pauli-writes

[pauli-writes]

ever since 2.7 the sunday short(s) you made live rent free in my head.... how would reader react to him joining the ae after all of that 😣😣

warning: idk what to write here, themes of trauma and healing?

pairing: sunday x reader

author‘s note: thank u anon for waking me up from my hiatus with this. i was so creatively drained, but this request gave me new life. im probably gonna do all of the event stuff in the new year, so you can still request on that if you want. also happy belated holidays to all of you!

part i ☆ part ii

“no.”

“but reader-“

“i said no. i don’t want him here.”

march 7th and the trailblazer were looking at you with wide eyes, while welt, himeko and dan heng were a little more understanding to your seemingly drastic reaction to the newcomer of the astral express, who at the moment was standing awkwardly a little further away from the group.

“maybe we should talk about this in private?” dan heng suggested, but you only brushed him off.

“there is nothing to talk about. you asked me a question and i gave you an answer, i’m sorry if it doesn’t satisfy you.” with that you left the parlour car, the door closing shut behind you with a heavy thud. there was a tense silence that followed as the remaining members of the astral express exchanged worried glances.

himeko was the first to speak. “they’ll come around. this is just a lot for them.”

“himeko is right,” welt added calmly, “they’ll talk when they’re ready.”

later that day you were ghosting around the party car, unable to fall asleep. you supposed a snack and something to drink would do the trick. the earlier encounter was still heavy in your mind, replaying over and over again like a broken cassette tape. you know you were being mean and unreasonable, but you were just too overwhelmed with emotion to think reasonably.

as you got your drink and snack from shush, you turned to walk back to your room only to find sunday, staring out the window. the sight stirred something in you, a strange feeling of nostalgia, melancholy and hurt all mixed into one. you wanted to walk away, return to your room and never speak of this again, but just in that split second he turned his head and the two of you locked eyes for a split second, before he turned back toward the window. a moment of silence passed between the two of you, before he spoke up.

“the view is beautiful…” his voice was subdued, almost sad as he spoke, a stark contrast to the assured way he talked previously.

“i suppose it is…” you replied awkwardly, “i haven’t payed attention in a while.”

another stretch of silence passed between the two of you. you pondered if you should just leave, avoid the awkwardness, but before you could walk away he spoke up again.

“i apologise for any distress i caused you with my request to join the express. that was never my intention.” he turned away from the window and looked at you properly. you could see his expression, it was different that before, he looked sadder, remorseful even. this was a different sunday, that much was clear to you now.

you sighed and avoided his gaze uncomfortably, “you never mean to, but you still do it…”

sunday’s face fell at your words as a slight realisation fell upon him, he let out a small humourless laugh. “of course, i owe you an apology for that too…” he said mostly to himself, before clearing his throat and properly addressing you. “i see now that my actions were selfish. keeping you inside, wasn’t for you, it was for me… i know this apology doesn’t make up for what did, but i hope it makes traveling with me… easier.”

you looked to the ground silently. your emotions were all over the place at the moment. his apology didn’t help. there was a time were you hated him, but as you distanced yourself from what happened and looked back, you knew that sunday wasn’t solely responsible for what happened, his environment, the people around him, shaped him into that person. so, couldn’t blame him entirely anymore.

you took a deep breath and looked up at him. “i don’t what to feel anymore… the astral express was the first place where I was free to do as i please, it’s my home… somehow it feels wrong having you here.” you paused for a moment, looking for the right words, “but my reaction earlier was harsh, i can see you’re making an attempt to redeem yourself and that’s… comforting. i just need time and space to… to process everything.”

sunday looked at you, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “of course, i understand. thing like that take time.”

for the first time that day you smiled, only a little, but a smile all the same. sunday couldn’t remember the last time he saw you smile, but he was glad to see that again. “thank you… well, i’m off to bed then. good night.”

he straightened himself and nodded, returning the small smile. “good night, reader.”

[pauli-writes]

warnings: probably not lore accurate, shackling prison

pairing: dan heng x vidyadhara!reader

author’s note: i got the xianzhou on the brain, im sorry if this is bad i just needed to write something to get rid of my writers block :,)

eternity.

a state to which time has no application, timelessness. the concept of eternity was almost unthinkable to short life species such as humans, everything had a beginning and an end for them. but long life species view time differently, for them eternity was a feasible concept, yet equally as unreachable. whenever one thought they had reached it, they’d die or get reborn anew.

you have wished for eternity as long as you could remember, but you knew even if it would claim you, you would be reborn, doomed to repeat this endless cycle for millennia to come with no memories of your previous life.

and so life moves on, and yet you remained unmoving, as the shackling prison of the xianzhou luofu has been your home for the better part of this amber era. every day you looked wishfully at the dark walls of your cell, imagining a life outside of the prison, the life your other self had lived on the luofu.

but not everything was awful.

you had a friend once. his cell was next to yours, you never saw his face, but you could hear his voice, the screams and whimpers he’d let out when he had a nightmare. it wasn’t that unusual in the prison, but to you everyone else’s voices were scrambled and distant, and yet you could hear his so clearly, the anguish with in it, that one day you couldn’t take it anymore and asked him what he was dreaming about in an attempt to satiate your own curiosity.

“what are you always dreaming about?”

there was a prolonged silence followed by the soft rattling of chains. you assumed he was shackled to the wall just like you were.

“i think i’m remembering things from my previous life…” he spoke, but he sounded unsure and shaken up by his nightmare.

you frowned and shook your head, “that’s not possible.”

he didn’t reply after that. the two of you went back to being silent, for weeks you didn’t bother talking further. you were pretty sure he hated you, still eternity was so far away so you decided to try talking again.

“so, what did you do to end up here?”

he didn’t reply again, but you didn’t care, you needed to talk, to distract yourself from your prison, so you just continued. “i don’t really know, but i think my previous self did something bad.“

there was another pause and you believed this conversation to be another dead end until he spoke softly, “i think mine did too.”

your eyes widened as you heard him speak and you felt yourself smiling for the first time in a while. “i’m reader by the way...”

“dan heng.”

you paused for a moment, the name stirring a sense of familiarity inside of you. was it possible that… perhaps, perhaps not. all you knew at that moment that company was a momentary reprieve from this prison. so, you continued occasionally talking to your new friend, commiserating in your shared misery of being chained up for something you don’t really remember doing in the first place.

you were usually the one to initiate the conversations, dan heng wasn’t much of a talker you quickly figured out, but you mostly only spoke to him after you could hear him having a nightmare. but you were surprised as he spoke up first one night.

“do you know something about imbibitor lunae?”

you paused, a feeling of familiarity washing over you from the word, but nothing concrete came to mind. “it sounds familiar, but i don’t remember…”

“i see.” he replied, sounding disappointed. it made you sad that you couldn’t help him out, but you didn’t dwell on it.

