#okay i promise i’m done with ooc posts

[nostxlgicrose]

☆ Star-Shaped Seelie ☆

Genshin Impact Ensemble x Child!Seelie!Reader

Synopsis: Who knew a wardrobe could hide such a big secret? You know, like completely altering your physical form and shoving you into a completely foreign world with no instructions! What could go wrong?

Note: Playing around with concepts and stuff. Crossposted on AO3 and maybe Wattpad later…first post on here too (idk what I’m doing on this app!)

Warnings: mild emotional neglect, affection-deprived reader, child reader, seelie reader, PLATONIC relationships, hilichurls, possible ooc (in the near future 😭)

Chapter 1: Coming Out Of The Closet

"Ma, ma! Look, I drew you something!—"

"Not now, [y/n]. I'm busy."

You puffed out your cheeks into a pout, sighing as you lowered your hands. You worked on this drawing for hours! Well, maybe it wasn't that long...but still!

You had even taken the time to colour it in with your crayons! And it was the one with sixty-four in one pack! Oh, well..it wasn't like it was the first time you had gotten brushed off.

It was disheartening, but you shook your head to snap yourself out of your daze. Right, you couldn't be sad! It wasn't like your parents were just ignoring you. They said it was work! And work, apparently, was really important. Even more important than you?

...No, no, they said they were working for you. That couldn't be right. It was in your benefit. How could you think any different? Surely, your Ma and Pa would call you ungrateful if you were to voice out your thoughts. You definitely didn't want that. Maybe you were just too young to understand.

Still, it didn't make it hurt less when you wanted to do things with them, but they'd be glued to their cell phones or computers. Though they'd tell you they'd listen to you later, they'd just end up collapsing on their bed the moment they finish. Or they'd be busy arguing, like always.

You'd wonder why they just couldn't just hug and make up! You've seen it in your shows multiple times, so why couldn't that happen?

When would you get your magical superhero to swoop down and solve the ongoing conflict? Maybe the hero was busy helping other children. But how long would you have to wait until it was your turn?

You were patient, and a good kid—promise!

Regardless, the lack of attention you received was incredibly disappointing, but, what could you do about it? You could only hope that your parents would one day hold true to their promises and spend some time with you.

"...Okay, can I show you my drawings after though?"

"Yep, yep." She didn't pull her eyes away from the screen as she waved you off out of her room. You knew very well it was all a lie, though. "Now go bother your father for now, okay?"

You brightened. Of course, there was your dad! Surely they weren't working at the same time! You rushed down the hall towards your father's study, the paper clutched tightly in your hands. Unable to contain your excitement, you practically slammed his door open.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that, watching nervously as he lurched up from his desk. It seemed that he was napping before you came in, at least, before you rushed in. Your shoulders were now tensed, as if bracing for the worst. "...Hi dad."

His eyes focus on you, and for a second, a flash of anger is clearly shown by the way his eyes narrowed. But it soon faded...slightly, maybe, as he fixed his hair and turned away from you. "What have I told you about running in the halls? And you slammed the door so hard the neighbours could probably hear you."

"Sorry..." Your shoulders sagged as you sulked, looking ashamed. But your father did not look, nor did he acknowledge your intention for being there. Instead, he waved his hand in a similar motion like your mother had done so minutes ago.

"It's already been done. I'm not angry, just a little disappointed, [y/n]." He sighed, and you could hear the faint scribbling coming from where he sat. "Run along now. Your aunt and cousins should be here any moment now."

You nodded, slowly closing the door and walking down the stairs. You felt a bit disheartened at your mother's indifference and your father's seemingly endless criticism, but you would slap your face to get yourself out of it. "It's okay...Ma and Pa are just working. Ma has an important meeting later, and Pa is just making sure I'm not being a bad kid. I just need...to be better."

That's what you convinced yourself it was, anyways, as you made your way to the living room and plopped yourself down onto the floor. Your crayons were spread out on the floor, ready for you to continue drawing. And so you did—you had a brand new sheet of paper, and you spent the next few minutes drawing as you waited for your beloved aunt to drop by.

Soon enough, the doorbell rang. You sprang to your feet, leaving your materials on the floor as you practically flew to the front door. You'd open it with clear excitement, already recognizing the certain knock pattern that hit onto your door.

"Milo!" You practically launched yourself at the boy, tackling him into a hug. You could hear giggles and laughter from the other kids, as well as one that sounded much older than the rest—you supposed that was your aunt.

The woman was rather tall, and she bore a great resemblance to your father. But instead of the usual frown he seemed to have, she had a warm, happy smile that you'd always see when she visited. "[y/n]! It's so good to see you! It's been a long time."

You released your cousin with a nod, placing your hands on your waist. "Yes! I missed you, Aunt Cass! And Milo! And Lily, of course!" You listed off, making sure not to forget any of your dearest relatives.

"I'm sure you did," Your aunt would chuckle, patting your head as she slipped her boots off by the rug. "Where's your father?"

Your demeanor faltered for a brief moment, reminded of the unpleasant exchange you had because of your excitement. "Working! Like usual! But it's okay, we just gotta be quiet."

Despite your attempts to hide your sullen expression, Cass could see right through you. Even if you hadn't said anything, she was well-aware of her brother's tendencies to work himself to death and (hopefully unintentionally) neglecting you in the process. Well, both him and his wife had this problem, because she had been more of a mother to you than your actual parents...which said a lot. What would've happened if she wasn't there? She didn't even wanna imagine it.

"Alright. I'm just going to talk to him, so you three play here and remember, if someone knocks at the door—"

"Don't open it and call you down instead," Milo sighed, clearly tired of the constant reminders. It was common sense, after all. His response earned him a ruffle through his dark hair, messing it up completely. He only swatted his mother's hand away with a whine, trying to fix it back to how it was before.

"Yep! And if someone breaks in, run to the kitchen, because that's where all the weapons are!" Lily piped up, while you only held your thumbs up in reply to it all.

"...What they said."

Your aunt would smile, laughing a little as she clasped her hands together. "Good! Now, I'll be right back!" She'd say, before retreating upstairs towards your father's study. Now you three were alone in the living room...

So, naturally, you decided to play hide-and-seek! Your house wasn't the biggest, but it had a lot of good hiding spots. Luckily for you, this round had you as a hider. Both you and Lily were hiders, while Milo would be the seeker. You were pretty good at seeking, yes, but hiding was much more fun.

"Remember, no peeking!" You reminded the boy as you and Lily glanced at each other with a grin. You were going to make this incredibly difficult for the boy, that's for sure.

"Yeah, yeah, just go!" Milo huffed, turning to face the wall with his hands over his eyes. The starting point was the bathroom on the first floor—and the moment he started to count, you two were gone.

The two of you were together, until Lily separated from you to hide somewhere in the kitchen. You, on the other hand, decided to go upstairs. If you were going to hide with Lily, you'd both be out at the same time; you had to think strategically about this.

You were about to run into your room when you caught sight of a certain door. It was the one that would lead you to the attic. Your eyes went from the door to the bathroom—then back to the ominous darkness leading upstairs. Well, you guys laid out general rules...like how outside was off-limits for obvious reasons, but they never mentioned the attic.

A small grin made its way on your face as you stifled your giggles, running up the stairs quietly. After all, you weren't sure how much longer you had left until the seeker emerged. You made it to the top, huffing as you looked around the area. It was mostly just boxes and old furniture, and your original plan was to hide behind or even inside one of the boxes.

Those plans would fade, though, as soon as you caught sight of something even better.

A closet! It was something that apparently belonged to a distant relative, but your parents didn't seem to care for it. The presence of dust was evidence of the neglect, if the fact that it was tucked into the attic wasn't enough proof by itself.

You wondered if you'd have a similar amount of dust on your surface if you were a closet, too. Your parents didn't seem to like entertaining your endless chatter, nor appreciate your wonderful masterpieces you drew with your almighty crayons! It's okay, though. They were the ones missing out.

Brushing away the thoughts, you leaped into the closet and coughed when you noticed the amount of dust that was inside as well. You expected it to be empty, but there were a few coats inside.

Well, you say jackets, but...they sort of looked like costumes. There were weird ones. Some were red and white with clover designs, while there was one that was white and black with gold plates on them. There were even more, but you couldn't even comprehend how some of them worked. It was really weird, but your confusion faded when you heard a familiar shout downstairs.

Right, you had a much more important objective right now! And if that was Lily's shrill scream that you had just heard, that means you were about to have two people looking for you. You had to act fast.

Throwing yourself into the closet, you closed the doors and adjusted yourself inside. When you backed further into the closet, you expected to feel the cool wood against your back. But you didn't—you ran into another set of strange clothes hung on a rack. That was strange—you swore you only saw one rack. Plus, this closet was pretty darn small! There was no way it could fit two long racks inside.

Or maybe it could. It just...kept going, like an endless hole. Although you originally thought you just got lucky with the density of the wardrobe, you began to wonder if there was even an end to the piece of furniture.

"Woah. Magical closet," You muttered as you ventured deeper into the closet, pushing aside the strange attire and taking a few steps in. Actually, were you even in the closet anymore? It felt more like a tunnel now. You paused when you noticed light peeking from the top, and you couldn't help but gasp in awe. "...Sparkly."

You pushed back the final set of clothes to the side, and—

"Woaw. It's grass!"

Now, if your cousins were hearing this right now, they most likely would've called you crazy. But you weren't wrong! Far from it. In fact, you were seeing a lot of grass right now. The moon was casting its soft light down on you from above. Strange...wasn't it? It was just the afternoon a few seconds ago. Was it night in the closet? Actually, were you even in the closet anymore?

You turned to look at where you came from, only to gasp. The closet was gone. Instead, there stood a stone archway...as if you had walked out of that instead.

"Am I dreaming?" You wondered aloud as you examined your surroundings. Suddenly, you felt a new weight on your shoulders. Or maybe you had just realized that your clothes were completely different now.

You were now wearing a golden-yellow poncho, with a golden fur-like scarf wrapped around your neck. Two yellow thin strands of strange material sprouted from the front of it too. You were also wearing some sort of yellow star pin that kept the poncho and scarf connected, and it was then you realized that it was glowing brightly.

Or maybe you were the one that was glowing.

"Gasp! I'm a big glowstick now!" You exclaimed, twirling around with a giggle. You watched as your clothes fluttered around with your movements, the ends glowing a faint yellow.

What a strangely intricate dream you were having. You never had this much of a vivid experience before, and it was exciting.

"Wait, if I'm dreaming, does that mean I could fly?" You asked no one in particular, looking down at yourself before beaming. Overcome with sudden determination, you crouched down to ready yourself. You then jumped into the air, trying to flap your imaginary wings. "Flyyy, me!"

...Nothing happened. You'd fall back on your bottom, and you groaned. "Ouch. Aw, man!" You huffed, standing up and dusting yourself off. "Hmm."

You looked around for something, eyeing the stone arch. Maybe you had to jump off something? No, but the arch was too high. Perhaps you should do something safer.

Your gaze fell onto the nearby ledge, and you'd inch towards it nervously. Looking down, you realized that it wasn't a big jump. You could probably land on your feet if you fell.

But suddenly, you were nervous. Heights were scary. What if you went splat?

"I can walk away and never learn how to jump," You mumbled to yourself. "Or I can be brave and do it! If this is a dream, I won't get hurt if I fall! Everything will be a-okay!"

(You seemed to have forgotten how you had just braced a painful fall seconds ago.)

"Ookay, here we go..." You sucked in a deep breath, squeezing your eyes shut. You just had to build up the courage. Remember, flying is easy in a dream! Then you could maybe fly into the night, and touch the stars! Submerging yourself in those thoughts, you opened your eyes and furrowed your eyebrows in concentration. "Wait, I should be cool about this. Hmm..."

You thought for a moment before a grin appeared on your face, and you cleared your throat. "Toooo Infinity, and Beyoonddd!!!"

You jumped.

Suddenly, you felt lighter. You were no longer falling, but instead, your feet seemed to hover above ground. Your eyes widened—you were really flying! It felt so real, too!

But for some reason, you felt smaller...

"Oh." It was then you realized your arms were really small. In fact—your arms didn't even look like your arms! They were small and yellow, and looked like jelly! You panicked, trying to get a good look at your new body, to no avail. What in the world was going on?

You looked around for a mirror. Were there mirrors in this place? No, but you caught sight of a nearby pond. You wasted no time and flew towards it, only to shriek when you saw the reflection.

You were...you were a small yellow blob! With bunny ears! And a four-pointed star for a face! You noticed you also had that same gold scarf around your neck, but that wasn't the most important aspect right now. You literally did not have a face!

"Oh no. I'm a tiny lemon jelly rabbit!" You cried out, only to hear incoherent babbles coming out of your—well, you didn't actually have a mouth...but still. "Oh no no, I'm a tiny lemon jelly rabbit that speaks gibberish!"

Your tiny arms clutched the small ears atop your head, trying to decipher what exactly you were made out of. You were terribly confused, but yet, excited at the same time. Did this mean you had magical powers now? You always wanted to have cool powers! Maybe you could fight bad guys, and—

A sudden force caused you to choke when you felt your little spirit body be snatched up by a pair of hands. Panic swelled in your tiny being, as you squirmed. 'Oh no. I'm dead, I'mdeadI'mdeadI'm—'

"Olah!" [Hi!] It was a scratchy voice—and it did not sound human, further solidifying your fears when you looked up to see your captor. It was a strange creature with a mask, and fluffy hair surrounding its head. For some reason you knew what it was...it was a hilichurl. "Kucha si." [Small thing.]

"I dunno what you're saying, Mister Goblin." You huffed as you relaxed in it's hold. You knew it was a hilichurl, but it looked like a goblin, so you decided to use that instead. It didn't seem like it was going to eat you like you thought it was, so you could maybe trust it. When you looked over the hilichurl's shoulder, you found that it was all alone.

"Yo movo, kucha tomo!" [You come, small friend!] It exclaimed, and you jumped when it began to run off. Oh well, guess it was taking you somewhere now. Was this considered kidnapping? Your parents made it seem like it'd be scary! This was really fun! You should get kidnapped more often.

Your new friend ran a good distance before making it to a rather strange building. It had engravings on it and glowed a faint red. You trembled a bit in fear—it looked scary. Were you supposed to go inside that?

Much to your relief, it turned away from the doors and instead, walked along the stone paths that were laid out nearby. It looked like he had a little camp set up near this big glowing building. And yet, this whole place seemed abandoned. You gazed up at the hilichurl sympathetically, patting its arm. "Your home is broken. It's okay though, I'll be your friend!"

You had said that because you assumed this poor thing was living alone. You were proven wrong, immediately, because you found more of these hilichurl creatures emerging from behind rocks and stones. They all looked...the same. The same mask, fur, and even clothes. If you were to examine them further, though, there were some characteristics that helped separate some of them...like how one had a clipped ear, or how one had three scratches etched into its mask. Some even wore different coloured bandanas on their body somewhere. But at first glance, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Well, except for one, that was much bigger than the others. His mask was more defined, and had black fur. The axe that sat next to him was incredibly intimidating—you hoped you wouldn't anger it enough to become minced spirit goop. The hilichurl that held you was now offering you up to the big guy, and you could only shrink away as its gaze scrutinized your entire being. You kind of felt like Simba right now, except it wasn't on a cliff and to celebrate your birth. You felt like you were being judged...

"...Hi." You muttered, though your words came out as babbles and squeals instead. And yet, a small part of you hoped they'd somehow understand you.

The creature in front of you—a lawachurl, definitely (how did you even know these names?), suddenly reached out towards you. Was he gonna give you a hug?

You sparkled in excitement, your initial fear fading away. You loved hugs! And this big fluffy guy looked like a nice hugger.

"Mosi?" [To eat?] It rumbled, gaining a frantic shake of the head from the hilichurl that held you.

"Nye. Kucha...tomo!" [No. Small friend.] The hilichurl seemed to beam at their leader, presenting your little spirit body up to the lawachurl again.

"Yes. Tomo!" You had no clue what that meant, but just repeated the word you had managed to catch despite their clear inability to understand you. You wondered if tomo meant friend. Or best friend! You wouldn't mind having another best friend.

But the lawachurl understood the hilichurl, and you felt a small pat on the head from the big guy. It was a miracle you hadn't been squished to death.

"Dada!" [Very good!] The hilichurl cheered, as if it were happy your presence was accepted. You blinked curiously—huh, were you just adopted by Mister Goblin and his family?

It didn't show on your faceless body, but you could feel your subconscious smiling brightly.

Now that you thought about it...you were definitely winning that hide-and-seek match right now.

Note: i swear i hate trying to translate hilichurlian LIKE where is ella musk when you need her 😭😭

Next Chapter >

#genshin fanfic #genshin x child reader #child reader #genshin x reader #genshin fluff #genshin imagines #genshin impact seelie

[star-gazer101]

Ortho, Letters and Puns!

Part One Part Two Part 3 Part 4 

Pairing: Idia Shroud x Reader

Characters: Ortho Shroud and Idia Shroud

Warnings: OOC-ness, a few puns, and a little bit of cursing

AN: Sorry it took so long. I was originally going to post on Valentine's Day, but had a hard time with the chapter’s ending until now. Hope you enjoy!

- Out of all things Ortho has seen and experienced, seeing the highs and lows of others–playing matchmaker was not one of them!

It had been three days since he had last seen his brother back in NRC and already his brother was working non-stop to gain the Prefect’s affections just as soon as he got back.

Rows upon rows of internet forums asking about what was a good gift for a potential significant other and so many, MANY unfinished products scattered across his desk that it became too much to bear!

Wasn’t the custom dorm uniform enough?!

“Brother, maybe you should take a break from this. You’ve been wearing yourself thin, more so than you usually do…”

“I just can’t Ortho!” Came the usual reply. “If I can’t find something they’re bound to like, they’ll come to realize just how pathetic I am and never talk to me again!”

And that’s how these past few days have been: Difficult to the very end. 

The young Shroud had suggested a different method of courtship that he had heard from a fellow, loud, first year, and then suddenly regretted it when Idia actually decided it was the better option.

Him and his big mouth! But he cared for his brother too much to say no…

Now here Ortho was; designed to fit the theme of messenger boy, to deliver letters to Ramshackle Dorm. 

Fortunately, the Prefect found him adorable as they accepted the message. (And promised to hang out once this job is over.)

Unfortunately, Grim would sometimes open the door. He really did not want to think about that incident ever again.

Thankfully there had been more upsides than downsides to this situation. However, he did wonder what his brother had sent them.

A poem perhaps?

Probably not. Idia is terrible when it comes to writing poetry.

-

“Here Prefect.”

“Oh, thank you Ortho! It’s always nice to hear from your brother whenever I’m away!”

“And big bro feels the same way! Hopefully you’ll have time to visit?”

“Not at the moment I’m afraid. The Headmage has me in a chokehold and won’t let me go until the work is finished. So…Maybe tomorrow afternoon? Just promise me to save me a spot at lunch with the others. It’ll be awhile before I’m done with whatever the hell he has on my ‘to do list’.”

Ortho sighed for what felt like the tenth time since he last saw you. And just as he promised, he made sure that there was a reserved spot as the other fellow first years joined him. Everything seemed perfectly normal…

Until Ace noticed he didn’t have his school uniform design on.

“So, Ortho. What’s with the lame get up? It’s even weirder than Loosey Deucey when he has to feed the flamingos.” (Which quickly earned him a kick to his leg by none other than Deuce himself.)

“Don’t insult my brother’s work,” Ortho warned with a glare. “But I have to agree with you on it. It does feel a little embarrassing,” he added with another sigh.

“Sounds rough.” Ace could not help but sympathize. “So what did you do to piss off your brother?”

So in the end, Ortho explained everything. From the delivery of messages and his dilemma of wanting to help his brother, but not wanting to continue being his delivery boy. There was a solidary of understanding between all of the first years at that moment. And Ortho for the first time felt relieved. 

“If you really feel that way, I think it’s best if you tell him. Don’t beat around the bush, just get straight to the point.”

Guess there’s no way of avoiding it…

-

“I’m really sorry, Ortho.”

In the end, Ortho didn’t have to say much. Just by expression alone, Idia could tell how stressed he was when he got back.

Was this the gift of discovering new emotions?

“It’s okay, brother. You didn’t know.”

“Of course I didn’t! But I should have known better! How am I supposed to be your older brother if I don’t notice how exhausted you are?”

“Idia.” Ortho had to put his foot down to get his message across. He almost felt bad for startling his brother. “You don’t have to keep apologizing. Otherwise, you’ll be back where you started when I first came in. And I really don’t want to start this conversation again.”

There was a brief pause until Idia finally responded. “You’re right as always, Ortho. I’m sor–I-I mean…Okay…Got it, cool.”

A relieved sigh was given from the younger Shroud. It’s good that his brother was learning. “Thank you for understanding big bro. And now that that’s settled, how about I take a look at your progress of the Prefect’s letter!”

“E-eh?! Ortho wai–”

Did you hear oxygen and magnesium got together? O Mg.

What did the science book say to the math book? You have got problems!

What type of fish is made up of two sodium atoms? 2Na!

…

…

WHAT?

“Idia, have you really been sending the Prefect bad science puns the whole time?”

Idia let out a nervous chuckle, a hint of pink showing up in his blue flames. “I-it’s pretty normie levels for my taste, but they seem to like the cringey ones the last time we hung out. I was just going to send them cat memes, but I don’t think they would get the joke after being isekai-ed and all–”

“IDIA SHROUD HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!” Okay, maybe he was overreacting, but at this moment Ortho was too upset at his brother for being an idiot to care how loud he was being. “I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO CONFESS TO THEM! I EVEN WORE THE STUPID OUTFIT AND EVERYTHING AND YOU STILL DIDN’T SAY THOSE THREE SIMPLE WORDS?!”

Knock. Knock.

“Idia? Ortho? Is everything okay in there? Did I come at a bad time?”

“Shit! Player 2 is already here? I-I haven’t even finished the letter!”

Quietly counting down, the younger Shroud calmed himself down as his red flames died out and became a warm blue. Right, now was not the time for petty arguments. The Prefect is what matters, not them.

“Leave it to me, brother. Everything’s fine, Prefect. You can come in.”

And with those words said, you awkwardly entered their room. Judging by your messy appearance, it seems like Crowley had put you through hell and back from the last few hours Ortho had seen you.

Maybe he could convince his brother to blackmail the headmaster for you. Definitely keep that idea tabbed for later.

“I didn’t think I would see you again so soon, big sib! Are you actually done with your work?”

You gave off a bitter laugh. “I wish. Turns out all the janitors are all on strike and now Crowley wants me to do their work as well! I should have known things today were too nice to be true…Anyway, I just came here to let you know about my whereabouts before I take my leave. And I think I’ll stay over at your place to crash when I’m done. Is that okay with you Player 1?”

Idia was hesitant. “Not that I’m against it, but isn’t janitor work a magic based job? Our headmage can’t just put all that expert level stuff on someone with a handicap, especially one with no magic!”

A tired sigh. “Y’know, this isn’t the first time I worked as a janitor…Probably won’t be the last…”

Ah, that’s right. It was almost half a year ago that there were rumors running around about a magicless person turned janitor and a couple of first years causing chaos that resulted in a broken chandelier.

It only seemed like yesterday before he enrolled in NRC.

“...Ortho, initiate ‘Plan E’.”

“Got it!”

“Plan what now?”

“Don’t worry about it, big sib! Just leave it to us. Try not to resist.”

Before you even knew it, you were suddenly grabbed by the younger Shroud and were quickly bundled up in one of their softest blankets and placed on their less messy couch. Not that you’re complaining, but you still felt worried about the rest of Crowley’s work. “B-but what about–”

“Sevens, you worry too much. Ortho, the hot chocolate! Make sure it’s the one they like! I’ll take care of the rest.”

Guess he didn’t need to remind him after all. Progress.

Ortho carefully handed you the hot beverage as you quietly removed yourself from the covers. At least you were now smiling with fondness. 

Just like the first time you had entered Idia’s secret lair. How nostalgic.

“I take it that ‘Plan E’ means: ‘Operation: Pamper the Prefect’? If so, then I think it’s working.”

“Something like that. Big bro tried all different kinds of names, but they all came out too long. So, we decided to stick with ‘Plan E’.”

“Probably for the best,” You muttered while stifling a yawn. Ortho took notice.

