#feat Lyney and Lynette

[it-happened-one-fic]

Dancing With Visions - According to Plan - Romany Polka - Freminet

Author Notes: So, I won't lie this was my first time writing for Freminet and it was really, really difficult. I ended up having to use Lyney and Lynette to help me along through writing this, but I think it turned out alright. The performance in this fic was inspired by a performance of the Romany Polka that I watched on youtube. Just like the rest of this series, Reader is female. I hope you enjoy!

If you would like to read more of this series, the fics can be found here: Dancing with Visions Masterlist.

Type: Female reader/ dance/ fluff/sfw

Word Count: 1436

I honestly felt bad for Freminet. Yes, we were friends, but that didn’t make it any less cruel of Lyney and Lynette to assert that he simply had to be the one to teach me how to polka. 

Nonetheless, all three of the trio were determined that I had to know the polka so that I could dance alongside everyone else at the ball for at least one round of dancing.

 They'd managed to get me invited too, even though I was fairly certain that it was supposed to be a Fatui-only function.

Soft spoken as ever, Lynette looked at us from where she sat next to the gramophone, her expression not holding an ounce of sympathy for me or my partner, “Are you ready?”

I glanced over at Freminet, feeling distinctly guilty even as we both nodded to his sister that yes. We were ready.

I turned to face Freminet as the music started, just as they’d told me to do, and he quietly held out his hand, his shyness already rearing its head even as he was instructing me on my motions, “Okay, you’ll take my hand, and when I bow, you’ll curtsey.”

I mirrored his motions carefully, dipping down at the same time he did before straightening once more as strings filled the air. 

“Okay, I’ll raise my arm now, and you’ll twirl under it. When you come back around, we’ll be side by side, and your hand will rest on my shoulder,” His gaze evaded mine as he spoke, but I nodded. Following his soft-spoken instructions as I carefully, but awkwardly, did as he instructed.

My hand found his shoulder easily, and I glanced his way, noting how he swallowed nervously, his gaze still pointedly avoiding mine, “Okay, now we walk forward. When I rock forward onto the front leg, you do the same.”

I walked quietly next to him, watching how he placed his feet for further instruction and matching his stride. I almost entirely missed the rock forward and barely caught myself in time, fumbling to keep matching him.

If he noticed the near mishap though, he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he nodded at me, his gaze for once steadily meeting mine before he looked away again as soon as he began to speak, “Now we separate and each turn in a circle with our arms out, like this…”

  He trailed off, showing me how he walked in a slow circle with his arms spread as if he were requesting a hug. And I mirrored his motions, though it was far more awkward looking as I did it. But when I made it back around, he only nodded, “During the actual dance, you’ll do it at the same time as your partner.”

He held out his hands, looking down at them as I slipped my own into his grasp. Feeling his fingers curl timidly around my hands as he spoke, his voice somehow getting softer than it already had been so that I had to lean forward slightly to hear his words, “Now we’ll keep skipping in that same circle we walked in before…. But this time we’ll need to swing out, letting go with these hands.” He paused, swallowing thickly before nodding, more to himself than to me, and continuing, “Just follow me.”

I had no doubts that our little circuit around the room was beyond awkward looking, judging from the amused smile on Lyney’s face from where he propped against the door as he watched us. But we made it through, progressing through the dance.

Freminet’s other hand took mine again, and he nodded, almost like he was speaking more to himself than me, “Same motion, just stay in place and skip lightly.”

I did as instructed, feeling slightly silly and giggling nervously. At the sound of my laughter, a smile flickered across the young man’s face before he flushed slightly and looked away from me again.

“Uh.. Now we separate and you twirl in place,” Again, I did as instructed. And as I faced him, he was waiting. 

He reached out with one arm and wrapped it around my waist nervously as he spoke, his voice cracking slightly, “Your hand goes on my shoulder here.”

I nodded, finding myself smiling at the young man as his gaze darted to my face and then back away again at impressive speeds.

He started me off, trotting with me and rotating us along a larger circle whose course we’d stayed on this entire time. 

We paused and he nodded again, seeming to gather courage to speak once more, “Uh… it might be best to just watch what I do and mimic the footwork here…. It's a bit hard to explain.”

Obediently, I stepped away from him and I looked down. Watching with a slight frown before I did my very best to match his practiced, unhesitating motions, before he began to polka me along the floor once more. 

We paused again,and he held out his arm, letting me twirl under it without even having to instruct me this time as we went.

And then he remained silent for a while, only letting out a half-relieved exhale as he let me mimic his motions before he suddenly twitched slightly, “We separate here and go in a circle around each other.”

I felt myself frown in confusion at his words, and his eyes widened before he looked, almost pleadingly over towards Lyney, who let out a laugh at his brother’s distress before stepping over and instructing me, “You’ll go forward, end up behind Freminet, and then shift back until you’re facing one another again.”

I let out a tiny, “Oh,” before doing as instructed. But now Lyney stayed, offering instruction himself, as Freminet led me through the steps. Though Lyney did actually stay silent for the most part. Letting me just follow Freminet’s steady, if shy, lead.

“You’ll separate now. Just follow Freminet’s lead though, and you’ll be fine,” At Lyney’s instruction, I did as I was told. Watching Freminet closely as we both trotted backwards, crossing our arms in front of us as we moved, before we finally stopped in place. Lightly kicking out one foot and then the other before we trotted back towards each other.

Freminet let out an ever-soft, “Excuse me,” as his arm wrapped around my waist and I hurriedly copied his motions as we spun with our other arm raised.

The song changed as we spun, becoming somehow more lighthearted, and Lyney began clapping along as our positions shifted back to a more typical hold for dances, and we began trotting around the room again in that same circle we’d been in before.

Our motions repeated, and I found myself starting to smile as I fell more and more into the rhythm of the dance.

I barely noticed as Lyney retreated. A sly smile on his face as his eyes stayed on us as we rotated around the room, gradually picking up speed to match the tempo of the song until we were spinning in place with me giggling slightly before we hopped apart.

Freminet landed in a practiced pose. Looking like the perfect image of  a young prince from a fairytale as one of his hands remained holding mine and his other raised in the air as if to signal the end of the dance.

His gaze finally met mine as I hurriedly matched his pose, and both Lyney and Lynette started applauding us.

“That was all but perfect! You both looked amazing,” Lyney cheered excitedly as we hurriedly parted, with my eyes widening slightly at Lyney’s words. 

Freminet looked away from me with a slight flush appearing on his face, coughing lightly before he looked towards his brother,  “I still think one of you would have been a better teacher.”

Lynette walked over from where she’d stood, already shaking her head as she came to a stop next to me, “No, you were a good choice, Freminet. You two should dance again together at the ball tomorrow night.”

She looked towards me with a slight smile, and I found myself looking towards Freminet, lifting my shoulder slightly. I didn’t want to force the young man, but….

“That sounds nice… if you don’t mind?”

I carefully left him an opening as I smiled hopefully at him, and I watched as Freminet’s eyes widened before he looked away hurriedly, nodding slightly as his fingers curled into his palm, “Okay…. If you want to.”

I smiled at his words, ignoring the way Lyney and Lynette both smiled as if things had gone perfectly according to plan.

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[yuellii]

PLEASE ( DON’T ) BE MY WINGWOMAN !

𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 his female best friend tries to help him win your love, but knowing her, it all goes wrong

feat. lyney, neuvillette, ayato ( separate )

note. gn reader, features : lynette, furina, ayaka. hello i am officially back and also officially 21 !! :]

LYNEY.

“Oh, woe is me! Please assist, my dearest sister!” The magician sat sprawled atop the couch quite dramatically, backhand over his forehead feigning feverish feelings. “Whatever shall I do when the God of Romance is plotting against a hopeless romantic, such as I?”

“What’s wrong this time?” By contrast, his sister’s voice proved no fluctuations, tone lacking the honeyed sound he needed for sympathy. Instead of catering to his sorrows, she instead sipped lightly at her tea, for it was far more relaxing than her brother’s ‘woes.’

Still, Lyney sighed. “The love of my life—my soulmate!” he cried out. “How should I win the affections of my other half, when I can’t even grasp the scale of romantic favor?”

“Desserts.”

Lyney sat up. “I beg your pardon?”

“Give desserts,” Lynette shrugged. “Everyone likes desserts.” This reasoning totally made the most sense to her.

She watched as Lyney started at her blankly for just a moment, and then he inhaled sharply. “So I should… use desserts as my gift…” With each passing word, Lynette watched as a staggering excitement in his voice grew tenfold. “And then, if I keep giving their favorite treats”—Lyney gasped—“they’ll start to associate the sweetness with me! Oh, Lynette, you’re a genius!”

Lynette blinked at him. That strategy explanation was not what she said at all, but whatever. Not her problem.

But when Lyney dragged her by the hand to go purchase desserts, and then forced her to sit down at the cafe just to watch him gift treats to you, then maybe it was her problem.

“A very special dessert!” he presented, and Lynette sat with disinterest as she watched your eyes light up at his cheap old appearance trick. “For a very special person.” And now came her own eye roll—caused by the way Lyney giggled to himself at the end of his own sentence.

Maybe it was charming ( but personally Lynette didn’t see the appeal ), because there was a sparkle that appeared in your eyes in admiration of him. And suddenly, Lynette didn’t understand why he was trying to win your love at all, because it’s clear to her that he’s already won it.

“This is for me?” she heard you say. “This is actually my favorite! Oh, Lyney, you shouldn’t have!”

“Don’t even worry,” she watched Lyney wave off. “It was given to me for free at the shop”—Huh?—“and I have no space for it”—What was he…?—“so I thought you might like it!”

Lynette blinked to herself. Then she blinked to herself again. And then one more time, and now Lyney was back to her spot with you no longer in sight. “How did I do?” Lyney excitedly questioned her. “A good start, right? Step one of your idea to get my crush to become obsessed with me is complete!”

Okay first of all, that was literally not her idea, but maybe she should’ve communicated it better. And second, “Why did you lie? That dessert wasn’t free—You specifically bought it to give to them.”

Lyney immediately raised a finger with that confident smirk of his. “Because, my dear sister,” he began, “it’s called playing hard to get.”

If she could sigh, she would. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am! And I’m taking this game very seriously, too. Do you know how hard it is to keep my cool when I’m around the love of my life?!”

“Playing hard to get just makes it harder to get someone, Lyney. They might lose interest and move on.” But still, Lyney insisted. And still, Lynette just silently rolled her eyes.

The next time this happened was literally only a day later. So much for playing “hard to get,” she supposes. Perhaps Lyney didn’t quite fully understand the scope of how suspicious it was to offer you another “free dessert” only a day later. Or, he was just so lovestruck he absolutely could not wait to talk to you again.

Lynette decided the answer to be the latter option.

And once again, he claimed not to buy this dessert on his own, and Lynette did not miss the obvious eyebrow raise you gave her brother this time. You were still grateful since it was your favorite, of course, but it was rather clear you were beginning to question this. Lynette sighed to herself.

“Lynette!” Lyney called excitedly once he left you. “Oh, dear sister, did you see it this time? She stayed with me a bit longer—grabbing the plate much more slowly. She must have been at the start of falling in love with—!” Lyney stopped when he saw the empty seat. “Uh, Lynette?”

Farther away, you suddenly yelped in surprise, almost dropping the plated dessert in your hands.

“Sorry,” Lynette mumbled. Oops, she didn’t mean to scare you. But… maybe appearing in your field of sighs so suddenly once you turned a corner and coming from a darkened alleyway was not the most subtle.

“It’s alright,” you brushed of. “Oh, you must be Lynette, right? Lyney’s sister!”

“Correct.” Ah, how would she bring this up? She was never really the best with words… And definitely not when she had to use a lot of them. “Um, my brother,” she started. “Don’t mind him being weird.”

At the mention of her brother being weird ( perhaps she should defend him, but whatever, he was being weird. ), you seemed to relax. “Yeah…” you trailed off. “He’s been giving me these desserts lately—didn’t seem too coincidental that he keeps getting them for ‘free’… Especially since they’re, um, not even having a promotion right now.”

Again, if Lynette could wack her brother on the head right now, she would.

“He likes you.”

The sudden shock on your face tells Lynette that maybe she shouldn’t have said that so bluntly. Or that she shouldn’t have said that. At all.

“You’re a very dear friend to him,” she correct. Oh, wait, but she didn’t want to completely shut off the idea of romance. Correct it again, quick. “Or, very dear person… Yeah.”

You stayed quiet for a moment, probably trying to process the amount of confessions and corrections she just shot at you. Archons, you probably thought her and her brother were so weird. Unfortunately, she couldn’t blame you.

“Thanks, Lynette,” you said, and she noticed your feet shift to walk away. “Actually, I think I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

Well, Lyney certainly hoped you would. She just silently watched as you walked off. But she wasn’t worried, no. As long as you spoke of this “next time,” Lynette was sure her brother would eventually succeed with you, even if he was being weird at this game.

NEUVILLETTE.

The thing that gets Furina the most excited—absolutely elated, much shown in the way she kicks her feet and patters her fingers—is the fact that her dear Iudex has no idea he’s so in love with you.

To not only her, but also the rest of Fontaine, word is quick to spread with the simple way his feet always end up turned in your direction, or how lips curve a slight upwards motion when he speaks to you. Or, the way his feelings of admiration brings out the colors in his eyes, and the shyer tone in which he laughs along with you.

And Furina, being the bestest of friends she certainly is, only wants what’s best for the Chief Justice, truly! It’s such a downer seeing him be a quiet, unsociable, hard-to-get-along-with loner all the time. And so, the moment she catches wind of his feelings, she is more than quick to come up with a way to loop the two of you together.

She pats herself in the back. She’s confident that he’ll totally thank her for all her efforts later.

This confidence still yet remains even when she has you standing up nervously on trial, wide eyes a bit scared to be accused of a crime by the Hydro Archon herself. And Neuvillette atop his seat looks exasperated, much so in a way the audience is always eyeing him with fluttering eyes and chattering whispers—because the Iudex is looking at you with such a public display of concern that he has never been known to show another on trial.

Oh, she could already see the Steambird’s morning headlines! Chief Justice Neuvillette casts eyefuls of worry towards the accused?! Or, The Iudex’s rumored lover: Accused by Lady Furina?! —Oh, oh! She was so excited!

Amidst her internal giggles was when Neuvillette’s cane came hammered down on the wooden floor of his balcony seat, silencing every voice in the Opera Epiclese. “Furina,” his voice scatters as firm as ever, though the Archon could some people gasp to themselves—Ah, she could always trust her people to spot even the slightest difference in his voice; He was clearly angrier today! “I believe you have some explaining to do.”

“Is it not obvious, my dear Iudex?” she loudly proclaimed as if acting in a performance. Her voice was playful and teasing as always, and she could tell Neuvillette was much more annoyed by it than usual today. “I am pressing charges against a darling citizen, yet a criminal over here…!”

And that was when she threw the back of her hand over her forehead for dramatic effect, making you only more nervous upon your stand. Such an increase in your fear was clearly noticeable to the Iudex, of course, as he immediately spoke to silence the Archon accusing you.

“And what would those charges entail, Furina?”

