Hi! Are You Still Taking In Request??

L, Lilia, what are you wearing? You're not the birthday boy. 0_o

omg I am IN LOVE with Mal's chapter QAQ ahhhhhhh it just makes me want to hug and sing to him, like I even found this song which I think is perfect for him In The Name Of Love (EQRIC & Noreal & Muffin Cover)

CW// Spoilers for Diasomnia chapter

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OMGG!! YESS! Wow, and you're giving me ideas too, anon! My mind is wandering around, thinking about him! >< Haha, it's making me kick my feet in the air and have me squeeling.

Like, I feel like the song especially hits when he said that the place would be good if the NRC students can finally live a life where they are the protagonist of the story. It's, like, him doing it out of love! Trust your life in Malleus! No more sadness! Only happiness! Come dip in the overblot with me and I'll lead you to your eternal paradise!

Do you write for Neige Leblanche?

Yes, of course! ^^

✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ┄•͙✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙

✦❘༻𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙼𝚢 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝༺❘✦

Ch. 3 - Teas, Cakes, and the Sleeping Beauty

✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙✧⃝•͙͙✩ͯ┄•͙✩̣̣̣̣̣ͯ┄•͙✧⃝•͙┄✩ͯ•͙͙

Malleus Draconia x fem!reader

Chapter list + Summary

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Do not steal/copy + paste my works and upload it anywhere else.

⊰♤⊱⊰◇⊱⊰♡⊱⊰☆⊱⊰♧⊱⊰♤⊱⊰◇⊱⊰♡⊱⊰☆⊱⊰♧⊱

“The prince.. Wants to meet me?” This was certainly a surprise and one can guess so at the look on your face as look at the maid who stood by the door. You put down the book that you weren’t even invested in and just read it to kill time on the time period where you were given a break– Yes, you were given a schedule to follow each day. It consisted of all your lessons, break periods, meal time, sleeping time– whatever one could think of. Although, you find the part of them deciding when you should sleep a bit unreasonable.. I mean, you were pretty sure that you are now at that age where no one would need to decide when you should go to sleep. You weren’t sure who had made up this schedule of yours and so could only guess who the mastermind is. 

“Yes. He wishes you could meet him in the garden for lunch.” Although you could tell she does not want to be in the same room as you and in fact, could not even try to bother hiding the scorn on her face, she nevertheless answers you. 

You look off to the window in thought, putting a finger to your chin. Now that I’m thinking about it, it’s now been a few weeks since I’ve seen him.. You had assumed that he’ll never want to cross paths with you after that night, seeing as he has taken great interest in staying clear of your path for this long. 

You closed your eyes in contemplation, not that you were going to refuse the invitation in the first place since he is, after all, the prince. It would be rude to reject him, you believed, and let’s not forget to mention that if word got out that you had rejected his invitation, you have no doubt that this servant girl will spread rumours about how heartless you are to their beloved prince and that the marriage was a mistake. You could not have that now. Besides..

“Alright, I’ll go,” you conclude, turning your gaze to the girl. You had been building up your courage to meet him for a while now– not that you knew where he even was– to come and ask him about a letter you had received two days ago. Shocking as it may be, it was regarded to you. “You may leave now.” She bows her head not out of respect but out of protocols and leaves the room quickly as if she had been waiting for the moment. 

You sighed and returned to looking out the window. You were starting to come to peace with the fact that you’ll be living with a ghost of a husband but with that invitation that you could not reject still looming over your head that had asked that you come with him, it was now impossible to do so. This will be the first time I see him after so many days.. “Urgh..” You felt your stomach turn and you suddenly felt sick. You had almost forgotten how nervous you were when you were around him but now faced with the current reality, you felt yourself break into cold sweats just as you once had during the wedding. Now thinking about it, you’re beginning to wonder if the guests that day saw the sweat drops on your forehead and the slight shake of your hands when you held hands with him for that occasion.

Picking up your cup, you take a sip of your drink and relax as the sweet taste of it melts on your tongue.

Hm.. Maybe I should change my dress beforehand. You looked down at yourself and assessed the current clothing you were wearing. It was a simple, tiffany blue dress with white pearls stitched to it and white lace tracing around the open parts of the dress such as the sleeves. It was not overly flashy since you were just staying in the castle and not going anywhere fancy.

You thought about it. It has been a while since you've even taken a glimpse of the prince and although you both are husband and wife who should not need to impress each other, you weren’t remotely close to having the bonds of a couple. You’d most likely embarrass yourself wearing the plain dress you worse right now..