“Just try to relax, Prefect. And make sure to drink all of your hot chocolate as well. If you feel up for it, we can play some multi-player games.”

Ortho continued to say more, but all of your thoughts were focused on the eldest in the background, typing furiously on his computer as he downed a can of his energy drink. If your guess is correct, he was definitely finding ways to stop the headmage from giving you too much work.

You really don’t deserve those two…But you are glad to have met them…

-

“How are they, Ortho?” Idia finally asked.

“Out cold.” Answered Ortho. “After finishing their drink, they passed out from exhaustion. I advise a hearty meal with lots of water once they wake up.”

“Guess I’ll try ordering from Woodcutter’s Café again. They never did get back to me on how they lost our limited edition dinner…You wouldn’t happen to know, do you Ortho?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, big bro.”

The eldest sighed, dropping the subject as he focused on you. “Did they say anything else?”

“Not much. But they did want me to give you this in response to your letters.”

“T-they did?” Idia took the letter from his brother and quickly read its content.

Ortho shook his head as he already knew what the letter reads.

How do geologists ask each other out? They say, “Are you a carbon sample? Because I’d love to date you.”

And if his brother had half a brain, he would know that he’s being confessed to.

#twisted wonderland #idia shroud x reader #idia x reader #twst x reader #idia shroud #ortho shroud #reader insert

[puppyspiral]

you shouldn't be alone tonight

jason todd x fem!reader smut

summary: you get kidnapped and jason helps calm you down (if you know what i mean)

word count: 2741

warning/other things: nsfw!!!, jason is sort of ooc ignore that or die, jason cares about you, he also likes using nick names, balls deep in you at one moment then an embarrassed mess the next

a/n: since my last jason smut was pretty well received, i decided i would post this one! i'm gonna write a dick one soon too so look out 4 that ;]

You got kidnapped. You got fucking kidnapped because you were close to Red Hood. Of course, he had swooped in, all pretty and guns blazing, saving you. It was a small-time bad guy, but one that had managed to figure out Red Hood-Jason’s-secret identity.

And it scared you. Scared you so bad that you were shaking as he walked you back to his apartment, carefully running his hand up and down your bicep in a calming motion.

You wanted to make some stupid quip about how it would be easier to grapple home, or whatever he did as a vigilante, but it felt like your voice was caught in your throat.

You got to his apartment, because of course he doesn’t know your address and you know his, and all you could do was walk over to his couch and sit down, drawing knees up to your chest.

You heard him stirring around in the kitchen, and eventually, he brought you a cup of tea. You took it gingerly and brought it up to your nose, taking in the scent of it. “Chamomile?” You asked, giving him a small smile.

He sat next to you, “Your favorite.”

You took a drink of it and then laid your head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered.

“It’s not your fault, Jay,” You replied, and you placed your hand over his, which was clenching into a tight ball.

His hand twitched under yours and he said, “Yes, it is. You shouldn’t- you shouldn’t be close to me, be my friend. What if that happens again, what if you get hurt, and it’s my fault?”

You moved your head away from his shoulder and turned, putting your mug between your legs and cupping your hands on his cheeks. “It’s not, it’s not your fault, Jason. Look at me, listen to me. I should’ve been more on guard, if anything, it’s my fault. I promise you, it wasn’t you,” You said the words softly, and your forehead connected with his gently.

You felt his brows knit, and you rubbed one of your thumbs over his cheekbone. He let out a shuddering breath and then said, “I don’t want you to go home. You shouldn’t be alone tonight, I can take the couch.”

You moved back from him and looked into his eyes, “It’s your bed, it’s fine. The couch is good enough for me.”

“No, I don’t… I don’t want you to. Just, please, listen this once.”

“Okay. Or, um, we haven’t done this since we were kids, but can we share the bed?” You asked softly, and the question was almost embarrassing, embarrassing enough to bring a flush to your cheeks.

You saw his eyes widen and he just stared at you for a few moments before saying, “Yeah, sure. Anything to make you feel safer.”

“Alright. I’m gonna go to bed, then. I’m a little bit tired out from being kidnapped,” You joked, and you saw him wince a little bit. “Too soon?” And he nodded.

You got up, taking your cup of tea with you, and went into his bedroom. Surprisingly enough, Jason had a pretty nice apartment. You supposed it might’ve been daddy’s money-Bruce helping out the son he thought he lost-, or something thereof. He did have a nice king-sized bed, big enough to share, as you had proposed.

You settled into the right side of the bed, the one you always used to sleep in when you were young and Jason’s best friend at Wayne Manor, and you waited for Jason to come and join you.

He eventually did, and you smiled at him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” He replied, smiling back. “You feeling better?” He asked.

You shrugged a little, and your mouth twisted the side. “I mean, I’m still a little shaken up, but I’m fine. I think.”

He joined you on the bed and placed his hand on your back, rubbing slow circles on it. And you wanted to kiss him. You wanted to kiss him really, really badly. But he was your best friend, and you were his, with no other complicated strings attached.

“Jason?” You asked, and you looked up at him, eyes meeting his.

“Yeah?” He replied, a small tilt to his head.

You bit down on your bottom lip and furrowed your brow before you started to lean closer to him. You heard him take a small breath, realizing what you were doing. Your eyes flitted down to his lips and you saw that they were parted slightly. Your lips met his in a gentle kiss, and he pushed into it, his teeth grazing over your bottom lip.

Then he pulled away. Abruptly. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” He said, his tone firm.

“Why not?” You asked, fluttering your eyelashes.

He rolled his eyes and made a show of nervously raking his hands through his hair. “Because you just got fucking kidnapped, that’s why!” He exclaimed, and you winced at his harsh tone.

You sighed softly and said, “Please, Jason. Just this once, it’s all I’m asking. It’ll help me, comfort me.” You knew you were guilt-tripping him, and you kind of hated yourself for it, but you couldn’t help it.

“Okay,” He said, and his hands found their way to the sides of your face. One of his hands traveled down your jawline, and then onto your neck, then to your collarbone, tracing the places where the bone ridged up. His other hand had his thumb gently rubbing across your cheek, and then he moved so he was stroking your bottom lip.

“Can I kiss you?” He asked, his voice a whisper.

You nodded and he kissed you. It was a passionate kiss, one that had you pushed back into the bed and running your hands through his hair.

He licked at your lips and you parted them, him pushing his tongue into your mouth. His tongue pressed against yours, and you moaned into him. You felt him smile against your lips, and you wrapped your arms around his neck. You moved so that now you were on top of him and you found yourself senselessly grinding your hips into his, where a growing tent was pressing into your clothed heat, and you were almost panting into his kiss, desperately wanting him to fuck your mouth with his own.

His hands traveled from cupping around your jawline, to your shoulders, and then down to your waist. One hand moved slowly around your waist to the front of you, and his hand dipped into your shorts, gently fingering at the waistband of your panties.

He bit at your lips, and you groaned at the slight pain it brought, but the pain seemed to go in a jolt directly to your cunt, and you tried to move your hips ever closer into his.

Jason departed his lips from yours only to breathily say, “You’re so impatient.”

“Then hurry up and fuck me,” You replied, and your hand moved up to pull at his hair in mock anger.

“Patience, love,” He whispered, starting to kiss your neck. He pulled your shirt off so he could kiss down your neck and shoulders and all over. And so he did. He kissed and sucked and bit at every inch he could, leaving harsh red marks on your neck and shoulders and upper chest, and you tugged at his hair, breathy moans coming out of your lips at the feeling.

He slipped his hand back into your shorts, once again messing with your panties but not actually putting his fingers into your underwear.

You groaned, angrily, wanting him to hurry up and slip his fingers into you. “Jason, please,” You said softly, your fingernails digging into his muscled shoulders.

He chuckled softly, “Like I said, patience.” But then he carefully pushed his hand all the way into your underwear and you let out a whimpered gasp when his hand connected with your pussy.

“You’re really fucking wet,” He commented, and he rubbed his hand over your cunt, ignoring your near desperate pleads for him to put his fingers inside of you.

“Please, please, please, I need you,” You moaned, your hips moving almost frantically, hoping for more friction, for him to dip his fingers into you.

He hummed softly, and said, “Should I give you what you want, pretty? Should I make you feel good, sweetheart?”

You nodded, “Please, I need it so bad, Jason, please.”

Humming again, he placed a gentle kiss on your neck and then started to slowly push two of his fingers into you.

A soft mewl bubbled over your lips, and you arched your back at the feeling of him finally putting his fingers inside of you.

His palm connected with your heat as the full length of his two middle fingers were inside of you.

“Oh, pretty girl,” He whispered, and he started to move his fingers out of you.

You sighed softly at the absence but then he slammed his hand back up, a sharp moan leaving your mouth.

He continued the motions, making whimpers and cries come from you as you begged for more than just his fingers. “Jason, baby, I want your cock,” You said, wrapping your arms around his neck once again.

“Mm, is that so? You want it? But do you need it, that’s my question,” He said, his voice almost a purr.

You nodded, “Mhmm, I need you.”

“Really?” He asked, and he took his fingers out of you, and you groaned at the absence.

As you nodded again, he took this as his signal to move you so you were on your back again, and he placed a kiss on your collarbone as he helped you take your underwear and shorts all the way off.

After you were completely naked, he started to take his shirt off, and then his pants. You looked at the thick bulge in his underwear and felt a flush rise to your face.

He slowly pulled his underwear off and lined the tip of his cock with your entrance, and you whimpered slightly.

“Ready?” He asked as he brought a hand up to interlace his fingers with yours.

You nodded, “‘Course I am.”

“That’s my girl,” He said softly, and he started to push himself into you, and your breathing grew harder and bated at the feeling of him stretching you out and filling you up.

“Jason,” You moaned quietly, and he smiled. He continued to put his length inside of you and just when you were beginning to wonder how big his dick could actually be, the base of his cock met you gently and you groaned, adjusting to the feeling of him all the way inside you.

“Feeling okay?” He asked, and his thumb rubbed against yours.

You scoffed, “Of course I am.”

He hummed, “I’m gonna start moving, then.”

“Alright,” You replied, giving his hand a small squeeze.

He slowly started to pull out of you, and a soft and fluttering sigh came out of your lips.

Pushing back in, you bit down on your lip as moans threatened to bubble over.

He chuckled a little bit, “It’s okay, sweetheart, you can be as noisy as you want.”

“Fuck you,” You said with a slight groan.

Grinning, he pulled out again and this time he slammed back in, a surprised yelp coming from you at the feeling.

He paused, looking like he was afraid that he had hurt you, but you groaned and wiggled your hips, signaling that it was okay, that he had been just fine. His face split into an almost nervous grin and he continued the pushing and the pulling, and your grip on his hand tightened at the feeling.

“Good girl, you feel so good,” He said quietly, and he leaned down to kiss you as he thrusted into you.

Moaning against his lips, you wrapped your legs around his torso. He continued to pound into you, and his grip on your hand tightened as soft groans came out of his mouth.

It was definitely a sight to see Jason all unraveled like this in front of you, and part of you thought that you wanted to see him like this all the time.

You snaked your free hand down to your cunt and started to massage your clit as he fucked you.

“Oh, fuck, Jason” You moaned out, and you felt his dick twitch inside of you.

He hummed softly and kissed your neck as he continued thrusting, and whimpers and gasps and all sorts of noises that he fucking loved came from you.

“You fit so well around my cock,” He whispered to you before he bit down on your neck.

You let out a breathy laugh, “Like I’m your own personal cocksleeve.”

Humming again, he said, “I like the sound of that, princess.”

As if you weren’t already flustered, there he went throwing around pet names.

You felt yourself get closer and closer to your climax, and you strengthened the hold you had on his hand and the rubbing of your clit became more frantic.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m gonna cum, please,” You said quickly, a moan tracing your sentence.

“Then do it, pretty girl, go ahead and cum for me,” He urged and his thrusts seemed to get rougher as he said the words.

You felt yourself reach the height of your orgasm, and as your pussy tightened around him, he let out a sharp groan.

“Fuck, that feels good,” He grunted.

“My pleasure,” You said, and you almost giggled but then he slammed back into you, a loud and sharp moan replacing what would’ve been a laugh.

“Fuck, ‘m cumming, Jason,” You whimpered, and you felt yourself start to release.

He groaned a little bit and pulled out of you quickly, his cum splattering onto your belly.

He panted a little bit, and then he softly kissed your forehead. “Feeling better?” He asked with a smirk, and you hit him on the shoulder playfully.

He untwined his fingers from yours, and brought up your hand and kissed your palm.

He took himself fully off of you and you sat up, gingerly pressing your fingers into your stomach where his cum was. You played with it in between your fingers and then asked, “D’you have a towel?”

He blinked at you for a moment and then said, “Oh! Yeah, yeah, one sec.”

He got up from his place next to you and went into the bathroom that was inside of his bedroom. He returned moments later with a white bath towel and he tossed it to you.

You wiped off your stomach and then between your legs, and you were stuck holding onto the towel, not quite sure what to do with it.

He chuckled a little and then took the towel from you, putting it into a laundry basket in the corner of his room.

“Oh,” You said softly.

He went over to his dresser, looked through it, and tossed you one of his old band t-shirts. It was a My Chemical Romance shirt. Typical.

You tugged it over your head and when you looked at him again, he had pants on.

He walked over to you again, and handed you some shorts, surprisingly in your size.

“And why do you have these?” You asked with a grin.

He shrugged, and you noticed the fact that he looked kind of embarrassed. “It was, well, it was just in case something like this happened.”

“Us having sex?”

“No, like, you staying over or something.”

“So, once again, us having sex?”

“No! You know what I mean,” He said, and you laughed. You found it funny that he was just telling you to cum for him, and this is what he’s embarrassed over.

You took the shorts from him and slipped your legs into them, and you took notice of his eyes on you as you did.

He sat down next to you, and brushed hair behind your ears. He kissed you softly, one that left a lingering feeling on your lips, and then went to the other side of the bed, slipping under the covers.

“Goodnight,” He said, and he looked at you, waiting for your answer.

“Night,” You replied, and you did the same as he did, pulling the covers over yourself.

He turned the lights off and a persistent flush pricked at your face until you fell asleep.

#my writing #jason todd x reader #jason todd #jason todd x reader smut #red hood #red hood x reader #red hood x reader smut #red hood x you #jason todd x you #jason todd smut #red hood smut #batman #writers on tumblr

[penissirius]

Secret Secret pt2

Lee Know x male reader  

SUMMARY: Part 2 is ‘you’re a secret and you’re sick of it’ Part 1 was ‘you’re a secret’ and I’m sure you can guess what part 3 will be! If you can't, you’ll have to wait until that’s posted! (Uh I got lazy so this is part 2 and 3 lolll, part 3 is ‘you’re a secret no more') 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: M/n is a very famous and well-known gamer and content creator. Idol Stray Kids still. M/n has braces but if you don’t you can just skip that part and imagine the hair as something else as well. I tried to keep it generally plain tho so you could more imagine yourself. 

AUTHORS NOTE: This is part 2 (and 3 lol) of this 3-part series! part 2 already ommmggg time flies lol, I’m looking forward but not looking forward to writing this! This one is more angsty than the first part but not by that much cause writing angst hurts me and because I used to be forced to do it so much with a certain ex-friend of mine it’s become something I avoid. It is slightly sad though! There is arguing! I repeat there is arguing.  

WARNINGS: arguing, angstish ig, jealousy from the reader, insecure thoughts, idol AU, famous gamer reader. Slight ooc Lee Know? Idk I don’t write for him a lot or imagine for him a lot so I don’t think I capture his attitude and his demeanor correctly- 

FEMALE ALIGNED PLEASE DNI <3 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

*2 Months after the conversation with Lee Know* 

M/n was chilling on stream yet again but this time he was just talking and chilling with fans while drawing new chapters for his webcomic. It was actually a pretty good stream, M/n was in a good mood, the comic was coming along nicely with no issues in the design and the questions people were asking weren't all that bad until they were. ‘So, M/n how’s you and the boyfie doing’ One of the comments was read aloud to him by the computer. “Hm? Oh! We’re doing great! I absolutely love being in this relationship and I’m much happier than the last one I was in. He is such a sweet and amazing guy. I can’t believe it’s getting to almost 2 years together” M/n smiled looking up for a second.  

‘That’s good, we’re glad you’re happy again M/n!’ ‘We finally have our happy boy back!’ ‘It’s been almost 2 years when are we going to know who’s the idol boyfriend’  

M/n looks up, “Now you guys know I can’t do that. He’s an idol and they have dating bans and stuff. It wouldn’t be okay to announce we’re dating let alone that he’s dating some twitch streamer like me.” 

‘It’s okay M/nnie! It’s enough to know he exists!’ ‘Or maybe he doesn’t and this whole thing has been a lie’ ‘well it can’t be a lie cause we’ve seen him pop in sometimes, wearing a hoodie and a mask but he comes in and gives M/n a kiss before leaving!’ ‘Yeah, and even so we believe and trust M/n!’  

M/n smiles giggling, happy that his fans believe and trust him. He ignores the few haters. “Honestly if it was up to me, I would've told you guys by now! But it’s not and I’m more than happy just me and a few friends knowing!” He goes back to drawing and the subject seems to change back to randomness. An hour and a half later he decided to end his live because his hand is getting pretty tired. “Alright guys, that's all from me. I promise that the normal gaming live will happen next week! There’s a poll up on what game I should play and I might pick a few of you to play with me! I haven’t done that in a while lol. But this is me and my hurting hand signing off! BYEEEEEE”  

After shutting everything off and reuploading it so people who missed it can rewatch, he goes to his living room to watch tv and FaceTime his best friend. He grabs his MacBook and after a few rings AJ finally answers and he sees him still in his training clothes which means he just got back to his dorm. “M/n! Hey dude!” M/ns energetic best friend said once he saw his face. “Hey AJ how was training?” M/n laughed seeing AJs face turn up at the thought of training. AJ puts his phone down to change into comfier clothes while talking.  

“Omg dude, training was literally the hardest today out of any other day. Dance wasn’t bad, and vocal practice wasn’t either. But rap class kind of kicked my ass and weird classes like selfie class and walking class because apparently there’s something wrong with my walk! ALSO, this stylist for one of the other groups said that I should consider cutting my hair because it’s ‘too long’ and ‘no one would know how to take care of your foreign hair’!” M/n was lowkey offended for his friend.  

Anyone who knows AJ knows that the curls in his hair that come from his mom's Hispanic side and not his dad's Korean side are his pride and one of the only things that keep him tied to home while he’s here in Korea. “What? Did she actually say that?” “Yeah, she did! And honestly, I don’t know if you’ve seen Bang Chan's curls before the stylist got a hold of them but I am NOT risking that happening to my hair. That’s a walking nightmare. Also, when my hair is straight it’s not that much longer than Hyunjin’s was before they recently cut it!” M/n just shook his head, “Honestly just continue to do your hair by yourself, you do great and if you have any complications then you can call your mom!” “You right you right!”  

They talked for a while and played some games together before they were just lying there doing separate things and talking after AJ had switched the call to his laptop. “Oh, dude did you see the new article?” AJ said looking up from his phone to his computer where the call was set up. “No? What’s it about.” M/n looked up suddenly interested. “It’s about Lee know. People are suspecting that he’s in a relationship. I’ll send it to you” “Alright” 

He got the link and the article said: 

Stray Kids' dancer Lee Know is in a relationship?! 

Recently it’s been suspected that the said dancer is in a relationship. He’s often not in the dorm when members have done vlives at night. In behind-the-scenes videos, you can see him smiling at his phone and texting someone. His and Han's friendship has seemed to get a little less touchy-feely but still the best of friends. Also, when he shows his Home Screen it’s a picture of him and a shorter/taller man hugging! It has been semi-confirmed that it can’t be one of the other members because the hair nor body type match…. 

It continues but M/n stops reading. “Why should I be worried about this? It’s not like they’re actually going to find out about me or he would even tell them.” He chuckles bitterly. “Yeah, but there is this really stuck-up trainee in the same class as me who is swearing that he’s the one dating Lee Know. I know that’s not true and so does Stray kids and Miyeon (female best friend) but others don’t. He doesn’t even look anything like you or the picture Minho has as his Lock Screen but everyone is starting to believe him.” M/n doesn’t know how to feel hearing this.  

“You and him need to do something about this. Talk about it. I think it’s time to let people know. I know he’s an idol and shit but his dating ban has been lifted, and JYP PDnim has started not caring if we are public with our relationships (at least in this universe 🤪), plus you guys have been dating for 2 years. I don’t think keeping you in the dark like this is fair. To have to deal with other people claiming to be dating him, and for you to have to deal with the constant hate you get for having an idol boyfriend but not saying the name. You’ve respected him and his feelings through all of this, but I think now it’s time for you to tell him how you feel.”  

M/n listens and thinks about what his best friend has told him. “But what if he doesn’t agree? What if he doesn’t want to be public? I mean he’s an idol and being with me publicly could ruin everything he’s working for.” AJ tsked, “Yeah but you have to consider your feelings. It’s been 2 years, I know you would like to be able to spend time and actually go on dates together. I can’t keep watching you put yourself and your own feelings on the back burner for him. At least just think about bringing it up dude, I've got to go now. I have early training in the morning” M/n nods. “Alright, night AJ. Tell Miyeon I said goodnight as well!” “I will, bye bro”  

After AJ hung up M/n really got to thinking and maybe he should bring it up. In the end M/n ended up not bringing it up to Minho. They haven’t been able to see each other in a while with all the stuff happening in Minho's schedule recently so they never gave a time to talk about it. Plus, M/n just didn’t want to start an argument about it when he knew it would just end with the same result and his feelings getting pushed back. But the topic always stayed in his mind.  

A week and a half later and the situation have blown up. The article continued, more came after. And soon the Trainee that was claiming to be Lee Knows boyfriend was pretty much everywhere. People were asking him questions, he was answering with fake texts between them, edited pictures, etc. Nothing was heard from Lee Know or JYP though and M/n was starting to get sick of it. It was like everywhere he turned was another fake post about this dude and Lee know. Honestly, he was pissed. Not being able to see his boyfriend, this dude claiming to be dating HIS boyfriend and JYP and Lee know himself weren't talking about it.  

This day in particular he had finally had enough. His ‘fans’ were making tweets saying how it was understandable that the trainee was dating Lee know but it’s kind of suspicious that M/n claims to be dating an idol but couldn’t talk about it like Dal (the trainee) could. There were a good 30% of his fans though that didn’t believe that Dal was dating Lee Know because to them it just didn’t make sense and would actually make more sense if M/n was the one dating him which made him feel slightly better. All in all, M/n was pretty much fed up with this. He texted AJ to go ahead and talk to JYP about the situation and article, to which the best friend was more than happy to. He even made a slide show for it, that fact made M/n laugh.  

AJ had brought the situation up to his CEO and was in the middle of talking to him about it when Lee Know texted M/n.  

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

Hey baby, how’s your day been?  

If M/n was pissed before he’s livid now. How’s his day been? They haven’t had an actual conversation in weeks and the first conversation that he started was ‘How’s your day been?’… M/n has thrown all previous feelings of not wanting to cause an argument out the window.  

My prince 👑💙 

It hasn’t been good, Minho  

They haven’t been good for the past few weeks.  

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

Minho? No baby?  

What’s wrong?  

My prince 👑💙 

Hm, I don’t know. Why don’t you ask that bitch Dal what’s wrong.  

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

Dal? Dal who?  

My prince 👑💙 

The fucking trainee that’s been claiming to be dating you for the past idk 2 weeks.  

Now a little part of M/n was starting to feel bad for coming off in such a harsh way instead of actually talking and having a conversation about this, and maybe he was being a little petty by changing his boyfriend's contact name last week. But there was the bigger part of him that was so tired of dealing with this bullshit. He’s bottled up these feelings for weeks and months and now they’re finally being set free.  

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

What are you talking about? I don’t even hang out with him.  

I’ve had like 2 conversations total with him.   

My prince 👑💙 

Well, those 2 conversations clearly seemed to be enough for him to say you’re dating.  

Clearly it was enough motivation to make fake texts and edited photos of you together. 

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

Where are these so-called texts and photos and why haven’t I seen them?  

I’m sure all of this will just blow over anyway it’s not like I’m actually dating him, I’m dating you!  

My prince 👑💙 

But nobody knows that. 

I’m tired of this secret stuff Minho.  

It’s been 2 years. This has been going on for weeks now. How can you say it’ll just blow over.  

