#✿ 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛 ─ ❝ 🇫​🇦​🇹​🇺​🇮​​​​​​​​​ ❞

[momijiba]

a little something for ( @erabundus )

this visit is supposed to be short.. just a small check-in with his new supervisor. but as acer was making his way down the hallway his feet stopped right in front of a familiar door... it was his office.  heart beating faster and he could feel the heat in his cheeks rising... he knew he shouldn't but he wanted to.... needs to even. so without a second thought, he raised his hand and knocked on the door with only a few light taps... waiting.. 

[momijiba]

acer, let the words run through his mind..  ''face me now, or never face me again.''

why did those words hurt more than the wound on his hand?   clearly, he had no other choice or else everything would be lost, but maybe it was for the better?... maybe scara could just forget about him.. it would do him better before people found out that they were sleeping together more than once.. before whatever this was that they had could grow into something that would hurt more as time passed.. feelings that acer thought he pushed away as soon as he set foot in zapolyarny palace. 

he turned his head, crimson eyes burning with shame and anger towards himself..  anger that he let it happen. shame that scara had to see him like this.. a pathetic man lost in a frozen palace.  eyes meeting cold indigo with a purplish hue.. ( or was that last part just an illusion? )

      ❛    is there something else that you want to talk about, sir?   ❜ a painful hiss escaped him when he clenched his fist, bandages turning a deep red as the wound re-opened itself.. well that was a problem for later.

      ❛   i'm currently not in the mood to please you.. if that's what you want.   ❜ 

kunikuzushi  swears  he  can  feel  his  blood  BOILING  beneath  his  skin  —  hotter  and  hotter  with  every  subsequent  word.  damn  him.  damn  him  for  being  so  needlessly  difficult.  damn  him  for  making  him  feel  —  for  making  him  feel,  when  all  the  sixth  wants  is  to  crush  those  pesky  EMOTIONS  beneath  a  merciless  heel.  for  a  moment,  he  genuinely  entertains  the  idea  of  leaving.  sounds  like  that  would  be  the  smart  thing  to  do;  acer's  very  existence  is  like  a  poison  that  threatens  to  erode  away  every  scrap  of  his  common  sense.  their  relationship,  their  trysts  were  fine  provided  they  remained  entirely  PHYSICAL  —  a  mutual  exchange,  the  same  foundation  all  bonds  are  build  upon.  yet  this  dynamic  of  theirs  is  slowly  beginning  to  drift  into  uncharted  territory.  something  dangerous.  something  personal.  and  perhaps  it  always  has  been,  inch  by  miserable  inch,  ever  since  the  moment  he  so  GREEDILY  decided  to  keep  this  arrangement  going  beyond  the  usual  one  night  stand.

if  he  was  looking  for  a  way  out,  the  opportunity  has  been  presented  to  him  on  a  SILVER  PLATTER.  yet  the  fact  that  he  holds  no  true  desire  to do so  only  serves  to  infuriate  him  more.

❝  ... the  display  you're  putting  on  right  in front of me  is  even  more  PATHETIC.  ❞  look  at  me,  the  balladeer  wants  to  hiss.  look  at  me.  look  at  me.  look  at  me.  ❝  if  you  were  actually  sorry,  you  would  stop  this  childish  nonsense  and  turn  around ...  but  it  seems  you're  too  much  of  a  coward  to  entertain  even  that  much.  ❞   the  words  are  delivered  with  his  usual  acerbic  tongue,  but  they  feel  WRONG  —  even  as  he  speaks  them.  there  are  thoughts  he  wishes  to  communicate,  kunikuzushi  knows.  certain  sentiments  —  but  he  lacks  the  familiarity  to  properly  weave  them  into  speech,  irregardless  of  his  own  vocabulary.  rage,  tenderness  and  a  particular  sort  of  insecurity  that  he  loathes  the  moment  that  it  registers  in  his  mind  —  for  what  if  the  problem  is  not  a  matter  of  cowardice,  but  a  lack  of  INTEREST  altogether?  he  has  to  bite  back  a  curse  at  the  mere  thought,  feeling  it  take  root  in  his  empty  chest  like  an  especially  STUBBORN  weed.

