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archived-kin · 3 years

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one thousand and one nights with you (is not enough to spend)

note from kin: the title is from that song in twisted by starkid, but that’s about as far as the similarity goes

anyway you’re visionless and basically run a little witch shop in mondstadt, with flowers and cool gemstones and mysterious powders and potions and stuff. albedo gets a lot of his alchemy ingredients from you (also he’s dating you but not a lot of people know that)

fandom: genshin impact

character(s): gn! reader, albedo, plus a surprise venti cameo

pairing(s): albedo/reader

warning(s): i don’t know albedo that well so he might be ooc? also this is so cheesy it’s a little ridiculous

genre: fluff

“I’ll be going now, boss!”

You smile and return your assistant’s cheery goodbye wave as he disappears off into the night outside, freshly-filled coin pouch jingling at his hip. As the door swings shut with quiet click, your surroundings fall into quietude.

The candles keeping the room lit are beginning to burn down to stumps, throwing most of your shelves into shadow. You take a sip from the steaming cup sitting on your counter, then stand up to begin taking inventory and closing up shop.

The silence is comforting after such a long day. You’re not entirely sure what brought on the sudden increase in customers, given that your shop is tucked away in a quiet little corner of Mondstadt that not many tend to linger around. That had been a deliberate choice, and so was the lack of advertising - your speciality is the individual, not the crowd.

Still, you can’t say that it isn’t nice to have the increased income. More profit means better wages for your assisstant - and more Mora to buy even more cool things to stock.

You pass about an hour ambling around your shop, rearranging your products and making sure that everything is in order. Then, just as the bat-shaped clock on the wall chimes one o’clock, the bell above the front door jingles, and you hear quiet footsteps enter.

You don’t pay it any mind at first, instead focusing on rearranging the little bottles of various dusts and extracts on one of the ingredients shelves. A hand settles on the small of your back, and you feel the new arrival’s presence come to a stop beside you.

“We’re out of powdered lizard tail,” You say without looking at him.

A pause. Then a quiet chuckle. “That’s how you want to start the night?”

You smirk. “The night started a good while ago, darling.”

Albedo sighs as you turn to face him, though his soft smile betrays his faux-exasperation. “I did tell you I’d be late today.”

“You tell me that you’ll be late every day,” You reply, sliding one final bottle of powdered crystalfly into place, then move over to sit on your front counter. He follows, settling just beside you.

“I have a lot of things that need attending to,” He shrugs, leaning over and snatching your drink without asking. You shake your head, but let him take a sip from it anyway.

His eyes flicker up to look at you over the rim of the mug. “...though, of course, you’re the most important one.”

You laugh and bat at his shoulder. He doesn’t make any effort to avoid it, eyes twinkling as you smile. “Why not come round more often if I’m so important, huh?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t if I could?” He asks with a scoff, setting down the mug and gently nudging you in the side. “We both have jobs, [Name]. We need to actually do them.”

“Oh, I know that,” You return his nudge and hop down from the counter again. Albedo sighs a little at your restlessness, but follows as you swipe the keys from your drawer and open the door again. “But it doesn’t hurt to take a day off every now and then.”

“I’ve already taken far more in the last month than is reasonable,” Albedo says with a shake of his head, stepping out into the street at your indication and waiting as you shut and lock the door. “Grandmaster Jean will get suspicious.”

“Psh,” You dismiss, waving a whimsical hand about and nearly knocking the sign off of your door. “Why is it that you’re not telling her about us, again?”

“She doesn’t exactly like you,” He says, absently linking his hand with yours as the two of you begin walking aimlessly in no direction in particular. He’s removed his gloves, you notice. “You did set up shop without permission when you first got here.”

“Ah, right…” Now that you think about it, you seem to remember her shooting you a rather nasty look when you passed her in the street last week. Why she continues to hold a grudge is lost on you - after all, you did get the necessary documentation and everything eventually… though, to be fair, the method you used wasn’t exactly legal. “...well, forget her. What do you want to do tonight?”

“Hmm,” He swings your linked hands about for a moment. “I saw a lot of dandelions growing just outside the walls earlier. Why don’t we go pick some seeds?”

“If you want to pick dandelion seeds, why not ask Sucrose?” You ask as he begins leading you in the direction of the main gate. “She’s the one with the Anemo vision.”

“Sucrose?” Albedo repeats, turning his head to look at you. His irises almost seem to glow in the darkness of the night, brighter than any of the stars above - it’d be unsettling if it wasn’t so beautiful. “Why would I want to go seed-picking with her?”

You raise an eyebrow. “...well, I’m assuming you need them for an experiment, and Anemo-blown sunflower seeds are always far more effective in that area.”

“If I needed them for an experiment, I’d just buy them from your shop,” He shakes his head. “This isn’t an ingredient hunt. This is different - it’s special.”

“Special how?” You question as the two of you walk through the gate. Albedo guides you over to a particularly thick cluster of dandelions just a few feet away, nestled in a lush copse of grass.

“Special… like you.” He cups both his hands around one of yours, the one that he’d been holding just before, and guides it over to one of the tallest plants. “Go on, show me that trick again.”

You laugh a little at his almost childish inflection, but do as he requests anyway. Albedo pulls his hands away from yours and watches as you carefully pluck off the head of the dandelion without disturbing any of its fluff-topped seeds, allowing it to rest on the tips of your fingers.

“There’s no trick to having a delicate hand,” You say as he watches your every move with the utmost concentration. “It just takes practice.”