—

'Uhm.. How exactly do I get to the garden?' You had left your private lounge a few minutes ago since it was nearly time to meet him; however, you found yourself lost and running late to the lunch meetup. Your eyebrows twitch as you swore you had passed the same corridor at least twice now but you couldn’t be too sure since the castle looks the same almost everywhere. The manor back home wasn’t this confusing.. I hate castles.

You should have asked the girl from earlier the directions to the garden before dismissing her. O’ how could you have been so foolish enough to forget that you barely knew the layout of the castle? You wanted to slap yourself but you do not want to make yourself look crazy if someone were to come waltzing past you at that moment. Actually, you were praying– begging– to those higher up to have someone walk this hall so you could ask them for directions. 

Take deep breaths. You can find a way, I know it! You reassure yourself. And besides, right now, you should give yourself a pat on the back since you were certainly making progress through this maze; you were sure that you were on the main floor of the castle. 

Taking just up a few more steps ahead, you see light cascading through an open door. You are certain that it is leading outside since you doubted a chandelier could illuminate that bright still well through the day. A smile appears on your face as you walk towards the door. 

The smile turned to one of more confidence when you stepped out into the sunlight and the cobblestone path that had grass on their sides. Now you were more than halfway to reaching the garden! You just had to walk to the back of the castle– easy peasy! You chuckle, proudly resting your fists on your hips. It was a silly thing to be proud of if you think deeply about it but come on– you had navigated your way in the unfamiliar castle all by yourself! You were pretty proud of that.

You took eager, hasty steps around the castle with a determined look. Garden. Garden. Garde– “Oomph!” Just as you turned a new corner, you didn’t notice the large object in your path and so you clumsily tripped. The fall was not in the slightest soft despite falling on grass.

You slowly sat up on your knees, feeling your chin swelling from the impact. You rubbed your chin and hoped that it didn't look ugly.. In fact, it would be better if you couldn't see it at all. "Ugh.." What the heck did I trip on– oh! 

Your eyes widened as its gaze lands on a man. His eyes were closed and his breathing was soft and steady. He does not seem to have felt the kick when you hit him and the thud when you fell since he did not open his eyes at all– wait. 

Is he unconscious!? Panic sets within you. If he hadn't reacted to all that, he surely must be, right? "H-hey.." You scoot closer to the unconscious male and nudge his shoulder gently. "I didn't knock you out, did I?" There was a slight shake in your voice just thinking of the possibility, but you were sure you had just tripped on his legs and not kicked his head! "Argh..! I don't know what to do!"

As if it was godsent, the male groans amidst his senseless state. Then, "Mm.. So noisy.." He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. O' thank heavens! He really was just asleep..! You clasped your hands together and a wide smile appeared on your face. Maybe there were a few tears of joy at the corner of your eyes threatening to fall, but who knows? You were too relieved that he was okay. In fact, you were too relieved to even question why he was even there in the first place.

"Hm?" After now being fully woken up from his nap, the man notices and cranes his head towards you, the source to his reason being awake. "Who are you?"

Eh– You felt as if you were turned into a stone statue at his bold question. Sure, you were hated on but that reputation of yours is certainly huge. Does he seriously not know who you were? 

"Ah, I'm–" Just as you were about to introduce yourself, he sighs tiredly and cuts you off. "Nevermind, don't answer that.." He says. He rests an arm on his knees and droops his head, closing his eyes. Rude.. Was what you wished to say aloud but you're sure this guy won't care at all. 

"I'm too tired.." He comments, but you're pretty sure he wasn't talking to you. Now there you were, unsure of what to do next. So awkward.. 

A cool, gentle breeze passes you by, causing your hair to be blown by the wind. You hold a hand in your head to make sure your hair doesn't become a mess since it surely would not be presentable when you meet Mal– oh.

AH, that's right! I'm already late..! Panic rises in you once more as it dawns on you that you've been making him wait for far too long now. The food has probably gone cold now, being cooled down by the breeze. "H-hey.." Your voice sounded of urgency but the man does not open his eyes to look at you. In fact.. He looks like he's gone back to sleep!

Urk..

You stare at his side profile long and hard, contemplating if you should nudge him awake again. During your awkward staring, you carefully looked at his complexion. Oh wow.. His eyelashes are pretty.. And it wasn't just his eyelashes that you found alluring; his face was also so smooth! Not a single imperfection on his symmetrical face. I'm kind of envious that a boy could be so much prettier than me. 

