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apompkwrites · 4 years ago

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reader impact || first meeting

series masterlist characters: xiao, albedo genre: fluff summary: a game has been released entitled genshin impact, consisting of otherworldly abilities relying on the basic elements of nature. the game follows the story of an interdimensional traveling twin in search of their other half. along this journey, they meet different characters that live in this world. including you. notes: have i read a few genshin impact x game character reader stories and impulsively decided to make one too? maybe. you can't prove anything. i don't know if this will be a series but we'll see :D

xiao's playthrough -

xiao, named as alatus on his streaming platform, has made himself known as a gaming streamer with an awkward personality and blunt words.

he's the type of streamer who wouldn't have a set type of game and would, instead, play whatever his viewers recommended.

valorant? sure, he'll try it out.

hitman? why not?

animal crossing? it's a complete 180 from the other games, but sure.

when one of his viewers recommended genshin impact, he was quick to say yes and search for the game.

once the game finishes downloading, he quickly begins the game.

once the opening cutscene passes, he compliments the overall aesthetic of the game, pointing out the smaller details such as the footprints made by his character and the sound their clothes make when they move.

as always, his expressions are quite monotone to a point where it seems nothing draws his attention towards the game.

one of his mods, however, knows xiao well enough to where he knows which character he would like.

they convince xiao that the game is worth sticking with towards the second half of chapter 1, act 1.

he doesn't understand but he trusts his mods so he promises to continue.

it takes a few hours, especially because of the grinding, but a few streams later he's finally made it.

after fighting a one-sided argument with cloud retainer, he immediately begins his trek to the wangshu inn. and yes, trek, he enjoys walking/gliding through the world of teyvat rather than fast traveling everywhere.

he walks up the stairs to the top floor of the inn, resting his hands in his lap as the cutscene begins.

"to the blind, everything may not be as it appears..."

xiao is normally stoic during games, even ones with scenes made to fluster the player and catch them off guard.

but not this time.

once xiao's character is faced with yours, he just stops. his chat is spamming messages, asking if he's okay and if he's actually emoting for once.

he just stares at your character for a good five minutes.

and trust me, at least half of his viewers clipped that.

"... who are they?"

that was his only question after those minutes of silence. never before had he been attached to a character within the first few minutes of meeting them. his mind is racing and all he can think about is how amazing your character design is and how nice your voice is and how cool your character is and--

oh right, he's streaming right now...

anyway, the more your conversation goes on, the more he loves your character.

you're just so sassy and snappy but he loves you either way.

once you turn away with your back towards the camera, he just stares.

he stares at the intricate tattoo on your exposed arm and the mask hanging off of your belt.

and then you're gone.

his face drops so quickly and his viewers are very quick to point it out. he grimaces once paimon starts talking and he's very tempted to just speed through her dialogue.

he just wants to see you again.

once he hears from verr goldet that you've never smiled (at least around her), he immediately turns to the camera and says, "we better make them smile in this game."

once he finds out about your favorite food, he's already asking his viewers if he's able to get the recipe for it.

the next time he gets to talk to you, his face just lights up once he sees your character standing on the balcony.

however, once his characters tell you about rex lapis's death, his heart sinks when he hears how sad your voice becomes, even if your tone is still as harsh as before.

he gets all sad again when the quest ends and he has to wait to unlock the next archon quest.

he ends the game there and decides to spend the last few minutes talking to his viewers.

"i'll stream genshin again soon."

his viewers all know it's only because he met you.

albedo's playthrough -

albedo often does art streams and the occasional science-y stream.

if he does games, he mainly uses them to admire the art/mechanics of the gameplay.

genshin impact was one of those games he decided to play on his own solely because of the beautiful scenary.

(and the opportunity to draw more characters).

he's definitely the player that cares about elemental reactions above all else. pretty much every character he uses is built for elemental damage instead of physical.

most of his genshin streams are him walking around teyvat and pointing out the scenary.

he was definitely excited for the dragonspine event because that meant a better view of teyvat!

what he wasn't prepared for, however, was the reveal of a new character: you.

he isn't too into looking at the updates for genshin on his own, so he didn't find out about who you were until his stream asked about it.

he decided to react to the newest updates live since his chat seemed excited to hear his input.

once he pulled up the latest update details, he spent a few minutes talking about the new subzero mechanic.

but once he scrolled down to the characters... OH BOY

he's able to keep his composure but he definitely spends longer talking about you.

he almost gasped when he saw you were the chief alchemist of mondstadt.

combine that with the fact that you rely on elemental damage instead of physical...

your honor, he's fallen hard.

he'll put a countdown on stream to when your character and event drops, even on his non-genshin streams.

speaking of those streams, on the week just before your event, his streams will all be based around you and the information he's seen on you.

his art streams will consist of you and how he thinks your attacks will work just based on the description (he purposely avoided all pictures of your attacks for this stream).

his science-y streams would probably be based on your element.

once your event drops, that's the only thing he'll stream until it's over.

your assistant used to be his favorite character to play as but they just never clicked. it's not like he hates your assistant, it's just he didn't immediately fall in love with them.

his party definitely has your assistant in it, though.

he would have normally taken his time to look around dragonspine and admire the new scenery, but he couldn't help but speed through it until he finally gets to see you onscreen.

once the cutscene officially introduces you in front of a canvas, he's internally panicking.

you like art too?! and science?! how perfect can you be?!?!?!

he will genuinely feel bad when he scares the hilichurls because he knows that that's what you were sketching.

"who are you? why did you alarm them?"

NOW HE FEELS EVEN WORSE

even when you tell him you've finished sketching, he wants to make it up to you :((

if he were able to, he would've lured more hilichurls to let you sketch more.

some people in his chat would probably spam him to skip your dialogue because it's so wordy, but that's the exact reason why he listens to it all.

he likes listening to your character ramble on, especially because you have a soothing voice.

anytime your character does their idle animation where you give life to something, he will always let it play. even if your dialogue is finished before the animation, he would not progress until it's completed.

once your character asks for help, he would immediately agree before you finished your sentence.

man just wants to spend more time with you.

he likes staring at the tattoo on your neck whenever the camera is close to you. he just thinks it's really pretty on you.

once your other nonplayable assistant begins talking, he'll skip through the dialogue. he doesn't care if it goes more in depth into this world's alchemy, he just wants to hear it from you.

"hmm, looks like the potion's ready. i'll try a little first."

"please don't..."

he doesn't want you to try it just in case it hurts you :(

anytime he is allowed to walk freely with you around, he'd definitely put his traveler character next to you for a few minutes and just let you two stare at each other.

someone asks him why he spends a few minutes doodling on his desk when you talk.

he shows them the notebook that he had been writing notes in. it's filled with little doodles of you and some more information you give on the world of alchemy.

for future streams the involve you, he'd set up another camera to show the notes and doodles he's making about you.

sometimes he'll spend a few minutes on a single section where the camera is focused on you just to recreate the picture in the notebook.

he absolutely loves whoever planned out the camera angles because of how cute you look in every one of them.

he definitely gets a bad vibe from rosaria when she hints at the fact that you may be using alchemy against him.

he will defend you and alchemy to his grave!

that one scene where you create a flower in front of you is one he will always treasure.

he makes sure someone clipped that moment just so he can draw that, make it a print, and put it on his wall.

since most of his viewers most likely consist of artists, he will encourage them to draw you and send him fanart. he will put them all on a wall and dedicate every picture that goes there to you.

"if i one day lose control... destroy mondstadt... as well as everything around it..."

"huh?"

"will you be there to stop me?"

"wait... no."

if people were only listening to that portion, they would still be able to hear the pout on his face.

he'll end the game there but change his stream into an impromptu art stream.

he will only be drawing you in nice situations to distract himself from the fact that there is something going on with you.

"hm? what do you mean something's wrong with (name)? i have no idea what you're talking about."

poor boy's in denial...

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #reader impact #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact xiao #genshin impact albedo #xiao x reader #albedo x reader #genshin xiao #genshin albedo #genshin impact xiao x reader #genshin impact albedo x reader #genshin xiao x reader #genshin albedo x reader

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absolutepokemontrash · 3 years ago

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The Seven Demon Lords’ Pet Human

So I’m quite fond of the idea that the lesser demons see MC as the brothers’ dumb pet human up until MC is revealed to be a five star badass who can control the brothers on a whim. But Himiko isn’t okay with being referred to as anyone’s “pet”, and after a very bad day, she’s going to let the brothers know that.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Genre: Half Crack Half Fluff

Warning: This story features my MC, who uses she/her pronouns, if that makes you uncomfortable no harm no foul, see you next time

“Just their pet human,”

“Aw, they let their cute widdle pet walk around all by herself~.”

“The brothers’ new pet looks so delicious…”

Himiko Nanami was not one for demeaning nicknames. She had told Luke over and over again that the reason people kept calling him a chihuahua was because he gave them a reaction, but she just couldn’t follow her own advice. A pet… the brothers’ pet… what complete and utter shit.

She had forged pacts with the seven lords of Hell. She had escaped death more times than she could count. On her first day at RAD, she had gouged out a demon’s eye with her headband for trying to eat her. She had walked Cerberus and survived. Himiko was no dainty little pet.

It was a tragedy that some of the demons that wandered the halls of RAD couldn’t see that. Not all the demons were irredeemable anti-human trash, some were quite sweet. But it only took one weird squishy grape to make Himiko refuse to eat the rest of the bowl. That’s how that saying goes, right?

It was supposed to be a good day, it was a Friday for Christ’s sake! But no, the world at large was conspiring to make Himiko’s forehead vein burst.

First period with Satan went normally for the most part, until the two paired up for an assignment and Himiko decided to give Satan a few pats on the head. A few snickers coming from a few rows behind her drew her attention, and right after Satan left to use the bathroom, that’s when she heard it. The first comment of the day.

“Aww, a pet petting her master, how sweet.”

When Satan returned, Himiko was holding a broken pencil.

To her credit, she didn’t dignify those idiots with a response, but their comment managed to burrow its way into her brain and settle there right when she snapped the pencil.

Second period shouldn’t have been so shitty, Himiko had friends in that class. Friends other than the brothers and the other exchange students, but no. Everything sucks in the Devildom.

Paimon had so sweetly offered to share some of his chips with her when he heard she had skipped breakfast. Himiko was in the middle of happily chowing down when some asshole decided to ruin the cute friendship moment.

“Geez Pai, I thought you’d be more responsible than that~.” A demoness a few rows ahead cooed. “Feeding other people’s pets without asking~.”

Paimon choked on the chip he was chewing on while Himiko gave the demoness a bone chilling glare.

“Sh-she’s not- I’m not-”

“How about you mind your own fucking business?”

The demoness only rolled her eyes and turned back to giggling with her friends. It was truly a shame that at least 60% of all the demon ladies in the school were incredibly mean and/or homicidal, a shame for Himiko because she’s a raging bisexual.

With her appetite lost, Himiko forfeited the rest of the chips to Paimon.

Lunch went by as normal as it could have gone. She sat with the brothers as usual and happily watched their antics. When she left the table to throw her trash away was when all hell broke loose.

“-Pet,”

“-Pet…”

“-Pet.”

“-Pet!”

All those damned whispers reached Himiko’s ears and if she had any less patience she would have pulled her hair out and screamed. When she got back to the table, she spent the rest of her lunch period in silence.

What’s worse was that her next class was with Solomon, and the only seat available was next to him. Great…

“Grouchy today, ms. Nanami?��

“Annoying today, mr. Wizard?”

Solomon let out a quiet and carefree laugh and rested his head on his hand. “Oh Himiko, you know I’m always up for being a little annoying.”

Himiko rolled her eyes and tried to pay attention to the teacher. “Whatever…”

Class went on, but Solomon didn’t let up on his quiet pestering.

“Himiiiiii, tell me what’s wrong, I won’t laugh.”

“Go to hell.”

“Poor choice of words, you’re there with me.”

“I hate you.”

“So mean, I’m just trying to help. Solomon the Wise is known for giving great advice!”

Himiko turned and looked at the immortal sorcerer next to her and saw his pitiful attempt at what looked like puppy dog eyes. She rolled her eyes again and turned back to her work.

“I thought you were known for ordering a baby to be sawed in half.”

“Hey!” Solomon huffed, crossing his arms. “The baby did not get sawed in half. The saner of the two women got to keep the baby, I was being smart.”

“Sure, sure.” Himiko couldn’t hold back a bit of a smile. To her own surprise, Himiko began to weigh the pros and cons of actually telling Solomon what was going on. Hm, on one hand, Solomon was the only other human that might possibly understand what Himiko was dealing with, on the other hand, Solomon was a known shifty bastard and could barely be counted as human at this point. In the end, human solidarity won out.

“Solomon,” Himiko began. “Have you ever gotten called a pet before? Like a demon’s pet..?”

Solomon thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Probably. I’ve been alive too long not to have been called every name under the sometimes lack of sun, but I’ve always been more widely known as someone who makes demons into his pets.”

“Mmm, sure.”

“But fret not Himiko, those closest to you know the truth. You’re no pet.”

Not exactly the heaps of comfort Himiko wanted, but at least Solomon answered truthfully and didn’t say anything that would get on her nerves-

“I don’t know why you’re so upset about that nickname though, you’d look amazing in a collar.”

For what happened to poor Solomon right after he said that, let’s just say a palm reader could read Himiko’s future off Solomon’s face.

In fourth period, Himiko had to hold herself back from bitchslapping someone else who decided it would be a good idea to test her. A quick word of advice to anyone in the Devildom who would like to survive an encounter with Himiko, never, ever, fuck with her headband.

“You fiendish demon!” Luke yapped, trying to help get Himiko’s headband back from the nasty awful no good demon who decided to pluck it off her head and hold it out of reach. “Give that back!”

“N’awwwwww, pet buddies!” The taller demon laughed and dangled the headband a little closer. “So cute! Someone get a picture for Devilgram-”

Luke slammed his foot directly into the demon’s kneecap. The demon practically shrieked and doubled over only to be met with Himiko’s knee in his gut. She daintily plucked the headband from his grasp and quickly pulled Luke out of the room.

“Are you okay?” The moment the two were far enough down the hall, Luke began to fuss over Himiko like a tiny nurse. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“No buddy, I’m fine.” Himiko held out her hand for a high five. “Up high,”

Whack!

“Down low,”

Woosh!

“Too slow.”

“Hey!” Luke whined. “No faaaaaiiiiir!”

———————

No one wants their human to be grumpy, especially not the brothers, so when Himiko spent the rest of the time until dinner holed up in her room, they were a tad concerned.

“My human’s all saaaaaaaaad,” Mammon rested his chin on the table and whined. The rest of the brothers sans Asmo were sitting at the table awaiting dinner. “Himiko said she didn’t wanna play the Game of Life, and it’s like, the one game she’s good at…”

“Yeah, she’s been pissy all day.” Belphie added before quietly yawning. “What’d you do, Mammon?”

“Me?!” Mammon sputtered, practically scrambling out of his seat and pointing an accusatory finger at his brothers. “I didn’t do shit! What about you idiots?!”

“Well, let’s look at what we know,” Satan said, waving off Mammon. “During first period we partnered up for a project, I left to use the restroom, then when I came back she looked upset. During lunch when she left, she came back and didn’t speak the rest of the lunch period. Any theories?”

Beel raised his hand, and Satan nodded to him. “Himiko has terrible separation anxiety now, she can’t go too long without us.”

Satan gave Beel a few nods, then turned to the others. “That’s one guess. Anyone else?”

Mammon raised his hand, and Satan promptly ignored him.

“Oi! Pay attention to me!” Mammon stuck his hand in the air and waved harder. “She’s angry because she’s failin’ a class! Every time we’re not distractin’ her, she remembers!”

“I would have heard if she was failing a class.” Lucifer finally piped up from the head of the table, his face was buried in RAD’s newspaper. “You on the other hand, Mammon, are failing three of your four classes this semester.”

Mammon slid back into his seat and scratched the back of his neck. “About thaaaaaat, I need money for uh… for new books n’ pencils n’ shit. That’s why I’m failin’, you’ll lend me money, won’t ya big bro?”

Lucifer didn’t get to respond as Asmo burst into the door of the dining room with a pot of pasta that was almost half his height. “DINNER IS SERVED~!”

As everyone settled in to eat, Himiko finally made her appearance and plopped herself down in her usual seat next to Mammon and helped herself to the pasta with rosé sauce.

“It’s good! It’s good right?” Asmo peppered the group with questions about the food and how good he did. Himiko had to admit, this was damn good pasta. Smooth, creamy, cheesy, all that was missing was garlic bread. In a matter of minutes Himiko had cleared her first bowl and was going in for seconds.

“So Himiko,” Satan said as Himiko continued to shovel pasta into her face at a pace that could rival Beel. “We’ve noticed you’ve been looking a little upset today, care to satiate our curiosity?”

Himiko paused mid bite, which wasn’t doing wonders for her appearance considering she had sauce on the tip of her nose. But still, how sweet of her boys to notice, it made her cold dead little heart swell with love.

“Oh you know, just idiots at school not worth my attention.”

“What have they been saying?” Asmo asked, his voice unusually stiff.

“They’ve been calling me you guys’ pet.” Himiko grumbled. “How ridiculous is that?”

The clattering of forks and the chewing of food halted as the boys went completely silent. Himiko shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she looked around. Had what those demons said been a greater insult to the boys than she-

“Pfff- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Mammon erupted into laughter and the rest of the brothers followed suit.

“G-Geez,” Belphie snickered, feigning wiping a tear from his eye. “Humans are so sensitive.”

“Excuse me?!” Himiko gripped her fork so hard she was sure it would leave indents.

“I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, Himi,” Levi said between bouts of cackling. “But you are a teeny tiny little normie human surrounded by well… us.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! That I should just roll over and take it!?” Himiko immediately turned and pointed at Belphie. “Don’t you dare.”

