dilucl0v3r

[dilucl0v3r]

I need a part 2 pls

"The Masks We Wear"

Summary: as a journalist, you are itching to find the identity of this mysterious hero. But could it be that the hero is closer to you than you think?

Wc: 7.3k eat up

Warnings: Wriothesley x afab!reader, gn! reader, modern au, hero and villian au (one of each), reader is a journalist/cameraman, fluff, making out, crack (i laughed a lot writing this), angst (oops), one small sex scene, slightly under the influence, cursing, it's pretty unrealistic, petnames used: sunshine, love, and sweetheart.

Notes: i poured my heart and soul into this, i think it's my best piece so far ^^ give it a chance, maybe you'll love it. (Pleasepleasepleaseplease) Rbs are greatly appreciated!

Credits: banner art by the great @danijaci

Click!

The city is absolutely beautiful today. No, no. It’s not because of the lights the makes the place brighter and a bit more magical, how it seems livelier with a group of teenagers laughing together while buying street foods together, or the old couple that seem still very much in love, the gentleman kneeling down and tying her shoes just to make sure she wouldn’t trip this time.

Humans can be cute, you think.

But of course, among those innocent ‘humans’ are those who desire destruction.

This time, you think you might have caught something in the shadows, and you stare intently at your camera, zooming it in to see the faintest color blending in with the darkness. Hair? A part of clothes? You don’t know, but you got it.

you have this obsession of finding out who the hero of this city was, or even the villian. Although, you would be technically be walking into death if you try finding out who the villian is.

Where did this hero come from? No one knows. Sure the crime rate has lowered, but it felt like the world became even more messed up.

It all started a couple of years ago when you were in your college days, one day almost dying from a falling building, and you thought you saw the scythe waiting to take your soul at that very moment but, no.

The mysterious hero of the city that you never thought you would never encounter carried the building with his super strength power, apparently.

He who has no name, took your hand and lead you into a safer area with the police.

cliché story, right. But that’s what got you into journalism and media now.

And let’s say… you’re too far into the deep black hole to back down now.

The almost blinding light made you come back to your senses, the sounds of engine roaring in the air as the bike approached you, and your shoulders were already slumped.

“How did you find me?” You raise your voice due to the loud engine running, covering parts of your vision from the light.

“Lucky guess.” Wriothesley replied gruffly, pulling his helmet off and shaking his head slightly to fix up his messy strands.

“Care to explain what on earth are you doing here in this shady alleyway? At nine thirty where the moon is out and wolves could be coming for you?” He starts scolding you, quirking an eyebrow when you give him the bored expression, and he immediately mimics it back.

“Taking pictures.”

“Of the rats?”

“Wriothesley.” You shoot him a look and he raises his hands in the air. “I understand your… obsession. But it could hurt you in the process, mentally and physically.”

You know he’s saying all this because he cares so much about you. Loves you too much that it would break his soul piece by piece if one day what you’re doing will hurt you.

“Hop in, sweetheart.” He hands you the extra helmet, and you take it with a sigh. Securing it around your head before taking your place behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist as he revved the engine.

The whole ride back was silent, yet traffic, which entirely ruined the whole mood. With the constant car horns ringing in your ear.

You tap at his thigh to grab his attention, “Why’s it traffic?” You grumble, rising yourself from the seat to look at the row of cars trying to get through.

“Not any holidays or events i can think of,” he responds back to you.

Red mixed with orange fills your vision, suddenly the car at the very front explodes. The car parts flying in the air and landing at the other vehicles which makes you frozen in shock.

Wriothesley’s clenches his hands tightly as he turns the bike around, speeding his way far away from the scene. “Hold onto me tight, and don’t look back, you hear?” He yells enough to grab your attention, and your arms tightens around him, but you have your head turned around to see the people yelling and dashing out of the vehicles. You want to capture the moment with your phone so you could submit it in for the news, but you know more than to ignore Wriothesley right now.

It’s not rare to see destruction happen in your city, it’s just… terrifying every time anybody witnesses it.

Maybe it wasn’t an accident, maybe it was planned.

“You’re not allowed to go out after seven.” Wriothesley makes it clear to you with his firm tone as you both step inside your shared apartment, locking the apartment with a click. He then tosses his keys into a bowl on a small table, before turning to look at you.

“Are you seriously setting a curfew for me? Please. what happened was not new—”

Your face is now being cradled by his rough hands, but the way he swipes a thumb under your eyebags really makes you melt. And you forget what you were going to say when his lips curl the slightest.

“I don't want anything happening to you. Ever.” He takes you in his arms, holding you like you were the most precious thing he ever held. “I didn't mean to pressure you like that. I'd hate it if you were in the position of those injured people.”

You pat his back to reassure him that hopefully nothing like that will happen. “And, if, hypothetically, something like that happened; What would y—”

“I'll kill everyone.” he doesn't even let you continue before he answers, though the chuckle against your hair followed after makes your tense shoulders relax.

“maybe not to that extent,” he lifts your head up to lean in and press a tender kiss on your forehead.

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

“what is it?”

“… something or someone.”

Your boss gives you a nonchalant sharp look when you eagerly showed him the bits you managed to capture last night before you were interrupted by your great boyfriend.

His eyes squints at the more of a blurred photo that sits on the display of your camera, taking the glasses that hanged from his collar.

The sigh afterwards makes you feel discouraged when he hands you back your camera.

“i see it.” He starts and you perk up immediately.

“it looks like a blurred image of a fucking bird taking a shit on the electrical cords.” You press your lips into a thin line at his description. Too detailed of a description,

what a bastard.

It.. certainly didn't look like that.

You clear your throat, pinching the bridge of your nose to compose yourself.

“You're lucky i like your determination or you would've been fired,” he utters out in a lax tone, resting his glasses on his big bald head that you want to spill with ketchup.

“Keep looking, i need the hero's face, details, anything. Just think of the money you and i could both earn.” He seems too enthusiastic about it, showing you determination with his fists pressing together and his wide ear to ear smile.

You leave work early that day, starting your daily walk of looking around for at least two hours or—one hour?

No, Wriothesley would be too worried if you came back after… nine. Your words not his.

You need to rearrange a schedule in your head.

Step one: somehow convince your boss that you need to leave early everyday.

Step two: search every nook and cranny of the city, ask every shady person if they get to talk to the hero in person or got a glimpse of his name.

Step three: go to the dark web— is that car flying infront of you right now?!

Shit. Just why does everything have to go down wherever path you go?

The people around you panics, and you equally panic with them because you're no fucking hero to tell them to get away from that flying car.

You take your camera out hurriedly from its case that slung around your shoulder, pressing record while frantically looking around. The ground shakes, it shakes so much that it feels like an earthquake almost.

“it's him! The villian!” Someone shouts from the distance, and just like that the screams that follows are in sync.

You know why the ground shook, the street has become a battlefield for the hero and villain fighting together with all their strengths, the air is filled with tension as they both clash in an epic confrontation. The ground trembles beneath your feet again as they traded blows, sending shockwaves through the battlefield. The once tranquil street has now been transformed into a chaotic arena of power and destruction. As the battle rages on. The hero and villain continue their fight, each strike more powerful than the last, their movements a blur of speed and precision.

You try capturing anything with your camera, but your hand shakes that it was impossible. When the villian lands a powerful punch on the hero’s shoulder, sending him way back, it makes you think it's time to leave.

You run with the rest without stubbornness this time. You should've listened to Wriothesley, why did you always have to be so curious about everything?

This curiousity will kill you next after the cat.

“Taxi!” You shout, waving your hand at the yellow vehicle, but every taxi seems to ignore the people's pleas, determined to save themselves instead.

Guess it's time to burn calories and run back home.

You were a panting mess once you reached back to your comfort space, eyes zeroing at the running television in the living room. Watching the newscaster talk about today's battle and how it affected the shops and buildings.

It seems like the battle lasted twenty minutes before the villian gave up and fled away.

Your head snaps to the bathroom once you hear the sink water drip, you didn't even think if he would be here this early.

“Wriothesley,” you say breathlessly when you swing the door open, arms squeezing his side as you take a deep breath in.

“woah, easy there. What happened?” He takes you in, hand rubbing at your arm.

“i was…” nevermind. Maybe you shouldn't tell him what you have witnessed, he'll know once he checks the news.

You only realise that he was chest bared at the moment, and you furrow your eyebrows once you see a bruise on his shoulder.

“What happened?” It was your turn to ask, talking a gentle finger and running it over the bruise, earning a hiss from him.

“was changing the car oil at the repair shop.” He mumbles, gaze turning to the mirror, “then accidentally hit my shoulder once i got up.” he turns his arm, swinging it slowly.

“but you don't work at a car repair shop?”

“it's a side hustle, sunshine.”

“why didn't you tell me?” You press on, and he hangs his head low, both of his hands gripping the sink bowl.

Okay, maybe you have annoyed him a little too much now. Upon sensing your incoming apology, Wriothesley smiles at you.

“don't worry your pretty little head too much. The bruise will fade.”

“i can massage you later?” You offer, and he lets out a breathy chuckle. “You're the best.” He gives you a chaste kiss on your lips on his way out, which makes you feel a little fuzzy.

The evening gave way to the night sky, and you found yourself lying on the bed, replaying the video captured on your camera. The footage was far from perfect, shaky and lacking in clarity, but it still managed to capture fragments of the intense confrontation between the hero and the villain. You couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement as you watched the brief glimpses of the clash that had taken place earlier.

How the villian managed to blow a punch on the hero’s shoulder, sending him way back. Must've hurted.

It's almost like the same spot Wriothesley got his bruise on.

…

Wait, the same spot?  You sit up on the mattress, replaying the video on repeat of their fight.

The hero was about the same height as him, the same physique, same cake—

You shake your head, focus. Wriothesley can't be the hero, no that's impossible. He was a busy man, doing… side jobs and whatnot.

Sure he was kind, always helping everyone, even walking the neighbors dog because they got sick one day.

But then again… you never saw Wriothesley and the hero at the same time,

Or was it merely a coincidence, a random alignment of physical features?

“Sunshine?” You gasp when you snap your head up to find Wriothesley leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

“y-yes?” You set the camera aside on top of the drawer. He moves closer, seating himself on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixated on you then glancing at he camera.

“dinner's ready.”

You nod, silence fills the room after. You know he's waiting for you tell him more, on why you were so shocked.

“was looking at the hero's pictures.”

“not mine? I'm wounded.”

You roll your eyes, a slow smile creeping up your face, and he loves it. He takes it as an invitation to lean closer, suddenly pinning you down on the bed to capture your lips with his.

It's slow, and gentle. It makes you hum softly, taking his face in your hands to kiss him back, moving your lips together until you were gasping for air.

You forget you were even suspicious of him a second ago.

Your fingers lightly trace his jawline and you feel the pricks of his growing facial hair. A small smile plays on your lips as you inform him in a soft tone, "You need to shave." Wriothesley chuckles softly, the sound warm and low. He reaches up to your hand, gently taking hold of it and bringing it to his lips, pressing a kiss on your palm. "Is that why you stopped kissing me?" He says, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "No! I find you more.. attractive. Plus it.. yeah, it feels like little needles on my face.” you admit quietly.

Wriothesley presses his face into your neck, his lips tracing soft kisses along your skin. His hands begin roving your body, each touch sending a gentle shiver across your flesh. He whispers quietly next to your ear, his voice low and smooth as he responds, "I'll shave after dinner." The sensations of his lips against your neck and his hands exploring your body mix together, creating a heady combination that heightens your senses and ignites a slow fire within you.

“I'll.. help.” You whisper, bringing both of your arms to wrap them around his back. “What a sweetheart.” he uttered out, voice muffled from trying to mold into your skin.

Your mind stops working for a second when he presses his knee gently between your legs to pull them apart, “Wriothesley, what about dinner?” You frantically ask him, tugging his hair up so both of your gazes could meet. And the almost drunken expression he has on makes you let out a shaky breath.

“later,” he drawls, his fingers tracing lazily along your sides.

Hero? Pftt, what hero? This is just your wriothesley, it's quite impossible for him to be the hero.

You snap out of your daydream when your colleague hands you a cup of coffee, he raises an eyebrow at you and you smile back awkwardly.

A sip of the coffee to get a bit of energy, but only just a bit, since too much caffeine makes you nervous.

“You filmed the crazy battle yesterday?” Your colleague sneaks from behind you, watching the video replay again on your camera.

“they do movies about them now, insane huh?”

“well atleast the hero knows he's popular.” You reply bluntly, taking anothsr sip from your hot beverage.

“flash news, someone heard that his name starts with the letter ‘W’ or som—”

You spit out your coffee all over your white attire. You both exchange surprised looks, but you quickly wipe your mouth using the back of your hand.

“where exactly did you hear that?” You get straight to the point, gesturing them to sit next to you.

“from my father's friend’s cousin sister.”

His reply makes your eyes twitch, from who and who?

“Okay…” you whisper, turning around and thinking of the utter nonsense they spouted.

“you don't believe me.” he sighed, “I've been telling this to everyone in the building but no one is believing me! Just tryna’ do my job here.”

Let's say maybe you believe him. But the dots are connecting too fast that you want to refuse from believing it.

