FINGERS TWISTED BEHIND MY BACK (DON'T LET IT BE YOU I LACK) ── Aventurine X Gn!reader, 862

fleeting colors in flight ✨🏮⛅

the twin’s smiles are so precious (´∀｀)♡

they say something they don’t mean | valentines special! (part two)

includes diluc, kaeya, childe, and zhongli

✦ angst with no comfort, except for zhongli’s

i just really can’t see him saying something that mean i’m sorry

g/n reader as always!

y’all didn’t actually think i wouldn’t post angst for valentines day … right? enjoy <3

*note: there’s a slight mention of diluc’s past in his section that some might not know about. you can look here on the wiki to read about it, or skip it if you don’t want spoilers.

part one | the moment they fell for you with diluc, kaeya, childe, zhongli, and xiao

— diluc

diluc can hardly even look at you. he needs to calm down, he can feel his rational slipping — but every time he pictures you recklessly running into the middle of a battle, an unbearable rage shoots through him.

“diluc, you’re being childish—“

“oh, i’m being childish? this is ridiculous, i can’t believe you,” he spits. “that was quite possibly the dumbest decision you’ve ever made. i don’t even know why i bother to bring you along with me anymore.”

you scoff, eyes narrowing. “you’re kidding, right? i’ve saved your ass on numerous occasions, sorry for the inconvenience.”

his jaw clenches as diluc struggles to keep his temper, shaking his head at your words. “what you did today was idiotic. had i not reached you in time, you wouldn’t be standing here at this moment.”

you continue to glare at him, eyes hardening as you say, “well, i guess we didn’t all have the luxury of training with the knights.”

he snaps.

diluc visibly seems to bristle as the simmering anger in his eyes begins to burn brighter. he takes a step toward you, not noticing the fresh fear in your gaze.

“how dare you?” he growls, voice growing louder as he continues to speak. “i have done nothing but babysit you ever since we met — i let you join me on my errands because i thought it would help you find a sense of worth, but i suppose it was useless. you’re nothing but a burden.”

you swallow before quietly asking, “is that how you really feel?” he huffs out a humorless laugh that only makes your heart ache more, the man standing in front of you seeming more and more like a stranger.

“why would i waste my time lying?”

you have no response as you stare back at him, the shock and hurt evident in your eyes. he drops his gaze. 

“i think it would be best if you left,” he says, voice low and threatening. you’re quick to turn and briskly walk out the door, leaving diluc alone with his thoughts. his mind begins to clear as soon as he realizes what he said, an overwhelming wave of guilt washing over him. he quickly makes his way outside, sighing in relief when he sees your figure walking away from the winery.

he catches up to you, panic setting in when you refuse to look at him. “please, we should talk—”

“i want nothing to do with you,” you retort, trying to quicken your pace. “leave me alone.”

“i shouldn’t have said that,” he tries, stepping in front of you. you glare up at him, and diluc feels his heart crack when he sees the tears welling in your eyes. “please come back with me, we need to talk about this.” he gently tries to reach for your hand, eyes widening when he sees you flinch away. 

were you scared of him?

“there’s nothing to talk about.” your voice is small, yet he can still sense the hurt in it. “let me go, diluc.”

“i—”

“move.” reluctantly, he moves to the side, watching hopelessly as you walk away. 

diluc swears his world gets a bit dimmer when he realizes he might have lost you for good.

Keep reading

you stumble across dan heng in heat. dan heng x fem reader wc: 2k content warning(s): nsfw, hsr spoilers mdni banner by cafekitsune

“Stupid girl,” Dan Heng hissed. The grip he had on your neck was tight, and you squealed helplessly as he kept you in a vulnerable, bent-over position on his desk. Your stomach lurched inside of you as the man drew his hips back, right before snapping it roughly up against yours.

