Ahh!! Thank You For Coming, Malleus! 😭❤️ It Took 3 Ten Rolls To Get His Birthday Card, But I Got

AHH! He came! He came! Happy birthday, Malleus~!! 🥰 Let's celebrate our birthday together so that way, you won't go another year of eating a birthday cake all by yourself. Cake is meant to be shared after all. ❤️

I'm so happy he came home, I was down to 200 gems.. Best birthday gift for me too!

║Aether║Hate Me

Angst??

Word count: 2.2k

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The stars- when looked from way down below in Teyvat- was much smaller, this is what you concluded as you gazed at the dark sky being glittered with little white dots.

"How many months has it been?" you muttered to yourself, subconsciously clutching the grass under your hands. 'Since I have felt this way?'

As you dwell in your own thoughts, you didn't hear the oncoming person and was spooked at the sudden contact of their hands on your shoulders. "Hey." It was Aether, the Outlander that is not from here- from Teyvat. The one who trespassed to this world.

"Is something bothering you?" he asks, sitting down beside you, gazing the stars as well. Yes, there was something bothering you, but that was something you dare not tell him until that day comes. But, you were conflicted. When that day truly comes, is your heart still as merciless and cold as before or has your heart fallen to a trap by the male beside you?

"No.." you lied. "Just couldn't sleep." It wasn't truly a lie, per se. You couldn't sleep and it was because of the pondering thought of the day when the Outlander's journey will finally draw to an end.

"Same here, but it seems that Paimon is having a good sleep," he chuckles, looking over his shoulder to stare into a make-shift tent at his small companion. "May I join you?" he asks when his eyes returns to meet yours.

You nodded. "I mean, you already are here anyway," you stated. He chuckles. After that, silence befell on the two of you as you both ogle at the stars.

Your heart ached as you repeatedly ask yourself, "Could I kill him?". When you met them, it wasn't by mere fate. You wanted to meet the Outlander simply to assess his being in your world and nothing more, but oh were you so wrong. Instead, you joined him in his adventure-- ate with him, chat with him, laugh with him. Now, you regret staying any longer than you had planned because you didn't know what to do with your feelings.

"May I.. Lean on you?" you ask, eyes now on the ground. Aether turns to observe your face, seeing a lot of mixed emotions swirling in your eyes. What were they? He does not know. But he does knows that whatever it was, it was too much for you that you seemed lost. So, with that said, he nods. "Of course."

Content with the answer, you leaned on his shoulder, closing your eyes. Aether returns to gaze at the stars until you had fallen asleep. Quietly, he brought you back inside the tent and returned to sit outside. The day, he thought to himself, is coming. Knowing this, his hands clenched into a tight fist.

What is that day? The day when he finally meets the one who took his sister. He looks behind him once more, asking himself whether or not to leave you there. He doesn't want you to get involved, especially when that god who took his sister was most likely going to kill you, a weak mortal who is powerless to the divinity that even Archons feared.

Aether did not sleep throughout that night, waiting for the sun to rise to tell him that it was finally the day he gets his sister back.

Paimon woken up from her slumber, greeting the Outlander outside. "You're up early," she yawned. "Good morning, Paimon," Aether greets.

After the remaining sleep finally shaken off of her, she spoke right into the matter. "So, are you ready?" she asks. Aether nods sternly and then turns to your sleeping figure. "But we have to wait until a little someone has woken up," he adds.

"You sure that's the wisest choice? I mean, you're fighting a divine that is way too powerful," Paimon points out, fearing for your safety. "Yeah.." He will allow you to decide to leave the field of battle rather than forcing you to go. You might not have a vision, but you were certainly a fiery one and more than capable to kill and Archon if need be.

When you awoke, you three finally went to Celestia- the place where the god resides. Upon stepping onto the land far above the ground of Teyvat, you noticed how barren it was and clearly not one worth the praises of mortals below.

"I think that is where the god lives!" Paimon points to the obvious choice of a building. Right in the centre of all things and much more grander than the ones surrounding it.

"But where are the other gods?" Paimon asks, seeing as there was not even a single soul around. The Outlander were told many times that Celestia was a haven and in it, resides those fit to be a god. But now seeing Celestia with your own eyes, the words of the people turned sour as it was completely false.

Walking head on to the grand door, you were greeted with a wide room that was empty of all things except pillars that decorated the sides and a single red carpet that stretched outwards, stopping right at the throne in the end.

Paimon fidgets as the Outlander makes his way inside, eyes darting around the room for any signs of the god.

You stayed far behind, not even taking another step when you stepped inside the room.

When Aether was at the foot of the throne, the room began to dim a colour red as large cubes appeared out of nowhere. Aether and Paimon looks at the cubes, full with alertness.

"H, hey.. Aren't those people inside?" Paimon shakily points at one of them and gestures to some others.

"You're right." A voice somewhere far off the room answered, their voice booming louder than Paimon's.

It was the god.

The god was in the same room.

But that god..

Aether reflexively turns to look at his back at the sound of the all too familiar voice-- at you. "H, huh? (Y/N), you're not.." Paimon trails.

No longer the face the two met and recognize, orange eyes stare down at them; cold and one of a merciless being. "I am the one who you seek, Aether." You are the one he seeks and in doing so, he planned to kill you and get his sister back.

Aether's eyes widened and in that moment, his heart shattered like a fragile crystal. He felt betrayed, but most of all, saddened that you- the one who joined his adventures one day- was the god.

He shook his feelings, remembering the reason why he started to look for all the Archons in the first place. Gritting his teeth and sword in hand, he stances himself to fight. "Tell me, where is Lumine?" he demands. He doesn't want to fight you and hope that there was some sort of explanation for your actions.

"Your sister? Who knows? She might be in one of those cubes or escaped successfully," your voice monotoned, free of any emotions that you might've once had. Stretching your arms outwards, a black vortex of a cube appeared to your beck and call just like before-- when the two of you met in your true form all those years ago.

"Aether," you began, watching him dodge your incoming attacks, "I'll let you in on some knowledge. These people- the ones inside the cubes- have the right to godhood." Your feelings dissipated that night when you fell asleep and your eyes showed that. If he wanted to kill you then you have to kill him first.

"This is Celestia, the place all mortals wish to be in. The seven embedded words of praises in their heads and give me chosen ones as their duty as Archon," you continued, "I govern Celestia and Teyvat. If I see a person not fit of living, I erase them-- this applies to Archons as well."

"Many have tried to rebell against me so I had to cleanse this world as their great divine," you state. "You came at the wrong time, Aether-- well, not like I would have allowed you to trespass in the first place."

"You do not belong in this world. But in this world, I allowed you to die. Unfortunately, that didn't happen," you said.

"Why can't we just talk this over, (Y/N)?" Aether shouts from across the room, already scrabed by one of your attacks. "Why? As the divine, I have no time to talk to foolish people like you," you answered. "My role is to punish."

After time, one of your attacks took a blow on him and he fell backwards, sword far from his reach. You floated down and walked towards him, kneeling to take a closer look at his eyes that held hesitation. "Aether, do you not wish to kill me?" you ask. "You are wavering, Outlander."

"No, I don't," he grunts. Your blinked your eyes twice, showing great surprise. Something flickered in your chest. Were you the one wavering instead?

"Oh? Have I fooled you into thinking I was your friend all along? How foolish." Your eyes darkened. "If you want your sister, you better kill me."

"And what if I don't? What if I just continue to make you talk?" he asks. "I will have no choice but to kill you," you answered almost immediately, as if you have thought of the scenario before.

"I know you won't." Those word he said struck you deep. He was right, you admit. You have fallen in love with the Outlander and the single tear he saw that trickled down your face as you sleep showed that. "Please, we can talk this out. What you're doing isn't right, (Y/N), and you know that."

"These people that you've locked up doesn't deserve this," he said. His heart turned sour for you, but he did not give up in pestering you with questions, using your feelings as he does. "Didn't you feel happy when you went on an adventure with me?" he ask. "Or did you treat it as entertainment?"

No, he was wrong. You didn't think it was something foolish. You truly did enjoy what you two did- talking, laughing, and the other fun things you two did. Your heart opened up because of that. "I.." You tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"I like you, (Y/N). So please, tell me why you're doing this!" he confesses, voice loud that it echoes throughout the room. Your eyes widened. He likes you? Your heart fluttered and all signs of the coldness you once wore faded-- never to return again.

"I, I'm sorry.." You cried, on your knees as you buried your face into your hands. Aether instinctively hugged you and you accepted, crying even more. He admits, he still holds hatred towards you, but getting you to lower your guard and help him rather than kill you was a much better idea.

His sword disappeared from the ground and reappeared in his hands. Should he kill you? Now that you were at your weakest, he could easily kill you. But just as he had said to you, he liked you and killing you might make him go insane.

Not knowing what to decide he asks, "(Y/N), where is my sister?" You look him in the eyes, tears staining your face. "I, I don't know.." You don't know? What does that even mean?

"She isn't in one of my cubes, you can see it for yourself," you said. Aether looks at each cubed prison. You're right, Lumine wasn't in any of them. "But didn't you take my sister?" he asks, feeling blood boil up in his veins.

"I did, but I don't know what happened after that, please believe me," you pleaded, subconsciously gripping your hands onto his shirt, not knowing how to explain this uneasiness in your heart when you stare at him. "S, she might be dead.."

This was it for Aether and the next thing you knew, pain washed all over your body and coughed out blood. You stare at Aether with wide eyes filled with shock flowing him as he takes out the sword from your back and standing up.

He stares down at you, eyes now visible with hatred, watching as you collapsed onto your side and coughed out more blood that splat onto the cold, hard floor.

"A, Aether.. I.. I thought.." You couldn't continue-- not when pain was everywhere. "If only you weren't the god.." he muttered. "But if you don't have my sister, what use are you to me?"

He grits his teeth and kicked you to lay on your back before he stomped on your stomach, letting it stay there. You cried out in pain. "If you don't have her, it means that she could have been dead all this time for all I know!"

More tears fell onto the floor, staring at the man who just confessed to you not too long ago and let your guard down.

Light in your eyes started to die out, but he didn't care and watch it does so, uttering one last thing:

"I hate you."

---

Holiday Special in Mondstadt

This was written for 2020 Christmas and decided to wait to upload it here. Be warned that characters revealed/released after December 2020 will not show up here.

Not a oneshot. Platonic!

Characters: Albedo, Amber, Barbara, Bennett, Diluc, Diona, Dvalin, Fischl, Jean, Kaeya, Klee, Lisa, Mona, Noelle, Razor, Sucrose, Venti.

You are the traveller.

Word count: 4.4k

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Mondstadt was and is your first and forever home. It would be befitting to say the least, seeing as it was the first place tou stumbled upon and start your official journey to find your sibling. No matter where you are in Teyvat, the title of "Mondstadt's Honorary Knight" will be rung throughout that city and you wore it with pride. So, when Christmas came along, it was only natural to come home to your second family.