Was your target closer to you than you had expected?

“I'm clocking out, can you cover for me today?” You inform your colleague, and he crosses his arms while eyeing you up and down.

Your roll your eyes, “I'll be the cameraman for next week. So you could get three days off.” You force a smile and they smile back enthusiastically.

Wriothesley is definitely home. Earlier than the usual time he'd be back.

Oh, he's asleep on the couch. Leaning back tiredly with an almost stern expression on, but his body seems relaxed.

Now is the time to do anything. Investigate? Go through his things without his permission? That sounded all awful… surely he's not hiding any—

“go search his things.” You furrow your eyebrows when the devil on your left shoulder speaks, it makes you rub your face in annoyance.

Then a sudden white little angel poofs on your right shoulder with a disappointed face, “no, don't do it. He's a little scary when he gets mad. But he'd never betray you!” you feel reassured at it's words and you nod in agreement.

“don't listen to it. He could hurt you if you keep it a secret.” The red devil whispers again and it makes you shiver a bit.

“he would never hurt you.” The angel frowns.

“yes he would, he's a man.”

“a good man.”

“yeah? You're no better than me, you just want that—”

“okay shut up both of you. Shoo.” You brush both of your shoulders off before taking a deep breath to brace yourself.

You'll just search his.. clothes.

You feel guilty once you pocket his jackets and pants in his side of the wardrobe, checking every hidden pocket thoroughly while glancing at the door once in a while to make sure he doesn't wake up.

As your fingers brush against his jacket, you notice an unusual sensation – a cool, metal feeling hidden underneath the fabric. Your eyes widen in surprise as you recognize it to be the form of a gun's handle. A mixture of curiosity and concern floods through you, freezing you in place.

It really is a gun. You study it carefully, turning it around and feeling it's heaviness in your palm.

But you feel your heart run out of your ribcage when two pairs of arms wrap tightly around you, his chin resting on your shoulder.

Shit.

“hi,” he whispers next to your ear, but you're too nervous to even look back at him.

“nice thing you got there.” He muses, and you feel like you're losing oxygen once he tightens his grip around you even more.

“… i just found it.” You mutter, mostly to yourself. Your head hanging too low to avoid his eyes.

“Could've just asked me, no?” He clicks his tongue, almost in disappointment.

“i have it on me because—”

“because you use it for the good, right? Because you're the hero?” Your voice is shaky when you ask, the gun in your hand shaking with you, and you're afraid to drop it.

“hero?” Wriothesley repeats, shaking you gently awake and you gasp harshly, taking in big breaths, your boyfriend immediately trying to soothe you.

it was a dream.

“you were mumbling something about a hero in your sleep. Are you okay?” He asks in concern, brushing a strand off your face. You were sweating too much for your liking.

“when did i get here?” You look around, taking your palms to rub the sleepiness off. “Right when you got off work. You slept on the bed without changing your clothes.”

Oh… so you never checked his clothes. Deciding to just sleep instead.

Your head turns back to the wardrobe, staring at it intently. Could the jacket be in the same arrangement as you found it in your dream? Or will the gun also be there?

“you're going to poke a hole through it if you keep staring.” He stifles a laugh, and you couldn't help but try to smile as well. “Drink up. Slow sips.” He offers you a glass of water, and you hold the glass firmly in your hand.

“so… what was your dream about? Even this hero appears in your dreams? Can't say I'm not jealous.”

“You'll have grey hairs too early from overthinking.” You tease, sitting upright in bed, “oh no, you already do, old man.” you frown, tracing the grey strands along with his black hair. He watches in amusement.

Wriothesley lets out a deep sigh, “give your old man a break. They're a badge of wisdom and experience,” he rests his head on your lap, nuzzling close as you massage his scalp.

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

“Breaking news: the ‘’lola” flower shop sets on fire just three hours ago. Our dear hero saves the day yet again, protecting the old lady just in time before her shop explodes. The cause of the fire is still unknown…”

Destruction out of nowhere again. Accidents out of nowhere again.

The voice of the newscaster on the television fades away in this little diner you're in. You drive your attention away from it, instead focusing now on the Polaroid pictures laid out infront of you.

The hero always wore a mask to cover his identity, obviously. But even after watching the countless of interviews he had, the deep tone slightly matches Wriothesley’s voice, or maybe he's changing his tone on purpose. You can see it by zooming in on the video, how he's catching his breath everytime he speaks when he's just sitting down.

Asthma? Nah.

You tap your fingers impatiently on the table, this is not helping at all, and the slightest itch in your brain worsens as the time goes by.

You think about giving up on this, but the possibility of finding the answer on how or why did all of this happen is probably closer to you than you think.

“Bad guys never end with their schemes. Bunch of attention seekers.” The hero speaks on the television, and you hum curiously as the hero salutes the camera playfully before disappearing from the crowd.

Is it possible that there are multiple heros? Working all together in some basement and taking turns to go out and do a better job than the police?

Possibly, and you write down your new theories down on your little notepad.

You check your phone next, Wriothesley still hasn't answered you back from your most recent text to him.

It's nothing to worry about, but the thought that he's busy saving the city is gnawing at you.

Batman?

You shake your head again, gathering your things to stand up from your seat. You should be blunt asking him about it tonight.

It's cold. Colder than usual. Was the air conditioning on? No. But the windows are sure wide open. You look around the living room before closing the windows and curtains from the outside world, as you draw the curtains, the outside world becomes obscured, leaving the room in a soft semi-darkness.

“Wriothesley, honey?” You call out softly, peeking through the bathroom, not there. The bedroom? Nope.

That leaves the kitchen, you slowly peek your head in he kitchen, and sure enough, he was there.

Wriothesley was rubbing his face in exhaustion while mumbling words under his breath that you can't quite hear. Having one singular glass of some drink in his hand.

“hero this.. hero that..” you finally listen to his mumbles, which makes you furrow your eyebrows together.

"Wrio...?" You call out softly, flipping the switch to turn on the light. His sharp eyes immediately dart up to look at you, and you can't help but shiver under his intense stare. You let out a small gasp of surprise as he suddenly stands up, the glass in his hand slipping from his grip and shattering on the ground along with its contents.

Taken aback by his sudden movement, you instinctively take a step back as he approaches you. But before you can even register what's happening, he crashes his lips against yours in a hasty, rushed kiss. Caught off guard, you cling tightly to him, desperately seeking support to prevent yourself from toppling over.

“You love me,” Wriothesley's voice breaks through the heated kiss, his words coming out in a low, guttural groan. He grips the back of your thighs, hoisting you up against the wall and wrapping your legs around his waist. “right?” His voice holds a hint of vulnerability and desperation, as if seeking reassurance and affirmation of your feelings for him.

And when you don't answer him right away, he takes your lower lip between his teeth, nipping at it gently, “answer me.” He almost growls.

“love, what are you taking about? Are you drunk?” You ask breathlessly in concern, your lips feeling swollen.

His jaw clenches, “Why can't you say it?” he inhales your perfume, your scent filling him that it makes him groan, his mouth lavishing your neck and collarbone, leaving kisses and littering marks then soothing the area with his tongue that it makes your pant softly, pressing your face into his hair while your fingers weaving through his black-greyish strands.

“i love you,” you utter quietly, and it suddenly makes him start grinding his hardened length against you. “I'm sorry in advance, sweetheart.”

One minute you're confused about his words, and then the next he's pounding so hard into you like there was no tomorrow.

Strings of “don't leave me,” and “i love you’s,” are echoed in the air. Wriothesley's mouth moves against yours with a sense of urgency and haste, his tongue gliding and tangling with yours in a fervent dance. The bed creaks so loud underneath you that you think it might break anytime, the embarrassment of the headboard banging against the wall immediately gone once he hits your sweet spot rapidly.

Poor neighbors

"Wrio... Wriothesley?” you slowly flutter your eyes open, still in the hazy realm between sleep and wakefulness. The sunlight streams through the curtains, casting a soft glow across the room, and you blink a few times as you take in your surroundings. A quiet sense of contentment washes over you as you remember the events of the night before, the memories of Wriothesley's body against yours and his lips on yours still fresh in your mind.

You prop yourself up using your elbows, only to look down at the sight of your sleeping lover with his head pressed up on your chest. You collapse back on the bed with a tired sigh.

You still couldn't understand the reasoning behind his.. desperate actions last night. He seemed so pent up and stressed, you'll forgive him this time.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• It's the day where you're covering for your colleague, being the cameraman for tonight's news. Yes, tonight.

Wriothesley would kill you if he knew you were working so late at night, but only because he cares about your safety. Good thing he's out of the city for a day.

Or he claims to be out of the city for some important work.

You press the button on your video camera, adjusting the lens to focus on the newscaster standing in front of the camera, holding the microphone with a serious expression. The news van is parked in front of a desolate, run-down neighborhood known for its high crime rate and dangerous reputation. The newscaster speaks into the camera, her eyes boring into the lens as she reports on the neighborhood.

“We are now standing in the heart of one of the most dangerous areas in the city. This neighborhood is notorious for its high crime rate and volatile atmosphere.”

Your senses are heightened at this rate and you really try to focus but the moment you hear the faint crunch of leaves, you lose composure just a bit.

Okay you're a bit scared, but as long as your workmates are he—

a group of armed gang members suddenly appear from the alleyways between the buildings, surrounding the news van and the camera crew. The newscaster, taken off guard, gasps and steps back.

The gang members brandish their weapons, circling the news crew menacingly. One of them shouts at the newscaster, waving his gun in the air. “Hold it right there, pretty lady. This is our turf! You ain’t gonna be broadcasting nothing about us!”

You're about to shit your pants for real this time.

“Drop your cameras and get outta here, or things are gonna get real ugly real fast,” he growls, and one of them points the gun right on your camera.

“I'm talkin’ to you too.”

Yeah, you're not going to fight anyone and act all big. You simply drop the camera on the ground to raise your hands in the air.

As the gang members close in on the news crew, the atmosphere is suddenly shattered by the sound of footsteps pounding against the pavement. Everyone turns to see a tall, muscular figure approaching from the distance.

It's the hero.

You watch in awe as the hero strides towards the group of armed gang members, his movements fluid and precise. With a swift swing of his fist, he lands a powerful punch on the leader's face, sending him stumbling backwards. The other gang members are taken aback by his sudden appearance and the display of force, their eyes widening in surprise and fear. They exchange nervous looks, realizing they're facing a much stronger opponent than they anticipated.

“Hey, let's go!” Your workmate calls for your name. Her hand waving at you so you could all retreat back to the van.

And before you could follow, the van explodes.

The sudden explosion catches you off guard, jolting you out of your stupor. Shouting in surprise, you recoil from the loud blast, ducking instinctively as debris and fragments fly through the air. Your colleague, sitting next to you in the van, lets out a terrified yell as the force of the explosion propels the driver backward. The van shudders and lurches from the impact, the windows shattering and various objects sent flying.

“in the building! Let's go!” All three of you dash to protect yourselves inside this tall company building.

“I will call the police,”

“but the hero is here!” the driver of the van speaks, almost yelling in frustration.

“the hero is also a human. Just a strong one. We can't rely on him—” but before you could continue, you all cover your ears once you hear gunshots come from outside.

Ohmygosh. It’s—it could possibly be Wriothesley who's getting hurt right now. What are even the chances?!

“Fine! Just call the fucking police!” The driver gives up, leaning back against the wall while breathing heavily.

You want to go out there. You want to see. It's your chance to see who the hero is if he got hurt. Just to get the crumbs of news in exchange for your life apparently.

When it grows quiet, you peek outside, “it's clear, I'll take a look—”

“No, you're not.” her hand is firm as she grips your wrist, “just let them go.” He, on the other hand, scowls.

“Be safe!” She shouts at you as you make a run for it, running down the alleyway while looking left and right.

Someone's in the area.

You dart behind the nearby dumpster, heart pounding in your chest as adrenaline courses through your veins. Hiding as best you can, you press yourself against the rough metal, trying to keep your breathing steady and quiet. Peeking out from behind the dumpster, you cautiously scan the surroundings, trying to catch a glimpse of someone nearby. For now, the area seems to be clear, but you can't shake the feeling that someone is in the vicinity, lurking in the shadows.

“Where ya at, lil’ birdie?” You cover your mouth when you hear someone speak, it sends a chill down your spine and you can feel your heart drumming in your ears.

Your sharp eyes turn to your side to find a metal rod, you don't hesitate to grab it before smacking the shit out of the guy.

No that did not happen, but you wish it did.

Instead, the minute you see his feet pass the dumpster, with a swift movement, you grab hold of both of his ankles, using your weight and leverage to pull them out from under him. He lets out a pained shriek as he suddenly loses his balance and topples to the ground, his body hitting the pavement with a thud.

Alright, you can be cool sometimes.

Stepping at his hands to hear him cry again, you run put of the place, making turns and finally spotting the hero sitting down against the building wall while panting, seemingly exhausted.

“…” you take slow steps once you approach him, looking down at him with your eyes already glistening.

This is it, you just have to confirm it.

Your hand pulls at his mask, “Wrio—”

Huh?

This…

Is not

Wriothesley.

“Ah, what the fuck?” He grunts, the blonde grabbing the mask from your hands and you take a step back.

