|| Won’t You Believe Me? || Suo Hayato X Reader || Wind Breaker ||

Thank the heavens I found your blog! after getting into the wind breaker anime and currently reading manga. I am starved for wind breaker reader content until I found you. If possible can I request hayato suo relationship/boyfriend headcannons? Oh it would make my day and all the suo lovers days as well

Thank you.

—For some reason, Suo has been hot on my requests on Tumblr へ[ ᴼ ▃ ᴼ ]_/¯ !!

Hayato Suo as your boyfriend (DRABBLE)

In the past, Hayato was able to score very well with many girls that were his age and some even above his age that managed to fall for him. But, he has never dated anyone. However, he doesn’t see himself as inexperienced.

From the get-go, he’s learned how to act right which probably resulted in him getting many girls to like him. Even so, under his nice exterior, he’s an extremely hard person that falls in love. The only reason why you were able to date him out of all of the people he has rejected, was because you’ve known him the longest.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you for who you are—if anything, his infatuated with your personality and the way you look up at him with those damning eyes (although sometimes, he questions some of things you say and wonders if they should be studied or not). Before he knew it, he started to fall for you without even knowing.

It was easy when you first started dating him, he still treats you like how he always has but soon grew more intimate and touchier with you. Before in the past you two were strictly friends. Even though the both of you have been going to each other’s houses for the longest time, neither of you had made a move until the moment you started dating. He didn’t start touching you back then out of respect and not wanting to make things weird, so when the both of you held hands for the first time, you caught a glimpse of his ears going red which was something you’ve never seen before.

He continued speaking to you in the same chaotic manner you’ve always known, while from time to time sneaking in little compliments and caressing the flesh of your skin with the most subtle touches.

In the morning and nights, he used to text you when he’s going to bed and telling you goodnight before sleeping. That changed when you two switched to calling more often. Aside from the beginning of the relationship, you two got close fairly quick—after all, you’ve known each other since forever.

Quickly, he’s not shy when holding your hand and communicating with you about any problems that occur in your relationship. He ends up solving them in a few hours or a day, he doesn’t like dragging the situation on and will force you to speak out even if you struggle with communicating. If you’re the type of person that gives the cold shoulder, he will not let you do so and won’t stop bothering you until you give a proper answer.

Honestly it’s amazing he’s able to put up with your petty behaviour. Nirei had witnessed it first hand when the Suo had gotten a call from you and watched the two of you argue through the phone. He stepped away for a few minutes before returning back to the blonde-haired boy with the same smile that lets him know everything is okay.

Because of how unhinged he is, typically speaking—he’s the first one to make nearly all of the moves. He was the one that stole your first kiss. That day was surreal to you. The way he took you out skating for the first time and held hands on the rink, then going on to bringing you to dinner and finally ending the day off with a sweet, warm kiss that engulfed your mind when he kissed you in the dead of night underneath a streetlight lamp as the snow fell down within every second he kept his lips on yours.

Soon after, many of your dates were usually spending time outside together. He’s not much of an indoor person and likes to walk to different places with you all over town. The only time he will do an indoor date is if the weather is bad or one of you got sick.

Even with how nice Suo can portray himself as, somethings he does have is a little risky side of him that loves to tease you. It’s a secret though, he loves to make a fool out of the people he fights and watch them crumble, so it’s no wonder why he loves it when you’re all shy around him. Moments like this, when he’s needy and just generally carving his girlfriend, he likes to go into your personal space, place you on his lap if you’re watching a show with him, plaster open mouthed kisses on your neck and shoulders all while acting oblivious as to why you’re red.

Whenever he sees something in public that reminds him of you, he buys it immediately and gives it to you the next time he sees you again. The first time he did this it was a keychain of your favourite food then it slowly turned into random stickers, pencils, clothing wear, and jewelry. He likes to spoil you without even knowing himself. You have to remind him that he paid last time when you went out to eat meaning it’s your turn to return the favour. But even so, he tells you to put your cash away and let him pay again.

Once dating you for long enough, he never grows tired of your diabolical personality and is glad you put with his chaotic behaviour.

fluff, apologising and making up after a 'fight' kind of drabble bc i miss suna <3

suna rintarou shows up to your university on the third day of the silent treatment.

the sight is a surprise, to say the least. your pro-volleyball player boyfriend standing outside your faculty’s building with his hands in his pockets, blending in with baggy jeans, a hoodie, and a cap. he looks the part of a university student, but you could never be fooled, not when he's 6'3 with an equally admirable stature from exercising.

amongst the crowd of outflowing students, the dark-haired spots you, olive eyes widening upon seeing you. he pushes himself onto two feet before walking over to where you stay rooted, dodging the students who just came out of the same lecture.

“hi,” suna greets, stopping just a few feet away from you. the sight of his lopsided smile is enough to get your heart racing again. you've missed him so much.

regardless, you cross your arms to keep up an angry front, not wanting to give in to his charms just yet no matter how good he may he at using them. 