"(Y/N), is that you?" A voice, that you'd never forget in the many people you've heard speak, calls your name. You turned around and was greeted with the first local of Mondstadt and a whom was part of the Knight's of Favonius- Amber. "Hey, Amb--"

You were cut off as the brunette ran up and hugged you. You stumbled back a bit before returning her hug with a smile on your face. "Oh my Barbatos! It is you!" If you didn't know, Amber had missed you so and would cry, but she was a big girl to not cry over something silly such as a reunion. "Hey, Paimon is here too!" Another voice stepped in and Amber pulls back. "Oh, hey, Paimon! I'm happy to see that you're here too!" She gave the little, floating creature a smile as well.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be off and in Inazumi when I heard the chaos died down in Liyue," she states, though still feeling happy that you returned. "Ah, I will.. I returned to Mondstadt to celebrate Christmas with all of you," you say in earnest. "Aw..!" She gave you another hug- this one being shorter.

"Oh, speaking of Christmas, Master Diluc is holding a Christmas party at the tavern tonight for just us- although it was kind of forced," she mumbled the last part, scratching her cheek. "Really? Then I'll be sure to come!" You missed going to the tavern to just loiter around and have a chat with the owner, so you took it as a chance.

"Well, I better be off to do a quick clearing of camps. I'll see you later, (Y/N)." She waves and turned around to walk away. But not even a step forward, you called her name, just remembering something. "I have something to give you," you said and turn to your floating companion who took something out from thin air and gave it you. "We bought you a gift!" It was a small, yet beautifully decorated, red box with golden ribbons.

A smile appeared on the girl's face as she happily accepts your gift. "Aw, thanks, (Y/N)! This is the best gift ever!" You laughed at her words. "But you haven't opened it yet," you point out. "But it's the best since it's from you!" You sigh whilst smiling at the girl and then tell her to go finish her mission.

"Well, where should we go to next?" Paimon asks. You ponder it for a moment, fingers under your chin. Then, "Oh, why don't we go visit Mona?" you suggest, wondering how the astrologist have been. Paimon nods with enthusiasm and the two of you walked to her place, but along the way, you met up with a certain knight in maid's clothing. "Hey, isn't that Noelle?" Paimon asks, pointing at the girl who was just exiting a house, probably was called to help the family in that house. "Oh, you're right! Hey, Noelle!" you call her name loudly, earning her attention.

You jogged up to her with a smile. "Honorary Knight, what are you doing in Mondstadt?" she asks with a genuine look of surprise. "I came to celebrate Christmas with all of you!" you answered and look at Paimon who got yet another gift, one whose colours matches that of the knight in front of you. "And we wanted to give all of you a gift."

She stares at the box in your hand with great surprise. Something so simple, yet so great to her, took her lips and tug it into a smile, looking up at you. "Thank you, Honorary Knight, but you don't owe me anything." You shook your head and push the gift closer to her. "It's Christmas! Of course, I'll be bound to give you something," you say. She took one look at it in your hands before happily accepting it. "Well, I must be off now. Take car of yourself!" You waved goodbye to the knight and continued your way to Mona's house, knocking on the door once at the foot of it. It took a while before hearing footsteps nearing the door. Upon opening it, the girl was caught by surprise at the sudden sight of you. "(Y/N) and Paimon? What are the two of you doing here?" she asks, a look of surprise on her face.

"Surprise!" you and Paimon cheers. "I thought you would have foreseen us coming," you joked, catching the astrologist to a baffled state. "Well, ah, um.. I don't use such power to look over at the littlest of things," she says proudly, earning a giggle from you and Paimon.

"Anyway, what are the two of you doing here?" She clears her throat. "We wanted to return for Christmas!" you answered. "And I also wanted to give you a gift." You outstretched your hand holding a purple box with star-like pattern adorned with a gold ribbon. The female was certainly surprised at the unforeseen event. "I, uh.." Words failed on her tongue, but accept the gift. She had never been given a gift before, so something even as small as your present meant much more than you'd realize. "I, thank you.. It's a wonderful gift," she said. You smiled at the girl, warmth filling up inside you at the sight of her genuinely thankful.

After a short conversation, you bid goodbye in search of the others whom you had planned to give gifts to. Of course, you stopped and gave gifts to the Wagner- the blacksmith- Katheryne, Marjorie, Stanley, and Sara before entering Cat's Tail.

The tavern was full of life with people who wished to seek shelter from the cold while enjoying a good glass of alcohol. Not too far from you, you see Diona behind the bar, making a glass of cocktail and giving it to a customer. You walked up and sat down at an available seat at the counter, waiting for her to come to you. "What can I-- (Y/N) and Paimon!?" she gasped. You smiled at the cat-like girl. "When did you come back?"

"Not too long ago," you answered. "Well, uh, what can I get you?" she asks, talking to both you and Paimon. "Ah, we don't want anything," you say and leave the girl giving you a confused look. "Then, what are the two of you doing here?"

"We wanted to give you a gift." With that, you handed her a pink decorated box adorned with a single, blue ribbon. "It's Christmas, after all." The little female stare at you with surprise. "For me?" she repeats, to which you happily nodded. The girl was then drawn to her mind, remembering that today was the day that she should go to Springvale to celebrate the holiday with her family. "Thank you, I mean it."

You left the tavern soon after, missing the warmth that it brought tou upon entering it. "Since we went to Cat's Tail, we should go to Angel's Share next!" Paimon suggests eagerly and you nodded, agreeing to go to the place next. Nearing the tavern, the booming sounds of laughter and chatter could be heard at a great volume. You opened to door and welcomed the warmth you missed for a couple of seconds when you left Cat's Tail.

A familiar, fiery-haired male was the first to look your way and his eyes reflected that of surprise. "(Y/N)?" The call of your name brought the second, familiar male to turn around in his seat. With a smile and wave at the two, you joined them at the bar, sitting two seats away from the second male. "Hey," you greet.

"Ho~ Why, if it isn't the Honorary Knight," Kaeya greets, a glass of alcohol in hand. "What brings you here, (Y/N)? Missed me that much, huh?" He laughs and you rolled your eyes, turning your focus to the winery owner. "Anything you'd like to drink?" he asks, arms unfolding from their day-to-day position. "What about Paimon? Paimon wants apple juice!" Paimon cries at her dismissal of presence. Diluc eyed her and gave her a quick 'okay' and nod before getting her a glass of apple juice.

"Anyway, I came to return for Christmas," you answered, talking to the Cavalry Captain. "How are you both anyway?"

"I have been doing just fine," Kaeya answers, turning his head to the male behind the counter. "I've been better," Diluc grumbles behind the bar, referring how Kaeya's entrance made his day worse, and gives Paimon her drink. "Aw, come now, dear brother, I know you miss my company~" Kaeya teases, attempting to provoke his older brother, but the stoic-faced, red-head didn't dare do anything, albeit a bit annoyed at Kaeya's presence.

"Ah, I heard you guys are throwing a Christmas party at the tavern tonight," you moved on. "That's right. My dear brother happily allowed us to celebrate here-- with him. I'm betting you that he doesn't want to be alone for the holiday," he grins at the sound of it. "Is there anywhere on my face that shows that I'm a bit happy?" Diluc questions, eyes narrowing as he glares holes into Kaeya, and arms crossed-- truly showing how annoyed he looks.

The interaction between the two of the males was something you had missed and couldn't help but laugh a little. Kaeya turns his head to look at you and smiled at your genuine laughter. "Looks like someone is having a good time," Kaeya points out. You nodded, giving a clear-eyed smile. Then, "Oh, right! I almost forgot to give you guys your gifts!" You turned to look at Paimon who had the gifts in hand. "These are for you two!" You handed both of them their reserved gifts and the two eye at the box with surprise.

It took an awkward second before Kaeya clears his throat. "Thank you, (Y/N). This is the best present." Kaeya smiles softly and ruffles your hair. How long has it been since the Cavalry Captain received a gift? He does not know. He reminisces, recalling the last Christmas spent with his family, where Crepus was alive and Diluc was smiling. That was probably the last time.

"Thank you, (Y/N). I am sure this is a wonderful gift," Diluc says and put the present somewhere safe until the day ends when he could come and collect it. You chatted with them for a while until you had decided it was time to go since you have other people to go give gifts to. "Where are we going next, (Y/N)?" Paimon asks. "To the cathedral." There was someone working there whom you have a gift for.

By the time you made it at the door of the cathedral, you were beat, the way up killing your legs. "Paimon is tired.." Paimon pants, a step ahead of you. You look at her, not understanding how, for someone who only floats, could get tired by floating pass the stairs. You shook your head and straightened yourself up. "Honorary Knight?" Someone calls from your right, on the side of the building.

You and Paimon turn your attention and see the maiden of the hour. "Hey, Barbara," you greet her with a smile. "It is you, Honorary Knight! What wind brought you back here?" she asks in great verve, walking closer to you. "The cold air from Snezhnaya," you answered jokingly.

"Anyway, I came here to give you a Christmas present for the holiday." You handed her a light blue box decorated with glitter and adorned with a darker blue ribbon-- just like the receiver of the gift. She was astounded by the gift in your hand and looks at you. "Is this really for me?" she asks.

"Who else would I climb these stairs for if not you?" The words that left your mouth warmed the idol's heart and accepted the gift. "Thank you, Honorary Knight. May the Anemo Archon protect you in your journey." You nodded and bid goodbye to the blonde and made your way down the stairs. "Are we going to the Favonius Headquarters?" Paimon asks, nearing the end of the staircase. You hummed to her question, seeing as the headquarters was just close by.

You greeted the knights who stood guard at the entrance and made your way inside. You knocked on the door that was the Acting Grand Master's office and hear a mumbled "come on" through the wood. Entering the room, you see Jean and Lisa sitting on the single couch in the office, and Klee on the floor, drawing. "Oh my, why if it isn't the cutie," Lisa greets, standing up. "Honorary Knight, what brings you here? Ah, wait.. You should have send notice of your arrival so that we could be a more welcoming," Jean says, following Lisa.

"Don't worry about it. I actually planned to surprise all of you by coming back abruptly," you say. Klee stood up from the ground and run up to you. "(Y/N), look at this! I drew it!" Klee holds up a sheet of paper with pride, showing you the interesting picture she drew.

"Ah, that's  very nice, Klee," you praised which made the young knight giggle shyly. "Anyway, what brings you here, Honorary Knight?" Jean asks, gaining you attention. "I came to celebrate the Christmas with you guys."

Jean smiles. "If that is the case, there will be a party at Master Diluc's tavern-- I'm sure you have heard of it by now?" she questions. You nodded. "Amber told me about it when I met up with her this morning."

"I see, that is good." You turn to look at Paimon who then again took at boxes from her infinity backpack. "I also came with presents for all of you," you said, gesturing at the three boxes.

