur to her. Only remembering different people doing different things to her. They tried speaking to her, asking her about how she felt. Y/N could only mutter incomprehensible words in reply.

As the middle of the second week arrived, the healers and doctors deemed that she was beyond saving. Her friends came to see her, although Y/N could barely pay attention to them as her vision blurred. 

Before the healers and doctors retreated back to their offices riddled with guilt, they provided Y/N with painkillers, hoping that it would save her from further pain. As they closed the doors, they could hear the pitiful girl mutter out one word, 

"...Xiao..."

The door closed with a loud echo and Y/N succumbed to sleep once more.

Y/N awoke to a hesitant and rough, yet gentle, touch to her forehead. She could recognize that touch from anywhere after countless hugs despite the warnings. She leaned into his touch. The touch of the one she found herself growing to love. Y/N opened her eyes slowly, meeting the familiar golden eyes of Xiao. She smiled weakly, softly whispering his name.

He lifted his hand, a bitter and heartbroken expression crossing his face. He bit his lower lip before he found himself revealing all of his guilt to the frail one under him.

"Why...why must a foolish mortal like you continue to be around me…? You are only like this because your soul cannot handle being around adepti like me…I told you that, yet you continue to be near me, and now, here you are, dying."

He drew his hand away, the radiating warmth of his fading away. Y/N weakly reached for his hand, grasping it weakly. "...I stayed, beside you because, because I… I love you, Xiao," they whispered.

Xiao's jaw tensed, "Don't be foolish, us adepti would never be able to understand you mortals' emotions."

Instead of pouting like they normally would, Y/N simply laughed weakly, "You're right… but that doesn't... stop me from loving you, Xiao…"

Xiao growled quietly, and sharply took back his hand from the weak grip of Y/N, turning around to the window to leave. Barely getting more than five steps away, he heard a large collision to the floor. Whipping around in alarm, he saw Y/N attempting to sit up.

Without realizing it, Xiao took a few large strides, kneeling down next to them and helping them up. Although as soon as his hand had come into their sight, they quickly grasped his hand. Slowly lifting their head up, Xiao was taken aback to see tears falling down their cheeks. Before he could scold them, Y/N weakly began to speak.

"It's… it's fine, if you...if you don't like me back… but please, please don't leave me alone," They rested their head against Xiao's chest, clinging to his shirt now, "Please, please don't let me die all alone again…"

Xiao was tempted to take their hands off of his shirt but was taken aback at their last sentence. Although confused, he gave in after a few minutes of silence, awkwardly resting his hands on top of their head and back as Y/N cried into his chest. He didn't understand what they meant, but it didn't matter. Because he's known for a long time by now that he could never say no to Y/N.

“...You’re a foolish mortal, Y/N,” he gruffly whispered as Y/N calmed down. They froze at the whisper of their name coming from his lips, realizing it was the first time Xiao has ever said their name. Finally processing what he had said, Y/N smiled weakly.

“I guess I am.”

Xiao shifted and maneuvered their body so that he was holding them in his arms. He stood up slowly, and placed them back into their bed, tucking them in. Y/N allowed themself to soak in the gentleness and comfort of Xiao’s touch.

They turned to their side, resting their right hand on top of Xiao’s hand. He flinched at their touch but made no move to remove his hand from theirs. Her eyes shifted from their hands to his golden eyes as he stared outside the window. Xiao’s golden eyes were always beautiful, but the beauty couldn’t hide the spark of sadness and guilt in his eyes. Y/N wanted to wish those emotions in his eyes away, wishing that she could’ve made her wish about wanting him to always be happy instead of wanting more time with him. 

Y/N snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Xiao’s voice, “...You should rest,” his eyes shifting to her own.

“...But-”

“Sleep. I will be here when you awake,”

Both of them knew Xiao was lying, a lie to bring her comfort in her final moments. 

Y/N wanted to stay awake, to continue being with Xiao for as long as she could. As she struggled to stay awake, Xiao shifted his hand and interlaced his fingers with hers.

“There’s nothing to fear, I will keep you safe while you sleep.”

Y/N wanted to argue, wanted to tell him that she’s not sleepy, but is unable to even speak as Xiao uses his free hand to close her eyes. “Geh-”

“Don’t fight and waste your energy, Y/N.”

Y/N used the last of her strength to force a pout but smiled at his awkward attempt of showing that he cared for her. Before allowing herself to slip into the depths of sleep, she whispered.

“I...I love you, Xiao.”

Xiao stayed quiet as the hand intertwined with his hand started to grow limp before falling out of his grasp completely. Tears were welling up in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. The breathing and movement of her chest came to an eventual stop and he held back a hiccup. 

Xiao leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to the fading warm lips of the girl below him. He pulled away after a few seconds, whispering the three words she never got to hear. “I love you too… Y/N”

By the time the moon rose to its peak, the adepti was gone from the scene. The only evidence of his presence was the wet patches on the sheets and the qingxin flower that rested on the girl’s chest.

Xiao stood at the base of Dihua Marsh, watching the moon rise with a sad expression, before placing his mask on and disappearing from view.

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

Venti finished his story with a beautiful but sad song note and the crowd before him had tears welling up in their eyes. Despite the sad note, they applauded him and tipped him with mora. As the crowd dispersed, a couple of children came up to him. “Venti! Venti! Why didn’t they get a happy ending?” they whined.

Venti smiled sadly, “Although those two didn’t have a happy ending, it doesn’t mean that the story ends there.”

“Does that mean the adepti will find someone else to love?”

Venti laughed, “I’m sure he will.”

Meanwhile, in Liyue, a floating pixie sneezed as she talked with her companion. 

“Paimon, are you sick?” her companion asked.

“Paimon never gets sick!” the pixie rebuked, resting her fists on her hips.

The companion simply laughed in response and Paimon pouted. The two were in Dihua Marsh near the Wangshu Inn as they spoke. Paimon quickly brought the both of them back to the previous topic, “Anyways, isn’t that Xiao over there?” and pointed in a direction.

The traveler looked in the direction Paimon was pointing at, seeing the familiar yaksha, sitting before a formation that looked similar to that of a grave.

“What is he standing in front of?” the traveler murmured as they observed the yaksha.

“How about we check it out?” Paimon suggested and the traveler nodded.

They approached the adepti but the traveler froze in their tracks as they noticed a slightly transparent figure next to Xiao. The figure was in the shape of a young woman, softly smiling down at the adepti.

Paimon also saw the figure, quickly freaking out, “Gah-! Is… is that a… a ghost?!”

The shrieks of fear from Paimon quickly alert the figure and Xiao. As Xiao turns around, the figure disappears, and Xiao sighs at the sight of the pair.

“You two. What are you doing here?”

“A-ah… we just saw you, so uh…” Paimon tried speaking but was still frozen in place after the sight of the figure.

The traveler sighed, before continuing for her, “And we wanted to see how you were doing.” 

Xiao sighed and crossed his arms, “You need not be concerned about that. But why were you shrieking?” The traveler and Paimon exchanged glances before replying, “Uh… well Paimon saw what looked like a… a ghost, next to you!”

“A ghost…?” Xiao echos, pondering over it, “...I see.”

“...Do you know that ghost, Xiao?” the traveler asked.

“...It’s not of any importance,” he replied and turned around, “I must get going now.”

Before the traveler or Paimon could ask, the yaksha disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“Sheesh!” Paimon crossed her arms, “why is he so rude sometimes?!”

The traveler smiled at Paimon’s whining before turning to look at the makeshift construct before them. Paimon follows their gaze, “Oh! We should check that thing out! We might get some clues!”

“...I feel like we’re intruding on his privacy by doing this,” the traveler mumbled as they followed Paimon. They stopped in front of the formation, noticing very little of any unique details. As they observed it, the traveler froze, sensing a presence behind them. Sharply turning around, they saw the figure of the young woman once again. 

“Huh? Is something wr-” Paimon quickly cuts herself off with a shriek as she turns around, seeing the ghostly figure as well. She quickly floated over to the traveler, hiding behind them, quivering in fear.

Taking out their sword, the traveler got into a fighting stance but was interrupted as the figure’s mouth moved. Although unable to hear it immediately, the words it spoke floated upon the wind, reaching the ears of the traveler with a tickle.

“...Take care of Xiao, please…” it whispered with a sad smile.

The traveler stares in confusion but is unable to speak further as the figure fades away.

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

*this isn’t an actual character in the game, I just searched up Chinese names and got this lol

Anyways I hope everyone likes this!

#genshin impact #genshin impact xiao #genshin impact x reader #xiao x reader #genshin impact venti #genshin impact traveler #genshin impact angst #xiao x you #xiao x y/n #genshin x reader #genshin impact fanfiction #this has literally been something I've been #working on since Xiao's banner #lmao rip my motivation and sleep #it's finally done tho mwuhahaha #Xiao might be OOC #if he is then i'm sorry sob

[hellimagines]

Indebted to You -- Barry OBX

Masterlist

Summary: As JJ Maybank’s older sister it’s always been your top priority to protect your little brother. Even if that means easing your father’s temper by indebting yourself to Outerbanks’ top dealer.

Warnings: child abuse, frequent dr*g mention and dr*g dealing (of the non-oui’d variety), paying off someone else’s debt non-conventionally

Pairing: Barry x fem!Maybank!reader

Word Count: 2.4K

DISCLAIMER: Please, for the love of fuck, DO NOT do hard dr*gs just because you think they’re ‘cool’ or because you think dating a dealer is ‘cool’. Believe me when I tell you that neither of those things are cool, and that is NOT what I am trying to get across with this story; I don’t condone hard dr*g use.

A/N: This is something I pulled out of my ass because I wanted to write for Barry really bad, but I didn’t have any ideas. It has potential but I’m not sure if it’s gonna go anywhere. Also, Barry may be a little OOC since we don’t get much from his character. Anyway, I hope you guys like this and let me know what you think!

You released a slow, aggravated huff while staring down at your drunken father. He sat hunched over on the couch, with his elbows digging into his knees and his gaze trained on the coffee table before him. Behind you, your younger brother was curled into an armchair with a frozen bag of expired peas pressed against his left eye and a bloody tissue under his nose. You yourself had a welt already throbbing and beginning to swell on your cheekbone, but you ignored it in favor of kicking your dad’s limp foot. His head shot up, neck cracking with the unexpected speed, and narrowed his eyes at you dangerously.

“You had some nerve steppin’ in on something that wasn’t your business. What’ve I told you ‘bout stickin’ your nose where it don’t belong?” he snarled while attempting to stand, but was pathetically unsuccessful due to his inebriated state. All he managed to do was stumble and fall back down on the couch with a grunt. 

