ELY AT THE LAST PIC HELP
call it what you want — at last.
a genshin impact smau | xiao x gn!reader
PREVIOUS | MASTERLIST
SUMMARY as part of the student council, you’ve been tasked to recruit the local band playing in your university’s bar. xiao, who’s the band’s bassist, seems to be the only one refusing your offer to join the foundation day. you have two weeks to make him agree to perform on stage in front of the whole university or you’re off the council for good.
NOTES and that's it! call it what you want has finally ended <3 i want to thank all of you for being here with me! thank you so much for all the asks, replies, notes, and brainrots hehe. it has been such a wild ride, especially with my sporadic updates. i really hope that you enjoyed the story:D i'd love to really thank all of you for being here with me, this has been such a long smau hshshha but i'm glad you all stayed despite my inconsistencies! 🫶
TAGLIST @ceylestia @ecselisse @x-xxiaos @sugxqts @ljinghe @yaefics @astreankitsune @trashcanweeb @blackrabb1t @imtoodumbforaname @alatusorrow @xoxotheaxoxo @cottonkendi @thelost-in-time @miss-lovesick @dazaiscum @rrinsluvr @dayleng @ghostiedolly @berryqueue @queenaveryrules @faeriemixx @xingqiusliegee @kiyowoir @sunflower3216 @cotton-eee @one-offmind @lunavixia @starryeyedkoko @kazeniya @mikctp @snowggvk
@deimmortales99 @koi-eater @kaz3yo @zannivrs @wccycc @gorouswrld @van-chii @veyu002 @estelwrld @zeroiskira @berryunderscore @g6nyyyu @plinkuro @kaedear @tokkishouse @dainsleif-when-playable @hishui [1/3]
thank you so much to all of you! 🫶
just had this said to me 😭
DAMN IT
FUFKKCKK
MY ARTS BEING AI IFIED
ENDME NOW
SHJRIHSHHSHFUCK IHATE AI NONOOO
MY STYLE IS TOO BASIXC
omg Kaiser in Harry Potter au is becoming my life 🩷🩷
Can we PLEASEEEE have a few headcanons about what it would be like for ravenclaw!reader to date slytherin!kaiser?
or just anything from this AU 😭😭 it’s so good
character ; michael kaiser || cw ; gn!reader, no pronouns used, slytherin!kaiser, ravenclaw!reader, hogwarts au, kaiser is pure-blood, reader is half-blood, aged-up characters
because of the fact he's such an emotionally constipated and idiotic person you guys do not end up dating until like... your very late twenties/early thirties. it takes him a horribly long time to even realize he's in love let alone the time it takes for him to say something.
but when he does, it comes out completely by accident. it's during the yule ball, where you and him are supervising the students and the same beauxbatons boy you had gone with all those years ago is back as one of their house's quidditch coach in the same manner that kaiser is. you and him are just catching up in a friendly manner but kaiser's at the side just quietly listening to the conversation.
it's rather hard for him to ignore the way julian loki, whose face is just so graced by age to kaiser's disdain, is looking at you. there's clearly something he wants to continue off from, and when he begins to ask if you'd like to catch up somewhere, kaiser drags you away mid-convo.
per usual, you and him break out into a verbal bicker, going back and forth on very redundant statements that seem to bring the conversation nowhere near and end because on your hand, you don't understand why kaiser's been so pissy lately and kaiser is trying his best to understand why he feels like this towards you. until something slips through by accident, his filter completely vanishing and his innermost thoughts taking reign.
so you and him are just staring at each other in complete shock just trying to digest what the hell he just said to you. you're wide-eyed, kaiser's got a hand over his mouth, a furious blush spreading over his face as he tries to come up with a shitty excuse to try and cover what he just said up, but it's kind of hard considering he did just say, "because he looks like he's in love with you like i am!"
he tries to leave the room, begging telling you to forget what just happened, until you drag him back in and demand him what he means. he tries to word it out, but since love has never really been a good thing to him and its concept was just as confusing as transfiguration theory, he ends up acting on instinct, grabbing your face and letting his lips that collide with yours so heavenly do the talking.
so hip hip hooray stupid pining idiot finally gets what he's been wanting from you after so many years everyone clap
obviously due to the fact that you're colleagues and staff, you need to hide your relationship. and since the students are so nosy, you really have to do your best to act natural around him, especially around the members of a particular hush-hushed club that advocates for yours and kaiser's relationship because they're much more keen than the average student—using any singular crumb that you and kaiser give them to feed their material.
but you find it to be rather difficult. kaiser has been pining and dwelling for you for how many years now??? so best believe he's going to be making up for those lost years and much and as often as possible. good luck, babe.
you'd be walking down a lone corridor, only to turn a corner and getting whipped around and suddenly finding his lips on yours as your back rests against a cold wall. he'd often come into your office hours unannounced, bothering and flirting with you as you graded papers with the door wide open. during meetings, he'd at first shuffle his foot to find yours. then he got more confident; he'd rub it up and down your leg trying to raise a reaction out of you.
it didn't help that kaiser knew how to apparate and you didn't. it's prohibited on hogwarts grounds, but in hogsmeade, which is also where you reside in a small cottage, best believe he'd teleport into your house unannounced if he wanted to see you.
weekends are nice; you and him are able to get away from hogwarts and actually can spend time as a couple, but regardless, you and him still have to tiptoe around just in case any staff that's also taken the liberty of leaving hogwarts for the weekend see you hanging around each other as well.
so, it's pretty hard to try and keep things under wraps. and kaiser clearly grows more impatient and needy. he gets bolder, too. he'd sometimes ask to "borrow you" mid-class just to make out with you in a broom closet for a hot two minutes, leaving you flustered and slightly messy haired to his delight or leave gifts and flowers on your office desk, only signing it off ambiguously with "♡, k." thankfully, you come earlier than your students usually, so you’re able to hide them beforehand.
some of the older students start to catch on—especially since up until recently, it was uncommon to see the two rival professors to be rather close in proximity with each other while pacing down hallways or talking to each other in a more mild manner than what they were used to seeing. is that smile on professor kaiser's face? the hell? does this mean that he'll be more lenient on newt exams?
the news of arch-rivals professor (l/n) and professor kaiser dating really start to amp up when a student had spotted you leaving kaiser's office in the late evening. the student thinks nothing of it at first, until kaiser escorts you out and gives you a small kiss on your forehead.
so it spreads like wildfire and eventually you and him crack and admit to the higher-ups that you and him are indeed in a relationship. cue the immense amount of paperwork that shoulders you and him. but hey, once it's done, everything is at least brought to the surface and there was no longer that stress of trying to hide your relationship.
the only con is that during classes, some of the students would get too cheeky and prod at you and him about your personal lives. "is it true that professor kaiser sleeps in a silk robe?!" "does professor (l/n) know you gamble at hogsmeade with the elves?" "i heard professor kaiser has a ten-step skincare routine, is that true, prof?"
valentine's day also turns out to be quite a stir; for some reason, students now think you and him are experts on love and come to each of you asking for relationship advice. young love, as amusing as it is, is just so very ignorant... especially since it took kaiser more than ten years to confess (maybe not the best person to go to for dating advice).
outside hogwarts, it's more tame. it takes a bit of convincing, but kaiser accompanies you to the muggle world when you visit your parents. he's been in the muggle world before and he found it much more dull than the wizarding world... until you reach your parents' home. suddenly, he's poking his head in every photo album that has a younger, tooth-gapped photos of you and twiddling with regular muggle items like a computer or a television remote.
"is the bread alive? why did it just jump?" he asks, brows furrowed at the freshly toasted bread in the toaster after he flinches at the movement.
"so is there like... a little man singing in this?" he inquires as you play him something from your radio.
"why can't you just let owls do it?" he questions while the mailman drops off the weekly post. "it'd be a lot faster."
you and your parents definitely earn a laugh out of a pure-blood wizard just being rather fascinated with every-day muggle items; especially since you remember kaiser taking naps in muggle studies when you and him were younger, it makes the experience a lot more interesting.
