#I just really wanted to play Ekko :>
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vesperfangz · 18 days ago
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some sevika fans are incredibly funny to witness.
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friendscfmine · 2 years ago
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christophe: ugh kpop is so stupid and overrated 😒
christophe, behind closed doors: you know who it is... comin' 'round again... you wanNA DOSE OF THIS RIGHT NOW...
ITSKDAUNH!!!!
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bluzebub19 · 6 months ago
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I have a request for how the Arcane characters (Viktor, Jayce, Jinx, Vi, Heimerdinger, Ekko) look so that the reader can access their cuteness. Maybe they are doing or saying something to the reader and the reader suddenly starts hugging and petting them, calling them cute. How would they react to this?
Note: So... I'm the only one who thinks Heimerdinger is really cute. Why aren't there fanfics with him? Mysteries of life..
Arcane characters being called cute by their s/o while they're working
Writer's note: Thanks for requesting! It took longer than I expected because I kept deleting some of the dialogue from how cheesy and cringe it sounded lmao. Heimerdinger is not on my list of characters I write for, but I figured I'll write him this one time. I hope you don't mind that I also added Mylo, cuz why not?
Request/s: Open!
Warning/s: Get a dentist. This is some tooth-rotting fluff. Not proofread and english isn't my native language.
Character/s: Viktor, Jayce, Jinx, Vi, Ekko, Heimerdinger and Mylo
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● Viktor tends to get lost in his work, mumbling equations or sketching out blueprints for his projects. You find this incredibly endearing, but not when he gets so absorbed that he forgets to eat or sleep.
● If you suddenly hug him or call him cute, he’ll freeze in shock at first. He blinks up at you as if you just said something in a language he doesn’t understand. Then, his cheeks will flush a light pink, and he’ll chuckles softly. “Cute is... not a term I hear often. But thank you."
● Over time, he grows more comfortable and secretly enjoys the affection. He may even lean into it, but he’ll never outright admit it. Instead, he might deflect with a shy smile and, “You should focus on more important matters."
● Yeah no, that's a sign for you to keep doing it.
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● Jayce is the golden boy—confident, charming, and ridiculously handsome. He likes to appear professional and put-together, but you know him well enough to see through that exterior to the dorky, hardworking man beneath.
● When you hug him out of nowhere while he cooks and call him cute, he blinks for a second but chuckles as he turns to look at you. “Cute? Babe, I’m going for ruggedly handsome and sweet here. But I'll take it."
● Still, he's flattered and loves the affection you give him. And unlike Viktor, he's not afraid or shy to show you he wants more of it. He might pull you closer and say, "You're one to talk." He's a romantic and albeit cheesy guy.
● Now, you probably might be thinking about why and how is he cooking, but that's for another headcanon! (I just realized how I'm not even sure whose side am I on. Can he cook?? Cuz I feel like he can. But I also see him burning food-)
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● Jinx, as we all know, is pure chaos, always working on something explosive or messing around. She has a habit of humming and singing off-key to herself while she works, which makes you think she’s oddly cute in her own... quirky way. To be honest, it’s hard not to find her enthusiasm contagious, even if it’s a little dangerous.
● One day, you catch her doing exactly that while painting her trademark designs on one of her grenades. The sight just makes you smile as you walk up and wrap your arms around her, telling her, “You’re so cute when you’re focused like this,” or something of the sort.
● She’ll throw her hands up and turn to look at you, trying to play off your compliment as a joke. “Woah, you might be crazier than me!" She grins and laughs softly, before making her voice sound more gruff, "Ya buttering up the author nightmares with your mooshy stuff!”
● But after her initial over-the-top reaction, she’ll soften. “Fine, soak it all in.” She shrugs and continues working. But deep down, she really loves the affection and she's getting more and more attached to you. You're giving her the kind of love that she thinks she never deserved in her life, so she really appreciates these little things you do. She might even snuggle up to you later, claiming it’s to “soak in all this ‘cute’ energy.”
● Oh, by the way, she'll make this happen a lot more often. By how, you ask? Well, by doing the same thing to you, of course! It becomes a little challenge betweem the two of you who calls the other one cute first and catching them off guard with it.
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● Vi is all tough love and sass, but there’s a soft side she shows only to the people she really cares about. You notice this when she’s being protective or just in those peaceful moments when you're both alone together.
● If you call her cute, she’ll raise an eyebrow and smirk. “Cute? Babe, I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
● Later, she’ll definitely tease you about it, saying something like, “So, how’s it feel dating the cutest person in Zaun?” or "Am I still cute?" with a playful grin. She'll be teasing you and making you smile with that while she's half naked and flexing her biceps (she knows you love them), or when she just got done with a fight and is still holding her gauntlets.
● She loves it, don't let that teasing fool you.
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● Heimerdinger is an adorable bundle of wisdom and fluff. You often catch him rambling about science with such enthusiasm that you can’t help but smile. Look at him! He's just adorable!
● One day, as he’s showing you a tiny contraption he just finished, you can’t help but reach out and pet his fluffy head, saying, “You’re the most cutest genius ever.”
● Heimerdinger chuckles, his mustache twitching with amusement. “Ah, well, I suppose I do have a certain charm about me, don’t I?”
● He pretends to be unaffected, but you notice the way his tail swishes slightly when you hug him. “I must say, your affection is quite... energizing! Perhaps I should study its effects further.”
● From then on, he might start subtly seeking out your affection—like casually leaning into your hand when you pet him or “accidentally” bumping into you while working.
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● Ekko is talking to you about his plans for the Firelights while sketching upgrades for their hoverboards.
● You were quietly admiring him, the way his eyes light up and the focused furrow of his brows, when you suddenly blurt out, “You’re so cute when you’re focused.”
● He freezes for a second, then looks at you with a mixture of surprise and amusement. “Cute? Me?” He grins, a soft laugh escaping. “You sure you’re not talking about yourself there?”
● He rubs the back of his neck, trying to act nonchalant, but the smile gives him away.
● “You’re not getting away with saying that,” he teases, leaning in to nudge you lightly with his shoulder. He goes back to doing his work before playfully adding, “But if you keep looking at me like that, I might just start believing it.”
● It's these little things that matters. These moments, even if simple, it gives him hope and motivation to make the world a better place. The way his eyes soften when you look at him in that moment, and how he lets his guard down just enough to show you he cares — it’s clear that, while he teases, he loves the attention, and he loves you even more for it.
● Dude's got lines fr fr
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● Mylo has always been the type of guy who had a sarcastic, sassy remark ready. We all know that from how he treated Powder.
● When you suddenly hug him and call him cute, he freezes for a second, unsure of how to react. “Cute? Me?” He scoffs, trying to play it cool, but it's very obvious he's a bit flustered by it. “Out of all the compliments you could’ve picked, you went with cute? I’m more like... cool, and handsome.” He throws a dramatic, exaggerated pose, trying to hide his nervousness.
● Despite his teasing, there's a small, pleased grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He tries to act nonchalant, but the way he keeps glancing at you shows how much he’s secretly enjoying it.
● “Seriously, though. I’m cool, alright?” he continues, trying to regain his confidence. “I don’t do cute. But, uh... thanks. I guess.” He says softly as he shrugs, clearing his throat.
● Later on, when no one’s watching, you might catch him glancing at you from the corner of his eye, a small smile on his face, clearly still flattered.
Can you guys guess which is my favorite based on how long their headcanons are
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anticipatedexhale · 5 months ago
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Jealousy jealousy~~
⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ⋅˚₊‧୨୧
♡ ◞ includes: caitlyn, jayce, jinx, mel, viktor, vi, sevika, ekko
☆ ◞ summary: when they get jealous at someone trying to make a move at you.
△ ◞ warnings: gn! reader. Fluff kinda angst idk
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Jayce Talis.
The night had started out normal enough. A quick stop at a Piltover lounge, a few drinks, good company—it was supposed to be relaxing. Jayce had been looking forward to it all week, especially since he finally got to spend time with you outside of work.
And then he showed up.
Some random, smooth-talking socialite, flashing a charming smile and leaning just a little too close to you at the bar. Jayce had been mid-sip of his drink when he first noticed it—the way the guy’s hand subtly brushed against yours as he laughed at something you said.
Jayce didn’t consider himself a jealous person. He really didn’t.
But he also didn’t like the way this guy was looking at you.
At first, he tried to play it cool, sipping his drink, pretending not to pay attention. You were perfectly capable of handling yourself, and it wasn’t like Jayce had any claim over you.
Except… maybe he wanted one.
His grip tightened around his glass as he watched the guy lean in again, this time saying something low and smooth. You chuckled—polite, but dismissive. Jayce knew that laugh. It was the one you used when you were humoring someone you had zero interest in.
Still, the guy wasn’t getting the message.
Alright. That was enough.
Jayce pushed off his seat and strode toward you, placing a casual—but firm—hand on your lower back as he slid beside you. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said smoothly, his voice deliberately warm. “Sorry I took so long. Did I miss anything?”
You blinked up at him, immediately catching on. “Oh, not much. Just some small talk.”
The guy’s smile faltered slightly as he glanced between you and Jayce. “And you are…?”
Jayce grinned, though there was something unmistakably sharp beneath it. “Jayce Talis.” He extended his hand, his grip just a little too firm when the guy shook it. “And you?”
The guy shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, just a friend.”
Jayce’s grin widened. “Oh, just a friend?” His hand on your back subtly pulled you a fraction closer. “That’s funny. See, I thought you were hitting on my partner.”
You choked slightly, eyes widening as Jayce looked at the guy with a perfectly polite expression—like he hadn’t just dropped that word so casually.
The guy’s confidence wavered, and he let out an awkward chuckle. “Oh, no offense, man. Didn’t realize.”
Jayce’s smile stayed in place, but his eyes gleamed with something dangerously smug. “Yeah? You do now.”
The guy mumbled some excuse and quickly retreated, disappearing into the crowd.
As soon as he was gone, you turned to Jayce with an amused smirk. “Partner, huh?”
Jayce coughed into his drink. “I panicked.”
You raised a brow. “Seemed pretty smooth for a panic move.”
“…Okay, maybe not panicked exactly.” He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just… didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”
You tilted your head, enjoying watching him squirm. “Jealous?”
Jayce scoffed. “What? Me? Nooo.” Then, after a pause, he sighed, rubbing his face. “Okay, maybe a little.”
You grinned, reaching up to straighten the lapel of his coat. “You’re cute when you get possessive.”
Jayce groaned. “Great. Now you’re never gonna let me live this down, huh?”
“Nope.”
But even as you teased him, Jayce couldn’t help the satisfied smirk tugging at his lips. Because you were still here—with him. And that’s all that really mattered.
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Mel Medarda.
Mel Medarda was not the type to get jealous.
She was confident, poised, and completely in control at all times. If someone wanted to flirt with you in front of her, well—let them. She knew where you would be going home at the end of the night.
That being said… she did have her limits.
The evening had been going smoothly—an elegant Piltover gala, golden lights reflecting off the crystal chandeliers, the air buzzing with soft music and hushed conversations. You had accompanied Mel as her guest, and while she was busy entertaining council members and diplomats, you had wandered to the refreshment table.
That’s when he appeared.
Some overly ambitious noble, drawn to you like a moth to a flame. He was all charm and slick words, flashing you a practiced smile as he poured you a glass of wine, his hand lingering a bit too long as he passed it to you.
Mel had been watching from across the room, her expression unreadable as she sipped her champagne.
She gave him a chance. One.
And then she saw it—the way his fingers barely grazed your wrist as he leaned in, whispering something undoubtedly bold.
Mel hummed, swirling her glass lightly before making her move.
With effortless grace, she glided through the room, her golden gown shimmering under the chandeliers. By the time she reached you, her presence was undeniable—the noble stiffened slightly as she placed a hand lightly on your arm, her touch as soft as silk.
"Darling," she purred, her voice smooth as honey, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."
Your eyes flickered with amusement as you caught the subtle edge beneath her words. You weren’t sure whether to be impressed or nervous for the poor fool beside you.
The noble, to his credit, tried to play it cool. "Ah, Councilor Medarda. I was just getting to know your lovely companion."
Mel smiled—slow, dangerous. "Were you?"
There was no sharpness in her tone, no outright hostility. And yet, the noble swallowed thickly, suddenly aware that he had overstepped.
She turned to you, her fingers trailing lightly down your wrist before intertwining with yours. "I do hope they haven't been bothering you," she mused, brushing a stray hair from your face as if the two of you were the only ones in the room.
You smirked. "Nothing I couldn't handle."
Mel let out a soft, knowing hum. "Of course not." Then, without another glance at the noble, she gently tugged you away, her grip light yet undeniable.
As you walked off together, you leaned in slightly. "You know, I think you scared him."
Mel arched a brow, amusement dancing in her golden eyes. "Good. He was getting on my nerves."
You chuckled. "Jealous?"
Mel merely smiled, raising your hand to her lips and pressing the softest kiss to your knuckles. "Jealousy is such a petty thing."
But the way her fingers tightened slightly around yours told a different story.
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Viktor.
Viktor didn’t get jealous—or at least, that’s what he liked to tell himself.
He was logical, rational. Petty emotions like envy were for people who had time to waste. He had work to do—innovations to create, problems to solve.
And yet.
He had been going over blueprints at your shared worktable in the lab, completely immersed in his notes, when he heard it—someone else’s laughter mixed with yours.
His pen stopped mid-scratch.
Looking up, he found you standing by the doorway, engaged in a conversation with some bright-eyed researcher. They were laughing, gesturing animatedly, clearly trying to impress you. And what was worse? You were actually smiling at them.
Viktor felt a twinge in his chest, something unpleasant curling in his gut. He frowned, tapping his pen against the desk. It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.
But then the researcher leaned in just a little too close, and Viktor’s patience snapped like a frayed wire.
He pushed himself up with his cane, making his way toward you at an unhurried pace. The clack of his cane against the floor was rhythmic, steady—an unmistakable presence approaching.
The researcher caught sight of him and faltered slightly. “Oh—Viktor! I was just talking to—”
“Yes, I noticed.” Viktor’s tone was light, almost pleasant, but there was an unmistakable sharpness beneath it. His golden eyes flickered between you and the researcher before landing on you entirely, his focus unwavering. “You’ve been gone quite a while. I was beginning to wonder if I had lost my most valuable assistant.”
You raised a brow at his pointed wording, a smirk tugging at your lips. “Didn’t realize you were keeping track of my time, Vik.”
Viktor tilted his head slightly, his gaze assessing. “I keep track of all important things.”
You felt warmth rise to your cheeks at the way he said it—so matter-of-fact, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
The researcher, now clearly uncomfortable, cleared their throat. “Well, I should—um—get back to work.” And with that, they all but scurried away.
The moment they were gone, you turned to Viktor, arms crossed. “That was subtle.”
Viktor sighed dramatically, placing a hand over his chest. “Ah, my deepest apologies. I had no idea my mere presence would cause such a reaction.”
You chuckled. “So, are you going to admit you were jealous, or should I just assume?”
Viktor scoffed, but there was the faintest hint of pink dusting his cheeks. “Jealousy is irrational. I was simply…” He searched for the right words, tapping his cane idly against the floor. “…reminding them of their place.”
You grinned. “And my place is?”
Viktor leaned in slightly, his voice lower, softer. “Right here. With me.”
Your heart skipped a beat.
For someone who claimed not to get jealous, he certainly had a way of making it very clear.
---------------------------------------------------
Caitlyn.
Caitlyn Kiramman was not the type to get openly jealous. She prided herself on her composure, her ability to remain level-headed even in high-pressure situations.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel it.
You had been at a local café in Piltover, waiting for Caitlyn to finish up her rounds so the two of you could grab lunch together. While you were minding your own business, some overconfident merchant had slid into the seat across from you, flashing you a way too eager grin.
Caitlyn spotted it the moment she stepped onto the street.
At first, she hesitated, watching from a short distance. She wanted to trust you to handle it—but then the merchant leaned in, their hand brushing against yours on the table, and Caitlyn felt a prickle of irritation rise in her chest.
Alright. That was enough.
With long, purposeful strides, she approached the table, her blue eyes cool and calculating. “Excuse me,” she said smoothly, her voice polite but firm.
Both you and the merchant turned toward her. You instantly perked up. “Cait! There you are.”
The merchant, however, didn’t seem to take the hint. “Ah, and who might you be?”
Caitlyn’s smile was razor-sharp as she placed a gloved hand on the back of your chair, her presence undeniable. “Captain Caitlyn Kiramman of the Piltover Enforcers,” she replied smoothly. “And the person they’ve been waiting for.”
That got the merchant to stiffen slightly. “Oh—my apologies, I didn’t realize…”
Caitlyn arched a brow. “Didn’t realize what? That they were already spoken for?” She leaned in slightly, tilting her head. “Or that you were wasting your time?”
The merchant let out an awkward chuckle, making some excuse before quickly retreating.
Once they were gone, you turned to Caitlyn with an amused smirk. “That was almost scary.”
Caitlyn huffed, finally slipping into the seat across from you. “I simply dislike people who overstep boundaries.”
You leaned forward, resting your chin in your hand. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”
Caitlyn scoffed, lifting her tea to her lips. “I have nothing to be jealous of.”
“Really?” You grinned. “Because that looked a lot like jealousy.”
Caitlyn gave you an unimpressed look, but the faint pink at the tips of her ears gave her away.
You chuckled, reaching across the table to brush your fingers against hers. “You could’ve just told them I was yours, you know.”
Caitlyn exhaled softly, her expression finally softening. “I didn’t think I needed to.”
Your heart fluttered at the undeniable certainty in her voice.
Because, jealous or not—she knew exactly where you belonged.
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Vi.
Vi wasn’t the type to subtly get jealous. If she was annoyed, you knew it.
And right now? She was definitely annoyed.
You were both at Jericho’s bar, just grabbing drinks and unwinding after a long week. Vi had left your side for two minutes—just to talk to the bartender about another round—when she turned back and saw some cocky Zaunite leaning way too close to you.
Her eyes narrowed.
At first, she just watched, arms crossed, observing how the guy was grinning at you, clearly testing his luck. He was laying it on thick, too, his hand resting on the bar near yours, body language screaming overconfidence.
Vi cracked her knuckles.
Taking her time, she sauntered back over, sliding onto the stool beside you and draping an arm over your shoulders in one smooth motion. “Hey, babe,” she said casually, ignoring the guy entirely as she leaned in, pressing a kiss against your temple.
You blinked up at her, amused. “Vi?”
She hummed, finally turning her attention to the guy. “And who are you?”
The man, now clearly realizing who he had just been flirting with, hesitated. “Uh—just talking to your friend here.”
Vi’s grip on your shoulder tightened slightly. “Yeah? Looked like you were talking to my partner.” Her voice was deceptively light, but there was an unmistakable warning beneath it.
The guy held his hands up, chuckling nervously. “Didn’t know they were taken.”
Vi arched a brow. “Well, you do now.”
The guy muttered a quick apology and made himself scarce, disappearing into the crowd.
Once he was gone, you smirked, tilting your head toward Vi. “That was subtle.”
Vi scoffed, picking up her drink. “Please. If I really wanted to make a scene, he wouldn’t have walked out of here with both legs working.”
You chuckled, leaning against her. “So… jealous?”
Vi huffed, taking a sip of her drink before muttering, “Whatever.”
You grinned, nudging her side. “You so were.”
Vi sighed dramatically, shaking her head. “Alright, fine. Maybe a little. But can you blame me?” She leaned in, voice dropping just enough to make your stomach flip. “You are kinda irresistible.”
Your breath hitched slightly, and Vi grinned, clearly pleased with herself.
“Now,” she said, finishing her drink, “how about we really make it obvious who you belong to?”
The playful challenge in her voice sent a shiver down your spine.
Yeah. Vi might not do subtle jealousy—but you weren’t complaining.
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Jinx.
Jinx wasn’t just jealous—she was possessive.
She didn’t do subtle. If someone was getting too close to you, you bet she was gonna make a scene about it.
It started when the two of you were wandering around Zaun, just minding your business when some overly confident guy swaggered up to you, flashing a grin that instantly irritated Jinx.
She didn’t immediately do anything, though. No, she wanted to see just how far this guy would push his luck. So she crossed her arms, leaned against a nearby crate, and watched.
And, oh boy, was this guy an idiot.
“Didn’t think I’d run into someone as good-looking as you in a place like this,” he purred, clearly thinking he was smooth.
Jinx’s fingers twitched.
You, clearly aware of the tension building beside you, gave an awkward chuckle. “Uh, thanks?”
The guy actually reached out, fingers just about to brush against your arm—
—and then BANG.
A single gunshot blasted the air, a bullet embedding itself right next to the guy’s hand on the wall.
You didn’t even flinch. But the guy? He jumped, whirling around to see Jinx casually twirling Fishbones in her hands, a manic grin stretched across her face.
“Oops,” she sing-songed, rocking on her heels. “My hand slipped.”
The guy paled. “What the hell—”
Jinx tilted her head. “Oh, don’t stop on my account. Go on. Keep flirting. See what happens.”
He took one look at the absolute delight in her eyes—at how she was clearly enjoying this—and bolted.
Jinx cackled as he disappeared down the alley. “Coward!”
You sighed, shaking your head. “Jinx, really?”
She huffed, marching up to you and slinging an arm around your shoulders. “What? You’d rather I let that slimeball run his mouth?”
“I could’ve handled it,” you teased, leaning into her.
Jinx squinted at you, poking your cheek. “Yeah, yeah. But I wanted to handle it.”
You smirked. “Jealous?”
Jinx gasped dramatically. “Me? Jealous?” She clutched her chest. “Pffft, please. I just really like scaring people.”
You laughed, shaking your head. “Mhm, sure.”
Jinx pouted before pulling you into a sudden, tight hug, her voice muffled against your neck. “Mine,” she mumbled.
Your heart skipped
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Sevika.
So when she saw some cocky guy chatting you up at the bar—leaning a little too close, looking a little too comfortable—she didn’t immediately react. She just leaned back in her seat, swirling her drink, watching.
Jealousy was for insecure people. For weak people. She was neither.
You weren’t encouraging it, but you were being polite, nodding along as the guy kept talking. That annoyed her.
He was still talking? Still standing there?
Sevika sighed, rolling her shoulders before finally deciding she had enough.
She pushed off the bar with her metal arm, the heavy clank of it hitting the counter making the guy flinch before she even reached you.
“Hey,” she drawled as she slid up behind you, pressing just close enough to make a statement. Her voice was casual, but there was an unmistakable edge to it. “Didn’t realize we were making new friends tonight.”
The guy blinked, looking up at her—then immediately went pale when he realized who she was.
Sevika tilted her head, taking a slow drag of her cigar. “Something wrong?”
The guy took one last look at her—the sharp set of her jaw, the glow of her mechanical arm, the way she was clearly daring him to keep talking—before quickly muttering something about needing to be somewhere else and scurrying off.
Sevika exhaled a slow stream of smoke before looking down at you. “You just let anyone talk to you, huh?”
You smirked, leaning against the bar. “You jealous?”
She scoffed. “Please.”
You raised a brow. “Mhm. So you just casually felt like intimidating some random guy for no reason?”
Sevika rolled her eyes, taking another slow sip of her drink. “I don’t like interruptions.”
You chuckled, nudging her. “Right. Definitely not jealousy.”
She sighed, shaking her head before resting her metal arm against the bar beside you, effectively boxing you in. She leaned down just slightly, her voice lower now.
“You wanna test me?”
Your breath hitched.
