#twst oneshots

[vera-deville]

I Will Say (I'm Fucked)

05/06/2024 - 05/10/2024

Pairing: Leona Kingscholar x Reader Word Count: 2,027 Warnings: The usual cursing; Y/N does the infamous Wattpad stuttering (it's only one line, I promise-) Gender: AFAB Tags: @viviennevermillion, @achy-boo, @savanaclaw1996, @otomyoli, @chroniccorvus Notes: This is the third and final installment to this fic, so please read the previous two parts for more context!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

In which Leona finally asks out his favorite herbivore.

"Shit." Y/N hissed as she swung open the door to her dorm, only to reveal a certain blonde stalker outside.

"You're late Trickster~" Rook sang.

"I know, I know, don't tell Vil though-" You replied, eyes practically begging for him to give you a free pass.

"Seeing as you're not in Pomefiore..." He began, "I suppose I could let it slide this once."

You heaved a sigh of relief, until you felt that heave get locked in your throat at the sight of another person behind Rook.

Vil Schoenheit.

Vil Schoenheit was the house warden of Pomefiore, a house belonging to the esteemed Night Raven College (or NRC for short). He was a well-renowned actor, a celebrity in his own right, and possessed beauty that rivaled no other (except for maybe Neige in the eyes of some Rook). He was known for his strictness, but no one could deny the results that emerged from them (except for maybe Epel).

Vil Schoenheit was also a good friend of Y/N. One of her closest friends, in fact. And as such, his generosity knew no limits with her.

Hence why she was getting torn into pieces as the trio walked to their respective classrooms.

"Vil, as much as I love you, I will not hesitate to throw your new eyeshadow palette into the garbage if you don't stop harassing me in the hallways this morning." You told the beauty queen.

Seething, he replied, "You will do no such thing." Eyes steel cold, he walked a little faster ahead as he continued, "As a Prefect, I expect you to uphold certain virtues even if you do not have many people in your dorm.

You sneered at this.

"Don't tell me how to do my job Schoenheit."

"Then do it properly Prefect."

Rook watched as the two of you glowered over one another, simply happy to be basking in the presence of his friends (plus it was always amusing when you and Vil would argue). He knew that despite your differences, the two of you were as close as friends could be. Even your bickering was in loving nature.

Soon enough, you reached your class and the Pomefiore duo bade goodbye to you before making their way to their class. Smiling to yourself, you played the last five minutes in your head over and over, highlighting your favorite bits as you sat in your seat.

Mozus Trein was a very particular individual. The subject he taught wasn't necessarily popular amongst the students of NRC, but amongst the fair few who did enjoy the class was the Prefect of Ramshackle.

You.

History did by no means come easy to you, but seeing as you were in a completely different world and said world had magic in it, reading history books was more or less akin to reading fairytales. And there were so many of them-

In short, you were something of a fan of Twisted Wonderland's history.

And it showed great results.

"Well done again Y/N." Professor Trein smiled at you as he placed the test paper on your desk. "You seem to have done exceptionally well on the essay portion of your test."

You thank him and say, "Well, the history of Briar Valley is particularly fascinating."

"Every bit the teacher's pet, I see." The professor jested.

You gawked in response.

Class ended sooner than you wished (in your defense, it really was an interesting class), but the rumbling of your stomach opened avenue to better things in life.

In other words - lunch.

Walking alongside Grim, you meet the rest of your first year friends in the cafeteria. With your utensils in hand, you were oh so ready to dig in when a certain red-head interrupted you.

"Yo Y/N."

"What is it Ace?" You asked, annoyed at the timing he had.

"Leona's been watching you really intensely." He noted. But then his smile turned mischievous. "When'd you piss him off?"

Having had enough of him already, you smacked the back of his head, nearly breaking out a grin after hearing Deuce choke on his sandwich when he laughed at the action. "I didn't do shit Trappola. Don't jinx it-"

Rubbing the back of his head, he said, "You're fucking crazy, you know that, right?"

"Damn straight."

Jack, though not fond of the use of vulgar language, did also find the situation funny, and barely managed to conceal a snort as he ate his own food. Epel on the other hand felt no need to conceal his as he guffawed his enthusiasm all whilst bits and pieces of food fell out.

Unfortunately for Epel, he did not notice the looming figure of his house's warden steadily approaching him.

"It seems our lessons still haven't gotten through to you Baby Potato." Vil sneered as Epel whipped around to see him, clearly not expecting to see him. "No matter. I'll be sure to whip you into shape soon enough."

The rest of the first years watched as Epel visibly shivered at Vil's words and as he was dragged away by the said man.

"It's not fair! Y/N and Ace cursed too!"

Whipping his head around to glare at the other two perpetrators, Vil only shook his head before continuing to drag Epel to his immediate lessons.

Epel felt betrayed, and Ace's stink eye wasn't really making matters better.

Rook slunk around to you before anyone else could notice, and managed to say one thing before Vil called for him.

"Roi des Lions seems to be very interested in something in your direction my dear Trickster."

You looked around your friends, trying to determine if they'd heard what Rook had said, but Lady Luck seemed to be on your side because they were still busy watching Epel get dragged away.

Shooting Rook a glare as he went on his merry way to wreak havoc elsewhere, you decided to chance a peek at the lion who now two very annoying (but for some reason highly observant) people had mentioned was staring at you.

Sure enough, he was indeed staring at you.

Not in a smoldering way (which is what you assumed), but rather a lazy manner which befit his personality wholly.

And upon noticing you looking at him in return, Leona's lazy stare mutated into a sly grin (also befitting his personality wholly) before he finally turned his gaze to his food.

The interaction left you feeling a tad giddy, but mainly because he was such an intimidating figure. Not because you had a large sweltering crush on him or anything.

Oh wait.

We're done being in denial now, aren't we?

So maybe, just maybe, the giddiness could be attributed to the chemical infatuation you had with the man.

It was later on in the day, around the time that classes were ending for the day that you found Ruggie.

Or rather, Ruggie found you.

And boy was he weird as hell (weirder than usual, that is).

You noticed that the lavender-colored flower petal tangled in his scarf as he simply watched you for a full 5 seconds (yes, you counted), and then proceeded to do his little hyena laugh before saying "Have fun Y/N~"

However, Twisted Wonderland was full of weirdos, and if you gave every single one of them the time of your day, you'd be stuck the resident therapist. Not that you don't already do that.

Besides, you had to get to Professor Crewel's class, and no one wanted to be late for that-

This time, Lady Luck was not on your side because you had in fact been late (albeit by a few mere seconds), but it was enough to be called out in front of the whole class by Crewel and put a damper on your already dampered mood.

You couldn't wait for classes to be done with already-

Sucking it up, you propelled through the class, only to lose all motivation by the end of it, because Crewel had assigned homework. And a lot of it.

The homework in itself wasn't anything too difficult. If there was something you didn't know, all you had to do was reference a textbook, and that'd be it. The problem lied in the fact that Crewel had assigned a 1,500 word essay regarding any potion of the students' choice and they had to finish it over the weekend.

This was too much. Even for Crewel.

Grim wanted to go watch Ace's basketball practice with Deuce, and you figured that you could use the time alone and maybe even get a head start on your essay, so you walked with vigor back to Ramshackle.

When you got there, a tall figure rests against your door, and you nearly jump back in fright from the sight.

"Leona!? What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

Oooooh, that was smooth (although anything that came out of his mouth seemed smooth at this point).

Deciding to be a little braver than usual, you pranced right up to him, faking a confident smile and asked, "what for?"

And that's when a flurry of lavender was gently jolted into your line of sight.

It took a few seconds, but you were eventually able to will yourself to look at Leona instead of the flowers.

"I'm here to ask you out."

Now your heart had gone quiet too.

"Uh-" You started, "I-me?"

Real smooth.

"Who else for, Herbivore?" Leona asked, eyebrow raising questioningly.

"Just wondering," you make out meekly. So much for the brave confident girl act.

Trying to regain mobility in your arms, you tried to gracefully accept the flowers.

"You look like a mechanical doll." Leona commented on the strange way your limbs seemed to move.

That seemed to snap you out of your lovestruck daze as you grabbed the flower bouquet with one hand and hit Leona's arm with the other.

Not it felt awkward.

You still hadn't responded to the whole 'I came here to ask you out' thing and you'd also just slapped the guy (although it wouldn't have done any damage whatsoever on him) right after you grabbed the flowers he got for you.

You kinda wanted to disappear at the moment.

"So?" Leona prodded. Looking up at him again, trying to find the words, he continued "do you want to go out with me?"

You like to think it was his eyes. His eyes though intimidating, also bring some strange sense of calmness over you. And it was those eyes that made you answer him clear-headed.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

And now that you were a little more clear in the mind, you noticed how Leona's facial expression showed the tiniest bit of expression - relief. And that's when you realized that you weren't the only nervous person in this situation. Leona (although to what extent, you were unsure) was also anxious, clearly about what your answer, your decision would be.

"Great. I'll see you at The Winstonian next Friday at 7:00 P.M."

The Winstonian? That sounded fancy.

"I'll see you then Leona."

Nodding, Leona started walking away when you interrupted him with a question.

"Hey Leona? What's the dress code?"

"Just wear something formal."

That was a problem. You didn't have anything formal in your closet (aside from your NRC uniforms, but you really didn't think anyone would wear that to a first date-

Leona waited a moment to see if you had any more questions before sauntering off back to his dorm.

"Leona!"

He turned around.

Pushing your rapidly beating heart down your chest, you asked, "Can you help me with this essay I have to write for Crewel?"

It wasn't much, and sure, the date was in a week, but letting him go now seemed like such a waste. Maybe you could spend just a teensy bit of time with him before the big night.

Leona's eyes glowed a green ember.

"Sure Herbivore."

You couldn't help the grin from spreading on your face as you invited the lion into your dorm and at the idea of a totally not study date with him before the actual first date.

God you were so fucked for this man.

Author's Note: Alright, so this (not originally planned to be) series is officially over! I hope I did the last part justice and that you enjoyed reading it (not gonna lie, it feels like it's missing something), but I have decided that if I ever find out something that I want to add to this, I can always do so in the form of drabbles. Also, it's worth mentioning that the original idea I had for this story was that Leona would keep trying to ask out the reader, but fail a whole bunch of times before succeeding. I obviously went down a different route, but I might write that story idea separately (not affiliated with this series). Thank you for reading!

Masterlist

[trappolia]

NRC BOYFRIEND TEXTS ── deuce spade x gn!reader

[olivyh]

Howdy do~! Since requests are open, I would like to request a fluffy fanfic in which Falena, Leona's older brother, invites Leona's female s/o to visit the palace after hearing about her from Cheka. Of course, Leona feels a little reluctant to introduce his girlfriend to his family. How will the visit play out? Thanks a lot!

A/N: thank you for the request <33 I was a little nervous about writing another Leona fic- his character is so interesting to explore but I'm always worried about him being ooc </3 this came out a lot longer than my other fics for some reason,,,, also I only have two more weeks left in the UK <//3 but that means more time & energy put into this acc <33

The beastman bites back a grumble as he tosses his phone off the side of the bed, not caring when he hears the device hit the ground with a thud and a crack. The prince turns his attention to the setting sun outside, the heat of the Savanna finally dying down and cooling down the sweat that had beaded on his skin from practice. He could hear the rest of the dorm through the thick wood of his door, wincing when he hears a shout and then something shattering.

His brother had invited him to the palace (One call and about eighty messages that he had refused to answer to), followed by about a million calls from Kifaji (the old bird really didn't know when to shut up, did he?), and, finally, a call from his sister-in-law. He could tell by the calm bite of her voice that she was no longer requesting that he bring his love to the palace- she was demanding that he do so. Leona has no choice but to begrudgingly give in to her wishes, despite the desperate clench of his heart at the thought alone.

The man rolls onto his back, taking a deep, shaky breath that rattles his chest as he throws his head back against the silk pillows and allowing the cold to seep into the back of his neck, eyes tracing over the shapes of the beams that crisscrossed his ceiling. The chill of the outside air mercilessly traces weak lines in his skin, penetrating every pore until it finds a home deep within his bones as a sudden burst of annoyance has him letting out a weak growl as he grabs a pillow and throws it as hard as possible at the wall, the fabric making contact with a soft thud as it lays limply against the wall.

"Shit," The man growls, thinking of the castle. His mind spirals, pulling and pulling until it unearths memories that he'd hidden long ago, tugging the emotions with it.

Confinement.

Isolation.

Fear.

As much as he'd hated NRC, it was his home. He couldn't imagine being forced back into that prison, decorated in intricate patterns of gold and jewels as far as the eye could see. The lock that had kept him confined was decorated in rubies and amber, the clinking would have driven him mad if he hadn't gotten out of there as soon as he could. He remembered how the cold felt there too, how it seemed to bite at any and all exposed skin, how the stars provided little comfort against the darkness of the night when his mind would wander into the shadows of the Pridelands and offer itself to the claws of his birthright.

He was free in NRC, he was free with his lover. He could be carefree, smile and nip at their shoulders playfully without the jeers of the servants and maids, without the confines of propriety looming over him. Leona wanted nothing more than to isolate them from that world he grew so accustomed to.

"Leona?" His door creaks open, and he rolls over, raising an eyebrow.

"What is it?" He grumbles, staring at the figure of the human slowly approaching his bedside. In the darkness he could make out their smile, soothing the ache within him for a moment as they slowly place their knee on the edge of his bed, raising their hand and brushing some of his sweat-soaked hair off of his forehead. They don't flinch at the feeling.

"I was going to ask you to shower, but," They finally sit beside him, rubbing a warm hand over his shoulder gently. "What's wrong?"

They were so soft with him that he felt as though he would rather die sometimes, their feather-light touch reminiscent of the reverential touch upon blown glass or the petals of a flower. Not the touch of a second-born prince cursed with the touch of destruction.

Not that he wanted them to stop, ever.

"Kipenzi," He mumbles the pet name quietly, despite how loud the rumble of his deep baritone seems to rock the air around the couple. "My family wants to meet you." The excited look that flashed in their eye for a moment breaks his heart, even more so at the crestfallen look that falls over their face not even a moment later. The silence in the room is deafening, as though the insects and animals outside the dorm had been just as shocked by the statement as his lover.

"How do you feel about it?" They ask after a moment. Leona freezes.

"I have to bring you. I don't have a choice anymore," The beastman grabbed the hand that rested on his shoulder and pressed a chaste kiss to their open palm. When they'd first started dating he wouldn't have ever dared to do such a thing. What a fool they make of him. A lovesick fool.

"You do," The mutter. Leona can't bring himself to meet their eyes, opting to stare blankly at the way their shirt fits around their torso, memorizing every crease of the fabric. "I don't have to go."

An odd part of him yearns for them to tell him that they wanted to go, for them to see the place that made him the man in front of them, a reasoning behind what he really is and what will never be- a future that he wanted neither of them to be a part of.

"Cheka misses you," He knew he wasn't a lie, but he knew for sure that nobody had told him that. It was likely the little rat that told his brother about his lover. "We should go for him."

He feels the way the air shifts around him with their smile as they lightly pull way their hand, the lion biting back a disgruntled huff at the loss of warmth.

"Let's go, then," They sit up. "You need to shower first."

"Make me."

"I'll join."

Leona chuckles. "Deal."

The next morning crept through the open windows, the sun gleaming almost painfully against his eyelids as he slowly remembered what would be transpiring that day. His lover seemed to be much more excited about this trip than he was, so he forced himself to bite back any bitter comments. He passed through the mirror in a blur, settling in as they meet in the center of the square, whisked away in a split second by a chauffeur and sent flying off towards the palace.

"I'm sorry," He mumbles to them quietly in the backseat, his tail making its way around their wrist and holding it firmly. "I wanted you to do some sightseeing."

"No worries," They smile up at him, eating away at his guilt. He knew he was being stubborn, and that he was shutting down again.

Please, he begged his mind, not now. Anytime but now.

"I missed you so, so, so much!" They didn't even have a minute to step out of the car properly before Cheka had sped his way over to the couple, wrapping his arms around the human's legs affectionately and blinking up at them with round, deep chocolate-brown eyes.

"Hi, Cheka!" They chirp, crouching so they could hug the young prince properly, nuzzling the top of his hed affectionately. "I missed you too, little guy!"

Leona bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a familiar warmth blossom in his chest. It was no secret that he cared deeply for his nephew- despite how often he shoved him away and called him a pest. It was a secret, however, how much he adored the relationship between his lover and the young boy, how their friendship grew and developed the more time they spent together. Cheka had told Leona once that he'd considered them to be in the same position as Leona- family, and a mentor, and a playmate.

"Come on! Baba's waiting inside!" The small cub tugs at their arms, leaving servants to unpack their bags from the car and lug them into the palace. He can't help but notice how the human's footsteps waver as they enter the building, in awe of the intricate tapestries and the sheer size of the place. The grand entry hall was lined with statues made of pure iron and draped in golds and silvers, the multicolored gemstones that hung from their necks cast splinters of color through the hall as they caught the sunlight and threw it.

