thescarleteyes

[thescarleteyes]

Find the Word!

Rules: Find the words in your wip(s), share a line or excerpt. Tagged by @olliexwrites <3 <3 Tagging: Open tag

My words are white, storm, love, & desk. Your words are promise, frost, shame, & joy.

Using lines/excerpts from various fanfic wips!

White ;;

Clouds lazily rolled across the blue sky of Liy..ue, a brilliant white like curls of smoke lining the sky. Bai..zhu, the man, took a deep breath of the fresh fair wafting in through the open door of his pharmacy as he sat out front and waited for customers. He rarely did this, but the sun was too nice of a chance to pass up just this once.

Storm ;; (synonym: push, though used in a different context)

Placing his hands on the ground he tried to push himself up, but his arms were too weak to support his weight and he fell to the floor, hitting his face off the ground. What followed the smack was not full pain, just mild discomfort; such a feeling felt so foreign to him he knew not what to do about it.

Love ;; (peace was the closest i could find don't kill me)

As he walked beside Felix, close enough that their hands could brush together, he wished that this moment would never end. To him, it felt like maybe peace could truly he achieved in his lifetime.

Desk ;;

This time it was Oz who greeted the shorter man with a kiss, having finally stood up out of his chair. Though he had the upper hand at first, this didn’t last very long, as Qrow wrapped an arm around Oz’s waist as he walked back until Oz was seated atop the desk. The two men had been apart for many months, given Qrow’s status as a teacher at Signal and professional huntsman, and they only broke apart for gasps of air as inhibitions seemed to just melt away.

[thescarleteyes]

J'avoue Je Maudis Tout Ceux Qui S'aiment Pairing: Vanitas x Noé, past Vanitas x Jeanne Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Tags: Character Study (sort of), Possibly Unrequited Love, Internalized Homophobia, Internal Conflict, Self-Hatred, Kissing, warning for a little bit of... rude language towards Jeanne, Vanitas is not the best person let that be known Word Count: 1,667 Cross Posted on Ao3.

Summary: On a cold, windy night, Vanitas sits upon the rooftop once more, thinking about his recent (and first) kiss with Noé, and if he truly loves him, or if he loves Jeanne.

It was late one night, and the full moon shone in through the singular window as its curtains flapped in the night breeze. At an hour like this, both of the men that shared this room should have been fast asleep, and someone was surely sleeping in the bed that lay a few feet away. But if the window was cracked to let the wind in like it was, that had meant that a certain someone was not asleep, and was likely enjoying the cool Parisian night air as his head would not stop filling with thoughts and keeping him dreadfully awake. Against the metal of the roof, there was a soft pitter-patter as someone walked across it, looking for some place to sit. Their favourite place was always much further away from the window they came out from, but they preferred it that way — less of a chance of getting found and caught again, they figured. There was a slight groan of the old, slightly rusty metal of the roof as they sat down, taking in a deep breath and turned their eyes to the moon. 

If anything, they thanked that this full moon was not a blue one. 

Vanitas did not often like to have to think of his namesake, and especially not at a time like this. He had come out to the roof to clear his head. After what had happened earlier, he just didn’t know what to think, and every possibility swirled around in his thoughts ‘till it nearly drove him mad. And the fact that he had no idea where to begin processing what he was feeling… he wanted to yell out in anger. 

Yelling out into the dead of the night in the middle of Paris was not something someone who wanted to be respectable would do though. So he kept his mouth and emotions shut, as usual. 

He did, however, let a groan escape his lips as he pressed his gloved hands into the cold surface of the roof. Without the fabric barrier between his skin and the metal, it would have stung, as he pressed his hands a bit too harshly into the edges. A part of him wanted to kick his sock-covered feet against the roof as well, but that would have been a bit too rude, and he didn’t really need anyone waking up because he was an idiot who didn’t understand emotion. 

Vanitas leaned back, sprawling out across the roof and sighing. His arms rest underneath his head, and though they would surely fall asleep sooner rather than later, that was the least of the worries on his mind. The wind that night was blowing his long hair messily across his face as he, once again, attempted to look towards the night sky. Did he hope to find an answer in the stars to his problems? No — and perhaps he would have chuckled at that thought — he gave that up long ago. 

He lie there for a good while, occasionally letting out an exasperated sigh and hitting his fist against his thigh, still unable to sleep and still angry with himself.  He couldn’t believe that he let himself open up like that. Not to someone like Noé, he didn’t think he would have ever exposed himself like that to Noé. It wasn’t the first time he had done it, but Noé was different, and it felt wrong.  Or did it?  He let out a much more audible groan this time around. 

Vanitas sat up, feeling coming back into his arms as he stretched out his fingers and crossed his legs. He silently shook his head, dismissing yet another denial, but the idea that followed finally was one he could get behind. He may not have had his books up here, but he did know how to compare things, and he could compare what he knew that he felt. Not that he wanted to remember what he felt, but that seemed like his last resort.  He thought as hard as he could.

Vanitas knew that he didn’t mind kissing Jeanne so much. Her lips were soft, and so was her skin and hair, and she always smelled nice. She was also very fun to toy with; despite his former infatuation with the white haired woman, he hadn’t felt so much like death these recent times that he saw her, so he figured he may just like playing with her. At the very least, her reactions amused him, and she was cute. Did he like cute? He wasn’t sure of that one either. He also knew though that if he explained his complicated feelings towards Jeanne that many would dismiss it as love, which it was not. He was sure of the fact that he did not love Jeanne so much more as he loved something that amused him in his sad, dull story of a life. 

Mentally, he marked it down: He did not love Jeanne in the way he felt that he should have, and what he felt was something much, much more horrible. It felt just as bad as love did. 

But now… What did he know about Noé? He thought long and hard, frustratingly hard on it. 

He knew that Noé was particularly attractive, though he would have never admitted it to him. Part of him hated that he had to rely on the other man, but another part of him found it nice to be able to have someone around again… ugh . Vanitas hit his fist against his thigh again.  He thought for the longest time that he hated the way Noé insisted on hugging him in his sleep, but the feeling of another warm human wrapped around him was the only way he could sleep these days. 

His dumb pretty eyes and soft, messy white hair were — horribly — amongst the few things that made him content when he woke up. Vanitas wasn’t sure if he knew how he’d go back to living without Noé joining him to search for curse bearers, even if his tendency to get lost so damn easy was infuriating and he could get so much more done if he were alone. And… and…

Noé’s lips were nicer against his own than Jeanne’s. Jeanne was soft but so was Noé in his own right; even though his skin was rougher he greatly preferred it than the soft monotony he was used to. And despite the fact that Noé so rarely ever fed from anyone, he swore that in their brief moment he could have tasted the tinge of iron on his lips, something he would never get from Jeanne. He shouldn’t be enticed by the taste of blood, he was human, he swore to whatever was out there that he was human, but…

Vanitas knew that deep down, he could have gotten wrapped up and intoxicated in that single, dumb kiss Noé placed upon his lips earlier. He could go back and have another and another, and he hated it. It felt like a wound that would never calm down, he hated it. 

But a part of him understood, and loved it all the same.

Looking at the facts laid out before him, he let out the biggest groan of that night. The signs pointed so blatantly towards the option he hated most. Sure , being in love with Jeanne would have been hellish as well, but at least it was easy . At least he could tell people without question, without shame. 

At least he’d be able to look at himself without shame. 

Love to Vanitas felt much like a brand; hot and painful, never ceasing, a mark that he bore only out of pain. He did not think himself worthy of holding such a mark, and even as he traced his fingers over the rose that sat at the base of his neck, he still did not think himself as worthy of such a thing as love. Whether it was from Jeanne or from Noé it did not matter all that much; he simply wasn’t it, and wanted them to go away so he could return to feeling like ice instead of a hot poker, waiting and prodding at his heart.

This night couldn’t be worse. He’d have to ignore the signs for as long as he could. Even if it hurt, he’d let this love he had found towards the other man eat him alive if that’s what it took. Yes, that’s what he’d figure he’d do.

Vanitas turned his head now, noticing that the sun was now rising over the furthest rooftops in the city. He had been lost in thought for so long the sun had shown itself to him, and — regrettably — he let out a yawn. People would not be out in the streets for some time, and while he would have remained up on the roof all night… he found the thought of laying in bed next to his roommate, all warm, disgustingly appeasing. As he rose to his feet, he let out a good laugh, no longer caring about whether or not he would wake others up. 

Perhaps it was Noé who had placed this curse upon him, just as Jeanne once had. 

Perhaps he didn’t mind it as much as he wanted to. 

When Vanitas entered the room again, and the sun shone in through the open window, Noé was still thankfully asleep. He sat himself on the bed as the wood frame squeaked while he bent over and dusted off his clothing from being outside for so, so long. And before he inched himself under the covers…

Vanitas leaned over and placed a singular kiss on the sleeping Noé’s cheek.

There. A seal to keep in these forbidden feelings of his, he thought, smiling to himself as he let himself fall into another likely restless sleep.

Neither the Parisian wind, nor the stars, sun, or moon would have kept him from seeing that other man in his dreams that night.

[thescarleteyes]

I'll Set You Up Against The Stars Pairing: Aether x Scaramouche Rating: Explicit Tags: Porn with Plot, Blow Jobs, Choking, Enemies to Lovers, Fauti! Aether, Aether is Semi-Verbal Word Count: 4,390 Cross Posted on Ao3. Written with @kokoronooji.

Summary: Aether, a newbie in the ranks of the Fatui, is sent out on a mission to Inazuma with none other than the Harbinger Scaramouche. And no matter how rude the harbinger is to him, he finds himself intrigued by him. Scaramouche just finds himself annoyed that he has to have company at all. But when there's a mishap upon the ship to Inazuma, what will happen between the two of them?

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. THANK YOU.

The sky was overcast and gloomy on that day. The blond sighed to himself as he followed the harbinger, silent in his movements as he always was. He didn't want to be here, and it was clear in his irritated expression that this was the case. However, he couldn't refuse direct orders, and this was the first mission he'd been on since he'd joined the Fatui.  He hadn't been told much information about this mission — just that he was to follow Scaramouche along and assist him with anything he needed. And so the two of them were seemingly headed towards Inazuma, neither one of them saying a word as they travelled onwards.  The sky looked like it was about to rain, and the blond was already dreading it.

Oh, how Aether longed to speak to the other, to ask him why they were heading out this way, but he wasn't sure how to do so. His little floating companion, Paimon, hadn't spoken a word since he'd joined the Fatui, and he hadn't seen a trace of her either. He pondered what to do for a long while, before he finally got an idea.

Pausing in his tracks, he grabbed the Harbinger's arm, trying to let him know that he needed his attention. He then produced a small scroll of paper from his backpack, along with a pen. He wrote out what he wanted to say, and then shoved the piece of parchment into Scaramouche's hands. 'What are we going out to Inazuma for? I wasn't told any details about this mission at all.'

Scaramouche thought he had been rather clear before they headed off that it was off limits to touch him without warning. He didn't like the feeling of someone else's skin against his, it only served to send shivers down his spine. The urge to swat the blonds hand on his arm away was kept down as a piece of paper was haphazardly shoved into his hands.  The balladeer let out a mildly annoyed sigh. 

" Unfortunately ... This isn't much of a mission. I, for one, have no idea why you were assigned to come with me. I could have done this better all alone... but I digress." Scaramouche flicked the paper back at Aether, then turned around and signaled for them to keep walking. Far too close to the docks to stop walking now. "Firstly, I was told to go check up on delusion production. Apparently people have been slacking and they need someone to tell them off to "up morale". Secondly, I was incandescently pestered by a certain fox to give her information on the whereabouts of the gnosis. As much as I hate to have to deal with her again... denying her would be the worse of the two options." 

At the mention of Yae, Aether felt a shiver run up his spine. Just the brief mention of her was enough to remind the blond about just how fierce she had been during his last visit. 

As Scaramouche finished his explanation, he could see the ships from the harbour in the distance. They were keeping up a steady pace; they'd be there in no more than twenty minutes at this rate, and with that thought the Harbinger was pleased.

Aether rolled his eyes at the harbinger's tone, softly sighing, though he did nod his head in understanding. He continued walking as instructed, though he couldn't help but feel a slight fatigue coming on — he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before — and bit back a yawn that threatened to fall from his lips. Ah. So that was it, huh?  Aether wished he could have just stayed back at headquarters. What was the point?

Scribbling more down on the paper, he settled for just tapping the balladeer on his clothed shoulder this time, holding out the paper once more. He hoped Scaramouche could read the handwriting this time, as it was a bit more messy than the previous text had been. 'I understand. I don't want to deal with her, either. Though, why do you hate her?' "We have a history. That's all you need to know."

A part of Scara wanted to laugh a little bit though. It was kind of nice knowing that Aether didn't really like dealing with Yae any more than he did, regardless of how different their reasoning probably would be. 

The road to the harbour was mostly dirt instead of snow and it crunched beneath the harbingers feet. For the next handful of minutes the two of them walked in silence, Scara walking a couple of paces ahead to avoid having to make much more small talk with the newbie. Seriously , he could have handled this on his own, and being asked questions was starting to get on his nerves.  Aether silently followed along, and noticed Scaramouche's movements to avoid conversation. He couldn't blame him, though. Aether was a newbie, and the other was a literal Harbinger. He wouldn't doubt that he was annoyed by his very existence.

Once the guards had spotted Scaramouche's entrance to the harbour they knelt on instinct. A faint smile habitually crept up on the harbingers face as he barked an order to the workers.  "Secure a ship for me and my.... companion here. We're heading straight for Inazuma and I'd like no further delays."  As the men rose to their feet and ran to secure a ship for the two of them, it seemed that Aether and Scara were left alone again. It had been less than a day and the lack of alone time was already starting to wear on him.

The blond's eyes widened as he watched the men kneel, and was even more astonished when the men scrambled off at the balladeer's barked orders. So this was a Harbinger's power, huh?  He was dumbfounded. Aether wanted to ask the other something else, but he didn't want to get further on his nerves, as much as he longed to see such an irritated expression on the man's face.

Aether felt something on his arm, and looked over to see Paimon, staring at him in disapproval. He gave her a small smile and rubbed her face with a finger."...I'll only translate when necessary. Work on your penmanship." She whispered.

He put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet, but then gave her a small nod, watching as she retreated back into his backpack.

