#(Also the project is about horse riding so I’m VERY excited about it!!)

[followfire]

I’m saying something quite obvious already but omg it’s so good to use characters as role models when facing difficulties

[dawn-moths]

“Our Love Was Written in the Stars”

Kaeya Alberich x Female Reader

word count: 18,700+

(After losing touch with your childhood best friend and first love, you find yourself face to face with Kaeya four years later while back in Mondstadt for a university research project. While part of you had hoped to see him, you also hadn’t expected it to be so soon. But the more you two begin to reconnect, the more you realize he missed you just as much as you missed him. So, with a lot of lost time to make up for, you and Kaeya explore the relationship you were probably always meant to have.)

disclaimer/content warning: 18+ content! minors dni! Mostly fluff and then smut at the end, some spoilers for Kaeya and Diluc’s backstory (though I’m sure I didn’t get the exact timeline right), childhood friends to lovers, drinking/alcohol, some hurt/comfort with a little bit of angst, slow burn.

*thank you to the anon who requested this fic, i hope you enjoy!*

*ao3 mirror*

***

Things always seemed so much simpler, looking back. Things used to last longer.

A day spent playing with your friends would feel like forever. At least, until the time came to go home. Then it felt like the fun had barely even begun.

And the four weeks out of every year— two in the fall and two in the spring— that your father left you under the care of the Ragnvindr household’s staff while he and Crepus were off on a mutual business trip in one of the other nations…

Those weeks had lasted eons.

That was, of course, until both of the wine tycoons returned and you were once again whisked away back to your own family estate.

However, even as you became more aware of just how short that sliver of time was the older you grew, you never stopped looking forward to spending those weeks with Master Ragnvindr’s sons, Kaeya and Diluc, who were just about the same age as you.

You used to kick and cry and scream when your father told you to thank Crepus and his boys for letting you stay with them before you headed home. Then, after a very stern talking to about how, if that kind of behavior was to result every time your father returned to retrieve you, you wouldn’t be allowed to stay with your friends anymore, you turned to crying yourself to sleep on the last night in the Ragnvindr mansion and the first night back in yours.

By the time you were a teenager, the pain of leaving your closest friends had been reduced to a dull ache in your heart. You knew you’d see them again. By then, you didn’t even have to wait for your fathers’ business trips, because for your thirteenth birthday you’d been given a horse, your father allowing you to ride there any day you pleased— so long as all your lessons where completed with your private tutor— insisting one of the boys accompanied you home before dark.

It was always Kaeya who brought you back, so eager at the first chance he’d practically volunteered himself before you’d finished the explanation of your father’s conditions. And you’d been grateful for the extra time with him, sometimes racing each other through the winding woods that lay in between your home and his as your laughter and playful taunts echoed through the trees.

It had always been Kaeya, in so many ways.

It had always been Kaeya who was so excited to play with you when your father dropped you off, even if just for a few hours while he and Crepus disappeared off to one of the private meeting rooms to discuss more business.

It had always been Kaeya who let you choose the games, who would be enthusiastic whether you were playing war or house or hide and seek.

It had always been Kaeya who held your hand when you got sad, squeezed it a little as he told you not to cry, that you’d see each other again soon.

It had always been Kaeya who wrote to you during the winter months when you’d become snowed in, neither of you able to travel the miles it took to see each other let alone get much further than the front door.

And it wasn’t that Diluc was forgotten. But he’d never been as willing to play along.

For a little while, the three of you had been an even trio, the boys happy to have a new playmate and you, well, you had no siblings of your own back home. You were just happy not to be alone. But as time went on, the scales shifted.

No matter what you wanted to do, Kaeya was always on board. Diluc would argue, say he’d rather sneak out to the back woods that lined the edge of the property and play manhunt or adventurer than sit around wasting time doing stupid arts and crafts projects or dressing up in ridiculous outfits in order to make each other laugh.

You’d start to get upset as the two brothers would fight, Kaeya calling Diluc selfish while Diluc insisted Kaeya was just a pushover.

“It’s all because you like her!” the young Ragnvindr would spit, clearly trying to rile Kaeya. “That’s why you’re always doing whatever she wants, even if it’s stupid and boring!” That was about the time Kaeya would lunge at his brother, the two of them tackling each other to the ground and throwing flailing punches while you yelled at them not to fight, your eyes welling with tears.

In the end, Diluc would storm off and go do whatever he did when he was alone, maybe just sulk in his room for all you knew, but Kaeya would never chase after him. He’d come back to you, assure you that his brother was the boring one for always wanting to play the same games, and then hold your hand and help wipe your tears, giving you a smile as he told you he’d sneak into his father’s study to steal some of the new paints that had recently arrived, maybe snag an old canvas or two he didn’t think the master of the house would notice missing.

You’d smile and hug him, even join him in getting into trouble sometimes, and then it was like all your worries faded away. Because there was something about Kaeya, about being around him, that always helped untangle any knots that had formed in your heart.

But your most favorite thing to do with Kaeya— not that you didn’t love the games and the giggles and the mischief you shared— was to sneak out his window on the second floor and climb up onto the roof with him where you’d both lay side by side, hand in hand, and look up at the stars.

You’d get scared sleeping alone and inevitably pitter-patter your way to his room, giving a gentle tap on his door before cracking it open with a broken whisper of his name on your lips. He’d sit upright in bed, flipping the layers of blankets back and padding his little feet across the floor to come meet you, reminding you there was nothing to be afraid of.

He’d told you that the dark was not an enemy, that it could be beautiful and inviting and that he’d show you how.

The star gazing in itself eventually became a game, as most mundane between you two often did, and you’d gradually begin to cheer up as you and him took turns creating shapes in the stars and trying to guess the constellations that floated above your heads.

Kaeya’s favorite was the peacock— one he’d made up and had quite the time trying to get you to form the shape of as he directed your eyes to all the little twinkling dots of light in the correct order— and once you saw it you hummed to yourself. It suited him, and when you told him this around the third time he pointed it out he’d just rolled his eyes and smirked, coyly suggesting you were jealous he’d found such a cool grouping of stars.

But what you didn’t know was that, as much as the peacock reminded you of your friend, the grandiose bird also began to remind Kaeya of you, too.

The peacock soon made its way into his letters, a carefully drawn eyespot feather in indigo ink signed at the bottom of every message. It made you smile to yourself, your heart full and lonely at the same time.

It was Kaeya’s way of saying “I love you. I want you to never forget that, just like I never forgot the night I showed you the peacock in the sky.” But if you were aware of the symbol’s significance, you didn’t seem to return the favor when you sent a reply.

How could you, when you’d convinced yourself he would never think of you that way? When he’d treat you like a little sister one day only to perform something common of courtship the next?

Kaeya was reluctantly sentimental. Perhaps that was a side effect of being abandoned by his birth father at such a young age, a bitter lesson to never get too attached to anything or anyone in fear of losing them. But he couldn’t help how attached he’d become to you.

In some ways, you two had felt more like siblings than he and Diluc did, for a while.

You used to wish Kaeya was your real brother. That way you two would forever be bonded, no matter how great the distance or time between you. But as you entered into your teenage years, your heart and your mind changing along with your body, something about that notion began to shift and evolve as well.

By the time you were sixteen, Kaeya’s playful flirtations and cheeky winks felt like they held more weight than before. Because your immediate reaction wasn’t to roll your eyes or slap his arm like it had been in previous years. Now, those gestures made your ears run hot and your hummingbird heart bat its wings a little faster. But you could never quite tell if he was joking or not, perhaps just being mischievously mean to get a reaction out of you which, as he’d learned pretty early on, wasn’t that hard to do.

But sometimes, when you replayed his words or actions in your head when you were alone— the way his voice dipped lower, tone smooth and tempting as his eyes scanned your body, his fingers brushing against yours during dinner time or as he handed you a book from a high shelf you couldn’t reach— you asked yourself why you weren’t willing to play this game with him, if that’s all it really was.

Deep down you knew it must be. Because, if you did decide to join in, it might cease to be a game altogether. At least, for you it would. And then what if you found out he’d been joking all along? It would break your heart. It would ruin everything. It was a risk you weren’t willing to take.

So you held your tongue and clenched your jaw when your best friend, adopted brother, star-crossed lover in a different life— whatever Kaeya was to you— gave you those winks when no one else was watching. When he came up behind you and stood just a little too close, said something about how, pretty soon, he’d be a whole head taller than you…

And on slow, quiet days as rain poured from the sky and dark clouds flooded the valley and you both found yourselves huddled on the chaise by the fireplace when you read your book aloud and Kaeya listened like he only cared about the sound of your voice and not the story, as he combed his lithe fingers gently through your hair, smoothing out the tangles while you entertained him— and sometimes even Diluc, if he had nothing better to do— with tales of dragons and knights, talking animals and princesses who wielded silver swords…

You told yourself all of it— every word and glance and ghosting touch— meant absolutely nothing.

It was all for the sake of ensuring Kaeya stayed in your life, just as he’d always been, after all.

How ironic your feeble attempt at control became because of one fateful, unforgivable night.

†††

You’d heard the news from Diluc, of all people— the news that Crepus Ragnvindr was dead and Kaeya Alberich was nowhere to be found.

Though, Kaeya had been found eventually, slumped over in a bar tucked away in some alley, drinking himself stupid as he gazed deep into the miniature snowstorm that swirled within the cryo vision clutched in his palm. But even as his speech slurred and his movements lagged and staggered, he refused to come back home.

Eventually, those who’d been sent to fetch their deceased master’s adopted son gave up. They left the tavern and headed back to report their findings to Diluc, who continued to turn a cold shoulder and act as if he wasn’t worried or bothered about his brother’s well-being in the slightest.

So when he’d told you, his tone stiff and cruel and spiteful, you’d found yourself crying before your brain even had time to process what had just been said.

“Where is he now?” you’d asked, your voice cracking as you tried to clear the heartbreak away.

“If he’s not still drowning his sorrows, well…” Diluc sneered, already turning his back on you and heading into the house that you’d known as well as your own— the house you now might never see the inside of ever again— all that remained being the shadows of your memories left flickering on the walls by the candlelight or echoing eerily down the long hallways late at night. “Then I have no idea where he is.”

However, his long red hair, usually kept so orderly but rather disheveled at the moment, and the dark circles under his crimson eyes told a different story as to how Diluc was dealing with his missing brother.

Your mouth opened to ask what the bar was called, at least, but all that was able to leave your mouth before the door slammed in your face was a broken squeak. From there, you rode into the city, spent nearly the entire night hopping from one bar to the next only in hopes of catching a glimpse of all that navy hair or hearing a burst of that confident laughter.

By the time morning came and your search had yielded nothing other than a widening in the hollow carved out in your chest and the dizziness of the sleepless night, you had no choice but to call it quits. You wrote to Kaeya the moment you returned home, the letter not even making it into the envelope before you finally collapsed into bed. It was a simple message, but direct enough.

Kaeya, it read in your curling scrawl, though this time a little messier on account of the exhaustion. Please, tell me what happened? Where have you gone? I need to see you.

About a week later, when his reply came, your heart nearly lept out of your throat, your eager, shaking hands tearing the gold envelope with your name printed perfectly across it to shreds, letting the scraps of paper fall to the floor around your feet.

Your eyes watered upon seeing his handwriting again. You could hear his voice as you quickly scanned the page, a narration that had once been so enthusiastic and charming now turned regretful and hesitant.

But Kaeya did tell you what happened, both about Crepus Ragnvindr and the arrival of his Vision. When you reached the end of the explanation, however, you began to panic. Because you were sure there had to be more than that. He would’ve told you where he’d gone, wouldn’t he? He would’ve said he was coming to you, that he’d be arriving by the following afternoon.

But there were no words left, only the frayed edge of the parchment’s end.

There wasn’t even the signing of his name, always so beautiful and poetic in his elegant, looping cursive.

There was only a shaky drawing of a peacock feather, the ink smudged at the edge of the eyespot like Kaeya hadn’t been patient enough to let it dry before sending it.

†††

It had been nearly four years since you left the nation of Mondstadt.

Four years since you applied for and got accepted into one of the top universities in Liyue, moving to the nation of contracts and Mora and ore, now only returning to your home territory for a prestigious research project you still couldn’t believe you got approved onto the small team of.

Four years since hearing from the boy you’d grown up with, loved, and then lost.

You stood before the city’s high walls and felt that familiar breeze weaving through your hair, the warm summer air being drawn shakily into your lungs as you took one, long inhale, then exhaled the remnants of your past back out to be carried across the rolling hills on the wind. You forced yourself to step past the Knights guarding the front entrance, hoping to hide your reservations at being back in your homeland while your two eager and excited classmates pointed out unfamiliar and interesting things to each other a little ways ahead of you.

They were Liyue born and raised and had taken you under their wing when you’d been the stranger in a new city, all wide-eyed and anxiously hopeful. You wished you could return the favor in being their personal tour guide, but it’s just that the ache you thought you’d left behind after departing from the city of Freedom is back and it hurts, pulsing between your ribs and making it a little harder to breathe through the season’s humidity.

But it’s the beginning of June, the sky a clear and nearly cloudless blue. The birds are chirping from the eaves of the houses and the cobblestone is sure and strong under your feet, familiar smells drifting out from the Good Hunter restaurant beckoning you in for some of your childhood favorites. Perhaps that would make you feel better.

But, then again, it’s also possible that it could make you feel much, much worse.

“You never told us how lively it was!” one of your classmates, Haoyu, calls back to you. You give him a weak smile and continue with your steady pace.

“Yeah, or how many cute boys live in Mondstadt,” your other friend, Fenhua, slyly remarks as she eyes a trio of Knights strolling by.

“I can’t believe we get to spend the whole summer here,” Haoyu goes on, turning in circles as he gazes up at all the architecture that touches the sky. Then he gives you a mischievous look as he teasingly asks, “First night out is on you, right?”

You scoff as your lips pull up into a crooked smirk. “Yeah, you wish,” you reply.

Fenhua gives Haoyu a nudge and reminds him jokingly, “So much for all that talk about your family owning one of the ports. What, were you overcompensating for secretly being bankrupt or something?”

The two of them bicker and banter back and forth until Fenhua is laughing, but the details of their conversation fade into the busy sounds of the city as your memories fill in the gaps.

You still remember how it used to feel running these streets beside Kaeya and Diluc. It was rare that your fathers let you come here, always so strict about keeping their heirs protected and secure behind the iron wrought gates of their looming estates. But, every once in a while, you were able to convince one of the caretakers who had been put in charge of watching you three for the day to let you accompany her into the city.

You’d all pressed your noses to the shop windows, gazing inside and picking out the object you liked best. Kaeya always had the most expensive taste. You and Diluc used to tease him for it, always guessing which one he’d choose based on what seemed to cost the most Mora.

“Don’t be mad that I can spot luxury just by looking at it,” Kaeya used to defend with his nose up in the air, arms crossed over his chest. “It’s not my fault I enjoy nice things.”

Diluc would tease his brother for it, say he ought to be more humble once in a while, but you’d usually just end up agreeing with Kaeya. The ring or scarf or shoes he’d pointed out as his favorite was usually to your liking too, though you’d never considered yourself confident or flashy enough to pull them off. Kaeya valued beauty over practicality while Diluc liked something simple that could serve its purpose.

You supposed you were somewhere in the middle.

And, maybe, as you were now leisurely pacing the streets, you’d been hoping to catch a glimpse of that flowing, navy hair out of the corner of your eye, hear that devilish chuckle echoing down the alleys. For all you knew, Kaeya didn’t even live anywhere near Mondstadt anymore. Perhaps that would make it easier for you to stay the season here, if only you had a way to confirm it.

But then, something made you stop in your tracks. As two more Knights passed by you and your curious classmates, you glanced over your shoulder, eager to catch what you could of their conversation…

“…Cavalry Captain is always trying to get others to do his work for him,” one grumbled. “I swear, he really thinks he gets a pass just because of his looks.”

“Aww, don’t be jealous,” the other Knight teased his colleague. “Besides, you can’t tell me that if you weren’t as attractive as Kaeya you wouldn’t use it to your advantage too.”

You felt like your blood had turned to ice, veins frosted over from your head to your toes, numbing your fingertips as you just stood in the middle of the street, your friends traveling a little ways ahead of you until they turned and realized you’d lagged behind.

“Hey!” Haoyu called, tugging you back to reality. But it isn’t until you felt a hand lightly resting on your arm that you broke from your wide eyed, seemingly terrified trance and saw they’d both returned to your side. “What’s up? Everything ok?” he asked, looking a little concerned while Fenhua looked dangerously intrigued.

“Oh, yeah…” you nervously giggled, turning to face them and urging them to follow as you slowly made your way further down the street. “I thought I forgot something important back in Liyue but I remembered I have it now. I’m good.”

The rest of the day was spent trying to act like you hadn’t heard the name you’d been trying so hard to let go of.

But now you know.

Kaeya Alberich was not only still in Mondstadt, but the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius.

Maybe it’s a different Kaeya, you spent the remainder of the week trying to convince yourself.

But you know it’s not a different Kaeya.

Kaeya is a rarity.

A one of a kind.

You’ve never met another him and you probably never will.

So the question then becomes, over the years, had he met another you?

†††

The research project keeps you busy and focused…

Until it doesn’t.

June has come and gone and now the saplings of late spring have turned to the blossoms of early July, decorating the trees with pale lilacs and pinks, the air a little thicker, the sun burning a little hotter as it beams down on you, beading sweat on your brow as you and your classmates work day after day to study, log, and produce results for what could potentially be a very big door into all your futures.

You’re up late one night, jotting down a few more notes and trying not to smudge the ink as you struggle to read Haoyu’s jagged scrawl and compare techniques. You keep trying to stay centered and present, replaying the day’s work in your mind to accurately contribute to the project, but every time you go to put pen to paper, his face pops into your head and makes the sharp nib hover over the parchment, the unwritten words captured in the ink desperate to be recorded but denied again and again.

You’ve wondered whether you should reach out to Kaeya or not.

Did he know you were back? If he did, would he even care? Were you overthinking all of this?

Well, at least you knew the answer to the last of those questions, which was absolutely.

But how could you not? You could only assume, with the way things had ended, or rather, faded away, that he had no interest in contacting you. He’d had these past four years to do so and you hadn’t seen a single peacock feather in all that time.

Maybe he hated you.

But why would he? You’d done nothing wrong.

But what if he did? What if he hated you?

You let the pen fall from your hands, tiny blotches of ink that had been knocked loose freckling the page of your notes, and let out an exasperated sigh as you leaned back in your chair, slumping and turning your face up to the ceiling, eyes squeezed shut as you tried to rid his image from your mind.

You wanted to cry. You wanted to go to him. You wished you’d never come back to this city. You’ve been dying to see him. You were so mad at him for torturing you like this. You just wanted to see him smile at you again like he did back when everything was alright. You wanted to hit him. You wanted to kiss him. You wanted a drink, a distraction, anything to still your mind for a little while.

So when Fenhua came scampering into the room a little while later with the proposal that the three of you get out for a bit and have some fun because all this damn research was starting to make all of you slowly go insane, you were grateful for the invitation.

As you approached the Angel’s Share, hanging in the back of your trio, always the quiet, observant one of your pack, you felt a familiar feeling. It wasn’t quite dread, but it wasn’t quite excitement either.

It was more like anticipation.

Something was going to happen tonight, here, at this place.

You just didn’t know whether you wanted to be brave enough to step through the tavern doors and figure out what it was.

But it seemed you didn’t have much of a choice as Fenhua and Haoyu looped their arms through each of yours, guiding you inside with them, clearly sensing you needed the support.

The moment the door swung open, the jumbled noise of constant, lively chatter along with the clinking of glasses and boisterous shouts flooded the air around you, drawing you in. And soon, to your relief, you found that maybe anticipation didn’t always warn of something bad, but instead hinted that something good was on its way. Because, as you took a seat between your two friends at the bar, you found yourself smiling and laughing without even having to fake it anymore.

You made a toast to all your hard work so far, and to all the work that was still to come, may the Archons bless it to go smoothly. About an hour in, you felt lighter, warmer, and, with the help of some of that liquid courage flowing through your veins, a little more confident.

“Hey, I’ll be right back!” you shouted to Fenhua who, despite being right next to you, still might not’ve even heard you over the ever growing rowdiness, each passing hour bringing with it more lively patrons.

You turned and slid off the barstool, heading for the tiny bathroom where the line had finally shortened, leaning against the nook in the wall while waiting for the current occupant to exit and gazing out at the mass of moving people in a daze when you finally caught it— a glimpse of all that navy hair, the charming chuckle of a man blessed with good fortune and even better looks cutting through the noise of the packed crowd.

You and Kaeya locked eyes from across the room and then neither of you were smiling anymore. But Kaeya never let any surprise he felt show for too long, remedying his sudden shock with a small smirk while your heart continued to pound. You hadn’t even realized you’d been holding your breath until the tightness in your lungs turned into a dull ache, reminding you to exhale the air you’d been halfway to sucking down before the sight of him suffocated you.

The bathroom door opened behind you, the exiting occupant nudging your shoulder slightly and giving a startled apology. You turned your head to face her for but a second, jostled by the unexpected contact, and uttered a quiet, “It’s fine,” as she squeezed past you in the short, narrow hallway and back into all the hubbub of the bar.

When you turned back to train your eyes where Kaeya had just been, he was gone, as elusive as a ghost as he carefully slinked through the maze of people and disappeared.

You stepped into the bathroom and locked the door behind you, just standing there for what felt like forever until you were finally able to calm down enough to think.

Maybe it had been your imagination. Between all the late nights and stress and the alcohol, your brain could just be manifesting things to trick you.

You blinked hard, trying to rid the view of him from your thoughts.

He looked the same, but also different. You could’ve sworn he’d had something over one of his eyes. The Kaeya you remembered had periwinkle eyes— two of them— and had still looked a bit like a boy the last time you’d seen him. The person you’d just glimpsed was a man, his stature tall and lean and lithe, shoulders broad and arms strong.

Four years is a long time, a little voice in your head reminded you. You’ve changed a lot too.

Once you crept out from the bathroom, seeing the line having once again grown to stretch down the perimeter of the wall, you began to take a step back towards the direction of your friends but stopped mid-stride.

You couldn’t go back to them. Not like this, when you felt like you didn’t know up from down or left from right or fear from longing.

So, instead, you turned and headed towards the staircase, finding the second floor significantly less claustrophobic, and made your way to the balcony, which you were relieved to find empty.

You leaned against the railing, iron digging into your elbows as the steady breeze sent strands of your hair into your eyes. You hung your head, slumping further over the balcony, and let out a long, deep sigh.

It all seemed like a mistake— Kaeya and Diluc’s fight, Kaeya’s final letter to you, you going off to Liyue, Kaeya not reaching out, you not reaching out, you coming back to the one place you knew you’d secretly been avoiding, thinking about him nonstop, coming to this bar, seeing him here, running away— every last decision or event that had occurred in the last four years suddenly running through your head like a sped up film reel, the images making you dizzy, little bursts of stars spotting your vision when you tipped your head back up to the sky.

You felt the threat of oncoming tears as the memories kept flooding through you— the smiling, laughing face of an eight-year-old Kaeya, you trying to stifle your own giggles while Diluc looked more than displeased— the sparkling, periwinkle eyes of a twelve-year-old Kaeya as he lay next to you on the roof, pointing out shapes in the stars, finding his beloved peacock constellation and giving a smirk of satisfaction when you told him it suited him— the smooth, charming words of a fifteen-year-old Kaeya who leaned up against the wall as he looked at you, teasing that he was getting taller than you by the day, holding something just out of your reach as you jumped to try and grab it, scolding him to knock it off but laughing nonetheless— and, finally, an eighteen-year-old Kaeya, riding next to you through the woods, both of you urging your horses to gallop faster and faster as you raced between the trees, your shouts and taunts and laughter echoing across the land until he inevitably beat you and you broke out into the valley on the other side, already having rehearsed some excuse about how you would’ve won if only he hadn’t cheated or caught you off guard.

That might’ve been the last good memory you had of him— that afternoon with your horses, just passing time until the storm rolling overhead caught up with you— the last good memory you had before you were forced to imagine him distraught, just having lost his father for the second time. You envisioned him spilling over with fury as he and Diluc threw fists or crossed blades. You’d heard that’s when he’d gained his Vision, a sudden blast of cryo shooting an icy frost across the battlefield between him and his brother.

You could imagine the look and both their faces— Diluc shocked, maybe even a little fearful, eyes pleading not to let this go any further, while Kaeya was stunned, only to launch right back into battle as his ego breathed in the sweet drug of his newfound power, his talents recognized by the gods.

And when Diluc had told you the news, told you about Crepus’s death and Kaeya’s gift from the Archons and, with slamming that door in your face, greatly inferring that no more good memories would be born under the roof of the Ragnvindr home, that had been the last that you’d seen of him, too.

It was sort of funny.

With them, there had once been so many beautiful beginnings.

But now, all you could seem to grasp onto was the heartbreaking endings.

You felt your body tense as the balcony doors swung open and then closed, the quiet swoosh and click bringing a wave of annoyance over you. 

Was there nowhere you were allowed to be alone in this place? You ought to turn and give whoever had just walked out a glare sharp enough to send them staggering back a few steps, maybe reconsider where they sought out their own sliver of peace and quiet. But before you could so much as glance over your shoulder, the voice interrupted your agitation like a light cutting through the dark.

“Hey…” It was the first rays of dawn splitting through the velvety night on the horizon, chasing the stars away until the moon returned to reclaim the sky. “I thought that was you.”

Your heart was quicker to accept the truth than your brain was, your bones drawn instinctually towards that smooth, sly tone like a moth to a flame. You didn’t want to go, knew if you got too close your delicate wings would catch fire and you’d be reduced to death and ash, but alas, you drifted towards the light, blinded by your yearning to touch it, addicted.

“It’s been a while,” Kaeya greeted you with that charming smile, giving a hesitant wave. “How’ve ya been?”

You could only gawk at him for a while, eyes scanning his entire being as if speaking to the figure before you was some kind of trap, some kind of test, like if you didn’t make sure he was the real thing and lent your voice to his ears you’d be cast into the abyss forever.

And while he felt the same, what you’d thought before had been right. The Kaeya currently standing before you did indeed look different than you remembered.

His skin was still that same warm, honey brown shade, his hair still sleek and navy though worn much longer than you’d ever seen it before, a lock of it cascading over his shoulder and down to his waist. He was taller than you remembered, too, though you supposed he could’ve grown a bit between the age of eighteen and now. His face had lost the last of its boyish softness and in its place was the handsome, chiseled features of a confident young man. And those eyes— those sparkling periwinkle eyes you could’ve gotten lost in if he’d let you stare long enough— were no longer a set of two, but a single one, his right covered with a black eyepatch while the left seemed to gaze upon you apologetically, despite the unbothered, casual stature of his nonchalant stance leaning against the doors with his arms crossed over his chest, one ankle resting over the other.

Your mouth hung open with a million different words to say, the combinations of them endless, but all you could taste was the frantic beating of your heart in your throat, any of the excited reliefs or bitter resentments stirring together in your brain becoming indistinguishable.

Your face suddenly felt too warm, the summer’s refreshing evening atmosphere turning to a stifling humidity as your nerves made it harder to breathe. Your dizziness only increased as Kaeya’s ghost drifted closer, the revenant of your love striding slowly towards you while he continued to speak.

“How long have you been back in the city?” you thought you heard him say, but couldn’t be too sure as your ears were ringing, blood rushing at an alarming rate to your head, vision swaying as you gripped the iron railing of the balcony in a white-knuckled fist behind you. “I would’ve been at the gates to greet you, had I known. I mean, not that you wanted to see me, I just—”

“I’ve been studying in Liyue,” you cut in, only a slight tremble in your voice as you wore a look closer to anger than disbelief now. You cleared your throat, took a steadying breath, then continued, “I’m only back for the summer— for a research project— then I’ll be going back…”

A hint of sadness crossed Kaeya’s face, there and then gone like a cloud of breath fogging in the winter air, and then he grinned at you again, congratulating you on making it into such a prestigious school. “We always knew you were smart,” he remarked, clinking the nearly empty bottle in his hand with a half full one that had been left on the balcony railing, assuming it was yours, cheersing with a stranger’s abandoned drink. He leaned against the railing, his shoulder only inches from yours yet feeling like a world away. He winked and jokingly said, “By the way, next time you see Morax, tell him I said hello.”

Kaeya tipped the final swig of his drink back to his lips, downing the contents and only wincing a little as he swallowed, letting out a quiet exhale as he turned his attention back out to the city he’d continued to make a home out of— the very place you’d been desperate to escape yet now found yourself a willing prisoner in once more.

And the silence that fell over you both then was suffocating. You wanted to say something— anything— so that the final words shared between you two weren’t, “Next time you see Morax, tell him I said hello.”

This could truly be the last chance you got to interact with him. You wanted to take control while you still had a drop of it in your hands, so you dug up some rare bits of courage, cleared the last of the dread from your throat, and asked him, “Why didn’t you try to find me?”

When you and Kaeya met eyes again, both your stares were wide. To be fair, that hadn’t really been what you’d meant to ask. You’d intended to start out with something much less heavy and accusatory like, “So, what have you been up to?” or “I’ve heard you’ve risen up the ranks. What would the Knights of Favonius think if they knew what a little terror their Cavalry Captain had been growing up?”

Anything that brought the rose before the thorn, feeding him soothing honey before you offered up the bitter pill.

But it was too late. The words that had just left your mouth couldn’t be taken back, and the way Kaeya looked at you now made your next breath catch. Because you’d just ruined everything, hadn’t you? You’d been given one last chance and you’d wasted it. And it was all your fault, all your fault, all your fault.

Kaeya let out a small, sad puff of a laugh under his breath, his smirk struggling to stay steady on his lips, and the fear that he’d morph to hate you only grew in your chest, a hungry monster clawing to break free from your ribs, tear through your body, and devour its host mercilessly.

“I suppose I could ask you the same thing,” he responded with a half shrug, swishing his bangs away from his face, exposing more of the eyepatch he used to cover the evidence of some injury hidden underneath.

You felt a stab in your chest when you considered that he could’ve gotten it after his fight with Diluc, the image of the boys who’d basically been your brothers purposely hurting each other beyond repair breaking your heart.

Kaeya sighed then, flashing a sliver of a sly smirk before the expression turned back to being apologetic, concluding his prior statement with, “Though, I think I have a pretty good idea…”

You still couldn’t quite believe that he was standing before you, standing this close, so much the same yet so much so different all at once. You just wanted to look at him, stare at him until the deep emptiness you’d felt for the past four years filled up with the memories of what could’ve been and overflowed.

“You have a right to be mad at me, y’know…” Kaeya continued, hanging his head a bit and unable to look at you as his mouth curved up into a crooked, nervous smile. “If I were you, I’d be mad at me…”

You remembered the time you two were sixteen and had snuck out to the city at night. It was the first time you’d gone unsupervised and the light that glowed from the tavern windows was like a beacon to your first taste of true teenage freedom.

It had been Kaeya’s idea to check out the bar, of course, and even as you protested and told him you’d never get away with it, that he was too recognizable and you looked too young, you had a giddy grin spread across your face, lacing your arm to interlock with his as the two of you approached the humble little establishment.

“The place is packed,” Kaeya had tried to convince you as you both surveyed the crowd inside through the latticed windows. “We’ll just duck in, check it out, maybe find someone willing to buy us a drink, and then be home before anyone even knows we’re gone.”

Right before he’d reached out to open the door for you, you giggled and playfully pulled him back. When he gave you a confused glance you shook your head and said, “If we get caught and have to make a run for it, don’t expect me to wait for you.”

Kaeya’s smile was soft and serene for a moment, as if he found your every man for himself mentality endearing somehow, but then he cracked another one of those signature smirks. “Whatever you say,” he scoffed. “Just remember that I’m a faster runner than you are.”

In the end, you two had been able to convince someone to buy a drink for you— well, technically, they just ordered. Kaeya had bribed them with enough money for a pint for you, him, and an additional round for your willing participant and their small group of friends— and you’d even danced together among the cramped crowd when the band began to play an upbeat jig of a tune. The night had been mischievous, magical, and probably the most fun you’d had in a long time.

Until it wasn’t.

Because Kaeya got a little too tipsy, swearing he could handle a second round, a third, a fourth— swearing that he drank all the time and had the tolerance for it— and then started to get sloppy.