Carefully securing the little bit of stem left at the bottom of the dandelion head between your index finger and thumb, you slowly raise your hand so that it’s suspended just above Albedo; he ducks his head a little, closing his eyes as you bring up your other hand to ever-so-gently flick the seeds from the head. The seeds drift about in the still night air for a brief moment before landing in Albedo’s blonde hair; their white colour is barely distinguishable against it.

He opens his eyes again as you pull your hands down again, lifting his head slowly so as not to disturb the little decorations you’ve added to it. “...so what did you grant me this time?”

“A good night’s sleep,” You say playfully. “As the seeds are carried away on the wind, so too will all your worldly burdens be blown away.”

He shakes his head, and several seeds are dislodged by the motion, vanishing quickly into the night. “If only it were that easy.”

“Hey, it worked last time,” You counter, sitting down in the grass. Albedo follows suit, reaching out and plucking a dandelion of his own - though with a lot less deftness than you did.

“That wasn’t the dandelions,” He says plainly, blowing lightly on the dandelion and watching the fluff disperse and disappear into the dark. “I just sleep more soundly when you’re beside me.”

You chuckle. “Sweet talker. So you’d sleep like a baby if I was around all the time, then?”

“Perhaps I would half the time,” He answers, smiling in a way that tells you that he knows exactly how sappy what he’s about to say is. “But I wouldn’t sleep nearly as well for the other half. I’d be too busy looking at you.”

Despite already knowing that it was coming, you can’t help but feel your heart flutter slightly at his proclamation. “I could say the same about. Bet you’ve broken a good few hearts with looks like that.”

“Then so be it,” He shrugs, eye-lids falling a little as he gives you a devilish little smirk. “Yours is the only one I care about.”

“When did you get so charming?” You flick him in the nose, effectively wiping off the smug look on his face. “Have you been studying love poems or something?”

“Love poems aren’t really my area,” He says, drawing back and rubbing at his nose a little reproachfully. “But Lisa and Kaeya have been giving me plenty of tips on my… 'romantic endeavours’, as they say.”

“Those two…” You shake your head. Kaeya and Lisa managed to find about your relationship with Albedo almost as soon as he’d confessed to you, though luckily they’d agreed to try not to mention it around Jean. “Have those tips been working?”

“Isn’t that a question for you to answer?” He picks another dandelion and blows it directly at you. “Is your heart being stirred?”

“Not while you’re blowing seeds into my face, it isn’t,” You shield yourself with one hand, pushing it in front of Albedo’s face to obscure his field of vision. “Quit it!”

He does drop the dandelion at your request, but, unusually, doesn’t give you a verbal response. You’re just thinking that he must be planning something when he suddenly leans forward and kisses the centre of your palm.

You immediately pull your hand back, feeling yourself heat up. Albedo leans forward, cocking his head to the side with a smile. “What about now?”

“You’re insufferable,” is your only reply.

Albedo’s smile turns into another smirk. He knows exactly what he’s doing. “I’m yours.”

“Mine, now? How nice,” You say, still trying to act unbothered. You can tell it isn’t working, though. “Am I allowed to get a refund if you don’t work as expected?”

“Would you ever want to return me?” Albedo counters. You can’t exactly say yes - that’s both mean and untrue - so you just sigh and shake your head. He smiles, clearly pleased.

You’re about to say something else when you hear a series of uneven footsteps coming from the gate. It doesn’t sound like a Knight of Favonius on patrol - in fact, it sounds more like a drunkard.

Albedo shuffles a little closer to you as a figure stumbles out of the gates. It’s someone you vaguely recognise by their green clothes - the bard who often plays in front of the statue of Barbatos. He’s holding a bottle that’s already half-empty, and you have a feeling that he’s already had a lot more before it.

The bard looks over at you and Albedo, and while you doubt he can recognise your faces what with both the darkness and the distance, it’s obvious enough that the two of you aren’t just a pair of good buddies hanging out. He raises the bottle in your direction with a hiccup.

“Wonderful night to meet a lover!” He calls, voice ringing so loudly that you’re sure that he just woke up a few residents of the city. “May your relationship last long as the wind blows!”

He doesn’t wait for a response before beginning to stumble his way across the bridge. As he goes, he exclaims to no one in particular, “The air is crisp tonight! Such good wine - what a wonderful city!”

He quickly disappears into the darkness. You exchange looks with Albedo. “...how much do you think he drank?”

“Far too much,” He replies amusedly. “He’ll regret it come morning.”

“And it isn’t too far off now,” You say, checking your pocket watch. “Will you be heading back to headquarters tonight?”

He considers, then shakes his head. “I don’t have anything that’ll need attention tomorrow morning. So, if you’ll have me…”

He doesn’t finish, but you already know what he’s asking. “There’s always room for you to stay over - you should know that by now, shouldn’t you?”

He smiles a little bashfully at that, and nods. “I suppose so… thank you.”

“You might as well move in at this point,” You comment, shifting slightly on the spot and patting at his arm. He holds his hand out obligingly, and you thread your fingers through his. “You’ve left at least three sets of pyjamas over already.”

Albedo opens his mouth to respond, and you shake your head, placing the index finger of your free hand to his lips to shush him. “Yeah, yeah, I got it, Grandmaster Jean’ll get suspicious…”

He blows on your finger to get you to retract it. When that doesn’t work, he pretends to bite at it, which is a lot more effective. “...I will tell her eventually. Just not now.”

“While you’re on the rocks,” You say with a nod, squeezing his hand. He sighs and nods as well. “But I still don’t think she’d fire you over who you’re dating.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t want to get any more on her bad side,” He mumbles. “She’s still annoyed about that floor I melted.”

“Didn’t you tell her that I was the one who made you drop the potion?” You ask, thinking back to that particular day - when you’d learnt that Albedo is very susceptible to your flirting when he’s in the middle of an experiment.