You rolled your eyes, “And what’ve I told you about mixing your whiskey and blow? I already have your grave dug outback, and the sooner you keep this shit going, the sooner I get to toss your ass inside it.” Luke scoffed at your words but didn’t offer a rebuttal as he flexed his bloody knuckles. “JJ didn’t touch the fucking money-- I’ve been keeping ahold of it so nothing goes missing before I head to Barry’s. You’d remember that if you weren’t fucking high or drunk all the time. JJ’s got his own job and is making his own money, he doesn’t need to jack your rolled bills for anything.” 

You pulled out a wad of recently-flattened bills, shaking the cash in front of your dad’s face. It was roughly $600 that you had made the past weekend while bouncing from Kook party to Kook party. Luke’s eyes widened at the sight of the money and he instinctively reached out to grab it from you. Your arm jerked back and you clutched the wad tightly before shoving it back into the pocket of your leather jacket. 

With a shake of your head, you looked over your shoulder and gave your brother a once over, nodding to yourself after assessing he wouldn’t be dropping dead anytime soon. “Why don’t you go to JB’s? I’ve got shit handled here and I heard the waves were supposed to be good before the sun sets.” 

“You sure? I can go with you-”

“Over my dead body. I got involved in this so you didn’t have to. Scram, before I change my mind and make you clean the kitchen.” JJ frowned but did as he was told, depositing the peas back in the freezer before making his way out the front door. You turned back to your dad, who was now laying on the couch with an arm thrown over his face. “I don’t have many more runs to do before we’re out of this shit-eating debt you caused with Barry. Keep your paws off the cash and we won’t have any problems, okay? You can’t fuck this up before I manage to fix it. Please, dad,” you whispered pleadingly and lowered yourself to the edge of the coffee table. 

Your dad peeked open an eye at you before laughing darkly. “You’re running the game, princess. The streets know you, but even worse, those rich Kooks know you and know what you have to offer. That won’t be forgotten, especially with how good you’ve been running that shit. You’re not gonna be getting out anytime soon, so what’s it matter if a couple twenties go missin’ or a gram gets cut on our table? Don’t piss Barry off and don’t get caught by the cops, and you’ll be set for life.” 

“No, I’m not like you,” you growled as your lip curled into a sneer. “I don’t wanna keep dealing and end up bitter and angry and alone, like you. Once I’m finished working off your debt, I’m done.” 

Luke shot up from the couch in the blink of an eye, towering over you while gripping your jaw tightly. You could feel his fingers painfully digging into your skin, pressing against your teeth, and making you wince. “Doesn’t matter what you fucking want. This isn’t your world, princess. Once people know who’s moving product in the streets, you’re stuck. So you may as well embrace the Maybank name and take what you can while you can. Now, be a good girl and go make daddy proud,” he hissed in your ear, before roughly letting go of your jaw by flinging your head to the side. You teetered off the edge of the table and fell to your side on the floor, but Luke didn’t spare you a second glance as he stepped over you and stumbled to his room. 

After pushing yourself to your feet and massaging your sore jaw, you shot a glare toward the direction of your father’s room. “Fuck you,” you spat quietly before leaving the house and slamming the door shut behind you.

By the time you made it to Barry’s trailer, the sun had set and the small grassy area Barry called his ‘backyard’ was lit up with lights, noises, and people. You made your way around the trailer, nodding to a few people you recognized before you found Barry lounging in a lawn chair with a beer in his hand. His smile was wide and dirty as he laughed with the people surrounding him, seemingly at ease with everyone. When he noticed you walking toward him out of the corner of his eye, his smile brightened and he shouted out for you.

“Ay, look who it is!” he yelled, waving an arm out toward you while the others cheered at your arrival. “I was just thinkin’ about you, sweetheart. C’mon, sit down with me. I left a chair open just for you,” Barry smiled, gesturing to the black lawn chair beside him with a Mikes waiting in the arm pocket. Despite yourself, you couldn’t help but to snicker softly at him and take the offered chair. 

“What made you so certain I’d show up tonight?” you hummed teasingly while opening the spiked limeade that had been waiting for you. 

Barry grinned over the lid of his beer, his brown eyes watching you intently as you drank from your bottle. “Because I know you, sweetheart. Sunday nights are your drop-off nights.” Your cheeks warmed at his comment, but you played it off with a scoff and shake of your head. “I wanted to make sure you were more comfortable tonight, so I kept that chair open for ya and grabbed your favorite while on a liquor run.” 

A harsh scoff came from a chair on the other side of Barry, and you peeked around him to see who it came from. “Special privilege for his new fucktoy, what a surprise,” the voice muttered, and you recognized it as one of Barry’s frequent buyers, Sherry. You’d never had a conversation with the girl despite having gone to school with her in the past, and even though she was always at Barry’s get-togethers, she typically seemed more focused on her next fix rather than talking with anyone.

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Barry snapped, turning to look at her with a clenched jaw. He seemed to purposefully be blocking her view of you, and you remained silent as the altercation unfolded.

“You know what it means,” she snapped back. “Whenever a new piece of trash starts selling for you, you put your dick in her and use her until another one shows up. But, you never bought them their favorite bitch-drink or saved them a seat, so what makes this one so much better, huh? Why does she get to sit in the big, nice chair next to you, but the rest of us have to have three-legged chairs and warm beers? What about her cunt makes her so much better?” Marie shouted, causing a couple of the others to whistle in disbelief. 

Before Barry could respond, one of the boys in the circle spoke up. “Maybe it’s cause she’s not a psychotic bitch who snorts the blow instead of selling it.”  You could hear Marie’s angry gasp at the diss, and when Barry gave her a pointed look rather than defending her, she flipped off the group before storming away. 

“Remind me why we let Sherry stick around all the time?” Someone questioned as you idly picked at the label on your bottle.

“Because this ain’t a fuckin’ gated community,” Barry scoffed as though it was obvious. The other chuckled in agreement before the conversation picked up and everyone went back to their own thing. You cleared your throat awkwardly once the attention was off of you, not knowing how to respond-- or if you were even supposed to. Barry gave a deep sigh, “Sorry about that, sweetheart. Don’t listen to anything she said, Sherry just hasn’t been doing great since she lost custody of her son. You’re not a fucktoy and I ain’t got no intention of using you like that.”

“Don’t worry about it, she’s going through shit and I get it. I shouldn’t stay long anyway, Luke’s fucked off his ass and if I’m gone much longer he’ll flip,” you shrugged, reaching into your pocket and pulling out the cash as you spoke. “I made about $600 this weekend, and I know it’s not as much as it usually is, but someone had already hit up the beach and two of my usual places by the time I was able to start selling. So, I was stuck at Rafe’s party all of last night and only a handful of small pickups on Friday night.” You handed the wad over to Barry with an apologetic wince. “I still have some blow left over, so I’ll try and push a few eight-balls before the weekend. I’m sorry it’s not more.” Barry flicked through the cash quietly as you explained everything to him, before folding it into his pocket once it was all counted. He finished off his beer while looking you over, causing the nervous feeling in your stomach to grow. 

“Sweetheart,” he began with a shockingly gentle sigh, “You ain’t gotta apologize for any of that shit. You’re cleaning up your daddy’s debt because he’s too useless to do it himself, yet you’re not bitter or angry at everyone because of it. I’ve heard of the way you stick by new users throughout the night, making sure they’re using safely and doing okay. You still go to your day job and take care of your brother and his shithead-friends despite being up past dawn most days. You’re doing great, and I don’t ever wanna hear you apologize for thinking you’re not doing enough.” 

Your cheeks flamed and your eyes widened in shock as you spluttered helplessly at the man in front of you. “I wasn’t implying that I wasn’t doing enough! I just know how much my dad owes you, and $600 weekends are gonna take too long to pay it off.”

Barry raised an eyebrow at you before grabbing onto the arm of your chair and tugging you closer to him. You yelped at the sudden movement, bracing yourself for the inevitable collapse of you and your chair. Barry laughed loudly at you when you squeezed your eyes shut and gripped the chair tightly, but there was no mirth or mock behind his laugh. Once the chair stopped moving and his laugh slowed to a chuckle, you breathed a sigh of relief.

“Relax,” he chuckled, reaching out to move a strand of hair out of your face. “I wasn’t gonna let you fall, just wanted to talk to you better.”

“You could’ve just asked me to move closer,” you grumbled, casting your eyes to the side as your cheeks flushed. “And I told you I can’t stay long to chat.”

Barry gave you a nonchalant shrug, “Where’s the fun in that? Besides, if your daddy’s got an issue with you keeping me company, I’ll just go and have a talk with him. I don’t want you worrying about him when you’ve got enough going on. Stay for a bit, sweetheart. I’ve got a whole cooler full of those Mikes, and you’re the only one I’m allowin’ to drink ‘em. If you really wanna go, I won’t stop you, but I want you to know that I don’t mind you stickin’ around me for a while.”

You bit your lip as you considered Barry’s offer, quietly looking out at the happy party-goers. It was calmer than any Kook party or Boneyard Blowout you had attended, and you had to admit that you loved the calm and welcoming atmosphere. Barry’s warm hand settled over your propped up knee, bringing your attention back to his hopeful eyes. 

“Okay, fine,” you caved and Barry squeezed your knee in delight. “But, you have to go get me a drink. Sherry was right, this chair is comfortable as fuck and I don’t wanna get up.” 

“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” Barry teased and patted your knee before leaving to grab your drink. You stared after him with a bashful smile, unable to help yourself as the nervous feeling in your stomach evolved into flustered butterflies.

‘Shit,’ you groaned to yourself, ‘I’ve got a schoolgirl crush on this motherfucker. I’m so screwed.’

#outerbanks #outerbanks imagine #outerbanks imagines #outerbanks x reader #obx #obx imagine #barry obx #barry outerbanks #barry obx imagine #barry obx x reader #barry outerbanks imagine #barry outerbanks x reader #obx barry #obx netflix

[ratisnotcrying]

it wasn’t peaceful, but it was enough

Summary:  Technically, they weren't dating. Neither Sonny nor Rafael had ever tried to raise the issue of labelling their friends-with-benefits-who-also-go-on-unofficial-dates-at-least-once-a-week situation. Actually, Sonny had mentioned it once, a few months after it all started, when he thought Barba was asleep and neither of them mentioned it the next morning.

Pairing: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.