“why are you asking me?”

silence filled the air once more, you could hear the chains rattling from his cell. “i… had a dream. i heard your voice. you said those words.”

“you have strange dreams.”

“you don’t?”

you looked to the ground, trying to recall the last time you had a weird dream, or even a dream. but you couldn’t remember, you slept so little that you definitely would have remembered a dream or strange dreams. “no… i don’t dream.”

“then you’re even stranger.”

you thought for a moment, “maybe…”

time continued passing outside of the prison and just as you found a moment of respite and comfort with the fleeting moments between you and your friend, they were ripped away from you in an instant like a cruel cosmic punishment. you didn’t see anything, but you heard the hushed voices, the whispered names and titles as the chains were loosened and the doors opened.

dan heng, dan feng, imbibitor lunae, the high elder of the vidyadhara…

those names meant something to you once upon a time too, maybe they would again…

[pauli-writes]

hello, i thought i could update you all since it’s been a while. i’m having a little bit of writers block at the moment, besides that i also have school and personal problems that i need to deal with. but i’ll try to work on the remaining requests in my inbox as quickly as possible :3

besides that i’m probably also going to change the appearance of the blog to a new aesthetic and i also want to do a small event maybe when i reach 100 followers, but we’ll see about that.

i just wanted you guys to know that i’m not dead or abandoning this blog

- byeee

[pauli-writes]

warning: angst, aventurine is gambling his life, slavery, a gun is involved, jade is here again

pairing: aventurine x reader

author’s note: here is part 3 and holy shit it’s more dramatic than i first thought of. it’s also much longer than the other parts also not proofread :,)

part I ☆ part II

you didn’t like to be dragged somewhere.

it reminded you of all the times when your previous master was angry and dragged you to his bedroom to “relieve his stress”. despite that you tried to ask the low ranking ipc members of why you were suddenly being manhandled to one of the conference rooms. they wouldn’t reply to you, and why would they, you were just someone’s pet to them after all.

“now, now, don’t be to rough with them.” your body tensed as you heard the familiar voice of jade ringing throughout the room. you were abruptly let go and stumbled forward into the middle of the room as you looked up you saw jade sitting on a chair, petting her snake, and aventurine next to her with an unreadable expression. everyone else had left the room.

a slight feeling of relief flooded your body upon seeing him again, but you quickly started to wonder what was going on in the first place, had you done something wrong? was he unhappy with your behaviour? before you could continue to think of all kinds of different scenarios, jade tapped her cane on to the floor, making you straighten up.

“you look tense,” she spoke up, her snake hissing as if it was agreeing with her, “relax, we are just here to have a chat about your… employment.”

“did i do something wrong?” was the question to immediately leave your mouth. your eyes darted over to aventurine, but he was avoiding your gaze, which made you think that you most definitely did.

jade chuckled as she saw your reaction and raised her cane to lay underneath your chin, gently tilting your head back to look at her once more. “on the contrary, in fact i would say your ‘master’ is rather fond of you.”

you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion and glanced at aventurine once again, he kept his gaze on the ground, almost hiding his face beneath his hat. “i don’t think i understand.”

“aventurine here has asked me for your freedom.”

your eyes widened and you blinked in surprise and shock, “m-my freedom?”

jade smiled amused, her snake hissing happily, while aventurine sighed and stepped up to you, raising his head to look at you for the first time since you entered the room. his eyes distracted you for a moment, the beautiful colours drawing you, making you feel warm and slightly more relaxed, until you felt something cold and heavy being pressed into your hands, a gun.

your expression quickly turned from relaxed to scared and confused, your hands started to shake and you tried to give the gun back to aventurine, but he only pushed it back to you.

“ah, ah, ah, don’t do that.” you stopped once you heard jade’s voice and turned to look at her in clear distress, her expression however was still amusement. “it’s your ticket to freedom. the ever generous aventurine has offered his life in exchange for yours, isn’t that sweet?”

your eyes widened and you felt like throwing up as you realised where this was heading, you could feel your breathing getting shallow and your hands shaking, and you started to feel lightheaded. it was a familiar feeling of panic, but it dulled as you felt a hand on your cheek.

“it will be fine.” aventurine caressed your cheek with one hand, while his other was hidden behind his back. the way he looked at you made your stomach churn, but for a different reason than before. it was so soft and gentle, nothing like the aventurine you’ve talked to before, nonetheless you couldn’t believe his words.

“no, no. i-i can’t- i won’t-“ you managed to choke out, the gun visibly shaking in your hands.

aventurine just put his hand over yours and pulled the gun closer to his chest, the barrel pressing against it. “just pull the trigger. you’ll be free. don’t you want to be free, reader?”

free. the word repeated in your mind over and over, but you didn’t even know what it meant. you spent most of your life in servitude, what would you even do as a free person?

you glanced back up at aventurine. he was challenging you with his expression, his usual cocky smile, as if he didn’t care that his life was on the line here. what kind of person would sacrifice his own life for someone like you?

you then glanced back up at jade behind him. she was smiling, while you were undergoing the biggest emotional crisis of your life, she was enjoying herself, laughing at your situation as if you were nothing more than a circus animal. people like her, people like your previous master enriched themselves at the misfortune of others. it made you angry.

“reader trust me,” the quiet whisper of his voice brought you back to reality. aventurine smirked at you and wiped away the tears that unknowingly poured down your face, “when have i ever lost a bet?”

never. you wanted to say, but held it back. despite aventurine’s abnormal luck, you couldn’t see a way for him to win this. this wasn’t a game at a poker table, this was life. and yet, when he looked at you with those eyes and caressed your cheek so gently, you caved in and believed at least for a second that he could get out of this unscathed.

“promise?” you whispered quietly in reply.

he nodded, “i promise.”

you squeezed your eyes shut and forced yourself to pull the trigger. you waited for the gunshot, for the grunt of pain, for jade’s triumphant clapping, but it never came.

you slowly opened your eyes and saw that aventurine still standing in front of you, a smirk on his face as he locked eyes with Jade.

it was a blank.

you dropped to your knees with a shaky breath, starting to sob and cry from the overwhelming emotions that flooded you, relief, frustration, anger, stress. you could faintly hear aventurine talking with jade in the background, but you couldn’t make out their words. it was all too much, as always you were being used like a pawn in someone else’s game. after a few minutes you could feel yourself getting picked up and guided out the room. your vision started to focus again and you looked up to see aventurine had draped his coat over your shoulders and wrapped his arm around your waist.

“we did it. you’re free to do as your please.” he spoke quietly, trying not to startle you in your fragile state.

you hiccuped and wiped away the remaining tears from your face. “how could you make me go through all that knowing it was a blank.”

