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hopefulromances · 10 months

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Long Time Coming I Chapter Nine I Electric Love

Summary: Being hired as the first female assistant coach in the league was a challenge of it itself. Being a football protigy and University Football Legend was easy enough. Coaching Jamie Tartt was a challenge all on its own.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warning: Some angst

A/N: Enjoy

Prologue One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight

Jamie gave me some space, for which I was grateful. We had our final match coming up and our dreams of promotion were just in sight. I wanted to be able to focus on what that, the match, which was the most important thing I’d be a part of. But of course, there was only one thing on my mind, and it was Jamie. Without having Jamie around to talk to, I found myself missing him more and more.

I moped my way through the day. Coming to work, going to my desk, going to the pitch, eating a plain salad, and going home. I didn’t want to let it affect my work so when I was on the pitch I tried to stay as unbiased as possible. But honestly, I felt more inadequate than ever. It didn’t help that the media seemed to be shining a light on every mistake you’d ever made in the league.

“Look, all I’m saying is that she’s too much of an amateur to be on the team,” George Cartrick stated firmly on the Soccer Saturday show. “A woman cannot teach a man.”

“Now, George!” Jeff Stelling defended. “(Y/N) (L/N) has performed admirably under Lasso’s leadership.”

“She’s barely out the womb! What makes her think she’s qualified to be in the Premiere League?” George shot back. “She needs to pack her bags and get out of Richmond before she loses them a chance at promotion.”

I turned my phone off, running a hand through my hair in frustration. Maybe he was right. Maybe I wasn’t ready for this job.

“George Cartrick is a twat with shriveled balls.” Roy’s voice entered from his side room. “And I should know, he constantly wears pants that show them off.”

I glanced up at him, stuffing my phone in my pocket. “Yeah, thanks, Roy.”

“Hey, Roy’s right,” Ted agreed. “With the sentiment, I’ve never seen George’s testicles myself.”

I rolled my eyes and rested my head on the desk. I appreciated their sentiment I really did but I was just so BLAH at the moment that nothing they seemed to say or do really help. I was in a funk. A funk I had put myself into. Ted, Roy and Beard exchanged glances with each other.

“You know, (Y/N),” Ted said, turning to face you. “You can talk to us about anything. Honorary Diamond Dog meeting.”

I peeked out of my arms to look around the room. Nate wasn’t in the room, so I didn’t have to worry about his sorry ass judging my for my pitiful nature. I lifted my head and took a deep inhale.

“I’m putting space between me and someone I really care about, and I thought it would make me feel better but instead its hurting me more than anything has ever hurt me before.” It all came out in a fast stream of consciousness, not breathing until I got the statement out.

“Wait, if this is someone you cared about, why are you putting space between you and them.” Beard questioned, finally joining the conversation. You pursed your lips, trying to figure out how to tread this line. There was no way in hell you were telling this group of people about Jamie.

“Well, um, I was afraid my feelings were getting in the way… and he didn’t care about me the same way I cared about him.” I decided to say. “I thought that I needed to give myself time to get over him.” Beard opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t let him say anything. “But instead of getting over him, it’s making me want him even more. And I’m trying to focus on the game but everyone and their mom is expecting me to fail! And all I want is to talk to this person because I know they would support me but now I’m afraid to even talk to him!”

Ted raised his eyebrows and let out an impressed whistle. “You got all that cooped up in that head of yours?” I nodded. “Well, no reason you’re in a funk. Look, (Y/N), I think you need to take a note out of a certain snow queen’s book and ‘Let It Go’.”

“Frozen, classic,” Roy approved, nodding his head.

“Wait, wait, wait. Let what go?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Well, it seems to me that you are holding on to every feeling, thought, and possibility,” Ted elaborated. “You hold onto all of that you’re gonna pop!”

You frowned at him. “Weren’t you the one who said that sometimes we should keep things inside?”

“That was before I met the feeling of letting it go! It really works.”

“It’s true, letting go is great, that’s how I do it,” Roy agreed.

“Roy! You’re one of the most private people I know!”

“I’m private, but I also have a very healthy relationship with my emotions and know who and when to trust people with my sharing,” he pointed out, shrugging.

Dammit I hated when he was right. I blew a raspberry and face planted on the table. I wanted to listen to them, and just let things go, but tomorrow was the big day. Maybe it was something I’d worry about later. For now, I’d just focus on the game.

That was my plan at least. But as I was leaving that night, someone pulled me into the boot room. I whipped around to see Jamie looking at me.