“what are you doing here?” you ask bluntly, betraying the butterflies in your stomach.

his expression doesn’t falter at your iciness. “not happy to see me?”

you are happy to see him, very much so, especially when he has taken the initiative of literally showing up at your campus and waiting for your classes to be over to see you. he must be tired from practice as well and you know too well that mondays were never kind to him. 

so the fact that suna came all this way for you makes you feel a little special. 

he’s even wearing some of that cologne that you really like and unless it’s for special occasions, you know that your boyfriend is never bothered enough to wear any fragrance. he is so sly that you could kiss him.

“not particularly, suna.” you say in response, lying through your teeth.

suna clutches his chest like he’s been shot, making a gasp of offence at your statement. “babe, after i came all the way to campus? i thought i’d never want to come back here but i made some exceptions for the love of my life and this is what i get in return?” 

“suck it up, i guess.”

“-and who on earth is suna? never heard of him. can’t believe you’ve already forgotten my name after three days, i’m losing sight of reality, babe hold me, i might faint.”

“whatever,” you chuckle a little at his antics, eyes softening with a certain fondness that suna doesn’t miss. his lips twitch upwards at the sight of it.

this is his chance to win you back. he throws his line in in hopes of catching you hook and sinker. 

“let’s go to dinner tonight,” he offers, recovering from his previously downed position, voice contrastingly soft and gentle to smoothen his proposal. 

“what, so you can stand me up again?” you quip, instantly slicing the atmosphere to turn tense as the line snaps in half.

suna’s grin falls, morphing into a guilty frown. “c’mon pretty, that’s mean. you know how sorry i am, i didn’t mean to forget about our plans.”

you huff, letting your arms fall back to your sides. “i know, i know, but you standing me up just stung. it was frustrating because i made time for us that i could have used to study with instead,” you confess. “you know how stressed i’ve been with finals.”

the athlete stuffs his hands into his pockets awkwardly. “but i’m trying to make up for it.” 

“i know and i appreciate it, but now’s not a good time. i’m sorry but i can’t go to dinner tonight or any time soon, i have a bunch of practice tests to do that i can’t keep putting off.”

“then can i come over?” asks suna, a hopeful lilt to his voice.

“and watch me study? do you really want that?”

“i just want to be with you, i can order us takeout or something- on me.”

“guess i’m just irresistible, huh?”

“duh, do you know how much i suffered during the weekend? missed you so much, practically died from boredom.”

“oh so i’m just another person for you to bother? is that how it is?” you ask, unable to contain your smile. 

the dark-haired scoffs. “c’mon babes, you know you’re better than that. you’re the only person i can bother.”

“oh fuck off,” you whack his shoulder teasingly. “also for your information, you’re not coming between me and my education.”

“ambitious people are a turn-on,” he mutters with a shrug before pulling you in to kiss your cheek.

“ew get off me, freak,” you joke whilst shoving him, not rough enough to actually create distance but suna still stands his ground from the force. his hand goes to hold your other cheek as he smothers you with over-exaggerated affection. 

you laugh in his hold, holding on to his wrists for balance. “suna!” you yelp when he pushes too much weight onto you, causing the two of you to stumble sideways. “actually get off me.”

“can’t. won’t. don’t want to. this is what you get for not responding to me all weekend- what does  a man need to do to get a text back from the love of his life?” 

“easy. be a man.” you step out of his grasp with a satisfied smirk, beginning to walk away from your boyfriend who stares at you with his mouth hung open in disbelief. inevitably, suna runs up to you.

and as he encases you with his arms in the middle of the empty gardens of your university faculty, you know that the two of you will be okay. even if suna is the bane of your existence, there is no one else for you like him. 

I absolutely love your writing style and choice of words😭😭 whenever you write scara or do a a character study he sounds like a loser lmao (in a good way-)

Thank you, dear anon! Your kind message inspired me to write a proper response (I haven’t done this in ages), so do forgive me for wasting your time on reading it! ❤️🙏

I think “loser” is a pretty accurate word to describe Scaramouche. He never gets what he wants, being either robbed of something he had spilled his own blood and tears to finally seize or prescribed to experience the underwhelming and unsatisfying results of his seemingly “successful” goals. In my humble opinion, it’s the latter that makes Scaramouche such a tragic character. In the end, he wasn’t even allowed to escape from the painful reality of living with the fact that he had spent almost five centuries believing in absolute lies and subjecting himself to blatant manipulations. He was denied the right to commit what the game essentially implied to be a suicide in the name of “correcting his mistakes”, and to someone as wilful yet fragile in terms of ego as he, having to continue existing in Teyvat and actually face the consequences of his actions instead of “quitting in a quick and beautiful fashion” is the cruelest but sobering punishment one could invent and execute against already broken and humiliated individual whose unyielding convictions were shattered by the sudden revelation.