IN IT TO WIN IT. — a childe × gn!reader smau
synopsis. fake-dating for a month, no strings attached. first one to catch feelings loses, and the winner takes home a prize. a dare's a dare — it should be easy, no? except, childe's playboy status didn't just come out of his ass, and somehow, it feels as if the game's rigged in his favour. but you won't go down without a fight either, because winning would ensure your continued enrollment in the prestigious teyvat u. — why else would you have taken his offer up? both of you are in it to win it, yet ‘it’ seems to have a different definition for him that it is for you...
content. smau + written, fake dating, one-sided pining, college au, slowburn, fluff, crack, angst
warnings. cursing, detailed warnings will be given at each specific chapter.
updates. a chapter a day at the most, a chapter a month at the very least. all chapters will be uploaded at 11PM GMT+8 no matter the day.
taglist. @qingxinnies @d-luc @intothegenshinworld @abyssals-prince @i23kazu @aeongiies @theblueblub @akagism2 @letthewindlead @pyrrhicgaze @raingoesboomboom @duckyyyx @yakshaas @ilyuu @ajaxstar @versadies @aimynx
( send an ask to be added/removed, or if you've changed your url )
reblogs help a lot ty <333
MASTERLIST + EXTRAS UTC.
meet the gang. broke bitches // dicks(z)
PART ONE — THE DARE.
genius.
broke bitches.
tba...
CUTTTEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
synopsis: sae is not good with words, so he communicates with flowers instead. / or, every time itoshi sae gave you a bouquet in significant moments.
pairing: itoshi sae x gn!reader | words: 2.9k | warnings: fluffy fluff, tiny bit of angst if u squint, rin and sae’s relationship isn’t fucked up, kinda proofread, ooc sae maybe? i love him tho, its really just three thousand words of him talking about love
notes: this idea has been on my mind for a while since i adore the language of flowers, and even tho sae is probably ooc, i really liked the final result ♥ also i'm trying a new layout so lmk if y'all like it~ and finally thank u so much for 2.5k followers, i love you all sm!!
masterlist
i. sunflowers for a confession
never has itoshi sae been so painfully aware of his flaws and limitations quite like the day he realized he liked you as more than a friend. because, even though he wasn’t the type of guy to wait for the universe to give him everything he wished for, anyone within three miles could see how absolutely awful he was at communicating.
so that was the dilemma: how could he express his feelings to you if the words just didn’t come out?
“flowers.”
“huh?”
rin was sitting at the couch in their parent’s home, a paused horror movie on the tv. sae didn’t even notice he started mumbling and spilling his secret crush to the younger itoshi, and the tips of his ears went red at that. he was supposed to be the smooth, suave, aloof kind of guy that gave his little brother some love advice, and not the other way around.
(not as if any of them had some kind of experience. emotional intelligence didn’t really run in the bloodline.)
“just give them flowers, nii-chan. did you know each of them has meanings? it could help you express yourself.”
“you mean like… the language of flowers or some shit?”
rin rolled his eyes, but nodded.
“just try not to use ‘some shit’. i don’t think they’re into that,” he joked, and sae could only grimace and send him the middle finger.
but as much as he didn’t want to admit, his brother was right. you were special, and you deserved the best he could give — even if it wasn’t much. he was going to learn how to be better for you, but meanwhile, the language of flowers should suffice.
the first time you receive a bouquet from itoshi sae, they are beautiful blooms of sunflowers, expressing his adoration towards you. the small card that comes with it has a simple question:
go out with me?
ii. white gardenias and the start of something new
your first date with the pro-footballer is something simple yet sophisticated, a dinner at a famous restaurant he rented just for you two. the dim lights make everything more romantic, and your heart is beating so loud you’re afraid sae might hear it from the other side of the table. despite the euphoria that leaves you nearly breathless, you manage to talk during the night while he mostly just listens.
itoshi sae is not familiar with dates — not actual ones, at least —, so to say he was nervous was an understatement. however, he hid it well behind his nonchalant persona, even if meant avoid talking just so he didn’t fuck things up.
sae was never a talker, anyway. and it was long ago he figured he’d rather listen to the sound of your voice and drown in the image of your sparkly eyes every time you were excited about something.
when dinner is over and sae drives to drop you home, you’re a little shocked to see him take another flower arrangement from the floor of the backseat, just hidden enough so you didn’t notice during your ride. the petals are a pure white color with beautiful twirls, and you can’t help but gape.
“is that… is that for me?”
sae wants to scream, because of course they are for you — who else could they be for? as if he’d ever look at anyone when you’re the brightest light shining on his life.
inevitably, you’re all itoshi sae can see.
“they are gardenias,” he simply says, fighting the heat that climbs through his neck. he pushes the bouquet a little more towards you. “they made me think of you.”
your chest swells with affection, and the sweet aroma of the blooms mixed with sae’s perfume makes you a little dizzy. you only realize how close he is when his nose touches yours, hands grazing your left cheek as if you’re something fragile that he’s scared to break.
but he kisses you anyway. his mouth is delicate against yours, trying to convey his longing as a complement to the flowers on your hold.
when your lips part and you finally say goodbye, you’re certain that sae has blossomed an entire garden in your heart. starting with the white gardenias that mean new beginnings, affection and a revelation of a secret love.
iii. blue hyacinths for an apology
sae knows how much of an asshole he can be. contrary to popular belief, he knows how sharp his words can feel and how mean his voice can sound. even if he wasn’t exactly self aware, his brother rin would sure be able to spit it to his face every time they argued.
it wasn’t like he always meant it. sure, he didn’t care about his behavior towards the media or people he found particularly annoying (pretty much everyone), but there were people in his life that he cherished; people he didn’t want to hurt. the thing is, itoshi sae was just really, really awkward when it came to his own emotions, and he was the worst at saying how he felt.
it’s a few months into your relationship that sae learns he would rather never play football again than make you cry. it’s a silly argument, really — he doesn’t even remember what he gets so worked up for. maybe it’s jet lag that makes him lash out on you, but it doesn’t really matter when he sees your eyes glisten and a little sniffle comes out of your lips.
“i’m s-sorry,” you say, uneasy in a way that makes his stomach churn. he wants to wipe that expression off your face, and beat himself up for being the one who put it there.
him and his stupid ass mouth, as rin would say.
“what? why are you saying that?” his tone is more exasperated than he intends to, and god, why can’t he just shut the fuck up?
“i didn’t mean to annoy you or make things harder… i know you’re tired from your game and i… i’m sorry, sae.”
he should be the one apologizing for being an idiot, he knows; but the words are so foreign to his system that sae doesn’t even know how to put the letters together. it’s only when you pick up your stuff and leave his apartment without another word that the pro-player is shaken out of his stupor.
“fuck,” he curses under his breath. “fucking hell, sae.”
he hates that he hurt you, hates that he doesn’t know how to fix it and hates it even more that his little brother lectures him on the phone later that day, when he calls to vent.
“you already were a shitty brother, so don’t be a shitty boyfriend too,” are rin’s exact words.
okay, ouch. kinda stings, but he figures he deserves it.
it’s almost 9pm when sae goes to your house, two bags of your favorite treats resting on his forearm while he holds the carefully chosen bouquet. the surprise on your face when you open the door makes his heart reel, though the glimmer of happiness is what makes it all worth it.
“i messed up”, is what he says as soon as he can before you decide to kick him out. “i didn’t mean to snap at you like that and… i’m sorry. i never want to hurt you.”
you take the blue hyacinths from his grasp and look at them fondly before smiling, and sae thinks the sun is shining again. he’s eternally grateful you understand the sincerity and the regret that comes from those tiny petals.
iv. red roses and the epiphanic awareness of love
journalists from all around the world are well aware of how much itoshi sae hates interviews. it is always pretty clear with the bored — if not extremely annoyed — expression on his face and the rude answers that make anyone break a cold sweat. he doesn’t like stupid questions (all of them) and much less when the press tries to meddle in his personal business.
it wasn’t new to be asked about his romantic relationships, and this particular topic was something that made sae scowl and diss whatever nosy, lukewarm journalist decided to pry to earn a penny. by now, everyone knows that inquiring if the midfielder is dating anyone is forbidden territory.
still, the media keeps trying to find small loopholes in what they really want to know, questions safe enough to not enrage the itoshi. it’s one of those that makes sae’s world come to a halt in the middle of a press conference in italy.