"Ooh, presents! I love presents," Klee cheers, clapping her hands excitedly. You smiled and gave her her gift. It was a red box with a darker red ribbon adorned with a custom-made accessory of her bombs that she loves so much. "Yay!"

"Oh, you shouldn't have gone yourself to buy us a gift. Just your return is a great and wonderful surprise from Barbatos," Jean says, to which Lisa chuckles. "Be appreciative that the cutie brought back us gifts, Jean," she says and looks at you. You smiled and gave her a purple box, decorated with purple roses with a darker colour of purple lace as a ribbon. She thanked you and you went on ahead to give Jean hers-- a blue box that was the same colour as her cloak with a golden ribbon. "Then, thank you, Honorary Knight." The blonde smiles. "I'm guessing that we'll see you tonight?" You nodded. "Yeah. And oh, do you know where Venti could be?" you ask, not seeing him anywhere in places where he could be.

"I believe he said that he will be at Starsnatch Cliff," Jean answers and you gave a quick nod before bidding a bye for now. "Paimon don't see why we need to give Tone-Deaf Bard a present too," Paimon states once you two were outside of the headquarters. "Doesn't he get a lot of gifts from the people?"

You chuckled and shook your head. "He is our friend, of course we have to give him something too," you said.  "But before we go outside, let's go see four more people within the walls."

The first two weren't so hard to find as they were both in the same place. "Albedo, Sucrose, hey!" you greet, entering the spacious room filled with strange materials. "A, ah! Honorary Knight, when did you arrive in Mondstadt?" Sucrose greets, fumbling with a tube in her hand when she flinched by the sudden voice that broke through the silence.

"I came back this morning," you answered and stepped inside so you could shut the door from the cool air. "What happened, Sucrose?" Another voice spoke between the two of you, and from the back, emerges the blonde alchemist you were hoping to see around. "Oh, Honorary Knight, what brings you here?"

"Hey, Albedo, just here to drop by and give you two a gift and wish you a Merry Christmas!" you say and had Paimon take out two gifts for the two alchemists, the boxes reflecting that of their colour scheme. "Oh, ah, um, thank you, Honorary Knight," Sucrose says shyly, a small dust of pink on her face. Albedo gave you thanks as well, apologising that he had nothing to give you which you reassure that it was fine.

"We're going to the Adventurer's Guild next, right?" Paimon asks to which you nodded. There was two people that you wished to see.

"A-ah!? (Y/N), you're in Mondstadt?" A certain male bumped into you on your way to the Adventurer's Guild Hall and was quite surprised at the sudden sight of you. "Hi, Bennett!" Paimon greets the young adventurer. Bennett smiles and greets your floating companion. Then, "What brings you here, (Y/N)?" he asks, turning his attention from Paimon to you.

"We wanted to celebrate the holiday here-- in Mondstadt," you answered for the nth time of today. "And we also brought you a gift!" You gave him his present and see his eyes glimmer at the sight. He have been unlucky his whole life and many feared their lives when going on an adventure with him, so often than not, he doesn't receive gifts-- only the elders of the guild does so. "I, thank you so much, (Y/N), I mean it." He avert his eyes from the present in his hand and smiles at you. "You're welcome, Bennett," you said. "I would love to stay and chat with you for a bit, but the sun is setting way too quickly and I have others to see. Let's go on an adventure next time!" The last part warmed the boy and wave goodbye at you.

"What ho," a familiar voice calls upon you not too far away. "Why, if it isn't my loyal subjects. Say, what brings oneself back to thy master?" Before you stood none other than the chuunibyou of Mondstadt, Fischl.

"Mein Fraulein welcomes you back with great surprise and wonders why you are back," her bird companion, Oz, says. "We came back for the holiday!" Paimon says and you nod. "We also bought you a gift. I hope you like them," you said and handed two boxes to Fischl-- one for Oz and herself.

"I, uhm, thank you.." She looks at the presents with eyes agape of astonishment, and her words limited from the surprise. She looks at Oz and back at you and smiled, you returning hers with a smile of your own.

"Are we going to Starsnatch Cliff now?" Paimon asks once you both were outside of the city's walls, to which you nod. When you got close to the cliff, you see a large set of wings flapping in the distance. Knowing who it could it be, you rushed your pace in excitement.

"Venti! Dvalin!" you called, gaining  both of the owner's name attention-- Dvalin looks up whilst Venti turns his head around. "(Y/N)?" A smile appears on the bard's face. "Hey, Venti, how have you been?" you ask, making your way to sit beside Venti and Dvalin.

He chuckles. "I've been doing okay. Not many exciting things are going on since, well, you know.." He hinted at the Dvalin, scratching his head. "So, how was Liyue? Did you meet Rex Lapis?"

"About that.." You went ahead and excitedly talked about the chaos that was soon resolved in Liyue and mentioned how Rex Lapis was now a broke consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour, earning a laugh from both the bard and dragon.

"The old coot has finally decided to step down, huh?" Venti laughs once more. "Anyway, what brings you back in Mondstadt?"

"Isn't it obvious? Mondstadt is my first home upon arriving here, so I am bound to come when the holidays rolls in," you say and added, "We also brought you two gifts." Having said so, you gave Venti and Dvalin's gifts, a smile spread on your face.

"For me as well?" Dvalin sounds quite surprised and you laugh at the question. "Of course, why should I leave you out?" you question. The dragon remained silent for a while before thanking you in earnest.

"Oh, right, are you joining everybody else at Angel's Share tonight?" you directed the question to the Anemo Archon. "Do you need to ask? If Master Diluc will give me free drinks, then of course I will!" The four of you broke into another joyous laughter.

The sun was now fading in the distance when you and Paimon had to part ways with the other two to make one, last visit. "To Wolvendom we go, Paimon!"

When you were on the outskirts of the territory, the sun was nowhere to be see, and having the moon as your only light source. "Paimon thinks we shouold give his tomorrow.." Paimon quiver, looking anxiously for anything that might come and scare her.

"We shouldn't wait until tomorrow because it isn't Christmas anymore by then," you state. The walk was silent and you had to admit, you started to become anxious, the sound of crickets being the only thing that was making noise scaring you. You wondered where the wolf boy could be and if he was still out, wandering the forest.

In the dead silence, sound of bushes rustling in the distance came about, scaring both you and Paimon. "Eep! What is it?" Paimon asks, using you as a shield. You took out your sword and took a stance, waiting for whatever was hiding in the bush in front if you.

Then, to scare the both of you even more, the creature leapt out of the bushes. "AHH! Don't eat Paimon!" She closes her eyes and cowers behind you. You took a few moments before realizing what it was that you were staring and sighed a breath of relief, looking at Paimon over your shoulders. "Paimon, it was just a boar." The boar was long gone when it leapt from the bushes, frightened for its life.

"Oh, ah, that's good," Paimon says awkwardly. But wait, "Hey, what do you think it was running from?" you ask, remembering how it didn't simply walk out of the bush and ran, but was running through it as if it was being chased.

As if on cue, more rustling of bushes came from the same direction, but this one shaking the bush to its full extent. You readied your sword and Paimon returns to cower behind you.

It felt slow, but when the thing emerges from the bush, you were surprised to see who it was. "Gah, please don't eat Paimon!" she pleads with her eyes closed.

"(Y/N)..? And Paimon?" The sound of the person's voice made Paimon realize who it was and she opens her eyes. "Razor! So, it was you who was chasing the boar?"

"You see boar?" Razor's eyes lit up. "Yeah, it ran past us just now," you answered, seeing the boy droop his head down. "Ah, do you want us to catch you a boar?" The silver-haired male shook his head. "No need.. Want extra food.. For night.." he says. Ah, he was having those late-night cravings. Understandable, you mentally agree.

"What is you.. Here? Left adventure.. Night now," he asks. You smiled. It has been a while since you last talked to the wolf boy, so seeing him the same as before felt kind of comforting to know. You outstretched your hand with the present and said, "Merry Christmans, Razor."

The boy stare at the object in your hand, a bit confused and stare back up-- into your eyes. "This is for you," you said and urge him to take the gift. "For me..?" You nod, watching him hesitantly take the gift off of your hands. "Razor heard.. Of Christmas. Now know gifts," he says, feeling a bubble of happiness well up inside him. "Thank you.."

"You're welcome, Razor. I wish you a happy holiday with your family," you said, referring to his wold pack. He nods and bid you farewell, waving a hand at your retreating figure, a wolf soon appearing beside him and hint him to go back

"Paimon is hungry," Paimon cries. "Well, it is about time we should be heading to the tavern now, so just a few more walks and you can eat," you said, agreeing that you were hungry as well.

The tavern was filled with light emitting through the crack if the door. Pushing it wide open, you were greeted by a whiff of sweet aroma coming from the many food set before you. "(Y/N), Paimon! Glad you could make it!" Amber was the first to greet, a smile on her face, others quickly doing the same.

"(Y/N)-- hic-- come join me and have a drink!" Venti waves on over, a glass in hand. The bard had long started before all of you, wanting as many of the free wine he could get his hands on. You laughed at his state, joining him at the bar with Diluc behind it, a look of disbelief visible on his face.

The night was filled of warmth with merry people-- eating, drinking, chatting, laughing-- whatever floats your boat. Paimon was stuffed and couldn't take another bite. You watched the people who became your first family, a smile slowly spreading your face, happy of the choice to return for Christmas and join your very first Christmas in Teyvat with your family of this world.

---

Happy holidays everyone and have a happy new year! ^♡^

~♡~

“Do you regret it now??”

.

.

.

“Of course i regret it every day, to think that this wouldn’t have happend if i left you to die that day”

Omgg, anoooon! This actually told me so many things with only a few words than I could have ever hoped to express within my pages of words and I love it!! It makes me want to scrap all my stories, haha. ❤️

I am back with more Ideas for my beloved retired general husband…

In my head I imagine that Lilia has PTSD and as someone that also has that…oof the PTSD episodes are rough

watching others die, killing others…I feel that a part of him will always believe that he’s a harbinger of destruction and death and that he doesn’t deserve to love someone

it might’ve also added to his issue with raising Malleus and Silver! :0

ALSO I THINK HE’D BE ABLE TO SPEAK DIFFERENT LANGUAGES 😳😳😳

imagine this man leaning down and starting to whisper stuff in your ear in German or French

I’d simply….Perish 💀

-Jonah🐉

JONAH ANON! I am in total agreement with you here. >< I can't imagine Lilia not having PTSD with what had happened and all. I try to find opportunities to subtly hint that in my works of Lilia, but I'm not sure how that's going.

Also, I am very sad to here that you have PTSD. I am not well informed with it (just the term and a tiny bit of knowledge) but if you ever break and need someone to vent/cry/seek someone to talk to, I hope I can be of help. I have parents who are both in healthcare+medicine so I'll definitely ask should a problem arise.

