#would you believe me if I told you that this is just a colored sketch | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

oliversrarebooks · 1 year ago

Text

Fitz's Volunteer Part One: The Act

In which a vaudeville fan volunteers for Phantom Fitz's show, ready to play along with some fake hypnosis tricks. Because magic isn't real. Right?

Masterlist

November 1923

TW: mind control, hypnotic induction, mild humiliation, extremely self indulgent

You've always loved going to the vaudevillle. The songs and sketches, the dancers and acrobats, the comedians and the dramatic actors. It's such a good way to take your mind off your troubles -- of which you unfortunately have many -- for just a few hours and relax.

"...and that was the Astounding Flying Lloyd sisters! Give 'em a hand, folks!" said the announcer. "Up next is the mysterious and charming magician and mesmerist Phantom Fitz!"

You've seen this act before, and it was fun and very interesting. He calls up a volunteer from the audience and hypnotizes them into assisting his routine, teasing them and giving them mildly embarrassing bits of business to do. You know it's either a plant or someone told to play along, of course -- you're no gullible rube who believes in magic.

Still, it seems like it must be fun to be led around the stage, pretending to be in a hypnotic trance. It doesn't hurt that he's easy to look at, with a slightly wicked smile and a cheeky sparkle in his eye. What's the harm in being a bit of a fan of a vaudeville performer, after all?

"Now, I'm going to need a willing assistant from the audience to demonstrate my mesmeric power on!" he declares with a flourish of his cape. "Who would like to find themselves completely and helplessly under my power? Don't be shy. I promise I don't bite, unless you want me to." He gave a big wink to the audience.

Hands go up all over, and you briefly consider raising yours. But you'd be too shy to actually go up on stage and do those things, if you were even chosen to begin with. Fitz is scanning the crowd, probably looking for his plant.

But then his eyes stop right on you. He smiles.

Does he want you to volunteer? Why you?

You're curious now. Before you can think twice, your hand raises.

His smile gets much bigger. "You, there," he says, pointing. "Don't be shy, you're perfect for this. You're going to be a natural at following my instructions. I can tell." He beckons you forward, and with all eyes on you, you leave your seat and walk up the stairs onto the stage. As soon as you step up, he takes your hand. His own hand is freezing cold, but something about it feels oddly reassuring, putting you at ease, making it easier to block out the presence of the crowd.

"Thank you for volunteering," he says. That wicked grin is even brighter now that you're close to him. "What's your name?"

You tell him.

"That's a lovely name. Shame you won't be needing it for this performance," he says, leaving you wonder what that means. He reaches behind your ear. "Oh, you have something stuck in your ear, hang on."

He's pretending to pull out colorful scarves, one after another, and you're pretty sure they must be coming out of his sleeves, but his fingers are so fast and nimble that you can't even quite tell when you're this close. "Not to embarrass you, but perhaps you should wash behind your ears better," he says, as a rainbow of scarves pools at your feet. The crowd is laughing.

You're not sure how to react, and before you can really say anything, he's pulled the scarves away and is leading you over to a chair center stage. "And now, if you don't mind having a seat, we can get down to the important business of molding you into the perfect assistant for me."

"All right," you say nervously, not sure what you're supposed to do. You had assumed this was a plant. Are you going to have to play-act being hypnotized? You've never been very good at acting, and you're worried you might spoil the act.

"Now don't you fret," he says, standing behind the chair and placing a soft hand on top of your head. "No one is able to resist my mesmeric powers for long. All you need to do is sit back and relax." He leans in closer, and you assume he's going to whisper instructions. Instead, he says, "Do you mind if I touch you like this? I need to keep your head steady in case you start to doze off."

"...No?" you say, surprised. Does he actually think you're going to fall asleep, that his hypnosis will work in truth?

"Good," he says, and produces a heavy brass pocketwatch, which he dangles in front of your face. It's finely made with a pretty face, and it ticks softly and rhythmically as he swings it back and forth before your eyes. "Now just watch the pretty pocketwatch, dear," he says. "Keep your eyes focused as it swings back and forth, back and forth. Focus on nothing else but the watch and my voice."

Wanting to do your best, you let your eyes follow the watch, and you feel something strange, starting at the top of your head where Fitz is holding his hand. It feels warm. Relaxing. Dizzying. Almost like sinking into a warm bath.

"Yes, that's right, you're doing so well," he encourages. "I knew you'd be so good at this. You're already starting to get sleepy, aren't you? So sleepy and drowsy. That's my mesmeric power starting to work on you, dear."

Of course, you're not actually going to start falling asleep on stage in front of an entire audience just because of a pocketwatch and a few honeyed words...

Of course you're not...

"That's it. Such a good assistant. Every swing of the watch making you sleepier and sleepier. So drowsy. So relaxed, so tired, such heavy eyelids..."

You shake yourself out of the daze you're falling into. What's happening? It has to be your imagination, but you actually do feel sleepy. You can't tear your eyes away from the watch, and it feels like Fitz's commands are sinking deep into your mind. This can't actually be working on you, can it?

"You're just so tired and drowsy, tired and sleepy. Your eyelids are so heavy, drifting shut, like they want to stay closed... getting sleepier and sleepier..." The hand on top of your head gently strokes your hair, and the drowsy daze intensifies, your head drooping forward before you catch yourself. "You're so drowsy that you're starting to fall asleep, dear."

It's hard to think through the haze. You can't see the audience very well past the heavy, swinging watch, but your mind is trying to alert you to the fact that you're being mesmerized in front of an entire crowd. It feels so real, so hard to keep yourself awake.

"You're getting so, so sleepy as I cast my magic spell on you," he says, and even though he's speaking loud enough for the audience to hear, he feels so close, like he's only talking to you. "Wouldn't it be nice to shut down those heavy eyes, to relax completely, and to listen sleepily to my voice speaking to you?"

You feel yourself nod. Yes, yes that sounds so nice. You're so drowsy and relaxed and everything feels so warm and good. It makes you feel especially nice to agree with what he's saying. Falling asleep and listening to Fitz just sounds perfect. But --

But -- !

Wait! You're actually falling asleep. You're actually following his commands. He's actually hypnotizing you. It's no trick, it's no act. He's putting you under his control up on a vaudeville stage, in front of a packed theater. Your cheeks flush, and you regain enough of yourself to flinch away from the pocketwatch. You should regain focus before it's too late and you fall completely under his mesmeric influence.

"Oh, dear," he whispers softly in your ear. "It's not the pocketwatch that's putting you under my spell. And I think it's a bit too late for you to resist."

A deep, irresistible drowsiness crashes through you. Your shoulders slump and your head tips forward as you struggle to keep your impossibly heavy eyes open. It's too late -- too late to resist -- you're being hypnotized --

"Shut your eyes, dear," he says, his hand petting you. "It's time to let your heavy, drowsy eyes shut, and remain shut, just like they want to, to relax and fall asleep and listen to me."

Any fight you had left in you has gone, replaced by a hazy feeling of bliss. Closing your eyes feels far too good to fight. Falling asleep and listening to Fitz's voice sounds so, so nice. Why even bother struggling against it? Why not just fall asleep...?

"Good, good, you're such a natural at this," he says encouragingly. "Your sleepy little eyes want to stay closed. They're far too heavy to open again. You might want to try, but if you do, you'll find that you can't. It's like they're glued shut. Can you try for me?"

Your eyebrows furrow as you try to open your eyes. Not only are they heavy, but they feel too relaxed to even respond to your commands. It's impossible.

"You can stop trying now and relax. You're doing so well. Such an ideal hypnotized assistant," he says, and you feel yourself practically glowing with the praise. "Now I'm going to have you imagine you're at the top of a staircase. Can you see it? There are ten stairs, and we're going to walk down each one of them, and with every step, you're going to go deeper asleep and deeper into hypnotic trance. Ten... nine..."

You can't believe how it feels to float in a comfortable cloud of sleep and relaxation, absorbing every word Fitz says. You could happily stay like this forever.

"Five... your hypnotized mind is so obedient... four... it feels so good and natural to obey..."

You don't even need to stay aware of what's happening -- he tells you it's perfectly fine if you're deeply asleep, that you can still listen so carefully while you doze. He's so encouraging and kind and that hand on top of your head seems to just radiate delicious warmth.

"...and you're going to forget you name, dear. You're so deeply sleepy and hypnotized that you can't even remember your own name. It's hidden away in your mind, in a place where you can't reach, and it feels good to forget and sink more deeply into sleep..."

Mmm, yeah, it feels good to forget. Anything Fitz wants you to do is fine with you.

"...and when I count to three, you're going to open your eyes, slowly, so as not to disturb your relaxation. You're going to open your eyes, but you're going to remain deeply asleep and deeply hypnotized, and you're going to forget the audience and focus only on me. Three... remain deeply asleep... two... relaxed and hypnotized... and one... open your eyes."

Your eyes pop open so easily as if you weren't just in the deepest sleep of your life. Or maybe you still are? There's a fuzzy blur in front of you and you're not quite sure where you are until Fitz gets your attention.

"How are you doing, my sweet little assistant?"

"Very good," you say, eager to please.

He grins, and you feel like a million bucks. "Can you sing a little song for us, just to prove to the audience that you're back in the land of the living?"

Well, of course you can. You can sing the song that's been trapped in your head ever since you heard it on the radio this afternoon. "Yes, we have no bananas," you sing out. "We have no bananas today!"

"That's perfect, dear," Fitz says, laughing. You hear other laughs in the distance, but they aren't important. "Now I seem to have dropped a penny. Would you mind getting on all fours and picking it up?"

You drop to your knees, carefully looking across the stage floor, but you don't see any sign of a penny.

"Never mind, I've already found it. You're very, very good at following instructions, though. I wonder why that is." He winks, and there's another loud laugh in the distance.

Fitz offers a hand to pull you up, and you feel so wonderfully lovely as he does. "You've been such an excellent assistant so far, simply perfect," he says, letting you bask in the pleasure. "But I have to apologize, because I seem to have forgotten your name. Could you remind me?"

Of course you --

The word dies in your throat. It's at the tip of your tongue, but for some reason, you can't produce it. What is your name? You want to tell Fitz, but it's a complete blank. How could you forget your own name? Just as you feel your cheeks heating up in embarrassment, he smiles and cups your face so gently. "Shhh, it's okay. It's okay that you forgot your name. I don't mind at all. You can just relax and not worry about it."

What a relief! Another wave of sleepy, soothing calm washes through you.

"I'm just going to call you dear anyway, is that all right, dear?"

"Yes."

"So agreeable! Folks, you can't just find good help like this. You have to make it yourself." He releases you and steps back. "Now, just to prove what a hypnotized little thing you are, I would like you to do a trust fall. I'm going to stand here, and on the count of three, you're going to feel all your muscles give way, and you're going to fall backwards right into my arms."

"A trust fall...?" you say, a little apprehensive.

"You trust me, and you want to fall for me, don't you?" he says, with a wicked smile in your direction, and despite your overall relaxation, you can feel your heart flip. "Now then. Three... two... one."

It's so easy. On the count, your body just falls backwards entirely on its own, right into his strong, cold arms. He smells like fancy soap and floral cologne and stage makeup. Some part of you wouldn't mind staying pressed up against him longer. But he sets you upright to the sound of cheers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, my assistant is now utterly, helplessly at my command. Isn't that right, dear?"

"Yes, Phantom Fitz," you agree.

"I'm going to have you help me with a few magic tricks. You're such a good assistant that you won't need to think about any of them with your conscious mind. You can just relax and let me direct you, and with every command, you'll feel more deeply asleep and more deeply hypnotized."

You nod drowsily, and let him take you by the shoulders and direct you over to a card table. It feels good to be near him, to listen. He calls up a few more people on stage and you're shuffling and holding cards while he does some tricks you can't quite follow. It's so easy to follow his directions. So easy to focus and listen.

"Can someone from the audience suggest a pose for my wonderful assistant?" he says. You hear shouts, but you can't take your attention from Fitz. "Oh, that's a good one. Yes, why don't you pose like you're a pretty ballerina?"

You stand on tiptoe and put your arms up in a circle over your head, doing your best to imitate a dancer. He looks you over, appraising you as if you're a statue, adjusting you here and there with a light touch. Finally, he laughs, picks up the line of scarves from the floor, and drapes it around you. "A brilliant work of art, don't you think?" he says to the crowd with a flourish. "This is the kind of statue that you can only see in the finest galleries of Paris, but I've brought it to you right here."

He bows, and then touches your arms so gently. "You can relax now, dear. You've made an excellent statue."

He then has you lay down on a table, his hands pushing your shoulders down gently, and you feel yourself being levitated in midair. There's some kind of platform underneath you and you stay absolutely still just as Fitz ordered. He waves a hoop around your body, and then gently brushes the hair from your face as you lay there, dazed and immobilized.

You look up into his gray-blue eyes. You're so helpless, entirely at his mercy. And that smile makes you feel weak.

You're lowered back onto the table, and he helps you to stand again, your knees feeling wobbly. He holds you up discreetly as he bows to the audience. "Please give a round of applause to my hopelessly mesmerized little helper!" he says, gesturing to you, and you can just see the crowd beyond your lidded eyes as they cheer.

Fitz takes you by the shoulders and is standing oh-so-close. "I'm going to wake you up now so you can go back to your seat, but you're still going to feel drowsy and hypnotized, and you won't quite know why," he whispers, barely audible over the noise of the audience. "Once the show is done, you're going to come find me backstage. You won't remember these commands, but you will act on them. Do you understand, dear?"

You nod. You feel so lovely that you really don't want to be woken up, but you like the idea of getting to see Fitz again.

"And now you're going to wake up from my mesmeric power when I snap my fingers in one... two... three..."

He snaps his fingers near your ear, and the world snaps back into focus. A whole packed audience of people, men, women, and children, are laughing and cheering for you. You remember the things you did and said, how completely entranced you felt and how powerless you were to resist Fitz's commands. How you couldn't even remember your own name, and how you let him put his hands all over you...

"You feel fine after all of that, don't you?" he says with a smile.

Your momentary humiliation fades, but you're still so woozy, like it's hard to think straight. "Fine. Good, really. Like I've had a really good night's sleep," you say uncertainly.

He leans in to whisper in your ear. "You did an excellent job playing along."

"Playing along?" you can't help but blurt out. He can't possibly think that -- he must know what he did, what he's capable of --

"Here, let me help you off the stage."

You're not sure why, but you let him take your shoulders and guide you to the stairs as if you're a docile little lamb. You're so dazed, nearly tripping over your feet as you stumble back to your seat.

