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#secret hydro dragon
ottos-art-stash · 4 months
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Bad Timing
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dottores · 9 months
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crying hysterically i have such a good fic idea for post-cataclysm teyvat but i just dont have enough time for another series rn
#so after doing the elynas quest#spoilers for that by the way#and the mary ann quests#but anyway#post cataclysm teyvat was rlly like an#apocalyptic place#kind of like fallout where abyss energy was like everywhere and very radioactive#and the institute had devoted itself to clean the abyssal energy but after it disbanded when the director died during the cataclysm#a secret group called the ordo formed and experimented with the energy in elynas's corpse -- who is assumed to be another dragon-creature o#rhinedottir and we already know that one of the secret members had interacted with the energy and became something akin to an#abyss inquisitor but he was unaffiliated with the fatui and the abyss order#but now i lowkey want to write a long fic series where reader was part of that secret group post-cataclysm#and also became corrupted by the energy and it would flip between the past and present#-- since we dont know neuvillette's part in the cataclysm i assume he was defending fontaine but that's only an assumption#and then maybe after the cataclysm he was filling in the power vacuum after the lord of amrita's death (first hydro archon)#but regardless in the past reader was going to be close with neuvillette maybe she was an ambassador for the narzinssenkreuz institute#before it disbanded which is how she met him and got the chance to get close to him. then the catacysm happens where they're forced to#separate because of all that's going on#and after it#she gets involved with the ordo. it would flip between the past and present#where in the present she's started to affiliate with the fatui -- reasons unknown as of yet but im not writing a fic without dottore as a#love interest but it would showcase the past and present - kind of like how little dark age did with half of the chapter set in the past an#the other part in the present -- so it would showcase 1) her relationship with neuvillette both while she's part of the institute and then#the decline of it as she becomes part of the ordo. it would also showcase pre during and post cataclysm fontaine. and then the present woul#probably focus on directly before pre-canon (like heliotropes) and into maybe both the sumeru archon quests and the fontaine archon quests#where she would end up meeting neuvillette again. this fic i would try to keep this one close to canon fontaine unlike heliotropes
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bysaber · 9 months
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weeping dragon
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pairing: neuvillette x fem!reader
summary: neuvillette thinks he isn’t deserving of your love.
content: cliche !!!, reader trapped in his house bc of rain, lil antsy but happy ending
wc: 800
a/n: mm hii!! first fic here! I hope you enjoy it I kind of wrote it in twenty minutes and I’m just publishing it without beta reading bc (we die like men) I’m just too in love with neuv and I want to share it with the world lolol
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Neuvillette couldn’t bring himself to even think about making a move.
He kept many secrets, and every time he faced your bright smile he would remember it was not his place to disturb your peace. After all, how could a young woman like you endure the dangerous claws of a dragon?
You had stopped by his house to discuss the latest trial and his emotions got the best of him, causing a rain to start pouring.
A storm was approaching; lighting was seen through the window and low thunders could be heard. Neuvillette plagued himself under his breath, hoping there would be a day where he could better control his feelings.
“Here,” he said as he handed you the cup of tea. You watched the lighting curiously, “I do not think the storm will pass for a few hours. You should stay. For the night, I mean.”
You took the cup of tea and averted your eyes from the window to Neuvillette’s face. You studied him with caution, as if it was the first time you ever saw the man — even though you worked together for many months.
“Are you okay?” you asked, ignoring completely his offer.
The words got stuck in his throat and, for a few seconds, he really thought he wouldn’t answer. The man sipped on his tea, his mind racing while trying to figure out why you would ask that all of the sudden. “May I ask why are you asking me such a question?”
It was a small gesture, but he saw it all the same; the way you flexed your hand. There was something you wanted to grab?
Something you wanted to hold?
“They say… It rains when the Hydro Dragon weeps. Yeah, that's what they say,” you murmured and once again looked out the window. To the storm. “The Hydro Dragon. That would be you, right?”
Neuvillette almost choked on his tea, every part of his body malfunctioning and leaving him with only one thing for sure: in his entire existence, this was the first time he was left completely and utterly speechless.
Your warm and comforting eyes turned to him, and you grabbed his cup of tea to put it alongside yours on the coffee table. “Neuvillette,” you spoke his name as if it was a piece of poetry you were yet to learn — eager to do so, “Talk to me.”
And then— your hands, so small and fragile if compared to his, touched him. Your fingers traced his, and you embraced his hand between yours. He could feel the warmth of your skin contrasting against his cold one, pulling him closer, closer, closer.
“When did you figure it out?” was the first thing he said, scared it may be recent. If so, there still is time for you to run, for you to escape. To turn your back and never see him again. It’s probably the best for you, he knows, but this little selfish part in him can’t stand the thought of seeing you gone.
“A month ago or so, it doesn't matter,” you’re quick to cut the subject. “I didn't mention it because I knew you didn't want me to. I’m just worried, that's all.”
Worried.
She is worried.
The realization clicks in Neuvillette’s mind, for the first time in so long acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, he was too, deserving of someone’s concern and care.
“You are saying it does not matter,” he repeats as if to confirm what he just heard.
I pushed you because I cared about you. I pushed you because you made me feel good and comfortable. I pushed you because I thought my true self would frighten you.
Yet, you’re here. And you’re telling me it doesn’t matter.
“It doesn’t. Never did,” you frown. “I just wanna know, no— I need to know why it is raining, Neuvillette. Why would you weep? I’m here with you, talk to me.”
Without giving it a second thought, Neuvillette’s right hand finds your lower back and in a split second you're pressed against his chest, the tightest hug you have ever been given. He’s much taller than you, and you can feel perfectly as he inhales your scent and hugs you tightly.
“Neuv—”
“I thought I had to restrain myself from you. I thought I was no good,” he finally speaks his mind, distancing himself enough for you to see his face; the weeping Dragon. Oh, the melancholy in his eyes.
The eyes of someone who almost lost something precious.
“Neuvillette,” you whispered. “There’s nothing better for me than you.”
And it was true; so you pulled on his hair just enough to have him connecting your lips, a sigh of relief escaping him as if there was nothing in this world he had anticipated more.
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svtcrus · 9 months
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───── `✦ ˑ ִֶ 𓂃 BABY LOVE ME EVENT SERIES
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DRAGON OUT OF WATER || NEUVILLETTE X AFAB!READER
SMUT , MDNI
NOTE : neuvi is implied a dragon [not physically] nothing beyond that plot, dom!neuvilette , semi public s3x (they fuck at a lake), rough play , fingering , overstimulation , big pp
synopsis : you & neuvillette are having a date at a secret lake in fontaine, & things end up getting a little heated with the hydro dragon.
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neuvillette had suggested the idea of taking you out to this secret lake, secluded from all eyes. he was still learning on how unique humans can be. interacting and creating relationships with humans wasn't his best skill but he tries his best everyday.
this intimate relationship he has with you is a whole new world for him, he's learnt to love through you. and garner quite a lot of human knowledge from you.
moreover neuvillette has also experienced new emotions that leave him quite flustered at times.
he was like a fish out of water .
these fluttery feelings which leave him so hot inside him has him confused. unbeknownst he's thinking such ludicrous fantasies of you, a surge of heat building up from within. however, neuvillette forces himself to hold back, for he doesn't want to be pleading guilty at you for such pervertedness. you were too much of an angel.
this date was intended to be a peaceful romantic time between the two of you. no ill intentions at all. so why is your dragon of a boyfriend walking his way to you with a dark look in his lavender eyes?
it wasn't supposed to end up like this.
but when neuvillette saw you in your skimpy little swimsuit it was like a fire had lit inside him— he could feel his dick swell at the sight.
making the attempt to "put out" this heat by swimming, he'd expected to feel okay right after, since it's worked before whenever stressed. except he didn't. instead he felt worse, and the tent that was growing in his shorts wasn't helping his case either.
"archons.. I can't hold back anymore. c'mere." those slender fingers of his are grabbing either side of your face, forcefully bringing you in for a kiss. your gasp is replaced with a sudden moan, neuvillette uses this to push his tongue into your mouth. the kiss is sloppy albeit. nevertheless his soft lips are melting so easily with yours with such passion, it's making you wet.
your hands are tangling into his wet silver locks, droplets of water are dripping from his toned body onto your own. his free hand is gripping your waist with such obscene force, to simply lay you down on the mat.
only then he feels the tug on his roots that he finally pulls away.
"I.. I couldn't help myself.." he claims— you're both panting, desperately in need for oxygen. lips are swollen, cheeks burning red. your face is displaying something he hasn't seen before.
he's thinking he's screwed up.
"I.. forgive me y/n I shouldn't ha-"
"don't stop." you cut him off. pushing yourself back up, hands grabbing onto his to guide them back across your body. they trace from your hips, to your waist, then to your chest. lewd sounds are slowly leaving those plump lips of yours, his hands unconsciously fondling your breasts through your swimsuit.
"it's okay neuvi.. mm. just touch me like that.." again that flame is ignited, and he's leaning back into you for another kiss. this time its more gentle.
it wasn't supposed to end up like this.
the lustful dragon is now fingering your sopping entrance, in broad daylight. ramming you with three whole fingers, you already felt so full. yet so hungry at the same time.
"like this? do you like it when I do this ma belle?" there he was with that nickname. my beautiful. so shy, so beautiful atop of him. straddled on his lap, movements are feverish, and chasing for a release. your arms are thrown over his broad shoulders all while your whimpers, whines, cries, call out his name.
"neuvillette!"
a loud moan escapes you, the chief is sucking in a breath watching you quiver from his fingers alone. he's never seen someone at his mercy like this before. the heaving, your head on his shoulder, nails digging into his pale skin. cunt all sloppy and wet just for him— fuck.
the way his fingers circle your drenched cunt before entering your tight hole to fuck you once more. he's persistent to make you cum once more, overstimulating your poor pussy.
"m'stop baby.. please~! I need—hngh!" you can barely let out coherent words. look at you. so fucked to the point you cannot even think of anything besides him? how cute.
"what is it do you need sweetheart? hm?" his fingers that are covered in your slick begins to wriggle out his length. lubricating his cock with your sweet juices. not to mention that he's hard, unbelievably hard.
"do you want this ma belle? want me to fill you up?" what comes out of your mouth is another whimper, your mind is too hazy to respond. he lets out a chuckle— oh archons he wants to devour you whole.
then and there along the lake shoreline, this beastly man is rutting himself into you. your pleasantries provide him with furthermore motivation to continue fucking into your velvet walls.
muscular arms around your waist, inhaling your sugary scent, it's got him growling while his cock pounds in and out of you.
you're sucking him in so well, squeezing around his girth like you're asking him for more. this. this feeling. he doesn't want to forget it, nor does he want to stop it.
rather than a fish, neuvillette was a dragon out of water, whose found himself addicted to your whole body.
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@svtcrus || 08.19.23 ; BABY LOVE ME EVENT
©️ all rights reserved. do not copy / plagiarize , modify or use my work .
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zweetpea · 4 months
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Neuvillette blurb
Cw: Reincarnation, grief, Neuvillette crying.
“Find me again… in my next life, and the one after that.” You smiled as you laid on the bed. Neuvillette gripping your hand.
