sfdev

[storm-driver]

*lays seductively on a piano* hey, if you wanna find an interesting read for people craving some Roxas content, i have a massive wip fic over on my ao3 that im getting ready to drop two big updates for in the next month or two wink wink.

it's a completely platonic fic about Roxas and his oddball connection to Ventus after the events of kh3. it's very long. it's already longer than a lord of the rings book.

[dollfaceksj]

BDSMSBSKFNSKSNKSD A DOSE OF WHATENDKSBSKSND DND FKDNDKDNSKSMS. CLOVER IM DKS SLSNSLSNS SKS. OC IS PISSING ME OFF. WTF IS WRONG WITH U IS A PERF TITLE BC WTF IS WRONG W HER !!! WHERE TF THEM PILLS COME FROM !!!!

this was written in a hurry. didnt feel like bullet point format would fit w this chapter. its not my best work but i hope yall get the feel i was trying to convey <3 (i won’t answer asks that spoil the story! gonna wait a few days so i don’t spoil the other readers who arent active currently!)

tw: body image issues(!!!) very deeply rooted issues that majority of women n ppl go thru. u have been warned. <3

wc: 2k ish

can’t afford love | myg (m) #20

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“Why the fuck do you have a dose of birth control pills?”

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The instance the words leave his lips, your heart free falls—no, plummets—to the pit of the Earth. This isn’t how it was supposed to go. He shouldn’t have found out this way.

You can’t bring the anxious quiver in your lips to stop when your mind travels at lightning speed trying to come up with a response. An explanation. An excuse. A lie.

But nothing comes out.

There’s nothing that you can bring yourself to say.

You messed up.

Are you even sorry? Or are you Just sorry you got caught?

Your eyes mindlessly stare at the box of pills like it’s going to vanish into thin air and you desperately want to witness it.

Doesn’t happen, though. The box stares back at you like it’s mocking you. Laughing in your face whilst being in his grasp.

He says your name. Quietly. Angrily. Repeats it when you don’t respond. Sounds like his voice is inside your head yet it also sounds like it’s coming from a galaxy that is seven million light years away.

After what seems like ages—which in reality was just a few seconds—you finally find the voice in the back of your throat that seemingly abandoned you in your time of need. “It’s an old box of pills and besides, why are you snoopi–”

“The label says you bought these two days ago. I’m not fucking stupid.” The words don’t just roll off his tongue, they launch out of his mouth like a spear. Penetrates your chest. The tip of said deadly spear nudges at your heart. Pokes it a little. Maybe makes it bleed a little, you’re not too sure.

Your panicked gaze slowly shifts to meet his angry eyes after he aggressively throws the box back onto your dresser.

“And if you’re going to berate me for snooping, someone has been trying to reach you. Called you 3 times. Just went to check to make sure it wasn’t an emergency.” He steps aside and nods towards your purse, which is now lying on its side, wide open with the contents spilled out. Your phone. Lip gloss. Wallet. Tube of Vaseline. 3 q-tips. Pack of gum. Few loose pain killer capsules.

You slowly start shaking your head and take a small step back, hoping to enlarge the distance between the two of you that you had tried to close just a few moments ago. “You won’t get it, so just–”

“No,” he says as he stomps to you, wrapping his hand around your bicep to stop you in your tracks. “You’re going to stop fucking lying to me. What the hell has been going on with you? Why are you acting like this?”

You try to wiggle your arm out of his grasp but he doesn’t let you go that easily. Tightens his grip. Enough to keep you still. Doesn’t hurt, though.

“Let me go.”

“No.”

“Let me g–”

He pulls you a little closer. Not in a romantic way. In a don’t-you-move-an-inch way. “Why won’t you just talk to me? I don’t understand why you keep pushing me away.”

Swallowing is starting to feel like sandpaper scratching its way down your esophagus. “Please, just– stop.”

He shakes his head, damp black hair swinging back and forth. Water dripping off his ends onto his shoulders like shiny pearls. They drop onto the fabric of his shirt, creating tiny little polka dots that are darker than the color of his shirt. “No, I won’t stop. You’re crossing the fucking line and you know it.”

He’s got you. That much is clear.

The silence that envelops around you is so prominent. Heavy. Wraps around you. Kind of like you’re a fetus in a pregnant belly.

Heat starts rising to your nose and cheeks, enough for you to realize that you’re starting to get emotional. Doesn’t take much longer for tears to start rolling down your cheeks.

Is there any point in hiding it now?

“You’ll never understand, Yoongi.” You shake your head as you bring your hand up. Wipe your nose with the back of your hand. Sniff softly.

His chest deflates as he heavily exhales. Feline eyes soften for a moment before his brows pinch together again. “Then make me understand.” His voice is still angry. Furious. Fuming.

“Nothing’s been the same for me, don’t you get it?” you shakily murmur, finally wiggling out of Yoongi’s grasp but not bothering yourself to get rid of the proximity between you two. Somewhere there’s comfort in it. “I know I shouldn’t have got those, I fucking know. But what you don’t know is what it feels like, okay?”

“Like what fee– What the hell are you even talking about?”

You cut him off. Burst out. “I feel disgusting, okay?”

His frown deepens. Eyes never leave you. The intensity on his features keeps you glued to the floor beneath your bare feet.

Before he can even respond, you continue with your outburst. “You don’t know what it’s like to have been the it-girl, to have been looked at and craved by any- and everyone and to now look and feel like this.”

It’s the truth. Yoongi was the king of your college because he had you. You made heads turn. You made guys fight their best friends. You made girls copy your clothes and makeup.

And now, here you are. Gotten rid of a full-length mirror in your bathroom because you hated seeing yourself naked.

Silence prevails once again. Just for a few moments that feel like centuries.

His expression doesn’t change. “Like what?”

“Ugly! Fat! Disgusting! Don’t you get it? My hair fell out, I have stretchmarks and scars all over my body, my tooth fell out at one point, my boobs are saggy, I don’t feel like taking care of myself. I burst into tears whenever I even remotely look at myself.”

You continue, pointing an accusatory finger at Yoongi and press it into his chest until he winces. “And don’t you fucking get it wrong. I fucking love Jun. I would do it all over again. I love being his mother and there’s nothing, absolutely nothing, that I’d change it for. But nothing prepared me for this. I haven’t gone out, I haven’t done anything. I bring Jun to daycare and pick him up and that’s it.”

You start backing away from him. Lips still quivering and brows furrowed in hurt.

As you approach your bed, you sink down. Bury your face in your palms. Sob a little. “But then we started being intimate again and you made me feel so beautiful. So wanted. I didn’t see it coming at all. Like everything I was seeing was a lie and everything you saw was the undeniable truth.”

You take a shaky breath to continue, “I meant it when I said I wanted the baby, that was never a lie. I wouldn’t lie about that. But as we kept having sex, you just…” you sniff, “made me so addicted to the way you made me feel. Made me feel so good physically but also like I was the most beautiful woman on the planet.”

Your eyes involuntarily shift up to meet his but in the instance you do, you regret it.

He’s frowning. Black eyes staring you down. Arms crossed over his chest. Looks like his mind is racing at a million miles a minute.

You drop your head again, hurt coating your voice. “I got scared. Scared that I’d get pregnant when I was finally starting to gain some of my self esteem back. Scared that I’d have to end our arrangement and we wouldn’t have that anymore. That I wouldn’t see you anymore.” You steal another glance at him before shifting your eyes back to the floor. His face is still the same. “I decided to get birth control the day before the award ceremony. I swear, I just wanted to delay the pregnancy only by a month or two. I just wanted to feel okay for a little while longer.”

It’s quiet. Really quiet. Your vision is blurry. Makes the floor look like a pool of blood thanks to the bordeaux rug. Makes his feet look like two hazy clouds.

You hold your heart when he finally speaks up. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

Ugh.

He doesn’t get it. He will never understand. Never.

“Because it’s humiliating! It’s embarrassing. I…” You exhale deeply in an attempt to compose yourself. “I’m ashamed, okay? The man that once saw me as the queen of the world has to see me come down to this? I didn’t want you to think of me as this… this pathetic, insecure woman. I didn’t want you to think ‘is this really what I once loved?’.”

The frown on his brows deepens. He kind of looks genuinely offended but still tries to keep the rest of his expression as neutral as possible. He’s failing, though.

Not possible when the line between his brows looks deeper than the Pacific Ocean. When his lips twitch like he wants to yell. When the veins in his neck look like they want to pop out of his skin.

You take a deep breath after the explanation. Hang your head down. Wipe your tears with your palms. Sniff quietly. Allow a soft sob to escape your system—which makes your frame tremble slightly.

All those days, weeks, months that you spent hating yourself. Mourning the you that once was. Mourning the Yoongi that loved you.

It all comes back to you in the form of tears. Sobs. Pain.

It’s so quiet that you hear him preparing to speak. The way his lips kiss his teeth. Clears his throat. He says your name. Once. Twice. Sighs when you don’t react.

Then he gently places your phone in your lap.

Mom

Missed call (5)

You sniff and wipe your nose clean. You clear your throat and dial her number. Hold your phone to your ear. Sigh softly before you let out a croaky, “hello?”

Yoongi turns his back to you. Sighs loudly as he runs his hands through his hair and tries to process all the information you just dumped on him.

Your mother sounds distressed on the other side of the line. “What the hell took you so long?”

“Sorry, I was in the showe–”

“Stop, stop,” your mom pauses. “You need to get to the hospital right now.”

Your heartbeat stutters in its rhythm. You shoot up from your seat right away. The back of your phone becomes slimy from the amount of sweat your palm has produced.

Goosebumps pop out of the upper layer of your skin. “What? The hospital? What happened?” The turmoil in your soul makes all of your limbs shiver.

Yoongi’s head snaps towards you. Horror is written all over his face. Lips parted in shock and body frozen in a state of panic.

“Just get here. I don’t want you to drive recklessly.”

You reach for your clothes as you tilt your head to your shoulder to keep the phone trapped as you slide your pants onto your legs. “Mom! I’m gonna drive recklessly now anyway! Tell me what happ– Oh, God. Is it Jun? Did something happen? What happ–”

Your mother cuts you off. “Stop it! Just get here.”

“Mom, I swear, you’re gonna tell me what the hell happened to Jun right no–”

A big pair of hands grab you by the shoulders and shake you out of your state of panic. At least they try to. Your eyes shift up, meeting black concerned eyes that are begging you to just listen to your mother for a moment.

The other line goes silent. Just for a few seconds.

“Jun had a seizure.”

To be continued.

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a/n: and i hope everyone that hated on yn feels like a piece of shit😋🩷

— enjoyed it? you can always show your appreciation by buying me some coffee if you want ☕︎♡

@pamzn @jknoah @ahgasegotarmy116 @jaiuneamesolitaiire @Teddytaee @pnkmyg @yoongallery @agustdswifey @purp13st4r @busanstarkoo @busanboykoo @kookssecret @p34rluv @xumyboo @jojowantstocry @minjenna @codeinebelle @Futuristiclovedreamland @rirushu @taegicity @namgihours @ultminyoongi @swinterr @butterymin @partyparty-yah @bettybloop @secfir @coffeedepressionsoup @keroppitae @manuosorioh @whoa-jo @etaerealboyv @kaiparkerwifes @luvjiminandyoongi @luvbeomkai @petalsofink @paradiseyoongies @gaby-93 @MMFranklin @llallaaa @vickyyy97 @osakis-gf @luna-astro-star @shabbamadapot @rrrapmonste-rr @jjeonjennie @yoongisducky @s3l3n0phil3 @itsmina29 @namjoonsbuspass @hoseokshobagi @laurenrodr @keshiadeija @acquiescence804 @swga-ficrecs @sato-hana02 @honsoolhour @kimseokgen @Imene1609 @joonsmagicshop @yunki-yunki-yunki

[iwannakisskissyoureyesagain]

things that definitely happened in the percy jackson series’ that rick left out/didn’t expand on (basically a collection of headcanons)

- leo teased percy and annabeth about the stables scene for weeks until it got old

- leo trying to make a move on EVERYONE he interacted with, especially the aphrodite cabin

- (leo was a hey mamas lesbian in a past life i will die on this hill)

- bi4bi percabeth

- some of the apollo kids give out free stick-n-poke tattoos. will has a small treble clef on his hip for his mom, nico has a tiny skull behind his left ear, percy has a smiley face on his right middle finger bc he thought it was funny

- annabeth tried to act like she didn’t think it was funny and called him an idiot

- ella also gives out free tattoo services at camp jupiter, and camp half blood when she and tyson visit. frank told her to start charging for them, but being a harpy, she doesn’t really have a need for money. honestly, she just wants an excuse to do more tattoos, since there’s not a lot of space left on tyson