Her lips twitched into a smirk. “Thought so.”
She didn’t say she was jealous.
But the way she made it very clear who you belonged to? Yeah. That said enough.
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Ekko.
Ekko wasn’t the type to immediately get jealous. He was pretty secure in himself and in your relationship. But that didn’t mean he was oblivious.
So when some guy at the Last Drop started flirting with you, he didn’t overreact. At first.
He had been talking to some of the Firelights, keeping an eye on you from across the room, when he noticed the guy leaning in a little too close. At first, Ekko just sighed, shaking his head. He figured you’d shut it down.
But then the guy touched your arm.
And suddenly, Ekko wasn’t feeling so chill anymore.
Taking a slow breath, he rolled his shoulders before pushing off the wall, walking toward you with the effortless confidence that only he could pull off.
The guy was still chatting you up, completely unaware as Ekko slid in behind you, looping an arm around your waist before leaning close, his lips brushing your ear.
“Hey, beautiful,” he murmured, low enough that only you could hear.
You blinked in surprise, glancing up at him. “Ekko?”
He grinned, pressing a quick kiss to your temple before looking at the guy in front of you. His usual laid-back demeanor was still there, but there was a new sharpness in his gaze.
“Who’s your friend?” Ekko asked, his voice smooth but unmistakably pointed.
The guy hesitated, clearly unsure how to react. “Uh, just—just talking.”
Ekko hummed, tilting his head. “Yeah? Funny, ‘cause my partner doesn’t really need company.”
The guy opened his mouth, then closed it, clearly second-guessing whether it was worth pushing his luck.
Ekko smirked, his grip on your waist just barely tightening. “You good, man? ‘Cause you’re looking a little nervous.”
The guy quickly muttered something about needing to leave and disappeared into the crowd.
Ekko exhaled through his nose, watching until the guy was definitely gone before turning back to you.
You crossed your arms, amused. “Jealous?”
He scoffed. “Me? Nah. Just don’t like watching idiots waste your time.”
You smirked, stepping closer and wrapping your arms around his neck. “Mhm. Sure.”
Ekko sighed dramatically, shaking his head. “Okay, maybe a little.”
You chuckled, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “It’s cute.”
He groaned, rolling his eyes but unable to hide the small smile tugging at his lips. “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t let it go to your head.”
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evieelyzabethh · 7 months ago
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"lacy"
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⭒"i see you everywhere, the sweetest torture one could bear"⭒ Arcane characters when jealous {fem reader}
cast ✧ Vi, Ekko, Jayce, Viktor, Mel
cw ☞ slight angst but they all have a happy ending, kissing, and the usual stuff (slightly pervy Jayce)
♞Vi♞
♞Making Vi jealous is a terrible game. She is about that action and absolutely loves to fight, nothing beats that flow of adrenaline as she chases someone down to bash their face in. I feel like she would also get a bit mean. Jealousy is a nasty thing, it bites, and she bites back harder. The pit it creates in her stomach tries to swallow her whole and sometimes she wants to bring you down with her
♞She doesn't understand why you would want or need the attention of anyone else when you have her. Chiefly at the beginning of your relationship, it would cause a rift, intention or not. Vi doesn't have a proper education, she’s constantly guilt ridden about her childhood and her sister, she's broke, and an absolute hot mess. She's already constantly questioning why you're with her in the first place and the last thing she needs is some random coming up and flirting with you and you even bothering to dignify their presence with a response.
♞She would go dead silent, brushing you off for what feels like weeks, stewing in her increasingly negative thoughts. She doesn't even think you're cheating, but she feels like it's only a moment of time before you realize there's something better out there. Always the one to make the wrong decision, she pushes you away for a bit. She's very short with you, brushing off your attempts to make peace, playing a mean game to see if you're gonna give up on her so she can use it against you. This is definitely her biggest red flag.
It's dark and rainy out, rain pelting at the ground, seeping and sliding into its cracks to rehydrate the already soft foundation. It was supposed to be a calm night out at the Last Drop involving a few drinks to get Vi out of her current terrible mood, bookended by an unstable walk home as you both barely support each other under your weight and constant fit of giggles. Instead, Vi was a few paces ahead of you, hands shoved into her pockets, her head down rather than putting her hood up to keep her head dry from the rain. Every time you approach her, she slightly leans away. At first you thought it was an accident, maybe she was trying to avoid stepping on a rock or into a puddle, but after the umpteenth time it happens, the message becomes clear. She's avoiding you. As argumentative as she is, you may even be worse. "What the fuck is your, problem?", you bark, the alcohol in your veins curving the embarrassment of passersby clearly tuning into the argument they think is about to break out. "You've said some choice things and have been awfully rude these past few days, and I really don't appreciate it, Violet." But she doesn't have it in her to make a big scene. It's definitely the alcohol, because she's genuinely scared that if she starts a screaming match with you right now, she'll cry. She turns to you swiftly, hair dripping wet, stray dye rolling down her cheeks and down the slope of her nose. You had just dyed it together a few days ago, back before she decided to be mad at you for who knows what reason. "Look at me", she grabs your chin before you even get the chance to break eye contact with her. Petty, pissed, and unable to jerk your face out of her grip without giving yourself whiplash, you close your eyes. This pisses her off even more. "What, you don't have any more charity work left in you? You can giggle with what-his-face for hours, but you can't even look at your girlfriend?" That gets you to open your eyes, at first confused as to what the hell she was talking about then glittering with amusement that causes her to immediately let go and continue her fast paced walk back home. She isn't far enough to escape your light voice, cheery with the realization that you finally broke her down and occupied with what you think is the silliest thing in the world. "Oh, my gods, you're jealous about that guy from last night! Vi, you're so ridiculous, I don't even remember his name." And she is still teeming with anger, but that anger will dissipate soon after that last admission. Once you sober up, you don't find it as funny, but she's at your every beck and call trying to convince you it won't happen again.
♞After a little while together, she feels more stable in the relationship. Trust, she still gets jealous, but it usually looks like a smirk on her face before she pulls you into a heated kiss in front of whoever is bothering her. She makes a real show of it too, prying open your mouth to slip her tongue inside, her hands squeezing your sides and hiking up your dress, knee pressed firmly in between your legs. She continues long after the person leaves, before shrugging and sarcastically wondering where they possibly could've gone off to. You often scold her for this. You've never been to jail, and you'd hate to go for a public indecency charge.
★Ekko★
★Ekko doesn't really get jealous, like out of everyone I think he would get the least jealous so most of this section would be about his complete lack of jealousy. He doesn't believe in getting into relationships without trust first and it's because of this confident trust that he wouldn't get jealous. If anything, he wouldn't be jealous as in feeling like your relationship was in danger but jealous when it comes to your time. Like he would get slightly pouty if he felt like you were spending too much time with your friends, and it was significantly cutting out of your time together. Even then, he wouldn't really act on it.
★Ekko would be a "I don't care what my girlfriend wears, I can fight" kinda guy. Especially because he likes picking out your outfits, he does it with the intention of showing off the goods. He likes looking at you, he knows the world likes looking at you, he sees it as doing a favor to society. He is the first to tell you your tits look scrumptious in that top.
★Same concept with you being approached or flirted with. If they have the gall to do it in his direct presence, he has a great many words to say about it, but if he's watching it go down, he likes to watch it happen. He'll get involved as soon as he gets the feeling you are uncomfortable, but for the most part he sits amused a few feet away laughing at the glances you give him as the conversation goes on.
★I feel like if anyone was to get jealous, it would be you. Ekko spends a lot of time with a lot of different people which leaves space for certain people to not know that he's spoken for. I think he would be less aware of this than you. You are always at the forefront of his mind; he cannot fathom giving his attention to other people. Especially because he talks about you so often, he makes it quite clear that he is not single and when people choose to ignore that fact, he doesn't notice.
Warm light flitters into your shared room through half open blinds that reveal the orange and yellow that the blue sky had faded into. Ekko had just gotten home eager to strip down into some old, tattered tee shirt and some boxer shirts. Instead, he was met with a slightly agitated girlfriend, and he notices this immediately. He gives you space at first, greeting you at the door and asking you how you were and listening to your expectedly short answer. He only lasts a few minutes of this passive aggression before sliding beside you on the couch, sliding his arm around you and pulling you in close. You reluctantly lean in, trying to ignore how inviting he smells and how warm he feels. "Baby," he draws out, scooping you completely into his arms to straddling your thighs over his waist, his large palms remaining on your upper thigh. He's trying to whittle down your resolve and it is working. "Don't you wanna tell me what's wrong?" You rolled your eyes. "I've already told you what's wrong." He thinks it's cute that you're jealous. He likes the way your arms cross over your puffed chest, and you furrow your brow to try and appear serious but all you look like to him is a rabbit about to thump its foot. "And I have already told you, I am completely yours." It's cheesy and he knows it and he amps it up by scattering kiss all over your face, even as you try to evade his touch. "I don't doubt that, it's just..." He derails your sentences as his kisses move lower and his hands get more adventurous, exploring your upper thigh and the curve of your ass and the small of your back from underneath your shirt. "Hey!", you snap, "I'm being serious, Ekko." He pauses, withdrawing his hands to the fat of your hips and, reluctantly, his lips from your neck. "I'm listening, baby." "I've told you I don't know how many times that I do not like that girl. She is all over you." His mouth opens to try and protest, but you cut him off. "I can literally smell her perfume on you." He gets slightly defensive at this. "You don't think I'm cheating on you, do you?" A look of hurt flashes across his eyes. "Of course, I don't, Ekko. I'm not questioning you; I'm questioning her. I know she knows we're together and she just doesn't care, and you don't shut it down. Why else do you think she kept you out this late? What were you two doing?" Nothing. A whole lot of nothing, actually. The girl you were referring to, Thalara, had been a topic of conversation before. She was new to the commune, which landed her the benefit of the doubt with you, but it's been months now and she still hasn't laid off. Ekko, ever trusting of his people, never assumed malintent, but you saw right through her. You cup his head in between your hands, looking him in his eyes to make sure that the message is clear. "I love you, and I'm not mad at you, but she's pissing me off. You need to make it very clear that she needs to leave you alone or I will send the message for you." And you meant that. He makes it very clear to her the next day that he has absolutely no interest and comes back to you the next day beaming in accomplishment.
★Jealous you turns him on so incredibly much. Whatever you say goes, he is not one to turn you down when you're in a jealous mood.
❂Jayce❂
❂I feel like you would both get jealous, but he would get far more jealous than you do. While he is far from someone who would tell you to change what you're wearing, he does try and tag along with you when you're wearing something low cut. Like babe, what do you mean you don't want him to join girls night? Are you sure you're not cold?? You must be cold; your ass is hanging out, why won't you take his jacket?? Please take his jacket!!! Because of this he walks behind you, making it much harder for those undeserving to stare at you like he does.
❂While he loves showing you off at fancy events, ain't shit funny if you look too good. If you're lucky enough to make it out the house on time (he insists on helping you zip up but then gets confused which way zippers go), being there is a struggle. He likes staring at you and did not have the forethought to think other people would enjoy staring at you too. Let someone make a comment too, he is glued to your hip for the rest of the night.
He waits anxiously for the stupid gala to be over. Had he been more of a drinker, he would've been content to have a few glasses of the fancy champagne they brought around, but he hates the ethanol aftertaste it leaves behind and that is the last thing he needed after already feeling nauseous. He was trying so hard for you, he knew he had to give you your space, and he knew you were excited to go out to his Hextech showcase to show your support. He's being bitter and he hates it, he hates biting his tongue while watching you giggle with a councilman and the fact that he feels like a petulant child watching some other kid play with his toy He's been getting better with his jealousy, honest! That's why he's self-aware enough to know that his urge to go after you, sling you over his shoulder, and carry you home himself is childsh and silly and that you would chastise him over it as he looked at you like a kicked puppy. Gods, this was stupid. But he puts a smile on his face anyway, making his way over to you from the balcony he was just standing on, and sliding his hand on your shoulder. You look over at him, startled for a second, but relax when you see his amber eyes and slightly gapped smile. And then you say the magic words. "Oh, I was just about to go looking for you. Are you ready to go?" He cannot say yes fast enough. After he has you all to himself, he is insatiable, kissing you deeply as soon as you step foot in the carriage taking you home, losing balance and nearly sending you both toppling onto the floor of the moving vehicle. The seats are awkward and not long enough to properly lay you down, but he's too desperate to care about the discomfort, his hand cradling the back of your neck to make sure you are as comfortable as you can be. He's ruthless, the force of his kisses knocking the breath out of you and you can never catch up. You're almost dizzy, his desperate whispers nearly going through one ear and out the other. "You love me, right? Me and only me? You don't need anyone else.", and he's trying to find your zipper again, but his hands are clumsy and cold, and it only serves to arch your back further into him, not that he's complaining. When you do come to your senses, you giggle, running your nails through his hair as he looks up at you with wide eyes. "How long have you been holding that in." He looks at you sheepishly, fighting the urge to hide his embarrassment in the crook of your neck. "All night." You shake your head at his ridiculousness, pulling him in for a slower kiss, properly savoring the moment, before pulled away to peck his nose. "You are the only one for me, handsome, I don't know how many times I have to say it." He shrugs his broad shoulders. "A few more times wouldn't hurt." You roll your eyes and ask if he wants a collar, and he does not look as adverse as you expected.
❂He is so incredibly unhinged when it comes to jealousy. He doesn't act on it, but his mind goes to wild places. In a modern AU, if you dare not reply to a text in ten minutes he's asking, "What position he got you in?" Even worse, he knows he's being senseless, it's his way of asking for reassurance in a joking way. It's so absurd, you don't take him seriously which slightly frustrates him because he wants you to reaffirm him on what he already knows.
❂He gets really pouty when jealous too. He'll usually try and thrust himself into his work to occupy his mind and get it back to a rational place. Viktor calls you immediately because he ends up talking to him about it and he thinks the entire ordeal is unreasonable and doesn't have time to be asked at the ass crack of dawn "I know she loves me, but what if (insert insane scenario here)." He is a chronic overthinker and sometimes you just have to shut his brain off.
☽Viktor☾
☽Viktor is another one who doesn't get super jealous, but when he does, it usually stems from insecurities surrounding his leg. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes, especially as his condition gets worse, he gets frustrated that he can't do the things as easy as he used to be able to. However, he is entirely too proud to admit it or act on it. You probably wouldn't even notice, to be honest, and he wouldn't want you to.
☽I think he would absolutely throw himself into work when jealous. He's already at the lab damn near day and night, but unlike usual when he'll try for conversation here and there and be more lively, he's throwing himself into it out of necessity. It is one of his pride and joys, when his ego takes a hit, work is his refuge. This, of course, hardly ever works because he does not get good work done when it's being forced. He'll usually end up staring at the photo he keeps of you at your desk and feel lonely.
☽He'll invite you around to his lab more, though he is uncharacteristically stiff and rigid. He's trying too hard to focus but he just can't. His leg is tapping furiously beneath the table, he's biting the inside of his cheek, his hand is running through his hair every couple minutes. Things just aren't computing like how he wants them to and he hates it. His pride is a double-edged sword here, jealously is Jayce's thing. He thinks he is leagues above it and he gets frustrated with himself when he feels that green sickness in his heart.
☽He would be the type to address it head on. Once again, he's very analytical. He will tell you what exactly got him upset, why exactly it upset him, be very clear that he isn't blaming or upset at you, and silently hope you go overboard with affection for the next few weeks for the sake of his ego. After he does, he likes to ignore it even happened. Him? Jealous? You must have him confused with another ridiculously attractive, impaired, Czech-accented man. Jealous isn't even in his very extensive vocabulary, he has no idea when or why you dreamed of this completely fictitious scenario. He wouldn't try and gaslight you that it never happened, but he is petty enough to get selective hearing when it comes to mentions of it
For the first time since...ever, Viktor is home before the sun goes down. To say it catches you off guard is an understatement, so unused to the doorknob jiggling before the wee hours of the morning, you had a knife in your hand before you heard his keys in the door. You had been making dinner, and the smell alone makes his heart skip a beat. He hardly ever gets a warm dinner and for a minute, he deeply regrets being in his lab all the time. He slides off his shoes and loosens his tie as he pads over to you in the kitchen, wrapping one hand around your waist and the other gripping the counter for support. "You're home early.", you chirp, turning around to face him to peck his lips. "I was just making dinner, you want a taste?" Though he would never say no to that, you already have the spoon to his lips with a hand under to catch anything that might fall before he can even answer. He indulges, of course, and as the warm liquid soothes his throat, he hates that lab even more. Soup is one thing; but warm soup is to die for. "It's delicious, tchotchke." You smile as you turn back around. "Any reason you're home so early." He looks back the new ceiling fan you called Jayce over to put up and lets out a sardonic chuckle. He understands why you called him; he'd need to get on a ladder to put it up and have to abandon his cane for however long it took to hold the thing up and take care of the wiring. He wouldn't be able to balance himself and if he came down, the fan was coming down with him, probably on top of him. And yet, he still would've rather done it himself than you call Jayce to do it. "Yes, but it's admittedly a very stupid reason." You cannot fathom this. You remove the pot from the stove and onto a folded cloth on your counter and desert the stove. "Did something happen?" And he can't handle the look of concern on your face over something he knows to be trivial. "It's just that..." when he realizes he can't put it off any longer, he sighs. "I got jealous of Jayce." Had it not been for the serious look on your face, you would've burst into laughter. Those words had never fallen out of his mouth in that order before. "I know it's absurd, but it started when he put the fan up and it bothered me more than it should. I don't like that there are some things I can't do around the house, and it's been this way my whole life, but it's different with him. He's just always "the guy" and I hate the thought of him being "the guy" to you. It's irrational and a leap in logic, I know, but I hate it." And even better than pity, you just smile at him. In a way it's better that you want to laugh at him, he wants to laugh at him too. The thought of Jayce replacing him is maybe even more of an impossibility for you than it is for him. "So, next time I should just call a guy." He chuckles. "Yes, please."
☼Mel☼
☼I feel like she would be very calm about her jealousy, but also have a slight inclination to anger, albeit a silent one. She doesn't fear the betrayal of a potential cheating, but rather the embarrassment. If she were to see you get too chummy with someone, rather than approach you, she would watch from afar to see what you'd do. This is also a big reason why she usually doesn't take action herself; you never disappoint her when it comes to letting people know you're taken.
☼She is a bit clingier when jealous, but more than that she would insist on doing more couple things together. If she feels it is not known enough, she will make it known that the two of you are together. This often means gifts like expensive jewelry that only she could afford you, a new outfit that conveniently matches with one of hers, or even just letting you borrow bags or earrings of hers. It's her way of scenting you almost. She's too classy to try and "stake her claim" in a more showy way, so she does it in a more inconspicuous way.
Waking up alone wasn't something you were completely unused to. Mel was a very busy woman, and you were content with the nights you had together and rare mornings. These mornings were made extra bearable when you woke to a box on your nightstand, wrapped in a silk ribbon with a note in your girlfriend's handwriting slipped under the bow. 'From my heart, to my darling', it read, a lipstick mark beneath where she had signed her name with an elegant flick of her wrist. Perhaps just as eager to be opened as you were to open it, the ribbon fell loose as you gently picked up the box. It was too small to be a dress and too large to be a ring but large enough to contain maybe a fancy watch or a necklace, but judging by her unusually clingy demeanor last night, you had a feeling you could pretty accurately guess what was inside the ornate jewelry box. Unsurprisingly, within it lay a gold and pearl necklace, pearls that must’ve been rare due to their black hue rather than their usually pale pearlescent coloring.  The chain felt light in your hand, the heaviest part sinking into your palm as you stared at. Your first initial and an M. No matter which way it was taken, the M to be her first name or her last, the possessive message was clear, not that you minded. Mels smile was bright when she saw you for the first time that day, and even brighter when she saw what decorated your neck. She excused herself from the councilmember she was talking to before walking over to you, practically gliding on air. She takes your hand, kissing the inside of your wrist then your knuckles then pulls you by your hand into her. "I take it you're enjoying your gift?" Your hand still in hers, she spins you, taking you in at all angles for the first time that day. "It's beautiful, but I can't help but wonder what inspired the decision." She knows you know exactly how she works, and she doesn't mind admitting she's jealous. "Am I wrong to give my pretty girl a gift?", she says, mocking the comment you received last night. She rolls her eyes and her face gives away her impending rant. "Am I wrong to give a pretty girl a compliment? I still can't believe he said that to you last night. He only did it to piss me off, you know." You bite your lip to hide your laughter, but it eventually slips from you. "I hope I'm more entertaining than Salo was last night." She can't even feign annoyance, not with the sound of your laughter filling her ears and her name around your neck. She laughs herself, with how much the two of you talk shit about the man, you'd think anything he did could never affect her, but she had been biting her tongue since last night. "Shall I list to you all the ways you're better than Salo?" She waves the idea off nonchalantly. "No, my darling, I should hope I never need an ego boost that desperately."
☼You would definitely get jealous far more often than she does. She's gorgeous, smart, well spoken, rich and affluent, and perfection embodied in a person, there is much to be jealous of. Especially as someone who is on the council where part of the job is being great at sweet talk, I feel like you would get your feelings hurt sometimes. You catch more flies with honey, and she may be the sweetest honey there is. She does tease you for your jealousy though, she finds it utterly adorable.
☼She wouldn't allow you to be jealous long. She is very good at reading you and your emotions, she seems to always know exactly how you're feeling. You couldn't even hide it from her if you tried, she'll always find a way to corner you and help you talk your feelings through. She tries very hard to make sure that you can never question who she loves the most.  
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gravegoer · 7 months ago
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masterlist + intro ⚘
hi !! ♡ welcome to my blog ! i love music ( esp alternative metal and death metal ) i have manymany interests and i love art! drawing, painting and writing is my forte tho + i love photography , I like / play sports like boxing and taekwondo , working out is also fun !!
✎ " i am bloody , raw , nerves hanging out all over the place "
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Arcane ─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ���
Sevika: ( i dont write her 4 men ) + ranked in order of most popular — to least >>> rules at the end <<<
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" Sevikas Boss " PART 1 // PART 2
" I hear your call " pirate sevika and siren reader PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3
" Take a hint " PART 1 // PART 2
" Sail the Seven Seas " pirate sevika ! PART 1 //
" Royal Blood " PART 1 // PART 2
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" Taking care of her " being her cute housewife!
" Pretty Piltie " counciler sevika meets you
" Princess " sevika doesnt like creeps
" Smokey kisses "
"Sevika, Ambessa, Grayson" HCS for them
" Cuddling the Butches "
" Council member Sevika "
" Wont lose you. "
" Late night care " bathing her
" A little love "
" Safeword " using your safeword
" My Best Friend " she is your gay awakening
" Secrets "
" Gym Day "
" First Time " virgin reader
WIPS ── ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
" Dump him "
MISCELLANEOUS ── ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
" Stolen Glances " ekko x reader
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i write for any characters from arcane, other than minors.
im okay with light nsfw, but if you send in an nsfw, ask, and i dont answer it, its probably bc i didnt want to— but feel free
if i dont answer your ask within a week— RESEND!! my ask box likes to eat my asks...help..
i don't repost on this account unless i REALLY want u guys to see it (so fanart, etc). i keep my page to just fics and original posts mostly
if you want to be mutuals, PLEASEEE ask, i wont say no i promise
if you make fanart of my fics pls tag me
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dazevi · 5 months ago
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CHAPTER ONE: GHOST IN THE ROOM
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heart to heart series | vi x fem!reader
synopsis: with the tour coming to an end, vi's manager insists on the band taking a break. meanwhile, you help your best friend, mel, with planning her wedding.
content warnings: MDNI. angst (lots of it), slightly suggestive, rockstar!vi, writer!reader, eventual exes to lovers (more like exes to fwb to lovers), no smut but mentions of sex, jaymel cameo, bestfriend!mel, time skips, mentions of alcohol and smoking
wc: 11,388 (about—i made some edits lol)
note: good morning!! (its morning where i am) this is my first time writing a series so feedback would be very much appreciated—would love to hear what you guys think!!! also i had some trouble deciding if i wanted to write jayvik or jaymel but i felt like mel would’ve been more fitting for reader to have as a best friend lol anyways here is the first chapter! i hope you all enjoy!!! (fanart by bunimint_ on ig)
navigation | series masterlist | previous chapter
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The hum of the venue echoed faintly through the backstage room, muffled by layers of concrete and steel.
