#tamalethebear
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Two Times You Abused Kalpas' Bodyheat
An actual Kalpas x Reader one shot I think
Working as a comms officer in Fire Moth was hardly your dream job. It was originally temp work. Your previous office had been blown up during a Fire Moth mission, so as compensation (and to keep your boss from blabbing) they had offered you all positions. When you took the job, it had only been because you needed a job for money, and this was all you could get. Now, it was one of the only jobs anyone could get, and it paid nicer than anything else on the market, so you put up with the weirdos you had to deal with on the daily in exchange for a nice paycheck.
One of these weirdos was your boyfriend, Kalpas. How you started dating was a mystery to nearly everyone, yourself included. You had been assigned as his comms for a mission, and from the safety of your desk, you had maybe gotten a little heated in telling him off. Other agents had stared at you in fear, but you were convinced it was fine. There was no way some random MANTIS would know who you were, or even care by the time he came back to base; and the fact that your yelling had saved the mission only made your more confident.
Oh you were so very mistaken.
Not only did Kalpas find out who you were, he marched straight into the comms office and right to your desk. The normally very loud room fell silent as everyone watched with morbid curiosity. You were dragged from the room, still shouting—you refused to go peacefully—much to the horror of all your new coworkers. None of them expected you to return, but the next day, there you were, sitting in your chair like nothing had happened with an especially warm cup of coffee. It became standard for the fiery MANTIS to visit you when he was bored, and everyone quickly learned not to stare to hard, lest they be on the receiving end of his glare.
All in all, working at Fire Moth wasn't that bad. Except for when the base was attacked and something broke. Which happened...once a week?
“You've been in the shower for an hour,” Kalpas called from your room. He had invited himself into your room—something that happened quite frequently—a while ago, and you had told him you'd be out in a minute.
“Hour and a half!” you called back.
“Get the fuck out!” was the response you chose to ignore. Or at least, you tried to ignore. After a minute, Kalpas grew impatient and walked into the bathroom to yell at you better. Unfortunately, telling you to “stop yelling and get out,” only made you throw water in his face and yell louder while holding the shower curtain closed.
“This is the most heat I've had all day!” you complained. The latest attack had knocked out heat to the base, and the backup generators couldn't produce enough energy to keep everyone warm. “Those stupid space heaters don't do any more than blow cold air on my feet.” Suddenly you froze and popped your head back around the curtain. “You're warm.”
“What?” Kalpas stood leaning against the wall beside your shower with his arms crossed so he could brood more efficiently. Without answering his question, you turned off the water and grabbed your towel from the hook nearby. As soon as you were dried off and the towel was secured around you, you stepped out of the shower and grabbed on to your boyfriend.
“What are you doing?” he growled.
Refusing to look up, you said, “It's cold and you're warm.” You said this like it was a fact—and it was—but Kalpas wasn't outwardly pleased by your words. Inwardly, however, he was undeniably happy to have you clinging to him. Of course, you couldn't tell with him growling at you, but you also didn't seem to care, because you didn't let go. In fact, you stepped onto his feet to keep your toes warm. It seemed as though you had no plans of moving any time soon, which was fine by Kalpas.
One of his arms wrapped around your back to hold you closer to him, but before you could appreciate the warmth, he was stepping forward. Then he was stepping out of the warm steam in your bathroom, and bringing you into the chilly air of your room What had once been your personal heater was now a train leading you to a very cold death, and it seemed as though he had no intentions of letting you off. As much as you struggled, Kalpas held on, carrying you all the way to your bed.
For a second, you thought your attempts to get out of his hold had paid off; you were released, only to be pushed backwards onto the bed, and immediately followed by a very heavy blanket. After a lot of grumbling and shifting from both parties, you eventually found a comfortable position laying down half on top of Kalpas, with several blankets—that you made him go get—covering you. For about five hours, you were the happiest person on the base.
Then the heat came back on. And Kalpas refused to budge. And you were boiling for the rest of the night.
One of the biggest issues with having one coffee machine for about thirty people was that said coffee machine was almost always broken. Sometimes you could convince Emile to buy you a drink when he grabbed his own and Kalpas would be kind enough to deliver it with minimal complaining. Sometimes you would actually go to your desk at the time your meant to instead of being called in for an emergency, and you could make the coffee in your little apartment.
Today, however, you were called in early and since Kalpas had just come back from a mission and it was the middle of the night, you couldn't ask him to bring you anything. The poor agent you were working with got some very nasty comments thrown his way, and you were sure his report on your work would be less than kind, but you got the job done. Once he was on his way back to base, you took your headset off, and looked around the office.
It seemed like you were one of the only agents called in, which wasn't very surprising given the early hour. Only a handful of desks were occupied, and half the screens were turned off. The place looked a little eerie when it was so empty, but it was nice to have a little quiet for a minute. Like most of the comms officers, you were scheduled to come in to work in another hour, so you figured you may was well stay up and get some paperwork squared away before your normal duties started. In the meantime, there was no harm in trying the old coffee pot, right?
Everything seemed to go smoothly; you put in the grounds and the water, and the sweet sweet caffeine came out. The smile on your face was evident as you poured yourself a cup, and fixed it to your tastes. The scowl that immediately followed your first sip was evident as well. The coffee was cold. Not cold like iced coffee, but that horrible not-quite-iced, not-quite-hot temperature that made you gag. Before you could fix the issue by going to the microwave down the hall, the screen on your desk flashed, and you were called back over to lead another job. Whoever got assigned to you was about to have a very successful, very miserable mission.
Luckily, Elysia seemed to think your irritation was amusing and let it slide, but that still didn't fix your lack of coffee. Having another call come in right after only made you more frustrated, and poor Su didn't deserve to have you snapping at him. You finally got a break long after everyone else had come into work, and word had spread to leave you alone for the day. Word spread so far as to reach outside the office, and find your boyfriend.
Reaching for a data pad only to find someone sitting on it had you fuming, and looking up to find Kalpas glaring down at you didn't help your anger. Just as you opened your mouth to start shouting, your horrible, terrible, cruel, infuriating boyfriend reached over and grabbed the mug of extremely cold coffee you brewed this morning. Then, your wonderful, perfect, amazing, brilliant boyfriend placed the mug in your hand with the coffee now steaming and ready to be enjoyed.
Instantly, your scowl became a beaming smile sent his way, and Kalpas was chuckling as he stood from your desk. All he said was a gruff 'you're welcome,' and he was on his way. For about two hours, you thought you had the best partner in the world. Then you opened a mission briefing, only to find that it was his mission you were going to be working on, and really he just hadn't wanted to deal with you screaming at him because you were tired.
Oh well. At least you got your coffee.
Uhhhh here. Have something I wrote because I have my first quiz today and am stressed ahahahah throws glitter and runs away These are both scenarios I kinda mentioned in other stories, so it's nothing new, but it's here.
Also as someone who drinks a lot of coffee and tea, let me tell you, lukewarm coffee/tea is the worst possible thing ever. I would rather step on legos than drink a cup of tea that has gone cold. Also have I ever told you how much I love Su? Um. A lot. I should write a story for him (no i should not i need to finish these requests)
#kid that just sat behind me is so loud rn ooof#kalpas x reader#azaryawrites#honkai x reader#tamalethebear#cross posted on ao3#hi3 x reader#I gotta go fail a quiz now if you'll excuse me
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Masterlist 2 (Jan 2024-present)
remember when I was like "idk why it won't let me link this, I'll figure it out later"
yeah uh. you're only allowed 100 links on a post and I hit the limit
I did not know I had written that much oh dear
So I'm making a new masterlist, it's split chronologically, so more recent stories will be here and older ones will be on the first masterlist!
Please let me know if any of the links don't work!
Old Fashioned
Chapters 1-3
Chapters 4-6
Chapters 7-9
Beauty and Decimation
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Batter Up
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
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Batter Up
Home Run
A Kalpas x Reader Soulmate AU, Chapter 4, the last chapter, below!
psst. before you read this. It's like borderline crack and entirely optional! you don't have to read it, but it is my attempt at domestic Kalpas so read at your own risk (he's so ooc oh no)
“I don’t know, have you tried smiling?”
“Last time I smiled, it made Rin cry.”
“Well let’s not do that then.”
Kalpas sent a glare for your comment, but it vanished almost immediately after you pressed a kiss to his cheek. The two of you were sitting in your kitchen, slowly making your way through cooking a batch of waffles. You had made the batter, hoping to surprise your boyfriend, but you’d only finished cooking one set when he took over, sitting you on the counter nearby to ‘supervise.’ In the meantime, you were brainstorming.
Seele and Bronya were finally getting married. They had been matched for quite some time, but wanted to hold off on tying the knot. Why? No one knew. Bronya would give a different answer whenever someone asked and had the best poker face in the office. Kiana had even asked her three times in as many minutes and got a different response each time. Seele seemed like she would have been easier to crack but questioning her got you nowhere.
That’s not the point. The point is: Seele and Bronya are getting married, and they explicitly told you not to scare the guests.
After working with the two for years, it was no surprise that you were invited, and since you and Kalpas had spent well over a year together, he was expected to be your plus one. This was all fine and well, but the two girls had friends outside of your company who hadn’t met your partner and who probably wouldn’t react well to his clipped comments and brooding stare. Any other time, you know they wouldn’t have cared, and you wouldn’t have either, but this was the wedding they had waited so long for and everyone wanted it to be perfect, not just the girls.
“You could wear a mask,” you joked. Kalpas sent you a deadpan stare back and you immediately backpedaled. “Oh no. Nuh-uh. You are not wearing a mask to their wedding. That’s worse than just being grumpy the whole time.”
“I’m going to be grumpy anyway. The whole thing is a waste of time and—”
“I will give you so many kisses if you go with me.”
Kalpas was silent, staring at the waffle iron like it was the most important thing in the world.
“I already agreed to go.” You could practically hear him pouting.
“Oh so I don’t need to give you all those kisses then? That’s good to know.” You made a show of jumping off the counter and made it all of two steps away before Kalpas was spinning you around.
“No you still owe me those kisses. I don’t work for free.”
“Do I owe you for the waffles then too?”
Kalpas didn’t even bother responding, his lips meeting your own as you smiled into the kiss. He didn’t seem to be in any rush, but his hands were the only thing holding you up, the force behind every move he made nearly knocked you over.
“You’re going to burn the waffles,” you sighed, stealing another quick kiss. Kalpas probably rolled his eyes, but you couldn’t see because he threw you over his shoulder for the quick walk back to the counter. Once there, he planted you back in your spot and pressed another firm kiss on your lips as if to tell you not to move.
“I’m collecting my payment once these are finished,” he grumbled, sending a pointed look your way before going back to work.
Eventually, you gave up. The best you could do was promise Seele and Bronya that you or one of Kalpas’ friends (really just Sakura or Kallen) would try to clear up any misunderstandings and maybe leave the reception a little bit early. He complained about needing a chaperone, but was suspiciously silent about the leaving early part.
Before and during the ceremony, things went surprisingly well. Kalpas wasn’t thrilled to be wearing a suit, but he had gotten used to it from work, so you had no pushback there. You managed to avoid traffic and arrive on time, even chatting to Mei before taking your seats. Rin got a little excited and you worried she might distract from the vows, but no one even glanced your way. The biggest challenge was when she asked when you were getting married. Kalpas was no help at all, just shrugging and leaving you to scramble for an answer.
At the reception, you were seated at a table with Sakura and Kallen (shocker) and the food was amazing. Since Seele and Bronya were both originally from Russia, the main course was more traditional food, but the desserts were mostly Japanese, almost everything was from their time in college rooming with Mei and Kiana. They shared their first dance and opened the floor for others, though you opted to stay where you were.
Rin had gone to sit with Pardofelis at the marketing table, and Raven had gone with her, leaving just you and Kalpas in your designated seats. Which was fine, until someone joined you.
Misteln was a friend of Seele’s, you learned, and worked with a few others at your company that you weren’t as close with. She was beautiful and moved with an unnerving amount of elegance, but she also had a smile that was not quite a smirk and it left you uneasy. When she introduced herself, she stated that she noticed Kalpas staring and that’s what brought her over.
And it was true, he had been looking out over the room the whole time you had been talking. He wasn’t ignoring you, you knew he was just scanning the area as a force of habit, but it was easy to see how someone else might mistake that as staring. Despite her calling him out on it, however, Misteln didn’t seem bothered. It didn’t matter that Kalpas had been looking at her before, and it didn’t matter that he was looking past her now. She easily dropped the subject and moved on to the next topic.
“I’m glad to see the two of them finally together. They deserve a happy ending, don’t you think?” Misteln was looking at Seele and Bronya as they sat that the front table leaning towards one another and sharing a smile.
“They’ve been together a while now, but I get what you mean,” you nodded, trying to keep the conversation light. “I know they took a while to plan all this and I’m excited to see all their hard work coming together.”
“I agree. You can see how much effort they put into everything.” She looked back to you now and you turned to meet her. “I can’t help but wonder why they waited so long. You wouldn’t happen to have some insider secrets since you work with them, would you?”
“No,” you laughed, “I probably know as much as you do. After a while I gave up, it’s really none of my business, but I know some others kept pestering them. You might have better luck asking Kiana or Mei?”
“Wouldn’t it make sense to marry sooner?” Misteln completely ignored you and continued, “If you know that person is your soulmate, you know you’re going to be together forever. Why bother waiting?” This had you frowning a little bit, but you weren’t necessarily upset just yet.
“Some people want time to get to know their soulmate before they take that step. Just because you’re ‘cosmically bound’ or whatever, doesn’t mean the relationship is guaranteed to work out.”
“Isn’t that the definition of a soulmate?” It almost felt like you were being questioned in a courtroom now with the way her questions kept coming.
“Not all soulmates are romantic, sometimes—”
“But they knew, and they still waited. Wouldn’t you want to marry your soulmate as soon as possible?”
Kalpas chose that moment to step in, and you weren’t sure whether you should be thankful or go start apologizing to the brides now.
“When they decide to get married is hardly your problem. They’re together now, and they’re happy. Let them have their day.” He was practically leaning over you to get at Misteln at this point and trying to push him back into his seat wasn’t going very well. “Don’t go around harassing their guests talking shit and gossiping, and don’t you ever come near my partner again—”
“Kalpas!” You tried to keep your voice down but trying to make yourself heard over his rant made your whisper come out a lot louder than intended. He didn’t move back an inch, his hand still resting on the back of your chair and his posture looking like he was ready to pounce. You glanced at the front table and were relieved not to see anyone looking your way. Glancing at Misteln, however, she looked ready to speak again and you panicked.
“We really should head home. It’s been a lovely reception, but we both have work in the morning and don’t want to stay up too late.” As you spoke, you started standing, the hand you had on Kalpas’ chest to try and hold him back was now helping get him to move as well. Ignoring anything else that might have been said, you went to the front table, said your goodbyes, gave Rin a good night hug and left.
“I think that went well!”
Ignoring that horrible conversation and the guy who almost got his arm broken for standing too close to you, yeah. That went well. For a moment you wondered how the hell you were going to make it through your own wedding, but quickly decided to ignore that problem for now.
You had gone back to Kalpas’ apartment since it was closer, but he seemed to be following you around like it was your place and he’d never been there before. He wasn’t ignoring you, but he definitely wasn’t stomping around like he normally did. Once you had your jim jams on, he finally gave you a hint as to what was wrong.
“Do I get my kisses now, or do I have to fight you for them?”
“What!” You crossed your arms and pretended to be mad. “I gave you like twenty before we left!”
“Those don’t count.”
“Those don’t—are you kidding me? One of those kisses almost made us late!”
“Fighting it is.” Kalpas took one step towards you before you folded.
“Wait! No no no,” he took another step forward and your voice only got higher. “I’ll give you the kisses, no fighting required. If you tickle me again, I’m gonna end up breaking something!” Your threat was entirely valid. Last time he’d gotten you, the lamp on your nightstand hadn’t survived the attack. Kalpas took another step forward and you yelped as he reached for you, only to pick you up and drop you on the bed.
“I’ll let you go this time,” his voice made him seem annoyed, but his eyes were as close to a smile as he could get. “Tomorrow though…”
“Tomorrow what?” You watched as he pulled the covers up, almost rolling you over so he could get in before holding them up for you to join him.
“Tomorrow I’m kicking your ass in Tekken and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Mmm, I don’t know,” you grinned. “My soulmate’s gonna be there and get pretty good at fighting games when he’s around.”
“Yeah?” Kalpas turned out the light before rolling over to face you again. “My soulmate’s gonna be around too. And I don’t lose when they watch.” The confidence in his tone made you laugh.
“What about that time I beat you at every game in wii sports resort?”
“No I beat you at the sword one. The only reason you won the others was because you cheated.”
“I don’t think asking you how your day went counts as cheating, but I’ll be sure to keep that one I mind.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he gave your ribs a light poke as a warning.
“Well if you think me kissing my boyfriend is too distracting then I guess I just won’t be able to kiss you tomorrow,” you shrugged. “A shame, but I wouldn’t want the fight to be unfair.” Another jab had you shout before failing to smother a laugh.
“If you won’t pay up tomorrow, I’ll take my kisses now.”
“Okay okay. I promise you’ll get your kisses tomorrow!” You held your hands up in surrender, but when Kalpas narrowed his eyes you added, “and I won’t use them to distract you. Deal?”
“Deal.”
The two of you fell into a relaxed silence and you had nearly fallen asleep when a thought came to you.
“Hey Kalpas?”
“We are not renegotiating.”
“No this is a different question.” He only gave you a grunt, but you took that as a sign to go ahead. “When we get married, can Rin be the flower girl?”
!!!return of the jim jams!!! I cannot be stopped. Thank you for reading this though, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the story! <3 <3 (also hope this made sense because I am physically incapable of proofreading rn) also I mentioned it on AO3 but a reader left a comment that may or may not have made it into this last part and I don't want to out them but credit where credit is due. I think it's an adorable idea and wanted to include it
#azaryawrites#kalpas x reader#tamalethebear#cross posted on ao3#hi3 x reader#x reader#i feel like i'm forgetting a tag? uh oh
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Batter Up
Third Base
A Kalpas x Reader Soulmate AU, Chapter 3 below!
“Dr. Mei better keep her promise and give us next week off. I’m wiped,” you stretched your arms above your head and yawned while your computer finished shutting down.
“I think we’ve all agreed not to come in anyway. She can’t really say much at this point, even Kevin is taking some time off.” Raven had already packed up for the day and was leaning on the wall to your cubicle waiting for you.
Technically, your team had finished the crunch on Tuesday, but you had spent the remainder of the week cleaning up. Today, you were all going to a bar to celebrate the end of the project. Sakura came over to your desk while you were grabbing the last of your things and the three of you headed for Raven’s. Bringing all your work material to a bar wasn’t the best idea, so you were dropping some things off at her apartment since it was on the way.
“I overheard Dr. Mei the other day,” Raven waited until you were outside the building to talk, not wanting anyone else to listen in. “She was trying to get us more time to work on the next project. Seems like it’ll have a huge paycheck at the end but they want three years’ worth of work done in one.”
“Ouch,” you winced. “I really hope she gets them to give us a bit more time than that, there’s no way we finish on time, even if we sprint the whole way.”
“Last time a project like this came up, we put it to a vote,” Sakura brought up the first job you had been on. Coming from being an overworked intern, you thought that every project would be that intense. It wasn’t until you got some more experience under your belt that you realized how hard you all had been pushed. That was also the last project that was taken on by Dr. Mei’s predecessor, so you had a feeling he was trying to go out with a bang.
“At least that one was somewhat reasonable,” Raven argued, “This one just isn’t happening unless we’re given more time.”
“They’ll probably reduce the pay if they agree to more time though.” You hated pointing out the obvious, but someone had to. “And if the pay is the only reason to take the job in the first place, why bother.”
“We don’t have any other work to do in the meantime. It could be a while before something else pops up and Dr. Mei isn’t known to sit back and wait.” Sakura stopped talking when her phone went off, pulling it out so she could read the message she’d gotten. “Kallen’s going to pick up Rin from daycare and wait for the babysitter. Says she’ll meet us at the bar in an hour.”
“Rin still needs a babysitter?” Raven looked over to your coworker who didn’t look at all bothered by the question.
“I doubt she’d get into any trouble, but better safe than sorry.” Her explanation made sense, but you knew it wasn’t the full picture. Kallen’s job was dangerous, and she’d made her fair share of enemies. The two were taking no chances when it came to Rin, and you could understand why.
Inside the bar, Rita waved your group over to the table she shared with Durandal. There was only space for five people in the booth, but there were a few chairs around the other side, and you could see that other tables nearby had been reserved for the rest of your coworkers.
After you all ordered some drinks, the conversation flowed easily. At first the topics mostly centered around work; what the next big project would be, how much sleep you all had lost from overtime, and when the next game would be. After some time though, the conversations split. You and Sakura started talking about how Rin was doing, but when she brought up the fact that she and her family had been thinking about getting a cat, Rita joined your group, giving some advice from her own experience.
It was nice to finally have some time to relax, even if drinking wasn’t your favorite pastime, these were some of your favorite people and being in their company was enough to make you smile. Your friend wasn’t so easily destressed, she kept checking her phone for updates from Kallen, though she tried to be subtle about it. It had only been thirty minutes, but she did eventually get a message and said that you should expect Kallen to be there within the next couple of minutes.
She did not tell you to expect to see Kalpas, but there he was, dutifully following behind Kallen like a guard dog. The drinks must have gotten to you more than you thought because the pout that you thought was hidden well was clearly caught by Kallen and she raised an eyebrow in response. With a huff, you turned back around and looked down into your cup. You weren’t mad at her, but the idea of Kalpas caring so much about someone else when he wouldn’t even give you the time of day hurt more than you wanted to admit.
