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rene-darling · 8 months

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SEA CREATURE- genshin men

Genshin men but they're different types of sea creatures! How do they court you if they can't walk on land?...credits [m.neuvillette on insta]

...scaramouche...xiao...neuvillette...

Xiao

Xiao was never interested in mortals, let alone those who walked the land.

But there was just something about you that drew him near.

When you went swimming he would keep an eye out for you, watching you from a distance- just in case you were attacked! Not anything creepy...

He always found humans trying to swim funny-looking but when he observed you...he felt something different.

So when once a big wave had pulled you under preventing you from resurfacing he didn't think twice before guiding you back to shore.

He panted heavily, he'd never swam that in his life!

And when you woke up and looked at him he wondered what you would say..or think, would you call him a monster? An ugly creature? Like all the other humans- "are you...an angel?"

His breath hitched in his throat before he let out a scoff "hmpf. Foolish mortal."

He grumbled diving back deep into the ocean before you could say anything or ask him further questions.

This was getting rather tiring... Everyday since then you would come to the beach and scream your lungs out, and he'd blush at all the nicknames you had given him since he'd had not told you his name

"yoohoo~ angel!, my mermaid savior!, my-" "Stop it." you froze..he finally appeared before you, tired of hearing the arsenal of nicknames you had for him.

He glared at you with those sharp eyes of his, but when you looked at him and gave him a bright smile shouting "it's you! You're back! Hah!" he can't help but let his gaze soften...just a bit!

After that, it became routine for you to meet him by the seashore.

Once he started developing feelings for you, he wasn't quite sure on what to do.

He was flustered..you were a land animal, while he was a merman..

He came to the conclusion that the two of you could not be together in any capacity...

But that didn't stop his feelings from growing. Nor did it stop his biased behavior towards you.

He would bring you many sea shells from the ocean depts

One's that could not be found near the shore.

Once he saw that you liked them he started trying them together making cute accessories for you

Necklaces, rings, bracelets etc!

Scaramouche

Scaramouche is a siren. A deadly one at that.

He doesn't care for humans until it comes to his meal time and he doesn't give a fuck about them in a romantic sense either.

He was doing his usual, singing his lovely melody to attract nearby sailors so he could feast upon them.

But once he had gotten in a bit of trouble with some pirates whom he was trying to kill. Which resulted in him being caught in a net his tail all tangled up

His tail is his best asset! It's the easiest way to lure victims in! With just a wave of his tail he'll have his pray swimming to him

But now he's helplessly stranded on shore. He's half expecting for some humans to come along and kill him by this point..and they might as well since he feels as though he might die of hunger.

And then this human does come along. He's expecting his death but not without a fight!

He tries scratching you, hurting you. But to no avail, you don't back down as you keep approaching him not backing down from his fights

He winces when you bring the knife closer, that's it. This is the end for his miserable life...

Suddenly all those tight ropes around his body drop to the floor and he gets free. In instinct, he quickly swims off not bothering to talk to you.

It's been a while since then, and he convinces himself that he doesn't care...but, he can't really explain why he swims up to the shore every day, watching with sharp eyes to see if you would make an appearance.

And when you finally do, he feels relief spread out his body..you're safe- wait. No, he's a siren. He doesn't care for you!

After weeks of just watching you, he finally makes an appearance throwing a rock at your head to get your attention. When you look at him he swims behind a large rock gesturing for you to come closer. And when you do follow him without question he thinks to himself

Stupid human! I'm siren for archons sake!! What if I was trying to kill them!!...i mean I'm not, I would never. But still!

From that day on it becomes a tradition for the both of you to meet behind the big rock slightly offshore.

He doesn't know why he feels this warm feeling spread through his chest..he's a cold-blooded siren for god sake!

Still...he can't help it so..he tries impressing you.

He shows off his colorful tail, flapping it around and sticking it out of the water for you to observe.

He also makes sure to dive deep down into the ocean and grab rocks that he finds nice from the ocean floor to give to you.

He's sure you'll be impressed by his rocks! You probably haven't seen them since he got them from the depts.

Neuvillette

He's a sea otter!! With a fluffy little tail

Meeting you was definitely a stroke of luck.

You were on a scuba diving expedition with some friends and had lost your way in the depths of the fontain ocean

Neuvillette took all measures to stay away from humans of any kind, he didn't trust them, especially with how they polluted the waters!

But he had gotten his nose stuck in a plastic cup! He was only a bit curious about this strange plastic! He hadn't expected to get stuck!

This is why while in his attempt to get his nose out of the cup he felt his body press onto someone warm

Snapping his head back he saw you! His first instinct was to run, humans were nothing but trouble!...but.

Before he could've ran you had grabbed the plastic cup and had freed his nose

He's really grateful so he decides he'll show you the way back to your friends which you got lost from.

He tries to make you understand but you don't so he wraps his fluffy tail around you and pulls you to where he saw your friends.

From then on whenever you would go on a scuba diving expedition with your friends he would always seek you out. He's still not good with humans so while your scuba team is distracted you'll slip away unnoticed and find him.

You don't need to search far, it seems he's always around the corner when you seek him out

His eyes sparkle as he swims circles around you his fluffy tail brushing against you as he looks at your swimming gear

He'll ask you questions about it, and he'll be absolutely fascinated by the gadgets you have.

He'll get really sad when you have to leave soon to not worry your swim team. He insists you must stay at least a little while longer!

He'll start developing feelings for you, but he doesn't know how to act them out

He wouldn't have ever expected to fall for a human being! A mortal!

But he feels this overwhelming desire to be near you and to protect you from any harm you might face.

Being an otter, they usually hold hands while they sleep, that being the only affectionate thing he knows how to do, He never leaves your hand! Clinging onto your arm as if you're about to die!

He swims up to shore to watch the stars with you, and as you slowly fall asleep, he holds onto your arm to not drift away from you as you both sleep under the stars.

#genshin x reader #genshin impact #genshin imagines #genshin hcs #genshin xiao #xiao x reader #xiao fluff #alatus x reader #alatus #scaramouche imagines #scaramouche x you #scaramouche x reader #scara x reader #scaramouche #neuvillete x reader #neuvillette x you #neuvillette #genshin fluff #gn reader

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buzzkillers · 1 year

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The Deer Was Tired 1/3

synopsis: As a guard for the Atreides family, it's your job to make sure their precious offspring was satisfied. Even if doing so got in the way of your true mission.

Pairing: Paul Atreides x Reader

Trigger Warnings | Content: Manipulative Behavior, Dubious Consent, Abuse of Power, Stalking, Sexual Coercion, Corruption Kink, Assassination Au.

By his fourth night of no sleep, the Archduke was restless, prickly and completely fucking annoying.

If you could kill him you would, but you couldn't. You could just barely grab for your knife and after an hour, even moving had become an impossible task. Call that the 'completely fucking annoying' part.

What a pity.

Now at this hour, the Palace was a sleeping beast with soldiers that stood bleary eyed in the hallways. The inner workings of the court, nothing more than a shallow husk.

It reminded you of the cities on Tano, a planet so lively during the day but nothing but a husk at night. But this was not that, this planet was a graveyard.

An open cemetery filled with the walking dead and the beast that fed on them. Bad actors filled every corner of this world, death licked at your feet and famine yipped at your lungs. You've never been so thirsty. But you were sure that even they were rested now. The disease, the pestilence and the worms. Everything rested at this hour. Everyone but him.

It was an odd thought. You felt as if you were even breaking some rule, that even the dunes moon hated the fact that the two of you were awake as it shined it's light through the Lords window, successfully lighting up the dark room and giving you a front row seat to the Lord that stared at you like a bug, like something to step on.

Maybe you were.

If not a bug than a snake. Something slimy and slick that cleaned up the pest in your walls silently, efficiently. Something meant to be invisible. It was partly true. Just as much as you were partly impressed.

You never knew such a delicate man could look so demeaning. It reminded you of those old war paintings, the kind filled with vengeful women with burning eyes and gnashing teeth. He wanted to kill you.

It didn’t help that at this hour, the young man was dressed like his mother. His body decorated in a deep oceanic blue fabric that crashed into waves at the ankles of his calloused feet. Each cross stitch covered in jewels and beads that glimmered in the moonlight while he laid stiff on his cot.

He was beautiful like this. And if you were being nice you’d say that he looked like one of those deadly beauties you heard of on the radio-if you were being nice. The look of death on his face kind of ruined it.

With a face engraved with dark circles and sallow cheeks. The lord looked more sickly than anything. A walking famine. Before he turned towards his window, a frown etched into his regal features.

Then with a beleaguered sigh, the Lord pinched the bridge of his nose. "Be blunt, soldier,"

"Are you saying it all came up negative?"

You rolled your armored shoulders. It sounded like a machinery of parts. "Yes, m'lord,"

"And what about this room, the walls I touch, the air I breathe?,"

"Checked and cleared, m'lord"

His frown only deepened. "Check it again,"

"But-"

He slammed his fist on the window sill.

"Must I repeat myself?" You straighten your posture.

"Must I?"

You shook your head till your helmet let out a creak and the brat unballed his fist. "Good,"

"This sickness has already gotten in the way of the more important things, it can't make me ignore my father's request too,"

You blinked and lied: "The Duke may be lenient,"

He laughed till his cheeks went sickly red but no humor was on his face. "You know him then?" He asked, even though that wasn't at all what you said.

Still, still he did not wait for your response. He simply groaned, low and hard like an injured animal too stubborn to die. You wished he'd just die.

"In a weeks time my father will need me at peak condition, and yet I haven't slept in days,"

"I haven't dreamt in days,"

"I have not known rest in days, I can barely hold my dagger any more but you say nothings wrong,"

"It is the truth," you lied again. "I pray for your health everyday m'lord"

And for a moment there was silence before he cut his eyes towards you. "Don't lie, you are irritated with me and would readily slit my wrist for disrespect if I wasn't a highborn," You've never been more grateful that your armor came with a face shield.

The stupid prince just had a flare for the dramatics, that was all.

"My lord," you continued, your voice unnaturally timid because that's what books told you to sound like when speaking to royalty. "May I make a suggestion,"

"You may," But he barely looked at you when he responded, his eyes now locked firmly on the expanse of sand outside his window. His own little view of this hell scape planet. For a moment you wondered what he saw.

"Well as you know, the Duke brought many of the servants on your home planet to the Dunes," you waited for him to interrupt but he did not, you sighed with relief. "Everyone with loyalty to the throne is on this planet"

The young man scoffed. "Are you suggesting that I make friends with servants"

"In a way," you lied and before the scowl on the mans face could deepen (fuck it) you continued: "I'm suggesting that you get a whore," You said bluntly and not at all regal or uptight, shit.

You're barely finished your sentence before the Atreides lord went as stiff as a board. His eyes no longer focused nor his breathing noticeable. For a moment, you mistook him for an apparition until a rush of red bloomed from under his cheeks and his eyes went beady like a bug.

Nonetheless, silence draped over the room like sand, the only thing you could hear being the sound of mice that scurried through the walls and the dancing of desert sand.

It would be distracting if you weren't anticipating his answer. The poor man, you must've shocked him. Politicians were rarely known for directness and you've begun to contemplate if you ran into this too abruptly then you thought before you felt it.

The soft tremor of your muscles and the swelling in the back of your head that felt like a banging drum, like a whistled beat. As something red-hot and scorching (fear,fear, dread) seeped from your veins and onto cold white bone.

The urge to run bursted in every cell of your brain but you could not move. The sense of doom forced you still. For a horrifying second, instinct fought against instinct. You needed to run, you needed to stay. You needed to scream, you needed to choke it all down. You didn't realize it was over until you collapsed to your knees and sticky drool sloshed from your lips while your nails dug painfully into the floor.

Atreides hadn't moved an inch. He simply looked at you from the reflection of the glass window. His eyes replaced with black opaques that made you wonder where his irises ended and pupils began.

Shakily, you stood back to your feet.

"My-"

"How dare you," he hissed.

"Please-"

"Get out," And as if space and time were at his beck and call. You blinked, the universe ceased to exist and just like that you were at his door with your armored hand on the handle.

"And soldier," he whispered, voice now hoarse. The room now thick, muddy and impossible to think through with this heavy cloud that swelled heavy in your head.

"Check it again,"

The next day, the Dune sun sunk into every pore of your skin.

You could barely hear yourself think as you leaned against the cemented pillars of the palace. Each moment passed by with a drip of sweat made the tree gardener eventually stop and glare before grimly handing you a cup. 'A waste of water' he grumbled before he got back to work, his own skin drier than the dirt itself.

Oh the thrills of guarding the Palm Trees.

For a moment, you wondered if this was a punishment. Something suggested by the Lord himself before quickly you burned the thought away, the Archduke was not that cruel. No, he was efficient. If he truly wanted you to hurt, a quick walk in the desert would be more his style. You doubt that you would’ve made it to morning if you had truly hurt the Lord. But that was the problem wasn’t it? He wasn’t supposed to want to hurt you. He wasn’t even supposed to know you. And now you were here, so now what?

Now what?

Your head had begun to hurt as you thought of the possibilities. You could run, you could change your appearance, you could simply die. Did it matter? The end result stayed the same; they would not be happy. They might just bring her back just to kill her again. Oh the horror. They were going to find out and you were going to die and,

Something like terror had begun to lick at your bones. Fear lapping at your soles. Suddenly it felt like eyes were on you everywhere. That the sky was watching and the walls were listening, they were everywhere and what were you to say? How would you plead your case? Everything watched as you stood there, your entire body damp with sweat and in your delusion even the gardener kept his gaze on you. His deep set skin dragging with his eyes at your form. Did he know what you were too? Did he know what you did?

What were you to say if they asked? If your stupidity breached the walls of the Lords chamber?

It was one thing to be the brats guard, it was another for him to remember that you were his guard. Just like that, you gripped the cup painfully.

If the Brat remembered you...no you couldn't have that. It would ruin everything.It maybe already had. But the man was teased of sleep, of rest. Day and night he screamed and shouted at the guards, at his parents. At this moment, he was no different than a drunken fool. Yes, that was it. Your stupidity could be put down to that. The ramblings of a sleep deprived idiot. Even if he wasn't around, you suspected that the brat would tell your commander about the perverted soldier who attempted to tempt him into depravity, but who would believe him?

Everyone.

Everyone would believe him. Because he was a prince before he was a fool. And you were going to die. Either by his hand or something far, far worse. It was as simple as that. A fact set in stone. The revelation caused your heart to ram into your ribs. For it was a simple answer for a simple question. All that you had left to do was warn the others, to prepare them.