“Jamie what-“

“Hush, now, last time you got to talk and I didn’t so now you’re gonna listen to me.” He spoke so quickly that you could barely process exactly what he was saying to you.

“Jamie I-“

“Hush!”

“But I-“

“Just listen!” He grabbed me, holding a hand over my mouth. I frown at him but stayed quiet. “I just want to tell you that I was wrong, yeah? I was wrong about everything. I don’t love Keely. I love you.”

My eyes became saucers as I realized what was happening. I knocked his hand away from me, suddenly feeling hurt. He was lying to me. He was giving me his pity. Well, I didn’t want it.

“Jamie, please stop.” I felt my lip begin to tremble. “You’re being mean.”

“No, no, no! I mean it!” He insisted, taking me by my shoulders and forcing me to sit down on the bench. He started picking at his fingers as he paced back and forth. “I really do, I was just- I was confused. I had this feeling, like… fluttery stuff in my stomach. And the last time I had that feeling you hated me, and I was with Keely. So… I guess I thought that I was getting that feeling again because of her. But when I told her it didn’t feel right. Then you told me how you felt, and I was so confused.” He finally paused and looked at me. “I know I’m slow, (Y/N), but I get there eventually.”

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I really couldn’t think of anything to say. I was still scared that this was all a joke. That somehow, he didn’t actually love you and he was just trying to get you back in his life no matter what. He held up a hand to silence you.

“You don’t need to say anything, I know you probably don’t believe me, but I mean it.” Gave me a sideways smile, a hint of his normal cocky self coming out. He stalked forward and bent down, so he was eye-level with me, his face just inches away from mine. “And when we win tomorrow and get promoted, I’ll be doin’ it for you, love.”

The pet name fell so easily off his tongue and I felt my cheeks start to heat up under his gaze. His smirk grew as he saw the blush on my cheeks, any semblance of the anxious boy from before was gone. He gave me one last nod, a wink following it before he turned and left. I was left sitting dumbfounded in the boot room.

“What… the… fuck?” I finally spouted, bringing my hands up to my cheeks.

“That was something!” Fucking Will. I turned and looked at him, watching curiously as he shined some shoes. “The two of you are cute!”

I stared at him, still reeling from the interaction. At least there was someone else to there to prove that the interaction actually happened. I didn’t know how to feel. Part of me still believed that Jamie was lying as a way to get me to act normal again, and I honestly wouldn’t blame him. But the other part of me felt like I was soaring. Jamie liked me? No, LOVED me! Could this really be happening?

From then on it felt like I was on auto pilot. Leaving the club, getting home, doing my nighttime yoga. It was all like machinery as I figured out exactly how I should feel about everything. Tomorrow, everything would be different. Whether or not we’d be promoted was one thing but what happened with Jamie and me was entirely different.

It seemed like the whole world was on edge the day of the game. Ted was dealing with his personal life being on display, Roy was having the pain of having his feelings hurt, Beard was on the rocks of Jane (again, and Nate was… well he was acting weirder than normal. All we needed to get promoted was a tie, at the least, but Brentford was a formidable challenger.

I stood in the locker room, drawing up the formation on the board. We were running Nate’s new false nine strategy. It was certainly a choice to try a new tactic so late in the season, especially with promotion on the line but the tactic was good. Colin stood with me, chatting with me about his night and the parking ticket he’d gotten for parking half on the curb outside his house.

“I swear I didn’t even feel the curb when I parked!” He whined, stretching his arms.

“Colin, you’re a professional footballer,” I pointed out. “Just pay the ticket. And please, for the love of God, if you feel a bump, stop driving forward.”

He rolled his eyes at me glancing over to say hello to Sam as he walked into the room. Even Sam was had something going on. Edwin Akufo was on his ass about making a decision regarding joining his super team or whatever. I gave him a heartfelt smile which he returned. We all had chips on our shoulders, and this game would prove exactly what we could do with them.

The game did not start well. Brentford scored just twenty minutes into the game. Then again taking us into the half 2-nil. There had to be a solution to this. These guys could play this tactic easily but there was something disconnecting them from the execution of it. Going into the locker room, I could feel the anxiety and disappointment seeping from the lads.

“I’ma shoot y’all straight. This is bleak, yeah?” Ted started the conversation. “I mean, look at it out there. Looks like a Renaissance painting portraying masculine melancholy.” We looked out into the locker room. It was true, they looked almost angelic in their portrayal of their grief. “Okay, so now what? What are we gonna do?”