“itoshi, can you tell us about the things you love most in life?”
his brain instantly shuts down, and suddenly, sae is no longer in a room with hundreds of microphones and cameras shoved on his face, but instead in a cozy little picnic at the beach with you by his side.
if he was being honest, sae never really thought about things like love for most of his life; and not just the romantic one, but love as a whole. sure, he knew he loved his parents and his little brother, but they were parts of his life he didn’t choose, almost as if those feelings were meant to be there ever since he was born.
thinking about his life growing up, he could never really tell if what he felt was ‘love’ or just ‘like’. did he love soccer? did he love salted kombucha tea? did he love the beach? or were all these things temporary fulfillments that could end at any minute? this feeling was such a difficult concept for sae that he never bothered to actually search for answers.
but you’ve been dating for seven months now — and sae simply knows, as a universal truth written down his bones, that the feelings he has for you are too otherworldly to fit inside the mere perception of ‘like’. liking you doesn’t do justice to the way his heart leaps and his chest is filled with happiness and peace and anxiousness and euphoria all at once whenever he thinks of you.
it’s the strangest epiphany of the century, he thinks, but that is the exact moment itoshi sae is sure you are the sole definition of love.
he loves you. he loves you the most in life.
and even if life is hard, because the world always is, loving you amongst this chaos is the easiest thing sae has ever done.
so when he comes back from his trip and you stay over at his penthouse, he tries to demonstrate this overflowing feeling when he touches you and kisses you and makes you fall apart just to put you back together. and when the morning comes and you paddle to the kitchen for breakfast, he is there holding the prettiest bunch of classical red roses with the faintest blush on his face.
you’re beautiful even with your unruly hair and bleary eyes, and sae is certain he will never get tired of seeing you smile for him.
with his throat clogged with emotion, the words don’t come out. but you take the flowers in your gentle embrace and kiss him with such fondness and infatuation that he can’t help but wish you understand the deep, unconditional love he feels for you.
“i love you too, baby.”
and thankfully, you always do.
v. pink camellias for longing
longing wasn’t a feeling sae was particularly used to.
when he left japan at the ripe age of 14, the first few months were especially harsh, since he was in a foreign country with a totally different language and culture. sae found himself missing the place he grew up, not so much for the place itself, but for the comfort its familiarity could bring. he missed rin, too.
but as time passed and itoshi sae transformed, he stopped viewing japan and everything it had as his home, solely becoming a wandering soul in the big, cruel world. the athlete, then, longed for nothing but to be the best.
however, he realized that life as he knew would never be the same after falling in love with you, for those feelings were strong as tidal waves, all-consuming and capable of changing everything in its course.
everytime he was away, sae really fucking missed you.
“how long will you be gone for?”
even before he left.
“…a month.”
his voice is low and slightly hesitant. you’re together on the living room couch, watching a shitty rom-com movie that sae hates but always watches because it’s your favorite. his arms are around you while your back rests against his chest, and he feels a little dizzy — whether it’s from your sweet perfume or the fear inside of him, he doesn’t quite know.
though he will never admit it, the midfielder is always scared whenever he has to leave for longer periods of time. because what if you get tired of him? what if you start feeling so alone and neglected you end up hating him? the thought alone is enough to make him want to throw up.
you turn around to face him, and the little pout of your lips suddenly has him feeling sick.
“so long? you really have to?”
he sighs, because yeah, unfortunately, he does have to stay that long to follow the team along the season. even if he’d rather stay with you and just fly near game days.
“yeah. i’m sorry, mi amor.”
sae lets you turn around fully and adjust yourself on his lap, each leg sitting comfortably around his hips. both of his hands are immediately holding on your waist, as if afraid you’d disappear if he didn’t.
“don’t apologize, handsome. i know it’s your job. i’m just gonna miss you a lot.”
he has the urge to kiss your sullen look away, and it’s exactly what he does. his lips touch yours with the same tenderness they always do, but there’s a certain urgency in the way his mouth moves and his tongue carefully glides with yours, as if he’s trying to convey just how much more he will miss you.
because although no one would ever believe him, he always misses you more.
“i wish i could stay here with you,” he says when you part, and the little bashful smile you give him makes his heart soar.
“but you love what you do, though.”
yeah, but i love you more. the thought is something that has been plaguing his mind during the nearly two years you’ve been together, because sae never expected to have something — or rather someone — who would become his entire world quite like how you do. it’s frightening and dreadful and not what he wished for himself, but sae can’t say that he hates it. there’s nothing about you or the gentleness of your love that he can hate.
that’s why when the time of his trip comes, a beautiful bouquet of pink camellias is placed on your kitchen island, and you know it’s his way of showing his longing for you.
vi. amaranthus and the promise of forever
even if many people disagree, sae knows he is always right. it’s how he knew you were the one even before he had you, and more so even before he realized he wanted you. somehow, it’s always been a truth his mind couldn’t ignore.
it’s on a lazy sunday morning at your shared apartment that itoshi sae is taken by a sudden urge of asking you to marry him.
there’s nothing extraordinary about the scenery; just you making him a snack after waking up from your — now shared — 3pm nap, hair tied in a bun, swaying your hips while stirring the food on the frying pan. he hugs you from behind and rests his head on your shoulder, nosing at the crook of your neck in an attempt to absorb all that you are. you giggle with the ticklish feeling, and the warmth that spreads through his chest somehow doesn’t feel weird anymore.
somehow, it’s now something he deeply cherishes. sae can only describe being with you as pure bliss.
and he’s always been selfish, a true egoist to its core. it’s why he’s faced with his deepest desire to have the honor of spending a lifetime by your side, if only you’ll have him.
he’s had the ring for a while now, hidden behind several socks in his drawer. it might as well be the time, he thinks; a lazy sunday afternoon that has nothing grandiose. sae was never one for big gestures anyway.
so when you both finish eating, sae tells you he’ll be out for a jog, and you just hum with your pretty smile. his heart is beating abnormally fast when he goes to the flower shop, and by the time he’s back home, he thinks it might just explode.
but this… you are it for him, he’s certain. the same way he was certain four years ago, when your love started to blossom until it became the prettiest garden.
and when sae is down on one knee asking the most important question of his life, ring box in one hand and the bouquet of amaranthus on the other, the teary smile and whispered “yes” you give makes him certain that, no matter what, your love will be eternal.
© 2024 itoshiexx. do not plagarise, translate, or repost any of my work on here or other sites.
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─────── ⋆⋅Honkai Star Rail⋅⋆ ────────
⋆˚✿˖°Fics:
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⋆˚✿˖°Drabbles:
a little jealous (dan heng il x reader)
unconcealed emotions (dan heng il x reader)
unintentional confession (blade x reader)
───────── ⋆⋅Genshin Impact⋅⋆ ────────
⋆˚✿˖°Fics:
deeply infatuated (childe x reader)
in which childe is really in love with you
the student presidents crush (ayato x reader)
in which ayato is enamored with his vice president who (probably) wants nothing to do with him
5 ft distance maximum (wanderer x reader)
in which you're not allowed 5 ft away from wanderer
fuck study buddies (alhaitham x reader)
in which kaveh thinks there's something going on between you and alhaitham. some not so pg things
⋆˚✿˖°Drabbles:
please date me :(( (childe x reader)
continuation of "deeply infatuated"
trapped in your embrace (childe x reader)
last moments (dottore x reader)
injured </3 (neuvillette x reader)
patching up (wriothesley x reader)
moments between us (childe, neuvillette, wanderer x reader)
jealous-! (ayato x reader)
continuation of "the student presidents crush"
⋆˚✿˖°Other:
neuvillette thoughts
wriothesley thoughts
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‧₊˚✧[Last updated: November 23, 2023 🍁]✧˚₊‧
I FINALLY FOUND D MASTER LIST OML
your bestfriend’s twin brother 😱
pairing: Aether x fem!reader
genre: modern college au, fluff, crack, smau
summary: You have a pretty normal life, going to the same college as your bestfriend Lumine and your other friends, having average grades and having a good relationship with everyone you know. Well, everyone except your bestfriend’s twin brother, Aether. Even though you’ve known Lumine since your first year in highschool, he always seemed to be avoiding you. The only times you did get to see him was when he was around Lumine. Once he spots you, he always run off, but why does his face seem red? Who knows.
