#the next part is them running away and then as i said before it's ming time ^^

[blueivyy99]

Calm and Serenity (Part 5)

Sylus x Non!MC

summary: you didn't know what sylus saw in you. he said you were calm, quiet and serene and that's what he needs. you believed it. he showed it. not until little miss hunter came. she's everything you're not. news that she's in danger can make the ever so calm sylus to run and leave everything behind. it made you think, would he do that for you as well?

tags: angst, romance, hurt and comfort, confused sylus, non-mc reader, mentions of death/dying, cursing

taglist: @fknblsht @aboobie @nin10doo @ixloom819 @damatically @sylusgirlie7 @stellisangelicus-world @kira-loves0905 @wanderlustingcastaway @browneyedgirl22 @lumieresdreams @babygirl-panda19 @picnicinthegarden @96jnie @xxfaithlynxx @wrimaira @reni502 @lazypostfandomer @augustdxjiminx @hey-airam @vevlvtcherie @marquitas-en-verano @ma-cherie-lovely @zeskyzed @imnikki @shiorihoshino @mentaltrouble2201 @sylustoru @imaginarytheatre @seris-the-amious @zoyadarling @sanghyuksgasolinestationscream @young-adult-summer @iamawkwardandshy @r0ckb1n @openthenyoor01 @malleus-draconias-rose @syyyy4ever @yutterfly @xsammijoanneex @reni502 @animegamerfox @hao-ming-8 @angelicspaceprince @codedove @bxtchopolis @nommingonfood @esylwen @phisen @gojosbedwarmer @rubyninja1 @lemonn015 @cordidy @blueesmiski @yunhogrippers @sleepykittenenergy @thatsbunnysmind @lumi-s-garlic @splaterparty0-0 @soulaandshere @sillyfeeakfanparty (OMG I CAN'T TAG ANYMORE HELP)

note: one last part next. and a big thank you to the love on this series. y'all make me wanna cryyyyy 🥹🥹🥹

Masterlist

Sylus eyes flickered over the screen scanning every area in N109 Zone’s security cameras hoping in one of them he'll see you but for some reasons he can't.

The frustration is slowly creeping to his skin. He doesn't like the obvious fact that you left him with no explanation, that he is too late. That it took him long enough before giving you the assurance that you needed.

But most of all, he didn't like it that he inflicted such an amount of pain on you that you had to leave him quietly.

For every moment that passes without any news of you, Sylus can feel the anxiousness in him double in numbers. He won't stay still. He needs to find you now.

He grabbed his jacket and was about to get his keys when he heard footsteps approaching his directions.

He hoped that it was you. That you decided to finally come back and maybe hear him out. He quickened his steps but when he saw the red link on his wrists glowing, immediate disappointment consumed him.

“Sylus, I kept calling you but I was sent straight to voicemail," she said with a pout.

“MC, now is not a good time. Please take your leave." he coldly said.

It made her frown and he knew that she's not used to him saying no to her. But it had to be done. He didn't define a proper boundary before and now his life is a mess so even if it's late, he will do his best to straighten up his act.

Maybe if he did this the heavens would smile at him and make you go back to him.

“MC? I thought I'm Miss Hunter? Or Kitten? What happened? Did Mephisto throw that away by the window?"

He just stood there unmoving. Hearing her say that is an additional punch to the gut. Sylus didn't hide anything from you including this. And even if he can't control what he feels, he should've taken control of the things he says.

It's not right to call her those pet names when you exists and it must've been hell for you to hear that rolling off his tongue so naturally.

"I said leave.” he finally managed to get a word out of his mouth.

“Why? I thought we were spending time together to establish our connections? For us to get synced when using our evols?” She inquired with an obvious irritation in her face.

If it were before he lost you, he might have laughed and teased her about it and will add a little bit of sass to rile her up more.

But now? All he can think about is how insensitive he is. An asshole even.

No wonder she left.

No. He can't think like that. He needs you back and he will do everything to see you tonight.

Sylus took a deep breath. He can feel his brows twitching. Every second wasted here is a risk for your safety and what if you come back and see her? What would you think?

He doesn't know exactly why you left but he is not stupid to not know that it has something to do with Miss Hunter.

“I don't want to have any connections with you," Sylus answered.

“What do you mean?"

“See this link?" He asked and showed her his wrist.

“Yes. That connects us, right? You, me, grew from the same soil, kindred spirits like you said." She recounted their previous conversations.

“Good. Now I want us to get rid of it. I want you to get rid of it."

Sylus can see the gears in her head turning at every word he says. He knows he's asking for too much. She doesn't even remember cursing him but Sylus is desperate. He needs to find you and he needs this connection to finally be broken.

He can live without half his soul. He's been doing that for a while now, but he cannot live without you.

"Are you out of your mind?” She exclaimed, "I don't even know how we got tied together and now you want me to break it?”

Sylus is losing hope. He doesn't want her to remember. What's the point? It will hurt her, it will make all of this complicated … but he also needs to break free from this curse.

He will make this conversation quick. He needs to get this out of the way.

“Y/N is missing," he said. “She left me and I know it's because of my own stupidity, but it also has something to do with this bond, MC."

“I-I don't understand,"

“I will explain, but not now.” Sylus met her gaze making sure she understands every word he says, "A lot has happened in the past and it had something to do with a curse that binds me to you in every life we live. And you know what's the worst part? We're always doomed. We don't get to be really happy. I always end up dead and you end up killing me … grieving me.”

Recalling it all, it leaves a bitter taste in his tongue. Always cursed to die, to suffer. To love her but always end up dead. It drained him of hope, of joy, of life.

"It made me who I am today because of all those experiences. Living day to day just to wait for the time that I'll die. But that changed here. It changed because of Y/N. I get to experience the things that I thought I was desensitized of. She made me hope that I can break free of this cycle.”

Sylus held her hand. Begging.

“So please, think of it. Help me find a way to break this cycle."

With a single tear and a shaky voice he begged. “Please let me go."

"Let me go!” You screamed and tried to kick Luke and Kieran. "Get off me!”

"No can do, Madame. You need to go home. Boss Man is going crazy looking for you.” Kieran said. "He's flipping the base inside out just to find you.”

You groaned and rolled your eyes. “Ah so he does remember I exist? I was so close to being free and you just have to drag me back."

Indeed, you're so close to leaving the N109 Zone. Just one step and you're out of their radar but just before you can run, Mephisto’s blocking your way followed by Luke and Kieran.

“I know you've been having a hard time lately and the boss is really at fault. But come home for now. It's dangerous out here. He has a lot of enemies and they won't hesitate to use you to their advantage.” Luke said. “Plus, he has alerted everyone of his trusted alliances and the whole base to guard every entrance and exit in N109 Zone. Even if you manage to step outside you'll be dragged back home.”

“Fine. I guess I have no choice." All that running and hiding just to come back to base and it's not because you want to, but because you can't. You're sure that the moment you run, Mephisto is already tailing you and alerting everyone. Plus, you can't really outrun a bird.

“If you really want to leave, and you have enough reasons, Boss is not heartless enough to cage you. I know that you know it very well." Kieran said, his voice surprisingly gentle.

You didn't give him an answer. You just walked with them to their car and closed your eyes. You can hear the twins updating Sylus that you're with them.

Right … Once you get home, you have no choice but to face the inevitable. You planned to just leave him be and let him live his life with Miss Hunter, but he just has to find you when you don't want to be found.

You're too busy thinking of every possibile thing that you'll say to Sylus and didn't notice the time it took before the car stopped in front of his home. Luke and Kieran left you saying something about giving you privacy. You can't really tell. You're not paying much attention.

Just as you were stepping down from the car, you saw Miss Hunter. Anger bubbled in your chest. You're here being dragged back home with the thought that he's looking for you because he cares but then you're gonna see her here?

You were about to march back to the car when you saw the state that Miss Hunter is in. Her eyes are puffy and red. Looked like she cried. Once she saw you, she avoided your gaze and muttered a brief “I'm sorry," and left.

It was weird. What's happening?

Behind her you saw Sylus running for his life. Immediately, you thought that he's running after her. That's the natural order of things right?

“You're back, you're really back." His hard body slammed yours and you were engulfed in a tight hug. You can feel his erratic heartbeat and his shaking hands that cradle the back of your head.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need anything?"

You looked at him. Your heart is splitting in two.

This is your Sylus. This is the Sylus you loved. The one who only looks at you. The one that loves you.

He's back.

But why now? Why now when you decided that you're done? You tear your gaze away from him.

“Sweetie, please say something." He begged, cupping your cheeks to make you look at him.

“I know I have not been a good boyfriend, but please hear me out, okay?” His voice breaks as he talks to you. You can hear fear, desperation and sadness in them. “I love you, I really do and I'm choosing you. I'm choosing us —”

A hiccup escaped from your lips. Since when did you start sobbing? You didn't know. But your tears are free flowing now. All the hurt that you kept hidden is now out in the open.

“But you left. You left me. You chose her. You always choose her." you said. Like a kid who lost her precious toy, you cried and hit Sylus's chest. “I know everything. You don't have to lie. Sweet Evil Trap, huh? Half of your soul? I know that. I read them in your journal."

“How can you tell me you love me when you have her? You were waiting for her. Not just once but in every lifetime." You sobbed as he pulled you to a hug. He didn't say a word. He just let you pour your heart out.

“All I wanted was one dinner with you. A time for just the two of us, but you're so ready to ditch me because she called. A-and I realized that no matter what you say, that no matter how much you tell me you love me, I can't really compete with her because you don't love me as much as her."

You tried to pull away from him but he just held you closer.

"That's not true, no, no, I love you. No one else. It's just complicated, darling. We have this bond —”

You snapped and pushed him away.

"That stupid bond again! How many times do I have to hear that? How many times do I have to be slapped by the fact that I do not have any connection with you? That you need to discard me as soon as possible to be with your soulmate!?”

He grabbed your wrist when you tried to walk away. “Listen to me first! Yes, there's a bond connecting us but I want it gone! AND IT'S NOT A FUCKING SOULMATE BOND IT'S A CURSE!"

He raised his voice at you and that made you shut up. He never yells at you. This is the first time. And you expect anger to fill his eyes but it's pure sadness and pleading that you give him a chance to tell his truth.

“Sylus,"

“It's a curse, alright? She cursed me to always have my soul tied to her. Yes we did have a past, it was beautifully tragic. She had to kill me. I had her kill me so I could save her. But it gets tiring over time. It gets tiring to always live just to die. I relived that life multiple times and I was not happy anymore.”

You see his tears flowing now. You want to wipe them away but you're stoned in place still trying to process what he said. So when he kissed your hand, you didn't pull away. You saw that it gave him a little relief so you let him continue.

“And then you came. You came and changed everything. For once, I wanted to be happy again. To be selfish again. To live for as long as I can just to be with you. I may have been a fool as of late, but that's the life that I was accustomed to.”

"Once she's here, I know it's a matter of time for me to die and I willingly throw myself in there. Because that's the fate I have to live. And this bond? This energy linkage makes sure that I hurt every time I try to defy my fate. But because of you, for once I have the desire to take control of my life again.”

You cannot stop crying now hearing all of that. He wipes your tears with his thumb and planted kisses on your temple. You mustered the courage to reach for his face and wipe the wetness off his cheeks. He leaned in to your touch savoring every moment.

“I talked to MC, I asked her to help me break the curse she bestowed upon me." He said kissing your palm. “I'm choosing you, sweetie. I'm choosing this life. So please, please let me make it up to you?"

You take a deep breath. You have decided.

"I love you. So, so much,” you gave him a quick kiss. "And thank you for choosing to live your life as your own.”

His hold on your hand tightens, "Baby, please.”

"But I still need to leave.” New waves of tears flowed from the both of you. "I know that you're telling me the truth and you're genuine, but the problem here is not just in your situation with MC but with the conflict on myself as well.”

"Sylus, I'm insecure and I'm having a hard time accepting that you're choosing me. In my head you're saying this because you're guilty. Because you're a good person and you can't bear to see me hurting so you're sacrificing your own happiness just to cater to me.” you said.

“Do you see the point I'm making? I acknowledge your bravery for choosing us, for choosing your happiness, but I also have to make this decision, Sylus. The hurt I felt won't be mended and healed just because you told me all of that. So I need to go away for some time. To heal, and find it in myself to trust you without any speck of doubt. You get me right? If I don't do this, I will just end up hurting you more because I am broken.”

“I need time, Sylus. Time to process and heal. And if by the time we see each other again and you're still feeling the same thing and I am as well, then maybe we'll go from there."

It was hard for Sylus but he knows that you need this. That you both need this. So despite not liking the idea of you leaving and the fear of the possibility that you won't be back, he nods his head. It was his own fault that you're thinking that way. He broke you and mere words are not enough to mend your heart.

He will live his life as his own. He will hope that you will keep him in your heart because he is sure that he won't be able to find anyone to love aside from you.

“I understand, darling." he replied, “I am so sorry for putting you through that, but please know that I love you and if ever you find it in your heart to come back to me, you know where to find me."

That same night, you packed your bags and left the N109 Zone. Sylus took you to Linkon. He remembered looking at your back as you walked away. Your shoulders obviously shaking as you cry.

That night was the night that Sylus felt the loneliest he has ever been. That night, Sylus wished that you'll find happiness and come back to him.

But if you don't?

Then he'll just be content and happy that even for a brief time it felt like he truly lived again.

OMG last part? Hmm Yes, No, Maybe so?

Reactions, reblogs and comments are welcome please let me hear them. Thank youuuu

[sebastianswallows]

The Little Death — 16. As dangerous an emotion as love

— PAIRING: Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen x Bene Gesserit!Reader

— SYNOPSIS: A Bene Gesserit gets left behind in the Arrakeen palace. When Feyd becomes the Planetary Governor, he finds her there in hiding. The Harkonnens don't traditionally keep them as truthsayers or concubines like other Houses do, but Feyd might have a use for her. After all, he's never had a Bene Gesserit of his own before.

— WARNINGS: angst, smut

— WORDCOUNT: 3k

— A/N: Hello, my darlings! 💕🫂 Back with another one. This is finally a more spicy chapter, but it has its fair share of angst too, mostly thanks to our heroine. But something starts to turn in Feyd's mind too, when he's not being too hornii 😄 Hope you enjoy it! 🩷 I'll be going on vacation tomorrow for about a week, and I haven't started working on the next chapter, so no promises as to when that will be ready. But we're coming close to the end.

— TAGLIST: @elf-punk @lowlyloved @pomtherine @slytherins-heir @babyofneptune @localravenclaw @missbingu @wo-ming-bai @torossosebs @mrsjobarnes

Hatred is as dangerous an emotion as love. The capacity for either one is the capacity for its opposite. — Cautionary Instructions for the Sisterhood, Bene Gesserit Archives

She lay in bed, resting on her back, her feet hanging over the side. Her lips felt like they were burning. Feyd hadn’t said much throughout the dinner — of which only she partook, which she found a little strange — and her desire to speak to him, argue with him, convince him to see things her way… remained unsatisfied. From the edge of her consciousness, she heard him get up off the bed to place the empty tray upon the table, and when he came back he had something in his hand. It was a glass of water.

“Here,” he said, sitting beside her and propping her head up with his palm.

She drank quietly, allowing herself to indulge in the luxury of the cold drink. She almost sobbed at the thought that it would be a luxury to her forever…

“I can’t stand it,” she found herself saying as soon as he pulled the glass away. She licked her lips of stray droplets.

“What can’t you stand?” he quietly asked, moving on the bed behind her. He pulled her gently toward him until she rested her cheek against his thighs.

“This. Everything here,” she whispered, gaze looking out at nothing. “The dust. The sand. The winds. The sun. The air. The —”

“Water?”

She swallowed the knot in her throat. “They say that after a few days, you can no longer tell that it’s recycled. That you can’t taste the salt and ammonia… But I still can. It sticks at the back of my tongue like a film of filth, like… like oil…”

“I know,” he said, fingers running through her hair.

She found herself shivering and curling up, hugging her knees. His arms came down to wrap around her shoulders. It was humiliating that he should comfort her… She was supposed to be the intellectually superior one, wasn’t she? The voice of reason. Even if he was a step removed from the Kwisatz Haderach, she was the one who had undergone the training necessary to control her mind and feelings and her every muscle. Suddenly, a part of her resented him for her own weakness.

“Do you want to stay here?” She didn’t wait for him to say something or groan or roll his eyes before she added, “I don’t mean it as a ploy. I’m speaking to you as… as you.”

“What do you want me to say?” he sighed.

That answered enough… and nothing all at once. She closed her eyes and let her head lay heavy against his thighs.

“I can’t live here,” she mumbled. “I can only die here.”

Feyd’s hand came up to brush the hair away from her sweaty forehead, fingers threading down its length. His touch was almost cool. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t die,” he said, and she could taste the smile in his voice.

“Not done using me yet?”

“Not at all,” he said, sliding down the bed. He placed the empty glass of water on the floor, then twisted his lean body back to her.

She bit her lower lip and sighed as he slowly took the rest of his clothes off, tugging now and then at the folds of her dress like a boy begging for his mother’s attention. He was far too tempting, and a deep part of her longed to be tempted. Longed to forget about everything, and know only him. She slid her dress off too and threw it far away. It landed like an inky spill onto the floor.

As soon as it was just his naked skin and hers against the tar-black sheets, she crawled toward him. His arms parted for her, and he pulled her in. She rested her cheek against his chest and he propped his chin atop her head as he petted her, his hands smoothing down her hair, her back, her arms…

“Your skin feels wet,” she said.

“If I say it’s because of you, would you take it the wrong way?”

“Say it and find out.”

Feyd chuckled. He wrapped both arms around her and softly kissed her head, dizzying her with the sort of attention she hadn’t had from him in… days? weeks? In a land without seasons, it was hard to tell the time.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

With a hand that was softer than it should be, he tilted her head up and brought his lips to hers. Sharing the wetness of their mouths felt forbidden. It made her crawl a little higher atop him and grip his arms, nails digging in, tongue lapping at his lips for more, as if she could be absorbed into him and disappear. Feyd swallowed her kisses and absorbed her body in his arms, rolling them until he was on top and she was left lying flat and breathless. He smiled down at her, caressed her cheekbones, and braced his arms and legs around her, settling firmly on top. On a whim, he spread his fingers through her hair and then splayed it out into a curling sunburst.

“What are you doing?” she giggled.

“Playing,” he said.

“Playing with me?” she asked with a cock of her brow.

Feyd grinned down at her, his pale lips stark against his pitch-black teeth. “If you want me to.”

He kissed her again, then dragged his lips lower, down her throat, down her chest, his hands trailing behind in soft, messy caresses. She let her hands linger on his shoulders but was too dizzy to do anything else. Even feeling what he was doing to her became a foggy memory the further her thoughts would stray — and then he kissed the centre of her stomach, and wrapped his arms around her legs, and sank a little lower.

“Feyd,” she groaned, squirming in a strange mix of discomfort and delight.

He hummed, his lips peppering kisses along the bottom of her tummy. His body felt cold against her legs, but his mouth was warm as it sucked at her skin, tongue lapping over it, breath fanning above. It made her shiver, and he held her all the tighter as he slid a little lower and settled there with his weight over her thighs.

“What do you want?” she sighed, trying to sound irritated but not quite managing.

“You’ve made me thirsty,” he grinned, pale eyes looking up at her. “You owe it to me, after how much you’ve made me kiss you.”

“You chose to do the kissi—” she started, but it melted away when he placed his mouth over her mound.

He didn’t stay there long before he dipped his tongue where her folds came together, dragging it across her slit from as far back as he could manage all the way to her clit. He held her legs tightly and angled her hips upward, exposing just enough of her while keeping her completely still and trapped beneath him.

“F-feyd,” she moaned, her hands coming to rest on his head, fingers already curling. She scraped her nails across his scalp and heard him, felt him, laughing.

He fixed his lips over the top of her folds, where her clit was nestled, and licked her from her hole all the way upwards, again, and again. It made her juices lather at the corners of his mouth, mixing with his spit. She angled her hips up and down, her body full of nervous energy, but he only started lapping at her faster, moving together with her. He growled and sighed, the hot breath tickling her lower stomach, and when he looked up into her eyes again she could see his were dilated.

‘That’s strange’, she thought, barely managing to string together one lucid sentence. ‘He’s never looked like that before… Has he?’

She felt on the verge of realising something when he moved his hands to her lower back and arched it, then brought his lips a little lower and nestled his face deeper into her. His searching tongue settled underneath her clit and dragged itself across its tip as he pulled it between his plush lips. Her breath rushed out of her amid cries and moans and her body struggled through the hot sensations, like flames licking at her soles. Her nails scrambled across his head and upper back and no matter how hard she tried to buck him off, she only brought her vulnerable parts deeper in his mouth. She felt trapped, and at the same time felt like she was flying, hot and cold and wet and far too dry, and for all of Feyd tending to her nerve endings in a way that made her blood sing, she felt utterly unsatisfied. She thought she might die if she didn’t have more.

‘He’s drugged me,’ the thought finally came to her, like a half-forgotten memory. When she opened her eyes again and looked at him, her gaze hazy, lips parted by her panting breaths, she saw his eyes again and noticed the same peculiar dilation, the same dizzy ecstasy she felt. ‘And now he’s drugging himself through me… Through my body’s synthesis of the spice… Oh, this little bastard.’

Her nails sank deeper into him, but Feyd just purred. Whether he realised what he was doing or not, she had no doubt he’d intentionally increased the amount of melange in her food to get her to this point. That was why she’d felt so hot and cold and thirsty, her thoughts wandering, her feeling frayed.

She started struggling against him with renewed force and kicked her knees into his chest, twisted her waist in his grasp, and pushed against the bed to dislodge herself from him. But Feyd would barely budge, staying fixed to her like the hungry creature that he was and driving her mad all the while. So she twisted on the bed until they were curled around each other like a pair of snakes and she landed a half-measured blow against his ribs. He gasped and his attention was distracted for a second, just enough for her to slip away.

“You and your tricks,” he hissed, still smiling, when he saw her sliding toward the top of the bed. In the blink of an eye, he reached out and grabbed her ankle, pulling her closer again.

“What are you doing?” she asked again through gritted teeth — and she wasn’t referring to just that moment, or just that day.

“What I need to do,” he said with a cocked brow, completely unrepentant, “to have you.”

A wave of rage washed over her and she could feel her eyes grow hot. “That’s not what you want,” she growled, kicking at him even as he pulled her lower, closer toward him. “What you want is control. You want ��”

He shut her up with a kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist, fingers curling into her skin, sweat sticking to sweat, knees coming down to lock her hips in.

“I want you,” he breathed, rubbing his cheek against her own, his lips trailing to her chin, her neck, dragging his head downward until he could feel her heartbeat hammering against his tongue. “I want you.”

And for some reason, that caused her thoughts to stutter. Why would he want her, she thought, when he already had everything she was able to give? He’d taken her freedom, her body, her mind, and although he didn’t seem unsatisfied, he seemed… unsated. His cold hands spread her thighs and then he held her by the waist, angling her hips, coming closer until she could feel his length. He reached up to hold the back of her head in his hand and moved closer, higher, rubbing his tip against her entrance. She gasped into his mouth and closed her eyes, her muscles losing their tension while Feyd’s body grew harder on top of her. He kissed her throat and tightened his grip on her as he moved his hips, his tip catching on her entrance. Then he pressed himself inside. She could feel his moan against her chest and held him tighter.

“I love this,” he sighed with lips brushing up against her puckered nipple. “I love you,” he whispered, moving upwards, placing a soft kiss over her pulse, lips pressing against the fluttering of her heart. “I just want you… All of you…”

He pressed himself deeper, opening her up, dragging through her soft insides until he filled her up. A moan built up inside her until she couldn’t hold it in and she cried out and shuddered and instinctively wrapped her legs around his own. He covered her like springtime rain, like a breath of wind with no trace of dust or sand in it, just air, just water. She held him tighter, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to enjoy every sensation he gave her.

He suckled on her breast as he thrust harder and harder, letting his moans sink into her flesh and reverberate throughout her body. Her nails sank into his skin as she planted messy kisses over his forehead, his brows, wherever she could reach. He filled her up and turned her inside out, and made all her senses go alight. She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy, overwhelmed, and when his body made her sway along with him she thought she could drift away.

“Take me,” she breathed against his ear. “Take all of me… Take me away…”

“I want to,” he whispered between kisses all over her breasts, his plush lips wetting her skin like dewdrops. If he could just say the right words, in the right way, maybe then she’d understand, truly understand the things he didn’t want to say. “I know what you want… I want it too.”

She held him tighter and moved along with him, her body encircling him, swallowing him up, and with a firm touch to his neck she brought his head up so that she could kiss his lips. He closed his eyes and smiled against her mouth. Their hearts beat together in such a frantic rhythm it was hard to tell which belonged to who. He thrust up into her until his tip knocked against her cervix, and she gasped. He grinned above her and let go of her hip to trail a hand up her arm until he could entangle his fingers with hers above her head, then did the same with the other, and pressed her clenched fists down. And then the languid thrusting of his hips turned to something fast and desperate and needy.

Feyd slammed into her like he couldn't get enough of her, like he needed to be deeper, and deeper. He rested his face against her neck and closed his eyes tight, breath fanning hot and cold all over her skin. Her body beneath him felt so frail, and he knew he should be gentler, but he just couldn't bring himself to. He needed to take this illusion of delicacy from her too, needed her like he needed to breathe. His heart beat wildly, and all he could feel was her body wrapped around him, and her soft skin, and her whimpers in his ear, and her little gasps that told him he was doing it right. Her body writhed against him and his name spilled from her lips. It sounded like something out of a dream...

He felt greedy and desperate, like he would die if she ever let go of him. “You’re mine… only mine…” he groaned against her neck.

“Come inside me,” she moaned, burying her face against his neck as tears beaded at the corners of her eyes. “Please… Please, come…” He was driving her crazy, dizzy, like she was flying and sinking, drowning in his moans and pleasure, soaring on the breath.

He buried his face in her shoulder, his body shaking, and with a kiss and nibble at her throat, he came hard inside her, gripping her so tightly it was like he was afraid she'd disappear. If he murmured her name, it got lost in her flesh.

She kept her eyes closed and caressed him even as her limbs were trembling in a long, slow orgasm. She cradled him between her thighs and took his thrusts, letting her breath seep out slowly until the bruising motions became long and gentle, and finally came to a stop. He kissed her neck again and his panting breath tickled her, made her giggle lazily.

“Happy, are you?” he growled.

“Maybe,” she hummed, swaying the both of them in her embrace.

With one helpful shove, Feyd rolled them until he could lay back and she could rest atop him. She could hardly see his face past the messy curtain of her hair, but she could see a hint of purplish blush across his cheeks, and smiled.

He had been sweeter than she expected, even after knowing him all this time, and it felt strange now that it was over… Her vulnerability was gone, replaced by something else. She kept her leg wrapped around him and rested her head against her bent arm. With a lazy motion, he brushed the hair out of her face.

Feyd was completely lost in the feeling of her skin. Her legs around his, her breath on his chest, his fingers in her hair, and he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but be soothed by that moment. He listened to her steady breathing and thought of nothing but how good she smelled, and how soft she was, and how her touch against his scalp made him want to purr… He loved this, being able to hold her like this. It was so easy to pretend the world didn't exist.

“I want this,” he caught himself saying.

“You have it,” she said, her voice already low and sleepy.

“I want it all the time. Forever.”

“I know…” Then, breaking through her last shred of hesitation, she added, “I want that too.”

“So why don’t we have it?”

She looked up at him briefly, and with a tired smile, she answered, “Dare I say… because of you?”

[redlikerozez]

In this darkness, which you know you cannot fight - Chapter 2

by RedLikeRozez

Summary: Shi Qingxuan quickly regrets being dragged on this vacation. After a few too many callous comments from her brother and his friends, she eventually runs away and ends up meeting an old friend on the beach.

Content warnings/tags: themes of alcoholism, Shi Wudu is an asshole, helicopter brother!Shi Wudu, microaggressions against trans people, mentioned minor character death (He Xuan’s sister, SQX’s parents), mentioned drunk driving, grief, using alcohol to cope, mentioned su*cide (SQX’s mother), trauma dumping

Word Count: about 12k words

Author’s Note: Betaed by the fantastic @parameciam, everyone give them some smoochies!!!

PART 1, PART 3

Chapter 2: Sweet Intoxication

“There’s something in the water around here,” Pei Ming said with an uncharacteristically serious look on his face to his younger brother, Pei Xiu. “And it’s our job to catch it.”

Shi Qingxuan’s breath caught in her throat at the implications of what Pei Ming just said. She whipped her head in their direction to overhear more of their conversation, interest piqued. It was the first time she’d looked up from the trashy gossip magazine she was using to fan herself from the summer heat all morning. 

That first day out on the water, she had spent most of her time sunbathing in the tiniest white denim shorts she had packed, an off-white crocheted crop top that covered up the ruffled pink bikini underneath, and a light and flowy, sheer, white cover up. She lounged next to Xuan Ji, who was only in the raciest, red, strappy one piece suit (that had more straps than actual fabric) and a huge, black sun hat that left a permanent, shadowy veil across her face. 

“What do you mean… there’s something in the water…?” Shi Qingxuan questioned hesitantly, eyes narrowing.

Xuan Ji gasped dramatically and slapped her even trashier magazine down on her thighs. She cried, “Omigod, like a shark?! Where?!”

Pei Ming gave them both a strange glance and said, “No. I’m talking about fish, duh… We’re going fishing. There’s gotta be some fish in the water in this area.”

“Then just say that! There’s no need to get all cryptic!” Shi Qingxuan scowled, folding her arms.

“Not funny, babe,” Xuan Ji chided, bristling in her lounge chair. She picked up the magazine and went back to her perusing.

Pei Ming wasn’t really listening and kept talking to his brother. “So where’s the best spot to cast do you think?”

“Probably off the back, I guess,” Pei Xiu replied half-heartedly. “I don’t really know a lot about this stuff…”

“Are you even allowed to fish in the water here?” Shi Qingxuan sneered. “Don’t you need, like, a license or something?”