"Is there something on my face?" Although his eyes remain closed, he asks you a question, catching you off guard and embarrassed. "A-ah, no.. I just thought you were pretty, is all.." You chuckled guiltily, averting your eyes to nowhere in particular.

Amidst your awkward aversion, his eyelids now flutter open, revealing his equally captivating eyes. "Why are you still here?" He asks you. There wasn't a hint of malice, just a tiny bit of annoyance from having been woken up.

You straighten your posture and move your eyes to look at him again. Although he wasn't scary, he certainly had a commanding voice. Were all the people here this authoritative? Ah, nevermind that, this was the perfect time to ask him for directions, you thought. "I, uh, I was wondering if you could point me to the garden.." You say meekly, fidgeting your fingers on your lap. Gosh we're you having a hard time remaining your eyes on him.

"The garden..?" He repeats and watches as you nod your head. He turns his gaze to the sky in deep thought. "Mm.. Then you're way off the path. This is the castle's barracks; this is on the other side of where you're heading,” he confesses nonchalantly. You felt yourself become a stone statue again but this time, felt it cracking. The confidence you once had just moments before suddenly toppled down at the confession. 

He looks at your stiff posture with the look of a gawker. "Pfft." A smile cracks on his bored face and tries to stifle a laugh and covers it with a fist. When that could not be done, he turned his head away from the silly look you had on in fear of breaking out into loud laughter. 

He clears his throat and calms himself of his silly antics. "Ahem. If you want, I could walk you to the garden?" You were mindlessly staring off into space when he stood up and offered you a hand. You blinked owlishly, looking dumbly at the hand in front of you before it finally clicked in your head. 

You offer him a shy smile and a ‘thank you’ when you reach for his hand. "No problem," he says and takes one look at your dress before commenting, “You should probably dust those dirt off.”

—

“Here we are.” A huge smile crept up on your face as a huge wave of relief washes over you. You scan the area to confirm if you really were in the right place– and you were. Tall hedges acted like walls to enclose the garden and decorated on them were all sorts of colourful flowers sprouted outside of it, albeit the shades of them could be a little brighter..  “Next time you want to go to the garden, turn right twice then left once from the dining hall,” he says, all the while not looking at you. Instead, he stares at the garden entrance with a hand resting on his hips. 

There was a moment of silence with you two standing side by side, just a few steps apart. Oh, right! I should thank– Your thoughts were cut short from another sigh that escaped his lips. “Anyway, I should get going now..” He mumbles which had you thinking if he was saying that to you. Just as he said that, he turned back around and scratched his head, he tiredly spoke again, “Urgh.. So much for my nap.. Now I think father will be catching up to me by now so I can’t go back to sleep..” He yawns loudly, seeming to not care about manners and bothering to cover his mouth. 

“Wait, let me–” You outstretched an arm as if you were going to grab him, but it just remained hovering lazily in the air. Before you could even stop him so you could say a proper thanks, he had turned a corner and vanished from sight. “Ugh.. I didn’t even get his name..”

Nevermind that, you were already running late to the initial lunch meetup and you were sure that Malleus would come to an agreement with the other nobles that you were chosen by mistake. I mean, you don’t recall a princess ever being this sloppy. I really should have just stayed home that day and avoided this situation entirely.. 

Your chest rises and fall as you take a deep breath to calm your nerves. Now feeling like you have collected yourself, you turned around and– “Oh..!” What is with you and running into things? You stopped yourself short, almost running into something or rather.. A someone. And O’ boy was it a situation to be in.

Without even looking up, you already felt cold sweats break loose and your fingers began to run cold. You were well acquainted with this looming figure over you since it had happened twice and you couldn’t help but take a nervous gulp. “Child of man.” Your skin crawled and your body stiffened up. You had almost forgotten the deepness of his voice and so it caught you off guard. 

When you didn't answer him, his eyes narrowed slightly disapprovingly and took his eyes off you to look at the corner where you had just watched your guide turn to leave your sight. Just what were you staring at, he was curious, but he held his tongue. He stares at that corner a minute too long for your frantic mind who still did not dare face him. “My eyes are up here.” He crosses his arms when he returns his full attention to you. “O-oh, yes!” You stutter. At his words you quickly snap your neck up, now nervously staring at him. However, his eyes.. You’ve always found them a frightening shade of green. 

