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Insatiable Madness (14)

|Sagau Yandere Fatui Harbingers x Reader|

Communication is within reach! That's a good thing, right?

Reader is Gender Neutral!

The light from the window across from you woke you up, your eyes opening in alarm before squinting closed due to the sudden sting.

You turned over, away from the window, snuggling closer to the pillow below your head.

Wait a minute, huh?

Your eyes snapped open this time, now more accustomed with the bright light inside the room. You leaned up, looking around to see where you were.

The last thing you remember is talking to Scaramouche in the garden… how did you end up back in your bedroom? Did he carry you up here? That was awfully nice of him, a bit too nice of him in fact. He’s definitely going to rub that in your face later.

Hold on, doesn’t that mean he entered your room!? What’s the point in trying to keep the Harbingers out of your bedroom if they’re going to waltz in the second you’re not awake?

Ugh, nevermind. Think happy thoughts. The PC’s safety shouldn’t be too much of a problem yet, after all, they can only hear you on this side - you can’t hear them. Besides, you made sure to turn the volume off and put an overlay on the screen just in case something like this happened.

You stretched, a pleasant hum escaping your lips from a restful sleep.

“You seem in better spirits this morning~” 

“WHAT THE F-”

You fell off your bed in shock, your back hitting the carpet and head facing towards the ceiling. Columbina, with a teasing smile, peered from the side of the bed - comically appearing in your line of sight.

“What are you doing here!? More importantly, what are you doing in my bed!?” You whispered harshly, not bothering to sit up.

“Did you forget our little secret already?”

…

Oh right. She’s ‘allowed’ to come into this room whenever she wants now.

“Of course not…”

She clapped with a happier expression. “Wonderful! I’m so glad you remembered, and I’m glad I thought to sneak in once the Balladeer left. Your bed is much more comfortable than the other one you tried to give me instead.”

“That ‘other bed’ was to be shared with all the other female Harbingers, and ‘that bed’ is just as comfortable as this one… And besides, you were assigned that bed yesterday, you didn’t even give it a chance.”

 “No, I can already tell this one is better.” She giggled. “Not only does this room get the sun - unlike the majority of the other rooms, but I also have you to wake up to to amuse me first thing!”

I’m sorry,” You interrupted her. “When did you say you snuck in again?”

“Last night, I thought that much would be obvious.”

“YOU SLEPT HERE WITH ME ALL NIGHT!?”

“Of course I did.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “I see nothing wrong with it - I don’t suppose you do, do you?”

“Of course I do! You didn’t ask for my consent at all!”

“I don’t understand, you’re making it out as if I assaulted you.” Her nose scrunched up in disgust. “Please be rest assured, I didn’t touch you if that’s what you’re worried about. I only wanted to spend more time with you.”

“That excuse would only make sense if I was awake, and we weren’t in bed together!”

She simply tilted her head in response to that, her happy smile turning dark. It seems she doesn’t want to talk about this anymore, and you don’t feel like pushing her any further.

Well… she looks to be telling the truth, you’ll have to believe her for now. That doesn’t mean you trust this though, considering the fact that Columbina now thinks this bed belongs to her. This is terrible, now you can’t feel safe in your own room anymore! Are you really going to have to sleep on the floor now? You refuse to voluntarily share this bed with her.

“Any..way…” You coughed into your hand, lifting yourself up from your fallen position. “I’ll be heading for a shower now, please leave.”

“Mmmm… No thank you. I want to continue sleeping whilst the sunlight is shining on the bed.”

Is she a cat or something?

“Fine. It’s not like I can stop you after all.”

“You’re right, you can’t.” She stuck her tongue out before grabbing the pillow you were previously leaning on and hugging it close to her body.

“Goodnight.”

It’s not even nighttime, weirdo. You deadpanned, grabbing new clothes from your wardrobe and glancing back with a scowl. Did she actually…? Yup, she’s out cold. 

You’re getting out of here, this whole situation is cringing you out severely, and the more you look at her the more itchy your skin feels. You closed your bedroom door behind you, walking to the bathroom and putting your clean clothes on the windowsill beside the shower.

Making sure the door was locked, you grabbed all the soap you needed from the cupboard and turned the shower on, flinching when the water was cold.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Shouting from downstairs interrupted your humming.

You stopped rinsing your hair and turned off the shower in confusion, trying to verify whether the noise was what you thought it was.

“Fuck, what do we do!? Where’s The Decider?” You could barely make out the shout from downstairs, sighing in annoyance at your shower being cut off.

Oh well, you were practically finished anyway. It looks like you won’t be able to finish your little concert and will have to take care of the children, again.

You dried yourself and got changed in the new clothes as fast as you could, your hair still dripping when you rushed down the stairs to see what the commotion was.

Before you could push to the front of the semicircle the Harbingers had formed themselves in, they turned to you with disturbed faces, some more than others.

“Decider, you’re here at last. What took you so long?” Dottore whispered harshly.

“What’s with the whispering? Someone was shouting very loudly earlier.” You raised an eyebrow, the Harbinger’s shushing you in reply.

“There’s someone behind the front door.”

“Okay, and?”

“What do we do?” Childe asked you straightforwardly.

“Answer it, I dunno.” You shrugged. “What does the person look like?”

“An old woman with blonde hair,” Arlecchino commented. “She was carrying a circular red tin covered in a sprinkle design.”

There’s only one person you know with the delusional need to dye her hair dark blonde despite her wrinkles becoming clearer by the day. She also happens to be the only person you can think of who’d own such a hideous tin.

“Mrs Langley?” You questioned out loud.

“You know this person?”

“Yeah. She’s one of the only neighbours who speaks to us, my mother would often send me to the pharmacy on her behalf to get her medicine. The things I’ve seen in her house… you’d think it was a bad set design for a film.”

“Well, now this woman is outside and waiting behind the door for someone to greet her. We can’t even pretend someone isn’t home, because of Childe.” Scaramouche quickly brought the conversation back to its original topic, giving a side eye to the other Harbinger in question.

“I’ll answer it for you then.” You smiled a bit too enthusiastically. This could be your chance to get someone who knows you, and just so happens to follow the news, to know of your location so the police can locate you!

“Absolutely not.” Your smile dropped when you saw Pierro glaring at you from the sidelines. “Tell me, why do you think we called you down here, knowing you could use this as a chance to escape?”

“To give me false hope?” You sighed into your hand, scolding yourself for thinking there was a chance.

“We’re not that evil.” Childe muttered.

“Yes you are, you hypocrite.” Sandrone glared at him, amused by the current situation.

“Alright, alright, maybe you are then.”

“Enough!” Pierro shouted. “What did you do?” His eyes narrowed.

“I didn’t do anything!” You argued back. “I woke up this morning and immediately got in the shower. If you don’t believe me, ask Columbina. She was with me all night!”

You flinched as you said that, recoiling from the connotations of saying such a thing.

“She… what?” Scaramouche tilted his head in anger.

“Nevermind! Nevermind, I didn’t say anything. But I really didn’t do anything this time!”

“No, please, continue what you were saying. I insist.” He gritted his teeth.

Fuck. You didn’t think it would affect him this much. Sure, you knew it might anger a few of the Harbinger’s because you let her in your bedroom when nobody else is supposed to go in there, but still! You’re praying they didn’t take it the wrong way and think that the two of you did something indecent last night.

“There isn’t enough time for such arguments, we’ll discuss this later.” Pulcinella angrily stared at you before walking closer to the door.

“Could we hurry this up? I have work I need to walk to.” Arlecchino glared at his movement, Sandrone nodding after her.

“Yes, I also have business outside of the estate to attend to.”

“So, why did you call me down here then?” You ignored the others complaining, turning back to Pierro.

“...”

“Fine, so nothing right? Can I continue drying my hair then?” 

“No. We still need you to sort out this mess.” He shook his head with a scornful frown.

“But you just said I couldn’t open the door?”

“Give us more information so we can create a plausible story.”

“I’m not helping you trick poor Mrs Langley, nor am I helping you out of this mess. Nothing will change my mind, so leave me out of this.”

“Even if it means endangering her life?” Capitano’s voice echoed through the room, his questioning tone ironically leaving no room for an answer.

They’re lying, they don’t mean… not again.

“You wouldn’t.”

“We could, if you plan to push our patience once again at the cost of other’s suffering.” Pulcinella said.

They must be bluffing, anything but what happened when you first met them, anything other than that. Think Y/N, think. How can you prevent Mrs Langley from facing the same fate as others?

“No… It’s not that you don’t want to, it’s that you shouldn’t.” Your eyes widened in realisation. “You can’t, even if you wanted to. You’re already being searched for by the police in this world, and causing another commotion nearby could reveal your location - endangering peace whilst you figure out your next move to return to Teyvat and potentially take me away from you.”

Did you actually just think of something smart?

“Clever.” Capitano coughed into his hand awkwardly.

“It would be clever if it weren’t for the fact that moving locations would be an easy feat.” Dottore mentioned slyly. “Disposing of this woman would be the most intelligent thing to do.”

“I disagree.” Capitano shook his head. “The woman could have extended family that would notice her disappearance.”

“They wouldn’t suspect we were the cause.”

“I will still not allow this to happen. We have already shed enough innocent blood in this world, I refuse to participate in this mess any further.”

The rest of the Harbingers looked at each other with a mix of expressions, almost having a silent debate.

“Take them upstairs and make sure they don’t do anything stupid. I hope your mercy won’t cause trouble in the future.” Pierro’s eyes were glued to the two of you, narrowed into thin threatening slits with a blue glow pouring out.

“Should trouble arrive I will deal with it myself.”

“Very well. Now go, before I change my mind.”

Capitano led you upstairs, eyeing your every movement in case you turn around. You decided to walk back into the bathroom to grab a towel for your hair, the room still steamy from your previous shower.

“Urgh..”

“What’s wrong?” You turned around, before stifling a laugh at his fogged up helmet. “Can’t see?”

“It will be fine.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Give me the towel, I will dry your hair for you.” He added whilst walking up to the window and opening it to let the steam leave the room.

Why would he want to do that? Has he really got nothing better to do? Watching over you can’t be THAT boring.

“Why do you want to dry my hair for me? Do you think I’m incapable of doing so?” You raised an eyebrow, snatching the towel away from his outstretched hand.

“It was a genuine question.”

“And I’m genuinely telling you I can do it myself. Also that wasn’t a question.”

You couldn’t see his expression, but you’re almost sure he rolled his eyes to your reply. “At least let me brush your hair for you.”

This man… You don’t know whether to gush and say yes or cautiously say no. The more you say no, the more things he’ll suggest. Ugh, fine. He can brush your hair.

“Do what you want, but if you get tired just give me the brush.”

“That won’t happen.” He took the brush out of your hand, partitioning your hair and beginning to brush it in sections.

“Hey! My hair’s not dry yet!” You complained.

“I would rather brush it whilst it’s wet for an easier comb through. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

‘That’s… actually really considerate!’

“My hair isn’t even that long…” You sighed, sitting there as he continued to brush your hair in silence.

When the two of you stayed silent, you gradually heard voices from downstairs communicating happily growing in volume. The voices sounded happy, in fact, you think you can hear Mrs Langley’s voice chiming away like usual.

“....oh… see… brought… handsome!... well… incident..”

Yeah, you can’t figure out what’s happening down there. It doesn’t sound aggressive though, so thank goodness Mrs Langley sounds to be safe. Did she bring her homemade biscuits!? Damn, if the Harbinger’s accept them from her you’re definitely swiping those from the kitchen Dora the Explorer style.

“Lately I have noticed your resolve weakening.” Capitano disturbed the string of words coming from downstairs that didn’t match in your head.

You stayed quiet, trying to tune him out in an attempt to listen to more of the conversation. What’s really stopping you from charging down there though? Mrs Langley’s life would be in danger, yes, but couldn’t you run out the door whilst the majority of the Harbinger’s are distracted?

…no, that wouldn’t be a good idea. Capitano would catch up to you before you leave the front garden’s gate.

“Would you… like to talk about it?”

You turned to him with an annoyed expression, hinting at the fact that he should be quiet. He doesn’t, tilting his head in confusion. “What do you think?”

“Are you worried I’ll tell the others? I swear to you that I will keep my lips seale–”

“Capitano, just… for the love of everything that’s holding my patience, be quiet. We can do this later.” You scoffed at him.

“I don’t like your tone with me, what have I done to upset you? Actually, nevermind, don’t answer that.” He coughed into his hand. “You want to listen to the conversation downstairs, don’t you?”

He stood up, holding your hair low until you also stood up so he doesn’t accidentally yank your hair. He inched closer to the closed door, opening it wider than before, gesturing you to step closer to the edge of the stairs.

“Listen, but don’t move.” He whispered to you.

‘Is he? No… this must be some kind of trick. A trick to gain my trust! What reason would he have to disobey the other Harbingers like this, how does listening to me benefit him?’

Questioning him right now would cause the others downstairs to hear the two of you, maybe that was his intention in the first place. Either way, there’s no harm in playing along for now. Listen carefully, closely, maybe you can learn something from this!

“We appreciate your efforts in caring for the current situation.” You heard Arlecchino’s voice echo through the room downstairs, a (mortifyingly) happy tone in her voice.

“It’s no trouble at all, dear.” Mrs Langley. “Ah, thank you.” You heard shuffling.

“Arlette, put her coat on the bannister, would you?” Pulcinella asked her, footsteps growing closer to the point you and Capitano were hiding.

You shrunk to the ground, peering over the tallest step to see Arlecchino’s heels indented in the carpet. She seemed to smoothen out the coat with a serious expression before calling out she was going to work.

She opened the front door, looking around before her eyes slightly widened when they connected with your shaking ones. She looked at you up and down in judgement before putting a finger to her lips and closing the door behind her after she left the house.

Did Arlecchino really just stay quiet for you? That’s… nice of her. Too nice. Does she find this amusing or something?

A plate rattling against a hard surface downstairs cut you out of your thoughts, a tin opening and crumbling bits from what was inside hitting the plate.

They’re eating her homemade biscuits without you! How dare they!

“So, I’m sorry, how did you say you were related to Y/N again?”

“I’m an old and trusted friend of their mothers. After hearing of the incident, I became concerned for Y/N and held out hope that maybe they’d know to run back here if they ever escaped from wherever they could be right now.” Pierro explained with a sorrowful voice.

“I’m sorry for being suspicious of you…” Mrs Langley apologised profusely. “I too thought the same, it’s why I came over actually.”

“Once I heard voices in the garden, I prayed that maybe… just maybe it was Y/N. That poor child, I can’t imagine what they’re going through at the moment.”

“We’re all wishing them the best during these times.” Pulcinella’s voice interrupted her woes. “Speaking of which, you must be curious about our friends here.”

“Yes, I am indeed a bit curious. What are such young and handsome gentlemen doing on this side of the city? Are you friends of Y/N’s too?”

“Aha! You flatter us,” Scaramouche laughed cheerfully. “Unfortunately not, we’re the children of his cousins who answered his plea for help in managing this house. In the beginning, it was just uncle-monocle and long-beard over there.”

“Oh my!” She laughed out loud at the nicknames.

“It was no issue coming here, we all live rather close by.” Signora pitched in. “We’re a very closely tied family, it was no problem.” You could feel her wicked grin.

That’s it, you’re done listening. You feel like you’re going to scream if you listen to any more of their lies affecting gullible Mrs Langley.

How dare they… You knew they would lie to get rid of her, but to this extent? And even inviting her in your house as if they also own it!? You’re so disgusted. Signora should be lucky that all footage of her ice attacks were destroyed back when you first met the Harbingers. ‘A closely tied family’? You don’t know whether to laugh or spit.

“You don’t wish to listen anymore?” Capitano watched you close the door gently, walking over to the chair with an annoyed expression.

“Who would want to listen to that bullshit?”

“...Fair point. I tried to keep you away from it for this very reason.”

“How much longer do you think it’ll take for them to say goodbye to her?” You sneered at the wall. “I mean, telling her lies such as that, they won’t be able to keep up their act forever.”

“It depends.” He shrugged, putting down the brush when finishing your hair. “I’m finished.”

You looked at your hair in the mirror, impressed with how silky it looked. He really did a good job! Which is surprising, for a soldier. Sure, he has hair of his own, which is noticeably long, but it doesn’t look well kept. His hair looks greasy, he probably hasn’t had the time to wash it in ages.

“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to do such a good job.”

“It was nothing,” He shook his head. “I used to take care of my hair often, until I was…” He stopped himself suddenly.

“Until you were…?”

“Nevermind.” He coughed. “I’m sure you already know.”

Do you really though? 

“Well. Anyway.” You coughed in embarrassment. “Do you want me to do your hair in return? I’ll wash it while I’m at it.”

“That won’t be necessary. My hair is perfe–”

“Let me do it please.” You cringed from the smell. “One, I’m bored and have nothing else to do. Two, no offense but your hair looks terrible. Three, it looks fun to play with and honestly it would be the right thing to do since you helped me first.”

He stayed silent for a while, thinking about it before giving a shrug. “...Fine, then.” He turned around, giving you full access with his straight locks.

“Oh, no no no no.” You wagged your finger at him playfully. “I’m not touching your greasy hair with my hands until you wash it.”

“I believe my hair is perfectly clean.”

“Yes, it’s clean. But the amount of oil in your hair? Sheesh, it’s a no from me.” You gestured to the bath behind him.

“Bend over, would you?”

“Excuse me?” He stepped back in horror.

“No! Not like… pfft… I just realised what that sounded like. I mean sit down and put your head in the bath, I’ll wash it for you.”

“I don’t want to do that.”

“Do you really have a choice?” You mused, grabbing a plastic stool and putting it inside the bath for you to sit on. “Face the wrath of my boredom.”

“Very well, just don’t make a mess.” He sighed, following your instructions.

He heaved on the floor, back to the wall of the bath with his hair draped over. His hair was practically touching your bent knees, making you shiver in disgust at the closer look of grime.

“I know you don’t like taking off your helmet, but I can’t wash your hair properly if it’s on.” You tapped the helmet, a shining reflection from the light above him giving you a blank stare.

“I don’t wish to take it off.”

“I know you don’t, and I won’t force you to. Just so you know, I do know what’s under there if that’s what’s stopping you. That poor curse of immortality is treating you rough, huh?” You tried to reason with him.

“Not as rough as in Teyvat.” He replied. “My curse hasn’t been alleviated, but I have noticed the symptoms of decay have lessened. Would you happen to know the reason why?”

“I may have an inkling…” You trailed off, thinking of a genius idea that may or may not screw your advantage over the Harbingers later. “Tell you what, I’ll tell you what the reason may be if you take your helmet off.”

“You strike a hard deal to agree with.” He sighed once more, arms crossed. “May I use the towel to cover my face if I agree?”

Yes!! You felt your smile widen further.

“Of course, do whatever you feel comfortable with.” You couldn’t contain your excitement, swiping the clean towel next to you and throwing it on his lap.

“Please turn around and close your eyes.” He told you, turning back and making sure you did so.

You closed your eyes as he told you to, hands over them to show him you were being truthful in not looking. You heard a deep breath and clicking sound, followed by a thud that might have been his helmet dropping to the tile floor.

“You can look now.”

You opened your eyes, witnessing more of his rancid hair. You stared at his visible scalp in pity, the skin a charred black which gave off a decaying odour. The skin looked strangely soft, but you resisted the urge to touch it in light disgust.

“I knew it, the smell is too repulsive. Please close your eyes once more, I will put my helmet back on.” He noticed your silence.

“No!” You accidentally said a bit too loud. “It’s not too bad, I’ve smelt worse.”

“You think so?” He struggled to muffle his laugh with his hand. “I doubt that. Death is a smell many aren’t used to.”

You snickered, turning on the shower and testing the temperature. “You’d be surprised. Mrs Langley wasn’t the best with smells, she could barely smell her pie burning in the oven the last time I saw her.”

“Your poor nose.” He commented sarcastically. “Losing any of the five senses is a pitiful way to lose yourself.”

You began to rinse his hair with water, satisfied with the hair looking healthier already despite not adding shampoo yet. The Captain let out a sigh of satisfaction, somehow leaning back further into the warm water.

“Is it too hot?”

“No.” He said quickly. “Now tell me about your theory, I did not take my helmet off for nothing.”

“Well,” You put the shower head down to grab shampoo. “This world is very different from Teyvat. No ley lines, no Irminsul, no direct control from Gods or Archons in affairs. Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“You mean to suggest my curse is being held back by my disappearance?” He thought to himself out loud. “It sounds plausible.”

“Of course, Irminsul is only a collection of memories and what is considered ‘truths’. That doesn’t mean if something is erased it hasn’t happened, so that could be why your curse is still active despite no longer being in Teyvat.”

What you’re saying sounds pretty correct… Scaramouche removing memories of his existence in Irminsul didn’t actually erase him after all.

“This sounds very interesting, I’m sure Dottore would have loved to hear this theory of yours for himself.” Capitano mused.

“Oh no, I’m only telling you this because you’re one of the more… decent Harbingers.” You corrected him. “Everyone else is either a monster, a psychopath, or just too guarded to get along with.”

“I understand what you mean.” He lied. “I suppose this means you’d like for this to be kept amongst ourselves?”

“If possible.” You nodded. “I think you’re a noble person. Your morals are something I envy, actually. Watching your journey in Natlan together with the Traveller was inspiring.”

“I finally go to Natlan?”

“Yeah, it’s quite far in the future though. Considering the fact that…” You paused, deciding mentioning Signora’s death wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. “Nevermind.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Nothing important.”

