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ashs-random-writing · 2 years ago

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a burning feeling

Chapter two

Ao3

When Patton, a young-ish human, feels drawn to the mountains that house dragons, he doesn't know why he follows the feeling.

He definitely doesn't know why the dragons seem so... protective

Logan watched the little sprite as it curled up around the spikes protruding from his head. It seemed to be sound asleep. The action had rendered him immobile for how ever long it decided to sleep for (which could be anywhere between an hour or twelve hours)

He smiled, pushing away the thoughts. It was good that the sprite was seeking warmth, regardless of the inconvenience it caused him. Regardless, Virgil was sure to laugh at him.

Logan closed his eyes, deciding that perhaps he should nap with the sprite. Besides, Virgil was guarding exits, so it’s not like it could escape whilst he was sleeping. When he awoke, it was still near him, though it was trying to climb behind something, now.

Logan sighed, going to get it. It had done this kind of thing a multitude of times in the past two weeks or so it had been living here, Virgil hypothesised that it was some kind of game it was trying to play

Logan walked closer, quietly, noting the noises it was making sounded like happy noises, though distinctly muffled. He found his way behind the large pile of things and gently nudged it out

It made more of those happy noises, louder this time and started running towards Virgil’s side of the cave. Logan supressed a smile, and went to chase it.

It ended up in Virgil’s grasp before he caught it

Virgil looked at him with a strange expression, like he was trying to stop himself from laughing and make himself look serious

Logan’s scales shifted, and he hesitantly looked up

Virgil sighed, the little one’s clothing still dangling in his mouth. It was wriggling, like it was trying to get to the ground

“Since when am I the responsible one? It’s supposed to be watched at all times”

Logan huffed a little smoke, and gave his friend a small glare

“It was playing the hiding game it likes, and then ran away. I was trying to catch it” He shook his head

Virgil carried the little sprite back to its nest, placing it down, and nudging it back to the middle every time it tried to climb back out

“Sorry, little one. You’re too energetic for today, and it’s too risky to let you out for now” he said, though the little sprite couldn’t understand enough to know to stop climbing.

Virgil left to guard the entrance again

Logan curled around the nest and watched the little thing climb. If it kept climbing, and Logan kept putting it back, it was sure to tire itself out eventually

Logan thought about perhaps finding other games for it to play. Ones that didn’t involve running or hiding, possibly.

Soon would be a new moon, a night where all magic bloomed. Logan wasn’t sure what would happen to the little one (what had been happening to the little one) if its spark didn’t ignite.

Hopefully it would ignite within a few months. He didn’t want it to be ill, or sad, or hurt.

It stopped climbing after a while, leaning against the side of the nest. Logan gently nudged it, just enough to test its warmth. It was a lot warmer than it was when it first showed up, but not warm enough to ignite

He waited until it fell asleep and went to go find Virgil. Virgil was good at watching the little sprite, and Logan wasn’t as good. Logan and Virgil decided that Virgil would watch the sprite for a while and Logan would hunt and guard entrances

Logan emerged from the cave, looking down towards the human town. The humans were rarely ever out of their homes when he was, and tonight was no exception. He looked out at the little structures they made for themselves and let his thoughts wander.

He didn’t take too long to get food, and was back to the cave before the sprite even woke up.

He was careful not to wake it up before it awoke naturally; sleep was an incredibly important step in the healing process it was going through. It needed to gain all the energy it hadn’t been able to produce whilst it was living with humans

It was progressing slowly, but that was better than no progress at all. Logan knew what would have happened had it not sought them out, and he knew that it was still a risk.

He had to be aware of its progress and if it got worse at any point. He curled up next to the nest and his friend.

Virgil was watching every thing, every possible entrance, and Logan let him. It wasn’t often that being overly cautious was bad, especially not with a child to be watching out for. He absently watched the flickering shadows on the wall across from the fire pit. What colour would the little sprite’s flames be?

By the time the new moon came around, Logan was ready to forfeit any celebration in case the little one needed him. Which, as he found out, it did.

It became unwell, that evening, prompting Logan and Virgil to take care of it. It was cold again, and it was crying, an upsetting sound that Logan would rather never hear again. He gently nudged it, lifting it out of the nest, and closer to his own body warmth. Virgil lied next to him, also providing warmth for the sprite

It was still crying, though quieter, and less. Logan didn’t enjoy knowing that it had gone through this before, alone. Virgil was clicking out soothing noises. It mimicked the noises quietly, and leant against Logan’s chest

Logan draped his wing over it and looked at his friend

“I think it will fall asleep soon, what should we do?”

Virgil looked at him

“We let it rest, and we carry on helping”

Patton still didn’t understand most of the draconic language.

He still didn’t understand why he was there. They were nice to him, and he wasn’t really being held captive in most ways. Mostly, he found that they seemed almost concerned about him. He couldn’t figure out why.

He still played games with them, and they still kept him warm, and Patton was feeling better than he even knew people could feel. He felt stronger, less sickly. The dragons kept him in ways that made him stronger

He didn’t understand how. All the reports of dragons kidnapping other humans didn’t mention them getting stronger the more they stayed with dragons

Now, he was ill. He became ill every month, usually on the new moon. All the healers he had seen had hypothesised that it was some kind of curse. This was the weakest version of the curse, now that he was with the dragons. He was crying from the pain, still and he was shivering and he was freezing, but he had been a lot worse the month before.

The dragons kept him close, and they shared their warmth with a few clicks that he was sure was meant to be reassuring. He mimicked them quietly, his sobs fading out. He leant against one of the dragons, though he didn’t know which one. A wing covered him, protecting him, and he started to sleep while the dragons conversed above him.

When he woke up, the purple dragon was curled around him, the blue one doing something near the nest. Patton still felt ill, though not as much. He stood up, ignoring the pain settled in his chest. The purple dragon shifted slowly, turning their head to look at him. Patton smiled, looking at the eye that was half the size of him

He greeted them, and they greeted him back, gently picking him up. He wriggled, still not used to the feeling of being carried like that. He was set down closer to the nest, and both dragons started talking to each other. Patton sat down, deciding that he wasn’t in the right state to try play a game. He didn’t know how long he just sat there, but after a while he was lifted back into the nest, and he looked up

The nest was warmer now, and Patton laid down.

It was a few days later when anything really changed. He had woken up like normal, the dragons greeted him as normal, he played a game with them. And then, there was a noise from the front of the cave, by the entrance. Patton tilted his head, trying to think what it could be.

The dragons looked at each other, and said something quickly, before Patton was lifted into the nest. Patton tried to think what could possibly be happening, as the purple dragon rushed to the front of the cave

Patton looked up at the blue dragon, who seemed almost nervous. Patton hummed in thought. There were more noises coming from the mouth of the cave, including roaring. Okay, Patton was getting concerned now.

What could possibly have been happening out there? He attempted to climb out of the nest, but Blue pushed him back, more frantic than usual. And now he was really concerned. He tried again, before sitting on the floor of the nest and giving up.

He was tired.

—

Tag list: @a-chilly-pepper

#sanders sides gt #sanders sides fic #sanders sides story #sanders sides g/t #sanders sides au #sanders side fic #sanders sides #patton sanders #virgil sanders sides #dragon virgil #dragon Logan

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overnightshipping · 2 years ago

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Kirby 08 - Freeze

Version 1 - Kirby's Adventure (1993) / Kirby's Dream Course (1994) / Kirby: Canvas Curse (2005)

And coming in right after Burning, it's our other "elemental ability that got wrapped up into its equivalent elemental ability as a move and has only been seen on its own sparingly since", Freeze! Freeze allows Kirby to surround himself with frosty energy, freezing any enemies that come near. The exact form of said frosty energy was originally depicted as a cluster of cold clouds, but starting with Nightmare in Dream Land the freeze-cloud became a distinctive hexagon shape, stylized in the official art for Canvas Curse to further resemble a snowflake, which is what I have depicted here. Later usages of the Freeze ability as part of Ice Kirby's moveset also tend towards this hexagon/snowflake appearance, most recently appearing that way in Star Allies and Return to Dream Land Deluxe.

Notably, this is one of the abilities that actually does change Kirby's appearance when he has it in the original Kirby's Adventure. All abilities in Kirby's Adventure change Kirby's palette slightly, but while most subtly change him from pink to a sort of light orange, the two cold abilities get their own special color: Freeze and Ice change Kirby's color to a white-and-blue palette in the sprites or a light blue palette in official art. In Dream Course and Canvas Curse, the other hatless appearances of Freeze, Kirby stays pink while just holding the ability but changes to light blue when using it. In Canvas Curse in particular, Kirby's cheeks stay their usual dark pink while just his body changes to blue. I could have made another palette for that, but I don't have any way of knowing what Kirby's shoes should be colored in that situation, so... one approximately-correct blue palette it is.

Version 2 - Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (2002) / Kirby Air Ride (2003)

As alluded to earlier, Freeze was absorbed into Ice in the first hatted-ability game, Super Star. As a result Freeze wouldn't get an ability cap until Nightmare in Dream Land, where it got a really cute one! Freeze Kirby dons a blue parka hood to keep him warm in the cold. Notable, Kirby does not turn blue anymore, though that trait was kept with Ice Kirby's appearance in Nightmare in Dream Land. Maybe the parka keeps him too warm to turn blue?

The parka hat is generally assumed to be derived from Kirby's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee when he copies the Ice Climbers, giving him an identical blue parka based on the one worn by Popo of said Ice Climbers. I don't believe this has ever been officially confirmed, but it would be a hell of a coincidence if it wasn't intended, so... this makes Freeze the only copy ability hat to date to move from Smash Bros. to the main series games! Good for Freeze.

Freeze with a parka would make only one additional appearance, in my beloved Kirby Air Ride. Here it would remain largely the same, but it pushes the blue of the parka a bit closer to purple, which is roughly what I've depicted here.

After showing up in Canvas Curse, Freeze made one more non-cameo appearance in the series... sort of. In Kirby Battle Royale (2017), the Freeze Kirby parka, aptly named the "Freeze Hood", appeared as an alternate hat for Ice Kirby. This is the only alternate ability hat in the entire series to have the design of the hat of a different standard ability, which is a very interesting honor. Granted, Fire Kirby has never actually appeared in one of the games with alternate hats, so maybe if it had Burning would have had a similar cameo? I suppose we'll all have to wait until the definitely-real and absolutely-happening Kirby Battle Royale 2 to find out.

#kirby #freeze kirby #overnightshipping kirby project #kirby's adventure #kirby series #My art

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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 2 years ago

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Since you were talking about games, I know you're also a Dai Gyakuten Saiban/Great Ace Attorney fan (so am I! I followed you originally because you're into both it and BSD hehe), and I'm curious to know your thoughts on it! 💖 Who are your favorite characters/relationships/cases/parts? (My fave character is Benedict/Graydon. Yes I have a tendency to become obsessed with minor characters no one else cares about, oops) Did you play it with the Chronicles version (I assume so, like most people did) or are you an og who followed along with the fan translation like I did? One of the best/funniest parts of getting into that duology was coming across Souseki and being like "if I had a nickel for every time I've encountered a piece of media that had an anime version of real-life author Natsume Souseki, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice" lmao 😭

Since they're two of my favorite media, sometimes I try to imagine how a BSD/DGS crossover would work, and which characters would get along, though granted the only things they really have in common are detective work/mysteries, an old-fashioned aesthetic, and some similar themes lol... I just really love both of them a lot 🥹💖 Ryuunosuke and Atsushi being the exasperated straight men to the genius comedy duo that is Sholmes and Dazai? lmao (also Iris and Kyouka and their bunnies 🥹)

I need to play Hatoful Boyfriend. I've played lots of visual novels but that one is still on my to-play list (I don't know how seriously I'll be able to take it with bird sprites instead of actual human facial expressions, even though I fully trust that it is as good as its reputation says it is, but I'll just have to see for myself lmao)

Hsjfdnvskdf ok so I don't know what keeps happening to me with TGAA because I love it so much but I can't seem to write proper meta on it so. I just keep reiterating how much I like it lol. I got into it a bit later - I knew it existed almost since it came out in Japan but since I hadn't played original Ace Attorney, I avoided it for a long time. Then I saw a playthrough of the fan translation Case 1 and was hooked. By that point, I knew there was going to be a full English release so I waited for that because I wanted so badly to play it through! It's such a good game.

Oh, Graydon was interesting. That case was really fun, if it weren't for the fact that I figured out the key evidence really early and I kept trying to present it too soon aojsbsidhb. Graydon as a character was great because he's exactly as he appears but then there's just that bit more that fleshes him out and made him the slightest bit more sympathetic while not detracting from his actions. He was cool. (I actually had an idea for an after trial fic with him and the Skulkins but I don't think I'll ever get around to writing it :/)

Oh yeah I flipped out when I saw Natsume - my whole brain stopped (this was before my BSD obsession btw so this was very strange to me lol) and I shrieked out "NATSUME SOSEKI???" and my mom from the other room was just "???". yeah. And then he showed up again in BSD and I just said "...hi Natsume".

My favourites are the Mikotobas! Both Susato and Yuujin! They're such sweet people aghhhhh they deserve the world. But I really love all the main cast tbh. Ryuunosuke is such a dork but there's real personality to him, Sholmes is the perfect adaptation of that character, Gina should get all the puppies and friends she wants, and though I have some mixed feelings on him, I hope van Zieks gets a fucking break at some point (or just keep friendly tormenting him. I think it's good for him actually. unlearn your prejudices and relearn how to smile, you edgy vampire man.). Kazuma's arc was excellent and I wish so badly we could've gotten a true reunion scene with less of the baggage... actually, thinking about Kazuma for too long makes me ill. You essentially watch him break in the middle of court and it sucks. It sucks man.

And Iris was a standout character to me because her archetype could've so easily been bland or annoying but instead she's a realistic kid who happens to be a genius and she's kind and gets sad and angry and has depth and I would give her a big hug.

In terms of case specific characters, I liked Haori/Rei a lot, just because her dynamic with Susato was so silly and she's a cool gifted forensics student! She's awesome! I want to see her again!

However, my favourite was Olive. OLIVE. I adore her and I adore the twist with her. God she's so passive aggressive. Like damn. Have I mentioned that I adore her character? If Olive has only 1 fan then I am that fan. I wished we had gotten to consult with her again, even though that wouldn't have made much sense... just because she was interesting to me and I would've liked to have seen her character more fleshed out.