"What was that like?" says the stranger in the seat next to yours. "It seemed so real. Did he actually have you under?"

You don't really want to admit to a perfect stranger that you were under an actual mesmeric spell. She'd think you're making it up. "No, it was just pretend," you say.

"I figured. You did a good job with it! I don't think I could pretend to do all those things if I were on stage."

You nod. You don't think you could, either, not if you actually were pretending.

Playing along...

You weren't, were you? It felt so real. You can hardly remember most of it, and you genuinely felt that you were in a deep, entranced sleep. You remember that all you wanted to do was agree with Fitz and obey his orders. Wasn't it actual hypnosis? Or are you just so weak-willed that you fell under the fake spell of a two-bit vaudeville performer...

Fitz has picked up his props and gone offstage, and a couple of comedians are doing a bit now. You watch without paying the slightest bit of attention. You're so tired after all of that excitement. So sleepy.

There's something you need to do after the show, but you can't quite remember what it is. You hope that you can remember when the show ends.

Masterlist >> Part Two

Thank you for volunteering for Phantom Fitz's show. Next time, we'll see what happens to our victim volunteer as they go to meet him backstage.

@d-cs @latenightcupsofcoffee @thecyrulik @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night @wanderinggoblin @whumpyourdamnpears @only-shadows-dwell-where-we-are @pressedpenn @pigeonwhumps @amusedmuralist @xx-adam-xx @ivycloak @irregular-book @whumpsoda @mj-or-say10 @pokemaniacgemini @whumpshaped @whumpsday @morning-star-whump @shinyotachi @silly-scroimblo-skrunkl @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @pirefyrelight @theauthorintraining-blog @whump-me-all-night-long @anonfromcanada @typewrittenfangs @tessellated-sunl1ght @cleverinsidejoke @abirbable @ichorousambrosia @a-formless-entity

#whump #vampire #whump writing #mind control #hypnosis #hypnotic induction #magic show #stage hypnosis #vampire whumper #rare bookseller #fitz

130 notes · View notes

senditcolton · 7 months ago

Text

I Hope I Never Lose You

song inspo: random instrumentals (although this is the music for the dance scene) word count: 4.5k warnings: none, just pure romance

a/n: what started as a response to a request - a request not even directed at me specifically - has turned into an entire storyline and universe that i have completely fallen in love with. so, tiff (@smileysvech), thank you for planting the concept of Prince Andrei into my head. and a very happy birthday. 👑💙

In all the months of your investiture, the castle had never felt this alive. Usually, a ball brought in a large amount of excitement – the promise of music, food, and dancing, all which made for a palpable atmosphere. But this evening was different.

Although, if one took into consideration the fact that Carolyna’s eldest prince had returned from his year-long voyage at sea, the enthusiasm that seemed to bleed from the palace walls was completely understandable.

You had spent most of your day dodging other servants running down the hallways, arms filled with bundles cloth napkins and boxes of candles. Part of you was thankful that you were not requested to paint during the ball itself, the new portrait of Prince Evgeny deemed enough. You told yourself that you more than content to stay in your bedchambers all night sketching or reading.

However, there was a slight longing to be in attendance. To be able to see the ballroom aglow with golden candlelight, the swirl of color from the ballgowns, and feel the joy radiating from the guests at the return of their Prince.

You also wanted to see Andrei’s face when he was reunited with his brother. If you had been charged with painting anything that night, that was the moment that you would’ve captured.

Wiping your paint-stained hands off on the cloth hanging from the easel, you glance at the clock. The doors had just opened for the ball – you could hear the chatter of guests and the distant sound of trumpets wafting down the halls, sneaking into your enclosed studio. You sigh, taking in your current work in progress, debating whether you should stay here for the night or come back later.

Eventually, you decide leaving was the best option: go back to your bedchamber for a nap and some food before returning. Maybe later, when the ball is in full swing and hectic, Andrei could sneak away and visit you. It is a hope that you know is far-fetched, at least for tonight. Andrei loved and missed his brother more than anything. He wouldn’t leave in the middle of the celebration thrown specifically for Evgeny.

Still, one could dream.

As you sneak down the halls, avoiding the arrival of the guests, your mind toys with the fantasy of Andrei slipping through your studio door. He would look so handsome in his regalia, the medals hanging from his chest.

You wish that you could see him tonight.

That is the dream you hold onto as you push through the doors to the servants’ quarters – a dream that is quickly interrupted by a shriek of your name falling from the lips of one of your closest friends. You barely have a chance to turn around before Svetlana is barging into you, her calloused fingers digging into your upper arms.

“You are never going to believe this,” the younger girl yells, pulling you through the common area towards your bedchamber, despite your attempts to reign her in.

“Lana, slow down. What is going on?”

“You’ll see,” she replies, continuing to drag you down the hallway. A few curious glances are tossed in your direction as well as jealous looks cast at you from some of the other girls. You are uncertain where their anger is coming and why it is directed at you from until Svetlana stops in front of your room.

“Look!” she declares, swinging your door open and your jaw drops when you see the embroidered fabric laying on your bed.

You walk in, your eyes dancing over the ballgown splayed over the sheets. It is beautiful; the stark white contrasting beautifully with the velvet overlay, shimmering in your favorite color. The metallic floral embroidery dances across the fabric, trailing up from the trim of the skirt and the long sleeves to transform into a full garden on the bodice.

“I mean, I was helping the master seamstress embroider those flowers but I honestly thought this was for the Queen or one of the other ladies of the court but it was made for you?! That’s insane! The Prince’s personal guard dropped it off earlier today and I had to, like, stand watch outside your door to stop the other girls for obvious reasons and - ”

“Wait,” you say, interrupting Lana’s ranting. “The Prince’s personal guard?”

“Yeah! What’s his name?” Lana says, her eyebrows furrowing. “Pasha? Petrov?”

“Pyotr,” you whisper, your hands running over the gown’s material.

“Pyotr! That’s it.” Lana says, walking over to stand behind you. “Why did you get a dress?”

“I guess my attendance is wanted at the ball.”

“But you’re clearly not painting. Or at least you shouldn’t be in a gown this fine.”

“I don’t know,” you say, the words not a total lie. The information that Pytor delivered this stunning gown had you guessing that it was Andrei extended the invitation. But that was still merely a hunch. “Perhaps they want to have me there when Prince Evgeny’s portrait is presented.”

“Well, maybe I should’ve gotten into painting instead of sewing,” Lana teases as she playfully jostles your shoulder. Your eyes finally tear away from the gown, meeting with her sparkling hazel ones.

“Can you help me put it on?”

“Of course! We have to be fast; the ball has already started!”

Lana flies into a flurry, locking the door and turning to you. Her voice is a comforting metronome and you follow her instructions as she helps you into the dress. You are thankful she was there; not just because she was a seamstress and knew how to properly lace you into the gown but because her excited buzzing made the storm of anxiety in your mind quiet.

This had to be a dream, one that you were surely going to wake from at any moment. Your job as a painter was to be out of sight. The only knowledge of your existence to anyone outside of the royal family and the other servants were the painted canvases hanging on the castle walls. But now, here you were, wearing a gown that you couldn’t hope to possess even in your wildest fantasies.

Once you were fully dressed, Lana moves to your hair, retying it into a more elegant updo than the pulled back hairstyle it was placed in earlier. She doesn’t stop there, adding a tiny pat of butter to your face, smoothing your eyebrows and moisturizing your skin. She even manages to paint a bit of color onto your cheeks and lips with a piece of beetroot.

“You’re lucky that it was beets instead of radishes tonight,” she teases with a wink.

“Thank you, Lana. I could’ve never done this without you.”

“Well, maybe you could tell the royal family that the seamstresses should get an invite too. Considering their finery wouldn’t exist without us,” she quips as she smears the honey onto your lips, the gloss reflecting the light from the small candle on your bedside table.

“I’ll make sure to pass on the message,” you reply, your tone light but the words sincere. Lana didn’t know that you had the ear of the Crown Prince, one of the few men who could make that happen.

“You better,” she grins, stepping away. Her eyes rove over your face and body, admiring her handiwork before turning to look at you fully. “Perfect. You look absolutely beautiful.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you do. You’ll be the belle of the ball. All the other maidens will burn with jealousy. Trust me.”

“I kind of have to considering we have no mirrors.”

“Would I ever steer you wrong?” Lana laughs, extending her hand to help lift you off the bed. “Now, come on! We’ve got to get you to the ballroom quick, before the entire party is over.”

You are ushered you out of your personal quarters and through the common room, Svetlana trailing behind you, holding up the hem your skirt to not sully the fine material. Her vocal haste pushes you to quickly jog down the halls towards the ballroom, your combined giggles bouncing off the vaulted ceilings. You finally stop at the closed double doors, the chatter of guests and the faint strains of music just on the other side. A deep breath rushes through you as you stare at the oak, your heartrate increasing.

“I still don’t understand. I’m just a painter,” you whisper but the words echo off the quiet hallways onto Lana’s ears. She finishes laying out your skirt before moving to stand next to you, gently taking a hold of your hand and squeezing.

“And yet, here you are in a beautiful gown about to enter a ball at the express invitation of the palace,” she says, her own voice dreamy. “Enjoy it.”

There is no hesitance as you turn to Lana, throwing your arms around her and pulling her into a hug. A whispered thank you is the last words you exchange before she is disappearing back down the hallways and out of sight. You take one last deep breath, steeling yourself before you knock gently on the door.

With an ease and elegance that has you momentarily faltering, the door swings open. You slowly walk over the threshold, your eyes dancing over the crowd. A few curious eyes are directed your way, drawn by the movement, but you simply breathe, walking down the first flight of steps to the landing of the grand staircase. Standing there is Dmitry, the royal caller and you catch his eye. He smiles at you before clearing his throat, his resounding voice pulling the remaining guest’s attention as he announces your presence.

You look towards the King and Queen, sitting on the raised dais and extend them a deep curtsy before rising, meeting Queen Elena smile with your own before turning your attention to the crowd. Your eyes scan over the sea of faces until they meet the dark brown irises that you were searching for.

Andrei is standing there, in his royal blue regalia, looking as handsome as you had imagined him. And he is looking at you like you hung the very stars in the sky.

The heat rises in your cheeks under his heavy stare, your head ducking down as you descend the remaining stairs. You weave through the crowd, feeling the eyes on you and hearing the hushed whispers of other guests. But you find that the attention slips off you, like water off a duck’s wing. Your mind is only on Andrei. It seems as if his mind is on you as well because in what feels like mere moments, he is there standing in front of you.

“Your Radiance,” you say, curtsying to him.

“My lady,” he replies, returning your curtsy with a bow. There is a brief moment of silence between the two of you, where you just look at each other. “I see you got my invitation,” he whispers softly for only you to hear.

“It wasn’t your most subtle work,” you tease, a small smile playing on your lips. It is a smile that Andrei returns before clearing his throat, his posture straightening as he speaks.

“Come. There is someone I want you to meet.”

He extends his arm to you, an invitation that you gladly take before he is guiding you across the marble floor. You try to remain confident even though the stares have increased due to your presence on the prince’s arm. Andrei seems unaffected, pushing through the crowd with an ease that was proffered to him as the Crown Prince. He doesn’t halt your journey until he has stopped in front of another gentleman wearing the greys and greens of the Carolyna naval uniform.

“This is Prince Evgeny Svechnikov. My brother,” Andrei says, before offering your name and title to Evgeny.

“An honor to meet you, Your Radiance,” you say, extending Evgeny another deep curtsy. He takes your hand, placing a small kiss on your knuckles before meeting your eye with a small grin.

“It’s just Your Honor now,” Evgeny explains, his teasing grin jumping back to Andrei. “I’m not a prince, simply a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Drei knows this but likes to pretend I didn’t abdicate.”

“You’re still a Prince of Carolyna, whether or not you have the official title,” Andrei quips back, jostling his brother on the shoulder.

“Regardless, it is still a pleasure to meet you,” you say, your voice still formal. “I hope your time at sea wasn’t too difficult.”

“A lot of fresh air and plenty of time to think. Easier being in the Navy when your country is at peace,” he replies. “So, you are the royal portrait artist that Andrei has filled pages of letters with.”

“I suppose so,” you stutter, looking back at Andrei with a raised eyebrow. The flush on his cheeks surprises you at first but soon his embarrassment relaxes you, the urge to tease him goading you on. “Pages, you say?”

“Oh yes. Every time the ship made port, there was a letter waiting for me filled with praise about the new painter that was teaching my brother to get in touch with his creative side. I must admire your tenacity, seeing as the Drei I know gets frustrated when he doesn’t perfect a skill in the first attempt.”

Evgeny’s lighthearted quips makes you relax, the smile on your lips growing wider.

“He’s been doing better. Has only broken three brushes in frustration this past week.”

The laughter that falls from Evgeny’s lips is similar to Andrei’s yet unique in its own right, filling the air as he claps his brother on the back of the shoulder. Your own giggle follows as you see Andrei’s blush deepen, his head shaking.

“Why must you turn everything into a joke at my expense, Geno?” he asks, the loving tone betraying the anger the words could portray.

“Because it’s so easy to get you riled, little brother,” Evgeny replies, playfully wresting Andrei under his arm, mussing his slicked back hair. Andrei manages to wriggle his way free, his hands smoothing his uniform and pushing back his hair before politely nodding to the few guests who took an interest in the brief commotion. It is only when their eyes turn away does Andrei jab his elbow into his brother’s side as a small payback.

There is an indescribable feeling in your chest as you watch Andrei interact with his brother. It was abundantly clear how much he loved Evgeny. His smile seemed brighter, his laughter came easier, and it felt as if he was more settled into his own body.

The conversation between the three of your flows, various topics flitting in and out like the moths in the garden. A glass of champagne had been placed in your hand and was refilled more times than you cared to admit. It felt like hours of talking before Andrei was summoned away to perform his other princely duties, mingling and brushing elbows with other dignitaries. His departure leaves you and Geno alone on the side of the ballroom. Your body turns to face the crowd, eyes taking in the couples dancing, the beautiful music lifting over the noise of the crowd. You take a sip of your champagne, a pleasant buzz running through your body.

“So,” Evgeny speaks, breaking the silence. “How long have you and Drei been in love?”

The unexpected question has you choking on the sparkling liquid, your glass quickly pulled away from your lips as you compose yourself. Once you’ve gotten a hold of your bearings, you look towards Evgeny who is smirking down at you, his own champagne flute pressed to his lips, an eyebrow quirked as if waiting for an answer.