Or maybe you didn’t as your shift ended with a buzz on the wrist and an overarching shadow that stretched into a soldier with armor like yours appeared in your line of vision. Under the sunlight he stood like death's hand. His metallic armor catching a gleam in your eyes.

“The commander needs to speak to you,” the man said gruffly.

“He says it’s urgent,” and that was that.

You could only jerk your head in acknowledgement and with a nod towards the Gardener, you swiftly made your final exit; but not before looking at the cup of liquid in your hand and throwing it to the ground.

#paul atreides x reader #paul atreides x black reader #paul atreides x you #dune fic #paul atreides #paul atreides fic #dark paul atreides #dark dune fic #paul atreides x fem!reader #dune x reader #paul atreides smut #timothee fanfic #timothee chalamet x reader #tw: dubcon #killer writings <3

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mrsnancywheeler · 5 months

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the lakes (11) // finnick odair x f. reader

summary: it's supposed to be over, you and Finnick are supposed to spend the rest of your lives helping each other heal. living as peacefully as possible, but the the third quarter quell throws a wrench in your domestic bliss.

previous chapter/next chapter

midnight rain

4.2k words

warnings: angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, gore/violence/death, poisonous fog, mental illness, paranoia, self-hate, terms of endearment, manipulation of someone's feelings, unedited, no use of Y/N

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Although his hands were sweaty and the last thing you needed was extra body heat, when Finnick’s fingers played with the ends of your hair and rubbed your shoulder you refused to let out a complaint. You would have rather died of heat stroke than rid yourself of his comforting touch. Especially since he'd insisted you needed to rest and this was helping you, even if the paranoia was going to keep you on edge. Your eyes stayed glued shut in an attempt to just listen to what he said, but it was too hot, and your thoughts were too loud.

The pain in your head had pretty much ceased, but the threat of infection was extreme. What would Finnick do if you died that way? Would he let himself die to protect Katniss, the rebellion? Even if in the hypothetical you would be dead, the thought made your heart still with guilt. It has consumed you more recently, the idea that like how you couldn't live without Finnick, he couldn't live without you. Of course, it didn't make any sense to you. He was him, so much to give, to offer, so beloved that there was so much more out there for him. Yet, the way he talked increased your fright that that's not how he saw himself. When his burning hand pulled its contact away from you, it snapped your head back into reality. Eyes opened as you watched Finnick walking away and heard the ringing sound of a sponsor gift.

Your hands, equally covered in perspiration, went to wipe your face of it, all in vain. “I think it's a spile." Katniss finally said, grabbing whatever item had arrived and walking to a nearby tree. You hadn't a clue what she was talking about. Were you losing it already? What was a spile?

“A what?" Finnick asked, following her. It was good at least to know you weren't delusional. Whatever it was must not be something of use back home if you both had no idea what it was. Peeta had raised from wherever he'd been laying to follow to accompany them as Katniss tapped the item into the tree. She looked at it expectantly and you weren't sure what had happened at first when they all gasped excitedly. Then Finnick was in front of you again, “Let’s get you up, angel, there's water.” Maybe that's what all this confusion was, dehydration. Without effort he had pulled you to your feet.

It was like a miracle to see clean water pouring out of the spile and Peeta pulled away to let you have your turn. The moment it hit your tongue it was so refreshing, you'd gone so long without a drink your body had almost tricked itself into forgetting how dry your mouth had been. But the water brought instant relief, you splashed some on your face before pulling yourself away to make room for Finnick.

Unexpectedly being hydrated and having the ability to drink more whenever needed calmed you more then you'd anticipated. Regardless of how exhausted your body was when Finnick urged you to lay down and try to rest once again, you were reluctant. Even if it was unlikely, part of you asked, what if you fell asleep and it was the last time you saw him?

“Finnick, I'm fine! I'll keep lookout too, you've been taking care of everything all day, you've got to be exhausted." He sighed at your refusal.

"You're so sweet, that it's infuriating. Please, angel, you need to rest. I will be less tired knowing you're not.” His ocean eyes begged yours, hand stroking your cheek softly.

“That's not how that works." He deserved rest, to lay down. You were perfectly capable of staying there with Katniss. The darkest depths of your paranoia asked you why he wasn't comfortable letting you watch over, if didn't trust you. However, the thought was gone as soon as it made its appearance, if there was one thing you knew it was that you trusted him.

“Please." He whispered and you sighed before mumbling an agreement, there was no way you'd win this argument.

“Will you lay by me?"

He stared at you for a second like he was contemplating, “I’ll just be a few feet away, just on watch.”

You wanted to ask him why he couldn't just do that while laying with you, but you knew he wouldn't say no if there wasn't a reason. Maybe he planned on trying to gain more of Katniss’ trust by staying up with her. Regardless it's not like you would be able to fall asleep if he wasn't there anyways, you couldn't remember the last time you had. It was as if the moment he was away you lost all body heat and couldn't rest unless he was there.

The idea of even verbalizing that made you feel guilty, so you just rolled your eyes and began walking in the other direction to lay down. "Fine."

You could sense his own eye roll at your dramatics and you found yourself a spot between the roots in one of the trees. Staring at the sky through the tree branches when Finnick’s voice reached you through the still air, “Your eyes are still open." You turned your head his way to throw him a glare which he simply laughed at before turning to walk closer by Katniss. It was easy to get lost in your thoughts, the sounds of insects chirping and buzzing somewhere. It was almost peaceful, if there hadn't been the looming fear of death.

This was interrupted when a banging noise cracked through the arena, you shot up, but there didn't seem to be any actual danger. You could see Katniss and Finnick looking up at the sky which quickly ceased. With no threat at hand you cautiously laid back down. Not long had passed before you heard footsteps coming in your direction, you turned your head to the noise.

“You're supposed to be resting." Finnick remarked, laying down by you.

“I'm trying." You scoffed and he raised his eyebrows with a knowing look in his eyes, “Aren't you supposed to be keeping watch, or did you feel guilty for refusing to comfort your wife?"

“If she's going to stay up and keep watch then I might as well sleep. Shows her I trust her too.” His warm arms wrapped around you as he gazed at you. The paranoid voice was back, gnawing in your brain, asking why he wouldn't let you keep a lookout with them. “You okay?" He asked, brows furrowed.

“Yeah." You muttered, shaking away the intrusions. “Well that's good because I couldn't have slept without you anyways." Snuggling deeper into his arms as your noses touched.

“Glad I could be of service then, Mrs. Odair." Finnick pressed a kiss to your lips. Tucked into his arms you were finally able to push away most of the fears, to act like it was just you in Finnick’s arms, falling asleep under the stars. Like you were at home, just the two of you in love. Maybe if you thought about that long enough you'd find the few and far between relief of a sweet dream about the two of you. You tried to convince yourself that you were on the beach with him, that he was keeping you warm as the salt air grazed your face. That the moonlight would shine on the ethereal waters and brighten your face. Eventually you were able to drift into sleep thinking about those fantasies, or maybe they were memories, who knew your brain felt like it had been on overdrive. However, your comfortable rest was interrupted when Katniss was screaming in pain and urging you all, desperately, to run.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

“We should start staking out the Careers, find a plan of attack." This was the beginning of the end, you told yourself, once they were gone the four of you would have to do the same to each other. But Marlowe was still right, as a team you needed to get rid of the biggest threat.

"How are we supposed to find them?” Birch asked, looking around incredulously.

"The arena can't go on forever, plus they'll be confident enough to start fires and be louder.” You sat on the muddy ground, throwing your knife into random spots. The arena had begun to warm up on day 5 and the rain had become progressively warmer until day 7. Although the lack of pouring rain was a blessing, it was also a curse since it made finding water a priority once again, and there wasn't much iodine left.

Besides natural causes you'd assumed the other tributes who's faces you'd seen in the sky at night probably died at their hands. It was almost harrowing to think about how you could very soon die at their hands as well, but you had to trust that your group could overtake their’s.

“They're probably at the Cornucopia, that'd be typical." Conway’s arm was resting lazily on one of your shoulders. Marlowe nodded her head in agreement. “We should eat and then head that way."

You pulled a backpack closer to you, “I'll get the net."

“Marlowe and I will go check on the snares if you guys try and get fish." Birch and Marlowe headed off as you pulled the net out of the bag. Rising off the ground to find the nearest body of water.

You listened to the birds chirping before Conway broke the silence, “I don't know if I can do it." His admission was quiet, like he was nervous to say something.

“Do what?" You turned your face to look at him, his eyes glued to the ground.

“Kill them, the Career pack."

“You had a higher score than some of them and you're plenty strong, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Conway exhaled, he looked at you incredulously, "Not like that. I mean I don't think I can kill them, let myself kill them.”

"You killed in the Bloodbath."

"Only once and it's eating me up inside."

You stared at him in silence for what felt like an eternity, but was really just a few seconds. Before you tore your eyes away from him to look at the scenery around you, "Then don't, I’ll do it.”

"You've changed a lot, you know.” This caught you somewhat off guard, but you kept a straight face as you walked.

"I don't think I have, really.” Except in matters of paranoia and distrust which had greatly expanded, it really felt like at your core you were still you.

"With respect, princess, I don't think you would be as willing.”

"At home we weren't in these circumstances.”

"Seems there's a lot about you I don't know then.” The sound of his footsteps had stopped, so you turned to look at him. The two of your stared at each other, he seemed to be coming to terms with something and that made you nervous.

“I'm not saying I want to, just that sometimes you have to do what it takes to survive. Even if it's difficult or-”

"Untrue?” Conway finished, your stomach knotted. What was he getting at?

You sighed," Yeah, I guess.” He stared at you longer before he nodded his head and walked forwards. His aura was all off and it made you somewhat panic. “I'm sorry if that upsets you that I'm doing what it takes to go home." Your voice was more frustrated as you followed him. Finnick would have understood, the longer you went without him the more you longed to be with him, to be with someone who really got you.

He stopped walking and grabbed your arms, “It's okay, I understand. It's just hard to come to terms with when you remember that this is all designed to bring that out in us. To see the other side, not through rose colored glasses.” It was like he was having a different conversation that you weren't being let in on. An echo in your voice told you were done with your facade, that he'd figured it out, but you quiteted it. You'd done everything you could think of, why wouldn't he believe you?

Conway leaned in and kissed you, it was soft, sweet, like he'd never be able to kiss you again. He pulled away and gave a small frown as he looked at you longer, “We should go, we’ll probably find a pond of something soon." He began walking off and you stood still for a few seconds, mind trying to grasp what was going on. But you followed and he fell back into conversation about home as you netted for fish.

Eventually you'd all returned with your goods to eat before setting off towards where you'd assumed the Cornucopia must be and therefore, the Careers. It was a long, boring, pain seeking them out, observing their moves, planning your attack.

“Maybe if we wait them out they'll just turn on each other." Birch was crouched down in the long grass. “We could hit them when they're already untrusting." His thoughts were interrupted by a piercing scream. Your heads all snapped to look across the opening where the noise had come from. One of the Career’s was running towards the two waiting, as she ran a cannon went off. You couldn't hear what she was saying, but she looked frazzled, like she'd been running for her life.

“Looks like our window now, then." Marlowe muttered as she began trudging through the mud. You weren't sure that would be a great plan, that any of this was, but everybody else seemed to agree. Hiding the bags in the grass as they followed her. This wasn't well thought out enough. You tried to appear as though you agreed as you walked behind.

“Come to kick us when we're down?" One of the boy’s, Otto, yelled out. You cursed everyone for not trying to be more sly, not waiting until they were more off guard.

“What happened?" Birch asked, hatchet firmly in his hand. He nodded his head to the girl from District 1, Satin, who was shaking, legs covered in mud.

“There's these horrible crocodile creatures in the swamps." Satin's voice was shaky, she was forgetting herself, that she could die, and you pitied her. You recalled seeing her volunteer, but here she was struggling to maintain composure due to some Capitol mutants, it was gut wrenching to think about the shift between the glory and terror that must have occurred. Finnick had ensured that any Capitol propaganda about the Games and their respect was uprooted from your brain the moment he could.

“They got Aulus." Arria, you believed her name was, the female tribute from 2, said. Her voice didn't even quiver, but you could see some sadness in her eyes, that would've been her last connection to home.

“I'm sorry." Conway was so sincere and everyone stared at him for a second. You didn't know what it was in, respect for his kindness, disbelief because he was just another obstacle in winning, anger because he was a threat.

“Thanks for not just attacking us though, I’ll remember to say how compassionate you all were when I'm on my Victory tour." Otto’s scalpel chain was lunging forward, and unassuming Birch who'd stepped too close by got nicked across his arm as he tried to move out of the way. Hissing as he threw the hatchet at Otto, who turned to miss the weapon. Regretfully all you could think about was how much of a coward the boy was when he made a run for it as Birch scrambled to gather his weapon back.

“Get him Birch!" Marlowe screeched out as he followed. Then Conway was groaning as Arria slashed at him with her sword. Insticinually pushing his spear forward which caused her to shriek as it planted itself into her leg. You hated how slow everything felt like it was going, usually the climax of a Game's felt more rushed to watch, maybe this wasn't the real climax though. She slipped a bit as she tried to pull the spear out and stab at him with her sword. He had the clear upperhand now, to kill her, but he wasn't taking it. Just staring at her with pity.

‘I’ll just have to do it,’ you told yourself and threw the knife into her head. Conway’s face was hit with the splatter of blood and he stared at her body with shock as the cannon went off. Looking at you as you pulled the knife out of her head. You were disgusted with yourself, but desperate time called for desperate measures and you were so close to being able to go back home, see Finnick, feel the ocean, give to your family, to let that all pass up because he didn't want to kill her.

“Somebody had to do it." You muttered out numbly and then looked away at the yells of Marlowe and Satin. A pitchfork had been used to create a nasty hole in Marlowe’s leg and there was a bleeding gash in Satin’s side. Marlowe was able to plug the machete in just deep enough before Satin had gone back to her with the pitchfork and there was that terrible canon again.

“Come on." Conway’s hand tugged at yours and before you could ask questions he was pulling you along as he ran.

“What are you doing?" You asked when you finally gained comprehension.

“We have to go, Birch is gonna kill Otto and then it's just us left." You were back in the long grass, “We'll prolong this if we go hide, here, put the knives in the bag and we'll go find a new place to camp." Conway said breathlessly.

“It would be more fair for us, too all just fight it out now, all together."

“I heard them talking, they were gonna gang up on us and they're so strong, especially together." Your heart was starting to race, maybe he was right this surely was starting to feel climactic. You couldn't help that you were looking at him with suspicion though.