You paused your action in rubbing in the shampoo, hands hovering over the scalp you were staring at earlier. You don’t think you can do that, but the scalp is one of the oiliest places…

“Is your scalp sensitive? Maybe it would be best if you rubbed the soap in instead of me.”

“I don’t understand you.” He took his gloves off, taking the shampoo bottle from your hands and rubbing it in his wet scalp.

“I’m a Harbinger like the others. I aided them in the action of kidnapping you, I was specifically the one holding you in place when running from those officers. Yet you claim I’m not like the others, which I am nothing but.”

“Okay, yeah sure,” You interrupted him. “From your point of view, you’re nothing different. But from my point of view, I’ve seen the kindness you do share with others.”

“You’re strange.” He chuckled with an airy voice. “And not mentally healthy. You might want to go see a doctor.”

“The only doctor around here is old Dottie, and I’d rather eat my own shit than have a check-up with that crazy bitch.”

“Fair point, the majority of us feel the same way.” He chuckled once more. “My point was, I’m slightly worried about you. I’ve been watching your sanity for a while, and I must say, it’s almost amusing to see it go up and down so sporadically.”

“Whilst I appreciate the concern.” You forced the urge to be snarky down your throat with a swallow. “There’s nothing you can really do to help me. So please don’t show such worry again.”

Especially considering it’ll make me feel as if he actually cares. You thought to yourself at the end. 

He’s holding you hostage, Y/N. Remember that. Don’t form any positive connections with any of the Harbingers. It doesn’t matter how nice they treat you, it’s all a trick to gain your trust and take advantage of you. You’re the one who’s supposed to be tricking them, not the other way around.

You finished rinsing off the shampoo, considering putting conditioner then deciding against it. You were being nice with using your own shampoo, but he’s not getting the conditioner as well. It’s expensive, and you’d never use it on someone else.

“Pass me the towel.” You asked him.

“I can’t see.”

“Oh! Right.” You laughed awkwardly, reaching over to the clean towel in front of him. You rubbed his hair dry with the towel, standing up and putting the plastic stool back to its original place.

“Stand up, I need to brush your hair then I’m done. Hopefully the others will be finished by then.”

He did as you asked, however instead of standing he knelt. It seems he realised if he stood up straight you wouldn’t be able to reach. Before you could start brushing his hair, the door burst open.

“She’s gone!” Childe emerged, a happy expression on his face. His expression slumped slightly, before resuming its brightness. “What are you doing? And– Did you take your helmet off!?”

“Y/N felt it was necessary. There was no need to deny their wants.” Capitano explained, shrinking under his towel.

“But Captain, your face! I want to see what it looks like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take that mask off before!”

“Childe, leave the room.” You continued your brushing. “We’ll leave when we’re finished - and you’re being insensitive right now.”

“...” He stared at you for a few minutes, before smiling brighter. “Of course, my mistake! Forgive me Captain, I’ll wait outside.”

“You’re even stranger than I previously mentioned.” Capitano said after the ginger closed the door behind him. “That one is not to be spoken to that way. Especially from… well, you.”

“He seems harmless enough in this state.” You shrugged. “And anyway, it’s Childe. I’ve made fun of him for years, so I don’t see why I’d stop now. Actually…”

Your eyes widened slightly in understanding. If your theory you shared with Capitano is correct, then wouldn’t that mean the Abyss within Childe will also apply to such a rule? Maybe he’s right, you should be cautious. Just because Capitano’s immortality is being nullified in its after effects doesn’t mean the same will happen for Childe’s with his curse.

Will the Abyss within him wear him down like in Fontaine? Or will the symptoms also nullify and make him a gentler person?

You’re not looking forward to finding out if the answer is the former.

“You’re taking too long.” Dottore burst through the door, Childe peeking behind his shoulder.

“I tried to tell him.” He sighed, turning around and walking away whilst shaking his head in disappointment.

“What’s the problem? I’ve seen Cappie without his helmet before. I’m the one who worked on it to remove the leaking odour he has.” The Doctor shrugged with a mischievous face.

“It’s called boundaries.”

“Bounda..ries? What’s that?” He joked. “Oh well, nothing important to me. Anyway, come along Decider, I have a job for you. We’re going out!”

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

In a flash, somehow, Dottore had snatched your wrist and ran out of the house with you. Not before disguising you in heaps of clothes unfit for the current weather of course, unfortunately he would never forget that detail when you’re allowed outside the house.

He ran down the street, dragging you behind him. He had an excited smile on his face, showing the act had no effect on him. You though… you were panting heavily, clearly struggling to keep up with his pace.

“Slow… Slow down…”

“Hm?” He turned behind him, eyeing your messy expression before turning back. “Fine.”

The two of you stopped at a bench, the Doctor pushing your slumped form onto it to allow you to rest.

“Why would you… run like that!?” You panted. “Do you see the clothes I’m in!?”

“Apologies.” He rolled his eyes under his mask. “But we’re behind schedule. That woman took way too long with her sob story.”

“Sob story??”

“She went on about her failed marriages for longer than expected.”

“Ahh, yeah she tends to do that.” You looked away from him, looking around to see where the two of you were.

Hold on a minute, we’re back in the place I first saw the Harbingers in the car! Wow, this really came full circle. Unless… that was his intention and he wants to experiment on you here? Ohhhh no, you are not letting that happen!

“Relax, I’m not doing anything to you.” He laughed evilly, noticing your horrified expression. “Too risky, and strict orders from The Jester.”

“That’s your only reason!?”

“The reason I brought you out here was to aid me in my endeavour to learn this world's scriptures.”

“...Just call it writing you weirdo.” You rolled your eyes. “And why would you want to learn how to read anyway? You’re not planning to stay in this world for much longer.”

“My dear, you truly are slow.” He tutted. “With my current knowledge not finding itself useful as this world is fundamentally different from Teyvat, I am practically useless with my centuries old brain. If I could learn the nature of this world first hand, using this world’s resources, I can find a way home much sooner than recorded.”

What are you supposed to say in response to that? ‘Oh sure! I’ll help you plan my death by helping you out!’ …Yeah, no. But you can’t just say no either, so how are you going to get out of this? Let’s just follow along for now.

“Okay.” You nodded. “Where did you want to go that’ll help you?”

“Yesterday I was musing to myself, and realised, where else would be better to find books than a library? I found one in the end, of course, so that will be where we’ll be heading.”

“When on Earth did you find the time to explore the city?”

“...Yesterday?” He looked at you as if you were stupid. “I can’t believe Sandrone actually sees potential in you.”

“Anyway,” You interrupted him with narrowed eyes. “Why didn’t you just take a book out and bring it home? Not like I’m hating being outside or anything.”

“That was my intention when I was last in the building, however, they demanded to see a library card and refused to let me take the stack of books I was carrying.”

“I wonder why!” You sarcastically rolled your eyes. “A strange man in foreign clothing wearing a suspicious mask trying to take out a suspicious amount of books in one go? Wow! How dare they not trust you to return them!”

“I don’t appreciate your jokes.” He groaned, shaking his head in frustration. “A library card… I’ve never been so insulted.”

“First time for everything… although I don’t think this is the first time…”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.” You shook your head with a sigh. “I have a library card, but it’s very old and most likely won’t work. Not only that, but I have no idea where it is. The last time I saw it my mother snatched it out of my hands over ten years ago.”

“You underestimate me.” He dug his fingers in his breast pocket, pulling out the familiar card with its lamination peeling off.

“How and why do you have this!?”

“I found it in one of the many coat’s pockets in the landing cupboard.” He shrugged, allowing you to take the card from his hands and look over it.

“Of course…” You whispered to yourself, tracing the colourful drawings on the card with your fingers. “No wonder I couldn’t find it.”

“We can use this, right?” He lazily asked you, eyeing your fond expression for the card in slight disgust.

“Yes and no. It will most likely be accepted by the people, but because it’s so old, they’ll force me to change it for a newer one which is no problem at all. The actual problem is my library card can be used as a form of ID. Meaning if I were to use this…they’d know my identity.” You lied.

“Nice try,” He caught on, grinning from ear to ear. “But that won’t work on me. It’s funny you mention that in particular, as a very useful old woman told me that once a library card is bought they can be used by anyone who has it. Whether they were the ones who bought it or not, which is why I ought to be careful when I buy my own.”

“Uh…”

“So tell me, why would there be a possibility of being able to do such a thing if there is indeed a form of ID on it?”

“Fine, you caught me.” You spluttered in embarrassment, the Harbinger patting your head aggressively.

“It was a cute try, but it won’t be as cute if you attempt to lie again.”

“Just… lead me to the library before I stop being as cooperative as I’m forcing myself to be now.”

...

..

.

The two of you walked into the library, books lining the walls you passed by.

"So many books, where do we find the time to read them all?" Dottore abandoned your side, walking up to a shelf and opening the first book in his line of sight.

"What you're looking for won't be here. Unless you want to read romance stories targeted to 50 year old women."

"Any literature is still literature." Dottore shrugged as he threw the book behind him without care. "It will take multiple visits to find the good stuff it appears."

"Yeah, no." You grimaced and picked up the book he threw. "I have better things to do than help you with reading. Besides, from the way you're acting, you'll be kicked out in less than 10 minutes."

"These books aren't worth my time." He reasoned.

"Manners from Teyvat to here, funnily enough, haven't changed. Stop acting like this and maybe I'll help you willingly. Didn’t you say you’ve already come here? How have you not been kicked out yet?"

"Fine." He grumbled. "If you weren't my only source of literacy, I would have killed you for speaking to me in this way."

"You're not the first to think that." Your mind drifted to Sandrone, before shaking your head to get rid of your growing fear. "Anyway, what exactly did you want to look for? Unless you are looking for Gen X literature, we should probably leave this shelf."

"Very amusing." You could somehow hear his eyes rolling behind his mask. "It would amuse me more if I knew what Gen X meant."

"It refers to a specific set year people were born in."

"I see... How pointless."

"You could at least pretend to find it interesting!"

He shrugged, walking past you and beckoning you to follow him with a wagging finger.

"Come along then," He announced without turning around. "I have work to do."

You have a feeling today won't be as fun as yesterday.

The two of you found a table to sit at, Dottore picking up books along the way. You questioned why, considering he can’t read the titles in the first place. All he did was shrug at your question, claiming the covers looked interesting.

“Right. Now that we’re settled. What do you need me for?” You asked him, dread slowly creeping in your body.

“Haven’t I said it already? You’re teaching me how to read.”

“Obviously!” You let out an outburst. “But how am I supposed to do such a thing? I’m not reading out every single word for you to study in a 400 page book.”

“That was my first intention, but I realised that would be too long for a quick-witted brain such as yours. Instead, I would like you to write each letter of your alphabet and instruct me which is which so I can fill in mine beside it.”

“Okay, that sou– hold on a minute,”

"So, let me get this straight, you dragged me out of the house to write a transcript of my alphabet for you?" You sighed into your hands, forehead flat on the table the two of you sat at.

"Exactly. Good to see you can still listen." He nodded, flicking through a few pages and cringing at the font.

"I could have just done that at home on a piece of paper!"

"We both know you would have weaved your way out of that order, making excuses and squeezing yourself somewhere I can’t reach you." He tutted. "You're very secretive with the affairs of your world, not reliable in any sense."

"I've literally never disobeyed one of your orders ever. You scare the shit out of me."

"That's not what dear old Sandrone warned me of last night. I was rather disappointed in you when she told me of the news of your disobedience."

"I told her what she wanted to hear!" You argued. "It's not my fault I just so happen to not be a chemical scientist with experience of warfare. How is that my problem!?"

"The problem was you were useless." He scolded you, throwing a pen at your head.

"Ow!"

"What is the point of keeping you alive if you don't tell us what we want to know?"

You picked up the pen and began writing to stop yourself from arguing further. As he told you to, you listed half of the Roman alphabet until your head clicked.

Wait a minute... there could be a way around this! Perhaps your skill of having bad handwriting could work out for you here?

You crossed out your previous letters, the scribbling noise attracting the attention of the Doctor.

"What do you think you're doing?" He raised an eyebrow with a flash of his sharp teeth.

"I have bad handwriting, I'm rewriting it for you." You lied, turning over the paper with an awkward smile.

There's no doubt that Dottore won't let you leave until you write the transcript for him. So, what if you purposefully write it badly so he can’t compare it to any book no matter the font? You’ve already told him you have bad handwriting, which isn’t entirely a lie, so you can just use that if he complains!

You wrote out the whole alphabet a second time, the lines purposefully squiggly and spaces close together, almost indecipherable. You slid the paper to him with an uneasy smile, waiting to see his reaction.

He looked from the paper to the open book, from the paper to the open book, and once again from the paper to the book. He groaned in annoyance, sliding the paper back to you.

“Write it again.”

“Hm? What’s wrong with it? I can read from it fine. I even worked hard on every letter to make sure it isn’t as cursive as usual!” You smiled wider, sliding the paper back to him.

“You clearly worked on it too hard. Write. it. again.”

“Fine.” You swiped the paper, rewriting the letters even worse. This is actually fun, messing with him like this. Let’s not push it too far though.

“Better, still not good enough, but better. I will make do.” He sighed in frustration when looking at the paper again.

“Now tell me which letter is which.”

The two of you began the long process of translating each letter to the equivalent of the Teyvatian alphabet. Dottore looked to be enjoying himself, a small almost unnoticeable calm smile on his face during the translation.

He leaned back in his wooden chair, looking at the paper from afar. “This is good enough for now. Now leave me, go spend some time collecting books.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, you heard me correctly. Go wander the library, I trust you not to leave the facility without my eyes on you.”

Is he… Is he letting you do what you want for a change!? You can use this to your advantage! You sat up from your chair with an excited expression, walking away from the table brimming with the feeling.

This is your chance to go on Genshin again and see if Venti sent anything new! You couldn’t check this morning, thanks to Columbina, and you don’t think you’ll ever be able to check on your PC again due to her presence.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t check on your phone, which you luckily keep on you at all times! It’s a miracle you remembered to put it in your pocket before Dottore dragged you out the house.

Now, where should you go… You need to go somewhere quiet, but also loud so when you speak it won’t attract attention. You refuse to go to the toilets, the last time you went in there on Genshin… it wasn’t great. So where else could you go?

Hmm.. Oh, the cafe! There’s a cafe upstairs which could work perfectly! Although you haven’t been there in years, the last time you were there you remember it being the kind of quiet you’re looking for now. And it technically doesn’t count as you leaving the building, it’s the perfect place!

You walked up the stairs, grabbing your phone and making sure the volume was on zero before opening the app, finding a seat with not many people around you.

“Ah, sorry love, but the food bar is currently closed.” A waitress walked up to the table you were sitting at.

“That’s fine, I only wanted a place to sit.” You looked up at her with a desperate smile. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, I just wanted to let you know.” She nodded with a polite smile, walking away after with dirty plates in her hands.

“Thank you!”

Could this situation be any more perfect? That guarantees there’ll be less people! The one thing that could make this even better would be if you remembered to bring your headphones with you! …You didn’t, but it’s wishful thinking.

You looked back at your phone screen, watching Venti’s back loading in. It was him alongside Aether in your party, which you thought was quite strange.

It’s funny, because you never put him in the party when you last left, Aether being the only character. What’s even funnier is you don’t even have Venti as a character! You missed all his banners for other characters! How did he do this? Whelp, it doesn’t matter.

You went to the mail icon, and saw new messages.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Update of current situation and developments:

Inazuman scholars have joined efforts under the Archon’s leadership, and contributed useful information since their arrival in Mondstadt three days ago. Their history of corrupted ley lines within their own nation has allowed us to further understand the situation of Irminsul in its current predicament.

Natlan has not responded or sent word of willingness to be involved.

Snezhnaya continues to vehemently deny any damaging activity which has created the current predicament, and refuses to aid our endeavours in restoring Irminsul back to its former state - reason is unknown but theories are kept confidential under Archon decree.

No further communication with Decider has been reached, Traveller of countless worlds has identified their entrapment under the missing Harbingers of Snezhnaya. 

Barbatos, Archon of Mondstadt, has advised to be sensitive of the issue and not push for further contact until The Decider themselves receives and replies to these messages. This is due to the fear of Harbingers becoming knownst to our Teyvatian contact with them.

Progress with communication machine has been steady, trials with Decider are ready to be acted upon when they next reach out for contact. First few trials have failed, under the pretense of code ‘Hoyoverse’, hopes for contact with Decider have therefore been undermined by the public who have become aware of the current challenge.

Daily Update has been recorded by Albedo, ##/##/####.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Yeah, this is a bunch of nonsense to you. You don’t understand a single bit of this fancy speech, so thanks for that Albedo.

What really caught your eye was the ‘code Hoyoverse’ mentioned. So they do know about the company who made their game. Does this mean they are actually self-aware like you previously thought?

Anyway, it seems more of Teyvat is getting involved, so that’s good for them. Not good for you though, all it’s doing is making you feel more guilty. You’re just one person, they’re putting so much effort in for you. It doesn’t matter that they think your involvement will save them from Irminsul’s corruption, that’s still almost the entire country trying to help one person!

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Decider? It’s been… awhile, are you alright? It’s been two months since we last heard from you. Do you not want our help?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

TWO MONTHS!? WHAT DO THEY MEAN TWO MONTHS!? IT’S BEEN JUST OVER A DAY! Are they being paranoid right now, overdramatic even? Why on Earth would they think it’s been that long!?

Is that why the previous message sounded so academic? Because they think you’re dead!? Shit, you have no idea what’s happening. But you need to set things straight, and fast!

“What do you mean by two months?” You asked the phone outloud, looking around you to make sure Dottore hadn’t somehow teleported nearby to listen in.

“I’ve been gone for a day, a few hours over that actually. Why do you think it’s been two months?”

Ding!

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Thank Archons! You’re alright! You have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice, I thought we lost our lead, and you too!

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“I’m glad to see you’re happy.” You grumbled. “But still, why two months?”

You had to wait a few minutes for the next message to appear, it seems the next one’s going to be a long one.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

The flow of time must be different between our two worlds. That’s the only explanation Albedo can think of at this moment in time whilst we’re still talking to you. Anyway, the machine seems to be working more smoothly than before, have you changed something on your side?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“Actually, yeah. I can’t use my PC right now because Columbina, the third Harbinger, has decided it’s a good idea to sleep in my bed. Kicking her out isn’t something I can tell her to do unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry, who am I speaking to at the moment?”

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

This is the Traveller speaking with Albedo next to me. He wants to ask what a ‘PC’ is.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

How do you explain this to them?

“It stands for personal computer. Umm… the best way I can describe it is it’s a machine which allows you to access lots of information in under a few seconds. You can also do other stuff on it such as communicate with other people.”

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

So it’s like the Akasha’s previously found in Sumeru?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“Yes! That’s a perfect example! It’s not a gadget you can carry around with you though, it stays on your desk at home. The Akasha is more like the machine I’m using to talk to you now, a phone.” You mused out loud.

This is going more smoothly than you thought it would. It’s times like these your glad Teyvat takes inspiration from existing things in your world and not the other way around.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Are you currently in a safe place? I’m guessing you read the data log from a few weeks ago already as we sent it to you.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“Yes and no…” You sighed to yourself.

“The Doctor is nearby, he forced me to come out to the library with him to teach him how to read my world’s alphabet. At any moment he could come up those stairs and drag me away.”

Also, you don’t feel comfortable speaking louder in a public place like this. If there’s any hope of communicating properly, it’s not here. Ugh! But it’s not at home either, since some of the Harbingers have good hearing! It’s a miracle they haven’t found out about your first contact.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Do you have somewhere safe to go to?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“No, not that I–” Wait a minute… Could Rora’s shop work? Maybe it could… You’d only have Arlecchino to worry about, but she’d be working the entire time you would be there!

Ah… But, you’d need her consent to go with her. You’re sure Rora would love to have you around again, as she seems like a nice person, but Arlecchino? Yeah, you’re not too sure about her enthusiasm matching her boss’s.

Well, it’s not a concrete idea. But it’s one that could work if you catch the Harbinger when she’s in a good mood.

“I might have one idea. We’d have to be quiet though.”

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

That’s alright with us. Anything new you’ve learnt since our last conversation? We’ve told you our developments, we’re waiting for you to be ready to begin testing the modified machine.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“Sorry…” You apologise sincerely. “I’ll try to get to the place tomorrow, I won’t be able to go anywhere else today since Dottore already took me outside. You’ll have to wait another two months I’m afraid. Is that… Is that a problem?”

You fiddled your fingers in awkwardness, waiting for the next message to come through in anticipation for their anger. They have a right to be angry. After all, it must be torture waiting for that long. If they agree, it’ll have taken four months to finally reach you.

“I know, I know… It’s a really long time for you.” You anxiously spoke. “I’m sorry, that it has to be this way. If it were up to me, I–”

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

It can’t be helped then. Albedo and I also agree that this is the best course of action, we’re aware that angering the second Fatui Harbinger isn’t a wise move. We’re prepared to wait for you, however long it takes.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

They’re being… understanding?

“You’re not mad at me?” Your eyes were wide in amazement, a smile on your face instead of the shaking frown from earlier.

“Really?”

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Why would we be? Is everything okay?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“Yeah, it is.” You nodded in thanks. “Everything is a lot better than this morning, all this good news is making me feel… normal again. Even in a situation like this.”

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

That’s good to hear. I need to go, Albedo is demanding to check the machine after its sudden usage again. And the Archons will be demanding a table of results after this conversation… again.