You couldn’t have been gone for more than two minutes, pushing your way to the bar counter to retrieve some water in hopes of remedying Kaeya’s spinning vision, but when you returned to where you’d left him on the edge of the dancefloor, you nearly dropped the full glasses and let them shatter all over the creaky, wooden floors.

Because, although his back was to you, you knew exactly what Kaeya was doing with the girl you’d noticed who’d been giving him doe-eyes all night. Her hand was twined through his silky hair, their lips too close to merely be talking, and when he put his hand on her hip to shift her slightly to the side, you saw head on just how deeply he’d been kissing her.

Back then, you’d been more than mad.

You’d been absolutely furious, blinded by your jealousy and longing and all those complicated, messy feelings you kept contained for the sake of ensuring things between you two were stable.

You’d slammed the glasses on the nearest table, water sloshing over the brims and nearly hitting the chatting patrons standing off to the side— who shot you scathing looks as they stepped away from the puddle that was forming as the liquid dripped off the edge of the furniture— wetting the floor by their feet. Then you’d stormed out, not caring if Kaeya followed you or spent all night trading saliva with some random stranger.

Or, at least, that’s what you’d tried to tell yourself.

Truth was, you’d started crying before the door of the tavern finished closing behind you and then you’d nearly collapsed in the next alley you came across, pressing your hand to your mouth as if that could contain all the sobs that were trying to barrel out, shakily steadying yourself against the cold brick wall and feeling like you were going to be sick.

Less than a minute later though, Kaeya caught up with you, having followed you out the moment he caught a glimpse of your silhouette rushing out the front doors, and immediately began trying to explain what had really happened through heavily slurred words and stumbling strides.

“I swear— She just came onto me! I told ‘er I was drunk— told ‘er I was with somebody but she wouldn’t listen—!” He’d stammered, all the while you stared him down like a wounded animal ready to strike if he got too close, all scrunch-nosed and sharp-glared, jaw clenched and breathing heavily.

You’d wanted to hit him. To scream that you loved him— you did— not some girl who didn’t even know his name or the types of sweets he snuck from the manor kitchen or his favorite shapes found among the stars. You wanted to go home. You wanted to curl up in bed beside him like you did when you were little and still scared of the dark. You wanted him. You wanted him to want you too.

“Just take me home!” You’d cut him off, marching past him out of the alley and back onto the main streets, the cobblestones feeling much more unsteady than you remembered them before.

So, yeah. Back then, you’d been mad. You’d gotten over it eventually, really heard him out and decided to accept his apology the following day when you both were sober and weighed down with the regret that bad decisions tended to leave behind.

But now, when Kaeya acted like four years of silence was worth the same as some one-off, instantaneous occurrence you’d gone through as immature teenagers…

You felt more hollow than anything, similar to the way tossing and turning through several sleepless, anxious nights left you with the sense that you were no longer a living, breathing girl but a ghost searching for the end of its own haunting, the world moving too fast around you as you drifted along and your thoughts rolled lazily through your mind, too exhausted to be bothered anymore.

“I was trying to give you space,” you admitted with a defeated sigh, draping yourself further over the railing to match his forlorn posture. “After everything that happened, I just thought…” 

It came back in quick flashes— Diluc’s scathing, scornful words upon delivering the news of his father’s death and how you’d choked on your tears and sorrow as you rode back home through the woods and the smudged peacock feather used to sign off Kaeya’s final letter to you…

Then you looked over at him and admitted, “I thought you’d come back when you were ready. But the more time that went by…”

Kaeya met your gaze. You still weren’t over the initial shock of the eyepatch. You might never be, if you even got another chance to see him. You looked away again. Holding his stare for too long was like staring into the sun. It left his image burned into your vision even when you closed your eyes and made you ask yourself why you’d taken the risk to steal a glance in the first place. “I dunno… I guess I just thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore.”

His hand was laying itself over yours on the railing now, a hand you’d seen in nearly every stage of its development— the small, clumsy grasp of a six-year-old as he’d fumbled with little knick-knacks given to him by one of the servants so he wouldn’t have to fight with Diluc over toys— the mischievous fiddling of a curious ten-year-old trying to pick the lock of his father’s home office just to see what lay beyond the heavy wooden doors— the awkward, lanky fingers of a thirteen-year-old learning to grow into the first stages of his adolescent body, how he used to nervously fidget with the sapphire newly pierced through his left ear when he was telling you some story he hoped would impress you— the sure, swift strength of a seventeen-year-old who caught your wrist as you’d tripped over your own feet while walking through the woods, helping you back up and no longer attempting to hide how much he liked seeing you blush upon receiving even the simplest of touches from him.

Now, being in his early twenties, Kaeya’s hands were slender and a little scuffed, knuckles scratched from sparring matches among the Knights and a callus on his middle finger from writing one too many reports, sending messages between nations when the Acting Grand Master became too busy with her end of foreign relations and he had to pick up the slack.

But even so, they were beautiful— nails manicured and skin still soft enough to prove that, despite his title, Kaeya wasn’t in the habit of working too hard.

“There is nothing—” Kaeya began, voice stern and reassuring, “Nothing— that you could ever do that would make me want nothing to do with you.” You could read the guilt scribbled across his face, biting your tongue as you felt the threat of tears prinkling in the back of your nose, a lump forming in your throat that you tried to swallow. “It was never my intention to cut you off…”

Kaeya gave your hand a light squeeze, the small pressure enough to burst the dam sealed off behind your eyes, causing your vision to become blurred as four years worth of uncertainty and sadness sparkled on the rim of your gaze.

“Then why—” you croaked, voice cracking as the tears spilled over, clumping your bottom lashes together in watery spikes, pair after pair of sparkling sorrow racing down your cheeks to meet under your chin. Kaeya didn’t let go of your hand as you began to cry. He only held on a little tighter, lacing his fingers together with yours and making a stifled sob slip past your lips.

“I just thought that you’d be upset with me— that you’d blame me. I mean…” he tried to explain, gently wiping away your next round of tears with the pad of his thumb, tracing a soft line across the apple of your cheek. “You grew up with Diluc, too. I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position with having to pick a side but, well…” Kaeya cracked another one of those apologetic smiles and suddenly you became overwhelmed with the urge to bury your face in his chest, to just let him hold you until you felt whole again. “I guess it’s too late for that.”

You just couldn’t stop crying, the slow drip of a leaking faucet suddenly becoming a pipe burst beyond repair.

Because you’d spent the last four years worrying Kaeya hated you for nothing.

All that pain, all that blame, pent up and pushed down over and over and over again until the glass bottle was ready to crack and splinter and shatter into a million shards of glittering glass dust…

It all seemed to be remedied the moment Kaeya wrapped both his long, lean arms around you, pulling you into his chest and running a hand through your hair, combing his fingers through the tangles created by the summer wind and soothing you with a quiet, whispered coo of, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

You could barely get the words out as you nuzzled your face into his shoulder, shaking your head in miniscule motions as you muttered out a pathetic sounding, “S’ok… I never blamed you—” A hiccuped sob interrupted your forgiveness, but your tears were starting to slow, the deep well they’d collected in nearly running dry. “I don’t even think Diluc blamed you… Not for what happened to—”

“It’s ok,” Kaeya cut in, the blade of his voice sharper than before but dulling by the second, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “It’s ok. Even if he does, that’s not your fault.”

“I know, I just—” One last shuddering exhale before you collected yourself, making the foolish mistake to stare directly back up into the bright star of his one-eyed gaze, though this time you didn’t care if it blinded you. You wouldn’t look away. “I just wish things could’ve ended up differently… For all of us.”

All the times you and Kaeya had caught a shooting star arching across the night sky during one of your celestial rooftop escapades, how many times had you wished for things to stay just as they had been?

How many times had you wished the sun would never rise, that the night would stretch across Teyvat’s vast horizon for the rest of eternity so you and Kaeya could stay laying side by side, hands clasped between you while your free fingers pointed out all kinds of animals and imaginary heroes in the tangled constellations?

Not enough times, apparently. And now it was too late. You could barely even make out the peacock anymore, too many misty clouds drifting in to veil the moon. But there was one thing you knew for certain, and that was, even if you couldn’t go back and rewrite the events of your lives so that you’d never have to spend even a single day apart wondering where in the world the other could’ve gone, you would do anything to not lose Kaeya again. Even if it was just ink and parchment keeping you two connected across cities— across nations— you would take up the pen again and again until you received another eyespot feather in the vibrant teal or aquamarine or violet Kaeya liked to sign his letters with.

“I know…” Kaeya mumbled, resisting the urge to press a chaste kiss to the crown of your head. But then he was pulling back from you, just enough so you could see the flicker of appraising charm forcing itself over his features, and said with a hint of those sly undertones that usually spelled some mix of trouble and fun, “But, you know, while you’re here, I’m sure we have quite the bit of catching up to do. How long are you in Mondstadt, anyhow?”

You blinked away the remaining film of tears glossing over your eyes, gave a weak sniffle, and replied, “Till the end of summer…”

You could tell the grin Kaeya wore next was a real one, not just adopted in the moment for your sake, and after smoothing down your hair and using the edge of his glove to wipe away the last of the salt streaking your face, he said, “Well then… I guess we have a lot of lost time to make up for until then.”

†††

Standing by the fountain in the Mondstadt square, the hiss of flowing water and whistle of the summer breeze creating an intertwining melody over the cobblestone streets, you took your first deep breath in what felt like years.

Well, in some ways, it was. And even though you’d waited this long to reconcile with your childhood friend, it was funny how long a week could feel when you’d spent literal years waiting for something you thought might never come.

But, seeing Kaeya approaching you now, it almost made it feel like no time had passed at all.

Because he was giving you that charming, mischievous smile, tossing up a coin and catching it, the glint of shimmering gold flying higher and higher above his head with every new throw, and making your heart flutter with every step closer to you he took.

“I haven’t kept you waiting long, I hope?” Kaeya’s question lilted with melodic smoothness, stopping before you with the gold Mora coin pinched between his fingers.

You smiled, shook your head, and replied, “Not at all. Plus,” you winked, leaning in a little closer as if telling a secret, your past self returning to you for a moment, the way you’d often become absorbed in Kaeya’s own scheming behavior if you spent a little too much time around him, “if you would’ve kept me waiting, I still remember the way to all your favorite taverns.”

Kaeya looked surprised for a moment, then softened as a giggle bubbled past his lips, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “Well, in that case…” He held his arm out to you, his elbow bent so you could loop your arm with his, and as soon as you took the invitation, he began to walk with you. “I guess we should get going before I end up passed out drunk in an alley somewhere.”

And things seemed perfect as you two strolled along under a clear, sunny sky— almost too good to be true. And wasn’t it always when you were blinded by joy that the parasites of doubt began to gnaw at your insides? To burrow their way deeper into your heart and inject poison into your veins?

Because, even as Kaeya complained about working for the Knights and rambled on about the best new bakery in town, the smile that had sat so easy and natural on your face slowly began to become strained, forced.

Because this, too, would end.

This moment, right here, right now, with him…

It would all become a memory once you returned to Liyue, faded and frayed around the edges the more time you spent away.

“—But you’ll just have to wait to try it once we get there.”

You blinked back into reality, glancing up at Kaeya with minor confusion and asking, “What? Get where?”

Kaeya smirked, finding pleasure in keeping you at least a little in the dark, so long as the end result would make you smile. “Heh… Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” he teased, giving your shoulder a soft nudge with his own.

“No fair…” you lightly protested, puffing out a weak chuckle. Then you said, “You really haven’t changed, y’know. You used to keep secrets from me all the time when we were kids…” Now it was your turn to nudge him, harder than he’d nudged you, and soon you found yourself wearing a devious expression as you remarked, “You’re such a bully!”

“Am not!” Kaeya defended, laughing as he knocked some more of his weight into you and nearly caused you both to topple over. “Besides, it’s not keeping secrets! It’s surprising you.” He stuck his nose up in the air, going from goofy to regal in two seconds flat, another habit of his you remembered from back in the day.

It used to drive you crazy, how easily he could recover from a fit of laughter or straighten his posture after scrambling away from one of his schemes— how you’d always be the one to give things away because you could never compose yourself on command like that— but now, you found it endearing. It was unexpectedly familiar. Comforting. It helped settle all the doubts swimming around inside of you for a bit, at least.

“Oh, c’mon!” You begged playfully, pouting and pulling on his arm. “Just tell me!”

“Seems you haven’t changed much either.” Kaeya lowered his voice to something a little more serious, some melancholy longing slipping through. When you gazed up at him that time, you saw the shift with your own two eyes, the way he looked so pained one second only to mask it with playfulness the next. He reached over and pinched your ear with his free hand and declared through a chuckle, “You never were the most patient!”

“Hey!” You scolded through a poorly concealed laugh, swatting him away. “That’s not fair when you were always telling me things like ‘you’ll see’!” You mocked the quote in a deeper voice, as if it sounded anything like the warm, smooth, honey-sweet tone of Kaeya’s vocals. “Admit it! You liked to torture me with the suspense!”

Then you were both laughing, stumbling down the streets with your arms still interlocked as you reflected on a few more fond memories from your childhoods together. You unearthed stories he’d nearly forgotten while Kaeya teased you about embarrassing moments you wished he would forget.

But then the mood began to wither, all the petals of your bright, blooming banter plucked from the flower of your childhoods one by one until all that was left was the thorny stem.

“I’m sorry…” you apologized, trying to swallow the uncomfortable lump forming in your throat. “For what happened— to your family and to you. I’m just… I’m sorry. I should’ve—”

“Don’t—” Kaeya cut in, his voice quiet. Fragile. Like a star made of blown glass. Yet still his words contained the power to draw blood if the shattered shards were touched. His throat bobbed with a particularly hard swallow— he wanted to spare you his tears— and after clearing his throat, he concluded with, “It’s fine.”

“But I—”

“It’s not your fault!” Kaeya snapped, raising his voice over yours, then immediately kicked himself, sighing out a frustrated exhale before remedying his outburst with a kinder, “It’s not your fault, ok? It’s just…” He hesitated, searching for the right words to say. Then he shrugged, grasping your hand and giving it a slight squeeze. “It’s just the way things turned out.”

You realized then, as Kaeya forced himself to give you a smile, how you must look when you tried to fake the same emotions to him.

No matter how hard either of you tried to hide your feelings, to keep secrets, to lie…

The other would always know.

It was a part of your relationship that had never had its sharp edge dulled, never lost the saturation of its vivid color.

It was a side effect of being connected by the stars, the irony that the celestial plane had placed upon two soulmates.

So, if you couldn’t lie, the next best thing was to create a new truth.

You squeezed Kaeya’s hand back, gave him a crooked grin, and said, “Maybe we’ve both been holding onto the past… Maybe, even just for today, we should focus on the present.”

The curl of Kaeya’s palm around yours felt like coming home. Because, though Kaeya’s hands had changed from the last time you’d touched them— gotten bigger, stronger, colder— they still held onto you like you were something he wanted to protect.

“C’mon…” Kaeya nodded towards a nearby alley, the vaguely familiar crookedness of it sending a flash of a spontaneous escape route while trying to evade your chaperone through your memory. “For old times’ sake… Plus…” You started down the narrow alley with him, the sounds of both your laughter and shouts echoing through your brain like the ghosts you’d almost forgotten as your feet tapped over the cracked cobblestones. “This is the shortcut to the scenic route.”

†††

The romantic little row boat rocked upon gentle waves at the end of the dock, waiting for you and Kaeya to board it and drift out to one of the private islands in the middle of Cider Lake.

There was a picnic waiting for you there when you arrived and he’d packed all of your old favorites along with some new treats from that bakery he’d been trying to tell you about earlier. You could tell how much care he’d put into preparing it and found yourself a little taken aback considering this was your first real time together since reconnecting.

You know, aside from when you sobbed into his shoulder on the balcony of the Angel’s Share.

So, as you two enjoyed lunch together, talking and laughing and catching up, you did, for once, allow yourself to enjoy the present.

However, as the sun arched across the sky and the first golds and lilacs of sunset began to blush the horizon, the energy started to shift. Not necessarily in a bad way, but more so in a bittersweet way. Because you two could’ve shared so many more smiles, stories, touches, and tender gazes if only you hadn’t been separated by time.

If only, if only, if only, if only…

If only you’d allowed yourself to fall for him sooner.

If only you’d been brave enough to tell him how you’d really felt.

If only he would’ve told you how he really felt.

If only one of you would’ve reached out during all that time.

If only.

“What…?” you asked in a dream-like daze, laying out on your stomach across from Kaeya on the picnic blanket and gazing into his periwinkle eyes— well, the one that was left visible to you, at least.

You were still getting used to that, but the more you looked at him, the more you thought the eyepatch suited him. You could already imagine all the outrageous stories he’d made up when people asked him why he wore it or what was underneath. It made another tired giggle hum in your chest.

“Nothing…” Kaeya stalled, caught in the same dreamy state as you, his eye tracing all the features of your face. Unlike him, you still looked the same. Just a little bit older, a little more tired on account of all the late nights this current research project was demanding from you, your hair a little different, but your eyes and your smile…

To him, those would always be just like he remembered.

“It’s something…” Your voice was nearly a whisper, only speaking loud enough to be heard over the breeze, your feet kicking lazily behind you, Kaeya’s face only inches from yours. You outstretched one arm, lowered your head to rest your cheek on your shoulder, and stared up at him through your lashes. “You can’t lie to me…” You reminded him with a sated smile. “I always know.”

Kaeya let out a breathy chuckle, mimicking your relaxed posture and allowing himself to sink closer to the earth, the plush grass underneath felt through the blue and white checkered picnic blanket. He placed his hand on top of yours, gently rubbing his thumb along your soft skin, his voice growing even quieter, as if admitting what he was about to say next too loudly would wake him from the serene dream he was starting to believe this was.

He said, “It’s a secret,” which only made you roll your eyes and let out a cynical sigh, pushing off from the ground to sit back up, Kaeya following suit.

“Fine then,” you teased, nose up in the air as you shot him a playfully devious side glance, trying to hide a smile. “Don’t tell me. I’ll figure it out on my own sooner or later.”

Kaeya chuckled. “Oh, you will, will you?”

“Of course I will,” you continued, now absentmindedly playing with a stray thread on the hem of one of the quilted stitches. “And even if I don’t, you’ll tell me eventually. You can’t stand to be the only one in on something.”

Kaeya let out a hearty laugh, one that made you wish you could spend every day like this, with him, skirting on the edge of arguments and making harmless jokes and pulling on each other’s strings in just the right ways.

Just the way you used to.

Just the way you used to…

“Well which is it?” Kaeya continued to tease. “Do you want to figure it out on your own or do you want me to tell you?”

You picked up one of the lingering blueberries left in the basket and tossed it at him. “I want you to tell me.” You grinned as Kaeya caught it, tossing it back at you only for it to bounce away into the grass somewhere.

“Alright then,” Kaeya finally yielded with a resolute nod. “But you’ll have to come closer. It is a secret, after all.”

You scooted closer, leaning in with one ear as if you really expected him to whisper it to you. But then, after his silence stretched on for one moment too long, you looked back to him, your faces closer than they’d been since you two had snuggled up in his bed on a stormy night as children.

You felt your breath catch, unable to tear your stare away from his eye as if all the secrets of the universe were contained within that small pool of periwinkle, and as Kaeya’s hand reached forward to gently cup your cheek, weaving his fingers into your hair, you closed your eyes.

How long had you waited for this? Wanted this? Dreamt of it?

How many nights had you mourned a kiss that would never come as you stared over all the glittering lights that shimmered along every path in Liyue, wondering if you’d ever come close to feeling the way you’d felt about Kaeya with anyone else?

As his lips touched yours, everything else faded away— all the fear and the doubt and the past and the future.

There was only right here, right now, as if this single moment was all you’d ever lived in, all you’d ever known.

And Kaeya was so tender with you, so gentle and caring. Considering how long he’d also been waiting for this, wanting it, dreaming of it, it was a miracle he hadn’t ruined the moment and kissed you the very second you two stepped off the boat and onto the grassy shore, not stopping until it got so late that someone else sailed out searching for the missing Cavalry Captain.

The moment he broke away, the eternal bliss that had just filled you was stolen quicker than a wave pulling back from the shore, and you wove your fingers through his hair, using that as an anchor to keep you two close, tugging him in a little to press your forehead against his, any kind of contact that would make you feel like that wasn’t the first and the last, a silent pleading to hold on and never let go.

“Sorry…” Kaeya nervously whispered through a crooked smile, his eyes closed and careful hand moving to rest on the back of your neck, not wanting to let go either.

In return, you whispered, “Sorry for what?”

Kaeya let out a shuddering sigh, reluctantly pulled away a few inches so he could look you in the eyes. He searched your face for something— some kind of anger or sorrow or hesitation— anything to make the fact that you couldn’t stay easier on him.

But all he could scavenge from your loving, gentle expression was that none of this was ever meant to be easy. Because easy things were fleeting.

It was the hard things— the things you fought for— that ended up sticking around the longest.

It was the things you decided to grab and hold onto even through the thrashing and the clawing and whatever other odds that tried to cause you to give up and let go that you could truly call your own.

So he kissed you again, this time with a little more urgency, a little more passion, as if that was the only response that could accurately express whatever answer he could’ve spoken with words.

He was right when he’d said you two had a lot of lost time to make up for.

This seemed like a good place to start.

†††

Over the coming weeks, the city of Mondstadt had never seemed so small to you before in your entire life.

The once uncharted and mysterious alleys that winded between the buildings were now secret passageways and shortcuts to you. The rising levels of brick and stone that loomed and casted shadows big enough to swallow you whole were now a view of Kaeya’s office from the headquarters of the Knights or the windows of some foreign leader’s favorite hotel suite.

Because, despite the fact the city still may have looked the same on the surface, much had changed in the years you’d been away. Kaeya thought he ought to catch you up, maybe make a guessing game out of it while he was at it too.

“Let’s see…” you pondered, gazing up at some luxury apartment in the distance he’d pointed out to you. “It has a pretty good view, so it must be expensive, aside from its upper level location…” You’d already guessed the vacation homes of Fontaine politicians and Snezhnayan royals, Inazuma CEOs and wealthy Liyue traders. Kaeya had made you guess the residency of someone prominent from nearly every nation in Teyvat at one point or another with the exception of one you should’ve found most obvious in this case. “Wait, don’t tell me… It’s someone from Mondstadt, isn’t it?”

Kaeya gave a smile and a nod, keeping his lips sealed though seeming to struggle the more and more he could sense your wheels turning.

“It’s someone you know personally, isn’t it?” you asked next.

To that, Kaeya gave a conflicted shrug and replied, “I suppose you could say that, yes.”

“It’s the Grand Master of the Knights then— Or maybe the Acting Grand Master?” The two of you continued your lazy stroll through the streets, your hands clasped and on your way to a lunch reservation, which you were going to be late for if this particular game dragged on for much longer.

“Hmm… Close,” Kaeya hinted, and you perked up for a second. Then he said, “But not quite,” and you deflated back into a silent, pouting frustration.

“I give up then,” you resigned, trying to bait him into telling you.

Kaeya gave you a nudge. “No, c’mon, you know it.”

“Archons know what kinds of company you’ve kept over these past four years,” you sarcastically teased. “How am I supposed to guess when I haven’t even met a single one of your friends?”

Kaeya chuckled, amused, only becoming even more so when you frowned and asked him what was so funny. “You know him,” he hinted. That earned him a look caught between confusion and annoyance. “Just think,” he tried to encourage. “If it’s someone that you know, who I also— technically— know, and they’re from this nation…” The pride that settled over his features the moment he saw your eyes light up with the answer was enough to tell you you were right before you even said it.

“No—!” You exclaimed in hushed disbelief, staring at him wide-eyed as if waiting for him to admit he was just messing with you. You glanced from him back to the gilded ivory of the luxury complex then back to him. “So you mean this entire time you were hiding out in some high-rise palace?!” You let out a scoff of incredulous laughter, feeling both slighted and relieved. “And to think,” you added with a certain air of forced pretentiousness as you eyed him slyly, “all these years I was worried you were shivering in a shack somewhere.”

Kaeya let out another burst of laughter and a dramatic response of, “I shiver just imagining living in a shack. You think I would’ve ever allowed myself to end up in such a place?”

The remaining way to the restaurant and throughout the entire afternoon meal as well, the two of you traded more banter and flirtatious glances.

You’d found yourself becoming more comfortable with being on the receiving end of Kaeya’s playful quips or the naughty suggestions he’d whisper in your ear when you two found yourselves nestled within a crowd, always taking pleasure in how flustered you’d become while he remained cool and calm in that easy, calculated way of his, the only evidence of his comment being that sly smirk spread across his lips.

Kaeya was determined to make the most of his time with you— he hadn’t gone to the trouble of rearranging his entire work schedule to match your research hours for nothing. So, at every given chance he would take you out. He’d plan a special surprise. Sometimes, you two would just spend the entire day talking, hours passing like minutes. If you weren’t submerged in research, you were out on the town with what Fenhua and Haoyu had started referring to as your “mysterious suitor”.

As soon as the sky grew dark with the lilacs and violets of night, Kaeya would walk you back home to the quaint little living space you shared with your other two classmates, kissing you on the hand and wishing you a good night and the sweetest of dreams whilst Haoyu and Fenhua watched from the window (less than subtly, you’d noticed on more occasions than not) and began to conjure up a new round of questions and curiosities about who the handsome, one-eyed gentleman really was to you.

Not to mention, how you’d had any time whatsoever to begin a courtship amidst the busy work schedule this research project was trapping you all in.

“So who is he?” Haoyu asked first, unable to contain his nosiness, however harmless it usually was.

“Yeah, and where’d you two meet?” Fenhua would jump in, both of them trailing along behind you as you attempted to retreat to your room to unload your things and take a breather.

“Is he a Knight? I heard you should watch out around those guys,” Haoyu warned. “They get bored with the girls from their own city and latch onto any new face they meet.”

“Oh, but he’s so dreamy, isn’t he?” Fenhua sighed, throwing herself to lay across the end of your bed while you kicked off your shoes and tried to suppress an amused smile. “And don’t listen to Haoyu. I mean, sure, maybe some of the Knights who are on the prowl are a little promiscuous, but if you end up changing your mind about the one you managed to lure in…” She gave you a cheeky wink accompanied by a sly smirk. “Feel free to send him my way.”

Haoyu sat on the other side of Fenhua, rolling his eyes at her and handing you the glass of water you’d left out that morning as you went to reach for it, continuing as you took a sip, “I mean, I’m not trying to sound like I’m—”

“What? Jealous?” Fenhua cut in with a giggle, earning her a sharp nudge in the shoulder from Haoyu.

“What I was trying to say—” Haoyu began again, shaking his head and smirking at his mischievous friend before looking back to you, “—is that I’m not trying to sound like I don’t trust your judgment. It’s just, well… You’ve always been like a little sister to us. We’re protective over you. And you’re so shy most of the time, especially around new people…” Fenhua sat up, taking a slightly more serious stance alongside Haoyu now, nodding along as he spoke. “I’m just wondering why you’ve caught his attention— I mean,” he anxiously remedied, “Ok, that sounded bad. I’m just worried that guy has ulterior motives, know what I mean?”

You set the now empty glass on the bedside table, looking to both your friends with a sense of gratitude, but also a slight twinge of guilt. “Guys,” you began, “I appreciate you always looking out for me, but I didn’t just meet Kaeya.” You paused for a moment, trying to decipher the puzzled looks exchanged between both your friends. “We knew each other when we were kids,” you then clarified, both Haoyu and Fenhua giving a synchronized “oooohh…” of understanding.

You filled them in, explained how you grew up together, pretty much all the way until you were eighteen, but lost touch right before you left to attend university in Liyue.

“We haven’t seen each other in a long time so…” you shrugged, your bashful smile giving you away. “We’ve just been catching up.”

And so came more questions from the two of them, naturally, but as you answered this time— in the moments they both stopped trying to speak over each other and actually lent you a small space of silence to try and address one of their many inquiries— you found yourself being careful about which truths you divulged to them and which ones you wanted to keep for yourself.

Because while the memories of your childhood might’ve been up for grabs when it came to what you were willing to expose, the more intimate details of the recent developments of you and Kaeya’s relationship were under lock and key.

Almost all of your alone time— and, if you were being honest, most of the time meant to be dedicated to your research— was spent thinking about him if you weren’t seeing him. It was spent replaying all the times over these past weeks that Kaeya had held your hand, put his arm around you, pulled you in close, held your face in his palms as you gazed up at him lovingly, kissed you…

Even things that hadn’t yet happened, but you’d very much like to try, if the occasion so arised.

“But you guys have gotta be more than friends, right?” Fenhua pushed, giving you a half-lidded look as if to say, give it up. “I mean, I’ve seen you two walking arm in arm when he drops you off. The guy has kissed your hand—!” She was gesturing wildly now, nearly hitting Haoyu in the face a few times and making him flinch. “We may not be from this city but you can’t tell me that all Mondstadter’s express friendship like that, I mean…”

You admitted that, growing up, Kaeya would harmlessly flirt with you all the time. When asked what you’d do in response, you simply said you’d just scoff and brush him off, tell him to stop teasing, which wasn’t a complete lie. The fact that you were leaving out how you wished he’d just be direct and stop keeping you guessing all the time so you could finally know if you two were more than just friends didn’t make what you’d told them any less true.

“Ok, but did you ever consider,” Haoyu raised, “that maybe he was doing all of that back then because he actually did like you?”

Yes, you thought to yourself, a million times, yes.

But, even now, that made the distance you’d just finally gotten a chance to close all the more painful.

If Kaeya had had feelings for you— those kinds of feelings— all along…

How could he have let you go like that?

“Well of course he liked her,” Fenhua stated like it was the most obvious fact in the world. She threw her arm around you, pulling you in for a side hug and saying with a warm smile, “What’s not to like?”

And so the three of you sat around on your bed talking and teasing each other for much later than any of you had intended, given you had an early start to tomorrow’s work. But for as much as you’d smiled and giggled at all their speculations, by the time you were alone in your bed again, all of that doubt started creeping back in.

Because your time was ticking down every single week, every single day, and soon, every single hour before you had to leave this little bubble of bliss you’d accidentally discovered and return to Liyue.

You couldn’t just skip out on your final year of university to chase some guy, even if that guy was Kaeya Alberich— not when you’d worked so hard to get this far.

And so a war began to rage inside your mind, a constant push and pull of leave, stay, leave, stay, leave, stay colliding every time you tried to focus on your work only to be distracted with intrusive thoughts like how many more times would you and Kaeya get to kiss before you couldn’t anymore?

How many more times would you get to hold his hand, liking the way his cool palms helped stave off the season’s heat as you strolled through the square?

How many more times would you have the chance to memorize the exact shade of periwinkle that glittered in his eyes?

How much sooner and how much longer could you have been able to learn and appreciate these kinds of experiences with him if only things had turned out different?

The dread and regret could eat you alive, if you let it, but eventually, after much tossing and turning, you’d fall asleep. 

Some nights, you’d have pleasant dreams, others, vicious nightmares. But by the time you woke up, you’d only be left with one thought, one feeling.

And that was that you didn’t want to leave Kaeya— not for another year or another month or another day. But this version of reality you were currently living couldn’t last forever. You both had your own paths, your own lives and goals and dreams.

It was unfair to choose. Cruel to choose.

It was a painful reminder that to love was to suffer, one way or another.

At least, you thought, this time you wouldn’t be suffering alone.

†††

With summer on its deathbed, so was the stress of completing your research in Mondstadt.

You were relieved to have finished on time, to have all those early mornings, hectic afternoons, and sleepless nights behind you. But that relief was merely the honey that came before the bitter pill you knew you’d have to force yourself to swallow.

Kaeya was better at masking it than you were, all his playful remarks and charming smiles working overtime to put you at ease and brighten your spirits. But, behind that disguise was a sense of loneliness.

Your grins were lonely too, every upturn of the corners of your mouth hosting a silent apology for something that wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Time was running out, Kaeya knew. He could hear it woven into your words and embroidered around the edges of your laughter. But despite the summer coming to an end, he was determined to make every day that you two had left together count.

He’d spent the last few weeks planning a most special surprise for the both of you to share.

“So you really aren’t gonna tell me this time…” you kept on pressing as you leaned closer into Kaeya’s side, both of you strolling along with your arms linked under a sunset sky. “Are you?” Velvety lilacs bled into the sky more and more with every hill you climbed, chasing away the soft blues and pale golds of daylight’s final moments.