The wide, open windows adorning the hall and framed in exquisite silk curtains that hung loosely to the ground let in the harsh sunlight of the savanna and allowed them to see over the vast swaths of land that the Kingscholars ruled over, houses and builds as far as the eye could see. Servants bowed to the Prince and his lover, lowering their heads as they turned their eyes to the floor.

Leona couldn't help but notice the way they tensed at the action, walking ever-so-slightly closer to the beastman. He leans over, careful of any prying ears.

"You okay?" They bite their lip and gulp, looking straight ahead of them and nodding. He grabs their hand in his own, noticing how their palms were slick with sweat as a chill settled on their fingertips despite the heat. "Don't be scared by it. It's all just a show." His voice sends a noticeable chill up their spine, which, under normal circumstances, he would take pride in being able to tease them with his voice alone. Now, however, it worried him more than anything.

Another nod and an affirmative squeeze from the beastman, a promise of more comfort once they were away from the countless eyes of the servants and other visiting nobles.

The doors to the greeting room swing open, and Leona feels the way their grip tightens upon seeing his brother and wife standing at the end of the long carpet, framed by the backs of their thrones.

"Glad you could make the trip, kaka mdogo," Farena states plainly, a grateful smile dancing onto his lips as Leona scoffs slightly, nodding towards the man. "I suppose this is your lover, then?"

He nods and takes a step forward, gently pulling the nervous human with him.

"Yeah, this is them," He says, rather informally in contrast to the air that the King and Queen give off. Out of the corner of his eye he can see them smile up at him softly, their grip on his hand loosening in the slightest.

His brother's wife steps closer to them and Leona feels torn- the nervous look on their face made his heart scream to protect them and hold them close, but he was also terrified of angering the lioness. He opts to stand next to them, frozen.

She gingerly lifts a hand. "May I?" They nod and she places her hand on their cheek. "Relax, sweetheart."

Her soft tone- the same tone she uses when she speaks to Cheka oftentimes, Leona notices- seems to work wonders on them as they take a shaky breath, smiling nervously. "You're stunning." she chuckles. "It's no wonder Leona fell for you."

"T-thank you, Your Highness," They sputter, flushing a bit under the attention.

"Shani works fine, my dear," She corrects softly, backing away for a moment. "Please, no need to be so nervous. You're practically family now."

Family.

The word seemed to hang in the air for a moment, still as it hovered just out of reach of Leona's fluffy ears atop his head. Was that it? It was strange, he hardly felt as though he were a Kingscholar himself. However...

Hearing they could become one made his heart race, imagining their first name paired with his last. Their form, which he had grown to love so deeply. He misses the second half of the conversation, too lost in his own mind to even notice the way his nephew clung to his legs and tried to grab at his tail.

"Come now, we prepared an early dinner," The woman motions for the human to walk beside her. They look to him, an uncertain look in their eye as he uses a similar hand motion, silently telling them that he's right behind them.

His chair was too far from theirs at the elaborate table, too much food and too much space for a fairly small gathering, the dining hall was meant for larger groups. The other end of the table felt desolate and cold, a lifetime away from the warmth of the top of the table. Leona remembered how he would sit at that far end with his mother, and his father would sit on the other end with Farena.

"-Oh, he was such a dear-" The man in question chuckles, sending a warm glance at his younger brother, who focuses more on mindlessly stirring the liquid in his cup. "He would often come into my room when we were younger, you see-"

"Farena," Leona begins, a warning note slipping onto the end of his words like a weight.

"Please, Leona," The man's words would be a plea, if not for the shifting of power underneath the breaths that escaped his mouth. "Jokes aside, we truly are glad that Leona had finally found a lover, I was truly beginning to worry."

"You think I was that hopeless?" The younger prince snarls.

"I wouldn't say hopeless," Shani places a firm hand on her husband's shoulder, a frown on her face. "Uninterested, I would say."

His human giggles, casting a teasing glance over at Leona as his frown deepens. The pull of the longing for solitude begins to eat away at his heart, his mind racing to gather any sort of excuse to finish the dinner as quickly as possible.

"I'm glad I managed to catch his interest," They begin.

"How did the two of you meet? I can imagine it was rather difficult to meet, seeing that you're quite different," The King begins.

"They stepped on my damn tail when I was trying to take a nap," Leona shoots a sly grin over at them, a little embarrassed at being questioned in front of his entire family. Minus-

"It wasn't my fault!" They deny, taking a small sip of water.

"I'm sure there's a dent there somewhere."

"Is there really?" Cheka asks quietly, voice breaking towards the end in near terror. "Can that happen?"

"No, my love," The Queen comforts the boy, casting him a short smile. "It was an exaggeration."

"Then they snuck into my room and disturbed my sleep. I had to put them in their place somehow," He glances over to the flustered human.

"N-not in that way, your Majesties. There were issues at my dorm-"

"Keep tellin' yourself that," He could see the way their eyebrows furrow on their forehead as the shade decorating their face darkens more by the minute. They eat in silence after that, occasionally filling the space with other questions- mostly of their life at NRC and their family. The second prince detested his forgetfulness as he noticed the quake in their voice when they spoke of the home they could not return to. The King and Queen seem to notice

"Cheka," He hears his lover say softly. Leona's gaze travels over to them as they lean far off their chair, far enough that if the armrest weren't there they would be tumbling to the ground. Their hand was extended, gently wiping off the juice that the boy had spilled down his chin as it dripped onto his shirt, staining the expensive fabric. "Here, sweetheart." Their tone was gentle, loving as they wiped at his chin with the napkin. The boy looks up at them, beaming, the gap from his missing tooth only serving to add to the wide-eyed gaze of the young prince (Leona vaguely remembers the boy excitedly telling him about the missing tooth over a video call, brandishing the tooth like a trophy as he held it a little too close to the camera for the man's liking).

Something about the way they treated him with such kindness, a gentleness compared to the reprieve of a soft breeze on a hot day. Leona practically feels the ghost of their fingertips against his flushed skin, a chill down his spine.

In that moment, it was as though a door had opened. Every day and every night- sometimes within the palace, others in a place of their own far, far from the Afterglow Savana- with them, with his family, a concept that was foreign to him. Just as untouchable as the fairytales trapped within the Royal Library.

There weren't many times that Leona could say he was jealous of Ruggie, but hearing the kindness of his grandmother and the close bond of his neighborhood would often cause Leona's ears to twitch in agitation, envy creeping up his spine.

Now he felt as though he had it.

"It's getting late," Leona mutters, standing. "Come on, I want you to meet someone else."

They nod and stand, bidding the others goodbye as they follow him down the hallway, into a darker corner of the palace. Tapestries line the walls as they approach a room, a dark wooden door decorated in gold embellishments. Leona slowly knocks, the sound of the bed creaking followed by a hoarse voice sounding from within.

"Baba," Leona mutters.

"Leona? Mwanangu?" The King sits up, long gray hair frames his aged face, lines with wrinkles and scars from days past. The dulled spark within his deep brown eyes- the same as Farena's and Cheka's- fills the beastman in front of him with a deep sadness.

"Yes, Baba," Leona grabs his lover's hand and leads them inside, only letting go to pull up two chairs by the man's bedside. "It's me. I bought my partner, too." His voice had taken on the soft tone he often used with his dying father (Leona didn't want to consider him dying, but seeing the weariness in his eyes and the tremors of his wrinkled hands made him believe otherwise). The man's eyes wearily travel over to the human before them. Leona thought it would have been poetic should they have been in a novel of sorts, or perhaps one of the cheesy movies he claims to hate so much.

A fallen king, a lost human, and a second-born prince.

For a moment the man is silent, the human's worried gaze turning more and more tearful by the minute. They only have to wait a second before Leona winds his tail around their wrist, pulling it to lay in his lap so he could play with their hands, just the way he knows they like it.

"What a lovely little human," The old king finally speaks, lines on his face deepening with the toothy grin that breaks loose- a shadow of his strength, Farena told him once. "You have kind eyes, child."

"T-thank you..." They mumble, ducking their head slightly.

"Tell me," The man chuckles, raspy voice a whisper against the commotion of the savannah outside. "Has my son been treating you well?"

"Baba-"

His human smiles, before breaking into laughter. "Better than I could have ever imagined."

"I'm glad."

As the two talk, Leona feels a comfort seep into the cracks of his heart, filling the void that was once there. It spreads through his chest. His father- the strongest man he knew- and his human- the loveliest person he'd ever been given the privilege to meet, let alone hold- talking so casually, about him no less.

The time passes too quickly for Leona's liking. The beastman would have rathered the second creep by like they do during his lectures, or in the way they do when he's alone at night without the warmth of his lover beside him. However, the king is tired. Leona knows better than to hold his father any longer than physically possible.

Once out in the hallway, the human sighs and practically collapses against the wall, holding up their trembling hands. Leona chuckles, stepping closer to them and casting them in his shadow- an act that, at first, appeared intimidating now served as a means of protection as he hid them from the world and sacrificed himself to be their shield.

He feels as though he's lost control as he steps closer, prompting them to gaze up at him with those tender eyes that he adores so much. Any unlucky spectator would think he was annoyed when they wrapped their arms around his broad shoulders, but the two of them knew better, The annoyed quirk of his brow spoke a silent 'don't stop', the swish of his tail was merely to stop it from wrapping around their waist and pulling them impossibly closer.

He can't stop his arms when he places his calloused hands on their hips, pressing them flush against him.

"Leona-" They mutter, burying their face in the crook of his neck. "The servants-"

"We're all alone here," He chuckles under his breath, lowering his head so his breath brushes against their ear with every syllable. If he wanted to, he could scrape his fangs against their earlobe to fluster them further.

He was in no teasing mood for that, his main goal to find an outlet for this swell of affection that seemed to make his heart burst.

Leaning closer, he presses a warm kiss to their temple. He moves down more, giving extra attention to the tip of their nose and the gentle curve of their cheek. He finally presses a deep kiss to their lips, finally able to spill out what had been building over the course of the day; All the 'I love you's that went unsaid; every single moment they made him feel so damn soft.

"Ninakupenda," He gasps softly when they part for air, engraving their flushed expression in his mind. He feels their hands trail through his hair, taking a lock and twirling it in their fingers as they beam up at him.

"Ninakupenda, my king."

[duskymrel]

Lilia Vanrouge teaches Sex Ed

Synopsis: You and Malleus have been dating for a month or so. Lilia walks in on you two making out, and decides to embarrass the both of you.

Warning: Mentions of sex, Sex Ed, fem reader, light cursing

You were in Malleus's room, sitting on his lap. The two of you were kissing, and god, you couldn't get enough of this man. The two of you had been dating for a month or so, and it's probably the happiest you've been. Hell, even in the middle of making out with you, he was so sweet and gentle. It was just such a wholesome moment.

Until Lilia ruined it. 😒

Grandpa walks in to ask Malleus something, but completely disregards it when he sees what's happening. He surveys the situation and smirks, seeing a golden opportunity to embarrass the two of you.

(He's such a little bitch istg)

He clears his throat and you're so startled you deadass fall off of Malleus's lap. You get up, redder than Bob the Tomato. Lilia chuckles and says,

"It seems like I need to have a talk about the bats and the bugs with you two, hm?"

You blush more and Malleus somehow gets even paler than he already is.

"Lilia, that is not necessary. I am an adult, I do not need to have such a talk."

"Hush, Malleus. I raised you, I'll talk about whatever I want. Now, who wants to know what a clitoris is? 😃"

You swear Death could come for you right now and you would jump into his arms and thank him.

You and Malleus sit through 2 hours of: "Do what you want, but you should at least trim the bush" "Remember, Malleus, the female erotic zones are: neck, fingertips, inner thigh, nipples, ears, and palms!" "Now this is an ovary." "If you get her pregnant I will boil your teeth and pickle your balls and have them casually sitting on my desk as a reminder to never cross me 😇" "Take STD tests just to be safe!" "Now, when the sperm meets the egg-" "And this is a testicle." "Some of the most popular positions are..." "Remember, kids, don't forget to wrap it before you tap it! Speaking of which, Y/N, here's a banana and a condom to practice."

"That's not big enough. Shouldn't it at least be to scale so she has accurate practice?"

"Oh my God, Malleus. Shut up!!!"

"Fuhuhuhu, that's a good idea Malleus. You're really getting into this~!"

Honestly throughout most of it you and Mal-Mal are just dying of embarrassment, and you hold hands while blushing madly.

When Lilia's finally done, he leaves with a satisfied grin on his face, having thoroughly made the both of you die inside. You and Malleus agree to never speak of it again.