I'd really love to see a lot of these characters again. I've seen some people talking about Kazuma Asougi Investigations but tbh I'd really like to see Susato Mikotoba Investigations with Haori and Yuujin helping out! It'd be neat to see more Meiji Japan and Susato continue to grow as a character in her own right, since she started that journey in Chronicles. Oh well. I know that's a pipe dream but still.

Omg omg so Iris and Kyouka was such a sweet mental image that I had to doodle it!

I bet Kyouka would really find Iris's inventions fascinating and love to listen to how they work and stuff! I think they'd get along tbh. The idea of Sholmes and Dazai ever interacting terrifies me. Keep them away from each other. Please.

As for Hatoful, I am biased but I'd say it is well worth a playthrough. Given you like both DGS and BSD, I'd say you'll probably like it. My mom (who has also played it) and I were chatting about it recently and thinking that weirdly enough, BSD gives us a lot of the same vibes... like it's nowhere near identical, but that kind of desperate darkness where the characters are not who they appear to be at first and everyone has a different motive for doing what they do, but it's also not taking itself too seriously and it's still kinda silly... yeah. Same feel. It's better to go in with no expectations but I'm thinking of making a post later about why people should play that game... it's still one of my favourites of all time.

About the stock bird images: I know it's weird. I know it's weird that they're birds. But the best part of this game - to me, anyways - is that for as much as it is a gag, the story leans into it so heavily that you will quickly realize the main plot only makes logical sense if the main cast are birds and the player the only human. Like, it literally would not make sense otherwise. Please play it. It's wacky, it's zany, the characters have a good amount of depth, it's mildly traumatizing, it's one of the best things I've played and I feel it's become an inscrutable part of my identity. I am still obsessed with it many years later. That almost never happens to me. It's that good.

Agh this was long. I hope it wasn't overwhelming haha. Actually I'm curious: did you like Olive too? And/or what do you like about Graydon? :D

(Also if you ever decide to start Hatoful, please let me know your thoughts!!!)

#thanks for the ask!#hatoful boyfriend #tgaa #dgs #tgaa spoilers #dgs spoilers #storyrambles #my art

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christophermoonstar · 3 months ago

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The Child of the Abyss: A Funny Tale of Cosmic Representation

Once upon a time—or rather, outside of time—there existed a place called the Abyss. It wasn’t dark and terrifying like you’d imagine. Nah, it was more like an endless, cozy void where everything floated around, waiting to become something else. Imagine the space between two thoughts, or that moment when you’re about to fall asleep but jolt awake. That’s the Abyss.

Now, in this Abyss, there was a problem. Every planet, star, and cosmic dust particle out there was getting worshiped. People loved Mars, Venus was adored, Jupiter was basically running a cult, and Saturn? Don’t even get me started on how many followers Saturn had on CosmicBook. But the Abyss? Nada. No one even gave it a glance. Not a prayer, not a chant. And this, as you can imagine, did *not* sit well with the Abyss.

So the Abyss went to the one entity it could complain to: The Almighty, Creator of All, Lord of Hosts, aka God.

"Look," said the Abyss, "You’ve got all these planets, stars, even black holes, getting attention. But here I am, just floating along, doing my thing, and what do I get? Nothing. I mean, am I invisible or something?"

God, sitting back in His throne, sighed. "Well, to be fair, you *are* the Abyss. You’re kinda supposed to be the backdrop, not the main attraction."

"But I could be so much more! People just need to see me! I mean, they’re worshiping rocks, God. Rocks!"

God stroked His beard, eyes twinkling like a mischievous grandfather with a plan. "Alright, alright. You make a point. The Abyss *does* need a representative. Someone who can show people that emptiness isn’t something to fear, but to embrace. But I’m not doing this halfway, okay? No shortcuts. This will take time."

"How long?" asked the Abyss.

"Nine incarnations," said God, holding up His hand—three fingers on each hand for the number 9. "A sprite will be born from the Abyss, and it’ll travel through nine realms, learning and growing. By the time it’s done, it will be the perfect representative. It’ll balance the universe, unite the multiverse, and maybe even get you a fan club."

The Abyss liked the sound of that. "A sprite, huh? Sounds cute. What should we name it?"

God chuckled. "Names are for mortals. You’ll know the right one when you see it."

The First Incarnation: The Flailing Newborn

In the first realm, the Abyss gave birth to a sprite—a squirmy, flailing little thing with big curious eyes. Its first lesson? How to walk.

Now, this realm was Earth, and as you can guess, the sprite’s first life wasn’t smooth. Babies fall a lot, you know? But every time the sprite fell, it learned something new about balance, not just in walking, but in life. The kid was clumsy, but with each tumble, it started to see a pattern. Why was falling so inevitable? Why do humans suffer?

And then the biblical metaphors kicked in—completely by accident. The sprite kept hearing this phrase: "The fall of man." Everywhere it went, people were talking about it. Coincidence? Maybe not.

By the time it had lived a full life on Earth, the sprite realized one thing: Falling isn’t failure. It’s a part of learning, of becoming. By the end of that first life, it took one look at the stars, waved its little hand, and said, “I’ll see you in the next life, suckers!”

The Second Incarnation: The Wise Fool

Next up, the sprite was born into a realm of pure intellect. Everything here was about logic, numbers, and reason. People in this realm worshiped the number 7, believed it was the key to the universe, and that if you could decode it, you'd unlock eternal wisdom. So naturally, the sprite was terrible at math.

But here’s the funny part: Every time the sprite messed up a calculation, something incredible would happen. It accidentally created a portal to another realm. It would trip over a quadratic equation and end up solving a riddle that had baffled scholars for centuries.

This realm was all about proving how fallibility was divine. And so, like a fool with a cosmic cheat code, the sprite navigated its way through, learning that truth isn't always in the numbers, but sometimes in the mistakes you make along the way. And hidden in there? The sprite figured out that 9, not 7, was the true number of cosmic completion. (Don't tell the numerologists.)

The Third Incarnation: Love, Actually

In its third incarnation, the sprite found itself in a realm where love was the highest form of currency. People exchanged hugs instead of money, and the closer you got to someone’s heart, the richer you became. But this time, the Abyss’s child wasn’t here to fall in love. Oh no. This incarnation was about jealousy—righteous, divine jealousy.

The sprite felt it in its bones. Every time someone loved something else, a spark of irritation flared in its heart. It was an incarnation of God’s jealousy—like when He got mad that people were worshiping golden cows. But instead of burning with rage, the sprite learned something deeper: Jealousy, at its core, was about wanting to be seen, to be known, to be loved in return. It was about craving attention, just like the Abyss did.

With a little self-awareness and some uncomfortable heart-to-hearts, the sprite learned that love isn’t a competition. It’s a reflection of the Divine—there’s enough for everyone. By the end of this incarnation, the sprite had a sneaky suspicion that maybe this whole multiverse gig wasn’t just about representing the Abyss, but about understanding love itself.

The Next Six Incarnations...

Through the next six lives, the sprite would travel through realms of power, wisdom, time, dreams, and even death. Each time, it learned a new facet of existence. It experienced the weight of responsibility in the fourth realm, where it became a king; it learned the infinite depth of knowledge in the fifth realm, where every question led to more questions. By the ninth incarnation, the sprite had seen it all, felt it all, and most importantly, embraced it all.

The Grand Plan Revealed

When the sprite completed its final incarnation, it stood at the edge of the multiverse, ready for its final task: to unite everything. It had learned balance, not just of order and chaos, but of love, pain, intellect, and even the divine sense of humor that threaded through the cosmos.

And there, God met it once again.

“Well done, little sprite,” said God. “Now you understand. The Abyss isn’t nothing. It’s everything waiting to become.”

The sprite grinned, now fully aware of its role. "So, what now?"

God shrugged. “You know the plan: Steward the multiverse into a haven. Or just chill. Either way, you’ve earned it.”

The sprite, fully matured, chuckled, “I think I’ll start with chilling. Multiverse stewardship can wait until tomorrow.”

And so, the child of the Abyss, once a clumsy newborn, now the wise and balanced representative, sat back and admired the universe it would soon unite, fully aware that it wasn’t the mistakes, the jealousy, or the falls that mattered—it was the journey.

And somewhere in the Abyss, for the first time, there was a quiet ripple of applause.

#cosmicjourney #multiverse tales #made in abyss #divine intervention #astro observations

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livecharliereaction · 6 months ago

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U know what. Im reading the umi mangas but instead of making proper separate tags and all im just going to dump it all in one big post under the read me for each existing tag #Yay

Id like to read it on my own unfortunately im obsessed with Talking

Starting from ep2 cos i feel like it

Obvious spoilers im not going to pretend like i havent read all the vns

Shes so cute

Actually think about her and george a lot recently. From what i think shannon is.... its very very sad to me actually... shes living a sort of bride fantasy but its not with the one she REALLY wants right... And i find it interesting that most people default to calling yasuda sayo (i think it suits her enough and im used to seeing it around too) but the idea of her "true name" being the one that is exclusively used by george in the series is kind of interesting to me... some sort of declaration... I think this manga will overall make me decide what to call them anyway im using yasuda right now to make sure its not confusing but yeah ok

Actually not sure how to interpret that belief of hers either... Im still not completely sure on what i think magic means like i think the simple answer is Love but. I dont know

ALREADY PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE WHAT? KIYO?? Ok maybe thats why then. Hmmmh.

This scene i briefly forgot about actually but i did remember it the other day and out of all the magic items and stuff the mirror thing is the most obvious. So awesome

They draw her insane pretty im kinda obsessed

jessica said georges into "family oriented girls" oughhhh I was thinking about this too well not this exact scene but i did notice shannon visibly get a little quiet whenever george brought up kids. I used to hate the couple so i just assumed it was just their dynamic like george says things and shannon seems like she doesnt even like him But yeah.

Eva one of the people ever isnt she.

Well she does too #HALF COUSIN

UGH. i love her. one reason i wanted to read was to check some subtle things i didnt pay attention to for example is shannon+kanon the only person to call herself furniture? like eva here saying shes worthless n shit but not using that word. Another thing i wanna see how often those two are in the same scene and generally just idk staring at them

Hi kanon. Lmfao i was reading my old livetweet i kept saying he looks like a girl. Yeah. Kanon shannon appearance counter: theyre both here yes but theyre alone

Bae. I missed her. Omfg is she lowkey being born here. I think she doesnt appear in ep1 except maybe tea party... Oh man

like u see it right. im not sure how long ago this was though i forgor even though they just said it. less than 6 years surely

yes ok i checked it was... lets think

i love them

this too makes sense to me even more now. She wouldnt want to end up too close to george like physically i dont mean sex necessarily but like, at all and george is sheepish enough that he might not even have asked

jessica ur so fun to me. favorite cousin? ohhh but i love maria too But jessica is up there. I love her so bad

Now this is funny as hell to me u know. she was saying she wants a boyfriend tooooo and look whos going to show up sooner or later Extremely funny. I remember thinking her and kanon were super crazy good so... I want to OBSERVE

theyre talking about the affinity for seeing magic CLICK CLICK CLICK i dont remember exactly WHO was able to see beatrice surely it was just maria and well shannon and kanon

ugh

There it is #REAL ohh but i like the vn translation phrasing better

EYES WIDE OPEN. KANON IS STANDING THERE WITH HIM

LMFAO. I think he means it too... But it was shannon who suggested to jessica shed do it too... These things can coexist to me

they made him look CRAZY hes complaining. Ok gender dysphoria!

shes so cute i understand what happens next kiss kiss fall in love

Wait i dont like a lot of kanon depictions besides og sprites but i like this he looks CRAZY

OH GIRL SHE DOESNT KNOW WHO SHES TALKING TO ITS SO CRAZY.

Apparently theres a 30 image limit per post but thats ok im alr like 1/3rd done with this ep so ill just split it up. ANYWAY I FORGOT THIS IS HOW HE ANSWERS ITS. He was NOT thinking about it before this. Oh ur crazy. Since the sayo thing bothered me i thought about it a lot too like why yoshiya where does it come from. Im sure theres something w the letters n stuff but idk japanese so i wont know. Yoshiya

#charumi2

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thearchivistsjournal · 2 years ago

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Day 276,

Now the mists are out. Going to try to get back to the house before they get too thick. I left the blanket there and I’d rather not go through tonight without it.

*******

Well, I was going to spend the day doing more analysis on the copy of Iole’s book, but wound up spending the past few hours sitting on the porch giant-watching. I just so happened to glance out the window and see one - a bulking, lumbering hexapod - in the distance so I put down the book for what I meant to just be a few minutes. And then once it had passed on to wherever those things go I told myself that I’d wait around “just a little bit more” to see if another showed up. It’s funny, I find the sight of the giants - and to a lesser extent, the mists themselves so long as I’m not stuck out in them - to be oddly calming while simultaneously getting the impression stuck in the back of my mind that I should be having the opposite reaction.

Staring out into the white as the world is rendered faded and indistinct, it’s easy to let my mind drift. A drifting mind is distinct from a wandering one. When you let your mind wander, it finds things and stops to pick them up and examine them. Or runs into them, or trips over them, or gets snagged on them. Sometimes the things are good; fond memories, old jokes, interesting questions, moments of inspiration, suddenly realized connections. Other times they are things you’d rather do without; buried traumas, suppressed fears, unfortunate implications, spikes of doubt, dreadfully dawning understandings. Either kind of thing can lead the wandering mind down paths, twisting, and turning, and linking to yet more things. Sometimes those paths turn into spiraling loops and you find yourself returning to the same points over and over until you’re jarred back to the material present by some external influence.

When you let your mind drift, it may pass by those things, those thoughts, and may even brush against them as one might idly trail a hand along the edge of a table, but it doesn’t stop to give them focus. At most the mind adrift might pause for an instant to take note for later, but in the moment it floats free, simply experiencing and being. Little joy is ever gained from from such drifting beyond a sense of calm that may linger for a time after, but by the same token little sorrow is ever found beyond a regret after the fact for time lost.

That digression aside, I did eventually see a second giant. Serpentine and trailing ribbon-like appendages as it floated through the sky. Or perhaps they were spindly legs connecting it to the ground. It brought to mind another time sitting out on the porch giant-watching. It was the first real conversation I ever had with Maiko. I think that brought me down from my drifting reverie more than the sight of the giant itself. I wonder, was it the same creature we saw that day, or just another of its kind? Assuming the visions of giants in the mists are truly even creatures at all.