“Elias?!” You yell out in confusion, it's your colleague that you're covering for supposedly today's shoot.

“You're the hero??”

“not a word. Scram, you freak.” he mutters, eyes diverting away from you and staring up at the roof. “The roof,” he whispers to himself, making the effort to stand back at his knees.

Is this bitch serious? He's the last person you expected to be the hero. With his stupidly arrogant and lax attitude.

You give him an almost death stare, studying his features again before making your way out.

You need to check the other people that were with you.

But when you arrive back at the building, they were gone.

Did the police arrive? You don't hear any sirens. Could they have possibly went up on one of the floors to hide?

You find yourself in the elevator next, watching as the doors close with your hands clasped infront of you nervously.

You take deep breaths, trying to calm your racing heart and steady your nerves. Hey, at least there's nice elevator music.

As the elevator comes to a halt, the doors slide open with a soft ding, revealing the rooftop and the figure standing in the open space.

There's a figure standing at the edge of the building, you can see the person's silhouette clearly now, but you can't make out their features just yet.

Your steps are hesitant as you slowly approach the figure, the wind gently billowing around you. The city lights twinkle below, but your attention is entirely focused on the person standing at the edge of the roof. You take a deep breath, steeling yourself for whatever may come, and call out tentatively, "Hello?”

Your voice rings in the air, that the person's shoulders tense.

When they look around, you're met by the same blue eyes you've known for three years now.

“Wriothesley.” You whisper, in shock, breathlessly under your breath.

He's holding.. a gun? The same gun you remember seeing in your dream.

Something in his mind snaps when you turn around, in fear. Like it was a mistake to ever see him in the first place.

Wriothesley doesn’t even give himself time to think before his body suddenly reacts, suddenly reaching out and circling his hand around your wrist to forcibly tug you back.

He yanks hard enough that you lose your balance and fall against him, his other arm coming up to wrap around your shoulders, preventing you from going anywhere.

“W-wrio—”

“think it's time we talk, sunshine.” He speak into your ear.

When you try to move the slightest from his hold, he grips you around him tighter. You figure it's best to stay still for now.

“what? Are you going to kidnap me now?” You manage to chuckle out, nervously though, your voice coming out more shaky than you intended to.

“Is that going to satisfy your little fantasy? What, I should play into it and shove you into a corner, keep you under my thumb until you’re begging me to set you free? Or no… you want to be saved by the hero.”

"You know you're not helping with your case, right? You really sound like the bad guy now.”

You’ve definitely found his breaking point because that comment makes him snap.

Wriothesley suddenly whirls you around so you’re facing him before he’s pinning you against the nearest wall, his body practically covering your own.

“Well…” He whisper, raising an eyebrow calmly in the way you look being at his mercy. “Aren’t I?”

Your jaw practically hangs at his words. Is he... Playing the bad guy now?

Or was he really… not the opposite of the hero?

He sees the shiver you try so hard to suppress and smirks at that, clearly satisfied with your reaction, “What’s wrong, sunshine? Finally realize that the man you’ve been dating isn’t the hero you've obsessing over?” He chuckles.

“i… i knew it—”

“You didn’t,” he says, his tone suddenly becoming cool and firm.

Wriothesley leans forward, pressing into you so that you’re smashed between him and the wall. His hand suddenly comes up, cupping your jaw so that he tilts your chin up to look directly into his eyes.

“If you’d known, you’d never have come within twenty feet of me. You’d never have been alone with me or spent a single night in our bed.”

He's right. And you hate it. You feel betrayed, lied to, even.

It makes you rethink your life choices.

You've gotten too comfortable with him that you didn't even think about him being the villian. You've gotten too close while you were being a complete idiot.

“you hid it.”

Wriothesley laughs, the sound almost sounding cold, “of course I hid it, sunshine. I wasn’t going to just come strutting in wearing a big, red sign saying ‘look at me, I’m a bad guy!’ was I?”

You clench your fists together, “you tricked me.”

“Tricked? No.” He shakes his head slightly. “I simply… left out key details.”

“Why?”

“ah, there it is.” He steps back, giving you space to breath, to recollect your thoughts.

“why? Because the hero isn't a hero. He started all of this destruction. Why? To get fame, recognition, power, and to be seen, to look like he's doing something when he's not.” He lets out all in one breath, and you lips part again.

“four years ago when the building almost fell on you? He did that, on purpose. then saved you to make it look like he's the one that everyone needs.”

What the hell?

“Wriothesley, we were strangers to each other four years ago. How did you know?” You don't hesitate to step closer to get more answers out of him, but he only stares at you.

You swallow thickly when he draws infront of you once again, “i did this all for you, love. I-i will do everything in my power to stop him, i will kill him so you wouldn't get hurt—”

“Okay, fucker. Out of my way,” Elias, the ’hero’, suddenly barks, and without warning, a gunshot rings out. The bullet pierces through Wriothesley's shoulder, causing him to flinch and stagger backwards.

Your eyes widen in horror as you watch the scene unfold. "Wriothesley!" you cry out, watching as he turns around despite the injury and charges towards Elias.

Despite the pain he must be in, Wriothesley doesn't relent. Ignoring the gunshot wound, he barrels towards Elias with unmatched determination, closing the distance between them.

"Bastard," Wriothesley manages to grit out as he collides with Elias, knocking him off his feet and sending them both crashing to the ground.

You don't hesitate to rush forward, with adrenaline fueling your actions, you move quickly towards them as they roll dangerously close to the edge of the roof.

"Stop!" you shout, your voice filled with desperation. "You'll fall!”

And surely enough, Your two hand clamps down on Wriothesley's, desperately grasping onto anything you can to prevent him from plunging off the edge.

Meanwhile, Elias grips Wriothesley's leg, using his strength to anchor him in place. The three of you hang there, suspended over the city, Wriothesley's body along with Elias’s dangling in the air.

“Sweetheart—”

“shut the fuck up I'm not letting go.” They're both too heavy, the feel of his fingers slipping away from yours increases everytime you try to pull them up.

Elias is purposely pulling Wriothesley's leg down to drop them both, your lips quiver, crying when two of his fingers slip now.

“hey,” his voice is soothing when he calls for you.

“at least… i protected you till the very end, right?” He tries smiling but it only makes the lump in your throat grow.

“i love you.”

“Wriothesley!”

…

“Wriothesley—!” You gasp harshly when you open your eyes so wide, finding that your hand was already reaching out for nothing.

You rest your hand on your chest before leaning back on your seat.

“are you okay?” The newscaster, the friend you made, offers you her handkerchief so you could swipe the sweat off your face.

“i think… continuesly searching about this, is making you stressed.” She points out, looking at the papers and drawings splayed out on your desk.

More theories of the disappearances of the hero and villian. Not their death. Their bodies were never found.

“it's been a year.”

The realization is like a punch to the gut as you bring a sweaty palm to rub at your temples.

“This is not over.” You whisper, more to yourself than to her. “We got no more trouble. No more heroic or bad guy news. The world is back to normal, almost like they never existed huh?”

Never existed.

She then suddenly gasps, which catches you off gaurd, “are engaged??” She eyes at the gem resting on your left ring finger.

The ring you found in one of his jacket pockets when you sorted his things out.

“yeah…” you decide to drawl out before sitting upright on your seat.

“now, if you'll excuse me, i got work to do.”

You're never going to stop searching, to find another answer of the question; 'why?'

Even if it will mean risking your life this time.

[dilucl0v3r]

NO NONO I LOST THE FIC I WAS READING NOOKOOOOOOOOO

[dilucl0v3r]

time to out myself as an otome isekai enjoyer...

[dilucl0v3r]

I'm crying bro, your writing is really good.

For god's sake I want to punch this mf so bad rn, like I swear I would have done worse to his mental health that he could ever imagine grrrrre

06 -  Embrace

Trial by Fire (Wriothesley x Reader) - TW/CW in masterlist

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IMPORTANT NOTICE: Reminder that this fanfic contains dark and mature themes. The TW/CW are in the masterlist and are constantly updated as I add each chapter. Please reread the warnings, proceed only after you reread the warnings. If you don't like/can't handle the topics mentioned in the TW/CW, please DO NOT read. This work is 100000% fictional and any similarities to real life people and events are purely coincidental, and none of the characters (especially the villains) are real. Again, please DO NOT read if you are not certain you can handle these topics or are in a bad place mentally. Minors are strictly forbidden. I only create content, and I am not responsible for your personal content preference and moderation. If you think you will not like this story, please just scroll away. You have been warned.

The snow fell slowly, painting the streets of Fontaine white. Wriothesley's black jacket a stark contrast that stuck out against the white landscape as he briskly walked towards the hospital.

(y/n)...

The anger had slowly subsided, taking its place was a mix of guilt, worry, and something else he couldn't put a finger on. All he wanted that moment was just to hold her in his arms again, and let her feel safe.

Like muscle memory, he walked straight towards her room, but was stopped by a nurse.

“Your Grace, (y/n)’s room has been moved to a different one, a fire seemed to have started there but we managed to catch it before it caused too much damage.”

He cussed under his breath, “where’s (y/n)? Is she okay?”

The nurse nodded, “she’s alright, just a bit shaken. She told us fire suddenly burst out of the book by her nightstand just as she was reaching for it.”

And we’ve only got the information on vision injections today, what’s with this timing.

“Take me to her room.”

“Certainly, right this way, your Grace.”

The nurse, while explaining to him everything that happened, led him to a different floor from (y/n)’s previous room. He immediately knew which room (y/n) would be in once he spotted Navia’s 2 men in front of the door, who promptly stood up and gave him a salute, to which he nodded politely.

“Oh right,” Wriothesley turned to the nurse just as he was entering the room, “there are some new updates for everyone we rescued from that facility, one of Spina di Rosula’s men will be here soon with a copy of the files. Guys might need them for medical purposes.”

When he entered the room, his eyes immediately landed on (y/n), who he initially thought was asleep, until she opened her eyes. She must have noticed his grim expression, because she immediately sat up.

“Wriothesley? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, taking a seat next to her. He wanted to spill everything and tell her that he knew everything. The things they did in the facility, the experiments, her… assault. But will it cause her to have another panic attack? Does she even want to know, or does she want to just forget? Does she have any idea what happened and how she could set fire to her book? Does she know her vision is still with her even now?

He blinked back his tears, refusing to meet her eyes, but (y/n) could tell from the way he gripped her hand, it was something serious.

“Wriothesley, love, you can tell me,” (y/n) placed a hand on his cheek, to which he automatically leaned into. “I can tell you’re probably worried about my mental state, but hey my therapist told me I’m doing well!”

He recalled, clear as day, the number of times he had tried to bring up questions about what happened at the facility. (y/n) had only managed to explain bits and pieces of information, but had been only the things she knew, she did mention painful injections but didn’t know that it was her own vision that was injected into her. Those sessions had always ended with her crying and panicking. He didn’t want to put her through that.

He smiled bitterly, “I know you are… I just don’t think you’re ready for this.”

(y/n) swallowed, “is it… is it about me?”

Wriothesley nodded, eyes still averted.

(y/n) squeezed the hand that held hers, “I… I think I’m ready to know more.”

Wriothesley looked up, now his steely blue gaze met with her concerned yet nervous ones.

“Are you sure?” his thumb rubbed circles into the back of her hand.

(y/n) took a deep breath, “yeah, I’ll tell you if it gets too much.”

Wriothesley nodded, and told (y/n) everything he learned. The experiments, the vision injections- (y/n) was really shocked at this, although she had a suspicion about it when she saw her book catch fire so suddenly. As he spoke, Wriothesley kept a close eye on her expression and gestures. He’s been with her long enough to know if she’s uncomfortable, or if it gets too much for her. Whenever her breathing hitched, he would stop for a bit and rub her back until she gestured for him to continue.

“That was all we got from the notes left behind at their base,” Wriothesley eyed (y/n) carefully. She was playing with a loose thread poking off the end of her blanket, eyes distant and looking as if she’s processing all the information.

Wriothesley knew he had to keep going. “and now we have Dougier under our custody.”

At the mention of his name, (y/n) visibly tensed up, “oh…”

“I heard he assisted in some of the experi- procedures.”

(y/n) hesitated, “did you manage to get more information out of him? Like how do we reverse the vision injections? How do I control it?”

“Apparently only Arderne knows that bit of information,” Wriothesley sighed, shifting nervously, “and right now he’s still at large. I assure you we’ll get him, and that you’re safe here, okay?”

(y/n) nodded.

The room fell silent for a few tense moments. (y/n) picked up her blubberbeast plushie and held it to her face. It smells like Wriothesley, as he had sprayed his cologne on it. It brings a feeling of comfort to her, as if a reminder that she is never alone and that he’s with her and keeping her safe even when he’s not by her side.

Watching her, Wriothesley hesitated, but he had to- need to ask her.

“(y/n).”

Sensing his change of tone, (y/n) tensed, her hand stopping mid stroke down her plushie’s back. She turned to him.

He seemed to hesitate, looking down at her blanket instead of her face. The silent stretched for what felt like hours before he finally raised his gaze to meet her eyes.

“At the facility- no. uhh… How do I say this.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, “How… How often do you throw up?”

(y/n) blinked, confused. “what?”