He shakes his head with a chuckle. “I didn’t think you’d appreciate me tattling. Besides, it isn’t like she punished me.”

“Well, you’re basically untouchable at the end of the day,” You comment, lying back in the grass and pulling Albedo with you. “It’s them who need you, not the other way around.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” He says, adjusting himself so that the two of you are pressed flush against each other. “If I hadn’t started working for them, we’d never have met.”

“We would have crossed paths eventually,” You say, smiling coyly when he turns his head to face you. “Though better sooner than later, I suppose.”

“Far better sooner,” He says, returning your smile with a much softer one. “I’m glad we did.”

Another dandelion seed drifts out of his hair and lands in the grass as you look at him. You'll be keeping this one for a long time, you decide. Probably forever. You like him.

You think he likes you, too.

#unedited #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin albedo #albedo x reader #fluff #i don't know what else to tag #uhhh #sappy #albedo's hair is so hard to draw for some reason #something about the gif for this one feels off and idk what #i'll come back to it later

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crusnikroxas · 4 years

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Imagine this! The boys are out and the reader decides to do a self care day with face masks. They are sitting on the counter cross legged in the bathroom, peeling off a clear peel on mask with the door open and the boys come home to see it. And before Y/N can explain the boys react badly 😂😂😂😂

Ooooh, this is fun (✧∇✧) (so this’ll take place in the DEISY universe, just so you know)

“Sister, we shall not be gone long! I imagine that this business of Undyne being stuck under a boulder shall be nothing for the great Papyrus, nyeh-heh-heh!” Sans looks far less enthusiastic about the whole endeavor, but regardless, he winks in a comforting manner as he softly caresses your cheek. “Be back in a flash, sweetheart.” “Literally, considering that handy teleporting of yours.” He winks again, though Papyrus seems highly offended by this. “Nonsense! It will take a mere three hours to walk to Undyne’s house!”

....now Sans looked all the more unenthusiastic about this ‘adventure’.

“Bro, look, as cool as walkin’ through blizzards and rain sounds-” “Exactly! Very cool indeed! Let us be off, Sans!” And before poor Sans can even protest, Papyrus yanks his brother up and onto his shoulder, sprinting out the door, cackling victoriously all the way. You roll your eyes and chuckle from your place on the couch, stretching luxuriously as you do so. It had been a while since you’d found yourself on your own - and while the house seemed almost unsettlingly quiet without the brothers present, you inwardly vowed that you would enjoy this moment of solitude. Jumping up from your cozy spot, you stretch once again, releasing a sigh of contentment when almost all of your joints let out ear-splitting pops and cracks - a luxury you hadn’t really been allowed as of late, considering....the weird skeleton thing, that you still didn’t really understand. Practically bounding up the staircase Papyrus-style, you rush to your room, reach under the bed, and dig around for what you were seeking, letting out a quiet noise of victory as you find your prize - a bag that Kat had delivered to you just the other day.

Filled to the brim with human ‘spa day’ items.

Face masks, body scrubs, body lotions, heavenly smelling shampoo, conditioner, and body wash....yup, it was all there. Now, you weren’t normally one to indulge in such things (hell, this stuff was expensive, and on the surface you’d barely been able to buy yourself a new toothbrush when needed), but Kat had insisted that you take it. “Aw, c’mon - it’s not like I have many clientele who’ll want this stuff anyway! Plus, you deserve it after all you’ve been through, sweet.” You hadn’t had even the slightest bit of room to argue - plus, it wasn’t as if she was wrong, anyway. You had been through a bit of a hellish time lately, to say the least. Besides, not only would you smell amazing at the end of all this, it would also help to distract you from the fact that you were all alone in the house, and anybody could-

No. No. Not thinking about that. Self-care time.

Nodding resolutely, you stand with your treasures in tow, and hurry yourself down to the bathroom. Instead of digging through the bag carefully like one should, you simply tip the contents all over the bathroom floor, sorting out what you would want to try out on this particular day.

Your choices in the end were:

-Deep conditioner, heavy with the scent of roses.

-A luxurious shampoo and conditioner with a matching scent to the deep conditioner (not from the same brand, but eh, close enough).

-Jasmine body scrub and body wash.

-Another floral body lotion - you weren’t sure what flower it was meant to smell like (you couldn’t understand the language on the front, and the picture was pretty nondescript), but you knew that it smelt good, and you wanted it.

-And lastly, charcoal face mask - you’d heard that this stuff was damn good, and had always wanted to try it; the fact that it was in the bag was a blessing in your book.

Satisfied with your choices, you shoved the rest of the stuff back into the bag and got to work.

Firstly, came the deep conditioner - and man, you had not realised what a hassle the damn stuff would be. Sure, putting it onto your hair was all fine and dandy, but having to wrap your head in cling-film was an utter bitch. How the hell had all those women on the ‘do it yourself’ videos made it look so easy?

After your dramatic battle to make your hair more luxurious, you chill out on the couch reading more of Sans’ quantum physics book (nothing like catching up on atomic and subatomic scales), waiting out the time instructed on the bottle - and when that time was up, you traveled back into the bathroom for your next struggle.

Sure, the body scrub smelled delicious, but the sandy texture soon became very troublesome to shove and massage onto your skin - eventually, your task is complete, leaving you a grumbling gritty mess as you unwrap your hair and finally step into the shower to wash the damn stuff off.