He must have sensed this though because he kissed you, “Trust me." Conway whispered out, hands taking the knives from you to place them in the bag. You nodded, if he was still kissing you he must believe you, and the Conway you knew wouldn't kill someone he loved. Then another cannon went off, either Otto or Birch, “Let's go." His explanation still didn't feel right but you nodded and followed. Blindly following your childhood best friend, the man who loves you and you could love back that way, into the marshes to try and keep you both alive for just a little bit longer.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

The screams of pain were instantly enough to stop you from being any sort of tired when you awoke.

“The fog is poison!" Katniss screeched and ran forwards. You could see the cloud of it rolling down towards you all and Finnick was immediately pulling you up, urging you forward.

You were all sprinting as fast as you could, eyes desperately searching for somewhere new to aim for. The fog seemed to be everywhere, like it was getting faster and surrounding any place you could have thought to sprint. You could feel your heart pounding in your skull as you scrambled. Willing yourself not to pause when you heard Katniss cry out quickly followed by Peeta. Your blurry vision is still able to make out their figures though which helps you keep going. Suddenly Finnick had tripped on one of the many vines and was yelling.

“Finnick!" You were screaming, trying to pull him forward out of the fog threatening to completely engulf him. He stumbled forward.

"Come on, angel.” Despite the searing pain he must have been in he grabbed you and then the fog hit one of your calves. You nearly fell forward as you howled out at the harsh, burning that blistered into your skin, enough pain to make you feel like you were going to throw up. Finnick yelled your name and forced you to keep running in any direction away from the fog which seemed to be in any direction you turned.

“Peeta!" You ran towards Katniss, Peeta was on the ground. Motionless besides the twitching muscles around the areas where the boils had taken over. “I can't carry him." Her voice was broken.

Finnick nodded, “Keep up." He looked at you somewhat sternly, but it was more coughing it out. Katniss and Finnick supported Peets and began moving forward as the looming cloud of death crept up. It was hard to move forward, your legs felt like they were going to melt off into a burning sludge. You felt guilty when you arm gripped onto Finnick's free one, trying to keep balance. Then the agonizing pain took over again, unbearable and shooting across your back. You swore that you could hear your skin sizzling in the fog, it was hard to keep your eyes from falling shut, from letting yourself collapse into the ground. Until you were rolling down a hill, the feeling was so harrowing that you let yourself tumble down and then lay dejected, waiting for the fog to consume you.

Katniss’ cries didn't even make you move, the fog must have got her, and this was all for nothing. We'll all die in the arena and the Games will go on next year and every year after that without incident. “The water, it helps!” She called out and you finally pried your eyes open, wincing at the excruciating feeling when you tried to move. Eyes trying to adjust as you crawled forward, trying to silence your whimpers, the pain felt nearly unendurable.

“Finnick." You croaked out, searching for him amongst the roots. Peeta and Katniss’ exhales of relief signaled to you where the water could be, but it wouldn't have felt right to help yourself before you could find him. Your eyes adjusted enough to see a figure laying not far in front of you, “Finnick!" Fingers clawing into the dirt as you pulled forwards not even wanting to think about what it would be like to try and stand again. Hands eventually landing on his chest, trying to shake him awake, he wasn't responding, and whatever pain you'd felt physically was somehow overwhelmed by the harrowing panic settling in. “Come on, Finnick, we have to go.” You tried to drag him towards the water, gasping out in pain as you tried to pull your own scorching body across the ground with his. “I can't get him." Your voice was hoarse and Katniss and Peeta was by you.

“Go wash yourself off, it gets rid of everything and Katniss and I will grab him." Peeta tried to reassure, crouching down. You tried to shake your head, nothing felt reasonable right now, you were too panicked, gripping onto Finnick tighter.

“Finn, you have to wake up. Please, I need you, please wake up." Hands were trying to grab your arms and you weakly tried to stop them. "I can't leave him.”

"You're not, we need to get you washed off and then we'll get him too.” Peeta said, pulling you up to lead you to the water.

“Get him first." You choked out, the physical pain, the emotional pain, all of it compounded was too much.

Then Katniss was pulling you forward from where Peeta had gotten you, she cupped her hands in the water, not dragging you in. She poured some of the water onto your arm and you could have sworn you saw steam leaving your skin as you nearly yelled at the increased pain before the relief.

“Come on, this is good, you can help grab him once you're better." She reassured, helping you pull yourself the rest of the way in. You nodded now and shrieked when the water overwhelmed each blister, the wisps of the poison leaving your body.

“Thank you." You stuttered out, but she was gone and Finnick was being dragged in by her and Peeta. He was screaming when he hit the water and you grabbed his shoulders as he tried to fight against it. “It's okay, it'll feel better, it's getting rid of it." You tried to reassure as he kept fighting back. “Finnick, Finnick, you're okay, this is helping.”

“We need to get our weapons." Katniss said to Peeta who ran off as you kept holding Finnick in the water. Finally Finnick’s eyes fully opened and you signed, letting yourself smile.

“I thought you were gonna die." You stopped holding down his shoulders to wipe away all the tears that had fallen from everything and the water itself.

He stood up, laughing, “Don't be too disappointed, I am in fact, still breathing."

You laughed in disbelief before wrapping your arms around him as tightly as you could, terrified that in a moment this could all melt away into a reality where he hadn't woken up. “Good.” Finnick kissed the top of your head and didn't think you'd ever be able to tear yourself away.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

thank you so much for reading, I'm so sorry this took so long to get out I've been swamped recently. all the support has been appreciated so, so much and I love you all 💕 feedback, likes, comments, reblogs are all greatly appreciated, my ask box is opens and I'll be getting to some of them soon to branch the time between the next chapter. thank you all so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter 💋

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#finnick odair x reader #finnick odair #finnick odair x y/n #finnick odair fluff #finnick odair angst #finnick odair x reader fluff #finnick odair x reader angst #finnick odair x you #thg #finnick odair fanfic #finnick imagine #finnick x you #finnick x reader

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kazumiwrites-fanfiction · 10 months

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You Can't Swim??

SUMMARY: The Octotrio don't know that you have never learned to swim. And you went to a beach. What could go wrong? WORD COUNT: 1.9k (I need to sleep)

WARNINGS: Floyd almost let you drown, reader kind of gets panic attacks? Idk (I'm the writer I should know, someone hit me), reader thinks about whacking Floyd, Azul is genuinely in love, Azul is also very traumatized I think, Azul overthinks A/N: Gotta love how I have no warnings about Jade I- Gotta love getting a fic idea about me being unable to swim- And I've had this thought swimming (lol) in my thoughts for a couple of days?? Idk if reader is the significant other of these guys or just besties. I think it leans toward s/o though This reads like a crack fic to me but honestly make sure you know how to swim so you don't die (i don't but that's not the point here) Maybe OOC Jade because he hides himself too well for me to get an accurate read on personality lmfao When Jade is genuinely sweet but the others are unhinged so naturally the unhinged ones are longer- I'm sorry I get no decent ideas for Jade </3 Another late late night post (it's 1:50 AM)

You had never learned to swim. It wasn't that you were afraid, really. It was just that you had passed the age where people normally learned, and now you were too lazy to and/or didn't have enough time. Whatever excuse to stop a nagging person.

Now, this wouldn't have been a problem if you never went anywhere near bodies of water. Which you mostly didn't. However, knowing merfolk was not the best idea if you didn't know how to swim.

Now you have gone to the beach with him, and that probably wasn't the best idea for either of you.

Floyd Leech

You had been sitting on the beach near the water, absently looking over some shells as Floyd splashed around deeper in the ocean. The shells really were interesting - nothing like the ones where you had come from (although they had some similarities) and were colorful. So many shapes and varieties, although most were not intact.

You had been so engrossed in this, in fact, that you hadn't realized Floyd had been sneaking up on you. Before you could say another word, he playfully dragged you into the water. While you were fully clothed.

You weren't expecting to go into the water, but you should've known better with Floyd. He was playful and loved to do stuff like this. Usually if Azul was around, he'd have done something… But he wasn't here.

Before you knew it, you were deeper in the ocean than you ever had been before, courtesy to the teal-haired boy swimming and dragging you along. You flailed around a bit, eyes wide in panic. You were, quite honestly, terrified. And it obviously didn't help when Floyd just immediately let you go.

Was he an idiot or was he an idiot?

"Floyd-" You got out before coughing as water shot up your nose, still flailing miserably. It didn't work. You didn't know what to do. Surely, Floyd would help… If he realized what was going on. No matter what you thought, he was bright, wasn't he?

Not bright enough, it seemed, as he was still laughing and not realizing how actually panicked you were.

"Koebi-chan, you look so ridiculous like that," he laughed, almost in hysterics, and you would've smacked him if you weren't so close to actually dying.

And then you sunk.

Your desperate attempts to go to the surface were pointless as you didn't even know how to float or move around in the water.

After a few seconds, Floyd finally noticed you were gone and quickly dove under the surface. Maybe you were trying to get him back?

But his gaze immediately widened as he saw you literally sinking to the ocean floor. His eel tail moved quickly, almost without thinking as he shot to grab you and take you up, up, up so you could actually breathe.

When you came to, you were on the sandy beach again, Floyd leaning over you. His eyes, normally filled with a joking light, were unusually subdued.

"Koebi-chan, why didn't you tell me you couldn't swim?" A pout grew on Floyd's face. "If I knew, I wouldn't have-"

"Yes you would have. We would still be here, just having a different conversation."

"But-"

"No buts."

"I would've made it more fun-"

"Drowning in the ocean is the opposite of fun, Floyd-"

~Bonus because I don't know how to fit one into the story~ "I can teach you how to swim. You just go whoo and let your body move. Y'know. Like dancing." "No, I don't know, Floyd, and this is not going to help me with anything-"

Jade Leech

Jade had been spending his time on the beach with you, but you were almost certain that he wanted to be swimming in the ocean. It was his natural element, after all.

"Jade, you sure you don't want to go in the water?"

"I'm fine staying here with you, [Y/N]." He gave you a soft smile.

You shook your head. "We've come all the way here, you might as well go swim." You gave him a gentle nudge.

"Well, I'd like you to come with me, if that is possible?" He watched you quietly. "You never go swimming with me."

You paused. Although it was sweet that he wanted you to go with him… "No, I don't think so…" You trailed off. You never liked telling people that you couldn't swim. At this point, it was embarrassing.

The pair of heterochromia eyes staring at you only left you feeling more jittery. "…I, er… I can't swim. So going into the ocean with you sounds kind of like… A bad idea." You froze. "Did you use your Signature Spell on me?"

"Of course not, [Y/N]." Jade stared at you with eyes of hurt, one that looked almost identical to that of his twin's. Only, it was almost obvious that Jade didn't mean the hurt in his eyes. "You just trust me enough to say things to me."

You couldn't deny the truth there. You trusted Jade. "And you wouldn't use your Signature Spell on something so trivial, would you?"

"No, I would not." He shrugged. "On a different note, I can help you learn how to swim."

"I really don't need it-"

"What if someone tries to hurt you one day and they know your weakness?"

"Why would-"

"It's an example, [Y/N]. But if that person decides to do that, you wouldn't be able to do anything. So I should help you in case that scenario occurs."

You sighed softly. "Fine, I guess I can take lessons from you… If it's not too much of a hassle."

"Of course it would not be a hassle or anything of the sort." Jade inclined his head. "All to help you stay safe."

The day went on with Jade helping you learn the basics of swimming - he was a good teacher, which you were happy about. He was patient, and always was there if you ever started to panic.

"We wouldn't want you getting scared of the ocean now, would we?"

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul had gotten used to you after a couple months. Sure, he hadn't opened up to many people in a while (only Floyd and Jade, but they also teased him constantly about everything, so), but you were soothing and nice. Sure, you teased him sometimes, but it was different. It didn't feel mean, you stopped as soon as you noticed him looking a little uncomfortable, and… He honestly felt like he could open up about anything.

So when it was decided that you two were going to the beach - together - alone? It kind of made him very messed up.

Would you like being at the beach with him? He wasn't completely against showing his octopus form… Would you want him to swim with you? Was he even ready for that?

Those thoughts led him down a spiral, and the day you two were to go, he had bags under his eyes and looked like he was half-dead.

You gently nudged him, murmuring how he should've tried to get more sleep for this day supposedly filled with fun, but he just shrugged.

Soon, you were at the beach, and as Azul saw your smiling face, his gaze softened a little. He loved seeing your happy face.

"C'mon!" You grabbed Azul's hand as you started to run to the water, ignoring his surprised stumbling as he was dragged along. He had a light flush on his cheeks that he was glad you couldn't see.

Soon, you had reached the edge of the water, splashing around in your sandals. It was really fun, even though you knew that you were going to be getting sand in your toes later on.

Azul just kind of watched on, a relaxed expression on his face. This really was soothing… Although he was still thinking about if the Mostro Lounge would be okay with him gone. Surely Jade would do something if Floyd got into trouble… Hopefully. And hopefully, no more dishes would break.

"What are you looking so glum for?" Your voice brought him back to his senses.

"Nothing, just hoping that Jade and Floyd can take care of things at the Mostro Lounge." He sighed softly.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine. Jade's there, right?"

"He can cause as much trouble as Floyd, you know. Although he won't be outright about it." Azul shook his head, a small frown on his face.

"C'mon, turn that frown upside down." You moved closer to him, gently squishing his cheeks. "Today is for having fun, Azul."

"Yes, yes, I know." Azul couldn't help himself; he let out a soft laugh. A genuine one.

You smiled brightly. "You aren't charging me for hearing your little cute laugh?"

"I will charge you if you call it cute."

"Of course you will." You rolled your eyes before abruptly changing the subject. "So are you not going to swim?"

Azul paused. Did you want him to swim? To see his true form? There was an even chance. What should his answer be? "Er… I don't know?"

"Of course you don't have to, Azul, I just thought… I mean, there's no one around." You shrugged a little.

And now more pressure on Azul. Great. He was used to dealing with pressure, yes. Just not this kind from you. "Er… Would you come swim with me?" If you were with him, then maybe…

"No." Your lips parted, maybe to offer an explanation, but it was too late.

Azul was in a downward spiral. Why had you said no? Perhaps octopi merfolk were really too much. Perhaps you would rather be with someone with a pretty tailfin than tentacles. Or maybe a human, one of your own kind. Who said that you even liked him at all? Perhaps you were only with him out of pity, because he was that useless, chubby, good-for-nothing-

"Azul? Azul, are you listening to me?"

He snapped back to attention.

"Seriously, are you okay? Did you seriously get enough sleep last night?" You sighed.