“Every morning these last few days, you wake up and rush straight to the bathroom. We did think it was a stomach bug, but when I asked the nurses for the diagnosis, it was as if they're hiding the information from me.”

She couldn’t breathe. It felt as if her blood was frozen but it burned at the same time. Fuck he knew. Wriothesley knew. He’s always been so observant how did she think she can even hide this from him?

“(y/n)... Are you hiding- uhh… Are-Are you pregnant?”

It was like a dam that burst. A sob escaped (y/n)’s lips, one that she tried to hold back but failed. That was confirmation enough for Wriothesley, who felt his own tears prickling behind his eyes. A split second later, (y/n) shot out of her bed, and with wobbly steps using her crutch, went straight to the bathroom. Wriothesley had gotten up to help, but was pushed away feebly. Quickly, she threw open the lid of the toilet and expelled the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

“(y/n)-”

“Don’t-” (y/n) sobbed, flushing the toilet and sinking down even lower onto the bathroom floor, “I don’t want you to see me like this. You shouldn’t have known about this.”

Wriothesley paused, then slowly took another step towards her, hands open as if trying to calm a scared animal. Before he had a chance to speak, (y/n) continued.

“I feel so dirty and gross. No matter how many times I showered and scrubbed myself I can still feel his hands.”

He took a step. “(y/n)...”

“I was going to take care of the abortion process myself, and just forget everything that happened. I didn’t want to tell you. I’m so sorry I couldn't tell you. I just feel so disgusting.”

Another step. “Darling please-”

“I don’t want you to look at me or think of me differently, I just want to put everything behind me, pretend none of that ever happened and just go back to how everything was.”

Wriothesley slowly sank to his knees beside (y/n), who scooted away from him, as if by reflex.

“Don’t touch me. I-I can’t… I know you’ll probably feel disgusted and hate me for it, for hiding it from you, for everything-”

On the contrary, seeing (y/n) like this only served as the final trigger that released his tears, which finally flowed freely down his cheeks. All he wanted to do was hold her and keep her safe, tell her he loves her and… She looked so broken he just wanted to hold her. Archons, please let me hold her.

“I’ll disappear from here if that’s what is best. Just say it. You don’t want me anymore-”

”(y/n),” his voice shook, “I’m so sorry that happened. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to get you sooner. No one deserved to go through what you did. Everyday I hated myself for it, I kept thinking I should have done this, or that. I should have gotten you sooner.”

(y/n) wiped her tears, only for it to be replaced by more. Her vision was blurry as she tried to look at him. Part of her was glad about it, as it probably hid the disgust in his eyes.

“I’m not disgusted by you, no, that was the furthest thing from my mind. (y/n) may I hold you? Please?”

(y/n) just kept sniffling and wiping her tears which seemed to flow endlessly, but made no move to scoot further away, so Wriothesley slowly approached her and took her hand in his. He placed a gentle kiss on it, which only made her cry even more.

“I’m sorry darling, I’m so, so sorry.”

He gathered her in his arms and held her tightly, as if afraid that she would disappear as soon as he let go.

(y/n)’s voice quivered as she asked “y-you don’t hate-”

“Sshhh…” Wriothesley placed a kiss on her forehead, his own tears fell off his cheeks and onto hers. “Something like this can never make me hate you, I promise. I understand why you wanted to hide it, but please know that you don’t have to. We’ll figure out our next step together okay?”

He didn’t know how long they both sat there on the bathroom floor, crying in each other’s embrace. It took a long while for (y/n)’s sobs and sniffles to die down. He kept one hand on her back, and the other stroke her hair, hoping to provide as much comfort as possible.

I love her.

“I wish you can see yourself through my eyes,” Wriothesley whispered in her ea, “it’s gonna be okay. I promise you, (y/n).”

His words were met with silence, as it has been the past few minutes.

“If nothing else I say sticks, at least please let this be the one thing you remember. It’s not your fault. I love you (y/n), you’re still the same old (y/n) I know and love, and Archons, no matter what happens I can’t imagine a life without you. I love you so much (y/n), none of this is your fault.”

He decided to wait a little longer before he noticed that her breathing was slower. Wriothesley peered at her face and saw that her eyes were closed.Tear tracks were still present on her cheeks, which he wiped away with his thumbs, before placing a gentle kiss on top of her head.

Slowly he shifted his position so that he was carrying her in a princess carry, with her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. He walked over to her bed and gently laid her down, tucking her in under the blanket, and placing her plushie right beside her.

For some time, he sat beside her, just admiring her features and tracing her cheeks all the way to her jaw with the back of his hand, light as a feather.

“We’ll get through this together, you and me. I promise you.”

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(っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ(ノ_<;。)

If you think reading this chapter is hard, imagine writing it :”D emotional damage

Apologies for the late update, and perhaps a steady decline in writing quality (I’m no writer, just doing this for fun!) as I have been swamped with work this past week after I was down with a bad cold for quite a bit (there’s been a bug around, and so many people were sick :”D) I sincerely thank all of you for your continued support for this series, I love you guys. Hope you all stay safe and healthy!

I hope the next chapter won’t be as hard to write because hoooo BOYE. my bf had to comfort me after I finished writing this chapter.

Taglist: @almosteggs @quuela @tempest1art @yamanaka13-blog @arseneumbra @kimmeaahh @cottonfluffs @randomidk-123 @applejayee @keigo-hawks-takami-simp @mechanicalbeat1 @aribae14 @bforbiblio @supernerdycookietrashblrr @furblrwurblr @chifuyus-kitty @bunnibabe @the-real-fandom-person @idawnghoul

[dilucl0v3r]

Almost got a heart attack of cuteness!!! Omg omg that's amazing, pls if you read this and are thinking of keeping these stories tell how Sigewinne acts around them!! Your writing is pretty good!!

this garden you've grown ⋆˚✿˖° part three

a continuation of part one and part two, where an unexpected meeting with the Duke of Meropide becomes a budding romance between the two of you that the entirety of his fortress watches unfold with anticipation. But the closer the two of you grow, the closer you're brought to question whether you're deserving to be called "duchess".

♡ This addition to the series was commissioned so I send all my love and biggest thanks to my first commissioner ♡ This request was simply a dream come true!

Wriothesley x fem!reader II romance, fluff!

The sound of the lock on Wriothesley’s door clicking back into place upon your exit marks the third time today you’ve left The Duke’s office with messy hair and smudged lipstick.

You swear you were only in there to get his approval on some adjustments you’re making to the garden and ask him questions about his preferences, but you can only get so far into your schpiel before the dreamy way he eyes your lips throws you off kilter.

“My lord,—”

“—Wriothesley.”, he corrected with a stern edge in his voice that asserted his statement was not a request. The voice he normally uses with convicts and unruly subordinates, but that gets the butterflies in your stomach flitting about like they’re on a sugar rush. He’s not blind to the way it turns your cheeks pink.

“Wriothesley,” you complied with a shy smile, “I’d like to change the fertilizer we’ve been using in the garden…”

You watched as the look in his eyes grew soft and he tilted his head to gaze at you from a different angle as he stood behind his desk before you—you took notice that he always stood when you entered the room, a sign of respect you hadn’t seen him replicate for anyone else. The affection in his demeanor made your heart sputter, but you persevered. 

“...the…the one we’ve been using salinizes the soil, so I’d like to try this brand from Sumeru.”, you slid the paper detailing what the soil contained and its cost over to him. He didn’t break his watch on you to look at it or its price, he simply nodded. After burning under his infatuated gaze for another handful of seconds, you averted your gaze to try to get through your next statement without him derailing you. 

“...I know it’s a little more expensive than the brand we’re using but…”

“I’ll put in the order right away.”, his firm, definitive statement sent your heart skipping once more. 

You tried to thank him, but your words caught in your mouth when you turned your attention off of the floor and back to him. He was staring at you hungrily again, an expression he’s neglected to fix ever since the first kiss the two of you shared in his office a couple of weeks ago. An expression that told you exactly what he was thinking about. You’d thought two long kisses today from the last two check-ins you had would be enough to satiate him, but that was clearly not the case. 

With a soft, dreamy sigh, you gathered your courage to lean up and press another soft peck to his lips, he watched you the whole way up with that handsome, proud smirk on his face. He ate up any affection you’d show him with the greatest satisfaction, and found your nervousness to give it adorable. 

Of course, he met your shy lips with fervor, bringing a hand up to tangle in your soft hair and encircling your waist with one of his arms to draw you closer.

Once the two of you had crossed the threshold from distant, longing looks to close physical affection, you found that the serious, dignified Duke was fiendish for touching and kissing you. He was like a man starved, craving you every minute of the day. Any type of allowance you’d give him was met with gratitude, whether it be capturing your lips with his or something as small as holding your hand. In every case, you couldn’t be in the same room with him without him getting his hands on you. He loved the softness of your skin, the flush of your cheeks, the sound of your shaky, excited voice. It made him greedy, but he wouldn’t apologize for it. 

Not only would he indulge in you while secluded in his expansive office, but also in the various nooks and crannies scattered about Meropide that he’d catch and pull you into throughout the day. 

He was like a wolf, constantly hunting and circling you…but you found it exciting. To be something desired so vitally by him that he felt the need to seek you out sent thrilled shivers up your spine and had you looking over your shoulders in anticipation every so often while tending to your garden throughout the day. 

You giggle to yourself as you remember the feeling, walking down the hall while fixing your hair and waving shyly at staff you happened to pass by on your way out with The Duke’s approval of your new fertilizer.

Your love affair was Meropide’s biggest “not-so-secret” secret—giving the fortress’s gossip industry a delicious meal to savor and share. 

Speculators would discuss a possible marriage proposal in the works; the women of the fortress swooned over what he might say to you, how and where he may do it…

Would he spring the question on you in the middle of your garden? No, they wouldn’t have that—a proposal for the beautiful relationship the two of you share must be equally if not more beautiful! Maybe he’d take you to a destination? They’d chat about what areas of Fontaine looked best during this time of year, or ask the outlanders about the prettiest harbors and havens of their homelands. The Duke’s closest subordinates were tasked by the nosy citizens with delivering pamphlets of travel guides, classy event decorations, jewelers and any other inspirations for a proposal to his desk, hoping he’d catch the hint and just make you their duchess already! You were so endlessly caring and kind to them, so crucial to the lifeblood of the fortress, they couldn’t risk their Duke letting you get away. Beyond that, they were tired of watching you labor away in the dirt wearing your common clothes and aspired to see you strut down their halls adorned in his noble colors! Archons knew you deserved it. 

Many of the older ladies of the fortress also mused about a possible heir to the duchy in the making and if the two of you were already in the process of creating one. They giggled and blushed at the thought, peeking at you from around corners to see if you’d gained any weight in your belly, asking you if you’d been feeling sick recently or offering you certain “aids” such as ginseng tea—all to your great confusion. You appreciated their doting, but you couldn’t imagine what for!

And special deliveries of figs and oysters to Wriothesley’s office certainly had him raising an eyebrow. 

They even made a list of baby names in preparation for the announcement they were praying for, secretly polling the Meropide residents on which name they liked best. Meropide’s citizens took the decision very seriously and some even formed election parties in favor of a specific name. You’d wonder why you were overhearing so much bickering over matters so small as the distinction between “Maximus” and “Maxwell” as you walked about the fortress. Why ever would a discussion of a name get someone so heated? Little did you know, this was their future Duke or Duchess they were fighting over—the heir would have to have a name befitting their title! (like it was their decision and not yours and Wriothesley’s. And there wasn’t even a baby or discussion of a baby between you two to begin with!)

“Caspian” and “Tallulah” won the popular vote.   

While the whole of Meropide was planning your proposal, wedding, and design for your baby’s nursery, you and Wriothesley were still in an unspoken period of stasis. 

Neither of you had blatantly confessed your feelings to the other; the both of you just wordlessly moved forward in tandem, like the big step of physical affection you took together wasn’t a step at all—it was just the natural course you were to walk together. This left you to only assume the intentions of the other. You unfortunately believed you were most likely just a passing entanglement for him; he was a Duke after all, his serious hunt for a partner would no doubt be among the rest of the nobility. You were just a commoner, a new citizen of his fortress, that’s all. 

He, like the rest of Meropide, believed you were his future wife, and acted accordingly. 

Although you tried not to get your hopes up, the things he would whisper to you while you were in his arms would have your fluttering heart wishing and pleading for something more…

“You smell like heaven, my lady.”, his voice would rumble, his nose against your temple as he pressed soft kisses to your hair. “Just like your lavender. I wish I could keep you by my side at night, I’d sleep so well. But it’s better that I don’t, otherwise, I’d have to keep you there—I could never rest without you again.”

He’d hold your face gingerly in between his hands and brush his thumbs across your cheeks in awe, saying, “If you told me you were a doll come to life, I would believe you.”, then press a soft kiss to your nose, “you’re too perfect to be real.”. 

You especially felt like something more than just a bit of fun to him when he’d had a bad day at work and would ask for you alone, to slip his arms around your torso and hold you desperately close; like he lived off of you, like you held him together. You’d let him hold you like that for as long as he needed, sometimes even hours. 