“I dunno, probably. This whole place is a fishing town so I’d assume so,” Pei Ming asked. “Why? Are you gonna rat on us?”

“No,” she said quickly, looking back at her magazine. “I don’t care if you get sent to fish jail.”

“Why would you even wanna fish anyway? It's boring and gross,” Xuan Ji complained. “Don’t you wanna play with me, Mingming?” 

“I’m gonna catch us some tuna for tonight’s dinner! We’re gonna have a fish fry!” he replied, full of bravado, taking off for the back of the boat with two fishing poles in hand.

“We are?” Shi Wudu, who was in charge of the schedule, asked. “News to me.”

“Yeah! I thought we could make a lil’ campfire on the beach, chop up the tuna and fry it over the fire, old school-style!”

“Tuna are deep sea, open ocean kind of fish; you’re not going to catch a tuna barely three kilometers from the coast,” Ling Wen supplied doubtfully. “Not to mention the size. There's no way you’ll catch anything with a flimsy line like that.”

“Not with that attitude!” he called back, already casting a line off the edge of the anchored yacht. Pei Xiu woefully followed after his older brother.

“Okay, well I guess good luck catching something for dinner,” Shi Wudu replied, shaking his head. He put a hand on Ling Wen’s shoulder from behind before she could retort back and whispered, “Just let him have his fun, jiejie.” 

Ling Wen rolled her eyes and focused her attention back on annotating a large poli-sci textbook she brought for some ‘light summer reading’ while on the boat. It was only to be expected of someone like Ling Wen, especially now that she was in her first year of doctoral studies for her PhD. 

But all Shi Qingxuan could think was, Boooooring! Bringing homework on vacation? What kind of freak does that?

Shi Wudu walked over to the edge of her lounge chair and asked, “Having fun yet, Qingxuan?”

She looked up from her magazine and gave him a curious look over. He was wearing a lame bucket hat, a pastel blue Vineyard Vines button up shirt with a tacky whale pattern, paired with khaki shorts and some brown leather boat loafers.

“You look like a cry for help from boating dad’s anonymous,” she observed, going back to fanning herself with the magazine.

“And you’re gonna look like a lobster by tomorrow,” he countered, throwing a tube of sunscreen at her. “Use sunscreen. Skin cancer kills.”

She made an ugly, affronted noise as the tube slapped against her arm and clattered on the deck of the yacht. She rolled her eyes and pretended to read the magazine, turning the page as loudly as possible. 

“First of all,” she started, voice dripping with sass, “I put on sunscreen before we left. SPF is essential to any skincare routine, especially out on the open ocean with no shade. I’m offended you’d even think I’d skip such a crucial step. Who do you think I am?

“Second of all: the next time you throw something at me, I’ll shove it so far up your asshole, your dentist will be picking it out of your teeth. And third of all: This is ridiculous! We’re not even doing anything together. Like, what is there to even do all the way out here?”

“Swim, relax, drink, fish… apparently work on homework…” he supplied, motioning vaguely around. “I don’t know, get creative; you’re good at that, aren’t you, little miss beauty-school-dropout?”

That one hit a little too close to home. Her lip twinged a bit at the corners and she narrowed her eyes.

“You know I was a fashion design major, not in cosmetology school,” she corrected him. But something else he said was far more pressing than her intrinsic need to correct her brother. “Wait, did you say something about drinking?” she inquired instead, looking up from her magazine, peeking over the top of her chunky tortoiseshell Armani sunglasses.

Shi Wudu sighed. “Why am I not surprised? Whatever, you would’ve found it eventually… There’s beer back in the cooler. Save some for the rest of us.”

She smirked, rubbing her greedy hands together like a mischievous fly, throwing aside the magazine she wasn’t really reading in the first place. Shi Qingxuan floated to her feet, as if carried by the ocean breeze over to the cooler.

“I mean it, Qingxuan. Pace yourself. Or you’re buying the alcohol for the rest of the summer.”

“Anyone else want a beer?” she called out to the rest of them, decidedly ignoring her brother.

“Yeah, I’ll take one,” yelled Pei Ming over at the back of the boat.

“Make that two,” Pei Xiu called.

“Ling Wen? Xuan Ji? Any takers?”

“No, thank you,” Ling Wen replied robotically, not having looked up from her textbook.

“If there’s any white claws, I’ll take one, but I’m not really a beer drinker.”

“Gotcha, and Moby Dick?” she asked, looking pointedly at her brother in the stupid whale button up as she over-emphasized the last word. 

Shi Wudu rolled his eyes, thoroughly unimpressed. “Ha ha. Very funny. But it’s only noon. It’s too early for beer. Besides, I’m the only one that can drive this thing, and I’m not about to get my boating license taken on the first day.”

“No one’s gonna take away your precious boating license for drinking one beer, Captain Ahab. And you coulda just said no,” she snapped, already walking towards the cooler. “And Xuan Ji wants white claws. Add it to the shopping list.”

“Roger that,” he said before feeling the need to add, “Also, your Moby Dick references feel forced and uninspired. If you’re going to use allusion to insult me, at least make it somewhat insightful.”

Shi Qingxuan groaned, “You’re so lame, ge.”

“Seems you have a habit of starting things you can’t finish. Unless, of course, it’s alcohol,” he sneered. “Like the bachelor’s degree I was paying for.”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him and she said stiffly, “You know that was different.”

“I’m just trying to be insightful.”

“Yeah, well you and your insight can fuck off.”

Shi Wudu knew when not to press further or else she’d really throw a fit. He knew for certain that if he really pissed her off whilst stuck out in the middle of the ocean in a small space within forced proximity on the boat was not exactly going to be pleasant for anyone. Compounded with the fact that she was already in a bad mood being on the boat to begin with, it didn’t seem worth it to really piss her off. Teasing her was fun, but not worth ruining the first day out on the ocean together. So, he relented for now. Maybe he could get her to loosen up a little later. She clearly wasn’t in the mood.

Shi Qingxuan pried open the cooler lid and fished around the slosh of ice and water to grab three cold beers for her brother's friends and herself. She walked them over, cradled in her elbow, to the pair of brothers fishing off the side of the yacht. 

“As promised, two beers,” she announced, holding them out with one hand.

Pei Xiu grabbed them and muttered a quick thanks.

They opened up the cans, each with a satisfying crack and a resounding, “Cheers.”

Shi Qingxuan didn’t really have anything better to do so she just hunkered down next to them and watched them occasionally adjust their fishing lines when it had been a while with no activity. Sipping intermittently on her beer can and making some light small talk with them was nice… for a little while. Pei Xiu wasn’t really much of a talker and Pei Ming was only really concerned with himself and the phantom fish he kept feeling on the other end of his line.

She slapped her thighs, decidedly concluding, “Well, this is boring.” 

“The anticipation is what makes it interesting,” Pei Ming assured her with a big smile. “Right, Xiu-er?”

“Yeah. Sure,” he said unenthusiastically.

“Okay, you two have fun, I guess,” she said, motioning to get up. “I’m gonna go grab another—”

Suddenly, a loafer kicked out into her back and Shi Qingxuan’s entire world shifted as she was sent splashing a couple meters away from the anchored boat. 

Sputtering and thrashing wildly as she tried to keep her head above the water, cold terror clouded her mind. She inhaled what felt like an entire tidal wave in her panic, forced to cough and sputter while trying her best to tread water somewhat successfully.

No! No, no, no, no, no , nooo! Please, not again! How does this keep happening to me?! This town is cursed!! 

She was too busy coughing to try and scream for help this time.

“Cannonball!” Shi Wudu yelled, jumping in after her.

In the initial commotion, Shi Wudu had ripped off his outer layer of clothes so that he was now in just his swim trunks. He kicked off his shoes last and came crashing down into the ocean next to her. A huge spray of ocean water assaulted her face not far from where she was trying desperately to stay afloat.

“Hey! You’re scaring the fish!” Pei Ming cried out in protest.

“Are we getting in the water, Mingming?” Xuan Ji asked, lowering her magazine curiously.

Rage. Seething, boiling, unbridled, all-consuming rage flooded her senses and she immediately tackled Shi Wudu in the water next to her. Desperate and wild arms kept trying to drown him and push his head under the water, but Shi Wudu was a much stronger swimmer than his sister. Her antics only seemed to amuse him. 

“DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!” she screamed at him, resorting to just hitting and kicking him if she couldn’t drown him while simultaneously clinging to him for dear life. It was the only thing he was good for. “I thought I was going to die! I thought I was gonna drown! How could you do that to me?!”

And he laughed at her— unabashed, tears prickling in his eyes, with his full chest— laughed at her. Then, he proceeded to haul her over his head, fireman style, and plopped her sopping wet form back on the boat next to Pei Xiu, who scurried out of the way to make room.

Shi Wudu called out triumphantly, “Wudu saves the day! See? I’d never let you drown, meimei. No sea monster’s gonna get you on my watch.”

“You’re the one that tried to drown me in the first place! The sea monster was the one that saved me! I’ll take the sea monster any day over a brother like you!” She punctuated her thought with an angry splash of her foot to spray water in his face. “Ugh, I’m wearing white today! You’re such an asshole!”

“Lighten up, Qingxuan!” he dismissed, wiping the front of his face. “If you’re gonna make a big deal out of a little fun—”

“Shi Wudu, do NOT tell me to ‘lighten up’ right now! You know I can’t swim well! You know I think the ocean is scary! And you know I almost drowned after getting thrown off a boat! How the fuck could you think this would be a fun little prank?! How is that helping me?! Attempted murder isn’t a prank!”

There was no way she was going to accept the Until Dawn defense. “It's just a prank, Han!”  Like hell it was just a prank!

Shi Wudu continued to laugh at her, still treading water like it was the easiest thing in the world, and said, “Attempted murder is ridiculous. Swimming is supposed to be fun! And you’ve never been safer. The boat is anchored. I was a lifeguard for years. Everyone else here can swim pretty well. And you’re fine! Just a little wet. I thought it would help break the ice between you and the ocean, haha.”

Shi Qingxuan shook her head, groaning in frustration. Wet curls slapped against her face and shoulders, as she huffed and puffed at the audacity of her terrible older brother. 

Pei Xiu swallowed uncomfortably and said, “Let me go get you a towel or something.”

Xuan Ji helped Shi Qingxuan up from the edge of the boat and brought her over to the sun lounger she was sitting on before. Stripping down to just her bikini, she peeled the sheer white cover up off her dripping form and threw it on the lounge chair to hopefully air dry in the summer heat along with her poor drenched crochet top and soaked white shorts.

“Your brother’s an asshole,” Xuan Ji supplied, giving him the side eye. “That was fucked up.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” she grumbled. “Ugh. I hope this crop top isn’t ruined! It was handmade by my best friend!”

Xie Lian had painstakingly crocheted that top for her a little over a year ago specifically for her surgery and it was one of her most treasured articles of clothing. It was perfect for wearing on the beach. It accented the girls without being too vavavoom and was classy enough that she could dress up if needed. Except now, it was a heap of tangled wet thread. If her unanticipated trist with salt water ruined it, she’d never forgive her brother. (Not that Xie Lian would mind, he’d probably just promise to make her another one.) 

But honestly, she had an even bigger concern at the moment.

Her lightly tanned, freckled skin slowly shifted to a shade of pink and not from the sun’s powerful rays. Shame and embarrassment, anger and fear, all swirling around in her stomach was not a healthy mixture. Most of her body was exposed to everyone on the boat for the first time and not of her own volition. She still wasn’t completely comfortable with her body even after getting aforementioned (modest) breast augmentations a year ago, so having to strip down to her bikini was her other worst nightmare (besides drowning, of course). Luckily, the bikini bottoms had a built in little skirt to cover up the front. 

Xuan Ji abandoned Shi Qingxuan not long after Pei Xiu showed up with a towel to hang off Pei Ming and pester him into going swimming with her. Ling Wen hadn’t so much as glanced up from her textbook in hours. So she was stuck with Pei Xiu who was awkwardly trying not to look at her as she tried to dry off the rest of her body with his supplied towel. Mortifying!

As she was scrunching up her drenched, curly locks with the towel to try and keep some semblance of volume, she realized the Armani sunglasses that had been resting on her head were nowhere to be found. A frustrated scream ripped out of her lungs. Pei Xiu’s eyes widened and he scampered away to the other side of the boat lest he provoke her wrath further. 

Shi Qingxuan swiped Shi Wudu’s discarded Vineyard Vines button up from the deck to use in the meantime as a cover up. She stormed over to the edge of the boat to catch a glimpse of Xuan Ji and Pei Ming already getting handsy in the water while her brother scowled at them a little ways away.

“Shi Wudu!” she screamed. “You owe me a new pair of sunglasses, you bastard! Those were my favorite!”

“What’s with all this full name ‘Shi Wudu’ nonsense, haha? You’re scaring me, meimei,” he said, not even acknowledging her main grievance. “Hey, is that my shirt?”

“I’m going to rip your head off!” she promised, eyes bloodshot with murderous intent, looking even more wild with her half-dry hair sticking up in crazy directions.

Eyes turning into sarcastic crescents, Shi Wudu called up with a smile full of teeth, “I’ll be looking forward to it!” 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Pei Ming and Pei Xiu ended up catching a handful of smaller fish towards the evening, much to Xuan Ji’s immediate horror. She kicked up a whole hissy fit, squirming and whining, while they tried to gut it. Shi Wudu had to stop them from doing it on the deck of the yacht and told them to wait until back on the beach.

“You’ll stain the lacquer!” he had fussed. 

So, as per Pei Ming’s plan, they made a little campfire out on the beach in the back of the villa they would be renting for the summer. Shi Wudu and Ling Wen pushed over some outdoor seating from the patio of the villa to be closer to the fire. Finally, the two Pei brothers could get to gutting their fishing haul for the barbeque.

Shi Qingxuan’s clothes had dried eventually, but she still refused to give Shi Wudu back his shirt. However, he didn’t seem to mind going shirtless for the rest of the day, much to her dismay. The crop top looked to be salvageable at least. She sent Xie Lian a picture and he promised he could fix it whenever she got back.

Once they had skewered all of the fish and were waiting for them to cook, Shi Qingxuan noticed Pei Xiu had been eyeing her suspiciously for a while. She made eye contact with him a couple times, catching him in the act. He just kept looking away and trying to pretend like he wasn’t staring.

She had a pretty good idea of what was probably going through his head. She’d seen the way his eyes had grown wider than saucers as he stared at her body when she was drying off. If he was going to be weird about her situation, she didn’t want to be the one to bring it up first. She rolled her eyes internally and tried to ignore him.

Xuan Ji was sitting in Pei Ming’s lap, much to everyone’s discomfort, and kept trying to feed him different sliced fruits while he kept an eye on the fish cooking over the fire. Shi Wudu was chatting absentmindedly with Ling Wen and Shi Qingxuan just sat a little off to the side, feeling somewhat alienated from the rest. She figured something like this was going to happen eventually, and it was part of the reason she didn't want to come in the first place. Feeling lonely on vacation felt entirely pathetic, like a jellyfish sting to her heart at being the proverbial third wheel— or in this case, the fifth wheel? Sixth wheel? It was a little unclear.

Suddenly, Pei Xiu appeared in front of her holding out a tiny fish on a stick.

“This one’s ready, if you want it,” he said. 

She blinked up at him, snapped out of her melancholy and said, “Thanks.” Taking it in her hands, she began twirling it around and watching the steam wisp off of the fish in the dim glow from the fire. 

Pei Xiu was still standing in front of her awkwardly.

“I… I have a question,” he parsed out hesitantly. “You’re… You?” He struggled to find the right words. “You’re a girl, right?” he eventually settled on.

“Here we go…” Shi Wudu muttered, noticing what was happening. 

Shi Qingxuan sighed. Well, at least he isn’t being outright transphobic… She’d had much worse opening questions, if she was honest. This one wasn’t bad. It sounded like he was trying to get it right.

“I’m a trans woman, yes,” Shi Qingxuan eyed him hesitantly, still a little nervous about what his response would be.

“Oh,” he said in a small voice. “That’s pretty cool.”

Her eyes glimmered in the firelight, preening from the positive reaction. Thank god, he’s not going to be weird about it!

“Wait, OMG, for real? Mingming, you didn’t tell me!” Xuan Ji cried, hitting Pei Ming in the chest. “I would’ve never guessed you’re a trans!”

“Ahaha, thanks, I guess…” she said hollowly. And that’s not exactly the compliment you think it is… 

“Trans is an adjective not a noun,” Shi Wudu said stiffly. “She’s a trans woman. Not ‘a trans’.”

“Oh, sorry,” Xuan Ji said quickly, shifting in Pei Ming’s lap, so that she was facing Shi Qingxuan’s direction. “You know, my cousin’s really good friends with this transgender girl who’s a boy now,” she continued from across the campfire. “Do you know her? Her boy name—”

“That’s not how it works,” Shi Wudu hissed, clenching his fist on his knee.

“Ge, it’s fine,” Shi Qingxuan said, trying to calm him down. “It’s a learning opportunity.” She looked over at Xuan Ji and said calmly, “So if he’s a trans man, he’s not a woman. He never was. Maybe he was assigned female at birth, but he’s a man, so when referring to him, try to use he/him pronouns and other typically masculine-leaning words.”

“Ohhh, okay. Ugh, it's sooo confusing, like, the whole using different pronouns and nouns or adjectives or whatever type-thing,” Xuan Ji said, sighing dramatically. “So, like, I should keep using girl words for you, yeah? You’re a girl now?”

She nodded, smiling without her eyes. “I’m a woman, yeah. And I know it can take some time getting used to, but it’s fine to make mistakes every now and then as long as you’re making a good-faith effort to try and get it right,” Shi Qingxuan explained patiently.

“And I always get them confused, which one’s which? Like, so, a trans man is a former girl? But someone like you, you identify as a girl, yeah? So that means you used to be a boy. Wow! I literally wouldn’t have ever guessed you used to be a guy! Oh my god, I bet you were so handsome, if you’re this pretty as a girl! I could’ve sworn you were a real girl! You look really good for a—”

This… she lamented, this is what I wanted to avoid…

“Meimei is a real girl, end of story. If you think otherwise, we’re gonna have a problem,” Shi Wudu announced loudly. 

“Hey,” Pei Ming jumped in with a noticeably deeper voice, trying to defend his girlfriend. The two supposed friends made tense eye contact and everyone could feel the atmosphere shift dramatically.

“Okay, let’s move on!” said Shi Qingxuan, trying to steer the group in a less hostile direction. “The fish! Are they done yet?”

“I wasn’t, I wasn’t trying to offend you or anything,” Pei Xiu mumbled anxiously. “I’m sorry, I just… I’ve never—”

“It’s fine. You didn’t offend me,” Shi Qingxuan said honestly. She couldn’t say the same for Xuan Ji, though. But she also knew that Xuan Ji probably wasn’t trying to be offensive, she was just ignorant. “I don’t mind talking about it or explaining anything, but it’s just not the most interesting thing about me, that’s all. And it can get a little… People can be mean.”

“Mn, I bet.”

Shi Wudu was always there to defend her whenever people were nasty about her identity. Shi Qingxuan was always grateful for it, but sometimes he didn’t know the difference between standing up for her and conflict resolution. It was best if he didn’t fight with his best friend or his best friend’s girlfriend, especially when they were all trapped on vacation together for the whole summer. Especially not on the first day.

The group ate the sad excuse for a fish fry in awkward silence for a couple minutes. Xuan Ji eventually slipped out of Pei Ming’s lap and over next to Shi Qingxuan. She placed a cold hand on Shi Qingxuan’s thigh in a friendly gesture.

“We’re still cool, though, right?” Xuan Ji asked sincerely. “I didn’t mean to say anything wrong. I was trying to give you a compliment. You’re seriously so beautiful, Shi Qingxuan. Like, soo beautiful.”

“Ahaha, thanks. That means a lot,” she assured her, still a little uncomfortable. “We’re okay. I understand that it’s a lot to learn about for the first time. Exposure and practice are key.”

Xuan Ji wrapped her in a side hug and said, “Ah, you’re the best! Let’s be friends, m’kay? You can teach me all the right things to say so I can give you more compliments!”

Oh, yippee… she thought unenthusiastically. A whole summer of this to look forward to…

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Finally, it was time to retire into the villa for bed. The room assignments were supposed to be Pei Ming and Pei Xiu sharing a room, Shi Qingxuan and Shi Wudu in another, and Xuan Ji and Ling Wen sharing the last. But, Xuan Ji snuck into the Pei brothers’ room not long into the night and poor Pei Xiu got kicked out. 

He ended up knocking on the Shi sibling’s bedroom door for help. Shi Qingxuan was forced to vacate, a little pissed she wouldn’t get the chance to strangle her brother in his sleep. She ended up spending the night in Ling Wen’s room.

Thus, the impromptu, musical-chairs-style room assignments were settled late into the evening. 

After a late start to everyone’s (especially a certain couple’s) morning and a leisurely half-breakfast— mostly just some coffee, leftover fruit from last night, and the remaining plane snacks— Shi Wudu made the executive decision to go out into the town for some brunch and to buy some more supplies for the rest of their stay. They needed to stalk up on groceries, drinks, and the like. 

Shi Qingxuan also wanted to buy some new interim sunglasses to temporarily replace the ones she lost ever-so elegantly into the fathomless blue yesterday thanks to her amazing and not-at-all insufferable brother, Shi Wudu. Some cheap sunglasses from a gift shop would do in a pinch, at least until she forced her brother to replace her favorite Armani ones. 

Ironically, she also wanted to take a page out of Ling Wen’s book, (not literally of course) and find something to read while she was forced to spend time on the boat. Probably not a poli-sci textbook or that vapid gossip magazine she’d borrowed from Xuan Ji. Shi Qingxuan felt in the mood for some raunchy romance novel set in a cute coastal town that had lots of passionate sex on the beach. Her goal was to try to live vicariously through the protagonist for the summer. Maybe she could meet her fated true love while horse riding on the beach or have a ripped hunk confess his undying love to her in a thunderstorm. Anything to distract herself from her (amazing and not-at-all-insufferable) brother and his (amazing and not-at-all terrible) friends. She was desperate. The plot didn’t matter as long as there was lots of flowery, gratuitous porn.

The self-appointed vacation czar, Shi Wudu, delegated the researching of potential brunch spots to the obvious choice, Ling Wen, and the café she chose for lunch was a local hotspot with a couple signature seafood dishes that looked especially delicious. 

Once they had all sat down in the quaint little café and began perusing the menu, Shi Wudu rudely snatched the drink menu away from Shi Qingxuan fingers when he noticed her eyeing it up. 

She blinked at him and asked, “What was that for?” 

“You have a two drink limit for today. Use it wisely.”

She laughed straight to his face. “You can’t just impose your will on me like that, even if you think you’re in charge. I’m an adult. This isn’t a singles mixer or a work outing. We’re on vacation. I can drink what I want when I want.”

“Not if I’m paying for you and you don’t know what they have,” he smiled, full of teeth. He taunted her further by holding the menu out of her reach and waving it around.

“You’re being ridiculous,” she huffed at him. 

It was only eleven. How was he already getting under her last nerve?

However, Shi Qingxuan wasn’t above sinking down to his childish antics. She stuck her tongue out, and resolved to not talk for the rest of the meal. 

Or at least, she tried not to. She wasn’t particularly good at keeping her mouth shut.

In her fleeting self-imposed vow of silence, she happened to notice the decor on the walls of the pale blue, nautical-themed café were littered with tiny frames of photos and newspaper clippings about the town’s history and other memorable residents. 

Her eyes traveled along the walls, gazing vaguely at the black and white pictures of people who were probably long dead. There was a collection of articles about old ship wrecks. Another detailed the history of the lighthouse and the different lighthouse keepers throughout the years. What looked to be a fairly recent addition was about an oil spill and the three activists who committed suicide in protest of the offshore oil rig.

And then, her eyes fell upon a really blurry picture with a big, bold headline “Something Dark Lurks Beneath Fu Gu’s Waters”. 

Shi Qingxuan’s eyes widened as she comprehended the words on the wall and tried to make out the shape of something incredibly big in what she realized was the ocean and a dark shape beneath the waves of the photograph.

“Holy shit,” she muttered.

Now, normally, if she went to a strange town and saw something like this on a café wall, she wouldn’t be so readily convinced. She’d chalk it up to a local legend hyped up to make tourists visit or maybe some natural explanation like a whale or something. 

But this was different. 

She’d experienced an other-worldly creature in the waters here. If there were other people that have had similar encounters, maybe she could finally prove she wasn’t crazy and really had seen a sea monster all those years ago. She was living proof that it existed. If it hadn’t saved her, she surely would’ve drowned that day.

A surge of energy instantly lifted her spirits and she momentarily forgot why her mood had spoiled so much to begin with. This was something else she could focus on during her forced vacation in this stupid town, besides just escapist romantic literature. She could try to find out more about the monster from the locals, or at least try to catch another glimpse of it for herself.

“What’s got you all smiley?” Shi Wudu asked, elbowing her in the side.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” she replied breezily, still a little giddy inside from the realization. “I just thought of a good idea to keep preoccupied, that’s all.”

“Something other than drinking, I hope?” he sneered.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, making a noise of exasperation. “Stop treating me like a child, ge. It’s getting old. Why are you being so weird about me drinking lately?”

“It’s still early, Qingxuan,” he scolded. 

“Yeah, so? Isn’t it a normal thing for adults to do when they’re having brunch with friends? Have a drink with said brunch? You got on my ass yesterday for this, too, on the boat.”

“You have to learn to pace yourself.” 

The same line from yesterday.

She scoffed an ugly sound at him. “I know my limits. I didn’t get drunk yesterday, did I? We were trying to have fun on the boat. You suggested drinking and you’re the one that brought beer in the first place,” she defended. “It's crazy that you don’t even trust me enough to have a drink at brunch without making it a whole thing.” She gazed out to the rest of the table and asked, “Is anyone else going to have a drink?”

“I was gonna get a Bloody Mary,” Xuan Ji supplied.

“See! She’s an adult deciding to drink a brunch cocktail with her friends,” Shi Qingxuan pointed out. “You aren’t getting on her ass, huh?”

“I’m not in charge of Xuan Ji.”

“And you’re not in charge of me either!”

“It’s my responsibility to look after you, Qingxuan,” he said seriously, brows furrowing in his mounting frustration. “You’re my little sister.”

Shi Qingxuan groaned even louder, face flushing pink.  They really were doing this in front of his terrible friends! He was making her out to have some sort of drinking problem! 

She hated when he did this. He was trying to be both her parent and her brother at the same time. He still couldn’t help but try to parent her even though it was largely unnecessary. Why was he still treating her like a child he had to take care of, even now! It was infuriating! 

She was about to bite his head off there in the café, but their waitress came over before Shi Qingxuan could open her mouth to rip him a new one. She quickly snuffed out the fire in her stomach and smiled brightly up at the cute waitress whose name tag read Banyue. She looked to be a couple years younger than her, with violet eyes and a somber expression. Shi Qingxuan noticed Pei Xiu not-so-secretly gawking at her and smirked knowingly at him.

Banyue went around the table and took everyone’s order. Xuan Ji, as promised, ordered a Bloody Mary, and Ling Wen ordered a glass of some local wine called Paradise Dreams. So of course when it was Shi Qingxuan’s turn to order her food, she added, “And a Strawberry Sunrise Mimosa, please.”

“Qingxuan!” cried Shi Wudu, as if she had just committed some heinous crime.

“What?!” she snapped back at him. 

The poor waitress looked a little confused and then proceeded to ask for Shi Qingxuan’s ID, fearing she was too young or something and that’s why her brother was pitching a fit. 

Shi Qingxuan, absolutely mortified, fished out her ID while babbling some nonsense about, “Oh, do I really look that young? Ahahaha, thanks…”

When Banyue deemed her ID real, she confirmed the order and sped away before anything else awkward could happen.

Shi Qingxuan’s furious eyes locked onto Shi Wudu, foam practically dripping from her trembling lips.

“What the fuck was that, ge?”

“I’m not paying for that,” was all he said, not daring to look at her.

The others at the table were looking back and forth in between the Shi siblings in horribly awkward silence.

“What is this really about, ge?” she demanded. “Do you really think I drink too much? Are you trying to stage an intervention or something?! Well, you’re doing a shit job of it! You forgot to bring a big white banner—”

“We’re not talking about this here.”

“Apparently we are because you keep making a big deal out of it!”

“I’m just worried about you.”

“It’s not like I have a problem—”

“You drink a lot, Qingxuan,” he interrupted, finally finding the courage to actually look her in the eyes. “It’s not good for you, or healthy, for that matter. You have to be careful.”

She sputtered for a few seconds, baffled by him actually admitting it.

“I drink because it’s fun! But I've never gotten, like, blackout! I just like drinking with friends. There’s nothing wrong with that!”

Okay, so maybe the blackout part was a bit of a lie. It had only happened once or twice when she was still at university, but she quickly realized that she hated the feeling of waking up not knowing what she’d done the previous night. And it had been years since her wild party girl era. Nowadays when she drank, it was mostly just to get a little of that warm, buzzy feeling. 

“It’s a slippery slope,” he countered seriously. “Alcoholism is genetic. At this rate, you’ll end up l-like Mother…” His voice broke in his throat (a sound that she’d never heard before) and he trailed off, unable to look her in the eyes.

Her mouth stood wide open from the accumulating shock. Shi Qingxuan’s lips slowly folded in on themself and she bit down harshly, trying to swallow any sound forming in the back of her throat.

The entire café went dead silent.

“You think I’m turning out like her?” she whispered, not even recognizing the hollow sound of her own voice. “You’re being serious right now?”

Shi Wudu’s eyes betrayed the panic he felt deep in his gut and was trying his best to smother. He knew he just stepped on a land mine and he wished he hadn’t.

“Qingxuan, I didn’t—”

“How dare you.”

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like—”

“How. Dare. You.” Tears bubbled up in her eyes and her throat warbled with every word, tightening painfully.

“I’m just scared of losing—”

She stood up in her chair and started grabbing her things in a frenzy.