Your legs shook as you gripped onto the edge of his desk. Dan Heng refused to let up on his pace, thrusting wildly into you as if he was into heat. Well—he was, and you’d made the mistake of wandering onto him when he had explicitly warned you to stay away.

“You never know when to keep that nose of yours out of trouble, don’t you?” His fingers curled into the flesh of your neck, and you choked out, hot breath fogging up the surface of his desk. “You just had to fall right into my lap. This is all your fault, got it?”

You moaned mindlessly. His cock was disgustingly thick, the inhuman nature only so much more evident now that you were aware of what a hormone-scrambled, lust-crazed dragon he was. The bright flush on his face was a clear indicator of his heat, and the singular thing the man had on his mind was to fuck you and fill you up with his cum until you’d be brainlessly bred.

“Sorry!! I’m- I’m sorry-,” you eked out. His dark eyes flashed dangerously, and you cried out when you felt him fuck into you harshly. His drooling tip kept invading your tight walls over and over again, molding your sweet cunt into the shape of his swollen cock.

“Are you really?” He angled his thrusts slightly, and you recoiled onto his desk, clawing futilely at the polished surface. “Doesn’t matter now. I’m going to make sure you fully understand the consequences of your actions. That’s only right, don’t you think? Take responsibility.”

You swallowed thickly, panting like a dog. Your entire body felt so hot, like the man had lit your skin on fire. Heat trickled and pool, coiling and twisting like an angry snake deep inside of your stomach. Your cunt drooled at the friction, the arousal building up inside of you making your mind go blank. 

All you could think about was one thing, and that was the man fucking you from behind.

“So rough…!” You gasped desperately, the heat stifling your breathing. “You’ll break me…!”

“Good. I want to break you. That’s what you get for teasing me. You underestimated me, didn’t you? You underestimated just how much I could do to you…” You shuddered when you heard him laughing darkly, his pace quickening just a hair. You let out small “ah- ah- ah-”s matching with his thrusts, and your gut curled when you could hear all the lewd, sloppy noises your pussy was making.

He lowered his head a little, hushing his voice so you could barely hear him over the wet sounds of your so-called lovemaking. “You hear that? That’s all you. Am I making you feel good? I am, aren’t I? Don’t lie to me. I can feel that cunt of yours squeezing up all around me. Having a cock stuffed up in your pussy feels good, doesn’t it? Do you like it when I move inside you like that?”

You nodded incoherently. His words were swimming through your ears, and the knot building up like a welt inside of you was threatening to break any minute now. You wondered if anyone would stumble in upon the two of you, going at it like animals in the distant corner of the archives, your moans shamelessly echoing around for Dan Heng to swallow up greedily.

“It feels good…!” Your back arched as he abused your sweet spots, cock rubbing endlessly up against your warm, slick walls. “‘M gonna cum- I can’t control myself…!”

He smiled to himself. He knew he wasn’t thinking straight, his mind overrun with the carnal need to claim you, to fill you up, to completely make you his. But seeing you bent over with his dick stuffed inside you, knowing that he was the one making you feel this good, knowing that he was the one who could see your naked body and do as he pleased to it, only made his animalistic instincts grow worse. Dan Heng wanted to keep you like this forever, moaning and mindless, pussy stretched out by his stupidly big cock, with nothing but him on your mind.

“Are you gonna cum?” He teased. “Gonna cum on my cock? Good, good, that’s how it should be. My cock’s the only thing that could make you cum. I’m gonna fuck you so good, fill you up with my cum, to the point that having sex with anybody else won’t even feel good anymore.”

He paused, laughing sardonically to himself once more before staring down at you with sickeningly lovestruck eyes. “Not that I’d let you have sex with anyone else after I’ve had you like this.”

You shook your head, pushing your hips back up against him eagerly. “D-Don’t want anyone else… Just wanna have you- Only want you-”

Ah.