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

I honestly haven’t seen anything or heard anything about it this whole time! Baby you have to believe me 

Send it to me.  

My prince 👑💙 

A part of me just can’t seem to believe you have seen it at all but I’ll send it to you.  

sends multiple links to articles and TikTok's on the situation 

It takes about 30 to 45 minutes for Lee Know to get through all the links and process the information. In that time M/n still hadn’t calmed down. The part of him that felt bad wanted to cry and apologize and just be held by his boyfriend, but he was too clouded by all the emotions that he had held back finally coming out. After those 45 minutes Lee Know was on a mission to put this all to rest and finally come clean, he texted Him back but M/n didn’t see it. He had put his phone on Do not disturb and was set on ignoring him because he took too long to respond.  

Lee doesn’t seem to know 🙄 

Give me a moment love, I’ll have everything explained I promise  

My prince 👑💙 has notifications silenced  

While M/n was locked in his room eating ice cream and watching his comfort show after he cried. Lee Know, AJ and JYP were setting up a last second thrown together live interview set up in one of the company's conference rooms. After getting one of the radio hosts under JYPE, Chase, who hosts Idol on Air and setting everything up, AJ’s job was to get M/n to watch it. AJ took off running to his car and speeding to M/n’s apartment, texting Minho when he got there. He unlocked the door with the spare key his best friend had given him a while ago. He quickly made a beeline straight to M/n's bedroom, shutting the door, sitting his best friend up and grabbing the remote and turning.  

“Hey, what the fuck! I was watching that!” M/n said confused and upset that his friend ruined his pity party. “There’s something way more important that you need to see” M/n pouted and watched as AJ quickly turned to where the interview was being broadcasted. He was quite confused when he saw his boyfriend on the live show that was clearly thrown together and not planned. ‘Maybe this is why he wasn’t responding- I feel so bad now. What is he even planning to talk about?’ M/n turned to AJ, “dude what is-?” “SHHHHH”, AJ cut him off, “it’s starting!” 

“And we are on! Hello and welcome to Idol on Air! I’m your host Chase and as always, it’s a pleasure to be here with you guys. Today we have Mr. Lee Know of Stray Kids with us!” Minho waves “hello”  

M/n looks at AJ unimpressed, “what does any of this have to do with me?” “You’ll see in a second just shut up and watch” AJ points back at the screen.  

“Today we will be talking about a topic that has been the biggest revolving said dancer and the JYPE trainee, Dal.” Chase said, looking back at the camera.  

Now that sparked M/n’s interest and made him pay attention.  

“As it seems, the trainee, Dal has been spreading and trending everywhere claiming that he is in fact dating Lee Know. This started when a big article speculated that the idol was in a relationship. These are the posts and quote on quote evidence given from Dal.” Multiple Instagram posts, tweets, and photos were shown on the screen and on one of the TVs behind the camera for JYP, Chase, Lee Know and the rest of the staff to see. “We are here today to debunk these rumors and fake posts” 

M/n stares wide eyed at the screen slowly processing what was happening and what it meant.  

Chase turns to Lee know, “Now I’ll let the man himself speak. Lee Know, are you dating the trainee Dal?” He sat up taller and looked dead at the camera before responding. “No, I am not. I have only had 2 conversations with him in total since he became a trainee here.” “Tell us more.” Lee Know smirked, “Gladly. The texts are fake for I don’t even have his number or social media nor do I have a personal Instagram at all let alone the one shown in the photos. All of the photos of us together are edited. I’ve only taken one photo with him and it is this one.”  

A picture of them in one of the practice rooms was shown. Lee Know and Dal are posing but to M/n it looks slightly off. He knows his boyfriend and that’s not the way he usually takes photos with someone who isn’t his members or friends.  

“Only this isn’t the actual photo. This is.” A different photo was shown, it was in the same room and they had the same clothes on but there were more people in the room and now M/n understood why it looked so off to him. The original picture was of Lee Know and Felix in a practice room with Dal and 3 other trainees clearly having just got done practicing. There were two trainees on the other side of Minho, then him with Felix being right beside him and Dal along with the other trainee on the other side of Felix. “This day me and Felix, along with Hyunjin who wasn’t there the whole time, had offered to help some trainees with their dancing and took a picture at the end.”  

“Everything that was said about me dating Dal was indeed false. We aren’t even friends let alone dating. I don’t know where he got the idea that we were or why he came up with this idea to fake like he was dating me. I knew nothing of this situation until today and I’m putting it to rest immediately” He nodded before turning back to Chase. “Well now we have that settled and put to rest. Lee Know and Dal are in fact not dating and everything the said trainee has said has been false. I do have one question though. Are you dating someone?”  

M/n held his breath awaiting his boyfriend's response. He knew this would be when he’d say no, he wasn’t and they’d go back to being a secret and no one knowing that the idol was indeed taken. He was upset knowing that he’d never get to be public about his relationship with Minho. But a very small part of him held hope that he would say he was, although it was unlikely, he subconsciously hoped for it. AJ just smirked and watched his brilliant plan unfold, ignoring the curious gaze from his friend beside him.  

“Actually, yeah I am dating someone, and he is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.” The look on the idol's face when he was saying this was one of pure love and happiness. You could tell that he was being genuinely serious about what he said. “Oooo? Who’s the lucky guy?” Chase said, looking at Lee Know waiting for him to spill the tea. “His name is M/n! He’s a popular twitch streamer. We’ve been dating for a while now; I love him so much.”  

M/n was about ready to start crying when he confirmed he saw taken but he definitely started crying when his boyfriend not only said to the world, they were dating but also mentioned him even if he didn't have to. The hate that he was getting would finally stop. He could finally be open and talk about his relationship. He didn't have any other thoughts in his head other than to immediately get to his boyfriend and kiss him silly.  

Some more things were said before they closed up the interview but M/n was no longer interested instead he was hurriedly putting his shoes on, dressed in some shorts and one of Lee Knows hoodies that he had left. He forced AJ up and ushered him to the front door ordering him to drive them to the company, not without complaints from the Hispanic about him being comfortable. By the time they got to the company, the interview was just finishing up. M/n sped into the building as soon as they were parked, with AJ rushing behind him. He had to eventually wait for his best friend because despite how many times he had been to the building he didn’t know where he was going. When he finally got to the room where Lee Know was, he throws all rational thinking to the side and the second Lee Know walked out he jumped on him wrapping his arms and legs around him like a koala making the dancer hurry and support him with his arms under M/n's butt.  

“Omg, I love you so much! I love you I love you I love you!” M/n says with his face hidden in his boyfriend's shoulder starting to tear up again. AJ and the staff members had gone about their business putting things away and doing whatever they had to do, to give the newly public couple some privacy. Lee Know walked into the room that was right beside them and sat in the chair with M/n still in his arms. “I love you too, I’m sorry it took all of this for me to finally do this love.” he kissed the top of the love of his life's head holding him tighter. M/n looked up at him with the biggest smile Minho had seen in weeks, “No it’s okay! The fact that you not only said we were in a relationship but said it was me and confessed your love for me on live where people everywhere can see made up for how long it took!” Before Minho could say anything unless M/n had grabbed his face and kissed him. After the initial kiss, he left a ton of kisses all around the dancer's face smiling brightly. Looking at the smile on his boyfriend's face, all the doubts Minho had in his mind about how his lover was feeling washed away and he knew they would be okay.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Authors Note: So I combined the last 2 parts into one because A) I really didnt want to write 2 more parts B) My friend who was Beta reading thought it would be better in just one part and C) if it had been three parts I don't think part 3 would have been too long- but anyways I hope you liked it and im sorry this took me so long to write I was struggling to think of new stuff plus writing my book and school and work all on top XD but its finally out now even if it is awhile after I said it would've been posted. (Lmaooo this has been ready since Sept 11 and I’m just now posting it- sorry)

#stinky stinky fic #stray kids #kpop idol #i love stray kids #stray kids x male #x male reader #female aligned dni #lee know x male reader #lee know #pls dont let this flop #lee know x male #lee know x reader #skz x reader #skz lee minho #i tried my hardest

[cherrping]

Searching for a Roy/Riza 1x1

I am forever Royai trash and always looking forward to roleplaying it with anyone. I love sending head canons and plotting up kooky things. I don’t mind playing either Roy or Riza. Canon, Canon divergent, or AU I can plot and brainstorm on.

I have plots under the cut.

A few things about me:

She/Her, 33 Years old, and prefer to rp with 21+

I do enjoy romance in my rps, it makes it fun for me but I don’t ask for it to be the end all and be all.

I am a lazy-lit, semi-lit I guess? I enjoy fast-paced rps. I don’t mind if you send me a one-liner. I prefer typing 1-3 paragraphs. If you want to send more 4+, go ahead! I don’t want to feel like I’m limiting your creativity.

I post at least once a day. If things come up, you want to change the plot, or you are no longer interested please tell me. I promise I won’t get upset.

Also, if you want to do multiple RPs, that’s perfectly fine with me!

You can poke me to reply. I sometimes forget to hit send or think I replied when reality tells me I didn’t.

I prefer to rp 3rd POV in paragraphs. Willing to do action RPs if in the mood.

I prefer to RP with women (cis and trans) only or people who use she/her/they/NB pronouns. No offense to the guys but I’ve had too many bad experiences and creepy men wanting to rp out kinks and fetishes I want no part of.

I don’t mind getting to know my partner OOC-wise. I understand if you want it to be strictly IC. I rp over discord.

But I do enjoy gushing about head canons and this pairing

I do find it fun to do IC chatstyle rps while waiting for posts if you like things like that.

I’m pretty flexible about gender. I don’t mind playing male or female roles.

I don’t mind a bit of darkness in my rps but I do like to balance it out with fluff.

message me if interested!

red string of fate. - What if they could see the string that connected them their entire life. They spent years trying to sever it only to think deeply about it once they see the string finally fray? (bonus if there's a mental bond too.)

I just woke up from a 6 month coma and I don’t remember anything about the past 5 years but that’s kind of okay because as a trade-off this gorgeous stranger sitting at my bedside is saying he’s my husband

Possibly modern or normal timeline Royai AU:

Roy considered Van Hohenheim an old acquaintance but hadn't heard from him in years. Which wasn't out of the ordinary for the man, he comes and goes with his own time and rhythm. Which was out of the ordinary when he was asked to care for his children as his ward. Roy was hesitant for a moment, he was a busy military man and doubted he could properly care for any children. With a little convincing from Hughes (and a discussion of how the public loves a good feel feel-good story), he decided to take them on.

Riza considered this to be one more thing added to her plate, wondering how Roy could possibly handle this but she was caught by surprise seeing how well he adapted to fatherhood despite taking on two very traumatized boys.

Modern AU

Can be done with or without alchemy, can be discussed more.

It was rare that Roy took Hughes's offer to set him up on a blind date, but decided to do so to help shut him up. He counted his blessing when Hughes found an endlessly charming woman for him but felt a spray of cold water when she told him she didn't want to meet him again. At a loss of words, he agreed.

The next day, the color nearly drained from his skin when he saw his newest transfer from Briggs was the woman he went on a date with last night.

‘you’re my normally really pedantic and fussy assistant so i get really confused when you start sending me office memos with typos of randomly added letters turns out the added letters spell out a declaration of your love for me’

'my really stern and strict (but secretly nice) boss and i have to fly somewhere on a business trip and during the plane ride she fell asleep on my shoulder she looks so cute and peaceful i’m melting on the inside’

I fell in love with you three lifetimes ago and I’ve been looking for you ever since but I’ve been starting to give up and my friends’s new crush has your eyes and oh god I’m not going to steal someone’s date just because I’m hoping you’re the person I met in a past life (jk yes I am)

We only remember each other in alternating lifetimes so every lifetime we have to find one another and convince each other that we’re soul mates but half the time I won’t believe you and half the time you’re already dating someone else

“I’VE BEEN TEXTING MY FRIEND FOR ABT A WEEK NOW AND THEY DONT REPLY BUT TURNS OUT I WAS TEXTING A RANDOM PERSON AND THERE WAS SOME DEEP PERSONAL STUFF I SENT OH MY GOD WHY ARE THEY CALLING ME NOW?” AU (+BONUS IF THE PERSON CALLS AT 2AM)

#1x1 #royai rp #royai #1x1 rp search #discord 1x1 #roleplay #fma rp #fma brotherhood #fma #fmab #roy mustang #riza hawkeye

[soulrph]

I'm so happy to have your blog on my dash it has shown me that I'm not the only one struggling in the rpc. I feel like the rpc has fallen into a coma, people are so wrapped up in their own bubbles that they don't interact with each other anymore (it seems) like I'm so frustrated with tumblr at this point, I'm so sorry I just don't know what to do, it's really disheartening to have like 1k followers, writing an rp blog but no matter what you do, no one sends anything at all, no asks, no memes, no starters, nothing, it makes me sad and wonder if I have done something wrong? I checked the settings twice as to make sure asks are enabled and I try to regularly send the people on my dash things but now I'm questioning myself. Like why and how are so many people following me if it feels like they don't want to interact? Of course I know many of these are lurkers but not all? I'm so confused by this to be honest...

My Question is: Am I the only one who feels like that?

my lovely friend, let me tell you something. these feelings you’re having? we ALL have them at some point in our tumblr lives. it’s perfectly natural, there’s nothing wrong with them, much less with you for having them in the first place. you understand? i want to make that much clear before i continue, because i’m getting the impression that you might be trying to take on the blame and responsibility for other people’s actions, and that’s not close to being accurate, love, okay? you’re doing just fine! and now i’m going to go into a little detail on your message. but i don’t want you to read on unless you’re feeling solid and good about yourself again, because try as we might, we’re not responsible for other people. and you mentioned that you’re very active in your efforts to make people feel comfortable, so no. don’t go blaming yourself. you’re doing nothing wrong, my love, i promise.

NOW! i say as i slap my hands on my knees like a suburban dad in an american film! except not, bc my laptop’s there, but i digress. before i continue, i want to say that i’m only one person, my suggestions may not be applicable to you. if anyone reads this post, and would like to contribute their own suggestions, you’re all welcome to hop into the comments to help our lovely friend out! this is a sideblog, however, and i will not be able to interact with these comments directly!

the first thing that i’m going to say here is that 1,000 followers is a LOT of people. like that’s overwhelming to anyone, but i feel like it could also contribute to these feelings of isolation when you have a thousand people following you and nobody’s really reaching out. that’s why i would suggest that maybe you might feel better if you try and bring that number down? it’s like this; if you host a big party, realistically speaking, you won’t be able to invite a thousand guests. it’ll be next to impossible to have these intimate personal connections with one thousand individual people, right? but if we try, say, 500 people? instantly easier to handle, i think. personally i try to keep my own limit at 150 mutuals, because i’m oftentimes too tired and too stressed to handle the idea of much more than that, and it’s much fairer to 150 people than it is for 1000 people.  plus, those 150 people are far more likely to have solid friendships with me. i’m only one person, and so are you, and we can’t be pressuring ourselves into trying to interact with 1000 people!

in your case, this also applies. 1000 people is a LOT. if you bring the number down, perhaps then you can explain to people that you will be implementing a few changes in the way you do things. you want to plot with people. you want to develop solid relationships both OOC and IC. you also might find it useful to use an interest tracker or a permanent starter and plotting call, or a few open starters are also useful! 

i’m going to repeat something here. you are not responsible for other people’s actions. there are parts of the rpc that are withdrawing from the core purpose and values of the community, and the lack of interaction is a widespread challenge. it’s not their fault. it’s just something that’s happening. that being said, you can only control YOUR experience. which sounds powerless, but it’s actually entirely the opposite!

you can make that post and say what you expect to change in your blog. “i’ll be much more active in the rpc from now on, i’m here to make friends and write with like-minded people, and i’m going to be cleaning out my followers over the coming week. if you want to stay mutuals, please let me know, but i don’t want to stay mutuals unless we intend on building a solid friendship and writing together!”

you can obviously change the wording! be as nice or as blunt as you like! but try to be firm. your experiences of the dash are yours and yours alone. my suggestions might be worth nothing to you, and that’s more than okay too! but my earlier experience in the community was very much like yours in that i had about 500 mutuals, but it was so quiet and awkward that i may as well have had 0. it only changed when i brought the number down to 150, keeping my mutuals as people who i wanted to write with and befriend, and then posted a quick psa to let people know that i was planning on actually writing much more in the future, and i would be changing certain things in my blog to accommodate that.

you don’t have to do any of this, my love. you don’t have to soft block any followers, you don’t have to make a psa, you don’t have to do anything! my decisions came from a place when i was so frustrated by being stuck in the “nothingness”, or the “meh, idk, i don’t mind, idc” phase of the community, that i just decided to shift gears and change things. the way i see it, i could have 20,000 mute, withdrawn mutuals, but just one person who i genuinely loved to chat to and plot with and write with would outshine the lot of them! fortunately i found much more than just one person, though. and i know, i KNOW, you will too.

#cinnanon roll. #OOC. #rp help. #rp advice. #i can't remember if i had more tags for this #but if anyone wants to contribute to this please feel free!

[theowritesfiction]

Here are some of my thoughts about the btvs characters following s7 and the series finale.

Buffy – ultimately, s7 Buffy is my least favorite take on the character. Buffy cracking under the weight of responsibility, pushing people away and shutting down is nothing new for the character. It was done so well in the latter parts of s5, but s7 fails to recapture it. Buffy is cold, even cruel when mocking a girl driven to suicide (very ooc moment) and dismissive, but there are not enough moments that make us empathize with her. There were simply too few Buffy scenes with Dawn and the core Scoobies, creating the perception that they were at each other’s throats most of the time. Buffy had some good moments with Spike, but mostly their relationship made me look back at Seeing Red and realizing what a poor creative decision that had been. Should Buffy have died in the final battle? No, I don’t think that would have provided a satisfying ending. Despite everything, the series ended on a hopeful note and this would have destroyed it.

Angel – not much to say as he is only there for a few scenes, so I’ll just address the question if Angel should have died in the final battle, and the answer is no, because he doesn’t deserve to be that important. Him not even being by Buffy’s side and making the ultimate sacrifice effectively ends the ridiculous soulmate myth, and I’m happy with that.

Spike – his s7 character is all about undoing the damage of Seeing Red, and most of the time it just makes me wistful about what could have been if not for that cursed episode. Seeing Red was completely unnecessary and a terrible decision because it locked characters into mostly unsatisfying arcs and because Spike already had plenty to atone for without any need to inflict more. s7 would have been a lot more interesting if instead of spending the whole season recovering from s6e19, Spike could have an arc that didn’t include brutal punishment for a terrible choice forced upon a character by misguided writing team. Am I okay with Spike dying in the final battle? Yes, I think I am. While sad, I find it very fitting to his character. Spike is clearly the most dramatic among the cast. I think Spike’s sacrifice also proves that he really loved Buffy the most and their relationship was more real than Buffy’s other flings, just because of how many challenges they had to overcome.   

Willow – I thought that the start of s7 felt very promising for Willow’s character arc, but then it just fizzled out into pretty much scattered scenes with Willow being afraid to use powerful magic, but as it often was with Willow and magic, the show simply did not lean into the matter enough for my liking. The episode with Willow turning into Warren was absolutely gross. I’m not opposed to the idea of Willow moving on from Tara, but I don’t think Kennedy was the right character to pair her with. I don’t like a brand new character inserting themselves so forcefully the way Kennedy did. I would have preferred that instead the writers would stop doing Amy so dirty because I sincerely believe there was a great rivals/enemies to lovers romance potential between Amy and Willow. They already had a past, unlike Wil and Kennedy. The writers could have played with the reasons why Amy seems to dislike Willow, Amy’s envy and resentment hiding a powerful crush on Willow, that would have been way more interesting than just nonsensically using Amy as cheap villain whenever there was a need for one. Should Willow have died in the final battle? No, I don’t see what purpose that would have served. I'll do the other characters in a separate post later.

#btvs #series ending thoughts

[musecaravan-info]

Roleplaying Guidelines

MOST IMPORTANT

This is an independent, OC-friendly, multi-ship, multi-verse blog.  Don’t know what any of that means?  It’s okay to ask me.  :)  Or you can check out my Roleplay Glossary.

I am OLD.  No, really.  Probably ancient by tumblr standards.  If you’re not comfortable writing with someone 35+ then you should walk away now.

I am SLOW.  Like… REALLY SLOW.  I usually manage to reply once every 4-6 months.  Sometimes it’s less, but not often. (Maybe that will pick up now that everyone’s on one blog, but I can’t promise.)

I rarely seek out interactions for myself.  If you found this blog on your own and I didn’t direct you here, then please be aware that you’ll have to approach me if you want to get something started with anyone.

Some of these muses haven’t been used in YEARS, but they’re not ‘side’ muses.  I just haven’t had anyone ask or show interest in them lately.  Some of them I’ve NEVER written with before.  But you can be the first!  :D  If you’re interested, then I am 100% ready and willing to write as that muse.  Please don’t be afraid to ask.

ABOUT RPING

All of my muses are multi-verse, which means all interactions will take place separately unless otherwise plotted.  I’ll RP with different versions of the same canon characters because everyone has their own interpretations and it’s fun to see how my muses react to different versions.  Please don’t let jealousy be a thing.  I love all of y’all equally, I swear.

I’m (obviously) okay with original characters and blogs with multiple muses.  (It would be a little hypocritical if I wasn’t, right?)

I am open to RPing with just about anyone.  If we can find a way to make it work, then I’m good with any gender, any fandom, any sexuality, and any faceclaim (real or cartoon).  I’m not okay with blogs that RP as living people or as people who’ve recently died. I feel it’s disrespectful.  You can follow me; I won’t block you or anything, but we won’t be RPing.  I’m generally okay with historical blogs, but will examine them individually before following.

My blogs aren’t Mutuals-Only, but I reserve the right to turn down RPs when and if I feel like it.  Please respect my choices.  Thank you.

In regards to starters, memes, etc. please send me the post number (which can be found in the web address) (ex. 683404661423767552) so I know which one you’re wanting me to do.  ^_^ Here’s an example of what it looks like:

Also, if you don’t specify a muse for muse things, I will literally put them all in a randomizer and reply using the first one that pops up.  Which is fun for me, of course, but may not be what you were wanting.  ;P

I LOVE crossovers and AUs!  Even when I’m not familiar with the fandom.  :)  Just because I’m clueless about your fandom doesn’t mean we can’t write together.  All I ask is for your patience when dealing with my lack of knowledge.  :)

A firm reminder that OOC =/= IC. My ideals and morals aren’t reflected in the expressions/actions/and thoughts of my muses. If a muse has said or done something IC that makes you upset OOC, then talk to me about it.  I promise to listen and converse with you rationally about whatever’s happened.  I also expect to be treated the same in return.  If I have any reason to believe you’re having trouble finding the line between the two, I’ll come to you to talk about it.  Politely, of course.    

In-character drama and angst is something I love and live for!  Out-of-character drama and angst won’t be tolerated.  Life is too short for the petty squabbles of you, your friends, and/or some other random internet stranger.  Posting callouts OF ANY KIND is probably the fastest way to get a soft-block from me.  Asking/demanding I choose sides of ANY KIND will likely result in the same.  Been there, done that.  I WILL NOT be dragged into ‘he said/she said/I’ve got screencaps’ levels of drama.  If you try, you WILL lose me as a partner.  No exceptions.

ABOUT MY WRITING

As far as grammar and spelling and punctuation and such - I fully respect those of you for whom English isn’t your first language.  I also respect those of you who have learning disabilities.  However - if I cannot understand your messages or your replies well enough to form a decent response, we’re not going to work as writing partners.  I’m sorry; it’s not personal.

I generally prefer to do at least a little plotting beforehand, but starters and the like can still be sent, I don’t mind getting things started between our muses that way.  You can find some of my favorite starters here.  Just remember to specify which muse you want and (if it’s a symbol, number, word, etc.) which post it came from.

In regards to formatting of any kind (small font, icons, font embellishments, etc.) I’m okay to let you do you as long as you’re okay to let me do me.

I’m okay with minor god-modding.  If you need my muse to follow yours somewhere or something along those lines, and you don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t, then it’s okay to do it.  Let’s save us both some additional writing time.  But for anything major or where you’re unsure what my muse would do, please talk to me first.  The same goes for meta-gaming. Unless your character has a real reason to know things about mine, please don’t do it.  You’ll get one warning, and after that I reserve the right to drop our RP.  Not sure what those terms mean?  Take a look at my Roleplay Glossary to find out.