Belphie’s mouth was open to make a comment about Himiko’s poor choice of words, but the pact activated and any words died in his throat. Belphie flipped her off and Himiko returned the gesture.

“Himiko,” Beel was sweet enough to not laugh at Himiko’s predicament. “It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, people love their pets.”

As sweet as Beel thought his words were being, Himiko really wanted to send him to bed without dinner.

“Yes, yes, Beel’s right.” Satan took a deep breath and collected himself after his laughing fit had finally ceased. “It’s nothing to worry about, Himiko. It shouldn’t be bothering you. Just don’t listen.”

Himiko somehow gripped her fork even tighter as she levelled her ice cold glare at Satan. “Thank you so much for demonsplaining how I should deal with and feel about the very human problem of people seeing me as some toy.”

The venom in her words seemed to snap the rest of the table out of their giggly stupor, and Mammon gave Himiko a few pats on the back.

“Ah don’t worry about it, Himiko. I’ll fight any bastard who says anythin’ like that.” Suddenly realizing he hadn’t been a tsundere for five whole minutes, Mammon went red and snatched his hand away. “Ya know, just because you’d probably use the pact and order me to anyway…”

“I’m not a dere~” Levi began to softly sing, Himiko perked up and grabbed Mammon’s cheek.

“A tsun-tsundere~”

“Not that song again!”

That should have been the end of that whole debacle. Himiko’s decent mood had been restored and all was well! The gang chatted amicably for the rest of dinner. Himiko made sure to heap loads of praise on Asmo for his amazing pasta. She felt a part of her die when she went in for fourths and the spoon scraped the bottom of the pot.

Too bad nothing ever goes smoothly in the Devildom.

Since it was Asmo’s night to cook, it was Himiko’s night to do dishes, so she got up and began to clear the table. As she began to collect the unused knives, Lucifer, not looking up from his newspaper, handed Himiko his plate.

“Thank you, pet, that’ll be all.”

Himiko stopped dead in her tracks and her grip on the plate tightened. “Repeat that, Lucifer?”

“Thank you, pet, that’ll be all.”

A tiny smirk spread across Lucifer’s face, which only served to make Himiko’s blood boil. If he thought he could make a joke about that while she was still mad he had another thing coming.

As quick as a flash, she had whipped the plate straight at the ground, shattering it into dozens of tiny pieces, before Lucifer even had a chance to say anything, Himiko was standing in front of him with a frigid glare on her face.

“Lucifer, put your hand flat on the table and spread your fingers. Keep quiet.”

With no choice but to obey, Lucifer slapped his hand down on the dining table, though, the glare he was giving her wasn’t any less murderous. Not caring, Himiko’s gaze remained cold and calculating, she turned to the other brothers, who were rooted in place from sheer shock. “Stay.”

“I’d just like to get something out there to you seven,” Himiko said calmly, holding one of the knives in her right hand and waving it around like it was the most casual thing in the universe. “I, am no one’s pet,”

Himiko turned and slammed the knife right between Lucifer’s middle and index fingers, imbedding it deep in the table.

“Arm candy,”

The second knife was slammed right in between Lucifer’s middle and pointer finger.

“Or accessory.”

The final knife went between his index and pinkie finger. Himiko’s next words were slow and deliberate as she stared the strongest of the brothers directly in the eyes.

“I am your friend, and equal, I won’t accept being anything less, whether it’s a joke, or not. You agreed to those terms the day we made our pact, didn’t we Lucifer? Have you changed your mind?”

It was so quiet you could hear Henry 2.0 swimming around in Levi’s room upstairs. No one dared to breathe as the seconds ticked past.

Finally, Lucifer responded, his voice tinged with exasperation. “No Himiko, I haven’t.”

“Good,” A small triumphant smile appeared on Himiko’s face as she removed the knives from the table and finished up cleaning the table. “That goes for the rest of you boys too, got it?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Mhm.”

“Yes…”

As Himiko walked into the kitchen to do everyone’s dishes, they quietly reminded themselves exactly who they were dealing with. Himiko Nanami was no dainty little human, no no no, she was the one master to rule them all, and by god was she going to make sure no one ever forgot.

——————

AAAAAAAA THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE!!!! I really need to write more stuff with Himiko! Inspiration struck at like… 10 this morning and I just ran with it.

Now on one hand, I can see that people might think that Himiko overreacted to Lucifer’s little joke a tad. Buuuuuuuuuuut she’s gotta shut down that shit early, right? She doesn’t want “pet” to be the next “chihuahua”.

Lucifer’s probably trying to stick his nose back in his newspaper as he wonders whether he’s incredibly enraged or unbelievably turned on.

Hope you all enjoyed! Now back to the regularly scheduled shitposting.

#obey me #obey me!#obey me! shall we date?#obey me shall we date #obey me mc #Obey me fic #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Mammon #Obey me Satan #Obey me Leviathan #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Beelzebub #Obey me Belphegor #Obey me Solomon #Obey me Luke #obey me OC

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quillfeather21 · 3 years ago

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Ghost White Flowers In a Golden Field

(Abyss Prince Aether puts flowers in Traveler Lumine’s hair and gives his sister a final gift)

((I Headcanon that Paimon was created by the abyss sibling to watch over the Traveler Sibling. I wrote this since Lumine is my Traveler, and Abyss Prince Aether angst lives in my head rent free))

Aether looked into the small alcove that held his sister’s sleeping form, a gentle smile of dreams on her lips as her chest rose and fell gently in a deep slumber. Flowers and tokens littered the small alter around her. A small sign hung.

“The Sleeping Princess”

He had asked Rhinedottir many times, yet the alchemist had no explanation as to why he had awaken yet Lumine slept on. She had gone, none of the guard able to find her.

“Rhinedottir to the winds, and Khaenri’ah destroyed by those archons. Dainsleif has failed me, Lumine. I wish you were awake, you always were better at plans than I was,” Aether chuckled to himself as he recalled his sister’s elaborate, detail filled plans. They always were executed in the end, but not with out their bumps.

He held the two flowers gently in his hand, one smaller than the other. Strangely, he felt a pain in his heart, like the tiny stab of a dagger into his chest that dug itself in and stayed there.

She was the older twin, the one he always turned to when confused or frightened. He was the younger twin, the one who thought with his heart and not his head. Who felt too strongly and loved too deeply. And now, without explanation, he was alone.

“I always hated being alone,” he had told Dainsleif once, long ago, “the twin stars always shine brighter when they’re together.”

He placed the two flowers in Lumine’s wheat silk hair, smiling.

“When you wake up, look at these flowers and think of us, Sister. Journey through this world with all the sights to see. I will wait however long it takes for you to see the world as I did. Enjoy the innocence, enjoy the sights. For one day, when I engulf the thrones, it will all be destroyed.”

Aether turned back, lifting his arms and muttering under his breath. Rhinedottir had been eccentric at best, but even she had her moments of brilliance.

And teaching Aether the art of Khemia had been her first.

He placed the small fairy being near his sister, placing his abyss circlet upon its head.

“Paimon,” he whispered, “journey with my sister. Keep her safe. Give her the knowledge she needs to journey through this world. You are her companion now, and she will need you as a comfort and a guide. These are my orders to you. Follow them through perfectly.”

He turned to the circling pool of starlight. A tear fell down his cheek, a gloved hand wiping it away. He had not cried since the archons destroyed the city.

He looked at the flowers in Lumine’s hair, the petals glowing like twin ghosts in the shining gold of her hair.

Wisps of starlight and sun, eyes of amber and honey- forged in a dying star. We were the twin stars, my sister. Sleep now, and wake up in a peaceful place.

Aether stood firm as the portal swallowed his sister and the creation he made for her, transporting them far from him.

He stood firm with his jaw set as tears threatened to close his throat as he saw his sister awake with Paimon at her side. Five minutes to him. Five hundred for her-

He walked away as she reached out her hand.

And fell to his knees in sorrow as the sword fell from his hand.

#abyss prince aether #traveler lumine #gosh I love these two #rhinedottir #can go suck it #she is the reason this whole shebang is even happening #Rhinedottir is the reason Albedo has anxiety #Paimon was created by abyss twin #that’s my headcanon #time passes differently for abyss #so it was 500 years for Teyvat #five minutes for abyss

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husbandohunter · 4 years ago

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Boys over flowers [Genshin Impact/VariousxReader] Part 1

Away from their duties, the boys get a chance to relax with their s/o.

Genre: fluff

Characters: Aether, Kaeya, Diluc

{Aether}

When the sun hits his face, Aether leans back against the tree trunk while a single arm rests upon his propped up knee. Paimon was not around, this boy has the quiet time to himself

Except that you were there to keep him company instead. Aether gazes at you as you gathered the sweet flowers into your basket. Mondstadt had many open plains with tall grass that reached above your ankles, a warm breeze rustles them apart.

Aether enjoys the calmness of the world. The serene look on your face as the mundane sound sung by nature plays in the background. For someone whose been travelling for centuries with no definite home, it was moments like these that Aether treasured most.

Moments where he feels like he can settle down.

“You know I could really use a hand with these. The faster we gather the ingredients, the faster I can make these sweet madames.”

“Mmmmm, give me five minutes,” Aether slurs and yawns. Knowing him, it was NOT going to be five minutes.

He closes his eyes. And an idea popped into your head.

Quietly making your seat beside his presence, you took the flowers one by one and stuck them between the curves of his braid.

“H-Hey what are you doing?”

“Hold still dummy.”

Lowkey you’ve always wanted to do this

Remember Rapuzel from Tangled? Yep, that’s him right now. He has never mentioned it, but this was something Lumine used to do as well.

“Adorable!”

He pouts and looks away in response, “What happen to the sweet madames you were going to make?”

“We can still use them.”

“Disgusting.”

It was all fun and games until the buzz of the bees came flying by

{Kaeya}

Compared to downing the drinks at Angel’s Share, flower picking had been the least enticing activity on his sprectrum. He was a man of thrill after all.

But Kaeya still thought it was a cute idea. His lovely s/o plucking Calla Lilies off the shores. A commission sent by Flora.

“Darling, be careful to roll up your sleeves. We wouldn’t want you to catch a cold~”

“Okay Captain Cryo, whatever you say.”

Truthfully you didn’t expect Kaeya to come with you for a task so simple. You were perfectly capable of handling yourself and he could just wait for you at home.

Kaeya has his ways of masking his clingyness sometimes :3

During his childhood, Master Crepus would drop some of his wine stocks over to Springvale with his two boys at his side. Diluc takes him by the hand to go exploring at the nearby lake, stopping just before the boar territory.

Khaenriah never had much flora, it was a breath of experience to find so many of the calla lilies beside the fish swimming in the water.

Those days may be gone, the days Kaeya have yet to tell you and he felt like he was almost reliving in them right now.

Both of you tread down the path back to the city until the sky starts pouring, soaking both of you in cold water.

Kaeya leads you to a cave he saw before. He was an experienced night so these things were familiar to him.

And just like what the procedures say, stripping was necessary.

Not like you’d mind tho

His arms wrapped around you with your back pressed against his bare chest. Kaeya rests his chin between the crook of your neck and shoulder, he made sure not to let his cryo powers get in the way of radiating his warmth.

“Well whaddya know, seems like flower picking wasn’t such a bad idea after all~”

{Diluc}

This man got a whole garden of cecilias sitting at his backyard and barely bats an eye to them with his busy schedule.

Along with the maids, you’d chime in every once in a while to tend to them. It was something you enjoy doing when Diluc was so absorbed in his work, Cecilias were precious flowers unique to Mondstadt holding the meaning of “the truest feelings.”

This habit became normal when the two of you married, he lifts his head and relaxes the muscles tensed in his neck, glancing out his window.

There he caught your silhoutte contrasting the fields of white flowers. Dark as it may be, the moon’s light softly graces down just enough for him to spot you.

Diluc sighs. You were supposed to be sleeping, what on Teyvat were you thinking wandering outside so late? Incoming lecture, prep yourself ladies.

As you peacefully lay on the bed of cecilias, a shadow hovers over your sight. The soft luminescence shapes across his sharp features when his owl-like gaze meets yours.

“If you wish to sleep here, I suggest you do it in the day time. Monsters are still active at night no matter where you may be.”

“Ah so I must assume that the Darknight hero has come to save me from my impending doom. I’m delighted.”

You used this joke at least 30 times in your marriage life btw. Any normal person would tick him off but Diluc was a fool in love and anything you did was endearing to him. Even when they were as nonsensical as this.

Standing up, you closed the distance by bring your body against his until his scent was clear. With a hum, you said, “Hehe looks like I caught you.”

Diluc returns the embrace, “How so?”

“By bringing you out of that stuffy room full of paper work. Clever aren’t I?”

Oh what is he going to do with you, “I should’ve known you’re the type to do those things.” Diluc felt his heart melting as he breaks into a soft smile.

Sadly you’ll never be able to see it in your current position and the fact his cupped the back of your head with his gloved hand. A calculated man he was.

Diluc knew it was unfair of how much time he dedicated you. It was a blessing how you were so patient with him. He would do anything for you.

So when you asked him for a dance, he gives you his hand and you gently placed your smaller one atop of it.

He kisses your knuckle. Gingerly and light but always with the reckless passion burning in his heart.

“Of course, my love.”

One a stage of pure white cecilias, the Mondstadt breeze carried the drifting petals and fluttered them around the two lovers as if they were the only beings who existed in this very moment.

#genshin headcanons #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #diluc #diluc x reader #kaeya #kaeya x reader #aether #aether x reader #genshin imagines #diluc ragnvindr #kaeya alberich #nya-writes

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harfanfare · 4 years ago

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Aether x Reader || Glaze Lilies

"This one is delicious too," you said, swallowing another piece of the dish. “Paimon would probably create another stomach for these miracles.”

Aether chuckled softly as he bites off another piece of hot roll filled with traditional Liyue-rich stuffing. “I guess even that is not enough when the competition is the Sticky Honey Roast that Amber offered her.”

You smiled in response.

Late fall in Liyue was a beautiful time of the year.

The city was always full of red and gold colours like towns straight from fairy tales, but in this time, when the leaves have already turned dark orange and the air was carrying an aroma of seasonal seed cookies, Liyue looked even more breathtaking.

You were sure that it was Amber who made it possible for you to go somewhere on Aether's day off from doing… everything. Normally, you would be sitting in some restaurant watching Paimon heartlessly ordering all the dishes from a menu without looking at the number of zeros of each price.

But when Amber heard you mention dates accompanied by beautiful, falling leaves, she blushed as the flame of pure determination appeared in her eyes. In the evening she appeared in front of Paimon and offered her to go out to the city for one day.

Oh, if she only knew how much it will cost her...

"[Name], stay close to me, or I will lose you in this crowd." Aether gripped your hand tighter.

"Getting lost in such a big city would be romantic, wouldn't it?" you giggled.

"Getting lost and being found in the wrong place and time wouldn’t be," he replied. “Every city is much more dangerous when the night comes.”

You turned into another street to finally reach the viewpoint in Liyue.

You could see a lot more from there, but less people could see you. Who would twist their neck to see two little dots on top of a mountain?

"It's going to rain soon," Aether nodded at the clouds, which were moving quickly toward the city. He clicked his tongue. “If we don't want to get wet, we should be getting ready.”

"Oh, isn't that Aether?"

You turned around to see a girl approaching you two.

She was gorgeous—her long blonde hair waved in the breeze as if it existed only to be an effect for them. She had every girl's dream figure, bright, sparkling eyes, and rosy cheeks.

Perfect girl.

And the perfect person to compare yourself with to create a trillion complexes about your body.

She had a very charismatic, attractive aura around her, but the way she behaved towards Aether was slowly starting to bother you. Of course, it might just be some kind of funny, totally wrong prejudice against her, but ...

“[Girl's name]?” Aether muttered, not noticing your pleading gaze saying: ‘let's get out of here.’ “—What are you doing here?”

"I was just passing by," she laughed, her voice soft, pearl-like. “I couldn't go without saying hi, haha!” Then she looked at you and fixed you with a stare. It wasn't a cold look, but it wasn't friendly either. “And who is that?”

"Ah," Aether shook his head, as if only now remembering that he had not come here alone. He put his hand around your waist. “This is my girlfriend, [Name]”

“I didn't know you had a girlfriend! You always have to be so mysterious?” Aether rolled his eyes at her words, even if he smiled slightly. Then she turned to you. “Could I kidnap him for a moment? I need help moving my luggage to my new apartment.”

She grabbed his hand without waiting for your answer, as if it were a rhetorical question. As Aether released his hand from your waist, you felt as if you were left alone in a foreign land.

“I'll be back in a minute!” After these words, he turned to the blonde and at an equal pace, they turned around the corner of some house, behind the wall of which you could see an extremely high pile of boxes.

"It probably won't be a minute," you sighed.

You leaned against the railing and stared at the toes of your shoes, telling yourself that you should have opposed her. Would that be selfish? You've been dreaming about a date with Aether for so long, without third parties, and now that the moment has come, it turns out that someone will take from you your boyfriend anyway.

Five minutes passed... eight minutes... ten... thirteen...

After fourteen minutes, you got up and decided to check how much was already packed. Some of the super-heavy boxes seemed to be gone, but that was up for discussion since there were dozens of them here.

You couldn't find a familiar face in sight. Did... they just leave you here? More likely, they were just carrying some luggage into one of the nearby houses, but you couldn't knock on every door to find them—it would take hours.

You felt yourself slowly breaking down.

You knew you were a little (a little very much) jealous of this girl, but more depressing was the fact that this was going to be yours and Aether’s day. COMMON. Now you thought you were the loneliest person in the universe.

"I'm not going to get upset," you repeated aloud, trying to motivate yourself to leave this place. "I'll go... I’ll go somewhere and have a good time... alone."

With a quick step, as if you didn't want to think about this anymore, you turned back and followed the alleys you and Aether had previously travelled. You came to the food stores that you had only glanced at before, but you didn't have time to taste anything else because you were in a hurry to get to the viewpoint.