“I’m not an alcoholic and I’d sooner drown myself than turn out like her. And fuck you for even thinking I would,” she spat.

Hot tears streamed out of her eyes and a sob crept up her throat at the scalding betrayal boiling the aching heart in her chest. She stormed out of the restaurant, biting back more choked out sobs. Shi Wudu called out for her, but she didn’t even bother acknowledging him. She didn’t even have a destination in mind, just nowhere near him.

Her feet wandered around the cute little downtown, while her mind reacquainted itself with a bitter grief that usually only gnawed on her heart, but now it was biting down like a vice. 

She didn’t even care that she was still visibly crying as she toured around the shopping streets. People stared at her, but she pretended not to notice. Feeling self-conscious and craving invisibility, she caved and bought a cheap pair of mirrored aviators from a stand outside a souvenir store just to hide her puffy eyes from public view.

Shi Qingxuan just walked around for what felt like hours. Her throat felt scratchy and dry from the salty sea air. When she looked up from her daze, her feet had carried her to the edge of a deserted white beach. A few sail boats and other vessels dotted the blue horizon, but there weren’t any people around this part of the beach for whatever reason. She shrugged off her sandals and dipped her feet into the warm, grainy sand. Wiggling her toes around to relish in the softness, she started walking along the edge of where the tide met the sand, staying just shy of where it became damp.

A horrible dizziness washed over her with the rushing tide in her ears and she decided to sit down in the sand. She spread out her white cover up, which she was using as a billowing shawl today, for a makeshift beach towel.

The horizon was stark and rigid in the distance. It felt like it was taunting her, calling out to her, daring her to try and swim and try to grasp it in her fingertips. But she had no plans on getting wet this afternoon.

Except, of course, her face still hadn’t dried fully from the tears before a sob shivered out of her lungs and was swallowed instantly by the roar of the ocean.

She wished she’d never let her brother take her on this stupid trip in the first place! She wished she was halfway through a bottle of fruit wine from the liquor store… but that was sort of the root of the problem, wasn’t it?

Shi Qingxuan realized that maybe her brother had a point. After she had quit university, drinking had sort of become her main hobby. She felt disgusted by the idea of using her mother’s old sewing machine. It had become synonymous with the memories of her mother and with her time at university studying design. And she hated thinking about both of those things.

When she didn’t know what to do, she drank. When she hung out with her friends, she drank. When she felt exceptionally lonely and useless, she drank. Never too absurd amounts of drunk, but just enough to take the edge off.

“Fuck…” she realized. “Maybe I really am turning out like Mama…”

She quickly unthought that thought. No. She was vastly different from that awful woman. 

The more Shi Qingxuan thought about it, the more she realized she was different from her mother. Mama had been an alcoholic because it was easier than dealing with her unhappiness. She had almost achieved a near constant state of drunkenness towards the end. And she was a mean drunk, too. 

To this day, Shi Qingxuan never really understood what Mama was trying to numb. Baba was the sweetest man in the universe and he definitely didn’t deserve a wife like her. They had money, lots of money, really. Two beautiful children. So many friends. But it was never enough for her, it seemed. Whatever it was that she was trying to run away from, it caught up to her in the end.

Shi Qingxuan, while not necessarily an alcoholic, at least knew what she was trying to numb.

Grief. Insurmountable, all-encompassing grief and loneliness. 

Life hadn’t been kind to her, despite what most people saw projected on the outside. She had her brother of course, after their parents had passed, but he quickly stepped into the role of parental figure in their absence. And she was eternally grateful for it, but it was a difficult relationship to navigate, especially when they were so young. And she thought she had lots of friends at university, but quickly found out just how fast fair-weather friends can turn on a dime. 

Xie Lian was the only friend from university that continued to stand beside her. But he had a boyfriend now and had less and less time to spend with her. Shi Wudu was busy running the company their father had left him and had his own friends. 

And it left her all alone.

She covered her loneliness up with her happy-go-lucky mask, bright smile, and bubbles of laughter. It was an easy persona to project, but it was rather taxing to keep up the facade for so long. 

But underneath it all, she felt cursed.

And it just so happened that Shi Qingxuan was a happy drunk. It was easier to retreat into that happy buzzing feeling in her head, instead of the black hole she carried with her at all times she constantly tried to swallow down, like a bitter medicine that stubbornly tried to come back up again and again.

And so sitting there on the beach, deafened by the waves, she finally allowed herself to grieve. She pushed her new sunglasses up on top of her head so they wouldn’t get in the way and she let the feeling swallow her down, not even knowing if she’d be able to crawl back out. 

Shi Qingxuan wailed into the breeze that stole her screams into the limitless horizon, a secret just between her and the wind and the gathering clouds. 

She grieved firstly for her father, who hadn’t deserved to die so soon. She grieved for the thought that he’d never walk her down the aisle or get to meet his grandchildren. She grieved for the fatherhood unfairly stolen from him and burdened onto his eldest son. She grieved for Shi Wudu’s childhood that ended too early. She grieved for herself and her all the years she’d asked why it had to happen. She grieved for the degree she’d been forced to abandon. 

And lastly, she spared the tiniest whisper of grief for her mother, who didn’t deserve it.

Shi Qingxuan grieved until her throat was raw and her lungs burned from screaming. She found that maybe grief wasn’t so different from drowning. But at least she didn’t need a sea monster to save her from this.

In her crying, she hadn’t realized a figure slowly approaching from the right.

“You’re hot,” a monotone, dry voice spoke up behind her.

Shi Qingxuan blinked several times. There was no way some random stranger really just said that to her while she was currently bawling her eyes out.

“What…?” she choked out, trying to clarify if she had really heard that right.

“You’re hot,” the voice repeated.

She turned around to glare at the man that was…? Cat-calling her? She’d never been complimented so bluntly before… and she definitely wasn’t in the mood to flirt with strangers.

“Excuse me?” she asked, completely baffled by his double-down.

The pale young man stood behind her like a shadow, stretched long and thin in the afternoon light. He was decked out in an entirely black ensemble, complete with a black hoodie, even though he was on the beach in the middle of June. He looked about the same age as her. His long, silky black hair was tied up in a high ponytail and the loose tufts of his bangs whipped in the ocean breeze. It looked like he had some eyeliner on, even in the distance. Or maybe it was dark circles?

But his words suddenly made sense when she realized he had a blue popsicle in his hands. He had broken it in half and was offering the other half to her.

“You’re hot,” he repeated again, gesturing for her to take it. “Take it. It’ll cool you off.”

“Oh,” she realized awkwardly.

So he wasn’t actually cat-calling her after all… He was just being nice?

Wait a second… Considering he was wearing all black, long sleeves and pants in the summer at the beach, he had absolutely no right to be telling her to cool off!

She wiped away some stray snot leaking from her nose (very attractive) and asked, “Aren’t you hot?” 

He made a small affirming “Mn,” and motioned again to the proffered popsicle impatiently.

She finally reached out and tried to grab the popsicle half from him. Their fingers touched in the passing since the stick was pretty short. She felt her heart race from embarrassment as she briefly touched his surprisingly cool skin. Her gaze dropped to where they had touched and noticed his fingernails were painted black, as well.

And yep, the eyeliner she had sense from afar was in fact eyeliner AND dark circles. 

That meme of ‘goths in un-gothy places’ came to her mind seeing him for all his dark glory on such a pristine, picturesque beach.

“Thanks,” she said, trying to put on a smile, still not completely ready to socialize just yet. Shi Qingxuan quickly wiped away the stray tears from her face as surreptitiously as possible (also probably super attractive).

He either didn’t notice she had just been crying or pretended not to notice. Either way, she was grateful he didn’t say anything about it. The strange figure plopped down next to her on the sand, a jarring dark blot of ink against the white sand. He sat a comfortable enough distance away, a sentiment she was also grateful for. 

The strange figure then proceeded to take a huge bite, teeth first, into the popsicle. Shi Qingxuan watched in amazement and fear at such a bold move.

“Aren’t your teeth going to hurt?” she cried out, before he could take another bite.

“It’s fine,” he said nonchalantly. He ripped into the popsicle, yet again, teeth first. A little bit of blue juice dripped from the corner of his mouth and he wiped it up with the sleeve of his hoodie. (How was it cooler when he did it?)

Shi Qingxuan couldn’t tear her hungry eyes away from such a strange person. If she blinked, she felt like she’d miss something.

What is happening to me right now? Am I dreaming? What on earth… Is this a prank…? Am I being punked?

He glanced coldly over to her and said, “It’ll melt.” 

Shi Qingxuan stared at him, completely baffled by this whole situation. But he was right, she admitted. And he had given it to her out of the kindness of his heart. She didn’t want it to go to waste. It did look refreshing.

She started with a cautious lick, not daring to bite into it like he had, and revelled in the cooling, sugary, blue raspberry flavor dancing on her taste buds.

“Thanks,” she said again, covering her mouth for some semblance of table manners even on the beach. “It’s good.”

“Mn.” 

He was either not super talkative, or he was too busy devouring the popsicle. Maybe both. (Probably both.)

That’s alright, she thought. I can talk enough for both of us.

“So… Are you from around here or visiting?” she started, trying not to look too inappropriate while licking and sucking on the popsicle. 

The popsicle was unfortunately a little too phallus-adjacent for it to look completely G-rated to any onlookers, but she tried to cover her mouth with her other hand to block the lewd sight of her practically giving head to the innocent popsicle. (She was really good at it, but he didn’t need to know that yet, they’d only just met!)

Out of the corner of her eye, Shi Qingxuan watched his pronounced, pale Adam’s apple bob, swallowing the next hefty chunk of blue raspberry popsicle. She found herself swallowing along with him. Her face flushed again, but she was trying to deny the reason why. Suddenly self-conscious, she hoped it wasn’t completely obvious from her red eyes that she had just been scream-crying into the wind. 

Hey, maybe she was in the mood to flirt with strangers after all. Maybe even nice, hot, goth strangers… 

“From around here,” he replied. 

When he opened his mouth, she caught a glimpse of his tongue already turning blue. She smiled and held back laughter.

“Oh, really? A real local in the flesh!” she remarked, impressed. “I’m just visiting here for the summer.”

“First time?” he asked casually, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

She felt invigorated for some reason. He had asked a question back! 

Was he interested? Or was he just being nice? Ah, she was getting ahead of herself… They’d only just met.

“Second, actually!” she corrected, a bright smile on her face. “I came here a long time ago with my family. Maybe twelve years or so?” 

The young man nodded and chomped the last dangling bit of the popsicle, licking up all the juices on the stick before pocketing the stick in the hoodie pocket.

He was absolutely not like the guys she’d normally go for, but there was something about him that felt captivating. She realized she’d been staring at him a little too long.

She mentally slapped herself. Get a grip, Qingxuan! This isn’t a romcom!

“You here with family again?” he asked in the silence.

Her smile dropped in an instant. “My brother and his friends,” she said perhaps a little too bitterly for casual small talk.

He looked at her with his stoic face somewhat expectantly, as if asking her to explain.

“It’s whatever,” she said quickly, waving her hand dismissively. “Just wanted to get away from everyone for some fresh air. They’re not my preferred choice of company at the moment.”

“...You were crying,” he said, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

She laughed awkwardly and itched her nose. “Haha, so you did see that, then…?”

“Mn.”

Fuck. I must look so pathetic to him.

“Food always makes me feel better,” he continued, nodding to her still unfinished popsicle.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at the realization that he had done this to cheer her up. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed from how sweet it was that this stranger cared enough to share a popsicle with her.

“Well, I’m not crying anymore, so I’d say it worked,” she said with a warm smile. “But, you know, when you first approached me, I thought you were cat-calling me or something,” she admitted with a sly smile, elbowing in his direction. “You might wanna think of a better opener than, ‘you’re hot’ next time you approach a girl crying. It’s giving dacryphilia.”

Wild golden-brown eyes bulged horrifically into hers and his pale face flushed a splotchy red. He looked a little like a pufferfish that had expanded in fright.

“T-That’s not what I—”

“I promise, it’s alright! I know you didn’t mean it like that, haha,” she laughed breezily. “It just caught me off guard.”

“Sorry,” he muttered, facepalming in agony.

“It’s fine!” she assured him, touching his shoulder lightly. “Honestly, I’m just embarrassed you saw me crying, haha. Crying on the beach while on vacation in such a beautiful place? So pathetic, ha!”

He lifted his head and stared so fiercely at her, she almost jolted back in fright. “It’s not pathetic,” he grumbled in his deep monotone she was coming to enjoy the sound of.

Those eyes and that determined gaze… Now that she was thinking back, it really reminded her of someone, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on who.

“Sorry, this is gonna sound weird, but have… Have I met you before?” she asked suddenly, cocking her head to the side. 

He glanced over at her with a strange expression and she instantly regretted saying anything.

“No, wait, don’t answer that. Sorry! Haha! I’m bad with faces. I thought you looked like someone I met a long…” Her voice trailed off and they locked eyes for a long moment. She actually wasn’t bad with faces or names, or people in general, but she didn’t want to embarrass herself further.

His eyes filled with realization, but the lower half of his face remained in a cold line.

“...A-Xuan?” he asked hesitantly. “Is your name A-Xuan?”

“Wait… No way! Is that really you, Xuan-er? From the beach all those years ago?!” she realized, eyes glimmering brightly. “Oh my god. What a small world! There’s no way this is happening right now! It must be destiny!”

Suddenly, he furrowed his brows and frowned deeply. She feared she said something weird again.

“You’re late,” he grumbled.

She blinked at him, really not understanding what he meant by that and asked, “What?”

“You’re late,” he repeated coolly. “You owe me a sandcastle.”

Shi Qingxuan sat speechless next to him for a few moments before she broke down in strings of laughter. She held onto his shoulders for dear life, so she didn’t collapse into the sand. 

His face betrayed the surprise he felt, eyes going wide and face still faintly blushing. She quickly realized her error and removed her hands from his shoulders, apologizing quickly. Settling back into her own personal space a comfortable distance away in the sand. The neglected popsicle had slowly melted down the stick and crashed down to the base of her thumb.

“Ahaha, I thought you would have forgotten about me since I never showed up!” she managed to say in between heaving for air and trying to save the rest of the popsicle from falling into the sand. “I felt so bad I never showed up that day. It’s been eating away at me for years! I’m really sorry if I kept you waiting. Oh shit–”

She probably looked like an idiot, sticking her tongue out to catch the rapidly melting popsicle to catch it from falling, but he didn’t seem to care. She quickly swallowed up the last half of the popsicle in embarrassment to occupy her mouth.

“What happened?” he asked. “You didn’t show up. I always wondered what happened.”

She cleared her throat and looked out into the ocean with an uncharacteristic serious expression. Her fingers twirled around and fiddled with the sticky popsicle stick.

“Well, it was kind of a nightmare after I met you on the beach, haha… Long story short, I almost drowned,” she stated as lightly as possible. Pushing the stick into the sand, she began drawing different shapes absentmindedly. “I had to go to the hospital for a week. Ruined the whole vacation.”

“Yeah, that would do it,” he gruffed in reply, staring out into the sea with her.

She laughed awkwardly. “Not the glamorous explanation you were expecting, huh?”

He shrugged. “Accidents happen.”

“Yep,” she said, popping the p, heart stinging a little.

They sat in companionable silence for a little, just staring out into the horizon together.

“Why’d you come back?” he asked suddenly. His eyes felt like they were burning into her skin, hotter than the oppressive UV rays of the sun. “If you have bad memories here… Why bother coming back?”

“Trust me, it wasn’t my idea…” she said bitterly, averting his intense gaze. “My brother wanted to come back. He dragged me along with him.”

“Mn.” He nodded vaguely, shifting position in the sand.

“Wait, what about your sister? Is she here too? How’s she doing?”

He stopped moving, and for a moment, it felt like the whole ocean stopped moving with him. Only when he finally sucked in a harsh breath did the tide dare to move again. 

Shi Qingxuan could recognize grief anywhere.

“Daiyu’s gone,” he said stiffly.

“What?” she gasped, covering her mouth. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t reply, but she watched him shrink into himself a little bit.

“I know a little about how you feel. I lost my parents about seven years ago,” she said a small voice. “Drunk driving. Killed my dad instantly. My mom survived only to kill herself after. She’d had too much after a party they had attended together and still insisted on driving back home.”

“She was the drunk driver?” he asked. Shi Qingxuan nodded. “Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…” she tried to say, but her voice broke and she felt tears start to prickle in the corners of her eyes again. She tried desperately to fight them. She didn’t want to cry again, especially not in front of him! “It’s actually what I was crying about earlier, ahaha. Sorry! I’ll shut up now!”

“I didn’t have anyone to talk to after Daiyu died… So… you can talk to me. If you want,” he offered hesitantly. He seemed unsure if he was pushing some boundary or taboo, and waited for imminent rejection.

“Are you sure? It’s a lot to put on someone I’ve only just met, ahaha… or I guess re-met? Reconnected? Whatever. Trauma dumping, and all that… Not exactly a good conversation topic.”

He looked at her expectantly and shifted positions so that his body was fully facing her direction.

And with that simple movement, suddenly, she was telling him her whole life story, like they’d been friends for centuries. Secrets spilling out of her mouth like cheap wine. Things she’d never even told her best friend, Xie Lian.

She talked about how much she hated her mother for taking her father away from them. And how she hated her even more for killing herself and leaving them alone.

“We just came home from school one day,” she explained. “And we kept calling out for her, but she wasn’t answering. We tried calling her phone, but it was on the kitchen counter. We were looking around the house. Then, my brother went into the bathroom and I heard him scream. He shoved me out of there before I could really see anything too horrible. But I remember seeing a shattered wine bottle on the floor. And the bathtub was red. Like. Really red. And her hand was almost as white as the porcelain tub dangling over the edge.”

And he kept listening to all she had to say attentively. It felt nice to have an objective outsider to share everything with, even if he didnt know the full context. And he was a good listener, all with those intense brown eyes and his stoic expression. He made little noises here and there to encourage her to keep going.

“And at brunch today, ge had the audacity to say I was turning out just like her all because he thinks I drink too much! So I just ran away… and here I am. I guess you know the rest, haha,” she said at last, concluding her long monologue. 

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie and started gathering up swathes of sand in his arms. She watched him start excavating out a large area with his black fingernails until he reached the wet sand underneath the dry powdery top layer. 

He took a deep breath and began his story, “There was an oil spill a couple of years ago out here. Meimei tried to start a protest against the company that owns the rig. I told her it was stupid, that there was no way she’d be able to convince the town to rally against them, since they sorta own the town. But it was a pretty popular movement and gained a lot of traction, especially since the spill impacted tourism in the area. She staged a bunch of boycotts and organized volunteers to help with cleaning up the beaches.”

He formed two small mounds of sand and began evening them out into finer shapes until it resembled the start of a sandcastle.

“Meimei was in over her head, running a movement like that. But I didn’t know what she got herself mixed up in until it was too late. They called her and the other leaders of the group over to the rig in what was supposed to be a gesture of good faith, that they were willing to come to an agreement to help the environment and assist with clean up efforts.”

His fists dug into the sand aggressively and stopped building. He took a deep breath.

“She was so excited. She thought she was actually making progress,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “And she never came back. ‘Environmental activists commit suicide in protest’ was what they told everyone. But that's frankly bullshit. Meimei wouldn’t hurt a fly. She wouldn’t do that. They were all peaceful protesters. And they killed them just to stop the movement. And the sick part is that it worked. Fizzled out after she was gone. Everyone was too scared to go against them after a move like that.”

He squished the perfectly smooth mounds between his fists, destroying all he had created.

“I should’ve gone with her. I should’ve told her it was a bad idea. I should’ve–”

He was shocked out of his head when two warm hands covered his own.

“It’s not your fault,” she said softly. “You couldn’t have known.”

He shook his head, but didn’t say anything more.

“It’s not your fault,” she repeated. 

She dug her hands into the sand, uncaring if her manicured fingernails got kernels of sand stuck underneath. Despite not being so adept at sandcastle building, she tried her best to help rebuild the two shapes he’d made from before. Without proper tools for sandcastle construction, she made use of the popsicle stick to create crisp edges. And for decoration, she dug around in the warm sand for some intact sea shells to press into the walls. 

Eventually, he joined her in building a sandcastle in complete silence. Neither of them needed to speak to divvy out directions, it was almost instinctual. He began by digging out a moat around the perimeter and Shi Qingxuan started piling wet sand for the second layer. They worked in tandem, pushing and pulling like the tides. This construction project was offered up in memoriam to all they had lost.

She didn’t realize how much she needed the silence. For someone so used to filling silences by babbling nonsense, she felt content for once to not say anything. There wasn’t anything that needed to be said among the two. 

And once they felt the sandcastle was complete, Shi Qingxuan used the prettiest shells she could find hidden in the sand to decorate the memorial. A mosaic of purple, pink, white, and beige covered the sandy walls, pieced together into a swirling pattern.

She nodded after placing the last shell, finishing the design.

“It just needs one last thing,” she said. “Where’s your popsicle stick?”

He looked at her, eyes twitching at the corners in momentary confusion. He fished it out of his pocket and handed it to her without question, but she didn’t take it.

She gently poked her stick into the top of the sandcastle and whispered, “For Baba and Mama.” Clasping her hands together in prayer, she sent up a quick prayer on their behalf to the heavens.

He didn’t miss a beat. “For Meimei,” he said, placing the stick on top next to hers.

They prayed together for a moment before the solemn atmosphere finally washed away with the tides.

She wiped away a stray tear that had fallen and looked over at the goth boy with a brilliant smile. “What should we call it?” she asked, placing her hand on her hips.

He tilted his head slightly, mulling it over with a ridiculously serious expression for something so trivial as naming a sandcastle.

“The Palace of Wind and Water.” 

Her eyes lit up, remembering the name she had offered all those years ago. “You sure? I feel like the Nether Water Manor may be more appropriate here,” she teased.

The edge of his lip curled up into a slight smirk, “Are you going to cry this time if I don’t agree?”

“Shut up! I did not cry about that!” she feigned offense, pushing him lightly in the shoulder.

He rolled his eyes and let the smirk turn into a real smile. “Whatever you say,” he conceded.

“You know,” she said, turning to him on a more serious note. “I really needed that. Thank you for listening. And thank you for trusting me enough to talk about your sister. And for making the sandcastle together. It was nice. I had fun.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but someone else’s voice called out from beyond the sandy shores, pulling them out of the moment in a shock that other people existed.

“Qingxuan!” Shi Wudu yelled. “There you are! Fucking hell, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

She sighed and glanced back over at her brother who was running up towards them. His timing was uncanny. He really knew how to ruin everything, didn’t he? He grabbed her arms like he was terrified she’d just fly away in the harsh breeze if he didn’t keep ahold of her.

“What have you been doing all day? Why did you turn your phone off? I couldn’t track your location!” he said frantically. “I was worried sick!”

“It must’ve died, I didn’t turn it off…” she muttered, shrugging off his bruising grip. She reached into her pocket, and sure enough, her phone wouldn’t turn on. “I was just sitting here on the beach. And I ran into an old friend. We built a sandcastle together.”

It was only then that Shi Wudu acknowledged the tall goth next to his sister, and the look he spared him was not a friendly one in the slightest. The stranger, in turn, didn’t look too eager to meet her brother either, especially considering her remarks about him earlier.

Shi Wudu’s eyes narrowed, as if repulsed just by the sight of him. “Well, come on. Let’s go back. We’ve all been looking for you. Have you even eaten anything today?” 

He grabbed her arm again, but she resisted for a moment.

“Ge, wait just a second,” she cried, turning back to her old friend. “Do you have a phone?” He nodded. She held out her hand, gesturing for him to give it to her. “Let me put in my number. We should meet up again for lunch or something! We’ll be here the whole summer.” 

Maybe it was a little forward of her, but she'd always been the type to live shamelessly and chase after what she wanted. Even if it meant she kept getting her heart broken.

He blinked at her, trying to process her words before inevitably complying. He opened up his phone’s contacts and she rapidly typed her number under the contact name Qingxuan 💚. 

Shi Wudu was not happy at this development and started forcibly dragging her away.

“Text me later, okay?” she called back, scrambling to pick up her sandals and the white cover up she had discarded on the beach earlier. “See you!”