Warning: none!! just some hurt/comfort, fluff and slight spoilers for the end of s17 and beginning of s18

Word count: 1.2K

A/N: this may be a little ooc but idc barba is Tender sometimes!! also this is crossposted on AO3 under the same title :)

~~~

Technically, they weren't dating. Neither Sonny nor Rafael had ever tried to raise the issue of labelling their friends-with-benefits-who-also-go-on-unofficial-dates-at-least-once-a-week situation. Actually, Sonny had mentioned it once, a few months after it all started, when he thought Barba was asleep and neither of them mentioned it the next morning.

Barba was starting to think that maybe they should define it, or at least acknowledge what it really was, acknowledge that Sonny spent more time at Rafael’s than at his own place and had his clothes in Rafael's wardrobe and was the only one, besides his abuelita, who could snap him out of his foul moods.

If he thought about it, he would guess that it was after the death threats started that Sonny became a part of his future, more than just a not-quite friend. When Sonny found out about the threats, from before and after Munson’s trial, he became even more protective than he was before - which was actually kind of impressive. He started coming over after work to cook for the both of them, he’d text him on his break to make sure he was okay - it also gave him an excuse to stay the night, not that he really needed one, not anymore.

It was late, after nine, and Rafael's office light was off. It must have been Carmen - saving electricity and all that - but he had only been gone twenty minutes to get a coffee, so she could have left it on. Sonny always turns the switches off too.

He pushed the door open, then closed it with his hip, juggling his coffee and a handful of papers as he tried to flick the light switch before dumping it all rather unceremoniously on his desk. Somewhere underneath all of this shit was a bottle of painkillers, but he didn’t want to risk shifting any of the stacks of paper in case they fell. Perhaps, if criminals had to do this paperwork instead of us, the crime rates might drop, he thought idly.

"Christ!" He exclaimed. He’d been sitting at his desk for nearly ten minutes before looking up and doing a double take, "Detective, why are you sitting in my office in the dark?"

Sonny barely seemed to acknowledge Rafael was there, let alone that he had spoken, just shifted his vacant gaze from the window in front of the sofa to the shelves behind Rafael.

"Carisi, what's the matter - has something happened?" Rafael asked, concern creeping into his voice and urgency into his actions as he rounded his desk, coming to sit next to Sonny on the sofa. For a while they just sat, the only sound was their breathing but there was an almost violently anxious atmosphere radiating from Sonny.

"Did Lieu tell you what happened today?" Carisi said eventually, voice barely above a whisper.

"She said that Cole was aiming at you when she came in so she took the shot - was there something else? Are you hurt?!" The panic in his voice was palpable and his hands flittered uselessly around Sonny before he looked straight at Barba.

"He-" Sonny took a deep shuddering breath, only letting it go when Rafael tentatively twined their fingers together, "The gun was on- He was aiming at my head." Sonny's voice cracked as he pressed the heel of his free hand to his forehead.

It took Rafael a moment to put it together and his mind helpfully supplied him with the image of Sonny with the barrel of a gun pushed firmly… then, "Oh. Oh, Sonny, I'm sorry."

Rafael gently tipped Sonny's chin up because… yes, there was still dried blood on his neck and under his collar. Sonny must have been covered - the thought made Rafael blanch. Sonny whimpered a stunted, broken noise in the back of his throat when Barba stood, but he relaxed minutely when Rafael dropped a gentle kiss onto his head. Barba went to his desk and pulled a packet of wet wipes out of the second drawer. He never used to keep them in his office, but the second draw had become what one imagines a mother's handbag looks like - something for every possible situation - and all because Jesse had thrown food over his desk the previous month.

The moment wasn’t quite peaceful - Sonny was crying, he had tears streaming down his face and his body jolted as if electrocuted with each new wave; Rafael didn’t move from his place on his knees in front of Sonny, cleaning Sergeant Cole’s sins from the delicate lines of his neck. No, it wasn’t peaceful, but it was enough; Sonny felt safe, surrounded by Rafael’s soothing voice, soothing hands, he felt at home.

Sonny was the one to break the silence, "I thought I was going to die, Rafi. It was so cold and, jesus, it just - my whole body I just froze." He reached up to cover Rafael's hands with his own, holding firmly, grounding him, physically stopping him from going back to that house.

"I should have been paying attention. I should have cleared that house properly. If I hadn't been distracted I could have-" Sonny's hands wound tightly into his hair and his breathing hitched and faltered.

"Hey, hey, none of that. You did good, sunshine, you did good, and you’re here and you’re safe, okay?” Rafael brushed his thumbs over Sonny's cheekbones to wipe some of the tears away, however, more fell in their place as Sonny tried to speak again but choked on a sob.

“Hush, Sonny, it’s okay, you don’t -” He stopped abruptly when Sonny placed his hand over his mouth and pulled him up onto the sofa beside him.

“No, I need to say this, Rafi, please.” Sonny was silent for a few seconds as he tried to organise his thoughts.

“Sonny, we talk about this later if you like?”

Sonny shook his head, “I thought I was going to die today. I thought that they would be scraping me off the floor and I didn’t think of my family - well, I did - but mainly I thought of you. I don’t know if you want to hear this but I need to say it - all I could think about was you and how you like to cuddle, even if you deny it, how you snack when you’re thinking, how-” Sonny laughed shakily, “you colour coordinate your socks and underwear.”

Rafael laughed a little too, wiping the fresh tears from Sonny’s face.

“And, I realised that I was going to die before I could tell you… before I could tell you that I love you, Rafael. I love your passion and your snark and - and I love waking up next to you and -”

“Sonny?” Rafael said calmly.

“Jesus. I’m sorry. I understand, if you don’t feel the same. We can stop this and, and I’ll-” Sonny’s voice faltered and he stood, hands tugging at his hair again.

“Sonny, look at me?” Rafael stood, placing his hands on Sonny’s hips and pulling him closer. “You know me, no nonsense. If I didn't feel something for you, Sonny, something meaningful, I would have ended this months ago.”

Sonny looked a little less panicked now; his breathing was still ragged, his hands still shaking, but he managed a weak smile and wrapped his arms around Rafael’s shoulders.

“Is that your way of saying you feel the same?”

“Yes,” Rafael said, standing on his tip-toes to kiss Sonny’s forehead, “I love you, Sonny. Now, let’s go home.”

#barisi #sonny carisi #rafael barba #hurt/comfort #i didnt like how this ep ended #so i took matters into my own hands #love confessions #friends who fuck #fwb to lovers #this is very tender #and very outside my comfort zone #law and order svu

[chromosome23hq]

august 11th, 1997, 6:05 am, silverhouse apartments

One fine morning, with a mug of coffee in one hand and a watering can in the other, Billie Foster was not prepared for the crack of a gun to kick her into a vision. A crowd. A masked figure. Mayor Peter Webber, now with a hole in his forehead. So many lives altered in one fell swoop that the crowd overwhelmed her. A small stampede had Billie stumbling back into her apartment. Coffee in her monstera and water soaking her feet. She didn't get a chance to see anymore details, only a masked figure and an untimely death.

It’s not something Billie can just ignore, especially when it comes to the death of a public figure, much less the mayor. She needed to tell someone, an officer of some sort who can protect the mayor from anything. It’s when she remembers them, the Omegas. It’s a part of their job description to protect the weak and innocent, which includes the mayor. A heavy and deep sigh leaves between her lips. This is not how she wanted to start her morning. 

august 14th, 1997, 11:45 am, somewhere in the city

This has to be the most boring protection assignment in the world. For the past few days, all Yazmín Navarro Montes’ (also known as Siren) done is escort Mayor Peter Weber everywhere to defend him against an assassination threat. He still has his bodyguards, but extra cushion with Yazmín here, as Prism described it. Of course, it’s unspoken that this also works as great publicity. She had wanted nothing to do with it, which meant Prism had to pick her for this. Her luck always worked that way. Today, she’s starting to wonder if this threat was real at all, or a phony stunt to benefit the mayor and the Omegas. There’s been no suspicious figures lingering around his office or home, no attempts, and no threats sent to him. 

Still, Yazmín doesn’t slack on her job. She always has an eye out, ready to push the mayor out of the way or stop a would-be killer. They’re outside for a few minutes when something starts to bother her. There’s water everywhere she can sense, then suddenly there’s a spike. It’s nowhere near winter, but something freezing just entered the vicinity. No one stands out in the crowd, until—

Already running behind schedule after sleeping in late, Ethan Sato pays no heed to his surroundings as he cuts past a gentleman on his journey to class. He’s cursing himself internally, vowing for the umpteenth time to start going to bed earlier, when his internal monologue is drowned out by a wave of terror. Ethan stops in his tracks, his heartbeat thundering, panic squeezing down on his chest. Breathe, he needs to breathe. He takes in one, shuddering breath, knowing that this—whatever this is—isn’t his, then turns around and he sees—

“Oh, my God.” He claps his hand over his mouth. Behind Ethan is the Mayor, haloed by his own blood as he lays on the footpath. It takes Ethan a solid minute to process what he sees, what he feels, before he scrambles backwards, yelling, “Help! Somebody help!”

As soon as his co-worker had walked in, Jaewon Oh had scampered off for his break. An entire hour away from inane questions was exactly what he needed. Deciding to take a stroll to his favorite nearby coffee shop was done automatically, he ate there almost everyday. Unfortunately for him, his hour was coming to an end and so he made his way back with an extra sandwich in his hand. 

He was contemplating whether or not he could get away with leaving the store early when he saw it. Or, rather, them. A person in a mask appeared seemingly out of nowhere and Jaewon, curious, watched as they walked ahead of him with purpose. something about this didn’t feel right, he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on but there was a sinking feeling in his gut. 

Should he do something? No, yes? He was just about to shake off the feeling, not wanting to get involved in business that wasn’t his own, when he saw a man ahead of him go down. It took him a moment to register that it was the mayor and said mayor had just been shot. The masked figure was running and Jaewon watched, frozen to his spot, as they did so. On the sidewalk ahead of him the mayor lay dying, the particles of energy around him turning a meek gray as the life left him. 

Jaewon took several steps back and pressed himself against a storefront, brows furrowed. it couldn’t have been a normal bullet, a gun going off was loud. this had been too quiet. suspicion rose in him, humans could quiet a gun, sure, but not to that extent. could … could it have been a mutant? Jaewon looked back at the scene that was now filled with people, all as terrified as they were shocked, and wondered. It certainly seemed like a possibility. shit, he’d just witnessed the mayor getting shot, the mayor being killed. Soon enough police sirens would echo down the street and detectives would go looking for bystanders. Not wanting to be questioned, he quickly walked in the opposite direction and stewed in his own theories.