It is true that you ordered take-out rolls, but the whole range of different types of food seemed very tempting despite the filling bread.

And the smell of such highly seasoned dishes was tempting—very much.

"Sorry," a young girl approached you after you shoved a piece of meat into your mouth. You swallowed it quickly, almost choking on it. “Would you like to buy some flowers?”

“…Why not?” you replied.

The girl put the money in the pocket of her dress. Instead of putting a flower on your hand, she came closer and gently braided a glaze lily into your hair near right ear.

"Here you are," she replied and looked at you. A smile beamed across her face. “You look really pretty!”

"Thank you," you replied. You noticed that this was the last flower in her basket, and because of that, the ten-year-old girl seemed proud of herself. She walked away, thanking again for the purchase.

I think that one more on the other side and all would be perfect...

You glanced at the setting sun and concluded that you could give Aether a similar lily. Wouldn't that look cute on him? There was still some time before it will get completely dark. Even the rain clouds that had previously seemed to be crossing the sky at an alarming pace now seem to have stopped.

You finished eating and walked briskly towards the Danyu Ruins, hoping to find some pretty lilies on your way.

The silence, or rather the sound of the wind and the leaves rustling against each other, were the only thing that accompanied your footsteps since you left Liyue. It seemed relaxing at first, but now that the skies were a deeper blue than orange, you concluded that a travelling companion would not be a bad idea.

“They're here!” you finally found two lilies that glistened slightly in the dark. You collected them quickly and turned to head back into town.

…You were surprised when you encountered many, many roads, each of them unfamiliar.

"I should have left a trail of breadcrumbs," you joked, though panic had already paralyzed your legs.

Your problems were not diminished by the fact that you heard mad laughter near you. You felt your heart leap into your throat, tears welling up in your eyes as a figure emerged from behind the bushes.

Abyss mage.

You have heard about them from the stories of Aether, who sometimes told you about his adventures when you tried to bandage his wounds with a bandage, herbs, or other medicines.

As soon as your heart was beating, so quickly the magician saw you. He teleported a meter away from you and you started running.

Faster, faster, faster.

Before you ran a hundred meters, a mage appeared before you. You didn't even have time to stop when he waved his hand, and a large ice crystal formed in front of him. Huge and pointed towards you.

Almost as soon as it was launched, a certain force pushed both of you backwards. You felt pain in your left leg, but somehow you didn't fall. Strong arms held you and made you be in a comforting, familiar embrace.

You looked up to see Aether running towards the cliff to finally jump, open his gliding set and take you two away from the icy monster.

You didn't say a word to each other all this time.

As soon as you touched the ground, you stepped out of his embrace, as if feeling that you had abused his closeness too much. Instead, he grabbed your wrist, turned to face him, and initiated a long, passionate kiss.

He didn't pull away until you both were breathless, and your cheeks were burning like hot coals. You couldn't say you were cold anymore.

“Why?” He took a deep breath. However, his voice still trembled. “Why didn't you wait for me? If I did not make it on time—"

“I was waiting for you!” You interrupted him. You bit your lower lip as you tried to contain the tide of frustration. “It's you who disappeared somewhere. You went somewhere with that girl. I already thought you weren't coming back.”

Aether, an intelligent boy, immediately paraphrased your words "I was maybe jealous". At the thought, he smiled apologetically.

"Sorry," he said, scratching his neck. “I accidentally dropped a box on her leg and, oh, it was hard to treat someone who screams in pain before even a finger touches them…”

"Oh," you felt a deep flush of embarrassment coming up to your cheeks. Indeed, the previous redness of the cheeks did not disappear, but now it only preserved their shade for the next minutes. “I'm really sorry. I left you, put you and myself in danger, just to find some stupid flowers...”

For the third time since finding you, Aether hugged you tightly. He planted a kiss on the top of your head. You stood for a few minutes in pleasant silence, cuddling tightly to each other, and finally, you both relaxed completely.

You took the tangled lilies out of your pocket; one was practically worn out, but the other seemed to be in good condition. You dropped the massacred one, and you tried to straighten the petals with your fingers.

"Turn around," you told him.

He did it without batting an eye. You ran your fingers through his hair and braided his plant into a braid.

Out of the corner of your eye, you thought yours, still artfully arranged, flashed a pleasant blue light as Aether examined his looks.

"It suits you," you said. You both decided to go back to Liyue and spend the rest of the night there. You held hands all the way back.

"You too," he replied. "We are complementing each other very nicely now with these flowers ...and also without them," he added with a smile.

"So, you still think getting lost isn't romantic?" You looked at him from under your lashes.

“Still. I wish I could have you with me without any excuse that you will get lost.”

#Aether #Aether x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact aether #genshin impact scenario #genshin impact traveler #traveler x reader #genshin x reader

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cherrywoes · 4 years ago

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crimson king. (diavolo x fem!reader.)

prologue.

“Stricken among a field of poppies,

With hair as red as molten flame,

The Crimson King brought low the thane,

And thus usurped his father’s throne,

For there would be a day the world would end,

And he would not see it until his own life’s end.”

— the records of Paimon, King of the West.

masterlist | i. cruor.

♕

“LADIES, GATHER ‘ROUND.” The Matriarch of House Gascoigne clapped her silk gloved hands sharply. The sound echoed throughout the dance room, cracking through the air with the force of a whip. “We have news from the capital!”

An excited murmur rose amongst the girls. It had been months since the royal family had last issued news on any events regarding the palace, or the King and Queen themselves; ever since their children, the prince and princess, had fallen ill with some unknown illness, not a mere scant of word was allowed outside the palace doors, much less from the mouths of maids and butlers. It had left much of House Gascoigne (their female occupants, at least) with little to do besides practice their waltz, needlework, and plan on wooing the finest bachelors in the kingdom. To have this little bit of gossip to break their melancholy was welcoming—even if it was bad news, for a time.

“News from the capital!” One girl gasped, reaching for the letter in delight. The Matriarch held it high above her head, swatting the girl’s grasping fingers with the paper and striking a deep cut in her hand. She hissed and pressed the well of blood to her mouth, scowling at the older woman.

“Yes, news.” The Matriarch’s stony gray gaze flickered over the throng of girls, counting each head—seven in all, her daughters—and found herself just one shy. She counted once more, just to be sure, and yet again, she was lacking a duckling with particular [color] hair and [color] eyes. “Where’s [Name]?”

“[Name]?” Another of the sisters rolled her eyes and stamped her heel. The hem of her dress caught in the stiletto and she was forced to listen to the slight tear of the seam as it punctured through the expensive fabric. “Please! It’s not like she cares for idle gossip; open the letter, mother!”

“Last I heard she went out hunting with father,” one crowed slyly, waving a lace fan in front of her face coquettishly. Her eyes, sharp and blue, darted over to the matriarch, whose face was unmoving. “Not much of a change, is it, sisters?”

“Girls!” The matriarch’s sharp tone cut through the speculating chatter like a knife. The sisters dropped their gazes to the floor momentarily, then back up to their mother, properly chastised. “I am ashamed of you—all of you. Speaking of your sister as if she is scum of the earth; why, your father would be disappointed in all of you. I do not believe any of you deserve to hear this news today.”

“No, mother! We promise not to speak of her as such again!” Similar sentiment rose, each girl pleading with their mother individually with different promises and different oaths. “Please, the letter!”

The matriarch looked upon her daughters with a narrowed gaze. They returned her stare with ones of silent pleading. She sighed and closed her eyes. “Very well then. Let’s see what it says, shall we?”

She cracked the wax seal upon it and with a cough to clear her throat, began to read.

“Marriage?” You parroted back at your father with gawkish eyes. Your mare came to a still beneath you, snuffling at a patch of vibrant green grass, a product of the new spring. You could feel the stays of your corset protest at the deep inhale of disbelief you took, squeezing hard shards of whale bone against your ribs. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“It’s time, [Name].” Your father sighed, much in the same way your mother would do when she was exasperated with something you or one of your sisters had said. He adjusted the reins of his horse’s bridle, nervous, and stared off in the distance somewhere away from you. “You know I would never force you into an arranged marriage, but…”

“But I need to start looking,” you mocked in a high, posh voice. You snorted through your nose and fixed him with a dark glower. “How many times have I heard that before? Ten? Twelve?”

“I know… I know your mother pressures you,” he amended,”but this time I’m afraid I’m the one asking you to begin searching. You’re twenty years old, [Name], far past the age of marriage already; I just want to see you well off and comfortable, if not happy.”

“And my happiness doesn’t matter as long as I’m well off and comfortable.”

This wasn’t how you expected your day out with your father to go. You had expected to hunt dove, at most, maybe a few squirrels or two; your quiver had been packed to handle it. Instead, you had gotten barely a foot or so into the forest, your mare eager to head into the lush grass, before he was bringing up the subject of your marriage—again. This wasn’t the first time you had heard it, but it was the first time it had come from him, and you were starting to wonder if they were just concerned or wanted you gone.

“Sometimes you can have one thing and forsake the other.” He shrugged helplessly. “I would rather you have money and comfort. But if you can somehow gain happiness as well, then…”

Which was highly unlikely, he was saying, as your marriage would likely be out of convenience, as the majority of your older sisters’ were. Your family was rich and everyone wanted part of the Gascoigne fortune—if not in gold, then in their daughters. Each of your sisters had a dowry large enough to buy off a country or two and every dirty old man wanted a piece of it, whether you were willing or not. Luckily, your parents were not so old fashioned as to arrange your marriage with a far older man, or push you in that direction, but they directly encouraged you to get married soon, and quickly. It didn’t help that a lot of the men repeated the foul saying “Gascoigne pussies are as good as gold”, meaning that if they were lucky enough to get any of your sisters or yourself with child, they might as well be set for life.

You didn’t want that. Not if you could help it.

With narrowed eyes, you looked at your father once more. He was fidgeting in his saddle, avoiding looking at you entirely, and by the look on his face, you had to wonder if he was just nervous or debating asking you to attend a debut ball knowing full well that you would be five years older than any other girl there—at least, that was your assumption. You had missed your first and subsequent balls after a particular rough bout of sickness that kept you bedridden; you had only recently been able to function normally again, albeit with some lightheadedness if you were too active in a short period of time.

“Right.” You reached up and held a hand over your head to deflect an oncoming branch. “Well, I guess I have no choice in the matter, do I?”

He sighed once more. “You know if I had any other choice, I would give you all the time in the world, [Name]. But the older you get the more you risk turning out an old crone with no marriage ties. I don’t want that for you—your mother doesn’t want that for you.”

You huffed and turned your head. Your mother’s sole goal was to marry off all of her daughters to eligible bachelors to get them off her hands; at least the ones who didn’t cater to her every whim, like yourself and a few other of your sisters. She was not a cruel mother by any means, but she was a thorn in your side at times, especially with her insistence on perfection. Your waltz and embroidery were as perfect as they were going to get, and you most certainly weren’t going to shrink your waist down to her tastes either. You would be surprised if she didn’t have something else to harp on you about when you returned home.

“I suppose.” A glance at the sky revealed it was already lunch time. You had already skipped tea with your mother and sisters; skipping another meal was a bad idea, even if you were out hunting. A very unladylike sport, she would probably hiss. “We should probably get back for lunch if we don’t want mother getting angry at us again.”

Your father almost seemed surprised, looking up at the sky himself. “It is, isn’t it? I heard we’re having pigeon pie today.”

“Pigeon pie?” You repeated slowly. “Father, that was yesterday. We’re having potato soup today.”

“Oh. Are we?”

You didn’t answer, watching him turn his horse around and begin the ride back home. You followed at a distance behind him, watching as he regarded the trail as if it was entirely new to him and familiar in some spots. You had been wondering if his illness had gotten worse and your proof was right in front of you. His father before him had been afflicted with the same memory loss, a product of a few lines of inbreeding centuries before, you had heard, but only in the paternal line. It had started with him mixing up names and stuttering them into the proper ones; then he slowly began to fall out of his routine, eyeing his paperwork in slight confusion; and just now, forgetting days and time.

Before you could call out to him and ask what day he thought it was, you heard an ungodly screech coming from the manor. It sounded faintly like one of your sisters, but it was loud enough that the birds in the trees startled and took to the sky. You urged your horse into a canter, your father following suite, and the closer you got, the more you could make out actual voices instead of mindless screeching.

“—this is ridiculous! How does she get to go to the palace and I’m stuck here?! Mother, it makes no sense! She’s twenty years old, she has no chance—”

“—oh, please, Violetta, like you could do any better at nineteen—”

“—says you two, I could sweep him off his feet without even a—”

“—I wouldn’t even need a dance, just five minutes alone in a—”

“—Adrielle, shut your mouth! I ought to send you to a convent!”

“There she is!” A finger went flying to point to you as your mare pushed through the treeline, hooves clopping on firm stone. “Mother, tell her to turn down the offer!”

All of your sisters, including even the youngest ones, just shy of fourteen, were gathered around the cut in the pathway in a tight cluster. All of them had some range of fury or irritation on their faces as they looked at you, clutching their lace fans or skirts tightly in their fists. You had only faintly heard your mother’s threat to send Adrielle to a convent and raised an eyebrow at the little crowd they made, pulling your horse to a halt with her reins. You wouldn’t dare risk dismounting in a dress, so you stared down at them all from your mount in confusion.

“[Name],” your mother approached your horse with some hesitation, eyeing the mare’s ears in any hint of her mood. “Here. This arrived for you in the mail today.”

You didn’t miss the sour tone in her voice. You accepted the opened letter from her with a raised eyebrow, the broken seal on the back stamped with the royal crest. Your sisters watched you like a hawk, searching for any hint that you weren’t happy with whatever the letter said.

While the envelope wasn’t addressed to you, the letter inside was: it was written in the elegant hand of the Queen herself, even down to a personalized address from her as well.

‘Dear [Name] of House Gascoigne,

It is my pleasure to notify you that you have been selected to participate in the Bride Hunt for Prince Diavolo of the Devildom. As you filled all the requirements to participate, you, along with three other girls in your bracket, will be escorted to the palace to participate in a selection of games picked by the prince himself. As this is a show of goodwill between our kingdom and that of the Devildom, we encourage you to be on your best behavior with your fellow competitors and play to win.

As a more personal note, I do hope you participate, [Name]. I believe you have a true chance at winning, my dear.

Queen Cordelia.’

In the corner of the letter was her personal seal, stamped in shining red wax. Unbroken, you could make out the sigil of the phoenix, a half of the official crest. You looked up at your mother’s expectant face and then at your father’s hopeful one, having likely guessed what it was.

You sighed.

“I suppose I’m going to the palace after all, then.”

Your sisters groaned in disappointment. Some of them even clicked their tongues at you and turned to head inside, your mother turning on her heel and chiding them on their childish behavior.

Your father caught your eye as you moved your horse to head to the stables. His smile was one of pride and hope, as if this had made all of his dreams come true.

You only hoped you wouldn’t disappoint him when it all was over.

taglist (open): @crashica (just let me know if you want to be added!)

#diavolo x reader #obey me diavolo #obey me diavolo x reader #diavolo x mc #diavolo obey me #diavolo x y/n #obey me #obey me:swd #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me barbatos #obey me lucifer #obey me simeon #obey me luke #obey me solomon #obey me shall we date

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genshin-obsessed · 4 years ago

Note

Hii! I’m OBSESSED your writing! Can i request a Xingqiu x gender neutral reader? Where the reader’s best friend is Xiangling and Xingqiu’s best friend is Chongyun. Xiangling and Chongyun both know that the reader and Xingqiu both like each other but they won’t confess so instead they set them up on a date or something? You can make it backfire if you want where the reader and Xingqiu find out they’ve been set up but end up confessing anyways. Sorry if it was confusing 😅 Have a great day/night💕

Thank youuuu🥺🥺 this was a cute and fun request to write! I also wanna write for Chongyun 👀 I will soon! Cuz he’s so cute and he deserves love!!

Picnic Confessions

“No way!” Xiangling muttered as she grabbed poor Chongyun’s arm and yanked him to hide behind a table. He almost fell but managed to catch himself before he crouched down beside her.

“C-can’t you be gentle?” However, as soon as he looked over the table, he forgot everything about himself. He saw you talking with Xingqiu, you two seemed to be having breakfast together at the inn. It was well known between the two friends that you and Xingqiu CLEARLY liked each other. Actually, both Xiangling and Chongyun would go as far as saying you two were in love. Yet you two wouldn’t admit it.

“They’re either playing dumb or they are dumb.”

“I mean…” Chongyun muttered as he watched the two converse. “We have to do something. It’s been too long and to be frank, walking into haunted manors and not finding a single evil spirit is more entertaining than this.” He deadpanned, making Xiangling look at him. The two smiled at each other with mischief before nodding and quickly sneaking away.

***

“Hey Xiangling!” You beamed, running over to your friend, who giggled and smiled. The two of you gave each other a hug before she placed her hand on her hips.

“So! I know we have an adventure to go on today, BUT, I have a favor to ask of! Can you go collect some Jueyun Chilies for me? I wanna try making a snack really quick.”

“Oh? Sure thing! It’ll take me a while, since we’ve picked all the ones nearby.”

“No problem! I heard there were some growing in Qingce village!” You nodded to your best friend and waved at her.

“Ok! Sit tight, I’ll be back soon!” With that, you were off. It had taken you a while to make your way to Qingce village with Paimon, but when you got there, you found plenty growing outside the village. You began collecting them, putting them in your bag. Once you had enough, you and Paimon returned to Wangshu Inn. By the time you’d gotten there, one of the other chefs mentioned that Xiangling had left for a small picnic and wanted you to join her.

“But… she wanted the Jueyun Chilies.”

“Oh, we actually had some. She just didn’t know where they were. We’re happy to take those and pay compensation.” You nodded as you handed the bag over, while another chef got your payment. With that, you headed to the location where you were supposed to meet Xiangling.