“We should abandon the false nine,” Nate suggested, shaking his head. “It’d work if we had players who knew what the fuck they were doing.”

“That’s not true, Nate,” I snapped, standing from my seat. Nate glared at me, but I pressed on. “They are perfectly capable of preforming a false nine, they just…” I closed my eyes picture the pitch. “They need to change their perspective.”

“I agree with (Y/N),” Ted chimed in. “You know, they just had 45 minutes to figure out what not to do. What do you think, Roy?”

“You should ask them,” Roy offered. “They’re the ones out there actually doing this shit.”

Ted glanced at me then Beard. It was a good idea.

“Yeah, all right.” We made our way out into the room, gaining the attention of the boys. “All right, fellas. Coaches and I are are having a little debate and wanna get ya’ll’s take on it. Should we stick with the false nine or switch it up?”

The room was silent as the team thought it over, glancing around das they waited for someone else to speak. It was Jan Maas who stepped up first.

“The tactic is sound,” he said. “and we’re all perfectly capable of executing it.”

“Yes, you are,” I encouraged. “The false nine is about deception, playing offense through the guise of defense.” I walked over to the white board where I had drawn up the tactic before the game. “You’re playing too forward, and Brentford sees the moves you make before you make them.” I pointed to the different players. “Fall back, make them come to you, look for the gaps. That’s how you score.”

I turned back around and saw all the eyes on me. I felt a rush of gratitude going through me as I appreciated their sincerity. I deserved to be here, and they knew it. Then my eyes fell on Jamie, who was listening with a soft smile on his face. I felt myself start to smile too.

“It will work,” Jan Maas agreed.

“Hey!” Ted interjected. “If Jan Maas says it, you know it’s the truth, right?”

Jamie nodded. But he wasn’t nodding about Jan Maas. He was nodding about the way you had explained the technique to them. As if you were on the field with them, knowing what was going through their minds as they played.

We ended our team meeting with the whole team laying hands on our believe sign. This was it. The moment the team became a family. Going out into the second half, it was like an entirely different team. Before we knew it Sam had scored a miraculous goal and all we needed was one more.

I found myself holding my breath as Jan Maas sent a pass to Jamie. I held my breath as he took control of the ball and started towards the goal. Then a Brentford play was sliding into Jamie’s legs sending him stumbling to the ground. I let out a shout of distain as the crowd cried to the referee. Then we got it! The referee called a penalty. Jamie hopped up and took the ball.

I knew he could make this goal easily; He hadn’t missed a penalty all season. He turned for a moment to look over at us on the sideline, and his eyes met mine. I could tell he was considering something and was looking at me for something, reassurance? Whatever he was thinking, I knew he needed to follow his gut, so I gave him a nod. He nodded back to me. Then he did something unexpected. He gave the ball to Dani.

Jamie gave up his chance to be called the savior of Richmond. Because that’s not what he needed to do. In this moment, he needed to get Dani his confidence back. Gone were the days that Jamie was afraid that Dani would replace him. Instead, he was working with him to allow the team to shine.

In that moment, I decided I didn’t care if the whole world stopped, all I wanted was to be with Jamie.

Which was good because it felt like the whole world did stop as Dani prepared to score. Time stood still as he ran towards the ball, and with one fell swoop Dani scored, tying the game. The stadium erupted into cheers and excitement. We did it, we really did it.

…

The excitement and celebrations of promotion lasted at least an hour as we paraded around the club. The boys found a bar to go to nearby to celebrate the win together. But I had unfinished business here, and I hoped Jamie would find me.

I stood on our pitch, hands in my pockets as I planned out what I was going to say. I was going to tell him that I loved him, too. That I wanted to be with him. That nothing else mattered. But then I saw him, big smile on his face, as he walked towards me in his red vest and ICON hat and everything, everything I planned left my head.

“Well, what did I say?” He bragged as he walked towards me. “Promoted, eh? How’s it feel to be in the presence of greatness?” I stared at him as he came to stand in front of me. On our pitch. The same pitch I’d chewed him out on just a year ago. He cocked his head at me, raising his eyebrows. “What is it? Why you lookin’ at me like that?”

I grabbed him by his vest and pulled him down to kiss me. He recovered from his surprise in time to grab me by my waist and tugged me closer to him. Electricity shot through me as his lips fit mine just right. How was I supposed to kiss anyone else now that I knew what kissing Jamie was like? It was heated, it was sweet, it was passionate.

It was like fucking lightening.