But you didn’t want to get ahead of yourself, because if you were to get your heart broken by Wriothesley, you’d never ever recover. You’d made such a life for yourself here; you loved the garden you kept down here, you loved the citizens of Meropide and were devoted to making sure they’re fed nutritious and lively meals…and you loved Wriothesley. You loved him more than you thought it was possible to love another person. You wanted to stay by his side, stay here in Meropide, for the rest of your life. But if you were to confess and be rejected by him, the humiliation and grief would be unbearable. You’d have to leave, move back to the city in the overworld, abandon your home, all you’ve worked for, and all you loved. So you were content to remain a wordless association with The Duke; you’d take what he’d give you and ask for nothing more….

…If only you knew that he’d give you the world—you were his, and he cherished you like the most precious pearl the ocean has ever and could ever make. 

He thought he’d made that painfully clear, but shy little thing you were, you needed to hear it. 

Which is why it caught you so off guard when, in the middle of you watering a new section of the garden you’d prepared to experiment with legumes, Wriothesley had snuck up behind you and slipped your free hand into his, interlacing your fingers and giving you a small squeeze before springing a question you were wildly unprepared for on you.

“My lady, would you do me the honor of joining me as my date to the Epiclese ball tomorrow night?”

The way a man of such high stature would refer to you as “my lady” never failed to make you flush; it was one of those small things Wriothesley would do that made you feel like something greater than you are, like someone special to him that he put on a pedestal—a place above himself. But in this moment, you were less taken aback by the honorific and floored by the question.

The Epiclese ball was the grandest event in Fontaine, held at the famed opera house once a year for the Fontanian nobility—only those sitting in the highest places or holding the most important positions were invited to attend. Naturally, Wriothesley received an invitation, since he is arguably one of the most important men in the nation…but you were very far from important, let alone memorable. Not a single individual of the nobility knew who you were or your name, and they were justified in their ignorance—you were inconsequential at best, nothing at worst. 

This invitation meant you’d be wrapped around Wriothesley’s arm in a place you were never meant to be in. 

…would he really be proud of being seen with you?

In your shock, you’d stared at Wriothesley with wide eyes and parted lips for too long of a moment. He’d find this expression quite cute if it didn’t make him nervous that he caused you some form of discomfort.

“...I don’t have anything to wear.”, was all your jarred mind could come up with.

His concerned expression melted away into his charming grin once again, making your heart flutter and temporarily forget what you were so anxious about. 

“I’ll prepare something for you.”, he said, a glimmer in his eye betraying the fact that he already knew what he wanted to dress you in…or that he’d already prepared it. 

That excitement in his gaze broke your resolve; you couldn’t say no to him when he looked so happy at the prospect of attending with you, even if the thought made your knees want to buckle and anxiety twist in your stomach.

So you nodded, your acceptance met with a grateful kiss to your cheek. 

“I’ll have it waiting in your room when you have finished with your work tomorrow. We’ll leave for the party at 9:00 pm. Alright?”, he squeezed your hand reassuringly once again, drawing a sigh from you as you took comfort in his touch. 

“Alright.”

❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･❀

The high rotunda ceilings and large, crystalline chandeliers that hung from them over the fanciful ballroom of the Opera Epiclese had you both struck with wonder and feeling incredibly small. You’d never been more out of your depth in your life. You couldn’t help but nervously shift on your feet as you and Wriothesley waited at the top of the stairs to be introduced. 

You had no reason to feel intimidated, with the way you were adorned, not a single individual in the room would take you for anything less than a duchess. 

When you’d entered your living quarters after finishing up in the garden earlier that day, to your surprise, several attendants and beauticians were waiting for you alongside a vanity full of products. You felt a bit silly that Wriothesley had led you to believe you’d be getting ready alone, but maybe he neglected to inform you since he predicted that you’d make a fuss about not needing so much care and resources. If you were too timid to ask for nice fertilizer, how could you accept his offer to be made-up like a queen? You wouldn't, so you supposed he’d made the right call. 

Steam flowed into the room from a bath that was drawn for you in your restroom, and the most beautiful gown you’d ever been honored to be in the presence of was laid out for you on your bed. You couldn’t believe you would be wearing such a thing tonight; it was so refined, you feared that it may just slip off of you on its own for not being a worthy enough wearer. 

The attendants spent hours on your look—carefully tucking and curling each strand of your hair in silver clips and coils, gingerly coating your lips and cheeks with rouge, silver glitter on your lids, shimmer on your shoulders and collarbones so they’d glow when hit by the ballroom’s lights. You had no idea how Wriothesley knew your measurements, but the dress fit like a glove—and it held onto you tight, it wasn’t going anywhere. Your gown was of his colors, a deep red velvet fabric that ran all the way from your sweetheart neckline down to splay out on the floor around you. The dress was sleeveless, but a black fur was draped over your shoulders and clipped together at your chest to hang around you and shield the majority of your exposed skin from view. The look teetered between displaying your beautiful features and keeping them obscured for only one person’s view. 

When you finished being dolled up and dressed, you stood back to look at yourself in the vanity mirror. 

The woman looking back at you was just as surprised as you were when you met her eyes—you’d never seen her before in your life. She was beautiful. She looked like the perfect picture of elegance and grace. You tilted your head at her, and she tilted hers back; her eyes held that same shade yours did. Her bone structure and arch of her eyebrows, length of her neck and arms, pout of her lips and angle of her nose, all the same…but she was so much better than you. It made your stomach grow heavy with envy—she was exactly the woman that deserved to be with a person of the nobility, especially one as special as Wriothesley. You were so jealous of her…

But you realized, that was you.  

You would’ve cried at the sight of yourself if it weren’t for the attendants fanning your eyes and fretting about you ruining their hard work. 

You were just so overcome with emotion. You looked like you belonged exactly where you wanted to be—by Wriothesley’s side. You were wearing his colors, adorned with silver pieces that matched the same shine as the buttons on his coat and handcuffs at his hip. The way you were dressed not only told the world that you were worthy to share a room with nobles, but that you belonged to a specific noble in particular; one of the most prestigious at that, and the one that claimed your heart. With one look at you, no soul in the room would doubt that you were Wriothesley’s and Wriothesley’s alone.

You tried to steady your breathing as your date took your arm in his and brought you forth to the top of the grand staircase. He noticed your panic and gave you a reassuring smile—a warm expression that greatly differed from the typical wolfish grin that made you fizzle. This one quelled the tension in your body, it made you feel safe and cared for. 

It promised you that you could relax when you were with him; nothing could go wrong when Wriothesley was looking at you with that smile

As you two stood at the precipice of the herald announcing your arrival to the ballroom, he leaned in close to your ear and whispered in a quiet rumble, “I hate this part too, but I’ll enjoy it this time—I’m looking forward to hearing my name said with yours as a pair.” 

The heart in your chest stuttered at the confession. You hadn’t thought about it like that; here, you felt like you were being thrown to the crocodiles, when really, you were being introduced at the side of the man you loved…

With a soft smile, you realized you were looking forward to hearing your name paired with his too. It’d give you a moment to live out a daydream where you could pretend you and Wriothesley were an actual couple.

The herald must have needed his eyes checked, because although you and Wriothesley were not married, instead of introducing the two of you as Duke Wriothesley and his date, he confidently called to the room with his full chest;

“The Duke Wriothesley and Duchess [name] of Meropide.”

You comported yourself, white knuckling your grace and taking care not to show your shock and embarrassment to the crowd although your mind was shrieking. You braced for Wriothesley to correct the herald, for the herald to make the distinction to the crowd that you and him were, in fact, not together…but the humiliation never came. 

Wriothesley just held you closer with the most satisfied smirk on his lips as he led you down the steps into the ballroom, taking care to look back at you and make sure you were holding your head high.

It was hard not to when he looked at you like you were the brightest star in the sky. 

The hall was filled with hushed whispers and gossip regarding the two of you, the nobles squabbling about not having known that the duke had gotten married and why they hadn’t been invited to such an event. As you walked by, you caught whispers of your name—whispers you’d prepared yourself to hear beforehand about not being fit to stand next to Wriothesley…but instead, you heard oohs and ahhs about how beautiful you were, how you and The Duke looked like a perfect match, how they wanted their husbands to look at them the way he looked at you. 

That last comment made you snap back to reality and turn to face Wriothesley again, only to be met with his warm, amorous eyes drawing over every inch of you as if he was committing your image to memory. He looked enthralled by you—like the entirety of this ball and all of its regalia could fall away and he would still be more than satisfied with having you alone. Nothing else mattered to him. 

The way your cheeks painted with rouge grew even pinker when you met his gaze made him chuckle. He couldn’t understand what still had you so shy around him. He certainly wasn’t shy around you anymore, but still, he found it adorable. He leaned down to press a soft kiss to your lips; not a scandalous one shared between lovers at an otherwise dignified banquet…but a respectable, loving one between a husband and wife. The way it felt to be treated so dearly to him, especially shamelessly in a place where he needed to maintain heirs, made you feel like you weren’t just some moment in Wriothesley’s life, you were forever.  

When he pulled away, his heart swelled at the expression on your face; soft and puppy eyed. His signature wolfish grin shone back at you. 

“What did I do to earn such a look, fair lady?”, he hummed in amusement, standing so close that you were almost wrapped within his long coat alongside him, so he could lean over and listen to you speak close to his ear.

“...are you going to tell them we aren’t married…?”, you asked, timidly.

“I’m more inclined to tell them we happened to have forgotten our wedding bands on our bedside table.”

His comment sent those butterflies in your stomach that adored him so much fluttering again, but you pouted at him impatiently.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”, he countered with ease, bringing your left hand up to his face to ghost his lips over your ring finger. “If you’re worried about the title, don’t be. I wouldn’t want anyone else to have it.”

Your heart felt like it was just one more word away from rupturing. You’d spent so long bottling up your hopes, so long reminding yourself that you were not enough…to be given exactly what you’d been dreaming about since the day Wriothesley had entered your garden would certainly make you burst.

“...why not?”

He smiled down at you like the answer was obvious.

“Because the title is for the woman I love. So it is yours.”

You really did nearly explode, your knees buckling as your breath caught in your lungs. He pulled you flush up against him to steady you, laughing lightly at your reaction. You fussed too much, but he adored that about you; he just hoped that as you settled into your title, you’d allow yourself to be more demanding with what you deserve. 

Until then, he’d shower you with all of the assurances you needed.

“Do you need to hear it again? I love you, [name]. The love I have for you was made by you—you sewed it within me with your own hands; it is a feeling no other has raised in me nor will be able to replicate because it is yours alone. You claimed my heart like you’d claimed that barren patch of land I met you in and grew love from it like you did the lavender that helps me rest at night.”

He was relentless with his musings, tilting your chin up with his thumb and forefinger to make sure you were accepting every word he was giving you. The glitter of your eyes on him promised him that. 

“Then I brought you home, and you continued to grow your love in my fortress and cared for my people hundreds of leagues under the sea. They love you, I love you, and I would never let another dig their hands into the soil you cultivated, no matter who they are or how noble their blood. Both Meropide and I have accepted you as ours, so the place of duchess is rightfully yours.”

Now, you really were going to cry. You could hear the shrieks of anguish from the many attendants who'd doting on your makeup all afternoon. Wriothesley only chuckled and fetched his handkerchief, using his hold on your chin to tilt your face so he could dab at your tears before they smudged your mascara.

You sniffled and spoke through your shaky breaths, "I love you and Meropide more than I've ever loved anything else. I'd be honored to be your duchess."

Without another word, you leaned up your teary face to press an ardent kiss to his lips---like you were sealing a contract between the two of you.

You'd be his, and he, his fortress, and the entirety of his duchy would be yours in return.

Yours to continue to bless with life, yours to care for and maintain, and yours to bring to blossom full of love---he'd watch and admire you every step of the way.

And you'd both be confidently fibbing to the inquiring other guests tonight that you had indeed left your wedding bands at home.

[dilucl0v3r]

Wriothesley Royal Au (Manhwa Edition) where he's the feared / renounced cold Duke of the North, hired by the King to bodyguard you (the semi-neglected royal), ONLY no one actually knows he's the Duke of the North hence they assume he's just an ordinary mercenary (the best of the best)

The king is Manhwa stereotypical, mistreats you only to have a hidden protective motive that it's for your safety. The King may be a King, but he's stripped of his power, a puppet caught in the web of the corrupted (Nobles & His Mistress)

Wriothesley has a cold front but is really just a very chilled dude with unmatchable skills, mis interpreted, and cautious. So he finds himself heart and mind centered in the Palace which he's despised all his life, protecting you, the person he was originally going to kidnap only to have the greatest idea of marrying you just to piss off your damned step brother' and his best friend who is weirdly obsessed with you (in a very scarily annoying way)

Yet, instead, he finds himself hiding his identity and playing the role of your bodyguard. Falling in love First and falling hard, following your every step like a lost puppy with murderous skills of a merciless killer :D

Imagine all the little soft fluffy moments the build up of this relationship could give us! All the tension! All the hot jealous and possessive (in a non toxic way)! Because in my head wrioth is a red flag to everyone BUT you ❤️🥹

[dilucl0v3r]

WHO FELL FIRST, WHO FELL HARDER ?

— [warnings]. not proofread (yet..)