Looking back, I wonder if some subconscious thought of Maiko was what kept me out there so long. Some faint hope born of first impressions, associations, and stretched logic that with the mists she’d show up on my doorstep once again, safe and sound.

I’m not totally alone tonight though. The nature sprite’s been haunting me again ever since I came back inside, constantly hovering just at the edge of my peripheral vision. Now there’s a prime example of emotional reactions not always aligning with what I think they ought to be. While I’ll admit I did, jump (and perhaps even exclaim) when I first noticed it, at this point I can’t seem to decide if I’m comforted by its presence and the old routine of benign pranks or still mad at it for… well, you know. Either way, these days I can’t properly seem to really fear it the way I know I should, have in the past, and probably will again at some point in the future.

Maybe the thing to do with it really is to just treat its behavior more like natural phenomena than the intentioned actions of a person. Analogous to the weather. You’ve got the days like now that are calm but a little overcast, you’ve got the terrifying storms that threaten to blow you away or strike you down, and you’ve got the bright and sunny days with a cool breeze at your side. And, rarely, you have those moments of blessed rain healing a drought and helping you put aside your cares and sleep with the soft steady rhythm of the droplets.

Terrible, terrible advice for dealing with human relationships, but how else does one stay sane when haunted by something so very not human?

I wonder what it thinks of my fitful, thrashing sleep on these nights? There have been times that it’s tried to comfort me, so why never for the nightmares?

<==Previous Next==>

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omaticwriting · 2 years ago

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Grand Anomaly: New Beginnings [Chapter 3-bonded in blood]

The trek north towards orbos' friends was going fairly horribly despite its initial high hopes, almost everyone stared at orbos with a weary yet curious gaze as he scanned his new surroundings, the only exception was Daniel as he took notes on his book, watching orbos with extreme curiosity.

"Hey, orbos?" Daniel spoke, catching the small bot's attention "I have some questions I want to ask you if that's okay?" He requested, making the small bot show some semblance of a smile.

"Of course, feel free to ask me anything" he declared, watching as Daniel scrambled to find an empty page for him to start. "When we first met, you said you were a mekani-sprite, could you tell me more please?" He asked, writing down his question while waiting for a response from orbos.

"Hmmm...." The small drone thought for a moment before explaining "a mekani-sprite is a small class of mekinite, we are known to work as surveillance as well as data collection and storage" explained, Daniel wrote down the answer before asking another "could you tell me about what you were doing before we met and why you were here?" He asked once more

"You see before this all happened my friends and I were in a castle that belonged to Ratchelous" he explained, causing Daniel to write it down before continuing "he was a mekinite much like me however he was a meki-noid who are much more the size of adult humans, he waged war for our people's freedom, however, it came at the cost by gaining the ire of the sourean army and my friends the "heroes of istaresta" and as things became dire he made a pact with the dark powers to create a portal in hopes he and his people who followed him could escape " Daniel gestured him to continue "luckily he was killed but his plan came to a somewhat fruitful fruition both in the portal and giving the freedom our people need, tough as for why I'm here I was simply lost after scanning the new world we've fused with"

This brought the group some confusion, Daniel especially as he was the one writing it down and asking the questions, but, as he tried to think of a question Selene spoke up, bringing the bot's attention to her "well, what exactly is your world and what is it fused with?"

"Istaresta and to be specific I believe that it is the biggest island in the sourean archipelago that Ratchelous built his fortress along with the smaller islands surrounding it" he answered bringing some concern amongst the group, but it would soon change as a rustle was heard from a nearby bush.

The group looked at the bush with concern as a young child pounced outside of the bush with feral intent, Daniel could only scream as he was forced onto the ground by the kid, both struggling as the kid tried to bite while Daniel tried to avoid it.

"DANIEL!" Everyone yelled with worry and fear, Selene acted quickly to grab the feral child and restrain them while the rest helped Daniel up, now getting a good look at the restrained kid, watching her flail to free themselves, only to fail as Selene kept a firm grip on the child's arms.

She was no younger than Daniel, being only a two-year gap between them with blood scarlet hair and crimson eyes, her clothes were tribal in design and made of what appeared to be animal hides along with a sash lined with 5 small canteens. She looked like she was in pain as she struggled to free herself, making small sharp growls.

"You alright Daniel?" Nicolas asked, out of breath from what happened much like everyone else, and let the adrenaline subside as Daniel nodded in response "what just happened?!" He questioned, looking to orbos at what they were looking at.

Orbos could only look in fear before he explained "it's an igazi! This caused everyone to look at the bit before continuing "Igazi are cursed people who drink blood and do dark blood magic, we have to kill it!" This took everyone back as fear filled their eyes as they looked at the child igazi in question giving way to a small internal panic in Nicolas "well you're the bot, how do we kill it?! I don't want this...person around, especially if she wants to drink blood" Willa panicked as Selene held on firmly to the child's arms.

Panicked slowly settled in but before orbos Selene spoke up causing everyone to look at her with shock "everyone, calm down we are not killing her, we just need to take a moment to assess what we should do" everyone looked at Selene then at the igazi in question with a worried glance, tension-filled everyone's mind, but, at least everyone calmed down.

Daniel could only stare until he looked at the igazi, her growls now replaced with whimpers and fresh tears streamed down her eyes, it made him feel a pang of sympathy "guys, I think she's in pain" he spoke, causing mixed emotions amongst the group.

"Well, what do you suggest we do then, we can't kill her and we sure can't get rid of her"Nicolas argued, with Daniel replying with a fearful yet determined look "we get answers" he looked to orbos, "you said they consume blood right?" He asked with a curious, yet, determined tone.

"Of course, why-" he paused now realizing the stunt that he was going to pull "Daniel know what you're thinking, don't," Nicolas said with a worried yet annoyed tone but his pleas fell on deaf ears as he walked towards the struggling igazi, alpine not wanting his owner to be hurt, bites at his owner's jeans, hoping to stop or slow him down "donut worry boy I know what I'm doing" he reassured, petting his furry companions head as he whimpered.

"No, you're not," Willa remarked, arms crossed while floating towards Daniel "well if you have a better idea then we can go with that" he argued, before staring at Selene who only gave a worried glance at her friend who gave a nod of assurement.

Selene sighed, trusting Daniel with what his idea was, and slowly let the igazi go, just enough to make sure she could react and pull her away if things got bad. And oh how bad things got.

Daniel felt a searing hot pain, the igazi biting inhumanly hard on his arm as blood was sucked away from his body, hissing as he felt weaker and weaker at the cost of the Igazi being more at ease.

Everyone stared in worry and fear, Nicolas looked at Selene who gave a nod, the igazi had enough blood, and from how she looked she seemed satisfied. Selene moved the igazi away from Daniel, who looked quite pale from the amount of blood drained from him, all the while the igazi slowly drifted off to sleep, now satisfied with her thirst and put to ease her pain.

Nicolas ran to Daniel, placing his hand on the wound the igazi caused, and watched as a mixture of grey and lavender danced around their bodies while the bleeding quickly stopped and the wound now remained as a tender patch of skin.

"I think we should set up camp here," Selene said, everyone, nodding and beginning the preparations for making camp."You think Daniel's gonna be alright?" Willa looked to Nicolas who gave a small sigh, putting on the clothes that covered his face before saying "yes, he just needs to rest for a while"A tent was now set up with, Selene and alpine keeping track of the igazi and Daniel, both slept peacefully as the two recovered while alpine laid with his owner, never leaving his side "your friend sure is rash" orbos spoke, giving way to a small glare from Selene as orbos began scanning the two, with a sigh of relief that Daniel would be okay.

It took a while before Selene replied "he is, but I hope he's right about this" she looked at the two with worried looks, but, for now, peace had settled and everyone was getting ready to rest for the journey ahead, but when Selene and orbos prepared to leave and talk on what they should do the igazi opened her eyes, looking at Selene and orbos with a curious and fearful look, especially towards orbos before tilting her head to the side as she wondered where she is and how long she's been here.

Selene and Orbos glanced at one another, unsure of what to do with the igazi, watching the two with scared and worried eyes much like a child would make "Uhm....hello?" She greeted only to be given the same curious look she gave the moment she woke up. -this is going to be hard-she thought, thinking either she couldn't communicate verbally, didn't understand human speech, or something else entirely, she knew orbos was a sentient machine and didn't come from this world and yet still talk to everyone just fine made the secondary assumption seem silly, but she planned on keeping it just to be sure.

"Welp, I'll be telling the others of the news, but don't worry I'll return as soon as I tell them," Orbos told Selene "good luck on communicating!" Selene could only watch as the small drone flew off in a flash before looking at the igazi, this was going to take a lot of work but she was prepared for it. A part told her that she should simply abandon the child and run away with her friends, especially being visibly fearful of the child but she put her fears and worries aside and figure out who this igazi is by handing them a book and pen.

"You can use this to talk to me," she said, watching the igazi take it and inspect it with interest, slowly Selene looked at the child with some worry before asking "you can talk and understand me, right?" She asked, catching the child's attention but staring on with confusion, giving some sense of frustration to Selene, but it made her think first before actually trying to know her "would you like to talk?" She asked before getting no response once more, making her think of something that could break the language barrier between them, but at least she had to try somehow "okay, let's start with something simple, hi I'm Selenewhat's your name?" She asked, the igazi looked blankly before writing some sort of set of symbols, presenting it to Selene who only squinted at what she could presume is the language in front of her, unable to translate it, but had an idea who could, luckily for her he returned.

"Hello, I'm back!" Orbos announced, smiling at Selene while the igazi let out a small gasp of surprise, followed by a whine by Alpine who had been asleep this entire time.

"Hey orbos, can you translate this?" She showed the writing the igazi made "of course, allow me" silence filled the room before orbos gave a joyful glance, shining a faint cyan light at the notebook and its writing, slowly forming into words Selene could understand.

"What...?" the writing now said, Selene, gave a smile before saying "it's a start" she spoke with a cheerful tone, her voice now sounding some sort of another language that talked over her actual voice which spoke in English, giving a reaction to the Igazi child "w-who are you?" she asked, her voice was hoarse but sounded like a girl much her age despite her native tongue was talked over by a voice being spoken in English.

"calm down, I'm not going to hurt you" she reassured, quickly calming the Igazi child somewhat allowing Selene to continue with her question "I'm Selene what's your name?" the girl looked hesitant but with a deep breath she answered lowly "I'm Eliana t-the last of the Hima tribe"

-the last?- being one of the many thoughts that raced in Selene's mind other questions arose as such as is she okay? why does she drink blood, and more but one stuck out more than it should -what happened to her tribe?- she would soon be snapped out of her thought as Eliana pointed to Daniel before asking "who is he?" causing Selene to look at Daniel with worry but At Least it also brought relief that he was going to be okay, he just needed to rest.

Speaking of Daniel, his eyes slowly open before getting up before feeling a horrible headache consume him "you have to rest" she spoke who could only nod before lying down. He felt tired like at any moment he could lose his eyes and wake up the next day" what happened?" He spoke barely above a whisper as Selene began to explain "you passed out after Eliana drank your blood" she gestured to the child next to her, her eyes saying that she felt guilty for it "it's alright" he said with a weak smile. causing great confusion from her -w-why didn't he get mad?- before seeing her meekly say what he thought was a thank you "I'm Daniel it's nice to meet you finally Eliana" he said in his ever cheery tone despite he felt weak, alpine by his side also helped as he pats his loyal companion's head before listening in, he'd be sure to write about this later when he feels better.

With that out of the way Selene looked over to Eliana again, now with a reinvigorated curiosity before beginning to ask a good question "why do you drink blood, and what were you doing out in the Forest?" She mentally cheered herself, this was a good question after all.

Eliana thought on for a moment before she began to explain "my people have a curse which makes our heads hurt and it becomes more painful the longer we don't and I was running" this left both Daniel, orbos, and Selene wondering -running? Running from what?- being the main question they all had in mind as the curse was easy to understand, they needed blood to not act like a rabid animal, fairly simple but the big question remained "running from what exactly?" She asked with worry and hoped that the answer was more than it was worth.

Eliana looked hesitant, looking at everyone with a worried and frightful look, she Wasn't sure if she could trust them, and yet they helped her and been nice so far, so it could be okay to tell them but worries still plagued her mind, making her more hesitant and distrusting of the people around her forming a cycle of doubt and distrust but that before it can fully manifest, Daniel spoke "you don't have to tell us if you don't want to, you can if you feel comfortable" it made her reconsider a little maybe she could trust them but for now she was at least glad to know that they care enough to let her be comfortable and soon enough she began to explain what happened.

...

It was a sunny day at the tribe where I lived, everyone was doing what they could for the tribe in the forest, farmers were tending to their crops as well as breeding and feeding the livestock to be used as sacrifice and for food and blood for tonight's festival, guards keeping sure everyone was safe and kids much like her were playing, things seemed great for me and the tribe and I left to pick flowers and give it to my mom and I couldn't wait for the festival and to spend time with everyone.

But that would never come to be

Smoke filled the air as the skies lit up with amber and orange, and tents burned as screams could be heard from both children and adults alike. I could only stand and watch frozen in fear as I watched my tribe die to the monsters that called themselves "heroes".

I wondered why anyone would do this to my people, they never did anything wrong and yet all were slaughtered like cattle. Was it because They thought my tribe was a threat? Were they afraid or was the curse all the reason to snuff my race out?

I didn't get any answers as someone who could only be seen as a silhouette from the fires, plunged their blade into the body of my parents, their screams echoed louder than the rest but I could only freeze up in fear as I saw the swift and clean motion when they pulled their sword out of my parent's boy but I could smell almost their blood on his blade, dripping down its tip before they glanced at me with a scornful stare right before I....I.....

...

Tears flowed down her face as she wrote, landing on her blanket while her hands shook much like her body, she couldn't find the strength to continue before breaking down into quiet sobs, mourning for her tribe and the family she lost. But she soon felt soft fabric across and covered by a wave of new warmth, by Selene who hugged the still crying child and comforted her to the best of her ability before hearing her bawl her eyes out, fearful of the world outside of the embrace she found herself.

Daniel could only stay still but frowned at the sight before him "I'm sorry that happened to your tribe, but we'll do our best to keep you safe from that...monster from ever hurting you again" he promised, and it was something he planned to keep for as long as either of the two are alive, shocking Eliana but appreciated his sentiment.

Orbos could only feel guilt through his system, surely this was something like a trick to make everyone feel helpless so that she could attack, right? But looking again he realized her emotions were true, her cries were proof of it all, and of what she said is true...dear terra just how many atrocities have other species alongside Eliana's people suffered from mere rumors alone, and who else and how many are the victims of it.