Since Aether gave him no response, there was no reason to speak to him any further. That was, of course, unless he needed to, but Scaramouche didn't seem to think that there'd be much of an opportunity for that once they boarded the ship; after all, they'd have separate rooms, and could spend the night in perfect, isolated quiet. 

That is what the harbinger hoped at least as he tapped his sandaled foot on the dirt of the ground, growing impatient as the minutes they did not have a ship to Inazuma ticked by. It would have been several more minutes of standing around in the growing cold before some Fatui grunt approached them with the news. There was an interesting look on the grunts' masked face; it was hard to tell if it was worry or something else. Whatever it was, the news they had to deliver was likely not good. "L-lord Scaramouche sir, we have secured the ship to Inazuma for you. There is just one issue with the shi-" "What issue could there possibly be!?" snapped Scaramouche, finally turning around to face the lesser Fatuus.  "Go on, spit it out. " 

A nasty look grew on his face as the grunt shrank in their coat. "W-well you see, all the large ships were already sent out elsewhere by at least one of the other harbingers. We have one ship left, but there's only one room for lodging. S-so I'm afraid you'll have to room with your companion here for the trip." "Damn it!" shouted Scaramouche, looking like if there had been a wall around them he would have slammed his fist into it and broke something, most likely the wall. He took a deep breath.  "Fine. As long as we don't have to share a bed, we'll be fine. Aether, come along, we have a ship to board."

A small smirk crept across Aether’s face at the harbinger's outburst, and his only response is a soft grunt as he followed the other onto the ship. He could still feel Paimon shuffling around in his backpack, but chose to ignore it as to not let it bother him.  As they boarded, he could hear Paimon's rummaging getting louder. However, if he were to scold the little being, Scaramouche would question him. So he was just hoping that the other wouldn't notice the noises coming from his bag, otherwise there would likely be problems.

"You have so much shit in here, blondie!" There was a tiny voice screaming, yet it was muffled by the backpack's thick fabric. Absent-mindedly, the blonde punched the bag, trying to shut Paimon up before someone heard her.

When they reached the room, Scara took a look around. It was small, and cramped, and there was somewhere around 12 dumb hard bunkbeds lining the walls. They were unsavoury at best and absolutely not fitting of his position as a harbinger. Regardless if he wanted that position or not, he was going to use it to get what he felt he deserved, and this was not it.  He sighed.  Whatever."No one else will be using this lodging so... you're free to toss your bag on one of the spare beds. Or the floor. Or in one of the lockers if you can find the keys. Or perhaps you can let whatever that thing in your bag is that's attempting to yell up a storm out and into the dining hall or something. Better to terrorize the crew for food than in here, in my opinion." 

As Scaramouche spoke to him, Aether had already sat down on one of the beds. He reluctantly opened his bag, letting Paimon loose. He gestured for her to leave the two of them be, and sighed to himself while doing so. She reluctantly left the lodging, giving the blond one last look, one of pure concern, before fluttering away.

Scara also took a seat down on one of the lower bunks, taking off his shoes and hat and setting them on one of the other beds before getting up again and pacing around the room. He was so very unsatisfied with the way this "mission" of his was turning out — first he had to take someone else on his mission, and a newbie at that. Second, he was now stuck in a room with said newbie who either asked too many questions or didn't speak at all. And while he was grateful for the fact he didn't speak much... a part of it was irritating him and he couldn't tell why. Scaramouche continued to pace about the small room, unsure if he should yell at the newbie to continue to be quiet like he had been. Either way, the next thing he was asked would likely set him off, and he knew it. He just didn't know how . 

Aether personally breathed a sigh of relief — he'd been tired of Paimon's shit from the start. He watched the harbinger pace angrily, and simply tilted his head in curiosity. There was a part of him that wanted to see Scaramouche even angrier than he already was, and that part of him caused something below to slowly rise— No—! Stop thinking those thoughts. However, that side of him won, and he pulled the pen from his bag. He aimed for the back of Scara's neck, and then let it loose. He'd always had good aim. Though he'd wanted to watch the other's expression curiously, he quickly positioned himself to appear like he hadn't just done that.

Despite being previously lost in thought, anything on the harbingers mind stopped as he came to an abrupt halt. Something had pinked him on the back of his neck, just inches away from a particularly sensitive spot he took care to hide.  Either the culprit was aiming for it to see what would happen, or they just wanted to tick him off, and he was willing to bet on the latter. In fact, he was sure the culprit was on the other end of the room, adjusting themselves to act as if they hadn’t done anything. They couldn't play coy with him, no , he wouldn't let that slide.

Scaramouche marched himself over to Aether without a thought. As he bent over to lock eyes with the blond, he grabbed a fistful of shirt and pulled him closer.  "Are you sure you really wanted to throw that?" he spat, pulling at his shirt more to signal him to stand up. 

In most cases, Scaramouche would have simply chewed his subordinate out, yelling and cursing at them until they swore submission to him and promised to never do it again. But Aether was different — either he was expressionless or smug, and it both irritated and attracted the man. And he hated that he found it attractive. So, wordless, Scaramouche backed the other against the wall between the rows of beds. 

All Aether did was smirk without a word when he was pulled to his feet, secretly thankful that the flittering nuisance had left the room moments prior. He didn't need her teasing him about this for the years to come. Scaramouche’s slender fingers wrapped themselves comfortably around Aether's neck as he pinned him to the wall, one leg on the floor and the other resting between the other man’s. 

"In this organization, we have respect for our higher ups, got that?" 

As Scaramouche lectured him, he was, admittedly, even more turned on, and it didn't help that the other man was now pinning him up against a wall. The hand that oh-so perfectly snaked itself around his throat didn't help things, either. It only served to make him hotter . Not that he minded , of course. It was just a little troublesome to deal with. Oh well. Maybe Scara would take care of this predicament all by himself. After all, he was the one who'd gotten him into this mess. The two were so close to each other's faces that the heat between them was growing unbearable. But Scara he stood there with his leg between Aether's, he began to notice something.  He figured he'd let himself have some fun for once. 

Leaning in close to Aether's ear, he whispered. "Barely even touched you and you're already worked up, huh?" Scaramouche pressed his thigh against Aether's ever-growing bulge. He figured that'd get a reaction out of him that he liked.

Aether felt his heart pounding at the actions and words exchanged, and when he felt the heat rise, as well as the harbinger's breath on his skin, a shiver ran down his spine. A breathy gasp slipped from his lips at the thigh pressed against his growing erection, and his eyes flitted shut from the overwhelming presence of it all. "Y-Yes..." The word fell from his lips, shakier than he'd intended. It was the first thing he'd actually spoken since meeting Scaramouche, and admittedly, he hadn't expected the words to come at all.  The blond whimpered softly, cheeks burning with embarrassment at this whole situation. He surely hadn't expected to end up like this. However, it wasn't like he was displeased . Not in the slightest . He could get used to this.

The noise that escaped Aether's lips as he pressed himself against him pleased Scaramouche. It had been some time since he let himself indulge in things like this and he was enjoying every second that it lasted. And he hoped that it'd last as long as it could.  Scara moved his free hand and placed it on Aether's waist, slowly slipping a finger beneath the top of his pants. He tugged a little at the garment as a tease to the other man.  Faces already close, with a smirk he whispered in Aether's ear once more,  "Are you sure this is really what you want? Fucking a harbinger isn't going to shoot you up the ranks, you know."  The moment he was given the cue he'd kiss the breath out him. Though planning more, there was a part of him that was itching to know just how soft those silent lips of his really were.

"Oh, Archons, yes..." The words slipped from Aether without a second thought, head tilting back into the wall as the other's finger slipped beneath his pants. To be honest, the fact that he hadn't gotten much lately was driving his body nuts, and he wanted this more than he thought he did.  There was something about Scaramouche that felt different when Aether compared him to his past beddings. It made the blond want to take things slower, despite the voice in his head that screamed 'more, more, more.'

"What if I don't care about rankings, huh? What if I just want a quick fuck? Tell me, what'll you do then, Balladeer ?"

"Is that what I am? Am I really just a quick fuck to you?" Scaramouche tightened the grip he had on Aether's neck momentarily. Didn't wanna kill the guy. At least, not yet. Scara couldn't tell if he wanted to scowl or smile at Aether. Hearing full sentences come out of that pretty little mouth of his was surely a surprise to the harbinger's ears. In that case, he certainly wanted to hear more of them.  "Well, if that's what you want..." 

He removed his hand from Aether's neck before planting his lips against the other mans. Scara was pleased with this as well — Aether's lips really were as soft as they looked. Slowly but surely, he moved his kisses to Aether's neck, but there was just one issue in his way. 

"Would you mind removing... this?" he said, giving his shirt a good tug. "It's in my way, if we're really going to do this."

The feeling of the other's lips upon his own came as a surprise at first. Then again, he should have expected this. He just hadn't gotten any in quite a while. Kinda hard when you're searching for your missing sister. Aether gasped for air as Scara pulled his face away, and he noticed the tugging at his shirt and sighed softly. He was quick to remove the piece of clothing, tossing it aside. They would have to find it later. Not that it mattered.

"Heh.. Is that more to your liking? What're ya gonna do, huh?" Being a brat. As was typical for the blond.

" Hmph ." Scara let out a small noise of approval but nothing more as he began to leave a trail of kisses down Aether's chest. He was making his way down to where he wanted to be. First his chest, then below that... then his stomach, right next to his belly button... lastly placing one right above the band of his pants.  He took it upon himself to start pulling them down, grabbing both his pants and underwear as he pulled them off of Aether's hips. His prize sprung to life before his face now, finally freed and already mostly (if not fully) hard by this point. He really is easy, isn't he? Scaramouche thought to himself. This would be done and over within no time.

Scara began by placing his lips on the head of Aether's dick, carefully swirling his tongue around it if only to tease the other man. Briefly he took his mouth off of him, leaving a few more kisses around the area before taking the head into his mouth again, bobbing his own head back and forth to get a good feel for what was in his mouth. If he had his fun the way he was hoping, he'd take all of Aether in his mouth and leave him begging for more after.

Aether was caught off guard by the feeling of Scara's mouth around him, and a few, soft moans escaped him. It wasn't until the harbinger started bobbing his head up and down that his voice rose in volume, which was sure to be to the other's liking. "Fuck.. oh, archons , yes..."  His legs felt like they were to give out from under him, and the unstable movements of the ship certainly didn't help the blond in this situation. At least he wasn't prone to seasickness. When Scara's mouth ran across a certain sensitive part of him, a shaky gasp escaped him. "Th-There.. R-Right there... fuck..."

Scara was glad to know that Aether was enjoying what he was doing to him. He found it hard to make noises like that himself, and the groaning of the ship was insufferable, so any sound Aether made was like music to him.  He made a mental note to one day be able to get Aether to utterly scream his name.  But for now he focused, Aether finally balls deep inside of his mouth. As he moved his head back to reach the tip, he wrapped his hand around Aether's member before pushing him to the back of his throat once more.  Scara was good at keeping a nice, steady pace going as he kept his lips, tongue, and fingers sweetly wrapped around the cock in front of him.

Aether found himself oh-so quickly clambering towards the edge, bucking into the other's mouth involuntarily. His voice only increased further in volume, and though he'd intended to place a hand over his mouth, he instead entangled fingers in purple locks, head thrown back against the wall. "Sh-Shit, I.. I'm gonna—" He didn't get to finish his sentence, cutting himself off with a strangled cry of the harbinger's name as he released. The hand that was grabbing at the other's hair tugged as he finished.

Now Scaramouche's eyes widened as the others failed warning fell from his lips, his mouth filling with a certain salty fluid. Even abrupt, he knew better than to let a single drop of cum fall to the floor of the ship or get on his uniform. A thought of how embarrassing it'd be if one of the ship hands found out about what he and Aether were doing crossed his mind as he swallowed every last drop that was shot into his mouth.  Really, he didn't mind the taste. A part of him felt he could get used to this, though he'd never admit it.  He barely had time to process that his hair was getting sharply tugged at. There were too many other things to focus on in that moment, and that was not the one on his mind. Perhaps he'd have to get Aether back for it later, but not now. He figured he would wait. 

Once he himself was finished, he pulled his lips off of Aether. Aether himself slunk down to the floor with a thunk , legs apparently out of order after the work that had just been done. Scaramouche himself was fine, and dusted off his shorts as he walked to the other end of the room to grab a towel. He promptly cleaned up his mouth and anything that may have split onto his clothing before tossing it at Aether.  "Here. Clean yourself up before someone comes in and finds you like this. Unless that's something you're into as well."  Scaramouche scoffed and sat himself down on the floor, leaning against the bed, just within arms reach of Aether but not next to him.

Aether was coming down from the high now, heavy pants falling from his lips as he attempted to catch his breath. He'd barely registered the towel being thrown at him. He gave the harbinger a small nod, and quickly moved to clean himself up before fixing his clothes. The blond had fallen into a blissful, content haze now, though he didn't still himself as his body teetered over, head falling upon the harbinger's thigh. In a way, he was comfortable, and felt himself falling asleep before he knew it. Softly yawning, his eyes flitted shut, and as he fell asleep, soft snores fell from his lips.

Instinctively, Scaramouche attempted to lean away from the man now resting his head in his lap. And while in other situations he may not have cared and moved his head onto the floor of the ship, it was hard and would guarantee that Aether woke up with a headache. If Aether had been this way normally, he knew he didn’t want to find out what he was like when he was actually upset. Not now, and preferably not ever. 

After a moment, Aether’s little companion reentered the room, and despite the overwhelming smell that wafted in the air, she didn't seem to be bothered by it. Instead, Paimon would sigh softly at the sight of the slumbering Aether. "Paimon wishes you luck with moving him anytime soon..." She whispered with a huff, crossing her tiny arms. "He's been having trouble sleeping lately, so Paimon suggests that you leave him there." She almost hated herself for giving advice. And yet, despite how betrayed she'd felt by the blond's actions, she cared for him nonetheless.

“Yeah, yeah, I was planning on leaving him here. Really don’t need to make him hate me more than he should, at this point…” Scara sighed. He felt odd about how he was coming to slowly care about what Aether thought about him, but perhaps that was something he could figure out sometime later. After all, he still needed to deal with Yae, and if he showed that sort of weakness in front of her she’d surely tease him about it. He just hoped that Yae would be alone when they met. 

