#Nadia's hand in marriage when? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

euphoniumpets · 1 year

Text

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM | CHAPTER SEVEN

Prompt: ''As long as I can rememer, I've been protecting Alina, it's always Alina who I will protect,'' You told him, looking at Nikolai. ''But who will protect you?''

Warnings: Violence, blood and gore.

Please don’t plagiarize my work - I spend a lot of my time writing, copying and pasting destroys that.

Pairing: Nikolai Lantsov x Starkov! Reader

Taglist: @lyria-skyfall@khaleesihavilliard@shine101 @waddlingwanderer @clqudias @ducks118 @xceafh@peakyispunk @wilmasvensson @parbatai-winchester @priincehoseok@riot-in-my-soulsoul @feyredarling92 @vendy021 @ssprayberrythings @goldenpoison @shine101 @lili-of-the-dream @xushisuxi @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @jennylil @themermaidscales82

Tag list are closed!

A/N: we've come to a conclusion or a thought where I decide to write smut further in the chapters but i need y'all votes because i'm hesitant if you guys want smut further in the chapters lmao. and again, this is a long chapter because i got carried away.

old masterlist | navi | new masterlist

prologue - one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight - nine - ten - eleven - epilogue

You hated it.

Oh, so you desperately hated it.

You could feel every person in the room giving you looks and you didn’t know if it was a good one or a bad one. ‘’Why must you always play the diplomat, Nikolai?’’ You heard Vasily's question at the table. ‘’A shu and Grisha dining beside true Ravkan soldiers is a bit much for all our stomachs,’’ Vasily remarked.

‘’We’re all Ravkan here,’’ You sneered and tried to be calm. ‘’Doesn’t need to be us versus them,’’ Nikolai replied and looked at his brother. ‘’Kirigian should’ve thought of that,’’ Vasily replied with his drink in hand. ‘’Before he tried to murder my father and stage a coup, that said: absent they're Darkling the Grisha are rather easy to manage,’’

‘’By manage do you mean execute: Moi tsarevich?’’ You asked boldly and turned your head to face him. ‘’That fate is reserved for traitors to the Crown, Miss Starkov,’’

‘’If the second Army requires a leader loyal to the Crown to assure their fealty, my sister will lead them,’’ You remarked. You looked at Vasily as he let out a laugh. ‘’Why should I believe you and your sister that you have any loyalty to my family?’’ He asked. You paused before your eyes trailed to Nikolai.

He met your gaze before standing up from his chair and raising a glass to get the people’s attention. ‘’Today marks the start of a new era of cooperation between Lantsov and Grisha, I’m delighted to announce my engagement to Y/N Starkov, the sister of the Sun Summoner,’’ Nikolai presented. ‘’And with her sister being the Sun Summoner, she will be the new leader of the Second Army, together we'll build a better future for Ravka,’’

You locked your gaze with Mal and Alina not from far away and saw their surprised gazes. They never thought that you would agree on the marriage but yet here you were. For Ravka.

‘’That was a bit much,’’ You responded after everybody had cheered and Nikolai had sat down.

‘’Understatement is overrated,’’ He replied as you took a sip from your drink.

Alina had left with Tamar and Nadia to go and do some training. They offered to come with but you declined and told them to do some studying of the Firebird. You hoped some of the history books had the answers since you knew that Alina had to kill you to get the third amplifier. You knew that she wasn’t going to do it, but if it was your only plan, you knew that you had to do it on your own.

You heard fast footsteps approaching you in the library. You turned around with a frown and saw Adrik approaching you. ‘’I know, not to be disturbed, but they need you in the war room,’’ Adrik informed and you nodded. You placed the books down and followed after him.

You stopped in your tracks when you noticed David standing with Tolya, Nikolai, Alina, Mal, Tamar, and Adrik when you recognized David. David flickered his eyes when he saw you and waved with the other hand and you noticed that his hands were tied. ‘’Oh, so you know him,’’ Nikolai replied when he noticed your gaze. ‘’He claims to have escaped from a very alive General Kirigian,’’ Nikolai revealed and approached you. You looked at Alina with a concerned gaze. ‘’He gave himself up without a struggle, we found this on him,’’ Nikolai said and handed you over the journal. ‘’He says it’s one of Morozova’s journals,’’ You grabbed the journal as Nikolai turned to face David.

‘’I, for one, am dying to know more, but he insisted to speak with you and Alina,’’ Nikolai said.

‘’Y/N…’’ David began to say and step forward before Tolya stopped him before he could go further. ‘’I know I wronged both of you, please I regret my role in that, I know you have a reason to distrust me, but I have no loyalty to General Kirigian,’’ David spoke.

‘’He survived the Volcra?’’ Alina questioned him. ‘’I’m afraid so,’’ David revealed. ‘’He also knows that you both are in East Ravka,’’ David informed and you could feel your heart growing faster. You didn’t know if he found out that you were the Firebird but if he did he could find you here, you didn’t know if you were safe. ‘’Tell us where he is,’’ You demanded David.

‘’No, no, no,’’ David replied and you narrowed your eyes. ‘’That would be a very bad idea-’’

‘’You can’t expect us to trust you unless you share information,’’ You snapped. ‘’Confronting him would be suicide,’’ David replied. ‘’Kirigian used Merzost to create something in the Fold, creatures that do his bidding the size of two men, formed of pure shadow,’’ He informed as your blood ran cold. ‘’They have no breath to take, no heart to stop, no blood to drain, yet, they live,’’ David explained.

‘’They live and they kill,’’

‘’They are nichevo’ya: nothing: bullets, blades, fire, all simply pass through and they walk freely in sunlight, I fear that merzost may be the only way to kill them,’’ You looked at David and could see that he was terrified. Nikolai glanced at you and he could see the fear you formed in your eyes. ‘’So, how did you manage to get away?’’ Mal questioned.

‘’Genya,’’ You snapped your thoughts away at the mention of Genya. ‘’We tried to escape together but the nichevo’ya,’’ David informed. ‘’She sacrificed herself to get me out,’’ A sadness washed over you for your friend. You knew how much Genya liked David back then at the Little Palace and you begged the saints that she was still alive.

‘’I don’t know if she survived,’’

‘’A smart spy will always play the victim,’’ Tolya spoke and narrowed his eyes. ‘’No, no,’’ David protested and shook his head. ‘’You make a valid point, Tolya,’’ Nikolai responded before he turned to Alina. ‘’As a leader of the second army, this is your call,’’ Nikolai said. Alina looked at Nadia and gestured to come closer next to her. ‘’You’ve known David the longest, what do you think?’’

‘’Kirigian always kept him close,’’ Nadia spoke. Alina looked at you before her eyes placed on David. ‘’Take him to the holding cell,’’ Alina said as Tolya walked away with David. ‘’We need a moment alone, please,’’ Mal said and looked at Nikolai.

Nikolai looked at the three of you as you nodded. ‘’Of course,’’ He replied before walking away, leaving the three of you alone. You let out a sigh. ‘’Do you trust him?’’ Mal asked the two of you.

‘’I don’t know,’’ You answered. ‘’Not entirely,’’ Alina added. ‘’The shadow monsters…’’ Mal trailed off as you thought for a moment. ‘’But why would he lie?’’ You asked them. ‘’Kirigian’s a force to be reckoned with, but if it’s true, I need to hunt the Firebird,’’ Mal responded making you look at him.

‘’Or I can do something right now, an alternative to boost my power,’’ Alina suggested and you looked at her. ‘’Alternative?’’ You asked. ‘’He created soldiers of shadow,’’ Alina said. ‘’Maybe, maybe I can tear down the Fold by creating soldiers of light,’’ Alina informed. ‘’With what? Merzost?’’ You inquired. ‘’The Darkling messed with it and we got the Fold for 400 years,’’

‘’And now he has monsters who walk with him,’’ Alina argued. ‘’Give me time to track down the Firebird,’’ Mal said which made you sigh. ‘’There’s always a cost to merzost, it’s not worth the risk,’’

‘’Hey, you’re coming with us to Ketterdam?’’ You heard Tolya ask you as you approached him, Tolya, and Mal. ‘’You know I can’t, Queen duties,’’ You replied and rolled your eyes. ‘’Not going to lie, we all were surprised that you accepted the proposal,’’ Tamar spoke. ‘’Believe me, we all were,’’ You told her.

‘’Too bad we can’t be here to see you in the dress that Nikolai had chosen,’’ Tamar replied.

‘’Perhaps another time,’’ You responded.

‘’You know it won’t be another time,’’ Tolya teased. ‘’Hey, now that she’s the Queen of Ravka, she’ll have to play dress up,’’ Tamar teased.

‘’And the Queen of Ravka can hear you,’’ You responded as you gave them a look before you looked at them with a grin.

‘’Be careful,’’ You told them before embracing him.

‘’Don’t worry, we will be back,’’ Tolya assured you and let go of you before walking away. ‘’And, don’t forget the snacks you’ll bring back from Shu Han!’’ You exclaimed. ‘’I can’t promise you anything,'' Tolya responded as you chuckled.

You , Mal, and Tamar said goodbye to each other as you walked back to your chambers to prepare for the ball. ‘’I hate this dress,’’ You murmured as you heard Alina chuckle. ‘’You look pretty, he has good taste,’’ Alina commented as you rolled your eyes and looked down at your dress. Nikolai had placed a dress in your room and it was uncomfortable for your liking.

You disliked wearing pretty dresses and it was unusual for Alina to see you in one. ‘’How’s that, moy milaya? better?’’ The maid asked as you reached your arms. However, you couldn’t reach it further. ‘’Still can’t move my arms,’’ You replied softly and looked at her with a smile. ‘’I’ll get another corset,’’ She told you as you nodded.

‘’Ugh, saints,’’ You whined.

‘’It’s not that bad,’’ Alina replied as you turned around and looked at her and gave her a look. ‘’I can’t even breathe,’’ You complained. ‘’Well, I think you look great in that dress, you certainly look a queen,’’ Alina replied with a chuckle. ‘’Help me?’’ You asked and gestured to your back as Alina approached you.

You heard the door open and you turned around to see Vasily. ‘’What do you want?’’ You asked. ‘’My my, Y/N, they never taught you manners did you?’’ Vasily remarked as Alina helped you undress behind the dressing room. You and Alina exchanged a look. You grabbed your coat as you stepped outside and looked at him.

‘’I would prefer you call me Vasily,’’ He responded. ‘’At least when we’re in private,’’ He remarked after he heard you speak in Ravkan. ‘’What can I do for you, Moi Tsarevich?’’ You questioned. ‘’You call my brother by his given name,’’

‘’We met under different circumstances,’’ You explained. ‘’Yes, I’ve heard some find his whole Corsair act rather claiming,’’ He responded with a smirk, and you narrowed your eyes. ‘’If you excuse us-’’

‘’He must realize, no matter his aims, he will always be a second son,’’ He replied, and you looked at him. You felt your anger rise. ‘’Only I can make you a queen,’’ He spoke. ‘’I can assure you I have such no ambition,’’

‘’Is that so?’’ He questioned with a smirk. ‘’You’ve made no secret of your opinion on Grisha, why propose an alliance with me?’’

‘’I stand by my previous statements, the Ravkan people are fed up with being held hostage by Grisha tyrants, odds are some Grisha are good people, you could help me sort that out,’’

‘’Where would you find the time? Rumor has it you find yourself quite preoccupied at Caraveya, between the horse races and the brothels,’’ You replied boldly as you watched him take a step toward you with his jaw clenching. ‘’How many true allies do you have, Miss Starkov?’’ He questioned ‘’Grisha scraps with your sister being the leader of the Second Army, I imagine the Commander of the First would be a good one to keep,’’ He responded and glanced at Alina before looking at you.

‘’You’re a smart girl, consider your options,’’ He replied smugly before grabbing your hand softly and kissing at the top of your palm. ‘’Until then,’’ He spoke before leaving the room. You and Alina exchanged a look before you wiped your hand with disgust written on your face.

You stared at your reflection and looked down at the dress before letting out a scoff. ‘’I take it down that you dislike the dress,’’ You heard Nikolai speak. You glanced up and saw him standing at the door frame with a smirk on his face. You rolled your eyes toward him. ‘’It’s hideous, I prefer wearing a kefta instead,’’ You spoke and turned around to face him. Nikolai chuckled and approached you.

‘’I figured out that you would say so,’’ Nikolai replied before gesturing to the kefta he brought him with. You looked at him before letting out a grin on your face. You accepted the kefta in his hands before walking to the dressing room. You tried to get the dress off but you couldn’t reach the laces and usually, Alina would help you but she was at the party. ‘’I could use some help to undress, usually, Alina would help me but consider that she isn’t here…’’ You trailed off nervously.

‘’Of course,’’ Nikolai replied and walked toward you. You looked in the mirror in front of you and saw him standing behind you. Your heart was beating fast when he was close to you and you could feel his fingers through the laces and you felt your cheeks warming up. You scolded yourself in your head when he was the one who made you flustered.

You felt the laces loosen up as Nikolai met your gaze in the mirror, giving you a small smile before walking out. ‘’Some of the Grisha were kind enough to help and put this together,’’ You heard him speak as you put on the kefta. You smiled and realized that the two of you were matching before walking out. You saw Nikolai look at you with adoration in his expression while you gave a little twirl.

‘’Well?’’ You asked. ‘’I would prefer to see you in one of the keftas instead of the pretty dresses,’’ Nikolai replied with a chuckle. ‘’I think I have just the flourish to complete the look,’’ He told you and approached you closer. ‘’Consider this as a gift,’’

You watched him grab something out of his pocket. You looked down and saw the Lantsov ring in his hand. ‘’The Lantsov Emerald,’’ You spoke and looked down. ‘’Understatement is overrated,’’ You quoted with a small smile. ‘’I love it when you quote me,’’ You just shook your head with a smile in response.

‘’Console yourself knowing that, should you ever punch me while wearing it, you’ll probably take my eye out, and I’d very much like you to,’’ You looked at him. ‘’Wear it, that’s it, not punch me,’’ He explained as the two of you chuckled. ‘’May I?’’ He asked and you nodded. You reached your hand out and felt him grab your hand softly before placing the ringer on. ‘’I must say, this is the longest conversation we have had instead of ripping each other head’s off,’’ You spoke as you heard him laugh softly.

‘’Indeed,’’ He spoke as the two of you walked out of the room. ‘’Your mother will not be pleased you gave this to a commoner,’’ You remarked as you stepped down the stairs. ‘’If my mother was as put off by commoners as she claims, I wouldn’t be here, now would I?’’ Nikolai retorted, making you stop. ‘’If you lead a country, you must get better at hiding what you’re thinking,’’ Nikolai spoke.

‘’I wasn’t sure,’’ You replied as you followed after him. ‘’I heard the whispers since I was a child,’’ He replied. ‘’I’ll deny it if you repeat it, but the truth is, I couldn’t care less if I have Lantsov blood, given all the royal inbreeding, I think the bastard is probably a point in my favor,’’

‘’It’s nice when you drop the act when you’re just yourself,’’ You remarked. ‘’Was that a compliment?’’ He asked with a smirk and you just rolled your eyes. ‘’Besides, I am a prince, Y/N,’’ He remarked. ‘’Being myself is a luxury I can’t often indulge in,’’ He answered.

‘’The throne is just a prize to Vasily, like some favorite toy,’’ You replied softly before turning to face him. ‘’You, however, care about Ravka,’’ You told him, making him smile. ‘’You’d make a good king,’’ You replied. ‘’Coming from you, it means a lot,’’ He murmured and you looked into his eyes. You could see the adoration in his eyes and it made you realize that you’d fallen for him. You weren’t supposed to fall in love with him considering the circumstances and you tried hard not to, knowing that your plan would involve sacrificing yourself for Alina. Nikolai met your eyes as he saw sadness flashing through your eyes before changing them.

You hesitantly reached for his hands and he noticed the hesitation on your face before accepting it. Your heart was beating harder when you felt his touch and it was soft-spoken. ‘’You’re going to be insufferable now, aren’t you?’’ You remarked. Nikolai let out a laugh at the comment you made.

The laugh, you thought for yourself. You stared at Nikolai with an unreadable expression on your face. It was the kind of laugh that you would bottle up and get drunk on the darkest nights. ‘’I’m already insufferable, love,’’ Nikolai retorted with a grin on his face. You chuckled as you felt him squeeze your hand before walking out to the room.

You heard the classical music playing in the background while the massive crowd around you was chatting and drinking. ‘’I was not expecting this,’’ Nikolai murmured with the same surprise on his face. You looked around and tried to see Alina and Mal. ‘’Where’s Mal and Alina?’’ You asked him with concern. ‘’I know my company doesn’t account for much, but at least pretend to enjoy yourself,’’ Nikolai spoke.

You gave him a look before scanning the room. ‘’I don’t see them,’’ You began to grow worried and Nikolai sensed it. ‘’Listen, I can assure you that the two of them are fine, maybe the two lovebirds are in a private room and doing saints know what,’’ You wrinkled your face in disgust before looking at him with a deadpanned expression. ‘’I did not want to hear that,’’ You muttered. ‘’After all, that gelatin deer gave its life for your entertainment,’’ Nikolai spoke and leaned to your ear. You turned your gaze and realized that he was so close to your lips and you yanked your head away from him.