In that same vein - several  of my muses have various forms of enhanced perception.  Please DO NOT try to circumvent their skills by not telling me something that my muse SHOULD have noticed, and then having it come up in the RP.  If you’re not sure they’d notice, tell me in advance and we’ll figure out how to make things work best for both of us.  I’ll also do my best to inform you in advance of anything special about the specific muse you’ve chosen.

I like for my roleplays to have an ending.  It doesn’t matter how long or how short the roleplay itself is, I just want it to have an obvious stopping point.  If our roleplays seem to constantly die/get dropped rather than receive proper endings, I’m less likely to seek out future interactions.  It’s nothing against you, it’s just how I prefer my roleplaying experience to be.  We can still be friends and support each other within the community, we just won’t make good writing partners.

I tend to write A LOT.  I like to explore my characters’ thoughts, and I like to explore back stories, and I like to offer up scene details.  The length of my reply will never require a reply of similar length from you.  As long as I have a way to reply, I’m not going to get upset if I write you 6 paragraphs, and you only reply with 2.

That being said, if you prefer one-liner RPs, we’re probably not going to mesh well as partners.  I just can’t do them, and I don’t want to force you to do something longer just to RP with me.

ABOUT SHIPS, ROMANCE, and NSFW

Chemistry.  Not just between the characters, but between the two of us as writers.  It NEEDS to be there.

I am well over the age of 18 - as are all of my muses - so smut could happen.  It’ll always be tagged NSFW. If I miss something, tell me and I’ll fix it.

More about smut - if you’re not 18 or older, it’s not going to happen.  Not even ‘Fade-to-Black’ scenes.  No exceptions.  Please don’t misrepresent yourself to me in order to write smut.

Other NSFW topics - I’m okay with almost anything with the right plotting.  Please DON’T just throw it at me!  Ask and we’ll talk.  Also, please don’t think I will throw anything at you, either.  I won’t.  I take dark subjects seriously and believe things should always be discussed first.  However, some of my characters have dark back stories, and it is entirely possible that things might get referenced, so be aware of this when asking for certain muses if you think that might be an issue.

I don’t have triggers and I don’t tag them with CW or TW or any of that.  Everything I consider ‘questionable content’ is generally lumped under the NSFW tag.  Usually, if I’m posting about spiders or clowns or gore or whatever, I will tag it that way.  So, as long as you have the main words flagged, we should be good.  If we’re writing together and there is something you REALLY have an issue with and it’s slipping through your filters for some reason, come talk to me and we can try to work something out.

A FEW MORE THINGS TO KNOW

If I’ve followed you, I’ve read your rules. In fact, if I’ve got any intention of writing with you, I’ve probably read them more than once.  But I DON’T send in passwords. Or ‘like’ posts or anything of that nature.  No exceptions. I’m sorry.  If your rules require a password and you follow me first I’ll assume you’ve read this rule and decided to make an exception for me.  I DO NOT follow blogs that ask for passwords (or anything similar) first.  EVER.

Follow backs will generally occur as long as you’re a roleplay blog.  However - I do have a few reasons I won’t.  It doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t want to RP, it typically just means I have reasons that I don’t want what’s on your blog on my dash.  It’s nothing personal, and you can still ask for an RP and we’ll talk.

If you've got a DNI list of any kind - whether I agree with it or not - RPing isn't going to happen.  Due to past experiences, DNI lists are synonymous with drama for me.  You may have your reasons for having one, and I respect those reasons.  However, for my own peace of mind, I can't interact with blogs that have a list like this.

ABOUT COMMUNICATION

Contact me however is best/easiest for you, but please don’t expect instant replies - even when it looks like I’m online.

If you haven’t heard from me in 5+ days after sending me a message, give me another nudge.  I might’ve read it and forgotten to reply… or read it and thought I replied… or Tumblr might’ve eaten it.

If we’re writing together, I can offer you my discord handle on request.  That’s actually the quickest way to get in touch with me because I have access to it practically everywhere, even while at work.

DO NOT be gas-lighty or passive-aggressive with me.  EVER.  I’ve been there, done that, and I REFUSE to put up with that kind of nonsense.  You’ll get one warning (and the offer to talk things out.)  That’s it.  After that, all bets are off.

Thank you for looking through everything!  I know it seems like a lot, but I figure offering up as much information as I can upfront will help us both decide if we’d make good writing partners. :)  Since you’ve made it this far, can I also suggest you go take a look at my Useful Links page?  It’s where you can find links to starters, memes, plots, etc.  I also cover specifics regarding how I handle not specifying a muse, and also how to successfully send me an ask for an old meme.  :)

Return to Mobile Links

[feretra]

“Loss is the tune of our age, hard to miss and hard to bear. Creatures, places and words disappear, day after day, year on year. But there has always been singing in the dark times-- and wonder is needed now more than ever.” — Robert Macfarlane

salome

biography, worldbuilder, soundtrack, character study, aesthetic, headcanon, jewish things, memes

currently

Inbox: 17 / Drafts: 13 / Meta: 1-3

** Rules are under the cut for easy accessibility.

RPC Intricacies —

Please DO NOT follow or interact with me if you engage with any of the following users: celestieu/Bunny, poswiecenia, suffcring/dilffactory, waterdepths, stagsworn/lancepointe, or taleswritten. These folks have either proven themselves to be racists, apologists for racists, predators, or otherwise just a-okay with clowning around with shitty people. The likelihood of me making an exception just for you is very low.

Content Warning: While it's not exclusively so, most of my writing is composed within the vein of some sort of horror. As a result, things are and sometimes do get seriously dark. If that bothers you, I highly encourage you to moderate your content and unfollow. You do not have to engage with me. Your mental health and sanity is more important than reading my content. Okay? Okay.

Follow Policy: I am very slow to write given my illness, so putting me on a strict deadline for establishing plotlines, having replies back to you, etc. is destined for heartache. It is not uncommon for me to follow and interact with blogs ooc for weeks-to-months before we establish a character-based relationship. If you find that doesn't work for you? Unfollow me! If we don't mesh? Unfollow me. Just know that if you softblock me, I may assume it was accidentally done and refollow and/or ask you about it. I am not trying to be confrontational, I promise! I just want to make sure that we are on the same page. If you do not want that, I highly suggest hardblocking me.

Have triggers? Reach out to me if I've posted something that triggers you and you need it tagged. Please do not assume I will be able remember every minutiae from your about page, my memory is absolute garbage due to seizures. Tagging things for you is no problem, I just need to know what it is!

Under 18? No minors. I would actually prefer, given that I am 37 years of age, that you are a minimum of 21+ or older. I do not make exceptions, and if I catch you lying? You will be hardblocked.

I do not participate in "drama," but I will share posts and warn others about predators, bigots, and other clowns in our midst.  I refuse to tolerate bigotry, period.  I am old, my patience is thin, and if you’re going to be a hateful piece of shit? Get off my account.

Problems? If you have any kind of issue with me, I highly encourage you to approach me privately and talk to me. Actual constructive criticism doesn't bother me.

Regarding Replies —

Threads are for mutuals only, and expect novella-style of varying length. It hasn't deviated from this in 10+ years, so I don't see a reason to start.

I do not reply to items in the order received, but as inspiration hits. Large bursts of effort will likely get queued to cut down on dash spam. If I’m clearly writing and you haven’t received a response after 2-3 weeks? Feel free to ask if I lost it. I don’t mind, I am absentminded and it happens.

Godmodding, forced shipping, racial/ethnic fetishization of my or others characters, or other shenanigans will not be tolerated and will result in a hard block. I write for exposition and story foremost, not for romance.

I very rarely write NSFW content to begin with, and I will not touch anything short of enthusiastic consent when I do. Other than nudes from classical paintings, the NSFW tag does not get used often here.

By taking me on as a writing partner, you acknowledge my disabilities. I have an extremely rare form of an already rare connective tissue disease and it impacts every facet of my life. There are often days where getting out of bed and forcing myself to extract 4-5 full hours out of a day will feel like I have made it through the all too awful lurch of the trenches. Sometimes I don't even get that lucky. If you're willing to wait through those crappy days? I'm willing to write you the best quality replies I am capable of.

The Mun —

My name is Felicia, and as said above, I am 37 years of age. My background is mixed, but I'm basically a Sami/Northwest Asian mix.

My Discord is #evisceri if you want to chat. I'm available there or here via DMs. I am a chatty bitch though, so be prepared for what you're getting yourself into.

I live in Central Standard Time (CST), in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. This does not guarentee any set time for me being here, however.

You'll find out a lot about me via my tags, but here's two to start you off: My very fun and definitely not ungodly depressing major in college was Holocast & Genocide Studies. Interests include knitting, historical textiles, and a longing to be consumed wholly and obliterated by deep time.

#[ under construction ]

[aeternals]

RULES

i . — intro hi ! my name is luca. pronouns aren’t really important to me so whatever use is very okay. all headcanons are my own. there is no affiliation with the company, the character, or the faceclaim. ii . — memes they’re the spice of life and new interaction. always feel free to send one in. on that note, i don’t believe in reblog karma. reblog your heart’s content. i personally choose to reblog from the source since i know a lot of people are uncomfortable when you reblog memes from them. the only time this isn’t done is when the original blog is deactivated and i can’t find the source. if you’d like to continue something i’ve answered then please do. all i ask is that a new post be started. iii . — nsfw mun is older than 25. more often than not there won’t be nsfw as a personal preference. imagery that falls under the category will be tagged with nsfw and threads will also be placed under a read more. shipping/ smut/ etc will not occur with muses or muns under the age of 18. iv . — shipping on that note, shipping with new muns will be based off chemistry. if we already write together i’m more receptive to new ships no matter what the pairing. chemistry, as a personal definition, can include ooc and ic interaction. v . — triggers my only visual trigger is clowns. i do have a number of tags blacklisted for it so if you could tag that i’d be very appreciative. from a writing standpoint i will not participate in abuse or rape. this list will grow as i see fit. i tag triggers that are more common outside the fandom. if you need something tagged please let me know. no offense is intended. sometimes i simply don’t think about it. being here means i assume you know the basics, which means you know what to expect. vi . — misc i’m slow as heck as i work a lot and have a lot of things going on in my personal life. if you’re not sure i got something i don’t mind if you ask just please don’t consistently badger. i haven’t forgotten about you, i promise! i do have discord. if you ever want to chat or plot through that medium just ask! i’m always receptive to plot ideas. admittedly, sometimes i hit a wall when it comes to my own ideas. especially with new muns. the more we write the more ideas i have. if you ever think of something don’t hesitate to let me know. this is a deviation from what my rules used to say in this space but please, please DNI if you interact with mox / bowie in any capacity. she hasn't changed, will not changed, and continues to repeat old concerning behaviors. i do not want to be subject to her harrassment ever again. thank you for understanding. vii . — credits psd: venuscommissions various templates: supersources

#( ㅤ blog ㅤ ) maintenance

[mischiefsworn]

I posted 235 times in 2022

That's 63 more posts than 2021!

62 posts created (26%)

173 posts reblogged (74%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gingersrockstheuniverse

@narcissablackasnightmalfoy

@krakengalaxyprincess

@without-an-alibi

@allegasus

I tagged 37 of my posts in 2022

#ooc - 13 posts

#please specify muse - 5 posts

#c; aquila malfoy - 2 posts

#roleplay meme - 2 posts

#sentence starters - 2 posts

#rp meme - 2 posts

#updated muse list - 1 post

#yesss!! - 1 post

#ooc post - 1 post

#c; vega black - 1 post

Longest Tag: 54 characters

#she looks up to them a lot even if she doesn’t show it

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

//I’ve just decided to write a fanfic I’ve been thinking about for about 6 years.. I’m gonna start on it today.. the only site I know how to use is Fanfiction.net and yeah.. advice would be good I haven’t done a fanfic since like 2016

2 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

#4

// sometimes tumblr feels like a waste of time.. I have really nothing going on here..

4 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

#3

Tonks @ Aquila: “I’m sorry I’m hot and funny. Are you mad at me?”

"Never." She whispered as she pulled Tonks into a hug. "Just upset that it wasn't another witch who walked through the door." She sighed, few knew of her sexuality and though she didn't mind as long as her partner was pureblood, she couldn't bring herself to promise. "I can only think of how much easier it would be if I was your sister and not your cousin."

7 notes - Posted August 27, 2022

#2

To vega from Donna: “hey Black!” Donna yells out, trying to catch up with her. “Where the bloody hell is your cousin..I have a bone to pick with him.”

Vega stopped and turned around waiting for Donna. "If you are talking about the mutt, I would presume he is either sucking up to Potter, or sucking off Lupin." She responded clearly not caring about where he actually was. "If not they will be picking on Severus again."

8 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hermione sat down at the table all the way in the back of the library. It was her favorite spot, no one could interrupt her studying. It seems like everyone was so worked up these days, with the tournament and Yule ball that they are forgetting classes are still happening.

With a content smile, she began writing her essay for potions. (Hope this is okay for a starter)

Aquila was walking through the halls with her book bag, tired of hearing about the tournament and ball from her brother and his friends. She made her way to the library and found a spot in the back already taken by the female third of the golden trio.

"Do you mind if I study with you?" She questioned softly not moving to sit down until given permission.

33 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[cityofdreamsrp]

Fellow member here! While I understand the previous anon's frustrations, I wanted to put out another perspective. Since the previous notice was posted about everyone needing to respond to starters, I have responded to almost every one I have seen on the OOC blog. (I never see the one's on the dash, which could be part of the problem for some!) Muns will reach out to me ONCE and then never respond again. I've had this happen countless times, so it's discouraging to even reply to starter calls.

As both an admin and a member, I hear you completely. And I want to say this is not okay. Nobody should be feeling like they’re worth one message and done. Please, follow up, that’s how connections are built. We can’t expect anything from our fellow roleplayers, for them to be working magic, when only one person is trying to put in the effort. I will fully admit, I’m not great at plotting myself, so I understand if your creative flow isn’t great, that you may feel like you have nothing to offer -- but it at least makes others feel like someone wants to write with them. Please don’t be ignoring others after one message, because that is just as worse as not reaching out at all. We do appreciate initial effort, but please keep following that up. Throw up a starter thread for them, tag them in it, see how it goes! You never know what could happen organically. Please remember: treat others how you want to be treated. That goes for all of us, and we all need that reminder sometimes. It’s extremely discouraging, and I hear you, but I promise you never know when you’re going to find that connection that makes a spark.

[vulpesse-arc]

i befriended a smol ball of fur today and i’m so, so, so happy !! his name shall be floofle 🥰💖

#.• ❤ → out of character. #HE IS AN OLD BABIE #but he very cute and floofie #and he purrs so much omggg 😭😭 #okay i promise i’m done with ooc posts #i just 🥺🥺 #need everyone to meet floofle 🥺🥰

[favoniuscodex]

inheritance . act one [diluc x reader]

inheritance act one of five: denial arranged marriage royalty au prince!diluc x f!knight!reader

fic summary: you're the heir apparent's key to obtaining the throne you've sworn to protect since you were a child. but in barbatos' domain, where freedom reigns, you must first answer a question: is freedom found in the ability to spread your wings and take flight on mondstadt's winds or is freedom found in the ability to choose to remain flightless?

word count: 19.6k

warnings: alcohol, minor descriptions of wounds and violence, bleeding, pining, oblivious characters, no explicit nsfw, enemies(?) to lovers

fic masterlist

a/n: i’m happy it’s finally done! i’m so excited to share this with you all! i hope you like it. please post here to be on the taglist! characters may be ooc at first but they’ll grow into their rightful personalities, dw! <3

You first met Diluc when you were eight, the boy being two years older than you. It was an accidental meeting. Commoners like you weren’t supposed to be in the palace, but your father was one of the palace’s Royal Knights, assigned to protect the king and his royal family, even at the cost of his life. You were far too young to grasp the political implications of what “serving the throne” actually meant, just believing that it meant you got to run around in cool armor while slaying dragons.

At least, that’s what the colorful storybooks that littered the floor of your childhood room had told you.

The boy had seemed nervous. Much like you at that age, he was a true introvert at heart. His princely duties extended past such nerves as he was forced to cast human consternation and worries aside and extend his hand to you.

“I am Prince Diluc of Mond,” He proudly stated, mustering as much righteousness into his words that a ten-year-old was capable of doing.

You were too young to notice it yet, but such an act was false bravado on the prince’s behalf.

You shook his hand limply, unfamiliar with such formal gestures. A nudge from your father enforced the power dynamic that would persist between you and the prince for years to come, as your father reminded you to bow in respect. After bowing, you stayed quiet for a few more moments before being nudged gently by your father again. A confused look passed over your face before you remembered what you needed to do.

“Oh, I’m (Y/N)!” you giggled. “It’s nice to meet you!”

Diluc stared at you for a moment before a grin broke out onto his face. “My father wanted me to ask if you wanted to come play with my brother and I?”

You looked at Diluc before glancing up at your father for permission, who simply smiled and nodded his goodwill in return. In response, Diluc latched his hand around your wrist and the two of you ran down the hallway to go play pirates.

---

When you were fourteen, Diluc appeared in your life once more.

It’s amusing as to how quickly a mere second encounter can shatter fond memories developed prior.

“This is Knight (Y/L/N),” a fellow knight had introduced you to the prince. “Her duties will consist of protecting the royal family, with a focus on you, my prince.”

The redhead had simply scoffed, looking you up and down with distaste. If he remembered your brief childhood rendezvous, he failed to show it. His eyes glinted with annoyance and his lips curled slightly downwards, yet you bowed in respect, for you had sworn an oath of fealty to the kingdom. Whether the people you watched over agreed or disagreed with your methods mattered not to you, for you had been assigned to this position by the king himself. Anyone who ranked below him could not waver such undying loyalty, even if they were his son.

“She’s my bodyguard?” Diluc’s tone was one of disdain as he folded his arms. “She’s a child. I’d be better off protecting myself, especially since she doesn’t have a vision. I don’t want her.”

Your stoic expression matches Diluc’s slight frown, unshaken by his words. However, you couldn’t say the same for the knight that had re-introduced the two of you. Despite being much older and of higher rank than you, the poor man was shaking in his boots from being reprimanded by the king’s tempestuous son.

“My prince, with all due respect, she is the most promising knight out of the academy in many years. She’s an excellent fighter and chivalrous at heart. I can assure the king has picked only the best knight for you,” your fellow knight insisted as you remained steady.

“My father picked her?” Diluc’s voice softens almost imperceptibly, not having expected such information. “Very well then. Even if I do not believe she is of assistance, I have no capability to argue with one of my father’s orders.”

A wave of relief washes over your superior’s face upon Diluc’s concession. “Thank you, my liege,” He says, genuflecting in the prince’s direction before standing tall and saluting. Diluc’s crimson gaze turns to yours and presses his lips together in a slight frown.

“Well?” The prince snaps, seemingly expecting something of you as he folds his arms. Your stoic expression shatters as you raise an eyebrow. “Do you not have something to say to me as well?”

Oh. You finally understand. He’s not just having a bad day. He’s just an asshat.

“With all due respect, my prince,” You respond, finally breaking your silence. “I am not aware of any words of yours that deserve my gratitude. All three of us are merely following orders.”

You feign innocence at your contemptuous words, biting back a smirk as the haughty redhead glowers at you. The knight next to you looks as if he wants to run away. Sensing his discomfort, Diluc wordlessly waves him off and your eyes flicker away from Diluc’s vermillion gaze to watch the knight salute before marching off, leaving you and your new assignment alone together. Diluc looks you up and down once more, his eyes ablaze with ire at your mere presence.

“What is your name?” Diluc queries. His harsh tone contracts with the societal politeness embedded into his question. “Royal Knight (Y/L/N), sir.” You respond with a quick salute. Diluc stares at you with a mixture of confusion and disgust.

“That is not what I meant. What is your first name?” He clarifies, his vocal inflection making it clear that such a notion should have been obvious to you from the beginning. “You are not a dog, I do not wish to refer to you in such a manner.”

Your lips remain neutral, but you can’t help the confused look that shows in your eyes. It was far too late for him to say such things. He had already treated both you and your superior with disrespect. Nonetheless, as he is a higher rank than you, you answered him. “(Y/N), sir.”

“Well, (Y/N), it appears that we are stuck together. It would be in your best interest not to slow me down,” His words are cavalier and cautionary, yet you discern a faint hint of hollowness in his words, as if he’s not exactly sure what to say or do with you.

You nod in response and give a slight smirk in hopes of easing the tension between the two of you. Diluc doesn’t smile back.

---

A year of being Diluc’s bodyguard (a position akin to being a glorified babysitter, except you have authorization to use lethal force) passes and you find a friend in the most unlikely of places: Diluc’s own brother, Kaeya. The blue-haired boy is a cheerful, charming spirit who took an immediate interest in you upon your first meeting.

“My older brother probably hates you,” He had said and you were unsure as to how to respond until he let out a laugh. “That’s okay. He hates almost everyone. I’m Prince Kaeya!”

Kaeya’s ability to find you on the castle grounds whenever your services are not needed for the elder prince is almost troubling. Any brief moment of peace you have often results in the persistent prince appearing at your side, excited to speak with you about whatever was going on in his life. Kaeya’s determination to become your friend, you soon realized, is rooted in the fact that the prince has little to no interaction with others of his age, something you had also noticed in Diluc’s own life upon your time watching him. Kaeya was not allowed the privilege to have friends his age, something you had taken for granted back in your hometown of Springvale.

“What are you thinking about?” Kaeya asks, the two of you sitting on a bench outside of the knight’s quarters. He bites into one of the apples he had brought along with him, soft crunching noises filling the the silence between you as you attempt to formulate a response.

“Well,” Your eyes flicker to the clusters of windwheel asters planted by the entrance to your residence building. “I am afraid my thoughts are not of much value at the moment.” You draw your words out in order to give yourself time to think of how to phrase your words. “At the moment, my thoughts are not very… kind.” Upon your words, Kaeya’s blue eyes gleam with delight as he leans over closer to you. The boy has pestered you enough to know what such words mean, as they are not a slight to him, but rather disdainful of his older brother.

“Do share them,” Kaeya pleads, his tone eager to hear what complaints you may have about Diluc.

You flatten your hands on the flat surface of the stone bench behind you and look up into the cloudless blue sky, enjoying the feeling of the warm spring sun on your skin as you utter your next words, “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Yes, yes!” Kaeya laughs, excitedly. “Share your vile thoughts so the world may cast their judgement upon the wicked sinfulness that reverberates in your mind!”

You snap your head to the boy next to you and stare at him with wide eyes at his words. The second your eyes meet his playful ones, the both of you break out into raucous laughter at his theatrics. His tone was haughty, mimicking many of the stuffy elites the two of you were surrounded by, including Diluc. At times like these, you were reminded that Kaeya was an outsider to the palace, just like you were, yet the hierarchy of the two of your duties separated you from him.

“Okay, okay,” You huff, trying to catch your breath from laughing. Kaeya simmers down upon realizing you are about to talk and looks at you expectantly, leaning slightly in your direction. “Yes, it’s about him.” The two of you burst into laughter once more.

“When is it not?” Kaeya giggles. “He’s so weird with you compared to how he acts with me.”

“That’s because you’re his brother. Of course he’s going to be nicer to you.” You explain before shaking your head slightly and swatting your hand through the air to signal that such a topic of conversation is something you did not wish to focus upon. “Anyways, today we were in another one of those stuffy formality meetings with some Inazuman diplomates. Y’know, those ones. And I’m standing by the door, keeping watch, like… it’s the usual kind of stuff I’m supposed to do. The meeting was supposed to be two hours, but Diluc’s refusal to compromise made the meeting run over it’s designated time by an hour. I swear, if not for the fact that it would cause an international scandal, Diluc and the diplomat guy would’ve started fighting each other.”

Kaeya’s eyebrows raise at your last statement and he laughs once more. “That’s Diluc for you. He means well but is awful at showing it to most people. He just… really believes in himself.”

“He shouldn’t,” You respond before clapping a hand over your mouth in shock as Kaeya roars with joy at your words, relishing in your loss of respect for the redheaded prince in your words. “I… I don’t mean it like that! I just mean… he’s still young. Such an unshakable perspective on international relations will only lead to foreign envoys viewing him poorly.”