Yes, he thought, that really was his main worry. Even if she hadn’t seen Ei in quite some time, he wasn’t sure what kind of tabs they kept on each other, or if they did at all. A disgusted expression crept up on his face for a moment as he too began to close his eyes, allowing the soft rocking of the boat to lull him to sleep until they reached the islands.

[thescarleteyes]

One Last Kiss; I Love You Like An Alcoholic Pairing: Diluc Ragnvindr x Tartaglia Rating: Explicit Tags: Alcohol, Diluc Is An Archon Au, Trans! Diluc, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Intercrural Sex, Making Out, Hate Sex, Top Tartaglia/Bottom Diluc, Porn With Plot Word Count: 5,755 Cross Posted on Ao3.

Summary: The Tsaritsa wants the Gnoses of the archons. Tartaglia did his research and got himself his own little ticket to praise. But can he get what he needs without causing too much trouble? No. Such things are not the harbinger's forte. So he'll do whatever it takes to get his hands on the Gnosis he seeks.

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. THANK YOU.

Diluc Ragnvindr was a hard one to find. That being said, Tartaglia was a smart and cunning man. Even with Signora being in charge of finding the Gnoses, he figured he might as well try to beat her to the chase and claim one fully for himself. And that cold Snezhnayan night might just be his chance to prove that he truly was the best once again.  Just a few weeks prior, he had sent out a lovingly crafted letter to the nobleman, asking him to make the trek out to his homeland in search of a “business opportunity”. That was how he framed it, at least. Outright saying that he was with the Fatui wasn’t going to get him much even with his status as a harbinger, so he figured… perhaps try to gain the man's favour through wine. He did receive a letter back, though it wasn’t nearly as eloquent as he had made his own and very straight to the point: Diluc Ragnvindr would be there that night .

None of the other harbingers knew where he was that night. He supposed it may have been useful to tell them that he was headed out to some remote location, but… the only outcomes of that were either them realizing his plan or teasing him about a date. Either option was insufferable, but dwelling on it wouldn’t make these last few hours go faster, and he was getting particularly antsy as the minutes ticked by like molasses. So to calm his nerves… he started cleaning.

Sure, sure, it was a little out of character for the harbinger, but he had to tidy up after his siblings when he was home and it had started to bring him peace. It reminded him of home, for one, and two, it was probably the second-best way to get out your frustrations in his experience. The other best way was fighting it out, but there was a snowstorm raging on outside and he didn’t think it proper to have the house in shambles when the richer man arrived to make a deal on wine. As he dusted one of the shelves just above his head he thought that he might prepare some drinks for the two of them when they got there, but he only had Snezhnayan vodka, and that might be a bit too strong for the grape juice lover. He chuckled to himself at the thought of the vodka being “too strong”; he’d been drinking the stuff since he was able to get his hands on it. 

At the very least, he was right in assuming that cleaning would help pass the time somewhat. The shelves were dreadfully dusty and cleaning those off made him cough just a bit, but it was worth it, and he made sure there wasn’t a speck of dirt on the floor. Though it was an old cabin and it was hard to make it look good , he did his darndest to make it presentable. And so the harbinger sighed and fell back onto the bed. He winced as the mattress was just a bit too hard on his healing injuries, though he didn’t mind all too much.  He should have been paying more attention to the time. 

Tartaglia rolled over to check the bedside clock only to find that there were fifteen minutes left until their meeting. There were fifteen minutes left and he was rolling around on the hard bed like some sort of teen before their first date. He stood up and attempted to tidy his clothing and hair, a futile attempt to look presentable before the other man.  And then there was a knock at the door. 

“Really? Over ten minutes early!?” he thought to himself, only now realizing that the covers on the bed weren’t back in order yet, but there was no time for that. His company was at the door and surely would leave if he didn’t answer it. To be granted an audience with the ever-cynical Diluc was an honour in and of itself and he couldn’t afford to let this chance go to waste. Not with so much on the line.  He opened the door.  Standing in the doorway, just a tiny bit shorter than him, was a red-haired man with his typical scowl. Was it even a scowl at this point if that was the only expression he ever wore on his face? Tartaglia didn’t know for sure. 

“Welcome! It’s a pleasure to have your company,” he said with a smile as the other walked into the cabin, “especially all the way out here. I do appreciate the willing response to my letter—” He was cut off by a “Hmph.” and Diluc pulling out a chair from the table.  “Cut to the chase already. What is it that you called me out here for?”  Tartaglia blinked. Did he already know his plans? He couldn’t, could he? 

“I wanted to establish connections with Dawn Winery here in Snezhnaya, as stated in the letter I sent you some weeks ago. Surely you hadn’t forgotten about that?” he said, taking his own seat adjacent to Diluc.  “But I already have connections here in Snezhnaya. Why would I need more of them?” “I’m not sure, why don’t you ask yourself why you bothered to come out all this way to make more of them?” 

Diluc stared at the smiling man in front of him. He was obviously trying so hard to keep up appearances and he already hated him. He was infuriatingly intriguing. Diluc’s eyes followed his supposed business partner as he got up from his seat at the table and walked to the cabinet, pulling out two expensive looking glasses and a tall bottle of clear liquid. Surely, thought Diluc, the other man couldn’t be hoping to get him intoxicated enough to agree to a partnership? But those were Tartaglia’s intentions for the most part — the only thing that the winemaker was missing was that the ginger knew his true identity. 

A half-full glass was placed on the table. Well, to say it was placed was generous; it was more slid to the other end and lucky that it didn’t just fall off and spill into the lap of the esteemed guest. If it hadn’t been stuck on his face, it was sure that Diluc would have made the most displeased face possible. The drink didn’t even have any ice in it. At least brush up on serving technique before giving a bartender a sad, iceless glass of vodka.  But at least it was cold.  Diluc pushed the glass away from him. “Surely, you must know that I don’t drink? The feel of alcohol displeases me.”  “Oh I know,” said the other man, returning to his seat, “I just wanted to see if you’d really decline an offer to loosen up a bit while you're here. No harm in that , right?” 

Diluc sat up straighter in his chair, “I’m here on business. I don’t need to “ loosen up ”. What I'd actually like is to discuss why I’m here before it gets too late.” “And what is too late for you, Mr. Ragnvindr?” he gestured to the bed on the other side of the cabin, “You could stay here all night if you wanted to, I wouldn’t mind.” 

The harbinger’s grin never faded from his face. Diluc placed his arm on the table.

“...Right. I already have connections with the wine industry here in Snezhnaya. Judging by your drink of choice, perhaps you're with the vodka industry? Do you have credentials to show me?” 

Tartaglia’s expression grew worried. Credentials? The alcohol industry required credentials ? Either the man was fucking with him, or he didn’t do enough research on his little trick.  “Um… I forgot my papers at home! I can get them to you in a few days' notice if we settle on a deal.” “Even I remembered to bring my paperwork in the event something came out of this. Are you sure I’m here for something worthwhile, or are you just wasting my time?” 

Tartaglia swallowed hard. Was it possible that the nobleman had already figured out his plan all along? He really didn’t know anything about the alcohol industry, let alone the wine industry itself, he had just figured that it would have been the easiest way to get him all the way out here. Other ways would have included kidnapping, but the man had no wife despite everything and pretending to kidnap the man's brother would have never worked as they sure got along famously . 

“Aha, but what could I ever be wasting your time for?” he asked, grabbing his glass to take a sip.  “You could be trying to swindle money out of me, or maybe hold me for ransom. You look like the kind of guy to do shady things like that.”  And shady things had Tartaglia done in the past.  But Diluc didn’t need to know that just yet. He could hold himself for a little bit longer; he knew he could buy himself some time. 

“I’d never dream of doing such a thing to you! Come on, I can’t possibly look that bad, can I?” 

There wasn’t much of a response from the other man besides a “hmph.” as he looked away and adjusted his gloves. Tartaglia himself cursed under his breath — did the other man really think that badly of him even after their brief meeting?No more than thirty minutes could have possibly passed (not that either of them were actually paying attention to the time) and the man he needed the favour of already thought so lowly of him. Despite his time in the Fatui, he still wasn’t quite good at pleasantries. He made a mental note to get better at introductions next time he met someone new. 

“Alright, alright. Hear me out here: if you sell the product I have on the table, I’ll make sure you get at least 15% of the profits that you make from it. Is that alright?” There was a pause as the deal hung itself in the air.  “You’re associated with this brand of vodka that you're serving?”  “Why of course!” “But you don’t have your paperwork on hand and we’re meeting in a half-rundown cabin in the middle of Snezhnaya?” 

Another pause from the other end of the table. 

“I’m not on official business per say, so I thought it best to meet somewhere casual.”  “Assuming you were to get your paperwork to me as soon as you could, 15% still isn’t very much. And what would you be getting out of this deal from me, besides spreading your product outside of your country?”  “I guessed that it’d be an even trade — you sell our product and we sell yours?”  “People don’t tend to ask to sell a Mondstadt specialty.” “We could be the first!” 

There was a loud scrape of wood against the wood floor as Diluc pushed his chair out of frustration. The black-clad man stood, arms crossed, and began to tap his foot on the floor. A couple times he even shook his head as if to say “ By the Archons you can’t be serious about this ”. 

On the other hand, Tartaglia took another sip of his vodka, thankfully drinking it as slowly as he could. In reality, he had no idea what he was talking about, and if Diluc actually accepted it… he’d be in for a whole other world of trouble. He threw out a random idea with a random percentage of profit that he at least knew had a low chance of actually working. His plans were vague even to himself and he had yet to reveal to the man what he had really called him out here for. And he had to at some point or later.  Diluc let out a hefty sigh before sitting himself back down at the table. 

“So, say I do agree to this deal and you didn’t just waste my time. Would you be able to get the correct paperwork to prove yourself and make the partnership official within two days time?” 

Tartaglia knew he couldn’t provide shit.

“Absolutely, I’d get started on setting up everything as soon as our meeting ends.” 

Diluc held out his hand, “So that’s settled then?” 

Tartaglia shook the other’s hand just a bit too firmly. “It’s a done deal.” 

The faintest beginning of a smile crept up on Diluc’s face as he withdrew his hand. He pushed himself away from the table yet again, this time with a bit less force,  “If we’re done here it’s best I get going.”  And so the man started to walk towards the door.

Without thinking, Tartaglia shot up out of his seat, one hand slamming on the table and the other reaching out towards Diluc. “Oh no. We’re not done here yet. There’s something else I think we should discuss.”

Diluc haphazardly reached his hand back and swatted Tartaglia’s own hand away from him. “What else could there possibly be to discuss?” 

Tartaglia slowly lowered the hand that was out, coming to place it on the table beside the other,  “Nothing much at all, I just thought I should clue you in on something. But…” the man finally relaxed himself and sat back down, “I can’t tell you until you're back at this table.” 

Begrudgingly, Diluc turned back around and sat down in his seat. The only reason he was even bothering to give this man the time of day was ‘cause of the chance that he had information regarding the Abyss Order, and anything to do with them was always good information.  A smile crept up on the ginger’s face. “So… I hear that you're looking for intel regarding the Abyss Order?” “Yes.” “So you can pretend to be some sort of vigilante, right? Protect your city without the people knowing it’s you?” Once again, if it had been possible for Diluc to look any angrier while resting, he would have.  “What if I told you that I knew a way to keep your city safe that’s even easier?” 

One moment passed. One tap of Diluc’s foot against the floor.

“And what would you know about keeping a city safe?”

Tartaglia smirked. “Don’t underestimate what I know and you’ll get the “why” soon enough. Let’s just say that I have… sources.” “Sources?”  “Sources! And these sources let me in on a tiny little secret: they're out for a bunch of people, and will stop at nothing to get their hands on what they want. So then it came to me that maybe, just maybe, if you told the people of Mondstadt who you truly are… then the threat to that city would be gone!” 

Diluc clenched his fists as tightly as he could,  “The people of Mondstadt already know the truth. I have nothing more that could save them from what these “sources” claim they are going to do.” 

“But that’s where I know you’re wrong! See…,” Tartaglia allowed himself to take a breath and another sip of his vodka, “When I was a kid, I heard stories about Mondstadt. That their archon kept an even tighter and harsher rule on them than the Tsaritsa does here. But even through their archon’s harsh rule, she rewarded the passionate. It didn’t always make sense to me, how someone who kept her city so strictly together would also allow the passion of her people to exist freely. But as I grew to enjoy the thrill of battle as it came, I came to understand that without the rules of battle… there would be no fun in breaking them.” 

Tartaglia was only met with red eyes staring directly into his. “And how does this pertain to anything else that is being discussed? There’s no purpose in that other than being a childhood tale.” 

“Well you see, there was always one other part that people loved to leave out: the archon of war loved to not show her face. Sure it wasn’t as bad as the archon over in Natlan, but even as she was spoken of with reverence, most of the people had no proof she was around at all any more. And with the information from my sources, it got me thinking…. What if I were to find this archon of war and help her out a bit?” Deep breaths came from the both of them. The smirk could never be wiped off of the taller man's face.

“But my searches led me all the way to you! I thought that it had to be some sort of trick along the way, since you seem to be just a normal, wine-hating man, but… you do have the same red hair as some of the people in Mondstadt, and you have a pyro vision but for years hated to even mention that you had it. Who’s to say that vision is even real? And if the vision wasn’t real… who’s to say that you aren’t even Diluc Ragnvindr?” 

Another loud scrape against the wood floor as Diluc’s chair was pushed out once more.  “If you’re trying to imply something here, just come on and spit it out already. I don’t have the time for stories and run-around explanations.” 

Tartaglia chuckled. “Fine then! I firmly believe that you, Diluc Ragnvindr, are Murata, the archon of war. You changed your name and gender — which, for the record, I have no problem with, all the more power to you — and tried to live amongst your people. But now you have no way to help them as their archon cause half the population doesn’t even believe their archon exists .” 

“And so what if I was? Why would my status as an archon concern the likes of you?” He seemed just about ready to either punch the man in the face or walk right back out the door he came in. The air was slowly growing a tad bit warmer as Diluc’s anger grew in tandem.  A chuckle again from Tartaglia. “That’s the why I mentioned earlier! For you see, Diluc… I’m the eleventh of the Harbingers. And the harbingers are after all of the gnoses. So for you, I think it’d make it so much easier if you just announced you’re Murata to Mondstadt, and gave me your gnosis. Saves Signora the trouble of wrecking your dear city and I get more recognition from the Tsaritsa. There’s no way to lose with this!” 