"Hey, babe?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Do you maybe want to... put some of that into practice~? 😏"

~~~~~~~~~

Suggested by a friend.

Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to make requests. :)

[noeou]

UNTWISTED NEVERLAND. or to our happily ever after.

you’re taken to the nrc in real life and plan to create your own storyline, one where they never suffer.

“should i read the manga in the meantime?”

you had finished all the available books in twisted-wonderland at least ten times, it was fair to say you memorized it. you tapped the student you chose on your home screen, smiling at the sound of his voice. the fun thing about not understanding japanese was that you could imagine them saying whatever you wanted.

you were snapped out of your thoughts at the sound of horses. you sat up, looking around in confusion. no one was home except for you, increasing the volume of what you had heard a tenfold.

you rushed to your window, peeking through the blinds. your eyes met a black carriage, pulled by two horses but there was no driver. ‘maybe they’re at the door..’ you thought, backing away from the glass. you picked up your phone and rushed to the kitchen, you could see the porch from its window.

but no one was there, that you could remember.

PROLOGUE: a second welcome. | chapter one is currently unavailable.

BOOK 1: FINISH PROLOGUE TO UNLOCK!

BOOK 2: FINISH BOOK 1 TO UNLOCK!

BOOK 3: FINISH BOOK 2 TO UNLOCK!

BOOK 4: FINISH BOOK 3 TO UNLOCK!

preorder-ers: @beorngarden @tokyosimp @vyndiesel @sleep-ydragon @ryokuu @nerdy-simp-7120 @madamdiaval (if your name isn’t gray, i couldn’t tag you.)

app updates: untwisted neverland was posted on may 21, 2022.

1.0: this will take an otome game approach, like you can gain affection and what not, so that it’s clearer for you to see if you’re on the right track or not, this is a choose your own story. \ untwisted neverland will follow the plot of the game therefore there may be spoilers. read at your own discretion. however, because you are ‘changing the future’ it wont be exactly the same events. \ i decided to change the name to this because i felt that ‘my next life as dorm leader’ wasn’t accurate.

[yandere-daydreams]

Title: Dragon On The Tower Roof.

Pairing: Yandere!Malleus x Reader (TWST).

Word Count: 4.2k.

TW: Fantasy AU, Mentions of Blood/Bruising, Mentions of Injury to Reader, Implied (Consensual) Sex, Possessive Behavior, and Manipulation.

Malleus met you at the base of his tower.

With a single movement of his wings, he descended from his perch and landed in front of you – placing himself between you and the stone behemoth. Had you been a more imposing figure, a knight or a prince or the general of some distant army, he would’ve cut you down the moment you entered his valley, but your only armor was a thin rucksack tunic and your only weapon was a rusted sword – the tip of its chipped blade currently planted in the ground as you struggled to keep yourself on your feet. He could smell blood on you, although he couldn’t be sure if its source was the jagged, poorly bandaged wound on your calf or the dark stains painting your humble clothes. You were clearly not a knight, much less a prince, and if you were a general, your army had abandoned you long ago. Altogether, you were not the most intimidating nuisance he had ever had to dismiss. He might’ve been grateful, had you not been a nuisance at all.

In the past, his visage alone had been enough to make even the bravest adventure abandon their quest, but your weary eyes only glazed over his black-scaled wings, his spiraling horns, the slit pupils of his unnaturally green eyes. You acknowledged him with a slight nod, putting more of your weight on your makeshift aid. “I believe I’m here to slay you, dragon.”

His greeting, likewise, came in the form of a bowed head, a narrowed gaze. “And to rescue the prince, I assume.”

You shrugged, the gesture alone threatening to cost you your balance. “I’m sure they’d prefer if I didn’t. I think they’ve got someone else for that – a lord, or maybe a king. Someone more befitting than a filthy criminal, surely.”

At that, Malleus felt the ghost of a smile tug at the corner of his lips. Novelty was rare, this far into his everlasting life, and he could not say he’d ever had a prisoner sent after his head. “What sort of crime gets you sent to the lair of a monster?”

You brightened at the question. “Thievery,” you answered, pride overshadowing your exhaustion. “I could either face you or let them cut off my hands and, well, I find those to be quite essential to my burgeoning career.”

This time, you earned an airy laugh, a reflexive flick of his tail. He took another moment to evaluate you before speaking. “You are tired, thief.”

It wasn’t a question, but you answered regardless. “It was a long journey. You aren’t an easy monster to reach.”

“And injured, presumably by the fangs of some great beast of legend.”

“Right again.” You paused, then added, “If there are any legends about wolves, I mean.”

“And hungry.” Your smile fell. When you failed to respond, he went on. “May I invite you to share a meal with me before our battle?”

He watched as you swallowed, as you straightened. Your sword was pulled from the ground and allowed to hang limply at your side as you stared up at him with such a hopeful expression – his heart, had it not been so terribly calloused, might’ve broken at the sight alone. “Well,” you started, your humor gone in exchange for pure, unabashed desperation. “I suppose I can’t refuse such a kindly offered invitation.”

With no further conversation, he stepped to the side, raising his staff to the tower. After only a moment, the endless cobblestone pulled away to reveal a simple, wooded door – already open and awaiting his entry. Smiling, he motioned for you to follow him, and without protest, you obeyed.

~

You ate, to put it politely, like a starving animal.

There’d been an attempt at decency when you first sat down at the opposing head of his banquet table, a gallant effort to make use of the flatware arranged into neat, never-ending lines on either side of your plate, but what little energy you had for such pleasantries was depleted quickly as your attention was dedicated entirely to the whims of your empty stomach. Countless other dishes decorated the table – ranging from fine delicacies fit for the pallets of kings to common staples even the lowest of peasantry would’ve been familiar with, but Malleus was content to nurse a goblet of dark, herbed wine as he watched you bask in the feast.

Only after you’d gotten your fill did you seem to remember that you had company, your expression taking on a sheepish note. “This is what they brought me to trial for. Trespassing, I mean,” you began, and Malleus hummed in acknowledgement. “It was a baron’s manor – not quite a castle, but close to it. I heard he had the most beautiful gardens on this continent, and at the time, it seemed unreasonable to have to wait for an invitation just to take a look.”

“I thought you were a thief?”

“You must have the wrong person. I’ve been many things, but never a thief.” You leaned back in your chair. “I’m afraid I’ve always been too tender-hearted for that kind of thing. I could never stand to insult my hosts.”

“Such a considerate guest I have,” he said, cocking his head to the side. “I suppose I won’t have to worry about being robbed blind if I let you stay the night, then.”

You shook your head, feigning ego. “I would never, dear dragon. Your reclusive prince, on the other hand—”

Whatever you might’ve gone on to say was swiftly replaced with a sudden gasp as every torch within sight burst into a pillar of vicious emerald flame, casting the dining room in a blinding, sickly green before dying out just as abruptly as it’d erupted. Malleus let out an exasperated breath, bringing a hand to his temples. “My apologies. My patience has grown—” He cast a wayward glance toward the ash now seared into the stone walls, the ceiling. “—thin, over my time here.”

You allowed a beat to pass by in silence, then another. “Your prince,” you said, finally. “Is he important to you?”

“I can think of nothing I value more.” The answer came easily, even if the intensity of his sentiment surprised him. “An old friend asked me to ensure his safety. I’ve performed my role dutifully ever since.” The taste of blood rose into the back of his throat, but he drowned it out with another long sip from his goblet. “They used to send entire armies to reclaim him, then lone knights, then the occasional adventurer. You might be the first human to come seeking my head in two or three decades.”

Your smile took on a shy lilt, your eyes drifting to the table. “I wasn’t really supposed to come after you, either. Most people just take it as an exile, but they gave me a sword, and…” It was your turn to laugh, now, to be surprised with yourself. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I thought, even if I don’t get to rescue any princes, it could be nice to see how much of the fairy tale is true.”

“And you’re satisfied with what you’ve found?”

“Not entirely,” you admitted. “But I’m glad I met you, dear dragon.”

After some hesitation, he pushed himself to his feet and closed the distance between you. You stiffened, your gaze flitting blatantly toward the sole exit, but you didn’t attempt to flee as he pulled the closest seat in front of you and fell into it. “May I see your leg?”

You were far more than reluctant, but complied. The material of your travel weary trousers was pulled above your knee, the strips of fabric you’d attempted to fashion into bandages cut away with his own pitch-black talons. The wound was worse than he’d assumed, more severe than he assumed. Ragged skin stretched from your knee to your ankle, harsh puncture marks littering what little flesh was still in-tact. The stress of your journey had prevented the brunt of the damage from healing, and even without the use of his advanced senses, he would’ve been able to feel the heat radiating off of your skin, the first signs of infection beginning to set in. You were lucky you’d made it to his tower before the fever spread. His territory was cruel to the most resilient of creatures, and you seemed far from resilient.

“I have a salve in my collection that should aid in your recovery. That, paired with a few days of bed rest, should have you on your feet again in a week’s time.” Not a lie, but not far from one, either. He’d mended worse with a snap of his fingers, but there was no reason you should have to be burdened with such knowledge. “If you can find it within yourself to share a roof with a monster and delay our duel yet again, I can provide room and board while you recover.”

Your laugh was bright and strained. “You’re terribly kind to someone who came here to take your life.”

“And you’re very trusting of a creature who could easily end yours.” He let his pointed claws scrape over your bare skin, prolonging his evaluation. “Think of it as a show of my gratitude. My time here is well-spent, but tends to pass slowly. Visitors, whether benevolent or malicious, help to color my days.”

“Then I will have to be the most colorful visitor you’ve ever had,” you chimed, your grin renewed with fresh vigor. Clearly, you were not the type of mortal who could go long without a task. “I’ll make you wait on me hand and foot and bend to my every whim, until the thought of encountering another human being makes you sick. When I’m done, there might even be a dragon in this tower worth slaying.”

His only response was a steady nod, a low hum. He stood and, in the same motion, hooked one arm under the bend of your knees and another around your waist, lifting you into the air before you had the chance to so much as think to pull away. Instinctually, you attempted to re-balance yourself against him, and Malleus couldn’t help himself – laughing as he pulled you to his chest. “If I am to dote on you to the point of sickness, then let me start now. You’re in no state to walk on your own.”

You opened your mouth as if to complain, but anything you might’ve said was deemed too unimportant to warrant the effort. Your smile softened, your eyes falling shut as you rested your head against his shoulder. You lingered there, quiet and content, as he carried you through the halls of what would come to be your home.

~

Your prescribed period of bed rest came and went. Your bruises healed, then your leg (although you still tended to limp during particularly heavy rainstorms), and your exhaustion was replaced by a buzzing sort of restlessness. He never asked you to leave, and after some time, you seemed to stop expecting him to. You spoke rarely of your past (aside from the ever-changing series of events that led you to his tower, of course) and never of your future. When Malleus was in one of his more indulgent moods, he allowed himself to believe that, when he did catch you looking in his direction with such a glimmering worry in your eyes, you weren’t afraid of him, but of the possibility that he might send you away.

Despite your claims of spoiled houseguests and encumbered hosts, he was only driven to near-madness once while sharing your company. It’d been shortly after you instated yourself as a resident of his tower, rather than a fleeting visitor, and took to exploring your new dwelling without reservation. It’d been his own fault, really. He’d forgotten to warn you away from the upper wing, to resketch the protective runes he’d long-since allowed to fade, but such rationality had escaped him as he stood in the doorway, his mind empty and his eyes trained on your kneeling figure. He watched, paralyzed, as you raised a hand, reaching towards the marble slab, and then he was behind you – the points of his talons grazing the skin of your throat before he managed to restrain himself, curling his fist around the collar of your shirt, instead. Without warning, he hauled you off your feet, ignoring the half-choked shriek you let out in response.

His eyes fell to Silver, searching for any signs of harm, of disruption. Of course, Silver was unchanged. His colorless hair remained fanned over his velvet-cushioned pillow, the silk sheets and hand-stitched quilts still folded neatly at the foot of his bed – waiting to be put to use when the weather turned in autumn. Malleus took a moment to observe the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, the gentle movement behind his closed eyes, before letting out a breath of relief and turning to you. “I don’t recall giving you permission to enter this chamber.”

“Sorry, I— I was just looking around, and I saw the flowers on the door—” Silver’s own craftsmanship, preserved from the ravages of time by Malleus’ spell work. He’d painted them as soon as he was old enough to hold a brush, along with matching murals on his bedroom walls that hadn’t survived the passing ages. “—I got curious, that’s all. Is this the prince I was sent after?”

Malleus set his jaw, straightening his hunched posture. “…it is,” he answered, eventually. He let go of your collar and let you stumble onto your feet. “His name is Silver. I never knew him by any titles.”

Malleus’ gaze shifted to you, but your eyes remained fixed on Silver. “He’s beautiful.”

Despite himself, he felt the edge of his lips turn downward. He rested a hand on your shoulder, and you seemed to recover from your daze, turning to face him with a hopeful smile. “Do you know when he’s going to wake up?”

Malleus felt a coil of heat form in the back of the throat. The taste of ash laid heavy over his tongue, but he swallowed back his guilt and forced himself to respond. “In another hundred years, perhaps,” he mused, his tone melodic and detached. “There’s no known cure for a curse like his.”

A phantom of disappointment flickered across your expression, but it was suppressed quickly. Rather, you turned your attention outward – to the heavy, woven curtains draped over each crystalline window. “Will you help me let in some light? I hate to insult your taste, but it’s terribly depressing in here, and—” You brightened, taking him by the sleeve and tugging gingerly. “We don’t want his highness to have any nightmares, do we?”

With some reluctance, Malleus nodded. “Light, but nothing else.” When you failed to acknowledge him, he caught you by the wrist, squeezing with just enough pressure for your smile to falter. “Light, but nothing else. Do you understand?”

Your eyes darted back to Silver, but only for a moment. He was thankful for that – for your restraint. A second longer, and his true nature might’ve overshadowed his better judgement. “Of course, dear dragon. Nothing else.”

He inhaled sharply, then let go of you altogether.

It was a choice that, in the approaching months, he would only come to regret.

~

“This is what they banished me for, you know.”

“This?”

“Yes, this exactly.” You propped your chin on his chest, positioning yourself to more easily card your fingers through his hair. He let his eyes fall shut, basking in the warmth of your affection, of your bare skin pressed into his. Your clothes laid discarded on the grass around you, one of his wings bent and raised to shield you from the harsh light of the setting sun. He would have to get you back to the tower, soon. He’d always been indifferent to the deadly chill of night, but you – in your precious, delicate mortality – were not so durable. “Actually, not quite – I don’t think I ever made it to this part. It was the first time I’d ever attended a royal ball, and I happened to dance with a young lady so breath-taking, I couldn’t help but drop to one knee and dedicate my heart to her the moment our hands touched.” You sighed, feigning remorse. “Little did I know that she was the princess that ball was being thrown for, and so moved by my passion, she refused to let me out of her embrace until I agreed to marry her. Of course, her father – the king, as the fathers of princesses tend to be – couldn’t have that. It’s a shame, really. We would’ve made a gorgeous couple.”

Malleus pursed his lips, fighting back a smile. “And what does that make me? The next scorned lover of a silver-tongued rouge?”

“Oh, no. If you asked me to marry you,” You propped yourself up, pressing a kiss into the curve of his jaw. “There’d be nothing in the world that could stop me, dear dragon.”

Your hand fell to his cheek, and wistfully, you lulled him into a kiss – shallow but lingering, punctuated with a playful nip at his bottom lip. You pulled back with a smile, another quick peck to his cheek. You moved to say something, but he interrupted you, as mournful as he was to cut off such a precious moment so callously. “I found your wildflowers.”

Immediately, your expression fell. “I made sure not to—”

“I know, beloved, I know.” You knew better than to lay a hand on Silver. Your small bouquet had been left on the corner of his bed, another additional chain of asters and lavender braided into one of the longer strands of his waist-length hair. As much as he wished he could say he was only concerned for Silver’s well-being, it wouldn’t have been the truth. Something else, something darker, had accompanied the discovery – something it would be better for you to stay ignorant of. “We’ve talked about this. Silver is vulnerable, in his current condition. Even the simplest luxury is an unspeakable risk.”

Your shoulders dropped, your body going slack against his. You bowed your head, burying your face in the dip of his shoulder, and despite his frustration with you, he didn’t push you away. “I’m sorry. It just feels so cruel to let him suffer alone.”

“He’s never been alone.” His tone was more curt than he’d meant it to be. “He’s always had me.”

“I know, but—” He expected you to raise your hair, to flash him that brilliant grin. Instead, you only settled against him, speaking softly into the crook of his neck. “He just seems so sad.”

Malleus took a deep breath, clenching his eyes shut.

Then, before he could let himself think better of it, he wrapped an arm around your waist. In one fluid motion, he turned you over – leaving you on your back, one of his knees planted on either side of your waist, your form tucked safely underneath his. His kiss was less gentle than your own – that deep, aching sort of hunger overwhelming his cautiousness as his tongue raked over yours, as he groaned unabashedly into your mouth. You returned his affection emphatically; your fingers soon knotted in his hair, your eager touch preventing so much as the thought of distance between your body and his. Because there never would be distance between you and him. Because there was no reason you should ever have to be taken away from him.

Hours later, when the last traces of light had faded and the stars were painted in swirling patterns across the sky, he would carry you back to his tower – unconscious and pliable in his arms. That would be the first night you spent in his bed, and as he laid there with you, he couldn’t help but imagine how wonderful it would be if you never left.

~

The runes carved into Silver’s door were redrawn, Malleus’ enchantments refreshed, and your bittersweet sympathy slowly rotted into a distinctly bland melancholy. You didn’t speak of him (Malleus could only wonder how you ever managed to speak of anyone when so many of his marks so often decorated your skin), but he noticed new scratches around the well-rusted lock on Silver’s door, caught you braiding chains of daisies and crowns of marigolds with no intended recipient in mind, and at night, you tended to slip out of his hold and wander. Sometimes, he waited for you, lying awake as you hunted for whatever solace there was to find in the empty halls of an ancient tower. Most nights, tonight, he chased after you.