Nikolai smirked at your reaction. ‘’It’s not just like them, you know,’’ You murmured. ‘’They would be here with me, and well, watching us while teasing,’’ You remarked. ‘’You can’t fault them for being a little late,’’ Nikolai responded and looked at you. ‘’You can’t be worried about Alina and Mal, they can take care of themselves, you know?’’ Nikolai said and you sighed. ‘’I know, I’m just worried,’’

‘’Perhaps your loyal Sun Summoner and tracker don’t share your enthusiasm for your festivities,’’ You heard Vasily’s voice speak from behind you as you and Nikolai exchanged a look. ‘’If you excuse me, Moi Tsarevich,’’ You spoke as Nikolai nodded at you before you walked away. You sighed with frustration and walked around in the crowd trying to find Alina. However, you spotted Tamar speaking with Nadia. ‘’I guess I owe you the money,’’ You heard Tamar speak when she saw you approaching them.

‘’What?’’ You questioned her.

‘’We were all betting if you would choose the dress,’’ Nadia explained. ‘’Well, I guess you were wrong then,’’ You spoke and looked at Tamar. ‘’Have you seen Alina and Mal?’’ You asked Tamar with concern as Nadia went back for more champagne. ‘’Well-’’

‘’Y/N, have you seen Mal?’’ Alina interrupted you as you turned around. ‘’Saints, Alina, I was looking for you and Mal,’’ You replied before embracing her tightly. ‘’He’s probably late, you know,’’ Tamar spoke as she tried to assure you. You could feel that something was wrong but you tried to ignore the feeling.

Your thoughts were interrupted when you heard Vasily speak. ‘’A toast!’’ You and Alina exchanged a look. ‘’I’d like to share some words about my brother, Nikolai,’’ Vasily spoke and pointed toward Nikolai. You narrowed your eyes. ‘’Yes, yes, we all know he’s pretentious,’’ He spoke and chuckled. ‘’Condescending, a man of the people…’’

You frowned when you felt a strange feeling. You could feel that something was wrong as you looked up at the ceiling glass with wonder. It was the same feeling that you felt when you and Aleksander had connected for the first time back at the Little Palace, but then you saw it.

The shadows. ‘’Alina…’’ You spoke, making her turn to face you with confusion, and then, everything happened so fast that you didn’t have the time to react. ‘’Run!’’ You shouted at Alina when the Nichevo'ya appeared. People were screaming, several gunshots were heard and you hid behind a pole.

You couldn’t think and you were terrified. Terrified of your own life, Nikolai, Mal, and Alina. You gasped when you saw the Nichevo'ya dragged Vasily in the air before tearing him apart. Alina used her magic as she tried to kill them but it was no use. ‘’Somebody, protect the Queen!’’ You heard one of them say. Nadia and Adrik used their powers against the Nichevo'ya and you tried to run toward Alina, however, the Nichevo'ya knocked them away.

‘’Alina!’’ You shouted with fear and you froze in place when the Nichevo'ya turned to you. You widened your eyes as you felt your blood run cold. ‘’Y/N!’’ Alina shouted and you could see her eyes with terror when she saw the Nichevo'ya was coming for you. You felt strong arms wrapping around your waist, dragging away from Alina as Tamar and the others tried to protect her too.

‘’Let me go! Alina!’’ You shouted. ‘’Y/N, we need to go, now!’’ Nikolai raised his voice as he tried to drag you away from there. ‘’Find Mal!’’ You tried to shout before you felt him drag you away from Alina.

please comment down below what you'd thought of this chapter and remember, reblogging always helps!

#shadow and bone #nikolai lantsov x reader #alina starkov #jesper fahey #six of crows #malyen oretsev #aleksander kirigan x reader #nina zenik #inej gafha

164 notes · View notes

bakuliwrites · 2 years

Text

M6 Proposing to MC

Hi everyone! So I decided I would repost some of my favorite headcanons from my old blog. Sorry if you've seen these already, but I just wanted to have them up on my Tumblr (in addition to where they are on AO3). Just as a heads up: I do not take requests. Hope you enjoy :) As with all my headcanons: Apprentice/MC is gender-neutral unless otherwise specified. This isn't new content, just organizing my new blog and transferring stuff from my old one. This will be part of headcanon Tuesday on my blog.

You and Asra have been together for a long time now, long enough where people just sort of assume you're already married. You live together, you run your shop together, you travel together, and so on. Nothing has really been stopping you, it's just that the two of you have been so busy these last few years. Asra really wants to make it official with you, though. You're the absolute love of his life. He hardly remembers a time before you. You've been on a great many journeys together, but he wants to go on even more. So he starts planning...

One evening, when you close up shop, Asra tells you he has a special surprise waiting for you. He's got that mischievous glint in his eye that he always gets when he's up to something. You can't help but laugh as Asra instructs you to wear something that you'd wear to the beach ("Like a swimsuit?" you ask, skeptically. The smirk on Asra's face grows wider and he shrugs, "I don't know. Whatever you wear to the beach." So helpful, Asra)

Asra guides you down to the shoreline, but doesn't stop there. He keeps going until you get to this secluded little cove. From here, you can see the far off lights of Vesuvia twinkling under a dark, velvet sky. Asra lets you pause to take in the view before beckoning you to follow him again. He leads you into a small cave, pitch black at its entrance. You're about to ask him where on earth he's leading you when all of a sudden you're met with bursts of magic like tiny fireworks and glowing mist swirling gently above and around you. Asra smiles softly at you, that impish glint growing brighter with each step you take.

The cave leads out to a small alcove that opens up onto the water. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's like you can see the whole ocean from here. It's here that Asra sets up a small picnic for you, filled with all your favorite foods and desserts and drinks! "MC, will you lay out the blanket for me? I have to grab something from the basket," he asks. You don't think much of it, though there's something a bit strange in his voice. When you're finished with your task, you whirl around and there's Asra, on one knee, holding out a beautiful, bohemian style ring. "MC, you have my heart, and always will. We've been on all kinds of journeys together. But I want to go on even more with you. I wanted to know if you'd like to share all of life's many adventures with me?" His voice is calm but his hands are shaking. And when you say yes, happy tears stream down his face. He slips the ring on your finger before crashing his lips into yours. Asra is utterly delighted💜

Nadia has been a bit wary of marriage since her first one turned out so poorly. But with you, everything's different. She's ecstatic, actually, to marry you and has been planning her proposal for basically an eternity now. She wants it to go just right. She has checklists, plans, spreadsheets, and so on for this proposal (none that you're privy to, she keeps them very well hidden). She almost had a heart attack one day when you walked into her office while she was working out some bugs in her plans (though she kept her cool so well, you didn't even notice).

The day she's planning to propose to you, however, everything goes wrong. The florist brings the wrong flowers (Nadia had specifically asked for orchids, but they brought white roses and she shudders, thinking of Lucio). All of the musicians she had in her string quartet canceled, except for the bassist (she sighs, supposing you could have a good background beat when she proclaims her undying love for you). And to top it all off, it's pouring rain (she was planning on proposing out on the veranda, under the pinks and oranges of a beautiful sunset, but alas). She's not upset, just extremely disappointed. All that planning and for what? No matter, she'll simply have to switch gears, she tells herself calmly (but she is anything but calm).

She sends everybody home (florist, bassist, caterers, and so on). When you enter the palace, you're practically drenched from your walk from your shop. Nadia is waiting for you, prepared with a towel and warm tea (or cocoa, whatever you prefer). She directs you to one of the many fireplaces and sits you down on a chaise lounge. You beg her to come snuggle up beside you, excited to have her all to yourself that evening, but she simply stands before you, fidgety and anxious looking. She's acting strangely, her crimson eyes hardly able to make contact with you. "Nadia, what's wrong?" you venture, and all of a sudden, Nadia freezes like she's just seen a ghost. You've never seen her this worked up before. It's quite alarming, actually!

You open your mouth to say something more, worry furrowing your brows, when all of a sudden, Nadia takes a deep breath. She kneels down to the ground in front of you and takes both your hands in hers. Her air of calm returns and soothes you out of your initial concern. "MC," she begins in her dulcet tone, "I'd planned out this- elaborate evening for us and, of course, I was thwarted," she laughs a little, her smile crinkling the corner of her eyes, "It's a long story, but suffice to say, just having you here, snuggling up by the fire together- well, I'd say that's a pretty perfect evening, in and of itself. So I'll take this perfect moment to ask you..." She pulls something out from the pocket of her dress. It's a square, velvet box that she opens, revealing an elegant, sparkling ring. "MC, will you marry me?" She holds her breath, watching your stunned face as you go through a thousand different emotions at once (all of them good). When you say yes, she exhales, tears falling gently down her cheeks as she slips the ring on your finger and presses her lips tenderly to yours 💜

Julian (oh, Julian). He's probably been carrying a ring around in his pocket for months now, waiting for the right time to propose to you, but too nervous to do it. You fluster him like no one else does. Every time he thinks he's found the right moment, a little seed of worry stops him (what if you say no? what if you say absolutely no? what if you just look at him like he's crazy and say nothing? what if he drops the ring???). Literally nothing is stopping him, except his own anxiety about how he thinks you could potentially maybe possibly react.

The two of you are wandering the streets of Vesuvia one afternoon, hopping from market to market, looking for some ingredients. There's nothing really special about today, but when Julian looks at you, he feels his heart just swell with adoration. This was the day, he thinks. The time is right. But he wants to do it somewhere a little more private, a little less hectic. So Julian directs you to that garden the two of you once hid from the guards in. "What are we doing here?" you question, raising a perplexed eyebrow at him. He merely smirks, waggling his eyebrows in return, "You'll see." He tells you there's something interesting about one of the statues and directs you to take a look at it. You acquiesce, with a bit of hesitance, but Julian is Julian, so him acting sort of weird like this isn't that much of a surprise. It's obviously all a ploy so he can distract you while he pulls out the ring.

So, of course, now that it's the right moment and Julian feels a swell of confidence, he realizes, Good God, I've lost the ring. He could've sworn it was in his coat pocket. Like, it was there yesterday, wasn't it? He's frantically patting himself down, feeling every inch of his coat, his pants. He even looks in his boots. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Did it fall out last night at the Rowdy Raven? Was he pickpocketed? Was there a hole in his pocket? What on earth was he to do now that he didn't have the ring? He whirls around, looking frantically for something circular he might be able to use as a replacement until he finds it again. And then he wonders if he should just hold off?

"Hey, Julian, honey," your voice pipes up from behind him, startling the poor man out of his thoughts. He's even more alarmed (and embarrassed) when he turns around and sees you holding up the little black box that was storing your ring. "I think you dropped this," you say, trying everything in your power to not burst into giggles, "It was on the ground right in front of you." Of course it was. You hand the box over to Julian and with a small smile add, "I'll pretend I didn't see it." You give him a small peck on the cheek before turning back to the statue he'd directed you to. Loudly and overenthusiastically, you exclaim how interesting the statue is, allowing Julian to pull himself together. With a renewed wave of confidence, Julian kneels to the ground. "MC?" he begins, gaining your attention again. You whirl around, a knowing smile tugging at your lips as you’re greeted by Julian's blushing face. "I know I've rightly fumbled this proposal," he laughs, his eyes already glimmering with tears, "But you've turned this salty old dog into a bumbling, flustered, happy mess. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you be the captain to my first mate?" You burst out laughing, and Julian's heart stops in his chest. "Of course!" you cry, practically throwing yourself into his arms. His worry is quickly forgotten as he slips a timeless, antique ring on your finger and captures your lips in his 💜

Portia is quite good at keeping secrets, so while the two of you have discussed getting married, she absolutely does not let on about her plans of proposing to you. You are totally in the dark about them, much to her delight. She has the perfect thing planned for the two of you! She goes out shopping for everything she needs for a romantic dinner at her cottage. She even manages to subtly find out from you what kind of ring you'd want. The night before she plans to propose to you, she's so giddy, she can hardly sleep!

The next morning, she lets you sleep for however long you need to (but not too late, she's got a schedule to keep to!). Once you've gotten ready for the day, Portia takes you out to go on an adventure! Since you both have the day off, it's time to do some exploring. She won't tell you where you're going, though. "You'll just have to trust me!" she winks, taking your hand in hers and bounding off towards town. The two of you start in the markets, where you first met. Portia describes to you how positively adorable she thought you were on your first meeting. She'd spilled all those pomegranates everywhere, but you were so kind to help her pick them all up! She was taken with you immediately.

Portia takes you on an entire tour of Vesuvia, stopping at all the places that are significant to you, and even places you just pass every day that you hadn't even realized carried so much meaning. With each stop, she describes something important about your relationship with her. "It was here that we had our first kiss, and there that we first danced. Oh! And here's where that guy tried to pickpocket you-" But you cut in to finish the story, bubbling with laughter, "And you started threateningly waving that basket at him! The look on his face! He was so scared of you, Portia." The two of you double over with laughter. Once you calm down, you start walking back to Portia's cottage. "Why are you doing all of this today?" you question, smiling gently and feeling a bit confused. Portia shrugs, cryptically responding with, "Just feeling a bit nostalgic, I guess."

The sky is bright with the colors of the sunset when you finally return to the cottage. As you're about to enter, Portia whirls around and exclaims, "Oh! Can you grab one of those yellow squash from the garden? I need it for our dinner tonight!" You head back towards the garden, not even an inkling of suspicion in your mind. You spot the best looking, ripest squash in the bunch and start to tug and twist at its stem when you notice something glinting on one of the curly vines shooting off of it. It's a ring, you realize as you pick it up, and quite a lovely looking one, too! It's bright and colorful. You turn to call to Portia, wanting to share your discovery with her, but when you whirl around, she's already kneeling before you, a bright beam on her face. She giggles at your flabbergasted look and says, "MC, this is where I want us to make our home. Well, our home we can come back to in between adventuring. But I've also realized that no matter where we go, I think I've found my home in you. Would you do me the honor of being my adventure companion, for life?" Before you can even say anything, Portia knows your answer by the way your eyes light up, but she waits for you to say it anyway. When you're finally able to speak, Portia slips the ring on your finger before pulling you into a tight embrace, pressing her lips fervently against yours 💜

Muriel wants to marry you so badly, but he's so worried about what you would say if he proposed to you. Do you even want to marry him? Is that something you've even thought about? Is that something you could even comprehend with him? He works himself up into an anxious mess, but he doesn't show it. But you've helped him discover how to be kinder to himself, to be more confident. He loves you with all of his heart and wants to spend the rest of his life making you happy.

Muriel sets to work immediately. He doesn't have any grand plans for your proposal, but only because he knows you'd each want something quiet. His first order of business is the ring. He decides he's going to craft it himself. Secretly, he gathers all his materials and works during times that you're out of the house. If he doesn't know how to shape metal or set a stone into a ring, he learns. He'll spend the rest of his life, learning and growing with you, and he's delighted. After he finishes the ring (and he's sure that it's absolutely perfect), he starts to practice what it is he's going to say. He sits in front of Inanna and goes through a variety of speeches he's worked out in his head. But absolutely none of them seem right. He fumbles over the words, starts to feel emotional when he delves into the intricacies of his love for you (why can't he stop crying when he talks about how grateful he is to have met you? how is he even going to propose at this rate?!).

Finally, Muriel settles on writing it down. He drafts a short, but sweet little proposal and rolls it up. He keeps it hidden somewhere you won't go looking and waits for the right opportunity to bring it out. Now there's the question of when he's going to propose. He wants the timing to be just right. But what would "just right" be? He could cook you a nice dinner and propose when you return from the shop one day. He could hide the ring in the chicken feed and wait for you to discover it while you're helping him feed them (but then there was the risk of accidentally feeding a chicken the ring, and the thought spooks him). Brainstorming practically keeps him up all night. And absolutely nothing he comes up with seems right.

The next morning, Muriel rises before you do. He's hardly slept, but he simply can't stay in bed any longer. The anxiety he's getting from trying to come up with the perfect proposal is just too much. He sits down at your breakfast table and sips at a mug of that lemon tea you bought him a few weeks ago. It's warm and citrusy and comforting. As he mulls over even more possibilities, he gazes across the room at your slumbering form. You look so peaceful and calm. He feels a swell of adoration for you, and suddenly, an idea occurs to him. He quietly calls Inanna over to him and enacts his plan. As the sun starts to stream through the windows of the hut, you groggily stretch and open your eyes. The first thing you see is Inanna padding over to the bed, carrying something gently in her mouth. "Good morning, Inanna. What's that you've got there?" you begin sleepily, reaching for whatever it is she has. It's a little wooden box with a small scroll attached to it. Curious, you unroll the piece of paper first. In Muriel's messy handwriting is written, "MC, you've shown me how to love myself. I hope to be able to show you how much I love you, too. For the rest of my life, I promise to cherish you. Will you marry me?" Speechless, you open up the wooden box. Inside is an intricately carved ring with a raw emerald in the center. You look up to see Muriel striding towards the bed, a blush spreading across his cheeks. You toss aside the covers and throw your arms around him. "Yes, Muriel! Yes!" you cry, happy tears streaming down both your face and his. He pulls you into a warm embrace and presses his lips tenderly to yours 💜

Lucio is incapable of keeping a secret, so you pretty much know that he's going to propose to you pretty soon. You've heard him (loudly) discussing it with his friends and attendants, trying to plan out the perfect day. You don't really hear the details, but you definitely know it's coming. Lucio is beside himself with glee during the planning process. He has so many ideas, it's actually hard for him to settle on just one.