Your eyes quickly dart around the ballroom, making sure that there was no prying attention on the conversation you shared with the eldest prince. In a room full of eyes and ears, keeping the secret of your and Andrei’s relationship was paramount. Once you were satisfied, you shoot a quick glance back to Evgeny before keeping your attention forward to not arouse suspicions.

“Did Andrei tell you?” you ask, the prior mention of you being the starring subject in Andrei’s numerous letters filling your mind.

“No, he never said a word,” Evgeny replies. “But I know my brother. The way he looks at you… it’s more than just simple admiration for the painter who is giving him lessons.”

You could blame the alcohol for the warmth that radiates from your chest down to your toes. But if you did, it would be a lie. It is Evgeny’s words, his quiet assurance that Andrei is telling the truth when he says that he loves you. That confirmation coming from someone who knows Andrei best and could figure out your shared secret within only a few minutes of meeting you sets off a blaze in your heart. You breathe deeply, reigning in your emotions as you look out across the ballroom. Your eyes easily find Andrei, his blue uniform stark against a sea of red, white, and black gowns and suits. He is conversing with what appears to be other generals, his stature strong and regal.

“May I ask you a question, Prince Evgeny,” you inquire, turning your attention back to his brother.

“Please, you can call me Geno,” he replies, that easy smile on his face. “And yes, of course.”

“Why did you abdicate? You’re the eldest son of the King so the Crown was yours by right. Why give it up?”

“To be honest, I was never very good at it. Bureaucracy,” Evgeny laughs. “Plus, it never appealed to me: sitting in rooms filled with papers, giving commands to people I never met, having every self-interested bastard whispering their ideas in my ear and having to sift through the shit to find what best served the country. I much prefer the Navy where I know and trust the men by my side, where I can feel the work I’m doing, knowing for certain that my actions are helping the country I love.”

You let his words sink in, your eyes trailing back to Andrei. The way Evgeny describes the role of King weighs on you, the pressure of such a demanding job feeding your concern for the man you loved.

“I wouldn’t worry about Drei though,” Evgeny continues as if he can sense your apprehension. “He’s everything I’m not: driven but not demanding, loyal but not blindly so, commanding while still remaining respectful. That’s a rare combination of qualities to have. Plus, he’s devoted to the people of Carolyna. I know that he will always have their best interests at heart.”

Your heart swells again at the description Evgeny gives to his brother, the pride in his voice clear. Your eyes stayed locked onto Andrei, watching as he concludes his conversation before turning his own gaze around the room. It seems instantaneous, the way they lock onto yours and your heart pounds as he starts to make his way back to you.

“Andrei loves the people,” Evgeny’s voice sounds again. There is a brief pause, your eyes still locked onto Andrei’s. You slightly jump when you feel Evgeny’s warm breath next to your ear, his words hushed and he whispers to you. “He loves you. And if there is one thing I know for certain about my brother, it is that he fights for those he loves.”

Your head turns quickly, looking back towards Evgeny, that now familiar grin on his face. He takes your hand, bowing as he places a polite kiss on your knuckles. An instant later, he is gone, vanishing into the crowd around you. You turn your head back, only to come face to face with Andrei. He shoots you that crooked grin before glancing around, no doubt looking for his brother.

“What was Geno whispering to you about?” he asks. “Talking about me again?”

“Only good things, I promise,” you reply, keeping your voice light and teasing as to not betray the emotions brought on by Evgeny’s hushed declaration.

“Lucky I trust you,” Andrei says, his smile never leaving his lips.

You simply return the smile, your head ducking down in shyness under the weight of his gaze. Around you, you can hear the music slowing, reaching its soft crescendo before the guests applaud. Your eyes glance up again, connecting to Andrei’s gaze once more. He has an indecipherable look on his face, as if he was having an internal debate with himself.

The feeling of his hand on yours startles you, but you allow him to gently remove the glass from your grip, placing it on the tray of one of the passing servers before returning his attention to you. Andrei extends his hand, his palm upwards.

“Dance with me.”

The words are a gentle demand, tinged with hope. You want to keep staring in his eyes but the weight of others looks tugs at your focus, your own eyes darting around the room filled with high-ranking individuals and many an eligible maiden.

“I don’t think we should,” you whisper, your gaze turning back to him.

You wish you didn’t notice the hurt flicker across Andrei’s face at your response. His hand curls in on itself before disappearing behind his back, a sigh lifting his shoulders. Andrei gives you a polite bow – a silent agreement – and you can tell that he is about to turn away.

“But perhaps,” you speak again, stopping him in his tracks and pulling his gaze back to you. “Perhaps I was lost. Confused. Maybe had a few too many drinks.”

Andrei’s laugh rumbles through his chest at your words, a laugh that you share before looking up at him, your eyes wide and earnest.

“And perhaps you were a gentleman and saved me before I made a fool of myself. Made sure I was alright.”

The smile that Andrei gives you is intoxicating, his eyes shining with the same desire that was surely reflected in yours. His hand extends again and this time, your reaches out towards him. There is still a brief hesitancy, made clear by the pause and slight curl of your fingers. But is a miniscule moment, one that passes when you find that last sliver of courage and slip your hand into his. Andrei’s fingers close around yours, his thumb brushing over your knuckles as a silent comfort before he leads you out onto the dance floor.

The candlelight reflects off the embroidery on your gown as Andrei pulls you to the center of the marble floor, spinning you to face him, the velvet hem brushing against the stone. He reaches out, placing his free hand on the small of your back and you follow his lead, your own hand landing delicately on his bicep, feeling the strength of the muscle underneath the fabric. A gasp escapes you as he pulls you closer to him, your bodies almost touching. You can’t stop the way your eyes bounce around the ballroom, the stares of the other guests now impossible to ignore.

“Everyone is looking at us,” you whisper, feeling the heat race up the back of your neck, your heart fluttering in your chest like a newly captured bird.

“Just keep your eyes on me,” Andrei murmurs.

You are helpless to follow his directions, your gaze jumping up to lock with his. The instant they connect, your heartbeat stills. Andrei is staring at you with pure devotion and admiration. It was as if you were the finest painting in any gallery, like you were the most beautiful sculpture in the world.

In his eyes, you were no longer the artist. You were beauty animated. You were art itself.

“Just me,” he says again.

You swallow back the tidal wave of emotions that threaten to spill over, blinking before giving Andrei a subtle nod of your head and offering him a timid smile.

Andrei’s chest lifts in a deep breath, an action you copy before relaxing into his hold. You can hear the music begin and it is another moment before Andrei starts to move. It is slow, measured, and you just keep your gaze aligned with Andrei’s as he leads you around the dance floor, falling into the ebb and flow of the melody bouncing off the candelabras above you.

The two of you continue to dance, your dress flowing around you as Andrei keeps you secure in his hold. The curious and somewhat judgmental stares that you were previously acutely aware of fade away the longer you are in Andrei’s grasp. Soon, it feels as if the two of you are alone in the ballroom.

“I love you,” Andrei whispers. The declaration cuts through you, piercing you deep. “I know that we aren’t supposed to be together; by law or rule or general propriety. But I don’t care. I will not give up on you. On us.” He sighs, his eyes softening with melancholy. “That is, not unless you tell me to.”

“Never,” you say, your grip tightening on him as you step closer, close enough to feel his breath fanning across your cheeks. He smiles, your own fierce promise fueling his words.

“You are the love of my life,” he vows. “And I know that if I ever had to live without you – if our connection was severed by distance or by time, my heart would shatter, never to be mended again.”

Andrei’s words have captured you, enveloping you in his pure love and devotion. You are acutely aware of the warmth of his hand in yours, the feeling of his hand slowly rising from the small of your back. His fingertips gently brush against the bare skin between your shoulder blades, pushing a gasp from you at the sparks that his touch brings.

“At least, not until you returned to me,” Andrei murmurs, those dark brown irises staring into your very soul, reading you plain and leaving you bare. “That is what our love is: eternal.”

“Timeless,” you reply, a smile tugging at the corner of your mouth, one which Andrei returns.

“Yes. Timeless.”

His fingers dance over your exposed skin once more before his hands fall away from you. The departure of his touch throws you back to the present moment, the cacophony of applause from the guests hitting your eardrums. Andrei bows to you, your hand still in his. You follow suit, bending in a deep curtsy before lifting yourself slowly, looking back to him.

You find that his gaze is already glued to your frame and you watch with breathless anticipation as he brings your hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss onto your hand. Directly over the spot where the makeshift ring he gifted to you all those months ago sat.

A subtle indication of the promise that he made to you, one that he intended to keep. The promise of a love that was enduring, constant, unending.

A love that would last forever.

taglist (join here!): @tkachvkmatthew @m00nlightdelights @cixrosie

#nicole writes #king of my heart series #andrei svechnikov fic #andrei svechnikov imagine #andrei svechnikov alternate universe #andrei svechnikov fluff #carolina hurricanes fic #carolina hurricanes imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

84 notes · View notes

pakhnokh · 2 years ago

Text

Today, House of Gentians is one year old 🥳🎊🎉

You won’t believe the story of how it began….

I was 7 months pregnant, and have been suffering from intense itching in my lower legs for a month. I googled it and saw that it’s a warning sign during pregnancy and can have dangerous consequences so I went to my obgyn and he referred me to take a blood test to check it.

Fortunately it was clear from that problem, but we didn’t know the reason for the itching. He did say that some women suffered from an allergic reaction like this but he suggested that I go to a dermatologist to be sure.

So finding an appointment to a dermatologist in my country right away is a nightmare, and by some miracle I found someone who had a place for me in a few days but in another city. So I took the buss and went there and the doctor was there with a student who was working with him. Anyways he was extremely nice to me and that’s something completely odd with the doctors here, that make you feel as if you’re annoying them. He was really nice, checked me thoroughly, looked at my scratching wounds with a magnifying glass and all the while was talking with great enthusiasm to that student. Later at my second appointment I realized that the reason for this was that he treated me like a case study to show how pro he is to that student cause when he was alone in the second time, he was a complete jerk to me.

Anyways, at that first appointment he decided with great certainty that what causes my itch is scabies. And as someone who considered this possibility and checked for signs of a bug infestation, especially since I have experience with other bugs, this seemed unlikely. And I’m like, telling him of all the reasons that don’t match, like the fact that my husband sleeps in the same bed and he doesn’t suffer from it and for me it’s been an experience of a month now. Surely a thing such as bug bites would affect him too, no? But he was so determined and told me “your husband gonna get it soon probably” so he gave me a prescription for creams and told me to wash all textiles in my house at a high degree, and everything that can’t be washed, to close in plastic bags and leave the house for 3 days. And like I said, as someone who already had experience with another bug infestation this was something that I already knew how to do even if at first it sounds like a pain in the ass.

So I got home, told my husband, who really opposed this idea, but I insisted on it, especially cause if the doctor was right and there IS an infestation, then we have to treat it immediately before baby is due. So I did everything the doctor said, we packed some clean stuff and moved to live with his parents for 3 days. Like I said, later we discovered that the doctor was wrong, because nothing helped and the itching continued till the moment I gave birth, proving my obgyn was right and it was, what’s called “pruritus of pregnancy”, a severe itch that is not dangerous, but can appear in some cases. I still carry those itching scars on my legs btw, even though they’re faint now 🤣🤣

Anyways what the hell does this embarrassing story have to do with House of Gentians? It was on the first day we lived with his parents and I was working on the exclusive art I make for my patrons. I was in the coloring and rendering stage and it’s really a work that makes you be really focused on details and etc… I was already so tired, but when evening came and I was done with the piece, which is still one of my favs btw:

I still wanted to draw, something quick and sketchy to “free my hand”. I just opened a new canvas and started sketching. At first I wanted to draw yllz seducing lwj, as if he was taken to cr after all and things got hot 👀🔥 But then I changed his teasing, smug expression to a sad one, and decided that it’s gonna be a Yiling Laozu who came back to Gusu with lwj and was put in LWJ’s mother’s house as his waifu 👀👀👀 and this idea had a dark side at first, with my horny mind thinking of yllz performing the duties of a spouse with lwj 👀👀👀👀 and it’s gonna be love/hate between them both.

I was really hurrying this sketch too, because my husband was calling me to our evening quality time of having toasts while watching a series on Netflix so I posted it quickly on Twitter and left. When I opened the app again that night I was really surprised to see all the excited comments on this simple sketch I did, but they really inspired me to go on, just like your comments inspire me till this very day ❤️

And just look at it now, each week I’m working on more 4 pages, it turned to be the longest comic I did in my entire 25 years of drawing (160 pages till this day and counting) and I already have the entire plot written with like 9-10 arcs planned overall 🤣 Drawing this consistently also helped improve my art, as I look at the first drawings compared to the most recent ones I can see the progress I made and hope to continue making!

So thank you all for the love and support and the wonderful comments that inspire me to give you more parts each week!

And as a b-day gift, I give you a sneak peek to a panel from page 110 that I kinda like how it turned out

#house of gentians #pakhnokh #mo dao su zhi #au #Wangxian

370 notes · View notes

daedelweiss · 11 months ago

Note

Hello! How did you learn to storyboard? Did you apply for a program? I saw your life mission trailer and absolutely loved it and want to do the same with the many ideas and characters running around in brain like maniacs.