Kaeya chuckled, shook his head, and replied, “Nope. You’re just gonna have to wait and see.”

The two of you had left the city, the walls that still held the ghosts of so many childhood memories growing smaller in the distance every time you peaked behind you. 

“Well, can you at least tell me if we’re almost there?” you asked a little while later, part of you starting to wonder if he was playing a trick on you.

“Hmm… I could…” Kaeya teased, pretending to weigh his options. Then he flashed you a mischievous grin and said, “But I think it’s more fun to watch you squirm.” That earned him a jab in his ribs from your elbow, but your playful, otherwise painless assault only won you another chuckle from him. “Alright, alright,” Kaeya caved, slipping his arm around your waist and tugging you closer to his side. “We’re almost there.” He kissed the top of your head, his mischief softening to something a little more demure. “I promise it’ll be worth the wait.”

The remaining trek didn’t last long, thankfully for your giddy impatience, and as you reached the top of the final slope and took in the view, you sucked in a gasp.

“Kaeya!” you exclaimed, covering your mouth as if that would muffle your awe and excitement. “Don’t tell me— Is this really for us?”

Kaeya stood next to you, hands on his hips, looking rather pleased with himself as he surveyed the private campsite he’d set up for the two of you, a large tent with an open roof to view the stars placed across from a crackling bonfire, a case full of cold drinks and food you two could cook together doubling as a makeshift bench for the time being.

Kaeya pretended to scan the horizon, sweeping his gaze from one side of the cliff to the next as he shielded his eye from a sun no longer present. “Well, considering there’s no one else here…” he shrugged, sneaking you a wink and a playful side glance. Then, pulling you back in close to whisper in your ear he said, “Think you can still find our favorite constellation?”

And you were so happy in that moment that the reminder of your dwindling time left together was temporarily forgotten. You felt almost like you could cry, though this time for completely different reasons.

You were just taking everything in— the sight of the fire glowing through the dusk and the sound of nature’s ambient buzz and the feeling of longing, once starved, now being fed for the first time in years, swelling in your chest— so you didn’t even notice how long you’d remained silent, awe-struck, until you heard the nervous tremble in Kaeya’s next words.

“I mean, I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay the whole night here if you’re not comfortable…” he gently backpedaled, though where his hand rested on your hip didn’t waver. “I don’t want to assume—”

“Kaeya…” you cut him off, wanting to sound as sure about your answer as you felt, but the emotions flooding you made the end of his name quiver.

You cleared your throat, turned to better face him, and looked into his periwinkle eye, studied how it glittered so brilliantly even in the dark, like he held a galaxy within him, celestial and divine. Then you cupped his face in your hands, his skin cool against your summer-warmed palms, and said, “I have spent years waiting— hoping— for something like this. So please…”

Kaeya’s simmering apprehension turned to the still waters of relief as a fresh smile was cast upon you, offering you his hand the way he’d done so many times before, only this time, you knew the intention held much more weight than helping you up after a picnic in the glade or lending assistance dismounting a horse. He said, “Then, shall we?” and the yes that left your mouth held all the adoration that had been hibernating in your heart during those long, lonely years.

†††

As you and Kaeya sat huddled beside each other after the barbeque, nearly dozing off with bellies full and cravings for all your childhood favorites satisfied, a serene silence filled the place where laughter and conversation had previously been. You stared into the fire, once dancing, now dying, and swore you kept catching glimpses of memories long forgotten forming in the flames.

It made you miss Diluc too, in a strange way, wishing he could’ve been here to recount adolescent mischief and humorous anecdotes that were sure to cause him and Kaeya to bicker. But what had happened between the brothers was still a wound you didn’t dare dress. You doubted the bandage of your comfort was enough to heal such an injury, especially one that was likely already long scarred over, irreparable.

“Ah— Found it,” Kaeya finally spoke, breaking you from your bittersweet pondering. When you followed the line of his pointing finger, your gaze landed on that glittering group of familiar stars. As Kaeya leaned back to lay across the blanket beneath you two, he clasped his hands behind his neck and said through a dreamy sigh, “It’s been a while, old friend…”

After a moment, you lay back to join him. But that’s when the pang of regret and guilt you’d been trying so hard to avoid returned to poke its pointed edge in through your ribs, aiming for your fragile heart.

In a voice strained with tears soon to come, you said, “I have to go back to Liyue in less than a week…” To this, Kaeya merely turned his head to better look at you, that slight crinkle of elegant worry tugging at his brow. You blew out a deep, shuddering breath, hoping to compose yourself. “I just wish—” You swallowed, squeezed your eyes shut, then tried again. “I just wish we had more time.”

You couldn’t look at him. As much as you could feel his gaze studying you, as much as you wanted to glance over and learn those twitches in his expression, read his face over and over again like it was your favorite book, pages dog-eared and passages underlined and annotated with meticulous care, you couldn’t.

The moment you caught your reflection in all that shimmering periwinkle would be the last drop to burst the dam.

But Kaeya had never been much for flowing water. His area of expertise was freezing it, preserving it with frosted, crystalline beauty until such a time came when the heat of a flame or the shift to a warmer season caused his ice sculpture of love to melt.

“Hey, hey…” he cooed, flipping to his side, readying himself to comfort you. “This doesn’t have to be the end.” But you both knew it was more complicated than that. You both had obligations and responsibilities that would keep you apart, people who counted on you who you couldn’t abandon.

It seemed both of you had made a habit of abandoning yourselves, sacrificing what your hearts told you to be sacred and true all for the sake of opportunity or status.

“I’ll wait for you, y’know?” When he first said it, you could’ve sworn you hadn’t heard him right. Blinking back your misting sorrows, you choked out an uncertain, “What?” and when the boy you’d loved for so long, now a man who loved you right back, repeated the first four words of the loyal vow, well…

You didn’t have the strength to hold back your emotions anymore.

But Kaeya was smiling as he wiped your tears. He offered to help you find a position in Mondstadt once you graduated, if that was something you wanted. With his connections through the Knights, after all, he should be capable of pulling a few strings.

It was sort of overwhelming, hearing him ramble off his plans— plans that sounded like he’d already put quite some thought into them, actually— to make this work between you two. You weren’t giving a clear indication to whether or not you were on board with his efforts, but truth be told you were still recovering from being blindsided by his promise.

I’ll wait for you.

How long had he already been waiting?

The way he spoke now, so hopelessly sure of himself, made it seem like just as long as you had. When you finally forced yourself to meet his eyes, you thought it might’ve been even longer.

“Please—” Kaeya practically begged, taking both your hands in his, clasping them between the two of you as if they were a sacrosanct talisman he was praying upon, gracing the very Archons themselves. “I’ve already lost you once. Don’t make me lose you again…”

He’d been just as terrified as you back then, racing through the pouring rain on horseback, blood painting the right side of his face where his eye was matted shut with rusted red, hands numb with the newfound cold that laced its way through his bones— yet as he dashed from the scene, leaving the news of his second father’s death and the remnants of the battle against his brother behind him, what he thought of wasn’t the loss of the only family he’d probably ever be able to recall…

He thought of losing you.

He thought of the scared, sorrowful look you’d give him if you ever came to learn the full truth of that night, and it had torn him apart with every gallop his steed took further into the piney tangle of the woods.

So, finally able to utter a response, no matter how simple, you whispered, “Ok.”

“Ok?” he muttered, tasting the answer with his own tongue and then reveling in the sweetness of it. Pressing his forehead to yours, letting his eye fall shut and feeling his heartbeat drum a little less frantic, he whispered those two magic syllables once more, as if finally granting himself the right to reclaim something from his past that wasn’t marred by mystery or mourning, “Ok…”

Suddenly you felt a giggle bubbling up in your chest, finding it ironic that you now felt the need to comfort him. “You could always find a way to take a business trip to Liyue sometime, too,” you suggested. “But, to answer your previous question. Yes, I would most definitely accept a position in Mondstadt after graduation if given the chance.”

Lightly nudging his nose to yours, Kaeya was able to smile again. Because, so long as the two of you were together, everything would turn out ok. You’d figure it out, lean on each other when things got tough, and whether you were together or apart, you’d forever be linked by the night.

“Just look for the peacock in the sky,” he muttered, his mouth hovering right over yours, the gentle fan of his cool breath melting you from the inside out. “Remember that it’s me looking after you…”

†††

The tent was bigger on the inside than it appeared. Spacious, with an abundance of blankets and pillows and room to nest. The ceiling opened to let the stars in, so many twinkling lights serving as a reminder of just how many times you and Kaeya must’ve looked up at the same exact constellations and had all those fond childhood memories come rushing back.

That, in itself, was its own kind of unbreakable bond.

And he was right. No matter how far the distance between you two spanned, you felt closer to him knowing the peacock was glittering somewhere above your head.

You two were just settling in, getting comfortable when you had the sudden urge to seek him out for another kiss. You’d never grow tired of the way his lips felt against yours, the way he tasted of crisp winter air and dandelion wine. The way his long fingers wove into your hair, so tender yet so desperate to hold you and never let go.

Kaeya deepened the kiss, his tongue teasing along the seam of your lips until they parted for him to give a sample of your flavor, something subtly sweet but no less satisfying. Before you knew it— not even having the chance to think about it— you were being pulled into his lap, your thighs straddling his hips as both your motions became more erratic, any and all savoring smoothness slowly saturating to the vibrant colors of desire, your stomach fluttering with that warm, rolling feeling as yearning turned lazily inside of you.

Your fingers had found their way into the river of his silky, navy strands, reminded how shiny and soft Kaeya’s hair had always been, the envy of everyone, just like most traits he’d been blessed by the Archons with.

It was quickly becoming clear that both of you wanted more of each other— far more than you’d gotten thus far— but before things could go too far too fast, Kaeya pulled back, giving you both a moment to catch your breath before asking if you’d done this before.

Suddenly more abashed by his question than the act you’d fully been ready to engage in, you said that you had, but only once. It had been when you’d first started university. It hadn’t been a particularly notable experience, but also not a horrible one either.

“I imagined it was you…” you admitted, unable to hold his gaze as you confessed something you now had regrets about. If you would’ve known you’d end up here, you would’ve saved the first time for him.

“C’mon now,” Kaeya began, letting out a breathy chuckle as he lightly hooked a finger under your chin, guiding your gaze back up to meet his. “Don’t say that.” You were about to interject, unsure whether the words that would leave your mouth would be assurance that you were telling the truth or a scolding for him not to tease you, but before you could say anything he continued with a sly, flirtatious whisper of, “Besides, if he didn’t leave much of an impression, he could never compare to me…”

You felt your face burn with shame and annoyance, flashing an adorably stunned scowl, mouth agape with a silent gasp which only made Kaeya laugh. Once he regained some of his composure though, he faded back into that soft, intimate security you never get tired of, resting his hands on your hips and assuring you in earnest that he was going to take good care of you. That you had nothing to worry about with him. That you were safe. You were loved.

“I got you…” he cooed as he helped you undress, every article of clothing he rid your body of removed with slow, savoring intention, his gaze tracking the newly exposed flesh with reverence, worshiping your figure with his single-eyed stare.

And you watched Kaeya undress too, enamored with all that beautiful brown skin, the glow of the moon outlining him in its silvery light, tracing over the toned expanse of his chest and broad shoulders, counting the new scars he’d earned over the years but finding they did nothing to take away from his regal beauty.

“Your eyepatch…” you then muttered as he drew closer to settle his skin against yours. “Are you going to…?”

Kaeya then seemed to become a little self conscious, as if he’d forgotten about it entirely until you’d spoken of its existence. His fingers hovered over the black material hiding his right eye, frozen in the decision to show you what was hidden underneath or not.

“No, y’know what…” you assured him, taking his hesitant hand in yours. “It’s ok. I don’t care about that. If it’s a secret you want to keep for yourself,” you said, “I’ll respect that.”

Kaeya looked like he wanted to tell you something— maybe he wanted to tell you everything— but then decided against it. Perhaps another time. Surely when you were both fully clothed and not so distracted by each other’s bodies the way you were now.

And then you were laying under him, and he was kissing you again in that way that made any and all thoughts that weren’t concerning right here and right now dissipate, and his hands felt cold like they usually did but his mouth was so much hotter than before. Goosebumps rose over your skin as his skilled touch explored the soft curves and planes of your form, both eager and patient at the same time, searching for the places that you responded to most and paying them more attention until you were gifting him soft whines and lilting mewls, gasps hitching as his mouth sucked his own pattern of constellations into your skin.

It was almost too much for you and all he’d done was kiss and touch you. It was enough to convince you that, like Kaeya had previously said, whether just a joke meant to fluster you or not, when you’d been imagining the boy who’d taken your virginity had been Kaeya back then, he hadn’t even come close.

This felt like worship.

Heavenly.

Divine.

For a moment, it made you think perhaps Kaeya was an Archon disguised as a human. His natural beauty was enough to rival the gods, a fact that presented itself at an early age, and his bountiful talents for combat and charming conversation were even more evident of such an assumption.

But for Kaeya, he saw you as the otherworldly deity, captivated most by the things only he got to know about you, like the way you sighed his name when he kissed your neck and the way your fingers felt tugging in his hair as he laved over the sensitive bud of your breast, feeling it furl even tighter in his mouth and earning another pleasured whine from your throat.

You felt yourself nearing an edge you hadn’t faced in a long time, and for a moment you tried to push him away, needing a moment to regain even a sliver of yourself before truly allowing it all to let go.

Kaeya prayed that you didn’t want to stop, but was also willing to do whatever it took to make you comfortable in this new, still so unexplored situation. He told you that if you needed to wait, he’d wait as long as it took. He’d already spent years waiting for this, and if it meant getting to have you of your own volition, there was no span of time he wasn’t willing to endure.

“No…” you breathed, cradling his face in your trembling palms, making sure he didn’t take his periwinkle gaze off you. “No, I want to keep going… I just…” You closed your eyes for a moment, swallowed down the fear, remembering his promise to take care of you. “I want to keep going.”

So Kaeya prepared you the best he could, slowly working you open with his fingers and paying close attention to how your body reacted to that slight stretch, letting out a hiss as he felt you clench around him before he was even really inside yet. He couldn’t believe this moment— one he’d spent countless nights falling asleep to or kept wide awake by for years— was actually happening.

By the time he was lining himself up with your entrance, your pulsing little hole already trying to swallow up his length before he’d barely nudged the tip in, Kaeya was sure he was experiencing pure ecstasy. It was hard not to sink into you down to the hilt in one harsh thrust, but he’d made you a promise and he intended to keep it.

After you’d adjusted to the sweet sting of him nestled inside of you, both of you taking time to catch your breath and relax a little, Kaeya began to move, holding you close as his hips rolled slow and rhythmic to meet the apex of your thighs, deepening the connection between your two bodies with each new motion and drinking in every sound of pleasure that left your pretty little mouth.

He couldn’t help but mark you with more bruises, wanting to claim you as his but not go so far as to hurt you. He was first and foremost focused on making you feel good. That way, in turn, you could make him feel good. And so the back and forth, endless cycle of drawing pleasure from each other’s bodies filled the tent with his strained whimpers and your delectable, melodic little whines.

Reaching a hand down to massage more gentle circles on your already overstimulated, swollen little clit, Kaeya’s thrusts picked up speed. Your tight cunt was constricting around him so hard he knew he didn’t have much longer before he lost control, but he was on a mission to make sure you came first.

“Kaeya—!” You called out through a clipped moan. And, Archons, you were so beautiful like this. Always so, so beautiful without even having to try. And Kaeya loved you. Kaeya loved you.

When you reached your limit, entire body tensing as wave after wave of pleasure washed through your veins, Kaeya gave a few more deep rolls of his hips and then he too was coming undone, filling you to the brim and stroking your face with the back of his hand as you both rode out the aftermath of the high.

The next thing you knew, you were wrapped up in Kaeya’s arms again. He held you close, and like this, listening to the steady beat of his heart as your vision swirled with sparkling stars, you felt like you were in a dream, drifting off to sleep on this cloud of warmth and pleasure.

And you loved him. Archons, you loved him.

The last thought you could recall before falling unconscious was that all this had been worth the wait, and a little while later, after Kaeya had cleaned you up, careful not to wake you, and bundled you both up in the blankets, snuggling back in close to you, he whispered those words out loud, meaning every syllable even if you weren’t able to hear them.

“I’ve always loved you,” he said, his voice a ghost drifting away on the next breeze. “And I’m never going to lose you again.”

Kaeya was quick to doze off beside you, and there was just a sense that, by the time you both woke up tomorrow, all your old wounds would be healed.

†††

The final day of your summer in Mondsadt was coming to a close, the city of contracts calling you and your classmates back to begin a new semester. But, as you stared out at the city of freedom, the landscape glowing gold with the setting sun, you were relieved to find you didn’t feel sad.

You, Kaeya, and your two research partners had all gone for a nice lunch that day. You thought it might be important for your friends to get to know your boyfriend a little better, now that you were lucky enough to be able to refer to Kaeya as such. So, throughout a lengthy afternoon full of laughter and banter, food and drinks, the time arrived for you to return to your temporary apartment and pack your things.

Kaeya offered to help, but you insisted all he had to do was make himself comfortable, unable to hide a smirk as he chose to lounge across your bed rather than take the chair by the desk, already acting right at home.

Neither of you really talked about it— how much you were going to miss each other— but that was all well and good with you.

Besides, Kaeya had already made arrangements to come visit you in Liyue a few weeks from now, wanting you to give him the full tour once you’d gotten all settled in and back to the normal swing of your routine. In between now and then though, you’d both spend your time writing letters and counting down the days. You were excited to see his messages signed off with that indigo eyespot feather again. Just the thought had your heart skipping a beat.

Waving goodbye to Kaeya as you crossed the bridge leading away from Mondstadt, his lithe silhouette shrinking by the stone arches more and more every time you dared glance back, the sky entering its era of peach and lilac before shrouding the valleys with its velvet navy, you found yourself craving the darkness of night.

Because, from now on, all you’d have to do to be reminded Kaeya was with you was to look up and find the peacock in the stars.

***

(Hello and thank you for reading! Also, to the person who requested this fic— first and foremost, I sincerely hope you enjoyed, and second, thank you for making such a nice request!

I had a lot of fun writing for Kaeya again. I guess I kind of can’t help but make him soft and tender in the end haha. I think he talks a big game and plays up his whole flirtatious side but deep down what he really wants and needs is a deep emotional connection as well.

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and if anyone else is ever interested in making a request, please check out my request guidelines.

See you next time <3)

[heaven-in-a-wild-flower]

Jurdan Headcanon (Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar)

I’ve also published this on ao3 if you’d rather read it there, here’s the link. I’m making this a full series (Cardan in the Mortal World).

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 2.5

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Previous Chapter (Chapter 7)

Chapter 8

Cardan’s POV

It is a day of rest at the Vivienne-Heather household and Jude is in light slumber with her head atop my lap. Oak is watching moving pictures upon the black cage (Jude has assured me many a times that this ‘Television’ is no cage but I shall say it as I see it). This moving picture is named ‘Despicable Me’ which features some atrocious yellow absurdly-shaped monsters following an even more absurdly-shaped man. However, I do have to admit that their antics are quite entertaining.

It surprises me when Oak tells me that Gru is seen as a villain in the world of the moving pictures. If I’d had a father even half as kind, it would’ve changed my world, why it would have changed the very essence of who I am today. I tilt my head down to hide the traitorous tear slipping down my face, and I see Jude’s face peaceful in slumber. I have only one warrior to thank for invading the thorny barrier protecting my heart and conquering it, scarred and rotten though it may have been. I kiss her upon her brow and promise silently that I shall never let her down nor waste the value she conferred upon my kindness, I shall be a good uncle to Oak, always.

I gently ruffle Oak’s hair who shakes off my hand and continues to remain seated on my legs and pretend he is riding a horse. I acquiesce to his commanding pats upon my shins and raise my legs to fully satisfy his rich imaginings. Suddenly he is distracted by Heather’s mobile device which chirps like a bird (Jude has also assured me that no birds are encapsulated within the devices, that it is merely ‘modern human technology’). He picks it up and begins tapping furiously at its surface. These mobile devices will be the death of humans, building up merely finger dexterity and no other useful fighting or survival skills.

“Uncle Cardan,” Oak calls. “Hmm?” “What would you be if you were a human?” He asks. I ponder the question. I am king in my realm, although that was entirely by luck (and Jude’s devious scheming), so I do not place much faith in my ability to successfully rule humans. However, I am skilled at entertaining and remaining fashionable in every realm. “An Influencer,” I reply, having recently learned of them from Heather, whose attention is often completely captured by influencers on her mobile device. Oak simply nods and continues swiping and tapping at the mobile device. I think nothing of the question, children, human or fae, have wild imaginations.

“Uncle Cardan, look, look!” He shrieks, shoving the mobile device right in front of my eyes. I squint at the image. It is an image of me wearing a gauzy purple top with loose white pants, my neck is decorated with swirling dark tattoos and my eyes are painted over with glittery paint. I cannot deny that it is a highly flattering attire (although all attire is flattering on me), but I am utterly confused how this image exists when I have never worn these clothes at all, nor commissioned any such painting.

“Oak, where did you source this painting of me?” “It is not a painting, Uncle Cardan. It’s AI,” he explains, laughing and confusing me further. What sort of witch is this Ae-Ai, is she divining the future?

All this excitement wakes up Jude, who frowns at me confusedly and mildly annoyed. She wears irritation as beautifully as every other expression but I quickly vanish it by placing quick kisses upon her nose and cheeks and lips. Her hair is a certified nest, but she wears this upon her head as grandly as she wears a crown.

“What are you guys arguing about now?” she grumbles. “And is it really worth disturbing my nap over?”

“I apologise a thousand-fold, my darling queen, but it is indeed of utmost urgency. I suspect a witch is plotting against me.” Jude squints at me and I pluck the mobile from Oak’s hand to show her the evidence. Oak meanwhile is rolling around the floor laughing and laughing, I have been sorely amiss in my duty of teaching him the appropriate royal etiquette.

“Cardan, babe, this isn’t a witch. It is, once more, just mortal technology. Oak put in a picture of you and this created what it thinks you would have looked like if you’d have been an influencer. Speaking of, Oak, save that image and send it to me,” she says trying to keep her face unmoving, but I see a twinkle of excitement in her eyes. It sparks an idea of my own, “Oak hand me the mobile device.” I quickly enquire what mortal profession is appropriate for one with Jude’s skills and the mobile device answers with the police, more specifically, the FBI. I type in my request and the Ae-Ai provides an image of Jude in a complete FBI attire. I stare at the image long enough that Jude leans over to see what has so fully absorbed my attention. She blushes at the image and rolls her eyes. My modest queen, able to make any attire seem magnificent. I whisper to Oak to preserve this painting as well and send it to Jude.

Heather strolls into the room and states that she’s found another Ae-Ai witch, this one’s skills lay in extending eyelashes. Jude seems uninterested but self-proclaimed fashion connoisseur that I am, I decide to accompany her to test this witch for myself. (The earlier one’s skills have left me quite intrigued).

“Babe, your eyelashes are long enough already,” Jude grumbles. “Only the better to bat them at you, my sweet villain,” I reply, winking at her. She blushes once more and kisses me goodbye.

We ride in the metal monstrosity that Heather chariots, Vivienne holding her hand in the front seat and I lounge in the back. We pass through a food tunnel, I have no other description for this ‘McDonalds’ Drive Through’ and I munch on some French fries (the French are talented chefs in every realm).

We arrive at the witch’s lair. It is decorated quite beautifully, I concede, in gleaming white marble streaked through with a rainbow of colours, although it must be to lure in victims. A woman, presumably the witch’s minion (This minion is not yellow unlike in that ‘Despicable Me’ picture), explains the process. I zone out as I look around the space, wondering what the witch uses to extend eyelashes and whether I can abduct her for my own kingdom.

Finally, it appears to be time for the witch to do her magic. Vivienne and I enter a different room, while Heather opts to wait outside with a cryptic statement, “I’m not letting any technology near my eyes, god forbid, I’ve watched enough final destination movies.”

The room is sparsely decorated with plain white walls, however, there is a giant technological monstrosity in the middle of the room. It has pincers like a crab, although made of metal (What are crab pincers made of, I wonder) surrounded by a glass cage and a bed below. The human woman directs me to lay down on the bed.

“So, this is Kate, our eyelash extension AI. You’ll just have to lay here while she does her work. We recommend taking a beauty nap because the process will take between 15-20 minutes. I’ll be controlling it remotely, so you don’t need to worry.” I nod, not that I need sleep to enhance my beauty but I wouldn’t mind the rest. She also adds, “The metal parts are magnetically attached so they can’t pierce your eyes, if you bump into them, they’ll simply fall off and get detached.” I sigh softly, not that I was worried at all, but Jude likes my eyes, it would be a shame for them to be wounded.

“As you wish. I am ready to begin.” I lay down and the witch, Kate begins her spellcasting with a low hum. I must have fallen into a light slumber because I am woken by the human woman announcing that the work is complete. She smiles and exclaims, “Wow, you look amazing. Are you a model? Or influencer?” It is easier to merely agree than explain that I am the High King of Faerie (I attempted it once and the woman I explained it to was extremely angry with me because she believed I was jesting and Jude was not pleased either).

She places a mirror before me and I am indeed impressed. My eyelashes look significantly longer, closing and opening my eyes nearly has the effect of waving a fan. They now skim the tops of my cheekbones, highlighting my face structure pleasantly.

“Would you mind if I record a reel?” The woman asks, pointing her mobile device at me. I reply that I do not mind, although unsure what a reel is.

After paying the human woman, we all set off back to Heather’s abode.

Jude’s POV

They return quite late from the eyelash extension parlour. I’m half asleep when Cardan joins me in bed and I’ve forgotten all about where he just came from. I just squeeze myself into his arms and fall right back asleep.

In the morning, I wake up to Cardan’s face in the sunlight. It nearly infuriates me how beautiful he looks, but he’s mine so I can’t complain. And his eyelashes leave me speechless. They look like those annoying pixies’ that used to be always fluttering around him when he wasn’t mine, who’d enhanced their beauty with magic. He opens his eyes and it’s a whole show. He blinks those long lashes innocently at me and it makes me blush so hard, I kiss him so he doesn’t notice. He seems surprised at the sudden affection, but is soon to reciprocate and thread his long fingers through my hair.

“Aunty Jude, Uncle Cardan!” Oak shouts running into the room. I frustratedly pull myself away from Cardan turn towards Oak. He has leaped onto the bed and is excitedly showing us something on his phone. “Look, look! You’re famous!” We watch a reel of an eyelash extension parlour showing off Cardan’s face, and the hundreds of thousands of likes and comments it has accrued. ‘Step on me Daddy’, ‘Cut me to ribbons with those cheekbones king’, ‘Why do men get the prettiest lashes ugh’. I agree with the last comment but I stop reading them for fear that they’ll make me angry at all these shameless men and women fawning over my king.

“Aha! I was right to assume I would make a successful influencer, wouldn’t you agree, my sweet god,” Cardan gloats with pride. “I suppose your vanity in your appearance is only going to grow from here,” I reply, fake disappointedly.

“Indeed, perhaps I should begin an account of my own,” he replies. He leans into my ear and whispers, “but no matter how many people gaze upon me, I will always be only yours to touch.”

Tagging @jurdanhell @nee-naw-nee-naw-beepbeep

Let me know if anyone wants to be added to the tagging list (or removed).

[activate-shadow-of-the-window]

Don’t Tell Me How We’ve Grown From Having Loved a Little While

Hello My Old Heart - The Oh Hellos EP - The Oh Hellos

-

Chapter 7 of Cracking like a dry branch in a westward wind, in which Tango and Martyn get a somewhat belated invite from everyone’s favorite, completely sane florida man. Or bat, in this case. Everyone shows up to Grian’s party, mostly by ship, partly by [REDACTED BY ORDER OF COMMANDER X]. Some very, very old friends are introduced, alongside some new technology. Pearl and Grian get ready to do violence.

Available on AO3 here.

-

Martyn was actually quite comfortable given the circumstances.

When Tango had been transferring the grounded parrot from Blackbone Hospital to Glowhorn Spires (which turned out to be an astrological observation facility), he’d neglected to mention that there were no horses or donkeys to ride. Rather, Martyn had been fastened to the head, or maybe the back, of a two-legged, lizard-looking, slightly feathered, mushroom-gobbling thing called a strider. That walked on lava.

At least the things were vegetarian.

“Over there are the Warped Towers, where most of the mushrooms are grown.” Tango said as his strider walked, pointing at a set of ominous towers glowing a radioactive blue. “And over there are the Ribcage Arches, where basalt is farmed. Oh! You can see the Soulsand Bridges right up ahead! We won’t be walking on them, though, cause the ignaduct hasn’t been extended far enough. Do you like the word ‘ignaduct’? I made it up myself!”

Martyn couldn’t do much but nod along, smiling occasionally and asking the rare question, such as “What exactly are crimson stems?” or “How does one farm lava, exactly?”. This time, he nodded.

Upon arriving at the Glowhorn Spires, Martyn had been shown to a very nice, if slightly off, set of living quarters. The bed was a bit too wide and the mattress a bit too long for a normal person, but it seemed to accommodate his injured wing quite well while also being very comfortable. The water closet was very dark, and had a redstone light set into the floor rather than the ceiling. The only window was a stained glass affair, bringing back some less than welcome memories, but it was very pretty. And the area rug was bright aqua.

Martyn had fallen into an odd sort of routine during his recovery. Wake up, carefully stretch his injuries, wander about for a bit, find breakfast somewhere (usually under the delightfully named Bloodstar Dome), and continue to wander the Neverglades until Tango inevitably called for him, either in person or via a skeleton, usually one named Logan or Evan. He’d then spend most of the day in the king’s Blackstone Throne Room, answering questions and standing awkwardly next to a gaggle of witch advisors, his bright green wings somehow fitting in with the reds and blues that accented the black everything.

This routine was by no means set, and would get disrupted nearly weekly by random construction projects or Tango wanting some ‘overlander advice’ at awful times of night. So he wasn’t exactly surprised by the king’s bursting into his room at 4 am.

“Martyn?! Maaartyn?! I’m sorry to wake you up, but someone’s asking after you.”

The bird jolted upright, a motion made easier by the lack of chest restraints this time. “BWHA! Ah, Tango, you spooked me. Someone’s asking after me?”

Tango nodded, his hair sparking with excitement. “Yep! They’re a bird-person too, I think. Got wings at the very least. Says their name is ‘unimportant’, and that ‘Sitter Sunset has an important message for you’, and that ‘you’re his best method of communication with this king’. I think he means me, right?”

Martyn stared for a second, before shaking his hair out of his face. “O-Okay, uh, give me a few minutes. Where are they waiting?”

“Alright! They’re at the peak of the Burniron Bridge. Said they wanted ‘a clear method of escape’. In all honesty, I can’t blame them!”

-

Martyn stumbled out of Glowhorn with his hair only half-bound by his headband and a mushroom omelette(?) stuffed into his mouth, sprinting as fast as his cast let him. Burniron wasn’t too far away, but the thing was several stories tall and his legs weren’t the strongest. He was only lightly panting upon reaching the pinnacle of the bridge.

He didn’t recognize the bird, but he did immediately notice that they weren’t a parrot. In fact, they weren’t a bird at all. Martyn didn’t quite know how Tango could mistake the large-eared, dark-coated, yellow-eyed mammal for any type of avian. But with the Basalt King, you really couldn’t be sure…

“Oh! You must be Martyn Viri—“

“JUNGLEWOOD! I-It’s Junglewood, actually. And you are?”

The bat-folk smiled. “Hypno. Hypno Tized, mercenary. Sitter Sunset hired me to get a message to you, since none of the parrots seemed to want to visit the Neverglades.”

“I wonder why.”

The smile widened into a full grin, showing off sharp teeth. “Indeed. Anyway, the Sitter wanted to tell you to try and get King Tek to visit the Coast this Eversun. He’s doing a reception-thing with as many rulers as he can convince to come, and since you’ve got this whole thing going with Tek, he’d like you to try and get him down there.”

Martyn blinked. “That’s it?”

Hypno shrugged. “Yep. Why, were you expecting more?”

“With Grian, honestly, yes. He’s usually very long winded.”

“Well, this time, that’s it. You got any other questions? Cause if not, the job’s done.”

“Oh, no. You can go, uh, Hypno.”