Meanwhile, Chongyun was telling Xingqiu that he and Xiangling had set up a picnic and he wanted his friend to attend. Xingqiu happily agreed, not realizing his best friend was throwing him into a trap. The cyan-haired boy smiled innocently as he gave his best friend the location and left.

***

“Huh, we must be early.” You said, looking at Paimon. You sat down on the blanket and peeked inside the basket, sniffing the aroma that wafted up to your nose. “Oh, it smells delicious!” However, you shut the basket, not wanting to eat anything without your friends.

Since you seemed to be really early- even though Xiangling claimed to already be there- you decided to wait and talk with Paimon. In a few minutes, you saw Xingqiu walking towards you, waving his hand. Both you and Paimon smiled and waved back as he jogged over to you and sat down beside you.

“Huh, I thought I would be late.” He commented, as Paimon nodded.

“We thought Xiangling was already here because that’s what she told the chefs at Wangshu Inn, but then we thought she must’ve gone somewhere. We’ve been here for a while but she still hasn’t come back.”

“Why are you here, though?” You inquired, tilting your head. Your words seemed to confuse Xingqiu.

“What do you mean? This is a picnic for the four of us, right? Well five, considering Paimon.” You and Paimon shook your heads.

“No, we were told to meet Xiangling here. Just her.” It took you three a moment to realize what was happening.

“So they set you two up?” Paimon asked, making you and Xingqiu nod with a smile. You two shyly looked away from each other and that was hint enough for Paimon. She quickly disappeared and you looked at Xingqiu.

“Shall we eat then?” He nodded with a smile as you opened the basket again.

***

It had been hours since you two had gotten to the picnic. The sun was now setting and it was time to head home. But before you could, Xingqiu grabbed your wrist, tugging you back down to sit beside him.

“Everything ok?” He nodded, turning to you.

“I… look. We both know exactly why we’re here, alone.” You waited a moment before nodding, silently. You did. Xiangling had been telling you for the last year almost to finally confess to Xingqiu, yet you never listened to her. Xingqiu hand slid down from your wrist to your hand, then he laced his fingers with yours, staring at the conjoined hands. “I… I love you. I have for a while now and… I just had to tell you.” Finally, his golden eyes looked up to meet yours. You felt your cheeks warm up and tightened your fingers around his hand.

“I… me too. I’ve been in love with you for… well for a while.” He smiled a little with wide eyes.

“Really? Th-that’s- that’s amazing!” You smiled as he let go of your hand and hugged you, pulling you onto his lap. A giggle escaped your lips as he embraced you tightly, burying his face into your neck. You closed your eyes and leaned into him, his body warmth surrounding you.

Finally, he raised his head and gently pressed his lips against yours. You melted into him and the kiss as you returned it with all the passion you could muster.

You two watched the sunset together, before finally gathering everything, ready to head back home. As you two walked hand in hand, you passed by a large tree and some bushes where you saw a surprise.

Both Xiangling and Chongyun leaned up against each other, asleep. You and your new boyfriend tried not to laugh after figuring out what had happened. Your best friends had stayed here, trying to watch you two confess. They must’ve fallen asleep since it took so long.

You left the empty basket and blanket while you carried your two friends back to town.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin xingqiu #xingqiu x reader #xingqiu imagine #genshin xingqiu x reader

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und3rc0ver · 4 years ago

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Exhausted (Some Chilumi cuz why not =D )

Haha computer go clicck clack.

After seeing @restlessfandoming writing some awesome fanfics, me -along with my mediocre vocabulary- thought I'll try to make my own. I found Chilumi cuz of their writing, so I think there's no harm in making my own.

P.s: if u read this, ur writing is superior to mine (@restlessfandoming)

(SPOILERS: Events after 1.1 update)

< Part One >

Why is everyone one here so needy?!?! Can’t I just have a break for one single day!?

Lumine - the hero of Mondstat, was tired, exhausted, and breathless. She hadn’t slept on a comfy bed, ate a decent meal, or even sat down and took a couple of breaths for herself for a good month now.

She’d just finished quest after quest, fight after fight, journey after journey. She couldn’t count how many places she visited today. And while it was heartwarming to hear the people’s thank-you’s and receive their rewards during her treks, it wasn’t enough to swing her out of this coma.

To her, it just felt instinctual. She doesn’t even notice it anymore.

And despite being a tad bit oblivious -and dare I say, stupid- at times, the traveller’s guide, Paimon, was the first to pick up on it.

“Oh god, you look more depressed than Diluc!” She joked; but to some extent, she was right. Lumine just shook those words off like some dust off her shoulder, as she ventured through the busy streets of Liyue.

"I'm fine.." Lumine said.

All of these adventures came at a cost: paid usually by time, energy, and patience. But when all was settled, she still hadn’t met all of the Seven, or even found a clue to find her brother.

The thought would immediately drain any happiness she found in Teyvat.

But of all the people she has met, and all the people she has fought alongside and against, only one really caught Lumine's attention.

The Eleventh Harbinger, Childe.

The flipside of a ruthless harbinger being as protective and supportive to anyone was puzzling her. Even after the Harbinger explained his morals and goals, she simply couldn’t fathom the idea of it.

They did have their share of tussles and disagreements, but when is all said and done, they made up rather quickly.

But one thing was for sure; she saw both sides of this coin, and she was intrigued by it.

Besides, seeing Childe being so energetic and silly with Teucer was pleasing to her. It warmed the traveler’s cold and seemingly hopeless heart.

Ah! She stopped at a vantage point overlooking the busy harbour of Liyue. Peering over a thin wooden fence, resting her elbow and head onto the rail.

“Perhaps he’s like a vigilante: he doesn’t seem to like the Fatui’s ideas, but he still is apart of them.”

Lumine was thinking hard, trying to place the right piece in this puzzle.

"It seems like he calls his shots for good results and benefits of his family." She mumbled to herself quietly. She remained puzzled, leaning on the fence, trying to recall what she knew about the Harbinger.

When he wasn't a merciless warrior, Childe was an energetic, and arrogant person: it was these traits that ultimately won over her trust.

However, it was difficult to think about him positively after he tried -and nearly succeeded- to kill her.

But it was not impossible.

Meanwhile, Paimon wasn’t going to just stand there and let the traveler think on an empty stomach.

“UGH,” she groaned, floating right in front of Lumine to obscure her view. “Can we please get something to eat?”

“Okay,” She responded, pulling out a chicken-mushroom skewer.

But like a picky toddler, she pushed the skewer away.

“Do you think I’m gonna eat this garbage again!??” She said furiously, followed up by a small growl from her stomach. “We’ve eaten the same thing for five days straight! Don’t we have like 800 000+ Mora that we can spend?”

At this point, Lumine was too tired to deal with such a small event like this. Pulling a pouch from her bag, she poured some into her hand, and gave it to her hungry fairy-guide.

“Knock yourself out,” She huffed, facing Liyue’s harbour once again. A ship was docking at one of the city’s ports, full of goods and food to trade and sell: which was what stole the traveller’s attention at the moment. It would take a couple of tugs on Lumine’s dress for her to bat an eye at Paimon.

Lumine sighed,

“Not enough?” She asked, looking to snatch the pouch from the guide’s tiny hands.

“Why don’t you come with Paimon?!?! What if someone tries to steal me?!?”

“You’ll be fine..” Lumine answered, “The Millieth will save you anyways.”

“Come on!!” She wailed, tugging Lumine’s arm this time. “Stop thinking about who you want to marry and get me something to eat!!”

The traveler's eyes twitched.

It was this comment that nearly made Lumine explode. Why? It was clear as day that Lumine was quite fond of the people here. Plus, she had an embarrassing habit of staring at people she liked a lot. Anyone observant could see the signs from a mile away. Unfortunately for her, she was just too tired to be anrgy.

“Okay, okay,” she said sluggishly, stretching her arms and letting out a small yawn. “Where do you want to go?”

“I wanna try the Tigerfish from that Chen guy, people say it’s one of the best foods in Liyue!”

So off they went to find Chen, the street food vendor, which was surprisingly easier than Lumine thought.

After a ten minute wait, they arrived at the front of the line, where they were greeted by Chen’s big wide smile. This could’ve been the time where Lumie could treat herself to a little snack; but, she wasn’t hungry, and opted to stay silent.

For now..

“We’ll take four Grilled Tigerfish, please!” She ordered happily. After all, she wasn’t the one to worry about a single expense.

“Alright!” Chen said joyfully. “That’ll be 1520 Mora, please.”

Reaching into the pouch, she pulled out enough to cover the bill, along with a 150 mora tip.

“Say, Traveller,” He looked at the unenergetic Lumine, confused. “Seem a bit down today. Finding your fame in Teyvat to be overwhelming?”

She just laughed it off, taking the grilled skewers from Chen, and passing it to Paimon.

“Well, not really,” she lied.

Because everyone would want the “Hero of Mondstadt” to help them out.

“Just another busy day, full of commissions from all over the place.”

With the transaction now complete, Lumine began to walk towards the Adventurer's Guild to collect her rewards from all those commissions. But a call from a distance pulled her right back to Chen's food kiosk.

“Here,” he smiled, giving her an extra fresh-skewer.

“But shouldn’t I-”

“It’s on the house for today: I insist,” He said kindly. “Seems like you work hard to keep our city in good shape. Take it as a token of appreciation. “

Although it was a kind gesture, Lumine was skeptical of having it: she felt a bit guilty for practically stealing it.

But, if Paimon sees a good deal, she acts quickly.

“Thanks Chen! See you later!!!” She cheered, grabbing the Grilled skewer for herself.

“Anytime,” He replied. “Safe travels!”

“You too..!” Lumine said awkwardly, dragging herself away from Chen's kiosk.

Though she felt guilty at first, she felt pretty good after that kind gesture from Chen. It almost put a smile on the Traveller’s face.

Almost…

While Lumine was traversing through the busy, and colourful streets of Liyue, Paimon -who was starving for the last three hours- inhaled those fish like a vacuum.

Lumine was totally fine with eating her 10th chicken-mushroom skewer today. After all, she liked the plain dish when cooked right: but like Paimon, she too wanted a different taste.

And she, too, wanted to try Liyue’s Grilled Tigerfish.

With a sudden stop next to the Jade-betting kiosk, Lumine gave in, and sighed.

“Got any.. left..?” She asked hopelessly, knowing full-well that there’s probably none left for her anyway.

“Yeah!” The fairy said, holding two skewers of the grilled fish in her hands. “I knew you wanted to try these! They are reeaaally good!!”

One bite, and Lumine loved it. She gulped them down faster than the wind itself! This was a taste that brightened her day: one that made the girl lick the stick to get some more flavour.

Together, they walked around the busy plaza, arriving at the Adventurer's Guild commission board. Both were a bit curious if there were any newer commissions up-for-grabs.

But their luck ran out, and there were none to be seen. Both a shame, but strangely, a relief for Lumine.

I must’ve finished a lot of them. Should get me a decent reward, and maybe a break-

“Hello, traveler,” An all-familiar voice said, drawing the two’s attention. Of course, Kathyrine, the receptionist of Liyue’s Adventurer's Guild branch, was talking to them.

“I assume you’re here for your rewards for today?”

“Yeah..” She admitted.

“Today you completed 8 commissions in Liyue, correct?”

Just as she asked, Lumine slipped eight papers, all signed by each citizen she’d completed a task for.

“Well, it seems that you’ve come prepared,” Kathyrine chuckled. “Here’s your reward.”

The pouch of Mora seemed quite heavy, which Lumine knew would be 60 000 Mora (since each commission would be worth about 7 500 Mora, depending on what an Adventurer would do). It would be enough to buy her a place to stay for a couple of nights.

“Thanks,” Lumine said, gently shaking the pouch of Mora in her hand.

“Actually,” the receptionist continued, “Someone has been causing a lot of trouble near the Golden house. A couple of our adventurers have gone there and came back severely wounded, with one still in hospitality as we speak.”

“Oh,” was all that came out of Lumine’s mouth. She definetely wasn’t expecting a commission there.

“Sorry, where was it again?” Lumine asked.

“I believe this person would be in or around the Golden House.”

“Okay,”

That certainly rang a bell in the traveler's mind.

“As one of our more… experienced members, would you like to take a look and see what’s happening?”

Of course, Lumine wasn’t the kind to back down. It was this trait of hers that helped her save Mondstadt.

“Will do,” She responded.

And off she went to investigate the Golden House.

* * * * *

“You sure you don't want to come in too?”

“I think it’s better for Paimon to sit this one out.”

Once they reached the enterncenof Teyvat's Mora stash, Paimon decided to disappear into her own little world, leaving Lumine alone once again. But she wouldn’t be alone for long, because the feelings of fatigue, and nausea were slowly creeping towards the traveler. Once she cracked the door open enough for her to slide through, she tip-toed her way inside, trying her best to not reveal her presence. But for today, luck was definetely not on her side.

Out of nowhere, an electro-blade flies right next to her neck, begging to pierce Lumine’s skin. But she did not flinch a single bit. She just looked dead-pan into the eyes of the culprit:

Childe.

“I see you’ve come back for a rematch, eh?” He said slyly, letting his blade de-materialize from his hand.

“And you are here to cause some more trouble?” She countered, slowly walking towards the Harbinger: a deep, serious look at Tartaglia's lifeless eyes.

“I guess you can say that,” He admitted, now twiddling with his water blades. “Some have told me you're a workaholic now. No?”

“What makes you say that?” Lumine questioned, sword in hand.

“I’m a Fatui!” He laughed, gesturing towards the ceiling. “I have eyes and ears everywhere.”

At this moment, something weird was happening to Lumine. She felt nauseous, and tired all of a sudden: that burst of energy from having the Tigerfish was now depleted. She felt like her usual-self, or at least the one she presents to most people that meet her.

But worse.

She felt vomit from her throat, and judging on how relatively lumpy the texture was, it probably was those Chicken-mushroom-skewers she’d eaten for the last ten days.

Despite all of it, she still stood tall in front of the Harbinger, not letting herself give in just yet.

“So,” Tartaglia teased, wielding his signature bow. “Are we just going to stand here and look pretty, or are we going to fight?”

She wanted to say yes: she wanted to beat him convincingly: she wanted to assert her dominance.

But her body held her back.

And when the battle began, she dropped her sword right next to her feet, unable to hold it properly anymore.

“Ah, guess you don’t need a sword to beat me?” He said, his weapon hanging at his side. “I like your confidence, Ojou-chan.”

The name rolled off his tongue in a way that made Lumine flustered.

Still, with little energy left in her, she used Anemo energy to retrieve her weapon, and fought fiercely.

Punch for punch.

Block for block.

Blade for blade.

With his bow, Childe released a horde of arrows right at Lumine, but she effortlessly danced past all of them. Imidietaly, she changed a ball of wind to fire, but a slick move from the Harbinger made Lumine look silly.

It was mezmarizing watching the two go at it.

After a very intense skirmish, the two broke apart from each other, taking a small moment to breathe.

For Childe, he regained his strength to fight once again.

But Lumine had a trick up her sleeve.

And all-or-nothing, last-resort move, she had never tried before.

With the last game of energy left in her, she rushed towards the Harbinger, zooming past everything Childe threw at her.

And when the time was right, she tackled him to the ground, catching him off-guard

Luck seemed to finally be in her favour.

But not for long.

* * * * *

"Uh, boss..?" A mysterious, light voice said, panting heavily.

"What..?" Another voice -a little deeper in tone- replied.

"The Millieth are on the scene as we speak, I just got out of there without being seen."

The deeper voice laughed hysterically.

"Millieth? You pathetic coward. I guess I'll have to find it myself-"

"N-NO WAIT!" The light voice pleaded, "there's no need: I found a pattern on the floor, that may interest you."

The darker voice stood tall, looking down to his inferior.

"And what might that be..?" The darker voice snapped, holding the other by their collar.

"There's-There's a pool on the floor."

The boss dropped his co-worker from his grasp, leaning back in his throne.

"What was it…" He said, aggravated.

A pause came from the co-worker, leaving the boss on the edge of his seat.

"WHAT WAS IT!?!" He screamed furiously.

"B-b-blood and v-vomit, and some water.. sir.." The lighter voice whispered.

The boss smirked, twiddling a small dagger in one hand.

"Blood you say?" He asked curiously, leaning close to hear the other's response.

"Y-yes M'lord!!"

"... Good…"

Idk when I'll write pt.2, but thanks for reading anyways.

#childe #lumine #genshin impact #genshin impact lumine #genshin impact childe #childe x traveler #childe x lumine

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houseisekai · 4 years ago

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House Isekai Genshin Impact: Duck Massacre

House Isekai Genshin Impact Masterlist

—

Based off my own events as I made a duck explode into a chicken leg in front of his eyes because I didn’t think the game would acknowledge me doing that.

—

Outside the gates of Mondstadt...

- Kasumi stood near the gates over the railing, feeling the wind blow her hair back.

- Kazuma, Aqua, Aether, and Paimon walked out of the gates and saw her.

(Aqua) “Oh, hey Kasumi.”

(Kasumi) “Hello, everyone! Where are you all going?”

(Kazuma) “Knights needed them to get some iron for forging or whatever. Figured we’d pass the time going with Aether.”

(Paimon) “Wanna tag along?”

- Kasumi nodded.

(Kasumi) “Sure!”

- The five of them walked down the bridge and towards a child feeding pigeons that were in front of him.

(Aether) “Oh, that’s cute.”

(Kasumi) “Let’s try to move around so we don’t-”

- Kazuma and Aqua didn’t hear them and walked straight into the pigeons, causing them to scatter.

(Kasumi) “...Scare them.”

(Kid) “HEY, WHAT THE HECK?!”

(Aqua) “Eh? Oh, sorry-”

(Kid) “No you’re not! You walked into them on purpose!”

(Kazuma) “Wha? Well, I kinda was zonin’ out but-”

(Kid) “My mother always told me if that someone is really sorry, then they speak with actions, not words!”