And I like your imagery about the raising children part. I now think that as he was raising his children (you know what I mean), there were times where he'd question himself if he was deserving of them and generally having a hard time accepting how he's now basically a stay-at-home father. I picture little Silver wandering around and just finding him in his room late at night staring out the window with an almost pained look with questions hanging in the air. Silver would be found out after calling out for Lilia. 🥺 It was from that moment that baby Silver would start to wonder what was that look of sadness in his father's eyes that night for, but will never get an answer when asked. Ahh!! Thank you for helping me fill my head of these thoughts.

Lastly! For having been alive for so many years, I do think he is capable of speaking in different tongues but German and French? PLEASE! I can just feel his breath by my ear and chuckling deeply as I read that sentence. Mans could whisper the steps to baking a cake in some other language with that husky, deep voice and I'd melt. Like, it doesn't have to be dirty words! His voice alone can overpower me.

I love having these conversations with you. ☺️ It really makes me happy and hyped up to talk about Lilia.

This is a bit embarrassing to say, but I want to share it. So, I had this dream where I was in Genshin. All of the characters were there, inside Angel's Share. For some reason that I don't know about, we made some sort of circle and I was asked who I liked more. Venti said something like, "You'll pick me, right, [my name]?" and getting close to me with that smile of his. Diluc then said something like, "I highly doubt she'd choose you." I know he said something meaner because it hurt Venti. Others agreed with Diluc. Zhongli and Scara looked very smugged in the background because they know how much I love the two. Venti continued to smile despite what Diluc said. I was angry at them all because that was just mean. So, in order to prove them all wrong, I went and hugged Venti and said, "Of course I'd choose Venti!" I imagined him to smell like flowers and was very warm and soft to the touch. He was taller than me too (which I expected, seeing as I am 4'9. Short human). When I woke up, I realized how touch starved I am. It was my first time hugging anybody, even if it was just in my dreams. I don't even remember the last time I hugged any of my family members. don't like the thought of having skin-to-skin interaction with anybody. But I literally cried after having that dream. •~•

If Lilia broke up with me I'd probably go for the therapist. I need to assess what the fork is wrong with me, why do I gravitate unsustainable relationships with single grandads

Haha, so true, anon! Lilia is just too good of a forbidden fruit for us. ^v^

I've been uploading my stories onto a different platform and downloading them on a drive after hearing the recent situation of Google docs stealing people's work to feed it into AI. Please be patient with me everyone! I'll upload a chapter soon.

║Jade Leech║ Do You Love Me? / Geraniums

Jade Leech x reader / slight Floyd Leech x reader if you squint

Reader: Gender-neutral/not mentioned

Warning(s): characters might be a little out of character

Word count: 11.6k

Character count: 61.9k

Angst with comfort , but then with a tiny bit more angst.

All rights reserved. Do not steal/copy and paste and upload it anywhere.

—

Note:

I’m still quite new to the Twisted Wonderland community so I do apologize sincerely that the characters might seem out of the norm.

My first contribution to Twisted Wonderland.

Also, is it spelled Grim or Grimm? The wiki says Grim but if I remember correctly, the brothers’ surname is spelt Grimm, if ‘Grim’ is actually referring to the brothers, that is.

—

You loved him and you were sure he loved you too.. Err, you hoped that you were sure he loved you too. You can't deny that although Jade is a gentleman and very kind to shower you with presents which are things you've never dreamt of wanting, let alone ask somebody else to buy them for you, there is something missing in the interactions between you two. It almost seemed like there is no love in everything he does with you.

But you daren't speak of that to Jade and only to appear as a clingy or paranoid lover. Maybe it's just you. Maybe he still needs some time to adjust to the current flow of having someone else to take care of other than his twin. You couldn't fault him, seeing as you were the one who confessed first and the one to take another step in the relationship. You were rushing things, you've noticed. It may have been months into the relationship but maybe he needs years. As a lover, you have to be patient if you want things to work out between the two of you.

“..--man..” Inside the depths of your mind, thoughts regarding Jade and the rocky relationship you have was all that mattered that you didn’t realize that a certain furball was calling out to you until blue flames were in your line of sight, scaring you. “HUMAN!” “Gah! Grimm, don’t do that to people!” You said, although the tone of your voice did not sound as angry as one should, seeming that your mind is still elsewhere to not care enough. “Yeah? Well, you were spacing out that you didn’t even realize we walked past your classroom!” He snaps back. 

You look at the number above a classroom door and he was correct. “Oh.. Sorry..” You turn around and walk back down the hall and to your respected morning class. Grimm, who was tailing not too far behind you, had judging eyes; you have been spacy ever since the last date you and Jade had- which was 3 days ago to be exact- and had barely replied to anything he’s saying. He could be cursing you for all you’d know, but got either silence or a quick hum that didn’t even sound like you were acknowledging him. 

He was furious at first since a henchman should always listen to their master, but now he wonders if there is something wrong with you. He is aware that humans like you, who have no ounce of magic and are susceptible to anything, will find it difficult to live in a twisted world like his where magic holds supreme. The stronger you are, the more you are feared in this twisted world.

“Hey, is something wrong?” he asks, crossing his arms as he stands on the desk, looking up at you with questioning eyes. “Yeah, I am. Have I done anything to worry you?” “Gah, whatever, it’s nothing then.” He turns away, feeling stupid for even asking such a question. “You humans can be so confusing.. Saying that you’re fine when you aren’t,” he mumbles, which you didn’t hear nor bothered to ask to repeat since you were mostly in your own world. 

‘Maybe.. I should buy him a gift?’ You thought. He said that he has rather been awfully busy, you noticed. With what exactly? You weren’t too sure, but on top of whatever he’s busy with, he has Monstro Lounge. You don’t have much madols in your pocket, but you’re sure you can buy something heartfelt that he might like. 

Deciding on it, your spirits lightened and in your heart, a burning flame of determination. Maybe what Jade needs is to relax and if you come to him bearing a gift, he might get the message that should he need to seek comfort in someone who he can be himself around with, you are there. You can hope that this will work and that the feeling inside you of having a strained relationship will disappear.

Grimm, who was watching you closely beside you, eyed you judgmentally. To him, and to anyone who was looking, you looked like a crazed person who switched from being  unbearably depressed to smilingly widely in a span of a few seconds. 

-

Come after school, you make your way to Crowley’s office for permission to go outside the school’s premises– and hopefully get a little more madol out of the bird man– this weekend, which isn't too far away, seeing as it's tomorrow. It would rather be a tiring thing– to go outside over a gift you planned to make– but what you needed couldn’t be found in any of the campus shops. 

“Oh, Shrimpy! There you are.” An all too familiar voice calls you from a not too far away distance. “Floyd!” You smile. “What do you need?” 

“Nothing. I came on an errand for Jade,” he states plainly. You tilt your head to the side. It was odd for Jade to have someone- let alone Floyd- to do something for him instead of coming to you himself. This made you worry. Was he starting to feel burned out? Was he falling sick because he wasn’t resting enough? “O, oh.. What does he want?”

“Mm.. This.” Floyd reveals a single flower. “He said that this is a.. Uh..” Realizing that he forgot the name of the flower, he took out a small paper- presumably with the flower’s name on it- before continuing his sentence. “This is a geranium.” 

“Oh! They’re lovely.” You happily accept the flower. Although it may be only one single flower, knowing who gave it to you- your significant other- meant more than receiving the world given by someone else. Floyd wanted to say something else, eyes briefly looking at the small piece of paper in his hand and to your bright expression, seeming as if he wanted to say something more. But he didn’t. He dared not read aloud what was on the next line and opted to smile his familiar, goofy smile that you’ve come to love. Platonically, of course. 

“Hah..” He sighs after a while. "This is tiring.." He mumbles, which could be interpreted as being tired from doing errands for Jade although in truth, it meant something different.

"I'm going back to the dorm now. Bye, Shrimpy~" He says lazily as his entire, sluggish body turns around and walks off before you could get a word out. Nonetheless, he knows how appreciative you are towards him for bringing the gift. After all, it was a gift from your beloved Jade. 

Jade who, despite being so busy and probably under stress, still thought about you and even if he couldn't come to you personally, still sent someone else to deliver his heartfelt words of love in the form of a flower.

Safe to say that you completely forgot about your plans and head off to Ramshackle to preserve the flower for as long as you can.

-

"What's with that look?" You finally asked when you snapped back to reality. Grimm was staring at you so intently that the reason you came to, was that you felt a gaze on you. Turns out it was just Grimm. “Hmph, you’re really a weird one..” He mumbles, which you could barely make out, before he walks off to the kitchen downstairs, leaving you alone with the geranium placed in a glass vase filled with water to gaze at O’ so lovingly. 

Unbeknownst to you, back at Octavinelle, Jade was in his room, completely unoccupied– well, if you don’t count him admiring his terrariums as something to be busy about, that is- opposite of what you were thinking about the past couple of days. Now, why didn’t Jade come to you to deliver the flower if he was so free? That is something only he knows the answer to. 

Sluggish footsteps could be heard dragging outside the halls of his room until finally, it stopped at his door. He didn’t need to answer nor did the person outside need to knock- as if they ever- since the two knew each other well. “I’m back~” Floyd says lazily the moment he opens the door and slumps on the bed, face plastered on a pillow. Jade looks at his brother from the corner of his eyes– eyes with two completely different yet beautiful colours that allured you to him in the first place, but were mysterious, mischievous, calculating, and always looking as if they were plotting something– and spoke, “Thank you, dear brother.” His lips curled upwards into a twisted smile. 

This prompted Floyd to look up at his twin, hugging the pillow that supported his chin. “You owe me one..” He began to say, but sighs. “Eh, Shrimpy’s smile was worth it though so I’ll consider this favour done.” He yawns and places his face back on the pillow once more, still eyeing his brother who was now doing something with his terrariums. After a couple minutes of more comfortable silence, Floyd speaks up once more, with a tired yawn. “Why do you still bother with Shrimpy, brother? I know that you don’t really like them.” This halted Jade from whatever he was doing– actions with his hands stopped mid air before they continued to work away. “You know why, brother.” 

Indeed, Floyd knows, but he doesn’t agree with the method Jade has opted to use. Eh, this was Jade’s problem and not one he wants to involve himself in. If anything happens, he’s sure his brother can make the situation turn to his advantage. After all, Jade was the brains out of the two while he was the brawns. If he were in a similar situation– Eh, what is he thinking about? It’s too tiresome to even achieve such a thing in the first place. And so with that, he turned the other way and took a nap.

-

“I think these are good enough!” You exclaim as you look through the bag at the stuff you bought from Mr. S’ Mystery Shop. He surprisingly has all the stuff you wanted to buy, and at a cheaper cost too! It was a good thing because one, you weren’t sure if the money you had was enough for the shop outside and two, you totally forgot about your plan for the first day of the weekend that you had only the last to go out and do what you sought out to do. “Can’t you hurry up? I’m starving!” Grimm complains. “Right. Sorry!” You apologized as you walked a little faster to catch up to your tiny, floating companion. Glass could be heard clinking inside the bag which reminded you to be careful of where you step. One trip and fall might be enough to break the glasses inside.

