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aesoaps · 2 years

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cupid’s troubles?

when playing wing-mate for a generously paying classmate turns out more differently than you’d expect.

character/s: albedo, childe, diluc, kaedehara kazuha, thoma, scaramouche, xiao

“so…since when have you enjoyed playing cupid?”

you almost choke on your saliva at the girl’s direct statement. “me? playing…cupid? huh, what decides to give you that impression?”

“were you not?” ganyu clarifies with a strange look on her face. “i mean, i’m not entirely sure, but lately it feels like he knows me really well, and i get the sense that you’ve also been pushing me towards…”

“isn’t that just by coincidence though?” you question with scrunched features of confusion. “maybe he just ends up wandering in the same places we do. maybe he’s just generally nice to you.” you shrug. “and clearly he’s liked you for quite a while if he knows you well enough, to see what kinds of gifts you like.”

you don’t miss the blush that settles across her face. “but anyway, shouldn’t you be happier since you’re the one who likes him?”

“i am,” she hastily argues with a flustered expression. “it’s just, i feel like you have something to do with this too.”

“other than being a really supportive friend?” you snicker, elbowing her in a teasing manner. “it’s the course of fate, and i’m happy that you’re happy. does that convince you enough?”

“sure,” ganyu defeatedly smiles, lazily waving a hand in the air in hopes of letting the topic go.

“whatever helps you sleep at night, y/n.”

xiao, the boy asking you to play wing-mate.

him suddenly approaching you for help, was quite frankly the least situation you expected transpiring within the school year.

“you…almost got caught again, didn’t you?” “i—well, does it matter? she said she liked it.”

and him requesting you to play wing-mate for your shy friend? twice the astonishment.

“…you know i’m going to have to deduct the price again because of this—” “ugh, that’s the third time already—and don’t you dare say it’s because i suck at being discreet! you’re the one who came to me!”

but some part of you couldn’t exactly…pin the blame on the guy for developing some sort of secret crush on her.

sure, ganyu always preferred to keep to herself rather than stand out in a crowd…however, it was also an unequivocal fact that she was happened to be the reserved version of every guy’s ideal type.

and you supposed…it suited someone like xiao as well.

so there was the gist of possibly making your well-deserving friend happy, and then there was even an extra bonus of getting paid generously for your provided aid? you didn’t even bat an eye to hurriedly agree with the proposition.

(and yes, you ended up on the receiving end of his judgmental stare in that awkward moment…but you knew he wouldn’t have hesitated to do it too, were he offered the same deal.)

which is why you’ve been diligently working your ass off for the past five months, slowly but surely doing your best to get those two together!

albeit you’ll have to admit, it’s rather arduous and…perhaps even a bit embarrassing to constantly put yourself out there, and act as a middleman for the both of them. there were even instances when you pushed yourself as far as to go shopping with xiao, in an effort of pursuit for the gifts your friend considered nice and thoughtful — or circumstances where you and him would practice on how to handle “certain” moments — such and such were given much attention and detail, that part of you started to wonder at some point if it would ever be enough to get the two of them together.

but the fruits of your labor have sprouted for blossoming, and it’s all you can bask in while you slowly watch as ganyu begins to fall in love with the green-haired boy as well.

as for xiao himself…perhaps it’s nothing other than a figment of your imagination, but for the past month you’ve noticed how the boy seemed to act a bit more…unconstrained around you. almost as if he was getting used to feeling comfortable with your presence.

which is what you’ve expected in the long run together, of course. after all, you were the person he would turn to for inquiries about gifts, mindful choices of flowers, movies that you both later on discovered had a similar taste in, together planning as occasional lunch-mates when ganyu would be accomplishing other school-related priorities, fraternizing with unexpected enjoyment in arcades over the weekend (respectfully, as friends!)…

okay. so maybe the list grows longer (and slightly deviates from your initial relationship) day by day. so maybe he sneaks in a pale-red carnation or two for you, even though you’re almost certain you’ve only gushed about your love for the pretty blossom to the boy behind the counter of the flower shop. so maybe he even makes jokes and smiles at you now — none of this clearly has anything to do with such gestures past borderline friendship!

this is just xiao learning how to open up, xiao beginning to enjoy himself in your (sort of) long-time company, xiao showing his gratitude in little actions rather than brave words,

and maybe even xiao absentmindedly drowning in your eyes, while realizing that you playing wing-mate for him was clearly one hell of a shitty mistake.

thoma, his best friend.