(Kazuma) “...Kid, does it look like I give a-”

(Kasumi) “KAZUMA!”

(Paimon) “H-Hey now! Um, what’s your name?”

(Kid) “Timmie!”

(Aether) “How can we make it up?”

(Kid) “Go get some wheat and bring it back here! Oh, and the ducks keep eating the pigeon’s food, so go feed them too!”

- Kazuma and Aqua groaned while the rest of the group sighed.

(Kasumi) “I suppose a detour is in order.”

(Paimon) “Well, the wheat can’t be that far right?”

- Aether looked around the environment, but the only place that could have wheat was several miles away.

(Aether) “It’s...uh, going to be quite a walk.”

(Aqua) “UUUUUUUUUGH! FINE!”

2 Hours Later...

- The group came back to the bridge, looking far more exhausted than they did earlier.

(Kazuma) “So...many...enemies...”

(Paimon) “It was supposed to be a 30 minute walk, WHY WERE THERE SO MANY?!”

(Aqua) “Maybe if SOMEONE DIDN’T KEEP SCREAMING, WE WOULDN’T HAVE ATTRACTED SO MANY!”

(Paimon) “P-PAIMON JUST GETS SCARED EASILY!”

(Kasumi) “Can we please stop the yelling...?”

(Aether) “Come on, the ducks are over here, let’s just feed them and get this over with.”

- They walked near the lake and threw the wheat into the pond, watching the ducks slowly come to them.

- Kazuma kept grumbling under his breath while Aqua’s annoyance was reaching its limit.

(Aqua) “HURRY THE HELL UP!”

- Aqua used her staff and commanded the water, forcing a small tidal wave to wash over the ducks.

- The wave completely enveloped the ducks, sending their bodies flying into a nearby rock.

- The collision of the force broke their necks with an uncomfortable snap, making everyone cringe in response.

(Aqua) “...Uh-”

(Kazuma)

“WHAT IN THE FUCK, AQUA?!”

(Kasumi) “OH MY GOD!”

(Aether) “Oh dear.”

(Paimon) “EW! EW EW EW EW!”

(Aqua) “IT, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!”

(Kasumi) “WE DIDN’T HAVE TO STAY, WE COULD’VE JUST GONE TO THE BRIDGE, AQUA!”

(Paimon) “Um...M-Maybe Timmie didn’t see-”

(Timmie) “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

(Aether) “...Let’s...go talk to him.”

- Everyone awkwardly walked over to Timmie who was crying, watching the ducks’ lifeless bodies drift across onto the shore.

(Kasumi) “H-Hi...?”

(Timmie) “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! I saw that...You...you...those poor ducks!”

(Everyone) “...”

(Kazuma) “Uh...it was for the pigeons?”

(Timmie) “GO AWAY, I NEVER WANT TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN!”

- Timmie started crying as he ran into the town.

(Everyone) “...”

(Aqua) “He’s...not going to tell his parents about us, is he?”

(Aether) “I’m not taking the fall for this because of what YOU did.”

(Paimon) “Paimon seconds!”

(Kasumi) “Thirded!”

(Aqua) “OH COME ON! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! PLUS THEY’RE JUST STUPID DUCKS!”

(Kazuma) “For fuck’s- Let’s just go get the damn iron and forget this happened?”

#House Isekai #House Isekai Genshin Impact #crossover #fanfic #aether #paimon #satou kazuma #aqua #kasumi yoshizawa

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alpaca-writes · 3 years ago

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Mystics, Chapter 24

When Arch becomes hired on at Mystics by the strange shopkeeper Lyrem Nomadus, everything seems to be going well- in fact, their life nearly becomes perfection. Soon enough, however, Arch realizes that perhaps not everything is as perfect as it seems….

Read Chapters 1-23 and more HERE

Taglist: @myst-in-the-mirror, @livingforthewhump

CW: Suicide attempt, swearing, drunken stupor. Lyrem needs his own content warnings, seriously.

This includes the FlashBackFever #1 from the Masterlist, but also contains valuable information regarding the plotline. This picks up directly after Chapter 22.

Dedicating this chapter to @myst-in-the-mirror for their wonderful name suggestion for the TimeWorm, Opus! Xx.

-Alpaca.

----------------------------------------------

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: WHEN LYREM MET PAIMON

“Your essence, your memories, everything you are,” Hades spoke; his voice echoed through the deep, dark gloom, “belongs to me.”

“My essence was spared as a favor to Kronos, if you recall.” Lyrem sniffed and snarled. “Is this really the type of greeting I get for pet-sitting little Opus all those years ago?”

“Ha! Did you think I would allow you the privilege of eternal life because you took care of Kronos’ Time-Worm for a few measly hours? Please.” Hades tutted amusedly. “Regardless, you’ve become quite a different man since then. I am not sure I would ever want the essence someone who murdered and then ate the heart of his own father… But at least your memories retain a certain value to me at this time.”

The mark that Lyrem bore on his chest- the brand that Maria would always say looked like a wine glass carrying a single grape- well… it began to burn. Lyrem grimaced and seethed through his teeth as he felt the brand sear through him like a thousand small razors cutting beneath his chest. It was the same feeling as when he first received it.

Slowly, the searing pain faded away, and Lyrem was able to straighten himself once again, and he touched his chest. The mark was gone.

The warm scent of chai drifted over him. Hades was holding a large mug in his hands and he lifted it to his white bearded face. Lyrem studied the hulking God, unsure of his purpose here.

“Perhaps I should apologize for acting so rashly. When I heard that you were coming to collect, I understandably panicked- you know Maria and I had only just bought the house together and I wasn’t ready to go yet.”-

Hades smiled lightly as his head shook slowly. He sighed impatiently as Lyrem continued in his nervous frenzy-

“I mean, now that I think back about it, I’m not sure I should have listened to Paimon when he told me what you wanted. He’s a demon. Does he even consort with your kind? I didn’t mean to be a nuisance for you – truly. I wasn’t fully aware of what I was agreeing to at the time you brought me back from the dead, anyways. That was all Kronos’ insistence. You remember. I was young and naïve, of course”-

“It’s alright.” Hades hushed him unexpectedly. “Being stuck in one corner of a Labyrinth for thirty years is not really worth avenging in my book. To you humans, it’s akin to being stuck in a line-up for five extra minutes. Would you like a coffee? A tea perhaps? Persephone makes a wonderful chai from scratch, though the plants take a little while to grow first. This place… isn’t exactly kind to her.”

Lyrem searched around. A small couch appeared behind him, a deep blue colour. Hades motioned for him to sit, and so he did. It would be foolish of him to refuse.

“A… a coffee would be very much appreciated,” he finally answered. “Where is Persephone?”

Hades sat across from him in his own chair and he cleared his throat.

“She can only be seen by living souls. I, on the other hand, can only be witnessed by the dead. But we can still hear each other and create for each other, without any problems.”

“Oh,” Lyrem nodded. “That must be…”

Nice? Sad? Actually, Lyrem wouldn’t finish that sentence. He didn’t know how.

“It’s annoying,” Persephone finished. “We can only ever see each other in our own realm. Our real realm- the one we created ourselves- and who knows what that creature is doing to it!”

Hades tsked. “Persephone, that is not how you address family- whether they are with us or not.”

He sipped his tea and allowed Lyrem to watch as his coffee materialized for him in a small ceramic cup. Rigidly, Lyrem sat there, unsure of whether to be comforted by the hospitality or suspicious of it.

“Sorry it took so long,” Persephone apologized. “I haven’t grown a coffea in ages! I chose arabica for you, I hope that is fine.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you.” Lyrem said. “I-I’m sorry, God Hades, may I please understand why I am here? You wanted Arthur to bring me here for a reason. Do you want me to release you from this place? Send you back to your proper realm?”

“Ooh he’s a quick one,” She exclaimed, the sarcasm was not lost with the absence of her face. If she was visible, Lyrem would have seen her sit beside him on the couch. Instead, he only felt the pull of the upholstery dipping next to him.

“Well, unfortunately, you cannot release us from this place. It’s not under your control.” Hades answered, causing Lyrem to be taken aback.

“Yes, it is. You may have been able to co-opt it to your liking, but I can certainly…” Lyrem paused with a hand suspended. He pushed his hand around, almost playfully through the air. “Uh… Open… open a door…”

Nothing happened. He brought his hand back down. It worked the last time he was here, dropping these two away in the hole. Of course, Paimon needed to help him at the time. Regardless, he was told he had control. Of course, why would he ever test it when a God who wanted his essence was trapped here? Paimon knew he wouldn’t try to release Hades. It would be a death sentence.

“Perhaps, I am less powerful as a dead man,” Lyrem surmised.

“Oh love, no,” Persephone coddled him in the effort to raise his spirits a little higher. “If anything, you should be more powerful than ever as a dead man. But those hearts you’ve been taking like vitamins? They do you less good than you think… You know, what, Uncle? I think he knew it too. I don’t think he wanted him to be strong.”

Lyrem turned to her space for clarification. “I’m sorry, who knew what?”

“My nephew, Pan,” Hades answered.

“He’s always been a trouble maker,” Hades remarked. “This place is a little caged corner of his Labyrinth. I was not prepared for his increased strength as he transitioned to adulthood. It’s quite a solid construction. I have yet to devise a way out.

It’s also why I needed you to die. Your soul is linked to me, not to the Underworld. And you are innately knowledgeable of Pan’s motivations. We needed to talk.”

Lyrem sipped at his coffee, growing more and more confused by the moment.

“I would honestly be quite impressed by Pan’s work if he wasn’t so notoriously cunning, and quite frankly, annoying about it. But that was always his way, you know.” Hades continued in a nostalgic fashion. “He would do all sorts of silly things- start music contests; him with his little flute, he loved that thing though I can’t remember the last time I saw him play it. He loved those little competitions- especially with family”-

“Ohh. I remember when he came around Mount Olympus showing off the wood nymphs he caged”- Persephone shuddered. It could be felt more than seen. “He plucked off their wings and forced them to race, that creepy bastard”-

“Persephone!”

“I’m sorry. He was just so horrible sometimes.”

“Who are we speaking about, again?”

“Pan.” “Pan!”

“Pan?” Lyrem shook his head, remembering his knowledge on classic Greek mythology. “…Isn’t the Great God Pan, dead?”

The God and Goddess let out a mighty good chuckle, leaving Lyrem annoyed and confused, and off to the side.

“Okay,” Persephone caught her breath. “That was a good prank; Convincing the world he was dead… Oh it never gets old. I can’t believe it stuck around this long. I guess it fits that he’s disguised as a spirit from a false religion now.”

Lyrem stole looks from Hades to the empty space, and then back again in growing disbelief. Hades continued.

“Pan is one of my nephews. A childlike God. And like all children, he grew bored with the course that his life was taking. In order to amuse himself, he began toying with the lives of innocent humans and facilitated humanity’s suffering on a massive scale. Played people against one another and started wars between great nations. He would place bets on who would win and he would become angry and spiteful when no one would bet against him. He stole children away from their families just to watch their reactions when they found the bodies- he would corrupt the most innocent to hurt at his command – what is more is he tortured people into taking their own lives- and the more he did these things, the easier it all became… I won’t blame his parents,” Hades nodded sympathetically to the ‘empty’ seat, “But he needed intervention a long time ago, desperately.”

The tone had suddenly shifted to one of melancholy as Hades explained his nephew’s troubling past.

“Trying to reason with him became more difficult and each time I tried to help him, he would push me away. Finally, being as resourceful and unbelievably stupid as he was, he swept my realm clean, leaving myself and Persephone locked in the equivalent of a closet in the void of the Underworld- that would be what he likes to call the ‘Labyrinth’.” With a shudder, Hades looked away, shamefully. “One powerful human who bears my mark and a few sacrificial hearts were all he needed to help him with that little task.”

“Me…” Lyrem placed the pieces together slowly, his life flashing before him in a new light, a new context. “Are you saying, what I think you’re saying? Paimon… Paimon is Pan?!”

Hades nodded.

“He gave me a reason to fear you, and then he showed me how to trap you...” Lyrem reasoned. “I’ve known him for thirty-two years. How could I have not known this?”

“Well, first of all, you certainly have a reason to fear me, I am the God of Death and I will still claim your essence one day.” Hades finished his drink, and the mug disappeared. “But I am slow to anger. Zeus would certainly have struck you down by now, and Poseidon has already put you on a list for that ridiculous prank with Perseus you pulled.”

Hades chuckled softly. “It was quite funny though.”

With widening eyes, Lyrem sat back, and tried to find what little was left of his honour and dignity with these Gods who spoke of his life like it was a mere sitcom for them to be entertained by.

“This is ridiculous. Whether or not Paimon is Pan, I am a man who stands by those who are loyal to me,” Lyrem scoffed, “If you wish for me to betray him in any way at all, I shall simply refuse.”

He sat up and crossed his arms like a petulant child, just begging for a scolding.

Hades went silent, as well as Persephone.

“He’s really not terribly bright, is he, Uncle?” Persephone whispered harshly. “It’s beside the point. We need to find Apollo! Let’s open up his mind again.”

“What? No! Please, don’t”-

---------------------------------

Beijing, China. 1989.

“You will never know true love.”

The Eastern Oracle looked up from the bowl of still water, perched atop the short table from where the three sat on the pillows and watched her client with interest. His dark brows were neatly knit together in a scowl and clearly disappointed. The client did not understand what she had spoken. She could tell.

She glanced to the translator next and then looked back to the man who began to speak.

“Oh…” he quietly accepted. “I see.”

He swallowed. The incense smoke drifted up through the air, condensing their little area in a thin fog. The Oracle said something else in her native Cantonese; her tone rather insistent this time. Urgent, even. Lyrem could tell.

The translator paused, then spoke: “she says that your fate was never to be loved, only to be respected. It is the only thing that matters to you.”

Lyrem blinked. Respect was a value of his, yes- but the only thing that mattered to him?

“But… love, true love…” he started feeling silly even before he uttered the words. “It exists?”

The translator repeated his words and then the Oracle watched him carefully.

“For you.” the Oracle spoke in Cantonese. Unfortunately, Lyrem was not well versed in the language at all. “Only for you does true love exist.”

Lyrem glanced to the translator.

“She says, ‘Only for very few, does true love exist.”

He sighed. At least he wasn’t the only one, he thought. He stood up, paid the two in full, and bowed before making his exit.

Thankfully, there was a local merchant of alcohol nearby. Lyrem stopped there first to buy himself a case of sake before returning to his hotel room. Eight floors up, he was.

It would be quick and easy to find his way to the ground.

He cracked open his first and played himself in a game of solitaire on the table by the window. Reflecting there on his last several weeks of hunting for a sacred stone in the Himalayas. It had already been delivered unto Cáishén, a Chinese god of wealth and prosperity several days before now. He wouldn’t get anything in return for his sweat, tears, and blood- only his clients would. At least they paid him well enough. But it had been several days since he returned from the peaks and Lyrem hadn’t bothered to book himself a flight back home to receive his cheque.

At his second bottle, he ordered dinner up. It didn’t matter what was on the menu, but he was craving something richly flavoured and warm. Pork buns, he thought. They were often his favourite and would do well as a last meal. He had finished his second bottle before it was delivered.

Yes, they smelled heavenly.

And then he lost his appetite.

He opened a third and flicked the bottle cap across the room- damn- he missed the trash bin.

At some point, he had sat on the bed to read a paper he had picked up from a stall that day. It was mostly in English- except for the ads.

President Bush signs $166-Billion-dollar corporate bailout, the article read.

“Didn’t trek across the mountains for nothing then. You’re fucking welcome, everybody,” he muttered rudely to himself.

He opened his fourth drank it, and then got up to take a long piss. He washed his face and ran a wet hand through his head of soft brown hair. His face still burned with the cold from an altitude he was not accustomed too- it left his cheeks pink and dry.

The wind had pick up. The mustard yellow curtains flipped around wildly bringing in the stale scent of dust and inner-city smog along with it. Lyrem didn’t remember opening the door to the balcony- at least he hadn’t bothered to, yet.

But now was a good a time as any… Wasn’t it?

What was the point of living if not for love?

He heard the rush of traffic below and the honking of horns, and then he tried to remember what the point of making any sound was, if no one cared for what you had to say. He flipped on the radio that was bolted into the side table. Tuned to a station catering to American music, it crackled through the middle of Hotel California with great effort.

He stepped over the threshold and looked out across Beijing and their neon lights with his hands tightly gripped to each other behind his back. He sniffed and considered his next move.

Hands forward, he gripped the railing tight.

He bit his lower lip as the lights blurred ahead of him.

He became angry with the Oracle, but only for a second.

He lifted a leg and found his own perch.

The sake had really done a good job of calming his nerves. Lyrem was actually quite surprised that he wasn’t more unstable. Perhaps that was the unique charm of the drink. Or perhaps a bit more adrenaline was pumping through his veins than he cared to realize.

Lyrem held his breath at the edge of the railing, and then closed his eyes.

He tipped forward, welcoming the rush.

He was caught. His eyes opened, and he was suspended in mid-air staring down at the busy street below. Life, he saw, flashing by… but not his own.

He was lifted back by a pair of strong arms and then the savior let him fall to the floor with a sudden thump!

“You sad, sorry bastard,” the voice of the saviour said. “You need help.”

Perhaps a neighbour saw him attempt suicide, came to the rescue. But Lyrem could have sworn he locked his door- and he didn’t hear a soul break in. The guest sat on the edge of the bed, leaning against a cane to support himself on the way down.

Lyrem grunted against the floor.

“Go away,” he groaned out.

The guest rolled his eyes.

“What is wrong with you?” he asked. Part of him may have been genuinely asking, but he didn’t wait for a response. “You have everything you could ever possibly desire in this world! How old are you? Forty? Maybe? You still have a long life ahead of you to do absolutely anything you want!