Thank you!

i went to animation school for a year and studied films and animation practically my entire life. i kept watching behind the scenes and bought several art books to study how people make things and that usually helps.

i knew making something like this would require a preproduction, production, and post production stage so i spaced out my work and used those as a goalpost.

storyboarding is just something that always fascinated me and something i truly believed i am capable of doing so i focused a lot of my learning to that and character design. i basically just watched how people storyboarded traditionally and how people do it now. my animation teacher told us that the goal of storyboards is to simplify the scene by how it's composed and what the keyframes will be. storyboarding board to board is to help you understand how a scene will look or be composed like this one:

(storyboard of the life mission trailer)

there is a different method doing it professionally and i've yet to study that but my method is just to draw out shots, camera/environment/character movements, and timing.

you can learn storyboarding everywhere online now. there are several videos on storyboarding on youtube by people in the industry and i highly recommend those as a good kickstart.

do keep in mind storyboarding is not just used in animation but in film and comics as well. i also board life mission comics so i know the flow of the page and where the text bubble will be (this process is also called thumbnailing where you simplify composition in sketches)

(thumbnails for the life mission comic: chapter 1. the highlighted parts are parts i wanted to color.)

storyboarding/thumbnailing doesn't have to be this high effort, polished product. it's supposed to communicate the idea and should be made fast. that is why storyboards and thumbnails are simple sketches. they take up less time to work on. as long as you can communicate the idea to whoever you're working for or yourself, you got a good storyboard.

storyboards and thumbnails are maps of ideas, not the finished product. so don't beat yourself up for perfecting one~

#dae asks #art advice #dae art talks #long post

111 notes · View notes

eeunoia · 1 year ago

Text

ENHYPEN Mini Series

E N H Y P E N as Greek Myths

PYGMALION & GALATHEA

pairings: nishimura riki x reader

synopsis: like any other artists, nishimura riki, loves his sketches. but he grew fond of this one sketch of girl he sees in his dream. what will happen if suddenly, she appreared right in front of him? this time in real time, not in dreams land.

word count: 10k

important note: i originally planned to write enhypen as greek gods but then i didn’t find some love stories that i like so i end up using some love stories that aren’t greek gods. also these are like modern versions of greek mythology love stories.

warnings: grammar errors, not proof read, a dead relative. let me know if i missed some!

note📎: you have come to the end of this series. i can’t believe i finished this one already. i hope you guys liked it! it really means a lot to me whenever you let me know what you think about them, re-blogs and comments are well appreciated. btw, i love you guys and thank you for supporting me up until now. have a nice day/night! 🤍

permanent tag-list:

@rubyanne @map-of-border @hwangjangmi @crjwon @love13tter @edensgardenn @simpforniki @classicroyalty @angel-hybrid @bridgebridgebirdiebridge @hime98 @moonsclover @ddeonubaby @yeoungie @acciomylove @mymeloem19 @jvngw0n @dreamyenskz @minamoons @clar-iii @herasalvatore @nyfwyeonjun @rcveribin @yizhoutv @one16core @soobin-chois @kyutiepeachy @chareadingpurposes @hwalllllllelujah @solelyenha @90sni-ki @nourhan-8 @nikipedia07 @yangbreads @drunkjazed @kimmchijjajang @hoonbrry @axartia @all4haru @hiqhkey @sta-rie @purplepuppychild @iceeee @wtfhyuck @tobiosbbyghorl @nikililmj @ayayiiie @moonlightisland @aeyeree

“But seriously, do you think I’m the wrong one? I really think she’s the one at fault!” Ni-ki smirks while listening to his friend ranting. He heard he had a fight with his girlfriend and now he’s here ranting about it.

He offered to accompany him to go buy some art stuff. If only he knew his friend will just be like this, he would’ve gone alone. He can’t focus on picking the right materials with him talking and talking.

“I think you are the wrong one.” he spat just to piss his friend off. The look of betrayal flashes through his face that made Ni-ki laugh before continuing on checking the rack of color pastels in front of him.

“What? Dude! She literally just got mad at me because—”

“Because you didn’t told her you will go out with us yesterday.” Ni-ki finished off his sentence for him. He picks up one pack of pastel of a well known brand and looks throughly over it.

Jungwon sighs, “So? Does she have to know everything that I’m doing?”

Ni-ki shrugs his shoulders off. “I don’t know. Do I look like I’m in a relationship to know?” the sarcasm over his tone made Jungwon shut up for a while. He looked at him with pitiful eyes. It made Ni-ki roll his eyes and look at him, abandoning his pastels for a while.

“Look, hyung. Let me put it this way,” he starts. ”If she goes with her friends and she didn’t inform you at all. You just found out when you saw her story and you’ve been waiting for her text for hours, what would you feel?”

Jungwon furrowed his brows, “I will be worried and pissed.”

Ni-ki nodded his head, “That answers your question on who's at fault.” and he now moves on to go look for a new sketchbook, holding the chosen pastel in one of his hands.

His friend sighs and leaned over a rack before unconsciously picking one, eyes scanning it randomly.

“Fine. I’ll say sorry to her later.”

Ni-ki rolled his eyes and just grabbed his usual sketchbook before walking towards the cashier. He can feel his friend following behind him, he’s not ranting anymore. Probably realized he’s the wrong one.

“Ah right!” Jungwon jogs so he can catch up with Ni-ki. “Do you want to come with me tomorrow? My girlfriend says she will take her best friend with her tomorrow to keep her off from her books.”

Ni-ki falls in line before he glance at his friend with a tired look over his face.

Jungwon’s girl goes to the other school and so they often go on dates during weekends. He doesn’t even know how the two ended up meeting each other.

“I’m not interested.” he coldly rejected it.

Jungwon rolled his eyes, “Come on! One date?”

Ni-ki sighs and shakes his head for his friend. “Dude, why do you guys keep on forcing me to date? I’m all good.”

His friend draws in a strained sigh, “So you will stop spending too much with your sketchbook. Seriously, dude? Are you going after Da vinci’s steps?” he joked and even told him that he will just step out of the store to call his girlfriend. He will wait for him outside.

Ni-ki nodded his head and just waits patiently for his turn. His mind are now slowly floating, getting filled by thoughts of what his friend said. He do spends so much time with his sketchbook. He loves arts and drawing stuff. Ever since he was a child, he’s always been interested about it. But that’s not the only reason.

There’s this girl. She kept on appearing inside his dreams. He don’t remember when it started, but all he knows is that she appeared often that he find her already familiar even if he haven’t met her yet.

He also have a lot of sketch of her face. As times pass by, he almost perfected it. The sketches was always beautiful. Well, she is very beautiful.

He smiled at the counter and muttered a low ‘thanks’ after he grabs his stuff then the change. He slowly walks out of the store and saw his friend smiling slightly while talking to his girlfriend. Ni-ki scoffed, couldn’t believe what he’s currently seeing. He approaches him silently and he signalled wait before finally ending the call.

“Done?” he asks him. Ni-ki gave a short nod before they both walked together to head home.

“Are you still having dreams about that girl?” the question made Ni-ki glanced over his friend.

“Its not like I have it everyday, Won hyung.” he smirks.

Jungwon stole a glance before shrugging his shoulders off and putting his hands inside his pocket. “I mean we still think that one of the reasons why you don’t want to date is because of her.”

Ni-ki gulped and tried to keep his smirk. “What?” he let out a scoff. Making it seem like what his friend just said is very funny.

“No. I haven’t even seen her, we don’t even know if she’s true or my mind just created her..” he says, letting out his thoughts.

“Exactly.” Jungwon stated and taps his shoulder, “Then come come with me with the double date.” he even gave his friend this smile that he thinks can convince him. He looked pretty confident.

Ni-ki lets out a sigh. He knew how his friend can be persistent at times and even if he spare him today, he will try again some other day. He don’t want him annoying him about this matter again. One date won’t hurt him, right? Besides, he didn’t really told him that he should be in a relationship with that person. They will just go on a date and hang out.

“One date?” he tries to make sure his friend ain’t bating him into something funny.

Jungwon scoffed, “Yes, one date. Unless of course if you end up liking her and stuff.”

Ni-ki rolls his eyes and stood up once he saw their bus approaching. “That’s impossible.” he replied. Jungwon didn’t said anything else then just get on the bus with Ni-ki.

Once settled in, they both started talking about other stuff like video games and basketball. The date long forgotten.

Saturday came and Ni-ki was suddenly called in an emergency basketball practice. He cursed while trying to grab his gym bag and also his jersey. While going down the stairs, he almost missed one and fell. His mom furrowed her brows as she try to check on him. She got bothered by the noise he makes with all this rush.

“Ni-ki? I thought you will go out with Jungwon?” she asks, confused as to why he’s wearing a jersey.

“Oh shit.” he got stoned over his position right after remembering about the date he agreed to go to yesterday. It totally slipped off his mind because of the sudden call for practice.

“Language Nishimura Riki.” his Mom said strictly. He gave her a smile before kissing her forehead then jogged out of the house waving her good-bye.

“Sorry, bye Mom!” he says and continues.

While in a hurry, he fished his phone from his duffle bag and dialled his friend’s number. Jungwon picks up after two rings.

“Hey, where are you? I’m on my way to the meeting place right now.”

Ni-ki gulped, feeling slightly guilty for cancelling at the last minute. It’s not like he planned to ditch this date. It just happened that they were called in an unexpected practice because their coach will be gone the next day so he couldn’t train them. He moved the practice today.

“About that...” he started and stood over the waiting shed to wait for the bus.

“I can’t make it today, hyung. I’m sorry. We were called in for basketball practice.”

“What? I thought that's tomorrow?” his tone sound confused.

“Yes. But coached ask for us today since he’ll be going somewhere tomorrow.”

“Ah, is he going to the seminar too? I heard our school sends some of the teachers for it.” he mentions. He’s part of the student body, so it isn’t surprise anymore that he knows about this things.

“Probably.” Ni-ki sighs and silently cheered as he saw the bus driving close. He gets on right after it stopped in front of him. He clicked his card and sat down at one of the vacant seats.

“I’m really sorry, hyung. I didn’t mean to cancel on this.” he felt really bad. Not because he wanted to go, but he hates it whenever he couldn’t keep his word.

“That’s fine. I understand. I will just tell my girlfriend and her friend about it.” he seemed okay with it. Jungwon knows Ni-ki and he will never make an excuse just to get away on something.

Ni-ki glanced outside the window with blank thoughts. For some reasons, he felt something on his chest because he won’t go on that date. Its a little weird because he’s not really into it. He shrugged it off and focused back on talking to his hyung.

“Tell them I’m sorry too.”

Jungwon assured him that he will let them know which somehow made him felt relieved. He doesn’t want to look like a jerk who just ditch dates. That’s an asshole move. He ended the call with his friend and just spaced out the whole ride towards the school.

On the other hand, you let out a small groan when your friend dragged you towards somewhere. You can’t help but to imagine how good it would’ve been if you just stayed in your house today. Your books are probably waiting for you right now, but instead you are here with your friend. Going to a double date with his boyfriend’s friend.

She always brags about how good-looking his boyfriend is and that his circle of friends are all eye candy. She said none of them are ugly that she finds hard to believe. Well, due to being a book worm and a sucker for love stories, you kind of sets the standard high. Boys in your school find it hard to impress you, and that’s why you can’t seem to see yourself to date.

“I should be just in my room, reading my book.” you mumbled while she continues dragging you.

“No! I won’t let you be miserable today.” she says sounding so determined to make a change in your life.

You rolled your eyes and just let her do what she wants. When you arrived near the place she told you, you looked bored. As you roam your eyes around, you can see a lot of couple around. It seems like its a hot place to date nowadays. Your friend roams her eyes around, probably looking for her boyfriend.

You’ve seen his picture already. But this will be the first time for you to meet him in person and hangs out with him. Usually he just picks your friend at school and stuff. You can say he is pretty attractive. Even some students from your school knows him. Seems like he really is famous. Your friend is very beautiful as well so you can’t really blame him for falling for her.

“Baby!” she screams and even waved her hand crazily. You scoffed and slightly find it funny how she’s like this towards him.

She started dragging her towards somewhere once again. When you looked at the guy she hugged, he is tall, neat, have this pretty eyes and all. Just like how she usually describes him. But he ain’t your ideal type. His visual is too soft for you. You’re more on a mysterious vibes.

“Where’s your friend Ni-ki?” she asks and even tried to look for someone.

Ni-ki? Is that suppose to be the guy she was talking about? No offense but his name sounds like a girl’s name. You sighs and tried to stop yourself from overthinking before you spoil the mood.

Jungwon smiled apologetically and just by that you already figured out what he was about to say next.

“He had an emergency so he couldn’t make it today.” he sounded so sorry.

“What? But y/n is here...” she sounded a bit disappointed. She’s really excited to have you meet his friend, but now its not going to happen because he didn’t come.

A part of you are happy, because now you can escape from here. But a part of you is also pissed because you just wasted your time coming here. Three or four chapters are already finished if you didn’t come.

“It’s fine, (friend’s name).” you gently grab her arm and smiled at the two of them. She pouted at you, feeling bad that she dragged you all the way here for nothing.

When you looked at Jungwon, he's staring at you. He seemed drowned with his own thoughts, but when you met his eyes he then composed himself. You can see how his cheeks tinted red after getting caught staring.

“I’m sorry, y/n. My friend also said sorry. He didn’t really expect that he couldn’t make it today.”

You quickly smiled and assured him that it was alright. He’s not at fault and there’s no reason for you to be upset over him.

“It’s totally fine. You guys enjoy your date. I’ll go stop by at a bookstore.” you waved at him and gave your friend a hug.

“I’m sorry, y/n. If you want you can come with us.” she says pouting.

“No, spend quality time with each other. I’ll be good, don’t worry.” and you tapped her shoulder.

You glanced at Jungwon and you saw him staring at you again. “Keep her safe.” he nodded and reached for your friend’s hand. Honestly, you aren’t worried at all because you are sure that he will take care of her.

She waves cutely before you finally walked away. You suddenly felt annoyed once again, but comforts yourself that you can go stop by at one of the bookstores you wanted to check out.

Suddenly, the thought of that boys name popped out of your mind.

‘Ni-ki...’

You scoffed and tried to shove the thought of it away.

“Waah, you’re painting again?” Ni-ki glanced over his friend when he suddenly appeared at the rooftop where he usually spends his free time. Jungwon have this amused look over his face before plopping himself down beside him.

Ni-ki nodded his head and resumes to what he was doing. He did mention his fondness over sketching and drawing people’s portrait. He just finds it interesting how he can put it into arts. He draws landscapes too, but he’s more on sketching people. For him, he enjoys it because he can notice how different one individual can be.

Out of all the portraits he had drawn, the portrait of the girl in his dreams is his favorite. Funny, because he never seen her before yet her portrait is what he likes the most.

He’s actually pretty sad about it because its been weeks ever since he saw her in his dreams. It doesn’t occur to often, but also not this long. A part of him is worried that she won’t show up anymore and that he’ll slowly forget about what she looks like.

“I can’t wait for later.” Jungwon says with a big smile over his lips, eyes glued at his phone screen.

Ni-ki scoffed and teared his gaze away from his friend. He perfectly knew what’s behind those big smiles of him.

“I’m actually surprised you’re not the one who transferred to her school. You’re the simp in the relationship.” he commented that made him snap his head at his direction. A frown was present over his face that made Ni-ki chuckle.

“No I’m not.” he denied.

“Yeah, and pigs fly.” he says before resuming on scribbling through his sketchbook.

He had practice before class so he went to school very early. He’s actually just got off from practice and he went straight here after taking a bath. His hair is even slightly damp.

“Oh, by the way.” Jungwon catches his attention once again. “Did I mention that her friend transferred with her?”