First order of business is the ring, but he's pretty much got that covered right away. He's had it custom made and it's as elaborate and glamorous as possible. There's no way he's letting your elegant hands be tarnished by anything less than the best. Second order of business: the flowers. Your favorites, of course, and then a plethora of white roses. He wants bouquets upon bouquets. You have to be surrounded by flowers, wherever it is that he ends up proposing to you. Then there's the venue. The palace gardens? A yacht party? A masquerade ball? There are so many brilliant possibilities, can't he just do all of them? Lucio, after some talking down from some of the other M6, settles on the finest restaurant in Vesuvia (but he has some extra surprises in the day for you). He scores you the best seats in the house and makes all kinds of special requests for the menu.

The day of the proposal, you're awoken with breakfast in bed, and your first set of bouquets. Lucio is ecstatic, practically bouncing off the walls. He promises you a day of luxury and non-stop fun! It's all a bit overwhelming, but you can tell Lucio put a lot of work into trying to plan something elaborate and romantic for the two of you. There's a carriage ride around Vesuvia (with more flowers), a couples massage/spa day before a light lunch (and even more flowers), a hot air balloon ride in the evening (and even more flowers, did Lucio just massacre an entire field of flowers?). All the while, Lucio makes sure to tell you all the things he finds adorable about you and all the things he loves. "MC, I think you and I are the greatest couple in Vesuvia. No, this side of the continent. No! The whole entire world," he proclaims as you look out over the sprawling streets of the city from where you hover above in your hot air balloon. You simply laugh at all of his grandiose claims, laughs that Lucio silences with sneaky kisses.

Upon landing, you set out for your dinner. He really did score not only the most expensive and exclusive restaurant in Vesuvia, but the best seats in the house. You're seated on the balcony, overlooking the water below. The breeze is lovely and the sky is twinkling with starlight. Lucio has made arrangements for your meal already. They come in tiny tasting portions, but there's plenty of food so there's no need to worry about not getting enough. Over dessert, Lucio holds your hand, entwining his fingers with yours and staring rather impishly into your eyes. He wears a mischievous smirk and you have a feeling you know what's coming. So when the champagne arrives and you spot something glinting at the bottom of your glass, you're not surprised. But you are absolutely delighted. Lucio fishes the ring out for you (he struggles a bit trying to get the prongs of a fork to hook around the metal, but he manages). He looks confident, but his hands are trembling as he kneels down in front of you. "MC, I really mean it when I say I think we're the greatest couple in the world," he begins, smiling brightly up at you, his pale eyes twinkling, "Together, I think we can take it by storm. They won't know what hit 'em! Want to make us The official power couple of Vesuvia? No, the whole world!" His proposal is utterly ridiculous, so you can't help but laugh. "Yes, Lucio. Just promise me you don't actually have any plans of world domination," you laugh as Lucio slips the huge, sparkling ring on your finger. He shrugs, winking at you before lifting you up and twirling you around in his delight. He embraces you tightly and passionately ensnares your lips in his 💜

Bonus points if Lucio takes a swig out of the wrong glass and nearly chokes on the ring (because that is something he would totally do).

#the arcana #asra alnazar #nadia satrinava #julian devorak #portia devorak #muriel of the kokhuri #lucio morgasson #count lucio #the arcana headcanons #dani headcanons #asra x mc #nadia x mc #julian x mc #portia x mc #muriel x mc #lucio x mc #fluff #gender neutral

383 notes · View notes

baatarthefirst · 10 months

Note

kiss 19. for your "fake marriage" AU for you know who :)))

19. One person stopping a kiss to ask “Do you want to do this?”, only to have the other person answer with a deeper, more passionate kiss.

It'd been a little awkward after the courtesan had interrupted their kiss. Janai had fumed for a moment, pacing around, trying to calm herself. Amaya had tried to ease her wife's temper in hopes of having cool heads deal with the situation. She failed, having no choice but to put on a matching scowl and follow Janai after she stormed out of their tent.

They had gone to Councilor Nadia, and Janai...expressed her disappointment; she raked the woman under the coals. Amaya watched, putting up a unified front and glared. But there had been something about the woman. She knew a traitor, a manipulator, and a troublemaker when she saw one. Nadia wasn't. She was a truly loyal elf who noticed her queen was under tremendous strain, and took great pains to help. It was a horrible plan, but she tried. Amaya pulled Janai aside and told her to let Nadia off with a warning and a slap on the wrist.

The queens headed back to their tent for supper. They sat next to each other, their plates sat amongst papers as they tried to focus on the plans for the upcoming festival. It was an impossible challenge.

"I should've punished her properly!" Janai huffed, giving up on the festival. She felt slightly better just finally getting to say what she'd been avoiding for two hours, but better did not equal good. She stood and faced away with a clenched fist. Amaya came around and put a hand over her hers, easing the tense fingers until they relaxed.

"She cares about you, Janai; not just as a queen, but as a person. She was looking out for you. You need more people like her."

"Why? So I may have a harem?" She growled.

"If you want one." Amaya shrugged, trying to look nonchalant about the notion that made a monster roar inside her. She refused to give power to the worst part of herself. They'd said similar words for an audience before, they'd kissed before. This felt different, to her at least, but who was to say how the elf felt about it? Janai was her own person, she had the right to chose what and who she wanted.

"You seemed upset enough with just one courtesan." Janai almost smirked at Amaya's face, blushing and pouting. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."

"She was in our bed, Janai." That didn't help her argument, did it? "If you want a lover, just- fuck her in her bed."

"What if the lover I want sleeps in our bed?" She cupped Amaya's cheek, something she rather seemed to enjoy not long ago, "What I said, it wasn't part of the act."

To prove herself, Janai leaned down and softly kissed her wife when no one was around to see. Amaya relaxed, her eyes closing and her hands looping around the elf's waist. The kiss deepened, it began to change the tone, from an act of tender love to something that promised more to come.

Janai pulled away, a cause of concern for the human.

"Do you want to do this?" she asked breathlessly.

Amaya rolled her eyes, grabbed a fistful of red hair, and pulled her wife back down. This new kiss was searing, demanding; Janai loved every moment it. She loved feeling Amaya's tongue sneak past her lips, and hearing a slight moan. She loved Amaya's refusal to release her as they stumbled blindly to their bed.

#tdp #the dragon prince #amaya #janai #janaya

23 notes · View notes

scarlet--wiccan · 2 years

Note

What do you think Viv and Wanda’s relationship is like? We’ve seen a bit of it and I think viv is slated to appear in Wanda’s series so that will probably expand on it more but I’d personally label it like. Aunt/niece, particularly based on Simon and vision’s relationship

It is kind of funny I think Wanda that is seemingly closer to viv than vision is with Billy and Tommy

I think it makes sense for her as a character; I think there was a storyline about her still sort of counting whizzer and nuklo as family members even after they were revealed to be unrelated, she still considers magneto her father (even though she has very right not to do so, Agatha has been described as a mother figure, Simon was easily accepted as a brother in law even though that relationship isn’t quite as clear cut, she has a very familial relationship with many avengers and even bova, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was like, Rachel carpenter’s godmother… Wanda strikes me as the kind of person who likes a big family. I don’t think she’d ever want to have more kids but she’s more than willing to let friends, the family of friends, and mentors/mentees into like a familial inner circle.

You are so, so right-- Wanda collects chosen family members the way I collect fucking comic books. Wanda's so into having a fantastical web of foster relatives that her own biological children became abstract resurrection babies that are now grown adults when they should in kindergarten. Wanda has three dads and five mothers, almost none of whom had any hand in raising her. If you gave Wanda the opportunity, she'd probably try to adopt Zaladane as her sister. Or Luminous. Or fucking Lore.

This is, actually, a core tenet of her character though. Wanda is very motivated by family, and she is often driven to create a sense of home, safety and stability for herself and her loved ones. She expresses this in, like, a normal way during her marriage to the Vision, and later, as an exaggerated trauma response during House of M and Disassembled. It makes sense, when you think of her early life. Wanda and Pietro were heavily influenced by loss and a lack of security as children. Where Pietro creates distance between himself and others, Wanda holds people close and puts a lot of value on her relationships. Just look at their relationships with their father figures-- she has always been closer and more sentimental with Robert, Django, and Erik. Part of that is just because she's a female character, so she's typically written to be more empathetic, but I do think it works for their dynamic.

Viv is the daughter of Wanda's ex-husband. There's no actual word in the English language for that relationship. Technically, people in this situation are not related at all, but Wanda is still close to the Vision and clearly has a vested interest in the girl's wellbeing. If we were to compare Wanda's connection to Virginia with the Vision's connection to Simon, then technically, Wanda is Virginia's sister, and therefore Viv's aunt. I could see her stepping up in a guardian or parental role, if needed. I would actually like to see them having a dynamic similar to Nadia and Janet Van Dyne. My personal headcanon is actually that Viv's "human" disguise is modeled partially off of Wanda, which is why she presents as a person of color.

As for why Wanda has a better relationship with Viv than Vision does with Billy or Tommy.... well, I just think she's a more present parent in general. Sounds funny to say, but she tries her best to be a normal mom. Wanda tried to rebuild her relationships in the most appropriate way possible after Children's Crusade. The Vision, on the other hand, has a tendency to become cold and distant with people any time there is a traumatic separation-- he did it in the 90s when Wanda was with Simon, and he did it again after coming back in the 2010s. Again, kinda like Wanda and Pietro, there is a consistent pattern in the contrasting ways that Wanda and Vision navigate family, loss, and trauma.

#wanda #viv vision #robintext #the vision

55 notes · View notes

takaraphoenix · 1 year

Note

Ok so I just finished watching Shadow and Bone for the first time and I knew you had watched it before so I came to see what your opinions on some of it was. Didn't really see anything for what what is probably my favorite ship is but I don't really care about that right now. I think I'm more interested in knowing what you're Top 5 favorite ships are (Top 10 if you feel like you're having a hard time narrowing it down to just 5 but from what I saw, I don't think that would be a problem???). Also, if you feel up to it, any favorite headcanons for the various characters or ships you might want to include. Much love to you Phoe!!! Now I'm off to go consume for content because I need my pretty men... gods, why are there so many pretty men in this show 😭😭😭 a lot of pretty women too, though I'm gay so it's just aesthetically pretty on their part, lol

oooh you watched ot for the first time! I hope you liked it! And well now I'm cirious what your favorite ship was.

Since I only have exactly 10 ships in this fandom, I will give you a top 10! lol Though since these are all the ships, they actually do span the entire spectrum of "I am obsessed with this", "I've written for this" to "it's a nice sidepairing! I liked when they were on screen but don't really think about them when they're not".

Aleksander/Alina

Inej/Alina

Kaz/Jesper

Genya/Alina

Tamar/Inej

Nikolai/Mal

Nikolai/Alina

Tamar/Nadia

Jesper/Wylan

David/Genya

+ bonus: Tolya/poetry

because I definitely came out of this headcanoning Tolya as aroace and I want this softest of boys to find someone who will platonically share his love of poetry with him. Please. He deserves it.

Not a secret that Darklina is my OTP. I'm not exactly quiet about it. They make me feel all shades of unhinged. I gotta get onto writing about them, honestly, can't believe that hasn't happened yet, but I guess that s1 left me too satisfied with canon overall to want to write just yet. Currently nose-deep in fics about them.

Alina and Inej is a solid second. They didn't have much interaction but what they had was gold. The blade protecting her saint. The worship and awe. These two badasses. I love them. And, much like Alinej, both Kaz/Jesper and Genya/Alina were also ships I came out of s1 with and wrote for after that.

Honestly, Tamar/Nadia would rank higher if the show had dedicated more time to them, but they happened so much in the background and I'm genuinely mad about that. I had to sit through so so so much straight drama especially in this season, but the only wlw ship in this entire show and they barely got screentime. They were cute together, visually, but... I didn't get enough of what made them click, or of Nadia's personality in general to be quite honest, to be as invested as I wanted to be (because I did. I knew that Nadia was a wlw and I knew that Tamar would be introduced this season and I was looking forward to this). So, with what the show gave me? I was like "daw, cute" when they were on screen, yeah.

On the other hand, I love both Tamar and Inej, and the potential of Inej now on the ship makes me think of the potential of those two together. Now, I am a lover of poly so I would not be opposed to just mashing these two ships together either. But I'm really intrigued by Tamar/Inej primarily here.

Nikolai and Alina worked surprisingly well. Didn't think I'd end up with another guy for Alina aside from Aleksander. But I really liked their chemistry and the fake marriage plotline absolutely ended me. He could be her trophy husband, I wouldn't mind.

Jesper and Wylan were honestly a positive surprise to me! You know me, you know my track-record with canon mlm ships! I usually do not like them. So that they made the list at all is great. I'm not super invested, but I thought they were adorable.

And Genya and David were cute too. I don't get why they killed David off? From what I gather, they don't in the books, so that was weird. But I thought they were nice.

Headcanons? Mostly sexuality wise.

Ace Kaz. Ace Kaz was the first once I had. I know his touch aversion roots in trauma but I recognize a lot of my own sex-repulsion in his behavior and am projecting hard so ace Kaz. Also definitely dom Kaz, have you seen that man rule his club, or bring Pekka to his knees (not that I want Pekka to sub for him, ew, but the power Kaz radiated in that moment was *chef's kiss*).

Nikolai the pan pirate who definitely should never have been a prince, like, I would love him so much more if he had just been a pirate but thoughts on the monarchy and how that plotline was handled are too much for this post. ANYWAY yeah I think Nikolai should go back onto his ship and pirate away with his boyfriend. Also, just, can you believe the Enemies to Lovers arc Mal and Nikolai had? I mean, they literally went from "I refuse to know your name" to "take my name", like that is explicitly something that happened in canon. Wild.

Lesbian Inej, which I know, not a popular headcanon in the fandom since the fandom seems to unanimously ship her and her endgame romance. I just... don't really get romantic vibes there at all, even after season 2. I like them as friends, a lot. But I'm getting huge lesbian vibes from Inej and will be clinging onto that, even more so after how little wlw love s2 gave me.

Mal as a suppressed gay would be fun. Like, his thing with Alina was annoying. He didn't give a damn about her romantic feelings for him until she had a boyfriend and suddenly he got jealous. I don't like these types of writings. So I'd love to see that more as Mal never having been romantically interested in her at all, just friend!Mal afraid to be abandoned. The cheeky pirate is his gay awakening. All the girls - and apparently book!Mal was kind of a slut - were just him trying really hard to be straight.

Alina is just a bi queen. And queen literal. That's where the "Niko should go sail with his bf" part comes into play, because... the monarchy needs to go down. She should rule, she should have never supported the damn royal family that's been enslaving and oppressing Grisha for centuries, I just. I don't like that part. I really don't. Ship to rule beside her is optional (Aleksander, Genya, okay fine Nikolai but like she rules, he's just her trophy husband), but queen!Alina is a must. Though gotta admit for my Alinej I still love her as a part of the Crows - post s1, I wrote some where Alina and Mal just... stayed with the Crows after they left Ravka and I'm still fond of that. I still think that would be a fun take.

#Shadow and Bone #Shipping #Headcanons #Darklina #Malkolai #Alinej #Nikolina #Tamadia #Taminej #??? I am guessing??#Genyavid #Wesper #Genyalina #Kazper #tagging all the ships just to be on the blacklistable safe side #though I am unsure about Tamar/Inej and their ship name

22 notes · View notes

theintrovertbean · 5 months

Text

I bet you can't tell which one of them is my favorite (sarcastic)

I'll make another post later about Nadia because I love her so much I might need therapy 😭

I'm participating in brainrot's Vesuvia Weekly prompts and I'd like to encourage eveyone to join ^.^

Also, brainrot has a Discord server now, so if you're interested in getting to know others from the fandom and bond over our beloved character, I kindly recommend that you join. It's a safe place for every simp 💜

The Arcana Main 6 x Dara relationship dynamics

Asra: There is some romantic potential between the two, but it's not very much. They were childhood friends and are still very close. Because of that, people often mistake them for lovers. When I say they are close, I really mean it. Asra has no problem hopping into Dara's bed for some cuddles and he's one of the very few people who are allowed to touch them. They pretty much go everywhere together and even though they have separate beds in the shop, they often end up sharing. He's invited to every family gathering and special occasion. Dara can be a little oblivious when it comes to how others feel about them (coughs coughs Nadia coughs choughs), but Asra, being the cheeky person that he is, doesn't shy away from letting them know that a certain Countess might be in love with them. Asra was the first person Dara kissed, btw.

Nadia: Oh I could talk about these two all day. True love. That's it, true love. They met during the plague and quickly fell in love with each other. However, they didn't confess their love until after Nadia woke up from her coma. Dara is introverted but warm and patient, which is something that can be said about Nadia as well. Their relationship is as comfortable as it is passionate, filled with affection and care. They're both givers, which means they spoil each other 24/7 with gifts and all forms of affection. Neither of them trusts easily, but since they're both patient and kind, opening up was not a big issue (except that one incident but that's gonna be explained in Wounds of Magic, Scars of Love.) Nadia is Dara's favorite person in the entire world and they're giving her the special treatment. They seem like an open person, but there's still so much that they hide about themselves. Not from Nadia, tho. Nadia is the only person that Dara tells everything. They have some trauma, and so far, Nadia has been the only one they completely trusted with it. Whenever something happens, Dara's first thought is that they have to go and tell Nadia about it. No one is allowed to touch Dara without asking for first (except Asra and maybe a handful of other people), but Nadia is always an exception. Actually, Dara wishes she would touch them all the time. There is something about the Countess that makes Dara feel things that no one else ever has before. It's a relationship based on lots of love and mutual respect. When it's just them, everything feels so easy. They can be just Nadia and Dara with each other and I think that's beautiful. There's no pressure, no expectations. Just love. If there was a love story about a star and the moon, it would be about them. Hand in marriage when?