“And I also haven’t forgotten that I should be giving you extra tuna today.” You smiled at the furball. Hearing about extra food made Grimm a little less pressed on the matter of rushing, but he pretended to not seem to care about it, opting to turn away with his paws over his chest. 

You stifle a chuckle, not wanting him to get angry. Then, from just barely what your ears could reach, you hear students talking amongst themselves in a.. Somewhat suspicious tone. You look over your shoulder and see students from Savanaclaw on one side and Octavinelle on the other. A bit far from each other but all the same, eyeing at your direction– at you–, grinning and snickering. You suddenly felt uneasy. Being the only magicless student made it a bit tough on adjusting to life at Night Raven. Predators seemed to lurk everywhere you went and without your first year friends around with even a bit of magic, it felt as if you were a naive rabbit who stepped into a den of wolves without knowing. 

“Hey, uh, human..?” Grimm noticed their presence too and with better ears, could pick up their up-to-no-good conversation. You quickly turn to face Grimm and force a small smile. “Let’s just hurry back.” 

Every step you took, you noticed that they, too, took the same amount of steps. You didn’t mean to panic, but you felt too frightened, and so your brisk pace broke into a run, the glass in the bag clanking aggressively. You weren’t the fittest out there so whatever amount of stamina you had, you felt slowly slip past you. Nevertheless, with the help of Grimm’s shouts of attempt encouragement and urgency, you pushed your legs past their limit, and a good thing that you did since you crashed onto a hardened chest– but still better than running into a tree. 

It was a sudden surprise that, fortunately, was received with a quick response; arms wrapped around you and a foot stepped back to stabilize the both of you. “Oh? And what is this?” A familiar deep and smooth voice makes its way into your ears followed along with a chuckle. 

Upon recognizing it, you look up in an almost tearful joy as you look at the familiar mismatched eyes of your lover. “Jade!” You smiled, tears pricking at the corner of your eyes, threatening to fall.  Your racing heart begins to calm and Jade looks up at the incoming herd of students. He could surmise what is happening, but he did not flinch or take your hand to run away with him. No, he stood and watched as they drew to a halt once they were close enough. “My, don’t tell me you were running away from.. Fufufu, no good nobodies,” Jade said to you while eyes never leaving the students. “Come on, you’re on a much higher standing than these men.” He said the last words with an almost spiteful tone, but one can never tell with Jade. 

He spins you around to face your pursuers, both hands on your shoulders and leaning down to the same eye level as you. You look at him, confused and scared. “Don’t look at me– look at them.” You followed where his eyes stared at– at the guys. “See, they don’t look much. They don’t even look like they’re worth your time. What’s so intimidating about them?” He says in that voice that would cause your legs to quake. 

One of the students got ticked off, but Jade, wasting no time, narrowed his eyes and the air around them seemed to suddenly grow cold. “Oh? A nobody dares challenge me? Fufufu.” He straightens his hunched back, looking ready to fight. His height, although not the tallest ever seen, was intimidating enough that inflicted hestiance in the students that they grumbled a few words and scrambled with tails between their legs.

After they had disappeared, paired with a few more long minutes of silence, you turned around, ready to say you thanks. “Thank you, Jade!” He smiles slightly, saying nothing, and brings a hand to hold your cheek, wiping what small tears you had that lingered at the corner of your eyes. “No need to thank me. Although, I do wonder what would have happened if I wasn’t around to protect you.” You dare not dwell on the thought. “Well, we’ll never know,” you joked.

“.. Mm, a shame..” He says under his breath with a smile, continuing to brush your cheek with the hand that was already touching your face. You were in a trance as you looked at him but broke out when he noticed your bag and asked about it. “O, oh! Uh, these are for a.. Uhm..” You sweat, eyes darting everywhere and nowhere all the same. “Oh! Right, these are supplies for a class assignment!” You mentally slapped yourself. It was a poor excuse of a lie but thankfully, Jade bought in, although it did look like he was suspicious of you. He asked no further questions, probably not interested in whatever class assignment it was, and just escorted you to Ramshackle safely before bidding goodbye. 

“That was a close one..” Grimm states to which you agreed.

-

“Eh? Shrimpy was chased?” Floyd knitted his brows with a deep frown, eyes following Jade who sat down on his chair to work on his terrariums again. “If I find those guys.. You let me know who they are if we see them!” Jade sighs. “There is no need for that, Floyd.” 

“But we need to let these guys know that Shrimpy has us!” Floyd said. “We should teach them a lesson so that they don’t try to hurt Shrimpy again!”

Shrimpy this, Shrimpy that. It makes one wonder who you were dating. “Floyd, are you perhaps interested in [Name]?” Jade asks, eyes not leaving his work. “Huh~? Of course I am! Shrimpy is a human without magic~ Hehh~ They’re fun to play with,” Floyd answers, rolling around on Jade's bed. Jade sighs, not meaning the question that way. Nevertheless, he knows the answer. “Well, would you like it if ‘Shrimpy’ was with you forever?” 

Floyd halts his actions. “Huh?” That was all Jade needed to continue. “Since you find them so fun to play with, I don’t mind giving them to you,” he said nonchalantly as if you were nothing but an object that, if no longer wanted, could just be tossed away– or in this case, given away to another man. 

“Heh? But what about–” Floyd asked, sitting up on the bed. “I’ve changed my mind,” he quickly responded. “Is there any need for me to keep a fragile pearl that is always looking for someone else to protect it and not find themselves a shell to protect itself with instead. You know how boring it can be when the same fish stays around you like a fish stuck to a hook.” Such cryptic words flew over Floyd’s head, but he understood that Jade had grown bored of you. 

“You’re going to break their heart if they hear you,” Floyd said. “Don’t worry, I’ll personally tell them myself.” 

-

“Gahh!” Back in your room, you have yet to perfect the gift you planned on giving Jade. Another failed attempt. It was late at night and you were nowhere near finishing. You followed the book down to a T but you can never seem to get the result you wanted. “Grr, I’m trying to sleep here!” Grimm roars. “S, sorry!” 

You look at Grimm and then to the work on your table that has yet to go anywhere, contemplating over something before returning to attempting at perfecting it. You allowed yourself to work on it for a little bit more before heading to bed. Sleep is crucial after all.

-

Sleep is crucial, you had told yourself last night, however, you never really pulled through with that statement since the first thing your friends are greeted with is a zombie you, yawning every few seconds. Throughout the day, your friends will point out how you looked like you haven’t slept at all yesterday– which, they weren’t wrong. You had completely lost track of the time and before you knew it, your alarm clock went off and that’s when you realized that you haven’t slept at all and would have to survive classes without falling asleep through any of them.

It was a challenging task– you either try to put effort in paying in class or try to not fall asleep. Listening in on the subject would be the first option but classes tend to live up to their reputation of being boring and make you sleepy. You opted to stay awake by keeping note of when you feel yourself nod off. 

At the final stretch of classes, you may have drifted off once or twice but you were thankful for your friends to wake you up.

As you walked down the halls, happy that your were finally able to go back to your dorm, Grimm was poking at you about how dumb you could be, saying how not getting any sleep was a much dumber move than having an hour or two of sleep. But to you, it was worth it since at the break of dawn, you have finally perfected the gift. You were honestly excited to see it work its magic itself, but that excitement was hidden under the layer of drowsiness.

You ignored your tiny friend as you pulled yourself sluggishly. However, your attitude completely changed when you saw the familiar back of your lover talking to his twin. It could not be a more perfect timing since you couldn’t wait to look at your gift to fruition. Before you could walk up to them and call out their names, Floyd sees you over Jade’s shoulder and tells his brother so. 

Jade looks at you over his shoulder. You were smiling despite how dizzy you were from how tired you were. You were about to call his name but before you could, he turned around and brushed past his brother. You were confused and.. A little bit hurt. Nonetheless, you decided to talk to Floyd instead. “Shrimpy~!!” He leaps onto you, tackling you in a bone-crushing hug. He rested his cheeks on top of your head and rubbed them, like how a cat would rub their head against their owners. “F.. Floyd.. A little too tight..!” You patted his back in hope he understood and he did, getting off of you. You take a deep breath in and out before asking your question.

“Where is Jade going?” you asked, tucking away the hurt deep in your heart’s darkest corners. “Mm~ He said he has things to do,” he answers, shrugging. “Oh.. Okay. I’ll just send him a text then,” you whispered the last part. “Mm? A text? Do you have something to talk to him about?” he asks and you nod. “It’s more like I want to give him something and I was hoping he would like to come with me to receive it.. But then again, I can always give it to him during school.” 

Floyd was silent which made you concerned for the eel. “Is something wrong, Floyd?” you asked. “Hm? Oh! Hehehh~ Nope!” He puts a hand behind his head. “If it’s a gift for Jade, I can give it to him.” It was a rather attractive offer since you couldn’t wait for Jade to receive it but.. “Thank you, but I would like to give it to him personally. I want him to know how much I appreciate him and care about him,” you said and added, “And besides, I want to watch it with him..” 

-

When you got back to your dorm, you passed out after quickly changing out of your uniform. You didn’t wake up at all that day and it was only when your alarm went off that you woke up, feeling fresh. 

You looked at your table in a small jar– the gift– and made a note to message Jade to meet up after classes are over since you wanted to give him something. You didn’t get a reply, but that didn’t bother you at all since he was still probably getting ready at this time.

But it did bother you later on when classes were about to be over and you’ve had zero text notifications from him. It also made you worry. Was he in danger? Was he sick? You doubt that he got into some trouble since he didn’t seem the type to. Maybe he was sick and couldn’t answer? But he seemed fine yesterday.

“Hey, you have been looking at your phone so intensely.. You can’t burn a phone with your eyes, you know..” Ace said once the bell rang, signalling that classes are over for the day. “O, oh! Was I?” You laughed awkwardly. “I have been waiting for a text actually..”

“Hm? A text? From who?” he asked. “From Jade.” You smiled, thinking about Jade. The mention of your boyfriend draws a halt amongst your friends. Noticing that your friends weren’t keeping in pace with you, you stopped and turned around. “Uh, hey, what’s wrong?”

“[Name], you haven’t heard?” Deuce asks. Your heart dropped. Did Jade go and got himself hurt? “W, what? What haven’t I heard?” you almost demanded shakily. “Well, we heard that–” Before Ace could say anything further, Deuce clasped his mouth with a hand. “It’s nothing. We just heard that Jade wasn’t at, uh, school today,” Deuce quickly makes up a lie. But this did not calm your heart. Was he sick? If so, you should go over to him right now! 