There was a sudden glare in his eyes, almost threatening. But oh well, nothing he could do—She knew he would stick by the law and allow her to make her claim anyways. This was so easy, she could almost laugh to herself!

“For…”

Oh, celebration was already at the back of her mind!

“Murder!”

…Holy shit. Oh Archons. She was supposed to say theft. “Theft,” for stealing Neuvillette’s heart. But instead she slipped up and said murder.

Oh, she can’t take that back now. But… But no worries! She was the beloved Archon that had absolutely no issues performing for her people—ergo, she could totally come up with a new plan! Certainly, a single-word slip-up will surely not mess up her entire pickup line here.

“Yes, you heard me,” she played along, hands balling to fists and dramatically sitting at her hips. “Murder!”

“Furina!” Neuvillette silenced from his place below on the podium. Never before has she seen his facial expression this angered. There was a furrow between his brows that betrayed his usually calm and emotionless look—and aw, she thought it was so romantic for him to show these emotions so outwardly just for you! The audience must love his display of passion right now—all to defend your honor! “What is the meaning of this?” his voice boomed.

Furina cleared her throat. “Murder…” she began to make her case against you. You, who looked up at her so fearfully. She almost felt bad. “For… For breathing…!” Wait, that’s not what she meant. “No, no, like murder… of breath— of my breath— no, of Neuvillette’s breath, I mean—” Okay, at this point, she just needed to spit something out. And that was when she raised a finger, pointing it accusingly down at you and making her claim: “You killed Neuvillette!”

The next instance was filled with a silence so deafeningly powerful that she felt her own stomach churn and her knees grow shaky. Well, this was definitely an embarrassment she hopes to never feel again.

Surely, this silence wasn’t awkward enough for her land the finishing blow…?

“Like, you stole his breath away…” she tried. “So you technically killed him.”

Okay maybe it was time for her to shut up.

Neuvillette’s face; oh, he looked absolutely furious. This was not the picture-perfect sight of cherry tomato blushing she was hoping for here. And you: a horror-stricken disbelief. Your mind looked like it was racing to comprehend both being charged with such a serious crime, and having the Chief Justice just randomly outed in public for… having a crush on you…?

Meanwhile Furina stood still in her usual place, just about ready to curl up and die from her failed attempt at a love confession. But before that, perhaps Celestia heard her prayers.

The audience pretty much erupted in girlish screams and whispers—all those watchful citizens of Fontaine who treated your relationship with Neuvillette like the hottest topic of the century, like the storybook romance they were reading obsessively. And now, Furina watched—watched as your expression contorted to slow realization that maybe your Archon wasn’t exactly lying about Neuvillette’s feelings, and that maybe almost the entire nation was already romanticizing you two.

And then, there: that was when Furina watched as your face blew up an expression of pure embarrassment, all the fear being completely wiped away. Then Furina could almost die when she turned her gaze to Neuvillette—who was still watching you very intently—and how the ends of his ears turned a blushing red.

Oh, this view was priceless. Once again, perfect Focalors saves the day!

KAMISATO AYATO.

Thoma clicked his tongue. “Tall and awkward.” He squinted his eyes. “Practically unrecognizable in Inazuma despite your status.” Then, he tilted his head. “Absolutely terrible at small talk.”

Finally, Thoma nodded his head. “Yep, you don’t have a chance, my Lord.”

Thoma yelped as a paper fan hit his shoulder, and that was when Ayaka slid at the seat next to him. He made a quick apology to her, but when Ayaka looked across the table, she saw how her older brother didn’t seem quite phased at Thoma’s mean evaluation at all.

Instead, he seemed to be really considering what was told to him.

“Oh, brother,” Ayaka caught his attention. “Don’t listen to Thoma, he was only being mean. Personally, I think you have a good chance at winning this date!”

“No, no, Thoma might be right,” Ayato pondered. Aw, Ayaka didnt like it when he doubted himself. “All of those traits may make this date go horribly wrong—I might end up appearing as undesirable…”

Ayaka frowned. She may not have a love life of her own, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t watching her brother’s love life like an Inazuman drama act or like a romantic storybook. And the fact that Ayato has downright fallen tremendously hard for you—who Ayaka also loved dearly, and who she admired so much—makes her pray to the Archons every night for your relationship to set sail.

So Ayato scoring this first date with you was already a big deal on its own. Only… He wasn’t quite sure what date plan would make him the most appealing man to be courting you.

Of course, who else could he turn to, other than his darling best friend and sister? Ayaka certainly had no expertise in this, but if there was one thing…

“Brother, please take this!” Across the table, she shoved a stack of just a few papers, slightly faded and lightly wrinkled, into his hands. He blinked in surprise at them for a moment before squinting at the rushed handwriting that clearly did not belong to his sister. “The Traveler gave this to me; It’s a recipe for a pizza dish from Mondstadt!

And that was how she ended up here, watching with Thoma from the sidelines of the estate as Ayato gives you the friendliest smile can force upon himself as he offers to make the both of you food. Now, the last time Ayaka tried this, she blew up the oven with the Traveler in earshot. But surely, she knew her brother had much better survival skills than she did, and there was no way he would ruin a perfectly easy pizza recipe.

But then Thoma almost burst out laughing from their secluded hiding spot, and that was when she noticed her brother bringing out not one, but instead two platters of pizza. A rather odd aroma in the air. Oh.

“I thought we’d spice things up!” they heard Ayato say to you, clasping his gloved hands together and regaining his weird, excited smile and that equally weird, excited tone in his voice. Oh brother… “One pizza is normal, and the other pizza has random toppings I threw on it—as a taste test!”

And when he set the two down, it was… quite interesting. One was a normal mushroom pizza, cooked based on Traveler’s recipe: Ayato certainly made it much better than Ayaka could’ve attempted. But the second pizza was topped with a rather colorful palette: lavender melons, sea grass, and what looked like Sea Ganoderma. Ayaka and Thoma already found themselves gagging at the smell.

When Ayaka glanced at her blonde companion, he was furiously shaking his head at her, running a thumb straight across his throat as if saying “It’s over for him.” And honestly, Ayaka might have to agree this time. Maybe she should’ve never given him that pizza recipe or that cooking idea.

“A ‘taste test’…” you echoed. The two eavesdroppers heard shifts from your side do the table, meaning you reached forward to grab a slice—they quite obviously guessed you picked the regular mushroom pizza. “The host should go first, don’t you think?”

Oh? Did that mean you were interested in this game of two after all? Ayaka’s eyes practically lit up—She was so excited for her brother!

“I’ll take up that offer of yours,” Ayato chuckled lowly. And with no gag or hesitance at all, he takes a large bite with a whole unsavory mixture of the ingredients entering the cave of his mouth. “Mm, not bad at all.”

You were visibly surprised by his calmness, now reaching out to grab a slice of your own and biting it just as he did.

But almost immediately, that bite was spat right back out onto a napkin at the mere taste of this weird concoction. “Bleh, Lord Commissioner! How did you manage to eat a whole slice?!”

The first thing Ayaka and Thoma noticed: The way you said this was amidst laughter. You were laughing, and it even sounded like you were smiling. Because whenever Ayato tried this sort of gross mixing method with Thoma or Ayaka, they would also say the same line of disgust, but in an unfavorable way. But, no—You sounded genuinely lighthearted?

The second thing Ayaka and Thoma noticed ( from even the slightest of peeks ): The big, bona fide grin on Ayato’s face at your reaction. Oh, he was absolutely eating this up, as no one ever showed a positive reaction to his weird little hobby before. And of course, being partnered with the fact he was ( not-so ) secretly in love with you, only made it so much better for him.

“It was alright, I’d say!” he spoke excitedly, a hint of an uncontrollable laughter and uncontrollable smile laced in his voice. “It had the most memorable texture, and the taste felt like I was in touch with mother nature.”

You only scoffed at him in a joking manner, “None of those ‘compliments’ of yours weren’t inherently positive, Commissioner.”

To that, he gave you another big grin before silently reaching to eat yet another slice of this suspicious pizza. Well, Ayaka supposed her brother’s weirdness landing a perfect date with you, after all. And then she pat herself on the back—because maybe, giving him that recipe was the best mistake she could make.

// not proofread ;; THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNIER THAN INTENDED. BUT IM BAD AT BEING FUNNY :(

[pyrodolls]

random sagau idea..

mean!creator attends one of lyney and lynette’s shows one day. they both panic, jumping at the opportunity to make a good first impression in front of their almighty creator. they anxiously prepare themselves, pacing around the stage hours in advance.

they’ve never felt so nervous before a show before. they pride themselves on their magic shows, confident that they bring joy to all that attend. but when they saw that you reserved a seat, your worshippers suddenly felt a wave of insecurity slap them in the face.

what if you were displeased with what you see? will they be entertaining enough? should they do something special, in honor of you? or should they let you sit and relax rather than bringing attention to you? lyney and lynette discussed these thoughts at length before you arrived. they were both eager to please and entertain, hoping that the god they’ve dedicated their lives to will be impressed with their performance.

before the show begins, they search the crowd from behind the curtain. they’ve seen you from afar before. they often longingly gaze at your holy form, yearning to make you laugh or smile. they’ve never gotten the chance to see you up close or speak to you. the show would be their chance to make a good impression; possibly charming you and proving their worth as your acolytes.

they watched you as you sat at the top row, idly resting your face on your hand. they can’t keep their god irritated, so they must satisfy you. the siblings were overjoyed at the thought. seeing you happy with their performance? it would cement their status as the greatest magicians in teyvat. not only proving their skills, but also showing off that they have your approval. they were determined to wisely use their chance to please their creator.

the show begins, and lyney watches you as he introduces himself and his sister. he dedicates the show to you, bowing in appreciation. lynette, while appearing calm and composed, was just as anxious as her brother as she bowed with him.

looking up at you for approval, you seemed… apathetic. a bead of sweat appeared on their foreheads. did that mean you weren't pleased yet? no worries, the show just began after all.

with an array of flashy tricks, including some new ones created just for you, the two effortlessly captivated the audience—a typical feat for the magicians. but they only yearned for your applause. it’s nice to hear an entire crowd of people cheering for them, but it would be better if you were impressed.

but you weren’t. after every trick, the siblings glanced at your seat in the crowd. despite the difficulty of making out your figure through the bright lights, they could still see your uninterested expression. what were they doing wrong? why wasn’t their magic pleasing you?

it upset them both in different ways.

lyney considers himself the greatest magician in teyvat. his confidence is understandable, given the reputation he gained through his charm and skill. not only was your apathy a stab to his ego, but a sharp pain in his heart that yearns for you. it made him feel as if he was doing you a disservice. he's an entertainer, it’s the least he can do in return of the kindness you have graced all of teyvat with.

lynette often doesn’t care about being lauded for her skills. it’s lyney’s job to charm the audience. she isn’t even affected by the usual respectable people attending their shows, preferring to watch from the sidelines as lyney woos the guests. while normally nonchalant to the loud boom of the crowd’s applause, she found herself only craving yours. if she could please the creator, it would bring her the most joy she’s felt in years. it deeply upset her to see you cold and unresponsive to her and lyney’s magic. it’s the one time she genuinely hoped to impress someone, and she was failing? after everything she's been through, she found it difficult to find love and trust in her heart for another being other than her brother. you're the only one she wishes to repay for your companionship throughout her past. how could she have failed in her pursuit of your gratification?

but the show must go on. the magicians continued delighting the audience with their tricks, as you remained bored.

the show ended and the entire crowd left with smiles on their faces. all except for you. the siblings looked up at your seat to find that your nonchalance never faltered. in their delusional minds, they assumed that perhaps that could be a good thing. you weren't visibly upset, which means they didn’t disappoint you too severely.

but you weren’t smiling. not once throughout the show did you appear impressed, which worried the two. they were guessing that you were simply exhausted from your task as teyvat's creator, desperately clinging onto hope that they didn’t offend you.

you got up from your seat to leave, and the siblings shortly followed in hopes of asking for your input. they assumed they could introduce themselves and possibly find out what it is that you disliked about their performance. they would take your criticisms seriously and implement them as soon as possible. the creator’s wishes must be fulfilled, and they were eager to design a show that was to your liking.

running after you before you made your way out, lyney and lynette kneeled before introducing themselves.

lyney cleared his throat before speaking, “your grace! thank you for coming to our show. we were delighted by your presence, and sincerely hope that you’ll attend more in the future.”

there was a moment of silence before you replied. in the midst of the silence, lyney and lynette grew more flustered by your gaze. they’ve always heard of how amazing it was to be in your presence. as overjoyed as they were to finally have your attention privately, it was nerve-racking. did they look presentable? were their faces still flushed after hurriedly chasing after you? hopefully their image wasn’t crushed by their pathetic and desperate attempts at gaining your attention.

“…more shows?” you questioned.

lynette gulped. was that your subtle way of communicating that you weren’t interested in seeing them again? had her nightmare come to fruition?

lyney seemed to share the same thoughts as his sister. he took in a deep breath before asking finally asking you what had been lingering in their heads. “we simply wish to entertain you, your grace. if there was anything you disliked about our performance, i humbly request that you let us know immediately so we are aware of our mistakes. we only hope that you were impressed by what you witnessed.”

“ah, yes. well, i suppose it was… a bit entertaining to the audience. but i can’t tell, i was so restless, i fell asleep twice.” you sighed.

you said it so casually, as if you didn’t know it broke their hearts. the siblings felt their eyes well up with tears. they disappointed you to the point where you fell asleep at their magic show?

they should be angry at you, but instead, they are ashamed of themselves. what kind of acolytes are unable to please their god?

they’ve never felt the weight of failure until it was under your heavy gaze.

the siblings were aware that you weren’t obligated to display affection towards them. but they often dreamed of what it would feel like to be loved by you. their whole lives they’ve prayed to you. they grew up with stories of your bravery, intelligence, kindness, and power. how you’ve lifted the entirety of teyvat for thousands of years. you kept the siblings company in the darkest of times, and the thought of you was keeping them going even when they were on the brink of giving up.

when you descended, lyney and lynette watched with envy as others were under your gaze. other acolytes were being touched by you. some even praised. the siblings could only imagine that it was them instead.

but when they finally got the chance to show themselves off, they failed at hiding their incompetence. but it’s only natural, as they were only two out of the thousands that admired you. you have plenty of followers that would do anything if you commanded it. lyney and lynette aren’t archons, nor do they have thousands of years in their lifespan to worship you. yet they were somehow selfish enough to think it would be enough for your love.

but there is no honor among the thieves of generosity, and the robbers should be punished accordingly. you granted them the gift of your time and attention, and they failed at serving you what you craved.

“i am terribly sorry, your grace,” lyney choked back tears as he spoke, staring into the ground while his sister trembled in petrification. “it was not our intention to disappoint you.”

“disappoint me?” you laughed. “you didn’t disappoint me. i was exhausted due to my busy day. my apologies if i frightened you.”

in truth, you really were entertained by their magic show. you simply pretended to be let down, enjoying the sight of your acolytes scrambling to apologize, terrified that they would face your judgement. isn’t it endearing that their eager-to-please nature clouds their judgment, and all of your acolytes immediately seek your approval before they notice your mischievous actions?

lyney and lynette were no different. not once did the thought of you being in the wrong cross their minds. they both jumped at the opportunity to display their devotion and apologize, without stopping to identify whether they truly were wrong in the first place.