He waved back at her with the phone still in his hand in response. Her smile glimmered in the early evening light, brighter than any star, moon, or sun as she waved back at him. And he smiled back at her.

~~~

PART 1, PART 3

End Notes:

I thought it would be a nice twist on Shi Wudu's character to have him actually be supportive of SQX instead of how he's normally portrayed as transphobic, just to make him more three dimensional! Let me know what you thought about the chapter below in the comments! I'll try to reply to everything!

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[jinkisbelly]

Sorcerers’ Apprentice 17/31

Inktober Day 17: Swollen or a Flashback to them making their soul bond, there is blood mentioned in this as part of the process

w/c: 1.5k

Masterlist  / AFF / AO3 (slowly)

                Jonghyun softly ran his fingers through Jinki’s long hair as he frowned deeply seeing the strip of white through the black locks. The last few years had proven to be hard on the prophet. The King pushing him harder and longer to produce as many visions and details of the Dark Sorcerers as he could. In doing so the white began to show in his hair near his right temple. Tonight he had arrived with the use of a thick cane he had bought a few months before when walking unassisted became difficult.

                After eating some of the bread Jonghyun had baked and drunk the tonic he made for him, Jinki had curled up on the bed using Jonghyun’s tummy as a pillow. He was facing away, but Jonghyun knew his eyes were closed, for he always did when his hair was being played with. Jonghyun lifted his gaze from the back of Jinki’s head to the book on the table across the way. He had found it when exploring the old library, back in the deep reference section. It described a powerful spell called a soul bond, one that connected two sorcerers until they were almost one. It described instances of powers being shared between the two individuals, spells power increased simply by being connected, and being such a deep connection it was painful to break.

                They had discussed marriage offhandedly, not serious enough to mean anything. Jinki had smiled so sweetly at the thought, leaning over and kissing his temple with a quick ‘Marrying you would be a dream’, before returning to his book. Jonghyun felt the truth in such a statement, but he also desired to be connected to Jinki in a deeper way. He loved him so much. Never had he felt all consumed by love for another, such a raw and passionate emotion it sometimes left him breathless. Before he lost his courage, he softly called out, “Love?”

                The quiet noise Jinki made could only be described as adorable as he turned onto his back, shifting his head to look up at him. His eyes slowly opened, a sweet and warm smile on his face. “Hey~”

                “Are you feeling better?”

                “I am,” His hand was soft as he intertwined their fingers the best he could. “Thanks to you.”

                 “I’ve been thinking about something that I’ve been researching lately.”

                 “Oh?”

                Chewing on his bottom lip, Jonghyun’s gaze fell from Jinki’s, chest feeling a little tight in his nervousness. He met Jinki’s eyes as he asked, “Have you ever heard of a soul bond?”

                 “The memory is vague, but I believe I have.” Jinki moved his thumb on the back of Jonghyun’s hand. “It’s the connection between two sorcerers’ souls, binding them by powerful magic, right?”

                “Yes.”

                “What have you been thinking about it, exactly, Dear One?”

                 Jonghyun flashed a tiny smile, breathing out quickly, “For once I wish you’d read me again.”

                 Slowly, Jinki rose from his thigh. After letting go of his hand he swung a leg over Jonghyun’s lap, straddling him and wrapping his arms around his neck. “I don’t have to use my abilities to read what’s on your mind, Beautiful. I wish you weren’t so hesitant to open up your desires to me.”

                 “If you ended up deciding you didn’t want to be that deeply tied to me,” He rose his hand to caress his cheek softly. “I don’t know what I’d do. I love you so much Jinki. I know what the crown says about marriage and commitment of it’s sorcerers, but I-”

                “I’d leave it all for you, Dear One.” Jinki quickly cut him off, leaning forward to press a few light kisses on each corner of his lips. “You are the only good thing in my life, Jonghyun. I’d have to research what a soul bond is, more than what I know from stories my master used to tell me, but the thought of being so intertwined with you it’s as if we’re one heart,” He grins widely and it knocks the breath out of Jonghyun’s lungs. “It’s exhilarating.”

                “So you’ll think about it?”

                “Yes.” After sweetly kissing him he whispered against his lips, “I love you more than anything else, Dear One.”

------

                It was a few weeks later they stood a step away from each other, reading the other’s expression for any signs of doubt. Soon it would be midnight on the first full moon since they decided this is what they wanted. Jinki looked so bright and warm with the weeks he had hidden away from any of the King’s demands, knowing that they need him well rested if this was going to work. Behind them was the prepared cauldron. Each ingredient was already measured out in separate tiny bowls and Jonghyun’s silver ceremony knife he got as a gift from his Master at the end of his apprenticeship was laying on the dark blue velvet it was stored in usually.

                “Are you ready?” Jonghyun quietly asked.

                “We can’t reverse this, Dear one, not without a lot of pain.” Jinki caught his slightly curled hand swinging next to his side, intertwining their fingers. “To feel you as intimately as this will allow, so close… I am sure in my decision, so please don’t mistake my intention when asking if you’re sure this is what you want for second thoughts, Jonghyun.”

                “The one thing I’m entirely sure of is us.” He pushed up to kiss his lips, bumping noses as he pulled away. “I may not be a prophet, but I know we were meant to meet that day Jinki. I’m sure. I want this. I want you.”

                Jinki kept hold of Jonghyun’s hand as he led them over to the table, only letting go of it so they could add the ingredients. The old book was open on the small stand they used for the potion book Jonghyun was writing. With each different ingredient added they began to sing until finally, Jinki picked up the delicate handle of the knife. Carefully, he pressed firmly from his the bottom of his ring finger to the end of his palm on his left hand with a deep hiss. Then as he cradled his cut hand he handed the knife to Jonghyun. Once he had done the exact same the knife was discarded on the table.

                They pressed their palms together, continuing the song as they lowered their intertwined hands into the brew in the cauldron. Once the liquid had covered both of their hands, they felt it. The exhilarating rush of power and presence as the connection clicked together and solidified. Their breathing hitched just for a moment, hearts pounding rapidly as the felt the full force of the bond.

                With their hands still under the brew, they stepped around the small table until they could kiss. Jonghyun’s free hand curling tightly in Jinki’s shirt, as Jinki had his hand pulling him closer on his lower back. The kiss was messy and opened mouth. The feeling of their new bond almost addicting. All the new sensations crashing together and swirling around. All there was to them then was the other man. Nothing else mattered. When they finally pulled apart enough to speak Jinki roughly panted. “I feel so much of you.”

                “My senses are going insane. I feel so tingly all over and God,” Jonghyun had a dazed smile on his face, eyes wide as he stared at Jinki, “Do you really see the world like this? Images of the past and future keep coming and going, I- I thought I’d feel overpowered, swollen almost, with everything but..”

                “It just feels right.” Jinki laughed, light and airy as he kissed him quickly. “So right.”

                When they managed to clean and wrap each of their wounds they couldn’t find it in themselves to tidy up the rest. For they were too caught up in the way everything felt so vibrant and alive. The smallest touch, a whisper against skin, a kiss. All they could bring themselves to do was lay on the bed and explore the feeling of the other’s face against their fingers. The sensations brand new even if they knew the other’s features better than their own some days.

                Jinki hadn’t felt that renewed and centered in years, feeling the ebb and flow of their powers swirling around between the two of them. Jonghyun saw the world in such a different light. He could see little images of their lives together, memories so clear and vivid he knew them to be visions of the past. Flashes of ones that hadn’t yet occurred he knew to be possible futures for them. He opened his mouth slightly, about to let the familiar three words roll off his tongue, but as Jinki slowly smiled he knew he didn’t need to say them. For they both knew. They could feel the rush of warm, deep affection for each other.

[mrpenguinpants]

Xiao: Protective HCs

We’re really on a Xiao train huh. I’ve got 10+ rq for him lol. I’m going to assume you meant for s/o and Xiao to already be together but I’m not sure how to word this, so I went with protective HCs. I still included your request.

Probably the most self indulgent OOC thing I’ve ever written but I’m tired and I need to sleep. Gonna post this then run away and hide for the next couple hours.

Here’s a bit of a spoiler for the next Xiao fic that’s coming aha 💕

Semi Part 1: Friendship

Semi Part 2: Falling in Love

Semi Part 3: Cuddles

Semi Part 5: Affection 

Semi Part 6: Jealously

Semi Part 7: First Kiss

Semi Part 8: Opposites Attract

Semi Part 9:  String of Fate [Soulmate] HCs

Semi Part 10:  [ Fainting ]

---

Xiao: Protective HCs

Xiao walks the in-between line of protective and possessive. He doesn’t interact with a lot of people and the last time he did, it didn’t go so well. He’s still getting used to these feelings of love and affection that he doesn’t know how to handle them. It’s new and a lot more complicated than fighting and he does not want to fight you.

On one hand, he want’s to keep you beside him but you’re an adventurer. You would have never met him if you never stepped foot outside your door. This is his first time experiencing this strong of an attachment to anything and after the insecurity and subtle advances you both made, you’re finally together and he doesn’t want to let go. Not even an inch.

But he’s sensible and cares for your happiness. So you’ll both share your moment’s when you’re together in secret.

It’s not as if he wants to keep your relationship a secret or is going out of his way to hide his affection for you. Adepti mostly stay hidden and Xiao is relatively unknown so the only ones that are aware of your relationship are Ming and Verr, the innkeeper. He still want’s to keep your relationship hidden because of possible threats to you if anyone were to find out that one of the Yaksha had a significant other, but also because it gives him an odd sense of selfishness.

He has his responsibilities as an adepti and to Liyue but he can push that aside when he’s with you. There's no need to worry about the demon’s that scratch at his back when he has your arms around him. It makes him feel even more protective of your wellbeing and makes his blood burn whenever he thinks of anything or anyone harming you.

Xiao keeps his words short so flowery language isn’t something he does. But he is observant.

You seemed to have a strong fixation on his red and blue sleeve. He asked you about it when he saw you eyeing it and you mentioned it was warm. So he gave it to you to keep. Something to remind you of him whenever you’re travelling. In exchange, you gave him the end piece of your gold and green pin which he fashioned around his left arm glove. He feels an odd sense of satisfaction when he see’s you greet other’s with his clothing around you. But also ignores the stare that Verr shoots to the roof of the inn.

His sleeve is enough of a deviation from your normal clothing that it must be either a gift or something handed down from your family. You are also missing your pin which should be enough hint’s that you’re already taken, but some culture’s aren’t aware of Liyue custom’s and traditions. To be frank, tradition’s have been decaying overtime even to Liyue citizens.

So when he sees someone flirting with you and complimenting your odd but unique choice in style, he might get a bit irritated but he won’t step in unless the person start’s pushing too many boundaries. Even if you can handle yourself perfectly fine Xiao is direct. If he see’s something might happen he’ll be sure to stop it before it hits that point.

When you do turn them down he feels his heart swirl with something and a deep feeling of happiness settles over him. It pulls a small smile onto his face but will quickly vanish when he catches Verr looking at him.

Verr might make a small remark that maybe he should adopt some flirting techniques. He doesn’t give her any action to show that he heard her but she knows.

It was one of those rare day’s where Xiao wanted to hold you instead of the reverse. You were both lying on top of the roof together as his sleeve was wrapped around your shoulders to keep you warm. He had said that as an adepti, he doesn’t experience the heat or cold like human’s do so you were free to keep the sleeve.

“I hope you don’t go chasing after them,” you commented as you felt his arm’s stiffen just a tad before relaxing. You thought back to that moment where someone had stopped you on your way to Xiao to compliment your sleeve. You assumed at first they were being nice since it was really pretty until they started asking about more personal things. You didn’t need to look up to feel those same piercing eyes on you. It would have been a bit amusing if you didn’t suddenly fear for someone else’s life.

“Of course not, I’m an adepti,” Xiao huffed as he eyed the pin on his glove, the one you had given him, “Although, this only prevents me from hurting them myself. Doesn't stop them from getting hurt in other ways.”

“Xiao!”

A soft huff escaped his chest as he felt you softly slap his arm. His eyes glanced around in uncertainty as his fingers slightly curled inwards. Maybe it was the weather, but he was starting to feel a bit warm as he slowly raised a hand to run his hand through your hair and push your face a bit closer to him.

“I have my reasons to not associate with the mortal realm, but responsibilities are responsibilities. You are perhaps my most troublesome yet most beloved,” he whispered so quietly you almost missed it if you weren’t so close. You felt your face flush all the way to red as you buried your head closer to his chest so he wouldn’t notice. Not that he could, seeing as he had hidden his face in his hand to will away the pink creeping up his neck.

“Where did you learn such things? If you say that I think I might actually die. Give me a second to at least prepare my heart,” you mumbled softly, pulling his sleeve closer to cover your ears.

[sokkalore]

Would you perhaps want to list your favorite xie lian simping for hua cheng moments? Like we all know HC is a major simp but XL honestly is too and I love it

this ask makes me so happy that i decided to dedicate an entire highlight color to annotations of characters acting like whores . ok here we go.

xie lian's obsession with hua cheng's legs, hands, etc. this starts even before he sees hua cheng's face, in any form:

"Those black leather boots were wrapped tight, and going upwards there were a pair of long and slender legs, looking extremely beautiful as they walked." this is chapter 8.

in chapter 16 hua cheng just. picks up a bag of junk and walks away with it and, "He watched as the lanky youth walked away with his giant bag of junk as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world, and it made him mutter 'forgive my sins' inwardly."

when they're actually in the banyue arc properly: "Xie Lian turned to see San Lang striding with his lithe long legs towards him." like we get it bestie we get it.

he also describes hua cheng's hand as, "...long and shapely, clean and elegant, a beautiful hand. It wasn't a vulnerable kind of beautiful, but rather, there was a strength hidden beneath the muscles. It was a hand that one wouldn't want to have choking their throat."

physical attraction aside, xie lian is just absolutely obsessed with hua cheng's sense of humor. hua cheng raises an eyebrow and xie lian is like, "he's the funniest person to ever exist." some examples:

when hua cheng lies about the general's tombstone saying everyone should kowtow before it three times just bc they were laughing at the general's death and xie lian is like "why are you so mischievous?" and hua cheng sticks his tongue out and they both share a little giggle

it would take a while to find every example of this but open up to a scene where hua cheng is making fun of someone (probably fx or mq) and you will find xie lian giggling to himself or smiling fondly

xie lian always just wants to be. near hua cheng:

he gets legitimately sad when they're apart for more than like, 48 hours. this happens after the banyue arc, after the qi rong beat down, in the very small space between their ghost city date and them meeting back up again for domestic puqi shrine times, in between mount tong'lu opening and the end of brocade immortal arc like...any time they're separated for a short amount of time (or a year) xie lian is NOT happy about it. clingy!

but even when he is literally with hc, he likes being as close to him as possible. in gambler's den, "Xie Lian was content to just watch from the background, but the moment he heard Hua Cheng's voice, he started trying to push himself through the crowd."

xie lian is constantly grabbing onto hua cheng's hand. to the point that when he instinctually reaches for it post CPR attempt/coffin scene he has to like. shake himself and be like stop. you whore. stop it. that's too much.

the part when pei ming is like hey is it? convenient? to have a red string dangling between the two of you? and xie lian gets legitimately SAD when hua cheng makes it invisible

this ended up more romantic than simping which is what you asked for so. to finish off, a few more moments that i have highlighted purple for whore:

when they're in qi rong's lair and the way xie lian tells us that hua cheng is now in disguise is, "...the one standing next to him wasn't the exceptionally handsome red-clad ghost king he knew,"

every time xie lian gives us a detailed description of hua cheng's widow's peak

in sinner's pit when he describes hua cheng's jawline for like three paragraphs and is only interrupted when ke mo starts yelling

when, in the aftermath of the underwater kiss, xie lian says, "Every time they met, Hua Cheng looked good in different ways," and (here's the start of the widow's peak mentions), "...above Hua Cheng's forehead was a widow's peak, and it made his face look even more shapely and alluring."

when hua cheng wore all black and, "Looking at him, Xie Lian couldn't help but remember the saying: 'for men to look handsome, they must dress in all black.' He thought deeply about the truth of that statement."

like two chapters later when xie lian literally can't focus on sqx being missing because hua cheng keeps changing outfits and xie lian cannot stop staring at him

in mount tong'lu when they're running from bwx and hua cheng says something like oh if he kills one of my butterflies i'll make ten more, i'll never back down, let's see who's left standing in the end and we get, "Xie Lian's heart skipped a beat for some reason, and he mumbled inwardly, '...Oh no, this is bad.' Even though Hua Cheng's expression was subconsciously displayed, Xie Lian really was quite weak to this aggressive and rebellious confidence of his."

when qi rong said that hua cheng only got attention from girls in puqi because it's a remote place and xie lian thinks to himself, "Even if Hua Cheng was dressed like a beggar, Xie Lian believed, should he go begging, he would collect a mountain of gold."

OK I'M STOPPING HERE BECAUSE THIS POST IS SO LONG but. this isn't even close to a comprehensive list but i hope it satisfied what you were looking for 😭

[marshmallow-phd]

Healing Touch

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Yixing x Reader

Summary: Medical school abroad was the last line on your to-do list before starting the rest of your life. Everything was going according to plan. Everything, that is, until tragedy strikes your campus. In the wake of a professor’s untimely death, you’re partnered with the cute boy with a breathtaking smile in the newly combined labs. You find yourself unable to resist the dimples and shy glances, but his life is here with no plans of leaving. Will you continue on as planned or will you accept the hand that Fate had dealt you?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Final

**

Yixing knew that he needed to get out of the car. The engine still rumbled, giving away his presence. Inside the farmhouse, the others were waiting for him so they could carry out the “family meeting”. Yixing already knew what it was about. And he still hadn’t made up his mind on how – or even if – he was going to tell his pack that this whole situation might be his fault.

Seeing the front door open, Yixing cut the engine and jumped out. Baekhyun poked his head out the screen door. “Are you coming? Junmyeon’s started pacing!”

“Yeah, I’m coming,” Yixing murmured as he kicked his car door shut.

So many doors. So much opening and closing. And the most important one he’d slammed shut himself. He could still see the dejected look on your face more clearly than the steps in front of him. Why did he have to be like this? So noble and overly righteous? He had his mate in his hands and he pushed you away. He needed to keep you safe – but was distance really the right way to do that?

Everyone else was already squished into the living room. There wasn’t much space in this area of the house, which was why they usually had meetings in the kitchen. Junmyeon must have been determined that no one be distracted by food or other easily reachable items.

Said alpha gave Yixing a very pointed look as the latter made his way to the back of the room, squeezing in between Chanyeol and Minseok against the wall.

“Everything okay?” Minseok asked quietly. Yixing nodded, but Chanyeol still threw a concerned glance his way.

“Alright, now that everyone is here,” again with the classic scolding Junmyeon glance, “we need to have a serious talk. There was another attack-”

“Another one!” Jongin exclaimed. His mouth hung on its hinges as he glanced around the room.

“Yes. Thankfully, this one survived. And he might have seen the wolf that attacked him.”

Chatter broke out among the wolves. Some where ecstatic at the possibility of finally knowing who this killer might be. Others were thankful that the man survived. Guesses bounced around about what this rouge wolf could look like. Baekhyun enjoyed the idea of it being a bear-like wolf, larger than even Chanyeol or – he’d stopped himself before he said another name that would shift the mood of the room in a flash.

“Nah, I bet its weak and sickly,” Jongdae interjected.

“Red fur?”

“No, those are rare.”

“I bet it’s blonde and shrimpy like Jongdae.”

“Watch it, Sehun.”

The chatter grew, even with Junmyeon’s insistence that they quiet down. So many voices piled on top of each that finally Yixing couldn’t take their theories anymore.

“It was a gray wolf.”

Despite Yixing’s neutral and low tone, the rest of the pack heard. Immediate silence. All eyes turned to him in confusion. He kept his arms crossed over his chest with his own gaze down on the floor.

“That’s a boring guess,” Sehun grumbled.

“Its not a guess,” Yixing admitted. “That’s what the man said at the hospital.”

Junmyeon stared hard at Yixing. “How do you know that’s the man said?” Lifting his eyes up, Yixing hardened his features. Under his arms, his fists curled tightly, his nails digging into the skin with a dull pain. He’d opened another door. And he didn’t think he could close this one again. Junmyeon sighed. “Everyone out.”

Everyone was reluctant to move.

“Now!”

Feet scrambled and tripped over one another as everyone but Yixing ran out of the room and to the kitchen. Junmyeon hated being forceful like that, having to raise his voice at the others. It was no surprise that he immediately melted back into a calmer state.

“Yixing…” came his steady, yet authoritative voice. “Tell me everything. Please.”

Yixing took a deep breath. It was better this way. He hoped. 

“I’ve been blacking out.”

“What?”

“They started around the same time the attacks did,” Yixing explained. “Sometimes I get a headache first. Sometimes it just happens. I lose time – hours usually. And then within that time, there’s an attack.” He could feel his throat closing in. It was more devastating than he’d pictured – telling the truth. He feared his pack turning on him, putting the blame on him, even if it was rightfully done. He’d always been the odd one out, the wolf with a different ancestry. He used to have others to relate to, but when they left….

“Have you ever woken up with blood on you?” Junmyeon asked cautiously.

“No.” A small miracle. There was one time, but he’d found the poor rabbit just a few feet away and the smells matched. 

“There could be another explanation for this,” Junmyeon insisted.

Yixing wanted to believe him, but there was other evidence against the hope. “He said it was a gray wolf.”

“Its not that uncommon of a color.”

“But he was attacked right during another one of my blackouts.”

“And where were you?”

“I was in the forest. Running. Alone.”

Junmyeon frowned. “Why were you doing that?”

Yixing shrugged. “I was… happy. Things were going in a good direction with Ming. I just needed to let the energy out and I wanted to be alone….”

“And then a blackout?”

Yixing nodded. “I woke nearby. (Y/n) was the one who had found him. I’d heard her screaming. We took him to the hospital and then I saw (y/n) home.”

“Did you talk to the police?”

“Yeah. All I told them was that I was in the area next to the nature center and heard (y/n) scream.”

“They didn’t think it was odd that you were naked?”

Yixing cringed, embarrassed. “I had my pants on, (y/n) gave me her jacket-” his jacket - “so they didn’t question it.”

“And (y/n)?”

“I doubt she fully believed my hiking story.”

Junmyeon let out a full lung’s worth of a sigh. His shoulders were weighted down by the pressure to keep their existence a secret and also take care of his pack. Would he outcast Yixing to protect the rest? Yixing wanted to cling to the hope that that wouldn’t be the case, but there was always a chance.

Stepping forward, Junmyeon placed a hand on Yixing’s shoulder. A smile, strained but reassuring, crept on his face. “We’ll figure this out. I don’t believe it’s you, but something bigger might be happening. Don’t go through this alone anymore, okay?”

As expected, a rumbling off footsteps shook the floor. Seven pairs arm wrapped around Junmyeon and Yixing.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Baekhyun whined.

“We could have helped you,” Chanyeol jumped in.

“You don’t have to do this alone,” Minseok agreed.

Yixing smiled, but said nothing. He still wasn’t sure if he’d made the right decision in revealing his condition. There was no telling what lied at the end of this road – either Yixing would be free to live his life with you or he would be outcast from the pack with a heavy conscious.

“Did I miss something?”

All heads snapped to the front parlor. Ji Yeon stood in the entryway with a coffee cup in one hand and her laptop bag in the other. Small chuckles echoed around the room as the group shifted away from each other. Even Yixing gave off a short laugh. It was a nice release, but now that meant Ji Yeon would need to be made aware of the current situation, adding to Yixing’s fear. As Minseok shuffled closer to his mate, Yixing slipped out of the room, wondering when he would be able to be close to his own mate again. 

**

It was one thing to think about personal issues on personal time. It was another to stop coming to class altogether. And for once, it wasn’t you avoiding the problem.

You had gone to class like normal, even though you were fully aware that a certain someone would – or, at least, should – be sitting in his usual seat when you arrived. You weren’t surprised at all when he hadn’t found you to walk you from class to class. That was to be expected after the abrupt ending to your last encounter. But him skipping class altogether was unexpected. Yixing was a dutiful student. Being in class was important. And yet, his seat was conspicuously empty when you stepped into the lab.

It was suffice to say that you were a little put out by his avoidance. You had conceded to the idea that you were going to suffer through having to sit next to him all class period and yet, all your panicking and worry was for not.

Maybe this was secretly a good thing. Maybe you would be able to concentrate better with the table to yourself.

That was not the case.

While you tried to concentrate on Professor Jiang’s lecture, your mind kept wondering back to Yixing.

Was he okay? Was he avoiding you? Had he dropped the class for good? Because of you?

What were the “things” that he needed to figure out? Were you right in thinking that he had a girlfriend off campus? Or was something else going on? Family things?

Your head was spinning with all the different possibilities. You might have heard a few technical terms during the lecture, but none of it sunk in. The pencil in your hand hardly scribbled across the notepad. Words floated meaningless from the textbook.

When Professor Jiang ended the session, you closed the textbook with a hard slam. Many eyes turned to you in shocked curiosity.

“Sorry,” you mumbled as you quickly packed away the rest of your supplies. Keeping your head down, you rushed out of the classroom and through the halls until you were outside under the cloud-hidden sun.

Finding a bench, you sat down, leaning forward on your knees as your eyes trailed over the cracked concrete sidewalk. That period was a dud, you were sure of that. At some point you would have to squeeze in extra study time to make up for the inability to control your attention. It was all Yixing’s fault. He was the one who had kissed you and then left. A few times you had unlocked your phone to call him, but never went through with it. You didn’t want to come off as desperate or clingy. You were trying not to care. In the past, you never had before. There was no reason for Yixing to be any different.

Except that he was.

You felt a bit… broken. Or perhaps rejected was the right word. There was a lot going on inside you that it was hard to pinpoint the exact emotions. Those words were both exaggerated and not enough in their explanations. 

Deciding that you were done with this oddly out of character pity party, you stood up and continued walking until you’d left the campus grounds all together and crossed the street in the direction of your apartment.

Ran was home when you walked through the door. Her music – vibrating loudly through the miniature Bluetooth next to her on the floor – drowned out your steps into the living room. Spread out around her were notebooks, textbooks, different colored pens and a half-filled coffee mug. A one-person study session. She jumped when she finally noticed you. “Oh, hey!” She reached over and turned down the music so it was now at a low background noise level. “What are you doing already?”

“I wasn’t feeling too well,” you lied. She believed you since you were sure you looked the part. “I thought it might be best to come home and lie down.”

Ran jokingly cringed away from you. “Ew, don’t get me sick. I have plans with Hae In this weekend.”

“I don’t think it’s a bug or anything. My body might just be rebelling against lack of sleep.” Surely Ran had heard your tossing and turning the last several nights.

“Hey,” Ran caught you attention again before you could escape to your room. “So, uh, did anything happen between you and that Yixing guy after I left?” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

You shook your head. “No. We talked about class a bit and then he went home. Family emergency or something like that.”

“Hm. Interesting. Well, take it form me, he definitely likes you.”

“I doubt that.”

“No, seriously.” Ran took a sip from the mug, flinched at the now probably lukewarm liquid, and then put it back down. “The way he was looking at you, he likes you. A lot. I think you should give him a chance.”

You chewed on her observations. “I’ll think about it.”

Safe in the four walls of your tiny room, you curled up on your bed with your back against the headboard. As wonderful as sleep sounded and even with Ran now keeping her music at a more manageable level, you doubted your brain would be able to shut off. To try and be distracted by something, you logged into the “Dream University’s” website to check your status.

Still waitlisted. Okay. This was fine. You weren’t actually expecting any change. You just wanted something to do. You were growing antsy. Coming home might not have actually been the best idea. It was the walk itself that had been helpful, freeing for your mind. Now that you were still again, you were back to where you were in the classroom. Unfortunately, the overthinking anxiety wouldn’t let you just get up and go – not with Ran still in the living room. Did it make any sense? Absolutely not. Did that matter? Nope.

About twenty minutes or so went by with you simply scrolling through social media until you heard the music stop and the rustling of the school supplies being picked up. After five minutes of clean up, the front door opened and then closed again. Just to be extra sure that Ran was gone for good, you watched the clock on your phone click by for ten minutes.

Now you were able to leave.

Wrapping up in a jacket (not Yixing’s), you checked your pockets for all the essentials and then headed out the door.

It was back to the nature center for you. It probably wasn’t the smartest place to go given your last adventure in the park, but it had nice winding trails and there would be people around – at a distance, that is.

The clouds were still heavy in the sky when you arrived. Not to the point where they threatened rain, but enough to color the world a dull gray. Squirrels dotted along the path. Their bellies were round and full, telling you that the locals had been feeding them despite the signs that clearly advised against it. Some were brave enough or curious enough to come close to you, but scurried away as soon as it was clear that you were not one of the gracious humans that bestowed them fluffy bread.

Letting your feet guide you along the asphalt path, you let yourself be absorbed in the trees. Your mind still wander towards Yixing, but you didn’t fight it anymore. You were hoping that overexposure would lead to a numbness, an immunity. But he wasn’t a disease attacking your body, he was just a boy. A cute, dimple-smiled boy who made you feel at ease.

Crack!

You snapped your head up at the sudden sound. You half expected a bunny to come hopping out of the side bushes, letting you laugh at yourself. But it wasn’t a bunny twenty feet off the trail.

It was a wolf.

A gray wolf. Just like the hiker said. And it was staring right at you.

Scanning the area, you searched for the closest route to the main center, but you were too far in. This was exactly why you avoided the woods!

You vaguely remembered the advice not to run because then the wolf would treat you like prey. It always sounded like stupid advice. Even more so now as the creature charged in your direction. You charged off the path in the opposite direction of the wolf, pushing the air out of your lungs and screaming as loud as you could.

**

“Are you sure it was around here?”

Yixing threw Junmyeon a look. “Yes. I’m sure.”

The two wolves were currently trotting through the woods to find the spot where Yixing had found the man and Ming. Junmyeon wanted a better look at the scene in the off chance he might get a better intact of the scent left behind. Each time they’d gone looking for answers in the past, the scent had been too old and dulled to really pick it apart. They were probably too late now, but they’d spent the last few days at the farmhouse, keeping an eye on Yixing to see if another blackout would occur. It hadn’t, much to Junmyeon’s disappointment.

“It was close to the nature center,” Yixing explained once again. They’d come from the north, rather than straight from the center. Yixing had hoped that he’d have a better insight to the location. They were getting warmer.

A sudden twig snap made their human ears perk up.

“Could that be--”

“It was probably just a rabbit,” Junmyeon guessed.

As if to prove him wrong, the snap was followed by a wolf’s rumbling howl. And then a high pitched scream.

Yixing gasped. He knew that scream.

“That’s (y/n)!”

Junmyeon looked at him, unconvinced. “Are you sure?”

Yixing’s response was a ferocious growl as he took off without his alpha. A wolf always knows his mate.

[legends-live-in-memories]

“How Did All This Happen?”- A Memoire by one Marinette Dupain-Cheng 1

Soooooo I decided to write this. much longer than the other things i posted, also very tonally different. I will definitely continue that other fic tho. I was just brainstorming and now this exists. Yeah.

 without further ado

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

People Fucked Up and Now It’s All Marinette’s Mess to Clean Up I

This was not how Marinette planned for her night to go. Granted, she also could not envision it going literally any other way. The woes of making a deal with the hell-raiser himself, John Constantine, she supposes. She truly hoped Adrien was having a much better time than her with his cousin in London. After the circus that was the past three years, he deserved some reprieve, even if it was with his bratty doppelganger. Regardless, Marinette. Was. Not. Pleased. No matter how many times she thinks over her plan, recalculates every step and decision, she could not fathom this night ending well for her, or anyone really, but mostly her. And no amount of old Ladybug or Guardian luck could help her. Now, if one were to wonder what kind of tragedy had befallen Marinette on this disgraceful night, a brief history of the last three months could enlighten such a person. Or better yet, let’s start at the beginning. The Real Beginning.

So, things existed. Obviously. First there was nothing, and then, something. And as more things began to exist, as new schools of knowledge and concepts and ideas began to, well, exist, Kwamis formed as well. Each Kwami was the physical manifestation of these ideas or abstracts. Creation was the first, coupled with Destruction. And as more things began to exist, more things began needing to be protected. Thus, the Kwami of Protection. This went on. For a while. Soon thereafter there were Kwamis of all types. Jubilation, Time, Strength, etc, etc, and etc. Now these Kwamis did not linger in one spot. They roamed across the far stretches of existence and interacted with the life they found.

Some Kwamis decided to form a magical pact which intergalactic historians would later dub the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. Sounds familiar? The Kwamis themselves were completely blissfully unaware of this title, lest they would have explained to these beings, Maltusians they were called, that they were not in fact, electromagnetic but more so a part of the Powers that Be. Kind of. But this side-story involves the formation of a few universally known Lantern Corps, and that is a barrel of monkeys our exasperated narrator does not want to touch with a ten-foot pole. Or ever.

Other Kwamis, who stuck close to what would become known as the Milky Way, were discovered by a mage who granted them the ability to interact with humans. This mage— and Marinette was silently cursing his descendants, herself included, for if it weren’t for this absolute mad lad, none of the subsequent events of this night would have transcribed—had bound the Kwamis to magical jewelry called Miraculouses. An interesting side effect of these Kwamis being bound to the miraculouses was that the wearer could call upon the powers of the Kwamis for their own usage. The mage feared what could become of the world if this kind of power became so easily accessible, so he created the Order of the Guardians. The Order was dedicated to training young mages to protect, wield and harvest the powers of the miraculouses. The Order swore to true neutrality; wishing not to impose their will on one side or the other, to maintain balance and to not upset the natural order of the world. 

This went surprisingly well for a few millennia, that is, of course, if you ignore the sinking of Atlantis, the extinction of the dinosaurs, the Black Plague, the creation of the Lazarus Pits, Pompeii, to name a few completely egregious instances—not necessarily in order of course—and well, the point stands that it could have been astronomically worse. Until it was.  

One young mage and Guardian in training had caused the downfall of almost the entire Order of the Guardians. All the centuries of history, teachings, artifacts and even the people at the head temple, were lost to the calamity. Dozens of Miraculous Boxes were lost, destroyed in the fray. The Kwamis themselves were relatively unaffected, being immortal and all, but the magical jewelry binding them to the earth were broken, thus those Kwamis were lost to mankind once again. Only one singular box, and the young mage himself, survived. The new Guardian of one miraculous box was left to scour the earth in solitude. Well, about as much solitude one could have with 17 pocket gods as company. The fact that the only box that survived was missing two more miraculouses caused the already stressed guardian to grey further. But that tidbit of information would be a problem for later. And for someone else entirely too. Oh joy.