How many times had you two gone through this? How many times would you have to go through this before he either gave up on you or found a way to make you immortal? It was no secret that you only came back to be with your lover. Again and again you would endure the hardships of life.
Sometimes you lived till you were 70 or older. Other times you died in your 20s or younger because of illnesses, accidents, or in global conflicts. Middle age didn’t spare you either. Sometimes you would go through an entire new life and never meet him; but you didn’t relent. You could feel him drawing you back to the mortal realm and you wouldn’t let go if he was still willing to fight for you.
No matter how many lives you’ve lived. Man, Woman, something else, he loved you; and you in turn loved him. You wanted to hold him, to love him.
Even in the next life you loved the rain. It pained you to see your lover cry but if you could strip him of his sadness and replace it with tears of joy you’d do just that. You’d do anything to make him happy.
Then, when the world comes crashing down on him and he needs a shoulder to cry on you would be there. That’s what you love most about the rain. He would turn to you, trust you, let you hold him and love him and just exist as Neuvillette and his lover, not the Hydro Dragon and his mate.
“Hydrodragon, my love Neuvillette. Save those tears for when we meet again. For I want be the one to wipe them away. I’ll see you soon, I love you.”
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sixosix · 15 days
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THERE IS AN INDENTATION IN THE SHAPE OF YOU | LYNEY
notes 1.5k words, happy mothers day to my mama and to my maman rosalie, IM SORRY FOR THE DELAYWHADJFD
previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter
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The moment the messenger bird departs from his fingertips, Freminet launches off in swift motion.
Hours slipped by with him remaining inactive, with ‘Father’ unusually subdued since her return. Freminet should have immediately harbored his suspicions of it—’Father’ will always be one step ahead. Whatever secrets the children attempt to keep are already accounted for by her; it is her response that remains unpredictable and dangerous. Freminet admires that about ‘Father’, but it is perhaps a little unwelcome in the present situation.
The rain died down moments ago. The Hydro Dragon calmed, but Freminet knows that you haven’t.
He finds you kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily. Petrichor is wafting through the air, but there was that distinct smell of frost that Freminet could recognize anywhere. He belatedly notices that your hands have been frozen to the ground and your shoulders are trembling, but you’re making no effort to pull off.
Freminet approaches warily. Lyney’s message had been vague, but he got the gist of it. It was only Help Y/N. Freminet isn’t going to question it; if you were in danger, he wouldn’t think twice about it.
“Hey,” you whisper, seemingly unsurprised by his appearance, only sheepish at your current predicament.
“Y/N,” he says slowly. “Are—how did you—do you know how to get out…?”
“…No,” you cough, embarrassed. “Usually, Rosalie would help me.”
Freminet kneels beside you. “How did this even happen?”
“I—I don’t know. Honest. I just flicked my hand and got stuck. I should’ve calmed down before I left in the rain—I don’t—I was just—”
“You’re shaking,” Freminet interrupts, frowning. “You’re too weak at the moment to budge out yourself.”
“Well, yeah.” You breathed in deep, resigned. “I figured that out twenty minutes ago. I calmed down now, but I kinda gave up.”
“You’ve been stuck here for twenty minutes?”
People with Cryo Visions are more resistant, but no human should be stuck in ice for that long. Freminet supposes he could never fathom how strong you are, even after all these years.
Freminet really missed you. He wants to say it, but now is probably not the time.
“You can learn to thaw it. I had to learn it, too.” Freminet watches in confusion as you stare at the ice—the same ones you’ve created—with contempt. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say fear. “You haven’t been using your Vision?”
“Not on purpose,” you murmur. “It’s always an accident. How do I melt this?”
“You have to relax,” Freminet says, resting a hand on your shoulder. “Think about the ground melting the ice away, like it was never a part of you.”
“I wish it wasn’t a part of me. This is a weakness.”
“It can be a strength if you learn how to use it,” Freminet says. That’s what ‘Father’ used to tell him. “So you shouldn’t neglect your Vision.”
You stare up at Freminet with your mouth a little open. Freminet blushes under the attention, diverting his gaze.
“You’ve really gotten cooler, huh, Freminet?” You grin, the same flame you’ve given him before, back when things were simpler. “I missed you.”
Freminet allows himself to bask in it. “I missed you, too.”
The ice had shrunk, but it was still present. Freminet is mystified—he has never known any other Vision users who were so wholly in tune with their emotions to their Visions. You were like some sort of miracle.
“I wish Lyney was here to help you,” Freminet says and keeps an eye on the glow of your Vision.
Your expression shifts quickly into disdain. “I’d rather he wouldn’t. I don’t want to see him right now, that idiot.”
Freminet tilts his head. “Why? Did he already confess?”
Your eyes widen as the ice doubles over and is enveloped by a new layer. “That—that wasn’t a confession!”
That’s not the reaction of someone not-confessing. “We all knew it, you know. Lyney really likes you.”
“Freminet,” you hiss, your skin burning. And as fast as the frost has crept up your skin, it melts. Even for just the thought of Lyney. How magical it was. Even you seemed surprised, your hand launching to your face to feel how hot it had gotten. Anger, embarrassment, or something else that you couldn't name—it didn't matter, Lyney had a different kind of effect on you.
Freminet smiles. He missed this. “Tell me about it on the way there.”
You tell Freminet you had an inkling of where ‘Father’ took Rosalie. It’s just a guess, you want to say, but it was really more like you don’t know anywhere else where she would take Rosalie. It made the most sense—and, in some up way, it made it poetic.
And so you two stand face to face with your old home, the House of the Hearth. It still had the same grand doors you remember, the same living room, and the same fireplace, but the emptiness was unfamiliar. It was unsettling, like a bad dream.
“Where is everyone?”
“’Father’ told us to evacuate for the entire day,” Freminet says. “But I didn’t know it was going to be because of you.”
You laugh. “There aren’t even any guards here?”
“‘Father’ doesn’t need any.”
Well, he has a point.
You took in the things you can still remember: the room in the far corner that you occupied the most, spent every day training until your limbs couldn’t even move; the table, where you bickered with Lyney all the damn time; the couch, with Cecilia and the start of the terrifying thought that you weren’t going to be anyone special anymore.
You have memories here. Good and bad in equal parts, but still memories. Coming back to the House as it’s empty solidified your leave. This used to be your home.
“Are you okay?” Freminet asks quietly, but it startles you in the silence of the building.
“I’m okay, sorry. Do you have any idea about where ‘Father’ could be?”
Freminet’s eyes brighten. “I do. Follow me.”
The click of Freminet’s steps eases your nerves a little bit. At least, you think, you aren’t surrounded by suffocating whispers anymore in this House.
Freminet leads you down the corridor, and it comes to you belatedly that this path was intimately familiar to you. As he stops before a door, you knew. Your name is still engraved onto it, but with the dust and rust that has collected and grown over time, it wasn’t taken care of anymore.
“Here?” you ask in disbelief.
“I hope so.”
Freminet twists the knob, and the whispers that resound from the room fall silent. You find it strange that it hasn’t been locked, and it feels like walking into a trap, but you realize that all of this had been part of The Knave’s plan—of course it would be a trap that you’ve walked straight into. But all those thoughts are wiped away when your gaze dawns on the woman on the chair, who was glaring at her hand.
“Maman!” you cry out, missing the cup of tea she was holding.
She flicks the tea behind you and flings her arms out when you launch onto her. “Ma chérie!” she exclaims brightly.
The glass shatters and startles you back into clarity. You blink dumbly at the mess, then back at Rosalie. “Were you going to drink that?”
Her expression turns fierce. “No. Never. Not ever, okay, mon amour?”
“Oh, er, yes.” You never realized that Rosalie harbored an intense hatred for tea.
And finally, you direct your attention to the woman who has been silently watching the entire time.
“‘Father’,” you address her.
You haven’t called her that since you left. In your head, she’s always been The Knave; from the moment you left, in each flower you froze, in painful memories with Lyney, she is The Knave. But looking at her now, you feel like nothing else fits more. The ease of the admission almost terrified you. You could never deny it—she is your ‘Father’.
“I see that Freminet was the one who brought you here.” Arlecchino hums thoughtfully. “I was expecting Lyney.”
“I’m sorry, ‘Father’,” Freminet says weakly, head bowed. “But I stand against whatever punishment you will give her. I am here to protect her.”
“You’re openly going against the rules of the House?” she asks, tone stern.
Freminet sucks in a breath, afraid. “I-If I have to. I will not let you hurt Y/N.”
Arlecchino simply places her hand on Freminet’s head. “And you know that I wouldn’t. Do not worry. I know and understand your loyalty doesn’t stop at people who’ve chosen to leave our family.”
Freminet’s head snaps up, his eyes wide.
As heartwarming as it was, the teacup shards and its liquid's strange pungent smell have alarmed you. What was she giving to Rosalie? “Why did you bring her here?”
“Do you remember the most important rule of the House?”
“Betrayal to the House is punished with our lives,” you recite almost instinctively. Rosalie reaches for your hand and grips it tight but keeps her gaze forward, as if only to assure you that you aren’t alone. “But it’s only me. Rosalie doesn’t know anything. If you want to kill anyone, it should be me. Please, ‘Father’.”
Arlecchino almost smiles. “You want to know the truth?”
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted from you.”
“I thought you were like me. I recognized my youth in yours. But I was wrong. You love more freely than I do; you just don’t see it.” Arlecchino stalks closer until she’s close enough to mirror your position—you kneel across each other as if she is willingly lowering herself to make you understand. “I don’t want to chain you to the throne.”
…Huh?
“So, I will give you a choice.”
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notes my arle is definitely softer than canon Father but to me she would just.Do this. SORRY AGAIN FOR THE DELAY BAHHAHA this is so embarrassing if there are any mistakes IM SORRY ill fix it tmrw :) also akagi if ure seeing this i did see your askLMFAOOOO my answer is in the drafts for tmorrow love u guys
taglist still in the comments cus tumblr is being mean
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mitsvriii · 5 months
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"Nothing's New"
In which your partner is never going to pay attention to you, because they’re too focused on their dead lover
Bell’s notes: “writer bell goes too far with this fic-” im /j no ones gonna say that, angst powers pls work tho, like im asdlkfjawel;fjsd;jf;lska, i cant write dude, let me like, plan this out in my head before writing nonsense, LIKE BRO, feral over angst LORD, 100k likes and you get part 2 /jjjj, growling i love angst, MWHAHAHA, sorry ely, yuka, mhie, snob, and zee if you read this 😔😔😔, i listened to “IT Girl” while writing this 😋, got carried away with Ayato’s part oopsies, i believe Guizhong for the ladies but whatever 😔😔😔, cut out Wanderer & Childe in the end because i’m TIRED, not proofread
Story details: Ayato lowkey a bitch, scratch that highkey, reader has self-doubt, Neuvilette doesn’t mean to be mean he just ISSS, GUIZHONG DID NOTHING STOP MAKING HER THE ONE IN BLAME IN THESE ZHONGLI SCENARIOS, oh and I couldn’t be bothered with Xiao’s part like a quarter through he’s such a flexible yet straight character, it’s the way you can tell when I got lazy with each part, chance Xiao & Zhongli are gonna be ooc as i’ve never written anything but short headcanons for them before
Characters & Triggers: Ayato, Neuvilette, Xiao, & Zhongli;  reader has self-doubt, mention of death, mention of martial neglect
Reader details: female reader in Ayato’s part is explicit. female reader in Neuvilette’s part can be interpreted with the way you read it. the other parts, however, shouldn’t have a specified reader type. reader’s personality, race/ethnicity, height, physical descriptions, or anything of the sort is not mentioned. if anything is let me know and i’ll edit it. 