Now, it was your second year in college and you’ve decided enough is enough. You’ve made it your goal to become friends with your bestfriend’s twin brother before the year ends. It can’t be that hard, right? But wait.. why are you catching feelings 🤨
author’s note: my first smau so pls don’t judge 💀 mostly going to be fluff and crack, probably ooc, i doubt there will be angst, unless?? also i have not seen smaus about Aether so this might just be me trying to self-indulge 🫣
status: ongoing [17 Nov 22- ??]
Profiles: no bitches | short kings + child
Act 1: From strangers to friends
01: new year, new me
02: bad feeling
03: first day ♤
04: wikihow | 4.5: besto friendo
05: apologies
06: friendly “hangout” ♤
07: blossoming friendship
08: it’s quiet… too quiet
09: idiots, idiots everywhere
10: downpour ♤
11: are we friends? ♤ | 11.5: thank me ! !
Act 2: To thinking about you everyday
12: new hangout buddy
13: you’re never this nice to me :/
14: too nice for your own good
15: denial era
16: lumine the thirdwheel ♤
17: we need to talk | 17.5: please shut the fuck up
18: so it’s a “date” ?
19: just act normal ♤
20: separated shenanigans ♤
21: mixed feelings? can’t relate lol
22: she can’t hold you back
23: just make up your mind bro
24: everyone wants me fr
25: maybe i’m just a fool for you ♤ | 25.5: move your flat ass
Act 3: I think i’m in…. love?
26: questionable decisions….
27: GIRL WRONG ACCOUNT
28: how the turns have tabled
29: OPERATION AETHERYN STARTS NOW
30: W rizz
31: party night
32: how to stay sober challenge: failed ♤
33: drunk night confessions, am i right? ♤
34: you like me? ♤ | 34.5: first time? 🔞 ♤
35: #shipsailed, now don’t get caught ♤
Act 4: Can’t believe I’m yours now
36: down bad
37: you’re weird | 37.5: suspicious behaviour
38: don’t get caught challenge: failed ♤
39: fight! fight! fight!
40: maybe we need to think about this
41: stop moping around and apologise ffs
42: sorry. ♤
43: don’t be a pussy
44: i want you ♤
45: to my dear bestfriend
bonus: ??
Fin
tag list - open |•| send an ask to be added to the tag list
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
REINCARNATION AU WITH LI LI MU BELOVED
pairing: zhongli x gn!reader
summary: there’s a fragility to each moment spent with you, finite and fleeting as all mortal lives are. but you always find your way back to him, even when you return missing fragments of yourself. he has loved you ever since he was naught but a mere hatchling you’d dug from the earth, and he will continue to do so through war and peace and retirement. (reincarnation au)
note: writing for one of my favorite tropes again, zhongli my beloved i will always give u happy endings, might be a bit inaccurate in some lore and timeline aspects but i tried my best to stick close, multiple character death/s (reader), depictions of blood and death
word count: 4.1k
“Hello again.”
Morax—back in the days when he was just a little dragon incapable of much thought, back when the name Morax hadn’t even been granted to him—nuzzled his little snout against your hand.
You smoothed your fingers over his soft scales, an indication of youth in dragons, and smiled as he melted at the simple affection.
There had been a softness to that moment, a memory untouched by the grimness of war, in a time when peace reigned and the three sisters ruled over the skies, not a floating celestial castle to be seen.
He remembers your voice and your touch, the way your eyes brightened when you smiled and the way the corners of your mouth quirked when telling a story. He didn’t know your name then, only that you were a local in the nearby village who ounce unburied a small dragon from the earth as a child and had taken care of it since.
That dragon was, of course, him.
-
“Here for another meal, little dragon?”
You brought a small piece of meat to his snout, cooing when he took it from your fingers and delicately chewed on the meat.
He doesn’t remember what it tasted, only that it had a soft, chewy texture that made it easier to eat for his soft teeth that were still in the process of hardening as he aged.
A hand ran over the scales on his head.
“You’ll need a name, won’t you? Something to be remembered for all ages.” The sun had hit his eyes then, making him incapable of seeing what kind of expression you’d had. “I just know my little dragon will grow to be a fearsome one.”
-
“Morax!” You laughed, running as the dragon that was now at the same height as your hips chased you across the clearing. “I told you, no more meat or else you’ll become overweight!”
It wasn’t about the meat, he remembers, it was how you always seemed to shine brightest when you were running about without a care for the world around you. He’d only wanted to keep that smile on your face.
You leaned on your knees, gasping for breath, and still, you shone as radiant as the sun to his eyes.
-
You struggled with carting a box full of all sorts of fruit and cooked meat. He used his hardened snout to help you push the cart near the entrance of the cave he usually dwelled in.
“Thank you.” You softly patted the scales beneath his chin. “I’m not as young and spritely as I used to be.”
He huffed an indignant snort as if to disagree with you. A soft exhale left your mouth, fondness evident in the quirk of your lips.
“You understand me, don’t you? You always have, my smart little dragon.”
-
He sat beside you, quiet and solemn as you hummed a tune beneath your breath.
“Morax,” you started, something different in the inflection of your voice. It never returned back to its normal cadence after you caught an illness that had lasted a year and nearly took your life. “I’m not long for this world—”
He shifted in protest, a snarl in his throat that you wave away with a wrinkled hand.
“Don’t be so upset,” you soothed, “It’s simply the way of life.”
You ran a hand through the underside of his chin, feeling the hardened scales that will continue to grow stronger until it can withstand the force of steel—or a meteor.
“You’ll live for a long, long time, and by the time you reach your prime, I will be nothing but a distant memory to you.”
He remembers disagreeing but never outright conveying it to you. He had thought you understood what his silence meant. If only he’d been able to speak back then, he would have spent hours upon hours telling you how much you meant to the little dragon you had dug up from the earth.
-
You laid down for a nap beside him, still managing to look at him with those bright eyes of yours amidst a face weathered by time.
“My little Morax, you’re as big as a house now, aren’t you?” You had softly pet the side of his head as he curled around you. “Wake me up when the sun rises, okay? I want to hand feed you meat like I used to...”
He closed his eyes and let dreams sweep him away once he felt you fall into a deep sleep.
In the morning, he would awake to the sun casting light over him and the stillness by his side.
You never woke up again.
-
He took to guarding your small village from petty thieves and the occasional mercenaries sent by neighboring villages. It’s what you would’ve wanted, he thought then. You had no family, but the elders and the children and the workers you’d made friends with were dear to you, and so, they were dear to him as well.
Word spread of a village being granted the protection of a mighty dragon. More people came asking for shelter and to settle in, he never showed protest to it.
Years passed, the village grew, and he continued to wonder what it would have been like to watch over these people with you by his side.
He remembers days spent lounging in the clearing he buried your body in, an era where peace still reigned and rest was not yet a luxury he couldn’t afford.
-
You appeared on the second century after your passing, wide-eyed and mouth parted in awe as you stared at the large town that used to be your homely little village.
“Morax?”
He had thought it a dream then, a mirage his mind consumed. There was simply no fathomable way you were here in the flesh, alive and whole and young—so much younger than he remembered you being.
But your eyes were still the same, still as bright and resplendent as the sun. You were here. You were real.
