#no edits on this so rip for any spelling/grammer errors

[twstlover15]

Vil Schoenheit x Yuu

Sunlight filtered in through the curtains delicately as Yuu woke to the world. Last night had been crazy, and they were certain their face was a mess of mascara and eyeshadow. They shut their eyes and burrowed deeper into the pillows. The sheets were soft and warm. Some fancy 1000 count cotton that Vil had brought with him to his hotel room. They sat up to see him more clearly. His blonde hair spread out in a halo around his face. His sleeping face was even more perfect than his waking one. Soft and bare faced, like the normal marble of his visage becoming suddenly human. Yuu dug themselves deeper into the covers to hide from him. Just looking at him made them feel all tangled inside. Wherever the red string of fate was meant to go, was now wrapped up in this…mess. Yuu breathed heavily into the pillows and felt a puff of warm breath on their ear.

“Gah!” Yuu gasped out and smacked their head against the metal bed frame. They groaned out while Vil just chuckled his perfect chuckle. That mother fucker. “You mother fucker” Yuu tried to say with vitriol, but it came out far more whiney than they meant for it to sound. They rubbed their head and felt warm hands and arms pull them from sitting up and down into an even warmer lap. Yuu closed their eyes, almost falling back asleep, but their forehead was flicked and they flickered narrowed eyes at the culprit.

“Don’t you fall back asleep on me, here. We’re meant to share the weekend together.” Vil said, a small playful smile on his face. He started rubbing Yuu’s cheek a little more vigorously, and they knew he was trying to wipe off the makeup that had definitely smeared. Vil gave a small click of his tongue. “You should’ve used my makeup removers- this will damage your skin in the long term if you keep it up.” He said before licking his thumb and going in to wipe off more of it. Yuu ducked out of the way of his spit-covered hands grimacing playfully and holding his hands away from their face.

“Groosss” They whined and Vil let out a snort. A snort! 

“Says the one who asked me to spit in their mou-”

“Ahhhhhh- no thank you! Please don’t finish that sentence!”  Yuu moved one hand from his hand to cover their eyes, beet red with embarrassment. It was one thing to say in the heat of the moment when the lights were low and that they weren’t thinking about what was being said- not fully-, and another thing to hear that kind of language in the bright light of the morning. Vil laughed at them anyway before kissing their forehead and getting up in the direction of the bathroom. 

When the door clicked shut, Yuu relaxed into the bed, almost falling back asleep as the sun crept over their form. It felt warm and they were warm, and the embarrassment of the situation made them turn their head into the sheets. God, how many times was this going to happen? They thought after the 2nd time, maybe it would either turn into something more, or fizzle out. And, yet. Yuu huffed out a breath into the sheets. They could hear the shower or sink turn on , the running water covering them in a blanket of time to get ready, but Yuu couldn’t make themselves move. It was so stupid how they couldn’t even count how many times they had fallen- Yuu laughed a little at that, as if this wasn’t somehow intentional on either of their parts- into bed together. Their was a part of them that thought they would’ve been married or in a relationship with someone in a more steady capacity instead of…whatever was going on here between them. 

They were definitely still friends. Yuu couldn’t imagine a day without Vil making them laugh or think deeply about the nature of art or how one keeps diligent in their routine in the face of a constantly changing public opinion, or how silly or stupid or incompetent a co-star was or… anything, really. They’d been in each others lives since their days at school, and he’d been there when there hadn’t been any way for Yuu to go home. But then… Their head trailed off into the abyss of feeling both used and like this was more than anything they deserved. How could they ever ask for more from their friend, their best friend. But how could this continue? Yuu couldn’t see Vil making space in his life for romance, not when he barely had time for their friendship as of late. He had 3 releases this year and had been on constant tours for promotion. Not to mention the fashion galas that he’s been invited to as one of the few male celebrities that actually went full out for themes, and took fashion as seriously as his acting. Yuu wanted to be supportive, but…they were feeling left behind. They tried not to take it so harshly, but then their work had started to pick up, too. They finally got the promotion they had been fighting so hard for, and it left them feeling too guilty to take any time off. They wanted to prove that the decision to promote them was worth it. Yuu might not have been too passionate about the administrative work they did, but it paid the bills and made them feel…needed. Like they were worth more than….

Yuu couldn’t finish the thought. The light mood they had been in was drained away, and the aches from the night before felt bone deep. They slowly got dressed and wiped the make-up residue from their face. The water stopped running. Vil came out, glistening like a damn model in the hotel towel and looked up and down at Yuu. His beautiful eyes caught theirs and he tilted his head.

“Care to tell me what’s running through your head?” he asked. Why did he have to be so gentle? It made it so hard to leave him. Yuu felt their heart catch at the back of their throat and swallowed it down before staring right back. 

“I gotta head back home.” They started. Yuu looked away for a second, but looked right back, feeling the bravery of a runaway fill them with restless energy. They were sure Vil had caught it, but they hoped he would be too polite to say anything. Vil opened his mouth to say something, but Yuu rushed out the rest. “The flight’s a little delayed, but you know me, always have to be early.” They continued with a wooden smile. They needed to go before they did something stupid. Vil looked a little put out.

“Surely you could stay for breakfast?” He said, a breath of a question. The walls Yuu built to leave again fell slightly. He was their friend, of course he would miss them, too. Yuu looked at him softly. 

“You know how bad the traffic gets, and I have work tomorrow.” Yuu said, trying for some kind of humor. They couldn’t have him sad. Vil looked down, his wet hair slowly drying in the warm air, and Yuu moved closer. “Don’t miss me too much” They said with a playful smile, and kissed him on the cheek. It lingered too long, and they closed their eyes to savor his skin and the smell of the shampoo he brought with him. Fuck they were going to miss him. Yuu moved away, and left the room, not looking back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It always surprised Vil how easily they slipped in and out of his life. Maybe next time he’ll find a way to make Yuu stay.

[muffinlance]

If it’s okay, I have question about your editing process!!!!! It’s not a “how do you edit your work” but really more of “how do you stop your brain melting and from becoming unable to process any language after reading reading something over and over.” I ask bc the other day I had to read something over and I just lost my mind I couldn’t do it anymore.

Don't do that.

No really: build brain-rest time into your editing process. You'll catch more errors if your brain doesn't hate what it's doing, and you'll give yourself think time on whether there are any structural issues or larger changes that need to be made.

This obviously varies, but my general rules are:

Initial story outlines for a novel-length work: at least two days, usually a month or more, from writing to getting the rubber stamp to proceed (this is where I fix most structural issues. My style is shifting more and more towards front-loading the Hard Plot Questions, and it is so much easier to solve issues before they're surrounded by thousands of words you're reluctant to delete.)

Chapter outlines: min one day, up to a week or so; follow your "something still doesn't feel right" gut. This is again structural stuff.

Complete chapters: I don't edit until the day after I finish writing. Gives time for last minute fridge logic to kick in. This is usually line editing stuff; typically I do two passes, but I've spent a lot of time building self-editing skills. Beta readers are useful here if you're not confident in your ability to catch spelling/grammer/small logic edits.

Those are my fanfic guidelines. For Serious Face novels where you're not posting chapter-by-chapter, try to give yourself a month or two between finishing the work and your first serious editing read through to give yourself fresh eyes.

And if you hate your project with unreasonable rage in any given sitting, abort, do not edit until you've had water, a nap, and snackies.

Also: version control. That should go hand-in-hand with whatever backing up system you have.

If you have no system RIP you, the electronic reaper chuckles indulgently over your shoulder.