The bat nodded, before pulling something out of his pocket and flipping it at Martyn. The parrot caught it, and saw that it was a coin, gold and stamped with strange lettering.

“My calling card. Cast a little bit of comms magic with it, and you can hire me. See you whenever.”

Hypno suddenly snapped out a very large set of wings from under his coat, dark and patterned with yellow tattoos. He dove off the bridge, and flew off with a light jangling of metal. Martyn stared after him for a moment, before turning his violet eyes back to Glowhorn Spires.

-

He found Tango sitting under the Bloodstar Dome, munching on a large, raw chunk of crimson mushroom. The king stood up and waved as Martyn approached him, tossing the mushroom to a nearby strider that was just… there.

“How’d it go, Martyn? Did the maybe-bird, uh, deliver a good message?”

The parrot couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Well, yes. He did give me a good message. Hs name is Hypno, by the way, and he’s a bat, not a bird.”

Tango lightly tapped his fist into his other hand’s palm with a look of realization. “A bat-folk! No wonder he’s got such large ears!”

Martyn laughed again. “Yes, his ears are large. But his message from Grian concerns you as well, Tango.”

“It does?”

“Yes. Grian asked me to officially invite you to visit the Sunset Coast this Eversun.”

The king’s face lit up with a wide smile. “Really?! He’s inviting me? I think that’s a first! Of course I’ll come. And you’ll be going too, right? Since Grian and his people are also your people, right?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

-

Grian, for once, got up with the sunrise.

Wings of red and yellow and blue snapped open as the sitter rolled upright, stretching to the ceiling in a routine that (somehow) hadn’t been broken for a week straight. Clawed hands rubbed violet eyes, and clawed feet didn’t stumble for once as their owner tugged on his day clothes. Grian’s face broke into an open grin as he looked out into the first light of Eversun.

“Goooooood morning, for once!” He called into the open air, voice unhindered by any glass. “Good morning sea, good morning sky, good morning random plant we effectively kidnapped from the jungle! Plant-knapped? Plant-knapped!”

With a whoop, the bird launched himself from the ledge and through the gate, air whistling through his ears as he soared away from the mostly finished Stratus Tower. That one was a mostly white affair, with streaks of orange and gold. Grian hoped it would be the first of a series of cloud-themed towers, if he ever got around to planning and finishing the others. But it was a different tower that he was heading for that morning.

Grian banked towards the sunrise, riding the cool winds that only rose during the edges of the day and night past the more complete towers. Reflection Spire glinted at him from the right, the smaller Brazen Spire nearly lost in the glare. He glided close enough to Aura Highrise’s side to brush the vines hanging off its gates, before rolling and doing the same to the bamboo within the planters of Summer Heights.

At last, he came to the structure closest to Climbing Spires, the most polished and largest one yet built. Flare Tower was hexagonal in shape, with six waterfalls and six intake pipes arranged in a stair-step pattern on its exterior. The wide planes of glass cut through the concrete walls, which themselves had a gradient from deep teal at the bottom to creamy white at the top. It was crowned by a twisting, arcing affair of gold and copper, shapes spilling like liquid sunlight from the asymmetrical spire. But most striking of all were the six massive gates cut into the walls at varying heights, empty space that allowed for the free movement of air and those that ride it. Grian dove for the uppermost of these gates, gliding through the central hole cut through the tower’s six floors to land softly on a moss carpet.

Almost immediately, the sitter was absorbed into the organized chaos of the Eversun preparations. A group of waitstaff-in-training, who were probably farmers with crops out-of-season, swept him up in their carefully measured steps. Grian cracked a few jokes and tasted a few fruits before spinning off into a circle of table-setting birds who were vigorously polishing a seemingly infinite number of forks and spoons and blunt knives and chopsticks. Where the latter pieces of cutlery had come from, Grian wasn’t entirely sure, other than that Cub had sourced them from somewhere. How one ate with sticks was something he still hadn’t figured out.

“Sir Sitter! Sir Sitter!”

Grian sleeked down in surprise, before he saw who was calling his name. “Oh, Mini! I didn’t know you’d be here.”

The grey-and-gold parrot smiled, a bit bashfully. “Well, I had some time off from directing the construction of Pegasus, and I wasn’t that far away, so…”

“You don’t need an excuse to be here, mate! Goodness knows you’re welcome anywhere. How goes the construction of—“ Grian lowered his voice conspiratorially “—project Evolution?”

“Good enough, I guess. It’s harder than you’d think to source obsidian around here. Cub’s got a chokehold on farming the stuff, but he uses it all for building. I was able to weasel some out of his head engineer, but not nearly enough to build the whole, uh, mainframe.” The technomancer looked unhappy using the code word, since he was used to dealing with absolute truths.

“Well, if you can stick around, there just might be a chance to weasel some obsidian out of the Basalt King, since he’ll be here later today!”

Mini Muka blanched quite considerably at the suggestion. “Me, talk to a king? To get stuff for Evolution? Isn’t he, like, famously from the, uh, second dimension? I-I don’t know, uh, isn’t Martyn close with the King Tek? Can’t he just ask for it?”

“Well, from what he’s told me over the past few months, Tango would question him if he so much as asked for a candle. In a well meaning way, apparently. If he asked for obsidian, he’d get suspicious for sure. But he’s also a, er, an eccentric, who I suspect would be sympathetic to the plight of a technomancer such as yourself!”

“O-Oh, fine. It’s not like I’ve got anything else on my schedule…”

-

“Land— er, uh, Sunset Coast in sight!”

The cry from the deer in the crow’s nest soon spread throughout the ship, and reached Queen Gemini’s ears within moments.

“We’re here? We’re here! Miss, could you go call Pan up from his berth? We’re about to dock!”

The fae-deer clambered out of her own cabin, hastily pulling the Crown of Needles around her antlers and smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles on her dress. She’d adapted to ship life quickly, and now swayed with the movement of the deck like a natural-born sailor. Upon making topside, she nearly froze in place at the sight of the Sunset Coast’s silhouettes in the midday sunlight that reflected off the sea.

She flicked her ears in excitement as she took in the sight. “Oh wow! Towers, waterfalls, pipes of copper and planes of glass as far as the eye can see! Sitter Sunset, you wrote the truth!”

Suddenly, three shapes broke off from the nearest tower, streaks of color that dove straight down before skimming over the water towards the Pride of the Pines. All three circled the ship’s central mast a few times before landing on the deck.

“My lady, be you the Queen Gemini Taylor of Evergreen?”

The queen in question couldn’t help but preen a bit at the formal greeting, having gotten so used to being familiar with her subjects. “Why, yes. I am the Queen of the Crown of Needles. Be you representatives of the Sitter Grian Sunset?”

The lead parrot, a red-and-yellow-and-blue, nodded. “Yes, majesty. I am called Tomo Hawk. These—“ he gestured to the two others: a grey-and-gold and a blue-and-gold “—are Netty Play, and Big B. Stat. We are here to guide your ship into the dock at Flare Tower. Netty will stay with your helmsperson, and Big with your sail-riggers. I will be in the sky.”

“Aye, sir Hawk. Lead the way.”

-

Upon docking, Gem noticed that she was not the first ruler to arrive at Flare Tower. In fact, she was the third.

“Sovereign Cub? I should’ve expected you to get here first.”

The half-vex blushed, or at least seemed to. At any rate, his cheeks turned lightly translucent. “You know me too well, Queen Gem. But I didn’t actually get here first. Two people beat me.”

“Despite you living literally next door to the Sitter? Who could’ve gotten here faster?”

Cub shrugged, and gestured to a small alcove where two figures were speaking with each other behind a curtain of vines. “They did.”

As Gem approached, she exclaimed in surprise as the first exited the alcove. “Commander X? I had no clue that you were coming, or that the Sitter even knew you existed!”

That dragon-skull helmet laughed a bit, a light and gentle sound. “Oh, hello Queen Gem! For the record, I didn’t know you were coming either. And I was quite surprised to receive an invitation myself!”

“Hey, hey, don’t forget that I’m here too.” The other person ducked out from behind the greenery, and Gem gasped in recognition.

“Etho?!”

The canid visibly grinned beneath his mask. “Yup. The one and only. Oh, and before you ask, I just happened to be in Dragon’s Spine when X got the invite, and when the commander asked me if I’d like to tag along, I agreed. After all, there’s no quicker way to get from the north to the south than—“

X rounded on Etho. “That’s still a secret! Don’t go spilling what few I have left!”

He threw up his hands. “Alright, alright! I just thought that was common knowledge, y’know?”

As the two kept on bantering, Gem returned to Cub’s side. “Why do you think the commander’s here? And why did he bring the wanderer?”

“When has X’s intentions ever been clear? The fellow’s a literal black box. And Etho’s no better. Last time he was down in Spires, he got into a rather heated argument with Zedaph, who also happened to be here.”

“Ooh, bad luck.”

“That’s an understatement. I had to rebuild three whole hallways after that… situation.”

Just then, a set of very fast and very excited footsteps ran into the foyer where the three rulers and one Etho were, followed by a much lighter and rather bouncy set.

“WOW! Look at all this concrete! Did you cast it all at once! And these plants! They’re a bit yellow, but getting them to grow at all is amazing! Oh, hello, Sovereign Voidstars, Queen Gemini— AH! Commander X! A-And Etho! Fancy seeing you here!”

X started chuckling again. “Hello, King Tango Tek. And you must be Martyn Junglewood.”

The green parrot flushed something fierce. “Y-Yes, sir! Martyn Junglewood, diplomat!”

He stuck out a hand, and X’s gauntlet shook it. Judging from the look on his face, Martyn wasn’t expecting the strength in the commander’s grip.

“It is nice to meet you, Martyn. Tango has written rather frequently about you, and the things you have taught him about the Lands of the Sunrise.”

At this, Tango flushed, blue color rushing to his cheeks. “X! Those letters were written in confidence!”

As the blue-tinted King of the Basalt Throne joined in the joking verbal warfare, Gem realized that Pan was no longer next to her. Come to think of it, Martyn wasn’t anywhere in sight, either…

-

“Thanks for getting me away from them…” Pan stuttered, paws tapping nervously on the moss carpet.

“No problem, mate. I know firsthand how overwhelming Tango can be, and judging from what little I’ve seen of her, your queen seems to be much the same way.”

“Indeed. Queen Gemini can be very… familiar, I suppose.”

As they walked down the corridor, Martyn eyed the map-lord’s antlers. “So, uh, I don’t want to be rude or anything, but are you a jackalope?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, well, no, uh, it’s complicated. Mom’s a chicken-folk, dad’s a proper jackalope, so that technically means that I’m a wolpertinger. But my wings are stunted, and I don’t like having them out, so most people think I’m a jackalope.”

“Huh, I see.”

Suddenly, a group of parrots wheeled in from one of the glassless windows that lined the hallway, laughing and smiling. They tumbled to a stop upon catching sight of Martyn first, and immediately rushed over to hug Martyn.

“Oh! Hi, Netty! I, uh, wasn’t expecting to run into you here!”

The parrot in question detangled herself and smiled. “I wasn’t expecting to find you here either, dear! Who’s you friend?”

Pan blushed. “I-I’m Pan, ma’am, Pan Climbing-Moss. I’m here with Queen Gemini’s delegation, f-for the Eversun celebrations. Nice to meet you, uh—“

“Netty! Netty Play,” she responded with a smile, “and I’m so glad you’ve already met Martyn! He can be a bit shy, you see—“

“Honey! I am not shy.”

“Are too. Anyone who isn’t an avian makes you all flustered. And speaking of not avians, how do you get along with that King Tek? He seems to be a really nice person.”

Pan turned away as the couple continued to happily argue over Martyn’s sociability, and was promptly drawn into conversation with the other parrots who had flown in with Netty.

“Oh, hello, are you a jackalope? Or a calygreyhound? Or a chimera? Name’s System, by the way. System Zee, with two e’s.” was the greeting of a wide-eyed, goggle-wearing grey-and-gold.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a rabbit-folk until now! I’m Tomo Hawk, and it’s nice to meet you, Pan!” said a red-and-yellow-and-blue with a shaved head and two trailing streamer feathers.

“Guys, don’t overwhelm him! Pleased to make your acquaintance, Pan. Big B. Stat.” interjected a curly haired blue-and-gold, as he (unsuccessfully) tried to stop the other two from shoving their faces in Pan’s.

In rapid succession, the map-lord had shaken three offered hands and accepted three offered hugs that involved wings. It seemed to him that parrot-folk were very touchy-feely in general.

All of a sudden, Netty jumped up with a flap of her wings, startling Martyn into stumbling back. She pressed a hand onto her ear while speaking. “Go ahead! Oh, okay! Guys, we’ve got the next ship to guide in! It seems li— wait, Joeyish, calm down! I can’t hear you and Salem at the same time! Calm down! Correction, we’ve got several ships to guide in! Two outriggers and three… uh, galleons? The big ones with really big sail— no, correction again, kinda small ones with relatively big sails.”

Pan managed to extricate himself from the other three parrots and half-hopped his way to Netty’s side. “Uh, if you don’t mind, but what colors are they flying? I-If you can find that out, of course.”

“Oh, no problem! You get that, Joeyish? Uh huh… yep, okay, thanks! He says that the outriggers are flying a green-and-lighter-green-and-yellow flag with a geometric maze-like pattern. And the small galleons are flying a grey-and-green-and-black-and-slightly-teal flag with four stripes of the green. Sound familiar?”

“Yes, yes. The outriggers must be from the Labyrinth, and the pattern confirms it. The small galleons, on the other hand, have to be from the Tangle.”

Netty was hopping up and down with anticipation at this point, leaning in to hug Pan quickly before jumping towards the window. “Thanks, Pan Climbing-Moss! I hope to see you later!”

She dove out into the afternoon sky, and was swiftly followed by the rest of the birds, each of whom waved before leaving. Once they were gone, Martyn sighed.

“Sorry if they overwhelmed you. Even back in the Emerald Lands, the Evo crew was know for being a bit… foreword.”

Pan flicked his ears in surprise, eliciting a jangle from his earrings. “Oh! They are foreword, certainly, but they’re also very nice. What’d you call them? The Evo crew?”

“Uh… yeah. It was an old acronym we made up as kids. Stood for ‘Emerald Vivid Ocean’, which we tried to make into a slang term for the tree canopy. It, uh, never caught on.”

-

Netty glided through the air, happily riding the thermals as she followed Joeyish and Salem’s directions to the incoming ships. The connection was getting spotty the further she strayed from Flare Tower’s Shrieker, but hey, that’s just the price of wireless communication. She quickly spotted the outriggers, and motioned for System to follow her. They broke off from Tomo and Big, who kept on soaring straight for the galleons.

The crow’s nest keeper quickly spotted the two parrots with a shout, and an official-looking fellow with an absolutely massive sword on his back stepped out of the shelter on deck. Even from in the sky, System could see him smile. It was an expression that completely suited the ocelot’s kind face.

“Hail, Luck of our Lady! Permission to land?”

The smiling ocelot waved them down. “Permission granted, parrot-folk!”

Netty and System twisted around the mast and came to a stop in front of the ocelot. Upon closer examination, he was quite clearly the Emperor of the Labyrinth. His robe was embroidered with a maze-like pattern, a looping thing that confused the eyes, done up all in green and gold and black. In contrast, his face was warm and simple, one that would seem wrong without smile lines and gentle crow’s feet.

“Hello, parrot-folk! I am Impulse Esvee, Emperor of the Emerald Throne! Be you representatives of the Sitter Grian Sunset?”

System responded. “Yes, we represent the Sitter of the Dusk Throne. I am called System Zee, and she is called Netty Play. We are here to guide your ships to dock at the Flare Tower. Netty shall guide your helmsperson, and I shall be in the sky.”

“Very well, System. I am glad for your help, for these waters are not familiar to me. Lead the way!”

-

A strangely colored red-and-black parrot had her eyes screwed shut, desperately feeling out through the Sensors to guide System away from any whirlpools or rogue waves. One toe on one clawed foot was locked in a rhythm that was unconscious to her now, as steady as any pendulum’s swing. After fifteen stressful minutes of audio-visual navigation, she sighed in relief as the Luck of our Lady slid into port.

“I really don’t know why you even bothered to learn the Sensors, Salem.”

Salem Lady shot her co-worker and friend a sharp look. “Joeyish, I don’t know why you haven’t learned the Sensors yet. You know the Shrieker, and it honestly isn’t that different.”

Joeyish Taurtis threw up his hands and odd blue-and-red wings in a plain expression of exasperation. “How many times do I have to tell you?! The Sensors mess with your brain, mate! They screw up all your neural pathways! I swear you’ve changed since you started operating large boards, Salem.”

“I started operating large boards at fifteen, Joeyish. Name one person who didn’t change after age fifteen.”

“Easy. Oli of the Crown of Grasses.”

“Wha— actually, no, that’s vaild. Honestly, he’s only gotten more like he was at fifteen, if memory serves.”

A voice suddenly crackled over the Shrieker system, distorted slightly by the distance and the medium. “Big to shrieker mainframe, acknowledge!”

Joeyish leaned over to his amethyst receiver. “Joeyish here, go ahead.”

“Aye! Both Luck of our Lady and Undertow are docked with their respective escorts! Got any more ships for us?”

Salem grasped her crystal and closed her eyes. “Salem here. Don’t think so… wait! I’ve got a real fast clipper racing up from the coast near Climbing Spires! I-I think it’s a brigantine? It’s got magic shoving it onwards, that’s for sure. Seems warm and kinda fiery… animal, I reckon. Tomo, you’re closest. Can you get eyes on it? The magic’s messing up my visual.”

A different voice came through the system in response. “Tomo here, on it! Seems like they’re flying a mostly orange and brown flag with a yellow center and some green elements in the background. That good?”

“Salem, aye. I think that’s Great Acacia, y’know, the nation of farmer monks and artisan nuns? The Sovereign Voidstars sent them a message, right?”

“Big here, and yes, Voidstars sent a invite. Acacia is also allied with the Labyrinth, so it’s safe to say that the Emperor would have told them about his invite.”

“Salem, gotcha. We can assume this ship is heading for Flare Tower, then. Tomo, Big, could you go escort them in? Joeyish’ll have to help you, since the Sensor is all jammed up.” The other parrot gave her a side eye before turning back to his console.

-

As Big and Tomo soared towards the speeding clipper, both immediately began to feel the magic that surrounded it. Salem was right; it was animal magic, warm and blazing and alive. And it was strong, far stronger than anything they’d seen outside of duels. Like a tame inferno, it pushed at the sails and tugged at the bow of the brigantine vessel. Tomo was unsure as to how they were supposed to land on the racing ship, but when he asked Big, the blue-and-gold just shrugged.

“Magic, right? Dive-bomb it comet style after we get permission. The real problem is getting permission.”

“I think I’ve got an idea for that.”

-

Brother Reginald flinched away from the sudden bright light that flashed from behind the sails of the Budding Leaves. It felt like animal magic, but he didn’t recognize the exact feeling it gave off; the light was somehow cooler than his own magic, and somehow felt humid. One look at at Brother Michael told the horse-folk that his elder agreed.

Suddenly, Sister Harmony pointed at the source of the light. “Brothers, there are parrots above us!”

Both monks’ heads snapped back to the light, which had lessened somewhat. Sure enough, two parrots, a blue-and-gold and a red-and-yellow-and-blue, were flying alongside the ship. The latter was the source of the light, as they grasped some sort of brightly colored conduit in their hand.

The blue-and-gold cupped their hands around their mouth and shouted. “Hail, Budding Leaves! We be the representatives of the Sitter Grian Sunset! Permission to land?”

The three hoof-folk shared a look, and came to a conclusion.

“Permission granted!”

-

Pearl jumped at the sudden thump of something on the deck above, snatching up her scythe reflexively. She forced herself to calm down before ascending topside. There she found a pair of unknown, armed, rather nervous looking parrots explaining something to Brother Michael.

“See, we could have just dive-bombed through your aura, but that would’ve stripped some of our own. So to preserve some of our energy, since it’s a decent flight back and we don’t have any rockets yet, we had to comet-bomb to get in here mostly unscathed. It’s a very strong aura though, so a little bit got shaved off the top anyw—“

With a start, the blue-and-gold noticed Pearl’s approach and nudged the other parrot, who immediately clammed up. Both hastily bowed to Brother Michael and turned with a smart salute to Pearl.

“Hail, High Priestess of Great Blackwood Pearl Moon! I am Big B. Stat, and this is Tomo Hawk! We be representatives of the Sitter of the Dusk Throne. We are to guide you into port at the Flare Tower. If it pleases you, I shall fly ahead while Tomo stays with your helmsperson.”

Pearl considered denying their help for a moment, not wanting to get into Grian’s debt anymore than she already had. But she reasoned that it would be best to stay civil until she could confront the bird herself.

“Aye. Lead the way, Stat.”

-

At this point, everyone aboard the Soaring Dream was thoroughly lost. The waters of the Sunset Coast were full of towers, each of which looked extremely similar to the others in Scar’s eyes. Mumbo was no help; he was thoroughly seasick and viciously uncomfortable near so much salt water. And the helmswoman had barely any experience dodging whirlpools.

As the light frigate hopelessly swirled about in the afternoon sunlight, Mumbo, who had stuck his head out of one of the portholes, suddenly gave a shout. “Duke Scar?! Duke Scar?! D-Do you see that?”

The half-elf leaned over the railing to stare at his engineer. “What is it, Mumbo? Do I see what?”

“Birds! Er, bird-people! Over there! They’re flying at us!”

“Oh! They are! I hope they know how to get to Fang Tower.”

“Flare Tower, sir duke. Flare Tower.”

-

“Tomo here. Salem, who’s that?”

The black-and-red gave a small yawn before answering. Hey, it had been a long day. “Salem, eye. Who’s who?”

“The little frigate over here! Real bright flag, blue on two different colors of green on orange with a tiny bit of yellow.”

“Uh… that’s Technicolor City. Grian sent their duke an invite, right?”

“Seems like it. But if the duke’s on this Soaring Dream, he’s in the wrong place. They’re all the way over by Ruby Skytouch.”

“Jeez, do they not have a navigator? Guide them over here, would you?”

“Tomo, on it.”

-

“Hail, Soaring Dream! Permission to land?”

“Oh, hello there! Yes, yes, permission to land!”

Tomo and Netty descended slowly to the frigate’s deck, the ship having drifted to a stop a while ago. What little crew Scar had brought were all waiting for the two parrots, looking rather windswept and hungry. Mumbo stumbled out of the captain’s cabin behind the duke, vines hanging limp and leaves wilting with seasickness.

“Hail, Duke of Colors! We be the representatives of Sitter Grian Sunset. I am Netty Play, and he is Tomo Hawk. We are to guide you to the Flare Tower. I shall stay with your helmsperson, and Tomo will fly ahead, if that pleases you.”

“Oh, yes, thank you! Thank you! I, uh, if you can’t tell, we’re hopelessly lost. Again, thank you!”

-

Grian cautiously felt through the Sensor system to take count of who had come. Gemini was standing off to one side with the wolf-fox fellow, Etho, was it? The strange Commander X with his dragon helmet was speaking with Cub, while the latest arrival, the Emperor Impulse, was talking with King Tango and Martyn.

With a sigh, Grian straightened from his personal console and sighed. He slicked his wing feathers before walking off the balcony and into the central atrium. He descended slowly, and everyone who was in the room caught sight of the sitter before he landed with a small flourish.

“Hello, honored guests, and welcome to the Sunset Coast! I apologize for my small absence; there was an issue with the security system that demanded my attention. I do hope you enjoy the food and entertainment this afternoon.”

With a (hopefully) dazzling smile, Grian was only barely able to snatch up a glass of glowberry juice before getting accosted by the very enthusiastic pair of Queen Gemini and King Tango.

The deer-like fae managed to get in a greeting first. “It is great to finally meet you, Sitter Sunset! I am Queen Gemini Taylor of the Crown of Needles; but you already know that! Your buildings are really incredible, with so much concrete and glass! Do you produce the materials here?”

Tango quickly interjected as soon as the queen had finished. “King Tango Tek of the Neverglades, sitter. Thank you so much for sending Martyn Junglewood over! He has been teaching me so much about you parrot-folk! And I concur with Queen Gem on the topic of construction materials. Do you produce the concrete yourself?”

Grian shook both their hands, his smile turning slightly sheepish. “It is truly great to meet you both, Queen Gemini, King Tango. And yes, we do produce concrete here. Lots of sand and gravel had to be dredged from the sea to build these towers, and Flare alone got us many tens of barges worth! If you’re ever in need of concrete, the Coast has you covered!”

As the three chattered away and bonded over their shared interest in complex building materials, Cub was still speaking with Commander X. The half-vex had correctly guessed that Grian was duly intimidated by the tall something in bone white armor, so he was trying to melt a little of the ice preemptively.

“Grian’s quite the character, if I do say so myself. He’s very fun when it comes to things he is interested in, like designing buildings, but he has no proper understanding of redstone whatsoever. There’s… something I would really like to hear your opinion on, but I don’t know if Grian is willing to share it yet. He’s kinda like you in that way.”

Despite the lack of outward facial expressions, it was obvious that X was smiling. “Oh, really? Well, there isn’t a lot that I haven’t seen at this point. Regardless, I do think I’ll like this parrot!”

In another shallow corner of the hexagonal room, Impulse was talking with Martyn and Pan on the topic of the Emeraldians‘ culture being so similar to that of the Labyrinth. Though the green parrot had been slightly standoffish (mostly due to Tango being an unreliable narrator), the Emperor’s extremely kind demeanor quickly won him and Pan both over.

“See? Our scrollwork is usually much more intricate, but the forms themselves are quite similar. Even your ships are similar to ours, just with equally sized canoes lashed together rather than a small outrigger and a larger vessel.”

“I see! It really is odd how similar they seem.”

“It makes one think of… oh, nevermind.”

“What, Pan? Don’t worry, nothing really surprises me anymore. Mini’s made sure of that.”

“Oh, well, it’s nearly a conspiracy theory, but, well, what if either the people of the Labyrinth or the people of the Emerald Lands came from the other? Perhaps there was some falling-out between the parrots and the ocelots, and one set out to live somewhere else?"

"Huh… sounds oddly plausible."

Suddenly, Grian jerked straight upright in seeming surprise. He pressed one finger to where his ear was hidden by his hair, and began frantically whispering into his wrist.

"What? What do you mean she's here already? Are you completely sure? Oh goodness…"

With a sigh, he rubbed his eyes before addressing the other people in the room. "I apologize for the interruption, folks. Two more rulers have just arrived, and though I have no objections to the presence of the Duke of Colors, the presence of the High Priestess of Great Blackwood will cause some issues. I have no wish to drag you into my personal battles, so if you would like to leave, you may do so now. And a warning to those who stay: this will get violent."

-

Tango looked on in confusion as the jovial and joking man he had been speaking to began checking his weaponry. "Uh, Sitter? I-If I may ask, what exactly is wrong with the High Priestess Pearl being here?"

The red-and-yellow-and-blue slid a potion back into its holster before turning to Tango, a somewhat sad expression on his face. "It's a long and rather boring story, but the short of it is… Pearl hates me because she owes me a debt that I extracted from her somewhat unfairly. And she's here to rectify that issue in some way, probably with a duel."

Gem suddenly popped into the conversation with a look of astonishment. "A duel?! Like, to the death?"

"Not to the death, but to humiliation. To surrender. If I surrender, she has no more debt to me. If she surrenders, she had more debt to me."

At that moment, Mini Muka burst into the atrium, followed by a rather confused looking Joeyish and Salem, each of whom had bundles of something in their arms. “Grian! I got what you wanted, and then some!”

The sitter smiled his wide smile, tinged with a little bit of viciousness. “I can always rely on you, Mafia. Thanks, and please get out of here.”

The grey-and-gold grinned back as he handed over the bundle. ”Of course, Empire. Just don’t hurt the mainframe.”

“Ha! I’ll try not to.”

-

“Mother Pearl! Are you sure about this?”

The high priestess looked back at Sister Harmony and Brother Michael, as Brother Reginald had decided to stay with the ship. “I am sure, younger sister. Great Blackwood and Great Blueskin are with me. I’ll either walk out of here myself, or you’re going to have to drag me out.”

-

“Uh, I’m sorry, Duke Scar, but, uh, I can’t let you off the ship.”

“Why not, Tomo? I don’t see anything on fire, or actively exploding, so it must be safe!”

-

“You’re staying too, Etho?”

“Yup. Don’t have anything else going on, and besides, I always love a good scuffle.”

-

Ren was crouched in the storage hull of the Undertow, desperately straining to hear what was happening outside. Everyone had known that he was on board, but didn’t want to ruin his mood.

-

Grian had barely finished hiding his new gear when Pearl marched into the room. Despite the moss carpet, her hooves clacked alongside her scythe. Her bright wool dress was hiked up to the knees, revealing strong leather armor on her legs. Matching guards covered her arms, neck, and chest, and for once, she wasn’t wearing her cowl. The colors of her clothes were made even more vibrant by the blazing magic aura that surrounded her.

“Sitter on the Dusk Throne, Grian Sunset,” she said, her face a mask, “or should I say, Grian Virida. I see you.”

-

Pearl barely recognized the bird who stood in front of her as the tiny noble boy she’d fought twelve years ago. He was taller now, but still lean and small, with even larger wings and longer legs. He’d tied back the long sleeves of his bright red robes with broad yellow ribbons, exposing flexible wood arm guards that had to have knives or needles or something else nasty hidden in them. His long belt was laden with even more weapons than before; knives, potions, darts, sticks of explosive and a flint-and-steel to light them.

She saw the parrot’s mouth contort into a mocking smile as he heard his real name. “Oh, that takes me back! Pearl Moon, Child of Great Blackwood. I see you.”

The priestess twirled her scythe into a fighting pose. “I challenge you to an honor-duel, to settle my debt to you, acquired twelve years previous.”

The sitter mirrored her, sinking into a crouch with wings splayed and cutlass drawn without a sound. “And I accept your challenge. No holding back.”

“No holding back.”