He found you in a window near the tower’s highest room, laid across the wooden sill, your back propped against the empty frame. He didn’t ask to join you – wordlessly lowering himself to the floor at your feet. As if by reflex, your hand fell to his horns, your thumb tracing over a particular ridge near the base as you broke the quiet. “Have ever told you why I’m here, dear dragon?”

Countless times, but he still played along. “Who has my heart been stolen by today, beloved?”

“A murderer,” you said, hollowly. “And not a particularly clever one, at that.”

He waited for you to go on, to spin some elaborate tale of love and loss and betrayal and poor humor, but you only lapsed back into silence, your gaze turning back to the pitch-black valley. He watched your vacant expression for a moment, then another before letting his eyes fall shut and resting his cheek against your thigh.

~

Malleus had expected there to be more anger than this.

You were in a similar position to one you’d taken the first time you stumbled into Silver’s chambers – kneeling beside his marble bed, your ever-weary eyes fixed on the unknowing object of your adoration. The only difference was that, today, Silver’s hand was raised to your lips, now slightly parted in shock. He didn’t have to guess at the source of your astonishment. In front of you, Silver was sitting up. His posture was unsteady, his eyes barely open, but the obvious was undeniable.

He was awake.

To think, there was something of merit to Lilia’s stories of true love after all.

Rather than anger, rage, pure and undiluted fury, an odd sort of calm settled over his blank mind as you snapped in his direction. Your astonishment turned to horror in an instant. “Malleus, I didn’t— I was only trying to—”

He put you out of your mercy quickly. He raised his staff and, propelled by some unseen force, you were torn away from Silver’s bedside and thrown against the nearest walls – the force of the collision far from fatal, but enough to leave you limp and unconscious. With your safety ensured, he stepped forward, approaching Silver. He was awake, but only just. So many decades of uninterrupted sleep would not be so willing to release him from their taloned clutches without a struggle, and there was a certain dream-like lull to the way his eyes skirted over the limited scenery before settling on Malleus, his features immediately softening in relief. “Malleus?”

“I’m here.” Malleus allowed himself a small smile before bringing the end of his staff to Silver’s forehead. “You can rest, brother.”

There was just enough time for the edges of Silver’s lips to turn downward before he collapsed back onto the marble slab. Malleus would arrange him later on. For now, his attention turned to you.

He gathered your crumpled form in his arms and carried you through the halls of his lonely tower, before stepping into the clear air and fresh heat of the valley. He laid you in the tall grass and, after taking a moment to appreciate your peaceful expression, brought a hand to your face, cupping your cheek tenderly. The spell came to him instinctually, but he took his time, mourning the loss of your time together with each mumbled word. That was a silver-lining of immortality, though. Infinite time allowed for infinite repetition, and he couldn’t imagine giving up the opportunity to fall in love with you again.

When he was done, your eyes fluttered open, a smile quickly finding its way to your lips. “Hello, dragon.” You gazed darted to either side nervously, your mind struggling to catch up with your clever tongue. “I would love to introduce myself, but it’s the funniest thing – I can’t seem to remember what I’m doing here.”

He bit back a smile. You tried to force yourself into a more dignified position, but barely managed to get an arm underneath you before pausing, wincing, reaching for the back of your head and coming away with blood smeared across your fingertips. Malleus did what he could to hide his delight.

“You’re a thief. You injured yourself attempting to scale my tower. It was an impressive effort, but tragically unnecessary.”

This time, he couldn’t hide the wide, simpering grin that came to rest across his lips.

“I was always going to invite you inside.”

[munv]

JUS’ THE TIP BABY, PROMISE?

“Just the tip” is what he promised hours ago, hell, it’s not like you can tell since you’re too fucked out to count. He’s grabbing your hips so harshly and you’re sure it’s going to bruise in the morning. “You’re gonna cum f’me as many times as I want right baby? — fuck!” Squeezin so tight, it-“ He cuts off with a slight snarl.

“It’s almost as if you’re a virgin again. You gonna let me cum as many times as I want, yeah?” Snapping his hips right back into yours and if only you could see the pussy drunk look on his face.

It doesn’t matter if you’re quivering and shaking, no. He’s holding you down and spilling his seed into you as many times you can take.

TOJI fushiguro . LEONA kingscholar . roronoa ZORO . Eustass KID . CHOUBEI aza . HAGANEZUKA hotaru . RINDOU hitanai . ARATAKI ITTO .

[soy-soi-si]

Leona, Azul, Idia, Floyd, Jack, Rook, and Sebek with a Fem! Reader who texts to try and get more cuddles.

Leona

He was just dealing with practice not actually doing anything since Vargas was off fuckin around with track and he was just making the rest do a final work out he himself tired sweaty and fucking peeved when his phone buzzes.

He pulls it out expecting it to be some shit from Cheka stealing his brother's phone again for the sixth time today. Then he spots the name and he immediately opens it.

「wheer are u」

He takes a second before smiling imagining y/n half asleep in his bed where he left her.

「practice, you just wake up?」

He barely pays any mind to the group running laps panting like dogs.

「cmoe bavk im lpnely」

Leona can barely resist the urge to get up and fly straight to the dorm on his broom.

「give me a sec」

He looks up at the group hissing in a breath as his tail sways, “That's enough we're done for the day!” immediately he gets up grabbing his shit before walking off to go take a shower before going to the dorm.

Azul

Azul was just dealing with some contractors' study guides when his phone buzzed. He didn't even hear it the first time, or he equated it to Floyd sending another meme. Then it buzzed again, and again though pretty spaced apart by probably fifteen seconds. He got annoyed by the sound quickly grabbing his phone to see who's interrupting his concentration.

Then it immediately goes away at the nickname he put as y/n’s contact info. His beautiful pearl and he opens it taking a second to lean back.

「azzy」

「why’d you leave me」

「i'm coming to the lounge for cuddles」

He pauses remembering he left her at ramshackle after she fell asleep during lunch on him.

「alright, I'll see you soon」

Azul opens jades number calling him who immediately answers him. “Yeah?” “y/n’s coming to the lounge if you see her just send her straight to my room since I'm busy.” “Alright.”

Idia

Idia for once left his room just to retrieve more snacks for him and y/n when the text chimed through his music causing him to jump before fumbling with his phone and the grocery bag of snacks to see it was y/n and he immediately sighs in relief before glancing around then opening it.

「come back」

His hair turns pink before he texts her back.

「omw」

If he wasn't out of shape, he would've run back to his dorm room.

Floyd

Floyd was just playing on his phone skipping out on practice again since it got boring a little over halfway through, he's just sitting on the sidelines as the rest of them play. He hates how he smells but he can't go into the locker room because it smells worse there. He's just waiting until Vargas finally airs it out when the text comes.

「it's cold come back.」

His eyes light up since he's currently sweating from the heat. And he practically jumps up bolting out of the gym back to his room where his sleepy girlfriend is.

Jack

Hes finishing up with his cactuses in the main area of Savanaclaw when his phone buzzes. And he pulls it out just opening the text expecting it to be ruggie again asking him to grab something.

「babe, where did you goo」

His tail immediately begins wagging dusting the floor as he's kneeling down.

「I’m just in the common area」

Immediately she texts him back and he turns red.

「come back I want my boyfriend to cuddle me」

Rook

He probably went out to stalk Leona or some unsuspecting merman. And as he's sitting in a tree his phone buzzes. He pulls it out quickly spotting y/n's name so he opens it sparing a few glances to his prey who is not going to move anytime soon. Then he spots the picture of her laying in his bed on her stomach clearly tired as she looks into the camera.

「come here」

Rook immediately abandons his objective to go see the domestic beauty in his very own bed he denied his full attention.

Sebek

Sebek was just standing by Malleus when silver showed Malleus his phone. Malleus pauses for a moment before chuckling, turning to sebek who's clearly not amused by silver pulling out his phone at all near waka-sama. “Sebek, you're free to go to y/n. I’m going to retire for the night.” Malleus stands up waving the boy off as he and Silver walk away, leaving him confused.

「I want cuddles I'm lonely」

[suntails]

hijo de la luna

[snugglebug-mj-blog]

hugging them for the first time pt1

The first years (Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Sebek, and Ortho)

Y/n has been at NRC for a while and she's never hugged anyone (besides grim) until today. Y/n took in a deep breath before walking out the door of the ramshackle dorm with grim on her shoulder. {ps y/n is pudgy since thats what i am)

Ace Trappola: Ace is the first person y/n saw this morning “hey y/n what's with that face?” Ace teased as she got closer before he could say anything else y/n wrapped her arms around his torso his face slowly turned red as he stood there shocked he wasn't expecting a hug he expected a punch to the shoulder like they do every morning before walking together to find the rest of the group. As quick as he became shocked is as quick it turned to cocky. “Oh couldn't keep your hands to yourself” he teased as he hugged her back before she huffed and pushed him away making him laugh before walking away. “Wait no come back!” he laughed as he followed behind her.

Deuce Spade: Deuce was running a bit late this morning but he soon caught up with y/n, grim and ace. “Sorry i’m late-” Deuce was cut off by y/n hugging him. He stood there frozen for a good minute before he hugged her and held her gently as if she was made of glass. “Deuce why you making such a ugly face man” ace and grim laughed making Deuce snap out of the wonderful moment “oi shove off!” he yelled at them while covering y/n's ears. Ace and grim looked at each other before they started mocking deuce, which ended in deuce gently pulling away from y/n, and charging after the two. Y/n just smiled, and shock her head before walking towards class and on the way maybe find her next huggable victim.

Jack Howl: Now since Jack is a beast man his senses are higher so sneaking up on him would be a little bit hard but not impossible, (but that's not going to happen this time) Jack was standing in the normal meeting spot near the fountain and his ears perked up when he heard grim and aces screams. He watched unamused as Ace, grim and deuce ran past him. Y/n stood beside jack as they watched ace and grim avoid a angry deuce, “‘sigh’ a normal monday'' Jack sighed looking down at y/n only to see her smiling up at him before hugging him, Jacks tail started wagging very quickly it looked like it could make a tiny tornado. Y/n could see Jack's face was very red “what is this for?” Jack asked, trying to act serious y/n shrugged and let go of him, which he patted her head gently in return before they went to follow the troublemakers.

Epel Felmier: He will try to fight because he doesn't want to be seen as cute, Epel meet the four near the cafeteria y/n walked up to him first and hugged him from behind making freeze up and raise his fist before looking over to see y/n hugging him “you all right?” was his first question, He liked the hug but he thought something was wrong. “Nothing wrong, i just wanted a hug” y/n said letting him go he turned around before hugging her back. Y/n smiled and hugged him again before epel dragged her into the cafeteria since everyone else already went in.

Sebek Zigvolt: We all know Sebek he yells (his words he just talks loudly) but now he is silent. Sebek was waiting outside Treins classroom for his friends he rarely eats breakfast with them; he wants to be near mallues at all times, from the corner of his eye he saw all six walking up to him. “ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED-” sebek stopped mid shout and froze as he felt y/n hug him, everyone was ready for him to start shouting louder. Sebek slowly looked down at his friend before he brought his left hand up to the back of her head and patted it “ let's get to class” he said normally everyone looked at him in shock making him gently push y/n away before he walked into the classroom. Everyone slowly followed in after him y/n was worried she broke him because he was silent the entire lesson. “Sebek i’m sorry-” y/n started as she chased after sebek after class before he turned to look at her “ you did nothing wrong it felt nice thank you” he bowed everyone was still shocked at this and grim smirked “ aww look sebek is a softie” grim teased making sebek shot back up “THIS SOFTIE WILL END YOU!” sebek yelled with a red face, everyone covered their ears but laughed he was back to his normal self at least.

Ortho Shroud: HUG!THIS!BOY! (i wanna hug him! And squeeze him!) Ortho was excitedly looking for his friends “Ortho!!” y/n shouted as she ran towards her little robot friend, Ortho turned when he heard his name only to be wrapped into a warm hug, making him squeal as she swung him around as she held him in a tight hug. He loved hugs from people he cared for. “y/n! Your hugs are very warm, you should hug my brother too!” the boy happily stated

[dilatorywriting]

Valentine's Day Special: Let Them Fight

GN!Reader x Malleus Draconia vs. Azul Ashengrotto vs. Vil Schoenheit Word Count: 5.3k

Summary: Who knew that in a world of magic, and mayhem, and outright villainy, that it'd be something as stupid as Valentine's Day that would push these idiots over the edge. Or, Malleus, Azul, and Vil go to war over some chocolates

A/N: This MC/Plot takes place in the Heroes vs Villains universe -- specifically Post-Staff's route, rather than any of our other lovely idiot husbands.

There was always some sort of strange overlap of customs from your world to this one. Halloween seemed to have survived more or less intact (even if it was a bit more, uh, extreme than the subtle evening of giving out treats and dressing as ghosts that you remembered). Winter Holidays were still very much a Thing, even if all other connotations had been stripped from them. Moreover, it was like someone had taken your familiar Earthen calendar and just sort of… mirrored it. Distorted it a bit. Just a lil’ bit more chaos than would have been socially acceptable back home.

So when you made a sly little joke about stocking up on discount chocolates after the Valentine’s Day rush and no one laughed—not even a little chortle, or an irritable eyeroll—you initially thought it was maybe to do with the irrationality of Sam’s Shop ever having a sale to begin with. You had not assumed that, you know, there was no Valentine’s Day at all.

“It’s an important holiday, then? Where you’re from?” Azul mused, busy scribbling endless, chicken scratch, notes in the margins of some form that was probably very important.

“I mean, not really,” you frowned, tossing your Mostro-Branded apron onto its hook. “Maybe. Yes? I don’t really know, actually.”

He hummed and moved to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “Well, whatever it is, I’m always looking for new events to host at the Lounge. What exactly is it?”

“It’s a sort of special day for couples. Romance. Lovey-dovey nonsense,” you shrugged, and watched Azul’s finger slip off the slick metal frame of his glasses and nearly take his eye out. You waved off his obvious disgust with a dramatic sigh (I mean, why else would he be so stiff and red?). “Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s ridiculous.”

“I—I never said that!” he spluttered, and then paused to cough into his fist and clear his throat. “It just—I just wasn’t expecting something like that to…”

“Exist?”

He grinned, wry. His cheeks were still a bit too pink. “Precisely.”

“You would have loved my world,” you said. “Very capitalistic. Lots of cash-grab holidays like that.”

Azul laughed.

“I’m sure I would be fond of any place you came from.” He paused, and his expression puckered up a bit miserably—like he really hadn’t intended to express such a sentiment aloud. But he managed to smooth the sharp line of his frown back into that usual, smarmy, smirk of his easily enough. “But either way! Tell me more!” he grinned, reaching forward to grab a stack of blank paper and a fresh pen. “I’d love to hear all about it.”

.

.

The next day you were supposed to help the Drama Club start building some stage scenery for their newest play. It was proper grunt work, which was perhaps the only sort of work you were actually qualified for. And Vil always made sure that there were plenty of disgustingly healthy but still quite tasty snacks available for the help to munch on. The food spread alone would have been worth the trip, but on top of that, Vil had made you promise. Practically a blood oath, binding you and your meager free time to the shitty supply closet in the corner of the Auditorium. And as sour as he could be sometimes, you really could never say no to him when he always looked so heart meltingly fond whenever you did agree to while away the hours at his side. That lovely face and even lovelier smile of his were fucking lethal. A war crime, surely, to use it against someone as plain and susceptible to bribery as you were.

But today you were now an idiot on a mission—an idiot determined to spread the joy of a trashy holiday that really probably shouldn’t exist in the first place, let alone in a world where people worshipped storybook villains as veritable deities. And you’d already bought all the molds, and the trays, and you really didn’t have a lot of spare pocket money to begin with, so letting this investment go to waste would not only be a shame, but a terrible business investment.

“What do you mean you’re not coming,” Vil sneered, glaring down his perfectly straight nose at you.

“I really am sorry,” you said, mostly genuine. “But I have something I need to do this afternoon.”

“You’ve made other plans?” he frowned, something a little too unsettled to fit with his usual regality twisting across his expression.

“I have to get ready for Valentine’s Day,” you explained, and his brow tugged down further. Though that earlier twinge of panic seemed to have vanished at least. You pointedly shook your grocery bag full of goodies. “I’m going to make chocolates for everyone.”

“Chocolates?” Vil echoed, confused.

You nodded. “It’s a tradition back home. You give stuff like candy and flowers to the people you care about. Normally it’s a holiday for couples, or whatever. But. Well…”

The ‘I Am Fully Aware That I’m Single as a Pringle, Please Just Let Me Have This One Thing’ was left unsaid, but it hung in the air around your head like a very persistent storm cloud nonetheless. Vil, magnanimously, seemed perfectly happy to ignore the Woe Is Me implications spewing from your mouth. Instead, he leaned forward until he was dipping precariously close into your personal space. His amethyst eyes had lit with blatant interest at your ramblings, and he hummed low in his throat.

“Is that so?” he mused, gaze lidded and warm. “That sounds… intriguing.”

You nodded past the heady scent of his cologne fogging your head. What was it with attractive people, huh? It was so unfair. You don’t get to look and smell good. Pick a lane. Save some dignity for the rest of us.

“So, I promise I’ll help another day. I just have a feeling making chocolates is going to wind up being a lot harder than I think it will.”

Because that’s how it always went in your stupid slice-of-life shows. The poor, harried, protagonist thinking they’re doing a good deed—painstakingly constructing their own, special, homemade goodies for all their important people. Making them with love. And then having it all blow up in their face like a goddamn, cocoa flavored, nuke. Nope. Not you, motherfucker. Your chocolates were going to be divine. You were going to take every, tropey, precaution in the book. And that of course included allotting yourself ample time to make mistakes your masterpiece.

“Of course,” Vil grinned. “How could I possibly begrudge you for wanting to spend your time on something so heartfelt?”

“Thank you,” you blurted, relived. Because at least he got it. Azul had been so ridiculously insistent that you should prepare all your Valentine’s Day wishes as a team. Which was not the point. He’d spent hours last night trying to wheedle his way into your plans—with endless platitudes about ‘business partners always being there for each other,’ and ‘how would he know if he was celebrating to your standards if he wasn’t given a model to work off of first?’ Utter bullshit. He’d probably just wanted free labor.

“Tomorrow, then?” Vil beamed and you nodded.

“Tomorrow,” you confirmed.