He doesn’t know how he ever managed not to squish you beneath his weight back when he’d been young and excited with less restraint to his actions. It is a memory he remembers fondly, stored tightly within his chest, a moment of peace amidst the war looming on the horizon.
It was a comical sight, a human holding their arms out to their side yet still not managing to encompass the entirety of a dragon’s snout. He used to fit so snugly at the palm of your hand.
“Look how big you’ve grown.” You press your lips to a single scale, already as large as your head. “I have missed you, old friend.”
-
It was a worry that niggled at the back of his head amidst questions of how you came back and why you remember him.
Morax, for all his years alive that would seem many to mortals, was still but a young dragon then. Even when he was roughly the size of five houses.
He didn’t want to see you grow old, to watch as time eroded your spirit and left nothing but a husk of what you once were. The thought of having to relive those days when you could barely stand up to meet him at the clearing outside your village made him want to curl up and burrow deep into the earth.
He didn’t want to sleep beside you only to awake to the sight of your chest still and your breaths nonexistent.
He didn’t want to watch you die again.
-
The choice was taken out of his hands when he returned to his town—your town, just as much as it is his—and found it burning.
“There’s a nearby village that needs your help. Go, Morax, lend your hand to those who need it,” you had told him as you caressed his scales, and he had obeyed, because while the elders and the people come to him with their pleas and their wishes, he will only ever answer to you.
It had been a trick to place his attention away from your town.
He learned what anger meant that day, learned what it felt to crush a house beneath his claws and how to move the earth to his will and what it meant to take a life.
He was young and furious and mourning. It is a dark memory he doesn’t like to dwell on, full of pain and regret and the vicious sense of satisfaction that came with killing. It was the first time he had ever shed blood. It wouldn’t be the last.
As he watched the village be buried beneath the earth and the stone he’d called upon, he turned his back and made the long trek back to a home that was now nothing but ash and dust.
And as he rooted through the rubble in the vain hope of finding your body to bury, Morax learned what it meant to be an unwilling participant in a war.
-
It was as if fate was paying back the abundance of time you’d spent with him in your first life with short moments that were always cut too soon.
In your third life, you found him sleeping on the remains of what was once your town. You had wept and embraced him as much as you could, and he, in turn, tried to convey how much he had missed you.
The two of you traveled together for a while, and that life was where you rode on his back for the first time as he soared the skies.
“They’re like your eyes,” you once said, holding onto his scales as he flew above the clouds, the light of the setting sun casting the two of you in molten gold, “Golden. It’s been my favorite color ever since I first saw you open your eyes. They always shine so bright.”
You died that same day, having encountered a vengeful deity after he set foot on the ground. He had won that fight, but he wasn’t able to protect you.
-
It was in a battlefield that he saw you again.
He remembers how the small deity’s blood had felt upon his tongue, dripping down sharp teeth and soaking the battle happening in the ground below with blood. It had been sunny then, he remembers, when he descended from the skies in triumph and looked down the masses gazing at him with fear.
And then there was you.
Blood and dirt and other unnamable things clung to you like a second skin as you clumsily held a spear close to your chest, but you had beamed at the sight of him and yelled out his name.
“Morax!”
It was short-lived.
It had been a stray arrow, they would later plead with tears and mud streaking through their terror-filled faces. But all he cared about at that time was that one moment you dropped your spear to run to him, and the next you were falling to the ground, an arrow lodged right where your heart lay.
He left that field bloodied with corpses, your body strewn on his back as he flew to the clearing in your first life. There, he buried you beside your other incarnations.
-
“I’d like to settle one day, once all the fighting and killing has stopped. Maybe in a house overlooking the sea. Somewhere surrounded by mountains. Just a place where there’d be lots of space for you too.”
You leaned against the bulk of his frame, burrowed in a cliffside to wait out the fight between two gods happening on the other side of the lake.
-
“That was never there before,” you said, squinting at the castle in the sky as you laid on his back.
He rumbled his agreement.
You sighed, hearing the war going on below and wondering when it was all going to end.
“The stars don’t shine as bright as they used to.”
-
“Are you alright?!” You yelled as you frantically helped the woman—a deity—up from the ground.
Morax’s thundering roars echoed in the air as he summoned pillars from the earth and shattered the feeble ice that the opposing god put up.
The woman stared at you with wide eyes, noticing how labored your breathing was but otherwise looking unbothered by the fight happening in front of you.
“Are you not worried…?” She asked, her voice sounding as delicate as she looked.
You turned to her with a grin you’d hoped was encouraging. “There’s nothing to fear, Morax is strong!” Then, you offered her your hand. “Here, you can hold my hand if you’re afraid.”
She accepted it, feeling the tremors in her fingers calm at the warmth emanating from your palm.
“Guizhong,” she suddenly said, looking up at you, her heart racing. “Forgive my rudeness but… my name is Guizhong.”
You smiled, as bright and lovely as Morax would have described had he been there to see it. “Allow us to lend you and your people a hand, Guizhong!”
And for the first time since the war began, she felt hope blossom in her chest.
-
“Which life is this now?” Guizhong asked him.
“Nineteenth,” he answered, more of a growl that resembled a word. Morax, in his newly obtained form, was still not used to the ways of mortals, namely, the fact that he can now speak his thoughts out loud.
You were conversing with Cloud Retainer, something regarding a weapon that could be used to help the war. The mechanics were lost to him. For all that he could now be considered a deity, for all that the people have started calling him Rex Lapis, he was still so oblivious to the ways of the world.
Guizhong placed a hand on his shoulder, a reassuring smile on her deceptively gentle face. On that day, she promised to help him protect you.
And that life was one of the few where he got to watch you grow old.
-
“You don’t know how to read?” Guizhong asked you, surprise coloring her face.
You sheepishly laughed, “I’ve never been taught in all the lives I’ve lived. And most of my time with Morax was spent fighting and running from the war.”
You looked down your hands, feeling the smooth, unblemished skin of them. Young and unscarred. There had been a large gash that ran across your back in your previous life, and when the night got too cold and you were left alone with your thoughts, you felt the ache of thousands upon thousands of wounds you’d collected throughout your lives.
A dainty hand covered your own. You looked up to see Guizhong watching you with a fond smile.
“Let me teach you, then.”
-
Guizhong always invited you to sing to the glaze lilies scattered around the Assembly. She claimed your voice was like a melody that soothed the flowers to bloom.
In truth, she only wanted to hear you sing.
-
“No, that’s not how you hold chopsticks, Morax!” You laughed, taking hold of his hand and rearranging the chopsticks haphazardly held in his fingers. “There, much better.”
His fingers remained clumsy, unused to such sensations, but you promised him that he’ll get used to it in no time.
-
You slowly guided him through each step, gently correcting a mistake in his footwork and adjusting the spear in his hand when needed.
Morax was a fast learner.
Soon, he would develop his own way of wielding the spear, but for now, you coached him through the right techniques and laughed whenever he dropped the spear in a spin.
-
“The moon,” he suddenly said, looking at you with wide, earnest eyes.
“Yes, what about it?”
He seemed to struggle with finding the right words to convey what he wanted to say. You patiently sat and waited for him to gather himself.
“It’s beautiful tonight.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Isn’t it?”
You tilted your head to the sky, a nostalgic smile on your lips, lost in memories of days spent lazing about in that old clearing and staring at the starry sky. “It is.”
His hand felt warm around yours.
-
“I don’t want to die anymore.”
He held you as your blood seeped from your clothes and painted the grass a dark shade of red. It was a slow process, bleeding out, to wait for your blood to drain until your heart stopped beating and your eyes lost the light in them.
“Morax.”
You were crying, clutching your side where a god had pierced their blade clean through. You were dying so slowly, yet there was no time to get a healer.
“Please.”
Your eyes begged for an end to this pain.
His tears fell and mixed with your blood.
On your twenty-ninth life, he cradled your head to his chest and wept as he gave you a quick, painless death.
-
When he saw you again, he held you until the sun disappeared and his arms felt numb before reluctantly pulling away.
You held his face between the palm of your hands and kissed his forehead, your eyes red and smile brittle at the edges.