Even though he doesn't have a face let alone body heat his face became pale, looking back at past logs his friend told him a nearby town told him of a tribe of igazi that needed to be culled, with his help they managed to kill them all, he didn't want to believe it was her tribe but if it was...he didn't want to think about it further, enough bloodshed had been revealed today, even if it wasn't hers he didn't want to think of the idea of helping another genocide.

Selene slowly let go of her embrace from Eliana who calmed down after some time and watched her look between her and Daniel, a small smile crept up but a problem soon arose, how would they deal with her curse? But that wasn't important for now as everyone was tired and everyone needed rest "I should be going to bed, see you both in the morning" she waved at the two before she and Orbos left, she'll be sure to keep a close eye on her along with Daniel.

Eliana had a lot to process while watching Selene and orbos leave, she felt scared especially with all the new faces but another was why were they all so kind and understanding, she was an igazi her people are always hated, and yet they've shown her kindness and patience, much like her tribe did and it made her feel happy after such a long time running.

She felt safe, she felt comfortable and most of all she felt happy and that was enough for her to trust them, before falling asleep she looked at Daniel and the arm she bit, a pang of guilt settled inside her after seeing the scar, the boy resting next to her did so much and cared as well despite what she did to him, and if his promise was true she would be forever in debt to him much like Selene if the actions both did for her are enough, but for now, she yawned, no more running and no more monsters she was safe and sound and surrounded by people she could trust, drifting slowly to sleep, hopeful for the things to come.

#grand anomaly #writing

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aminiatureworld · 4 years ago

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Injury II

Characters: Kaeya, Ningguang, Xiao, Zhongli, gn!reader

Word Count: 5,650

Warnings: Various injuries, blood, burns, minor villain death

Premise: Sometimes the pain of others can hurt even more than one’s own. In which the reader is injured.

Author’s Note: Okay so after the mind numbing fear of my computer almost dying and now maybe emitting a weird smell I’m five seconds away from pure panic. But the show much go on! Even if my word document keeps blacking out.

This is my first time writing for Ningguang! I hope I do my girl justice, she’s voiced by my fav VA, she’s a total powerhouse, I love her so much.

I tried to make all of the injuries personal to each character in some way. Funny enough Zhongli’s was the hardest to figure out. I eventually settled upon the act of you being injured causing Zhongli’s personal angst, rather than the cause of the injury. I hope it came out well!

Kaeya

Kaeya didn’t often let himself fall into fear. Not since he’d been young did he feel that he could indulge in such a sentiment. True to his vision he’d frozen that part of himself, and now when panic seized him he could feel nothing but stone cold determination, and the need to continue forward without hesitation. Fear was hardly alien to him, he could conjure up the emotion all too well, but it had been dulled and replaced by cynicism and coldness. And occasionally guilt.

Looking back on it Kaeya wasn’t even sure why the two of you had strayed so close to Dragonspine, so close snowflakes were congregating in your hair.

You’d called him a winter fairy in jest at the time, wondering if he wasn’t truly the ruler of that mountain of frost. He’d laughed then, before threatening to take you away to his fairy court. “That would be quite an easy task.” You’d replied. “You’ve already captured my heart after all.”

The two of you were strolling on the rocks that lined the river which separated Dragonspine from the greater Monstadt area. Although adventurers usually roamed the area in the daytime it was now evening, and the lack of people certainly made up for the cold in Kaeya’s mind. He could only be his true self around you after all. Otherwise it was the charming and slick Cavalry Captain, a man who always knew what to say and never harbored any doubts in his mind. Not that he wasn’t still charming around you, he loved seeing you blush from his effusive praise, loved the way you buried your head in his shoulder if the flirting and the teasing ramped up enough. But there was a sincerity to his words that one couldn’t find normally in Kaeya, and he loved to show you bits and pieces of his soul, relieved to finally have someone to talk to.

“Watch your step.” You warned, grabbing onto Kaeya’s hand as he slid a little ways along a rock.

“Thank you darling, although I daresay I’m more worried about you. After all who’s the snow fairy here and who’s the wind sprite, liable to blow away at any moment?”

“So cheesy.” You mumbled, shaking your head, though Kaeya could’ve sworn your cheeks were slightly redder than they were a few moments ago. Laughing he wrapped his arm around your waist. You snuggled into his fur lined coat. “Cold.” You murmured, though you made no move to disconnect yourself. Kaeya smiled and brought his other hand around you in a soft embrace.

“Sorry my dearest, but you’re in love with an icicle.”

“Only terms of magic.” You shot back. “Otherwise you’re a nice warm fire. And don’t you forget that.”

The two of you headed a little ways down, closer to the river. A small group of frost flowers had made it to this side of the banks, and you were adamant on picking some. “They’re so beautiful!” You explained to Kaeya. “And incredibly strong, I can’t believe they managed to grow in that permafrost. They’re simply lovely.”

“Just be careful.” Kaeya commented, standing a little ways back. He didn’t like getting near the river, a river so cold it was always at nearly freezing at the bottom. Cold water and a vision of Cryo didn’t mix well.

“I’ll be fine.” You hopped to your feet, a bouquet of pale blue in your hand. You were smiling from your victory, face full of light and happiness.

It was an expression that changed swiftly as you lost your balance and plummeted into the freezing waters.

Immediately Kaeya leapt down from the rocks he was standing on, kneeling near where you were standing a moment ago. The river wasn’t very fast, bogged down by its width and how far it was away from the waterfalls in the warmer parts of Monstadt. Still it cut off very quickly, having barely the semblance of a beach before opening into a deep chasm, and anyone who fell in it would quickly fall into cold shock. Already your limbs had started seizing, and you were hyperventilating hard. Your arms felt like dead weight, and every second that passed your head dipped lower into the freezing water.

Kaeya gingerly put his hand out to make a platform of ice for him to stand on. Whatever happened he couldn’t fall in as well, it would mean the death of you two. Fear had reared its ugly head again and Kaeya twisted those feelings into action. No matter what he had to act fast and sure. Hesitation was fatal.

Plunging his hand into the water, sucking in a deep breath as the ice that still coated his palms and fingers made contact with the freezing river Kaeya hauled you up onto the icy platform. Taking off his coat he wrapped you up. Removing your gloves so the frozen water wouldn’t be in contact with your already freezing skin Kaeya cursed as he ran towards Springvale, the nearest place he could think of. He’d lugged you onto his back, and could feel the freezing water through his shirt. As he ran he kept up a stream of slightly shaky conversation, rattling off what little he knew of hypothermia.

“It’ll be alright darling, I promise it’ll be alright. You’re just going through shock right now, okay? You’ll be alright, I promise. Just stay awake a little while longer. I know you must be tired from all that excitement, but just stay awake a little longer, just a little longer and then you’ll be nice and warm, just stay awake right now okay?” His voice became more and more desperate as his fear started to tumble out of his grasp, but he kept moving. He wouldn’t lose control of himself now, not until you were safe.

Finally he arrived at Springvale and you’d been rushed to the village doctor. Kaeya was told to go and wait somewhere else, and preferably change out of his freezing cold shirt, but you’d grabbed his hand as he turned to leave and after that he refused to budge, instead borrowing a shirt from the village. He’d reimburse the people who let you two borrow their clothes later.

The entire process was a terrifying one, as you were slowly brought back to warmth. Kaeya took the opportunity to learn as much as he could, noting that you shouldn’t massage limbs back to warmth for fear of heart attack and – much to his chagrin he later joked when the situation was far enough in the past – alcohol was too much of a depressant on your system and could lead to death. All throughout he kept talking to you, even though there were times you didn’t seem to hear, times when he thought his heart would split in two.

Still it was evident you were going to survive and when you’d finally finished being warmed up Kaeya thought he could cry in relief, if only he’d been numbed from such an act for so many years. You’d run into some sort of rock in the water, and the long gash down the side of your leg was later determined by the doctor to reveal torn muscle. It’d take about a month and a half for you to recover. Kaeya thought he should’ve felt worse about it, but in the moment he felt nothing but relief, utter relief in the knowledge you were going to be fine. Utter relief that came with having almost lost you.

Kaeya had carried you back to Monstadt, much to your consternation. All the ways back you mumbled about how his penchant for drama seemed to have increased tenfold. Kaeya simply shook his head, not bothering to ask how you would’ve gotten back otherwise with your leg in the shape it was. Still it was a relief to both of you to see the city walls. Even more of a relief when you finally arrived home, safe and sound.

“I’m so glad you were there.” You confessed as Kaeya sat you down on the couch, propping up your leg and pulling a chair up next to you. “I don’t know what I would’ve done had I fallen and you weren’t there.”

“You probably wouldn’t have been there in the first place.” Kaeya remarked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. You brought your hand up to his cheek and he leaned into it slightly, grateful for the contact between you two. It’d been hours but the panic that he’d felt still tugged at his consciousness, as if any moment you might slip away again and leave him panicked and alone.

“Were you afraid?” You asked.

“Of course I was afraid.” Kaeya’s reply came swift and sure. “I was terrified, terrified in a way that I haven’t been in years.” Kaeya’s eyes clouded over, as if reaching deep into his memories. He brought your hand up to his lips, kissing your knuckles and then your palm. “I thought that you might die, and in that moment I was ready to curse the world all over again.”

“But I didn’t die.” You said solemnly.

“No, you didn’t.”

“And that’s because of you. Because you reacted quickly, because you had the magic with which to do so, and most of all because you never hesitated. And because of that I’m alive and well now. Injuries aside I’ll be fine. I promise.”

Kaeya knew you were right. You were alive. You weren’t going to go where he couldn’t follow. The fear coiling in his stomach began to subside. He’d been so afraid, yes, and in that fear he’d managed to find the strength and determination to save you. But now you were safe and he no longer needed to rely on that strength; he could give into his relief. Realizing this, realizing how frightened he’d been and how that was now part of a past he could move forward from, could truly forget, Kaeya could only marvel at his relief. Only then did the tears begin to fall.

Ningguang

If there was one thing Ningguang wasn’t expecting out of today it was your leg collapsing and her winding up in the waiting room of the Liyue hospital, mind replaying the last week or so, wondering where she might’ve realized something was wrong.

It seemed like the kind of thing Keqing would make a joke about. Here Ningguang was, the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, the most powerful woman in the trade capital of Liyue; here she was, her world completely gone awry, completely shattered by your injury.

A stress fracture, the doctor had said. It was the kind of injury that developed slowly and came about after weeks instead of in moments. The initial strain was usually something mundane, a sprain, a bruise, maybe you’d walked on your foot for too long. But after sometimes weeks of ignoring pain and swelling your body couldn’t take it any longer. Ten weeks, that’s how long you would be laid up. And Ningguang couldn’t help but feel every one of those ten weeks was her fault.

She should’ve noticed it. That train of thought continued all throughout the process of you being treated at, and eventually discharged from, the hospital. You weren’t just one of the people she worked with daily, weren’t just her closest colleague. You were the person that Ningguang loved more than anything in this world. How could she possibly not have noticed the signs?

Ningguang found herself obsessively trying to connect the warning signs that must’ve been there. She knew that your foot had been aching for some time, but though she’d been vaguely concerned she’d said nothing other than a simple “be careful”. She’d never thought to check after you later, sure that it was nothing. Now she felt nothing but shame, both that of a personal and of a greater kind. How could she manage looking after all of Liyue if she couldn’t even look after you?

You noticed Ningguang’s silence as you two made your way out of the hospital and towards the apartment you shared. Although Ningguang was perhaps seen as a reticent individual you’d found her surprisingly open, always ready to discuss things that were of interest either to you or to her. She wasn’t the kind of person to walk along in silence; not when she was around those that she cared for, not unless she was thinking about something important, not unless…

Finally you two arrived home. You collapsed on the couch, tired and ready to either read or nap. Ningguang was preparing some tea and a various array of fruit, not that there was much food in the lavish apartment you two shared. Considering the workload between the both of you it was perhaps unsurprising that there was nothing much to eat. That would have to change, Ningguang noted; she’d make sure that you were recovering in the most comfortable way possible. It was the least she could do.

“Are you feeling well?” Ningguang asked, placing the food and tea on the table in your room. You nodded.

“I feel fine, although I’m not looking forward to the walk to the Qixing headquarters. I have to admit dear this might be the only time I’m a bit glad that I don’t have to make my way to the Jade Chamber every day.” Ningguang smiled at that, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She sat silently, sipping her tea slowly. Your expression clouded over. “Hey, can you tell me what’s wrong?”

“Oh it’s nothing my love.” Ningguang spoke up quickly, leaning over and kissing you on the cheek. “I’m just sorry to see you like this.”

“Well you can’t blame yourself. You know that, right?”

Ningguang found she couldn’t bring herself to lie to you. Your gaze, though soft, seemed to pierce right through all her excuses and all her bluffing. She sighed softly. Maybe it would be better to be upfront about it, clear and concise, how one should always be. At least then she could apologize properly.

“In truth I do blame myself. I can’t believe I was so neglectful of your health, so blind to your pain.” She shook her head, staring at the hand that was holding yours. A disconnected part of her thought of how well the two fit together, fingers intertwined softly, your palm warm and comforting.

“If you were blind to this then so was I.” You spoke softly but firmly, refusing to sugar coat your words. Ningguang admired you for it, even if she didn’t believe you, something painfully clear in the expression on her face. “You cannot blame yourself.” You continued, “I won’t let you. I don’t want you beating yourself up for something that neither of us predicted. If you feel the need to blame yourself for this you must also blame me; I was the one walking on the injury without paying enough attention.”

“But – ” Ningguang paused, realizing the truth behind your words, slouching slightly she sat in deep thought. “I… I realize there’s not a lot of logic behind my thinking.”

“Well feelings are hardly logical.” You pointed out, squeezing her hand. “And because they’re illogical they don’t go away quickly. But I at least want you to try and combat your guilt with what I’ve told you. Because just like you hate seeing me in this cast I hate seeing you in pain.”

Ningguang nodded, heart filled with a deep sense of love and tenderness. Leaning over to give you a kiss she smiled softly. You did too. For a moment you two basked in each other’s presence and happiness, before you smile turned mischievous.

“Although… I won’t object to a little pampering.” Ningguang chuckled, shaking her head. But her smile was real this time, and you wouldn’t ask for anything more.

“You’re lucky I love you so much.”