Ayato: No surprise the Yashiro Commissioner doesn’t pay attention to his new wife, the one that he didn’t marry first. You knew that he didn’t love you, and most likely never would because you were, in fact, the second pick. Actually, it was probably in the hundreds based on the amount of marriage arrangement offers Ayato had gotten considering he was one of the biggest figures in Inazuma. It didn’t matter, but he most likely picked you because your clan was a small one to put it lightly, so he most likely chose it, and you, because it wouldn’t be a hassle with the press. But of course, he would choose the person and clan that seemed, “easy”. It hurt seeing some of the people’s sympathetic stares, such as Ayaka’s, Thoma’s, and a few of the older women working in the estate. You got used to the lack of greeting from Ayato when he got off work, the lack of warmth beside you at night. You found it hilarious, although you were hysteric at the time as you had just found out that Ayato was off that day and neglected to see you, that he never, ever laid down in the same bed as you. It doesn’t matter no matter how hard you work around the estate, how long you sit up doing his work, which you soon quit once he yelled at you like a homeless dog, or even the distinct flower you made out of one of Ayato’s favorite sweets that he ignored. Not even a glance at your general direction, either. After a while, you decided to do some digging on his past wife, only to find out that she was in fact near perfect. Perfect reputation, perfect everything, to put it shortly. Shortly after asking Ayaka what happened to her, by pulling the sad, guilty wife card, you found out she was a victim of an assassination attempt that turned into a success. Of course, Ayato and his perfect wife would only be torn apart by death. It was poetic, and it made you sick. So what were you to do but endure the slow torture that you and Ayato’s marriage was? After all, nothing you could do could change how he felt about you. 
Neuvillette: The famous hydro dragon, at least to those who knew his ‘secret’. His past lover, unfortunately, died before him, no doubt to his immortality. Of course, you would soon die, maybe in a few decades but, hey, it wasn’t like he would miss you. You could only wait awake at night as Neuvillette went to fix himself his own meal, despite you staying up to cook him one and await for his return from work. It’s not that was the only time he never paid attention to you, after all the man had most likely been grieving his wife for centuries at this point in time. So what were you to do besides stay and watch this man be emotionally constipated around you? Why did he even marry you in the first place, then? It couldn’t be because his past wife resembled you, and it certainly wasn’t because you both acted the same. Was it because he needed someone to cling to? I mean, you weren’t exactly someone who seemed to not fit the criteria of a compassionate co-worker who would comfort Neuvillette in his times of distress. Did Neuvilette only come to you because you were his way of grieving? It would make partial sense, to cling to the nearest piece of comfort to help with the pain of loss. It made you feel like nothing but an object meant for his emotional wants, but in reality, that’s all you ever are and will ever be to him. 
Xiao: The famous adeptus long ago, had someone close to him. Shame they fell to waste during the archon wars, along with the other adepti. It was no surprise that everyone familiar with Liyue stories knew about the two of them together, which unfortunately included you. It didn’t pain you that much until your oh-so-loveable boyfriend got distracted by two kids playing with a Xiao lantern and one of her. After that, it only devolved into more. The lack of visits to your room in the inn, the lack of responses whenever you left your little notes for him near your meet-up place, and the extreme lack of thank-you-notes whenever you left Xiao almond tofu. It didn’t matter that you started to skip and completely ignore doing all of these things just to see if he would notice because the adeptus failed to appear in your room just to check in to see if you were okay. This behavior was unlike him, at least in the sense of him completely ignoring you. The only answer you could think of, that logically made sense, of course, was that he was reminded of his past loved one because of the run-in with the lanterns you two had while out in Liyue. So in terms, he seemed to disconnect with you because of the memories of his past significant other? You knew the adepti didn’t die peacefully, you could tell that much from the stories, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that also applied to Xiao’s past lover. There was nothing you could do about it though, because if you knew Xiao, he wouldn’t talk about her to you nor push her aside for you.
Zhongli: Guizhong. Of course, you were familiar with the name, everyone in Liyue was. Everyone might be a stretch considering the visitors and children, but the point’s been made. Morax and Guizhong were close. Close in a sense of possibly having relationship affairs but that was only explicit to you because of the way your lover would glace at glaze lilies. You couldn’t call him your lover, could you? Not with the way he would hum to the glaze lilies, the way his eyes would also drift away from you whenever you talked as you took strolls through Guilu Plains, and the way he would opt to tell stories of specific tales of his time as Morax, ones that included Guizhong in some way. It got to the point where you had to make up tasks that you had to do daily just to get away from the walks you two took, not to hear the different-yet-similar stories of Morax and totally not Guizhong. It was childish of you to be doing so, you had yourself convinced, as you couldn’t blame Guizhong for any of it. She had no part of this besides well, besides being your number one stressor for the past few weeks. It was tiring yet somehow for the sake of not wanting a glare or side-eye from Zhongli about his stories, which you never thought you’d get that tired of hearing, you kept your mouth shut, despite how hard it was. You knew it would only take so much more, though, before you said something about it. 
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suguru-getos · 8 months
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୨・┈﹕✦﹕ Kinktober Day 4﹕✦﹕┈・୧
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Neuvillette x f!reader -> Impact Play
Event Masterlist
you could be considered the one person who knew neuvillette’s first name. while that did make you feel special, it also made you burdened with the secrets he carried alone— until now. your husband was the literal dragon sovereign. the most powerful elemental dragon of hydro. his powers were of course— not of any subjective importance to you since you were his mate. however, the authority he carried made you want to be pressed with that too. oh how delicious it would feel to have him stern and relentless.
your thoughts were brought down with your haze as neuvillette’s voice echoed in the shared breakfast table. “is something the matter, my beloved? you rather seem irked with your trail of thoughts. can i help?” neuvillette was so sweet to you, eyes laced with worry and inquisitive-ness. “it’s all fine, neuv. don’t worry.” you dismissed his worries, sighing.
he was laced with his iudex attire, glistening with the incredible power as the chief justice of fontaine. neuvillette didn’t buy your tranced rejection of his question. “are you sure?” he pressed further. watching you observantly. you were playing with the shinny diamond bracelet— a trinket adored by your dragon mate and brought to you as a gift, afraid neuvillette could figure something was wrong just with the look of your eyes.
“mhm, quite sure.” you smiled again, looking up at him finally. yep— neuvillette wasn’t buying it in the least. he just wanted to know what was it, that plagued your thoughts oh so much.
“i don’t mean to obsess over this or make you uncomfortable by pressing you for the ‘why’ or ‘what’s is bothering you’ but i sincerely hope you tell me this.” yes, he wanted to know. he has always wanted you to feel seen and heard. you dip the croissant into your coffee with cream, taking a bite and trying to contemplate how you’d say these words to him.
“i want you to be mean to me. in bed. like— i want you to indulge into things… like edging, like- impact play like— breeding.” you wanted to dig up a hole for yourself as you felt neuvillette’s sharpened gaze pierce through you. a huffed chuckle escaped out of him. “very well, if my darling lover has been brave enough to admit to her kinks. i musn’t disappoint.”
a few days had passed since that conversation, and now all you’re reminded of is that little trinket. wetness pooling down your thighs as you laid bare onto the iudex’s knees and squirmed at every hit. “nngh please!” you whimpered as another hit launched onto the plush of your already reddened ass.
“you must address me correctly if you want *spank* relent, on my end.” neuvillette daunted in a low, threatening tone. you gasped out, clamping around nothing and wiggling your bruised ass.
“please iudex, i- i want you so bad!” you cried out, sniffling softly at the spanks neuvillette as given your meaty ass over and over, asked you to count & oh you just wanted to savour his cock.
you knew your dragon would soften if you were to beg sweetly, hands massaging the plush of your ass soothingly. “what count are we in, little girl?”
you whimpered out, biting your lip, “seventeen.” you were reduced to a mush, putty in neuvillette’s hands. all for him to play with. all for him… to toy with.
“good girl, you remember your count right.” he smiled, kissing your ass cheek. “maybe you should be rewarded for this, no?”
“yes, please iudex- please!” you finally decided to say his first name, causing neuvillette to soften up, “of course my little princess. i will take such good care of you.” he smiled, petting your hair. maybe you should’ve told about this way— way earlier. ;)
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You Don't Need to be Embarrassed
♡♡-Request: (Before reader knows Neuvi is the hydro dragon). You catch him in his office, hugging a handmade dragon plush. "If I hug this dragon, maybe the hydro dragon will feel my love.
Content: minor spoilers if you don't know about neuvi being the hydro dragon (oops), fluff, just cuteness. Gn!reader.
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There were many secrets about your boyfriend that you didn't know. And there were many you knew. But when walking into his office on this rainy morning, you didn't think you'd learn of a new one so quickly. 
Standing at the window, Neuvillette stood, arms wrapped around a medium sized dragon plush. Blue in color with white in multiple different spots. Honestly, it was the cutest sight you'd ever seen and you almost didn't want to speak in fear of ruining it. But sadly, upon trying to softly walk in, you bumped into one of his side tables. Causing him to jump slightly before slowly turning around. "W-What…" red dusted his cheeks as he quickly tried to put the dragon away. Even though he rushed, he was still conscious enough to put it away carefully. 
"Neuvi," you said softly. Walking over to place your hand on his, stopping him from shoving the poor plush in his drawer.
"There's no need to be embarrassed." Though you said this, his hand shook as red still painted his cheeks. "Why don't we sit down and you tell me about them, hm?" Your eyes gestured to the dragon, which upon closer inspection, was handmade. 
He nodded, pulling it slowly out of his drawer before taking a seat on his chair. Your knelt by his legs, resting your head as you rubbed his thighs in a comforting manner. "Whenever you're ready." 
He swallowed, "You know I don't have many memories of when I was born. Or my childhood." You nodded, "But I remember having this. And I remember thinking…if I hold it close, maybe the hydro dragon will feel my love and won't be so sad." That was about the sweetest thing you've ever heard. You knew of the legend, that when the rain falls it means the Hydro Dragon is crying. And here your sweet boyfriend was, hugging a handmade plush to make it feel better. 
"Neuvi, I think that's the sweetest thing ever. I'm sure he'll feel your love and the rain will stop in no time." You smiled up at him.
His heart fluttered, the sound of rain slowly fading until it stopped. You didn't know that he was the Hydro Dragon. Or held this dragon plush in an attempt to control his own emotions. You didn't know yet you managed to make him feel better almost instantly. "Look! The rain stopped," you said happily. Getting up to look out the window. "I told you it'd work." He smiled too, a small one as he looked at you.
"Yeah..I guess it did."