But when you finally do, you realise that all that effort was well worth it - your skin felt stupidly smooth as the water flowed over your body. Releasing a contented sigh, you massage your scalp, freeing your hair from the heavy conditioner product - the bathroom is soon filled with the scent of roses and jasmine as you continue your work, the smirk on your face wide as you wonder how your skeletal roommates would react to the bathroom smelling like a damn flower garden.

When you finally step out of the shower and run the towel over yourself, you can’t help but let out another contented sigh; even if it had been a hassle thus far, your skin was so soft, and you smelt amazing. Still, you couldn’t understand how some women did this on a daily basis.

Sufficiently dry, you gently begin to rub tiny amounts of the lotion into your already soft skin - you didn’t want to overdo it and make your body and bathroom into a slip’n’slide (something tells you it wouldn’t be nearly as fun as it sounds). Now, all you had to do was wait for your skin to absorb it....

....and once that step was complete, you knew that your greatest challenge lay ahead.

Releasing a puff of air, you wrap your hair securely in a towel, dress yourself, and face the slightly fogged up bathroom mirror with a determined expression.

“...ok. We got this. Just....not the eyebrows. Definitely not the eyebrows.”

Bit by bit, you smear the inky goop that was the face mask onto your skin, carefully ensuring that it wouldn’t rip of anything you wanted to keep (like your eyebrows, for instance). After a moment of looking at your frankly terrifying face in the mirror, you let out a snort of laughter, reading the back of the package.

“Leave on until dry....right, back to the books, then.”

Sadly, this was how the brothers found you.

Reading peacefully on the couch.

While your face looked as if it was suffering from some kind of goopy necrosis.

All of you stare at one another for the longest of moments - their expressions slowly forming into utter horror, yours forming into a strange mix between concern and laughter.

“OH MY GOD! SISTER!”

Papyrus is the first to move, rushing to your side, sending the poor innocent book you’d been reading flying out of your hands and across the living room.

“Y/N! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!”

You wince as he yells as loud as he can in your face.

“....yes?”

Papyrus still scrabbles around, clearly at a loss of what to do - Sans simply seemed to be frozen in place at the doorway, his sockets empty of their usual eye-lights.

Whoops. Never a good sign.

“Uh, you know, I’m actually-”

“ARGH! THE FIRST AID BOOK NEVER WARNED THAT HUMAN’S FACES COULD MELT! ARE YOU TURNING INTO A SKELETON?! IS THIS HOW HUMANS TURN INTO SKELETONS?! THIS IS-”

“Papyrus, listen-”

You gently place a hand on his arm, stilling his motions - oh man, you felt awful for making them worry like this, but some part of you couldn’t help but want to laugh at the situation.

“-it’s just a face-mask.”

He blinks.

“...face....mask? Sister, while it is indeed on your face, it does not look like-”

“It’s a weird thing that humans do sometimes to relax! Trust me, perfectly safe. I’ve been, uh, indulging the entire time you guys were gone. Kat gave me some presents, so I....”

You look over to Sans, letting out a sigh of relief to see that his eye-lights were back in place, and instead of looking terrified, he now merely looked perplexed. Walking over to the couch, he reaches out to poke your cheek, which you quickly block.

“Hey! If you touch it before it’s dry, it won’t work its magic!”

Sans snorted (though he now looked vaguely worried).

“Wait, it’s not gonna make your face different....right?”

“No, it’s going to...uh....hang on...”

You get up from your spot on the couch, hurry into the bathroom, and hurry back, face-mask box in hand.

“Ok....anti-aging, though that’s probably just wishful thinking....cleans skin pores...yup. That’s about it.”

“...what’s the point, then?”

You think on this for a moment, before shrugging.

“Like I said, just one of the weird things humans do. I should have cucumber slices on my eyes too, but I wanted to read.”

Sans lets out the loudest of snorts at this, sniggering as Papyrus plants his hands on his hips with a frown.

“What would cucumber on your eyes do? I was always told to use limes!”

“...Papyrus, cucumber slices are supposed to be...relaxing and cooling. Limes would burn the utter hell out of my eyes.”

“...ah. That would explain why they stung my sockets so much when I tried, then.”

Sans was practically killing himself with laughter at this point, tears leaking out of his sockets as he collapsed to the carpet.

“It is not a funny matter, brother! Limes and cucumbers are both very similar in colour, so of course it would be incredibly easy to mix them up!”

This did not help Sans’ laughing fit in the least, of course - Papyrus lifted his arms up in a ‘I resign’ manner, before turning to you.

“Y/n, despite the...positive results for your skin, please attempt to remove that before dinner. It might fall into the spaghetti, and as I am not preparing squid-ink spaghetti, it would not look very nice.”

You give him a salute, before he stomps into the kitchen, leaving you on the couch with a still hysterically laughing Sans on the carpet.

It’s only at night when both you and Sans are tucked up nice and snug that your efforts during the day are truly recognised.

He audibly sniffs, leaving you to smirk up at him, while he looks down at you in confusion.

“...did you just sniff me?”

“...well....you, uh...smell different.”

Your smirk widens.

“Nice?”

“...well, I mean...you always smell nice, but....it’s just....different?”

“Oh, I always smell nice, do I?”

He huffs, shoving his face into your hair, his reply a muffled grumble.

“...you know what I mean.”

Sniggering, you manage to find one of his hands to grab onto under the burrito of covers the two of you had buried yourself under. He squeezes back, before he clearly pauses - his fingers slowly inch their way up your arm, his face leaving your hair to look down at you suspiciously. You smirk widens all the more.

“...it’s soft, huh?”

He chuckles, snuggling you closer.

“....yup. Sleep well, you pampered princess.”

“Excuse me! I did all that work myself, and it was hell - all so I could smell like a flower and be super soft!”