"That's none of your-"

"It is if you're literally zoning out every five seconds." You rolled your eyes. "And anyway, I was just saying that I kind of can't go deeper into the ocean where you probably feel comfortable swimming. Because I can't swim." You shrugged nonchalantly.

But for Azul, it felt like a figurative bomb had been dropped.

You? Couldn't swim? Now that he thought about it, it did make sense… How you always looked so awkward and uncomfortable with water, especially when you came to the Octavinelle dorm. But seriously? How could you not know how to swim?

"Is not knowing how to swim… Normal?"

"Definitely not." You rolled your eyes. "But I'm just too lazy to learn now. And I have no time."

"You do if you have time to scroll on Magicam." Finally, Azul felt a bit better. At least you didn't hate him.

"And this time, I'll teach you how to swim. I'll even do it free of charge." Azul shook his head. "Seeing as I'm so generous."

"You sound like headmage Crowley."

"Do be quiet."

Azul was a pretty good teacher. He ended up not turning into his octopus form until nearly the end of the day, you were practicing your swimming and then just playing around on the sand, building sand castles, anything that you might do at a normal beach outing.

His octopus form was beautiful (as expected), and although you couldn't go to deeper waters, you enjoyed seeing him swim around, always eventually coming back to you.

"Today was truly relaxing, [Y/N]. We should do this again another time."

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viviennevermillion · 10 months

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ᴀ ʀᴏꜱᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴇʀʀʏᴍᴀɴ

✧ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: it is said that some people see the other side when they die even for just a brief moment. those near-death experiences often change them for good... blade wonders when the moment will come that he'll finally get to see you again.

✧ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴꜱ: blade x aeon!reader, gn!reader, fluff to angst, blade has a near-death experience; falls in love with you and then dan feng makes him immortal, ambiguous ending

✧ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 1000 years — kt tunstall

✧ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: major character death, separated lovers, themes of death, angst

And thus, his chest was pierced by the same weapon he had forged with such care and effort. He felt an almost unbearable pain along with the notion of betrayal, hatred, anger and grief that seemed to cloud his entire senses. The sharp pain stretched from his heart all the way to his limbs and he could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness. This is the end, he thought and part of him feared what would come next. This was the day that Yingxing died. The clouds over the Xianzhou were dark today and he knew that it was going to rain soon but he doubted he'd make it to feel the raindrops on his skin one last time.

The storm in his heart, seeming to seep out of the large wound and permeating his entire aura, raged on violently and seemed to devour him; toss him around like a lily caught in a tornado. He had never felt such pain before, both physically and emotionally.

And then the pain was gone.

Surprisingly, in that final moment, the one he had known as Dan Feng seized to exist for him. They say that everybody dies alone and he supposed in that moment he found that statement to be true. For a moment, the events that had led to the destruction of Yingxing stopped to matter. After all, he couldn't carry them along to wherever he was headed.

Perhaps that was a good thing.

He closed his eyes and yet he found himself to be able to see. He saw the stars above him, the sky suddenly clearer than he had ever seen it. It seemed to go on forever; like he could see galaxies far away from the Xianzhou just like that.

At first that void was frightening. It was too much, more than he ever had to feel in his life. There was a pressure and impending doom coming from the stars, as if he was laying on the ground and the sky was getting closer and closer until it would crush him under its weight. But the impact never came. Rather, the pain of his physical shell seemed to fade in the blink of an eye as he merged with the place from which he once came before inhabiting this mortal vessel and he noticed he couldn't even remember what it felt like to have a body.

He didn't know if "Yingxing" had stopped existing when his consciousness joined the great beyond once more or whether who he believed he was had never mattered in the first place. Like he had been caught up in a grand play and it was time for the curtain call. He had loved and hated the role that had been given to him to play but perhaps, most important of all, he had grown. As he let the universe wash over him, he felt, for a brief moment, as though everything he had went through had meaning after all.

He found himself on a distant shore, the stars sweeping over his feet like waves in an ocean. He sat himself up, finding his "body" without traces of the battle that had just occured. He let a strand of his long hair run through his fingers; now finding it to be a dark blue as it had been once in the old days.

Everything seemed so much more vivid than anything he had ever experienced. He could hear the sound of the waves with a clarity a mortal soul could only dream to experience. He could see for miles and everything seemed to burst into the most vibrant colors his eyes ever fell on. Every pebble under his right hand was one he registered individually. He didn't know where exactly he was but the place felt soothing. Like home.

The Aeon of Death had been something that was only ever speculated to exist. There were no records that confirmed their existence and no forces of their making that seemed to interfere with the material world other than the fact that every life sooner or later had to meet its end. This Aeon's existence was always regarded as more of a myth or metaphor than something people actually believed in, yet all depictions of them seemed to paint them as a harbinger of tragedy and suffering. Blade had seen drawings of them in books, dressed in flowing black fabrics and their face often obscured or distorted.

Yet when he saw you before him now, he found that the stories had it all wrong. Rather, your appearance was gentle and peaceful. He looked out to the sea and there you were, waiting patiently in a small boat for him to join you. The waves crashed into the bow and your boat swayed lightly to their motions. His hand reached for the waters and brushed through it, finding that rather than water; the sea seemed like the universe itself, his fingers casting ripples through the stars but never reaching the world he had just left.

You smiled at him from afar. In that moment he appeared to you like a child discovering something fascinating they had never seen before, playing with his surroundings to familiarize himself with it. You didn't mind waiting. You had time.

When he finally got up and carefully made his way to the boat, you got a better look at the man. He looked handsome but you could see on his face that whatever he had seen in this unreachable realm had taken a toll on him. He climbed into the wooden boat, sitting down in front of you, taking in your face for a little longer before he finally spoke.

"Why?", he simply asked, hurt evident in his voice as his words settled in the vast space around him, the silence that followed right after seeming to soothe his aches a little, "what was it all for?"

"You're the only one who will be able to answer that question eventually", you spoke quietly, making sure not to startle him, "I have never seen the world you come from. I can't reach it. I simply wait here for all who cross over. You chose to live this life, only you can find the reason."

He thought about your words for a moment, then letting out a bitter laugh. "Why would I choose something like that?"

You shook your head. "I can't tell you. And believe me I get that question a lot", you reached for a box behind you, placing it onto the small table that stood behind the two of you, "it seems our past choices can seem as unreasonable here as anywhere else." He mused that he probably shouldn't bother you with this type of stuff. However, he found himself to have a habit of ruining everything, so he supposed it was not that surprising for him to have chosen this painful life long ago.

His eyes fell onto the small ebony casket that had been placed before him.

"What's in the box?"

You gave him a mischievous smile. "In here lies the answer to any question you ever had", you spoke slowly, igniting an anticipation in him but also hesitation and fear, "however I must warn you. Opening it comes at a cost that is worth paying only for a select few." His eyes widened as he ran his fingers over the smooth material. He wondered, what could he have to give to you when he had just left everything behind upon entering this realm? Was he to sacrifice his chance at an afterlife and embrace eternal non-existence for the brief shot to make sense of it all?

"What's the price?"

You let out a laugh. "I jest", you responded and surprisingly, he felt a sense of relief wash over him, "there's no magic box that can explain the meaning of the universe to you." You lifted the lid to show him what was inside, placing a few cards and tokens on the table. Poker, he recognized the game and picked up a few of the pieces to inspect them; still trying to find something off about them. But they seemed to be just regular tokens. You smiled at the curiosity and suspicion in his eyes. Cute, you thought, surprised at your own reaction to your newest client. The craftsman raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"You'd be surprised how many people come here looking to bet and bargain."

He nodded. He could see why many humans would do this. "And you indulge them?", he questioned. You shook your head and winked at him. "Between us, I can win if I want to", you set up the game, "but you don't want to go back, so there's no need for me to intervene. We can play a friendly round if you'd like to."

He nodded once more, finding himself smiling at the absurdity of the situation. But it was a welcome change. Your presence seemed to soothe his aching soul with every minute he spent here, although he had no idea how much time had already passed. As you played, you gave him the chance to ask you more questions. Most of them were ones you had already had to answer over and over again. But there was something about this man that made them feel like a new experience; something that stimulated and amused you.

"So, is this the afterlife?", he asked dryly. "You can think of it as more of a.... hotel lobby. Your time here decides what room you'll end up in, so to speak", you tried to explain, "there's a world beyond what you've known so far that I can't possibly explain to you. You'll just have to see for yourself. But first we have to find out where your place lies." He pondered your words.

"And you're the receptionist?", he asked, feeling a little lost.

"Something like that", you chuckled as your eyes inspected his calloused hands, "I'll be your guide for as long as you stay here." Perhaps it was your own wishful thinking but you could almost see a hint of disappointment on his face. "And after that?", he asked, "will I ever see you again?"

He found himself surprised at his question but simultaneously he had gotten so used to that feeling of painlessness and peace he felt around you already, that he was afraid of losing it again in that place he was destined to go next. "It's only been a moment and you'd already miss me?", you teased, your fingers lightly brushing against his, "well I'm flattered." He didn't pull his hand away. He should pull away, he reasoned. He had been hurt so much, love and friendship had scarred him and made him wonder whether anything about it was worth the pain. But something about your touch felt so right, that he couldn't help but wish you'd just take his whole hand into yours and held it. Or just flip the table, forget all about the game and kiss him breathless.

He was shocked at his thoughts. His cheeks were heating up. What is wrong with me?, he internally cursed himself for being this weak for you. Just moments ago he had been in a brutal fight with his once closest companion; he had felt like his anger was going to be all that remained of him. And yet now the skies had shifted and the world he left behind felt so small along with the person he once was. What was so wrong about being happy?, he asked himself, clutching his fist, maybe it was time to be selfish for once and just forget all about what used to be and focus on the here and now.

Focus on you.

You who eased his sorrows even though they were still seeping into his mind every now and then. "There seems to be a lot on your mind", you sighed as you defeated him in the game, "may I ask for your name?" He didn't comment on his loss.

"I'm not sure", he shrugged, thinking back the the middle-aged man who died at the hands of the High Elder of the Vidyadhara. "Yingxing" didn't really feel right anymore. He felt as though he had taken a step into a larger world now. Reached a point of no return. You nodded, as though you could understand or had seen many like him pass through this place.

"You pick one", he shrugged, his eyes looking into the distance and you could tell he was still lost in thought. This was a lot to take in for him after all. Your eyes fell onto the sword he had brought along, undoubtedly one of his own making.

"How about 'Blade'?", you suggested, putting a finger to your chin. He thought about it for a moment, then felt himself nodding and smiling genuinely for the first time in a long time.

"Blade."

As time went on, he learnt that you had never been to the mortal realm. That you experienced it through the memories of those you guided to the other side. You promised that you would visit him at any time he wished to see you once he had crossed over. That time wasn't linear in this realm and that a second could feel like months here. He took his time to learn about you; to find out what interested you about the material world and what things you had seen in your line of work. What the universe was like, experienced by a being such as yourself. He had apologized for asking so many questions that you probably heard over and over again. You had simply shaken your head.

"All in a day's work."

You reassured him that you were enjoying your time with him. Basic questions about the realm Blade now found himself in turned into long conversations he thought he'd never have again. His soul was already laid bare before you, he didn't feel urged to hide his feelings and past from you. You were so attentive and understanding. He wished you had been there for his time on the Xianzhou. Maybe that would have made him feel a little less lost.

Fleeting touches turned into finally holding his hand in yours and him resting against your chest with a content smile on his face. He had never told you he loved you but he felt like deep inside you knew. The first time you kissed him, he felt a spark ignite inside him that he thought had long since been snuffed out. Your lips tasted sweet, like the salvation he had so desperately longed for, yet never could have imagined to be like this. He kissed back hungrily, your fingertips wiping away the tears of relief he couldn't stop from running down his cheeks. Every peck you left on his skin, whether you scattered them on his hands, his shoulders or placed them at the corner of his mouth; he felt he could never get enough of them.

He'd hold you tightly in his arms, leaving kisses on your neck before pulling you into a loving kiss again, his tongue clashing with yours as he poured all the words he couldn't say and the passion he couldn't put into words into his kiss. He eventually leaned his forehead against yours with a happy smile. You guided souls to the other side day in and day out. You never expected yourself to fall in love with one. But Blade had captured your heart by storm. He was the one you had been waiting for all this time. He was your forever. Both of you were finally happy.

You both knew he was ready to move on and spend the rest of eternity by your side. That was his place in the great beyond. And it seems it was meant to be yours too. He nodded as the two of you were ready to embark on your next great journey together, leaving the sea of doubts behind you, ready to step into the sun. Blade gave you one last kiss to your lips. He looked at you with a peaceful smile on his face, his eyes promising you forever.

And then that moment ended.

He could only hear you desperately call out to him as he was pulled away from you, his hand trying to clutch yours as he was fading from view and his fingers slipped out of yours. He was panicking. It couldn't end like this. He remembered how happy you were just a moment ago. How worried you must be now.

The peace and tranquility was quickly replaced by emptiness and grief and anger again as his soul violently slammed back into his once mortal body. If he thought the pain from exiting it was bad, the one from entering it again was even worse. He groaned in pain, clutching the large wound on his chest and feeling it close below his fingers, much to his surprise.

Suddenly the Xianzhou seemed to matter again and your soothing touch felt out of his reach. He thought he was simply healed. That this was temporary and if he wanted to, he could just go back to you. But he realized quickly that this was not the case.

His eyes widened in shock and he stared in disbelief at his shaking, scarred hands as he realized what had become of him. What someone made of him. His breath hitched in his throat as he bit back the sobs that escaped him. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he looked up to the man who did this with horror in his eyes. Dan Feng seemed unresponsive, as if caught in a trance.

Blade bit his lips. He didn't want to cry in front of this man. Not like this. Not here. But he couldn't help the despaired sobs coming from his mouth. His voice broke when he spoke.

"What have you done?"

Years had passed since that day. He often wondered what you would think if you could see him now. How bitter and hateful he had become; all the destruction he had caused on his path to reunite with you and kill the man who bestowed this cursed immortality onto him.

On some days it felt like the mara was driving him to the brink of insanity. Would he still be the same person you never got the chance to say goodbye to when death would finally come for him? Or would he have become something that you could never possibly love? The thought kept him awake at night. It scared him more than the pain he knew might plague him for many years to come.

He had never told anyone about you. You still felt like his happy ending that was ripped from his grasp and as much as the Stellaron Hunters helped him in his goal, he didn't want them or Dan Feng or anyone meddling in it.

He may have been the only one to have captured your heart, but there were many others who had almost crossed over and met you. Those who came back would sometimes seek him out and deliver messages from you to him. This was how, despite all, he at least had the reassurance that you were still out there waiting for him to return. The messages you had delivered to him were different each time but you never failed to tell him that you loved him so much.