A/N: To be continued...

Tag List:

@heletsmelovehim @higherthanheroes @ajax-petropolus-wife @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @optimisticsandwichgladiator @kno-way-home @sleepy-time @wigglegiggle @skewedcherries @respondingtoshowerthoughts-blog @snubug @rana030

#jamie tartt #ted lasso #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt x y/n #ted lasso show #jamie tartt fanfiction #enemies to lovers #finally lovers

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owo4chan · 29 days

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Johnny Joestar ⭐ Stell Ball Run

It took a little work but it was fun hehe

#my art <3 #fanart #artists on tumblr #jojo part 7 #jojos bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojo fanart #steel ball run #johnny joestar #illustration #tradiotional art #art #mangastyle #manga style #black and white art

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alequ1u · 10 months

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Cowboys 🤠

#art #artists on tumblr #artwork #digital art #ilustration #jjba #jjba fanart #jojo fanart #jojo #johnny joestar fanart #johnny joestar #gyro jojo #gyro zeppeli #steel ball run #jojo part 7 #stell ball run fanart

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aseuki · 25 days

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HI for the askgame if i may: 🪐🔮♟️🧋

answer with any/all ocs your heart desires gimme that good oc content >:]

[ask meme]

Omg for sure for sure! Avalanches you with so much OC Lore

🪐 (Saturn) - What planet are they from? Is it in Gamble Galaxy, Another Dimension, the Mirror World, the New World, or somewhere else? Where do they live now?

Currently, Stell drifts through the cosmos with Parhelic Anima, the Nova that they call home!

However, they are originally from Newglow, a planet located in a sister system to the Gamble Galaxy that could be most easily compared to Mekkai from Milky Way Wishes. A technologically forward city, it’s a local major hub for travel and as such is a veritable cultural melting pot. Most travelers and society visit and inhabit the upper hemisphere, while the machinery and maintenance that runs the planet is sequestered underneath.

Despite being primarily an urban setting, it does experience all four seasons within its atmosphere!

Meanwhile, Phemus presently wanders the pocket of Hades between the realms of the dreaming and the dead, enacting her role in ferrying souls.

It’s a vast, lonely place, and she treasures what little conversation she could grab from her work (and from her coworkers)

As for where she’s from…

Who can say!

🔮 (Crystal Ball) - Out of all the treasures in the Great Cave Offensive, Kirby is letting your OC pick one from his stash to keep! Which one do they pick, and why?

Already answered this for Stell (it’s the Machine Parts), but I think Phemus might pick the Star Droplet!

Material goods largely mean little to her—it’s the intent and sentiment that matters, so I think she’d be more inclined to pick something that reminded her of the giftee! I also think a little piece of starstuff can strike the right chords of sentiment for her in general haha.

♟️ (Pawn) - Does your OC get possessed easily, or do they have the willpower to fight back against any possible attempts? Have they been possessed before?

Despite their piss poor wisdom score, Stell is remarkably immune to getting possessed!Then again, it’s tough to try claiming something that’s already been claimed He claims it’s because of his naturally high intellect and willpower 😤😤😤

Phemus is also gifted with high resistance to possession, due to her innate psychic magic tied to the realms of consciousness.Though I imagine if on the rare chance anyone really tried and succeeded, they’d be pretty easily driven out by the absolute hurricane of shitposting that goes on in that noggin of hers asdkfjndskfjn

🧋 (Boba Tea) - Come up with a Kirby Café item themed around your OC! It can be a savoury dish, a drink, a dessert, or something else entirely.

I’ve actually answered for both Stell and Phemus! Stell’s would be a mexican hot chocolate lava cake (with a red velvet twist), and Phemus’s would be a dark chocolate mango mousse!

#hooOO this ended up taking a lot longer than I thought because. I had too many drawings in my brain SDKFJSDFN hope you enjoy Owl!!#Crams in so many little details and lore. Spins my little brain. Excellent #this was actually a Very fun exercise in drawing scenery #should do it more often TBH #Kirby OC Ask Meme #stell #parhelion knight #parhelic anima #holy shitt it's been Ages have I really never introduced Anima on here. Whack #phemus #kirby #thank you for the ask and the interest btw!! Mails you so many hearts

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666bin · 1 year

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Kafka offers to play with Stelle but (Stellaron Hunter showing through) she launches the ball way too fast and hard and breaks something

safe to say stelle has never seen a woman run so fast she considered asking kafka to join the team instead