“I know I am.” You replied. “And you’re lucky I adore you.”

“I am.” Ningguang’s reply was just as sure, was full of quiet but strong emotion. She was lucky. And she would never take you or your love for granted. No matter what.

Xiao

By the time he’d met you Xiao had long come to the conclusion that he’d never find it in him to like humans.

Humans were dirty, they were untrustworthy and full of darkness, they broke things without thinking about it, mangled their own people, their own families and friends and countrymen. Humans slaughtered one another without thinking of how it might stain them, and when they weren’t killing they were stealing and lying and ruining the land around them. How could he, a being designed solely to destroy the darkness in the world, ever find in himself the will or the ability to look past all that?

When he’d met you and had fallen in love in earnest this view had still changed ultimately very little. But even if you’d admitted that what he said was mostly true, you’d found that you still wanted him to learn to care at least a little bit about humanity. I mean you were ultimately one of them at your core. It didn’t feel right to prop yourself up as the one great exception, not when there were other people who were certainly like you in mind and in morality. Xiao silently disagreed with this analysis; to him there never was and never would be someone like you, in all of Teyvat. Still, he felt compelled to try, though more for your sake than for his, and as the weeks had gone on he’d begun to look at humanity not with any sort of respect or hope but with a sort of begrudging curiosity, and an admittance that maybe, just maybe, there was a bit of that light you saw in it.

What a fool he’d been.

Although Xiao was aware of the growing threat of treasure hoarders across Liyue – so widespread that they’d even managed to eat away at the tranquil lands surrounding Jueyen Karst – he’d never considered them a serious threat. So when the two of you accidentally ran into a group of them while exploring some of the older Liyue ruins Xiao didn’t bother to do much more than wrap an arm around your waist, sure that even the most idiotic of treasure hoarders wouldn’t be so foolish as to pick a fight with either an adeptus or their beloved. You seemed unfazed at any rate, explaining that the two of you were simply passing by and had no desire to pick a fight; if they’d be so kind the two of you would be on your way.

Perhaps the treasure hoarders were well aware of the fact that you could report them to the Liyue Qixing. Perhaps they were simply in a bad mood. Either way your words apparently did nothing. Xiao was becoming tenser and tenser, feeling as if something catastrophic was about to happen. That moment came to pass when one of the treasure hoarders pulled out a knife and threw it, lodging itself with deadly accuracy into your torso.

At that point Xiao felt himself overcome with a supernatural sort of calm, a calm which raced to cover up the anguish and rage that was coursing through him, threatening to burn him from the inside out. He only paused to make sure you didn’t hit the ground hard, before summoning his spear. Ignoring the cries of the treasure hoarders he made quick work of disposing of them, for what was a measly human, a piece of trash, when compared to that which had slayed countless demons? A small part of him cried out against the act, pointing out the fact that every time he wielded his polearm to kill it might bring him closer to the precipice, the fact that you were hurt mattered more than revenge, the fact that he was going to regret killing in front of you. He ignored it. At that moment there was nothing in his mind, it was as empty and staid as a clear pool of water. The only ripple in it was the way you’d jolted back in surprised, and the way you’d let out a cry before crumpling.

Xiao didn’t look back to see the havoc he’d wreaked. Instead he ran to your side. Peeling off his gloves, worried that they might bring infection, he pressed his bare hands to your wound, desperately trying to staunch the blood that was spilling out, ignoring the shocks that jolted through his hands, the result of the dagger somehow being infused with electro. The feeling of blood, your blood, beneath his fingers was nauseating, and for a moment Xiao felt his head filling with static as the pure panic that he’d felt began to overcome the initial rush of adrenaline. Snapping out of it when you let out a groan of pain Xiao looked into your eyes. They were clouded, and for a moment the adeptus was afraid you might be on the verge of passing out – had you really lost so much blood? Holding you tightly, one hand never leaving your wound, Xiao summoned a burst of air. His thoughts were still too chaotic to be processed, there was only one thing connecting them all. Let them live. If there’s any justice in this world, please let them live.

Verr Goldet had grasped the situation as soon as she saw Xiao appear on the balcony, face contorted in fear. Taking you to her room, she’d instructed Xiao to get one of the doctors from Liyue while she and the resident apothecary took care of you. Xiao did the task without thinking, and once he’d arrived with the doctor he refused to leave your side. Xiao knew death better than most adepti, certainly more than most humans. It was cold and unfeeling, and had a nasty habit of leaping onto people when they least expected it. It didn’t matter to him that all three, Goldet, the apothecary, and the doctor, said that you would be fine; Xiao was going to be there the entire time.

Eventually you managed to rouse yourself from the pain induced stupor, and when you did you saw Xiao first, eyes wide with fear and relief, tears threatening to spill down his face.

In the end you’d been lucky. Although the dagger had ruptured your spleen Xiao had acted quickly enough to avert catastrophe. You were going to survive, though it’d be 12 weeks most likely until you were completely recovered. The moment of crisis having passed the two of you were finally given a moment alone.

“Are you alright?” Xiao immediately asked. You didn’t make a move to answer, instead cupping Xiao’s cheek before moving to take his hand. At that moment how Xiao remembered. Oh; the blood. Quickly moving away he ran to the nearest basin of water, scrubbing furiously. As the water turned red a faint smell of iron filled the air; it was the most disgusting thing Xiao had ever smelt, and he scrubbed even harder. You waited silently as he finished cleaning his hands and disposing of the water. Finally he came back to sit next to you, still hesitating a moment before placing his palm in yours.

“I… I don’t understand how you could ever like humans.” That was the first thing Xiao could think of. “They betrayed you. Without even blinking. That man, all those men and women, they would’ve ended your life without even thinking about it. They would’ve killed you and lived without ever having such a thing weigh on their conscience. Humans never think about the weight of their sins. They just keep committing atrocities.”

“And what about you, Xiao. Will their deaths weigh on you?”

“As much as all the others.” Xiao wished he could be matter of fact about it, but he found that trait of his had somehow disappeared. Instead an emotion washed over him, so unfamiliar and unexplainable it seemed to choke him. “Perhaps more.” He managed to get out, before beginning to cry in earnest.

You would’ve died. If he hadn’t been there you would’ve died. For you he gladly shouldered the weight of human life, would do so again and again if only to ensure your safety. And yet it was such a heavy weight, and no matter how many Xiao killed it wouldn’t heal you.

“I’m sorry.” He choked out. You shook your head.

“Xiao I always knew that you weren’t going to be able to see humans as I see them immediately. And I know that you have a relationship with death and killing that most humans, most beings, will never have. I’m not going to blame you, nor will I turn on you. I cannot pretend that what happened didn’t make me angry. In retrospect it made me incredibly angry. It’s also true that – had you not been there – I would’ve raised my own weapon in self-defense. But now I’m going to ask you for one thing, and one thing only.”

“What?”

“Help me recover. Help me recover and let me help you recover. If there’s one thing I don’t want to happen now it’s for you to turn away from me and from everyone else, to let yourself be consumed. I want you to have somewhere you can let your feelings exist, and I want somewhere I can feel happy and comfortable as myself. You make me feel that way, so even if it’s selfish I don’t want you to turn away. And I don’t want you to grieve for me. Injured as I may be I’m not dead.” There was a pause as you let yourself catch your breath, having gotten more and more excited as you went on. “I realize that’s more than one thing.” You concluded, a bit sheepish.

Xiao said nothing for a while before leaning towards you. “May I?” He whispered. You nodded and Xiao pressed his lips to yours. The kiss wasn’t one of fire or passion. It was different, defined within the parameters of fear and relief, there seemed to be a sort of desperation in it, yet it was surprisingly sedate. Pulling away Xiao buried his face in your neck, careful to make sure he wasn’t touching where you’d been stabbed.

“I will. I promise.” He whispered. You nodded, smiling softly. But Xiao couldn’t bring himself to smile, not just yet.

Xiao couldn’t understand humans. They were dirty and cruel and lived without fear of consequences. Their actions haunted him and he found them easier to hate than to understand. But for you he’d try, because to him there was one thing strong than all, strong than fear, stronger than mistrust, stronger than hatred.

And that was the love he held for you.

Zhongli

If there was one thing Zhongli hadn’t been prepared for when it came to falling in love with humans it was their combination of fragility and utter ignorance to said fragility.

One of Zhongli’s favorite things to do was to simply sit and listen to you talk about your life. Humans fascinated Zhongli, it was one of the reasons he’d ultimately given up his place as Rex Lapis; inside him lived a desire to interact with humanity in a more intimate way, to know what made people behave as they did and to perhaps grow closer to them in the process.

But despite all that he still wasn’t ready for the utter fear he felt when listening to the stories of you getting hurt. You’d laughed off scrapes and bruises and fractures. The time you’d accidentally ripped off your nail was a painful yet funny anecdote, and the fact that you’d fractured your kneecap as a child was something you now looked back on with an odd sense of nostalgia.

Zhongli didn’t understand why these stories frightened him on such a visceral level. Such injuries were nothing to gods and adepti. Although the idea of a broken bone was certainly an irritation there was nothing more in it, and the kind of injuries that could easily kill humans would to Zhongli be the kind of thing that would be unpleasant for its novelty, not for its potential fatality.

He didn’t bring up these thoughts to you, feeling as if they’d somehow place an undue burden on you, or perhaps he was afraid you’d stop telling him about yourself. Still it lurked at the back of his mind, the fear of what might happen to you.

The fears that Zhongli harbored were proven in the most mundane, and thus most poignant, way. The two of you had been preparing a meal when suddenly you’d stumbled on an uneven part of the floor. Reaching your hands out to steady yourself your arm had landed flat on the hot stove, the stove which had been heating up for the past fifteen or so minutes. The scream that you let out sent a shock through Zhongli which shook him to his core. It rang through his ears incessantly, a terrifying reminder of how breakable humans were.

You’d immediately yanked your arm off from the stove but the sight that met both his and your eyes was a ghastly one. The skin on your arm was charred various colors, white blisters mixed with black flaky skin, all outlined in a terrible circle of red. You were shaking, and you face had turned a frightful ashen color. Springing into action Zhongli wracked his brain for all he could remember about burns. If the burn is serious enough go to the hospital. Never try to treat intense burns yourself as the burning has gone deeper than the initial layer of skin, raise your burn above your heart. Go to the hospital. Slinging your arm around his shoulder so that it was raised, whisper soft words of reassurance as you let out a shriek of pain, Zhongli half walked half carried you to the hospital, all while the same thought was running through his head.

How fragile humans are.

The doctors had insisted you stay overnight. Apparently the burn was bad enough to require surgery. Zhongli’s stomach had dropped as he was told that, but he managed to nod in response. Walking back home Zhongli felt all in a daze. He barely made it in the door before he collapsed, fear having seeped the energy out of him. The world pressed down on him, heavier than it’d ever been before. At least you’d be okay, he reminded himself. If he had anything to cling to at least he had that.

Zhongli was the first visitor to arrive at the hospital, having given Hu Tao the run of the funeral home as he spent as much time as possible with you. You were well enough, although a bit bogged down from the painkillers you’d been given. You’d once offhandedly commented that although magic infused medicine tended to be safer for the patient – more successful and less addictive – it was also more powerful; now Zhongli could see you weren’t kidding.

Your burn was wrapped up carefully, the doctors had managed to take the charred skin of, you’d explain, but now the burn had to be treated with the utmost care until the surgery later in the afternoon, infection was no joke.

“Well this’ll certainly be an interesting anecdote.” You let out half a laugh. “Not that I’m happy this happened, but at least this will shut up the next person who complains about how cardio was the most painful thing they’ve experienced.”

“I don’t know how you can be so cavalier about it.” Zhongli replied, tone soft and introspective. “It seems to terrifying to me, how easily humans are hurt.”

“Hey, I’ll be fine.” You assured him, voice soft but firm. “I understand how to adepti and archons and gods this might be terrifying. I’d be the first to admit we can’t really keep up with you in terms of pure healing and resistance to injury. But we’ve continued on this far haven’t we?” You smiled softly. “I promise I’m not about to die from something like a kitchen accident.”

“But what if next time it’s not your arm?” Zhongli replied. “What if it’s your neck or your chest? What if you cut yourself too deeply, what if your cut becomes infected. There are so many things I haven’t thought about until now, so many things that could hurt you. It frightens me terribly.”

“I’m very grateful that you’re worrying for me like this. But Zhongli?” You waited for his eyes to meet yours, smiling once more when he faced you. “You cannot be consumed by your anxiety. Believe me humans worry about these kinds of things. What if I tripped and fell and broke my neck, what if I scratched myself and developed and infection, what if I choked on an apple? These fears live with us, sometimes constantly, but we cannot let them consume us. As much as I’m flattered and glad you care for my wellbeing so much, I also don’t want you consumed by it, nor do I want to be treated like glass.”

“I cannot understand how you’re so resilient.” Zhongli replied after a short pause. You shrugged.

“We are because we must be.”

Zhongli knew in his heart that these fears he harbored weren’t going to go away. He knew that they were going to become more and more apparent through the month of your initial recovery, and through the longer period too as scar tissue formed and subsided.

Humans were indeed fragile. But if there was one thing stronger than said fragility it was their even greater determination to supersede it. Humans may be fragile in body, but they were stronger in spirit even than the gods.

That was something Zhongli wasn’t going to forget. Not for a very long time.

#my computer's about to die but this was totally worth it #also I never want to learn that much about burns again oof #tonight was wild #also I love ningguang so much aaa #kaeya #ningguang #xiao #zhongli #kaeya x reader #ningguang x reader #xiao x reader #zhongli x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #scenarios #my writing

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taran-chan · 2 years ago

Text

on a Wednesday, in a cafe (chapter 23)

Read on AO3

wednesday lunchbox: hamburg steak

“So… How did this happen?” Gilgamesh asks in bewilderment.

Upon hearing his voice, Thena turns on the couch to look at him.

“Fuck if I know,” she grumbles, “Ask him.”

Kingo exclaims excitedly next to her, “Gil, my man! We’ve been waiting for you, come sit!” and they scoot a bit so Gil can sit down beside his girlfriend in her living room. Of all the things he expects to see, and all the people he expects to meet when he steps into her house at over 9 pm after closing his shop, seeing Kingo watching TV with Thena is the one thing he never thought he’d see. It looks like they are watching some travel-cooking reality show, their eyes are glued to the screen and they both seem to have a dreamy look on their faces when the host introduces the most popular food in that area.