“oh, i didn’t know that,” he replied casually, making your eyes widen in shock, “i was simply betting that i was an important enough asset to the ipc strategic investment department.“

you were silent for a moment, processing his words, before taking a deep breath to steady your breathing. “you were ready to lay down your life for me?”

aventurine let out a chuckle upon hearing your surprise, “don’t sound so surprised. you should know by now that i care about you at least a little.”

you could feel a warm feeling spreading through your body, you wondered for a brief moment if that was what love felt like, before dismissing it. “so, what do i do now?”

“whatever you want,” he replied, “you can leave the ipc and go wherever you want.”

“i don’t know where to go… i’ve never been free before, my planet is destroyed and my family is… dead.”

aventurine expression softened, all too familiar with the feeling you were experiencing. “don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. in the meantime you can stay with me indefinitely. you don’t even have to work. just… exist.”

you nodded softly, “yes, i’d like that.”

“good,” he replied, his hold on you tightening slightly. it seems like he truly won’t be alone anymore like jade had told him in the very beginning.

[pauli-writes]

warning: fluff, mutual pining, a little repressed feelings, ipc stuff, topaz’s real name

pairing: topaz x afab!reader

author’s note: i love topaz so much and i definitely listened to too much chappell roan recently. this oneshot might be inconsistent, because i started it one day and finished it another, sorry about that

you never particularly enjoyed working for the ipc, but what else were you going to do with the degree you got from a university from your home planet? and in fairness it wasn’t all bad, the marketing development department was not a terrible place, and you had some perks as a p25 employee, but the thing that made it enjoyable for you, was occasionally catching a glimpse of one of the ten stonehearts.

“jelena! i- i mean director topaz!” you yelled as you spotted her during one of your boring assignments on another small planet. “are you here to oversee the progress?”

topaz’s face lit up as she saw you walking up to her, and so did numby’s. despite her quick rise through the ranks, she would always remember you. the person who was by her side during her initial internship in the marketing department, her first friend, the only person she didn’t have to act formal around.

topaz watched as numby ran up to you and jumped into your arms. she liked it when you smiled, it made her happy.

“yeah, i’m here on behalf of madame jade. she got caught up in something else.” topaz explained as she walked up to meet you halfway. your face visibly paled at the mention of the older woman and you gently let down numby, before focusing on topaz again.

“i’m glad it’s you here. i’m always scared to say something wrong around her.”

topaz couldn’t help but laugh at your comment, and it made you blush a little. you liked hearing her laugh, it made you happy. you quickly composed yourself and fumbled out a tablet from your bag, showing her the progress of your assignment. “here is the progress report.”

topaz took the tablet from you and scanned over the number, while she did that you couldn’t help but admire her. “impressive numbers… you’re doing well.”

you blushed and rubbed the back of your neck, “aw, you’re just saying that.”

“i’m just being honest,” she replied with a smile, the smile you loved so much and could watch 24 hours a day. she handed the tablet back to you, and you noticed a small shift in her expression. “you know i miss working with you. we always had so much fun.”

“we did, didn’t we?” you replied, remembering all of the fun you had as interns, pouring over paperwork together, gossiping during break, until reality caught up with you and reminded you of the shift of positions between the two of you.

despite being good friends the two of you were not equals. you remembered that she aced all of the tests the ipc made you take, while you barely passed them, she came from a planet that was on the brink of poverty, while you were living comfortably. in the end the difference was quite clear, topaz was driven by ambition, the desire to change the cosmos, while you were happy once you made it through the day. she was so great in every way, you didn’t deserve to be friends with her, let alone her girlfriend, never mind that thought, like that would ever happen.

you snapped out of your thoughts and smile sadly, “but you’re a stone heart now, and that’s like ipc royalty. you work directly under diamond. and i’m barely managing my own branch. we’ll likely won’t be directly working with each other again.”

topaz noticed your change in demeanour, and so did numby as it gently nudged your leg with its head, she wondered what made you change like that all of the sudden. it wasn’t out of the ordinary for you, you tended to overthink a lot, but topaz usually brought you back to reality.

“don’t sell yourself short like that,” she said with a bright smile, while putting a hand on your shoulder, “i’m sure you’ll work your way up in no time, and when you do we can do all kinds of assignments together again.”

you blushed a little, but her words were hard to believe. you weren’t the kind of person to work themselves up, you were content with your position. you only got your current position because the previous guy died. regardless you forced a smile and put your hand on hers, you didn’t want to make her worry. “yeah…”

topaz smiled back at you and casually took back her hand, “anyway, i gotta check up on the other manager. i’ll talk to you later?”

“absolutely,” you replied, “let’s meet up for some tea.”

she gave you a thumbs up, starting to walk towards some of your coworkers with numby following her eagerly. “i’ll call you.”

you smiled and nodded, before watching her walk away. it was true that seeing her every once in a while made your job truly enjoyable, but you didn’t know how long you could go on like this. it was probably better to let her go instead of letting yourself be consumed by the feeling of hope, the hope of maybe settling down with her somewhere quiet one day without worrying or fearing the ipc.

[pauli-writes]

Is it alr with you if I get inspired by your last aven post? I’ll give credit ofc

Yeah, sure go ahead! :D

[pauli-writes]

OMG—YOUR LATEST AVENTURINE POST HAS ME ON THE FLOOR. I would love to see a part two if you’d be okay with writing it!

warning: usual ipc crimes (mentions of slavery and destroying planets)

pairing: aventurine x reader

author’s note: hiii, i’m glad you enjoyed it as much as i had fun writing it. i was planning on doing a part 2 anyways so here ya go <3 (do i hear a possible part 3???)

part I

aventurine didn’t know what to do with you. you didn’t talk much and despite telling you to do whatever you followed him around like a lost puppy.

topaz had numby and aventurine had you, that was the consensus among the ipc staff.

you were nothing more than a pet, an accessory. aventurine didn’t know how to feel about that, because unlike him when he was in the possession of someone else, you weren’t resistant, you weren’t actively fighting him or trying to outsmart him.

he sometimes wondered what was going on inside your head, if there was anything in there at all. he once asked you to watch ice cubes melt while he was attending a meeting and when he came back you were still watching the ice cubes. he spoke to topaz about it and she suggested he should simply ask you about your behaviour, and as simple as it sounded, he hadn’t actually considered it. you did everything he asked you to, so why not answer a few questions?

however when he asked you…

“i’m sorry, madam jade told me not to disclose any of that information to you.” you replied, bowing before him in apology.

aventurine frowned displeased, idly playing with a coin in his hands. “but i’m your boss.”

“she’s technically my boss, since she got me from my original master when he-“ your eyes widened and you quickly covered your mouth. “i- i mean- please forget what i said-“

he skilfully flung the coin at you, startling you and cutting you off, but you managed to catch it clumsily in your hands. he watched you with narrowed eyes.