Ni-ki furrowed his brows. “What friend?” he asks, acting curious before he slowly went back on sketching.

Jungwon sighs, “The one you ditched last month, dude!” he exclaimed, finding it unbelievable how he already forgot abour ‘that friend’.

Ni-ki’s hand halts from moving and he was stoned at his position. For some reasons, he got a weird feeling about it. He felt his chest tightens and stomach churns. He couldn’t explain what it is, but he just shrugged it off thinking that maybe its just because he was too tired of practice.

After a couple of minutes, the bell rang and so both of them went down to their class. The hallway was packed with students trying to hurry themselves towards their respective rooms. Jungwon and Ni-ki arrived at class just in time. They sat down at their chairs and soon enough, their homeroom teacher arrived.

Ni-ki glanced over his friend while he pulls out his notebook and scoffed when he saw how excited he looked.

“Dude, your lips will rip any minute now. Cut it out.” he teased because he was smiling crazy.

Jungwon ignored him and he just shakes his head side by side. His eyes darted towards the front as their teacher started to orient them about the newcomers. He wasn’t surprised about ir anymore because his friend spoiled the news to him already. His gaze dropped down to the notebook and he flip the pages over the back of it. He grabbed his pencil and started sketching.

He can hear all the commotion inside the classroom, but he ignored them when he’s slowly getting drowned with his own world. The face of that girl popped up inside his mind. It was so random but he was used to it. Maybe, Ni-ki is missing her in his dreams already.

“Okay, please come in. Don’t be shy.” you heard the teacher says while you and your friend pushes each other who will go first.

She was left with no choice but to go first because you are too shy. When you both entered you can hear some of the students reaction. This is totally nerve wracking for you. You usually feel anxious around a new environment. When you roam your eyes around, you can see all of them looking at the two of you. It made you feel nervous.

One student tho, caught your attention. Unlike all of them, his focus is at whatever he was doing. For that moment, the teacher talking beside you suddenly became muffled. The boy just have this aura that pulled you to stare at him. You can’t help but to feel your stomach turning. These scenes are pretty familiar for you. As someone who loves reading books, you had imagined experiencing moments like this. To actually have it now is amusing for you.

“Ms. y/n?” you snapped back to reality and your stare got teared from the said boy. You looked over the homeroom teacher and they are staring at her.

You blushed, feeling embarrassed for spacing out. “U-Uhm,” you cleared your throat because you felt it slightly drying. “I’m Y/n L/n.”

They welcomed you warmly and after the teacher gave you few reminders, she started assigning you to your respective seats.

“And y/n, please sit down beside Mr. Nishimura.” she says and you roamed your eyes around to see who she’s referring to.

“Nishimura, raise your hand.” she instructed and your chest almost fell when you saw the boy from a while ago raising his hand. He was still busy with what he was scribbling so he didn’t turn his head to look at you.

The teacher just sighs out and asked you to take your seat. You thanked her and you slowly made your way. The boy still kept his attention to his notebook. When you pass by Jungwon, he gave you a wave and so you waved at him as well.

After settling down beside him, he still didn’t spared you any glance. You pursed your lips into a pout and suddenly, you felt like being friendly. He seemed very quiet and you planned to have a good school year.

“Hello, I’m y/n! I hope you take good care of me.” you said excitedly the moment you sat down beside this quiet kid. You noticed him not paying attention when you introduced yourself and so you did him a favor and repeat it for him.

Ni-ki lifts his gaze and was ready to accept your hand but he was stunned when he saw the exact girl he drew a portrait of. The one in his dreams.

“Hyung! I can’t believe you!” Ni-ki grabbed his hair out of frustration while leaning over the railings.

His friends are all watching him. Some are staring at him in a weird way and some are just smirking. He couldn’t pay attention to them teasing him because he have a much better thing to discuss.

Jungwon silently munches over his food and looked at Ni-ki. “I didn’t know it was her, okay? Maybe that’s why I found her familiar when I first saw her.” he says trying to defend himself.

“Wait, wait. So you’ve known the girl Ni-ki’s delulu about and you didn’t remember her?” Jay tries to summarize everything.

Jungwon frowned, “It’s not like I know her, hyung! I've met her once. The day when I set Ni-ki up a date with her.”

Ni-ki groaned and feel more frustrated. He couldn’t believe that he just missed that opportunity. The fact that he met the girl he was sketching for months and that you suddenly appeared out of nowhere is still unbelievable for him. Its like he’s laying in clouds right now.

Heeseung snorted, “The one you ditched because you have practice?” he asks Ni-ki and the boy just nodded his head. He and Jake laughed even more, giving each other's shoulders tugs.

“Ugh! What am I going to do? She seems upset when she heard my name. She didn’t talk to me after that too!” Ni-ki stated that earned more chuckles from his hyungs. They were clearly enjoying teasing the youngest. They’ve never seen him this stressed over something like this.

“Well, you’re already a bad shot that’s for sure.” Sunghoon says with a smirk.

Ni-ki stayed silent as his mind slowly and stared blankly. He looked pretty funny for his friends. Sunoo sighed and rolled his eyes while the others kept on teasing Ni-ki.

“What are your plans now, Ni-ki?” he asks. Out of all of them, he’s the one who seems pretty determined to help him first rather than laughing at his misery. They said real friends do that often. Sunoo’s real with Ni-ki, he just left that job to their other friends. He felt bad for him, he really is bothered about it.

“What do you mean?” the younger one looked clueless.

Sunoo rolled his eyes again.

“We all know how much you’re into her. Now, we may not understand how did it happened that the girl you are sketching which you never seen before, just happen to really exist, but what do you plan to do?” he stated.

Ni-ki is just listening carefully to him.

“She’s a new meat and you know what happens whenever there’s a new face at the campus.” Sunoo smirked. The boys got his point right away.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure she’ll be the talk of town for a while.”Jay.

Ni-ki furrowed his brows lightly and realized that they were right. That’s what usually happened. Now, he got more things to worry about.

“What about Jungwon hyung's girl? She’s new too.” he stated.

That made Jungwon furrow his brows. “They all know she’s very much taken so nobody would dare to even try.”

“Honestly, all I can think of doing is to make up to her since I ditched her and made myself look like a total jerk.” his tone sounded so stressed.

“That’s a good idea.” Jake stated, he finally managed to say something after laughing at his younger friend.

“Although I couldn’t seem to think what’s your fault since Jungwon already said that you are called in an emergency practice.” Sunghoon.

Ni-ki shrugs his shoulders off and throw his head back, staring at the clouds above them. They looked so peaceful and somehow ease his frustration. He couldn’t think of anything but you. He’s still amused at what just happened. He can’t believe that you actually exist. There’s no definite explanation to any of this. At the back of his mind, he do wish you are true. But now that he had come face to face to you, he can’t help but to have mixed emotions.

“I should’ve went there and told her myself that I was called in.”

“You were running late already that time, man.” Heeseung.

“Then be it.” the firmness of his tone just made them realized that he is sincerely sorry of what happened.

“What? Nishimura Riki? Will have himself late for basketball practice just so he can tell a girl that he’s called in?” Sunghoon's smirk are wide and wildly teasing. He let out a big sigh.

“Waah, is that really you? Basketball dude. We’re talking about basketball here.” he added.

Ni-ki rolled his eyes and his ears are starting to get red. His friends are well aware of how fond he is over to the girl in his sketches, now it just shows how much he really is into her. And he even just saw her today. Even him think its a little crazy.

On the other hand, you are thinking of Ni-ki as much as he’s thinking of you. His face truly is ethereal. The visual can pass as someone stripped out from one of the books you have read. His proportions are perfect as well, tall and long legged. His aura is slightly mysterious as well, although you still find it odd how he reacted when he looked at you a while ago.

Maybe because he knew he stood you up before. You scoffed lightly. You aren’t really mad about him and you know he isn’t at fault. But you can’t help but to feel a bit of disappointed, because that’s the first time you actually tried to go on a date with someone. You thought that fate already made a move on not making you two meet that time. Maybe that’s already a sign.

“He’s good looking, isn’t he? I told you!” she’s been talking about this one for 15 minutes already.

You can’t help but to roll your eyes. Ni-ki is indeed very good looking, but of course you won’t say that. She will surely tease you so much and you don’t need it for today.

“Do you like him?” she sounded like she’s expecting so much from your answer. Her eyes sparkles in excitement.

You stared at her in disbelief, “Do you actually think that I will like someone just because they’re good looking? Books don’t raised me to be like that.”

Instead of showing a disappointed expression, her smiled grew bigger and started pointing at you like she caught you or something.

“So you do think he is good looking!”

You got stunned by what she said. It was too late to realize what you have said and you can’t take it back or else you will look defensive.

“Whatever.” You just looked down your lunch and started to silently eat it. She started to tease you, but you chose to ignore her.

When you both returned to class, you felt so nervous of seeing him again. You actually don’t understand why, but you just did. Some of your classmates greeted you and you smiled at them, a little shy. Your eyes darted at your seat and the chair beside it is vacant.

You walked over and you even saw Jungwon rushing his way to his girlfriend. You sat down and your eyes took a short glance at Ni-ki’s seat. For an unknown reason, you felt a little sad. You shrugged it off and just grabbed your textbook for the next class.

“Hi y/n!” your eyes darted over to the guy who approached your table. He’s one of your classmates and also part of Ni-ki’s circle. Jungwon introduced the two of you a while ago to his friends, so you know.

You flash him a small smile and your eyes follows his hand as he put a banana milk on your desk. You stared at it a bit, confused then you eyed him.

“I’m Sunoo and that’s from Ni-ki! He asked me to give it to you since they’re called in practice.” he said and your eyes darted back at the banana milk.

The class then started to go seat at their chairs when the teacher for that subject arrived.

“Nice meeting you, bye!” he bid and quickly went to go sit down.

You didn’t even manage to say something to him. While the teacher starts his discussion, your eyes are still glued back to the drink on your desk. You slowly grabbed it and checked the note sticked to it.

‘Hope you enjoy this! :) — Ni-ki’

Your attention was called by your teacher. She asked you and your friend to introduce yourselves because you are new. Then she welcomed you both with a warm smile. After that, she asked you to take a seat so she can start the lesson already.

“Kindly turn your book to page 378.”

As you grab your textbook and start to turn its page, your eyes darted at the drink once again. You scoffed and a ghost smile appeared over your lips before you tried to concentrate to the lesson.

Dismissal came faster than you expected and Ni-ki didn’t showed up in class anymore that whole afternoon. You heard that they’re preparing for the big game and that Ni-ki is actually one of the star players. He really is important in the team. Somehow, you now really understand why he needs to ditch that day.

“Hello,” your heart almost fell when you saw Ni-ki standing right beside you. He’s wearing a plain black shirt and sweats while his duffel bag hangs over his shoulders. His hair looked a little damp, you assume he just finished practice.

You tried to keep your cool and glanced back at your locker. “Hi.” you shortly replied. It made him smile a little.

“Did you receive the banana milk?” he asks and leaned over the lockers. He glanced over the students passing by that greets him.

“Yes. What’s it for?”

He smiles, “I just want to give you one.”

You stared at him for a while before you resumed on arranging your things.

“If this is still about that day, you know you don’t have to give me one.”

He sighs then put his hands inside his pockets. He looked so attractive. Its so crazy to even think of it that way, but its just how it is. You don’t even understand how someone can look this good in just wearing plain black shirt and sweats.

“I know, I just want to.”

You kept his stares at you for a while before you nod your head and glance away. After closing your locker you start walking towards your friend. She’s smiling when she glanced at you and her eyes shifted at the person behind you. That’s when you realized Ni-ki followed you. Your heart races, but you still tried to keep your cool.

“I’ll g-go first. See you guys tomorrow.” you said and gave her a hug. She nods and waved at you telling you to stay safe.

While you’re walking out of the school, you looked over your shoulder because you can still feel someone following you. He smiled innocently and pulled his hand out of his pocket to wave.

“Hi.”

“Are you following me?” you tilt your head over to the side.

“Yes.”

“Why? Do you need anything?”

He pursed his lips, trying to suppress a smile. “Nah, I just want to walk you home. Can I do that?”

You blushed and quickly glanced away like as if you can get answer from somewhere. He kept his stares at you and Ni-ki can’t help but to admire how adorable you look.

“Uhm, I take a bus ride home.”

He nods, “Then I’ll wait for your bus with you. Is that all right?”

Your stomach turns while staring at his innocent looking eyes. The way that he kept asking for permission does something in your heart. How can he looked so intimidating, but be super soft? It’s crazy. You gulped and left with no choice but to let him do it.

He grins and slowly reach for your things so he can help you. That action definitely caught you off-guard, while he looks cool with it. It was almost like he’s very used to doing such things. Is he just really a gentlemen or a playboy? You can’t decide.

You walk beside him, slightly trying your best to keep up. When he noticed, he chuckled softly and stopped so he can wait for you. With a pout, you shoot him glares. “You walk so fast.” you mumble.

He let out another chuckle, “I’m sorry. Let’s go?”

You nodded your head and you both walked towards where your bus usually stops. Ni-ki was the one initiating the conversation which you find very nice because you are shy and you have no idea how to start it. Surprisingly, he isn’t that boring and also not that overwhelming for you. He’s actually very fun to talk to. You cannot believe you actually said it. That he’s fun to talk to.

When you saw the bus driving close, you glanced at him and awkwardly smiled.

“U-Uh, thank you for waiting with me.”

He nodded and gently passes you your bag. “You’re welcome. Get home safe.” and he waved his hand.

You nodded and quickly went to ride the bus. After settling down, you looked over Ni-ki who's still standing where you left him. He glanced at you then smiled when you two met eyes. You signalled him to go and he mouthed something like ‘After your bus left’ and even pointed at the bus.

When the bus started to go, he waved one last time. As it drove away, your mind was left with him. You don’t understand. This was the first time you met Ni-ki and his first impression was even not good for you, then why does it seem like its something else? You can’t point what really is it. All you know is that he made you feel things nobody else does before.

A week has already passed and Ni-ki continued on joining you while you wait for your bus at dismissal. Sometimes he eat lunch with you and your friend, together with their group of friends. They’re all cool and funny. Its obvious how they get along pretty well.

“Here,” your eyes darted over to Ni-ki when he pulls out something from his pocket.

“What..?” he handed you this bookmark that left you a little speechless. It was a sketch of you. The one when you both are studying at the library.

You glanced at him with amused eyes, “Did you draw this?”

He smiled and nodded, “Yes. I told you I do sketches.”