[sl-vega]

SWEET N' SOUR ! - a scaramouche celebrity smau

-> 0.1; winx club on crack

-> WHAT DOES EVERYONE SAY ABOUT YOU?

"Pop sensation of the summer!" Seems to be a title synonymous with your name, ever since the release of your hit single "Espresso", every comment about your so-called homewrecking has been eradicated. "From sub-par popstar to a musical sensation!" Labels TVT News. "An absolute darling and sweetheart!" As the Monstadt Times proclaim. After your heartfelt piece 'all because I liked a boy' went viral, the industry just can't seem to get enough of you and your side of the story! Both new and old fans alike are drawn to your down-to earth demeanor, and how approachable you are, even after going back to being signed to a record label!

-> VEE'S NOTES

inspired by the one and only sabrina carpenter of course! (no surprise there)

-> WHAT DOES EVERYONE SAY ABOUT VENTI BARBATOS?

"THE up and coming composer!" and "How the hell is this guy not on Broadway yet?" are terms of praise that Venti is all too familiar with. Composing a whole mythology based musical all by himself is no easy feat, if you're a theater kid, you've most definitely heard of him! Attracting both folklore enthusiasts and musical enjoyers, with Venti's skyrocketing popularity, many are questioning how he hasn't made it to the big stage already. Is he playing it safe? A desire for complete creative autonomy that no studio could ever give him? Or maybe he just knows his worth and wants to make the big names in the industry beg a little more. "Always an enigma, that modern day bard!" Writes DANDELION WEEKLY.

-> VEE'S NOTES

the au equivalent jorge rivera-herrans!

teyvat the musical is basically this world's epic (it's based of the archon war)

-> WHAT DOES EVERYONE SAY ABOUT FURINA DE FONTAINE?

Furina is the IT girl of the acting industry, she's done it all! She's starred in both blockbuster movies and award winning live productions, offering both heartbreaking and inspiring performances! Starting her career at a young age, it's very clear that both her natural talent and dedication have played key parts in her success. Even after announcing her retirement from the acting scene, she's still remained in the industry as a director, lending her artistic vision to many critically acclaimed films. "Even after all her career changes, it's safe to say Furina de Fontaine will remain an influential figure in both the film and theater world!" - TVT News

-> VEE'S NOTES

furina isn't inspired by anyone in particular, she's just iconic like that!

-> WHAT DOES EVERYONE SAY ABOUT LYNEY HEARTH?

Formerly one half of a sensational teen idol duo with his twin sister, Lyney's path to stardom was one he's always tread on since a young age. During the occasional acting jobs he took with Lynette in their youth, he found a passion for the art and eventually pursued it after the pair disbanded, quickly getting cast in a variety of live productions and musicals alike thanks to his talent for performing and his charming way of interacting with a live audience. Contrary to popular belief, him and his sister are still quite close, but,"One of them's just more of a recluse than the other." States POISSON Weekly

-> VEE'S NOTES

while lyney in this au isn't inspired by anyone in particular, the twin actor thing was kinda inspired by the olsen twins? even though that wasn't their main thing here lmao

-> WHAT DOES EVERYONE SAY ABOUT KAEDEHARA KAZUHA?

"If only he was a lyricist, everyone would have some serious competition if he was." writes Sakura Media in their latest author centric piece about Kazuha. Thanks to both his gentle demeanor and heartfelt yet insightful way with words, he's become a recognizable name in many literary circles, his works being incredibly appreciated by critics and casual fans alike. Despite being exclusively a poet at the moment, a huge portion of his fanbase are hoping he pursues other forms of writing such as song writing, or even producing his own book series one day!

-> VEE'S NOTES

a while ago my TikTok fyp was filled with a bunch of people reading out their poems to their cameras, and that's kinda how I imagine kazuha got his start to becoming a well known author?

there's no particular poet on there that I could imagine Kazuha having a similar writing style too, but @/raeganspoetry on TikTok/Instagram was the first social media poet I was into so she deserves her props!

-> WHAT DOES EVERYONE SAY ABOUT SANGONOMIYA KOKOMI?

"The definition of brains of beauty." Is a frequently compliment Kokomi receives from her loyal followers. Her unique content style that's a combination of both historical video essays and GRWMs have set her apart from others like her. Her calm and collected personality combined with how well spoken she is make her a treat to watch, and have earned her a devoted fanbase over her career.

-> VEE'S NOTES

kokomi being both a beauty guru and one of those YouTubers that makes video summaries on things like wars and major historical events just MAKE SENSE to me

"grwm while I talk about guerilla warfare! (sponsored by laneige!)"

sns! kokomi is actually inspired by two of my favourite YouTubers!

overly sarcastic productions and oversimplified !! (check them out if you haven't already!)

additional notes:

FIRST PROFILES DONE (the format I went with required me to write quite a bit, so I didn't want to upload both the y/n and scara profiles at the same time since I want to go to quality over quantity while also maintaining my dailyish upload schedule)

also because I still want to keep you guys in suspense for scara's friend group LMAOO

anyways taglist is still open, ask to be tagged and lmk if I can use your usernames as fans in later chapters!

˚୨୧⋆｡ synopsis:  the bright lights of fame and fortune aren’t for everyone, and you’re starting to think you’re part of that majority. You just can’t seem to catch a break! Every movie you’re in goes straight to DVD, every album you drop just barely gets any streams. From child star to sub par popstar, it seems clear that the world has some kind of vendetta against you and you love to blame it on a certain rising musical sensation; Scaramouche. Thanks to your godforsaken luck you happened to go out with the wrong guy at the wrong time because he just so happened to be Scaramouche’s ex, next thing you know you wake up to truck loads of death threats, your record label dropping you, AND a whole album labelling you as the ‘other woman’! After what seemed like a never ending onslaught of straight bullying and harassment, you had long since retreated from the limelight, the only thing left from your music career being ever so occasional covers on YouTube that only your few close friends watched religiously. However, after writing a heartfelt original piece and uploading it from your humble bedroom, it goes viral! A single song has thrusted you head first into stardom once more, and face to face with the person you ruined it for you.

<- prev ll masterlist ll next ->

🍬 (open) taglist: @shrii-kk @freyao7 @analiee6 @thetwinkims @bellflower1257 @blvdmrcnry @bloukoup @yuan1819 @yourstrulymauki @fungaltoehehe @enrions @atlatcaheart @mywillt0live @myeomiz @adornavia @automaticpatroltragedy @scaraenthusiast1 @sesamemin @syunifu @blueberrybxba @fishii28 @a-sorrowful-tune @emvss @jiminscarmex @mwaiu @lloversss @d4y-dr3am3r @usagiarchive @idaissupercool @raytoebiter @lizzie-harper @anqelkoz @blue-moonies @lalalaloveallmydays @jinjjjia @ysabelyaps @zuhahearts @adres-tia @reivelmin @nxsh30

[bayambii]

fontaine hands . . .

warnings: swearing, 4.2 archon quest spoilers, hands, a little steamy in clorinde if you squint

characters: wriothesley, neuvelitte, lyney, lynette, navia, clorinde, furina and freminet

bambis comments: hai cuties!! i have an obsession with hands so i thought it would be a perfect first post LOL

WRIOTHESLEY

◦ jesus fucking CHRIST, this man has large hands. i mean like second to none in teyvat i would say

◦ his hands are bruised and often dirty. when they’re not inside of his gauntlets, his right is covered with dark bandages. he goes really soft when you take the time to clean his hands or even like his nails

◦just like massaging his hands while he tells you about his day, rubbing his temple with his freehand while he goes on and on about one inmate who always tries to pick a fight

◦speaking of his nails! they’re stubby and not painted. he doesn’t bite them they just like break off naturally due to the nature of his job and his gauntlets

◦he has silver rings for every finger it looks like, and he fidgets with them when he’s talking to anyone, rolling it around his fingers and back again

◦HIS HANDS SMELL LIKE TEA RAAAH

NEUVILLETTE

◦ skinny ass hands, but they’re long.

◦ he almost always wears his gloves, because underneath he has scales on his hands. his hands aren’t fully dragon like, still keeping a human like color, but many teal scales decorate his hands.

◦his fingernails are naturally tinted a little blue, and they’re on the longer side. he keeps them clean and pushes his cuticles back often

◦he’s often writing with his hands, rolling his quill/pen around his fingers when he thinks. his hands are skilled at writing, and can write rather fast.

◦a wrist roller. his wrists get tight from writing for hours on end and always makes sure to roll them out.

LYNEY

◦OH MY GOD. don’t even get me started…

◦another fontainian who’s hands are often concealed in his gloves. a magician never reveals his secrets, does he?

◦he has regular length hands, but they’re on the skinny side.

◦his hands are almost always clean, and have a very soft texture.

◦imagine lyney late at night practicing new card tricks without his gloves, using you as his test audience (he shows you all his tricks first anyway)

◦he has trimmed nails, that he paints black and red, to match his whole theme. they tend to be chipped however, and he needs lynette or you to keep repainting them.

◦his hands are obviously very practiced, and he takes great care of them

LYNETTE

◦she has smaller and skinny hands, very petite and cute

◦ due to her cat-like nature, her hands are very sensitive, and she prefers to keep her gloves on

◦ when she holds your hand she likes to keep her gloves on, just so she doesn’t get overwhelmed

◦ however, she likes taking her gloves off to hold your face, and memorize each and every crevice and dimple with her hands

◦ when she feels comfortable, she’ll let you see her hands, and trusts you to know her comfort level with her sensitivity

◦she keeps her nails long, and painted a teal. she often keeps up with her nail care, and looks after your nails as well

◦her hands smell like tea, like wrio, due to her often drinking and brewing the beverage.

NAVIA

◦ADORABLE HANDS, and very well kept!

◦ skinny and longer, and a little freckled near her wrist.

◦she only keeps a glove on one hand, and she prefers to hold your hand with that one!

◦very well kept nails, with sapphire colored nail polish adorning them. she seems like the type to get like gems and stuff put on her nails.

◦she knows you like her hands, so she always makes sure to put extra time into caring for them

◦her hands are incredibly soft, and don’t really get that clammy

◦navia would only get clammy if you were flustering her, which is not an easy feat

CLORINDE

◦beautiful lady, long skinny hands again however she doesn’t know how to look after her hands

◦ ITS NOT HER FAULT NO ONE TAUGHT HER OKAY!! before starting a relationship with you, she never put much thought into her hands!!

◦she often keeps her gloves on, and like washes her hands when needed but she doesn’t take care of her nails or put lotion on or NOTHING

◦her nails are stubby, and might have leftover polish from the last time you attempted to paint her nails

◦with handling her weapons, she has very tactful hands and is not very clumsy

◦where she puts her hands is very, how do i say, purposeful

◦she might feign oblivion, but she knows exactly what she’s doing with her hands

FURINA DE FONTAINE

◦oh ho ho? you want to see the dear lady furinas hands?

◦only furina would take this much care into something she’s going to just put a glove over but WHATEVER

◦she’s got small hands, with many jewels and rings adorning her fingers

◦she looks after her nails with the upmost pride, and keeps them constantly painted and pristine

◦like clorinde, she is very purposeful where she puts her hands. your dear lady knows you, and knows exactly what makes you flustered (and oh does she love that)

◦she would love to help you look after your hands, and even help you paint a most magnificent nail art on your nails oh ho ho!

FREMINET

◦smaller hands, with larger palms, with FRECKLES!! and i mean freckles .

◦freminet doesn’t necessarily have clumsy hands, due to his work on per and other mechs, but his hands aren’t as practiced as other fontainians

◦his hands can also get clammy due to his shyness, and doesn’t want to bother you with that

◦HOWEVER, you can hold his hand all you want underwater. there’s no risk there, and he’s fully confident. maybe he’ll work up to holding your hand above the sea

◦he is very shy, and earlier on in your relationship, and is careful if he puts his hands on you if he does AT ALL…

◦ often under the water, his nails are always clean but still stubby, and never painted (but he wouldn’t be apposed to you painting them) ((just be prepared for a flustered frem))

[pinkexpertnerdghost]

Watch and Be Amazed!

Lyney x Gn!Reader

Synopsis: As a simple person with a boring job, you set out to travel the nations. You attend a renowned magic show only to be suddenly placed in the shared spotlight with the magical duo.

GIF by @c6jpg

 { i'm still exploring Fontaine but quick heads up on mentioning new locations, dw its spoiler free about the archon quest}

General: SFW, fluffy, magic tricks, Lyney being extra and sneaky, feat Lynette 

A/N: i love him. Cheeky little guy with his equally cheeky little grin mulkin cat- I didn’t think I’d like him this much but he easily sneaked himself into my heart already also because I recently got him- I just wanna squish him (endearingly)

“ Voila! And now in its place are our feathered friends taking flight!” The magician exclaimed as a small swarm of doves flew out of his hands. Just seconds ago, he held a gorgeous bouquet of arranged daisies and prisma like roses, complete with adorned white ribbons and lace. The small bush of green and flora had simply vanished and transformed into a mass of white feathers. 

Your awes become a droplet in the sea of gasps and astonishment from the people around you . Pushing yourself to the end of your cushy seat, you stare ahead in amazement and curiosity.  

Even though you sat some rows away from the front seats, you were mesmerized by the trick. You were certain the bouquet had practically melted and shifted into the cocoon of feathers. At least, that’s how it appeared to your eyes.  

Trailing the doves as they flew above the audience, you unconsciously let out a small laugh of joy like that of an entertained child. The doves flew around freely, some reaching high atop the Opera House’s stretching ceiling and some flew closer to the audience barely grazing above their heads. 

You had been traveling for weeks, as you were lacking some excitement in your mundane life as a simple shop clerk. It had a well off pay and the owner was kind. Yet every passing day became more boring than the last. Soon enough, the days would weld and mend together in your memory as a tapestry of a lackluster pattern. You were afraid it would overshadow a great portion of your lifetime. 

As a shop clerk, you had seen many travelers coming and going, talking about the beautiful sceneries across the rest of Teyvat they have witnessed, varies dishes you’ve never tried before being described as mouthwatering, the wonderful cultures, festivities and traditions people from around this world took part in. It had always left you in a state of entrance and jealousy for them, as they would have the freedom and determination to see the worlds wonders with their own eyes.

Seeing your yearning gaze and saddened expression when the travelers or adventurers left through the front door, your employer had generously given you some vacation time. You were one of your boss’s most dedicated workers, often swooping in for a fellow coworker if they fell ill or couldn’t make it otherwise. You have done more than enough to earn yourself this time off. 

And so, you took your life by the rings and were off into the road. Traveling from one nation to the other and to the now where you were. In the seat in one of the most impressive buildings you have ever seen. 

From the moment you boarded off the Aquabus; the little guides being one of the cutest beings you’ve ever seen; you oogled and awed in the splendor around you. Fontaine had been one leap of a cultural shock for you. Sure, sometimes you moved boxes of bits and bobs of Fontaine imported trinkets onto shelves, but seeing this much advanced technology was a bit exhilarating as well as a bit imposing

However, something there was something that immediately caught your eye when walking about. On a bulletin board was an array of multicolored posters and newsletter, but the bright red one with a grinning cat in the hat caught your gaze immediately. 