The crowd had been electric tonight, their cheers and screams still ringing faintly in Vi’s ears as she sat on the small stool in front of a mirror. Her guitar sat propped against the brick wall behind her, its strings still vibrating in her memory from the final chords of the night. The air in the room smelled faintly of sweat and smoke, the residue of adrenaline and effort clinging to her skin.
The band was as much a family as it was a group of musicians. While Vi stands in front, Ekko was on lead guitar, the youngest of them but by far the most electric on stage, shredding solos and occasionally stepping up to rap when a song called for it. Then there was Steb on drums. He didn’t talk much, but he didn’t really need to. He was a crucial part of the band already and quite creative with his beats. And on bass was Loris, a big guy with a bigger heart, who filled every song with lines that could shake the floor of any venue.
But she was alone now, the rest of the band off celebrating the end of the tour, their laughter faint in the distance, just past the door. Her reflection in the mirror stared back at her—flushed cheeks, damp hair sticking to her temples, her tank top slightly wrinkled. Her chest rose and fell steadily, but her mind wasn’t calm.
Not really.
She reached up to push a strand of hair from her face when her fingers brushed against the cool silver chain around her neck.
Her hand stilled.
The necklace felt heavy on her neck as always, but she hardly thought about anymore.
Tonight, for some reason, it felt heavier. Vi tugged gently at it, pulling the necklace out from under her shirt to let it fall against her chest. They glimmered faintly in the dim backstage light, catching her eye like they always had.
She stared at them for a long moment, her throat tightening.
She hadn’t thought about it—about you—in a while.
Or… maybe that wasn’t true.
Maybe she’d just gotten better at pretending she didn’t.
But now, with the adrenaline of the stage fading away and the silence of the backstage room settling in, it hit her all over again.
Six years had passed since graduating high school. She remembers all the memories that came with it—that came with being with you—as if they happened yesterday.
But, three years.
It had been three years since the two of you had broken up, and Vi still couldn’t let go of this last piece of you. She told herself it was just a necklace, just a reminder of a time when life seemed simple, but deep down she knew it was more than that.
It was a lifeline to a past she hadn’t entirely made peace with—a time when the world didn’t feel quite so big, and her dreams hadn’t come at the cost of losing you.
She blinked at her reflection, her jaw tightening as her fingers played with the rings. The memories came flooding back despite her best efforts to push them down. The nights spent tangled up together in her room, the sound of your laugh as you teased her for pretending to know how to play certain songs when she wanted to impress you, the way you always smelled faintly of lavender and paper from all those books you carried around and loved so much. God, she could almost hear your voice if she closed her eyes, could almost feel the way your hands used to cup her face when you kissed her.
But you weren’t here. And you hadn’t been for years.
Vi exhaled shakily, letting the necklace fall back against her chest. She rubbed her hands over her face, her calloused fingers catching slightly on her damp skin.
She tried to tell herself this was what she wanted—what she had worked so hard for. The sold-out shows, the screaming fans, the endless crowds. It had been her dream for as long as she could remember.
But the truth was, none of it felt quite as fulfilling as she thought it would. Not without you.
The buzz of her phone on the dressing table broke her train of thought. She glanced at it, the screen lighting up with a text from Ekko reminding her to join them at the bar. She hesitated, her gaze drifting back to the mirror.
For a quick moment, she thought about it—thought about texting you. Maybe, calling you. Just to say hi. Just to hear your voice again, even if only through the cold distance of a phone call.
But she knew better. You had probably already moved on, or at least, you deserved to.
Vi stood slowly, adjusting the chain so it tucked back under her shirt, hidden from view. She ran a hand through her hair and grabbed her jacket, shrugging it on. As she walked out of the room, she felt the rings press lightly against her chest.
The party the next night was loud, chaotic, and everything it should have been to celebrate the end of a year-long tour. Vi found herself tucked into a corner of the room, a half-empty beer bottle in her hand as she watched her bandmates laugh and shout over the music. People swarmed around them—fans, industry suits, and a few familiar faces from the tour circuit.
It was exactly what she used to love, the kind of scene she’d dreamed about when she first picked up a guitar in her mom’s garage. But tonight, it all felt hollow.
She plastered on a grin when someone approached, making small talk she wouldn’t remember later, pretending the music wasn’t giving her a headache.
It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the celebration. She should have been celebrating. A year long tour. Ninety shows. Sold-out venues in cities she never thought she’d even visit, let alone play in.
But now that it was over, the rush was fading.
Vi’s manager had pulled the band aside after the final show, giving them a rundown of what came next.
Or rather, what didn’t come next.
“You’ve earned it,” the manager had said, looking around at the group. “Take a break. Go home. Recharge. You’ve been going non-stop for years. You deserve this.”
Home. The word lingered in Vi’s mind. It felt heavy and unfamiliar.
She sipped her beer and glanced around the party again. Everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives, but Vi felt detached, like she was watching it all through a screen.
The truth was, she didn’t know what she was supposed to do now. This band, for the time being, had been her life. The shows, the music, the adrenaline—it all kept her moving forward, kept her distracted.
But now? Now she was being told to stop.
Her fingers brushed against the chain around her neck, hidden beneath her shirt. She’d done it out of habit, her thumb grazing the spot where the rings rested against her skin. She swallowed hard, her jaw tightening as she felt some sort of pain swell in her chest. She pushed it down, forcing herself to focus on the noise and the people around her.
When a girl caught her eye across the room—pretty, confident, the kind of girl who wouldn’t ask too many questions—Vi didn’t hesitate.
She let the girl take her hand and pull her upstairs to some empty room in the penthouse suite. It was mechanical by now, second nature. She knew what to say, where to touch, how to make it seem like she was present when, in truth, her mind was somewhere else.
Or rather, with someone else.
It always ended the same way.
Vi closed her eyes, and it was you. There was no one else she could think of other than you.
It didn’t help that every time she hovered over someone else, her necklace would dangle just in front of her, and she’d look down and catch a glimpse of you beneath her, all pretty and waiting, with eyes full of love and warmth—the very eyes she fell in love with again and again. Every laugh, every touch, every kiss—it was you she conjured up in her mind.
But it never lasted.
Reality always came crashing back when the girl whispered her name in a way that had no effect on her or when she clung to her a little too tightly, too roughly.
When it was over, Vi sat silently by the bed, pulling on her shirt, avoiding eye contact.
“Can you stay?” the girl asked softly.
“No,” Vi shook her head, grabbing her jacket. She never stayed. She never left her number. And she never looked back.
Walking out into the cold night air, Vi lit a cigarette with trembling hands.
She thought about you—again. She thought about the way you used to smile at her, how your fingers used to trail through her hair when she rested her head in your lap, how you’d call her name so softly that it felt like she was listening to her favorite song. The ache in her chest was unbearable, but it was the only thing that reminded her she was still alive.
Since the breakup, Vi had grown bitter, the world feeling heavier with each passing day. She hadn’t felt truly happy in years, hadn’t laughed the way she used to.
So she buried herself into anything that could distract her—work, music, and nights like this one.
But it was useless.
Because no matter how far she ran, how many strangers she kissed, or how loud the music played, she always had you in her mind.
Always you. Only you.
To the little town she used to call home. To the life she’d walked away from when she chose this one.
And for the first time in a long time, Vi wasn’t sure she’d made the right choice.
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The chime of the bell above the flower shop door rang faintly as a customer left, and you glanced up from where you sat behind the counter, absentmindedly wrapping a bouquet of daisies in soft brown paper. The shop smelled sweet and earthy—comforting in a way that nothing else had been for the past few years.
It had been your mom’s idea for you to work here after you graduated college, though you hadn’t exactly protested. It was a nice job to have. Stress free. Relaxing. Arranging flowers, chatting with customers, and helping with orders had its own kind of peace.
You figured it would be nice way to pass some time while saving up money for your own shop—a book shop.
But some time has passed now, and all you’ve got to do is find the courage to go downtown and lease out that nice empty spot by the town gardens.
But, you decide to put that off for next month. Maybe after the wedding.
Your degree in literature had been the culmination of years of dreaming, of late nights spent pouring over books and writing short stories that no one else ever read. And for a while, everything felt like it was falling into place. That book—the one you poured your soul into, the one that had felt like ripping your heart out to write—had done surprisingly well. It wasn’t a bestseller, but it had been enough. Enough to make you believe you were on the right path, to reassure you that the sacrifices had been worth it.
But now, the blank pages in your notebook always stared back at you, mocking. The words didn’t come as easily as they used to. It wasn’t writer’s block, not exactly—it was something deeper. A lack of fire, you called it. And you told yourself that the flower shop was just a temporary stop, a place to regroup until the inspiration came back.
But part of you worried it never would.
As you finished tying a ribbon around the bouquet, your gaze drifted to the small bookshelf by the window. Copies of your book sat there, stacked neatly, the cover facing out. Your mom kept them in stock, proud and supportive as always, even if the sight of them made you wince. Every time you looked at it, you remembered how much of yourself you’d poured into that story—how you’d been told it was heartbreaking and beautiful, and yet writing it had felt like stitching up a wound that refused to heal.
You always tried not to think about who had inspired it.
But of course, you failed. You always did.
Some days, it was easier to pretend that part of your life hadn’t happened, to bury it under layers of routine and busy nights. Other days, it hit you out of nowhere—a song on the radio, a laugh in a movie, the way a stranger’s voice pitched just so.
And suddenly, you’d be back there.
Back to her.
The chime of the bell rang again, snapping you out of your thoughts as a new customer stepped in. You forced a polite smile, brushing your hands against your apron. The shop was warm and safe, a place where you could hide from the rest of the world.
But somewhere out there, the rest of the world kept moving—just as it had for Vi.
You remembered the day you saw that headline.
You hadn’t expected to see it, but there it was—Violet Lanes Spotted Dining With Famous Actress Caitlyn Kiramman—in bold, glaring letters across the entertainment news section of your phone screen.
The date on the article was just two weeks after your breakup, and it felt like the universe had decided to make sure you never forgot. You could still remember the way your heart sank as you read it, like the air was suddenly sucked out of your lungs, leaving you breathless and dizzy.
You’d known about Vi’s fame, how it grew quickly when she started making music professionally, of course—how could you not? She was a rockstar, her face plastered everywhere, her name trending almost daily.
But this… this was different.
Caitlyn Kiramman was an actress with a reputation that preceded her, a star on a different level entirely. Vi was supposed to be with you—at least, you thought so, at the time. But as you read through the details, the pictures of Vi smiling across the table at Caitlyn, her arm casually draped around the actress’s shoulders, something inside you snapped. It was the first time, in the aftermath of everything, that you’d truly felt like you’d lost her.
You tried to dismiss the burning ache in your chest. After all, you hadn’t exactly been an innocent party in your breakup. You had your reasons for walking away, too.
But seeing Vi so effortlessly move on, laughing and drinking wine with someone like Caitlyn—someone who could stand next to her in the spotlight without being swallowed by it—hit you harder than you expected.
It wasn’t jealousy, not really.
It was just you realizing that Vi had stepped into a world without you, just as you had stepped into one without her.
You thought about calling her, but you didn’t.
The last time you’d spoken, you’d said what needed to be said, even if it hadn’t felt like it at the time. You had told yourself you were better off, that you deserved more than being constantly second place to her career.
You didn’t want to call. Instead, you buried yourself in your work, threw yourself into your job, and started writing stories that felt too hollow to ever really be finished. You kept your distance from everything that reminded you of her, trying to forget the feeling of her hand in yours, the sound of her voice when she’d whisper your name in that low, raspy tone that made your heart flutter.
Maybe Vi was happy. Maybe she had found someone else who could give her the things you couldn’t. The thought hit you harder than it should, but you couldn’t stop it.
You thought about the necklace—the one Vi had worn, the one that had been yours too, back in high school. Your fingers traced the small silver chain around your neck, the one you hadn’t taken off since that night you two shared it.
Had she kept hers? You wondered, for the briefest second, if she still thought about you.
But you had no way of knowing. You hadn’t heard from her in years, and you had convinced yourself that it was for the best.
The familiar sound of the bell above the shop’s door jingled softly as your mom stepped out from the back room, balancing a couple of boxes in her arms. She looked like she’d been at it for hours, strands of her hair falling from the bun on top of her head.
“Sweetheart,” she said, setting the boxes down on the counter with a thud. “Mel’s going to call about the flowers soon. You know how particular she can be about the arrangements.”
You sighed, pausing mid-wrap on a bouquet of white roses and eucalyptus.
“I know, Mom,” you muttered, though you couldn’t quite keep the smile off your face.
Mel had been one of your closest friends since high school, and if anyone had a reason to be particular, it was her. She deserved the perfect wedding, after all.
“She’s already called three times this week about those centerpieces. I’m pretty sure I know her vision better than she does at this point.”
Your mom laughed softly, brushing her hands on her apron. “She’s just excited. It’s a big day.”
She gave you a knowing look, the kind that said she wasn’t just talking about Mel.
Before you could respond, the phone behind the counter buzzed, cutting through the silence of the shop. You reached for it instinctively, already knowing who it would be.
“I swear, she has a sixth sense for these things,” you mumbled as you picked up the receiver.
“Hello, Lane Florals, how can I help—”
“Don’t even start with the formalities, I know it’s you,” came Mel’s voice, bright and slightly exasperated on the other end. “And I know I’ve already called you a million times this week, but I need to talk about the bouquets again. Jayce thinks we’re good, but I’m having second thoughts about the hydrangeas.”
You let out a dramatic groan, though you couldn’t help the laugh that followed. “Mel, you’ve gotta stop stressing. You’re going to make me go gray before your wedding day. What’s wrong with the hydrangeas now?”
“I don’t know!” she exclaimed. “I just feel like they don’t have the right… feeling. Maybe we should go with lilies? Or peonies? Or—oh! Do you think we could mix in some sunflowers? Jayce looooves sunflowers.”
You pinched the bridge of your nose, glancing over at your mom, who was now suppressing a grin as she watered the potted plants by the window.
“Mel, we’re two weeks away from the wedding,” you said gently. “If we keep changing things, you’re not going to have any flowers at all.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Mel sighed dramatically. “You’re right. Ugh, you’re right. I’m just overthinking it. I’m sorry, I’ll stop being such a pain your ass.”
“You’re not a pain,” you said, softening. “You’re just… a perfectionist. But it’s all going to be perfect, I promise. The hydrangeas are beautiful, and they’re going to look amazing with everything else. Trust me. I’ll throw in some sunflowers, too, for Jayce.”
Mel let out a small, relieved laugh. “Thanks, babe. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Lose your mind, probably,” you teased, leaning back against the counter. “But seriously, you’re going to be fine. And as your maid of honor, I think you should take my advice and roll with it.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, and you could hear the smile in her voice. “Oh, and don’t forget, you promised to help me with the seating chart this weekend.”
“I know, I know,” you assured her, though the thought of wrangling that seating chart made you want to pour yourself a strong drink. “I’ll see you Saturday, okay?”
“Okay. Love you!” she said quickly before hanging up.
You set the phone down with a sigh, turning to your mom, who was now watching you with an amused expression. “Hydrangeas again?” she asked.
“Hydrangeas,” you confirmed with a laugh, shaking your head. “I swear, if I hear the word one more time, I’m going to lose it.”
But despite the teasing, you felt nothing but warmth for Mel. She was one of the few people who had stuck by you through everything, and seeing her so happy with Jayce was something you couldn’t begrudge, no matter how stressful wedding planning had become.
You glanced at the calendar on the wall, your thoughts drifting briefly, as they so often did, to Vi.
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.
At least, that’s what Vi had told you when she kissed you goodbye at the airport years ago, both of you standing on the edge of the new chapter—her with her band’s first big break, and you heading off to college.
She had cupped your face, her calloused hands warm against your cheeks, and promised, “We’ll make it work. You and me, we’re solid, baby. Nothing’s gonna change that.”
But it did.
You used to call everyday. Text everyday. It was so often that Vi would fall asleep on the phone every night, to the sound of your voice, telling her how much you missed her. You’d do the same, too.
But the calls that used to stretch into the early hours of the morning grew shorter and less frequent.
At first, Vi always made time for you, even if she was in the middle of nowhere, some dingy tour bus parked at a rest stop. She’d stay on the line, her gravelly voice cutting through the static as she told you about the show that night or the funny thing Ekko had done to annoy Steb. And you’d tell her about your classes, your professors, the friends you were making in your lit program. She also always used to mention you in interviews when people would ask the band if they were single or whatever.
And Vi would always say, “I’ve actually got a girl waiting for me back at home,” with cheekiest smile she could throw on.
For a while, it was enough.
But then the band’s success started to pick up, and Vi’s world got louder, busier. The calls started to come later and later—or sometimes not at all.
You’d stay up, staring at your phone, waiting for it to ring, only to wake up hours later with an empty inbox and a dull ache in your chest.
And the texts? They dwindled too.
You used to send each other everything—pictures, inside jokes, songs that reminded you of each other.
Days would pass before you’d hear from her. And when you did, it was always rushed. A quick voice message, “Sorry, babe, crazy day. Miss you, though. Love you,” followed by radio silence for the rest of the week.
You tried to understand. You really did.
You knew how much this meant to her, how hard she’d worked to get where she was. You were proud of her, more than you could ever put into words.
But knowing that didn’t make it hurt any less.
One night, you were in your dorm room, sitting at your desk with a stack of notes and an unfinished essay in front of you, your phone balanced precariously on the edge. Vi had promised to call after a show—it had been over two weeks since you’d last spoken properly—but the clock was inching toward midnight, and there was still no word.
When the phone finally buzzed, you snatched it up, your heart pounding. “Vi?”
Her voice came through the line, raspy and tired. “Hey, baby. Sorry, show ran late.”
“It’s okay,” you lied, sinking back into your chair. “How was it?”
She sighed, and you could hear the exhaustion in it. “Good. Crowd was wild. But I’m beat.”
There was a pause, one that stretched too long, too heavy. You could feel the distance between you, the miles and the time zones and the weeks of missed calls.
“I miss you,” you said softly, your voice breaking a little.
“I miss you too,” she said, but it sounded automatic, like something she’d said a thousand times before—who are you kidding? She probably has.
You wanted to ask her why she hadn’t called, why it felt like you were slipping further and further apart.
But the words caught in your throat.
Instead, you said, “When are you coming home?”
“Uh…” Another pause. Then, “I don’t know, babe. Not for a while.”
It felt like a punch to the gut.
“Right,” you said, trying to keep your voice steady.
“I’m sorry,” she added quickly, like she could sense your disappointment in her. “It’s just… everything’s so crazy right now. But I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
You nodded, even though she couldn’t see it. “Okay.”
When the call ended, you stared at your phone for a long time, tears blurring your vision. Vi had always been your safe place. But at that time, it felt like she was slipping away, and no matter how tightly you held on, you couldn’t stop it.
And Vi felt it too.
She hated the way things were between you, the way she could hear the hurt in your voice even when you tried to hide it. She wanted to fix it, to drop everything, fly to you and hold you and tell you that everything was going to be okay.
But the truth was, she didn’t know if it would be.
Because no matter how much you loved each other, the distance was pulling you apart. And neither of you knew how to stop it.
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NOVEMBER, THREE YEARS AGO.
It had been months since you’d last seen her—months that felt like years. You’d tried to bury yourself in your studies, keeping busy so you didn’t have to think about the loneliness she left behind with you.
But then your phone rang one rainy afternoon, and when Vi’s name flashed on the screen, you hesitated for only a moment before answering.
“Hey,” you said softly, curling up on your bed as you balanced the phone against your ear.
“Hey, babe,” she replied, her voice a little hoarse, like she’d been yelling or maybe singing too much. “How’s school?”
“It’s… fine,” you said, trying to keep your tone neutral.
You wanted to tell her everything—how much you missed her, how hard it was to fall asleep without her voice in your ear—but you swallowed the words.
“What are you up to?” You asked, bringing a hand up to rub the side of your neck.
“Nothing, right now… I’m in bed. I just finished up at the studio,” she said quietly. “It ran pretty late so…”
“Are you doing okay?”
You hear her take a breath before sighing softly, “Yeah, I’m… I just miss you.”
“I miss you, too,” you echoed.
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then she said, “I was thinking… I want you to come to New York.”
You blinked, caught off guard. “New York?”
“Yeah. The band got invited to this award show. It’s kind of a big deal, I guess. I—I want you to be my date.”
Your stomach twisted at the invitation. You could hear the hope in her voice, and for a second, all you wanted to do was say yes. But then reality set in.
“Vi, I don’t know. I have finals coming up, and plane tickets are—”
“Will be taken care of,” she interrupted quickly. “I’ll handle it, everything. Just say yes.”
“Vi…”
“I wanna see you,” she said, and her voice was soft, almost pleading. It caught you off guard. “Please. It’s been too long. I miss you.”
You closed your eyes, leaning your head back against the wall, and sighed.
It was always hard to say no to Vi.
“Okay,” you murmured. “I’ll come.”
“Yeah?” she asked, her voice brightening.
“Yeah.”
The next few weeks all happened too quickly.
Vi arranged everything—a plane ticket, a car to pick you up from the airport, even a dress for the event. You didn’t know how she’d managed it all, but you weren’t surprised. She could practically do anything she sets her mind to.
When you stepped off the plane and into the terminal, you were expecting to just follow the signs to baggage claim, look for the driver Vi had mentioned in passing, and quietly make your way to whatever fancy hotel she had booked for you.
It wasn’t that you didn’t appreciate her effort—Vi always went all out when it came to you—but you figured this was just another one of those things she couldn’t be present for, one more event she’d planned out from a distance.
But when you rounded the corner toward the arrivals area, your feet froze mid-step.
There she was.
Vi was standing near the entrance, her tall frame wrapped in an all-black outfit. A long black coat hung open over a fitted turtleneck and dark jeans, her combat boots planted firmly on the tiled floor. In her hands, she held a small bouquet of flowers—white daisies and a few pale pink roses wrapped in simple brown paper.
She looked every bit the rockstar she’d become, yet look on her face told a different story.
Her eyes scanned the crowd eagerly, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of the paper wrapping as though she were nervous.
Your breath hitched, and tears prickled at the corners of your eyes.
For a moment, you couldn’t move.
Then Vi’s eyes found yours.
Her face lit up like the sun breaking through a storm, and before you could even process what was happening, she was running toward you. Her long strides closed the distance in seconds, and then she was there—her arms wrapping tightly around you, pulling you into her chest.
“Hey, baby,” she whispered against your hair.
You couldn’t respond.