Julian: Dara can't really decide how they feel towards Julian. On the one hand, they'd party with him. On the other hand, they're giving him a bombastic side-eye. Julian is not bad and Dara is okay with hanging out with him once in a while, but they can't imagine getting any closer to him. However, sometimes they hang out at the Rowdy Raven and chat over some drinks and they worked together during the plague. When they share a common goal, they're willing to work together towards it.

Muriel: Sweet Muriel is a childhood friend of Dara. They drifted apart but later rekindled their friendship. Or more like, Muriel tolerates Dara more than he would with other people. Dara isn't someone who would force anyone, which is something that Muriel appreciates. However, Dara makes sure that Muriel never feels forgotten. Whenever Dara goes somewhere, they bring him back a little gift or occasionally show up at his hut to say hi, bring some goodies, and pet Inanna. Whenever there's an occasion, Dara invites Muriel and sadly, he often says no, but Dara lets him know that they could hang out later. Just the two of them. They both like chickens. Dara sometimes asks if they could hug Muriel.

Portia: Besties. They bake together and gossip together. When Dara and Portia sit down, they simply can't resist spilling all the latest tea. You know what TikTok trend about whoever brings up xy has to pay first? Yeah, it's them. I swear to gayness, they're like two grandmas. They pet and feed stray cats. Maybe occasionally bring them back to the Palace until Nadia says it's enough. Portia is someone that Dara trusts and considers a true friend. Lots of inside jokes and uncontrollable laughter. They also think that she's cute.

Lucio: Another character with romantic potential. At first, Dara just wanted to punch him. Now they want to punch him and then make out with him and it really confuses them. They're still salty about the way Lucio treated Nadia, but they also understand that Lucio is in some serious need of a therapist. With that being said, Dara is someone that Lucio can talk to about his past. As soon as they begin to understand why Lucio is the way he is, their judgement and hatred for him starts to disappear. When Lucio had the plague, Dara did their best to ease his suffering. If he ever needs a shoulder to cry on or just someone who listens, Dara is always available. They want to get drunk with him.

27 notes · View notes

angel5ofp0rn · 18 days

Note

Can you tell us how John ex wife reacted when he cheated on her with reader

uhhhhhh sure!

Young!Price

Where ExHusband!Price tells his wife about you 🫣

*short lil blurb & I JUST WOKE UP SO BARE WITH ME PPL

John quietly walked through the front door of his home back in London. He was careful to keep the noise to a minimum so to not wake Theo.

Nadia was still up, waiting for him in the living room. She offered a tight lipped smile.

“Well, what is it?” Nadia asked as John kicked off his shoes by the door. “You can’t just say ‘we need to talk’ and then make me wait until you’re back in the country.”

John mumbled a weak apology as he sat down on the couch and rubbed his hand over his stubble.

“Listen, Nadia…”

“Just spit it out, John. I’m getting anxious over here.” Nadia chuckled softly, but nervously, as she sat on the opposite end of the sofa.

“I met someone while I was in the states.” John exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“You met someone?” Nadia repeated with a blink. “Like, a woman?”

John nods, looking down at his hands.

“Oh my God…” Nadia’s eyes widen, grabbing John’s bicep and shaking him a bit. “Tell me everything!”

John laughs at her enthusiasm, though he was still guilt-ridden.

“I was at a bar with Simon and Kyle, and she approached me.”

“Naturally.” Nadia nods, familiar with how women practically throw themselves at her husband, even when she’s with him.

“She’s, erm… She’s pretty young. I tried to turn her down, I really did, but she followed me out to the bloody parking lot. Christ, she’s fuckin’ crazy…” John chuckles, his cheeks blushing pink. He felt like a teenager with a crush while he spoke about you. “But she’s amazing. I spent nearly every day with her. I… I really like her, Nadia.”

“Did you sleep with her?” Nadia asks with a cheeky grin.

John nods with a blush before he looks to Nadia almost ashamedly, like he shouldn’t be telling his wife about having feelings for another woman.

Because he shouldn’t be.

“So? Now what?” Nadia smiles, looking to John like she’s hearing the juiciest gossip.

“I need to be with her.” John confesses. “And her coming here isn’t an option… Her family’s in the states, and she’s going to school… But I need to be with her.”

Nadia’s smile faltered just a tiny bit. “So… you’ll be spending your dwell time in the states, then?”

John quickly shook his head. “I won’t if you don’t approve. I’ll stay here for you, for Theo.”

Nadia sighed, the weight of his words sinking in. “It’d be selfish of me to ask you to stay.”

“It’d be more selfish of me to leave.” John argues. “I… I’ve been sick at the thought of leaving you two here. Theo comes first, always.”

Nadia nods slowly, thinking over the options. She wants John to be happy, but she wants Theo to have his father around.

“I guess we’ll have to figure out a schedule.” Nadia suggests softly. “But I won’t ask you to stay. I want this for you.”

John’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You mean that?”

“Of course I do.” Nadia nods, squeezing his hand supportively. “You deserve to do something for yourself for once. We both deserve to be happy. Theo deserves to see us happy.”

John takes in her words. She’s right, of course. Them staying together in this loveless marriage isn’t good for anyone.

“We can file for divorce as soon as tomorrow, if you’d like.” Nadia offers with a small shrug. “The sooner the better, really. I’ve got my eye on a regular at the cafe.” She grins.

“Thank you.” John nearly whispers, pulling Nadia in for a hug. She chuckles as she hugs him back.

<< prev next >>

#captain john price #young!price #captain price #call of duty #captain john price x reader #john price #price headcannon #cod headcanons #cod smut #cod x reader #dad!price #cod mwii #young john price #price headcanons #captain price fluff #captain price smut #price x reader #price #x reader

158 notes · View notes

mochinek0 · 2 years

Text

Deception

"We're here with Adrien and Kagami Agreste!" Nadia exclaimed on live tv, "It's your five year wedding anniversary and we are happy to have you here."

Kagami sat next to Adrien with a baby girl on her lap. They smiled and waved to the cameras.

"We are sure you have plans so we won't take up too much of your time." she continued, "Would you like to hint at how you plan to celebrate?"

"We already have." Kagami answered with a smile.

"You did?" Nadia asked.

"Yep." Adrien smiled, "We got divorced this morning."

Nadia's jaw dropped. Everyone called them the "True Love's Pair" and here they were smiling about not being together, anymore.

"W-why?" Nadia questioned, unable to speak.

"You see, our marriage was a business arrangement set up by our parents." Kagami explained, "Adrien and I have no feelings for each other then friendship; we never have."

"Yeah. When we found out about the forced marriage, we talked to our lawyers and they saw no way out of it. The only thing was that we had to be married for five years." Adrien continued.

"But, your child!" Nadia panicked, hoping to salvage her story of love.

"Oh, that's Kagami's child; not mine." Adrien spoke.

"Adrien and I never consumated our marriage." Kagami declared, "Our honeymoon was more of a vacation from everything our parents demanded of us."

Adrien could tell the reporter was shocked, but he no longer cared about the backlash of the media.

"It was great! I didn't have to pose for stupid photoshoots! I got to eat whatever I wanted! It was the best vacation I ever had!" he smiled, "Also, that child belongs to her boyfriend of seven years."

She smiled, "Yes. I believe you have a son. You've been with your girlfriend for ten years?"

"Fiancée!" Adrien cried out, "I proposed the moment we got divorced."

"Congradulations are in order!" Kagami replied, cheerfully.

"You-You have a son?" Nadia managed to stammer out.

Adrien turned back to the reporter and answered, "He's two. He's adorable and as beautiful as his mother. He is tied for first in my heart with her."

"Wait!" the reporter exclaimed, "So you have been secretly seeing other people?"

Kagami shook her head, "It was never a secret between Adrien and I."

Adrien rolled his eyes, "I was already dating her, before our parents came up with this stupid arrangement."

"As was I." the new mother, answered, "We tried to talk with them, seperately and together, about our feelings not being romantic towards each other. We were informed 'our feelings' didn't matter."

"We got together and explained what was going on to who we were dating." Adrien continued, "They didn't like it, but we assured them that we weren't happy about it either."

"Adrien and I have lived in a two bedroom apartment, with the other room as a designated guest room." she smiled.

"Of course, that was a lie!" he smiled, "In fact, that was my room. I just kept my stuff in the master bedroom, in case if they showed up with no warning."

"Most of the time, Adrien wasn't even there." she informed them, "He was at his fiancée's place."

Adrien put a hand to his chest, "I deserve to be cuddled and loved. Only she could provide that."

"What are you gonna do now?" Nadia asked, now that the shock had worn off.

"Well, I'm gonna get remarried, of course!" Adrien cried out in excitement, "I already moved into her place. I finally get to live with my family!"

"Kagami?" the reporter turned to ask.

"My boyfriend will be staying with us and helping me raise our child." she answered, "I have also moved out so our parents won't corner us."

"I guess all that is left to say is....congradulations on your divorce and engagement?" Nadia smiled awkwardly.

"Thank you." Kagami replied.

"My fiancée made cake!" Adrien chirped.

"What flavor?" his ex asked.

He smiled, "I asked for chocolate."

"Can we get some?" Kagami questioned.

"Of course!" he stated, "She would love to have you there. You can invite your boyfriend, too! We can make it a party! Thanks for having us, Nadia."

With that, Adrien and Kagami left the studio with a confused Nadia and live audience.

Gabriel was quick to pick up the line, when Natalie told him Tomoe was calling.

"Were you aware of this?" she demanded.

"No." he growled out, "I was not aware of my son's intentions. Nor was I aware your daughter was not carrying my grandchild."

"You should have kept him homeschooled!" she exclaimed, "He would have met Kagami and there would have been no interference!"

"They signed the documents, Tsurugi-san!" Gabriel cried out, "They must have planned this from the beginning"

"I have a grandchild, Gabriel!" Tomoe shouted.

"As do I or you must have forgotten how my son announced he had a two year old son on the air!" Gabriel began to raise his voice, "You have a granddaughter!"

"I do not recall the name Kagami told me all those years ago." Tomoe declared, "I didn't think he would still be an issue."

Gabriel sighed and collapsed further into his seat, "Neither do I. Natalie, have you been able to contact my son?"

Natalie frowned, "It says the number I have dialed is disconnected."

"Tomoe?" he questioned, "Have you been able to reach your daughter?"

"Unfortunately not." she replied.

Gabriel disconnected the call and began to rub his head. He had done all he could to secure Adrien's future and he had thrown it away. He just wanted his son to be happy.

Adrien pulled out his new key and happily opened the door.

"I'm home!" he cried out.

"Papa!" a small voice shouted, running into the room.

Adrien quickly dropped to his knees and scooped up his son.

"There's my lil man." Adrien cried, "Oh, I love you!"

"I love you, too, Papa!" Hugo smiled.

Adrien began to tear up and kiss his son's face all over.

"Papa!" Hugo laughed, trying to push away, "Stop or no cake!"

Adrien chuckled and set him down. Hugo quickly ran off, laughing. Marinette was quick to dodge their overly-excited son. Adrien smiled and kissed her.

"I love you, Mari." he smiled.

"I love you, too, Adrien." she smiled back.

He winked and grabbed her hand, leading her back to the kitchen.

"I was told something about cake." he spoke loudly, gaining his son's attention.

"Chocolate!" Hugo shouted, running towards them.

Adrien chuckled and scooped him up. Marinette giggled and told them to be patient for their chocolate cake.

"Awww." they pouted.

Kagami smiled as she shut the door. She knew she would never be the person who would make him happy. She could see that when they were teens and she had been right. Although, she hadn't expected her own fate.

"Are you sure about this?" questioned Luka, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Kagami smiled, "I'm no longer a Agreste nor am I a Tsurugi. Mother made me hesitate and that is something I cannot forgive."

"In time, I'm sure you will forgive her." he replied.

"Perhaps," she sighed, "but not now."

Luka smiled as their daughter began to babble. He lifted her out of his girlfriend's arms, causing her to giggle.

'My lil Melody.'

PERMANENT TAG LIST: @animeweebgirl @animegirlweeb @abrx2002 @blueblossombliss @thepaceperson @alysrose-starchild @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @nickristus-dreamer @saltymiraculer @icerosecrystal @vixen-uchiha @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @insane-fangirl-of-everything

#adrien agreste #kagami tsuguri #adrigami #married #nadia chamack #wedding anniversary #divorced #celebration #shocking news #gabriel agreste #tomoe tsurugi #natalie sancoeur #let adrien eat cake #hugo agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #luka couffaine

96 notes · View notes

unpredictable-probabilities · 1 year

Text

“I Do”: The Long-Term Deal 2 - Bachelor No More

Summary:

After allowing Jamil to stay with him, Azul grapples with resurfacing sentiments he thought long gone.

Meanwhile, Jamil comes up with a potential solution to stop Azul’s colleagues from forcing him to marry, but he realizes that he might come to dislike his own plan.

Word Count: 15,692

Author’s Note:

(At the end of the chapter)

—

"Make yourself at home, I suppose," Azul got up from the couch, rubbing his eyes tiredly beneath his glasses. "Feel free to use the kitchen and ingredients in the fridge as you please."

Jade and Floyd had just left, and now he and Jamil were supposed to come up with strategies to deal with his problem about work, but first he needed some time to himself.

"You okay?" Jamil asked from the couch, his eyebrows furrowed.

Azul stood up straighter. "It's just been a really tiring... month?" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be taking a shower, and then we can discuss possible strategies."

He climbed up the stairs and went to his bedroom, removing his suit and tossing it onto the bed. Fortunately, he had his own bathroom—he didn't want to share one with somebody as sloppy as Floyd—he would feel better behind layers of closed doors.

He leaned forward with his hands on the sink, then closed his eyes and slowly took a breath.

With everything that had been going on for the past few weeks, he was not in his best shape to deal with the present situation.

Jamil Viper. Who knew that they would meet again after all these years?

And their manner of meeting... goodness.

He felt his heart beating as he remembered how Jamil's lips felt against his.

He clenched his jaw and glared at his reflection in the mirror, firmly reminding himself that he shouldn't go back to being that schoolboy who pined endlessly after someone who would never feel any affection for him. Four years had been long enough.

"No more, Ashengrotto," he told himself.

He loosened his tie and roughly removed it, then walked away from the mirror.

* * *

The smell of cooking meat wafted from the kitchen as Azul came downstairs. He proceeded to the dining room; Jamil would most likely go there to eat whatever he was cooking, and they could talk strategy then. People were most agreeable to talk with while they were eating, after all.

He took out his phone and scrolled through his emails, nothing seemed to be urgent so he didn’t feel compelled to reply to any of them at the moment.

He looked up at the sound of a plate being put in front of him, and saw Jamil take the seat across with his own plate of food.

“I made shawarma,” Jamil answered his questioning look.

“I didn’t ask you to cook for me,” Azul furrowed his eyebrows.

“It’s your kitchen and your ingredients. It would be rude not to give you any. And Jade told you to eat,” Jamil reminded him before taking a bite of his shawarma.

Azul sighed and put his phone down on the table. "Very well. As for strategies, I would prefer that we come up with a plan that would not require me to marry anyone. Even though it's starting to look like that might be too ambitious of a preference."

"They want you to marry for connections, right? Isn't there another way you can get those?"

"Nothing would make those connections stronger than through marriage," Azul had spent days trying to research for alternatives and came up with nothing. "By law, a company's merger with another would be the most secure if important people from said companies got married."

Jamil frowned thoughtfully, and Azul could almost see the gears turning in his head.

"Let's just talk about your problem first," Azul massaged his temple. Thinking of his own dilemma for weeks already had left him feeling tired and sick of it. "How well do you know the people who had been stolen from?"

"Nadia and Farid Abaza are the children of one of the Asims' business partners," Jamil explained. "I used to see them all the time at events, and they played with Kalim sometimes when we were younger, but that's it."

"Do you think they're the ones who framed you?"

Jamil shook his head. "They were surprised to see me, they didn't know I was there at all. And they've never been good liars."

"Did anyone get close enough to you to have planted the jewelry?"

"The restaurant was packed with customers; any one of them could have slipped the hairpin in my pocket while I walked past. And we were practically shoulder to shoulder in the kitchen, too."

Azul leaned back in his chair and mumbled, "We must narrow it down further."

"I thought Jade and Floyd would deal with the restaurant while we deal with your work problem?" Jamil asked.

Azul frowned stubbornly and started eating his shawarma.

"Unbelievable," Jamil crossed his arms and looked at him in amusement. "You're procrastinating."

"I'm eating," Azul said lightly and took another bite.

"Alright, let's take a break first," Jamil had finished his food and he stood up.

"But we just started," Azul furrowed his eyebrows.

"No, you had started on this thing weeks ago," Jamil said pointedly, picking up his empty plate. "There's no point in trying to strategize if you're too tired to think."

Azul blinked as Jamil took his plate that was likewise empty; he hadn't even realized he had finished the shawarma. He must have been hungrier than he thought.

"We can go to the bay area," Azul rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "It's rather quiet there around this time."

"Oh, okay," Jamil blinked in mild surprise.

"You don't have to come with me," Azul promptly said. He always went to the bay area whenever he needed a rest, and it came to his mind as soon as Jamil mentioned to take a break; the invitation just slipped out. He stood up. "I'll be back in an hour, at most."