[faerune]

lil info dump about the robbmira brood :3c

eddard - their firstborn. called ed by his close friends and family. mentored by sansa to be her heir when she passes. they have a really great relationship and he really respects her. spends his whole childhood learning to listen to the women around him imho. he’s incredibly intelligent and loyal, possessing the good traits of both is parents - politically savvy and a dutiful, noble heart. he’s more serious like his mother. it’s not surprised that he’s known as “good king ed” during his reign. he finishes a lot of his mother’s projects in rebuilding the north and nurturing art, culture, tourneys, etc. in true northern fashion. he’s also very devout in his belief in the old gods.

rickon - their secondborn! he’s more timid about ruling despite being first in line to inherit mira’s seat of hawkharbor when she passes. he isn’t very booksmart but he’s very loyal, gentle-hearted and kind. a huge mommy’s boy and also loves his sisters a lot. as such, his younger sister lyla he sees as better to inherit hawkharbor over him which mira respects greatly and robb comes to understand when rickon joins sansa’s queensguard. he really wants to protect his family. he serves in his brother’s kingsguard as well. im thinking he has a little smth smth with someone he’s Not Supposed To because i love forbidden love

lyla - the picture of her mother in looks and personality but inherited robb’s warmness. she idolizes mira and mimics her when she’s young :’). she’s very much a Mom. a rule follower and does Not Have Time for her younger (or older) siblings shenanigans. even more serious than ed. she feels she has a lot to live up to. very intelligent and is a good ruler when rickon abdicates the hawkharbor seat. she’s got the sharp mind and temperament to continue slate’s good name. 

ayara - named for arya, she bears a remarked resemblance to said aunt much to arya’s excitement. she loves horses and is often off riding when she should be studying much to her mother’s exasperation. she’s quite good with a bow and can rival ed in sword fighting. i’m not quite sure what she ends up doing in her adult life but she’s quite the troublemaker and very wry and sarcastic. lives for making lyla and ed’s jobs harder.

catelyn - one of the few robbmira babies who get the tully red hair! soft-hearted and such a daddy’s girl. the apple of robb’s eye. she loves to garden and read. also very devout like her big brother ed. a bit shy but if you get a few drinks in her at feasts she loves to dance. really, really wants to be a Lady and a mother to which mira is like ok that’s not ALL you can be and she’s like but that’s what i want. and mira is like ok ok ok. so robb and mira really work to find her a good, kind husband im thinking in a similar fashion to the maiden ball for aegon iii. 

bryden - EMO KID. he’s the baby but hates being doted on. wants to be Independent and is sulky a lot of the time. spends quite a lot of time with his nose in the books and next to lyla is probably one of the smartest of the six kids. i honestly can see him either becoming a member of eddard’s small council or joining the night’s watch. he’s basically if aemond and jon snow had a baby

[dollycas]

Special Guest Marla A. White - Author of Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery) #Author Interview / #Giveaway - Great Escapes Book Tour

Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery) by Marla A. White I am happy to welcome Marla A. White to Escape With Dollycas today! Hi Marla, What are three things most people don’t know about you? - I love musicals - I’m a bit of a neat freak - I give my cars names (currently Hugh Fitzcairn after the Roger Daltry character in the “Highlander” TV series.) What books/authors have most inspired you? So many different ones for so many reasons! Louise Penny for her personal story of overcoming obstacles in her life and creating amazing characters. Jim Butcher for introducing me to fantasy with snark. I’ve been a lifelong fan of Dick Francis, growing up loving mysteries and horses. Leslie Charteris, who in “The Saint” books gave me a charming rogue and (at least in the early ones) a strong female romantic interest who could hold her own. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book? I don’t do a lot before I begin a book, but I do a ton as I go along. The internet is a wonderful tool, but I also try to talk to people if I know of any who have hands on experience with whatever I’m trying to figure out. This morning I spent an hour Googling “hot male hockey players” to get a picture of how to describe my character. Best. Job. Ever! Do you ever suffer from Writer’s Block? I won’t say never, because I have so many projects going on right now there’s always something to write. But I have been guilty of neglecting a project in favor of writing something that’s easier. What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published writer? What’s the old joke about the best way to make a million dollars as an author is to start off with two million? Don’t get into it for the money! My best advice is to write every day. I had been kicking around, trying to fit writing in with a full-time job and other responsibilities, and would use lack of time as an excuse. Then I had the honor of sitting in a meeting with Janet Evanovich, who talked about getting up at five in the morning to write. I realized that if I was serious about finishing a novel, I needed to drag my butt out of bed at five a.m. Schedule a time, form a writing habit, accept no excuses. When you are not writing what do you like to do? Reading is the first obvious one :D  Seriously, to be a writer, you need to be a reader. I write in a few different genres so I immerse myself in books in whatever one I’m writing at the moment. I also love jigsaw puzzles, but not those ridiculous all-one-color kind. I want to see the picture, that’s the fun part! Also, mystery puzzles where you get the clues to solve the murder from the picture. Gardening is also a passion. It’s been cut back quite a bit since I’m in a condo now with no lawn, but I still have some fruits and veggies in pots. I’m so excited that my blood orange tree, Vlad, has several tiny green fruits! If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why? That’s such a tough question! Friends who have been to Italy make me want to go there for the wine, art, and food. But I loved the time I spent on horseback riding trips in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, so going back would be amazing. New Zealand would be like stepping into a “Lord of the Rings” movie and I would so nerd out over that! Yep, too many choices to make just one. What is next on the horizon for you? Well, now you’ve got me thinking about travelling… LOL I’m working on a hockey romance series with a friend of mine. It’s my first foray into the romance genre and I’m having a blast! I’ve been talking about writing a textbook about how to write script coverage, the course I teach at UCLA Extension so maybe this summer I’ll actually sit down and write the proposal. And naturally, I’ve finished a draft of the next Pine Cove book and am very excited to see what my editor thinks! Thank you Marla for visiting today! ____ Keep reading for more information about Marla and her new book, Framed for Murder. About Framed for Murder Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery) Cozy Mystery 1st in Series Setting - California Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Wild Rose Press, Inc. (June 17, 2024) Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D18C415T After a life-changing injury, Mel O’Rourke trades in her badge for bed sheets, running a B & B in the quirky mountain town of Pine Cove. Her peaceful life is interrupted when an old frenemy, the notorious and charismatic cat burglar, Poppy Phillips, shows up on her doorstep, claiming she’s been framed for murder. While she’s broken plenty of laws, Mel knows she’d never kill anyone. Good thing she’s a better detective than she is a cook as she sets out to prove Poppy's innocence. The situation gets complicated, however, when the ruggedly handsome Deputy Sheriff Gregg Marks flirts with Mel, bringing him dangerously close to the criminal she’s hiding. And just when her friendship with café owner Jackson Thibodeaux blossoms into something more, he’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime in New Orleans. Should she encourage him to go, or ask him to stay? Who knew romance could be just as hard to solve as murder? Great Escapes Praise for Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery) by Marla A. White I highly recommend Framed for Murder for its humor, well-written characters, cozy setting, and mystery! ~Christy's Cozy Corners Framed for Murder contains the essential number of suspects, motives, and red herrings to make it an appealing read. My curiosity has been piqued and I'll be on the lookout for future installments of this mystery series. ~Book Club Librarian With a lot of wit, engaging characters, and entangled relationships FRAMED FOR MURDER is a delightful start to a new series. ~Cozy Up With Kathy Set in the small town of Pine Cove and featuring former police officer Mel, Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery) by Marla A. White was a fun read! ~Sarah Can't Stop Reading More About Marla A. White Marla White is an award-winning novelist who prefers killing people who annoy her on paper rather than in real life. Her first full-length mystery novel, “Cause for Elimination,” placed in several contests including Killer Nashville, The RONE Awards, The Reader’s Favorite, and finishing second in the Orange County Romance Writers for Romantic Suspense. Originally from Oklahoma, she lived in a lot of other states before settling down in Los Angeles to work in the television industry.  She currently teaches at UCLA Extension and gives seminars about the art of script coverage. When she’s not working on the next book, she’s out in the garden, hiking, cheering on the LA Kings, or discovering new craft cocktails. Fun facts Something readers might find interesting about this book: The quirky Babbling Brook Bed-and-Breakfast is loosely inspired by the Silver Pines Lodge in Idyllwild. Highly recommend staying there if you’re even in that neck of the woods. A fact about me that readers might find interesting: I share Mel’s nearly debilitating fear of heights. Well, not to the same extent, I can climb a set of stairs, but looking down more than a few flights? No way 😀 There’s a scene where Mel does a singing bowl session. I’ve done that and honestly, it’s pretty cool! I accomplished the dream of becoming a published writer in my late fifties after helping other writers craft their stories for thirty years. Social Media Links Twitter/X    Instagram    Facebook   TikTok   Goodreads    Bookbub   Amazon    Substack Purchase Links Amazon - Barnes and Noble – Apple Books  Also written by Marla A. White TOUR PARTICIPANTS June 17 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT June 17 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT  June 18 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW June 18 – Maureen's Musings – SPOTLIGHT June 19 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST June 19 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT June 20 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT June 20 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR GUEST POST June 21 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW June 21 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – AUTHOR GUEST POST June 22 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT June 22 – Sapphyria's Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT June 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW June 24 – Sarah Can't Stop Reading – REVIEW   June 25 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT June 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW June 26 – Novels Alive – REVIEW June 27 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT June 27 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT June 28 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW June 29 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST June 30 - Boys' Mom Reads! – REVIEW a Rafflecopter giveaway Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas. Read the full article

[zerliebt]

Thanks for the tag my beloved rat <3 <3 

1. Were you named after anyone?

My mom swears I wasn’t but I am very suspicious about holding the same first name as her beloved childhood GUINEAPIG!! >:( My middle name is the name of my grandmother and I love it dearly! 

2. When was the last time you cried?

A few weeks ago, in the middle of a restaurant, when I received a very special gift. 

3. Do you have kids?

No, and I don’t plan on having any! I know the whole “cool aunt” thing is a joke but it’s genuinely something I aspire to be in the future. 

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

A bunch, but I mainly did horse riding (volting and dressage), ice skating, ballet, and swimming! :’) Nowadays I only go to the gym and play tennis for fun from time to time. 

5. Do you use sarcasm?

As much as the next person, but I tend to avoid self-deprecative or inauthentic comments. 

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Attitude, the way they hold/present themselves, and how they treat others. 

7. What’s your eye color?

A muddy green-brown! 

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies with happy endings 🤝

9. Any talents?

I'm a pretty decent cook and extremely good at navigating through crowds! I also have a good memory, and am great at organizing, and learning new things! I think my best talents are a) my ability to get genuinely excited for myself and others, and b) being able to bring people together! 

10. Where were you born?

Germany, but I spent most of my early childhood in the states. 

11. What are your hobbies?

Oh man, I’m notorious for having too many rotating hobbies; I love video games, board games, and tabletop, going out to dance, cooking and baking, various DIY projects, doing my own gel nails, weightlifting, hiking, growing plant cuttings, reading, going for walks, writing, throwing dinner parties, making snail mail letters, listening to podcasts, and I love going to comedy shows! I’m also part of my friend's non-profit environmental organization and I’ve recently gotten into clay sculpting and practicing my drawing skills! I’m also learning Japanese! 

12. Do you have any pets?

Yes! A cat named Augustus and I love him so so much! 

13. How tall are you?

More or less 5’6” (same as you rags!!! kiss me rn!!) 

14. Favorite subject in school?

English because the teacher let me read my books during the lessons. 

15. Dream job?

After visiting a monastery in third grade I wanted to become a nun because I liked the food there and, I quote: “don’t like boys anyway” lmaooo 

No Pressure tags: @abyssbull @astraluminaaa @bleuu-moon @devcica @maiamars

THANK YOU FOR TAGGING ME EMILY @lemon-bats 🥰🥰

1. Were you named after anyone?

To the best of my knowledge no, at least for my real name! My internet name, Rags, I actually just ended up snagging from one of my OCs - a washed up rockstar named Cosimo Ragatz, who was a recovering drug addict that founded an indie record label with his wife.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Oh god, it was some time last week?? So much real life stuff had piled up and I think it was honestly some kind of mini-break or smth, god only knows. But I’m feeling better now lol.

3. Do you have kids?

ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY NOT LMAO. My mom passed when I was young and I raised my younger siblings, I’ve done my time in the child rearing mines and I’m never doing it again.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

For a really long time I rode horses and I was a really good three day eventer. I also really loved archery and swimming. I also rode dirt bikes too, and I’d love to get back into it!! 🥰🥰

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yes indeed!! But I’m not sure that I use it as much as I used to. Not for any particular reason, I don’t think dgheh.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

I’m boring and predictable and I pretty much always notice height first 😂😂 I do also notice face shapes and noses, though!!

7. What’s your eye color?

Dark brown that leans pretty close to black dfhjd.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Each have their own benefits and negatives!! A time and a place for everything 👏👏

9. Any talents?

I’m a good writer, and I’m pretty good at accents! I also like to think I’m the funniest asshole in any given room at any time 😂😅

10. Where were you born?

Commonwealth of Virginia babeyyyyy 🦩 there aren’t cardinal emojis, but I’m still barely south enough to be southern lol.

11. What are your hobbies?

I like posting video games, writing, playing dnd, a lil bit of digital art. Painting my nails. Dfhjd. Running outta stuff here, uhhhh. Panicking trying to remember my meds, but that’s more a full time occupation lol.

12. Do you have any pets?

Four dogs (a cocker spaniel, a border collie, a pit bull, and a boxer lab 🥰🥰), some barn cats, and a little grade paint horse named Rooster who’s a complete ASSHOLE.

13. How tall are you?

5’6” or 5’7”, it depends on how tall I want to feel that day dghjd

14. Favorite subject in school?

History and English!!! I really wanted to be a historical researcher for a career when I was in school and I still think about it. I would’ve liked to study Appalachian history from pre-Civil War to present.

15. Dream job?

LOL 😂😂 historical researcher, possibly an author, or a rare and antique jewelry shop owner siiigh. I really fell in love with fine jewelry at my last job, and I would DIE to be able to do it again, but in a much more niche fashion.

No Pressure tags: @smoggyfogbottom @brilliantblasphemer @dotcie @kastlequill @skinnyazn @snail-eggs @lunarvicar @siriusleee 💖💖

[minaramen]

Gaku Yaotome - 16 Idol Album - Part 1: 16 Idol Album

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Kaoru:...and so, since the “Welcome to the kids room” project had great popularity, they want to hear your story again

Kaoru: They’re planning to go deeper on your childhood stories. I want to hear your opinion before deciding whether to accept the offer or not

Tenn:...you mean the renewal program for the 6th anniversary of Rabbity kun, right?

Gaku: Yeah, the one where we had to bring pictures from our childhood. There were pretty unexpected ones, it was an interesting project

Ryunosuke: Yes, I feel like we had as much fun as the fans in joining that project!

Kaoru: Well, I haven't gotten the details yet, but apparently now they want to discover the roots of your current selves by looking at an episode from your childhood

Kaoru: The roots of your current selves. When I come to think about it, I feel like the world can’t live without your participation

Tenn: We didn’t live as idols from the very beginning

Tenn: It must be something that makes people understand what we do to live as TRIGGER, and meet our fans

Tenn: If we have the chance to add this to last time’s content, count me in

Ryunosuke: If it’s okay with Tenn, I’d like to join!

Ryunosuke: They want to see our natural selves, not the three of us wrapped in cellophane

Gaku: So we’re being asked to add a memory to the picture we showed before, right?

Gaku: It’s fine with me. I think this is also the reason why my father took that picture of me

Kaoru: Okay, I can see a large consensus from you. Apparently Idolish7, Re:Vale and Zool will join the project as well. I’m expecting your stories to win over the others’!

Gaku: Of course, we won’t lose. We can count on the gap of a little slender Ryuu and a picnic version of Tenn, after all

Tenn: Me? How about the little version of such a grown man like you, falling down and getting injured? I think this is quite a nice gap as well

Ryunosuke: W-we’re still complimenting each other, right?

Kaoru: All your pictures were very child-like, indeed. I mean, you definitely weren’t riding a white horse…

Trigger: A white horse??

Ryunosuke: A-anyway…we need to properly think about what story to tell

Gaku: Yes. Especially you need to pay extra attention again, Tenn, since there’s Nanase as well

Tenn:.....I know. I’ll talk to Riku again

Tenn: How about you? Do you still remember why you fell down in detail?

Gaku: Shut up! Children can fall down in the middle of an empty space as well! It’s not that important!

Ryunosuke: Hey, don’t fight…!

Ryunosuke: I wonder if I will disappoint our fans, talking too much about such a common person…

Gaku: What are you talking about, Ryuu? I want to know more about the child you were and how he became the nice guy we know

Tenn: And I’m sure it’s the same for our fans. Everything will be alright, Ryuu. They love you just the way you are

Ryunosuke:....yes. There is a kind of invisible bond between us

Ryunosuke: I feel even more excited about this project!

Kaoru: Yes. We’ve always been helped by fans.

Kaoru: So, let’s get into this project!

Trigger: Yes!

*Cut to a dressing room*

???:  Hey, what are you doing? Wandering around like that!

???: Wah..!  D- don’t be so noisy…

Gaku *thinking*: What’s going on? They’re making quite the ruckus outside…

Gaku *thinking*: There’s still time before the recordings, I wonder if a staff member is coming to tell me something

???: Just get in, hurry!

???: Ah, wait! I should at least knock..

Gaku: These voices…

*Knock knock*

Gaku:..mpf. Yes, come in

*Door opens*

Tamaki: Yo, Gakkun! We came to say hi!

Sogo: I’m so glad to work with you, today. I’m looking forward to Yaotome san talking about his favorite food shops during the program

Gaku: Ah, I figured it was the two of you. I’m glad to have you here today as well

Tamaki: You figured?

Gaku: Yeah. I heard your voices pretty well 

Sogo: I deeply apologize…! We were so inconsiderate, even though we were in front of the dressing room

Gaku: Ahah, don’t worry about that. It’s weird, though, I had the impression there was another person with you…

Haruka:....He-hello…

Tamaki: Wah! Isumin! What are you doing behind my back?!

Gaku: Ah, it was you. I’m glad to see you here today

Haruka: S-same…

Sogo: Haruka kun, you were walking back and forth in front of the dressing room. Did you also come here to say hi?

Haruka: I-I wasn't walking back and forth! I was just…waiting for the right moment!

Sogo: Oh, you were nervous. I understand how you feel, it was the same for me at first….

Gaku: I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal out of it! You too, Osaka. I’d tell you if I were busy, so don’t hesitate next time you have to knock on my door

Sogo&Haruka: T-thank you so much…!

Tamaki: Ahah, Isumin is turning into Sou chan

Tamaki: ….ah, Gakkun! What are you going to talk about, today?

Gaku: I want to introduce a Thai restaurant I got into recently. Apparently if we answer the quiz question right we get a free tasting, so let’s give it our best 

Tamaki: What kind of Thai food?

Gaku: Khao Man Gai. I always eat Japanese food, but I got curious about that place and I decided to give it a try. And, well, it was definitely a good idea  

Tamaki: Khao Man gai…sounds like a strong one!

Haruka: Ahahah, it sounds like a dinosaur’s name

Sogo: Khao Man Gai is a dish made with chicken and boiled rice

Tamaki: Ah, chicken! Is it good?

Gaku: It’s delicious! I could make it at home, but I’m too passionate about that shop’s amazing sauce now 

Tamaki: Aah…you made me feel so hungry! I want to eeeeat! 

Haruka: No matter how many times you repeat “I want to eeeeeat”; we still have to give the correct answers to get the food!

Tamaki: Ah, right. Give it your best, Isumin

Haruka: T-that’s something you should say to yourself, right?! The other day Izumi literally told you to properly study for the test!

Sogo: Aah..as expected, an all-night cram session probably wasn’t enough…

Gaku: Ahah, you seem to like each other. You’re schoolmates, right?

Tamaki: We’re classmates! But we like physical education more than studying. The other day we really went all out playing dodgeball!

Haruka: Ah, the class match? That was a very good one!

Sogo: You talked about it at the dormitory as well. You showed good team work with Iori kun and you led your team to victory

Tamaki: Humpf. The MVP was me

Haruka: Not true, it was me! It was me who hit the last two with the ball!

Tamaki:....but, if Iorin hadn’t caught the ball as it came towards him, we wouldn’t have been able to attack back

Haruka:....yeah, I guess you’re right

Gaku: Well, everybody was the ace. That’s cool

Sogo: You were pretty good at it too, in the project we did some time ago

Sogo: You caught every single ball, and you were very fast at throwing it back

Tamaki: You were very good at it too, Sou chan. I was freaking out at that faint you pulled

Sogo: Ah, yes, it’s something I did…since it was my first time playing that game, I wasn’t confident I could do a good job

Gaku: The first time? Didn’t you play it at school?

Sogo: I didn’t have lessons like that …We didn’t even play in the schoolyard during recess

Sogo: Did you play it often, Yaotome san?

Gaku: Yeah…I was a very mischievous boy.  I used to take any match or competition I happened to face head on

Tamaki: You look like somebody who would remain on the battlefield until the very end! I bet you were the guy who never avoided a ball coming towards him, and caught them all!

Haruka: Yeah, the scary guy you’d always want in your team and never on the opposite one…

Gaku: Well, in the class next to mine there was a pretty good dodgeball player as well

Gaku: He had a technique where he'd throw the ball very far, spinning faster and faster, and when it hit you it hurt as hell. So, everybody avoided that guy

Haruka: Izumi often throws spinning balls. You can’t really understand where the ball will end up, so it's hard to catch it

Tamaki: Iorin has plenty of throwing techniques. He said he uses one or another depending on the opponent he has to take down

Tamaki: Did you also get hit, Gakkun?

Gaku: Well, running away is pretty humiliating, so I tried catching it every time

Gaku: Basically, it always ended in a fight to the death between me and that guy. How nostalgic…!

Sogo: Ah,I was sure of it…! You never give up, Yaotome san, you’re so cool! Just like the main character from Tamaki kun’s sport manga

Gaku: It’s nothing special. But yeah, I had the impression that even the athletic festival was nothing but a competition between us. No matter if it was boutaoshi* or a mock cavalry battle, it was always the same thing

Gaku: And I definitely didn’t want to lose, especially when it came to relay races. So, I always arranged meetings with the rest of the team to practice and lecture those who were bad at running

Haruka: Wow…you really took it seriously. Being lectured by Yaotome after school…

Gaku: I was busy, sure, but since I had so much fun I didn’t really mind. The most important thing to me was to not cut corners in a competition…

Gaku: Also, my father used to get angry and ask me “So, are you satisfied with second place??”

Tamaki: So your dad has always been so spartan, Gakkun?

Gaku:...I can’t say he was kind. Since I was a kid, whenever I fell down, he always told me “Get up by yourself” and never lent a hand

Haruka: Eeh, he'd treat a kid like that…?!

Gaku: Ahah, I bet you’re pretty shocked. Like, what kind of father is that?

Gaku: Even when I conquered first place he never told me “good boy”, he never stroked my head like the other parents did with their children…well, whatever, I don’t care

Tamaki: I see…it's not something one should take for granted, right? Having a father doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be kind to you

Sogo&Haruka:..........

Gaku: Ah,sorry for bringing up such an awkward topic!

Gaku: I wasn’t a boy who yearned for compliments myself, so that’s okay. If I grew up as a spoiled kid I wouldn’t be the man I am today. I think I would have batted away any hand trying to stroke my head

Gaku: Back then, I used to sulk because damn, he could have used better words! Now, I think I kinda understand the reason why he said what he said. He was probably trying to raise me in his own way 

Sogo: Coming to terms with your feelings must have been difficult, at that time…was it? I felt like there was nothing I could do, so I just gave up…

Gaku: What the heck are you talking about? You faced it together with your partner! You were very cool that day, at the radio!

Gaku: I managed to gain some confidence from your strength 

Sogo:....Yaotome san….

Haruka:..that strength you’re talking about, I mean…how was it born? 

Gaku: Nobody is born strong. It’s something I can talk only talk about after going through lot of things and overcoming them

Gaku:...in that sense, I could even say that my father trained me somehow

End of part 1 

TL Notes:

Boutaoshi: a capture-the-flag-like game, which students play on sport days at school

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Jun Yu, Mulan

Actor Jun Yu makes his feature film debut in Disney’s highly anticipated, live action adaptation of Mulan opposite Yifei Liu, Jet Li, Tzi Ma and Rosalind Chao. Jun is a scene-stealer as Cricket, Mulan’s comrade and confidant as she enters training military training and war. Jun is a fresh face in the entertainment industry—while working on his college degree at USC, he landed his first professional audition, which happened to be for Mulan, and got the role. He headed off to film for nearly all of 2019 and has been working ever since. In television, Jun most recently recurred as Pete on ABC’s hit comedy series Fresh off the Boat alongside Randall Park and Constance Wu. In addition to working in front of the camera, Jun has a passion for music and is a rapper in his down time. He is currently working on his debut EP, and notes some of his musical influences are Mac Miller, Andre 3000, Lauryn Hill, and J. Cole. Jun took the time to answer some of our questions about Mulan. Check it out:

Is there a scene or moment from the new Mulan that you’re most excited for fans to see?

There’s no specific scene or moment, but I’m excited to see fans watch the action sequences.

If you woke up tomorrow morning as Cricket in the world of Mulan, what would you do?

Oh man. I’m sorry, but I’m leaving the army. I’m not as brave as Cricket, so I would change my name to Hopper, and just live a quiet life on a farm.

Can you tell us about the audition experience?

Mulan was my first audition ever. So, I had no idea what to expect. But the whole thing was very basic. I went in, got a callback, did what I did from the first audition, and then, soon enough got a call that I got the role.

How does it feel to be in such an iconic film, and what do you hope that audiences take away from it?

It doesn’t seem real. I feel that whenever I think about everything, I was just imagining it. But I truly feel blessed more than anything. I hope  audiences see how much hard work and dedication that everyone who was part of the project put in. There are so many specific jobs and without them, the film would not have turned out so beautifully.

Can you take us through a typical day on set?

Call time is usually 5 am. You get to a location and get dressed into costumes which takes a couple people to help put it on you. Then, you head over to make-up and hair which could easily take 40min. Afterward, I usually go to where the food and coffee are. I’ll chug 4 double espresso shots to feel my heart race, then prepare for whatever scene we are shooting that day. Somedays you ride horses and others you’re on a wire and get thrown. Then we get done around 5 pm and head back to the hotel and the cycle continues.

Which animated Disney movie would you like to see a live-action remake of next?

Honestly, I'm really excited to see the Little Mermaid live action! A story told mostly underwater would be absolutely stunning, but also extremely terrifying. My one fear in life is the ocean, so maybe the first step to conquering that fear would be to see this film.

When you think about the experience of filming, is there a specific funny story or moment that sticks out to you?

There were a lot of moments, but there was a day where Nelson Lee (who plays the Chancellor) was wearing a Benihana type of hat, and so my cast mates and I would try to “Kobe” orange peels into it! So, the entire day Nelson would have pieces of 15 orange peels without even realizing it, but would constantly ask about a citrus smell.

Describe each of the following in one word: Who you are, what you value the most, and what you’d be if you were a food item.

Cheeks, Authenticity, Jicama

What are you most excited about right now?

I think right now, I’m just excited for my mother to see the film. She can’t really wrap her head around her son being in a movie—let alone Disney’s Mulan.

Thanks for taking the time, Jun! Mulan is available for purchase on Disney+. 

[triptuckers]

Not too late - Nikolai Lantsov

Request: yes “maybe a Nikolai x reader fic where the reader almost moves out from their house because Nikolai is always working and they have a fight but make up in the end? please?” Pairing:  Nikolai Lantsov x reader Summary:  you decide to leave the palace, and nikolai rushes to catch up with you to change your mind Warnings: mild angst I think? Word count:  1.6K A/N: I'd sell my soul to have the scene in which alina punches nikolai in the show I loved it so much when I first read it. thanks for requesting, enjoy reading! :)

You wake up and the first thing you notice is Nikolai's absence. Again. He’s never there when you wake up. You know he’s busy. After all, he’s a king. You knew what you signed up for, and you thought you could handle it.

But it’s hard. 

It’s hard because he’s always away, visiting ministers or checking up on the progress of whatever project he was currently working on. And if he was at the palace, you barely see him. 

His schedule is packed with meeting after meeting, as well as dinner parties with important people you were never invited to.

You felt like you were slowly drifting away from him. And not just Nikolai, but also your friends. Whenever you wanted to hang out with Genya, Tamar or any of the others, they were busy as well.

You never thought a life in a palace surrounded by people could make you feel so lonely.

Of course, you tried to talk to Nikolai about it, but he merely waved his hand in the air, telling you he’s busy but that he does try to schedule some free time every now and then. You doubted it. Nikolai’s first love had always been Ravka. 

You didn’t intend to, but you just stopped being as excited as you used to be whenever you see Nikolai. Maybe you were naive to think a life with him would be something like a fairytale. It had been in the beginning, but it seemed like all the magic that once was there, had faded away.

You simply couldn’t accept you’d always be second place. Ravka first, then you. Nikolai is spending all of his time and energy on his beloved country, and you felt forgotten. 

Life at the palace could be amazing. You had everything you could have ever wished for, except that one thing you so desperately needed: Nikolai.

Which is why you had decided to head back to Os Kervo. it was where you had first met Nikolai, but also your hometown. You longed for the sea, and the Saturday market, you missed your friends.

It broke your heart, but you had decided for yourself that no life with Nikolai was better than a life in which he was constantly absent. 

It would be best if you left in the evening, you’d be able to slip out and start your journey to Os Kervo. Tt would be a three day journey, but by the time Nikolai would find the letter you had written for him, you’d be long gone.

You take one last walk around the palace, taking everything in. This would probably be the last time you’d ever see it. 

Luckily, you only see one or two servants as you make your way to the stables. You take your favourite horse, and after one last look at the palace, you’re on your way.

Once you’re out of the city and in the open fields, you let the tears fall. No one would be around to see you cry. You could already imagine the storm of gossip that would hit all of Ravka if anyone saw you leaving the palace with tears on your cheeks. 

You ride for hours until you take a break. The tears had stopped rolling down your cheeks a long time ago. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, calming yourself. 

You keep thinking back to Nikolai, and if he would have found your letter by now. You shake your head, drowning the thoughts out. Instead, you start to think about your family and friends in Os Kervo. 

They were happy for you when you left for Os Alta, even though they’d miss you terribly. You could already imagine the looks on their faces when you came home. You couldn’t wait to eat a home cooked meal, and help out on the docks.

Meanwhile at the palace, Nikolai has found your letter.

He saw it immediately when he entered your shared room. You’d placed it on your side of the bed. It was late, and he was tired, but he didn’t want to go to sleep just yet.

Because you aren’t there. Instead, there was a folded piece of paper on your pillow. It looked like you had never laid down that night.

Frowning, Nikolai picks up the piece of paper, folding it open. He recognises your handwriting and starts reading the letter.

My dearest Nikolai,

I'm sorry, I can’t take it anymore. Ravka is your first love, it always will be. You’ve got a country to run and I don’t want to wait around for you anymore. 

It pains me to say this, but I'm leaving. I've tried to hold on, to stay longer, but I just can’t do it anymore. I'm leaving for Os Kervo once I've finished this letter. 

Our paths may never cross again, but know that I will always love you,

Y/N

Nikolai reads the letter over and over again, letting the words sink in. You left. And you weren’t coming back. Time and time again he had promised you he’d spend more time with you, but there was always another meeting coming along.

It seems like he had waited too long. 

After tucking the letter in his pocket, he grabs his coat and rushes out the door. As he’s sprinting through the halls on his way to the stables, he runs into Tolya.

‘What’s got you in a rush?’ he says.

‘Move everything that’s planned for the rest of the week to next week.’ says Nikolai, not stopping as he keeps on running.

‘For what?’ yells Tolya after him.

‘Emergency!’ yells Nikolai over his shoulder as he throws open the doors. 

A servant approaches him. ‘Are you going out for a ride, sir?’ he asks.

‘Yes.’ says Nikolai. ‘Get me the fastest horse we’ve got.’

The servant gestures for a horse behind Nikolai. ‘That’s the fastest one we got, sir.’ he says. ‘Would you like me to wake General Nazyalensky and the twins so they can accompany you?’

‘No.’ says Nikolai. ‘I’m going alone.’

If the servant had his doubts, he hides it well. ‘Very well then, sir. We’ll wait for your return.’

With one last nod, Nikolai mounts his horse and takes off. 

Along the way, he keeps ushering his horse to go faster, not caring about how tired it might get. He has to get to you as fast as possible. 

When it’s almost dawn, Nikolai spots a horse in the distance. 

He could recognise your silhouette anywhere. Nikolai sighs softly and catches up with you.

You hear someone approaching you from behind and keep one hand on your revolver. Just as they catch up with you, and you’re ready to shoot them, you hear a voice.

‘Careful not to shoot me, darling.’ 

You whip your head around so fast you could have snapped your neck.

Nikolai is riding next to you, his eyes tired but somehow still gorgeous. He’s still in the clothes he wore when you last saw him, and his golden hair is messy. Still, he smiles at you.

‘Nikolai?’ you say. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Very romantically chasing after you, of course.’ he says. 

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper.

‘I read your letter.’ he says. ‘And I realise I've been an idiot.’

You raise your eyebrows. ‘Nikolai Lantsov admitting he can be an idiot? What kind of reversed world did we fall into?’ you say.

‘The one in which I speak the truth.’ he says. ‘I promised you I would make more time for you, and then I didn’t. I hadn’t realised how bad it had gotten, until I read your letter. I don’t want you to leave, Y/N, ever.’

‘We both know Ravka needs you, Nikolai. I was young and naive to think you could spend as much time with me as you did with your advisors and ministers.’

‘I still can.’ he says. ‘I told Tolya to move everything I have scheduled this week to next week.’

You look at him. ‘You did?’ you say.

He nods. ‘Yes, so I could spend time with you.’ he says.

‘That’s nice.’ you say, smiling at him.

‘It’s a start.’ he says. ‘How about this: we pick a few days, and I never schedule any meeting on those days. I spend them with you, and don’t let anything or anyone interrupt them.’

‘But Ravka-’ ‘Can handle a day or three in a week without me.’

‘Alright.’ you say. ‘I could live with that.’

‘Thank goodness.’ says Nikolai, looking relieved. ‘I don’t know what I would do without you.’

You smile and stop your horse. You tug on the reigns to turn around. 

‘Where are you going?’ asks Nikolai.

‘Back to the palace?’ you say, a bit confused.

‘I was thinking we could go to Os Kervo for a day or two.’ he says. ‘After all, I did ask Tolya to schedule the rest of the week free. We’ve got plenty of time. Besides, I met your family like two times before, it’d be nice to see them again.’