“ Come and behold A magical performance performed by renowned Magicians Lyney and Lynette! ” 

The names struck a cord in your memory. Ah, that's right! You had heard a great deal about a very specific Magic show in Fontaine. You remembered it being brought up a good number of times back in the shop. The way people would sound excited and how they could barely contain themselves trying to describe a magic trick as best they could. 

Since you were in the area you had managed to investigate it and wound up purchasing a ticket to go see.  

“ Back to the stage my feathery entourage!! Being in the presence of such a wonderful audience is indeed riveting, but I’m going to need the spotlight back to preform the next trick, haha!” The magician Lyney said with a pleading laugh. The doves seem to have understood them as they all flew back onto the stage. From either side of the giant velvet curtain, the flew behind it disappearing into the shadow. 

“ For this next trick, I’m going to need a hand!” He exclaimed while putting his hands on his hips. He then put a hand on his forehead and looked around the area while squinting his eyes. From the right side of the stage came another person. She had on a similar uniform to her twin brother, adorned with teals, blues and grays. It was a counterpart to the reds, pinks, and plum Lyney wore in his intricate performer’s outfit. 

Yet they both had the motif of that same toothy grinning kitty you saw tagging the corner’s of the promotional posters. 

Lynette had walked behind Lyney and tapped his shoulder twice with a stoic expression. Lyney had turned dramatically around on his heel, immediately stopping his dire search for help.

“Ah, It seems as though Lynette has come to the rescue!” He cheered and with a grateful hand gesture divided the audience's attention to Lynette. She stood there facing the crowd with a curt expression. Lynette seemed to be the polar opposite of her brother. While Lyney was loud, extravagant and energetic, his assistant and sister was quieter, docile and seemed unmoved with the theatrics. However, to you she was as equally impressive as the red Magician. 

In an earlier trick where they’d pull objects directly out of flat cards, Lynette had elegantly swiped off a parasol, a tea cup with piping hot tea given the steam, and an adorable hat with that grinning black cat. All while keeping a calm disposition as if she knew everything and anything that was to come. It boggled you how she managed to slip the illustrations to real physical objects.

But then again, the Magicians never reveal their trade secrets.

Lyney tapped his cheek before he spoke again. “It seems as if we will need a little more help to perform this magic trick, wouldn’t you agree Lynette?” 

Lynette simply nodded.

Lyney’s shoulders relaxed as he twirled around to face the audience. He held his hands behind his back as he paced back and forth. His eyes never leave the audience.

“ For this trick, It will require three people.”

There were very quiet, almost inaudible murmurs and whispers in the crowd. You paid them no mind and kept your eyes focused on the stage. In your mind, you were guessing how the next trick would go.

Lyney stopped center stage.

“ I can see your enthusiasm and excitement! In that case, I shall pick one person from the crowd who will help Lynette and I out!” He said with a jovial grin. His cat-like eyes scanned around the crowd. After this, many people kept their eyes on the Magician scoping out for an available assistant. 

Seeing as you weren’t in the first row or a local, you have settled that your chance of being picked was slim. So instead of paying attention to the main stage and spotlight, you turned your head from side to side. Envisioning the lucky person who would be fished out of the ocean of filled seats. Perhaps it would be the beautiful woman with quite the attractive headpiece sitting a row down from you. Or maybe, it would be the little boy three five seats to your left practically bouncing in his seat chanting to let it be him. 

The choice could be anyone but yourself.

“ You my dear! Could you help Lynette and I out with this trick?” Lyney’s voice resounded once more.

Your eyes squirted suddenly as a bright source of light was now trained above you. Sinking back onto your seat, you turn to face the stage. 

Those cat-like lilac eyes stared directly into your own [E/C] ones. Alongside with the deep royal purple eyes belonging to his assistant Lynette. Looking around and behind, you noticed the two people beside you glance at you with slight surprise. 

You pointed at yourself just to make sure. You didn’t know if you made a face with the sudden surprise of the spotlight, but Lyney chuckled in amusement. 

His eyes crinkled slightly as he nodded, his hair bobbing along with his head and sturdy hat. His laughter made you feel a bit fuzzy in the chest. Maybe you were just starstruck. 

“ Yes you. If it is alright, could you perhaps follow the staff by your row to escort you on stage?” He said, extending a hand to a person in a theater mask and green vest standing at the end of the row. His lilac eyes never left you. 

It was hard to say, but you could assume he was silently communicating with you. His soft eyes were patient and still, unlike his theatrical energy he demonstrated earlier. 

‘ Are you okay with this? ‘ 

He didn’t mind the sudden recess of silence, in fact it only added to the build up to the magic trick. It wasn’t long until you blinked, breaking yourself out of your star-stricken surprise. 

You nodded at Lyney, to which he gripped the brim of his hat quietly tipping it to you with a satisfied grin.

“ Very well, please follow the staff down the aisle while we set up on stage!” 

After squeezing down your row and next to the staff member with the mask, you followed them as they led you towards the stage. The staff member was kind enough to guide you through the dimly lit place, your eyes were examining the person. Their mask is what stuck with you, you’ve never seen anything like it. It was both beautifully crafted yet it gave you a small chill of danger and mystic. It was probably made for this purpose of the show. 

No elemental magic of those who wielded visions, but instead a tightrope thinly strung between reality and fantasy.

The stage was elevated but after climbing up the stairs onto the polished stage. Lyney beckoned you to come up next to him. You shuffled closer, both your hands behind your back fidgeting in a nervous manner.

The spotlight was now back onto Lyney and Lynette and now you as well.

“ Might I know the name of the new assistant I’ll be working with temporarily?” He asked as he now faced you. Lynette came to his side, her violet eyes glazing over you with relaxed attentiveness. 

You felt your mouth become a bit dry. “ I’m [Name].” You spoked normally. 

Lyney bowed, taking off his tophat bringing it close to his chest. 

“ It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, dear [Name]” He bounced back up, flipping his hat back onto his head. 

You shifted on your foot and that seemed to have caught the attention of the magical duo. 

“ Hmm, are you perhaps nervous?” He asked. “ It is quite alright. Whenever the light is trained on you, the feeling of stage fright comes at you like the onslaught of tidal waves.” He said, in a non projecting voice. He still sounded loud enough for the audience to hear, but his words weren’t exaggerated in a way to make you feel queasy. Instead, it sounded like he was cheering you on, a little push of confidence he would share with you.

Maybe you were overthinking it. He is a performer so its his job to turn up the charm towards the audience.

Lynette had subtly sent you a reassuring little smile. She walked up next to you and stood by you now.

 “ Perhaps, you may just have some butterflies in your stomach. It happens to the best of us!” He spoke. His gloved hand came up to you.

“ May I have what’s in your side pocket?” His eyes shifted down to your right pocket. Confused, you reach down into your pocket and feel around. There was a smooth and flat object that you didn’t remember having there, so you slipped it out. 

In your hand was a playing card. It wasn’t an ordinary playing card. It looked to be one of the card props that belonged to the two Magicians. Figuring he wanted it back; without you having the faintest Idea of how it got there in the first place; you handed it to him. 

He grabbed the card and raised it up to his face to inspect it.

“Aha! Just as I thought. You had made a bundle of these pesky little butterflies.” He slipped the card back to his palm. He twirled back to face you with a triumphant smile as if he’d found a treasure chest. “ Fear not, for I will rid you of this troubling kaleidoscope!”

With that being said, he tossed the card over your head.

Or at least, a zipping card was what you were expecting.

Instead, a small little tornado of little butterflies escapes from Lyneys hand. They fluttered around you in a tunnel-like pattern. 

Completely forgetting about the audience, you craned your hand up and stared in awe. Looking closely, some butterflies had little trails of violet shimmer. The butterflies themselves didn't seem to be real butterflies. On some you managed to see the wings to be made out of the back of playing cards. 

The butterflies dispersed out onto the crowd, until each one vanished without a trace. 

“Now then, are you feeling better?” Lyney asked, both hands on his hips.

You nodded with a smile on your face. The small pit of nervousness was now reduced to a grain. 

“Wonderful! And, it seems as if you have magic in you yourself, what luck!” Lyney exclaimed. Lynette all the while silently side eyed her brother and his antics. 

“Now then if you may follow Lynette, she will guide you to this next trick or a trio.” he smiled. 

Lynette had raised a hand to you in order to take it. You complied and took her hand as she led you behind the curtain.

“ Are you okay? I know Lyney can be a bit over the top, but if at any point feeling bad, let us know.” Lynette spoke calmly to you.

“ I’m alright now. I just wasn't expecting to get picked.” You said honestly. 

Lynette nodded. “ It's like that for most who get chosen.” 

She guided you towards a little box which was decorated with a little four pointed gold star in the center. The box was relatively small, reaching from the ground to knee level

“ When they take the box you’ll have to stand on it. I’ll stand in my own box next to you. Just follow Lyney’s instructions.” She said, 

“Also, brace your feet after the curtain falls.” 

You listened closely and nodded.

“Alright. Got it.” 

Lynette hummed.

 Behind the big red curtain you heard the crowd laugh and clap. 

“And now for the anticipated trick, shall I have my two assistants step back into the light?” 

Lynette and you came back onto the stage. Again in the limelight, you noticed the two boxes parallel to each other. 

“ For this next trick, both my assistants shall switch their places before your very eyes.” Lyney spoke calmly.

“But wait a moment. This is a simple trick one could accomplish by simply walking across the stage to the other boxes. This trick is sounding more like a runway show than magic.” Lyney sighed in defeat. In a quick one eighty mood switch, Lyney perked up and raised his chin high.

“ But no, dear spectators in the crowd. This trick shall be done with neither of my assistants leaving the confines of their one by one area!” Lyney exclaimed, flapping his little side cape in the process. 

Lynette turned and gave you a look, a very specific look. You took it to get on the box and you walked over to the one closest to you. 

“ Now then, a little tent shall fall on top of both of them. Switching places without jumping, walking or running is a lot more exhausting than it sounds.” As soon as he said that, above you began to descend a festive red tent. 

It slowly descended until the dark velvet of the inside tent obscure your vision of the crowd and them of yourself. You could only hear the echoing voice of Lyney as the crowd was now fully silenced in anticipation. 

The words of Lynette rang in your mind, as you looked down to your feet.

“ For you see, the most can happen within the blink of an eye.”

You felt the box underneath you dip slightly. Barely enough time to even gasp, you had fallen through the solid box beneath you. Quickly you bent your knees and positioned yourself to be able to absorb the momentum of your fall. 

Once landing soundly, you looked up to see how you had fallen. In the ceiling was a rectangular indentation of a trapdoor.

You heard a ‘psst’ to your right. There you say Lynette making a quick hand gesture to switch places; motioning to you and the spot beneath her feet. 

Speeding over to her, you took little but key notice in your new surroundings. The walls were barren, the air had slight dust, and light from the stage lights barely made it through the miniature nooks and crannies of the floorboards. You were underground. 

Once getting to where lynette last stood, you waited. Looking around where you stood there was a small ladder behind you. 

Suddenly a similar trap door like the one where you initially stood, swung open. 

Taking this as a new signal, you climbed onto the ladder trying to make as little noise as you could. Once above ground, the trap door that was once open shut, making the ground below you stable enough to stand on.

 “ As such, a walk across this stage could be reduced down to none!”

You heard a harsh step down onto the floor followed by a snap of a finger. 

The tent around you was pulled back up at lighting speed leaving you stunned in place. The crowd ahead was looking back and forth between the place where you once were and to where you are now. A roar of whistles and claps was heard. 

Looking to where you once were, stood Lynette waving at the crowd. The same stoic expression on her face. 

Lyney came skipping up to your side. 

“ How are you feeling dear [Name]? I hope you aren't too disoriented by the little trip you took.”

You looked at him, he had a proud grin on his face. The light shown down was overshadowed by the brim of his top hat. And yet, his eyes and distinguishable teardrop mark on his right cheek made you feel all sorts of flustered all over again.

Then again you noticed just how packed the Opera is. You had forgotten momentarily that there was an audience. The showers of cheers came down like a bolt of lightning striking the still water. 

“I’m fine, just a bit perplexed.” You shook your head trying to process what had just happened in what felt like a fraction of a minute.  

“ Oh my, it seems you may have been slightly shaken when vanishing from one spot to the other.” He hummed. 

“ That's it! I shall make it up to you! But I’ll have to get you back to your original box.” He said tapping his curled up hand onto his open palm. 

He stood up onto the tips of his toes, as from your height atop the box managed to put you at a larger distance from him. Figuring he might tell you something , you leaned down slightly.

“ When the tent drops on you once more, close your eyes. Don’t open them until you hear me say, Hat. Trust me, I’m sure this trick will put a blinding smile on your face.” He said quietly, a hand placed by his mouth blocking it from the audience ahead.

You weren’t sure what he meant or what would happen but somehow, you trusted him. Maybe it was his pretty face, charming personality, or simply because a famous and professional performer. 

A little breathy chuckle escaped him before he leaned away and waltzed back to the front and center. Something about him smiling and laughing made your heart almost pop.

You internally battled these pestering thoughts; You were just starstruck! A celebrity crush, don’t let it get to you. Especially in front of a massive crowd watching your every move! 

You took some short breaths in and faced ahead onto the wall behind the audience. You didn’t want to let this confusing feeling consume you.

“And now, one final trick before our amazing temporary assistant bids adieu.” He sighed. From his chest he pulled out a white handkerchief he blew into. The crowd laughed at his little mopping gag.

“ It was a pleasure to have you on stage with us, [Name].” He said before swiping the used hanky away. It disappeared into red and white sparks into the air. 

The tent above you descended once again, and the moment you found yourself in the shaded confines you closed your eyes. You could only listen to what was happening around you.

“Now then, why don’t we send our new friend off with a grand finale?”

The surrounding noise of the crowd murmuring came through as buzzing. You felt the ground once more give out underneath you. Holding in your breath you prepared for what may have come next. 

Something, or someone caught you. You felt the sudden mass underneath you, and suddenly there was a small breeze passing into your face. Your eyes squeezed shut the entire time. 

Suddenly, you felt your feet touch a solid floor. You stood up, the person letting you go as you stabilized yourself. 

“ And so, they shall appear where they once were at the drop of a hat!” 

You heard it. Cracking open one eye you see once again a velvet curtain of a tent. Blinking, adjusting to the light, the tent was pulled up.

This time there was some cheer for a few seconds. The sudden Huhs? And murmurs slowly began to take a hold of the audience. Curious as to the mood shift you look around you. 

Lyney, no longer wearing his signature tophat that had been left sitting on the floor. 

Where Lynette was supposed to be, she was no more. Instead, there was a small top hat lying top down on the box. 

Lyney, surprised, went over to the hat. 

“Lynette? Oh Lyneeette? Where did you vanish off to?” He took the hat and looked inside of it, as if his sister were inside the hat. 

You were slightly puzzled at first. Where on Teyvat could she have gone? Your doubts were suddenly clouded by an obvious truth.

This had to be part of the show. 

So you kept your eyes on the male twin, anticipating what he will do next.