His chuckles grow louder, his hand patting you comfortingly.

“And it all worked out like a charm, sweetheart. Hope that you had a good day.”

“I...I did, I think? How about your day? Did you get Undyne out from under the boulder ok?”

“....Papyrus and Undyne ended up, uh, causing a cave-in. Undyne’s gonna have to stay with Alphys for a bit until her house is rebuilt. Again.”

“...oh.”

Pffft, welp, there you go, tiny one-shot of y/n’s day of luxury ;3 Hope you enjoyed!

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kilyra · 5 years

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What Would the Devil Do

Lucifer Morningstar with Maze cameo (Lucifer) One-Shot

A/N: I received a request from @bedoflavender for a fic inspired by Halsey’s “Coming Down”. There is a lot of room for sauciness in that song, but what popped in my mind immediately was a completely different direction. Hopefully, you’re not too disappointed!

As you recover from another night of partying, you’re more than a little surprised when Lucifer shows up at your motel room.

Warnings: Drug use, addiction, and a bit of angst. No spoilers though. If you want to be on my tag lists, (all or just a character) just let me know!

Sinking into the shitty, lumpy, crap-rate motel bed, you felt yourself drifting in and out. Thoughts were hard to grasp, but that was okay. Exhaling deeply, you floated away on the ripples it caused as you watched the random bursts of colours you could somehow see in the white popcorn ceiling.

It hardly even registered when the door to the room violently flew open. You didn't so much flinch as it crashed hard against the wall.

The man in the bed next to you stayed passed out, not stirring beyond the steady rise and fall of his chest. Slowly, you rolled your head towards the entrance to see a figure, with hands on hips, blocking the light that suddenly streamed into the room.

“Told you I'd find her.” Maze's flat tone drifted to you as you watched the figure come further into the room. Blinking slowly, you kept your eyes on the form but you were still too high to realize that was Mazikeen.

“So you did,” Lucifer agreed as he followed Maze into the room. Even if you couldn't comprehend it, the disgust was clear in his crisp tone.

Reaching into the breast pocket of his perfectly tailored suit, he grabbed his handkerchief and held it over his nose. "And what fresh hell is this?"

The question was muffled, but Maze tilted her head in agreement as she settled into one of the motel chairs at the end of the bed. Draping her leg over the arm, she silently stared you down as Lucifer pumped the door in an attempt to force some fresh air into the room. Giving up, he threw back the curtain and opened the window.

It was the flood of blinding light that fully grabbed your attention as it seemed to pour straight into your eyes. Groaning, you rose your hand to block the assault as your head started pounding. The man next to you finally rolled over, propping himself on his elbow. Rubbing his hand over his scowled face, he was clearly not happy with the rude awakening.

He hardly had a chance to open his mouth when Lucifer flicked his hand towards the door. “Get out.”

His thick eyebrows drew together in immediate anger when a loud thud forced him to look over at Maze. Still relaxed, she made a point of setting down one of her large blades on the table next to her. Keeping one hand on the handle, she arched her eyebrow.

“I'd listen to him if I were you. But I kind of hope you don't.” There was nothing in her dark stare that suggested she was joking.

Somehow managing to slide into his jeans as he stood up from the bed, he grabbed his shirt off the dresser and hastily headed for the door. Refusing to look at Lucifer as he passed, he rushed quicker until he was out of the room.

“There's a smart lad.” Lucifer's small grin dropped as he turned to survey the room. “Well...relatively speaking I suppose.”

“Luci...what are you doing here?” Croaking more than talking, you forced the question from your sandpaper throat as you sat up.

"Looking for you, obviously. I got a little worried when Hanson came by the prescient to file a missing person report on you."

“Missing person...” You quietly echoed his words, but it made no sense. Are you suddenly not allowed to have a bit of fun anymore?

As though he could read your thoughts, Lucifer frowned. “It's been two weeks, Y/n. You left your cell phone at home and have been out of contact for two weeks. Hanson is beside himself and, if you care, I'm sure your family is an absolute wreck.”

Two weeks? That didn't seem right, but Lucifer's continued glare forced doubt creep in. Two?

“H-he's just being dramatic. He only cares about getting his star performer back,” you said weakly.

“And how is that unfair, exactly? At my behest, he has invested a lot in this. In you. And instead of treating my favour with even a modicum of respect, you do...you do this? Repeatedly.”

Everything was still spinning, but his disapproving tone sparked your irritation. “What? Party? You party all the time, so who are you to judge.”

His eyes flashed with anger so...tangibly that you had to wonder if your mind was playing tricks. When he finally spoke, he had to push past a sputter. “Who am I to...who am I to judge? I am the devil. That's who I am to judge.”

Swallowing heavily, his lips curled in a sneer but he kept his voice steady as he continued. “And, you dare compare what I do to...to this? Yes. I have a good time. Hell, a great time. And I still show up for work. And keep Lux running smoothly. And make it to therapy...mostly. And have quality time for the people in my life.”

“Well...” Maze interrupted in a high-pitched tone.

“Maze,” he warned, waving her into silence before pushing his jacket back to rest his hand on his hip. His eyes drifted over the room and his brief anger seemed to drain away.

When he looked back at you with his softened expression, it drained your anger away too.

Letting out a curt sigh, he loosely pointed to the piles of crap around the room. “Right then. Time to pack up whatever is here worth keeping. We need to go.”

You followed his gestures and realized you weren't even sure whose stuff was strewn everywhere. “Where are we going?”

“Rehab.” He said it so easily but you didn't miss the grin that grew on Maze's face. She was fully expecting a fight.

“Are you serious? Rehab?”

