#not going to wait any longer cause i doubt i'll have time to make anything else polished this year XD

[limesquares]

2024 Yearly Art Summary

[all previous years]

[seramilla]

Someone asked for angst so here it is.

After learning who Emily is Carmilla is torn on the one hand she found she had another daughter and already loves her and wants to keep her but she knows she can't. 1 Emily wasn't born in hell and doesn't have the instincts she needs to stay safe as can be seen by how easy Clara and Odette caught her thank God it was them and not someone worse. 2 Sera needs here Carmilla knew Sera loved and feared for Emily and learned that Emily had only recently learned that Sera was her mother because Sera had told her growing up they were sisters to keep her safe and hadn't even let Emily call Sera mom. She would have thought that Emily going to hell would have caused Sera a lot of stress after getting more of the story she knew Sera had to be frantic. As much as she wants to keep her other daughter she loves Sera too much to take Emily from her. She already has two daughters that should be enough. Still she convinces herself letting Emily stay and night or two wouldn't hurt after all she can keep Emily here and safe and let her recover after her adventures in hell it would probably be the only time she'll see her third daughter so she should make it count. She plans to let Emily rest and recover that night and the next day tell Lucifer to let Sera know she found Emily and the girl is alright and maybe get one last day before she says goodbye for the first and likely last time.

For roughly 48 hours, Carmilla Carmine almost remembers what it's like to have Sera in her life again. Emily's resemblance to her other parent is uncanny. The way she laughs. The way she immediately warms up to her sisters, Clara and Odette. The way she asks so many questions, wanting to know everything about life in Hell, despite having witnessed so many of the horrors of this place just trying to find her way here.

Carmilla knows she should tell Lucifer of Emily's presence. And she does immediately...there is no doubt in her mind that Sera will probably be frantically searching for the girl, if she isn't already, and Carmilla isn't that cruel. She tells Lucifer that Emily is safe in her care, but goes against her better nature to make a very selfish request. One that she knows she shouldn't make. But as Carmilla is rarely selfish, she can't help but wish for it just this once.

"Tell Sera Emily is safe," Carmilla pleads with Lucifer over the phone. "But please...wait a few days before you tell her where she is. Tell her she's with you...or that she's resting. Something that will assuage her fears, but not have her rushing down here just yet."

"Why?" Lucifer asks, completely flummoxed. "Carmilla, she's at her wit's end with worry. I can't just not tell her! That's her daughter."

"She's my daughter, too! Please!" Carmilla begs. Very emotionally, which signals to Lucifer that she is serious. Carmilla rarely shows this side of herself to anyone, let alone Lucifer.

"Please, Lucifer, I just...I just need time with her. I don't know if I'll ever get this chance again. You know neither of them can stay down here long. Hell will warp and distort them. Like it did to our bodies. And I don't want to risk them coming down here more than once."

Lucifer goes silent on the other end of the line. He knows better than anyone the toll that Hell pays on a fallen angel's body over an extended period of time. A day or two isn't anything to fuss over. But after a week, their angelic essence will be sucked dry. After two, their bodies will start to transform, leaving them unrecognizable as Heaven's angels.

After a month, they'll never be able to go back. Those types of changes are permanent. Carmilla judges that a few days should be safe, at the absolute maximum. That's all the time she's willing to allow herself to spend with Emily. Any longer than that would risk her and Sera's immortal souls being trapped down here forever like her.

"If that's what you want..." Lucifer says, the hesitation in his voice indicating he does not like this idea one bit. "I understand where you're coming from. I do. And I will allow it. But 2 days is all you get, Carmilla. You'd better make it count."

Carmilla thanks Lucifer, and hangs up the phone. She will make it count. She will shove so much love and affection into the next 48 hours, it will be impossible for Emily to ignore how much she means to her. Carmilla vows to cherish the next 2 days always, and at the same time, steel herself for the inevitable end to their time together.

She understands that before all is said and done, she and Sera will undoubtedly come face-to-face one last time, and she needs to be ready for that moment. Needs to be strong for Emily, but also for herself. Carmilla Carmine has become an expert at not showing weakness. This situation, however...this will truly test her. It might even be what finally breaks her. But she will risk it. For a few moments of stolen happiness, and for them to ultimately be safe.

[skyeeuphixia]

𝚕𝚒𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 // 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐

lip Gallagher x girlfriend OC (Delilah) summary: in which lip and delilah give fiona a break and have the kids to themselves  or in which debbie and delilah get some 'sister' time

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warnings: n/a word count: 3.2k

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"Ok, Bottles are in the cupboard, formula and milk are in the fridge, but Lip knows all that," Fiona informs Lip's girlfriend, showing her where everything is as if she hadn't been dating Lip and coming over to the house for 7 months now. 

Today Fiona was stepping out of her comfort zone by spending the night away with her boyfriend, Jimmy/Steve. Jimmy/Steve had somehow managed to book a room at The Langham Hotel, meaning that Lip was now in charge of babysitting his younger siblings, minus Ian as he was having a sleepover with 'Mandy'. She had done it once before Lip and Delilah were dating, but that ended in Frank having to fake his death. So Fiona had managed to convince herself that everything would go to shit if she left for another night. It took a lot of convincing from all the kids, Kev, V and Jimmy/Steve to convince Fiona to go, let alone leave them with Liam alone. So she compromised, she would leave Lip in charge, if, his girlfriend Delilah helped out, because in her words "She will actually keep some order in this house." 

"Lay off my girlfriend Fi," Lip sighs trekking down the stairs to the kitchen, having already gone through the same lecture, twice, hours earlier, "It's not like she's not been here a million times, besides she's better with Liam than any of us."

Fiona sighed and placed the bottle she had picked up back in the cupboard before rubbing her forehead, "I know, I know it's just last time everything went down with Frank and-"

"-and that's different to any other day how?" Lip asks, standing next to his girlfriend, placing his arm around her shoulders, Delilah nudging him slightly giving a look that tells him to listen to his older sister. 

"Just, don't let the house burn down, don't let Frank in but I doubt he'll show up, uh what else, oh you two," She suddenly snapped pointing a finger between the two of them causing them to raise their eyebrows in surprise, not expecting the sudden change in attitude. 

"The moment I exit the house you two are "working", you're not hanging out, not on a date, your focus is on the kids, so no funny business." 

Lip opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by Fiona pointing at him once again, "Including after they fall asleep," she snaps, Lip's mouth promptly shutting. 

"Don't worry Fiona, I'll keep everything together." Delilah smiled at her, causing the older girl to give her a grateful smile. 

"Yeah besides we're going to have a fun time, won't we buddy?" Lip asks picking up Liam from his place on the sofa, making funny faces at him, "Oh and you mean we'll keep everything together?" Lip asked, looking at Delilah expectantly.

"I meant what I said," Delilah teased, leaving no room for Lip to argue as Jimmy/Steve enters through the front door and makes his way to the trio.

"Hey ready to go?" He asks Fiona, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I just-"

"She's ready," Both Lip and Delilah answer at the same time, knowing that Fiona was just going to try and stall for longer. 

"Great, let's go," Jimmy/Steve smiles at her, slowly guiding her out of the house as she continued to call out orders to the two teenagers. 

"Lip, don't do anything Delilah wouldn't do! If I come back and everything has gone to shit I swear I will-" She didn't get to finish her threat however as the sound of the door shutting cut her off.  

Lip and Delilah looked at each other for a few seconds, waiting to see who would suggest what to do first, this was new to the two of them, normally, when they hung out together, there was a goal or purpose; just being in each others company, Homework, Sex. Sure they had a purpose, babysitting, but what are you supposed to do when none of the children need anything? 

"Movie?" 

"Sure," 

The two of them swiftly make their way over to the living room, Delilah grabbing a blanket and sitting on the couch, settling Liam next to her, Lip flipping through the selection of DVDs the Gallaghers owned. The Gallaghers had a few really good selections of films, the only issue was Delilah and Lip could never agree on what to watch. 

"Uh we got, insidious, Top Gun, IT-"

"You're just picking the ones you want to watch!" 

"Ok, you pick something out then,"

"Mean Girls" She answers picking up the movie with no hesitation and starting to open it before Lip snatched it out of her hands. 

"No way that movie's shit!"

"Oh yeah, how do you know that? Seen it before?" 

"Beyond the point! Look I just don't see what's so entertaining about watching dumb teenagers talk about how big their hair is," Lip argued back, smirking at her slightly. 

"Yeah well if we watched a horror film there's the risk of the kids coming down and traumatising themselves! Not to mention Liam is right here!" Delilah argues back, not wanting to risk the wrath of Fiona the following morning if she finds out that Debbie and Carl are all of a sudden too scared to fall asleep. 

"Ok fine, you pick, anything but mean girls," Lip groans, taking a seat back on the couch, swiftly joined by Delilah.

"Tangled,"

"That's a kids film,"

"Harry Potter!"

"I've watched that series with you three times now!"

"Angus, thongs and perfect snogging!"

"Take out Angus and that's my kind of night,"

"Bullet Train!"

"And listen to you drool over Aaron Taylor Johnson for two and a half hours again, no thanks,"

"Why don't we watch the next episode of blue planet? Everyone likes that!" 

"Yeah I guess, let's just watch that," Lip sighed, turning on the most recent episode of blue plant the family had recorded. The Gallaghers, Kev and Veronica, Jimmy/Steve and Delilah often watched different shows together, having episodes upon episodes of the different shows they watched recorded, however, it wasn't uncommon for Delilah and Lip to be an episode ahead of the rest, often watching the next episode in secret when no one's around. 

Lip and Delilah settled down next to each other, huddling up for warmth, Liam's head resting across Delilah's lap, as David Attenborough's calming voice introduced them to the wonders of the world's oceans. 

They watched in silence as a fish miraculously jumped out of the water and grabbed a bird midflight when from nowhere Debbie and Carl appeared in front of the TV.

"What the hell get out of the way, it was getting good!" Lip called out in frustration, pausing the show the couple was undoubtedly fascinated by. 

"We're bored," Debbie says matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips. 

"So? Entertain yourselves," Lip says, leaning back convinced that that simple sentence solved all their problems.

"You're the babysitters, you're supposed to entertain us," Carl argues back.

"Well, what do you guys want to do?" Delilah asks, sitting up so she could see them properly past Lip. 

"I want some girl time with Delilah," Debbie says smiling smugly at Lip, knowing she would be ruining the alone time he hoped to have with his girlfriend. 

"Ok, I'll go with Debbie, and you entertain Carl and Liam," Delilah announces standing from the couch, patting Lip's shoulder, and making her way towards the stairs with Debbie swiftly following her. 

"Wait, what!?" Lip exclaims, turning towards her, holding his arms out slightly, shocked by how willing Delilah was to listen to the demands of some 12 and 10-year-olds.

"We're here to babysit Lip, this is part of the job," Delilah shrugged before walking up the stairs, Debbie in tow, and walking to the room the younger girl shared with Liam. 

"So, what do you want to do Debs?" Delilah asked, sitting on the girl's bed, noticing how hard the mattress was. 

"I don't know, girl stuff and girl talk,"

"Girl stuff and girl talk?" Delilah smiles amused by the younger girl.

"Yeah, Fiona's busy and so I try not to bother her with girly talks, besides Fiona is a lot...rougher than you, and you're closer to my age! And you're not a Gallagher, I think it would be good to get an outside opinion," Debbie declares.

Delilah chuckled at the young girl, "Ok where do you want to start?"

Delilah watched as the younger girl made her way over to one of her shelves picked out a CD and swiftly put it into a pink CD player, which Delilah and Lip had gotten her for her birthday, the sound of Madonna's; Like a Virgin coming from it, causing Delilah to smile a little as she had been the one to introduce Debbie to 80s music.

"Hmm, wait here," Debbie swiftly made her way out and into the hall, leaving the older girl alone, Delilah let out a long breath as she waited, pulling a confused face as she heard the sounds of drawers opening and slamming shut. 

Before she could call out to Debbie, the redhead strutted back into the room with a small vial and a little bag in her hand. 

"Nails and makeup," Debbie said, putting a vial of baby pink nail varnish and Fiona's make-up bag on her bed.

"Debs," Delilah sighed, "This is Fiona's stuff we really shouldn't do this,"

"I'll take it all off before we go to bed! And Fiona will probably assume the nail varnish is yours 'cause you wear this colour all the time," Debbie reasons. Delilah puts her head down, noticing that she was, in fact, wearing the same baby pink nail varnish at that moment. 

"Ok, ok, let's start with the nail varnish then," Delilah smilies, picking up the vial and shaking it, before taking Debbie's left hand and starting to paint her nails, the two girls sat in silence for a few moments. 

"Do boys ever stop being gross and annoying?" Debbie asks out of nowhere, as Delilah finished off her left hand, painting the pinky finger and taking the other hand.

Delilah laughs and shakes her head, "Nope, never will, but you come to realise that girls are just as annoying as boys just in different ways, so one day, you'll find a boy or girl who's annoying compliments your annoying. Can't do much about the grossness though."

"Ugh, can't boys just be...better?"

"You come to realise as you get older Debbie, not everyone is perfect, you learn to tolerate the bad things, and love the good things, but if the bad things really bother you, then, if that person can't change it, they're not right for you."

"How do you know someone's right? How did you know my brother was the right one for you?" 

Delilah thought for a moment holding two different shades of blush towards Debbie's face, deciding the lighter of the two was more her colour, before beginning to apply some and answering the younger girl's question, "When he blocked Karen's number,"

"I never really liked Karen."

"You wouldn't be the only one,"

"Why did that do it?"

"At that point, we had been dating for around three months, and although he had been nothing but amazing, because of his past with Karen and Mandy, I had my doubts, and I'll admit, I was prepared for something to go wrong," Delilah admits. "I remember Mandy breaking up with Lip cause he was still in love with Karen, so throughout the first three months I was just looking for signs he still loved her because I just felt immensely insecure about my place in the relationship-"

"Wait what?! You? Insecure?"

"Oh yeah! I was so insecure, still am sometimes, I thought I was a huge downgrade, I wasn't as exciting as Mandy or Karen in...ways that you don't need to know. And so I thought he would get bored pretty quick and go back to Karen. And then one day while we were hanging out, his phone started ringing and it was Karen, and I was so prepared for him to drop everything and go running to her, I guess that showed on my face because, Lip looked at me, declined the call and deleted her number, nothing else had to be said, he told me everything I needed to know through his actions. It doesn't sound like much but, I know how much he cared for her so, it meant a lot to me, " Delilah retold, smiling thoughtfully. 

"I hope my future relationship is like yours and Lips,"

"Thanks, Debs," Delilah smiled, moving on to apply a light shade of red lipstick to Debbies's lips. 

"How did you and Lip even meet? I just remember you slowly spending more and more time here and I never really questioned it." Debbie asked, trying not to move her mouth too much.

"To be honest, I don't really know how it happened either, we sat next to each other in English for Sophmore and Junior year, but never spoke unless it was work-related, we only started talking as friends when Mandy and I got close, I'll be honest, we were so different we didn't like each other, but the more time we spent together, the closer friends we became and, I don't know, here we are." Delilah reminisced, brushing Debbies's hair and putting them into two neat plaits, which is how Debbie liked to wear her hair at night. 

"What's going to happen when you guys go off to college? You're not going to the same one," 

"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we reach it, listen Debs if you have one foot in the future and one in the past, it means you're pissing on today," 

"What?"

"Basically don't worry about what's to come and what's going to happen, live in the moment Debs you'll be happier that way, and right now, what you have to do is get to bed, it's 9:30." 

"What no!" Debbie complained.

"Sorry Debs, Fionas orders, now, go take a look in the bathroom mirror, brush your teeth, get the make-up off, and get ready for bed, I'll put away Fiona's stuff," Delilah says, packing away the makeup as Debbie agrees, trudging out of the room, saying a quick thank you on her way out.