Please, be careful. Between you and me, I really hope I’ll be the first voice you hear on this side. You’ve guided me in this world for years, there’s so much I want to say to you… So much I want to thank you for. You’ve saved me in my worst moments, so let me save you now in yours.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“Thank you, the same goes for everyone on your side too. Tell them I wish them well, and I hope everything works out tomorrow. I’ll–”

“There you are.” You heard a familiar deep voice announce itself, growing closer to your location.

‘Shit, that’s Dottore!’ You thought with a grimace, slamming your phone face first on the table to stop him from seeing the contents.

“I’ve been looking for you for awhile, I began to think you tried to escape.” He put a heavy hand on your shoulder, peering over it to look at your expression. “What do you think you’re doing over here? I gave you an order.”

You shuffled in discomfort, looking around to see people eyeing the situation warily. You took a deep breath, before looking him in the eyes.

“Sorry, I wanted to spend some time up here to clear my head. I’ve been thinking a lot, thinking about things you told me downstairs. How did your reading go?”

“It was a nightmare.” He shook his head, taking the chair across from you and sitting on it. “All your books are printed incorrectly. Every single one I picked up had a different look from the last.”

“Ah, you must be talking about the font used.”

“Either way…” He trailed off, clenched fist shaking on the table. “It was of no help to me. I went from book to book and learned nothing. Each book gave me a stronger induced headache than the last, even pondering about it is turning the nuisance to a migraine. It’s all so… pathetic.”

“I’m sorry to hear that…” You said in fake pity.  “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.”

“You should be feeling apologetic.” He grumbled, voice getting louder. “Thanks to you… and the nature of this world, I feel as if I’m trying to find stapedes in straw. This is all so… frustrating, and you haven’t helped me at all.”

“I-I…”

“You should be thankful Pierro told me to practice mercy on you… That I’m not allowed to touch you. If it were up to me, I’d have ripped your carcass in two already.”

What are you supposed to say in reply to that!? He’s having a meltdown, and you’re on the verge of having another panic attack! The more he speaks, the louder he’s getting. Not only that, but people around you are starting to take notice of what’s going on. At this rate he’s not just going to hurt you, but also everyone else in the building! You can’t let that happen, you won’t let that happen.

“Dottore, I understand that you’re upset. But please…” You gestured around the two of you. “We can sort this out at home, don’t do something you’ll regret later.”

He followed your eyes, grumbling as more and more people crowded round the situation.

“You really know how to…” He looked around, following the movement of your eyes carefully. “Oh, nevermind… I don’t think you’re ready to hear that yet.”

Without another word, he stood up from his chair, the force causing the chair to tumble a few metres behind him. He grabbed your arm roughly, squeezing tightly as he stomped away with you stumbling behind him.

Despite hearing your complaints, he never replied or acknowledged you were in pain as he continued to drag you along. Silently, he slammed his chosen books on the reception desk next to the scanner for your library card.

Swiping it with an apologetic expression to the disturbed receptionist, Dottore pushed the heavy stack of books in your direction. You clutched the heavy stack with a grimace, being yanked out the double doors after.

“We’re leaving, now.”

Columbina peered from the column she was hiding behind, eyes open with jealousy shrouding within them. She glared at Dottore, clearly angered by his treatment of you.

She didn’t know why, but after hearing Scaramouche’s verbal claim on you, she felt a feeling she hasn’t felt in awhile - jealousy. She never thought she’d feel such a thing in her heart again, but here she is, making sure that scoundrel hadn’t gotten the same idea as her.

It’s ridiculous, she never should have allowed herself to come out. Not in an unpredictable mood such as this, under Pierro’s command of course. If she were anywhere else, she’d allow this emotion to run free. But unfortunately since arriving in this world, The Jester had become more stingy with each Harbinger’s behaviour and freedoms to act as they wish. To say it’s annoying her would be an understatement.

She skulked behind silently, dainty feet making no sound as she waltzed the pavement cheerfully to hide her stress.

Oh well, it isn’t any cause for concern. She can tell from the two of you's dynamic that things clearly hadn’t gone well, and that you haven’t grown to like him more from today. It’s only a small success, she’d hoped you would have hated him more, but your feelings haven’t gone in the opposite direction of what she wanted.

Still though… It was a good idea she decided to come in the end. After all, she’d learned of something important you were hiding from the others! And now only the two of you knew? It could be another little secret she could bond over with you!

She didn’t think you’d be so careless though… talking to yourself with that thing you like to carry around with you. Just what were you talking about? And who were you talking to? Is it really important, something the others should know? The possibilities are getting her all fluttery at the branching thoughts!

Hmm… Maybe she should invite you to a cafe and ask you about it? It could be like a date! That sounds perfect, she knows you’ll agree the second you hear the suggestion!

Kyeheheh... I might make a little mindmap of all the rivalries and potential alliances as a final little adeu until I return. We'll see ^o^

Anyway, that was that. If anyone has any questions about the lore with what's going on in Teyvat, I'm not going to answer them! Feel free to still ask though - everything is planned and makes sense in my notes!

From this point onwards, as I think most of you noticed in the last View near the end, this is where the yandere behaviour will begin to creep in. Thank goodness, it took a long time to get here. 😭

Alongside the mindmap, I might write small yandere profiles to show what type of yandere each harbinger is as something fun :)

Thank you everyone for the support! x

✨Elusive✨ Taglist!:

@valeriele3 @pale-value @pix-stuff @yuii-v @itz-luna @annoying-mary @etherisy @khalhaimdad @haikyuusboringassmanager @magica-ren @sweatyexpertdeputyduck @booksandteaplusart @9140 @whatamidoing89 @raesleepyhead @nasidibakar @shikanosn @purpleamethystsblog @chihawari @esthelily @stuffyfrenchflowers @conspicuous-mayonnaise @sielt @katsumikumo @greyhoundwires707 @carminerin @raidendeeznuts123 @angelofdarkness2 @shellofthewell @ginnxy-galaxy @bk-4-trash-fire @uniqaal @vianitry @dottoreandcolumbinaslovechild @melou008 @lsleepysimpl @steadybreadbluebird @eliciana @kamit-frog @twst-kumi @idk098 @kurayamioterasu @mmeatt @the-lazy-perfectionist @florelll @vvzhyxx @averycuriousperson @starlaisopaque @lovelive-animequeen1029 @mayythammyy @eirly-morning-tea @rainejiang @kiraversee @heart-cream @jiminscarmex @scaramouche104 @honorificmention @desirabletravel @starxvs @sw33tie-faye @quiet-place-for-thoughts

Quick Reminder Here! If you no longer want to be on the taglist that's completely fine; I take no offence whatsoever so please don't hesitate to tell me. ^^

[tunafruitt]

this is so peak I’m crying

will you promise that i'll see you again?

summary: your people refuse reason, and their damage refuses to heal. when it seems as if the whole world has left you, your dutiful knight still remains by your side.

word count: 2.3k

-> warnings: implied suicidal ideation (reader + unnamed side character), reader's previous deaths are mentioned in somewhat graphic detail

-> gn reader (you/yours)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr || @yuryuryuyurboat || @undrxtxd || @rainswept || @wanderersqt || @rozz-eokkk

< masterlist >

“you’re one of the only things keeping me going, you know.”

dainslef turned to you in surprise, the even neutrality to your tone a sharp contrast to the rapid pace of his heart. he wasn’t a fool, he knew that the hunt had to be taking a heavy toll on you, but this…

this was more than he expected.

he knew he was one of a pitiful few who saw through celestia’s false puppet, who knew you for you and not their mirage. he knew that the entire world was hellbent on erasing you from existence, that you’d been forced through your own death countless times as teyvat pulled you apart and pushed you back together far from the scene of your would-be murder. he saw the golden scars across your skin, the dried remains of blood lining the wounds you hadn’t been able to patch yet. he’d been the one to wash them away, not minding the refuse soaking into his gloves if it meant your hands could be clean.

he recognized the dull exhaustion in your eyes, the same as the ones he saw in the reflections of lakes. tired, worn, barely there, hanging on by one solitary string that was wound so tightly around a desperate hand.

you had always been his reason for continuing. when the traveller broke down and the ruler of the abyss hid from the sun, you were there. when the chasm’s mud clung to his boots and the memories in his head burned as nails forced between his eyes, you were there. his rosary was kept tight to his chest at all times, familiar prayers pulling him up in the morning and forcing him to sleep at night. he was alive for far, far too long, but you made it bearable. you were his duty, his promise.

he never once thought that he’d be yours. then again, he never thought that he’d have to defend you from the ones you once called friends. time never did pass how he expected it to.

“…leading light?”

you looked down, twirling blades of grass around your fingers. he had led you up to a mostly desolate area of sumeru, west of bayda harbor. it close enough to the sea, forest, and desert that you could reasonably make an escape through any of those routes if need be, while also providing a rather pleasant view. the sky was bleeding red and gold as the sun sank below the horizon, a remarkable sight that fell on blind eyes. there was no use trying to enjoy nature’s beauty when he still kept one hand on his sword and both ears pricked for the slightest sign of danger.

you shouldn’t have to worry about your safety. you shouldn’t have to prioritize based on how likely you are to get hurt, or how easily it would be to make an escape. you still flinched when the wind blew a little too quick, used to it heralding armored footsteps and battle cries. in another life, you were welcomed with open arms, able to enjoy yourself without constantly being on high alert. teyvat did what it could to adapt; the air was still, frozen in time, barely a bird chirping for miles. it was meant to be comforting, he thinks, but dead silence was more unnerving than any breeze.

“i mean it.” he could hear every shift in his cloak around your shoulders, the heavy fabric doing little to soothe your stress. it was yours more than it was his now, to the point he felt claustrophobic wearing it. how long had he been traveling with you? the days blurred.

“i don’t doubt you.” he never would. never could. he’s not sure, even if he somehow wanted to, that his body would allow him to treat your words as anything less than fact. “but i don’t understand what you mean.”

you were a god. the creator, the first, the one that shaped the sovereigns scales and laid the foundations of earth. you predated the archons, celestia, the very skies themselves…

and he, somehow, was a driving motivation for you?

his words must have been funny, a sharp laugh tumbling out of your mouth. it was bitter, humorless, and somewhat raspy. he made note to find some water for you later. “what else could i mean?” you turn to him, some of his confusion lost as your eyes found his. even this burnt out, deep bags set beneath them, you still managed to steal the very air in his lungs. “you’re the only reason i’m still here.”

he didn’t know what to say. what was there to be said, when you were you and he was him? when the world had abandoned you, it made sense you’d cling to what remained faithful. it was merely coincidence he happened to find you first, that’s all. coincidence that you trusted enough not to run from, coincidence that you allowed to care for your injuries. there was nothing to say, because you held nothing for him in particular, only leaning on him out of need. he had to believe that. what was he left with if that wasn’t true? an awkward truth hid beneath his well-known lies, too large for him to see the edges, let alone to contain.

“please… do not say such things again.” to ask of his god what he could not ask of himself was surely some form of heresy, as was willingly laying aside his guard when he was the only one who was tasked with protecting you. he pulled his attention from the tide below, from the rustling trees, holding faith that the world would not be needlessly cruel. he stepped forward, kneeling beside you. even up close, you still seemed painfully small. “it is your own resilience that has allowed you to persevere.”

it’s the earth that leads you from danger.

it’s the water that follows you wherever you go.

it’s the leylines that whisk you to safety.

it’s the wind that warns you of what’s to come.

it’s the you from the past that protects the you in the present.

it’s the you in the present that provides for the you in the future.

it’s you, from everywhere and everywhen, continuing to fight.

and yet you sigh. you look away, across the sea, tracing fontaines skyline. “it really isn’t. i was lucky to run into you when i did.”

you had just crossed the wall back into the forest, burning hot and shaking. he was the lucky one, in truth, to be able to pick your figure out from the sand below. perched on a high cliffside, even mitachurls were reduced to small brown flecks.

you had worn a cryo mage’s cloak, which was what initially drew his attention. abyss activity wasn’t uncommon in the area, but a cryo mage in the desert… that was cause for intrigue. he stepped forward and slid down the steep face in front of him, a slight puff of dust marking his landing in the desolate sand of old vanarana.

he didn’t know what to expect. you stumbled around the jagged remains of a tree, heading for the statue of the seven. he followed, only growing more confused. cryo and dendro did not react with each other, and there was no way to “slow” a statue. a scouting mission, maybe? but why a cryo mage, when pyro would have been far more advantageous in the case of an attack?

he leaned around the corner carefully, prepared for the sight of a staff or the chanting of abyssal magic filling the air. the entire world seemed to be holding its breath, frozen in place and waiting for some trigger to continue.

he saw none of that. you were collapsed at the foot of the statue, faint wheezing only making it to his ears by virtue of the standstill around him. you held no staff, commanded no magic, your chest barely moving with air.

he’d never seen a mage seek out the archons when dying. one hand squeezed the handle of his sword as he crept forward, ready to strike should the situation turn against him. the sand barely shifted beneath his feet, his own heart sounding too loud to his ears. you did not move, showing no signs that you had noticed his approach. he still didn’t trust it.

your cloak was tattered and torn, with thick gloves atypical of a mage. they reminded him more of hilichurl wraps, which was strange considering you wore no mask. your face was instead covered by what looked like eremite cloth, just as stained and dirtied as the rest of your clothes. what he could see looked almost human; in another life, he could believe you were a weary traveller, lost amidst the sand.

he was acting foolish. if the abyss had a human tool, he needed to figure out why. he reached down, undoing the sloppy knot of your veil and letting the brocade fall limply to the grass.

…grass. he blinked, eyes flickering between the ground and your face, not sure which was harder to believe. flowers had bloomed around you, protecting your body from the blazing sands, and he’d be a fool not to recognize the face plastered all over every bounty board.

he didn’t understand. if nothing else, he thought the archons would have enough respect for their creator to know when they were being lied to, yet before him was barely living proof of the inverse. sweat beaded along every inch of exposed skin, deep-set heat exhaustion burning you from the inside out. how could you be a threat? how could they be so blind?

he looked again, the shine of elemental sight straining his eyes, catching flickers of the dendro energy pouring from the statue. you were the only one the archons would feed. you were the only one to make the very earth break its own rules, allowing lotuses to bloom from barren soil. something painfully similar to rage threatened what remained of his rationality, and it took all he had to push it aside.

that didn’t matter. if he went off on some banal revenge quest, he’d be no better than them. your safety mattered more. he picked you up and set aside how calm his curse felt, beginning the trek back to his camp. behind him, the flowers already began to wither, losing their persistence without you to foster it.

perhaps that initial meeting was luck. but these was no luck involved in your trust in him. when you woke up and saw him at your side, you chose to trust him. you chose to believe that he was not like the others, that he would protect you, and he was forever grateful for that trust. nobody could fault you for being angry, for being spiteful about what you were put through and choosing to lash out. nobody would have the right to be upset if you chose to vent your wrath against those that had hurt you.

but you didn’t. you chose, again and again, to believe in the world. you chose to let them live their lives, even if it meant getting hurt again in the process. you chose a quiet life traveling with him over the comfortable life on your throne. to willingly choose to travel with a disgraced knight to spare your people guilt… he couldn’t decide if it was noble or reckless. either way, he was selfishly happy that he was the one to stay by your side.

“i won’t try to convince you. but, please.. do not give up on yourself so easily.” i know far too many who have died by the same hand. “the world and its opinion does not define you. only you get to decide where fate leads.”

you lean towards him, and he thinks you might have passed out- but no, your head lands on his shoulder with far too much precision. he stiffens, not used to existence without a constant pain beneath his skin. “how motivational. you tell all your soldiers that?”

his heart is beating too quickly, thoughts unusually hard to grasp. you’re the only one who could have this effect on him. he only wished it wasn’t now, when your belief in yourself was on the edge. “i mean it. none of this is your fault, and neither are celestial actions the people’s fault. i know that you are hurt, but i don’t want you to accept that main needlessly. you shouldn’t have to view your creation with such pain.” slowly, carefully, he raises the hand closer to you, doing his best not to disturb you as he settles it on your arm. he’s can only hope that the contact brings you as much comfort as it does him. “if nothing else, believe me. promise you’ll at least try.”

he doesn’t think you’ll agree. why would you make a promise to one who represents the heaven’s betrayal? why would you let him hold you close at all, when you can surely sense the bindings of those who tried to kill you wrapped tightly around his soul? he doesn’t know. all he can do is hope.

“…alright, dainslef. i promise.”

twilight has long since fallen, and yet he smiles for the first time in centuries.

[tunafruitt]

Insatiable Madness (13)

|Sagau Yandere Fatui Harbingers x Reader|

Progress then no progress, progress then no progress... You're beginning to grow sick of this, aren't you?

Reader is Gender Neutral!

You shut the door behind you, taking the last bite of your chocolate bar and scrunching up the plastic to put in the bin later.

“AH! Capitano, you scared me! Don’t just stand there and say nothing, the least you could do is greet us!” You jumped back, flinching forwards in pain when feeling the door handle dig into one of your hip bones.

“I was going to, but didn’t get the chance. Anyway, welcome back. Nothing changed whilst the two of you were out.”

“Thank you, whatever is looking out for me right now.” You silently prayed in gratitude. “I’ll be going back to my room.”

“Don’t cause trouble.” Arlecchino eyed you, walking away to somewhere else in the house. 

“Damn, I wasn’t that bad company, was I?” You questioned yourself, mumbling death threats whilst walking up the stairs towards your room.

What should you do now? Although you should probably be finishing the clean-up of merch, now that you think about it, you’re way too lazy to continue. You’ll probably just pick up where you left off the next time you feel especially disturbed by it. Anyway, today has been alright so far, very positive actually. If you ignored the fact that you were being held hostage, you could even call it good. Apart from failing to ask for help when there was a clear opportunity of course. Sure, you were most likely being followed by another harbinger, but you still could’ve thought of something!

Oh well, you’re back home now. You should stop worrying about things that have already happened, there’s no use doing so when in your situation. Let’s think about what to do next.

You sat down on your desk chair, pushing the keyboard away from the edge of the desk and grabbing your notepad which you effortlessly threw in front of you. After flipping through a few scribbled pages, you found a clean page ready to be written on.

Okay, so, you have some of the Harbinger’s working and supporting the house now. At least this guarantees the house won’t starve. As much as you hate to admit it, Pulcinella was right. Having their wages will definitely help things. But what should you do now? You’ve already tried communicating with the game, and that backfired horribly. Originally, you thought that consistently trying would be a good use of your time, but are you still sure about that? You’ve tried at least two times now, and nothing’s changed! You probably look like an idiot from an outsider’s perspective, screaming at the screen the way you have been recently.

…Maybe you should try one more time. Your mother used to say you were the stubborn type, and it seems she was right. It won’t harm things, since your previous attempts did absolutely nothing. And it’s not like the Harbinger’s will know what you’re up to… Yeah… just one more time! If you put your hope into this, something will definitely change. And if it doesn’t, you’re kind of stuck on ideas. Man, having a friend or two who cares about you would be so handy right now. 

Oh, another thing! You need to get a lock, or find something to bar up the door with whenever you’re in and out of your room. It probably won’t stop them entirely, but their struggle to enter the room will give you enough time to look normal when they force themselves through and not cause suspicion. Childe’s entry was cut way too close this morning. You’re very lucky he wasn’t paying attention to your room due to his own excitement.

You’ll get the lock later. For now, just turn on your computer and leave the game on. Although the idea freaks you out a little bit, perhaps you should also actually play the game whilst waiting instead of just staring at a character staring back at you with soulless eyes. Eh, actually, now that you know the characters are real, they’re probably not that soulless. 

The screen flashed a blinding light, before fading into the familiar scenery of Mondstadt’s city with Aether’s back facing you. You looked up, putting down your pencil and reaching over to the keyboard.

Let’s just start with daily commissions. That should be easy enough, right? Ah, but maybe you should add more people to the party first. Your commissions are all in Mondstadt, luckily, so you should probably include Mondstadt characters only. Albedo would be a good choice, and Venti… Hm, just add Fischl for the fun of it. There’s no synergy here, at all, but it doesn’t matter. Your characters are all strong enough to solo the enemies if you really wanted them to.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... …

Yeah… You’re hooked.

You’ve been playing Genshin for over an hour now, you didn’t even realise your tension easing away as you played the game! It started off as just completing your commissions, then old habits kicking in and completing leylines to get rid of resin. Then you decided to use your condensed resin in artifact domains and–

You’re going crazy.

Time really flies when you’re having fun, huh? Anyway, you should probably stop for now. During the time you were playing, nothing tried to contact you or looked out of the ordinary in the game. It’s safe to assume that nobody is coming to help you from the other side.

…Maybe it was all planned amongst everyone in the whole of Teyvat? The reason nobody’s come to help you is because the character’s are in on making you suffer for controlling them for so long?

No, snap out of it. Think logically, that can’t be the reason no one has come to help you. There must be something blocking them from communicating with you. Something that’s also affecting the Harbinger’s from returning to Teyvat in the first place.

‘This is hopeless’ You buried your head in your hands, the desk’s temperature cooling your forehead. ‘Seems like I’ll have to hold out for as long as possible. Perhaps I could–’

Ding!

‘Huh? What was that noise?’ You raised your head, squinting your eyes at the screen.

Ding! Ding!

That noise… It sounds like the mail notification! You reached for the mouse, your posture straightening and heart rate quickening. You dragged your mouse over to the mail button, clicking on it and reading the notification.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

We can hear you, can you hear us?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

That was the first notification… It says it was sent yesterday, during the time of your first plea for help! Why did it only come through now!? Better yet, why is the unknown writer communicating through the mail system? Couldn’t they have just vocally replied?