“tell me the truth and i’ll give you anything you want.” he declared boldly, making your eyes widen a little. aventurine had been generous with you before, buying you your clothes and taking care of other expenses you had when travelling with him, but this was unprecedented.

you held the coin out to him, “you should know by now that i can’t be bought.”

aventurine smirked, carefully taking the coin back from you. “you’re cute. everyone can be bought, you just have to find the right price. so, what do you want? money? clothes?”

you immediately shook your head, a reaction he wasn’t quite accustomed to. whenever he offered riches he would get what he wanted. “you can’t offer me what i really want.”

“you are making this a lot harder than it needs to be,” he replied, once again rolling the coin in between his fingers.

you sighed and lowered your head again, “i’m sorry, mr. aventurine.”

aventurine frowned and reached out, putting his hand underneath your chin and making you look at him. “don’t apologise, your loyalty is admirable if anything. but it’s going to get you killed one day.”

“that wouldn’t be the worst to be honest.” you grimaced, you were probably the only person he knew besides himself who thought of death as anything but scary. then he remembered what jade had told him, your entire planet was destroyed, you were likely the only survivor, much like him. that’s why you didn’t agree to his offer earlier, you didn’t want riches, you wanted you family, your friends.

he let go of your face and got up from his chair, fixing his hair while he did so. “do you like jade?”

you paused, watching as he stood up and walked up to you. “i-i don’t hate her.”

he chuckled, “a very diplomatic answer. very well, i’ll be back soon. wait here.”

you nodded your head obediently with a hint of confusion in your eyes, you didn’t ask why he was leaving, despite not having any meeting scheduled. aventurine left the room and took a deep breath, his mask of confidence slipping for a moment in the empty corridor.

if you weren’t going to fight or bargain for your freedom yourself, he would simply have to do it for you.

[pauli-writes]

will u write a pt 2 for the sunday short?? its such a good concept 😓😓

warning: set during 2.3 story quest, religious themes, toxic relationship

pairing: sunday x reader

author’s note: u request i shall deliver (i’m sorry it’s been like a month, i didn’t know what to write for this but now i do) not proofread :,)

part I

“you are up early.”

you nearly dropped your bottle of soulglad as you heard the familiar voice of himeko. despite having found the watchmakers legacy and the truth about penacony, as well as stopping sunday from becoming… whatever it was that the express crew fought in the end, you found yourself restless.

perhaps it was the fact that you were forced to return to penacony, when a galaxy ranger named boothill hijacked the astral express with you and dan heng on it, you had no choice but face your past and what you saw was anything but healing for your inner self. you’d think beating up the person who kept you locked up for a better part of your life would lead to catharsis, if anything it left you more confused than before.

you turned to face himeko, forcing a smile. “ever since i first left penacony i don’t sleep well. i suppose it’s less noticeable when we’re on the express since i’m mostly in my room.”

you hoped that this explanation was enough for her, it was the truth, but not the whole truth. although you saw himeko’s expression change slightly as she put a hand on your shoulder. “don’t worry after the charmony festival we’ll leave. so, i suggest you take care of any unfinished business before then.”

you blinked in confusion. she said it so casually, that you almost missed the look she gave you. did she know about your troubles? “unfinished business?”

“you know what i mean,” himeko replied with a small smile, “well, i’ve got to go. i’m having a meeting with the ipc. i’m sure you’ll do well.”

himeko left after giving you a reassuring pat on the shoulder, leaving you to ponder your choices. it wasn’t like you couldn’t return to penacony after leaving, but you seriously doubted that you would come back voluntarily.

which is why you now found yourself with your dear childhood friend robin in front of a large door.

“thank you for letting me do this.” you said to her, fidgeting with the golden astral express crew member pin on your jacket. you had been nervous since you texted robin for the favour and the many bloodhound family members around you weren’t helping.

robin smiled kindly at you as always, despite spending most of your time with sunday, the moments you spent with her were very dear to your heart. when you were children you were often forced guided to spent time with sunday, but every once in a while you played or studied with Robin and she was kind to you, almost distracting you from sunday’s possessive behaviour. maybe in a different life you could have travelled with her on her tour.

“it’s no problem, but are you sure?”

you waved your hand dismissively, trying to hide your feelings. “yeah, yeah. i’ll be fine.”

“okay,” she replied simply, “well, i have to go back to prepare everything on the radiant feldspar, but call me if anything happens.”

you nodded, “will do.”

after that she took your hands in hers and gave them a reassuring squeeze, surprising you and making you blush. “i hope this will give you the closure you need. i can not excuse the things my brother has done to you, but i hope you can move past them.”

she let go and then left you to it. with a deep breath you opened the door and let light stream into the otherwise dark room. as you stepped inside with small hesitant steps you saw him, he was sitting on a chair, chained in placed by his wrists, ankles and neck. he had the look of a fallen angel, and you suppose that was an accurate description of sunday.

an angel led astray and blinded by a god by way of false promises and the lie of a perfect painless world.

his golden eyes widened slightly as he saw you walk in, he hadn’t been expecting anyone to visit him, let alone you, until he was sentenced to death. “reader…”

“hey…” you replied meekly, even chained he had some sort of authority about him, making you feel small. “thought I should say goodbye before leaving penacony.”

he let out a dry chuckle, “don’t lie to me, please. i thought you knew better than that.”

you took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself. you couldn’t let him get to you. “don’t address me as if we are friends.”

“we were friends once,” he said calmly, “something more too. i remember you enjoyed our time together.”

“because i didn’t know any better,” you replied, your hands balling into fists on your sides.

“until you did and you ran away,” he replied, and you hated how calm and condescending he sounded when he talked to you. “you ran away and you left penacony, you left robin, you left… me.”

you looked down briefly. you did leave without a word, but you weren’t the bad guy like sunday would want you to believe. “you think i wanted to leave? you gave me no other option. i was forced to live in solitude, you made me completely dependent on you. my cage may have been gilded but it was a cage nonetheless.”

sunday was quiet after that. you didn’t like when he was quiet, because you couldn’t read his expression very well. he was taught to conceal his emotions from a young age, so you never knew what he thought about.

the silence continued as he leaned his head up to look at the ceiling in a contemplative manner. you didn’t think you’d get anything else out of him, and if you were being honest you felt a lot more at ease by speaking your truth already.

“if you have nothing else to say, i’ll leave now.” you looked at him expectingly.

he lowered his head and looked at you again, his golden eyes staring straight into you. “i feel no remorse for what i did, because i believe that i was just. i was trying to protect and help the people of penacony, i was trying to protect you. and yet you see me as the bad guy, so please, can you answer me a question before you go?”

you nodded hesitantly.