"Tell you what," Delilah says, "Next Saturday, you and I head off to the mall together, go to all your favourite shops, and we can play mine and Mandy's favourite game, we pick a clothes store and pick out clothes for the other person without showing them and we have to try them on." 

"Really?!"

"Really!" 

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!" Debbie repeats, hugging the older girl before running back out of the room to get ready for bed. 

Delilah chuckled at the younger girl's actions, turning off the CD player, before grabbing all of Fiona's stuff and bringing it into Fiona's room, managing to step on one of Liam's squeaky toys, which she was positive was actually a dog toy, on her way. 

As she exited Fiona's room, she was greeted by a very unimpressed, dishevelled-looking Lip, his hair was all over the place, parts  of his white tank top were ripped, and he had an already sleeping Liam on his hip, "What happened to you?" Delilah tried not to laugh. 

"Turns out Carl's idea of fun is hunting me down with his Nerf gun, and when I asked how I'm supposed to defend myself, the little shit laughed at me - Don't you start!" He accuses her, noticing her face contorting slightly as she attempts to hide her laughter. 

"Sorry, just didn't think you'd get the shit beat out of you by a 10-year-old," Delilah teases, taking Liam from Lip, pushing past him and going back into Debbie's room. Lip rolled his eyes rather and went in the opposite direction to his own room to make sure Carl went to bed.

Delilah gently put Liam in his crib, before turning and watching as Debbie tucked herself into bed, "Goodnight Debs," She said, turning the light off as she made her way out of the room. 

"Goodnight," She hears in reply as she shuts the door, Lip shuts the door to his room at the same time, walking over to join her. 

He was about to open his mouth to say something, but Delilah raise her hand, noticing the bottom of Debbie's door was illuminating a small pool of light.

"Debbie no reading under the covers, you know the rules," She calls out, the light immediately vanishes as Debbie turns her torch off, listening to the older girl. Delilah smiles smugly at Lip, causing him to roll his eyes at her, but he didn't try to hide the smile on his face. 

"You're good with them,"

"I know. So tell me," Delilah starts, heading down the nearest staircase to make her way back to the living room, being followed by her boyfriend, "How did you allow yourself to get chased around by a child?"

"Ok I did not 'allow myself' I was taken by surprise, I watch you go after Debs and when I turned back around the little shit was pointing the fucking thing in my face, so I did what most people would do if they had a gun pointed at them, I ran!" 

"And what was Liam doing during all this?" Delilah asked as she sat back in her original spot on the sofa, Lip sitting a few moments after her, putting his arm around her.

"Little fucker just sat and laughed the whole time." Lip grumbled, looking back at his girlfriend, whose mouth was twitching slightly, "Don't even," 

"I'm not saying anything!" 

"Yeah well, how you feel about that is written all over your face, you're an open book love," Lip states, reaching forwards slightly to grab the remote to the TV, unpausing the show to continue where they left off. 

"Am not!" 

"Whatever you say, babe, whatever you say," 

Delilah rolled her eyes at her boyfriend before snuggling up to him so that they were both more comfortable. As the night drew on the teenager's eyes slowly drooped as they both fell asleep in each other's arms, which their backs would hate them for tomorrow, as the lumpiness of the sofa would for sure cause them some aches, not that they cared right now though, they were far to content and tired to care about that. 

After a relaxing night, even though some lingering worry stayed in the back of her mind, Fiona returned home in the early hours of the next morning to find the house not in complete chaos, but instead, the two teenagers still snuggled up close to one another, the TV now playing some random news channel in the background. 

The sight of the two teenagers made the older sister smile, it was rare to see the two of them so relaxed, considering they were often stressed with either work, school or job-wise, chores or general teenage stress. This was the most relaxed she had seen the two of them in a while, which surprised her, as she thought the kids would have made them reconsider all of their life choices by now. 

"You did good guys," she whispered, as she slipped one envelope into Lip's favourite hoodie, which was hanging off the side of the couch, and one into Delilah's jacket, which was hanging up on the coat hanger, each one containing $25 for their efforts. 

They deserve it. 

■━■━■ (fin)

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Pokémon Reborn Screenshot Let's Play: Chapter 41

Wow, my writing muse has just not been with me this past week. I can't even fully blame it on work, I think it's more to do with other stuff happening in my life the last few days (nothing super tragic or anything, but rather stressful all the same) that's sapped away at my motivation. I wanted to finish the writing phase of this in two or three days- and it's taken me almost five. Sure, I'm assuming no one minds a longer wait for updates as long as the updates actually happen, but I don't like being late on new chapters! 

Not that there's much I can do about that- a schedule’s a schedule, not much I can do to change it, even if I really wanted to. But I've still persisted, and so…here we are!

So what is happening in this game now? How's the story progressed thus far in this second third? I'll tell you one thing, the bad guys and the plot as a whole have not wasted any time causing chaos in the life of our local protagonist- and I'll explain how right now!

Xera returns to the Belrose Manse to deliver the Herbal Extract to Anna. Despite the girl pouring it all over Nostra the doll instead of taking it herself, Anna appears to make a rapid recovery anyways.

Anna claims that Xera is going to need all the Reborn League Badges very soon, and to that end she urges Noel and Charlotte to battle her, being Gym Leaders themselves. Charlotte is still a bit too strong for Xera’s current skill level, but Noel (reluctantly) agrees to battle Xera.

To prepare to battle Noel, Xera returns to a certain area in Rhodochrine Jungle. On the way, she encounters Victoria in Beryl Cemetery, paying respects at Kiki’s recently-made grave. She tells Xera about how she was closer to Kiki than her actual mother, and how Kiki in her will left everything to her and her alone- apparently, she had no other family or loved ones, which Victoria was unaware of due to never asking her. Victoria laments how she missed out on her and Kiki being family rather than just student and teacher, then leaves without another word.

Xera returns to the totem pole in Rhodochrine Jungle, where she encounters and catches Bastion the Golett.

Xera returns to the Belrose Manse; with everyone gathered in the front garden and Charlotte acting as referee, the time for the Gym challenge against Noel seems ready to get underway. However, just as Charlotte as readying the battle to begin, she spots someone approaching from the distance…

A woman flies in on a Dragonite- the eldest Belrose sister, Saphira. She greets everyone and learns from Charlotte about the Orphanage escape, and responds with dire news: Dr. Connal and Team Meteor are on their way to the mansion as they speak, no doubt intent on recapturing the kids yet again,

With Team Meteor traveling across the lake and Connal on the land, Saphira plans to attack the former group while Xera and Laura protect the kids inside the mansion- as the only two other legal adults, they would not get into as much trouble as one of the kids might if they fought (like Charlotte). With the plan set, Saphira and Dragonite fly off into battle as the rest of the group rushes inside.

The group decides it would be best to split up hiding places- Anna and Noel hiding upstairs and Laura- who is revealed to be an Elite Four member- on guard, with Shelly and Charlotte hiding in the kitchen downstairs and Xera on guard.

As the group disperses, Connal arrives with several of his orderlies. True to his word back at Yureyu HQ, he is not going to grant Xera any further mercy, and engages her in a battle. Despite Xera having little time to prepare, she manages to defeat him yet again.

Just as Connal is defeated, a haggard Sirius enters the mansion, informing Connal that Saphira attacked him and his soldiers on the lake, likely killing several (or all) of them. He’s also furious at Xera for her and Cain blowing up his office, wanting to take revenge on Cain in particular. As Connal explains his own situation, Sirius remarks on Xera now being outnumbered…

Sirius plans to search the upstairs area, while Connal will search downstairs- and Xera cannot stop them both, so she is forced to choose. She decides to stick with the plan and stay downstairs to continue holding off Connal, and so Sirius goes upstairs. 

Saphira reappears just as Sirius leaves, and wastes little time confronting Connal about the torture he put her and her sisters through at the Orphanage. In the name of taking revenge, she brings out her Dragonite once more and orders it to use Hyper Beam, sending Connal flying out of the mansion. 

Saphira’s victory is short-lived, however. Sirius, freshly defeated by Laura of the Elite Four, returns downstairs and ambushes Saphira with his Seviper, knocking her out with Poison Jab and taking her with as he escapes.

Laura and Charlotte are the first to emerge after the raid, Charlotte explaining that they’re not just going to leave Saphira in Team Meteor’s hands…even though she’s more than capable of breaking out on her own. Laura agrees, but due to Charlotte being among Team Meteor’s intended targets to begin with, Laura does not allow her to go with, instead opting to head in herself with Xera’s assistance.

Laura explains that Team Meteor was responsible for putting up the strange metal structures in Tanzan Mountain, and thus they must have a base there. With that, the two set out for the mountain on their rescue mission.

So yeah- we're not getting a new Gym Badge that quickly, we're instead having to deal with Team Meteor yet again after all, which I really should have expected but alas!  So it's another rescue mission, not unlike Yureyu HQ- though, to be frank, Saphira seems so powerful she probably doesn't need any help, but it's probably still a good idea to go in and assist anyways, if only to make sure she doesn't pop a vein from Laura going in alone. Besides- no doubt, this'll lead to some answers about the mysteries of Spinel Town, the teleportation, and the earthquakes…all of which I'm still blaming on Team Meteor! And I will continue to blame them until I'm proven wrong! And the only way to see if I'm wrong or not is to go into that mountain, so let's go!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12

Part 13

Part 14

Part 15

Part 16

Part 17

[toushindai]

Hello it's me again~ I was thinking of one of your stories, in which Ganondorf tempted Rauru with the imagery of having him imprisoned and thus being able to do whatever he wanted with him. Ganondorf found his way out of his cell the first time he was imprisoned and put himself at Rauru's mercy in hopes of snatching the Secret Stone, which Rauru used as his justification for having his way with him, but what about if he had been able to contain Ganondorf and actually keep him imprisoned until he could have him put on trial? Would he take advantage of someone who is a prisoner without doubt, in the way Ganondorf painted that image for him? Does Rauru draw the red line between "I am keeping you here as a guest in this castle but I'm not letting you leave" and "you are my actual prisoner in an actual cell who very obviously does not have the free will to reject me as the king" when it comes to his justification of being involved with Ganondorf ? Does he just think that the laws he set for Hyrule don't apply to Ganondorf, prisoner or not, because he is evil and a warmonger and thus sees himself as free to do with him as he sees fit? Basically my question is that would he/did he ever entertain that fantasy once he actually put Ganondorf in a cell and how would he justify himself if he did.

Gonna stick this entire answer under the cut because wow this is going to be All About Noncon. If anyone who needs to Not See That hasn't done so already, it really might be best to just block the "and we were both kings 😳" tag, though I'll continue to tag for noncon when particularly appropriate.

So, I'm going to answer this in a few different permutations but I think--we'll see if this holds out as I keep typing--that all of them boil down to variations on no, that's not something Rauru would have acted on.

Especially not between the final sex scene of UAWTATR and its final scene/Ganondorf's escape; at that point, there are several glaring reasons why Rauru's not inclined that way. The fact that Ganondorf's just tried to kill him; the post-nut clarity horrible realization that what he's just done is past what he can justify to himself; the political considerations he is absorbed in. These are significant factors but also part of it is just that... the game is over. They're no longer pretending that it's anything other than pure animosity between them. (I mean, it is something other than pure animosity between them, by this point--at the very least there's a whole lot of desire there--but, for Ganondorf to have acted on his true intention puts an end to the need to relieve the tension between hating each other's guts and performing civility in public.) I think that at the end of the fic, something's cooled off significantly for Rauru because he's got this inarguable physical and legal control over Ganondorf. And because he's got a lot on his mind. Look, he's got a puppet chieftain to install and she doesn't even want to be his friend anymore. Bummer.

But let's say that Ganondorf doesn't hack out of his cell and into Rauru's chamber and instead stays docilely in his cell until he's ready to break out for good and cause havoc. (Well tbh that's what he thought he was doing in chapter three, but let's say he waited a few days for some reason.) Does Rauru arrange any trysts in this situation, in the meantime? Even then, I'm not sure does. Ganondorf's impression of Rauru's desire is a little off from accurate; the fantasy he describes in "Sheath" is

“Would you come to me in my cell or have me brought up to you like a concubine? [...]The cell, probably,” Ganondorf continues, spinning the image out for Rauru in spite of the way it makes his own skin crawl. “You’d want me chained to the wall, wouldn’t you, so you could use your magic on my shackles to put my limbs wherever you want them…”

and while that's close enough to accurate to give Rauru a +2 Horny/-2 Intelligent debuff, it's not the exact shape of what Rauru would prefer. It's got a little too much of Ganondorf's preferences in it, truthfully: too much physical force (magic counts) used to make it impossible to fight back. If anything, the concubine image is actually the more appealing to Rauru I'd say. But still not quite. Rauru is much more into the coercion. He's into putting Ganondorf into situations where he has to submit to Rauru because the fiction is that he's here to submit to Rauru--and because Rauru has caused him to behave in such a way, the fiction is temporarily made reality. So once this fiction is ended--once the public story is that Ganondorf has done something worth imprisoning him for--it's not quite scratching the same itch. Yes, Rauru has often thought of Ganondorf in chains, as he admits in that fic, but I don't think that's actually a sexual image for Rauru. That's a god my life would be so much easier if image. He has a lot of those.

Whether Ganondorf does not fall under standards for just treatment because of how evil he is is something I write Rauru struggling with a lot. His instinct is that Ganondorf is not protected by such standards. His instinct is that to subscribe to such standards in Ganondorf's case is to put himself and Hyrule at a disadvantage and probably in danger. But I think he's uncomfortable with that instinct as well, disturbed that he feels that way. He doesn't want to be that sort of king. It's never, for him, quite as simple as "he's evil therefore I can assault him with impunity"--I think not even in that moment in chapter three when Ganondorf is pushing really hard for him to admit just that. Even then, it's if I really do have this ugliness in me, I should vent it here instead of anywhere less deserving. And then he feels a deep horror at himself after (in the few seconds he gets for it before Ganondorf tries to strangle him). But it's still true that he did it. It's still true that he has this deeply potent fantasy of having the soft power to force Ganondorf into (sexual) compliance, and that he carried out that fantasy.

This answer is really jumbled, I'm sorry. tl;dr: for Rauru, it's all about "I'm not going to give you any choice to make but this one, but you still have to perform the act of choosing." And once he actually has Ganondorf literally captive, I think that flavor changes significantly enough that he wouldn't pursue it.

[wonie-not-wony]

FIRST LOVE || WONIE-NOT-WONY

PAIRING. yang jungwon x gn!reader, mutual lovers to ex lovers

SYNOPSIS. despite their shared affection, they were never referred to as anything more. a story of youthful love laced with bitter ginger and sweet honey.

GENRE. fluff, angst

WARNINGS. none :)

WC. 1.3k

A/N. AAAAAABWIABAKANQ this is my very first oneshot so pls take it easy on me. i thought i would make it up to y'all for not uploading a lot. hope you enjoy! :)

Ring!!

The lunch hour was announced by the sound of the bell.

Students began to flood the hallways like a mob of zombies. Along with dismissal, it was always the craziest time of the day.

Although every time you look at him.

Yang Jungwon

Chaos is non-existent

The entire universe simply goes into slow motion. There's just something about him that's so breathtaking.

Perhaps it's because of the way the wind tangles his lovely, fluffy hair when he plays soccer on the field. Or perhaps it's those stunning brown eyes that never fail to leave you speechless as they stare at you with such adoration. Or perhaps it's that charming smile of his, which causes your heart to pound wildly. Or perhaps it's just the way his sweet, honey voice always reassures you and makes sure you're okay.

You're whipped for that man.

You've been seated next to Jungwon ever since you first transferred to this school.

He talked to you first, you shared most of your classes with him, he showed you around the campus, he looks out for you. He waits till your classes are over before walking you home. When you forget your lunch, he shares his with you and holds your bag while you make your way home.