“Well, then,” he hummed. “I better get to work as well. I suppose the scenery can wait.”

You nodded in farewell and began the trek back to Ramshackle and its marginally functional kitchens. You hadn’t realized Vil was taking on any new projects, but if it was enough to have him putting off the Club’s activities as well then it must have been pretty important. Maybe he’d get you tickets to it whenever he finished—whatever it was. If there were tickets? How did any of the things he did actually work? Hell if you knew.

.

.

Making chocolates was, in fact, a laughably easy endeavor. And you found yourself cursing every goddamn Shoujo Bullshit Manga under the sun for leading you to think otherwise. The hardest part of the entire thing was fighting off Grim and his wandering paws.

You made up some basic truffles which were, again, stupidly simple. Just some messily chopped chocolate, cream, and a little splash of vanilla to make it Special. Once those were shaped into messy blobs, you dipped them into some more melted chocolate and bam. That was it. That was literally it. You felt like a genius—sitting there mushing up balls of cocoa like high-end playdough.

By 6PM, you had all your little darlings tucked into the refrigerator to harden, all the gauzy, red, boxes lined up on your counter and ready to be filled, and Grim had been placated with an offering of all your dirty mixing bowls. The tiny, demonic, beast was passed out at the dingy kitchen table—one of said bowls wedged onto his head like an astronaut’s helmet. Hopefully it was just a food coma and not, like, an actual coma-coma. Real cats couldn’t eat chocolate, but Grim never really seemed real at all. So hopefully he’d be fine.

You wiped down your cooking space once, twice. Paced up and down the narrow hallway until you were wearing away the already threadbare rugs, and spent way too long just standing in front of the fridge—staring in on your chocolates like a psychotic kidnapper scoping out their next victims.

Eventually you realized that you maybe needed to do something with your evening that wasn’t just creeping on your confections, and set out into the frosty, night, air for a stroll.

Which is, of course, where you ran into your familiar, horned, friend—staring up into the starry sky in a wistful manner that darkened his pale complexion into something nearly ominous. He always looked a bit like that, like something unearthly and detached from the rest of the world.

“Tsunotarou!” you chirped happily, and that adrift-at-sea expression of his melted right off his face.

“Child of Man,” he greeted, inclining his head politely. “I wasn’t expecting to see you this evening.” His brow furrowed, almost confused. “Is it not too cold for you?”

Your breath was, in fact, fogging in front of your face. And you couldn’t really feel your toes anymore. But the electric anticipation of tomorrow was keeping you warm enough. Even if only in spirit.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” you waved him off. And then, because you couldn’t help yourself, you leaned forward on your tippytoes and blurted out, “Happy Almost Valentine’s Day!”

“Valentine’s Day?” Malleus repeated back at you, looking like you’d just handed him an unsolvable differential equation.

“It’s a holiday from back home,” you explained for the umpteenth time that day. “And normally I’m not too fussed about it, but this year I’m really excited to give everyone their chocolates!” You grinned. “And you too, of course. I have to make sure I give them to all my important people.”

The furrow between his brows vanished, but the blatant, gaping, confusion remained. He looked like you’d nearly startled him into an early grave.

“I am one of your most important people?” he asked, slow as a tortoise making its way up an incline.

You nodded cheerfully, still bellied by your earlier culinary successes and excellent mood. “Of course you are! We’re friends, aren’t we? And besides. Valentine’s Day is for showing people how much you care about them.”

“What an interesting concept,” he mused, bringing a finger up to tap at his chin. “To think your world had such a heartfelt tradition—it’s quite a lovely surprise.”

You laughed. “If you think the chocolates are special, you should see what some couples do for each other. Rooms full of flowers, fancy date nights—I’m just managing the bare minimum.”

“Couples?” he echoed, and you felt the first teeny, hot, thread of chagrin work its way past your enthusiasm.

“Well, normally Valentine’s Day focuses on, like, romantic things,” you said, averting your gaze just in time to miss the tension lance through his shoulders. “But it can be for all sorts of affection!” you hastily added.

“Is that so…” the Prince hummed. He lifted his pensive gaze once more and stared you down with that weighted intensity that you’d only just recently learned how not to buckle beneath. “And you wish to celebrate this day. With me?”

“…you don’t mind, do you?” you asked, hesitant.

“Of course not, Child of Man,” he beamed, his lips curling up into a smile that put all his too-sharp teeth on display. “But you’ll have to excuse me now, I’m afraid. It seems I have some preparations to undertake this evening.”

“Oh,” you blinked. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Yes,” Malleus said. “You will.”

.

.

It was officially Valentine’s Day, and you were ready to begin your mission of forcing your sweets onto every, single, one of your reluctant friends. Let them be pissy and tsundere. You weren’t afraid to weep and proclaim your undying, shounen-talk-no-jutsu, levels of friendship. Okay. Maybe you were a little. But these grouchy bastards had very easily become your grouchy bastards, and so help you God, they would suffer under your affection and they would like it.

There were plenty of small boxes—all nice, neat, corners with little bows perched on top. But you had also prepared a singular, larger, tray. It was cleaner cut than the rest, with bold, contrasting, colors and a simple elegance. You stared it down with a strange sort of disquiet brewing in your gut. Maybe you were being presumptuous. Goodness knows you’d more than dealt with the searing, emotionally destructive, consequences of that before. But all the same…

You squared your shoulders and spent a moment convincing yourself that your spine was quite sturdy—a proper, titanium, support system—and then popped the Big Box into the bag with the others.

Your first stop was Heartslabyul, and you burst through the ornate, crimson, doors like a manic home invader.

“I come bearing gifts,” you proclaimed, merrily doling out the boxes to your favorite idiot duo. You set three more aside, with little labels for Riddle, Trey, and Cater respectively. Normally you wouldn’t trust a dorm full of teenage boys not to devour any scrap of unattended food in sight, but Riddle had long since struck the fear of God into these poor lads. So you figured it’d be safe.

Deuce’s face lit up and he accepted the chocolate with near starry-eyed enthusiasm.

“Are these your holiday presents? Like the Santa Claus?” he asked, looking very much like a bouncy golden retriever preparing itself for congratulatory head pats.

You leaned forward with an indulgent huff to give him his pats. “No. But close enough.”

You pawned off three boxes on Ruggie when he tried to duck past you in the hallway—one for him, one for Leona, and one extra as payment for making him do your dirty work of playing delivery boy to Mister Grump in the first place. You slipped Jack his on the way into Trein’s morning lecture, and managed to press a box into Jamil’s hands before he slunk off to the library. Kalim cheered so loudly when you handed him one that your ears started to ring.

And then trouble arrived in the form of two, slippery, eels draping themselves across your shoulders. Normally the destructive duo seemed to act on their own prerogative, but on this fortuitous morning their Lord and Master was surprisingly not too far behind.

“Shrimpy!~” Floyd trilled, dragging you into a one-armed hug that was really more of a slightly-less-aggressive headlock than anything else. “Azul says you came up with this stupid holiday! And he made us work all day yesterdayto put together stuff for the Lounge! It’s not fair!”

Your legs shook under the weight of the new tumor that had made its home on your back.

“Now, Floyd,” Jade chirped. All finely manicured cruelty. “If you’re to blame anyone for going overboard with this entire situation, you ought to lay the fault on our fearless leader.” His bi-colored eyes flashed, amused. “Isn’t that right, Azul?”

Said ‘fearless leader’ looked like he was sucking on a lemon. He glared bitterly at his subordinate, seeming to share an entire, silent, argument with him, before turning back on you with a heavy sigh and the barest hint of angry flush in his cheeks.

“Prefect,” he grinned past his obvious discomfort, all sparkling, white, teeth. “I have to thank you for sharing so much information about this ‘Valentine’s Day’ of yours. It’s such a unique event, and it seems like our preparations at the Lounge are already being received incredibly well.”

“That’s good,” you nodded, trying and failing to shrug the Leech off your shoulders. “I’m glad I could help.”

Azul hummed under his breath, his eyes darting away for a moment. His glasses reflected the muted light of the hall in an odd way—making it difficult to read his expression. He cleared his throat and when he looked back up at you, the tips of his ears had gone pink.

“You’re more than welcome to come by, of course,” he beamed, suave as could be.

“I mean,” you blinked. “I would hope so. I work there.”

Floyd let out a bark of laughter and Jade snickered into his glove. The pleasant pink tinting Azul’s skin was heating to a near sunburned red. He looked down and coughed into his fist.

“Yes…” he mumbled. “I—I’m aware. But what I meant is… What I meant—” He frowned. It was a tight, pouty, little thing that scrunched up his entire face. That mottled red had spread to the bridge of his nose.

“I do believe what Azul is trying to say,” Jade stepped in, clearly taking some sort of pity on his tongue-tied friend. Or perhaps pity was the wrong word for it, seeing how smug he looked, “is that he would like to invite you to the event personally. As an honored guest, not an employee.”

“Oh,” you blinked, startled. Then hesitated, cautious on instinct. There was always some sort of catch to the Octomer’s kindness. “I don’t know if I could afford whatever fancy thing you’ve thrown together.”

“You wouldn’t be paying for it,” Azul assured you, some of that sickly flush having finally started to recede from his cheeks. You hoped he was feeling alright. “You’ve contributed more than enough for the day. It would be on the house.”

Jade loudly cleared his throat and Azul huffed, eyes sliding away yet again.

“I would be paying,” he finally mumbled. And then, even quieter, “As I believe is the custom.”

Just as you were about to thank him for his startling bought of generosity (and also ask after his health, because between the weird, pink, tinge to his skin and the aforementioned generosity, clearly somethingwas out of sorts with him), you noticed a sneaky hand working its way into your bag of goodies, and you immediately were on the defensive.

“Hey!” you snapped, spinning out of Floyd’s stranglehold. “You only get one!”

“Then I want the really big one!” he demanded, making grabby motions at it.

“No!” you squeaked, and clutched it protectively to your chest. The trio looked at you with varying degrees of surprise and you cleared your throat awkwardly. “This one—This one is special.”

“Oh?” Jade cooed, eyes flickering back towards Azul, who seemed determined to look absolutely anywhere else. “Is it now?”

“Awww,” Floyd whined. “That’s no fair! Who’s it for, anyways?!”

You gripped the box tighter and now it was your turn to stiffly avert your eyes down to the ugly carpet. “It’s not—I’m not—” you cleared your throat and forced the jitter from your voice. “I’m not ready to give it to him yet.”

The silence that followed was absolutely the worst thing you��d experienced in a long, long, time. Overblots and all. You could practically hear your blood pounding in your ears. You were just about to turn and beat a hasty retreat when a familiar, snappish, voice called your name from the other side of the corridor.

“There you are, potato,” Vil huffed, coming to stand at your side and bodily inserting himself between you and your tormentors. He met Azul’s petulant sneer with a frankly terrifying one of his own. “What are you doing here? I thought we agreed you’d be eating lunch with me today.”

You remembered no such thing, but if it got you out of this verbal minefield of a conversation, you were more than willing to take the claim at face value.

“Apologies,” Azul cut in with all his usual, mafioso, flair. “But the Prefect will be taking their afternoon meal at the Mostro Lounge today.”

“Is that so?” Vil hummed, sounding positively venomous.

“Unless you think you can make an offer good enough to sway them otherwise,” Azul chirped, equally as unpleasant.

Vil laughed—cold and sharp as crystal. It was the most elegant display of blatant irritation you’d ever seen.

“Of course you’d only consider this entire situation on a transactional basis,” he drawled, entirely unimpressed. Azul flinched and his expression screwed up into something near petulant. “I would expect no less. Are you planning to lock them into a contact too, hmm? Sign away everything in formal, sterile, terms?” Vil crossed his arms, and you were reminded sharply once more how very, very lucky you were to not be on his bad side (even if you hadn’t realized before all this that Azul apparently was on said bad side. You had no idea they disliked each other so terribly). “I really hadn’t expected you to have a single, romantic, bone in your body, and yet somehow I’m still disappointed to be proved so entirely correct.”

Azul looked ready to explode, and even though Jade and Floyd and melted back into the shadows at the start of this entire encounter, the pair of them were starting to look a bit murderous too—like sharks lazily circling the dark, ocean, depths.  

“Don’t you think you deserve better?” Vil asserted, turning back to face you with a soft cant of the head. You blinked back in shock.

“Uh,” you gaped, absolutely fucking lost.

And then, like a beacon of unrivaled, black-drenched, hope, you spotted Malleus making his way down the hallway. He was flanked by his trio of housemates-cum-pseudo-bodyguards. Normally you tried to leave him alone when his rabid, green-haired, guard dog was yipping at his heels, and on top of that, the idea of using your classmates’ ingrained fear of the Fae Prince to your own advantage upset your rather staunch sensibilities. But this was an emergency.

“Tsunotarou!” you called, and it absolutely sounded like the cry for help it was.

He perked up immediately and you watched him nearly crash to a standstill. And then his sharp, neon, gaze locked on the dueling Housewardens circling you like a pair of snapping wolves, and his merry expression shuttered into something positively glacial. Which was—Fuck. I mean. Come on. What the fuck was going on today—

“Child of Man,” he droned, crossing the short distance with all the grace of the near-mythical, arcane, master that he was. His posture was more collected and regal than you’d ever seen it, and he loomed all the taller for it.

Azul and Vil had gone tense at your side, one certainly more so than other. The Octomer looked incredibly unsettled at Malleus’s sudden arrival, but Vil just looked angrier. It was the sort of unpleasantness that bloomed whenever someone challenged him or his competencies over and over—inevitably pushing the normally composed beauty into an indignant rage.

“Happy Day of Valentine’s,” Malleus continued, slotting himself firmly into the veritable territory dispute going down. “Are you quite alright?”

No, you wanted to wail. No! I’m so confused! I have no idea what’s going on! I just wanted to give my friends chocolates!

But you never managed to get those words or any others past your lips, because Sebek Zigvolt shot to his master’s side with all the speed of the lightning for which he was so named, and immediately began to scream.

“HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT THE YOUNG MASTER’S AFTERNOON ROUTINE!” he shrieked at the top of his very impressive lungs.

You weren’t sure if he was howling at you (very likely) or just anyone who wasn’t Malleus, but Jade took the opportunity to slink forward from the shadows with a sharp tut-tut.

“Perhaps none of you deserve the Prefect’s special attentions,” he piped in, sounding very much like someone intentionally throwing a cannister of gasoline onto an already roaring fire. “Or any chocolates at all—let alone the ones set aside for someone special.”

At this, silence once more rang through the corridor and you wanted to throttle that stupid eel.

“There is a special box?” Malleus asked first, brow shooting up as his expression tugged with… something.

“I—I mean, I made all of yours special!” you defended, holding the wrapped treasure tightly to your chest. “But… I guess. Yes. There’s one that’s a little bigger than the others.”

At this, all three Housewardens exchanged pointed looks.

Jade smiled serenely once more, and then continued his absolute massacre upon your person.

“Yes, indeed,” he nodded. “And our dearest Prefect only just mentioned that—hmm. How did you word it? Ah. That’s right. ‘I’m not ready to give it to him yet.’”

The trio tensed. All looking absolutely ready to pounce. At—at what, you had no idea.

“Perhaps,” the wretch mused, “it would be best for you all to temper your rage until the victor is decided, hmm?” He paused to tap at his chin for a moment, and then his lips split into a mean, jagged, grin. “Afterwards? Well, I suppose that whole cheery sentiment about ‘love and war’ still holds true.”

You gulped, feeling startlingly like Jade had just tried to serve you up on a silver platter.

But when neither Azul, Vil, or Malleus made any further moves to murder each other… well. As sacrificial as it all felt, at least it must have worked.

The rest of the day passed in a tense sort of fugue. You certainly hadn’t expected your attempts at bringing some holiday cheer to Night Raven to go so… Uh…

But either way, you managed to survive through the rest of the afternoon, and before you knew it, all that remained of all your tireless efforts and good will was the Special Box. The big one. The one that you’d put together with extra care and hopes for better things. You glared down at it for a moment, feeling sweat starting to bead over your palms. But you couldn’t chicken out now. Not after you’d come so far! Everyone was acting so strange, and it was all so weird. And as much as that unfamiliarity had your teeth on edge and your hackles raised, you didn’t want to regret not giving out the last of your well-made sweets.

Well, here goes nothing, you frowned. You took a deep breath, willed yourself to be brave, and smiled your biggest smile.

“Here,” you beamed, more than a little shy and still a bit horrified by whatever pissing match had been going down earlier in the day, and finally offered the grandest of your chocolate boxes to the man standing opposite you.

Divus Crewel accepted your offering daintily, plucking at the crisp, sharp, wrapping with his crimson gloves. He arched one of his thin brows at you and you fought the nervous heat rising in your cheeks.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” you blurted. “I know it’s not a thing here, but I thought it’d be nice.”

The second eyebrow joined the first—practically jumping all the way up into his fringe.

“I appreciate the gesture. Though from what I understand of all the garish advertising I’ve seen for Mostro Lounge’s new event, I assumed this was a holiday for romantic overtures,” he intoned, wry.

You spluttered and waved your hands furiously. “I mean! Normally! Yes! But also…” You trailed off, fighting the urge to fidget. “If you don’t have a—a, well, someone, then Valentine’s is just a nice excuse to give something to people you care about.” You averted your gaze and lost the battle to twist your fingers into your jacket sleeves. “My family used to give me chocolates every year. So. I thought I could… Well…” you trailed off on a grumble, embarrassed.

Crewel sighed and popped the lid off the box. He plucked two truffles from their casing—keeping one for himself and handing you the other.

“Well, then. A very happy Valentine’s to you, Prefect,” he droned and popped the chocolate into his mouth with a thoughtful hum.

You lit up like a Christmas tree and happily gobbled up your own treat. So distracted were you by the one-two-punch combo of the delicious sugar and even sweeter taste of your Professor’s approval that you almost entirely missed the pointed glare he shot over your shoulder.

“I appreciate your regard,” he said, loud. Sharp. And like he wasn’t talking to you at all. “And while I’m certain that if you do pick a ‘someone’ for yourself to celebrate with in the following years, they’ll have to work very hard to be worthy of such a gift, hmm?” His lip curled unpleasantly, in direct contrast to the indulgent warmth that had been tugging at his expression only a moment before. “I could hardly allow you to waste such a thoughtful gesture on someone unworthy.”