And the ‘We’... There’s more than one person who heard you! This is good. Does that mean the Traveller and potentially Paimon are the ones writing to you? Quickly, let’s read another one.

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Why did you walk away? We’re trying to help you.

Could you not hear Paimon shouting?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

Paimon was… shouting to you? No, you didn’t hear her. Yesterday you left because nothing was happening, you were unsatisfied with the results! Was she really trying to communicate with you? Ugh, this is why you need to be patient!

Anyway, this must be the reason why they’re communicating through mail. Their voices must not be able to come through to the real world! Something feels wrong though… The mention of ‘walking away’ is strange. How did they know you walked away? You’re looking too deeply into this, it was probably just written that way as a generic saying without any meaning behind it. They probably just meant that they couldn’t hear you anymore and assumed you left.

What does the third notification say?

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

You’re back, that’s great!

If you can see this, it appears we can’t communicate vocally for now. We can hear you, however, so feel free to update us on your current situation whenever comfortable and possible.

We’re working on finding a solution to communicate with you further. The Traveller, Paimon and I are working to gather geniuses all across Teyvat to come up with a solution to our current problem: you. As of writing this, we’ve managed to gather all the scholar’s in Sumeru, Liyue and Fontaine to join Mondstadt’s efforts in research to establish a stronger connection. Although this is a theory, we believe you will be the most important part of the process in figuring out how to return Teyvat back to normal. 

Speaking of returning Teyvat back to normal, I should probably tell you more about that other problem too. A problem that has caused almost every nation to join their intelligence together in the first place. Teyvat is currently suffering through imbalances - and nobody knows the reason why. Coming from me, I’m unsure why Celestia hasn’t intervened in the problem. My suspicions lie in Snezhnaya, and from what you’ve told us, I fear I might have been correct. You said the Harbinger’s were with you, beyond Teyvat, right?

Buer informed the rest of us that their existence in Irminsul is becoming more unstable by the day. Normally, I’d have an idea on how to correct the problem and deal with it privately. But this…? This has never happened before in any of the passages of time I’ve witnessed. Nobody can find any of the Harbinger’s anywhere, those who were personally with them claim they saw them just deteriorate from existence!

What’s worse is we can’t even get a direct account from Snezhnaya themselves! They’re violently turning away any messenger from any nation, some returning traumatised. We don’t know what they’ve done, in fact, I personally don’t think they know what they’ve done themselves!

We need your help. And to get your help, we need a more efficient way of communication. I’ll have to end this transmission here, any more words and I fear the machine might overheat completely. Please trust us, and don’t lose hope. We want to help.

-Venti

—  —  —  —  —  —  —  —  —

“I don’t… understand…” You breathed out, leaning back into your chair with shock bubbling over your limbs.

What did you just read? Is this actually happening? Teyvat is in danger… because the Harbingers left? And Celestia refuses to get involved? Well, that’s not too surprising considering the lore. Let’s read the message again, surely there’s something you’re missing!

You scanned the message again, noticing the time it was sent. An hour ago… Why did all the messages suddenly come through now? What about now changed!? Did they change something? The mail claimed they’d gathered geniuses from all over to tamper with ‘the machine’.

Are they even aware they’re in a game!? From the mail, you don’t think so. You’d like it to stay that way. Keep it professional, Y/N! Stay calm and reply, if what Venti’s saying is true, it could be their entire world that’s in danger. You thought it was bad that the Harbinger’s could potentially kill someone here. But their appearance elsewhere might be hurting their original planet? God, you’re all so fucked!

“Thanks for the reply… even if it was a little late. But you know, I’m happy that we’re now on the same page!” You coughed into your hand, laughing awkwardly after.

“Sorry, this isn’t the time to feel regretful. We’re in trouble right now and I’m clearly not helping. If I understand you right, we need to get the Harbingers back to Teyvat before Irminsul corrupts… no, imbalances further. I’m glad the majority of Teyvat is working through this, the reason I approached Mondstadt in the first place was because of Albedo. I hoped he would have an inkling on how to solve the problem, and now knowing lots of others are helping really puts my mind at ease.”

You closed the menu, watching Paimon bounce about with her usual idle animations.

“I’m sorry I didn’t answer you Paimon.” You apologised, smiling softly. “I was really frustrated with my situation. If I heard you shouting to me, I think you would have really cheered me up.”

“Could you… maybe wave? Or do something that I don’t normally see? I could really use a boost of confidence right now. Not like this isn’t already very reassuring! Words can’t express how relieved I feel at the moment!”

You looked at the screen, watching it begin to glitch and show a dark blue which didn’t suit Mondstadt’s colour scheme. Your whole screen turned into a night’s sky, stars swirling into each other in a warped formation. You marvelled at the pretty display, recognising the almost identical appearance to the Abyss.

That’s… strangely coincidental. You won’t question it for now though.

Eventually, it cleared, and showed Paimon waving with a beaming face. Her expression didn’t show any evidence of what happened to you also happening to them, making you sigh in relief. You waved back, laughing at her enthusiasm to keep doing so. So, this is what Teyvat really looks like? You noted the surroundings after the glitchy screen changed slightly, and the graphics more realistic. Maybe that was all the glitch was? Or maybe it was a sign of Irminsul being imbalanced? You’re not an expert.

Ugh it still looks unrealistically beautiful despite the world becoming less smooth and more detailed. Is your PC even gonna cope with this?? These graphics look insane!

“Alright, alright! I’m happy now. I feel a lot better, thank you… Let me know when something changes, or rather when something develops. I have nothing new to report really, other than the Harbingers have been desperate to also return. I mean, occasionally they’ve told me they felt a bit weird and alienated, but that’s probably nothing.” You put your arm down, Paimon doing the same and giving you a thumbs up.

“Listen.” You spoke in a different tone. “We’ll have to be very careful from now on. I don’t want the Harbinger’s to catch wind of what’s currently happening, nor do I want them to find this PC and realise their predicament fully. They think that there’s still a chance they can return to Teyvat by their means, but from what I’m hearing, there’s no chance when Irminsul has no record of their existence anymore.”

Paimon nodded.

“I’ll keep my computer on for now, so you can keep me updated. I’ll be leaving the room to try and strengthen the security of the room itself since my PC is full of passwords already. Stay safe, Teyvat doesn’t sound like the best place to live in at the moment.”

You turned around and walked away from the PC, opening the door and closing it behind you gently with a determined expression.

It’s finally happened, something’s actually gone your way for once, and you didn’t even have to work for it! Well, saying that, you did have to shout in desperation and cry a bit to get your way, but it all ended well so you’re not complaining!

Although… Why did their connection come through so easily? Surely trying to connect with something not only out of their universe, but also BYPASSING FUCKING REALITY should be impossible? Now that you think about this further, shouldn’t your suspicions be leaning towards Hoyoverse?

Whatever, you don’t know how they did it, and it really doesn’t matter right now. You’re curious, but your questions will have to wait for when you’re finally at a comfortable point where you see no risk of being harmed by the Harbingers.

Now, about that lock…

You opened the storage cupboard in the wall, grabbing the ladder and heaving it out of the small cubby with a grunt. Settling down the dirty ladder onto the clean carpet, you pulled out the supports and picked it up again, positioning it underneath the small door above the top of the stairs. Climbing the ladder with shaky legs, you breathed in nervously before pushing the door upwards.

Climbing through the open door and successfully planting your feet on the firm floor, you left the ladder behind you. You froze when officially entering the attic, noises scattering over the walls. Your body relaxed when you saw a familiar person in front of you.

“Sandrone?” You called out in confusion, hearing rummaging and familiar ramblings echo through the room. “That’s not you I can hear, is it?”

She looked behind her shoulder with a flustered expression, as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing in the first place. Her rummaging paused, a rusty metal pipe in one clenched hand and the other holding a ring with lots of different keys.

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

“I think this is what it looks like. Why are you in the attic? Also, how did you even get up here without a ladder?” You walked up to her and peered into the box she was rummaging around.

“I didn’t feel like playing house.” She looked away from you, continuing her rummaging when realising you weren’t going to stop her.

“Playing house?”

“The girls were trying on clothes, which heavily disturbed me I dare to mention. I decided to do something useful with my time, unlike Dottore, and see if there’s anything useful which can aid our efforts to return to Teyvat.”

“How on Earth did trying on clothes disturb you?”

“Well, I felt there was a better use for my time. The Captain found this hatch suspicious and asked me to investigate for any danger as he wouldn’t be able to get through the hatch himself.” She retorted, raising a pipe to her eyes and staring at it intently, nodding before placing it next to her.

Why can you just imagine Capitano giving Sandrone a piggyback now?

“Well, since you’ve been searching here already, you haven’t found a lock in here by chance, have you?” You asked her.

“No, I haven’t.” She gave a judgemental side eye. “Even if I had, I wouldn’t help you find it as I’m too preoccupied with my own search. Not only this, but your efforts to find a lock is useless. Do you take us Harbingers as a joke?”

“No! It’s for… self comfort. That’s all.”

“Self comfort?” She raised an eyebrow. “Are you an idiot?”

You shrugged, feeling uncomfortable in continuing the conversation. Sandrone sighed when noticing your expression, before pointing to a box she hadn’t opened yet.

“That’s the last box I haven’t gone through yet. There’s a high probability there will be a lock and key in there. Don’t think for one moment this will help you escape.”

“Thank you.” Your eyes widened. “I can’t believe you actually just helped me.”

“Just be quiet and grateful whilst finding it, you’re bothering me enough as it already is.” She scoffed, purposefully not looking at you to hide her rosy cheeks. “I expect you to help me when I ask for it in return. If you’re truly going to become my partner once we return to Teyvat, we must learn from each other dutifully.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say ‘partner’?”

She violently threw a pipe behind her, the sound crashing across the floor, and narrowly missing you. “Don’t worry about that for now. First and foremost, we must deliver you to the Tsaritsa. I will worry about gaining her permission to have whatever’s left of you when you’ve finished your purpose.”

It’s times like these that remind you these Harbinger’s are horrible human beings. Oh, and that Sandrone makes puppets like Katheryne, and she’s most likely referencing she’ll turn you into one for knowledge. Nice, that makes you feel comforted, these goosebumps on your arms are definitely just from the cold.

“I won’t worry.” You gulped in a quiet voice, using the keys she tossed to you on the closed box and opening it. 

Did she really help you without expecting something immediate in return? This can’t be right, there must be something she wants to ask you that she hasn’t revealed yet. She said it herself. She always expects something in return when she helps someone. Oh! Maybe she’ll ask you for a favou–

“Tell me about this world’s technology.”

Ah, there’s the question. There goes your optimism as well.

“What do you mean?”

“A couple days ago you mentioned that the humanity of this planet created new weapons. I’d like you to elaborate.”

“I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about. When did I mention what and why?”

“A couple days ago. You mentioned. Humans creating new weaponry. With dangerous chemicals. And different minerals. Explain.”

“Uhhh… Where did I mention this a few days ago?” You held back a smile, showing you were teasing her.

“The dinner table.” She was practically sneering, her voice threatening to get louder if you pushed her one sentence further.

“Ohhh, now I remember! Chemical warfare, sheesh, wow.” You whistled. “Yeah, these new weapons are unique because up until that point we’d been using swords and shields. Then we evolved to using shitty guns using pure gunpowder, then suddenly less than a hundred years later we’d evolved to use pure gases instead. And now? Ugh, don’t get me started.”

“Go on.” Sandrone nodded, attention solely focused on your words with her eyes sparkling in anticipation.

“That’s it. That’s the whole elaboration.”

“Excuse me? There’s clearly more reasoning than that!”

“Nah. That’s it.”

“Explain about a few of the specific inventions, don’t be so selective!” She argued. “You led it up to be something much bigger a few days ago, why so stingy now?”

“I can’t really say much, sorry.” You shrugged with a neutral frown. “I don’t know anything about it, truly. You’ll have to ask someone else, like a historian, for help with that question.”

“...You’re lying, I can tell.” She scowled. “I detest liars.”

And you detest your current situation. But beggars can’t be choosers, can they? Even though you definitely think she knows this, Sandrone needs to relearn that life isn’t fair. Here, she can’t threaten those around her using her Harbinger title to get the information she wants. Well, minus you of course.

“I helped you find the lock you were looking for, you’ll answer my question in honesty at once!”

“Pfft, you didn’t help me find the lock. This is my attic, I’ve been in this house longer than you’ve been in this world. Besides, there isn’t a lock in this box.”

“Actually…” She trailed off, physically pushing your body away from the box so she could shove her arms in it. After rummaging for a few seconds, a lock emerged from the pile of metal scraps inside.

“How did you-”

“Inventor's instinct.” She hid her hand behind her back after you tried to swipe the lock from her. She laughed in your face mockingly.

“Now, about that question I asked…” She chided, head tilting sideways.

This bitch! You gritted your teeth. I feel confident enough to tease her once in revenge, when she teases me all the time first, and now she’s hanging the lock against me like a dog!? Who does she think she is, Scaramouche?

“Ugh, fine.” You rolled your eyes, trying to hide your frustration.

You thought to yourself for a while, trying to dig up any information you could remember from secondary school when you learnt about this stuff. Should you just make a weapon up? They think you’re ‘The Decider’, which means y–

Hold on a minute, you forgot to ask Paimon who exactly ‘The Decider’ is in the first place! You knew you were forgetting something earlier! Oh well, that’s something to ask for next time you get a message, if you remember to ask it that is.

Anyway, that’s not what’s happening right now, keep your mind straight in front of you. If you don’t answer Sandrone, you’ll have to find a sturdy lock somewhere else. There’s no way she’ll give it to you if you don’t.

“Well, you wanted something particular, right?” A lightbulb practically lit above your head, remembering a specific piece of evidence from an essay you wrote years ago.

“Indeed.” Her eyes narrowed in warning.

“Let’s see… In World War 1, the janky technology used on the frontlines was very outdated. To combat this, countries began to develop new weapons in an attempt to overrun the trenches at a faster pace with lesser casualties. Of course, talking from the future, this only made the amount of casualties sky rocket. In particular, the Battle of the Som–”

You felt a sudden harsh tug at your hair, causing a yelp to escape from your lips that interrupted your explanation.

“I don’t care about your dumb history.” She seethed, eyes darkening in anger. “This world can rot in the lowest depths of the abyss for all I care. What I care about is the machinery of this decaying world, with its workings and purposes. Stop wasting my time with explanations that lead to nowhere but a readily dug grave for an organic lifeform to claim it as home.”

You trembled in fear, squinting your eyes closed when she pulled on your hair harsher. 

“Who do you think you are, testing my patience in a manner such as yours? You’re a nobody, especially considering the type of person you are. Without me by your side, you’re worth nothing. Your only use to me is your brain, and even then 50% of the time it’s lacking in anything convenient.”

A moment passed after that, silence ringing through the dusty room and a light breeze causing goosebumps to erupt on your arms. You opened one of your eyes cautiously to see Sandrone’s staring into your own, widened with shock.

She flinched her hand away from you, looking at it and back at you with her mouth gaped slightly open.

“You…! I can’t believe this, utterly ridiculous! To think that I…, me of all people,” She breathed in and out quickly, stepping back in realisation.

“No. I don’t believe it.”

What on earth is she rambling about now? Is she struggling to come to terms with threatening you directly in your face or something? That doesn’t really fit into her character though… Oh shit, did she realise you're not The Decider or something as stupid as that? 

“Enough of that.” She shook her head violently, grabbing her shaking raised hand which touched your hair moments ago.

“Continue, and if you dare mention something meaningless again, I’ll grab more than your filthy hair next time. Oh, and I’ll make sure it hurts.”

You’d laugh at the potential innuendo if you weren’t shaking from fear right now.

“The Germans made a harmful gas called mustard gas, whilst the British invented a new vehicle suitable for combat called a tank…” You were barely able to reply with a strong voice, watching her lips turn into a satisfied smile.

“Music to my ears! Was that so hard? What a good little assistant you are.” She cooed, tossing you the lock carelessly.

You didn’t catch it, the lock landing on the wooden floor with a harsh thud that startled you despite watching it hit the floor. You bent down without a word, picking it up and clutching the lock to your chest. Looking up, you saw her looking down at you with a threatening glare.

“Test my forgiving patience once more, and you’ll face something far worse than a ‘light’ tug to the scalp. Do you understand?”

You nodded silently, worrying your voice would betray you if you tried to give a vocal answer. Sandrone hummed, satisfied with your compliance and fear, turning around and walking back to her own box.

“Now leave me, you’ve already bothered me enough as is.” She didn’t turn back to look at you, loud sounds of rummaging cutting off any answer you might have replied with.

You should leave quickly before you annoy her again. Lesson learnt: don’t bother Sandrone if you don’t wish to be hurt in the process. In fact, just don’t approach her on your terms in the first place. Her patience is miniscule, she barely lasted two comments before blowing up in your face about giving detail.

You thought she’d prefer detail since that’s what she always asks for, what about now was different!? If you didn’t give detail, she’d get angry and blow up in your face about it. Give detail, and she replies the exact same way! What does she want from you!? You did nothing wrong!

The more you try to figure her thought process out, the more your head hurts. Your scalp is screaming at you right now, and she called that a light tug? She practically ripped out your hair! Forget it, the more you think about it, the more you’ll fall into a panic. Forget, forget, forget.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Walking back in your room with a sigh in an attempt to calm yourself down, you closed your bedroom door behind you and attached the lock to the handle, making sure that it worked.

It did indeed work, much to your relief. If it didn’t work, you’d have been so annoyed that your efforts from earlier would have been worth nothing.

Now… What should you do? Should you ask about The Decider, to try and get more information on them? But, you just communicated with Paimon not that long ago, it would be weird to suddenly strike up a conversation again. Quickly, let’s write down more questions to ask for tomorrow.

Once you finished scribbling on your notepad, you put your pen down and shivered slightly. Rubbing your arms aggressively, you noticed your goosebumps were still across your arms from the attic. Maybe you should get a blanket and have a nap for a while? You don’t feel like actually going to bed yet, it’s far too early.

Trudging over to your wardrobe with the intent of putting on pyjamas and finding your favourite blanket, you lightly put your hand over the indent and gripped it. Slowly opening the door, you revealed something behind it that definitely wasn’t clothes.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” You screeched, falling backwards in pure shock.

Columbina’s back was facing you, the girl holding one of your t-shirts to her chest, hugging it tightly as if it were trying to leave her embrace.

“What are you doing in my wardrobe!? More importantly, what are you doing in my room!? Get out!” You screeched again, Columbina turning around to face you.

“Your room is really nice, it’s such a shame you kept me out of it for this long.” She giggled at your bewildered expression.

“Although, now that we’re finally alone after days of waiting, I must ask… How long do you plan to keep your act up for?”

Somehow, you immediately knew what she was talking about.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play coy,” She giggled again, walking out of the wardrobe. “Although I was also tricked in the beginning, don’t treat me like the others.”

How did she… How did she figure it out? When did she figure it out is the real question, what gave away that you weren’t ‘The Decider’!?

“How…?”

“It was easy to figure out.” She shrugged with a lax smile. “For one, you’re extremely weak and fall victim to the other’s very quickly. The extent to you fighting back is arguments, which is not something I’d expect from someone so seemingly strong as The Decider. Which leads me to question your actual purpose in Teyvat.”

“My… purpose?”

“You, The Decider, can see the future. Our future. You take care of and strengthen any vision user you possess in return of using them for combat to aid the traveller’s journey. This is all we’ve known of you for a long time, which is why I was ecstatic to finally have the pleasure of meeting you!” She explained, eyes glistening in excitement.

“However… You were a lot more disappointing to meet face to face than I thought you’d be.” Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, the irony. Did you know that everyone in Teyvat considers you to be one of the strongest? Poor Childe, he was so excited to spar with you.”

Wait… you can save this! She thinks you’re just weak, but still The Decider! This is great, you can indirectly get more information this way if you follow along with her! Just be careful, one ounce of suspicion and she’ll question you more.

“Well, I’m sorry to be a big disappointment.” You rolled your eyes. “Could you leave my room now?”

“I’m not finished.” The tone in her voice changed, sending electric shivers down your spine.

“Now that we’re on the same page, I would like to know the truth to your powers. And also… if you’re a secret fan of us.”

“What.” You deadpanned after hearing her last few words.

“I must say, I’m very disappointed. Never, during our stay here, did I think you’d prefer Tartaglia over me. Rather, over anyone else. Your actions certainly don’t convey that opinion, although, it’s clear your affection lies in harsh truths over sugar coated lies.”

“Okay, now I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hmm, that whale on your bed. It looks quite familiar. I wonder where I’ve seen it before?…~” She hinted, pointing to the plush toy laid across your pillows from where you threw it this morning.

No way. Does she think you’re a fangirl!? Not anymore you’re not!

“Ahhh, you’re referring to that.” You laughed off her suspicious smile. “That’s just a toy my aunt got me a couple years ago.”

“I see. Then, would this allow you to become a bit more truthful?” She covered her unnaturally wide grin with her dainty hand, pulling a familiar body pillow out from under your bed.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

HOW… HOW DID SHE FIND THAT!? FUCK, YOU’RE DEAD! YOU DIDN’T THINK SHE’D CHECK UNDERNEATH YOUR BED! WHAT KIND OF SICKO DOES THAT ANYWAY!? Wait, if she went under your bed… that means… oh shit.

“Why is your first instinct, when trespassing in my room, to look under my bed!?” You covered your flushing face, embarrassed beyond belief.