But before that sequence of events, aptly named “Marinette’s Trial by Fire,” however, the young guardian had a couple more life mistakes to make before he reached his internal quota apparently. Rather than travel to another sector of the Order on the other side of the earth, this young mage stumbled upon another organization, one similar in architecture and hierarchy but a pendulum swing in the total moral opposite. Yes, that’s right, the guardian found himself upon the League of Shadows, led by Ra’s Al Ghul in his endeavor of global cleansing; by acts of ecoterrorism, but who sweats the small stuff, right? There, the young guardian, who adopted the name of Wang Fu, met his first love Ming Hong and they had a son. The son had a daughter he named Mei. Now Mei was only a few weeks younger than Ra’s Al Ghul’s grandson, Damian. Now with an appropriate heir, and someone to procreate with said heir, Ra’s Al Ghul gained a special interest in the small Fu family that originally flew under the radar of the League. 

Now this is where things continue to go downhill, but not until much, much later in this story. Ra’s Al Ghul, despite his radical ambitions, was particularly good at playing the long game and understood when he couldn’t accomplish a task directly. This being said, he recognized that, due to prolonged exposure to the Lazarus Pits, his soul could not bear the strain of being a wielder of a miraculous and so he waited. Waited until a suitable heir was sired and could copulate with an heir to the guardian of the miraculous box, desiring to create a bloodline of genetically suitable successors and wielders who were loyal to him and his cause. 

Ra’s ordered for the Fu family to have a place on his court and ordered for Mei Fu to be trained in mastering the secrets of the miraculous. And master she did. By age 6 she was fluent in the coded language of the magical text, or as fluent a 6 year old can be in any language, and she had mastered 7 out the 17 miraculouses. By age 10 she was as skilled as the grandson of the Demon Head in combat and could handle simultaneous wear of 3 miraculouses. Her training, however, had to be put on hold as somebody thought usurping the Demon Head was of the utmost importance that glorious Tuesday and staged a coup. She wished Deathstroke had lost more than an eye that day, but a girl can dream she supposes. Mei and her grandfather were separated from the rest of the League and journeyed west. Somehow they ended up in Paris, France. After one too many run ins with the authorities, Mei was removed from her grandfather, who was deemed too unfit to support her. It was a miracle he wasn’t deported. 

Mei was put into protective custody where she resided until she was 13. Recently adopted, and thoroughly done with the plebeians of her daily encounters, Mei Fu became Marinette Dupain-Cheng, daughter of the best bakers in Paris. All was well and good for the new Dupain-Cheng until the start of the new school year. 

She met her grandfather again. And apparently he had a job for her and her soon to be new partner.

Hawkmoth, that bitch, had somehow acquired the two last surviving miraculouses and the only surviving grimoire and thought domestic terrorism was on the agenda for the next few years. Why? Because investing in a family therapist was too much of an inconvenience for local recluse, Gabriel McFucking Agreste, Marinette would shortly learn. 

After dealing with all of that and juggling between her reignited guardian training, and ‘normal’ girl life—because her parents don’t know that she’s a magical girl in the making—, Marinette was ready to sleep for a thousand years. Or commit murder. Whichever gave her enough serotonin to complete her current passion project. But, alas, no rest for the totally-over-it or however that saying goes. Because after declaring Paris safe once again, sending off her brother-in-arms, Adrien Agreste, to family in London (marginally decent but anything beats the abusive prick of a sperm donor), in waltz one drunken John Constantine.

Ah yes. Him. That absolute bastard who doesn’t deserve nice things in life. That guy.

This unpleasantry approached Master Fu and Marinette, who has been regulated to errand-girl in lieu of training, with a job that he proclaimed that only one blessed with magic, and specifically NOT connected to the Justice League could accomplish. Apparently, a group called the Cult of the Kobra resided on Santa Prisca and was in possession of a dangerous magical artifact that had been the backbone of their organization for years. Constantine came to them asking them for assistance in retrieving it as the Justice League could not interfere in the Caribbean due to new UN legislation. It was a mission of utmost urgency for he feared the cult leader, Kobra himself, was planning on enacting a ritual that could bring calamity to Earth. Which is just what the doctor ordered. Not. In exchange, he agreed to add to her magical training as while master Fu was good, he was still young when he ran away from his problems the first time and thus was limited in his magical knowledge.

That was three months ago. Three months of planning, training, and convincing her parents that letting her go on an extended retreat for an undetermined amount of time with her mostly absent biological grandfather was totally reasonable for the seventeen year old to do. Like, come on. She’s almost old enough to drink, almost ready for university and has been praised for her independence and self-sufficiency for years. She’ll be fine is what she told her parents and she was almost able to convince herself of that too. She would be perfectly fine. Right?

Wrong.

Marinette was anything but fine. She was stressed, she was tired and she was abso-fucking-lutely pissed at anything that even breathed in her direction. Why? Well that brings us back to the beginning of the story when everything on this mission did not go according to plan. So here she was along what was once upon a time the eastern coastline of Santa Prisca. Oh and look. The Junior Justice League has arrived.

Purrrrfect. 

Some one asked for a taglist. Ask and ye shall receive

@deathwishy @neakco  @ virtualreading  @f-rget-lt @your-resident-chicken-nugget

[translations-by-aiimee]

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 15

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 15 - Stage

Since it wasn't time for the audience to enter the venue yet, the auditorium, which could accommodate two thousand people, was only sparsely occupied, and the person in charge of the event was still shouting out instructions about the final arrangement of the rostrum. After entering from the staff passage, Lin Yan pulled A-Yan and found their seat in the middle of the fourth row. Indeed, as Weiwei said, he had a good view of the stage, only sitting behind the pink-labelled school officials and special guests.

Unexpectedly, there was already a boy sitting next to Lin Yan's seat. "I'm sorry, can we squeeze by." Lin Yan said. When the boy looked up, it turned out to be the guy playing on the PSP he saw in the front hall. He had a long face, like a grasshopper, with acne covering the young appearance. After having his game was interrupted, his mouth pinched into an impatient expression and leaned back slightly to give the little Daoist priest and Lin Yan room to pass.

He probably also came in through the back door. I saw him queuing at the door just now, Lin Yan thought. To make A-Yan feel more comfortable, he left the left seat closest to the PSP guy open for Xiao Yu, sat in the middle, and opened the event pamphlet to start reading. The booklet was well-made and had some weight in his hand. Lin Yan could get a general idea of the event by skimming through the pages. This lecture focused on the identification of cultural relics from the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. The colour pages were printed with images of porcelain, jade, calligraphy, and paintings. After the portion of interactive activities, there was no more detail on the event. Lin Yan handed the book to the empty seat on his left and asked softly, "Do you recognize anything?"

The PSP guy sitting next to him turned his head and looked at Lin Yan puzzledly. Lin Yan was a little embarrassed, took the pamphlet back, and said nonchalantly, "I wasn't talking to you."

PSP guy gave him an irritated glance.

The rostrum had been set up, and the audience filed in through the side doors on the sides of the auditorium, and noise flooded into the lecture hall. Xiao Yu didn't seem to like crowded places. He tore Lin Yan's hand from the pamphlet and gripped it in his hand. Lin Yan was a little flustered. From the perspective of others, his left hand was hanging stiffly in the air. He tried to twist his hand away a few times but to no avail. He compromised and rested their hands on the armrest.

After the audience was seated, Professor Chen, with his file folder aura, walked out onstage. His black suit and red striped tie made him look very refined. The professor sat down at the podium, cleared his throat after fiddling with the microphone and notebook, and then the host appeared on the stage. The auditorium darkened, leaving only the background Powerpoint and the spotlight on the host.

"The lecture has officially started. Today we are honoured to invite an expert in cultural relic identification. Professor Chen, an identification researcher from the Palace Museum, will give you a lecture on the appreciation and collection of antiques from the Chenghua period. . ." the host read.

The auditorium was dark, the audience was very polite, and even though the lecture hall was filled with 2,000 people, it was completely silent. Lin Yan turned his head to the left and almost jumped up in fright. There was a person sitting in the empty seat. He looked out of place among the crowd of well-dressed students. His long hair blocked most of his face, which was partially visible from Lin Yan's point of view. With a straightened nose and pale skin, his thin lips were pressed together tightly, staring at the podium intently. In the blue light and shadows from the stage, the large bloodstains on his clothes were particularly strange. Lin Yan's hands unconsciously shook. Xiao Yu turned his head to look at him. A pair of fierce black pupils appeared behind his black hair, and his hand squeezed harder as if he thought Lin Yan was going to run away.

He wasn't sure if the ghost's image was frozen from the time of his death. Lin Yan tried to calm his heartbeat. While wondering if he could change his clothes, he thought it would be a good idea if he could freshen up and change so as not to scare him to death by showing up in the middle of the night. Lin Yan touched Ah Yan, nodded his head in Xiao Yu's direction, and whispered, "Can you see him?"

A-Yan suspiciously shook his head.

Lin Yan heaved a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to be compared to the unlucky actor in "Coming Soon" sitting next to a ghost in the movie theatre.

"In the first part of the lecture, we asked Professor Chen to explain the basic knowledge and rules of antique identification with a few pieces of his own collection as examples. The second part is for interaction. We will invite ten students to come to the stage for a small activity. Whoever wins the activity can ask Professor Chen to engrave a seal as a souvenir. . ."

There was a commotion in the audience. Lin Yan was a little puzzled. He turned his head and asked A-Yan what was so strange about it. "This--this teacher's seal cutting, books, and calligraphy are very famous, and it's not cheap to get him to engrave something," A-Yan said softly.

The host closed the script and continued: ". . . and you can ask any questions you have after the event. Professor Chen will be happy to answer your various questions about the field, career orientation or professional-related questions."

Lin Yan frowned. This sounded tempting. It would take longer to ask Xiao Yu about things. Maybe he had to play psychological warfare. . . Lin Yan thought.

After the applause, the host left the stage, the spotlight went out, and only the Powerpoint on the backdrop was left on, dowsing the entire venue with blue shining light. Professor File Folder took a sip of water and said a few simple opening remarks before beginning his lecture. The first photo released was a small blue and white crane with an elaborate pattern on it. It was an ordinary shape, but the colour was elegant and sophisticated, the material texture was fine and the enamel was thick. It was in line with the solemn and simple characteristics of the Chenghua period.

"During the Ming Dynasty's Chenghua period, porcelain pieces were minimalistic and light, and it was typically tooth-white or blood-red when seen in the light. It was a milky-cream finish, lustrous and clean. The piece's glaze was also very precise, very skilled application and accentuating the colour. In terms of colour, the decorative lines are slender, and the double-line outline filling method is used to make the filling colour appear lighter. It's worth mentioning that in this period, the Doucai technique was an innovation with its exquisite and delicate application of colour. . ."

When Professor File Folder moved on, a girl wearing a light green phoenix skirt flashed into view backstage. In the vermilion lacquer tray in his hand were a pair of bamboo-leaf bowls. They were decorated with a sky-blue background covered in green bamboo leaves. Lin Yan thought it was a little disdainful. These things were available on the market; the pair would only cost 50,000 yuan, which was much cheaper than the pieces the professor was presenting.

After finishing the discussion on the porcelain, the powerpoint slide changed to a daffodil hairpin by the famous engraver Lu Zigang. Even though it was only a picture, it was clear to see that the carving was exquisite, the details so fine they were as thin as a hair. Professor File Folder began to explain the appreciation of jade illustrated faintly in the photo, and the girl from backstage came out with one. She held the white jade seed high up in her hand. The white jade was crystal clear in the light of the small spotlight, and its carving is also finely detailed. The girl turned the tray to reveal the skin on its back. Lin Yan frowned when she saw it.

"Can anyone evaluate this carving?" File Folder asked melancholically.

No one answered, and the audience stayed silent. Lin Yan murmured, "It's a duplicate." He thought that his voice was low enough, but the auditorium was too quiet, so his voice reached the podium with ease.

The professor's eyes lit up and he called out to him, "Go on."

Lin Yan's face flushed red. He hesitated for a while, stood up reluctantly, and motioned to it: "There is no doubt that the quality of jade is a good seed material, but in the process of refining it, in order to ensure it would sell at a good price, the merchant re-skinned the jade. A layer of fake autumn pear skin does not affect the price, nor does it make it a fake, it just looks awkward."

File Folder nodded approvingly. When Lin Yan sat down, his heart was still thumping. He didn't like speaking in public. Even if this were a normal lecture, there were still 2000 people in the room. If he said something wrong, it will be embarrassing so Lin Yan was anxious.

"Your--Your vision is really good." The little Daoist said softly: "I doubt I'm the only one who thinks so."

The low and soft voice made Lin Yan's heart relax. Just as he was going to brush off the compliment, a hand clamped over his shoulder, and Lin Yan fell directly on Xiao Yu's lap with a hard tug. An icy breath brushed over him. A chilled hand pinched his chin, thumb lightly stroked his cheeks, long hair hanging down and tickling his neck. Lin Yan tried to push off Xiao Yu's knees to prop himself up, but Xiao Yu refused, and the two of them sat in a stalemate in the dark.

Lin Yan forgot that he was the only one who could see Xiao Yu. This scene must be extremely weird in the eyes of others. The boy who had just answered the professor's question practically fell into the empty seat next to him, looking like he could not get up no matter how hard he tried. . .

"What's wrong with you?" The PSP man rolled his eyes at Lin Yan and shifted away in disgust.

Lin Yan struggled to sit upright. He apologized to the PSP guy embarrassingly and continued to listen to the lecture focusing on the back of the seat in front of him. Only he knew what was actually happening. A ghost, a person who no one can see, was holding his waist unscrupulously, slowly kissing up his neck. The tip of his cold nose brushed the side of his face, around his ears, and let out a low breath: "Hah. . ."

Lin Yan developed a layer of goosebumps, his arm stiffly supported on the back of the chair, his expression closed off. He licked his earlobe, a wet, soft and waxy feeling. His whole body shook, and the tip of his tongue licked around the mouth of his ear. Licking around, even poking his tongue in occasionally, the extremely ambiguous voice seemed to be infinitely louder in his ear. Lin Yan reached under his bangs to prop up his forehead with his hand and covered his eyes. He didn't have the dignity left to face anyone; he could only grit his teeth and try to control his breathing.

He couldn't hear what Professor File Folder was saying and suddenly his vision was blocked. Xiao Yu leaned in front of him, with his hands on the armrests on both sides of Lin Yan. His tongue licked back and forth on his lips. Itching, his heart twitched. He was angry, anxious and uncomfortable. Lin Yan desperately tried to recite the values of Marxism as a distraction; capitalism is characterized by squeezing surplus value. . . surplus value. . . squeeze out socialist surplus value. . . the doctrine will squeeze out surplus value. . . everything is all messed up. . . This was the worst possible time to be teased by the ghost, so what should he do. . . Lin Yan's eyes filled with tears. He looked at Xiao Yu pleadingly, pinching his arm gently and shaking his head.

The hand that had almost reached the top of his thigh finally retracted. Xiao Yu leaned over and kissed Lin Yan's lips before he sat back on the seat.

Thank god it's over, Lin Yan thought sullenly.

"Next we move on to the second portion of the lecture. Ten students will be invited to the stage to participate in a mini-game of antique identification. We have prepared ten collections for you to authenticate. The person with the most correct answers can specify to Professor Chen what they want specially engraved." The host had changed to a girl in a red jacket skirt, she spoke sweetly into the microphone.

Lin Yan was still in a state of adrenaline surge and hadn't recovered.

"The student who spoke just now, Professor Chen invites you to come up."

There was silence in the auditorium. Lin Yan raised his head and looked at the host blankly, wondering why he didn't continue? A-Yan pushed Lin Yan and whispered, "They--They're calling you."

Lin Yan stood up hesitantly, pointed to himself, and asked the girl in the red jacket skirt, "Me?"

There was a burst of laughter in the audience. The host was afraid of being rude. She held the mic and joked: "This classmate must have been asleep."

The temperature of Lin Yan's face that had finally cooled off soared again. He was terrible at playing games in public. A single mistake would make him nervous. Lin Yan cautiously pushed off the back of the chair and headed up. He couldn't help but looked back and give Xiao Yu a fierce look. The ghost calmly followed him through the rows of people blocking the way. He walked with a unique posture. Even though he was barefoot and covered with bloodstains, he doesn't look decrepit. He stood tall with his back straight, unlike the current students around him with slumped shoulders thanks to their education system.

Lin Yan walked onto the stage, shifting his posture to avoid having to turn and face the crowd.

The purple curtain behind the podium opened, exposing the wide space behind. Under the warm stage lights, there were ten antique square tables lined up with grand tutor chairs, and an elegant mahogany brocade box was placed on a raised platform in front of them. The other nine people had already stood at the tables to the right, and the closest person Lin Yan was the PSP guy.

The host raised his hand to signal Lin Yan to join them: "In order to be more in line with today's discussion, these ten students will go backstage to change into some costumes. Professor Chen and the audience are invited to take a break while they get changed and return soon."

Lin Yan glanced out into the audience and saw that the stage lights were blinding. The three rows of school officials and guests near the front of the stage were sitting in plain sight. Beyond that was a crowd of people that he couldn't make out because of the lights. This was only one floor. Lin Yan's legs felt like noodles when he looked up, and the crowd on the second floor remaining silent. Four large cameras with small red lights were facing him. Lin Yan felt that his whole body was covered in crawling ants. His chest was being crushed by a large stone, and his lungs were being squished until they couldn't get any air into them.

If he could, he wanted to escape and drive away immediately. After taking a few deep breaths, Lin Yan clenched his fists and followed the team backstage behind the curtain.

[hotpinkrathian]

Reconciliation

(Su and Kuvira- platonic)

Yeah so I finally wrote something else lol sorry if that disappointed you, but the post I saw earlier inspired me. I know there’s comics and stuff about how it ended up with the two of them but seeing im a broke ass bitch who can’t afford them I wrote my own😅

Su stood at the doors of the prison, mustering every ounce of courage she had left to go in those doors.

“Mom, please go easy on her. She’s lost everything. I know you’re angry, but remember I messed up too.”

Her sons words echoed in her head. Bataar Jr was the one who encouraged her to come here, to talk to Kuvira. Su had spent the last five years picking up the debris left behind Kuvira’s wake of destruction, and she hated her the entire time. A girl she had once seen as her daughter, a girl whom she had rescued and raised. That type of betrayal had hit her harder than she was prepared for. Finally a guard opened the door and allowed her to step in. She was led down a hallway through a variety of doors that could only be open with specific forms of bending, or an activation code. The guard stopped three cells from the end and turned a key into the lock. The door opened and Su stepped inside, informing the guard to wait outside. There she was, in tattered grey prison clothing sitting it’s her knees tucked into her chest staring out the low barred window of her cell.

“I don’t want it, tell the captain to give it to Shia Ming.” Kuvira said.

“I would, except I don’t have anything this Shia would want.” Kuvira turned at stared at Su, surprised.

“What are you doing here?” Kuvira asked once she had collected herself.

“Truthfully, I don’t know.” They stood there in silence for a moment before Kuvira sighed and adjusted her position so she had her back against her wall.

“You know I never wanted to hurt you. You were the only person I even considered stopping for.” Kuvira said, her head tilted back so she was facing the ceiling.

“I’ve heard this before,” Su replied bitterly.

“Yet you never seem to believe me.” Su bit her tongue, unsure of what to say. “Don’t say anything. You’re good at that.” Kuvira said eventually.

Su sighed furiously, “what am I supposed to say to that? You ransacked my city stole my people and forced my kingdom to live under a dictatorship!”

“You could’ve stopped it!” Kuvira replied, standing up to face Su. “Had you just stepped up when you were asked.”

“You know that’s not what I wanted.”

“Newsflash Su, sometimes we don’t get what we want!” Kuvira was leaning into Su’s face, her own red with anger and her breath was short and quick. Su took a step back, subconsciously holding onto the door of the cell. Kuvira saw the fear in Su’s eyes and her anger subsided. She returned to the bed and stared at her hands. “It’s been a awhile since anyone’s come to see me.” She said, running a finger over the scars on her left wrist. “Three years, actually.” Su gulped and took a step closer.

“Who was it?”

“Korra. I don’t know how she finds it in herself to not hate me. Clearly I’m a terrible person.” Su found herself walking closer, when she reached the bed she sat down next to Kuvira.

“Korra’s been through worse than you.”

“Really? Here I was hoping I had been best supervillain.” Su didn’t know why, but she reached out her hand and placed it on Kuvira’s. Her eyes widened and filled with tears when she saw the marks on the younger girls arms. The scars were pretty much healed, but they still held the truth.

“Kuvira you-“

“I don’t need you’re sympathy. After Korra stopped coming I stopped having a reason to be here. So I opted for a way out. But I couldn’t even succeed at that.” Su stared at Kuvira’s cheek, relishing the days when she held her face in her hands before sending her off to school or some other chore. She placed her hand on the prisoners face and Kuvira embraced it, allowing herself to sigh heavily in Su’s grip and relax.

“How’s Bataar?” Kuvira asked, pulling away from the gesture.

“He’s doing okay, he’s going on trial to see about an early release in a few days.”

“good for him.”

“Kuvira... did you really love him?”

Kuvira sighed, she faced the floor, not daring to return the gaze Suyin held on her.

“I don’t know. I think a part of me did, it was nice having an ally. Someone who believed in me. But I don’t think I would have married him. I’m sorry.”

“When you blasted him, you broke his heart.”

“I broke a piece of mine too.” Su just looked at her. She didn’t know what to feel, angry at all the lies? Angry that Kuvira was actually making Su feel sympathetic? Or happy that she was finally owning up to her actions? Without thinking Su took Kuvira’s face in her hands again and she pulled the younger girl into her arms. Kuvira rested her chin on Su’s shoulder and closed her eyes, taking in the smell of Jade that seemed to follow Suyin everywhere. When Su pulled away she stood up and flattened her dress leaving Kuvira wanting just a little more.

“Kuvira I want you to know that I loved you, like you were my own daughter. I know it may not have seemed like it at times, but I always just wanted the best for. I saw so much of myself in you, and I spent so much time trying to make you be like me, so I could have a successor. But I know now that you didn’t need that, you didn’t need drills and training and extra classes. You needed a mother, and as that I failed you.” Suyin watched a tear slide down Kuvira’s cheek, her eyes pinching closed.

“Are you ever going to be able to forgive me?” She stammered.

“I don’t know,” Su replied before knocking on the cell door and allowing the guard to escort her out. The image of Kuvira curled up in front of the window vivid in her mind.

[redlikerozez]

In this darkness, which you know you cannot fight - Chapter 3

by RedLikeRozez

Summary: Shi Wudu makes a deal with Shi Qingxuan for her not-date with an old friend.

Content warnings/tags: Pei Ming is an asshole, overprotective!Shi Wudu but honestly what’s new, fear of drowning, bullying, mentions of He Xuan’s late-sister (he’s not over it and neither am I), He Xuan’s monstrous appetite

Word Count: about 10k words

Author’s Note: Betaed by the fantastic @parameciam, everyone give them some smoochies!!!

PART 1 , PART 2

Chapter 3: Let the Dream Begin

The storm clouds that had been gathering on the beach finally let loose in a downpour late into the afternoon. Luckily, the group had been able to retire back to the villa with everyone accounted for before it got too bad. 

Shi Wudu did not apologize for the root of the issue that caused her to run away. Instead, he interrogated and lectured at her for the better part of an hour, all while she sort of half-listened and gave vague answers. If he wasn’t going to admit he was wrong, she wasn’t going to take him seriously. So Shi Qingxuan sat there in a blissful state with a stupidly big smile on her face. She was practically floating away in her seat on the sofa in merriment.

I can’t believe I really met Xuan-er again! After all these years! And he remembered me! she chanted this over and over in her head like a mantra. He remembered me! He was waiting for me!

Her heart soared, flying through the breeze and high above the clouds like paper lanterns during a festival. 

“Hello?” Shi Wudu called, waving a hand in front of her glassy eyes. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Hmm?” she called, snapping back to reality like an apple had fallen on her head. “Oh, was it something about how it was irresponsible of me to wander off and let my phone die?”

Shi Wudu narrowed his eyes and shook his head, incredibly disappointed and frustrated. “That was about fifteen minutes ago,” he sighed heavily. “Did you seriously not hear anything I just said?”

“Do enlighten me, great master Wudu, with your boundless wisdom,” she replied, dripping with false sincerity. “This humble one is but a vessel for you to impart knowledge in.”

“This is serious, Qingxuan,” snarled Shi Wudu. “You can’t just go giving your number out to random strangers you meet on the beach.”

“Okay, I hear you,” she said, sensing he was actually a little pissed off. “But he wasn’t some random stranger. It was the boy I told you about all those years ago, that I met on the beach when you and Baba were on the boat. I made a sandcastle with him and his sister. I told him that I’d come back to finish it, but then I almost drowned and… yeah. Whatever. It wasn’t some random stranger, it was that boy that had the same name as me! We’re old friends!”

Shi Wudu did not look impressed or convinced. “You met him exactly once when you were children and now suddenly you’re old friends?”

“He remembered me!” she said dreamily. “He said he was waiting for me to come back that day even though I never showed up. And he kept wondering about what happened and why I never came back the next day! And we have the same name! Destiny wanted us to meet again!”

Her brother rolled his eyes and said, “Qingxuan, you know nothing about him. Is this seriously a real conversation I need to have with you? What, are you some Disney princess about to marry a man you just met once? You know what happened with Anna and Hans.”

Shi Qingxuan gasped.

“Don’t you dare bring he-who-must-not-be-named into this. I told you to never bring that despicable bastard up again. It’s too painful…” she feigned holding back tears. “If anything, Xuan-er’s like Kristoff. He’s nothing like that traitor. And don’t compare yourself to Elsa! You’re closer to the reindeer or like one of those weird rock trolls or even that annoying weasley Duke. But it’s not like I’m in love with him or anything. Why are you making romantic comparisons? It’s not that deep. We’re old friends.”

“This situation is exactly like that, Qingxuan! You gave him your number and asked him to lunch!” Shi Wudu cried. “How is that not coming on to him?”

She scowled, but couldn’t think of an excuse around it. “Okay, fine. I think he’s cute. What’s wrong with that? Doesn’t have to mean anything. I just wanna catch up!”

“I think you’re not realizing how weird it was that he’s, what?, been obsessed with you for however many years, waiting for you to come back? Isn’t that a little creepy? Get a grip on reality.”

“He hasn’t been waiting for me all this time,” she corrected, dismissing such a silly notion. But somewhere in her heart, she thought maybe that wasn’t so creepy after all. It would be kind of romantic, actually. But it didn’t matter, since that was not the case. “He said he was waiting that day and since I didn’t show up, he had been wondering what happened ever since. Don’t make him out to be some sort of stalker. He was just curious. I was curious! I thought about him from time to time. That’s not weird and I’m not some stalker.”

“Either way, I don’t think it was wise to give him your number.”

“It’s fine. You’re just paranoid. I just want to catch up over lunch or something!” she said. “We won’t be strangers for long. In fact, I think we’re already friends! He gave me a popsicle and we bonded over building a sandcastle together.”

“He gave you a popsicle? And you just took it?” Shi Wudu asked slowly, putting his head in his hands, thoroughly defeated. “Qingxuan, have you ever once thought about your actions before doing them? What if he had done something to it?”

“A popsicle?” asked Shi Qingxuan, doubtfully. “Be so fucking for real right now. Have you ever heard about someone roofie-ing a popsicle? You’re crazy.”

“I’m sure it’s happened before.”

“Yeah, sure. Maybe on Mars,” she laughed. “Besides, even if he tried something, I’d probably give him a big shock down there and he’d run away, haha!”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

“Whatever. It was a nice gesture! He thought I looked hot and offered me half of his popsicle and I ate it and nothing bad happened,” she said quickly. 

She remembered him absolutely tearing into that thing with his teeth and shivered a little at the thought. How had his teeth not been burning from sensitivity?! That was the only thing she could consider ‘weird’ about him.

“He said you looked hot?” growled Shi Wudu, barely concealing his rage. 

Of course that’s what Shi Wudu latched onto out of everything she just said.

“No, not like that!” she cried. “Well, haha, actually, I thought he meant the same thing at first. No, like, temperature hot. I was sweating and he thought I should cool off so he gave me half of his popsicle. But of course, I am hot hot! But that’s not what he meant, though.” 

She was simultaneously hoping he thought she looked hot and also terribly embarrassed because her eyes had been so red and puffy and there was probably snot dripping from her nose. She didn’t want him to have any opinion about her appearance just yet. When they meet for lunch, she’ll be sure to look drop-dead gorgeous to really make up for it.

“But who knows? Maybe he’s not interested in a fixer-upper like you and I’m worried for nothing,” teased Shi Wudu.

“How dare you use Frozen against me in this way!” Shi Qingxuan feigned offense by slapping a hand to her chest and gasping dramatically. 

Shi Wudu crossed his arms defensively and muttered, “You said I was nothing like Elsa.” 

“Because you’re objectively not a girlboss!” 

“I can be whatever I want to be. Maybe I want to be Elsa.”

Shi Qingxuan shook her head and sighed. “What is the world going to think of our parents if both of us turn out to be girls? You’ll be dragging down the family name. You have to think of the company, not just yourself,” she lamented, full of sarcasm. She’d heard similar nonsense all her life from her parent’s friends and the company’s shareholders.

“Okay, fine. Not Elsa. What about Jack Frost?”

She scowled and thoroughly scrutinized him. “I could see it… Okay, sure. I mean, it’s Dreamworks, not Disney. But you can be Jack Frost.”

“No badass song, though…” he pouted.

“Yeah, there is that to consider.”

Shi Qingxuan smiled and they both burst into a fit of giggles. 

This was the side of her brother she rarely got to see: a Shi Wudu that was actually kind of funny. When he was working, he was always so serious— almost like he had to remove his funny bone as a requirement for his job. And ‘working Shi Wudu’ meant that he was overworking and stressing himself out. He’d pick on her just to take the edge off, but it was rarely to both of their delight like this. Times like this, it really proved he did have a sense of humor somewhere buried underneath all that paperwork and stress. 

Maybe she could convince the vacation czar to watch a Disney movie with her at some point like they used to when they were kids. Maybe this ‘vacation Shi Wudu’ would be better than regular Shi Wudu.

She tried not to get her hopes too high, considering all that happened earlier. 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Ling Wen wanted to go to bed early, so they shut the lights off while Shi Qingxuan waited patiently for her phone to charge, eager to see if she had received any messages from a certain handsome goth friend she met earlier that day. But, much to her dismay, once it had sprang to life, there were no new messages.

Shi Qingxuan sighed to herself and rolled over after placing her phone face down on the nightstand. She closed her eyes to go to sleep. 

Maybe tomorrow, she resigned.

Her dreams that night were strange, disconnected, and full of mini-nightmares she kept startling awake from. It felt like someone was banging on the walls of her skull and she kept hearing someone scream. In her delirium, she couldn’t make out whether it was in reality or in her dreams.

Her parent’s car accident haunted some of her nightmares. Others were about a particularly traumatizing ex from university, and all of the rest were about drowning in as many different and horrifying ways as possible.

Getting flung off the boat when she was a child, and drowning. Shi Wudu kicking her into the sea, and drowning. A nameless villain holding her head under the water, and drowning. Jumping into the deep end of the pool, and drowning. Running out of oxygen while scuba diving, and drowning. Getting trapped in a locked car that fell into the ocean, and drowning. 

And every time, without fail, the moment she was sure she would suffocate and die, the creature would show up. After a moment of relief, thinking she was about to be saved, its glowing yellow eyes were smiling and round with a sinister kind of affection. The creature latched a bruising grip onto her wrists and dragged her down further into whatever water source she’d wound up in this time, and she’d wake up coughing and frazzled.

When she finally woke up in the morning, her eyes were crusty and gooped together, and her body felt sluggish and heavy, thoroughly exhausted from tossing and turning all night. Dark circles and bloodshot eyes stared back at her in the bathroom mirror. It sort of felt like she had a hangover, too, except she hadn’t even drank yesterday. Like, at all. So that was kind of weird.

Looking out the window, it was cloudy again today, but still bright enough to make the looming headache flare up with a vengeance. She hissed and shut the curtains again. Luckily, Ling Wen was always prepared and offered up some pain killers.

As the last one to trudge into the kitchen for breakfast, Shi Qingxuan was unceremoniously greeted by her delightful brother.

“Whoa, you look like shit,” he announced in front of all his friends.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Gee, thanks.”

As his friends acknowledged her with a chorus of polite greetings, Shi Wudu thought it the opportune moment to toss her a banana she was thoroughly unprepared to catch. Shi Qingxuan’s body felt like it could only process everything in slow motion. And just like the tube of sunscreen from the first day on the boat, she made an affronted noise as it slapped against her arm and clattered to the floor.

Shi Qingxuan just stared languidly down at the fallen banana and sighed dramatically.

“I thought I told you that the next time you threw something at me, I’d shove it up your ass?” she grumbled, reaching down to pick up the probably bruised banana. “Alright, bend over and drop your pants. You asked for it.”

She moved to tackle him and they wrestled for a moment until Shi Wudu caught her in a headlock and she cried uncle. She slapped around desperately, trying to break free, to no avail.

“Okay, okay, okay! I surrender! White flag!” she pleaded. “Just! Stop throwing things at me, alright?! You’re very big and strong, okay? You’re a great older brother! Is that what you want me to say? Please don’t break my beautiful neck!”

Shi Wudu laughed, grip still steady, and said through a shit eating grin, “By all means, continue, meimei! What else can you say about me?”

“You’re… Uh, you definitely don’t have terrible taste in fashion! And, uh, you’re really… funny or uh, smart…?” She was quickly running out of good things to say. “You know what, I take it back! Fuck you! Snap my neck for all I care! You’re the worst brother ever—”

Shi Wudu finally let go, laughing his ass off. His sister was usually such a morning person. He wondered why that had changed suddenly this morning. 

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?” 

“Yeah… Couldn't sleep very well,” she said, rubbing her neck. She was stringing together a long string of curses against him in her brain. What would Xuan-er think if she ended up with a bruise on her neck!

“Join the club,” was all Ling Wen said, giving the nastiest side-eye to a certain couple.

Several eyes also fell upon Pei Ming and Xuan Ji and for a moment, no one spoke a word.

“Fine, I’ll say it if no one else is,” Ling Wen said, slamming her coffee cup on the bar table. “This is not going to work all summer. You two need to fuck quieter. And for shorter periods of time late into the night. Some of us actually need to sleep without it sounding like a stupid porno being filmed in the room next door.”

Pei Xiu instantly covered his face in his hands, wishing to become invisible. Shi Wudu’s face turned several different colors, absolutely horrified at Ling Wen’s audacity.

Shi Qingxuan covered her mouth to suppress the gasp of surprise and subsequent laughter that was threatening to eek out. Oh, so maybe that’s why she kept having nightmares and waking up intermittently from the noise of screaming and, for lack of a better word, banging…

Xuan Ji’s eyes and her entire face turned red with rage. She started several sentences, but couldn’t finish any of them in her shock. She whipped her head around to look at Pei Ming who was trying to hold back laughter.