- percy always orders blue food or drinks when he’s out if it’s an option (basically canon in the senior year adventures). at this point it’s instinctual

- percy refuses to drink or smoke bc of gabe. sally understands this and that’s why, before she had estelle, she would only have a single glass of wine with dinner. annabeth likes to have a few drinks here and there, but when she does drink, she makes sure to never do it in front of percy

- dionysus is essentially the camp therapist, because deep down, he really does care about the campers. he has open office hours and a sign-up sheet for appointments (private or group therapy) in the big house

- percy has started calling dionysus the wrong name back, and it’s dissolved into a competition to see who can think of the most ridiculous names (so far perceval jackoff and destiny’s child are tied for first place). some of the other campers are waiting for the day dionysus turns percy into a bottlenose dolphin or a pile of dust and ashes, but he would never do it

- there’s also a sign-up sheet to use that single computer that chiron has, where everyone gets up to an hour of screen time

- after discovering the projector in chiron’s office, it’s common to find cabins or individual groups of campers having movie nights. nico and hazel’s boyfriends and friends use this as an opportunity to show them (when hazel visits) different movies. for example, one night percy brings all 3 back to the future movies (he doesn’t realize the irony until nico won’t stop teasing him about it), annabeth brings the last unicorn, which makes hazel cry (me too girl), piper brings jennifer’s body (hazel and frank both get all flustered during the sex scenes, nico is surprisingly unbothered until will nudges him and makes a comment about colin when he appears onscreen), reyna, on the rare occasions that the hunters visit, brings isle of dogs (she hasn’t watched a lot of movies, but that one is one of her favorites), frank brings the little prince, which makes percy openly sob, and will brings heathers, to nico’s surprise

- some camp traditions include telling ghost stories at the campfire, karaoke nights in the apollo cabin (they tried to hold one in the big house once, but that only lasted about ten minutes before dionysus kicked them out), secret santas, halloween parties, and thanksgiving at the jackson-blofis house for the year-round campers (and percy, annabeth, tyson, and ella, ofc)

- piper likes to walk around doing chappell roan’s vocal flips and reneé rapp’s riffs

- will is actually a pretty good singer, but he doesn’t think he is bc his powers are more focused on his role as a camp medic, so he compares himself to his siblings. he can also play guitar really well, but his favorite thing is playing it horribly and as loud as possible, or playing at nico because he knows he hates it

- will and annabeth both struggle with imposter syndrome, percy starts talking to dionysus about his ptsd, nico is working on breaking his disordered eating habits, and tyson makes ella a fidget that she can play with so she doesn’t pull out her feathers

- piper and leo like to call each other cunts and reference modern pop culture in front of chiron, who is eternally confused and has stopped trying to understand “the youth”

- annabeth is a swiftie (her favorite album is ttpd) and percy says he isn’t, but sally sometimes catches him singing “safe & sound” or “never grow up” to estelle (he has no idea she knows) and sends videos of it to annabeth. he can’t sing very well, don’t get me wrong, and it’s almost always off-key, but estelle doesn’t seem to mind

- percy does that thing that dads do where he stands at the edge of the room when estelle is watching one of her shows with sally and pretends he isn’t watching it, but eventually ends up sitting with them on the couch and singing (again, very poorly) along to the bluey theme song

- will isn’t actually a morning person, but as the camp medic, he’s just used to getting up at the ass-crack of dawn and running on three hours of sleep and multiple celsiuses (this is why, on “making-nico-and-hazel-watch-movies-we-think-are-important-movie-nights,” he never even makes it through the first one without crashing out)

- apollo did in fact develop a little crush on nico during the tower of nero, but for his son’s sake, he’ll take that secret to his grave (metaphorically ofc)

[unpeumacabre]

soaring dragon dancing phoenix - 龙飞凤舞: chapter one

Yunmeng is no longer home for Wei Wuxian, for he is no longer welcome. And so when he visits he can always count on Jiang Cheng descending upon his head with the full strength of heaven's fury, to chase him out. But one day when he sneaks into Yunmeng again, days go by without Jiang Cheng making an appearance. Something has happened to Wei Wuxian's prickly shi-di, something that - once they reunite - they will find is far greater than they could ever have anticipated. Accompanied also by Wei Wuxian's dear friend (?) Lan Zhan and a Lan Xichen who has only just reluctantly left isolation, the four of them set out on a journey that will bring them across the greater part of China to the mystical Kunlun mountains of mythology - and more importantly, may bring them love, healing, and reconciliation.

If only Wei Wuxian could take his head out of his oblivious arse and start putting himself in other people's shoes for once...

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Wangxian, Xicheng, Wei Wuxian & Jiang Cheng

Read on AO3 (bc tumblr might mess up the formatting + more extensive author’s notes on the story)

Count: 8k

<- previous

Wei Wuxian woke in darkness, and it was a darkness he did not recognise.

He sat up, groaning as the movement jarred his bones and made him ache in places he’d not known existed. There was something clouding his thoughts, draining his energy; after a few moments wherein he tried to get his bearings, he sensed the presence of a suppressing array designed to repress spiritual energy and sap his strength.

It was not a man-made array. Instead, it had the hallmarks of something far more ancient and terrible.

The amount of resentful energy in the air was so thick that he almost choked on it. In fact, if not for the suppressing array, he would have had trouble stopping the energy from churning through his body and sending him into a state of backlash.

As he stumbled to his feet, there was a crunch underfoot. Something sharp poked into his hand as he steadied himself against the ground. He felt for the object, and as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realised he had stepped on and broken the jaw bone of a skull.

“Ah – “ reflexively he recoiled. Then he relaxed as he realised it was likely the skull of a deer.

As he blinked and looked about the room, slowly things came into focus. First he saw around him walls made of dark, dank stone. There was a sour, mossy smell in the air; the air felt thick with moisture, and he wrinkled his nose in response. His head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, and there was a faint ringing in his ears, likely from the blow to his head he’d received to knock him out before he’d been dragged into this chamber.

“At least whatever took me left me mostly intact,” he muttered to himself, fishing a talisman out of his robes and lighting it with a brief spark of spiritual energy.

He looked down, and realised that the floor was littered with more bones – animal bones, human bones, and unidentifiable shards which were coated in a thin layer of something shiny. When he nudged one of the fragments, it made a squishing noise under his foot, and Wei Wuxian instantly regretted his curiosity.

This must be the lair of the human-eating monster, he thought to himself, and this is where it chucks the remnants of its meals…it must have deemed Mo Xuanyu too skinny and underfed to be worthwhile fare, and tossed me in here for storage instead. It’s not my fault his isn’t a body which builds muscle easily! Why, if I only had my old body…

As he continued to stew indignantly over the monster’s disrespect of his physique, he returned his gaze to the walls, and suddenly realised that there was a passageway carved into the wall, leading into the next room. With one last glance around the chamber he was currently occupying, he deemed there to be little else of note therein, and trotted over to the aperture in the wall.

As he walked cautiously through the passageway, feeling his way with his hands and trying not to cringe at the thin layer of sticky moisture which gathered on his palms, suddenly the corridor opened out into a large chamber. More bones crunched under his feet, and now he found he had to pick his way carefully across the floor without falling over.

Abruptly the faint light from his talisman revealed a purple-clad body on the ground, and Wei Wuxian tripped.

Thankfully, he caught himself before he managed to fall on the body, and once he had regained his balance, he squatted over the body and squinted balefully at the face of the unfortunate person.

Jiang Cheng?! Wei Wuxian exclaimed mentally. What luck!

- Or, lack thereof, depending on how you looked at it. It was supremely lucky that he’d managed to find Jiang Cheng – alive, judging from the steady shallow rise and fall of his chest – and with all limbs and his head still firmly attached. But also supremely unlucky in the sense that they were now alone in a room with both their spiritual energy severely depleted, and without other Yunmeng Jiang sect members/Lan Zhan as buffers.

“Oh well. The rice is now cooked; what’s done is done, and there’s no way around it,” Wei Wuxian sighed. “I’ll just have to deal with his bad temper when he wakes up.”

Wei Wuxian leant over Jiang Cheng and scanned his body. There were faint lines on his temples where dried blood had trickled down from a wound on his head, similar to that on Wei Wuxian’s own forehead, but there didn’t seem to be much lasting damage. His spiritual energy was worryingly low, however, and it could barely be felt through his pulse point. Hurriedly, Wei Wuxian yanked open the collar of his robe and undergarments and placed his hand against his chest.

Thankfully, the thrumming of his spiritual energy was still present – very faint and weak, but still there.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING,” Jiang Cheng said weakly.

“Aaaahhh!” Wei Wuxian yelped, falling backwards and dropping the talisman. They stared at each other for a moment.

“Why are you the one yelling? I’m the one who woke up to being groped by a goddamn cut-sleeve!” Jiang Cheng shouted, albeit a bit feebly.

“Even when you’re half-dead you’re still so noisy,” Wei Wuxian said peevishly. “I was just checking your golden core! As if I’d want to touch you. Gross. And I’m not a cut-sleeve,” he added quickly.

Jiang Cheng ignored him, lifting himself up on his elbows and attempting to get onto his feet. He slapped away Wei Wuxian’s outstretched hand and managed to hobble upright on his own.

“My golden core,” he said suddenly, and looked up at Wei Wuxian with wild eyes. “I can barely feel it. And my senses feel dulled. I can’t think properly. What the hell’s happened to me?!”

“There’s a suppressing array in place,” Wei Wuxian answered. “Can’t you feel it? It’s suppressing your spiritual energy and sapping your strength.”

“Why don’t you seem affected then?” Jiang Cheng said, his tone mildly accusatory.

Wei Wuxian paused. “I don’t have a golden core, remember. And I’ve gone so long without one, I suppose it’s easier to get used to operating on lower spiritual energy.”

He kept his tone breezy and light, but even he felt that it was slightly over-played. Jiang Cheng’s jaw clenched and he turned away.

Wei Wuxian sighed. “Come on, Jiang Cheng,” he tried. “You know it doesn’t matter to me anymore. It’s an old wound, and I was the one who chose to give it up anyway. It wasn’t your fault at all.”

When Jiang Cheng turned back, there was so much guilt and anger in his eyes, Wei Wuxian found he could no longer stand it. He broke their gaze and looked around instead.

“We’re going to need weapons for defence,” he said, thinking out loud. “Spiritual weapons won’t work, since you’re low on spiritual energy, so Sandu and Zidian are out. Oh, how about this!” and he skipped over to the corner of the room, where a bunch of corpses were haphazardly piled on top of each other, covered in sparse cobwebs. A giant hairy spider crawled out of one of the skulls’ mouths and scuttled sideways into the shadows.

From their garb, the bodies had apparently been farmers or fishermen, and accordingly, there were various tools scattered on the ground next to them. Wei Wuxian picked up a few of the items and scrutinised them.

“Here, Jiang Cheng!” he called, and held them out. “Hoe, spade, pitchfork; time to play farmer for the day! Take your pick?”

Jiang Cheng grabbed the pitchfork without looking, his eyes trained on their surroundings and scanning the walls with what little light from the talisman remained. He clenched his fist, and Zidian crackled weakly, but otherwise there was no response, as expected.

“What do you remember before you were knocked out?” he said finally. “How did you find me here?”

Wei Wuxian was relieved to find that Jiang Cheng’s demeanour was back to normal.

He dropped the tools carelessly. “Hmm… I’ve been in Yunmeng for a while, and I went to – I met some Yunmeng Jiang disciples in Yunmeng and they told me you’d taken a group of your cultivators to the area outside the city where there had been a monster causing trouble and eating humans,” he said. “Since you’d been gone for quite a while, I figured it might be an interesting monster, so I came to have a look. I found the entrance to a cave in the area the disciples mentioned, but just as I entered, something knocked me out. Though I didn’t see what.”

“It was the same for me.” Jiang Cheng’s brow darkened, and his jaw clenched. “We must find the Yunmeng Jiang cultivators who came with me – whether they be dead or alive.”

Wei Wuxian nodded grimly. “I came from another room in which there were also many bones and remnants of clothing. There must be other rooms in which they may be found.”

They made their way sombrely through the various passageways and tunnels into other rooms which also reeked of dampness and decay. One by one, they found the distinctive bright purple robes of the Yunmeng Jiang disciples, covering bodies with the flesh only recently gnawed off the bones. For all of them, Jiang Cheng knelt by their sides and covered their bones with their robes, and arranged their remains tidily as best he could.