The Octavinelle Housewarden had the decency to look at least a little panicked—his face going pale and gaunt from where he was shrinking into his high collar. There was a frantic look about him, like he was trying to weigh the cost-benefit ratio of going up against his professor in his head, and realizing that he was stupidly, willfully, walking right into a lose-lose situation. And that, sadly—miserably—he was going to keep doing just that. The other two, however, looked entirely undeterred. Schoenheit curled his lip right back at him, more than ready to duke it out here and now, and Crewel fought the urge to remind the blonde that he was the adult in this situation, thank you very much. The adult who could very well revoke the Warden’s access to his Alchemy Labs as it suited him. The very alchemy labs that he knew Vil had been using to concoct all kinds of new, personalized, gifts for you. Draconia simply looked on with that unnervingly ancient, green, leer of his. Like he was staring down a particularly fascinating game. The Fae Prince was the most unsettling of the trio, if only because that while Crewel was more than confident enough in his abilities to subdue his other wayward students, fighting off an Immortal, All Powerful, Dragon was going to require at least a little bit of prep work.

Divus Crewel sighed, and it rattled all the way out from the marrow of his bones.

“Come, then,” he rumbled, directing you to follow him back into his office. “It’s not chocolates, but I probably have some of those ridiculous cookies of yours lying around somewhere.” Which he did. Boxes upon boxes of them. Tucked away special for whenever you came to visit. Not that he’d ever willingly admit that, even under the pain of death.

Your eyes went wide and warm as you positively beamed.

It was rotten work, certainly. He shot one, last, warning glare down the hall at the trio of infatuated interlopers as he firmly shut his office door behind you and your absolute oblivious idiocy. He’d do it. Of course he would. But, Christ alive. He was going to need a stronger drink.

[vera-deville]

I Will Say (I'm in Love)

08/04/2023 - 04/30/2024

Pairing: Leona Kingscholar x Reader Word Count: 2,787 Warnings: A fair amount of cursing; Reader's outfit is a dress and is decidedly purple; Reader does go through a little bit of a mental breakdown (I personally blame all the stress of NRC), but I promise it's gonna be alright- Gender: AFAB Tags: @viviennevermillion, @achy-boo, @savanaclaw1996, @otomyoli, @chroniccorvus Notes: This is the second part to this fic, so please check that out before reading this! Rook is basically a fairy godmother (even tho he's a stalker, but we don't talk about that). Oh, and I made a reference to Savanaclaw Rook, because he's been living in my head rent-free and thERE ARE NO FICS ABOUT IT DARN IT-

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

In which Y/N eventually does say that she's in love.

"Shit." Y/N hissed as she swung open the wardrobe door, only to reveal that there were no decent dresses.

"For fuck's sake!" The girl screeched, running her hands through her hair and yanking at it. Only the Great Seven could help her at this point. Did any of them specialize in luck with money? Or even better yet, did any of them specialize in stopping a person from splurging all their hard earnt bribed thaumarks on art supplies?

Grim wasn't even there to help with this whole fiasco!

Who else could she ask for money? Azul? No, that one's too slippery. Kalim? No, that one's guarded by a snake and talks too much. Vil? But that one's...

That one's perfect! He wouldn't be able to resist helping out someone to look fabulous! Besides, Y/N could handle potato insults for a bit if it meant getting a fabulous dress picked out by Vil Schoenheit himself.

And so the Prefect of Ramshackle ran as fast as her legs would carry her, all the way to the house of Pomefiore. It's a pretty name, filled with pretty people, but at this moment, only one pretty person mattered.

"VIIIILLLLL! I NEEEEEED YOUR HEEEELLLLLPPPP!"

That should grab his attention.

And grab his attention it did, because mere seconds later, a tall blonde stormed into the common room, vial of poison ready in his hand for the heathen that dared summon him in such a manner.

But before he could get a word in, Y/N asked, no begged him for help with a dress. And of course, him being the gracious queen he is, he couldn't leave the potato in such a state.

"Coral, though a nice color, would be far too bright for you for this event." Holding up a card of azure up to Y/N's shoulder, Vil decided that also would not do the trick. "Perhaps a glowy yellow brown?" Y/N perked at the fabric Vil held in his hands. It was just a small square piece of fabric, but it looked oh so pretty. Like sand glimmering in the sunlight.

And then suddenly the sun lit sand turned into purple.

A very familiar purple, though Y/N couldn't quite put her finger on it. Scrunching his face in contemplation, Vil nodded to himself before letting Y/N know that she should opt for a dress in that shade of lavender.

Which is how Y/N found herself in a shopping mall, looking high and low for a vaguely familiar shade of purple in a dress that she should have gotten ready long ago. Earlier, Y/N had pondered about who to bring with her (if she chose to bring anyone at all) to the mall to help her find just the right dress. Vil was the obvious choice, but Y/N wasn't sure she wanted to indulge in his kindness more than she already had. Rook was also a good choice, but Y/N didn't feel like admitting anything to him at the current moment (though knowing his nature, he probably already knew everything).

In the end, Y/N went by herself, not confident enough to bring anyone with her. In the hours she had to get ready for her event, Y/N had something of an epiphany. Anxiety was a bitch. No shade of purple seemed to match the shade card Vil had given her. And if she did find a dress in the color, the dress was not one she'd think herself beautiful in. In the off chance that she'd find a dress that was the right shade and style, Y/N would immediately go an try it on - only to despise the way it fit around her body.

This was now the 7th store that Y/N had walked into in hopes of finding the perfect lavender dress that eluded her grasps so.

And right off the bat, there was a beautiful dress. In the same shade Vil had instructed her to buy. In a style that made her heart pick up the pace because it was simply and utterly beautiful. Making a beeline towards the dress, Y/N gently ran her hands through the fabric. Good, it wasn't itchy. She pulled the dress to the side in such a way that she could see the back, but the dress still hung on the rack, and she could feel a heave of relief making its way through her lips. It was just right.

Her heart was racing now, and Y/N couldn't shake the grin off her face, and for once, she didn't even care. Speed-walking towards the dressing rooms, Y/N nearly threw open one of the stall's doors, and locked herself inside immediately. Hanging her purse on a hook, she stripped out her clothes and slipped the dress over her head and down her body.

Except it wasn't going down her body.

It was stuck at her hips.

With a gentle fury, Y/N pulled at the dress, trying to force the thing down her thighs.

It wasn't going down.

Looking back up at the mirror, as though it would be some sort of saving grace, she continued to try to pull the dress down, but no avail.

Eventually, she zeroed in on her eyes in the mirror, and that's when Y/N stopped for a brief moment. She took in her appearance. Dress half worn, frown embedded, sweat glistening, hair frenzied, shoes thrown in some corner, and worst of all: tears beginning to form.

In a moment of rash wrath, Y/N pulled the dress off her, and threw it against the mirror, letting the tears pour out her eyes as she hugged herself and turned away from the mirror.

It's like not a single thing would go her way and it was stupid, worrying this much over a dress, but that wasn't all there was to it. It wasn't just the dress. It was the event, the school, the people, it was the whole world she'd been dropped into.

Aware that she was still technically in a public setting and should maintain at least some semblance of decorum, Y/N kept her sobs and sniffles to herself.

Knock knock.

Whipping her head up, Y/N realized that an employee was knocking on the door, and sniffed once more. Wiping her eyes and her face and wearing the clothes and shoes she originally walked in with, she grabbed her purse and the damned lavender dress, plastered a smile on her face, and opened the door.

No need to burden others with her own burdens.

Except standing outside the door was no employee, but rather Rook Hunt.

Bewildered, Y/N rubbed her eyes again in hopes that she was hallucinating and wasn't actually seeing Rook Hunt right after she had an emotional breakdown.

Sadly, she was in fact seeing Rook Hunt after said emotional breakdown.

"What a magnificent coincidence my dear Trickster!" Rook said as he walked with Y/N out of the dressing rooms of the store.

"Uh, yeah, pretty cool coincidence Rook. What're you doing here?" Y/N asked, trying to move the focus away from her and on to Rook. If he noticed, he didn't make it known. He simply continued to prattle on about a new fashion line from a brand he liked.

The thing about Rook that Y/N enjoyed at this particular moment was how despite the fact that he was here to buy something for himself, he simply followed Y/N wherever she went while occasionally interrupting to ask if a particular garment would look good on him or not. (Y/N was sure he knew that it would look good on him, and that he simply wished to hear someone else say it).

It hadn't been too long since Y/N had returned the lavender dress she'd tried to wear to an employee at the store and had instead opted to accompany Rook to the store that had the new line he was looking for (as a change of pace of some sort). The store itself was very high-end, that much she could tell, and while she'd always had a rough suspicion that Rook was in fact secretly rich, him perusing through everything that caught his eye in the store (which was a lot) without bothering about the prices certainly cemented the suspicion in Y/N.

Mindlessly scanning her eyes through the aisles visible to her as she waited for Rook to emerge from his dressing room, Y/N scrunched her face as she remembered her dressing room incident from earlier. Even though she was feeling a lot better now, it didn't change the fact that she still had no dress, and was running out of time to get ready.

Bam!

The door smack open dramatically with an even more dramatic figure emerging from the depths within.

Rook actually looked really nice. He clearly had a good eye for these things, even if most of those things were taught to him by Vil. Apparently there was a time where Rook was in Savanaclaw, and was something of a diamond in the rough (Vil's words, not hers). Before Vil got used to Rook being...well, Rook, he had given him an atrocious bob cut in hopes of Rook finally leaving him alone.

Spoiler alert, it did not work. In fact, Rook embraced the haircut so much that he hasn't changed it since he first got it, and he certainly hasn't stopped his usual Rook self.

Personally, Y/N couldn't imagine Rook looking any different. But no matter how much she pestered either Rook or Vil for old photos of him from back in Savanaclaw, neither would budge (one because it was too hideous and the other because he simply found it fun to tease her).

"Trickster? Are you alright?" Rook asked Y/N who was lost in thought.

"Hmm?" Y/N hummed, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh yeah, I'm alright. Sorry, I was just thinking about something." Doing a once-over of Rook, she said, "You look great."

Before she could get another word in, Rook slyly side-stepped her and made his way to some corner of the store not fully visible from where she was standing. Confused, Y/N tried leaning over to see where he'd gone, but when she couldn't see anything, she simply turned back and waited for him to come back.

He'd most probably seen something else he wanted to buy and was getting it.

Pulling out her phone, Y/N realized that she had less than an hour to get ready, and sighed. Still no dress. No completed hair or makeup. No nothing.

It was at this moment that Rook popped up in front of her face.

"There you are! Did you find something you wanted to try on-" Y/N asked when she looked at what Rook was holding in his hands.

It was a dress.

It was lavender in color.

It looked beautiful.

"I saw this dress, and I immediately thought that it would suit you so well! Hurry, go try it on~" Rook explained as he shoved Y/N towards the dressing room.

Sputtering, Y/N could only hold onto the dress thrust onto her arms as she was pushed by Rook. Once inside the room, she looked at the mirror.

Sigh.

Here we go again.

Tugging off her clothes, she pulled the dress over her figure with all the time she had.

Not looking at the mirror, she pulled the dress down her thighs. It went down just fine.

Huh.

Running her hands down the fabric and smoothening out any of the wrinkles in place, Y/N finally looked at her reflection. The dress was slightly loose, but not in a bad way. It gave her room to breathe. Besides, it'd probably shrink after she threw it in the wash. Y/N twirled around, watching the movement of the dress closely. It actually looked nice.

Hesitantly, Y/N brought her hand to the lock on the door and after taking in a deep breath, she opened it.

Rook was waiting patiently, and the look on his face when he saw her in the dress gave her some amount of confidence as she walked out.

"You look beautiful."

Y/N knew he wasn't lying. He'd never lie when it came to matters of beauty. But she also knew that he wasn't exaggerating. Rook, as dramatic and odd as he was, wasn't someone to exaggerate beauty. He simply spoke his mind, and that was something she respected about him.

"It certainly is a nice dress, but I can't pay for it Rook. I didn't bring enough." Y/N told him with a sad smile.

"Who said anything about you paying? I have already paid for the dress. All that you need to do is wear it!" Rook stated happily.

Despite being short of money most if not all the time, and bribing NRC's headmaster for payments (which in all honesty were well-deserved, taking into account all the work she did for him) amongst other things, Y/N had a certain respect for money. And a certain pride regarding money too. Especially when her friends were involved.

"Rook, I can't do that. This is way too expensive, and I'm not going to make you pay for it. I can't repay you, so I'm just not going to get this dress."

"Once again, Trickster, the dress has already been paid for. I didn't do this expecting you to pay me back, so don't worry about it, and just look like your prepossessing self."

Y/N could feel her eyes tear up again for the second time that day.

Before Rook could tell her to not ruin her face with tears, Y/N jumped him in a suffocating hug (one not unlike Floyd's infamous hugs) and thanked him profusely. Smiling, he looked down at her and wrapped her in an embrace of his own. She deserved much for everything she did around the school and more, and if this could be even a little helpful, he'd do it again.

"Now, now, don't cry Y/N." At the use of her name, she looked up at Rook's face. "You have something to attend, don't you? You can't do that if you're busy crying in a mall with me, now can you?"

Sniffing, Y/N nodded, and pulled back from Rook, wiping her tears away (luckily there weren't as much as before). "Did Vil tell you I was going on a date with Leona?" She asked.

"A date? With Leona!?" Rook exclaimed, much to Y/N's surprise. "I never thought I would see the day come!"

"Wait, so you didn't know?"

"My dear trickster, how could I have possibly known?"

With one more suspicious glance, Y/N dropped the subject.

"When is your date Trickster?"

"It's in less than an hour from now. Why?"

"And hour!? We have no time left." Rook cried out. Without missing a beat, he dragged Y/N with him out the store and to a salon that was just a few stores down. Sitting her down, he instructed an employee as to what to do with her (he was very particular when he told the employee to have the dress in perfect shape). For a second, he vaguely resembled Vil. This time, Y/N paid for the services herself, not taking no from Rook as an answer.

When all was said and done, Rook stood in front of Y/N, absorbing all the details, trying to figure out of it was all enough. A tiny bit of fuzz was on her shoulder, so he plucked it off smoothly before she could question anything.

"I-Thank you Rook. You have no idea how much this all means to me." Y/N told Rook.

"I would do anything for love to prevail *mon filou. And I would do even more for you." Rook told Y/N.

Smiling at Rook, she said, "You were right. I do like Leona. No, I love him. A lot. And by the looks of it, he likes me too!" Giving him one more hug, Y/N walked away, purse in hand, excited for her date with Leona.

"Ah, young love~ Whatever could be more beautiful?" Rook asked himself in a cheerful voice as he watched Ramshackle's Prefect walk off into the distance, one step at a time to her fairytale ending. Rook felt himself proud of reaching the mall just in time to help Y/N (her purse certainly helped in tracking her down).

That's two lovebirds he's helped today!

Turning back around and wandering through the mall, Rook wondered who he'd be helping next.

Author's Note: As you can see from the dates, I really took my time with this one. When I first started writing this last year, I was planning to write about Leona and Reader's date, or more specifically, how the date was arranged and all that fun stuff, but when I sat down to write today, it just went in a completely different direction. I've never really incorporated Rook into my writings (and if I did, he's there for like three sentences), but unpredictably, he ended up playing a larger role in this fanfic. If you'd like a third part to this where we find out about how Leona and Y/N even ended up agreeing to go on a date with each other, or perhaps we find out who Rook helped or is going to help, feel free to let me know!

Masterlist

[trappolia]

HOT THINGS HE DOES FOR YOU ── sebek zigvolt + gn!reader, 537

i. verbal appreciation. it’s a whole thing. there’s not a single day that will go by that this man doesn’t let you know how much he appreciates every little thing you do for him. sometimes it’s loud and booming, making the other students and staff in the library flinch because of the sheer volume of his voice, but other times it’s silent and soft-spoken, the ghost of a kiss against your skin in the late hours of the night. he doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal, but it means so much to you that he’s so open about how truly grateful he is for you.

ii. towers over you most of the time. he’s big and strong, and there’s something attractive about that combined with the fact that he’s practically dedicated himself to being your guard alongside his official duties to malleus. it’s not uncommon to have him lingering behind you, ready to step forward the moment you need his help. the position also makes for very good back hugs, should you request them at the right place and time.

iii. has a tendency to touch up on your appearance without you asking. he’s used to looking after silver, making sure he looks nothing less than perfect (even though silver has that unfair advantage of always looking princely even if he fell asleep in a ditch), and that habit extends to you over time. he soundlessly reaches out to you to adjust the collar of your uniformm of the fringe your hair as if you have no personal space, leaning in close enough for his lips to accidentally brush against your skin. it’s a wonder that he doesn’t notice the way your breath hitches (or does he…?).

iv. takes a while to learn how to whisper, but when he does, you can’t help but feel like he’s using it against you in some way. he gets closer than necessary when he’s whispering in your ear, to the point that his lips are brushing against your skin every time he moves. you don’t want him to tell him to move away, especially since you’re not exactly uncomfortable by the sudden close proximity, so you’re just left to pray to whatever deities exist in the world of twisted wonderland that he doesn’t notice the way your ears are suddenly burning hot and you’ve somehow forgotten how to breathe.

v. remembers the most trivial things about you, from the expression you make when you’re eating something you’re not particularly fond of to your body language when it’s too cold but you don’t want anyone to know that you’re freezing your ass off, even the way your gaze shifts around a crowded room when your social battery is depleting. one could say that he knows you better than you know yourself. he applies his knowledge very discreetly, so subtle that barely anyone notices. you do, of course, because you’re quite proud to say that you know sebek almost as well as he knows you. but you’re much too hesitant to point it out, afraid that if you were to do so, he’d stop. (a silly fear; sebek wouldn’t be able to stop caring for you even if he tried)

© trappolia 2024

[olivyh]

Fluff/crack hc

Dorm leaders get Kabedon by an S/O who didn't know they kabedon'd the Dorm leaders cus Yuu wanted to get their attention and say something they deemed important

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Studying in another country is taking a lot more out of me than I thought it would, and I've been pretty drained of motivation ;;;;. Hopefully it gets better once I get more used to living here and used to being so far from my friends and family, but I'll see where it takes me! I do see all the requests and I'm very grateful for all your support and kind comments- they're all getting be through these times <<3333 I couldn't thank you all enough for your support and I'll get back into my groove soon I hope!