Who wouldn't fall in love with him?

"Y/n!.. Y/n?.. Hello?? Earth to y/n??" Jungwon said while waving a hand in front of your face.

"Oh! sorry." you said quickly snapping out of your trance to focus on him.

"Staring at me again? Do you like me or something?" a smirk starting to appear on Jungwons face as he leaned closer to you.

"No? What are you talking about? It just so happens that i spaced out looking at your direction. Stop fuelling your ego." You talk back hiding the fact you were staring at him and that you do like him. You rolled your eyes sarcastically and smacked his shoulder.

"Ow! Y/n don't you think you're being a little insensitive." he says dramatically clutching his shoulder pretending that it got dislocated or something.

After English class, the health break has finally started. tapping the end of your pencil on the table, leaning forward, and resting your cheek on the palm of your hand, your gaze falls upon him.

To your shock, he turns to look at you. "Hey y/n!" waving before going to your table. "I need to talk to you," he says in a soft voice, a little nervous.

He motions for you to follow him outside the classroom to the school garden.

You gaze at him confused because of how fidgety he is and ask, "What is it?"

He asks, "Can I hold your hand," and when you agree, he slowly takes your hand in his and gives it a light squeeze. “I don’t want to sound cheesy, but I need you to know how I feel. “

He takes a deep breath, "I am only going to say this once, so you better listen."

"I like you.. I really truly like spending time with you, and you really have become someone very precious to me. I know this is not how we do things, but I just can't ignore my feelings any longer.

“Why do you like me? I could be a loser or not treat you right or what if you become dissapoin-”

He tucked your loose hair strand behind your ear, which stopped you from speaking. “Stop thinking so much about the future. I’m here right now and I say that I like you. If you give me a chance, I won’t make you doubt yourself like that. You’re too good for that.”

You smile softly at him, drawing tiny circles on his palms.

“I'll wait for you, but you don't have to feel the same way if you're not ready.”

There was was a sudden urge in you that just wanted to fling your arms around him and kiss him.

“You’re too good for me, Jungwon” you sighed, “But, sure. I don’t mind being courted.”

His eyes twinkled and he pinched himself, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. You noticed the red mark it left and quickly took his arm, blowing cool air onto it. “Don’t go bruising yourself, now.”

When the bell sounded, it was time to leave for class. Your hand remained entwined with Jungwon's as he led your class. Your morning and Jungwon's confession had barely passed. But you couldn't get that moment out of your head.

Jungwon grinned and said, "I'll see you after class, yeah?" he easily put a ring from his finger onto yours.

“What’s this for?”

“so you don’t miss me too much.” he gave you kiss on your forehead and walked to his class. You stood there, melting internally.

After that, everything remained the same with the exception of the occasional handholding and flirting. But after a few months, things started to seem strange.

Your relationship dwindled down to waves in the corridor, then to small talk, then to brief glances. Due to the nearing deadline for college applications in your junior year, you are aware that the two of you were buried in work. However, it wouldn't hurt for him to stop acting as though you two didn't get along.

In an effort to try and mend your relationship, you walked over to Jungwon to share a meal.

“Hey Jungwon! ” nudging his shoulder, "Let's go to the cafeteria before there are no more seats.

He quietly remarked, looking at you with regretful eyes, "Sorry, y/n, I'll eat with my friends today."

"What are you apologizing for?”

He murmurs in his head, ‘Everything.’

"It's okay, see you after lunch!”

It's not okay. He couldn't possibly face you again. He doesn't want to break you like this. His relationship with you will be ruined.

But he has no choice. You deserve to know.

He wishes he didn't fall out of love. He wishes that it could've lasted. But things don't work like that. He can't just make himself fall in love with you again when he's already fallen out of love with you.

You made your way out of the classroom with your friends to look for a spot to eat in the cafeteria.

You and Jungwon have a mutual friend named Sunoo. He came over to you. It looked like he had something important to say.

He typically eats lunch with his buddies at this time, so you were puzzled as to what he wanted. Nevertheless, you approached him and gave him a warm greeting.

"What are you doing here; don't you have lunch?"

He has an expression that makes you uneasy. His face is mixed with sadness, guilt, and worry.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, go ahead."

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"What?"

He hesitates a little before continuing.

"It's just-"

"If you don't have anything to say to me, I'll just be on my way." You mentioned being irritated by how long it took him to say something to you. I mean, what would take him so long to say someth-

He quickly interrupts you before you can go by saying, "He doesn't like you anymore."

What..?

Confusion is written all over your face.

Who doesn't like me anymore?

You say, still confused, "Sorry, who?

He murmurs gently, "Jungwon."

You feel a pang in your chest. Your heart just felt like it was shattered into pieces.

You weren't even labeled in the first place. It wasn't even real in the first place. He wasn't even truly yours to begin with.

So why did it hurt so much..?

You know why.

You gave all your love, all your time, and all of yourself for a silly mutual love between two teenagers. It's also because you had hoped for it to last. The fact that you had that hope and expectation made your heart swell in pain.

They were right; first loves don’t last. If your first love did last, then it wasn't your first; it was your last.

© wonie-not-wony. all rights reserved. please don’t repost, plagiarize and translate.

[amethystroselilith]

Intertwined Fates (Chilumi/Zhonglumi)- Chapter 8

Can be read in ao3

SUMMARY: Lumine finally chooses.

"You've been scrubbing that plate for a long while now, do you want to talk about it?" Lumine asked softly as she placed a plate on the rack, waiting for Ajax to pass her the last one.

Dinner was just pizza they ordered so there isn't much to clean up, but Ajax is taking way longer than usual with washing the dishes.

Zhongli was watching a movie with Qiqi in the family room, the man not having any problems spending time with his daughter... who knows when's the next time he'll be able to spend time with her like this.

"Lumi, are you feeling fine? I mean... physically fine?" Ajax sighed, he'd been so distracted in thinking of how to ask her about the possibility of being pregnant, especially at this time when everything is very complicated. Ajax is surely adding another major factor that will further make this difficult, "Did Baizhu not tell you anything?"

Lumine frowned, "He didn't seem to say anything alarming?" she bit her lip before adding, "Er, well... he suggested taking another medical test, but I'm really fine, so I didn't see the point of it. Did he tell you something else?"

"...No, not really... but... maybe you should go back and take that medical test?" Ajax suggested.

"But I'm fine, I just need to take a break. This thing is just really taking a toll on me." Lumine argued.

"And that's why we should have it checked." Ajax calmly countered, "Lumine, please. I'm anxious about you, I don't want anything bad happening to you."

"Baizhu already said-"

"Lumine." Ajax stopped her, "Please." he looked at her with pleading eyes.

And just like that, Lumine relented, "Fine. I'll give him a call to schedule me tomorrow."

Ajax seemed to have relaxed a bit, "Thank you, love."

It was one of their usual nicknames, but somehow they suddenly felt something heavy in their chest.

Though they didn't mention it as they finished cleaning up.

~~~

"Qiqi likes him, he went all over the ocean to find Nemo." Qiqi pointed at the clown fish on the screen.

"Nothing's more precious to a parent than their child." Zhongli agrees.

"Yeah, Papa said he'll also look for Qiqi all over the universe if Qiqi goes missing." Qiqi said proudly, "And the universe is big!" she thought of the moment, "Qiqi thinks it's bigger than the ocean and this building combined! So that's very big!"

Zhongli gave her a smile, yet sadness looms over it, "It is bigger than those two combined. Your Papa and Mama will no doubt go through all that for you."

"Yeah." Qiqi nodded proudly, "Uncle Aether and Uncle Xiao said they would too!" she added.

"Oh?" Zhongli smiled a genuine one before adding, "Then I will too."

Qiqi's eyes brightened, "Really? You'll look for Qiqi too?"

Zhongli nodded, "Of course, I promise."

Qiqi giggled, "Good! Because Qiqi's worried that Uncle Aether and Uncle Xiao will get eaten by a shark while they look for me."

"Really?" Zhongli chuckled.

"Yeah, cause Mama said she's afraid of sharks and Papa said he'd save her. But Uncle Aether said he's also afraid of sharks and Uncle Xiao said he'd also save him, but they're both small so Qiqi doesn't know how they'll survive."

Zhongli flinched as he tried to stifle a laugh, "I... I can assure you that even with their... height... they can defeat a shark."

Qiqi thought for a moment, "Can they...? Cause Qiqi watched them move furniture around here and they looked like they're dying moving that shelf over there together."

Zhongli looks at the tall shelf at the corner, he doubt he could move that without difficulty himself but he just chuckled, how entertaining is a child's perspective at times.

"But that's okay now, you can help them defeat the shark." Qiqi nodded, satisfied with her possible rescue plan she affectionately named 'Finding Qiqi'.

Zhongli couldn't help but release a laugh, Qiqi laughing along with him just cause he looks so happy, her little giggles melting Zhongli's heart, how much of this did he miss out on?

Tears start forming at the corner of his eyes as he thinks about how he missed watching his daughter grow up; the milestones he couldn't celebrate with her, the proud feeling he missed as he was supposed to watch her say her first word, take her first step, fear her first tantrum.

Soon he couldn't help but begin shaking, even as hard as he try to swallow the pain, things are starting to get to him as he faced the fact that he has indeed lost 5 years of their lives...

Zhongli bent down, hiding his face with his hands as he tried to stop his sobs.

Mocking voices of his parents taunts him in his head again.

They were going louder... louder... louder...

Until suddenly it just... stops.

Zhongli's eyes widened as he felt a tiny hand patting his head.

"Are you okay?"

The tiny voice silenced the voices in his head.

Zhongli wiped his eyes before facing her, "Of course. I apologize, little Qiqi. Something just... came into mind."

"Is it because you're afraid of sharks too? Well, don't worry, Qiqi will do her best not to get lost in the ocean so you don't have to save Uncle Aether and Uncle Xiao from sharks," she promised.

Zhongli chuckled before sitting up, "Don't worry, it's not that. I'm just sad about other things."

"Like what?" Qiqi tilted her head in confusion.

"Nothing, just grownup stuff." Zhongli laughed it away, "Anyway, would you like to watch something else?" he changed the subject.

"Yeah, I wanna watch animals now," Qiqi said as she pressed the button on her favorite channel.

Zhongli took note of how Qiqi watched the animal channel with interest, the show is a kid version of some animal documentary. Zhongli then started noticing the animal books for kids lined up on the shelf.

So his daughter has a fascination with animals.

He took note of that.

Zhongli may have missed her early years, but now he would like to be as involved in raising her.

He just hopes Lumine will let him, even if she left their home and made a new one with Ajax.

As they watch, Qiqi would ask questions to which Zhongli unsurprisingly know the answer, he loves reading books of all kinds from when he was young and probably up to now if given the chance. He felt proud of himself as Qiqi listened to him with fascination.

Soon Lumine and Ajax joined the room, a glass of milk in Lumine's hands.

"Thank you." Qiqi accepted the glass, "Mama, Mr Zhongli knows a lot about animals." she said excitedly.

"That's wonderful." Lumine smiled as she sat next to her daughter, "He loves to read books just about anything."

"Qiqi wants to be like that too! Qiqi needs more books," she said.

"Haha, we'll get you some more books, don't worry," Ajax said as he made himself comfortable from beside Lumine, giving the same space as Zhongli had between her from the other side of the couch.

The attention was solely on Qiqi as the grownups avoid the tension between them.

But soon Qiqi had fallen asleep on Lumine's lap and that's when they know they were done for the night.

"I... I think I'll stay with Qiqi for the night." Lumine cleared her throat as she gently move Qiqi from her lap to carry her.

"I could carry Qiqi for you." Ajax hurriedly volunteered when he saw Lumine struggle a little in shifting positions to avoid waking up the sleeping girl.

"I got it don't worry." Lumine said as she successfully stood up with Qiqi in her arms, "We really had a long day, so maybe we should all talk tomorrow afternoon? Qiqi has no school and takes naps at that time, I should be home from a quick hospital visit. Ajax will be on leave, would that be okay, Zhongli?" she asked.

"Yes, my employer's son is staying with her so there shouldn't be a problem with me not being there, but I would like to visit there in the morning and inform them of what happened," he answered.

"That's fine, I'll be home all day." Ajax nodded.

"Though, can I ask why you'll be in the hospital? Is everything alright?" Zhongli asked in worry.

"Everything's fine, to be honest, I'm just going for Ajax's sake." Lumine sigh.

"It's better to be mindful, Lumine." Ajax frowned.

"I would agree with him. Health is really important." Zhongli added.

"Alright, alright, I already set up an appointment so everything should be fine." Lumine sighed in defeat. "Well, I'll be taking Qiqi now. Good night."

They said their goodnights before Ajax begin to lead Zhongli to his room.

"If you need anything else, just go through that hallway and you'll see our- my room." Ajax corrected himself.

"I see. Thank you." Zhongli said.

They awkwardly stood in silence.

"Zhongli... I..." Ajax hesitated.

Zhongli sighed, "I hope you understand Ajax that I won't give them up easily." he said, "Although of course, Lumine still needs her input, I just need you to know that I'm not going to disappear in their lives. At least Qiqi's. She may call you her Papa but... she's still my daughter, and I know you understand that it won't be easy for me to simply walk away when I've now met her."

Ajax stayed quiet before answering...

"Of course. It is your right to be with your family after all." he said, 'And so will be mine if Lumine is really pregnant...'  he added in his head.

"We should take a good night's rest. Tomorrow will be another heavy and long day for us." Zhongli nodded.

"It will be." Ajax said, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

~~~

When morning comes, Lumine and Zhongli left for their own errands after they had their breakfast. Qiqi is currently at the dining table, her animal picture books scattered on the table when Ajax just finished clearing it.

"Papa, can you also tell me more about this one?" Qiqi called.

Ajax turned away from washing the dishes and looked at the bird she was pointing to.

"Uh..." Ajax tries to remember what he knows about it, unfortunately coming up with nothing, "Sorry, princess, Papa isn't too knowledgeable about that." he chuckled, though feeling a bit bad.

It was an unusual feeling, he doesn't feel bad when he couldn't answer Qiqi's questions like that. Usually, he would learn more about it with her through other books or through the internet, but after seeing Zhongli flawlessly answer Qiqi last night, Ajax feels... threatened? He's not sure how to describe the ugly feeling, but he really hates it.

"I'll ask Mr Zhongli later then." Qiqi hummed, which just made Ajax feel worse and strangely competitive.

"I don't really know a lot about birds, but I do love marine animals," Ajax said proudly.

"Sea animals?" Qiqi repeated.

"Yeah, your grandpa used to take me with him before when he goes to the ocean." he recalls the fond memory, "Besides fishing, your grandpa is also curious about marine life and he loves to talk to me about it."

"Tell Qiqi too!" Qiqi said excitedly.

Ajax smiled, "How about you clean those books up, get the ones about the sea animals, and wait for me in the living room, yeah? I'm almost done with cleaning up."

"Okay!" Qiqi said excitedly before doing her little task.

Ajax smiled and hurried cleaning up.

His whole morning was then spent with Qiqi and sea animal facts.

Zhongli soon came home with a box of tea from his employer. He immediately made one for himself when Ajax declined. Qiqi had asked for a glass of juice instead.

They all waited for time to pass by. Ajax and Qiqi still talking about sea animals while Zhongli texts Xiao, Lumine gave him her old but still functioning phone earlier for communication purposes. Zhongli sighs as Xiao bombarded him with texts about what happened yesterday, Xiangling had told him out of worry, and while Zhongli prefers not to tell Xiao that he already knows about Ajax and Lumine, at least until they have their talk, he couldn't really blame Xiangling. Zhongli tries to distract Xiao by asking him what happened with his life instead. Zhongli would also want to know how his brother had been when he was away. Thankfully, Xiao can still sense if Zhongli wants to avoid talking about something, and so he let it go and just talks about himself. Xiao would prefer talking in person but the bakery is a bit busy and he and Aether have to take on Lumine's work as well. Zhongli doesn't mind the long wait for his reply though.