“Ah.. Uhm..” You opened and closed your mouth a few times, trying to find the right words to start with and avert your gaze to just past his arm since you really couldn’t look over his shoulder. It really is hard to look at him for more than five seconds, but you were trying your best. “Your Highness..” You decided on the first words to greet him with and you feel like it was a good choice until you see that his eyes narrow even more to which only further serve to make you feel nervous. He hums. He didn’t look angry or disgusted by you, a human. But still, it was hard to tell if he was even remotely okay with you. 

“I-I’m terribly sorry for running late..” You picked your words carefully but they still came out shaky. When he doesn’t say anything, you start to fidget with your fingers close to your chest. Argh, how am I supposed to keep living like this when my husband is scary? You close your eyes, thinking hard of some flattery words to make him less angry at you. 

He stares at you with unreadable eyes but is certainly assessing you. You were still fearful of him, that much he knows. But after recalling Lilia’s words from that night, he calms down and relaxes his face. He was sure that it was very stern which could be the reason you look at him with fearful wide-eyes. He wants to try.. Try at getting to know you. 

Truthfully, if you had come a minute later, it would be a sure fact that the kingdom would be ravelled in a dark storm cloud. But nevermind that, he should focus on making you be less afraid of him. “It’s fine,” he breathes out and turns on his heels and begins walking deeper into the garden. “You are only late by just.. 45 minutes.” There was a moment’s pause in his voice, emphasizing the time. You were embarrassed since it was clear that he was being sarcastic. 

You stood there with an evident look of a slow-witted person so he had to halt his steps. “Hm? Do you not want to have lunch with me?” He cranes his head just enough to peer over his shoulders. His chartreuse-coloured eyes glazed over you. “Oh.. Yes, I’m coming..!” You blinked your stupified state away and jogged up to him whilst making sure you didn’t trip again. 

—

So awkward.. 

You found yourself sitting under a hooded gazebo that was decorated with a table and two chairs facing each other. The moment you sat down, several servants had come out of nowhere and placed all sorts of food on the table. Even with all the food on the table, your hands remained glued on your lap and focused on trying to not look at him, opting to look at a plate of untouched food in front of you. Malleus does not seem to have taken notice of how uncomfortable you were which made you feel even worse for dwelling on it. In fact, you could see a background of flowers just spinning beside him as he takes a savoury sip of his tea with closed eyes. Well, at least he’s enjoying himself, you thought. 

“Child of man.” Your body straightens up in alert when he calls you by that nickname. He sets down his cup on the saucer with the sound of a clack as it does so. Instead of eating, he felt that you had been eyeing him for some time now but when he looks, you’d look elsewhere. You were a curious little thing, that much he had concluded. Lilia had proposed the idea to invite you for tea when he had asked how to make you be less afraid of him and even offered enthusiastically to bake sweets for you. That, however, was shut down by Malleus since he had a fair amount of those so-called delights of his, and so the kitchen staff had made all the dishes. 

Malleus did still later ask Lilia for what should be served since he has lived long enough to have had interactions with humans before in the short decades without war. “Hm? Kehehee, why, they enjoy sweets of course.” That was what he said so Malleus had the kitchen prepare all sorts of sweets along with a few none-sweet foods. However, looking at you who had not touched a single thing– not even the slice of chocolate cake that had been deliberately placed next to you– he could only assume that you must be unwell. Certainly, Lilia does have the tendency to fool around for someone his age, but he by no means is a liar. 

He takes a dessert plate off the stand and places it right in front of you. “Have a try of this cake,” he says and leans back on his seat, “It’s a favoured recipe here in the kingdom that is well known for its overly sweet taste.” He made sure to emphasize the last few words in hopes that they might make you want to eat it. If you don’t eat it then surely there must be something wrong with you. 

The intense stare he’s giving you is making you more nervous, but he had invited you to eat so you should kindly accept the food he’s offering you. “Mn. Thank you.” You instinctively look up— something you do when thanking someone is to look at them to express sincerity. But alas, you got spooked at his frightening eyes that you flinched away. 

With shaky hands, you reached for the fork at arm’s length meant for dessert. No matter whether you will like it or not, you have to say something nice, you thought, since he did say that it was a loved sweet in the Valley and so must be his favourite as well. 

“Oh..!” The taste melts on your tongue the moment you take the forkful of it in your mouth. It was sweet, yes, but not overly too sweet just as he had said— maybe you just have a sweet tooth. It reminded you of a cloud.