“Yes, I wholeheartedly agree, but neither of us want to tell him this. He’d just scream at you and would give me the cold shoulder,” Kaeya muses as he outstretches a hand to you, offering one of the untouched apples he had brought along to you. You nod your appreciation and take the apple, piercing through its skin with your teeth as you bite into the red fruit.

“Prince Diluc does like to lecture his subordinates,” You agree after swallowing. “Especially me.”

“Don’t take it personally,” Kaeya advises with an optimistic smile. “If he’s willingly speaking to you at all, it means he likes you. He just does a piss poor job at showing it to anyone outside of the family.”

“Because he’s entitled.” You respond and Kaeya winks at you, gesturing his approval in your direction.

“Precisely! Now you’re getting it!”

---

On your sixteenth birthday, Diluc provides no well-wishes, but manages to give you the best present of all: a better attitude. His words are no longer infused with the disdain he once held for you, but rather coated with only a slight annoyance. With Diluc, you’ll take any improvement you can get. The change in his demeanor had left you reeling after a mere ten-word question, the whiplash from the complete upheaval of his attitude stunning you into silence.

“Would you care to go to the market with me?” Diluc had asked absentmindedly, focused on his paperwork at hand.

You had stood by the entrance to his personal study, warding off any unwanted visitors with your daunting presence and stoic demeanor. Despite how intimidating the other maids found you, Diluc had paid this unapproachable disposition of yours no mind, much to your gratitude. But as the rather innocent question fell from the prince’s lips, you couldn’t help but to look around and reassure that no one else had slipped into the room and evaded your watchful eye.

Diluc had given you a choice with his question -- an action he had never performed before.

Irked by your silence, Diluc set his pen down and looked up at you expectantly, folding his hands together and resting them on the desk in front of him. “Well?” He scoffed.

“Visiting Mondstadt’s main street would be nice,” You responded, unsure of your words. With Diluc, you were always unsure of your words. “Would you like me to assemble a party of knights to accompany us?”

Diluc let out a sigh and shook his head, leaning back in his chair. “I do not wish to attract unwanted attention with such procedures. I simply wish to get a breath of fresh air. Only your presence is requested, unless you believe it is unwise for me to leave with so few men by my side.” The boy’s words were inquisitive, holding an unfamiliar softness to him. The realization that the prince is genuinely seeking your approval of his plan caused you to bite back a smile in fear of spoiling his uncharacteristically pleasant mood.

Therefore, rather than rushing an answer to his response, you mulled it over. You had no reservations about your own fighting skills, having been chosen for your current position due to your highly proficient swordsmanship. Additionally, you knew of Diluc’s training with both his Pyro vision and his claymore, so you had few worries for the prince being able to handle his own. Both of these factors combined meant that you only had one issue to worry about.

“Well, according to protocol, a departure from the palace grounds would require multiple guards to be at your side,” You speculated, watching as Diluc’s shoulders fell slightly as he let out a huff of contempt. He lifted up his pen and prepared to work once more, but your additional words caused him to cease this motion. “But… I believe there is a way we can bypass these regulations, but I am not quite sure if you will enjoy it.”

Your plan leads to you standing in the main square of Mondstadt, hands clasped together as you watch a group of children run around the fountain. You are standing in your typical Royal Knight uniform with your weapon strapped to your back. At your side stands Prince Diluc, disguised as a fellow Royal Knight, much to his behest. His claymore rests upon his back, ready for him to wield should any evil-doers elected to make their presences known.

For Diluc, his cherry-colored hair and matching eyes do little to disguise him, but his typical introversion aids him, as the average Mondstadtian is unlikely to recognize their prince and, for those that do, are unlikely to believe that their prince is dressed up in Royal Knight attire and perusing the shops of Mondstadt with only one knight by his side. Your illicit plan, which involved smuggling a spare uniform into the castle then proceeding to sneak the prince wearing said uniform out of the castle, relies now upon one thing: the stupidity of your fellow citizens.

For your job’s sake, you pray to Barbatos that it works.

“I do not enjoy this outfit,” Diluc grumbles next to you, causing your attention to snap from watching the commoners of Mondstadt and instead to the prince of said kingdom. He pinches at some of the fabric on his leg, stretching it around in hopes of making the outfit more comfortable. You have never had any issues with said uniform, but then again, you aren’t a prince who has all of his clothes custom tailored to his build.

“To achieve true happiness, we all have to do things we don’t exactly like to do.” You chirp. Diluc’s aloof visage is now marred by furrowed eyebrows as he tries to decipher any potential hidden meanings behind your potentially parabolic words. However, you fail to give him proper time to ruminate, instead deciding to speak once more. “Where were you hoping to visit, sir?”

Diluc returns to his usual silence, but a faint flush that appears on his cheeks notifies you of his bashfulness.

“I’m… not sure,” He admits. If you did not have a code of conduct to follow, you would be screeching in delight at Diluc, the arrogant prince of Mond, finally admitting he does not know something. “I do not often have the chance to visit the heart of the city, especially in such a leisurely manner. However, you are from here, are you not?”

“I am from Springvale, sir.” You respond, forgoing your typical formality of my prince. After all, such a title would immediately blow Diluc’s cover. The redhead looks crestfallen at your words. “But… I resided in Mondstadt with my father while training to be a knight. I won’t be as good of a tour guide as a local, but I should be decent.”

“Do you know of any… eating establishments?” Diluc asks. You narrowly avoid sending a judgemental look his way at his wording. Did he not know they were called restaurants? Had Diluc never been to a restaurant? You were baffled.

“Do you prefer a to-go restaurant or a sit-down restaurant, sir?” You question and Diluc’s relaxed expression turns into one of befuddlement. Well, that answered the question if Diluc had ever experienced the basic societal activity that was eating at a restaurant. You knew royals were detached from society, but you never would have thought it to be this bad.

“Alright,” You say after a few beats of silence, smart enough to know that Diluc isn’t going to respond. The redhead’s expression returns to his typical indifferent one. “We’ll go to a sit-down restaurant, if that’s okay. A bit more expensive, but it’s probably the most immersive experience for eating at a restaurant for the first time.”

“I have been to a restaurant before,” Diluc lies, trying to save face as his cheeks begin to tint with pink upon realizing that you’ve seen right through him. You look at him blankly and his eyebrows twitch in annoyance upon his revelation that you weren’t buying his protests. “Fine, then. Lead the way.”

His typical annoyed tone is back. Well, kind Diluc was nice while it lasted, you think, rolling your shoulders slightly in preparation for his typical attitude. You nod in response and begin to walk. The prince matches your pace, determined to not fall behind someone of a lower rank than him.

---

You start to wonder if everyone in Mondstadt is pretending to be oblivious to the prince in their presence or if they’re actually just that stupid.

It’s a miracle that you managed to corral the prince’s confident attitude long enough to get him to sit down and order some food at The Good Hunter. Upon your arrival, Diluc managed to ignore the politely worded “Please wait to be seated” sign and started to walk past the hostess table, determined to seat himself. You had to pull him back to you by yanking his arm, an action that surely would have made Diluc lecture you for fifteen minutes, if not for the fact that he was still undercover. Instead, he settled for a scathing glare which only worsened as you gestured at the sign in front of the two of you.

Additionally, the prince was baffled by the entire ordering process, especially upon you informing him that it would take upwards of thirty minutes to receive your food. He was put off by the fact the chefs wouldn’t drop everything just to serve him first, to which you had simply taken a sip of your drink and not responded to such opinions. Now, the two of you were sitting in silence as your gaze fluttered around the restaurant and any passerbys, analyzing for potential threats. You found comfort in the silence as you were used to standing vigilant and quiet through your duty as Diluc’s personal Royal Knight.

“You are quiet,” Diluc states, his words almost an accusation. You look at him inquisitively, your gaze moving from the entrance to his red hues. You tilt your head slightly at his statement, signalling your confusion at his words. Diluc lets out a huff, bothered by your petulant, purposefully silent response. “You never speak unless if spoken to.”

“Would you prefer if I talk more, sir?” You ask. After all, you served the throne, which extended to Diluc. Any wish of his was your command, even if you thought he was generally an uppity, self-absorbed jerk. His eyes narrow slightly.

“I typically appreciate your silence,” Diluc confesses. It doesn’t feel like a compliment. “But now? It is quite irritating.” The prince stares you down, awaiting your reply.

“If I may ask, sir, why is such a thing irritating?” You question, turning your gaze back to the entrance as you speak. “I am merely observing the building for any potential threats to your life.”

“Look around, (Y/N),” Diluc says exasperatedly, as if his answer should be obvious. Yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing, you think bitterly, but elect to keep such thoughts to yourself. “Everyone here is speaking with someone else. Such social interactions are a simplicity of life commoners take for granted. The ability to speak freely with a non-familial companion is something I envy.”

Your gaze snaps back to the prince and you raise your eyebrows. “Is a wish for such companionship why you wished to go to the market, sir? To be a part of the lower citizenry?”

The prince breaks from staring at you, instead electing to study his hands in his lap, flustered by such a straightforward question. “I wish to better understand my subjects, yes. But I also wish to have the same liberties as them. I long for the freedom for platonic association with others of my age.”

“So…” You trail off for a second, lost in thought. “You want friends?”

The prince smiles bitterly at his friends. “Yes,” He answers truthfully. The single word is imbued with intense envy. “Everyone in my life, apart from my father and my brother, is placed in my life to placate me, rather than to accompany me.”

Your eyebrows raise briefly at his confession, perplexed as to why the prince is being so forthright and honest with you. For a split second, you wonder if the prince is swallowing his pride and asking to be your friend, but you quickly shoo such a childish thought out of your brain. You quickly determine that the prince isn’t interested in friendship, but rather wishes to use his subordinates, such as yourself, to fill the void in his heart. You decide to placate him nonetheless with a soft smile.

“Companionship is what you make of it,” You suggest, leaving your words vague as you lean back against your seat, crossing your arms and returning to watching the interest. The two of you fall into a silence once more, before Diluc speaks once more.

“I do not know much about you.” The redhead states. “Where are you from?”

For a man who wanted friends, he’s awfully bad at remembering information about his companions, you think. But you’ll gladly take the forced conversation with Diluc over him barking orders and insults at you all the time. You are well aware that you’ve sworn to protect the throne, even at the cost of your life, but you can’t help the desire for freedom from such burdens that swims in the depths of your mind.

“Springvale,” You echo absentmindedly. You barely hold yourself back from asking where he’s from, even if it would be funny to see his face twist in frustration at your teasing. “I was born there, but moved away at the age of ten to begin training to be a Knight of Favonius. Things changed and I ended up as a Royal Knight instead.”

Diluc’s interest is piqued at your words. You can’t help the feeling of discomfort that washes over you upon the sudden realization that you’re having a friendly conversation with your superior, a man who can barely tolerate your presence on a good day. He seems to be trying, though, and you can’t help but sympathize with his loneliness. As his personal guard, you’d be the first to say that Prince Diluc has very few friends.

“Why did you elect to become a Royal Knight rather than a Knight of Favonius?” Diluc asks, his crimson eyes staring at you.

“Permission to speak freely?” You requested, the words feeling foreign on your tongue. The question that you constantly asked his younger brother was now difficult to get out. Diluc’s eyes widen slightly, startled at your request, but his relaxed visage quickly returns, disguising his emotions once more.

“Permission granted.” Diluc says. The words feel jarring coming from him and you can tell he feels the same discomfort you do at this sudden change in professionalism between the two of you, yet he makes no move to change the topic of conversation or to stop you from speaking.

“My personal view on the Knights of Favonius is that…” Your words sound distant as you try to find the proper way of phrasing what you need to say. “They’re inefficient. Most of the Knights within Ordo Favonius prefer to serve themselves rather than the community of Mondstadt as a whole. They’re there because it’s a well-paying job. They dislike anything that threatens their reputation and job security.”

At that moment, you had no idea how seriously Diluc would take your words and the lasting impact such a confession would have on him.

---

You’re seventeen when you encounter the worst threat to the palace yet. You had been alone, forced to fight an Abyss Mage who had breached Mondstadt’s walls and headed in the direction of the palace. You had destroyed its shield by throwing a rock at a nearby exploding barrel on the wall. The resulting explosion had alerted nearby knights of the Abyss Mage’s presence, but the creature’s Cryo magic had severely frostbitten your arm before any help could arrive. In return, you had wielded your sword with a single hand and delivered the killing blow to the creature.

The Knights of Favonius weren’t happy with your decision to kill the creature, stating that having an abyss mage in their possession could have been a valuable resource. Helping the Knights of Favonius with their research wasn’t your job -- protecting the throne was. Therefore, you had no regrets about your decision to kill the gremlin who had almost taken your arm.

You sit on a bed in the Cathedral’s infirmary as a healer frets over your arm, using the power of their Anemo vision to speed up the healing process. The frostbite was recoverable, they had told you, but it would likely result in permanent scarring. To ensure full use of your arm would return, you were recommended to take a leave of absence from your protective duties in the palace for the following month.

While you were happy to be alive, you were irritated that such a situation would put you out of work for the next month. Sure, your position wasn’t the greatest, but it was a stepping stone to a better position within the Royal Knights, such as becoming one of the king’s personal knights or one of the organizers of palace operations. The organization itself focused on palace operations, which meant there wasn’t much room for growth as compared to the Knights of Favonius, who protected Mondstadt’s citizenry.

A month out of work meant a month less of progress in your career and, more importantly, a month less of protecting the throne you had sworn your life to protect. Your fate of becoming a knight was a decision you had made at a young age, clueless and starry-eyed, as you watched your father perform his duties around the palace. He had been a high-ranking Royal Knight, one of King Crepus’s personal entourage. He had wholeheartedly believed in everything the throne of Mond stood for, declaring that the throne protected the freedom of Mond’s people and fulfilled Barbatos’s wishes. As you trusted and idolized your father, you also inherited his same ideologies, locking you into a permanent life of duty as you swore to help defend Mond’s royal family from harm.

You had made that promise when you were ten and had yet to doubt it, seven years later.

The door to your infirmary room swings open and you watch the healer, still fussing over your arm as he applies new bandages, jump slightly at the unexpected intrusion. Despite the pain medications that the Sisters had given you before the healer began his work, your arm still throbs in pain, causing you to let out a hiss as the healer moves your arm in the midst of his surprise. He mutters a slight apology, but you’re more distracted by the intruder.

Your eyes widen in surprise, not having expected the intruder to be none other than Prince Diluc. His eyes flicker to your arm and, despite how the pain medication swirls your vision and jumbles your thoughts, you can see the irked disappointment in his eyes at your injury. Such a wound only results in inconvenience for him as he now needs to have a temporary replacement knight, who is unfamiliar with his typical protocols and routines. The prince lets out a long sigh.

“What? My supposed best knight is unable to handle some cryo slimes?” Diluc scoffs derisively.

Since your birthday last year, your relationship with Diluc has improved somewhat. Speaking to him often resulted in stiff, awkward conversation, but it is an upgrade from before, where talking to the prince in an amicable manner wasn’t even an option. More often than not, it would be the prince initiating awkward conversation between the two of you, not quite sure how to interact with someone his age outside without the use of diplomatic charm. The prince, just under two years older than you, didn’t seem interested in being your friend, but you also weren’t sure what to make of his platonic advances.

But now, as you sat in the Cathedral’s infirmary, you realized Diluc wasn’t here to provide friendship. He was just here to lecture you about your mistake of choosing to fight an Abyss Mage, about how you should’ve just let another knight deal with him, and about how you should have sacrificed the potential safety of the throne for his immediate comfort.

“Wasn’t any slimes,” Your lips are heavy as you struggle to form the words without slurring them together. “Was an Abyss Mage. Cryo one.” Your mind churns as you try your absolute hardest to focus on the situation at hand. Diluc’s in the room, you remind yourself as you fight the urge to slump back and fall asleep. You stare at Diluc, eyelids drooping with fatigue. You notice your fresh bandages turning red once more, causing the healer to sigh and apply more to your arm.

The prince is silent, but you see a quick flash of fear pass over his face, followed by an expression of concern. Both emotions are short-lived as he readjusts his posture and presses his lips into a frown, crosses his arms, and shifts his weight onto one leg.

“You should not have fought an Abyss Ma-,” He begins, but a loud bark of a laugh erupts from your system, interrupting him.

“H… Have you ever fought anything?” Your words are accusatory and borderline incoherent, but the narrowing of Diluc’s eyes lets you know that he understood what you had just said. “All… all you do is sit around! And… and… and you waste your vision! Everyone does everything… for you… I fight to protect you… your family… I don’t want to get injured, but here I am…”

The healer, upon realizing that you’re disrespecting the crown prince of Mond, wordlessly excuses himself from the situation and slips past Diluc to exit the room. Diluc parts his lips, ready to speak again, as a scowl crosses his face at your disrespectful words. However, before the redhead can speak once more, you raise a shaky hand, holding up your middle finger to the prince.

“If you’re… if you’re just gonna lecture me for… risking my life… for you… eat shit.” You manage to say, words garbled. You relish in the widening of Diluc’s eyes as he opens his mouth to yell before closing your eyes and promptly falling asleep, slumping over on the infirmary bed.

---

You awoke the next day with no recollection of the prior day’s events, except an innate sense of satisfaction, as if you had gotten something off your chest. Nervous that you had potentially said something foul to someone you shouldn’t have, you awaited a formal reprimanding of your unknown actions, but never received one.

Now, two weeks in, you’re finally getting back to normal as you water the plants outside of the knight’s quarters, having been assigned to take care of the landscaping today. Despite the tasks being relatively easy, they took you a while to complete due to one of your arms being stuck in a sling. You crouch over, trying to balance as you lean forward to water one of the red flowers stuck in the back of the arrangement.

“Hey!” A voice calls, causing you to drop the watering can in surprise, the water sloshing over your feet and onto the cobblestone around you. You lose your balance and fall backwards, landing on your butt, but before you can lecture the person who scared you, you feel two hands place themselves on each side of your waist.

“Up we go!” A familiar voice sings before hoisting you up to stand back on your own two feet. You turn around and narrow your eyes at him, placing the hand holding the empty watering can on your hip. The blue-haired boy before you smiles unabashedly, utterly pleased with himself. “Anything to save a damsel in distress!” “Yeah, I’m definitely defenseless,” You grumble sarcastically as the boy takes the watering can from you. His physique has changed over the years due to his interest in becoming a high ranking Knight of Favonius, but both his azure eyes still gleam with childlike mischief. He nudges your uninjured arm playfully.

“Aw, cheer up! You’re the toughest one-armed fighter I know!” Kaeya jests. You roll your eyes in response, biting back a smirk at his antics.

“I’m the only one-armed fighter you know.” You respond as Kaeya gently grabs your wrist and guides you to the bench where the two of you typically sit.

“Two weeks ago. What happened?” Kaeya asks, gesturing to your arm. You tilt your head, confused at his question. Surely he’s heard about it by now..? You think to yourself.

“An Abyss Mage got past Mondstadt’s outer walls, I was on break when I saw it, and I had to fight it, sir.” You explain quickly, but Kaeya simply shakes his head in response.

“No, not that! What happened in the infirmary?” His voice is teasing, but your blood can’t help but run cold at his words. Your intuition that something had happened between the time you arrived at the infirmary and before you fell asleep was correct. Much to your chagrin, you hadn’t been able to remember your actions, but apparently they were remarkable enough for the younger prince to have heard about them.

You let out a groan and rub your free hand over your face, already mortified by your actions that you had no recollection of. Kaeya lets out a laugh.

“Diluc visited you,” He explains, causing you to let out an even louder, more obnoxious groan. You lean forward on the bench, resting your elbow in your knee and cradling your forehead in your uninjured hand.

“Oh gods, what did I say?” You whined. After years of friendship with the younger prince, he had insisted you no longer be so formal with him. Honorifics slipped into your speech on rare occasions, but you generally spoke to Kaeya in the same way you would speak to your friends back home in Springvale.

Kaeya laughs at your theatrics. “Well, you weren’t very nice. You told him to, and I quote, ‘eat shit’ if he wanted to yell at you.”

You let out a noise of horror and Kaeya’s laughter at your embarrassment shakes his whole body. Glancing at him out of the corner of your eye, the younger prince is absolutely delighted in your misery at the situation at hand.

“That’s not all! You also gave him the middle finger!” Kaeya giggles, nudging you as you continue your woeful theatrics. “You didn’t even use the right finger. You were trying to give him the middle finger but you used your pointer finger!”

You want to die. Heat is rising to your face so quickly that you swear you are going to faint. Kaeya pauses as your theatrics die down as you begin to hyperventilate, panicked at the situation at hand. Not only did you tell the crown prince to eat shit, you had also attempted to give him an inflammatory gesture and managed to mess up said gesture. Your career was over, you would become a disgrace to the nation, and, at the worst, you could be thrown in jail for such disrespect to the royal family.

You were a disgrace to the royal throne you swore your life to serve.

Heaving air in and out, you sit up, trying to keep your balance and not pass out from stress. Your eyes brim with tears and Kaeya looks at you in alarm. His hand finds your back, rubbing soothing circles that do little to placate your panic.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay!” He tries to soothe over your worries. “Someone had to tell Diluc that at some point!”

You let out a choked sob, leaning over once more. “T… that doesn’t help,” You whimpered. Kaeya’s blue eyes stare at your hunched over form, his blue irises swimming with regret and distress at your current state.

“Um… my dad found it funny?” Kaeya tries once more. Your sobs only worsen, causing Kaeya to clench his teeth at his own words.

“The king even knows about my irreverent actions?” You cry and Kaeya’s stress upon seeing your own stress only worsens. He wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you in for a side-hug, rubbing his hand up and down on your shoulder in a calming manner. “You’re not in trouble, Diluc’s not mad… anymore, at least.”

Your crying turns into soft sniffles and Kaeya thanks Barbatos that he was able to calm you down. Wiping your tears away with the back of your hand, you let out a shaky sigh.

“I can’t believe I did that,” You breathe and Kaeya lets out a soft, reassuring chuckle.

“We all make mistakes, plus you were on some heavy medication!” He pauses as you look over at him and bites his lip slightly, as if he wants to say something more. You look at him expectantly and he lets out a soft sigh of defeat at your watery eyes pleading for him to continue. “Plus… I think Diluc kinda likes it when you yell at him.”

“You’re gross,” You whine, voice still wet with tears, but you manage out a soft laugh after your words. “No, he doesn’t.” “You’d be surprised about how he feels about you,” Kaeya teases, but you detect faint traces of sincerity and, if you focus hard enough, jealousy. Rather than dwelling on hidden meanings, you elect to take the blue-haired boy’s words at face value, nudging him back and giving him a look of faux disgust before letting out a soft giggle. He laughs and squeezes your shoulder reassuringly. “You’re so much prettier when you laugh, (Y/N)!”

You let out a soft laugh at his words, “Yeah, I’m sure I look spectacular right now.”

---

Diluc spots you from afar, recognizing your familiar figure crouched over windwheel asters in front of the knight’s chambers. He’s perusing the grounds on a routine walk as his bumbling replacement Royal Knight clambers after him in your absence. The replacement knight is lanky and nervous, filling comfortable silence with nervous chatter, despite Diluc’s best attempts to dissuade him from such actions. He’s an archer with barely enough arm strength to pull the bowstring back.

The red-eyed prince would never admit it to anyone, but he missed you. Not only did you make Diluc feel far more secure than the inept oaf that could barely keep up with him, but Diluc also missed your presence. He missed how you would speak with a slight edge to your tone, adding a dual meaning to your respectful words. Diluc missed the challenge you would provide him.

Even if he was on his deathbed, Diluc would never admit how his heart rate quickened and how heat rose to his face when you yelled at him with the disdain he always showed you. He would never admit how worried he was when you immediately passed out after doing so, blood seeping past your haphazardly applied bandages and spilling onto the floor. No, Diluc would never admit how his thoughts over the last two weeks had primarily consisted of you, even though the two of you had not yet spoken.

Diluc wasn’t sure what to make of his thoughts, nor his altered emotions when you were around. Despite the fact that his tempestuous attitude made him detest the way you were constantly on his mind, a larger part of him wished to keep you close and have you serving the throne at his side once again.

The blundering knight catches up to Diluc as the redhead’s brisk pace slows to a halt as he observes you. After an unknown amount of time, the knight clears his throat, snapping Diluc out of his reverie. The redhead watches you for a moment more. His stomach churns as he watches his younger brother approach you, hold you close, and make you laugh.