Sitting on the stairs of a building that had been ‘under construction’ for five years now (he’d been keeping track of time—the crew seemed to have abandoned it), David Castillo withdrew his flask and took a swig, eyeing the passersby—trying to find who best to focus on. Woman with the dog thinking about how the groomers screwed her poodle’s nail polish up completely? (he didn’t agree, they looked marvelous)—she walked by too fast. Man with the shirt that read ‘D.A.R.E - to keep kids off drugs’ and was already thinking about that sweet weed he would score later? Also too fast. 

That was the only problem with a staircase in the middle of an ‘under construction’ type of place!

Voices swirling around, from those thinking about their affairs to those thinking about their loyal spouses, he shook his head viciously. 

And then a strong voice emerged. 

Strong emotion.

Strong passion.

Strong thought.

‘Got ‘em.’

Followed by screams—real ones.

And a silence. Even amongst the screams... a silence.

It’s too late. 

There’s barely any noise between the mayor standing in front of Yazmin, and dropping to the ground. Blood is everywhere. Some of it’s even on her suit, her hands. She had bent down to hold the wound without thinking, before realizing it’s all too late. 

There’s people running away in the crowd, and that’s how she knows the shooter isn’t far ahead. She’s running before the bodyguards do, head going through anyway she could to slow them down. Every option can lead to civilian injuries or worse. Shit! Yaz speeds up, water rising from her side pouch and striking out toward the assailant’s ankle as they round the corner. It misses by an inch. 

As she enters the alley, she sends a dozen sharp edged droplets at the wall with a yell for them to stop. But no one’s there. The only evidence that remains is a spray painted symbol.

august 17th, 1997, 5:34 pm, ramer cemetery 

Peter Webber is found dead on sight. Upon inspection, they’re unable to find a bullet but water is found. Because of Yazmín’s ability and past criminal record, the suspicion falls onto her. Banks and schools are closed early that day, and remain that way until the funeral. National news channels cover it nearly twenty-four seven, wondering how the mayor of one of the most prominent cities in America was shot in broad daylight and by who. All channels in New York cut into their current programming to broadcast the funeral, from the funeral home to the drive to the cemetery. Crowds line the streets during the procession to show their love for the beloved mayor, as well as grieve his loss and the loss it is to the city. His children and wife thank those for being there with them through this difficult time. The vice mayor, who was sworn in days before, tells the city they’ll get through this together and follow the vision Mayor Peter Webber had.

august 18th, 1997, 9:30 am, new york city hall

This isn’t the first time that Han-Byul Song (also known as Prism) stands surrounded by cameras, microphones, and journalists waiting for what he has to say. But he can say that it’s the first time dealing with them like this. Individuals who once looked at him as if he was like them, now they see him as something else. It doesn’t sit right with him, none of this sits right with him. However, he’s a professional and never the type to let someone see him when he’s at his lowest. With a straightened back and squared shoulders, Han-Byul begins his statement. 

“Ladies and gentlemen of the city, my name is Prism and as you all know, I’m the current leader of the Omegas. We are tasked with protecting the lives of the innocent, both mutants and non-mutants. Recently, we were given the mission to watch over and protect Mayor Peter Webber, sending one of our own to act as one of his bodyguards.” His eyes fall on Yazmín, the young mutant standing beside him with a cold stare and a rigid body. “Despite our best efforts to protect the mayor, we—” Failed. The words fall from his tongue but it doesn’t feel like he’s the one saying it. He can see the questions that are ready to leap out of their mouths, the hunger in their eyes, beasts. They were all beasts. “However, this doesn’t mean that our mission ends here. We’re now undergoing an investigation to look for and capture the person behind this. Once we find this individual, we’ll bring justice to all of you but also Mayor Webber.” 

There are questions, lots of them, and he answers, some of them. There isn’t enough or maybe that’s what he tries to tell himself as Yazmín takes his place to read over her apology. He’s listening but also not, he’s mainly just watching her and the crowd. Even though she was there acting as a bodyguard, she’s a suspect. Just because of her ability, just because she’s a mutant, just because they needed a scapegoat. 

OOC INFORMATION:

Mayor Peter Webber died on August 14th, 1997 and his funeral was held on the 17th. Various radio talk shows and news articles report on his death. Your muse can react however they want to this! 

The masked killer is Daichi Kato (played by Admin Kashia). No muse is aware of him killing the mayor, outside of Magneto. Yazmín is under the suspicion of partaking. 

This marks the true beginning of The Brotherhood showing themselves to everyone, which also means they’re recruiting people in. Your muse has the decision to join them but be aware of the true purpose of The Brotherhood! The spots are unlimited. 

If you play a Xavier student or staff member, things will be tense as Charles plans on what to do next.

And that’s the way the pussy crumbles.

#c23plotdrop #murder cw #death cw #murder tw #death tw

[primeideal]

Wheel of Time Episode 7: The Dark Along the Ways

Blood on the snow for our salvation.

I feel like, while the Wetlands have all these horrific memories of the time they went to war with the Aiel twenty years ago, and even their pregnant women could kill a half-dozen swordsmen before they got taken out, the Aiel have corresponding horrific memories of snow. Sure, we disposed of all those pesky Wetlands guys, and took out King Laman, but do you know that across the Dragonwall they have fluffy white water that falls from the sky when it's cold? No fair, how are we supposed to fight in this. "He left us" echoes of the Rand and Egwene tension from episodes 1 and 2 Petition to just bring Loial everywhere to do all the infodumps. No need to worry about "As You Know, Bob" when it's an Ogier. Lan "I can tell the differences between all Nynaeve's subtle facial expressions" Mandragoran Moiraine: Do not channel within the Ways! Egwene: I can defeat this creepy evil wind. Nynaeve: HOLD MY BEER Min: aw geez not this Aes Sedai bull again Rand: hey, a cute bartender lady, what could possibly go wrong Perrin, the world's first vegetarian werewolf Rand has a baby? And he's rocking it? Perrin: "what if you're just wrong" Moiraine: "doubt is the first step to surrender to the dark side" Hmm, this seems dangerous. Maybe I'm just biased by weird philosophical thought experiments where the copout is "what if this superpowered entity is just...not 100.00% informed and accurate about everything all the time?" But I feel like that level of certainty is more dangerous than healthy skepticism. "He probably went back to Tar Valon for the bloody stolen dagger" pls no. "he left us/well you're the expert" there it is! awkward love triangle nonsense pls no. I just don't really see anything that's been Perrin/Egwene in a shippy sense, other than "surviving road trips of doom together." (And I acknowledge that Rand/Mat shippers find this very appealing!) I'm going to be hopeful and imagine that this is the price we have to pay for a bunch more miscommunication subplots down the line just getting skipped? "I've taken everything from you" I feel like there are a couple places where their Lan seems OOC from book Lan. Not to the point that "every time he shows emotions is unrealistic!" but like "haha this bathtub is cold" doesn't really seem like Lan. So for me this is one of them. Without Moiraine he'd be on a suicide mission! "I had nothing to live for and nothing to die for" Half true, agreed with the first part, but again, he would have found some way to throw himself into avenging Malkier and fighting evil even without her. "I don't think you could call this tracking" shots fired "I hadn't noticed" Lan the snarker. See, these parts are humorous while still being IC for me. "when you're actually ready to talk, you find me." foreshadowing? "I've already made that mistake once" ugh, no, let's not double back on the "Egwene/Rand are totally shippy except maybe they're not" thing. The Aes Sedai-Warder bond does make sense for them to be thinking about at this stage, though! "If it's you, I will always stand by you, you know that" will you though? "I hate it when he calls me that" Lan and Bukama are almost as bad as Siuan and Moiraine when it comes to titles! (Although Siuan/Moiraine definitely has more going on.) "Don't those kids own you?" Which kids, the ones Lan was playing with at dinner? Is this trying to say something about...ohhh the Emond's Field kids. Yeah, from Nynaeve's POV she's part of the "adult" group babysitting the little 20-year-olds. And...the reveal is just a series of flashbacks and archery superpowers. A little underwhelming, but we were running out of time in the episode, okay. Min met Tam before Rand was born, wow! I don't really see a lot of chemistry between Min and Rand beyond "oh jeez, someone else wants my superpowers, ugh" "rainbows and carnivals" Luca plot confirmed! (Kidding. I hope.) "I couldn't sleep" Nyneave not rushing to that Three Oaths life ;) So what next? I feel like the Lan-Nynaeve-Perrin-Egwene shot is setting up for a "cavalry come to the rescue" type scene, but I also feel like there really isn't much good they can do at this point and both Lan and Perrin at least know that. Also, where is Loial?? I will probably do a follow-up spoilery post fleshing out my thoughts on some of these.

#wheel of time #wot on prime spoilers #wot on prime s1e7 #wot book spoilers #prime liveblogs #crossposted to dreamwidth

[pointnumbersixteen]

A Few Thoughts on the Ghosts’ Christmas Special

I’m going to start with the things I really liked, because that’s always best.

1) In the Bleak Midwinter. Beautiful. I’d love to have a Ghosts’ musical. I don’t care how much they’d have to stretch to pull it off. But since that’s unlikely, all of them singing a Christmas carol together was a nice gift to help sate that desire. Did I mentioned it was beautiful? Some of the cast can really sing... the rest of them can at least fit nicely into a chorus. And the way it fit into the episode, with the Ghosts satisfying Alison’s Christmas wish after she did her best to satisfy all of theirs, that was wonderful. All of my subsequent rewatches have been for that part. And ‘twist-it.’

2) I enjoyed the bits with Fanny and the Christmas tree. I don’t know why, but that was one of my favorite subplots. Maybe because I really love Christmas trees. And Fanny remained tolerable throughout, which is hard for Fanny.

3) I enjoyed Pat and Cap’s reaction to the handsome men comment, straightening their ties and looking proud of themselves. It was very adorable. And how Pat and Cap spent most of the episode together. 

4) Mary’s interactions with the baby were interesting and added something both to her character and to the world-building of the show (babies can sometimes see ghosts) which could pay off later in the show if Mike and Alison ever have a child or something like that. 

5) Julian’s daughter became a Green party MP. That’s perfect. 

And the things I didn’t like... (because, unpopular opinion, overall I was kind of disappointed with the episode?) These are largely subjective, but hey, most entertainment reactions are. 

1) Mike’s family was kind of awful. They didn’t treat him with any respect whatsoever. Particularly his sisters. Like, y’all are all in your late twenties/early thirties. He’s hosting y’all, trying to give you a really nice Christmas. And your reaction to this is to intentionally try to make him miserable and angry so he’ll have a meltdown on Christmas day that you can record and laugh at him about later? That’s not a fun sibling dynamic. That’s super immature and toxic and if my sister or I tried doing stuff like that to each other, we’d probably just stop speaking to each other. I certainly wouldn’t invite her over for Christmas.