Gil puts an arm over Thena’s shoulders, kissing the crown of her head, “Did you have dinner?”

“I did,” Thena and Kingo answer at the same time.

“But look how delicious those croquettes are,” Kingo sighs wistfully, “They have various kinds of fillings and sauces.”

“They showed hamburg steak a while ago,” Thena adds, “If you hadn’t made that for my lunch today, the craving would have killed me.”

“Yeah, that’s true, your hamburg steak is out of this world. I can’t even tell you how grateful I am that it’s on Eternal’s fixed menu,” Kingo says, “I was so fucking busy on the court today so I had to eat instant ramen for lunch. Thena pitied me and shared some of her food with me.”

Thena’s lunch today is Gil’s hamburg steak and pasta salad. A thick beef patty is fried until it’s brown outside. It looks hard and chewy but in fact very soft and juicy to the core, it’s the softest patty she has ever had. A small block of cheese at its center deepens the taste, with a layer of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and a sunny side egg on top. When she cuts it, the yolk mixes with the sauce and gravy, creating an unstoppable combination. It’s Gilgamesh’s proudest version of hamburg steak. Other than that, he also used tomato sauce and melted cheese for it. Not to mention the salad pasta with rosé cream sauce that is trending these days. Long story short, Thena had a great lunch.

“What are you doing here at this hour anyway?” Gil asks Kingo.

“Oh, I just bought a new game. Was gonna bring it over to your place to play with you, but Sprite said you would be at Thena’s so I figured I can come here early. She has a bigger TV anyway, it’s worth watching you two’s disgusting behaviour.”

“I’ve got to stop telling my plans to Sprite,” Gil grunts to himself.

“We played a few rounds earlier,” Thena says.

“Oh? What kind of game is it?”

“Racing cars,” Kingo grins, “We tried out the game but then we got bored so we decided to just watch TV and wait.”

“We got bored?” Thena repeats, “And not because you were bitter because you kept losing?”

“No.”

“Sure, Kingo,” she scoffs and stands up, “Play with him then.”

Gil tugs at her fingers, “Where are you going?”

“Getting some snacks,” she kisses the tip of his nose, “You need anything?”

“Just you, my dear.”

“Give me a break,” Kingo groans.

“I thought you said my big TV screen was worth seeing this,” Thena pecks Gil’s lips once more before heading to the kitchen. She grabs a yogurt for her and two cans of lemonade and returns to the couch. They’re about to start the race.

“Which one is yours, Gil?” She asks, tearing open the yogurt lid.

“The big one.”

“The driver is cute.”

“Let’s go!” Kingo roars.

They play one round, then another. Gil wins the first round and Kingo the second. Thena watches them play while enjoying her yogurt, kissing Gil when he wins and giving him tips after Kingo defeats him.

“That smells nice. Is that a new lotion?” Gil asks when Thena rubs some lotion on her arms. He slams his car against Kingo’s, kicking him out of the track and speeds through the finish line in record time, just so he can turn over and wrap his arms around her to check for himself. That’s how he wins the third round.

“You like it?” She smears the rest of the lotion from her hand on his arms.

“Very,” he replies and holds her closer. Thena smirks, tilting her head to give his shoulder a kiss. Her half an hour spent scrolling through that shopping website to pick the best lotion has paid off wonderfully.

“Alright, alright, stop groping each other,” Kingo blows a raspberry at them, “Gil, last round, come on. At least let me pull it to a tie tonight.”

“Fine, but don’t cry when you lose again,” Gil says, picking up his console when Thena’s legs still draped over his thighs, and she doesn’t have the slightest intention of putting them down. Gil hugs her legs to him as if they’re a long pillow, lowering his head to kiss her knees as she stretches out on the couch, her head on the armrest.

“Are you sleepy?” He asks.

“I’m good, go on.”

Gil hums, dropping another kiss on her knees then hits the “Start” button.

★

Their cars are making the final curve when the screen goes black. Not just the TV but the lights and air conditioner are also out. They hear Kingo’s frustrated scream mixes with the groans of their neighbours and know that the entire street just has a blackout. Kingo throws his console on the coffee table and flops down on the other end of the couch like a sulking kid. He tries to put his feet on Gil’s lap but Thena kicks him away. Gil sweeps their feet down to get up.

“I’ll go check outside,” he says.

“I’ll get the lantern,” Thena stands up as well.

“I’ll get some snacks,” the other lawyer yawns.

“Kingo, what are you still doing here?” His boss crosses her arms, “We have a blackout, clean up and go home.”

“I hate driving without the streetlights,” he follows her into the kitchen, “And besides, we might have the electricity back in no time. I still need to get even.”

Thena doesn’t want to waste her breath on him anymore. She figures he would leave eventually if the blackout went on later into the night, so she ignores him. He casually opens her fridge, scouring for food as if he’s in his own house while she’s rummaging through the tools cabinet to find her camping lantern. She charged it after they were back from the trip so it brings lights to the room immediately. She takes the lantern with her to the door. Kingo is staring into her fridge, torn between her blueberry-flavoured yogurt and fresh grapes.

“There are ice creams in the freezer,” Thena suggests, “I just bought them after work but the blackout might go on for a while so go for it.”

“What? Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Kingo pulls open the freezer, “Holy shit, there’s a whole ice cream shop in here! You want one?”

“Sure.”

“Which one?”

“Give me those two ice cream sandwiches.”

He hands her two packs of ice cream that have a fish-shaped waffle on the wrapper. One has chocolate ice cream filling, the other is matcha ice cream and red bean paste. Kingo chooses a popsicle shaped like a triangle piece of watermelon then tails Thena outside. Gil glances at them when they approach.

“The whole neighbourhood is out. I think it’s because there were so many air conditioners running and the lines were overloaded. The electricity should be back in a few hours, in the morning at most.”

“Your ingredients!” Thena remembers, “And Makkari’s sweets too. Won’t they get ruined?”

“It’s fine,” he shakes his head, “I have an electric generator at home. I’ll be back there in a bit and turn it on.”

“Nice! Let’s move the party over there,” Kingo cheers.

“No, I have to save the energy to maintain the kitchen’s equipment. If we use the lights and TV upstairs, we might not be able to hold it until tomorrow morning.”

“Fine, whatever,” Kingo sighs, settling down on one of the front steps and sucking on his popsicle. It isn’t so bad out here, since there’s some light breeze once in a while.

“You’re not staying tonight then?” Thena asks, hoping he wouldn’t pick out her disappointed expression in the dark. But what he can’t see, he hears it loud and clear in her voice.

“For me?” He points at the matcha fish ice cream in her hand.

“You were very fond of it the last time we ate,” she just replies with that and offers it to him, but he takes her chocolate one instead, tearing the wrap and finally switches with his. He notices that she trimmed her nails recently and is having trouble with tearing wrappers apart in the last few days. Thena bites her lower lips to hide away her shy smile as he kisses her forehead before biting into the sweet, cold fish. The night only gets sweeter and sweeter.

“I’ll leave to turn on the generator, then I'll be back,” Gil says.

“I’ll go with you,” Thena blurts. What happened the last time she let him leave alone is still burning in the back of her mind. The memory is too fresh for her.

“Okay,” Gil extends his arm and she leans against him. He rubs her biceps soothingly, “I can always use some company, especially yours.”

She smiles, “I know.”

★

They leave the door open to get some fresh air inside and sit on the steps with Thena’s lantern. Kingo is two steps under them, checking on their other friends through their groupchat. They’ve lost electricity as well but everyone is fine, despite many, many complaints. Sprite can’t have her last-minute review, Sersi can’t grade her students' homework, today is Phastos’ family movie night, and Makkari was too worried about her pastries that she jumped on her scooter and raced to Eternal to turn on the generator, even though Gil has reassured her. When they have made sure she got home safely, most of them decide to call it a night.

The wind dies down eventually and the air gets muggy again. Still, they don’t move because it’s cooler out there than the inside. They bring out more ice creams from Thena’s fridge, getting a sugar rush and starting to count cars that pass the pitch black street. Thena disappears into the house for a few minutes and returns with the lego flower set that Phastos gave Gil on his birthday. She took it home with her yesterday and they planned on playing with it today before Kingo conveniently squeezed himself into their schedule. They spread the pieces out and put them together under the yellow light, sweats running down their backs. Thena has this strategy where she categorizes the pieces into different groups and Gil, more deliberately than accidentally, puts random pieces together into funny shapes to make Thena laugh. Kingo stops refreshing his social media apps and joins them.

“I wish we had some watermelon here, I want watermelons,” he whines as he finishes a lego rose.

“Stop complaining, it’ll just get hotter,” Gil says.

“But I'd appreciate it if we had one or two mini fans here,” Thena ponders, “Reminds me to buy some online. The summer is only starting so we might get a few more blackouts like this.”

“Would you mind getting one for me?”

“Sure, you can help me choose them,” she grins.

Gil hovers a lego violet in front of her and she catches it with a chuckle, holding the flower close to her chest. He brings a hand to the dip of her waist, his other links with hers on her thighs.

“Tell you what,” Kingo’s voice sounds far away, “Do you want to know a way to cool down?”

“How?” Gil asks with his lips pressed on Thena’s hair.

“Move away from each other!” The man is very close to shrieking, “Get some distance, man! There is plenty of room up there and you two are basically on top of each other like that, no wonder it’s hot as fuck. Even I feel hot on your behalf.”

Gil moves his gaze from Thena to him as if he's talking in gibberish and Thena simply says "No" with that cold stare of hers. Kingo just scoffs in frustration, finally chooses to just pre-order two lunch sets for tomorrow; grilled eel rice for Ikaris and hamburg steak for himself. Then he leaves them to resume whatever they’re doing. That’s easier.

#thenamesh #gilgamesh x thena #thena x gilgamesh #eternals #thenamesh fanfic #thena #gilgamesh

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siswritesyanderes · 4 years ago

Note

Ok but yandere carlise x reader x yandere esme

(Not as detailed as I’d hoped to make it, but I quickly realized that if I went into detail then this thing would become very long. Hopefully avoided making the characters too OOC. Let me know if you like it, and how I did!)

…

You first met Dr. Cullen when you spent the day volunteering at the local hospital for one of your college classes.

There was a whole group of students there to help out, and you honestly weren’t sure why he seemed to notice you in particular; it certainly wasn’t because you were doing such a great job. Your work speed, in restocking the closets, was roughly average, and you kept having to ask your fellow volunteers where things were supposed to go. Granted, you at least weren’t one of the students who was transparently doing the absolute bare minimum to get the credit, but you wouldn’t exactly consider yourself a shining star of competence either.

Still, Dr. Cullen approached you personally to say, “Thank you for your help. You’re really doing us a great service.”

He was a beautiful man, with warm eyes that seemed to be beholding the goodness in your soul, for how amiably they glimmered.

“I don’t know if I can take any credit,” you said, admittedly flustered by the attention. “It was our teacher’s idea.”

He smiled kindly. “Nevertheless, we’re glad to have you here.”

You smiled back. “Glad to be here.” Then you continued working.

When Carlisle walked away from you, he carefully kept the reluctance from showing in his expression. He sent Esme a quick text warning her that they might have another soulmate in town: a human. His initial thought was that this would be the end of it; so long as Esme avoided meeting you, she wouldn’t feel the awful desperation currently clawing its way up Carlisle’s throat, and so long as Esme wasn’t suffering, Carlisle was confident in his own ability to let you live your own life, just as he had done with Esme, at first…

But then, he knew how that had turned out for her: years of pain, mistreatment…The thought of anything of the sort befalling you…The world was so dangerous, between humans and vampires and other such things, and you, so small in comparison, so vulnerable…

Carlisle regained his composure (though, to the untrained eye, he hadn’t lost it in the first place). The world could be dangerous, yes, but his awareness of that fact was informed, in no small part, by the fact that he wanted justification for keeping you. And he couldn’t give himself such license; it wouldn’t be right.

He wouldn’t drag you away from your human life.

Perhaps he could keep watch over you, and do you small favors every now and then, but that was the most he could afford to indulge.

He heard your stomach growl from across the room; he detoured to a vending machine and bought you a light snack. (Perfectly timed, Alice texted him your preference. No doubt, she was scouring the future to see how you might fit into it; he would have to have a talk with her, to be sure she didn’t go overboard. And deciding to have a talk with Alice functioned in the same way having a talk with Alice did.)

Dr. Cullen handed you a snack from the vending machine, which puzzled you at first; it didn’t seem like the hospital was handing out food to anyone else, and even if they were, why would one of the doctors take the time for such a thing?

He answered your unspoken question with a polite smile and the words, “You were looking a bit faint; I thought you might need this.”

Had you been looking unwell? You didn’t think you felt that bad, but a doctor would recognize the signs if something was wrong, and you were pretty hungry. “Thanks,” you said, and he dipped his head in your direction. Then he and his kind smile departed.

That wasn’t the last time you met Dr. Cullen.

Your paths crossed in all sorts of places: in the grocery store, he tapped you on the shoulder once to ask if you’d dropped a hundred dollar bill, and he urged you to keep it even once you’d told him it wasn’t yours; you saw him in your school’s science building, one day (He was there to speak to one of the professors, and he asked you if you had drunk any water recently.); and you even ran into him at the library. All incidents spaced out over weeks; not close enough together to really be coincidences worth thinking about. You figured that you had probably crossed paths just as much before meeting him, but only noticed now because you knew who he was.

Anyway, the two of you remained acquaintances. He was a nice man.

When someone slammed into your car, a few months later, he was the doctor who cared for you.

“A hit and run?” he murmured, tutting in displeasure as he moved a light across your eyes. “People should be more considerate, and careful with other people’s lives. You could have been seriously hurt.”

“They probably just made a mistake and were scared of the consequences,” you offered, because the doctor genuinely seemed somewhat upset. You were trying to assume the best about the other driver, because the alternative was getting angry about something you couldn’t change. You had barely even seen the car that had hit you. You just knew that it was some shade of yellow, and apparently much stronger than yours. “I wish we’d gotten to trade insurance information or something, though; my car is apparently totaled.” Despite your best efforts, your voice wavered.

“Don’t you worry about that,” Dr. Cullen said, and you were probably delirious, but something about the decisive way he said it made it seem, to you, as if he himself planned on helping you get your car fixed. “Follow the light with your eyes.”

You did.

“Have you...” The doctor seemed to choose his words carefully. “Have you called anyone, to let them know what happened, and that you’re alright?”