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1-800-c3dr1c · 8 months
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Hi, I saw that you have open requests. could you write a story about Neuvilette and his partner where Neuvilette learns that the traveler told his partner that he is a dragon. but the reader had something to do, so she would leave Fontaine for a few days. on the other hand, Neuvilette would think that this is why she does not want to see him, because she has been hiding from him until now, and of course because of this there would be a hell of a storm in Fontain. i like angst but with a happy ending. Thank you I love you. 🥺👉👈
LONELINESS. neuvilette angst to fluff oneshot. female reader. <3 SPOILERS FOR THE 4.1 ARCHON QUEST. DO PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
requests are: open! please look at the pinned post for characters i will write for. <3 let me know if you’d like to be in my tag list for whenever i post anything related to neuvilette under this post as well, or in my inbox!
OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REQUESTING NEUVILETTE, I LITERALLY LOVE THIS MAN AND I HOPE THAT YOU LIKE THIS!! <3
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“he’s a dragon.” were most certainly not the first words you’d expected the traveler to utter when you two met after they had come back from the fortress of meropide. you had stared at them, baffled, asked them to repeat what they had told you despite not even hearing yourself speak. and they did.
“he’s a dragon.” and that’s when it clicked. your partner, the iudex of fontaine, was the hydro dragon. how had you not realized this sooner? you had caught little bits of his grief even when he never explicitly stated it, and when you did it just so happened to rain. but you didn’t want to believe it at first.
“you’re lying.” you didn’t even hear yourself contradicting them, the words just sputtered out absently, as if you had no idea what you were doing. which you didn’t.
“i’m sorry,” the traveler just shook their head, knowing they couldn’t exactly get you to see through your own fantasies of not recognizing the truth. they knew you’d come to your senses soon, but you needed to be left alone.
and left alone you had been. they had walked away, leaving you to stare after them, attempting to collect your thoughts.
your partner was the hydro dragon. it was such an unfathomable thought, but the more you thought about it, the more likely it was. and yet, time was cruel.
you could not ask him about it now, no. you had a mission outside of fontaine, and you knew you’d be gone for a few days. you had been planing to tell neuvilette this, but you had never gotten a chance. today was your last day in fontaine, and you would leave in two hours.
you knew that he would not be back in less than two hours. despite that, you waited until the very last moment for him to come home, for you to be able to tell him what you knew.
but you simply wouldn’t, or rather, couldn’t. when the time came, you simply took your bag, walked off, and didn’t look back.
neuvilette had thought differently. he had chosen to take a few days off of work after the traveler had told him they had accidentally let it slip to his partner that he was the hydro dragon. ever since then, he hadn’t even seen her. grief-stricken and thinking that she hated him with her entire being for hiding such a big secret, it was constantly raining in fontaine. people were no longer walking the streets, and fontaine was neatly flooded in itself.
the traveler had tried to calm him down, but it had been no use. he actually started crying. not just the feeling of grief, but actually tears rolled down his cheeks. hence why, he stayed in his office all day, allowing little to nobody in except for the traveler and a few select melusines.
“she hates me,” he murmured to himself, the thought having been running through his head for many days now. ever since she left, that’s all that has been on the poor iudex’s mind. “she hates me.” he repeated, finding that it may just end up being the truth, no matter how much he didn’t want to believe it.
until you had walked into his office, startled to see that his face was tear-stained. you quickly walked over to him, but he hadn’t even registered that you had walked in yet.
“neuvilette?” you whispered his name, standing right beside him. this shocked him out of his thoughts, and he turned to you.
“y/n.” he spoke your name, trying to clear his throat. “where.. did you go?” he sounded so quiet, so hurt.
“i’m sorry. i had to do something outside of fontaine, love. but i’m back now.” you told him softly.
love. that nickname instantly brightened his mood, before it dampened again. you don’t hate me, right? because.. because i’m.. the hydro dragon.” the last two words you could barely hear, but you understood.
“so that’s why it’s been raining so much. is that what you thought? oh, neuvilette.. i could never hate you.” you kissed his cheek, and he pulled you close, hiding his face in your shoulder.
“thank you. for not hating me. i love you so much.” he murmured. “so, so much.”
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chibimochii · 2 months
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Ugly sweater for me? Nah, it's for you~♡
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Wahhh @xsezzie you wrote a fic for me for secret Santa- and I was gone from tumblr- it slipped past me and I've read it and I adore it- and I'm sooo terribly sorry that it's taken me an embarrassing amount of time to react to it- so I offer you all I can offer- some art. For the record I loved it-
Pls do read it, I've linked it right under here-! It's perfect bc it's neuvi rerun tomorrow~ who else is hyped??🌟
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Fontaine Characters Headcanons/Theories
Some of this info is known cause the siblings info got released but still:
Focalors
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Hedonist
Really only in it for entertainment (she’s just….kinda a loser 💀💀💀😭😭😭)
Hot-headed, a little childish, gives Neuvillette a hard time (yeeeah)
Would give up her Gnosis in a heartbeat if it was needed to place a bet
But would fight tooth and nail to get it back if she lost the bet
Hydro Archon (confirmed)
Hydro (confirmed, duh) /Sword (confirmed based on her Statue of the Seven)
Arlecchino
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Fourth of the Fatui Harbingers
The Knave
Used to be an actress
Method actress, used methods so outlandish she was kicked from theater
From Fontaine originally (HAH I WAS RIGHT)
Used to be an orphan
Runs an orphanage called House of the Hearth, uses it to recruit Fatui agents (!!!!!)
Those aren't gloves on her hands, she bears a curse or she's been turned into a non human entity
Pyro vision/Sword (leaks confirm she’s a Polearm!)
Cryo Delusion
Neuvillette
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Stone cold serious type (he’s literally the sweetest I love him????)
Huge proponent of justice (yup!)
Chief Justice of Fontaine
Puts up with Focalors’s attitude (Pretty much 😭)
Loyal to Archon (or is he)
Descended from mermaids (YALL YALL APPARENTLY HE'S THE HYDRO DRAGON SOVEREIGN???????!!!! WTF OMG)
Waiting for Wriothesley to slip up so he can put him in the slammer once and for all (political rival mayhaps idk)
His name deconstructed means "new city": mayhaps he's awaiting a moment to dethrone the archon and reconstruct Fontaine?
Hydro/Sword (apparently he's a Catalyst user,,,,missed the opportunity to give him a fencing sword as a weapon but whatever ig)
Clordine
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Assistant to Neuvillette
Bodyguard (yeeeah)
Prosecutor of Fontiane
Detail oriented, nothing gets past her
Vicious and Merciless (literally kinda the opposite but kinda not)
Eventually goes up against Arlecchino
Navia is her arch nemesis, seems as though Goldilocks is the only one having fun with their game of cat & mouse (the way I was off)
Electro (confirmed) /new weapon: Gun (Sword!)
Lyney
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Super protective of Lynette (rightfully so holy shit) 
Loves the chase
Cunning (eeeeh)
Very street smart (I mean kinda yeah)
You can’t tell whether he’s putting up a front, actually enjoys his web of lies, or a little bit of both
This man's gonna get used while thinking he's using the person that's using him at some point (oh Arlecchino I swear to god you better not)
Pyro (confirmed)/Bow (confirmed)
Lynette
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Something has happened to her in the past (…..well that was dark)
She’s not temperamental at all (yup)
She doesn’t smile too easily (mhm)
Strongest bond with Lyney (they twins lesgo)
Perceptive and agile (very!)
Lynette escapes her brother’s net of safety to save the traveler at some point (not so likely)
Anemo (confirmed) /Sword (confirmed)
Freminet
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Youngest sibling (yup)
introverted/enjoys personal space and quiet (lmfao I knew it)
Love for the water
Renowned Diver of the Court of Fontaine (confirmed)
Silent protector of both his older siblings (idrk)
Highkey that smartest book-wise out of the siblings (again idk)
Cryo (confirmed) /Claymore (confirmed)
Sigewinne
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Healer
Alchemist
Provides treatment for Wriothesley’s visual impairment
If not treatment, then she prefers sweet tasting drinks and Wriothesley prefers bitter but she still tries to get him on her new concoctions
Sibling dynamic/found family w/ Wriothesley
Hydro/Catalyst
Wriothesley
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May or may not be somewhat visually impaired
If so, not particularly compliant with treatment
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If not treatment, then he prefers bitter tasting drinks and sometimes humors Sigewinne by trying her new concoctions, mostly just pretends he’s converted to sweet and then goes for coffee or tea anyways
Likes to tease Sigewinne
Sibling dynamic/found family w/ Sigewinne
Investigator for Fontaine justice system (woeful news, he's a police officer. like not even a detective dude?)
Seems pretty chilled out, strategic, could be leading the organized crime w/Navia in secret
if he is secretly running robinhood-esque crimes with navia, then...Neuvillette sniffs something suspicious but never has the evidence to back it oop
Pyro/Claymore (He’s a Cryo Catalyst but his fists go boom boom like Heizou)
Navia
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Gives off Focalors vibes (was very wrong)
Playful (yeah I mean yeah)
Career Thief OR
Notorious organized criminal in Fontaine (literally what was I on)
Robin Hood of the sewers (I mean I was kinda sorta a tiny bit right)
Crafty, craftsman (ummm I guess her mind is?)
Super sweet, wonderful character (loved her so yes)
Loves messing with Clordine by making her think she's got her but escaping right in the nick of time (….needless to say I was way off)
Geo (confirmed)/Catalyst (claymore actually)
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aphel1on · 6 months
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neuvillette's lore is actually insane. we all took one look at him and went "haha dragon🫵" but i significantly underestimated how big of a role he would play. he's the incarnation of the original hydro sovereign. he took back his rule right under the heavenly principles' nose. he's the one handing out hydro visions now (not even because he has to, he doesn't, he just grew so fond of humanity that he chooses to). he gave away the hydro gnosis bc he straight up doesn't need it. he's planning to DETHRONE ALL OF THE ARCHONS (in a few hundred years, when the traveler's not around to see it, so it won't be awkward for them). he's kind and soft-spoken. he's full of vengeful rage. he's a father to hundreds. he found his purpose after feeling lost for 500 years. skirk pulled him aside for a super-secret convo and when he saw us again he immediately spilled the tea. as far as i can tell, he spawned into existence fully formed. no other character can fucking compare
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thesoftestmess · 5 months
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this might not be canon, but personally i need furina to struggle a whole lot longer and harder with post-prophecy depression and mental illness. She's played the same tiring and painful act for five centuries, was constantly in a life or death scenario and had to hide her true self from the world the entire time and she won't just recover in a few years from that.
There's parts of her that will never ever be compatible with a simple human lifestyle, and parts of her that are irreparably broken. She isn't sure of her personality after everything that happened and the lie she had to live. She slips between personas and her archon temperament comes through like a defensive mechanism at any sign of conflict or trouble.
She's plagued by nightmares. Of the flood, of the trial, of the people closest to her conspiring against her behind her back, and of being found out in a million terrible ways. Of saying the wrong thing, making a wrong decision. Of being found out, of being found out, of being found out.
Lying or keeping a secret feels existential still. Being honest still feels life threatening sometimes. Putting herself first feels like putting both hands on a hot stove.
She doesn't live in the palais anymore, doesn't have to sit through trials anymore, but her heart and soul are still there. In her dreams she's still at the place she spent her entire life's memories at.
Yes, she can make new memories, but it'll take time. More time than she has, maybe, now that she's the closest to being human she'll ever be.
She'll never be human in the way the people around her are.