2) I didn’t like how Kitty sided with Mike’s sisters, with the oh, yeah, Mike’s so stupid bits. I get how she’s lonely and bandwagons with whatever young women are in the house, and yeah, Mike isn’t the brightest bulb out there... but neither is Kitty, for that matter, so maybe show a little loyalty to the guy you live with and who does his best to accommodate you and your ghosty friends even though he can’t see y’all? 

3) Where is Alison’s family? It would have taken one line to establish that they are dead, estranged, vacationing in Bermuda, what have you. It’s not like they have to go into all of the details, if they want to make that a focus of a later episode... even if they want to leave it a mystery, they could have mentioned something like, ‘oh, I wish my family could have been here’ or ‘oh, I wish I had any sort of relationship at all with my family.’ Not mentioning it at all just left me with a giant question mark and seems needlessly coy. It’s not like they trimmed all the fat for run time, because they certainly didn’t, so ‘wasn’t relevant enough to make the cut’ can’t be the explanation. 

4) A lot of the characters’ subplots were EXACTLY what I would have predicted them to be. Thomas spending most of the episode pining for a kiss under the mistletoe from Alison? If I had to put money on a prediction beforehand, that would have been it. Robin ranting that Christmas is a crock? Same. Kitty following various people around the house like a puppy while tossing hints that her sister is horrible? Well, that’s basically what she does in most of the episodes. Pat’s Christmas recollections of the eighties being exactly what mine were in the nineties... the kids playing board games (later video games) while the adults drink until someone inevitably squabbles? Of course they were. And on the one hand, it speaks to consistent characterization... but on the other hand, doing the most predictable thing possible with half the characters is kind of... boring. Like, I’m sure they could have kept the characters in-character while coming up with something a bit more surprising for at least ONE of them. It would have been nice.

5) Once again, Humphrey is underutilized. I enjoy Humphrey as a character, so I find the episodes where Humphrey is just a prop to be a bit frustrating and his entire experience in this episode was being used as a baby mobile for a few seconds. 

6) And once again, we get no new information on the Captain. And after thirteen episodes, it’s becoming less mysterious and more frustrating. Half the fun of mysteries is being provided hints and tidbits to see if your guesses are going to pan out and so it’d be great if they could get on with that. I know they’ve said in interviews they want to set the tone before getting into some of the deeper stuff, but... the tone’s set, guys. You’ve had two full seasons. Get to it.  

7) I didn’t find making Julian’s plot the emotional payoff of the episode very satisfying. He spent his daughter’s entire life avoiding her at Christmas and listening to a baby cry for like 24 hours 30 years after he died suddenly made him rethink his life choices? It just didn’t feel very believable for him to have the Ebeneezer Scrooge Christmas change-of-heart just from that. That it made him curious about what happened to his daughter? Sure. That it suddenly enlightened him to the true meaning of Christmas? That seemed OOC to me. This is Mr. Balls-to-Animals we’re talking about.

8) If, alternatively, you see Mike’s conversation with his dad about how eventually he and his mom aren’t going to be able to do the things they do on Christmas as the emotional payoff, that works a bit better narratively, but I found it incredibly depressing to be reminded that eventually my parents are going to die in the Christmas episode of my emotional-comfort show, particularly since we all spent Christmas sick with covid (thankfully, after a few scary days, it looks like we’ll all probably recover, but still, that was not what I needed this year... and I know they wrote this episode before covid became a thing, but still, Boxing Day when my dad was trying to tell me how his blood sugar had shot above 300 but he couldn’t get a single full word out without coughing ranks as one of the scariest days of my life and trying to re-watch the Christmas special afterwards for comfort to be hit by the reminder that this could be our last Christmas together hurt. I know, again, that’s very specific to my situation, but there it is.). 

Anyway, I’ll probably add more stuff as I think about it more, but these are the things that stuck out to me after three watches. 

#bbc ghosts #christmas special #alison cooper #mike cooper #the captain #pat butcher #robin the cave man #thomas thorne #julian fawcett #mary #kitty #lady fanny button #headless humphrey #covid christmas sucked friends

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

‘The One Where Everybody Finds Out’ SAW 2020 Day 2

This is based off the Friends episode of the same name. This is kinda OOC, but I feel it is still enjoyable regardless. Take it as a crack!fic if you must!

FFN | Ao3 | Buy Me a Coffee?

.

.

               It was only a murder-suicide. There was no need for consultation, thank God. Sally Donovan watched as Anderson finished taking note of his findings. She walked towards the window overlooking Baker Street. The flat they were called to was right across from 221B, and she was surprised the freak hadn’t come rushing over to see what had happened. In the window of Sherlock’s flat, she could see him and Molly Hooper having what appeared to be an intense conversation.

               Sally turned away for one moment, distracted by Anderson tripping over his own feet, and when she turned back toward the window, she saw Sherlock unbutton and toss away Molly’s blouse.

               “I think we’re gonna need Sherlock after all,” Anderson remarked, approaching her. “There’s something sus—“ His eyes widened at the sight before him. “Sherlock and Molly! Sherlock and Molly!” He was pointing frantically toward the window. “I knew it!!”

               “My eyes! I think I’m gonna be sick,” Sally added. To her, it was like a car crash; it was disturbing, but she couldn’t look away.

                 Greg strolled over to see what all the commotion was. “What about Sherlock and Molly?” He looked where they were pointing and— “Did he just? And she? Sherlock obviously isn’t as clueless about women as we thought.” He chuckled. “Good for him.”

               Sally groaned, wishing she could bleach the image from her brain.

.

.

               “I told you they were together,” Anderson said smugly as he, Sally, and Greg sat at their usual table in the pub. “I wonder why they haven’t—oh, Mary!”

               “Philip,” she acknowledged. “I came as quick as possible; what’s going on?”

               “Greg and Sally just found out about Sherlock and Molly,” he told her enthusiastically.

               Mary grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Oh, you mean how they’re ‘just friends’ and nothing more? Sherlock knows that I know about them, but I assume he doesn’t know that any of you do.”

               All three of them shook their heads.

               “Shouldn’t we just tell them we know?” Greg asked. “Then they wouldn’t have to keep it secret…at least not from us.”

               “Mm, nope! We are in a unique position. John still doesn’t know. We won’t tell them we know…not yet, anyways.” A mischievous look crossed Mary’s face. “We could have some fun with this.”

               “What kind of fun?” Sally asked skeptically.

               Mary’s eyes lit up. “I’m glad you asked. Tell me, how good are you all at flirting?”

               Anderson drew his brows together. “Where are you going with this?”

               “Oh no, I am not flirting with Sherlock Holmes,” Sally told them. “Get someone else to do it.”

               Greg laughed. “Anderson already acts in love with ‘im! He could do it!”

               Philip narrowed his eyes.

               “Greg, you’re assigned to Molly,” Mary decided. “Sally, just do it once and I’ll pay you ten quid.”

               “Twenty quid or no deal.”

               “Done.”

               She sighed. “Alright, fine, it’d probably freak him out coming from me.” The thought actually made her realise this could be good fun after all.

.

.

               Greg, Anderson, and Sally awaited the detective’s arrival at the scene of the supposed murder-suicide.

               “Esteemed colleagues,” Sherlock greeted them. “And Anderson.”

               “Hey!” Sally greeted him. “That, uh, coat looks nice on you.”

               Sherlock furrowed his brows. “Right.”

               “Really,” she insisted. He was turning away and she felt the material of his coat. “It’s softer than it looks, and oh! Have you been working out?” Sally could see Greg behind Sherlock motioning with his hand across his neck telling her she’d made a wrong turn.

               “Are you quite done, Miss Donovan?”

               With that, Sally backed off not knowing where to go from there. Anderson pulled her aside. “What the hell was that?” he asked. “Sherlock prefers to be complimented on his intellect, not his body.”

               “And how would you know?” Sally shot back quietly.

               “It’s obvious,” he replied. “The man is a genius and he prides himself on it.”

               They watched as Sherlock examined where the bodies had been and the room in its entirety. “Definitely not a murder-suicide,” he told them. “You see here on the floor was one victim’s body, but the other had been posed on the sofa.” He searched through the photographs, finding the one he needed. “From this photo, it shows there aren’t any defensive wounds on either of them. There was a third person.”

               “Amazing,” Sally remarked. “I wouldn’t have caught that. How exactly does that brilliant mind of yours work?”

               Sherlock sighed. “What exactly are you playing at, Donovan?”

               She sauntered up toward him. “Oh, I’m not playing at anything. I just realised how foolish I’ve been.” Sally bit her lip for added effect. “I think we’d be good together, you and I.”

               “Ah, so you’re a fanatic now, wonderful,” he said sarcastically. “Type B, then.”

               Sally gave a short laugh. “And, uh, what is type B?”

               “The ‘my bedroom is just a taxi ride away’ type,” he replied. “I think I’ll head over to the morgue to examine the bodies now.”

               “And see Molly,” Anderson muttered under his breath.

               Sally’s honeyed smile was suspicious enough, but then she had a wicked idea. “Bye Sherlock, miss you already.”

               Sherlock’s jaw dropped when Sally playfully patted his bottom. The man was practically cringing, it amused her to pieces.

               “I must be going.” He left rather quickly.

.

.

               Molly Hooper had just begun examining the corpses when Sherlock swept through the door. “Molly, please tell me no one else is expected to arrive.”

               “My day’s going well, thanks for asking,” she replied jokingly. “No. No one else is expected…why?”

               “The most disturbing thing happened at the crime scene today, I think—well, I think Sergeant Donovan was…flirting with me.” Sherlock cringed at the memory.

               Molly laughed. “Oh, darling, I think she’s taking the mick out of you.”

               “I’m serious, Molly, something weird is going on here,” he insisted. “She practically felt me up.”

               Before she could reply, Greg strolled in to see how the examination was going. His phone buzzed, revealing the message Mary had sent him.

               Go on, flirt with the girl. It’ll make Sherlock delightfully jealous. –MW

               He took a breath and cleared his throat. “Molly, you look beautiful today,” Greg smiled.

               Sherlock stiffened.

“Thank…you?” she replied. What the hell had gotten into everyone today?

“So, uh, how are the patients?”

               “Still dead,” Molly replied as she took note of what she and Sherlock noticed. “There definitely aren’t defensive wounds, so your killer is still out there.”

               “Look at this.” Sherlock pointed out track marks on the female victim’s arm.

               “You thinking drug deal gone wrong?” Molly asked.

               “Mm, possibly. Let’s check the gentleman’s arm, shall we?”

               Sure enough, there were track marks on him as well, though they had faded more than the woman’s.