Suddenly, you felt relaxed as if you had totally forgotten whom you sat across. That did not bother the fae, however. Despite the stoic expression painted on his face, he felt relieved that you’re eating and that you weren’t sick at all. He brings his cup to his lips again and watches at the adorable light that flicker across your eyes when you take more bites. You looked exactly as Silver once did when he was a baby, he thinks. 

—

Instead of going for a quiet lunch and then returning to following your schedule down to a T just as you had thought, he invited you further to a walk in the garden. Well, you hadn’t left the palace ever since coming here and this was the most time you have spent outside since your arrival.. You had agreed since it wouldn’t hurt to get to know your way around the palace, even though it’s just the garden. And in the back of your mind, you also thought that it’d be quite selfish of you to only do what is best for you after having made him wait for quite a long time. 

You walked quite some distance behind him and kept quiet and to yourself, admiring the beautifully trimmed bushes and roses that stemmed out of it. You halt in your steps when you find a particular flower that doesn’t look like the rest. It was almost crystal-like with how clear it was and how it shows different colours just as you would see when light is casted on a polished crystal. 

You bend forward slightly, clearly enamoured by the uniqueness of it. Your homeland houses a certain flower and they all come in rich, vibrant colours, but clearly it was nothing like this. “You should be careful of the thorns.” You were drawn back from the sight when a voice speaks close to your ears, its tone low. It wasn’t a whisper of a gentle breeze brushing past your ears, but it sounded of rich silk. 

You didn’t need to turn your body around since just a slight crane of your head to the side reveals Malleus leaning way into your comfort bubble. His face was practically just beside yours! His eyes traverse from the flower to meet your wide-eyed gaze. “Hm?” He blinks at your curious expression. “This flower– although different– is much like a rose with its thorns,” he explains as if that was the reason you were staring at him. 

He straightens up to his full height and it still amazes you how a giant roams this land. He is practically twice your height, you believed, even when you stood at your full height. His towering build and those eyes of his essentially makes him twice as much terrifying. “Have you ever seen this flower, child of man?” His head slightly cocks to the side with a curved finger on his chin as if he’s thinking. “I’ve made sure to replicate your home by having the gardener plant roses– your country’s symbolic flower.” 

“Ah.. N-no, I have not.. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a flower like this before,” you answered in earnest, although you stuttered here and there and spoke with a shy voice. It’s true. Although your country had other flowers, none could compare to the abundant red roses that would grow out of the cracks of the ground and traces along the buildings without the care of a gardener. In fact, there was a festival every year at the peak of spring that was all about those flowers. 

"Hm, I see.. So the kingdom really lacks magic.. It amazes me how long humans have survived without magic." He blurts out with no awareness of your pride as a child of that kingdom and capabilities as a human. You felt like you've been stabbed. You can agree with him, but he didn't need to say it so casually to your face. 'Geez. This prince is awfully honest.' He kind of reminds you of a certain someone— that guy with silver hair from earlier. His eyes moves to the flower again. "If a high concentration of magic stays in one place, flowers like these are not a rare occurrence. 

"If you like it, then I'll have someone make it into a floral arrangement and send it to the room for you." He looks at you and you swear you could clearly see an imaginary dog's tail wagging behind him and pleading with his eyes to say 'yes'. "I-If you don't see it as a hassle.." Your tongue let loose before you could catch it, finding yourself surprised.

He hooks his fingers on his collar as if he's going to fix the already neat garment. "I'll have them be sent to you then." He nods, feeling proud of himself. Again, you feel like you might be going mad when you hallucinate little petals spinning behind him.

'Ah! I nearly forgot..!'

"Um, Your Highness.." You start off slow and carefully, unsure if it really is the right time to burst his happy bubble. But this is your opportunity, you think, since you're not sure when or if you'll see him again after this. "I received a letter a few days ago."

He blinks, standing quiet for a hot second before gesturing for you to continue with his eyes. "It's an invitation from Marquis Hagen's wife; she wants to meet me at a banquet she'll be hosting on her birthday," you said. 

He stills. "An invitation?" He repeats carefully. When you nod, his brows furrowed in deep thought and brought a finger to his chin. When he doesn't say anything for a while, you think that it's a 'no' answer from him. A shame, really, since you haven't– "Alright, you can go."

You clasp your hands together excitedly. It's been so long since you've had interactions with somebody outside the castle. "Really? Thank you, Your Highness," you said and adds, just remembering what else the letter wrote, "Ah, she.. She also asked for you to come– if you're not too busy, that is." You drop your hands and watch him with careful eyes. 