In short, Scaramouche is a complete failure of a person (and deep down he knows it). It’s only natural that you, the “Reader” character, won’t be happy with his pre!Wanderer version — after all, you are the prisoner of his flawed mentality. His imperfections (hidden self-hatred and prejudices included) are too sharp to be smoothed, let alone to be rid of. They leave no room for improvements to be made to the cage you are placed in, depriving him of the pleasure of hearing you sing for him. A bird without a voice is a pathetic sight to behold, and there is nothing he can do about it other than activating his usual defense mechanisms and blaming you for not succumbing to his childish whims. He will be inclined to think that you deserve to have your wings clipped because... there certainly must be an urgent justification for making you miserable, right?

But he won’t be happy either with the outcome. Despite a certain amount of sadistic glee produced, your suffering won’t be considered a victory on his part. It doesn’t matter what kind of feelings you harbor towards Scaramouche — you may desire or loathe him, whatever. It’s he who is the sole problem here; to be precise, it’s his tendency to constantly contradict himself that really dooms your already unhealthy relationship. After all, you are no mind reader, so how would you know that Lord Scaramouche’s disdain for you was born out of his bizarre interpretation of how love works? How would you know that The Balladeer’s despicable demeanor has a complex layer to it? How would you deduce the discarded puppet hurts you because his guts twist at the thought of him — of all people — behaving in a genuinely nice manner?

He wants you to love him, truly, for even failed tools can long for the taste of intimacy. But he also has a burning hatred for seeing the sincere joy of another, himself included. As such, those mutually exclusive feelings constantly clash with each other — if he can’t just dream of that sweet fairy-tale nonsense without a feeling of revulsion, then he is not worthy of it at all. By this logic, the fault is yours alone (for causing him to malfunction, of course) and you are not worthy, too.

Scaramouche is being difficult because there is no other option for him to take – he simply can’t see alternatives. His preferred method of coping with the trauma is lashing out at those few pleasant things in his life and destroying them, therefore prematurely declaring his defeat. It’s as if he aims for it on purpose... or is in strong denial of his neglected need to be loved, thus unconsciously choosing the most crooked and thorny path.

Predictably, this path will lead him to an impasse. As long as he keeps refusing to admit he still has the capacity to feel himself human, he will never win. He is the creation of Eternity, the puppet made by the hands of the embodiment of everlasting stagnation; enthralled by false beliefs, he won’t reconsider them at his current state of being. Your humanity, on the other hand, gifts you the ability to endure, adapt, change, and ultimately prevail – a feat not eligible to his infinitely tolerant body. You have the advantage of possessing a spirit free of the constraints of an artificial creature and a mindset of agile properties – in other words, all roads are open for you to explore to your heart’s content.

Scaramouche, however, has only one. He shall remain a dedicated worshipper of the stale idée fixe until enough force – a force of source almost divine – is applied to his stubborn self. You don’t hold such power, but at least you will always find a way to escape the horror of cohabitating with him. Yet he… He will haunt the same repeated trail in a vain attempt to prove to the world and everyone living in it that his decision to torment you (and himself) was never wrong. Only time shall eventually show him the downsides of the narrative he has been obsessing over and point out the obvious inconsistencies, and until then…

Until then, he will never ever beat you. But will you still be here to laugh at him once he realizes that he never had the slightest chance of putting your king in checkmate from the very beginning?

It is a question you must resolve yourself. By then, his intervening whisper won’t entice you anymore; by then…

You will be the one to pull on the unlucky doll’s strings.

⸻ ꗃ dreaming you

₊˚❀ synopsis: their reaction to you falling sleeping on them ₊˚❀ pairings: choji tomiyama, umemiya hajime, hayato suo, haruka sakura, jo togame, akihiko nirei x gn. reader (separate)

CHOJI TOMIYAMA | 兎耳山 丁子 ─ ❀ °. ⁺ ♡

Oh? You’re sleeping? On him? Well, that’s all the invitation CHOJI needs to snuggle up right beside you and sleep with you, cuddling up as close to your side as possible. But that nap of yours would eventually come to a stubborn halt as you later found yourself opening your eyes and left fully awake with a teenage boy clinging onto you akin to a koala latching to a tree for dear life. His warmth and closeness might be startling at first—scratch that, always startling, that unpredictable oaf—but there's something endearing about his unabashed, shameless affection that you can't help but smile at his innocent, childlike need for closeness. 

Choji is a master at acting innocent and harmless—whether intentional or not—regardless, he will make sure you're wrapped up snugly in his embrace, even if it means you become his personal pillow for the night. But you were already just as smitten, even if it meant you occasionally lost sleep over his enthusiastic cuddling.