Sakura slid over so that there was just enough space for her wife to sit on the edge of the booth with her. When they exchanged a short kiss, Raven pretended to gag making you laugh a little at her theatrics. She sent you a wink at the joke you’d shared but then her eyes flicked up to something behind you. A second later, a chair was dropped next to you with a rattle that made you worry it might break
Looking over your shoulder, you saw Kalpas taking the seat, already looking your way. Part of you wanted to keep staring and not let him intimidate you, but a louder part of you got nervous under his gaze and you turned away. Kira, who had been sitting at the advertising table with Kiana, gave you a smirk that meant nothing but trouble and you looked up at the ceiling, just wanting a moment of peace.
“Everything okay?” Kallen and Sakura both were looking at you now, though you couldn’t tell if their concern was teasing or genuine.
“Yeah,” you sighed. “Just been a long week. I’m happy to get some time to myself.”
“You know, with all that free time, you could probably find your soulmate.” Kallen’s teasing earned her a glare and you downed the last of your drink to hide your blush.
“I’m gonna go get a refill, do you want anything?” You stood, happy to have an excise to get away from the table, and more importantly Kalpas.
Kallen shook her head no; she planned on staying sober so she could make fun of Sakura (though you had never even seen your coworker buzzed, let alone drunk). Before you had even taken a step away from the table, however, Kalpas was standing from his chair, the motion placing him a little closer than you expected. Looking up at him, he just nodded towards the bar and raised an eyebrow when you didn’t move.
Why did the one person you wanted to avoid have to thwart your escape? Actually, Kallen following you probably would have been worse, you weren’t sure you could take much more of her taunting. The feeling of a hand pressing against your lower back had you taking a step forward to get away, but the pressure didn’t move. Glancing back, Kalpas kept looking straight ahead, almost herding you across the floor.
It was nerve wracking, having him right there, but at the same time you felt a sort of confidence from having him so close and held your head high across the bar. When you reached your destination, the bartender gave you a bit of a side-eye but took your order without any complaints.
“You don’t need to find your soulmate.” Kalpas was leaning against the bar while you waited, looking you dead in the eyes with his arms crossed over his chest. It almost felt like he was interrogating you, but you didn’t look away this time. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe you were just tired of avoiding him, but you kept your eyes locked on him while you spoke.
“I know. I’ve got a pretty good idea of who it is.” You paused, but when Kalpas didn’t say anything, you kept going. “Honestly, I’m more concerned that they aren’t interested.” His glare narrowed and your confidence wavered from the intensity of his stare.
“Why don’t you try asking then. This song and dance is getting old.”
“Nerves,” you answered without fully thinking it through. “It’d be pretty embarrassing if my soulmate rejected me, you know?” Unsurprisingly, the joke fell flat, and you finally looked away while giving a half-hearted chuckle. “You’re not exactly the most approachable. I thought you hated my guts when we first met.”
“I don’t.”
“Oh what a relief,” you looked back at him, your sarcasm giving you a bit of courage.
“If I hated your guts, you would know.” You sincerely doubted that you could tell the difference between angry Kalpas and regular Kalpas but it’s probably best not to say that to his face. “I’m not the kind of person to waste time on pointless things. If I didn’t want to see you, I wouldn’t have gone to the games and if it weren’t for Sakura, we would have had this conversation already.”
“What do you mean ‘if it weren’t for Sakura’?”
“She told me to wait.” He uncrossed his arms, and placed one hand on the bar beside you as he leaned in. “She told me to ‘let you process,’” Kalpas mocked your friend and it almost seemed like he was truly mad at her. “I’ve known that we’re soulmates for months and I’m sick and fucking tired of sitting around doing nothing.”
“Maybe if you were a little more obvious about not hating me—”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that when I’m not allowed anywhere near you?”
He makes a good point…
“Okay well. Now that you’re allowed near me could you be a little more obvious about not hating me?”
Kalpas didn’t waste a second before pressing his lips to yours. His arm wrapped around to keep you close and you had to hold onto his shoulders to keep your balance. Kissing your soulmate physically felt the same as kissing anyone else, but deep down, some part of you that had been tense for so long, finally relaxed. It was soothing in a way you didn’t know you needed, and you couldn’t imagine ever pulling away.
Unfortunately, the bartender didn’t seem to agree, and you were forced apart when he angrily cleared his throat and nearly spilled your drinks when he slammed them down. If you hadn’t looked so embarrassed, Kalpas likely would have ignored the silent reprimand, but you both settled with keeping your fingers locked together for the walk back to the table.
Before you even sat down, you just knew your friends had the smuggest look all ready for when you looked their way. Not wanting to give them the pleasure of saying ‘I told you so,’ you kept your eyes focused on your new boyfriend and Bronya, who was kind enough to spare your feelings. When you glanced at Raven, though, it was all over.
“Couldn’t find any desks to hide behind this time?” Immediately the floodgates opened, and everyone was asking questions or making a witty remark about your new relationship. Even Kira stopped by to visit, and she only left after saying that Kalpas would make a good model and you had to physically shoo her away (her sake as well as your own).
At the end of the night, he walked with you and your friends back to Raven’s and rode the subway back to your stop. On the way you talked about anything and everything. From work, to how you both had met Sakura, to that first baseball game and how annoying your coworkers could be. More importantly, you both decided to take advantage of your time off and planned to go on a proper date sooner rather than later. Sakura and Kallen threatened to crash it, but you weren’t worried. Whether or not they were there didn’t matter. So long as you got to spend time with your soulmate, you would be happy.
uh that whole part with the "oh what if we get another project" Yeah. that was me going off the rails and like almost making this a 20k word fic because I fully intended to have the team go through a whole project and have Kalpas just like pop up sometimes and then I went "Oh my gosh it's 11pm and I have to get up at 6" and proceeded to only write another 4k words the next day. Truly showing restraint
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Batter Up
Second Base
A Kalpas x Reader Soulmate AU, Chapter 2 below!
When Friday rolled around again, you weren’t nearly as excited as usual. Even before you thought you had found your soulmate, there was a bit of underlying anticipation. Now you just felt anxious. It didn’t seem likely that your match would come back to watch since they missed the last game.
Sakura seemed sympathetic when she spotted you dragging your feet to the field, but there wasn’t much she could do. Either your soulmate was there, or they weren’t. It was out of her control. She convinced Dr. Mei to at least put you both on the same team, but that was the best she could do.
As though your mood wasn’t ruined enough, halfway through the game, Rin showed up with tall, dark, and grumpy in tow. Of course you were happy to see her—it’s nearly impossible to not like Rin, she’s too nice—but the constant angry glare, you could do without. On top of that, you’d started making catches that you never would have made under normal circumstances. That could only mean your soulmate was back.
In between plays you would scan the crowd at the fence, but you knew almost all of them had already matched with your coworkers. The only one who stood out had left when you weren’t looking, and your point streak continued long after. So, either your soulmate was a ninja, or you were just having a really great night. In terms of the game that is. The rest of the night sucked.
“I just don’t know who it could be,” you groaned. Hua placed a comforting hand on your shoulder that almost made you feel worse. She and Kallen worked together as partners in the police department, so she regularly joined you Kallen and Sakura for a Sunday brunch (though it usually ended up just being lunch).
“I’m sure you’ll find them.” If you didn’t know her so well, Hua’s lack of enthusiasm would have made you think she was being sarcastic, but she genuinely meant well.
“Yeah, and you can always ask the city’s best to take on the case,” Kallen sent a wink that just made you roll your eyes.
“I’ve actually been thinking about it,” Sakura started as she finished taking a sip of her tea. “Out of everyone there watching, you spoke to all but two of them.” You nodded to show you were following along, even if you were a bit skeptical. “Those two haven’t been back since.”
“How can you remember that. It’s been over a month since that first game!”
Sakura shrugged. “Computer crashed in the middle of work one too many times.” Kallen laughed but you just sat there, stunned (and maybe a little jealous). “The one person who’s been there both times was actually Kalpas.”
“Oh you’ve got to be joking.”
There was no way. No way that Sakura and Kallen’s friend, the guy that showed no expression other than boredom or annoyance was your soulmate. You doubted he could even smile, let alone be interested in a romantic relationship.
“No, he’s really the only one.” Sakura was doing a good job of holding back her smile, but Kallen was nearly in tears from laughing so hard.
“This is the worst prank—”
“I’m being honest.”
“Well either you or the universe messed up because I cannot believe he…we’re—that,” you couldn’t even say the words out loud.
“Kalpas is your soulmate.”
Unfortunately, Sakura had no issue saying exactly what you didn’t want to hear. With a groan, your head hit the table, rattling the dishes. Once again, you felt a hand resting on your shoulder in an attempt to console you.
In the same voice she would use if a relative died, Hua said, “congratulations.”
Kallen absolutely lost it.
You weren’t completely sure how to feel about the new information. Some part of you had decided that Kalpas was your enemy because he kept giving you that stare, but rationally, you couldn’t think of any reason to hate him. He hadn’t done anything to slight you, but you couldn’t be sure if that was because he was a decent human being or if the fact that you two hadn’t spent more than a couple minutes near each other played a role.
Trying to sort though your thoughts, you made a list of pros and cons for having Kalpas as a partner. Immediately on the ‘pro’ side you put ‘hot.’ And…that was about it.
Moving to the ‘con’ side however. You almost ran out of paper. He’s part of the police force, and while you don’t know what exactly he does, you had seen how rough things could be for Sakura and Kallen. If there was a strong push for a case to be solved, the detective could disappear for weeks at a time, and that’s not even considering the constant risk of her getting hurt in the field.
Other than that, he was never happy (at least that you had seen) and it felt weird to be dating your best friend’s other best friend. Even if Sakura had seemed fine with it at the time and had been the one to bring the relationship to your attention, it felt like you were crossing some unwritten line. Kalpas had also managed to be intimidating all the way from the other side of the diamond that first night, though you guessed that could be a pro. You added it to both columns just to be safe.
He couldn’t be that bad if Sakura and Kallen trusted him to pick Rin up from school, but that didn’t bring you much comfort. You wanted to believe their judgement of Kalpas, but at the same time, you had seen the type of people your friends hung out with. The night of their bachelorette party, your group had been banned from nearly every bar downtown and at least one of them still had your picture up by the door.
In the end, you decided to wait until the next baseball night. Sakura had offered to try and set something up, but you declined, wanting more time to mull things over. It didn’t help that your team had reached crunch time, and you wanted every spare moment to catch up on sleep. Everyone on your team seemed to agree with that sentiment because the next game was cancelled.
As soon as you got the email (that you debated printing because Kevin signed it with a frowny face at the end) you thought that you would have the next month free of seeing Kalpas.
You thought wrong.
The first time he showed up, you had been on your way to brew another cup of coffee when you saw him standing by Sakura’s desk, a to-go bag in hand. Almost on instinct, you ducked down behind the cubicle you were passing. Even though his back was to you, it was a risk you didn’t want to take.
“I know you need that report. I’m almost finished, you didn’t have to come all the way over here to harass me.” Looking up, you saw that you had accidentally crouched down and were now eye level with Raven.
“No no no no,” you whispered. “I’m not here for that, I promise. I’m just hiding.”
“From what?” She narrowed her eyes at you and for a moment you thought she was about to give away your hiding spot. You wouldn’t put it past her to stand up in the middle of the office and loudly get Kalpas’ attention.
“There’s a guy—” her eyes sharpened and suddenly you were more worried about Raven stabbing Kalpas instead of just yelling at him. “He’s my soulmate! But uh we haven’t really spoken yet so…”
“Ah,” Raven nodded as though this was something that happened on a regular basis. “In that case, go away. I have a report that someone is on my back about.” With that, she turned her chair back towards her monitors and went back to typing.
Feeling somewhat betrayed, you peeked over the cubicle wall to check on your target only to find him looking straight back. The office was almost completely silent now that you think about it. Kalpas definitely heard your conversation. When Raven gave you a little jab to the side, you let out a nervous laugh and booked it to the restrooms.
Once inside, you gave a sigh of relief. Leaning on the counter, you looked yourself in the eyes in the mirror. That wasn’t so bad. You’re just being a big baby about this whole situation. Were you going to go back out there? Absolutely not. This bathroom was going to be your safe haven for at least the next thirty minutes but who’s counting?
Sakura laughed at you when you came out, and you’re sure she won’t ever let you live it down, but that encounter was nothing compared to the second one.
It was less than a week later, and you were sitting at Sakura’s desk with her, helping go through some code she’d just edited. You didn’t even notice when Kalpas showed up, all you saw was food being placed on the desk that Sakura was sliding over to you. Almost instantly you gasped and forgot what you’d been working on.
“Oh my gosh thank you so—” When you turned to look at your hero, that’s when you found out Kalpas was in the building. Fight or flight failed you, and you froze in place, neck straining to look up at your sudden visitor.
“Kallen made you rice balls again.”
He wasn’t even looking at you. Kalpas spoke directly to Sakura, and you weren’t sure if you should be glad to have his attention off of you, or hurt for that very same reason.
“Oh, where are they?” Sakura didn’t look too excited, but you could hear in her voice how much she looked forward to her wife’s cooking (even if she still struggled with the basics).
“She burnt them.”
You tried. You tried so hard not to laugh but the hand you held to cover your smile gave you away. Sakura just sighed.
“If anyone can figure out how to burn something you don’t even cook, it would be her.” There were equal amounts of defeat and affection in her tone, and you nodded sympathetically, still biting your lip to hold in the smile.
“You.” Kalpas suddenly turned to you and managed to make his scowl even more terrifying. In a second the smile was wiped from your face, and you were more than a little concerned. “I better not hear about you skipping meals again.” He narrowed his eyes, and you knew better than to test his threat.
“How did you hear about it in the first place?” You regretted asking as soon as the words came out of your mouth, but surprisingly, Kalpas responded.
“Kallen.”
“Oh really?” you turned to Sakura, now sending a scowl of your own. “And I wonder who she heard that from.”
“We really should get back to work,” your friend pulled the top off your share of the food and handed you some chopsticks that probably came from the food you ordered last week. “Thank you Kalpas!” You took the chopsticks but didn’t stop glaring.
“Thank you Kalpas.” When he didn’t move for a moment, you looked back at him and for a second you thought you saw that permanent frown soften just a little bit, making you send a smile of your own. With that, he turned and headed straight for the stairs.
As soon as he was out of eyesight, you were turning to Sakura and hissing “why was he here?”
“He’s in charge of the SWAT team so—”
“He’s what.”
“He’s on call a lot but most times he’s not doing much so Kallen will ask him to send some things over.”
“Why am I not surprised that your wife has made the scariest guy in the precinct her errand boy?”
“Because she’s my wife?” Sakura gave you a proud grin that made you roll your eyes.
“Of course, that explains everything.”
I just want you to know that I almost put reader on fourth base because I wanted a random number and I'm sorry for almost sending you into the void
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Batter Up
First Base
A Kalpas x Reader Soulmate AU, Chapter 1 below!
You loved playing baseball with your coworkers, but making the teams could be such a pain in the ass. Because half of the office knew who their soulmate was, but it was never even. If it didn’t give you such an advantage, no one would care, but you all knew how much of an impact having your soulmate watch made. Professional sports teams wouldn’t even consider players who hadn’t met their partner. Sure, there were a few couples in the office that could just be put on opposite teams like Seele and Bronya, but not everyone was so lucky.
Some were like Sakura who had met her soulmate, but Kallen wasn’t always available to watch. Her job as a detective meant she had a sporadic schedule and missed games even if she originally said she could make it. The majority of the office, however, was in the same boat as you.
Your soulmate was still out there somewhere, and this was your chance to find them. All around the city, there were open areas that could be used to play different sports. Rather than fencing them off from the public, however, the space was easily visible, that way, passing pedestrians might catch a glimpse of a future partner.
Every other week, your office would reserve the field to play baseball (for ‘team building’) and every other week, you’d be out there hoping to suddenly start playing better. As much as you valued this opportunity, setting up with a n uneven number of soulmates really made you question if all this aggravation was worth it.
“Why can’t we just send one person with a match home?”
“We’d have an uneven number of players,” Dr. Mei closed her eyes and sighed. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to explain, and she doubted it would be the last.
“Look, each team has more than enough players, we can survive with one less,” you suggested. You just wanted to get this show on the road, even if it was an unfair contest.
“I can go,” Kiana raised her hand. “I need to buy some groceries for dinner anyway.”
“If you leave, we’ll just be back where we stared, you’d have to stay for Mei or we’re still not even on soulmates.” (Having two ‘Mei’s in the office was not at all confusing)
“I’ll go,” Durandal raised her hand this time. Normally Rita would be on the field as well, but she decided to sit out to finish up some work.
It had taken twenty minutes, but finally, you all got on your teams and sorted out everyone’s position. Since your team had the extra player, Sakura offered to bat, but not play in the field. She had hit more homeruns than anyone else in the office, but couldn’t throw to save her life, so there were no objections.
At first, the teams were even, though it was clear those with their partners watching were carrying most of the weight. Around the third inning, you saw Sakura jog over to the fence while you were getting set up at first base. Her sister, Rin, was there, fingers curling through the chain-links while she practically bounced up and down. Next to her was probably the most intimidating man you had ever seen.
His arms were crossed to show just how thrilled he was to be there. He wore black slacks and a blazer, similar to what you’d seen Kallen wear to work, but her muscles weren’t nearly as obvious through the fabric as this guys. It didn’t help that the net behind the batter was casting a shadow over his face to cover what you were certain was a permanent glare.
Raven, your pitcher, whistled sharply to get your attention and gave a smug grin when your head whipped back around. Giving a sheepish smile, you adjusted your glove and got ready for the next inning.
And that would have been that. Sakura talking to her weirdly creepy friend (or was he Rin’s friend?) at the baseball game between rounds. Except you started playing better. Like. Way better. Only an inning later your team had pulled ahead a noticeable amount, almost entirely because of you. At first, there was a bit of grumbling from the other side, but once it became clear what was happening, everyone just seemed excited to finish the game. Some because they were sore losers, but most of your coworkers wanted you to go find your soulmate.
As soon as the game was over, you ran to the fence to ask for your soulmate. Of the five or six people who had been watching, two had left before you even got over to them. The third told you she had been to a couple of your group’s games now. If she was your soulmate, you would have known by now. The rest were happy to give you their number, but it wasn’t apparent that one was your match. With a sigh, you walked back to the dugout to pack up before heading home. On the way out, you stopped to talk to Sakura for a minute.
“Any luck?” Your coworker turned to face you, still holding onto Rin’s hand.
“I got a few numbers but none of them really stand out you know?” you shrugged. “I’ll try talking to them and hopefully next time we play I’ll get a definite answer.”
“It wasn’t obvious for me and Kallen at first. Give it some time,” Sakura sent you a smile. “This is Kalpas, by the way,” she waved to the man who showed up with Rin. He still looked angry; the only difference was that you were up close now instead of far away. “He actually works with Kallen, but we were friends long before they met.”
With a polite smile you held out your hand in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you.” Kalpas grunted and looked down at your hand but made no move to return the gesture. After a few seconds of awkwardly standing there, you were about to pull your hand back when Rin reached up and took hold of it.
“You’re supposed to shake hands!” she said. “Like this!” The girl shook your hand harshly up and down way too many times, but you appreciated her enthusiasm. When she finally stopped, you gave a small laugh and pulled your hand back to rest on the strap between your shoulder and your bag.
“Well, I gotta get going,” you nodded your head in the direction of your car. “I’ll see you on Monday!” The three of you waved as you walked off and Kalpas remained still as a statue, brooding as always.
“I don’t think it’s me,” Derek shook his head. He had invited you over to play some video games on the weekend after the two of you had spent the week prior texting. It was meant to be a relaxed date, but you both knew you were testing your soulmate bond. The fact that you both were struggling with a game as simple as Mario made it apparent that the bond simply wasn’t there.
Turning to look at him, the grimace on Derek’s face matched yours. “That’s what I was afraid of.” You sighed. “I really have enjoyed talking with you though.”
“Oh same here!” he was quick to agree, bringing back a bit of your smile. “And you don’t have to go, we can keep hanging out. I just don’t want to act like there’s something going on between us when there’s not.”
“Right, no I get it. I actually have some errands to run so I’m gonna head out, but we should keep in touch!”
“Yeah of course!”
You stood from the couch with Derek following as you grabbed your things and stood by the door. Both of you were clearly uncomfortable and you couldn’t wait to get out of this apartment. The smile you gave as you left was forced, but so was his. You both knew there weren’t any errands, you just needed some space for now. Derek might make a good friend in a few weeks but the disappointment of not finding your soulmate was hard to ignore.
On the bright side, you only had the rest of this week before your next baseball game, and you’d already scheduled with Nick for him to be there. Given that Derek wasn’t your partner, and you only had two choices to begin with, it seemed likely Nick was your soulmate, but you wanted to be sure.
Over the past week you had felt like you got along better with Derek, but you may have just been too focused on one person; or maybe you and Nick just hadn’t found the right topic to talk about. Regardless, you were excited for this Friday.
“Your soulmate gonna be there tonight?”
“I hope so!” The workday seemed to drag on forever. It felt like your computer knew you wanted time to go faster, and it was intentionally freezing on every document you tried to open.
Even though you potentially had your soulmate waiting for you, the teams were balanced out like you still weren’t matched. That way, if Nick is your soulmate, you would be able to tell.
He was right on time, giving you a wave and a huge smile that you returned. As soon as the game started, your eyes were practically glued to the scoreboard, waiting for your team to pull ahead. But it never happened.
You ended up losing so badly that your team forfeited after the seventh inning.
“So…”
“Yeah.”
Your voice was quiet, the disappointment clear. Nick for his part at least seemed to be putting on a brave face.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said. “I keep going to games and thinking I’ve found my soulmate only to come up with nothin.”
You winced, feeling bad for adding to his list of not-soulmates. “I hope you find them soon?”
“Same goes for you!”
The walk to the dugout was too long and you could feel the pitying eyes of your coworkers on you the whole way.