Diluc isn’t sure what this feeling that’s gnawing away at his stomach is. A part of his brain tells him that it’s obvious, but Diluc denies such obvious truths, knowing he, one of royal blood, would feel such an emotion over a mere commoner and subordinate of his. Watching you with Kaeya, however, brings an immense frustration to the forefront of Diluc’s thoughts. A scowl forms on the crown prince’s face as he whips his head to the direction of the inept fool that’s been assigned to protect him.

“Let’s go,” He snaps. The knight shakily salutes in response, his composure shaken yet again by Diluc’s sour temperament.

---

Two more weeks pass and you’re officially freed from the restrictions placed upon your duties. After passing a clearance test at the Cathedral which resulted in the destruction of multiple training dummies, you were cleared for full duty as a Royal Knight once more. You were thrilled to be free from the chains of the menial labor you had been assigned for the last month and excited to get back to work, but such feelings were also accompanied with unease. You had a pit in your stomach at the thought of going back to serve the prince that you had so blatantly deprecated.

But, nonetheless, you enter Diluc’s chambers, your typical neutral expression adorning your face. The prince looks up from his desk, slightly startled by the intrusion, but a brief smirk crosses over his face at your presence before returning to a stoic expression, almost as if he was mimicking your own. He parts his lips to speak, but before he can, you drop yourself down on one knee, genuflecting in his direction. You don’t make eye contact, electing to stare down at your knee instead.

“Please forgive my spiteful words I uttered upon our last meeting, my liege,” You request, uttering the words you had practiced many times in the mirror this morning while getting ready. “I was not in the right frame of mind.”

Diluc stares down at you, expression unreadable. The silence is nearly unbearable, suffocating you as the tendrils of embarrassment and shame swirl up your legs, around your torso, and settle on your throat before pressing down, choking you of air. You feel a flush of heat rise to your face as the seconds tick on. You’re unsure if the prince is going to speak at all, let alone forgive you, but your doubts are quelled as he clears his throat.

You look up at him to see narrowed crimson hues staring down at you sternly.

“Very well. Do not say such things ever again,” Diluc warns. You jump to your feet and salute in his direction.

“Yes, sir!” You respond and the prince lets out a huff before returning his attention to the papers on his desk once more. You move to stand watch by the door, but the prince clearing his throat once more has you turning around to look at him again.

“Oh, and (Y/N)?” Diluc questions and you brace yourself, ready for him to unload his anger upon you. However, he does no such thing. “I have a meeting at nine with some Sumerian scholars interested in Mondstadt’s alchemic discoveries. Don’t let me be late.” The redhead doesn’t look up, already having begun moving his pen across the papers in front of him once more.

“Understood, sir.” You respond as you reach your typical spot by the door. You bite back a smile as you stand guard.

---

Over the next several months, you notice major changes in Diluc’s demeanor and attitude towards you. The prince is more confident, but in a less suffocating, arrogant manner, but rather a more charming manner. He remains an introvert, but his diplomatic meetings end up with far better results due to him learning to navigate the rough tides of foreign relationships and his mastering of hollow platitudes to placate any overseas dignitaries. He’s no longer a brash and tempestuous presence in the field of international relations, but one made of falsified smiles and foreign appeasement.

For once, you look at Diluc and see not only a prince, but the rightful heir to the throne.

The change isn’t instantaneous, but for Diluc’s personality to have made such a massive change in such a short time, you realize that there must be something the prince is trying to work toward or someone he desires to impress. Despite being at his side for almost his entire day, from when he starts work in the morning to when he retires to his chambers at night, you aren’t entirely sure what his motivation is.

You figure it’s likely something his father said to him, due to their frequent meetings you aren’t present for. Even from your earliest days working as Diluc’s bodyguard, you could tell he valued his familial relationships above all else. While he often remained hot-tempered with Kaeya, his relationship with his father was amicable and one Diluc cherished. From the few times you had been in King Crepus’s presence, the king had showcased what the throne of Mond should stand for; he put the freedom of his constituents first and reigned only to ensure order and protection for the people within Mond.

Your few interactions with the king had such a positive impact on you that they, along with your father’s actions, spurred you to join the Royal Knights. You could only imagine what type of influence the king’s constant presence had on Diluc.

Most noticeably of all, however, was Diluc’s attitude towards you. He was no Kaeya in terms of charm nor friendliness, but silences between the two of you were no longer forced and neither was conversation. The crown prince was more attentive to which types of conversation seemed to genuinely interest you, as compared to forced small talk. He also understood that silence wasn’t a form of punishment, nor did it signal that he was angry.

You wonder if he changed due to your conversation at the infirmary. Diluc lectured you less, sent less scornful looks your way, and insulted your skills less frequently. The changes had been so subtle that you hadn’t noticed how Diluc had blurred the lines between being a person whom you guard only due to obligation to someone you would protect without hesitation until the two of you browse Mondstadt’s yearly winter market together.

Diluc’s carmine irises glint with the reflection of the white Christmas lights adorning the square as he peered into the windows of a bakery. He seems quietly enraptured by a miniature palace that sat in the center of the cakes and other delicacies, made out of gingerbread. As you turn to look around at everyone else, ever vigilant, you notice the prince suddenly snap his gaze away from the display and look around wide-eyed.

You begin to reach for the hilt of your sword that rests on your back, but you freeze when Diluc’s vision stabilizes on you. His stance relaxes and the redhead offers you a small smile before waving for you to come over. You drop your hand that now rests on the hilt of your blade to your side and begin to walk over, watching as Diluc stares at you in slight confusion before letting out a soft laugh.

At that moment, you realize something that fourteen-year-old you would have loathed you for saying: you would call Prince Diluc a friend.

“Have you ever had gingerbread before?” Diluc asks, turning his gaze from you to read the label underneath the castle.

You nod your head. “It’s made with um… cinnamon… cloves… not sure what else, but the gingerbread in the window’s probably crunchy and… not really sweet? It relies on the taste of the spices within it, not sugar.”

The prince looks thoughtfully at the gingerbread palace once more. “I know what gingerbread is, but do people really eat these… ornate structures?” His tone is confused, but sincere. You let out a soft laugh of amusement. The old Diluc would have interpreted it as an act of derision, but current Diluc simply awaits your answer.

“Oh, that’s a tradition to put them into houses and buildings and such, but you can also shape it into little gingerbread men. Those are my favorite! Typically the smaller decorations are eaten first, but people don’t really eat the big houses,” You elaborate, excited to talk about the desserts as you also ogle the gingerbread display. Diluc looks at you halfway through your speech and smiles softly at your warm tone, pleased to have evoked such a reaction from you.

“Wait out here,” Diluc orders and, before you can protest, the crown prince slips into the shop, the bells on its door chiming softly as he enters. You stand by the door, your gaze moving from peering through the glass at Diluc to watching the commoners walk by. Only a few moments later, the bells chime once again as Diluc exits. A small paper bag is in his hand and he opens it up.

“Hold out your hand,” He orders in a sharp tone while looking into the bag. You comply, flattening your hand and holding it in front of you. Diluc plops a small gingerbread man in your hand. “It reminded me of you.”

The cookie is a traditional knight dressed in armor and is decorated with royal purple frosting and a white sword in its left hand. You stare at it for a moment, before a wide grin breaks out on your face, shattering your aloof expression.

“Thank you,” You murmur softly. Diluc’s cheeks flush red at your praise, but you attribute such a change in his appearance to be caused by the temperature change from exiting the warm building.

---

Diluc, you have come to find, is easily distracted by storefronts. Even his stoic demeanor cannot hide the childlike awe in his eyes when he sees something interesting in a window display. He’s dragged you in and out of numerous stores after being enraptured by objects in the windows. It’s bad enough that the both of you are now carrying bags of various trinkets he’s purchased with his seemingly limitless funds. Diluc, you note, doesn’t seem to get out much.

While you enjoy the chance to shop and explore Mondstadt’s seasonal festivities, you do not enjoy the snowfall that coats your hair and uniform as you wait outside each shop, standing watch. Despite being bundled up in layers, you’re still cold from standing still for so long.

Diluc exits yet another shop and stifles a yawn. “I believe I should head back now. It’s getting late,” He mutters and you simply nod in response, following his lead as he begins to walk back to the castle. The two of you walk in silence as the chatter of Mondstadt’s civilians and the crunching of your shoes on freshly fallen snow fill the gaps.

After a few minutes of trying to hold it in, you can’t help but shiver at the cold. You feel a bit of heat rise to your face, embarrassed that a knight of your stature is shivering due to cold, and it only multiplies as Diluc suddenly stops next to you.

“Are you cold?” The redhead asks, his gaze intense.

“No,” You lie, shaking your head. His eyes narrow.

“Take my scarf,” He orders, but you shake your head once more.

“I couldn’t possibly do such a thing,” You refuse politely, but Diluc isn’t having any of it.

“You’re cold, therefore take the scarf,” His explanation is rough and laced with the typical tone of annoyance you’re all too familiar with. He begins to unwind his scarf from around his neck.

“It’s my duty to ensure your comfort,” You protest. “Therefore, you keep the scarf as you should stay warm.”

“It would make me more comfortable if you wore the scarf instead.” Diluc argues and you swear you see his eye twitch slightly. “Plus, what kind of prince would I be if I let my constituents suffer on my behalf?”

Bullseye. He knew right where to hit you, despite his irate and annoyed tone. That bastard knew to appeal to your sense of honor in order to get you to do something. Begrudgingly, you hold out your hand to take the scarf, but before you can stop him, Diluc’s stepping close to you and wrapping the scarf around your neck for you. He forms two loose loops around your neck and you can feel his breath on your face as he looks at your neck. The prince’s leather-gloved fingertips brush against your neck as he adjusts the scarf and you watch his eyes narrow slightly in concentration as he fixes the scarf.

“There,” He almost sneers upon deciding that the scarf’s placement was adequate enough. “Now was that so hard?” Without waiting for your response, the prince turns and continues walking back to the castle. You pause for a moment, flustered, before jogging after him slightly to catch up.

The two of you continue your walk in silence, but the warmth of the scarf does nothing to eliminate the chill of the blade strapped to your back, reminding you that your and Diluc’s relationship is no more than one of contractual obligation.

---

Diluc’s kind behavior lasts for about two more years. The prince, now twenty, departs Mondstadt’s capital for three weeks, without you by his side. Diluc is now under protection of the king’s guards and a squadron of the Knights of Favonius as his father accompanies him on the journey to Fontaine, meaning that you get an extended vacation from your royal duties. You visit your home in Springvale during this break, aching to get back to work as the lack of activities slowly begins to drive you mad.

Your birthday occurs within this break period and, much to your surprise, a bouquet of red carnations is delivered to your doorstep as a gift from the prince himself. Diluc had never done such a gesture before and you ignore the way your heart beats a tad bit faster as you read the note settled amidst the beautiful, deep carmine blossoms. You recognize Diluc’s penmanship instantly as you spot the words ‘Happy birthday, (Y/N).’ sprawled across the card.

You smile softly to yourself and tuck the card back into the bouquet before admiring the blossoms. Brushing your fingers over the petals with a featherlight touch, you opt to set the vase on your dining room table rather than admire it for much longer. You’re certain a bouquet such flowers, considered exotic in Mondstadt, costs more than double your paycheck. You do not wish to dwell on such a thought for too long.

When your mother arrives home later that night, she pops her head into your room to say hello, a knowing smirk gracing her features.

“Who sent the flowers?” She asks in an amused tone as you bookmark the page of the book in your hands and close it in order to pay full attention to her. “Are you dating someone that I don’t know about?”

“Yuck, that’s weird,” You let out a soft laugh. “No, they were sent by the prince for my birthday.”

“Prince Diluc or Prince Kaeya?” Your mother asks, a mixture of surprise and concern in her voice.

“Prince Diluc,” You clarify, raising your eyebrows at her tone. “Why?”

“Red carnations have an… interesting meaning,” Your mother, a florist, explains. “...Interesting birthday gift.” You shrug off her implication and open up your book again, not wanting to hear your mother’s crazy theories about meanings of the flower bouquet.

“He probably just picked them because he likes the color red. Don’t sweat it too much,” You say absentmindedly, the pages of your book already drawing you back into reading. Your mother giggles, excusing herself from the conversation as she trots down the hallway.

For your own sanity, you choose not to dwell on her words. You planned to thank Diluc for his kindness

---

The nation is in mourning.

Diluc had returned last night, bloodied and traumatized, from his trip to Fontaine. Alongside of him, only half of the Royal Knight and Knight of Favonius combined unit that accompanied the royal family returned as well. The most notable absence, however, was King Crepus himself. Rumors immediately spread like wildfire, ranging from the idea of Diluc having killed the king to seize the throne all the way to a Fatui attack on the royal family. You’re doubtful that such outlandish notions are true.

The official declaration the following day proves you to be correct; the palace announces that the royal caravan had been attacked by a dragon, resulting in King Crepus’ death, the death of seven Royal Knights, and the death of three Knights of Favonius. Even the typically lively center of Springvale is no louder than a quiet whisper the following day as the nation grieves the loss of its leader and loyal knights.

Your heart hurts for both of the princes, knowing how difficult it is to lose a parent. You can only imagine how much harder it is when their next moves and responses to their father’s death will only become fodder for royal gossip. The throne, which you had sworn to protect, was now vacant, but such an event had been out of your hands. You hadn’t been allowed to accompany the royal family on their journey and, without a vision, you would have likely been killed if you had gone anyways.

However, upon the palace’s announcement of the king’s death, it was also announced that Prince Diluc would not immediately be crowned due to “unforeseen stipulations” King Crepus had left behind in his will. This information, of course, immediately became gossip amongst the townsfolk, ranging from Diluc needing to find a bride before marrying to ideas that Diluc needed to obtain an Anemo vision before being allowed to lead the nation. You were wary about such ideas and figured Diluc had prepared for whatever requirements his father had left for him.

Three days after the death of King Crepus, each Royal Knight, including yourself, receives orders that they no longer work at the palace. Ordo Favonius takes over these claims, allowing any Royal Knight to join their ranks. You want to believe that Diluc wouldn’t just shut you out like this, but you know better. Diluc never wanted any Royal Knights by his side and, after his father’s death due to a lack of adequate knights, certainly wouldn’t want a visionless personal guard. You had almost died fighting an Abyss Mage, for archon’s sake. How would you be able to protect Diluc from a dragon?

The death of his father meant the end of your contract with the prince. You knew this would happen one day. You ignore the feelings of sadness that blossom in your chest at such a thought, contributing them to the (hopefully) temporary end of the Royal Knights as an organization. Your sadness is not over your lack of connection with the elder prince, you tell yourself, but rather grief over the career path you had sworn to follow upon finishing training.

Once Diluc sets his mind to something, it’s almost impossible to sway him from such thoughts. Therefore, ignoring the clenching of your heart, you sign away your future to the Knights of Favonius and agree to participate in a training assessment in order to determine your new title and which sector you would join the ranks of within Ordo Favonius.

Your only regret about the time with the Knights is that you did not have a chance to say goodbye to either prince.

---

A week later, you receive your placement within the Knights of Favonius. Despite your lack of expertise in such an area, you had been appointed to the Cavalry Unit within the Knights of Favonius ranks. You weren’t unfamiliar with a horse; you had scored highly on your cavalry usage exams in training. However, you hadn’t ridden one since your appointment to the Royal Knights.

Upon your arrival to your first day of your new position, you learned you weren’t the only new face within the unit. Five other Royal Knights had been placed within the Cavalry Unit as well. Most shocking of all, however, was the the appointment of a new Cavalry Captain, especially since the knight chosen for the position was none other than Prince Kaeya himself.

The blue-haired prince, now sporting an eyepatch and a cryo vision, looked equally as confused to see you as you were to see him. Rather than sporting his typical jovial attitude, he simply nodded his acknowledgement of your presence. Kaeya was your superior now, after all, meaning he couldn’t showcase favoritism. The prince announced a few changes to the cavalry unit. First, you were to address Kaeya as ‘captain’ and not ‘prince’. Second, the cavalry unit would focus on securing Mondstadt’s perimeter, along with the perimeter of any outer villages as needed. Thirdly, the point Kaeya elaborated the least on, there was to be no talk of the royal family unless essential to the tasks at hand.

As he finishes his speech, you salute and chant your understanding with your new comrades. You can’t help but wonder why Kaeya now wears said eyepatch and why he has a new vision. Despite you having seen him a month ago, the blue-eyed boy now seems lightyears away from you, as if he was sand falling through the cracks of your hands without you even realizing.

---

Two years pass and, due to your work ethic in comparison to other Cavalry Unit members, you ascend in the ranks of your unit. Being one of the top five members of the thirty member unit meant that you and Kaeya spent more time together. You slowly watched as the blue-haired man began to revert to the boy he once was, but he never fully regressed to his childlike state. For starters, Kaeya is far more secretive than he used to be, electing to use little white lies to avoid conflict and any deep, meaningful conversations. There is a profound sadness that mars his powerful stature that wasn’t there before.

In the words he does exchange with you, his brother is never mentioned. The thought of bringing such a topic up to Kaeya makes your tongue heavy, the words remaining unspoken. Instead, Kaeya elects to talk about easily digestible topics in brief phases, such as small talk about the weather, unimportant chatter about military gossip, and hushed conversations about current trends in Mondstadt.

Kaeya has plunged himself into a self-imposed exile within the icy waters of his mind and you lack the proper equipment to save him. You can only watch as he disappears into the salty blue depths of anguish from the safety of the shore, unsure how to lend a helping hand. You are crafted from the sharp blades of swords, untrained in the studies of alchemical healing.

The blue-haired prince’s spirits only rise in the spirits of others, namely the ones sold by Angel’s Share. Every Friday night, as a mandatory “team bonding” activity, Kaeya and the four other highest ranking members of the Cavalry Unit, which unfortunately includes you, collectively go to Angel’s Share and get absolutely wasted, making blubbering fools of themselves. Tonight, just like every other Friday night, you can tell when Kaeya’s on his third drink as he begins to ramble about the history of Angel’s Share. He noisily explains how Angel’s Share is the legendary bar founded by the first King of Mondstadt before he had obtained the throne. During this time period, you slip a few spare mora to the poor waitress having to deal with your rowdy group who will inevitably throw the bill of tonight’s drunken activities on the backs of taxpayers.

You spend your evening nursing a glass of grape juice, wary eyes darting around the room in an analytical habit you had picked up from your job years prior. Old habits die hard after all. You watch as the first two fellow unit members excuse themselves the bar, deciding to stumble out before they could completely disgrace themselves.

It isn’t until Kaeya’s sixth glass of Death After Noon that the rest of the unit calls it quits, wobbling their way back home. One glance at the prince has you signaling to the bartender to cut the prince’s supply off. You stand up and walk over to Kaeya, who suddenly looks elated that you’re here.

“(Y/N)! My favorite!” Kaeya exclaims from his seat, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug and forcing you to rest your hand on the table for balance. “You came for my birthday party!”

“It’s not your birthday, Captain,” You respond. Your heart clenches at his carefree tone, reminded of your teenage years with the boy. The smell of his alcohol-laden breath dispels such naively hopeful notions and you push yourself out of his loosened grip. “Alright, it’s time to go home.”

“Home?” Kaeya asks, his revealed iris glistening with confusion. “Why? It’s not fun there… the party’s here!” The prince is pliable as you hoist him up and swing his arm around your shoulder, clutching onto his waist for support. Archons, the prince was heavy. You take a small step and, despite the alcohol fuzzing his brain, Kaeya seems to understand and stumbles alongside of you.

Once again, you are no more than a glorified babysitter.

You fish the bag of mora Kaeya brought with him out of his back pocket and the prince giggles as you unceremoniously toss the bag out on the table and drag him out of the bar. The two of you walk in silence for a few minutes before Kaeya begins to chant your name over and over. Despite your annoyance, you decide to indulge him.

“What.” Your words lack any form of sincerity, embittered with the situation at hand. Kaeya reaches over and pokes your cheek with a free hand.

“I miss you, y’know?” Kaeya croons, before he smiles with watery eyes. “All the time. You’re always on my mind.”

Oh Barbatos, here we go, you think. You had encountered the prince while intoxicated numerous times before, but never before this had he directed his sappiness in your direction.

“Y’know why?” He teases, slurring his words slightly. You continue to trudge on in silence, shifting him slightly to try to make it easier to carry him along. Kaeya frowns at your silence. “Guess why!” His words are a demand and you have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. Any chivalrous respect you had for Prince Kaeya was now absolutely demolished, due to both his public intoxication and the comforting fact that he wouldn’t remember any of this conversation in the morning.

“Why?” You ask unenthusiastically, knowing he won’t leave you alone until you do so.

“Because I’m in love with you, silly! I’ve been in love with you since we were sixteen,” At his confession, you almost drop him. Your blood runs cold, but you trudge on nonetheless. An oath to protect the royal family persists even if one drunkenly confesses their love to you. Your heart clenches with pain for Kaeya, wishing you could have realized his feelings sooner. Maybe it would have alleviated some of the pain he carries each day and tries to wash away through copious amounts of liquor.

He burps loudly and lets out a bitter laugh. “You’re so… so pretty. And strong! But… he fancied you first! I can’t compete…” The man trails off, seemingly losing track of what he’s saying, stumbling through his words. “I can’t compete with royal blood.”

Your hand slips off his waist and the two of you are sent tumbling into the ground as Kaeya’s arm around your shoulder drags you down with him.

---

Your legs are shaking from exertion as you guide Kaeya through the darkened hallways of the castle, softly shushing him and pulling him closer to you each time he tries to twist away from your grip to cause drunken havoc on the hallway decorations. His free hand trails across the stone walls as he giggles at their texture, having forgotten all about his woeful, self-pitying cries from earlier. As you round the corner to enter the hallway consisting of the chambers of both princes, Kaeya’s quiet amusement with the ornate tapestries that adorn the walls stops.

“We’re home!” Kaeya yells and you immediately shush him, absolutely terrified of waking up a certain redhead.

The corridor reeks of familiarity, nearly suffocating you with nostalgia for simpler, happier times. The decorations have barely changed, aside from a new vase by the door to Kaeya’s room.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you around here, (Y/N)!” Kaeya cheers and you shush him once more, silently pleading with Barbatos to shut the blue-haired prince up. If anyone nearby was unaware of your disgraceful return to the palace grounds, they certainly knew now. His voice drops in volume a bit, still far too loud for this time of night, but better than his raucous hollering as the two of you approach his door. "Would you like to come in, my fair lady? I know many ways to pleasure a woman."

You’ve sacrificed every Friday night for far too long for Prince Kaeya. You love him while he’s sober, but now? You absolutely despise his drunken antics.

"The only pleasure I'll get tonight is finally being able to get rid of your drunken ass," you finally snap, nearly dropping Kaeya once more in mortification at your own words. You couldn't speak to a prince so callously, especially when you were stone-cold sober.

Kaeya pauses before throwing himself into a fit of drunken laughter. "You're so cute but you're so mean, (Y/N)!"

You ignore his antics, realizing the best course of action is to get the rowdy prince in his room where he can scream to his heart’s content. You turn the knob of the door and shove Kaeya into the room, causing him to let out a nervous giggle.

“You’re coming in?” He exclaims and lets out a gasp of surprise. “But wait, I’m shy!” He throws his hand dramatically to his forehead, pretending to faint as the back of his palm lightly brushes it. You let out a loud grunt as the dumb bastard son of a bitch motherfucker drops the entirety of his weight on you. Unable to support him any longer, the prince falls to the ground next to you and laughs. You finally understand why the young bartender at Cat’s Tail hates drunk people so much.

“Captain, get up,” You order, exhaustion creeping into your tone. You prod his stomach lightly with your foot as the drunken prince lets out a groan in response. He closes his eye, ready to fall asleep on the ground, but you manage to muster the last of your strength to pick him up bridal-style. After you rush over to his bed, you unceremoniously drop him on his plush mattress.

Your job is now done. You could strip his clothing down to make him more comfortable while sleeping, but you’re not sure if you can muster the energy to do so. Such an action is beyond the new jurisdiction of your duties as a Knight of Favonius. Plus, you’re fairly sure you’d never be able to look Kaeya in the eye again if you did do such a thing.