What sort of human has 500 years worth of memories after all? What human tells personal anecdotes and mixes up their centuries?
What sort of human can feel the absence of their divinity like it's a physical thing? A voice that will never speak to her again, or keep her alive? What human has no family, no childhood?
What human remembers so little, but still remembers death somewhere deep within?
She jerks out of sleep from it sometimes, gasping for air, and spends the rest of the night awake, almost frozen by fear. The flood is over, but it's hard to convince her racing heart that the danger is too.
Humans have entire family trees that go generations back, but Furina was put into this world a solitary creature, her blood heavy with sin ever since she turned human.
She owns a hydro vision now and doesn't know how to yield it, but the ocean still calls out to her some days. Sea creatures flock to her like they can smell she's not human enough.
She learns how to make little hydro companions for herself, so the darkness and emptiness of her apartment feels less ominous when she lies awake at night.
She can't turn her vision into a weapon quite yet, but when it rains the droplets seem to cling to her. She's watched them roll upwards along her arm, watched them gather in her palm like kin. She wonders if sea creatures flock to neuvillette in a similar way, or if his immense power makes them recoil. She wonders if elemental dragons can feel regret. Wonders if he, too, ever feels entirely foreign in that human body he was given. If he, too, lies awake trying to grasp faint memories of a past life.
She's extremely human in the way she's plagued by body pains from not being able to relax just one day in five centuries. The years catch up with her once she gets out of survival mode, and fatigue is a constant companion now. Sleep comes difficultly and getting out of bed was easier when the fate of a whole nation depended on it. On her. She's never lived for just herself before and some days she's not sure she wants to.
She did her duty and earned her retirement and the story turned out well, all things considered. She still has people by her side, some of them.
Still, she feels raw and tired and overwhelmed by the life lying ahead of her. As a human and as someone who will always be Something Else.
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gold-rhine · 3 months
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What the guard dogs are for
There are some things you never want to hear your secret years-long crush saying, such as “I’m getting married,” “I think we should stay friends” or “I’m the destroyer of the present order, the one who shall judge all gods, and the foe of humanity.” Wriothesley’s very bad, no good day of trying to unravel conspiracy theories, fumbling a tea party with Chief Justice and learning Teyvat’s ancient history and vishap lore from the leading expert lector.
Genre: angst and misinformation campaign
Characters: Neuvillette\Wriothesley, Enjou
Warnings: sfw in a sense that nothing even remotely sexy happens, but there is dissociation, ptsd episode, brief mention of self-harm, and Enjou doing same thing he does in canon, which is not quite gaslighting? Anyway, let me know if you feel any other warnings need to be added.
Chapters: 1 out of 2. Wordcount: ~8k
With his morning tea, Wriothesley riffled through the reports as usual. Nothing was marked urgent, so he started with the most boring part, - the official ones. The production numbers, coupon consumption statistics, everything is prepared for Neuvillette’s upcoming inspection, which was mostly a formality, but he would want it to go as smoothly as possible. 
Reports from the surface informants. Traveler stirring up a ruckus with the research institute… Well, about time, that pit couldn’t go on forever pretending that massive explosions are just a part of science routine. 
Next, creatures called “vishaps” appeared recently in Erinnyes Forest. These vishaps are apparently a lesser form of dragons, and connected to Liyue vishaps, also lizard-like creatures, though in Liyue they are aligned with geo, not hydro. Non-hostile to humans, aside from one accident. But in that one they fought back against the hunters sent by nobles to capture them as novelty pets. So the only regrettable part was that they didn’t get the nobles, only their lackeys. For shame. 
Next, there are gangs with new lingo going around, which generally was a good thing to pay attention to as they usually ended up in Meropide. Wriothesley frowned, reading the lingo translations, as he suddenly felt old. “Trendy Zaytun Peach” was something he’d got called for taking it up the ass a lot in his days, but now it’s a hip and cool nickname with the youngsters. 
Informal internal reports. Victims of beret society are rehabilitating fine, preparations for the wedding are underway. Good. Albert, a new guy from the shop, is sending him tea. Quite good tea at that. Obviously a bribe attempt, though he didn’t ask for anything as of yet, so it was basically free. Everything was fair in love and bribes as far as Wriothesley was concerned. You could throw everything at the feet of your beloved as to the feet of your targeted bureaucrat, and receive nothing and you would have no claim to complain. Now, the fact he wouldn’t take it into account when making decisions about their proposals, and sometimes would even consider it a negative, was a different matter altogether. 
He perked up reading the last report. There was a new conspiracy, whose agenda was not very clear, as they were more careful than the others, but the gist was something against Neuvillette, so Wriothesley was tracking it for some time. It was hard to get anything concrete though, as they were pretty good at keeping a low profile, but now apparently one of the members by the name of Jacque got into the Fortress on unrelated charges, and he was reportedly not the brightest shank on the block. 
Wriothesley made the arrangements. 
Half an hour later, he happened to stroll by when Jacque was being beaten up by three guys in the shadowy corner. 
“Hey, what’s going on here? Leave him alone!” he said, walking up to them.
“Oh yeah?”, said one of the bullies, turning to him. “Well, make me!”
They were paid double for the pretend fight. It might have been an overkill, usually Wriothesley would go for just scaring them off without combat. Especially because anyone who’s been in the Fortess for some time or had a head on their shoulders would understand that nobody would try to openly fight the Duke outside of the fight club arena. But Jacque was as fresh as they get, allegedly stupid, and it was Wriothesley’s first chance at any info in two whole months, so he decided to make it as impressive as possible.
He went as easy on the guys as he could, they theatrically threw the fight and retreated. 
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, kneeling next to the guy in the corner and putting his hand on his shoulder for emphasis. 
“Yeah, yeah, I think I’m fine,” Jacque muttered, shaking his head. 
“Why did they attack you?”
“They don’t want me to spread the truth...” Jacque said with heavy emphasis. “But uh, thanks for helping me out.” 
“No need to thank me. I feel bad enough that honest folk like yourself get picked on in MY Fortress. That’s not how I want to run my place, so it’s only natural that I stand up for you.”
It took a moment, but finally the guy gasped.
“Your fortress? Are you… the Duke?”
At least he knew what “Duke” is.
“Yeah,” Wriothesley grinned, turning up the charm. “And allow me to get you a couple of drinks to compensate for the rude welcome you’ve received so far.”
He got them to the Coupon Cafeteria, where best meals were already arranged, and generously poured alcohol into the poor guy, listening to the story of his life and misfortunes that brought him to the Fortress, nodding empathetically. He didn’t ask about Neuvillette at all, to not spook the target, trusting that he will come to this anyway, and finally his patience was rewarded. 
“You know, you’re good!” the guy said drunkenly after some time, clasping his hand on Wriothesley's shoulder, which he beared stoically, grinning with all friendliness in the world. 
“You know, they say we can’t talk to you because you’re bought by that lizard, but I think you’re a good guy. You just don’t know all the facts!”
“Which are?”
The guy leaned closer to him and lowered his voice to a dramatic whisper. “Neuvillette is an evil dragon!”
Wriothesley choked on a laughter, which was way too obvious to turn into cough even for the dunce this stupid. 
“No, you don't understand! Dragons were enemies of humanity that Celestia conquered. But they come back when killed! They reincarnate! He is a hydro dragon who was reborn in a human form so he could more easily trick us!”
Wriothesley blinked, remembering Neuvillette standing under the rain, and the old children’s song. “Hydro dragon, Hydro dragon, don’t cry….”
“He put our rightful archon Furina on that trial, right? No one else saw the verdict, so he pretended she was declared guilty. He forced her to abdicate and took the power for himself!”
Wriothesley realized long ago that Neuvilette, of course, was not human. It was clear to any idiot who talked to him for longer than a minute in an informal setting, not to mention a lifespan of at least five hundred years. But there were a lot of options other than “evil dragon”. There were old gods who did not receive archonhood, but instead decided to serve the archon, like Liyue’s adepti, and he always assumed Neuvillette was of the same kind. But the idea that Iudex was some kind of evil monster with a grudge against humanity was ridiculous. Especially when he showed up at the Fortress and saved the entire Fountaine and Wriothesley’s own hide from the flood.
“Really?”
“Yeah! We should restore our true archon Furina to her rightful throne!”
Furina’s insurrection? Interesting. Wouldn’t peg her for someone capable of this type of conspiracy.
“And did Furina herself give us her blessing?”
“She can’t speak publicly, as this monster threatens her.”
Hmm, inconclusive on Furina’s involvement.
He spent more time with the drunk Jacque, trying to get more details, but couldn’t get much more than unhinged ramblings on how evil the dragons are and how insidious it was for a dragon to pretend to be a human. He had to leave to prepare to Neuvillette's arrival the next day.
_____
Neuvillette stepped out of Opera Epiclese into the rain and slowed down his pace to prolong the sensation. It was a bit of what humans called guilty pleasure, as he felt guilty from inflicting rain on humans for his own pleasure. Though from his understanding, humans felt guilty because they saw this pleasure as something bad for themselves. Even if often this supposed harm made no sense to Neuvillette. Eating too much food until a human's stomach hurt was at least understandable to see as such, but he heard one of palais’ secretaries say that romance novels were her guilty pleasure. How could humans feel guilty for something as simple as reading? He stopped and asked her why she would feel guilty for reading, because melusines kept telling him that socializing with humans is very easy, you just need to ask them questions about themselves and let them talk about what they like. Well, it didn’t seem to work, as the secretary stumbled, started hyperventilating and emanated levels of panic and anxiety comparable to someone in the defendant’s chair. Sensing human emotions did not actually help Neuvillette in communicating with them, as he could not discern the reasons. He asked her if she perhaps came into possession of any cursed texts? He could generally sense the stench of corruption and there was nothing on her, but there was always a possibility that it was a curse he could not register. She panicked even more and vehemently denied. At this point he decided to give up on socializing, as it was obviously very distressing for humans, but felt obliged to tell her that if she ever did read anything she felt was cursed, to inform him. He hoped it would assuage her fear of reading. She thanked him, stuttering, and after that day avoided him at all costs. 
The rain was a compromise solution in any case. Neuvillette always felt a bit strained and uncomfortable in his body, but after obtaining full dragonhood and most of the memories of past lives, the human shape felt downright stifling. He now remembered thousands of years of being something much bigger, long coils that could easily crush the spire of Opera Epiclese. Now, when he looked at his own reflection, it was hard to comprehend that this small and ridiculous frame was actually him. In addition, all of his memories and instincts called him to be submerged in water. But even with his poor understanding of humans, he realized that seeing the Iudex floating in the river would alarm humans much more than him standing under the rain. So rain was the closest solution he could get at his position. 
He summoned rain instinctively, to be as close to engulfed in water as possible. It was a bit embarrassing that even humans noticed it and composed a rhyme, even if that rhyme was inaccurate. He didn’t cry, as vishaps didn’t cry at all and even his current human shaped body didn’t have tear ducts. The closest he could pinpoint to human experience, as he understood it, was being stressed and desire to be comforted, for which water was his best remedy.