“No luck?” Kallen looked up from where she had squatted to fuss over Rin’s hair.
“Nope,” you popped the ‘p,’ frustration evident. “I wouldn’t be so bummed but that was my last lead. That means my soulmate walked off before I even saw them and who knows when I’ll see them again.”
“Want me to pull up the surveillance footage?” Kallen joked and almost fell over when Sakura nudged her.
You gave a nervous laugh, “while I’m sure you have cameras everywhere, I think I’m all set.” That would be a fun conversation to have. ‘Yeah, I think we might be soulmates so I had my coworker’s wife pull up some secret police cameras to find out who you are and where you live. Wanna get food this Saturday?’
I'm gonna be honest, I know very little about Kallen, I kinda just made her character up as I went oops?
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Beauty and Decimation
Everyone Has A Plan
A Kalpas x Reader fic loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, Chapter 6, the last chapter below!
Elysia is standing at the front gate when you get there. It only took you a few minutes to grab all your belongings and throw them in a bag; you had come here with nothing after all. She was looking out into the distance, and you saw a flash of lightning that seemed impossible given the lack of rainfall. Maybe an omen?
“Are you going out to the town?” You’d been so lost in thought, the girl’s voice made you jump and drop your bag. “Is Kalpas joining you, or do I get you to myself for once?”
“I figured since the curse was broken you’d all be leaving. I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
Elysia hummed and looped her arm through yours while picking up your bag. Slowly, she started the trek back to town while talking. “We may have been stuck here for some time, but this is still home for all of us. I’m sure we’ll all enjoy this new freedom for a week or so, and then be right back to our old habits. Besides,” she laughed a little, “could you imagine what would happen if Kalpas were to try living with other people?”
“I’d rather not,” you grimaced. “Why were you out here then?” The path was becoming steadily less overgrown the further you got from the castle gates, and it was starting to make you nervous. If Elysia noticed your tightening grip, she didn’t say anything.
“Just saying goodbye to Mei. It’ll be a few months before she visits again, so I want to spend as much time with her as I can.”
“I’m surprised she would leave,” you did your best to keep the bitterness from seeping into your tone. “Now that the curse is gone, I mean.”
Elysia gave an overdramatic sigh that was more of a whine and pouted. “I tried asking her to go to the village with me, but she said no! Can you believe her?! Our first date not trapped in that stupid palace and she says no!” You froze in the middle of the path to watch as she took her arm back only to wave it wildly in frustration. “I know two months isn’t that long when we’ve both waited thirty years but still!”
“Thirty years?”
“Thirty years! We’ve been together for thirty years and that grump Kalpas finally grows a heart and now she leaves!” Elysia crossed her arms and huffed. “So unfair. At least you’re here to keep me company.” She grabbed your hand and started walking again, but turned when you stayed rooted in place.
“But...I’m leaving?” You couldn’t have sounded more confused if you tried. Elysia gasped so loudly you almost crushed her hand in surprise.
“You can’t leave me too!” For a moment you thought this was going to be the fight with Mobius all over again, half expecting Kosma to appear out of nowhere. Then she gasped again, louder this time. “Ooh Kalpas is going to be so mad! Why are you leaving?!”
“I thought he—” you paused. “Didn’t Mei—” You thought the curse was broken. That he and Mei had come to care for each other through their constant violence, and that you were just in the way. But now you were being told Mei only came here for Elysia and was only coming back for Elysia and Kalpas didn’t even seem to know.
“The curse shouldn’t come back,” she said, just as lost in thought as you were. “But Aponia is smarter than that…”
“No,” an unnervingly calm voice caused you both to whip around to face the new speaker. “The curse won’t come back. I thought of this possibility, but it seemed unlikely.” This must be Aponia, given how intimately she knew the curse. From all the stories you’d been told, the image of her in your mind was much more hag-like than the woman before you now.
Her appearance was angelic, in direct conflict with the ‘fire and brimstone’ theme you’d come to associate with Kalpas. If Su gave off an air of tranquility, the sorceress gave an air of calm that had your hair standing on the back of your neck. It was almost like a false sense of security that you could see straight through.
“Kalpas isn’t one to feel emotions half-heartedly.” Aponia continued, and it was only now that you noticed how she hovered a bit off the ground, forcing you to crane your neck to look up at her as she got closer.
“It���s most noticeable with his more...violent urges, but the same holds true for other feelings. Kalpas clings to those he cares for just as tightly as he clings to grudges. If this hundred-year experiment does not make that clear, I do not know what will.”
“But Mei left?” Your question wasn’t aimed toward anyone specific, but Aponia picked up on your confusion first.
“Mei left,” she nodded. “One of the residents here was outside the castle when the curse took hold. She has gone to inform him of his new freedom.” Seeing that the furrow had yet to leave your brow, she continued. “You were the one to break the spell.”
Shock overtook your features upon hearing those words. Somewhere to your left, Elysia was doing a poor job concealing her giggles which Aponia politely ignored. “Please,” it almost sounded like she was begging, but you doubted whatever the request was, that you could refuse. “Do not abandon him. I am surprised he did not stop you from leaving thus far. Don’t break that trust and walk away. Broken hearts do not mend so nicely as broken bones.”
You were still stunned. Even now, more than a full day later, you had yet to process Aponia’s words.
Elysia had turned you around and steered you straight to Kalpas’ room but he wasn’t there. It was late enough that you figured he had gone out to slaughter any Honkai that unwittingly came near him. A nasty stab wound wasn’t going to stop him from fighting. All it did was force Sakura to trail behind him—at least according to Rin.
Breakfast had been Kalpas-free, as had lunch. At dinner, you were joined by Hua and Su (an odd pair but you enjoyed their company) who told you Kalpas was recovering from his wounds. He was clearly struggling with the transition to being moral again, more so than the others.
The sun had set and dawned a new day, presently at its highest point in the sky as you sat down for lunch. You had gone to the kitchen to help Sakura and promptly been shooed away. The poor woman looked more than a little fed up. She was the only one willing to put up with Kalpas’...well, being Kalpas, so you took a deep breath and offered to cover for her today. This would mean confronting the emotions you had spent the past day avoiding, but you doubted that Kalpas would leave any room for awkwardness. He simply couldn’t be bothered to care about that emotion, and so, for him, it wasn’t an issue. You, on the other hand, had a head full of worries and a heart full of fear.
Aponia couldn’t possibly know exactly what had been happening in the castle (though it felt like you were thinking that more than you actually believed it). What if she was wrong about you being the one to break the curse? What if Kalpas had changed since she knew him and now letting things go wasn’t so hard for him—what if he had feelings for you that only lasted a moment? What if the curse hadn’t been specific enough and Kalpas ‘caring’ for you only meant he wasn’t constantly thinking of setting you on fire?
What if you turned around right now and headed back to the kitchen? That sounded like the best plan.
The past few months (aside from Mei’s visit) had been too good to be true. This had to be the end. Maybe you could get someone to travel to the next town with you so you could start a new life? Many members of the castle had already left—Vill-V and Pardofelis booked it day one, Kosma and Griseo leaving soon after. Elysia had a date waiting for her and Sakura was loyal to a fault, so those two wouldn’t leave anytime soon. Su and Mobius hadn’t expressed any desire to leave (not that you would travel with the latter); but Eden and Hua had.
Lost in thought, planning your escape with one of the girls, you only noticed where you were after you’d doomed yourself by unconsciously knocking on the door you had been dreading this whole time. Kalpas isn’t one to say anything in acknowledgment, you had learned that a few months ago when you were sent on a wild goose chase because of his habit.
You spent an hour wandering the grounds, assuming he hadn’t answered because he was busy elsewhere. He argued that you just open the door anyway if he doesn’t answer and you know he’s in there, so why bother knocking in the first place?
Debating with the prince is like talking to a brick wall, so you let the subject be and a few seconds after knocking, you were pushing the door open, throat tight with anxiety and your grip on the handle even tighter. Inside, you found that Rin was the only thing stopping Kalpas from tearing his stitches open for what must have been the fifth time. It was easy to guess the topic of conversation—Rin’s plans now that she was free—and equally easy to tell that her audience was more invested than he appeared.
She sat at the foot of the bed, Kalpas propped up against the headboard with his head tilted back, almost looking asleep. Seeing you enter had the girl standing to drag you over in a heartbeat. For a ten-year old, she was surprisingly strong, and you nearly upset the plate of food that brought you here in the first place.
Rin led you to the side of the bed, using both hands to urge you to sit where she wanted you. Unfortunately, this spot meant you couldn’t see both of them at the same time without bringing your legs up on the bed and sitting crisscross-applesauce. Putting your back to Rin felt incredibly rude when she was the only one talking and your heart couldn’t bear the sad face she would undoubtedly make. Not that Kalpas was a better option. Turning your back on him felt like signing your own death certificate, and your goal here was food delivery, not funeral planning.
To your surprise—and horror—Rin made the decision for you, claiming she needed to help Sakura clean up the kitchen. Whether it was to take a break or because she truly had chores, you didn’t know. But you had been abandoned. With Kalpas. A man completely oblivious to the tension growing with each passing second spent in silence. Holding the plate with trembling fingers, you wracked your brain for any possible topic of conversation.
“I heard Rin talking about her plans.” You hesitated, wondering if your question was too personal. Wondering if Kalpas ever made plans. “Do you have any ideas for the future?”
When you first got here, his response—almost certainly—would be to tell you to buzz off. Now, however, his response was silence. Truly a demonstration of growth, you thought sarcastically.
“Where are you going?” His question caught you off guard, even if it was presently at the forefront of your mind.
“I’m not sure. I suppose that depends on whether I’m allowed to stay or not.”
Kalpas rolled his eyes, “Where would you go?” The accompanying scoff and condescending tone had you bristle, and you almost wanted to lie and name some random village out of spite.
“I’m not sure,” you repeated, eyes narrowed at him. “Maybe I can find a place a few towns over.”
“The horses could use a good run.” Kalpas took the plate from your hands and turned his attention towards the food, making it seem he was done with this conversation.
Was that it? Take a horse and get out?
Your eyes were wide with hurt, and you hesitated in making your hasty escape long enough that you heard the second half of his response.
“Su won’t let me leave for several more weeks. We can leave once he gets his head out of his ass.”
Irritated, you stood from the bed and pointed an accusatory finger. “Su does not have his—what do you mean ‘we?’”
“His head is so far up—”
“Stop being mean to Su!”
“Tell him to stop keeping me here so we can leave then.” Kalpas smirked at your frustration, and you knew he was only interested in seeing the rage grow in your eyes, but that knowledge didn’t make you immune to his jabs.
“He’s trying to stop you from dying! And since when are we travel buddies?” Completely ignoring your question, Kalpas continued to fan the flames.
In your defense, the back and forth between you both lasted long enough for him to finish eating before you boiled over. Even shouting in his face couldn’t get rid of his grin, and when you finally caught on to how close you two were, it was too late. Kalpas had a not-so-gentle hand behind your neck pulling you down to his lips.
The sudden movement forced you to plant a hand on his chest to avoid completely falling over, and while normally you would be elated to kiss the prince, you were far too angry and concerned with the blood already soaking the bandages. Leaning back, you hardly had a chance to breathe before his lips caught yours again. It took very little convincing for you to resign yourself to spending the rest of your day right here and it wasn’t long before you settled into Kalpas’ lap to ease the angle of your neck. His other hand burned with a gentle yet persistent warmth on your thigh, and he still hadn’t lost that infuriating grin.
No longer propping yourself up, you could run a hand through the singed ends of his hair; and, more importantly, you could grip the white strands to stop his lips from chasing yours when you needed air. This brief pause gave you a chance to notice the blood now staining your own clothes as well as the sheets and that put an end to the moment, despite Kalpas’ protests. For his sake (and Su’s—the poor man did not need any more grief from his patient) you stayed in the room, only changing the bedding after the wounds had been redressed.
Unsure how to start a conversation after all that happened, you stood by the bed awkwardly fiddling with the blanket, pretending to smooth out the already perfect edges. Kalpas staring at you wasn’t helping, but at least he was merciful enough to speak first this time.
“What town are we traveling to first?”
“I don’t have anything in mind, really,” you answered truthfully. It clearly wasn’t the answer he wanted, however, because he smacked your hands away from the bed and matched your glare with one of his own. “I haven’t ever left my hometown to be honest. Never had a reason to.”
“We should go there then.” Kalpas didn’t hesitate with his response and he didn’t waver when you shook your head ‘no.’
“That’s not really traveling, is it?” you gave a nervous laugh. Exploring could be exciting, but you’d rather spend the rest of your life cooped up in this castle than face the men who had driven you here in the first place. “Besides,” you reasoned, “everyone there thinks I’m dead.”
“All the more reason to go,” Kalpas leaned back and closed his eyes, decided in his answer.
“I left to get away from those people.”
“All the more reason to go,” his voice dripped venom, his wild grin was back, and you were certain that if he looked at you, there would be fire in his eyes.
“We are not going to my home and killing people!” In response to your shouting, Kalpas pulled you to his chest over the covers and hummed.
“You should get some rest. Su says it’s good for you.”
“No, it’s good for you because you’re injured. I’m not changing my mind. You can’t just show up with a ghost—a hundred years after disappearing no less—and then go around killing people.” He grunted this time, but you were not at all convinced he was giving up. “Kalpas—”
“Go to sleep.”
You grumbled but otherwise did not argue. If you were being honest, it was only through frustration you had stayed awake this long. The warmth at your back and the plush mattress below had your eyes drifting shut despite your best efforts. With a bit of shuffling, you slipped under the blankets and sighed.
“We’ll find somewhere else to go tomorrow.”
“If you say so.”
“Good night Kalpas.” He said nothing, but a squeeze from the strong arms around you, had you falling asleep with a smile.
don't worry about the fact that kevin is never mentioned, it's fine. he's fine. Also thank you for reading this story! <3 I know I'm a lil rusty after waiting so long but I'm hoping to at least sorta get back in the groove of things. I'm already working on the next fic and potentially half way through writing it? So it won't be weekly updates like I used to do but I'm aiming for 2 weeks or monthly? just not vanishing again I guess
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Old Fashioned
I don't have a link for AO3 because it's not up there yet, but I'll put it here when everything's up!
A Kalpas x Reader Mafia AU! Chapters 1-3 are below!
You trusted Eden. The woman had given you your job, made sure you had everything you needed, and she took care of her employees. So long as you put in the work, you got paid, and the world kept spinning. Even though she made more than enough money singing, the diva happily owned several bars, one of which you managed. This mean you were working most nights, including the night that the Honkai family tried to break in.
There had been rumblings about the family trying to expand into new territory which would include your bar, but most times expansions were cleaner than this. Apparently telling the leader of the group that had come in that they needed to talk to Eden about her paying for their protection was the wrong answer. The second the leader’s look turned sour, all hell broke loose. Patrons of the establishment may not have an opinion on the Honkais, but they sure had an opinion about their favorite bar getting trashed. Between you, the three servers, the cook—who came from the kitchen holding several knives you didn’t even know were back there—and the customers, your unwanted guests were kicked out pretty quickly.
Word traveled fast, and the next day when you called Eden to let her know what had happened, she already knew. She also was already working on a plan to keep the bar safe, which she explained to you that night.
“The Moths are the only group nearby that can really hold a candle to the Honkai family,” your boss explained after the doors closed. She specifically said ‘group,’ because calling the Moth family a mafia would be a bit of an exaggeration. They certainly had a large presence in the area, but they were still rather small, and their territory didn’t even come close to their rival’s. “Since the two are rivals, we can be sure that the Moths will do their best to stop the Honkai from spreading and that includes keeping this bar safe.”
It made sense. Logically, it made sense. But your past experiences with smaller groups made you hesitant to trust Eden’s tactics. This wasn’t the first bar you had worked at, and it wasn’t the first bar you’d had to defend from a mafia, but that didn’t mean it was something you enjoyed. There wasn’t much you could do in this situation, however, so you said a quick ’alright,’ and headed to the back to close up.
You hadn’t expected the Moths to move so quickly. Within a day, they were sending agents to make their presence known, and suddenly your patronage doubled. As nice as the extra business was, you had a lot of extra cleaning on your hands when the Honkais tried to start a fight with your new allies. The head of the Moth family himself, Kevin, was there; and he gave a very clear message that night. “Back off, or end up dead.”
Small or not, the Moths made themselves heard, and you had no more issues with the Honkai family. Your new problems stemmed from Eden’s new relationship. The Moths needed money if they wanted to grow, and your boss was loaded, so it came as no surprise that she had offered financial assistance to gain their protection. It wasn’t like she was pulling from your paycheck to provide the money, but now you were having to add extra expenses to your ledgers, and provide drinks to customers who weren’t always the most polite. Killing someone you’re supposed to be friends with wouldn’t end well, but you sure could yell and scare the shit outta them.
Eden gave you a stern talking to afterwards, but it still had the intended affect. Members of the Moth family that came to your bar treated you and your staff with a lot more respect, and among the dozen or so bars in their territory, yours became the ‘nice’ one. Rowdy crowds were kicked to the curb, high end alcohol was served regularly, and if she was free, Eden would come perform on the small stage in the back. As the family grew, you gained more patrons as well as some new regulars.
Pardofeils would always sit in the corners, and you’d caught her trying to steal drinks more than once. If she was feeling particularly brave, or had a particular request to fill, you could find her sitting at the bar chatting to customers for information. Most nights, however, she kept to herself, and the closest she got to conducting business was when she’d use your back alley for cover of a sale. Because she was so well hidden, to the regular observer, Pardo was just another patron of the bar, not even a notable regular. If you didn't hand it to her first, the drink she would almost always steal was a piña colada.
Hua on the other hand, was not as subtle, but that was intentional. She started visiting shortly after she was promoted within the family, and you were extremely thankful that she did. Lately, a few grunts had been getting handsy with one of your waiters, and Eden had told you she’d take care of it, but nothing had happened. Just before you stepped around the bar and had the two girls thrown out, Hua handled them for you, making it clear that they were in trouble while still maintaining the relaxed atmosphere in the bar. She introduced herself to you shortly after, and told you she’d keep her people in line. She said all this with a smile that was just a little too polite, and hearing her thinly-veiled threat made you laugh.
The both of you got along famously after that, whether she was sitting at the bar chatting with you, or at one of the tables talking with other members of the Moth family. Her presence alone reinforced the idea that your bar was off limits, even though it was close to the edge of the family’s territory. She also made a habit of walking home with you on nights that she’d visit, since the two of you lived in the same building.
Other than those two, you would occasionally see a pink-haired woman who’s name you didn’t know, but you were sure she was part of the family, as well as a pink-haired woman you did know named Elysia. Eden had taken a liking to the girl, and despite being the second in command of the mafia, Elysia still visited often enough that you could recognize her by the way she opened the door. You also knew that she would invariably order a Cosmopolitan to drink while she chatted. What she talked about varied from day to day, but she had ‘accidentally’ let slip that the woman who always sat in the shadows would gladly drink a Bramble with extra blackberries.
There were two others whose drinks you could make without asking: Su—who always got a Jungle Bird when he came for your payments—and Kalpas. It had taken you a long time to figure it out, but the Moth’s main enforcer always enjoyed a whiskey sour, so long as you remembered to add the orange peel on top. It took longer for you to make it than it did for him to throw back, purely because of that garnish. The peel had to be staked on a toothpick, which wasn’t that hard, but then you had to carefully light it on fire so it would smolder, but not so on fire that it would burn away.
This detail added a smokey flavor to the drink that you were certain Kalpas didn’t notice, but he must really like looking at it for the two seconds before he chugs it because he always gave you a nice tip. And by ‘nice tip,’ you mean he was paying your month’s rent every night he came in pretty much. Elysia said he was sweet on you, and Hua tended to agree, but you found it hard to believe the man had anything on his mind other than his next fight.
At first, he didn’t even notice you.
Thursday nights were slow to the point you may as well be closed, or busy to the point you seriously considered hiring more staff. Usually those busy nights were because word had gotten out that Eden would be performing, and the drinks were just an added bonus. Since so many customers would come in just to see her and not actually order anything, Hua had started stationing someone outside the door to collect an entrance fee as well as keep any crazed fans at bay. If there was a performance that month, Su would usually skip his visit, the money made at the door more than covering your dues.
As nice as the extra money was, sometimes the grunt at the door would get a suspiciously large payment, and your bar would get a suspiciously attentive fan. Without fail, at the end of the night, that fan would try to follow Eden out the back door, and without fail, either you or another member of your staff would catch them on the way out. If they were lucky, you would let them off with a warning. If they weren’t so lucky, Eden would catch wind of what had happened, and her usually cherry smile would drop. She’d rather be singing than arguing, so the fights—if you could call them that—lasted less than a second. In most cases, she wouldn’t even bother taking out her second pistol.
Tonight, however, you were hoping to catch the avid fan and avoid having a dead body blocking the kitchen door (which was a serious fire hazard). The bar was packed, even more so than usual. Your waitresses were having to shove their way through the crowds so by the time they got to the table they were serving, half the drinks had spilled. Even customers leaning against the bar top were getting knocked around, a few even falling form their seats. Before the place had been flooded, however, one patron had claimed a seat at the mar, and he hadn’t moved since.
He sat with his back facing you, leaning on the stool more than sitting on it. The fact that he came in at the same time Eden had showed up to get ready immediately had you on edge, and his long standing silence wasn’t helping. Some of Eden’s followers were strange, so by that standard, silent brooding guy was fairly normal. The only thing that had you concerned was the amount of muscle he seemed to have. He’d come in without a suit jacket, which wasn’t that unusual at a bar, but it gave you a clear view of just how much the seams on the back of his dress shirt were struggling. Ass soon as he stepped through the door, he’d begun rolling up his sleeves, and it had you tensing at the thought that he might start a fight.