contrary to the green-haired boy you (surprisingly) began to “work” for within your senior year, his later introduced best friend is so unexpectedly and infuriatingly,

“good morning, y/n! is that a new skirt? that looks really pretty on you today!” “oh…thoma, good morning! i’m…surprised you’ve noticed, thanks for the compliment!”

nice.

you met the blonde during the first few weeks of playing wing-mate for xiao, some time around the period where his words remained brusque and the boy preferred to be indifferent towards you. so it came as evidently shocking news, when you soon realized that his best friend was just somehow the complete and exact opposite of him.

thoma was sociable — or rather, the highly sociable one among them, considering there was always a flock of people who would follow him around hallways, and there were far too great numbers of heads turned with his mere presence and warming smile.

but how could you blame anyone for being so mesmerized by him? he was, by far, perhaps the most charming boy you’ve met all year without consciously even knowing it — and, he was such a freaking gentleman to every one of his professors and classmates! god knows who raised him, but they sure as hell did it right.

and since you were naturally required to spend more time with xiao, it also paved the way for more timely opportunities to run into the courteous blonde. (so maybe working for xiao was not all that bad…)

when he finds you dawdling by the school gates to wait for his best friend during dismissal, he pretty much had a rough estimate of how long it takes for xiao to finish up his other priorities — so he takes these chances by proposing to buy you something to eat in a nearby restaurant, instead of pitifully standing outside with nothing else to do.

you enjoy taking him up on his offers, because it gives you more freedom and time to get to know him better as a friend! and he’s (unsurprisingly) cordial with the store owners, so anytime you would both decide to share snacks and a hotpot together, you either received a generous discount for the food, or the meals were simply on the house.

sometimes, he even makes spontaneous appearances during weekends with xiao, whether for shopping or heading to arcades and cinemas, depending on what was planned for the day.

he, more or less…also understands what exactly is going on between you and the green-haired boy, so he’s not exactly skeptical with how close the both of you have gotten after some time. in fact, he happened to be one of the people who actually encouraged him to pursue other means of capturing ganyu’s attention, and still remains supportive with the idea of it.

which you later on found a bit weird…after eventually discovering from xiao that thoma specifically recommended you to act as his wing-mate, out of all the other people in school. but you are her best friend, so it sort of makes a lot more sense when placed in such context.

still…you’ve never expected somebody like thoma to notice, since you were never really the popular type in school. it’s almost flattering, if you were being candid about it.

but what the blonde never really admits about the bigger reason for mentioning you to xiao was that…he’s always noticed you. and frankly, it was too difficult for him not to, because you were always just there. if anything, he thought you were the one who never actually noticed him since…he was only someone who liked you from afar.

so when the astonishing opportunity soon came up with xiao’s wing-mate, thoma thoughtlessly took it with a giddy smile, wondering how he became so fortunate to have somehow hit both birds with one stone.

or at least…that’s what he thought. before he noticed the lingering glances. before he saw the occasional flowers in your hand. before he realized how much more you smiled when you were with him. before he understood that you were cautiously falling for somebody else,

only that person was not him.

(and maybe it never really was.)

kaedehara kazuha, the boy you’ve always had a crush on.

playing wing-mate for xiao was bound to attract some unwanted attention from onlookers.

“so, what’s been going on with you and xiao lately?” “uh, what do you mean?”

for instance, it’s worked rather wonderfully to capture the curiosity of the boy you’ve always liked from afar.

“i mean, in the sense that the both of you have looked awfully friendly lately? since when did you two get so close?” “oh…that! well…”

sure, you and kazuha were good friends. you’ve known each other since elementary, and managed to get along well throughout the years. it just so happened that halfway through your tightly-knot friendship, you’ve slowly realized that you were beginning to like him a lot…only in a different and somewhat more passionate manner.

so…those feelings aged well.

but this, this accusation with xiao was frankly off the point and a completely irrelevant matter! and you had honestly hoped he would be the last person to hear and question you about it…

although you were fairly certain you had no other choice but to fish for a convincing excuse rather than the embarrassing truth. after all, xiao stipulated very clearly in your initial stages of agreement, that you were absolutely prohibited to disclose to anyone else regarding the matter of you playing wing-mate for him, and therefore sworn to utmost secrecy (hence, the generous payment to keep your mouth practically sewed shut).

shrugging worked well. saying you wanted to get to know him worked even better. yet the suspicious gaze in his eyes meant to convey that it didn’t sound good enough. after all, why would you be fraternizing with someone, clearly all your close friends had some sort of slight inkling that ganyu liked…

oh. maybe that’s why.