“I’ve missed you,” was all you said before you leaned close.
Your lips felt impossibly soft against his.
-
“Morax,” you whispered against his skin, on your thirty-first life when he finally found the courage to show you what being loved by him meant. “I love you.”
It was the first time you spoke those words to him.
It wouldn’t be the last.
He kept you awake all night, ignoring the war happening around him and pretending, just for a moment, that the world only consisted of you and him.
-
During your forty-second life, an anomaly happened.
He and the rest of the adepti were unable to gauge how it happened. Guizhong, for all her smarts, was not able to discern the reason for it either.
And then there was no time to ponder upon it anymore, because Osial attacks the Guili Assembly, and not only does he lose you, he also loses a friend.
Her last words to him consisted of a riddle and a memento in the form of a lock. “I never stopped searching for a reason. I think… this may be it.”
And in her eyes, he saw a confession — she had loved you too.
Thousands of years later and he is still no closer to opening it, and thus, no closer to figuring out what caused the loss of your memories.
-
On some lives, you remember, eyes lighting up with recognition as you abandoned everything you’d been doing to run into his arms.
“Morax,” you would whisper as he nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck.
On some lives, you would pass by him with blank eyes, the same lilt to your voice but without the fondness that came with it.
“Hello again,” he’d say.
You would smile awkwardly. “Hello?”
And he would mourn you all over again.
-
“He’s suffered enough, hasn’t he?”
Your words were enough to still Morax’s spear.
You knelt in front of the young-looking deity, offering your palm to him. “We will not shackle you, and neither will we force you to serve.”
His eyes were wary, yet so incredibly full of disbelief and hidden hope.
You gave him a smile you hoped was as gentle as it seemed.
Rough, battle-hardened hands clasped onto yours like a salvation.
“Please,” he whispered, something so undeniably broken in his tone as looked up at you the same way one might look up at the stars.
Later on, Morax would name that young deity Xiao.
-
There were tales and poems written about you. Rex Lapis and his undying lover.
It was widely romanticized and highly inaccurate. For one, he didn’t meet you in your first life as a large and intimidating dragon. He was naught but a hatchling you used to feed fruits and meat with a childish laugh. The two of you had grown up together, but where you had grown old, he remained young, a dragon who hadn’t even reached a fourth of his lifespan.
You always laughed as you read to him some of the more outlandish ones, in those lives where you remembered enough to love him as deeply as you used to.
“‘And they fornicated upon the moonlit night, a dragon and a mortal—’ I’m sorry, I can’t take this seriously.” You burst into a fit of giggles, leaning against him on your shared bed as the book you’d been holding fell to the side, forgotten.
“Shall I have a word with the authors of such books?”
“No, no!” You were quick to refuse, placing both palms on his cheeks and grinning. “They’re amusing to read. Perhaps I should commission a play, that would be so entertaining…”
He gazed at you fondly, cherishing each precious, limited time the two of you have.
-
When he ascended the throne of Celestia, you were the first person to greet him upon returning to Liyue.
There was a nervous edge to your smile, but still, it came as naturally as breathing to you. You often questioned it, how everything just seemed to come easily for you.
“I think I know you,” you once told him a week after you met in this life, “I just can’t remember where.”
And you would always come across the numerous retellings of your lives, hands shaking and so full of regret and grief for a life you could never quite recall.
You never failed to apologize to him after.
I’m sorry I forgot.
I’m sorry I can’t remember.
I’m sorry I don’t love you.
-
It became increasingly frequent with each century that passed. Only one incarnation of you every six lives remembered your past.
He made you love him in each one. Even if he had to start from the bottom, even when you looked at him without a spark of familiarity, even when it hurt—he never failed to capture your heart again and again.
-
The Cataclysm happened in a lifetime where you remembered.
Morax, to this day, wishes it hadn’t been the case. Perhaps then, you wouldn’t have insisted on fighting alongside him.
Perhaps then, you wouldn’t have died so early.
Your body was left beneath the rubble and ruins of Khaenri’ah’s Royal Palace. The only thing that stopped him from upturning it to search for you was the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.
-
In the twentieth year after the destruction of Khaenri’ah, he made a contract with a golden haired traveler who carried the aura of the stars.
Five years after the contract was signed, your body was returned to Liyue in a casket covered with Inteyvat flowers.
-
He remembers waiting, and waiting, and waiting a little more until he looked up and realized that four hundred years had passed without you.
He searched each nation, visiting village upon village, hoping to hear news of you or a past life of yours having lived there, but there was nothing.
It was as if you had simply ceased to exist.
He refused to believe it.
-
Mountain Shaper advised him to rest.
It was strange to walk the streets of Liyue again after a hundred years of absence. He never failed to appear during the Rite of Descension, but taking on his draconic form and parading as a mortal man were two different things. And the latter, he found in all the years he’d been ruling Liyue, was much more preferable than the former.
Conversations flowed around him, and he wondered what you would have been doing had you been here with him.
He stared into the Harbor, smiling as he remembered your quiet musings during the early days of the Archon War.
I’d like to settle one day, once all the fighting and killing has stopped. Maybe in a house overlooking the sea. Somewhere surrounded by mountains. Just a place where there’d be lots of space for you too.
Settle.
It was a wishful thought, but…
He turned on his heel, mind made up.
If he couldn’t look for you, then he would have to wait for you to come to him. In the meantime, he would arrange the finest house for you to live in peace after five hundred years of being apart and a lifetime of war and bloodshed.
-
Morax—Zhongli sits at a table at Third-Round Knockout, leisurely sipping tea as he listens to the story teller regale the tragic tale of your second life. A little inaccurate, on a few accounts, but for the most part, it was as he remembers it.
The tea tastes exceptionally sweet today. A good omen, perhaps.
He feels the vibrations from the ground, telling of a person approaching him from behind. He lets whoever it is get close, unable to detect any malicious intent.
“That’s completely false. I, for one, never ‘wept in delight as I was reunited with my dragon lover’.”
He nearly drops his tea in shock.
He turns his head to the right, his heart in his throat as he hopes and begs that his ears did not deceive him. He sucks in a breath—
And meets the loveliest pair of eyes gazing down at him with mirth.
You smile.
“Hello again.”
YOU🫵AYATO BABYGIRL
so won't you come and be my lover?
— a kamisato ayato x f!reader smau — also celebrity au — status: completed
SUMMARY — a new year means new beginnings. with your resolution being 'to live a more peaceful life', the start of your year could not go any more wrong when you get involved in a dating scandal with renowned actor kamisato ayato. denying it is easy, but not when the other party gives the completely opposite response.
𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆.
[name]'s : official | personal ayato's : official | personal
𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐒.
00: happy new year 01: aether's fault 02: don't leave me on read 03: promise 04: the best part 05: i lied 06: friendship ended 07: respect [name] 08: kiss scene 09: you're my bf 10: ayato hate page | 10.5 (extra): ayadog 11: are you my heart? 12: clean it up 13: all mine 14: i won the lottery 15: gladly, ma'am 16: romance drama 17: sour and salty 18: your place or mine? 19: idea of luxury | 19.5 (extra): no shame 20: airing live
21: i come with free cuddles 22: you have a priv? 23: you >>> everybody else 24: girlfriend privileges 25: #HappyAyaYnDay 26: let's go out 27: i always had a feeling 28: punch your irrelevant selves 29: please go away 30: happiness is a butterfly 31: champagne problems 32: i will gladly break my heart for you 33: truly, madly, deeply 34: one mistake 35: sincerely, [name]'s lover
36: i beg of you 37: it's all yours | 37.5 (extra): i'm connecting the dots 38: daylight 39: kiss them away 40: i am revived 41: karma era 42: my mother did not raise a quitter | 42.5: only my beloved could 43: yes you are 44: i still get jealous 45: they aren't you 46: to the girl i've loved before | 46.5: hahaha 47: farewell, moots 48: you look better with me 49: now i wake up by your side 50: last laugh
𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒
idk what im doing
will contain swearing
mistakes such as grammatical and typographical errors may be committed (eng is not my first language pls bear with me :"D)
updates might be inconsistent
taglist is now closed :>
THIS IS OUR PLACE WE MAKE THE RULEEESSSS
breakup songs
tags: fluff! (I promise), established relationship, taylor swift songs
"cause i was there when you said forever and always...you didn't mean it baby," you sang passionately with the car's radio. "i don't think-"
the music stopped suddenly. "i don't like this song," sae itoshi grumbled. "pick something else."
you frowned, turning in your seat to face your long term boyfriend. like a good driver, he kept his eyes on the road, expression passive.