HAJIME UMEMIYA | 梅宮 一 ─ ❀ °. ⁺ ♡

Meet clingy boy part two, Hajime UMEMIYA. Similar to that of the likes of Choji, his affection knows no bounds, and he’s not shy about showing it. Your relationship with Umemiya was already very affectionate to the likes of practically any passerby who was unfortunate enough to see Umemiya’s shameless PDA, but seeing you asleep brought out a whole new side of him. Umemiya would immediately whip out a cellphone and snap a quick picture before gently tucking a strand of hair behind your ear and watching you sleep the rest of the time you dreamt. His clinginess reaches new heights as he spends the entire day replaying the moment in his mind, cherishing the memory of your peaceful slumber.

The next day, you would glance at your boyfriend's screen and see the most unflattering picture of you asleep from the day before; capturing your drooling face and bed hair in all its glory, now immortalized as his damn wallpaper. 

"How romantic," you mutter to yourself, rolling your eyes and plotting your revenge with a particularly embarrassing photo of him in mind.

HAYATO SUO | 蘇枋 隼飛  ─ ❀ °. ⁺ ♡

SUO might come off as aloof on the outside, but behind closed doors, he’s a fountain, nay, a geyser of affection. He may not act like it, but he enjoys and revels in the trust you place in him, enough to be able to put down your guard to such an extent that you were able to fall asleep right on his shoulder. His calm exterior melts away almost instantaneously in private, revealing a man who takes immense pleasure in your comfort and happiness.

Suo has sharper eyes than most. His keen gaze caught the subtle shift in the rhythm of your conversation. With your fingers entwined with his, he sensed the impending short periods of silence. At that moment, he discerned that you were on the verge of drifting off. Feeling the gentle slackening of your grip on his hand, he redirected his attention to you, observing as your eyelids drooped with drowsiness, beginning to have nodded off. With a chuckle and soft and gentle smile, right before you fully dozed off, Suo took off his Furin jacket and placed it over you, ensuring you were warm and cozy.

Your subconscious self then cuddled close to it, burying your face in its familiar scent. No one would or could ever lay their hands on that same jacket again. Mark his words. 

HARUKA SAKURA | 桜 遥 ─ ❀ °. ⁺ ♡

The second SAKURA realizes your head is on his shoulder—or heaven forbid his lap—he explodes, both figuratively and quite literally. His face flushes a deep red, and his heart races as if he’s just run a marathon. But in all his frantic, blushing mess, his pride prevents him from moving and disturbing your sleep. In his eyes, nothing is more important than your comfort. So, instead, Sakura sits still and stiff as a statue as he waits for you to wake up. The effort it takes for him to remain motionless is comical to any passerby who has the chance to see the seemingly constipated expression on Sakura’s face. Still, he does it for you and only you, and he is not against anyone who dares to disturb this peace.

“S-Sakura-san! What are you—”

“Be quiet right now or I’ll snap your neck and sew your mouth shut.”

“Ahah… right.”

JO TOGAME | 十亀 条 ─ ❀ °. ⁺ ♡

TOGAME is genuinely shocked when you show him even an ounce of affection, so to have you, locked hands, sitting alone and peacefully on the bench, resting your head on his shoulder, leaves him utterly speechless. Togame nails the intimidating exterior yet is incredibly sensitive, kind, and loving on the inside. His heart races as he slowly takes your body in his calloused, bigger hands and gently places your head on his lap, careful not to wake you. Your body was hardly even moving, and yet you felt warmer than ever when at his side. Perhaps this was what true love felt like…

And so, he sits there, his heart pounding, cherishing the moment of having you so close to him. It didn’t matter if he would feel sore later. All he was concerned about at that moment was you being peacefully asleep right there at his side and no one elses.

AKIHIKO NIREI | 楡井秋彦 ─ ❀ °. ⁺ ♡

NIREI is the polar opposite of Togame when it comes to handling affection, frantic both inside and out when he sees your head resting on his shoulder. If, at that moment, there were an Olympic event for internal freakouts, then Nirei would win first prize in a landslide. His mind races, wondering what he did to deserve such a divine being, choosing him of all people as your significant other. Nirei’s flustered reactions are a mix of disbelief and overwhelming joy. Thus, still in his panic, Nirei remained tense and blushing furiously, afraid to move a muscle in case he woke you, but in his mind, he was running laps of pure happiness and disbelief, wishing that this moment would last forever. 

©hxnbi. please do not modify, edit, copy or reproduce any of my works.

La Vie en Rose

jason todd x fem!reader

aka jason wildly preferring you over everyone else

4 in 1 blurbs

warnings: standard batfam arguing etc.

You sit curled up embarrassingly close to Jason on the couch, head on his shoulder. The team is still in their gear as they filter into the living room, masks and helmets discarded in scattered locations between here and the cave. The mission had been fairly simple and with all of them together it only took a couple hours to finish up.

As you waited, Alfred had kept your mind busy in the kitchen while he taught you how he makes his famous ice cream from scratch.

The clamor of the heroic party’s return had made itself known sooner than later, and you think your face must have displayed your emotions nicely because Alfred nodded you away with a small smile and no second thought.