Riddle:

"-and as of right now, there are currently fifteen students who have told me that they will be unable to complete their tasks necessary for the upcoming unbirthday party which, unfortunately, means-" He rambled, shuffling the impressive amount of papers he was currently holding in his arms- all annotated and marked appropriately and according by date and subject. He was walking through the main hallway with the prefect after classes and was currently incredibly stressed about the events that had unfolded since he woke up. 

First, he had gotten several messages about things that had gone wrong yesterday due to a brutal storm that had run its way through his dorm overnight; consisting of ripped-up bushes, frightened animals, and overturned tables (not to mention the countless roses that had been plucked from their homes and thrown about the area). That was followed by multiple complaints about food being stolen from the kitchen (he was confident that the culprit was a certain red-headed card soldier who had been getting on his nerves day in and day out since his arrival at NRC). Following that, many students had told him that they were sick and unable to perform their duties for the day. 

Riddle felt as though his head was going to explode from stress, and he found himself rambling to the one person on campus who he felt was sane enough to understand his inner turmoil. 

"Riddle!" He gasped when his back met the cold stone wall and a hand was placed beside his head. All his worries seemed to be ripped away from him as his brain as the only thing he could focus on was the rapid thrumming of his heart beneath his uniform and how close his friend was. His mouth opened and closed for a moment as he felt his face heat up. He felt as though he couldn't breathe from the close proximity. 

"Finally," They sigh, leaning back and giving him some room to catch some much-needed air. "I was telling you that we passed the cafeteria. You mentioned that you didn't eat lunch."

"Right..." He mumbles, his voice much too small for his liking. They back away and, for a moment, Riddle wishes that those few moments of suffocation would last just a little bit longer. The more he reflects on it, the quicker his heart beats. His hands begin to tremble and he barely notices when more and a few papers slip from his grasp and fall to the floor. His face heats up once more and his breathing becomes erratic the more he looks at the prefect, the sensation becoming too intense before he finds himself stammering something about a text from Trey and running off, leaving the poor prefect in a confused daze behind him with only the echo of his heels clicking behind him.  

Leona:

He was currently trying to nap beneath the large canopy of a tree nestled deep within the botanical garden. The warmth of the sun seeped in through the vast windows that were cut in a way that decorated small patches of the ground around in the shades of the rainbow, highlighting the bright hues of the tropical flowers that he was surrounded by. He was skipping class again, as per usual, after having been victim to a three-hour-long call from his family. All he wanted to do was to rest in the small patch of grass that he'd claimed as his own and sleep until it was dinner- which wouldn't be for another five hours from then. 

He had found the most perfect spot- just hidden away from any prying eyes and surrounded by the scent of the nearby flowers, but not close enough to get sprayed by the water that would rain down when the sprinklers went off. He had just closed his eyes when he caught a familiar smell lurking in the bushes. 

"What do you want, herbivore?" He groans, peeking an eye open and squinting against the bright light. The human stands over him, hands on their hips as they cast a shadow over his form. 

"Ruggie sent me!" The beastman rolls his eyes and allows the opened one to slip closed once more. "Come on, Leona! You can't miss another class..."

"Why not?" He scoffs, rolling onto his side so he was facing away from them. He feels their hand land on his shoulder and tug lightly in an attempt to get him to look at them once more which, of course, fails. He can admire their determination in most situations, but in this kind of scenario, he can't help but feel annoyed at their insistence. 

"You have to graduate at some point!" Leona sighs and rolls over, making the human slip with a yelp that makes his eyes shoot wide open as he finds himself directly under the prefect. He smirks and tries to ignore the way his stomach flutters at their proximity. 

"Is this how you want to wake me up?" Leona chuckles. "You're awfully brave, stomping into the lion's den." He basks in their flustered expression before flipping the roles, successfully pushing them onto the dirt and laughing loudly at the way their face morphs into something much more intense than it was previously. 

"Leona..." Their quiet, flustered voice reaches his ears and he tilts his head, sitting back on his heels and allowing them to sit up, barely catching their embarrassed stammers and excuses before they run back into the gardens, disappearing between the bushes. 

He chuckles and leans back into the grass, finally able to take the nap he so desperately wished for. 

Azul:

He was currently hunched over his desk, well past the hours when he should have been showered and in bed. The rest of the Mostro Lounge was dead silent aside from the soft sounds of bubbles that emanated from the hallway and the occasional clink as he bumped into his glass of water, which bumped into the inkwell of his bonefish pen. The only other sounds that echoed throughout the room was the scratching of his pen and the occasional drawn-out sigh from the merman as he slaved away at his desk. 

His entire body ached and his eyes felt as though they were being weighed down with lead, but he had to finish the final budgeting for the lounge before dawn. If not, then he would be behind on all the other work that he had to get done- such as ordering supplies and creating menus for the next month and a half, as well as filing any reports for damages caused by rowdy guests or the notorious eel that would throw things when he had gotten into one of his moods or would draw on plates when he felt like it. 

He didn't even feel when he had dozed off, only knowing that he had blinked for a little too long before he was spun around and roughly jostled out of his dazed state. He blinks widely up at the person who currently had their hands on either side of his desk, effectively trapping him between them and the piece of furniture. Their proximity alone was enough to wake him up, leaving the mer feeling as though he'd just been plunged into the water of the Coral Sea. 

For a moment his mind was racing with thoughts about how he currently looked- he was sure that his glasses were askew (and likely smudged due to his slow, sleepy movements), his hair was probably a mess; sticking up out of his head in each and every direction, and his uniform was comprised of nothing more than his loosely buttoned white shirt and his untied bowtie that hung loosely over his shoulders. 

On the other hand, he couldn't focus on anything more than the little details he could never really see of the prefect- the way their lip juts out when they're nervous, the little lines in the corners of their eyes from when they smiled, and even the way their hair framed the face that he would watch day in and day out. 

Once his brain clicked, he scrambled for some sort of purchase, effectively tipping his chair back and making his head hit the desk with a thud as pain shot down his spine from the impact. He hit the ground with a groan before the prefect helped him up, walking with him back to his room to nurse his injury. He couldn't tell if his face was burning and his heart was constricting from embarrassment or affection, but he decided that he couldn't care either way. 

Kalim:

"But then we could find some new animals to add to the dorm! It would be fun, right?" The heir was currently trying to brainstorm ideas on how to make his dormmates seem less... drained. For the past couple of weeks, due to finals, he noticed how exhausted many of them were. His concern arose when some of them even turned down dinner in favor of studying or sleep. He wasn't exactly sure how he could help them, considering that the most he's been able to offer thus far was a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, as well as festivals and parties (that many of the students also declined). He was at a loss for what to do until he decided to do some research, which lead him on a tangent in his room, late into the hours of the night. The windows were wide open, which allowed some moonlight to creep in and join the warm light of the magically-lit lanterns and the quiet music that played off his phone- now cast onto his bed and long forgotten in his whirlwind of planning. 

"I really don't think that animals would help much," The prefect sighed. That makes him stand still for a moment, sighing and casting a sad glance over to the former. He continues to pace, mumbling different ideas out loud and hoping that they would pick up on at least a little bit of what he was saying. Before he knows it, he's yelling excitedly and practically skipping around his spacious room, hands flailing as he jabbers about possible plans to improve his dormmates' wellbeing. He doesn't even notice when the prefect begins to call his name. 

"But if it doesn't work, then what?" He finishes, taking a deep breath to look over at them. He takes notice of the concerned look on their face, his energy instantly dissipating as he rushes to their side. "What's wrong? You look sad..." 

"I'm not sad, Kali. I'm just a little worried. You're not responsible for everyone's happiness," They explain and Kalim feels his heart shatter as confusion clouds his brain. 

"I'm..." He pauses and smiles, letting out a short, silent laugh. "I'm a dorm leader! I have to!" 

He gasps when he feels himself trapped suddenly against his wardrobe, cutting off his train of thought roughly as he sucks in a deep breath. 

"What are you...?"

"So you'll finally listen to what I'm saying!" 

He nods and tries to ignore the feeling in the back of his mind that begs him to squirm. He has been close to the prefect before, yes, but never for a long enough period of time. He'd only done it to help them learn how to do the dances of his hometown, or when he would clean up with them (or attempt to, at least). But this felt completely different from all those times before...

"I'm... listening," He breathes softly after a long pause, making his friend back away for a moment. In that split second, he desperately wishes that he could be as smooth as the princes in all the fairytales he'd grown up reading and pull them back, fighting back the urge to get closer to them once more. 

Vil:

"In just a moment," Vil murmured, leaning in closer to the mirror that sat at his desk. The lights would have been blinding if thy hadn't reflected off his light violet eyes so brightly and highlighted each and every product that he layered on his perfect skin. He had a meeting in just an hour, and he was already running behind schedule. His dearest friend, the prefect, was currently lounging on his bed, sprawled out and scrolling on their phone while he focused on perfecting his makeup for the undoubtedly long and boring few hours he had ahead of him. 

"Vil-" They whined loudly and, in the corner of his eye, he could watch them dramatically throw their arms in the air and flopping them beside their head as they look into his eyes from the background. 

"It won't be long, I promise!"

"Nonsense," He sighs. He couldn't deny that he was hungry and, normally, he was practical about his eating schedule. He ate three square meals, and carried around a healthy snack for if he felt as though he needed something extra to get him through the day. Today, however, he had skipped lunch due to rehearsal, and he was certainly feeling the effects now. He could always ignore this and opt to eat at a later time, perhaps once the meeting was over and he could grab something quick from a nearby restaurant. 

He turned to face them, only to notice that they were hovering over him and had slammed their hands on his desk loudly, startling him slightly as he jolted. He was surprised, if he was being honest- he wasn't expecting this type of reaction to come from the sweet, sweet prefect. 

He sighs, looking up at them with an eyebrow quirked and a small smile on his face as he observes their annoyed expression, before watching as that expression shifts from annoyance to realization to embarrassment. 

"Are these the lengths you're truly willing to go to?" He chuckles, determined to turn the tables. He leans in, enjoying the way the prefect seems caught like a deer in headlights. He leans back and goes back to his makeup, making eye contact with them in the mirror and smiling once more. "Nevertheless, you'll have to wait."

He can barely catch their groan filled with disbelief and annoyance before he continues on his work. 

Idia:

"But if I log in for the rest of the week, I should still be at the top of the charts, right? But then, my next problem would be that I hadn't grinded for enough lucky stars yet!" Idia was currently pacing in his room, ranting to his newfound friend as they sat on his bed, listening to his problems eagerly as he carried on. "If I log in, I'll be caught up, but not caught up enough to get the new SSR+ that everyone else probably already has!" He throws his hands up in the air, noticing how, out of the corner of his eye, his firey hair lit up the room in shades of amber as he got more and more worked up. "I mean, how unfair is that? I have to go to school! They prob don't even have to do that or dorm leader stuff, so that's exactly how they got ahead of me! Which sucks!" 

"Idia..."

"I mean, I've been playing this game since the release and suddenly all these Magicam normies suddenly get the sneak on me because they just joined? I'm glad the fanbase is growing but I mean come on!"

"Idia!"

"And then they're completely mischaracterizing them! Like, absolutely butchering the characters! Shadow isn't all gloomy all the time- he actually has a soft spot for his teammates which is so cool and also such a big thing for them to ignore!"

"Idia Shroud!"

"And I saw on Magicam that they were completely ignoring the plot and the character development- like, in Blade's SSR+ that was released last year, she clearly mentions the main plot and how much it changed her as a person! And people still have the audacity to ignore her!" He was pacing more quickly now, rambling so quickly that he already felt his mouth going dry. The headphones around his neck blasted the ambient music from the paused game on his PC, but he could care less after seeing one particular post that got him worked up. 

He felt himself getting pushed to the wall as he stared down at the prefect in shock, his hair turning a bright crimson as his face went a similar shade. He stammered for a moment before biting his lip to shut himself up, feeling the way his heart hammered in his chest and made his head dizzy as the world around him spun. 

He was being kabedon-ed. 

Just like in all his shows. 

"Th-this-"

"I asked if you wanted something to eat," He could only muster a nod before he gulps, biting his lip once more as he gasps for air and his knees go weak. "Idia."

"How did I-," He murmurs, suddenly feeling faint. "-get this route?" Idia whispered the last word as he felt his entire body go limp as he passed out. 

Malleus:

He had been more than fortunate to have made such a close friend- one he can call his first in his very long life thus far. As of recently, however, he'd noticed that his affections had become more than simple friendship- the seeds have been planted within the cold thorn walls of his heart and had begun to blossom into fragrant roses that constricted his chest and dominated his every waking thought. More often than not, he had been able to surpass this feeling that had consumed him, placing on his mask of contentedness whenever they would look his way wearing the smile that would make his heart melt and the fireflies that would often surround him fly a little faster in bright yellow streaks against his pale skin and ivory hair that framed his narrow face. 

Now had been one of those moments. They were currently exploring the forest around campus, and Malleus finally had the opportunity to show the prefect a small meadow hidden just outside of the sports field- a bustling meadow, filled with wildflowers that sprouted out of the ground and painted the scenery in all the colors of the rainbow and insects buzzing from flower to flower contentedly. He cast a longing glance over to the human, smiling softly at their awed expression- mouth hanging open as their eyes were so wide he could practically see the entire meadow reflected against their irises. 

He had wished so desperately to capture this moment in a little bubble, to place it upon a pedestal in his treasure room and gaze at it whenever the nights seem to be too long. Oh, how he wished he could hold their face in his own hands and that the chill of his skin wouldn't give them a shock. He longed to live with them in this meadow- perhaps run far away from his life of nobility to do just that. 

He could practically feel it- the warmth of the sun against his face and the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders as they forage for berries- perhaps they would even take a small nap among the flower fae living in the area, only to wake at sunset and move to make a warm meal together in the small kitchen of their cottage. 

Suddenly, he's trapped between a small tree with the human in question practically pinning him against it. His eyes widen for a moment as his mind freezes, struggling to understand the sudden proximity. 

"Mal-" Before they could finish their sentence, he had vanished in a cloud of fireflies, leaving the concerned human dazed and alone in the middle of the field. 

From that point onwards, Malleus was forced to endure Lilia's incessant teasing about his reaction.

[duskymrel]

A Cowards Sacrifice

Synopsis: An angsty Leona drabble, in which he doesn't think he's good enough for his lover.

---------------

He was back in that position again.

Sitting on the edge of your shared bed, watching you sleep peacefully. Unaware of the thoughts going through his mind.

He had done this every night for months, deliberating on whether or not tonight was the night. Deciding if he would allow himself to be selfish just a little longer.

He loved you wholeheartedly, more than he could explain. And yet, he still struggled with vulnerability, still a little cub emotionally. But he had tried with you; he truly had.

You had always been there for him. Listening to his frustrations and providing support when needed. Offering guidance and comfort when it was called for.

Strict and stern at times but kind and patient otherwise. Firm in your convictions yet gentle with his insecurities and concerns. He took note of every act of kindness he had ever seen you do. A list that grew longer each day. It was a list of why he loved you.

But also a list of reasons why he couldn't keep you.

He could never be the person you deserved. If he ever were to tell you his worries, he was sure you'd launch into a monologue about how much you loved him, and assure him that he was everything you needed. He was more than good enough for you, you'd say, perfect in every way. Yet he could never quite believe it.

For he knew that you loved him, never once had he doubted it. But he also knew he didn't deserve your affection. You were too good and kind and perfect for anyone, let alone him. And he couldn't burden you, couldn't bring you down to his level.

He was a coward for leaving you. But even more, he was a coward for staying. He couldn't bear the thought of tethering you to him forever. You were too deserving of better.

His heart pounded, his body trembling as he rose to leave. But when he felt your hand gently grab his wrist, he hesitated. It was silent for a moment before you yawned and slurred your words, affected by sleep.

"Leona? Where are you going?"

He slowly climbed back into bed and kissed you goodnight, offering a simple lie.

"Nowhere," he whispered. "Go back to sleep, Mpenzi Wangu."

You yawned once more, too drowsy and relaxed to do more than just give a murmur of agreement.

One more night. That's all he needed. One more night of selfishness.

He'd spare you that pain tonight.

--------

I'm not one for writing angst but this has been swimming around in my head for a few weeks. I feel like Leona would feel like he wasn't good enough for MC.

@queen-shiba i hope you don't mind, but i really loved the nickname you use in some of your works and wanted to use it here!!! (Mpenzi Wangu) if you want me to remove it I can <3

My request box is open for anyone who's interested in my work <3333333

@leonistic @meltedbuttersblog @killersweetie @queen-shiba come get your daily dose of Leona ily MWAH

[cursedcola]