“MingMing, this is not funny!” she cried, pushing him in the shoulder.

“You do kind of sound like a bad porn star…” was all Pei Ming responded with. And he let slip a half-suppressed, choked-out laugh.

Her mouth gaped open as a huge, melodramatic gasp ripped from her lungs. She twirled around on her feet and sped out of the kitchen and slammed the door leading into their shared room.

Pei Ming hadn’t originally intended to follow her, but with four pairs of eyes on him shooting accusatory looks, he shifted his weight awkwardly.

“Sorry about that, jiejie,” he said on a more serious note. “And anyone else we kept up… I’ll just… go… fix that.”

He scurried after her, more excited to be out of their judging gazes than to actually repair his relationship.

“Breakfast and a show,” Shi Qingxuan said, filling the uncomfortable silence that followed. She began peeling open the banana and began nibbling away at it. “I didn’t know that was included in the rental price.”

Shi Wudu shot her a quick look of disapproval, but didn’t say anything. No one really knew what to say. 

Pei Xiu was still trying to turn invisible. Or perhaps he was trying to acquire the ability to camouflage so he could blend into the kitchen cabinets. Or maybe he was thinking that if he was still enough, no one would be able to notice him. 

Ling Wen calmly sipped her coffee while Shi Wudu stared daggers into the back of her head.

“Jiejie, was that entirely necessary? First thing in the morning?” he hissed.

“Yes, it was,” she replied flatly. “You can’t tell me you didn’t hear it all night.”

Shi Wudu sighed and rubbed his face. “I did, but there are more delicate ways to bring something like that up without causing a whole scene. We haven’t even been here seventy two hours and there’s already drama.”

“You know, he didn’t even want to invite her on this vacation…” Pei Xiu blurted out suddenly. “He was trying to break up with her before the trip, but she insisted on coming. Wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Shi Wudu’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” he said. “But… You can’t tell her I said that…” Even quieter, “She’ll kill me…”

Ling Wen smirked devilishly and continued sipping her coffee, eyeing Shi Wudu strangely. He smacked her in the shoulder and looked away, hiding his face from view.

“Who needs K-Dramas when you can live it?” Shi Qingxuan chimed happily, about halfway done with her banana. “Who bets they break up right now? Or is this just the start of a bunch of awkward encounters that’ll eventually lead to a huge blow up like a week from now?”

“We’re not placing bets on our friend’s relationship,” Shi Wudu announced. 

“I bet the latter,” replied Ling Wen immediately. “Knowing good ol’ Pei, he’ll try to keep a bad thing going for as long as possible to avoid conflict. But it usually just blows up in his face.”

Shi Wudu massaged his temples in frustration and let out an exasperated sigh. “This is exactly why I didn’t want him to invite her in the first place. I knew it would turn into some big dramatic thing. He never listens, does he? He can only think with the head of his–” He stopped himself from finishing that sentence and cleared his throat. “Well, in any case, what should we do today?”

“I think the forecast says there’s going to be rain later,” Ling Wen said.

“Probably not the best day for the boat…” he said. 

“Okay, so what about a chill beach day?” chirped Shi Qingxuan happily. Yay, no boat!

No one said anything in protest, but instead, Ling Wen said, “And when it rains, we can just stay inside.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Shi Wudu agreed. “Shark movie marathon later?”

Pei Xiu murmured an agreement and Shi Qingxuan stayed silent. 

That sounded painfully traumatizing. Nothing like getting over your fear of the ocean by watching campy shark movies! 

The czar clapped his hands and decreed everyone start getting ready for the beach. Shi Qingxuan started for the bedroom, but she felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket and stopped in the middle of the hall. Her heart leapt up into her throat and she fished it out quickly, desperate to check the new notification.

An unknown number had left a message. She nearly jumped into the air and floated away at how giddy she felt upon reading:

Lunch today?

It’s Xuan-er, he added quickly.

She couldn’t help the half-squeal, half-giggle that slipped past her lips at the confirmation.

Shi Wudu threw an arm over her shoulder, shocking her out of her bliss. She tried to dodge, but he was too quick. His eyes narrowed when he gazed over the messages on her phone. Shi Qingxuan, perturbed he was being nosy, quickly hid the screen into her chest.

“Get off. You already tried to kill me less than ten minutes ago,” she grumbled.

“Who was that?” he asked, despite knowing the answer. “On your phone?”

“Just making lunch plans,” she said, shrugging and ducking out from under his arm.

“You’re seriously going to lunch with him? Alone?”

“Well, you’re not invited, if that’s what you’re asking,” she sneered.

“Please, Qingxuan,” he said, taking all the teasing out of his voice. “You shouldn’t go out with this guy. You don’t know anything about him.”

“Welcome to the modern dating world,” she cried. “That’s all anyone ever does! Besides, I know how to handle myself. I’ve gone on plenty of bad first dates.”

Shi Wudu narrowed his eyes. You couldn’t even break out of my headlock… he thought.

“I mean! It's not really a date!” she added quickly. “I mean, it could be, but we’re just going to catch up! Don’t be so worried.”

She quickly escaped his incredulous and unimpressed gaze and shut the door to start getting ready for the beach.

But, more importantly, she opened the new message and typed an enthusiastic reply:

Goooood Morning!! ☀️

Yes!! I’d love to meet up for lunch!! 😄

What time works for you? 🧐

I’m free all day~~ 😉

As she pressed send, a queasy, fluttery feeling swelled in her stomach.

A knock sounded on the door and Shi Wudu stepped inside. She groaned upon seeing his form, thinking it was going to be Ling Wen coming to get ready.

“I don’t want you seeing this guy alone,” he said with a stern look on his face. This was as close to worried or anxious as she’d ever seen him. 

Shi Qingxuan rolled her eyes. “Why are you being weird about this? It’s just lunch.”

“You don’t know him.”

“So? Neither do you,” she pointed out. Shi Wudu’s eye twitched. “Ugh! You’re acting like he’s a serial killer or something!”

“We’re in an unfamiliar place. What if something happens and no one is around. If I’m not around. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“What would you have me do, ge? Invite you along so you can intimidate or interrogate him or something? Or worse— invite everyone else to lunch with us?” she asked seriously. “That’s like baptism by fire or throwing him into the deep end of the pool.”

“He’s… I get a bad vibe from that guy. He seems fishy.”

“He does look a bit like an eel, haha…” she admitted.

He rolled his eyes, not amused. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

She sighed and realized he wasn’t going to back down. Negotiating with him would be better than arguing with him.

“Look, I’ll take my phone and make sure it's charged and on and notifications aren’t silenced. I’ll share my location with you and check in when I can,” she began. “But if you’re going to stop me from going or demand to come with me, that’s crossing a line, ge. I know you care and are just worried about me, but I’m not as fragile and naïve as you think. Like I said, I’ve gone on so many first dates with guys I know even less about. It’ll be fine. I know how to deal with weirdos, if needed.”

Shi Wudu frowned, scowled even. But he didn’t immediately shut down the idea. 

After a moment, considering her words, he said, “If you promise to check in… I suppose… Maybe I won’t follow you and sit a couple tables away to observe…”

Shi Qingxuan grimaced. She pictured him sitting in the corner of a restaurant with a trench coat and those costume glasses with the built in mustache trying to blend in surreptitiously.

“Ge, that’s so embarrassing.” She lamented in her palms at the thought.

“You text me if anything happens or he says something weird or tries anything, alright?” he insisted. “If you need me, I’m there. I’m just trying to keep you safe, meimei.”

“I know. I know.”

“Fifteen minute check-in texts.”

“Thirty.”

Shi Wudu narrowed his eyes and said, “If you forget, I’m—”

“You’re gonna come in, guns blazing. I know. I won’t forget,” she promised. “And if it’s an emergency or something, I can send you an emoji or a code word or something and you can call to give me an excuse to leave suddenly. Xie Lian and I used to do that. I used to send him the leaves blowing emoji if I ever—”

“Sure, whatever, that’s fine. I can probably make up some random emergency, if needed,” he said. 

“So, thirty minute check-ins and you won’t be a weird stalker?” she confirmed. 

Somehow, he made his face contort further into an even deeper scowl. “Fine,” he grumbled.

“I’m gonna need you to shake on it,” she proposed.

She held out her hand and he shook it hesitantly.

“I give you my word,” he promised. He held onto her hand tightly for a moment and added, “Only if you give me your word.”

“Yes, yes, I promise!” she cried happily.

A huge smile lit up on her face and after he let go, she jumped and wrapped her arms around him, thanking him profusely. Then, she promptly shooed him out of the room so she could get ready and, more importantly, reply to the message she’d missed during their heated negotiations.

Noon ok?

She wrote back, Yes! ☺️ Where should I meet you?

Idk what food do you like

Seafood!! 🦐🦞🦀🐟🍤🍣🦪🥰🤤😩

They went back and forth for a moment before she ended up recommending the place they had tried to grab brunch yesterday. Even though he was a local, he didn’t really seem too ‘in the know’ about popular restaurants in the area. 

When she questioned him about this, all he said in response was, I usually cook at home i guess

She prayed this not-date went well so she could convince him to cook for her, but she was getting ahead of herself. She was definitely going to count it as a date… but he didn’t need to know that.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Xuan-er was surprised to find he could spot her from all the way across the end of the main street. A-Xuan was a head taller than most of the locals and she liked wearing white, he was coming to notice. Most everyone from around here stuck to blues and greys since the weather could get unpredictable in the summer. 

He had originally tried to arrive earlier than her to grab a table for them, but it seems that would not be happening.

Most noticeably, she looked much happier than yesterday, something he was especially grateful to see. 

Shi Qingxuan showed up outside the café at 11:45AM despite agreeing to meet at noon. She’d been too antsy on the beach that morning and decided to go back and get ready earlier than originally intended. 

Half of her hair was braided and tied up in a bun set in the back with a chunky, ornamental barrette. The rest was long and flowing down her back in loose waves. She was wearing a white linen sundress and the pair of sandals she’d brought. A light concealer had been enough to salvage her tired complexion and she put on a pink tinted lip gloss and some brown mascara. Nothing too extravagant, but natural enough for that “no-makeup” look most boys couldn’t see through. She deemed herself much more put together and acceptable looking than this morning, and especially yesterday.

Shi Qingxuan texted her brother a quick message signaling her arrival and that she was waiting for him. Her phone was charged up all the way and notifications were turned on just in case. Her location was already shared with her brother, so she didn’t need to deal with that.

“You’re early,” he stated plainly in lieu of a greeting.

Shi Qingxuan gave him a cute little wave and momentarily pondered if she should go in for a hug or if that would be too familiar. She settled for a slight bow of her head instead. She also noticed that he was wearing the exact same thing as yesterday. She almost laughed, but held it back.

“Yeah! Is that alright?” she replied. Why was her heart fluttering already? He’d said barely two words. “I wasn’t waiting long, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He opened up the door to the café and said, “Let’s sit down.”

He let her walk through first while he held the door. 

Alright, that’s a good sign. He opens doors! How thoughtful. Wait… He doesn’t know this is supposed to be a date. What am I even thinking about? 

She blinked the strange thoughts out of her mind and put on a smile.

The café was just as crowded. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed that the same waitress from yesterday was buzzing around and tending to several tables at once.

The hostess gave her a polite greeting which Shi Qingxuan returned. When she asked for a table for two, glancing back at her not-date who was standing behind her like a looming shadow, the hostess made a strange and incomprehensible expression. Without really giving it more thought, she followed the hostess over to a two-top table-booth combination in the far corner of the restaurant.

Xuan-er stopped walking suddenly and asked, “Are there any other tables?”

The hostess blinked up in surprise and put on a fakey customer service smile and said, “We’re pretty full considering the lunch rush.”

Shi Qingxuan looked around and spotted several other two-tops on the other side of the restaurant.

“What about those over there?” she asked innocently, not trying to be rude.

“That section’s server is a little busy at the moment,” the hostess said, a strange twinge in her smile that didn’t look natural at all. “If you’d like to be seated now, this is the only table available.”

“Oh, okay… Uh, is this one alright?” she asked Xuan-er, who originally expressed the sentiment. “We could wait, I don’t mind. It’s up to you.”

“Whatever, it’s fine,” he grumbled, yanking out the chair and sitting down.

The hostess bid them to enjoy their meal, leaving in a hurry.

Shi Qingxuan sat down across from him, a little uncomfortable from how this not-date was starting off. She tried to examine the table, but truly nothing seemed wrong with the table. Why had he acted so strangely? She was not deterred, though. She could spin anything around.

“So how’s your day going so far?” she asked with a charming smile.

“Fine,” he muttered, staring down at the table.

“That’s good to hear,” she said. 

She waited a moment for him to say more. He did not. 

“Well, my day started out kinda rough, but now it’s going well!”

He didn’t reply.

Tough crowd! Okay, so small talk isn’t his thing. That’s alright. He likes food. I like food. You can do this, Qingxuan!

She passed him over a menu and started talking about how some of the different seafood dishes looked delicious. He scowled intently at the menu, thoroughly scrutinizing it with a grave seriousness that didn’t seem natural at all.

“What kinda food do you like?” she asked, trying to get him more engaged. “Or I guess what do you normally cook at home?”

“Anything. I’m not picky.”

Come on! Give me something to work with here!

“What’re you thinking about getting? I can’t choose,” she tried again. 

And just when he opened his mouth to reply, Banyue, the same sever walked up to their table. She noticed Shi Qingxuan first and looked a little relieved to see her back and not crying.

“It’s nice to see you again,” she greeted with a smile under those eternally sad looking eyes. “What drinks can I get you started off with?”

Banyue turned to acknowledge Xuan-er and she did a huge double take and let slip a small gasp of surprise.

“Oh, hey. I… I didn't see you there,” she said in a small voice. “H-how are you doing?”

Shi Qingxuan watched both of them shrink away from the other and tried to understand what the relationship between them could be.

“You’re the server for this section?” he asked harshly, biting his words. Fists clenched tightly at his sides.

“Y-yeah,” she said, looking reluctant and concerned. “I’m s-sorry, I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have…” She swallowed uncomfortably. “We can try to get you seated in a different section, if you’d like.”

“Oh, but the hostess said there weren’t any other tables available,” Shi Qingxuan supplied, trying to be helpful.

Banyue’s brows scrunched up in confusion and she looked around. “What? She said that? There should be—”

A set up… he thought bitterly. Fuckin’ figures.

Xuan-er stood up, mumbling an apology to both of them, and stormed out of the restaurant.

Shi Qingxuan was left sitting at the table with a baffled expression on her face and looked over at the poor waitress, who looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“What?” Shi Qingxuan managed to say. “What just happened?”

“Why would she seat him here…?” Banyue whispered, putting her head in her hands. “Of all places?”

“What do you mean?” Shi Qingxuan asked, looking around and trying to deduce anything she could from her surroundings. It all seemed perfectly normal to her!

That is, until she looked behind.

On the wall, right behind her head, the article about the environmental activists who killed themselves as part of a protest was hung proudly. Pictures of each of the activists were in black and white, staring back with intense eye contact. 

Shi Qingxuan could only gasp. She stared back at an incredibly young face that looked so much like Xuan-er, but with softer more feminine features. She couldn’t have been older than nineteen or twenty. This was his sister, she realized. Out of the three protesters, Daiyu-er’s picture was the only one that was smiling; a beautiful, wide grin that was just a little crooked in a charming way. Her eyes still sparkled full of life, even for a black and white picture. 

How could she have forgotten about this stupid article?! And she’d recommended they come to this café!

“What the fuck?!” she cried. “Oh my god, I’m so stupid…”

She raced out of the table and went to chase after him, but right as she almost exited the door, she heard giggling coming from the host stand.

“Have a nice day!” the host called, laughing with a wicked smile.

Shi Qingxuan had seen this particular brand of wickedness before. The one where people laughed in the face of other’s pain and misery. A shiver ran down her spine and she burst through the doors and into the street, trying to catch a glimpse of where he went.

It was easy enough to spot him, she realized. He was several heads taller than most of the locals and the only one wearing all black.

She called out to him, stopping just short of calling him Xuan-er. Somehow the nickname felt too familiar now that they were both adults. (She could work up to it). Thankfully, he stopped upon hearing her. She caught up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and panted from the effort of running.

His face looked incredibly sad, almost despairing, in that stoic way he always held his face, tight lips and intense eyes and furrowed brows. Except now, his eyes were filled with a special kind of rage and sadness she wished to never witness again.

“I’m sorry,” she pleaded. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I didn’t mean—”

“Are you still hungry?” he interrupted suddenly, looking away from her face.

She could hear a tinge of something like hurt in his voice, but she pretended she didn’t notice it.

“Oh, um, yeah,” she admitted, a little confused.

He started walking again and she stumbled after to follow him.

“W-where are we going?” 

“Somewhere better than that shithole.”

Well, at least he still wanted to continue the not-date despite the circumstances. Right…? 

Shi Qingxuan was wracking her brain with how to salvage this absolute fiasco.

They walked in silence down the unfamiliar streets he’d probably walked his whole life. People parted ways for them in the busy streets when they saw him coming. What the fuck was in the air in this town? Just being seen with him, the stares she was getting from the locals were ruthless and absolutely nasty. 

He led her over to a small stall with a couple picnic tables out front close to the beach. It looked to be a little meat bun stall from the distance. The old man working at the shop smiled widely upon seeing customers coming towards him. This old man was the only one that seemed to not regard Xuan-er with contempt.

“Ah! Always nice to see my favorite customer!” he called over with a jolly laugh. “And is that a lady-friend with you, He-yufu? Well, now that’s something! I never thought I’d see the day!”

Is that his surname? she wondered. He Xuan?

“Two of the usual,” he answered back flatly to the worker. He turned to glance back at Shi Qingxuan and asked, “What do you want?”

“Oh, um,” she hesitated, looking at the menu for the first time. “Oh, the shrimp buns look good!”

“Best in town,” the shop owner, she presumed, replied proudly. “How many would you like?”

“You got two, right?” she asked, tugging his sweatshirt. “Then I’ll do two, too!”

The worker laughed and said, “Two? Buns or two sets?”

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Wait, which did you get?”

“Two sets.”

Her face betrayed the suprise she felt. “Oh. Well… How many are in the set?”

“Six.” 

She did the math in her head and nearly choked. “Holy shit. You can eat all of that?!”

“Sometimes more,” he admitted nonchalantly.

“It’s both beautiful and terrifying,” the shop owner said, about to tear up. “There’s a reason He-yufu is my favorite.”

“Uh, okay, I’ll just do two of the shrimp buns,” she clarified.

Shi Qingxuan moved to grab her wallet out of her crossbody purse, but Xuan-er had already put money in the tray.

“Wait!” she cried. “At least let me pay for mine!”

“Isn’t this a date?” he asked, looking at her with a confused face. “Doesn’t the guy usually pay on dates?”

Wait, what? He wasn’t supposed to know this was a date!

Her mind went completely blank upon hearing that he had her figured out.

“Let the nice man pay for you,” the shop owner hissed, snatching up the money so she didn’t have a chance to protest. “This new wave of youngsters paying half-and-half on a date is just ridiculous. The man is supposed to pay, end of story.”

Xuan-er stared at her for a long moment before he parsed out, “Was… was it not a date?”

Suddenly, her brain started working again and she spit out rapid-fire, trying to save the interaction.

“No, no! It’s just..! I, ahaha, I thought that… I didn’t know you were interested like that!” she explained intelligently. 

“So, it’s not a date…?” he tried to clarify, grimacing at the potential mistake.

“No, no!” she babbled quickly. “Wait, no, I mean, yes it is! It can be! If you want it to be, ahahaha!”

Fuck, I look like an idiot! Oh my god, and I picked that stupid café for a date?! I’m SUCH an idiot!

“Let’s just start over,” she proposed. “This is a date. We didn’t go anywhere before. This is the start of the date, okay?”

He nodded and motioned her over to sit at one of the tables in front of the stall.

“My name is Shi Qingxuan, by the way,” she said sheepishly. “I think I heard him say your name was—”

“He Xuan,” he answered, with a little nod of his head. 

“It’s nice to meet you for real, ahaha. I was still calling you Xuan-er in my head. I can’t believe I hadn’t asked for your full name! That’s so embarrassing.”

He let out a little chuckle and a half-smile. “It’s fine. I didn’t ask yours either.”

He Xuan looked to be in much better spirits than before, and for that, she was incredibly grateful. 

This time, when she struck up some small talk or other topic of conversation, he actually responded. Well, he was still not much of a talker and fairly clipped in speech, but it was more natural and not as forced as before.

The shop owner dropped off their order on the table and gave He Xuan a knowing smile and even winked at him. He Xuan didn’t react at all, pretending not to notice.

Shi Qingxuan was too busy gawking at the sheer amount of food on the table in front of them to catch the tiny interaction.

She had a small plate with two fairly large shrimp buns and he had two full plates of six buns each in front of him, twelve in total. Each plate was supposedly a different flavor, beef and pork. 

How on earth was someone as slim as him supposed to eat all of this in one sitting?! This amount would take a normal person at least two days to eat!

“You’re crazy,” she breathed, taking it all in. “If you can eat all of that without throwing up, I don't know if you can be considered human.”

He Xuan smirked and licked his lips before picking up a meat bun. “Watch me.”

The steam wafted in his face and he blew on it briefly before going in for a bite.

She didn’t want to doubt him, especially when he was so confident. She stole a glance over to the stall owner who nodded supportively.

“It’s terrifying,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. He-yufu is one of a kind, that's for sure.” This time, he sent her a playful wink, like he was trying to set them up even though they were already on a date.

She laughed nervously and looked away. By the time her eyes fell back on He Xuan, he’d already finished the first meat bun and was starting on another.

Well, she’d get two meals with a show today, it seemed! 

Shi Qingxuan giggled a little bit and took up her own shrimp bun and bit into it. A burst of shrimpy-goodness exploded on her tongue and she groaned in delight, ready to tear into it even more.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” she exclaimed after swallowing. “The shrimp is so fresh! And the bun is steamed so perfectly.”

“Best in town!” repeated the shop owner. “I told you so.”

“Try the pork ones,” He Xuan encouraged, pushing a plate over her way.

“If I’m still wanting more after these two, I’ll definitely take you up on that,” she said, smiling in excitement.

Both of them readily got lost in the assortment of buns and forgot about speaking for the longest time. It left Shi Qingxuan cringing about just how much better this was going than that stupid café.

She bit her lip, thinking about how awful that must’ve felt, seeing that news article on the wall. And that evil hostess had done it on purpose? She wanted to go back there and give her a stern talking to. 

But something was eating away at the back of her mind. Just what was the relationship between him and the waitress, Banyue? 

“I’m sorry,” she said out of the blue. “I know I was the one who said to forget about what happened at that stupid café, but I just want you to know, I really didn’t see the article behind the table. I’m sorry. I would’ve insisted we leave or–”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

”Your sister…” she started hesitantly, unsure if she should really be talking about it. “Uhm… I just wanted to say… She was really pretty.”

He Xuan closed his eyes for a moment and nodded. “She was.”

“And that server…” she asked. “You knew her?”

“Daiyu-er’s best friend,” he explained, looking down with a guilty expression. “I didn’t know she worked there. I haven’t seen her since the funeral.”

“Shit,” she cursed at herself. Oh my god, was I really starting to get jealous over nothing? What the fuck is wrong with me?

“I don’t really go to the touristy places,” he admitted, picking up another meat bun. “They’re always crowded and expensive and the food isn’t even that good. And I didn’t know they had that stupid article…” He balled his other fist on the table and scowled.

“I’m really sorry,” she said sincerely. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I’d realized.”

He shook his head and said firmly, “It wasn’t your fault.”

She was intelligent enough to know that was the end of that conversation topic. If he didn’t blame her, that’s all she could ask for and move on to spare him the pain.

“So, you come to this place a lot?” she asked, motioning to the meat bun stall.

“Mn,” he nodded. “Often enough. When I don’t have time to cook.”

“Oh, yeah!” she cried, thinking of an obvious question she hadn’t asked yet. “What do you do for work? Did I hear the owner call you… yufu?”

“Yeah. I’m a fisherman,” he said plainly. She made a face with a big, impressed smile and he scowled. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not nearly as interesting as you’re thinking.”

She laughed and said, “It’s much more interesting than most of the people I’m around. Corporate drones in suits. Blegh, so boring! But fishing! Now that’s, like, a real job! Important!”

He shook his head, trying to dismiss her grand fantasies about his terribly unsexy work. “What about you?”

“Hmm, well, about that, ahaha,” she replied, nervously twisting around a strand of her hair. “I dropped out of university a while ago and I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do.”

“What were you studying?”

“Fashion,” she said stiffly. It didn’t bring back many good memories. “Did you ever go to university or trade school?”

“Couldn’t afford it even though I got offered a good scholarship. I was trying to save up for my sister in case she wanted to go.”

“Oh, I see.”

It suddenly occurred to her that she’d never thought about the cost associated with going to university. With the trust fund from her parents, the oil company Shi Wudu had inherited from Baba, and their house already being paid off, it was never even a question of whether or not she could afford to go university. 

“Well, if you could go, what do you think you’d study?”

He considered her words for a moment before saying, “Philosophy or law.”

“Really?!” she gawked, absolutely not expecting that answer. “Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. Better than fashion, that’s for sure.”

Suddenly the phone in her purse started buzzing.

“Oh shit!” she cried, panicking. “Sorry, one sec!”

She’d completely forgotten about texting her brother! She picked up the phone and could already hear him screaming before she could even put it to her ear.

“—told you that you’d forget! I fucking knew it! And I go to the café and you’re not there?! I’m on the way to your location right now! I swear to god, if something happened to you, I’m going to—”

“Calm down,” she interrupted, rolling her eyes. “We didn’t wanna go eat there after all. Nothing’s wrong. We just changed to a different venue. I’m sorry, I forgot to text you.”

Shi Wudu went quiet for a long moment. 

“Hello?” she asked, looking to see if the line disconnected. “Hello, ge? You there?”

“Nothing happened?” he asked, a little confused.

“No,” she lied. “Why do you sound so surprised that everything's fine? Did you really think he was gonna kill me or something? We’re having a lovely time eating meat buns. You’re still not invited, by the way.”

He Xuan snorted a laugh.

“Final strike, Qingxuan. Don’t forget to text me again or else,” he said quickly before hanging up the phone.

She sighed dramatically and shook her head, trying to ease the anxiety.

“Ahaha, sorry about that…” she said, awkwardly putting her phone back. “My brother’s a little crazy sometimes.”

“Mn,” he sounded, scowling for a moment.

“He just cares about me a lot,” she defended. “He’s not so bad, I promise.”

He Xuan didn’t look so convinced as he took a ferocious bite into another meat bun.

Sure enough, He Xuan was making incredible progress on the meat buns. There were only three buns left and he didn’t show any signs of stopping now.

“Oh, yeah! If you’re a fisherman, surely you have some crazy stories!”

This was perfect. She could get to know He Xuan and get to know the stories about the sea monster.

“What do you mean?”

“Like the coolest fish you’ve ever caught or something. Aren’t fishermen supposed to have good stories about ghost ships or strange creatures they’ve seen swimming underneath the waves? Tell me a tall tale, Mr. Sailer!”

He Xuan opened his mouth to answer, but the shop owner decided to butt in before he could.

“You ever heard the stories about the sea monster of Fu Gu?” he started, just like any good story. “Some people ‘round here got stories about it.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked, feeling a flutter of anxiety in her stomach. 

“They say it's even bigger than a cruise ship and darker than the night!” the shop owner continued, putting big gestures to his words to exaggerate. “It’ll swallow you whole so that not even your bones remain!”

Bigger than a cruise ship? she wondered. The one I saw wasn’t so big…

“They say it lurks underneath the waters near the oil rig. Some people swear it’s the reason the dredgers couldn’t find the bodies of those–”

He Xuan shot the owner a deadly glare that shut him up instantly. 

Shi Qingxuan’s heart burned for him. Oh my god, he didn’t even have a body to bury… That’s awful. I can’t even imagine. 

The owner cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sorry. I forgot, He-yufu. But anyway, we haven’t had any credible sightings of the thing in more than twenty years. Some people think that the oil rig caused it to move away. Maybe it’s off terrorizing some other part of the ocean.”

“Have you ever seen it?” she asked.

“Oh, sure, a long time ago,” he said easily. “Nearly capsized my old man’s sail boat while we were on the water!”

“What did it look like?”

He thought for a moment, finger on his whiskery chin, and said, “Only caught a glimpse of the back swimming away. But it was huge! Couldn’t have been a whale. I’ve seen whales before and they don’t look like that. Didn’t even see it coming till it was underneath us, it was so fast. Thought for sure we were gonna get gobbled up, but here I am!”

Suddenly the man’s wife came out of the back of the stall, threatening to swat him with a ladle.

“You quit that!” she cried. “Let our Xiao-He enjoy his date without scaring the nice young lady off with your stupid stories about something that’s not even real!”

“Hey!” he called, offended. “It’s real! I’ve seen it!”

The woman ignored him and shot an endearing smile at Shi Qingxuan and said, “Please forgive my silly husband. Don’t listen to him. He’s got a wild imagination.”

“The only wild thing I got is a wife like you!”

His wife raised up the ladle again and gave him proper whack upside the head.

Shi Qingxuan giggled a little awkwardly as they started bickering back and forth in the back of the stall. By the time Shi Qingxuan looked back, He Xuan had finished all of the meat buns and began stacking up the plates one after the other.

“Holy shit, you actually did it?”

“I told you I would.”

“How are you not exploding right now? Where does it all go?!”

“In my stomach,” he replied simply.

“Surely your stomach has, like, a pocket dimension in it or something ‘cuz there’s no way any normal person could eat that much in under an hour!”

He Xuan just shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Well, is there something else you wanted to do after lunch?” she asked, changing the subject.

He Xuan shrugged for a second time. “Is there something you wanted to do?”

She faked a scowl and said, “I asked first.”

“Yeah, well, I live here. You’re the visitor. You choose.”

He made a fair point. 

“Well, I wanted to see the lighthouse or maybe fly a kite, but the weather’s not gonna hold up for much longer,” she said, looking at the looming cloud cover. “There’s not a lot to do if it’s going to rain. Should just go back…?”

Ugh, but I don’t wanna leave!

He Xuan frowned, but didn’t protest. “I’ll walk you back.”

Shi Qingxuan felt a little sad. The stupid weather was throwing a wrench into her grand plans. Standing up from the picnic bench, she thanked the shop owner for the lovely food and promised to come back. She also remembered to text her brother one last time and give a little update that she was already coming back.

The two of them took off back onto the main streets. Most of the people in the crowded street had started packing up their stalls and closing the perpetually open shop doors to brace for the incoming showers.

Shi Qingxuan was feeling especially bold and a little guilty for having to end the date after only some lunch, so she hesitantly clutched onto his upper arm and waited for a reaction.

He Xuan stopped walking for a brief moment and whipped his head around to stare at her.

Fuck, was that too forward of me?

“Oh, did I make you uncomfortable? Sorry, should I stop?” she asked, cringing inside. 

“No.” He continued walking, looking straight ahead.

She blinked in confusion but he didn’t specify which question he was answering. Maybe both? Either way, he didn’t shake her off, so that was a win!

“Where are you staying?” he asked eventually, coming to a stop in the street.

Oh yeah. She was following him. He didn’t even know where the villa was. 

“Duh,” she realized, face-palming into her free hand. She explained the general area where they were staying, but she couldn’t remember the name off the top of her head. “I know how to get back! But I’m not really sure the exact street address, ahaha,” she clarified.

“Lead the way,” he said, gesturing for her to start walking.

It started sprinkling not long after they started walking in the right direction. He Xuan was about to offer her his sweatshirt when Shi Qingxuan pulled out a mini foldable umbrella out of her crossbody purse.

“I always come prepared!” she demonstrated, opening it up.

It was a pastel green umbrella with a golden handle and some lacey edges. He placed his hand on the handle, briefly brushing against her hands, and took it from her.

Such a gentleman! she cried, screaming and kicking her feet inside her head.

Her cheeks flushed even from that brief, exceptionally chaste physical contact, and she couldn’t help but smile ear-to-ear all the way back to the villa.

The rain started to pick up by the time they reached the door.

“Oh… Well, I guess this is me,” she said, unlatching her arm from around his bicep. “But you’ll get soaked if you go out without an umbrella!”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her, handing back the umbrella.

“No, no, no,” she said resolutely, pushing it back into his hand. “Take it. You need it more than I do right now.”

He blinked at her, unsure of what to say in response. “Uh… Thanks.”

“You’ll just have to give it back to me on our second date, yeah?” she added, sending a flirtatious wink his way.

Right as she said these words, Shi Wudu swung open the doors to the villa with an incredible scowl on his face.

“Meimei, get inside before you catch a cold,” he grumbled, staring her way coldly.

God, he really did have the worst timing. Still, it was no matter. Pretending like he wasn’t there, Shi Qingxuan pranced right up to He Xuan, who was already turning to leave, and pecked him on the cheek. She had to stand on her toes to reach.

Both her brother and He Xuan stared at her with eyes wider than the moon. She glanced back at Shi Wudu with an innocent smile on her face. He looked absolutely furious.

“Call me or text me about that second date, okay?” she added before he could go. “We’ll do something even more fun when the weather’s better!”

“Qingxuan, Ling Wen had something she wanted to ask you when you got back,” Shi Wudu said visciously.

She wasn’t stupid, there was no way Ling Wen had anything to say to her, but she could play along.

“Oh, really? I’ll go ask jiejie what’s up,” she said, stopping at the threshold of the door to wave goodbye to He Xuan. “See you~!”

Shi Wudu closed the door behind her and was left out on the threshold staring daggers at He Xuan.

“How was your… date …with my sister?” he sneered. He could barely even say the word without almost throwing up.

“Fine,” He Xuan replied dryly, turning to leave.

“You have her umbrella.”

“She’s letting me borrow it.”

Shi Wudu scoffed and rolled his eyes, dropping all pretenses. “So, you know who I am, then? Is that what this is about? Pretending to date my sister?”

He Xuan watched him pick up his head and put his shoulders back like he was trying to seem like a bigger man. He barely contained an eyeroll. What a poser.

“Yeah, I know who you are,” He Xuan said, trying to play it off. “You’re the older brother I’ve heard so much about.”

Shi Wudu scoffed again. “That’s not what I meant. I know exactly who you are, He Xuan, but do you know who I am?” 

“Yeah, I know,” he confirmed. “Shi Wudu, of Shi Offshore Energy.”

Shi Wudu shifted uncomfortably and asked stiffly, “Does she know?”

“No. Not all of it.”

“What did you tell her?”

He Xuan choked out a laugh. “I told her the truth. That my sister didn’t kill herself.”

“A court of law couldn't prove that.”

“I’m not here to argue with you about my sister’s death,” he growled. He’d barely managed to salvage this day, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let his sister’s murderer ruin it. He didn’t deserve to have that power. “Your sister doesn’t know it was your company, anyway. But you’ll have to tell her soon. Or I will.”

Shi Wudu crossed his arms. “So what’s your angle here? She’s clearly interested in you. You’re not stupid, you can see it. Are you trying to turn her against me? Or are you just playing with Qingxuan to get back at me for your sister’s death?”

Turning around, intending to start leaving, he called back nonchalantly, “Not that it’s any of your business, but there’s no angle. I liked her before I figured out who she’s related to.”

Shi Wudu laughed darkly. “Yeah, right,” he said. “Why would I assume you’d tell me? Either way, stay away from my sister. This is your first and final warning. If anything happens to her, there will be hell to pay.”

He Xuan stopped and whipped his head back. “Oh, I see. So you get to defend your sister, but when I try to do it, it’s not allowed? Is that right? At least you still have a sister left to protect. You took mine away from me,” he spat back, full of teeth. Rage broiled his very blood just being in proximity with this evil man. “You really have some nerve… coming back here on vacation… When she doesn’t get to breathe? You’re lucky I don’t strangle you where you stand.”

Shi Wudu just laughed and repeated, “Stay away from my sister.”

“You don’t scare me.”

“Oh, I don’t scare you? Maybe you are stupid after all…” 

Shi Wudu turned on his heels and walked inside, slamming the door in his wake.