The possessive streak inside of Dan Heng swirled precariously. Did you realize the things you were saying to him? The way they made him feel? Here he was, stuck between balancing his respect for you versus the inhuman lust that was racking his body, and all you had to say to that was to fuel the flames even further. He bit the inside of his cheek, his territorial instincts going wild.

“You’re already playing a dangerous game with me,” he growled. “Don’t you dare make it worse.”

You moaned and clawed at his desk. He kept thrusting into you wildly, consumed with the need to claim you as his. His grip would undoubtedly leave marks on your neck, and yet being manhandled and pinned down on his desk like this only aroused you further.

“I’m telling the truth…,” you mewled. Dan Heng faltered for a moment, his breath catching.

Did you upset him? You wanted to look back at him and see, but before you could say anything, the man let go of you. You moved to turn your neck, but Dan Heng gruffly grabbed at one of your thighs and lifted it, forcing you to spread your legs further for him to thrust deeper inside of you.

“Ah- Wait, wait- You’re going so deep-!” You cried out. You slumped against the desk for dear life, clinging onto it as Dan Heng began fucking into your hole at a brutal new angle.

“Take it- Take it all-!” He commanded loudly. “I told you not to tease me… You’re mine now. I’ll make you mine!”

You nodded, hanging your head. You could only stay there, sandwiched helplessly between his strong body and the thick desk with no choice but to take his dick. He fucked you hard and rough, leaving your pussy throbbing and aching with need. It was too good, enough to make your head spin and your thoughts to waver and slip. 

“More, more- Fuck me more, Dan Heng!” You pleaded needily. “Want to cum on your cock- Want you to fill me up…! I’m yours- I’m yours, I’m yours, I’m yours-”

“Yeah, that’s a good girl,” he breathed. The grip on your thigh was firm, keeping you stuck there as he slid his dick in and out of you. “C’mon, cum for me now. Let everyone know who’s making you feel this good. Ruin yourself for me.”

You whimpered, throwing your head back and letting the physical pleasure consume you. So good, it was so good. All you could think about was how good it felt to be stretched out all over his cock, your pussy sucking him in deeper and deeper, milking him selfishly, wanting to be stuffed to the brim with his cum until it’d leak out of your fluttering hole and down your legs… 

The knot swirling and tightening in your stomach was on the verge of breaking, and you could feel your orgasm approaching closer and closer. Slick ran down your thighs, and your body felt ridiculously hot, spiraling on the edge of no control. Dan Heng gritted his teeth, snapping his hips up against you ruthlessly, right into the spot that made your cunt clench up around him. You were taking him so well, letting him mate with you so obediently, even if this whole thing was a mess of your own making.

He slammed right into your sweet spot, and you tensed up noticeably against his frame. Your vision started to blur and fade to white around the edges, stomach twisting in and dropping like you were on a roller coaster. “Cumming…! Dan Heng- More- I’m cumming, I’m cumming…!”

“Nngh…!” The man let out a strangled cry when your cunt clamped down on him like a vice, your orgasm washing over him. Seeing your face contort with pleasure and your body shaking under his touch made something in his brain snap, and Dan Heng gripped onto you like a ragdoll as he thrusted wildly up into your overstimulated cunt. He ate up all of your wounded cries, pure instinct overwhelming his body like a drug for a few moments before his own arousal overtook him and knocked out all of his senses.

You gripped onto the table, your mind slammed to a complete stop. “D-Dan Heng…! Ah- Cum inside me!”

He clenched his jaw, forcing his hips up and his cock as deep as it could go inside of you. You moaned, your legs threatening to give out from underneath you. He pumped you full of his cum, his heavy balls tightening up against your entrance as he coated every inch of your walls white. You shuddered when you could feel his scalding hot semen pile up inside of you, rushing straight into your womb and gushing out from your hole. Dan Heng tried to keep as much of it as he could inside of you, using his cock as a plug of sorts, and you buried your head in your hands as you forced yourself to take in deep breaths. 