“did you ever love me?”

the words pierced your heart in a way you didn’t expect, because you didn’t know the answer yourself. your entire life was orchestrated by the family, your feelings were dictated as much as your schedule or your diet. you once loved sunday, but you didn’t know if these feelings were your feelings.

you shifted awkwardly on your feet, fidgeting again with your astral express badge. “there was a time where i loved you, but that version of me, wasn’t, well, very me. the person you know and the person i am today, are different people. i hope you understand that.”

his expression once again didn’t reveal any emotion, making you fidget once again.

“i should go now,” you blurted out, before taking a deep breath, “despite everything i do wish you well, sunday.”

for once in his captivity he smiled a little, “i wish you well too, reader. i truly hope that in another life we’ll see each other again.”

you smiled back at him, before stepping out of the room and closing the door. you spent the rest of your way to golden hour by contemplating your life with sunday, until you reached the golden clockie statue and spotted three familiar faces, dan heng, march 7th and the trailblazer.

“what are you guys doing here?” you asked as you walked up to them.

“mr. yang told us where you are and we couldn’t possibly go to the charmony festival without you,” march 7th said with her usual smile.

“how are you feeling?” dan heng asked, he could probably see the exhaustion and emotional turmoil on your face.

you put on a smile, “i’m managing. let’s head to the radiant feldspar, i promised robin to help with some preparations.”

[pauli-writes]

warning: jade herself should be warning, aventurine’s backstory mentioned, also (casual) slavery and blowing up planets

pairing: aventurine x reader, jade is here

author’s note: what’s this? i’m not dead and still obsessed with aventurine and the ipc. part 2 maybe?

“i got you a gift.” was a sentence not usually spoken by madame jade, and when it was it was usually not a gift per say and more so a bribe or a payment upfront expected to be returned at a later date.

aventurine was not stupid, he hadn’t been working for the ipc for long, but even he could see behind jade’s honey words and blinding smiles. the prospect of a gift was intriguing, yet he knew there was a catch and he’d rather not be indebted to the older woman.

“what’s the catch?” he asked, his eyes narrowed behind his tinted glasses.

jade only smiled, the kind of smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and was hiding something, “no catch. consider it a little something for all of your good work and quickly rising up the ranks.”

aventurine scoffed at that, but mentioned for her to continue anyways.

jade snapped her fingers and into the room walked a rather poorly dressed figure, you. you kept your gaze on the ground, very unsure of your surroundings and the people in the room. aventurine immediately felt pity for you, reminded of his own life in captivity, but also angry at jade for bringing you in here in the first place.

jade lightly cleared her throat, focusing all the attention back to her. “due to your rapidly increasing workload i got you a personal assistant. say hello.”

“hello…” you said as if you were trained like a pet. it unnerved him a bit. “i’m reader.”

aventurine couldn’t believe jade, his eyes rapidly shifted from jade to you and back to jade. “your gift is a person?”

the woman nodded and walked to stand behind you, gently putting a hand on your shoulder, while the other started messing with your hair. you stayed unmoving, aventurine figured you were used to being treated more like and object than a person. “their planet was sadly destroyed due to an unpaid debt, but i liked them so much and decided to give them a job here. i think the two of you will get along great.”

the longer aventurine looked at you the angrier he got, it was a cruel reminder of what his life was like before the ipc, before his wealth. jade was mocking him, reminding him of his place, so he wouldn’t get a big head for completing a few jobs. in the end he shook his head and took if his glasses. “i don’t want them. give them to topaz or anyone else.”

jade narrowed her eyes at him, a shadow falling over her face as her grip on your shoulder subtly tightened. “don’t be rude. they’re your responsibility now, i already told diamond about it and they agreed.”

the blond scowled, of course she did. she always thinks of everything. what he really found curious is what she must have told diamond for them to agree to this nonsense. Jade saw the angry expression on his face and smiled devilishly, letting go of your shoulder and pushing you towards him, making you stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

“you should be happy, it’s exactly the gift you need. because now you won’t ever be alone anymore.”

[pauli-writes]

warning: controlling behaviour, manipulation, toxic relationship, could be read as yandere tendencies

pairing: sunday x reader, a little dan heng at the end

author’s note: this was written before i played the 2.2 update, I’m sorry if it’s ooc requests are coming soon when i get back in the groove of writing i promise :3

☆ support me on ko-fi if you like what you’ve read ☆

people had various reasons to join the astral express, some had nowhere else to go, others wanted to see the cosmos. you however were running away from something, well more like someone.

once upon a time penacony was your home, your favourite place on earth. the people were always smiling and the party never stopped, but it was only recently that you’ve realised that this self proclaimed dream was a nightmare in disguise.

“why can’t i go outside?” you asked softly, sitting on your grand queen sized bed, surrounded by pillows and hugging your knees to your chest.

the tall man standing in front of your window, that was overlooking a small part of the golden hour, chuckled. it was out of amusement from your question, but you only found it to be demeaning. he turned to face you and sat down at the edge of the bed.

“you know why. you could get hurt,” he said, his voice stern, contrasting greatly with the gentle look on his face. it confused you greatly.

“you go outside,” you said with furrowed eyebrows, slightly lowering your knees.

“that’s different.”

“why?”

his eyes narrowed slightly, it was a telltale sign that he didn’t like that you questioned him.

“because i say so.” he took a deep breath and reached out to touch your cheek, caressing it slowly. it was meant to bring you comfort, but in this situation it felt like anything but. “oh, reader. i know what’s best for you. and it’s not loitering on the streets.”

“you don’t know that,” you replied, you saw his eyes narrow further. “you can’t keep me in here with you for the rest of my life.”

he chuckled once more, this time it was fair more sinister, he tightened the grip on your face and gave you a soft slap on your cheek, before standing up and walking towards the door.

“you’d be surprised about what’s all possible inside a dream,” he said, then taking a small pause and taking in your small fragil form in the bed. “now, i have some business to attend to. stay here until i get back or else.”

you felt a shiver run down your spine, and nodded. “yes, sunday.”

with a satisfied smile he left the room, making sure to lock the door behind himself.

“reader? are you alright?”

you snapped out of your thoughts and suddenly you were back in the warm parlor of the astral express, the smell of coffee tainting the air. pom pom was sweeping the floor near the jukebox and dan heng stood in front of you, surprising you greatly. “huh? yes, sorry.”

“is something wrong?” he asked further, a hint of genuine concern in his voice. he carefully sat down next to you, keeping a respectful distance. “himiko said you were originally from penacony. it wasn’t easy for me when we stopped at the xianzhou, do you have similar feelings?”

“compared to your struggles mine are nothing…” you replied, thinking back to dan heng and his history before he boarded the express. you turned to look at him, his expression was unreadable as usual, but you could feel your words worried him a little. you took a deep breath and put on a brave face.