You sprinted away from your friends and Grimm, not hearing them bicker over something. When you turned a corner, you were greeted with the students from the day you went to buy things for Jade’s gift. “He won’t show up, right?” one asks which another answered. “Yeah, I’m sure.” 

Oh no. Was Jade’s sickness made aware to these guys and knew that no one will be able to help you? The only way to go to Jade right now was to pass through the guys but you don’t have magic to defend yourself nor know any self defense. It seemed that the only option was to turn around and run, but when you turned around, you couldn’t take a step forward before being grabbed by the arm. “Hey! Let me go!” you shouted, hopefully loud enough for something to hear and come to your aid. 

“Heheh, you’re weak and hopeless. No wonder why he left you,” the student who grabbed you laughed. “But I can take better care of you and I won’t dump you because you’re weak.”

“What are you talking about? No, nevermind that– let go!” The more you struggle, the tighter the grip on you becomes– to the point that you wince. The grip on you became tighter and you felt tears trickling down your cheeks. “Hahah! Look, look! They’re crying,” a student watching pointed out. “What a cute thing, eh? Hahah.”

“Ehh~? What’s this?” Down the halls, the heels of a shoe echoed and soon a silhouette appeared in the dark. You felt relieved that someone had come and even more so when that silhouette revealed itself to be Floyd, a hand behind his neck.

He looks at the situation with lazy eyes; first at the guys surrounding you before his mismatched eyes landed on your terrified yet slightly relieved form. “Shrimpy!” His eyes widened and before you knew it, he ran at an incredibly fast speed and punched square in the face at the guy holding your arm in a bruising grip.

“So are you the guys who were chasing Shrimpy down?” he asks in a demanding tone, referring to the shopping incident not too long ago. He cracked his knuckles and neck; ready to beat somebody– or in this case, the guys in front of you. 

He was about to grab the one nearest to him but you stopped him, grabbing his arm slowly and carefully. When you got his eyes on you, you shook your head. If he were to fight them, he would get into trouble and that is something you don’t ever wish to see him in. 

He hesitated. And by the look of the pained expression he had, it seemed as if it was a hard thing to do. But thankfully, he listened, but not before saying some threatening words to the guys who scampered off for good. 

“Shrimpy, are you okay?” Floyd ask you, having his full attention on you. You nod, wiping off the streak of teas on your face. “Other than this bruise that can be treated, yeah, I am. Thank you, Floyd.” You look up at him and smiled a genuine smile. “Hehe~ Anything for you, Shrimpyy~” he said and added, “Those guys won’t ever come back and if they do, make sure to tell me. I won’t let them go this time.” You laughed. “I promise to tell you.”

You would have thanked him once more and left, but you quickly remembered why you were there in the first place. “Oh! Right, is Jade okay?” you ask, catching Floyd off guard. “Mm? Why wouldn’t he be?” he ask, raising an eyebrow. “W, well I heard that he wasn’t at school today and thought that he might be sick.. He hasn’t answered my message from this morning too!”

Floyd was about to directly deny Jade's absence but pondered on it a bit. “Heh~ Where did you hear that?” “From Deuce!” you answered without a second to waste. He tilts his head, looking at you blankly before his expression changes, smiling widely with closed eyes. “Ehh~ So is that it?” You nodded. “Hehe, don’t worry, Shrimpy. Jade is not sick,” he said and patted your head reassuringly. “So he did come to school today? Why didn’t he answer my message?” 

His eyes wandered to the upper corner of his eyes, thinking, before smiling his closed-eyed smile again, stroking the top of your head. “I’m sure he was just busy. I’ll tell him about it.” You smiled. “That would be great. Thank you, Floyd!” You give him your own bone-crushing hug– which couldn’t even hold a candle to his hugs– and walks away, turning every once in a while to wave goodbye to Floyd.

Once you were gone, Floyd’s cheery expression dropped along with the hand that waved at you, a darkness shadowing over his eyes. Mix that with the surrounding light and it made it look like his eyes glimmered. With a deep frown, he went back to Octavinelle where his brother most likely was.

-

Several, long and agonizing days went by and you still haven’t heard from Jade. You didn’t see him around campus and so is Floyd. You wanted to ask him if he told Jade or forgot about it, but he was nowhere. Soon, it was to the point where your gift had to be remade again because it was.. Fading, let’s say. This made you tear up and frustrated when you had to remake it again. Once again, it took some time to make it, but this time you couldn’t bring yourself to perfect it once more. Your mind was too busy with other thoughts concerning Jade. It felt like he just up and disappeared on you. Frustrated, you get up from your seat and go to bed, hoping to catch some sleep with what remaining hours. However, not long before you lay your head did you get up again to work on the gift again. Tomorrow, you will make it so that you will see Jade, even thinking about storming up to Octavinelle’s dorm and demanding answers from him should he not be around the halls.

It was going to be raining the next day and if the sky was telling you something, you wished you listened. There was yet to be rain when you head off to school though and you presumed that it would be raining some time after classes. You showed up to school tired the next day and sat through each class impatiently. It was only after the ring of dismissal that you rushed out of your class, leaving Grimm and your friends, and walked around the main school building, hoping to see any of the twins. When you couldn't, you went to your dorm, got the gift for Jade, and headed off to his dorm. 

Once you got here, you cleaned yourself up a bit to not look like a ghost like your friends had stated, taking deep breaths before you went and looked for Jade’s room. When you got there, you prepared yourself again, giving yourself some encouraging words in your head before raising a hand, knuckle facing the wooden door, ready to knock. 

However, before you could ever make contact with the door, you heard your name. It made you curious so you stayed silent, hoping to know what they were saying.

“Mm, I haven’t seen Shrimpy today.” Floyd takes a deep breath before letting out an even deeper sigh. “When will I be able to see Shrimpy, Jade?” Well, at least you now know that both of them were in the room together. But this begs the question, were they purposely avoiding you? Based on the second part of what Floyd said, it really seemed like that.

“Tell me, Floyd, did you ever tell them what Geranium meant?” Jade asks, not answering Floyd's question. “While it can mean happiness and friendship, it originally represented stupidity.” Jade, who had a vase full of geraniums, plucked one and brought it close to his lips which tugged upwards in a sly smile that was most easiest to do if you had been dealing with the dark for a long time.

“Fufufu, soon, Floyd. But not now. I can’t have them use you as a middleman to get to me,” you hear Jade say. Why didn’t Jade want you to reach out to him? “You haven’t been replying to their messages too, right?” Floyd asks, hugging a pillow as he situated himself on the bed with crossed legs. “Don’t you think you’re being a little too mean, Jade? At this point, I would have come and stormed to the dorm to find you.”

Floyd frowned, feeling bad about how his Shrimpy isn’t aware about the heartbreak that would follow up soon after a few more days of avoidance. “Fufufu, though they were much fun to tease, it’s no longer needed to keep up with this charade. I have gathered all necessary information for Azul should he need to blackmail them,” he chuckles. 

You gasped and quickly put a hand over your mouth, hoping they didn’t hear it. Tears gathered at your eyes and slowly took small steps back before breaking out into a sprint to hurriedly get away from the dorm and Jade. Geraniums.. O’ how it fitted you so. A naive, foolish human like you could never hope to hold a candle to Jade so how dare you think it so? 

Back in Jade’s room, Floyd sighed while Jade returned to his work as if nothing had just happened. Both of them knew that you were coming and purposely started talking when you were at the door, as instructed by his brother. 

“Jade, why couldn’t you just break it off to them yourself? This is way too mean,” Floyd said. “Fufufu, I need one more fun out of them before I can no longer have that chance.”

-

When you got out of their dorm, it was raining heavily and to rub more salt on how stupid you could be, you forgot to bring an umbrella. The only thing to do was run in the rain, the raindrops hiding your tears as you ran through to get to Ramshackle. You clutched onto the jar tightly that glowed much brighter in the darker skies, your heart shattering with every step you took. 

If the rain wasn’t enough to obstruct your vision, your bleary eyes made it worse as you ran. Suddenly, and without warning, you tripped on a tree’s roots, causing you to trip and fall, the jar shattering into pieces like your heart. The pain you felt cursing through you from your hands couldn’t compare to the pain in your heart. All this time, Jade had only seen his time with you as an errand for Azul where you, on the other hand, felt something more. You had felt happiness beyond what friends and family could hope to offer. A much more intimate stage of love.

You cried harder, allowing the rain to drown out your cries and hide your tears, not caring about the gift that had spilled. It was only when the rain had died down and the sun had set well beyond the horizon that you made your way to Ramshackle where Grimm awaited about to get angry with you. But upon seeing your state, he said nothing, eyes following your retreating form to go to your bedroom. 

Grimm and the ghosts in Ramshackle stayed silent that night, hearing the wails that threatened to break your vocal cords. But you did not care and only fell asleep when your eyes felt heavy and forced itself shut.

-

It was a bad idea– going to bed in soaked clothes and open wounds that weren’t treated because in the morning, not only did you feel cold, you felt the pain from the wounds become much worse. You hissed as you got up, making your way to the bathroom and finding the first aid kit to treat yourself. It wasn’t an easy thing to do since both of your hands were in pain and that everything that it touched felt like thorns were pricking on your skin. 

You wanted to shower with what had happened yesterday and getting soaked in the rain, but you felt that the water would just add more pain to the wounds on your hands and knees.

When you showed up to classes that morning, you had your friends question what happened to your hands and legs and why your eyes were red and puffy. You made an excuse of having forgotten to bring an umbrella and having to run out in the rain and tripping on a root which made you cry. It wasn’t a complete lie, but you did omit the part of why you were out and about during a rain and about the heartbreak, though that part did not need to be said, and that your teary eyes only confirmed the rumour that was up in the air a couple days ago. 

You were in shambles and it was only at your downfall did Jade make his appearance in school normal again. To every hall you walk from class to class, you saw him. You stopped at some point and made eye contact with him. You felt your heart tightened at the sight of him. The eyes that you thought were clouded with love for you seemed ordinary. Were his eyes always like that? Did it never hold any feelings towards you? Was it all a delusion that you had convinced yourself? It most likely was when you see that he looks ahead and ignores you.

You felt slightly dizzy and nauseous so you returned to your dorm where your sickness grew worse. You didn’t feel like eating that night so you promptly told Grimm to have dinner by himself and went to bed.

The next time you woke up, which was in the afternoon of the next day, your state turned for the worse and you knew you were having a fever. When you got up, you had the immediate urge to puke so you ran to the bathroom. Grimm stayed home when he noticed you weren’t waking up and looked really out of it. He and the ghosts watched you in silent worry. 

Once you were done puking out whatever you puked out, you looked at your hands, realizing you had forgotten to change the bandages on your hands so it looked very unsanitary. You groaned and got up, looking for the first aid kit to change them again. “Human, your friends came by this morning..” Grimm begins, hoping to get you to talk to him. “They were, uhh, worried.” This was not so Grimm of him and it made him almost shiver but he pushed past that. 