His chuckle finally grew into crazed laughter as the harbingers words fell from his lips. The room was hot now, and if there had been any ice in the glasses of vodka it surely would have melted long ago. It was almost like the two of them had their own personal summer day inside that little cabin, but outside was still as chilling to the bone as Dragonspine was. And before Tartaglia could stop his laughter and regain his breath… He was hit with a strong, gloved fist to the jaw.  The man just kept laughing as he rubbed his face,  “If a fight is what you want, I always welcome the thrill of battle as it clears the air!” 

Diluc pulled on his gloves as the other fashioned blades of water in his hands. Vision users always have to have something up their sleeves, thought Diluc, before his arm was cut by a slash of water. Steam rose out of the wound, blood starting to pool along the edges and visible through the slashed fabric of his coat. Diluc tossed his coat to the side without care; it’d just make it harder to fight in the end, so it was of no use anymore. He rolled his shoulders, adjusted his gloves once more for good measure, clenched his fists. Diluc would be damned if he let the harbinger best him in a fight; so he swung, fabric making contact with fabric as his own arm stung. The aim here was to disarm his opponent, but his opponent had an unmatched grip. Besides their footsteps against the wood, the only thing that could be heard was laughter coming from the harbinger's mouth.  And of course, the breaking of a vase as Tartaglia rose his arm back.  Oh well, he supposed. 

Diluc stepped forward before Tartaglia could successfully get a hit in. A hit to the side, to the arm, to his face once more.  A low swing of a blade to try and trip up the Archon. Both of them stumbled back. 

“Can’t keep your balance?” Tartaglia sneered. Diluc only gave an angry huff in reply. 

As Diluc was momentarily distracted, Tartaglia swung low with his blades again, leaving a few deep scratches on the other’s legs, then his side. More steam filled the air as blood droplets littered the floor, leaving stains on the wood and the dark clothing of the archon.  Tartaglia inched closer to the other man, each step making anger bubble more and more. The room was hotter than ever as Tartaglia reached out to grab Diluc by the hair, but was met with a fist to the stomach.  He stepped back, a hand grabbing at his stomach as he spit blood onto the floor. 

“Woah there firefly,” he said as he coughed, “you sure seem to like things hard and rough, don’t you?” 

Laughing through the pain, adrenaline kicking in, Tartaglia again started walking closer to Diluc. There was blood on his lips and teeth and his eyes were wide; anyone who could have seen it would have easily flipped his prior statement back onto him. 

Closer and closer he was getting, backing Diluc against the wall. There was a crunch as they walked back, in tandem, and stepped on the shards of the broken vase. Diluc met the wall with a thud, his angry expression growing even more bitter as he didn’t have anywhere to go; there wasn’t quite enough space for him to turn tail and run, not with Tartaglia coming closer. So he’d just have to see what would happen next. Tartaglia, close enough now, slid his fingers into Diluc’s hair and clenched hard. 

“I’m sure I hit the nail right on the head, but is it enough for you to believe me that people are coming for you? That I can save you?”, he laughed, “Everyone looks beautiful as they fight, did you know that?”

The harbinger pressed his lips against the fiery archon’s.

Diluc’s body tensed up as their lips met and he pressed his hands against Childe’s chest as if he were ready to push him away. In most situations, he probably would’ve without any hesitation. He himself didn’t really pursue many relationships, not like this, but it seemed as though the harbinger had done this more than a few times.  Tartaglia’s scarf had fallen to the floor a while ago, leaving the now relaxed hands on his chest to grasp at the sides of his slightly unbuttoned shirt. The range of emotions that the archon was going through was messing with the atmosphere in the room still, the heat wearing off slightly but the air remaining thick and heavy as the two gasped for breath between kisses. 

The grip on the harbinger’s shirt tightened as Diluc pushed against him, the kiss breaking momentarily as the two moved back. Stumbling over his feet, Diluc swapped places, Tartaglia hitting the edge of the bed before being pushed down onto the surface. He stared up in awe at the red-head who currently had him pinned down; the bed was still too hard on his injuries, but this time around he wasn’t quite sure if he actually minded the pain if it was coming from someone as beautiful as the man he had with him now. They lay there for a moment, locking eyes and breathing heavily as if to process what they were really getting into. A smirk crept up on the ginger's face as he wrapped his leg around the others, hands pressing into his chest. 

“Not so fast there, pretty boy,” he said, using whatever upper hand he could get to flip them over, his hand now next to Diluc’s shoulder on the bed, “We ought to do this my way, don’t you think?” 

Before they knew it their lips met again, the springs of the old bed creaking as Diluc was pushed into it. Tartaglia pulled his own gloves off as his hands started to wander, unbuttoning Diluc’s shirt and gently caressing his chest as he went. He could have taken his own shirt off too, but he figured that Diluc wouldn’t hesitate to do that himself if he wanted to see him shirtless. Which, given how things were going… it seemed likely that he would.

Diluc swatted Tartaglia’s hands away as he finished up the job of removing his own shirt, pale, scarred skin flushed from the heat of the room. He didn’t take his gloves off but did reach up to undo Tartaglia’s shirt as expected of him. 

They only ever broke the kiss to breathe.

Once Tartaglia finally shimmied out of his shirt Diluc wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him in closer, deeper. Words were hardly spoken between the two as they responded only to their desires at that moment. The harbinger shifted himself to lessen the growing friction.

Ah, he thought, That’s going to need to be taken care of.

Without needing to say much though Diluc found his hands wandering on their own now, moving to the top of Tartaglia’s waistband and slipping a finger underneath. He could feel Childe smile at him through the kiss as he pulled away to speak,

“You sure this is what you want? I won’t do anything if it’s not.”  Diluc nodded, a yes slipping from his lips between heavy breaths. “Alright then,’ he chuckled, “firefly”. 

Tartaglia backed up from the bed, giving some room between him and Diluc as he pulled his pants off, the bulge in his pants now ever so apparent. Diluc’s eyes looked up and down, taking in the sight before him as he removed what was left of his own clothing. It was about now that he noticed how wet he had gotten through all of this, shifting uneasily on the bed as Childe inched closer to him. He placed his leg in between Diluc’s, moving on top of him to press his lips against once more. Tartaglia’s clothed dick rubbed against Diluc’s lower lips, eliciting a reaction from the other man — to which Tartaglia did again and again, grinding up against him as he moved his kisses from his lips, to his neck, to his chest. 

Eventually he did stop, his mouth reaching the top of Diluc’s underwear, peppering the area with more kisses before he looked up at him. His eyes were met with a quick, eager nod as he reached his fingers below the band and slipped the now-soaked underwear off, tossing them to the side. The harbinger proceeded to do the same, pulling his own underwear down to his knees, his dick twitching and eager and already slick with precum. He leaned into Diluc once more to look him in the eyes, not minding or caring that his dick was resting between the other’s legs. 

“I know we’re both obviously excited, but is this really what you want?” He asked. Perhaps it was odd to double check with someone who you were just beating up if something like this was okay, but Ajax couldn’t not make sure his partner was comfortable with anything he did, no matter how rough it’d get. 

“Yes, just,” Diluc said as he tried to calm his breaths during this short intermission, “if you don’t mind, I’d prefer it if you… went in the back.” 

Tartaglia smiled and nodded, pushing himself up to ready himself. But there was one small issue…

He couldn’t remember if they had any lube in this place. He’d brought people here for this before but he may have taken it home… and it was too far out of reach for him to grab if it was there. 

“Hey firefly?” he asked, being greeted with a frown as he used the dreaded nickname again, “Could you uh, lean over and check in the nightstand there, I think there’s some lube in the drawer.” 

Diluc sighed and pushed himself up and over, opening the drawer with a groan. Surely, and thankfully, there was a half-empty bottle of lube sitting solitary. He handed it to the other. 

“I see you surely get around.” “Maybe you just need to get more, ever thought of that?” 

He uncorked the bottle, sticking one finger into the slippery solution. Thank the archons for the fact that one of them was beneath him, making the room warm. Tartaglia looked at Diluc as he pressed the finger against his ass, stroking the entrance before pushing his finger in. He began to move the slicked finger in and out, one of Diluc’s hands moving to cover his mouth as he attempted to hide the noises he was making. Though such efforts were futile as the harbinger smiled, removing the finger temporarily before slicking up another and sticking them both in just as hard. Diluc’s hand shot down as he let out a loud gasp as Tartaglia opened and closed the fingers going in and out of him. It had been so long since he had done such things like this, and not even Celestia knew how he’d fare with what was to come.

This was not to say that Tartaglia was huge in that area — in fact he was only slightly above average, but even the most average of things can be enough to satisfy. Diluc felt at a loss as the fingers were removed from him. He looked up at the man responsible, trying not to submit and frown and beg for more. Keeping his composure was getting harder and harder. 

The tip of Tartaglia’s dick met his soft entrance, already slick with lube and other fluids leaking from the other’s vagina. There was a soft pop as the bottle of lube was uncorked once more, the now luke-warm substance falling between the two for good measure. Tartaglia rubbed it all over his cock before taking a deep breath, placing his hands on Diluc’s thighs, and slowly pushing inside. 

Now Tartaglia may have gotten around and had his fair share of encounters like this. One-night stands with random Snezhnayan men and women that led nowhere as neither of them wanted it to. But this… this was the best he had felt in a long time, taking things slow as he adjusted to the rhythm, the tightness of Diluc’s ass wrapped around him making him want to sink as far in as he could. He didn’t want to hurt him but the roughness sounded so good to him at that moment as he started to pick up the pace. 

“Faster, please,” Diluc said, breathy and almost ashamed to let such things escape his lips. Tartaglia only obliged as he moved Diluc’s legs up and sank his hands into his thighs, letting out his own pants as the pace and tension grew and grew. Diluc fumbled with his hands, attempting to take his gloves off and reaching down to touch and rub his clit. In other situations, Tartaglia would have been tempted to stop him, to be his only source of pleasure, but he was so caught up in the thick air and heat of the moment that he didn’t care anymore. If he was listening closely, he would have heard his name just barely escape the archon's lips as his balls smacked against his ass again and again. 

“Firefly I’m,” Ajax said between breaths, “I’m close, is it okay to—” 

“You're only free to do whatever if you stop it with that infernal nickname.” 

Tartaglia smiled and gasped, swears and Diluc’s name escaping as he went faster, faster, the only noises in the room that of their moment. Surely if someone had passed by they would have heard strange noises coming from the shack where the snow around it had completely melted. 

It was with one last thrust and a moan of Diluc’s name that the harbinger came, pulses of cum shooting inside the other man, both of them breathing as heavily as they could be. There were a few moments pause before Diluc came himself, his own cum leaking out and mixing with the other fluids like some sort of forbidden cocktail. 

So they lie there, Tartaglia still balls deep inside Diluc as he leaned over and kissed him deep again. 

“Now was that to your liking, Murata? ” he said with a smirk, before moving and touching his finger between  him and bringing it to his lips to taste what they had created. 

He wouldn’t say it, but it wasn’t that bad. He could get used to this kind of thing. 

There was no response from Diluc and another moment between them as they grasped what had just been done, Tartaglia finally pulling out and searching for any sort of clean towel-like cloth within the place. Luckily he found two, tossing one to Diluc so he could clean up the best he could. The sheets were likely stained and the door had begun to warp from the heat that built up during everything. Even Tartaglia’s skin was tinged with red as if he had been sunburnt. 

“So… what now? Will you take my offer?” Diluc shook his head, 

“My gnosis isn’t yours to have. But… if it’s to your liking, you can continue to have me for the night. It’s far too late for me to get going home now, and I can’t afford that dreadful Cavalry Captain figuring out I’ve been gone for so long.” There was a bit of laughter between the two.

“So that means we’re sharing the bed again, right? I mean I don’t mind snuggling up next to someone like you as long as you promise you won’t try to off me in the night.” Diluc shot Ajax a glare that meant to shut up and get over to the bed once he put his clothing back on, to which he just smiled back. After all that, they could surely use the rest, and curled up under the blankets, Tartaglia pressed up against Diluc. He stroked a finger down the other man's scarred back. 

“Say… are you good for another round though?” 

“Not in your dreams.”

[thescarleteyes]

a butterfly in a bouquet of flowers.  Pairing: N/A Rating: General Audiences. Tags: Training, Dreams, Childhood Memories. Word Count: 1,009. Cross Posted on AO3.