“what i mean is, thank you for your concern, but i’ll be fine as long as i don’t set a foot in the reverie.”

[pauli-writes]

warning: fluff, gepard and reader are already in a relationship, gepard is a down bad for reader (i am not sorry)

pairing: gepard x reader; serval is also there

author’s note: i promise i’m working on requests, in the meantime take this, because wow i’m very behind on requests— (also definitely not proof read)

serval watched in amusement as gepard paced up and down in her shop. the reason for his troubles was you, poor innocent you.

the story between you and gepard was nothing short out of a book. him, the son of a noble family and you, the child of a simple shopkeeper. the two of you became friends when you were young children, and eventually started dating as teens and then stayed together through everything, even the stellaron crisis and the entire aftermath.

serval has watched this relationship grow since its first day, and has been rooting for the two of you since the beginning as well. and now here she was listening to her brother’s nervously telling her about his plan to propose to you now that everything has settled on belobog and thing were going well.

“serval, what would i even say?” he murmured as he paced. “what if they say no?”

the older landau chuckled, “you worry too much. i’m sure they won’t. they adore you.”

gepard sighed. “i know, i know. i just don’t want to get this wrong.”

“get what wrong?”

both serval and gepard jumped at the sound of your voice. how did you enter the shop with either of them noticing?

“nothing.” they replied simultaneously. you raised your eyebrows in suspicion, but dropped asking further questions. instead you walked closer and went to stand next to gepard. he looked a little nervous, which was unbefitting of him. serval meanwhile was watching him with an amused smile, which was very in character for her.

“okay… anyways, are we still going to dinner tonight?” you asked and gepard, almost automatically, nodded his head.

“yes, of course!”

“great, i’ll be ready at seven.” you got on to your tippy toes and pressed a kiss on his cheek, before leaving the shop with a wave. gepard watched you as you left and serval could see the smitten expression on her baby brother’s face. all of you had grown older and matured in your own ways, but this expression of pure unadulterated adoration was as unchanging as the ice and snow on belobog.

“geppie, you need to propose to them tonight.”

“serval-“

“don’t worry it will be fine.” and she said it with such conviction and confidence that gepard believed her if only for a moment.

later that day gepard picked you up from your home and walked you the restaurant you had a reservation at. he was the perfect gentleman throughout the night, what you didn’t know was the ring sitting idly in his pocket, making him more nervous by the second.

he was so concerned about trying to find the right moment, only for dinner to be over before you knew it. he mentally cursed himself as the two of you walked out the restaurant, if he didn’t propose now, he would never propose.

you, completely unaware of his inner turmoil, kept talking about your work and your daily life. then you heard the familiar melody of a guitar. “oh, look. serval is playing on the street. let’s go see.”

gepard could barely register your words before he was pulled along to where his sister was giving a small performance. a number of people were already crowding around her, but she easily spotted her baby brother and his partner. the two landaus locked eyes and serval gave her brother a look that said, “have you done it?” to which he shook his head with an almost ashamed expression.

it was time for plan b then, serval cut her current song short and started playing a song she knew you liked because of you visiting when she was practicing with her band. it was a bit slower than her usual work, but just perfect for this scenario

“oh, i like this song,” you said, humming along to the melody.

gepard chuckled at your adorable behaviour, “i know you do…” he locked eyes with serval again, and she nodded her head at him with a confident smile. “listen, reader, i’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

you turned your full attention to him as he took a deep breath. “we have been together for a while. i still remember when i first saw you in your parents shop as children, and now here we are, grown up and belobog is starting to rebuild itself too. what I’m trying to say is, i would like to spend the rest of my life with you, so will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

“yes, of course!” you replied without hesitation, jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly. gepard was a bit startled, and so were the people who were standing next to the two of you. after a few seconds you pulled away again, but a giddy smile remained, “i was wondering why you were so nervous the entire week. i’m glad it’s because of this and not some work related thing.”

“i’m just glad you said yes,” he said, taking your hand and slipping the ring on it. “i don’t know what i would have done if you hadn’t.”

you smiled at him, not even concerned about the expensive ring. “there is no universe in the world where i would ever say no to you, gepard.”

“noted.” he said with a flustered expression, his cheeks turning a little red.

serval watched from where she was playing her guitar with a smile. she stopped playing for a moment and shouted, “hey, congratulations you two lovebirds!”

everyone turned to look at you and gepard and you both blushed deeply in embarrassment.

as you all grow older some things may change and evolve, other things are constant, like gepard’s love for you… or serval’s teasing.

[pauli-writes]

fyi i’m still working on requests, but things are slow right now cause i have a lot of exams to worry about. when the next two weeks are over things should be normal again and i have more time to write :3

[pauli-writes]

Could I request Aventurine with a jewelry maker s/o?

warning: light 2.1 spoilers (just that aventurine shattered his cornerstone), references to gambling, aventurine is a little mean

pairing: aventurine x reader

author’s note: thank you anon! i had so much fun writing this! (it was a good distraction from thinking about my presentation for class) this is really short again and beware that i know nothing about jewels or the likes that part was all google, but i hope you enjoy it anyways!

“so, you think it’s possible?” he was insane, out of his mind. he wanted you of all people to shatter the cornerstone the ipc has given him, something like that could probably be considered blasphemous by the ipc, you could be put on trial or worse for this.

However you didn’t say anything close to this to his face, instead only nodding along like a good little partner. “yeah, but we could get in trouble for it. i mean real trouble-“

“i know, i know,” he cut you off with a wave of his hand, starting to walk around you like a predator circling his prey. it would be unsettling for most, but you were already used to it. “but you’ll still help me right?”

you paused and looked at the beautiful aventurine stone lying on your worktable, before slowly looking back up at your blond partner in crime. “aventurine… can i be honest with you?”

“always, my sweet.” he mused with a charming smile, but you could tell inside he was not pleased about you making a fuss about this simple task he asked of you.

“this is a big gamble.”

“you’re saying that like i’m not aware of it.”

you shook your head apologetically, “i didn’t mean to insult you. it’s just- what if the risk isn’t worth the reward this time?”

his smile momentarily turned into a fake frown as he cupped your cheeks in his hands, before turning back into an amused smile. “my dear, have you not been listening to me? don’t you know? the house always wins.”

“and we are the house...“ you finished, turning aventurine’s smile into a smirk as he let go of your face.

“so, you do remember after all.“ he mused, wrapping an arm around your shoulders as you both gazed at the stone in the table. his grip on you tightened subtly, a small reminder that he was the one with a position in power and you only had a small little jewellery shop that you could barely keep afloat. “just don’t think too much about it. i have everything under control, so take this ugly cornerstone and turn it into something elegant, presentable and most importantly undetectable.”

you nodded and he let you get to work. you sat in front of the stone, inspecting it before even attempting to shatter it. after all this stone was said to have sealed the authority of an emanator of preservation within it, which basically meant it was dangerous as heck and you had to be careful about it.

you let out a sigh and picked up the stone, painfully aware of aventurine’s careful and scrutinising gaze on you.

