#( ''what does it mean'' oh you know...... 🤝📝)

[hostradio]

then  i  sank  into  the  depths,  and  i  heard  the  king  in  yellow  whispering  to  my  soul:  ❝  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  LIVING  GOD. ❞

[kae-karo]

Bitch you thought

🌹❤️🗣️🏝️☂️🤝😂💔☀️✍️☺️✏️📖📝🎬🤯🎲🤨👤🫂✈️🤔

absolute MAD LAD aslkdfjlksdjfjlksdf no but honestly i would never dare doubt u lmao. u think i wouldn't be hyped to talk endlessly abt my fic??? for context (x)

alright strap in lovelies i'm putting this below a cut cause it's long!! but fair warning, this fic is 53k and counting so there's plenty to talk about without hopefully giving too much away lmao

🌹 Share your most poetic line.

And then Diluc drops his hand and turns sharply away again, and the moment shatters like fragile glass left too close to the edge of the table, tipping precariously for a split second before falling.

Childe could be walking on those shards of glass for his caution, for the way he follows quietly behind Diluc, terrifyingly uncertain. Uncertainty doesn’t suit him, he decides as they approach the door to the winery. Uncertainty feels a lot like he’s picked up all those broken shards of glass and swallowed them whole.

i'm sure i have other poetic lines but i did a skim through of this fic again today after getting so many lovely asks and this one stuck in my head!!

❤️ Share one of your favorite lines.

“I’m supposed to hate you,” he says again, but it’s quieter now. Hopeless. Childe finds his words, the most selfish ones.

“Do you?”

Red eyes burn into him, set him alight and send his heart racing.

“No.”

alksdfjklsdf sorry epi i know you've seen this one already but i do love it lmaoooo and besides the rest of the world hasn't seen it yet jklsfdljkfds

🗣 Share your favorite dialogue exchange.

“Diluc, be civil.” Kaeya’s tone, even and only mildly condescending. Diluc bares his teeth.

“And what if I have no interest in being civil?” he snaps, and Childe’s chest glows with something bright and hot. He wants it, wants to see Diluc lose his composure, wants to see him-

“Were they civil?” Louder, now, but not directed at Childe. “When they sent a beast to murder him, were they civil?” Oh. Childe’s stomach twists at the wide glare that Diluc turns toward Kaeya, at the words he speaks that seem to burn through the air.

Still, Kaeya meets them with a cool gaze, unbothered.

“You want to sink to their level?” Diluc stills. “By all means,” he waves a hand at Childe. “Go ahead. It seems you really have changed in the time you’ve been away...” He tips his head, holds Diluc’s stare, and even without context, Childe winces.

ngl this one hurt to write lmaooo. diluc, fresh off his fatui murder spree, and kaeya has the gall to call him out for treating childe so harshly...off to a great start lmao

🏝 Share your favorite description of a setting.

To his relief, though, the handle gives way with no resistance, and he maneuvers himself carefully through the doorway and into the room.

He does not entirely expect it to be...dark. Granted, night has certainly fallen, but no candles or lanterns light the space, and he stalls for a moment as his eyes adjust - even the light that worms its way past him and through the door does little to illuminate the space.

Fortunately, it takes only a few moments of staring in wide-eyed silence for the room to begin to piece itself together within his vision: the desk in the middle of the space, the bookshelves along the walls. The table beside the entrance, and he makes a mental note to change the bandage on his wound as Diluc had advised earlier.

He makes his way over to the desk - carefully, in the event that he’s missing some large object at his feet - and scoots a few papers aside to set the tray down. It’s only once he steps away that it hits him properly - or, rather, nearly overwhelms him.

It’s the same sensation as sitting alone in the attic above the tavern, the lingering scent of Diluc washing over him without the stew’s fragrance to block it out. He stills, lets his eyes drift shut for just a moment as it envelops him.

For a few long seconds, he breathes. For a few long seconds, he pretends.

u know oddly enough i don't describe settings all too often? or not in significant detail, at least.

☂️ Share your favorite description of an object.

He huffs out a breath - a shame about the brutal mutilation of this poor fruit. At the very least, he can scavenge what’s left. It takes some effort, but he manages to get at the fruit itself, beyond the tough skin, and tear the few unmangled bits away. It’s something sweet, with a delicate flavor in spite of the citrusy bite to it, and he finds himself…

Contented. Just for a few moments, he ignores the grumpy Diluc in front of him, the loss of his memory and life and everything before, and it’s...peaceful. A smile touches his lips as he swallows, and he discards the skin before attending to the sticky remains on his hand.

I also do not often describe objects so this will have to do lmaoooooo

🤝 Share a line that introduces a character.

“Well, this is unexpected.”

Tartaglia wakes abruptly, pulls himself upright by the handcuffs still attached to his wrists and turns toward the person now standing in the attic’s entrance. He is most certainly not the red-haired man from earlier.