"but i like it," you huffed. "and you said i get aux privileges for the next week."
bright teal eyes flicked over you for a moment. "no."
your jaw dropped. "sae! at least tell me why."
"just pick a new song, y/n." his fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the steering wheel. "or i'll do it for you."
pouting, you opened your spotify. "stupid football players and their stupid egos. so used to getting everything they want," you mumbled.
sae ignored your complaints.
"you better like this one."
for the nth time that day, taylor swift's oh so familiar voices leaked through from the high quality speakers all around the car:
"once upon a time, a few mistakes ago-"
sae's hand jumped up to hit the power button. "we're going in silence."
you sputtered nonsensically. "it's another hour until our destination! what's wrong with my music?"
he opened his mouth and closed it. as you fired at him, sae itoshi shrugged silently.
you leaned back into the leather seats, crossing your arms. you couldn't understand why sae was being so shifty. it's not like he had ever minded your music choices before.
in fact, the pro football player had always let you belt out any song you wished, even joining in with enough pleading. it was only in the past week or so that he'd been more annoyed.
frowning, you chewed on your lip nervously. this wasn't a good sign, was it? maybe sae had finally gotten sick of you- found someone better.
you saw him glance at you again. avoiding any eye contact, you turned your gaze toward your hands.
god, when was the last time you had gotten your nails done? your previous polish - a reddish color that matched sae's hair - was chipping from all sides already. you almost frantically picked at the peeling paint.
"y/n," sae's voice was steady. "leave your nails alone."
you jumped, head snapping towards him. "huh?"
he raised one eyebrow, pointedly staring at your hands.
you reddened. "it's not a big deal- keep your eyes on the road. pretend i'm not here or something."
with a narrowing of his eyes, sae turned back to the road.
it was another three miles before you heard him sigh.
"they're breakup songs," sae muttered quietly.
"what?"
the light in front of them flashed red. with another sigh, sae turned his upper body toward you.
"your music. they're always breakup songs now. that's why i don't like them."
you gaped at him, feeling way too much like a goldfish. "what?"
he stared at you. anyone would have assumed he was as indifferent as ever, but you could see that hint of red climbing up his neck.
sae itoshi was embarrassed.
"you're kidding!" you blurted, grinning like a maniac.
he immediately turned his attention back towards the road, but even he couldn't hide the twitch of his lips.
"you're sad because i sing breakup songs?" you managed out past your laughs. "sae, that's so cute!"
"and now i take it all back," he mumbled.
you leaned towards him suddenly, landing a kiss right onto his cheek. sae cursed, car swerving slightly.
"y/n, what-"
"i love you," you said breathlessly, effectively shutting him up. "and i would never break up with you, no matter what taylor swift says."
he snorted. when he replied, his voice was soft all the same. "i love you too."
"...can i have my music back now?"
sae groaned, but there were no complaints as you eagerly tapped through your phone once again.
"we can leave the christmas lights up till january..."
reblogs & feedback appreciated!!
TAYLOR SWIFT MENTIONED!??!!??????!!!!
Synopsis: trying to spend time with your boyfriend while keeping your relationship private… or a secret…
Content: Alhaitham x fem!reader, low-profile/secret relationship, angst no comfort, writer!reader,
Warnings: slightly toxic if you squint, guilt-tripping, neglect, arguing, long intro (it gets good i promise), cursing, not proofread
Note: (Title from Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)’) I tried to make this as in-character as possible while trying to convey the conflict of the plot so please let me know if there are any inaccuracies
—
The walls of Lambad’s tavern grew dim as the sun set; you, Tighnari, and Kaveh sat at a table having a little get-together. It didn’t feel complete, though, because two members of the group have yet to arrive. Cyno said he would be late due to an interrogation he has to do. And Alhaitham… he didn’t really give a notice but you all figured he was busy, being the acting grand sage and all that.
After a 30-minute rant about Kaveh’s clients, you talked about writing a new novel but you had no idea how to start it.
“Questions are overrated,” said Kaveh as he downed his drink, “I suggest you start with an at-large murder suspect being chased down by government officials—not guardes or the millelith, literal government officials.”
“You could ask Cyno for inspiration,” Tighnari suggests. You consider the idea but you figured Cyno wouldn’t have the time. “Or you could ask Alhaitham. I remember he has some experience in that field too.”
“Ah, yes,” you reply meekly. “I had forgotten.”
Hearing Alhaitham’s name felt like a stab to the heart, a curse laid upon you. You weren’t sure if it was out of love or suffering. After two years of dating, not a single soul knew about the two of you. As you asked yourself why that is, you give yourself an excuse that he simply wasn’t ready to be out. That he wanted you to make a name for yourself in case people would only remember you as the acting grand sage’s partner and not your rightful title as a writer.
When he first introduced the idea of keeping your relationship low-profile, you thought nothing of it. You knew he had no ill-intentions with the situation, so you agreed. But you thought the coast would be clear 6 months into the relationship.
During that time, the only signs of affection you got from him were when he was seldom tired from work and came home to you, longing for your warmth and drowning you with the most beautifully crafted compliments you could only dream of hearing. It was the side of him only you got to see. It was almost an honor being able to witness such greatness, all the while feeling like a goddess, worshipped and gratified by the gift of your presence.
Nowadays, you no longer felt like a deity worth praying to; that side of him became rarer than it already was.
The times when you were together—together being with the rest of your friends—you would always try to make some sort of contact with him just to feel the thrill of love your heart was aching to have, only for him to starve you of it and leave.
You felt alone, neglected, desperate, nonexistent, like a forgotten dream worth pursuing.
Everytime you thought of leaving, frames and fragments of his flattering psalms and echoing touch seemed worth the mind-numbing pain you’re going through. You’re the only one for me, he’d say. I don’t know what I did to deserve you. He would gaze upon you like you were a full moon, and you would embrace him like he was the sun.
But basking under the sun is bound to get you burned.
About an hour later, already midnight, Cyno had already arrived but Alhaitham was nowhere to be seen. Kaveh has had too many drinks and is now drunk to the core. And with the hopes of seeing Alhaitham’s face for once, you drank your fair share too. Your cheeks glowed with a drunken flush, a fire setting aflame to your frozen heart. Something he could never do.
“Looks like the acting grand sage will not be joining us,” Cyno pointed out.
A guffaw escaped from your throat, “What is there to even expect, Alhaitham has been busy since that damned Azar did… something.”
You can’t think clearly. The laugh you let out almost sounded like a sob, and to be honest, you were on the verge of crying. You were just tired. You needed the warmth only the love of your life could provide.
Then out of the blue, the voice you longed for an eternity echoed through the tavern, tired and monotonous. “Apologies for my utmost tardiness, there were some issues at the akademiya I needed to handle.”
Alhaitham.
Your stomach hurt all of the sudden. You watched as he walked to the seat opposite of you. Shouldn’t you be happy now? You were just about to break down because he wasn’t here. Now that he is, you should be content and watch your boyfriend from afar. But all you could feel was betrayal, the blank agony of despair, the cruel sting of rejection.
He failed to notice the tears that glossed your eyes, assuming it was the reflection of the light. Your gaze pierced his soul with desperation, begging for him to console you and just… do whatever. You were asking for even a squeak, a sliver of concern, the bare minimum.