At the first sign of you balking, the firmness returned to his tone. “Completely serious. And, d'you know what? I think it's time you started asking yourself what would the devil do instead of just whatever it is you think I would do.”

Crossing your arms, you pulled the sheet tight around yourself as you tried to ignore the growing tightness in your chest. Rehab meant you had a problem. “And you're telling me the devil would go to rehab?”

Shrugging lightly, he almost seemed confused by your confusion. “Why wouldn't I? I see Dr. Martin once a week, if not more when I need to.”

His sincerity froze the growing knot.

"But, the truth is, this really isn't up for debate because I'm calling in my favour on this. So come on, get up, get packed, and let's go."

Somehow, not having control over this decision confused you enough to relax the sprouting anxiousness. “I don't understand. How is my going to rehab is me paying off my favour to you?”

A quiet chuckle fell from his lips as he lowered himself to the very edge of your trashed bed. “Not that I'm required to explain myself, but I still care about you. That never stopped. Plus, this also squares me with Hanson.”

You narrowed your eyes but hesitated to ask.

Lifting his hand from the bed, he looked down at it with a frown before wiping it on the front of his pants. Absently, he answered your unanswered question. “I owed him a favour when I got him to take you on. And he called it in by asking me to find you and get you to rehab. Which, by the way, if he didn't care about you as a person, even a little, I doubt he would have added the bit about the getting you well again.”

“Mmm,” you hummed softly. Hanson had always treated you well as an employee, it wasn't hard to believe he actually gave a shit about you. A lump of guilt started in your gut.

Rubbing your fingers against your temple, you stared down at the blanket as everything ran through your mind. Your focus became a little sharper as you continued to sober up.

He was right.

Letting out a long sigh, Lucifer finally turned to you. As his eyes locked onto yours, his eyebrows drew together as a small, sad smile settled over his features. Slowly, his mouth opened like he wasn't sure he wanted to say anything. The hesitation reflected in his words. “Y/n...what...what happened? Was this a series of bad decisions or...?”

The partial question hung heavy in the air as he made no effort to finish it. But he didn't have to.

Dropping your gaze, couldn't bring yourself to look him in the eye as you shrugged. As much as your high wore off, everything still felt like a blur. What led you to that particular moment was plainly a string of poor choices...far more than two weeks worth...but it would be naïve to think that was all it was. And you doubted Lucifer would believe you if you tried to say your partying just got out of hand.

Pinching the bridge of your nose, you squeezed your eyes closed, crushing any moisture before it could turn into a tear. “So, do I just pack up my stuff and go with you or is there a team coming to grab me?”

“I'm serious, Y/n. If nothing else, I think you should consider sessions with someone like Dr. Martin after rehab. I can arrange that if you'd like.”

Softly snorting, you tried to at least contain your eye roll. “I don’t think I want any more favours.”

“Good, because I’m not offering you one.”

Relaxing your hands onto your lap, your focus trailed to the side of the room. “Why? Why would you do that?”

The softness that rushed into his tone pulled your attention back on him. "Did you miss the part where I said I never stopped caring? Because I never did stop caring. And I can't just sit idly by and let you fall apart when I can help."

Silence closed in after he finished. You wanted to throw out some smart-ass remark at him, but your mind was blank. Everything was empty. Finally, you simply nodded. “Okay. I don't have much to grab from here, but I'll come with you.”

His eyebrows relaxed and his eyes closed for a quick second as a wave of relief crashed over him. And, even after everything he said, and the fact he tracked you down in the first place, you were a little surprised. Maybe you mattered to him more than you realized.

Groaning, Maze got to her feet. “Boring! You promised this would be entertaining.”

Offering you one last smile, Lucifer also got to his feet and adjusted his suit jacket. “Yes well, we can't always have what we want. Tell you what, after this, we'll head down to the precinct and find you a particularly juicy bounty, alright?”

As the pair bickered, you slowly got dressed with what you found beside the bed. Although you weren't convinced you actually had a problem, you knew you had to make some changes. Your choices were hurting people, Lucifer of all people.

And, at that moment, it was enough to make you want to do better.

Taglist: @foreverfaeries @flower-two @getlostinyourparadise @selfishkiddo @angelicshinigami @kingccbsblog @johnwickthirstclub @pegxcarter @liamakorn @mysteryoflovve @loverosetyler @wooseokssi @shalla-tor

#lucifer x reader #lucifer morningstar x reader #lucifer morningstar

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artificialqueens · 5 years

Text

And So This is Christmas, I Hope You Had Fun (Ravjila) - Sammy Indigo

A/N: Part 2 of the Ravjila Christmas fic from a week or so ago. I do hope everyone is having a safe December, and if you’re in an area with some severe weather, be careful.

And thank you for all the kind words you have been giving me this month. I read them all. All the love xxx

Latrice hadn’t bothered to chastise the three of them on Christmas morning, when she knocked on Manila and Raven’s bedroom door at eight am and opened it to both girls, plus Raja, all cuddled together in Raven’s single bed. Usually when she caught all three of them in the same room after an impromptu sleepover, she gave them a brief lecture about getting to bed early and the safety of knowing where each of them were through the night. However, this Christmas morning, the woman had wished them “Merry Christmas, Babies”, and told them to be downstairs in ten minutes for breakfast.

By the time Manila had managed to drag the other two out of bed, Willam and Danny were already throwing balled up pieces of wrapping paper at each other from across the long dining room table. A particularly aggressive throw from Danny, and a strategic duck from Willam resulted in the wadded up paper hitting Tatiana in the back of the head. She whipped around with a pout and a frown on her face.

“Hey!” She shouted. “Stop it.”