You’d walked into the living room, weaving through the mess of siblings until a hand snuck out on your left and grabbed your wrist. You barely had time to look at him before Jason pulled you down to sit next him on the sofa. He wrapped an arm over your shoulder, pulling you in and leaving virtually no space between you. His armor sits heavy against you, but a welcome weight on your shoulders.

Tim plops down on the couch across from you and you can just make out a bit of blood on the side of his head, aptly accompanied by an irritated look sprawled across his face. It’s not enough blood to be concerned about—not for them—but you can venture a guess that whatever they were up to shouldn’t have called for any injuries and his pique is likely directly related to that.

Though Dick’s goading aura might have something to do with it too, as he comes crashing down next to him a second later, partially sitting on Tim’s cape and pulling him into an awkward angle. 

Nightwing doesn’t seem too perturbed by the younger vigilante’s agitation and curt manner of pushing him off.

The others are too caught up in chatter to pay much attention to you, and you can be certain that’s why Jason takes that moment to press a kiss to the side of your head. He lets his lips linger there for just a second as you lean into him.

Alfred’s own entrance is the only thing able to subside the flurry of conversations skirting around the room.

“A job well done,” he commends with a nod. “A selection of ice creams awaits you in the kitchen.”

He gives you a sly wink before retreating back through the swinging door, leaving Stephanie and Cass to practically trip over themselves trying to beat each other to the kitchen. Robin follows after unhurried, mask still on, with his hands behind his back.

Jason kneads your thigh before pushing himself up to stand. He turns back, looking down to you. “What do you want?” he asks softly.

You hum, "Just strawberry's good."

Tim sits up, "Can I—”

"No, you've got legs,” Jason grumbles, stalking off to the kitchen.

Dick barks out a laugh and you bite back a smile.

Tim looks absolutely aghast. 

“That’s such bullshit. You know, he used to be nice.”

“No he didn’t,” Dick laughs, shaking his head. “Not since you’ve known him.”

Stephanie stumbles out of the kitchen then, the door hitting her back on the way, as she mutters a curse behind her. You can vaguely makeout Jason grunting something back before she rolls her eyes.

Steph looks at you, shaking her head as she returns to her seat, “You live like this?”

You shrug, “He’s nice to me.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Tim grumbles.

Jason returns after Cass a minute later with a bowl of strawberry ice cream and two spoons. He expertly ignores Tim’s unwavering glare as he resituates himself beside you.

He scoops your legs up over his lap and positions the bowl in between you, wrapping the sleeve of his jacket around it so that the cold porcelain doesn’t make contact with your skin.

The others have set themselves up so that the four of them are stuffed up against each other on the sofa adjacent to you, very obviously examining you both. 

And while you’re willing to acknowledge the amused stares and singular glare, Jason only sighs heavily, rolling his eyes as he glares at the coffee table.

Only a few seconds of this are allowed to go by before he pulls over a throw pillow and sets it over your knees, so that it rests atop your heads like a mini-fort, successfully blocking out his siblings' view of the two of you.

You smile and press a light kiss to his shoulder as he simmers.

Regrettably, you miss the way Damian side-eyes the pillow above you as he re-enters the room, perching himself atop the back of the couch behind the others.

“This is so nice,” Dick preens. “He used to just leave the room when too many of us gathered in one place. Now he has to stay.”

Stephanie watches the makeshift fort with wary eyes, scooping ice cream into her mouth. “Yeah…I don’t wanna freak you guys out but, uh…”

It’s quiet for a moment and you guess Cass is speaking. 

You’re proven right when Stephanie starts up again, “My thoughts exactly.” Her voice drops into a raspy whisper that isn’t really meant to go unheard, “I don’t know who the hell that is, but it is not Jason.” 

“This is unprecedented,” Damian mumbles, dipping into his own chocolate cup.

“Do they always talk about you like you’re not here?” you ask Jason quietly. 

“Yes,” he grumbles with a scornful look directed at the bowl.

A low hiss can be heard immediately after, “I’ve never heard him whisper before, what the fuck?”

You can’t hide your laugh as well as you mean to, but you know Jason’s light swat to your thigh is nothing more than a rib.

Mumbles continue along the other couch, mostly going unacknowledged, until Tim busts out, “He doesn’t even like strawberry!”

Jason snaps the pillow out of the way, “The fuck do you know about what I like?”

Tim resets his posture with one hell of an attitude, snarking, “Well I can name one thing you really seem to fucking—”

Jason grabs the pillow harshly and chucks it at Tims head which connects with a loud thwack.

Damian swats it away before it can knock him off balance, though his scowl is only half worth what Tim’s is. 

“You’re unbelievable,” he says with a sneer. “This is why you don’t get invited to movie night anymore.”

Jason doubles back at him, “Sorry, is this not your own fucking house?”

Tim huffs, “Yes, which i—”

“Then get your own goddamn ice cream!”

Tim huffs as he stands, sending Jason a pointed look. “I’m going because I want to.”