Blade could hear the quiet beeping of the life support machine from outside the hospital room door. The nurse who had accompanied him here lightly knocked on the door and Blade could hear coughing from the other side. "Mr. Petrov? You have a visitor", she opened the door and Blade stepped into the room behind her.

Mr. Petrov had spent his whole life on a planet that Blade had never visited before. The old man opened his tired eyes to look at the stranger standing in the doorframe to his hospital room. He couldn't recall ever having met this person, but it was possible that he had simply forgotten about him. Meanwhile Blade knew for sure that the sickly man on the life support machine was a complete stranger.

Blade sat down beside his bedside, placing a small wooden box on the man's nightstand. He had left his phone on the starskiff; there was no need for Silver Wolf and Kafka to learn of this meeting.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I recognize you, son", the old man coughed once more and gave him an apologetic look. Blade shook his head. "We've never met." The old man had no idea of the atrocities that Blade had committed. He didn't need to know this, Blade thought.

"Then what brings you here today?", the patient seemed surprised. "I need to ask you a favor", Blade simply responded. The old man let out an amused laugh, sending him into another coughing fit. "I'm not sure if they told you, my friend, but I only have a few days left to live", Mr. Petrov reached for the glass of water on the nightstand, "my respiratory system is shutting down. I'm not sure what favor I could possibly do for you. I'm 94."

"I'm aware", Blade sighed and for the first time since he woke up in this cursed body again he took up the courage to talk about you. He described to the man what you looked like. "If you meet this person- ...on the other side I mean", Blade stared off into space, "could you deliver a message to them? Tell them to wait for me. Tell them I'll find them again one day."

The dying man raised an eyebrow at the seemingly young Stellaron Hunter. "Well, I don't know what's waiting for me on 'the other side', kid, but I'd imagine the afterlife is pretty vast. There's no guarantee I'd meet this person you're talking about."

"You will", Blade insisted and opened the wooden box, revealing a game of poker inside, "up for a game or two?" Mr. Petrov scratched his beard. "Why?"

"Practice."

The old man laughed. "They play poker in the afterlife?", he seemed amused but helped Blade set up the game, "well, I suppose there are going to be a lot of people ready to bet and bargain." Blade felt himself smile slightly as he remembered the first time you met. He was hardly used to smiling anymore so it caught him off-guard.

Mr. Petrov inspected Blade's face. The man seemed lost in thought again, as if he was yearning for something. As if he had been waiting for a long time. Anyone else would have found this encounter with the young stranger in his hospital room absurd but the sick man just accepted the situation as it was. Impending death was weird like that.

"So...", he started, an expression of understanding on his face, "anything else you want me to tell his person?"

Blade hesitated for a moment. Images flashed through his mind of your smile and the way you had kissed him. The ideas you exchanged and the future you had promised each other. How, despite all, despite the frustration and hatred, Blade now had no doubt where he was meant to be. With new-found courage and sincerity Blade finally allowed himself to say what he hadn't dared verbalize for all this time.

"Tell them... tell them I love them. I love them so much, I have no idea what to do with myself. And I miss them... I miss them every goddamn day."

#honkai star rail blade #hsr blade #blade x reader #blade honkai #blade x you #honkai star rail x reader #honkai star rail #hsr x reader #hsr

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monkiesimp · 1 year

Note

Sun Wukong, Macace and MK realizing that they are in love with READER?

Uhhhh am I even doing this right? I'm beginning to doubt my skills.

Wukong:

- Honestly? He falls in love with you nearly as soon as he meets you

- He didn't realize it at first though, but it doesn't take him a long time to realize he loves you

- Since you can't really come to the Flower Fruit Mountain all by yourself cause, y'know, it's a ocean away, he comes to visit you in your home instead.

- Or you sometimes come to his temple but very rarely since most of the time he spends is at the Flower Fruit Mountain.

- You two would just hang out at your house and draw together, surprisingly Wukong does love to draw and he's quite good at it

- During one night, you were drawing while Wukong was hugging you and just relaxing while watching your pen move on the paper, since you two weren't able to hang out much you suggested he stays overnight with you. He agreed of course.

- It was all nice and peaceful as you two talked, but when he asked you a question you didn't respond.

- Then, he heard you snore and realized you fell asleep.

- He just pushed you towards him so you could rest against him, he didn't want you leaning to a wrong direction and hitting your head on something by accident.

- And when your head was on his chest and you tilted your head to the point he could see your face more clearly, his heart nearly melted at the sight in front of him. The warm smile you had on your face while you slept made him feel so much happiness and love towards you.

- Wait.

- Love?....

- Oh. That's when he actually realized he loved you and come to think of it, he does think about you often when you're away.

- When he realized that, he was kinda... Shocked. And unsure what to do.

- He never predicted he'd ever find someone to love ever again in the near future (or ever), yet, there he was. With you in his arms, and the warm feelings you gave him without even realizing.

- He wasn't really happy when he learned he was in love with you. I mean, he was, but he was mostly worried.

- He's immortal, once you die, how will he live on? It's just the same like with his old companions who he missed dearly, but he felt like it would be much much worse if he lost *you*, since he LOVED you.

- Plus if he grew too attached, some demons could use you as a hostage to get to him.

- Wukong had to distance himself from you and forget about you, and that's exactly what he did. When you woke up, you were all alone with no sign of the Monkey King.

- It took him his all not to visit you again after days and days passed, he missed your touch, your voice, he missed everything about you. But he chose not to, it was better for the both of you.

- You on the other hand were completely confused and heartbroken, you asked Mk if he's still seeing Wukong and when he said he was, you thought you did something wrong and ruined your friendship with him, that it was all your fault.

- You two wouldn't see each other for about a month, until Mk invited everyone to meet up for Christmas.

- Then, then you'd see him.

- Both of you kinda avoided each other, but you took the courage to talk to him.

- After two hours, once you saw him alone you took the opportunity and went up to him, adkinht why he avoided you for days.

- He lied and you could see right through it.

- So you two would kinda end up arguing, you telling him to spit it out and a bit irritated he was avoiding the topic while Wukong still refused to confess anything.

- It wasn't until you heard a sob from him that all your frustration suddenly died out.

- He had his back to you while hugging himself, but you could clearly see by his shaking shoulders and his sniffles... He was crying.

- You ended up hugging him which caused him to stop holding his tears back and let it out, he missed your hugs so much :(

- He ended up telling you everything, why he avoided you and why he was so afraid

- You listened to his every words and held his face in your hands, wiping away his tears as he talked.

- Well, you two do end up coming with a solution, and that's for you to become immortal if you want, Wukong will find something to make you immortal

- On the other hand, if you need time to think, he will give you time.

- And if you don't want to be immortal then uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

- No bitches.

Macaque:

- At first he didn't care about you, you were in Mk's crew and he knew you as much as he knew Tang tbh.

- Yeah, you two weren't really friends, you knew each other's names but nothing more than that.

- That is, until you were at a party (yeah, again, Mk invited everyone) and you got overwhelmed by the crowds and music, that was when you saw Macaque again.

- He just saw you with Mk and Mei while Wukong was yelling at him before the King stormed off while he was zoning out.

- Then he tried looking for Wukong to annoy him again but accidentally saw you at the exact same spot he saw you last, except that now Mk and Mei were nowhere in sight and you were alone and looked somewhat... Scared? He wasn't sure why.

- He was hesitating between annoying Wukong or coming to ask you why you're so glum, in the end he picked you.

- You were a bit stunned when he sat down in the chair beside you.

- He didn't ask much questions, just made some comments. Then he offered you to dance with him.

- You didn't know how to dance but agreed anyway, and honestly he was good at dancing, also good at showing you what to do and how to move.

- That was the night you two became friends :D

- After that night he'd visit you A LOT, it's like this guy has nothing else to do in this world of how many hours he could spend with you.

- He would flirt with you and tease you very often, honestly he didn't realize, but he caught feelings for you since that dance.

- It took him a month til he realized he loved you.

- And when he did he honestly didn't care much but he'd be extra flirty and teasing.

- He'd often push your buttons and test the waters to see how far he could go.

- He could go pretty far XD you were extremely flustered whenever he'd flirt with you.

- But yeah, you two didn't really hug each other or show any affection (Macaque kinda would only do small gestures when teasing you, such as being close to your face or wrapping his tail around you, besides that nothing much during that time. But it did quickly develop to the point you'd cuddle every night.)

- Overall, he wouldn't really have much of a reaction. He'd just accept that fact immediately and his next plan? Try his best to make you fall in love with him too.

Mk:

- AAAAA YOU TWO

- You two are BEST BUDDIES!!!!

- Along with Mei too, you three are the best duo.

- You go out every one or two weeks to hang out when you're not busy and it's mostly playing video games.

- It would be you who's in love with Mk first, and each time you flirt with him he just blushes but doesn't seem to take the hint you like him.

- He's just so... Oblivious to your flirting. He probably doesn't even realize you're flirting with him.

- He loves you by now but he just can't take a hint and it's 😭

- He would always gift you something on every event, valentine's day, Halloween, ECT, and you'd always thank him by kissing his cheek and gifting him something too.

- It makes him REALLY overjoyed when you kiss his cheek and he's happy for the rest of the day.

- Would be a slightly bit concerned over you, not that there's anything wrong but he wants to make sure you're okay and that you're not sad or anything.

- If you are, he wants to be there for you. He's a goodie boy.

- After like two years of knowing him, you start being a bit more flirtatious so he can take a hint.

- No matter how hard you try each and every time you two hang out to tease and flirt with him, he never, not even ONCE realizes anything.

- Honestly you begin flirting too much at the point of everyone around noticing.

- And Mk STILL remains clueless.

- Then he begins to get confused by you and why you always try to make him embarrassed, he rants to his problems about you with Monkey King.

- "I JUST DON'T GET IT! Why are they acting so weird?" ... "I mean it's not that I don't like it but they're more focused on making me flustered than hanging out with me."

*Monkey King shuffled through his stuff, trying to find something.*

- "Bud, they like you. They're flirting with you."

- "WHAT?"

- He doesn't believe it at first and Wukong has to sit him down to prove it to him by explaining what your words meant and your actions.

- He doesn't even get through half of it (thankfully) until Mk realizes you really do love him.

- He's in complete shock for a good few seconds but then he explodes in happiness, he's overjoyed.

- He kinda feels stupid he didn't see that in the first place... But at least he figured it out in the end!

- Honestly, he will just be a innocent boy. He would never take any action towards you if he loves you, he's innocent and nice.

- And he's a bit shy to take the first move, kinda has self esteem issues so that's why he didn't believe when Monkey King told him you liked him at first.

#lmk x reader #macaque x reader #monkie kid x reader #sun wukong x reader #lmk macaque x reader #mk x reader #monkie kid #lmk

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feelingdozy · 1 year

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I love your writing omg <3 it's MARVELOUS I'm so jealous!! could you do finnick odair flirting with a shy!gn!reader? Like he calls them cute and they just freak out and hide into their shirt or a blanket, etc etc? And he just keeps flirting until reader just covers his mouth and they make eye contact and it's a HUZZAH moment before finnick just kisses them?? sorry if this is really specific!! thank you if you fulfill this request <3

A Little Shy

Finnick Odair x Reader

Hunger Games Masterlist

Summary: you go out to town to find some supplies for fishing as it's the perfect season. You find yourself inexperienced with tridents, and someone comes along to help you find the perfect one to fit your needs.

Note: this is a super cute request and will probably take awhile to post because I want to make sure it is absolutely perfect, also thank you!! I try my best to write as nicely as possible

Warnings: mention of death and killing, slap (hand over mouth)

You had wanted to go to the market in district 4 for awhile, wanting to see what there was to offer at this time of the month. It was the prime time for fishing, so a lot of people had been stocking up.

You stayed for a few hours getting the basic supplies, making your way over to the tridents. You had never been a pro even as a district 4 victor, but had always admired people who were able to use a Trident so easily.

You looked around slowly at all they had to offer, wondering at that point if maybe you should get your own and try it out.

"that one's nice, huh?"

You jumped at the voice that came from behind you, quickly turning around. You should've recognized the voice, of course it was Finnick.

Naturally, you got shy knowing how much you admired his Trident skills as he'd won with them as the youngest in the arena. You hated the games, but loved the skills of the weapons that came with it.

"are you good at using a trident? I've never seen you use one"

He was watching you? I mean he was your mentor back then, but you were really a nobody. You thought your win was a bit sad compared to other people who had won with skill. It was the career in you talking, quickly coming back to realize the horror that came behind it all and that you were lucky to be standing here alive right now.

"not really, I'd love to learn though.."

Your voice was quiet and faded off as you glared at other ones surrounding the two of you.

"how about you come down to my house later and I'll teach you a few tricks y/n?"

You turned to him, his charming smile placed on his face as he found your eyes.

"sure"

A blush found your cheeks, a little intimidated to be taught to use a trident by the Finnick Odair. Even though you should've learned how to use a Trident in the training for the games, you focused on your hand to hand combat and nature tips and tricks then the main weapon of your district. It made you feel a little more reassured that you wouldn't die by accidentally eating the wrong type of berry.

You picked out a trident fitting to your hand, comfortable in your hold. Then it was time to start walking to the victors village that was surrounded by ocean. Their backyards went out to a beautiful beach, and then water. Constant, neverending water leaving room to do anything you aspire to.

The walk was peaceful, as usual. The weather was hotter than usual so if you were going to be in the water, why not change into a bathing suit? You quickly went home and put on a bathing suit beneath your clothing, hiding it before you got to his house.

You knocked on his door, his footsteps getting closer and your heartbeat faster. The anxiety hit as he opened the door. You just now realized his height compared to yours and how shy you were. It's the Finnick Odair. How could you not be a little scared?

"come in"

He said with the same charming smile as before, gesturing for you to sit anywhere you'd like. His place was nicely decorated, ocean themed items around you at every turn. Tridents sat on the wall, some framed and some just hung as a decoration.

He had gone to the kitchen, his back turned towards the living room. You looked at his hair that always looked amazing and you wanted to ruffle it and run your hands through it- wait. We're you actually thinking of.. no. This was Finnick Odair. Loved by the capitol, loved by the people in his district and by the other victors. He was an amazing person despite what he had gone through, most not being able to handle it all.

He brought out some cookies and sat them on the table in front of you. He sat down, the couch dipping with the new weight beside you slightly pulling you toward him, slowly sliding. Your cheeks now had a light blush again from simply being in his presence. His eyes glistened in the light of his house, his hair fluffy and his face charming and cute. You thought Finnick Odair was cute. The Finnick Odair.