And currently he was quite stressed, looking over the Fontaine laws in an attempt to revise them. The current system that treated justice as theater was clearly imperfect, which he realized long ago. But he never saw himself as authorized to change it, as humans were the responsibility of the archon and even without it, he was well aware he didn’t understand humans, so he knew it wasn’t his place to question the human justice system, to which he was only a temporary guest. But now, as fontanias became part of Teyvat after his decision, and so, a part of his responsibility as Teyvat’s god of life, even if the usurper tried to deny him, he couldn’t ignore the need for change any longer. The problem was that he did not understand humans any better, so it was very stressful to try and restructure their systems of governance. 
He extended a hand, catching raindrops on his palm, when he noticed a silhouette near the elevator to the Fortress, and stopped himself from visibly controlling the weather. 
Wriothesley caught his eyes and grinned, approaching him at brisk pace, umbrella over his head.
“Greetings, Monsieur.”
“Good morning, Your Grace.”
Wriothesley always somehow managed to make a “Monsieur” sound more impactful than Neuvillette could “Your Grace”, despite one being a noble title and another just a polite greeting. 
“Would you like to…?” Wriothesley extended his arm with an umbrella, without actually covering Neuvillette with it. In the past, as a part of playing a role of “normal human”, Neuvillette accepted such offers, though there were not many aside from Wriothesley who dared to approach him with it. But now, as he was a full-fledged dragon, at the height of his power and influence in this land, surely he could afford to discard this role? Surely he could afford to be himself at least in this?
“No, thank you,” he said, smiling and trying to sound as cordial as possible, so that Wriothesley would not think it was a slight against him personally. “Don’t take it as offense, but I actually like being under the rain.”
The Duke smiled back, shaking his head.
“No offense taken, but why didn’t you say it last time? I felt like an idiot forcing you under an umbrella.”
“Really?” Neuvillette perked up, falling in step with the human. “You could tell that I…”
“Hated it? Yeah, for sure.”
“....prefered not to have an umbrella.”
Wriothesley let out a low, guttural bark of laughter that somehow got to the dragon despite him not being interested in humans in general.
“Not only I could tell I disturbed you, but I had to walk on the flowerbed to get to you, and then I trailed dirt in the Palais while everyone here glared at me for the audacity. Meanwhile you walked on the same dirt, but stayed pristine!”
“I’m sorry for…”
“Hey, don’t apologize. I’m just kidding, don’t worry.”
Neuvillette met the greyish blue eyes of thawed ice directly and sensed that he was truly not bothered, which didn’t make much sense. But Wriothesley was one of the very few humans who was not scared in the dragon’s presence. He was, probably, the only one who emanated only positive emotions at their meetings. Neuvillette mostly encountered negative reactions in his daily life at the trials, so he could not tell apart which positive feelings exactly that he read from Wriothesley due to the lack of exposure. But perhaps…
“I wouldn’t want you to feel unwelcome at the Palais,” Neuvillette said after a short pause.
Wriothesley grinned with a careless shrug.
“Then I will be there, even if the rest of your bureaucrats make faces. As I said, don’t worry.”
Neuvilette frowned, but didn’t see much point in pressing this further. After a confrontation with Navia, the dragon realized that his lack of understanding of humans hindered him, instead of making him truly impartial. Especially now that he was de facto in charge of the entire Fontaine government. And practice showed that only direct interaction with humans could give valuable experience, as watching from the Iudex seat did not allow him a nuanced understanding. 
So perhaps, if Wriothesley was a rare human who was not scared of him, and he proved rational and trustworthy in the years they knew each other, Neuvillette could confide in his true nature and maybe ask for advice in understanding humanity?
“Perhaps staying for some tea would make up for this past offense?”
Wriothesley stumbled for a moment.
“Seriously?” He sounded as casual and ironic as usual, but the surprised burst of positive emotions from him was bright and obvious. “After all these years you finally decided to deign my humble office with your presence?”
“It’d be a completely unofficial visit, of course.”
“Sure, sure. It was never my secret plot to bribe you with a tea party, trust me, even I realize my tea is not that good.”
His voice was ironic, but for a moment Neuvillette could see his crooked grin turn into a genuine smile. So, reassured that he was not imposing, Iudex nodded and followed the human into the Fortress’ entrance.
_________
The inspection itself was mostly a formality. The Court of Fontaine technically had no direct authority over Meripode, but it provided guards and substantial resources, and so it had a right to oversee the use of these assets. The actual budgeting was done on the regular in behind the scenes reports though, as the data was not visible in the in person visit. Still, it was a time honored tradition that got Neuvilette to show up regularly.
“Take a seat. It will take me a minute to make tea.”
Neuvilette gracefully sat down on the visitor’s chair In Wriothesley office, folding his hands on the cane. He still sat with a ramrod straight back and perfect posture, but there was a certain lightness to him today, which was hard to put into words. 
“The inspection is over, yet you are still nervous.”
Wriothesley knew he had a poker face good enough to cover it, yet Neuvillette saw it anyway. He had theorized for a long time that the Iudex could sense emotions, but usually he would not acknowledge it directly like this. “I wasn't nervous about the inspection to begin with. But inviting a high and mighty Iudex himself to the tea for years and then disappointing him when he finally accepts would be a devastating faux de pas. They will mock me on the first pages of all the papers tomorrow.”
Neuvillette frowned slightly.
“I must underline that I’m not here in any official capacity, and I would hope I’m talking to Wriothesley, not the Warden or the Duke. If you agree, I would ask that we leave the titles at the door.”
“No, of course,” Wriothesley, who had fantasized about leaving titles at the door and then clothes on the floor for actual years, said quickly, frantically recalculating how he could turn the tea party to wine tasting, which best wines he had confiscated in his storage and how he could make turning on the gramophone and then maybe leaning against the edge of the table in front of Neuvillette look natural and smooth. “Absolutely. I was just joking anyway, don’t mind it.”
“Ah, I see. I apologize, I’m unfortunately prone to missing humorous intent, so I appreciate your clarification.”
With how far the Iudex went out of his way to assure people of his good intentions in informal situations, Wriothesley really didn’t understand how everyone found him so intimidating. Especially because he very often had to interact with assholes in positions of power who did try to intimidate him on purpose and the contrast was very apparent. Neuvillette projected an aura of power without really wanting to, and then tried to over-explain himself to make others feel at ease. His earnest awkwardness was something like the clumsiness of a huge beast like an elephant trying not to step on the gaggle of kittens at his feet.
“In any case, there is nothing to be nervous about. After all, tea is liquid, and it’s really hard to make liquids unpleasant. So far I think only Fonta truly managed it.” Neuvillette drummed his fingers on the table and glanced at Wriothesley. “To be frank, if crimes against water could be prosecuted, Fonta would receive life in prison.”
Wriothesley snorted. “So no sugar in your tea, I take it?”
“No, thank you,” Iudex said politely and then, after a short pause, “And to clarify, I was not serious. There is nothing wrong with people liking sugary drinks, of course. I was just making an attempt at a joke.”
He really was horrendously bad at pretending to be a human. How could anyone hear him talk and still believe he’s a scheming manipulator was beyond ridiculous.
“No, I got it. It was a good joke,” The Duke grinned, placing a teacup in front of Neuvillette and sitting down across the table with his own.
Neuvillette gave him a graceful nod with a little smile and picked up his cup, giving it a swirl before tasting.
“Hmm. Interesting. Poignant. Bitter,” he said thoughtfully, tilting his head. 
Wriothesley was about to mention that this sort was not usually bitter, but Iudex continued. 
“Not by nature, but forced by circumstances. Not nearly enough water to be nourished, so it had to adapt and conserve strength, letting leaves seen as unimportant to die and concentrate on survival of the main branches. But there is not just hunger… there is a dream of rain. An ache of something not ever known, but yearned, longed for, without realizing what it is. But then…” Neuvillette closed his eyes for a moment. “It happened. There is a memory of luminous joy of water not gathered by mere drops, but drank in full, overwhelming, a feast after a life of fighting for scraps of morning dew. It had tasted rain at least once in the end.”
Wriothesley put his own cup down, leaning forward in disbelief.
“No way. This was a harvest from a drought year and it’s normally a mild sort, considered unusually strong in this season. How could you know this? Are you cheating?”
“You’re welcome to test me with other samples,” Neuvillette said with an air of a magnanimous ruler granting a boon and put the teacup down with a delicate clink. 
“Oh, I’m taking you up on your word, trust me,” the Duke grinned, but then paused. He didn’t want to spoil the mood, but he remembered how strongly Neuvillette felt about the perceived melusines conspiracy. Wriothesley had to tell him about the evil dragon idiots just to make sure he’s not thrown off balance later. That’s what the guard dogs are for, after all.
“Actually, before we move forward with testing your psychic tea reading abilities, there is something concerning official business that I think you should know. And then we can forget it completely.”
Neuvillette inclined his head with a small smile.
“There is a small group of conspirators, - and I must reiterate, it’s very small - who operate on the ridiculous idea that… uh, that you’re some kind of an evil dragon who schemed to overthrow Furina.”
Neuvillette's smile froze.
“You don’t have to worry about it, really. It’s negligibly small, and well, anyone with a working brain would not believe that you’re a monster in disguise.”
Iudex was silent for some time, not meeting Wriothesley’s eyes.
“Are melusines implicated in this?” he said finally.
“No. No, there’s no connection to them in this stupid theory.”
“Good. That's good. They do love living with humans so much.”
Wriothesley suspected that Iudex was taking things kind of out of proportion again.
“Listen, it’s really nothing…”
“No, no, I understand. It would be so unacceptably horrifying for humans to learn their ruler is a… monster.”
Neuvillette's voice wavered, but his face was impartial, strict, previous lightness gone completely. Wriothesley saw his hands tighten their grip on the handle of his cane a moment before he abruptly stood up.
“I must apologize for impropriety, but I have important business in the Palais which was inappropriate for me to neglect for so long. I must beg your leave to depart.”
Wriothesley stood up too, scraping to understand what he did wrong.
“Wait, it’s not…”
“Thank you for your time, Your Grace.”
Wriothesley shut his mouth, the title feeling like a slap for the first time in his life. The formality and politeness somehow only made it worse. He took a deep breath and willed himself to sound calm.
“I hope you have a nice evening, Monsieur Iudex.”
Neuvillette left in what for his usual dignified pace could be considered a hurry. Wriothesley followed him without being seen, partly to make sure he doesn’t get bothered by inmates and partly on an instinct to investigate. 
At the Fortress’ entrance, he watched Neuvillette walk under the rain, lifting his head upward. The blue strands of his long hair glowed and so did his coat-tails. They extended, shining brilliant bioluminescent blue, trailing behind the Chief Justice, in a moment looking like fish’s fins, then the next - as colossal snake’s coils. Sea waves crashed against the ridge without any wind, rising high, reaching to a lonely glowing figure of Iudex. With bated breath, Wriothesley watched Neuvillette extend a hand, as if catching raindrops - and rain stopped mid-flight in the air, lingering over his palm, waves frozen cresting over the earth. The raindrops gathered in a shuddering spheres, and then stretched upwards, against all laws of gravity.  Wriothesley’s heart skipped a beat as Neuvillette closed his fist and the rain flew backwards to the skies.