As he stood up from the side of the last corpse of the Yunmeng Jiang cultivators who’d accompanied him on his night hunt, his eyes were red with unshed tears. Wei Wuxian tactfully remained silent as Jiang Cheng took a few moments more to compose himself.

“We should get out and find reinforcements,” Wei Wuxian said at last, when Jiang Cheng’s colour had returned, and his grip on Sandu’s handle had loosened.

At Wei Wuxian’s words, he stiffened, and said suddenly, “What about the monster? It’s somewhere in here causing havoc. Who knows how many more people will killed in the time it takes for us to get back to Lotus Pier and fetch more people to help?”

“Our spiritual energy is so diminished, and we don’t have any useful weapons on us,” Wei Wuxian answered exasperatedly. “With this suppressing array in place, what damage can we possibly do to the monster?”

“Even if we bring reinforcements, they’ll be hit by the suppressing array too,” Jiang Cheng said stubbornly

“This creature is clearly a dangerous one, if our experiences have taught us anything, and one not to be taken lightly. We won’t be able to do much to it!” Wei Wuxian protested.

“Didn’t you kill the Xuanwu even while starved for three days, and heavily injured?” Jiang Cheng rebutted angrily. “Are you saying I’m not as competent as Lan Wangji?”

When Jiang Cheng was like this, it was difficult to deal with him. Wei Wuxian let his exasperation get the better of him. “Fine! Have it your way then!” he snapped. “For the record, I still think we’re going to our death. But since you’re being so pig-headed about it, we might as well try and find the monster and do what damage we can before we end up dying.”

They walked for a bit in a stony silence. The talisman, previously already on its last embers, soon shrivelled away into nothingness. Wei Wuxian wordlessly fished another yellow sheet from his robes and lit their way once more.

In the few moments in which darkness had reigned, Jiang Cheng’s expression had changed.

He quickly schooled it back to his familiar frown, however, and Wei Wuxian would have thought it a trick of the light, if he had not seen it plain as day.

“At least… let’s at least scope out the terrain so we know it better,” Jiang Cheng muttered, with a curious scraping noise, as if he were grinding his teeth. “Then we’ll know it better the second time when we come back with reinforcements.”

“… Are you feeling alright?” Wei Wuxian asked cautiously, with concern. “You don’t have a fever, do you? Why are you agreeing with me all of a sudden?”

“Shut up! Don’t make me change my mind!” Jiang Cheng said huffily, and walked a little bit faster.

Now I remember why Jin Ling’s princess-like temper seemed so familiar, Wei Wuxian thought to himself. He’s a carbon copy of Jiang Cheng as a child! No wonder, what with the way Jiang Cheng raises him.

Of course he would never dare to say such a thing to Jiang Cheng’s face, so they continued ambling on in more silence. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian stopped in his tracks.

“What is it?”

“I can sense something different,” Wei Wuxian said, turning his head from side to side as he attempted to trace the thing which had caught his attention. He closed his eyes and focused his mind.

It took him much concentration and mental capacity, but finally he sensed what had distracted him – a tendril of energy which differed from the constant thrum of resentful energy that threatened to overwhelm him at every step, the latter which likely came from the multiple corpses that they had left behind in the previous rooms. This new energy felt more similar to the force that sustained the suppressing array, but at the same time, curiously unlike. Wei Wuxian tilted his head to the side as he tried to sort out the tangled coils of energy in the air, into a more coherent map.

“I think I can sense the spiritual energy of the monster,” he said, after a few moments. “That is, if this creature is indeed the one that set up the suppressing array. Following its energy should lead us to its location.”

“There’s such a thick cloud of resentful energy. You can tell the monster’s energy apart?” Jiang Cheng asked in disbelief.

“Master of Demonic Cultivation, remember?” Wei Wuxian said, mustering up a grin. “I lived and breathed resentful energy for a while before I, er, before the siege on the Yiling Mounds.” He rushed on quickly before Jiang Cheng could become maudlin again. “It’s nothing to me, to tell apart different sources of resentful energy.”

“I’ve never before heard of a beast that was able to cast a suppressing array,” Jiang Cheng said, thankfully too preoccupied with the matter at hand to be easily distracted by talk of the past. “It must be a human-like monster then – but no, those were clearly the marks of an animal’s teeth on the bodies of my cultivators.”

Wei Wuxian nodded. “My line of thinking was the same as yours. I don’t think this thing is purely beast-like nor human-like, and it’s probably a mix of both, such that it’s able to cast a suppressing array, and yet attack people with such ferocity and strength. We’ll have to trace the energy to its source to find out.”

With a grunt of acknowledgement from Jiang Cheng in response, they continued trudging on in a firm, painful silence. This was a foreign concept to Wei Wuxian; even in his time with Lan Zhan, that taciturn rock of a man, he’d been able to fill the void between them with his aimless chatter and the playing of Chenqing. But something between him and Jiang Cheng still felt too raw, too new and vulnerable, to risk damaging with his usual frivolous antics.

This is so awkward, Wei Wuxian thought. Should I make the first move? But he might yell at me again. Hang on, since when have I been so afraid of Jiang Cheng’s scoldings? Anyway, what would I even ask him? ‘How are the lotuses doing in Lotus Pier?’ Um, no…

Surprisingly, however, Jiang Cheng was the first to break the silence.

“How – ahem. How is Lan Wangji?”

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure he’d heard him right at first, but as he looked at Jiang Cheng incredulously, the question forming on his lips, Jiang Cheng flushed, and looked away.

“Oh! Er, Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian asked, loudly to cover up both their discomfort. “I haven’t seen him in a while. He’s Chief Cultivator, you know! Isn’t that amazing?”

Jiang Cheng muttered something that sounded suspiciously like I’m the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader, of course I know who the fucking Chief Cultivator is, but then he harrumphed and cleared his throat. Wei Wuxian magnanimously decided to let him off and pretend he hadn’t heard anything.

“I thought you two were inseparable?” Jiang Cheng asked, darting a sideways glance at Wei Wuxian. “And yet you haven’t seen him for a while?”

For some reason, that particular question grated at Wei Wuxian’s skin, and the light of the talisman flickered in response to his annoyance. “Well, he’s busy,” he said airily, “and… and I’ll see him soon. I’m sure of it. As if he could go a day without my presence!”

“He seems to be getting on perfectly fine without you,” Jiang Cheng pointed out, detestably reasonable as always.

“With Lan Zhan’s poker face, how can you tell?” Wei Wuxian returned quickly. This time it was he who walked a little faster, just to be spiteful, and just because he could.

“You look like you’ve been tramping through the wilderness,” Jiang Cheng said, abruptly switching the subject.

“I’ve just been living wild for a while. You know, living off the land, eating only fruits and berries, surviving by my abundance of wits as usual…”

“Hah!” Jiang Cheng snorted. It was not a nice snort, Wei Wuxian thought crossly, and in retaliation, he decided not to respond.

Jiang Cheng finally spoke up again, after a long while in which Wei Wuxian had been distracting himself with thoughts of a new classification system for demons of the five elements. “We’ve been going in circles!” he said, and his tone bridled with frustration. “I recognise that rock formation over there. I caught my hand on it earlier – look, my blood is still fresh on the stone.”

Wei Wuxian looked at the rock, and indeed, Jiang Cheng’s blood still glistened on its surface. He wondered how he could have gotten so completely turned around – hadn’t he just been following the tendril of malevolent energy? He could’ve sworn he’d felt it getting stronger, too, which should have meant that they were nearing its source. How was it that they’d ended up circling back to where they’d started?

“I thought we were following the energy from the creature,” Jiang Cheng said irritably.

“Shhh,” Wei Wuxian said, not paying attention to him. “There’s something else at work here. Something I’m not getting.”

Surprisingly, Jiang Cheng quieted down, and leaned against the wall. He did so surreptitiously, as if to escape Wei Wuxian’s sight, but of course he noticed.

Jiang Cheng must be more drained than I thought, Wei Wuxian thought, if he’s stopped arguing with me. Especially since he’s been here for a few days more than me already, and with no food or water. I must find a way to get us out of here - and quickly.

He mustered what little spiritual energy he had left, and focused. In his mind he pushed aside the suppressing fog that clouded his thoughts and distracted his attention, concentrating only on sensing the pulses of energy emanating from every wall in the passageway around him. There was the faint tendril of energy from the creature responsible for the suppressing array, yes, and overwhelming amounts of resentful energy pouring from the corpses of the creature’s meals, and underneath it all… underneath all that energy…

“There’s a maze array in place,” he realised suddenly, his voice echoing in the stillness of the corridor. “It’s cleverly buried under the other layers of energy in this cave, but it’s there. It must have been cast a long time ago, for I could barely sense its presence. And it was not cast by the creature maintaining the suppressing array.”

“That’s what’s confusing your sense of direction?” Jiang Cheng asked despairingly. “Then how are we supposed to get out of here with little spiritual energy and our only lead a complete dead end?”

Wei Wuxian shook his head, mustering a small smile. “Don’t lose hope so easily, Jiang Cheng! We’ll find a way out. We just need a way to overcome the maze array – then we can follow the creature’s malevolent energy without being confused. We just need some way of maintaining our sense of direction.”

“What do you suggest we do? Is there any way to track our steps, perhaps?” Jiang Cheng said.

Wei Wuxian tapped idly at the side of his nose as he thought, pacing back and forth in the confined space. Jiang Cheng’s eyes, lit up by the flickering light of the paper talisman, followed him back and forth.

“I could cast a tracking spell… no, but with my depleted spiritual energy, that wouldn’t last long… I have the Compass of Evil which I worked on to improve last week, but this creature doesn’t consume souls, and so it wouldn’t work… Oh?”

The unravelling hem of his ratty travelling robe had snagged on a shard of rock protruding out of the wall, and had caused him to pause in his steps. Wei Wuxian stared down at the little loop of thread curled around the stone protrusion.

Suddenly, an epiphany came upon him.

“I have an idea!” he said, excitedly, and began picking apart the hem of his robe. Jiang Cheng lifted himself off the wall and came over to inspect what he was doing.

“What’s that supposed to do?” he asked sceptically. “Is it just another excuse for you to go naked again? Oi, just because it’s just me down here with you - ”

“It was one time, and I was eight,” Wei Wuxian said exasperatedly, “and don’t tell me you’d never seen a penis before that! I don’t know why you had to act like a blushing maiden and try to stab me with your brush. We’re both men, aren’t we? Nothing you haven’t seen before!”

While he’d been going on, and Jiang Cheng had started spluttering and turning interesting colours, he’d managed to unpick the thread from his robe, and tied it around a sturdy stalagmite on the ground. He gave the limestone pillar a few experimental pulls, and it didn’t budge.

“Now we just have to follow the thread, and we’ll know which routes we’ve walked, and which routes we haven’t!” he said brightly, as he straightened up.

“That’s… actually a good idea,” Jiang Cheng said grudgingly, crossing his arms over his chest and looking down at the stalagmite.

“I always have good ideas. Don’t you know?” Wei Wuxian said, grinning. “Come on, let’s hurry. I don’t know how many days have passed, but surely it’s been too long already. We should quickly find the monster’s hideout and then figure out a way to escape.”

It was indeed a good idea, if Wei Wuxian said so himself (and he did, multiple times, very smugly, so much so that Jiang Cheng started ignoring him again), and with its aid, they managed to find their way out of the maze of corridors that surrounded the rooms containing the corpses. Wei Wuxian heaved a sigh of relief as he finally felt the thick fog of resentful energy that had been giving him a massive headache, fade away into the background and eventually disappear.

Now, the passageways they walked were a little less damp, and a little less foul-smelling. There were even lamps embedded in the wall, unlit and covered with cobwebs, but obviously made by a talented craftsman. Wei Wuxian stopped to inspect one of them, and the style of its carvings and the technique of its forging marked it as a craft belonging to the dynasty of six centuries ago.

“Whatever inhabits this cave must be ancient indeed,” Jiang Cheng said grimly, as Wei Wuxian shared this insight with him.

They stopped abruptly as a carven wooden door appeared beside them, looming out of the darkness, leading into an enclave that branched off from the main tunnel.

The frame of the door extended high above their visible range, and as Wei Wuxian guided the talisman as far up as he dared without losing his tenuous hold on the charm, they realised just how large the tunnel was beginning to run. All they could see above them was darkness, and there was no observable ceiling. They exchanged glances, and with a mutual nod of acknowledgement, Jiang Cheng placed his palm on the door and pushed firmly.

It creaked open with a loud sound of protest. The noise made both of them wince and glance around sharply to see if the clamour had attracted any undue attention. But thankfully, even after a few moments of silence, they were still alone in the tunnel, with no foes in sight. Jiang Cheng pushed the door open all the way, and they peered into the darkness cautiously.