He stared at you for awhile before breaking the silence.

"soo, you've never picked up a Trident before y/n?"

You nodded your head no. He sort of knew when he was training you many years ago, just a year older than you, wondering why you didn't pick up a trident. He admired your other abilities back then, knowing how to identify different leafs or berries and hand to hand combat were great abilities in general, but especially because you got put in the arena where you'd need just those skills, like it was almost fit for your win.

It's funny because you were by far the shyest tribute he had ever seen, you didn't talk much or make a fuss like many other tributes had done, but instead listened and took any and all information and tips and tricks from the past victors that only wanted to help. Why did people go out of their way to make a fuss?

Your head was turned down from his, scared to actually make eye contact with him no matter your past relationship.

"you can look at me y'know. I don't bite?"

He laughed, your head hesitantly turning upwards, scared that you'll reveal the layer of red forming on your now heat-radiating cheeks.

"no need to be nervous, y/n."

He said, and you swear he was teasing you at this point. You looked into the distance again, seeing him taking in your facial features from your peripheral vision. His eyes widened a bit before his classic smile appeared on his face that he always wore, except it seems a little more.. genuine than before.

"you're cute."

Your eyes then met with his again, and now greatly flustered in front of the man. He memorized your face in the moment, how your cheeks gained more color and your eyes widened. You couldn't even make words come out of your mouth, your heartbeat pounding too loud and mind too fuzzy to make a coherent sentence.

"huh-?!"

Was all that came out of your mouth. He slowly lifted himself up to where his arms were to the side of your face. You quickly pulled up your shirt, covering your slowly reddening face to where you might've been radiating heat, heat that he must've felt through the fabrics that layered because it was so warm.

"You're so cute. Shy hm?"

Your heartbeat pounded louder and louder within your chest as you once again admired the man who was above your sitting, now laying form. You buried yourself even deeper within your shirt before he could see even more obvious and powerful hints of red on the rest of your face.

"look at you. So red. You like me calling you cute sweetheart?"

A slap echoed in the room as you couldn't handle it anymore. You put your hand over his mouth, your heart not being able to take anymore of his flirting. You could feel his signature grin form under your hand as he put his hand on your arm. His hand slowly slid up til it reached yours, taking it and kissing the outside of your palm.

Your eyes met with his sea green. His other hand creeped onto your cheek, his head slowly getting closer to yours.

his lips collided with yours with a deep need to feel your lips for the first time. He deepened the kiss, his soft lips feeling amazing on yours. You couldn't believe your first kiss was with the Finnick Odair. Part of it because you were already in your twenties and you had never kissed anyone before, not having any partners when you were younger. But mostly because it was him.

You let him take the lead, not knowing what else to do. You let go as you had to take a breath even though you never wanted to let go of his soft lips, feeling like you had been in another world while kissing him.

"promise me you won't explode if I kiss you again?"

He laughed as you nodded, going in again for another kiss that had sucked you in, captured you.

You had just kissed Finnick Odair. Twice.

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heretherebedork · 2 months

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Qian & Yuan only went feral, when the gun was pointed at each other, but not at themselves. They can die for each other, but they can't live without each other. A very impactful scene.

And isn't that just something. Neither of them truly fears death but fears losing the other. Yuan instantly offers himself up when the gun is turned on Qian while Qian snaps for him to back off but Yuan has never listened to Qian in this moment, has always wanted to protect him the way Qian protected him.

Yuan has faced death before this and now he faces Qian and all he wants is for Qian not to be in danger. All he wants is for Qian to be safe and to keep going and he doesn't truly understand that there would be no going on without him for Qian, just as there would be no going forward without Qian for him.

But when they are each facing a gun they are still and they are calm and they wait but when the other faces a gun they are screaming, struggling, falling apart. Qian faces a gun with anger that rivals Yuan's peace but they both turn into creatures when the other is in danger.

(Qian has always saved Yuan, over and over again, even when it hurts him and Yuan has spent a lifetime trying to be the person that could protect Qian from that and that shaped this moment, this desperation, two men trying to save each other because a world without him is not a world. That's the true end of the world.)

This is also the first time Qian has given in to his need to touch Yuan. He's touched him before, many times, but this was different, this was trying to crawl into his skin and to pull Yuan back to him entirely, to take him in and to never have to let him go.

(And then to follow this with the reveal that Yuan faced death across the globe from him, that on the other side of the ocean when Qian wasn't speaking to him Yuan could have died? For Qian to realize that this isn't the first time he'd almost lost him and the other time he never knew?)

They are family and so much more and Qian has been so slowly facing his own emotions and his own pain and his own fears and his own past has shaped him into the person he is but now Yuan's love for him and his own love for Yuan are reshaping parts of him. Bit by bit, inch by inch, Qian is facing his own fears and his own past and goddamn that this all came from Yuan trying to protect him from his past, the past that Yuan blames himself for, the past that Yuan had to watch... ugh, this show.

#unknown bl #qian x yuan #unknown series #zhiyuan x qian #yuan x qian #taiwanese series #asked and answered

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inaris-mage-of-storms · 10 months

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Warning for alcohol use, vomiting, and swearing. Read on AO3.

When Scott dreams, he dreams of the sea.

Not a single soul would bat an eye at that. He's a pirate, after all, born and raised on an island. He wouldn't be surprised if one day someone cut him open and seawater poured from his veins instead of blood. The ocean is his home, and he knows that to his core.

What surprises him is that it isn't this sea he dreams of. It isn't this ocean that calls to him, whispering promises of safety and warmth. Instead, he dreams of a different island - if one could even call it that. It's tiny, smaller than any island he's ever seen in his waking life, with nothing more on it than an equally tiny hut. In his dreams, he sits in the shade of his hut with his feet in the water and feels at peace.

Danger is there, somewhere, but on his island he feels safe. His clothes are tattered and coral lines his pockets instead of gold, but he feels content. It's home, and it calls to him, and every time he wakes from that dream he aches with a longing for a place he's never been.

He hates it. He can't get enough of it.

He wonders, leaning against a wall in the shadows of whatever alleyway he'd stumbled into, if he'll dream of it tonight. His head swims with every movement, and he thinks it's just as likely that he'll simply pass out until Cleo finds him and wakes him with a thorough scolding for leaving the tavern without them. You never know what's lurking in the dark, they had admonished him more than once. Rules only went so far, and it wouldn't take much for a dead-drunk Denholm to become a dead Denholm, if the wrong person found him alone.

Sometimes he dreams of Cleo, too. Like the island, they feel like home and safety. It doesn't surprise him, though the pallor of death that clings to them worries him. He wonders if it's an omen. It's why he normally never does leave the tavern without them, fearing for their safety as much as they fear for his. Sometimes he wakes up and has to reassure himself that there isn't a gaping hole in his best friend's ribs.

He wonders if he'll ever find out why they're always dead in his dreams. He hopes he never does.

He dreams of a lot of people, and he wonders who they are. Scar is there, sometimes, with a grin that matches Cleo's, and he wonders why the swindler he's barely spoken to is in his dreams. He dreamed of Scar before he knew him, and it makes him wonder if he'll meet the rest of the strangers someday too. He wonders if he'll ever meet the red woman with the sharp grin and lonely eyes, or the blond man on the burning building. He wonders if he'll ever find out why his heart breaks every time he looks at either of them.

Most of all, he dreams of Martyn.

That surprises him more than anything else, that the man he disdains and who disdains him in return, is ever-present in his dreams of this home that doesn't exist. In his dreams, Martyn is wild and dangerous and beautiful. He's like that in the real world, too, but in his dreams that wild, dangerous, beautiful man looks at Scott with a softness he's never known and holds him with a gentleness that doesn't exist.

He wonders if he'll ever find out why.

"Well! Look at you, crawling in the gutters in the middle of the night. Guess the golden boy has a human side after all."

"Dream of the devil," Scott mutters, getting a perplexed what? from Martyn as the man crouches in front of him. "Go away. I'm just resting a moment, that's all."

He knows he's not fooling anyone. His words are so slurred it's a wonder Martyn can even make out what he's saying, and he leans over to retch up what little bile has collected in the stomach that emptied earlier, but he'll die before admitting weakness to a Kestrel. Especially to this one. Why did it have to be this one that found him?

"You're an idiot," is Martyn's simple response, and Scott scowls at him. "Up you get."

"What? Wait - " Martyn tucks himself against Scott, one arm around his waist and the other pulling Scott's arm across his shoulders as he hoists him to his feet. "I told you, I'm fine! Just gonna wait here for Cleo."

"I mean, if you want me to leave you passed out in a heap for everyone to see what a mess you are come morning, I can do that," says Martyn, pulling him down the road. "I doubt Cleo's waking up anytime soon. Maybe I should leave you here. A little humble pie might do your prissy ass some good."

"You talk too much," grumbles Scott, and after a moment adds, "Now I want pie. Fuck you."

Martyn laughs. "Maybe when you're sober. Ow! Bite me again and I will leave you in the road, you little shit."

His thoughts are still too murky to come up with a witty retort, so Scott allows himself to be helped home by the man who hates him and feels like home. He can feel himself teetering on the edge of passing out, and knows he won't be dreaming tonight.

Shame. Martyn's gaze is soft and his hands gentle as he lowers Scott into bed, and Scott wonders if the man loves in the same way he does in his dreams.

"Stay."

Martyn looks surprised when Scott catches his wrist. "Geez, how much did you drink? Just because we look the other way when you sneak out of Sausage's room in the morning doesn't mean your mates will do the same for me sneaking out of yours. And you hate me, remember?"

"You hated me first." Scott's hold on Martyn slips away along with his hold on consciousness. "Don't hate you," is the last thing he mumbles, and he wonders if Martyn hears it.

He doesn't dream of the sea, not tonight. He dreams of Martyn saying I don't hate you either. He dreams of a hand in his hair and lips on his forehead, and wonders about the way a whispered I miss you sounds so sad.

He wonders if he'll ever find out why.

}{ Part Two }{

#piratesshipping #trafficshipping #majorwood #scottyn #pirates smp #scurvyblr #file: storm writes things #this will go...somewhere. eventually.#wasn't gonna post it but after i let it sit a few hours I liked it more than I did initially so here you go :D

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seineko · 11 months

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i seriously don't get it when people say that lan wangji doesn't really know love outside of wei wuxian.

his entire damn character is about learning about love, about what is love and what is obsession and how he loves way too much.

he knelt in snow, an entire day every month, for god knows how many years, just to get a glimpse of his mother - just looking for a small sign that indicated that he hasn't lost one of the only few people that understood him.

his love for his brother, the only person who ever understood him completely, and the only person who put his happiness above everyone and everything - as quite as breathing, but just as necessary. i strongly disagree with anyone who says that lan wangji might not have done the same thing as wei wuxian if the twin jades swapped places with the yumeng prides (giving his golden core to his brother). because while lan wangji might've lived for his wei ying, i'm pretty sure he'd just as easily die for his brother.

his love for a-yuan, his dear son, which he might believe to be selfish - not letting go of the last piece in the world that still had ties to wei ying - but is most certainly what gave the child a new life. a life in which he would not be scowled upon, a life where he doesn't have to live under the pressure of a war in which all the part he had was being born into the stomach of a wen, and a life which gave lan sizhui the childhood he had to give up. it's clear in the way he raised him, to not become a shell of what he was, to be able to question when necessary, and put himself and his safety above all - even rules. it's clear in the way lan sizhui grew up to be. he might have taken in a-yuan because of wei wuxian, but he more certainly loved lan sizhui enough to burn the entire world for him.

(even his love for little soundless creatures is as fierce as it can get.)

and i don't even have to talk about wei wuxian. his silent, unconditional devotion towards the love of his life, not expecting anything in return, did not even expect the love back. just wanted to protect the one of the most important person in the entire world for him and fight alongside him. be there by his side as long as wei wuxian's willing to accept him because he would die before he would force wei ying and let him become a shadow of what his mother was. he might have inherited his love from his father, but he loved his mother enough to never let anyone face the pain she went through if it was in his hands.

lan wangji is the embodiment of what lan sect is - what it actually was, when it was established - in every way. he cannot control how fiercely he loves and that, is both a curse and a boon in one.

wei wuxian might have the heart to love as many people as the ocean is wide, but lan wangji has the heart to love the people he cares for as deep as the said ocean.

they both teach us so much about love!

fuck! i absolutely love this novel.

(i wrote this in a very emotional state after reading a very angsty piece so i apologize if it sounds like gibberish, but i sincerely hope what i mean to say comes through.)

#mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #the untamed #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #the founder of diabolism #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan sizhui #lan xichen #madam lan #a yuan #mxtx #mdzs #cql #mxtx mdzs #mo xiang tong xiu #🐈‍⬛boba.rants

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darkfire359 · 7 months

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What could have been: sympathizing with Ed in season 2

I've talked before about how much I love Ed and all his complexity. I've written more fanfic about him and Izzy than any other characters, in my entire history of fandom. And unlike many people, I wasn't unprepared for the dark direction his arc took in season 2; I wanted him to commit MORE atrocities, and I happily made comparisons between him and another one of my favorite characters, Hannibal Lector.

But one of the key things I wanted after he committed atrocities was for him to feel bad about it. And I thought we'd see that! After all, S1 Ed was so tormented about killing his dad (who was abusive and violent towards) him that he never killed (directly) again! He was so broken up about trying to kill Stede in s1e6 that he ended up crying in a bathtub. Just like he cried in the window sill after committing all the kraken horrors in s1e10. It seemed like this was a guy scared of his own inner darkness, convinced he was a monster, who would go around saying things like "I'm not a good person" and "You were always going to realize who I am."

And so even when s2 went darker than anyone expected—when he cut off more of Izzy's toes, and shot him in the leg, and made crewmen fight to the death for experiencing love, and sailed the entire ship into a storm to murder-suicide his crew—I was still ready to accept all that moral ambiguity and give him a hug afterwards. Because of course, I figured that after Ed was brought out of that dark place and those suicidal urges, he would feel horrible remorse. How could he not?

I was looking forward to seeing him break down crying, convinced he was an irredeemable, unforgivable monster. (Which of course, would make it all the more touching when people inevitably did forgive him, and when he did redeem himself). Maybe Ed would even go too far with trying to atone, like in Mercy, one of my favorite post-s1 fics. Probably, I figured, Ed's quest for redemption would be one of the main themes in the second half of season 2.

So it was strange to watch e4, when Ed looked nothing but annoyed at everyone for chaining him up and banishing him, and then he went to hang out with his old friends like he'd done nothing wrong. When after the crew unanimously voted him out, Stede brought him back to the ship literally that same evening, and Ed saw no problem with that. Okay... maybe he's still processing?