               “Good find, you two!” Okay, he thought, say something—anything. “So, uh, Molls, what’d ya say we grab a drink after your shift?” Greg asked. “And, ya know, maybe we could head to my place after?”

               Sherlock snapped. “Why don’t you spend more time doing your job rather than flirting with my pathologist!?”

               “Sherlock,” Molly berated him in a low voice.

               “Leave,” he told Greg. “Now.”

               Lestrade backed out of the room, only laughing to himself quietly when he reached the hallway.

               “Now, was that absolutely necess—Mmm!“ Molly felt herself being pulled toward him with the hand on the small of her back. His other hand cradled the back of her head, his lips pressing firmly, deliciously on hers.

               “Molly,” he uttered breathlessly, snogging her as if his life depended on it. It delighted him to hear her sigh against his mouth as his tongue traced her bottom lip. He guided her to lean her head as he trailed down to her neck, finding her pulse point.

               “If you’re not careful,” she breathed heavily, “they’ll figure us out.”

               “Mmm, not sure I give a damn,” he mumbled against her skin.

               Molly gasped, her eyes widening. Gently, she pushed Sherlock away. He pouted, looking like a wounded puppy. “They know!”

               “What?”

               “Sherlock, they all obviously found out about us—that’s why everyone is acting so strange. They’re trying to get us to crack,” she explained.

               “You know what?” he asked, pointing at her. “You’re right. How did I not see that? But how? We’ve been so careful.”

               Molly thought for a moment. “Oh God. Oh no. Sherlock, the crime scene was at the flat across from yours.”

               “…yes?”

               “I seem to recall us getting intimate near your window before you carried me to your bedroom,” Molly reminded him, blushing at the thought. “They don’t know that we know that they know. We’re gonna turn this ‘round on them.”

               Sherlock perked up. “I’m listening…”

.

.

               Back at 221B, Sherlock rang up Sally, putting it on speaker so Molly could hear.

               “We are so gonna get them back!” she exclaimed.

               “Shhh,” Sherlock laughed.

               The ringing stopped. She picked up. “Hey you.”

               “Sally,” Sherlock’s voice dropped an octave. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

               She coughed, no doubt surprised by the turn of events. “You what?”

               “You made an excellent point earlier—we would be good together,” he told her. Molly covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “I must say, I am intrigued.”

               “Really?” Sally couldn’t keep the distaste from her tone.

               “I thought we could have a drink or two and come back to my place,” Sherlock suggested, his voice dripping with allurement.

               “I—I’ll have to get back to you on that, okay bye.”

               Sherlock and Molly couldn’t help but crack up after Sally hung up.

               “That takes of her,” she told him.

               “Now what do we do about Lestrade?” he wondered.

.

.

               The next day, he visited the morgue to find Sherlock. It was urgent. Neither the detective or the pathologist were to be seen, but he heard a rummage from the supply closet, and then—

               “Oh, Sherlock!”

               “…so good. Molly!”

               “Ohhhh yes. Yes, yes yes! Harder!”

               All kinds of moans and groans continued to sound from the closet, the man’s eyes flaring with annoyance. He threw open the door. “Don’t you two have any self-control!?”

               There stood Sherlock and Molly, fully clothed, and laughing. “Sorry about that, brother dear, we thought you were Lestrade.”

               “You two are acting like children!” Mycroft berated them. “Why all the secrecy anyway?”

               “We didn’t want anyone making a big deal of things,” Molly explained. “Plus, it was more fun that way. Well, Mary knows and you know, but now everyone else does too.”

               “Not John,” Sherlock pointed out. “He wouldn’t believe it even if Mary told him—and she has told him.”

               Mycroft sighed. “Anyways, I need you to take a look at these files—sniff out the guilty party.”

               “I don’t work for you, Mycroft,” Sherlock told him.

               “But you will do it.”

               Sherlock sighed. “Yes, fine.”

               When Mycroft left, Sherlock’s mobile rang. It was Sally. “Sally, I—what? Seven? I—“

               Molly mouthed to him, what’s she saying?

               “Uh huh. Right, good.” Sherlock hung up. “She’s actually going to come over. Molly, I’m not entirely sure this is a game anymore.”

               “Oh yes it is. This has Mary written all over it. I bet she set all this up when she found out that they found out,” Molly told him. “We can win this.”

               “Competitive, aren’t you?” Sherlock asked rhetorically. He never realised how amped up she could get over a competition. What was in store for them now?

.

.

               “Okay, so Greg can’t make it—he’s just arrested the murderer,” Sally told Anderson. The two of them were in a cab headed to Baker Street. Mary and John were already there visiting Mrs. Hudson. Though Mary had concocted this plan, John was unaware of everything going on around him.

               When they arrived, Mary was just inside to greet them quietly. “Okay, now, Anderson and I will stay close by on the stairs. Mrs. Hudson is still talking John’s ear off. Sally, go on up.”

               “You think this’ll make him crack?” Anderson asked.

               “I know it will,” answered Mary.

.

.

               A knock sounded at the door. “Molly, what do I do?”

               “Just play along with her. Nothing will ever get too far,” Molly spoke quietly. She snuck off to Sherlock’s bedroom, closing the door softly.

.

.

               Sally stood on the other side of the door, waiting for Sherlock to let her in. Mary had adjusted her blouse by popping open two buttons. When Sherlock opened the door, his debonair smile greeted her. He was a good actor, she gave him that.

               “Sally, come in.” He gestured for her to enter. “I was just, uh, going over some case files.”

               “I have to say I’m surprised you invited me over,” she told him.

               “Well, you’re a woman who knows what she wants,” Sherlock replied. “Would you…like to move this conversation to the bedroom?”

               Oh, he’s good. “N—No! I mean, not yet.” She laughed nervously. “I’ll uh, undress and you can…Lotion! You should get us some lotion.”

               Sherlock swallowed hard. She wasn’t backing down, but she was no longer convincing. Sally was definitely gonna crack first. He headed toward his bedroom, closing the door quickly behind him. “Molly,” he whispered. “She wants me to get lotion, but her resolve is weakening.”

               “Make her think you’re really serious about this,” Molly told him, tossing him her body lotion she kept in his nightstand. “She won’t be able to keep the pretense up.”

.

.

               Meanwhile, Sally was out on the landing at the stairs, freaking out. “He’s not going to back down, what do I do?”

               Anderson reached over and tugged on Sally’s blouse, revealing her bra. “There.”

               “You didn’t even break off the buttons,” she said in surprise.

               “Had a lot of practice,” he smirked.

               “What in God’s name are you all doing??” John Watson stood at the bottom of the stairs having seen the entire situation unfold.

               “Sally’s trying to seduce Sherlock,” Mary told him.

               “What the fu—“

               “Fun!” Mrs. Hudson exclaimed. “Sounds fun!”

               “Shit, he’s coming back!” Sally returned inside and closed the door just in time.

               “Going somewhere?” he asked. Ugh, she could practically hear his arrogance.

               “Uh, no,” she replied, turning to face him. “I was just readying myself.” She motioned to her unbuttoned blouse. Sally slunk closer toward him until they were only inches apart. She tilted her head up, biting her lip. “I want you to kiss me.”

               “Kiss me first,” he challenged.

               Jesus, just take one for the team, Donovan. Sally placed her hands on his waist, and pulled him against her. She rose on her toes, and just when her lips were a hair’s breadth away…

               “No! Okay, fine, you win! I can’t do this!”

               “And why can’t you?” she asked smugly.

               “Because I’m in love with Molly!”

               The front door burst wide open as well as his bedroom door. John, Mary, Anderson and Mrs. Hudson stood in front of him.

               “Sherlock?” Molly came up from behind him.

               “Molly,” he sighed in relief. “I love you.” It was the first time he had said it to her.

               “I love you too, Sherlock.”

               “Awww I thought you two were just doin’ it, but you’re in love!” Sally exclaimed unexpectedly.

               “We’re in love,” Sherlock confirmed.

               John looked around, baffled by the entire situation. “I’ve missed something haven’t I?”

#sherlolly #sherlollyweek2020 #my fanfiction

[exigencism]

[[ I’M ALIVE I PROMISE HAHAHAHA . so anyways ... ]]

#* I’M NOT PAYING TWENTY FOR A SHOT ; ooc #[[ SORRY i was on a different blog and well . . . . . . #[[ BUT UHM . happy eid ! #[[ I LOST ALL MY ICONS TOO :') SUFFERING #[[ anyways !! i wanna get back to here !!!!!!!!!! #[[ i miss all my scrungles #[[ gonna clean up my pages and everything before i get to writing again #[[ also tomorrow is my birthday woops

[pcssessicn]

☆ . · . miguel bernardeau, twenty-one, male, he / him . · . ☆ fitzwilliam 'fitz' phénix-alvarez lives in that huge mansion over there! no, not that one. look for white stucco walls & terracotta shingles and that’ll be it. the nhl defenseman has offered occasional glimpses of soft yellow walls and an impressive collection of plants in the background of social media posts, but all of that is nothing compared to seeing the opulence in person. they’ve remained protective as ever since moving to tercet court two months ago, but it seems like they might’ve gotten a little more mistrustful too. maybe that’s why they’re rumored to have such a distant relationship with everyone else who lives on this street. ☆ . · . ooc info: ollie, they / them, 21, est . · . ☆ career claim: cale ma/kar.

BASICS

Full name: Fitzwilliam Phénix-Alvarez Nickname: Fitz Birth date: September 29th Languages: English, Spanish, Quebecois Francois Hometown: 

PHYSICAL

Age: 21 Weight: 196 lbs Height: 6′2″ Body build: athletic, lean Eye color: grey-blue Faceclaim: Miguel Bernardeau Glasses or contacts: neither 

Tattoos: a raven in flight over his left shoulder blade, monochromatic vines winding up his left bicep

Scars: most predominantly a thin scar near the base of his neck where a skate slashed him when he was fourteen ; several other smaller scars of less note, especially on his hands --- much less noticeable

PERSONALITY

Good personality traits: observant, calculating, protective Bad personality traits: mistrustful, dishonest, aggressive 

Fitz comes across as very confident and in control, and at ease in his skin. The truth couldn’t be farther from it. He works hard to put forward the easy front he does --- and some days he can’t tell which one is more real. He has a dishonest smile that masquerades as honest, and a tendency to manipulate those around him when necessary to shed suspicion off himself. He can be almost charming at times, at least extremely amiable. Despite all this, Fitz is not rash or impulsive -- in fact everything he does is carefully calculated, though he goes to great lengths so it does not come across as so. The one place he feels truly effortless is on the ice.

He finds it hard to truly allow people close to him and to really see beyond the most superficial layers of himself. Furthermore, there is a deep-seated fear of not being enough and being forgotten ; he finds it easier to not let anyone close so there’s less chance of this happening.

THE STORY ( i rly was gunna try to write this nice and eloquently but... u get this instead 😔 )