Summary: 

if you dream of someone you failed to save, does that count as a nightmare? // written for Hashira Week 2021, days 1 and 2 - Training and Childhood

“Now, Shinobu, you hold your sword like this!” Her sister spoke, showing her how to turn the sword in her hands so that it was much more comfortable to hold. “If you do that, you can put your self into your swing, and that’ll make it just that much more powerful!” Still, the object felt weird in her hands. Like something a young girl shouldn’t want to hold. But even then, she did. She had to. Her sister didn’t really want to show her how to fight, how to kill like she did. Why would someone want that for their younger sibling after all, to risk their life when they could live their life comfortably? But still, she showed her how to swing, how to hit, how to protect herself. And that alone was enough to satisfy the young Shinobu’s spirit. Her sister, Kanae, tapped her shoulder as she noticed that Shinobu was lost in her own thoughts instead of focusing on their little self defense lesson. Sometimes it was simply hard to not get caught up in things, to know that even though she was being taught to protect herself, she was also being instructed to not use that to protect others too, and that alone was its own pain to bear. “If you're not able to focus, perhaps we should take a break for now?” Kanae suggested. “Yes, perhaps.” Kanae shook her head and smiled as she began to walk off and into the house. It was like her to have already prepared a snack for the two of them, knowing her sister better than she knew herself sometimes. It would have been like Kanae to know that Shinobu would think about wanting to follow her into the Corps, but Shinobu had no reason to — her reason was protecting her older sister, but she didn’t want to be protected, so these training sessions were their compromise. But it did help them grow closer, even if it was just a compromise. Shinobu herself walked to the house, sitting down on the engawa and breathing out a sigh. One day, she would protect her sister. One day, she would be just as strong as she was. Shortly after she heard her sister's soft footsteps approaching, and before she knew it there was company beside her. With her, she held a plate of onigiri, but upon closer inspection one could see that it wasn’t completely well put together — they must have been made in a hurry, but with care. Kanae let out a laugh, “I know they don’t look the best, but I thought we’d both want a treat, and I didn’t have anything prepared…” “It’s more than fine, I’ll enjoy them all the same.” Shinobu said, placing her hand on her sister’s shoulder. And enjoy them they did, for this was the routine and familiarity that they knew, and that they both hoped nothing would change. Oh, they both hoped that nothing would change this. . . . Shinobu sat up as straight as she could upon awakening. The same dream, the same recollection of her times training with Kanae always circling her dreams, leaving her present duller than ever before. She longed for those times, more than she would let herself ever admit; she needed to be strong, for her and Kanao, not stuck in some idealistic past of her and someone that was no longer around. She had to be strong for Kanae, too, as she so promised and as she was never demanded to be. Even without their parents, Kanae only wanted to make sure that Shinobu had a good childhood. She never wanted or required her to be strong, only to live and let live, and believe in happiness. Perhaps Shinobu only really believed in her sister and not herself, but that was enough in the end, was it not? It was fulfilling to say the least. And surely, she could pass on that sentiment to Kanao too. Kanao need not be strong for the two of them. Shinobu could do that on her own. But just like her, she was determined to help, to be there for her older sister. And who was Shinobu to deny the young Kanao that right? The right she so longed for herself in her own childhood? She breathed a heavy sigh. Such matters should not be on her mind this early in the morning, early enough that the sun had not risen yet. It was almost certain that she was the only one awake in the house, the only one who had begun to stir; to this she took it as a sign that she should at least make some tea for when Kanao did awake. There was nothing like a nice cup of tea to start your day, and she knew just the herbs to make it with so that they could stay alert all morning while they tended to their errands. Yes, while they tended to their errands and begun training once more. Sure enough, it was at least a few hours before Kanao awoke within the house, and quietly but surely she came to seat herself by her sister. The tea had gone a bit cold, but it wasn’t hard to light something to heat it up, if Kanao had cared all that much. It was much nicer knowing that Shinobu had thought to make the tea in the first place. And like that their day had come, and the sun had risen, and it was warm out as the birds sang in the trees. The errands they needed to run into town for could wait, both Shinobu and Kanao thought, as they walked together towards the backyard. Both of them took a deep breath of the fresh air as Shinobu turned around to grab something. Appearing behind her younger sister without a hint of ever actually leaving, she spoke, “Now, Kanao, hold your sword like this. If you can do that, you can put your self into your swing, and that’ll make it just that much more powerful.”

[thescarleteyes]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘉𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘞𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺. Pairing: Dainsleif x Kaeya Alberich Rating: Teen and Up Audiences. Tags: Unrequited Crush, Dainsleif-centric, (Minor) Drinking, This Is Not Dain x Lumine they are simply friends, Yes this deals with the fall of Khaenri'ah, and Dain seeing Kaeya after 500 years and falling HARD Word Count: 1,950 Cross posted on AO3.

Summary:

It had been so long since Dainsleif abandoned his post, left the only boy he swore to protect. For most of those five hundred years, he was cursed to never die and to always be alone. Even his respite was brief, and it left him wanting more. All he knew was that he missed him, and that he was meant to serve another. What would he even do if he were to find him once more? Surely he couldn't. But maybe, just maybe, if he found him, he'd fall in love.

Did the sun exist in Khaenri’ah? After all, they were an underground society, devoid of most plant life and natural fauna. But that day… That day he swore he saw the sun. He swore that he saw the sun for but a brief moment, and then it disappeared, and left him in shambles.

He had awoke that day with nothing but his usual duties on his mind. That would be, he would tend to the horses and be greeted by the young boy he was to guard, spend his time with the boy once he finished his tending, and then he would sleep once more. No one had any idea if when they slept was nighttime, they could be considered nocturnal for all they knew, but they slept when their bodies needed rest. But the people, they seldom dreamt of much. But that day he woke, he woke and he swore he saw the sun. It was out his window, staring him in the eyes, before disappearing. Before he knew, before anyone knew it, all they knew was engulfed in flames. The sky that did not exist was red. People ran in the streets, screaming at the top of their lungs. They did not know what was happening. They couldn’t have; one doesn’t oft know when divine justice is going to strike them. The man headed out into the streets, trying not to get hit in the shoulder by passersby but ultimately failing. There were no other sounds besides the screams of his fellow people and their hurried footsteps, and maybe, just maybe — the crackle of fire burning their buildings. And it was in his hurried attempt to find out what was going on, getting lost in the crowd, when he saw him — the young, blue-haired boy that he swore to protect, running in the opposite direction with his family. Was he to turn around, continue to protect the boy until either of their last breaths? Was he to continue on, and attempt to protect himself from the destruction that was to doom them all? He knew not the correct answer. So he paused, watched as the boy disappeared into the crowd, hopefully growing closer to the castle… as he kept on, and left the boy with his family. Would he ever see them again he, once more, knew not. But his decision caught the eyes of the gods destroying his homeland, a decision that would curse him for the rest of eternity. A decision that would keep him awake, unable to dream, lest he amend his sins.

—————————

It was a summer day when he saw her. It couldn’t have been much after he left his home, much after he found that he could no longer die. And cursed with an arm that bore the corrupted powers that his people had sought, he travelled the lands in search of answers. He traveled the lands until he met her. The wind blew across the field as he walked, and if not for the dress she had been wearing, he would not have noticed her. White fabric would blend in with the pale coloured flowers after all, and if everything was moving while he was lost in thought, why would he have paid it any mind? But as it seemed, the movement did snap him out of his thoughts and brung the man to the present day. And in the present stood a blonde girl, shorter than himself, picking flowers all alone. “Are you alone out here?” he asked, and she turned her head to look at him. “Yes, but not for long. I must get going soon.” The man felt a certain sadness at this. Had he been alone for so long that the idea of the girl’s company made him feel something, anything, for once? He wanted not for her to leave. “Will you be back? I wish to talk with you one day.” “Perhaps one day, but I must return to my brother. I—” And his memory goes blank after that.

They did find each other again. It was a rainy day this time, and he found her alone once more. She had no shelter but didn’t seem to mind all that much. He didn’t care about the rain anymore. Perhaps he had in a different time, but it was now just something he felt sting his skin. Without thinking, he said hello, grabbed her wrist, and led them to shelter. It wasn’t much, there was still rain leaking through the roof, but they were dry here, even for a moment. Nothing is said between them for many moments, the girl looking down at the ground, seemingly solemn. “I… I apologize for my rashness back there. I only wished for a companion. I can get going, if you need me to, it is the least that I can do.” The girl shakes her head in response, but says nothing much else. And so the two sit there, waiting for the rain to pass, no words being spoken for hours. There is tension in the air, but it is not thick like one would expect; it feels more like the rain, and it leaves when it does. As the rain stops, the girl moves, and silently motions for the man to follow her along. He does so without thinking, as if following another was ingrained in his being, but it has been so long that he does not remember his being anymore. He does not question why he is being dragged along, or what for. “Lumine. You must wonder what my name is, and it’s Lumine.” The girl speaks while they walk, hand in hand, seemingly with no destination in mind. “Lumine. That’s a nice name.” he says, before hesitating. Does he even remember his name anymore? Has it been so long that he had forgotten it? But no, he hadn’t, thankfully he hadn’t. “You may call me Dainsleif, if you would like to. I require little acknowledgement, but where are we going?” “No idea. My brother is sick again, so I figured that I’d travel and try to find him something nice. Having someone join me is better than being alone.” she said, before they traveled in silence again. And so they traveled, just the two of them, for some time. Dainsleif knew Teyvat better than she, and so he showed her the sights and hoped they could find something. It must have been months that they spent before coming across with what the girl needed for her brother. There was very little spoken between the two of them; Dain did not like to speak unless he absolutely had something on his mind, and Lumine was very much the quiet and serious type, so most of their travels were spent walking quietly and taking in the scenery. But neither of them seemed to mind it. Dainsleif sometimes thought that he used to do the same thing with another who was much more excited all the time, going on long walks and just enjoying being free… but who that could be he did not know. Lumine crouched down and began picking the flowers near the edge of what seemed to be some sort of arena dug into the ground. Dain only hoped she’d be careful as she picked the flowers, for they were in the territory of the Wolf of the North, and he did not want to anger him. That would be the last thing he needed. He watched as she picked the flowers she needed for her brother, got up and dusted her dress off, and waved him goodbye without a word. They had agreed that once she found what she needed their travels would end there, no matter when or how long it took. And since she found them… she said her goodbyes.

And just like that, Dainsleif was alone once more.

—————————

It was in a bar when he met them. The boy with the same aura as the girl he had met so long ago and his weird floating friend. They were looking for someone and had the skill of fighting, and he was looking to end the Abyss, so really, they had a use for each other, even if brief. Despite the floating girls' appearance, neither of them seemed to know much of what had happened so very long ago. The blond boy was kind, and spoke more than the girl he once knew. They were so much the same but different too, but one would be dumb if they could not tell that they were related. Only could those two be from outside of Teyvat. It was after a long day of hunting the Abyss down and telling stories that Aether, the boy, told Dain that he had some friends to introduce him to. He figured that if he was going to be in Mondstadt for a while, he might as well meet some of the people that tried to help him just like he had.

He mentioned that someone had eyes like him. He mentioned that someone was named Kaeya.

That name, it held such feelings for Dainsleif, feelings that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. It felt nostalgic but it also felt like melancholy. He couldn’t know why, there was no way that it could be the same Kaeya. It had been so long, and that boy was surely gone by now, he had to have been. Right? And so Dainsleif agreed to be brought along to meet some of Aether’s comrades.

It was in a bar when he saw him. He was at the bar that you saw at the front when you entered the door, his long, dark hair draped over one shoulder, obviously nursing a good buzz. Dainsleif couldn’t believe his eyes. Dark skin, dark blue hair… somehow, he knew him. That was the boy… no, that was the man he had sworn to protect. The man he turned his back on when it mattered most. He found himself nearly frozen in the doorway, and maybe if he was listening he could hear the floating girl, Paimon, say something about how weird he was for stopping in his tracks as they entered the bar. He was sure that Aether tried to tell him, “Hey Dain, this is Kaeya,” as Kaeya eventually turned to look right at him. He waved and gave him the same smile that he hadn’t seen in five hundred years. It was taking all Dainsleif had to not cry on the spot. The one person he sought to find was back, somehow, after all this time. Nothing the gods could have done could have predicted this outcome. It took Paimon poking Dain in the side to snap him out of his daze. He took a seat next to Kaeya and ordered a drink, his selection seeming to come as a surprise to the other man. He introduced himself as Dainsleif, and wondered if Kaeya would remember him too. Apparently the rest of Aether’s friends couldn’t make it to the bar that night, so it was just them and Kaeya until they had to leave. That didn’t bother Dain one bit. He had found the last person he needed to, and dare he say it, but he was already head over heels the moment he locked eyes with him again. And so the two of them talked through the night, talked past Aether and Paimon leaving to sleep, talked until Diluc came to close down the bar.

Did the sun exist in Khaenri’ah? Neither of them knew, but Dainsleif guessed that it no longer mattered, for the sun was sat right next to him in the front of a bar.

[thescarleteyes]

I wish to write more but alas! I lack ideas. If anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them?

[thescarleteyes]

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘢𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵. Pairing: Xiao x Kazuha Kaedehara. Rating: General Audiences.  Tags: Written Before Kazuha’s Release, First Meetings, Fluff, Poetry.  Word Count: 2,301. Cross posted on AO3.

Summary:  "Thunder beckons, heavy The birds do not heed its call When yaksha lies in wait." ------- Xiao watched over Liyue Harbour silently, a storm coming in and the night far too peaceful. But with The Crux temporarily docked, just who will he meet?

The wind was blowing strong that day. With the sun setting on the horizon, it was getting a bit hard to tell what the weather was going to be for the night, but with the wind as strong as it was, the air feeling thick and heavy with the scent of water; it’d be more surprising if a storm didn’t hit the harbour that night. But the sun hadn’t gone down yet; with darkness drawing near, it was only natural for the adeptus Xiao to begin his usual watch over the harbour. Never sleeping, always just out of sight of people but staying vigilant in case someone were to call for him — that was the usual life of the Yaksha. Not that he really minded the usual routine, though. Minding his own business, only dealing with people when he needed to, no one prying into his personal matters… that was what he wished for, and that was what he got in the end.

He did not pay much attention to Beidou’s boat pulling into the harbour that night. It was not so much something unordinary; the boat docked for short periods of time every once in a while, though it never did stay for very long. Only a couple of crewmates would get off, maybe run some errands, and within a couple of hours they’d leave and head out for uncharted waters again; it was almost enviable, being amongst a small group of people and only having to deal with others when you decided upon it. But that also meant being kept in a small space with people you might not like, and when that was pretty much everyone, maybe it wasn’t so enviable after all.

There was a single thing different about the boat that night that he managed to catch — someone new was on board. That didn’t exactly happen often; the crew had remained rather consistent over the years it had been around. It could likely be assumed that there were only a few ways to join The Crux: love adventure enough that they decide to take you in, be lost and have them as your only hope, or show up when someone else lost their spot in the crew for some reason. Such matters couldn’t really be known unless one were to try and join though so… who knows where the new member had come from, or why they were there.

Xiao took a deep breath. Hours had passed and night had finally fallen, and though there were monsters here and there that needed to be taken out, it was a relatively peaceful night so far. Always good when things ran so smoothly; when the reminders of your sins didn’t crop up everywhere you turned and tried to hurt those who so seemed to believe in you so deeply. Maybe, just for a moment he thought, he could let his guard down if things were peaceful… but no. No, as the sole surviving Yaksha, it was his duty to stay alert and watch over the people of Liyue. For if he didn’t, then who would? He shook his head, trying to not get too far lost in thought, lest he let someone wander up to the mountain peak and see him floating there in the air above. Too many people see something like that… it means more stories get passed around. More stories and people trying to seek him out.

However, for once, the vigilant boy did not notice that someone else had crept up onto the mountain top with him. They did not make very much noise when they entered; only seeming to be up there on a walk to clear the mind or something, they didn’t pay him that much attention at first. Their white hair seemed to be only loosely tied into a ponytail that was slowly coming undone, what with the wind that night and the fact they had just left one of the ships in the harbour. Stopping, they realized that and went to fix their hair, carefully undoing it and then tying it back up. If one had watched them, it would have been obvious they could do that on instinct now, after years of pulling their hair back and rarely ever letting it down — perhaps a trademark of a traveler who does not wish to deal with their hair in their face whilst walking. As they went to continue walking up the slope, they made the mistake — was it really a mistake? — of looking up directly at Xiao.