Instead, he sat down at the bar, sent a glare to all three patrons—who were too drunk to notice—and began his vigil. It had been five hours since then, and with Eden’s performance dying down, you were keeping an eye on the man to see when he’d move. It was difficult with how many drinks you were making, but everyone seemed eager to avoid his little corner, so at least you had a clear line of sight.
One of your co-workers, Himeko, was helping behind the bar, which you were thankful for, because there was a sudden rush of customers when Eden finally finished for the evening. Still the brooding man (that was his name now as far as you were concerned) didn’t move. Most people who were stupid enough to try and stalk the diva would have left to stake out her car by now. For some reason, they assumed that she went straight from the stage to her home without stopping at her dressing room to get out of her ridiculous outfits.
Just when you were starting to think you might have been wrong about Brooding guy’s intentions, he stood from his seat and began making his way through the crowd towards the main room’s back exit. With a nudge to Himeko, you slipped from behind the counter and started following him, though with much more trouble. The man was well over six feet tall, and people were eager to get out of his way. You, on the other hand, were not so lucky, and if you didn’t know the layout so well, you would have gotten lost with how much you were pushed around.
With one last shove, you breached the crowd in time to see the door fall shut. Bracing yourself, you slipped your revolver out form where it was hidden under your apron, and slowly eased the door open. Immediately a pair of sharp eyes were on you. They weren’t familiar, but those broad shoulders certainly were. Brooding guy was waiting for you outside, still brooding, but much more intimidating now that he was facing you.
Muffled voices were the only thing to be heard, though they were nearly drowned out by the heaving beating of your heart. This guy was clearly dangerous. You may not want a fight, but he looked more than happy to start one. The silence between you both was tense. Every shift you made, he immediately picked up on. It felt like you were in your first fight again; small, scared, and woefully unprepared for what stood in front of you.
“You can put the gun away,” a voice finally put an end to the staring contest. You had been so focused, Eden’s sudden appearance had you jumping a little. “I asked him to be here,” she spoke with a graceful wave of her hand and a smile that betrayed how much wine she’d had. Still, this was your boss. And you trusted her. She’d never hurt you before, and you saw no reason for that to change now. Reluctantly, you lowered your revolver—though it hadn’t really been in a threatening position before.
“This is Kalpas,” Eden said calmly, as though she weren’t standing next to one of the town’s most notorious criminals. You knew that name (everyone knew that name) there had just never been a face associated with it, and you almost wished it had stayed that way. Rumors on the street and stories Hua told on long walks weren’t nearly as funny when the person they revolved around stood in front of you. More than anything, he was remembered for the several arson charges on his record, along with the accusations of assault, and the fact that he had gotten away with all that. It was a poorly-kept secret that several members of the jury had been…persuaded to return verdicts of ‘not guilty.’
Now the only question was why he decided to sit at your bar for six hours. You weren’t behind on any payments, and Eden had integrated well into the family, it seemed odd to send someone after her. Kalpas also looked much more intent on burning a hole through your skull rather than hers, so you doubted the diva was the issue here. ‘It’s nice to meet you’ seemed like the wrong greeting to give a man known to carry canisters of gasoline, so you gave him a nod instead and looked at Eden for help. She was—unsurprisingly—oblivious to your struggles, but bailed you out anyway.
“I asked him to come here. You know how some people can get,” her lazy smile turned into a frown that was more of a put, and all you could bring yourself to say was a slow ‘right.’ Inviting a terrifying mobster with a track record of starting fights wasn’t necessarily something that made sense to you, but arguing with someone who committed just as many crimes seemed like a waste of breath.
This whole time, the person you thought was the crazed fan was actually there to stop the crazed fan, and now you just looked strange for following him outside. Do you go back in now? Just say ‘my mistake’ and leave? Should you try to actually talk to these two? You didn’t think talking about the weather would go very far. Weighing your options, you doubted you’d ever see Kalpas again, so it didn’t matter what impression you left with. Turning back towards the fire exit, you narrowly managed to get out of the way before the door slammed open.
The man who stumbled out looked exactly like very other customer in the bar, his only distinctive feature was the frantic look on his face as he scanned the area. Beady eyes passed right over your scowl and Kalpas’ glare and locked onto Eden’s clearly drunk gaze. Having the main enforcer of the Moth crime family here suddenly made sense. This fan was so intent on getting to ‘the love of his life’ that he missed the step out the door and would have fallen face down in the back alley if Kalpas hadn’t caught him.
You weren’t entirely sure that was better. Kalpas held the stranger’s shirt collar tight enough to eave wrinkles that would never iron out. The poor guy was thrown against the wall beside you and held in place by the hands that were still dangerously close to his neck. Despite the clear danger, he only seemed interested in glancing around Kalpas to catch sight of Eden. Truly a dedicated fan. Another rough shove got the creep’s attention, and he was immediately chewed out.
Not that you wanted Kalpas to kill the guy—the whole reason you’d come out here was to prevent that—but it still was a bit shocking that there was no blood spilled. Two people known to kill on a whim in an alley with someone they clearly disliked, and yet, all that happened was some shouting and rough handling. Eden chatted with you as though you both were drinking tea in the park, and not like you were witnesses to any sort of crime
According to her, Su was tired of covering up for all the people who went missing after Eden performed. Honestly, you weren’t surprised; when half a dozen people disappear after following the star, someone’s going to notice. This meant Kalpas was in charge of keeping them away, but also was banned from doing much more than rattle anyone they ran into, hence the lack of bloodshed. If Eden was doing a show in town, she’d have a guard dog, at least for a while.
Once Kalpas was done putting the fear of god into Eden’s latest fan, the four of you went your separate ways. The stranger left first, scrambling out onto the streets and booking it. His attacker went next, heading out at a leisurely stroll with his hands in his pockets like nothing had happened. You saw Eden to her car, and bid her and the driver goodnight, then headed back inside.
Typically, Eden only did a show at your bar once every other month. There were other venues in town, and she wasn’t even in town all that often. Her singing career had her traveling all around the world, and if anyone found out about her ties to the Moths, they turned a blind eye in favor of hearing her music. As popular as your boss was, it came as no surprise when she was asked to record some songs for the radio, and since the studio was only a few miles away, she came around to perform at your establishment more often.
In your mind, spending the whole day singing only to drive a bit and then sing some more was an extremely stressful way to spend your day, and there was no way Eden enjoyed trying to balance recording, negotiating with Elysia, and staying out late to perform. To her, however, visiting the bar was a break from it all. Hours spent locked in a studio with the producer as her only company was draining. Seeing a crowd respond to her songs was something she lived for; so, yes, the late nights left her a little tired, but it was worth it.
It was a win-win. You (technically Eden, but it ended up being your responsibility) made money, she got to unwind, and her presence at the bar had the Honkai family thinking twice about harassing you. The only real downside seemed to be a certain constantly-furious criminal following Eden around.
Kalpas was far from pleased about being dragged around, at least as far as you could tell. The scowl on his face only seemed to vanish when he was fighting, so you didn’t have a very good baseline to tell the difference between a ‘normal Kalpas’ frown compared to an ‘angry Kalpas’ frown. Regardless, he could be found sitting in the same seat at your bar every night Eden performed. He always came in early, once you even found him leaning against the bar waiting for you to show up for the night.
The first few times he walked in, Kalpas would take his seat and stare intently at you while you worked. His eyes were always blazing and it felt like he was judging your every move, even though you knew he had no clue what you were doing. Any attempts at conversation were met with silent glares or promptly shut down. The closest you got to a sort of interaction between the two of you was when you placed a glass of water on the counter for him each night.
Monday nights were slow, so that was the day you usually took off, but this week you were short two waitresses. Kiana had attempted to cook and ended up with food poising. You were more surprised that she was allowed in the kitchen than the fact that she got sick. The second waitress, Mei, was smart enough to avoid the food, but as Kiana’s roommate (and nothing more, they both insisted) she needed to stay home and look after her. Knowing it would be a quiet night, you came in to cover both shifts, and put off your chores for the week until Wednesday.
Himeko was behind the counter as expected, getting ready for the night when you came through the door. She raised an eyebrow at the apron being tied around your waist and the fact that you were on the wrong side of the bar. “Looking for more hours?” she teased
You let out a snort and leaned on the counter. “Kiana and Mei called out, and you know Raven won’t waitress no matter how much you pay her.” Himeko shook her head and sighed at the situation. “All I can say is I better get some very nice tips tonight,” you pushed off the counter and headed for the kitchen to get ready. It had been a while since you’d done anything other than work the bar. The third bartender, Bronya, had left after a disagreement with Raven, and you’d been dragging your feet about getting a replacement. Two months wasn’t long enough for you to completely forget the routine for setting up, and soon you were standing at the bar helping Himeko organize some of the bottles.
Hearing the door open, you glanced at the clock and saw you still had a good twenty minutes before opening. When you turned to tell the customer as much, you were met with Kalpas, and the words out of your mouth were “What are you doing here?” Immediately you winced; getting in a fight had not been on the to-do list for the day. Himeko shared your startled look, but she also seemed to be considering if she should move further away from you to be safe. While poorly phrased, you meant what you said. Kalpas only came in when Eden did, and there was no way she’d show up on a Monday. Please don’t let Eden show up on a Monday.
If he was bothered by your comment, Kalpas didn’t show it. He made the short walk from the door to his bar stool and stared you down like he always did. “Eden’s here. I’m here,” he said as though it were obvious. Himeko and you shared another scared glance, this one for different reasons.
“But it’s Monday,” she tried to argue. All she got for an explanation was a shrug. Turning on your heel, you went to the back again and down the side hall to the dressing rooms. Before you even reached the end you could hear Eden humming through the door and you froze mid-step. Spinning around again, you walked a little too fast and pushed the door open a little too hard. Looking Himeko in the eye, you told her.
“We’re fucked.”
It being a work day and the show being last minute seemed to do very little to reduce the number of customers jammed into every seat you had. As soon as you’d found out, you called in some more waitstaff, but you were still running around like a chicken with its head cut off. You’d thought people would drink less to avoid a hangover in the morning, but in fact they drank more because they’d all ‘had a bad start to the week.’ As though severe dehydration would help.
Your only saving grace was surprisingly Kalpas. At first, he seemed to be laughing at your frazzled state, but after sending several glares, you were too tired to care. Running between the bar and the tables, you were constantly pushing against people which only made your job harder. Around the counter, there was practically a wall of people, and the only gap was the small amount of space next to the angry mobster. As much as you hated being so close to him (you’d always had a strong sense of self-preservation) it was the easiest way to get to Himeko and pick up or shout out orders.
Every time you ran back from a table, you expected the little window to be filled by someone, or even Kalpas himself to take up the space, but the opposite ended up happening. When you were handing an order off, the crowd all shifted. Someone at the other end of the counter had fallen into an overenthusiastic hug that had the whole line tipping until you were crushed against Kalpas’ arm, your death grip on the bar top the only thing keeping you up. He gave an extra mean scowl when you glanced up, but there wasn’t much you could do about the situation. As soon as you were able, you were back on your feet and carrying martinis across the room.
Next time you ran up to the bar, Kalpas had leaned his elbows back on the counter. He was taking up more room, but instead of narrowing the gap, it got bigger. Patrons that saw him stretched out also saw the tattoo on his forearm and the scars on his knuckles that practically screamed ‘wiseguy.’ Whether he did it intentionally or not, you sent a silent thanks his way every time you took advantage of the opening.
The worst part of the night, by far, wasn’t the shouting or the spilled drinks, or the missing tips, or even the harassment. No, the worst was at the end of the evening when Eden announced she’d be back on Friday.
It being a work day and the show being last minute seemed to do very little to reduce the number of customers jammed into every seat you had. As soon as you’d found out, you called in some more waitstaff, but you were still running around like a chicken with its head cut off. You’d thought people would drink less to avoid a hangover in the morning, but in fact they drank more because they’d all ‘had a bad start to the week.’ As though severe dehydration would help.
Your only saving grace was surprisingly Kalpas. At first, he seemed to be laughing at your frazzled state, but after sending several glares, you were too tired to care. Running between the bar and the tables, you were constantly pushing against people which only made your job harder. Around the counter, there was practically a wall of people, and the only gap was the small amount of space next to the angry mobster. As much as you hated being so close to him (you’d always had a strong sense of self-preservation) it was the easiest way to get to Himeko and pick up or shout out orders.
Every time you ran back from a table, you expected the little window to be filled by someone, or even Kalpas himself to take up the space, but the opposite ended up happening. When you were handing an order off, the crowd all shifted. Someone at the other end of the counter had fallen into an overenthusiastic hug that had the whole line tipping until you were crushed against Kalpas’ arm, your death grip on the bar top the only thing keeping you up. He gave an extra mean scowl when you glanced up, but there wasn’t much you could do about the situation. As soon as you were able, you were back on your feet and carrying martinis across the room.
Next time you ran up to the bar, Kalpas had leaned his elbows back on the counter. He was taking up more room, but instead of narrowing the gap, it got bigger. Patrons that saw him stretched out also saw the tattoo on his forearm and the scars on his knuckles that practically screamed ‘wiseguy.’ Whether he did it intentionally or not, you sent a silent thanks his way every time you took advantage of the opening.
The worst part of the night, by far, wasn’t the shouting or the spilled drinks, or the missing tips, or even the harassment. No, the worst was at the end of the evening when Eden announced she’d be back on Friday.
The whole day it felt like you were just waiting for tonight, so rather than pace around your apartment until you put ruts in the floor, you headed to the bar early. There was no rush, no one else would be coming in for another hour, but you walked like one of Honkai’s men was following you the whole way. A few blocks later, you were fishing for the keys and taking deep breathes to calm down while you still had the time to do so. Stepping inside, you flicked the lights on and locked the door behind yourself like it was any other day.
Really, it was. Or, at least, that’s what you were trying to convince yourself. Eden had brought in huge crowds plenty of times. This was nothing new, and if you’d survived it before, you could do it again. Your pep talk continued as you started pulling chairs off of tables and heating up the oil fryers. All you have to do is make drinks the same as any other night. If customers get pissed, that’s their problem. You can’t just make the crowd go away. Gosh you wished you could make the crowd go away. Disappearing clientele probably wouldn’t be too good for business though, so that fantasy would have to be shelved for later.
For now, you needed to focus on bringing in the new kegs you’d ordered and taking out the old ones. Flicking open the lock on the back door, you’d barely turned the handle before it was swung in and narrowly missed your nose. Your reflexes may have been quick enough to dodge that, but they weren’t fast enough to recognize who was on the other side of the door before your fist was making contact.
“Shit. Fuck, I’m sorry.” Kalpas gave an unamused look at your apologies and didn’t even say anything as he pushed his way inside the bar. Once his back disappeared behind the swinging door separating the kitchen from the rest of the bar, you looked down at your hand. “Fucking ow,” you whispered to yourself while trying to shake some of the sting out of your knuckles. Glancing at the door to be sure Kalpas hadn’t come back to kill you for the mild inconvenience, you sent a silent curse his way and went out the back door.
What the hell was he doing here anyway? you wondered while hauling in the first keg. Eden being here would make the most sense, but it was still super early, even for her. Turning off each valve you took the last keg out of the series and slid the second into its spot. Shuffling the new keg into the open space, you reconnected the three and went out to the bar to double check the pressure.
“You done whining?” Of course Kalpas was sitting at the bar, already leveling you with a glare. Ignoring him, you tested the tap and headed back out once you were satisfied. It was definitely a dangerous game to be playing, but you already had a lot on your plate, and talking to someone that frustrating wasn’t something you were particularly keen on doing. Plenty of customers would fill that role later tonight anyway.
Grabbing the empty keg, you brought it out back to be picked up and hauled in the next full one. Shifting the line like you had with the last draft, you connected the lines and went back to the front where Kalpas was lazily looking at a switchblade as it reflected what little light was able to slip past the curtains. You hesitated for a step, worried he might just be testing the weight of the knife before he drove it into your neck. But you couldn’t let him know that. Taking another step like nothing had happened, you managed to make it all the way to the tap before you gave in and looked up at your only customer.
“I don’t know what you’re crying about,” Kalpas sneered while placing the tip blade on the counter top and balancing it with a finger. “You didn’t even hit me that hard.” Secretly, you wished you had hit him a little harder, but given how your knuckles were still throbbing and he hadn’t even gotten a nosebleed, you doubted that would help.
“I’m not crying, I’m working,” you stated and poured another small glass of beer. Kalpas gave a scoff and you rolled your eyes, but the conversation didn’t go any further. Satisfied with the amount of foam in your cup, you dumped the beer, but just before you set the glass down you saw Kalpas lift up the knife and prepare to drive it into the wood. It only lasted a second, but in your mind it felt like you were glaring at him for a century without anyone moving. Normally the heat behind your eyes would have been enough to get anyone to back down. You weren’t so lucky this time.
Your brain didn’t even know what was happening, but your hand was moving just as Kalpas brought the blade down towards the counter. At the very last second, you slid the cup under his knife and its tip shattered the glass instead of splintering wood. Your hand was bleeding, but you’d won that fight and the stare you gave barely hid your anger.
“Don’t fuck up my bar,” you threatened and let go of the now broken cup, letting all the shards fall. The base remained strong, protecting the wood, though there was a deep chip in it now. Kalpas laughed as you walked away, but he didn’t try it again.
Last night had been just as tiring as you expected, but it hadn’t ended in disaster. Today you had come in early to clean up the mess that had been left overnight, and Kalpas had been leaning against the bricks next to the door waiting for you to unlock the bar. Now with the taps connected, shelves restocked, tables wiped down, and ash trays dumped, everything was looking ready to go. There were still a few minutes before the place opened, and Raven was running late—not that there was a whole lot for her to do at this point. You headed back to the front, hoping to relax for a minute before everything went downhill. Kalpas was still sitting in the same seat, pointedly ignoring you, just as you wanted.
Heading to the far side of the room, you sat sideways on one of the padded booths, and laid back with a groan. Through the windows, you could hear the sounds of pedestrians passing by and the occasional car trundle down the street. The owner of the store next door could be heard arguing with a customer on the other side of the wall, while a dog barked at the train rolling through town. A smile came to your face at the moment of peace all around you.
This was a close to quiet as the town got. In the morning there would be workers fighting for the last spot on the bus, and boats miles away sounding their horns for no reason other than to interrupt your sleep. Once the bar closed for the night, wiseguys would fight in alleyways, and you’d be woken up to shattering glass. Complete silence made your skin crawl and every muscle in your body tense in anticipation, but where you were right now—relaxed, in your bar listening as life happened around you—this was bliss.
There had been nothing to warn you of what was coming. No yelling or doors slamming or tires shrieking against pavement. You took a relaxing deep breath in, then nearly choked on a gasp when you heard the shot ring out far too close for comfort. Immediately, you stood up from your seat. Kalpas remained where he was, not even flinching. Good for him, you thought bitterly and rushed behind the bar to grab your revolver. Once you felt the familiar weight in your hand, you locked your eyes on the door that led to the dressing rooms and held your breath.
This is why you hated silence. Any pedestrian with an ounce of sense was off the street, cars found a different route around, and any barking was hushed before it started. Even the train had moved on, leaving you with only the sound of your own shallow breaths and rapid heartbeat. There was the tapping of shoes meeting the warped wooden floors. The soft click as you aimed your gun at the door the noise was coming from. The sound of the latch turning and wood groaning form the shifting weight. You remained tense as the door opened, adrenaline pumping to prepare you for whatever stood on the other side.
All you caught was a glimpse of light pink, then Kalpas’ arm was blocking your view as he pushed your gun down towards the floor. While his actions were calm and made you think this might be a friend, his voice gave the opposite impression. He spoke in such a low tone you almost couldn’t hear him. The hand on your revolver hadn’t moved either, his grip only tightening in anger and making the metal creak.
“Elysia.”
You took a breath so sharp it burned your nose. Eden had mentioned that name multiple times, but you knew better than to look too much into it. Asking about such important members of the family was a good way to end up at the bottom of the river with a pocket full of rocks. What Elysia might be doing here you weren’t sure, but the blindingly white blouse, flashy skirt, and pink hair lined up with what you’d heard about the girl, and you weren’t about to ask stupid questions. Kalpas seemed unbothered by her presence—or rather, more annoyed about her being here than scared. He still stood a step or two in front of you, so worst case scenario, you could duck behind him and potentially escape.
“Kalpas!” Elysia smiled and you almost felt sick. “I didn’t know you were here!” She started walking towards you both, and if it weren’t for the firm hand on your gun, you would have taken a step back. Her movements all had the same effortless grace Eden always bore, but there was a threat lying just under each and every motion. You hated being nervous. You hated feeling weak. Standing before Elysia like this, however, you were given no other choice.
“We had another run-in with a fan,” she gave a giggle that made it sound like she was meerly gossiping and not talking about a murder. That’s surely what this is about after all. Some poor idiot got too close and met their idol for about three seconds before also meeting her pistol. “Can you go back there and handle the clean up?”
Silence and a glare came in response, but Elysia didn’t notice. “It is your job after all. Don’t worry,” another giggle had you tensing. “I’ll keep your friend company while you’re busy!”
Dealing with Kalpas was bad enough, and you could only handle being around Eden because you had known her for so long. Elysia looked like she could eat you alive with that smile hidden behind perfect pink nails and carefully curled hair. It was odd to think about how terrifying she could be when her main business was drawing people in, not scaring them away. A brothel run by the deadliest woman in town wouldn’t have very many clients if she openly advertised herself as such. Clearly she was doing something right; nearly every cop was aware of (and supported) her business, and her contributions to the family made your bar look like a lemonade stand.
No amount of mental pleading seemed to be enough to stop Kalpas from abandoning you, however, and you withered under Elysia’s gaze as he left. Her grin almost had you convinced she knew just how badly you wanted to avoid her, and she was enjoying your torment. With your—unwilling—personal shield gone, you retreated behind the counter in the hopes that it would provide at least some sort of protection. It brought you comfort, if nothing else.