— characters . . . kaeya, diluc, xiao, baizhu, ningguang, yelan, kazuha, wanderer, ayaka, ayato, cyno, alhaitham, kaveh, dehya, lyney, navia.

— notes . . just a silly lil thing bc i don’t remember the last time i wrote something…i’ve not been feeling the greatest but hey, happy fontaine <3

A. KAEYA — 凯亚

♡ you fell first, he fell harder

it’s hardly possible to not fall for the calvary captain’s overdramatic charms yet, personally, you never had a problem with it before; when a person who’s naturally charismatic and romantic uses honey-dipped words to woo you, you were a bit on guard for the sake of your own fragile heart... so how did you manage to find yourself in this predicament..? honestly, you couldn’t believe yourself: his tantalising touch; captivating grin and glance; bewitching sentence he uttered, made your heart beat into your ears, deafening the adamant flags of warning.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

kaeya groaned into the cooled table of the tavern, hands gripping at his hair gently, his head intoxicated not with alcohol but with images of you. diluc rolls his eyes and squeezes them shut in annoyance before cleaning kaeya’s seventh glass of the night.

“what is it now.” ironically stern and cold, but kaeya knew that such words carried a great

amount of worry when coming from diluc. he lifted his head as his arms snaked under to support his chin

he let out a dramatic sniffle, “they are so gorgeous … and lo-hic-vely.. they gave me such a hic gentle smile today.. and do you wanna know what’s even hic better my fav-hic-ourite sweet brother?” he looked at him expectantly, diluc couldn’t help but cringe as he groaned and nodded his head begrudgingly.

“our hands brushed against hic each-other..” he puts his face back down into his arms, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks as he recalls your earlier scenario, the way your hands slowly made accidental contact still sent him electrifying shivers down his spine.

R. DILUC — 迪卢克

♡ he fell first, he fell harder

diluc sat static with his hands in his hair, not wanting to believe that the pounding in his heart was real; instead of the tingling feeling of anticipation and adrenaline coursing through his veins, he felt a fuzzy and almost dizzying feeling squeezing his heart.

he is no idiot, albeit perhaps a teeny bit clueless when it comes to romance, but he knew that what he was feeling was certainly love. he feels so stupid that he’d allow your smile, laugh, demeanour, your kind nature… everything, to control the way his heartstrings play.

however… he wouldn’t have it any other way.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

“diluc~!” your singsong voice echoed through the vibrant streets of the festive mondstadt. your arms reached around his torso to give him a tight hug.

“good evening, [name]. it’s nice seeing you again.” he accepted your hug with a bashful smile.

“look what i got you !” you pulled back with a smile of your own, holding up a lovely bouquet that withheld a gorgeous almost rainbow array of fresh flowers. “happy windblume festival, diluc~”

diluc’s heart had never accelerated to such a rate until hearing your words, and your smile as well? he might as well get a cardiac arrest. if it weren’t for his well-respected reputation around mondstadt, you could probably be able to audibly hear people cooing at diluc’s flustered expression as he silently took the bouquet, replying with a meek “thank you.”

when a man who already speaks so few words becomes speechless, it begs the question; how exactly was he gonna confess to you now?

BAIZHU — 白术

♡ you fell first, you fell harder

having a crush on a pharmacist, a doctor no less, almost sounds like a cliche certain inappropriate genre trope which made the guilt for your silly lil’ crush rather unbearable; but a heart wants what it wants.

which is how you found yourself on the stairs of bubu pharmacy, each step leaving a little quake in your heart. baizhu was speaking to a client, placing a paper in their hand which probably contained some sort of ingredients or instructions, you were too busy adoring how gorgeous he looked in the shade to even think properly.

he waved the client goodbye, his attention trailing to you as a gentle smile graced his face. “good morning, [name]. feeling sick, or are you just here to see me again?” he chuckles, did he see right through you..? “i’m kidding, come in, qiqi has been talking about you a lot recently.”

it took a lot out of you to not reply with “sure, so long as i get to hang out with you for the rest of the day.”

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

“please sit up, [name].” you sit yourself up reluctantly, the ache in your head pounding your brain so relentlessly. baizhu poured medicine into a dish and put it towards your lips. your face displayed nothing but grimace as you swallowed the bittersweet liquid.

he laughed at your distorted expression, giving you a comforting look, “just for you i tried my best to make it at least a bit more bearable, taste-wise.” a dizzying feeling bloomed in your chest, the corners of your mouth rising gently. “thank you zhuzhu.”

he replies to you courtly, lovingly placing a hand on your forehead to recheck your temperature, “well, you take care of me all the time it’s only fitting that i return the favour.”

“do all doctors personally visit their patients and cook for them?” you chuckle, leaning into his feather-light touch subconsciously.

“no, but you’re special to me.” such a quick and lacking in hesitance reply.. does he know what he’s doing to your poor heart?

XIAO — 魈

♡ he fell first, he fell harder

xiao is anything but superficial, he doesn’t take things at face value nor is he shallow but your beauty certainly caught him off guard.

of course, “beauty” for him didn’t ultimately consist of only your physical appearance, though that did make his breath hitch and heartbeat fasten at just the mere glimpse of you but, he found beauty in things that you probably didn’t even notice about yourself.

every excuse he could muster he’d use to lie to himself about why he kept gazing at you so lovingly. ‘you’re speaking right now, it’s only natural’ was a very classic example, one that could be quickly debunked if one were to see just how attentively he was staring at you, even sometimes glaring at people who spoke over you.

he didn’t realise it then, but to everyone else one thing was clear; the lil’ adeptus, zhongli’s favourite child, was in love.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

he knew something was wrong when he consistently yearned to hear your voice call his name. he awkwardly paced around wangshu inn with the moonlight caressing him so gently that it almost reminded him of you.

a deep sigh escaped his lips as he dismays his pathetic longing. he’s been around long enough to comprehend the fact that he misses you, but what made that worse was the fact he saw you only a few hours ago.

when his ears caught wind of the sounds of footsteps, he couldn’t deny the sudden feeling of adrenaline that pumped through his veins as he could only hope they belonged to you. but when the voice calling out to him was verr goldet, he could only feel disappointed; much to the lovely lady’s dismay as she was left to ponder over what could’ve ruined the poor yaksha’s mood this time …

NINGGUANG — 凝光

♡ you fell first, she fell harder

not a surprise though is it ? this is THE tianquan of the liyue qixing; a revered and respected leader, the richest person in teyvat who surprisingly has one of the sweetest personalities you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.

ningguang was so stern and almost intimidating when speaking with businessmen or people who literally conspire against her; yet her personality does a complete one-eighty when in the company of kids or you. she still holds that ambience of “you can look, not touch” but she remains humble and delicate, sweetly patting a child’s head as they show her a picture they drew of her (one which you see in a frame propped up on her desk several days later).

it was awfully difficult to not have your heart race with the way she linked arms with you when walking along the streets of liyue harbour, strangers giving you knowing smiles as you gazed away from them or ningguang with the most flustered expression.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

each visit to liyue turned into a ningguang meeting. not because you required her assistance of some sort but simply because ningguang wanted to chat with you.

every chat would turn into a more than pleasant conversation about your interests, hobbies, what you like, what you don’t like, would you enjoy it if someone hypothetically asked you out on a date to one of the most expensive restaurants on liyue, or if hypothetically someone were to send you a variety of expensive gifts every few weeks or so…

she wasn’t being discreet, and honestly, she wasn’t trying to be. if she wants something she gets it, but when it comes to love the tianquan understands it isn’t something as simple as winning a game of chess, but she was going to make sure the win was as rewarding as one.

lady ningguang knows she already has your heart, all she has to do is woo you.

YELAN — 夜兰

♡ you fell first, you fell harder

it’s hard to tell when or even why you fell in love with yelan. it’s not that she’s unlikeable, quite the opposite frankly, it’s just that she loves reaffirming your status as her “favourite informant”, rarely ever does she use the word “friend” when it comes to you. yet, there’s a certain bit of you that finds that position in her life to mean much more than the title of “friend”.

plus…seeing her biweekly as she asks for information or any new leads from you is rather worth it. she’s never upset when you don’t have any secrets to expose about illegal activities, she just instantly turns the conversation to be about you. she’ll ask about your hobbies, your interests, recent adventures…did she just get closer to you?

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

yelan is known for being quite a scary woman no matter if you’re her enemy or friend, that’s just her personality however… she’s more, let’s say keen when it comes to you. she’s much more attentive to you; arms tightening their grip in a hug, leaning into you when people who bore her are speaking, she even directly pulls you into an embrace when she knows you might get hurt.

it all seems like natural reactions yet she never does the same for anyone else apart from you, something which you bashfully took notice of when her head gently knocked on yours when you were in a conversation with a merchant who was attempting to explain his sob story. her eyes were fixated on him yet her physical attention was surprisingly on you. you practically blanked out after her lovely scented perfume hit you due to her proximity.

you still recall that one dream you had where she sat you on her lap while she was gambling, her hands sweetly situated on your waist. what made your lil’ fantasy worse was the fact when you woke up yelan’s face was directly close to yours as she questioned why you were mumbling her name in your slumber…

K. KAZUHA — 枫原万叶

♡ he fell first, you fell harder

it’s a well-known fact that kazuha has an extremely keen sense of hearing; every subtle rustle of the leaves and or whistle of a distant bird can easily be heard by him. even so, he often finds himself searching for your voice among the quiet orchestra of noises in the breezy wind.

initially, he believed that these yearnings for you were simply out of care and worry about you in the name of your deep friendship; yet, as soon as those yearnings turned into his heart beating rapidly, his face heating up and his dreams turning into just flashbacks of your recent adventures with him, he knew something was wrong.

kazuha is a romantic at heart and a lover in every sense; his sudden realisation of his growing feelings for you didn’t come as a shock, it was a pleasant surprise that he graciously smiled about as his fingers delicately traced your signature on the recent letter you sent him.

he didn’t even notice that his romantic and poetic nature amplified when he was in your solo presence. you, however, certainly noticed it…

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

kazuha seemed oblivious to the fact that he consistently glanced at your lips in conversations, or the way his hands lingered on your waist a little too frequently when hugging.

if you weren’t in love with him at first you certainly were now. how could you not be? he wooed you endlessly with sickly sweet words, letters, and haikus; he’d carefully place flowers in your hair simply because the colour reminded him of your eyes. sometimes he’d even carve both of your initials in trees and leaves claiming it’ll prolong your “friendship.”

what made your growing lovesick admiration for him worse was just how comforting he was. your boundaries were written into his heart and mind; he knew your dislikes and likes to the t. he knew sometimes you just need a moment to yourself…and yet when those times do come you only yearn to see him.

it’s like a lil’ woodpecker is gnawing at your heart, trying to get it to beat a melody that is similar to his own, and once you finally embraced that gentle pain in your heart, your eyes couldn’t help but search for his.

WANDERER — 流浪者

♡ you fell first, he fell harder

there’s literally no way he’d fall for you first (in the nicest way possible, i promise). he simply doesn’t want to pursue someone he hasn’t assured shares his feelings. what’s the point of chasing an impossible dream? he isn’t a greek tragedy…well given the number of betrayals he might as well be one but that’s besides the point !

the constant reminders in stories of scaramouche’s beauty certainly weren’t exaggerating. you find yourself staring at him so often he’s become accustomed to it, in other words, you ogle him so consistently he doesn’t even bother reprimanding you anymore. yet the tempting silence that echoes when you admire him whenever he’s doing something only makes your longing worse.

what makes your heart squeeze in its ribcage is how the wanderer has begun to slowly warm up to you. though he refuses to admit it, he seems to have become more possessive and protective over you, even occasionally looking out for you when you’re out on commissions in sumeru.

and how could you not fall deeper in love with him when you see that dismissive blush on his face as he makes up a story as to why he was following you.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

he’s so close to going back to that godforsaken irminsul and wiping himself from existence once again. nahida can’t help but giggle at the wanderer’s brooding attitude as he sits with a scowl twisted onto his face and hands massaging his temples.

“i can’t stand them.”

“ah, really?” nahida laughs, a subtle twinkle echoed within the sanctuary of surasthana, one which made the wanderer’s head instinctively look up. a stack of crumpled letters and papers carefully materialise in the young archon’s hands. his eyebrow raises quizzically as nahida coughs into her hand with a teasing smile.

“[name], i don’t know how to tell you this to your face, so i decided to write to you instead. i’ve unfortunately fallen for you and your stupidly gorgeous face-“ she was suddenly interrupted by the wanderer’s quick snatching of the paper.

nahida couldn’t help but giggle once again at the look of pure terror and embarrassment on her pupil’s face as she continued to read out every single letter in a sickly sweet voice all the while the wanderer trailed behind her attempting to snatch the letters from her tight little grasp…

K. AYAKA — 神里绫华

♡ she fell first, she fell harder

at first, she explained the deafening echo of her heartbeat whenever you were around as adrenaline from admiring someone as otherworldly and sweet as you. i mean, you’re a literal icon within teyvat, it’s obvious she would feel a certain way around a figure like that, right ? ayato couldn’t help but laugh in awe at his intelligent sister’s obliviousness to her own feelings, it was endearing in a way.

she’d weekly ramble about you to either ayato or thoma, speaking about your recent adventures, your courage, and how gorgeous you are… at that point either of the boys would give her a certain look that would make her shut up instantly, leaving her fumbling and flustered.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

looking at you in the eye has become increasingly difficult for ayaka. every little thing you did, every gaze and smile would leave her with a wonky smile and a blush that bloomed into an insufferable heat.

to be honest, she didn’t mean to fall so in love with you, but that little tremble in her heart when you two accidentally locked eyes was far too lovely to ignore.