Your throat was too tight, and the only thing you could do was cling to her, burying your face in her neck as the tears spilled over. The flowers were crushed slightly between your bodies, but neither of you cared. Vi’s hand slid up to cradle the back of your head, holding you like she was afraid you might disappear.
“I missed you so much,” she whispered.
She pulled back just enough to look at you, her hands cupping your face as she scanned your features like she needed to memorize them all over again.
She let out a breathy sigh, a smile making its way onto her face, “God, you’re even prettier than I remember.”
You let out a watery laugh, wiping at your cheeks with trembling fingers.
“Shut up,” you teased, though your voice wavered.
Vi grinned, a little sheepishly, and handed you the now slightly crumpled bouquet. “These are for you. Sorry, I think I crushed them a little.”
“They’re perfect,” you said, taking the flowers and holding them close to your chest.
She smiled again, softer this time, and reached out to take your suitcase.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We can go get lunch after the hotel. I know a place you might like.”
And for the first time in a long while, being with her finally felt right.
The weekend passed like something out of a dream. Vi stuck close to you, almost glued to your side, like she couldn’t bear to let go of you for even a second. She carried your bags, opened every door, kissed you in every private corner she could find.
In the the hotel room, with the city skyline stretching endlessly outside the window, she kissed you until her lips felt bruised, like she was trying to make up for every kiss she hadn’t been able to give you.
She made love to you slowly, tenderly, the way you deserved—whispering soft words against your skin, brushing stray strands of hair from your face, as if she couldn’t believe you were there with her.
“God, I missed you,” she murmured over and over again, her voice thick and quiet, spilling out each time her lips found yours. “I missed you so much.”
And it wasn’t just the being this close to you that left Vi breathless—it was everything else.
The way your laugh filled the room when she cracked a joke. The way you shyly tucked your head into her shoulder when she kissed your temple in public. The way your voice softened when you told her you missed her, that you loved her. Vi felt like she was relearning you, rediscovering all the tiny details she’d loved about you from the start—the way your fingertips felt trailing down her arm, the way you hummed absentmindedly when you were happy, the way you fit perfectly in her arms like you’d been made for her.
For once, Vi wasn’t thinking about work, about the band, about the next tour or the endless cycle of interviews and late-night rehearsals.
None of that mattered here.
The world felt smaller, quieter, when it was just the two of you.
She couldn’t believe how much she’d missed you, how much she’d missed this.
As the weekend was drawing to a close, you were lying in bed together, your head resting on her chest. Vi traced lazy circles along your shoulder with her fingertips, her other hand draped protectively across your waist. The sheets were tangled around your bare legs, the city lights painting soft, dim patterns on the walls.
“I forgot what this feels like,” Vi had said, her voice almost a whisper. “Just… being with you. I missed it.”
You tilted your head to look up at her, your eyes warm and full of something she couldn’t quite name.
“Me too,” you said softly, your hand reaching up to brush a strand of hair from her face.
Vi leaned down to kiss you again slowly, her hand cradling your jaw.
She wanted to stay in this moment forever, to bottle it up and carry it with her wherever she went.
Being with you, she wasn’t worried about the distance, about the time apart, about anything other than you.
But happiness like that didn’t last for long and, tomorrow, it would all go to shit.
The night of the music award show was everything Vi had hoped it would be, glimmering lights, and flashing cameras. She could hardly contain her pride as she stood beside you, her arm around your waist, guiding you through. Everything had been planned, from your dress to the after-party, and it seemed like everything was falling into place.
You looked stunning in the dress she had picked out for you. It was a deep shade of red that hugged your body in all the right places, with delicate lace detailing along the neckline that made your girlfriend want to cover your collarbone with kisses. Vi couldn’t take her eyes off you when she first saw you in it. She kept telling you how beautiful you looked, her voice filled with awe every time she caught a glimpse of you.
You had always been beautiful in Vi’s eyes, but tonight, you looked like someone straight out of a dream, her dreams. She felt a pride swell up inside her every time she looked at you, like the world had never seemed brighter, knowing that you, her girl, were beside her.
But despite how nice it was all going, it wasn’t without its discomforts for you.
There were moments when you felt too out of place in the spotlight, when the flashing of cameras made your chest tighten, or when you were pulled away from Vi to stand beside some celebrities for interviews, your smile feeling stiff and forced. Every time you were apart from her, even for a moment, you couldn’t help but feel a bit of loneliness, wanting to be close to her again.
The show itself went smoothly, though.
Vi did her thing and you watched from the sidelines, starstruck and completely in awe. It was so surreal to see her like this, her bandmates by her side, to see other celebrities you watched from home, the crowd cheering for her every time her name was called. She looked radiant. And it was hard to not feel overwhelmed by it all.
But the further the night dragged on, the more it felt like you were losing her to this new world.
You felt more of it at the after party. Vi had been swept away by a group of celebrities who wanted to talk to her, leaving you standing alone at the bar.
Ekko noticed and came over to keep you company, but it still wasn’t the same. He asked about how things were at home, mentioned how much he missed eating Benzo’s cooking. And it was nice talking to him—nice to have a friend around who didn’t feel too far into the fame as everyone else did in the room.
As you leaned against the bar, nursing your drink, you found your eyes wandering back to Vi, standing across the room, laughing and chatting with some famous actress, her hand resting on her arm. She looked completely at ease, her eyes sparkling as she talked with the other guests.
But it was clear that you that were nothing more than a bystander to her world now.
Ekko’s voice snapped you out of your daze. “You okay?” he asked, noticing your distracted expression.
You nodded quickly, forcing a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just… a bit tired, I guess.”
Ekko raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further. “You sure? Vi looks like she’s having a blast. I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”
You smiled again, though it felt hollow. “Yeah, she always has a way of talking to people, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah, she does,” Ekko agreed, grinning. “But you know she’s really happy to have you here tonight. She’s always talking about you. Can’t get her to shut up about you sometimes.”
You couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at your lips, but it faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
You stand there, drink in hand, feeling an odd tension settle in your chest as you watch Vi across the room. She’s talking to someone—a tall woman, all legs and sharp angles, with dark blue hair that catches the light in an almost ethereal way. The way the actress moves, the way she laughs—effortless, magnetic, like she’s always been in the spotlight.
You’ve seen her before, vaguely—magazines, red carpets, maybe a movie trailer. She’s the kind of woman people can’t help but stare at. Perfectly polished, perfectly poised.
And there’s Vi, her face bright with a smile you once thought was reserved just for you. But now, as she stands there, chatting easily, you feel like a ghost in the room, watching from the sidelines.
Your fingers tighten around your glass, but you don’t move. You can’t.
It’s strange, this feeling that tightens your chest, this longing and bitterness you can’t seem to shake. Vi’s laugh carries over through the party, and for a moment, you close your eyes, remembering when you were the one who made her laugh like that. When you were the one who kissed that smile from her lips.
But it all feels so far away now.
The more you watch them, the more out of place you feel.
The more you look at Vi, the more she seems to belong in this world—this world of lights and flashes, of perfect strangers who all seem to know exactly who they are, exactly where they fit.
And you?
You’re still standing in the corner of this room, feeling like you’re made of something that doesn’t belong, something that’s too small for this space.
You swallow, trying to force down the lump in your throat.
It’s stupid, you know it’s stupid.
You’re just a girl from a small town with college exams coming up and some books you wrote.
Nothing glamorous.
And Vi—Vi’s everything you aren’t. She’s out here, living the life you never had the guts to chase. You can’t even blame her for it. She’s been nothing but amazing, talented and hardworking, giving you so much of herself, even when it all felt too complicated.
But seeing her like this, only reminds you of how out of place you feel now, in her world, in this world.
“I… I think I’m just gonna get some fresh air,” you say quietly.
You excuse yourself from Ekko, offering him a small smile as you slip away from the conversation. You need air—fresh, cool, anything to clear the thoughts that have taken root in your mind.
You take the elevator down to the ground floor, your heels clicking softly on the polished floors. The doors open with a soft ding, and you step out, immediately greeted by the cool bite of the night air. It’s a entirely different compared to the warmth of the party inside, and for a moment, it feels like a relief, like you can finally breathe without the walls of the venue pressing in on you.
The city lights glow in the distance, the hustle of traffic and the low hum of conversations from nearby streets filled your ears. You pull your coat tighter around you, the fabric clinging to your shoulders, but it doesn’t do much to shield you from the knot tightening in your chest.
You stand there for a moment, breathing deeply. The cool air is refreshing, but it can’t seem to cool the heat rising in your cheeks, the bitter ache in your stomach. Everything about it reminds you of how far things have come—and how far apart you and Vi have drifted.
You didn’t want to feel this way tonight. You didn’t want to spend another evening consumed by jealousy, by doubt.
But here you are, standing outside in the dark, unable to fight the feeling.
You really hadn’t expected it to be this hard.
Maybe it’s silly to think you could’ve ever fit into that world.
But the truth stings.
You want things to be different. You want to be the one she looks at, the one she chooses. But everything about tonight has made you feel like that’s something you’ll never be again.
You look up at the sky, the stars barely visible through the city’s haze, and for a moment, you close your eyes, letting the cold air fill your lungs.
You wish things were different. You wish you could go back to when you were everything to each other.
But you can’t.
Not anymore.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Vi’s voice cuts through your train of thought.
She must have slipped out unnoticed, and now, there she is, standing behind you. Her arms come around your waist, pulling you closer, her front pressed against your back. Her chin rests gently on your shoulder, her breath tickling the back of your neck.
“Hi, baby,” she muttered quietly.
You want to speak, to tell her how you feel, how the space between you both is only growing wider.
But the words stick in your throat.
Vi stays there, waiting for you, her body warm against yours. Her hands move from your waist, softly tracing over your arms, gently coaxing you into the safety of her touch, even though you don’t know how safe it feels anymore.
For a moment, all you can do is breathe, just breathe, feeling her arms around you… as if it’s the last time you’ll feel it.
When you do finally speak, it’s quieter than you intend, barely above a whisper. “Vi, I think we… I think we should stop this.”
Vi stiffens behind you, her hands pausing on your skin.
You can feel her heart rate quicken slightly. But she doesn’t pull away.
Instead, she presses closer, her breath brushing your ear as she whispers, “What are you talking about?”
She holds you tighter, and for a brief second, you feel the urge to give in to her touch, to forget the mess in your head.
But it’s not enough anymore.
You try to speak again, but your words come out jumbled, like you’re struggling to find the right pieces to fit together.
“I… I don’t know. We’re not the same anymore.” You let out a shaky breath, frustrated with yourself for not being able to explain the mess of feelings inside your chest. “It’s like we’re just… strangers now. I can’t keep pretending it’s the same, Vi.”
Vi’s hands stay on your waist, but you feel her pause for a moment. She pulls back just a little, enough to look at you, but not enough to fully let go.
You can hear the uncertainty in her voice when she speaks, “What? It’s still us. You and me. I—” She swallows, and you can hear the faint tremor in her words. “I thought we were okay.”
You shake your head, your chest tight.
“We’re not. We haven’t been for a while. And, I can’t tell if you even notice. Do you? You’re… you’re so far away, and I’m just… here.” The pain in your voice stings, but it feels like it’s the only truth you have left. “And I don’t know how to make it work anymore. I don’t know how to feel close to you when you’re a million miles away all the time.”
Vi’s arms move again, but this time, they’re softer, as if she’s afraid you’ll break under her touch.
“Don’t say that. I-I do notice. I do. I know it’s been a bit rough lately, but we can fix this… right? We’ve always been able to fix things before.” She tries to lighten the air, a little laugh escaping her lips as if she’s trying to erase the tension in the air. “I-I promise to call more, baby, please—”
But it doesn’t reach you.
You step back from her, the space between you both growing with each step, and for the first time in so long, you feel something other than the ache in your chest. It’s cold, too cold, and the distance feels like it’s swallowing you whole.
Vi’s arms drop at her sides, her hands twitching as if she doesn’t know what to do with them.
She watches you carefully, her eyes wide as you move away. When she tries to move closer, you flinch. It’s instinct, something you didn’t mean to do, but you can’t help it. You just need space.
And Vi hates it.
“I wanna go home,” you say, your voice shaking with the everything you’ve been trying to ignore, trying to bury.
Vi’s smile falters, her brows furrow as she processes your words. She takes a small step toward you, the panic creeping into her voice. “O-Okay. I-I’ll call a cab and we can go back to the hotel and—“
You cut her off before she can finish, your heart hammering in your chest. “No, Vi. I want to go back home. I don’t… I don’t belong here with you.”
The ring in her ears and as soon as they leave your lips, you can see the color drain from Vi’s face. Her breath catches in her throat, and you watch her, eyes wide, disbelief settling in. She furrows her eyebrows, her entire posture faltering as she tries to process what you just said.
“What?” she whispers.
She takes a shaky breath, her gaze searching your face, looking for any sign that this might be some kind of cruel joke, some kind of misunderstanding.
But you can’t give her that. You can’t pretend anymore.
“I just…” you start, but the words get caught in your throat, like you’re suffocating on them. You look at her, at the girl you once knew better than anyone else, and you realize that you’re not the same person anymore. “I thought I could keep pretending, but I can’t. And… I-I don’t see how we can change anything right now. I’m sorry, I—”
Vi opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She just stares at you, like she’s trying to wrap her mind around what’s happening, and in her silence, you hear all the things you can’t say.
The tears begin yo roll down your cheeks and Vi wants to wipe them away immediately, wants to take all that pain you’re feeling away for good… but…
“I need to go home,” you whisper again, this time your voice firmer, because if you don’t say it again, you might never leave.
And the look in her eyes—this heartbreaking, raw pain that flits across her face—makes your heart shatter even more.
Because you never wanted to hurt her.
But you’re not sure how to fix any of this. How to find your way back when it feels like everything between you two has crumbled into dust.
“I’m sorry,” you whisper, but the words feel so small. So insignificant.
Vi doesn’t say anything at first, just stands there, frozen in place. She swallows hard, her lips trembling as she finally finds her voice.
“I thought we were… I thought you wanted to be with me.”
“I always want to be with you, I do, but this—” you bring a hand up, wiping your cheeks quickly. “What did you think was gonna to happen after this weekend’s over? That we’d have a great time here together, then everything would be okay? All of our problems aren’t just magically gonna disappear, Vi… You barely call. You barely text. And I’ll go back home and you’ll stay here and I… What, I won’t see you again for another four—five months? I-I cant be in a relationship with someone who—fuck, with someone who can’t even really be with me. And I don’t want to make you choose. I can’t make you choose but, Vi…”
Her eyes widen in panic, her face twisting with desperation.
“Don’t say that. I-I can fix this. We can fix this, baby, just—” she starts, her voice broken, her words faltering, as though she’s trying to pull something, anything, to make things right.
“Stop it, Violet,” you say quiet.
“No, no, just—just tell me what to do,” she says. She’s shaking, but it’s not the gentle tremor of someone trying to hold it together. It’s raw. It’s frantic. “Tell me what I need to do to, please—”
You stand your ground, feeling the anger swell within you as her frustration starts to mirror your own.
“Stop it.”
“I love you.”
You freeze. Your heart skips a beat, and for a split second, you wonder if she’s right, if there’s a chance, if somehow everything can go back to how it used to be.
But then the reality sets in.
“Are you happy with me, Vi?” You ask.
Vi looks at you and furrows her brows, confused at the question, “Of course, I am—”
“You’re happy with the way things are right now? Really?”
Vi freezes, the words caught in her throat. The certainty she usually wears like armor slips away.
“You’re happy with how far apart we always are? You’re happy that we barely talk anymore? That we don’t have time for each other anymore? T-That when I go home, you’ll forget all about me until you suddenly remember that you have a girlfriend miles and miles away, just waiting for you to call or pick up your damn phone?”
“I…” she stammers, her brow furrowing as she tries to find the right thing to say, but nothing feels right. She’s taken aback, not just by your question but by the realization behind it—the way your words cut through the illusion that she’s been clinging to, that everything is okay.
The silence between you stretches for so long and Vi fucking hates it. She hates the way you’re looking at her, as if you already know the answer she’s too afraid to give. Because deep down, she knows she’s not happy—not with the distance, not with the missed calls and the half-hearted promises, not with the way she’s been letting you slip away.
But admitting that feels like admitting defeat, like saying out loud that she’s failing you, failing this.
“I—” she tries again, but she looks away, her jaw tightening. “I’m sorry.”
She wants to say that she’s happy, that you’re enough, that she wouldn’t trade this for anything—but the truth is, she doesn’t even know what this is anymore either.
And by the look in your eyes, neither do you.
You close your eyes and take a deep breath, before opening them again to look up at her. Your hand reaches up, trembling slightly, and cups Vi’s cheek. Her skin is warm, damp from the tears she didn’t realize had fallen until now. The moment your palm makes contact, Vi leans into it instinctively. Her eyes flutter closed, and her shoulders quake as she lets out the softest, most broken sound—a quiet sob she tries to hide but can’t.
“Don’t,” she whispers, shaky and fragile. “Please…”
You don’t pull your hand away. Instead, your thumb brushes along the line of her cheekbone, and how gentle you were with her makes her cry harder. She feels your breath, and she hates how much she craves you, hates how much it hurts.
You swallow hard, the sound of your barely louder than a breath as you say, “This isn’t good for us.”
Vi’s eyes snap open, bloodshot and wide, her lips parting in disbelief. For a second, she freezes, the words not fully sinking in, like her brain refuses to process them.
“We should stop,” you say again, softer this time. Your hand is still on her cheek, and Vi clings to it, her larger hand wrapping around yours as though she could keep you there forever. “We’re hurting each other, Violet. We’ve been hurting each other for a while now.”
“No,” Vi pleads, shaking her head, her voice so weak you could barely hear her as she presses harder into your touch, desperate. “I don’t wanna stop. Please, just—let me fix this—”
You shake your head, biting down on the inside of your cheek to keep the tears at bay, though they’re already blurring your vision.
“It’s not about fixing anything, Vi. We’re just in two completely different places and…” Your voice falters for a moment, breaking. “…and it’s not working for us.”
Vi’s breath hitches, and the hand gripping yours starts to tremble.
“I don’t know how to—” Her voice cracks, and she looks down, her tears falling freely onto the ground. “I don’t know how to do any of this this without you.”
Your heart clenches painfully, and for a fleeting second, you want to take it all back. You lean down slightly, pressing your forehead to hers, closing your eyes.
“Yeah, you do,” you whisper, the words like a final goodbye. “You’ve been doing all of this without me already.”
She shakes her head softly, “That’s not true.”
Vi’s breath comes out shaky, her tears mingling with yours as she presses herself closer, trying to savor the moment, to memorize the feel of you before it slips away entirely.
“I love you,” she says, words trembling as if the words are the last lifeline she has left to offer.
She watches you closely, her wide, teary eyes searching yours, desperate for something—anything—to tell her this isn’t the end.
But you don’t say it back right away.
And for those few agonizing seconds, the silence feels suffocating. Vi’s heart pounds painfully in her chest, and a lump forms in her throat, threatening to choke her. Her lips part to say something, to plead again, but before she can, you finally speak.
“I love you, Violet.”
It’s everything Vi wanted to hear, but as soon as the words leave your lips, they cut deeper than any silence ever could. There’s a softness to your voice, a finality in the way you say it, and Vi knows.
She knows what it means, what you’re trying to say without saying it outright.
And it hurts so fucking bad.
Her breath catches, and her hands drop slightly from where they’d been holding you, as if the weight of the words has drained her strength.
She shakes her head, voice cracking as she stammers, “Don’t say it like that.”
You look at her with so much tenderness it almost shatters her completely, but it’s that softness that makes it clear you’ve already made up your mind.
“Vi,” you whisper, and the way you say her name only makes the tears come faster.
She hates it. She hates how much of a goodbye it sounds.
“I love you so much,” she says, words breaking, barely audible now.
But even as the words leave her mouth, she knows they’re futile. She knows that no matter how much she loves you, no matter how much she tries to hold on, she can’t stop you from slipping through her fingers.
And for the first time, the love she’s always clung to feels hollow, like it’s not enough to keep you here.
Like she’s already lost you.
After a moment, you lean in, pressing a soft kiss to Vi’s cheek, the warmth of your lips lingering on her skin.
Vi closes her eyes at the touch, savoring it, even though something deep inside her tells her this is the last time. She wants to hold onto it, to freeze this moment, to make you stay just a little longer. But you’re already stepping back, pulling away from her reach.
“I’m gonna head back to the hotel,” you say quietly.
Vi nods instinctively, her breath catching in her throat as she responds, “I’ll go with you.”
Just a little more time, she thinks. She just wants whatever time she could get with you. Her voice is so weak under her breath, but she takes a step forward, already moving to follow, to stay by your side no matter what.
But then you stop her.
You place a hand up between you—not to push her away, but enough to keep her there, frozen in place. And when she sees the look in your eyes, Vi feels the first crack split through her chest.
“I’ll be okay,” you say softly. “I’ll call a cab and find my way back.”
It’s not the words themselves that break her; it’s the way you say them, like you’re letting her go in every sense of the word. Her heart shatters, the pieces falling one by one, and she doesn’t know how to stop it. She doesn’t know how to stop you.
“Let me go with you,” she breathes out, her voice, desperate to see more of you for as long as she still can.
But you shake your head gently, the tears in your eyes threatening to spill over, and she knows there’s no changing your mind.
She’s never felt so powerless, so useless, and all she can do is stand there, watching you walk away, feeling like you’re taking every part of her with you.
She watches your silhouette grow smaller and smaller, her mind clinging to every detail—how your hair looked under the dim streetlights, how soft your lips felt against her cheek, how your voice cracked when you said her name. She already misses all of it, every little piece of you.
But deep down, she knows she’s been missing you for far longer than just tonight.
The air is damp and Vi doesn’t move. She doesn’t know how long she’s been standing there, rooted to the ground, staring at the spot where you disappeared from her sight. A faint drizzle begins, tiny drops kissing her skin. She barely notices it at first, but soon the rain falls harder, soaking through her clothes.
She shivers, but she doesn’t move. Her hands fall limply at her sides, her mind replaying every moment of the night, every word you said, every second she couldn’t hold on to you. Her knees feel weak, but the ache in her chest is worse.
She wants to run after you, to stop you, but even if she said all the right words, she knows you’d still be leaving.
And it’s her fault, she thinks. She let it all slip away.
Hours pass, or maybe just minutes—it doesn’t matter. By the time she finally stumbles back to the party, her hair is dripping, her hands are trembling, and her heart feels hollow.
You booked the earliest flight you could, and as the sky begins to lighten, you pull your coat tighter around you and make your way to the airport.
In the next couple of days, in a big headline on your phone, you find out that Vi punched someone at that party.
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SATURDAY, PRESENT DAY.
The hum of soft music drifted through the flower shop as you sat at the counter, a list of names and scribbled notes sprawled out in front of you. A steaming cup of tea sat untouched by your elbow, the faint aroma of lavender and honey filling the air.
You tapped your pen lightly against the edge of the paper, squinting at Mel’s unusually messy handwriting.
“Does Jayce even know this many people?” you muttered, half to yourself and half to Mel, who sat cross-legged on a stool across from you, flipping through her wedding binder.
Mel let out a melodious laugh, shaking her head.
“Oh, you’d be surprised. He seems to think everyone he’s ever spoken to needs a seat at this wedding.”
She reached over and plucked the list from your hands, glancing at the names.
“This is ridiculous. He even invited his college professor,” she squinted, pointing at a name near the bottom of the page, “—Heimer…dinger?”
You laughed softly, shrugging. “Don’t look at me.”