Jason barely gives him a sardonic nod as he stomps off.

“Get me some too!” Dick calls back, only for the back of his head to be met with a sideways grimace from Tim.

As he leaves, the focus of the room seems to shift towards Damian dripping chocolate onto his cape and it fades away from there.

You turn to Jason, lowering your voice to just below a whisper, “If you don’t like strawberry—”

“I like it,” he tells you, leaving no room to argue as he takes a bite.

Voicemail. 

Voicemail.

Voicemail. 

Voicemail.

Declined.

Voicemail.

Declined.

Declined. 

“I swear to God, he better be dead,” Stephanie mutters to herself.

She shuts her phone off and tosses it into the passenger seat with a huff. Her fingers drum against the steering wheel as she scans the sidewalk across from her car.

The night before the majority of the team had been involved in a less-than-successful plan, which some have called “a display of complete idiocy and inability to circumspect.”

Then Tim had to go and make a joke about that word choice in what was apparently a bad moment. This gave way to a harsher punishment of the team being forced to clean the batcave foot by square foot—notably, an impossible task.

So naturally, they had to retaliate.

The plan was to dismantle the batmobile piece by piece and leave it a collection of parts for Bruce to find. Problem being, the group as it stood didn’t possess the capability to do so without doing a great deal of damage to the parts. Damage, that the family was not willing to face extra retribution for.

Fortunately, they knew just the man for the job. 

Unfortunately, said man has devoted his life to ignoring their messages, favoring to live peacefully and distantly from them. And because that peace and distance does come with an add-on of borderline complete secrecy from his family, no one had any idea where to look for him.

So, Stephanie decided to do the next most rational thing and track down your location. She’d hoped he would be with you like he always is, but for seemingly the first time in the last year—he’s nowhere to be found.

Now, was revenge for a minor-slight by Bruce so important that it required Stephanie to take all of these steps to get a hold of Jason? No, absolutely not. She’s pretty sure that the others have already given up on it by now and started cleaning. But it’s about the principal. And also, she does not want to clean the floors of a cave.

She jumps up in her seat when she spots you exiting a store, scurrying to unbuckle and pry the car door open.

She’s across the street in half a second, running directly into your line of sight. It actually would’ve been very difficult for her to miss your line of sight, considering she’d landed only a good six inches in front of your face. “Hey!”   

“Oh, fuck—” you jump, grabbing your chest. You take a breath when you realize who it is, less surprised now by the theatrics of the introduction. “Hey Steph.”

“Hey,” she smiles casually, like she didn’t do what she just did. “So Jason’s been ignoring us and I need to get a hold of him,” she tells you.

You nod, still collecting yourself. “Oh. I don’t know where he is—”

She shakes her head, “That’s fine. Can I use your phone to call him?”

You frown, “Is something wrong?”

“With him, yeah,” she snarks. “I called him, Tim called him, Dick called him, Cass called him, Damian called him, we used Bruce’s phone to call him—that was a bit of a long shot, but still. This is our last option. Well, not our last option, if this doesn’t work I could get really invasive, but—” She shakes the thought from her head, “Nevermind.”

You nod blankly, taking in the mountain of information she’d just handed you. “How’d you know I was here?”

She scans your eyes back and forth for a second before her own widen in realization and she’s shaking her head. “No, no, don’t worry we’re not tracking you! I just hacked into the traffic cameras to find you.”

“Oh!” you exclaim, nodding some more. “Okay.”

You hand her your phone without any further questions—for your own sake—and she happily accepts. 

“You know I texted him 115 times?” she tells you as she scrolls through your contacts.

You furrow your eyebrows, watching her click his name and press the phone to her ear. “Did you count?”

“Well, I had the time, di—you son of a bitch! One ring?” Stephanie scorns into the phone.

You can hear Jason groan on the other end of the line. 

He says something to Stephanie that she follows up with a firm shake of her head.

“No,” she says defiantly. “She let me use it.”

Stephanie rolls her eyes, not pleased with his response. “What if it was an emergency?”

She listens for a second, skeptical look on her face.

She gasps suddenly, “I am not overstepping, we thought you were dead!”

Over the course of about ten seconds the shock on her face drops into just-been-caught guilt. “Well, I mean we considered it.”

You imagine Jason’s telling her to give you your phone back as she stands her ground, pushing, “If you promise to text me back.”

A short response on his end.

“Promise to text me back!”

There’s a brief lull before she’s giving a self-satisfied nod and jostling your phone back into your hands. “Here ya go. Thanks, babe!” She smiles wide at you before jogging back across the street, not waiting for the cars.

You smile as you watch her go, putting the phone up to your ear, “Hey Jay.”

You can hear the relief on the other end of the line. “Hey sweetheart. You know if you see Steph in public, you can just walk away?”

“I’m not going to walk away from your family.” You look again across the street, “Also I don’t think that was an option for me this time.”

“That thing is fucking scary.”