“No, I guess I haven’t. The ambulance got there so fast, I guess I didn’t have time to think about it.” You weren’t terribly concerned, though; if your relatives hadn’t been made aware of the crash, then they didn’t know to be worried yet. No need to call them now.

Dr. Cullen stilled at your words, though; the light in his hands shone in the spot between your eyes and did not move. It was as if he was deep in thought. No, as if he were at war with himself.

“Dr. Cullen?” you prompted.

He quickly smiled, setting down the light. “I think you should call them. Now, if you can. I would...just feel better if someone knew where you are, and that you’re alive.”

You called them (as awkward as that felt with the doctor right there in the room, patiently waiting), and Dr. Cullen seemed to relax.

Once you were released from the hospital, you went back to only seeing him every once in a while, around town.

Your car was mended seemingly overnight, under mysterious circumstances, and a part of you jokingly wondered if Dr. Cullen was some sort of fairy godmother, or guardian angel.

Then, another month after your accident, a stranger approached you while you were walking back from your last class of the evening.

“Hi,” the stranger greeted you, somewhat apologetically. She was shorter than you, with a lovely face and spiky black hair and a spritely disposition. “I’m Alice. I’m so sorry to bother you, but could you help me carry something to my car? It’s getting late, and I really don’t want to be here after dark.”

“Oh, sure,” you answered, feeling so at ease that you forgot every warning that would normally flood to your mind about the danger of following a stranger to her car. So at ease that your mind somehow just failed to observe the taller guy standing right next to Alice, well in your field of vision. You saw him, but you didn’t really think much of him.

You followed Alice to a bright yellow Porsche, and the shade of yellow stirred something in your memory, but you couldn’t say what; you were too busy looking for what you were supposed to be helping her lift.

A lovely woman with a long blond ponytail leaned against the car trunk, staring at something that she was holding in her hand, and there was a figure sitting inside the car, too; you couldn’t see them through the tinted windows, but you saw enough to be confused as to why you had been called here to help when it seemed Alice had many potential helpers, here.

Your panic, as you began to realize the ruse, had only just begun to climb when the blond woman suddenly moved, swift as a bird, behind you, and there was a hand over your mouth and a feeling like a pinch in the side of your neck.

The thing she was holding. It was a syringe.

The tall guy (the one you hadn’t thought much of, at first) moved to open the nearest door of the Porsche; he moved the passenger seat forward, to access the back row of seats.

“Wait, stop,” you slurred against the hand (the stunningly cold hand) over your mouth, as the woman who had syringed you began to maneuver you into the Porsche with surprising strength. You were already losing control of your limbs.

“This is officially the worst thing I’ve ever done,” the woman griped as she slid you carefully inside, then climbed in behind you. You were sandwiched between her and the person you’d seen through the tinted windows: a sulking young man with bronze hair. Four strangers total, and you were in the back seat of their car.

“Thank you, Rosalie, for your help,” Alice said resolutely. “Will you drive, Jazz?”

The tall one nodded, climbing into the driver’s seat while Alice occupied the passenger side.

You struggled to find your voice, or your fists, through the haze of sedative.

“It’s okay,” said the sulking young man at your side, in a surprisingly gentle voice. “I’m able to hear you, even if you can’t speak. I can read minds.”

“The human is still awake?” Rosalie said.

“Not for much longer, but yes. You have time to apologize.”

“Sorry about all this,” Rosalie said, gently nudging your mouth closed (as it had fallen open). “Don’t be scared; we just…have to bring you to Carlisle and Esme. They’re pretty great people, and they’ll treat you really well. And these guys were going to do it anyway, so I had to come and make sure things went smoothly. Alice and Jasper can’t even administer a shot; they probably would have chloroformed you or something-”

“Wouldn’t’ve had to,” said the tall guy in the driver’s seat- Jasper, apparently. “Could’ve just lightly flicked the back of their head at the right angle. Provided Alice checked the future to make sure we did it right.”

“…and didn’t cause a concussion, or worse,” the bronze-haired one deadpanned.

There was a brief silence. You were sinking against the self-proclaimed mind reader, unable to support your own weight. You were about to sleep. You actually wanted to sleep.

“Don’t worry, Rose,” Jasper added. “I’ve made sure the human isn’t afraid.”

You supposed you weren’t. Why weren’t you?

You fell asleep before you could figure it out.

…

You awoke to the sound of agitated voices, outside the (closed) door of a bedroom that was not your own.

You were in a bed, and it was obscenely soft and pleasant, but it wasn’t yours, and you weren’t home.

Where am I?

You felt weak, and tired. Heavy, confused. But you had to stay awake, and regain your wits, because you had been taken somewhere, and you didn’t know where or why. There was a window across the room. It was nighttime outside the window. Maybe if you could make it over there, you could climb out and run for it, but you didn’t yet have the strength to even get the bedcovers off of you.

“Because it’s been awful to watch how badly it affects you to be away from your mate,” one of the voices outside the door was saying. “All five of us agreed, and we never agree on anything!”

“And it’s not like it wouldn’t have happened eventually,” another voice agreed. “Just like with Esme.”

“Exactly! You were only prolonging your own suffering, for no reason.”

There was a sigh, and a familiar voice said, “Are you all finished?” It was Dr. Cullen; that much you knew, even though you had never heard him sound so tired.

“We did it for you, because you deserve happiness.”

“And now that Esme has seen them, there is no way to undo it, is there?” Dr. Cullen asked rhetorically. “Edward, is the human awake?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll bring some food up, Carlisle,” an entirely new voice suggested. “The children have been…underhanded, today, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t make the best of it.”

“It was for the best.” (Your head was clear enough, now, that you recognized this unabashed voice as belonging to Alice.) “You’ll see.”

Footsteps approached the door, and shortly a woman entered the room. She was soft-looking, with caramel brown hair, and she held a dinner plate in her hands.

“Good evening,” she said, soberly. Sitting on the edge of your bed while you struggled to sit up. “I’m so sorry the kids did this; we didn’t ask them to, but they thought they were doing us a service. I’m Esme Cullen, Dr. Cullen’s wife. Here: eat something.”

You ate a forkful of pasta only because it was too close to your mouth to refuse. “Why ‘m I here?” you asked hoarsely. “Take me home.” Another forkful slid into your mouth.

“I’m very sorry,” Esme said. “I’m so, so sorry, but you see…the trouble is…” Her eyes scanned over you, and she smiled a seemingly involuntary smile and didn’t finish her sentence. As if looking at you was simply a much better use of her time.

“I want to go home,” you said.

Esme sighed, pressing her lips together contritely. “The trouble is, I can’t bear to relinquish someone who is so important to Carlisle, and Carlisle can’t bear to relinquish someone who is so important to me. I promise you, though, we will make it up to you.” She fed you more pasta.

It tasted delicious, but that did nothing to assuage your terror. “You don’t even know me. What do you mean, I’m important to you?”

Esme clicked her tongue softly and rhythmically against the roof of her mouth, as if to soothe. “Carlisle can explain that better than I. But rest assured, everything is going to be alright.”

Your skin crawled, at the dissonant cordiality. “Where is Dr. Cullen?”

You heard a flutter of what could have been footsteps, if people were capable of moving that fast. Then, the bedroom door opened again and Dr. Cullen entered.

“Hello again, dear heart,” he greeted you, and his demeanor was about the same as it was in public, or in the hospital. Respectful, polite. Maybe just a bit...off. Too much of something, maybe too polite and kind for the circumstances. “I’m terribly sorry about all of this.”

The apologies were making this worse. “You don’t have to be sorry,” you said. “Just please take me home.”

“I can’t do that, angel,” he sighed. He did appear sorry, but not as sorry as he should have. “But I can explain everything to you now.”

He sat down on the other side of the bed, opposite Esme, who was still feeding you. And he did explain everything, in such expansive detail that you fell back asleep before he even got to the part about mates.

…

“You can pretend with them, but not with me.” The voice was quiet, and not so much accusatory (despite the pointedness of his words) as reminding.

“I know that, son.” Dr. Cullen sounded positively serene.

“You knew how much time you were spending with Jasper, in your saddened state.”

“Yes.”

“You knew that we would do this.”

“I…suspected.”

“You meant for us to do this.”

“That’s enough, I think. Thank you.”

Silence fell.

You opened your eyes just a crack. The pillow beneath your face was awash with yellow light; the sun had risen, since last you’d fallen asleep. None of it had been a dream. You were still trapped in a house with these people who thought they were vampires. You closed your eyes again. The two voices had been speaking from the direction you were facing: Dr. Cullen at your level, perhaps in a chair at your bedside; and the other above, as if standing.

“One month,” the first voice suddenly added, and you weren’t sure what it was in reference to. It was as if an inaudible question was being answered.

“That’s her optimistic guess, or her pessimistic?” Dr. Cullen inquired.

“If all goes well, it will be one month. Poorly, and the longest she’s seen is three months.”

“Well, that is good to hear. I’ve waited much longer with hope for much less.”

“I know.”

You turned over, so that your back was to them, and began to open your eyes again, but then you heard Dr. Cullen rise from his seat, take up the chair, and move around the foot of the bed. You kept your eyes shut as he set his chair down on the new side and sat in it once more. He did all of this matter-of-factly, as if he’d changed sides every time you’d turned over during the night.

The thought of anyone wanting to see your face that badly made you shiver a bit.

“Awake?” Dr. Cullen inquired casually. You didn’t hear an answer, but the other man must have nodded, because Dr. Cullen continued, “Good. Esme will be done with breakfast soon. She’s so happy to be cooking again.”

“Jasper is in the kitchen with her,” the other said, as if that was a related statement somehow. “I’m going hunting. Good luck.”

You weren’t sure why, but you felt as if he was talking to you as much as Dr. Cullen.

#yandere twilight #not harry potter #yandere carlisle cullen #yandere esme cullen #male yandere #female yandere #obsession #stalker #twilight fanfiction

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zintranslations · 4 years ago

Text

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 129

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 129: The Fourteenth Door

After entering the doors twice for it, Ruan Nanzhu could now be certain that the hint for the eleventh door would not undergo any additional changes.

The tenth door was too difficult, and was impossible to do a third time. Twice was plenty, besides, and they couldn't risk their lives on it again. Had Cheng Yixie not left, then perhaps they could've gotten a third hint slip about the eleventh door. But there was no helping when fate refused to abide its people, and such incidents occurred.

Most of human life was pretty much like this, filled with impermanence and variables.

Ruan Nanzhu said that Ye Niao also gave off light, and was someone well-suited to the doors. Ye Niao too went exactly as Ruan Nanzhu predicted, quickly adapting to life inside Obsidian. His outgoing and lively personality kept the mansion's atmosphere from getting too depressed.

Two years time wasn't exactly long, but it wasn't exactly short either.

Since Cheng Yixie left Obsidian, Lin Qiushi had not seen him again. Just like that, Cheng Yixie hid all traces of himself and disappeared so cleanly before everybody's eyes, as if he'd never been there at all.

Disappearing with him was a man who used to come over plenty, that Zhuo Feiquan. He'd even visited once after Cheng Qianli's incident, sprawled out crassly in the living room and asking, "where's that little idiot Cheng Qianli? Where's he gone?"

Nobody answered his question.

Perhaps the looks on everybody's faces at his question were too awful, but Zhuo Feiquan seemed to understand. He started to say something, but stopped again, and in the end said nothing before leaving. Once he'd left he never showed again. He disappeared without a trace from everybody's purview.

For the two years, Lin Qiushi never stopped going through the doors.

High-level, low-level—he did them all. His frequency averaged to about twice a month. Sometimes Ruan Nanzhu went with him. Sometimes he was alone.

During this time Lin Qiushi once again got to witness Ye Niao in drag…but never mind. Let's not talk about it. His eyes burned at the thought.

With so many doors entered, he also met all sorts of people. The strong ones, the weak ones—the hundreds of different ways people behaved in the face of death always brought out in him a heartfelt sigh.

And Ruan Nanzhu never gave up on reaching Cheng Yixie, though he never really heard anything back. It wasn't until a particular day in the second year that they knew there was someplace Cheng Yixie would definitely appear at.

That day was the anniversary of Cheng Qianli's death.

Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu went to the grave where Cheng Qianli was buried and found a corner. After waiting for a while, they saw a figure appear before Cheng Qianli's tombstone.

The figure was wearing a face mask and a hat, so it was difficult to make out any features, but Lin Qiushi only needed one look to be sure that the person in front of them now was Cheng Yixie.

"Do we go over?" Lin Qiushi asked.

Ruan Nanzhu shook his head. "Let's let him be alone for a bit."

Lin Qiushi sighed.

Cheng Yixie stood in front of Cheng Qianli's grave for a very long time, before finally setting the flowers in his hand down before the tombstone. As he prepared to leave, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but call out his name: "Yixie!"

Cheng Yixie's figure halted, and he turned to look at Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi quickly came up to him. There was so much he wanted to say to this child, but he didn't quite know where to start.

But it was Cheng Yixie who spoke up first.

"It's been a while."

His eyes on Lin Qiushi were cold. Compared to his characteristic detachment of the past, his gaze now was like a frozen lake—profoundly dark and chilled to the marrow, without any trace of warmth at all.

"It's been a while," Lin Qiushi said.

Ruan Nanzhu too approached Cheng Yixie and inspected him up and down, all without saying a word.

"I still have something to do, so I'll be going." Cheng Yixie looked at his watch when he spoke, and his tone was distant.

"You…" Lin Qiushi wanted to ask if Cheng Yixie had been well, but also felt such a topic would be extraneous. Because anybody could tell that he had not been well.

Cheng Yixie had not been well at all. A lot more of his hair had gone white, and though he covered it with a hat, it was still quite obvious.

"Go," Ruan Nanzhu said, not saying much of anything in the end. "If there's anything, give us a call. We're always here."

Cheng Yixie nodded, still with no trace of emotion on his face at all, and he turned to leave.

Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu watched him go in twin silence. The truth was they didn't know how to comfort Cheng Yixie. Even if it'd been a year, the impact of some things could and would never diminish.

Lin Qiushi slowly unwrapped a piece of candy and put it in his mouth. He felt the sweetness spread out across his tongue, and took Ruan Nanzhu by the hand.

"Let's go," he said.

The two finally left the graveyard.

Having seen that Cheng Yixie was still alive, Lin Qiushi could set his suspended heart down a few degrees. He didn't dare ask for too much. But what he didn't expect was that several days later, they would receive a letter from Cheng Yixie. The letter simply said that he'd obtained a hint to the eleventh door.