Giving up in calling out to his sister, still holding onto the small hat in his hands, he walked over to where you stood. 

“ It seems that she won’t show herself unless we make her appear out of this hat. [Name], if you would.” He then extended the small hat in my direction. 

You delicately grabbed the brim area closest to you. Lyney let go, and you looked inside the empty hat. The material felt slightly heavy but the intricate seamless pattern woven into the pitch black fabric made you closely look at it.

You heard a small tapping noise, you looked back to the magician as he tapped the back of his hand. Putting two and two together, you quickly flip the hat upright. 

You mimicked Lyney’s motion on the hat’s top about three times. 

The first tap, colorful feathers floated to the ground.

The second tap, petals of flowers twirled on their way down.

The final tap, a deck of prop cards spilt out and crashing against the stage floor with clicks and claps.

“Looks like she isn’t in there.” Lyney quipped. You were once again thrown into utter confusion. The comedic way the crowd gasped after one object came after another object from the empty hat. At some point the reactions of surprise slowly turned into snickers and giggles of amusement. 

Lyney placed a hand on his hip and scratched his chin. “ Try doing it again with the hat upside down. Maybe, a different approach will convince her to come out.” 

So, you turn the hat over. Sneakily taking a small peak inside, and as you suspected it was empty. 

How does he pull these things off? Seriously! How?!?

Replicating your previous action, you tapped the brim. 

A small puff of smoke and confetti made you step back. Out of the hat a cat sprung!

Or was it a cat?

It was a big cat face attached to a coiled spring.

It was cute! It had the signature toothy grin the show’s mascot had, yet it had it turned upside down in a frowny face. One eye has a teal star and the other has a teal teardrop. It even had a little bowtie making it a very fashionable cat creature.

It turned to face you as its ears twitched. You’re eyes locked with its own strange one and you found yourself in a staring contest….with the giant cat head on a spring of all things.

“ Oh dear, it looks like Bogglecat seemed to have answered instead of Lynette” Lyney laughed. 

Tip Tap Tip Tap 

You and Lyney turned to face Lyney’s hat that had just shook slightly on the floor. 

Poof!

The hat had blasted up into the air and below the hat there was Lynette. Slightly obscured by the turquoise colored fog. 

“ Here I am.” Lynette spoked up.

Grabbing the brim of Lyney’s hat she tipped it and bowed before the audience. The audience clapped and some people even stood up from their seats. 

The Bogglecat in the hat leaped from your hands and jumped over towards the spotlight where Lynette was. Lyney came running over to you and carefully grabbed your now free hand.

“ C’mon, the audience is waiting for the final bows.” He hushed at you with that permanently charming smile of his. His pale blonde hair bounced along as he urged you to join him and his sister. With no reason to refuse, you ran along with him. You felt the corner of your mouth curl up in a giddy smile. Now unafraid of the public you stood in the bright lights with your chest held high.

Lynette tossed Lyney’s hat into the air, landing it perfectly on Lyney’s head. The cat in the hat jumped right into Lynette's hand. Once she caught it, she twirled it around in her hand like a skilled juggler. The cat suddenly vanished inside the hat, and the small hat now was held against her head.

“ This has been Lyney and Lynette’s Magic show! Thank You all for watching!” The three of you held hands; Lyney at the center, Lynette to his right, and you to his left. Lifting your hands up, you three did a dramatic bow. This audience applauded one final time for the performance. It was the loudest applause you had heard during your time in the Opera Epiclese.

Slowly people had started to leave the theater, with the front entrance reopened many people had started to trickle out into the lobby. This left fewer and fewer people in the main room, the Opera house becoming 

You were preparing to step down the stage staircase until you heard someone call out to you.

“ Wait, [Name]! If you could spare a moment?” It was a voice you had quickly grown familiar with. 

The top hat with the plum colored ribbon, the pale blonde tuffet that covered just above his right eye, and that teardrop marking beneath the same right eye. Lyney came speedily towards you, his sister Lynette following a bit behind. Unlike him, she calmly walked over and that stoic expression on her face felt a bit more done than what you had seen. 

“Hm? What is it Mister Lyney?” You stopped and asked politely. Looking over the male twin you glanced at his sister “Miss Lynette?” 

“That was a splendid performance you made on stage! You went along just swimmingly with our act.” Lyney gushed. 

Once again you felt flustered. Out of all things, a professional magician complimenting you on a magic trick? You scratched your cheek. 

“ I was just following you guys. Really, if anyone should be taking compliments it is you two!” You spoke with enthusiasm.  “ The way Miss Lynette pulled out the items right off the cards, or when you made my ‘ stomach butterflies ‘ disappear. It really was a treat to see!” You felt your face getting a bit warmer as you continued to spill your excitement into words.

“ This will definitely be a nice memory I won't be forgetting any time soon!” 

Lyney chuckled and even Lynette’s eyes grew slightly larger with interest. 

“ You’re too kind!” Lyney chuckled, his pale face getting the slightest bit pink in the cheeks. “  I don’t believe I’ve seen your face in our crowd before. Are you maybe a tourist coming from a distance to see our show?” 

You nodded. “ I am as a matter of fact. I don’t get out much to say the least.” You confessed. 

“ I’ve heard about your magic show for some time now, traveling groups have brought it up time and time again. Fontaine was my next destination so I took the opportunity to come see it myself.”

You smiled gently. “ This was my first legitimate magical performance I had the fortune of attending. Not to mention getting randomly selected to participate! Thank you for the fun time, Mister Lyney and Miss Lynette.” 

Lyney and Lynette listened with great interest.

“ I see. Thus, making this show a memorable experience for you was all the more rewarding then.” Lyney took off his hat and brought it to his chest. 

“We are both happy to have put a beautiful smile on your lovely face!~” Lyney very gently lifted your hand. Bringing it close to his face, he placed a small almost ghostly peck. 

Okay. Now you definitely felt your face may have caught on fire. 

Lyney might have noticed your sudden flustered face. The sneaky magician sent a very brief wink with a smile. Not just any smile. This smile had a more feline nature to it; as if he enjoyed seeing such a reaction from you. 

 He lowered your hand back down, and flipped his hat back onto his head. That cat-like smirk was nowhere to be seen anymore. Innocently smiling at you, he laughed. It sounded slightly nervous. 

“ Well, if you will be around Fonaine for a while longer, find us by the Aquabus station. We might just have spare time to show you around!” 

Slipping your hand behind your back, you tried to reply to his friendly invitation.

“ Mhm! Aquabus station. Go it!” you spoke in broken segments. 

Oh dear, maybe it's time you’d step outside for some fresh air.

“ I think I should get going now. Who knows how long the people traffic is in the lobby now. It was great meeting you. Your cat mascots are cute and now I shall leave” You had begun to word vomit as you were shuffling away.

 “ Bye bye!” 

Facing away from the magic duo, you speed walk down onto the carpeted floor. Not daring to look back, you heard the sound of an amused giggle and an exasperated sigh.

“ Are you proud of yourself? You almost made them faint with your antics.” Lynette tipped the back of Lyney’s hat. It fell forward and off but he had quickly caught it before it hit the ground.

“ Hey, I just wanted to make evening a little more magical is all. It was the most I can do from withholding them back from leaving" 

"Right. And you had to tease them until they were red in the face."

Lyney stared at his sister for a moment, until he thought.

He felt a small hitch of embarrassment in his chest realizing something.

"I- Uh, didn't go to far with the card letter, right?" He nervously asked.

Lynette sighed and shook her head.

"Brother, most of the time you don't even need the spotlight to be over dramatic."

Once you were outside and looking up at the sky. The skies were different in every spot you had been. Here in Fontaine, you could barely see the twinkling stars. 

As you sighed contently, you made your way over to the hotel you had planned to stay in for the time. As you shifted you felt something shift alongside you in your sleeve. It was cold and smooth.

Surprised, you dug into your sleeve.

It was a playing card. A prop playing card. 

“ I hope you had a magical Evening, [Name]. Meet me by the bench near the potted flowers by the station at noon tomorrow. If you show up, best prepare for I still have tricks up my sleeve that will leave you dazzled! “ 

There was a little doodle of a toothy grinning cat.

A/N: Should I make a part two? Idk maybe. EDIT: PART TWO HERE

[fancyfeathers]

Yandere Arlecchino (Feat. Platonic Yandere Lyney and Lynette)

Arlecchino’s darling has been planning her escape for months now and in the days leading up to her departure she distanced herself from the children of the House of the Hearth as to prepare herself for cutting the ties between them. It hurts because after all in her captivity she has been their “mother”. She has to show a cold shoulder when one of the little ones shows her something, acting like she is unwell when others want to show her a new trick they learned.

When she does escape and she is safe she has to stop and cry In regret because she couldn’t take any of them with her, meanwhile many of the children are crying while they tell father that you’re missing.

Then years later when things has calmed down, the darling goes to Fontaine to go visit a few friends and there her friends invite her to go see a magic show. She expects it to be a light hearted experience to help relieve the stress of coming back to Fontaine, but it’s not. On the stage she sees the familiar faces of Lyney and Lynette and her heart hurts both in pride, regret, and fear. Those are her children and they have come so far but she wasn’t able to see them grow to where they are, but she knows that if they see her they will certainly tell father.

She keeps her head down for most of the performance, but it doesn’t take long for them to spot her. They say nothing, she seems beside herself in emotion right now. After the performance they go tell the harbinger, and the Knave smiles and thanks them for telling her and that mother will be back very soon…

When the darling returns to where she is staying, she almost screams at the sight of Arlecchino sitting in one of the armchairs, a smile on her face and a book on her lap. She speaks to her darling as if nothing was wrong, having her sit on the arm of her chair (the darling listening to her out of fear), and she opens the book and it’s full of the children’s drawings, many of them of the darling, other miss you cards that the younger ones made who didn’t understand mother’s disappearance and asked father to give them to her, and others were photos of the darling with the children and the Knave. Arlecchino smiles and grabs her darling by the chin, she gives her two choices, go back without a fight and life can go back to normal, or go with a fight and her punishment would be that she would never see the children again…

The next few minutes go past in a blur but the next thing the darling can process is the asking back through the doors that once held her captive, Arlecchino carrying her suitcase and watching from behind as many of the children crowd the shocked woman, giving her hugs, asking her questions, and so on…

How sweet…

[aviiarie]

˚ ₊ ‧ ♡ BUTTON EYES — feat. lyney event masterlist.

synopsis. despite appearing picture-perfect, there's something sinister about this other world… you know you have to escape, before you're trapped forever. warnings. coraline-typical warnings. brief animal death. notes. requested by anon. platonic lyney & reader, slight arlecchino & reader. coraline au. gn!reader. 1.8k words. i love coraline so much you guysss

The sharp crunch of leaves beneath your feet was the only noise piercing the quiet night. You stifled your breathing until it was almost silent, anxiously looking around for any sight of your ‘Other Father’. There was no sign of the woman; no click of her heels on the uneven path, no trace of the distinct smell of ash that seemed burned into her skin.

Behind you, Lyney hurried to catch up to your pace. He reached out and clasped your hand tightly, giving it a quick squeeze as he fell into step at your side. You glanced over, your eyes lingering on the glinting black buttons covering his own. On anyone else, the sight would send your heart racing, but he was the only one in this strange world that you found yourself trusting.

“You okay?” You whispered lowly. Lyney nodded once. He tilted his head in question, gesturing towards you, then back towards the house you were fleeing from. “What am I doing? I’m leaving, of course.”

Lyney’s eyebrows furrowed, the calm smile never leaving his lips.

“Why?” You guessed, waiting for him to nod again. “I’m not staying there. She can’t keep me locked up forever.”

His frown only grew, and he squeezed your hand urgently. A soft, displeased hum worked its way past his closed lips, the only sound he could manage.

“You know why I can’t stay, Lyney. I want to go home. I’m going to go home.” You turned your face forward, quickening your steps.

When the house faded from view behind you and left only the forest in its wake, you heard a quiet meow. A quick glance to your side, and you saw a pair of yellow eyes blinking up at you.

“Escaping, eh?” The cat purred.

“I have to. I’m not letting her turn me into…” You trailed off, glancing over to Lyney beside you. His smile turned sad, and he tapped his button eyes with the edge of his nail.

Someone like him.

The ‘Other Lyney’, as he had been introduced as, was a ghost of his normal self. Where your brother would have greeted you with a wide grin and an onslaught of annoying chatter, the boy that had stood by the Other Father’s side was silent. His smile was serene, devoid of any emotion at all.

When you questioned the Other Father about it, she had replied simply: “I think you’d like him a little more… if he spoke a little less. So I fixed him.”

It was almost vindication you felt when you saw the faint stitching along his face, lips pressed together in a thin smile. No words fell from his mouth, no teasing, no taunts. He was simply quiet, pleasant.

Looking at him now, something sick stirred in your gut. You couldn’t believe you once accepted the change without question, laughing at the idea of your irritatingly chatty brother unable to say a word. Now, the sight of his mouth—sewn tightly with almost imperceptible stitches—made you sick.

“Let’s keep moving,” You said quietly, eyes flicking across the night. Your gaze was sharp, scanning your surroundings for any sight of your ‘Other’ siblings. While Lyney seemed untouched by the Other Father’s control, there was no way of telling whether Other Freminet or Other Lynette would be on your side.

Lynette’s standoffish and aloof demeanour was non-existent in her Other counterpart. Instead, the girl that replaced her was cheerful and sweet in a nauseatingly saccharine way. Other Freminet was brighter still, as close to sociable as he could get, smiling at you in a way that looked far too wide and out of place on his features.

Both of the siblings were unsettling. Maybe it was the sickeningly sweet words and empty gazes, or maybe it was the fact that they wore your sibling’s faces without acting like them in the slightest. But even the dreamy haze of wonder that shrouded this world couldn’t hide that something about the two of them was deeply and irrevocably wrong.

It was difficult to remember a time you had looked at the Other World and thought it a dream come true—especially when now every part of it made your stomach turn—but that naivety was what got you tangled in the Other Father's web. It was only the cat—who didn’t change in the slightest between worlds, and stared at you with wide, unblinking blue eyes—and Lyney who kept you grounded. They were the only parts that felt real, untouched by the Other Father’s puppet strings.

The offer of your own buttons to match hers was only the final piece of the puzzle, letting everything click together in place. All of a sudden, the gentle edges to the Other Father’s expression turned sharp, making a shiver run down your spine.

“She isn’t going to be happy to see you leaving, you know…” The cat said in an amused voice. “This is a world of her creation. She’ll know as soon as you reach the end of it. Which, if my steps are correct, should be right about…”

As the cat’s words trailed off, the clusters of trees around the three of you started to warp and shift. It was subtle at first, with the branches beginning to thin out and shed their leaves, but soon enough the shape of their trunks became hazy and indistinct. The further you walked, the more your surroundings seemed to fall apart, like the layers of the world were being stripped away.

“She made this all for you…” The cat huffed out what sounded like a laugh. “I suppose she didn’t think you would wander this far.”

“I don’t get it…” You said softly, looking around at the canvas of white filling your vision. Lyney held tighter to your hand, shoulders tense. “Why does she want me to stay so bad?”