Mel groaned, leaning back and rubbing her temples. “I swear, at this rate, we’re going to have to build a second venue just to fit all these people.”
“Maybe you could just cut the guest list in half,” you suggested lightly, marking a few names off with your pen. “Say the venue has a sudden capacity issue.”
She smirked. “Tempting. Though, knowing Jayce, he’d probably build a whole new venue himself just to make sure no one gets left out.”
You smiled at her, then turned your attention back to the seating chart—you were only halfway through the list. You could feel the warmth of the afternoon sun filtering through the shop’s windows. The scent of fresh blooms mixed with the faint perfume Mel always wore, filling the air with a sense of comfort you’ve gotten familiar with long ago.
“Do you think my mother will mind sitting next to Jayce’s?” Mel asks, uncertain. She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear and frowns at the chart like it’s a puzzle she just can’t solve.
You glance up at her and let out a soft laugh, shaking your head. “I think they’re are old enough to behave for one meal.”
Mel sighs, throwing her hands up in mock defeat. “You clearly haven’t met my family.”
“Yes, I have,” you roll your eyes and lean forward, studying the chart. “Okay, well… how about this?”
You move a few names around, scribbling quick arrows to new spots.
“We put your mom near your college friends. She can’t cause too much trouble if they’re surrounded by strangers.”
Mel grins at you, resting her chin on her hand as she watches you work.
“Perfect,” she says.
“How’s your mom holding up with all of this?” Mel asked suddenly, watching you as you meticulously rearranged the tiny paper name tags on the chart.
“She’s good,” you replied, your voice soft. “Excited, mostly. She keeps talking about how nice it is to have the shop involved in something so big.”
You paused, your hand hovering over one of the name tags.
“She’s just happy to see you and Jayce so… settled, I guess.”
Mel tilted her head, studying you with a thoughtful look in her eyes. “And you? How are you holding up?”
You hesitated, your fingers lightly brushing against the edge of the seating chart. For a moment, you considered giving her the same polite, surface-level answer you gave everyone else. But this was Mel—your best friend, the one person who’d known you through every high and low.
“I’m fine,” you said finally, though the words felt heavier than they should have. “Really.”
Mel’s gaze softened, but she didn’t push. Instead, she reached over and placed a reassuring hand on yours, her smile warm and understanding. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing great. And if you need anything—anything at all—you know I’m here.”
The phone rings before you can reply. You instinctively reach for it, the receiver cool against your hand as you press it to your ear. “Lane Florals, how can I help you?”
“Oh, hey! It’s Jayce,” a familiar voice greets you cheerfully on the other end. “Just checking in to see if Mel’s still holding you hostage over there.”
You laugh softly. “Hostage is a strong word, but yes, we’re almost done.”
Mel perks up at the sound of his name and reaches for the phone.
“Give me that,” she says playfully, taking it from you. “Jayce, we’ve been over this—your input doesn’t count unless you actually help with something.”
As Mel steps into the back to argue with her fiancé, you sit back in the chair, momentarily tuning out the sound of her voice. Your eyes wander around the shop, landing on the bundles of flowers waiting to be arranged, the sunlight filtering in through the windows, and the stillness of this place.
You absently twirl the pen in your hand, your mind drifting for a moment. It’s easy to stay busy here, to focus on what’s in front of you instead of the ache you don’t like to name.
“Jayce insists we keep his cousins together,” Mel said with a playful roll of her eyes as she returned to you. “I love him, but the man doesn’t understand how chaotic that side of the family is.”
“Maybe put them near the bar. That way they won’t bother anyone too much,” you suggested, earning a grateful laugh from Mel.
“Alright, I think we’ve almost got it,” she said, standing up to pour herself a glass of water.
Left alone for a moment, you leaned over the chart, eyes scanning the names to double-check the placements. Your gaze moved quickly at first, recognizing some familiar names and skimming unfamiliar ones, until it landed on something—towards the end of the list—that made your breath hitch.
Violet Lanes.
It was there, clear as day—her name printed neatly on a delicate little card, tucked beside a few other names at one of the smaller tables. Your hands stilled, hovering over the paper as a wave of something sharp and overwhelming crashed over you.
“Hey, you okay?” Mel’s voice pulled you back to the present.
You swallowed hard, nodding quickly.
“Yeah, I just—” You glanced down at the name again, your fingers brushing against the edge of the paper. “I’m fine.”
Mel’s eyes softened as she walked over, leaning over your shoulder. She followed your gaze to the card and let out a quiet sigh.
“I was going to tell you,” she said gently. “Jayce invited her. You know how they’ve been since high school. They’ve been in touch for a while, I guess. He didn’t think it would be a big deal.”
You nodded again, but the tightness in your chest didn’t ease.
“It’s fine,” you murmured, though the words felt hollow.
Mel reached out and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.
“If it’s too much, I can figure something out,” she offered. “She hasn’t even confirmed with us yet… She’s probably so busy anyway.”
You shook your head, forcing a small smile. “No, it’s… it’s your wedding. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry, babe.”
“Mel, really. It’s okay,” you threw on one of the best fake smiles you could give. “It just caught me off guard, is all.”
Mel studies you for a moment, her gaze lingering on your face. “If you don’t want her there, I can tell Jayce—”
You cut her off with a quick shake of your head. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I promise.”
The words taste bitter on your tongue, but you push through it. The last thing you want is for Mel to feel guilty, or worse, pitying you.
She doesn’t seem convinced, but she nods anyway, going back to arranging the seating chart. You know she’s trying to keep things light, to keep you from feeling weighed down by whatever’s hanging in the air. And maybe you’re fooling yourself into thinking you’re not still carrying it.
But the truth is, you don’t know what to do with the ghost of her, or your love for her, lingering between everything you do.
“Hey,” Mel says after a beat, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Want to grab a coffee after we finish here? We could use a break.”
You nod, grateful for the distraction. “That sounds good.”
Glancing at the seating chart again, your finger rests on the name that’s still too familiar.
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ceeaann · 5 months ago
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Arcane Highschool!AU 2
characters - vi, caitlyn, jinx, sevika, ekko, jayce and viktor content - 6.1k words, part 1 here, established relationships except for vi's, Star athlete!vi x band!reader, Childhoodbestfriend!caitlyn, New kid!jinx x Class president!reader, Troublemaker!sevika x Tutor!reader, Artist!ekko x Muse!reader, Bestfriend!jayce, and Enemies to lovers!viktor
A/N - lmaoo.. sorry yall for not posting for like a really long time ;-; studied my azz off last week which was def worth it cuz i did so feaking well on that exam hehe. this was lowk rushed bcuz i rlly wanted to post. hope yall enjoy queens (> 3 <)
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— Star Athlete!vi and Band!reader
The weeks following that unexpected late-night moment between you two felt different—charged with something new, something unspoken but lingering in the air. It wasn’t just the occasional brush of hands when walking side by side, or the way she’d glance at you across the cafeteria before looking away just a little too fast. It was the warmth in her voice when she teased you, the way she stuck around after practice just to sit beside you while you tuned your instrument.
She never said why she stayed. You never asked.
But you both knew.
It started with one call—past midnight, your phone buzzing against your nightstand.
“I can’t sleep,” she said when you answered, her voice rough with exhaustion.
You could hear the faint sound of cars passing outside, the rustle of her shifting under the covers.
“You’re calling me because you can’t sleep?” you murmured, trying to ignore the way your heart pounded at the thought of her thinking about you this late.
“Yeah,” she admitted. A pause. “Your voice is kinda nice.”
Heat rushed to your face. “Oh.”
“Don’t get a big head about it.”
You smiled, rolling onto your side.
From that night on, the calls became routine. Sometimes she ranted about her coach pushing her too hard. Sometimes you talked about your music, your fingers unconsciously tracing the melodies you’d played that day. Other times, you simply listened to each other breathe, neither willing to hang up first.
one day, she told you about a celebration party her teammates where hosting
She invited you.
“It won’t be the worst thing ever,” she had said, arms crossed as she leaned against your locker. “Just show up for a little bit.”
You’d raised an eyebrow. “Since when did you want me at parties?”
Her lips had twitched, almost like she was fighting back a smirk. “Since I realized you never leave that damn band room. It’s tragic, really.”
So here you were, awkwardly lingering near the kitchen, nursing a half-empty cup of soda while bodies moved and music pulsed around you.
And she? She was in the center of it all—laughing, drinking, surrounded by teammates who treated her like some kind of legend. She belonged here, in the chaos and the noise.
You? Not so much.
You should have left an hour ago, but something held you in place. Maybe it was the way she kept glancing at you between conversations, like she was making sure you were still there. Or maybe it was the warmth in her eyes whenever your gazes met.
Either way, you weren’t leaving just yet.
You had just decided to step outside for some air when you felt a strong hand wrap around your wrist.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
You turned, blinking up at her. She was closer than expected, her usual cocky smirk in place—but there was something else in her expression, something tense.
“Just getting some air,” you replied. “It’s suffocating in here.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Come on.”
Before you could respond, she was leading you out the back door, weaving through the crowd with ease. The cool night air hit you instantly, a sharp contrast to the heat of the party.
You leaned against the railing of the back porch, inhaling deeply. “Finally.”
She chuckled beside you, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Didn’t think you’d actually come tonight.”
You shot her a look. “You asked me to.”
She was quiet for a moment, staring out into the night. Then, in a voice softer than you’d ever heard from her, she said, “Yeah. I did.”
Something about the way she said it sent your heartbeat into a sprint.
You shifted, watching her carefully. “Why?”
She exhaled slowly, running a hand through her hair. “Because I wanted you here.”
Your breath caught.
She turned to face you fully now, her expression serious—no teasing smirk, no sarcastic remark to deflect. Just raw honesty.
“I know I’m not the easiest person to be around,” she started, voice steady but laced with something vulnerable. “I’m stubborn, I’m hot-headed, and I probably piss you off at least twice a day.”
You huffed out a quiet laugh. “At least.”
Her lips quirked up slightly before she continued. “But you… you’re different. You challenge me. You don’t put up with my crap, and somehow, you still—” She exhaled sharply, shaking her head. “I don’t know why, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Your heart pounded so hard you were sure she could hear it.
“I keep catching myself looking for you in a crowd,” she admitted, shifting her weight like she was forcing herself to stay still. “I wait outside your rehearsals, even when I could’ve left. I call you at night because your voice is the only thing that makes me feel like the world isn’t spinning too fast.”
She took a shaky breath.
“I like you.”
The words hung between you, thick with weight, with meaning.
“I don’t just like you, actually,” she corrected, her voice barely above a whisper now. “I—I think I’m falling for you.”
You stared at her, stunned, unable to form words.
Her fingers flexed at her sides, like she was bracing for rejection. “If that’s weird, or if you don’t feel the same, just—”
You stepped forward before she could finish, reaching for her hand.
She froze as your fingers slid between hers, as you squeezed lightly.
“You idiot,” you murmured, your chest aching with something overwhelming. “I’ve been falling for you this whole time.”
Her eyes widened slightly, like she hadn’t fully considered that possibility.
Then, after a beat, she huffed out a laugh. “God, we’re dumb.”
You grinned. “Yeah. A little bit.”
For the first time in what felt like forever, she looked nervous. “Can I—?”
You didn’t let her finish. Instead, you pulled her down into a kiss.
It wasn’t perfect—she was clumsy, caught off guard, but warm and sure the moment she realized what was happening. One of her hands came up to cup your face, rough and calloused but impossibly gentle.
When you finally pulled away, she was breathless, eyes flickering between yours.
“So,” she murmured, voice lower now. “Does this mean I can start calling you my girlfriend?”
You rolled your eyes, laughing softly. “You’re insufferable.”
“And you like it.”
You sighed dramatically, pretending to think. “Unfortunately.”
She grinned, lacing your fingers together. “Good.”
And as she pulled you back inside—back into the noise and the chaos of the party—it didn’t feel overwhelming anymore.
Not when she was right beside you.
Not when she was yours.
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— Childhood Bestfriend!caitlyn
The days that followed felt like something out of a dream. The kind of dream you never wanted to wake up from.
She had been true to her word—she didn’t want to let you go again. Every morning, you’d wake up to a good morning text, and by the afternoon, she’d have already made plans for the two of you, whether it was a quiet café visit, a stroll through the city, or simply lounging in her estate’s massive library, reminiscing about the past between pages of old books.
She had slipped back into your life as if she had never left it.
And yet, there was something new about this—something deeper, sweeter
Like the way she’d always find an excuse to touch you, whether it was resting her head on your shoulder when she was tired, bumping her knee against yours under the table, or absentmindedly playing with your fingers when you sat next to each other.
Or the way she would wait for you. Even when she was drowning in responsibilities, she would insist on having lunch together, texting you just to tell you something random about her day.
Or the way she’d steal your snacks.
Without fail, if you had food, she would somehow find a way to take at least a bite. “Sharing is caring,” she’d say, plucking a fry from your plate before you could react. And if you tried to call her out on it? She’d just smirk, pop whatever she took into her mouth, and say, “You love me, so it doesn’t count as stealing.”
(And you couldn’t even argue. Because she was right.)
Then there were the nights.
Those were your favorite.
She was always busiest during the day, but at night? That was when she really let herself be soft with you.
Like when you’d both curl up on the couch, watching movies that neither of you paid attention to because she was too busy tracing lazy patterns against your arm, or playing with your fingers, or resting her head in your lap with the most peaceful look on her face.
Or the nights when she’d show up at your door unannounced, eyes heavy with exhaustion but still full of warmth as she mumbled, “Just needed to see you.”
You’d let her in without question, and she’d collapse onto your bed with a tired sigh, reaching for you without hesitation. “Come here,” she’d murmur, voice softer than usual, more vulnerable. And when you settled next to her, she’d just hold you, burying her face against your neck, breathing you in like you were the only thing keeping her steady.
Or—your personal favorite—the way she looked at you.
Soft. Fond. Like you were the most precious thing she had ever laid eyes on.
One evening, as you sat curled up on the couch in her study, she nudged you with her foot. “Hey.”
You looked up from your book. “Hmm?”
She grinned. “Let’s make cupcakes.”
You blinked. “What?”
“I want cupcakes,” she repeated matter-of-factly, already standing up and stretching. “And I want to make them with you.”
You laughed, setting your book aside. “Since when do you bake?”
“I don’t,” she admitted, offering a hand to pull you up. “But I’m a fast learner. Come on.”
You sighed but let her drag you to the kitchen. What followed was absolute chaos.
Flour on the counter, sugar accidentally spilled on the floor, a mess of ingredients neither of you fully measured properly. She kept getting distracted, flicking flour at you, grinning mischievously every time you yelped in protest.
At some point, she wrapped her arms around you from behind, resting her chin on your shoulder as you mixed the batter. “I think we make a good team.”
You rolled your eyes. “That’s because I’m doing all the work.”
She hummed, tightening her hold on you slightly. “And you do it so well.”
Your cheeks burned. “You’re ridiculous.”
“And you love it.”
You sighed dramatically. “Unfortunately.”
She laughed, pressing a quick kiss to your temple before pulling away. “Okay, okay, let’s get these in the oven before I distract you too much.”
Too late, you thought, but you didn’t say it aloud.
Instead, you watched as she carefully placed the tray in the oven, a proud gleam in her eyes despite the fact that neither of you had any idea if the cookies would even taste good.
It didn’t really matter.
Because moments like this—messy, chaotic, ridiculous moments with her—were worth more than any perfect, scripted day.
And when the cupcakes came out horribly burnt, she just laughed, tossed one to you, and said, “Guess we’ll have to try again tomorrow.”
And honestly? You wouldn’t have it any other way.
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— New kid!jinx and Class president!reader
Loving her was like standing in the eye of a storm—unpredictable, consuming, and just a little dangerous.
But you never wanted to be anywhere else.
She was everything you weren’t. But in the same way that she crashed into your life like a hurricane, she had also settled into it, leaving pieces of herself in all the places she had touched.
And now, she was everywhere.
You didn’t even know when it happened, but somewhere between her dragging you into trouble and worming her way into your perfectly structured life, she had become a permanent fixture.
No, more than that.
She had become yours.
Your mornings were different now.
Instead of waking up to your alarm and immediately drowning in responsibilities, you woke up to her texts.
chaos incarnate: WAKE UP chaos incarnate: pres, you better not be ignoring me chaos incarnate: hello?? chaos incarnate: fine. i’m calling you.
And then, not even a second later, your phone would start ringing.
You groaned, answering it without opening your eyes. “You’re the worst.”
“Good morning to you too, babe.”
You sighed, rolling over. “It’s four a.m.”
“Yeah, well, I missed you.”
Your heart stuttered, heat rising to your cheeks.
You hated how easily she did that.
“…We saw each other yesterday.”
“And? That was a whole eight hours ago.”
You groaned again, but this time, you couldn’t fight the smile spreading across your lips.
The entire school knew about you two.
Not because you told anyone, but because she made it impossible not to know.
She’d sling an arm over your shoulder in the halls, leaning in obnoxiously close just to see you flustered.
She’d steal your lunch, even if she had her own, just to make you roll your eyes and huff at her—because, according to her, you looked cute when you were annoyed.
She’d sit in on student council meetings—uninvited—kicking her feet up on the table like she belonged there, just to watch you glare at her.
And if anyone so much as looked at you for too long?
She’d pull you closer, smirking as she draped herself over you and drawled, “Mine.”
You pretended to be exasperated by it all.
You weren’t.
One second, she was smirking at you from across the room, her gaze sharp, teasing, full of something wild you could never quite pin down. The next, she was leaning against your desk, spinning a pen between her fingers as she sighed dramatically about how boring the student council meetings were, just to get a reaction out of you.
And sometimes—when no one else was around—she’d be quiet. Soft. Like a storm that had momentarily calmed, if only for you.
It was confusing. It was frustrating.
But it was also thrilling.
You never knew what she’d do next, but somehow, you always ended up right there with her.
“We’re skipping.”
You blinked up at her from your pile of papers. “What?”
She grinned, already grabbing your wrist, tugging you out of your chair. “I said, we’re skipping. Come on.”
You pulled back instinctively. “I can’t. I have to finish—”
“Boring,” she cut in, rolling her eyes. “You work too much. If you spend one more hour staring at those papers, you’ll turn into one.”
You crossed your arms. “And you get into trouble too much.”
She smirked. “Yeah? And yet, here you are, still standing next to me.”
You sighed, but the fight was already slipping out of you. With her, it always did.
She took advantage of your hesitation, intertwining her fingers with yours, and your heart definitely didn’t just stutter in your chest.
“Come on,” she murmured, giving your hand a squeeze. “Just for a little while?”
And just like that, you were done for.
The two of you ended up on the rooftop, the one place where no one ever checked.
She sat on the ledge, legs swinging slightly, looking up at the sky like she had never seen it before.
For a moment, she was quiet. Contemplative.
Then, without looking at you, she spoke.
“You know, you’re the only person who’s ever stuck around.”
The words were soft, but something about them hit harder than anything she had ever said before.
You swallowed, watching her carefully. “You don’t make it easy.”
She laughed, a little breathless. “No. I don’t.”
Silence settled between you, comfortable in a way you never expected.
Then, before you could think too much about it, you reached out, gently brushing your fingers against hers where they rested on the ledge.
She went completely still.
You hesitated, pulling back slightly, but she caught your hand before you could.
Her grip was tight—like she was afraid you’d disappear if she let go.
“You drive me crazy,” she muttered, shaking her head. “You’re stubborn, and you worry too much, and you never break the rules.”
You raised an eyebrow. “Thanks?”
She huffed, exasperated, before turning to face you fully.
And then—before you could react—she leaned in, pressing a soft, fleeting kiss to your cheek.
Your brain short-circuited.
She pulled back, smirking at your stunned expression, but there was something warm in her eyes, something real.
“You’re mine now,” she declared, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
You opened your mouth—probably to protest, maybe to demand an explanation—but she just squeezed your hand again, tilting her head at you.
“…Unless you don’t want to be.”
You swallowed, heartbeat hammering in your chest.
And then, slowly, you laced your fingers through hers properly, squeezing back.
“…I think I do.”
Her smirk softened into something almost gentle.
“Good,” she murmured.
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— Troublemaker!sevika and Tutor!reader
You weren’t sure when this became normal.
When tutoring sessions turned into something more—into lingering glances across textbooks, into stolen moments between classes, into a relationship that neither of you ever really talked about, but both of you knew was real.
It had started with her grumbling about the stupid school system, about how she didn’t need to study when she had “better things to do.” But now? Now, she was here—on time, every time, sitting across from you with a scowl like she hadn’t just walked across campus grinning at you like an idiot when she thought no one was looking.
She had changed.
Or maybe she hadn’t, and you were just seeing her differently now.
Either way, she was yours.
And that was enough.
“You’re staring.”
You blinked, realizing that, yes, you were staring, and, yes, she was very much aware of it.
“I’m not,” you lied.
She smirked. “Yeah? Then why haven’t you flipped the page in five minutes?”
You opened your mouth, then shut it.
Damn it.
She leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm, her eyes glinting with amusement. “Didn’t take you for the distracted type, tutor.”
You sighed, closing the book. “Maybe if you actually studied, I wouldn’t have to get distracted.”
She scoffed, leaning back. “I do study.”
You gave her a look.
“Okay, fine,” she huffed. “I study when you make me.”
“Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.
Instead, she tilted her head, watching you in that way that always made your stomach do something weird.
“Why do you even put up with me?” she asked.
The question caught you off guard.
Not because you didn’t have an answer, but because she sounded genuinely curious.
Like she didn’t understand why you were still here.
Like she didn’t realize how easy it was to love her.
You frowned. “Because I want to.”
She stared at you for a moment, something unreadable flickering in her expression.
Then, suddenly, she reached across the table, grabbing your hand.
It wasn’t gentle.
It never was with her.
But her grip was warm, steady, real.
“…Good,” she muttered, squeezing your fingers once before pulling away. “You’re stuck with me, anyway.”
You smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Dating her meant learning to navigate her world.
The world of bruised knuckles and reckless grins, of sharp words and sharper instincts, of someone who had spent so long fighting that she didn’t know how to stop.
You didn’t mind.
She never hurt you—not really.
But sometimes, she’d show up to your study sessions with a fresh cut on her cheek, or a bandage wrapped around her hand, or a bruise blooming on her jaw, and every time, you’d sigh, pulling out your first aid kit without saying a word.
She hated it.
“You don’t have to—”
“I do.”
She huffed but didn’t pull away, letting you press a cotton pad to her cheek, wincing when the antiseptic stung.
“Idiot,” you muttered, brushing your thumb over her skin after you were done.
She smirked. “You love me.”
You didn’t argue.
Instead, you leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to the uninjured side of her face.
She tensed for half a second before melting into it, her fingers curling around your wrist, holding you in place like she never wanted you to leave.
“…Yeah,” you murmured. “I do.”
There were other parts of her world, too.
Parts that had nothing to do with fights or scraped knuckles.
Like how she always walked you home, no matter how many times you told her she didn’t need to.
Or how she’d steal your pens just to hear you complain about it, only to return them later with a smug grin.
Or how she’d grumble about studying, but when you fell asleep next to her, she’d pull a blanket over you without saying a word.
Or how she’d stay, even when she didn’t have to.
She wasn’t the best with words.
But she didn’t need to be.
Not when she loved you like this.
“Hey,” she called one day, leaning against your locker.
You raised a brow. “What?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she shifted, suddenly looking a little… awkward.
Which was weird, because she was never awkward.