“aventurine is such a pretty stone, you know?”you began, turning it in the light, letting light refract from it, “it’s a symbol of good luck, but you probably already knew that… it’s also very easily mistaken for jade for the untrained eye…”

his expression shifted slightly as you mentioned that, “oh, really?”

he stepped closer again, standing right behind you and examining his stone as well. you knew aventurine liked pretty and expensive things, he dressed up to the part he wanted to play, you remembered when he first stepped into your shop he had no clue about what was fine expensive jewellery and what was just something cheaply made and sold for an expensive price. it’s almost funny that his own stone was never a part of those conversations.

you nodded your head, presenting the aventurine in such a way it would sparkle a little. “yeah. you can’t really tell at a glance, but aventurine has a slight glittery shimmer to it. i can barely tell the difference half the time.”

“you’re so smart, reader.” he said, making you blush a little. you were very easily flustered by praise. “i think you just gave me an even better idea. i have to leave and make a call, i’ll be back later. love you.”

he gave you a kiss on the cheek before starting to walk out of your store with a hurried step. you could barely register what he had said, a new idea? how did your info dumping give him a new idea?

you shook your head, it was futile trying to figure out what he thought. quickly you stood up and shouted after him, “love you too! don’t come back too late!”

[pauli-writes]

Could I request Dan Heng getting jealous of his tail because his s/o keeps hugging it instead of him?

warnings: people talking about feelings, hints of self esteem issues, so much affection, hurt/comfort?, suggestive ending

pairing: dan heng x reader

author’s note: this is sort of connected to this, but can be read on its own. thank you so much for requesting anon! i changed it up slightly, i hope you still enjoy it though. not proofread :,)

when you first saw him in his full vidyadhara form you could not stop gushing about how pretty he looks.

you already thought regular dan heng was the prettiest person you’ve ever seen, but then you saw him and march 7th had to make sure you were still breathing by how red your face was turning.

“reader, please calm down,” he had said red tinted cheeks as you gushed over him, with most everyone present and watching the two of you in amusement, especially the general.

you only continued, tears gathering at the corners of your eyes, “but you’re so pretty!”

this conversation continued until the stay on the xianzhou for the astral express was over.

now, dan heng didn’t want to accuse you of loving his other form more, but he also couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy every time you complimented it. it felt as if his regular self wasn’t enough for you anymore. it also didn’t help that you started messing around with his tail whenever it appeared.

another quiet night on the express and you carried all of you blankets and pillows to the archive, as you walked in dan heng was busy with the databank like usual.

you build your little blanket nest and sat down in it, waiting for him to join you. “dan heng, come on.”

he only sighed at your whining, “just a moment. i’m almost done.”

you pouted, something was off. it’s not like him to dismiss you so brazenly, when he dismissed you it was usually more on the playful side. you got up and tiptoed over to where he stood, you wrapped your arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. “are you alright? did you have another nightmare? you can talk to me, you know.”

he let out another sigh, touched by your concern for him, and turned around to face you. “it’s stupid.”

“march says stupid things all the time,” you countered with your usual upbeat smile, “come on, humour me.”

“do you-“ he paused, squirming a little nervously, “do you like my other form better?”

you looked at him confused, “why would you think that?”

“it just feels that way when you keep complimenting me and being all touchy.”

“i’m touchy all the time.”

“i know. i told you it’s stupid-“ you cut him off by giving him a short kiss, as you pulled away you were smiling softly at him, while he was a little stunned by your action.

“it’s not stupid,” you started to intertwine your hands with his, “i’m sorry i made you feel that way.”

he smiled back at you. he always appreciated how serious you took everyone’s feelings. he properly intertwined your hands and pulled you down to sit on your blanket nest. he sat down and leaned against the wall and you immediately sat down next to him and put your head on his shoulder. dan heng automatically wrapped his arms around your shoulders. “it’s alright. i guess with everything that happened on the luofu my emotions got a little… weird.”

you nodded understandingly, “you don’t have to explain yourself. i’m glad we’ve talked about this.”

dan heng nodded as well, “me too. now, what do you want to do tonight?”

you thought for a moment, before a mischievous smile appeared on your lips and you went to sit on his lap, startling him a little.

“how about i show you just how much i love you just the way you are?”

[pauli-writes]

Could I request Aventurine not so subtly demanding affection from his s/o?

warning: lots of kisses, suggestive content?

pairing: aventurine x reader

author’s note: i guess i’m the aventurine gal now. thank you for the request, i didn’t really know what to do with it at first so i hope you enjoy the direction i took (ALSO I HAVENT FINISHED THE 2.1 STORY QUEST YET DON’T SPOIL ME PLS)

“reader, can you come to my office?” was the first thing you heard once you answered your phone, not even a hello, how are you? straight away he goes about commanding you around as if he was your superior, which he technically was, but that’s not the point.

you picked up your paperwork and put the phone in between your ear and your shoulder as you wandered the lower hallways of the ipc headquarters. “what do you need?”

“you.”

“aventurine…” you replied annoyed. he had a habit of calling you during a work day for no reason, but to play around with you. it was charming at times, but most often than not was annoying since you weren’t in such a high position at the ipc that you could afford slaking off for any period of time.

“i’m bored and i happen to know you have a free schedule too.”

you held back a sarcastic remark, of course he knew your schedule, topaz probably told him. “yeah, okay, but your office is sooo high up.”

“i’ll repay you~” he said in a sing song voice, making you let out a tired sigh.

“in what?”

“whatever you want~” he answered in that same silky sweet tone, that has so many people wrapped around his finger.

“okay, i’ll be there in a minute.” it was never about his gifts, but you knew if you didn’t agree to meet him he’d never relent. and so you began you treacherous way to the elevator, that would bring you all the way to aventurine’s office. he had one of the nicer office spaces in ipc, no surprise there, but you hated making the trip from your lousy office to his fancy one.

you knocked twice (your secret signal to tell him it was you) and walked into his office and were immediately grabbed by the waist and pulled into him. “come here.”

he sat you on his lap, as he sat in his very nice office chair behind his imposing desk. he tightly wrapped his arms around your waist, and started peppering your face and neck with quick kisses, making you giggle. he never lingered on one spot for too long, leaving you overwhelmed with sensations.

“what’s up with you?” you asked curiously as he readjusted his hold on you. aventurine was touchy at times, but this seemed more than that.

he only smiled, continuing to press kisses on your neck and collarbone. “just missing your company, is that a crime?”