#college baseball au #kafstel #my art #ask tag

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fire-lizard-ro · 10 months

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Random Trailblazer Stuff

I believe in she/they Stelle and he/they Caelus supremacy. <333

Or they/them for those who like that better. (I also enjoy that the Aeons are referred to with they/them. :D)

I wish that Hoyo emphasized more on the after effects of what happened to the Trailblazer (I'm gonna say Stelle because I use Stelle) on Jarilo-VI during the battle against Cocolia and some other things. You can't tell me that it didn't leave any lasting scars. Maybe not the kind that you can see. But I imagine that there are times that Stelle remembers what happened. The feeling of the icy wind blowing past her, biting into her skin as she fell. The burning pain of the ice lance in their chest while somewhere in the back of her mind she heard the voices of her newfound friends screaming their name. Senses fading as her body plummeted towards the hard, snow-covered ground of the battlefield.

I imagine that they wake up from nightmares clutching at the phantom pain in that same spot, the sound of the wind whipping past their ears and the screams of her comrads still ringing in her ears.

Sure they made it out of the incident alive and, amazingly, lacking a large scar where they'd been run through. But that doesn't rid her sleep of the memories that are like nightmares all on their own.

I imagine that her fellow trailblazers for some time after that still can't get the image of her battered body falling through the air out of their mind. The transformed Cocolia hovering in the air above them like some angry god while the Engine of Creation waits to crush the rest of them to dust. The thought of "no no no Stelle-" running through their minds. The panic. The fear. The anguish. The idea of a new companion and a person with so much potential being ripped from them before they can really begin their journey. I wonder if they ever find it hard to see the slideshow in the museum in Belobog when some of those pictures come up. The ones that remind them of the battle that almost took Stelle from them.

I like to think that Stelle is not as calm about the Cancer of Worlds slumbering in her chest as she leads others to believe. I wonder if she ever looks at the stars from the inside of the Astral Express, the only thing separating her from the vastness of space a layer of glass, and fears the bright balls of gas that are just as radiant and yet dangerous as the Stellaron within her chest. Stars and the Stellaron. Both things born of the blackness of the unending universe around them. Does she ever let her thoughts wander for too long only to end up clutching her chest with sweat beading at her temple while wondering how long she might have? While fearing what it might do to her? What she might become? The Stellaron of Jarilo-VI spoke to Cocolia. And something about it twisted her. Made her unrecognizable from the person she once was. Would that happen to them? Would she, too, become someone she wasn't?

Does she ever wonder who she is? Does she ever do things on instinct and wonder why that is? Are there marks on their body of a past life she didn't remember? Did she exist before she awoke in the Herta Space Station? Kafka seemed to know her. And she seemed to know Kafka.

So many questions met only with silence.

#Roro writes #hsr #honkai star rail #stelle #trailblazer #caelus #might delete later

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arvadthecursed · 3 months

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Stella. Stellita. Stellita Bonita. Stelly. Stelly-Belly. Stell Ball Run. Stells.

#stella #ive never see past the first part of jojo but the pun was too good to pass up

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kotaphotic · 5 months

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— fermata (water runs colder)

✦ kafka + stelle — gen fic // character study

✦ cw — slight religious themes

✦ AN — this is so very messily written and stelle is most definitely a little out of character because i am!! projecting!! and brainrotting so hard!!!! i did my best

wc 1,153 // character art mine

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ *+:｡.｡

“i don’t know who i am.”

stelle declares this as casually as a greeting, legs criss-crossed and posture far too informal against the seat of the train car. her eyes are glued to a coin on the table, fluidly passing it between each of her gloved fingers, silver as the hair that falls like curved waterfalls and billows from her shoulders. she only glances up briefly to the figure across the table.

kafka sits at the opposite end. her own gaze is piercing, and her stance so still and unwavering that if it were not for the steady rise and fall of her chest, or the gentle motions of her own bruised-purple hair against the air conditioning, one might mistake her for a statue. the air, save for the warmth of their own breathing, was frigid, a kind of cold directly contrary to the view from the window to their side; at current, they were passing through a sort of industrial portion of a distant, sunny city neither of them knew the name of (or perhaps kafka knew, stelle mused, but wouldn’t tell). “what do you know?”