He seems...possibly familiar, though? Enough that Tartaglia holds onto his hope - and his caution. The man steps closer, tips his head. An eyepatch...the sight tugs at something in Tartaglia’s brain, though he can’t quite latch onto it.

and now, our other main player in this game, kaeya lmao

😂 Share your funniest line (or dialogue exchange).

By the time he makes it down the stairs himself, he’s met with the smell of-

Well, it isn’t exactly appetizing, but it smells like something that’s attempting to be edible, and he follows the scent into the kitchen.

Finds Diluc at the stove, a hand on the pan and the other shoving at Kaeya’s shoulder, hair frazzled from the heat even as Kaeya sends a small blast of ice at the flames beneath the pan.

“It’s going to burn, Diluc, just-”

“It’s fine, and I don’t see why you think you can just march in here and-”

“Just admit that you’ve forgotten how to cook anything other than-”

“Kaeya, get out of here before I-”

we love some bickering old married couple kaeluc!!!

💔 Share your most heartbreaking line.

Diluc waves at the door, an impatient, silent demand that he go inside, and Childe does as he’s told. Curls in on himself a bit when the door slams shut behind him in the short seconds before he can turn around, and he exhales a breath into the near-darkness. The curtains remain drawn, no candles lit, and Childe feels the sudden urge to let it consume him.

What if he does? Will he be exactly the terrible thing that Diluc seems to think he is? Will he be entirely deserving of Diluc’s wrath, his mistrust? Maybe he already is, and he’s just forgotten about it. Is it better to not know?

i'm always so hesitant to post lines from later in the story, but i know i'm holding onto at least one that shatters my heart whenever i reread it lmao. in the meantime, have some more broken childe who gets most of the painful lines lmao

☀️ Share a line with figurative language.

In place of a response, he receives only a glare, and he forces a smile to his lips. One that is clearly not received well, and once the man has turned, he curls in on himself just a bit.

It wells up like a tide crawling in, inevitable and dark, and he sits in quiet stillness as the world fades out around him.

He does not know his name, his identity. His home or friends or family or if he even has those. It’s only luck that’s allowed him some semblance of recollection, and the closest thing he has to a chance at remembering seems to detest him.

And he adores the man.

The darkness creeps further, claws its way up his chest and encircles his heart - he does not know himself, but he’s clearly hurt this man. The one he cares for. Perhaps it’s better if he doesn’t know, if he can’t remember. Maybe he should run, now, before he hurts-

ah yes, more suffering childe aslkdfjkljsdfjlksd i really put him through it in this fic lmaooo

✍️ Share a line you’ve edited, and what it used to be.

oh god i really don't think i can answer this one? i deadass have no idea what i've edited over time, and nothing stands out in my head as something i wrote or thought about and then changed? rip sorry lmao honestly once i make a change i straight up forget that it was something else beforehand lmao

☺️ Share a happy line.

It’s breathtaking in the most remarkable way to dance among them, to feel sweat slick his brow as his muscles strain with every step, every swing, every move he demands of them. More remarkable still to find himself surrounded by the unrelenting presence of Diluc, the whirlwind of Kaeya. Were he not so enamored with this in its entirety, he might miss the way Diluc glances at Kaeya, the way Kaeya’s lip ticks up in a smirk.

fighting is a metaphor it's a metaphor it's a-

✏️ Share the first line of any chapter (or section)

Childe startles at the rough scrape of something- wooden? Wooden, he’s almost certain. He keeps his breathing slow and steady, does his best to assess his surroundings without sight.

He’s on the floor, back against a wall and something heavy resting on his shoulder. Something...warm? The sound of footsteps tugs at his attention, drawing closer, and-

“I can tell that you’re awake.” Diluc’s voice, quiet and low, and Childe lets his eyes flick open. He finds himself face to face with Diluc’s thighs, a perfectly exceptional place to be, and sleep-addled instinct has him attempting to lean closer. Except that something still weighs on his shoulder, and he glances over to find-

Ah, a faceful of blue hair that smells of warm spices and mint.

so here's the tea i haven't finished this yet therefore i haven't set up where the chapters are yet lmaoooo so this is just done by wherever i have section breaks sdflkjsfdklj same with the 'last line of any chapter' below

���� Share the last line of any chapter (or section)

Still...having resources at his disposal, people who know him in some capacity...it’s better than where he was last night, with nothing and nobody. And if they intend to manipulate and use him, well-

Well, it doesn’t sound like such a foreign concept. His stomach twists with the idea of it, of Diluc especially treating him as an unforgivable enemy, but he supposes that he can’t blame him. After all, perhaps he is unforgivable.

It’s not as though he’d remember.

another mildly heartbreaking one asdflkjksljdf really poor childe like i know it's his pov so we inherently get more from him than anyone else but still lmaooo

📝 Share the first line of your project.

🎬 Share the last line you’ve written.

^^ since i've done both of these and they don't exactly change, you can find them here (x) and here! (x)

🤯 Share a surprising line, or one where a character realizes something.

“Misbehaving, dear Harbinger?”

Oh.