The white-haired boy smiled and waved to the other, though it didn’t seem to get his attention very well. Whatever it was that Xiao was up to, it seemed to have his full attention, but that didn’t exactly seem to stop the other from attempting to get him to look at him. It seemed as though seeing some floating young boy had intrigued the one on the ground, and he wanted to know more.

“You up there, are you a traveler like me?” Xiao’s eyes widened in surprise. To think that this boy’s first assumption of him was that he was a traveler was both laughable and almost admirable; but most of all, it meant that he wasn’t from Liyue. He likely had no idea who Xiao even was, which meant there was a high chance that he wouldn’t have to deal with all of the praise and near worship he usually got when people realized he was the Vigilant Yaksha. Perhaps, talking to the boy would be a chance at being treated equally for once, not undermined or over-praised.

“I’m not. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to my duties.” Xiao turned his back once more from the other boy, resuming his solid attempt at keeping up his usual work of the night.

“That’s just fine, I won’t care to bother you.” said the white-haired boy as he began to dust off a nearby rock to sit on, “But I’m going to relax and work on my poetry while waiting to see if the storm will pass. You can join me if you’d like — or not. Whatever suits your preferences.”

He did, in fact, proceed to sit down on a rock no more than a couple of feet below and away from Xiao. Though it was less of a casual sit and more that he was sitting in seiza with his eyes closed, seemingly trying to listen to the far-off sounds of birds and maybe even a clap of thunder to calm his mind in preparation for the poetry. Xiao didn’t say anything more than a heavy sigh as the two of them went about their activities; Xiao maintaining a careful watch of both the harbour and the sky, the other keeping his breath steady and occasionally uttering a few phrases here and there as he thought. His white hair was once again slowly coming undone but it didn’t seem that he had too much of a mind to fix it; too focused and deep in meditation.

“Thunder beckons, heavy…” he spoke softly, seemingly getting one line of what could be assumed a haiku down as he thought about the next. He briefly shook his head from time to time, dismissing ideas that just didn’t quite fit right. But it was this time that Xiao started to grow a bit… restless. Nothing interesting was going on, the storm remained far off in the distance, and not a single person below in the harbour seemed to be calling out for his aid. The night was still — and though Xiao quite preferred not having to deal with other people, being left alone with his demons seemed a far worse option most of the time.

He started to gently let himself come down from his pedestal of air, a small gust blowing the sand off the rocks as his feet landed softly upon them. There was a soft crunch of sand as he walked over to the other, refusing to sit but most definitely standing within his space. The boy on the ground let out a soft chuckle.

“Decided to join me, have you? You know, it’s considered polite to announce yourself when you enter a room,” he softly patted the ground next to himself, “You're allowed to take a seat, if you’d like to.”

There was a moment of hesitation between the two of them, the air seemingly growing heavier with the seconds, though it wasn’t quite clear if that was from the impending storm or Xiao himself. But after moments of contemplation and a couple of shakes of the head, Xiao took a seat next to the other boy. He didn’t say anything, but let a smile creep across his face as Xiao sat down, his feet dangling off the edge of the rock. It wouldn’t be surprising if Xiao was, in fact, shorter than the boy who sat beside him, but who could be sure when his legs were tucked neatly beneath him? And thus the awkward tension in the air continued.

“The birds do not heed its call… yes,” he said, completing his second line as another clap of thunder echoed far, far behind them.

“You’re awfully quiet, you know. Not that I mind — but some pleasant conversation would be a nice change around here.”

Xiao sat up a bit better than he had been as he himself had gotten lost in thought, but in doing so he realized that the boy’s eyes were no longer shut. He couldn’t help but stare for a second, his eyes a brilliant red that looked wonderful under the moonlight. He hadn’t seen red in quite some time…

He blinked and shook his head a little to break eye contact before it got too weird. Staring at humans was a weird thing to do and thus he could not allow himself to do it any further. Looking away, he spoke.

“What is your name? It is not often that I am spoken to without reverence.”

The boy’s eyes widened at the question before turning and attempting to rummage through one of his pockets. It was not long before he pulled out a small, wooden card with four characters engraved into its surface: 楓原万葉.

Xiao took the card into his hands and stared at it for a short moment. “Fēngyuán Wànyè?”

“Not quite,” the boy let out a laugh as he realized the mistake being made, “it’s Kaedehara Kazuha. I’m not exactly from around… here.”

“Where you hail from does not mean much to me. Lots of people come and go from the places they once called home.”

“So you’d trust me even if I was from Inazuma?”

“I trusted the traveler from Mondstadt and elsewhere. But trust is meaningless in the end.” Xiao looked up at the clouded night sky, barely able to make out a single star as he tried his hardest to not remember how those he once trusted all turned their backs on each other when consumed by maledictions.

There was another pause, the air continuing to be thick between them as the night rolled on.

“Say… I hear a lot of stories upon the Crux about this place,” Kazuha said, turning his gaze to the stars as well, “They say there’s a young adeptus who watches over all of Liyue. Lots of them seem to believe he’s the last of Yaksha, but I’m not quite sure how much I’d believe that.”

“Hmph. A foolish human belief, is it not? To believe in something that has no proof…” Xiao trailed off, wondering if it really was worth trying to keep up this façade of being simply a vision user. It wasn’t like Kazuha wasn’t one as well; he had already noticed the anemo vision he displayed on his back. If Kazuha didn’t believe in the stories, then what good would it be to tell him his true identity?

“Yes… I do suppose it is,” Kazuha sighed, “But then again, aren’t all human beliefs foolish in one way or another?”

Xiao gave him a nod but nothing more.

“Ah! Wait, there we go. When yaksha lies in wait… the last line.” Kazuha smiled proudly as he finished yet another haiku. It seemed to bring him such peace, Xiao noticed, more than the meditation itself. Maybe if he stopped feeling as though everything was meaningless he would try it some time.

As another clap of thunder echoed over the hills, there was a loud, shrill ringing of a bell. Honestly, the bells’ ring shouldn’t have been audible from up where they were but as it tolled, Kazhua got up and dusted off the front of his pants, as if getting ready to head out.

“It seems as though Beidou is ready to set sail once more. I’m sure we’ll port again some time soon, so perhaps I may see you once more when we do?”

“Assuming you can find me again, that is. I take care in hiding myself from the sight of others.”

Kazuha gave Xiao a small smile, “Yes, assuming I can find you again.” He set off, waving goodbye as he walked a couple of paces ahead of where the two of them had been seated before coming to an abrupt halt.

“Wait, I don’t think I ever caught your name. What is it?”

Xiao found himself staring at those red eyes once more as he spoke, “Xiao. Adpteus Xiao.”

“Then I shall see you again next time, Adpetus Xiao.” Kazuha said, giving one final wave as he made his way down the mountain, quickly disappearing from Xiao’s line of sight as he tried to not miss the Crux heading out to sea once more.

“Yes… may you see me next time, Kaedehara Kazuha.”

[thescarleteyes]

Ok, now that the Edvy fic has been successfully posted over here, I’ll have to post my original story later on. It’s 6am and I must rest... (though I do want to say, reading the chapter notes from two years ago is just a little bit embarrassing as I’m trying to keep up appearances here...) Either way! I hope whoever may read this has a nice day/night. ^-^

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 7. Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 1,164 for Chapter 7. Original Date of Publication: March 17, 2020.

Summary (for all chapters): Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang’s wrath, they’ve discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn’t possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Notes from Ao3:  i wanted this to be longer and split into two chapters but for the sake of word count... here we are ik its probably disappointing to not have a full-on smut scene BUT I CANT WRITE IT so haha here we are :3c ill,, try to update more i promise

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There was a moment of silence between the two after the question was posed. Envy had never been asked if they wanted to do something like this, and in their many, many years of life, had never really been interested in it anyways. There were easier ways to do things than this, and they rather preferred it. They'd rather leave these sorts of things to Lust, she'd understand them more. But this was Ed who had asked, and considering the circumstances, they weren't sure that they really wanted to say no to his offer. There were a few more moments of silence.

“You know what, sure, why not, it's a new experience.” They said finally, in their normal, slightly passive-aggressive tone.

Ed, finally realizing what exactly he had offered, did not say anything to the homunculus. He only motioned for them to come closer to him. Which was not technically the closest they had been, but still, closer than the few feet that they had between them before. They were both obviously very nervous to actually initiate any thing remotely close to what they had been talking about.

So more moments of silence there were between the two.

Slowly, it was Envy who moved in closer to the alchemist, eventually pressing their slight cold lips against the other's much warmer ones. Quickly, they broke apart, but was just as quick returned by the other. Soon enough, the two settled into a rhythm, and eventually Ed took off his shirt (thankfully, he had already taken off his coat). His hands slowly moved up to the hem of Envy's crop top, and he tried to slip his fingers under, but the clothing seemed to be unusually apart of the other's body. They noticed his struggle, and red lightning crackled across the homunculus' body, revealing a nicely toned chest and... well, they were right when they said they didn't have anything down there. They paused, realizing that might cause a problem, before the problem was, well, solved. Ed paused too, taking in the form of the being now in front of him, completely naked in a fraction of the time that it'd take him. As he began to slip off his own pants, so it wasn't completely awkward for Envy to be without clothes, he found himself pushed down onto the ground, Envy pressing their cold lips against his.

They both found themselves relaxing into the kiss, Ed bringing his hands up and tangling them into Envy's hair. Envy slowly moved from his mouth to his neck, more than definitely leaving marks there and on his collarbone, only acceptable since Ed didn't have to go back to Resembool quite yet. Envy's hands eventually found themselves tugging at the hem of Ed's underwear, completely immersed in the moment, before Ed stopped. They didn't quite realize that their kiss had broken and continued to slip further down until Ed grabbed their arm, and they froze as he spoke--

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

Their eyes widened as the question slipped from Ed's lips. They tried their hardest to speak, but found themselves coughing for a moment, a small, red petal still tugging at the corner of their mouth even after they tried to brush it away.

“I-i--” Envy spoke, before finding themselves in pain. They doubled over, clutching their stomach as they coughed. Blood began to pour from their mouth, splattering their legs and forming a pool on the floor in front of them. Petals and flowers floated in the blood, Envy showing no sign of stopping, lightning crackling around them nonstop. Buds started to form on the surface of their skin, and they angry plucked them out as they formed, freckling their arms in spots of blood as well. In a panic, Ed ran past Envy, his pants falling down to his ankles, and dialed the number of the first doctor he knew.

“I-I-” He stumbled, “M-my friend. Th-their hanahaki has progressed too far. Please do not question their state, but I need someone t-to come down beneath central, a-as quick as they can.”

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The doctor arrived after about an hour. Ed had hoped that it may have been someone like Marcoh, but he didn't want to anger Envy more by calling him up. They didn't have the best history and couldn't imagine that either of them would want to help in a situation like this. He briefed the doctor that come on Envy's situation, and how they weren't human, and said he'd pay them double for the work if they didn't say a word about Envy's existence. Envy had passed out after about 30 minutes of nonstop coughing and pulling out flower buds and stems that repeatedly tried to push out of their constantly healing skin. They lay on the floor, still unclothed (that was embarrassing to explain to the doctor), the occasional lightning flicking across their skin.

“So.. your... “friend” here,” The doctor began to speak, “Let their hanahaki progress too far without any real medical treatment? And they also can't... die. Is that right?”

Ed nodded to the doctor, “Their made from alchemy. I-I'm not quite sure if this would be able to be cured by the usual surgery, they may just heal up before you can get inside... But I have an idea of something that might work.”

The doctors eyes widened at this, “Have you tried any other methods? Perhaps finding out who exactly is the cause of this, and seeing if the feelings are returned?” “I have. I... have an idea of who it is, but with the way things have progressed, I don't think if... I returned the feelings it would have any effect. It's too far along, and none of us have an idea of how such a disease could even form in a being like them.”

“Alright...” said the doctor, contemplating their response, “What's your plan?”

Ed flashed the doctor a smile and ran to find his notes that he had left somewhere within the maze that was the underneath of Central. After a minute of rummaging through assortted papers, he finds them, happily waving them in the air as he walks back towards the doctor.

“So, we keep them in this near exhausted state. If they get any more exhausted, they may wear out their Philosopher's Stone, and revert to a small version of their true form. Which we can't perform surgery on”. The doctor nodded as they looked over Ed's notes and diagrams,

“We perform the surgery with me, the object of affection, and an alchemist present. I-I don't know who the alchemist should be, I can't use alchemy anymore and I'm not sure who'd be willing but.... we perform the surgery as normal.”

The doctor pauses, “Is that all? Just perform it normally?”

“Oh, no. In the event that the surgery heals up, which it might... we remove their philosopher's stone and replace it with a brand new one, made from new souls.”

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 6. Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 1,336 for Chapter 6. Original Date of Publication: September 24, 2019.

Summary (for all chapters): Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang’s wrath, they’ve discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn’t possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Notes from Ao3:  haha this was fun :> love the fact im posting it a day before my birthday AND ALso the end of the chapter (the talk between Ed + Envy at the end) was written while listening to lo-fi w/ my girlfriend thats why its a little softer alfkjakl

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Envy knew that they'd be in for it when they woke up. Not that they had actively fallen asleep - they woke up after about an hour and decided to just lay there, next to Ed, holding his hand till he woke up. They wouldn't admit it, to themselves or to Ed, but laying next to him was the happiest they had felt since they had lost their siblings. It was the closest thing to calm that they could imagine. The only thing that could break it was the need to cough at least every thirty minutes at maximum. But they'd cough, wipe their face off, and return to the calm state of holding Edward Elric's sleeping hand at what they could assume was four A.M. Ed woke up around an hour later. The sun hadn't risen yet, not that they would be able to see it down where they were, but Ed insisted that he couldn't sleep any longer and that he needed to stay awake. It took him a moment to realize that Envy had grabbed his hand while he was sleeping. "E-Envy are you," he said sleepily, having only been awake for a short time. They snatched their hand away quickly before he could finish his sentence, "No". "Mmmm.. Pretty sure you were." "I think your imagining things in your half-awake, delirious state." "There's no way I could be delirious, your just in denial. It's okay Envy, I did the same to Ling once." "You have? It's not like I did, I'm just surprised you slept with my once brother." Ed laughed and lightly hit Envy in the arm, "Don't say it that way! Makes it sound worse than it actually was. But you know I traveled with him, so it's not a big deal." "You did, didn't you? Traveling with Greed sounds like a horrible time." They said, finally pushing themselves up and stretching their arms. "Say Ed, did we have anything planned today? Any tests you needed to run?" Ed followed Envy and sat up, "Hmmmm. Well, I should probably see if the hanahaki has gotten worse. Then perhaps we should go out so I can have some food to eat." They sighed, "I assure you, it hasn't gotten worse. Still coughing every thirty minutes or so, but nothing more than that, I swear!" Ed pondered their response a bit, mostly because this was Envy who said it and they usually couldn't be trusted. "Alright. Well, if you say it's still fine then it most likely is...." He paused. "Is it even possible for you to get to the critical stage? If the roots were to enter your lungs all the way, wouldn't any damage done to your lungs just heal right away?" Ed muttered, just barely audible. Envy piped up, "What was that? Don't believe me?" Ed sighed and shook his head. "No I believe you, just get ready, we should go out and get some food."