“Who knows? If I had to guess, I would say she wants something to love. Or maybe—” The cat paused, chuckling. “Maybe she just wants something to eat.”

“That… can’t be right.” You swallowed dryly. “Fathers don't do that.”

As you walked further, the world started to materialize around you, piece by piece knitting itself back together again. Before you could blink, your surroundings had reappeared, leaving you standing in front of the house once more.

“Huh? But… I walked away? How can I walk away from something and end up at the same place?” You looked around in confusion, shifting your weight from foot to foot.

“Walk around the world long enough, and you’ll always find your way back to the same place.” The cat explained. It jumped up onto the railing of the house, idly licking one of its paws. “This is simply—”

“A small world.” You finished quietly. Lyney tugged on your hand until you faced him again, looking apologetic. “You were trying to warn me, weren’t you?”

“Smart boy, that one. Probably the most observant of all of her creations. But even so—” The cat stopped suddenly, ears pricking up. With a low hiss, it leapt from the railing and onto a tree branch, pouncing onto a white bird and snatching it into its jaws.

“Hey! That’s one of Columbina’s circus doves!” You let go of Lyney’s hand, rushing towards the tree.

Compared to the sweet and ditzy—albeit a bit odd—young woman who lived above them in their world, the Columbina that lived in this world was strangely eerie. Both versions shared an attic filled with doves and a peculiar dream to train them into the world’s first avian-only circus, but only the ‘Other Columbina’ turned this dream into a reality.

Lyney had brought you upstairs on your second visit, just in time to watch the show. And while the performance was remarkable, the way Other Columbina studied you with those shiny black eyes made a shiver run down your spine. There was something unsettling about the sharpness to her smile, something uncanny with the way she glided across the stage like she was floating a breath above the floor.

Even though you hadn’t seen the woman since, her doves had lingered. They were on the fence watching as you explored the garden, on top of the roof peering over you during the day, and now clenched in the cat’s mouth.

“What are you doing?” You gasped, as the cat jumped down from the tree branch. The dove squirmed in its teeth, cooing out a feeble cry for help. Ignoring the sound, the cat bit down hard, snapping the bird’s neck in one move.

It fell limp. Slowly, the white feathers started to bleed into an inky black, and the bird’s body grew bigger and bigger until the cat could barely hold onto it. It spit the creature out, watching disdainfully as the dove twisted and grew into a large, disfigured crow with milky white eyes and matted feathers.

“I don’t like birds at the best of times, but this one was sounding an alarm.” The cat scoffed, picking up the crow in its mouth again and retreating behind a fallen tree branch.

“Good kitty…” You breathed. Lyney nodded in agreement. “What do we do now…?”

Lyney motioned towards the house, then towards you. You frowned.

“I-I can’t… you know what she’ll do—”

A frustrated hum, and a shake of his head.

“I don't know what you're trying to tell me,” You gritted your teeth. Where was your brother's chatter when you needed it? With an annoyed expression, Lyney mimed looking around for something, before pretending to turn a key in a lock.

“Find... the key. The key!” You gasped. “Right! I still have the key, it's in my bag! We just have to sneak past the Other Father. We'll be free!”

Lyney's expression shifted to an emotion you couldn't quite place, but the rush of adrenaline at your new chance at freedom meant you barely even noticed.

You would be free, soon enough, but Lyney wouldn't. He wasn't a fly caught in a web, only a cheap imitation woven from spider silk. He knew that the moment the Other Father decided he was no longer of use to her, her pincers would be shredding his soft, silken body to pieces.

He didn't mind, though.

Whatever sappy, sentimental, sibling love that had bloomed in his heart was artificial, but it felt real. He was made to be the quiet, loving, supportive brother that the Other Father thought would entice you into staying, but she had neglected to instill in enough loyalty to her to outweigh his growing attachment to you.

She was cunning, clever, and ruthless, but she had underestimated you. That would be her downfall, and Lyney would be the one to gleefully watch it happen.

All that mattered to him was helping to earn you your freedom. Once that was done, you could destroy the key, and the Other World would be lost forever, himself included.

Lyney's smile widened, and he stepped into place at your side. Until then, he would watch and wait.

🏷️ taglist: @tragedy-of-commons, @mollzaj, @wystiix, @mikashisus.

© aviiarie 2024. do not copy, repost, translate or use my work to train ai

[seaadc]

nothing’s new. | lyney

summary: lyney and [name], a well known couple in fontaine. life was great, you both spent every moment well, but what happens if it all becomes a blurred vision?

fem!reader, angst, no comfort, reader referred to as ‘mon amour’ & ‘darling’

based on this post: 🪄

lyney had always been a man of mystery and wonder, captivating audiences with his dazzling illusions and daring feats of magic. but behind the glitz and glamour of his stage persona, there was a man struggling with the weight of his own success.

he tried his hardest, working hard with his sister, lynette, and reached new heights of fame and popularity.

yes, lyney is a great magician. despite all the magic and flutter, there is a boy filled with disdain and misery.

never knew being a magician would be so troublesome, ‘no? lyney feels empty. like he’s missing a piece in his puzzle.

and that was you.

you were the missing piece.

it was always you, the light to his world, his everything.

you were his best, his first, and his greatest.

there was no denying that, lyney, the magician himself, was greatly attached. lynette found herself annoyed at the lovesick lyney. always babbling about his partner was his mon amour in life.

you and lyney cherished every moment that is supposed to be cherished, loving every second of it, spending time with eachother when necessary, or even if it’s just random dates, as in taking walks around fontaine, taking baths in the pouring rain as you try to comfort the hydro dragon.

it was a magical scene. one more magical than his performances. he truly loved you so much.

until, a day has come.

a card he is not able to foresee.

he can’t read it, it’s blurry, it’s blinding.

it almost makes him tear up.

lyney was troubled, he had been busy in work, wanting to become more known in fontaine for his tricks, so he for sure couldn’t decline the offer. he wanted his fame to skyrocket like monsieur neuvilette or the traveler, the hero.

he wanted to reach new heights that no one had seen before.

“Lyney.. It’s another request from [Name].” lynette says, almost a whisper from how quiet her voice is.

lyney sighs, practicing his new tricks as he paused, then continued on practicing his new tricks to amaze new people. “Cancel it.” he says, his voice cracking.

lynette could only keep quiet, disappointed with his brother’s choices in life, knowing there would be consequences shortly after. but oh well.

he, lyney, accepted more offers from different nations.

lyney spent long hours rehearsing, perfecting his craft, and traveling the world to perform in front of packed audiences.

months passed by, without a single mention of [Name] is when he realized— he still has a beloved.

a beloved who has waiting for him back home, waiting for his lovely compliments and private shows, waiting for his kisses, his love,

and yet here he was. prioritizing magic instead of the person who he called “his everything.”

lyney cleared off his pile of work for the day to spend time with his darling, it has been months since he cancelled dates and plans for them, now it was his time to return them back.

he got off work with the help of lynette, covering for him and for once proud of her brother for doing something more phenomenal.

through those months, you were left thinking, what was my worth?

you tried to understand, tried to be patient, tried to keep contact with him but you couldn’t. he was cancelling your plans, not meeting up with you, not giving you time for things that mattered most to you.

lyney opened the door, smiling brightly as he had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. you were sitting down the couch, shocked that lyney had actually returned.. for you.

you both talked, lyney felt the spark ignite inside once again, though you felt otherwise.

“Lyney..” you mumbled, lyney perked up at the sad tone of your voice and smiled faintly. “Yes, Mon Amour?” he softly spoke, to which you smiled sadly at.

that was one of the things that got you inlove with lyney, his soft, tender, gentle voice.

you couldn’t feel empathy. not now.

lyney felt nervous, why does he feel like he had done something wrong? sure, he left you hanging for months, not contacting you in any way but— “I think we should take a break.”

you cut his thoughts off, your voice echoing in his head as lyney’s eyes widened in shock. you stood up, looking down at lyney as his instinct kicked in and stood up shortly after you, his lips were trembling.

“Lyney… I’m sorry.” you murmured, reaching up to his cheeks as tears prickled in his eyelids, you caressed his cheeks as you spoke.

lyney stammered, “B-but..” he spoke.

“You were… a wonderful experience.”

the room kept silent, the atmosphere sinking in as lyney hugged you tight.

“You were… everything.”

you left, leaving him there as the realization started to sink in. he loved you, but not more than his work.

lyney was devastated. hehad never meant to hurt you, never meant to let his work come between you both. but as he sat alone in his empty abode, surrounded by the trappings of his success but devoid of the love and companionship he craved.

he didn’t want this. lyney didn’t wish for this.

but he made this.

it was this, the consequences of his choices.

you were his first, his best, his greatest,

his everything.

yet, he had lost you. will he be better without you? or is it the opposite?

he wished you had told him the doubts on your mind, so he could heal the wounds in your heart.

lyney’s sorry, he’s sorry.

he’s sorry for not being the one for you.

you both are now heading towards your new chapters, but lyney’s sure.

I don’t wanna live in a world where there’s no ‘us’.

oh, and he’s yours. but your not his anymore.

[kame11a]

Guess who's back.

Lynette, Navia as their assistant with her own outfit and Lyney

Feat. Low quality Arlecchino

[covenantofthedeep]

i call and you come through ☆

☆ feat. | lumine, zhongli, lyney, lynette, yelan and kunikuzushi ☆ summary | they help you when you're in trouble. ☆ a/n | a lumine for lumiconic. and a country skewer too. this is so not ok. i'm so sorry if lyney/lynette/anyone is ooc!

lumine |

lumine hadn't expected to see anyone at all, much less you. you were somewhat of a subject of interest to her; she wasn't quite sure what you did, and yet she hated you, or at least she told herself she did. she had headed out with the intent of soaking up the cool air before the morning came and the sun sweltered down again, but instead she'd run into you.

she's so focused on your face, at first--the frozen expression of terror as you scrabble uselessly at the drainpipe attached to your house, the way your lips look as you whisper, "back! get back, oh my archons! get back!"--that she doesn't realize what, exactly, you're sending back, and then she looks down. she has to blink a couple of times; are you really scared of cats?

you glance up at her as she makes her way closer, flashing her a pained smile. "thank archons you're here, lumine, seriously. i really can't manage all of these things by myself." her name in your voice sends a spark through her veins, but she ignores it and rolls her eyes at you. "huh, yn, i thought you were so brave? scared off by a couple of cats, are we?" she bends over to grab one around its waist. it mews plaintively at her as she strokes its head, and your eyes flicker to her hands and make their way to her lips. "i guess you aren't so much the brave knight that you let everyone believe you are?" she glances up at you, at the scarlet blush across your cheeks, and wants to drop the cats and give you a kiss.

"i'm just- i can handle everything else, but not cats," you protest, nudging one away with your foot. she bites her tongue. it's so cute. everything about you is endearing, but she can't say it. oh, archons, what a struggle this is. "can you really handle everything else, though?" she prods at you, nudging a rather insistent gray cat away with her boot.

you look at her with furrowed brows, stepping forward as the cats in your path clear away. "lumine, do you hate me?" you ask her, so sincerely, so nonchalantly, almost as if you don't care what her answer will be either way.

she starts, then stops. she looks at your cheekbone, your right eyebrow, your lips. she glances down at your hands, at her feet, anywhere but your eyes. "yes," she says to the ground.

"huh," you respond, squinting at her. she finally drags her gaze upwards, and your eyes sparkle with amusement. "because it doesn't seem like you do. in fact, it sort of seems like the opposite." and you walk down the pathway towards the gates of mondstadt with a newly acquired pep in your step, leaving her absolutely blindsided and spluttering.

kunikuzushi |

kuni goes explicitly out of his way to avoid bumping into you, so really, he doesn't know why he stops when he sees you almost in tears at a food stall. he hovers behind you for what seems like an eternity, debating tapping you on the shoulder and asking what's wrong. he studies the back of your head and your neck, the slump of your shoulders wonders if he's acting like a creep. the vendor behind the stall has his back to the both of you, busily prepping something that smells absolutely exquisite.

you step back a bit while he's lost in his thoughts and step on his foot--and jump about a foot in the air. "oh, archons!" you exclaim, turning around. "i'm so sorry, kuni. i didn't realize you were there."

his face feels absurdly hot under your direct gaze, and he stutters out something along the lines of oh, it's okay. archons, it's like he's stupid when you're standing in front of him. why did he stop? why didn't he just keep walking? now he's going to be late, and you're still smiling at him, looking insufferably beautiful despite crying your eyes out a moment earlier.

he realizes he'd looked down at your feet, almost instinctively, and slowly drags his gaze upwards to meet your eyes. your eyes, which are perfectly ordinary, perhaps, but they send something through his veins, and they're so arresting, maybe he could drown in them? could he? your eyes, which reflect the stars, but there aren't any, because it's the middle of the day? maybe he's hallucinating, he tells himself.

you smile at him, and he's prepared to do anything you ask him to--honestly, why is he still here? you seem fine, he could probably move on, he thinks, but before he can, the vendor places something down in front of you.

"160 mora," the man tells you, and your brows draw together anxiously as you rummage through your purse. you pull out a handful of coins that jingle against each other in the palm of your hand, and the whole while, kuni watches your face. he watches the way your shoulders tense and the cords on your neck stand out as you swallow, and the way you blink rapidly but a tear slips out anyway. your eyebrows stay scrunched, and he can't resist the urge to pull out his own coin purse and wordlessly set down 160 mora.

you whip your head around to look at him, protesting wildly, but he flashes you a pained smile and tries not to look at your eyes as he steps back. "consider it my treat," he tells you, forcing the words out from his throat, wondering why you have such an impossible hold on him.

as he walks away, he replays the entire exchange in his head and vows to never stop for you again.

yelan |

yelan regrets telling you that you can call her for help whenever, because now your cat's stuck in a tree and she's standing at the base, looking up at it, feeling immensely foolish. you're looking at her, though, and whenever you do that, her heart pounds so hard she's worried it'll leap out of her chest. she's seized by the undeniable urge to leap into the tree and fish your wretched cat out, if only you'll keep looking at her like that.