“Wait, my loyal knight,” Kaeya drunkenly slurs as you turn to leave his chambers. You bite back a sigh of defeat and turn to look at him with a blank expression. Internally, you’re trying to calm yourself down, utterly frustrated with the situation at hand. “Come here.”

When a prince calls for you, you unfortunately have to listen. You trudge over to Kaeya and place a hand on your hip, looking down at him. The prince shuffles around on his bed as he clumsily sits up, leaning on the headboard for support. You open your mouth to ask him what he needs, but before you can utter the words, Kaeya heaves forward and disperses the contents of his stomach all over your uniform before falling back into his pillows, passed out.

You are speechless as you look down at your clothing, now stained with the deep red-purple hues of the copious amounts of wine Kaeya had ingested earlier in the evening. Biting back the urge to throw up in return, especially as you feel the fabric of your clothes begin to dampen against your skin. You quickly ensure the prince is asleep before quite literally tearing off your soiled pants in disgust.

Despite the oath of fealty that bound you to your job, you briefly considered threatening to quit after tonight unless you got a raise. Now, you were pantless and soon-to-be shirtless due to the sheer incapability of being able to handle somebody else’s body fluids against your skin. Your eyes darted over to Kaeya’s closet and a lightbulb went off in your head.

---

You had taken one of the younger prince’s spare uniforms in his closet and left him a nicely written note explaining the situation. Rather than saying that he threw up on you, you simply wrote that your outfit had been torn while carrying him back to the palace. Some facts, you believed, were best left as secrets. The fabric bunched over your shoulders as you adjusted it to the best of your capabilities, trying to get the odd size to fit your figure properly as you silently cursed Kaeya for having such broad shoulders.

Wrapping your now shredded and sullied uniform into a ball and tucking it under your arm, you made sure Kaeya was asleep once more before stealthily sneaking your way to the door. In a way, you felt like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, except the poor only consisted of yourself. It is not stealing if you give the uniform back upon request, you tell yourself as you quietly creak open the door. As you make your escape, you turn to face the door as you close it, gently pulling it towards you and holding onto the doorknob to ensure that the noise of the door settling into place would be quiet as possible.

The last thing you wanted was for a drunken Kaeya to wake back up and force you to read him a bedtime story. As the door settles into place, you let out a sigh of relief, only to hear someone clear their throat behind you. Your eyes widen in humiliation and fear and your shoulders cringe upwards as you stare at the door in front of you. Scratch that, this was the last thing you wanted. Rather than let it become any more awkward, you let out a soft breath and settle your expression into your typical stoic one before whirling around to face your fate.

In this instance, your fate is for your eyes to meet the familiar crimson-hued ones that you had not seen in years. Dressed in an ornate, stealthy black and white outfit, the man looks far older than when you had last seen him, as if the last two years had been incredibly hard on him. You had no doubt that they were. You watch as his eyes widen in both recognition and surprise as you fix your posture. A flash of hurt crosses his expression before his expression mimics your own neutral one and the two of you simply stare at each other for a few moments, unsure of what to make of the conversation.

You notice Diluc’s claymore is strapped to his back and he has a fresh bruise forming on his cheekbone. You don’t dare ask what happened to him. It’s no longer your place to worry over him, but you can’t help it as his irises glimmer with sadness upon seeing you. Despite his neutral face, his eyes shine with emotion, as if he’s heartbroken to see you.

“Uh, hello, sir,” You greet, breaking the silence as you try to gather your composure. You offer him a salute, trying your best to keep your arm from shaking in both anxiety and exhaustion.

“Hello..” Diluc echoes absentmindedly, as if his mind is elsewhere. He quickly seems to recollect his bearings as his eyes scan you up and down. “Did you two have a fun night?”

His tone is unreadable and, if coming from anyone else, you would assume his words to be a joke. You let out a nervous laugh and Diluc’s eyebrows raise slightly at the uncharacteristic noise. A gut feeling tells you to choose your next words carefully. Upon your silence, Diluc’s eyes narrow slightly.

“You are wearing his garments. It does not take a genius to figure out what the two of you were doing together,” He explains, his voice devoid of emotion. A wave of heat rises to your cheeks and you are thankful for the low hallway lighting as it helps hide your embarrassment.

“Oh, um…” You trail off, breaking eye contact with the redhead as you look down at your outfit. “It’s not like that. He… he threw up on me.” Your words are unconvincing. Despite you knowing the truth, your nerves make it sound as if you’re pulling lies out of thin air to cover yourself. Diluc, of course, notices such a thing as he echoes your words.

“...He threw up on you?” The elder prince repeats, disbelief coating his words as he narrows his eyes at you.

“Yes, my prince,” You confirm. Diluc seems unsettled by your verbal formalities, but you carry on nonetheless. “He indulged in a few… too many drinks at Angel’s Share. As his subordinate, I felt as if it was in my duties to bring him back to the palace. He then proceeded to… release the contents of his stomach onto my uniform. If you do not believe my words, sir, you can… look at the uniform…” You hold out the balled up uniform in front of you and the stench alone is enough to make Prince Diluc’s nose scrunch up.

“I believe you, (Y/N).” He responds after a moment of contemplation. Diluc goes quiet once more, but you still stand at the ready, not having been dismissed from the conversation. “How… how often does this happen?”

Diluc’s gaze tears away from you. He looks nervous to be asking such a question. You’re not quite sure what he’s implying with his seemingly loaded question. “If I may request for you to do so, could you please clarify your query, my prince?” You ask as his stoic expression returns and he stands up straight, having collected his thoughts.

“How often does Kaeya inconvenience you with his immature drunkenness?” Diluc asks, rubbing his hand over his jaw in exasperation. It’s unclear as to whether he’s exasperated with Kaeya or with you. Diluc’s eyebrows furrow in thought as he awaits your answer.

You think your answer over. Lying to the king-to-be definitely wouldn’t be ideal, but it would help Kaeya. You weren’t sure what was going on with Kaeya, but you knew he was hurting. The blue-haired boy you once knew would have turned his nose up at alcohol. Now, he was damaged enough to have turned to it as a coping mechanism. You are no fool; you see the way Kaeya cringes if there are too many candles lighting up the room each morning.

However, Diluc clearly cared enough about the situation to ask and a part of you was chanting to throw Kaeya under the bus for throwing up on you. You would just be issued another uniform and it was not as if you did not have a spare one in your closet. Plus, Kaeya’s problem was spiraling out of control.

“Once a week,” You answer. “Every Friday. Normally, the prince can make it back by himself, but I am typically relegated to being the sober official of the Knights of Favonius in fear that they’ll trash the place without any supervision.”

Diluc lets out a sigh. He turns around and begins to move back around. “I’ll see to it that such behavior of his is fixed. Dismissed.” The prince waves you off with a dismissive hand and you watch as he enters his chambers, the door closing softly behind him. In return, you walk out of the palace with your head held high, rather pleased with the way the conversation went considering the circumstances Diluc had found you in.

A small part of your heart twists at such an uneventful reunion, as if you had expected something more. You shake your head to try to eliminate such thoughts. You had merely been Prince Diluc’s subordinate, nothing more. Taking the compromising position Diluc had found you in, he had been more than fair to hear your explanation out and to even go so far as to offer to assist you with your troubles. It was your duty to serve the throne and not his duty to serve you, so why did part of you want more?

---

Diluc's definition of fixing Kaeya's behavior is, in fact, not to speak to kaeya about his behavior. Kaeya is none the wiser about his own actions as well, simply issuing a new uniform and a muttered apology about how you had to deal with his behavior. Unfortunately, you aren’t off the hook for the typical Friday night rendezvous at Angel’s Share. You begin to wonder if Diluc had forgotten his words to you as everything seems to be returning to normal. In fact, he probably didn’t care. He just said that to get you off his back, you tell yourself. It was probably too much of a nuisance to readjust Kaeya’s behavior, especially when Kaeya was so far up in the Ordo Favonius’s hierarchy of soldiers.

A visionless soldier like you was dispensable, but a strong prince with a cryo vision was not. Therefore, it only made sense for the Knights and Diluc to prioritize Kaeya’s comfort over your own.

The following Friday rolls around and you finally encounter your first change. As you arrive to early morning training, Kaeya tells you that the Acting Grand Master, Jean, wishes to speak with you. Having given up on Diluc enacting any possible changes to your regiment, you’re baffled as Jean hands you a set of new orders. Confusion is written on her face as well.

“You’re the only one with new orders,” Jean had told you. You weren’t sure if she was supposed to tell you that, but you figured she hoped you would have some explanation. “Especially orders as… odd as these.”

Her words make you actually read the piece of paper in your hands, rather than respectfully waiting until you left to do so.

“Oh,” The word tumbles out of your lips before you can stop it as you gape at the paper like a fish. You have been ordered, directly from the desk of King-to-be Diluc Ragnvindr, to return to the palace to be the elder prince’s royal bodyguard once more. You meet Jean’s expectant gaze with a look of confusion.

“If I may be so brave as to ask, do you know why you have been given such orders? Prince Diluc has been kind of… avoidant when it comes to the Knights as of late.” Jean asks. Her voice is kind like always, but you note a hint of curiosity within it. You can’t help her for being nosy.

“I was his bodyguard once before but..?” You shrug, not really knowing the answer. “He found me last week after Prince Kaeya threw up on me, but I doubt such a thing would have led to such a drastic change.”

Jean’s eyes light up in faint recognition and she softly smiles. “Oh, you were the bodyguard? That makes a bit more sense…” She trails off, lost in thought. “Hm, but such a rearrangement would only happen if he was preparing to… Never mind that, you said Prince Kaeya vomited? On you?”

You feel heat rise up to your cheeks as you nod. “Prince Kaeya is… not quite aware that he performed such… actions while intoxicated, so I would appreciate it if you could keep this a secret between us.”

The Acting Grand Master’s eyes shine with amusement and she lets out a soft, chime-like laugh. “Of course. Your secret is safe with me.”

You begin to walk out of Jean’s office, but freeze in your tracks. “I have one more question, if you don’t mind me asking,” You say. Jean nods for you to continue. “Why did Diluc choose me to be his bodyguard and not somebody with a vision?”

Jean lets out a melodic giggle, her blonde ponytail shaking as she does so. “I have my guesses, but I believe that’s only something the prince himself can answer.”

You nod in response, looking back down at your orders. “Thank you, Acting Grand Master.”

---

“You’re late,” A familiar voice admonishes you as you enter the throne room of the palace. It is a familiar room you had long since given up hope on ever seeing again, with gleaming gold and green accents adorning its stained glass windows. The room holds an intimidating yet freeing aura, but in your eyes, the most threatening thing in the ornate hall is not the gilded throne nor the massive marble statue of Barbatos, but rather Prince Diluc, who stands at the bottom of the steps that lead up to the throne.

Diluc adjusts his black gloves, ones you hadn’t seen him wear before, as he awaits for you to meet him in the center of the room. The click of your uniform’s boots against the tile and the soft clinking of your sheathed sword against your belt fills the room, reverberating through the open space as the sounds fill the silent void between you and Diluc.

“My apologies, my prince,” You state, bowing in respect. Diluc stares at you with an unreadable expression.

“You always were the type for formalities,” He muses almost wistfully, but catches himself and clears his throat. “Nonetheless, such impropriety will not be viewed upon well in the future.”

You stand up straight and salute him. “Understood, sir.”

Amusement dances in Diluc’s carmine irises as your gesture. “Welcome back, (Y/N).” He says, holding out a hand for you to shake. You shake his hand firmly, appreciative to see his amiability had not disappeared in your absence. As you drop his hand, Diluc seems to sense the unspoken question that rests on your tongue.

“There are no other Royal Knights yet. I do not trust any other knights to be capable of doing their jobs,” Diluc explains briefly before moving past you and out of the throne room, beckoning for you to follow. You fall in line alongside him, listening as he details your duties. For a moment, you’re seventeen and naive again, wondering what happened to the previous impression you had of the prince.

---

Two months pass and, in many ways, it's as if you had never left. Yet, the man you are designated to guard is more reserved with those around him, but the bluntness with his emotions remains. If Diluc isn’t happy with a situation, he’s not one to hide it, except for the sake of diplomacy. Despite not sharing blood with his brother, the two of them hold the same sadness in their shoulders when no one is watching, burdened by the secrets of the world. You stare at Diluc far more often than you do his younger brother, justifying such actions with your duties in an attempt to ignore the fact that you find the elder prince easy on the eyes.

Diluc looks at you too. When your duty is to observe, you tend to pick up on things quickly, especially the long glances Diluc sends your way when your attention is elsewhere. Your thoughts often consist of the secrets Kaeya had divulged to you in his drunken state, but you shove such nonsense out of your head. Kaeya had no place to speak on Diluc’s behalf and you determined that he was likely only projecting his own insecurities on Diluc. A selfish part of you still yearned for Kaeya’s words to be true each time you would notice the elder prince’s gaze to be upon you, but your duty prevailed over all. Unable to pinpoint why you felt this way, you would simply stare straight ahead, acting oblivious to Diluc’s gaze.

The distance between the two of you closes, both physically and emotionally. Diluc stays close enough to you that your elbows brush against each other while walking and you contribute such actions to Diluc being nervous after his father’s death. He’s much more touchy, reaching out to you with subtle gestures to make sure you’re near, rather than verbally reassuring your distance. If the two of you are outside the palace grounds and the prince is distracted by something, he’ll reach out to ensure that you’re still close.

If you aren’t nearby, Diluc will snap out of whatever daze he’s in and look around frantically for you, as if you had disappeared into thin air. The sheer panic in his eyes has taught you to stay close to him.

Diluc values your opinion. Previously, when he would have suffered in silence, the two of you have small conversations about issues he may be facing in his life, such as how to deal with a petulant Fontaine diplomat who doesn’t know how to take the word “no” as an answer. Diluc enjoys the new perspective you bring to the table, but he doesn’t let you in much farther. For his heaviest burdens, Diluc elects to keep to himself.

For that reason, you do not ask about his brother. You only provide your condolences on the day of his father’s death and make yourself available if he needs you.

---

Six months into your new appointment under Diluc, you finally gather the courage to ask a question you have desired to ask since your first day. You bite your lip slightly as you drop your gaze from guarding the door and instead flicker your gaze over to Diluc, who is sitting in a red velvet armchair by the crackling fireplace. The two of you are within the spacious area of his father’s study, soon to be his own, but such a room is still rather unfamiliar to you. The unknown territory of the room pushes you to move the unknown territory of the question you desire to ask.

“Um, sir?” You ask, uncharacteristically nervous. Diluc’s eyes immediately break away from the pages of his book, startled by you speaking. Normally, Diluc was the one to initiate conversation.

“Yes, (Y/N)?” He asks patiently and you feel heat rise to your face once more. Why are you flustered? you ask yourself as Diluc gazes at you intensely, awaiting your words with earnest.

“Apologies if I’m… overstepping by asking,” You begin and a flash of worry briefly crosses the prince’s face before he raises his eyebrows in intrigue. “But… why have you not ascended to the throne yet?”

The prince flushes a deep scarlet. He fumbles slightly with the book in his hands and looks down at it nervously. Such bashfulness is uncharacteristic of him, but then again, being so forthright was abnormal for you. Had you overstepped boundaries? Nervousness begins to claw at your stomach and climb up your throat, but the feelings are quickly quelled as Diluc clears his throat and smiles softly down at his book, trying to gather his bearings before responding.

The prince looks at you, but fails to make eye contact. “My father was a bit… peculiar in the guidelines I must follow in order to become king.” His fingers tap lightly on the cover of his book as he lets out a soft sigh, clearly unnerved by your question, but not wanting to make much of it. The prince is now twenty-three. Surely you could not have been the first person to ask him such a question?

“Oh,” You respond quickly. “I apologize if I overstepped any boundaries. Thank you for your answer, my prince.” A stoic expression quickly plasters itself on your face as you retreat back into yourself and Diluc’s eyebrows furrow at your reaction.

“It was not a bothersome question, just one I… had not been expecting, that’s all,” Diluc says, reading directly into the way you had closed yourself off. He notices the way your posture relaxes at such a statement and his eyes soften. “A few others are aware of the stipulations, so there is no such way I can circumvent them.”

“Ah,” You murmur before speaking once more. “Are the conditions to become king difficult?”

Diluc finally meets your eyes, a wistful look on his face. “They aren’t. I am just… not quite sure if the timing is right or how to broach the subject of them.” His voice is barely above a low rumble, but you hear him perfectly.

Your heart clenches at his words. You don’t know why.

---

Diluc’s twenty-fourth birthday rolls around and, when compared to every prior birthday of his in the past, the palace is ablaze with life. Mond’s economy had taken a slight downturn in its luxury goods market and Diluc had agreed to help bolster the industry by hosting a diplomatic birthday of sorts. Invite the richest people within Teyvat to explore Mondstadt and all its palace has to offer, conveniently place luxury goods within the vicinity, and the markets for said items are guaranteed to increase in demand. Diluc had explained all of this to you, including going in depth on the economics, and ordered you to put together a temporary unit of knights to serve as security at the party.

Such merriment and festivities would not lead to joy for you, but rather more work hours and stress. Assembling a team of competent enough fighters was difficult enough. Many within the Knights of Favonius were kind, but easily influenced, meaning that they were untrustworthy to leave within the realms of foreign dignitaries and prying eyes. Ultimately, you had settled on a trustworthy team of twenty core knights, all assigned to different positions within the ballroom. Some were framed as servers, some were framed as partygoers, and others would simply be required to wear their knight uniforms and guard the entrances and exits.

Despite security being a massive event, the biggest outlier was not the people who would be attending the party, but outsiders wishing to take advantage of such important people congregated in a single event. For that reason, all other knights were stationed within other parts of the palace and around its perimeter, in order to secure the area for the party. You weren’t too worried about the people inside as any foul moves would lead to massive geopolitical repercussions against any evildoers.

As for you, you were assigned to be Diluc’s right-hand knight, guarding his side at the party. While you were always ready to perform your assigned duty, you couldn’t help but wish you had door duty, as such a position would not require the diplomatic ass-kissing you were obligated to perform.

Now, as you stood at Diluc’s side near the center of the room, you weren’t sure what to make of the situation. The prince was effortlessly calming and smooth in his conversations with potentially hostile foreign dignitaries. Hell, he was even being respectful to the Fatui, even though you knew he likely wanted to ram his head through a wall speaking to the sleazy minions of the Tsaritsa.

What you hadn’t expected, however, were the wine trays floating throughout the room. You and Diluc were both aware to only take appetizers and drinks alike from a specific server, not wanting the elder prince or you, the head of security for the event, to have contaminated food. However, as Diluc drank his third glass of wine, you were beginning to wonder if you would be able to keep up. Finishing off your second, you smiled politely at the server and politely declined a second glass, ignoring the look of confusion Diluc sent your way. You already felt tipsy. The last thing you wanted was to be unable to do your job.

“Ah, Prince Diluc!” A vaguely familiar voice calls from behind you and Diluc the moment Diluc finishes speaking with a diplomat from Natlan. How do I know that voice? You ask yourself before feeling your thoughts swim a bit due to the alcohol. You silently cursed yourself for accepting the drinks at all, but when the first round of drinks had appeared, Diluc himself had taken one for you. How could you have said no to a request from your prince?

You and Diluc both turn around to see the intruder and you recognize him immediately. Dottore, one of the eleven Fatui Harbingers, stood before you and Diluc, a wide grin on his face. Immediately suppressing a groan and forcing your expression to stay neutral, you silently curse the fact that Harbingers made it on the guest list, especially one as irritating as Dottore. At his best, the man was an arrogant asshat. At his worst, Dottore was downright psychopathic with little regard for the people around him. You knew Diluc was aware of such things, but the prince had to stomach such disdain for the harbinger and at least attempt for a polite conversation.

“This is quite a lovely party,” Dottore compliments, but such praise from him is only worth about as far as you can throw it. “Mond is quite a prosperous nation.”

Your gaze flickers between Dottore and Diluc as they exchange meaningless pleasantries. You lose track of their conversation, electing to scan the room (and watch Dottore) for any potential threats or foul moves. However, you’re quickly snapped back to the conversation as Dottore’s attention turns to you, his masked red eyes boring into yours.

“You are the prince’s security detail?” Dottore’s words are less of a question and more of a statement, as if he already knows the answer. You avoid glancing at Diluc and instead meet Dottore’s gaze straight on and hold out your hand.

“Knight (Y/N), sir.” You respond and Dottore laughs crookedly while shaking your hand with a grip far too aggressive for your liking.

“Ah, aren’t you an… interesting specimen,” Much to your behest, Dottore takes your hand in his own gloved one and looks at it, as if he’s inspecting you. “You are his only personal knight at this event yet you are visionless… Quite an intriguing move for a prince who flaunts his so proudly.”

Your eyes instinctively move to look at Diluc, whose brows are furrowed and eyes glistening with anger at the situation unfolding. Diluc clears his throat and immediately returns his expression to one of neutrality as he realizes your gaze is now upon him. “Dottore, are you not one to believe that humanity is more than their visions?”

Dottore drops your hand unceremoniously and you quickly retract it to your side in fear that such an event happens again. He chuckles at Diluc’s words and turns to look at the prince once more. “Of course. I just simply never took you as the type to share my beliefs.”

Despite neither of them owning an Electro vision, the air between the two men crackles with energy. Dottore grins as Diluc glowers, eager to see if the refined prince’s composure shatters. The Harbinger knows he’s pinpointed Diluc’s weak spot, so rather than continuing the rather unamusing staring contest, Dottore’s gaze returns to you once more. He casts you a saccharine smile, dripping with insecurity, as he leans in close to you.

“I must believe you have some tricks up your sleeve. I look forward to seeing what they are,” The Harbinger’s tone drops to a low, sultry one as Dottore’s hot breath fans over your face, reeking of the odd combination of mint and wine. His words are not an expectation, but rather a promise. After a second more of leering at you, Dottore is sensible enough to realize Diluc’s limited patience is waning, so he takes a step back and stands up straight. “Nonetheless, I must make my exit now. Prince Diluc, as nice as it was to speak with you, I understand your wish not to share your toys.”

Just as quickly as he had appeared, the Harbinger disappears into the crowd. You look over at the prince standing near you. He takes a sidestep closer to you and for a split second, you’re reminded of the Prince Diluc you once knew, the one who could barely contain his anger and derision and took such feelings out on his subordinates verbally. The contempt Diluc feels for the situation that just unfolded is written all over his face, but he quickly gathers his composure. Knowing him well enough, you can sense the irritation radiating off him in waves, but you dare not comment on it.

Before another diplomat can intervene, Diluc leans in close to you, voice no more than a low whisper. “Dottore is up to something.”

---

Diluc, in his typical stubborn nature, refuses to let the Dottore situation go. Two hours afterwards, long after his mood had returned to normal, Diluc is excusing himself to use the bathroom, signaling for you to follow him. However, the elder prince remains silent as the two of you walk past the bathroom and into the chambers that had been converted to house foreign dignitaries who would stay the night and leave in the morning. The prince glances up and down the hallway frantically, making sure nobody is following. His pace is hurried, as if he’s looking for something.

You’re smart enough to realize Diluc’s only silent when he desires for others to be as well, but the two of you have been walking long enough that you part your lips to speak. Before you can utter the words, Diluc is opening the door closest to the two of you.

“Here,” He mutters and before you can follow, the prince grabs your arm and pulls you in after him, immediately letting you go afterwards. You were utterly baffled as to what room the two of you were even in, considering you had barely been in this part of the palace before. “Dottore’s room.” Diluc explains.

That’s a shitty explanation, you think. With the alcohol in your system, you are spurred to question his decisions, something you never would dare to do sober.

“With all due respect, sir, why are we raiding Dottore’s room?” You state as Diluc crouches down to look underneath Dottore’s bed. You silently question why that’s the first place the prince bothers looking, rather than looking in a more normal place, such as Dottore’s desk drawers or the suitcases lined against the wall.

Diluc lets out a huff of air at your words, but doesn’t admonish you for them. “He’s up to something,” Diluc mutters absentmindedly.

“I know he’s a suspicious character and he’s Fatui, but all he did was disrespect you with his words. Does that really mean he’s up to something?” You ask and Diluc pauses through rifling through the limited possessions the Harbinger had brought to Mondstadt. Still crouched down, the prince turns to look at you with an expression of confusion at your words.