“Want a drink?” you offered, looking for something to keep your hands busy. Elysia gave a thoughtful hum and slid onto one of the bar stools, adjusting her skirt to fall just right. Once finished, she leaned an elbow on the bar and settled her chin on her fist. The smile that settle don her lips was so predatory you could almost imagine Kalpas giving the same look before beating you to a pulp. As much as you wanted to run to the kitchen to avoid those sharp eyes, you stayed where you were and distracted yourself with wiping tiny fragments of glass off the bar.
“I had this drink a while ago, but can’t remember what it was called.” Elysia took a strand of hair from over her shoulder and began weaving it through her fingers while still staring you down. “Eden recommended it to me, and all I know is that it was pink and fruity.” Well that certainly narrowed things down. ‘Pink and fruity’ was practically worthless information, but the fact that Eden knew what it was called actually helped.
You see, the diva could probably list every wine known to man, but she left mixed drinks to you and the other bartenders that worked for her. When you asked her what she did know how to make, you were able to list them all on one hand. A cosmopolitan was the obvious choice of the bunch, but you decided to ask, just in case.
“Fruity like cranberries?” you spoke while leaning down to grab a cocktail glass from under the bar. Elysia gave a happy hum and a short giggle as you got to work. It was easy to fall into the motions and ignore the woman in front of you just like you ignored any other customer while you were focused. The moment gave you a chance to finally release the adrenaline that had been holding your shoulders taught for the past ten minutes.
Slipping the slice of lime onto the rim of the glass, you slid it forward toward Elysia and waited for her approval. Without even taking a sip, her smilE had softened to something that might almost be considered friendly. It was certainly an improvement over the unnerving look from earlier. The moment the glass touched her lips, you knew you’d passed the test. Elysia gave a properly pleased grin and took a second sip that nearly drained the cup. In a matter of seconds it felt as though all the tension left the air and you could breathe again.
“That’s exactly what I had in mind.” The compliment had you giving yourself a mental pat on the back and you were finally able to untangle your fingers from the towel at your hip. “Edie always keeps the best bartenders to herself,” Elysia gave a put that could have anyone forgetting what she did for a living. “I really don’t know why. All she ever drinks is wine anyway.” You snorted a little at that last bit. Eden hadn’t asked you to make her anything since she’d hired you, and you were certain you could’ve passed off a regular soda for the gin and tonic she asked for.
Suddenly, Elysia gasped as if having a revelation. “I should steal you for my bar!”
“Ely, please stop trying to poach my workers.” Eden came through the side door that lead to her dressing room with Kalpas in tow. The two women playfully bickered while your boss joined you behind the bar and poured herself a glass of wine from a bottle that was probably worth two months of rent. “There’s nothing stopping you from visiting if that’s what you’re after.”
“But imagine how many customers we could pull in with this cutie behind the bar!” Elysia grabbed Eden’s hand in both of hers like they were in a play and Kalpas gave a short laugh at the display.
“You already stole Lyle and Carole with that argument. It’s not easy to replace bartenders right now.” Elysia continued to hold the hand she’d captured while Eden threw back her glass and set it on the counter for a refill. This pattern continued until the bottle was empty, at which point Raven slid through the door while tying her apron and shooed the girls away and back to the dressing room. With them out of your hair, you left for the back to do some last minute checks.
#azaryawrites#kalpas x reader#tamalethebear#honkai x reader#hi3 x reader#I fear the star rail players who come here#I promise I am just as confused as you are#not yet edited!#mafia au#I have GOT to get some kinda line break for tumblr
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Old Fashioned
I still don't have an AO3 link, we'll get there eventually
A Kalpas x Reader Mafia AU, chapters 4-6 below!
“I’ll talk to Su, don’t worry.”
“Bit late for that,” you gave a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through your hair for the hundredth time.
Eden gave you a relaxed smile that you wish you could return, but you were too panicked at the moment. “It’s nothing to get worked up about. I’ll just tell him we don’t have enough to pay him this month and drop the cash off next week.” She could get away with saying that, but if you tried to pull that kind of stunt, Su would have your head. It didn’t matter that he knew you were good for the money, paying late was just as bad as not paying at all, and even being his favorite ‘customer’ wouldn’t keep you safe.
This was the first time your bar had been unable to make a payment and the thought alone was enough to make your blood run cold. Through no fault of your own, the bar was strapped for cash. Completely wiped. Tills, safe, everything. You had, quite literally, lost it all overnight. Someone–probably Honkai related–had broken in, so all you have is the cash Eden brought over just now. You weren’t entirely surprised this had happened, but it still wasn’t a situation you really wanted to be in. Robberies weren’t uncommon, but it took a special kind of idiot to steal from the Moth family, so security for your bar consisted of a lock that you could pick in 3 seconds, and a safe that you always picked because you’d lost the key.
Su would be by for your payment in a few hours, but the banks were closed and even Eden didn’t keep enough cash on hand to cover his demands. With little else to do, you filled the till for the night and tried to focus on preparing everything rather than the thought of Su’s normally kind eyes growing hard as you tried to explain the situation. That focusing was not going well.
Eden headed to the bar and took a seat next to Kalpas–only after pouring herself a glass of unreasonably priced wine of course. What the two of them were talking about, you weren’t sure. All you could hear from the other side of the swinging door was grumbles and near-hysterical laughter that had goosebumps forming on your arms. When the bar opened, the two Moth members separated; Eden left to chat with an old friend and Kalpas remained in his usual seat doing his usual thing of glaring at you without speaking. Even for a Monday night, it was exceptionally slow, and you wished he would say something, more due to the boredom gnawing away at your mind than the awkwardness of silence.
“So how long will you be sticking by Eden for?” you asked, leaning on the bar. It was extremely unprofessional to be laying so much of your upper body over the bar top, but it made your back feel so much better after standing for so long. There was no one there to see but Kalpas, so you didn’t particularly care about professionalism. Not receiving an answer, you continued speaking. “It’s just odd to me that someone so high up in the family would be put on babysitting duty.” He looked pissed at this point, but no more so than usual. “I figured you would handle bigger fights,” you shrugged.
“Are you offering?” Kalpas leaned forward with a smirk and a glint in his eyes that should have made you more concerned than it did.
“I’ve seen some of those admirers bite. I don’t think I’m gonna be more of a challenge than they are.” With a sigh, you stood and rolled your shoulders, trying to loosen them after putting so much of your weight on the joints. “I’m gonna go snag some fries from the back, shout if you need something.” You gave a slight wave and pushed through the swinging door to the kitchen. The chef made a big fuss about you stealing the food, but didn’t even bother getting up from his chair to try and stop you.
“What exactly is your job in the family?” you asked while putting the fries on the counter in front of Kalpas. He would never eat them, but you always offered, and he always opted to sit there and watch you take the food from under his nose. Part of you knew the question was bold, and even low level wiseguys would tell you to drop it, but you also knew that; one, Kalpas likely didn’t care if you knew, and two, if he didn’t want to tell you, he’d say as much flat out.
“I fight,” he rolled his eyes and you nearly did the same.
“Yeah. I get that,” you gestured with the fry in hand like it was a cigar. “But what kind of fights? It seems like you’re just a jack-of-all-trades.” That comment earned you a grin that matched the concerning laugh you’d heard hours before.
“I dare you to find a fight I’ll lose,” Kalpas gave a chuckle that made your skin crawl. “I’ll turn Honkai into a pile of ashes and bury every member of his family one by one.” The mention of the head of the family, William Honkai, had your eyes widening and you were suddenly very glad that your only patrons were too drunk to hear what Kalpas had just threatened. If someone under Honkai found out, that could mean war, and your bar would be on the front lines.
“I’ll paint the streets with their blood and–”
“Yep!” you frantically shoved a hand over Kalpas’ mouth. “Yes! I totally believe you, so maybe let’s not list all the ways you plan on murdering people, ok?” Eden gave you a questioning glance while Kalpas sent a withering glare that had you pulling your hand back as though you’d been burned.
The harsh look didn’t stop, but he did change topics, which you were incredibly thankful for. Hearing about fights he’d started was more entertaining than you would have thought. Some of them were just ‘person A pissed me off and I started throwing punches’ (which was especially funny when ‘person A’ was Kevin). A few were actually fights he was supposed to start, like when you saw him beat that guy up in the alley. Most surprisingly, a fair number of his fights seemed to be with other wiseguys in the family.
Anyone who stepped out of line seemed to run into Kalpas right after Aponia told them exactly what they had done wrong. The timing was…convenient. And it certainly got the message across. There were so many stories, it didn’t even register that this was the most the two of you had ever spoken. It was a nice distraction, and you had completely forgotten about your financial woes by the time Su came in. As nice as it was to have an hour or so without anxiety, seeing the debt collector had your heart kicking into high gear and your stomach twisting into knots.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Kalpas,” Su spoke in the same even tone he always used. He could probably find a job as a yoga instructor with how relaxed he sounded. Still, no amount of talking from either of you would get you out of this situation. “Though it is a rather lovely establishment.” A pleasant smile was flashed your way which you returned with a forced grimace.
“Just the usual?” you asked, desperately trying to make eye contact with Eden. When he gave a polite nod and smile, you started pushing glasses and bottles around, hoping it mit catch your boss’s attention, but had no luck. Mixing the Jungle Bird, you tried to keep up with the conversation, and ended up saying “uh-huh” about twenty times before Su finally stopped talking at you to take a sip of his drink.
“Perfect as always,” he gave a closed-eye smile that told you he knew something was up. It told you that you better start talking now or he would start pushing and while you doubted he could ever lose his patience, he certainly would give a harsher punishment for wasting his time. Now was that make or break moment that would decide whether you were just left to bleed out on the street, or if you’d be ‘lucky’ enough to have a swift death. Tension in the air was palpable and you were mentally screaming for Eden to turn around and save the situation, but she remained blissfully unaware of your predicament.
“Don’t you have better things to do than sit around bumming drinks?” Kalpas spoke with a sneer, as though Su being near him was offensive. He turned to face Su head-on and now you suddenly had to worry about a fight between the two mobsters killing you before Su could do so personally.
“Aren’t you doing the same thing?” he raised an eyebrow while raising the glass to his mouth. The words made Kalpas bristle in a way you hadn’t expected, and apparently neither had Su.
“I’m doing my job,” the words came through gritted teeth and with so much malice that Su lowered his drink and finally gave Kalpas his full attention. The two stared at each other for what felt like a century. One looked calmed and poised while the other looked like he’d been wound impossibly tight and was on the verge of snapping and taking out anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. Bar Fights, you could handle. This was way out of your league.
Eden’s laughter broke up the standoff, and you had never heard a sound quite so sweet. Kalpas still didn’t budge, deaf and blind to anything that wasn’t his opponent, but Su looked to his left and saw your boss sitting at a table with a few bottles of wine and a patron or two for company.
“It’s been some time since I sat down with Eden. I’ll come back to chat before the end of the night.” Su gave you that uncomfortably polite smile again, then slipped off his stool, not sparing Kalpas another glance.
“What the hell was that?” you whispered at your lone customer, causing him to finally look away from the fight brewing in front of you both.
“Why is he here,” Kalpas ground out the words, like Su was some sort of disease.
“What do you mean?” you asked, and while you were confused by the question, you were more thrown off by how much angrier than normal he seemed, and you were starting to consider escape routes. “Su’s here to collect the monthly payment?” It came out as a question, not because you were unsure if that was the answer, but because you were unsure if that was the answer Kalpas wanted to hear. Right now, you would tell him the moon was purple if it would calm him down and save your bar from a nasty fight.
“Why the hell are you paying?”
“So Su doesn’t take my head off?” Now you were just completely lost. Why wouldn’t you pay? Everyone in town paid the Moth family in some way or another, regardless of how close they were to one of the bigwigs. Everyone paid a cut to Kevin. That’s just how things work. Well, not according to the man brooding in front of you, but you didn’t exactly have the energy to convince him otherwise at the moment. In the interest of your sanity, you took a glance over to Eden’s table, made sure everything looked normal–or as normal as two mafia capos having a chat could look–then headed for the kitchen. The chef didn’t even spare you a glance when you started angrily shoveling fries into a basket and dumped half the salt shaker on top.
Two minutes and a questionable amount of sodium later, you were feeling better and headed back out to brave the cruel world. And exactly nothing had changed. No new customers, no one waiting to pay or order a new drink. Everyone right where you had left them, and without the stress of Su breathing down your neck, you were back to being bored. You dusted off half of the shelves behind the bar before the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted you.
“Eden has explained the situation to me,” Su gave a much less threatening smile and placed his empty cup on the counter. Internally, you were thrilled that you wouldn’t have to go home and pick your funeral outfit. Outwardly, you just gave a relieved smile and took the glass to be cleaned. “I’ll be back next week and–”
“No.” Kalpas, who you both had ignored up to this point, interrupted your chat and stood from his stool. He made his way to Su, and when there was only a foot of space between them, he slapped a handful of money on his chest. “That’s what you’re owed,” he said, and you realized he was saying this as a fact, despite not knowing how much you paid each month. You could tell because four of those bills would have covered you for the month, but there was a stack pressed into Su’s hands that was probably a full year’s pay.
“If that’s how you want to spend your paycheck, I’m not going to stop you,” he laughed. Maybe the situation would have been funny if you weren’t so alarmed by the absurd amount of cash being passed so haphazardly right in front of you. Su seemed content, however, and he took his leave soon after straightening the bills and slipping them in his suit coat pocket.
“I’ll pay you back,” you spoke as soon as the door was shut. Going from owing one wiseguy to owing another rarely worked in one’s favor, and Kalpas seemed much more likely to break your legs than Su did. “Eden will have the money tomorrow. You can grab it then. Or I can keep it here if you’re busy–”
“No.” he said again, though with slightly less hostility. “You don’t owe that bastard shit.” A second of silence passed where you feared Su might somehow hear the comment and come back to ‘accidentally’ start a kitchen fire. Kalpas calmly took his seat again and openly laughed at your shocked face. “I’ll kick him to the curb any day of the week.”
It was another slow day. Kalpas had taken to spending a few hours at the bar, even if Eden wasn’t there, and you were thankful for the company. Kiana was sweet and good at her job, but being the third wheel at your own bar while she and Mei flirted was getting on your last nerve. He had yet to run out of tales of his adventures, and you were starting to feel bad for Dr. Mobius as more and more of the stories involved him getting shot and her patching him up.
“Hey,” a customer tapped on the bar, interrupting your personal podcast. “I get a whisky sour?”
“Sure thing,” you nodded and got to work. Kalpas was by no means shy, but he preferred privacy, so you weren’t surprised that he remained silent while someone else was at the counter.
“So, you part of the Moths?” The question caught you off guard and it took years of practice to cover the surprise and keep you from pausing what you were doing. Eden wasn’t known to be part of the family, so you had to be discreet with your dealings and deny any involvement if the topic came up, which, up to this point, it never had.
“What of it,” Kalpas growled. His arms were crossed, and his grip tightened until his fingers were leaving indents on the muscle.
“Nothing!” The guy laughed like he was joking with an old friend. Seeing Kalpas’ eye twitch, you figured it was in everyone’s best interest if you finished the drink quickly and cleared the area. “I like what you’ve done with the town. Things are a lot better than when Honkai was in charge.” Before he could go on any further, you put the drink down a little harder than usual and cleared your throat.
“On the house,” you smiled, but the look you gave said ‘get out of my sight.’ You would gladly cover the cost of the drink if it got this man away from you before he said something that would lead to your bar catching fire or needing all the windows replaced. Thankfully, he took the glass with a nod in thanks and headed back to his table. Not even a second after he sat down, Kiana stopped at the table, taking their order and your eyes narrowed in suspicion. Did the customer come up to the bar just to meet Kalpas? Maybe Kiana had taken a while to get to their table? That seemed unlikely, but very few people knew what Kalpas looked like, so it was equally unlikely that this was just some Moth fanboy. When your eyes met the strangers, you felt a shiver go up your spine and quickly looked away.
Having new regulars wasn’t that big of a deal, but most of your regulars didn’t give you the creeps like Caspar did. He’d started showing up with a few friends though the group changed depending on the day. What didn’t change was the pattern he followed. If it was just you, he’d stay almost to closing, but would only order drinks from the waitstaff. When Eden was there, he made himself scarce–you’ve seen him enter the bar and immediately dip back out when he saw her on the stage.
Days that Kalpas came to visit, however, were when Caspar was most active. He’d walk right up to the bar and get each of his buddy’s drinks individually, actively looking for an excuse to start a conversation. Kalpas was quick to wave him away each time, which you appreciated, but the interactions were still unnerving every time.
“So are you and Kalpas a thing?” Caspar asked and you couldn’t decide if you should drop the cocktail glass in your hands or break it against his face.
“Who told you that?” you asked, opting for the middle ground of squeezing the cup half to death.
“No one, he just spends a lot of time here.”
You shrugged, “It’s his job.”
“But even when he’s not working–”
“Look man,” you put a hand on your hip and pulled out the glare you saved for assholes trying to break your stuff. “You wanna ask the guy out, it’s your funeral, but quit wasting my time.” He blanched at your suggestion, puffed up in anger for a second, then eventually left when your furious look didn’t relent. Grumbling to yourself, you went back to putting away the clean dishes, secretly dreaming of breaking Caspar’s nose.
“What was that all about?” Hua’s voice interrupted your work and got you to look up for a second. She usually got her drink and then went back to the tables to keep her idiots (she said it with love) out of trouble; so, seeing her take a seat at the bar told you there was no avoiding a conversation.
“I don’t know,” you sighed and got to work on a blueberry mojito. At Hua’s raised eyebrow, you pursed your lips and started pressing a little harder than necessary to break up the mint. “Kalpas finally got a fan I guess. He’s the only thing that guy will talk about.”
“And he was asking you?” You hummed in response and slid the drink across the bar. “Weird.”
“Very,” your agreement hung in the air as you wiped down the counter. “Are you staying late tonight?”
“I wasn’t planning to, why?” Hua looked up just in time to catch you eyeing Caspar warily. “Want me to walk back with you?” She wasn’t annoyed, and she certainly didn’t think less of you. On more than one occasion, you had broken up fights between wiseguys, or thrown out drunks even she wouldn’t want to mess with, and this palace had been the site of more than a few shootouts. Wanting someone with you as insurance was something one of the lower-level grunts would tease you about, but there’s a reason why they were more likely to get shot than you were.
“He’s been staying past closing the past week or so and I can’t think of any good reasons for him to be doing that.” Your eyes were serious when they met Hua’s and you both knew what you meant without it being said. This guy was acting suspicious and you were running out of excuses for his behavior. Something was going to go down soon and the chances of it being pleasant were slim to none.
“I’ll stick around,” your friend nodded and you felt a small wave of relief. “See if I can’t get someone to keep an eye on him,” she slipped back into the crowd after that, but never strayed too far from Caspar’s table. Just knowing she had really listened to what you said made you feel better.
When you started getting ready to close, there were only five patrons left. Hua, who was sitting at the counter chatting with you, Caspar and his buddy for the night, and two of your favorite drunks who probably spent more time here than at their own homes.
Kicking out Bernard and Cocolia was easiest; they knew what the light rap on their table meant, and they could drag their sorry asses to the door by themselves. Seeing the others leave was usually enough of a sign to get Caspar and co. to get out, and it was just you and Hua after a few minutes. She waited patiently–something very few wiseguys were particularly good at–while you put a few bottles away and counted the cash. Anything that wasn’t urgent could be done when you came in tomorrow, you felt bad keeping Hua waiting, and you were ready to head home yourself.
The walk only took around ten minutes, and you both had no problem keeping up a conversation on the way there. Words between you both were relaxed, but the air was clearly tense. You were being followed. You knew it, Hua knew it, and you could only hope the stalker hadn’t picked up on the apprehension. At the corner where you would normally hang a right for your apartment, Hua gripped your hand and subtly pulled you to keep walking, heading towards her own building. Still the person followed, and it took everything in you not to reach for your gun and turn around. At the entrance to the building, you kept your eyes straight ahead, looking at your reflection to fight the growing need to look back.
“He’s gone,” Hua said after looking out the window for a moment. “It was Casey. Saw him outside the bar and again when I unlocked the door.”
“You mean Caspar?” She shrugged and you groaned. “Great. Why the hell is he following us?”
“He’s just following you,” Hua pointed out while laying her blazer over the back of the couch and loosening her tie. “We can’t find anything more at this point. You can stay here for the night and we’ll work from there.”
“I can’t–”
“I’m not walking you home,” she took the jacket and left for her room. “We can talk in the morning when we’ve both gotten some sleep,” The words were muffled through the door, but you could tell that Hua wasn’t about to change her mind. This night just kept getting better and better. Letting out an over-dramatic groan, you slumped down on the couch.
At least it was comfortable. Actually, most of Hua’s apartment was nicer than your own. Soft couch, a nice radio tucked into the corner, and several full bookshelves line the wall. The kitchen was partially sectioned off from the living room, and they both were away from the bedrooms, unlike the simple studio apartment you rented. There were no loud neighbors, and the top floor was high enough that any shouting in the street wouldn’t reach your ears. It was ironic that someone so deeply involved in crime would live on the nice side of town, but you supposed if anyone could afford to live here, it would be the mobsters.
“You can stay in the guest room,” Hua exited her room in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt while holding a seat of jimjams for you. When you stood from the couch, she led you back down the hall with her room and you saw three more doors. The last of which she went through. “Bathroom is the first door on the right. I’m down the hall, last door on the left.”
“Thank you,” you said, taking the clothes and doing your best not to gape at the room you currently stood in.
“Do you have anything to do tomorrow before work?” Thinking for a moment, you shook your head ‘no.’ “Good,” Hua gave a firm nod. “I’ll walk you back to your place, then the bar. I don’t want to give that weirdo any chances.”