the engine of the transport hummed. of course, they were nowhere near the astral express. as was the nature of these sorts of meetings between them, kafka chose the when, the where, and decided that today wasn’t a proper day to risk an arrest. once again, stelle was in the dark. she held the coin between her middle and index finger, running the ridged edge along the table like a child would a crayon, hatching faint lines into the wood. “blade said i was important to you.” she looked up again, without lifting her chin, and if she were talking to anyone other than kafka, her gaze may have been mistaken for exhaustion or impatience. “but i don’t know-… what we are, or were.” she hesitated for a moment. “what are we?”

the stellaron hunter laughed — the kind of laugh that sounded like wind chimes, that made the golden-white ball of destruction buried deep in stelle’s chest falter. a giggle. it was so unlike someone like her, to giggle. it was almost offensive. an outward jab. “see, this,” the trailblazer exclaimed, suddenly and inappropriately loudly and yet barely above her normal volume. she finally fully met the other’s eye level, extending her free hand to gesture at kafka’s action. “you never laugh. you chuckle, maybe. snidely. but you never laugh. i can’t even tell if you’re being genuine. are you making fun of me?”

kafka concluded her laughter unaffected by the mild outburst, placing her folded hands upon the table and allowing a moment to compose herself (though stelle noticed, with marginally more annoyance, how her smile remained wider than usual even if only by a millimeter). she finally opened her maw to reply, leaning forward as if to tell a secret. her sunglasses glinted subtly in the light — perfectly polished. “oh, dear, i would never.~ i just can’t help being comfortable with you.” she lifted a hand to rest her cheek with all too much grace. “but does it matter what you were before? what we were? is it not more freeing to know that you’re not weighed down by your past? what elio foresees is all any of us will ever be.”

without proper pupils, it should’ve been impossible to know exactly where kafka was looking, and yet stelle knew that she was staring right through her. it felt as though they were living in two different worlds, like the atmosphere shifted drastically between the two seats they rested on, and maybe they were. they may as well have been. even if kafka could stare into her soul, hold her entire self gently within her palms, kafka could never know the weight she felt, the weight that lived with her as long as she’d remembered — all she could remember. the learning, the experiencing, the way the thing residing in her threatened to take over everything, the-

“it matters, i think.” stelle shrugged, her shoulders light as ever. “i house a stellaron. i don’t lose sleep over it, but i must have been chosen for a reason.” there were always memories of jarilo-vi, of the xianzhou luofu, the twisted destruction that ruined all aspects of life — killed thousands, killed entire planets. stelle smiled, completely unbothered. what use was there, being unsettled, when this thing living (or unliving) inside her was all she’d ever known? she flipped the coin, over and over, against the table and under her fingers, until the clicks met the same steady rhythm as both of her heartbeats. steady, and slow. “i feel fear, so it’s not like i’m as courageous as you. i can die, so i’m not quite as resilient as blade. i assume i’m a short life species, so my body isn’t meant to handle this kind of thing. i guess i’m just built different.”

kafka shook her head. “i’d argue it’s just the opposite. you feel fear, so you’re even more courageous. you haven’t died, so you’re more than resilient.” her voice was velvety, silky as the webs she spun from her fingers. “you’re more than you’ll ever know. you are exactly what you need to be.“ she speaks too smoothly, stelle thinks, as if everything has been rehearsed, turned over and over in her head and spoken over and over to perfection. and perhaps it has.

“you speak a lot in riddles. you follow elio blindly. he’s not an aeon, but you worship him like one.” what was she even trying to say? it was unfair, a little. the way kafka could devote herself knowingly to a cause, that she could so easily find an explanation to her own existence, and in the same breath deprive her own supposed companion from the same satisfaction. kafka could know absolutely everything about her, but the other knew nothing besides little more than her name. “it sounds… naive.”

“you follow me blindly.” and suddenly everything went quiet. kafka leaned a little more across the table. perhaps her expression could be mistaken for warmth. “i believe he has the answers to the future, just as you believe i have the answers to the past. you have a choice to follow me, to talk to me, and you do anyway.” she lifted her head from her hand only to gesture subtly out the window: snow. “you don’t even know where we are. by your logic, the only difference between us and religion is that we communicate so directly. and i created you — at least, the wonderful version of you sitting in front of me now.~” she broke eye contact, for the first and only time, to glance briefly down at and then back up from the now-stilled coin. “what does that say about you?”

stelle stared, citrine against garnet, and for once, there was nothing to say.

#✧ kp : masterlist #✧ kp : genfic #hsr kafka #hsr stelle #hsr fanfic #hsr fic #kafka honkai star rail #stelle #stelle honkai star rail #hsr fluff #fanfic #fandom #honkai star rail #honkaiposting #hsr #art #my art #digital art

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