“It’s a library - !” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, his voice hushed, as the talisman floated into the room and lit up shelves upon shelves of crumbling, decaying books and scrolls. Jiang Cheng scanned the titles, trying to make out the words on their spines.

“Vegetarian Dietary Principles,” Jiang Cheng read out, “Journey to the West, Classic of Poetry, Classic – Classic of – Music?”

Wei Wuxian expelled a surprised breath and shook his head. “Whoever owned this library must have been a great patron of the arts - he’s even managed to acquire books which no one’s ever had a copy of before! It’s a collection to rival even that of the Gusu Lan library. But such a valuable hoard would usually be maintained zealously by its collector, not left to rot away in such a sorry state.”

The talisman settled on a pile of objects arranged neatly in the corner of the library, and Wei Wuxian felt his brows shoot up even further.

“A guqin, guzheng, pipa, dihu, yangqin – truly an impressive collection of instruments from all across China!” he said admiringly. “They’ve been left to gather dust as well, and they haven’t been maintained in a while. Things are becoming curiouser and curiouser indeed.”

“Perhaps the owner of the collection was eaten by the monster,” Jiang Cheng suggested.

“Perhaps,” Wei Wuxian said doubtfully. I feel that there’s something here we’re still not getting…

They left the library behind, unable to see much in the darkness and with their limited light source. Wei Wuxian had to light another talisman, for the previous one flickered and shrivelled to dust. Just as he did, his stomach let out a loud sound of dissatisfaction, and he automatically pressed a hand to his abdomen.

“I’m hungryyyyyy,” he whined. “Jiang Cheng, do you have any food?”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Jiang Cheng retorted sharply. “If I’d had any food, I’d long since have eaten it up already!”

“Ugh,” Wei Wuxian groaned, leaning dramatically forward as they walked. “I’m going to die of hunger. Who knows how many days and nights we’ve spent in here! It’s not like you have a set sleep schedule so we can count the days. We’ve probably been walking for a few days without rest already – and who knows how much longer it’ll take to get out.”

He felt his coat slip off his shoulder, and he looked down at it. Because of the unravelling string, his already-raggedy outerwear was falling apart, and it no longer resembled anything coat-like. Wei Wuxian shrugged it off and tucked it under his right arm, and was left only in his underthings.

“I feel the wind blowing through places I didn’t know existed,” he complained, shivering.

Jiang Cheng looked at him and immediately averted his eyes, a dull flush colouring his cheeks. “Shameless!” he spluttered. “What wind?! There’s barely any wind, we’re underground! Wei Wuxian, you’re truly shameless as always!”

“Now you’re starting to sound like the old Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian muttered under his breath. “One of him is good enough, thank you very much…”

Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting crash, and it was only their quick reflexes that caused them not to be buried under a large column of rocks that suddenly came pouring down on them. Both of them leapt to the side, and stared, bug-eyed, at the spot in which they had been standing just moments ago.

“Agh, my eyes,” said Jiang Cheng loudly, as the fog from the avalanche cleared, and piercing sunlight shone down on them from the large hole which had suddenly opened up in the ceiling of the tunnel, far above them. Wei Wuxian shielded his eyes with his hand and squinted blearily up at the hole.

…

“LAN ZHAN!!!!” he cried out happily, as he made eye contact with a very dear, familiar figure. Lan Zhan peered imperiously down at them, the sunlight making it seem as though his head was glowing.

“Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao will arrive,” Wei Wuxian said, bouncing excitedly up and down on the spot. “Didn’t I tell you Lan Zhan could be counted on to rescue us?* Huh? He’s reliable, isn’t he?”

*A/N: (he didn’t)

“Did you really have to invoke his name?” Jiang Cheng said grumpily, following his gaze upwards. “I always feel like he’s looking down on me, but now he’s actually literally looking down on me.”

Another figure appeared beside Lan Zhan and peeked cautiously over the edge of the hole. After squinting for a while more, Wei Wuxian realised it was Lan Xichen.

“Are you two alright?” Lan Xichen called down to them, his gentle voice filled with concern. “I’m afraid we went a little, ah, overboard in trying to get down to you two…”

“We’re fine, Zewu-jun, thanks for your concern!” Wei Wuxian hollered back up at them. “Won’t you come down and join us? We’re depleted of spiritual energy and unable to join you up there!”

Lan Zhan immediately flew down, but the moment he alighted and laid his eyes on Wei Wuxian, his finely-sculpted eyebrows shot up towards to his forehead.

“What – what happened to your outer robe?” he said, sounding faintly strangled.

“Oh – this? I used the string from my hem to track our progress through this cave,” Wei Wuxian replied cheerily. “There’s a maze array in place, although it’s quite difficult to detect, and with our limited spiritual energy there wasn’t any other way to stop ourselves getting lost. Jiang Cheng will tell you it was quite a clever idea. It must have been quite cold outside, Lan Zhan, your ears are turning pink! Here, rub your hands together…”

Jiang Cheng, predictably, ignored him and lifted his hands in a salute to Lan Xichen, who’d descended as well to join them. “Sect Leader Lan,” he said formally, and Lan Xichen returned the gesture. Jiang Cheng turned to Lan Zhan and repeated the gesture, a little more unwillingly.

“Here, take this,” Lan Zhan said, pulling a qiankun pouch out from his sleeve. Sticking his hand inside the pouch, he drew out an overcoat with the designs of the Gusu Lan sect and placed it securely around Wei Wuxian’s shoulders.

Wei Wuxian whistled in surprise and appreciation. “Lan Zhan, you came prepared! It’s one of your robes, isn’t it?” A thought occurred to him which made him laugh out loud in pure delight. “Ooh, Lan Zhan, are you embarrassed by my lack of clothing? You know I’m shameless, I don’t mind even if I’m just parading around in my underwear or even if I’m stark naked.”

“As you can tell, Hanguang-jun, he’s doing perfectly fine,” Jiang Cheng said acrimoniously. “The days of starvation and lack of spiritual energy haven’t done anything to dampen his personality.”

Wei Wuxian pouted. “Lan Zhan knows that,” he replied peevishly. “We killed the Xuanwu together under the same circumstances, remember?”

A soft laugh from the side reminded him of Lan Xichen’s presence, and he spun around to face him.

“Sect Leader Lan, what’re you doing here?” Wei Wuxian asked curiously. “I thought you were in seclusion. What brings you here?”

Lan Xichen smiled. “I was in seclusion, but Wangji came to me today and told me of your and Sect Leader Jiang’s disappearance. He was quite distressed by the news, and asked me for help to track the two of you down. And when I heard that A-Yao – that Jin Guangyao had been seen in the area…”

He hesitated, and said no more. None of them pressed him further.

“How did you manage to find us?” Jiang Cheng asked quickly, directing his question at Lan Zhan.

“Jin Ling wrote to me when he found that you were missing,” Lan Zhan answered. “We followed your trail to this place. And I could sense Wei Ying’s energy coming from here, so we entered here.”

“You could sense my energy?” Wei Wuxian asked, bewildered by this new turn of events. “But – how? Plus the suppressing array – “

“Where is the human-eating monster?” Lan Zhan asked abruptly, cutting him off. “Have you already killed it?”

After a pause, Wei Wuxian shook his head, and relayed the events of the past few days to them. It turned out that Jiang Cheng had been missing for nine days, and Wei Wuxian for three – that explains why Jiang Cheng looks so exhausted, he thought to himself; nine days without food or drink will do that to you.

Lan Xichen passed them water in a flask and two bags filled with baozi, steamed buns, which Jiang Cheng immediately started scarfing down ravenously. Lan Zhan took the other bag and held up the flask to Wei Wuxian’s mouth.

“Drink,” he said softly. One of his hands came up behind Wei Wuxian’s back to steady him.

Wei Wuxian drank obediently, thinking, I am so loved.

When he finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Lan Zhan immediately fished one of the baozi out of the bag and held it up for Wei Wuxian to take a bite. The meat inside the bun tasted truly delicious to his starved palate, and he couldn’t stop himself from letting out little ‘mm’s of enjoyment as he chewed.

Only when Wei Wuxian had finished munching on the baozi did Lan Zhan exhale and relax, although his hand still remained on Wei Wuxian’s lower back.

“Thanks, Lan Zhan,” he said, smiling widely. Something about Lan Zhan’s presence always left him feeling refreshed. “I knew I could count on you. You’re such a reliable friend. No wonder you’re the Chief Cultivator, indeed!”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Jiang Cheng said indistinctly, and Wei Wuxian whipped around to look at him.

(If he was being perfectly honest, he’d forgotten Jiang Cheng – and Lan Xichen – were there.)

The two of them were staring openly at him and Lan Zhan, the bag of baozi dangling loosely from Jiang Cheng’s hand and Jiang Cheng’s cheeks still stuffed with bites of baozi so that he looked like a squirrel. Lan Xichen’s smile looked like it had ossified on his face.

“What?” Wei Wuxian said in confusion. He looked at Lan Zhan for reassurance that he wasn’t the only one bewildered in this situation, but Lan Zhan seemed to be trying to do something with his face, alternately widening and squinting his eyes at the two other people.

Lan Xichen coughed. “Never – never mind, Young Master Wei,” he said, his smile back on his face, although now it looked a little bit forced. “If you’ve finished your meal, we should proceed with your original plan to find the human-eating monster. Wangji and I have spent only a few moments in this cave, but already I can feel the effects of the suppressing array. Wangji, you feel it too?”

Lan Zhan inclined his head, his face back to its usual expressionlessness. “It was not cast by a human,” he replied. “The energy is different. Staying here longer than necessary will result in full depletion of our spiritual energy.” He materialised his guqin and played a few complicated sounding notes. Blue light flared as he cast the pathfinding spell, and it formed a faint line on the ground showing the direction in which they were to go.

“We must hurry,” he said brusquely, “or my energy will fail and the spell will disappear.”

“Got it,” Wei Wuxian said, nodding decisively, feeling much more comfortable and at ease now that he was no longer alone with Jiang Cheng, and Lan Zhan was here at his side. As they walked, Wei Wuxian filled the silence with his usual chatter, speculating about the origins of the creature and how it could possibly have cast a suppressing array, interrupted only by Lan Zhan’s ‘mm’s of acknowledgment and the occasional offered insight.

If he was speaking a little louder than usual, it was only because he could feel the supreme awkwardness radiating off the two sect leaders walking behind them. It wasn’t coming off Lan Xichen, no – Wei Wuxian had previously turned around surreptitiously to check on the two of them and Lan Xichen had looked perfectly at ease and his usual composed self. Rather, it was Jiang Cheng who was blatantly trying to avoid everyone’s gaze, and who’d answered Lan Xichen’s initial attempts at conversations with curt, albeit polite, rejoinders.

That’s strange, Wei Wuxian mused to himself, as he chattered on to Lan Zhan about his theories regarding whether or not beasts had souls akin to that of humans, Jiang Cheng’s used to silence and isn’t often fazed. I wonder if something happened between him and Zewu-jun? Or maybe he’s just tired. Or maybe he feels left out of the conversation between me and Lan Zhan? But that’s not my fault! He’s the one being all grumpy and crabby. I mean, I know things aren’t exactly back to normal between us, but I’d thought after the Guanyin Temple events he’d started to hate me a little bit less…

“We’re here,” Lan Zhan said, stopping abruptly, as the faint blue line on the ground ended and they were faced with a large door.

This was different from the door that had led into the library, for it was carved out of granite and not wood, and gems were embedded deep into the stone in a pattern that radiated out from the centre, where two large knockers were located. The faces of two door gods glared at them out of the darkness, painted as they were on either panel of the door.

It must have been a glorious sight, Wei Wuxian thought to himself, when the lamps had been lit. But now the gems only gleamed dully in the limited light from the talisman, and the paint of the door gods was chipped and peeling. Now their stares looked mournful, rather than stern and majestic, as they would have been before.

Words were carved into the upper frame of the door, large, sombre characters in ancient text. They looked as if they had been etched into the stone by a great claw, the edges of the words were still clear and relatively unchipped by time.

“Cave of… Cave of Dormancy?” Wei Wuxian read with some difficulty, for he had not practised reading ancient scripts to any significant extent.

“There is a great well of yang energy beyond this door,” Lan Xichen said from behind them, his voice almost awestruck. Wei Wuxian concurred. As they had been following the path indicated by Lan Zhan’s pathfinding spell, he too had felt the presence of a boundless amount of yang energy emanating from some unseen force, that now apparently lay behind this door.