Wriothesley stormed back into his office and frantically searched through the reports, pages flying about, until he found the one about vishaps. He looked at the photos, seeing similarities he would never look for before. The dark blue color of vishap’s hide was nearly identical to Neuvillette’s attire, but that was small beans, easily written off as coincidence. Their eyes, bright magenta with white vertical slice of a pupil, resembled Iudex, but there was room for debate, as his eyes were much paler, lilac merging into gentle blue instead of a bright pink, even as white vertical pupil was so similar. What really struck Wriothesley after all this, was actually the little blue feather at the side of the head of both vishaps and Neuvillette. It was identical and looked so… deliberate. It had to be chosen and placed precisely like this. 
Still, this was not enough. He needed more evidence. He needed… he needed answers.
He walked to Jacque's block as quickly as he could without alarming inmates, but when he got to the conspirator’s room, Jacque was sleeping on the bed and a man was sitting on the chair next to him, reading a book. He looked up when Wriothesley walked in and stood up, clumsily dropping the book. He was tall and gangly, had dark hair, Inazuman features and light brown eyes behind the glasses. 
“Who are you?” Wriothesley was really not in the mood for playing games.
“Well, my organization caught wind that you are interested in learning some… historical information, and our poor Jacque is really not the best source, which is why I’m here to answer any questions you have,” the man gave him a groveling smile. “You can call me Enjou.”
“Not here. In my office. Follow me.”
When they got there, Enjou whistled musingly.
“Uh, what a nice office! Must be a pretty sweet gig. I wish I had an office instead of slinking in dump ruins all the time.” He sighed theatrically. “So, I assume your main questions are on the vishap situation. I…”
“Wait,” Wriothesley said, walking up to one of his wall cabinets. “You can’t expect me to just believe you on your word.”
“Oh, of course, of course! You’re free to rough me up a bit first. Maybe a little bit of torture? But only a little bit, I’ve got a glass jaw, haha!”
Wriothesley didn’t live so long as an undisputed champion of fight club to not recognize a freak who gets off on pain. He grimaced, walking up to the table where Enjou was already trying to rifle through the papers. He stopped with an apologetic grin and put his hands up. Wriothesley put a glass vial on the table.
“Drink.”
Enjou raised his eyebrows.
“Are we dining and wining first or?...”
“It’s a truth serum,” it was a secret project of the Sumeru Akademiya, before the sages were overthrown. Dendro Archon reportedly could read the thoughts of people, and sages were trying to replicate the effect at least partially. Wriothesley came into possession of it after using his network to get the sages connected to the needed people in Fontaine institute, as Fontaine was at the cutting edge of mech technology and the sages were apparently building an artificial god. Didn’t pan out for them, but the serum worked. Wriothesley was sure of it, because he tried it on himself first.
“Oh! How exciting! How does it work? Will it perhaps burn my insides in agonizing pain if I lie?”
“Drink,” Wriothesley said through gritted teeth.
Enjou smiled and drank the vial in one shot.
“Well, nothing is burning so far, but the evening is young, haha,” he said, smacking his lips.
Wriothesley took a deep breath.
“Why are you here?”
“Huh? What do you mean? To explain the history to you, as I said.”
“Because of the goodness of your heart? What’s your agenda? Your goal?”
Enhou cleared his throat.
“Well, first of all, I do believe in uncovering and spreading so-called “forbidden” knowledge. But with your particular case can you really question my agenda? I didn’t come to you first. You were the one who sought us out. I didn’t even want to be here! I was doing my own thing without knowing about you, to be honest! But, well, I am in an organization with some unfortunate morons who thought that recruiting a convenient idiot and then sending him into underworld prison to make sure he isn’t heard is a great plan. And then when the Warden takes note of the idiot and gets him to blabber, these same morons go, Enjou, you have to get there, because you’re a vishap expert! Ugh.” 
Enjou shook his head in seemingly sincere frustration.
“But um, yeah, I’m not trying to recruit you or anything. We know how you’ve disposed of House of Hearth agents and how you generally obstruct Fatui’s activity, and we just don't want you to do the same to us. Because we’re not your enemy! So I’m here to provide you with the necessary context to see that.”
Wriothesley drummed his fingers on the table.
“Okay. Start talking about Neuvilette and vishaps.”
“Well, Neuvilette is a Hydro Dragon, that should be obvious. To clarify, Hydro Dragon here means Hydro Dragon Sovereign, because technically all hydro vishaps are hydro dragons. If you didn’t know, which is understandable, as you’re more of a fighter type and not a bookworm like myself, haha, vishaps are primordial elemental creatures, original rulers of this land and mortal foes of humanity. Long before Archons, there were Dragon Sovereigns in charge of each element. Then there was a war with Celestia, specifics of which are not widely known, but we do know that Celestia won, dragons were largely eradicated and the huge chunks of powers of Sovereigns were taken from them and given to the Archons. Hydro Sovereign was killed.” 
Enjou made a dramatic pause, before leaning forward with a grin. “But you see, vishaps reincarnate. Neuvillette is a Hydro Sovereign reborn in a human shape. There was actually an Inazuman prophecy about it, recorded in the Byakuyakoku Collection. That Hydro Dragon will descend in a human form, and it specifically mentions a cane. This really baffles me, to be honest. How could they predict the cane? Why does he even need a cane? Surely not because of any weakness, he’s an immortal dragon, 500 years is very young for him. And the records say when Neuvilette took his position as the Iudex some 400 years ago, he already had a cane. Was he born with it? Like, had he sprung fully formed, with a cane? Did he pick it up as, I don't know, honorary agreement with a prophecy? Or were his fashion choices actually predetermined to the degree that the prophecy knew them millenia ago?”
“Get back on track,” Wriothesley growled.
“Oh, sorry. Hmm, this serum works by forcing you to spell your thoughts out loud, yes? Well, then it’s not my fault I’m even more blabbering than usual!”
Wriothesley clasped his hands together and said slowly, carefully watching Inazuman’s reaction. “Even if he is a hydro sovereign dragon, as you say, this alone does not make him evil, as your conspiracy claims.”
Enjou fixed his glasses. He really had the hands of a bookworm, no work calluses or fighting scars. But there were spots of reddened, peeling skin that looked like burns that didn’t get to fully heal before getting burned again.
“Did you miss the “mortal foe of humanity” bit? But okay, sure. This is Fontaine after all, presumption of innocence and all that. I mean, I can’t read his thoughts to tell you under oath that he’s evil, so don’t take me to court, hehe!” Enjou grinned, clearly pleased at his own joke. “But I can tell what I know and ask some questions. My first question is why, after losing a war and presumably being killed by Celestia, would an ancient dragon god want to serve a servant of Celestia? The Archon, who rules with what is actually his own power? Unless he had some sort of agenda, perhaps? And come to think of it, why would Hydro Archon put a mortal foe of humanity into a position of such institutional power?”
“Are you implying Neuvilette forced Furina to give him the position of Iudex?”
“Well, I wasn’t here!” Enjou raised his hands defensively. “But why else would he become the Iudex?”
“There are higher beings and gods serving archons in other nations. Like Liyue adepti serving Rex Lapis.”
“Morax was known as the prime of the adepti. None of them could compare with him at strength. Same with yokai and Baal in Inazuma, she was the strongest by far. It’s natural that they would accept servitude. But here…” Enjou glanced at Wriothesley with a sly smile. “If you had to make a bet on a direct fight between Neuvillette and Furina, who would you bet on? Come on, I know tales that her own court would not listen to her until the Iudex tapped his cane.”
Wriothesley couldn’t really argue with this. When the Primordial Sea started breaking out, he himself sent for Neuvillette and didn’t even think to ask the actual Archon.
“In that case, why didn’t he just kill her immediately? Why would he play the judge?”
“Well, you see, he would not get his power back from just killing her. It would just pass to the next Archon. No, the Hydro Archon had to destroy her own throne. And running out the ruler requires a long game, as you know very well yourself, You Grace.”
Wriothesley kept a calm face, but something must have given him away, as Enjou grinned predatorily.
“Next set of facts and questions. You know of the infamous Archon trial, of course? When it was revealed that fontanian people are actually oceanids, given human shape by the previous hydro archon, Egeria? And the prophecy of the flood works because Primordial Sea waters dissolve fontanians into their oceanid forms. Well, the flood actually came. Why were fontanians not dissolved?”
“I’m sure you’ll tell me that.”
“Hehe, yes. It was because Neuvillette turned them into real humans with his powers of Hydro Sovereign. How generous of him, yeah? The question is, why did it take him so long? It’s been 500 years, and yet fontanians were made human only minutes before the flood.”
Despite a feeble bookworm posturing, there was a shadow of unhinged madness in his eyes, dangerous enough that in any other case Wriothesley would cut contact. But the stakes were too high right now. He needed to get all the information he could out of this lunatic.
“You might also remember that on the same trial it was proven that Furina is not a Hydro Archon. And I can tell you that the actual Archon, Focalors, was in the Oracle machine the whole time. Sorry, I’m not even trying to pronounce that full name, haha!”
The urge to punch this bastard was overwhelming, but Wriothesley kept himself in check, mostly because he could tell he was being baited into it and he didn’t want to give the piece of shit the satisfaction.
“Anyway, Neuvilette had an audience with her right after a trial, and as result she killed herself and gave him power back. You see, Hydro Archon doesn’t have the ability to turn oceanids into real humans. All of you were just… things, playing at being humans,” Enjou said with a smirk that looked more fascinated than mocking. “But Hydro Sovereign, the original god of life, does have the power to do so. And he also, conveniently, has control over the Primordial Sea, which you, Your Grace, already know as he stopped the flood in your own Fortress.”
Wriothesley raised an eyebrow and Enjou smiled with a shrug.
“Again, I was not there! But I do know Hydro Sovereign controls the Primordial Sea, and that there is an entrance to the Sea in the Meripode Fortress. I also know that there was some emergency in the Fortress, where inmates were told to run as close to the surface as possible, and then Monsieur Iudex visited and the disaster was somehow avoided.”
Wriothesley frowned. 
“If he was really a mortal enemy of humanity, why wouldn’t he just let the gates of Meripode break and the flood happen right there and then? We would all be gone and he wouldn’t need to lift a finger. Instead he ran to help when I… when the Fortress called.”
“And what would that achieve? He still wouldn’t get his power back,” Enjou shrugged dismissively and then smiled, almost wistfully. 
“No, you know what I would do if *I* was the Hydro Sovereign with an ability to take human form? And if the Archon who held my power hostage was relatively weak AND had the prophecy involving a flood of the Sea I control? Well, I’d infiltrate human society, take a position of high authority and make sure the humans not only see me as the personification of law and justice, but also respect me more than their own Archon. And when the prophecy deadline is coming up, I’d make sure I have people loyal to me in some key positions. Such as Royal Duelist… and the Warden of the Fortress.”
“He didn’t make me the Warden,” Wriothesley gritted out. 
“No, but he did make you the Duke, didn’t he?” Enjou smirked with a wink. “Our sources say the Court was not thrilled to give the highest noble title to you. And if the Iudex did not throw his own weight behind it, it would have never come to pass. How generous of him.”
It was true, Wriothesley’s own informants reported that the Court loathed to give him a title, let alone as high as the Duke. Neuvillette was the only one who fought for him and fought hard, because usually Iudex’s one word was enough to make a decision, but here the stalemate lasted for two months. They wanted to compromise and give him the viscount, but Iudex wouldn’t budge, so in the end, they caved.