‘Alright then.’ you say. ‘After you, your majesty.’

Nikolai rolls his eyes at the nickname. ‘I hate it when you do that.’ he says, making his horse resume walking again.

‘No you don’t.’ you say with a wink, turning your horse around so you can ride beside him.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rules Here’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Marit

[roonilwazlibimagines]

What are some of your scenarios to fall asleep to? 👀

Ahhhh I’m glad you asked !! Also please feel free to share some of yours they can be specific or vague idc I’m in desperate need

I will be going into heavy detail because I can’t help myself I’m sorry and I will put in both normal ones and Harry Potter ones

Also this is just like one big ramble I’m sorry I got too excited I literally turned into that Tik tok sound where it’s like ‘you’re asking me about my theories? I’ve waited years for someone to ask me about my theories’

Update - I think I’m just going to keep updating this as well when I think of new ones because I keep forgetting some

My most recent one is a royalty one where they’re like royalty but in their really prestigious and royal school they were academic rivals and did not get along and after school they like try to go their separate ways until a couple years later their parents force them into an arranged marriage for like the good of the country or whatever I don’t really care!! You can take it wherever you want from there but in case you were interested in mine he fell for her first and kinda gave up on the enemies thing pretty early on but she still made it clear he wasn’t her favourite person and she despised the situation and there is still constant teasing until she meets his sister or friend or whoever who says that they can’t believe how happy he is with them and she feels so bad because she thinks he deserves better and ends up being much meaner to him because she’s an idiot who can’t express her emotions and he gets angry at her because she’s being super mean after they were just starting to get along and they have a big argument and are forced to talk about their feelings and then I can never decide whether they actually like each other when they get married, I feel like either way is fun

I have a thing for royalty so my other one is literally just princess x stable boy and you can honestly take that wherever you want but I will tell you where I took it for some ✨inspiration✨ so I don’t have my drivers license and get really bad driving anxiety so I self projected and made her terrified of riding horses right (I’m so smart I know) and he is like trying to help her ride the horse and feel comfortable and like obviously they end up in love but I created drama because she sneaks out to his birthday party (!!) but his friends don’t like her because they just think she’ll be a snob but he obviously defends her but like it’s a perfect opportunity for a bit of an innocent princess as well

My personal favourite is the two co stars falling in love and like thinking about doing all those stupid interviews from like buzzfeed and all that and I personally love the trying foods from different places thing (like making them try fairy bread - because I’m from Australia and we aren’t that cultured and being mad when they don’t like it because it is my favourite food) and it’s great because i can make the guy any actor I am currently obsessed with 😭 but also like the red carpet opportunities and interviews and fan reactions and it’s very fun also this keeps my brain very busy because I like making it as realistic as possible and figuring out the actors timeline so I can match the story up with it, it’s always really intense, also if you want inspiration for what moving they’re staring in I always go for the live action version of tangled even if I don’t look anything like rapunzel

Another fun one is where one of them is in a band and you have a friend who is dating one of the other members but you don’t like the band and you’re not shy in letting the other members know that and it turns into an enemies to lovers thing but I haven’t really developed it because halfway through I ended up changing it with the fact that they befriend one of the members and like fall for them but the band member like ‘gets around’ and it makes them jealous until they drunkingly confess it made them jealous this one’s a bit of a mess and is tipping into a 2012 wattpad story but it was how I got back into my 5sos phase two years ago because I felt icky about them but I’m still a slut for Calum 😭

Another one I love is moving abroad to study or whatever (idk I just always need a reason to be in America/Uk because there’s no one here in australia) and you make friends with someone who turns out to be related to someone really famous (insert whoever you want) and you meet them and you think they’re the hottest person you’ve ever seen and you get drunk to gain confidence to talk to them and you’re like unashamedly flirting with them and they think it’s cute and you’re funny but the whole little plot twist is that you don’t know they’re famous (famous people love that, trust me, I have about 10 wattpad stories in my library that can prove this) !! And the don’t believe you don’t know they’re famous !! Anyways I took it in a sugar daddy direction but each to their own!

Specifically for Harry Potter though, you ask?

Currently I am obsessed with Regulus Black and for about the past two weeks I’ve been obsessed with the idea of James potter sibling x regulus black enemies to lovers story and then about a week ago I found an actually good wattpad story about it?!?! (I have recommended it here with warnings but I really encourage you to read it if you’re not a minor) but you can also do your own version because I am still doing my own version and will continue to do my own version tonight even if I am obsessed with the wattpad one !! Currently I am up to post Hogwarts and her and regulus are trying to defeat Voldemort and regulus tells her that Peter is going to betray James and so ofc she tells James but James is like ‘how to do you even know this??’ And he is so afraid and gets angry at her and it’s really dramatic and she tells him she’s dating regulus and then he gets super mad at her because she’s dating like one of the most well known and loyal death eaters (even if regulus is sneakily trying to destroy Voldemort) and because he didn’t tell her and it’s very dramatic

My favourite Sirius black idea is also a James potters sibling one, but I never have any good ideas for it and just end up self projecting so if anyone has any ideas, I am begging you, please tell me !!!

My other Sirius black one is one I’ve been working on for like the last 4 years of my life and I probably should write it but who knows, but basically it’s a 10 things I hate about you x Harry Potter story where reader is about a year or so older than the marauders and she is like Kat Stratford (for people who haven’t watched it the best way to describe her is just an angry early 2000s feminist who is like anti dating and fun (kinda)) but she is Lily Evans sister!! And so Lily gets fed up of James constantly asking her out and makes an offhand comment that she’ll date him when her sister goes on a date with someone and James is like really?!? And Lily is like ‘sure’ because she knows her sister will never date anyone at Hogwarts so James tells the marauders and Remus is like ‘if anyone can take her on a date, it’s Sirius’ and Sirius is like ‘no, I’m stupid but not that stupid’ and James is like ‘please I’ll pay you’ and Sirius is easily bribed so he tries to get her to go on a date with him and like she doesn’t until she does and then finds out he only did it because James paid him but then they fall in love? Basically just 10 things I hate about you lol

My next one is with Draco Malfoy and all it is is that reader comes from a pure blood family and they’ve known each other since they were babies and it’s like basically destined they get married but she gets like really upset when he gets the mark which makes for a good cuddling and crying scene and like idk people are probably more creative than me but I just like reimagining scenes from hp but with this new character so like Poa when she gets angry at him about buckbeak or the bathroom scene (maybe she duels Harry?) and she’s so upset about Draco and comforts him, or helping him in sixth year and comforting him or the quidditch scene in the fifth book (weird note, but I’ve always headcannoned that my original character finds out about dumbledores army but doesn’t say anything and like the da knows she knows but she doesn’t tell Draco or maybe Draco finds out and gets angry at her?)

My other one is another Draco malfoy one where James and Lily live and she’s Harry’s younger sister (and Voldemort isn’t a thing) but like there’s still stereotypes and beliefs and such and like it’s obviously enemies to lovers and maybe they get prefect duties together ? (I am a sucker for this trope in Harry Potter) but then when they do date they try to hide it but Harry finds out but doesn’t say anything until they get into a fight at home and he is like ‘well at least I’m not fucking Draco malfoy behind everyone’s back) (in my head they aren’t fucking because they’re still in Hogwarts but you get the idea) and James and Lily are just like ‘WHAT?!’ Like idk I just think it’s funny imagining James and Lily finding out their kid is dating Draco and Lucius and narcissus finding out Draco is dating a potter - so many possibilities!

Update 6.10.21

I also have one for Charlie Weasley !! And basically you’re friends with the twins and like you go your whole Hogwarts life with the biggest crush on Charlie but like he low key doesn’t even know who you are and you want to become a healer and then after Hogwarts there is a position in Romania and you take it because you know Charlie’s there and at first he is like hmmm I think I know you and you explain you’re friends with the twins and obviously he falls in love with you I also took it in a nsfw direction where it’s like major innocence kink because Charlie is just such a dom to me and he like teaches you everything but he makes sure you’re happy and safe and it’s not really like serious sex you’re both just having fun and he kinda introduces you to dom/sub dynamics but you can do whatever is most comfortable

[talkfastromance4]

Indigo--Calum Hood [one]

A/N: I can’t believe it’s finally arrived! Thank you all for being so patient while it took me literally two months to write this fic. It’s my first ever slow burn and the longest fic to date (word wise). This means so much to me and I really put my heart and soul into this. This is also written in Calum’s perspective!

Word count: 12.2k (36k total)

Warnings: themes of emotional infidelity but really all internal with no actions,  confusing emotions and thoughts, nudity, slight mention of body image issues, casual drinking, jealousy, sexual situations

Masterlist

Indigo playlist--really just songs that helped inspire this piece so give it a listen if you’d like!

Feedback is always welcome and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! 

This is split in three parts because Tumblr's new post limit I can't fit it all in one post. So I'll be posting them all at once!

Enjoy!

***

Calum agreed to help out Sarah and Andy with their latest project. He wasn’t quite sure what it was exactly but anything they create is phenomenal and he’s ecstatic to be a part of it. He’d just texted Bianca, his girlfriend, that he’ll be gone for a better part of the afternoon when he arrives at Sarah and Andy’s place. Pebbles greets him at the door, her whole body wiggling with excitement by his presence.

“There’s our man!” Sarah chirps from the table, her camera and other gadgets placed on the table.

“We aren’t shooting here?” Calum asks bending down to pet Pebbles.

“No, there’s this meadow that gets the sun’s rays perfectly at this time,” Andy informs walking in with his own camera bag. “We’re meeting someone else there, too so we should get going.”

“Someone else?”

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

The sun is beating down on Calum’s back as he walks through the tall grass behind Sarah and Andy. They’re a good distance away from the road and he hopes they won’t go too much further and land in the fate of a 90’s horror film. Andy and Sarah are talking quietly with each other and Calum checks his phone, no new messages from Bianca.

“All right, we’ll start setting up and you just sit and relax until she gets here,” Andy directs to Calum when they stop at a fallen tree that has moss growing on it and its roots extending to the sky.

“Who is ‘she’?” Calum asks, taking a seat on the tree. He wipes at the back of his neck, it’s sticky with sweat. His lips are starting to get chapped and he wishes he brought his water bottle.

Andy and Sarah exchange a look.

“She’d prefer to be anonymous so I can’t tell you,” She responds ominously and unzips her camera bag.

“Anonymous?” Calum is baffled. Andy and Sarah make a point to avoid the topic as they continue to gather their equipment.

In about ten minutes there was another figure walking through the grass and Calum peered at her trying to get a good look. Her hair was blowing in the slight breeze and bangs framed her face. Calum was intrigued when she was first mentioned.

Watching her walk towards them made him think of those snapshots in your life that sticks with you. Something inside of him told him this would be one of those moments.

She was short, which was the first thing he noticed when she stopped in front of him.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. Traffic, y’know,” she smiles at Andy and Sarah.

He notices there’s a hint of purple in her hair.

She’s short and has purple hair.

“No problem, sweetie. We were just getting things ready. This is Calum,” Sarah nods towards him and the mystery girl turns in his direction too.

“Hi Calum, thanks for helping,” she smiles.

“No problem, Anonymous,” he grins standing from his tree and holds out his hand.

“Oh, right,” she snickers, stepping forward to take his hand. “You can call me Indie.”

She’s short, has purple hair, and likes to be called Indie.

“Nice to meet you Indie.”

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Andy and Sarah first have Calum and Indie sit next to each other on the tree while they take some sample shots. This way Calum and Indie can get to know each other a little better. Calum notices the ink on her wrists, arms, and a nose piercing. She asked about his music and what inspires him. He asked what she does and she very offhandedly said with a shrug,

“Social media stuff.”

And that was the end of that. She didn’t add anything more and Calum wasn’t sure if he should ask for her to clarify but her statement had a tone of finality to it.

She definitely intrigues Calum.

“Okay, Indie, can you swing your leg over the tree like you’re riding a horse and lean on Calum’s shoulder?” Sarah asks.

“Yeah.”

Indie does as she’s directed then rests her arm on Calum’s shoulder, her head dropping on top of her arm.

“Both of you look at me...good, now Cal, look down at Indie...good, good. Okay, now I want you to put your leg over his...close your eyes for me, babe. That’s it! Beautiful.”

They continue with different poses on the tree and each touch Indie gives to Calum makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His body becomes attuned to her touch until Sarah tells Indie to undo her shirt and lay her head on Calum’s lap.

Calum swallows thickly and watches Indie undo the buttons. He looks away quickly wanting to give her privacy and instead looks towards the direction of the road hoping they’re far enough away from peering eyes.

“Now lie across his lap and let the shirt fall over his legs. Yup, Cal... Calum!”

“Huh?” Cal whips his head forward and feels the weight of Indie’s head on his knees. He’s forcing himself to not look down but his body is aware of her weight on him.

He knows this is all a form of art, but he just met the girl and he was unaware this is how the shoot was going to go. He’s posed shirtless for Andy and Sarah multiple times but never with someone else. And never with a girl with purple hair, a gentle voice, and a pen name.

“Lay your arm over her chest.”

“What? Is that okay?” he looks down to Indie’s eyes, they’re a striking deep blue. Like the deepest part of the ocean and he gets a little lost in them. “Is that okay that I do that?” he asks her this time.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she nods with a smile. “Thank you for asking.”

Calum carefully places his arm across Indie’s exposed chest; he notices how warm her skin already is from the sun but also feels the small poke of her nipples on the softest part of his arm.

“Cover her nipples a bit, Cal, she’s going to post these on her Instagram and you know their dumbass guidelines about breasts,” Sarah rolls her eyes adjusting her camera.

Calum adjusts his arm which means he has to look where her nipples are. He knows the human body is art in its natural form, and he admires the female body so why is he nervous? Is it because they literally just met and her top is open?

He curses himself. It’s not like they’re making an adult film or anything, this is an artistic moment. Shit, why did he think of an adult film because now a million different scenarios flash in his mind. While he places his arm across her chest, he sees some more ink below her breasts but he can’t quite make out the design.

“Indie, put your hands on his arm, spread your fingers…”

Calum hears the rapid shutter speed of her camera as she captures the intimate moment between strangers. Calum wonders why he was chosen to do this. Obviously, Michael wasn’t at the top of the list because he and Crystal are married, and Luke and Sierra just announced their engagement. KayKay is no novice in front of the camera, but maybe they wanted a girl and guy? Usually, Ashton is up for anything involving the human body.

“Cal, you have your thinking face on, man. Relax,” Andy says.

“Don’t be nervous,” Indie whispers gazing up at him.

Those damn blue eyes again. The purple in her hair really makes them pop and he notices a small freckle at the corner of her eye.

“You’re not?” his voice is hushed so Andy and Sarah don’t hear.

“Of course, I am, this is way out of my comfort zone. But this is art, and I want to explore it,” she shrugs.

It eased him that she was nervous as well. He took a deep breath and fixed her bangs in her face.

“That’s good, that’s really good, act natural,” Sarah advises.

“I like the purple,” he compliments, “it really comes out in the sun and makes your eyes stand out.”

“Thank you. I can’t really see your face because of the sun,” she squints up at him and giggles. Calum smiles at the sound.

The session continues and eventually Calum removes his shirt as well which he’s thankful for because he was starting to sweat. He told himself it was because the sun is at its hottest spot in the sky, not because of some cute girl with purple hair and tattoos with her shirt open.

He leans forward on his knees with Indie standing behind him and the tree, her chest pressed to his back and her hands locked under his neck. He wonders if she can hear how loud his heart is beating.

Another pose has him sitting in the grass with her legs hanging over his shoulders. Calum tickles her toes and she squeals out in laughter and Calum knows those will be great shots.

“Hey! Tickling is forbidden!” she laughs. “I will kick you and it will be your fault.”

“You won’t kick me,” he shakes his head but stops tickling her then notices another tattoo on the outside of her ankle. He looks to his right and sees a small red train on the inside of that ankle. “You have a lot of tattoos. What does this one mean?”

His finger traces the red outline of the train and the small speckle of stars shooting from the chimney.

“I loved Thomas the train engine.”

Calum looks up at her not believing her for a second. From this angle he forgets what his smart-ass remark was going to be because her naked midriff distracted him greatly. The ends of her hair tickled over her nipples, her bangs framing her face perfectly.

She gives him a radiant smile that he can’t deny by returning one of his own.

“All right, that’s it for this spot. Ready to head out Indie?” Sarah asks, pulling them from their small moment of connection.

“Yeah, I’m starved,” Indie buttons up her top.

“Want to come, Cal? We’re getting pizza at Marco’s,” Andy says.

“Uh, let me check my phone quickly, hang on,” he pulls out his phone then slips his shirt back on over his head. One notification from Bianca and she just gave his text to her a thumbs up. “Yeah, pizza sounds great.”

He walks next to Indie back to their cars.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

“How would you guys feel about doing a night shoot back at our place? The city lights in the skyline would be perfect,” Sarah says when she finishes off the last piece of pizza.

“I’m down for that. Can it be partially nude?” Indie asks, sucking up the last of her root beer from the vintage red cup.

“Absolutely,” Sarah nods.

“What do you say, Calum?” Indie looks up to Calum and he feels like she’s challenging him.

“I’m in,” he nods. He’s always up for a challenge.

The night shoot is out on Sarah and Andy’s balcony. Calum watches Sarah and Indie first from the doorway. Indie has her top open again leaning against the railing. She stretches her arms up above her head, extending her torso and Calum can get a better glimpse of that tattoo below her breasts.

It looks like celestial with moons and stars. As the photos progress, she slips it all the way off and leans over the railing. She does a profile view then reaches her hand out to Sarah’s camera for a close up of her fingers. The two women are giggling and Calum won’t deny how natural and confident Indie is in front of the camera even though she admitted to being nervous to him earlier.

Was she telling him the truth or was she just doing that to keep up this anonymous persona?

“Sarah has a way of making people feel comfortable in front of the camera. It’s her loving nature,” Andy explains as if reading Calum’s mind. “This is all Indie’s idea by the way, the shoot. She wants to do a body positivity session.”

“That’s…” Calum watches with wide eyes as Indie drops her shorts and panties then he sees her cute little bare ass. “Nice.” He clears his throat since she’s completely bare. Andy chuckles and nudges him in the ribs.

Calum is suddenly in the need of a cigarette; his fingers begin to twitch.

He watches her as she and Sarah continue to interact. Indie keeps her backside facing Sarah and Calum spots yet another tattoo on the back of her shoulder. Why’d she choose him to be a part of it? Or was it Andy and Sarah who chose him?

Calum opens his mouth to ask when Sarah calls him over.

“Get your ass out here, Hood, it’s your turn. Sit in the chair,” Sarah commands, pulling up said chair right in front of Indie.

Calum keeps his gaze on Indie’s face when he sits in the chair in front of her, his head seems a bit clearer now without her naked body in front of him.

“Shirt off?” he jokes, trying to ease his own tension.

“Please,” Sarah grins and he peels it off again. Of course, she’d say yes. “Baby, can you get the lights for me?”

The outside lights shut off by Andy and replaced by color changing string lights hanging in the rafters. Calum stares up above as they transition from green to yellow to orange and finally to some sort of purple/blue hybrid. Indie’s face comes into view over his shoulder, her fingers dance on his shoulders, her eyes are shining, and her hair is more purple with the added hue.

“Magical,” Sarah comments.

Indie smiles at him and he couldn’t agree more with Sarah’s statement and a few notes of a soft melody sprout in his head.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Calum stayed up all night going through Indie’s Instagram. He thought it would show her real name and he’ll deny to his dying breath that he did NOT spend an hour trying to find her profile. Turns out, her social media persona is displayed as Indie too and he wonders why.

Her posts are all about body positivity which include photos of her body that look professionally done in his opinion. Each pose is perfectly posed so you can’t really see everything but know that she’s fully naked. He tries to make out the tattoos he couldn’t see from the night before, but it’s hard with how her body twists and the way they’re edited.

He reads through some of the comments, agreeing with the ones telling how hot and gorgeous she is. He wanted to tell off the creeps and defend her because her message was about loving your body.

Her photos and posts are real and authentic. She talks about her own insecurities, how learning to love her body seems to be an ongoing lesson. He admires her rawness and understands seeing something different when you look in the mirror but when he sees her...he wonders how she can see flaws.

His phone rings right after he hits ‘follow’ and the noise scares him. His heart plummeted when he saw it was Bianca.

“Hey, babe,” he greets and she immediately rattles off about her day.

Calum puts her on speaker so he can continue to scroll through the photos of him and Indie she posted from their shoot. There are comments from some fans inquiring if he and Bianca broke up.

Bianca didn’t really say anything about his photoshoot, but she doesn’t really say much about what he does anyway.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

The guys are taking a little creative break after bouncing back chords, verses, and beats that they’ve been working on since six in the morning. Ashton was complaining about needing his fifth cup of iced coffee and Michael was starving so the two of them left to pick up lunch and coffee.

Luke and Calum remained behind like always. Luke never stopped working and Calum always kept him company, enjoying the sounds of his soft guitar playing. Ashton’s lava lamp changes to purple and Calum is reminded of Indie so he pulls out his phone and goes to her Instagram.

She’s made a few new posts within the last several days. The first one is of her standing in front of her bathroom mirror with a towel wrapped around her. Her eyes are wide and bright, her hair is in wet strands and the steam frames her reflection. The next one is darker with the towel dropped; two small black hearts are placed on her breasts.

She captioned it: “conversations with myself about loving me are the hardest conversations I have. Sometimes they’re serious and other times goofy, but that’s with the aid of rum. Being gentle with yourself seems so easy until you come face to face.”

The second most recent post is of her and another guy at some sort of festival. They both have on circular sunglasses and the photos are a little blurry. One is a close up of the guy but he’s out of focus and eating a corn dog. The next one is of the two of them standing in front of a funhouse mirror; she has her fingers up in a peace sign. There’s one of them eating cotton candy and the last is of them on the Ferris wheel.

She just captions it as ‘memories.’

The last one she posted was from several hours ago and it was another photo shoot. She was posed with the same guy from the festival only this time she was topless and his arms were around her in front of a mirror. Another one has her lying on a bed with her head hanging off the edge and she’s upside down. The guy is resting his head on her stomach, both of them are looking at the camera and he’s shirtless too. The last one is of her twisted on the bed under the sheets, her ass peeking out and she’s spread across the guy. His hand is very low on her back.

Calum feels a pang in his chest. The pictures are great and all but why is he feeling this sharp pain and warmth in his cheeks?

“Woah, are you on OnlyFans right now?” Luke snorts and Calum jumps from the sound of his voice.

“What?”

“Pretty raunchy, don’t ya think?” Luke grins and then something clicks within Calum.

Could Indie have an OnlyFans account? Is that what she meant by “social media stuff”? He knows it’s one of the most popular adult content websites right now and that pay is really good if you post a lot. Is Indie her...sex name? Is that what that’s called?

“D’you think she has an OnlyFans?”

“I dunno. Who is she?” Luke stops his guitar playing to look at Calum.

“I...I uh did a shoot with her, Andy, and Sarah a few weeks ago.”

“Really? What did you do?”

Calum brings up the session he and Indie did together, handing his phone over to Luke. He suddenly feels very self-conscious and almost wants to snatch his phone back so Luke doesn’t see Indie bare chested. But she posted it on her public Instagram so anyone can see it.

“Wow, you really did a nude shoot?”

“We had our pants on,” Calum scoffs, trying to take his phone back but Luke stretches his arm out of his grasp.

“She doesn’t in these next ones.”

“Give me my phone!” Calum scrambles over Luke’s broad frame to get his phone back. He settles back on the couch in a huff. “Don’t look at those.”

“You showed it to me! Who is she anyway?”

“I don’t really know. She goes by the name Indie but I don’t think that’s her real name.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we arrived at the meadow for the shoot, Andy said we were meeting someone else there and when I asked who it was; Sarah said she wanted to be anonymous. She posts a lot about body positivity and I asked what she does for a living and all she said was social media stuff.”

“OnlyFans is social media. What did Bianca have to say about these photos?”

“Not much,” Calum shrugs and he gets a Twitter notification from her. Does she have a sixth sense to post or call when he’s talking about her?

He opens up the notification and she’s talking about him but very vaguely by only calling him ‘boyfriend’ with a photo attached of him looking down at his phone while they were out to dinner the other night. She brags about him online but hardly does anything with him when they are together. He’s starting to forget why he’s dating her in the first place.

“She had nothing to say about you posing topless with another woman?” Luke’s guitar playing stops and his eyebrows are raised.

“Nope,” Calum sighs and likes Bianca’s post anyway. Their relationship seems to only be about ‘liking’ each other’s posts lately.

“That’s...odd. So, why’re you looking at this girl Indie’s insta anyway?”

“I like what she posts. It’s real and true and a lot of people relate to it. It’s nice,” Calum shrugs. “And she was cool to hang out with at the photo session.”

“Ah, I see. You’re jealous you aren’t in those photos with her.”

“What? No, I’m not.”

“Yeah you are, and you didn’t want me to see her naked bum.”

“How would Sierra feel about that?”

“She’d look with me,” Luke shrugs, “you know that. See if she tagged the guy and find out who he is. If he has an OnlyFans then there’s a possibility she might have one, too.”

“How does that make sense?” Calum asks but clicks on the tagged name anyway because he’s not thinking properly and his curiosity is getting the best of him.

“They promote new content with whoever they did it with.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“Saw it on TikTok, and there was that rumor that Ash has an OnlyFans so I Googled about it.”

“That’s a weird thing to Google.”

“Please, you’ve Googled worse. So, who is the bloke?” Luke peers over his best friend’s hand to look at his phone screen.

Calum looks back down at his phone on the new profile. He has quite a massive following and a small bio.

“His name is Ian, he’s a model and an extra in TV shows. There’s a link under his name but he posted photos with her, too.”

Calum taps on the post to see it’s of them in that damn bed again. Indie is straddling him but she has on some sort of lace outfit and Ian’s hands are on her waist. They’re both laughing and facing the camera.

“He wrote ‘always a blast doing sessions with you.’ Does that mean photo sessions or OnlyFans stuff?”

“How am I supposed to know? Why does it concern you anyway?”

That stops Calum short. Why does it concern him? His mind is spiraling with his conflicting emotions and the desire to search for more information about this Ian guy. He tosses his phone on the opposite end of the couch.

“It doesn’t concern me. I was curious and now I know you and Sierra subscribe to OnlyFans.”

“What? I didn’t say that at all!” Luke squeaks then narrows his eyes. “Don’t change the subject. Why does it matter if she has one or not?”

“I want to understand her, she didn’t tell me much about her and I’m not sure why.”

“She probably wants to keep her life private. Does she have a big following for what she posts?”

“Yeah.”

“Then maybe she doesn’t want people knowing her business. You can understand that, can’t you?”

“Of course, I can, I--she intrigues me, that’s all. I want to know more about her.”

“Why do you want to know more about her?”

“I don’t know! She...her purple hair and nose ring and tattoos...and her eyes are so damn blue. I don’t understand it.”

Luke is silent for several moments staring at Calum, his blue eyes imploring his friend to tell more. Luke‘s looking at Calum as if he knows something.

Calum is lost in his confusion. Luke moves from the couch and picks up Calum’s notebook and his favorite type of pen. He holds them out to Calum.

“Write about it. Figure it out.”

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Calum tried to write about it and figure it out and he was a little ashamed of himself for searching for Indie on OnlyFans a few days later after talking with Luke. It made him feel pervy, and even though he didn’t find her, it wouldn’t have changed his outlook on her at all if she did have an account. It only makes him want to learn more about her and not the small number of half-truths he received.

It’s been a month since he saw her and he’s at a party with Roy and Bianca. Bianca was off with her friends so Calum and Roy were left to their own devices which were perfectly fine for Calum. He’s always up for a good time but only when it’s with his close friends who are more like family, not a hundred people who sneak photos of him when they walk by.

He’s scanning the crowd--people watching is his favorite thing to do--when he spots someone with purple hair walk by.

“Indie! Hey!” Roy literally took the words right from Calum’s mouth.

Roy knows Indie?

Indie turns at the sound of her name waiting for her friend to pass and she smiles upon seeing Roy then shows her teeth in a radiant smile when she sees Calum right next to him. She’s got on some overall shorts with one of the straps unbuttoned and a tight black shirt that stops at her midriff. There’s some glitter on her face and Calum is mystified once more.

“Hey Cal, fancy seeing you here. Hey Roy,” she smiles at him and Roy pulls her into a hug. Calum feels a twinge of jealousy that he didn’t receive a hug.

“You two know each other?” Calum asks, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, Indie comes to my meditation sessions once in a while. It’s been too long since the last one, missy.”

“I’ve been working!” she giggles shoving his shoulder playfully. “I’m in need of a good meditation zone, though. Oh, this is my friend, Travis.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Travis shakes Calum and Roy’s hands.

Calum eyes him up but before he can say anything else, Travis mentioned something about finding their group of friends.

“I’ll send you details on the next mediation,” Roy tells her before she heads out.

“I look forward to it. Have a nice time,” she smiles at them both and lets Travis guide her through the crowd.

Calum is a bit upset he didn’t really get to talk to her as he watches her disappear into the sea of people. He continues listening to Roy and his latest idea for a new album and what it will be based around. He hums and comments in the spaces he’s supposed to but his mind is off on someone else.

And then he wonders where the hell Bianca got off to.

“What’s wrong with you, man? Your mind is out of this world right now,” Roy comments.

“Nothing, nothing,” Calum shakes his head gruffly and then Bianca appears handing Calum a drink.

“You look parched,” she kisses his cheek and he feels the sticky residue of her lip gloss on his skin.

Calum continues to search for Indie as the night goes on, wanting to discuss how her body positivity project is going. He smiles and poses in the photos with Bianca; he knows both of their smiles are fake. Whenever she touches him, he doesn’t get that same feeling he did when Indie touched him in the meadow.

It’s a little after midnight as he exits the bathroom and bumps into someone.

“Oops, sorry, my faul--Indie! Hey!” he grins down at her.

“Oh! Hi again. Having a good time?” she asks brightly.

“It’s all right, how about you?”

“Not really in the mood to party tonight,” she shrugs, “but my friend Travis from earlier likes a guy here so I’m his wing woman.”

“What a good friend you are,” he smiles. “Have they met up?”

“I got a text from him with the tongue emoji, the fire emoji, and the drooling emoji,” she counts off on her fingers. “I’ve walked around this place twice so I’m assuming he’s all good,” she chuckles.

“So, you’re here all alone?”

“Yeah. I was just about to order an Uber--”

“I can take you home if you’d like. You shouldn’t take an Uber alone.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t mind--”

“Hey baby, some of the girls want to go to the club. I’ll see you later,” Bianca appears and gives Calum a very fleeting kiss on the cheek.

“Okay, before you go, this is Indie; remember how I did that photoshoot a month ago?”

Bianca glances at Indie who gives her a bright smile.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet--”

“Oh, yeah! Where you were both half naked! Very hot. I’ll call you tomorrow,” she says offhandedly to Calum then runs off to her friends.

“Nice to meet you, too!” Indie finishes in a half-shout and Calum laughs. “She’s a woman on a mission, huh?”

“Yeah, always has to be where the party's at. How about that drive home?”

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Once in his car, Indie connects her phone to his Bluetooth and puts on her playlist along with the address of her apartment. Calum watches her scroll through her phone until she selects the first song; its vibe is very chill, fitting the mood of the blue color of his car’s interior lighting. He keeps glancing over to her; the blue really brings out the purple in her hair. She then pulls her hair back and up behind her head in a makeshift ponytail, fanning herself with the other hand.

“Hot?” he asks while pressing the button for the AC. she lets out a yelp of surprise when the cool air blows on her neck from the headrest of her seat.

“I need my seats to have this feature,” she sighs then lets her hair drop over her shoulder. “Thank you for taking me home. Will you meet up with...oh my God, what’s your girlfriend’s name?” she presses her hands to her face, eyes widening in horror. “She left before you could introduce her.”

“Her name’s Bianca, and no, I’ll probably go home. Club life isn’t really my style.”

“Are you hungry?” she asks.

“For what?” He peers at her curiously.

“Have you ever had insomnia cupcakes?”

When they arrive at the small cupcake shop they read over the flavors listed on the bulbous glass display case. The cupcakes are the size of muffins and each time Indie nudges closer to him, he can smell her perfume. It’s citrus with a hint of something else he can’t place but she smells wonderful.

Indie ends up getting a strawberry cupcake with white frosting and pink sprinkles and Calum gets a confetti one which she teases him about.