— fitz was born to up and coming spanish actress reyna alvarez in chicago. the result of a messy one-night stand, but reyna ultimately decided to keep the baby. he is indeed named after fitzwilliam darcy from pride and prejudice bc his mother’s first breakout role was in a film adaptation of the book and she loved the book after reading it. how unfortunate for him.

— his birth father was never in the picture, but the man he would come to know as his father came into the picture a year or so after his birth. already one of the top architects in north america, paul robert phenix was in chicago for a conference and he and reyna fell in love. fitz has been told it’s was all very romantic. so then the happy family moved to pittsburgh where his father’s architecture firm was based.

— despite growing up with two parents who raked in a fair amount of cash, they made sure nothing was just given to fitz. they’d both had their humble beginnings and big believers in tough love, they made sure not to spoil their son. they did however make sure he was sheltered from the media when it poked around and the two things they did pay for without question were his education and sports.

— he started playing hockey when he was six after seeing a pens game on tv while they were out at dinner and knowing he just had to do it --- and never stopped. he got recruited to the us national team development program when he was sixteen and spent his last two years of high school in michigan living with a billet family most do who are with the program, which gave him a huge sense of “normalcy.” but really he was far from normal, his development taking great steps over those two years leading up to his draft year.

— queue the cale ma/kar career claim lads aka all the hockey development & logistics u can probably skip if u don’t care laksdjf: 

 one year before graduation and a draft, he vocally committed to playing at university of massachusetts - amherst. he went fourth overall to the la kings in the 2017 draft ( yeah technically irl that pick belonged to the avs but sh ), and proceeded to remain loyal to his commitment and play two years at umass despite his new top five prospect status. he was put into a first pair role from the start of his freshman year ( 2017-18 ), was a huge part in bringing the umass team up from the bottom of the standings. he plays for team usa in world juniors 2017 and 2018.

his sophomore year ( 2018-19 ), they make it all the way to the frozen four. fitz gets announced as the hobey baker winner and the day after they get knocked out of the tournament. not long after that he signs his entry contract with the kings and finishes out the season with them. he scores his first nhl goal on his first shot in game 3 of the first round of playoffs irl the kings don’t make playoffs but again shh. they get knocked out in the first round and fitz goes home and trains harder than ever.

he come back to kings training camp the next season ( 2019-20 ) more determined than ever to make the team. he does so out of camp and has an incredible rookie campaign. he gets injured in december and misses a few games but is back mid-january. fitz is given the calder ( award that goes to the best rookie in the nhl ) at the end of the season. technically cale hasn’t won this yet but we all know he will.

— la is a bustling city and fitz is a fan of one night stands : he just doesn’t feel like he has time for a relationship and hookups scratch that itch. he’s not an asshole about it, really. there is typically that understanding that this is a one time, no strings attached thing. but this one girl he sleeps with in march obviously does not get this memo and continues to not get the memo. she starts seriously stalking him in the following months and eventually he gets a restraining order against her ( use ur imagination kids ). he’s not really comfortable staying in his own apartment downtown for the time being though after he still sees her around. he stays with a teammate until the season ends, which then brings us to his connection to tercet court.

— paul robert phenix, now world reknowned architect, had a hand in designing several of the homes on tercet court, including one in the style of old money spanish mediterrianian villas that he designed with his wife in mind to be their new home. fitz’s mother had loved the house and moved in for a few years after the court opened but with her taking fewer roles up in the movie industry and getting exceedingly more lonely, she decided to embrace the more nomadic livestyle of her husband and moved out about a year and a half ago. since then the home stood vacant ( though certainly still cared for by several paid landscapers and maids ) until fitz’s dilemma arose a few months ago.

— a few phone calls and a begrudging agreement to pay the extremely steep taxes on the place for the year ( again, tough love and fitz may be a pro-athlete but he’s still making less than a million a year with his entry level contract ), and fitz moved in about two months ago ( say mid-may ).

MISC

— tri-lingual. father is french-canadian and his mother is spanish. needless to say he grew up a little confused. that worked itself out soon enough though. uses he uses quebois french in-season kind of frequently to talk to a couple teammates. really only uses his spanish to talk to his mother and family.

— since moving in fitz has filled the mansion with plants. he absolutely does not seem like a plant guy but he is... absolutely loves it. his major at umass was kinesology bc he thought it would be the most helpful and knew he wasn’t going to graduate but he snuck in some out-of-major classes on horticulture. truly just likes plants a lot. they don’t judge him.

— probably set up his own puck shooting pad in the backyard. why not there’s enough space. he had to retrieve a couple pucks from the bottom of the pool though which has been good incentive to not miss the net lmao. he also has revamped one of the rooms in the house to have synthetic ice.

— runs in the morning before it gets hot. skates a few days of the week in the afternoon. home gym in the house is definitely a perk but he prefers to work out with others because it feels more productive.

— probably drives like. a range rover.

— offensive defenseman. likes to jump up in the rush and is good at break out passes as well as zone entry. earned his place quarterbacking the first powerplay towards the end of the season. he can be quite physical when he needs to be though and don’t ever go after his goalie. ( his nhl.com player page )

— he’s not a recluse by any means, but he has no desire to built connections in tercet court so probably hasn’t actively reached out. they’re likely to have met outside of the small community or if your character forcibly came and introduced themselves. or if they knew each other already mayhaps??

— oh and he’s bi. like really really bi. obv not advertised given his career path but he’s not having some crisis over it either. it just is. probably has a stack of nda’s next to the condoms ready to go at anytime alsdkfj.

OOC

hey lads. i’m ollie !! for those around for round 1.0 of this rp i played alya ( the sports photog ). i am back and this time going back to what i do best : playing hockey boys 😔😔😔.

#linksintro #( this is.............. #not my best work lads ) #( but alas )

[rksae]

・。 OOC INTRODUCTION     ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈             ☆

hello, hello, hello - it is i, your beloved count olaf faye. this is my like 400th rookies muse, but i am back yet again to give my muses another shot. this is my babe saerom, a brand new muse, and she’s ready to freaking rumble. she’s a “can’t keep a job” type of girl who just loves to do whatever she wants! in all honesty, she’s a sweetheart but she doesn’t let that show quiet often. you read all about her on this page ( thank you to the lovely ume for the template asdfgh ) and take a look here for some more detailed open plots. 

i’d love to get some plots going for her asap and knock those charisma starters out of the way, so along with some extra details about her under the cut, i’ve placed some dandy sentence starters at the bottom of this post. so feel free to REPLY with the NUMBER of the sentence you like, and i’ll get on it asap! otherwise, if you’d rather plot out something more detailed, message me here or find me on twitter under foxglves

    ☆   ABOUT SAEROM       ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈             ☆  

lee saerom, twenty three

also goes by sae

seoul high school alumni ‘15, snu alumni ‘19

she’s had a few jobs after graduating college, but right now she cleans houses for people ( mainly rich families who pay her well )  and is a freelance singer. she mostly performs at clubs or little hole in the wall restaurant, but she also does some busking for a little extra cash.

she’s got her a doggie named soju whom she loves very much

been a singer for as long as she can remember! started out a church/school so she asked if she could take lessons since all of her brothers got to do sports and shit

a little bit about her past part one: she is the only daughter of five children; she’s got three older brothers and one younger one. ps if anyone wants to bring in another muse, hmu for some sibling connections asdfghjkl

a little bit about her past part two: growing up it was just easier to get along with the boys than girls because of her brothers, but this wasn’t a problem until the girls were old enough to adopt jealous into their relationships with saerom. her brothers were pretty protective but they couldn’t stop whatever shitty words they called her. all the girls thought she was a slut, and guys thought she was tease.   

a little bit about her past part three: she tried to fit in with the girls a bit more in high school so she joined the cheerleading team. this went pretty okay, but didn’t help her too much. let’s just say college was a relief for her. she’s really got a fuck it attitude towards the whole thing, but it really bothered her for awhile.

she’s really close with her family and right now she actually lives with one of her brothers and his pregnant wife - annnnd she’s dreading for that baby to come because she’ll probably have to find somewhere else to live :)

saerom is kinda the weak link in the family because all the adults have their lives figured out, and here she is out of college working wherever she can find ( nothing serious or long term ) but her parents don’t really expect much other than her producing grandkids so :):):):) 

she likes to write her own lyrics sometimes, but she keeps this pretty private!

social media wise, she keeps a pretty low and casual profile. occasionally she’ll post clips of her singing or where she’ll be performing next, on instagram/twitter but it’s all casual after that.

one of her brothers is a fitness & health instructor so she’s pretty into hitting the gym and skipping out on junk food. she often tries to convince her friends to join this lifestyle as well, but ice cream is often too tempting.

( TW BRIEF MENTION OF HOMOPHOBIA ) college for saerom is how she figured out more of who she was. her parents kept a tight leash on her in high school because she was too “pure” and they feared corruption. in college, she was away from home and could do whatever she wanted - and they included pursuing whoever and whatever she wanted. one way or another, she figured out that girls were always too appealing and boys were usual a hit or miss. saerom identifies as bisexual, but knows how her parents will react so this is a secret very few people know. ( END TW )

saerom is brutally honest sometimes, but that’s mainly because she’s a shit liar. don’t ask her to lie because you will be disappointed.

   ☆   SENTENCE STARTERS     ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈         ☆  

“i just did some calculations, and i’ve been able to determine that you’re full of shit.”

“did you really just insult Captain America in front of me?”

“this would not happen if i had a penis!”

“i’m not going to stop annoying you until you give me some attention.”

‘ no, i didn’t drop all this on the floor. i dramatically knocked it out of my own hands because i have something to prove. ‘

“the best way to solve problems is to create more problems until you are dead.”

“i’m sorry, but it was too funny for me to intervene.”

“that trip looked hilarious– but also kinda painful; you okay?”

“i have said this a hundred times, and i will say it again; i will punch you in the dick.”

#☆ ° ～ OUT OF CHEESE. #[ * IT IS IIIII #will be getting to messages soon #but in the meantime #take them sentence starters!! ]