When he got no word out of you, he stayed quiet, fidgeting a bit. He didn’t know what to do. I mean, what should he do in a situation he had never encountered before? 

“Grimm..” You groggily say. Man, was it hard to force yourself to speak. However, Grimm’s ears perked up; ready to listen to what you have to say. “Could you.. Get me a glass of water.. Please?” you asked. “You got it!” He said quickly and went downstairs. 

After he disappeared from your sight, you returned to your room and changed your clothes from the uniform worn yesterday to proper, comfortable clothes. The moment you sit down on the edge of your bed, Grimm comes back with a large glass of water. You would chuckle at the state of urgency he was in, but all you could master was a small smile and a close to a whisper ‘thank you’ before you downed the glass to almost nothingness. 

It made you feel a little better. You rested your head on the pillow again, checking your phone just in case and later scrolling through Magicam. Your friends texted you– just the Adeuce duo, Epel, and Jack really since they were the ones most closest to you seeing as you guys were in the same year– saying that they heard about your state and wished you a good and speedy recovery. Sebek.. Well, Sebek was Sebek and off to care about his young master more.

When you opened Magicam– you shouldn’t have– the first thing you saw was your page and your profile. It was of you and Jade. Your bio was some along the lines of ‘I would never trade you for the world’. Although it was true that you still would never trade Jade up for anything the world had to offer, it looked like Jade would do the opposite; ready to trade or throw you away. 

Now that you look at it properly, you noticed that Jade never posted a thing about you, had a profile picture of you like you had, nor mentioned you in his bio or any text post. He knew that it would be only a matter of time before he ended things with you. How heartless he was.

You started to cry silently at first but it quickly turned into messy sobs. 

The routine of waking up at random hours of the day, going to the bathroom to puke and change your bandages, then later crying yourself to sleep occurred for the next three days.

One day, however, something was different. You had a dream. You quickly forgot what it was the moment you opened your eyes. Your fever has gotten worse at this point since you did forget to do one thing: to take care of yourself; maintaining a healthy appetite despite being ill. 

When your eyes fluttered open, the room was pitch black except for the light coming from the moon outside. You heard shuffling somewhere around you and you assumed that it was Grimm so you quietly called out for him. “Fufufu, you called out my name throughout your sleep, yet you now call another the moment you wake up?” You were confused at who the voice belonged to, still in a daze with your fever. 

You meant to ask who was there, but you couldn’t voice it out so you opted to look at wherever the voice originated and surely enough, you see a human silhouette– not Grimm’s– just a metre or so away from you. You tried to call again but nothing came out. 

Whoever was in the room was not Grimm, but you didn’t feel scared. I mean, if it were some other student, you were sure Grimm or the ghosts would have chased them out by now. And besides, the presence was very calming.

The figure made its way to your bed, sitting down at the edge of it, their back facing away from the moon’s light so you couldn’t see their face. “Here, why don’t you drink some water?” They help you sit up and support you up, having a hand rest on your lower back while the other guides a glass of water up to your lips.

Once you downed the glass, they helped you lie down before standing up to fetch a wet towel to place over your head. “Don’t speak,” the voice orders and you listen surprisingly.

Scared that whoever the person in your room would leave, you held on to one of their hands. So far, this person was very kind to have helped you in your worst state and you could not bring yourself to let them leave. This gesture made the second party chuckle and stroke your head with their free hand. “My, what would you become if I wasn’t around to guide you? Look at you– it hasn’t been long and you have already went and gotten yourself sick.”

Whatever they were saying flew out of your other ear as you allowed them to stroke your head since it made you feel sleepy. The person only stopped when they were sure you were asleep, your light snoring to prove it. 

At a specific angle, did the moon cast a light at two different coloured eyes. They seemed to glow as they watched you intently, mind running a million miles a minute with thoughts that no one else could guess. 

However, after a while and in the moment of you dreaming, you whispered something that caught the figure off guard. “Do you love me.. Jade?” The way you said it sounded broken, but the person did nothing to console you– not even say under their breath what you wished to hear and hope it makes it into your dreams. 

-

Jade was on his way to his dorm when a loud and annoying furball was racing at him with flames in his eyes and shouting at him. He and Floyd stopped on their tracks and watched as Grimm came crashing into Jade. He quickly pulls away and proceeds to hit Jade with whatever strength he’s got. 

“Hm~? What are you doing here, earless seal? Aren’t you supposed to be with your master?” Floyd asks. “[Name] has gotten worse and keeps calling out this jerk's name,” Grimm states angrily. “This is all your fault! After all the things they went through to make you a gift– failed attempts, broken shards that cut their hands, not getting a wink of sleep–”

“Woahh, calm down there–” Floyd was cut off. All Grimm could see was red. “You go and do this to them!?” At the high level of rage, one would think he would unleash magic that would cause an overblot any time soon and that was something the twins weren’t excited about. 

Floyd reached a hand out and clamped his mouth shut, ears ringing from the shouting. “You’re annoying.” 

Grimm was silent and when Floyd was sure he wouldn’t go and yell anymore, he pulls his hand away. “Now, why don’t you start from the beginning? Make it one sentence only while you’re at it,” Jade said. Grimm crosses his arms. “Hmph. If you haven’t noticed by now, my human isn’t around because of a fever caused by a jerk.”

“A fever? Shrimpy has a fever?” Floyd repeats. He wasn’t aware of this since he wasn’t in any of your classes at all this week– not that he attends them frequently. “And I assume that jerk would be me, yes?” Jade asks, not needing to hear an answer. 

“Mm.. I think you should go and check on Shrimpy, Jade. You’re being a little too mean to them,” Floyd suggests. Jade honestly felt like it wasn’t his responsibility to go over to you and take care of you, but he did agree with his brother that he would just be lower on the standing compared to the guys who chased you days ago. 

After drawing out a long sigh, he eventually agrees. Floyd kept Grimm with him, wanting to play a game of chase. When Jade arrived at the front steps of your dorm, the sun was quick to almost set and the dark colours of the night skies slowly took over. When he entered, he was met with the ghosts that dwell in the building. They were ready to give him a fright, standing right at the door, but he dismissed them and made his way upstairs and to your bedroom where a clutter of things obstructed his path. 

He moves them aside with his legs, sometimes just stepping over them with his long legs until he is finally at the side of your bed. You were mumbling incoherent things by that point that Jade had to bend down to hear what you were saying with that pained expression. “Jade..” Ah, so it was him you were calling out even in the midst of your dreams. How funny it is that you were still uttering his name despite being the one to make you feel worthless. 

Eyes tearing away from you, he looks around at the mess and sighs. Here he thought he would just check up on you before leaving, but remembering Floyd words, he decided to clean up the mess. It would be a bad thing if the dirt of your room made you even more sick. And if you were to become worse, he knows for a fact that his brother wouldn’t stop nagging him.

While cleaning up, he would hear you mumble his name under your lips as if it was a chant; as if it would bring him back to you. He would often stop, close his eyes and take a deep breath in and out before continuing. 

When the floor was spick and span of obstacles, he felt that he did not need to stay anymore. But when he turned around, his eyes caught a glimpse of something in the far corner of the room– where your desk is at. There was a faint glow on the table. It was much dimmer than the light of the moon, but still noticeable if you weren’t in a rush. Curious, he made his way over and noticed all the jars and potion bottles messily scattered. In the garbage bin beside were broken pieces of glass. 

He thinks back to when Grimm had come running towards them in fury, his arm hugged around his waist, supporting the other arm that was drawn close to his face, a finger to his lips. “These must be the failed attempts..” He mumbles, eyes scanning the desk until he was satisfied, though he did not see a book or note of what you were trying to make. 

He recalls you saying that they were for a class assignment, but it has seemed to stretch on for quite a long time and wonder when the due date is. He ponders if you were being foolish again in wanting to be ‘creative’ in potion making or not. You weren’t Rook and you know that so why would you attempt to do something dangerous like potion making without supervision? He would never know with that head of yours. 

He chuckles at that. You were truly a foolish human.. His foolish– Oh? What’s this? Why is he now just thinking about you in this way? He doesn’t believe his feelings towards you have changed. You were always seen as somebody dumb and always needing protecting to him. 

“Jade..” The call of his name snaps him out of his thoughts and looks over his shoulder over to your bed. Your breathing had become quick and shallow. “My, what a dream you must be having,” he says under his breath before leaving the room for only a short duration of time and returning with a bowl and towel in one hand and a glass of water in the other. 

When he returns, he notices your eyes flutter open slowly. And though in the dark, he could tell that your vision was hazy. His shoulders relax at the thought of not being easily identifiable to you. He would hate it if you were to cling onto him again. 

Not wanting to waste anymore unneeded time away from his terrariums, he got you to go to bed after making you drink water and place a cool, damped towel on your forehead. But to his dismay, you held on to his gloved hand. Are you that naive to trust your life to a person you can’t properly identify? He might have been a bad guy and if he truly was one, seeing your vulnerable state would make him think that you were easy to deal with.

The light of the moon and the darkness of the room sculpted out his face perfectly and mismatched eyes that looked at you glowered at that thought. Had you not learned your lesson from being chased by those students? He was amazed you had come this far in life– to make it to Twisted Wonderland. Were you chased at school back in your world? You do come across as the easy type for any predator looking for a prey. Then again, in your world, humans there are also defenceless like you, right? 

At that thought, he was curious about your world. How do so many magicless and helpless humans manage to survive– let alone create a community– without any magic? He wished to ask you, but you were happily snoring away. 

What is he talking about? He was shocked that he wanted to know more about you and the world you came from. He never had asked a single question that would be considered as personal to you.. However, he was amazed. The corner of his lips pulled slightly upwards and in the cast of the moonlight, did he have a genuine smile. Just how did you do it, he asked himself, not realizing the small smile.

After a while, he decided that he should go but once he was about to pull his hand back, his attention was caught on to something else– Despite having a temperature that skyrockets past roofs, your hands were awfully pale and cold.. And poorly wrapped in bandages? He wouldn’t have known through touch by his gloved hand, but both of your hands were indeed wrapped in bandages that were too loose to even prevent whatever wound you were trying to heal to be treated properly. 

He sighs once again at how much tending you needed. It was annoying but he did not complain. He went to your bathroom after carefully getting your hands off of him and searched for the first aid kit– which was just sitting on top of the counter. It was scattered like how your room was just before he entered and decided to clean up. You were almost running out of bandages, which makes him concerned– though he won’t admit it– to just how deep of a wound you have gotten. Just what type of injury did you have anyway?

When he returned to your side again and carefully undos your wrapping, his eyes were shocked to see the deep cuts on your hands. What the Sevens were you doing to have gotten ugly cuts? He would have bombarded you to tell him the truth, but since you were asleep, he couldn’t. He thinks back to the coward guys a week ago now. Were it those guys? He purposely spread word to only a small few, but to think that those guys took advantage of you when they thought he wouldn’t be around you anymore to hurt you? He wished he hadn’t let them go at that moment. 