“What’s wrong with confetti?!” he laughs following her outside and sits at one of the round metal tables.

“It’s like the second most vanilla flavor you could get. Live on the edge!” she swipes off a bit of frosting and sucks it off with a low satisfied moan.

Her eyes close relishing then taste and Calum gets momentarily distracted by her reaction to the cupcake.

“Well, isn’t that vanilla frosting? Not too on the edge yourself, are ya?”

“It’s not vanilla. Here,” she holds her cupcake in front of him, her eyes testing him. “Try a taste.”

He swipes her frosting off, eyes still on hers and he pops his finger in his mouth. His tongue is full of a very zesty lemon flavor, it’s sugary and sweet but light enough where it’s not too overbearing.

“Shit, that’s good.”

“Told you! Now you enjoy your plain confetti over there,” she wiggles in her chair taking her cupcake back. She swipes up more frosting.

“You eat the frosting first?” he asks, unfolding the paper from his cupcake.

“Mhm, the cake is the best part.”

He watches her in wonder as she continues to eat before taking a very large bite of his own treat. Frosting gets on his nose and she loses it when he wipes it off.

“Did I get it all?” he asks, sucking off the frosting from his thumb.

“You missed a spot...right here!”

Somehow she snuck some frosting on her pinky finger and rubbed it onto his cheek and nose. Calum was dumbfounded then when he saw her practically rolling in her chair from laughing, he joined her and wiped it off on her own.

“Thanks for that,” he laughs, licking off the lemon frosting.

“I’m sorry, I had to,” she shrugs and licks off the rest of her frosting from her cupcake.

“I’m going to get you back for that, Indie. Mark my words.”

“I’m trembling in my overalls,” she mocks with a smile.

“You should be,” he teases and takes another large bite of his cupcake.

When their cupcakes are finished they’re back in his car and her music fills the air with sound. He makes note of the band on his screen, Linus Young, so he can look them up later. He turns it down on the song titled ‘Crystal Ball.’

“How’s your latest project coming along?” he asks then moves into the middle lane.

“Pretty good, I guess. I want to do a couple more shots before I do a post. Sarah said she’d help me with it, we just have to find the time.”

“Do you need a partner?” he grins.

“Not for these shots,” she giggles, “but you’re more than welcome to come if you’d like. I’m always open to other artists' creative eyes.”

“Yeah, I’d love to. Do you have an idea on what your next project will be?”

“Um, I don’t know. It’s always centered on self-love and body positivity. I might try something with body paint or shadows. There’s a--”

“Do you have an OnlyFans?” he blurts out then immediately wants the earth to swallow him up whole.

Where the hell did that come from? He wanted to try and ease into it casually but how do you casually bring up a website like that? And now he just blurted it out like an imbecile. He keeps his eyes on the road anticipating a well-deserved slap across his cheek or for Indie to demand he take the next exit and drop her off.

Instead, she laughs. It’s a full-on cackle with a trail of giggles gasping for breath. Indie doesn’t stop until he looks over at her in alarm and with an apologetic grimace.

“Oh, you’re serious?” she squeaks wiping at the corners of her eyes. She takes a deep breath, still chuckling. “Why do you think that?”

“I was showing my friend Luke the shoot we did and when I went to your Instagram he saw your other photos and asked if I was on OnlyFans and he said creators usually post photos like that with a partner they collaborated with or something and you said your job is social media stuff and that’s social media and I’m--I’m an asshole for blurting it out like that. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business but even if you are, that’s great, y’know? No shame or judgment from me whatsoever. And I feel stupid for even trying to search you--”

“You tried searching for me?” she asks but Calum’s on a ranting rampage. “Wow. I’m fl--”

“This makes me sound like a grade A creep. You--”

“Calum!” she laughs resting her hand on his forearm. The hair on his neck stands up at her touch just like in the meadow. “As entertaining as it is to see you stumble over your words and talk this much, stop. I’m flattered you would even think that in the first place, but no, I don’t have an account.”

He risks a glance at her; she gives him a warm smile.

“Do you have an account?” She asks in a hushed whisper.

“What?!” he swerves a little in his lane but thankfully he needs to change over for the exit. His GPS says Indie’s place is only a few more minutes away. “No, no I don’t have one.”

She giggles again but doesn’t say another word.

They’re silent for the remainder of the drive, the music playing softly in the background. He wishes he never said anything and that Luke didn’t bring it up in the first place. Calum makes the few turns indicated on his screen and then parks in front of a duplex. Indie unbuckles her seatbelt, angling herself towards him.

“Would you subscribe if I did?”

He jerks his head in her direction, did he hear her right? He opens his mouth to answer then narrows his eyes, she does the same and they have a narrow-eyed contest until they’re laughing.

“Would you subscribe if I did?” he counters.

“I asked you first.”

He unbuckles himself as well so he can stretch in his seat and run his fingers through his hair. “I’m not going to answer that. Can we pretend I never asked that and this conversation never happened?” He drops his hands to the steering wheel; he needs to have a firm handle on something because clearly his tongue is acting wild.

“What did you ask?”

“What?”

“What conversation are you talking about?”

Calum stares at her, then looks outside as if there’s a hidden camera and he’s being punk’d right now. Is Ashton Kutcher hiding in that trailer?

“We were talking about OnlyFans.”

“Calum! I was playing along! You didn’t ask me anything and we didn’t have a conversation about that unasked question,” she gives him a perky smile.

“You are something else, you know that?” he rubs at his face out of embarrassment and feeling like such an idiot.

“That’s what I’m told,” she sighs.

He feels there’s a story or two there but he’s already invaded her privacy enough tonight. And it’s only the second time actually meeting her.

“Can I ask you something?” She asks.

“Yes. Please do.”

“Why do you want to know what I do?”

Calum rests his head on his seat, turning his head towards her with his hands still on the wheel. She’s situated herself in her seat so that one leg is pulled to her chest and resting against the center console. Her round cheek is cupped in her hand, her eyes wide and captivating.

“I want to know more about you, that’s all.”

“Why do you want to know about me, Cal?”

That question again. The answer is staring him right in the face, it’s on the tip of his tongue, but he just can’t bring himself to say it out loud. So, he alters his answer because he’s already rambled enough for one night.

“You have this ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude and a free spirit. You’re sure of yourself and not a lot of people are like that.”

“I definitely do give a fuck about a lot of things. Maybe too much,” she shrugs, removing her hand and leans forward. “You’re sure that’s all?”

She doesn’t ask it in fishing for compliments type of way, it’s more like she knows he’s hiding something, like she knows he sugar-coated his answer. Indie’s eyes have him captured, he’s like a fly caught in a black widow’s web that’s made up of his own lies.

“Ye-es…” he responds slowly.

“You promise?”

Her eyes are steady on his, he squeezes the wheel, arms tightening, knuckles whitening, and the smallest flick of her eyebrow causes him to let out a large exhale. Calum drops his hands in defeat.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” he shakes his head.

She’s looking at him like Luke was looking at him back in the studio.

“You’re…” he licks his lips and swallows down his nerves. “You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met, Indie. I’ve never been this lost in my head on finding the proper words to say what I want to say. But I can tell you that my intentions are only to get to know you, which I’m certain of.”

“Get to know me as a friend?”

“Friend, photoshoot partner, whatever it is,” he shrugs. “All I know is I can’t stop thinking about you.”

She gives him a small smile with an even smaller nod then takes a deep breath. Her hands rub at her temples as she lets out a frustrated groan covering her eyes with her hands.

“Are you okay?”

“You know that’s the truest thing you’ve said this whole time, Cal? I’d be glad to be your friend but I can’t lie about how I’ve been thinking about you, too.”

“So... what do we do about that?”

Indie removes her hands, her eyes the size of planets holding the same secrecy of the galaxy. He wants to explore every part, every hidden crevice.

“I want to know you, too. But we have to promise--” she holds out her pinky “--that we are friends first and foremost. I don’t trust people easily; I only tell what I think they should know. But my intuition is telling me to trust you and it’s never wrong. Can you do that?”

Calum mulls over her words. He reaches over the console so their faces are closer. He can see the glitter on her cheeks and how they resemble constellations. He cups her cheek; his fingers locking in her hair and captures her lips in a fevered kiss without a thought of the repercussions that will follow.

The kiss is full of sparks, desire, and an innate need. Indie kisses him back with equal hurriedness and soon they’re scrambling to the backseat. Lips still connected, her fingers claw at his shirt and--

“Cal?”

Calum blinks. He’s pulled back to the present, his fantasy betraying him in the worst possible way from the reality of Indie still holding her pinky out for him.

The kiss was all in his head. Going against his selfish desires, he hooks his pinky with hers and Indie’s face turns serious.

“We promise to always stay friends, no matter what. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“We promise that no matter what comes from the darkness, what secrets will surface, or whatever urges may arise, we are friends first and won’t let those things change that. Promise?”

“I promise,” he nods, tilting his head to the side in amusement as she continues.

“And above all else...we won’t leave or abandon one another. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Good. I promise, too,” she stares at their joined pinkies.

“You okay?” he asks, feeling the shift within her.

“Yeah...it’s a little...I’m giving you all my trust. It’s a little scary.”

He squeezes her pinky then covers their joined hands with the palm of his other hand. He cocks his head lower until she looks at him with shining, vulnerable eyes.

“I promise I won’t break it, Indie.”

He wonders if she catches the double entendre to his promise because while he said it about her trust, he could tell she’s wearing her heart on her sleeve. He doesn’t want to break that either.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Calum has been walking on air ever since that night with Indie a few weeks ago promising to be friends. Is he attracted to her? Absolutely. That at least is something he can admit even if it is in his own head. Will he act on those thoughts? No, because he has respect for Indie and his relationship with Bianca.

Things between him and Bianca have gotten a little better; they go out more and she’s asked him about his music. When he’s mentioned he has this tune stuck in his head that he can’t figure out she doesn’t say too much about it and quickly transitions to her next appearance promoting a new line of liquor.

Calum’s confident he can push his attraction for Indie to the side and make their friendship a priority. He’s never had a female best friend before but it’s an easy transition with her.

After that night they exchanged numbers and were quick to start sending funny memes and TikTok videos. Calum downloaded the app solely because of her and when he discovered she had a few videos of her own, he watched the four videos relentlessly.

“You’re a very talented lip syncer, you should go pro,” he’d told her one day over FaceTime while he was making breakfast.

“There’s no such thing as a pro lip syncer,” she snorted back. She was applying makeup in her bathroom sitting cross legged on the counter with her feet in the sink.

“Yeah there’s that show on MTV or some shit where you dress up and put on a whole performance.”

“I would literally die if I had to perform in front of people. No thank you.”

Calum laughed then watched her apply her eyeliner with careful strokes and perfect precision. Whenever she did her makeup she had her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and her bangs clipped up so she wouldn’t get makeup on them. Seeing her whole face for the first time filled him with even more intrigue and he thought she was even more beautiful.

“Why do you do that on the sink?” he asked, flipping his egg on his toast.

“So I can get closer to the mirror. It’s a girl thing. Doesn’t Bianca do it?”

“Dunno, I’ve never seen her put her makeup on before.”

He would send her photos and videos of Duke and each time she’d comment on how adorable he is and that she would steal him one day.

“You’ll have to get through me first,” he grinned.

“I can take you. It’s one of my superpowers.”

“What superpower is that exactly?”

“If I tell you then my cover’s blown, duh.”

“Why don’t you show me then?” he teased with a slight hint of flirtation.

“Cal…” she warned but couldn’t help her giggle.

“All right, all right,” he smiled, scratching at his head. “Sorry.”

There would be some innocent slip-ups like that throughout their conversations. Calum just felt so at ease with Indie and when she asked him to help her with a photoshoot of hers he was more than excited to accept.

When he arrived at her place, there was music playing from down the hall and he heard voices followed by Indie’s laugh. He follows the sound right into her bathroom where she is with another girl while the bathtub was running water, bubbles rising.

“Did you finally get your own dog?” he asks and the two girls turn at his voice.

“No, it’s for the photos,” Indie smiles. “Cal, this is Inka, she’s going to be in the photos with me and helping you take them.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Calum,” Inka smiles.

Inka’s a little taller than Indie with flowing ink black hair, wide set eyes and brown skin. She has a septum piercing and is also very good looking.

“Nice to meet you,” he nods, and then turns fearfully to Indie. “I’m taking the photos? Shouldn’t you ask Sarah, she’s a professional.”

“I don’t want them to look professionally done. Inka’s big on water photography so she’ll help you. And we need someone to take photos of us together.”

“All right, so…” he glances at the tub that Inka is now bent over testing the water. “What’s with the bubble bath?”

“That’s where we’ll be,” Indie grins, removing her shorts.

Calum is so caught off guard by being the photographer that his eyes watch her step out of them, but finds she has on swimsuit bottoms. At least he won’t be distracted this time like in the meadow or at Andy and Sarah’s when she was completely naked.

“Are you alright with us being topless, Cal?” Inka asks removing her own shorts. He spots some ink on her skin as well, he wonders if they got tattoos together at one point. The styles are pretty similar.

“I’m fine if you guys are,” he shrugs then eyes up the Polaroid sitting on the counter. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me here; I respect the artistry of the naked body.”

“All I needed to hear,” Inka says with a sigh. “The water’s perfect, Indsy. I’ll put on music that helps me get in the zone.”

“Is this the camera I’ll be using?” Calum asks, pointing to the Polaroid as Inka changes the music on her phone to something with a bit of soul to it. The voice echoes very softly within the bathroom.

“Yeah, it’s Inka’s. She’ll show you how to use it while I’m in there. Thanks for helping with this, everyone couldn’t or thought it was weird when I asked them.”

“Glad to be of assistance,” he smiles down at her, noticing she doesn’t have makeup on. “You look nice by the way.”

“Thank you. I’m going to take my top off now,” she touches his arm as if in assurance, her eyes widening slightly. “Will you be okay?”

He knows she’s teasing but he links his pinky with hers that’s on his arm.

“Promise. Now get in there,” he jerks his head towards her bath.

“Sheesh, you’re a demanding assistant.”

She backs away and he examines the camera with curiosity. When Inka and Indie converse behind him, he lifts his eyes to their reflection in the mirror just as Indie is pulling her t-shirt off. Her eyes meet his as she tosses it to the floor and it’s as if the moment slows before she’s stepping into the water.

“Inka! This is too hot!” she squeals, pulling her foot out.

“No, it’s not! Calum, come feel the water.”

He turns and stands next to Indie; he bends to the floor pressing his hand through a mountain of bubbles. It’s pretty warm but he’s come to realize that Indie doesn’t like hot things.

“I think it’s fine but it is too hot for her,” he agrees with Indie.

“Well, you’ll get used to it and if your cheeks get a little red or your chest, then it will make the pictures better.”

Indie sighs; she puts her hand on Calum’s shoulder for extra support and puts her foot in the water again. She lets out a hiss and stands there for a couple seconds. Calum grabs her hand and holds her fingers when she places her other foot in the tub as well. He watches her scrunch her face at the temperature, he can see a red splotch blooming on her chest already and she’s not even fully in yet.

“Darling, it’s really not that bad,” Inka sighs rubbing at Indie’s shoulder. “Is it?”

“I just need to let myself get used to it,” Indie replies and drops a knee, her fingers’ holding onto Calum’s tightly.

“I can get a cold washcloth for you,” he offers but Indie shakes her head and drops her other knee.

“I’ll be okay. Can you get me a bottled water from my fridge?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right back,” he nods and he releases her fingers.

When he returns, Indie is fully in the bath, her hair cascading over her back like a dark purple curtain. Her knees are drawn up to her chest and Inka is on the floor with her camera pointed at Indie. Indie’s head is on her knees, her body curving forward, eyes big and her lips pouting slightly.

Calum doesn’t like how she looks sad even if he knows it’s for the aesthetics of it all. Indie looks up at him then stretches a now bubbly arm towards him for the water.

“Wait, stay like that for a minute!” Inka instructs Indie's pose and the camera clicks. “Okay, you can take it.”

Calum sits against the cabinets next to Inka, paying attention to the buttons on the camera before she takes a picture. Indie leans back with her head tilted back and eyes closed, her breasts pointing out. Then she rested her arms on the edge of the tub, her cheek falling perfectly in the crook of her elbows and she eyed up the camera and Inka. When she looked at Calum, he forgot how to swallow.

“Okay, ready for me?” Inka asks, standing up from her place on the floor.

“You’re going to complain about the water though,” Indie rolls her eyes playfully and turns the tap back on. She shifts to the opposite end so she doesn’t feel the hot water.

“Just take photos you think would be good as candid’s,” Inka instructs handing Calum the camera.

He’s nervous now. He doesn’t want to mess up their vision and he runs over what Inka told him in his head as she takes off her tank top and climbs in with Indie.

“This is so tepid!” Inka shrieks and Indie laughs.

“It’s perfect!”

“You’re such a little weirdo,” Inka drops into the water and pushes the running water towards Indie. Indie sticks her tongue out.

While the water continues to run, Calum takes some practice shots and Inka starts to pull her hair up in a very messy bun with loose strands kissing her cheeks and forehead. She looks very good, actually. Inka has a natural beauty to her, much like Indie does. Calum took photos of that process, Inka is confident in herself like Indie is; it’s all in her posture.

“Remember the first time we were in the bath together?” Indie asks, leaning against the wall.

“Yeah, you were drunk and thought your tub was a whirlpool. But you turned the shower on instead and I thought you were drowning,” Inka laughs.

Calum captures their smiles. He remains silent as they place bubbles on each other’s noses or blow them at each other from their hands. He tries to take as many of those as he can because he thinks they’re charming.

He discovers they’ve been friends ever since Indie moved to L.A and have gone through tough things with each other like bad relationships, loss of jobs, and fallouts from a whole group of friends they were involved in. The more they talked, the closer they got in the tub.

“Here, turn around, I want to get some shots like this,” Indie tells Inka.

They’re in a fit of giggles and laughter as Inka maneuvers in the water, some of the bubbles are rolling down the sides of the tub. Once they’re situated, Indie scoots closer until she’s pressed against Inka’s back. Calum’s reminded of feeling her pressed against his back at Andy and Sarah’s.

“Look at Cal,” Indie says and they both turn to Calum.

He snaps the photo.

“How are you doing over there Mr. Camera Man?” Inka asks leaning against Indie.

“Great. How’re you guys?” he asks.

“Hungry. I want some pizza,” Indie sighs. She presses her cheek to Inka’s neck and wraps her arms around her stomach.

“We’ll order some afterwards,” Inka lifts her hand and pats at Indie’s head affectionately. “Does Calum know you need to be fed every few hours?”

“You make me sound like a baby,” Indie laughs. “Does Calum know?” She directs the question to him in third person, looking at him expectantly.

“Yes, I discovered she gets very feisty when she’s hungry,” Calum laughs.

“He’s a good egg,” Indie says and kisses Inka’s neck.

“Wait, do that again,” Calum says and Indie presses her lips to Inka’s neck. He snaps the picture and he grins. “That’s a good one.”

“Stay professional over there, sir,” Inka warns, narrowing her eyes.

“I am! It’s a sweet moment that’s all. You guys are close and have been through a lot. There aren’t too many friendships like that.”

“I always tell her she’s my soulmate,” Inka pats Indie's cheek then spins around again in the water.

“My friend Ash and I say the same thing.”

“You two take baths together, too?” Inka asks and Indie laughs.

“No,” he laughs. “We wouldn’t fit.”

That gets them both laughing and he snaps a picture of it, the pure joy and amusement on their faces. He notices goosebumps are on Indie’s arms.

“You’re getting cold, Indie,” he comments.

“Yeah, we should get out soon. Did you get some good photos?” she asks, sitting up a little straighter, her hands on the edge of the tub.

“Wait, Cal get one more picture,” Inka stops Indie from standing.

He poises the camera to his eye again and watches as Inka leans in and gives Indie a soft kiss on the lips. She holds the kiss so he can take the picture and he keeps snapping when they pull away and smile at each other.

They both rise from the tub with more water sloshing over the sides; all the bubbles are gone now. Calum stands handing them each a towel; he’s trying to wrap his head around that kiss. He kisses his friends too, but to see Indie be kissed by a girl made that pang form in his chest again like when she hugged Roy and not him.

He shouldn’t be jealous; they’re just friends and he pinky promised.

“I’ll order some pizza and upload these so we can look at them,” Inka says, wrapping the towel around her. She folds it over so it’s held to her body like a strapless dress. “Time to put your camera skills to the test.”

The photos ended up looking really well. He could tell the differences between his and Inka’s, hers were angled in different ways to make the focal point look cool. His photos were straighter on but Inka was impressed by some of his close-up shots of their laughter.

The three of them watched a movie as they ate their pizza, laughing at the scenes and more memories that came about for Indie and Inka. Calum really liked Inka and she gave him a hug when she left, promising she’ll contact him if she needs his help for her own photos.

“You have her approval by the way,” Indie says, moving back to the couch pulling her blanket over her legs.

“Approval?” He joins her resting his arm over the back of her couch.

“Of being my guy best friend. This was sort of a test of hers by having you deal with our shenanigans and being half naked in the tub.”

“Elaborate, please?” he chuckles. “Did she think I’d be weird about it?”

“She’s a little protective over me. We’re best friends but…” Indie looks at her hands in her lap; she starts to play with the edge of the blanket.

“But…?” he prompts and she bites her lip. “I feel like this is a pinky promise moment.”

“It is.”

He holds out his pinky waiting for her to link their fingers. She takes in a deep breath and hooks her pinky around his but she doesn’t let it go when she speaks. Her eyes are trained on their pinkies.

“Inka and I dated actually, for a short time. It was right when I moved out here and we got super close super-fast, I felt the most comfortable with her in the friend group I fell into. She’s the first one I voiced my attraction to women about and she said she was the same. We both don’t like labels. And... Yeah, we dated for a couple months but both agreed our friendship was more important than if we broke up badly.”

“So, you’re attracted to men and women or just women?” he asks softly.

“Both,” she says, her eyes still on their pinkies. “Inka’s the only woman I’ve dated and have been with but I’ve had other crushes. They just never went anywhere.”

“Hey, look at me,” he tugs on her pinky lightly until her eyes meet his. “Why do you seem scared?”

“When I tell other guys about it they get all weird and ask for threesomes or they get freaked out like I'm going to cheat on them with her or something. I’m attracted to girls but it’s more than attraction, too.”

“I get it,” he nods, “you don’t have to explain to me. You care for people for who they are. I’m sorry if you felt cautious to tell me. You can tell me anything, Indie.”

“It’s just nerve wracking, that’s all,” she lets out a shaky laugh. “I knew you wouldn’t be creepy with the photos but while we were doing them I figured this would be a good time to tell you.”

“Thank you for telling me, it helps me get to know you better,” he smiles. She gives him one back then pulls her pinky away so she can give him a hug.

He holds her tightly, feeling how fast her heart is beating. They didn't let go until her heart slowed down and matched his.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Every day at the studio, Luke would pester Calum asking when they would finally get to meet Indie. Not long after, Ashton and Michael would chime in as well about wanting to meet her and Calum would do his best to ignore them. But he knows his brothers and they’re persistent to the point where it will make you go mad if you don’t agree.

Today was more of a chill day tossing random lyrics and notes around trying to make it into a song. While the other three were goofing off, Calum was at the piano trying to work out the notes that have been swimming in his head for the last couple months. He has the first and last notes down pat but what is in the middle? He can’t figure it out.

“Hey, Cal,” Luke calls, “you should have a party tonight.”

“What for?”

“So, we can all hang out, drink, eat, meet Indie…”

Calum’s hands fall away from the keys and he twists around on the bench to see Luke smiling with all his teeth. He looks like that emoji with his teeth bared.

“Why do you want to meet her so badly?”

“She’s friends with you, we want to be friends with her as well,” Luke shrugs.

“Roy knows her, why can’t we?” Ashton adds.

“Yeah, is she even real at this point?” Michael chortles.

“Yes, she’s real,” Calum rolls his eyes. “How—”

His phone buzzes on the table.

“It’s Indie!” Luke exclaims trying to snatch up the phone.

Calum darts forward grabbing his phone before they can. Thankfully, it was just a text because he knew if he picked up the phone one of them would have found a way to speak with Indie and say something ridiculous.

“Stop acting like we’re twelve,” Calum shakes his head. “Two of you are married.”

“I’m engaged, actually,” Luke corrects, leaning back on the couch. He crosses his converse covered feet at the ankles. “What’d she want?”

Against his better judgment, Calum opens the message to see three photos and a text. They’re all the same photos just taken in different positions. It’s her naked body, from just below her breasts to the tops of her thighs. She’s poised in a way that you can’t see anything and it ranges from black and white, sepia, and the original photo.

‘Which one should I post?’ was the text sent.

“She sent me photos asking for help on which ones to pick for a post,” Calum says already typing away about how she should do all of them. Then he asks how her day’s going. He looks up at his friends and they’re giving him the same look of expectation. “Ugh, fine! If I invite her over you can’t be weird as shit like you are right now.”

They whoop and holler at that news.

“Finally, we get to meet the infamous Indie,” Luke sighs, resting his head on his hands. Calum throws a pillow right at his face.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

All of Calum’s friends are mingling in the backyard and kitchen area, conversation and laughter is heard over the low sound of the music playing. He’s ordered pizza and wings for everyone to enjoy and they should be delivered in about forty-five minutes. He’s been anxiously waiting for Indie to arrive but is also nervous about how the guys will act around her.

Bianca is out of town so she couldn’t make it and Calum wasn’t too sure what his feelings are about her not being here. She told him to have fun and not get too rowdy, so he appreciates that small sentiment.

Indie was excited to meet everyone else when he called her and when she asked if she could bring a friend, he assumed it was Inka so he of course said yes.

Boy was he ever wrong.

He was popping open another white claw when Andy and Sarah announced her name. He looks up in excitement to see her hugging Sarah but then it falters when he sees it’s not Inka that’s next to her. It’s that guy Ian from her Instagram posts that she posed with. The pang in his chest is back when Ian places his arm over Indie’s bare shoulders and shakes Andy and Sarah’s hand.

Calum takes notice of her outfit; she has on a dark blue top with the sleeves that only go to the tops of her arms and black jean shorts with some black boots. Her dark purple hair is pulled back behind her head in a sort of braid.

“Hey isn’t that—”

“Indie?” Calum finishes Luke’s sentence and takes a long drink of his white claw. “Yeah, let’s go introduce you.”

Ashton and Michael met them by Indie and she gave Calum a big smile.

“Hey! How’re you?” she asks rising on her tiptoes to give him a hug. Ian and Calum’s eyes meet briefly before Indie pulls away.

“I’m good, glad you could come,” Calum forces a smile. “Uh, these are the guys. It’s about time you all met. This is Luke, Ashton, and Michael. Guys, this is Indie.”

“So, you are a real person,” Ashton nods, shaking her hand.

“As opposed to what? A blow-up doll?” Indie teases and Michael chokes on his own drink.

Calum grins because he knows she’ll be able to handle herself around them. He just hopes they don’t say anything about him that would raise questions.

“I like you,” Ashton smiles. “Who’s this you brought along?”

“Oh! Right, sorry. This is Ian,” she introduces.

Calum eyes him up while he shakes his friends’ hands. He’s about the same height as Calum with short brown hair that kind of sticks up in the front. He’s got tan skin, an arm of tattoos, and has a lean muscular build.

“And this is Calum,” Indie introduces him last.

Calum notices she didn’t say ‘my friend’ or ‘my boyfriend’ when introducing Ian, so what is he exactly?

“Good to finally meet you, man,” Ian holds out his hand.

“Likewise,” Calum makes sure his grip is tight, but so is Ian’s. “Help yourselves to drinks from the coolers and kitchen. Pizza and wings should be coming soon.”

The pang in Calum’s chest only grows as the night progresses. He’s not quite sure what to make of Ian except that he and Indie are very comfortable with each other. When Calum is in ear shot they’re always flirting and touching each other.

“Sooo…” Luke drawls sidling next to Calum. “He’s that guy from her Instagram, right?”

“Yup.”

“Are he and Indie dating?”

“No idea,” Calum’s voice is clipped. He takes a drink of his white claw. The pang keeps getting sharper, his fingers are twitching for a cigarette and now he really wants some weed.

“Are you all right?”

Calum watches Ian come up behind Indie with another drink for her and he smacks her ass then proceeds to rub her back. Indie smiles up at him taking the cup.

“Yeah, I’m all right. We’re just friends,” Calum sighs.

When the party dwindled down, it was only Ashton, Michael, Luke, Andy, Sarah,Indie and Ian left sitting around the firepit. The conversation transitions from topic to topic that are mainly centered on Indie and finding out more about her. Just as Calum suspected, she’s very cryptic in her responses and that makes him smile. Calum’s sitting across the way from her and her legs are resting on Ian’s lap. Ian’s hands are rubbing at her calves.

Calum tells himself it doesn’t bother him.

Somehow the conversation turned to sex, which isn’t all that uncommon for their group but Calum was shooting daggers at Ashton because he didn’t want Indie to feel uncomfortable. As always, she surprised him and she was asking her own questions. Everyone answered her question of what their first time was like and they were all great stories of embarrassing moments.

When it came for her to answer, Calum sat up a little straighter in his chair.

“I was nineteen, wasn’t expecting it to happen at all. And you’re always told ‘oh, it’s this magical moment! You’ll be changed forever!’ but it literally lasted two or three minutes and I was like, ‘that’s it?’” she giggles. “I didn’t feel changed at all.”

“Two minutes?” Michael laughs. “Was it his first time too?”

“Hey, in my defense I’ve wanted to do it with her for a long time and when it finally happened…I lost control,” Ian smiles. “That tends to happen with Indie.”

Calum’s ears feel hot and it’s not from the fire. He ignores Luke’s quick glance to him from the bit of information that Ian was the first guy Indie had sex with.

“And we were also in your parent’s living room,” Indie giggles some more.

“All right, so now the next question…most rounds in one night?” Ashton asks lighting up another joint.

Calum wants to strangle him.

“What the hell is with all the sex talk, mate?” he finally asks trying to play it off as nonchalant, but the way Luke and Michael fidget, he knows it didn’t sound that way. No one else seems to notice, if Indie did he doesn’t know because he doesn’t dare look at her now.

“It’s a beautiful thing. It brings people closer by being open about it,” Ashton rests his ankle on his knee.

Calum snorts and shakes his head crossing his arms. He shakes his leg in annoyance.

Everyone says one or two rounds with little stories with each one. Michael made everyone laugh when he said one and a half.

“I was super drunk and it finally caught up with me and…yeah, I fell asleep,” Michael chortles. His eyes are heavy from drinking.

“That poor girl,” Andy says.

“I married her, so you know she’s the one,” Michael smiles.

“Where are Crystal and Sierra? I was looking forward to meeting them, too,” Indie says.

“They’re both at some fashion expo,” Luke explains. “We’ll all get together; they want to meet you too.”

Then fashion is the next topic of conversation until Ashton opens his mouth again. The weed must have set him off in a very inquisitive buzz.

“Indie, you didn’t answer the round's question.”

“I don’t want to be judged,” she holds up her hands in defense.

“This is a judgment free zone, this is a safe space, c’mon,” Ashton smiles lazily.

Indie looks at each person individually, except Calum before she answers.

“Three times,” she sighs, staring into the fire.

There’s a collective ‘woah’ around the group and sounds of approval. She tries to hide her smile but fails and ends up covering her face.

“Damn, that dude’s got stamina,” Michael says.

“It was a fun night,” Ian smirks while taking a drink of his beer. Indie smacks him in the shoulder and that earns even more of a reaction from the group.

They all want to know details and context, but Calum is seething. He really wants to get up and leave because he doesn’t want to hear anymore, but he knows that will cause more questions.

He remains silent for the rest of the night thinking about everything and questioning everything. He wants to know if Indie and Ian are dating and he wants to know why it matters to him so much. It really shouldn’t and that just makes him angrier.

He’s glad his friends are getting along with Indie, but he wishes it weren’t in this type of context.

When everyone had left, Calum was stuffing plates and cups in a large trash bag then he was going to light up a joint in hopes that would help calm his mind and rid his thoughts of seeing Ian and Indie together. He doesn’t even want to think about what they’re doing right now.