[maxikha-ffxiv]

Revenge, Part 1 of ???

[OOC note: Here’s all I got solidified on Maxi’s revenge story on about 8 years of traumas and pain at this point. This was more word vomited than anything else, but I at least have something I’m fine sharing]

The small building was not a lot to look at. It was clearly set up and ran out of need more than anything. It was dirty, dimly lit, one could almost assume it wasn’t a bar, were it not for the people inside. A stereotypical grizzled man tended a shoddy bar, and a few splintered tables thrown about the floor housed patrons nursing local drinks. There were some hushed and quiet conversations, which stopped as a hooded figure walked in. From their size and the noticeable scaled tail poking out of their cloak, the few who cared to pay attention would be able to tell this was a Xaela female, and not much else.

She walked over to a table in the corner, where a pair of men sat. One was an older hyur, his partner much younger, both equally covered in scars and dirt. The only real distinguishable marking of any kind were identical tattoos on the left upper arm of each man. The woman said nothing, just sat down on the table, her hooded face turned toward the pair. As she did, the elder leaned forward, growling at her,

“This is a private table. You best be leaving before you get yourself in trouble.”

There was no response save an iron arrow dropped onto the table. 

“That there’s a metal arrow. Dunno why you are putting it there. We don’t-” “Your name is Egill Swiftaxe is it not?”

The voice under the hood was curt and cold, as she cut off his reply. The figure pulled her hood back, revealing a dark skinned Xaela under the cloak. Her electric blue eyes were piercing, black hair pulled back into a braided ponytail.

Her eyes darted between the two as she picked up on hands heading straight towards weapons.

“You better make quite sure you mean your next words lass, else you ain’t walking out of here.”

“Was told that’s your arrow. Found it on the Steppe. Asked around, told to come here. So I did.”

“What braindead idiot told you a sort of thing like that?” “Someone who isn’t stupid enough to tell their name to people they don’t know. I’m simply looking to get some made for my own use and was told your hand crafted them. Now if I have the wrong man I understand and will take my gil with-” “You got the right man lass. Aye I made it. In fact I can tell you right now my mate Steinarr here’s the one that shot it. You can see his initials I forged in it right there. What you going about shooting arrows fer in the Steppe mate? Told ya these things are expensive, and you only use ‘em for special occasion.”

Before Steinarr had a chance to respond, two things happened. The first, the small Xaela woman drew a green dagger from somewhere under her cloak and jammed it up to Egill’s neck. Second, an arrow flew from outside the doorway and straight into the side of Steinarr’s head, felling him in a single shot. The few others in the tavern all froze, and before anyone else reacted, four rather large male Xaela, one of them holding a longbow, stepped in. 

“Here’s the deal,” Maxi said, dagger pressed to her quarry’s throat, addressing the others in the building. “You all leave now, and make no fuss, you will never see us again nor be harmed. Anyone still here in the next twenty seconds we will consider an ally of this man and will be treated as such.”

Half a minute later, no one was in the building save for the Xaela, the dead body, and the poor man who they had tracked. Maxi nodded to her half-brother, “Well shot Jebei. I see she taught you as well as I. And as you can tell, unfortunately for you, I’m not here to buy. See your friend there made a grave error in judgement the other day. He decided to use that arrow right there and kill someone. Our,” and she guestured to herself and her half-brother “grandmother. This is now the second time your band of bandits have decided to harm me and those around me, and I’m now taking measures to make sure it won’t be happening again.”

While Maxi was talking, her free hand was removing the various weaponry her target had on him. Once satisfied he was now unarmed, the dagger flicked, leaving a small cut on his neck.

“You wouldn’t remember my first meeting with your lot, you’re far too new. So I’ll give you a chance to live. That venom you had coated your arrows with, hope you have the antidote on hand, else your life won’t exist much longer.” Maxi showed off her dagger, showing the light but potent coating of the same poison that was on the arrow. “Our herbalists figured out the mixture easily enough, and I can assure you, you have maybe an hour left to get that antidote in you. And just in case you do survive, you can tell your boss Altani of the Dazkar sends her regards.”

Maxi could see the terror in the man’s eyes, and let go of him. She walked back to her kin and headed out of the tavern.

“Altani was it wise leaving that man alive?” “Don’t worry Jebei. He’s a small fry compared to the main operation. They lose folk like that all the time to varying acts of stupidity. Their boss won’t care, all he will see is that a couple of his hired hands shot the wrong Xaela and paid the price for it. Not his problem. That guy will be lucky enough to live through reporting to his boss, it may actually be less painful than dying to that poison.”

“Then now what sister? What do we do?”

“We move on, go to the next step. I’ll see you all back at camp, I have a few things to do before then.”

#maxi kha #ffxiv #au ra #xaela #Butterfly saga

[kaia-a]

[ ODEYA RUSH , CISFEMALE , SHE/HER ] do you hear [ FEVER DREAM BY MXMTOON ] coming from the beach ? oh, that has to be [ KAIA ABRAHAMS ] . they are a [ TWENTY TWO ] year old [ BARTENDER/NANNY ] from the outer banks, and they’ve been living there for [ TWENTY TWO YEARS ] . they were chosen to be on the show because they are a [ POGUE ] , but really , i heard it’s because they can be [ FINICKY & IMPATIENT ] . if you get to know them though , they’re pretty [ AMBITIOUS & EXPRESSIVE ] . they might become a quick audience favorite due to their [ HABIT OF ALWAYS POURING DOUBLE SHOTS, DESIRE FOR ADVENTURE, AND CONSTANT EYE ROLLS  ] . ooc – b, 21, est, she/her.

name - Kaia Abrahams

birthday - March 27, 1998

zodiac sign - Aries

height - 5′4″

sexuality - bisexual

pogue or kook - pogue babyyyy

playlist - Fever Dream - Mxmtoon // Only Angel - Harry Styles // Happy & Sad - Kacey Musgraves // Favourite Ex - Maisie Peters // Fake Happy - Paramore

b a c k g r o u n d

-  born and raised in outer banks just like every family member that came before her. no one in her family has left in generations, and even suggesting it leads to a fight in her household. her parents run a small bar on the bad side of town, tammy’s tavern (tammy’s her mom, her dad named it after her, its all very romantic), and they’re sure as hell proud of it, no matter how bad business can be. 

- kaia has always been expected to be a good girl. make the grade, keep out of trouble, and never think about leaving unless its forty minutes away to a good north carolina college. of course, she learned early how to be sneaky. 

- she doesn’t get into trouble, per se, but she definitely has some extracurriculars her parents wouldn’t approve of- despite the fact they run a bar. it doesn’t make any sense to her either. 

- despite their strictness, they have a very open household. they’re always telling kaia to invite the other pogues over for dinner, or to the bar, they’re a family who loves to take care of everyone else. and what’s a better way than through their stomachs? 

- kaia inherited that from her parents, she’s always mom-ing everyone, even if she does it with a snarky comment and an eyeroll. she’s always the last to leave the party, making sure everyone got home (or wherever else) safely. 

- her dream is to get as far away from outer banks as possible and become a screenwriter, but she has no idea how to make it a reality. she knows it would cause an uproar, and she doesn’t want to lose her family. that’s why she works two jobs, to be able to afford to help pay the bills and throw some money into savings in case she ever decides to pursue her dream. 

- this is also why she agreed to join the show, she figures if she can make enough connections maybe someone will take the time to read her screenplay and give her a shot. and that the money that come with it will make her family forget all about the fact that she’s left home. maybe she’ll even be able to afford to buy them a house right next to the kooks. 

- speaking of the kooks, she hates them. she hates the way they flash their money, and the way they look down on her parent’s bar. she nannies for a kook family, so she knows first hand how they live, and it disgusts her to see anyone living with such a surplus while her family struggles to keep the lights on most months. 

- i’m going to work on a wc’s page, but some i’d love are (kook) ex-boyfriend, best friends, frenemies, enemies, and anything else we can think up!! 

#outer.intro #lifes a losing game when you dont play (intro)

[screenplayed]

⌞ʾ⁎ ⊰ jordan fisher, cis male, he/him ⊱ i think i just saw MARK COHEN walk across trafalgar square, singing to LOSING MY RELIGION ( R.E.M. ). you know, the TWENTY - SIX year old INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER? people claim that they are just like MARK COHEN from RENT. it must be because they are EMPATHETIC and APPREHENSIVE as well… though i could be wrong. all i know for sure is that they live at the PETERSBURG apartment. { nia, 18, est, she/her }⌝

hi everyone! i’m nia ( or nia nii )! i’m really excited for this rp and i can’t wait to get started! linked above is my personal blog if you need to reach me quickly ooc, or contact me through discord nia#8278! go ahead and like this post if you want to plot, and i’ll get back at you asap! ( or just message me if any of my ideas catch your eye ) ... without further ado, mark cohen!

p.s. i’m using venushelp’s jordan fisher icon pack. linked here!

— AND MARK COHEN WILL PREVIEW HIS NEW DOCUMENTARY . . .

view mark cohen’s full biopic here . . .

MARK was born and raised in SCARSDALE, NY in a wealthy jewish family to strict, overbearing parents.

he didn’t have many close friends through childhood and adolescence which made him isolate and indulge in watching movies.

high - school is when MARK began to take up an interest in film making.

his parents were disapproving of his choice to pursue film making as a career, but paid for him to go to school in NEW YORK CITY. 

loved nyc and the world of BOHEMIA . . .

MARK dropped out after his freshman year due to combination of stress + creative limitations. parents were furious, cut him off financially.

struggled for years to make ends meet in a beat - up apartment, heavily depressed, facing homelessness and poverty, but never gave up on his film.

sold his soul to the tabloid / news website BUZZLINE after they bought footage from him of his ex - girlfriend ‘ s protest. they moved him to LONDON , ENGLAND where he edits their online video segments. feels like a huge sell - out because of this. 

( meaning don’t expect a solid answer if you ask him what he does for a living. he’d rather die than tell someone where he works -- expect responses such as; ‘i’m working on a documentary‘, ‘future academy award winner‘ -- that previous response more sarcastic --, awkward stammers before politely circling back to where you work ).

he also does commissions for video editing / filming events such as weddings or bar mitzvahs. he’s also a photographer ( head shots, family photos, you name it! ). anything to pay the bills.

when MARK’s not scraping by, he’s working on his film, though he’s not really sure where he’s going with it.

that being said, he carries his camcorder around with him everywhere and is always filming everything. ( whether your muse finds that weird, aggravating, captivating, or pays no mind is up to you )!

MARK is always looking for inspiration anywhere and everywhere.

on a sadder note, MARK is very reclusive. he buries himself in his work to numb his loneliness under a guise of being passionate about his outlet. he isolates himself. his camera acts as a security blanket for him.

he does miss his home in NYC badly, but not his parents.

WANTED CONNECTIONS. 1 ) anyone from JONATHAN LARSON’S RENT! 2 ) COWORKERS from BUZZLINE! 3 ) FRIENDS who share his ARTISTIC, BOHEMIAN LIFESTYLE!

#musicalhqs:intro