“it’s not like that.” you fumble around with your words in a hurry. “no, wait — you know i would never do that.”

“i know.” he grins, elbowing you lightly. “i was kidding. i think it’s nice that you’re getting to know more people too.”

other than ganyu, the person you would spend most of your time with was kazuha. since he lived in the same neighborhood, the two of you would be frequently seen by other classmates walking home together in your later years…which originally sparked rumors at first, but eventually died down with the truth and your bitter smile.

he also had a habit of accompanying you out to the nearby park on weekends — sitting on the half-dilapidated swings you both used to enjoy as young adolescents, dazedly nibbling on ice cream cones as vanilla trickles down each of your fingers, bouncing in excitement as you talk about everything and nothing, while watching the sun set for perhaps the thousandth time together.

well…except now, even his role has been replaced by that taciturn man — the one who slowly consumed much of your time during the long weekends, the one who discreetly slid you pretty carnations while kazuha quietly witnessed the expression of shock and the smile that eventually followed across your face, the boy who unconsciously began looking your way with an inexplicable fondness in his lonely amber eyes.

you did nothing but behold, as kazuha grew to love and have his heart broken through the last few years. and now, kazuha wonders how long these intimate emotions have breathed and fostered in the tightness of his chest, as he stands aside to watch how you carefully fall the same way he did (for you) all those years ago.

albedo, the quiet boy who’s always liked you.

it came as a startling revelation for ganyu when you directly admitted to her that kaedehara kazuha was not actually the first boy you loved.

“hi,” you whisper, almost breathlessly after you accidentally run into the boy, stunned at how his crystal blue eyes have never changed despite how long it had been since you last felt lost in them.

“hi.” he murmurs back softly, and that’s all it takes for you to be thrusted back into that distant morning of december — bitter snow gnawing on your vulnerable and ice-bitten fingertips, your skin raw and red and his eyes as beautiful as ever.

albedo has always been born brilliant. even as a little boy, professors have sang the highest praises for his intellect and astonishingly adept knowledge in the field of science. the precocious child — that was what all the adults preferred to call him, because perhaps they believed that was the only valuable aspect worth knowing about him.

but unlike the rest of them, you found something past albedo’s giftedness. you saw a boy unafraid of charcoal fingertips and pigmented colors dancing across his pale complexion. you saw a boy who had an adorable habit of pushing up his loose glasses, and how he had the most special dream of all. you saw a boy who was isolated because he was too perfect that he became different, someone who had forgotten (or perhaps was always unaware) how it felt to love and be loved.

you saw a boy with crystal blue eyes on that wintry morning, how they matched the shade of the blue rubber band that always dangled from your wrist, the blue of your freshly painted nails carefully tucked beneath your thick black coat, and the blue of the woolen gloves that he courteously offered for your inadequately capped hands.

you saw all of albedo, and how you loved him on that frosty day.

so when no one was looking, you stood on your tiptoes and puckered your lips to plant an innocent kiss on the young boy, his mouth soft and dusted with blue sugar crystals from the warm cookies given by your shared homeroom teacher.

and despite his initial astonishment at the unforeseen gesture, albedo kissed you back.

from that day, you dreamt of blue eyes and blue gloves and first kiss lips dusted with sugar blue crystals.

but alas, the universe mercilessly continued to push him towards something else, something far greater and worth more than the stolen kiss beneath snow covered cherry blossoms.

so. that was that. and the day after, the boy you knew never came back.

or, maybe you liked to think he was still there, masked behind lackluster eyes and the never ending enumeration of priorities that practically secured the direction of his successful future.

you almost never ran into albedo anymore — and it was perhaps around the same timeframe you began to befriend other people like kazuha.

and even during your senior year, while you mindlessly scurry around the entire campus running school errands together with xiao, as you busily discuss plans over the movie you were both interested in seeing over the weekend, you only catch the solitary blonde buried in textbooks and advanced homework, and sometimes find him doing tasks accompanied by a shy-looking green haired girl. so maybe…maybe things were better for the both of you this way.

but he hasn’t forgotten you, not one bit ever since that day which grew as old as time. he remembers your skin, bruised and raw from the numbing cold. he remembers your lips, soft and hesitant as you tenderly pressed your mouth against his. he remembers your warmth, your gloved hands finding his face and his wandering to your waist. and then he remembers how much he cried the following day, and the day after that, and then for every single day he saw you and wondered how much would have changed if he chose you instead.

and when he closes his eyes, he still sees blue rubber bands and blue nails and first kiss lips dusted with sugar blue crystals.

childe, the jackass friend for dating troubles.

when xiao first came to you with his daunting request, you were puzzled as to why he would decide to approach someone who knew absolutely nothing about the world of dating.