"No, I wanna go with you. I've never been to the bay area before." Jamil stacked their plates and headed towards the kitchen. "I'll just wash these and then we can go."

Azul sighed. No matter. He didn't need to do anything as childish as avoiding Jamil. He was just caught off-guard but now he was regaining his focus.

There were more important things to deal with than old feelings.

* * *

Jamil could hear the soft waves as they approached the breakwater; a low stone wall surrounding the coast, barely as high as his waist. It was about four feet thick, having enough space at the top for people to just sit and watch the sea. Only a handful were there, and all of them were sitting farther away. The nearest ones were no less than 20 feet away from them.

Azul stepped up to the wall and sat, his legs hanging off the other side while he leaned back on his arms. Jamil wondered how often he went here.

He sat next to him, looking out over the water. "It's pretty nice here. Did you already know about this when you and the twins bought the house?"

Azul nodded. "We wanted a place near the sea, and it was fortunate that we found one within walking distance from this place."

"You never get interrupted by paparazzi here?" Jamil asked playfully.

Azul wrinkled his nose at that. "No, they don't find me here. It helps when I dress more casually."

Jamil stared at him; Azul was wearing a black pullover with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his white shirt underneath visible through the V-neck. His dark blue pants and black and white sneakers were also more casual than what he usually wore even back at NRC, but somehow Azul still looked striking. Maybe it was because the shirt and pullover combination sort of looked like a suit, with the colors and the neckline, or maybe it was because of how Azul carried himself.

Either way, even in casual clothing, Jamil wouldn't be surprised if Azul drew people's attention.

"So you were ogling him just now as a friend?" Ruggie's words at the food truck suddenly sprang up in Jamil's mind.

He felt his face warm and he immediately turned away, looking at the sea again. He blamed Ruggie for all the nonsense he put in his head.

"Where were you before you came here to the Land of Dawning?" Azul asked curiously.

"Queendom of Roses. I was there in time for Halloween, and it was nice to see all the festivities. Lots of kids were trick-or-treating, and every street was decorated,” Jamil replied.

"Did you pay a visit to Trey and our dear Honorable Riddle?” Azul said. “I've heard that Trey's bakeshop is doing splendidly now."

Jamil raised an eyebrow. "Planning another investment?"

"And why not?" Azul said. "I know firsthand how commendable Trey's baking is, and he has kept up the bakeshop's reputation for years. I see only good things for its future."

"That's a good point," Jamil conceded. "And I did visit the bakeshop, but the staff said Trey and Riddle were on vacation. Have you been there? To the shop?"

"No, I've only seen their website. After we graduated, I immediately settled here with Jade and Floyd," Azul said. "It's close to the Coral Sea so I could still frequently visit my mother, and I've had business connections here even back then, since it's just next to the Sage's Isle."

So Azul was already establishing his reputation here even during their time at NRC. Jamil wasn't surprised.

"You've been here since after graduation?" Jamil asked.

"I went home for a few months, at my mother's insistence, and sometimes I go to other cities for business trips, but yes. I've stayed in this country. I'm not well-traveled like some people," Azul side-eyed him and smiled.

"You've made the most of your stay here, though," Jamil pointed out. "You have your own company now."

"Indeed," Azul nodded. "I couldn't have done it without Jade and Floyd, honestly. They've worked as hard as I have."

"Yeah, I don't imagine it's been easy tolerating you all these years," Jamil quipped.

“According to Floyd, it hasn't been easy at all, no."

Azul didn't seem as tense as he was earlier, but Jamil noticed the gray crescents under his eyes and the way his shoulders slumped.

"You said it's been a tiring month?"

Azul ran a hand through his hair, slowly letting out a breath. "It just comes with being in such a spotlight, I suppose. Though I couldn't have foreseen that a big part of my work would be trying to prevent my own board of directors from selling me off like cattle."

"Is marriage really the only thing they can think of for your business?" Jamil still couldn't wrap his head around it.

"By law, it would be the most secure form of merger between two companies,” Azul said. "So the board has made an announcement that we are apparently accepting suitors."

"And you don't like any of them?' Jamil asked, remembering what the magazine had said about there being several celebrities interested in dating Azul.

Azul sighed. "Not at all, and goodness knows I've tried."

Jamil wondered what exactly that meant, but it didn't seem like any of his business.

"They just know me as how the magazines and online articles present me," Azul continued. "It makes for very dull conversations when all they wanna talk to is the owner of a company. They obviously don't care to genuinely know me, so I don't care to know them."

Jamil had seen enough of the Asims' business dealings to know what empty flatteries and sugarcoated facades looked like. He couldn't even imagine having to talk to those people for more than five minutes, much less trying to date them.

"It's their loss if they don't wanna get to know you," Jamil said. Azul could be pretentious and insufferable, but he was always interesting to be around with.

"Really now? Coming from you?" Azul asked in amusement. "I seem to remember that you were never interested in getting to know me either."

Jamil raised an eyebrow. "I know that you like fried chicken, and that you never needed glasses underwater but somehow you need them on land. I know that you used your Unique Magic on our schoolmates to strong-arm Crowley in our freshman year into letting you build Mostro Lounge on campus, and I know that you wore suits all the time because according to your research, that's what people find most appealing and presentable and it would be good for your business."

Azul looked too taken aback to say anything, and Jamil felt smug; it was a rare feat to get Azul Ashengrotto to stop talking.

"You talked about yourself all the time back then," Jamil reminded him.

"I never knew you listened," Azul sounded surprised. "And I certainly wouldn't have expected you to still remember all of those more than half a decade later."

Jamil shrugged indifferently, but he realized Azul had a point. He didn't even know he still remembered those things. "I have an amazing memory, I guess."

"I suppose you do,” Azul said. “At the very least, this is the most interesting conversation I've had in a long while that didn't involve Jade or Floyd. You'd think celebrities wouldn't be so boring, given that their entire careers are built upon them being entertaining, but it only took a handful of first dates arranged by the board until I started skipping work altogether just so I wouldn't see any of them, or their 'candidates'. Why they have so many celebrities on their list at all is beyond me, it's not as if those people know anything about how to run a business."

"Your board arranged dates for you?" The whole thing sounded ridiculous to Jamil.

"At first they tried to disguise them as business meetings, and then they didn't try so hard," Azul sighed.

"Why do they all wanna date you anyway?" Jamil tried to lighten the mood. "You're not even that handsome."

"Oh?" Azul raised an eyebrow. "So I'm only a little handsome?"

Jamil rolled his eyes. "Get your compliments from your suitors, not me."

"Ah, I prefer your snide remarks any day," Azul said lightly.

Jamil chuckled, and they both just stared out into the sea, listening to the waves softly hitting the shore.

"I don't see a way out," Azul sounded resigned. "At least not for the next few weeks. I can come up with another plan that would allow me to remain free from any marriage, but that would take time. Next week, I suspect they would set up another meeting to talk about the plans for my birthday gala that they insist I hold. They would ask me about my marriage plans by then. I need to have someone to at least pretend to date me until I figure out what to do for the long run."

"Is that why you dated Scarlet Coldfire back then?" Jamil asked. "You tried to make a deal with her about it?"

Azul shook his head. "No, Scarlet and I dated before the board started to pressure me about marriage. We were interested in each other as individuals, though we never became exclusive."

"Oh." Somehow Jamil felt disappointed that Azul and Scarlet genuinely dated, but that didn't make sense. He was probably just disappointed that Scarlet wasn't an option anymore for them to work with. "Have you considered actually giving the marriage thing a shot? Not marrying for a merger like they want you to, I mean marrying someone you actually care about. So the board will get off your case and then you'll have a partner that actually makes you happy."

"That's a great theoretical idea," Azul began. "Though as you know, very few people manage to earn that level of trust from me. If I do endeavor to find someone that I would genuinely want to marry, I imagine that trying to find them would be quite tedious. And then it would be another matter entirely whether they feel the same, as I would never force anyone to marry me."

At that, Jamil found himself wondering where he stood with Azul, if he was one of the few people that Azul trusted. Maybe not, they had never been close. But then again, Azul was confiding in him about all of these things.

Jamil blinked a few times to clear his head. Why was he even thinking about that? This wasn't about him, he had to focus on upholding his end of the deal and helping Azul.

"Have Jade and Floyd tried to help you find a potential spouse?" Jamil wondered aloud.

Azul grimaced. "They tried, yes, despite my telling them not to. Needless to say, it did not end well."

Jamil furrowed his eyebrows curiously; he wondered what could have happened that was so bad to make Azul react like that.

"Besides," Azul continued, "I'd rather them focus on more important parts of the business instead of something as trivial as finding me a romantic partner."

"How about me, then?" Jamil asked.

Azul's eyebrows lifted. "Pardon?"

"I'll help you find one, I mean," Jamil hurriedly clarified, feeling his face heat up when he realized what his phrasing sounded like.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Azul asked skeptically.

"We could go out and meet new people, those that don't know you at all. I could wingman you," Jamil shrugged.

"And you have experience with such things?"

"No," Jamil said admittedly. "But how hard could it be? I'll research about you so I actually know what to tell those people we meet. I'm sure there's lots of stuff about you on the internet. You can focus on your long-term planning while I do the research, so we use our time more efficiently."

Azul frowned thoughtfully. "Alright, though I must say that I don't have high hopes in finding someone I can trust enough. Apart from the twins and Ruggie, everyone who works with me these days seems to have a selfish ulterior motive."

"I'll try not to get insulted by that," Jamil pretended to sound offended.

"We're in a quid pro quo situation, you and me," Azul said in amusement. "The twins and I help you, and you help us with our problem in return; the terms of our deal had been clear from the start. It's not as if you had put up any facade of friendship or sentimentality."

Jamil raised an eyebrow. "If we're not friends, why have I been sitting with you this entire time? This wasn't exactly a scheduled work meeting. Are you saying I have an ulterior motive?"

"You know, that's a good question." Azul turned to face him, his eyes narrowed in feigned suspicion. "What do you want from me, Viper?" he spoke quietly, slightly leaning towards Jamil.

The subtle smirk pulling at the corner of Azul's lips let Jamil know that he was just joking, and that there was no real threat. So why was his heart suddenly thumping in his chest?

The late afternoon light cast a warm glow on Azul, a golden hue on his silver hair being softly ruffled by the sea breeze.

Jamil swallowed to calm himself and hoped that it was not noticeable. He mirrored Azul's sly expression and leaned forward, too. "Well, what can you give me?"

"My," Azul said in a silky voice that made goosebumps prickle across Jamil's skin. "If only you were this available to negotiation back then."

"I'm available right now," Jamil tried to match Azul's tone, holding his gaze.

Something shifted in Azul's eyes; his playful air disappeared and he sat up straight again, turning away from Jamil to look at the horizon. "So our plan is to meet new people, yes? Where do you suppose we should start?"

Jamil blinked, his mind still catching up with Azul's sudden change in demeanor. He sat more properly too and nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking we could go to a club or mixer of some kind. Somewhere people don't know you that much, so they don't have an opinion of you yet and you can start fresh."

"A club?" Azul furrowed his eyebrows. "Those standing-room-only places with strobe lights and music that assault your eardrums?"

"That's a stereotypical club," Jamil pointed out. "And we're focusing on the people anyway, not the place itself. I've been to some clubs before, and the people aren't so bad."

Azul looked doubtful, so Jamil continued.

"Of course, there would always be the hardcore party people who I don't imagine you'd like, but there are also people who are just outgoing and open to adventure. And dating and possibly marrying you can definitely count as an adventure for them."

"Now I can't tell whether you're trying to help me or just insulting me," Azul said.

Jamil just smiled in amusement. "And like I said, if it doesn't work out, we can always try mixers. They're generally a little quieter and more toned down than clubs."

Azul sighed. "Alright. We can go tomorrow evening after my work hours."

"Oh wait, would your board be okay with you dating someone that isn't a celebrity or business owner?" Jamil asked. "Or do we have to find someone in those categories?"

"If I tell them that I have feelings for someone, they wouldn't dare contradict me," Azul said confidently. "They said nothing when I was with Scarlet, even though some of them clearly didn't like her."

Jamil remembered now where he knew the name; he had seen the words ‘Scarlet Coldfire’ on the cover of that magazine that Ruggie gave him. He made a mental note to do research on her, too. Azul had mentioned her a few times already, and Jamil was curious.

The sun was slowly dipping lower on the horizon, turning the sky into hues of pink and orange.

"You can go back to the house now if you like," Azul said. "Since we're done planning for today. You should get some rest."

"And let you hog this sunset all to yourself?" Jamil said. "No way, I'm staying here."

It really was a beautiful sunset. They sat there together in comfortable silence, watching the sky turn darker until the moon rose and its reflection glinted on the water's surface.

* * *

"Floyd's desktop is in his old room, you can use that for your research and just use his bedroom as your own during your stay here," Azul told Jamil when they got back to his living room. "The articles about me are mostly about the company or whoever they assume I'm dating, so I doubt you'll find anything useful for your wingman endeavors, but you're welcome to try."

Azul stifled a yawn with his hand, it was barely an hour after sunset but he wanted to sleep already. No matter, that just meant he could wake up earlier than usual tomorrow.

"Alright." Jamil looked at his watch. "I can cook dinner tonight; you look like you need a nap. I saw some ingredients in your fridge earlier that I can throw together to make something edible."

"Cook what you want," Azul waved a hand dismissively. "I'm going to sleep."

"You're skipping dinner?" Jamil furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure if I can even stay awake until dinner." Azul walked towards the stairs. "Good night, Jamil."

He went up to his room, and he had been looking for a more comfortable change of clothes when his phone rang.

"Jade," he answered after seeing the caller ID.

"We've got a lead on the thief," Jade's voice answered. "It's one of the waiters, but Floyd and I have a feeling that he wasn't working alone. We'll be tailing him."

Azul furrowed his eyebrows. If it wasn't just a petty theft gone awry and there was a bigger group involved, it was possible that they had deliberately set up Jamil.

"Keep me updated. And do try not to make a mess," Azul added.

Jade chuckled. "We'll do our best. On another note, have you eaten dinner yet?"

Azul sighed tiredly and closed his cabinet door, tossing the pair of grey pajamas he had gotten onto his bed. "I just wanna sleep, Jade. And before you ask, yes I did eat lunch. Jamil made shawarma earlier."

There was a pause before Jade spoke. "Jamil cooked food for you?"

"He was only being polite since he used my kitchen," Azul said pointedly. "Don't read into it."

"As you wish," Azul could hear Jade's amused smile through the phone.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said before Jade got any more ideas. "Call me if you need any help with the investigation."

"Of course."

Azul ended the call and put his phone on the nightstand along with his glasses. He rubbed his eyes, the image of Jamil under the light of the sunset appearing in his mind.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shake away whatever he might have felt on that breakwater. Jamil was just a familiar face, someone he had always admired and respected. If he had indeed felt anything, it was merely nostalgia and a reminder of a more peaceful time in his life when he didn't have quite so many things to deal with.

It was nothing more than that, and it should stay that way.

* * *

Jamil finished the last of his chicken sandwich as he booted up Floyd's computer. With not much else to do, he had decided that he might as well start on his research. He had to know what Azul's public image was so he wouldn't stray too far from it when trying to set him up with people. Whoever Azul would end up dating would have to be able to keep up with the reputation he was working to maintain.

Jamil leaned back on the swivel chair, watching the screen light up. A feeling was nagging at the back of his mind that maybe helping Azul date someone wasn't the right thing to do, but he brushed it off. They didn’t have any other ideas for now, so they should give it a shot.

The first search results on Azul's name turned up a bunch of business articles. There was barely anything about Azul's personal life so he just skimmed them; annual profits and revenues weren't exactly interesting conversation topics to clubgoers. In the second page of the results, he saw the headline of a showbiz website, "Is Scarlet Coldfire about to be Scarlet Ashengrotto?"

Jamil raised an eyebrow and clicked on the link.

It turned out to just be a gossip article written under a paparazzi photo of Azul with a woman, who Jamil guessed was Scarlet, walking down a street while talking to each other. Apparently, at the time of writing that article, the two of them had been seen together multiple times, but neither had confirmed nor denied the dating speculations. Jamil already knew what that was about, and he was about to exit the page when he saw another paparazzi picture attached to the end of the article.

Azul and Scarlet were sitting at a table in a coffee shop, and they seemed to be sharing an inside joke by the way they were smiling and leaning towards each other.

The way Azul was looking at Scarlet reminded Jamil of how Azul looked at him while they were at the bay area.

Irritation rose inside him and he felt himself scowl. Did Azul give that look to everyone he talked to? He deserved to be pestered by suitors, then. Flaunting his face like that in front of people.

Jamil blinked and willed himself to stay on track; he was getting distracted for some reason. He didn't mind when Azul playfully leaned into him like that earlier, so why should he mind Azul doing it to anyone else?

"What do you want from me, Viper?"

Jamil felt his face warm and his heart beating in his chest; he could still remember Azul's piercing eyes, and the way his lips curved smoothly in that signature smirk. Those lips that were much softer than they looked when they were pressed against his—

"No," Jamil said out loud and stood up from his seat, turning his back on the computer.

He put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes, taking slow breaths to calm himself.

Those were just rumors. Stupid high school rumors. He never really liked Azul, and he definitely didn't like him now. Not in that way.

He glanced over at the photo. A bitter taste filled his mouth at the thought of how those two could have kissed on that date; they were only a few inches away from it.