You are still amazed at how good he is so you couldn’t really say anything right away. Your eyes dropped at the pretty bookmare once again and you stared at it. He’s very good, very talented.

“I didn’t know you are this good.”

He chuckles, “Thank you.”

You glanced back at him and smiled, “Thank you for this. I will use this.”

He smirked happily, feeling his heart jumped after knowing you enjoyed and appreciated his small gift for you.

“You better.” he joked that made you chuckle.

As you spend more time with him, the more you get to know Ni-ki. He’s not just amazing, he’s very ideal for you. He’s funny, playful, caring and so much more. You can’t believe you’re actually getting interested over somebody. Fictional characters usually makes you blush, but he’s a real person. He’s real and making your stomach go crazy because of his actions.

“Hi beautiful.” your head snaps over to your side when someone sat down.

A smile quickly made its way over your lips when you saw who it is. It’s Ni-ki and he’s wearing a plain white t-shiry, paired by a black slacks. His hair still a bit damp while he put his duffel bag down at floor. He pulled out a banana milk from it and put it on your table.

“Good morning, how’s practice?” you gently asked and even before you can stop yourself, your hand reached over his hair and softly brush it away from his eyes.

Ni-ki gulped and felt his heart thumping by the affection. You pursed your lips and instantly got shy when your eyes met. You glanced away and pulled your hand away from his hair. He smirks and bite his lower lip.

“It was good. Coach is being a little rough with us tho, because the competition is next month.” he says and you nodded.

“Good luck with your games.” you tried hard to maintain an eye contact even if you can feel your whole face heating up.

“You’ll watch, right?”

Your eyes roamed over his handsome face. They looked so soft, almost hypnotizing you into agreeing to watch his games. You caught your lower lip between your teeth and again, you stretch your hand to brush his hair off.

“Yeah, I’ll watch.” and his stares soften more, if that’s possible. He looked so good. Ni-ki looked so handsome right in front of you. You can’t explain the feeling that you are having right now. It’s uncomfy, how your stomach churns but if he was the reason of it, you’ll want to experience it over and over again.

“Good.” he says and kept the eye contact before gently grabbing your hand to slightly intertwin your hands.

He pulled it closer to his face and placed a small kiss over your hand, “You look so beautiful.” he mumbled.

You gasped lightly and glanced away. He chuckled lightly then he helped you opening the banana milk. Soon enough, your classmates arrived and your day continued. The days passes by too quickly and you just grew closer with Ni-ki.

Another week passed by after that. You mostly spent it with your friend and Ni-ki. He’s usually around you, accompanying you. Some even said that you two are starting to get inseparable. Of course your friend couldn’t stop teasing you about it. She wants you and Ni-ki to be together so bad. Before you get annoyed by her constantly talking about it, but now the idea doesn’t seem to be bad for you. Its just, Ni-ki isn’t saying anything about it. You don’t know if he likes you the way you like him.

“Ni-ki! Valo later?” a smile appeared across your face when you heard a voice from somewhere says that. Soon, you can feel a figure approaching close to you and a hand gently reaching for your bag.

“I don’t know. I’m busy later.” Ni-ki responded. You heard his friend complained about something that he don't join them anymore and somehow you felt guilty, because you clearly know what keeps him ‘busy’.

A hand rests over the small of your back, asking for attention. You turn your head and smiled at him.

“Hi. How’s practice?”

“Good. Was the food good?” he asks curious, his hand now caressing your back gently.

“Yes. Thank your Mom for me.” he gave you lunch a while ago and he said that his Mom cooked it for you.

He nods and smiled then waits patiently until you can go. After a couple of minutes, both of you are off to go at your bus stop. It’s Saturday tomorrow, so you don’t really know what to do. Maybe you’ll just read some books or go out to look for more books.

“What are you up to tomorrow?”

Your head snaps at his direction while the two of you walks side by side. “Nothing. Maybe read some books.” and you even shrug your shoulders off.

“Do you want to go with me?” he glanced away while his ears turns red. He’s incredibly cute so you can’t help but to smile.

“Go with you? Where?”

“Double date.” his eyes dropped over his hands before he slowly raised to look at you.

“Are you asking me out?” your lips almost trembled because of the idea. It excites you.

“Yes.”

You pursed your lips and jokingly squinted your eyes at him, “Do you promise not to ditch me again?”

He chuckles, “I promise.” and even raised his left hand. Your smile fell and you shoot him glares.

“Its suppose to be your right hand!” and you swat his arm. He laughs and fixed it, “Oh my bad, I’m left handed.” he joked.

“So is that a yes?” and he stretch his hand to brush some of your hair off of your face. The slight touch of his skin to yours makes you blush right away.

“Yes.” and you even nodded.

This time, you're the one who reach for his face to pinch his nose lightly.

“All right.” he smiled and held your hand to intertwin your hands.

“Let’s call later?” he asks that made you pout. Your eyes looked over your holding hands. Ni-ki noticed that its a bit cold so he took your hands and put it inside his pocket.

“You should join your friends on playing valo. We’ve been facetiming each other every night.”

He shakes his head, “Nah, I’m not in the mood to play anyway.”

“They’ll start to be suspicious.”

He shrugged his shoulders off, “They know I’m talking to you.”

Your eyes grew a bit big and you blushed just by thinking his friends are aware of it. Ni-ki smirked.

“You’re so beautiful.” he mumbled and just in time, your bus arrived.

Your mind is still occupied even after you ride your bus and it left. His actions and his words all leads to one conclusion, but you still keep yourself from assuming things.

The next day, you woke up early to prepare. You don’t understand, but you are so excited to see Ni-ki. Not that you don’t see him at school, its just different to hang out on weekends.

When you arrived the place where you are suppose to meet the first time, your brows slightly furrowed. All you can see is Jungwon and your friend. No Ni-ki can be seen.

“Where’s Ni-ki? Is he late?” you asked right away.

“Huh? No! He’s...” your friend roamed her eyes around. “right there!” she added.

You looked over your shoulder and saw him walking closer while holding a cup of coffee. He's smiling so big and so you did too, but your eyes trailed down to what he's wearing. It's his jersey.

“You have practice?” you asked, confused.

He nods his head, “I’ll take you with me.”

Your eyes grew big, “To your practice?”

He nodded again, finding you adorable.

“B-But are you even allowed to take me?” you are worried, but you want so bad to go. You’ve never been in their practice.

“Yes. Then after that, we’ll go check some bookstores.” he says excitedly.

“Bookstores?”

He pulled out a piece of paper that shows a list of bookstores around. You pursed your lips into a pout, completely moved over what he did. You hugged him and he was caught off-guard.

“Thank you!”

He broke into a soft smile and dropped a kiss at your forehead, “Anything for you.”

You both bid good-bye to your friend and Jungwon before you walk hand in hand towards the bus stop. Ni-ki assists you to ride and ask you to take a sit while he beep his card to pay for the two of you.

While on the way to school, you enjoy the coffee he ordered for you. He enjoys watching you at the same time. You offered him a sip, but he declined. Soon enough, you both arrived the school. You can barely see people inside, just some maintenance people and some school personels.

You two went straight to the gym. You can already hear the sound of shoes and basketball echoing inside. He gently guided you inside and you started feeling shy when you felt them eyeing you. Once they seen who it was, they started teasing Ni-ki. He can’t help but smile while he guides you at the benches. He sets his bag down beside you and ask if you’re all right. You nodded, despite the blushing cheeks.

“You can watch or read your books.” you nodded and he started jogging towards the court after he took off his plain t-shirt.

You don’t know much about basketball, but surprisingly you enjoyed watching him play. He’s very attentive and you can really tell how he pour everything to things he like doing. He’s full of passion over it.

A loud honk errupted all over the gym, signalling that the practice is now over. Their coach blew the whistle then asked them over. They all approached him and you think he started telling them about the things he noticed. After a couple of reminders, they let them go.

“I’ll just take a quick shower.” he said and you nodded your head before he goes and left you.

While waiting for him, you noticed that a group of players stormed inside. Base on their uniform, they seem like the volleyball team. You didn’t mind them and just busy yourself with your phone.

A pair of shoes caught your attention when it enters your line of sight.

“Hi!” a guy wearing a jersey with a number ‘04’ smiled in front of you. He have this clean haircut and a pretty set of teeth.

“U-Uhm, hello.” you awkwardly greeted.

“Why are you here? Practice? Or waiting for someone who had practice?”

“Waiting for someone.” you answered right away.

He nodded his head while pursing his lips, “Who?”

“Me.” both of you turn your head over to the side.

Ni-ki’s walking closer while having both of his hands inside his pocket, duffle bag hangs over his shoulder and his hair a bit damp. His eyes looked so serious while staring straight to the guy who approached you.

“Nishimura, huh?” he sounds a bit amused.

Your view of him got covered when Ni-ki stood in front of you. He tilt his head, “What do you want?” he asked him straightly.

“What is this? Are you finally over with your dream girl?” his tone taunting him. Your brows furrowed at what he said, confused and curious at the same time as to what he was talking about.

“Shut up.” Ni-ki took advance, but you are quick to grab him by his arm. He glanced at you and his eyes soften.

“Let’s just go.” you plead lightly.

He clenched his jaw hard before he glanced back at the guy. His friends approached closer as well so you somehow you felt at ease.

Thankfully, none of them engaged into a much more trouble and decided to just go leave each other. Ni-ki bid good bye to his hyungs before gently grabbing your hand to take you away. Your mind is still occupied about what that guy said a while ago. The one with Ni-ki’s dream girl. What was that? A part of you felt curious and a part of you doesn’t want to ask about it. You’re afraid to know what his answer would be.

When you arrived at the bus stop, he draws in a strained sigh. He looked a little frustrated.

“I’m sorry that you have to see that.” he apologized, probably referring to him almost getting caught in fight.

You pursed your lips, trying to get rid of that thought and focus on what he is saying right now. “It's f-fine.” was all you can respond.

You wanted to say more, so he wouldn’t caught on you overthinking and stuff, but none came out from your mouth. Your mind couldn’t process anything. Are you that comfortable with Ni-ki that you’ll just let him see through you?

He pursed his lips and sighed once again. You watch him do that and look a bit nervous. He’s obviously holding back on telling you something. It made you nervous as well, what it may be.

“About what he said a while ago,” he started that caught your whole attention. Your thoughts instantly pushed at the back of your mind and the noises around suddenly muffled.

He gulped and his hand plays through your hand that he was holding. Ni-ki’s very nervous to how you will react about this. He knew better than to keep this and make you overthink.

“Promise me first that you won’t find it weird.” he stared straight to your eyes, hopeful.

You nodded your head unconsciously.

“This may sound crazy, but I’ve seen you in my dreams before.” he says and kept his stares at you.

You blinked, confused. Totally confused. You almost think that you’ve heard it wrong or he’s trying to pull a prank on you. But his serious face and the fear in his eyes says otherwise. He’s completely serious, leaving you in wonder of what he was talking about.

“O-Okay..?” you tried to say something that better than it, but you failed.

Ni-ki sighed and lets go of your hand, embarrassed. “You think I’m weird.” he mumbled.

A smile crossed your lips and you quickly took a hold of his hand, now holding it. “No, I don't!” he looked at you and you try hard to suppress a smile.

“You’re laughing.”

That caused a chuckle to escape from your lips, “It’s because you’re cute!” you try to pull him again because he’s trying to turn his back so you wouldn’t see his blushing face.

“Cute? Stop kidding me, y/n.” he says and glanced away, cheeks tinted red and so does his ears.

Soon, your bus arrived so you hold your conversation first. Both of you went inside and sat down at a vacant chairs. He was still avoiding your eyes and you’re trying to catch them.

“So, you dreamt of me?” you tried opening the topic again. He groaned, embarrassed still.

“If you’ll just going to make fun—”

“No! I’m really curious about it. I promise, I’m not making fun of you.” and you tried to look as serious as you can. He sighed and nodded his head.

“How do I look like in your dreams? Do I look just like this?” you asked, curious.

He stared at you, his embarrassment now long forgotten. His eyes stared over your eyes, down to your nose, your cupid's bow and your lips. He carefully scanned each and every one of your features, admiring them.

“You looked more beautiful in person. My drawings can’t do justice in that face of yours.” he said in a very sincere and serious tone.

This time, you’re the one to get shy because of his compliment. He always tell you that you’re pretty, but this time its a little more intimate. You can’t help but to blush a bit more than normal.

Ni-ki took your silence as an opportunity and gently held your hand. Your eyes dropped over them for a while before you glanced back to his eyes.

“I don’t want you to think that I liked you only because you look like the girl in my dreams. I admit, that was one of the reason why I got interested, but you as a person is what made me like you.”

“You l-like me?” you are totally caught off guard.

He smirked then chuckled, “Isn’t it obvious?” he then leaned over to give your cheeks a light kiss. “I like you very much.”

“When are you going to show me your drawings?” you asked him one afternoon. You’re at the rooftop, hanging out since its your vacant hour. He decided to take you here with him. He says its his most favorite spot in school and he’s sharing it with you because you’re his most favorite person.

“Probably soon, baby.” he glanced at you and smiled when he saw your pout before leaning in to give you a kiss at your cheeks.

“But I want to see it.”

“Soon.” he gave your cheeks a light tap before he continues to draw again. This time, you sighed and just let it slide. You don’t want to force him even if you’re already dying out of curiosity.

Its already been two weeks ever since you knew about these drawings and Ni-ki’s confession. You haven’t told him yet that you like him as well, you’re waiting for a perfect time.

You focused on reading once again. You read one sentence. Read it again. Again. And again. You put your book down when you realized you couldn’t understand anything. Ni-ki on the other hand looked too hooked over his drawings. A smile forms your lips just by watching him too focused. He looked so ethereal. How can he call you pretty all the time when he’s the one looking like this?

While you’re spacing out, you had come up with a bright idea to confess toda with Ni-ki. Of course, you don’t want it to be just plain. So you came up with a plan to take Ni-ki to your special place.

“Do you want to go with me later?”

He lift his gaze from his sketchbook towards you, “Where are you taking me?” he even gave you this funny face, like as if he’s scared and that you’re planning something horrible to him.

You rolles your eyes and leaned in to place a peck over his cheeks, “Don’t be dramatic. I’ll tell you where later.” you stood up and flattened your skirt, Ni-ki helped on fixing it because it strides up while you’re sitting.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Going to buy something and look for (friend’s name). You want something?”

He shakes his head, “Do you want me to come with you?”