“Hua,” you narrowly avoided whining. “You don’t have to baby me.” She nodded and hummed in understanding and you thought you got the message across, but your friend left with a solemn ‘good night’ and closed the door so firmly you were scared to open it again to use the bathroom.
True to her word, the next morning, Hua made you both breakfast, took you back to your apartment for fresh clothes, and dropped you off at work with clear instructions not to leave until she came to pick you up. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if you weren’t four hours early to your shift. Right now, Caspar knows where you worked and that’s it. Staying at the bar, you could keep it that way, and you were confident you could take him in a fight, so Hua didn’t feel bad leaving you alone for the day.
While you were left stewing, she would get some of her people to start looking into your stalker so you could understand why he was stalking you and put an end to it. Both of you agreed that he wasn’t really interested in you–not that you couldn’t have an obsessive admirer, but it was odd that someone would trail you home, but only ever speak to you about Kalpas. It seemed much more likely that Caspar was only interested in you as a way to get to the family, and your best option for now was to figure out what he had planned without letting him know that you were onto his scheme.
In the meantime, you did a deep clean of each table, thoroughly mopped both the main room and the kitchen, and waxed the countertop. Eventually, you restored to sitting on the newly cleaned floor and playing every type of solitaire you knew. You were on your fourth game of Australian Patience when Kalpas came in and stood over you, glaring down at the cards. He said nothing as you moved the stacks around, the sound of the radio in the kitchen floating through the door and over both of you. Realizing the game was lost, you sighed and stacked the cards so you could shuffle them and return them to their box.
“Eden here or just you?” you spoke softly as you rose and tossed the deck onto the bar. Kalpas remained silent while he found his seat and you took a chair from one of the nearby tables to face him. “I was really hoping you would help with the boredom, not make it worse,” the words were grumbled under your breath, but you were certain he heard.
“Hey boss!” Kiana interrupted your pity party and you quickly looked over to the door to see her standing there with a grin while Mei helped tie her apron. Checking the clock, you realized that the girls weren’t early, you had just managed to lose track of time somehow. “This place looks super clean! Did you come in early just to do all of this?”
“It needed to get done,” you shrugged. Trying to explain what happened sounded like a waste of time, and the fewer people who knew about the situation, the better.
“Next time you need help, just call your number one waitress! Mei and I will leave this place spotless!” Kiana gave a thumbs up that made you laugh. It sounded like Mei would end up doing most of the work while her roommate cheered from the sidelines. Assuring them that you’d call, both girls retreated to the kitchen, leaving you with Kalpas again.
Standing up, you tucked the chair back under the table and walked behind the bar. Drinking on the job wasn’t necessarily something you condoned, and you would never work while drunk, but after last night, you earned it.
Slipping into the familiar motions, you pulled out a cocktail glass and shaker to start making your drink. A Ward Eight wasn’t all that fancy, but it called for ingredients[VW1] you always had in stock, and didn’t taste like gasoline, so it was often your drink of choice when the opportunity arose. Instead of using a maraschino cherry for the garnish—since they were surprisingly hard to come by—you used half an orange peel like you would for a Whiskey Sour.
Kalpas stared you down the whole time, and you weren’t at all surprised to see a concerning glint in his eyes when you pulled out the lighter from your apron. Pinching the peel between your fingers, you flicked the sparker and ignited the little bit of juice before sliding the peel onto a toothpick and dropping it in the glass. Out of habit, you wiped down the counter even though there was nothing to clean, but when your hand came back to grab the drink, it was gone.
With the toothpick pressed against the edge of the glass by one of his fingers, he knocked the whole thing back and slammed it on the counter with enough force to rattle the bottles underneath. Part of you was upset your drink was gone, another part impressed, and there was just a little bit of concern that the wax you had just laid down was already taken off.
“You could have asked,” you pointed out with very low expectations of it making any difference. On the bright side, you got a grunt of approval, and you realized that this was the very first time Kalpas had actually accepted one of your drinks. “Do you want me to make something else?”
“All your drinks taste like shit.” The words hurt and your scowl showed it, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Except that one?” you asked.
“Except that one.”
“I think you just don’t like the taste of alcohol.”
“That’s what I just said.”
You groaned and ran a hand down your face. Taking out a new cup, you started the process over again, and kept a firm grip on it when finished so it couldn’t be filched again. Just as you were raising the glass to your lips, the kitchen door swung open and you heard the awkward laugh Kiana gave any time she messed up.
“Hey boss…” she dragged out your title and you barely held in the groan as you set your well-earned reward down and turned around. “I set the kitchen on fire again.”
Of course she did. Through the crack between her and the door frame, you could see Mei doing her best to keep things under control, but Kiana did a really good job this time. Admitting defeat, you pushed the cup into Kalpas’ waiting hand and stalked to the back.
The rest of the night went much like any other. Between orders, Kalpas would keep you company or listen to you mock customers behind their backs (and offer suggestions on how to deal with them). Later in the evening, Caspar came in and tried to join the conversation with little success, but he–unfortunately–didn’t take it to heart. One or two people made the mistake of flirting with one of the waitresses and either got chewed out by the other girl, or dragged out by you. An hour or so before closing, Kalpas was about to head out when Hua came in. She took the seat next to him, not looking fearful, but not too thrilled to be there either.
“I don’t have anything new,” she said while adjusting her gloves. “No one even saw him before he came in here. You should spend the night again, just in case.” Kalpas looked between the two of you with a face that said ‘what the hell is going on’ but in a way that was more aggressive than confused. As much as you feared his anger, you still weren’t sure telling him what happened last night was a good idea. The tendency to choose violence as a solution, and near-constant arguments didn’t do much to convince you he was good at keeping secrets.
“My apartment flooded,” you lied. It was a habit you picked up before working for Eden. At that point in your life, telling the truth could seal your fate, so you got really good at thinking on your feet. Hua didn’t question you, but you saw a flash of an idea in her eye that put you on edge.
“Actually, Kalpas,” she spoke louder than was necessary and turned to face him so her voice carried to the rest of the room. “I have to be up early tomorrow. Can they stay with you?”
Normally, you would say you have a fairly decent poker face, but right now it was failing you. What the hell was her plan here? If Caspar was after Kalpas, spending more time with him would just paint a target on your back. If he was just after you, Hua was essentially telling him exactly where you would be. There was no way he was dumb enough to try and attack you at Kalpas’ place, but once you left the building, all bets were off. On top of that, you weren’t entirely sure you could spend the night there and leave unscathed.
Kalpas gave a shrug that was less than enthusiastic. Looking to Hua, you hoped she was about to say she was joking, but she didn’t even spare you a glance. This was horrible. You had to spend another night away from your home, an you didn’t even know how long the walk back to work would be. A nudge to your arm pulled you from your internal monologue, and you saw Hua’s eyes flick over to Caspar for a second. When you looked at him, he was already eying your group and he had the smuggest ‘gotcha’ grin that he was poorly covering with his beer. Something was up, but you didn’t get a chance to think about it before Kalpas was standing and throwing his blazer over his shoulder.
“Let’s go,” he got halfway to the door before you caught up with what was happening and called after him. “What?” The eyeroll that accompanied his annoyed tone would have been funny if you didn’t have to worry about your nose being broken for laughing.
“The bar doesn't close until two,” you said, though it sounded more like a question.
“I’m not staying here all night,” he growled. Once again. You looked to Hua for help, and this time she actually provided.
“So long as you’re willing to answer the door, I can walk them over.” You weren’t sure if you should be relieved you weren’t being dragged out of your job, or disappointed that your chance to escape this situation was lost. Regardless, the three of you followed through with the plan. Kalpas left, and when you were done closing up, Hua led the way to his building. Along the way, she adjusted her sleeves no less than ten times; a nervous habit you’d only seen her do when there was a fight coming up. Hearing the footsteps trailing from behind, you understood why.
The conversation between you was stilted, the obvious tail making you both tense. After pressing the buzzer, neither of you spoke, so you took the chance to get your bearings. It hadn’t been a far walk from the bar, but you’d have to walk twice as far to get to your own apartment. Eden’s place was nearby, though you’d only been once so you couldn’t remember specifically where she stayed. Unlike most buildings in town, the brickwork outside was clean, and the cars were parked in a nearby garage rather than the street. It all seemed a bit too polished for a mobster, but you supposed you didn’t know Kalpas that well.
Heavy footsteps stomping down stairs drew your attention just in time to see him open the door for you, wearing nothing but a pair of pants and a scowl. Immediately your eyes shot to the pavement, trying not to think too hard about the sight right in front of you. Aside from the sharp lines of muscle, Kalpas bore dozens of scars. You could spend hours pouring over each and every one, listening to the story behind them all while–
You quickly forced your creeping gaze back down before it got too far.
Kalpas grumbled something about being woken up, Hua pointed out that he signed up for this and you decided to head inside before someone became conscious enough to start throwing punches. After saying good night to Hua you followed him up the stairs, decidedly not looking up from each step. The trip was unbearably long, though whether that was due to the height of the building or the tense situation, you weren’t sure. Inside the apartment wasn’t half as bad as you were expecting.
You could see the rugs on the floor without any laundry getting in the way (though there were definitely a few blood stains) and the kitchen looked lived in, but not messy (though there were definitely a few scorch marks on cabinets). Rounding a corner, you both headed up another flight of stairs to the bedrooms. Now, in most cases, a host would walk you to your room, or at least give you some directions. Kalpas went straight to his room and closed the door on your face.
Shock and anger were both perfectly good options for you to be feeling right now, but you went with confusion. Where the hell were you supposed to sleep? Do you start opening doors and spend the night in a random room, or head back downstairs to the couch. The thought of a bed was much more appealing, so you opened the nearest door and crashed for the night, not even caring that you still wore your work clothes.
Kalpas wasn’t an early riser, which didn’t surprise you, but it was still odd not to hear any movement so late in the day. Working nights had you sleeping in until noon most days. It was currently one, so either he left the apartment without waking you, or he intended to get every minute of his beauty sleep. You had hoped to say thank you before leaving, but you weren’t going to sit around and wait when you were desperate for a shower at your own home.
After checking out the window to be certain there were no obvious stalkers outside, you began the long journey down the stairs. Now you understood why Kalpas had such nice legs–not that you had looked. Ten flights was a long way to go, and you were feeling it by the time you reached the bottom. Wasn’t this what elevators were for? You groaned when you realized that you still had a thirty minute walk ahead of you.
Back at your own place, you had never been so happy to have a day off. You stayed in the shower a little longer than usual, just trying to wrap your mind around everything that had happened the past few days. Things just weren’t adding up. Honkai didn’t usually draw things out like this; he hated playing cat and mouse. Someone trying to find a way into the Moth family would go for the more publicly known names like Elysia or Hua, not someone very few could recognize in person like Kalpas, and certainly not a bartender who happened to work for a member. Ideas that were crowding your head vanished when you heard the door buzzer. Setting down your mug of coffee, you made the short trek downstairs to let Hua in.
“I’ve got a lead on Caspar,” she said, but the frown on her face told you that this wasn’t good news. The both of you went back to your apartment so you could speak without someone overhearing. “He’s not working for Honkai.” She sat at the table across from you with her arms folded and a crease between her eyebrows.
“He’s just really into setting things on fire and Kalpas is his idol?” you offered, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
“I wish,” Hua sighed. “He’s a cop. I came here to tell you because he’s probably got this place tapped.”
You swore under your breath. “The one pig in town that Su doesn’t pay off and he decides to harass me.” Getting a nod in response you let out a groan. “So, what? We prove I’m not involved? Tell Kalpas and let him deal with it?”
“No. The cops that are on our payroll won’t be too happy if we kill their friend,” Hua shook her head. “I’ll see if someone inside can…persuade Caspar to drop the case. In the meantime, you should stay with Kalpas–”
“What?”
“We’ve already established that this place is compromised,” your friend spoke with militant efficiency that made you realize just how serious the situation was. “Kalpas has been taken to court a hundred times without a conviction. Caspar’s gonna think twice before trying to raise a case against him. It will also keep any attention off of me and my guys while we work.”
“I just–” you ran a hand down your face and gave another frustrated groan. “This sucks.”
Hua just smiled and left you to your moping.
RETURN OF THE JIMJAMS
I am once again using a different word processor don't ask it's such a mess rn so I apologize for typing errors I wrote paskent instead of basket and it didn't say anything. I haven't gone through and edited properly yet, I'll do that when posting to AO3. Also his name is William Honkai. Like. Will Honkai. Like the will of honkai? galaxy brain in here (I think I'm dying) Also I'm sorry this is so long, next three chapters should have actual things happening in it? I'll try to get that out day after tomorrow and it might be the end of the story I think? we'll see if I can actually control the writing
#azaryawrites#kalpas x reader#tamalethebear#honkai x reader#hi3 x reader#mafia au#not edited#take a shot every time kalpas just says “no.” in a fic
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Every Month
A Kalpas x reader one shot (sort of, it's too long) where reader is on their period. Whole thing is below the cut!
Not to be over-dramatic, but you were dying.
Cramps were always the worst, but this round was particularly bad, and there was absolutely nothing in the apartment for you to eat. Well—there was nothing in the apartment you could eat. All the food you’d bought yesterday (while blissfully unaware of the torture to come) made you feel like throwing up, and that was if you could even get to the kitchen in the first place. The small breakfast you’d had this morning was all you’d gotten in terms of food so far and you couldn’t be sure if the nausea you felt was due to hunger or pain.
For a short time after you’d woken up, you thought maybe it won’t be so bad this time. One Aleve and some orange juice and you would be fine, right? An hour later you could be found lying in bed, flat on your back and feeling like you were being stabbed by an invisible knife. Three hours after that, you hadn’t really moved, but the painkillers had finally kicked in and you were able to get some rest, though you still didn’t feel up to walking the ten feet to your kitchen. You really should have taken that second Aleve.
It was almost comical thinking about the massive Honkai beast you’d taken down two days ago, yet here you are taken down by cramps you should have seen coming. “Honestly,” you grumbled and rolled over, trying to find the singular position that would convince the pain to die down a little. “I’ve been doing this, how many years? And I still get blindsided.” You turned again. “This is some bullshit.”
The words were heard by no one else, but letting the frustration out at least made you feel a little better. Maybe that’s why Kalpas was yelling all the time? You’d have to try this more often--.
At the thought of your boyfriend, you let out yet another groan. It was nearly 1 in the afternoon, meaning you had officially missed lunch and as soon as he finished eating you would be on the receiving end of the aforementioned yelling. Truth be told, you had grown accustomed to tuning out his theatrics, but right now you felt like you were exactly one harsh word away from crying and you really had no clue why. And if you cried, Kalpas would feel bad; and even though you were the one that should be upset, you’d end up comforting him for the next several minutes.
Another few minutes passed before you were forced to peel yourself off the bed in search of blankets. Sleeping with what was essentially a furnace meant you kept the covers on the bed very minimal. Now, without that warmth, and with your body deciding to completely cease any function that might produce body heat, you were certain you would simply freeze to death if you didn’t pile every blanket in the apartment on top of yourself within the next thirty seconds.
Shuffling around, you managed to collect a grand total of three additional blankets before the door to your apartment opened and you stopped to glare at the visitor. Though technically, this was his apartment and you were the one stealing it. What can you say? You were a firm believer in ‘what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is ours.’
“Kalpas!” you dropped the blankets in favor of something much warmer, not caring if your outstretched arms made you look like a child asking to be picked up.
“No,” he closed the door with a slam and headed straight for the kitchen, only making a detour to get around you.
“I haven’t even said anything, all I want is a hug!”
“No.” At this point he’d pulled an orange out of the fridge and was slamming that door closed too. It was a miracle all of the doorframes in this apartment were still intact.
“How come,” you huffed, “every time you want to cuddle with me, I have no say in the matter. But the one time I want to cuddle with you, I’m shot down?” Kalpas merely shrugged as if to say, ‘not my fault’ and continued peeling the orange, tossing the rind in the trash. “Fine!” The word sounded harsh, but it was clear you had very little malice behind the meaning. “Next time you’re on your own!” Now your boyfriend turned to face you, but it was only to send you a look that said ‘really?’ and you were starting to get fed up with his Kosma impression.
Letting out another huff, you hefted the blankets up from the floor and stomped back into your bedroom with the haul. It took a minute to lay them all flat, and you swore under your breath for every second spent out in the cold of your usually warm apartment. Once satisfied with the new layers that made your bed look like a stack of pancakes, you dove in and gave a happy hum. Kalpas on the other hand, had finished his snack and was now watching your antics from the doorway. His heavy footsteps forced you to look up from your phone that leaned against a pillow next to you in the bed. Unfortunately, the setup didn’t stay in place very long because he was tossing the pillow back to its original spot and pulling up the covers allowing the heat you’d scrounged up to escape.
“Hey!” you immediately grabbed the edge of the blankets and tried to force them back down, but they didn’t budge. “You said no cuddles! No takesies-backsies! Out! Out!” The shooing motions you made had very little effect, even when you began slapping Kalpas’ arms to keep him away. He slipped in, closing the gap he’d created (which was good) and instantly warming up the bed (also good), but you were still feeling a little petty about his initial refusal, so you gave him a scowl and turned away with an overdramatic sigh. A little irritation didn’t seem to bother him, however, as shortly after you’d settled in, arms were wrapped around you, and you ended up cuddling anyway.
For a few seconds, there wasn’t any noise in the apartment. Both of you had gotten comfortable, and any minute now you would fall asleep, Kalpas’ body heat keeping you toasty and his warm hand relieving some of the pain in your stomach. That relaxed silence was broken when your brain decided to grace you with the realization:
“You’re still in your battlesuit. Aren’t you.”
The sound you received barely even counted as a grunt.
“You brought Honkai guts into the bed. Didn’t you.”
Now you got a full grumble.
“Kalpas, I SWEAR—”
So much for your restful afternoon.
Sakura, you’re convinced, is an absolute angel. Without even asking, she knew exactly what you needed, even if you hadn’t come to realize you needed it yet. Granted, she had helped you through enough cycles that she probably had it all memorized, but you still appreciated the attention. What you did not appreciate was your boyfriend spilling the beans to half the MOTH base about why you hadn’t left your room.
This wasn’t the first time it had happened, and you highly doubted it would be the last, but it was still irritating—not to mention embarrassing—to have everyone ask if you were feeling better when you finally were able to crawl out of bed. He did this every time; and every time, you would demand cuddles as punishment. Either Kalpas wanted to be your personal hot water bottle, or he genuinely didn’t care enough to remember how much it bothered you. At this point you were fifty-fifty about which one it was.
Regardless of his reasoning, Kalpas told everyone you were dying and everyone included Sakura and Sakura—possibly your favorite flame chaser at the moment—was here to save you from the pain and your boredom. She brought snacks, more painkillers, food that was filling but not so heavy it would upset your stomach, and movies that were entertaining enough without being so emotional you started crying. How she knew exactly what to bring made no sense (if one ignores the months of practice like you are) but most importantly, she brought Kalpas along with her.
You felt a little bad, forcing Sakura to be a third wheel, but she didn’t seem to mind, and you were more than content with the way things are at this moment. Kalpas had you seated on his lap with your back pressed against his chest and his arms wrapped around you, ensuring every square inch of you was warm. For how bland it was, the movie was still enjoyable, mostly because the three of you found plenty of times you could poke fun at the characters, or the horribly obvious product placement.
When night rolled around, Sakura headed home while you and Kalpas headed to bed. Despite having done very little all day, being in constant pain—even if you couldn’t feel it—was rather draining, and you were ready to pass out. Between the movie and the heat coming from Kalpas, you had nearly fallen asleep four times already. Once under the covers, the position you were in only differed from how you had been sitting on the couch in one way, and that was because you were now lying down. There was still a firm grip around your waist, and an unmistakable heat surrounding you.
Kalpas had been surprisingly quiet today. Not so much because he hadn’t been speaking—he was by no means shy when it came to talking with you—but there had been a lot less shouting. Your boyfriend wasn’t exactly known for his volume control, and if he wanted to be loud, he would do so unashamedly. A small voice in your mind tried to argue he was annoyed you had forced him to stay inside all day, but the advantage to dating someone as blunt as Kalpas was that you knew he would have gotten up and left if he was that bored. No, there had to be some other reason.
“You haven’t been yelling,” your words broke the silence that had blanketed the room as soon as you’d gotten settled into bed. His response was a grunt that sounded almost like you’d woken him up from the verge of slumber. “Are you going to tell me why or…” Both of you knew the second option you’d trailed off on didn’t exist, and either Kalpas would tell you or he wouldn’t, there wasn’t much in between.
“Learned.”
Well maybe there was an in between. Him giving a response that didn’t help you in any way, shape, or form.
“Learned from?” you trailed off again, this time his grunt sounding more like a huff.
“Last time.” This was at least slightly more helpful, though you did still have to dig back quite a ways to the previous month to replay the events in your head.
He had in fact been a bit too loud a bit too often last time, and you remembered kicking him out of your room. You say you kicked him out, but really he had a mission he was supposed to be preparing for and you’d just sent him off to where he needed to be. Apparently, the exchange had stuck with him, and you felt a little bad now; especially considering the fact that the whole exchange had nearly slipped your mind.
“Last time I had a migraine,” you defended. “I’m sorry for being mean.” Kalpas let out a snort that told you he didn’t care, even if the hand squeezing your said he did.
“Mean?”
“Well how would you describe what happened?” Your comment sounded a bit accusatory, but you didn’t mean it that way, and when you rolled over and saw a hint of a smirk, you knew he didn’t take it to heart.
“Inconsiderate.”
“How was I incon—where did you even learn that word?” Kalpas gave you a blank look that showed just how amused he was with your joke but answered anyway.
“Emile put it on my report.” Figures. “You didn’t say goodbye.”
The room fell silent again, your eyes wide as any snarky comment died on your tongue.