Women! They ought to be climbing all over you- unless of course, the men are more your thing- I don’t mean to judge of course, love is love.”

The guest continued on as Lyrem struggled to his knees.

“Riches! You’ve got that! Wine, cocaine, parties, travelling the world? My man, you have yourself a slice of heaven on Earth! You’re like a bloody rock star!”

Lyrem glared up at the black-bearded wonder sitting on his bed, in his room, who opened the fifth bottle of sake that was sitting next to him.

The guest grimaced at the taste, but kept it balanced on his knee.

“I guess, what I am really wondering,” he continued. “Is what the hell drives a man like you to the edge like this?”

Lyrem struggled to stand, and leaned against the chair, slowly and shakily, he climbed into it, and then studied the stranger best he could. His eyes drifted away from him each time he tried to focus. He swallowed carefully. Feeling sick, he might not ever answer the man.

“L-love. True love,” he managed.

The stranger balked.

“True love?!”

“Fuck off.”

Teetering on the edge of the bed, the stranger leaned forward.

“It’s just so funny though, isn’t it? Love… you’d think a man like you could find it anywhere”-

“I don’t want to find it just anywhere,” Lyrem reasoned, cradling his head into his hands. “I want it to be real. I want it to be true. I want it to be perfect.”

“No love is real, or true, or perfect. It’s just… Love.”

“Is that supposed to be encouraging?”

“It’s supposed to snap you out of this depressive episode. It’s degrading. Just by looking at you, I want to throw myself off this balcony.”

Lyrem scoffed, managed a smirk and looked up.

“You’re an asshole.”

“The name’s Paimon,” the stranger grinned. “And you’re right, I am an asshole- but I’m also exactly what you need.”

Lyrem shifted his head back. He wasn’t a man with a variety of tastes. He preferred wom-

“A demon,” he finished.

“Pffffft.” Lyrem opened his mouth. “You think I need you? A demon?”

“You’re human, aren’t you?”

“Obviously.”

“Then we were always meant to be.” Paimon surmised. “Listen, I know you’re a man of many talents, gained the favours of many gods, and many powerful human souls- I’ve been tracking you for quite some time.”

Lyrem rolled his eyes up at the ceiling where watermarks dotted around in various sizes.

“Here’s my proposal- and if you don’t like it, then you are free to fling yourself off the balcony again and this time, I won’t stop you”-

“I don’t consort with demons. I have a rule about that,” Lyrem said, beginning to sober up at the mention of something more work related.

“’course, you do,” Paimon winked at him. “But what if I told you that I could find you your true love? What if I could promise you that? What if I told you that all you would need to do is sit beside her on this flight”- He pulled a plane ticket from the inside of his jacket pocket. “-from Beijing to Lisbon, tomorrow afternoon?”

Lyrem stared suspiciously from the ticket and then back to Paimon’s unearthly aura. He didn’t notice it until now.

“This is a trick,” Lyrem stated. He then turned it to a question. “What do I do for you in return?”

Paimon’s eyes went wide, and he shook his head.

“Nothing at all,” Paimon could see that Lyrem knew he was bullshitting. “Alright. Here’s what I require in return: your… friendship.”

Lyrem reached out, pulled the ticket from the demon’s hand and stood. Studying it in the light, it was real. It was the very same company he had traveled with to get to China about a month back.

“If I don’t give you the true love that you desire,” Paimon proposed. “Then I will leave you in peace and never return.”

“Still sounds like a trick.”

“Some deals are just too good to pass up,” Paimon chortled. “Trust me, I know.”

Lyrem took a deep breath. Paimon wanted his friendship in return for giving him true love? He scratched his chin, stubbled and dry. If he refused, the demon might only return one day when he was even more desperate- and Lyrem couldn’t exactly guarantee he would say no then and Paimon would almost certainly raise his expectations for him.

“You have a deal,” Lyrem settled with nothing to lose. “Friendship it is. Name’s Lyrem.”

Paimon smiled, knowing that the money he had spent to bribe the translator was well worth it, and clasped the man’s hand tight.

“Lyrem… You won’t regret this,” he grinned through shining eyes.

--------------------------------

Labyrinth Cage, present day.

Lyrem lifted his head off the back of the couch that had supported him this time through a most unpleasant journey down memory lane.

“… He lied.”

Many years had passed since he had first travelled to China- and since then he had been hired to return enough times that he had to learn some basic Cantonese for himself.

The Oracle had told him how to find Maria- not that he would’ve had to try very hard. There was a job, just off the coast of Portugal that he had been asked to do, not long after he had arrived in Lisbon. He thought it to be a simple coincidence at the time and nothing more. The people who hired him to get it done probably had his plane ticket waiting at the front desk. He was just too self-absorbed to check in with them about it, but it was more likely that Paimon had gotten to it first.

But… he understood now. The demon who he called a friend, wasn’t a demon at all.

It was Pan. And Pan was playing him. He had been playing him from the very start.

If he had heard the Oracle correctly the first time, he would have known that his true love would be found. He wouldn’t have drunk himself half to death and he wouldn’t have dangled himself off the balcony of his room. And if all of that was true- then he wouldn’t have been desperate enough to consort with something like him, demon or not. Paimon-Pan- wanted him desperate. Wanted Lyrem to need him. He needed Lyrem to see him as his one and only salvation.

There, for when Maria couldn’t be.

“I need to speak to him.”

A firm hand pushed him back down in his seat. It was invisible, but strong.

“He’ll annihilate you like an ant, Lyrem. Believe me, I’ve seen it many times. You’re not the first human he’s trained this way.” Persephone cooed, softly.

“Trained?!” Lyrem repeated emphatically, insulted. “No, no… I just need to talk to him. He’s…”

“-your friend?”

Lyrem paled, and then swallowed.

“Yes! Yes, he is! And when I speak with him, then… I’m sure everything will be explained”-

He cut himself off. There was no reason for him to make excuses for Paimon. He lied to him, and he knew exactly what he was doing all along.

“Arch is with him now. You don’t think he would hurt, Arch, do you?”

Hades’ face became painted in concern for Lyrem and his friend’s well-being. He didn’t want to answer the poor man. Persephone interjected.

“He also has one of my brothers- Apollo is trapped in our realm. We have to save him from Pan. I have no idea what he’ll do to him,” Persephone turned to Hades in urgency, though, neither Hades nor Lyrem would have known it. “Uncle, this whole time we’ve assumed that it was Maria who had a connection with Pan and therefore Apollo. But how likely is it that Apollo used Arch to send his call?”

Hades lifted his eyebrows in consideration.

“If this Arch is important to Lyrem and has a connection to Pan, then it is quite likely Apollo would find a way to use them.”

“What’s his call for? Why are you searching for it in me? In my head?” Lyrem asked. “If you can explain to me what to look for then I might already know what it is. I could show it to you!”

“And that could be enough to help you find him and release him,” the sound of Persephone’s smile resounded through her words. “Once Apollo is released from his prison, he could open a door into the Labyrinth instantly and release us.

His call, it would have been something musical. Something special to you. Arch would have been present for it.”

“A song playing then? Or maybe an earworm?” Lyrem suggested.

Hades shuddered. “Oh, I don’t want to know what that looks like- if it’s anything like Opus and its iridescent coloured slime”-

“I don’t think I recall any earworms… Wait…” Lyrem had a sudden stroke of genius; something bizarre that he had remembered ever since he had met Arch several months ago. “’Everyone knows City and Colour’.” He repeated Arch’s words slowly back to himself.

“Cities and colours?,” Persephone questioned, "What do they have to do with this?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with this. However,” Lyrem refuted. A small smirk curled itself alongside his face. “I do believe Segovia might…”

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anapproachingstorm · 4 years ago

Note

Nina kissing Vergil.

“—Of course it was around that time, Paimon, of all insufferable bastards, told me I needed to be sensible and at least consider the Malebogean’s demands,” Sparda was saying, stuck in another loop of him telling Nina “business stories,” The elder demoness just nodded along, politely. This was an excuse to visit her “grandchildren,” not listen to Astaroth’s whelp prattle. Still, though, Hell gossip was the best gossip. The pair of them were no older than five and purely impish in appearance. Nina made several thinly veiled threats to sweep them away to live in Hell with her. Eva had set a lovely afternoon tea in the garden, and while it was a bit .. dryer than Nina would prefer – Humans didn’t drink at two? Weaklings.. – she enjoyed watching the little monsters at their smaller tea table, enjoying whatever human food Eva had brought to them.

Her contemplation of them was cut across by Sparda’s scoff and the other man rising.

“May Lucifer save us,” he grumbled, heading over to the smaller table. He had Dante under his arms, lifting him. The younger had decided to wear his desert, rather than eat it, it seemed. “Raised by wolves, this one.. What’ve you done now, tot?” Nina laughed, moreso at the famed “Hero King of Hell” playing papa to a wild animal such as Dante. Whom, to his credit, at least had the decency to look confused. “Eh? Nothing to say for yourself mi paulo timore~?” Sparda sighed, still holding the child at arms length. “Nina, be a dear, and watch the other one? I need to dunk this one in hot water and hope some of this comes out..”

“Of course,” Nina said, sniffing slightly and shrugging. “Though don’t get used to it. I’m not a nanny by nature.”

“Yes, yes,” Sparda sighed, walking away through the garden with his youngest. His “Little Terror” as he referred to him.

Vergil was no angel – and thank Hell for that, Nina thought. Angels .. bleh – and while he was no wild animal like his brother, he had certainly decided that his cheeks could do with some cake and cream more than his mouth. Nina watched him with slight disinterest at first, before a smile split her face. Sparda was gone and he’d be preoccupied with an overly sticky toddler, so she’d have a minute.

“Hello, you,” she said, softly, as though a snake coaxing a mouse. Nina moved, pulling her skirts with her, crouching near to his small table. “Hm? Aren’t we just so very small and ferocious?”

Vergil was a quiet child, al wide eyes and searching, taking in things before acting. Skittish. Like a cat.

“Shhhhh,” Nina cooed, raising a hand. Was she always holding the white linen handkerchief there, or did it appear in a flash of heat and light? Vergil was unsure. “Here now.. Let me..” She wiped at some of Vergil’s face, clearing it of mess. “There.. How handsome we are. Hmm? One day,” she whispered, as though letting the toddler in on a grand conspiracy. “You will bring Hell to heel, properly, hm? Just the two of us..” She leaned in, and pressed a gentle kiss to his temple. Vergil didn’t seem to mind..

“ – So, naturally, nothing of any true substance was achieved by the end of the meeting,” Vergil was saying, more to his coffee than to Nina across from him. The more time passed, the more things remained blissfully the same. Nina was only half listening, twirling her pinky finger in her tea, chin resting on the back of her other hand. “By the time Paimon was finished, Alastor kicked off, and between him and Stolas, and Stolas and .. everyone else, I’m shocked we didn’t kick off a second Ring War in Hell.” He sighed, looking down at the half eaten apple napoleon Nina had placed in front of him, and back to the woman in question. Still trying to coax him to eat, to regain some semblance of healthy appetite.

“The Elder Fallen have never gotten over the loss of their feathers and halos,” Nina said, with a sigh. “Your disaster-on-legs father had the same trouble with them. No matter. You’ll bring them to heel soon enough, pet.” She went to rise, taking her empty tea-saucer inside. As she came level with Vergil, she paused, though, and bent at the waist.

Vergil stiffened, unsure of what was happening, until Nina pulled away. She had kissed his temple, and now she stood, looking down at where he sat.

“Soon enough,” she said, softly, looking down at this child she had raised up, not unlike the tree he had coaxed from sapling to terrifying fruit-bearing menace..

#bloodiedwallsandrosiedwindows #Forsaken//Awakened #Ask meme #LEFTOVER SINDAY SHIT #IT'S SINDAY BITCHES #Fanfiction by Omni #Omni Writes

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bobdangit · 5 years ago

Text

That's Not Very Gucci Of You || Bob & Vashti

Bob tries to conduct his back-alley deals in private. Vashti is not so obliging. Especially when she suspects the lives of fellow snakes are on the line.

Just looking at the window display of the Candy House was enough to give Bob diabetes. Think of the money. Don’t think of the chocolate mice. He tore his eyes away with some effort, focusing instead on the uniformed girl behind the counter. Hildegaard said her name tag, as she continued to beat pastries with a spatula. She looked several feet too short and was without the requisite number of gold teeth to be Bob’s contact. Approaching her with perfect sheepishness, he cleared his throat. “Excuse me, miss. Have you seen a man wandering through here? Big as a Dumpster, pushing around a trolley—” He didn’t get much further than that, cut off too fast by the staccato machine-gun fire of footsteps.

The second the doorbell chimed at 3:45 on a Saturday afternoon instead of 10:30 that same Saturday morning, Vashti untied her apron and slammed it on the bench in a huff, stomping towards the door from the kitchen to the floor and wrenching it back with enough force that its own welcome bells rung Mike the Delivery Guy’s impending doom rather than tinkling a cheery hello.

Vashti of Barzrud waited for nobody.

“You were supposed to be here five hours ago with my fresh raspberries, you moron,” she hissed at Mike at the counter as soon as the door flung open, her finger jabbing the air towards him as she approached with fury etched upon her face. Her high heels click-clacked against the polished floors (against store policy, massive OH&S issue, slipped back on daily as soon as her boss left for the day), sounding like Freddy Krueger pulling his knives against a fence with the same homicidal intent. Hildegaard, about to reply to whatever Mike the Delivery Guy had been saying to her, scuttled away immediately.

“For Paimon’s sake, it’s 3:45 next week, not this -” Suddenly, Vashti cut herself off. This guy was not Mike the Delivery Guy. He could have been Mike the Delivery Guy (generic, white, wrinkly old human male the colour of a pale boot heel), but he wasn’t wearing the Mike the Delivery Guy uniform, nor did he enter with any berries in tow. He was just a Guy. A customer. Vashti narrowed her eyes. Hardly made any difference to her.

“And what do you want?” she asked. Unapologetic. Coldly.

Bob got as far as, “Uh.” He tried pointing in the direction that Hildegaard had been a second ago, now finding himself staring at thin air. The dark-haired girl teetering on stilt-like high heels didn’t seem like his contact either. “Hi,” he said, pulling himself together. He flashed her a wide, if not slightly insurance-salesman-like, smile. “Raspberries, you say? Why don’t I get cracking on that right away for you. My associate—he does the actual deliveries, you see, drives the van—must be around here somewhere. He’s about yea high, grunts a lot, very much a Mainer. Let me go rustle him up and you’ll have your produce in a minute.”

Vashti narrowed her eyes, wholly unimpressed. So he was connected to her missing delivery, and was apparently simple-minded enough to think it wise to take one step into her shop without her premium Autumn Bliss raspberries to show for it. Pulling up the counter hinge, she barged past not-Mike as she stalked towards the entry, barely even glancing at him. “The pair of you idiots have already wasted my entire afternoon,” she shot back, eyes already scanning outside the window for the van. “I wouldn’t trust you to find the bell at the end of your dick, much less your associate and my raspberries.” With that the door to the Candy House clattered shut behind her, high-heels growing fainter against cobble stones as she searched for her promised bounty.

“Whoa, not that way,” Bob began to protest, but it was too late. Miranda Priestly Mini had already swished out the back door of the store. (Well, maybe not Mini so much. She was already taller than him.) No doubt, she was about to get up close and personal with Bob’s buyer. He all but ran after her, emerging into the alley to discover his suspicions were totally correct. There was the candy girl on one end. On the other, like a bad, bad Mexican standoff, was the man that Bob had come to meet. Six feet four; beard big enough to nest several small woodland creatures; pockets of his motorcycle jacket bulging with cash. Or a Sig Sauer. Hard to tell. Bob stepped up unobtrusively behind the candy girl, signalling to the contact that the deal had to be put off. Signals such as shaking his head, slicing one hand across his throat, and every possible non-verbal synonym of ‘no’. Tall Boy simply replied by taking a menacing step forward.

“Skin,” he growled. “You got it?”

Rounding the corner into the alley beside the Candy House, Vashti just about smacked straight into the Hell’s Angel on steroids that was waiting by the store dumpster. He took up almost the entire walkway, and whoever he was, he definitely wasn’t Mike the Delivery Guy. The only thing she knew for certain: he was right in the middle of her road.

“Skin?” She echoed, putting her hands on her hips, the tips of her claw-like rose petal pink manicure digging into the fabric of her uniform. She fixed him with dark eyes as she looked him up and down, even less impressed than she was before, until she threw up her hands in exasperated defeat. “Skin? Listen, I’ll have your skin decorating my lampshades if somebody doesn’t get my Andras damned raspberries to me in the next five minutes. Now if you’re going to magic them out of thin air, great. If not, get the hell out of my way.”

Bob, wincing, tried to butt in: “Hi. Excuse me,” and the meatlocker glanced irritably in his direction. “Are you Mister—” Bob checked the name scribbled on his hand real quick— “Ted? You’re my three-thirty. Nice to meet you. If we could just…” It took some manoeuvring but he managed to wriggle into the tiny bit of space between the twin skyscrapers of the candy girl and the man capable of snapping her like a twig. “You want the, uh, goods?” Bob had to mutter the last part out of the corner of his mouth, but he laid it on as meaningfully as he could. Short of a lobotomy, there was no way for Donkey Kong to mistake it. “I got it right here. We don’t have to make a scene.” Reaching into his windbreaker, Bob held out a brown-paper-and-string parcel for the buyer to take. It was innocuous enough, except for one thin, long rip in the paper through which the scales of the ill-gotten lamia skin gleamed.

Not-Mike had gone unnoticed behind her. When he suddenly began worming his way between her and the human barge, Vashti recoiled in disgust as he nearly touched her in the close confines. So far, she’d successfully gone without human touch and she had no plans to have them brush up against her with their filth any time soon.