Then e5 came, and that episode was about Ed's redemption. Yay! Except... Ed didn't seem to care? Other people made him wear the bag and the bell. He asked how long it'd take people to get over it, guessing "like a day." He gave an influencer-esque non-apology to the crew. He said "I took a man's leg" rather than calling Izzy by name. He literally doesn't remember the circumstances of pushing Lucius off the boat. He does ultimately give a real apology to Fang—for tormenting him years ago, rather than anything from his actual kraken era. I love e5 for the Izzy+Stede dynamic, but watching Ed be an unrepentant asshole here is painful. There is nothing about this that convinces me Ed wouldn't slide right back to being evil if Stede were to leave again.

And the thing is, it didn't have to be like this! We could have gotten Ed breaking down crying with guilt like in s1e6, and it would have made him much more sympathetic—not to mention the fact that Ed really is just an adorable cryer. Alternatively, we could have had some real deep diving about why Ed never apologizes (is he afraid of seeming weak?) or why he's so uncaring about others' pain (has he seen too many friends die over the years, to the point of going numb?)

By episode 6, it seems like most characters have moved on. Stede says something about Ed turning poison into positivity, which feels completely unearned. He pays for the party—but he'd previously tried to make the crew throw their cut of the loot into the ocean. He makes some attempts to best Ned and protect Stede, but Stede ends up saving the crew instead—from a pirate who only showed up in the first place because Ed was intentionally trying to piss him off. Ed is sad that Stede kills someone, and this would be a great time to again make Ed sympathetic! To have him talk about how he doesn't want that for Stede, because his own violence has weighed on him so deeply. But nope.

E6 does see Ed actually apologize to Izzy—and he's terrible at it. He's just like, "Sorry about your leg," makes no eye contact, and flees immediately afterwards. We do see some hints that this shitty apology isn't really indicative of Ed's true feelings, given how he has those flashbacks to the scenes of hurting Izzy seemingly haunting him; but it's very brief. It would be a great time to address Ed's horrific tendency towards conflict-aversion and avoiding awkward conversations in relationships—the same tendency that made s1 Ed never inform Izzy that the plan to kill Stede and the Revenge crew had changed. This would be another great opportunity to help us sympathize with Ed again—to have us see how it's not that he doesn't want to communicate these things, it's that these conversations are terribly stressful and anxiety-inducing for him. But nah, why would OFMD need to include those things for Ed?

E7 happens, and still nothing. If anything, there was a great opportunity for Ed to at least show himself to be a kind person to Stede—maybe nobly stepping in to save the day, even though he's annoyed that Stede's getting all this attention now. You know, like Stede did for him back in s1e5, when the situation was reversed. But nope, Ed runs off to be a fisherman, not having learned any of the earlier season's lessons about whims. He only stops being a fisherman because he's bad at it.

I was still hoping for something big in e8–some huge selfless, gesture that Ed would do to cover for all of his inability to do the little gestures. Ed is good at grand gestures! Swimming back to the ship after he left, then taking the Act of Grace in s1 was HUGE. Very selfless, very sweet! He could have done something like that for Izzy, Lucius, and the traumatized crew. Some kind of heroic gesture to help others more than himself. But nope. In some sense, Izzy dying is one of the greatest indications of Ed's wasted potential, because we narratively had a great opportunity for Ed to be able to save someone... but he didn't.

(Admittedly, Ed is not a complete dick here—he helps Izzy when he's limping, he says some genuinely apologetic stuff when Izzy's dying, and he finally gives Izzy his attention and care. But then after the funeral, he's still like "Well, that's that.")

It's so frustrating. It's not that I don't want to like Ed, or that I don't want to sympathize with him. I really, REALLY do! I don't even need Ed to successfully do anything to earn forgiveness! I'd take Ed trying and failing. I'd take him wanting to try, but being so convinced of his monstrousness that he never makes the attempt. But give me something. Anything other than the unexamined apathy that he has so much of the time.

The thing is, s2 lost the ability for Ed's mistreatment of people to be just another "of course he's violent, he's a pirate" quirk. They were pretty explicit about how abusive Ed was (Jim's comment in e1, the joke in e4 people assumed Ed had hit Stede) and how much he traumatized people (Lucius and the whole crew very clearly have PTSD in episodes 4 and 5). This is serious stuff, which he did to other main characters, which is going to make a lot of viewers look at him pretty harshly.

And that's manageable—Hannibal Lector managed to be most textbook-abusive asshole in the world, committing atrocities and generally being unrepentant left and right, and viewers STILL found him lovable and sympathetic. You can do that! But you need to:

a. make it clear that anyone with the relevant information calls them out for being awful, even multiple episodes later

b. make it clear that they care deeply and genuinely about their wronged loved ones

c. make them willing to actually make REAL sacrifices

I watched so many people start to dislike or outright hate Ed in season 2. It made me really sad. But I couldn't blame them for feeling that way. For all that Ed is supposedly one of the two protagonists in OFMD—a character whose mistakes should be the most understandable, whose mental state should be the most resonant—the show seemed to entirely drop the ball on writing him as such.

#edward teach #ofmd critical #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #arguably the writers' mistake with Izzy is easier to fix in fanfiction #just undo the last 10 minutes #but now I feel like Ed fics after s2 have to fix huge chunks of his characterization #I also think it'd be more reasonable to make Ed not give a shit about the crew if the show just like... admitted that directly?#but we've got Stede making comments about Ed turning poison into positivity #we've got Izzy saying the crew loves Ed and is his family #and while it's not OOC for either of them to just be delusional and overprojecting their own love for Ed #it's weirdly unexamined #same thing with Ed's “I don't kill people thing” after he murders British officers left and right in s2e8 #was Ed's whole talk with Stede in s1e6 just a lie?#obviously Ed was stretching definitions / using it as a coping mechanism but I thought he was at least telling the truth as he saw it

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aphrodisiac-siren · 3 months

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Maladroit Penchant-

Lo'ak Sully x Reader

Summary: Lo'ak can be difficult, stubborn; A rebel most of the time and it's something he's aware of. He's based his entire personality around his ability to find trouble and it's one he manages to maintain be it deliberately or by accident; And yet, his tenacious persona comes crumbling down when he's in the presence of his childhood friend who he definitely does not have a crush on.

-Friends to lovers-

Masterlist Part 1

Part 2

[time skip]

It was odd to him, how he found solace at the very spot at which he'd lost a part of him, his other half, his brother; the same place where he had physically felt his heart shatter, at the sight of his brother lying limp as death welcomed him into his embrace while Lo'ak struggled to breath with glossy eyes brimmed with hot tears; hands stained with Neteyam's blood as a cold and cruel reminder that if not for him, his brother wouldn't be torn away from him, his family, their new life that Neteyam was finally easing into.

The waves that crashed against the wet stone snapped him out of his daze in uniform intervals, never allowing him to lose himself to his thoughts, to be lost to the world for even a second. No, it was as if the ocean was living up to its adjective of being 'cold' as it made sure to pull him back to his senses so that the ghost of guilt could haunt him; so that he would never escape that memory for even a moment.

His ears twitched at the sound of waves; a different pattern than what was being followed by the waters for the past hour or so. He didn't need to turn around to inspect, the sound of an ilu was enough for him to figure out who it was who had decided to join him.

A soft 'hey' with a cautious undertone came from his right and the corner of his lip instantly went up ever so slightly to form a gentle smile as he exhaled slowly.

"Hey," he said in response, not saying anything more while he waited for Y/N to sit beside him.

She didn't say anything for a while either, finding the comfortable silence almost too peaceful to be disturbed. She closed her eyes, basking in the feeling of the cool oceanic breeze blowing against her face and gently tussling her hair before she leaned to her left and rested her head against Lo'ak's shoulder.

Six years had passed since they had left the forest. Lo'ak and Y/N had grown closer with the boy's crush getting only more and more intense. You'd think by now he'd have grown a pair and just told her how he felt but old habits die hard. He'd mount a banshee and hunt outside the reef with little to almost no effort but put him in a position that required him to avow even remotely of what he held for her in his heart and all of a sudden he's a little boy again, unable to spit words out and crumble into a blushing mess.

He wasn't a child any longer, so he did suspect that she might have a vague idea of his infatuation with her but he couldn't be sure because if she did know, she was very good at playing oblivious.

"What happened?" he broke the blissful tranquillity, averting his gaze from the waves and toward her arm. He cautiously grazed his finger against her skin, right under a cut that stood out in red against the blue.

Y/N was surprised he even noticed given how he hadn't really looked away from the scenic view of the sky meeting the waters. She looked down at her hand, as if she had only just realised that she was hurt.

"Was fooling around with Rotxo earlier" she told him with a smile, recalling their play fight with their daggers which definitely wasn't going to end up bad for either of them "he accidentally sliced my arm"

Lo'ak winced as he pictured the scenario of the dagger cutting her, blood oozing. It wasn't a really deep cut by the looks of it but it wasn't a wound that you'd mistake for a paper cut either.

"That bitch" he rolled his eyes and Y/N nudged him playfully, a chuckle escaping her lips as her forehead came in contact with his shoulder, that had Lo'ak experiencing that all-too-familiar fluttering in his chest.

He didn't want to move.

He wanted them to stay that way: her head resting against him, his fingers still lingering on her skin in his attempt to prolong the skin-to-skin contact in subtle desperation even though her other hand was now holding his upper arm which would have sent shock waves throughout younger Lo'ak- not that that's not what happened right then anyway, but he won't tell you that.

They had grown to find comfort in each other's shared silences, perpetuating touches and stolen glances that had anyone with half a brain decipher that the two Na'vis were absolutely smitten with each other. Despite what was out in plain sight for everyone to see, the two of them brushed every taunt and comment with a simple "what? we're just friends" yet it was blatantly obvious to their close friends that one of them made a sour face whenever the other said it.

And guesses anyone, on who that might be?

"Payakan?" Y/N asked, now finding the beads in one of Lo'ak's braids interesting as she toyed with them, observing each one like it was the first time she'd seen them.

Another thing the both of them developed over the years, was the ability to ask questions and deliver answers with the use of just one word. Not that the both of them didn't get lost in hours of conversation that definitely consisted of more than one word but for times when they just wanted to enjoy each other’s presence, they resorted to this mode of communication.

"There" he jerked his head to the left to left, telling her of where his tulkun was goofing around. As if by some telepathic connection, Payakan jumped out the water, whirring and clicking noises audible despite the distance of him from the two before he dived back in, disappearing beneath the surface.

"Can I?" Y/N tucked a braid behind his ear, knowing well that Lo'ak would just bring it back to the side of his face.

The boy threw his head back as he groaned, knowing well that she wanted to go play with the tulkun splashing around in the distance.

"Please" she tugged his arm, inching closer as she awaited his answer, knowing damn well that it was a rhetorical question and no matter what'd he'd say, she would drag him with her into the ocean regardless. Her pretty looked up at him, the glow of the sun making them look liquid gold. She was inches away from him, eyes earnestly searching his for approval.

His heart picked up pace again.

If he leaned a few inches forward, he'd be able to taste her lips that he was trying his hardest not to look at. The thought of actually being so close enough to kiss her was making him borderline lightheaded. He'd been in such close proximity to her before, they were close enough to shamelessly invade each other’s personal space but he was sure that between the two, he was probably the only one who took it a step forward to imagine closing that tiny gap to kiss her soft lips.

Just the thought of it made him grin slightly which Y/N took as an agreement to going and playing with Payakan. She was up in an instant, completely failing to see the small pout of disappointment on Lo'ak's face at the sudden termination of the close propinquity as she helped him to his feet, breaking into a run and pulling on a chuckling Lo'ak behind her.

___

He was well aware that he was gawking at her with the goofiest smile plastered on his face and he was glad that she was too busy fooling around with Payakan, doing backflips underwater, to even notice the lovesick blue idiot staring at her.

He'd gotten so obvious to a point where even Tuk had figured out he had a thing for her. His mother teased him on some rare occasions and his dad never failed to make a joke or two about how bad he was at flirting, if he even tried to flirt in the first place. He didn’t really see what could possibly go wrong with a simple 'hey, I dig you’ from Lo'ak.

"I'm gunna do it, I swear I'm gunna" he hyped himself up.

"Oh yea? When we talking about here?" Jake asked with an amused grin.

"Soon, like someday real soon" Lo'ak answered, still bouncing on the heels of his feet in their abode "just not today"

But anytime he tried to, he always seemed to choke on his words and turn into a fumbling mess.

Lo'ak knew it was high time he just manned up and told her how he felt. Heck with the amount of time she voluntarily spent with him, she'd have to like him at least a little bit, right? She even left the forest, granted it was her parents who requested for her to be taken along with them. She was present with the others when Quaritch and his team got ahold of them in the forest and when Jake told the clan the reason behind his decision to leave, her parents begged for her to be taken with them as well. There was no doubt that Quaritch would hit back again and again until he was convinced Jake Sully was truly absent from hte Omatikaya clan and Y/N’s mother and father wanted her to be away from the chaos of gunfire when it happened.

It wasn’t easy for either of them to acclimate to the ways of the Metkayina. Lo’ak had always felt out of place, but here it felt as if he was always reminded that he didn’t belong. It stung a bit despite him never really showing it on the surface but what bothered him even more was how much it affected Y/N. She was always so adamant about being perfect at whatever it was she did, be it something as simple as weaving or as adroit as hunting and when she wasn’t as good as she hoped to be, she'd beat herself up over it. Y/N was like a diminutive Neteyam, always pushing herself to be better and better to the point where the older Sully boy once made a joke about it.

“Ah careful now, I’m starting to think you’re aiming to be the next t’sahik”

It was almost heart-clenching to see her get so upset at her going from being among the best in their clan to being lost and clumsy amidst the reef people

But now, almost six years later, she’d made up for all those times she fumbled by earning herself a place among the most skilled hunters in the clan and Lo’ak couldn’t be prouder.

Which is why it made it even more nerve wrecking to confess. A girl like her could have anyone she wanted. There were a number of boys swooning at the mere sight of her and he didn’t even want to think about the times when some of them went the extra mile to give her small presents like bracelets or pretty shells.

She would smile politely and thank them for it, but also never really gave either of them more attention than necessary, lest it gave any of them an impression that she was interested.

Which is what made Lo’ak feel like he had even less of a chance. If his pretty girl was rejecting all the warriors and hunters left, right and centre, why the fuck would she ever consider courting him.