Even in his weakened state, it felt ponderous and overpowering; he could not imagine what it felt like for Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen, whose reserves of energy were mostly intact. True to his thoughts, Lan Zhan staggered slightly, and the blue line on the ground faded. Wei Wuxian dropped the ratty overcoat tucked under his arm, and steadied him with a hand on his elbows.

The faint crackle of Zidian echoed throughout the space as Jiang Cheng clenched his fist, and he strode forward, placing his palm on the handle of the door.

“Sect Leader Jiang, we must be cautious,” Lan Xichen said, and in his gentle voice it did not sound like a rebuke. Jiang Cheng spared him a sideways glance, then nodded shortly. It took the both of them to push the heavy doors open, and Lan Zhan levered himself out of Wei Wuxian’s grasp to peer carefully into the chamber.

It was the light that hit them first, and blinded them.

Jiang Cheng grunted in surprise and cast his head away, for he had been the first one to gain entrance to the chamber. Wei Wuxian pushed his way forward and squinted into the blinding light.

Once his eyes had stopped metaphorically bleeding, he made out lamps on the walls, larger than the ones in the passageways, and this time, these were lit, with a curious iridescent flame that flickered and danced even though there was no wind.

As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he began to make out more features of the room. It was a vast chamber, with the ceiling towering high above them, and every panel of the walls inlaid with gold and jade. Golden dragons snarled motionlessly at them from the corners of the room, their presumably-once-gleaming surfaces now flecked with dirt. Two thrones sat at the far end of the room – which was more like a hall – one enormous and golden, the other slightly smaller and carved in jade. A thin layer of dust covered every single object and surface in the room.

Except for the centre of the chamber, a shining golden pedestal, upon which lay a great slumbering long.

There was a sharp intake of breath from behind Wei Wuxian from Lan Zhan that told him he’d noticed the long as well. Very slowly, not daring to take even a single breath, Wei Wuxian stepped backwards and back into the passageway.

Once he was no longer in the hall, he spun around, his eyes open so wide he felt they were about to fall out of his skull.

“It’s a Shenlong. A heavenly dragon,” he hissed frantically. “The nine resemblances were present: the stag’s horns, the camel’s head, the demon’s eyes, the snake’s neck, the clam’s belly, the carp’s scales, the tiger’s paws, the cow’s ears, and most distinctive of the Shenlong, out of all the types of long – the eagle’s claws, of which there were five on each foot.”

Jiang Cheng’s were equally wide. “Is it… is it the real thing?” he managed. “Or is it a deformed copy, like the Xuanwu of Slaughter you and Lan Wangji fought?”

“He is a true Shenlong,” Lan Xichen spoke, and there was a subtle tremor in his voice. “He had the chimu atop its head, without which he may not ascend to the heavens.”

“That explains how he was able to cast the suppressing array, and the non-human aura of his energy, given that a Shenlong is a fully sentient being and not merely a mindless beast. But what’s he doing down here, though?” Wei Wuxian wondered aloud. “A Shenlong belongs in the heavens or in the body of water he governs, not under the ground where he has no access to the water which sustains him.”

Lan Xichen shook his head, his gaze equally uncomprehending. “Before we left the chamber, I observed that there were large lacquer panels on the walls with accompanying text, which likely depicted the Shenlong and his story,” he said quietly. “I did not get a close enough look at the words, however. But there is one thing beyond doubt – this Shenlong is unlike his more benevolent peers, and is responsible for the disappearances of the people of Yunmeng. We must find a way to observe both the Shenlong and the panels on the walls, which may give us a clue as to how to combat him.”

“According to the stories, it has superior sight and smell,” Lan Zhan spoke up. “It will be difficult to evade its notice.”

“It did not notice us when we first entered, however, and we were rather noisy,” Jiang Cheng said. “If we are careful, we should be fine.”

Given that none of them saw any other way to proceed, it was on that note of caution that they entered the chamber once again. Wei Wuxian kept his eyes firmly trained on the Shenlong, but even as they eased themselves slowly past the door and into the room, he did not wake. The lines of his magnificent, serpentine body rose and fell in tandem with his breaths, and the silky tendrils of his beard fluttered in the air that whooshed out of his nostrils. A pearl glimmered faintly from where it was nestled underneath his chin.

Wei Wuxian could not help but stop and admire his majestic beauty. It was truly a sight he’d never thought he’d see in his lifetime, for long were said to be mere figments of imagination, myths of the past.

But… I suppose, if there’s a Xuanwu, why not a Shenlong? It was a perfectly reasonable line of logic, he thought, and besides, unless he and the other three were having mass hallucinations, the proof of truth in those supposed legends lay before his own eyes.

It was only when he was sure that the Shenlong was deep in slumber, that he finally turned his attention to the four lacquer panels on the wall. These were clearly done by a great artist - like the rest of the statues and art pieces of the chamber - for the panels were carefully inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold leaf carved into the shapes of miniscule birds and flowers that fluttered in and adorned the background of the scenes. Below each panel were lines of ancient script, carved deep into the rock by the same great claw which had labelled this cavern the Cave of Dormancy.

The words were not clear to him, given his inability to read ancient text, but thankfully, the pictures were evocative enough that he was able to get the main gist of the story. In the first panel, the Shenlong perched atop a mountain, watching as the towns and people in his purview were washed away by strong wind and rain. In the next screen, he was depicted swooping downwards into the fray and picking off various unfortunate victims from the deluge of water below. His large bulging eyes, created with carven jade gemstones, glimmered malevolently in the light. Blood gushed from his cavernous jaws.

Then, in the next panel, a Fenghuang – a divine phoenix - had descended upon the scene, and was tussling violently with the Shenlong, her long, sharp beak digging into the flesh of the Shenlong’s leg where it was buried. The artist had captured their likenesses so perfectly that the extended claws of the Fenghuang seemed to leap out from the painting at viewers, and her vibrant feathers appeared soft and inviting to the touch.

The scene depicted in the final screen was set in a familiar location: here, in the Cave of Dormancy, the Fenghuang presided over the Shenlong, the iridescent plumage on her wings spread wide as she cast her shadow on the slumbering Shenlong. His long body was now marked heavily with the scars of battle and blood, and he lay in exactly the same position as he was in now, atop the golden pedestal, feet tucked under his body and tail curled round his head; a curiously docile posture.

The only difference between then and now, Wei Wuxian reflected, as he glanced back to the actual Shenlong, was the array of bones now scattered haphazardly around his pedestal – some animal, some human.

The old stories only tell of the Shenlong as a noble and wise creature, who bestows rain upon peasants as a water god, Wei Wuxian thought to himself. This Shenlong must be a rogue one, akin to the black dragon of Jizhou which was killed by the goddess Nüwa. This Shenlong must have brought calamity to the surrounding towns and abused his power to consume human flesh.

All this information he recalled from dusty textbooks and boring lessons on rainy days that seemed a lifetime away – well, he corrected in his mind, for him at least, they were a lifetime away. But there was no time to dwell on his sad past, now. The important thing at hand now, was to find a way to defeat this Shenlong, and stop it from killing any more Yunmeng people. The only thing was – how? Wei Wuxian could see from the grim look in the eyes of his companions that they were similarly nonplussed.

In the stories, there were few who actually fought a long, and even fewer who survived, Wei Wuxian thought, his brain working furiously. Of those few, most were deities or gods like the Monkey God Sun Wukong, or the Third Lotus Prince Nezha. Long have few weaknesses and many strengths, and it will be difficult to conquer it without external, godly help…

Then, all of a sudden, came the clear, sonorous ring of a bell.

Immediately, all four of them froze. Slowly their gazes turned, from the four panels on the wall, and landed on the Shenlong sleeping atop the golden pedestal.

Wei Wuxian’s last thoughts?

…

We’re fucked.

[one-leaf-grimoire]

Illusion (chapter 5)

Grey Deer Fic chapter 5! Here’s the link to the full story: link.

As you can see, I changed the name bc I wasn’t vibing with the other one.

WARNING: slight implication of *Sex* (but not with Julius, unfortunately...)

As always, I would really love to hear what you think of this chapter!

"Captain, do you have a minute-"

I stop talking as soon as I poke my head into Captain Hervey's office. It's a sizable room, with rich wood paneling and blue wallpaper making it seem cozy. Several stuffed deer heads are hanging above the severe man's desk, where he sits across from his vice captains. Both Malota and Julius turn around to look at me; obviously I'm interrupting a meeting. "A-Ah, sorry, I'll come back later-"

"Nonsense, spit it out. But make it quick." Hervey gestures me closer, and I gulp and enter the room, a paper clutched in my hands. "What's that?"

This is always a little awkward, even though I've given several of these requests to him over the years. But it's his fault for having the "only registered guests only" rule for our base. "Lawrence wants to come visit tomorrow, can I get your approval?"

Hervey lets out a snort of laughter. "Your fiance? He was here pretty recently, wasn't he? Why do you keep inviting him here, just go visit him yourself."

"Ah, well, he insists. I can't really say no to him..."

But you can, sir. I watch as he takes the paper and looks at it carefully, as if he's making up his mind. Meanwhile, I'm praying that he says NO so I have a good reason to avoid seeing Lawrence tomorrow. Malota looks bored and lets a sigh out through her vulture-like nose. Julius stares at the Captain's table silently. Another reason why I wanted to avoid asking in front of other people is because it becomes awkward like this. Neither of our Vice Captains want to hear about my personal life, I'm sure. 

"Very well. But he better be gone by dinner time, I'm not feeding him, even if he is a prince!"

Fuck! I force a smile as he signs the paper, a magical chill moving through the room as he does so. Somehow, Hervey can manipulate the barrier spell he cast around the base to let authorized guests enter after he signs off on it. His ice magic is some of the most powerful I've ever seen, and he's able to upkeep such a potent spell all day and night, subconsciously. He really is amazing, despite his faults, and it's easy to see why he's captain. "Thank you, sir, sorry for interrupting." With that, I turn and shuffle out of the room, feeling a small weight of dread in the pit of my stomach.

Why, though? Why are you dreading this? Lawrence is your Fiance, your future Husband! Shouldn't you be happy to see him?

That's probably what you're thinking, but it couldn't be farther from the truth. I tolerate Lawrence Kira, and that's all. He's 5 years older than me, always acts like he's my superior (which he is, but come on!), and really isn't the most considerate person. He always talks about how great things are expected of him, and how he needs a supportive wife to help him achieve those things and continue the Kira line. "One day." he always tells me. "One day, our children could be the King. Wouldn't you like that?"

No... Not really, actually.

But I can't tell him that. If I show any disrespect, he'll bring the hammer down, on both me and my parents. We're already on thin ice, and this marriage is supposed to save my family. When the engagement was first decided, I was only 5 years old and had no idea what it even meant. As I grew older, I was told how romantic it was going to be. Doesn't every girl want to marry a prince? I was excited to live out what seemed like a fairy tale.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. It soon became clear that Lawrence would never actually love me. At least not all of me. Not only that, but like I said, he's older than me, and as we spent more and more time together, he started to force me to grow up a bit faster than I should have. I'm sure you can guess what I mean. 

If I didn't have Alice, I don't know what I would have done. But when I came to her and revealed that I didn't want to marry this prince, she didn't shun me or say I was crazy. She held me, and told me that we were going to get out of this, together. And so, I joined the magic knights, as the first step of my plan. The wedding that was supposed to be when I turned 18 was postponed. Luckily, the Magic Knights are a very esteemed and legitimate career path for both Royalty and nobility, so I was able to get away with it. Lawrence's family even said they were proud that their son would be marrying a magic knight.

Well... it's been 7 years since then. There's no plans for a wedding yet. This engagement can only go on so long before Lawrence decides to break it off. By that time, I'll be able to support my family myself! I don't need a marriage, and I'll finally be free to do what I want.

That's my secret, the secret only Alice and I know. My one hope for tomorrow is that Lawrence will coldly tell me that he can't wait around any longer, and will break it off right then and there.

Of course, it's never that easy.

"Hello, Lawrence."

I stand outside the base to meet him as he transports in with the help of a spatial mage. He brushes himself off before looking up, his grey eyes quickly meeting mine. Unintentionally, I feel a cold chill down my back, something that's always happened when he looks at me like that. "It's been too long, have you really been that busy?" Lawrence asks as he walks over, pulling his cloak a little tighter around himself. The snow has long melted, but its freeze still hangs lightly in the air around us.