❝  i'll  make  this  EASIER  for  you.  ❞   there's  a  brief  crackle  of  electro  and  he  appears  directly  behind  him  —  closing  the  distance  between  them  in  an  INSTANT.  ❝  face  me  now,  or  never  face  me  again.  ❞  it  seems  like  the  most  efficient  way  to  banish  any  ambiguity.  (  and,  perhaps,  absolve  himself  of the burden of choice.  )

[momijiba]

( @erabundus ) meeting 2.0 emotional edition~

the sun has only started to peek from behind the mountains of shneznaya. acer maybe had like three or four hours of sleep after he cleaned himself up and got something to eat, avoiding anastasia's concerned looks. she was like an older sister to him who would keep the ''a-squad'' in check.

luckily enough for him, the only ''severe'' damage he had sustained was the cut on his cheek and that was mostly likely to heal on its own, for now it was covered by a gauze. he looked ridiculous in his own opinion.  and acer is mentally preparing himself for the earful that he is about to get. 

arriving at a familiar door he just opened the door not caring for etiquette he was annoyed at what happened but also with that, this irky feeling had been crawling its way into his head and heart... like it was eating him alive from the inside, like a leech.... a disease.

and the person who was the sole reason for this suffering was leaning against his desk.   ''does this guy even sleep?''   in a couple of steps he was in front of the harbinger and placed the report right next to him on the desk.  

           ❝  ......  ❞

just a little huff was all that scara would get before acer grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him down on the desk, on top of the report. and acer followed with his legs and arms caging him in.  bright crimson eyes staring, acer was annoyed and pissed. 

           ❝  why is it you... did you give me some poison made by the doctor to feel this way?, i hate you... and everything you stand for... everything you are doing to me...  ❞ the pale skin on acer's cheeks and neck was turning a bright red colour, of all the emotions swirling inside of him. 

[momijiba]

acer can't wait to get back to fontaine to get more croissants to throw at his ✨𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒✨ harbinger.

[momijiba]

can't wait for fontaine and deep dive (no pun intended) in writing fatui verse headcanons.. as fontaine is the region acer is mostly stationed at!!

[momijiba]

like this post if you would be interested in fatui!kazuha [ codename: acer ]

[momijiba]

───── ❝ 𝑉𝐸𝑅𝑆𝐸 ❞ ─────

── background story ──

after reaching the docks in ritou while being chased by the shogunate for ''stealing'' a vision, kazuha sneaks onto a fatui ship because he is desperate to get out of Inazuma at that point. when he gets discovered they are already halfway to Snezhnaya and at first, the fatui officer in charge wants to throw him off the ship. while being covered in dried-up blood kazuha is still able to hold a stand and makes the whole ship submit to him, with this the fatui officer asks for an audience with the tsaritsa and introduces kazuha. the tsaritsa makes an offer ( secret :p ) he joins right then and there and with that, she gives him his cryo delusion.

── fatui details ──

༺name༻ Kaedehara Kazuha ༺code name༻ Acer (/ˈeɪsər/) is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples ༺rank༻ a rank below the harbingers ( he has no interest in wanting to become a harbinger because he sees them as the tsaritsa's direct lapdogs ) ༺vision༻ Anemo ༺delusion༻ Cryo ( when his delusion activates his left eye becomes a bright blue and part of his red streak will have a blue gradient ) ༺weapon༻ Sword ༺looks༻ [ref]

( more will be add down the line ~ )

[momijiba]

a bit more for the fatui verse~ kazu only goes by the name acer and only people that he ''consider'' very close friends would get to call him by his actual name in private settings. to the rest of the world the kaedehara clan has perished and he want to keep it that way, it makes his missions a lot easier. his favourite region to be in is Fontaine for pasteries but also the justice system is something that intrests him. he rarely gets deployed to inazuma because he absolute hate having to go there, he would only go there if he would have to assist a harbinger other then that he absolute refuses to go. ( the only person he would not refuse orders from is the Tsaritsa ). harbingers are the tsaritsa's personal lapdogs to him. he respects some of them to a certain degree. he rather stays away from them then having to deal with their problems. the group that works under kazu is some sort of new found family to him, there is a level of respect with each other but he would do anything to protect them. he keeps his real identity away from them, to protect them most likely.