“Sorry!” Danny laughed. “Sorry, Tati.”

Tatiana glared at him. “That’s twice you’ve hit me, now.”

“Then move outta the way.” Willam teased.

Raven smacked him over the head as she walked past to Tatiana. She made an effort to soften the blow slightly. It was Christmas, after all.

“Happy Christmas, kid.” Raven said, hugging Tatiana. “You get anything good?”

“Happy Christmas, Ravie.” Tatiana beamed, holding up a little make up set that Raven suspected was from Claire’s. “Look.” Tatiana said. She leaned into Raven’s side. “It’s got highlighter, and mascara, and even glitters!” She grinned broadly. “I asked for make up, and I got it! This is awesome. Thank you!”

Raven tugged her ponytail, fondly. “Don’t thank me, I didn’t get it for you. Thank the random stranger who feels guilty enough about their life choices to make themselves feel better by spending money on foster kids.”

“Raven.” Latrice warned. “It’s Christmas.”

“Sorry.” Raven kissed Tatiana’s cheek. “That’s so cool. I’m glad you got what you wanted.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, Rave!” Manila called from the other side of the room.

Raven kissed Tatiana’s head and patted her shoulder, leaving her to fawn over her present. She wormed her way through the excitable kids, picking up a paper ball from the table and throwing it back to Danny. He caught it and gave her a thumbs up.

“I’d like to keep my nose intact, this year.” He said, brushing long hair out of his eyes.

“We’ll see.” Raven said with a smirk. He flipped her the bird and she laughed.

As Raven approached them, Raja handed her a cookie, and Manila held up a mug in question.

“Coffee?” She asked. “Or Latrice is doing hot chocolate?”

“Chocolate.” Raven said, taking a bite of the cookie and settling into Raja’s side. “Since it’s Christmas.”

Latrice passed her a mug from behind. “Since it’s Christmas, darling.” She said. “Mini marshmallows but no cream for Raven.” She handed a second mug to Raja. “And cream and sprinkles for my Raja.”

“How do you remember that?” Raven asked. “There’s like fifteen of us.”

“I always remember all of my babies. Don’t matter how old they are.” Latrice said. She nodded to the kids running around the rest of the room. “Don’t think you aren’t special just because you’re one of many. You,” She squeezed Raven’s shoulder. “And you two,” She put a hand on Raja’s arm and Manila’s shoulder, “are special. Are loved. Don’t matter if you leave, don’t matter if you come back, don’t matter if you grow up and forget all about me.” Latrice looked at each of them in turn. “You’re loved by me. Always.”

Manila stepped around Raven to hug Latrice. “I could never forget you. You’re unforgettable.”

“Well, thank you, baby.”

Raja beamed. “And we love you.”

“Thank you.” Raven said. She sipped her hot chocolate. “And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Latrice asked, baffled as she kept an arm around Manila. “You’ve only been up for twenty minutes. What could you have possibly done? Danny isn’t bleeding yet, is he?”

“No, not today.” Raven said. “I’m just sorry, in general.” She felt Raja take her hand. “I know I’m not the, um, easiest, kid to have around. I just, want to say sorry. I’m sorry I cause so many problems.”

“You don’t cause problems, Raven.”

“I do. And I know that I do.” She shrugged. “That’s why I’m here, right? Troublemaker.” She laughed at herself. “Sorry.”

Latrice shook her head. “You’re here, all of you, because of circumstances beyond your control.” She gave them a small sad smile. “If you take nothing else away from me when you leave, take this, each and every one of you is not at fault for the atrocities you have been forced to live through.”

Raven opened her mouth to argue but Latrice held up her hand.

“Nope, she said. I don’t want to hear it. You’re good kids, and if you make the correct choices you’re going to be good adults.”

Willam screamed, and they all looked over to see Danny holding some dripping slime over his face as he pinned him to the ground.

Latrice rolled her eyes. “Even those two.”

Raja giggled. “Danny’s gonna get another bloody nose this year, if he’s not careful.”

Willam kicked out, narrowly missing Danny’s face, laughing like a seal the whole time.

“Oh, Lord.” Latrice shook her head. “Listen, enjoy your day, babies, have fun, make memories.” She gave Manila a squeeze. “I gotta go break this up. Hey! Danny, you leave him. And Willam, stop acting like an ass!”

………………….

Christmas dinner in a group home wasn’t the formal affair Raven had experienced as a young child when they had spent much of the day in Church, then even more of the day visiting relatives whose names she didn’t know. In the group home, she, Raja, and Manila remained in their pyjamas all day, retreating to their room with plates piled high with buffet food, and each with a similar gift bag claiming to be ‘From Santa Claus’.

The gifts were trash, mostly, and Raven felt guilty for even thinking that when she knew somewhere a person had seen Raven’s request for ‘curling tongs’, and unable to purchase them for the provided budget of fifteen dollars, had gone with the next best thing; a set containing a hairbrush, some scrunchies, and some wired foam rollers. It wasn’t the worst gift, Raven supposed.

“Could have been worse.” Raja voiced, long legs stretched over Raven’s lap on the bed, and head resting on Manila’s shoulder. “I mean, I know I asked for jewellery making stuff, and I really meant like pliers, and hoops, and chains, but I don’t mind this.” She held up an almost completed woven bracelet and dangled it by Raven’s face. “A shit ton of embroidery floss and some beads? I can work with that.”

“Yeah.” Manila said. “I think we did good. I got a cool notebook and pens this year. Even came with some coloured pencils.”

“Better than a lunch box.” Raven smirked. “Although I don’t know why you insist on asking for school supplies every year.”