Getting ready is always a bit hard when you don't own clothing. Ed had brought a bag with his own clothing, so he was fine. But Envy's just needed to shapeshift to change their clothing, so they didn't really own any. No need to when you can change it yourself. Ed was wearing a simple grey shirt, and black pants and boots, Pretty plain for him, but if you looked you'd notice that the pants were definitely leather and tighter than they should have been, and that his boots were still the platform boots. Envy had changed much more - their hair was now more of a brown color than blackish-green and was tied up in a ponytail. They had a black tank top on that was cut a bit too low and a pair of pants similar to Ed's for once. They had proper sandals on this time around, no gloves, and opted to make their eyes blue. "Heh, how do I look, better than before~?" They said, making various poses while looking at Edward. "You look fine, Envy. Let's get going." He replied, smiling, and headed towards the door.

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The place they went to was just the first market they could find in Central. They didn't really talk much, since Envy was just tagging along while Ed grabbed himself food. They didn't need to eat, so they figured that they didn't have much of a say in what food the other bought. Occasionally though, Envy would pick something up and show it to Ed. Ed usually shook his head no and Envy would walk away, sadly, to go put the item back. Eventually, Ed tapped Envy's shoulder, "Are you always this quiet when shopping?" "I've never been shopping before with someone else. I don't need the food, so I'm not saying anything. Out of character, I know." Ed just snickered and went back to picking up vegetables. Envy started coughing when they were trying to buy the items and made some customers worried, but Ed managed to keep them from trying to help. Trying to help would only result in Envy blowing up at someone. And considering how explosive Envy could be, that was for the best. Even if they seemed to be upset about Ed protecting them. After all, they were a homunculus! They didn't need help. They knew how to fight if they needed to.

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Once the two arrived at home, and Ed had managed to find a place to put the food he bought (there were no shelves inside the underground hideout the homunculi had made. There was no reason for them, so Father never made any, and Envy wasn't one to change the decor when they were the only ones down there most of the time.), the two of them sat down across from each other in the main room of the hideout. Ed was eating something he had bought, but also looked a bit nervous to start up a conversation. After a few more moments of silence, Ed asked, "...Say Envy, what was life like down here?" "Well... Most of us were gone most of the time. Father spent a lot of time alone down here. He was constantly sending us out on missions. When we were home though...," Envy paused. Was it okay for them to tell Ed how their family used to function? they thought. But their family was not there to stop them from revealing all of their secrets. "Before Greed deflected and ran away, Father was not a good man. He treated us simply as tools. It's part of the reason Greed tried to take us with him before he left. I lashed out and refused. Lust was too loyal. Pride he never bothered to ask." Envy stopped talking at that point. There was a sadness in their eyes that Ed hadn't seen before, and he wasn't sure what to say to them. "I never did think that you homunculi would have had it bad down here. But.. what sort of missions were you sent on? What did you?" "..Isn't that obvious Edward? I was Father's instigator - but with that I would shapeshift to get information out of people. You don't give me the information, you die. Simple as that." "How far did your instigation go? How far did you go for information?" "I resort to violence! Most of the time if you didn't get what I want I could become your loved one or threaten your loved ones. Worked in most cases. Lust went to more.. drastic measures." "Alright. All of this fits with what we learned about you before the Promised Day. So you never used sex as a tactic, that was all Lust?" "I don't have any sort of parts and I wasn't very interested in it. So no, I have not done any of it." There was a pause between the two and an awkward silence hung in the air. This went on for several minutes, but Ed was the first to speak up- "Would you be interested right now?"

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 5 Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 1,063 for Chapter 5. Original Date of Publication: September 18, 2019.

Summary (for all chapters): Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang’s wrath, they’ve discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn’t possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Notes from Ao3:  if i can get the rest of this fic out in the next few days it'll be a goddamn miracle yes i have an ending planned but i don't know if anyone is going to like whats going to happen :)

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There were two things worth noting-

One was that Ed had given Envy a telephone for ease of communication. The second was that Ed had gotten his hands on medical equipment and was now spending much more time with Envy under Central. But of course, It still startled the young homunculus when Ed called them so early in the morning, especially after they had had such an awful nightmare. They had a sliver of hope that Ed knew their troubles somehow and had called to comfort them. "Hey, Envy, since I'm already coming over at least a few times a week I thought that... perhaps I'd just start staying with you? In case, you know, your condition becomes critical.” It took Envy a second to process what Ed had said. Ed wanted to stay with them even though he had his own work back in Resembool. He couldn't receive mail from his brother down here so, either way, he'd have to travel back and forth unless Winry came up to Central as well. “Y-yeah I guess that's fine. Really, it'd be nice to have some company down here. Just...” Envy paused for a second, thinking over their words for once. “Just bring a nice jacket, it gets pretty cold down here.” Envy hung up the phone before Ed could respond to them. Ed arrived underneath Central around four hours later. It was a very quiet four hours for Envy, but when was it not.

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Now despite all of the time that Ed had been spending with Envy, it was a wonder that the man hadn't figured out who it was that had sparked Envy's hanahaki. Usually, the guy would have been able to figure such a thing out - after all, he was an alchemic prodigy - but this one still stumped him. Ed seemed to completely ignore Envy's subtle advances- their glances across the room at him, the way they would brush their hands over his, as if they wanted to hold his hand and possibly trace over every little line and scar on his palms. The way they unknowingly drifted their eyes towards his mouth when he was speaking or focusing on his alkahestric texts sent to him by his brother. He may have been a genius when it came to alchemy but Edward was an idiot when it came to noticing ones attempts at showing affection. ...Even though in this case, the attemptee didn't know what they were attempting to do.

But at the moment, that was the least of Envy's concerns. “So... Envy, have you coughed up any whole flowers?” Ed asked, for the third time in the past few hours. “The answer is still no, I've only done that once and these days it's mostly blood. I'm not sure how this thing wants to progress in my body. Maybe if I got rid of my lungs and then made new ones I could get rid of this.” Ed sighed. “Envy you can't get rid of your feelings by making new lungs. The only way to get rid of it is surgery or if the other person shares your feelings. But even I can't figure out who you'd like-” Ed was interrupted by Envy hitting him in the middle of the back – which hurts like a bitch when the person hitting you has at least a hundred years of fighting experience. “Could you please stop doing that every time I bring that up!” Ed yelled back as he rubbed the spot where Envy had hit him. “No! No. You're just doing it to try and get me to tell you who it is. But I won't tell you-” They were stopped by a coughing fit and left with a small pool of blood and a petal in their hand, “since it's none of your business.” “...As the person watching over you and seeing the progression of your disease, I think I have some right to know who caused this.” Envy huffed a sigh and crossed their arms. They knew that Ed was right but they really didn't want to admit it. After all, they knew who these affections were for, but they weren't about to tell Ed that it was him who caused them to develop this disease.

“You know I'm right, Envy.” “Yes, your right, but you aren't going to like it if you figure it out.” “I've heard my fair share of bad news. Whoever it is, I'm sure it won't shock me too much.”

Envy, once again, punched Ed in the arm. Though in a playful manner this time, which was pretty common between the two these days. Spending most days in a week with each other does eventually make you a bit friendlier. Especially when neither of the two had any other company, with Al being in the west and Envy's siblings being dead, unless Ed wanted to spend time with Winry. But Winry was usually in Rush Valley, so there weren't many opportunities for that anyways.

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It was several hours later that Ed realized there were very limited places for him to sleep. It was well past midnight now, so he was stuck underneath Central until the sun would come up in around six hours. His options were to either sleep next to Envy, or to explore the underground until he figured out where the other sins' rooms were. Envy would not let him do the latter. “I'm not having you explore my home Or sleep in my dead siblings' beds. Just stay in my room, it's the safest option anyway.” They said, preparing the bed they had messed up the night before. Ed couldn't be bothered to argue with their reasoning. He was far too tired to do so and didn't want to stay up late again that night. Being beside Envy was odd. It's not like they weren't warm, it was the fact they almost felt too human. Sure, their body was comprised of the same materials as humans, but given their true form, Ed had almost expected them to be cold-blooded or for their skin to not be as soft as it was. As they both closed their eyes to fall asleep, Ed on his side but Envy on their back as they do not require sleep, Envy slipped their hand into Ed's. They fell asleep with their fingers intertwined.

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 4. Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 1,103 for Chapter 4. Original Date of Publication: January 28, 2019.

Summary (for all chapters): Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang’s wrath, they’ve discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn’t possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Notes from Ao3: and its at this moment that i tell everyone im kin with envy writing a recap of the fight between mustang was fun as i just finished that part for the fourth time i hope this is alright for you all ! i thought it might be nice to know what went on during the fight, though its ... mostly the same. i even used actual dialogue from the dub ^^;;

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The hallways and floors were made of tan colored stone that felt cold on their feet. It wasn’t too far off from their normal hideout, so they knew their way around the place, but being so small wasn’t really helping them navigate it. At least the place was lit. They could hear shouting behind them from the Colonel and Fullmetal, the Colonel trying to order Ed to go and find them again. So angry that the kid had mercy on them.

Moments before, they were running, every inch of their body still stinging from the constant exposure to flames. Even the regeneration process hurt, and when several layers of your skin were getting constantly burned off the pain made it hard to move. They continued, of course, as they had been through worse. They couldn’t let Mustang get the best of them, after what he did to Lust. He’d pay for what he did to their sister, Envy was sure of it, whether it be now or some time later. They’d just have to survive to find out.

Their eyes and face stung the most, and they found a wall to lean on while their body still crackled with red lightning. The regeneration pain was much less than the pain of actually getting hurt, but healing your body was still a task, and tasks like that required some semblance of pain. As they heard his footsteps coming down the hall, his voice loud and clear asking them to show themself, they came up with a split second plan. “What would he be less likely to attack? His best friend? Let’s go with that, we don’t have the time to think of anything better.” They thought, changing into the man they killed so many months before.

They thought they had him! They thought this was their chance!

How much more wrong could they have been. Without hesitation, their body was once again wrapped in flames and they fell to the ground, writhing in pain. “How could you!” They yelled at the alchemist. How could he have attacked his best friend! They should have never doubted his resolve and his acceptance that his friend was now dead and nothing could change that.

They ran at him to attack, to show the man true punishment, but once more they were met with fire in their eyes. Truly, they did not get to know peace in these moments.

Envy had tried to trick the lieutenant. That backfired too.

The only moment of peace they knew was when Ed showed up and grabbed them in his hand and refused to let the colonel have them. The colonel was blind with hatred, ready to kill them in a moments notice if he had not been stopped.

“That is an order. Give it to me right now.” The colonel said to Ed. But Ed refused. The humans weren’t hurting each other either, but there they were, the only thing keeping them alive the snug grasp the younger alchemist had on them.

They didn’t understand it. How could they not take this opportunity to kill each other? With all the stuff going on between them, there was more than enough for them to try. War criminals and murderers they were. Why was their such compassion between them, even now?

Ed looked at them with sad eyes.

“Now I see. You’re jealous. You’re jealous of humans, aren’t you?” Said Ed.

And he hit it right on the spot. They would never have admitted it. But humans? The compassion that they knew for each other? Envy had never experienced such a thing. Even the bond they had with Lust and Gluttony wasn’t the same as the bonds between humans. Them and their siblings were nothing close to a ‘real’ family. It’s not like Father really cared much about them either.

Truly, they were jealous of humans compassion for one another.

Truly, they just wanted a family that cared.

They’d never get it, of course.

So they turned their want into jealousy, and took it out on the humans they so envied.

They could feel tears start to form in their large eyes.

They tried to wiggle free from Ed’s grip. He tried to stop them with his other hand but they bit his finger, hard enough to probably leave a small scar.

More shit from Mustang on not letting them go.

More from Ed on letting them do what they want, that they had enough punishment.

They fell to the floor, turning around and scurrying away into a nearby corridor that would lead them down to where Father was. They stopped halfway down the hall, the tan colored stone feeling cold on their feet. They could hear shouting behind them from the Colonel and Fullmetal, the Colonel trying to order Ed to go and find them again. So angry that the kid had mercy on them.

Envy closed their eyes for a moment of peace after the fight .

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Envy’s eyes shot open. The ceiling was made of familiar grey stone, the dripping and creaking of pipes bringing them back to reality. They coughed, a small red flower coming out onto their hand.

It was just a dream, they thought, just a dream. It wasn’t happening again.

It was much more dimly lit down here. It was also much more lonely and quiet. They had spent months down here, waiting for someone to show up and take their body. But no one ever came down here. It took so long to collect enough people to make a stone…..

After a few moments, they realized that there were tears falling onto their cheeks. They quickly wiped them away, but they kept falling anyways, until they were full on sobbing, a mixture of tears and blood and flower petals on the floor of their room. By now, Envy’s hair was sticking to their cheeks from the moisture, their eyes red from crying, blood on their lips from coughing. It was the first time they had broken down like this since the Promised Day.

Admittedly, they had done it before. They may have been Father’s envy but it sometimes seemed as they were more than just that and they never really knew how to take it. Sometimes, Lust would have been there. The comforting words of their older sister would help them most times. But they didn’t have that now. Everyone was gone, and it was slowly sinking in after all these months that they really were the only one left.

Being the last one was lonely.

If only they had someone to keep them company.