It was peaceful and soon Lumine came home.

"Mama!" Qiqi immediately runs up to hug her.

"Is everything fine?" Ajax can't help but ask already.

"Yeah." Lumine gave him a tight smile as she picked up her daughter.  

Ajax just noticed she's holding an envelope with a hospital logo and he can't help but start to get anxious about what's inside. He was about to ask about it but Lumine gave him a pleading look. Ajax swallowed a lump in his throat but nodded either way.

Meanwhile, Zhongli can't help but sense the tension between the two.

He wonders if this has something to do with the bad omens he encountered on his way home.

~~~

Three adults sat across the table.

Qiqi was in her room taking her afternoon nap after their lunch.

Everything was cleaned up and it was time for the main event of the day.

However, no one seems to know how to start the conversation as they stare at the mug of steaming tea Zhongli made for all of them.

"I..." Lumine tried to start but her words died down.

"Er, what if we start about your... medical results?" Ajax made the first move, he knows that this result will have a huge impact on their situation.

Lumine bit her lip as her fist clenched on the envelope.

There was a pause before Lumine slid the envelope to him.

Ajax took a deep breath before opening the envelope, eyes eagerly searching for the answer he needs.

And when he saw it...

"Oh..." was all he could say before putting the results down.

Zhongli's eyes naturally went to the paper, and he froze at the familiar results.

It was the very same one that told them they were having Qiqi.

"I... I see." Zhongli breathed out, "That's... that's another thing to heavily consider as well." he stated.

"I was really overwhelmed with... us... that I didn't realize I didn't get my period." Lumine said, "This is really big news for me... er, all of us." she bit her lip.

"...So what now..." Ajax sighed, "I won't leave you alone with this, Lumine. I can't." he said, "I'm sorry, but I can't." his eyes met Zhongli's.

"You can't expect me just to leave, do you?" Zhongli frowned, "I really apologize for this, Lumine, Ajax. You may have moved on from me, but I still love you and our daughter." he pleaded Lumine, "I'm sorry, but I never intended on letting you go. I may not have your heart anymore, but you can't just cut my ties with Qiqi, that's too much."

"Don't say it like that..." Lumine said with hurt in her eyes, "You... you always have a place in my heart, and I've always wanted Qiqi to know you're her father. Ajax and I tried, but she won't be able to understand it yet."

"You're carrying my child." Ajax said, "Letting go is impossible for me." he added firmly.

"I guess... it'll be your call, Lumine," Zhongli stated.

"You can't just overwhelm her like that, pregnancy in this stage can be delicate," Ajax argued.

"Well, it's obvious that I vote for myself and you vote for yourself. Lumine's the one who breaks the tie." Zhongli stated, "I don't want to burden you, and I wish I could say that you can take your time... but..."

"With everyone around us, we don't have time, yeah I get that." Lumine bit her lip, "Waiting any longer would complicate things more... especially with my mother." she said, "And I don't want her influencing me in any way when deciding this."

"Then... what's your decision?" Ajax asked though he was not sure if he was ready for her answer.

"If... if you do choose him, then... I have no choice but to respect your decision. Choosing him is the logical choice, he already engraved himself in Qiqi's mind as her father, and it would not cause a problem with your mother. But I do wish to see Qiqi. I want to be there and watch her grow up. Even as 'Mr Zhongli'." Zhongli finally decided. When they made their vows, he promised to carry the burden with her, married or not, Zhongli will always keep that vow in his heart.

What Zhongli said stunned Ajax, while what he said does lead to a less complicated outcome, Ajax can still see the love Zhongli has for her, and Ajax knows deep inside that Zhongli still and will always have a place in Lumine's heart.

Zhongli is... Lumine's first choice after all.

"I... I guess if I could let you go before, I could... try my best to do it the second time." it was a lie and Ajax could feel the bitter aftertaste when it left his lips, "But I too want to be there for my child."  

The first sentence had both alarmed Zhongli and Lumine, but they didn't comment on it right now.

The two men are willing to sacrifice their future for her, and Lumine is just as torn.

"This doesn't make this any easier." Lumine sighed in frustration.

"Just say the first thing that comes into your mind..." Ajax tried to help, "Might as well rip the band-aid off."

"The first thing that comes to my mind, huh..." Lumine repeated.

"It is known that whatever first thing that pops in your head is what you truly desire." Zhongli said, "When envisioning your future, who do you see standing with you?"

Lumine answered quietly.

"Who?" Ajax tried again.

"...th..." Lumine tried again, face heating up.

"I'm sorry, Lumine, but we can't hear you." Zhongli said, "Perhaps you can think of this until tonight."

"Yeah, I guess you really need to think this through."

"...of you!" Lumine said louder.

"Uh...?" Ajax and Zhongli looked at each other, "You need to be a bit specific-" Ajax chuckled awkwardly.

"You." Lumine said, "Both... of you."

"Yes, what about both of us?" Zhongli asked.

"That's it," Lumine said in embarrassment and frustration.

"I'm a bit confu-" Ajax was cut off.

"I choose both of you." Lumine made it clear, "I... I was thinking about it the whole night. And I just tried thinking of who pops in my head, but... it's both of you... I'm sorry, but I can't seem to let go of either of you." she bowed her head in embarrassment, "You want me to break the tie, but I can't imagine myself without the both of you by my side."

They fell into deep silence.

"Well... you seem to have chosen the most complicated path." Zhongli broke the silence, "But I can't say I'm not relieved." he added with a relieved smile, "If sharing with him is the only way to be by your side, then I'm willing to accept this choice." he smiled at her.

"I never really imagined a future with sharing you with him, but it's a whole lot better than being alone." Ajax smiled at her, "It's... going to be difficult explaining this to other people, but I know I'll overcome anything with you by my side."

Their smiles lifted the heavy weight off her shoulders, "I was worried that it'd gross you two out, that I'm being selfish."

"Oh, you are greedy, but I don't mind a greedy little princess, but please keep it to the two of us. I don't think I would share with any more than with him." Ajax smiled but Lumine can feel the seriousness.

"I... I'm not planning, don't worry." Lumine promised.

"Then I have no problems with this." Zhongli said, "But we need to think about how the others will react."

"Eh, if anyone gets a problem with them, I'll punch them." Ajax shrugged.

"I mean our family and friends, Ajax." Zhongli sighed, "Although I feel like they would respect our decision, I'm more worried about your parents, Lumine. And explaining this to Qiqi as well."

"I could explain this to Qiqi." Ajax volunteered, "We already explained about Zhongli being her real father before, I think we just need to make her realize that that's you, Zhongli. Qiqi's already warmed up with you so I don't think it'll take too long for her to accept you as her father, but you should expect questions about your disappearances." he said.

"She doesn't know about the plane crash." Lumine said, "We were warned that it might give her some sort of trauma or fear with planes, so we just said you were in a better place."

"I suppose I could just make a story about being asleep for too long and forgetting things? Er... I'll think of an excuse so leave that part to me." Zhongli said.

"Well, I guess your parents... well, more like your mom, will be hard to convince," Ajax said.

Lumine rubbed her temples, "We can think of that for another day, Dad said he and Mom will be out for a vacation with her friends and they'll leave tonight. I think I need to rest for a while." she said tiredly.

"Of course. I could make you some snacks to eat. Do you have any cravings?" Ajax asked.

"I'm still full from lunch, but I would appreciate some sweets right now." Lumine hummed.

"Alright, I'll see what I can make." Ajax hummed as he thinks of something light and sweet to make.

"Would you like to lie down by the sofa?" Zhongli asked.

"I would appreciate that, thanks."

Lumine and Zhongli made their way to their living room, the blonde woman immediately sitting down to relieve her sore back with the soft cushions. Zhongli sat beside her, making sure she was comfortable as he remembered the times when she was pregnant with Qiqi. Usually, he would cuddle her as he play with her stomach, even if it was still flat, but Zhongli decided to give her some space first, Lumine may have decided to take him and Ajax but Zhongli knows they have yet to talk about boundaries or rules about it. So for now, he settles with just sitting right next to her.

They were enjoying a movie when they suddenly heard a loud crash in the kitchen.

Lumine immediately stood up to check on Ajax with Zhongli following her close behind.

"Shit..." Ajax cursed as he dropped an empty bowl, his eyes however did not leave his phone as he try to read the simple message all over again, hoping it would change.

"Is everything fine, Jax?" Lumine asked with worry.

Ajax gulped and looked at her,

"Your mom's coming here soon."

[definitelynotafurinasimp]

I love yelan and shinobu im a simp already. I’ll ask for how they are when they have a crush on reader and how they would confess.

How they confess to you

characters: Yelan / Kuki Shinobu x gn!reader (seperate)

warnings: none, just fluff

a/n: There aren't too many things known about Shinobu's personality yet, so I'm sure once she actually releases we will be able to look back to this fic and say "kinda ooc, ngl", but until then I'll have to use my gut feeling.

This is, of course, my first time writing for either of these two characters, so I'm sorry if I'm making a few mistakes when it comes to their personalities, but I think it should be fine

Also, this is kinda long, at least for my standarts

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Yelan

Yelan knew about you long before you had even met her, she had to make sure that the new hire at the Liyue Qixing didn’t have any ill intentions after all, but once the two of you finally met, you instantly got along with each other, her relaxed and easy going attitude a welcome change from the stress inducing one’s your bosses seemed to have around them all the time. While your friendly and open attitude, that made even strangers reveal small secrets to you from time to time, being too busy enjoying their drinks to care, coupled with your willingness to tell Yelan about them if asked, made hanging out with you both a nice way to procrastinate while getting enough information to technically be considered part of her job.

Even after the two of you had become, what you would consider, good friends, there were still a lot of things you knew she wouldn’t tell you about, most of them about her job. You had asked once about why exactly she needed information about a citizen of Liyue, assuming of course that her job required her to do so, she made it very clear that, since it was part of her job, she wouldn’t tell you. You completely understood, never asking about such things again, while simply enjoying spending time with her. But there were things you knew about her that most others, who even knew about the existence of a woman called “Yelan”, wouldn’t even dream about knowing.

You had finally managed to get a few days off, deciding that it would be a great opportunity to visit Yelan, and while her house laid well outside of the city, you eventually arrived in front of her door, knocking on it, only to have to wait much longer than you expected before it finally opened, revealing your friend giving you her usual smile.

“Well, what a surprising visit you decided to pay me”, she greeted you, the thought of how you had managed to surprise the usually so informed Yelan, making you smile, only for you to remember what an unhealthy sleep schedule she seemed to have whenever she didn’t necessarily have work to do.

“Did I awaken you from your sleep?”, you asked teasingly, only for her to shoot back immediately in a similar playful matter.

“That’s confidential, I could tell you, but sadly wouldn’t be allowed to keep you alive afterwards”, after shooting you another smile, she finally let you inside, and it wasn’t long before the two of you started playing a game of dice against each other. “I could use this chance to win a few Mora from you, but how about we spice it up a bit? The winner gets to ask the looser anything”, she offered, causing you to give her a look of suspicion. When she said “anything”, did she truly mean it? Probably not really, since you doubted that she would tell you anything about her work even if you won, not that you wanted to know anyway. But you decided not to voice your doubts, instead giving her a nod.

Well, it wasn’t like you even had to think about what to ask her, since no matter how much luck you seemed to have, Yelan would always top you, and while her questions started out standard, asking you about things like work, they grew more and more personal with each question.

“What’s your taste in women?”, she eventually asked with as straight of a face as ever, and while the last question had already seemed a bit too personal for your taste, this one made your heartbeat faster than usual whenever you thought about what would come next.

“Well, I don’t really have one… I’m not that picky, if they are entertaining to hang out with, I guess”, you answered truthfully, well not completely, since there was someone you had eyes for.

“Then what about me?”, she asked, topping all her previous questions while making your face as red as the Jueyun chillies she loved to eat.

“T-that’s more than one question”, you stuttered out, frantically trying to buy your brain enough time to figure out any reasons she might have said something like that, baring the obvious of course, since that was too good to be true.

“Of course, how silly of me”, she stated, only to immediately get the highest possible score, making it unnecessary for you to even try and beat it. “Well, what about me?”, she stated once more, leaning forwards before putting her head in her hands while resting her arms on the table.

After seeing you fail to form a coherent sentence more than once, she leaned back before speaking again. “Fine, let me a different question”, when you heard her words, you finally managed to calm your nerves down a bit, only for all your blood to shoot into your head once again immediately afterwards.

“I like you as more than just a friend, do you feel the same?”, before you even had the chance to think about it, your body immediately went into autopilot, nodding enthusiastically without delay, causing the woman in front of you to smile at you once again.

Kuki Shinobu

You had known Shinobu for a very long time, having been friends with her long before she and her family got on rather… difficult terms. But when she had gone to study in Liyue for a few years, the two of you lost contact, only for her to come back and become part of the Arataki-gang, something you couldn’t help but find odd. Sure, you hadn’t seen her for years, but her joining that group of rather unusual individuals, wasn’t something you had ever expected from her.

But when the two of you met again, you somewhat rekindled your old friendship. Sure, the two of you had changed a lot, and instead of wearing the shrine maiden clothes you had expected an adult Shinobu to wear, she had found a different way to dress, most notably wearing a mask to hide her face even though you had never thought that there was a need for her to do so, but at the core you were still the same people as back then.

You couldn’t pinpoint exactly when, but at some point in your friendship Shinobu had stopped acting entirely professional around you, acting far more friendly than before. It may have been far from the friendliness others, like maybe that Naganohara girl, seemed to offer, but still a big enough change for you to notice, not that you had anything against it, since you were just happy to have your old friend back. And while she still insisted on wearing her mask most of the time, she wouldn’t seem as embarrassed as the first time you accidentally caught her taking it off.

You had plucked a few lavender melons since you seemed to remember Shinobu having told you about how they tasted better when roasted and decided to pay her a visit to ask for a few tips, only to encounter what seemed to be the rest of the “Arataki-gang”, but without their name giving leader.

“Hey, I’m sorry to-”, you looked at what they were doing, only to find them stand around two beetles fighting each other, leaving you with more questions than answers, but decided to continue anyway “…interrupt you, but do you know where I can find Shinobu?”, you asked, causing all of them to immediately turn their heads around.

“You’re looking for Kuki Shinobu? Why? Do you need something from her?”, one of them immediately started questioning you, approaching you while making you feel as if you were in some sort of trouble, like you had broken an unspoken rule, but before you could continue, the man in front of you suddenly had a look of realisation on his face. “Oh, you’re her friend! The one she always spends time with after work”, he almost shouted, catching the attention of the rest, making them gather around you as well.

What followed was them bombarding you with one question after another, not leaving you any time to answer any of them, but seemingly not even minding. You had long lost the ability to even register any of their questions, since they would be interrupted in the middle of it, causing you to have to hear a completely new one, that was, until you heard a question that stood out.

“Are the two of you a couple? You must be, you always hang out with each other, and she even mentioned you a couple of times”, all other members fell silent, as all their gazes were focussed on you, awaiting your answer.

“She was talking about m-”, before you had the chance to finish your sentence, another voice rang out, this one clearly being Shinobu’s, but instead of sounding professional like usual, or relaxed like when you spent time together, this time it was filled with rage.

“You have ten seconds, whoever is in my line of sight once they are over won’t live to regret it”, in an instant, the mass of men around you were gone, all of them scattering into different directions, leaving you and Shinobu alone, she finally having calmed down somewhat. “I hate those idiots sometimes”, she stated bitterly before letting out a big sigh, her choice of words somewhat surprising you.

“They seemed… friendly”, you awkwardly stated, trying to make her forget what had just happened, but instead earning yourself a nervous stare from her, only to hear her sigh once more.