Pushing his anger aside for now, he wraps your hands in the bandages nicely. It wasn’t too tight nor was it too loose that it would come undone quickly. 

Just when he was about to get up from the bed to return the kit, you weakly ask a question in the midst of your dream. “Do you love me.. Jade?” Your voice was hoarse despite having drank a large glass of water not too long ago. It sounded hurt– no, broken as well.

Does he love you? No, he did not. But, so then what was this unnecessary anger? If he did not love you, he should not feel angry for you. He said nothing and decided that it was rather past the appropriate time to be loitering around your room.

It was at this point that he was sure he had no further tending to, so– subconsciously– he took away the towel on your forehead for a short while, only to place a kiss on the middle of it before putting the towel back on. He hadn’t realize what he did, only doing something routine to him when he would come by your place. 

He would come by your place to chat or do some baking and when it had gotten past the time, you would urge him to tuck you to bed and place a kiss on your head. It was a distant thing to him now that his heart– unknowing to him– still holds onto. 

-

When you woke up, the sun had yet to peak through the cracks in the horizon, but you were feeling much refreshed after sleeping days away. When you wake up, the first thing you notice is the feeling of light pressure on your forehead. Your hands reach for it, and sitting up, you realize that it was a towel. 

You try to think hard of what happened yesterday, drawing a finger to your chin as your eyebrows knit. You closed your eyes and eventually, you did recall someone being in your room, but you just couldn’t remember who it was.

“Human!” Grimm says almost happily when he opens the door to see your figure sitting up. “About time you got up.” He makes his way over to your bed and climbs on top to be by you. 

He crossed his arms and observed your state. Colour had come back to your cheeks and you looked much alive, though you do seem to have lost weight by just sleeping the majority of the time. 

“Oh, right, thank you, Grimm,” you said, making your little companion make the sound of confusion with a raised brow. “You know.. For taking care of me last night.” 

“That wasn’t me,” he said coolly, though did not speak further. “What? Then who..?” Your voice trailed as your eyes wandered to the towel in your hands. That’s when you noticed that your hands were wrapped nicely– a much nicer job than what you could ever do. This only proved that Grimm couldn’t have done it because well.. He doesn’t have proper fingers to grip the bandages– and let’s not forget that he has never done these kinds of things to easily get a beautifully wrapped hand.

You were quiet for a while that Grimm became concerned. Then suddenly, your head shot up and looked at your bedroom. It was clean. Your eyes then landed on your desk where your stuff lay– organized. Someone had come by. Someone other than Grimm had some by and that someone had come to care for you in your worst state possible. If you could just figure out who they were.. 

“Do you know who came by?” you ask. “Nope.” Such a quick response made you raise a brow questioningly. You were about to force it out of him but decided against it; knowing Grimm, he most likely will get angry and call you annoying. You did not push the topic and just hoped that your silent thank yous would be carried by the wind to the recipient. 

Grimm did not want to tell you about Jade and how he came to be in your room which was fine with Jade since he did not want you knowing. After leaving Ramshackle, he warned Grimm to not speak of him to which Grimm replied snappily about not wanting to tell you about him in the first place. Both worked in their favour.

You might have forgotten what happened last night and your dream, but when you woke up, you were very happy. Whatever dream you had, it grew into a new burning desire inside you and you quickly got out of bed and headed over to your desk. This time, you were sure you could make the gift in one go. 

Although you still haven’t forgotten the pain Jade had caused, you still want him to receive your gift and your silent words of appreciation. 

-

When you got to school, your friends came rushing up to you excitedly. “[Name], you’re back!” Epel said, a smile adorning his beautiful complexion. “Man, aren’t we glad that you’re back!” Ace said, a wider smile on his face.

You chatted with your friends and at the corner of your vision, you see two teal headed guys walking inside the building. Knowing that they could belong to no other, you quickly made an excuse and apologized and went to try to catch up to the tall eels. “Jade!” 

Surprised to hear his name come from a voice he had heard many times, he turns around. “Shrimpyy! You’re okay!” Floyd was the first to speak. When you got to a few feet away from them, you stopped. You were brimming with energy and Jade couldn’t help but chuckle at that, though it did not appear visibly. It was only last night were you calling his name and clinging onto him as if your life depended on it. Let’s not forget that he was the one to have broken your heart.

“Uhm, Jade, do you.. Do you have time to meet up with me after school?” you said shyly, looking down at the ground while you fidget with your hands. A clear sign of nervousness. He was surprised and it showed when Floyd looked at his surprised face and snickered.

Don’t tell him that you were still trying. Had he not hurt you enough? “I wanted to give you something.. As a friend, of course!” You quickly added the last part. After not hearing a word out of him, you became doubtful that he would accept. “I, it’s okay if you’re busy.. I–”

“No, I’m not busy. We can meet up,” he said after recomposing himself to how he normally is. You look up, a smile so bright that it was hard to describe with words how it would make one happy. “Okay! I’ll see you then!” You wave and hurried off, presumably to look for your friends once more. 

“Isn’t Shrimpy so nice?” Floyd said once he sees that you have turned a corner. “Shrimpy’s been wanting to give you a gift for a loooong time now. You’re a true villain, Jade.” Jade’s eyes narrow, still looking at where you had disappeared, and smiled slyly. “Indeed, I am.”

-

You had texted him to come meet you at Ramshackle the moment the sun started its descent in the distance. It was such a long wait that you almost couldn’t bear it. But, just as told, he was at your door when the sun began to set. 

“You came!” you said, failing to hide the excitement and relief in your tone. “Fufufu, well, I did say I would come. Now, what is it that you wished to give me?” 

“Follow me!” You got outside, without Grimm and walked to the direction of the forest beside the dorm. The walk was silent, but there was no air of awkwardness between the two of you; as if you two were just merely friends on a stroll. He notices that you have something wrapped in a cloth which he assumed was the gift, held tightly in your still bandaged hands. So why did you need to bring him all the way out here?

By the time you got to a small clearing in the forest, the day’s light completely vanished and in place, was the queen of darkness– the moon– and its colours in full for display.

He stopped walking and so did you, after taking a few steps forward to be in front of him. Without saying anything, you sat down and urged him to do the same things, patting the grass beside you. He complied and sat down where you wanted him to. 

Putting the gift on your lap, you began to unravel what was inside. It was a jar that he had seen in your room. The only difference is that it now had glowing specks of light inside of it. No, they weren’t fireflies.. Just tiny floating orbs of light. 

“Watch.” Was all you said. Silently, you remove the lid and the both of you watch as they proceed to fly out. Some glowing orbs seeped into the soils and before you know it, blue flowers sprouted from where the orbs had gone under. The flowers glowed a faint hue of blue to add more to the enchanting feeling. It was a sight to behold and made him feel much relaxed.

He recognizes these flowers to be smeraldo flowers– a flower that some had come to believe to only be an urban legend. But some do beg to differ and believe that they were flowers of the distant past that no longer grew for some unknown reason.

He was about to ask you how you had come to make these– now true– flowers to grow by yourself, but when he looked at you gazing at the floating orbs of light so fondly– looking so ethereal– with a relaxed smile, he decided not to. 

After a while, your eyes looked at the ground and gasped. “Oh! These are beautiful! I didn’t know that it had this effect.” You smiled widely, happy about what you had created. You had found a book in the dustiest part of Ramshackle’s library and after reading it, you were intrigued. You had never made it yourself– as proven with the many catastrophic explosions– but when you decided to give something in return to Jade, you thought this would be a beautiful present. Though, you must say that the book never said anything about it growing flowers. 

You pluck one closest to you and draw it closer to Jade, hoping he would take it. He eyes the flower, before taking it, a small smile evident on his face. “This is the gift I wanted to show you.. Well, not the flower part– it was something I wasn't aware of– but still, it turned out beautiful,” you said, your voice barely audible that should there be a wind to brush past, you were sure that no one could hear you.

“I heard you were busy lately and I was sure you were stressed so I thought of this in hopes that it would make you relax.. Even if it’s just for one night.. But some failed attempts were inevitable.. As you can see with my hands.. So it took some time.” You chuckled at your foolishness. You didn’t add the part where the bigger cuts were from the time you tripped because you felt that he would just make fun of you again and you didn’t want that to ruin the mood.

What? The cuts were from the times you couldn’t perfect the gift? It wasn’t anybody harassing you? He now felt like he was the stupid one. Ah, he should have guessed as much when he approached the cowering students after talking with you that morning. They were truly scared out of their wits when he showed up. He should ask Floyd what happened as he felt that his brother had done something to them. Nevertheless, what was done is done and he’s sure that they will never look your way again.. That is if they could leave the infirmary. 

When you smiled, your eyes were on your hands that sat on your lap. “Even though we aren’t together anymore.. I was hoping to still give it to you and maybe.. Hope that we could at least be friends after this..” 

Friends? His eyes widened slightly. He was confused, but knew one thing for sure: your heart are like these smeraldos; they are delicate. And you yourself would be what the field of flowers would be; a one of a kind amongst millions. 

“Friends..” he repeats, looking away from your eyes that seemed to make his heart race slightly, and to the field of flowers. “Yes..” He gulps back a lump in his throat that he didn’t know he had. “Yes, that would be nice.” 

When you returned to gazing at your gift to him, it was at this moment that he knew that your heart had pieced itself back together.. And that he had messed up. 

“[Name]..” he calls you, voice almost in a whisper. You hummed in response. “Do you know what these flowers are?” He looks at you to which you do the same. You shook your head. He chuckles. You were still the [Name] he had known before this. “These are smeraldos.”

“Wait, smeraldos?” Your eyes widened in recognition. “I thought they weren’t real!” You felt really accomplished to have found that the flowers of myth were actually real and right in front of you. “Fufufu, I thought the same.”

You returned to look at the sigh before you, now with a newfound pride. Jade looks at you in earnest and before he knew it, one thing struck inside him that made him smile bitterly as he fondly gazed over you.

Now, it was his turn.. It's his turn to go through the heartache you went through because of him, because the look in your eyes tells him that you weren’t looking to go back to the past with him. 

And at that moment, in the field of flowers, did he realize one thing: geraniums aren't fit for you at all. These smeraldo were. They fit your once in a lifetime love for him and that once these flowers dwindle and fade to urban legends once more– as if they were never there– it represents the end of your love for him.

But he chuckles bitterly upon remembering what the flowers represent: the truth that couldn't be told. It seems that the flower could fit him as well. 

His newfound and growing love for you will forever be kept a secret between himself and nobody else for he does not wish to hurt you anymore. 

The truth that couldn't be told, huh?

~♡~

OMG I GOT HIS NEW CARD!! 😭❤️

In one 10 roll too..!!

I didn't complete the event though so I didn't get his free card.. •-• I'm salty about that.