"Er, yes, pretty busy." I let him take my hand and pull it up to his lips, not bothering to bend over. A royal shouldn't bow to anyone, after all. His lips are cold on my skin as he kisses the back of my hand, before dropping it immediately. "I actually had a pretty big mission a few days ago, I was able to beat five guys-"

"Yeah, I'm sure. You can tell it to me over lunch." Lawrence dismisses my story kind of quickly before turning to walk towards the base. I wince and hold out a hand to stop him. "Uh-er, we can't eat here!"

"Hmm? Why not?" Lawrence throws a glance over his shoulder.

"Captain Hervey said, uh... we can't spare food right now for outsiders."

"Hmph. Fine. We'll eat in town." Lawrence sighs and turns to walk back to me, grabbing my hand as he does. "Also, what did I tell you about using filler words? Stop saying um and er so much."

"R-right, sorry." I let him pull me along, away from the base.

"Man... are they really in love?" 

Giles leans on the windowsill as the others gather around him, peeping down at me and Lawrence as we walk off out of sight. "Every time he comes, she looks like she'd rather be somewhere else."

"It's true," Alice pipes up, leaning against the wall and not bothering to look. "He's a real piece of work, you know."

"How can that be? He's a prince." Elia crosses her arms. "Who wouldn't want to marry a prince?"

"She just wants to live a normal life, I think. She's not cut out for that royalty stuff anyway."

"Nigel, shut up."

Meanwhile, Lawrence and I reach town and make our way towards my favorite resteraunt there. "There's really no other place to eat?" Lawrence asks, pulling his hood up over his head, his eyes darting around the street.

"It's my favorite! I think you'll like it, too." I squeeze his hand, causing him to smile for a moment. "You're afraid of being recognized."

"Yeah... I have a pretty big fanclub you know!"

... I doubt that...

Our base is located in a forest right outside the limits of the noble realm. We're close enough to town so we can get all of our supplies, but secluded enough that Captain Hervey is able to put up our barrier. It honestly feels like a little sanctuary for the squad, but I still like going in to town to see the usual hustle-and-bustle of civilization.

"You know, this type of place does have a little charm." Lawrence talks to me as he quietly sips his beer. His eyes keep darting around the restaurant, as if he were analyzing everything in sight. He's always been like that, cool and calculated, always scheming or sizing the world up. He's really an intelligent man, someone who can keep a level head in any situation. His magic is very strong, too, and it's interesting that he never joined the Magic Knights. When I asked him why a long time ago, he simply said that it wasn't his style. I have a feeling he'd rather be involved in the government down the line.

"I'm glad you think so. I guess not all Royals are so stuffy," I answer, playfully nudging his foot under the table. Lawrence narrows his eyes at me but can't conceal his smile. Ah! I need to stop being so cute around him, remember?

"I'm not that stuffy, am I? I can have fun... what do you and the squad do for fun, anyway?" Lawrence yawns a little, scratching his chin under his hood.

"Hmm..." I think over the past for a moment. "Well, we have little parties in our base now and then. Oh, also, the Captain lets us go to the beach on our days off! We also like to come to town to go drinking some nights."

"Ah... that sounds like fun. A little crude, but fun." Lawrence nods along with my words. "Maybe I'll take you to the beach sometime, just the two of us."

Just the two of us.

"...yeah, sure."

By the time lunch is done, it's obvious to me that Lawrence isn't about to break up with me or anything. In fact, I've somehow managed to warm him back up to me after more than a month of absence, and now...

"Let's go back to the base."

"Huh? Er- Lawrence, I told you before-"

"Stop saying ER! And I don't want to eat. Is your roommate around?"

"...probably not..."

"Good."

This is my least favorite part of his visits. Lawrence hates showing affection out in public, but as soon as we're alone and away from prying eyes, he basically pounces on me. I can't really do much but hold on as his lips crash into mine hungrily. We were each other's first kisses, but I'm pretty sure he's pretty good at it. The way he moves his lips against mine always makes me dizzy, at least. He pushes me until we're both flat on my twin bed, one of his hands bunching up the sheets next to my head. The biggest drawback of avoiding him for so long is that he gets... needy. 

However, his affection doesn't last long. As soon as he's done, Lawrence simply pulls the covers over me and gets up. I roll over, feeling a bit sore, and watch as he starts to re-dress himself. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah." Lawrence buttons up his shirt, his fingers fumbling slightly. "I assume I'm not allowed to stay for dinner." He sits back down on the bed to start pulling his shoes and socks on. "I'll come back to visit soon, don't avoid me any more, you hear?"

"...yeah. No guarantees, though." I gulp nervously, pulling the covers over myself more as he looks down at me again. "I'm a magic knight, you know! I have a duty-"

"Your duty should be our future," Lawrence cuts me off, his gaze moving away from me again. "...do you really feel like this is where you belong?"

I open my mouth to respond the answer that I always do: Yes, of course. I'm meant to be a magic knight! 

But... I can't say that any more, can I?

Because, for whatever reason, someone on my very own squad wanted me gone.

"Hey... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry."

I didn't even notice the tears trailing down my face until Lawrence reaches out to cup my cheek gently. I look up into his grey eyes, which are filled with warmth, for once. But I still get that chill.

"If something's bothering you... you know where to find me, okay? You're going to be my wife one day, hopefully soon. We can put all this Magic Knights business behind you, but you'll always carry that honor. I'll take care of you, I promise."

... "Alright." I nod slowly, reaching up to hold his hand for a second before he pulls it away. "Write me some letters."

"I will. See you soon!"

Lawrence gives me a small smile and a wave, before quietly leaving me alone in my room once again.

I stay there for a while, curling up under my sheets like a cocoon. For just a couple minutes, I feel safe.

Lawrence really isn't so bad, is he? I mean... at least I know what he wants. My attackers won't show themselves again, not yet, and they won't tell me why they want me gone. Maybe... maybe I should just listen to them, and leave...

No. That's stupid. I squeeze my eyes shut as memories start to flood back.

I can't leave... because then I'll marry Lawrence. I don't want to be near him at all! Slowly, I sit up, letting the sheets fall off my body as the more pleasant chill of the base hits my skin. I'll find out who attacked me, and purge them from this squad! I'm meant to be here, I'm meant to be a magic knight.

Eventually, I get up to get dressed, cleaning myself off before heading to the bathroom. I splash some water on my face before looking up at my reflection. I look tired and a little stressed out... but alive.

"Hello there! Enjoy your day off?"

I'm on my way down to dinner when I run into none other than Julius. I haven't seen him all day, not since yesterday's meeting, but he's heading the same way as me now. "Ah, yeah. I haven't seen my fiance in a while, so it was nice to have lunch with him."

"Your fiance? Oh, right, Prince Lawrence." Julius nods as he falls into step next to me. I glance up at the taller man, not able to read any emotion other than his usual neutrally-happy expression. Even so, his presence puts me at ease, although I doubt anyone would attack me now while everyone is awake in the base. "Is the wedding happening soon?"

"Oh, definitely not. We haven't even started planning it!" I smirk a little. And if I have my way... it won't ever be planned!

"I see... I guess, eventually, you're going to outrank us all."

"Huh?" I look up to see him smiling teasingly down at me. 

"You'll be a princess, right?"

"P-Princess?" My eyes widen as I realize that he's right. Then, I shake my head. "Ah! I don't even want to think about that..."

"Why not?"

"Too much pressure?"

"Ah, well, I think it suits you."

I look back up at him, aghast, just in time to catch his wink. "Hey! Jul- I mean, sir, that's a long way in the future-"

"Julius is fine-" He lets out a warm laugh before gesturing for me to keep up with him. "Come on... a princess can't be late for dinner."

..... AHHHHHH.

I swallow my pride and quickly catch up, pouting a bit to myself. Princess... I can't even imagine becoming royalty. And I don't want to! I'll never be a princess, not if I have anything to say about it.

Slowly, though, I feel my cheeks heat up, and it takes everything I have to keep from glancing back up at Julius's face.

Still...

It didn't sound so bad when he called me that...

[falsewings]

For the @goodintentionswipfest , here’s an abandoned wip for Miraculous Ladybug that I kept in a file named ‘More superhero teens (series of one shots)’ (that’s the closest I got to a title, sorry). It was supposed to be a serious of one-shots where Alya, Nino and Chloe also got kwami (the fox, peacock and bee) and became heroes alongside Marinette and Adrien. And the all knew each other’s identity. 

Abandoned because I stopped watching the show around the time season 2 aired and I lost interest in the fandom. I have one or two other Ladybug WIPs I’m not ready to abandon yet but the show moved on so this idea no longer fits.

This fic would have featured reluctant Marinette & Chloe teamwork and mutual awkward pining between Marinette and Adrien. Also Chloe using a scepter that had an electric shock and Nino got the peacock (I was convinced this would be canon) and fought with fans as weapons

First ideas that I had for stories but only some of them got snippets written for them (which I’ll post after the ideas) One Shot Ideas for this Collection:

LB and Chat don’t know how to work in a 5-man team

Marinette & Alya discuss superheroes & secret identities. (Are the miraculouses disguising them or is the Clark Kent effect at work here? PS Alya is dropping all the superhero refs)

The gang needs some place to meet weekly 

Chat flirts with LB w/o thinking about it and there is a moment of awkward bc post-reveal 

Chloe is tired of Marinette & Adrien being oblivious of their mutual crushes and obliquely steps in

Marinette & Chloe have disagreement during a weekly meeting. Adrien steps in with an egregious pun (“Bee Agrestive”). They both express instant disgust to Alya’s great amusement

Marinette has the idea to steal a phone to solve some problem. Alya & Tikki bring up the other times she’s stolen phones. Chloe is more interested in the fact the Marinette stole Adrien’s phone but everyone is too busy to answer her questions

Chloe has an evening ritual wherein she & her bee kwami share a tea service

Marinette trips & Chloe instinctually stops her from falling. It surprises everyone, even each other. It’s also an awkward 10 seconds

Marinette has a scrape on her hand that Lucky Charm doesn’t heal bc reasons. Chloe acts strangely & tells her to bandage it

Sabrina is feeling jealous that Chloe is suddenly spending so much time away from her. Chloe has to console her without explaining the whole superhero thing

Chloe is just as irritated by lovely-dovey Adriennette and clueless Marinette & Adriens. She vocally regrets forcing them to admit their feelings

LB once again catches Chloe (tho this time as Honeybee [Queen Bee?]) and Chloe once again feels slightly flustered. LB is once again oblivious.

Honeybee catches Chat & prevents him from falling. Then he makes an awful pun and she debates on letting him fall anyway

LB and Chat once again wind up entangled bc of an akuma. They flirt excessively until someone reminds them the battle is still happening

Honeybee saves Lila during a battle. The next day in class, Lila relays the story, adding that she & Honeybee are practically BFFs. Chloe is so completely reminded of her antics around LB before she knew that it was Marinette, that she keeps a blank face & tells herself that this is not happening

Adrien & Chloe find definitive proof that Gabriel is Hawkmoth. Chloe forces Nathalie to let Adrien stay @ Le Grand Paris for the weekend & everyone holds an emergency meeting

And now the snippets! for idea #3 There were several factors that Marinette had to take into consideration in deciding a time and place.

Adrien’s schedule was by far the most restrictive thanks to his many activities. And how he spent his free time was more likely to be scrutinized than anyone else in the group.

Alya’s younger siblings were too curious to not eavesdrop on their conversations.

Nino’s parents would not appreciate five teens showing up at their apartment every week.

Marinette’s parents were too kind not to stop in every few minutes just to stuff her friends with food. And she would have to come up with an explanation as to why Chloe, the girl whose antics Marinette had complained about for years, was suddenly hanging out with Marinette on a frequent basis.

And so, in the end, it was the Bourgeois hotel where they met up. Out of everyone in the group, Chloe was the only one Gabriel Agreste knew and approved of.

They also didn’t have to worry about anyone poking around.

for idea #1 The confrontation happens after an akuma has been purified. Although, it’s less of a confrontation and more of a barb from Chloe.

“Nice team work.”

for idea #4 “[Something flirting and related to the Akuma of the Week]” Chat says. The words slip out of his mouth. Just as thoughtlessly, he leans into her. It’s habit. A pattern that formed within their partnership. He’s just waiting for Ladybug to playfully nudge him away with a quip of her own. Except she doesn’t.

Instead, her eyes are wide and her face is becoming a brilliant red. It’s this slip in a well-worn routine that reminds him of their situation. He’s flirting with Marinette and she knows he’s Adrien underneath the mask. He’s flirting with her and he’s pretty sure they’re just friends.

He can feel heat crawling up his neck as they stand there, frozen and their faces way too close. It’s not until Volpina yells, “Incoming,” that they divert their gaze to the akuma and quickly dodge the attack.