Prompt: "Will You Marry Me?" - Proposal Headcannons Characters: Everyone :) Part(s): Heartslabyul (here!), Savanaclaw, Octavinelle, Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, Diasomnia(Pt.1)(Pt.2) Fandom: Twisted Wonderland Warning(s): None. I mean, unless you don't want to marry any of them. Just don't read if that's the case. Note: These are all if he is the one proposing btw. I've been thinking about maybe programming a small fan-made mini-otome using these ideas. Just for some practice for school while also being self indulgent hehe

Riddle Rosehearts

Very traditional, but this is expected. He asks your closest of kin (a cat, to his horror) for permission to propose. Regardless of Grimm's answer, there is already a ring that's been purchased. This is merely formality

He comes up with an elaborate plan to execute the 'perfect' proposal. Riddle maps it all out and runs multiple drafts by his childhood friends. Everything must go perfectly - or else you might not accept. Is it likely that not presenting you with exactly 12 red roses with the spikes trimmed and arranged with 6 sprigs of baby's breath will be the reason you decline? Likely not. Will he chance it though? No.

Despite all his planning, he is a nervous wreak. Our red prince is great at masking it though. He plans an entire evening down to the last detail. You both go to a upscale restaurant that serves your favorite cuisine under the pretense that you're celebrating an amazing jab offer Riddle received the day prior. There's dinner, dancing, a romantic atmosphere, and delightful conversation (he prepared conversation topics in advance in case he felt nervous).

Oh look, there just so happens to be an outdoor garden to take an evening stroll through. Would you like to go?

Of course you would, and he asks you to wait outside as he visits the restroom. After you pass through the back door, a nearby waiter slips him the bouquet of twelve roses that he dropped off in the morning. He counts them, checks the stems, the ribbon holding them together, and with a relieved sigh he reaches into his pocket.

Riddle nestles the engagement ring within the core of the center rose, and for a moment his anxiety quells. He looks through the outside door's windowpane, and sees you patiently waiting for him while admiring the garden lights. The anxiety returns, but he's ready. With a knuckle-white grip on the flowers, he passes through the doors.

"Hello...I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. I had a matter of great importance to attend to - wha? No! Not that- ugh. I wasn't in the restroom! Only you would make such a childish remark on such an important day...No, do not apologize. I was not referring to my career. Perhaps these flowers will provide some clarity. I hope they are to you liking,"

When you notice the ring, he gently takes it and gets down on one knee. Riddles heart rattles against his ribcage, and his the mask of calm falters. He holds out the ring with one hand, and the other lightly trembles as it reaches for yours.

"Would you do me the honor of becoming my spouse? I promise that you will be cared for dearly, and that I will work tirelessly to become a husband that you will be proud of,"

{Riddle's ring is a mix of new and old. Tradition dictates a diamond for a wedding ring, but he knows better. Riddle wants you to think of him every time you see this ring, so he chooses to stray. Three rubies sit nested in diamonds. The color of his hair, which you love to poke fun of so much. It represents how he is willing to consistently change while still holding on to his core values, all so he can become a husband worthy of you}

Trey Clover

A simple man, and therefore takes a simple approach. The depth of his proposal lies in the timing. He does not know when he will be ready to commit, or how to tell if you are ready to as well.

Trey puts proposing off for the longest time. He acts in baby steps. The idea toys with him for months, until one day he convinces himself that he is ready. After that he slowly begins to look at rings, and think of ideas. He wants to be original, but would that overwhelm you? He would sooner die than do something tacky like a public proposal at a concert or event...but is that something you might want?

If there is one thing Trey is certain about, its that rejection would break him. He knows that your relationship would never be the same if he proposed too early, or if he managed to royally screw it up. He's not a fan of attention. This is awful. Oh Great Sevens it's a pressure that he never dreamed of having to undergo.

But if he doesn't propose...would you? Are you waiting for him? what if you're thought process is the same as his?

Completely out of character for Trey, he ends up proposing on impulse. He woke up one morning and saw the ring tucked away in his sock drawer. For the millionth time he had to face the "I should just do it," thoughts and decided to act on them

The day is new, neither of you had work, and a quick glance over his shoulder proves that you would be soundly sleeping for at least the next hour. So what's he do? Trey puts on his nicest casual clothes. Nothing formal, but also nothing that is sloppy. Then he marches downstairs and starts to make breakfast. He decides to prepare tarts, a reminiscence of your days as students and where you first met. As he arranges them on a platter, he places the ring inside one made with your favorite flavor. It peaks out just enough for anyone to notice, and with a huff Trey steps back to admire his work.

His hands are slightly clammy, and quickly moves to busy himself in fear he might chicken out. It helps for a time, until he hears your footsteps approach the kitchen, followed by a sleepy 'good morning' and arms wrapping around his torso

He steels himself, and turns over in your arms to kiss the top of your head. With a nervous laugh, Trey gestures to the platter of fruit tarts and smiles at how the sight of food causes you to perk up. Like clockwork, you reach for your favorite flavor and quickly notice the metal chunk inside

He reigns in panic as you dig the ring out and eye it with a quirked brow. A moment of silence passes before it clicks, and you whip to gawk at him with the largest bugeyes he has ever seen. Wordlessly, Trey takes the ring, wipes off any crumbs with his shirt, and takes your hands in his

"I'm sorry to spring this on you so early in the morning. It must be quite the wakeup call, huh? Haha...The truth is, I have wanted to give this to you for such a long time. I simply did not know how. I had a burst of courage this morning, and am honestly running on pure adrenaline. I love you...I want to spend our lives together. Will you marry me?"

{Trey's ring is a single pearl on a gold band. He feels that the ring should reflect it's wearer, and you are one of the most naturally beautiful people he has ever seen. There is beauty in simplicity - in seeing things as they are with no modifications. You do that for him, and he loves how your relationship is authentic}

Cater Diamond

Marriage? Huh. See, in the past that was a no-go. Very constricting and he didn't enjoy the idea of getting linked to someone in that regard. An s/o with no legal binding? Sure. It's just a title anyways, right? That kind of thing shouldn't matter in the long run.

Except it did end up being relevant, and now Cater wants to beat himself up because he explicitly told you once things were getting serious that he wasn't interested in marriage. You were fine with doing either and left the decision up to him. Very nice of you to be so nonchalant , and now he knows that marriage isn't 'off the table'. There is a chance.

A chance that requires him to both propose and take back his initial stance. Which is kind of humiliating. The take back part, not the proposal. Cater is confident that he can blow you away. He doesn't need shoddy internet advice, or to to do extensive research to be perfect. Nope. It's all in his noggin. He knows you like the back of his hand and therefore can concoct a speech to woo you easily.

So what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Does he try to casually tip you of that he's interested in getting married before trying to propose? No. That would be incredibly dull and ruin the element of surprise. Cater always hated those crappy half-baked romance films where the loser male lead is all 'oh honey I promise I will propose. Just give me time,' because hello???? You spoiled it??? Also don't make promises that you don't plan to keep, douchebag. How dull.

He decides that it's all or nothing. Cater spends an entire night online shopping for a ring. He already knows all of your sizes...don't ask how or why. Anyway, ordering is a cinche. Just ignore his eyebags the next day and his snappy attitude. He can't even whine about how tired he is because that would mean he has to say why he didn't sleep and -EUGH. He is torn between his two loves. Complaining for attention, and wooing you for attention. It's rough.

It comes in the mail, and after checking the package he decides to seal it back up again. It looks untouched thanks to his skills. Then, he sets up the living room to look like he is filming a video for his magicam. Specifically an unboxing video, and makes sure to let you know that it's from one of your favorite companies.

You take the bait, and he asks you to join him. Even if your camera shy, he insists that for just this one video you hop on. He might be a bit tricky and give you ideas about the product in the box (making sure to align them with a hobby or fandom that you're into). He sets the camera to record, plops down casually at your side, and hands you the box cutter. Go crazy.

Cater can't help but giggle when you open the box - just to pull out another small box. You eye it cautiously, now suspicious that this might be a prank. He urges you to open the box, and you do so while holding it at arms-length away from your face.

The ring's gem sparkles in the camera light, and he watches amused as you pull it closer. With a shaky hand, you take it out of the box and inspect it. With the way you side-eye him, Cater can tell that you're wondering if this situation is a cruel prank...

"Tada~~ You like? -- WAIT! Before you get upset just let me explain! There is no video. That was a lie, and I'm sorry for it. I surprised you good though, right?...ahem, uhm. I'm not pranking you. If you feel the same, then I want for us to get married! I know what I said before, and I take it back. The time we have spent together made me realize that I only felt that way - well, because I was unable to imagine liking someone enough to share my life. So...do you want to marry me?"

{A diamond for a diamond. Diamonds are reflective. They glitter, and are clear. They are also viewed as the best choice for a ring, but in actuality they have are not. They're only considered perfect because of marketing. In actuality, they're quite the opposite. This same reasoning applies to Cater - and you understand. Yet, you still love him. The diamond represents himself, and the heart shape is to remind you how much you mean to him}

Deuce Spade

He may be young, but he is not stupid...alright. Deuce is not always stupid. Sometimes? Yes. He makes poor decisions and lets his emotions get the better of him.

This? Not a poor decision, and he will never EVER think twice about it. From the moment the idea entered Deuce's head, it was decided. HE would become your husband. Nothing would stop him.

It began during his final year at Night Raven College. Graduation approached, and everyone was excited. Everyone, except for one person. You. He didn't notice it at first, being too hung up over how he actually managed to do well in school. Get this, he even became Heartslabyul Drumhead after Riddle graduated! What an honor! His mother was proud of him, and he was proud of himself! He had career aspirations, plans to get a home back home, and even a lovely s/o to flaunt. Life was great.

What...do you mean? That you're not going back with him? The Queendom of Roses is such a beautiful place! He's certain that you'll love it and can become adjusted. Why do you want to stay at this academy? Was three years not enough?

Deuce has never gotten mad at you before. A little miffed, sure, but never frustrated. He didn't like it. Not these feelings, or how he failed to notice that you planned this from the start. He was so wrapped up in his own happiness, that he failed to see that you felt troubled over his assumptions. It stung. In a moment of weakness, he left you alone, scared that he might raise his voice at you.

He needed to think. Alone. Thankfully he moved past sharing a room with Ace when Deuce became Housewarden. His phone rang many times. Some calls from you, Ace, his mother...for once, Deuce didn't think her advice could help him. Not when he was so confused.

He thought over his dreams for after college. They were the same that he had since prior to enrolling. Nothing changed...except for you and the other unexpected friends he made along the way. It began to settle within him that the unpredicted parts were more important to him than what he initially planned. The image of him as a successful worker, on his own, and being successful were all hollow if they didn't include you. Deuce wasn't upset that you planned to stay at NRC, he was upset that you didn't plan to stay with him.

Or did you? He interpreted it as such in the moment, but he's not so sure. All Deuce knows is that you're his best friend and the love of his life. If you stay here without him, will that change? He doesn't want to find out.

The next day, he's determined. It's impulsive, this he knows. Yet it's what feels right in his heart and Deuce has always trusted his gut instinct. This choice is entirely on him. No one's advice to excuse it if you don't reciprocate, and yet he isn't afraid. He might not have a ring, or fancy offerings. All he has is his love to offer, and a willingness to work around any obstacle. The hurt from the night prior sill aches in his chest, but he has done difficult things before. The pain merely serves as a reminder for how he hurt you, and what his future might be like if he doesn't act.

He finds you before breakfast. When the first rays of sunshine peak over the horizon and the air is still moist with morning dew. You lingered in the hall of mirrors, specifically near the portal to Heartslabyul Hall. Your presence startled him, and he nearly headbutt you from the speed he was going through the portal. Were you...planning to visit him? His heart shuddered in a mix of guilt and happiness. Even after the way he behaved, you still cared.

Upon closer inspection, you appear just as disheveled as him. He must have caused you a great deal of worry...damn it. He can't even be mad at himself. Not with things as they are.

Before you have a chance to speak, he hushes you. Deuce's jaw sets in determination and he reaches into his uniform pocket. He pulls out a paper ring. One that children often give each other on the playground when playing family. He then gets down on one knee, and holds it out with both hands.

"I am sorry. I never intended to hurt you, or push my ambitions on to you. I simply love you more than anything else, and was afraid that you did not want to be together anymore. I was afraid...that being apart would take away what we have. I realize that I was wrong. I didn't see it happening, but being with you has caused me to develop dreams beyond what I initially planned. Nothing I imagine feels right, unless you are in the picture. I don't have a proper ring prepared just yet...but will you marry me? I promise that no matter where we are - for better or worse, I will make you happy. I swear it!

{Your initial ring is made out of his most recent homework assignment. It's frail, and one drop of water will break it. However, he meticulously folded it and it is the byproduct of many imperfect prototypes. The paper ring truly represents who Deuce is. It's rushed, fragile, and full of love}

{He chooses a vintage ring. With both of your initials engraved on the center, he hopes that this ring attests to a promise no matter where you both are. It's rose-gold, not as bright as pure gold but still beautiful. The mixed color represents the different worlds you both come from, as well as your melded life}

Ace Trappolla

Ace tends to get comfortable, and when that happens it is difficult to ignite change. However, he is also headstrong. More than many give him credit for. So once the problem is identified, it's only a matter of time until he does something about it. What he does isn't necessarily always the best solution, sure; however, when threatened he will indeed act.

Initially Ace did not plan to find love. For a long time, he rejected it and passed his feelings off as a small crush. You're attractive, he's a man, a lil of this and a lil of that - who wouldn't feel a little heart throb once in a while? It only became an issue when you became one of his best friends. It felt like he was betraying you with these thoughts. They became a problem.

His first solution was to repress them further. Like stated, he noticed a problem and so he acted. Was this the best choice? No. It ended in a dumpster-fire. Any time another student even remotely expressed interest in you, Ace felt threatened. He couldn't spend time at your side without indecent thoughts popping up. Not like 'that' (geez, get your mind out of the gutter people), but more so domestic. Ick. What was happening?!

He couldn't hold it in, and his confession will forever be known as a feels-dump that started with you sharing half of your grilled-cheese with him because he missed lunch.

Yeah. Humiliating. Ugh.

Now you're his partner, of a long time. A very, very, very long time. Years post graduation. You both have settled into life together, so why tack a title? It's not like those mean anything, right? Everything was perfect as is, and weddings are expensive. You never brought it up either, so why worry?

Well, those titles do mean things in the eyes of the law. Ace never thought to get documentation about emergency contacts and whatnot updated. So when hit his head and got a concussion when jogging? The hospital wouldn't let you in. Not until he woke up, which was the longest four hours of your life.

You didn't express how much it bothered you, but words weren't necessary. The muted panic that you tried to hold back was enough. He expected you to enter his room angry, but instead all he got was defeat. That sight alone hurt worse than the leg.

The event got Ace thinking about things he hadn't in a long time - like marriage. He got too comfortable after letting the thought go once. To him, you were already irreplicable. Years do that, and he's certain that you feel the same way about him. If his young self could see him now...pah, he was such a turd. All 'I don't need anyone,' and empty words to play tough-guy. Little did he know that the person he would need the most in life was only a dimension-hop away haha.

It's that simple, really. No panic or nervousness. Ace decided definitively that he was going to marry you, and it only took years of being an airhead to figure it out.

He spends the night in the hospital for surveillance, and the staff is kind enough to prove you with a cot to sleep on. He stubbornly drags it next to his bed, and once you're sleeping soundly he 3slips a bandage over your ring finger to take the measurement

He planned to go buy the ring instantly after being discharged, but you wouldn't leave his side. Nagging about bed-rest and taking it easy...ugh! He needs to do this thing! No, he can't tell you about it. It's a secret!.....ugh, fine. One more day. Just because he loves the attention.

The next morning after, he's excitedly going to the nearest jewelers. He doesn't have a particular ring in mind, but he's done some research! It's the idea behind the ring that's important anyways....alright. Maybe he'll call up Cater.

Ace does nothing extravagant. He sticks to comfort. You, him, both eating dinner while watching a movie on the TV that evening. He quickly scarfs down his meal within the first 10 minutes and runs to your shared room after ditching his dishes. Stashed in his wallet, he pulls put the ring and hides it in his palm.

Ace tries to be smooth. He dims the living room lights, and sits down closer to you than before. He moves to take your hand with the one holding the ring, and sneak it on to your finger.

It fails, obviously. Who wouldn't notice someone trying to shove a piece of metal on their finger? You pull away on instinct, and the ring falls between the couch cushions. He freaks out for a moment and sifts through them as you continue to eat between giggles. Only when he holds the ring up in triumph do you quiet down.

"Not so funny now, is it? - Nah, just kidding. It was pretty funny....although I wanted this to be a bit more romantic. Eh. It's fine. From the look on your face, I'm guessing that you know what this is?...Uhh. Yeah. I thought it was a good time, y'know? We've been together so long that I already do think of you as my partner. I think you feel the same? Feel free to jump in if not....but, yeah. I love you. A lot. I'd really like to make it official, and I'm sorry it took me so long to get the guts to ask. Will you marry me?"

{Tradition is for chumps. Ace wanted to get something fun and eye-catching. Many suggested otherwise, but this felt right. Your relationship has never been conventional and never will be. Hell, screw 'conventional,' because it's perfect as it is and so is this ring. He knows that this ring will draw your attention, and that's all he cares about}

End Note: None of the ring pictures are mine. I pulled them off of google images because - well, I had ideas and tried to find rings to match them. I write fanfic, not weld jewelry.