The desk kept you grounded as an anchor of sorts, and when the world slowly stopped spinning and your thoughts began returning back to you, Dan Heng carefully let go of his tight grip on you. You slumped down onto the floor, sticky loads of cum dripping out of you and forming a small puddle in between your legs.

Dan Heng couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, even though shame prickled at his body. Did he do that to you? Did he really say all of those things towards you? He didn’t know whether to hate himself for losing control as he did or to continue feeding his selfish needs, his cock still craving your soft, sweet pussy.

“Dan Heng…,” you quietly started. The man kept his face emotionless as you peered up at him, smiling at him sweetly as if to assuage his worries. Something tightened inside of his chest when he saw you grinning at him, as if he hadn’t fucked the living daylights out of you just seconds before and as if it wasn’t his cum that had flooded your walls.

You watched with curious eyes as his cock hardened up again, twitching against the cool air at the sight of you sitting before him. How good would it feel if he took you again? If he fucked you until you couldn’t walk or think? If he fucked you until the entire train knew who it was that was making you scream and lose your mind with pure pleasure? Dirty thoughts ran rampant in his body, the aftereffects of his heat still lingering all over him.

He swallowed, licking his dry lips as he motioned for you.

“Up. We’re not done yet.” The dragon’s eyes glowed dangerously with a hint of jade and gold. "We’re not stopping until I say so.”

Until he was sure he had made you his one and only mate.

gustav klimt: expectation

Stories

Kaedehara Kazuha/f!Reader

A/N: aah i’ve been working on this one for a while! i really hoped to get it posted today, so i’m sorry if it sounds rushed;; there are some intense scenes later in the story so please be aware if you’re sensitive towards that! i tried to write an inazuma setting so i hope i used accurate terms. it’s heavily inspired by teapot dialogue and kazuha’s character stories// the bake-danuki mentioned are the little tanuki who prank people and dance

warnings: swearing, light blood, violence, break-in, intense scene, ooc, reader mentioned to be smaller than kazuha

SFW

word count: 5.8k

summary: You live in a forest far from the city. When someone knocks on your door during a storm, will you regret opening it to greet them?

-

Crash!

Lightning struck nearby, its booming echo piercing through the dense rain. The night sky was pitch black, visible only when another flash of lightning sparked life into the thunder clouds. The intensity of Inazuma’s storms had been slowly increasing as of late.

Keep reading

Hello wello, may I request the genshin tall bois (Diluc, Kaeya, Childe, Zhongli) with a gn reader where reader really likes them and its not a secret that theyve been trying to win them over but a situation forced the bois to admit that they hated/find reader annoying and they didnt know that reader heard everything. (Did that make sense?) please feel free to pour truck tons of angst. Whether it has comfort in the end is up to u :3. I hope you have a great day ❤️

— # 🫐Listening To The Truth | Genshin ✘ Reader(s) Hcs

⤤ Summary: The reader is ready to truly confess to the *genshin character* they like until they hear that Genshin character mention their name. Stating how annoying they are around them, and how they can’t stand them or working near them. Which breaks the reader’s heart.

⤤ Notes: I tried to make this as long as I could, and I also apologize for this request since it took longer than it should have. So like… yeah. I did two characters for now because I am hella tired, Kaeya & Zhongli will be added later. Also if this is seen without Childe or empty paragraphs, I accidentally published it without it being finished… also childe’s part is toxic. Don’t think what he is doing is correct.

⤤ Characters: Diluc & Childe.

Warnings: Heartbroken, Sad, Slight Suicidal Thoughts + Angst + Comfort & Toxicity From Childe

Diluc | Hard Truth

You managed to find yourself walking around Mondstalt looking for Jean. Seeing if she was with Lisa or Kaeya. Today would be one of the days where you were going to the Tavern and ask Diluc for some help.

Not that you really needed any, but because you wanted to express your true feelings to him. Cause trying to suppress those feelings inside was already hard enough.