You told him you’re good and he just nodded his head. Ni-ki have no clue that you are planning to confess to him. You are too excited when you told your friend about your plan and she was as excited as you. She thinks the two of you are perfect for each other.

“Bye, y/n!” she waves and smiles meaningfully at you.

Ni-ki nods at her way and to his hyung while putting his arms around your shoulder, pulling you closer to him. You are waiting for the bus because you told him you will take him somewhere. He even teases you that you are planning something to him which you just respond with an eye roll.

“So where are we going?” he asks for nth time when you rode the bus.

“Can you just stop asking and wait?” you spat at him that made him chuckle.

“All right. I can’t help but to feel excited, this is the first time you asked me out on a date.”

You gave him a teasing smile, “Who said this is a date?”

His smile fell, “Okay, I’m going down at the next stop.”

You chuckled and grabbed his arm tighter, “I’m kidding! You’re such a baby.”

He smirked and leaned his cheek at you, asking for a kiss. You rolled your eyes and gave in, giving him a peck before you two slowly talk about something.

Arriving at your stop, Ni-ki furrowed his brows when you took him at a memorial park. He didn’t ask anything and just followed behind silently. He held your hand tighter when he noticed how your eyes flashes sadness and longing.

You glanced at his direction after you felt him tugging your hand. The worry over his eyes touches your heart. “Let’s go.” and you started pulling him towards the grave of one of the most important person in your life. Your Dad.

“Hi Dad!” you smiled and waved before you crouched down to take out some leaves all over his gravestone. Ni-ki didn’t waste any time and quickly helped you. A warm smile spread across your face.

“Hello, Sir. I’m Nishimura Riki.” he introduced himself and even bowed.

Your eyes got teary just by seeing him paying respect. You draws in a big sigh then glanced at your Dad’s grave.

“Remember when I cried here, Dad? Because I feel like nobody will take care of me and love me. Well, I am back.” you smiled as your eyes heats up and form tears. “But this time I’m with Ni-ki.” you looked over him and he’s staring at you with that worried and affectionate eyes of his.

You laid your hand and he hold your hand tightly before placing a sweet kiss. “He takes care of me, Dad.”

Ni-ki leaned in and kissed your cheeks this time before turning to your Dad’s grave. “You don’t have to worry about her too much, Sir. I will make sure she’s okay. I will take care and love her with all of me.”

Your eyes grew a bit big and you stared at him in awe. He smiled and raised his hand to wipe your tears away.

“I love you.” he said sincerely that made you teary even more.

“I love you too, Ni-ki.” this time, it was his turn to be surprised.

He cupped your face, “Say it again.”

You chuckled, “I love you.”

“I love you more.” and he lean to give you a peck over your lips. He pulled away after a couple of kisses then he rests his forehead at yours.

“Do you think your Dad will be mad that I kissed you?” that made you chuckle so you pull away a bit to look at his eyes.

“I guess so.” you joked and this time, you leaned in to give him a kiss. Ni-ki closed his eyes and even followed your lips for more.

“That’s her. She kissed me.” and he even pointed at you like a kid.

You rolled your eyes and you rest your head over his shoulder. The two of you stayed like that for a while. After that, you pulled Ni-ki to the place near the memorial park, its like a cliff where you can see the whole city lights below.

You walked over the railings and you let the breeze blew over your hair while you stare blankly at the pretty view. On the other hand, Ni-ki was stunned. He was stoned at his position while he stare at you. This scene is very familiar to him.

You glanced over him as the air blow over your hair and Ni-ki’s heart thumped faster. It was the scene in his dreams. Now, he was certain that it was really you and he was destined to meet you.

He smiled, a tear left his eye before he caged you in a tight embrace. He enjoys his passion and the art he was doing, but you made him fell deeper to it. You are his favorite art piece and now, his favorite person.

main master-list

greek myth master-list

#enhypen #enhypenwriters #eeunoiaverse #eeunoia #eeunoiawrites #enhypen imagines #enhypen x you #enhypen x reader #enhypen fic #enhypen niki x reader #enhypen nishimura riki #enhypen niki imagines #enhypen ni ki #enhypen yang jungwon #enhypen lee heeseung #enhypen jay park #enhypen park sunghoon #enhypen kim sunoo #enhypen jake sim

271 notes · View notes

zyzix · 1 year ago

Text

There's this aspect of Joshua Kiryu's character arc that I'm sort of flabbergasted to realize might be basically un-analyzed these past 15 or so years. I still kind of expect someone will pop up and point to something they've already written, but i'll talk about it anyway. This might also create some analysis ideas for NEO?? Ideally, anyway.

Essentially, I think it's really likely that Joshua misunderstood way more about his situation with Hanekoma, Minamimoto, and Neku than people tend to think. Not only that, but the idea that he had these misunderstandings kind of colors his relationship with Hanekoma. It also adds to him and Neku being foils. Where do I even begin.

I guess just with this scene that always made me go "hm, that's weird." Joshua: Think he's got a thing for you, Neku? Neku: What!? How the hell do you figure that? Joshua: Oh, please! The way he follows you around? Neku: That's just because I'm a Player. Joshua: I don't see him chasing after the other Players. Neku: (He's right… So why me?) Joshua: …Or is it my fault? Neku: (What? That's right… He might be tied in with the Reapers.)

So, what's so weird about this? Am I actually proposing that Joshua really thought Minamimoto was following Neku when he asked this? YES. I AM. That might sound nonsensical, and that's because it kind of is! But there's a reason for that.

When you know what happened in the Udagawa back alley a week and some change prior to that scene, it's reasonable to ask "why would Joshua think a Reaper was after some random RG guy?" Minamimoto came at him with a gun! But then why did Joshua even ask Neku if Minamimoto was following him? If he's trying to trick Neku into thinking this, he wouldn't immediately propose the truth afterwards. Maybe he's trying to make Neku distrust him as he does earlier (Neku scanning him, general sketch behavior perhaps) but not only is that redundant, it still doesn't answer why he asked about Neku in the first place.

So what happens if we take Joshua at face value here? Are we to assume Joshua thought he was the target at Udagawa, but Neku is the target now? I have no idea what the thought process would be behind that. Are we to assume that Joshua thought Neku was the target the whole time?? That still seems illogical, but maybe instead of asking why Neku would be the target, we should shift our focus and ask "why would Joshua think he isn't the target?"

I find that a lot easier to answer because we have Hanekoma. And Joshua thought he did too, basically.

We know from Secret Report 9 that the only person who should know Joshua's RG identity here is Mr. H.

SR 9: Minamimoto knows the Composer's RG identity (secret even to the Conductor), and has chased him to the Realground. The Fallen Angel may also have supplied him with this information.

Even in this report, it's proposed (by Hanekoma's misdirection) that someone else, some other Angel perhaps, could know Joshua's identity. We know that there isn't another Angel who told Minamimoto this information though. It was just Hanekoma. The only person in the story for Joshua to suspect is Mr. H.

Yet he doesn't. Or, I don't believe he does anyway. Let's take a look at our options.

Why does Joshua not seem to be wondering who sold him out? We have two branching options to start with: "He already knows who did it" and "he doesn't realize he's been sold out."

Lots of people assume Joshua already knows Hanekoma revealed his identity to Minamimoto. Because like… how else would he have known? Literally what else is Joshua supposed to think after being shot at? I mean, I've been explaining what else Joshua could have thought, but the point is it's a fair assumption. The only issue is that Joshua doesn't behave like he knows Mr. H betrayed him until Week 2 Day 5.

That is a long delay between then and when Joshua should have first known this information (before the story even starts.) I don't know when definitively Joshua put it together, but W2D5 is the first time we can say we KNOW he knows. And it really might have been that moment, because what happens right afterwards?

Well, Neku and him get attacked by Beat and Joshua learns about Kitaniji's "special op." But what happens right after THAT?

Joshua tells Neku that Hanekoma is CAT. An eye for an eye, I guess.

Part of the idea that Joshua did know Mr. H betrayed him from the start is that maybe Joshua was just putting up with that fact. That maybe Hanekoma was too useful, and couldn't do more harm anyway. Or that Joshua really didn't have any other options. I can understand why people think that, but I don't think we can bet on any of those. There's no reason for Joshua to think Hanekoma couldn't do way more harm than just tattling on him, especially as the week goes on and Taboo Noise crop up. Also, while it's impossible to prove one way or the other, there's no reason to think Joshua couldn't have built his game plan sans Hanekoma from the start if he thought he'd betrayed him. All of this assuming that Joshua gives a shit about what Mr. H did, admittedly.

On the other hand, if we posit that Joshua found out later about Mr. H, and that he'd give a shit about that, there should be some kind of change in his behavior towards him. This seems a little hard to to prove because that scene on W2D5 is the last time we see them interact (or even see Mr. H at all) until the ending of the game. That said, it's probably very telling that in TWEWY Mr. H is Joshua's sole confidant, and in NEO Mr. H has no idea what's going on with Joshua at all. I find that very interesting, but we're gonna put a pin in that for later.

Aaaaaaaaaall of that's to say that I don't think it's very likely that Joshua knew Hanekoma told Minamimoto his identity from the start. He shares information with Mr. H too easily for me to think that's the case. What's our next option?

It's possible that Joshua believed he already knew who told Minamimoto, but he was mistaken. However, I said before that there isn't any other suspect in the story and I don't think we can give Joshua another suspect to focus on without just making stuff up. Haz and Coco come to mind as people who might be able to share Joshua's identity, but we can't escape the fact that neither of them even existed at the time Joshua's main character arc was written. We would probably also have to invent some connection they'd have to this particular Game despite them being absent. I think this option is less likely than Joshua knowing about Mr. H the whole time, so I'm striking it off.

What we have left is the "Joshua didn't know he'd been sold out" option. Aside from what I've been arguing, the only other option is "Joshua thought Minamimoto found out on his own somehow." There's no solid reason for Joshua to think this, but it's possible he did anyway. The only reason I think this is less likely than the possibility that he didn't realize Minamimoto was after him is because of how Joshua talked to Neku back there. We have evidence that Joshua might have thought Minamimoto was after someone else; we don't have evidence that Joshua might have thought Minamimoto was able to discover his identity on his own. That said, after the conversation Josh had with Neku W2D2 it's possible his assumption shifted from one to the other as he was trying to figure things out.

So yeah, I believe it's most likely that Joshua didn't realize he'd been sold out at all because that would require him to think Hanekoma would do that to him. Because of that, he believed for more than a week that Neku was Minamimoto's target when they were all in the RG.

You might think that this idea would run into a lot of inconsistencies but I've found it to be shockingly coherent. (Honestly the whole background plot of this game is shockingly coherent for how overt it's themes are. I guess that's beside the point.) Like, let's look at the scene in Udagawa.

It starts with Neku looking up at the tag mural. Then Joshua runs up with a gun from Neku's left. It appears as if Joshua may have been looking behind him. Then Joshua fires in Neku's direction. Neku falls to the ground, but he is unhurt. Then Minamimoto is revealed to be behind Neku with a gun. He is clutching his shoulder. Minamimoto raises his gun, and Neku shields himself. Then several shots are fired towards Joshua. Joshua stops the bullets with his powers, and silently threatens to shoot Minamimoto again. Minamimoto runs off, and Joshua shoots Neku while he is looking after him.

If Joshua already believes that his identity is safe, none of that would clearly contradict that idea to him! Why did Josh think Minamimoto shot at him? Because Joshua already shot Minamimoto. Why was Joshua running if he didn't think Minamimoto was chasing him? To get to his target before the Reaper.

Conversely, why would Joshua be running from Minamimoto if bullets aren't going to hit him?

To us it's obvious that Minamimoto was chasing Joshua and tried to cut him off at the other end of the alley. But to Joshua at the time, he thought Minamimoto was going for the guy in between them.

This does raise some other questions, but there's enough of a case here that I think it's worth speculating off of. Did Joshua even have a theory as to why Minamimoto would be after someone in the RG? Maybe he thought Kitaniji sent one of his Reapers after his potential proxy. Why would it matter to Joshua if Minamimoto killed Neku instead of him if he needs the guy dead? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Joshua only leaves that extra Player Pin-- his trump card-- on Neku after Minamimoto leaves.

Kind of wild so far, right? Well we're not done because I think this idea that Joshua may have had created ANOTHER oversight for him.

Week 2 Day 7: Minamimoto: I was hoping for a little reenactment. Same spot, same setup as last time… Neku: (Last time? Nrrgh! Not now!) Joshua: You OK, Neku? Neku: Waaaugh! [incomplete Neku death cutscene] Neku: It… it was you? Joshua: Neku… Neku: You killed me… You stole my life!

What's with Joshua's reactions here? Did he not realize that Neku was getting headaches around Minamimoto?

(yes)

It's understandable if you think Joshua is faking it here, but if you're with me about this so far you also have to admit that Joshua's surprise can be pretty genuine. I'll be honest, I thought this way before I thought anything else I've put in this essay so far just because Joshua and the situation seemed sincere to me. Why wouldn't Joshua notice this, though?

See, there are four times that Neku, Joshua and Minamimoto are all in the same scene. Neku gets a headache from all of them, and this is what they look like:

Maybe this is just me, but the sprite direction in all of them but the last one makes it seem like Joshua stays between Neku and Minamimoto, and that he does not take his eyes off of Minamimoto the whole time he's around. And compare day 1 to day 7. Even though Neku's sprite is the one in the middle, he retreats backwards when he gets the headache, giving the suggestion that he's actually sort of behind Joshua. That doesn't happen on day 7 though, meaning Neku is definitely far enough in front that Joshua can see him-- and that's when Joshua finally reacts.

How could Joshua misunderstanding Minamimoto's target contribute to this? Regardless of the misunderstanding here, it's clear to me that Joshua views Minamimoto as enough of a threat that he doesn't even glance at Neku while he's having a memory migraine. But the fact that Joshua does notice on W2D7 seems a little less random if that misunderstanding had cleared up for him and caused him to be less zeroed in on Minamimoto. Keep in mind that these four events split evenly into "before W2D5" and "after W2D5." That means that the first two, Joshua would have thought Neku was the target, and the last two are when Joshua knows he was the target all along.

It makes some sense that Joshua might be so focused on Minamimoto that he doesn't notice what's going on with Neku if he thought Neku was being targeted, but what's going on W2D6? Joshua should know by then it's not Neku that Minamimoto was after. Hell, Minamimoto saved both of them earlier that day so why is he so focused on him then but not the next day? I suspect it's because this was Joshua's first time talking to Minamimoto while knowing he tried to kill him, and he was very absorbed in it.