“Because that’s where everyone keeps all their secrets, silly!” She giggled with a few claps from her hands. “You’re not original you know, and besides, I found a lot worse under there.”

You’re cooked. You’re actually cooked. Goodbye actually okay reputation, goodbye not feeling embarrassed in the Harbinger’s presence, goodbye– yeah, you get the point.

“Anyway!” Her voice pitched higher. “What a nice pillow! Strangely hug shaped, and it’s not new either, I can smell your scent on it. I wonder what could possibly be on the other side, hm?”

“Please no…” You groaned in your hands, feeling your face grow even warmer somehow.

“You put this on yourself when you chose Childe over me!”

“I didn’t even know that you existed before Childe! How can I prefer someone over another when I don’t know the other existed in the first place!?”

“I suppose you have a point.” She put a finger on her bottom lip. “You met Tartaglia in Liyue, right?”

“Yeah, where are you going with this?”

“Oh, nothing!” She waved her arm in dismissal. “I’ve changed my mind about questioning you, I want to do something else.”

…That’s it?

“You’re… not going to tell anyone about this, right?” You hesitantly asked, grabbing her shoulder in a pleading tone.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Should I?”

“No.”

“Then it’s settled, it’ll be our little secret, mhm?~” She clasped her hands around yours on her shoulder, wings behind her head flapping.

“Our little secret. Thank you, Columbina.”

She simply laughed at you before turning around and walking towards your door. She swiped the lock easily with a raise of her hand, the speed so quick you could barely see the movement. You stared incredulously at the metal lock with a clean cut down the middle in pieces on your floor.

“Don’t thank me.” She didn’t turn back around. “I expect to be allowed in your room whenever I want to be in it now!~ You know what they say, don’t you?”

You didn’t reply.

“Huhu, nevermind. It seems you understand what I’m referring to anyway. Bye bye!” She gave a backwards wave before the door closed behind her on its own.

To be honest, you’re not even surprised anymore. You’re just tired at this point. Maybe it’s not too late to go to sleep after all. What a waste of time and effort it was getting that stupid lock.

Still… you should at least do one more thing before you go to bed. Something that would calm you down and not involve going on your PC to play a game. Hmm… ah, you might have one idea. It seems you’ll need your blanket after all.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... …

You walked through the dining room, passing by the Harbingers who didn’t seem to notice you. Opening the sliding door to the garden, a chilled breeze flew through you and past the doorway, the Harbinger’s heads snapping towards the direction it was coming from.

“Close the damned door, it’s cold!” Childe screeched from the sofa, hugging one of the pillows, with his eyes glued to the TV. He seemed to be watching a boxing match of some kind… well, at least he’s taking his new job seriously.

“I was doing that. You shouldn’t be complaining anyway, you grew up in Snezhnaya.” You closed the door behind you, taking a deep breath in to embrace the fresh air. They never said you couldn’t go in the garden, so you should be fine. It’s not like you could escape this way anyway, the fences are way too high to climb over.

Hugging the blanket around your shoulders tighter, you laid down on the dry grass and gazed up at the stars, their twinkling patterns almost hypnotising you.

“What are you doing here?”

You groaned at the familiar voices’ intrusion and didn't bother looking at him to confirm your annoyance.

“You know, there is a reason I came out here on my own.”

“And there is a reason why I came out here to accompany you too.” Scaramouche folded his arms, looking unimpressed with your decision to come outside.

“To make sure I don’t escape, yeah, yeah, yeah.” You replied.

He didn’t say anything after that, groaning in annoyance to himself before laying down next to you with an unusually serene expression. There was a silent agreement amongst the two of you when you turned to him in confusion, eyes talking instead of words. It seems he wants to join you in looking at the stars, is he just shy to admit that out loud or something?

“I can tell exactly what you’re thinking, get that idiotic cloud out of your head.”

You hate this guy. He had to ruin the mood, didn’t he?

“Shh, I’m busy thinking.” You lightly scoffed in a gentle voice, turning back to the stars and tracing their patterns in your head.

“How rare.” He commented, snickering at your sudden turn to him. “What? You’re looking at me as if it’s not true.”

“...Whatever.”

He was the one to look taken aback this time. “No argument in return, really? You really must be out of sorts then.”

“I can’t be bothered to fight right now. I’m so tired, but my eyes won’t let me sleep. Today’s been an emotional day, and a pointless one without meaning. Every single time I feel like I’m finally progressing in something, something else gets rid of all my progress and pisses me off!” You sighed, closing your eyes.

Well… Apart from the successful communication with Teyvat of course, but you can’t mention that to him. Still though, you’re feeling really shitty right now.

“You went outside with The Knave, and even bought some of your favourite chocolate. That’s one good thing, isn’t it? Ungrateful brat…”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” 

Your eyes snapped open, realisation in your eyes. “I was right! There was another Harbinger following us outside! And it was you?”

Good thing you decided not to ask the girls in there for help after all, they might have been killed by Scaramouche once you and Arlecchino left if you had! The more you think about it now, the more your stomach hurts…

“Yes. So what?” He shrugged.

“I just… didn’t think you’d reveal it so quickly. I thought you would’ve kept it a secret or not mentioned it at all, you know, like a normal person.”

“I didn’t care whether you figured it out or not, I didn’t think it was a secret.” He smirked to himself. “I’m also not a person, idiot.”

“...”

“...”

“Was that meant to be funny?”

“Shut your mouth, you knew what I meant.” He elbowed your stomach lightly. “I’m now fortunately in a good mood, you should say what you want to now.”

“That’s good for you.”

He sighed again, shaking his head. “Will you stop moping like a saddened sunflower? It’s annoying and starting to make me uncomfortable. And that’s saying something.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You rolled your eyes, feeling jealous. “Go somewhere else if it bothers you that much.”

“And here I was, thinking my presence would invigorate you.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Speak. What’s wrong now?”

“Don’t act like you care, I would never confide in you for anything.” You glared at him, the Harbinger gritting his teeth in reply with furrowed eyebrows.

“How dare you…! After trying to be nice, this is what I get in return!?”

“You don’t get it, do you?” You asked him apathetically. “You can’t just expect me to tell you after you order me to, that’s not what being ‘nice’ is. That’s controlling and just making me not want to tell you more.”

“Hmph, you say this, yet you’re not taking my effort into account.”

“If this is what you call putting in effort, shouting when things don’t go your way, you must be tired from putting ‘effort’ in everything all the time.” You watched his expression grow into one of something you didn’t recognise, seemingly letting your words sink into his head.

At the end of the day, Scaramouche during this stage of his life is just an angry traumatised toddler who acts all tough to prevent his gentle nature from leaking out. He doesn’t want to care about anyone again, so he pushes all who talk to him away rudely in hopes they don’t approach him.

To be honest, he alongside Childe are probably the easiest Harbinger’s to deal with. …In terms of getting them on your side at least. Sure, Childe would probably be harder considering his unwavering loyalty to the Tsaritsa and connections with Pulcinella taking care of his family, but you feel as if you could do it.

Scaramouche on the other hand is a temperamental landmine on the opposite side of the spectrum as Sandrone. That’s how you see it anyway, you could be very wrong and offend die-hard fans if you told someone that. Actually, you’d probably offend both Sandrone and Scaramouche as well since they hate each other.

“Stupid. You’re a stupid mortal who doesn’t know their place. Defying one of your kidnappers, as you like to call us, is a dumb idea. Are you asking for death?” He finally answered your small scolding, breaking your previous thought process.

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.” You said, voice mellow. “Anyway, could you let me stargaze in peace now?”

“Pfft, that’s what you came out here to do? You could have worn warmer clothes than that!”

“A blanket is enough, I don’t plan to fall asleep out here. Besides, you’re not wearing warm clothes either.”

“How many times must I tell you…” He trailed off before dropping the topic. “Besides, I don’t see what’s so great about the stars,” He commented. “They’re not even real anyway, just because they look different from Teyvat doesn’t change the fact that they’re fake.”

You gently laughed at him. “You just said it yourself, these stars look different from the ones in Teyvat. If you’re really that interested, then yes, these are indeed what real stars look like.”

“I thought as much.”

“If you thought as much, why say it?”

“...”

“What is the focus of constellations in this world?” He ignored your question, asking his own instead.

“Well…” You thought to yourself. “It depends on who you ask, as everyone believes in different things. Some believe them to be the souls of others who have passed on and watch over their families, some believe them to be heroes from legends, some believe them to exist for interpreting a God's will. Some even believe them to interpret human’s behaviour. - Those are called horoscopes.” You listed to him.

“What are the Gods like in this world?”

“It depends on who you ask. Once again, there are many different religions here. Some religions don’t believe in Gods, and focus on morals and ethics instead.”

“...If only it were like that in Teyvat.” Scaramouche grumbled. “Maybe then worshipping the current Archons wouldn’t be as common.”

“Maybe so.” You shrugged, choosing to ignore his clear jealousy. “Not everyone has a religion, you know. Kind of like Teyvat, actually…” You decided not to continue in courtesy of Khaenri’ah.

“So, people can freely choose to worship? Interesting…” He mumbled to himself.

“...What do the stars mean to you?”

“Me?” You thought out loud.

“Yes, stupid.” He deadpanned. “Who else would I be asking, the grass?”

“Ha-ha, very funny. For me, I don’t really know. I’ve never thought about it in detail before, I believe they mean nothing but something at the same time.”

“Are you talking gibberish? You contradicted yourself.”

“I know.” You sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know what I meant myself. I just replied with the first answer that came to mind.”

“Speaking of saying what first comes to mind, this is the first time we’ve talked alone since…” You stopped yourself, not wanting to think about it further.

“Ah.”

“Yes, I think ‘ah’ is an appropriate response.”

“Hmph, I’ll let it slide. What are horoscopes in the first place? I find it hard to believe they can control humans. At the end of the day, nothing can control those greedy insects.” Of course he wouldn’t know what they are!

“They’re a group of constellations that many believe impact a person’s personality and lifestyle. You get one when you’re born, depending on when your birthday is.” You explained.

“Do you have one?”

“Yeah, it’s ‘.....’.”

“And how does that impact your lifestyle? I’m guessing being stupid is a part of it.” He snickered in his hand.

“No!” You argued back. “I don’t know how it impacts me, I don’t follow horoscopes as seriously as others do.”

“Well, aren’t you useful?” He sarcastically replied.

“Your birthday is January 3rd, right?”

“...What the fuck is ‘January’?”

“Oh riiiiight, you wouldn’t call it that in Teyvat since Janus is a Roman god. Think of it as what your birthday would be considered here, I did the calculations.” You sweated, a chuckle escaping your lips.

“Sure, whatever you say.”

“Don’t mock me! Anyway, from your birthday, you’d be a Capricorn… Or would you be a Libra? I can’t remember, I’m more confident in you being a Capricorn.”

“And you gather that from my personality?”

“Nah, I’m talking about remembering when a friend and I geeked about it once for a project years ago.”

“Funny.” He bit his tongue.

“Hey, I…”

?

“I...” 

“The great and powerful Scaramouche hesitating to say something? What an honour to witness such a sight!”

“You’re clearly feeling better.” He narrowed his eyes, not appreciating your comment in the slightest. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, okay?”

Huh?

“Sorry about what?”

“I’m not repeating myself.” He scoffed, leaving you confused.

Wait… Is he genuinely apologising to you? This version of Scaramouche, the Balladeer, is apologising TO YOU?? And it’s him confessing a mistake!? You didn’t think this version of him could even say the word ‘sorry’, and yet here you are hearing it first hand! Has he hit his head? Or maybe this world is affecting his machinery?

“Do you really mean that?”

“I guess.” He shrugged, hiding his face from your view. “What’s done is done, I can’t take it back. I only said it to shut you up, you should feel grateful that I said it out loud.”

And grateful, you indeed are. Whilst you’re definitely not accepting his apology inside, you won’t deny this heartwarming act did make you feel better, did make you feel like you’re actually a person in at least one of the Harbinger’s perspectives.

It’s also very clear that he’s hiding his face in embarrassment. If you weren’t shaken up from earlier, you probably would have teased him about this already.

“Don’t tell anyone I said this, I’d never hear the end of it from those imbeciles.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” A smile appeared on your face, feeling a lot better. “Oh, and Scaramouche?”

“...What is it now?”

“Thank you.”

He turned over to look at you again, ready to reply but stopped himself when he noticed you were stiller than usual. He panicked for a moment, placing fingers on your neck before sighing in relief to find you were simply asleep.

“‘I don’t plan to fall asleep’, huh?” He mocked you in a whispered tone, looking up at the stars above him.

The stars… to him, it seemed like a personal audience to the two of you’s conversation, waiting eagerly to see what he’d do next. He didn’t know how to explain it, but these real stars made his porcelain feel strange. Shivers coursed through his body when thinking about it further. Perhaps this is the reason the stars were covered in Teyvat?

Enough gaping at the scenery, he should probably carry you to bed before you turn ill and become more argumentative than you already are. As much as he loves to see you more docile than usual, seeing you give up makes him feel like shit. He doesn’t know why, either, which is the annoying part. If you need him to cheer you up at your lowest, he supposes he could spare his time for you to pick you back up into a stable zone.

And it better just be him next time. He doesn’t know what he’d do if he saw you finding comfort in someone like the Knave’s presence again.

Picking up your body with care, he walked back into the house with your sleeping body draped over his back, your chin resting on his right shoulder. He shut the door behind him and walked through the living room with all the Harbingers staring at him.

“Want your eyes gouged out?” He warned them, clutching your legs tighter to not only control himself but steady you on his back.

“Pfuhu~, Balladder, I can take them back to your room. It must be tiring to hold them up.” Columbina smiled politely at him, doing a grabbing motion with both hands like a toddler wanting to be picked up.

“No thank you,” He also gave her a polite smile, the smile stretching across his face occasionally twitching. “They’re as light as a feather. I don’t blame you for being wrong, and neither would they, you’ve never given them a piggyback after all.”

“Now, now,” Pierro gave a warning glance. “I see exactly where this is leading. Control yourselves, both of you.”

“The Decider is asleep, don’t make too much noise.” Pulcinella coughed. “It’s been a long day for them, going outside must have tuckered them out.”

“They’re not a child.” Scaramouche recoiled in disgust.

“They sure do act like one!” Dottore laughed from the sofa. “No wonder they get along with Childe so well.”

“When will I be free?” The ginger prayed to the skies, muttering soft words.

“We’re moving off-track. Take The Decider to bed, I’m sure they’d rather you go in their room to tuck them in rather than leaving them to freeze outside. Come downstairs when you’re finished, we have a lot to discuss.”

“Indeed we do.” Dottore interrupted him. “Now that we’ve seen they can somewhat be trusted in going outside, I plan to go to the library with them.”

“Might I remind you we can’t read this world’s alphabet?” Sandrone hissed.

“A minor obstacle.” He replied to her comment before continuing. “The Decider will be my translator, I will pick up the rest easily.”

“Enough, The Decider could stir awake and hear something they shouldn’t. Off with you now.” Pierro waved him away, Scaramouche gritting his teeth before walking slowly up the stairs with your added weight.

“Balladeer.” Columbina called out sweetly from the bottom of the stairs. She didn’t wait for the puppet to acknowledge her so she could reply. “You’ll come to regret this, I swear to you, this won’t be the last of our bickering.”

“Hmph! ‘Bickering’, you say? I look forward to the challenge.” He cackled before disappearing at the top of the stairs.

This chapter really came full circle lol

Don't mind the fact that this View is 4 days over the newly proposed schedule. I'm getting used to it though!

I finally got to implement two rivalries, so exciting!!! I'm sorry if some people don't like the parallel situation I made with Sandrone and Scaramouche, I just see them as very similar to each other! Both see each other as what they want to be, and any conversation always ends in jealousy.

...Does anyone actually read these?

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[tunafruitt]

Insatiable Madness (12)

|Sagau Yandere Fatui Harbingers x Reader|

People are taking notice. This is good, just... don't allow suspicion to linger for too long...

Reader is Gender Neutral!

It was the next morning.

After your little ‘Dress to Impress’ situation with Signora, you grabbed lots of blankets and extra mattresses for the Harbingers. Originally, you planned for all of them to sleep in the living room and dining room as it was the biggest and the furthest space away from you. However, all the girls complained about this and managed to persuade you to let them stay in the guest bedroom instead.

So there you were, moving half of the mattresses and blankets into the guest bedroom for them, not a single shred of help given to you. You’re not sure how they’re going to decide who gets the bed, but honestly, you don’t want to imagine the petty chaos that will ensue because of it. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to have the girls close to you, after all, you can hear all their arguments through the walls quite clearly…

Anyway,

After that you used the rest of your noodles for yourself and forced the harbingers to eat boiled vegetables. You’re not evil, it’s just the only other thing you could cook without guaranteeing the house would catch on fire. Also, it might have been the only thing left in the freezer.

And off to bed everyone went after dinner. They didn’t say thank you, of course. However silence is better than having to figure out how to piece your sofa back together like a lego house. As of now, you’re downstairs and suffering through an onslaught of Childe’s complaining.

“When’s breakfast?” Childe whined, laying on the sofa with his patched up injuries still healing.

“Never, until you and the others get a job to financially support the house.” You replied, leaning back on the armchair and watching the news. It wasn’t anything interesting unlike yesterday, with the notice of you being missing being the conversation of the day. Today, it was reporting on the increasing average climate temperature. Ah yes, another problem. But luckily, that’s something out of your control right now.

“But it huuuurts! You can’t expect me to walk around the city limping.”

“Yes, but that won’t stop you from using the Internet, will it?”

“I have no idea what that is.”

Maybe this is a good thing. Letting the harbingers go on the Internet without any control or restrictions could possibly not just end you, but also the entire world. At that point, if you let it happen, humanity’s biggest problem wouldn’t be climate change anymore.

“It is decided.” Sandrone gleefully spoke with an excited voice, walking through the front door and entering the living room. “I’m officially working as an engineer in a garage not too far away. Oh, this is simply splendid news!”

“Sandrone, I thought we agreed you weren’t going to work due to you looking too young?” You questioned her with an exasperated sigh, already expecting this outcome.

“We never agreed on such a thing.” She scoffed at your unenthusiastic reply. “The Rooster and I discussed my wishes to learn the field of mechanics of this world. We decided it would be best if I visited the mechanic’s garage we passed by when we were walking to that weird food place we found you in. When I walked inside and inquired about a position, they instantly said yes! Ahh, it seems even in this world humans can detect true talent.”

“Or, get this, they were suffering from this city lacking engineer’s to hire. From the sounds of it, they were desperate to employ just about anyone.” You fired back, voice plain.

“Don’t be so conceited. They specifically asked for my skills. And, after I talked about my puppets and robots, they were instantly intrigued and brought me aboard!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good for you, or whatever.” You turned back to the television, not giving her anymore attention.

“Well, I believe it is a wonderful thing.” Pulcinella walked into the room, sitting on the sofa with Childe, his back to Childe’s shins.

“At least someone’s got a job. Did anyone else actually try to find one this morning?” You groaned.

“A woman approached me with a business card, something about ‘fitting the vibe’ with a new fashion collection she was working on and offered for me to be a part of it. What did that mean?” Arlecchino spoke up, passing you the business card she mentioned.

Looking closer at it, you could tell it was a relatively new business. One owned by someone just a few years older than you maybe. Honestly, it actually looks really cool. Maybe you’ll check out the website link on the back of the card later.

“She’s asking you to become a model for a fashion branch she’s designing.” You explained, passing the card back.

“Modelling? Hm, looks like I’ll have to find something somewhere else.”

“You don’t want to be a model?” You questioned her.

“I’m used to working in the shadows, I dislike public attention when I work. Becoming a model would be unlike me.” She sighed disappointedly.

“I say you do it, Knave.” Columbina cheered for her. “If you don’t like it, you could always kill her and erase all footage from her Kamera.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“I suppose that could be a possible outcome.” Arlecchino thought to herself, ignoring you.

“Okay, please don’t think about it if that’s what you’re going to do if you don’t like it! Be normal and just quit the job, and read your contracts!” You exclaimed in horror.

“Very well, I’ll contact her later today.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” You turned to her.

“I thought I’d ask you to help me.”

Of course she’d expect that. Children, all the Harbingers are basically children high on drugs in wonderland not knowing what to do or how to do it. Just what would they do without you? It’s no wonder despite kidnapping you they give you a lot of freedom. You’re surprised they haven’t tied you up and left you to rot in your own boredom actually. You often wonder why they haven’t done that, it’s very clear they get more and more annoyed the more time you spend with them.

“Childe, the second you heal I’m kicking you out of the house until you find a job.” You announced, Childe whining as a reply.

“Why are you so harsh with me!? I’m one of the nicest guys here!”

“Because some of the others actually took the initiative to go out and find a job today which I’m pleasantly surprised at. It could have turned out a lot worse, but luckily it didn’t. Therefore, I really don’t care.”

“Decider!! You’re so mean!”

“Why do I hear Childe screaming a lot more than usual this morning?” Pierro yawned, entering the room with hazy and cloudy eyes.

“The Decider wants him to get a job.” Scaramouche bluntly stated, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. 

“Oh, as if you have room to talk. You didn’t even try to get a job this morning. You didn’t even leave the house to pretend to try!” You argued with him.

“There is no way, in any stage of care I could possibly and deniably have for you, am I working to support people I don’t even like.”

“You’re doing it to support yourself!”

“I don’t even need to eat, silly mortal.” He snickered at your flabbergasted face, struggling to keep up and monopolise him.