You frowned. “Are you—”
“I got you something,” she blurted out.
You blinked. “You what?”
She huffed, shoving something into your hands.
It was… a necklace. Simple, understated. Something you would actually wear.
You stared at it, then at her.
“…Why?”
She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “Because I wanted to.”
You looked down at it again, running your fingers over the chain.
It was nice.
And it was from her.
Your heart did that weird thing again.
“…Put it on me?” you asked softly, handing it back.
She blinked, like she hadn’t expected that, before scoffing. “You really like making me do things, don’t you?”
You smiled. “Yes.”
She muttered something under her breath but moved behind you, fastening the clasp.
Her fingers brushed against your skin, and you shivered.
“…There,” she murmured.
You turned back to her, letting her see the way you were smiling. “Thank you.”
She shrugged, but her ears were red.
You grinned.
Then, impulsively, you reached up, cupping her face in your hands before pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.
She froze.
“…You absolute menace,” she muttered after a second, her voice half-choked.
You laughed. “You love me.”
She groaned. “I hate you.”
But the way she grabbed your hand, lacing your fingers together as she pulled you down the hall?
That told a very different story.
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— Artist!ekko and Muse!reader
The world felt different when he painted you.
Maybe it was the way his eyes softened as they traced your features, the way his lips quirked up ever so slightly in that absentminded, faraway smile. Or maybe it was the way he became so completely immersed in the moment, like nothing else existed except you, him, and the quiet hum of creation between you.
You weren’t sure when it had started—when you had become his muse, when his hands had memorized the slopes and curves of your expression more intimately than you ever could. But at some point, it became normal to sit in his studio, to let him paint you while the sun spilled golden light across the room.
At some point, it became home.
"Stay still," he murmured, his voice soft but firm.
You huffed but obeyed, shifting just slightly to get comfortable. “You know, I’m starting to think you just tell me that so I don’t walk away.”
He smirked without looking up. “Would it work?”
You rolled your eyes. “Obviously.”
He chuckled, dipping his brush into a fresh stroke of color. "Then I don’t see the problem."
You watched him work, watched the way his fingers moved with practiced precision, his brow furrowing in deep focus.
It was so like him—to get completely lost in his art, in the way he captured emotions in strokes of paint. You weren’t even sure he realized how much he gave away when he worked. The quiet admiration, the unwavering patience, the unspoken tenderness in the way he committed you to canvas.
The thought made warmth curl in your chest.
He loved you.
Even in the moments when he didn’t say it outright, you felt it.
“…You’re staring,” he noted after a moment, amusement dancing in his tone.
You smirked. "So?"
"So," he mused, dabbing a final stroke onto the canvas before finally looking at you, "stay still."
You scoffed but didn’t argue.
His gaze lingered, studying you like he was committing every detail to memory.
Then, suddenly, he set the brush down, wiping his hands on a cloth before standing up and making his way toward you.
Your brows furrowed. "Are we done?"
He hummed, stopping right in front of you. "Almost."
Before you could question him, he reached out, gently swiping his thumb across your cheek.
You blinked.
“…Did you just wipe paint on me?”
His lips twitched. "Maybe."
Your jaw dropped. "You menace—"
He laughed, grabbing your hands before you could retaliate. "It’s barely anything!"
"You smudged me!"
"You’ll live."
You gasped dramatically. “I can feel it on my face—”
"Would you like me to fix it?"
You squinted at him, suspicious. "How?"
He smiled. "Like this."
And then, before you could react, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your cheek, right where the paint had been.
You froze.
Your heart stumbled over itself, warmth blooming beneath your skin.
"...That doesn’t count as fixing it," you mumbled, embarrassed by how breathless you sounded.
He pulled back just enough to meet your eyes, his smile soft, fond.
"I disagree."
Loving him meant understanding the way he saw the world.
The way his hands itched to create, to turn fleeting emotions into something tangible.
The way he’d go silent for long stretches, caught up in his own thoughts, before suddenly dragging you into his latest project with that spark of inspiration in his eyes.
The way he loved you—not just with words, but in the way he painted you, over and over again, like he was trying to keep you forever.
And maybe, in his own way, he was.
One night, long after the city had gone quiet, you found yourself back in his studio, curled up on the couch while he worked.
You weren’t posing this time.
You were just there, watching as he sketched in his notebook, his focus unwavering even as the hours slipped by.
“…Do you ever get tired of painting me?” you asked suddenly.
He paused, looking up at you.
Then, without hesitation—"Never."
You stared at him. “You say that like it’s obvious.”
"It is obvious," he said simply, setting his notebook aside as he moved toward you.
You let him sit beside you, watching as he reached for your hand, tracing absentminded patterns along your fingers.
“…There are infinite things in the world to paint,” he murmured, his touch feather-light, reverent. “Landscapes, emotions, stories… But you?” He lifted your hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against your knuckles. "You are my favorite."
Your breath caught.
You weren’t used to this—to his quiet, devastating sincerity.
He didn’t always say how he felt outright. He spoke in colors, in soft touches, in lingering glances over paint-stained canvases.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
“…You’re ridiculous,” you muttered, feeling your face grow warm.
He smirked. “And you love me for it.”
You rolled your eyes but didn’t deny it.
Instead, you tugged him closer, resting your forehead against his.
For a moment, neither of you spoke.
You just existed—wrapped in warmth, in paint-stained fingertips and whispered affections between the silence.
And maybe, just maybe, that was enough.
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— Bestfriend!jayce
There were moments where you still couldn’t believe this was real.
That after years of laughter, inside jokes, stolen hoodies, and whispered dreams of the future, you had ended up here—curled up next to him, his arm lazily draped around you, as if this had been inevitable from the very start.
In a way, maybe it was.
Loving him never felt like a sudden thing, never like some grand revelation that struck you out of nowhere. It had crept in slowly, weaving itself between every late-night conversation, every lingering glance, every touch that lasted just a little longer than it needed to.
And now? Now it was second nature.
He was yours.
And you were his.
“You’re doing that thing again.”
You blinked. “What thing?”
He smirked without looking up from his book. “The thing where you stare at me like I put the stars in the sky.”
You scoffed, shoving him playfully. “Get over yourself.”
He chuckled, finally turning his attention toward you. “Not denying it, though.”
You rolled your eyes, but the warmth creeping up your neck betrayed you. “Maybe I was just zoning out.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Or judging you.”
“Doubt it.”
You sighed, dramatic. “God, dating you is exhausting.”
“Right?” he teased. “Can’t believe you fell for me.”
“Yeah,” you muttered. “Can’t believe I did, either.”
His expression softened at that, his teasing smile melting into something fonder.
Then, suddenly, he reached out, brushing a stray piece of hair from your face before letting his fingers trail down, tracing the curve of your jaw.
“…Lucky me,” he murmured.
Your breath caught.
For a moment, neither of you spoke.
You just sat there, the warmth of his touch seeping into your skin, your heart stumbling over itself at the way he was looking at you.
Like you were something rare.
Like he had been waiting his whole life for you.
“…You’re such a sap,” you whispered.
His lips twitched. “Only for you.”
The thing about dating your best friend was that nothing really changed.
Not in the way you expected, at least.
There were still late-night fast food runs, still study sessions that turned into existential conversations, still a constant presence at your side whenever you needed him (and even when you didn’t).
But there were differences, too.
Like how he held your hand without hesitation now, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Or how he hugged you longer, pressing his face into your shoulder like he needed to be close to you.
Or how he kissed your forehead absentmindedly whenever you did something that made him proud, as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it.
Or how he whispered, "Love you," so casually, like he had always been saying it.
Like he always would.
“Okay, real talk,” he said one night, sprawled across your bed like he owned it.
You hummed, flipping a page in your book. “Mm?”
“If we weren’t dating, would you still have a crush on me?”
You blinked, giving him an unimpressed look. “What kind of question is that?”
“A valid one.”
You sighed, setting your book down. “We are dating.”
“But if we weren’t,” he pressed, propping himself up on his elbows. “Would you still be into me?”
You narrowed your eyes. “What kind of answer are you looking for?”
“The truth.”
You stared at him, trying to figure out what he was really asking.
Then, with a smirk, you shrugged. “Dunno. You’re kinda annoying.”
He gasped. “Rude.”
“But,” you continued, reaching over to poke his cheek, “I’d probably be in love with you anyway.”
He grinned. “Knew it.”
You rolled your eyes. “Shut up.”
“Hopelessly in love.”
You groaned. “Why do I even like you?”
He laughed, grabbing your hand and lacing your fingers together.
“…Because we were always meant to end up here.”
Your breath hitched.
The words were simple, said so casually, but they settled deep in your chest, spreading warmth through your entire being.
Because he was right.
Every moment, every choice, every little thing that led to this—it had always been leading you here.
To him.
To this.
To something more than forever.
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— Enemies to lovers!viktor and reader
It still surprised you sometimes—how things had changed.
How the cold rivalry that once existed between you had melted into something warm, something constant, something that made your chest tighten in the best way whenever you so much as thought about it.
About him.
Once upon a time, you and him had been at odds with each other, a battle of sharp words and stubborn ideals. He was relentless, fiercely determined, a mind constantly working ten steps ahead. And you—well, you were the opposite. Passionate, chaotic, diving headfirst into the unknown with little concern for anything but discovery.
But now?
Now he was yours.
And God, you loved him.
“Stop working,” you whined, dramatically flopping onto his desk.
He barely spared you a glance, eyes still locked onto the notebook in front of him. “Can’t.”
“You always say that,” you huffed, watching as he furiously jotted down another equation, his pen moving like it had a will of its own.
“Because it’s always true,” he shot back, voice carrying that familiar unwavering certainty.
You rolled your eyes. “Five-minute break.”
“No.”
“Two minutes?”
“No.”
You sighed, tilting your head at him. “What could possibly be so important that you can’t take two minutes to—” You peered at his notes and blinked. “Wait. Is this…” You trailed off, recognizing the layout of a physics equation, the bold scrawl of hypotheses scattered between calculations.
He finally glanced at you, the sharp glint of his focus not dulled in the slightest. “I had a thought earlier and needed to get it down.”
You stared at him. “You had a thought so urgent that you couldn’t even pause for two seconds?”
“Yes.”
You exhaled, shaking your head. “You’re crazy”
“And you’re distracting.”
“You love me, though.”
A flicker of something softened his expression. He didn’t answer immediately, just studied you with those impossibly sharp eyes, the ones that always seemed to be unraveling the mysteries of the universe—except, in that moment, they were solely on you.
“Yeah,” he murmured eventually, the intensity of it making your breath catch. “I do.”
It was rare, hearing it outright like that. He wasn’t one for grand proclamations, but when he did speak—when he let himself be honest—it always hit you like a tidal wave.
You swallowed, warmth pooling in your chest. “Then take a break.”
He sighed, exasperated but amused. Then, to your utter delight, he set his pen down.
“Two minutes,” he relented.
You grinned, holding out your arms. “Hug me.”
He stared. “…Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
For a moment, he just looked at you, like he was analyzing the request for its deeper meaning. Then, without another word, he leaned forward and pulled you against him.
You melted instantly, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. His arms were strong, steady—the kind of embrace that felt unshakable, like he would hold the entire world together if it meant keeping you safe.
“…Better?” he murmured.
You nodded against him. “Much.”
His fingers lingered at your back, just the faintest trace of hesitation before he fully gave in, relaxing into the embrace.
And neither of you let go.
Dating him had been an adjustment.
He wasn’t the kind to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He was driven, always looking forward, always chasing after the next big thing. His brain never stopped, his heart never wavered, his ambition burning like an unstoppable fire.
Which meant he showed affection in his own way.
Like the way he never actually said I love you, but instead muttered things like, don’t forget to eat or stay inside, it’s cold.
Like the way he pretended to be annoyed when you interrupted his work, only to immediately pull you back when you tried to leave.
Like the way he sighed every time you teased him, only to let you lace your fingers with his under desks, his grip never faltering.
And the thing was?
You wouldn’t trade it for anything.
One evening, you were in the library together, him completely immersed in his research while you doodled aimlessly in your notebook.
The silence was comfortable, the kind that had become second nature between you.
Then, suddenly—
“…You make me reckless.”
You blinked. “Uh. Excuse me?”
He didn’t look up, his fingers tapping idly against the table. “You make me reckless,” he repeated, almost contemplative. “It’s irritating.”
You squinted at him. “Are you… saying you love me?”
He hummed. “Statistically, it would be hard to deny.”
Your heart stumbled over itself. “Oh my God.”
He finally looked up, arching a brow. “What?”
“You just confessed your love for me like it was a scientific fact.”
“…And?”
You let out a laugh, completely endeared. “You’re unbelievable.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t look annoyed. If anything, there was something fond in the way he regarded you, something soft in the way he reached out, tapping his fingers against your wrist.
“…You already knew,” he murmured.
It wasn’t a question.
Because of course you knew.
You had known for a long time now.
But hearing it—even in his own, methodical way—still sent warmth flooding through your entire being.
You smiled.
“Yeah,” you whispered, reaching for his hand, lacing your fingers together. “I did.”
And if he squeezed your hand just a little tighter?
Well.
You didn’t mention it.
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galactic-magick · 7 months ago
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For You: AU!Claggor x Reader
Summary: In the alternate timeline, Powder encourages you to admit your feelings for Claggor.
Words: 800+
Author's Notes: Adult alternate timeline Claggor is fine af so I wrote this short oneshot. Also I just needed to write something more lighthearted and cute after writing that devastating Viktor fic earlier. Enjoy <3
“I don’t get why you can’t just tell him,” Powder huffs, shuffling through her drawers for a particular brush. She glides on eyeshadow in your favorite colors, endlessly teasing you while she works, “It’s obvious he’s liked you since we were kids.”
“Oh, like finally admitting your feelings to Ekko was so easy,” you roll your eyes, causing her to scold you for opening them. “Besides, that’s not even true. He probably just sees me like a sister.”
“Look,” Powder tilts your chin up as she applies blush to your cheeks. “As someone who was actually raised as his sister, I can promise you he treats you differently. I catch him staring at you all the time, and he goes out of his way to be nice to you. Like, he literally made a new hybrid flower for you for your last birthday. What is it you’re not getting?”
“He gives plants to everyone, I don’t think I was special,” you shrug, pressing out your lips so Powder can swipe on some gloss.
“You’re a lost cause sometimes,” she sighs with a laugh. “Come on, it’s time to make our entrance.”
-
The Innovator’s Competition is crowded as usual, with loud music and ambient lights showering the entries and guests. Powder meets up with Ekko while you go to grab a drink and browse the inventions.
People start dancing, and you sway back and forth a bit to the beat. You don’t particularly want to third wheel right now, so you make do on the sidelines. You’re closer to the snacks here, anyway.
“Wow, Y/N. You look beautiful.”
You whip your head towards the voice, your mouth stuffed with one of Jericho’s famous, sloppy appetizers.
“Oh! Hi, Claggor!” You swallow as quickly as you can and wipe your face with your sleeve. “Sorry, um, thank you.”
“Anytime,” he chuckles. “How come you’re not out there dancing?”
“I...I just don’t like dancing alone,” you say, your eyes darting back to Powder and the other couples and friend groups on the dance floor.
“Well let’s go then,” he extends his hand to you.
You smile and take it, weaving through the crowd as he pulls you towards the middle. You see Powder give you a thumbs up before your attention is back on Claggor, and suddenly the crowded room feels less overwhelming.
You let lose, showing off your most ridiculous dance moves without a worry in the world. That was the thing about Claggor, he always made you feel safe, like you could be yourself whenever he was around. There is never a glimmer of judgment in his eyes, never an inkling of unkindness. He’s been your most stable and trusted friend for years—he played with you, explored the city with you, mourned with you, rejoiced with you. He’s just that kind of guy, with a heart of gold that never wavers.
But if you told him how you really feel—how you’ve felt since you were young—things might not be the same.
-
After the competition, Claggor takes the scenic route while walking you home, showing you a couple new gardens he’s been working on around the city. He hopes that one day plant life can be the key to the pollution problem in the underground, a dream that isn’t too far off with the latest hybrids and prototypes he’s made. It’s fascinating, and you’ve always admired his natural talent with nature.
He picks you a flower from one of the gardens, the kind he knows are your favorite.
“For you,” he says, slithering the stem into your hair. His hands, his face—it’s all so dangerously close now. You can feel his warmth, feel his gentle gaze.
Maybe Powder’s right, no man who saw you as just a friend would look at you like this.
You take the chance and close the space between you, kissing him quickly before stepping back to gauge his reaction.
He immediately pulls you back in, grabbing you by the waist and kissing you harder. You wrap your arms around his neck, fingers twiddling with his soft wavy hair.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” he says, your lips barely moving apart.
“I think I have some idea,” you giggle.
“Would you look at that, what did I tell ya?” You see Powder and Ekko coming around the corner, clearly ecstatic about this new opportunity to tease you. “Finally.”
Claggor keeps holding you close as you fire back, “Did you follow us just to say ‘I told you so’?”
“Nah, I didn’t even know you left the party yet,” Powder laughs. “But boy am I glad I saw this!”
She keeps walking with Ekko, whispering and chuckling as they go. You and Claggor can’t help but burst into your own fit of laughter as well, basking in the hilarity of the whole situation.
“We’ll never live this down, will we?” Claggor smirks.
“Absolutely not.”
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cerisahh · 6 months ago
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summary — love language headcanons for the arcane characters (giving and receiving)
characters included — jinx, ekko, silco, vander, viktor
cerisa speaks — literally started writing this the night of s2 act 3 release and only now finishing it if that doesn't tell you something about how inconsistent i am idk what does. ATTENTION PEOPLE IN MY REQUESTS!! i swear to god i will do your request in the next year for sure! viktor forgive me, amen.
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jinx — gift giving. jinx's most loyal companion is her imagination so it isn't hard for her to think of gifts that are personal to you that'd you'd enjoy.
we see many of the little homemade trinkets that she's made for silco throughout the years, my favourite being the ashtray he keeps on the desk in his office. so dependant on what you're into, she'll showcase her love for you in the form of a trinket.
oh, so you like to read? she sees you dog-earing a page of your book whilst you two are in her hangout and drops her current project to fashion you a bookmark. you only notice that her tinkering has stopped when the bookmark has been dropped on your lap and she's made a blasé comment about you destroying your book for too long so she just had to make you this so you'd stop.
hiding behind a mask of indifference when giving out her gifts is kind of her thing, but she's anxious to no end to see if you like it. her mind runs a mile a minute; 'don't they like it? do the colours not match? they hate it they hate it theyhateittheyhateittheyhateme-'
until you're holding it carefully between your fingers and your mouth is making that 'o' shape it does when something unexpected has happened. when you say that it's the most thoughtful gift you've ever received she's insistent on making you a hundred more.
physical touch. stop booing me i'm right! let me explain. as we see before powder becomes jinx, she's quite normal with physical contact, we see vi hugging her, putting a hand on her shoulder, claggor helping her down to the apartment, etc.
it's after vi slaps and abandons her that she becomes uncomfortable with physical touch. silco (most of the time) lets her initiate it on her own terms.
one time he doesn't is where she's playing airplane with his shimmer device and he grabs her wrist. she lets him retain his grip for a moment but when she does move her arm away he doesn't follow her. through my own delusions i've come to the conclusion that jinx wants, maybe even craves physical comfort, but quickly feels smothered by it when it's forced on her.
despite this, with the right person i feel like she would be willing to accept physical affection from them. it would take time to establish and develop a trusting relationship with jinx but when you're there, you're there. she's also a deeply insecure person when it comes to relationships of any kind and retaining them so you'll have to slip in some words of affirmation between touches.
her favourite way to receive physical touch would for sure be you playing with her hair. running your fingers through it and scratching her scalp? congratulations, that's your new job. you mention off the cuff how you'd love to see her hair down? suddenly there's a brush in your hands and an expectant and giddy jinx sitting in front of you.
even though she trusts you, she'll still get startled and tense up if you suffocate her with too much affection. holding your arms out for a hug or patting the seat next to you so she can lean into your arms is a much better way to initiate contact with her.
a little extra headcanon, when she's doing your nails she'll use her own hands to hold your fingers still instead of a wrist rest. she says it keeps them steadier so she doesn't make any mistakes but really she craves that subtle contact.
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ekko — acts of service. season two episode seven dictates this as canon i'll be taking no arguments on this day. seeing his huge mural of future vi to show powder after he upsets her really just cements this headcanon. this is a pretty big action so i'll focus on the smaller ones for now.
starting off really strong with him decorating your room for you. close your eyes and imagine him building you a shelf to store your books or keepsakes. not only building it but carving designs into it. ohh you like music? well take a look at those carvings of sheet music! and do you spy some new books in your collection (stolen from a piltover library, naturally)
with so many different types of people living at the tree, at the beginning he was pretty much forced to learn how to cook all different types of meals. it paid off though because no matter where you hail from, he'll be able to prepare you any of your favourite dishes.
the more i type about ekko the more i realise he is the best househusband out of the arcane gang. he can cook, he can clean, he's a provider - he is quite literally the entire package. him being a certified pretty boy also helps because everyone needs a little eye candy in their life.
this one is sickeningly sweet but for relationship milestones, and even just randomly, ekko will fully plan out a date night for the two of you. picnics on the top of buildings that overlook the neon lights of the undercity, just the two of you. it's so intimate.
physical touch. now this i truly will be taking no arguments on. receiving physical affection for ekko is huge. we all saw how fast he hugged benzo in the alternate au!!
with so many people from his early life either dying (benzo, vander, claggor, mylo) or leaving (jinx and vi), ekko hasn't really had anyone to offer him any form of closeness. sure, he has the firelights. it just isn't the same though.
so when you come along with all the tender hugs and fond touches that he's been deprived of for so long he knows he's done for. consider him addicted. even just clapping a hand on his shoulder after a fight, hell, LEANING ON HIM?? that man is YOURS to command for now until the end.
knowing you're just physically there and not going anywhere - not abandoning him - he's content to bask in your presence.
quick kisses and brief glances at each other come in abundance. if you're not at the firelights base then you're on the go. it's these times that make you both appreciate the time you have with each other. ekko plans to take full advantage of the downtime you both have between missions. don't expect to stray a few feet from each other.
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silco — acts of service. silco's acts of service are usually communicated through orders that he gives his goons. say you offhandedly mention that some shimmer addicts have set up camp in the alley next to your apartment. when you leave the last drop and go home you notice that those shimmer addicts you briefly complained about? gone. without a trace.
i feel like he prefers to give out acts of service to you as a kind of 'i can provide for you, don't leave' kind of thing. you don't need to ask silco to do something, he'll take the initiative. he wants you to view him as a reliable provider. this sounds very 50s but he's an old fashioned kind of guy so it checks out.
not the kind of guy to do chores at the start i'm afraid. he has people for that. maybe you can convince him to wash the dishes after you cook you, him and jinx a meal. but never and i mean NEVER will you catch this man hoovering or mopping the floor. that is just simply not going to fucking happen. you'd have better luck asking him to quit smoking.
not gonna lie he just lightens the load of whatever jobs you need to do so you can spend more time together. the famed eye of zaun is clingy.
physical touch. actually controversial take no way CHILLS! similarly to jinx, silco wouldn't actively look for physical touch in any given situation. he's obviously traumatised by his former best friend choking him out and drowning him underwater. not to mention completely brutalising his eye.
jinx is likely the only person he would willingly let touch him. not even sevika on a good day gets that privilege. you would need to spend a lot of time gaining silco's undying trust. only when you two are emotionally close will you be able to share his touch.
buying you jewellery just so he can feel the warmth of your body heat as he clasps the necklace around you neck. silco is very subtle and sneaky when he wants to be close to you.
his neck is off limits to everyone, even you. placing your hand on his collarbone whilst entangled in bed together is the furthest you'll get.