After, when the akuma has been purified, he thinks about talking to her. He knows that he should. But Marinette’s already tugging on Alya’s hand and making her goodbyes and he’s a bit too terrified of the possibilities to try and change her plans.

So he’s stuck walking home with Chloe, trying to ignore the irritated look on her face.

[sxfik]

hi hi hi it’s really late, but if u ever get around to it can you write a fic where Iseult and aeduan go out somewhere and leave owl for Safiya and Merik to babysit?

Just like how Flynn loved Rapunzel

a/n: okay i took some creative liberty and made this a modern au with a much younger owl, i hope you don’t mind! apologies in advanced if they are ooc bc i literally wrote this right at 12 when i saw your prompt bc i have had so many ideas for this! enjoy!

“Oh, and make sure to not give her anything sweets an hour before her bedtime! There’s mac and cheese that I made earlier to eat for dinner. And don’t forget to —“

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, we got this. It’s not our first time taking care of her you know? It’ll all be well Iz, just enjoy your time with Aeduan,” Safi cut her off with a chuckle and spinning her around softly, pushing her into the living room of Aeduan and Iseult’s shared apartment. Iseult fiddled with her necklace and bit her lip as she racked her brain for last minute reminders but Safi was having none of it. “All will be well, plus it’s Merik and I taking care of her so we have two pairs of eyes on her. Also, you look stunning in that dress and you deserve a break to spend time with your boyfriend.” she reassured her sister as she adjusted Iseult’s necklace which lay off center with her constant fidgeting.

Iseult relaxed as Aeduan came up and slipped a strong arm around her, supporting her as she leaned into his warmth. Safi gave her a soft smile as Aeduan guided Iseult out of their apartment. Iseult had changed after Aeduan and Owl came into her life. Safi saw her sister’s careful expressions and rough edges smoothen out and her sister was relaxed when she was around them. The biggest change was how much Iseult cared for Owl, practically becoming her mother and both Aeduan and Iseult became the kind of parents that Safi wishes she had when she was a child. Snapping out her thoughts, she waved goodbye to the couple when a familiar someone pokes their head into the doorframe.

“Is she awake?” Merik asked as he glided past Safi and she closed the door behind them. She looked up at the man, his head turned in the direction of Owl’s bedroom with eager, excited expression. His hair flopped down a bit, looking like soft clouds as his hair was slightly curling. He was wearing black jeans and a dark blue sweater that complimented his hazel eyes. In his hands, he held a bag of what looked like all the Disney movies he owned.

“I haven’t checked on her yet, they just left before you came in” she whispered back, and he looked back at her beaming, excited to see Owl. Although Merik was Mr. Grumpy most of the time, Owl softened his demeanor like anything. “Did you bring the movies?” she asked him.

“Yeah, I did. I brought three: Moana, Tangled and the Little Mermaid. I bet she’ll pick the Little Mermaid today” Merik said, as a smirk spread across his face, his eyes dancing with mischief as if begging her to challenge him. And of course, she wouldn’t be Safiya if she didn’t.

“No way, she’ll totally pick Tangled. That movie is such a classic” she challenged, smiling up at him, both of their bodies moving towards each other unknowingly.

“Wanna make it a bet?” Merik’s voice got deeper as he stepped closer to her, close enough for his warm breath to fan her face. Her face flushed as his eyes kept darting down to her lips, his free hand caressing her jaw as her face leans into the warmth.

But, they suddenly break apart hearing a giggle coming from Owl’s room. They shared a look as the both of them crept down to Owl’s room as quietly as possible, intending to surprise her. Safi opened Owl’s bedroom door, spotting the little girl serving tea to her teddy bear and dolls that were elegantly placed in the three chairs surrounding the blue table and giggling, making lively conversation between her stuffed animals. Merik hides behind her even though Safi wasn’t tall enough to mask all of him.

“Owl, look who’s here to visit!” Safi announced to her, the little girl’s head looking back to where she’s standing.

“Hiya Princess,” Merik poked his head out from behind Safi as he greeted the four year old, hiding the movies behind him.

“Pwince Mewick!” Owl’s eyes widened as a smile stretched across her face and she raced to hug him. Merik stepped out from behind Safi to greet his princess. He bowed to her with a flourish and kissed the back of her hand as Owl blushed.

“I brought gifts, milady,” he pulled out the three Disney movies from behind him as Owl grinned up at him. “We can watch The Little Mermaid, Tangled or Moana! Which one would you like to watch today, fair princess?” he asked her as Safi watched the interaction with a soft smile, shaking her head. God, all it took was one look from Owl and he turned from Mr. Grump to her ‘pwince mewick’ in no time. Merik glanced up at Safi with a side smirk and Safi met his gaze head on, not backing down.

“I want to see Tangled! Sawfi, let’s see Tangled!” The little girl bounced around as a grin spread across Safi’s face, gloating her victory over Merik silently. Merik sticks his tongue out at her playfully as the little girl skipped out of her bedroom. Safi was about to follow suit until Merik grabbed her hand and leaned close to her ear, whispering “You might have won this round, my darling but you won’t win the next.” She breathed in and held it as goosebumps flared and her heart rate quickened at his sudden closeness. It’s shocking, even after a year of being together how much he can affect her. Merik smirked as he slid past her following Owl into the living room, leaving her momentarily stunned.

Merik made popcorn in the kitchen as Safi set up the movie with Owl sitting on the brown couch facing the TV. Her legs barely touched the floor as she swung them, waiting for the movie to start. Safi and Merik sat on either side of her and settled in, passing the popcorn from person to person.

An hour in, Merik turned his head to Safi to realize she’s dozing off. And since Owl’s attentively watching the TV, Merik takes his time to attentively watch Safi. She has the prettiest face he’s ever seen with mischievous eyes and soft lips and her long blonde hair that frames her face so perfectly. But most of all, she ignited a fire in him, and challenges him, his morals and everything he thinks is right. Around her, he can relax, and he can lay out all his insecurities in front of her and she won’t judge. Actually, she will judge but she shows him such love and kindness he’s never gotten from anyone else. Her head tips slightly onto the side away from him and her blonde hair falls suit. Merik studies her face as her lips slightly part, the sleep causing her to relax. He wants to cup her face and hold her so close to him and not let go.

“Do you wuv your pwincess?” Owl peers up at him with wide eyes and a tilted head as Merik snaps out of his daydreaming.

“Of course I love you, milady!” Merik replies with an easy smile. But the little girl shakes her head as if the answer is not enough for her.

“No, do you love pwincess safwi? Like how he loves Rapwunzel?” she gestures to the screen showing the scene where Flynn Rider is gazing at Rapunzel while she looks out at the floating lanterns with flowers in her hair. Merik looks back at Safi and smiles softly.

“Yeah I do love her. Just like how Flynn loves Rapunzel,” his voice, soft as he looks at Safi. Owl looks up at him, satisfied with his answer and goes back to watching the movie.

The movie finishes and Safi is still asleep on the couch so Merik decides to give dinner to Owl and get her into bed since it’s so close to her bedtime. Of course, he doesn’t drop his character around her, opening doors for her, calling her names until Owl is all tucked in and had a story read to her. Once he’s sure she’s asleep, he pads his way back down the hallway, back to awaken Safi so she can have some dinner and to make sure she doesn’t wake up cranky and hungry the next morning. “Safi, darling, wake up. You need to eat something.” He settles down next to her, softly nudging her and shaking her awake. Safi shifts, her head now upright and she cracks her eyes open and stretches. She frowns, upset for the awakening but then realizes her surroundings and turns toward him.

“Hm, Prince Merik, what an honor to have you wake me up.” she teased, her voice slightly throaty because of sleep and disuse. Safi smiles at him softly and it’s like every charming line he had was tossed out of his brain. Merik lifted a hand to cup her face, to tuck a stray golden piece of hair behind her ear and his fingers continue tracing her jaw, not wanting to let go.

He shifted closer as he quipped back “Well darling, other than waking you up, I have come here to declare my victory. Since I tucked in Owl today, I got her special goodnight message.” Realization struck Safi and she cursed under breath. Damn it, Owl’s special goodnight message is the best. The little girl gives you the tightest hug she possibly can before she climbs into bed and says in the softest voice “I love you.” It was the ultimate win. Safi grumbled and frowned as Merik chuckled, leaning in closer. “It’s okay, just admit it, I’m the ultimate prince and I won” his voice whispered as he grew closer and closer.

“No way.” She leaned in, her eyes almost closed.

“Admit it.” His hands held her face gently, tilting it up towards him as his eyes darted down to her lips.

“Never.” she breathed out, as Merik’s lips crashed into her. His lips were soft against hers as their bodies shifted closer towards each other. His arm snaked around her waist as his other hand was still cupping her face. Safi’s arms were around his neck, drawing him impossibly close, kissing until they needed a breath. Safi drew away from him, breathing in a shaky breath, lips red and swollen from kissing for so long.

“You win.”

Taglist: @lseultdetmidenzi @shiencystuff (for some reason @un-empressed isn’t showing up as a blog)

[kettlewrites]

vampire!renjun

summary: after roaming the earth for hundreds of years, you accidentally come across a cute dark-haired boy who was talking to himself about feeding on the poor little rabbit across the pond

warning: spooky season fluff / renjun’s snaggletooth is back bc i miss it 

 [BEST VIEWED ON DESKTOP THANK YOU]

you’ve been a vampire for what seemed to be three centuries and a half,, but who was really counting after the first half a century

you were stuck at the prime age of 18 for the rest of your life,, but since you were pretty smart you had gone around the past few centuries jumping around ages

although supernatural entities had existed in the world, you hadn’t encountered many of your own kind often as there weren’t many left after the war between original borns and turned ones.

you never really were one for fighting out wars,, which is why you had constantly jumped locations but once you found seoul you couldn’t seem to say goodbye to the beautiful city scene

“says the one who’s been to each of the world’s best sights.” donghyuck snorts as he brewed up some odd potion that he was working on to use on mark

“i told you to stop listening into my thoughts!” you whined, shifting on the bar stool as you stared aimlessly at his beaker

“i don’t know how to reverse the spell.” he shrugs before pouring a concoction of liquids to change the potion’s color

“bullshit.” you sigh before going back to scrolling through your timeline

which is why you had stayed in seoul for half a century now,, mainly because you had found friends who understood you

one of them being your best friend, donghyuck who was a witch that caused mostly chaos between his friends and mark who was surprisingly just a human who was too dumb to question the odd drinks that donghyuck gives him

it was quite lonesome to have a witch as a best friend when you could go back to your family who’ve you been running from for decades now but you’d rather stick with some magic rather than fight to the death with your blood thirsty relatives

and you hadn’t encountered any vampires since you had arrived in seoul at least not until the prior night to this odd potion watching hang out session you were currently having with mister witchy over there

“and you’re saying he was just out?” he asks, waltzing around the kitchen with his cat roaming around with him

“just sitting there at the edge of the pond with a poor rabbit in his cold hands.” you laugh, thinking back to the situation

you watched the dark haired boy talk to the rabbit in a hushed voice but you could hear it a mile away with your enhanced hearing

“i don’t want to hurt you,, but i’m so so so hungry.” the boy cries as he stared right into the rabbit’s eyes

you watched his every move in pure curiosity as you believed he was just a human that might’ve been out of his mind to go to such extremes to fulfill his hunger

then you watched as he contemplated back and forth with killing the innocent creature

the closer you got to him,, the more you realized how he wasn’t very much human at all

his one abnormally pointed fang pointed in the direction of being one of your kind which made you even more curious as you wanted to know of his lineage

“i can’t do this!” he huffs before letting the rabbit escape his hold

“you must be new.” you tried to conceal your laughter as he almost stumbled into the pond that he was sitting beside

“and who are you?” his voice was shaking as he backed away from you

you watched as his fang went back down to a normal length,, “i could ask you the same question, who turned you?”

“you’re a vampire?”

“as are you. now please answer my question and i’ll help you feed.”

the mysterious dark haired boy continued to cower back away from you,, “why would i want your help?”

“well presuming i’m older and i just want to know who else is in this town that i should be aware of. plus i have this.” you respond before taking the unopened plasma bag from your bag waving it in front of the poor boy’s face, “you won’t have to hurt a thing if you just tell me. granted that’s my favorite part of this whole vampire thing.”

“they didn’t tell me their name. just skinny and tall with a oddly charming smile.” 

you hand him the pint of blood as you promised with his answer, “probably just yuta, glad to know my favorite japanese vampire is back in town.”

he ripped the bag open with ease, bringing it to his mouth and gasping at the taste of human blood

“enjoy pretty boy, but you do know that one day you’ll have to kill for your feed.” you smirk before walking off back in the direction that you were already heading which was home

“so you just left him there?” donghyuck questions

“obviously not if i started off this story with ‘hey donghyuck guess what i have a date with a recently turned vampire but it’s not really a date because i’m teaching him how to hunt’ please get with the program and also you are going to kill mark if you keep adding things to that potion.”