~~~

PART 1 , PART 2

MINI THEATER/EXTRA:

Later into the evening, when everyone was getting ready for bed, Shi Qingxuan walked past the bathroom door to the room where her brother was currently showering. She could hear a faint noise over the shower nozzle running. 

Shi Wudu was singing. The serious, no-nonsense, perpetually having a stick up his ass Shi Wudu was singing in the shower. She’d never heard him sing before, let alone in the shower!

And not just any song. In her shock, she hadn’t immediately recognized the tune he was singing, but much to her horror, she could make out a tone-deaf version of “Let it Go.”

Shi Qingxuan banged on the door and cried, “You’re not Elsa! We just talked about this!!”

The singing stopped for a moment. After a moment, he screamed back, “Let me live my dream in peace, meimei!”

She rolled her eyes, laughing to herself and retired into her room with Ling Wen, instantly telling her summer roommate of the revelation. Ling Wen wasn’t so impressed, but she gave a slight chuckle. Shi Qingxuan felt like that was a win.

~~~

End Notes:

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[greyfongschemmenti]

In These Arms | Chapter 12: Investigative Palms

Summary:

You and Lin go in search for the Krew.

Waking up to the feeling of a soft pair of lips kissing your shoulder, you feel Lin shift out of bed, “Not even a good morning? I deserve more than a sneak out?” you mumble stifling a yawn, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from your eyes. “I have to go back to my room,” Lin states. She turned to leave but caught sight of your sleepy doe-eyes and stopped, resting her hand on the doorframe as she fixed her left shoe. She made her way back to the bed and leaned in to kiss you goodbye, hopefully that was enough until the next time. You kissed her fully, tongue and all, placing your hands on her hips and tugging her back onto the bed. She laughed against your lips and peeled herself from your hands, “y/n..I have to go.”

“Just a little fun before you go” you whine but smile

“No, it’s late” Lin smiles

“Can’t blame me for trying,” you defended and laughed. “I’ll meet you at the airship. I’m just going to close my eyes for a bit.” you pull the covers up over your face, as Lin walks out towards the door as she calls out, “We’re on a tight schedule so you better not keep us waiting, y/n!”

You make a gruff noise to let Lin know you understand waving her off as you go back to sleep for a couple more minutes.

*

Fixing your sleeves as you roll them up, you make your way up the lift to the docking bay and only see Lin standing around with a confused expression on her face before raising your sleeves a bit to look at your watch, “I’m not that late. Are the kids in the ship?”

“No, I thought they would have come with you.” Lin groans and pinches her nose and you look around the area scratching the back of your head.

“Maybe they’re on their way now. How long have you been waiting?” You turn to her as you lower your hand “Fifteen minutes at most”,

“Okay, let’s wait another fifteen. If they haven’t shown up we’ll go look for them” you offer - “You’ll wait five minutes before heading out and look for them. I’ll stay here in case those nitwits show up”

“Sounds good… well I’ll check on the animals in the meantime” you walk over towards the airship when Lin stops you,

“They’re not here either” Lin grumbles then sighs and your eyes widen then turn around, “Wait what?“

“How many minutes has it been?!” Lin grabs your wrist and looks at the watch “Three minutes”

“I can’t wait anymore. Go look for them” Lin puts her hands on your waist and pushes you away “Okay, how about I go check the guest houses and you check the grounds.”

“Fine.”

After checking all the guest houses, you came up empty. No one inside, not even the animals. You scratched behind your ear, it was weird that you haven’t seen anyone and you start to get a sinking feeling in your gut. You head towards the Beifong estate and see Lin coming in from the grounds then notice Su talking to two guards on the bridge as you and Lin approach her at the pavilion.

“Where is everyone? I've been waiting to leave for half an hour.” Lin asks her sister annoyed to not have seen the teens.

“Good morning, y/n and good morning to you too, Lin. Now, don't get mad. Korra's fine. I'm just waiting to hear if she tracked down Aiwei yet.“

“What?!” You and Lin respond in unison. You’re shocked then groan face palming while Lin furrows her brows “You let Korra go?! I thought we were on the same page about this, and then you go stab me in the back?”

“Oh, don't be so overdramatic. You can't control the Avatar's every move.”

Lin storms off “I can try.”

“I can’t believe you lied to me, Su. I told you not to do it!” you exasperate causing Lin to stop and turn around “Lied to you? You knew about this?!”

Your cheeks blush slightly as you realize you probably fucked up, “Su told me about her plans--” Lin’s eyes start to narrow “--but I told her about not wanting to put the kids in danger. Su assured me that she, herself, was going to search the mountainside with Kuvira and a couple guards.” you tried explaining yourself but Lin is seething.

“And you didn’t tell me about this! When did this plan happen?!” Lin narrows her eyes as you direct her arms towards Su. You try coming up with the words “Last night after everyone left. I was going to but Su said she was going to tell you in the morning!”

Su finally steps up and stops Lin “Don’t put this on y/n. This was all me. y/n helped me under false pretenses and for that I apologize” she looks at you feeling slightly guilty for asking for your help. “y/n told me they weren't going to go behind your back again.” Su looks at Lin and watches her glance between her sister and you. You look down, your hand resting on the back of your neck upset and hurt by this whole situation “Typical Su” Lin spat out

“Wait let me make it up to you two somehow!” Su catches up to you, putting a hand on your shoulder to stop you “I can get a Jeep ready for you and you can catch up to them.”

“May Raava forgive me if any of those kids get hurt, it'll be on you, Su” you point your finger at her as you storm off.

*

Lin drives the jeep along a rocky desert path. Both of you kept quiet for the most part of the ride. “You should have told me about Su’s plan” Lin looks down the road as she passes a pothole and keeps following the other set of tire tracks.

You sigh “Forgive me for trusting your sister’s word, anyways who were those other three people with Zaheer?” you ask, trying to change the subject. Lin turns her head at you for a second pursing her lips then continues on,  “The lavabender is Ghazan, the armless waterbender is Ming-Hua, and the third eye freak is, P'Li, a powerful firebending criminal who we all saw can combustion bend.” lightly tapping on the door of the jeep as you gather the names and bending of each criminal then look up, “--wait where did the tracks go?”

Something catches your attention and you point over to the right “Over there” Lin follows the tire tracks that turn into a small shady clearing between a couple of boulders. She stops the car at the rocks and changes gears, reversing, and then turning her wheel toward the clearing. There are two abandoned vehicles “Well we found Aiwei and Team Avatar’s jeeps”. Lin pulls up, stops the car, and gets out to inspect the team's vehicle while you look over Aiwei’s. She is about to search the back seat when a flash of white jumps out at Lin. Naga snarls at the Chief who yells with surprise. “Lin!” You quickly turn around and run to Lin. You watch Naga growl, then sniff around and quickly recognize Lin,  circling around her and licking the cop's cheek enthusiastically, messing up a bit of her hair. “First you scare the life out of me, now you want to lick me,” Lin says dryly “She likes you babe” you smile as Naga licks Lin again, who wipes her cheek. You pet Naga as she licks your cheek while you look up at her saddle, “Where’s Pabu?”

As if he heard his name, Pabu pops out from the jeep, jumping onto Lin and circling around her body. Lin grabs him by the scruff of the neck and glares at the fire ferret as he whines. Lin places Pabu on Naga and reaches into her pocket. Naga sits and waits. Lin hands out a couple of sticks of dried meat jerky.  “Here, chew on this, and leave me alone.”

“Where’d you get the jerky?”

“There was a shoulder pouch filled with it on my couch” Lin zips the pouch “I forgot I bought that. Look at you going soft of them” you smile and Lin rolls her eyes “Just to get them off my back”

“Sure... I don’t blame them for liking you” you watch Pabu and Naga eat the jerky greedily before heading back to your inspection as she walks over to the radio in the jeep and picks up the receiver.

“Tonraq, you read me?”

Tonraq over the radio “Yes. We copy”

“I found Korra's jeep, but the kids aren't here. Meet me at the Misty Palms Oasis.”

You look in Aiwei’s jeep for any clues, lean down finding a crumpled up map and note seem to have blown onto the floor. You smooth out the note and read the message ‘Xai Bau’s Grove, sundown.’

This must be where and when Aiwei's going to meet Zaheer.

“Tonraq is going to meet up with us with Lord Zuko on Druk” Lin walks over to you “Druk?” you ask weakly “Dragon” she responds and you curtly nod. She notices you focused and exchanges glances between the note and map “What are you looking at?”

You hand Lin the note “This was crumpled up but it seemed to have been folded before. Maybe the kids found it and went after Aiwei.” Lin looks over the note as you smooth the map on the hood of the jeep.

“But it’s weird….”

“What is?” Lin looks up and walks over standing beside you as you scan the map “I’ve been almost all over the Earth Kingdom and I’ve never once heard or seen anything named, Xai Bau’s Grove”

“Could be a secret hideout” Lin suggests as you nod folding the map “maybe...”.

Two blue crow spirits land on the hood and caw at you, “Hi there” you smile softly then look up as five crow spirits have come to join, one landing on your shoulder and another on your head. While the other three fly around Lin landing on her shoulders and the top of her head. You greet the spirits kindly while Lin shakes them off of her, shooing them away “What is it with animals attacking me” she growls.

You roll your eyes and smile as Lin grabs your arm and pulls you towards the jeep “Come on let’s go before any more beasts show up”

You chuckle and get in “Okay, but Naga and Pabu should join. We can’t leave them behind” you call for Naga and wave her over as Lin starts the car and drives towards the town.

“We can meet up with Tonraq and Lord Zuko at the local cantina” Lin drives down the short road as you look out at the small town and gets out the car “You go on ahead. I’ll search around the town for any clues on the kids”.

“What? No.”

“Don’t trust me, Chief? I’m offended.” you raise an eyebrow and smirk, folding your arms.

“No, but it’s best we don’t separate… for safety reasons” Lin stammers and you smile  “I appreciate the sentiment but only one of us is needed for the reunion with Lord Zuko and Chief Tonraq. I’ll be back shortly.” you assure Lin resting your hand on her arm looking at her.  “Plus the animals can protect you” you quip and Lin rolls her eyes as she steps inside the cantina.

*

Walking down the street you notice a Tavern Owner looking particularly depressed as he sweeps the front of his building “Excuse me, sir.” the owner stops sweeping and brightens up a bit “Oh a potential customer”. You awkwardly smile and tug on your collar “Actually, I was hoping to ask you a question...”

“Oh...seems to be a lot of that today…” he sweeps a bit “Questions?” you encourage, and the owner nods “Yeah, two boys were here earlier asking all sorts of questions about some guy”

“Did one of them have a red scarf?” you questioned him and he shook his head “No, they were wearing yellow raincoats and goggles”

“Raincoats and goggles? In the middle of a desert?”

“Not the weirdest thing to see in these parts”

“Well what about that guy they were asking about? Was he by chance sixty, balding, wearing glasses, a long green robe, and has a piercing that goes from his nose to his ear?”

“Yup, that’s the very same description the boys came asking about. Is he some sort of celebrity or wanted criminal?”

“Uh, no….. The boys are my cousins. I was supposed to meet them here after my car broke down. I was hoping to find either one to catch a ride back to Ba Sing Se with them.”

“What about the old man?”

You wave him off “My jerk of an uncle” you try playing into your story as you look around the town “Anyway sorry to take up your time. Here's...a gold piece for your help. Thank you” you dig in your pocket and give him a gold coin before walking away. Looking for any other possible leads.

You catch a couple across the street at a nearby inn. The male nudges his female companion and the woman looks up at him, confused. He then motions his head towards you and the woman turns in the indicated direction. Your green eyes widen as you focus on the poster the lady is holding and see an image of Bolin as Nuktuk. The lady seems to notice you staring at the poster and holds it tight to her chest and she grabs the man’s arm and tugs him down the street. Your eyes follow them and start walking after them “Hey!” they run down the street with you following after them. The couple duck into an alley and you slow down and approach with caution. The female jumps out to attack you and you evade it “Woah woah woah, I’m not here to fight you!” you yell out waving your hands up

“Then why were you chasing us!” the man huffs,

“I saw the Nuktuk poster” you pant, reeling a bit from the scare.

“Oh so you saw the autographed poster and wanted to steal it from us!” The woman steps up to you causing you to put your hands up defensively and take a step back. “Wait, you say an autographed poster?”

“Yeah!” a crazed smile appears on the man’s face

“We met Nuktuk at the Inn over there!” The woman points in the direction of the inn and the man steps beside her “We're his biggest fans.” Both of them have this wild expression as she pets the poster on Bolin err Nuktuk’s face.

“May I see? I promise not to take off running” the lady glares at you and steps back “Or…you could just let me see it? I’ll put my hands behind my back if that helps” you smile, and she eyes you suspiciously “I’m also a big fan. I just want to admire Nuktuk’s autograph. You guys are so lucky!” you try in your best fan voice and the couple exchange a look before agreeing. You look at the poster with your hands behind your back and see the inscription

“Lily and Macao, Nuktuk says to always reach for the stars!”

That is definitely Bolin’s handwriting. Bolin and Mako were definitely around here.

“Oh wow that’s…. incredibly lucky!” you smile

“I know! We’re so happy. We made him a plushie doll and everything. He was so nice to us.”

You look back at the direction where the woman pointed earlier “You said the Inn was in that direction?”

“Yeah! Oh maybe he can sign something for you!” the man smiles as he puts an arm around the woman’s shoulder.

“Oh well I don’t know but I hope so” you force a smile and wave at the couple “Thank you for your help”

You walk until you find a building with a ‘Misty Palms Inn’ sign that seems to be the one the couple had pointed out and walk into the establishment and approach the check-in counter. Smiling and speaking politely “Good Afternoon. I was wondering if you happened to see my cousin, Bolin. He’s known as Nuktuk. Maybe you saw him walk around these parts?” you watch the old lady’s eyes widen

“Oh yes! But he and his friends are gone” she frowns and closes her ledger and sets it under the counter.

“What do you mean gone?” you grab on the counter and look at her,

“The two girls left on their large polar bear dog but Nuktuk and his male friend fought and got captured by some waterbender. They got thrown in a truck. Poor boy had a bruise on his eye. The make up was so realistic...I didn’t know they were filming a mover here!”

“Oh, um yes. It’s a surprise. Filming is top secret.” you quickly add and turn around “Thank you, have a nice day!” you run out before the Innkeeper can ask any questions.

Walking around the streets you find your way back to the cantina stepping inside the establishment hearing jazz music playing in the background. Lin looks up and stands up from her table as Tonraq and Lord Zuko look up following her gaze as you walk over to her at the back of the tavern.

Tonraq greets you “Captain y/n” you nod back with a handshake and squeeze on the arm “Chief Tonraq, sorry to see each other again under these circumstances”.

“That always seems the case with Korra involved” he tries to lighten the mood and you give him a slight smile before turning your attention to Lord Zuko and respectfully bow to him “Lord Zuko, it is an honor to meet you, sir.”

Lord Zuko stands and returns the bow “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Captain y/n.” You turn your attention to Lin who seems ready to question you, sighing and shaking your head motioning for everyone to sit, you take the seat across from Lin. “They were definitely here, but Mako and Bolin got captured by Ming-Hua, most likely taken back to Zaheer.” you look at Lin’s eyes before turning to Tonraq “What about my daughter?” a sense of urgency in his tone.

“--and Asami?” Lin asks you, her eyes slightly softening as she asks about your friend. You shrug, shaking your head once again, not knowing the answer “Korra and Asami seem to have evaded getting captured. A witness recounts seeing Korra and Asami leaving on Naga--”

“But Naga’s here and Korra isn’t!” Tonraq rebutted and you nod “I know, neither is Asami. Our only hope is that they escaped Zaheer.” You look at the three important figures sitting around you.

“Korra wouldn’t leave Naga. She will come back for her. It’s best we stay here in case she returns” Tonraq suggests and you nod “Understood.”

“Well no use worrying until they return. After that long trip we could use a good meal” Lord Zuko speaks calmly and calls for a waitress, ordering food for everyone.

*

After eating, you decided to order something slightly stronger than tea. The four of you are seated at a table at the back of the tavern. Korra and Asami run up to the table “What are you all doing here?” Everyone at the table turns their heads towards the teens Tonraq is the first to stand up “Korra, you're safe.” He shares a hug with his daughter. As you stand up and tackle Asami in a hug “I’m so glad you’re safe too” as Asami returns the gesture.

“Yeah, we made it out of the desert, thanks to Asami.” She looks over at her. Tonraq gives a nod of gratitude at Asami. Tonraq walks Korra over to Zuko as the ex-Fire Lord stands up to greet her.

“Do you remember Lord Zuko?”

“I met you when you were a very young girl. It's good to see you again, Avatar Korra.” Lord Zuko greets the young Avatar “It's good to see you, Lord Zuko.”

Lin gives Korra a little glare of annoyance “Thanks for ditching me back at Zaofu” she says bitterly.

“Yeah, sorry about that. But how did you all find us?”

“I am a detective, you know.” commenting dryly as she raises an eyebrow and you hide a snicker behind your hand.

“Did you find Mako and Bolin?” Korra looks at Lin. Lin looks over at you causing a sigh from you, as you step toward Korra

“Some people at the inn saw them get captured by Zaheer's crew.” Korra and Asami frown with concern when Lin finishes your report “We don't know where they are. “

Tonraq turns to his daughter “Did you hear about the Earth Queen?”

Korra looks up at her father confused by the question “What about her?”

The radio at the bar blares to life and everyone turns their attention to it.

“Once again, the Earth Queen's reign has come to an abrupt and violent end. Ba Sing Se has descended into chaos. Rioters and looters have overrun the palace.” The radio broadcaster announces the events going on in Ba Sing Se. Your face softens growing with worry about the family you have in the city.

“The Red Lotus” Korra looks down in quiet anger

Tonraq scowls “What's that?”

“The name of the group that's been trying to capture me and just took out the Earth Queen. I'm afraid this is only the beginning, Dad.”  she tells her father.

Ba Sing Se has fallen. After Zaheer and the Red Lotus toppled the Earth Queen’s administration, the city descended into chaos. Things just got bad.

[middleofnowhere92]

Until the Sun Rises in the West and Sets in the East (Chapter 3)

Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Azula/Sokka (Avatar) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Game of Thrones Fusion, Game of Thrones References, Game of Thrones-esque, Game of Thrones Spoilers, Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse

Read below the cut or on AO3

The khalasar had broken camp the morning after her wedding, moving east towards Vaes Eveth. By the third day, Azula thought she was going to die. Saddle sores opened on her bottom, hideous and bloody. Her thighs were chafed raw, her hands blistered from the reigns, the muscles of her legs and back so wracked with pain she could scarcely sit. By the time dusk fell, her handmaids would need to help her down from her mount.

Khal Sokka ignored her when they rode, as he had ignored her for most of their wedding, and spent his evenings drinking with his warriors and bloodriders, racing wolves. Azula had no place in these parts of his life. She was left to sup alone, or with General Zhao and her brother, and afterwards cry herself to sleep. Yet every night, sometime before dawn, Sokka would come to her bed. He always slept pressed against her back, for which Azula was grateful. That way her Lord Husband could not see the tears that wet her face and she could use the pillow to muffle any further sobs that poured out of her. He would snore softly with Azula beside him, her body bruised and sore, hurting too much for sleep.

Day followed day, and night followed night, until Azula knew she could not endure a moment longer. One night she decided she would kill herself rather than go on.

Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Father was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood, her blood, Azula sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce.

And the next day, strangely she did not seem to hurt quite so much. It was as if the spirits had heard her and taken pity. Even her handmaids noticed the change. “Khaleesi,” Ming Hua said, “What is wrong? Are you sick?”

“I was,” she answered, standing over the dragon’s eggs that Uncle had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black and scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers… or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously.

From that hour onward, each day was easier than the one before it. Her legs grew stronger; her blisters burst and her hands grew callused; her soft thighs toughened, supple as leather.

The Khal had commanded the handmaid June to teach Azula to ride in the way of the Tribe, but it was her wolf who was her real teacher. The wolf seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind. With every passing day, Azula felt surer in her seat. The Water Tribe were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals, but Azula still thought of her as Nymeria, the warrior queen Azula had been told tales of as a child. She had never loved anything as much as she loved her wolf.

As the riding became less an ordeal, Azula began to notice the beauties of the land around her. She rode at the head of the khalasar with Sokka and his bloodriders, so she came to each scene fresh and unspoiled. Behind them, the great horde might tear the land and muddy the rivers, but the lands ahead of them were always white and pure.

They crossed rolling hills, past small villages where the people watched anxiously. They forded three wide placid rivers and a fourth that was swift and narrow and treacherous, camped beside a high blue waterfall, skirted the tumbled ruins of a vast dead city where spirits were said to moan among blackened marble columns. They raced down paths a thousand years old and straight as an arrow.

Her agony became a fading memory. She still ached after a long day’s ride, yet somehow the pain had a sweetness to it now, and each morning she came willingly to her saddle, eager to know what wonders awaited her in the lands ahead.

“The Water Tribe Sea,” General Zhao said as he reigned to a halt beside Azula on the top of the ridge.

Beneath them, the icy tundra stretched out immense and empty, a vast flat expanse that reached to the distant horizon and beyond. It was a sea, she thought. Past here, there were no hills, no mountains, no trees nor cities nor roads, only the endless snow, the white mounds rippling like waves when the winds blew.

Azula heard the sounds of voices and turned to look behind her. She and Zhao had outdistanced the rest of their party, and now the others were climbing the ridge below them. Her handmaid June and the young warriors of her khas were fluid as centaurs, but Zuko still struggled with the short stirrups and the flat saddle atop his wolf. Her brother was miserable out here. He ought never have come. Uncle had urged him to wait in the port, but Zuko would have none of it. He would stay with Sokka until the debt had been paid, until he had the crown he had been promised. “And if he tries to cheat me, he will learn to his sorrow what it means to wake the dragon,” Zuko had vowed , laying hands on his broadswords. Uncle had blinked at that and wished him good fortune.

Azula realized that she did not want to listen to any of her brother’s complaints right now. The day was too perfect. The sky was a deep blue, and high above them a hunting sea vulture circled. The snow swayed and sighed with each breath of the wind, the air was cool over her face and Azula felt at peace. She would not let Zuko spoil it.

“Wait here,” Azula told General Zhao. “Tell them all to stay. Tell them I command it.”

The older man smiled. General Zhao was not a handsome man. He had a neck and shoulders like a bull, and coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly, that there was barely any left for his head. Yet his smiles gave Azula comfort. “You are learning to talk like a queen Azula.”

“Not a queen,” said Azula. “A khaleesi.” She turned her wolf and rode down the ridge alone. The descent was steep, but Azula rode fearlessly, and the joy and the danger of it was a song inside of her. All her life Zuko had told her she was a princess, but not until she rode her wolf had Azula Sozin ever felt like one.

At the bottom of the ridge, the tall snow rose around her. Azula slowed her wolf and rode out onto the plain, losing herself in the white, blessedly alone. In the khalasar, she was never alone. Khal Sokka came to her only as the sun was about to rise, but her handmaids fed her and bathed her and slept by the door of her tent, Sokka’s bloodriders and the men of her khas were never far, and her brother was an unwelcome shadow, day and night. Azula could hear him on the top of the ridge, his voice shrill with anger as he shouted at General Zhao. She rode on, submerging herself in the Water Tribe Sea.

The white swallowed her up. Many of the tribespeople wore light blue and white furs, their brown skin contrasted with the environment around them. One of the first days that they had begun their journey, Ming-Hua had presented Azula with a dark blue parka, dress and leggings trimmed with fur. Sokka too wore light colors like his people, so Azula inquired about the difference of her furs. Ming-Hua had given a small smile and said, “The Khal fears he will lose you in the snow, with your light skin. Says you need dark colors so he can find you.” That was the first indication Azula had that the fearsome warrior she had married might have some sense of humor.

The air was rich with the scent of fresh snow, mixed with the smell of damp wolf fur and the scented oil in Azula’s hair. They were smells of the Tribe. They seemed to belong here. Azula breathed it all in, laughing. She had the sudden urge to feel the snow beneath her, to curl her toes in the thickness of it. Swinging down from her saddle, she let Nymeria rest while she pulled off her high boots.

Zuko came upon her as sudden as a summer storm, his wolf rearing beneath him as he reigned up too hard. “You dare!” he screamed at her. “You give commands to me? To me?” He vaulted off his wolf, stumbling as he landed. His face was flushed as he struggled back to his feet. He grabbed her, shook her. “Have you forgotten who you are? Look at you. Look at you!”

Azula didn’t need to look. She was barefoot, with braided hair, wearing Tribe furs her husband had gifted to her. She looked as though she belonged here. Zuko was soiled and stained in silks and ringmail.

He was still screaming, “You do not command the dragon. Do you understand? I am the Lord of the Four Kingdoms, I will not hear orders from some peasant or his slut, do you hear me?” His fingers dug into her flesh painfully. “Do you hear me?”

Azula shoved him away, hard.

Zuko stared at her, his golden eyes incredulous. She had never defied him. Never fought back. Rage twisted his features. He would hurt her now, and badly, she knew that.

Crack.

The whip made a sound like thunder. The coil took Zuko around the throat and yanked him backward. He went sprawling in the grass, stunned and choking. The riders hooted at him as he struggled to free himself. June held the handle of the whip and asked Azula a question. Azula was still so shocked to see her brother thrashing about that June repeated herself as General Zhao and the rest of her khas rode up, “Would you have him dead Khaleesi?”

“No,” Azula replied, “No.”

One of the men barked out a comment and the others laughed. Zhao translated, “They think you should take an ear to teach him respect.”