His extensive train of thought came to a transitory halt due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs. He swam up toward the surface, one hand stretched above him as his legs kicked below to allow his body to move upwards. Once his head was above the water and he steadied his breathing which only came out in gasps and pants for the first few minutes, he ducked his head back, just to look at Y/N, who was now also making her way up to him with her tulkun friend.

“H-hey, you good?” She asked, rubbing her eyes to get the water out “you seemed to be in some sort of daze”

“Oh really?” Lo’ak grinned, his head tilting to one side as he played oblivious.

“Mhm” Y/N continued, sitting on one of Pakayan’s fins “you were staring into nothing”

I was staring at you actually

“I thought I saw an ilu” he lied, also coming to sit next to her.

Payakan clicked, as if it to say ‘you liar’. Lo’ak only side eyed him before he turned toward Y/N. She looked absolutely mesmerising in the glow of the setting sun and bioluminescence of her skin. He gingerly reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, simply an excuse to well, touch her. That made her turn to look at him, her captivating golden eyes looking directly into his.

Lo’ak gulped, his words once again getting all jumbled up.

"Soon, like someday real soon" Lo'ak answered, still bouncing on the heels of his feet in their abode "just not today"

“Son you can’t keep running away from it” Jake sighed “it’s just a simple confession. If you wait around someone else is gonna go do it instead”

“I- I just get so nervous” the boy answered, tugging at his hair “I feel like I’ve got it and then I just shut down. Like I’m about to start, thinking I’ve got it down-”

“Then don’t think” Jake cuts him off, looking almost offended that his own son was absolute shit at picking up women. “Just say it without thinking, you’re pretty good at that huh? Doing stuff without thinking”

“Yea thanks dad” Lo’ak rolled his eyes, the last thing he wanted was for his dad of all people, to roast him “what happens if it doesn’t work. What if she rejects me”

“Then you’re revoked of all rights to calling yourself my son”

Well, here goes nothing. Don’t think.. don’t- shut up

“Hey so I was um” Lo’ak tore his gaze from her’s to allow himself to form at least some coherent sentences “I mean I am.. I do..”

He felt his heart hammering in his chest and with every word that spilled out of his stupid mouth, it only got faster. Maybe his dad’s advice on speaking without thinking wasn’t really working because all he was doing was rambling and Y/N being the angel she was, patiently listened.

“I mean what I’m tryna say is” he cleared his throat, buying himself a few seconds of silence from his god-awful babbling “I have for a while, or slightly more than a while have had- well not exactly, it’s been a few or a lot of years that well..”

“Hey, breathe” Y/N put her hand around his bicep, nudging him as a giggle escaped her lips. Lo’ak knew she’d be smiling at him with that sweet gentle smile but he refused to look at her. He was already doing such a terrible job without the eye contact, imagine the atrocious mess he’d be while looking at her.

“Okay” he nodded, puffing his chest out as if he’d finally mustered himself the courage to say it “what if I told you like- okay so one of the Sullys, like the boys-uh yea duh, had a thing for you since before- like, when we were back home”

“So,” Y/N paused, simply to process what she heard; almost like she was putting together the pieces of a rather complicated puzzle “either you or Neteyam fancied me”

“What makes you suspect me” Lo’ak quickly asked, voice coming out more shrill than he’d intended.

“Because you’re the only other Sully boy?” She stated as a matter-of-factly.

“Right” he nodded, gulping hard “but it’s not me, nah”

“So Neteyam liked me?”

“Fuck no” Lo’ak immediately waved her off, wincing in disapproval. The idea of it making him internally heave.

“Unless you have some other brother I weirdly don’t know about, I’m confused regarding who you’re referring to” Y/N looked at the boy who had yet to meet her gaze.

Lo’ak sighed. She knew at this point, there was absolutely no way she was this naive. No, she was just doing it to antagonise and get him to say it in black and white.

“Lo’ak” she softly called out, voice like honey. Her tone was gentle with an undertone of authority, which made the boy finally give in and turn to look at her with his ears drooping down in defeat “What are you trying to say hm?”

“Nga yawne lu oer” Lo’ak managed, barely a whisper but he was sure she heard it, she had to have considering how she was pressed against him.

“I love you”

Six years later, he'd finally said it. Six years of endless teasing, endless taunts, numerous instances of jealousy, plenty of sweet moments and a whole lot of daydreams of them kissing later, he'd finally said it plain and simple.

Lo'ak saw her eyes go wide and her mouth open to say something so he cut her off before she could even respond.

“Pretend you didn’t hear that” he pleaded, eyes going wide as if he himself couldn’t believe what he'd just said.

“Okay” she raised a brow, a shy grin creeping.

“Like shh.. don’t reply to that at all” his voice cracked, fingers brushing against hers.

“If that’s what you want” she shrugged, leaning a touch closer

“Yes, that is what I want” he dared to look at her lips and back up, fully aware that she’d leaned closer.

I should kiss her

“Okay” she said again, now only looking at his lips as Lo’ak leaned closer too, head slightly tilting to the side.

“Don’t say a word” he softly whispered.

I really should kiss her

“Wasn’t going to-” she whispered back, eyes still fixated on his lips.

“Shh..” Lo’ak cupped her cheek before his hand slid to the back of her neck to pull her close and eliminate the gap between them, his lips capturing her's in a slow kiss.

Lo’ak hadn’t kissed anyone before her, so he was trying to take his time instead of doing something that would only make their first kiss awkward. He was nervous as fuck when their lips first connected, it was like a bomb went off in his brain and barely a few seconds in, he was praying to Ewya that he was doing it right. When Y/N kissed him back, she softly hummed into the kiss as her one hand came to rest on his chest so judging by that, he wasn’t doing too bad.

He was so glad for all those lessons of breath-holding. He couldn’t care less about using that skill for diving or to hunt underwater; he was just stoked that because of that, he didn’t have the break the kiss anytime soon to catch his breath.

As the two of them got more comfortable, their timid, innocent kiss only started to get more and more heated with them getting super handsy- fingers tracing skin and hands running all over each other’s bodies just to be able to pull the other person closer.

Lo’ak’s first kiss was going great in his opinion until all of a sudden he was dropped underwater. The sudden sensation of being engulfed by the cold waves had them both break their kiss to rise up and above the surface.

“Bro!” Lo’ak immediately turned to Payakan, who had lowered his fin into the water to drop them, with a scowl. Clearly, he was not too happy with things getting heated between the both of them right in front of his eyes, literally.

The tulkun whirred in response and Y/N laughed, catching on to the fact that Lo’ak’s spirit brother did not appreciate the extensive display of affection they’d gotten carried away with only moments ago.

“Hey” she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a gentle peck on the lips that made the boy break into one of his boyish smiles “am I allowed to say something now?”

“Mhm” he leaned in to peck her again, still grinning at her.

“Nga yawne lu oer”

#lo'ak sully #loak x reader #lo'ak te suli tsyeyk'itan #avatar way of water #neteyam #loak fanfiction #friends to lovers #avatar #jake sully #avatar fanfiction #loak fanfic #writing #avatar imagine

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octopiys · 4 months

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omg that old guard piece 😮

i did not know i needed this au until now! life changed, thank u

Oh my goodness I'm glad u enjoyed it :D I'm gonna take this ask and use it to infodump the au ideas I had.

Makarov was one of the first immortals (Laswell knew of). He was born during Roman times, kind of like I said, but he was more often known as Emperor Nero, (or one of the worst guys to exist) and only sought to bring about destruction. Now, historically, Nero committed suicide so he wasn't held liable for his actions, but what if this was the moment that Makarov found out he was immortal? And he took this opportunity to continue for what was essentially behind the scenes, toppling empires and governments as he went. The collapse of the Pttoman empire, he fired the first cannon to break down the walls of Constantinople, he gave the idea of the guillotine that then turned into the Reign of Terror, he's bringing about World War 3. He's wild and I hate him but he's a great villain. He almost turned in Laswell to scientists during the scientific exploration during World War 2, and that's when she realized how horrible he was.

Laswell was a World War 1 spy, born in 1887. She was caught over in enemy territory and executed point blank, and only realized she was alive when she woke up in a pit. She and Ghost had been brought about similar ways, it seemed. When she realized she was alive, that she couldn't really die, she disappeared. Years later, during the Great Depression, she met a man who called himself Vladimir. They grew close, until she caught him coercing a world leader into launching an attack, or starting a war, or something extremely serious and something she extremely frowned upon. Eventually, she realized that he had been causing wars and destruction for thousands of years, and left him, disappearing again. Traveling for years on money she'd saved doing odd jobs, or invested, she meets a few other immortals, one named Jonathan Irons, who had been around since Colonial New England, a man also corrupted by Makarov, another man named Frank Woods, a veteran killed in the Vietnam War, later turned CIA operative before once again being "killed" on an op, giving Kate, his mentoree, an in to the American CIA, and where she had been ever since. The only other (outside of the task force) that she had met was her wife, Athena.

Ghost was born around then, and if we stick when he turned immortal, it would've been around the same time he dug himself out of what was essentially his own grave in the comics. He suffocated in that coffin, and then again when he was halfway through the dirt, before finally unearthing himself and making it through the Mexico-Texan border, before again in front of that border patrol guard. Out of all the immortals Laswell knew, he's died the most. When the patrolman discovered he'd lived again, they reported it directly to the General, who passed him on to Laswell, then eventually to Price.

Reader, as said in the previous post, was found to be immortal during that mission when they bled out in front of Price.

Price figured out he was immortal halfway through the Irish Rebellion, when General Duff himself shot him dead, and met Laswell briefly during World War 2. They'd done their best to stay in contact since then, and eventually, Price formed Task Force 141 by working his way into the Queen's air service despite how much his family and first wife would've despised him for it. He met a man named Nikolai, who was killed in the second World War, executed when he was thrown off the ship and drowned by an anchor at the bottom of the ocean. He's taken a fancy to the skies since then. He still doesn't know how the man escaped. Must've taken years.

Soap is killed by Makarov, we know now. Seems like his whole heart wasn't set on dying, because he didn't stay that way, and we all know John MacTavish sets his whole heart into something before actually doing it. He wasn't determined to die... I guess that's why he didn't.

Gaz is a... Special story. He's the only one who hasn't died yet, and he's almost younger than Soap. It would make no sense that there were two immortals being created at the same time, so in his mind, there's no way in hell that he's one. And he hopes he doesn't have to find out. Not soon anyways. Watching his friends go down each time.... It takes a toll on him, and then they just- they just get back up, like nothing had ever even happened. He's not sure he could do that. Not yet, not soon, at least.

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mezzy303 · 1 month

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The new one piece chapter has me spiraling sdjkfshf so here's a theory that crossed my mind and is becoming more plausible the more I think about it

Spoilers (obviously) under the cut

The tl;dr is: What if the world of One Piece has always had rising sea levels/sinking land? What if these natural events happen in an 800 year cycle? What if there was way more land (like the real world) before the formation of the World Govt?

I'm not gonna get into the details of why that is bc that is a different mind boggling discussion and it isn't really important here. But if there's always been that threat, it would explain so much about the Void Century and the True History.

As many people have already pointed out, the threat of the world sinking into the ocean explains why Noah was needed. It's a giant ship half the size of Fishmen Island that was meant to be raised to the surface, likely for the inevitable future where there's virtually no land above water. It could be that threat never happened at the end of the Void Century so Noah wasn't needed, but what if it did happen? This would suggest a huge event happened that caused sea levels to rise 800 years ago.

This ties into my next point, that the Great Kingdom was part of land that is now underwater. We've already seen that there's underwater ruins from Jinbe's cover story where Wadatsumi was throwing ruins onto an island, one such ruin being a poneglyph, meaning that kingdom (maybe the land that island was once part of) was either part of the Great Kingdom itself or allied with it. So it wouldn't be a stretch to consider that the Great Kingdom is also currently below the ocean. It would also have made it easier for the World Govt to completely erase the Kingdom from existence, since it was already underwater and inaccessible to most people other than Fishmen. I can't recall if any ruins that are Void Century old have been canonically shown, which would mean either they've been completely destroyed with nothing left, or the areas have been continuously lived in and renovated, or they're in the ocean and the majority of structures currently on land is younger than the Void Century AKA people moved to higher lands when sea levels rose. It could be all the above too! If the Great Kingdom was at risk of sinking, then Noah might have been meant to carry their displaced citizens.

If those during the Void Century knew sea levels would soon rise, it might have been the reason for all the turmoil that started the Great War. Conflicts over limited resources, about who will live and who will die, general fear and anxiety, things like that. The 20 kingdoms that eventually formed the World Govt might have been suspicious about how the Great Kingdom was using their resources and went to war with them. Maybe they were threatened by how much power the Great Kingdom had as they prepared for the natural disaster (ie. the ancient weapons and Noah; from what we know from Egghead, technology was incredibly advanced at the time). Maybe it was just all boiled down to wanting control over a terrifying situation.

If the land sinking into the ocean is a natural phenomenon, then Joy Boy's apology to the Fishmen and mentioning of his return would mean that the event would happen again. Maybe it happens in an 800 year cycle, which explains why Joy Boy (and those sea kings in the Fishmen Arc) knew that Noah was still needed and how he knew exactly when he'd return. It also explains why Rayleigh warned that if he told Robin about the Void Century when the Strawhats first arrived at Sabaody, she "wouldn't be able to do anything about it as she was then." I think I've always assumed this had to do with the formation of the World Govt and how to dismantle it, but it might actually be about how the world is sinking and through following the poneglyphs, one would find the way to save those in danger of being displaced. The Ohara scholars had discovered this, and now Vegapunk is continuing their legacy by making this info public.

And as I'm writing this, I'm realizing that if sea levels rise/land sinks in an 800 year cycle, this might be the "true history" of the world, or at least part of it considering Joy Boy's story made the Roger's Pirates laugh. But it certainly is important and relevant as the wikia site describes! But why would the World Govt try to hide this? I'm not entirely sure. Maybe for the sake of having control over information and thus having power over the world, but there could be so many other reasons. There's hints throughout the story that suggest they're still preparing for a world with almost no land though, such as the Tequila Wolf bridge that's supposed to connect islands together, and the fact that the founding monarchs moved their families to Mary Geoise on the Red Line. Law also stated in Punk Hazard that the Govt has been researching growth hormones to turn humans into giant soldiers, and they've been doing this for centuries. It's possible that the research was really for the capability to walk through parts of the ocean when there's no longer any land above water.

Anyway my brain is fried thinking about all these things lol. There's so many other factors to consider but I'll save that for a later time when I get more sleep sjdkfhsdk

#i hope this all makes sense in the morning LOL #i feel like that always sunny meme #one piece #one piece spoilers #one piece 1113 #joy boy

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