You continued to walk closer to the tavern, realizing it was a bit too late for it to not be open. But you could see that door was slight open, so you peaked through it to see if anyone was inside.

In your sight you could see Jean and Diluc talking quite loudly from behind the counter. Listening to them talking about commissions and etc.

“Diluc, perhaps I should have [Name] show you” you heard Jean mention your name as a suggestion. “They know more about the hilichurls than most of us.”

You grew with excitement. If by all means you could spend more time with Diluc. There would be no point in complaining. Though the only thing that could be a pain in the ass would be fighting those hilichurls all day.

They were quite an annoying breed.

“No thank you.” You hear Diluc say coldly. Your once flustered heart, dropped.

“Why?” Jean asked and Diluc huffed loudly. You pressed your ear closed to the door.

“I am not fond of their behavior. They annoy me, at a great level. I can’t dare to spend another day with them distracting me from my work. They are just too… joyful.” He went on to complain. Each word leaving his lips making cracks in your heart. “They can be strong all they want, they’d be the reason of my death due to their annoyance.”

Slowly tears started to pour from your eyes as you stood up straight once more. Pressing your hand to your nose to keep the sniffles muffled, before running off quite loudly. But away from the tavern. Jean swiftly turned her head to the tavern doors and raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“You hear that?”

“Hmm?”

You ran as far as you could feeling your beating heart, crack like a fragile mirror. So with every few steps you took, you would try to wipe at the tears running down your face. But it didn’t work. It never worked.

You continued to run up the stairs, near the church. Before finding a nearby bench, where not many people or citizens were at.

You just lowered your head hoping no one would notice your tears that laid on face and fell to your lap. You were ready to continue your sobbing, until someone sat besides you.

“Kaeya?” You asked turning your head, swiftly to the right. Kaeya smirked slightly, and raised an eyebrow as to why you had so many tears coming down from your face.

“I saw you running here, so I assumed it was an emergency” he started.

“Oh…” you mumbled. “My apologies then”

He let out a chuckle.

“Why are you crying?” Kaeya asked, grabbing your chin with his hand, and wiping your tears away.

You couldn’t help but let out more sobs. But after some time, the words came out of your lips like a sweet melody.

— — —

For the next following weeks, you grew quite quiet, and just stayed neutral when you were with Diluc. You didn’t laugh, or joke with him like you usually did. Didn’t go to ask him of his favorite things nor asked how his day went. You just went and killed hilichurls and reported it to Jean.

And you stayed extremely quiet when it came to talking with Diluc or Jean. Whether they asked how your day went, or if you needed help. The most they could and would get is a nod or shaking head from you.

But of course when you were in the comfort of your house, behind doors, you were secretly in a relationship with Kaeya. You never wanted it to be too open to the public, but he did tease you a lot. Which made some of the knights question the two of you.

When you two were together at home, you both would either cook with each other, read books, do work, or sleep besides each other. Or just cuddle for hours. Usually the choice was up to you.

“[Name]” Jean called out walking down from one of the hallways. “Have you seen Diluc?”

You shook your head. And darted towards the doors, in a hurry to leave the place. Jean got a bit nervous and started to feel guilty, realizing that you weren’t like you’re usual self.

They had enough knights that have been traumatized and you were the only one who was actually able to spread some joy. But now seeing that you were no longer capable of doing that, she started to question if it was because of her.

When you walked outside, Diluc noticed your presence. But you didn’t notice him, and he watched you walk to the area where some of the Barbara fan clubs would be near. Especially Albert.

Usually in that area where many leaves would pile up and the traveler (aka Honorary Knight) would be forced to clean. Diluc started to follow you.

Even he has been curious on why you didn’t act the same. And as much as he wanted to admit that he preferred you to not be so loud. He quite missed it. Because after these few weeks and nearly a month passing, he realized that he feelings for you.