“You heard what they said, so I guess there’s no need to deny it. I like you, and I hope you do the same, do you want to go out with me?”, her confession caught you even more off-guard, leaving you frozen in place for a couple seconds before finally mustering enough working braincells together to answer.

“Sure, I feel the same”, you answered, only to find it to be an underwhelming reaction, searching for a way to continue. “Do you want to roast lavender melons together?”, you awkwardly asked while lifting the basked full of them that you held in your hand, earning yourself a small, rare chuckle from Shinobu.

“Of course”

[simpliao]

Hii! I absolutely love your writing, could you possibly do an imagine of shlatt and the reader waking up in the morning like all fluffy and cute ? Thank you 💗

the world's bullshit can wait ; (irl) schlatt x reader

summary : rainy monday mornings never set the mood to start work, and despite her protests, schlatt is convinced to take the morning to sleep in (and possibly even the whole day off entirely).

info : sweet fluff as requested, mild swearing, sweet nicknames and she/her, afab reader. very short drabble.

a/n : sorry this came a little late ! i do really hope you enjoy, thank you for requesting ! it's kind of different from what you might expect, just cause i already wrote this kind of idea in this oneshot. still hope you enjoyed my interpretation !

Usually she found herself awoken in the mornings to intrusive sunshine and her lover who tended to wake up earlier than her (they both had the bad habit of sleeping in past noon); today was different. The rhythmic pitter patter of heavy rain rung her ears, as she slowly awoke, and in an attempt to sit up she was held down by larger arms wrapped around her smaller figure as if she was some kind of teddy bear. She felt slightly sticky, having been sweating during the night due to the heater that insisted on heavy comforters and being glued to her back the whole night. His soft snores reverberated in her ears, the more she tried to wiggle away the more he tightened his grip.

"Schlatt..." She murmured his name, "it's Monday, I have to start streaming soon." She was known for her weekly morning streams, it was a habit she picked up when streaming late meant that she'd no longer have any more time for sleep. "Mmmmm, a few more minutes..." He snuggled up closer to her, soft whines left her, "cmon, Schlatt... You can keep sleeping, you just have to let me go." "Hmm, how about no?" Her constant wiggling was waking him up too, but the sublime comfort of holding his beloved under the warmth of a heavy comforter was his little slice of heaven. His head snuggled into the back of hers, her scent consuming his senses and mind. "Mmmm, it's your fault you know? You know how much I love this shampoo... Or is it the hair oil?" He loved her, he loved everything about her, and just briefly blinking his eyes open to see cloudy skies gave him no motivation to let her go.

"And besides, weather is bad. That basically a sign from god to not do anything today." A soft snort left the shorter female who laid with crossed arms whilst her lover clung onto her for dear life. "But I have to work." "I'll apologize to your viewers on Twitter for keeping you later, just... Don't leave me." She let out a soft exhale, turning her body to face him instead of away; she was a sucker for when he'd put on his pleading voice. She'd closed her eyes, he moved in closer so his chin could rest upon the top of her head. "I knew I could knock some sense into ya." She attempting to look up at him but due to the lack of space between them, when he looked down all he saw were those large doe eyes he so desperately adored. "Are you even going to fall back asleep?" "Nah, but neither am I going to let you go anytime soon sweetheart." He barely managed to reach his lips far down enough to plant a chaste kiss upon her forehead.

"The world's bullshit can wait, and you know just how much I hate to share. Your viewers can miss out on a day." He chuckled softly, "because if I remember correctly, you're my pretty girl. And this gorgeous girl deserves a break to sleep in with her terribly handsome boyfriend." She hummed softly in agreement, "I suppose if it's only today..." "I'll make sure to make it up to them." And although she doubted that, he'd probably make some vague tweet about her absence. But little did she know Schlatt was very much a man of his word. And when she inevitably fell asleep in the comfort of his arms, Jambo ended up jumping into their bed after waking up himself. It was the perfect.

So he quietly snaked his arm away and reached over to his cellphone that's been sitting at his nightstand. Making sure the stupid ass sound effect the phone made when taking pictures was off, he took a selfie of them all in bed.

Sorry guys she's mine now, no more stream. Family time is important.

The tweet practically went viral considering it attracted her audience and his; Twitter had an absolute field day as shippers rejoiced.

[biillys]

oh ohhhhhhh ohhh wait. wait a fucking minute. listen. listen!!!!

flayed!billy and neil having an run-in a few days before The End. flayed!billy not scaring as easily, actually not scaring at all, compared to actual real!billy. turning right back on neil. except the mindflayer has a soft spot for his host becos the mindflayers fucked like that, so instead of just killing neil, the mindflayer decides to play with it's food for a bit.

real!billy doing his Thing and managing to get that one tear out. becos his dad may be a piece of shit but surely, surely, out of everyone, he would be able to figure out something's wrong. that billy's not billy. the desperation and the hope that maybe this is it, maybe this is only option, maybe making him just that little bit stronger. maybe him getting a 'dad, help, please' with a few more tears out before the mindflayer takes over again. but neil's a fucking coward at most and a piss poor excuse of a father at best, so he takes one look at billy crying, begging, and shakes off any doubt's and worry's, and treats him like he always does when billy turns to water under his weight.

he makes his voice harder, his grip tighter. his words crystal fucking clear.

and then flayed!billy is shoving him off, stronger than neil's ever felt him, and he's laughing, but not in a way neil's ever heard him laugh. and then he's turning to walk right out the door, camaro keys in hand, even though neil just grounded him for the entire fourth of july weekend, except he turns around just before he makes it outside, face completely blank and familiar, but neil's never seen this person before in his life, and says 'when billy and i have finished what we started, i'll come back for you.' and then he's gone.

and neil picks himself up from where he was crumpled against the kitchen counter, shakes himself off, and denies everything that just happened in the past 15 minutes. grips the bench to stop his hands from shaking, and promises himself that next time he sees billy, then he'll really let him have it. that just because billy thinks he's old enough to throw his own weight around, doesn't mean he's gonna get away with it under this roof.

except billy never comes home, and then it's the fourth of july, and neil and susan are trying to enjoy a nice dinner at home, a dinner that both their children were meant to be home for but aren't, but at least him and susan are having a lovely night. they enjoy it right up until the phone rings late that night, and then they're speeding to starcourt mall, and there's smoke and flashing lights and fucking military everywhere, and max is distraught, hugging susan like she's the only family she has left, and no one will tell him anything about billy except for a brief 'billy didn't make it, we're sorry for your loss.'

they won't let him identify the body. won't even release the body to be buried. won't tell him why all those people were in the mall after opening hours, what max and her friends were doing there. what started the fire. why there was fucking military clearing the scene. won't even give him a cause of death.

and every single time he closes his eyes, he hears 'when billy and i have finished what we started, i'll come back for you.'

he starts hearing it when his eyes are open, too, when he's trying to put together the funeral. when he tries to go back to normal life, back to his job, where his boss pulls him aside and gives him time off until his current family situation can stop effecting his work, back home, where there's no longer loud music shaking the doors, no car flooring it up the street, no fourth place set at the table for dinner, no shitty attitude and lousy excuses and brave backtalk.

everything's suddenly so fucking quiet.

so he fixes it. overcorrects. takes his sleepless nights and his workless days out on susan, is loud and brash and a constant immovable object. makes sure it's never quiet again. susan kicks him to the curb within a month, threatening police involvement if he doesn't leave quickly and quietly.

so, he leaves.

(then, susan and max leave for the trailer park, becos neil Left. and that's all susan will say on the matter. and then the upside down comes back with a new big bad, and max is right back in the thick of things in a way she never was before, but then suddenly billy's back. billy's alive, and he's back, and he's pulling himself with his bare fucking hands out of the upside fucking down before reaching around and helping her pull herself out and he's covered in blood and black goo and scars and injuries for days and, honestly, she probably doesn't look much better, but he's coughing and bleeding yet his heart's still fucking beating. and they somehow fucking found and saved each other.

and max is sitting by his bedside in hospital after every single surgery, and she keeps him company and puts headphones over his ears to listen to music and picks out the comic books that she knows he likes to read and she does her best to just never mention anything home related.

billy makes it a week after being back from the dead before he asks about neil.

'he left,' she says, because that's all that matters.

and billy fucking remembers. he remembers how hard he fought, how it took everything within him to overpower the mindflayer, even for those brief few seconds. how the only thing on his mind was this is it. this is my only chance. this is all i've got. and he remembers neil's eyes, wide, scared, fearful, but the second billy broke through, the moment billy shed a tear, fucking begged for help, his voice cracking over the word 'dad', neil went from speechless to loud. his eyes going from uncertain to cold. how the one time billy remembers asking his dad for help, probably the first time he's asked his dad for help since he was a kid, neil didn't even take even a moment to think about it. just took one look at him begging and crying, and steamrolled right over him, fucking sentenced him to death. all because he asked for fucking help.

billy closes his eyes and nods, doesn't think he could ever face neil again without falling apart for good.)

[reds-ramblings]

The Heist - Chapter 16

You can find the rest of the chapters here.

We both step out, and I head to the right just as Jake instructed. I walk past the food trucks and come to the parking lot. I turn around to see Jake is no longer behind me. I scan the area looking for him, but he's nowhere to be found. I walk a little further into the parking lot and crouch down between two cars so that I'm not in plain view of everyone. After a few moments, I can feel the panic start to set in, and I wonder if Jake has been captured. The horn beeps on one of the cars, further down causing me to jump. I look back towards the festival and see Jake walking towards the parking lot and straight for the car that just beeped. I get up and quickly walk in the same direction, meeting him at the car.

"What happened? I thought they found you?" I ask.

"I had to go get our bags."

He unlocks the car, and we quickly get in and make our way through the parking lot and away from the festival. Once we are on the freeway, I breathe a sigh of relief. After a long, awkward silence, Jake grabs my hand and squeezes it. "I have a plan, but you're going to have to trust me."

"Care to share?"

"Not yet, that's why I said you'll have to trust me."

"I trust you, Jake. I've never doubted you before, and I don't plan on starting now."

After an hour or so on the road, Jake pulls into a small convenience store. He turns to me, "I hate to ask this, but do you have any money? We need a few things." I nod and pull out the wad of cash I took when we left. He gives me a questioning look. "Do I even want to know?" He asks.

"I keep cash hidden away for emergencies. I figured this would be considered an emergency." I start to get out of the car, and he stops me.

"No, you stay here. I'll go in and get what we need." He says, and I hand him the money.

After a few moments, Jake comes back with a bag full of stuff. He reaches in the bag, pulls out a burner phone, and hands it to me. "How much do you trust this lawyer of yours?"

"Jake, I trust him with my life."

"That's good enough for me. From this point on, he is the only one you are to contact. When the time comes, you will need to reach out to him and let him know what's going on. Only give him basic details. He only needs to know enough to keep us from running into more trouble. You understand?" I nod, and he continues. "We can't trust anyone from the FBI right now. Master is a very powerful man with a lot of powerful people working for him. He may not have the whole FBI in his back pocket, but I can assure you Michaels isn't the only rat. We're almost there, but we are going to have to ditch the car pretty soon. We will go the rest of the way on foot. It's not far, I promise."

After another half an hour, we approach a motel. Jake parks in the back and tells me not to leave anything behind. After gathering our things, we walk down the road a little way and slip into a narrow alleyway. After going through a maze of alleys, we end up at a small road at the edge of a dense forest. "This way," Jake grabs my hand and leads me into the forest. We've been walking for quite some time, and the sun is now starting to set. I'm beginning to wonder if we are just walking in circles when we suddenly reach a clearing and, on the other side, is a small house.

"We wait until it is completely dark, and then we make our way to the house. My buddy James lives there, and he is going to help us carry out our plan."

Sure enough, once it is completely dark, Jake takes my hand and leads me out of the forest. We quickly make our way to the house, and before we reach the back door, it opens, and a tall, lanky man stands in the doorway, motioning for us to come in.

"Thank you so much for letting us come on such short notice," Jake says.

"No problem, we both have the same goal. It's time we put an end to master. Come on, I'll show you to the guest room." He walks off down the hall, and we follow. "The shower is down the hall. We will talk once you two have a chance to freshen up." He walks out, closing the door behind him.

"Ok, now would be a good time to tell me your plan," I tell Jake.

"James works for master but he's been trying to find a way to bring him down for years. He's the last person anyone would suspect would flip so he can get inside his house and get the information we need to do just that. Even though Michaels is a dirty agent, we do still have a deal in writing that says we get to go free if we bring him down, and with Christopher's help, they will have to honor that agreement."

The door bursts open, and James runs in. "They're here." He whispers and reaches down, pulling the rug off the floor, revealing a hidden door. He opens it and motions for us to climb down the stairs. I look at Jake for some kind of reassurance. Jake does not seem disturbed by this in the least, so I follow him down the stairs. James throws our bags down to us.

From this hiding spot, we can hear everything that is happening. There is a knock on the door.

"Michaels, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting a visit."

"Jake and that bitch he's with made a deal to help the FBI capture master and we can't let that happen."

"Of course not! Are you sure? I never thought Jake would be one to flip."

"I was there when the deal was made. One of our guys followed them for a little bit, but they lost them. They seemed to be headed this way. I thought maybe he might take a chance and stop by here."

"No, I haven't seen him. Now that I know what he's done, I know what I have to do if he does show up."

"It's not that I don't trust you, but do you mind if I look around just to make sure?"

"No, not at all come in."

They continue talking, and their voices get louder. I hear their footsteps and the floor creaks above us. I start to panic, knowing they are in the room. Jake moves closer to me and puts his finger over my mouth to keep me quiet. I try to control my breathing to keep from being heard.

"Really, you're checking the closet?" I hear James say.

"You never can be too sure." Michaels laughs.

"Well, I hate to rush you out, but now that you're convinced, I do have somewhere I need to be."

We hear them leave the room, and I start to breathe a little easier.

@layanasstories it's you're turn.

Previous chapter Next chapter

[candiedsour]

How Genshin Impact characters would react to someone flirting with you || (Liyue)

Hello everyone! I apologize for the wait but I finally finished the Liyue version ٩( ᐛ )و I was originally supposed to divide it into 2 parts but then I decided against it ( ͡°³ ͡°). Part 3 will probably be uploaded in 3 days. But in the meantime, enjouy reading! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

-E <3

Zhongli ❌💸

How he'd react to someone flirting with you really just depends on his mood

He doesn't really interfere because he knows you can handle it yourself

You two have had the person flirting with you pay or discount something you both bought on more than one occasion and he's not even ashamed of it

"Ah, my lady. Your beauty is simply etheral."

The shop owner said as you examined the jade.

You looked up from the Noctilucous Jade and met Zhongli's eyes. Completely ignoring the owner.

Zhongli's put the Jade onto the table and reached into his pouch for Mora.

Though, once he opened it; he grimaced. Once you saw his expression you realized that neither of you had enough Mora to pay for the Jade.

You cringed as you saw the amount of Mora in the pouch and looked back at the shop owner to apologize.

That was, before an idea clicked into your mind.

You then berought forth the most charming and flirtatious face you could muster and smiled at the shop owner.

"My deepest apologies Sir, but I don't think we'll be able to buy from you today. " You sighed.

The owner widened his eyes at your statement and quickly replied with

"Oh no, it's fine your can just pay any amount you have now and come back to pay for the rest! "

"Thank you so much Sir, I am forever in your debt for this. " You said as you grabbed his hands.

The owner was completely smothered by now, he had completely forgotten Zhongli's presence and was looking at you with completely entranced eyes.