"please, yelan," you beg her, your face the epitome of pleading. she stares at you for a few seconds longer; in her mind, she's tracing your eyebrows and cheekbones and also your lips, oh archons, your lips. she can feel the heat rising to her cheeks and neck, and she's positive she's red, so she clears her throat and steps towards the tree.

she doesn't do romance, she doesn't do daydreaming about you, and she certainly should not be helping you wrangle your beast of a cat out of this tree, but unfortunately, here she is. you cheer her on as she turns a deeper shade of beet red, climbing up the tree in a way that she never had imagined she would ever do; climbing as though her life depends on it.

she finally reaches a branch that she can comfortably sit on, and realizes, to her horror, that she's out of breath. she leans over and rests her forehead against her knees and wills her breath to slow down so that she doesn't seem so desperately out of shape that you regret having asked her for help. when she looks down at you, you're staring back at her with an intensity in your eyes that makes her blush. "are you okay?" you call, voice threaded with concern. "do you want me to come up there?"

does she want you to come up here indeed. archons, she would kill for you up here. unfortunately, who knows what would happen if you came up here. so she shakes her head and continues upwards, craning her neck to impossible angles to search for your fool of a feline.

zhongli |

zhongli doesn't pine after strangers (albeit a stranger with whom he's gotten rather close over the past few months) and he certainly doesn't stop to help many others. but for some reason, he's spent the evening chasing your dog around your house because you had cornered him earlier when he had been on his ritual walk. your closeness, combined with your hand on his (why did you always feel the urge to touch people in some way or another when you were talking to them?) had dried up all of the words on his tongue, but you had looked at him expectantly and he had nodded. nodded. he doesn't even like dogs.

now, he sits on the ground and tries in vain to coax the dog over (mora, its name was; what a stupid name) but it's set on ignoring him. "come here," he tries. "here! come here!" and then he realizes he's switched to the baby voice you often use on mora and has to glance over his shoulder to make sure no one's watching.

he inhales and leans back against the couch he's sitting in front of, staring at the darkening sky outside and wondering what it is you're up to. perhaps a dinner? when you'd let him in earlier, you'd been all dressed up; hair pinned up and your face bright and glowy. you'd smelled like glazelilies, and he had sputtered out agreements while trying not to look you directly in the eyes. briefly, he wonders who you would go to dinner with--and then banishes the thought from his mind.

mora ambles over to him and settles in his lap, but for once, he finds he doesn't mind. he strokes the dog's head and sighs, finally feeling at ease. "oh, aren't you a little nugget of gold? oh, yes you are. yes you are. yes you are." he's so wrapped up in the dog that he doesn't hear the door open and you come in until you're standing directly in front of him, your shoes dangling from your hand. "enjoying ourselves, are we, zhongli?"

lyney |

lyney has taken a liking to you, as much as he tries to pretend it's just platonic. he follows you around, brushing off your complaints of lyney, please! i need to work! instead choosing to focus on the fact that him being around distracts you from your work. so when he stumbles upon you in tears on the ground, of course he sits down beside you.

you scrub your face with your fists, burying your head in your knees as lyney pats your back awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "yn...?" he finally asks. "are you... are you okay?"

"yeah," you squeeze out. "yeah, i'm fine." you blink up at the sky, trying to stop the pressure of tears from making their way out. "i had been working on these documents for a week, and i tripped over the bridge." you gesture weakly in the general direction of the bridge. "and now they're all... gone. down there. in the water."

he digs around in his pocket, searching desperately for a handkerchief. he had one yesterday, when he was practicing his magic tricks... where is it? where is anything when he needs it? blowing out a frustrated breath that rustles the hair on his forehead, he hands you some fake flowers. "do you want me to go get them?"

you laugh, the sound shaky and tear-filled. "thanks, lyney." you set the flowers by your feet and lean against him. "no, no, please don't. seriously, i don't want you--"

he leaps up, his cape flying out behind him. crossing one foot behind the other, he bows, tearing off his hat. a stray dove soars free, flapping erratically. "anything for you, ma cherie," he says, flashing you a wink. he trots off towards the bridge, his heels clacking against the pavement, heart racing.

you stare after him, unable to stop the laugh from bubbling up in your chest. you wipe your eyes and make your way down after him, calling his name. "no, yn!" he shouts valiantly, looking over his shoulder. "you sit down! and rest! i'll get them for you! i'll get--" and he trips over the bridge, splashing into the water below.

you lunge for the railing, scanning the bubbles worriedly. "lyney!" you yell, debating leaping in after him. "lyney, can you hear me? lyney, if you can hear me, come back! lyney, come back!"

he pops up with a sputter, his hat sodden and filled with--are those your documents? his hair sticks to your forehead, giving him a look akin to a rat, but he flashes you a smile so brilliant it sends your heart galloping again. "for you, ma cherie! for you!"

lynette |

lynette ignores all of your attempts to woo her, despite the fact that they get her heart fluttering. you bring her romaritime flowers every tuesday, garlic baguette on thursdays. she thanks you cordially for these gifts, and then spends an hour writing thank-you letters that she never sends.

lynette tries to avoid you, even adding five minutes to her journeys across the city when she sees you. not because she hates you, but because simply being around you sends her into hysterics. (in her head.) she's flustered, she's red, and you're standing in front of her right now, offering a handful of berries. why, oh why, oh why hadn't she just cut behind the houses? now she's cornered, trying hard not to lose her composure. she closes her eyes and opens them, and you're still there, smiling at her, holding those berries.

"thanks," she mutters, reaching for them. you yank them out of reach and tsk. "you can't have them until you help me with this one thing! just this one, i promise."

she crosses her arms firmly over her chest, because oh my archons, your smile has her fully disarmed. "what is it?"

you clap, beaming. "i knew you'd say yes! i knew it!"

she interrupts you. "no, no, i haven't said yes yet. just tell me what it is."

"okay, okay! okay, you need to help me put up these posters." from seemingly nowhere, you wrench out a stack of crisp thick sheets--all with "REWARD: 5000 MORA. LOST CAT!" printed on them in big, alarming letters. she takes one, her brow furrowing.

"is your cat... lost?" she asks, glancing up at you.

you nod, sighing. "he's been gone since this morning. he's not an outdoor cat, you see. he's just so clingy, and it's not like him to be like this...." you trail off, clearing your throat. "you don't have to help me look for him, but could you please help me put up these posters?"

lynette shifts from foot to foot. she's got loads of work to do with lyney, but also... you're looking at her so plaintively, concern written so clearly in your eyes, that, she feels, to say no would be similar to murdering an animal. a baby animal.

"fine," she huffs, and you grab her hand. "thank you, lynette! thank you, thank you. i'll make it worthwhile, i promise!"

you let go and spin around, heading down the path, but she's frozen, her hand ice-cold and red-hot all at once. "lynette," you call over your shoulder. "are you coming?"

she shakes her head, trying to clear her feelings like cobwebs, and dashes after you.

four hours later, the sun's setting and everything is bathed in a golden glow, almost as though you're a statue. you're spent; exhaustion pools in dark circles under your normally-alight eyes. her legs ache and her fingers hurt from plastering posters on walls. "oh, my poor baguette," you complain, sitting down against a tree.

she can't stifle a chuckle. "you named your cat baguette?"

you look at her indignantly. "she's very long and very brown. it seemed fitting!"

this strikes lynette as the funniest thing she's ever heard, and she laughs until tears run down her face. her ribs ache and her stomach aches, but it's worth it for the look of bemused adoration on your face.

something brushes against her leg and she jumps, shrieking. your grin stretches ear-to-ear, literally, and you dive for the barrel she's sitting on. "baguette!" you yelp, cradling the cat in your arms. "oh, my gosh, baguette!"

the sun vanishes behind the clouds, and they glow from the inside. almost like you, she thinks. it's a picture-perfect scene, an indignant baguette pinned between you and her, one of your arms wrapped around her shoulders as you kiss her cheek. she never wants to leave.

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @sleight-of-hand-zine! I wanted to a “each of the harbingers doing a different magician principle”, couldn’t find enough, and then just backed into “basic magician techniques”. I feel like there was something that fit my concept perfectly but I just couldn’t find it. :/ Also, had to put in a little chilumi and Lynlumi hint because why not?

…

…

…

…

“You want to know how magic works?” Standing in the center of one of the posher lounges, Lyney stared at Lumine and Paimon, surprised by the question. Well, not surprised by the question—after every show, there were always at least three audience members begging for him to reveal his secrets. However, he had never expected Lumine to ask. She’d always come off as too aloof for that.

And definitely not while they were in the middle of investigating a possible kidnapping. Lyney scratched his cheek. “Is this really the time for that?”

His sister stood silently nearby, her lips pursed as she glanced at him. While she was doing her best to hide it, Lyney could tell how nervous she was about this unexpected trial. Her ears had flattened slightly, just enough that he could sense her displeasure.

People liked to call her quiet, but her body language always spoke volumes.

“I know how this sounds, but it’ll help me figure out what really happened,” Lumine replied, her gaze unflinching. Despite the strange developments, she hadn’t been thrown off in the least. He’d heard through the Fatui grapevine about Lumine’s exploits, but it was one thing to know it, another to witness her experience firsthand.

A mystery like this probably didn’t even rank in her list of feats.

“That’s right!” Paimon chimed in, hovering next to Lumine as usual. She shook her hands vigorously. “We need to know this to prove your innocence!”

Lumine nodded her agreement.

“It’s not like we secretly want to know how you did your tricks or anything,” Paimon continued, saying too much as usual.

Lyney stifled a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand as he pretended to cough. Truly, they were the most interesting people he’d met. Strange, but charming. Even Lynette’s tail twitched, her mood improving.

“Paimon,” Lumine reprimanded flatly, shooting Paimon a pointed glare.

“Well, I mean…” Paimon pouted, stomping on the air. “C’mon, don’t you want to know too?”

Lumine sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. With the tired patience of a woman who’d dealt with this far too many times and given up, she turned to Lyney and said, “Please ignore her.”

“Hey!” Paimon shouted. “Don’t ignore me!”

This time, Lyney didn’t bother to hide his laugh. “It’s fine, I know you mean well.”

“Lyney….” Lynette murmured, concerned. “Are you…?”

“Well…I can’t really tell you everything, I know you won’t spread it, but…it’s part of the magician’s code.” Rubbing his chin, he considered just how much he could tell them. “Still, knowing the basics might help.” He raised a finger. “First, you always need to be prepared ahead of time and make sure you have the scene set up properly. You have to hide the extraordinary as ordinary.”

-x-

No one had heard of the Anemo Archon in centuries.

This was old news. Signora had known that even before she’d taken a single step in Mondstadt. In all of Teyvat, there was only one Archon that had gone missing, one Archon that had neither died nor been replaced. Whatever Barbatos was doing, he still held onto his Gnosis as he vanished from the public eye.

And now she had to catch him.

Something coiled within her at the thought. Something dark and angry, an ember threatening to burst into a blaze.

But now was neither the time nor place. As she sat in the town square, shuffling cards on a simple folding table, a strange sense of déjà vu filled her as she studied the people wandering by. Ghosts of people she’d once known overlapped on the villagers as she eavesdropped.

“You better get me something good for Windblume this year,” a woman said, her voice straddling both teasing and threatening.

“No fair, I want to be Durin this time!” a kid shouted, his arms spread as he pretended to fly as he ran. “It’s my turn!”

“Let’s get some dandelion wine at Angel Share, my treat,” a man said, hooking his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Even Barbatos would love some.”

Memories she’d long buried threatened to surface. Two knights, a fire, a blood-stained flower—

“Ohh, do you tell fortunes?” a woman asked, casting her shadow on Signora as she curiously gazed down at the now spread-out cards. She pushed a stray lock behind her ear as she leaned closer. “You can do that with normal playing cards too?”

The memories would have to stay buried. Signora smiled cryptically as she gestured at the cards. “No, but I can read your mind. All you have to do is pick three cards.”

“Oh, really?” The woman bit her lip as she glanced curiously at Signora and then at the cards. Slowly, she dragged her finger along the cards, gauging Signora’s reaction as her finger stopped at each one before finally selecting three. “Now what?”

“Memorize them.” Signora gathered the remaining cards, stacking them. “Then put them back in the deck.”

Once again, the woman scrutinized Signora as she slipped the three cards in three different places. If she was trying to catch the trick, she’d have to work harder than that.

Signora made a big show of shuffling. “You’re worried about your love life.”

“Huh?” The woman’s lips parted softly.

“That’s why the jack of hearts found you.” Signora flipped a card, revealing the aforementioned card. “He’s also starting a new relationship.”

“That’s my card!” Taken aback, the woman stepped back and stuttered, “I-is it that obvious?”

Of course it was. Signora scoffed internally; the woman’s heart was on her sleeve. The clumsily done make-up, the way she had watched other couples, she had given dozens of tells on her way over to Signora. She had been more distrusting over a simple card game than anyone else who’d passed her in the city. No one in Snezchnaya would be this relaxed, this unaware of their surroundings. Peace had rotted Mondstadt’s brains and instincts.

Freedom had softened the country. Not that Signora could complain; it made it all too easy for her to infiltrate the city.

“No, I’m just reading your mind.” Signora flipped over another card, revealing the ace of diamonds. “You won the lottery.”

By the time she’d flipped over the third card, the woman was already calling over her friends. Good, Signora would need all the resources she could get. Barbatos was a slippery one, all too quick to run away when things got hard. The only way she’d smoke him out was by striking at the things he loved.

His people. His dragon. The ruination of all that he’d protected.

The ashes of a village that had long since been wiped off the map.

It’d take a little patience to get her claws in him, but that was fine. The embers within her had burned for four hundred years already, another few months meant nothing.

-x-

“Once you have your preparation in place, you have to use three main techniques to enthral and distract the audience,” Lyney continued.

“Three?” Paimon repeated, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

Even Lumine was interested. Lyney grinned as he tugged on his sleeves, one at a time, showing that there was nothing in them. Then he clasped his hands together, shook them twice, and opened up his palms to reveal a flower.

Paimon gasped in surprise.

Lyney handed her the flower with a flourish. “The first is sleight of hand. You need to be quick with your fingers.”

-x-

Childe always kept a coin on him. As the oldest sibling in a big family, he’d long learned the hard way just how important it was to keep a trick up his sleeve just in case they got bored. There were few things as destructive as a bored child, and he still thought that even after surviving the Abyss.

It was a skill that was handy when he was handling the more undercover parts of Fatui business. No one had ever accused Childe of being particularly skilled at subterfuge; while he could handle politics when he had to, he preferred charging in headfirst, using his fists instead of his head.

The only exception was when he was dealing with children. Childe grinned as a hoard of kids crowded in front of him in the Inazuma harbour, their eyes wide as they watched his hands like a hawk. Their parents stood slightly behind, not sure what to make of the stranger who’d just stepped off a boat and started performing magic.

“And now…” Childe held out his right hand, making a big show that it was empty before curling it into a fist. Two seconds later, a coin suddenly appeared between his knuckles, sliding in between his fingers. The kids gasped, awestruck, and more than a few of the parents watched him with interest. “Ta-dah!”

He blew on his fist and the coin disappeared. Childe uncurled his fist, revealing his once-again empty palm.

“How’d you do that?” A little girl asked. She couldn’t be older than his brother.

“Magic!” Childe replied with a wink.

“Mom says there’s no such thing,” a slightly older boy said, trying and failing to be cynical.

Childe snorted. “Of course there is.” He bent over in front of the boy and reached out, pulling a coin from the back of the kid’s ear. “See?”

“The coin!” The boy dropped the pretense immediately. He grabbed the coin and touched the back of his ear, his eyes as big as saucers as he marveled. “How’d it get there?”

“Lemme see!” A different girl snatched it, holding it up to the light. She squinted at it suspiciously. “It’s really real!”

Childe chuckled as the kids handed the coin around. It was both easy and surprisingly hard to entertain children, but he had plenty of experience there. “Should I show you another trick?”

“He’s quite good.” Arms laden with groceries, a young woman giggled as she chatted with the other parents waiting for the show to finish.

Finally. As his real targets finally started to talk, Childe carefully listened as he continued to pull coins out of children’s ears. With any luck, he’d hear where Zhongli was these days.

“I wonder how they do it,” a middle-aged man replied, rubbing his chin.