Tomorrow he was supposed to wingman Azul. Help him find someone he'd like to take on multiple dates for who knows how long.

And as he turned away from the photo again, Jamil was forced to realize how much he disliked the idea, and why he disliked it.

"Damn it," he cursed.

Of all the times that he could have fully realized his feelings for Azul, why now?

* * *

The blue neon sign glowed above the doorway, bearing the words: The Swing Box. At the very least, the club was located in a rather decent area. Some shops and diners were in the same block, and Azul knew from a previous trip to this city that a mall was located nearby.

"Ready?" Jamil asked beside him.

"What made you decide on this place?" Azul turned to him.

"It's a different city so it's not very likely that people here would know you," Jamil replied. "And according to my research, this is one of the more sophisticated clubs around here. They have five stars on cleanliness, food quality, and their security is always effective at dealing with any trouble discreetly, whether it's a group of drunk teenagers or loudly complaining customers."

"I see." Out of habit, Azul straightened his tie before walking through the open doors with Jamil.

Upbeat music blared from hidden speakers, each drumbeat reverberating across the smooth flooring. It wasn't as dark as Azul had expected, and the strobe lights weren't erratic to the point of discomfort.

"The bar's over there," Jamil nodded to where a bartender was currently mixing drinks for a handful of people waiting for their orders. "I'll get the drinks, you get us a table."

Azul nodded and held up his debit card. "Anything non-alcoholic for me. I don't want my thinking impaired in any way."

"I got it," Jamil waved off his card and walked to the bar.

Azul frowned, making a mental note to pay Jamil back for whatever he would be buying tonight.

He found a table in a booth to the side and took a seat, wondering if this was going to be a productive night at all. Jamil being his wingman was something that he never would have expected, yet here they were.

He had been buried up to his neck in paperwork and meetings at the office because of his upcoming birthday gala—though he was grateful that the busy schedule left no room for him to be questioned again regarding his potential marriage—that he didn't have much time to think about this plan. Just as he was questioning the soundness of it, Jamil returned with their drinks.

Jamil placed an iced glass that held a deep purple liquid on the table in front of Azul. "Blueberry Lemonade."

Azul took it and glanced at Jamil's drink, which had red hues at the bottom that lightened to an orange-yellow at the top.

"Don't worry, this is non-alcoholic too," Jamil said as he sat down across from him. "I'll keep my focus tonight. Do you wanna start meeting people now or take a break first since you just got off work?"

"This is still work, Jamil," Azul reminded him. "We might as well get it over with."

"Okay," Jamil nodded. "I met a woman at the bar, her name is Roxanne, and she's a fashion designer. She's single, and when I told her that I had a friend that she might want to meet, she said she was interested. We can go to her table right now."

Azul raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed. "You work fast."

"I know," Jamil smirked. "You wanna meet her?"

"Alright," Azul stood up, bringing his drink, and Jamil led the way across the crowd. "What made you single her out from everyone?"

"She seemed smart when we talked, I don't think you'll get bored of her," Jamil had to raise his voice a little to be heard over the music. "And because of her job, she has a good fashion sense. You wouldn't mind being seen in paparazzi photos with her. There she is," Jamil pointed with his drink.

A woman was sitting by herself at the table, a glass of what looked like margarita in front of her. She had wavy blue hair, and like Ruggie, she was a beastfolk; fox ears the same blue as her hair were at the top of her head. Her grey jacket over her black blouse brought out the silver in her eyes.

"Roxanne," Jamil greeted her. "This is my friend, Azul."

"Good evening," Azul smiled politely and held out his hand. "Azul Ashengrotto."

"Roxanne Bridges," she shook his hand with an amused smile. "I didn't realize you'd be so formal. Have a seat."

Azul reminded himself that he wasn't at the office anymore as he and Jamil sat across from Roxanne. "What has Jamil said about me? Nothing too embarrassing, I hope?"

"He didn't say much," she shrugged. "Just that you run a business and you took his advice to relax for once."

"Indeed," Azul smiled and leaned back in what he hoped looked like a relaxed posture. "He tells me you're a fashion designer. How long have you been doing that?"

"About three years now. I freelanced for a while, and now I'm working in a small company just here in the city," she said.

Azul noted the way she was leaning back in her seat, legs crossed, arm draped over the backrest, and her drink was placed on the table exactly at arm's length, so she didn't have to lean forward to pick it up. "Are you a regular here?"

Roxanne nodded and took a sip of her drink. "Yeah, and if I'm not here, I'm in another joint. Wherever the party's hopping."

"I see." That would explain how comfortable and familiar she seemed with the place; she looked like she might as well be in her own living room.

"Have you even been to a club before?" Roxanne asked. "You're as stiff as a board. Is it the environment or your date that's making you uneasy?" she playfully gestured to herself.

Azul smiled politely. "I must admit, I'm more used to board meetings and conference rooms."

Roxanne's expression soured. "Wow, your life sounds like my personal hell. What do you do for fun?"

'I'm more interested in you, Roxanne," Azul redirected the question. "What are your hobbies?"

Roxanne sighed and finished her drink. "Okay, what's this really about? Do you need bodyguards or something?" she asked after placing back her glass on the table.

Azul frowned in confusion, unsure if he had heard her correctly. "Excuse me?"

Roxanne smirked. "Fancy businessman like you, you even wore a suit to a club. You're obviously on edge and a little restless, and come on, you're not interested in me, at least not for any romantic reasons. So what really brings you here?"

Azul exchanged glances with Jamil. Evidently, this woman was even smarter than Jamil gave her credit for. "Even if those were true, why would you assume that we approached you because I need a bodyguard?"

"Oh," Roxanne seemed to realize something. "You don't know who I am."

"Are we supposed to?" Jamil asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Roxanne gave a half shrug. "Let's just say I'm the one to call whenever you need something but you don't wanna go through the usual methods."

Azul frowned. If nothing else, that was certainly intriguing. "What do you mean by that? How exactly does one do business with you?"

"So I was right," Roxanne smirked. "This is a business transaction. Well, handsome, how it works is you tell me what you need to find, and for the right price, I can find it for you. What are you looking for? Guards, documents on business competitors, a magazine who'll publish whatever story you have?"

Azul stayed quiet, he wasn't sure if it would be right to divulge such information on this woman they just met. Besides, it would sound—

"We're looking for someone to pretend to date him," Jamil said.

Pathetic. It would sound pathetic.

"So his board of directors would back off about trying to set him up with other corporate people."

Azul felt his face flush in embarrassment, and he looked down at his drink with his jaw clenched.

"Oh, definitely not me, I'd hate to be anywhere near conference rooms. But finding you one around here shouldn't be too hard," Roxanne said without a hint of surprise or reservation.

Azul looked back up at her; perhaps she could prove to be useful after all.

Roxanne looked around at the other patrons of the club. "Do you have any preferences? Girl? Tall? Brunette? Blue-eyed?"

"Neither gender nor physical appearance matters in this case," Azul said. "I need someone trustworthy who wouldn't sell out the secret or try to extort me."

"Okay," Roxanne nodded thoughtfully, her eyes scanning the crowds. "Let's see, ah, I saw this group of friends come in earlier, it seems like one of them's a first-timer here, too. From what I heard of their conversations, he's the honest and soft-spoken type. Look, there, the one with the pink hair and striped scarf."

They glanced over at the booth that Roxanne pointed out; the lights were a little dim, but Azul could see what looked like a dark-skinned guy with pink wavy hair being encouraged by his friends to go to the dance floor with them, but he just kept smiling and shaking his head, gesturing to their table as if telling them that he'd rather stay there.

"Now's your chance," Roxanne said when the guy was left alone at their table with his drink and a small basket of pretzels. "Let's go over there and introduce you. What do you think, Jamil?"

"Yeah, why not," Jamil shrugged. "Come on, Azul."

Jamil and Roxanne walked on either side of him as they approached the other table.

"Is this really necessary?" Azul said. He didn't exactly feel comfortable having the two of them watching over his shoulder. "Neither of you have to come with me, you know."

"You're so bad at this that your first date decided to take the position of Wingman Number 2," Roxanne said pointedly. "Let's avoid a third."

Azul scowled at that, but unfortunately he didn't have any strong counterarguments.

They reached the other booth, and Roxanne spoke up first.

"Hi," she said with a smile, startling the person sitting alone. "This is our friend Azul. We're trying to get him to have fun. Is it okay if he hangs out with you for a while? He's a little shy, and you seem nice."

Azul bit back a retort and smiled amiably at Roxanne and Jamil. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I hardly think I'd need babysitting, yes?"

"We'll just be over there at our table," In case you need any help, Jamil's tone seemed to say.

"You kids have fun," Roxanne gave them another smile before walking away with Jamil.

"I apologize for my friends," Azul told the person who was still sitting down. "They could be quite forward sometimes."

"It's okay, they remind me of my own friends," he smiled sheepishly and glanced at the dancefloor. "Please, have a seat," he gestured across from him.

Azul sat down and placed his drink on the table.

"I'm Silva, Silva Pierce." He extended his hand.

Azul shook it. "Azul Ashengrotto. Did your friends also cajole you into coming here?"

Silva chuckled. "I guess? But they mean well. They managed to convince my parents to let me go here tonight instead of going with them on their business trip."

"Oh? Why did they want you to go with them?" Azul asked curiously.

"Well, I'm supposed to take over the winery business in a few years, and they wanted me to go on that business trip to the Kingdom of Heroes to see other vineyards and learn more about them," Silva replied, almost seeming embarrassed.

Azul furrowed his eyebrows. That was certainly intriguing; Silva was an heir to a business empire, and a partnership between them would prove to be most useful indeed. He could already see his board of directors giving their approval. He just had to give this interaction a little more effort.

He smiled and spoke playfully, "And you don't regret coming here instead of the undoubtedly picturesque vineyards of the Kingdom of Heroes?"

"I admit that I'm not quite sure what to do with myself here," Silva said with a chuckle. "But hey, I'm glad to be talking with you now. Why did your friends want you to come here to this club?"

"My work at a real estate office is rather demanding," Azul chose his words carefully. "And my friends are under the impression that this place can help me wind down and perhaps find new people to connect with outside of work."

Silva nodded in understanding. "Yeah, my friends basically told me the same thing. I had been working a lot lately; I don't even remember the last time I did something just for fun."

Azul could almost see himself in Silva's words, but there was something about Silva that seemed to be a stark contrast to how Azul felt about his business. "Do you like your work, Silva? Not just the actual physical work, I mean, do you like working for your business? Is it rewarding every time you accomplish a task for it?"

Silva shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tried for a smile. "I just want to make my parents happy. They've done so much for me and I don't want to disappoint them."

Azul went silent for a moment. He and Silva were similar, in a sense; sitting atop a business empire with vast opportunities laid out before them. But while he always felt a sense of satisfaction whenever he achieved a goal related to his job, it didn't seem to be the case for Silva.

"You don't sound very fond of managing your family business," Azul said curiously. "What would you rather do, then?"

"Oh, I don't dislike it, really," Silva glanced down for a moment. "And I can't picture myself doing anything else, anyway."

Azul smiled as he came to a realization. "You know, I can't really picture myself doing anything else outside of my work either. So I'm grateful for my friends who help me unwind away from it, especially in the recent years when it has started to wear me down a little."

"Yeah, exactly! I wouldn't know what to do without my friends." Silva's smile was more relaxed, and his eyes were a little brighter now that they were talking about something else apart from his job. "They always make sure that we all get some time to hang out and forget about work for a while. I'm not very good at dancing, though, so I had to decline their invitation to the dance floor," he laughed.

"Oh I understand, I'm terrible at dancing and endeavor to avoid it at all costs," Azul leaned back in his seat.

"And yet somehow we're both in a dance club, huh?" Silva raised an amused eyebrow.

"Is this the craziest thing that your friends have gotten you involved in? Being ten feet away from a dance floor?" Azul asked playfully.

'Ah, uh..." Silva's face turned pink and he took a sip of his drink.

"Oh?" Azul said, intrigued. "So there have been crazier things, then?"

"Well," Silva smiled shyly but there was also excitement in his voice, like what he was about to share was a fond memory. "One night when we were teenagers, they called me out of nowhere to ask if I wanted to go to the 24-hour bazaar with them at the park. They said there were cool stuff to buy and all sorts of street food to eat. I'd never been to such a place before, and I'd never had street food, so I wanted to go."

"But...?" Azul prompted.

"But I had just started a part-time job in our company, basically shadowing my mom at meetings and stuff. It was a work night, and there was no way I was gonna be allowed to go out that late. So... my friends said I could sneak out my bedroom window and we'd all go to the park together."

"And did you?" Azul asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I did," Silva said with a hint of pride. "It was a fun night, we even saw street performers and fire dancers. But we forgot the time and we stayed too long; suddenly it was almost sunrise. None of my friends had permission either to stay out for that long, so we all ran back to our homes. And just my luck, my mom was up early to check on our small garden in front of our house. I had to hide inside the wheelbarrow, terrified the entire time that she might glance a little too closely at the potato sacks and find me curled up under them.”

Silva paused to smile in amusement at the memory. “As soon as I heard her coming back inside the house, I sprinted towards my window and climbed back in. I was up the entire night so I definitely wasn't awake enough to go to work. I had to pretend that I was sick so my mom wouldn't make me go with her, which wasn't that hard since I really did feel a little sick from the all-nighter and all the sprinting and hiding I did."

"Saved by the potatoes, I see." Azul was mildly impressed, the whole story sounded like something that an NRC kid would pull off.

"I still can't look at potatoes now without having flashbacks," Silva quipped and offered Azul the basket of pretzels.

Azul chuckled and took one; it was a soft pretzel, still warm with a hint of cinnamon.

"How about you? Any shenanigans that you and your friends were involved in when you were younger?" Silva asked.

"Wow, where do I even start?" Azul said. Just his years at NRC were filled to the brim with 'shenanigans' already, and those didn't stop after graduation. Either way, he supposed it couldn't hurt to tell Silva some of the more harmless ones.

* * *

Jamil sat staring at Azul and Silva as they laughed and ate pretzels together. Azul was certainly doing much better than he had expected; he was sitting closer to Silva now and seemed to be animatedly sharing some interesting story.

"You okay, buddy?" Roxanne asked when she got back from buying a plate of what looked like chocolate cookies.

"Hm? Yeah, why?" he looked at her distractedly.

"That's a pretty deep frown you got there," she pointed out.

Jamil blinked and consciously relaxed his facial muscles, turning back to look at Silva's table. "I'm just worried that Azul's messing up with his date," he said, not knowing what else to answer.

"You look like you're worried he's succeeding," the smirk could be heard in her tone.

Jamil sharply turned back to her. "What?"

"Oh come on. Ever since those two started smiling at each other you'd been in a sour mood."

"I'm just tired, okay?" he said irritably. "It has nothing to do with them."

He had known that it wouldn't exactly be a happy task for him to set Azul up with people after his realization last night, but he didn't mean for it to show on his face. He should be more careful or Azul himself might get suspicious.

"Why don't you just fake-date him yourself, anyway?" Roxanne asked, swirling her drink around in her glass.

"I won't be staying long," Jamil said evasively. "I'm just helping him out while I'm still in the country."

If he ever had a chance with Azul, it had passed him by long ago. The rumors back then said that Azul liked him, but it didn't matter anymore whether that was true or not. Azul never considered him to be his fake boyfriend during all of their planning yesterday and this morning. Didn't make the suggestion even once. Clearly, dating him never crossed Azul's mind even if it's only for the purposes of pretending.

"Oh, where would you be?" Roxanne asked.

"Just traveling," Jamil said, watching Silva laugh at something that Azul said.

"So are you gonna leave as soon as your friend finds someone he can date?"

Jamil thought about it. Technically, his side of the deal would be done if that happens, and he could always find some other place to stay if it still wasn't safe to go back to his apartment. He took a swig of his drink and downed everything in two gulps. "Maybe."

Roxanne raised an eyebrow at him.

Jamil glanced at Silva's table again, but Azul had stood up and was now walking back towards them.

"How'd it go?" Roxanne asked cheerfully when Azul arrived at their table.

"Not bad, a lot better than I expected." Azul sat across from them and put his drink down.

"Did you make a deal with him?" Jamil asked, not sure what answer he wanted to hear.

"No," Azul sighed. "I didn't tell him about that at all."

"What?" Roxanne frowned. "Why not? You two were really hitting it off."

"I'm not sure if deceiving the public for the sake of business is something that he would be suited for," Azul said before finishing what was left of his drink. "He's helping manage his family's wine company, and most of the things he's done involved charities and even agreeing to barely profitable deals just so other smaller businesses can profit from them."

"Oh, he's a goody-two-shoes?" Roxanne said. "Yeah I can see how that'll be a problem. I bet he'd barely be able to keep up the act."

"Exactly," Azul agreed. "He'd be miserable in such a dishonest arrangement, if I even manage to convince him to agree. And we can't afford for anyone to be suspicious of us."

"The night's still young, I'm sure we can find another one. But for now," Roxanne stood up with her empty glass. "I'm gonna get another drink."

"What are you gonna do after you find someone to make a deal with?" Jamil asked Azul while Roxanne went back to the bar. "You said you had another plan you're working on so the dating thing would only be temporary."

"Yes," Azul nodded. "I shall work on finding more connections and business deals so the company can rise even higher; show the board that we don't need a marriage with another business for us to keep earning profits."

"That sounds like you plan to overwork yourself," Jamil frowned. "You still haven't changed."