A shaky breath escapes his throat as heat floods his body, and his hips buck involuntarily into his palm. He stares with wide eyes at the room, panicked now even as desire drags at his thoughts. Kaeya is quite attractive, isn’t he? He’d certainly be fun-

The door handle twists, and Childe shoves hard against the wood, holding it shut.

“J-just leave the bandage outside,” he gets out, hopes that his voice sounds even and steady and not at all suspicious.

“Causing trouble in there by yourself?” Though Childe can’t see it, he imagines a quirked brow, a subtle upturn of Kaeya’s lips into a smirk.

“Not feeling well,” he tries, which isn’t entirely a lie - he feels utterly mortified, actually, in spite of the thrill that runs through his veins. He doesn’t doubt that Diluc - had he caught Childe like this - would be nothing short of horrified, but Kaeya…

Kaeya might find it amusing. Childe’s body shivers at the idea.

'misbehaving, dear harbinger?' is one of those lines i simply cannot get out of my head and frankly neither can childe lmao i'll give yall one guess as to what exactly childe is realizing right now

🎲 Using a method of your choosing, share a randomly-selected line.

Which leads only to further questions - ones he shouldn’t know to ask, of course. How often did you get injured while you were off fighting the Fatui? How many times have you felt death claw at you? How many scars decorate your skin, would you ever be willing to show me?

Right. Things he shouldn’t ask for many different reasons, and he swallows his words down as Diluc straightens up, as he gestures toward the desk.

epi thank u for giving me page number 37 before, i grabbed my favorite passage from that page!! childe and his curiosity...

🤨 Share a line that makes no sense out of context.

“So you'll fight Kaeya, but not me?”

i will simply say that fighting is a prominent recurring topic in this story lmao

👤 Share a line that shows a character’s personality.

“Wh- what about you, though?”

This earns a moment of surprise, and Kaeya blinks at him - Childe wonders how often he finds himself speechless, and takes no small amount of pride in rendering him that way.

“Me? What about me?” he says as he straightens up, casual nonchalance that Childe can place now as a facade. It’s so subtly different, but seeing Kaeya’s genuine expressions juxtaposed with the mask he hides behind...it’s just noticeable enough. He wonders, now, if Diluc is able to tell as well.

“What about-” the fact that Diluc wants you, too? Will you just let him run from that as well? But maybe he has already. Maybe...maybe they’ve both run from it. Childe’s stomach twists - is this the reason behind their tension? A history broken by Kaeya’s secret, and they never truly moved past their feelings for each other?

He wouldn’t doubt it, and it paints the whole situation in crystal clarity before him.

i wonder if it's obvious how heavily i invest in my kaeya when i write about him, even when it's not his pov lmao

🫂 Share a line (or dialogue exchange) that shows the relationship between two characters.

“I can assure you, I’m perfectly fine.”

Diluc’s jaw ticks with irritation, but the flames on his blade extinguish, and after a moment, the weapon disappears as well. Childe exhales.

And for just a moment, he sees it: the brief drag of Diluc’s gaze down Kaeya’s body, eyes narrowed in search of injury. The concern that lingers between his brows in the short moments before he determines that Kaeya is, in fact, uninjured.

Childe has never wanted to smack two people more than he does now.

hi i love kaeluckae can u tell lmao

✈️ Share a line where a character is traveling somewhere.

His lips part, but nothing comes out - a single red eye catches his as Diluc glances over his shoulder, and he turns just enough to grab Childe’s wrist and pull.

Not into Diluc’s chest, as Childe had - perhaps naively - hoped, but up the stairs. He stumbles up the first few steps after Diluc, who stomps ahead of him with little regard for the surprise that makes Childe unwieldy and clumsy as he stares after Diluc. When his foot catches suddenly on the edge of a step, nearly causing him to trip face-first onto the staircase, he pulls his gaze away from the hand wrapped around his wrist to focus enough to get his feet moving steadily beneath him.

does 'traveling up the stairs' count? lmaooo

🤔 Share a line where a character makes a decision.

“I suppose I should thank you for getting me to bed last night,” he says as he steps into the kitchen, and Childe’s brows furrow. “I do hope I didn’t cause you too much trouble.” A smirk as he settles at the table, ankle crossed over a knee as he leans back. The picture of casual nonchalance, and Childe will admit, the...the comfort in his assumption does make Childe warm. It’s nice to know that Kaeya does not find the idea that Childe had helped him to be an unsavory one.

Still, ‘don’t let him run’ burns like a demand through his chest - though Kaeya’d meant it in regards to Diluc, Childe wonders if he shouldn’t turn Kaeya’s own words against him.

ah yes more motifs that i string through the entirety of the fic lmao childe is making a decision not to let kaeya run from his feelings >:}

OKAY I DID IT lmao i hope u enjoyed this wild ride. i am truly only ~halfway or ~2/3 done with this, so i can't promise anything soon, but i hope everyone's enjoyed the excerpts in the meantime! i do also have a few oneshots planned to post in the next couple weeks!!