So on days 1 and 2, Joshua was totally focused on Minamimoto because he viewed him as a threat to his proxy. Day 6 Joshua is focused on Minamimoto but it's not about him being an immediate threat, and on day 7 Minamimoto is at his most dangerous, but Joshua thought he could relax more because he was the target and not Neku.

There is one more thing that might keep this from the list of "Shit Joshua Did Not Know About," and it's the fact that Neku… talks? He talks while he's in migraine pain. Joshua may not spare a glance Neku's way but he can hear. Would that not tip him off earlier than W2D7 if he wasn't just ignoring Neku? Funny that-- the dialogue is actually sort of clever here.

Neku talks a decent amount when he's getting that memory migraine around Minamimoto, but the most suspect lines Neku has aren't spoken by him out loud.

Week 2 Day 2: Minamimoto: You fractals have no future! QED. Class is dismissed! [Minamimoto leaves] Neku: (Finally… The pounding's stopped. What language is that guy speaking?)

Week 2 Day 6: Neku: !? Zetta… Neku: (Nrrgh! My head… again…) […] Neku: (The pain's fading… Are he and I connected or something?)

Earlier on (as in the two days Joshua is most focused on Minamimoto as a threat) Neku does also speak out loud about his brain suffering. If Joshua isn't looking at him as well though, they're all things he could interpret as Neku simply complaining about the Weird Math Guy Who Says Confusing Things Through A Megaphone. Neku doesn't like people being loud or people speaking nonsense after all, and uh… Joshua also didn't have the highest opinion of Neku's sociability. Assumptions are a hell of a thing.

So Joshua went into his Game with Neku completely unaware that Hanekoma betrayed him and that Minamimoto was trying to kill him specifically. Then he carried on for nearly the majority of this game without knowing that Minamimoto-- or perhpas the combination of him and Minamimoto-- was giving his proxy debilitating headaches. What does that mean for his character?

Little, but interesting things, I think. I find it pretty compelling that Joshua missed something big about Neku because he was so self-involved even while trying to protect him. It's a neat thing to point at and go "yup, Neku's not the only one who looks stupid for writing people off." I think it also lends well to the idea that they were both getting to know each other in week 2.

Also-- we're coming back to that pin from earlier-- I think it helps flesh out a difference between Neku and Joshua's situations at the end of the game.

Neku: I'm glad I met you guys. You made me… pick up on things, I probably would've just gone on ignoring. Trust your partner… and I do. I can't forgive you, but I trust you.

If you've collected all the secret reports, after Neku's ending monologue and the credits, there's the secret ending. And I feel like the idea of "trust vs. forgiveness" is a palpable element when the ending is viewed as a whole like this. TWEWY doesn't touch upon the idea of forgiveness nearly as much as it does the idea of trust, but I can't help but see a distinction between the two in Joshua just as much as Neku. Only where Neku trusts Joshua but doesn't forgive him yet, Joshua forgives Hanekoma but doesn't trust him yet.

Think about it, doesn't "forgives but does not trust" perfectly describe all of Joshua's future behavior towards Hanekoma? He'll hang around Mr. H in the Room of Reckoning and 104, or talk with him casually about the destruction of a neighboring city. But he wont talk to him if he's upset, or tell him any of his plans anymore. He doesn't seem to hold any of it against Mr. H but he refuses to confide in or rely on him. That turnaround feels really strong if you look at how much Joshua relied on him beforehand. Or if you view his impression of his assassination attempt as contingent on his trust of Mr. H.

The crumbs of information we get about Joshua and Hanekoma's relationship after the betrayal might seem sort of circumstantial. Joshua doesn't want to talk about his feelings for Neku in the secret ending. That carries over into A New Day, and seems to be about Neku. And then in NEO Joshua doesn't give any information to Mr. H for… unknowable NEO plot reasons. But there's something else between og TWEWY and NEO to suggest that Joshua doesn't trust Hanekoma with shit.

A New Day- Hanekoma (over the phone): If that kid is who I think he is, then he probably doesn't know a thing. If he's who YOU think he is, then he probably won't say a thing.

At first this reads fine because Joshua spent his week with Neku tight lipped and evasive as hell. But still, isn't it a little weird for Mr. H to be saying this? He tells Mr. H stuff, doesn't he? Not anymore! It feels like this Hanekoma is talking pretty universally despite having been the exception. But he doesn't know shit and he doesn't propose he can help them know shit if it's about Joshua. And maybe Coco's fake Shibuya has something to do with that, but it's hard to say.

Honestly, aside from gaining the perspective to not destroy a whole city (important), it's easy to look at this and wonder if Joshua came out of TWEWY worse off. And… yeah, NEO really doesn't seem to help that. But I'm going to end this off with some really vague NEO speculation.

What if it's REALLY just Hanekoma who doesn't know shit about Joshua now? It's probably impossible to know the extent of this, but for some reason Shiki and Beat seem to treat Joshua with a slight sense of familiarity now…? The fandom also (quite reasonably) assumes that the real final day of NEO is the first time Neku has seen Joshua since the final day of TWEWY but we don't actually know that. Some food for thought.

#twewy #the world ends with you #ntwewy #joshua kiryu #twewy analysis #sanae hanekoma #sho minamimoto #neku sakuraba #my theory #idk if this counts more as theory or analysis but i can tag both #twewy meta #<-there thats probably better #scabby.txt

186 notes · View notes

lmfaohader · 20 days ago

Text

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Same as always. A little mouse standing under a light post. It's snowing, and he's always carrying an umbrella."

"Did he say anything to you in this one?"

"No. He just seemed very scared, and a little sad."

"Well give me the details and I'll add it to the drawing"

I retrieved my sketch book from my bag and turned to the ever familiar page I had been working on for a couple of days. In the middle of the page, a mouse. Oversized yellow clogs, red linen pants, and large black ears on the top of his head. Just as my friend, Jo, always described him. Cheery eyes that she normally described as "oddly sad for such a happy little mouse" and rosy plump cheeks. Beside him, a lamp post, that once I can get to painting (and get the right color), burning with a bright orange light. A pile of snow settled at its base. I took out my pencils, erasers, and blending stump as Jo described the mouse with more details. Today, his umbrella was black but seemingly used very often and the snow glittered when the moon rose above it.

Joanna is an extremely vivid dreamer. I've known her essentially my whole life and have listened to every dream she could ever recount, but lately they've been more and more life-like. It's almost as if she actually goes to wherever it is she's dreaming. Maybe it's her younger mind trying to escape from our reality. We are from the same town in London, and when my parents were called to defend our nation, Jo's mother offered to take me in until they returned. Things only got worse from there. The air raids and constant threats kept flooding into the city. After some time, Jo's mom believed that the city was no longer safe for us. She called upon an old college professor who she had remained in friendly contact with over the years who lived far off in the countryside. He gladly took us in. Jo was extremely upset about leaving, so to help her keep going I told her I would draw whatever she wanted. Now, I have half of a sketchbook filled with her dreams. They're always in immense detail, and are only finished when Jo gives it a seal of approval. They started off really normal. Her house, the view outside of the train window, a field of wildflowers, but the longer we're here the more she dreams of his made up land. A land where a talking lion is supposed to rule, but is being hunted and thwarted by an evil, ice witch. A little mouse who hides from the secret wolf police. A winter that has lasted for over a hundred years. That's the part of it that feels like she actually goes there, she knows some of the history. How the people are waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled to end the long lasting winter and to find the lion who once ruled over the land.

I looked up to see the sun lowering over the countryside. Jo sat on the tree limb above me. Watching as the colors of the sky change.

"That's it" she said softly

"That's what?" I tried to follow her eyeline to see what she was seeing

"That's the color orange"

She was right. As the sun dipped below, the sky became a bright, burning orange. I tried to think of the time to try and return to this hour tomorrow to mix paints as Jo climbed down from the tree and sat beside me. She scanned my drawing. Ensuring that every detail matched precisely. I lifted the drawing a bit more so she could see.

"How's it looking?" I asked as eraser shavings fell off into the lawn

"It looks good. I think you've perfectly drawn him." she placed her hands against the ground and raised to her feet. "I'm excited to see this one painted. I think it'll be your best yet."

"My best yet huh?"

I closed the book and gathered my materials as we both made our way inside. It was always so quiet in the mansion. As big as it is, the only inhabitants are us, Ms. Macready, and Professor Kirke. It wasn't exactly kid friendly. The halls were lined with perfectly polished artifacts and antiques. An expensive seeming painting hung from nearly every wall. Precisely placed hall runners covering much of the hardwood surface. As soon as we came inside, we took off our shoes and made our way to our room. There were so many doors, and we didn't know what was inside most of them. We were only certain of where our room was and where the Professor's office was.

Professor Kirke was a kind man. Mostly enthusiastic, and extremely excited to have visitors. On the first few days we were here, he noticed our sadness and brought us into his office to tell us some stories from his youth about him and a friend. They seemed to cheer up Jo, for the most part. I just enjoy shutting my brain off and sitting in the comfort of his company. For whatever reason, Ms. Macready (Professor Kirke's housemaid) refuses to let us speak to him without being specifically requested. She says that his work is extremely important and he cannot be disrupted. So, the times we have gotten to speak to him have been scarce.

As we were approaching our room, a stern voice called to us.

"Girls, Professor Kirke would like to see you"

Appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, Ms. Macready stood at the top of the stairs leading to our room. Jo and I traded a knowing look, thanked her and made our way to the Professor's office. Upon arrival, I knocked on the door as Jo waited patiently behind me.

"Oh! Come in! It's open!"

We pushed open the door and entered the pristinely kept office. Neatly dusted, books alphabetized, pencils sharpened in their cup, leather chair shining from a real good polish. Professor Kirke smiled as we entered and gestured for us to take a seat in the brown plush chairs in front of his desk.

"I hope I have not disturbed your evening" he said as he closed the book he was studying and pushed it back into its spot. "But I had some news that pertained to the both of you since you bot-"

His sentence was cut short as his eyes landed on the sketchbook in my arms. I could feel my face get a bit hot. I had never really shown an adult my drawings. Only Jo had seen the contents of these pages before.

"Oh my, it seems we have an artist on our hands. May I?"

"Oh, yes you may" I spoke through a knot in my throat as I placed the book into his outstretched hand and felt suddenly as if my stomach plummeted.

Professor Kirke smiled gently at me as he placed the book onto his desk. He flipped to the first page. He studied it for a moment, then nodded and flipped onwards. With every page his smile grew. You could feel the child-like giddy as he moved onwards. My nervousness seemed to fade and become replaced with pride. I thought they were good, but it was really nice to see it written on someone's face.

"Lacey, these drawings ar-"

Professor Kirke's voice stopped abruptly. There was a sudden shift in his demeanor. The always happy and smiling professor was replaced with a shell. His eyes filled with a mixture of fear and sadness. His mouth slightly agape, as if frozen in place from speaking to me before. My mind raced to think of what drawing could possibly cause this reaction, but they were mostly buildings and scenescapes. He turned the book towards us and pushed it to where we could see it.

"How do you know of this place?" He asked as he pointed to a scenescape of a dark, frozen castle, covered in snow with icicles dripping from every ledge and a pack of wolves surrounding the drawbridge. Sculptures of animals made of ice sat right inside the front gate.

"Jo dreamed of it. She said it was the castle of the evil, ice witch. Right?" I looked to her for an explanation as Professor Kirke's head snapped in her direction.

"Elsa the White Witch" Jo responded, bringing the page closer to her, "she created the everlasting winter. She is their self proclaimed ruler, but they're just waiting for the prophecy to happen."

"You never said she had a name" I wracked my brain for any mention of this name before, but came up with nothing.

"I didn't learn it until recently," Jo shrugged and followed very matter of factly. "Or you would've"

"Did you say you learned this recently?" The Professor asked

"Yeah. Maybe a few nights ago."

"But where?"

"I go there in my dreams. That world needs help, and I've been trying to understand what's going on so that maybe I can help." she explained as she flipped through the sketchbook. "Lacey's drawings help me remember so I'm really starting to put it together now"

"How can you help a dreamland Jo?" I asked

"Don't sell her so short" Professor Kirke responded softly as he poured over the drawing. His sadness seemed to grow as he did.

"Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it isn't real," Jo said. "I don't just make things up you know"

"I didn't mean it that way" I announced as I closed the book and took it back in my arms. "I don't think you make things up, but you yourself have to admit that it is extremely far-fetched."

"I don't admit anything" Jo snapped, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I know what's real and what isn't Lacey. That place is real. I can feel it."

"She does explain it with great detail" the Professor chimed in motioning towards the book in my arms. "Otherwise you could not have such detailed drawings. Down to the color of the ice sculptures and the way the stars align in the sky."

I stared blankly at him. He spoke with confidence. Almost as if he understood her.

"Professor Kirke," I said, "do you believe this land exists?"

He stared back at me. His round spectacles dramatize his very determined look. I could see the spark in his eyes. As if hearing a call to action. He looked down at the sketchbook once more then shook his head slightly as if to awaken himself from whatever came over him. Jo sighed and I could feel her disappointment from the response. I sighed as well and began to rise from my seat to leave when Professor Kirke spoke again.

"There is another family coming to stay with us until everything in London calms down"

"Another family?" Jo asked, seeming to pep up a bit from her disappointment.

"Yes Jo" he replied, "Four children. Two older siblings more Lacey's age, and two younger children more your age. They should be here within the next few days. Perhaps, you both could make a friend or two."

I nodded to him, and then left for Jo and I's room. It wasn't much. Two twin beds, decorated with the same bland sheets. Jo's books sat on her bedside table, and a desk under the window overlooking the front of the mansion held many different colors of paint along with a couple of pencils and a clock. How else was I to make the color of the sky if I couldn't look at it? I slammed down into the chair and flipped through the sketchbook. Hoping anything would seem to line up. To tell a story. To help me understand what was going on. But I could find nothing in these scenescapes to give me answers. If only I could draw people, I thought to myself, maybe it'd be easier to understand. Maybe I could see what they see. After minutes of examining every page, every rock, every stream, every flake of snow I closed the book defeated. I looked out to the sky made navy blue in the light of the moon. Almost, like the sky above that little mouse.

-Lacey

You can find the rest of this story on my Wattpad @ stfumendes it’s titled Disnia. There will be three books and love interest for both boys. 💕

#golden age narnia #narnia edit #narnia #edmund pevensie #lucy pevensie #golden age edmund pevensie #susan pevensie #peter pevensie x reader #peter pevensie #edmund pevensie x reader

19 notes · View notes