"The hint I got, it's a special one," Cheng Yixie wrote in the letter. "There are only two words: Life and Death."

Lin Qiushi read the contents of the letter and spoke aloud those two special words: "Life…and death?"

Ruan Nanzhu's brows furrowed as he too sank into deep thought.

Their hint was No Solution, but Cheng Yixie's hint was Life and Death. An odd thought surfaced in Lin Qiushi’s mind, and he said: "Could it be that everybody's eleventh door is the same?"

Ruan Nanzhu's fingers rubbed at the letter, eyeing the two words written on it.

"It's possible."

"Before that senior of yours went into the eleventh door, did he give you any information?" Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu.

"No, I was still a newbie then," Ruan Nanzhu replied. "Couldn't even think about something as far away as the eleventh door."

There was no other way then, since there was nobody around them who'd passed the eleventh door. The truth was, that Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi could safely pass the tenth door was already exceptional.

Life, death. Life, death. What did Life and Death indicate in the hint? Had this been any other door, they would've at least been able to think that they'd make the connections and proceed to analyze the hint once they were inside. But this was a high-level door in which any misstep could cost you your life. Even Ruan Nanzhu didn't dare to be overconfident about it.

Even though they still had a year, they were already preparing to enter the door.

The two of them did a lot of research based on the words Life and Death—from Eastern myths to Western tales, from Yanluo Temple to Anubis…

Though they didn't know whether or not any of this would be of use, they had to do something. It was easier to bear this way, instead of just sitting and waiting.

In the two years' time, Ye Niao passed his seventh door. When Lin Qiushi asked if he wanted to skip a door, Ye Niao gave it some thought, but ultimately turned the offer down. He said that there really was no point in skipping doors. Whatever was his lot in life would still ultimately come.

Lin Qiushi quite admired his caution and self-discipline. After all, faced with this kind of temptation, not everybody could turn it down.

The precise time of their eleventh door was March 27th. Because the level of the door was high, they already had a concrete sense of when they would be going in.

With a deeply solemn expression, Ruan Nanzhu drew a circle around March 26th on their calendar, and even doodled a little heart next to it.

When Lin Qiushi saw this he told him, "you marked it wrong. We're going in on the 27th."

"It's not wrong," Ruan Nanzhu said.

Lin Qiushi blinked.

"We have to do it a few extra times on the 26th."

Lin Qiushi, "…" It took him a few seconds to realize that the bastard was making a dirty joke, and couldn't say anything for a good minute. Ever since he and Ruan Nanzhu established their relationship, Ruan Nanzhu's more gregarious personality from inside the doors had become more and more apparent. Lin Qiushi thought this was a good thing—except, the only bad part was that Ruan Nanzhu often got jealous of himself.

"Do you like Zhu Meng or Ruan Nanzhu?" Ruan Nanzhu asked Lin Qiushi once outside the door.

Lin Qiushi could only say that the one he liked was Ruan Nanzhu.

Inside the doors though, he had to change his answer. And then Zhu Meng became possessed by the Drama Sprite again: "But yesterday, a man named Ruan Nanzhu called and told me that you love him."

Lin Qiushi, "…can't I love both?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "yes, I'll allow you to love both."

"…" Lin Qiushi sighed internally. Why do you have so many scripts in your hands?

The time of their eleventh door slowly approached. The atmosphere among the group once again began to stiffen.

Needless to say, this would be an extremely difficult door, so before going in, Lin Qiushi took care to calculate out how his affairs would be handled after he passed. He discovered, however, that he was pretty much someone utterly without mooring. His only friend Wu Qi was gone, and it had been a long time since he'd been in touch with his family. Beside his friends in this mansion, there really wasn't anybody he had to say goodbye to.

What Lin Qiushi never expected was that, a month before going into the door, Ruan Nanzhu would take him to Ruan Nanzhu’s own home.

Lin Qiushi kept thinking that Ruan Nanzhu's home would be a relatively desolate environment, but the moment they got there, a beautiful middle-aged woman appeared and threw herself sobbing onto Ruan Nanzhu.

Ruan Nanzhu was unmoved, slowly pushing the woman away.

"Ma," he greeted.

Lin Qiushi stood awkwardly beside him.

Then Lin Qiushi was roughly introduced to Ruan Nanzhu's family make-up. His family was fortunate, with a successful older brother, a strict father, and a charming mother. Beyond their successes the family seemed utterly normal, and Ruan Nanzhu didn’t seem to fit in at all.

On Ruan Nanzhu's part, he very frankly introduced Lin Qiushi as his lover.

Lin Qiushi was a bit nervous at first, but saw them accept Ruan Nanzhu's claim quite peacefully. It was only afterwards that Lin Qiushi knew that this family was pretty much the same as Yi Manman's, believing that something had gone wrong with Ruan Nanzhu's psychological state…

"My baby is good for everything. He just has a little problem with fantasies, is all." In the time it took for Ruan Nanzhu to go to the bathroom, his mother said this to Lin Qiushi while wiping the tears from her eyes. "He's had this sickness since he was young. Thank you. It must be your company that's made him so much better…"

Lin Qiushi didn't dare speak, thinking that he couldn't possibly tell Ruan Nanzhu's mother that he too had a little problem with fantasies, could he? If he thought about it though it was understandable. In the eyes of people without doors, after all, the time they spent inside the doors was simply them staring off into space.

It was only that after spacing out, their reactions could be intense. Some cried, some laughed, some even threw themselves straight off a building…

It was clear that Ruan Nanzhu's family still cared for him, but it was this care precisely that became a sort of burden. They didn't understand what Ruan Nanzhu did, and couldn't comprehend why Ruan Nanzhu avoided the normal paths in life…

There had never been such a thing as pure empathy in this world.

After a meal, Ruan Nanzhu took Lin Qiushi and left. Sitting in the car, he looked over at Lin Qiushi and asked, "isn't there anything you want to say?"

Lin Qiushi, "like what…your mom's super young?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "…"

Lin Qiushi grinned. "I don't have anything to say." He paused for a bit, before continuing, "they're all good people."

It was just that some things, they weren't meant to ever understand.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'm actually quite fortunate. My family all thinks I'm crazy, and wanted to send me abroad for treatment. But at least they didn't force it."

At the mention of crazy, Lin Qiushi was reminded of Yi Manman. Yi Manman was practically the prototypical Obsidian member—his family kept thinking he'd gone insane, and they'd even tried to shut him away in a mental hospital by force. Compared to him, Ruan Nanzhu's family's attitude stood in vivid contrast.

"It's true though, from an outsider's perspective we're all crazy," Lin Qiushi said helplessly. "We space out for a bit, and then start sobbing and yelling."

"It's been almost five years since I went home," Ruan Nanzhu said.

Lin Qiushi watched him, and understood what Ruan Nanzhu was saying. Sure enough, Ruan Nanzhu continued slowly: "We're not that close. This way when they actually lose me, they won't be so sad."

Lin Qiushi had to laugh: "I wouldn't be so sure of that." He recalled when they were first coming into their relationship, and how Ruan Nanzhu took a sudden step back. Thinking on it now, it had probably been this mentality at work.

It was just that now, they could both stand firm, and become pillars on which the other could rely.

For half a month before going into their door, the entire mansion partied hard. Everybody gathered every night to drink and mess around until late in the evening.

The feelings being suppressed underneath all this partying all came bursting out one night, and everybody in the mansion started crying—Chen Fei, Yi Manman, Lu Yanxue, and Ye Niao.

Ye Niao said, "Lin Qiushi you little bastard son of a bitch, you have to come out!"

Chen Fei said, "Ruan-ge, we'll be out here waiting for you."

Yi Manman and Lu Yanxue were crying so hard that they couldn't even talk.

Lin Qiushi too felt teary-eyed at this development, and only Ruan Nanzhu remained as steel-hearted as ever, saying, "we're not even dead yet, what are you crying for?"

"Uwaaaa…" But everybody had drank too much to heed Ruan Nanzhu's words, and they continued to express all the uneasy feelings inside their hearts.

Lin Qiushi lied on the sofa, brain completely eaten up by alcohol. Even so, he felt a kind of joy that was difficult to describe. There were people who cared for his life and death, there were people who wanted him to survive. The feeling of being cared for like this was so inescapably moving that he couldn't help but tear up.

Everybody cried, and ran about. The whole house became a mess.

Ruan Nanzhu came to Lin Qiushi's side and sat down. Then he pulled Lin Qiushi into his lap, fingers tapping at the tips of Lin Qiushi's ears.

"Your ears are like a fairy’s."

Lin Qiushi watched Ruan Nanzhu, silly with giddiness.

Ruan Nanzhu, after some drinks, was still exceptionally good-looking. His cool demeanor was softened by a tipsy sheen, light rippling through his eyes, and his lips were red with a gleam of moisture, looking particularly tasty.

Lin Qiushi reached up and gave Ruan Nanzhu's thick lashes a touch, laughing, "they're so long."

Ruan Nanzhu gazed down, watching him.

Lin Qiushi leaned back in Ruan Nanzhu's arms and felt the warmth coming from the other's skin. He said, "I used to think this is enough, but now…" A hint of sorrow surfaced between his brows. "I want to grow old with you. Is that too selfish?"

"No," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Everybody wants that. It's normal."

He got close to Lin Qiushi's ear and gave the tip of it a kiss, before speaking in a gravelly voice, "it's the same for me."

Lin Qiushi's answering smile was brilliant. He said, "that's great then. Are you scared?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "I used to be. But I'm not scared anymore."

They had each other now.

Lin Qiushi's heart too had settled. He said, "I'm not scared either."

Gazing into each other's eyes, they both smiled at the same time. Ruan Nanzhu picked Lin Qiushi up and started straight for the second floor.

Seeing them go, Ye Niao called, "you're already leaving? We haven't even had enough to drink yet…"

And immediately after Chen Fei smacked him on the head, saying, "wake the hell up youngster, those two are in love."

Ye Niao, "…" This place was not friendly toward singles.

They had a dozen days like a doomsday carnival, and the week before the 27th, everybody gradually started to calm down again.

Ruan Nanzhu went to find Chen Fei and began delegating some matters.

At first, Chen Fei was resistant, but Ruan Nanzhu said one thing that got him to settle down. He said: "I can't guarantee that I'll be coming out. If I die, you have to keep Obsidian going. They're all still here. You have to protect them."

Chen Fei reluctantly agreed.

Unlike Ruan Nanzhu, Lin Qiushi had nothing to do, so he went to help Lu Yanxue with dinner.

Lu Yanxue was looking pretty down. She did her best to cheer up, but Lin Qiushi could tell her smile was forced.

He didn't want to see her like this either, and so subtly suggested that if she didn't want to smile, there was no need. He understood how she was feeling.

When Lu Yanxue heard this, she couldn't hold back anymore, throwing herself into Lin Qiushi's arms and beginning to wail.

"I can't imagine it. I can't even imagine what it would be like if you and Ruan-ge weren't here. I'm scared to think if something were to happen to you…"

Lin Qiushi stroked her hair, like he was comforting a child through a meltdown. He didn't know what to do, and could only say, "it'll be fine. Everything will be fine."

Lu Yanxue cried herself into a mess.

March 25th, Cheng Yixie came back. His return put everybody at a loss, and underneath the joy, there was a deep undercurrent of worry.

Cheng Yixie got taller, and skinnier. In two year's time, he'd completely morphed into a mature adult.

He knew when Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were going into the door, so his visit this time was likely out of concern that this would be the last time they'd see each other.

The group didn't dare talk about the past, only asked if Cheng Yixie had spent the past two years well.

Cheng Yixie answered on and off, but Lin Qiushi noticed that on his neck, there was a new pendant. This was the pendant that Lin Qiushi had seen around Zhuo Feiquan's neck before…

"Where's Zhuo Feiquan?" Ruan Nanzhu asked the question that Lin Qiushi wanted to ask.

"He's dead." Cheng Yixie's tone was dull, as if death could no longer bring him to any emotion. "He died last year. Didn't make it through the tenth door."

Ruan Nanzhu said nothing more.

After staying an hour, Cheng Yixie got up to leave. Lu Yanxue asked why he didn't come back, but he only smiled for a moment before saying three words: "I'm not worthy."

Hearing those words felt to Lin Qiushi like needles jabbing into his heart. He looked at Ruan Nanzhu, but saw Ruan Nanzhu's lips in a tight line, not saying anything to persuade Cheng Yixie to stay.

After Cheng Yixie left, Ruan Nanzhu finally said, "there's always a price to pay for taking shortcuts."

Lin Qiushi knew what he meant.

Most likely, Ruan Nanzhu also wanted to tell Cheng Yixie that he was welcomed to return to Obsidian, but in the end kept silent because Cheng Yixie had gone against his principles. Some things were bottom lines, and no matter the circumstance, bottom lines could not be broken.

On the 26th, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu spent all day in bed.

They talked of love, gazes lingering and cloying in each other's eyes. They fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms, and the sun set and rose again. The most important day had finally came.

March 27th. The day Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu entered their door.

It was a bright and sunny spring day—the breeze caressed and the sunbeams dazed.

Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu had breakfast together. Then they put on everything they were taking with them and sat together on their bed. They ate candy as they chatted, until all of a sudden, the atmosphere around them changed.

The person sitting across from Lin Qiushi suddenly disappeared, and Lin Qiushi knew that it was finally here. Backpack on, he stood up and opened the closest door. There he saw a familiar long hallway.

In the corridor, ten doors were shut behind seals. Only two doors were left at the very end of the hall.

Lin Qiushi took a slow step in, then approached one of the doors. With a deep breath, he took hold of the door handle and gradually pulled it open.

The scene around him twisted, and a strong force pulled Lin Qiushi inside. When he got a good look at his surroundings, however, his breathing stuttered.

Having experienced so many doors, and having seen so many peculiar scenarios, he'd never seen one as chilling as the one before him now. Cold sweat rose on Lin Qiushi's back, and goosebumps appeared along his arms of their own volition—he'd appeared in what looked like a normal bedroom. Lin Qiushi remembered well that it was in this bedroom that he'd met Ruan Nanzhu in reality for the very first time.

That's right, Lin Qiushi had returned to his old house, the apartment that he'd stopped renting a long time ago.

Lin Qiushi laughed bitterly as he thought, this truly was the nightmare among nightmares.

[Ch. 128] | [Ch. 130]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒 #HERE WE GO #THE BEGINNING OF THE END #AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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