“no-“

“good.”

he continued his assault of kisses, not that you minded of course. aventurine knew when you had enough, despite his flippant attitude, he was respectful of your boundaries and feelings. so, you let out a breath and leaned back, your head resting against his chest and savoured the feeling of his undivided attention on your.

although as you adjusted your position you spotted something on his desk. “oh, you’re heading to penacony tomorrow?”

you felt him pause for a fraction of a moment, before ignoring your question and continuing to kiss you. you sighed, turning around to face him and cupping his face in your hands. “aventurine. i asked you something.”

“oh, it’s nothing important,” he replied, taking your hand from his cheek and giving it a shallow kiss. “i’ll be back before you know it.”

“yeah, but-“

“no buts, only kisses.” he gave you a kiss on your nose, almost making you giggle again.

“you are going alone,” you said, trying to stay on topic, “that worries me a little.”

aventurine only laughed, waving off your concern as his hands moved up and down on your body. “i won’t be alone, the doctor will be there.”

“that does not reassure me. what if- Ow!” he had given you a small bite on your neck, cutting you off. it didn’t particularly hurt, but surprised you nonetheless.

as you stopped talking he cupped your face in his hands, making you look at him and straight into his colourful eyes. “stop worrying. don’t you trust me?”

you nodded, there was no one you trusted more in the ipc. “i do.”

“good,” he let go of your face and gave you a quick peck on your lips, lingering for a moment before pulling away. “now how about we have lunch together? it’s my treat as always.”

[pauli-writes]

warning: it’s just short fluff, reader and dan heng are already in a relationship

pairing: dan heng x reader

author’s note: i want to give him a kiss :3 (and yes, i have the ability to write for characters that aren’t aventurine,)

your favourite thing were quiet nights on the express, where you could just relax with no stellaron crisis looming over you or march 7th talking your ear off.

on quiet nights you’d grab your blanket and a few pillows and drag them over to the archive, where dan heng was staying in for reasons you will never fully understand, you’d put your things next to his blanket and pillow and make a nice and cozy space for you to stay in.

“i’ll never understand why you need so many pillows.” dan heng said one night, sitting down next to you, as you prepared your cozy nest.

“you don’t have to understand it,” you replied, adjusting the last of your pillows.

he let out a small chuckle, “i suppose so. what do you want to do tonight?”

“i don’t care, as long as i spend time with you.” you knew how cliche the line sounded, but it was true. you leaned closer towards him and laid your head in his lap, making him sigh.

“why bother bringing pillows at all, when you just end up putting your head on my lap anyways?” he asked exasperated, putting a hand on your head and starting to mess with your hair.

you turned to look up at him. “i just like being comfy. what do you have against that?”

he shook his head, a small smile on his face, you scrunched up your face in confusion. “what are you smiling for?”

“nothing,” he replied, pushing some hair out of your face, “just wondering how i got stuck with you.”

you grinned, “yeah, i’m a real catch, aren’t i?”

dan heng rolled his eyes, but you could see a small smile on his face despite it. you sat up properly and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, before leaning your head on his shoulder, smiling a kin to a little child.

“now, please tell me more about the vidyadhara. i wanna know more about you.”

[pauli-writes]

May I request an Aventurine with a reader who's a member of the Astral Express?

Have a nice day!

warning: reader is suffering from nightmares, references to gambling (it’s aventurine after all), flirting

pairing: aventurine x reader

author’s note: this man has taken over my mind, i’m so excited for 2.1 !!! also thank you for requesting, sorry this took so long i had private matters to take care of :3 (this is once again not proofread and partially written at 3am)

being quiet was never really your forte.

whenever you couldn’t sleep at the night you’d restlessly wonder around the astral express, the morning after dan heng would usually complain that you were too loud even though you were trying real hard to stay quiet.

now in the reverie, the hotel in penacony you were staying at, the space was much bigger and the occupants much more lively, not to mention dan heng wasn’t even with you, so he had no chance to complain.

another restless night and you wandered around the hotel. while other guests indulged in the dreamscape, you stayed in reality, afraid that the usual comfort of the dreamscape will twist into something ugly and gruesome for you because of your nightly terrors.

you looked around, most people were asleep, only a few guest were awake, sitting by the bar or enjoying the music. without your friends from the express you felt a little out of place.

“oh, and what do we have here?” a voice snapped you out of your self pity. you looked around, only to find that ipc guy from when you were checking in standing next to you, a golden coin being twirled in between his fingers. “aren’t you a member of the astral express? i think i saw you earlier...”

“i am…” you replied cautiously, not sure of his intentions. “you’re with the ipc, correct?”

he smirked, he threw his coin in the air before pocketing it. “yes. tell me something, why aren’t you dreaming with the rest of your friends?”

you tensed up, unsure of how much you should reveal to him. you didn’t even know his name yet. “i don’t sleep well.”

he paused, looking at you curiously. “do you now?”

“yes.” you said defensively and slightly annoyed. he wasn’t exactly making a good first impression on you despite his rather attractive appearance. “why aren’t you dreaming?”

“let’s just say i have business to take care of first,” he replied, in the same breath he pulled out a pack of cards. “although i have some time to kill until my meeting, care for a game?”

you thought for a moment, before nodding. “it’s not like i have anything better to do…”

the blond smiled and started shuffling the cards with his skilful fingers, you didn’t even know what game you were playing yet, but found yourself at least slightly interested. you gained your hand and he explained the rules, but a few turns in it was apparent that he was much better than you. he won easily.

you sighed and gave him his cards back. “you don’t mess around, huh?”

he chuckled, “of course not. i play to win.”

“even without a wager,” you mused with a smile, watching as he put the cards away. he chuckled too.

“i have too leave now. it was nice meeting you, i hope to see you again, sweetheart.” he flashed you a charming smile and a wink.

you rolled your eyes playfully, “you don’t even know my name, i doubt you’d even remember me.”

“oh, i think it’d be impossible not to remember you. you’re very unique believe it or not.” he stepped closer to you, it was then that you noticed how he was slightly taller than you. you opened your mouth to give him another snarky remark, but was stopped as he pressed a gentle kiss on your cheek. as he pulled away you could feel your face heating up.

“cute.” he said with a chuckle as he stepped away from you, “we’ll meet again after everything is over. i promise you that.”

he walked away, giving you a nonchalant wave over his shoulder and leaving you sitting at the bar with a bright red face. you watched him walk up the stairs, disappearing down the hallways leading to the rooms.

once he was out of your sight you calmed down a bit and gathered your thoughts, it was then that you noticed that there was a foreign object in the pocket of your coat. you grabbed it and looked at it, it was a playing card, queen of hearts, on the back scribbled with a golden pen was:

something to remember me by

- aventurine

you couldn’t help but grin and pocketed the card, just in that moment you saw mr. yang and himiko walk down the stairs talking animatedly. did you really spend the entire night awake…?