“are you thinking about [name], again?” ayato’s voice awoke her from her teasing daydream. she quickly shook her head in denial, ignoring the knowing grin of her older brother. he sat down next to her and pulled her close, leaving a quick kiss on the crown of her head. “seriously, if you don’t tell them, your big brother will have to intervene!”

she squealed in surprise, an excruciatingly bright blush appearing on her face at her brother’s suggestion. “ayato, please don’t do this to me..” she hid her face behind her hands, her mind beginning to wonder how would you feel if she confessed her flourishing feelings for you…

K. AYATO — 神里绫人

♡ he fell first, he fell harder

apparently love at first sight runs in the kamisato family.

honestly, that first little pause of his heart when he laid his eyes upon you should’ve been the first warning sign that his heart and mind were not in sync. it was like something had switched on in him, his heart wouldn’t shut up about you; he could hear it thumping away in his chest every time he thought of you.

the way your hand caressed his cheek so delicately when you found out about his recent dangerous endeavours, your eyes glistening with worry as you question him relentlessly. his heart could almost beat out of his chest as he took your hand, placing a gentle kiss on your palm. he’s certainly fallen in love with you.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

at this point, you two revealing you’re dating would be less of a shock than finding out you’re just “good friends.” practically all of inazuma can outwardly understand ayato’s admiration for you... apart from you.

every few weeks or even days depending on whether or not he’s out on commissioner duties, an abundance of gifts would be delicately placed upon your front doorstep with ayato’s name attached to a tag on one of them in fine black ink.

usually, the gifts would consist of bouquets of your favourite flowers, jewellery from several different nations, chocolates or something he saw that caught your eye or something you brought up in a conversation several days ago.

sometimes he’d even attach a lengthy note to one of the gifts that would explain his decision in what he bought you, and how there’s absolutely no reason to pay him back because “simply seeing you is enough of a reward.”

each gift he sends you couldn’t ever match the number of times ayaka has giggled at her brother’s clear fixation with you.

CYNO — 赛诺

♡ he fell first, you fell harder

how you managed to tear this man’s eyes off of tighnari is a feat upon itself however, the reason this man got so infatuated with you was purely because of one fateful defeat in a game of genius invokation.

there was nothing on the line, no special cardbacks, not even a uniquely illustrated card of some sorts; just a simple game. you felt like he was going easy on you and well, he was. he wasn’t even trying to be discreet about it. he just couldn’t stop gazing at you softly and to be completely frank he was scared of how mushy he was starting to feel. was the beating in his heart when you two accidentally brushed hands normal?

plus, the adorable victory smile you gave him accompanied with your high-five to thank him for spending time with you was so completely worth his failure…that started his teensy obsession with forcing you to waste his free time with you under the guise of “i need to practice” because according to him you are a card champion (he wants to look at you smile.)

listen the “men w hot dads” crew is tired of seeing cyno giving you the googly eyes while they’re trying to drink please for the sake of everyone tell him to quit it!

AL HAITHAM — 艾尔海森

♡ you fell first, he fell harder

i don’t know how this happened. truthfully he’s just pretty and whenever he looks at you when he speaks you feel lil’ butterflies stir in your stomach. he has an indescribable and intangible grip on you and your subconscious.

it’s hard to even pinpoint when or how you fell for him because he’s never in one place at the same time, and what i mean by that is when you think he’s somewhere, he is in a completely different location. regardless, when you do randomly find him, his eyes will instantly find yours and his book will be long forgotten as he engages in a simple conversation with you.

maybe that’s what got you? how keen he is to listen to you and hear our your problems; he’ll listen or offer you advice depending on how you feel, his attention is always solely on you.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

before he befriended you, if you asked alhaitham what he thought about love, he would stoically answer, “love is just the release of serotonin, noradrenaline, dopamine, and phenylethylamine; it’s just a human response to cope with loneliness.”

but now… it’s a little different. instead of his usual off-handed comment that seemed almost cruel, he’ll avert his gaze and continue reading. to practically everyone, that just meant “don’t disturb me with stupid questions”, but little did they know that he refused to answer that question because he knew the next words out of his mouth were about to be just as cheesy and cringe-worthy as what his roommate kaveh says while drunk.

he didn’t expect to find himself staring at his ceiling while trying to fall asleep, academic thoughts mingled with pictures of you flurrying in his head…he groaned out loud, tossing and turning in his bed. well, maybe if he gets drunk enough he’ll have the courage to ask his much more outspoken roommate on how to ask you out.

KAVEH — 卡维

♡ he fell first, he fell harder

he’s insanely romantic at heart, he’s so sweet and gentle it’s to little wonder that he fell in love with you so easily. you understood him so well, you knew exactly the right words to say when he’s upset or frustrated and you somehow never make him feel like he’s indebted to you?

kaveh is a man who views love as a luxury or transaction rather than just a beautiful connection. so, when you willingly showered him with platonic affections and not so subtly making scenarios in which he was “repaying you” (i.e when you helped clean the house because you saw he was fatigued and suddenly had to do your groceries the next day so kaveh kindly asked to help you~) it wasn’t hard to fall deeply for you.

he feels so at peace with you, you take him back to when he was a schoolboy crushing on alhaitham (i had to sneak this in alright). he blushes whenever your hands brush past him or when your eyes lock together accidentally, it’s actually kind of pathetic (in a cute way).

you best believe the entire group is tired of him, whenever he gets drunk all he rambles about is you.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

he’s going to rip out his hair individually and gnaw on his pencils until he hits the graphite because what is wrong with him??? he woke up after having another dream about you which consisted of you lovingly caressing his face, pressing gentle kisses across his jawline, cheeks and forehead…is he blushing right now?

it was getting embarrassing to even leave his house because somehow both of your days aligned so perfectly that you’d manage to stumble into each other on at least one occasion; however, he didn’t wanna deal with the consistent nagging of his roommate who kept insisting that he should just “confess” to you therefore he was forced to go out and have this biting anxiety of seeing your face.

it’s not that he didn’t want to see you, it’s that he couldn’t. not when he literally could just drop dead from a mere bit of eye contact from you. he knows that being with you will hurt. he feels like he doesn’t deserve you despite your reciprocation of affection, there will always be that shadow that looms over him telling him, “this will not end well.”

DEHYA — 迪希雅

♡ she fell first, you fell harder

it’s actually become a whole joke within the mercenary circle that if you go up to dehya and ask her about anything, no matter the topic, she will manage to bring it back to you.

“dehya, do you have any spots in the rainforest that have nice scenery?”

and she’ll immediately reply, “yeah, [name] and i went to this place last time-“ or it’ll be something more along the lines of, “mhm, there’s this place that [name] said is really known for its great sights-“

in other words, her mind is consumed by you. not to a detrimental level, she’s still ambitious and such, but she’s just a tad bit more attentive and stupid when you’re around…

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

remember that one part in the story quest where she asked the traveler to pay her by giving her a smile because they looked gloomy? yeah, that’s her with you but emphasised to the extreme.

she’s so overly delicate with you, always giving you her sweetest smiles teeth and all. you could feel your knees weaken every time you two would accidentally lock eyes when passing each other on the street. she made it impossible to not love her and when you got to know her on a personal level, when she started talking about her childhood? the tears that wet your eyelashes didn’t go unseen by dehya as she carefully brushed away your tears with her thumbs.

could she hear the way your heartbeat dramatically beat in anticipation at every lingering touch? and to add onto that touching emotional baggage, she is absolutely gorgeous. the way her arms flexed when she was carrying her great sword…did she catch you drooling?

☆ SPOILERS FOR FONTAINE QUEST

LYNEY — 林尼

♡ you fell first, he fell harder

it’s hard not to feel special when a pretty illustrious magician chooses you as his trick victim in a quite large audience. you honestly felt blessed that you weren’t in the opera epiclese right now because the way your eyes widened and breathing hitched purely because of a simple reappearing flower trick was embarrassing.

lyney apparently imprinted your reaction into his memory because now every time you meet face to face he does that trick, making sure to use a different flower each time. he stated plainly that his reasoning for this was, “you are my motivation~” curse him and his wicked smile.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

when lyney said he’d look at flower language after charlotte enlightened him on floral symbolism he initially didn’t expect to find himself sitting down late in the night flipping through multiple pages imprinted with flowers.

he can’t help but gaze fondly at the sweet symbolisms of flowers from different nations wondering how you’d react when he presented one of them to you once again. flowers have a variety of meaning, but lyney makes double sure that the flower he picks for you has only positive and loving depictions.

having very little trust in the world and embracing the deception of humanity while letting the light gently pass through his capable hands, it’s difficult for him to decipher whether or not he wants to love you. he know he loves you, it’s obvious: you can fool a mind not a heart. but when you’ve accepted falsehood as the status quo it’s difficult to allow people to shake down your walls.

NAVIA — 娜维娅

♡ she fell first, you fell harder

you two are very sherlock holmes and john watson coded. it really doesn’t matter which one of them you consider yourself because either way the incomprehensible yet very tangible romantic tension between the two of you is apparent.

she bakes you stuff on the weekly, handing it to you with a loving glint in her eyes as she makes sure your hands brush against each other ever so slightly. cookies, macaroons, cakes, whatever you like or specify you enjoy she’ll make for you. the gesture itself is, no pun intended, very sweet and from the outside seems platonic enough but if you were to check her pockets or around her baking equipment you’d find a plethora of crumpled and disarrayed love letters with each of them beginning “dear, [name]”.

‎ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

she’s literally perfect. she’s sweet, gentle, sympathetic yet she’s confident and bold but manages to not be obnoxious and to add onto all of that she cares for you like she’s known you for a lifetime. it’s like she’s memorised your entire schedule, routines and habits because she will remind you of things you yourself have forgotten. anything from, “don’t you have an appointment today?” or “you forgot to eat breakfast didn’t you?” she will calmly remind you.

at this point, more people question if you’re married than how wonderful your relationship must be, and well, fontaine loves its drama and rumours so it’s difficult to not hear people coo at you and navia when you’re out strolling the city; you also can’t deny that their words make your heart flutter as your gaze shifts towards her and you notice the way her eyes find yours so easily.

you’ve found yourself craving her visits instead of her baked goods…

©IHEARTGANYU do not copy, steal or repost <3

[dilucl0v3r]

ok but your recent ask DID make me wonder what a kindergarten teacher reader x wrio would look like? he does have a soft spot for kids soooo👀

I can see it happening since there might be many children of the inmates who can’t leave (there’s a char from a world quest who was in this situation)

so imagine there’s program set up in the fortress to get the children to a standardised education level (so that when they eventually leave they’re not behind their peers), and that’s when reader gets into the picture. So, it starts off with wrio politely chatting, before it turns into something more. I leave it to the wrio experts to expand on this 🫡

- 🕸️ anon

Spiderweb baby you're gonna open a can of worms with this idea because I will get so self indulgent with this haskdjna

Literally that would be so cute though 🥺 I can see reader and Wrio working closely together too, since i feel that Wrio would make it a priority of his to know that these kids are alright, and he'd even help out with watching the kids sometimes :((

Like like like 😭 The reader would be super sweet in supervising the kids whenever their parents have to work in the fortress, and would keep them in a cute little classroom / nursery place where they can run around and play in a safe place away from all the machinery, yk?

And one day, imagine that the reader made a deal with the kids that if they're well behaved and did well on their test, they can spend an afternoon touring the fortress. And since their kids really made an effort to behave themselves and to study, the reader puts in a request to the duke's office to ask for some extra hands in helping watch over the kids. You just expect him to assign some guards to help out, but you're surprised when he instead volunteers himself for the role instead, claiming that there's no one who knows the fortress better than him, and that it would be good for him to see how they're doing, too!

And from there, you both have fun giving the kids the tour, and it makes them all really like 'uncle Rise-ley' instead of being fearful of him. They even ask for him a couple of times in the days after the tour, and when you tell him, Wriothesley starts coming by more often :(( and from thereeee, he starts visiting after class hours too— first just to check on you and help you grade papers, maybe if you need any books or materials from the surface.

Then it becomes more, like bringing you to the cafeteria so that you don't miss your meals, or giving you your own private tour of the fortress (just in case you need it, of course. Not just because he wanted to go on a long walk with you or anything.) And eventually, the line blurs a bit between simply spending time with each other after your work, and him basically taking you out on cute dates haskdjnas

[dilucl0v3r]

reblog if u think wrio will fit right in as a duke of the north male lead in a villainess isekai manhwa

[dilucl0v3r]

Jumin has been acting like a big brother to the RFA because he was forbidden/discouraged of interacting with his own baby brother.

*Send cry*

[dilucl0v3r]

Oh my this is so pretty!!! In my mind they are like that.

According to the Judgment of the

♪ Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale ♪

[dilucl0v3r]

My my my my my my!!!! please God make something like this happen to me too!!!