“I’m sorry.” You pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I can’t believe I forgot.” And another to his nose. “Won’t happen again.” The last peck fell on his forehead, and even if Kalpas didn’t appear to appreciate it, the contact made you feel a bit better.
“I know,” he said it so matter-of-factly that you were a bit taken aback. “Because next time I’m not leaving until you say it.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Thinking of that picture where it's a note that says like "Hi! love you! please don't hug me tonight! I am bloated and I will fart so hard it tears a hole in the bedsheets :)"
I'm sorry for dying, and I'm sorry this is definitely on the lower tier of my works lol. school is weird (how many times have fanfic writers said that) but this should be my worst week apart from finals, so hypothetically. I am back. I would really really like to be back to writing regularly, even if it's short ooc pieces that say "you" 50 times
#azaryawrites#kalpas x reader#tamalethebear#hi3 x reader#requested but I can't find it (please send help)#I don't think there's any mentions of blood but#blood tw#cross posted on ao3
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Kalpas headcannons no one asked for!
Kalpas with a partner who has a period
Yes, I'm in the middle of several fics, but I'm also having some of the worst cramps of my life (multitasking!) so if I have to suffer, so do you
Kalpas is warm. You want warm? Man's warm.
that's it.
I get fucking c o l d on my period
Kalpas is absolutely not going to let you alone be cold
Way too many blankets
he is laying on top of you to trap every bit of heat
He will kill anyone that bothers you
not that that's anything new.
one time your phone went off while you were sleeping
man fucking smashed it within half a second
you did not wake up.
especially because that had been your alarm, but whatever
Man cannot track your cycle for the life of him
he's also not trying so it's not much of a surprise.
forgets your period is a thing sometimes
it's become a game for him to guess when your next cycle is
you'll be sitting in silence
"14 cents it starts next week"
it started like 3 days ago
Won't get you pads. it's not his problem.
he'll offhandedly mention it to Sakura and she'll get you pads
just date her tbh
one time he just casually told all 13 flame chasers you were on your period.
he doesn't think it's a big deal, honestly!
he has a lot more respect for you now.
Won't get food for you
Won't let you get up for food
Will get mad at you for eating less
even if you're super nauseous
You get mad? he's just egging you on.
You get sad? he's just waiting for you to stop
"are you fucking done?"
Don't want him around? probably a good idea
that won't fly.
if he wants to spend time with you, he's spending time with you, end of discussion.
this holds true all the time though...
"The fuck do I care that you're bleeding?"
Overall doesn't think very much about it.
is happy to spend time with you if he's home, but he's not going out of his way to come back
probably actually not very good for this kinda thing but what can I say? I'm a simp
there is a person behind me and I am desperately hoping they can't see that I'm on tumblr or what I'm typing
#kalpas x reader#I guess?#azaryawrites#honkai x reader#tamalethebear#I have no life#this is??? not good????#anywhomst#I am on so many aleve#this is a fever dream and I'm sorry#wrote this at like 1am under 5 blankets
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I want the most gut wrenching hair pulling toe curling back breaking ear splitting eye popping jaw dropping nail biting stomach churning angst you can make, we need more kalpas x reader angst, i want to finish reading it on the floor sobbing so hard,, PLEASE JUST GO ALL OUT ON THE ANGST, I NEED A SAD ENDING FOR KALPAS,, I WANT BOTH HIM AND READER TO SUFFER (affectionately)
i want to give you the liberty to go wild on this one,, all i ask is angst,, make it so sad that i wont be able to recover from it,, all i need is one angst filled sad ending kalpas x reader fic and i am satisfied, please and thank you 🥹💖
- herrscher anon, who wants everyone to suffer (affectionately)
This ask has been sitting in my inbox for 81 days and I'm so very very sorry. Somehow I'm more productive at school than at home where I actually have free time. Anywhom, I hope this has you crying for the rest of the day, or at least like. two seconds. It definitely tried to be angsty lol
Thank you so much for the ask, putting up with how long it took, and also all the amazing asks you've sent since, love you herrscher anon <3
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
#herrscher anon!! 🧡🧡#also ps#I saw the herrscher angst ask but I think it's gonna go with a different one#it'll get done tho I promise!#kalpas x reader#azaryawrites#honkai x reader#tamalethebear#cross posted on ao3#hi3 x reader
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Beauty and Decimation
The Lightning and The Visitor
A Kalpas x Reader fic loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, Chapter 5 below!
Explaining your fear of being sacrificed to end the curse went about as well as you might expect. That is to say, Kalpas called you an idiot—or some variation thereof—at least four times and if he wasn’t both un-killable and capable of tearing you limb from limb, you would be doing a lot more than just glaring. As things stand now, however, he meets both qualifications, so you hold back from arguing too much.
With a scoff and an eyeroll from the beast, you were sent on your way to the library, having been told that if Mobius so much as breathes in your direction, Kalpas would deal with her. That didn’t seem to extend to the rest of the household, however. Elysia had been trying her best to get you to spend more time with the prince—for completely innocent reasons, for sure—and even Sakura seemed to be roped into her plan. And in a way, it worked.
You grew so fed up with their blatant attempts to set you up with Kalpas that you ended up hanging around him because that was the only time the harassment stopped. Without realizing it, you had inserted yourself into his daily routine and pulled him into yours as well. Mornings were now spent gardening outside while he trained nearby, and evenings were spent in the library reading or simply chatting.
Nights were possibly your favorite, though. Kalpas still continued to go out and fight Honkai in the woods, and it seemed the only reason he’d stop his crusade was to come back to you so he could brag about the battle. Often, his return would be closer to the sun’s rising than its setting and you found yourself falling asleep during the middle of his retellings multiple times.
At first, Kalpas had been furious at your apparent lack of interest, but you were so used to him being mad at this point, you were more concerned about the scorch marks left on the walls than of his flames ever causing you harm. You also had gotten quite adept at bartering with him; telling the prince you’d hear the rest of his story during breakfast, so long as he promised not to set things on fire right then.
You both had fallen into this schedule so easily, you were spending nearly every night together, whether you passed out on the couch, your bed, or even got dragged to Kalpas’ room. Mornings that had once been too cold were perfectly cozy in his arms or half-lying across his chest. The biggest issue was getting up afterwards. If Kalpas wasn’t dead set on keeping you in place, then you were being greeted by Hua’s averted eyes and Eden’s knowing smile. Even with all the teasing, given how well you’d rested, and how much you enjoyed spending time with him, it was worth it.
It felt odd saying it out loud, now that you think about it. Undeniably, you enjoyed being around Kalpas. Even if neither of you was talking, or if he was on a rant, the man had grown on you. Personality aside, he could easily classify as ‘good looking’ and you’d spent your fair share of time staring while he’d trained.
And now was certainly no exception. Choosing to sit on the bench behind him had not been an accident and you were going to milk the view for all it was worth. Or at least that had been the plan before Kalpas practically disappeared.
It took your eyes a moment to catch up, but you found him on the edge of the training grounds, flames surrounding him. A few feet away stood a woman who looked so threatening, even Mobius would be jealous. Her sword was held straight out, pointed towards Kalpas and you knew that whatever came next would not be pretty.
The clash of fire and blades had you holding your breath in fear. Each one of their movements was too quick to catch and neither seemed to hold a clear advantage over the other. Though Kalpas couldn’t die, the lightning flashing from the girl’s sword would undoubtedly hurt.
“I suppose I should have warned him I had a friend coming over,” Elysia sighed from beside you, startling you for a moment.
“Friend?” you asked, somewhat exasperated.
“Yeah, my best friend, Mei!” She clapped her hands together with a smile. “She’ll be spending a few nights here. I was really hoping she’d avoid a fight, but I suppose that with Kalpas this was inevitable.”
“Aren’t you going to stop him?”
“Oh no!” Elysia looked scandalized. “Mei’s fine! Besides, Kalpas isn’t the best at listening, and if we interrupt now, he’ll just start up again later.”
You looked at the girl next to you like she had three heads, but she was too focused on cheering for her friend to notice.
“If you say so…”
You were beginning to question whether Mei and Elysia were actually friends.
For one, Elysia was a bit too friendly. Then again, this is Elysia we’re talking about, so knowing whether her flirting was genuine or not is a bit of a crapshoot. Mei on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested and unenthused with the whole situation. Clearly, she had come to the castle of her own volition, yet she always looked ready to turn right around and leave. Personally, you hadn’t gotten very close to the girl but you...wouldn’t necessarily mind if she left a little early.
So long as she fought with him, Kalpas didn’t care if Mei stayed. This meant fewer mornings waking up to a tight hug and more startling away to the sound of crazed laughing.
But that’s fine.
It wouldn’t be forever, and Kalpas really seemed to be enjoying himself. Living so closely together, you had almost forgotten what it was like when you first came here, wandering the library on your own. Having this newfound freedom was a welcome change to being with. Walks through the garden weren’t interrupted by yelling and you had time to spend chatting with Su or listening to Eden perform.
But you couldn’t stop yourself from missing those interruptions. And maybe you were a little jealous that Mei was taking all his time, or that you couldn’t possibly get to their level of skill when it came to fighting. It was clear now that your inability to fight bothered Kalpas more than he let on.
Elysia had explained your situation to Mei early on, but aside from a nod your way, the girl seemed uninterested with your story. Most of your interactions with her had been either through Kalpas, or about Kalpas. Take, for example, today. He had finally taken a break (and a sorely needed bath) and was sitting with you in the library. Your back was against the arm of the couch, legs laid across his lap while he—very loudly—told you how he won his latest duel.
Upon hearing the library door open, Kalpas paused and listened, wondering if the visitor could be a potential opponent. Mei’s voice rang clear, and it was apparent Elysia was pushing her buttons again as the two walked deeper into the room. He would have gone to push your legs if you hadn’t already pulled them back and were standing off the couch.
“Enjoy your fight,” you waved over your shoulder as you left. Elysia gave you a confused look—that was likely fake—while Mei didn’t even glance in your direction. All four of you knew how this was going to play out, no need for you to stick around and confirm the theory.
That night, Kalpas came to dinner late, but you supposed you should be grateful he showed up at all. His clothes were still covered with burned patches and blood—from himself or his opponent, you couldn’t tell. The sight alone was enough to make you lose your appetite, so you kept your eyes focused on the meal in front of you. Feeling eyes boring into the top of your head only caused you to redouble your efforts in pretending the prince wasn’t there.
Throughout the meal, you both were silent. Sakura came in to ask a brief question that was answered with a nod, followed by a second question which Kalpas instead shook his head ‘no’ to. Having finished your food, you looked up to observe this interaction and your eyes followed Sakura as she left. Her ears brushed the top of the doorway, and you realized you have never seen them stand straight up like that before. Then you looked at Kalpas and realized he has never fixed you with a glare like this before either.
“Mei won,” he said. Your eyes widened in surprise and you were unsure what to say. The two seemed evenly matched, but this was the first time you’d seen Kalpas being so bitter over losing a fight. He seemed to revel in the challenge, and it seemed impossible for him to lose in the first place.
Then you noticed the bandages peeking out over the torn neckline of his shirt. Blood had clearly soaked through them, a feat you knew to be impossible. Kalpas—like Mobius and everyone else for that matter—should bleed when the wound is opened but heal shortly after. There’s no clear explanation as to why he would remain injured after the battle is over.
“What happened?” you asked, curiosity getting the best of you. The prince would surely go on one of his very long and very loud tangents about the exact gruesome details of the fight, but as long as you got answers, that was fine.
“She stabbed me,” he started, taking a bite of food. You waited as he chewed, and it wasn’t until he speared another potato that you realized he had finished his story and had no plans to continue.
“That’s it?” You winced, repeating the words in your head for a moment. Most people who got stabbed don’t calmly sit down and have dinner an hour later. Maybe your expectations had become a little unrealistic after spending so much time here.
“She stabbed me,” he repeated, “and I didn’t heal.”
Now that was cause for concern.
“What do you mean you didn’t heal?” The panic slipped into your voice before you could stop it. Kalpas calmly bit down on his fork to keep it in his mouth and used both hands to lift his badly damaged shirt. You would have taken that moment to appreciate his chest, but there was very little of it that was not covered by blood-speckled bandaging.
Satisfied with the shocked look on your face, he dropped the shirt and pulled the fork from his teeth to continue eating. Because bleeding out at the dinner table is a very normal thing to do.
“I still don’t understand why you aren’t recovering,” you spoke more to yourself than the man across from you. Then, with more urgency you said, “Shouldn’t you see Su?”
You were halfway out of your seat when Kalpas grumbled, “I did.”
“Then why aren’t you—”
“The curse broke.”
You fell into silence. The crackling of the fireplace alone was too loud.
Dropping back into your chair, you stared ahead, blinking but seeing nothing.
Was this it?
He’d fallen for Mei and now you were going to be kicked out? Sent back to the village that thought you dead; the townspeople who left you for dead? You’d had your fun pretending you belonged in this castle and now it was time for you to leave.
What did you expect?
Living the rest of your life with a dozen immortal beings could hardly be considered living. You’d run out of books, and they’d run out of patience and you’d be thrown to the wolves again. Did you really think they’d let you stay?
You knew this would happen. You saw how Kalpas and Mei enjoyed their fights. Shouldn’t you be happy that the curse had been lifted? Happy your friends were now free?
Are they your friends? Or did they just put up with you for the same reason Mobius did—in the hopes you would solve their problem. Either way, that didn’t matter now. They didn’t need you. You should have left when Mei arrived. It was foolish for you to have stayed, just like it’s foolish for you to continue sitting at this table waiting for Kalpas to say something else.
You know what he’s going to say.
He’s going to kick you out. So you save him the trouble.
You stand from the table, mumble a ‘good night,’ and you leave.
I had been reading a lot of angst when I wrote this, so I'm sorry if the story is super bland. I just want reader to be happy sometimes (even though that means nothing ever happens). Also it's not abundantly clear but sacrificing reader won't fix the curse, Mobius just wants you to suffer. That's why Kalpas just brushes off your concern. Man it sure would be good if I added that to the story. you know. like. wrote it in some way? idk sounds kinda wild
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Beauty and Decimation
Those Who Cannot Die
A Kalpas x Reader fic loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, chapter 4 below!
Eden’s gentle humming was what woke you, but it was so peaceful you nearly fell back asleep. She sang a lullaby—more to herself than you—that your grandmother had whispered the verses to for as long as she could. Over time, your grandmother’s voice had grown worn, but Eden’s remained strong, showcasing the song in an entirely different way.
She must have known you were awake, the humming died down and you were greeted with a smile when you opened your eyes. Her fingers stopped their gentle movement through your hair only to give your hand a brief squeeze before pushing off from the bed.
Rin could be heard in the hall, loudly asking if you were alright while the rattling of teacups told you Sakura was carefully attempting to juggle the porcelain and her sister’s enthusiasm. Eden opening the door interrupted the sisters, and soon enough all three girls were huddled around your bed. A cup of warm tea was pressed into your palms and Rin was instantly asking questions.
“How do you feel?” You shrugged.
“What happened?” You shrugged.
“Are you leaving?” Sakura placed a gentle hand atop Rin’s head as a sign for her to breathe.
“Su didn’t find any injuries, but you should still get some rest,” Eden spoke while adjusting the blanket to lay across your lap better, giving a little pat to your leg when she was done.
“Su is a doctor?” you asked, the tea having made talking a hundred times easier. Though you had just as many questions as Rin, this seemed like a good enough starting place.
“No,” Sakura shook her head, “but when you have a few decades to kill and a prince who likes to come back injured, you learn a few things.” Her ears twitched, but you pretended not to notice. “We should let you sleep a little more before dinner. Let’s go Rin.” A glance at Eden had her nodding and following the sisters out the door.
Not even five minutes after they came in, everyone was filing out and you were left to your own devices. Temporarily, at least. The door was flung open with a flourish, and a woman you had yet to meet stepped through, looking as though she expected you to start cheering for her.
“Nothing like a grand entrance to capture the audience’s attention,” her grin never wavered under your shocked expression.
“What? Did you think my shows were free?”
“Shows?” you echoed back, thoroughly confused.
“Oh. You must not remember,” she smiled while stepping over to the armchair across from the bed. Normally, people would use armchairs for sitting, but she instead stepped up onto it, one leg bent to plant her foot on the arm, the other foot set firmly in the cushion.
“It is truly a heroic tale! One of your applause, so please dear audience, give me your attention as I tell this most fascinating story!” It wasn’t like you could protest at this point, so you meekly watched as the magician carried on.
“In the heart of night, I felt a disturbance. Pulled from my slumber, I was instantly on my feet, for there was surely a reason I was needed.” Some of the overdramatic motions nearly had the girl falling from the seat, but it was still quite entertaining. “On the other side of the castle I heard your shouts and quickly came to your aid. Of course—like any magician worth their salt—I was perfectly on time. In a matter of seconds, you were safely out of the inferno and resting peacefully in your bed with nary a scratch. And it’s a good thing I showed up when I did! That room would have roasted you alive before you could say ‘fiddlesticks!’”
Apparently done with her speech, there was another expectant look throw your way.
“Thanks. But who are you?”
Vill-V, the Great Magician, looked as though your question had been a knife to the heart. Clearly wounded, she finally took a seat and gave an explanation that for once didn’t leave you more lost than you were to begin with.
First off, she gave her name and that she spent most of her time in the rooms as far from you as possible, hence why you hadn’t met before. Kalpas had indeed gotten the throne room hot enough to burn most everything inside. Luckily, you had been pulled out before suffering any more than a small bit of overheating. Mobius had not gotten out, but the Magician laughed when you asked if she was ok; so, presumably everyone made it out alive.
As spontaneously as she had arrived, Vill-V was up and out of her seat with a grin, proclaiming she had ‘matters to attend to.’ Feeling much better after getting the ash and dust from the fire out of your system, you began pacing the length of the room, just to stretch your legs. Dinner wouldn’t be ready for a little while longer, based on what Sakura said, though you didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment.
Mobius’ words from yesterday were still bouncing around your head. Obviously, escaping hadn’t gone too well, and running away from troubles was what put you here in the first place. If what you overheard in the library was true, the curse would be permanent in a year. Surviving a year trapped in this place with both a mad scientist and prince simply was not going to happen. There was no doubt in your mind that there were at least three people with a key to this room and no matter how kind they may be to you now, people change when their lives are put on the line.
Elysia, for one, seemed determined to make you comfortable again; but all the coaxing in the world couldn’t make you shake the feeling she was just leading you on. Most days were spent with your nose in a book in an attempt to ignore the chaos that had overcome your life in the past few months. This reliance on books meant you had to make quick trips to the library, however, and you dreaded every one. A certain maid would not-so-subtly urge the others to stay out of the halls when you were going down them, as though the sight of one of them would have you running in terror. It might...but that wasn’t the point.
After a week without seeing another human being—cursed or otherwise—you felt like you were going insane. That didn’t mean you were quite ready to see Mobius, however. Being unconscious for part of your previous encounter with her didn’t cancel out the terrifying moments before you lost consciousness. Today, she managed to slip past Elysia and was wandering the castle in the hopes of finding you on your short little journey. You heard her before you saw her, the calls sending a chill up your spine. Mobius’ taunts on her search for her ‘little guest,’ forced you to make a quick detour into the first room you found, closing the door quietly so she wouldn’t notice.
When the latch clicked into place, you let out a sigh of relief, silently thanking the hinges for not squeaking. Unfortunately, this didn’t seem to be the end of your troubles. Kalpas stood behind you—looking angry as ever but with the added bonus of his right hand resting on his knife.
Suddenly, being caught by Mobius didn’t seem so bad.
Fumbling with the door handle, you were about to bolt out of the room when her voice came through the door. “I know you’re in there little guest. Why not come out now? We wouldn’t want to anger the prince, would we?” The coaxing tone she used was doing no favors for your heart rate and the expression ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’ never felt more applicable. Should you open the door? Leave with Mobius and hope that however she chose to kill you would be less painful than Kalpas’ methods? Or do you stay in the room and take your chances?
Ultimately, the decision was made for you.
In your panic, you had frozen. Only now did you recognize the lack of action, while Kalpas was swatting your hand out of the way to open the door himself. This forced you to take a step back and duck under the arm that continued to hold the door in place, effectively caging you in.
“You seem to have something I want,” Mobius spoke in such a tone sweet as syrup.
“Oh?” Kalpas hummed as if playing along. “The only thing I have is this knife,” he held the blade flat to examine it reflecting the light and you blanched. “The last time I offered to drive it through your skull, you refused.”
Mobius gave a smile and said, “I appreciate your offer, but that’s not what I’m after.” Her snake-like eyes shifted to you and if it weren’t for the arm hovering just above your head, you would have taken another step back. In this position, however, you were certain that arm would come crashing down to keep you in place if you moved even an inch.
“That’s all you’re going to get.” Kalpas dropped the niceties and pointed the knife straight at her neck, though Mobius still didn’t flinch. A beat passed with neither of them moving and your heartbeat the only sound to be heard. You could practically feel the moment the prince lost his patience. A grin spread across his face and in less than a second, he was on the other side of the hall, knife speared straight through Mobius’ throat.
She couldn’t speak, but you could see the pain in her eyes and the blood soaking into the carpet. Her hands held on tightly to his arm, fingernails digging into his skin and tearing streaks into his flesh. With each passing second, you expected her to grow weaker; for her expression to shift from pain to fear, but nothing changed. What felt like hours passed with the two locked in place, Kalpas sneering at the woman but neither of them budging an inch. You stared on, fearful that the moment you looked away you would be the one clawing for your life.
Yet it never happened. Kalpas dug his knife in deeper with a snarl and the claws moved from his arm to swipe at his face now that he was in range. Instead of crying out in pain, he gave a laugh that sent a chill through you, reminding you just how fitting the title of ‘beast’ was. Then, just like that, he backed off. Mobius fell forward, choking on her own blood and you thought this might be the moment she started to fade, yet she remained as strong as ever, though each breath she drew was a horrible wheeze.