If it wasn't for Zhongli's years of experience in concealing his expressions, he would probably be laughing out loud by now.

"That was quite the show my dear, I doubt that he would have noticed anything even if we had robbed his whole stall. "

Beidou 🏴‍☠️♀️

Just like with Kaeya, no one would really flirt with you since they know about your relationship with the captain of The Crux unless they're clueless

And Beidou being Beidou, would not take shit from anyone. Clueless or not

If the other person is being persistent, she doesn't really mind throwing hands

"It's a shame that you have a lover, otherwise i'd have made you mine by now. " The creep said as he grabbed both of your hands.

You leaned backwards, trying to get away from the man. You desperately scanned the area for anyone who would help you.

You then met Beido's eyes with a look that clearly read "please help me".

Once she saw you, Beido walked over and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"She's mine, now let her go." She said as she glared at the man who was holding onto your hands.

"And if I don't?"

The person didn't even register anything before Beido's fist collided with his jaw.

"I ain't scared of fines, I'll fight whoever disrespects my partner"

Xiao 🔪👺

Doesn't really care if the other person is flirting with you or not

If it gets to the point of harassment he will give them a whack with his polearm

He looks like he doesn't care about you but that's just because he knows who you're going back home with

"Would you like to accompany me on my travels, my fair lady? " The traveler said as he loaded his belongings onto his cart.

"I'd have to decline the offer. I already have a lover I am devoted to. " You said with a smile as you passed him the packed food you had bought from the inn.

Xiao watched you two from the distance, he sat on the balcony if the Inn as he waited for you to bid him farewell on his missions as well.

"Were you watching me? " You said you peek at him from behind.

"I was simply making sure he was not a dangerous individual. " Xiao replied, stotic as usual.

"Are you here to bid me goodbye?" He asked as he gazed at you.

"Goodbye? Oh no, I'm going with you! "

"Even though you are hundreds of years old does not mean you are invincible. Therefore, you should refrain from fighting recklessly. "

Xingqiu ⚔📚

He usually just tells the person bothering you to back off, politely. Of course

Though, he doesn't really mind if the other person is rude or persistent; it's just an excuse for him to have a little 'fun' behind the scenes

If they're rude, they'll most likely find themselves having a number of minor inconveniences

"Sir, please let go of my partner." Xingqiu confronted the creep.

You quickly ran to his side. Not wanting to be near the man for a millisecond longer.

"And what's the pretty boy going to do to me?" He jabbed at the blue haired boy.

Although he was slightly irritated. Xingqiu paid no mind to him and walked you back to your house.

"Y/n do you recall the creep from yesterday afternoon? Yes, I received a notice that he is trying to buy brass for his stall. I convinced every merchant selling fish in Liyue to not sell him any, I also bought some brass. Would you like some? "

Chongyun ❄🍦

He doesn't really like confronting people so he'd just make up an excuse to take you away from them

If the other person decides to be start an argument, he'd try to keep his cool. Not wanting to go into the manic state he usually gets into once his body overheats

Sadly, on more than one occasion; he has lost his cool and completely and ends up causing chaos to anyone who's unfortunate enough to be nearby

It's been at least a solid 15 minutes since the guy sitting next to you have been pestering you about going with him to the Lantern Rite festival.

And for what felt like the 30th time, you declined.

You really wanted this person gone before you meet up with Chongyun but he kept following you so you just plopped down somewhere on the stone ground.

Unfortunately for you, the other person did not take the cue for him to leave but instead; had taken it as an invitation to sit down and talk with you instead.

At some point, you considered kicking him in the face but refrainwd from doing so. But now, you're regretting that decision.

"Y/n! Me and Xingqiu were looking all over for you. " Chongyun said as he ran over to you two.

The guy looked surprised as the two boys walked over you where you were sitting.

"Who are these people? " He said. As if they were the ones invading into someone's personal space.

Chongyun instantly realised the situation and whispered something to Xingqiu. He then gave you the hand signal for "Run for it" And pointed to behind him.

Almost in a flash, all of you three started sprinting away, leaving behind a very confused person.

"Thank Rex Lapis we didn't actually get into a fight this time"

Hu Tao 👻🔥

Whenever she sees someone flirting with you, she'd ask them about their health

She'd then weird them out by introducing her as the 77th director of Wangsheng funeral parlour

The person flirting with you would probably be very uncomfortable at this point and leave, but if they don't Hu Tao would hand then one of her buy 1 get 1 funeral coupons

"I simply cannot resist your beauty. " The man said as he leaned in closer to your face.

"Hello there good Sir! How is your health? " Hu Tao asked as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere and before you.

The man seemed confused at her question.

"Pardon? " He asked.

"Ah, I have forgotten that I have yet to introduce myself. Please call me Hu Tao. 77th director of the Wangsheng funeral parlour! " She introduced herself and took out her hand for him to shake.

He seemed a bit uncomfortable at the mention of funerals but nevertheless he ignored Hu Tao and went back to your conversation.

"What do you say to dinner at Wanmin Restaurant? " He pressed on, flat out ignoring Hu Tao's whole existence all together.

"Here's a coupon, it's buy one funeral, get one free. I hope I'll see you soon! " She said as she dragged you away. Leaving behind a very disturbed man.

"I should've said 'I hope to see you again businesses-wise. ' "

[x688plsloveme]

I Took A Sip From My Devil's Cup, Slowly, It's Taking Over Me

Kim Dokja asks for Yoo Joonghyuk to accompany him to a Demon King's ball as his "faithful servant" to rack up notoriety for their nebula and Yoo Joonghyuk is far too soft for him to say no.

Posting the first lil chapter here. I wanna wait to have more written before I post to ao3. This is set a little before the Great Saints and Demon War but just think of it as canon compliant cause even that placement is a bit iffy. Oh and here's the art that inspired this whole thing. It's by one of the official artists for the novel @/1L9l2Aa8UCL0IGJ aka gumnem

"Bemyplusonefortheballandactasmyservant"

"...What?"

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't know if he heard quite right.

He watched as Kim Dokja took a deep breath and said - slower this time but no less strained, "Be my plus one for the ball and act as my servant."

Yoo Joonghyuk's eye twitched.

"Please!" He hurriedly adds, throwing his hands up in a hopefully placating manner.

Yoo Joonghyuk sighed. "And why would I want to do that?" He sees Kim Dokja light up. No doubt the man had already thought up a dozen ways to convince him to go along with whatever scheme he cooked up this time.

"If it looks like the great Yoo Joonghyuk is my faithful servant, then it'll turn the heads of the demon kings! It's basically free status for our nebula." He finished with his trademark scheming smirk. 

Yoo Joonghyuk was annoyed to find that he found it kind of endearing. He crossed his arms. "Fine."

"Now before you say no, just know that-" Kim Dokja stopped suddenly. He tilted his head. "What did you just say?"

He knows he's too soft for him. Nevertheless, "I said fine. I'll go along with your stupid plan."

Kim Dokja's smirk morphed into a genuine wide smile. His eyes seemed to sparkle in the same way they do whenever he gets a particularly rare item. Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't stop his heart from skipping a beat at the simultaneously smug and joyful look on the other's face. Which annoyed him.

So of course, his face naturally turned murderous.

Kim Dokja backed up from where he was about to pat the other on the shoulder and hurriedly turned away. He walked out of the other's room, but not before giving a final smile and a, "Thanks Yoo Joonghyuk!"

Yoo Joonghyuk had to grip his sword before he did something stupid like run after him and kiss him... He really was too soft.

___________________________

The night of the Demon King Banquet, Kin Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk met outside of the specialized portal that would take them directly to their destination. 

They both had their signature coats on but wore formal clothing underneath. Kim Dokja was clad in a black turtleneck underneath a white suit and white slacks. He completed his look with shiny (just bought from the dokkaebi store) dress shoes. 

Yoo Joonghyuk was a perfect compliment to Dokja with his white button-down and black three-piece suit and tie. He had shoes similar to Dokja's but without the laces. He also wore black leather gloves to match his coat.

The company went to send them off and all of them raved about how good they looked. Even Lee Jihye admitted that Kim Dokja looked all right tonight. The kids gave their adoptive father a hug and the two were off.

__________________

The portal they went through must've been an expensive one if the lack of dizziness was any indication. They were placed in the garden leading up to the grand hall where the main event was. There were demon kings and their plus ones scattered about and mingling. Kim Dokja thought about taking the time to enjoy the rare flowers and maybe make some connections, but thought better of it. He didn't want Yoo Joonghyuk to have to do this any longer than he has to and harbor any ill will as a result.

While they made their way up the stairs leading to the building, Kim Dokja could feel many, many stares on them. There were those who looked on warily, and others with contempt and greed. Only a couple with anything close to respect. No one missed sizing up the newcomers. He just smiled. It was about time to start their strategy.

[Joonghyuk. Get the door.] He commanded with his true voice, loud enough to be heard by some of the participants below them in the garden. 

Yoo Joonghyuk bowed sightly and did as he was told. Immediately, whispering from the guests got very loud and they entered without another word.

Step one, done.

They entered the foyer and were greeted by a "friendly" face.

"Demon King of Salvation! I didn't think this was your scene." The man said, sweet acid dripping from his words like usual. 

"Asmodeus." Kim Dokja nodded to him, then shrugged. "I don't particularly like parties, but you know how these mandatory things are. Not even Agares would want to pay the probability for skipping a special scenario like this."

"True enough." Asmodeus then gestured to the perfectly still man sightly behind the other demon king. "Now... Care to explain this? Potion? Ability? Or..?"

Kim Dokja just smiled. "None of the above. I just asked him politely."

The other demon king caught on quickly to what he was planning. He laughed. Oh, this was going to be good. But first...

"What will I get in exchange for keeping your secrets Kim Dokja?"

The man in question tapped his chin. "Hmmm. I wonder?" His grin was as fake as always when he answered. "I guess you'll just have to find out later."

Asmodeus' eyes flitted between the two before a thought popped into his mind. Why wait for fun? He quickly slunk close to Kim Dokja's right side, the one that Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't near, and pulled the man close. He leaned in to whisper against his ear, "I can think of a way you can pay me back right now, Dokja." Lust was in his modifier for a reason and he knew how to get a rise out of someone. He grinned at the involuntary shiver from the other.

Kim Dokja's smile turned a little sour and he stepped back enough to loosen Asmodeus' grip and quickly said, "Trust me, there's something better I have planned so there's no need-" He was cut off by Asmodeus suddenly getting pulled away by his collar by none other than Yoo Joonghyuk. He practically growled at the demon king. "Hands. Off." He emphasized the last word by harshly pushing him away. 

Kim Dokja would be a liar if he said he didn't find that tone much more shiver-inducing than what Asmodeus was trying to do earlier.

Instead of being perturbed, he just laughed. "Looks like your pet is protective, Demon King of Salvation."

Kim Dokja shrugged. "He's just doing his job today, nothing else. Now, if you'll excuse us." He beckoned Yoo Joonghyuk to walk with him and the two left for the banquet hall, the latter sending one last glare over his shoulder.

Asmodeus just sighed and thought to himself, "Poor guy. Getting with someone as dense as Kim Dokja would require much less subtlety." Of course... This also meant that he actually had something to look forward to at this banquet for once. He couldn't wait for all the drama that was sure to unfold.

[killerskillercaptain]

Applause

pairing : Levi Ackerman x Reader

wc : 1.8 k

themes : the ceremony honoring Levi's squad (including you) after the reclaim of Shiganshina went wrong, angst, hurt, comfort.

warnings : angst and hate

A soft light drenched your silhouette standing in front of the mirror. Inspecting yourself, you flatted out any crease on your long army jacket while arranging the collar of your shirt. You stood there staring at the image reflected to you : you looked put together, but your face still reminded you of everything that happened just days ago. Retaking Shiganshina didn't feel like a victory at all. With all that was lost, there was no praise, no glory, no nothing, only a bitter sweet sense of accomplishment, more torturing than satisfying.

You looked at the bags under your eyes, at the cuts lacerating the side of your face, even though you've been granted enough sleep and medical care to recover, you were still exhausted, and you could still see that dark cloud veiling your eyes, images of hell still flashing in front of you.

You heard a small knock on the door of the quarters you have been assigned to. It was time to go, the ceremony was about to start.

You shouted a weak but audible "yes" before heading out of the room. When you opened the wooden door , you were met by two even more tired eyes.

Levi

"They're waiting for us"

You walked side by side in the sumptuous corridors, you were in the capital and inside this part of the walls, everything looked so lavish that you felt out of place. You didn't exchange any word for a long moment until Levi broke the silence by asking if you were able to rest.

"Not really no"

By the way he stayed silence after you answered his question, you understood that it was the same for him.

The reason you weren't able to rest was the anticipation, no, the dread you felt in regards to this ceremony. With the suicidal charge Erwin commended causing the death of so many soldiers, both young and older ones, all of you who had survived this, felt sick to your stomach, you were all eaten by a sentiment that vastly resembled guilt. You, the rest of Levi's squad and Levi himself being the ones always coming back alive started to sound like a bad sonata to the ears of the population, they would rather see their sons, daughters, cousins and husbands coming back rather then the ones who always manages to make it, so eventually, you were expecting the worst to come out of this ceremony, and you felt that this honoring event was gonna put you all on an unwelcoming spotlight.

Approaching the great doors of the ceremonial chamber, all of you hesitated to to enter as the guards invited you in.

-----

You were totally right, the moment the heavy and palatial looking doors opened to welcome you, you were met by very concerned looks. Soldiers and other various members as well as government big heads were undressing you with disapprobation, you felt your heart tighten, all of you already felt horrible enough that you cursed those blaming looks for adding more weight to your already busted shoulders.

Levi's name was called first to be given his medal, impassive as usual, Levi climbed up the stairs to where Historia stood solemnly, each one of his steps followed by a horrible comment directed at him, sometimes in a low voice, sometimes not.

"How come they're always the one coming back"

"Yeah, nothing ever happens to them how come ?"

"I bet they throw the young recruits and the less competent ones right into the titans mouths so they can protect their lives"

"I guess they don't put their lives on the line so much to be able to always come back in one piece".

"This is Levi, he can take on anything, heh, must be nice to be invincible"

Some of the comments being whispered were down right nasty and they were all directed to Levi.

Of all the people, the captain was the one to whom was directed the messiest of remarks. Everyone knew he was the strongest soldier alive, and they hated him for this exact same reason.

Seeing how Levi manages to stay composed and be able to dismiss these comments made your heart ache, you realized he must have heard them so many times to be able to ignore them like this. You knew the captain, you knew that he actually cared but had to learn not to, you felt bad realizing that this became familiar to him.

You felt so bad for the fallen ones, your heart was still mourning them to this instant but you couldn't possibly describe how gut wrenching you felt seeing Levi having to bear all the weight of the culpability people unrightfully put on him.

You clenched your fists, closed your eyes and told yourself that it was going to pass, like all the other times.

You haven't been this targeted by hate yourself, but now you were put on this unwanted pedestal and everyone could see who were the usual lucky ones, and you could feel yourself being put on the the condemning spot as it was your turn to be called and climb those cursed stairs.

You kneeled before Historia, feeling her hands ghost over your head as she put and secured the medal around your neck, repeating the same careful but solemn gestures for the second time.

"They don't deserve the medals !" shouted a particularly angry red haired youngster.

More whispers could be heard now from different parts of the ceremonial room, enough to fill the spacious chamber. Small groups started forming, their chatter was now all you could distinguish. Some were agreeing while others were quizzical, you could hear the people's subtle judgements but all you could feel was your hands becoming sweaty and an incredibly uncomfortable heat, filling your head. You already felt bad enough, you already felt undeserving enough, you already felt guilty enough, why did they have to be so-

do they not know what war is like ?

"This Arlert recruit shouldn't have been the one to be saved ! Levi's duty should have been to keep the commander alive !" spat the red-haired young man, emotion seemingly making his blood boil.