We don’t have to make a scene? What was he even talking about? Vashti began to ask as much until her eyes tracked down to where Not-Mike was pulling out a bundle that definitely wasn’t her raspberries from his jacket. Something was glimmering inside, a beautiful, lustrous copper, and as she noticed it Vashti’s heart plummeted deep into her stomach.

From Not-Mike’s hands, she grabbed the package, tearing it open with savage intensity. Lamia skin.

Vashti stared at it a moment. It was like holding the skin of a murdered loved one (if she had loved ones to speak of) in her hands, and for the first time since the fateful night in Iran, she paled, heart twisting. From the package, her gaze drifted downwards to the man’s boots. What were they made of? No prizes there.

She turned on the man immediately, hardened features dissolving as she waved the package in the air above her head. “What do you want with this?” she snarled, pushing Not-Mike to the side into the alley wall until she remembered his role in procuring it in the first place. Then she whirled on him too, jabbing the package into his chest.

“Where did you get this? Where?”

Oh, bugger. Bob was seventy-five percent concerned about himself, and marginally concerned for the candy girl… Oh, she had a name tag. “Vashti.” Saying it aloud had no impact. He was still flat against the wall, and Ted still loomed over her shoulder, looking none-too-pleased. “Vashti, listen to me here, that thing you’re holding? That’s not yours. It’s a little concept called… Ah, never mind.” Taking advantage of the fact that she was literally sticking him with it, Bob yanked it out of her hands. “Hey, Ted. Ted, we can sort this out nice and easy.”

Too late. Ted was in no mood to negotiate. He let loose a single word, “Double-crossers,” before he ran at the pair, meat-hook sized hands extended to catch them by the throats.

Somehow, the human possessed the audacity to swipe the package back from her, offering it back to the meatheaded one like he was playing here kitty, kitty, kitty with a particularly stupid lion. Vashti was just about to yank it back when there was a shift in the air, a primal yell, and she had a split second to turn and see him lunging for her and the human (Yes, he was a double-crosser! Where were her raspberries?) before she stumbled from surprise, her stiletto heel giving way.

Grabbing the human to steady her, she succeeded only in dragging them both down to the dirt. The package went flying through the air, Vashti crying out in dismay as she watched it hit uselessly against the wall, further tearing it so the delicate skin slapped into a puddle of mud by the dumpster.

Bob could only stare as six months’ hard work and reconnaissance went flying into the mud. A howl of sheer mourning was building up in his chest, but he had to think fast. Think practical. Ted was momentarily distracted with fishing the lamia skin out of the gutter. Meanwhile, Bob had himself and Vashti to take care of. He hoped that ankle of hers wasn’t twisted. He hoped it didn’t hurt. Much. Scrambling to his feet, he shoved at her in a silent urge that she do the same. Ted’s back was turned to them, making this their only chance at a getaway.

Except.

That was three grand easy in Ted’s pockets right now, and Bob hadn’t risked life and potential facial scarring to walk away from this unpaid. He glanced at Vashti, murmuring, “One-two-three, and we rush him, okay?” And then he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Hey, big guy! The lady here would’a like to apologise!”

Following the human’s lead, Vashti scrabbled to get back onto two legs, her heels doing the utmost best to keep her from a smooth recovery. The one that had stumbled her had twisted at the sole and bruised her ankle and she hobbled as she kicked one, then both of them off. She threw a glance back at them hopelessly. They were Gucci and they were ruined.

One-two-three, and we rush him, okay?

“Oh, you...” Vashti began, venom contorting her features and seeping from every one of her pores. The next words that spilled from his mouth just confirmed it - he was going to die, and he was going to die painfully.

“I’ll apologise by making sure the casket stays closed at the funeral of your seraphspawns!” she yelled at Big Ted. Then she turned back to the Not-Mike Human. “Is that a good enough apology for you?” she spat. “Huh?”

Bob didn’t rise to the bait. “Rush ‘im was the plan,” he said, not waiting for an answer as he dived straight towards the oncoming Ted. Ted, about the size and intelligence of a Zamboni. Bob, fast-approaching sixty but genetics was on his side. Preternatural strength and all that. He put his shoulder to Ted, heaving hard.

If she were the type to do it, Vashti would have handed it to him - this human was unflappable. If he were a Greater Demon, he would have been hundreds of thousands - millions of years old for how old he was in human years, but still he rushed Ted like he was a far younger man.

Clearly, this was no garden variety human. As she watched as Ted was brought down from the safety of the concrete footpath where her stockings wouldn’t slip in the mud, Vashti’s eyes slid back to the sad bundle of lamia skin sitting in the muck. She steeled.

Near the dumpster, an abandoned beer bottle was lodged in the mud and Vashti swooped down to pick it up. The human, still struggling with Ted, had the back of his head to her and Vashti trod carefully through the muck to avoid slipping. As she neared, she raised it...

And brought it smashing down across Ted’s head, the bottle bursting into a cloud of green glass.

Bob realised about two seconds into the fight that not only was he on his own, he was going to fail a physics lesson about using Ted’s momentum against him if he didn’t do something fast. When Ted obliged him by crumpling to a heap on the ground… Well, maybe there was a benevolent God up there somewhere. In the empty air where Ted had been moments ago, now stood Small, Dark and Scowling. She was holding what was left of a glass bottle.

And still, Bob’s first reaction was to shove his hands into his pockets. Had to hide the wads of cash he’d filched from the inner lining of Ted’s jacket.

“Wow,” he said, not a beat later. “Vashti, right?” Gesturing at the broken bottle, the best he could still come up with was, “...Wow. You must’a really liked those shoes.”

A part of Vashti hadn’t really expected that to work as well as it did. Big Ted crumpled to the ground in a heap, but that was humans for you - little more resilient than flies.

She ignored the human as she scooped her shoes up, tossing them and the remnants of her beer bottle into the dumpster. As she did, she retrieved the package of skin that still lay beside it.

Considering it for a moment, she tucked it into her shirt.

Limping to the back door into the Candy House kitchen, Vashti turned back to the human just before she went back inside. “If I ever see you back around here again, I’ll make sure you don’t live to make it again. I don’t care what human you are.”

As the screen door shut behind her, a bitter voice called back out before she disappeared back into the depths of the shop.

“And yes, I really did like my shoes,” she said. “They were Gucci.”

#wickedswriting #cy: vashti #chatzy #that's not very gucci of you #i still don't understand this title because i'm old #but vashti made me laugh very hard during this

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kaen-ace-of-diamonds · 5 years ago

Text

In Nitrous Veritas

Words: 5700+ (oneshot)

Genre: Fluff/Romance

Pairing: Hakuei/Paimon, background Judal/Hakuryuu

Characters: Ren Hakuei, Paimon, Ren Hakuryuu, Judal (technically), Ren Gyokuen

Summary: When her girlfriend has to be put under anesthesia for the first time, Paimon is a nervous wreck thinking of what might go wrong. She doesn't stop to consider that everything could go perfectly right, in more ways than expected.

...Or, the one where having her wisdom teeth removed unlocks Hakuei's full gay potential.

(Takes place in @mayelamker‘s and my RA Family AU!)

~0~

Paimon still looked very suspicious at her lack of concern.

“Hakuei, they are going to yank your bones out with pliers.”

Hakuei resisted the urge to sigh in annoyance. Again.

“It’s fine, Paimon. I’m just getting my wisdom teeth out. It happens to everyone, no need to worry. And no need to press so hard on the gas, either.”

“Yeah, the turn’s coming up right there,” added Hakuryuu from the backseat. “And they don’t use pliers, they use...regular stuff.”

Paimon grumbled unintelligibly as she pulled into the office parking lot, but didn’t say anything else until after they had filed into the oral surgeon’s waiting room, checked in, and sat down. She fidgeted in the rough cushioned chair, one Ren sibling on either side of her, and after a few minutes opened her mouth to say something else.

Accustomed to this after weeks of her poor girlfriend’s fretting, Hakuei laid a hand on top of hers and murmured before she could respond, “I’ll be fine, hon. Don’t worry.”

“...I’ll worry anyway. Routine or not, anything could go wrong, you’ve never been under anesthetic before!” Her lips twitched as if she wanted to chew at one, but she resisted the impulse. “It could be like that movie — you know the one where they cut Anakin Skywalker’s heart out? Or that one X-Files episode — ”

“Hakuei Ren?” the nurse said from the doorway, and Paimon jumped as if she had shouted it. Hakuei gave her a quick peck on the cheek and squeezed her hand, before letting it go and standing up.

Hakuryuu, earbuds firmly in, lifted his head from his notebook to nod to his sister as she crossed the spacious waiting room. “Good luck.”

Hakuei gave the two a reassuring smile as the nurse led her into the hall and closed the door behind them. The last thing she saw before it shut was Paimon, swallowing a whimper as she watched her go, and she felt a small pang of guilt in her chest. Maybe she shouldn’t have tried to brush off all Paimon’s fears so easily...But it would be fine. When she got out of surgery, she’d make up for it somehow.

~0~

For the next forty-five minutes, the waiting room was in a sluggish state. Patients passed through, but Paimon barely saw or heard any of them. The rapid, muffled tapping of her heeled boot against the carpeted floor as her leg bounced nervously was unceasing. She had tried to distract herself with her phone, but an email notification from her own doctor’s office made her jump, and she’d shoved it back in her pocket where it stayed. That was the last thing she needed right now.

Having drifted out of awareness of her surroundings so, it took a few calls of her name before she recognized the word and looked up.

“Hey.” Hakuryuu held a Hershey bar in one hand and a Snickers in the other, and was offering the latter out to her. One earbud was still in, the other hanging loose over the front of his sweater, and she could hear the faint strains of violins streaming from it. “You hungry? Because you’re not acting like you.”

Paimon rolled her eyes as she accepted the candy. “Great. Hakuryuu’s a comedian and Hakuei’s ignoring me now.”

Hakuryuu snorted as he sat back down and returned to his science notes. “Don’t be dramatic.”

“You are the last person I want to hear that from,” Paimon declared with an aggressive bite of her Snickers.

Hakuryuu gave her a ‘that’s fair’ tilt of his head, but pressed on anyway. “She knows you love her, and that’s why you worry. She knows.”

“Hmph. Never thought I’d see me more worried about her than you.”

“I’ve had mine out already, and I can rest in the assurance that it can’t possibly be as bad as my operation was,” Hakuryuu reminded her, grimacing. “I’ve always had issues with anesthesia, and they were all in there so damn deep. It hurt so much that even my mother didn’t have a joke to make about it.”

Paimon, who had repeatedly borne witness to Ren Gyokuen’s great love for making fun of her sons, immediately understood the significance of this.

“And I’m trying to be less panicky in general, anyway. Hakuyuu says it isn’t good for my blood pressure,” he continued, with the haughty tone and slight upswing of the head he always took when repeating the words of his older siblings. It never failed to sound as if he were quoting a sacred text, and it never failed to make Paimon stifle a laugh. Now was no exception.

“...What?” Hakuryuu’s brows furrowed in confusion and mild offense. “Something funny?”

“No, no, nothing, I was just, uh...thinking maybe I shouldn’t have brought up Anakin Skywalker to prove my point?” she offered.

“Oh. Well, you should still do what Yuu said, too. It will probably help.”

“Fine, fine,” she said, trying not to smile. “Fine, then. I’ll try to relax. Get my blood pressure down.”

“You promise?”

“Hell no,” said Paimon immediately, taking another nibble of her chocolate and knowing better than to make a promise she couldn’t keep.

And it was well that she did. Not two minutes later, a nurse opened the door again to inform them, “Miss Ren is in the recovery room, if you’ll come with me?”, and Paimon inhaled the remainder of the Snickers bar as she leapt to her feet, eyes going wide.

Hakuryuu rose more slowly, and asked the nurse as they proceeded down the hall, “How did she do?”

“Oh, just fine. She’ll be pretty loopy for the next few hours, and she’ll need you, Miss Naifeh, to look after her closely until the effects of the gas wear off.”

Paimon nodded vigorously, heels clacking on the tile floor. “I can do that.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s all she wants to do,” Hakuryuu added, slipping his earbuds case into his pocket with one hand and patting Paimon’s shoulder with the other. Not as nice as Hakuei shoulder pats, she decided, but it would do. “Walk, don’t run, okay?”

Paimon nodded again, but that did not stop her from jumping when the nurse opened the door to a side room and she could see Hakuei, looking considerably less together than she had when they had arrived. She was lying like a wet leaf against the large padded doctor’s chair, the room’s only real feature, with vacant eyes and a mouthful of red-stained gauze. She had known that this was how she was going to find her, but she still had to quickly bite her lip to keep from yelping.

The nurse stayed with them as they stepped inside, and with all three of them in there, it was something of a tight squeeze. Paimon heard her talking, Hakuryuu responding and shuffling around with something, but she barely registered any of it.

“Hakuei?” she said, stepping up to the chair. “Sweetie? Can you hear me?”

Hakuei twitched at the sound of her voice, and her head roved slowly around to its source. Her pupils were so huge that Paimon could barely see the rim of blue around them.

“Ohh...” she breathed, somehow both clear and dazed. “Oh, you’re so pretty.”

She said it with such awe that Hakuryuu snorted behind his hand and Paimon felt her face heat right up.

“Uh...Yeah,” she responded intelligently. “You are, too.”

Hakuei nodded slowly, as if this was a brilliant point. “Who are you?”

“H-Huh?!” Paimon startled. “Me? You know who I am!”

“No need to be alarmed, miss,” the nurse said, while Hakuei gave her a supremely puzzled look. “She got quite a heavy dose of nitrous oxide, so I told you she’ll be out of it for a while. But it’s not at all permanent.”

“Oh...” Paimon shifted her feet nervously. “So what do I — ”

Hakuryuu rolled his eyes. “Just talk to her. You — ”

“You’re beautiful,” Hakuei cut in loudly, as if she couldn’t hear or see anyone but Paimon. “Who are you?”

Paimon found a smile on her face in spite of herself. “I’m Paimon,” she reminded her, loud and clear. “I’m your girlfriend.”

Paimon hadn’t thought it possible for Hakuei’s eyes to go any wider, but go wider they did, as her mouth shaped into a perfect O of shock. The nurse promptly reached over to nudge the gauze back into place, but Hakuei didn’t seem to notice.

“My? You’re my girlfriend?!”

“Yeah,” Paimon blurted again. Hakuei was a naturally affectionate person, but Paimon was still wholly unused to being gazed upon like she was a divine being. “Yeah, I am!”

“Ohhh.” Her hand twitched over towards Paimon’s on the arm of the chair, and Paimon took it and held it delicately in hers. “Oh, that’s amazing. That’s just amazing!”

Paimon giggled, surprising herself, and it was easy to slip back into a familiar teasing, loving tone. “Nooo, you are.”

“No, you, you’re...!” Hakuei shook her head so hard in defense of her point that she swayed dizzily for a moment, her face turning slightly ashen. “Oh, whoa, don’t like that...”

Paimon took her shoulders in her hands to still her. “Hey, it’s okay. Just relax, I’ve got you.”

“Wow, you’re an angel...!”

“This angel’s here to take you home, come on...”

“Home?” Hakuei staggered a little, as she was helped up out of the chair. “We have a home?”

“Yeah. You put all those ceramic vases and flowers and weird pattern wall blankets everywhere. You think it gives the place character.”

“Does it?” Hakuei asked, eyes big and bright as the blue galaxy painting in their bedroom.

Truthfully, Paimon could take it or leave it, on its own. Her eye was for fashion and body art, not interior design. But all the stuff kept Hakuei in their home even when the woman herself was gone, and the calm that brought Paimon surpassed beauty.

“It’s the best place in the whole world.”

Hakuei made a soft, comforted chirruping noise at the back of her throat. Her legs were gelatinously shaky and her arms hung in the air in front of her like a T-Rex’s, as Paimon guided her back down the short hallway back into the waiting room. She seemed more interested in trying her best to fall against Paimon’s side than she was in walking.

“Oh...Oh, you are just a wonder, you are...” Hakuei was nuzzling at her neck and collarbone, while Paimon and Hakuryuu waited at the checkout desk listening to the receptionist’s short spiel about post-surgery care. Despite the newly limited ability to move her mouth and speak coherently, she was determined to keep talking. “Did I tell you about that before? I should.”

“Yeah, of course you have,” Paimon assured her, knowing damn well that that was not on Hakuei’s extensive list of sweet words, while trying to keep up with the receptionist. “Yeah, we got the painkiller prescription — she can eat that soon? Then yeah, I can start her on liquids when we get home, so — ”

“I’m glad. I should,” Hakuei said again, sounding fascinated by the very concept and still blissfully ignorant of all that was not Paimon. “I can’t tell you anything through all these...fluffy peanuts in my head...”

Then, if Paimon had been paying attention, she would have noticed the expression that suddenly struck Hakuei’s face: that of one who has just been visited with a life-changing epiphany. And she would have seen it coming when Hakuei’s head shot upward to kiss her far harder than was probably intended, right on the jawline.

“Oof!” Paimon stumbled for a moment, her arm reflexively tightening around Hakuei’s waist. Hakuryuu and the receptionist both glanced up in concern, but quickly shifted to trying not to laugh at Paimon’s predicament. “Take it easy on me, honey.”

Hakuei gave her some truly devastating puppy dog eyes in response.

“You mean I can’t kiss you through these fucking peanuts either?!” she cried, and Hakuryuu went red and burst into laughter.

“Shh, yeah, those have got to stay in, babe. I’ll take care of all the kisses for now, too, okay?” Paimon said through her own fit of giggles, planting one on Hakuei’s cheek to prove it.

Hakuei whimpered. “Didn’t even feel that...”

“All set,” Hakuryuu managed, while he fiddled with the phone in his slacks pocket some more. “Come on, let’s get going.”

“Feel better soon, Miss Ren!” chirped the receptionist, waving with a set of long cyan nails, and Hakuei spun around so fast Paimon was momentarily afraid she’d fall right out of her grasp.