“oh my god, i can’t believe that fucking worked.” you remark with a bewildered expression, almost losing your balance as the branches of the bushes scrape lightly against your face.

and thus, it was only right that you’d make the effort to learn how to play wing-mate better with someone more…knowledgeable in such a perplexing field.

“see,” you hear the boy crouching beside you snicker, clasping your arm softly so that you don’t founder from behind the leaves, and interrupt the passionate moment gingerly brewing between your best friend and xiao. “have some more faith in my experience, y/n.”

childe was someone you’ve only had the privilege of meeting and getting close with, during the period of first year in high school.

yes, it was infuriating to agree that he was attractive back then (even until now), and frankly even more humiliating to admit that you used to have a crush on him for his pretty looks. but that was all before you got to know him better as an overall person, and…needless to say, his initial appeal towards you had drastically plummeted by then. now, it almost sickens you to recall why you used to like him in the first place.

he was brazen and shamelessly audacious — and while you normally despised that sort of behavior brewing in a guy, other girls seemed to develop a profound liking towards it.

so, there you had it. you had a jerk for a friend who was somehow more proficient in the language of mutual attraction than most decent boys.

and now, he was finally putting that fucking mastery of his to use.

during the period where you accepted xiao’s deal and was relatively new to the situation, the ginger-haired boy agreed to help you out with some preliminary training. apparently, he claimed that before you could properly play your role well, you needed to place yourself in the same situation as the person, to better understand how to take the next steps of action forward. in other words…

“i’d rather not have us put ourselves in their shoes, and have you pretend that you’re secretly pining for me,” you shudder, recoiling in disgust at the mere thought of it.

it’s a stupid philosophy, but it makes so much sense despite how abhorring it could be. besides, you’ve never really thought of bouncing the absurd idea to xiao, more or less actually executing it with someone like childe. still, you promised you’d do your best — and if this is the only way to succeed, then so be it.

he was actually the one who planted the idea of sending bouquets of flowers in your head, when he once bought you a posy of daises and gifted it to you during the early morning (which you dazedly accepted…but later on admitted to him that you had a stronger preference for a different blossom). allegedly, he even claimed to know a friend who worked in a nearby flower shop, and thus suggested that it would work as a pleasant gift.

regrettably, you’ve also become a victim to his flirty remarks and horribly cheesy winks (for ‘courting inspiration’, he says). and while the past you would have cluelessly fallen for his charm, you only began to feel nauseated the more you stared at him.

childe does it to tease you at first. after all, he kept finding much amusement in your repulsed gaze and creased eyebrows. a part of him even thinks your confused expression is a bit adorable — but then again, it’s done purely for the purpose of satiating his twisted entertainment.

then a few weeks pass, and it feels so…normal to flirt with you, because even you decided to become bolder and jokingly flirt back with him. it was like the gesture had been ingrained in the back of his mind ever since he met you. like it was the only way he’s ever spoken with you, after all this time. like he has always looked at you in a different light, except that he’s never chosen to acknowledge the recurring butterflies in his stomach until today.

he refuses to admit it until you’re finally finished with his ‘training’, and you’ve put your shamelessly newfound skills to use with xiao. and childe realizes he doesn’t want to see you flirt or turn red with anyone else but him.

so. he was fucked.

scaramouche, the boy who works in the flower shop.

you met him during the first few times you went shopping with xiao for a bouquet of flowers.

“tch, you again.” “oh…it’s your shift.”

the only issue was that during the days you came back alone to peruse the pale-red carnations tucked inside the quaint flower boutique, they also coincidentally happened to be the hours that he was on his shift.