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vander — physical touch. oh i just know this man gives the best bear hugs. physical intimacy with vander is just safety incarnate. when he takes you into his arms it really feels like a breath of topside air after a lifetime underground.
i don't think vander would really like being with a partner that didn't enjoy physical affection. it's not only a bonding experience for the both of you to engage in but also a display of trust that he deeply values.
conveying his love for you with intimacy, non-sexual and sexual is something he cherishes. the level of mutual understanding and relationship building that comes with it is indispensable to vander. basically the keys to a successful partnership with him.
that little symbol of love in the undercity where two people touch their foreheads together? that's the most significant way you can show that you truly care for someone and it's vander's favourite way to connect with you in moments of peace.
words of affirmation. vander is the type of guy to not necessarily need words of affirmation to feel good about himself but will appreciate it all the same. he tries so hard to be a good example to the kids and in general to the populace of the undercity. he wants this life to be better. he wants to be better.
he's the leader, the protector, all the pressure is on him. affirming his efforts through words goes further than you might think.
it's you and him against the world. the brewing political storm that plagues both the undercity and piltover is little more than a distant thought when you're whispering honeyed words to and fro in the dead of night. for a man with such an imposing presence, telling him that you love and need him makes him weak.
with your words of affirmation, he's more certain of his role in the undercity than he's ever been. you renew the passion he had in youth, he wants the best for you and will do whatever he can to obtain it.
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viktor — quality time. viktor is all about sharing the same space as his partner. with him being the co-founder of hextech, it's difficult for him to find time alone to dote on you. which is why you''ll often find yourself in the company of viktor (and oftentimes jayce) in their lab, them working on a new use for hextech, and yourself either studying or simply watching the magic (literally) happen.
when jayce is off being the poster child of hextech or following councillor medarda around like a lost puppy, you and viktor will settle into comfortable silences. usually with the only noise being the tinkering of science equipment or the quick scribbles of pen on paper. there's no pressure to fill the room with unnecessary chattering. just you being with him is enough. your presence is akin to a relaxant to him.
sometimes most of the time you'll need to remind him to take breaks when you've been there for hours on end and he's showing no signs of stopping or slowing down. it's a practised routine at this point; he refuses, you leave it alone for five minutes, during this time he is sneaking glances at you when he thinks you aren't looking, waiting for you to ask again.
when you do, he feigns reluctance as you grab his hand to get you both some fresh air and a proper meal. he might actually be part cat now that i'm thinking about it. he just can't help but love spending time with you.
words of affirmation. actions speak louder than words? pft, yeah right. communication is deeply valued by viktor. he's exceptional at deducing someone's intentions behind their words so don't even bother trying to get something by him. it won't work. you try to plan surprise birthday party for him? he's one of the first people to find out about it.
so when you earnestly tell him how special he is to you or how appreciative you are of him, he knows it's 100% what you actually think and BOY does that fluster him more than anything.
he isn't very big on compliments, not that he doesn't value the ones you so willingly give him, but he finds it hard to accept the good and beauty you see in him. there will always be a part of viktor, machine herald or mortal man, that refuses to believe he could be good enough for this type of love. when he retracts inside his mind and lets his doubt drown him, it's you who can pull him out of the water and onto land. telling him that you love him just the way he is will silence his uncertainty.
oh you know what would just about finish him off? making him a lunch box and putting a note in there. it doesn't having to be something poetic, even a simple 'i love you ♡' will be at the forefront of his mind until he gets back home to you.
honestly, if you're someone who expresses their love through words of gratitude or proclamations of admiration then a relationship with viktor will be smooth sailing.
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mouthsfullofsharpteeth · 6 months ago
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so, ive been rewatching season two of arcane, and noticed a few things
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in viktor's commune, this is the kid that leads jayce to viktor. i always thought it was like... an odd amount of focus to be put on this character. tho i wasnt really thinking too much of it, because arcane loves to zero in on background characters in a sort 'mulan and the others find a doll in the wreckage of a village' kind of way, you know? look small for big impacts.
putting the rest under a read more because this gets long
now, in ekko's alternate reality in episode seven. i always like watching the crowds of zaunites, mainly searching for easter eggs and any possible connections that i can draw back to our main universe. and i may have found one
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here's the crowd watching heimer's little street performance
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uh
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UH
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...........
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this is, obviously, the same fucking kid.
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what i think is most interesting about this, though, is that in the 'good ending' universe that ekko ended up in, zaun was a community where physical differences and disabilities, like needing a wheel chair as mobility aid, were not seen as something needing to be fixed. it can be implied that there are probably a lot more ways of making things accessible in that version of zaun, and that disabilities dont prohibit zaunites from being with others and doing what they want.
unlike in our universe, where this was clearly not the case. i think that that crowd shot is, in a way, a direct parallel to viktors backstory opening shots.
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the group of children playing together as a group, and viktor, another child with a physical disability, is forced to be off by himself. isolated either because of his peers not wanting to be around him, or because the environment around him is just not accessible (most likely both)
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they basically hand it to us. singed asks why viktor isn't playing with the other children, and all viktor has to do is show the fact that he is disabled for singed to understand. the inaccessibility and exclusion and ableism is just a fact of life.
so, it makes sense that when viktor gets the ability to heal others, he makes this child able bodied, just like he did for himself. viktor can't even conceive of a society like the zaun and piltover that ekko ended up in, because his whole life he has been cast aside due to his disability.
its just interesting to me that they made the child who brings jayce to viktor at the commune be another young zaunite with a mobility aid, just like viktor was. especially how later, jayce is the one to tell viktor the monologue about how he was never broken, and his disability wasnt something he needed to completely remove, because it was a part of him, and who he was already was enough.
just some cool food for thought!
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noisyghost · 5 months ago
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(I started sketching this design nearly immediately after season 2 ended but just now had some time to clean it up so. Excuse me rambling out loud here)
TLDR; I actually really liked the initial design + direction for Warwick-Vander (I <3 human faced werewolves)! But the show design kinda felt like a transitory state between Vander and Warwick to me, so I wanted to try my hand at blending his Arcane design with his in game design. Like a "what would he look like if the transformation kept going" kinda thing. There's a few things I'm not fully settled on, but Im mostly satisfied :)
(rambling under the readmore, its 3 am as i type this lol)
When season 2 first started, I sort of had it in my head that the narrative would have Vander "die" for Warwick to finish the transformation into his final form, forcing Vi and Jinx to finally say goodbye together. Well! That didn't happen lol. I mean. Vander did "die", but whatever was left behind isn't really Warwick. I'm not quite sure what they were going for, either with him or with how Jinx "dies", its all just a little messy when i feel like there was a more obvious narrative conclusion.
Visually i think the final design in the show is cool removed from context, but it doesn't really make sense to me in regards to the story. Like. Warwicks whole thing is that he curbs his violent impulses by killing "bad guys" in the undercity. League lore is a hot fucking mess and I don't even go there so I get that they (the writers) were playing fast and loose but I can see why so many Warwick fans were less than pleased with where the show leaves him, because it doesn't really feel like the same character outside of his initial experimentation.
In my own idea palace, Jinx fakes her death and leaves Warwick to be Zaun's new mascot. Having this literal monster that eats bad guys and saves innocent people in the process become a new symbol for Zaun feels like a no brainer to me. Imagine the iconography they'd make for this thing! And it brings Vanders whole schtick back around; he still "dies" but the Literal Memory of him lives on in Zaun, still protecting the people he cared about most. You get the bittersweet ending of Vi and Jinx having to move on because hes not really their dad anymore, but their memory is what keeps Warwick "human", still with Zaun even if Vi is doing Piltover shit and Jinx is off exploring the world.
Idk! I know the implication that Jinx faked her death is there, but whatever happens to Warwick seems to be like they didnt really have the time to fully explore the ideas they were going for, so a couple characters just got kinda left floating at the end there. If Ekko and Jinx werent going to run away together, I wanted to see Ekko befriending Warwick so they could fight to make Zaun a better place.
I have more coherent ideas than this but it's 3 am when im typing this so sorry if im not eloquent enough to properly explain what im thinking. Ekko and his weird dog that used to be his uncle. Imagine.
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myrruwrites · 6 months ago
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Streamer!Jinx headcanons.
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Just some basic ideas and drabbles pooled into one post. I see a lot of streamer!ellie and streamer!vi, but barely any jinx if any at all. I don’t know, I just think she’d be the funniest streamer ever.
CW: Cursing? bits of Jinx x f!reader. jokes about jinx being cancelled, homophobia mentions.
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Streamer!Jinx who got surprised when she blew up pretty fast. For the wrong reasons, Ofcourse (controversy, because she can’t keep her mouth shut), but once it smoothed over she gained a lot of following from it.
She has no filter. None. The second something pops into her head, she says it aloud. She deals with the consequences afterwards.
Her room is either really messy, or oddly tidy. On that note, Streamer!Jinx that decorated her whole setup and desk, plus her headphones. They’re all covered in scribbles and spraypaint.
Streamer!Jinx that sometimes manages to convince you to play on stream with her, addressing you as a close friend to keep you both comfortable and safe online.
She constantly says “chat” and “gang”, even when she’s not streaming. Vi and Ekko pick up on it and comment on it frequently, using it to tease her.
Rages at Minecraft. 100%. She joined MCC, just to ragequit half way through because her team was in dead last. Her chat watched her leave the server and walk out of her room on the webcam. She had to take a whole 15 minuet break and come back with a cup of coffee to calm down.
She would start a Minecraft hardcore series just to hide in a hole as soon as it turns night, before logging off and never returning.
"Guys this is my first episode of... MINECRAFT HARDCORE!
...
Chat this seems to be my first AND last episode."
Jinx who accidentally revealed your relationship on live. She slipped up and called you "darling" or "babe", and her chat never dropped it.
"BABE?!"
"Holy shit did she just call her babe?"
"Ladies, we have a chance!"
"DID WE HEAR THAT RIGHT"
She tried to change the topic, "We’re going to win this round!", to say she lost, and her chat didn’t drop the topic, would be an understatement.
She got cancelled for homophobia once, because she went on a 'just chill and talk' live about how she didn’t approve of Caitlyn and Vi being together. It got taken the wrong way and had to explain that she’s infact Queer with a girlfriend. She defended herself with "Guys, I’m literally dating.." after she revealed your relationship, and then went on a rant sesh about you. She’s the biggest yapper ever.
Her twitch account got banned or suspended once because she got so mad at a kid on Fortnite that she cursed him out and went overboard. (Again, she has no filter).
She mainly plays Minecraft and gun games. But sometimes she’ll do longer lives for charity where she’ll play the chat’s top pick.
She accidentally showed your face on stream once, forgetting to tell you her webcam was on. You didn’t realise until later that day there were edits of you on your own fyp or twitter TL. "Babe, you might wanna see this.."
Jinx still gets confused whenever she sees an edit of herself. Also, she has a public favourite folder of edits of you. She doesn’t know how to edit it to make it private.
Once you got comfortable showing your face on webcam, Jinx hosted a “do my hair and Q&A” stream where you braided and brushed her hair while you both answered questions. Any excuse to spend time with you at the same time as working.
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Notes: first time ever writing jinx, so I thought I’d start with headcanons. Do we want a streamer!jinx fic? Like an actual fic? Pls give me ideas on what to write abt her
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mofongomuncher · 6 months ago
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𝘾𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚
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(Ekko X Reader)
❥ cast : ! Ekko and reader ¡
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Ekko leaned against one of the worn pillars, his arms loosely crossed over his chest. The soft hum of adults talking filled the space, punctuated by bursts of laughter from the kids playing in the main area of the base.
His gaze was locked on you.
You were crouched on the floor, one of the smaller Firelights perched on your knee as you adjusted the strap of their little homemade goggles. Another kid tugged at your arm, showing you a toy glider they'd crafted from scraps, while two more were busy trying to drag you into their game of tag.
"You're really trying to take me down huh?" you teased, laughing as one of them clung to your leg. "What is this, an ambush?"
"It's working!" one of the kids shouted, their voice high with excitement.
Ekko couldn't help but smirk. He'd seen you handle yourself in some of the most dangerous situations Zaun had to offer—but here you were, letting a bunch of kids "capture" you like it was the highlight of your day. You weren't just pretending to enjoy it, he could tell by the way your eyes crinkled when you laughed, the way your voice softened when you spoke to them.
He leaned further into the shadows, content to watch for a while longer.
One of the kids pointed at him. "Hey Ekko! Why're you just standing there?"
Your eyes flicked up to meet his, a playful glint in them. "Yeah big guy...What are you doing? Afraid you'll lose if you join in?"
He pushed off the pillar, his smirk deepening. "Nah, I'm just enjoying the show."
You raised an eyebrow, your grin widening. "Oh, really? You're that entertained watching me lose to a bunch of kids?"
"Looks like you've got it handled." he said, his tone light but teasing. "Why mess with perfection?"
"Perfection?" you repeated, rolling your eyes as you stood up, one of the kids still clinging to your arm. "You've got jokes now, huh?"
"Always." he said, stepping closer.
"But seriously... you're good with them."
His voice had softened just enough to make you pause. You tilted your head at him, a small, knowing smile playing on your lips. "They make it easy."
"Not everyone would think that.." he said, glancing at the kids now chasing each other around the room. "You've got a way with them."
You shrugged, brushing off the compliment as you crouched back down to tie a loose shoelace for one of the kids. "They just need someone to pay attention, that's all."
He watched you, his expression unreadable for a moment. "You make it look like more than that."
Before you could respond, one of the kids tugged at your sleeve. "Y/N, come play!"
You laughed, standing up again. "Alright, alright!"
A smile tugged at your lips as you turned your gaze to Ekko. "Are you coming, or are you just gonna stand there looking cool?"
He rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "Someone's gotta supervise. You look like you're about to trip over yourself."
"Right." you said, grinning as you backed into the chaos of the kids. "Supervise all you want Mr. But don't think I won't call you in when I need backup."
Ekko chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned back against the pillar. "I'll be here."
But his gaze never left you. Watching you laugh, watching the way the kids gravitated to you, he felt something shift in his chest. For all the weight he carried as the Firelights' leader, moments like this made him feel like maybe, just maybe, there was more to life than surviving.
He couldn't help but think that you were the best part of this little family they'd built together.
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Check out my Ekko one shots on Wattpad for more stories!! :3
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evieelyzabethh · 7 months ago
Text
"homecoming"
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⭒"and i told her in my heart is where she always be"⭒ college AU Arcane headcanons {fem reader}
cast ✧ Vi, Ekko, Jayce, Viktor, Mel
cw ☞ slightly pervy jayce, and a bunch of fluff. ALSO, one of my dearest pookies requested a college au so everyone say thank you sidda 💋
♞Vi♞
♞Vi would totally be a student athlete and a very good one. I don't see her as a basketball or football girl but baseball actually. Swinging a bat around is a controlled way to get aggression out. She played soccer and football in high school, though. She did football first, her and Jayce signing up together and both managing to get a spot on the team, but she got annoyed with all the padding really quick and only stuck it out for a year because of Jayce. She moved to soccer but got kicked off the team for fighting after a girl kept bumping into her and never got fouled for it. The fight was pretty bad, and in combination with her pre existing record of violent behavior, the school put her in counseling for her aggression issues.
♞She deeply enjoys baseball and takes it very seriously. Regular trips to the batting cages with Vander helped her regulate her emotions. It requires patience and control and a bat. She really loves her bat. When she made it onto the team, Jinx bought her a wooden one that she spray-painted, and she keeps it in her dorm room. She also likes the atmosphere. Her hand is always in a bag of sunflower seeds, she appreciates a good bubblegum, she likes how she looks in the uniform.
♞This being said, college Vi cleans up her act a bit. She doesn't get into fights anymore, she raised her F's into B's, and she got into a really nice school on a sports scholarship that she refuses to lose. She takes this as an opportunity to get good at something. She knows major league women's baseball isn't really a thing and she doubts she's good enough to ever make it to the Olympics, so she dedicates her time to finding something to make of her life
♞You two meet in a language class. It's a requirement at your college and she's only there because it's the easiest option that they stick all the student athletes in, and you were quite frankly just being lazy and wanted a class you could get an easy A in. She shows up slightly late, but the professor lets it slide as it's only the first day. The only open seat is the one next to you, quietly sitting in the back of the room with your laptop up staring intently as you go through the course's syllabus. She smiles. She thinks you're cute.
♞You can hear the dad rock blasting in her earphones, her hands in the pocket of a school branded hoodie with her head down as she slips in quietly next to you. She takes up a lot of space, her water bottle is one of the huge gallon sized ones, her laptop is large and kinda clunky, her notebook is also splayed out and you silently judge her sloppy handwriting. Just as preoccupied as you are, she's going through her schedule to see what time practice starts and gets out, what time she has to be at her volunteering commitment, the time slot she blocked out to call her sister.
♞Part of her scholarship is working in surrounding communities at recreation centers to encourage kids to get active. She thinks it's stupid at first, but eventually she finds out that she enjoys working with kids. They are constantly in awe of her, constantly asking her to give them piggyback rides or toss them around a bit, but they also deeply admire her. It's not a foreign feeling for her to be looked up to, but it's one she hasn't felt in a long time. She always wants to be better, and they make her feel like she's moving in the right direction.
♞She wouldn't start talking to you right away. Contrary to popular belief, Vi isn't super popular with the ladies. She is much quieter, she likes to keep to herself. She only sparks a conversation with you to ask what you got on the last test because she didn't do all that great and wanted a study partner. She likes being your seatmate a lot. You're just so nice. You're the first to offer a pencil if you need it, you keep sweet-scented hand sanitizer in your bag and soft tissues which she almost feels bad about how many she steals when her allergies hit in the spring.
♞Finals season is going back and forth from the library and her fancy athlete dorm after it closes to study for finals, both of you running on an ungodly amount of energy drinks and two hours of sleep, some nights you fall asleep on her shoulder when even the pale light of your laptop screens can no longer keep you awake. She freezes every time, not wanting to move you but also wanting you to be comfortable, slowing her typing to a gentle pace before giving up entirely and falling asleep herself. You wake up to Vi's earsplitting snores, low music still playing from her speaker, the tv shifting hours ago from bright cartoons to some live action sitcom from decades ago. You debate on leaving, but the buses are no longer running, and she drives you herself, stranding you at her dorm in her large comfy bed where you willingly lay yourself back into her arms.
♞Her teammates definitely know about her crush on you. Anytime you come to their practices or walk her to them, she has a pep in her step and a smirk on her face the whole time. She swears she's not that obvious, but she talks about you constantly and the mere mention of your name has her scrambling. She is a show-off during practices, maybe playing a bit too hard as she slides onto bases in her already ratty sweatpants.
♞She would ask you out at one of their games. She's not big on super big and showy public confessions, so she wouldn't have you guys on the jumbotron or announced by the commentators, but after the game she would catch you in the crowd and ask her to be your girlfriend. Your first date would be to dinner after the game because she is absolutely starving, but she does pay for both of your meals.
★Ekko★
★Ekko, like Vi, would be at university on a scholarship, though one for engineering or something STEM related. He's there to pursue some sort of STEM degree but he abuses the fuck out of gen-ed classes. He absolutely loves being able to take a variety of different classes and different disciplines. He's done some culinary work, some studio art classes, some music theory. He has so many interests and he is determined to get the best out of the experience.
★While his nose isn't always stuck in a book, he's always working on something. His dorm is a mess of papers, his clothes are strewn around the floor, and he probably isn't even there because he's in a lab or in workshop or in the grocery store because he finally got tired of ramen noodles. It's a good thing the university offered co-ed dorms because no one else would be able to put up with him but Jinx, though the second she rolls her ankle after stepping on one of his shoes she has half the mind to burn all his stuff.
★Their dorm room is quite nice. They're the type that have led lights and posters all over the walls, those fake vine things hanging over his bed. The lights are always low in there, they forget about the ceiling light because they use their desk lamps so much. They don't have the nicest things, him and Jinx splitting one fridge and one microwave and maybe a snack cart, but they would have a comfy bean bag chair in there.
★He would get noticed around campus because he skateboards to class and wears cool outfits. The university social media has a page dedicated to OOTDs that he run's and it gets pretty popular. He isn't in a bunch of clubs, I think he would stick to one or maybe two. Of any of them, he would be involved in whatever social justice club they have, and while only a freshman, his passion gets him on the administrative team for communication and outreach. He is a master at Canva and is seen all across campus putting up fliers
★He is a D1 procrastinator which is ironic because he is always stressed. The only motivation he needs is the weight of all the work he has to do on his chest eventually being released and actually feeling like he can breathe.
★Ekko...with a belly button piercing...yes. He would have a few other piercings besides his bellybutton, including a daith, tragus, cartilage, and the first and second on his lobe. He prefers gold jewelry to silver and wears a lot of crop tops to show off the piercing. He takes terrible care of them because he refuses to buy the saline solution and raw dogs it with some soap and water and he hasn't had any reject yet.
★He would be a TA for Heimerdinger in grad school and would hang around his office a lot. A very chaotic lecturer in his recitation sections. He gets to the room a solid hour or two early to work on his dissertation and when class starts, he hops from topic to topic. He loves that chalkboard, he's all over it. He also likes coming to class in nice suits like the one he was in the alternate universe.
★You and him would meet after he bumped into you on his skateboard. He had been replying to an email on his way to class and you had been trying to catch up on the reading you were supposed to have done a week ago and you walked right into him, knocking the phones out of both of your hands and sending the skateboard rolling until it hit a bench. You both scramble to apologize, and as he offers you a ringed hand to help you off the ground, you go back and forth claiming it was completely your fault and not the others. He remembers you after that, partially because you hit the ground pretty hard and he's scared he gave you a concussion, and partially because he thought you were gorgeous.
★He would keep noticing you around campus and Jinx would bully him into saying something to you after the umpteenth time of telling you how cute you looked in that outfit today and how locked in you were at the library and how he wants help finding your insta so he can stalk you. All you see one day at the dining hall is a very confused Ekko with a very annoyed Jinx behind him pushing him your way and leaving quickly. You had been eating alone, laptop sat beside your half empty plate, your blue light glasses laying down on your nose in hopes of protecting you from going blind at thirty from how much time you spend staring at your laptop. Conversation is extremely slow at first, but when you two find your rhythm, he builds the courage to ask for your number.
★Lots of movie nights in his or your dorm or one of the lounges in your building while you do his retwists. Be warned, he is very tender headed and can't sit still to save his life, so you keep having to tap him with the comb and tell him to stop jerking before the parts come out wonky. Also, dye and detox days!!! He complains about his neck hurting while he's bent over the sink, but the feel of your hands in his scalp makes it bearable. You're confined inside as the dye penetrates beneath some plastic bag from under the sink and end up playing a game on the console he brought from home.
❂Jayce❂
❂Though he started high school playing football, and was quite good at it, he does quit the team when Vi does. He was never a really big sports guy, though the gym teacher never stopped pestering him to join the team again. He was always far more interested in science. He went through all the phases as a kid, being obsessed with dinosaurs since he was three, then space up until he hit like 8th grade when he was first introduced to the concept of chemistry and liked the idea of blowing shit up. He had the coolest science fair projects and won like every one of them. Rather than being the kid who told his mom about it the night before, he had the date marked on his calendar and preplans what he wants to do for the year
❂All this being said, he gets offered a scholarship to go to a nice university despite not being in the same state of financial despair that Vi and Ekko were in. While some of the extra money goes towards his dorm, he does put a lot of it towards the club he's in, something like STEM Students for Change. He offers to fund the outreach meetings, the occasional events they put on, and renting tabling spaces.