Cass smiles fondly, signing, “I think he’s cute.”

Tim eyes the way Salem traipses around his feet, yellow eyes staring up at him. “Why’s it even here?”

Jason rolls his eyes, continuing to scroll on his phone. “He’s hers. Deal with it.”

Tim scrunches up his mouth. “She knows I hate it. And she, unlike you, wouldn’t subject me to this just for the hell of it. So again I ask: why is it here?”

Jason huffs, looking up from his phone. “What do you want me to say? He wants to be.”

Tim scoffs at that, “‘It wants to be’? You’re the one who put it in the car.”

“No, I didn’t,” Jason says factually.

Tim looks at him sideways as Salem leaps onto Jason’s lap and nudges his hand up. Jason follows along as requested, petting the top of Salem’s head with an open palm. 

Tim squirms to the other side of the couch with a look of disgust on his face. Salem watches him the whole time.  

A smile adorns Cass’ face as she signs, “She says he can read people’s energy.”

Tim huffs, resting his head against his fist. “What does that even mean?”

The conversation is cut off by the clatter of you and Dick stumbling into the room, carrying a freshly painted headboard. Blue paint coats both of your hands and has no doubt stained your clothes.

You’re clearly struggling a bit to keep your grip on your end, the weight of the wooden frame dragging your arms down.

Jason stands and Salem flows along with his movements easily, leaping down onto the hardwood. He comes over and helps you lift your end of the frame with a stupid amount of ease, to the point that you’re not even holding any of the weight up anymore. The three of you—less so you—move the headboard and lean it up against the wall. After it's set down Jason steps back and looks over it gingerly.

“It looks good,” he murmurs to you, quiet enough to not give his brother the satisfaction of his approval.

Dick had asked you over to help him paint Damian’s bed frame as a surprise for him for not getting in any “altercations” at school this semester. You’d decided on coating it with his favorite color first and then fill it in with a collection of what Dick has “on good authority” are his favorite animals. It’s a fairly random assortment that you’re not sure adds to or disproves Dick’s credibility. You’d spent the better half of the afternoon googling animals you’d never heard of just to make sure you projected their likenesses accurately. Dick had been very clear that you had to be precise on the details because Damian would know if he was really looking at a komodo dragon painting or if it was “some common lizard.”

You sigh, “I hope he likes it. I’m worried we did it too childish for him.”

“He is a child,” Jason says plainly.

“But he is not childish,” you counter. And he sure isn’t. You’d had a hard enough time convincing Damian to watch cartoons, adding a colorful animal mural to his bedroom might be one step too far. You’re still trying to figure him out.

“He’ll like it,” he says firmly.

You smile, slipping around under his arm and tucking yourself into his side.

Not a moment later, Dick slings an arm around Jason's shoulder, grinning as he pulls his brother in close.

Jason’s immediately louring. "No, get away from me."

Dick, unfazed and still smiling, removes his arm and takes a big step to the right. You do the same, figuring he needs his space, but you get caught by the wrist before you can do more than sway to the side. 

“Not you.” 

He pulls you back under his arm, wrapping it around the front of your shoulders. You hook your fingers around his forearm, letting your hand hang.

You hear a double-clap from the other side of the room that has you both turning around to face Cass. 

She signs something to Jason with a fond smile on her face. 

You look back and forth between them as Jason waves her off. “What?”

He shakes his head, “It’s nothing. She said—she said we’re cute.”

You smile up at him and he deflects—not so subtly—and starts nudging you back towards where the group is gathered, now all standing. 

Dick’s quick to start bragging off to the room about how great of a job the two of you did and how really complex and daunting it actually is painting animals for a child.

As he talks, your eyes find Jason, who’s definitely about to roll his eyes any second now. A bit subconsciously, your hand comes up to brush Jason’s white streak of hair back, away from tickling his forehead. 

On the other side of Jason, Tim does the same, sweeping Jason’s hair back in a much more mocking manner. 

This gives way to Jason smacking his hand away, harder than he needed to.

"Wha—You let her do it!" Tim protests, overplaying how much the slap hurt.

Jason scowls, "She can do whatever she wants."

Tim drops his shoulders, looking at Jason as if he’d been scandalized. “Oh but I can’t?”

“Not if it involves touching me,” Jason grumbles.

Tim steps closer, putting a finger to Jason’s chest. “You’re such a—”

From the floor, Salem hisses up at Tim, successfully startling the teenager. “Auahh—”

He stumbles backwards, grimacing at the cat. 

“Fucking demon,” he hisses, walking away.

When Tim’s far enough away and Salem’s seemingly satisfied, he brushes up against your leg, purring. 

You peer down at him with a furrowed brow. 

“What’s Salem doing here?”

“I’m not doing this shit with you.”

“No, come on, 9 out of 10 times is what you said. How ‘bout just once? Beat me one time at anything, Jaybird.”

“Anything?” Jason asks like he knows damn well Dick can’t swear on that word.