"Hm?" A look of a surprise dawns on his face, but only for a second. "Then, I'll go."

⊰♤⊱⊰◇⊱⊰♡⊱⊰☆⊱⊰♧⊱⊰♤⊱⊰◇⊱⊰♡⊱⊰☆⊱⊰♧⊱

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Since many are asking for a second part to Opposites of the War, I will write it. But, I would like to ask a question: what do you want to expect in the read? :) I'll do my best to fulfill them.

11 pages in! I'm almost finished guys! I'll get that Lilia in very soon and as promised, after that will be a nsfw due to a request submitted in. :))

There isn't one waking second where I don't think about Lilia and how he makes my heart beat in a way it never did before. He is too dangerous for my heart, especially when he's in his adult form--

Huh? How weird... It's just a picture of a bat though...

Reply: Pspspsp. That is one hot bat if you ask me. 😳

║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?

~♡~

║Xingqiu║Dear You

Requested from Wattpad.

Gender-neutral.

Angst.

Word count: 800+

---

Liyue- a nation of commerce. There, everyone is always up to something- be it for the good of the land or for their own selfish needs. And that soon attracted other people from other parts of Teyvat, wanting to get something- anything- from their journey to there. Everyone there are always smiles and flattery, but that is only when the dark sky- that is only lit up by the stars and moon- is blanketing their dirty business. No one really cares about what another does in the harbour as long as it doesn't affect them in the long run. Heck, they couldn't care less about who they were talking to unless they were someone of use to earn more fortune for themselves. They won't even bat an eye if someone- who they have never heard of- suddenly comes and beg for help.

-

"Hey, (Y/N), I bought a new book that I think you might like. It's from your favourite author too!" The second son of a wealthy family, Xingqiu, came to greet you at your usual spot-- right at the top of a mountain that faced the sea, the water gold due to the sun setting for the day and to let the night deal with the unwanted business dealings.

He sat on the grass and leaned on a stone, a small smile on his face as he looks up at the sky. It was a beautiful set of orange and yellow-- much like his eyes. With a minute passing by, he takes a breather before looking down at the book in his lap, beginning to open the new book. "I have been waiting for the next volume to be published, always going to the bookstore and stay for hours." He chuckles. "You don't know how many times the lady at the bookstore questioned me if I wanted to check the other books instead."

"It was a tempting thought but if I were to be distracted, who knows? I might miss my chance to buy a copy of it if ever came-- which it did," he says, looking at the first word of the first page. "I suppose you want me to read now. Haha, I remember how you always pester me to hurry up so I could start reading the book."

"Oh look, I'm prolonging the read even more, haha. Then, I shall read the book now," he said. This time, he stops speaking and reads the book all the while smiling, never once had it faltered away in hopes to not make you break.

Once he finished reading, he just stared at the back of the book, his smile not reaching his beautiful, golden eyes as he was drifting off in his own thoughts. In front of everyone, he was all smiles and the perfect son who was well versed in many things from poetry to martial arts. Only his dear friend, Chongyun, know how wicked he could be. But even if he was his friend, he had never seen him break down-- not even during your funeral.

It was a silent plea for help that he wished he picked up sooner. And since then, he hated himself for how useless of a lover he was to you. He always promised that he would protect you and in no way would he let harm come your way but in times of desperation, he wasn't there. So much for that promise, he thought bitterly.

He looks at the stone he was leaning against and read your name that was engraved on it. It was your stone where your spirit lies for eternity. He saw it best to have you buried here as it was one of your most favourite spots to run away from the excitement of the city and to have a little moment of peace, reading a book. He would often accompany you as well and would often lay his head on your lap as you read out loud or to yourself when he wanted to read another book.

He wished he had done something more to keep your warmth forever, but he wasn't a fortune-teller to know when you would die. He wished he was though. Now, he was left in the cold with nothing but your memory to give him more heartache.

A tear finally slips through his smiling face, breaking that smile that everyone knew. One tear. Two tears. Three. More and more kept coming that he couldn't wipe all of them away and he bit down on his bottom lip to try to stop the sobbing sounds that left him. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? I, I could have done something!" he cried, not showing his eyes as he continued to stop the tears with his arms. His smiling facade broke away and you were the first to witness it from your stone. He hiccups, choking on his own tears. Even when minutes passed, his tears did not stop and he soon buried his head in his arms, using his knees as support.

"Please come back.."

---