Feelings he realized he didn’t have before. So when he followed you, and realized you ran into Kaeya’s arms with such joy sparkling in your eyes as Kaeya picked you up. His heart didn’t shatter. But he could feel it drown.

Drowning in regret.

Childe | Rude Truth

You smiled wildly, as you entered the bank, and entering one of the back halls to go and see if Childe was still lingering in this fancy place. You could hear Childe’s voice coming from his office. As you could hear Scara’s voice as well.

So you stopped carefully right in front of his door. Hearing the two of them speak.

“I can do it myself, asshole.” Scara complained. “Besides why don’t you go and train with [Name]?”

You hear Childe let out a brutal chuckle.

“I hate them, that’s why.”

That one sentence. Left a crack right down in the middle of your heart. Making you feel disappointed and sad. The way the word left his lips were just so… cold.

“Cannot blame you, huh? They piss me off too.” Scara added, and it was enough for you to hear before tears ran down your face.

You ran away from the door loudly, running away as fast as you could and darting out through the main entrance. Running as fast as you could down a few more steps before crashing right into Zhongli.

Tears getting on his cloths due to you.

“Oh my archon!” You exclaimed, embarrassed and trying to hide away the tears. “I am so heavenly sorry!”

Zhongli let out a sigh gesturing his hands that it was fine.

“I am fine… but are you?” Zhongli asked, before wiping off some dirt he got on your shoulders. You couldn’t help but shake off your head.

He patted your head a little bit, as he wrapped an arm around your waist, and having to be by your side while you ranged and complained about what happened. While Childe secretly watched from the balcony.

— — —

After a couple of weeks you managed to get over Childe, and found yourself in a romantic relationship with Zhongli.

He was much better than Childe. He treated you correctly and always praised you for your hard work. Which was something Childe didn’t take very lightly. He didn’t realize how he felt until after he stated his hatred towards you.

It was hard when he was so used to you, running up to him and asking how is day went. It’s like you guys were already in a relationship. Which is why he didn’t take it kindly when you got in a relationship with Zhongli. He felt cheated on.

Now that you no longer clinged onto him, it pissed him every second of the day. So while he watched you right now, drinking tea with Zhongli outside, directly underneath the bridge type of balcony he was standing at.

He slowly wielded his bow, aiming it towards you. Making sure it would hit right in the middle of your neck. So that it could be an instant death. He kept fighting with his brain that it wasn’t fair. How he lost you so easily.

It wasn’t fair. It never was fair.

“If I had to suffer… he should too” Childe mumbled.

He released the arrow.

working alongside you guys; pjsk

imagine joining their groups, like becoming a street preformer with vivid bad, a nightcord member, an idol, a bandmate, cast of the wonderstage, etc!!

akito and toya giving you a pep talk before every show, an and kohane yelling at them for being too harsh when they criticize your performance. getting drinks at the weekend garage every night, possibly helping ken out with an. finding yourself with them, growing as you preform more and more. kohane feels so confident when you sing together, an is having fun, akito is more relaxed about everything going well and toya's mind is off his father.

meeting in empty sekai to see nightcord waiting for you. ena is scolding you for being late while mizuki is calming her down. kanade and mafuyu sit there quietly, as usual. seeing kanade out occasionally and deciding to bring her places for a little treat, eventually meeting mizuki and ena on the way (and then inviting mafuyu). all of you guys leaning on each other for support, probably group crying sessions in empty sekai while miku sits there and listens. kanade feels as if she can rely on you to help her make mafuyu feel again, mafuyu trusts you with her worst feelings, ena is noticeably less harsh with you, and mizuki tries their hardest to make you smile.

rooftop practices with more more jump! minori hyping you up when you practice a solo, or doing a group huddle right before a show to encourage each other. live streaming together and showing everyone how well you guys mingle! minori is trying hard to inspire you, haruka always wants your input on how she can make the shows better, airi always working you hard to show you that you're just as talented, shizuku knowing that you won't judge her no matter what.