“This is my wife!” she shouted, and it damn near echoed off the waiting room walls. The elderly lady in the corner said nothing, but did grin into her knitting magazine. Hakuei, on the other hand, kept at it: “This is my wife Paimon! She’s the best ever!”

From Hakuryuu’s gleeful snickering as he one-handedly held the door open for them, Paimon could only assume that the look of shock on her face was truly priceless. “N-No, honey, remember? I’m your girlfriend.”

Hakuei just grinned, entirely unfazed, and Paimon had to stick the gauze back into position in her mouth yet again. “Oh? Then I’ve still got to make you my wife, huh?”

“Huh?!” Oh, Paimon had to put every bit of focus into not tripping straight over the curb on that one.

“Yeahhhh...” In all the years they’d known each other, Paimon had never seen such a smug smile on Hakuei’s face. She was partially remembering how to work her arms, and using them to cling to Paimon’s waist in a vice-grip of a hug, which would have been nice if it didn’t mean they were in danger of falling all over each other as Hakuryuu brought her car over to the edge of the sidewalk. “Paimon, I wanna marry you!”

Paimon was very grateful that she didn’t blush, because she felt her cheeks burning something fierce. “Not saying I don’t agree with you, hon, but — ”

“You don’t want to?”

“No, I’d love to, honey, I just...” Paimon sighed, as she dislodged her girlfriend from her waist and bundled her into the passenger seat of the car. “Let’s just save that question for when you’re sober, okay?”

Hakuei glared up at her as sharply as she could, edges dulled as they were by copious amounts of drugs. “I’m not drunk!”

“No, you’re not, my mistake,” Paimon laughed. “Just wait until we get home, then, okay?”

While she got in, took the wheel, and started to drive them out of the medical park, Hakuei busied herself pawing at her empty jeans pocket. “Where’s my phone? I’ll get us home...”

Hakuei’s phone was, as per her sober request that morning, lying safely on their nightstand at home, where it could not be used to send any potentially embarrassing messages. “I know the way, hon, don’t worry.”

“Would you drop me off at the mall first, though?” asked Hakuryuu from his new seat in the back. “I promised Judal I’d meet him there.”

While Paimon agreed, mentally calculating their new route, Hakuei’s head jerked backward, looking shocked to realize that there was someone else with them. “Oh! I’ve met you!”

Hakuryuu grinned. In the rearview mirror, Paimon noticed him holding his phone upright. “Yeah, you do know me. Who am I?”

Hakuei’s face screwed up in concentration. “You’re...we have the same name.”

“Not quite. What’s my name?”

“Uhh...Haku...yuu?”

“Nooot quite,” Hakuryuu snickered. “You missed a letter.”

“No, I didn’t! I have a brother Hakuyuu!” Hakuei froze, and then let out a dramatic gasp. “Oh my god, I have brothers!”

Hakuryuu’s raucous laughter filled the car, and Paimon was struck with another giggling fit. “Yes, you do, babe,” she said, grinning as she turned onto the expressway exit. “You’re getting your memory back fast.”

“I lost those?!”

“Don’t worry about it.”

~0~

After dropping Hakuryuu off at the mall food court, where he was excitedly ushered over by Judal (waving with both arms to make up for his huge mouthful of cheesy pretzel nuggets), Paimon got back on the expressway towards their apartment complex. Hakuei’s father, bless him, had offered to at least assist in paying their rent. But it wasn’t an exorbitant luxury place like the Ren family home, and between both of their jobs, they managed expenses well enough on their own. Hakuei had always been a little embarrassed about being born a rich girl, and Paimon would have felt weird too, asking for handouts from her future father-in-law.

In-law...

Paimon glanced over at Hakuei, now quietly whimpering to herself in the passenger seat as she tentatively poked at her own sore jaw. They had talked about their love before, of course, how could they not? They were both fairly free with affection in their own ways. But they’d never really talked about marriage, and she was wondering now if that had been a mistake, just drifting along like that after all these years. Hakuei hadn’t gotten drunk enough to spill her guts like that since college, and laughing gas wasn’t exactly like alcohol. Still, in vino veritas: maybe Hakuei had had more on her mind lately than Paimon had realized. More than she was willing to let on...

When they parked in front of their building and left the car, the gas had worn off not completely, but just enough to make Hakuei aware that there were now four bleeding wounds in the back of her mouth. “Ungh...Paimon...”

“Shh, it’s okay, honey. You’re walking great, just stick close to me...”

The stairs to the third floor were slightly perilous (the ascent made poor Hakuei dizzy again), but with some more clinging and low moaning they made it through the door. Their bedroom was at the back of the place. With one quick stop to the freezer for ice packs, Paimon guided Hakuei there and laid her gently down on the neatly made covers, the throne of pillows she’d put together that morning to keep her head elevated. She tucked a soft throw blanket over her, and leaned down to lay a kiss on her temple.

“There. You okay, sweetheart?”

Hakuei’s eyes were still dark and hazy, pupils dilated with the residual high. But as Paimon continued to tend to her — removing the blood-soaked gauze and replacing it with clean folds, wrapping a neck pillow around her head to hold the ice packs against her jaw — they glittered with starry affection while she tried to smile up at her.

“‘Mmm fine...You’re fine...You’re...”

Paimon ran gentle fingers through Hakuei’s loose hair, warmth swelling in her chest. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world, you know that?”

“Aww, you’re just saying that!”

“Oh, no, I mean it. You just rest now, okay? I’ll be checking on you to change your gauze and ice, so don’t feel like you have to wake up for it, okay?”

“Soon?” Hakuei murmured, body limp and eyes drooping shut as Paimon got up and turned the light down.

“Yeah. I’ll be back soon.”

She couldn’t sleep off the pain, sadly; they had been informed that Hakuei was in for about a week of recovery time. But she could sleep off the hold of the gas, and while she did, Paimon made herself busy.

She left the bedroom door halfway open so she could keep a watchful eye on her sleeping beauty, as she set about doing the morning chores that she had been too fretful to do in the actual morning. She dusted and Magic Eraser-ed, did the dishes, mopped the kitchen and bathroom tile. Somewhat unnecessarily, too, she arranged the food in their fridge (none of which was anywhere near old or spoilt enough to toss) and triple checked to make sure that she had all the ingredients necessary to fix up some soft meals, ice cream, and smoothies to soothe her girlfriend’s ailing mouth, when she felt able to try and eat. She had enough to snack on herself, as well.

So when there was nothing more to occupy her brain, Paimon sat on the freshly dried kitchen counter to work through a small bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, liberally drizzled with chocolate sauce, and finally let herself dwell on the thoughts she had been trying to avoid.

She and Hakuei had lived together for years, and been together even longer. They had settled into a comfortable routine, and life wasn’t exactly a lazy river (that was impossible, between both their families), but it was great. Content and loving. Paimon had never felt anything more right in her whole life than coming home to Hakuei’s open arms. Of course she intended to stay by her beloved’s side for as long as she was welcome there; she no longer cared to imagine her path going any other way. So why did the thought of making their bond official — making it legal — send such a ripple through her body?

The first theory she hit upon was that she was just taken by surprise and blowing it all out of proportion. Again. Life, especially their life, was no cheap whirlwind romance, no trashy drama. Even in their families, that was a reach. Exactly what kind of disaster was she expecting the words “Hakuei, will you marry me?” to bring?

Barring storm, fire, terrorist attack, runaway semi truck — no, no, no, she was already starting to feel her pulse pounding, she had to stay realistic here. The worst thing that could conceivably happen at their wedding was Hakuei’s mother getting wine drunk at the reception, either sobbing all over her only daughter or starting a fistfight with her twin and having to be dragged out by her sons, and to be wholly honest the former was likelier than the latter.

And if she was being wholly honest, they were good at this stuff, if having a healthy relationship could be considered a skill. Sharing responsibilities, working out disagreements, supporting one another, simply finding happiness in each other...They had it pretty well down, in her opinion, as well as any two people could do. Their feelings for each other weren’t set to change anytime soon, no matter what they did with their lives.

Thoughts of death and disaster she would banish from her mind one way or another. Her future brothers-in-law were right: it would do nothing but raise her blood pressure, and she refused to ruin this relationship with a premature heart attack of all things. It was change, that was all. A big one, but a natural one. Looking at it as rationally as she could, perhaps it wasn’t quite as big a hurdle to clear as she had feared it might be. Perhaps it was no such thing at all.

A small noise from back in the bedroom drew Paimon’s attention, and she set the half-finished bowl on the counter to go and attend to her beloved.

Hakuei was still lying out on the bedcovers, awkwardly holding her head and tensed in every muscle. The pain must be starting to make itself known, Paimon realized.

She stepped softly up to the bedside, taking a moment to remove the gauze before reaching down to lay a gentle hand on Hakuei’s shoulder. “Hey. How’re you feeling, hon?”

Hakuei murmured incoherently for a moment, before opening her eyes a fraction and trying yet again to smile up at Paimon. It was a shaky attempt, but passable. “Sober.”

Paimon laughed. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. Hurts — my mouth and head hurt a lot — but the cold is nice. Really nice,” she explained drowsily.

“We’re going to be replacing those every twenty minutes, okay? And you just tell me when you feel up to me fixing that bowl of ice cream you ordered this morning. You need to take your medicine with food.”

“Okay...”

“Attagirl. You mind if I come down there and hang out with you?” When Hakuei gave her a short and careful nod, still wincing when her swollen jaw did not agree with the movement, Paimon settled down on the covers next to her and reached her arms questioningly out. “In the mood for a cuddle, or are you gonna puke on me if I touch you?”

Before she was even finished talking, Hakuei was already snuggling up to her as closely as her ice-wrapped face would permit. “I would never. Am I too cold?”

“Not at all. Don’t you know you’re always warm?”

Hakuei hummed contentedly at that, and they laid in silence for a long while. Paimon was just starting to feel her eyes droop and her body turn numb and heavy, when Hakuei’s voice woke her back up again.

“Paimon?”

“Mm? Yeah?”

“Thank you. For taking care of me today. I...think I was trying to say that before, when you were bringing me home, but it didn’t come out quite right.”

“Oh, honey, no need to thank me for that. I’ll always take care of my girl.”

“But that’s just the point. All you’ve been doing is being worried about me, and I was just brushing you off like you were annoying me...” Hakuei nestled closer up to her, eyes turned guiltily down. “You weren’t, I was just — ”

“Shhh.” Paimon ran a hand over her hair, from head to ends. “It’s okay. In hindsight, I’m sure I was laying it on a little thick.”

“You care about me. You want me to be safe. I shouldn’t treat that like...like...”

Paimon kissed the top of her head. “Hey. You’re going to have to get used to telling me when I’m being too much of a worrywart, if you’re going to spend the rest of your life with me.”

She had spoken without thinking, and a much more pregnant silence fell on top of them.

“...Yeah. You’re right.”

“Hakuei...Do you remember what you told me? When you were, uh...high?”

Hakuei snorted. “I remember thinking you’d descended out of heavenly light just for me. Did I say that out loud?”

“Well, you did call me an angel, so technically yeah. But...the other stuff. About wanting to marry me.”

“...I said that?”

“Yeah. Really loudly, too, actually. The waiting room was quite amused.”

Hakuei made a breathy noise that was trying to be a nervous laugh. “Do you ever think about it? I’ve...been thinking about it a lot. What it would be like to call you my wife.”

The words, soft and sweet from her love’s voice, felt like fingers playing lightly down her neck and spine. They stopped her breath for a moment, sent a frisson of shock over every inch of her skin.

“I like that,” she said faintly, her tongue feeling as if she’d just run ice water over it. “I love you.”

She never wanted Hakuei’s arms to loosen their grip from around her waist. “I love you too. No matter what we do, I love you. So...let’s sleep on it for a while? Then talk when we’re both wide awake. And my mouth’s not numb.”

Paimon wrapped her arms more snugly around her, one around Hakuei’s shoulders and the other around her hip. She ran her fingers over Hakuei’s hand, imagining what it would be like to feel a warm ring on that left hand. Her ring.

“Sleep on it. Yeah. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

“...At least until my ice melts and gauze soaks through.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll set an alarm for those...”

~0~

“Did you thank your Aunt Sheba for driving you two back home?”

“Yes, Mother. Every time.”

“Good boy.” Gyokuen did not turn from her vanity mirror even while addressing her son, briskly running a comb through her loose hair. “And more importantly, did you get that other little task for today done? All of it?”

Hakuryuu smirked, leaning back against the doorway of the master bedroom. He took his phone out of his pocket and waved it triumphantly. “Oh, absolutely. Recorded every last second of it. It definitely beats Yuu and Ren’s wisdom teeth videos, that’s for sure.”

Gyokuen grinned. “Good boy. Her surgery was just wonderful timing; this year was so dry in decent content for the New Year’s video reel.”

“You still might want to save it, though. I’ll take a boring family party show over passing up the chance to show Hakuei’s original proposal for the first time at the wedding reception.”

Gyokuen laughed. “Yes, of course! She really did that?”

“Oh, she did, just like I told you. Paimon may or may not have noticed that I was taking a video, but Hakuei and the nurses sure didn’t.” Hakuryuu’s smirk broadened. “They had a No Recording sign up in the recovery room. I was breaking the law for you, Mother.”

“Yes, well, you know how much I appreciate a flawless crime,” Gyokuen agreed with a snicker, as she set the comb down and reached for her hairpins. “It really is about time one of you went ahead and gave me a wedding to plan. Hakuyuu isn’t an option, but what’s holding you and Hakuren back?”

Hakuryuu rolled his eyes. “Because Ren is still playing will-they-won’t-they with his roommates, and Judal has made clear his intentions to propose to me with a Ring Pop and I know that if he tries that you’ll kill him.”

“Indeed I will, his father be damned. My boys deserve finer.”

“And I don’t recall either Hakuei or Paimon saying they’d let you be in charge of any part of it.”

“Ridiculous. I am the mother of the bride, of course I’ll be involved.”

“You know,” Hakuryuu said slyly, “Hakuei might have mentioned something about wanting Aunt Arba to run the show instead.”

Gyokuen’s head snapped around so fast that Hakuryuu swore he heard a crack in her neck. Her glare was made twice as unsettling by one eye bare and the other turned sharp by mascara and liquid eyeliner. “Don’t joke with me, boy. I will kill her if she does anything to ruin this.”

Privately, Hakuryuu was fairly sure that for once, Arba was not the more threatening Abraham twin here. “Mother, do not kill Aunt Arba at Hakuei and Paimon’s wedding.”

“Of course I won’t,” Gyokuen scoffed, returning to her makeup. “Not without reason, at least. We will all ensure that my darling’s wedding is perfect. She’s not likely to have another one, after all.”

“...You’re aware that she hasn’t technically proposed yet, right?”

“Well. All the more time to plan, then. Now, you head off, but text your father too: we’ve had this dinner in the books for weeks and he had better be on his way home to pick me up for it.”

“Yes, Mother,” said Hakuryuu, detaching his back from the doorway and starting to make his way to his bedroom.

“And call your sister!” Gyokuen called after him. “Make sure she’s feeling all right.”

“Yes, Mother,” he called right back, from the stairway at the end of the hall.

On the short walk, in which he sent the instructed text to his father and was satisfied to receive a “Driving — Do Not Disturb” automated message, Hakuryuu considered whether or not he ought to be making that call tonight. It was before the hours when such a thing would be considered rude. But then again...

He sat down at his nearly arranged desk and woke his phone with a soft click. The lock screen behind the open keypad had been the same for months on end: Judal with a delighted grin on his face and his long arms thrown around Hakuryuu, the two of them pressed cheek to cheek. The barely visible background was simple blue sky and trees; the second Judal noticed Hakuryuu’s camera open, even a simple walk in the park could and would turn into a combination cuddle-fest and photo shoot.

Judal would hold him tight, never seeming to get close enough to fully satisfy him, and pepper his face with kisses. Hakuryuu, for his part, could never seem to stop smiling. Nor could he quite put a finger on the feeling that washed over him at times like this, but words like security and love came to mind. Whatever it was, he was quite certain that his sister was feeling it too right now, miles away and safe in Paimon’s arms, and he would not intrude on that for the world. Once, he hadn’t thought that he would be able to trust his only sister to anybody. Now, he knew he would be perfectly happy to see her given away to Paimon.

Tomorrow, then, he decided, setting his phone face down on his desk and beginning to dress down for an evening of reading. His disturbance of their peace could certainly wait until tomorrow morning.

~0~

The next day, Paimon had an afternoon shift and Hakuei had, of course, taken off. So the pair of them only blinked awake in the late morning, both roused by the soft buzzing of their nearby phones.

Paimon worked her dry-tasting mouth for a moment, as Hakuei retrieved her phone from her pocket. “Ugh, God, we slept in our clothes...”

“So we did, but it’s not going to kill us.” Hakuei squinted at the bright screen, winced at the soreness still in her mouth, but half-smiled at the message she saw there. “Oh...Good morning to you too, Hakuryuu.”

Paimon smiled as she unlocked her own phone, following a second notification about the update on her medical chart. “You gave him quite a time yesterday t — oh...”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“I...” Paimon’s smile had slid off her face as she read the doctor’s message, and she sighed. “Remember my last checkup? When they looked at my throat? It looks like my adenoids...are going to have to come out.”

“Ah, I see.” Hakuei paused. “You’re nervous about this, too?”

Paimon looked down abashedly at the bedspread. “I...A little. I mean, it’ll hurt, and I’ll have to take more time off, and you know, they’re gonna go in my mouth and cut pieces out of my throat...”

Hakuei listened intently, and then leaned over to delicately kiss her cheek. “Whatever happens, I’ll take care of you this time. You can count on that. Now, is there anything else you were worried about...?”

#i had my own wisdom teeth removed about a month ago so of course i spent my recovery indulging in best rarepair #RA Family AU #ren hakuei #magi paimon #ren hakuryuu #magi #kaen's fics

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