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 3. Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 855 for Chapter 3. Original Date of Publication: October 19, 2018.

Summary (for all chapters): Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang’s wrath, they’ve discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn’t possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Notes from Ao3: i finally got around to picking what flower envy's coughing up here... all because i drew art for this!!! u can see it here: https://www.deviantart.com/scalaeu413/art/oof-ouch-my-lungs-768958675thanks so much for reading this, i didnt think i'd get very far but here i am, updating again ^^ not entirely sure how good this chapter is, but i hope its alright

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The underground was cold, and Envy could hear water dripping and pipes creaking even from their bedroom. It was surprisingly large down here, but it was all so empty now, with Father and their siblings gone. Fathers seat and everything else was left untouched though, since no one had thought of finding the homunculi’s hide out (even with the Elrics, Scar, and Mei having been down there before). Envy had guessed that all of the other alchemists had given up on finding them, or something, because no one had actually looked for them since the Promised Day.

But again, it was cold and lonely down here.

And dark.

And there was no noise except for the dripping of water and the creaking of pipes.

Envy wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting in the dark, coughing up small red (and sometimes slightly bloody) petals and almost feeling the flowers grow in their lungs. Which they weren’t really aware that they had, like, sure, they had the same makeup as a human but their body was surely different, and with their true form it wouldn’t make sense. But they guessed they needed some way to breathe even without a heart.

Eventually though, they heard footsteps. Very specific footsteps though, they knew these foot steps, and it didn’t surprise them a bit that he would have checked here for them. They stepped out of their room and walked to the front (their room was somewhere in the back, where ever that would be) and down the hall, to where they expected the boy would have been. And they bumped into the now taller boy, knocking him down on his butt but managing to stay standing themself. He got up, they walked back, and sat down on the floor in front of Father's old chair. The place seemed to send shivers down the other boys spine, but to Envy, it felt like home. "So what brings you here? I know you don't like this place." Envy said to him. "I came with information that you might find useful. It was hard to find, but that's okay, I needed a break from all the alchemy research me and Al have been doing." Envy nodded at Ed's words and replied, "Is it on the disease? Is there a way to stop this? Did you figure out why I have it?" They got closer to Ed's face as they spoke, and Ed had to push them away before responding. He pulled some papers and books out of the bag he had brought with him. Opening one of the books and turning it around for Envy to read, he said, "As you know, you have what is called hanahaki. It's a disease that's caused by unrequited love, which is when the object of a persons affection does not love the person back. In some cases, it's just in just in the persons head, and the person does love them back, they just don't know it yet. It causes flowers to grow in the lungs of the diseased person, coming in stages. It starts as petals, but as the flowers grow more and some times aquire thorns, they start to cough up blood. Eventually, it kills the diseased." As he finished his sentence, Envy coughed up another bloodied red flower petal, and before they could brush it aside, Ed grabbed it from their hand. "It seems as though your already at stage two, but your still mostly coughing up petals. The types of flowers can vary, and all have meanings. Yours seem to be red poppies - they've started to be used for remembrance, but they can also mean consolation, peace in death, and resurrection and eternal life. Generally, it means it's a rather sad love." "So that's what these are," Envy said, looking at the petal in Ed's hand, "Is there anything about getting rid of it?" "There's two ways, but there are risks. The first is finding out if the person loves you back. If they do, it'll go away, and the person probably has hanahaki as well. The other way is to get it surgically removed, but the down side is that you would forget the person. Most don't do this, and wind up dying. I'm not entirely sure how you contracted this though, cases aren't heard of much around here and your not even human." "It confuses me too! I'm not even sure if that surgery would work, as I heal from anything. Who knows, maybe it won't progress much. Maybe I'll just heal it away" they said, with a wave of their hand. "Who knows," Ed replied, "But who's this person any ways? Do I know them?" Envy stared at Ed for a moment, their face growing hotter, "No, I- I don't think you know them. Definitely don't know him." "I know a lot of people, Envy, you'd be surprised. But I gotta get going, I'm sure Al's worried about me by now." Ed leaned over, kissed Envy's cheek as a goodbye, and ran away waving. As he left, Envy coughed up an entire flower this time.i finally got around to picking what flower envy's coughing up here... all because i drew art for this!!! u can see it here: https://www.deviantart.com/scalaeu413/art/oof-ouch-my-lungs-768958675thanks so much for reading this, i didnt think i'd get very far but here i am, updating again ^^ not entirely sure how good this chapter is, but i hope its alright

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 2. Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 1,131 for Chapter 2. Original Date of Publication: July 10, 2018.

Summary (for all chapters): Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang's wrath, they've discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn't possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Not too far off from the Rockbell's house, just out of earshot, Envy had finally taken in what Ed had said and what it meant it for them. And at this realization, they stopped their foot on the ground and yelled “FUCK!”, creating a dent in the ground, scaring off the nearby wildlife and alerting the nearby townspeople of their presence and frustration. They stood there for a second, continuing to process what happened, but as they started to walk off someone walked up to them. “May I ask why you just yelled and scarred all of my animals?” They asked, not necessarily mad at them but rather just curious as to why they yelled so loud. “It's none of your business!” they shouted back, before quietly saying, “I just need to get back to Central.” “Oh, alright... well best be on your travels.” the person said, before walking off and leaving them alone.

It was a bit more trouble getting back to Central than it was getting to Resembool, but things do get a bit easier when you can disguise yourself as a local cab driver and then steal the cab drivers car. Assuming there are cab drivers out there. Either way, disguises were had and cars were stolen. That didn't stop the car ride from being long though, and with no company it gave Envy even more time to think about the situation at hand, even if only for small bits of time since they had to keep an eye on the road. They really had been doing a lot of introspection these days hadn't they. Another thing that they had eventually come to realize was that they only had Pride to talk to. Greed had been killed by Father twice (not like they'd want to talk to him about troubles like these anyways – he'd probably just make fun of them for falling in love with a human and not having them love him back.), Lust was killed by Mustang, Gluttony was eaten by Pride, Sloth used up too much of his energy and exhausted his stone, and Father failed and died too. And since the older of the Elric brothers didn't have it in him to kill their older brother, they were stuck with him. However, he was also a small child who could barely talk at the moment, so they guessed that they really had no one after all. Unless they talked to Pride's mother, who might actually understand something about what they were going through, since she had also loved a homunculus.

So without thinking much through ahead of time, they drove right up to the Bradleys. Not disguised, just them and their palm tree self driving a stolen car up to the home of the President of Amestris. Of course, with a flash of red light, they changed into their solider form to avoid being talked to by anyone outside of the home, if there were any at the early hour they had arrived. But despite it being around 6 in the morning, and the sun had only been up for around an hour, Mrs. Bradley greeted them at a table in the garden as they passed by. Surely, she knew who they were by now. She didn't actually say much besides a “Hello” to the passing soldier, and a wave to come and have what they assumed to be tea. Their brother, Pride – who they should be calling Selim but even after the months had gone by they still couldn't shake the nearly 175 years they had of calling him Pride – was sleeping in the chair next to Mrs. Bradley, having awoken briefly to come out to the garden with his mom but quickly fell back asleep due to the early hour. There was a third, empty chair, so they walked over and accepted her invitation. “What brings you here at this hour, Envy? Don't think I didn't know it was you, who else would show up in the disguise of an unnamed officer at 6 in the morning?” she said, pouring them a cup of tea, “Is there something on your mind?” “There is, and I had initially meant to talk to Pride about it – sorry I meant Selim- but I had forgotten that he probably wouldn't be able to understand much of what it was,” they said as they poured a small bit of sugar into their tea before downing the entire thing even though it was fresh off the stove, “I seem to have a problem that I've never had before.” “And what would that be?”, she said, curious of what problem the much much older being in front her could possibly have not faced already. “I seem to have...I seem to have fallen in love. And with a human no less..”, they said, almost ashamed that they were admitting it, “It's brought about these stupid flower petals that I keep coughing up and I have no idea what any of it means! It's enough that I've fallen in love with that stupid blonde pipsqueak, and enough that he's probably never going to love me back, and I'm probably going to have to deal with these stupid flowers for a lot longer than everyone else who catches this cause I! Can't! Die!” they said, accidentally banging their hand on the table and almost breaking it. Mrs. Bradley took a sip of her tea, “You've never experienced love before, and now you're in love with Edward?” She said, as calmly as one could be after their table almost broke, “What's the problem with that?” “The problem is that he's never going to love me back! I'm going to be stuck with this stupid fucking disease for the rest of my time here, or least until he himself dies! And there's nothing I can do about it! It's just the way that things are going to happen!” “Why wouldn't he love you back?” “Because I'm me! I've committed countless crimes, most of which resulted in a great deal of humans dying, I've tried to kill him and the majority of the people he cares about! There's no reason to love me, considering that I don't even love myself!” They yelled, waking up the previously sleeping Selim, and angrily walked out of the garden, punching (and denting) the nearest wall to them on their way out. They couldn't even be bothered to keep up the disguise anymore. It's not like any one was around. They just wanted to go back home, where they used to live underground, as quick as possible. And on their way back to their home, if anyone had seen Envy walking that morning, they would have sworn they could have seen them shed a couple of tears.

[thescarleteyes]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 (𝘜𝘯)𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 - Chapter 1. Pairing: Edward Elric/Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)  Rating: Mature. Tags: Hanahaki, Love/Hate, Unrequited Love. Trigger Warnings for things such as coughing up blood medical procedures. Possible angst. Word Count: 7,515 for all chapters. 869 for Chapter 1. Original Date of Publication: February 26, 2018.

Summary (for all chapters):  Months after the promised day, and months after Envy had managed to wiggle away and survive Mustang's wrath, they've discovered that they now cough up flower petals. Unsure of what this means for them, they consult Ed, who they had been trying to get closer to since the conclusion of the Promised Day, who told them that it must mean their in love. But Envy? Capable of loving? Surely it wasn't possible. After all, they hated humans, and it was hard for them to feel any other emotion than envy and its variations. And if they were, would he ever love them back after all they had done?

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Notes from Ao3:  An au where a) Envy doesnt die and survives the promised day and b) envy now has hanahaki (also poses the question that if the feelings aren't returned, will envy die, or just sort of suffer with the flowers for a really fucking long time) Please forgive me for any mistakes i make with hanahaki-related things, as this is my first time writing it, and i'm mostly writing it at 4 in the morning. Most of it is told from Envy's point of view, as I know them.. a bit better than I do Ed. Thank u to the first person who commented for giving me the title ^-^

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It had started a few months after the promised day. Before that, Envy had managed to crawl away from Mustang and the group, hearing Ed tell him to let them be since they were defenseless now. They managed to find an area where they could hide from them so Mustang wouldn’t try anything again. And they sat there for a while, thinking over lot and lots of things, but mostly stuff about that young blonde alchemist. For the longest time, they kind of hated the kid, and it’s an awfully good thing he was such a precious sacrifice for Envy might have tried to kill him multiple times. But things were almost different now to them, seeing as he had seen right through them and pointed out the one thing they tried so much to hide.

They weren’t sure if they should be angry, or sad, or what emotion they should feel really.

And after a few months of waiting and presumably a little murder, they managed to get their form back and no longer had to be a little green worm.

And thats when the flowers showed up.

Coughing up a few petals and maybe a little blood didn’t really concern the homunculus, rather it confused them since they had never heard of such a thing happening to people (much less a homunculus like themself), but they brushed it aside to worry about later. Maybe they’d ask Ed about it, he always seemed to know about weird little things like that. But then again, maybe there wasn’t an explanation for it at all, and Envy would just have to accept the fact that they now coughed up flower petals. As if that was anything compared to having to drown out thousands of screams inside their head, but that had become easy for them anyway after being alive for so long. And so they asked Ed about it. They had been trying to hang out with him even before they got their body back, though Ed was always rather hesitant to do so, but every now and then they succeeded in being around him for an hour or two. Of course, it was sort of hard to hang out much now, with him heading back to Resembool and all, but Envy found ways to get places. And the look of both surprise and shock on Winry’s face when she opened the door to see them standing there was almost priceless.

“Where’s the pipsqueak.” They said, almost serious sounding for once. “Oh, um, he’s inside. Should I get him for you?” Winry replied, but there was no need for her to go get Ed, as he heard someone call him a pipsqueak again, and since he was much taller now and should not be called a pipsqueak anymore, came to make sure that whoever called him that knew.

“Who are you calling a pip- Oh hi Envy what are you doing here.” He said, wondering why Envy was all the way in Resembool.

“I need to ask you a question.” They said, and at great timing, coughed a little bit, allowing a few petals to come out into the palm of their hand. They brushed them off on their skort and tried to ignore it. “Would that question have anything to do with the fact you just coughed up flower petals” Ed said, looking down at Envy’s hand and the petals that now clung to their skort.

“Yeah. Why the fuck am I coughing up petals! Is this just a new thing I have to go through! Is this normal!?”

“Normally I’d tell you it isn’t but I’ve heard of a few cases where people began to cough up flower petals, but a few of those ended in the person dying…” “But I’d assume your gonna be fine since you can regenerate and all. If I remember right its called Hanahaki, it’s caused by unrequited love.”

It suddenly hit Envy that the emotion they had been feeling towards Ed for a little while now could very well be love, but honestly they weren’t entirely sure how to deal with that. Them? Love a human? Unlikely. Couldn’t happen. Or maybe it could?

Maybe it was like Greed always said. There’s no such thing as no such thing.

“Alright. Cool. Thanks. See ya later, pipsqueak.” They said, waving goodbye as they walked away.  They were left wondering if they could really die from this … hanahaki was it called? Ed was right, it might not effect them too bad since they can regenerate. But they can only regenerate for so long, if their stone runs out of energy then their fucked. And while that wouldn’t be for a long while, Envy really didn’t want to be coughing up flower petals and blood for hundreds of years. They’d outlive the object of their affections too. Would it stop once Ed had died? They thought of trying to kill him to find out. But then they’d never get to see him again, so they pushed the thought away. They still had more time to think on it though, as Central was a long walk away and they had nothing else to do but think.

[thescarleteyes]

i’m going to be posting some older works of mine over the next... few hours, i’d estimate?  it’s the (sort of) on going edvy (fmab) fic that i’ve been writing for two years and the original story that i’ve been writing since... technically 2014-ish but it’s the remake from back in 2018.  please enjoy these as well! ^-^