practicing with leo/need. saki is excited to see you show up, packing your instrument along. lots of group hugs and late night sleepovers!!! saki makes sure to take many polaroid photos of the group underneath a starry sky. saki feels excited and ready to improve with you, shiho is glad you don't immediately compare her to shizuku, honami bringing you apple pie treats whenever you look tired or down, and ichika making sure to let miku know all about your improvement.

rehearsal with wonderlands x showtime, your energy mixing perfectly with everyone else. hanging out everyday after school, doing absolutely everything you can before curfew. emu finds having you on stage makes her happy, she feels very wonderhoy with you around! nene knows she can rely on you during the show for anything, though she lets you know that you can rely on her too. rui loves how open you are to his ideas, much like emu, and he would love to let you watch him make more cool robots! tsukasa wants to become a star, but he wants you to be recognized too. (same with everyone else, but he wishes you were in the spotlight a little more often!!)

happy two years, project sekai!! you've been one of my favorite games since december 2021 and you are also one of my healthiest coping mechanisms 🫶🫶 short post because i am tired and slightly stressed

the ruikasa sewing incident

"how to get your crush to like you back in 3 easy steps"

or: dan heng likes you. march knows.

dan heng x f!reader. pining fools and idiots in love. march is close to having a metaphorical heart attack. cliche shoujo stuff.

"you have a crush on her."

"i absolutely do not."

march fixes dan heng with an unimpressed gaze. "you are literally so obvious, don't even try and deny it again."

obvious? he's obvious? dan heng tries not to panic. in a poor attempt to salvage the unsalvageable, he says, lamely, "...i don't know what you're talking about."

graciously preserving the little dignity he has left, march ignores him. she claps him on the shoulder sympathetically. "don't worry, i'm a pro wingwoman. i accept payment in the form of desserts."

dan heng's right eye twitches.

1. show interest in their interests, pay attention to them.

that's easy, he thinks to himself. he always pays attention to you, it comes naturally to him. he knows how you prefer your coffee with a dash of milk and honey, not too sweet. he knows how you always start books but rarely ever finish them unless they were "really good and checked all my boxes!" and could go on thesis-worthy rants about your favourite ones. he knows how you like to keep succulents on your table and give them all ridiculous names like "king coin of doge land" and "a rad little guy".

so easy, in fact, that he feels the most confident he's ever been as he strides across the room over to you. you’re fiddling with something, looking vaguely nervous as you talk to march.

"good morning." he greets, eyeing the newest project you seem to be occupied with in your hands. a crotchet dragon, how nice. he knows exactly how to keep the conversation going now—

"what's cookin', good lookin'?"

his brain short circuits.

what is he supposed to say to that? were you flirting? does he flirt back? was it just a phrase? what's cooking-?

"but i'm not on cooking duty today."

dan heng watches your face freeze in confusion. his face feels like stone. to the side, march looks like she’s about to strangle him.

"...uh huh."

an awkward silence hangs in the air. dan heng wishes he was a statue.

— a failure, cut your losses and move on.

2. compliment something they’ve put effort into.

“please elaborate.”

“say something you like about her.” march takes a bite of her parfait (courtesy of dan heng), “but it has to be something she put conscious thought into. it shows that you notice the little things, and it makes her feel good about herself which makes her feel good about you. bam! two birds with one stone.”

dan heng only feels more confused. “but i like everything about her.”

even with the sweet treat in her mouth, march looks like she tasted something sour.

“so do i compliment her on everything i can think of?”

“no, no. you-“ march heaves a sigh, “pick one. just one.”

when he sees you in the archive room, he notices the now completed crotchet dragon in your hand. he decides that this is the perfect time to redeem himself.

“it’s well-made. i like the teal colour.” he says, and mentally congratulates himself for not messing up right off the bat (again).