❂He keeps to himself pretty often. He's not the biggest fan of having to do the big speaking stuff in his club, he's far more interested in being able to do the work behind the scenes. He's always been the type to be upset by non-academic attention, never one put much effort into getting a romantic partner. He's also not a big party guy, only going out at the request of a friend, and spends a lot of his time either in his dorm, one of the libraries, or one of the labs.
❂Very scatterbrained. He doesn't get anything done without his notebook which he takes with him everywhere and is full of scribbles of notes and things he needs to get done for the day. He is also the type to neglect doing basic human things, like eating, especially if it's not in his schedule. It's a cycle of "ok, if I finish a page of this paper then I'll go get a snack" which devolves into "I finished this page sooner than expected, I might as well keep going until 2:30" and then "I'm still not at a good stopping point, I'm gonna finish off this page" until he finishes the entire thing. Sometimes by that point his hunger is forgotten about, and he moves onto something else.
❂He abuses the fuck out of office hours. He is not afraid to send an email or just drop by anyone's office. He builds a great repertoire with his professor which is convenient later when he's getting tons of internship offers through recommendations and getting accepted into his major. He is also a registration warrior. Before his time, he's already been set up at his laptop for at least an hour perfecting his schedule making sure he gets all the classes he needs. He once had a nervous breakdown fall semester of his sophomore year because all the classes he needed were full by the time it was his turn to register. It was the worst semester of his life.
❂He constantly has a huge water bottle on him. Not nearly as big as Vi's, but still large and metal enough to knock someone out if he tried hard enough. He's also the first guy to set off the fire alarm in the residence hall while making popcorn. He swears up and down it wasn't his fault, which isn't entirely false because the alarm was sensitive and too close to the appliances, but he did burn the shit out of it and had to throw it out on his walk of shame.
❂You two would first interact at a party he dragged his friend to after his friend abandoned him and he got lost in the sea of people. He made the mistake of going out on Halloweekend, thinking that 11 would be early enough to party before the unruliness began but he was sadly mistaken. You had been with your friends having a grand time, slightly backed into the wall where he was, trying your hardest to dance without pressing against him too much. He only remembered your face because of the sheer number of times you looked back to apologize, feeling extra bad because of the blush on his face and how hard he was trying to keep his composure. You were clearly having fun in your very low cut and short costume and your eyes were sparkly and you ass was pressed so thoroughly onto his dick he almost passed out from how overwhelmed he was anytime you moved to whatever song was playing.
❂The next day in class, he notices you towards the back of the room, giggling at whatever on your phone and before he knows it, he's putting one foot in front of the other and sitting next to you. Like him, you were someone who liked to be early to guarantee your seat, so he had plenty of time to talk to you, embarrassed that your first impression of him had been the "awkward guy at the party".
❂Many of your dates would be study dates. He is quick with booking study rooms, making sure to throw a bunch of dry erase markers and abuse the hell out of those white boards while you pack a few snacks in your tote bag, so he makes sure to eat. You usually finish your work before he does, playing games on your laptop while snapping a few pictures of him as he slowly goes insane. Markings are all over the walls in every color of the rainbow by the time you two take a break, sliding over to sit in his lap as you two scroll on your phone with your head on his shoulder.
❂He does not have a lofted bed, which is great because you two fuck in his room constantly. He's very lucky to live in an apartment style dorm because Viktor would be pissed constantly being kicked out of his own room. It's his motivation for getting through his days. It used to be a sweet treat from the dining hall, but he hit it once and decided that pussy was just way better (I will be dropping a smut fic with this concept as my treat for getting through my exams)
☽Viktor☾
☽He was very picky with what college he went to. He did a lot of research beforehand. He was very confident that schools would be throwing money at him and planned on being very selective on whose money he took. He was looking at facilities, faculty, Rate My Professor, any measurement of a school's worth was being analyzed before he even thought of applying.
☽As mentioned above, he rooms with Jayce and likes to hit him with his cane when he tries to pick shit up for him or open the door. It becomes second nature at a certain point, he doesn't see it coming and only feels the impact. He loves to embarrass him. Their majors align pretty exactly and they take a lot of the same classes and any time he so much as lets the door close on Viktor its "Wow, I can't believe such a flagrant display of ableism! You really couldn't hold the door open for me?" and Jayce gets red, desperately trying to explain he gets thwacked with a cane every other time he opens the door for him.
☽He brings nothing to class but a pen and a notebook. Not even like a spiral 5 subject one, but one of those 50 cents marbled composition books. He does have a laptop, a very nice one at that, but it hardly ever leaves the dorm. He staunchly prefers physical notetaking to digital and slightly judges those who take notes on things like IPads. He just thinks it's unnecessary and often becomes a distraction. Jayce tries to convert him Viktor's gets firmer in his position after noticing everyone desert notetaking to play games or look at clothes after like the third week
☽While also an office hour abuser, he does prefer a zoom meeting if he can snag it. He's not one to drop by just to say hello, he wants a good relationship with them but he's not trying to get invited to Christmas. He also never forgets to do those course evals and give them a rating on Rate My Professor. There is nothing he hates more than a professor who doesn't give rubrics. That is his biggest pet peeve. That and someone who can't lecture, instead going on random tangents that barely relate back to the course material.
☽His go-to study music classical music. He’s particularly fond of Tchaikovsky, his go-to ballet to listen to being Sleeping Beauty. During the fall months he usually goes for Dracula and during the winter either Nutcracker or Coppelia. He's a fan of instrumental music in general as on the flip side of this are playlists full of the Minecraft or Undertale soundtracks.
☽A lanyard warrior. He is not someone who can just slide his keys in his bag, especially since he doesn't usually carry one around. He can't just carry them around because he will set them down somewhere and forget them and those replacement fees are like a couple hundred dollars. When he does carry a bag though, it's one of those nice leather messenger bags that he thrifted. Speaking of which, his brightness would be so low. He's not even hiding anything and it's a miracle he can even read anything on the screen. He also is someone who uses blue-light glasses when on his phone or laptop, which is part of the reason both are so dim. You are on his lockscreen and home screen on all of his devices, though.
☽He would be so good at proofreading anything you needed him to. While definitely a STEM major, he would also be a grammar stickler and is part of the dying breed of people who actually know how to write a paper without Chat GPT or AI. He would HATE all kinds of stuff like that. Slightly off topic, but he loves sharing all stupid discussions posts he has to do for class. He loves laughing at some of the idiots who say the wildest things, so wild that no one else in the class even wants to respond. He'd also be the type to develop favorite classmates through how they respond and only respond to those.
☽He has some sort of earbuds in his ears everywhere he goes. It's always either headphones or wired earbuds. He would hate the wireless ones after the one time he tried them, and they kept falling out of his ear and it was too much of a hassle having to repeatedly bend down to get them. He likes the noise cancelling ones too, he is impossible to bother when he's using them.
☽For his gen-eds, I can see him getting into film or maybe history. History because he's always had a minute interest in it. He's never been a big war buff, his niche was probably more aligned with the classics. I think he would be fascinated with ancient Greece and Rome. As for film, I can see that being something he decided to take for the fuck of it but then realized he was very interested. Maybe not a rom-com or film bro kinda guy, he would be interested in super niche, campy films. He would like wackier, more experimental stuff
☽He would meet you at some film screening he's going to for extra credit in one of his classes. You showed up because the showing just so happened to be one of your favorite movies. The extra credit was just for showing up, it was also for attending the trivia session after the screening with the points depending on how many questions you could get right and since you both had gone alone and had ended up sitting next to each other and he had already decided you were gorgeous, he decided to ask you to be his partner. He felt a little bad being carried through the competition by you, but you were so excited to just share all the fun facts you knew that he decided he could live with it.
☽You actually ask him for his number after the fact, suggesting you two do a few more movie nights together, trading off week after week showing each other your favorite movies. Though he is very busy, with all his internships, class work, and studying he usually has to do, he happily finds a way to slide you into his schedule. He treats it as his reward for getting through the week. You'd also go on a lot of coffee shop dates. He knows all the nice quiet spots around campus.
☼Mel☼
☼She is another one who has been planning for college since forever. She has had vision boards for which school she wants to go to, what job she wants to have, understanding the admissions process, what classes she'll need to take at her university of choice to graduate most efficiently, has all been written in a journal since she was in high school
☼She is very organized. I totally see as someone who has all of her class notebooks color coded, definitely uses Midliners, has those nice Pilot G2 pens, the whole nine yards. She was also particular about how her dorm was put together. Her and her roommate coordinated on a color theme, and they have like the dream dorm. They have a big TV, an air fryer, a microwave, a fridge with a freezer, an oil diffuser. Any nice thing you can fit in a dorm is in there
☼She is in like every club ever. Involved in the black student organizations, probably in a sorority (I think she'd be an AKA but that's only because I love them), clubs relating to her political science major, and other fun ones like art clubs, maybe debate club too. She'd also be one of those girls that everyone knows on campus because she's so everywhere. She's the people's princess, that one girl you see everywhere surrounded by friends who looks really nice but you're kinda scared to talk to her.
☼She types really fast. It's something she got really good at back in middle school when she got bored after finishing all her work super early and played a bunch of those typing games until she got really good at typing. Because of this, she is someone who can knock out a paper in like one sitting. I do think she'd need an outline or draft, a notebook by her side containing her notes on her sources and a reminder of the thesis she's arguing, but she could knock it out in less than 2 hours
☼I wouldn't call her a party animal, but I do think she likes to go out. Maybe not to the club but a frat party, one thrown by one of the D9 to be more specific. She brought her car to campus and is usually the designated drivers. She only really drinks fancier alcohol, she's not a beer or cheap vodka fan at all, and that's usually all you can get at parties. She doesn't go to get drunk or hookup with anybody, usually just because she got tired of being an academic weapon all day.
☼She gets a call from her mom usually once a week, usually at the same time, likely because Ambessa has that time schedule out to call her. It's super matter of fact, how are the grades looking, what is she doing in her clubs, has she gotten any internships yet. If she's feeling sappy, she does tell her that she's proud of her. Mel didn't love living with her mom, who put a lot of effort into distancing herself from Mel. She knew that she could handle herself and what she wanted, but she didn't know how she felt about Mel wanting something different out of life than her. Mel thoroughly loves her time away from her mother, but she does look forward to these phone calls.
☼I also think she'd be someone who has a secret pet, but it's just a stray cat that lingers around her building that she fed until it got attached. She does one day scoop it up to the nearest vet to make sure it doesn't have rabies and hides it in the dorm during the winter months to give it shelter from the cold. She doesn't name it because she doesn't want to get attached, especially since there's a likelihood that one day it may never come back to her, but when it starts perking up to the little pet names she's given it, she's already too far gone.
☼She is also someone who is quick to book a study room at the library. She doesn't do that well in her dorm. It's too comfy and her bed is right there, and she sets closer goal posts so that she can justify taking a nap. She's exhausted with all she's doing. Because of this, towards the end of the semester she is on main campus a lot trying to get all these essays done.
☼She is a very active participant in class! I think gen-eds would be pretty women and gender studies and African American studies heavy, with a few econ classes sprinkled in as well. Though she's not going into a math related field, she was always incredibly good at it. She could've majored in either the humanities or STEM and would've always done well. She is unfortunately the annoying person getting 100s on the exams and getting rid of the curve
☼Like Jayce, I think she would also meet you at a party. Being far more introverted than she was, you would hang around in a corner, checking your phone for emails. It was early and the party had yet to pick up, meaning everybody had coagulated in certain spaces on the floor, talking and too scared to dance to the music because there was too much room to be perceived. You obviously knew who she was and looked at her a few times, putting in a lot of effort to avoid her gaze when she notices yours. She would eventually walk over to you, red solo cup filled with water she grabbed from the fridge. She obviously knew who was throwing, knew them well enough to dig through their kitchen for a non-alcoholic beverage.
☼She would make small talk with you, asking if you had ever been to one of these parties before, especially since she hadn't really seen you here before. You two end up talking for hours against the wall, her head resting against the wall, not realizing her pupils dilate as you explain to her the chain of events that got you here, the long day of studying you just had, and damn finals are right around the corner and you just needed a break. Earlier than she would typically leave, she gets tired of the noise obscuring your voice and offers to drive you around for a bit. You two end up sitting in a McDonalds parking lot talking over an abandoned pack of medium fries. You two exchange numbers and talk like all the time before she asks you on a for real date.
☼Though you feel a tad bad about it, she loves being your chauffer. You wanna go on a 3 a.m run to some chicken place; she is already on the way as soon as you send the text. She's very quick to do a quick drive by to pick you up so she can show you off at a party. Also, though she can throw it, she prefers to catch it.
☼She is the perfect study buddy. She prefers studying with flashcards and pops a little Ferrero Rocher for every 20 terms she gets correct. With you there, it's even better. She gets a kiss for every right answer which is like infinitely better.  
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scarletemeterio · 6 months ago
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Hello! Can I ask for ekko with an reader who confessed to him thrice (and thrice rejected) and then he finally falls hard for them? With a happy ending, thank you!
(kind of like she fell first he fell harder trope)
Let Me Love You (Ekko x Reader)
Warnings: some cursing Genre: angst, hurt/comfort Word count: 2.3k Reader has no set pronouns!
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The first time was the hardest of them all. You’d muster up the courage to confess your feelings for him, knowing very well that it could go south.
“I have something to tell you,” you uttered. He gave you a worried look, noticing that there was a hint of desperation in your voice. You were in his so-called office, working on something that didn’t really matter anymore.
“Is everything okay?” He simply asked.
“I’m not sure,” you began, “but I really need to say this.” He gave you his full attention, making you feel a bit intimidated by him and extremely self-conscious. “I’m in love with you,” you blurted out.
Silence quickly filled the room, and the tension could easily be cut by a knife. The moment you saw his face, you knew it: he didn’t feel the same way.
“I, uh, I don’t know what to say,” he mumbled more to himself than to you.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make things awkward at all. You can just forget I said anything.”
“I really don’t want to hurt you but I just don’t feel the same way.” You were trying to hold back your tears as his words left his mouth. “You’re an amazing person and anyone would be lucky to be with you, but that person isn’t me.”
You simply looked at him and slowly nodded. “It’s okay, you can’t force yourself to feel something you don’t.” It was hard to speak at this point. He knew you were hurt, but you’d never show it; it would just make things harder for the both of you. “Is this gonna change things between us?”
“I would hate that, honestly.” You nodded again, finally being on the same page about something. He came closer and put a reassuring hand on your shoulder to try and alleviate the tension. If only it were that easy.
•••
Some time passed and you still tried to hide your feelings for him. For a while, it worked, you’d suppressed them every time you spent time with the boy but deep down, you missed the way you were before. It had always been hard for you to open up to people, but you’d never been this miserable before. You were just a shadow of your usual self, and it was evident to everyone in the base.
Ekko himself tried to talk to you about it, clearly oblivious to the fact that he was the reason for your attitude. Finally, after a particularly hard day for you, you just lost it.
“You wanna know what’s wrong with me, Ekko? It’s you!” You truly didn’t mean to scream at him but you also couldn’t help it. Lately, you lived on edge, always frustrated about something; it was like you were a bomb simply waiting to explode. “I swear I tried to play dumb, to ignore everything but I just can’t.”
“Is this about-?”
“Yes, Ekko, of course it is.” You interrupted him. “I know you went on with your life and pretended I never said anything so we could go back to the way things were, but it’s not that easy for me. Nothing about this has been easy.”
“I didn’t know you felt that way.”
“Bullshit,” you spat. “You know exactly how I feel about you. We’ve known each other for years, you can’t tell me you never realized why I’ve been acting so strange.”
There was a pause between you. You were agitated, heart beating so fast that you could feel it in your throat. “I guess I wanted to pretend nothing ever happened,” he confessed after some time. “Acknowledging it made it real and I just- I just want my friend back, without any messiness and complications between us.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ekko. I’m sorry my feelings are such an inconvenience to you. Trust me, I wish I could change them and forget about you for good but I just can’t.”
Something twitched inside of him when you said that and he looked at you with hurt eyes. “You really mean that? That you’d like to forget me?”
“I meant forgetting about my feelings for you, ‘cause you’re not making things easy for me,” you explained. “When you come over and put your arm around me or stand so close to me that I can feel you breathing it kills me, Ekko. And the worst part is that you know it.” You took a deep breath, anger slowly leaving you, feeling nothing but sadness. “Sometimes I feel like you enjoy testing me like that because you know that no matter what I’ll always come back to you. But I’m tired of this dance between us, it’s too much.”
“I just don’t know how to feel! This is hard for me too!” Neither of you cared if someone heard you at this point, you’d simply have to put up with the weird looks from everyone. “I don’t know what you want me to do and I’m confused.”
“Honestly,” you began, “I want you to give me some space.”
“Wait, I- uh, I don’t want that, please,” he took a step closer to you, trying to grab ahold of your hand but you avoided his touch, as you avoided his sad eyes.
“Do you have feelings for me, Ekko?”
“I said I’m confused.”
“It’s a simple question, do you?”
You finally looked at him and he realized that you were crying. He could count with one hand the number of times he’d seen you cry, and he never thought he’d be the reason why. “I don’t know,” he finally whispered.
“Then I don’t have anything else to say. I don’t want to wait for you to figure out how you feel and keep getting hurt in the process, I don’t think I deserve it.”
“Wait, please-.”
“Ekko,” you cut him, “I need some space, don’t make this even harder, please.” And with that, you left, leaving him even more confused than before, and with a pain in his chest he couldn’t really explain.
You should’ve known this was coming. Still, it hurt like the first time. You couldn’t blame him; if anything, you were glad he was honest with you. But after today, you realized that you needed to keep some distance from him, or this would end up destroying you for good.
•••
Days quickly turned into weeks, and you realized you hadn’t said a word to the Firelight’s leader in almost a month. Your heart still flipped inside whenever you inevitably ran into him or locked eyes with him within the first few days since the fight, and soon you started avoiding him all along.
In no time, the boy started feeling an emptiness inside him, something he couldn’t explain. He was truthful with you in that last conversation, he truly wasn’t sure how he felt, but with every passing day that you were nowhere to be seen, he realized that maybe he’d been a complete fool.
He missed you, there was no denying that. Now the question was if his feelings for you were simply platonic or if deep down he yearned for you, maybe even more than you for him. Ekko wasn’t the best with his emotions, not because he actively repressed them, but because all of this was extremely new to him, and he just felt so overwhelmed. However, there was one thing he was extremely sure of: he wanted you in his life.
It had been days since he last saw you, evident now that you’d been avoiding him for a while, so when he finally caught a glimpse of you around the base, it was like seeing an angel. Soon, his pleasant feelings were replaced by envy. You were talking with one of the new members from the Firelights, nothing out of the ordinary, but there was nothing he wanted more than to be the one you had your attention on. He didn’t recognize himself, filled with jealousy and bitterness.
The boy was pulled out of his thoughts when someone asked him a question, engaging in conversation with him, but that strange sensation still clung to him like glue. He hated himself and blamed his stupid ass for being such an idiot, these were merely the consequences of his own actions.
When he was lying in bed that night trying to fall asleep, you were the only thing on his mind. Your smile that shined like the stars, your lips that he so wanted to feel against his own while your arms wrapped around his body. He wanted to bang his head against the wall, he was such an idiot. If only he’d realized this before then maybe now you wouldn’t hate him. It all seemed so obvious to him now. You were there for him, by his side from the very beginning. He could always count on and lean on you, he trusted you even more than he trusted himself. Oftentimes he’d become mesmerized by how pretty you looked when you spent time together, the sun hitting your face in just the perfect way or your hair effortlessly framing your face in such a flawless way. Of course, he thought nothing of all this at the time, brushing it off as objective thinking. But now, it suddenly hit him, everything was different now because he wasn’t unsure anymore, he knew exactly how he felt about you. He loved you.
He sat on his bed, passing his hands through his face in an attempt to clear his mind. He wanted- no, needed to talk to you. Maybe you didn’t even feel the same way anymore, but he had to get it off his chest, he had to at least try. But right now, he also had to calm his nerves because if he didn’t, he’d go and knock on your door this very moment, and he was certain you didn’t wanna see him at all. So instead, he got up and went to take a walk, thinking it would be nice to sit by the tree to help him organize his thoughts. What he wasn’t expecting was seeing you there.
As soon as you saw his figure making its way to you, you got up, ready to leave but were interrupted by his voice. “Wait, please, don’t go.” You knew you should pay him no attention and leave anyway, but it had been so long since you’d last heard his voice that you were taken aback for a moment, standing in place. “Can we talk?” His voice was soft, nothing compared to what it was in your last conversation together; you could even hear a hint of desperation, which was what ultimately made you turn around and stay.
“What do you want, Ekko?” As soon as he heard you he let out a small smile, confirming that yours was the voice he wanted to hear every day when he woke up and every night before going to sleep.
He motioned for you to sit down again, doing the same right after you. “I’m sorry for everything,” he began saying, “I never meant for things to end up like this between us.” His chest accompanied his breathing, moving just a little too fast, earning him a concerned look from you. “I know that you probably hate me now, I know I would if I were you, and you’ll probably hate me even more after what I have to say since I acted like a complete idiot and took so long to figure out something that was right in front of me this whole time but I- uh, I do have feelings for you. Lots of feelings actually, I’m in love with you.”
You snapped your neck to look at him, trying to read his expression in search of a playful tone, but it wasn’t there. He was serious, he was finally saying what you wanted to hear for so long now. So long that you couldn’t fully believe him.
“Ekko, I don’t want any games, please.”
“I’m being serious. These weeks without you have been absolute torture, I can’t do this without you, I need you.” He rubbed his face, stopping at the bridge of his nose to pinch it. When he looked back at you, he had tears forming in his eyes, a sight you hadn’t seen in a very long time. “I’m being honest. I’m so sorry it took me so long to finally realize it. I made it my personal vow to always protect you and keep you safe and I’m the one that caused you pain and for that, I’m so sorry.”
You didn’t really know what to say, nothing seemed good enough. Your mind was racing and quickly you were lost in your thoughts and were brought back to reality by the sound of Ekko getting up, ready to leave. “These last weeks have been hell for me, too.” Your eyes met his and you stoop up, getting closer to him. “I don’t hate you, Ekko. I could never hate you.”
“But you don’t love me anymore?”
“I didn’t say that, I’m just a bit taken aback that’s all.” He got closer to you, trying to grab your hand and this time, you let him do it. He brought it to his face and planted a kiss on it, never breaking eye contact with you.
“I’m so in love with you that just thinking about spending a second away from you makes me suffer. I don’t want to feel that way anymore, I want to be with you, share my life with you, and love you every day.” One of his hands went to cup your face and you leaned against it. “Please let me love you.”
You looked at his lips and then back at his eyes, and in just a second the air was knocked out of your lungs when you felt his lips against yours. The kiss was sweet but desperate and filled with emotions. “Please let me love you, too,” you said when you separated.
“Nothing would make me happier.”
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hey! i loved this request, i'm a sucker for angst :)
i changed it just a little bit but i still hope you like it anon, thanks for requesting! really enjoyed writing this one and i LOVE writing for ekko
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