You could only stand where you were at the top of the stairs, looking at this seemingly unsatisfied and outraged human, making you doubt every single choice you made back there, you wrapped your hand over the medal holding it tightly, trying to ground yourself.

"Enough !"

It was Levi who spoke this time, putting a hand over the boy's shoulder, understanding yet firm enough for the young soldier to turn around and face the shorter man.

"A lot of tough decisions had to be made back there, if there's anyone who wants Erwin to be present with us today more than anyone, it's me."

You felt yourself trembling listening to the captain instill some sense of understanding to the soldier who seemed to try and contain his rage, even if he didn't look convinced with Levi's words. He seemed to have already judged you all as guilty.

"It wasn't an easy choice to choose Armin, it was an even harder decision to let Erwin go, but his woman out there, you say she doesn't deserve that medal, maybe, maybe none of us do, but she and all the others faced hell back in Shiganshina and had to make the toughest of choices. You're still young, but if you ever make it, you will be met with the same inconceivable decisions we did, so the least you could do is show some respect."

Levi ended his speech with a firm tone that made everyone observe a ponderous silence and just like that, every person in the room understood that the talk was over.

Soon everyone made their way to the great halls, you were informed by some subordinates that honorary soldiers would be awaited at the great dinning hall, this news made Jean and Connie start chatting vigorously about how this was the least they could do for them, both of them trying to cheer Armin up, the poor boy looked beaten down and quite affected by the guilt tripping going on in there some minutes ago.

He wasn't the only one affected by what happened in the ceremonial room, you were still trying to calm your beating heart and your pounding head, still feeling quite light-headed. The crowd, the heat, the mischievous and unforgiving gossiping, even though the ceremonial chamber was one of the largest space you've seen, you felt almost claustrophobic in there, surrounded by so many people who blamed you all for getting a chance to live longer. Your already blood-shot eyes were all watery, they stared watering when the ceremony got interrupted and you could swear Levi noticed it when you were heading towards the halls because he kept looking at you directly

"I'll be back, i'll go breathe some fresh air outside" you waved at Jean, Connie, Armin and the others, Levi had long disappeared from your view and you didn't see which direction he went so you assumed he was with Hange.

You turned around and took the opposite direction of the hall, where there were two massive gates. They were opened on an incredibly well maintained garden. When you sat foot on the marbled path you were met with gigantic and well kept trees, all sorts of trees, with even more gigantic walls guarding the property. Each wall had an impressive amount of lush greenery drapped all over them.

You walked to the wall that was the further away from the gates and stood there, your back against it. And right there, once you were sure no one would observe you, you let it all out. Within seconds, you felt heavy damp pearls making their way through your burning cheeks before landing everywhere, your shirt, your jacket, your leather boots, the soil beneath you. You weeped silently, your head suddenly empty from being too crammed seconds ago. You were ready to weep some more if it wasn't for a light touch that brushed you.

Levi was standing by your side looking at your burnt cheeks, swollen lips and red eyes.

"Don't let it get to you" he said.

"Your guilt doesn't justify their anger" he added, resting against the wall. "Yes they're angry, that's what wars do, they stir anger, pain and resentment. Everything humans don't like to be reminded of"

"Let's honor their death with the decisions we will make" he added putting a comforting hand on your shoulder, at which your heart fluttered a bit to your own surprise.

He pushed himself off the wall, hands in his pockets and headed for the gates as the familiar smell of food being cooked started filling the air, only here, even the food smelled expensive. You followed Levi into the hall, walking by his side as he silently invited you to. Heading for the dinning hall, you felt a great amount of solace being in his presence, and right now, he would never know how thankful you were to have each other's shoulders to lean on when the whole world was up against you two.

[bontenten]

Efficiency

Pairing: Daishou x f!reader

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings/Tags: smut, exhibitionism, voyeurism, fingering, unprotected sex, creampie, praise, light degredation, aftercare, established relationship

Thank you so much @/bakatenshii and @/thirstyforthem2dmen for beta-reading. This is a repost from my main after it went fully sfw. Originally for the hqhq (now Anilysium) hard at work collab.

Pen scrawls and keyboard taps sound throughout the conference room as your boss goes over current client projects. Daishou is sitting across the table and you notice he's wearing the tie you gave him for his birthday last year. Looks good, you think to yourself. It's not just the tie, it's his entire outfit, and him.

Daishou notices your lingering stare and makes eye contact, granting you a cheeky grin and a head tilt. Pompous bastard. In response, you send back an expression of mock disgust before turning your attention back to your laptop.

For any newcomer at the firm, it might seem like the office is split down the middle into either your camp or Daishou's, with opinions and jabs on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Why else is there so much spite being tossed around between the two of you, if not due to a deeply entrenched layer of grievances?

It might leave the newbie confused as to why Daishou affectionately calls you his "most significant problem". Or why you preface notes to him with, "to whom this may piss off, my royal pain-in-the-ass".

Then there comes a revelation to the newbie that you and Daishou are not mortal enemies, but rather the most wretchedly in-love couple in this skyrise building. It's a bad decision to cross either you or Daishou for any matter. Not only are the both of you perfectly vindictive, crossing one means submitting an application to be on the blacklist of the other. There's no doubt, in your humblest opinion, that Daishou, even if he'll never outright admit it, absolutely worships the dirt under your heels. And when you are in remotely a good mood, fine, you don't mind his coffee breath either.

It's heartwarming, that in this tower of cold, hard stainless steel and immaculate glass panels, there's love floating around the disinfected air of money, money, and more money. When it counts, you can be sure that Daishou will stand on the same side of the fence as you.

While the meeting goes on and you multitask with the spreadsheet open on your screen, you think you hear your name being tossed around. To your knowledge, everything is lined up already and unless there is some sort of overnight emergency, there's absolutely nothing left on your plate to take care of.

At the same time, there is also the off-chance that someone decides to drag you into hell with them and include you in a project. Now, who could possibly have the audacity to put you into the wringer with them?

"Daishou! Excellent, I'll leave this to you," the boss exclaims. "This pitchbook needs to be done by tomorrow. It's high urgency and the client just sent the numbers in."

A sinking feeling begins to churn in your stomach. You pause your frenzy across the keyboard and pay attention to the meeting to hear the rest of what Daishou has to say.

"If I may," Daishou curtly asks with a smile that's a tad too wide, "I'd like to work with Y/N on this. As you know, we work best together. It'll be done before the meeting tomorrow."

You can feel everyone's eyes turn to you in the meeting room, begging you to please say yes to the man holding titles such as your boyfriend, co-worker, and also 'royal pain-in-the-ass'. You force a smile and match Daishou's client-ready, saccharine expression. "Of course, we'll have it done tonight."

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the entire meeting room relaxes by ten notches. Bastards, all of you.

"Our firm's best duo!" the boss praises, "We'll leave it to you two then. Meeting adjourned."

It's the two words everyone has been waiting for. The moment the syllable falls, the conference room is filled with the sounds of shifting seats and scuffling feet eager to leave work for the day. With a huff, you shut your laptop and see Daishou coming around the conference table with his laptop and files tucked under his arm. He adjusts and tugs on his tie.

"Guess it's you and me again tonight," Daishou comments.

"And here I wanted to leave work early for once."

"Hey, just a special date night. It's called 'overtime', sounds pretty sexy don't you think?"

You snort and walk past him, going towards the direction of the elevator. Daishou eyes your figure strutting down the hall. The lines of your ironed shirt and the pencil skirt that hugs your figure perfectly match the echoing clack of your heels striking shiny tiles.

Even if you don't remember, Daishou's impeccable memory absolutely remembers how the last time you paired that shirt and that skirt together, it was an overtime situation very much similar to tonight. And the cock that's starting to grow hard in his slacks certainly remembers a lot more. He can feel it twitching just trying to conjure up the sensation of your gummy walls milking him in the breakroom a month ago.

"You coming or what?"

Daishou sees you holding the elevator door open and waiting for him. Daishou won't ever admit to this, maybe to you in privacy, but Daishou will rather be dead than admit to anyone else how lucky he feels to have someone as incredible as you in his life.

He takes a few quick steps and enters the elevator.

"How sweet," he coos. "I knew you wouldn't just leave me hanging and working in this dismal place all alone."

"Shut-up, Suguru," you snap, but you lean your head against his shoulder anyway. It's been such a long day already, and the night is only going to be longer.

"Stay the night at my place later? I'll order your favorite."

"Let's get this project over with first."

"I caught you staring at me during the meeting."

"Huh, is that so."

"Practically stripped me naked with your eyes. Ooh, I felt tingles all over."

You lift your head from his shoulder. "You're so full of yourself Suguru," you remark before tugging on his tie to pull his face closer to yours. "If anything, I think you're the one getting hard at work."

Daishou leans in even closer. A hand encircles your wrist and his thumb brushes your inner-wrist across the bump of the vein. Your pulse is throbbing against his fingertips. You feel your adrenaline and anticipation rushing through your body as your heart pounds harder and faster.

"Then do something to help poor lil' me out?"

"At your place later, we—"

"But I want you so badly right now," Daishou breathes out, body tight against you so you can feel his straining desires through the layers of fabric. "I want—

Ding.

The elevator opens up to the floor the two of you work at. The co-workers waiting for the lift can only see two pristine and exemplary office workers without any semblance of dishevelment walk out. Daishou even says a polite "see you tomorrow" to them.

"If only the elevator stopped working," you joke after taking a deep breath to swallow the fire building in your core. "Sly snake, no one here in the office knows your true colors."

Sometimes, you wonder just how Daishou can switch his persona so quickly. Or maybe he just likes the precarious edge of being horny at work.

"Love you too dear," he sneers.

A couple workers are still at their desks scrambling for their deadlines. You and Daishou take a seat at your work stations and begin to chip away at the urgent, overtime project. Every now and then, you'll say good-night to the other remaining co-workers finally able to go home. It doesn't take long before the halls are completely vacated and empty except for the two of you still slaving away in front of the bright monitors for hours into the night.

"Where are you going?" you ask Daishou who is returning to his seat after disappearing down the hall again. "This is the third time in the last hour. Are you shitting in the toilets or dumping all the work on me?"

Daishou comes by your desk and leans on the back of your chair. "Just making some phone calls. Want to go home now? It's getting late."

"Uh...work's not done yet."

"It's fine, let's have dinner first, we can just work remotely at my place. The bulk is done anyway."

You glance at the clock and ponder Daishou's offer. It doesn't hurt to leave a little early and continue the work later in a more comfortable setting. "Okay, let me pack."

After cleaning up the workstation and packing everything the two of you will need, you and Daishou are back in the hallway waiting for the descending elevator.

Daishou takes the heavy tote bag from your shoulders. “I’ll hold onto this,” he explains.

“Why so nice today, Suguru? First luring me over with food, the compliments, and suggestions to leave early…” You trace a finger along the line of his spine and observe, pleased with the nervous grin spreading on his face. “Someone’s losing patience, hm?”

Daishou gives you an ingratiating smile. “Princess, as fancy as our work is, we still work in client-services. What can I say, I live to serve and please.”

“Cheeky.”

The elevator arrives and the two of you enter the space.

"How long do you think we still need?" you ask Daishou.

"Must we talk about work, right now?"

"You're just horny, Suguru."

"Oh, so it's 'just' me, is that what it is?"

You shrug and admit, "Nah, I was wondering why you didn't suggest anything earlier when the office was empty."

"Baby, if you wanted me that bad, you should've just climbed on my lap."

You laugh at Daishou's retort and prepare a comeback. "I think—"

A loud screech sounds through the elevator and the lights flicker briefly before a jolt causes you to stumble. Your hand automatically flies to the handrail. Daishou also wraps an arm around you tightly to steady your balance.

"Is the..."

"Seems like we're stuck," Daishou comments.

You rapidly press the service bell button, but it's no use. "No one's picking up, it's like the signal got cut. Should've just taken the stairs!"

The cell signal is also terribly weak in the elevator space. There's nothing else to do but wait and see how things play out.

Daishou laughs dryly and smooths his hair back. "We work on the 18th floor, since when do we take the stairs?"

"There's that one evacuation drill..." you reply weakly.

Daishou raises an eyebrow, giving you a look that says, really now?

"You're right, we're doomed. Last moments and—"

"With the love of your life, isn't that pleasant a way to go?" Daishou tightens his arms around you. "Don't worry, it's all going to be okay."

You reciprocate and respond to his hug, while your brain searches for a solution. "I once saw on the internet that if the elevator drops, you have to time your jump right before the elevator hits the ground floor. Otherwise—"

"Shhh," Daishou shushes you quietly with a quick kiss. He rocks you from side to side and reassures you again that everything is okay.

"Trust me, it'll be okay. Let's just have a little fun while we're waiting," he suggests one hand already tracing up your thigh. "Maybe it'll relax all those nerves you've been holding onto."

Daishou wants to laugh. Whose nerves exactly? Do you have any idea how he’s been counting the minutes and seconds for this moment while you innocently worked on the project like the good, model worker that you are?

It took everything in him to somehow put down a few excel formulas and not shove the monitors onto the floor to fuck you senseless across the worktables. Not to mention, the pleasure of having those witty remarks that spurt out from that little mouth of yours replaced with incomprehensible whines and begs for your precious Suguru to fill you to the brim. And now that you also admit to thinking along the same lines earlier, Daishou knows the dirty little thoughts clouding into your mind already.

Some slut that you are, acting proper and put-together at work, basking in the praise from co-workers and the boss; they just don’t know how ten minutes after those morning touchpoint meetings, you are bouncing on Daishou’s cock in a hidden corner while the financial markets open for the day. It’s an art, really, the number of quicks you two manage to fit into the crevices of a busy office schedule. But that’s why Daishou is one of the best employees of the firm. Daishou Suguru works quickly. He works efficiently.

The patterns Daishou's fingers trace tickle and send shivers up the skin. His low voice and hot breath across your ear elicits a soft gasp as you press your thighs together in the tight, figure-hugging skirt, seeking some hidden relief for the needy throb inside. The scrap of fabric down there is barely able to soak up the wetness beginning to pool. You are pressed up against him for comfort and security, your breasts plush against his chest. Each inhale and exhale you take is a test of patience.

"T-there's a camera," you remind him through shaky breaths, eyes flickering to the black mechanism in the corner. This is your final thread.

Daishou eyes the camera that is staring expectantly at the tryst about to happen in the cramped space with a wicked grin. Like that has ever bothered you, but if you want to play coy, he’ll humor you. He pinches the soft flesh on your thighs. "But we both know you're an attention whore. Always wanting to be the center of attention?"

You bite your lip to stop a whimper and look away, unwilling to admit that Daishou is completely right. You're already squirming in anticipation and delight. How cute, Daishou savors before deftly undoing the first two buttons of your crisp blouse. He has all of your clothes memorized, and how to take them off in the least amount of steps. At this point, it's completely second nature, and even if it isn't, the particular outfit you are wearing today has a special pedestal in Daishou's memory of interests. He pulls the tucked fabric apart to expose your delicate neckline and the soft curves of your breasts in the bra.

Oh, this one? What a coincidence then. He buries his face into the crook of your neck and deeply inhales the scent of your lingering fragrance. His hot breath and tantalizing lips drag across your collarbone, brushing your sensitive skin.

"So fucking sexy. Let's put on a show shall we?"

The thread snaps.

You harshly tug on the Daishou’s tie and capture his lips with yours. Daishou presses his body even closer, resting a forearm right above your head to cage you against the elevator wall. You wrap your arms around his neck, threading your fingers through his hair, as you meld into the searing kiss. The zipper of your skirt is tugged and the fabric is pushed up to your waist. His hand snakes up your thigh and a thumb hooks the side of your panties, pulling the soaked scrap down.