☆°•.¸☆¸.•°☆

Taglist: @calumance  @in-superbloom @calpalirwin @karajaynetoday @wiiildflowerrr-blog1 @sunshineeeluke @littledrummeraussie @suchalonelysunflower @hoodhoran @Fobodob @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt @sunshineeashton @ashtonsunflower​ @mymindwide​ @itjustkindahappenedreally @seanna313 @fivesecondsofonedirection @mulletcal @pandaxnienke @sebsbrokentoe @heartskippeddabat

[pocket-luv101]

Inner sloth fights with a candle stick/candelabrum. The same thing that killed Kuro. It makes me wonder if Sloth has a connection to. I don’t think Sloth is the man in the fur cape. My theory is that, when Sloth was transformed into a demon and placed within Kuro’s body, Sloth latched himself onto Kuro’s trauma and the intense emotion connected to it. That’s the reason his power and weapon is connected to a candelabrum.

I’m really excited to learn more about Sloth and, by extension, the other inner sins. Touma stated that “something can’t be made from nothing” so there’s a chance that Sensei transformed people into their different forms. Perhaps, the inner demons are supposed to act as a secondary soul who can “monitor” the balance of “the original soul” and “Jinn” within the body.

Kuro, as the first Servamp, is the most unstable because he hasn’t perfected the method yet. Sloth is much more violent than Inner Lily. Even Inner Wrath, who waxed poetic about other people’s anger and war, was actual meant to be a test rather than violence. Sloth wants Kuro’s body rather than to live as roommates in his mind.

Inner Lust: I’m going to hide all of this away so Misono won’t hate Lily. Inner Sloth: I’m going to lock up these memories until Kuro comes back to get my rose. Then, I’m using alllll of this against him in a fight.

During the livestream where hello-vampire-kitty we were talking about how the Inners could be someone connected to the Servamps in their human life. To add onto this, the person must know the Servamp well enough to help them through their trauma. That way, the demon can help the vessel come back to life. Unfortunately, it seems like a majority of the inner world shows them only boxing away their trauma and hiding them away: in glass boxes, behind stage curtains and inside easter eggs. I can tell you that’s not a good way to cope and they’re just waiting for everything to explode.

In the Lust arc, Inner Lust was very persistent that Misono stay in the garden where he would be safe. Could this be something she’s projecting onto Misono but she’s truly thinking of Lily when he was human. We know something happened to Lily where he wanted to die but we’re not given detail. Maybe Lily discovered or went through something that made him depressed. Inner Lust doesn’t want to see Misono go through the same since she saw how it affected Lily.

This is an aside... Hyde, you’re my favourite character, but why is your inner demon so different from the rest? His inner doesn’t have a body. The blob also act as if it’s Hyde rather than a separate character the way Inner Sloth, Inner Wrath and Inner Lust is portrayed. How can I make a theory when you just break the pattern? (Unless he hasn’t come into his full form. As Licht pointed out, Hyde was never able to be greedy.)

The way Inner Sloth uses a candle stick also makes me wonder if we’ll see a return of Sloth’s horse in Kuro’s flashback.

Will Tanaka make my joke of Mahiru riding a Rapidash canon?

[vanilla-vivillon]

So since y’all seemed to like Kanej kid, let’s do Zoyalai kid. Also David isn’t dead in this because it is to sad

||ROW SPOILERS||

TW, this has brief mentions of infertility and describes labor, nothing to graphic just talks about how painful it is

After the wedding zoya and Nikolai were both excited to start a family

Nikolai; while he adores his sister Linnea and his father, never really was able to grow up in a loving household

He never wanted that for his children

He and Vasily had a horrible relationship growing up and he wanted to di everything in his power to make sure his kids had a healthy sibling relationship

Zoya on the other hand never really thought she’d have kids

Before everything went down she kinda assumed she’d work as a general and work to help Grisha

She never thought she’d have children

That obviously had to change

The country needed heirs

Zoya already decided that since she was probably gonna live a loooooong time, when her heir came of age she would step down; that way she wouldn’t love for a super long time.

Now that Zoya was gonna have children she wasn’t honestly sure about

What if they hold her back?

What if she gives up to many duties for them?

But higher the all these other worries she didn’t want to turn into her own mother

No matter how much Nikolai assured her that never will happen

Zoya still had worries

Zoya was a lot of things but motherly she was not

Nevertheless in February Zoya and Nikolai told there friends they were expecting

They were all incredibly happy for them

Tamar loved children although she herself didn’t want any and couldn’t wait to teach the kid things like how to ride a horse or shoot

Tolya objected saying the kid should be well educated on poatry and great works that way the Nazyalensky dynasty might be somewhat pious

Genya was hoping for a girl. Genya and David had there son Forrest earlier that year and Genya was already planning play dates

David was happy for his friends and had already started on projects for toys for the kid

When they wrote Mal and Alina they were ecstatic

While Mal gave tips on how to handle babies to Nikolai

Alina with her wiles and years of friendship with Zoya figured out all the way from Keramzin Zoya was worried

She wrote “Zoya babe imma cut to the chase, your nervous, your scared, your probably worried you’ll turn out to be a horrible mother. And imma tell you your not. Cause you’ve got an amazing freaking team. You’ve got Nikolai, Magnus, Linnea, and Genya and David, the twins, and of course myself. There’s no way in hell we’d let you turn out horrible to the kid. We’ve got you”

It helped Zoya a lot

She decided it was orphan wiles that Alina used to diagnose her exact problem from the letter she wrote to her

And Zoya did have wonderful people to help her

She wasn’t alone

Zoya had been trying to remember that more

Three months along Zoya was safely into Trmester two and it was time to tell the public

This was crucial to the monarchy

While zoya and Nikolai were popular

They needed an heir to convive people of the security of the nation

They made a public speech announcing the baby and Ravka went wild

If there’s one thing Ravkans know how to do it’s rally around babies

Letter came pouring in from name suggestions to old wives tales

They said Rosemary made the baby healthier

They said they should name there child Plumje

Well the Plumje comment was from some Kerch girl Zoya found strange but never mind that

The announcement was huge

The people had hope

Hope that wolves wouldn’t come knocking

Hope that there boys and girls wouldn’t be drafted

Hope for peace

While the people rejoiced Zoyas pregnancy was getting tougher

She had a easy enough first trimester but the second? That was rough

The morning sickness was bad

Her Healer; a no nonsense Fjerdan Women said that the vomiting wasn’t something that could be healed

And so Zoya suffered on

Zoya insisted on keeping her normal schedule

Her usual meetings with Grisha and the spy’s

Passive agressive letters to the Kerch

Aggressive aggressive letters to the shu

And trying to figure out whether or not there was a revolution group in the Wandering Isle

Zoyas schedule was already stressed and the baby wasn’t helping

Eventually her healer; Monika, put her foot down

“Your Magesty” She started “if you do not alleviate your stress I guarantee your pregnancy will be worse”

“Look Monika I can handle a little throw up”

Monika and Zoya attended the little palace together

While Monika was a healer and back then the animosity between corporalki and etherealki were high, they were friends

It was good to have a powerful healer in your corner when half the little palace hates you

And it was good to have a powerful squaller in your corner when your Fjerdan and in enemy territory

“Zoya you are endangering your child” Monika stated

By this statement Nikolai had enough

And zoya finally listened

Nikolai assumed some of her duties and Zoya started to feel a bit better

Her second trimester was stressful for there relationship

Nikolai had a hard time understanding zoya

And Zoyas fears started to grow

But they were a good couple

And they worked through tension before

Zoya opened up about her worries of being a competent queen with a child

She leaned on Nikolai more

And they worked together to fix the damage

By the end of her second trimester there relationship was healthier

And they thought the third couldn’t be as bad

In a way they were right

Her morning sickness while still present was significantly less then her second trimester

However I new thing arose

A question that everyone had been thinking

“What if the baby is Grisha?”

The Ravkans had accepted a Grisha queen

But a Grisha dynasty was another thing

Monika told them outright that the baby was probably Grisha

Being Grisha tended to run in families

And Zoya was fairly sure her paternal grandmother was also a squaller

The whole science of Grisha heritage wasn’t studied well

Most Grisha were in Ravka in the second army

And most of the soldiers don’t have children

Zoya also learned her new found ability to sense Grisha wasn’t fool proof

Sometimes she couldn’t tell at all

And in Genyas case of being somewhere between a corporalki and materialki, she couldn’t tell what she was

She also couldn’t sense anything in Forrest Kostyk

That meant they couldn’t rely on Zoyas power

Nikolai couldn’t help but think tracing heritage would be easier if he wasn’t a bastard

His mother’s line was easy

She was a Fjerdan princess so he could trace everything back from the very start

And from his mother not a drop of Grisha blood ran through his veins

His fathers got murky

Magnus didn’t come from nobility

He was self made

A self made orphan

So other then his father neither he nor Magnus knew anything about Grisha influence

Nevertheless they had other worries

Zoya was in her third trimester and was going to give birth any minute now

Zoya honestly didn’t think she would make it this far

And that has nothing to do with her fears of motherhood

Her own mother had four miscarriages

Pregnancy complications were common

Especially in Ravka where most couldn’t afford mediks

But now that the due date was fast approaching Zoya was in fact okay

Zoya can handle pain, she’s handled much worse

Labor was one of the least of her worries

The due date was October eighth

And on time and punctual Zoya went into labor during lunch

Nikolai joked it would be a good trait for a ruler to show up on time

However Zoya was in to much pain to think about a snarky retort

She had vastly underestimated how much this would hurt

The pain was blinding

But Zoya was strong enough to survive the fall

And so in 3:07 PM son October eighth

Prince Mycanae Juris Nazyalensky was born (prounounced My-kuh-nay-uh because I threw some random vowels together and made it a name)

Myca (My Kuh) for short

With a tuft of chocolate brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes he shone

Nikolai absolutely adored him

He would rock him and sing him lullabies

But mostly tell him stories

About the amazing Privateer Sturmhond

Of the allusive Juris

Of the little termite

Zoya in the other hand had a different approach to there newborn

When he first cried she was elated

Zoya didn’t hold back the tears of happiness and didn’t even swear the healers to secrecy after

Zoya was the epitome of

“Oh god it’s a baby, as I holding him wrong? Does he have the right clothes on? He’s so fragile and precious”

Monika had to tell her three times that Myca’s crib was fine for him and it wasn’t to hard

However the family’s elation was short lived

They were a family

But they were also the rulers of Ravka

And Ravka needed to see the face of there hope

Four hours after his birth Nikolai presented him before the nobility

Zoya still wasn’t feeling to great and Nikolai Insisted he could do it

This is what the Ravkans needed

The baby met stability

Met peace

For once in many years the people could lay down in there beds without fear

But to Zoya and Nikolai

There baby wasn’t a political tool

Or a savior

He was just a baby

A perfect

Small

Baby

This is what love does.

Im really proud of myself for accomplishing this. I worked really hard on it and to keep our characters in canon. My ask box is open and n do any Grishaverse asks

If this gets 25 likes I’ll do a part two 😉

I defo think Nikolai and Zoya would have more then one kid

Also I kid you not I couldn’t find any good names for the life of me so I eventually took a break and was doing my History homework when I was reading some old Greek thing and saw the word “Mycenae” and was like “Yeah I can massively mispronounce this and make it a name”

Here is part two https://dablackdahlia.tumblr.com/post/651104016423583744/the-black-dahlia

I also made a Kanej kid one here

[doppel-drop-distance]

Doppel Spotlight: Giovanna

Surprise~!

I know, I know, about time, right? The hypothetical Soul Gem has broken, and the Doppel Spotlights are back from the dead! Er…temporarily, anyway. I can’t say for certain how many more of these I’m up to doing just yet. It’s a bit too early for me to make any big estimates or guarantees. But! This Doppel analysis has sat here unfinished for quite some time now! And you all have shown such lovely support that I couldn’t help but be excited looking at all this old material again. So as a gift to you all, let’s finally analyze the Doppel of our main protagonist, Iroha Tamaki!

This analysis will contain spoilers for all of Magia Record’s first arc! This does include anime-specific content, as I will be discussing certain scenes from Episodes 5 and 7! You have been warned!

Let’s dive in, shall we?

GIOVANNA

Doppel of Silence

Feature: Cuckoo

“The master of this emotion is aware of how pitiful her Doppel is and refuses to look at it. This Doppel wordlessly wraps around and strangles anything it doesn't want to hear as it continues its search for something to fill the hole in its heart. While it should be calling for someone, it is cowardly and afraid of acknowledging the reality it has concealed, and so it remains, silently covering its ears.”

It's been a while, so how about we start things off with a little refresher?

Both Giovanna and Campanella’s names are direct references to Night on the Galactic Railroad, a Japanese novel written by Kenji Miyazawa. In the story, a shy boy named Giovanni travels on a star-bound train with his close friend, Campanella. To keep things brief, I’ll leave most of the general plot details out. However, if you’d like a lengthier summary, I suggest reading the summary I provided in the previous Doppel Spotlight, which is linked here.

I should also mention I actually located an English-translated copy of Night on the Galactic Railroad! As a result, I can quote the story directly, although I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the translations or my own interpretations. Please keep that in mind as you read!

The opening scene of the novel establishes early on that Giovanni is a reserved, self-conscious boy. In class, he is certain he knows the answer to the teacher’s question. However, when called on, he doubts himself and stays silent, bringing upon the jeers of his classmates. Campanella, who also raised his hand for the question, willingly chooses not to answer, despite also knowing, in order to show some sympathy for the flustered Giovanni.

This opening scene is likely what is referenced in Giovanna’s nature as the Doppel of silence. Giovanni stays silent out of self-doubt, and as a result believes himself to be pathetic. Iroha also silences herself in her own way, being very passive, self-conscious, and reserved at the beginning of her story. And, true to that comparison, her Doppel’s reflections of insecurity make her feel pitiful, to the point where she refuses to look at it.

Giovanni’s character can also be representative of Iroha’s inner loneliness. With his mother sickly and his father out of the house, Giovanni is too occupied with taking jobs and caring for his family to have time to talk. More often, he is bullied by his peers. The only exception is with Campanella, who doesn’t bully him, and even sympathizes with him. As Giovanni and Campanella travel on the Galactic Railroad, Giovanni’s loneliness is at its clearest. Campanella begins talking to Kaoru, another passenger on the train, and Giovanni becomes morose with jealousy. See this quote here:

“Is there really nobody who will stick with me to the edges of the universe and beyond? Campanella just sits there jabbering away with that little girl, and it hurts me more than anybody knows.”

Iroha is also incredibly lonely, deep down. She lives on her own, with parents away on business trips. The anime implies she doesn’t have a lot of friends either, with her classmates talking behind her back instead. Worst of all, her sister, who she values more than anyone else, is completely absent, Iroha being the only one that remembers that she exists. Such relationships sound awfully lonely, don’t they? It’s only through her bond with Yachiyo and the rest of Mikazuki Villa that Iroha grows into her own, letting her optimism, warmth, and confidence shine through.

Giovanna’s connections to Giovanni tie her quite close to Campanella, Yachiyo’s Doppel. And, well, Yachiyo is certainly not the kind and sympathetic Campanella at first meet. Her first encounter with Iroha is cold, brutally honest, and fully intent on keeping Iroha out at any cost. We learn later on that this attitude is a wall Yachiyo puts up to protect people – that she believes the people that get close to her die, and that she still struggles with the guilt of her past. Yet, it is Iroha who shows sympathy to Yachiyo, breaking down that wall between them. For example, let’s take a look at Chapter Six. After a trip to the Memory Museum Uwasa, Yachiyo has been reminded of the death in her life and is reflexively closing herself off again to keep Iroha safe. Iroha once shriveled up in response to Yachiyo’s intimidating rejection, but now, as her friend, she isn’t having it. She says this:

“You saying there’s nothing you can do to help Tsuruno and the others… It makes me feel sad…Lonely…We fought together all this time…But more than that, I’m angry. I’m angry with you, Yachiyo...”

“I’m your friend, Yachiyo. And as your friend, I’m going to take out that Uwasa, all on my own! I’m going to be the one to protect you. I’ll smash this made-up idea you have of me sacrificing myself for you!”

Just as Giovanni interprets his journey with Campanella as a sign to stay diligent in life, Iroha’s friendship with Yachiyo allows her to steady her own resolve and fight adamantly. Their namesake connection is a sign of their bond, and their newfound devotion to fight together and protect each other.

To wrap up this Galactic Railroad talk, have you noticed that in many of the anime’s early episodes, Iroha is riding on a train? In fact, it is on a train that Iroha is whisked away to Zenobia’s Barrier in Kamihama, where she meets Yachiyo for the first time. Perhaps a stretch, but a fun little detail regardless.

Anyway, there’s far more to Giovanna than story connections! Giovanna’s silent nature reflects a lot of Iroha’s character struggles: mainly, her feelings of denial, and her inclination towards self-sacrifice.

“This Doppel wordlessly wraps around and strangles anything it doesn't want to hear as it continues its search for something to fill the hole in its heart. While it should be calling for someone, it is cowardly and afraid of acknowledging the reality it has concealed, and so it remains, silently covering its ears.”

When you think of someone “strangling anything it doesn’t want to hear”, concealing their own reality and being afraid of acknowledging it...well, that sounds a lot like someone who doesn’t want to accept the truth.

Iroha shows quite a bit of denial in her search for Ui. The odds are stacked against her for a lot of Arc 1. She finds little to no clues wherever she searches, and the Ui she encounters from the Uwasa of the Commoner’s Horse is only a fake. Iroha is certain that Touka and Nemu, Ui’s closest friends, will remember Ui. But, they do not, and only ridicule Iroha for her seemingly impossible set of memories. Throughout Chapter Ten she is belittled for sticking to her goals. She’s ensured on all fronts that Touka and Nemu aren’t believing her, and that there’s nothing she can do to change their minds. But, no matter how many times Iroha is told by the world that she’s believing in a lie, she never lets her belief go.

“I’m still going. No matter what you say. I’m bringing Ui back with me…She’s the whole reason I came back to Kamihama.”

This stubborn determination, when twisted by the corrupt perception of a Witch, is far more like paranoid desire: an aching, fearful need to find whatever is missing in her heart and get rid of whatever threatens it.

Following this, let’s talk about Giovanna’s feature: a cuckoo. Cuckoos are solitary birds, shy and secretive, and best known for their calls. Yet, Giovanna’s beak is tied up with cloth. She cannot call for anyone. Her journey to find Ui is painted as one of futility: Giovanna searches and searches for the one she’s longed for, but in the end, is too afraid to call out to her.

Here’s a fun detail, by the way:

In Episode 5, when Iroha summons her Doppel for the first time, Giovanna actually does not have bandages around her beak (which is why she’s able to let out that high-pitched shriek):

In future appearances, however, Giovanna does have the bandages around her beak.

Come to think of it, Giovanna looks rather... different in her first appearance, doesn’t she? Not only is her beak not bandaged, but her colors are a lot redder and more decayed, her cloak is worn and full of holes, and the crown around her head is gone. This may just be a stylistic choice for Iroha’s first Doppel, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign for something else. Maybe that Giovanna is angry with the Commoner’s Horse Uwasa for projecting an illusion of Ui? Giovanna does fight a lot more aggressively here than in any other appearance, after all - she wraps the Uwasa up and drills into it with her beak. Meanwhile, in her second appearance, she only attacks an Uwasa with her bandages.

Giovanna’s unwillingness to call for others actually brings up an interesting facet of Iroha’s character: her sacrificial devotion. The reason that Iroha unleashes her Doppel in Episode 5 is because she neglects her own needs in favor of others. She believes that she must be strong on her own to find Ui, a thought reflected by her own Doppel’s words in Episode 7:

“Stronger…If you don’t become strong, you won’t be able to find anything! Cover your ears! Shut those eyes! Silence determines fate!”

When Iroha fails to find Ui within the Uwasa of the Commoner’s Horse, she is filled with despair. Ui was right before her eyes, proving the beliefs that even she may have begun to doubt. Yet, in that same instant she recognizes the Ui she sees is nothing but an illusion the Uwasa projected for her. So close, and yet so far. When Iroha begins to succumb to her despair, she even mentions that it might’ve been from the shock of not seeing Ui.

With all of these feelings, all of this disappointment and despair, who does Iroha use her only Grief Seed on? Yachiyo, of course. At this point in the story, Iroha wants to be friends with Yachiyo, but they are not seen as equals. She is not comfortable enough to open up to Yachiyo about her feelings, and neither is Yachiyo with her own. Yet, Iroha still sacrifices herself to keep Yachiyo from falling to despair. And by staying silent about her own woes, Iroha falls to her despair for the first time, summoning her Doppel.

Let’s keep this topic in mind and focus on something I haven’t addressed before: the Magia Archive artbook! There are some production notes in here that provide insights on the meaning and symbolism behind a Doppel. Unfortunately, I don’t know Japanese, but I did find a translation of Giovanna’s section, courtesy of @greenyvertekins. Here is a small piece from it that I would like to highlight:

“The motif is a bird flute and a saint with a rabbit-like appearance.”

The theme of a “saint” struck me as a little odd, at first. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to get that idea from her design. But, it did lead me to a unique little find, which is probably a stretch, but maybe kind of cool anyway?

(credit to Silvermoon424 on Reddit for the scan!)

It’s a bit harder to see in the official art, but that crown circling Giovanna’s head – to me, it sort of looks like a crown of thorns. A crown of thorns is a very striking sign of self-sacrifice.

And sure, this is the stretchiest stretch that ever stretched, but those drop-like patterns on Giovanna’s body are red, and kind of look like drops of blood, right? Beads of blood that have also been associated with the crown of thorns, r-right? Right…?

Phew…I’ve been going on for a while, haven’t I? Is this…is this longer than the first one? I don’t even know anymore…Let’s silently wrap this up with one more, fun little stretch on my part.

Both cuckoos and bunnies, which are elements of Giovanna’s design, are symbolically representative of spring. Spring is cherry blossom season in Japan, and the Eternal Sakura Uwasa lives near a cherry blossom tree only said to bloom when Touka, Nemu, Ui and Iroha are united again. At the end of the event Cherry Blossom Dreams, the Eternal Sakura even remarks that “spring can finally begin” because they are all together. So, if you squint really hard, maaaaybe the springtime connections here are representative of Iroha, Touka, Nemu, and Ui’s union under the cherry blossom tree. But probably not. I’m just having some fun.

And, that’s it! That’s all I’ve got for Giovanna! Wow! That sure was something!

I hope you all enjoyed my silly little analysis! I know some of these connections are a bit loose, but I like drawing whatever parallels I can with what understanding I have, haha. It was great to write one of these again and share it with you all!

If you have any of your own thoughts, additions, or corrections, do send them along! I would love to hear other interpretations!

[minaramen]

Tenn Kujo -  16 Idol Album - Part 1: 16 Idol Album

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Kaoru:...and so, since the “Welcome to the kids room” project had great popularity, they want to hear your story again

Kaoru: They’re planning to go deeper on your childhood stories. I want to hear your opinion before deciding whether to accept the offer or not

Tenn:...you mean the renewal program for the 6th anniversary of Rabbity kun, right?

Gaku: Yeah, the one where we had to bring pictures from our childhood. There were pretty unexpected ones, it was an interesting project

Ryunosuke: Yes, I feel like we had as much fun as the fans in joining that project!

Kaoru: Well, I haven't gotten the details yet, but apparently now they want to discover the roots of your current selves by looking at an episode from your childhood

Kaoru: The roots of your current selves. When I come to think about it, I feel like the world can’t live without your participation

Tenn: We didn’t live as idols from the very beginning

Tenn: It must be something that makes people understand what we do to live as TRIGGER, and meet our fans

Tenn: If we have the chance to add this to last time’s content, count me in

Ryunosuke: If it’s okay with Tenn, I’d like to join! 

Ryunosuke: They want to see our natural selves, not the three of us wrapped in cellophane

Gaku: So we’re being asked to add a memory to the picture we showed before, right?

Gaku: It’s fine with me. I think this is also the reason why my father took that picture of me

Kaoru: Okay, I can see a large consensus from you. Apparently Idolish7, Re:Vale and Zool will join the project as well. I’m expecting your stories to win over the others’!

Gaku: Of course, we won’t lose. We can count on the gap of a little slender Ryuu and a picnic version of Tenn, after all

Tenn: Me? How about the little version of such a grown man like you, falling down and getting injured? I think this is quite a nice gap as well

Ryunosuke: W-we’re still complimenting each other, right? 

Kaoru: All your pictures were very child-like, indeed. I mean, you definitely weren’t riding a white horse…

Trigger: A white horse??

Ryunosuke: A-anyway…we need to properly think about what story to tell

Gaku: Yes. Especially you need to pay extra attention again, Tenn, since there’s Nanase as well 

Tenn:.....I know. I’ll talk to Riku again

Tenn: How about you? Do you still remember why you fell down in detail?

Gaku: Shut up! Children can fall down in the middle of an empty space as well! It’s not that important!

Ryunosuke: Hey, don’t fight…!

Ryunosuke: I wonder if I will disappoint our fans, talking too much about such a common person…

Gaku: What are you talking about, Ryuu? I want to know more about the child you were and how he became the nice guy we know

Tenn: And I’m sure it’s the same for our fans. Everything will be alright, Ryuu. They love you just the way you are

Ryunosuke:....yes. There is a kind of invisible bond between us 

Ryunosuke: I feel even more excited about this project!

Kaoru: Yes. We’ve always been helped by fans.

Kaoru: So, let’s get into this project!

Trigger: Yes!

*Cut to a dressing room*

*Knock knock*

Tenn: Yes, come in

*Door opens*

Minami: I apologize for bothering you, I’m Natsume. Since we’re supposed to join the same program today, I thought it was appropriate to come greet you

Tenn: Thank you for your kindness. I’m glad to work with you, today

Minami: It’s the same for me

Minami: I’m not really accustomed to variety programs yet, but I think I have the opportunity to learn a lot from you

Tenn: You’re not accustomed…? As far as I know, you entered this business way before me

Tenn: Also, I don’t feel like ZOOL have anything to envy Idolish7 for when it comes to variety programs

Minami: Oh dear, I don’t think so. We didn’t do better than Idolish7 the other day, where we were supposed to guess the best selling-order of popular sweet stores

Minami: However, I’m pretty confident things would have turned out differently if the challenge was about who could eat more

Tenn:....as I thought, you guys have a natural attitude for variety programs 

*Knock knock*

Tenn: Ah, yes! Come in!

*Door opens*

Mitsuki: Hi, Kujo! Are you free now? Ah…! There’s Natsume as well!

Iori: Hello. Sorry for interrupting your conversation. We noticed the name next to the door and we came to say hi

Minami: Excuse me for being a bother. We were just talking about you

Mitsuki: What? And what were you saying?

Minami: I was talking about the other day, when we lost to you at the quiz about famous sweet shops

Tenn: Ah, it was a confrontation between you and the Izumi brothers

Iori: We were definitely advantaged, that time… let’s answer more impartial questions, next time

Minami: Impartial? Then, how about ranking the prefectures with the largest number of ramen shops?

Iori: Or we could rank the prefectures with the largest number of zoological gardens 

Mitsuki: Oi! Each of you is basically suggesting questions that would advantage himself!

Tenn: Ah…. My body and soul were waiting for Izumi Mitsuki to say something. You’re pretty strong, as always…

Minami: Fufu, I apologize, I said that on an impulse

Iori: I-I just said that because of the program you two are about to join…

Tenn: Do you know the program?

Iori: I do. It’s “100 pictures of animals”

Iori: I’ve heard that they even showed the first public pictures of a newborn white tiger from a zoo…

Minami: What a detailed description…do you guys from Idolish7 check even programs you’re not supposed to join?

Iori: W-well…yes…

Minami: Oh, I see… I think now I understand the secret behind the effectiveness you show during the programs

Tenn: You make it difficult to tell whether you’re acting or being serious, Natsume Minami…

Mitsuki: Ah, I was about to forget the main subject..!  We have a little gift for you. It’s a new product of our family! This is your portion, Kujo!

Mitsuki: We were planning to come to your dressing room later, Natsume, so we don’t have your portion here. But we’ll bring it by afterwards!

Minami: Oh, I’m happy. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, I apologize for the bother I’ve caused you

Tenn: Thank you so much for taking time for me. Shall we eat it together now?

Minami:  Are you asking me?

Tenn: Of course. It would be nice to know each other better before the recordings. Izumi brothers, you’re invited as well if you have time

Iori: We….too?

Mitsuki: Aah, I’m sorry our gift ended up causing so much trouble ! I’m afraid we have to go…right, Iori?

Iori*thinking*: Thinking about the discussion we had before regarding the questions, Natsume san watches us from an unique perspective in the variety area. I need to inspect the enemy’s movements as well

Iori: We definitely accept your invitation

Mitsuki: Iori?!

Iori: Nii san, I bet you’d like to hear their impression after they eat it

Mitsuki: W-well…

Iori: This is a product designed for the summer. Actually, my brother used the same concept of the baked sweets children excitedly eat during their summer vacations

Tenn: Did you? That’s amazing

Minami: So, you have such a talent as well

Mitsuki: Aah, I’m sorry! That’s why I thought our gift was more trouble than it’s worth

Tenn: What are you saying? I honestly think it’s amazing. The box is very colorful and cute…can I open it?

Mitsuki: Y-yes!

Tenn: Wah…! There are so many different shapes of sweets. It really looks like a toy box

Minami: I agree…there are sweets with candies on them, the colors are very vivid, and you even drew a face on the biscuits. It’s so adorable

Tenn: Watermelons, sea creatures…there are so many biscuits that reminds me of summer

Mitsuki: I wanted people to have fun struggling to decide which cookie to eat day by day

Minami: You also considered children for the bite-size. Your attention to details is clear

Iori….obviously, like I expected from my brother. He pays attention to everything. Not only the taste and the appearance, he also considers the customer's point of view 

Mitsuki:...eheh. This is thanks to you, Iori. You know, when I made these sweets I was thinking about you as a child

Iori: About…me?

Mitsuki: Exactly. I felt nostalgic about the time when you were a child, and used to look at the sweet assortments with such sparkling eyes! 

Mitsuki: I wanted to make children as happy as you were back then!

Iori: Nii san…

Minami: So, brothers love gave birth to the sweets

Tenn: And they seem even more precious after hearing the episodes you chose to tell. I’m going to eat these sweets with gratitude

Mitsuki: Ah, thank you…! I’m happy to hear that

Minami: You have a good relationship as brothers, don’t you?

Mitsuki: We do! And now that we grew up it became even better!

Iori:...yes. I agree

Mitsuki: Speaking about good relationships between brothers, it’s the same for you and Riku! Right?

Minami: Oh my, are you telling me that even Kujo san turns into a sweet big brother in front of Nanase san?

Tenn:....I wouldn’t say I’m sweet, though. Do you think I am?

Iori: Don’t ask me! This is something you should know yourself!

Mitsuki: He seems pretty harsh to me!

Iori: He may be harsh with words, but he’s basically sweet as sugar with his little brother

Minami: Oh, is he….?

Tenn: Wait, take what he said with a pinch of salt. We’re not different from all the other brothers

Iori: Are you serious? You set up such an incredible game for him, you completely devoted yourself to him. That’s why he turned into such a selfish, childish, innocent angel 

Minami:  A selfish, childish, innocent angel..?

Tenn:...maybe asking Izumi Iori to join us that day was a mistake

Mitsuki:..what incredible game are you talking about?

Tenn: When we were children, I acted as a robot controlled by Riku. He could give me all the orders he wanted

Tenn: They were childlike things, like firing missiles or equipping a machine gun

Mitsuki: In other words, he could manipulate Kujo as he preferred…? 

Minami: That’s…. It sounds pretty fascinating. Since he experienced such a game when he was a child, I guess all the interest he had in toys which didn’t move vanished 

Mitsuki: But just with that he could make Riku happy

Tenn: Exactly

Tenn: When Riku was a kid, there were many days when he couldn’t leave his bed.  As those days went by, he was done with illustration books and anime…sometimes, he had a bored expression on his face 

Tenn: One day, he got into an anime about robots. So I thought that I could entertain him by becoming a robot myself

Tenn: Riku was the pilot with the controller. He could spent the whole day having fun by making me move around

Iori:....you really are unique brothers

Tenn: ….I was glad as well. Seeing Riku laugh represented the greatest happiness, to me

Minami: It’s hard for me to imagine, since I’m an only child…basically, a big brother is willing to sacrifice himself for his little brother? 

Tenn: It’s not a sacrifice

Tenn: A big brother draws strengths from his little brother’s mere presence 

End of part 1