[momijiba]

it hurts.. it hurts so bad.. even after his hand was wrapped up and taken care of after visiting the infirmary and seeing the doctor... or was it somebody else.. who knows.  that was definitely going to leave a scar behind.   another one to join the club.

acer should have seen it coming after provoking the third harbinger for the billionth time in the span of a few hours. the choking should have been an indication of her patience not being an endless void. she was already way too lenient with him, more than he deserved for just a foot soldier. the shape of her fingers on acer's throat was slowly fading away, but when he went back to deliver the rest of the pastries that he brought with him from another mission in fontaine to his squad.. his little family.. would worry about him asking him if he was okay and if he needed help.

they would only show care to each other behind closed doors.. out of sight... hiding their weakness from anyone. especially the harbingers.

speaking of harbingers... acer was avoiding scaramouche like the plague.. he was embarrassed that he saw him like this.. like a fool... this wasn't how he wanted the harbinger to see him. he knew he couldn't avoid the men forever as he would catch on quickly. he had a keen sense for that. or so acer thought. 

he was hoping he would be able to avoid scaramouche a little longer.. but faith had other plans.. and they were cruel.  acer couldn't face him.. did he not understand the embarrassment he faced.. it was humiliating.. he only turned his head to the side, not quite facing him.       ❛   i'm sorry, sir.. but i.. can't...   ❜ can't... or won't... he knew he could, but he didn't want to be laughed at or face a lecture of scaramouche.. he wasn't ready for that.

      ❛   i'll have my report of my mission in fontaine on your desk tomorrow morning   ❜ short but quick.. he could feel the wound itching like it was healing itself.. slowly...

      ❛   and sorry about my pathetic display back there... i was way out of line.. it won't happen again..   ❜ 

if  asked,  the  balladeer  would  say  he  ENJOYED  his  stint  at  the  harbingers'  impromptu  tea  party  —  though  of  course,  to  say  anything  to  the  CONTRARY  would  risk  invoking  columbina's  wrath.  even  so,  it's  not  a  lie;  there's  not  much  he  wouldn't  find  enjoyable  about  toying  with  the  humans  he  so  despises.  (  his  grudge  may  stand  eternal,  but  that's  certainly  no  reason  not  to  feed  the  FLAMES.  )  however,  there  was  one  aspect  of  the  gathering  that  admittedly  left  a  somewhat  sour  taste  in  the sixth's  mouth  —  namely,  the  addition  of  acer  to  the  metaphorical  menu.

he  doesn't  care,  of  course.  acer  is  just  a  human  —  a  weak  little  insect  clinging  to  the  fatui  in  a  desperate  scramble  for  self-preservation.  (  or  so  he  assumes.  )  he  would  sooner  stab  kunikuzushi  in  the  back  without  so  much  as  a  second  thought  —  for  all  mortals  are  rife  with  such  selfishness  and  sin,  no  matter  what  face  they  may  use  to  mask  their  INTENTIONS.  acer  hasn't  been  especially  subtle  about  his  disdain  for  him,  either  —  despite  mixing  that  poison  with  a  curious  possessive  streak.  however,  in  the  aftermath  he  can't  help  but  notice  the  mortal  has  taken  to  AVOIDING  HIM  —  and  that  irks  him,  for  reasons  he  can't  (  or  refuses  to  )  place.  he keeps recalling  the  sight  of  columbina's  dainty  hands  around  his  neck,  and  the  strange  twinge  of  something  it  stirred  within  him.  it's  annoying,  and  acer's  insistence  on  scurrying  around  like  a  timid  little  mouse  only  exacerbates  the  issue.

so  when  he  catches  sight  of  his  retreating  back,  the  balladeer  narrows  his  eyes  and  calls  out  a  terse,  ❝  stop.  ❞  it's  pure  coincidence  that  they're  meeting  like  this;  he  hasn't  been  LOOKING  for  him.  even  if  he  has  spent  the  better  part  of  the  day  wandering  around  the halls in  lieu  of  getting  any  work  done.  ❝  stop  running  away.  weren't  you  the  one  making  a  big  deal  about  not  hiding?  ❞  he  crosses  his  arms,  glowering  at  the  mortal's  back.   ❝  here  i  thought  you  liked  my  face  —  but  now  it  seems  you  can't  STOMACH  the  sight  of  it.  ❞

@momijiba gave the tea party a 1/5 on yelp