"Step," he instructs, pulling your panties down all the way and guiding your heeled feet out. "Don't want them dropping on the floor," he says, tucking the bunched fabric into his shirt pocket.

"Touch me, please," you beg, pulling Daishou back to you. You grab his hand and lead him to between your legs, grinding yourself against his thick fingers for some relief.

“No need to rush, the elevator isn't getting fixed anytime soon," he coos, "We're not going to get distracted this time."

Daishou spreads your lips apart and rubs along your sensitive bud, coating his digits with your slick. "Fuck, you're so wet already," he marvels before slipping a finger in and then another.

Daishou pumps his fingers in and out of your sopping pussy, occasionally dragging over to circle your clit. "That's it, isn't it?" he groans, feeling your walls clench around his fingers when he finds the spot that has you falling apart into streams of whines and mewls.

Daishou withdraws his fingers and brings the glistening digits up for you to see. "How much are you enjoying this? Wanting to be fucked in an elevator, watched by who knows who behind that camera."

You whimper and watch Daishou take the coated fingers in his mouth, licking off every drop of you. "You taste so good," he breathes, before pulling you into a kiss and letting you have a taste of your own arousal.

You break out of the kiss and turn around, resting your hands on the handrail. "S-Suguru, want you in me," you beg. You bend over just enough for your Daishou to see how much more wet you've gotten from tasting yourself on him. Your glistening hole is dripping and desperately clenching around nothing.

"Patience, princess." Daishou quickly unbuckles his belt and lets the cock pressing against his tight slacks spring free. He prepares to give himself a few more strokes but you reach behind and slap his hand away, replacing the hand on his cock with your own.

"Fuck," he groans, bucking his hips into your hands. "Always the impatient one."

"Hurry...please."

The building anticipation is making your knees weak and head dizzy already. You keep both hands on the handrails for support and squirm over trying to better line yourself for that thickness you need to fill your hole.

"Shit, stop teasing me!"

Beep.

The emergency intercom you pressed when the elevator first malfunctioned finally lights up. The line connects after a moment of static and radio noise and temporarily shocks a thread of rationality into your thoughts.

"Hello? Hello? Are we connected now, finally? Hello? Can you hear me?" the voice urges from the other end.

"Ah-" you gasp out, feeling Daishou fingers draw out slow circles on your clit. You press your lips tightly together to muffle a moan.

"Ma'am? Ma'am, can you hear me?"

Daishou leans next to your ear. "Answer them, sweetheart." The tip of his cock teases the entrance of your pussy, running along the wet lips. "Do well and I'll give it to you."

You manage, with difficulty, squeak out, "Y-yes!"

"Good girl."

Your legs buckle slightly when you feel Daishou's thick cock being pushed into you, finally giving you the gratification you have been craving during Daishou's ministrations.

"Oh, careful now, don't want you falling over," Daishou's grip on your hips tightens and he groans at how warm, wet and tight you are around him. "Fuck, you feel so fucking good," he mutters under his breath.

The speaker buzzes again. "Great, finally connected. Ma'am are you doing okay still?"

"Yes!" you cry out as Daishou gives a firm and deep thrust; a wave of pleasure shoots through you.

"Don't panic, our team is already coming—" The line disconnects as abruptly.

Daishou revels at how your soft walls hug and clench around him. By all means, he didn't expect the interruption happening at all. It seems like you are not the only impatient person, he wonders, before flashing a nasty look at the camera in the corner and flipping said object off.

"Come on, princess,” he encourages and pats the side of your ass lightly. “Let me hear how pretty you sound."

"Sugu—" you gasp out, feeling the tip of his cock rocking into you. "R-right there right, ah—"

"Yea, you like that?" Daishou groans, pushing into you again feeling your walls clamp around him so tightly. So perfectly. It's addicting and all he can do is thrust in and out, over and over again. Each time seeking out the sounds of your pretty moans when you are completely filled and stuffed with him.

Lewd squelches and the slaps of skin meeting flesh fill the elevator space, along with Daishou’s grunts and your pants. Your hips meet each of Daishou’s thrusts in perfect rhythm, taking his entire length until the base. You can feel each stroke dragging along your walls, the size and length of his cock pushing against your tightness and prodding your cervix.

Neither of you can bother with any other distractions now that bliss is just teetering on the edge. Daishou pulls out and turns you around so you face him. He then scoops you up from under your ass with your legs spread over his forearms and hoists you up against the elevator wall. You feel the stinging cold from the cylindrical edge of the handrail as a dubious support against your heated skin.

"Suguru!" you squeal out, "I'll fall! I'll—"

"I got you, don't worry," Daishou reassures, "You're okay, I won't let you fall."

Once he feels your arm wrapped tightly around his shoulders, Daishou slides into you again with a loud squelch.

"We're right outside now! Won't be long before we get you two out." A loud voice calls out from beyond the shut elevator doors.

"Smile for the camera, princess," Daishou encourages before picking up the pace, chasing the high that's just around the corner. His thrusts become faster and rougher, hitting your sweet spot deep inside you over and over again making your mind spin. The countless reflected images of Daishou's unrelenting pursuit and speed, and the expression of your fucked out face collide together in a blurry, infinite kaleidoscope.

“Gonna cum! Gonna-”

All thoughts leave your mind with each ragged breath as you near your own edge. You can only cling onto Daishou tightly, nails digging into his shoulder and back. You don't hear the sounds of mechanical whirring outside the elevator. Whatever it is that the people are shouting outside does not matter. The bright lights don't make any sense to you anymore. You don't even remember what Daishou Suguru looks like.

The blank stare from the camera is the last thing you see before you squeeze your eyes shut, face tucked in the crook of Daishou’s neck, and body feeling like putty in his arms. All that's left is the euphoria sparking through and broken syllabylic babbles you struggle to utter out.

With a few final thrusts, Daishou grunts and pulls you completely flush against his hips, finally spilling himself into you. Release after a long day never feels this sweet, Daishou muses as he holds your languid body close. Each deep breath you take only pushes your soft breast against his chest, and Daishou can feel your spasming walls still hugging him. He peppers a few kisses on your sweat covered brow. So good, so fucking good.

The voices and mechanical whirs outside interrupt Daishou’s moment.

That’s right, we’re still in this damn elevator. Daishou carefully pulls out his softened and twitching cock and lowers your wobbly form down from your make-shift seat. He takes a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the drool from your face then lightly dab away the trail of mixed fluids seeping out of your puffy cunt. The overly saturated handkerchief does a poor job soaking away the mess the two of you made.

Daishou reaches for the crumpled panties he shoved into the shirt pocket, but decides against letting you wear it. In your current state, your legs are like a newborn deer, barely able to support you let alone try to maneuver into underwear.

"Once we get back to my place, I'll draw us a bath.”

The increasingly loud mechanical clamor and sounds of the elevator workers pull you out of your daze for a moment too. You try to fumble around and haphazardly button your shirt, but the buttons miss their proper buttonhole by one. You pout and look at Daishou who just buckled his belt and tucked in the edges of his crumpled shirt. He looks ready for a client meeting already, if not for the obvious smell of sex clinging into him.

Daishou chuckles at your state and helps you slip into his long coat. He kisses your brow again in apology. "Sorry baby, just bear with it for a moment."

"Hungry."

"Yes, yes. I'll order your favorite too, like I promised."

You nod, pleased with his answer.

Ding.

The doors of the elevator open, to the relief of the elevator workers outside. They were in the process of getting ready to pry the doors open, but it seems like the elevator is back to normal already.

"Sir, Ma'am, we apologize for our tardiness."

Daishou waves a hand. "Not at all, it was fine. My girlfriend," he nods to your hidden form in the coat, "a bit frazzled, that's all."

Daishou's coat is like a bathrobe and hides absolutely everything. Turn up the collar, hide your face in Daishou's neck, and no one can see the mess that you are still underneath the thick layer. If they don't look, they won't know about the cum that's already dripping out and trailing down the curves of your legs into your scuffed heels.

"Is she okay? If there are any problems, we can direct you to-"

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her. Thanks for helping fix the elevator." Not that there was anything wrong with it to begin with.

"We'll be inspecting all the elevators in the building as well. We assure you this will never happen again."

The musty smell of sweat and sex is all that lingers in the elevator, but it'll dissipate soon enough. Maybe there are tiny puddles of your juices on the tiles but the 5 A.M. cleaning workers will wipe it all away. By tomorrow, the elevator and rest of the building will be just the way it always is again. The stainless steel is cold, and the glass panels are pristine. In the early hours of the morning, leather shoes and heels will be strutting around on the marbled floors. Phone calls. Printers. Clients. Meetings. And more overtime.

Daishou smirks to himself, supporting just about your entire weight. His phone rings in his coat pocket. He reaches for the device and answers the call. Those bastards.

"Heh, glad you enjoyed the show you fucker. And tell Kenma, 'that was a dick move he pulled back there.'"

He listens to the response from the other line.

"Yea sure, thanks for hacking the system...uh huh, tell him to cum in your dirty sock-rag then...yea whatever, go eat shit."

Daishou ends the call and shoves the phone into his pocket.

"Su-gu-ru..." you mumble.

"Yes princess?"

"...Pitchbook..."

Daishou presses a light kiss to your forehead. "Don't worry about it, sweetheart."

Even all fucked out, you still manage to not forget about corporate responsibilities, some overachieving show-off you are. After getting you cleaned up and warm, he'll finish up any remaining work. Daishou Suguru works quickly. He works efficiently.

[eventid1ngs]

[ D a y d r e a m . ]

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I stand at attention, my left hand resting upon my right that is perched atop the pommel of the Master Sword, with the semblance that I’m ready for anything and everything that might come this way. Nothing will disturb the princess as she prays at the Goddess Spring. That is my mission.

Not far behind me, I hear a bit of rustling as Zelda slips off her sandals. She takes her time entering the water, each step into the clear spring slow and deliberate.

I know that she is anxious. I know that she feels like a failure.

I know that she is afraid.

The sounds of gently moving water and Zelda’s hushed voice make my head swim, making me remember, for whatever reasons, each time that the princess’ hand touched my hand or arm and every moment that her gaze met mine. Within castle walls, on lonely roads out in the field, late at night… under the stars... in the dark…..

Letting out a sigh, I close my eyes and focus on any other sounds around me. The rustling of the leaves and tree branches above me. Songbirds happily chirping what will be their final performances of the season. The late summer breeze wafts about, flaunting its broken promises; its own song of lingering memory and uncertain futures.

I let out another sigh as I wipe my mind blank.

After a few minutes, I hear the water stir behind me as Zelda steps out of the water. I sheathe my sword before turning to reach for the towel that I had slung over a low tree branch. Approaching the princess, I make a small gesture for her to sit down on a nearby rock. She does. Her eyes are downcast and her expression vulnerable, revealing her utter disappointment. Part of me, deep within the recesses of my soul, wants to curse the goddess for refusing to answer, but I do not.

Part of me, deep within the recesses of my soul, wants to tell Zelda that I love her and that everything will be alright and that it all will somehow work out in the end, but I do not.

She doesn’t say anything, so I don’t, either. I crouch down and dry her feet.

Reaching for her shoes, I hold her clean, dry right foot in my hand for a moment before slipping the sandal on. I do the same for her left foot.

“Thank you, Link.” she says, finally breaking the silence between us. There is so much emotion in her voice. Behind the honest gratitude of her words I hear things that others do not, or maybe just pretend that they do not. I hear the relentless fear that throbs like a festering wound within her. I hear the tenderness of a girl who possesses the sweet compassion of a mother but veils it with bold character so as to not appear "weak." I hear her heart, crying out; reaching out, desperately, for someone–anyone–to provide even an ounce of comfort amongst the chaos.

My hands linger on her legs for far longer than necessary and my heart is beating so hard in my chest that it threatens to cause my stomach to promptly expel whatever I had eaten for lunch not an hour ago.

I want to comfort her.

I want to–

“Link.” she says, and I look up to meet her eyes. The ocean green of her irises shimmer in the sunlight as the inevitable tears come to surface. She opens her lips to say something else, but the words refuse to follow. I reach up without thinking and wipe her cheek with my thumb. My finger barely touches her skin. A quiet sort of half-sob escapes her lips that are still parted.

I take her hands in mine and we both stand. I search her face for answers to questions that I do not even know how to ask. She needs something… I can see it in the concerned arc of her brows, the flutter of her lashes, and the way her breaths keep catching ever so slightly as they come and go.

What is it? What can I give that will stop her from hurting, even if just for a brief moment?

Shoving aside the doubts that are clouding my judgment, I put my arms around the princess and press her to my chest. She sobs quietly as I crush her to me in vain attempt to convince her with my embrace that I will not let go until she feels that she is ready to face the world again.

My lips brush against her temple, not entirely by accident, and the sudden contact makes her pull back a little. Something new makes an appearance in her expression, mingling with the sorrow. It is something like surprise, something like curiosity. Something like excitement. Though I can’t be sure, I lean towards her. My heart skips a beat when I realize that she makes no effort to hesitate. My mouth pauses a mere centimeter from hers as we share the same breath. With an inhale she moves forward so our upper lips touch; so quick and feather-light that it’s almost like it didn’t happen. She does this two more times as if confirming it. I angle my head slightly so that the next time she leaned in, our lips touched properly. It was almost a real kiss, but she pulled back just before the point of no return.

“Link…” Zelda whispers. If she says my name like that again, I feel like I would have to be relieved of my duties as a royal guard because there is no way I would ever be able to concentrate again with that permanently imprinted upon my mind. I dare not look at her face to see the blush that has risen in her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. So I keep my eyes shut.

I want to run away. I want to run far, far away, with her hand in mine. With her by my side. Two kids, too young and too dumb to fight this war.

Just sad kids, going somewhere.

Getting lost.

My hands move up her back and over her shoulders and down her arms, hovering just a breadth away from her skin. The ghost caresses were enough, however, to raise goosebumps across every inch of her flesh that is either exposed by or hidden from my view under her white dress. Skin so rosy, so smooth, without blemish… The skin of the princess who carries the goddess’ blood within her veins, and it trembles and responds to me.

Her eyes flutter closed and mine do, too. Maybe if we keep our eyes closed, we can pretend that it didn’t happen. Maybe if we never open our eyes again, we won’t have to wake up.

Our lips crash into each other.

There is no sound but our breaths that come quickly before being stolen away again. There is no feeling but a steadily growing warmth as inhibitions are stripped away and skin touches skin. The setting sun melts into eventide. There is nothing but us; she, the Princess of Hyrule and I, her appointed knight. Even the moon and stars that hang in splendor from the heavens above dare not disturb us.

A sob catches in my throat as the edges of my darkened vision go blurry with the tears that are rapidly rising. My heart constricts painfully at the sudden, terrible idea that I have become caught up in a silly dream. The possibility that this isn’t real. It couldn’t be. It never would be.

The realization hits me, knocking the air from my lungs, like a behemoth.

Just a silly dream.

All the things you didn’t say.

All of the things that you didn’t do.

Every chance that slipped from your grasp.

Do you wonder what we could have had?

Do you realize that you and I… could have…..

I feel myself start to panic, and I’m too exhausted to fight it. Don’t leave me.

Please.

A wave of pale blue flower petals rushes past my line of sight like an angel answering a prayer, but it never materializes; only disappears with what remains of my fleeting daydream.

I realize, gradually, while the scene that I had just experienced wasn’t real, the pain in my chest very much was. I look down, choking on my own sobs, at the arrows that are lodged into the center of my breastbone. Every inhale causes me to wince at the sharp pain that shoots up and down my body due to the movement.

What do I do?

I don’t know what I’m doing.

Please come back to me.

"I'll find you."  I say, out loud, with a voice that sounds out of place. "...Wait for me."

...Zelda.

I get up.

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Playlist:

“Daydream” by Super Junior

“2 Kids” & “Sad Kids” by Taemin

“Find You” by Monsta X

(Zelink shippers, don’t look up these songs with the English translations unless you, like myself, have an inordinate desire for pain.)