“Hmph, if the heartless crude doesn’t wish to work, don’t force him.” Sandrone scoffed in his direction, fiddling with the TV remote in her hands, observing which button does what.

“As I have decided and discovered a place to work, allow me to earn as much money as you need. I can guarantee you, I’ll be much more helpful than this…” She struggled to find the word.

“...thing.”

“Excuse me??” Scaramouche couldn’t believe what he was hearing, his head snapping towards her direction as fast as the speed of light.

“It truly is shameful, to take and not give in return.”

“Like you’re one to talk.” Dottore grinned, entering the room alongside Pantalone and shutting the living room door.

“It doesn’t matter what any of you morons say. I’m not getting a job, meaning stop bothering me with blather I’m ignoring. You’re wasting your own time.” Scaramouche scoffed, turning away dramatically and walking in the direction of the dining room going to do something that you couldn’t even attempt to guess.

“...I’m going to kill him.”

“Don’t try it, you’re thinking of what we’ve wanted to do for years. His usefulness is the only thing keeping him alive now.” Pierro sighed, a hand on his head trying to soothe his incoming headache.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

You were back in your bedroom, trying to communicate with the Traveler on the other side again. Alas, he still wasn’t replying in your favour. His blank look was still displayed on his face. Maybe you should stop for a while and give it time, continuously trying seems to be wearing you out more than the Harbingers themselves. Either that, or you’re getting really angry now. …What are you saying!? Nothing will wear you down more than the presence of the Harbingers, never forget what they did and what they could do to you. Even if they’re acting nicely towards you, it doesn’t change how they treat and have treated others. Never forget it, ever.

Speaking of never forgetting, now that you have the time, you should do something about all this merch.

You walked up to your desk, eyeing the different figures and occasional sticker littering your desk. You made quick work of scratching the stickers off, ripping them to shreds and violently throwing them in your bin. You looked at the Arlecchino and Scaramouche figures standing next to each other on the back shelf of your desk, you grabbed them and stared at them, admiring every detail made by the artist.

Such a shame. It’s funny how just last week you were excited that you could potentially buy all the figures and line them up on your desk. Unfortunately, you’ll never be able to see these characters the same ever again. Especially fucking Scaramouche.

You shook your head after a short while of staring, choosing to shove the figures under your bed instead of smashing them like you wished you could with the real people. You’ll try and resell them later for money to support yourself once this is all over.

Anyway, at least now your desk is clear. You can’t remember the last time you saw it bear with only your computer on it. Next, you should get rid of all the genshin plush toy’s on your bed and above your wardrobe. Starting with the massive Childe whale laid out across your mattress. Ugh, but you actually like this one! Without the genshin context, it would just be a cute whale! Should you just shove this one under your bed too? And what about–

“You’ll never guess what I did!” Childe burst through your door, a very excited expression on his face.

“Childe!? What are you doing?? GET OUT!” You shrieked, standing up and running to cover your computer screen before he could see it.

“Okay, so, you know how you told me to go out and find a job when I got better?” He began explaining, ignoring your complaining with a mocking tilt to his head.

“Yes, but get out! We can talk outside of my room!” You quickly ran forward, pushing him away from the door frame and out of the room with haste.

“You don’t even have anything interesting. Just looked like a basic bedroom to me…” He pouted playfully, his eyes narrowing at the door you slammed behind you after you successfully removed him from your bedroom.

“Right. What were you telling me about you looking for a job?” You sighed, not wanting to discuss your bedroom any further.

“Okay. So, I was out looking for a job, yeah? I was struggling and felt really angry, but then I passed by a building with boxers punching and training! I went in and asked if I could try it, and they immediately asked if I could join their gym after I did! Pretty amazing, right?” He hummed, grinning widely.

“...You have to pay to join a gym.” You countered him, a confused expression.

“That’s what I thought too! But, the manager of the place was coincidentally having a meeting with a man looking to sponsor an upcoming athlete. When he saw me, he offered a sponsorship to me. So now I get paid to train in the gym everyday!”

“That’s… um.. You know what? If it’s what you want to do and it pays well, go for it or whatever. Just warning you, sponsored athlete’s training is very harsh and time consuming. You don’t get to eat what you like and have spare time to yourself. You’ll have barely any time to yourself in the house. Not to mention–”

“That I can’t quit until my first fight? Yeah, I know that!”

“Alright fine then. Just… don’t kill anyone.” You gave him a suspicious glance, turning around and opening the door slightly to squeeze through without him seeing your bedroom.

“See you la–”

“Decider, could we have a look at the modelling place now? Pierro has given his permission for us to head outside and find the shop.” Arlecchino walked up the stairs, stopping after seeing the awkward placement of yours and Childe’s conversation.

“I CAN’T CATCH A BREAK I HATE MY LIFE!”

“What are they talking about?” She whispered to Childe, the ginger shrugging as a response.

“Dunno. They’ve been more annoyed than usual today, kind of reminds me of my mother when Tonia steals her clothes and goes outside to make them dirty on purpose.”

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... …

You can’t believe this. The Harbinger’s are actually letting you go outside without the worry of you escaping? Okay, you suppose you are essentially tied to Arlecchino right now due to her grabbing your wrist with an iron hold, but it’s better than nothing!

Your visible appearance must have been one to laugh at. You were wearing an oversized jumper and three of your mothers scarves which were so long they were almost touching the ground, even with the three wrapped around your neck twice. Thank goodness it’s cold today, if it wasn’t, you would be getting even weirder looks than you already are now. You sighed, your breath sticking to you thanks to the blue covid mask wrapped around your face under the bundle of scarves.

“You went overboard, you know?” You turned to her with unimpressed eyes, Arlecchino’s head still looking forwards in attention, ready for any potential surprise attacks like a true soldier.

“No, I say we didn’t cover you enough.” She replied with a rich voice. “I insisted we add a hat to cover your head, but Pulcinella couldn’t stand the fact you’d be sweating with it on.”

“Thank you…” You did a small imaginary salute to Pulcinella. “I would have cried if I had to wear any more clothes. I can already feel my skin soaking wet.”

“That’s repulsive.” She commented.

The two of you crossed the street, heading towards the shopping centre in the middle of your city. When following the link on the business card Arlecchino was given, Google Maps led you to the main shopping centre in town. Seeing this was a beautiful opportunity to see if you could find anybody you recognised to get help, you gladly accepted her request for you to guide her towards the shop she needed to get to.

You walked in, following after the silver haired woman with anxious steps. She stopped, seeing a map of the building and pointing at the words, trying her best to try and read them. With a frustrated sigh, she turned to look at your smug expression, watching her try and fail to understand the map.

“The place you’re looking for is that one.” You walked up to the board, pointing to the name of the clothes shop she was looking for.

“Thank you.” She closed her eyes, trying to conceal her annoyment with a screwed up face.

The two of you then began walking through the shopping centre, yourself occasionally glancing at the confectionary shops smelling like heaven. You were tempted to drag her in, to have a look at the delicious delicacies wrapped in colours and dream of having them, but you decided against it considering her gaze darkened every time you yanked her towards a window.

“You are such a child.” She commented, breaking her silence to mock you. “Pulcinella tells us of your childish behaviour and resorts to disobey, witnessing it first hand at first was entertaining, but now it’s becoming frustrating.”

“I tend to have that effect on people.” You replied, struggling to hold your tongue with a grin. Technically you’re safe right now. There’s too many people around here for her to try anything if you annoy her too much. Sure, she would take out the majority, but there will be some who could run away unscathed in time to call the authorities.

Well, that’s what you would have done if you were 100% sure she came alone with you in the first place. Not only that, but you don’t want to get other people stuck in this situation with you. It’s kind of crazy how traumatic situations like this will either bring out the best or worst in people. In your case, you luckily responded in the former way. To think a couple days ago you were a selfish angsty hermit who never left their room unless your parents called for it.

Arlecchino isn’t stupid, you know she’s the Fourth Harbinger for a reason. She’s intelligent, patient, and excellent at hiding her true feelings if she needs to be careful. A terrifying analyser, and one you should probably stay neutral around when you’re alone with her. If she’s not as arrogant as you think she is, you’re guessing she asked one or two Harbingers to spy on the two of you from afar. It’s a shame you’re not as perceptive as the others, maybe then you’d actually stand a chance.

“Hey,” You felt a hypnotising click in front of your eyes, focusing on the mutated fingers with red nails very close to your eyes.

You came back to reality, finding the silver woman bent over slightly clicking you back. “I would advise you to pay attention and listen to me from here on. I cannot have my guide slacking and leading us in the wrong direction.” She coldly stated, slipping on a pair of gloves you advised her to wear before leaving the house.

“Right.” You coughed, avoiding her mesmerising eyes with a dramatic step back and a light flush on your cheeks. What in her right mind made her think getting that close to you was a good idea!? Is she trying to kill you, and embarrass herself in public??

The two of you walked in silence after that, the happy families and couples you walked by contrasting the tension between the two of you. Thankfully, the shop wasn’t too much further. If you had to walk anymore in that suffering silence, you think you would have charged through one of the shop’s glass windows. The two of you had successfully reached the shop in question and found the woman who scouted Arlecchino inside. You saw her brooming the floor through the glass windows.

“Sooo…” You awkwardly turned to her. “I’m presuming that’s the woman who gave you the business card?”

“Yes. That’s her.” Arlecchino nodded, grabbing your wrist and walking inside with you being dragged behind her.

The shop was very gothic. There were many clothes both in and out of fashion, that seemed to be loved by the community who were browsing the shelves and hangers with bright smiles. Yeah, this is a good shop. It reminds you of one of those small online businesses that only a few people know of due to its rarely appreciated products. You can see Arlecchino fitting in somehow.

“Wow, wow, wow! You actually decided to come!” The woman exclaimed. “Please, do come in! I’ll be with you shortly, I just need to put this broom back.”

She seems… cheerful.

The excited woman ran up to the two of you, standing at the front door. She clasped Arlecchino’s gloved hands, and practically had stars in her eyes.

“If you’re here, I’m guessing you took my offer then? Oh! I’m getting ahead of myself. My name is Aurora, but everyone calls me Rora since the name Aurora is quite posh, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s a beautiful na–” 

“Do you really!?” Rora beamed at you, interrupting your quiet voice with her louder brasher one. “I thought so too, until I realised it didn’t fit the brand in my shop.”

“Anyway…~” She laughed, interrupting herself. “We’ll have to see whether my vision does indeed match your style. Come with me, err, what was your name again?”

“My name is Arlecchi–” 

“Ahem!” You coughed, interrupting her with a side eye. You forgot to tell her she should use a different name for when she applies for the job. Fuck, that reminds you, you didn’t tell the other Harbinger’s who unexpectedly went out to find a job on their own to give fake names either!

She seemed to get the hint, closing her eyes then opening them again. “My name is Arlette, it’s nice to formally meet you once more.”

“Sure, sure! The pleasure is all mine, or something like that. Now come on, I’ll have you model some styles I put together to see if they’re good enough to go on my website.”

“Website?” Arlecchino mimicked, turning to you with a raised eyebrow.

“It means if she likes the way you look, you not only get the job but you get paid for the work you’re going to do today. That’s what it seems like anyway, she seems nice.” You shrugged in reply.

“‘Seems nice’?” She gasped jokingly. “I am nice! We’ll show you, you just wait there and we’ll come out looking fabulous!”

“Yes, wait there. It would be a foreseen shame if you exited this shop without a second pair of eyes on you.” Arlecchino hinted, before turning around and following the woman behind the till and through the staff door.

Well, that confirms your suspicions. She did get a couple other Harbingers to trail the two of you to the shopping centre. How frustrating of her. 

What’s even more frustrating is how Rora didn’t realise your appearance is unnatural! Come on, girl, even though it’s cold it’s not normal to wear this many layers inside a shopping centre! Oh well, maybe you could turn to the other customers in the shop?

You looked behind one of the shelves covered in t-shirts, peering through the gap to see two other girls laughing at a video on their phones. Would now be a good chance? But you’re being watched. Maybe you should test the waters first by having a normal conversation.

Yeah. That’s a good idea. Now, if your legs could just move and guide you to where you want to go that would be great. It would be a bit weird if you called out to them when you’re in an enclosed space together. Huh? Why is the ground shaking? You feel like you’re about to collapse to your knees, where did your strength go? Your eyes widened in realisation when you realised what was happening.

You can’t do it. Your legs won’t move, they’re shaking as if they’re trying to move, but can’t for some invisible wall. You can’t seem to get your voice to work either, it feels as if it’s wrapped itself inside your throat like a coil. Come on, just move! Now’s the perfect chance to try and do something! Are you scared of the fact that a few other harbingers may be watching? Or is it something else?

You looked around the room quickly, feeling a sickly heat wave over your head. You couldn’t tell whether you were crying from disgust or fear. Why is it, when you just need to do something, does your body freeze like this? Is something wrong with you? Surely it isn’t normal to just freeze, when people are scared you usually see them run - not stand like a deer in headlights!

Realising how awkward and how hard it would be to explain yourself if someone saw you in this state, you went to a random corner of the shop and tried to calm yourself down.

“Helloooo?~” Rora called out, stepping out of the staff room with Arlecchino trailing behind her.

“Where areeee youuu? We’re finished, and I need a second opinion!”

You sighed, giving your eyes one more wipe then rubbing your hands as if you were drying them under a hand dryer.

“I’m here, just looking at this collection of… jeans.” You lied, not being able to keep your voice cheery, instead it came off as a dejected unnatural tone.

Walking over to the two after a deep breath, you saw Arlecchino dressed in an entirely different outfit than her usual one. She was wearing a clean white blouse with long sleeves, the blouse tucked in a pair of black jeans with a chain connecting her back pocket to a section on her belt. There was a tie wrapped around her collar, descending down and resting above her chest.

She stood tall, a blazer slung over her shoulder rather than around her body. Not going to lie, she looks amazing, and strangely sexy in a way… Her modelling a tomboy outfit like this reminds you of a fanart you saw once, which you definitely didn’t spam a certain copypasta on… ANYWAY—

Your point is she looks great, Rora really knows her stuff.

“Well?~ From your stunned expression, I can tell I really hit the mark with this one! It’s targeted for office girlies who want to dress differently, but still classy. Non-gender specific and of course, fab-ul-ous!” She stepped beside the harbinger leaning a certain way and spreading her hands out dramatically.

“What do you think, Arlette? Is it comfortable? Is there something you would change?”

Arlecchino looked down at herself, judging her appearance with lidded eyes. After a short pause, she nodded and looked back at the designer.

“I like it. It’s comfortable, and the stitching is beautiful. Sometimes the most basic of outfits can make the boldest statements.”

“Exactly! I knew you’d get me!” Rora cheered. “And my, my! It’s not everyday somebody notices my trademark stitching. You have perceptive eyes!”

“Trademark? Does that mean you sew all these clothes yourself?” You gaped, not believing a word you’re hearing.

“Mhmm. I hate the idea of allowing a machine to create my clothes for me. I want to spread my passion and ideas sustainably, not mass-produce them in a factory without a care in the world. The idea makes my heart wrench!” She comedically weeped.

“Actually… To be fair, that’s actually why a lot of the shelves are still empty. Turns out managing a shop in a busy shopping centre like this takes a lot of work - especially when it’s just you. A lot of the time, when something is bought out it takes me months to refill the aisle back to how it once was. It’s difficult… but, I love it.”

“Wow…” You felt your eyes glistening. “Environmentally aware and sustainable? Rora, I might be your newest biggest fan! I’ll be honest, I thought you were just a massive Pinterest fan.”

“Ahah! I get that a lot!” She giggled into her hand.

“You wouldn’t happen to do custom designs, would you?”

“I haven’t thought about it. Buuuut, considering I’m running a little bit low on funds, I would love the idea if you had something in mind?” She thought to herself, encouraging the thought.

“Sorry, but it’ll have to be another day. My funds aren’t the best either at the moment. I’ll definitely keep the thought there though, if you’ll do the same?”

“Of course!” She gave a thumbs up. “Anyway… Whaddya think? You’ve had a look at one of my simpler designs, and I think you fit the image I had in mind perfectly! Your friend seems to agree also!”

Arlecchino stared at you for a few seconds before brushing a strand of hair out of her face and looking away.

“I’ll take the job.”

“Yippee! Welcome aboard, Arlette!” Rora jumped up and down, unable to control her excitement. Everybody else in the shop awkwardly applauded after being spooked by the sudden noise, not looking surprised in the slightest. It seems Rora getting excited is a usual occurrence…

“Alright-y then! Hmm, let’s see… we’ll discuss contracts and serious stuff tomorrow when you come in for your first official day… for now I guess I can ask whether you’d be okay with restocking shelves and helping me manage the till?”

“Hm? I thought I was simply modelling?” Arlecchino wondered out loud. “It is not a problem, I thought it would just be my image that’s being used.”

“You see, having someone monitoring the shop would give me more time to work on clothes and research. It could possibly get the shop running smoother and make business quicker.” She clicked her fingers.

“And besides, you seem like the thorough type. If someone tried to steal from the shop, I know you would chase them down instantly!”

Pfft, yeah, you can see her doing that alright.

“I appreciate the honest thoughts.” Arlecchino nodded appreciatively. “Would I be paid a higher amount?”

“Why, of course! I can see your added efforts would boost productivity which in turn could increase products being bought. When that increases, I’ll be sure to pay you more.”

“Then I see no issue with our arrangement.” She sighed, eyes shutting harshly when hearing Rora squeal in excitement again.

Oh dear, this is going to be a long day.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... …

“Aaaaand that’s a wrap! Thank you so much for this!” Rora clapped, thanking Arlecchino with a thumbs up and a cheer.

“That was… suspiciously easy.” Arlecchino mumbled her thoughts. “Your Kamera equipment took less than a minute to set up.”

“Well, yeah, duh? Hey, is your friend always like this?” Rora turned to you.

“Something like that…” You coughed into your hand, avoiding eye contact. “Anyway we should be heading out, it’s getting late and I’m hungry.”

“Before you go!” Rora ran behind the till, scrambling to pick up a few notes before running back to the two of you and handing them out. “Here, I’d be a bad boss if I didn’t pay you fairly for today’s work. We got around 12 outfits for my website, so this amount should be alright. Do you have any complaints?”

Any complaints… ANY COMPLAINTS!? She’s given her way too much, no wonder she’s having some financial troubles! Buuut, you are in need of some money… Okaaay, you’ll be a bit greedy and let it slide this time. But when Arlecchino’s next pay-day comes around you’ll definitely say something to protect Rora’s business - being too kind might be her downfall. If only you knew how right you were in saying that.

Arlecchino looked to you, clueless with the money she gratefully took from her new boss. You nodded, smiling as normally as you could, eyeing her as she folded it and stuffed the notes in her pocket.

“I will see you tomorrow.” Arlecchino waved slowly, grabbing your arm and pulling you out of the shop with her.

“Wai– Arlecc– I mean, Arlette, let me say goodbye too!” You struggled to speak, fumbling due to being lurched forward to match her strides.

“Bye Rora!”

She simply waved back, a gentle smile on her face as she eyed the two of you leaving her shop like a herd of elephants. Her smile dropped, her arm going back down to her side as she turned to the other customers in the shop.

“Ladies, you wouldn’t have happened to feel… something wrong there, would you?”

The two girls looked at each other, one looking clueless whilst the other nodded, agreeing without words.

“I didn’t see anything, they just looked like two normal people to me.”

“No, there was a threat of intimidation with your new worker.” The other thought out loud. “It’s hard to explain, but I get what you mean by feeling something wrong. The person with her looked like they were about to burst into tears at one point - hell, they were wandering around the store aimlessly when they weren’t at her side.”

“Huh? But if something was wrong, why wouldn’t they have just… I don’t know, passed us a note if they couldn’t say anything?”

“No. I don’t think they could.” Rora interrupted her. “Did the two of you hear their name, by chance? It’s almost as if Arlette was making sure that question wouldn’t come up, when she was talking the conversation always felt controlled.”

“Okay, even I don’t know what you’re referring to here.” The intelligent girl with the headband said. “If anything, Arlette didn’t speak very much. It was almost as if she was clueless about the whole thing, maybe that’s why she brought her friend?”

“Hmm… Wait, we really didn’t hear her friend’s name! I wonder why they didn’t introduce themself. Oh, speaking of suspicions… Now that I’m thinking about it, did anyone find it weird how they were wrapped head to toe in scarves and coats? They must have been boiling, I don’t think they would have chosen to leave the house like that…”

“That’s true. In fact, now that I’m thinking about their appearance also, I don’t think I could mention a single unique characteristic of theirs at all. If they ever entered the shop without all the coats and scarves, I don’t think I’d be able to recognise them unless they spoke.”

“I’m going to find out everything when Arlette returns tomorrow.” Rora looked determined, turning around back to the till. “Something just doesn’t feel right. I’m sure it’s nothing, and we’re just looking too deep into things, but I think it would be wise to ask more personal questions tomorrow.” 

“Good idea.” The girl in the headband agreed. “Would you like me to also be there tomorrow? There’s strength in numbers.”

“Yes please.” Rora’s face turned serious. “I could use all the help I can get right now. Say, ‘Lils’, you coming in tomorrow too?”

“Of course, girlhood is girlhood after all! We have to stay toge–” She flinched, running up to the window without warning and looked around. She looked back to the other two giving her a suspicious look. “Sorry, I thought I felt something weird. Must be all the creepy talk.”

“...Damn it, Knave. It hasn’t been a day and you’re already garnering suspicion.” Scaramouche whispered to himself in frustration, looking through the window carefully once the girl turned her head.