“actually you didn’t start off the story at all until i read your thoughts and i know very well which is why i’m starting a new one.”

you hear another splash on liquids before you heard donghyuck sigh in annoyance

you didn’t bother to look up and continued to scroll through your timeline,, a picture of yuta appearing with his bright red lips and smears of blood all around them

and you felt giddy when you saw a notification from the boy you had been thinking about

from renjun: are we still meeting tonight?

to renjun: definitely, wouldn’t want such a pretty boy to starve for not knowing how to feed

from renjun: you never gave me your name and that would be pretty useful

to renjun: what do you have me saved under then?

from renjun: pretty vampire

to renjun: that’s all you need to know darling

“i swear to god i’m going to poison jeno.” you heard donghyuck mumble under his breath which causes you to look up

“what did he do this time?” you ask as you typed the time and location for your little date with renjun

“i may be overreacting but i think he got semen all over my fucking beakers after he borrowed them.”

“why would you even think-”

you didn’t further question it as he slammed a hand over your mouth to silence you before going back to dealing with his potion

you sat for another hour watching donghyuck before leaving to go off to the woods,, as the sun was already going down and your time to meet renjun was coming close

it wasn’t a problem for you to rush there anyways,, but it startled you when you arrived and saw him already standing there waiting for you

“s-sorry. i haven’t gotten adjusted to my speed yet so i got here really early.”

you smile as you watched him stumble on his feet to get over to you, “how new are you renjun?”

“i think a couple of days,, y-yuta says i was out for a few days before i woke up hungry.”

“and that day was the yesterday i suppose?”

renjun gives you a soft nod, his fang poking out when he gleamed and smiled as you laughed at his shyness as he grew a dark red after nodding

after spending a few hours teaching renjun how to caught smaller animals as his prey,, he was finally getting the hang of it

“i only have one fang.” he mumbles while the both of you take a break to feed on a rabbit you used as an example during the lesson,

“it’s your cute snaggletooth that’s probably keeping the other one from growing in.”

“you think it’s cute?” his voice quivers before he tries to hide his blushing mess babble by sinking his teeth into the animal for his hunger

“in all of my years of roaming this earth,” you start as you watched him eat, “you by far are the cutest vampire but don’t tell yuta.”

“i haven’t seen him since i ran out to find something to eat.” he quickly says trying to push aside the fact you had just called him cute

but it was no use because it was all that he could think about,, you,, the really pretty vampire who had just saved his life by teaching him how to not be coward and actually hunt,, calling him the cutest vampire

“it’s getting late. do you have somewhere to stay junnie?” you ask as you looked at the moon in the sky

“how can you tell the time?”

you shrug with a smile, “some things come with the amount of time you’ve lived on this earth, but in my case i just looked at my watch. answer my question though, if not i won’t be able to rest easily knowing you’re just on your own.”

and that’s how donghyuck started housing the smaller vampire in his mess of a home

it’s been around two years since you had first met renjun at that pond, still frequenting it as you found yet another reason not to move away from seoul

“why don’t just you ask y/n out?” you hear mark ask renjun in the kitchen as you were upstairs with donghyuck

“did you drink another one of donghyuck’s potions because you’re more stupid than usual. y/n is y/n,, and i’m just me.” renjun snaps as he takes a swig of his drink

“one, you’re meaner than usual. two, just ask them out it’s not like you’ll have to live an eternity of shame if they turn you down.”

renjun scoffs, not knowing how donghyuck or even you put up with mark’s lack of braincells over the years

“if you hadn’t noticed mark, i kind of do.” the smaller framed boy says with a sarcastic laugh before trying to change the topic

you laughed quietly at their conversation before donghyuck nudged you to come back to the conversation you had clocked out of to listen to renjun

“you know i can totally give you a love potion.” he smirks as he waters his magical herbs

“save that for mark, i don’t want anything to do with your potions anymore.”

“i said i was sorry for almost killing you!! i really thought it was the healing one! jeno messed up my label printer.” 

“which is definitely another reason to add to my list of not to drink a potion from lee donghyuck ever again.” you chuckle as you helped him water the herbs

the both of you worked in silence before he brought up the topic again

“why hadn’t you said anything to him anyways? it’s quite odd that the two of you keep avoiding the topic but already act like you’ve been married for an entire century.”

“yuta at first thought renjun’s liking towards me was an accidental sire bond, so i’ve just been so hesitant to act on my feelings.”

you heard donghyuck snort before clasping his hands over his mouth to hide his loud cackle

“you believe yuta? the vampire who thought sprites were only apart of literature before realizing his boyfriend of a century was one.”

“well!”

“you just don’t want to reveal your true feelings for the cute snaggletoothed vampire because you, y/n, have lived three centuries being a coldhearted vampire.” donghyuck says with the biggest smile on his face as he read you like a book

“you know what i hate more than your face?”

“when i’m completely, one hundred percent right.”

you scrunch your face before nodding, “i hate it when you’re right.”

“just tell them.” you heard mark say yet again, but at a closer distance this time

you tried to distinguish where exactly they were, but you were too late before you realized you were making eye contact with the very vampire that made your dead heart run marathons for

“h-hey y/n.”

you felt your stomach twist with those razor sharp butterflies as you went to wave as a response

“cat got your tongue?” mark teases

“it’ll have yours soon.” you glare before trying to return to your simple task of watering donghyuck’s plants

after a few seconds, you felt a presence at your side before realizing renjun was also trying to help you

“hey y/n.”

you look up from your water pail to look at the boy who was already blushing a bright tomato red

“will you go on a date with me? i mean!! you don’t have to and i’m fine with living out the rest of eternity like mark said in shame if you don’t want to!! and i’ll probably get over it with a few decades or so!! god what was i think, you’re you and i’m me! for gods sake i couldn’t even hunt before i met you!”

you smile before shutting him up with a kiss on his check, feeling his cool skin against your lips

“i’d love to renjun.”

[denitr-ia]

( update. )

||: aight about these changes that’ll be mostly effective immediate lets start with the important one, current classes Deni is taking. some have been dropped and replaced by new ones which means this hopefully opens new plot opportunities with at least few of you, and some will not be happening now ( wont be affecting anyone? here tbh as those muses have all dropped )-- I am open for past plots with the dropped courses though if ya wanna, js ;> or someone approaching him to ask why he dropped any particular one.  SO

continued

Beginner’s magic

English

3D art

dropped

Smithing & armour maintenance *

Sociology

Swimming & diving **

new courses

Potions for beginners ( he’s definitely up to no good here... )

Archery

Drawing & Painting *

Modern Dance **

* smithing & armour maintenance he only ever picked cause it was something familiar in a new environment, comfort taken in already having knowledge of this one thing at least and being able to absorb more in as well-- which lead to him realizing it’s definitely not what he wants to actually do when trying to plan his future. this leads to him picking up drawing class bc that is also something that he’s already familiar with, to a lesser extent and kept as a hobby so far ( beside using it as another tool for visioning his smithing projects ) but he wants to try if there’s any spark there to go deeper into the arts.

** long story short he used to live with these guys back in Seoul before coming to Vighulir of which two were dancers and one thing led to another Deni spent a lot of time hanging at their dance studio and eventually that and a sum of many things led to him accepting jobs as a stripper. He might argue it’s for semi-professional self improvement but reason lies somewhere in between that and why he took swimming & diving classes-- bc it seemed like easy fun and exercise and allowed him access to the pools. also it certainly was a plus to see classmates in.. less clothes. yep. he’s that guy.

anyhooo I still don’t see him joining any clubs -- esp with this line up, nothing against it but not his scene uwu *nudges yall* bringing to life a new one or two would be fun ey? ofc with admin’s approval. slips a notion about deni and @kimhyolyn-ia orchestrating a kink club somewhere there

that out of the way the rest of this is gonna be more of informative pointers what’s happened recently in his life and the people who affected that, or are doing so currently, and also a small list about.. well, things to maybe take into consideration with interactions and also a reminder to the rest beside all new and those old members who I maybe haven’t gotten to bother with this muse yet but you’d want me to ouo

lets talk a bit about his relations in IA verse and how your muse is more than welcome to take note of them as it’s not really any weird rp magic, this is most in the knowledge of the population of the school, who care to observe others at least.

he’s got a new roomie again everyone should go poke him yes @yamaken-ia

with @rxelizabeth‘s departure he has more time for other people, but she will still be very much part of his canon and their friendship is still a thing and she will be mentioned here and there in threads. you can deal with that however you like, sometimes it’s ofc easier to pretend the muse was never there but at the very least if your muse has been aware of either of them it would make all the sense to note a missing presence, as he went a good 6 months basically attached to hip with her and I refuse to erase what was a huge part of his time in the academy

while he has people he considers sort of friends he will mostly be seen with @ravan-ia now, someone he considers one of his closest friends and may or may not latch onto now that.. rest have left.

it’s no secret him and @kimhyolyn-ia are banging and they own zero subtlety in public bc who needs that lmao feel free to mention that if you want I assure neither of us or the muses care

his schedule wont change much, or the locations deni generally hangs out in but a short summary to make everything easier for yall in regards of plotting and where to catch him at what times ( this isn’t fixed by any means, but more to give direction of his typical week, excluding visits to certain other parts of the academy grounds or trips to Vighulir )

Beside taking forever and after to get ready in the mornings, from waking up to the end of the school day not a whole lot of deviation can be made, tho he might skip sometimes, rarely, it happens. class projects are always a fun thing to thread winkwink.

lunch however is spend at wherever he feels the need to go, and with whoever happens to be closest so he can bother them.

library is a place he does spent some amount of time, either right after school to deal with homework or for research, or the last few hours of the day which usually are spent less looking for books than people.

randomly goes to the academy roof

the common room/roof garden in Sol Solis dorm is a location he absolutely still goes to ( used to hang there with Eliza ) even by himself or dragging someone else along. or trying to be sneaky during free nights to smoke weed there. or get drunk. a favourite pastime >_>

Ignis dorm is another he frequently spends not only hours of a day but some nights in as well, thanks to Ren’s hospitality ( as in Deni just pretends it’s half his room now cause damn have you seen that shit so much nicer that what he was left with )

do I even need to mention Luna dorm for obvious reasons. It’s not the bar. Though he’s an occasional fan of it yes.

This said he honestly doesn’t spend much any time at all at his own room in Aqua dorm, beside other reasons he’s simply always elsewhere with someone, or if he does happen to be present he’s very rarely alone.

This leads to; Deni works at the casino in Pidvone Misto during weeknights, monday--thursday but not always every night. Which means he is usually unavailable from late evening to 3am ish at what time you may catch him returning to the dorm. usually sober but, it’s not too uncommon to witness the opposite either

free nights are a roll of a dice but if he’s not catching up on sleep like he probably really should be, or got nothing else going on best believe he’s out there clubbing and drinking all that hard earned money into oblivion

about 90% of weekends he spends in Seoul, working at one of two clubs he gets assigned between. That covers his nights. days however are generally free beside the side job he’s got. Namely dealing and doing drug runs. Coincidentally for the same people who own the nightclubs. That’s a thing yes. though someone’s stirring their spoon in this mess soon stay tuned ;>

probably forgot something but this covers the essentials already so.

extra special section!

with the arrival of another two-seventy ( at last do you hear me crying tears of joy ) @kangjun-ia I do need to mention this lil thing about Deni still keeping it a tightly guarded secret what he actually is. As it stands, no one who absolutely should know ( to his knowledge ) is aware of this and he’d prefer to keep it that way. With the exception of our late-dropped Seline & Hongbin. and other exceptions to this rule being if your muse is some type of necromancer/exorcist OR is an ancient fart and you think they would be able to tell, then ya go ahead and make it so! I’m fine with it as well if your muse has been in contact with another one of their kind in the past and would be able to pick on that particular aura.

now, development will happen of course and beside having my own plans for this entire matter I’m always down for exploring that side of him but it’s a slow burn and I’m totally fine with that tbh. if Jun is going about telling people it would make sense that your muse starts seeing/sensing the connection as, well, we do have plotted they will be acquainted so ouo put my muse in an uncomfortable spot I dare you.

K I’M DONE THANK YOU CONTINUE ON YOUR DAY-- OR COME PLOT WITH ME EITHER WAY HAVE A LOVELY DAY~  ♥