Kalpas, meanwhile, wiped the flat of the blade across his thigh, leaving blood stains on his pants. Once satisfied that the knife was clean, he raised the bottom of his shirt to remove any blood from his face, leaving a stain there as well. While he was doing this, however, you noticed his arms—which had been shredded only moments ago—looked perfectly healed. When he lowered his shirt there was no sign of the gouges that had once marred his cheeks. Looking over, Mobius was much the same. Her hacking coughs had ceased, and she was now only rubbing her throat over the wound as if checking to see that everything was in its right place.
Apart from the blood covering the hallway and all three of you, there was no evidence of the fight that had just taken place. Neither of them were wounded, and the realization had you feeling faint. They couldn’t die. The curse was clearly keeping them alive over the years, but you hadn’t realized the full extent of it.
Mobus was the first to speak, her words pulling you out of your thoughts. “Fine,” she spat, “keep your pet. Enjoy these last days knowing the reason we all died was because of you.”
“I don’t think you realize how badly I want to see you dead,” Kalpas spoke with a grin and for a moment you feared he would attack again, but he remained standing in the middle of the hall, carnage surrounding him like a halo. Mobius let out a scoff, but she knew an opportunity when she saw one and left down the corridor with enough confidence that you’d think she had been the one to win that encounter.
And then Kalpas rounded on you and asked,
“Why the hell are you here?”
I wrote like the entire chapter and then some before going "oh shit I should probably let people know there's violence" and just turned back like 3 pages and wrote BLOOD TW at the top of one randomly. It's not even a page that's part of the scene so when I was reading through again I was so confused.
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Beauty and Decimation
Things Go Well Until They Don't
A Kalpas x Reader fic loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, Chapter 3 below!
Honkai never had a particularly strong presence in your village. The reason as to why seems clear now. Nearly every night, Kalpas goes out. At first you thought he enjoyed walks, or perhaps the curse drew Honkai beasts to his home; but as Su put it, the prince still clung to his destructive ways. Even if that was what got them in this mess in the first place. Any fight was started by him. Not the creatures outside.
Occasionally, Sakura or Elysia (and sometimes even Mobius) would join him on the outing, but it was more to keep Kalpas from destroying the forest rather than to keep him safe. In the month that you had stayed here, you had only seen him return injured once. That was also the first time he voluntarily spoke to you.
It was to tell you to get out of his way, but that still counted, right?
Eden would clean up his wounds, while Hua (who you still haven’t met) would clean the blood from the halls.
Even though you shared all your meals together, it wasn’t until the second month a proper conversation was struck up. To your surprise, Kalpas asked if the castle was to your liking. Shock kept you silent until you heard an unhappy grumble come from the other end of the table.
“Truly, you have a lovely home!” The halls could be crawling with spiders, and you would have declared this the most wonderful place in the world. Anything to keep from angering your host.
“You haven’t left your room,” he pointed out the one fact that you’d hoped he wouldn’t notice.
Leaving the room felt like a gamble. You could win the bet, run into Eden or Sakura and enjoy a lovely conversation. Or you could lose and run into Mobius or the beast. It hardly seemed worth it at this point, though you were well aware the number of books in your room that had yet to be read was dwindling.
More than once, you had thought of sneaking to the kitchen for a snack or tea, but every time, Kalpas’ mask would appear in your mind like an omen of what would happen, should you stray too far.
“Your servants take such good care of me, I have little reason to,” you gave a polite smile, hoping your excuse would be accepted.
“Elysia may dote on you, but that is hardly enough to distinguish you from a prisoner.” The prince—you had learned—hardly ever spoke in a tone that could not be considered a growl. Knowing this still didn’t make you feel any better.
“I greatly appreciate your hospitality; I do not wish to presume you are willing to offer more.” You were spouting nonsense at this point, though the sentiment held true. The time you spent in the castle was remarkable, even if you rarely strayed from your room.
All of your clothes must have come from the wardrobes of nobles, each piece fit as though custom made for you, and there was no shortage to choose from. After a week of not understanding the complexities of the bathroom, you had given up and decided to simply enjoy the inexplicable features to their fullest. You had been spoiled and returning home at this point seemed impossible. Not only would it mean a drastic change in lifestyle, but you were positive the town thought you dead you’re your neighbors didn’t take kindly to ghosts.
“The world never asks before it takes; why should you?” Kalpas was being oddly philosophical, but you understood the point he was trying to make. Not that you necessarily agreed with it. “If you do not leave your room by choice, I will drag you out of it.” That was a threat you fully believed he intended to follow through on.
Unfortunately, you did not realize quite how short the window for you to leave by choice would be.
Not even forty-eight hours later, he was throwing you over his shoulder and marching down the halls. When you were returned to your feet, you found yourself in the middle of a courtyard. Sakura and Rin were pouring tea and setting little cakes on a tray underneath the shade of a gazebo. The whole scene screamed ‘Elysia’ but she had yet to make an appearance.
Kalpas refused to take his mask off to enjoy the treats with you, but he remained seated across from you (looking annoyed, like he’d been placed in time out) until the tea had gone cold and Elysia announced that lunch was ready inside.
Chats with the prince usually consisted of him recounting a battle—whether it be from the night before or decades ago—while you chimed in about life in your village. He never failed to make a disgusted face you could sense even through the mask. Hearing how mundane your existence had been appeared to only inspire him to change your habits.
Where you used to take short walks around the castle’s gardens, Kalpas would insist upon horseback rides that lasted hours across the entire property. After his late-night fights, you were now expected to stay awake until his return so he could regale you with all the details. The only moment of peace he allowed you to retain was the hours spent in the library.
After the courtyard, this was the second part of the castle you visited. It had taken Kalpas a few weeks to figure out where you had disappeared to (no thanks to Elysia). He burst through the doors so loudly the first time, you nearly threw your book in the air and fell off the couch. Now, when he joins you, he’s much more subtle, though you could hardly say he’s quiet. The two of you will share a couch and simply enjoy the time spent together.
Sometimes the prince will read his own book, surprising you with how careful he is to not singe or tear any of the pages. Other days, he will bring his whetstone and you find yourself transfixed by how diligently he sharpens his knives until they can cut through beasts as easily as they do through air.
One day, after a couple of hours reading in the library, you had fallen asleep. This wasn’t uncommon; on multiple occasions, Sakura or Eden would cover you with a blanket or you’d awake to find another resident of the castle (usually Kalpas or Rin) waiting next to you. The prince was surprisingly good—by his standards—at keeping quiet while you were trying to focus or rest. It still didn’t take much to rile him up, however, and that was what happened today.
Apparently, Kalpas had entered the library shortly after sleep overcame you. His natural body heat only lulled you into a deeper sleep, meaning you didn’t even notice when Mobius joined the two of you. What roused you was her furious shushing after Kalpas grew too loud. To no one’s surprise, it had no effect, and the yelling continued. You managed to fake your continued rest and overhear the rather noisy conversation.
“We only have one year Kalpas,” Mobius’ voice had lost all hint of teasing, the harshness of it sending shivers down your spine. “How you’ve gone this long without warming up to any of us, I’ll never understand--”
“You make it too easy to hate you,” he growled back, the rumble in his chest vibrating through the couch you laid on.
“Well, now there’s someone new. We’ve spent too much time together to ever get along, and you’ve wasted too much time to be picky about who you use to break the curse.”
Your heart froze for a moment. What did she mean by use? Were you about to become some unwitting sacrifice?
“This is none of your business.”
“Oh?” Mobius sneered, “Really? You think you’re the only one suffering?” Kalpas remained silent but you could feel him getting hotter next to you. “Doing this your way has gotten us exactly nowhere. Your options are to give in to Aponia or do it my way.”
The sound of heels on carpet marked her exit, but the bitterness Mobius brought still lingered in the air. Before you had a chance to say anything, Kalpas was up and had left the room as well. That left just you and your thoughts in the overwhelming silence of the library.
Su had said Kalpas needed to find someone he truly cares about in order to break the curse. That may be true, but Mobius seemed to have a different theory, and you didn’t think getting involved in any of her plans would end well. ‘Giving in to Aponia’ likely meant accepting the curse permanently, never leaving the castle, and never being able to move on from this exact moment in time. It was certainly a horrible fate, but you weren’t willing to die to remedy the situation.
As open as everyone had become with you, there was no doubt in your mind that they still held several secrets close to their chests. Trusting them so blindly had been a mistake. It was clear now that the only reason they were so kind to you was because you were a means to an end. You needed to get out of this place before that wasn’t an option.
Escaping had not gone well.
Kosma supposedly guarded the castle—though you doubted Kalpas left him many enemies to guard against. Your first time meeting him was when he pushed your face into the ground with his knee pressing into your back. By the distant light cast from the castle’s windows, you could see the horns curling out from his head and you knew you’d been caught.
Now you sat in front of Kalpas.
Leaning back into his throne, legs spread and mask firmly in place, he truly fit the role of crown prince. His elbow rested on the right arm of the throne so his head could lean upon his fist. Sakura stood at attention to his right, prepared to strike, though the relaxed position of her ears said otherwise. Perched on the other arm of the throne, Elysia had one foot on the ground for balance, the other lazily swinging back and forth. Mobius seemed to be the only one interested in confronting you.
“Was our generosity not enough for you?” she asked, circling you like a snake around its prey. At the shake of your head, you could feel the coils tighten around you. “Then you must have grown tired of this place, surely?”
You could practically feel the scales pressing into your skin as she continued to pace in circles. “If not that, what could have possibly driven you to leave in such a hurry, little guest?” Mobius finally stopped in front of you, the look in her eyes all but spelling out ‘danger.’
“I don’t want to die,” you whispered, unsure of what more to say.
“Oh?” She feigned ignorance, clearly not understanding the meaning behind your words.
“I heard you in the library.” It sounded as though you were being choked, and very nearly felt like it too. Mobius’ glare pierced through you as she stopped in front of you, but you refused to meet her—or anyone else’s—eyes.
“Then you know how important it is that you play your part--”
“I won’t!” You shook your head twice before the feeling of nails digging into your cheek made you freeze.
“It’s not your choice little guest.” The harsh whisper and heartless eyes nearly brought you to tears.
“Mobius.” As cruel as her tone had been, this one word alone was worse.
Sakura now stood completely alert and Elysia’s carefree air had disappeared. Embers flared and rose from the throne behind Kalpas while the entire throne room grew hotter. For a brief second, the claws dug deeper into your cheeks, nearly drawing blood before releasing you so Mobius could turn to face her so-called master.
“Yes, my prince?” her voice was sickeningly sweet. Suddenly, it became clear that Elysia and Sakura were not there to protect Kalpas from you, but the other way around. Or so it would seem in Mobius’ case. He lunged at her with such speed you were shocked the two girls saw him move, let alone reacted quick enough to stop him. Between the both of them, they managed to wrestle him back while he struggled like a caged animal.
Mobius must not have realized the severity of her situation, because in the next breath, she was taunting him again. With the blazing flames surrounding the room, you couldn’t hear her. Seconds later, however, the flames grew hotter, to the point you could hardly breathe. Just before you passed out, you heard Kalpas shout, saw him break free, and all you could do was hope you wouldn’t be part of the casualty count.
Why do I always have Kalpas kidnap reader :( also KALPAS CAN'T READ. KALPAS CANNOT READ. HE JUST WANTS TO SIT NEXT TO READER AND KNOWS BETTER THAN TO JUST SIT THERE AND STARE INTO SPACE SO HE PRETENDS TO READ. Reader does not know this shhhh
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Beauty and Decimation
The Permanent Guest
A Kalpas x Reader fic loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, Chapter 2 below!
It was well past noon. You weren’t completely sure of the time, but the sun had reached and passed its apex when you had sullenly looked up from your book. Elysia had come by in the morning to bring you breakfast, and in the afternoon for lunch, but you were starting to get worried. Her joking promises that you weren’t a prisoner were doing very little to ease your mind, and the longer you stayed, the more anxious you got.
What if they were waiting for you to let your guard down? Maybe the castle truly housed a beast as the rumors said, and you were to be his next meal. Maybe Elysia had taken your story and was searching the town for the men who had chased you out here in the hopes of a handsome reward. Worries ran rampant in your mind, yet your only option in each case was to wait. The chances of you finding your way out of this place were slim, and the chances of making it out without being seen were non-existent.
With the sun setting, you figured it must be close to six in the evening when you heard talking outside your door. Probably Elysia with dinner if you had to guess. Marking your place, you set down the book you had been reading, and stood to face the door. When it opened, you found that your guess had been half correct; Elysia was on the other side, leaning around a man you had yet to meet.
You could easily see where the stories of a beast came from. His shoulders nearly filled the doorway, and he had to stoop slightly to avoid brushing the lentil. Though you couldn’t see his face under the mask he wore, you were certain the look in his eyes was crazed, or very close to it. Frightened by the appearance of someone so intimidating, you stumbled back and found yourself landing back on the window seat. Part of you feared that continuing to sit was horribly rude, but a louder part of you refused to move any closer to the beast.
Elysia seemed to be the calmest of the three of you. With an easy smile sent your way, she tugged on an arm so muscular her hand didn’t make it halfway around. Still, it seemed to be enough to have the beast stop from moving forward; not that he couldn’t kill you from this—or any—distance.
“See Kalpas? Just a guest visiting for a few days! No hunters, no nasty witches, or silly villagers.” She spoke as though talking down an angry dog, but you found it hard to believe her calming tone was doing any good. It certainly wasn’t making you feel better.
In the back of your mind, you recalled ‘Kalpas’ as being the name of the prince that had lived in this castle before it fell to ruin, but that had been almost a century ago. Even if you couldn't see his face, the man before you didn’t look anywhere near 100. His hair was a silvery white with brown near the ends, but there wasn’t a gray hair in sight. You also failed to recount meeting any grandpas with enough strength to lift someone like Elysia straight off the ground the way Kalpas was doing right now.
She hardly seemed to slow him down on his march towards your seat. Your back was fully pressed against the glass at this point. Apart from breaking the window and falling to your death, you weren’t getting any further away from the current threat. And you didn’t think he’d let you get away with dying that easily. As he stalked closer, all you could see was the brown and orange mask that seemed reminiscent of the family crest hanging above the fireplace.
“Get out.”
You couldn’t exactly move with how he had you pinned into the little window seat right now, but after hearing that growl, you were willing to do just about anything to get out of this place. If given even an inch of space, you would bolt. You weren’t sure if it was your heart that had risen up your throat, or bile, but you felt sick regardless.
Kalpas had danger radiating off of him right alongside a suffocating heat. Fear for the man made you deaf to the reassurances Elysia was spouting to the both of you. A second voice joined in, followed by a third, but you couldn’t hear them over the blood rushing in your ears. It wasn’t until all of your surprise visitors left that you were able to do anything other than gape in terror.
“Uncle Kalpas really isn’t that bad.” The soft voice made your head whip to the side. Rin must have wandered in while you were waiting for your heart to return to a reasonable pace. She already had everything laid out and was holding a teacup for you to take. Once it was placed in your unsteady hands, she grabbed her own cup and sat next to you on the window seat. There was a little chip on the lip of the teacup, but she spoke again before you could comment on it.
“Mobius hates when he gets like this. ‘Too much work,’ she says.” Rin took a thoughtful sip, reminding you of your own waiting cup. “I don’t know why she’s mad. Hua does all the cleaning anyway...”
“Rin,” you started cautiously, wanting to get answers without getting kicked out. “How long has Kalpas lived here?”
“Ninety-two years we’ve been trapped here.” A new voice broke in so calmly you weren’t even startled. “May I have some tea Rin?” The girl jumped off her seat and set about pouring another cup for the stranger while you stared. Simply being in the same room as him had you relaxing—the opposite of what happened with Kalpas.
“My name is Su, I’m the valet, though no one has needed one in quite some time.” He pulled one of the chairs from the small table off to the side and turned it to face you. While Rin handed off the tea and returned to her seat, Su continued.
“A century ago, prince Kalpas was at the forefront of the battle against Honkai. He and his followers had recently overrun a camp that had been causing the kingdom quite a few headaches.” You remembered reading about the battle in numerous books the library in your village offered, but the words coming from the man before you were much easier to believe than the exaggeration bound in leather.
“To celebrate the victory, prince Kalpas—begrudgingly—hosted a feast. Truly, he was not one for such celebrations. I highly doubt the years have made any difference, but still; at the time, the prince was loathe to welcome so many guests, so the list of those invited was quite limited.
One of those omitted from the list was Lady Aponia, a duchess nearby. What we soon found out was that she was also a sorceress. She was by no means an ally to the Honkai, but she regarded Kalpas’ destructive behavior with distaste. This latest attack had left much of her land burned and the years’ harvest was little more than ash.”
Aponia was a name you had only read once before. Very few books contained information on neighboring nobles because there were very few nobles to write of. If Aponia indeed was a sorceress, she would have been erased from history the moment she was found out, only making Su’s story more believable. There were acres upon acres of land to the north of the village that remained untouched. Every farmer who attempted to claim a plot found their crop withered—as though the ground itself was cursed.
“Kalpas alone was responsible for the fires, and all in attendance that night were made aware. Aponia entered the castle, bringing with her a silence that left a chill in your bones. Our prince held no fear for her, but I truly wish he had.” Rin shuddered next to you, as though the memory of that night still haunted her, even after all this time.
“Aponia cursed us for prince Kalpas’ lack of concern for her people. We are to walk these halls until the day he learns what it means to care for another.”
“And yet he remains as stubborn as ever.” A sigh came from the doorway, causing you to jump and spill tea all over yourself. Luckily, at this point, it had grown cold, but the sharp nails and pastel green hair of the figure that entered had you biting back a yelp as though you had been burned all the same.
“You are no different Mobius,” Su’s voice took on a slightly more hostile tone. “All these years and you still insist upon scaring our guests.”
“What else is there to do in this stuffy old castle,” she almost sounded forlorn. You would have felt bad about her situation if she wasn’t so carelessly flicking the hands on the mantle clock, her claws leaving gouges in the wood.
“Besides, after the fuss they caused getting Kalpas all wound up like that, I think they deserve a little scare.” Su seemed ready to argue, but Mobius cut him off. “Dinner will be ready in another few minutes. You’ll be joining Kalpas in the banquet hall. Rin can show you the way.”
Joining him? You were quite certain Kalpas would only share a meal with you if your bones were the main course. It seemed unlikely that someone who had been ready to kill you for intruding would suddenly turn around and invite you to their dinner table.
“Elysia is only using you as an excuse to get out of her chores,” Mobius rolled her eyes. “Bringing the food up here is a waste of time. If you’re going to be staying here, you’re not going to be a nuisance.”
“I didn’t mean to—” you started, but Mobius interrupted again.
“Didn’t mean to impose, blah blah,” she mocked you, “It’s too late for that, little guest. I’ll have Eden come get you dressed. You’re expected to be in your seat in fifteen minutes. Don’t be late.”
Flipping long curls over her shoulder, Mobius stalked out. Su stood to follow, only giving you an apologetic glance before departing. Rin softly held your hand, pulling you from the terrifying whirlpool of thoughts in your head. Her smile was reassuring, and you clung to it as your only source of comfort for the rest of the night.
If you hadn’t known any better, you would have thought Eden was the lady of the house. Everything about her was so perfect yet genuine, bringing you a sense of peace even Su would envy. She spent the full fifteen minutes finding the perfect outfit and ensuring you were beyond presentable.
“First impressions last!” she told you; as though you hadn’t already gone through quite possibly the worst introduction possible with prince Kalpas.
“He’ll get over it,” she told you in a tone so sweet you almost believed her.
“Remember to enjoy yourself!” she called out, just before the doors shut, cutting off the light and joy surrounding herself and Rin, leaving you with only fear and despair that clouded the room containing the prince.
Food was already laid out, making it apparent that your seat was to be as far from Kalpas as possible. The length of the table meant you had to squint to see him clearly, but it also meant you would have a second’s warning before he could kill you. What you could possibly do with that second was a different matter.
Shadows cast from the massive fireplace covered the face of the prince, blocking his eyes from your view even without his usual mask. Out of respect—and most definitely not terror—you kept your eyes focused on your plate, convincing yourself that there was no one at the table but you. For the entire duration of the meal, the room was silent. It was only when you finished—unsure whether you should leave or wait for your host to finish—that he spoke.
“Elysia is demanding that you stay.” Your head snapped up in time to catch a stray tongue of flame reflect off of a wicked looking eye. “It seems you’ve gotten yourself into quite the bind, little guest,” he taunted you like a rabbit caught in a trap. “Which do you fear more? The beast or your lover?”
The fire crackled, attempting to break the silence to no avail. With a nervous gulp, you gathered your thoughts and spoke.
“It would be a lie to say I do not fear the beast more,” your answer drew a grin full of knife-like teeth, showing the prince’s pleasure at hearing your words in the most threatening way possible.
“Yet,” you spoke again, all fear gone from your voice. “I would rather die than return to town.”
At that, Kalpas threw his head back with a bark of laughter that left your blood chilled within your veins. Tilting his chin down just so, you could see the firelight bounce off of every scar. It became impossible to tell if the burning in his eyes was coming from within himself or was merely glare from the light. Despite the terror clawing at your heart, you kept your gaze locked on him, refusing to look away, even if he was to be the last thing you saw in this life.
“Then you would live with your fear?” His drop in tone did little to ease your anxiety, but you nodded regardless. Again, those horrid teeth appeared, ready to tear you limb from limb, but the prince didn’t move.
“Enjoy your stay then, little guest.”
(I don't have any notes written believe it or not) Su is supposed to be the valet (coat rack??) and Mobius, the mantle clock. Does this ever come into play in the story? nope! it doesn't matter, I don't know why I tried to relate them to characters. I don't know why I went with this theme???? Dear reader, if you understand please let me know because I am so lost and I'm the one who wrote it :(
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