; xx. wriothesley x gn!reader , modern au

imagine being in a mall youve never gone to before with your friends, so they know the place and you dont. they give you locations but you just cant memorize them all! you tell your friends youre going to the restroom, and they tell you directions to the restaurant theyre going to so you agree to meet up with them there. well.. when you step out- wait, what was the restaurant's name again?

you ponder for awhile, what is it? but then suddenly forget the directions they gave you. god, you just have to wing it.

well, wing it you didnt! you got lost, and didnt see any of your friends in the restaurants you walked pass. you look around for reliable looking people to ask, and there you see a man with black hair with a few gray streaks, with supeeeeerrrr light blue cute eyes! a few piercings and a wolfish appearance to him. you walk up to him and..

tap tap "hey.. uhm- do you know how to get to.." you say, embarassed. you literally just forgot the name!

aha! nevermind that, you just remembered!

"*******. ya, the restaurant? thats the one i think!"

you look like a lost dog!! infront of the most sculpted man youve ever seen aswell... hes so cute, you shouldve asked someone else for directions or your nose probably wouldve bled infront of him if you didnt keep your composture. especially infront of his friends! they looked so attractive too. long, white hair with blue streaks and a dark purplish blue type of hair color? god, youre surprised how such good looking people exist.

he turns to look at you the second you tap him, and now you realize just how tall he is the way he stares down at you!

"Well sure, but the buildings preeeettty big so you want me to escort you?"

wow.. his voice was super hot too. well- wait! nows not the time to dream!!!

you look at him and nod, too stunned at his appearance to speak. you watch him talk to his friends, hearing them but not listening. he then pats your shoulder, signalling your leave. huh.. maybe youll ask his number later.

you walk with him, a bit flustered at how tall he towers over you. should you engage in conversation, should you stay quiet? how do you avoid embarassing yourself infront of a gods creation?!?!

"so, whats your name?"

the man asks in the middle of your pondering, well atleast you dont have to think about that anymore. so.. you give him your name and ask his!

"well, it's [name]. how bout you?"

you sound pretty cool, but inside you arent!! he sounds so pretty, hes indeed a pretty boy..

"wriothesley." he says with a gentle smile, looking down at you with bright eyes. he seems fond of you, but you dont know that!

"rio- rizzley? wosley??" you try to pronounce the name, failing ultimately.

"wrio, for short." he chuckles, patting you on the back. whats up with all the physical affection its driving you mad!!!!!

you laugh slightly, smiling a bit too sweetly for your first interaction and, he notices. but he doesnt wanna scare you away.. youre just so cute!

you talk and talk with him, and hes the same level of talkative as you are! finally, someone who actually responds to your yapping! you just wish he could be your boyfriend right now.. waitwait. you guys just met no way!

its been about 5 or more minutes you guess, then you see him pull out a white card on his bag and write something on it with a pen. he puts the pen back and shoves the card into his pocket. you then speak up, pointing at a restaurant and asking him if its that one. he says yes, nodding as he does so.

"i can go there by myself now, thanks for the help wrio!"

but no, he disagrees.

"nah, i think ill just bring you there. you might get lost even if its just right there."

he smirks, mischievously at that. but.. its kinda cute not gonna lie. so you just nod and walk with him. his hand slides across your side, your hand then the bag you carry, it drives you insane how close you are!

you finally get there, smiling up at him. admiring his pretty face one more time before having to let the sight go.

"thank you really, for the help- I hope it wasnt a distraction to you and your friends hangout or something..."

a light red tint dusts over his cheeks, as he says a polite "your welcome" before walking away. you first fix your composture before entering, but then suddenly.. wait! you forgot to grab his number!!!

"wrio!" you scream, but hes too far to hear you so you just weep internally in vain, before entering the restaurant.

your friends scold you, its been like 20 minutes since they were there! little do they know you got a bit lost.. you sit down beside them, before noticing the pocket in the bag you carried had a little white card peeking out of it...

on the back of the card in the clearest space there is, you read..

i know its just a business card im sorry aha, pretty shit way to tell you my number yeah? but its all i have right now.

maybe you dont have to say goodbye to his pretty face after all.

[dilucl0v3r]

Grandpas with their babies

[dilucl0v3r]

Absolutely Not

Wriothesley x Neuvillette's Sibling ! Reader

Part 1 | what you hate

Warnings | grammatical errors, ooc wriothesley & neuvillette, etc.

Notes | this fic will use gender neutral pronouns (they/them) and will be in 2nd person pov (you/your/you're). Also, y/n will be described as afab (female anatomy).

Summary | As Neuvillette's younger sibling, you find that navigating life to be difficult especially when it comes to living in your brother's shadow.

I managed to get the motivation to finally turn this into a fic, so i hope you all enjoy!!

Absolutely Not Masterlist

Main Masterlist

You weren't a fan of the dramatics that Fontaine had to offer. In fact, you felt like everything was sort of like a play. The playwriter unknown to you, but your lines and actions were scripted nonetheless.

"Y/n, are you ready?"

Another thing you weren't a fan of was your protective older brother who you shared an apartment with. Even after 400 years, he still deems it as unsafe for you to live alone. Even if the place is Fontaine. A city of justice no less.

"Neuvillette, must I really go? Surely you don't need me at the office today.."

You also hated your job. Being the Chief Justice's assistant was absolutely horrendous. Especially on the clock as he was always so invested in his work. Yet he was adamant on making sure you got a job that was either related to or close to his own.

Humans can be cruel when they want to be.

It was an excuse he used often. An excuse you believed, truly. Even if you were tired of how overprotective your brother was.

Despite your shortcomings, however, you still made the best of any situation. You were all smiles and sunshine and refused to ever let your mood worsen and make the skies darken.

"Yes you must go. As my assistant your work is important. And don't forget..."

"I know, I know, Miss Furina will definitely be a menace if I don't show up."

Another thing, about you and Furina...you both were the same age. Though, one small detail that Neuvillette was thankful for was that you weren't a brat unlike a certain hydro archon.

"Then-"

You cut him off with a small wave of your hand and a smile, "don't worry, I'll get ready."

He nodded, "I'll see you there, then."

"See ya," you called after him as you listened for his retreating footsteps and the sound of the front door opening, closing and a small click as he locked it. Huffing to yourself, you fell back into the bed. Your mind wandering as you mentally prepared yourself for another day.

I wonder when that traveler is supposed to be here...it has been awhile since something interesting happened in Fontaine. Granted, I guess what I should be worrying about is the House of the Hearth and their Father instead of some traveler at the moment.

Yeah, you may have hated your job. But even as Neuvillette's assistant it wasn't always about paperwork. In fact, most of the time you were out and about collecting information and dealing with troublesome fatui and criminals.

Sighing to yourself, you pushed all troublesome thoughts aside, and as you promised - you got ready for the day despite your earlier protests.

Fontaine was as grand as anyone would imagine. Any tourist would want to come here to sightsee. At one point in your life, even you thought the place was too grand for any normal person not to be amazed. But, overtime, even things here for too dull.

"Morning y/n."

"Ah, miss y/n!"

"Lovely day, isn't it y/n?"

"Y/n, may I ask your opinion on these flower arrangements?"

"Off to work today, y/n?"

The people of Fontaine never failed to greet you as you walked the streets. If you were anyone else, then you would go by unnoticed.

But you were Monsieur Neuvillette's little sister, so of course people would try to gain your attention (even if their attention was unwanted). Which was another thing you quiet loathed. The attention. It made your skin crawl. Your nerves spike. It made it feel like your insecurities were surfacing up for all to see.

Because at the end of the day. You were just an assistant to your much better and smarter older brother.

Sometimes you would wonder if being in his shadow was a good thing or a bad thing. And you could never quite figure it out.

Nonetheless, despite your insecurities, you didn't let prying eyes dampen your mood. Not once have you ever let a cloud take over the sky. As a hydro dragon much like your brother, you refused to let your tears become the rain that washes Fontaine.

At least, that's what you keep telling yourself.

"Ah, you're here."

Greeting your brother, you also gave any melusines that were also in the office a small wave and a smile to boot. Your calm disposition washing over anyone who was present in Neuvillette's office.

"Now that you are here, i would like you to go over today's case. A trial will be held for it in a few hours."

"Of course, what's it over this time?"

"Just a small property dispute is all."

You hummed to yourself as you took the file from him. Your eyes flicking over the contents as your thumb played with the corners of the papers (while also being careful not to give yourself a papercut).

"Sounds simple enough to deal with," you answered while handing Neuvillette his papers back, "do you need me to look into anything?"

He thought for a moment, "no, just be sure that the accused doesn't run away."

"Will do," your cheery attitude shined through as it usually did.

Yeah, you hated your job. You hated being in your brother's shadow. You hated the theatrics that the opera house provided. But truly .. where else would you possibly run to in order to escape? Sometimes, it was best to just leave your life as is, and to just let your brother handle everything while moving forward.

Though, maybe a change was something you needed. How that change would occur, however, was entirely up to you and the decisions you would make.

[dilucl0v3r]

I don't know how to interact correctly with people, I'm really sorry if I did anything offensive to you, even though Im embarrassed to comment anything... anyways English is not my first language too so if I say something probably has a lot of grammatical errors...

[dilucl0v3r]

"Self insert characters are cringe"

Bro I'm trying to survive capitalism with maladaptive daydreaming. Leave me alone.

[dilucl0v3r]

Ahsbdinsusbsh please help this is solo good!!

04 from the start ⸝⸝ library date (gone wrong)

tw. . . minor mentions of blood (again)

beads of sweat (and perhaps tears) ran down your face as you stopped at the second floor of the library. while the ground floor was stockpiled with various books ranging from fiction to non fiction, the upper floor housed an idyllic study and reading space paired with a student-run coffee shop.

the air held an aromatic smell — smoky and earthy which complimented the overall rustic vibe of the place. although artifical, the books and plants that decorated the (what was once empty) shelves and rails suited the place too, capturing the classic academia aesthetic the council were going for. the perfect environment for talking shit about sampo (you're joking. you'd never do that to your best bud sampo... maybe).

unfortunately, you weren't in the mood for that right now because you swear — you were dying.

you wouldn't say you weren't athletic or anything but holy shit, with the way these stairs made you gasp and heave like you just ran a marathon, you'd start to think you were. like — couldn't the school at least afford those flat escalators used in airports and malls?

searching the area for your blonde 'boo-boo bear', you couldn't find him. ain't no way i just got played (dhmu im going home and never going to the library ever again- )

ah. never mind, he's at the table behind you. and man, did he look so cute when he was focused.

surprisingly, he was seated at a circular table a bit far from the others — your favourite spot. why? "so i can stalk geppie from afar obviously!" you once told your friends jokingly. in reality, it was for a totally different reason.

your eyes wandered back to the man in question. he was dead concentrated on his laptop, perhaps trying to fix the dumpter fire of a poster he produced. jaw tightening, he leaned backwards, an adorably annoyed sigh left him as he ran a hand through his messy, blonde locks which caused the silver necklace you gave him to jingle across his chest. god damn, he's so illegally fineeeee.

...but how'd he know that was you favourite spot?

"oh name? you alright?" he asked, finally noticing your struggling form against the railing.

why do i hear wedding bells?

"give me a sec... damn these stairs... im gunna manifest the downfall of whoever made them... " you huffed, shaking your fist like a senile old man.

"uh huh... i uh- wish you good luck on that," gepard replied, patting you on the shoulder stiffly. he's so awkward (i want him). "anyway, as promised, i have your favourite coffee at the table. let's start?"

"'course!" you cheered, thanking the man above for the absolute angel in front of you. but as you were about to grab your drink-

"well aren't we moving fast, huh?" you teased, "holding hands before marriage, geppie? technically not my hand but my wrist... but you know what i mean-"

"...why's your hand bloody?"

"h uh???"

looking down at your right hand, sure enough, it was covered in a liquid layer of crimson that dripped down your palm to your fingers. it seems you had clenched your hand too hard earlier when receiving gepard's text message in the music room, causing small punctures to appear on the palm of your hand.

"...woops?" you shrugged dismissively, "i'll ask a barista for a tissue or something- hey! where are we going? geppie?"

he looked... angry? kinda hot tho-

woah who said that??????

"the infirmary. you should at least wrap the cuts properly," he replied sternly, dragging you towards the exit of the library, your wrist still firmly in his hold. "plus," he started, "shouldn't we already be used to hand holding?"

MASTERLIST ⸝⸝ previous! ⸝⸝ next!

𑁤 sypnosis. despite claiming to be 'rizz master 3000' name has failed to ask out their crush and childhood best friend, gepard, for a few years (L). with this new wave of courage, will this lovestruck idiot be able to confess before gepard buys a house and adopts 3 cats and a bunny with someone else? (this is a joke. geppie will not be adopting 3 cats and a bunny).

notes. . . i actually planned to have this chapter be longer (more than 2x the length of this one) but it was getting too long :( so i apologise for the short chapter. next one will be the other half tho! (also written) so i hope you look forward to it <3 (edit: omg the fucking coffee?!?!?!)

. . .tags @520cafe , @kitsuxiv , @91ed0 , @iridescentsunsetwaters