“You aren’t normally like this,” Diluc states plainly and you feel your face heat up in embarrassment. He squints his eyes in an attempt to read your stoic expression in the dark. He lets out a sigh, unable to come to a conclusion, and returns back to looking through Dottore’s stuff. “He was clearly challenging me. He’s hiding something and wants me to find it.”

With Diluc’s back turned to you, you roll your eyes. Why are men always like this?

“Maybe he was just flirting,” You suggest, your tone annoyed.

“I was n-” Diluc pauses and clears his throat. “I mean, he was not flirting with you.” He sounds outraged that you would even discuss such a thing.

“Sir, his words had that weird kind of aura to them. With all due respect, I believe I’m not ugly enough that he wouldn’t flirt with me. He just sounded kind of horny,” You say, as if such a thing should be obvious. Diluc freezes completely and stands up, turning to look at you. His eyes are blown wide at your words and, in your alcoholic stupor, you’re unaware of the egregious unprofessionalism of your words. The prince steps closer to you, his crimson gaze boring into yours.

“Archons,” He mutters after a few seconds. “They didn’t serve you grape juice, did they?”

“Nope,” You respond in a gleeful voice, popping your mouth at the end of the word. “Were they supposed to?” You ask cluelessly, leaning on the wall behind you.

Diluc lets out a frustrated huff, but it doesn’t seem directed at you. “Barbatos, they had one job,” He mutters to himself before walking over to Dottore’s desk and bending over to look at the contents of the desk drawers. “Anyways, just watch the door. That’s an order.”

Even in your tipsiness, you are aware enough to sense Diluc’s frustration at the situation, so you bite your tongue and watch the door. Your gaze flutters between the elder prince and the door, unable to focus on your assigned duty as the alcohol swirls through your system. The elder prince’s noisy actions of rifling through files draws your attention and you look over at him, eyebrows raised. However, what catches your attention is a glint of white in his back pocket.

“What’s in your pocket?” You ask, causing Diluc to let out a frustrated huff.

“I said to watch the door,” Diluc reminds you in a harsh tone, but by now, you know the prince is all bark and no bite.

“I have two eyes,” You respond combatively. Diluc sighs, knowing this is a fight he won’t win. “One to watch you and one to watch the door.”

“That is quite literally not how vision works, (Y/N),” Diluc tries to explain, but knows there’s no reasoning with alcohol. He’s encountered his brother enough times after his drunken escapades to know when to give up. “Just… use both to watch the door.”

“Tell me what’s in your pocket and I will,” Your words are dangerous and if Diluc wasn’t fond of you, he could easily have thrown you in prison for saying such things.

“We’re done in here,” Diluc states after a few moments of ignoring you, placing the final file back into its rightful position and dusting himself off. He walks over to you and pulls the white object out of his pocket, holding it out to you. “It’s a mask, by the way.”

“Okay,” You say, taking the mask in your hand. You’re not far enough gone to try putting it on, so you simply slip it into your own pocket. “What’s in the other pocket, then, sir?” You ask, a sly smirk appearing on your face. Diluc flusters at your mischievous expression as he brushes past you to exit the room.

“Nothing.” He responds, but you know otherwise. As the two of you exit into the hallway, you take advantage of the fact that the prince had exited Dottore’s room before you and you quickly snatch the object in his other pocket. You had only seen the outline of it, but now that it rests in your hands, you’re utterly baffled as to why he would hide such a thing.

“What is this?” You ask, holding the object away from Diluc as he whirls around, trying to grab the object from your hand.

“Stop acting like a child, (Y/N),” Diluc warns, but there’s a faint desperation in his voice. “It’s my Vision.”

“This isn’t your Vision,” You state, staring at him with furrowed brows. “Your Vision looks different from this.”

Before you can theorize any more about what the faux-Vision in your hands is, Diluc opens the door closest to the two of you and pulls you in rather roughly by the arm. You only tighten your grip on the object in response.

“Could you be any louder, (Y/N)? Barbatos, it’s just a Vision, but it’s not mine. Give it back.” Diluc orders, but you simply smirk at him as the two of you stand in the dark of the supply closet he had cornered you in. The light filtering from underneath the door allows him to barely see your expression, despite the overall darkness of the room. His hand fumbles against the wall before the room is lit in a soft orange light as his hand finds an unlit candle near the door.

“Hm,” You say upon seeing his glowering expression. He looks absolutely furious, but for once you aren’t living in fear of such an expression. In fact, he looks rather delicio- “Make me, Diluc.” The words tumble out of your lips, sultry and sweet, before you can even finish processing your own thoughts. Right now, for once in your life, you have the chance to make Prince Diluc beg and you are relishing in the moment, in all of its unprofessional glory.

Diluc’s eyes flash with anger and as he angrily grips your wrist and shoves you back into the shelf behind you. The wood juts into your back and you let out a soft cry of both surprise and pain as objects begin to clatter off the shelf around the two of you. Taking advantage of your surprise at his forcefulness, Diluc manages to wrangle the object out of your hand and he fastens it securely in within his breast pocket, away from your prying, tipsy hands. As Diluc’s harsh grip on your wrist fails to falter, you feel tears bubble up in your eyes, unable to hold them back. Okay, maybe you had more than two drinks, you tell yourself.

Before you can stop them, more words are spilling out of your mouth, but they’re no longer the empowered ones you wish you could say.

“I do everything for you,” you blubber pathetically and watch as Diluc’s eyes widen at your tone. “And the one time i want something in return, just to know something about you, you’re mean to me.” Before you can stop them, you’ve activated the waterworks, tears freefalling down your cheeks. The only word to describe Diluc’s expression is terrified.

“N... no, don’t cry.” Diluc’s grip on your wrist loosens, but he still holds it close, his other free arm pulling you in by your waist into a comforting hug. His gestures and words are stiff as if he’s not sure how to do this. You’re fairly sure the two of you are breaking each and every code of conduct at this moment, but for now, you don’t care. His hand rubs the small of your back in a comforting motion, his thumb trailing up and down the part of your wrist that he likely bruised. “You’re my best knight, the only one I can trust, it’s… okay. Please don’t cry.”

The prince’s words are frantic and softly spoken, as if he’s trying his best to pull compliments out of thin air to stop your tears. Despite him not being very good at comforting you, your sobs start to subside into small hiccups as you bury your head into the spot between his shoulder and neck. You feel him stiffen at the gesture. Nonetheless, he pulls you into a tighter one armed hug.

After you manage to get your tipsy tears under control, you let out a shaky sigh before continuing with your words. “Why do you never let me in? I swore my life to protect you. I’d do anything for you. but you just shut me out every time,” You whisper, voice still stained with the tears you had just cried out. In the morning, you’d be mortified with your words, but for now, you brain is encouraging you to continue. Diluc pulls away from you and cups his hands on the side of your face, using his thumbs to wipe away your tear stains.

“You’re too valuable to waste your tears on someone like me.” Diluc mutters as the pads of his fingers soak up the salty tears. His tone is saddened from your actions.

“Answer the question, Diluc, please,” you beg, dropping the honorifics once more. You stare into his eyes, searching for an answer. You watch him inhale, as if he’s trying to muster up the courage to say something.

“Okay,” He breathes, eyes looking into yours for reassurance. “Okay.” His voice is more resolute as he repeats the words. “I don’t know how to keep you close without making you uncomfortable. I don’t know how much I should let you in without scaring you off. I feel this way because for the last six years, I’ve been in-”

Before he can finish his words, the door to the supply closet swings open. The bright light causes the both of you to flinch as a third voice gasps dramatically. You blink rapidly, trying to adjust your eyes to the bright lights from the hallway in order to understand what’s happening, your hand reaching up to the hilt of your sword.

“My, my, what a scandalous sight,” the voice (Dottore, you identify) croons and the two of you look on in mortification. “A prince and his knight having an illicit rendezvous in the janitorial closet.”

The two of you look out to see a small crowd of five people having gathered -- Dottore, his assistant, Kaeya, Jean, and another Fatui agent. You’re not sure why they’re all gathered outside, but what matters is that they’re now viewing you after having been caught in a broom closet with the king-to-be’s hands cupping your face and him staring into your eyes.

Fuck, you think as Diluc’s hands rescind from your face quickly, as if the water of your tears had scalded him.

#diluc x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact headcanons #diluc headcanons #diluc scenarios #genshin impact scenarios #diluc #genshin impact #*writing #*inheritance #*diluc #*fic #AAAAAAAAAAAAA ITS HERE

[dayyneee]

Oh well, this is gonna take some time to elaborate on so bear with me. I just need to get some of my thoughts written down before the finale airs and destroys us. Also, I’ve promised myself to not make any complains about the show whatsoever when everything’s out so I must do that now.

First of all, I don’t know if this is a controversial opinion or if people are gonna hate me for it. I just don’t think it’s been thoroughly adressed yet so I will personally take care of it.

Before I get started - I am not a soft-villaneve-hater, okay? My main intention with this post is to raise awareness about the flaws within the Villaneve dynamic shift and how strangely it happened.

One of the things that intruiged me most about this pair when I first discovered this brilliant show was their charged and sexual obsession. Season 1 will always stand surperior (oh gosh, y’all tired of this mantra by now, aren’t ya?)

Anyways, I do feel like Emerald did a great job trying to develope and deepen their cat and mouse game. Like with any other relationship, it needs to develope at some point and change, I totally get that. When I watched the s2 finale, I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time and ended up loving it. I don’t think Villanelle’s decision about shooting Eve was bad at all. In fact, it was a very fitting choice, character wise for Villanelle at that time. That finale struck me so much, I was tremendously excited to see what s3 had in store for us, but was left with utter dissapointment instead. I was expecting more sexual tension, more fear, more adrenaline from both sides due to how it went down when we last saw them, and we got nothing of that. The brief meeting on the bus didn’t make me somewhere near satisfied, even though they touched lips for the first time.

I honestly don’t know what was going on inside Suzannes head when she sat down in the writers room and came up with these ideas. Frankly, she wasn’t keen on picking up that sparkling potential of murder wives at all. Villaneve were barely mentioned throughout the whole season and we only got 3 scenes with these two in the end, whereas the ballroom scene and the bridge scene had most impact on the fandom. We were so starved, we ate it all up and didn’t really question the unreasonable dynamic shift from rage to softness at all. I know a lot of people have been craving them being soft with each other, which I don’t necessarily have a problem with, but then again, where did this whole speech about encouraging each other’s monsters and consuming their relationship come from? Eve was about to die the last time they spoke to each other? Now, what I initially wanted to say, is that I don’t understand how we suddenly could go from this place:

To these places, without more people questioning.

Meanwhile, I currently see a lot of critique about people not understanding how Laura ignored the bridge scene and made Eve cold towards Villanelle without any reason, which to be fair, is an equally weird dynamic shift as the above.

The ballroom scene and the bridge scene were cute out of context, but it also felt a little fanficy and OOC to me due to lack of explaination how they got there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to defend Laura Neal’s weird ass decision about how she wanted to portray them in the last season, but maybe, she also wanted to somehow reintroduce the dynamic they had at the end of s2. (Or maybe I’m just speculating in order to make some sense in my own head) It was of course supposed to be made much earlier on in this show and I still don’t understand why she’s so stubborn and scared of putting them together for a longer period of time, but my point is that, since the bridge and ballroom scene came out of the blue in order to please the fans, I don’t really mind starting over. I just wished that would’ve been done in s3 so that the developement to a softer and more honest place between these two could’ve been done much better and much more smooth.

#killing eve #killing eve analysis #agree or disagree

[imjusttpeachy]

she's a rae of sunshine (c.h.)

okay so this was a request but i completely read it wrong so i’m gonna write it again but i finished this one anyway so here take it

so sorry to the anon who requested it bc u were so fuckin sweet i’ll have it up asap i promise

playlist

ralph castelli - morning sex

crumb - bones

jorja smith - teenage fantasy

summary: balancing college life and wanting to support your best friends online endeavors was difficult, but reader regrets trying a little harder when she finally meets one of her newer stream-mates

word count: 2, 828

WARNINGS: she/her pronouns used, coarse language, lowkey OOC Corpse, that needs its own warning i’m sorry,

•••

“Look you knew I had to stream before I said you could come over ya fuckin idiot.”

“Yea I knowwwww, I just wanted to spend more time with my super-hot best friend forever.”

Being the best friend of an online personality had its perks— the amazing trips you got to hitch a ride on, the adoring fans that seemed to latch on to you as well, the sponsorships that would always send you something along with the original PR package, and especially the way she was able to choose their own work hours.

Well... mostly.

As much as you adored spending time together during the day, whether it be shopping or going out for brunch, those late nights that always seemed to hold the most memories you held so dear were few and far between. Of course, you couldn’t blame her; responsibilities were responsibilities, and fuck if you’d let your selfish wants override the way she chooses to get her work done. You really couldn’t be one to judge either-- having to call off dates because you’d underestimated the time you needed to complete a school paper, or when a last-minute lab was called in and you’d have to leave her sitting alone in those cafes with your half-finished mocha and a promise to Venmo her the money to cover it later. What left you feeling the most guilty, though, was the fact that you weren’t able to watch her content as much as you’d like to. Sure, you’d catch a few minutes of a stream here and there but any time you spent apart was usually spent with your head buried in a book, mind bleary with countless espresso shots trying to keep your tired eyes focused on the seemingly unending work in front of you.

But, a distraction every now and then couldn’t hurt. Right?

Having had enough of your current assignment, any coherent thought was long gone, you’d decided to pay your favourite person a little visit. You knew she’d probably be busy as she hadn’t replied to your previous text for a few hours, but knowing her presence alone and any passing comments would lift the heaviness that had found its home in your head and chest, you shot her a message to let her know that her office couch would be occupied by you for the next few hours. Normally, you’d just show up so you knew she wouldn’t have a problem with it; so when that fateful message popped up on your phone giving you the go-ahead you completely ignored the warning of her work schedule and drove right over.

So now here you were, sprawled haphazardly on her couch clad in sweats and a sports bra scrolling through your phone as you watched her finish her final touches so she could start her stream.

“You’re gonna be in the background of my face cam if you wanna sit there y’know.” Groaning in response to her warning not wanting to move from the comfy spot you just found, you looked over at her with the best puppy eyes you could muster. She chuckled softly, raising her hands in surrender as she turned back to her setup. “Hey I really don’t care, just warning ya bug. The thirst comments and screenshots are outta my hands.”

Scoffing under your breath at her comment, you turned your head back to your phone as a Twitter notification popped up at the top of your screen.

Corpse Husband: streaming among us in a few mins, join in on youtube

Heartbeat picking up slightly, you scrambled for the purse you’d thrown at the base of the couch for your headphones. Ever since you’d found this handsome-voiced stranger’s channel on your late night horror binges, you had fallen completely in love. While you weren’t typically the type to watch video game commentary outside of Rae, his voice got you completely hooked and you couldn’t get enough of it. Yeah, maybe you were a bit of a simp, but that sweet and genuine personality that hid behind that gravelly tone had you melting completely into his clutches. You tried to convince yourself to get over it, you didn’t even know what he looked like. But, y’know, a little crush wouldn’t hurt anybody right?

“Going live in T-minus 30 seconds babe.” Jumping slightly as Rae’s voice knocked you out of dreamland, you mumbled out a small “got it” as you once again got focused on getting your headphones connected to your phone. You’d never been able to watch one of his lives before, his horror commentary videos usually playing as background noise as you did schoolwork or while you were falling asleep. Practically shaking with excitement, you opened your YouTube app seeing the live at the very top and tapping on it immediately only to be met with that sweet laugh ringing through your headphones like music to your ears. You grinned to yourself, grabbing the throw pillow you had previously tossed to the floor and hugging it to your chest while your eyes remained glued to your phone screen, completely forgetting what was happening around you as you zeroed in on the gravelly tone you’d fallen oh-so in love with.

“Hey (Y/N) wave hi.” You startled slightly as the faint voice of your friend sounded from across the room. Glancing up from your phone, you pulled an earbud from your ear and furrowed your brows at her before slowly processing what she said, lifting a hand in greeting to her watchers. She laughed at your confusing antics, turning slightly in her chair to look over at you. “What the hell are you so smiley about?”

“…Nothing..” You grinned widely as her laugh once again resounded around the room, shaking her head at you before turning back to her screen with a scoff, muttering something under her breath so only her watchers could hear. Smile still plastered across your lips, you settled back down into the comfiness of the couch and popped your earbud back in, zeroing in again on the screen in front of you. Watching as Corpse moved his character around the lobby as he waited for his friends to join, a small giggle escaped from under your breath; trying your best to be mindful of Rae’s stream but not being able to hold back the flustered feeling welling up in your chest, mind giddy with the thought of finally being able to see one of his famous live streams, well, live. It had only been a few seconds later when you heard Rae’s voice once again, only this time, not as muffled as before.

“What’s up motherfuckers.” Brows furrowing in confusion, you lifted your hand to your earbud and pulled it from your ear once again, hearing her voice from across the room but from your other earbud as well. No, there was no fucking way. All your questions were answered, though, as you glanced back down at your phone screen seeing a red character move around the game lobby along with Corpse’s, the gamer tag ‘Valkyrae’ floating just above it. Blinking hard at your screen trying to convince yourself that your eyes were lying to you, you slowly pulled your hand to cover your mouth in shock. How… How could you possibly not know they knew each other? With the way they spoke to each other in sarcastic comments, poking fun at the other it sounded like they were close too. Body finally catching up with your thoughts, you scrambled at your phone, shaky hands moving as quickly as they could to pull up your texts with Rae. Your fingers tapped furiously at the screen, anxious to get back to the live stream to listen in more but also needing to know what the fuck was going on.

TO my rae of sunshine: care to explain what the fuck is going on??! how the fuck do you know corpse husband?????!??!

“Oops sorry guys, guess I forgot to turn off my phone ringer-“ Staring up at the back of her head helplessly, you watched as she picked up her phone seeming to read out the text before bursting into a peal of laughter. Tossing a look at you over her shoulder, you looked back down at your phone bashfully, seeing the three loading dots in your message thread indicating that she was messaging you back.

my rae of sunshine: lol what about it? you gotta crush on him or something?

TO my rae of sunshine: …no

Hitting send you rushed back to the stream, anxious to see what Corpse was saying in response to Rae’s absence, not thinking anything about your brief conversation and thinking you would discuss it after she had logged off for the night. Though, as you heard her phone chime again from across the room followed by another bark of laughter, you knew you weren’t getting off that easy.

“What are you laughing about?” Corpse’s honeyed voice sounded from your earbud, hearing Rae’s giggles from what you presumed to be their discord voice chat. Glancing anxiously between his stream and the reflection of Rae’s face cam in one of her monitors, your heart began to sink as you watched that familiar mischievous grin tugging at the edge of her lips.

“Oh just my friend (Y/n) sent me a funny meme”

“Wait, is she the one in some of your Instagram posts?” You swear your heart stopped beating at that moment, eyes glued to the screen in front of you as you tried helplessly to process the conversation happening right in front of you. He knew who you were? You thought you’d always be lost among the hundreds of thousands of his new adoring fans, left in the anonymity of your Twitter tag in his subtweets, or just another subscriber that fawned over him silently behind a keyboard. Knowing that he’d actually seen your face you could feel your own beginning to heat at that moment; you brought your hands your mouth again, unknowingly curling your body tighter around the pillow in your lap as you tried to hide your face behind it as you become more and more flustered from the words nonchalantly escaping his mouth.

“Yea that’s her, pretty thing isn’t she? She’s my absolute favourite.”

That’s it, you were gonna fucking kill her.

“I mean, yeah... I guess..” The timid words followed by a soft awkward chuckle had your breath hitching in your throat. There was no fucking way this was happening. This had to be a dream, that was the only possible explanation. You were just about to pinch yourself when Rae’s voice startled you from your thoughts.

“She’s actually over right now. She insisted on getting wine drunk later tonight because her professor’s been on her ass lately. I’ll get her to come say hi.” Rae had barely turned around in her chair when she was met with your wide-eyed gaze, panic painted across your features as you shook your head wildly. You were in no state to be talking to your long-time internet crush in such a casual setting. But with the look Rae shot you from her chair as she started to plug another headset into her PC, you knew you had no choice and begrudgingly pulled yourself from the couch almost tripping over your own feet as you shakily walked over to Rae. Shooting her another pleading look, she only shoved the headset in your direction in return as she grinned up at you. Finally biting the bullet, you pulled on the headset and leaned down toward the mic.

“Hi, how’s it going?” Cursing at yourself for how quiet and shaky your words came out, you barely had any time to think it over before a chorus of greetings sounded through the headset. A small giggle escaped your lips as you watched the different Discord icons appear and disappear from the top of the screen. You knew most of these people already which made you even more confused as to how you managed to miss that voice from all the discord chats and voice calls. Well, knowing them was a bit of an overstatement anyway; you knew /of/ them, and they knew /of/ you in the other times you popped up in the background or in passing conversation during Rae’s streams. They did know you well enough, though, to know this was not the way you usually spoke around them.

“No way, that can’t be the (Y/N) I know!” The voice you recognize as Sean echoes through your headset, another chorus of knowing laughter following quickly after. Taking a deep breath you managed to force out a few words that would get them off your case.

“…Shut the fuck up”

“There she is!!” As the group erupted in laughter yet again, all you could focus on was the faint deep chuckle that resounded through your headset. Feeling your face start to heat up, you covered your wide grin with your hand as butterflies burst through your stomach; you could listen to that laugh all day. Before you were able to speak again, though, that heavenly voice piped up and wiped all train of thought from your mind.

“Nice to meet you (Y/N).”

“It’s nice to meet you too Corpse. I gotta be honest ‘n say I’m a pretty big fan of your no-sleep work.” And... there’s the word vomit. Fuck, you could feel your cheeks starting to heat up with the ongoing realization of who you were talking to.

“Aha thank you, I uh really appreciate that. I’m sure you just heard, but I guess you could say I’m a fan of yours also.”

No.

No, there’s no fucking way.

Is he...

Flirting with you?

Before you could even think about what to reply to that with, the rest of the group beat you to it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is happening.”

“CORPSE! You SIMP!”

“Is- Is Corpse really shooting his shot right now?”

You didn’t realize you were frozen in place until you felt Rae’s hand on your elbow, snapping you out of your bewildered trance as you tried to comprehend what was happening yourself. As your thoughts finally caught up to the present, you could feel your cheeks start to burn; pulling your hand up to cover your face you stepped out of the view of the face cam. Rae’s laughter filled the room as she watched your flustered antics, shooting you a sly grin as she started scanning the monitor displaying her live chat.

“Wait, wait, chats telling me (y/n)’s blushing right now?” Sean’s voice echoed through the discord chat, only making you flush further as you tried desperately to find a way out of this.

“Okay, okay, leave her alone.” Corpse’s voice finally piped up amid all of the chaos causing everyone to immediately pipe down. God, you didn’t even want to begin to think of the mess this has already made, you just needed to get out of there before you caused any more damage.

“Yeah, I uh- see- see that the lobby’s full so I’ll just uh- leave you guys to it.” Quietly thanking the stars that Corpse finally got you out of this mess, you went to pull the headset off your ears when that fateful voice piped up again.

“Wait, don’t let these nerds make you leave. You should stay- I mean, only to help Rae y'know? She needs it.”

“I do not!”

“I- I mean yea sure, as long as I’m not intruding,” Cursing yourself again for stuttering before forcing yourself to swallow the knot in your throat, “I mean, she really does need the help.”

“Okay just because you want to flirt some more doesn’t mean you can bully me-“

“Okay, I’m starting the round!” The booming accented voice cut off everyone else in the call as you all stared as the screen began to count down to the game, and before anyone had the chance to say anything else a chorus of laughs resounded, and then the lobby fell into silence.

•••

And it went on like that, the not-so-subtle flirting followed by relentless jabs from the group immediately after. The game was almost forgotten with how much of each lobby was taken up by teasing words and endless laughter, but every audience was just eating it up. You didn’t even want to think about the mess social media was going to be after this stream but right now you were having fun with your friends and that’s all that mattered. The grin was practically plastered on your face as you laughed along with Rae the chat during the gameplay portions and you knew everything from this moment on was gonna be different, but you couldn’t find a single thing within you to care.

Especially when you logged onto Twitter right after the stream and saw that little message right at the top of your requests.

@.corpsehusband: wanna hear some of that no sleep work in person?

•••

beep bop here u go,

#corpse x reader #corpse husband x reader #corpse imagine #corpse husband imagine #corpse x you #corpse husband x you