“thank you, it’s, um, actually supposed to be the dragon you summon.”

“oh.” dan heng’s mind had been so occupied with march’s plans and you that he didn’t even make the connection. he feels just a little stupid.

“…and it’s for you.”

“oh.” a gift from you? and it was made exclusively to represent him, with hours of effort? he is in shock.

he must have taken too long to answer, because you notice the hesitation. flushing with embarrassment, you say “it’s a little much, huh? sorry.”

dan heng doesn’t manage to get a word in (because he would love to have the crotchet dragon, thank you very much!) before you scurry out the door. it clicks as it shuts, his outstretched hand reaching for nothing but air.

— i don’t want to call you a dumbass, but you’re kind of being a dumbass.

3. find time alone with them.

“i’ll help you with this one. but when you’re alone with her, you’re on your own.” march looks mildly concerned, “…will you be ok?”

“of course.” he says, and it’s merely bravado.

“right, well, i managed to convince mr. yang, miss himeko, and pom pom to visit this café with me—you’re paying, of course—it’s a rare opportunity so make full use of it, ‘kay?”

alone on the express. with you. no one else. no big deal, he tries to convince himself.

they keyword is ‘tries’, of course.

when the time comes, he gathers all the courage he has and, hopefully nonchalantly, asks you to watch a movie with him with a mini projector march had lent him beforehand. you agree, and it’s the first hurdle cleared. no mishaps so far.

“i’ll make you coffee, the way you like it.” he offers, and feels a flutter in his chest when you smile. if he could, he would bottle the feeling you gave him up and ration it throughout the rest of his life.

“i would love that.”

he gets to work, prepping the sugar and honey as he waits for the water to boil. the conversation between the two of you comes easily, as if the recent incidents didn’t happen at all, and dan heng feels the familiar serenity that comes from being in your presence. it was quiet save for your conversation, and the backdrop of stars outside the train seemed to be even more mesmerising than usual.

but of course, not everything goes according to plan.

the astral express, which had been sailing through the stars so smoothly, lurches from sudden turbulence. you bump against the kettle when you try to stabilise yourself and knock it over. boiling water spills all over the counter and onto the floor.

“watch out!”

not wanting you to be scalded, he grabs your arm and tries to push you away with his back towards the spillage. but his foot steps on the water and he slips, falling forward.

the two of you land on the floor in a heap, inches away from the spill. pure reflexes allow him to minimise the impact of your head meeting the floor by using his other hand as a cushion. he thinks he has bruised his knuckles. he has sprained his wrist.

the thought of the compromising position doesn’t even cross either of your minds. you crawl out from underneath him, and, perceptive as ever, notice when he rubs his wrist and winces.

“dan heng! are you ok?” you fuss over him, hands flitting over his wrist. dan heng feels like he would have enjoyed the attention more if he wasn’t so disappointed that his plans were disrupted. it had been going so well, he mourns. he watches as your back disappears around the corner with promises of finding the first aid kit.

it’s hard for the previous tranquil atmosphere to come back when you obviously felt bad about his wrist (even thought he assured you it was alright and not to worry), and his plans were derailed. the both of you work together to clean up the mess, which took some time, and try to enjoy the movie, but the momentum was lost.

— …

“what do you mean all my plans went bust? i worked so hard to convince pom pom to come with me!” march looks at you in horror.

“i don’t know! i thought you said you were a pro at this! i tried the pick-up line, i tried giving him a gift, and i even spent time alone with him, nothing worked! am I just inept at this love thing?” you shake her by the shoulders, tears of frustration on the edge of falling. march could only feel wronged.

“oh my god. you’re both idiots.”

Aether calls Paimon emergency food as a joke or an affectionate nickname in reference of how they met. Lumine is 100% serious about eating Paimon if she is ever low on food.

So I decided to look up what songs are turning 10 this year and I'm very *dabs* old and upset