"I can manage, Jamil," Azul smiled in amusement.

"Good evening," a pleasant voice greeted them, and a guy in a grey turtleneck and blue jacket slid into their booth next to Azul. "I've never seen you here before. Welcome to The Swing Box!"

He gestured widely around the place as if presenting it to them, the bright blue drink in his hand almost spilling before he set his glass down on their table.

Jamil briefly wondered if he was drunk, but he didn't look like it. Just overly enthusiastic.

"I'm Thracius," he smiled brightly at them, his pink eyes friendly behind his round glasses. His hair reminded Jamil of Trey's, but it was wavy and a lighter shade of green. "And you are?"

"Jamil," he replied, noticing how Thracius' arm was draped over the seat just behind Azul.

"Good evening," Azul returned the pleasant smile. "I'm Azul. Are you a regular here?"

"Yes I am, Azul. And if you're planning to come here often, I promise to show up even more regularly. Being a masseuse by profession, I can always guarantee a relaxing night," Thracius eyed Azul up and down and smiled mischievously. "That is, if no one would get mad at me for it." He looked at Jamil.

"No, we're not a couple," Jamil said when he realized what Thracius was asking.

"Indeed," Azul agreed. "And I presume you are single as well? Otherwise this is quite the scandal you're building up," he said playfully.

"Oh I'm very single," Thracius scooted closer to Azul. "But I can stop being single, if you wanna do something about that...?"

That's definitely the mindset that we're looking for, thought Jamil.

He had a feeling that Thracius wouldn't hesitate to date Azul at all, pretend or not. Even so, he had to make a considerable effort not to scowl at what he was seeing.

"Shouldn't you buy me dinner first?" Azul said, his lips still curved in a smile.

Jamil wasn't sure if he should stay for this; how long should wingmen be around for? He awkwardly picked up a cookie from Roxanne's plate just to have something to do.

"Of course," Thracius spoke more quietly as he leaned toward Azul. "Dinner... maybe even breakfast? I live nearby."

Suddenly Jamil had a flashback from years ago, that night at Scarabia when he had tried to hypnotize Azul with his Unique Magic. Azul had blankly looked into his eyes then, pretending to get affected.

And now this Thracius guy was looking right into Azul's eyes while he talked, and the gaze that Azul returned wasn’t blank at all.

Jamil had traveled long enough to recognize when people were blatantly flirting, and the way that these two were looking at each other wasn't anything less than seductive. Azul didn't even blink when Thracius reached up and softly ran his fingers along his necktie.

Jamil felt something crunch in his fist and he realized that the cookie he was holding had been crushed into crumbs.

Thracius closed his hand around Azul's tie and started pulling him closer—

"Azul," Jamil said louder than he intended. "You have work tomorrow, right?"

They both turned to him, and Azul was frowning in confusion, no doubt wondering where his supposed wingman was going with this.

Jamil subtly brushed the crumbs from his hand and cursed himself for even saying anything. He should have just left as soon as Thracius started talking.

"It's a work night. You told me that we shouldn't stay here too long." Jamil was racking his brain on how he would explain this to Azul later.

"You can go ahead," Azul said, facing him now that Thracius had let go of his tie for the moment. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Tomorrow? You're not planning on actually going home with this guy, are you—

"Oh, you don't have to leave!" Thracius told him then looked at Azul. "Your beautiful friend can join us, right?"

Jamil exchanged a surprised look with Azul; that was definitely not part of any plan they had made.

"What do you say, Jamil?" Thracius leaned with his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand.

Azul cleared his throat. "Actually, Jamil is right. I do have work early tomorrow. And I live in the next city so it would take me a while to get home tonight." He straightened his tie and smiled at Thracius. "It was lovely meeting you, though I must go now."

"I'll be here every night if you ever miss me," Thracius winked at Azul.

"Nice meeting you, Thracius." Jamil stood up and got out of the booth. "Come on, Azul, it's a long drive back."

They both walked towards the exit, and before Jamil could think of anything else to suggest for their plan, Roxanne appeared in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.

"I see you've met Thracius," she smiled, an almost empty glass in her hand.

"You know him?" Azul asked.

"Yeah, we're friends," Roxanne nodded. "And all the regulars know him. How'd it go, anyway? It looked like you were getting to know each other really well," she smirked.

"Were you watching the whole time? Why didn't you warn us or something about how touchy he is?" Jamil asked Roxanne, the image of Thracius pulling on Azul's tie still in his mind.

She laughed. "Thracius is always like that, but he means well. He’s half-fae, and he claims that he’s using his ‘natural charms’ for good. It's his personal belief that everyone deserves to feel cared for in the club. Oh, look."

They turned to where Roxanne had pointed with her glass, and they saw Thracius now at Silva's table, making him blush furiously with the same treatment that he had given Azul earlier.

"Well," Jamil raised an eyebrow. "At least we know you didn't break his heart."

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" Roxanne asked Azul. "You didn't like him?"

"It's not that, exactly." Azul spoke slowly like he was searching for the right words. "He's just too... enthusiastic. I'm not sure that's the kind of person I want to be dealing with every day."

"Okay," Roxanne shrugged and finished her drink. "Maybe there's someone else you can date instead. Maybe, someone already close by...?" She pointedly looked at Jamil.

His face warmed at the implication and he glared at Roxanne. "We can find someplace else to go," he quickly changed the subject. "We told Thracius we were leaving, it'd be awkward if we run into him again later."

"I know another club just on the next block," Roxanne suggested and looked at her watch. "It's gonna be happy hour there soon, drinks are discounted."

"No," Azul took off his glasses for a second and massaged his forehead. "I'm done. Perhaps I'm really just not fit for dating."

"Relax, you'll get there eventually." Roxanne took something from her pocket and handed it to Azul. "Here's my card if you need help finding anything else."

Azul took it and raised an eyebrow. "Was tonight an audition of sorts for you?"

Roxanne smirked. "Hey, you gotta admit that Silva was a good find. Anyway, I'm gonna bounce to that other club, it gets packed pretty quickly. See you, guys." She waved at them and left, putting her empty glass down on a vacant table she passed by.

Azul looked thoughtfully at Roxanne's card and pocketed it. "She wasn't wrong about Silva being a good find. It wasn't what we expected, but his business connections could prove to be useful someday. We exchanged business cards so I suppose this night wasn't entirely futile." He started heading towards the exit and Jamil walked beside him.

"You gave him your business card?" Jamil couldn't help his frown and irritated tone at knowing that Azul exchanged phone numbers with that pretty guy who fed him pretzels.

"I know," Azul sighed. "It seems that my social skills really are limited to business interactions."

They stepped out onto the street, and Jamil looked at the diners and shops and lights that were all unfamiliar to him.

"Hey, let's look around for a while," he told Azul. "We came all this way, we might as well do something."

Azul raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I hope you're not planning to continue this wingman scheme of yours."

"No more blind dates with randos," Jamil assured him. "I've just never been to this city before. I wanna explore a bit, that's all."

"You certainly look for plenty of excuses to relax nowadays, don't you?" Azul said in amusement.

"Well, why wouldn't I? Unlike you, some people actually know how to relax," Jamil replied.

Azul chuckled. "Point taken. Where would you like to go?"

"How about dinner? I'm starving. There's a few diners here."

"Dinner in this area? No," Azul shook his head. "Just a few minutes' drive from here is a four-star restaurant known for their good food and refined ambience. That's where we're going."

* * *

"Do you eat here a lot?" Jamil asked Azul when the waiter left after taking their orders. "You're very familiar with their menu."

"Only once before," Azul replied. "It became quite popular, and I did my research to find out why."

"Right, of course it's about business again," Jamil said. "Do you ever do anything that's not related to work?"

Azul sighed. "I was pretty bad at the club earlier, wasn't I? I'm even worse at finding a date than flying a broom, and that's saying something."

"You've never asked anyone out before?" Jamil furrowed his eyebrows.

Azul shrugged. "There was never any reason to."

"So you've never liked anyone?" Jamil asked, thinking of all the rich attractive people Azul must have met over the years.

Azul hesitated, caught off-guard by the question.

The paparazzi picture from that online article flashed in Jamil's mind. "Scarlet...?" he heard himself ask.

"No," Azul shook his head. "As I said, Scarlet and I never actually got to liking each other that way. It doesn't feel like I ever asked her out, we just met to have meals together and talk."

"But there was someone?" Jamil asked curiously, wondering if it was some famous person featured in those showbiz magazines.

"Ah, it hardly matters," Azul smoothed out his suit, averting his eyes.

"That's interesting, something outside of your work actually caught your attention," Jamil said amusedly. "What happened there?"

Azul smiled indifferently, but there was a hint of resignation. "They didn't like me."

Jamil's eyebrows raised in mild surprise. He wasn't expecting that at all, given how long the queue for Azul's hand had been recently. It was hard to imagine anyone rejecting him.

"I'm guessing it's not one of those fancy celebrities your board set you up with?"

"Indeed, and before you ask, no I will not tell you who it is that disliked me so much. It's better you retain your image of me as someone beloved by everyone," Azul said lightly.

"I've literally never had that image of you," Jamil smiled.

Azul chuckled. "Regardless, I'd been spending my time growing my business, and as far as I know he's been living a good life as well. So it's all fine."

"Oh it's a 'he'," Jamil smirked playfully. "Thanks for the clue."

Azul blinked and a hint of red colored his face. He cleared his throat. "That's enough of the questions; you're as bad as those magazine interviewers."

Just then, their waiter arrived with the food; mushroom pasta with pesto and cream for Azul, and grilled chicken and pita bread for Jamil. A glass of lemon iced tea was placed beside each of their plates. They thanked the waiter, who nodded politely and left.

"How about you, then?" Azul asked while putting ground pepper on his pasta from the peppershaker. "Any paramours on your travels?"

"No," Jamil cut up pieces of meat and began putting them on a slice of pita bread. "I wanted to focus on myself. Besides, I was traveling a lot. I didn't wanna commit to anyone and then leave."

Azul nodded in understanding. "You never liked anyone?"

Jamil looked down at his food, carefully wrapping the meat in the bread as he thought of how to answer.

"I did," he finally said. Given how little time he had had to process his realization last night, Azul would easily be able to tell if he lied, and that would be more suspicious. "But I realized it too late."

"What do you mean?" Azul's eyebrows furrowed.

"We were already in different worlds, and he had more important things to deal with than, well, me." He took a bite of his wrap.

"So it's a 'he' as well," Azul teased back with a smirk of his own.

Jamil rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"You can try to go back to him, you know," Azul said, twirling the pasta with his fork. "See what kind of world he's in now and whether you can fit in it."

Jamil raised an eyebrow. "Would you try again with that guy you liked?"

"That's different. He disliked me back then, why would that change?"

"Because you're rich and famous now," Jamil pointed out. "How many years ago did you meet this guy? Maybe he'd like you now if he knew you're on magazine covers and stuff."

Azul chuckled. "I think he might dislike me more now, actually. He was never fond of the showmanship that comes with my career; he might think I just became even more pretentious."

"Ah, too bad, then." Jamil tried to sound sincere. He had no plans of pursuing Azul, but he still felt relieved knowing that Azul didn't plan on pursuing anyone either.

They ate in silence for a while, then Azul's phone chimed with a notification. He took it from his pocket and checked it.

"Unbelievable," he muttered with a sigh.

"What is it?" Jamil asked.

Azul pocketed his phone. "Tomorrow night is the launch of the restaurant of our business partner. My Vice President was supposed to attend as our company's representative, but he came down with the flu today and won't be well enough to attend."

"So you have to go instead," Jamil understood. It would explain Azul's reaction to the text.

"Unfortunately. And it means I would inevitably be approached by some of the board members who would also be in attendance." Azul frowned thoughtfully. "Will you... No, I'm not sure if that's still included in the deal," he muttered.

"Will I... what?" Jamil asked.

"It might be helpful to observe the board members at that party, analyze their personalities and see what else I could do to convince them that a marriage isn't necessary." Azul said. "There's no one else I know who could do such a thing better than you can. You even managed to control the flow of board games and basketball practices back then to account for Floyd's mood swings."

"Couldn't you do that yourself? Or Jade?" Jamil wondered. "You two are as observant and cunning as anyone can get."

"We already did, but as you can see we still haven't solved my problem. It seems like we need an outsider's perspective on the situation; Jade and I are too close to it." Azul explained.

Jamil thought about it for a moment. "Alright, I'll do it. I was a pretty useless wingman tonight, anyway. My end of the deal would just be to help you figure out your board members."

Azul nodded then furrowed his eyebrows. "That reminds me, why did you tell Thracius that I have work early in the morning? You know I don't plan on going to the office tomorrow."

Jamil froze mid-bite of his food. He chewed slowly and took a drink of iced tea first to organize his thoughts before answering.

"He was getting touchy, and I wasn't sure if you were comfortable with that," he said. "I thought if I at least provided an out, you could make the choice whether you wanted to stay or not."

"Oh," Azul said in mild surprise. "Thank you, I suppose. But you needn't have worried. I'm perfectly capable of dealing with such situations."

"Do those celebrities treat you like that in your arranged dates?" Jamil hadn't considered that, but it would make sense.

"Some of them," Azul nodded. "But they were smart enough not to try anything inappropriate. So it's never been a problem."

"Right. Sorry if I overstepped earlier," Jamil said. "I should have just left when Thracius arrived."

"Not at all," Azul said. "You didn’t overstep. Besides, I much prefer this dinner with you."

Jamil felt something warm in his chest and he had to look away. They were seated next to a big window, the restaurant was at the 12th floor of the building and the view was excellent.

Outside was a small river that softly reflected the streetlamps and lights from the skyscrapers, and on the road were a few cars passing by; just small circles of light moving along. Jamil still preferred seeing stars rather than city lights, but he had to admit that the city had its own charm.

He glanced back at Azul and realized that he had been staring at him. "What?"

Azul blinked and cleared his throat. "Sorry, I was... spaced out. Just thinking about the event tomorrow. I didn't think I had to attend so I do feel a little unprepared."

His forehead was creased with worry, and he looked tired again.

"You okay?" Jamil asked. "Should we go home?"

Azul nodded. "Yes, we should." He called the attention of their waiter and asked for their bill.

Jamil took out his wallet but Azul stopped him.

"No, I'll take this one." Azul said. "You already bought our drinks earlier."

Jamil raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, and this meal cost way more than our drinks."

"Just let it go, Jamil," Azul said as he handed the waiter his debit card.

The waiter swiped it through his handheld machine before giving it back to Azul with a polite smile. “Thank you for dining with us, and have a good evening.”

"Fine," Jamil told Azul after the waiter left. "But I'll be paying next time."

"Next time?" playfulness creeped into Azul's voice. "Are you asking me to dinner again? So soon after we just finished this one?"

Jamil felt his face heat up. "So? You said yourself earlier that you prefer dinner with me than hanging out at the club with those other guys," he shot back.

Azul looked caught off-guard by that, then he glanced down and chuckled. "Right, I did say that, didn't I? Let's leave now before I say anything else." He stood up.

Jamil smiled and shook his head before following Azul.

* * *

Azul had been staring at his bedroom ceiling for a while now. He had gone to bed about an hour ago but sleep continued to elude him. His mind kept replaying the past two days, and how he had completely gone the opposite direction of what he had planned to do regarding his old classmate.

After telling himself that it would only be business with Jamil, he had taken him to his favorite spot in the city and watched the sunset with him, then took him to one of the best restaurants in the next city. He even told him outright that he preferred to have dinner with him rather than look for people who could possibly help him with his problem at work. Fortunately, Jamil had looked out the window after he said that; so he had time to process how much he still enjoyed Jamil's company, right before he remembered that Jamil would most likely be leaving soon to start traveling again.

As if those weren't enough, he had slipped back into his old habit of making playful remarks to Jamil that were borderline flirtatious. And Jamil had matched every one of those remarks.

It was a dynamic that they developed back at NRC; Azul liked to see Jamil break out of his usual stoic facade, and he discovered that he could especially irritate him whenever he said anything that could be seen as flirty. Eventually Jamil countered those with his own implicative comments. In hindsight, that was probably how the rumors about them had started.

Azul had realized midway into their third year that the part about his feelings for Jamil wasn't just a rumor, but at that point he was also fully aware that Jamil would never want anything to do with him. They continued their banters, but Azul knew it would never be more than that.

Needless to say, it's embarrassing that he appeared to have fallen for Jamil again within the span of less than 48 hours. He even threw away his chance of finding a possible partnership with Thracius because he didn’t like how the half-fae flirted with Jamil.

But there was another, more pathetic realization that he was starting to dread might be the truth.

His feelings for Jamil didn't return; it seemed that they never went away.

* * *

Jamil went downstairs to the kitchen to see if there was anything to cook for breakfast, though it was closer to lunch now because he had slept in and took a shower first. He had lent Floyd the key to his apartment yesterday so he and Jade could get him some of his clothes while they investigated if any of the thugs that chased him were waiting for him there.

They did see three thugs subtly stalking around the building, so it still wasn't safe for him to return. Hopefully it would get resolved soon, he couldn't keep freeloading at Azul's house.

He stopped walking when he saw Azul standing in the living room, wearing a fresh suit and reading something on his phone.

"Oh hey," he greeted. "You decided to go to work after all?"

Azul looked up from what he was reading. "No, just the Lounge to see if everything's still running smoothly.”

Jamil furrowed his eyebrows. "Lounge, like Mostro Lounge? You built one again?"