He sighed, moving away from the window to tail both you and Arlecchino. It seems his presence was needed here after all, the Knave didn’t warn him wrong. He has to give her credit, unlike some of the morons he’s been forced to come here with, everything she planned has indeed come true. He thought this outing would be useless, that it was a waste of time, but it ended up being useful and that’s all he could care about. What to do about those three though? It would be far too dangerous to let them live, especially considering they were onto her. What’s more important to him is this sudden interest in The Decider. In his opinion, they’re becoming far too curious. He would rather them stay entirely clueless.

“Hey, Arlecchino? Now that you’ve been paid… could we plea–”

“No.” She cut you off, placing her hand over her pocket so you couldn’t snatch the money inside. “We are not buying stupid things, we finally have money that you’ve been complaining for. I will not let you waste it.”

“But… But it’s a tradition I have!” You complained.

“Tradition?” She raised her eyebrow, not looking impressed.

“Yeah!! Whenever my mother and I come to the shopping centre, we always stop by a chocolate shop and treat ourselves.”

“What a stupid tradition.” She muttered under her breath.

“Come on, pleeeaaaseee? You’re a ‘Father’, you should know when to treat your children!” You tried to convince her, trying to use puppy eyes with your hands clasped together.

“Don’t try to convince your perfectly fine brain with your own stupidities.” She glared at you. “You are not a child of mine, and you never will be, so end that thought whilst it’s still alive.”

The two of you walked in silence after that, the occasional puppy eyes from you and a heightened glare in return from her. Scaramouche looked on from behind incredulously, mouth threatening to gape open in disbelief. Is he seeing this right, the Knave is tolerating your begging? Not to mention, her facade is definitely dropping. He can’t remember the last time he saw her like this without lashing out in a violent rage.

Before long, the two three of you found yourselves at the front of a shop. You stopped, looking up at her confused, until you realised which shop she stopped the two of you at.

“Arle— You didn’t!” You beamed at her in excitement. No way, she remembered which shop you were looking at the longest on your way to Rora’s shop!? So, she really did care about what you were thinking earlier!

“Pick what you want, and get something for myself also. I am trusting you to get something cheap and delectable, if I dislike what you give me I’ll tell the others not to consider letting you out of the house ever again.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” You ran up to her, wrapping your arms around her tense body. You hugged her tight, smiling widely before letting go and grabbing her hand.

“I’m going to give you a tour of the entire shop so you can make your choice, trust me, you have an expert over here!”

“Ah…” Arlecchino looked away for a moment, the only evidence of her mood being her eyes shining more than usual. “Alright.” She nodded, a twinge of embarrassment showing.

Scaramouche felt his jaw drop, his incredulous expression from before leaking out in the shop like incense. Is he… Is he seeing this right?

Hoh, this will be interesting…

Helloooo! Nice to see everyone before another 6 months have passed. I'm hoping to be more consistent now that studies have become less important for this next year. Still important but my procrastination to do other things has no limit.

Just because I said I feel more motivated to get out of bed every morning in my Christmas message doesn't mean I've changed as a person lol

Please don't expect too many happy, nice and generally fluffy scenes.

This is Yandere, a genre which should never, under any circumstance be considered normal. It's abusive, unhealthy and leads to a lot of victims facing awful conditions which they never should or ever have to endure no matter who they are.

This is fiction that I'm writing, meaning it's all taken light-heartedly IN A FICTIONAL SENSE.

If anyone, by chance, is currently in conditions where a loved-one or yourself has suddenly become distant and/or being hurt when away from eyes please get help. Talk to them, or if it's you, talk to someone you know you can trust.

If you can't talk to anyone, find authorities who can help you. Call 999, as it is in the U.K, or your local emergency service. They will always help you, and will never deny your rights or freedom.

Thanks for reading this, I hope all who's reading knows this information already, but I thought I'd include it since who knows when it comes to where you are in the world and whether your education programs taught critical information like this.

✨Elusive✨ Taglist!:

@valeriele3 @pale-value @pix-stuff @yumi-genshin-writer @yuii-v @itz-luna @annoying-mary @etherisy @khalhaimdad @haikyuusboringassmanager @magica-ren @sweatyexpertdeputyduck @booksandteaplusart @9140 @whatamidoing89 @raesleepyhead @nasidibakar @shikanosn @purpleamethystsblog @chihawari @esthelily @stuffyfrenchflowers @conspicuous-mayonnaise @sielt @katsumikumo @greyhoundwires707 @carminerin @raidendeeznuts123 @angelofdarkness2 @shellofthewell @ginnxy-galaxy @clara-maddenlin @bk-4-trash-fire @uniqaal @tnsophiaonly @vianitry @dottoreandcolumbinaslovechild @melou008 @lsleepysimpl @steadybreadbluebird @thebigkessydisaster @eliciana @kamit-frog @twst-kumi @idk098 @kurayamioterasu @mmeatt @the-lazy-perfectionist @florelll @vvzhyxx @averycuriousperson @starlaisopaque @liyuedragonmorax @lovelive-animequeen1029 @mayythammyy @eirly-morning-tea @rainejiang

Quick Reminder Here! If you no longer want to be on the taglist that's completely fine; I take no offence whatsoever so please don't hesitate to tell me. ^^

[tunafruitt]

🌿 Help Us Find Peace Amid the Chaos 🌿

Hello, friends.

My name is Mohammed, and I'm reaching out from a place of unimaginable hardship. My family, like so many others in Gaza, is struggling to survive each day. The conflict has taken a heavy toll on our lives, leaving us to face a grim reality, our home has been destroyed, and we are left with nowhere safe to go. 😔

I am the father of three beautiful children, and as a parent, nothing is more painful than watching your kids grow up, surrounded by fear and destruction. Mirn, Bark, and Mariar are the light of my life, but they've never known the joy of running through a park without fear, or playing freely like children should. ❤️

We've reached a point where staying here is no longer an option. The walls that once sheltered us now stand in ruins, and hope for a safe future is fading fast. We dream of rebuilding, not just our home, but our lives, somewhere free from the daily fear of war, where my children can sleep peacefully and smile again. 🕊️

But we need your help to make this dream a reality. Your support means more than just money, it's a lifeline. It's a chance for us to begin again.

Every Act of Kindness Brings Us Closer to Safety. Your compassion can help us escape this nightmare. We are asking for your support, no matter how small, to help us start fresh, away from the violence, away from the rubble, and toward a place where my family can heal and grow. Every dollar you contribute is a step toward hope. 🙏

Thank you for standing with us in these difficult times. Your kindness can help us rebuild our lives and find peace again. ❤️‍🩹

With sincere gratitude,

Mohammed and Family

[tunafruitt]

allowed heaven, fill the empty me

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ;; a world of secrecy and stuttered glances in which you cannot proclaim the man that is rightfully yours ( but for some, he would rather die just to claim you as his )

feat. priest! zhongli, psychiatrist! baizhu, prison warden! wriothesley, master! ayato ( separately )

notes. completely SFW, zhongli’s is a bit suggestive; baizhu’s is written kinda darker, arranged marriage and non-sexual infidelity ( ayato ), religious themes ( zhongli ), manipulated dependency + family issues ( baizhu )

ZHONGLI.

He lights a dim candle in the darkness. Perhaps it was too much of an allowance from the ever-so knowledgeable priest.

But it allows him to see you, nevertheless; you, with your wrists bloodily bound in front of your body, rows of rosaries with crosses in between each bead. They’re tight, they burn your skin with a cast of holiness he himself bestowed, for any trace of the Gods would rightfully etch into the body of a demon like you.

And yet, you still flash him the sickest of grins, little fang in your mouth and eyes of the devil looking at him with such excitement he wishes was not there. “You came down here?” you almost laughed, wrists writhing against their restraints as you angled your head to tilt up from the cold, stone dungeon floor. “All the way down here, just to see me?”

It truly was such a long way down where he kept you for now, locked far below at the deepest dwellings under the cathedral. No one must know the head priest was keeping a demon on a leash under such golden grounds.

“I could have you crucified,” he threatens with a glare, though even he himself knows it is one not upheld.

You smiled, “But you won’t.”

He hated that grin of yours. It pulled at the black and gold robes that adorned his body in a way that was sinful—an entity in which his restrictions as a priest could not reach. There was a fire much more ferocious than this dim candle carried carelessly in his hands. Such a spark was gifted from yourself to his growing desire just to set you free.

“Come a little closer,” you called out, quieter than before, “won’t you, Father Priest?”

There was not any fear to be held against you, not with the gold cross hanging from his neck or the pure water he carried around protecting his aura. But there was a fear for himself. For if he found himself closer, still, he doesn’t know if he’d control himself to keep you bounded. This was the way of demons, so tempting—even to a respected man well under faith like himself.

Perhaps he didn’t know quite yet you already owned his soul the moment he spared you.

He found himself kneeling before you, suddenly not caring for the dirty stone coming in contact with the purity of his clothes. You, in contrast, we’re all beaten, bruised, and bloodied from being locked down here, bound by the ropes of the Gods that the priest himself tied on you. And somehow, the sight of you like this only made him crave for you even more.

“Closer.” His stomach dropped at the tantalizing smirk on your face.

And when the feeling of your breath hit his face only inches away, his heart raced, and that was when he knew it was too late. Your lips captured his like a kiss from Judas, the taste of iron immediately filling his senses. And yet, he found it delightful. So grotesque and so sinful, and yet he was relishing in the taste of your lips like it was the last supper of his faith. If the Gods could see him now, on his knees and mouth locked with the devil, he was not sure if he’d be begging for forgiveness.

And when you finally let go, pulling back your head to look at him, you could already tell from the shift in his eyes alone that he was now a man of sin.

BAIZHU.

“I got you something.”

A packaged wrap of paint was placed into your hands as your psychiatrist sat down on the couch in front of you. He crossed his legs with a small smile on his face, though his eyes were clouded with certain expectations. Scrutinizing gaze, it was akin to a vulture.

Your eyes considerably lighten up in naivety. “Thank you, Doctor! My parents wouldn’t let me buy this set…”

“I figured,” he laughed off. And he did so with that same smile on his face, eyes even closing to show a false crinkle at the corner of his lids—a fabricated happiness that gave you the impression of a boundary between patient and doctor. “I thought that maybe I could at least provide you something they cannot give. Or, they refuse to give.”

Key word differences, but he was far in too deep to have them matter too much. Then you beamed quite genuinely, “I can always rely on you.”

Good, he liked hearing that. Devotion was built on loyalty, and loyalty was built from a constant source of trust. That’s why he bought you those paint brushes last session, and that sketchbook the previous section. It’s why he keeps denouncing your parents to shift your reliance.

“So,” he started up. A facade he kept on to pose as your doctor, oh, how was he so lucky? “Anything new since we last spoke together?” ‘Together’; as long as he kept pushing the word—as long as he kept pushing the mere idea of it—surely it will stick in your head.

Your smile suddenly fell, and he took careful notice of how your hands suddenly grip at the paints like you value them.

He stops himself from grinning.

“Not a surprise,” you start, “but my father took away the sketchbook you gave me.” Oh, you poor thing. He immediately pushed out his bottom lip to resemble a pout. Surely, you’d see how much this saddens him. And so surely, you’d value the gifts he gives you even more. “I may have overreacted, and then an argument with both my parents started…”

“Oh no, not at all,” he dismissed. “They just don’t understand how much art means to you.”

Your face held desperation as he said that—confirming whatever thoughts you had in hopes that at least someone would understand you, if not your family. But he understands you, and he wants to make sure you know that. “Yeah, exactly!”

The doctor stood up. He made his way around the coffee table that was in between the both of you, stopping just to take a seat right next to you. You visibly tensed; he’s never been so close before. “Is this alright?” he asked as innocently as he could, placing a steady hand down on your shoulder.

You stuttered, eyes shifting away. “Yeah…”

And then he leaned in, using the length of his body against yours to pull closer until you were on his shoulder for some sort of half-embrace. “You need to learn that not everyone will understand you, especially when your parents are like that.” He spoke such mutters into your ear—a close proximity he was almost dying to have. “But, eventually someone will.” And that someone is me, and only me.

“I know you understand me, doctor,” you mumbled.

He could not see your face, but oh, he was glad you could not see his. Because your words, so unsure of yourself yet so naive, were like music to his ears.

WRIOTHESLEY.

“Careful, careful with ‘em, now,” the scruffy voice of the man behind you said, yanking at the cuffs bounding your wrists together. “This one’s the warden’s favorite.”

This was happening a little too often, happenings in which you were cuffed and brutally thrown down onto a cold chair in the prison administrator’s office. Being a criminal locked down here in the deepest depths of the Nation of Justice was no small feat, especially when it was kilometers under the ocean.

But how romantic is that? You, and him… oceans underneath.

“Aww,” you smiled, in sore pain from the way the previous guards threw you down. But the black haired warden in front of you sat with perfectly calm posture, the scars on his face only crinkling in his movements to sip at his tea. “I missed you too, Your Grace, but don’t you think you’re a little obsessed with seeing me?”

He did not have to look up to see the smirk on your face—it was practically audible via your words alone.

“A warden must check on his convicts,” the Duke merely replied. “Especially the most rowdy of them.” His tone when he said ‘rowdy’; that was the most interest you’d ever get from his voice. And yet, even as his eyes scanned his morning Fontainian newspaper in absolute boredom, you could tell. It was obvious with how much he called you in here, all the effort just to see you.

You scoffed. “You and I both know that’s far from true.” This finally earned you a glance from him—a glare, sure, but a glance nevertheless. It was like you succeeded, almost. “But anyways,” you dismissed. His gaze moved down to the table, right where you tossed a full pouch of Mora on top.

He gave it a toothy grin. “Heh, bail money or lawyer funds this time?”

“Both,” you shrugged.

Your eyes followed as he stood up from his chair, making his way around to the back of your seat. You wish you could move, you really did. But the very handcuffs that were restricting your wrists just now got pulled by the calloused fingers of his hand. “Where’d you even get money like this?” he questioned you so suddenly. He was bent down almost to the level of your chair, head right close to yours. And when you made the mistake of turning your face towards him, you could feel the cold air of his breath hit your cheek. “I’m sure the other convicts here wouldn’t just cough it up.”

“Well aren’t you touchy today…” you scowled. “And here I thought you liked me enough to just take the coins.” His grip was unwavering, and you felt your arms being pulled at your shoulders. Such a calm man, he was, but his strength could change that in seconds. “Then why have you been calling me in everyday? Where’s my Mora going?”

“I’ll buy you something pretty, don’t you worry.” There was a small chuckle in his voice. You didn’t particularly like the sound when it came from right behind you.

“A lawyer is pretty.”

“You’re not getting a lawyer.”

If you were able to turn around and glare at him, you would. “Why, you just wanna keep me here forever until I die?”

There was an oncoming silence that made your stomach drop. Surely. Surely not. Surely he was not infatuated enough to want to keep you imprisoned just because he wanted to see you every day. But when he spoke no words, and when you felt a coldness that creeped up your spine, his intentions as he stared down at your collar like a preying wolf were more than obvious.

“Oh. Oh, you’re sick.”

“Can’t help it.”

You were quick to thrash your hands against the handcuffs until he let go of you, but that wasn’t the case. And by then, all you could feel was the looming presence of the weight of his body pressed to the chair behind you. Because if you were let go from his place, he wouldn’t get to see you every day like he does now. And if you leave, well, there’d be this ocean separating the two of you apart.

And if you were freed, then… He wouldn’t get the authority over you like this anymore—archons, the twisted fantasy in his eyes as he watched you struggle in front of him—right?

KAMISATO AYATO.

Scarlet roses adorn scarlet letters in this garden of Eden.

What surfaced as a lovely night was truly a raging tempest, though he could not have it any other way. He kisses you with the lips of a married man, though he was already wed to a woman of status and riches. And you, all the meanwhile, felt like a homewrecker.

Of course, their marriage was arranged. Your lover was not a cheater. But if that was true, then why did you feel so dirty?

“The wedding was awful,” he groaned against your neck, arms snaking tight around your waist as he leaned into you for comfort. You could only hate yourself for feeling loved among his embrace; your fingers weaved through his hair, garden hedges shaded you from scrutinizing moonlight. Perhaps if the divine Gods of the moon could see you in the light, they’d be frowning. “All I could imagine was you walking down the aisle just to force a smile on my face.”

You could only mutter, “And how was the lovely bride?”

“I didn’t bother to pay attention, I’m afraid,” he sighed. You wondered why you cared so much about a woman you didn’t even know. Surely, she didn’t wish for an arranged marriage too, right? “I just wanted to get out of there.”

You stayed silent.

Perhaps he noticed it, the way you were tense. You were not like this before the wedding actually happened. And you were all for it—these stolen glances and longing gazes. A forced, loveless marriage with a woman he only met on the day of the wedding is a means to keep your relationship, sure; but the band on his finger spun you back to reality.

And that was when you leaned back, forcing his head to tilt up towards you. Your gaze, it looked so solemn. “What’s wrong, my love?” The shakiness in his voice… Perhaps he feared the same thing.

“I…” There was a lump in your throat. But when his left hand reached up to cup the side of your cheek—the stinging cold of his metal ring practically burned at your skin. “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

He sat up straight immediately, eyes widening and hands locking around your body in a sudden panic that cut his breath short. And for the first time, he stutters in his speech. “What…?” There’s a breathlessness in his voice, one that forces you to bite your tongue. “Please, no, don’t say things like that—What are you saying?”

“This relationship,” you continued through gritted teeth, much to his horror. “Don’t you think this has gone too far? You’re married now!”

“If the clan let me marry you, I promise I would’ve—” His words were beginning to slur together; it was clear he was at a complete loss of composure and clarity. His eyes held a desperation you never wanted to see. “I promise, I tried!”

This was only a losing game. “But you couldn’t,” you solidified. Did your voice always sound this close to tears?

“Then I’ll try again!” he countered. His hands moved up to grasp your face, both of them holding your cheeks as if he waited any longer, you would disappear from his sight. Archons. You hated seeing him cry. “Tomorrow, I promise you. I’ll meet with the other clans and commissioners for however long it takes just to call on a divorce so we can—”

“But your reputation,” you argued. To that, he immediately opened his mouth again, but you cut him off. “Think of what the citizens of Inazuma would speak of you? Words denouncing respect and calling you a disgrace… I don’t want your name to go to shambles if it just means being with me.”

He wanted to say he didn’t care about his family name, he really did. But you both already know: He would not have married that woman and her status if it were true at all.

It’s you, or his family.

You both stay silent. The moonlight stretches overhead, shining down on the finale of sad, saccharine sin.

PLZ SUPPORT THIS POST I ACTUALLY RLY LIKED IT !! 🥹

[tunafruitt]

HI GUYS… been a while… hahahehrhe… ^_^’

Okay but being completely honest, I had finals around the time of my last post, and then I entered a big slump during the summer AND THEN WHAT WHAT’D YOU KNOW, school started again… >_<

Good news though, I’m almost done with the last promised fic, except I removed one character otherwise I’d never everrr finish!

Small spoiler belowww :3

[tunafruitt]

Spoiling the characters for something I’m writing…. AND SORRY IVE BEEN GONE FOR LIKE TWO MONTHSSS 👽

Should I do more harbinger stuff? Someone asked me BUT IDK WHAT TO WRITE FOR THEMM!!

I’ve been really into them lately but I can’t get their personalities to show like how I want them to ‘>_<

[tunafruitt]

Reblog the writers’ fortune cookie for luck!

[tunafruitt]

Are tuna fruits good? Like how does it taste?

I haven’t had them in a couple of years so I don’t remember exactly how they taste but from what I remember

they’re kind of sweet and REALLYYYY juicy… almost like watermelon but way more seedy, less sweet, and a little softer :3

They’re also really hard to peel because they have tiny little needles so there’s that 🤓🤞

[tunafruitt]

--> ||❝ The Creator has a.. LOVER?! ❞

SAGAU || Warnings: fluff, gender neutral reader, slight crack, reader gets called a test subject and is implied to be used as one [Dottore’s part] OOC w/ Dottore..? Idk I haven’t finished sumeru yet </3

[ The people of Teyvat find out their grace has been romantically involved with someone for a while now.. what do they think about it? ]

Character(s): DOTTORE, XIAO

-> [ DOTTORE ]

“The Doctor is the Creator’s suitor? As in… the Second of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers? Are you sure that’s him? You are? Oh.. is— Is Your Grace feeling okay? I don’t see why anyone would be willingly involved with the Fatui Harbingers. What?! No! I’m not saying that’s not okay. Your Grace can do whatever they want! Hmph..”

The people of Teyvat felt conflicted to say the least. They weren’t judging your ability to make choices! They really weren’t… they just thought that there were better choices out there for Their Grace!! Yeah, everyone knew you liked the harbingers even before you descended, but couldn’t you have chosen a less deranged harbinger? For example… uhm... none of them.

Dottore could really care less what everyone else thought of his relationship with you though. He got the full package! His lover was the All Mighty Creator, and now he has a new “test subject”! (he says it affectionately.) Dottore knows people hate him even more than before, but who’s the one with the Creator’s arms wrapped around them, head over heels? This benefits him in so many ways. Wether it be research, obtaining materials, or just being able to have something more to use against the rest of the harbingers.