“um, did you want me to leave…?” “…there’s a fresh delivery of those flowers right at the back. and come inside already you idiot, it’s fucking freezing out there.”

well, he doesn’t really bother you that much unless you approach him first. which…clearly doesn’t settle great with him when you did so to ask about the blossoms, so you choose to avoid the boy during your stay instead.

on some days he looks rightfully pissed, and others where he seems unfazed — but then again! you’re not exactly in the best position to question his mood swings or changes in demeanor.

and there are some days where you actually come inside bearing little gifts for him (despite the fact that he probably hates you for always coming in to peruse, but never actually purchase flowers). once, it was a warm cup of black coffee, and on another you brought him a chocolate croissant. it’s weird and clearly out of line as strangers…and yet it still manages to do the trick, because you notice he doesn’t tend to glare at you as much as before.

saturdays inside the shop were understatedly your favorites of the week. the batches of carnations always seemed to be delivered fresh during this day, and you’d make it a point to come extra early on the weekend to shamelessly admire them and…occasionally share a civil conversation with the boy on shift.

you appreciate the rare moments when you can just…talk to him, no matter how strange that sounds. because the more you talk to him, the more you realize that he’s not even as horrible of a person as you remembered. (and he slowly begins to think the same of you as well.)

on days when xiao tagged along with you to the boutique however, that was a different story. he’d end up acting cold and, sometimes going as far to be a bit rude if you were being honest. it felt like you were back to square one and hating the boy you were beginning to know, all over again.

and then the time eventually came when you wandered inside the shop, perhaps in an endeavor of adoring your favorite blossoms again…except this time, you would be clutching at least one or two of them with a giddy smile on your face.

“you finally have them.” he commented with a scoff from behind the counter, raising an eyebrow to scrutinize your seemingly thrilled expression. “so you can probably stop your broke ass from coming back here, and continue gawking at them from the confines of your home.”

“then it wouldn’t be the same, you asshole.” you roll your eyes, sliding a neatly packaged chocolate chip cookie over the counter towards him. “it’s not like i would have a pissed boy with me at home.”

“you only ever come for the flowers anyway.” he mutters in a low breath, a foreign tone laced in his words as he glares down at the steamed pastry. “why are you still here?”

“because,” you shrug with a mere smile, before leisurely retreating to the rear shelves of the cozy boutique you’ve grown heavily accustomed to. “i like the company.”

and he’s beginning find it difficult to deny that he likes it too.

diluc, the boy who knows your secret.

never, in those five extensive and troublesome months of working behind the shadows, did you ever expect for somebody to figure out what the hell was actually going on between you and xiao.

“you’re two minutes late.” “the um, coffee line today was a bit long…”

and yet, here the unfazed man sat anyway, cocking his head to the side as he stares at the coffee you’ve jutted towards his chest with a tinge of disappointment.

“hmm, i’ve been wondering…are you not that desperate for me to keep your secret?”

that fucking menace of a ragnvindr! if only he hadn’t caught you mumbling how long it would take for ganyu to accept xiao! why did he have to be there past dismissal? why did he have to be so fucking smart?!

and how the hell did you end up multitasking for two people at once?!

while diluc was someone you had originally looked up to, for his natural-born prowess and how he had easily acquired the title of student body president — now, he was nothing more than an atrocious personality you’ve had the misfortune of ever getting involved with.

you remembered shamefully pleading to him that day, swearing that you would do anything — anything for him to pretend like he hadn’t heard what you had just admitted. that you have been working under xiao for the past five months, and that you didn’t want ganyu to realize what you’ve been doing behind her back.

and now, in the span of a single day, you were forced to leave your friends or xiao during random periods or points of discussion, with the soft yet threatening buzz of your phone.

his commands usually varied on a day-to-day basis. sometimes he’d ask for the coffee close to the school, and others you were forced to sprint to the takoyaki shop on the third neighboring street. so to say you were suffering was a bit of an understatement — it was almost like pure torture when his crimson eyes beheld mischief and mirth, and you just knew what exactly would come next.

but the weirdest aspect of your coerced relationship was when he would occasionally order something extra that you knew he couldn’t finish by himself. maybe an extra cup of coffee, or twice the savory snacks from the restaurant thoma introduced you to — whatever seemed to make your baggage heavier, you presumed in spite.

except, it’s the exact opposite of what you maliciously assumed, because he actually offers the food to…you.

“you want…me to eat this?” you stutter, perplexed by his uncharacteristic generosity and the meal pushed towards you.

“you’ve been running around all day,” diluc says, casually taking a sip of coffee while reviewing some documents at hand. “you should have some before you leave. you look like you’re about to faint.”

and when you take a cautious seat expecting him to play it off as some twisted joke, he doesn’t even mind the vigilant gesture, clearly engrossed in his own papers.

thus, you began to spend some days with diluc like this. sharing food and the infrequent small talk, before it soon shifted into a comfortable silence — and some part of you thinks you prefer him better this way. when he’s not fiendish and diabolical with his demands, when he’s not subtly threatening with what he has over you — when he’s quiet, and easy to share a conversation with after a long day.

so you stay. (and he hopes you do, for longer and then.)

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