Wriothesley never asked Neuvillette for the title. Neuvillette never mentioned what he did for the Warden and never dropped anything even as close as a hint of asking anything in return.
Unless you see it as a part of centuries long game, where mundane favors didn’t matter, but being called first to the access of the Primordial Sea did.
“Ah, you’re starting to get it, don’t you?” Enjou sensed blood in the water, like a proper shark would. “Then I would orchestrate a public court hearing to absolutely discredit the current ruler and corner the actual Archon. And when Focalors is forced to talk to me…. I would make a bargain. Saving the lives of all fontanians in exchange of getting my full power back and Focalors dying. Isn't it ironic that the dragon playing human was the one to turn human-shaped water things into actual humans?"
Enjou leaned back against his chair, grinning with satisfaction.
“And then I’d have an entire country loyal to me as a ruler, which would make a great foothold to use for attacking Celestia.”
Wriothesley took a deep breath.
“You really expect me to take you on your word? You might believe it yourself, which will pass the truth serum, but the word of a lunatic is not evidence.”
“Oh, of course not! I would never expect you to take my lowly word for it. Instead, why don’t you take Monsieur Iudex’s word?”
Enjou made a dramatic gesture of spilling a heap of conches onto the table. Wriothesley raised his eyebrows, when the other man poked one of them awkwardly.
“Now that I have reclaimed one of the Seven Authorities from the hands of the usurpers, I have regained my true form,” a calm voice that was undoubtedly Neuvillette, said out of nowhere. “I am now a fully fledged dragon, powerful enough to judge the rest of the gods. My final destiny is to judge the Usurper-King in the heavens above.”
“This could be faked,” Wriothesley said automatically, just to argue, but his heart already fell.
“You wound me! These are his words, and I spent an entire night fishing them out for you, I’ll have you know. It’s quite hard to capture this. You’re welcome to listen to all of them and see for yourself.”
Almost against his will, Wriothesley reached out and touched one of the conches.
“…I shall fulfill my vow to judge all of The Seven in turn, even if the sky should fall and the ground give way.”
Wriothesley took an abrupt breath through his teeth. Enjou sighed and stood up.
“I think it’s better for you to listen to this alone. After, you’re welcome to reach out to us, but please don’t make any hasty decisions. I’ll see you soon, Your Grace!”
Enjou walked down the stairs, and by the time Wriothesley got to them, there was no one there. The Duke couldn’t bring himself to focus on that though. Instead, he walked up to one of the wall cabinets and took out a bottle of whiskey he was saving up as a possible gift.
He didn’t bother with the glass. He fell down into the chair in front of the conches and clenched his fingers on the bottle, icy veins springing up from under them. He took a sip and touched another conch.
“…my grievances with the usurpers have yet to be settled... They owe a debt of blood that shall not be forgotten.”
He drank, staring blindly into the distance, and listened, and the quiet words burned worse than whiskey sliding down his throat. He caught himself on a familiar thought. “This can’t be happening. This is too monstrous.” The same feverish thoughts he had when he discovered the truth about his foster parents.
As if by now he shouldn’t have learned that nothing is too monstrous in this world.
“As a survivor of the dragon race who has regained my full dragonhood, I must fulfill my oath and obligations even if it means returning all the water in the oceans back to the heavens.”
It really did sound exactly like Neuvillette. Wriothesley tried to find the lie, something that sounded fake, but not only the voice, but the cadence and word choice fit. And it sounded calm, impartial as usual too. And then there were hydro vishaps appearing in Erinnyes…
Fuck, was it really that easy to fool him? Was he really this big of a fool? He learned to distrust sweet words and warm smiles, and he was so sure that he wouldn’t get caught in the same lies ever again, even if he sacrificed his ability to love for this. But all it took was a seeming opposite, direct and harsh, too cold and intimidating to appear manipulative, but endearingly awkward just sometimes, just enough to make him believe that… That there was something true and clear in this rotten world. That he could trust in *someone*.
“Nothing will stop me from rendering judgment on each of The Seven.” 
He went through all of the recordings, frantically at first, wanting to find contradictions, then, when none were found, numbly re-listening to the few that hit the worst.
“…also the destroyer of the present order, the one who shall judge all gods, and the foe of humanity. “
Wasn’t it too obvious in hindsight? Why would the Iudex stake his own reputation on Wriothesley’s title? How could you not see it coming? Oh, because you thought you “deserve” it for turning this dog-fighting pit of a prison into something with a modicum of fairness? Because you thought he recognized your redemption? Gods, what are you, fucking fourteen again, did you learn nothing, why would anyone ever care about you, you naive goddamn idiot?
Soon, the bottle was somehow almost done. At this point he was running one recording on repeat, mindless and purposeless except for repeating slashes of pain, familiar rhythm like the knife on his wrists years ago.
"Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, don't cry." Whoever had penned that rhyme, as well as the Fontainians who came to believe in it, must not have known the Hydro Dragon all that well, considering that they thought the Hydro Dragon could cry. What did they take said Dragon for, some sort of bleeding heart who grieved for humans and the heavens alike?”
If this was true… If this was true, then Wriothesley didn’t just get fooled himself. Then he helped a monster take control of the country and potentially use it in war against heavens. 
He clenched his hand and it took him a moment to realize he broke the bottle he was holding in it. That pain from glass pieces in his palm felt small and distant now. But at last, it spurned him into action.
If this was true, he only had one shot. He’d already told Neuvillette of the dragon conspiracy, like a good little idiot eager to please. And any tyrant worth his salt would make sure to take him out after his, especially now that he outlived his purpose in giving access to Meripode vaults. He might have some time because of how oblivious he was, dismissing the conspiracy openly, but it couldn’t be long. 
He couldn’t take his time. He couldn’t hope for the better. He had to act like it’s the worst option possible. More than anything, he needed to confront Neuvillette, dragon Sovereign or not. He had to fix this, no matter the cost.
He realized he needed leverage. Brute strength was out of the question. Even before the flood, Neuvillette absolutely destroyed Fatui Harbinger in one flash, quicker than anyone in the audience could see what happened. Wriothesley would put himself against Harbringer with no hesitation, but he wasn’t an idiot. If this was how powerful Iudex was before, then after allegedly gaining his full power, there was no way Wriothesley could threaten him. No, he needed something else.
He took out the paper and wrote a note, taking care to not stain it with blood. Fortunately, he held the bottle in his left hand, so he could keep it out of the way.
“....and so confess that I, Wriothesley, Warden of the Fortress of Meripode, killed Chief Justice, Iudex Neuvillette.”
He finished the note and carefully put in his signature, then folded the paper into an envelope and closed it with his personal seal. Then he walked up to a safe, one of the hidden ones, and punched in a code. When the safe opened, he rummaged in it for a moment, until finally taking out two vials.
This was sold to him as the poison that could kill a god.
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freminet-writings · 7 months
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freminet x an archon male! reader? so we’re the hydro archon instead of furina basically (still just as over-the-top ofc). basically after totally exposing them in the opera house we go to apologise and meet freminet and it’s just BOOM instant LOVEEEEE moment. then just general hc’s of freminet dating a literal god and also how the whole of fontaine and ‘Father’ would react to it? (can’t imagine all those eyes on freminet would be very easy on him so some comfort would be cute) idk let your imagination go wild i’ll be happy with anything! 🩵 (ESPECIALLY smexy time at the end ykyk 😩😩)
fuckass app crashed when i was writing and it got deleted 💀💀 i hate this place
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after you embarrassingly got all your evidence debunked and realized you falsely accused the two magician siblings, and then exposed the fact they were fatui in front of everyone...you felt like you needed to apologize, you laid awake at night thinking of it
so finally you got some treats and came to their house, trying to ignore the people and cameras surrounding you, it's not everyday the hydro archon himself goes outside, not even clorinde by his side
however, instead of the twins you expected, you saw the most beautiful boy you've ever seen?? and you've been alive for a long time, you've seen many boys before!
"oh hydro dragon bless me..." you mumbled, the boy's eyes were widened, having not expected that the literal archon would be outside his door! the same archon who almost took his siblings away from him...
he noticed the cameras and sunk into himself, it was bad enough he hated attention, but now everyone knew he was fatui and it felt worse, like everyone was judging him harder
you cleared your throat "ahem! why are you all still here? this is obviously a private moment! do you want to be sent to the fortress of meropide so badly?"
quickly the people ran off, knowing you, their very... enthusiastic archon, you were not kidding, you looked pleased with yourself, now alone with this majestic boy
"you didn't have to do that..." his voice was quiet but you still swooned! "oh please, anything for a beautiful young man like yourself!'
after that day, you visited alot more often,and even requested his presence at the palais mermonia, freminet was always awkward and felt out of place, why did the archon seem to like him so much? maybe he was just doing this to try to suck up to his siblings or father
in reality you were crushing hard on this boy, as the archon you cant exactly go out and form meaningful connections without the people trying to be nice just so you don't send them to jail, though the most time spent together with him, even freminet started to grow feelings for you
eventually you cannot hold back your overwhelming feelings and confess, despite being quite scared of his reaction and how his family would react, the both of you became boyfriends! it was quite the sight for the people of fontaine, a over enthusiastic archon with a shy and quiet diver?
to say his family was shocked was a understatement, especially the knave, she would've expected someone like lyney would manage to seduce the archon, but freminet? she can't say she wasn't proud though, you can bet she'll be bragging to everyone how her son bagged a archon though, specifically the one she was investigating head on
and now she has more ways of connecting to you in a attempt to solve the crisis, and even for her own wants of the nation, and of course finding out some of the secrets of the archon
but freminet couldn't even go outside without being bombarded by paparazzi anymore, it was overwhelming and he hated it, and you understood perfectly! which is why now there's a law where you cannot even speak to the hydro archon's boyfriend unless he gives permission! perfect, isn't it?
as for the more intimate encounters, freminet can't help but feel more confident in himself, whether he's getting fucked or he's fucking you, either way he's with the most beautiful man in fontaine, and a literal god, it's hard not to feel pride knowing everyone wants you and he has you all to himself
especially if he was dominant, knowing he's got you under his control willing to listen to his demands? he feels like melting, if he's submissive, he feels the same, knowing that you were on top of him, balls deep every night? he wants to giggle and kick his feet
he'd rather drown than tell his family he's having sex though, even when arlecchino starts telling him about safe sex...knowing he's already far past that point!
what really matters to him though, is how happy you make him, he didn't realize, but he's smiling more often with you, lyney pointed it out to him, and he couldn't help but blush, he just loves you, he wouldn't care if you were a normal person or a god, he wants to stay with you forever
he starts going out more often, even going to his siblings shows alot more, just to see you, sometimes you even get him to sit beside you on your seat! the only people even allowed there were you, neuvillette and clorinde, the whole of fontaine slowly get used to seeing their archon very publicly kissing his boyfriend, you can't help it!
you just want to kiss him all the time, even neuvillette can't help but feel like a proud father, arlecchino knew she still had her own mission to investigate the oratrice and the prophecy, but she also knew freminet since he was a kid, and she knew freminet has never been happier
so maybe, just maybe, she's generally happy for her son, he really deserves that love after the shitty things he's been through, maybe she'll also attempt to have a better relationship with you, she can't have you scared of her when she'll have to walk her son down the aisle afterall
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