“Everything else is too vague.” She shrugged. “Plus, I like knowing I’ll have stuff for school for a while.”

“Mm.” Raja hummed. “Only thing worse than being the foster kid is being the foster kid who has to borrow pencils from the school.”

“Hey, ‘Nila?” Raven asked. “When I’m rich I’ll buy you all the school supplies you want. Erasers coming out of your fucking ass.”

Manila kicked her. “Shut up. Just ‘cause I like to be prepared.”

“Don’t tease her.” Raja said.

“Sorry. Love you.”

Manila blushed. “Love you, too. I told you Christmas was happy.”

“Yeah, you did.” Raven crawled over the bed until she was snuggled in between Raja and Manila.

Manila cuddled around her, wrapping an arm around her tummy and settling against her chest.

Raven stroked her hair. “Do you…?” She trailed off, closing her eyes. She felt Raja’s arm press into her side. “Do…” Raven exhaled. “Doesn’t matter.”

“No, what?” Raja murmured. “Tell us.”

She took a long breath in, allowing the familiar scent of Manila’s hair settle her. “I was just thinking.” Raven said. “I’m just being stupid. Christmas, you know?”

“Getting sentimental?”

“Not exactly.” Raven said. On feeling Raja’s fingers on her wrist, she opened her eyes.

Raja looked up at her and smiled. “For you.” She tied the finished bracelet around her wrist. “Too tight?”

“S’fine.”

Manila snuggled further into Raven’s chest. “I picked the colours.”

“I love it.” She drew her hand up to her face to inspect the intricate knots. “Thank you. Does that mean I get to pick ‘Nila’s colours?”

“Sure.” Raja said, and then smirked at Raven.

“Yellow.” they both said simultaneously, and burst into peals of laughter.

Rolling her eyes, Manila spoke. “Okay, okay. We get it, I like the colour yellow.”

Raven kissed her, still huffing out puffs of laughter. “Sorry.” She kissed her again, this time a little more reverently. “I’m sorry, ‘Nils.”

Manila waved her off. “Nah, you guys are right, I do like yellow. Reminds me of the sun.”

“You’re so cute.”

She blushed and ducked her face into Raven’s chest. “Snuggle me.” She said, muffled in Raven’s shirt.

The three of them, tired, full of food, warm, and happy, cuddled together in the tiny single bed. Raja’s long limbs encompassed the other two, and Raven pressed her lips to the back on Manila’s ear. The bass from the music downstairs was soothing rather than irritating, and even when Raven heard Willam’s obnoxious laughter in the hall, she couldn’t find it in herself to be mad.

“Life,” Raja said, “it’s not too shitty, is it?”

“Not here.” Manila answered quickly. “With you.”

“Do,” Raven began, again, “um, do you guys…?”

“Ask us.” Raja said. She rubbed circles into the warm skin under Raven’s pyjama top.

“Do you guys ever think about before?”

Neither of them even had to ask what ‘before’ was. For foster kids, or for the three of them, at least, the ‘before’ was all the same. Before someone took them away, Raven used to say. But Raja had always said before someone saved her. Raven preferred that. It was truer.

Manila squeezed Raven’s hand, fingers rubbing the woven bracelet on her wrist. “I don’t think about it as much.” She said. “I used to think about them all the time.” Of the three of them, Manila had been the oldest when she had been removed from her family. She was also the only one of them who still had both of her parents out there, alive, in the world, and knew where they were. “I thought about them, today, though.” She said, quietly. “I can’t imagine Christmas in prison is very nice.”

“They don’t deserve a nice Christmas.” Raja said.

Manila didn’t reply. Raven kissed her neck.

Raja took a long breath, calming her tone. “I take it you’ve been thinking about your family, Rave?”

“A bit.” She said. “Not much. Just…” Raven sighed. “Just wondering, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

Raven hadn’t seen her dad since she was removed from his care, her mother had never, as far as Raven was aware, been in the picture. But she had brothers and sisters, she knew she did, could remember faces and names, and yet had no way of knowing exactly how they were, where they were. She was seven the last time she had seen any of them. There could be more kids, now, for all she knew. Maybe they were being dragged around by her father to visit relatives that they didn’t know the names of. Raven shivered.

Raja cuddled her closer.

“Do you think about your mom?” Raven asked her.

“No.” Raja said, and the brutal honesty in her tone made Raven want to cry for her. “Sometimes I dream about her. But no. I don’t think about her. At least not on purpose.”

“Good.” Manila muttered. “I hate it when you have nightmares.”

“I’m not letting her ruin my future. Now when she ruined my past.” Raja paused, and then chuckled. “I sound like my therapist.”

“And mine.” Raven said.

“And mine.” Manila added.

The three of them began to laugh. Raven giggled into the back of Manila’s shirt, wiping the tears she hadn’t noticed on her cheeks into the fabric.

“I’m so fucking glad I have you both.” She said.

“Who else would have you?” Raja said and Manila kicked her. “I’m kidding.” She put a hand on Raven’s chin to pull her face to hers, kissing her gently. “Don’t you ever fucking dare leave us. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Promise.” Manila said. “Please promise, Raven.”

“I promise.” She took a shuddering breath, and then coughed to cover it. “We got each other, ‘till the end, right?”

“Right.”

“Forever.” Manila said. “However long forever is.”

Raven grinned. “Here’s to another hundred Christmases with each other.”

Raja nodded. “Happy Christmases.”

Manila beamed. “Happy Christmas.”

“I love you.”

#sammy indigo #25 holiday fics #ravjila #fluff #au #raja gemini #raven #manila luzon #latrice royale #rpdr fanfiction #submission #poly

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