No one would ever dare voice the opinions they have of him while you’re in the vicinity. They’ll listen to you talk about a “date” you had with Dottore, which was really just you and him in his lab…. and he’s using you to help with his research. Hearing this, the rest of the allogene’s eyes are twitching, their fists are clenched, they’re FURIOUS. Not at you! Never. They’re mad at Dottore. How dare he use you as a test subject?! (you volunteered) How dare he use you to try to make another god?! (you thought that sounded fun) How dare he be IN LOVE with the All Mighty Creator?! (you fell first.)

When the two of you are seen in public, the streets go QUIET. Dottore carries this eerie aura with him, everyone knows who he is. And adding to the fact he’s a harbinger, he is also now recognized as the Creator’s suitor. Everyone besides you feels the silence and the stares, including Dottore, but if his lover is happy does it really matter? <3

In conclusion, everyone hopes Dottore dies. It’s not that they don’t want to see you happy. In fact, the entirety of Teyvat is glad you’re experiencing love and joy, just not with HIM.

─ִ━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

You spend a lot of days in Dottore’s lab. Today was one of those days.

You were conversing with one of Dottore’s younger clones. The clones, while being segments of Dottore, have their own distinct personalities. The one thing they hold in common is the love they have for you.

You love talking to the clones and giving them breaks from whatever days-long tasks Dottore gives them, but you miss the Dottore who’s the last thing you see before you fall asleep and after you wake up. You haven’t seen him since yesterday! Is this really how your boyfriend treats his lover…. who also happens to be the Creator???

And so you decide to go look for him. Who would’ve guessed he was sitting where he always was; his desk. Once you’ve spotted him, as payback for leaving you alone, you decide to sneak up on him. You try your hardest to silence your steps as much as possible in this hollow and echoey office of his.

“I can hear you, Y/N.”

“No you can’t... C’mon Dottore! Cut me some slack. I haven’t seen you since yesterday… and you didn’t even come to say good morning to me today!”

“Good morning.”

“It’s 4:00 PM, love. Take a break. It’s not like I’ll die anytime soon… can I even die..? Uhm.. that’s besides the point. You can conduct your experiments on me and do you research later. Come entertain me, please?”

“Are you asking because I have a choice?”

Your silence gives him an answer. You pull him up from his chair by grabbing his hands and pull him into a hug. You lean in closer to peck his cheek. He leans into you and grabs you by the waist to pull you closer—

“Doctor, the segments have finished—“

“Oh.”

-> [ XIAO ]

“Oh! One of the adepti? THE VIGILANT YAKSHA?! S-sorry that caught me by surprise… So the Yaksha is dating the Creator, huh. His tales have been documented for millennia’s, yet he’s rarely seen in public… I guess even someone like that can’t help but fall for Our Grace.”

So that must be why you always cooked Almond Tofu… Well, since Xiao IS the Conqueror of Demons, I can see the people of Liyue being quite happy. Jealous? Yes. But who’s even more jealous? Mondstadt. Why couldn’t it be one of the Knights of Favonious or something? But they guess you’re happy and that’s enough… (Though it could’ve been with them.)

Xiao is seen a little more often with you now that it’s confirmed you two are dating. Not too often, but if you want to go try out a restaurant in the city of Liyue, he’ll never say no. He may not speak much, but according to rumors is Liyue… “his eyes are always on you, listening to anything and everything the Creator has to say. It’s clear he’s fallen completely in love!” (Said by Chef Mao, probably.)

Being Xiao’s partner may seem awkward from an outsiders perspective, but he’s surprisingly sweet! He still won’t talk much, but he’ll reply to any questions you have, no matter how stupid or obvious they are with full genuity. Him being the Conqueror of Demons and you being the Creator, you both live busy lives…. so his eyes literally light up when you two are both able to finally see each other after a long time. <3 (he’s head over heels guys help.)

The adepti would be so PROUD. They probably already knew you and Xiao had a little something going on even before it was announced because of the way Xiao seemed slightly more happy. This lead to then being suspicious and eventually seeing him and you together… doing the most intimate thing ever…..

…. HOLDING HANDS. UNDER THE MOONLIGHT. But they kept quiet so don’t worry!

─ִ━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

“Xiao! I found you.”

As per usual, Xiao was sitting on the roof of Wangshu Inn. Today was one of the days where both of you were busy. You had a meeting to attend, and he was doing his job as The Conqueror of Demons. It was night by the time you were able to see each other.

“You should’ve called my name, Your Grace. It would’ve been easier for me to find you.”

“Yeah but I like looking for you. I always know where you are since you’re in the same spots anyway. And besides, I like how Wangshu Inn looks at night!”

You always thought Xiao looked pretty, but he looked especially pretty under the moonlight. His face seemed to glow more than usual today. Maybe it was the warm colored light radiating from inside of Wangshu Inn, or the light reflected by the moon shining down on him. Maybe it was the fact he had missed you so much that seeing your face again brought him a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Your Grace?”

“Oh, sorry Xiao, I lost my train of thought. Let’s go eat! I’m feeling hungry… today’s meeting was waaayy too long… C’mon, I’ll buy you something!”

“No need. I’ll be okay with just accompanying Your Grace.”

“Agh, stop calling me that. Y/N? Can you say Y/N? Please Xiao?”

“… Y-Y/N..”

“See? Not too hard right? Ok let’s go eat! I’ll make you Almond Tofu how you like it.”

FINALLY DONE OOHMYGODDD sorry this took so long. Idk what I should do next so feel free to request anything… ANYWAYS THE FIRST PART OF THIS GOT ALMOST 700 NOTES??? omg stop guys I’m giggling and blushing aughshsgghh. But seriously thank you so much I’m bawling

[tunafruitt]

Pt 2 of “THE CREATOR HAS A LOVER?!” Will be uploaded tmrw at 9 or 10 am CST guys trust

I KNOW I SAID GIVE ME LIKE A DAY [THREE DAYS AGO]… but school has been kicking my ass a little harder lately 😞‼️I’m literally working on an essay as I type this (I say as I scroll on tumblr)

[tunafruitt]

I LOVE UR AESTHETIC !!!

question: do u actually eat tuna? :3

A TYSMMMM!! I love ur shark aesthetic too ><

AND YES I DO EAT TUNA… but my username was based off the fruit tuna (in English, the prickly pear) not the fish tuna ☝️☝️

[tunafruitt]

PLEASE DO DOTTORE WITH THE CREATOR HAS A BOYFRIEND THING

Next chapter for “the creator has a lover?!” will include Dottore, Xiao and MAYBEEEEE another character if my brain can squeeze out anything else (I’m thinking maybe Itto or Childe?)

Give me like a day or two I’m working on something else rn </3

[tunafruitt]

--> || ❝ I’m The Favorite! ❞

Reverse! Isekai/SAGAU || Warnings: fluff, some crack :3, gender neutral reader

[ Reverse Isekai with the genshin boys !! A day out for the first time since they were somehow transported into your world… ] [word count: 1.9k]

Character(s): NEUVILLETTE, WRIOTHESLEY, ITTO, KAEYA, DILUC, CHILDE, KAVEH, XIAO, AL HAITHAM

“Your Grace, with all due respect… THIS ISN’T FAIR AT ALL!”

“I understand what you’re saying Venti but I can’t bring all 20-something of you outside… 8 people is already too much! An average friend group has around 3-4 people and I’m bringing double that! I promise I’ll take the rest of you out some other day.”

Hearing consecutive sighs of disappointment, you turn to look at the rest of the men. They were visibly upset. It’s not that you DON’T want to bring them all outside! Really! It’s just that some… or, most, of them have features that would stand out in a public setting. Take Gorou and Tighnari for example! Their ears could maybe be hidden for some minutes at a time using a hood or beanie, but what about their tails? Not to mention ITTO. He literally has the most red, obvious horns.

You did your best to make them look somewhat normal. Kaveh and Wanderer could pass as a normal citizen if you removed some accessories, but characters like Diluc and Neuvillette couldn’t. So it was up to you to dress them up! Yayyy!!!

No. This was NOT an easy job. Diluc’s bright red hair couldn’t be hidden no matter how hard you tried. Neuvillette’s long hair could maybe pass as normal... maybe. His horns though? I guess you’ll have to go with the “Oh! Why are they dressed like that? Well you see, my friends just left a cosplay convention a while ago. They look cool right? Yeah.” Excuse.

You gave them what you had left in your closet. What did fit them were sweats, loose pants, pajamas and some old shirts. It was odd not seeing them in their usual complex and pretty outfits. The buffer and more muscular characters looked (not surprisingly) attractive in your shirts… they were tight just around the right spots. They noticed your eyes in their direction with your face ever so slightly flushed, but decided to not say anything about it. ( THEY KNOW.)

─ִ━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

With the boys dressed up and ready, it was finally time to head out! The people you brought with you were: Neuvillette, Wriothesley, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Kaveh, Xiao and Al Haitham.

Xiao insisted on being the one to “protect you”. Denying his request felt awkward for some reason…

Kaveh had been interested in the simple and strangely large buildings cramped next to each other. You wouldn’t be so mean to deny his request to go see some of them in person right?

Al Haitham was interested about your world and wanted to learn more about it, maybe he’d find some books that weren’t all fiction and romance.

You’d feel bad if you only brought one Ragnvindr brother.. so you brought both. You also didn’t want to hear Kaeya bickering with Diluc about him going out on a “date” (it wasn’t.) with the Creator.

Neuvillette and Wriothesley look a bit intimidating so maybe they’d scare people off. Who would’ve known you’d have two scary looking men protecting and looking after you?

And Childe….. well he’s Childe. He was stuck to your hip.

You didn’t really know where to go.. The park? A restaurant? A supermarket? All of these options were a bit difficult since they’re usually filled with people. Of course, no matter where you go there’s likely to be people, but it’d be easier to not have to be completely and utterly aware of every stranger around you in fear that they might find out who the men you brought with you actually are. Your only option was to ask them if they had an idea or if they wanted to visit an area.

“Oh! Can we go to one of those food places you’ve talked about before? What is it called.. uh.. curly… curly fries..?”

“Jack in the Box. The name is Jack in the Box, Childe.” Wriothesley remembers every little thing you talked to yourself about when the only way they were able to feel you was through a screen. All of them would listen to you talk about a movie you watched, something funny that happened, or gossip that was spreading around your school or workplace. Anything.

You let out a small chuckle at their conversation. Their recommendation isn’t bad you think. All they’ve been eating is whatever you had back at home, since ordering takeout for more than 20 people would be wayyyyy too expensive.

So a fast food restaurant it is!

─ִ━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

The walk there was…. tedious. Childe was trying his best to not wander off, he really was! But there was so many new things he’d never seen before, so it’s not his fault. Neuvillette was probably the calmest out of everyone. He was right by your side following your lead. Maybe holding onto your arm once or twice.. on accident! (it wasn’t) Xiao was observing his surroundings a little too hard.. yeah this is all new to him, but I guess he was serious about protecting you. Though you didn’t really need it with 7 tall men around you.

“Mortals… The need for human interaction is what makes them weak.”

Diluc and Kaeya would not SHUT UP. If you passed by a bar, Kaeya would ask if he could go in, just for a second! He just wants to see how different they are from the ones in Mondstadt, really. Diluc would follow up with “You’re no better than that… that drunkard Venti.”

Kaveh would stop mid-street to look at the buildings...

“These buildings are so… long. How do they hold up so much weight? It’s impressive! What would they need so many floors for though… Why is there a man’s face as the logo in that restaurant? Oh! He’s glowing?”

“If you get ran over by one of those vehicles it’ll be your fault.”

“Huh? Al Haitham! YOUR GRACE! Wait for me!”

─ִ━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

The next problem was choosing what to eat. Ordering food for 8 people, not including yourself, was expensive. You knew that! But you didn’t mentally prepare for the bill.

“Oh god…”

“Your Grace? Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about. Eat up! We can go somewhere else after this if you want.”

You had realized that a woman had passed by your table countless times. She was very obviously staring at the men, looking almost flustered? Oh, she must think they’re attractive.

……

SHE THINKS THEYRE ATTRACTIVE??!

Okay. Thats okay. As long as she doesn’t ask for their numb—

“Uh-uhm.. excuse me, sir. Can I have your number? Or.. just Instagram is fine too.” She was staring directly at Wriothesley. You should’ve known letting him go out in a tight shirt and loose pants would’ve attracted more people.

“Uhh.. Pardon me, ma’am. Number…? As in… prisoner number..?” The Duke had an obvious confused and conflicted look on his face.

“Huh?”

“Aha.. ha… forgive him. He’s taken! So he can’t give out his number to just anyone.”

“Oh.. S-sorry. Forgive me I’ll just— I’ll get going.“ She was very obviously embarrassed over this whole ordeal.

“What did she mean by number, your grace?”

“Don’t… don’t worry about it…”

The group of men began to eat. (Neuvillette ordered a cup of iced water and Xiao didn’t eat anything.)

“Your Grace, there’s some food on the corner of your mouth.. Here. Let me help.” As Kaeya was about to reach his hand and wipe off the food with his thumb, there was thud on the window next to your table. Huh? It’s Itto.

It’s Itto?

“WHAT THE HELL. HOW DID HE GET HERE!?” You whispered screamed as turned to Itto. Did he follow you here? Was he here this whole time????

Through the glass Itto was saying something. His voice was muffled but you could make some things out.

“Your Grace! Don’t let this… this BUFFOON touch you! I, Arataki Itto will volunteer instead!”

You let out a loud sigh. You had to go get him… imagine seeing a tall, buff man with white hair and what looks like horns with a black hoodie up against a restaurants window…

Yeah that looks weird from an outsiders view.

You signal to the rest of the men to follow you out. When you got outside you wanted to tell Itto to never do something like that again… but he looked so sad, almost like a kicked puppy.

“Sorry Your Grace… I just wanted to accompany you! I might have gotten a teenyyy tinyyyy bit distracted on the way. You never told me there was so many cool lookin’ beetles in your world! There was one that that was very small and red with black spots, probably not useful for beetle fighting though. And I also saw some… uh.. not to disrespect anyone but there was a really weird lookin’ dog..”

SIGHHHHHH. You started to wonder what would have happened if he really had gotten lost, or what if someone recognized him? The thought of losing one of the men scared you. Would you be to blame if one of them never made it back to Teyvat?

“Itto… I love you and everything, but never do something like this again. What if we never found you? What would have happened then? I think we should head back home..”

Itto was on the verge of tears. He’s had more beans thrown at him than he could count, but nothing ever hurt as much as this.

It took Itto a while to process that you had also said you loved him.

“M’ bad Your Grace.. I won’t follow you next time… but, I love you too Your Grace!!”

The men turned to him SO FAST?? Xiao was about to take his spear out, Al Haitham looked DISGUSTED. Kaveh and Childe’s jaws were wide OPEN.

“DUDE YOU CAN’T JUST SAY THAT!”

“Childe’s right, we all love Our Grace, not just you.” Diluc only said this because he wanted to be the one to say “I love you”, but you didn’t need to know that. If it was for anything else he would never agree with a harbinger.

“That doesn’t even make sense! Why can’t I love and appreciate our beloved Creator? You guys are all just mad that I, the Number One Oni, Arataki Itto, am Your Grace’s FAVORITE.”

“WHAT? NO! Your Grace is that true?”

How many sighs have you let out today? This must be a full time job because you just let out another sigh.

“No, it’s not. I love all of you equally! Don’t start any problems with each other in public, please… We should be heading home anyways. Look at the sky, the sun will set soon.”

Almost in synch, the men respond “Yes, Your Grace!”

Seeing them like this made you feel all happy and giddy… It was nice seeing them together with you in the picture. You smiled at them and they just stared. They waited for you to turn around before looking at each other almost competitively. It was clear that each and every one of them wanted you for themselves in some way.

─ִ━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

It was finally time to head home!!! After one long and exhausting day, you finally made it back.

The rest of the men were waiting patiently for you (Venti, Wanderer, Lyney and Heizou had to be held back by Albedo, Dainsleif and Pierro.)

“*SNIFF* AUGH.. YOUR GRACE! *SNIFF* WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!”

“Hi, Venti… I missed you all too..” Venti’s arms were wrapped tightly around you, while he cried onto your shoulder.

“Your Grace, you’re here!” Thoma looked.. tired. Just what happened while you were gone? You decided to ask just incase.

“Hi Thoma, and everyone else. Did anything happen while me and the others were gone?” You had a gut feeling that something happened… they were unusually quiet… too quiet.

“A fight broke out between The Puppet and Cyno.”

“WHAT??”

AAAAAHHHHHHH thank you so much for 200 notes on my last fic omg y’all got me giggling to myself and spinning in my bed stop.. First long fic!!1!1! I plan on making little comic based off of the “The Creator has a.. LOVER?!” fic with the Zhongli and Venti scene with reader!! Yayyy! I Hope u guys enjoy this AUGH it makes me so happy to see people liking my noob writing thats really just me writing my thought and daydreams ilyily

[tunafruitt]

hi just wanted to let you know its iudex not ludex

STOP OMG THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING… thank you for telling me tho! I’ll fix it ^_^

If there’s any typos, missing warnings, or anything else that’s incorrect don’t be afraid to tell me ><

[tunafruitt]

--> ||❝ The Creator has a.. LOVER?! ❞

SAGAU || Warnings: fluff, gender neutral reader

[ The people of Teyvat find out their grace has been romantically involved with someone for a while now.. what do they think about it? ]

Character(s): NEUVILLETTE, ZHONGLI

-> [ NEUVILLETTE ]

“Oh, the Iudex of Fontaine is the creator’s chosen suitor? Okay.. He’s a qualified and accomplished man. I can see why the creator chose someone like him.”

With the one and only hydro dragon sovereign stuck to your side at all times, it was no surprise to anyone that the two of you had gotten close. But the creator falling in love with him?? That’s different.

Of course, the people of Teyvat had all wished to have a chance with you. And of course, everyone knew it was impossible… but hope is a good thing right? They knew the day would come though, just not so soon..

When the people found out that the Creator had someone they loved more than the usual “I love all of Teyvat equally and platonically.” EVERYONE WENT CRAZY. What do you mean the creator has a LOVER? What do you mean they’ve probably kissed. WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS THE IUDEX OF FONTAINE????

Nevertheless, no one was actually disappointed. They had heard you talk about him through the screen even before you descended to Teyvat. They were glad you were happy… I guess (though they wish it was with them.) Fontaine obviously took pride in having the creator spend a lot of their time residing there, even more pride in the fact that you were romantically involved with a citizen of Fontaine.

─━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

Neuvillette wasn’t quite sure how to react to all of the publicity the news had gotten. Every time the two of you go out together he feels the stares coming from the people around you. The stares weren’t the usual stares he got when he was doing a court trial.. they felt new to him. He was glad that he was at least able to say more affectionate words to you out in public though!

“Monsieur Neuvillette! I’ve heard the recent news.. haha.. so, how’s it being with the Creator? Bet you feel real lucky, huh.“

“I would consider myself lucky to be with Y/N. I feel that no amount of love give—“

“Y/N???? I-I MEAN— YOU’RE ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH YOUR GRACE?!”

“I am. Now, if I may continue…”

When he’s not actively working and someone asks him about you, he could yap about you for HOURS. So much to the point people avoid bringing you up even in non-professional events. He’s literally lovestruck. Heart eyes when he looks at you and everything. (everyone’s secretly side-eyeing him… out of jealousy.)

-> [ ZHONGLI ]

“Hm.. The Wangsheng Funeral Consultant..? He is quite a handsome man, but is that all? Of course we respect him! It’s just that.. I expected the Creator’s suitor to be an Archon or something. But if that’s what the creator wants, we should respect their choice right?”

The people of Liyue had begun to put the pieces together. No wonder you were always visiting the Funeral Parlor.. wait, were the times that the both of you were spotted together at Iron Tongue Tian’s Stall listening to the telling of old stories.. DATES?? How could they have only just now realized…

Well, now that the news is out at least you can comfortably hold his hand outside of the Parlor! Not everyone is completely happy with this though.. Who might that be? The other archons of course! They all took pride in being among some of the closest beings in Teyvat to you, but now that they weren’t all equally close to you, feelings of jealousy began to rise.

Zhongli secretly felt smug about that though. I mean, of course anyone would. Being the Creator’s lover is probably the biggest flex in all of Teyvat!! Only certain people are able to even be close to the Creator, not to mention TOUCH them. (which are the playable characters.) Oh, and doing affectionate things like lovers do WITH THE CREATOR?? The things people would do to be in Zhongli’s place.

─━━ ꯭  ───ׂ─ִ─  ͜͡✿͜͡  ─ִ──ׂ──  ꯭  ━━ִ─

You and Zhongli were taking a walk in the city of Liyue as you always do. There was a cool breeze and the orange lights coming from the food stalls gave the atmosphere a comfortable, warm feeling. You looked back at Zhongli who had already been staring at you. He’s about to put his arms around you when out of nowhere—

“Your Grace! Fancy seeing you here.. ehe. Are you here for the Lantern Rite? Oh! You should come to the Windblume Festival again! We’ll make sure to make it extraaa special, just for you. Speaking of special— There’s a new wine back in Mondstadt made specially from the freshest dandelio—“

“Hello, Venti.”

“Oh. Hello Mr. Zhongli. Are you busy right now? If not, the Funeral Parlor is calling for you. You should probably go.”

“The Funeral Parlor is closed today, Venti.”

lmao archons actively trying to get you to spend time with them instead of Zhongli. (They can’t stand to see you hugging, holding hands, and doing all kinds of sappy activities with him)

AGHHH SECOND WRITING EVER!! Had fun ^_^ might do a part 2 with Itto and Xiao (or other characters) feel free to leave recommendations for any other characters!! Likes nd reblogs are much appreciated ^_^