Her brother was on his knees, his fingers digging under the leather coils, crying incoherently, struggling for breath. The whip was tight around his windpipe.

“Tell them I do not wish him harmed,” Azula said.

Zhao repeated her words. June gave a pull on the whip, yanking Zuko around like a puppet on a string. He went sprawling again, freed from the leather embrace, a thin line of blood under his chin where the whip had cut deep.

“I warned him what would happen, my lady, “General Zhao said. “I told him to stay on the ridge as you commanded.”

“I know you did,” Azula replied, studying Zuko. He lay on the ground, sucking air noisily, red-faced and sobbing. He was a pitiful thing. He had always been a pitiful thing. Why had she never seen that before? There was a hollow place inside of her where her fear of him had been.

“Take his wolf,” Azula commanded Zhao. Zuko gaped at her. He could not believe what he was hearing; nor could Azula quite believe what she was saying. Yet the words came, “Let my brother walk behind us back to the khalasar.” Among the Tribe, the man who does not ride was no man at all, the lowest of the low, without honor or pride. “Let everyone see him as he is.”

“No!” Zuko screamed. He turned to Zhao, pleading in the Common Tongue with words the tribesmen would not understand. “Hit her, Zhao! Hurt her! Your king commands it. Kill these Water Tribe peasants and teach her!”

The older man looked from Azula to her brother; she barefoot, with snow between her toes and braids in her hair, he with his silks and steel. Azula could see the decision on his face,“He shall walk Khaleesi.” He took her brother’s wolf in hand while she remounted Nymeria. She gave one last mournful look at her brother, mourning the man she had thought he was, only now beginning to realize it was a facade.

Zuko gaped at her, and sat down in the dirt. His eyes were full of poison as they rode away. He said to the wind, “My honor, my throne, my country...I’m about to lose them all.”

Soon he was lost in the snow. When they could not see him anymore, Azula grew fearful. “Will he find his way back?” She asked General Zhao as they rode. “Even a man as blind as your brother should be able to follow our trail,'' he replied.

“He is proud. He may be too shamed to come back.” Zhao laughed, “Where else should he go? If he cannot find the khalasar, the khalasar will most surely find him. It is hard to drown in the Tribe, child.”

Azula saw the truth of that. The khalasar was like a city on the march, but it did not march blindly. Always scouts ranged far ahead, alert for any sign of game or prey or enemies, while outriders guarded their flanks. They missed nothing, not here, in this land, the place where they had come from. These lands were a part of them...and of her, now.

“I hit him,” she said, wonder in her voice. Now that it was over, it seemed a strange dream. “General Zhao, do you think...he’ll be so angry when he gets back…” She shivered. “I woke the dragon, didn’t I?

Zhao snorted, “Can you wake the dead, girl? Your cousin Lu Ten was the last dragon, and he died at the Wall. Zuko is less than the shadow of a minksnake.” His blunt words startled her. It seemed as though all the things she suddenly believed were suddenly called into question. “You-you swore him your sword..”

“That I did girl,” Zhao agreed. “And if your brother is the shadow of a minksnake, what does that make his servants?” His voice was bitter.

“He is still the true king. He is…” Zhao pulled up his wolf and looked at her. “Truth now. Would you want to see Zuko sit a throne?” Azula thought about that. “He would not be a very good king, would he?”

“There have been worse… but not many.” The man gave his heels to his mount and started off again. Azula rode close behind him. “Still,” she said, “the common people are waiting for him. Uncle says they are sewing dragon banners and praying for Zuko to return from across the narrow sea to free them.”

“The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends,” Zhao told her. “It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace.” He gave a shrug, “They never are.”

Azula rode along quietly for a time, working his words like a puzzle. It went against everything Zuko had ever told her to think that the people could care so little whether a true king or a usurper reigned over them. Yet the more she thought on Zhao’s words, the more they rang of truth.

“What do you pray for, General Zhao?” “Home,” he said. His voice was thick with longing. “I pray for home too,” she told him, believing it.

Zhao laughed, “Look around you then, Khaleesi.” But it was not the snow Azula saw then. It was the Capital and the great Red Palace that her ancestors had built. It was Dragonstone where she had been born. In her mind’s eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window. In her mind’s eye, all the doors were red.

“My brother will never take back the Four Nations,” Azula said. She had known that for a long time, she realized. She had known it all her life. Only she had never let herself say the words, even in a whisper, but now she said them for General Zhao and all the world to hear.

Zhao gave her a measuring look. “You think not.” “He couldn’t lead an army even if my lord husband gave him one,” Azula said. “He has no coin and the only knight who follows him reviles him as less than a minksnake. The Tribe mocks his weakness. He will never take us home.”

“Wise child,” the man smiled. “I am no child,” she retorted fiercely. Her heels pressed into the side of her wolf, rousing her to a gallop. Faster and faster she raced, leaving Zhao and June and the others behind, the sharp wind in her hair and the setting sun red on her face. By the time she reached the khalasar, it was dusk.

Her tent had been erected by the shore of a small pool. She could hear rough voices from the hill. Soon there would be laughter, when the men of her khas told the story of what happened in the snows today. By the time Zuko came limping back among them, every man, woman and child in camp would know him for a walker. There were no secrets in the khalasar.

Azula gave her wolf over to June for grooming and entered her tent. It was cool, but not unbearable. As she let the flap close behind her, Azula saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon’s eggs across the tent. For an instant, a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone.

Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Uncle said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. “The sun,” Azula whispered. “The sun warmed them as they rode.”

She commanded her handmaids to prepare her a bath. Jin built a fire outside the tent, while Ming-Hua and June fetched the big copper tub-another bride gift-from the pack horses and carried water from the pool. When the bath was steaming, Ming-Hua helped her into it and climbed in after her.

“Have you ever seen a dragon?” she asked as Ming-Hua scrubbed her back and June sluiced small icicles from her hair. She had heard that the first dragons had come from the Spirit World. Perhaps some were still living there, in realms strange and wild.

“Dragons are gone, Khaleesi,” Ming-Hua said.

“Dead,” agreed June. “Long and long ago.”

Zuko had told her that the last Sozin dragons had died no more than a century and a half ago, during the reign of Azulon, who was called the Dragonbane. That didn’t seem so long ago to Azula. “Everywhere?” she asked, disappointed. “Even in the Spirit World?”

“No dragon,” Ming-Hua said. “Men kill them. It is known.”

“It is known,” agreed June.

“A trader once told me that dragons came from the moon,” Jin said as she warmed a towel over the fire. June and Ming-Hua were older than Azula, almost twenty and five. Jin was of age with Azula. Her brother had found the girl at a pleasure house in Ba Sing Se.

Jet black wet hair tumbled across her eyes as Azula turned her head, curious. “The moon?”

“He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi,” the Earth Kingdom girl said. “Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat, A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.”

The two other servants gave her a perplexed look. “You are foolish, Earth peasant,” Ming-Hua said. “Moon is no egg. Moon is spirit, woman wife of sun. It is known.”

“It is known,” June agreed.

Azula’s skin was flushed and pink when she climbed from the tub. Ming-Hua laid her down to oil her body and scrape the dirt from her pores. Afterward June sprinkled her with vanilla and winterberry perfumes. While Jin brushed her hair until it shone like onyx, Azula thought about the moon, and eggs and dragons.

Supper was a simple meal of fruit and cheese and bread, with a jug of wine to wash it down. “Jin, stay and eat with me,” Azula commanded while she dismissed her other handmaidens.

Jin lowered her eyes when they were alone. “You honor me Khaleesi,” she said, but it was no honor, only service. Long after the moon had risen, they sat together talking.

As the girls began to eat, Azula asked, “Why did the trader tell you that story about dragons?” Jin gave a soft smile, “Men like to talk after their pleasure. It is when they are happy”

Azula thought on it as she took a sip of wine, “Can you- can you teach me how to make the Khal happy?” Jin chewed thoughtfully, “You have done it though, yes?” Azula glanced sideways, “Yes, but-” “But you want him to feel for you?” She wasn’t sure, but Azula responded, “Something like that.”

Jin nodded, “How does he take you?” The Princess was slightly affronted by how brazen her handmaiden was, but she answered “As all the Tribe does.” Jin chided, “No, no. You must look upon his face. You must use your eyes to make him feel for you. It was said that Irogenia of the Northern Air Temple could finish a man with just a look. Men traveled across the world for a night with her. They sold their riches. Fire Nation men burned her enemies just to have her for a few hours with her. They say a thousand men proposed to her and she refused them all.”

Azula poked at her food, “I don’t think the Khal would approve of me on top of him.” Jin looked at her knowingly, “Do not worry Khaleesi. You will make him enjoy it. Men want what they have never had. The Tribe take women like wolf takes a bitch. You are not bitch, you will not make love like bitch. You are Khaleesi.”

The Earth Kingdom girl stood from where they were eating and beckoned Azula to her, “Come Khaleesi. I will show you.” Azula tentatively followed this girl that seemed to have no issue instructing her Khaleesi. Azula sat on the floor of her tent and Jin shamelessly climbed into her lap. She took Azula’s small hands and put them on her hips as she began to sway, “Like this Khaleesi.” Azula felt Jin’s body press into hers, rubbing together through their many layers of furs.

Azula thought upon her handmaiden’s earlier words and easily flipped the other girl underneath her. Jin let out small laugh, “You are fast learner Khaleesi. Out there he is mighty Khal, but at night he is yours.”

The princess pulled back, “This is not the way of the Tribe.” Jin sat up following her, “Khaleesi, if he wanted way of the Tribe, why did he marry you?”

That night, when Khal Sokka came, Azula was waiting for him. He stood in the door of her tent and looked at her with surprise. She rose slowly and undressed, letting her furs fall to the ground. “This night we must go outside, my lord,” she told him. For the Tribe believed that all things of importance in a man’s life must be done beneath the open sky.

Khal Sokka followed her out into the moonlight, his long’s wolf tail blew in the breeze. A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft furs, and it was there that Azula drew him down. When he tried to turn her on her stomach, she put her delicate hand on his massive chest. “No,” she said in the Tribe language she was still stumbling on, “This night I would look on your face.”

There is no privacy in the heart of the khalasar. Azula could feel the many eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft voices as she did the things Jin told her to do to give a man pleasure. It was nothing to her. Was she not Khaleesi? Her Khal’s eyes were the only ones that mattered, and when she mounted him she saw something in his face that she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever and when the moment of his pleasure came- Khal Sokka called out her name.

They were on the far side of the Watertribe Sea when Ming-Hua brushed the soft swell of Azula’s stomach with her fingers and said, “Khaleesi, you are with child.”

“I know,” Azula told her.

It was her nineteenth name day.

[oswildin]

The Goo Times ~ Dhawan!Master x Reader

Request: Hey hey.. Are taking requests... If yea.. Imma leave something here... Reader and Dmaster... Where they are traveling together and after some trip they end up covered from head to toe in some goo.. So reader decided to go for some ocean planet.. And do some skinny dipping... And master for first time seeing readers scars and tattoos... Add some smut if you are comfortable.. If not then ignore the last part... Sorry if this sucks ( @g00dl13 )

Summary: The Master thought it would be fun to go to an alien planet... and blow up its inhabitants... leading to you being head to toe in alien goo.

Warnings: No nudity but some flesh on show oh la la

The Master was doing what he always did best. Cause chaos. You had landed on Raxacoricofallapatorius. Which ended up with you being stuck between two of the planets inhabitants... With the Master stood next to you looking rather annoyed by their presence. They were ultimately trying to kill you, or ‘hunt’ as they liked to put it. You looked at the Master.

“I hope you have a plan, cause I did not plan on dying today.” You told him, staring at him as he wore a knowing smirk on his lips. He quickly reached into his pocket, whipping out some sort of liquid. You furrowed your brows, confused at what he had planned.

“Now! I wouldn’t do anything rash if I were you!” The Master called over to the green aliens. “Do you know what this is? Hm?” He tilted his head slightly, showing them the large vial in his hand. “One drop on your skin and boom.” He dramatically told them, eyes crazed. The aliens grunted, stepping back as they eyed the vial.

“What is it?” You asked quietly, eyeing him as he turned to you, a brow raised.

“Acetic acid. Potent stuff for these big guys.” He grinned manically. “Think of the worst allergic reaction you could possibly get, then imagine it ending in explosions.” You pulled a face at the mans words, imagining the mess the aliens would make.

“Great.” You grimaced, forcing a tight smile on your lips.

“I know!” He exclaimed, missing your sarcasm as you rolled your eyes.

“Let’s just go.” You nodded towards the opening to freedom, seeing the aliens backing down. The Master sighed, beginning to walk away from the aliens, however, they had another plan. They roared as they began to race towards you both. You yelled as you jumped away, the Master throwing the vial over the aliens as they froze. They made a gross fart sound before exploding... all over you both. The Master closed his eyes, accepting the disgusting goo whilst you screamed as covered your whole face. The Master opened his eyes, a wide smile on his lips as you gagged at the stench.

“This is minging.” You coughed, wiping the goo from your hair as you tried to not be sick. Roars were heard from the distance as you gasped, the Master grabbing your hand, the sound of your hands squelching together as you pulled a disgusted face. You both began to run towards his TARDIS as you fled the scene. You stood in the console room as you began to feel uncomfortable in your soaked clothes.

“You have a lot of making up to do.” You told him sternly, looking unimpressed at the state of yourself. He laughed manically as he danced around the console, setting in coordinates. “Now where are we going?!” You exclaimed. “It better be somewhere with a shower.” You narrowed your eyes, looking at him accusingly.

“How about a whole ocean planet?!” He exclaimed, pulling a lever. Suddenly the ship landed with a bump as you instantly rushed to the door, hoping he wasn’t lying. You stepped out, seeing you were surrounded by water. He had managed to extend the field, allowing you to stand on top of the ocean beneath you. He appeared beside you as you instantly began to remove your grossly covered in alien goo jacket. “Water! There you go.” He looked proud of himself. “You said you wanted a shower.” He raised a brow as you glared at him. He was such an ass.

You began to remove your t-shirt as he instantly looked surprised at you. He couldn’t help but stare at you as you continued to dress down, preparing to soak yourself in the water. You kept your underwear on as you looked over at him, seeing a mischievous but also shocked look in his eyes.

“Don’t just stand there.” You told him, gesturing to his goo covered clothes. “Time for a soak.” You jumped off the force field, into the water. Luckily it was luke warm, not causing your body to be shocked by the impact. The Master felt heat flow into his cheeks as he hesitantly began to remove articles of clothing. You relished in the warmth of the water, sighing in content as you felt the goo wash off your body. You couldn’t help but peer over at the Master. You weren’t going to lie, you were totally checking him out. What? You were only human.

After finally getting clean, you both got out the water, the cold air of the TARDIS brushing your skin as you shivered from the drastic change in temperature. You stood by the console, walking over to the sofa as you grabbed a blanket from it, wrapping it around your body, missing the Master’s stares from across the room. Were you trying to kill him?

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he noted the marks that graced your body, the tattoos... the scars... the freckles. All of those things made you more appealing to him. Each tattoo and scar having its own story. It was intriguing. You sighed, feeling the warmth of the blanket wrap your body as you turned back round to face the Timelord. He didn’t seem cold at all, as he proceeded to navigate the ship.

“Aren’t you going to cover up?” You asked, raising a brow.

“I thought you were enjoying the view?” He teased as you felt your cheeks blush. He smirked at your reaction, feeling pleased with himself.

“Like you weren’t.” You challenged, wiggling your brows as he pursed his lips, tightening his jaw. “I’m going to go get changed, and relax.” You told him, beginning to walk past him. “And if you were blow up an alien in my presence again, I won’t hesitate to use you as a shield.” You threatened, pointing at him as he smirked.

“Noted.” He winked as you rolled your eyes at him, disappearing from the room.

God. You would be the death of him.

[5hining-aus]

SHINee Proposing

proud-cat-mommy said to 5hining-aus: hi!!! i dont know how your requests work, but i would really like to read a shinee scenario with the proposal, and maybe one with the wedding planning! love your scenarios so muuuuch ♡

Hi there! I could’ve sworn that I had already done this, but I guess I haven’t! Anyway, I definitely had some ideas. Enjoy!

Onew

I know I’ve used this before, but I really like the idea of Jinki accidentally making you think he was breaking up with you when he was, in fact, doing the exact opposite

Just imagine it: you two are at a fancy restaurant, just finishing up dessert, when Jinki takes your hand in his, looks you right in the eye, and says “Y/N, I think we should stop dating”

The couple sitting at the next table is scandalized and you’re just sitting there processing your boyfriend’s (ex-boyfriend’s?) words

Like, he couldn’t have sprung this on you before the main course? And he was so nonchalant about it too

The weirdest thing was that he was still holding your hand and looking at you with nothing but love in his eyes

While you’re still trying to piece his words and actions together, Onew, oblivious to the mental gymnastics you’re performing, reaches into his suit jacket pocket and pulls out a small velvet box

Inside is a ring with the BIGGEST diamond you have ever seen. Seriously, this thing is a sparkler

You’re confused, the couple at the next table is confused, your waiter (who was hiding around the corner because he had come out just as Jinki said “We should stop dating”) is confused. Everybody is confused except for Jinki, who is waiting for your reply

Obviously, once you figure out what the heck is going on, your answer is an enthusiastic yes (though you do give Onew a light smack on the chest for making you think he was leaving you)

Jonghyun

It’s Jonghyun, we all know it’s going to be the sappiest, most sentimental proposal there ever was

He’d probably bring you somewhere that’s special to the both of you, like the place you two met or where you had your first date

To be honest, you kind of knew the proposal was coming

Your boyfriend is wonderful, but he isn’t exactly the stealthiest. He isn’t the best at hiding engagement rings either, considering the fact that you just stumbled upon it while looking for a sweater

You only saw the box, and you didn’t peek, but it was very obviously a ring box

You were still going to act surprised though

He has a whole speech prepared about how much he loves you and how happy you make him

Literal strangers who just happen to be nearby are getting teary-eyed because of how sweet his words are

He doesn’t even manage to finish his speech before you launch yourself at him, pulling him into a kiss and accepting his proposal

Key

This is another one where you know the proposal is coming before it happens. Only difference is that in this one, you know because you and Key had discussed marriage plans beforehand

You knew that there would be a proposal, but you didn’t know when or how it would happen

Basically, the proposal is a surprise, but the engagement isn’t

Anyway, that being said, Kibum’s proposal is this giant thing that probably has the media talking about it for like a week

It happens at one of his concerts. He had told you earlier to be ready and that he was going to do something. You figured that he meant something along the lines of him shouting “Y/N, I LOVE YOU!” at some point during the show. You were wrong

Instead, he pulls you up on stage and proposes to you right there, during his final part in Married To The Music

The other members are 100% in on it and they’re almost more excited to hear your response than Key is

All the Shawols in the audience are losing their minds (in a good way) and so are all the Shawols who are streaming. If you’re also a celebrity, then all your fans are freaking out as well (once again, in a good way)

You and Kibum both knew that the answer was going to be a yes (he wouldn’t have asked so publicly if he wasn’t 1000% sure of your answer) but you decided to tease him a bit and reply with something along the lines of “ hmm, maybe, I’ll think about it.” You make him wait until the end of the show to get his “yes”

Minho

Oh boy, you know that Minho has something big planned for when he pops the question

Two words: scavenger hunt

I am just now realizing that I must really like the idea of Minho planning scavenger hunts for his S/O, since this is the second time I’ve included that in a scenario

Anyways, he gets all of your mutual friends in on it and stations them at random places throughout the city, each one with a clue that’ll lead you to the next person

Well, the places aren’t totally random. They’re places that are important to the two of you, like the place where you and Minho had your first kiss (Jjong’s stationed there), or the café that sells your guys’ favourite muffins (where Jinki is stationed)

Ming put a lot of planning into this. He even made sure that you’d visit all the spots where important milestones for your relationship occurred in chronological order

And he even made all the clues into little riddles (with some help from the others)

When you finally find him (after pretty much running around the whole city), he’s all dressed up and waiting for you in a place that he had obviously been busy decorating for hours

You start putting everything together in your head and, before you can even say “oh my gosh,” Minho’s dropped to one knee and is pulling the ring out

Taemin

So, Taemin had a plan for his proposal. Keyword being “had”

His proposal plan was actually really sweet and, in his imagination, included you swooning and him sweeping you off your feet, whisking you away oh-so romantically

Yeah, it didn’t go as planned. Like, at all

He had gotten a call from the jeweller earlier, telling him that the ring was ready. He had to go to practice the next day, so he was going to pick it up on his way home from that

Well, that morning you asked him what he was doing for the day

I think we all see where this may be going

“Well, first I need to run some errands, then I’m going to go buy some groceries, go to practice, pick up your engagement ring…”

He realizes what he said pretty much immediately, but it’s too late. You had heard what he had said loud and clear

You both agree that you’re going to act surprised when he pulls the ring out later though

[lumau]

In the snow + Longing + Froststorm please? c°:

I hope this is sufficient longing... 🥺

❄🖤🤍❄

He was vaguely aware that he was keeping Fei Hong busy much longer than it should have been necessary, but his mind kept trailing off. The servant, who was currently waiting for him to continue his dictation, looked at him expectantly. Li Ming would have known not to stare. It made him nervous.

“Read me the last sentence again,” Ao Shun demanded and got up to slowly pace towards the window, turning his back on Fei Hong. He had to think of Li Ming’s voice, always steady and smooth, whether he gave a presentation to the conference of ministers or read to him in private from his favorite collection of poems. How there had been the slightest, almost imperceptible tremor to it when he said ‘I can’t wait to see you again.’ almost 4 months ago.

“Your Majesty?” Ah. He had not heard one word of what Fei Hong had read. Maybe he should simply give up on the correspondence for today, it was getting late. In his mind’s eye he saw Li Ming slightly raising an eyebrow in disdain of the thought to leave an unfinished task for the next day. Ao Shun suppressed a frustrated sigh.

“Once more, please.”

With some effort he managed to focus long enough to get to the end of the letter. While Fei Hong finished it for him to sign, he stared broodingly out into the rain. It was completely dark now. The closer the evening drew, the heavier the clouds had piled up, and the heavier his heart had felt. Especially towards the end of the day the emptiness where Li Ming was missing became more pressing. He had grown so used to their routines and his calm, unobtrusive presence. This had been his longest solitary journey. After a few visits to finish matters of business, he had been required by his family for a row of ceremonies and services in memory of his brother.

Five more days until he would return. Sometimes Ao Shun already had butterflies in his stomach at the thought that he would be able to close him in his arms again soon. But more often he still felt his absence weighing heavily, and loathed the time of waiting and anticipation, wishing he had him with him again already.

Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and pulled him from his thoughts. There, again - lighter flecks began to show in the wind and rain. It was November now. When Li Ming had left the summer had been at its hottest - now it seemed he would miss the first snowfall of this winter. Ao Shun raised his hand to the ring he was wearing on a chain around his neck. He felt it cool and smooth against his skin under his shirt. Before they parted, he had had these two made for them. He wished that there was a way to communicate through them across worlds, but he had to be satisfied with the clear feeling he got from the token, a certainty that Li Ming was well and safe.

His heart ached with longing as he thought of that night when he had shown Li Ming the pair of rings. He had been aware that Ao Shun had commissioned them, of course, as they were made with their combined blood to link them together. The king had collected many of such tokens over the centuries. He never let go of them, and each of them was unique and significant in its own way.

A sudden inspiration made him open the sliding door that led out onto the balcony. It protruded far out above the valley, the dark forest deep below the palace. As every dragon Ao Shun took comfort and solace in indulging in the unrestrained elements. Up here he was as close to the weather as he could get without taking flight.

The wind had settled, and as he stepped out, snowflakes drifted silently around him. The rain had completely turned into snowfall now, the small, wafting crystals in stark contrast to the black night sky. Ao Shun stepped up to the balustrade and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths of the cold air. The scent was so familiar, one that he had fallen asleep with and woken up to many times. There was a biting edge to the breeze now, but instead of making him shiver, he felt warmth spreading inside him.

Snow drifted around him, speckling his hair, skin and clothes. He once more closed his hand around his ring, and felt a low, rhythmic pulsing. His lips relaxed into a soft smile, as he turned to look up towards the sky. Snowflakes gently kissed his face, his cheeks and lips. He could almost feel Li Ming’s cool finger running tenderly along his jaw, the soft touch of his lips against his own.

Despite the freezing cold, Ao Shun felt warm all over. While Li Ming was still days away, this onset of winter came like his harbinger. Not long now.