“I used to be quite the trickster in my youth,” an older man warbled, his aged body as shaky as his voice.

“Not that again.” The first woman rolled her eyes. “I bet they use their Visions.”

“Wouldn’t he just make things wet then?” The man countered, raising a brow. “Not much of a magic trick.”

“Try doing laundry or cleaning and you’ll see just how much you’ll want that trick,” a second woman chimed in derisively. “Maybe it’s an illusion?”

“You wouldn’t ignore me like this if you’d seen me in my youth,” the old man grumbled, waving his stick. “I was handsome then! Every lady chased me!”

“Oh, so you were a magician too? That’s quite the illusion. Or delusion.” The first woman snickered. “Oh, speaking of unusual things, have you heard about the Traveller from Mondstadt?”

“Oh!” The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up. “They say she fought a dragon. Do you think it’s true?”

“True or not, she’s supposedly coming here too,” the woman continued with a shrug. “I wonder why? There’s nothing to fight here.”

“Must be for the Rite of Descension,” the second woman suggested. “Why else?”

Interesting. Childe deftly pulled a flower out of his sleeve, earning gasps from the enthralled children. A traveller from Mondstadt—this must be the slip of a girl who’d saved Dvalin and fought Signora. Sure, she might have lost, but to go against a Harbinger and survive…

She had to be a decent fighter.

She’d even fought a dragon.

Childe smirked. If he was lucky, maybe she’d get in his way too. It’d been too long since he’d had a proper workout.

-x-

“The second technique...” Lyney held out a playing card, letting Paimon and Lumine see the queen on the front. He slid his hand on the surface, as though wiping it clean, and the front turned into a king instead. “…is using illusions.”

-x-

While Dottore considered magicians and their petty tricks as paltry, he did enjoy the concept of illusionary magic. The act of showing the audience one thing while doing another. You weren’t just deceiving them but using their own conceptions to deceive themselves. Letting their own mind fill in the blanks, making the magic far more potent than it ever was.

“Will it work?” Azar asked, his voice echoing in the chamber as he gazed up at the machine. The gigantic humanoid figure dwarfed everything in the room, truly god-like in size at least. In power, well, that was left to be seen. The experiment still needed to run.

Fortunately, there were few people who were easier to trick than greedy power-mongers. Dottore barely had to lift a finger for this illusion. Gesturing at the small controls on the side, he explained, “In theory, yes. All it requires is a little power.”

The sage’s face fell. “…it’ll take a long time to fuel it if we do our current harvesting.”

“That is a pity.” The flag had been raised. Dottore imperceptibly titled his head, signalling Scaramouche to make his move.

The Harbinger touched the cords for the machine, flooding it with just enough power that it flickered on. Gears coldly clicked to life, whirling as the circuits powered on. As the machine bathed them in a purple glow, Azar stared up, awe-struck.

As he should—it was some of Dottore’s best work yet, and this was with the shadow of an Archon powering it. He had high hopes for this—a new Archon, a new power, a change that even the Heavenly Principles couldn’t have anticipated. How would it change Teyvat? The Archons? Himself?

Would there be yet another version of him after this?

A question that he’d have to wait to answer. Dottore tilted his head once more and Scaramouche let go of the machine.

One by one, the machine’s lights flickered and turned off as it fell back into its slumber. Azar cried out, “Wait! No!”

How pathetic. The Akademiya had diminished since he’d left it, their best and brightest minds now reduced to these power-hungry cowards who couldn’t even muster up the intelligence to come up with their own experiments. To think he’d even once been associated with them…Dottore sighed ruefully. He really had to lead this man to the solution. “That is all we can muster with our current power levels. Unless…”

“…if the dream harvesting could be increased…” Azar squeezed his fist, closing his eyes. He clenched his jaw as he squared away his thoughts. “Samsara.”

“Precisely.” Dottore smirked.

“We’d have to find a host, one that could last in the long run…” Azar rubbed his chin, now seriously contemplating the suggestion. “One that would never realize they were trapped in a dream…we’ll have to investigate before starting this.”

Dottore tried not to laugh at the irony. Truly, the experimental rats never realized they were in a maze. Poking at a raw nerve, he asked, “Do you have that much time?”

Azar flinched. “…it won’t take that long if we put more resources on it.”

Then Dottore should hopefully see results soon. For this, and for his other, more lucrative experiment. He studied Scaramouche from the corner of his eye. As far as test subjects went, there were few as amusing, interesting, and useful. There was so much one could do when their subject not only would answer questions but also wouldn’t object to any experiment.

And more importantly, there were few test subjects that had their own ambitions.

Even now, as Scaramouche stared up at the machine, there was a flicker of irritation in his eyes. His feet tapped the floor impatiently. It wouldn’t be too long now till Scaramouche tried his own gambit and tried to alter the heavens in an entirely different way.

Dottore meandered over slowly. “Any issues?”

Scaramouche didn’t bother to look at him. He clenched his fist and shook his head. “No.”

Perhaps a little push was needed. “It will not take long before we create a god of our own.”

“…soon,” Scaramouche agreed. “We’ll have a better one.”

Better was subjective. Not that it mattered to Dottore in the end—regardless, he’d have a new god. “Perhaps.”

-x-

“Of course, a bit of patter and charm never hurts too,” Lyney added cheekily. “If the audience likes you, they’re more willing to get tricked.”

Lynette crossed her arms as she added dryly, “He’s good at that.”

He pretended it was praise and gave a small bow. “That I am.”

“And humble too,” Paimon added, shaking her head. “Magic’s a lot simpler than I thought.”

“The elements are simple but putting it together…” Lyney clasped his hands together. “Well, that’s the hard part. It takes practice.”

“What’s the third part?” Lumine asked suddenly, breaking out of her pensive silence.

“Third what?” Lyney asked, cocking his head.

“Technique.” Lumine up her fingers as she counted. “You said illusions and sleight of hand. What’s the third one?”

Misdirection. Perhaps the most important skill a magician could have. It was also a skill Lyney had been using since he’d met Lumine. After all, with how the Traveller had fought with the Fatui before, he doubted she’d be talking to him like this if she knew who he really was. Where he really came from.

And while he would never betray Father, he didn’t want Lumine to hate him either.

“That’s a secret,” Lyney replied, putting a finger to his lips as he winked. “A magician can’t reveal all of his tricks, right?”

[yuellii]

when imitating life from art

𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒 of what kinds of gifts they would give you while we wait for maintenance to end !

feat. various fontaine characters, separately

note. reader’s gender not specified, not necessarily romantic but definitely can be, this is written pre-release, just something to kill the time during maintenance before fontaine drops !!

FURINA.

random trinkets ; She’s quite sporadic, actually. Quite similar to the flamboyance of her demeanor, she does not stick to a theme when she’s gift-giving to you especially. They must be random, they must be completely new and fun every time—and that’s not a rule, it’s only like the laws of nature.

In retrospect, they’re all endearing in the end. If there’s one theme she missed, it’s that all these random trinkets pertained to you in some way, even in the oddest of aspects. Truth be told, she picked items up once they reminded her of you, and that itself was enough to excuse the weirdness of some of her presents.

LYNEY.

magic tricks ;; The gifts he gives themselves are… rather normal. But he is a person of presentation, or so he’d say. Therefore, the true uniqueness that set him aside from any other gift givers was the performance he gave alongside them.

For even the smallest of gifts—books, drinks, Mora—he insists he hides them from you first. With a wink and a grin that can be frustrating sometimes, the true present is really how hard he tries to impress you. And so, he goes out of his way to try something new every time. If you’re not impressed, absolutely astounded and amazed, then is it really a gift from him at all?

LYNETTE.

flowers ;; The irony is that Lynette hates flowers… When they’re given to her, at least. But they were always offered to her early into her career that she just associates them with goodness, and goodness, only. So in her mind, who is more deserving of flowers than you?

She doesn’t quite know flower meanings; she likely has no idea each one even had a separate connotation. But she knew that they looked pretty, and if you paid attention hard enough, you’d notice they were displayed in such a beautiful way every time she gave them to you, like she felt the need to carefully arrange them to your liking.

FREMINET.

seashells ;; ‘He sells seashells by the seashore’—not really, but he liked mumbling it to himself whenever he came by. He liked diving; pretty much everyone knew that. He liked the water; everyone knew that, too. But, he also liked to silently hand you shells he collected from his little water sessions.

If you took the time to notice all the details, you’d see that he only brings you complete shells, ones that stents cracked or broken. It’s as if he sorted them out one by one, making sure they look pristine before selecting them as the final one—and maybe, that’s truly what he does.

NEUVILLETTE.

dinner dates ;; He actually doesn’t… give you gifts. Physical ones, anyways. He’s a very serious yet interesting man, one that leaves you guessing what his next move will be.

What he does as a treat in place of a physical present is treat you out to a nice dinner, but you won’t know what days he will ask until he is already in front of you. They’re quite nice, though, as he always picks places he knows you enjoy at least a few things off the menu. And they’re quite expensive and classy, too. You’re also not quite sure if he picks these random nights based on your mood throughout the day, or based on his own selfish discretion… But honestly, you’ll never know.

WRIOTHESLEY.

tea boxes ;; The man in charge of a fleet of exiled convicts is one you’d consider to be more scruff and too barbaric of a person, but he is gentle in the way he likes his tea. It’s a form of art that calms him down from the bottom of the ocean, one that he thinks you would enjoy, too.

And so he loves giving sets of new blends he’s tried, or sometimes specific herbs to add to really make a different aroma pop more than usual. He always prefers tea over anything, and his gifts and recommendations are his way of saying he wants you to enjoy them, too.

NAVIA.

skincare ;; The lady is quite particular with the sun and the shade, the hydrating and hydro-boosting—she takes care in the art of aesthetics and believes it’s only fair that you pamper yourself, same way as she does on her own. There’s an interest she takes, one that is so particular in which she studies your type of skin just to find out what lotion would be best, or what would keep your face hydrated.

And at first, you’d think to yourself maybe it’s a bit insulting, like she needs to look better than you already do. But wish her dashing smile always so positive when she gifts them, it’s clear she has the best of intentions.

CLORINDE.

gold trinkets ;; Being a champion duelist meant many things, but one of those features implicated an eye for the golden prize. Gold was always classy, so she liked it. Love was also classy, and she liked feeling it whenever she thought of something to give to you. It was always something gold, ranging from expensive jewelry to even cheap, gold-lined trinkets.

But she thought of you when she chose it, and she thought it was pretty enough to give to you. And it felt lovely, at the very least, as if she was sharing her winning trophies.

[explicitred]

Lyney

Genshin Masterlist

Why, isn't this just wonderful? Feat. Lynette

[taytayabas]

From time to time for about a year after the Fontaine Archon Quest IV, I see post (from twitter to reddit) asking why some Childe Mains claim Tartaglia fight the “Whale” for 45 days or more.

Breaking down the timeline

Tartaglia’s disappearance. He stayed in Meropide at the very least for a week, triggering 2 hidden rules and enabling the creation of mystery during pipe-cleaning day, he then vanished.

Pipe-cleaning days is Meropide’s regular cleaning of the drainage and happens 3 times per month, every 10 days.  

To the Stars Shining in the Depths, Lost in Deep Seas

Nuevillette reached out to Tabibito and within a day, Tabibito and Paimon were sent to Meropide.

1st Day – Tabibito and Paimon got sentence for 45 days and Wriothesley’s Meropide Tour

2nd Day – Production Zone and Lyney & Lynette meet up.

3rd Day – Pankration Ring

4th Day – 1st Hidden Rule

5th 6th 7th Day – Apply for 3 continuous working days on the 7th day received the “strange meal box.”

8th Day – 2nd Hidden Rule: bought tickets for both competing fighters.

9th Day – Receive the mysterious package.

10th Day – Cannibals and Pipe-cleaning day

11th Day – Meet up with Lyney and reconvene after 9 days.

Cataclysm’s Quickening, Into the Deepwater Murk

20th Day – The Truth Shrouded in Shadow to Calamitous Tread (another pipe-cleaning day)

21st Day – Meeting with Furina and Arlecchino during the day also investigation in Meropide done (granted freedom)

22nd - 45th Day – Game of the Rich (World Quest)

Some or most players probably forgot that the World Quest happened simultaneously with the Archon Quest. Game of the Rich World Quest had 3 ways of commencing (Get spotted by a Meropide searchlight or entering through broken underwater pipes, After completing the Archon Quest To the Stars Shining in the Depths, or even if the Archon Quest is not completed) but reading the dialogues will show very clearly that canonical timeline would be sentencing Tabibito for 45 days in Meropide, 1st 20 days doing the Archon Quest and the rest of the remaining days doing the World Quest.

Even if say, Tabibito did not finished the 45 days sentence and leave on the 22nd day, there still some days in between the Calamitous Tread and when The All-Devouring Narwhal Appears, Tartaglia’s appearance in the Opera Epiclese, making him fight the “Whale” at the very least 25-30 days which is still a very impressive feat.

[pearlywritings]

lil disclaimer: i'm writing this in the dead of the night as i can't sleep and my mind decided to make me notice and think about some details that maybe only i noticed, so apologies for any typo and side track :') also feel free to ignore if you're not interested or if it's too long, i know i'm gonna ramble a lot

first of all, hello margo! i hope this finds you well ^^ now, straight to topic, have you noticed how all the characters we got so far that come from a noble bloodline don't have animal feats? like the kamisatos, diluc, eula and many more, they're all human, while the animal-like characters like gorou and tighnari and diona and others aren't noble, but commoners

therefore my thought was: do nobles dislike the idea of having partners with animal feats? do they think it "stains" their "pure" bloodline, thinking that animals are lowly creatures not worthy of such a "honor" like being nobles?

and so i thought "what if in margo's works about diluc and reader's family, reader had animal features? the nobles already dislike her bcs she's a commoner who "stole" the best bachelor of mondstadt, but not only that, she's also a "filthy" animal-like person! preposterous!"

of course other thoughts followed as well: how would diluc and the kids act at the start, being new to reader having ears and tails and probably fangs, with insticts and particular preferences or anything related to the matter? would the kids take after her these traits? just one of them or all of them? what if the one of the twins has animal traits and the other not? (we saw it with lyney and lynette and till they explain how, i hc that these two had a human and an animal-like parents and lynette took after he latter while lyney after the former)

i think i told you everything i thought about so this ends here, but in case you're gonna read this and reply feel free to add anything that may come to mind!

take care, sleep and eat well and get all the love your genshin men have for you ^v^ wish you to win all your 50/50s from now on too!

Hi, dear anon 👋 hope you are doing well!

Wow, that was lengthy! However I am so sorry to disappoint, but I really can't add anything to your thoughts simply because I've never paid any mind to this issue. Not to mention - I don't have any favourite characters with animal traits.

My view on this, however, is very simple - I write humans with humans, hybrids with hybrids (preferably of the same kin) and immortals with immortals simply because I don't want to think or write about all the drama and heartache a human x hybrid or a mortal x immortal can cause. Same about reading stuff.

Hopefully it doesn't need mentioning that I am not against other people writing it - they do what they do.

And as for my family AU - my boys are already perfect in my eyes without any animal traits and I'd like that to stay this way 😁