“Tighnari, how is Collei doing with her studies?” Like he had a shield for your painful daggers, he didn’t even glance at your direction. Disappointment filled you like a glass of wine. You should be used to this by now—the overwhelming weight when he avoided your leg, another desperate cry you needed him to hear.
Tighnari shared Collei’s progress after seeing that you were okay. As much as you were proud of her, you prayed to every archon not to let her be in your situation. Your heart shreds for the other person, it screams his name like a priest in worship, and all that for naught.
The group laughed at something, you weren’t listening all that much. You just felt… empty.
Kaveh’s voice called your name, “Isn’t that right, Y/N?” The group turns to you, who was dazed and distracted. The architect immediately noticed this. He patted your cold hand, “Y/N?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. Yeah, sure.”
Alhaitham laughed, “You seem distracted tonight, Y/N. If you’re looking to write for the akademiya, that kind of attitude will not be tolerated.”
Somehow you got defensive. Was it Alhaitham’s obliviousness? The way he made it seem like you were aloof? His laugh that mocked you in your desolate state? Maybe it was all of the above. Whatever it was, it made you snap.
“Ah, Alhaitham, akademiya this, akademiya that—there are more things to life than work, you know.” Your voice covered up your attacks as simple friendly banter. You’ve gotten good at sucking up your anxieties and steadying your voice all thanks to him. Now you can cover yourself up real nice when you commit a crime. You have a knife in mind, and you’re ready to kill. “Like, I don’t know, a partner, per say.”
Stab.
The grand sage scoffed, “You know very well I don’t have time for such trivial things.” His muscles flex as he crossed his arms. So these were the words he chose to say to you, after centuries of broken promises and empty plates.
“Maybe you would if you actually made the time for one.”
Stab.
“You are aware that you just ignored what I just said, right? Are you even listening?”
Stab.
“Oh, I’ve been listening. For the past two years, I’ve been listening my butt out for you.” It was scarring how unbothered Alhaitham was; you wanted to scream at him. The tightening of your chest, the prickling of tears behind your eyes, the weight of despair settling in your stomach, could he see what you’re going through? “Now, all I ask is a little bit of sympathy because I have been suffering all alone, waking up to an empty bed, not even a-“
“Y/N, what are you talking about?” Alhaitham interrupted you, somewhat panicked. You didn’t realize how loud you were being, up from your seat with your palm stinging from how hard it hit the table. “You know, if you’re having boy problems, you don’t have to take it out on me. It’s not like I’m your boyfriend.”
Right then and there, your world began crashing down. “Alhaitham,” Cyno muttered disapprovingly, making Alhaitham realize how rude he sounded. The tavern’s customers hushed to listen to your table. You hadn’t realized there were so many people.
Without even looking around, you could feel their eyes on you, whispers riddled with scandal.
“They’re being so loud.”
“Has she no shame?”
“In the presence of Acting Grand Sage Alhaitham, too.”
“Look, the general mahamatra is there; she really needs to watch herself.”
The embarrassment, the anger; it all fuelled you with a feeling you could not explain. No metaphor could capture the entirety of the wickedness of a man. How come he gets to sit there with everyone’s respect while you grovel in your puddle of tears? How come he’s having the time of his life while you’re burning in hell?
“You’re right,” you began, eyes dulled and void of life—of love, “You’re not. Okay, that’s all the liquor I can handle, guys. I think I’ll be heading home now.”
“Y/N,” Kaveh called, standing from his seat to escort you on your way out.
“I can walk myself, Kaveh.” You grabbed your things and took a sip of water. “Acting Grand Sage, humblest apologies.” Once again, you looked at him with utmost disappointment before leaving the tavern and heading home.
—
I am adrift in a sea of longing, drowning in the silence of his absence, clutching to memories like driftwood in a storm-tossed ocean. Yet still, I cling to the fading embers of our love, fearing the darkness that awaits should I let them fade to ash.
Hours after you returned home, sleep had not been your friend. As much as it would be typical, you cried until your eyes stung. It was now 4am, the time Alhaitham usually wakes up. Lost in your never-ending, ever-agonizing thoughts, you stared blankly at the dining room, wondering if he will finally recognize his mistakes, how much pain you’ve been in.
The knob of your front door twisted open, and surprise, surprise, it was Alhaitham who entered your apartment. “What the FUCK was that, Y/N?” He was not one to raise his voice like that, or even curse.
“Of all the nights I was available, this was when and how you choose to talk to me?” Your voice was the opposite—calm, sad, empty.
“Do you realize you nearly told everyone about our relationship?” He spotted a notebook on your crossed lap and grabbed it. “What’s that, ‘I am adrift in a sea of..’ what? Y/N, is there something you’re not telling me?”
“You specialized in languages, Alhaitham, you’ll figure it out.”
The man scoffed, “I’m not a mind reader, Y/N, if you could stop being immature-“
“You’re calling me immature? Okay, what about you keeping our two-year relationship a fucking secret?” The both of you continued raising your voices at each other. If people in the tavern hadn’t already spread rumors, this will surely start them. “Just tell me you’re ashamed of me, Alhaitham!” Then the man fell silent. Serves him right. “Tell me you don’t love me, so you can have a concrete reason to leave!”
“You know being the acting grand sage was never an easy task. The Fatui and other rebelling organizations have me as their number one target, and they are more than willing to hurt anyone to get their way! I was keeping us a secret to protect you! Seeing you getting hurt would mean the end of the world.”
“Getting hurt?” You scoff, “If you never wanted me to get hurt, you’re doing a terrible fucking job. I had to sit through multiple tables with empty seats because you were never home. Do you know how embarrassing that is for myself? I had to tolerate every ounce of contact you avoided because ‘someone might see us.’ In case you couldn’t get how much pain I’m in, let me sum it up for you—IT HURTS MORE THAN DEATH, ALHAITHAM!”
As the last echoes of your argument faded into the silence of the empty apartment, it felt as though the very foundations of your world was crumbling around them. Each word spoken was like a dagger to the heart, tearing apart the fragile bonds of love that had once held you together.
Every word you said stung his chest, the last part beating him to a pulp. It was too late for regret to cross his mind. “I really did love you, Alhaitham, more than anything.”
Those words… he hadn’t heard them in what felt like eternity. All he wanted to do was melt into your arms and apologize endlessly for all his wrongdoings, the times he barely came home, the mornings he could’ve spent with you. He’s been feeling this way for what feels like centuries. If he opened his arms to you, would you still embrace him? Would you still forgive him?
“But I can’t keep giving myself excuses to tolerate all of this.”
He looked at you, your eyes that were once so full of light now dimming of any source. The desperation, the longing you both share. There was so much sadness in your eyes. Have you always looked at him that way? Alhaitham was always quick on his feet—he had to find a way to convince you to stay!
“Y/N,” he began, “We can’t just give up on everything we’ve been through. All the dates, anniversaries, everything we took our time to make—it will all be a waste if we give up now.”
“I think you gave up on us the first time you dropped my hand when I reached for you.”
You were slowly slipping from his grasp, from his future. “I’m willing to give you all the time you need. Every meal, every date, every word you desire, I will make time for all of it. I promise you.”
“How can I know this will be another empty promise? How will I know you won’t do this again? You were never the type to offer everything so helplessly, Alhaitham.”
“Y/N, can’t you see-“
“Where were you during my sleepless nights? Where were you when I had prepared the perfect dinner for us? Where were you when I stood in the middle of the park, waiting for a certain someone to show up?
You were never there, Alhaitham. But I forgave you for all of that. I gave you a million last chances.”
A million last chances… you were thinking of leaving him beforehand? When he couldn’t seem to move his mouth, you decided you’ve had enough.
“Please, leave.”
It was too late for him now. He was long gone from saving you, from saving this relationship. There was nothing left to say, or do.
In the dim light of dawn, you both stood alone, tears a silent testament to the shattered dreams and broken promises that littered the floor like shards of glass. And as you watched your former lover walk away, a part of you knew that the wounds inflicted that night would never fully heal, leaving behind nothing but the bitter taste of regret and the haunting echo of what could have been.
(Part 2 coming soon!)