As far as he knew, the Mostro Lounge at NRC closed when Azul graduated, to the disappointment of the younger students. He didn't know that another branch existed now.

Azul smiled. "Yes, it was the first thing that I established with Jade and Floyd when we arrived here, even before the company."

"That's pretty cool." Jamil knew how popular the Lounge was at NRC, and he had no doubt that it was still doing well now. "You really stuck with it."

"I do owe much of my success to the original one, so I thought I might as well recreate it here," Azul said. “Especially since I was already very familiar with how to manage it. Ruggie was our first staff member, and he was an extremely useful one for a long time before he resigned to explore other ventures."

"Are you leaving now?" Jamil asked. "I'll go with you."

Azul looked surprised at that. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" Jamil shrugged. "I'll just have lunch there, I won't get in the way."

"It's not that. I just thought you'd prefer to explore the city on your own, since that's what you always do in your travels," Azul said. "And you've seen NRC’s Mostro Lounge a hundred times already; it might be pretty boring in terms of adventurous explorations."

"Nah, I haven't been to the Lounge in years, and I wanna see what this new version is like."

Azul seemed to consider for a second before nodding. "Alright, let's go."

The drive took barely 15 minutes; it made sense that Azul built his first business here conveniently close to his house.

It looked very similar to the Mostro Lounge they had at NRC, but this one was twice as big. They entered the glass double doors, and the jazz music combined with the familiar blue and purple light softly glowing from the chandeliers above made Jamil feel nostalgic.

"Mr. Ashengrotto," a waiter approached them with a smile. "Will you be dining here today?"

"Yes, Marvin," Azul nodded. "A table for two, please."

They were led to a booth near the grand piano that stood in the middle. Just like in NRC's Mostro Lounge, the cushioned sofa formed an almost closed crescent, following the curve of the round table.

Azul and Jamil sat across from each other, and Marvin handed them menus.

"You pretty much kept this the same," Jamil said as he recognized almost all of the items.

"Hm, sentiment, I suppose," Azul said, and Jamil couldn't tell whether he was joking or not. "I just modified some ingredients to be more cost-effective without sacrificing quality. I'll have the steak," he told Marvin.

"Lamb and vegetable kebab for me," Jamil said.

"And a pitcher of lemongrass iced tea." Azul returned his menu. Jamil did the same.

"Right away, sirs," Marvin nodded politely and left.

"Do Jade and Floyd still help you manage this?" Jamil asked.

“All three of us legally own this place, but they don’t manage things anymore,” Azul said. "Jade is the head of the PR department at the company, and Floyd is the head of security. They're busy enough as it is."

"Wow, Floyd as head of security? How does that work?" Jamil asked curiously.

"Essentially, Floyd supervises their training along with other staff members, and if any of them makes a mistake or deliberately does something wrong, they answer to Floyd."

"Ah, now I get it. Way to motivate your security team."

Azul chuckled. "Don't worry, Floyd doesn't do any squeezing. His temper and erratic mood swings are enough to intimidate them. He could give a scolding as severe as Riddle's when he feels like it."

"Except he looks less like a strict leader and more like a crazy one," Jamil guessed.

"Exactly, so my security personnel know not to slack off on their duties."

"Your board of directors is okay with Floyd being like that?"

"They tried to question it back then, and I told them that if they had any problems with Floyd, they should complain to him directly. They didn't bring it up again after that." Azul said with a smirk.

"I wonder why," Jamil smiled. "Oh, speaking of the board, I realized that I don't have any fancy suit to wear for that event later."

"Not a problem, you can borrow one of mine. After this, we'll get back to the house and prepare to leave. The venue is about a 2-hour drive from there."

Their food arrived, and they discussed the plan for the event; how Jamil would pose as one of Azul's business associates, and how Jamil would have conversations with each board member in attendance to find out how their opinions could be swayed. Fortunately, they were sitting at a table far enough away from the other customers that the jazz music covered their low voices.

By the time they finished their meals and planning, it was time to leave.

"I said I would pay next time, right?" Jamil took out his wallet.

"Don't be ridiculous, I own the place." Azul frowned.

"I know, I'll just pay for my meal."

Azul sighed in exasperation. "You're still exceedingly stubborn."

"And you're being weird." Jamil placed his payment on the table. "Back then you had no problem with me paying at Mostro Lounge."

"You'll be leaving again soon, aren't you? Enjoy my generosity while you still can."

Jamil fell silent. That's right, once Jade and Floyd clear his name, he'd be going back to his apartment. And who knows when he would see Azul again?

"How long would you be staying in the country?" Azul asked.

"The plan was to leave next month but..." Jamil trailed off. He wanted to say that he could stay longer; it wasn't like he had anywhere urgent to go.

Though he wasn't sure if it was the wise decision. Now that he knew where Azul lived, he could find excuses to visit, and it wouldn't be good for either of them if his feelings for him grew. It might be better if he left the country altogether.

"I haven't really seen much of this place yet. What do you think?" Despite those reservations, he couldn't bring himself to say that he was leaving soon; his own words from last night echoing in his mind.

"I realized it too late. We were already in different worlds..."

A part of him was afraid that he'd leave only to discover later that he had been too late again in realizing something.

Azul's eyebrows furrowed. "What do I think of what?"

"Should I leave the country next month or stay for longer?" Jamil gave a shrug that he hoped looked indifferent enough.

Azul looked mildly surprised at the question, and somehow there seemed to be conflict in his eyes, but Jamil couldn't understand where it was coming from.

Azul opened his mouth to speak—

The doors burst open, making them both turn to the sound.

A man in a waiter's uniform came running in, closely followed by two other men in civilian clothing. With a shock, Jamil realized that the waiter was Ian, his co-worker at Queen's Lantern.

The doors had barely closed when they were pushed open again and Jade and Floyd appeared. They stopped for a brief second to take in the scene, then gave chase to the three men who were pushing tables and people out of the way in their panic.

"What on earth is happening?" Azul muttered and stood up.

Jamil followed suit just in time; he had barely gotten up from his chair when Floyd grabbed the tallest of the men and threw him across the room to crash on the table where Jamil had been eating just minutes ago.

The table tipped over from the force, and the man lay groaning among shards of broken glasses and plates.

Jade and Floyd were cornering the other guy and Ian, forcing them to back up to where he and Azul were standing.

Jamil saw the twins exchange glances with Azul, and an understanding seemed to pass among them.

The man on the floor got up with a grunt and tried to run away, but Azul grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back

The other guy pushed past Jamil as he ran away from Jade, but Jamil turned and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. But the guy headbutted him and pain seared up his nose and his forehead, and the guy was able to free his arm.

Jamil threw a punch and hit him squarely in the jaw; the guy staggered back and pulled out a switchblade.

Jamil stepped back as the knife slashed a few inches from where his torso had been. He quickly took note of the distance between them and aimed a kick at the guy’s groin, who yelped in pain before falling to his knees. Jamil put all his weight behind his punch and hit the guy in the face again, knocking him out.

He turned around to see Azul and Floyd each dealing with the two remaining men while Jade was off to the side talking with their security personnel.

Floyd had a smirk on his face while avoiding all of Ian’s punches and looming over him so he couldn’t run away. Jamil knew that Floyd could easily squeeze Ian if he wanted, but he was still enjoying the fight.

The muscular guy that Azul was fighting was slashing at him with a broken bottle; Azul sidestepped and slashed at the man’s hand with a steak knife, making him drop the bottle.

Jamil frowned as he watched Azul easily weave in and out of his opponent’s range, moving in to land his own blunt attacks with the handle of the knife and moving out to evade the man’s punches.

Since when was he able to move so gracefully? That wasn’t the Azul that couldn’t seem to make his legs cooperate while running laps in PE. His hits were precise too, particularly when he slashed the man’s hand while it was wildly swinging around that bottle.

Finally Azul grabbed an intact wine bottle from the floor and smashed it over his opponent’s head. The man fell in an unconscious heap.

Azul turned to Floyd who was now giggling while holding Ian in a headlock. “Floyd, that’s enough.”

“Mmkay,” Floyd released Ian and shoved him to the floor. “Stay there, my dude, or I’d have no problem playing with you again,” his grin showed his rows of sharp teeth.

Ian paled and stayed seated on the ground.

Jade approached Azul while their security personnel picked up the two unconscious guys and a terrified Ian from the ground. Floyd stopped the guards and took a selfie with the men getting taken away—Ian walking while the others were carried—and escorted somewhere to the back of the restaurant.

“I have arranged for our security staff to handle their turnover to the police,” Jade told Azul. “And I told our manager to refund every customer currently here as an apology for this unsightly inconvenience.”

Azul nodded and handed the steak knife to a nearby waiter who took it back to the kitchen. “Thank you, Jade.” Then he turned to face Jamil and frowned. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” Jamil’s hand instinctively went to his nose where he felt warm liquid slowly flowing out. His hand came away red. “Must have happened when that guy hit my nose with his head.”

“Hold still,” Azul stepped forward and took out a pen from his coat pocket.

It looked like an expensive fountain pen, and it was topped with a purple magic stone that Jamil recognized as the same one that was embedded in Azul’s staff back at NRC.

Azul pointed the pen at Jamil’s nose, muttering words under his breath as the gemstone glowed. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, and his purple-grey eyes were calm as he focused on the spell.

For someone who was just attacked and almost cut open with a broken wine bottle multiple times in his own establishment, Azul was perfectly composed and collected.

He stepped back and looked over Jamil for any other injuries.

Jamil wiped the remaining blood off under his nose. “You had combat training, didn’t you?”

Azul’s movements earlier were calculated yet instinctive, like he had learned and practiced them many times before. But it wasn’t just that, it took a particularly clear mind to perform the healing spell that Azul accomplished with ease.

Being Kalim’s servant back then, Jamil had undergone a combination of combat and healing training to equip him with skills to defend against assassins.

He couldn’t help but wonder what happened that made Azul think it was necessary to go through a similar training.

“Yes,” Azul didn’t elaborate on his answer before turning to Jade and Floyd. “Let’s discuss all of this back at the house. We have a little more time before the event later.”

They all got into Azul’s car, Jamil sitting up front while Jade and Floyd were at the back.

“I assume that had something to do with the incident at Queen’s Lantern?” Azul began as they drove away.

“Yeah, I recognized the guy that Floyd was fighting,” Jamil said. “He’s a waiter there.”

“He’s the one who actually nicked that pin,” Floyd told them. “Just dropped it into Jamil’s pocked ‘cause he got cold feet when the others didn’t show up on time to intercept it, and he didn’t wanna get caught with it in his own pocket.”

“Others?” Azul frowned.

“We discovered that he’s affiliated with a local gang of thieves who export valuables like antiquities,” Jade explained. “We have turned over all the information we have gathered to the proper authorities.”

“How did you gather all that information?” Jamil asked. “Did you interrogate them somehow?”

“We have our ways,” Jade smiled pleasantly as the car slowed to a stop at a red light.

Azul narrowed his eyes at them through the rearview mirror.

“We didn’t hurt anyone!” Floyd said defensively and took out his phone. “Anywho, I’ll check MagiCam to see if any of our customers posted about that kerfuffle earlier.”

“Any loose ends?” Azul directed his question to Jade.

“As far as we know, it’s a small gang with no known connections to any other criminals internationally or even outside the city,” Jade answered. “So far it doesn’t look like there’s anything to be worried about, and the detectives assured us that they would keep us in the loop for any updates.”

“Whoa!” Floyd suddenly said, and Jamil turned around in his seat to see him looking at his phone screen with his eyes wide.

“What is it?” Azul asked as he drove the car again.

Jade had leaned over to see the screen, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. They exchanged glances, but neither of them answered.

“Jade?” Azul’s voice had a warning edge to it, indicating that he had no patience for whatever the twins were doing.

Jade cleared his throat and sat properly again. “It’s not about Mostro Lounge or Queen’s Lantern, so there is no need to fret. We’ll discuss it when we get to the house.”

“What’s it about?” Azul raised an eyebrow.

“It’s nothing we can’t handle, I assure you,” Jade was smiling pleasantly again, but Jamil saw a hint of mischief, like whatever Floyd found was an inside joke of sorts.

Azul stayed skeptically silent.

“Have I ever lied about such things?” Jade said a little more seriously.

Azul sighed. “I suppose not. We’re almost home anyway, and I expect a full explanation from you two.”

“Nooo problem,” Floyd grinned. “I’ll even connect my phone to the TV so we can all see that exact post I saw.”

Jamil turned to face the front again, not sure what to make of the twins’ behavior. He recognized Floyd’s eagerness, though. That’s how he always got when he couldn’t wait to make fun of someone.

Maybe there was an embarrassing article or paparazzi picture of Azul that resurfaced? They didn’t seem worried at all, though. So Jamil didn’t think too much of it either.

* * *

They reached the house, and Floyd practically ran to the living room as soon as Azul unlocked the front door. He turned on the TV and immediately set up the connection with his phone.

“Alright, will you explain now?” Azul closed the door and joined them in the living room.

None of them bothered to sit down while they waited for Floyd’s reveal. Jade stood near his brother in front of the TV, and Jamil stood a few feet to Azul’s right.

“Heh, I think you’re the one with the explaining to do, Azul.” Floyd smirked and clicked a button on his phone, and the TV lit up with the MagiCam post.

Jamil’s eyes widened and he felt the blood rush to his face; he forgot how to breathe, and he couldn’t look away.

He stared unblinkingly at it, absorbing as much detail as possible, hoping to find something that would indicate it’s a fake, or that it was someone else.

But no. He remembered that day—that kiss—vividly. It was even harder to forget once he realized that he’d had feelings for Azul for a long time now.

The wall of the coffee shop, Azul holding his car key, him wearing his work uniform. He remembered it all.

What he didn’t remember was him wrapping his arm around Azul’s neck, but the photo clearly showed him doing that.

His face burned even more at the thought that he might have gotten carried away with the kiss and didn’t even realize that he had snaked his arm around Azul. What had gotten into him?

Whoever took the photo must have been in their car when the kiss happened, and they got out to take the photo and hid back in their car again afterwards, since Jamil didn’t see anyone at that parking lot when he left with Azul.

“That’s why you had those winestains on your shirt!” Floyd pointed an accusatory finger at Azul. “Sea Snake had wine spilled on him and y’all were pressed together real good!”

Jamil instinctively looked at Azul, and he saw that Azul’s face was burning as well. He was glaring at Floyd but he couldn’t seem to come up with any retort.

“I did that,” Jamil blurted out to the twins. He knew how much Azul hated paparazzi pictures, and he didn’t want him to have a misunderstanding with his closest friends. “Nadia’s thugs were chasing me and I bumped into Azul, and that’s the first thing I thought of. People instinctively look away from other people kissing in public…” he trailed off, it was much more embarrassing to say out loud.

“Nice, I like the way you think, Sea Snake!” Floyd snickered. “Oh! Let’s look at the comments!”

“We’ll manage this,” Azul said, still red in the face but gradually recovering his businessman personality. “Jade, trace the source of this photo and track where it’s been and who might have seen it. Idia can help with that. At the very least, Jamil’s face isn’t seen at all, his privacy wouldn’t be compromised.”

Azul began pacing the floor. “The photo looks like I’m the one who initiated it since I’m pinning him to the wall, so there would be no backlash or theories against that mystery person for taking advantage of a well-known businessman. I can release a statement clearing that person of any blame—”

“Azul,” Jade raised his voice to be heard above Azul’s panicked rambling.

Azul stopped pacing and turned to him.

“We could use this to our advantage,” Jade began calmly. “This could be exactly the solution we’re looking for. Azul Ashengrotto isn’t a bachelor anymore; he’s off the market and therefore cannot be forced into any dates. The photo is candid and looks very much authentic. If this goes viral, no one could say that you’re just pretending to have a significant other so your suitors would leave you alone.”

Jamil blinked at Jade’s words, his brain was still recovering from the shock and he might be misunderstanding what Jade was saying. Right?

He turned to Azul, and he looked just as baffled; his mouth was open and he was staring in shock at Jade’s implications.

“We can compose a deal that would be beneficial to both you and Jamil, a long-term solution to ensure that the board of directors and the public would permanently drop the subject of you marrying someone in the business world,” Jade continued.

“Ooh,” Floyd said with growing interest. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Jade turned to Jamil and smiled pleasantly. “Jamil, how do you feel about marrying Azul?”

—

Author’s Note:

- This update took much longer to post than I thought. Thank you so much for waiting! - My file even got corrupted at one point (even though I save online) and I thought I had lost more than 11K words-- - I almost broke down at the time but hey I recovered the file and got back to work and now we're here! - I hope you had fun reading this chapter! It was certainly fun writing it~

- The art for that MagiCam picture is made by @patchyegg87, she has made a bunch of other TWST fanart so check out her blog if you're interested!

- She also made the art for Roxanne, Silva, and Thracius. And she helped me build their characters, so they're her OCs as much as mine <3 - The icons I used for the MagiCam people are pics I randomly found on the internet, I don't own any of them (apart from the 1 or 2 that I picked at random from my camera roll). - The MagiCam usernames are randomly generated + combined with a few of my own ideas.

I appreciate all of you for being patient with this update! And to new readers, welcome! I hope you had fun~

I'll be working on "Granting Favors" next (among other fics, but I'll be posting "Granting Favors" first!). And as always, I'll be posting writing updates on my Twitter and Tumblr.

—

<-- Chapter 1

(Masterlist)

(Ko-fi)

51 notes · View notes