Rightly so, Dick backtracks. “Something agreed upon.”

Jason throws his hands up, partially in exasperation, partially relenting.

Dick smoothly turns his back to him, announcing, “Opening up the room for ideas.”

Damian’s eye roll is almost audible from the corner armchair, where his attention is unmoved from intently sharpening a blade he’d recently come into possession of.

Bruce similarly remains unbothered in his seat, trying to read despite the distractions. 

“Ooh, okay. Okay.” Stephanie wiggles up a little on the couch. “You could race!”

Dick shakes his head negatively, “I literally just busted my knee up two days ago, Steph.”

“Convenient,” Jason mumbles.

“You were there!” Dick exclaims with an open mouth.

Steph continues, “Um…”

Cass waves to the room from her position upside down on the couch, head hanging down next to Stephanie’s legs. Attention successfully acquired, she signs, “Staring contest.”

Jason grimaces, “That sounds like a nightmare.”

Dick gives him a faux-smile.

“You should play chicken,” Damian chimes in, holding up his knife.

“No,” Bruce drones monotonously as he flips a page. 

“Tic tac toe?” Steph suggests.

Cass is already shaking her head as she scrunches up her mouth in thought.  

Jason rolls his eyes, “What are we, five?”

Dick nods, cracking his knuckles as he thinks. “No, we need something that really proves our worth.”

Bruce looks up from his book, staring numbly through his brow, but remains silent.

“You could arm wrestle,” Steph suggests.

The elder brother twitches at that, “Uh, no.”

Cass moves past that before a joke has the chance to be made. “Handstand contest?” she suggests.

Jason shrugs, “Yeah, sure.”

The elder brother looks at him incredulously. “You’ll do a handstand contest with me?”

“That’s what I just said.”

Dick scoffs, “Jaybird, I’m an acrobat, you’re just some guy.”

Jason, not giving him the courtesy of eye contact, pulls his sweatshirt off from his back. “Well, you’re a lot of things, aren’t you?”

Dick throws his head back with a squint.

Jason fishes his phone out of his pocket and Dick follows suit, offended stare maintaining all the while. 

No exchange is required as they both toss their phones across the room, landing together with a rough clatter on Damian’s lap. Damian’s resulting glare is borderline disgusted.

Dick starts them off, “Alright, go. One…two…”

Both men push up onto their hands, muscles flexing as they find their balance. Dick’s form is better, of course, but Jason looks to have a stronger foundation.   

They both hold strong as several minutes go by with the brothers only maintaining the attention of some of the room, and the interest of none of it.

Stephanie huffs and tilts her head, thoroughly unentertained with the consistency they’re both managing. 

“Starting to wish they’d picked something that moved along a little faster,” she murmurs to Cass.

Dick glances over at the younger brother, clearly displeased with his lack of trouble keeping up with him. He shuffles closer one hand at a time, using the decreased distance to poke at Jason with his foot, trying to knock him over.

Jason kicks him back harder, “Hey! Don’t be a dick—”

“Very funny,” Dick leers.

They both end up finding a struggle to keep balance and are forced to mind their own.  

A chime rings out from the corner that has heads turning briefly in his direction before coming back to the competition. 

“Whose was that?” Dick calls out.

Damian leans over and inspects the screens with disinterest. “Todd’s.”

Jason adjusts his position, “Who is it?”

Damian responds with your name. 

“And?”

He picks up the phone shrugging like he couldn’t care less, “She wants to know if you want to go see some movie.”

There’s a brief silence before Jason drops out of the handstand, standing up. 

Dick’s blood-flushed face peers up at him, bewildered. “Wait, what?”

The family watches with wide eyes as Jason picks his sweatshirt up off the floor and tugs it back on.

Stephanie gawks, bordering on laughing. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he says simply.

Dick lets himself fall into a kneeling position with a huff, “You would rather go to some movie you don’t even know the name of than win a bet?”

Jason moues at him, “Uh, yeah.”

He tosses a twenty at Dick, and plucks his phone from Damian’s hand as he strolls past him, typing out a reply.

Cass sits up a bit and signs up to Stephanie, “Does he even like movies?” 

Bruce, now attention now fully removed from his book, watches Jason exit with the slightest hint of a smile. Dick sits dumbly on the floor, staring after him with an open-mouth. 

Damian twists the knife in his hands around contemplatively before rising to stand. 

“I will go,” he announces, dropping his blade onto the seat of the chair. Jason grumbles a no but Damian follows after him just the same.

you know what happened to the last guy that didn’t reblog? … 🔪🧨💥😵⚰️🪦

ART OF THE BEDCHAMBER | part 1

"Dual cultivation with you wouldn't be very useful. You might have extraordinary qi as a Vidyadhara, but it's sealed when you're in your human form."  Dan Heng stares at your fingers, deliberates as you trace the invisible paths of his meridians.  "Then," he says, "what about my dragon form?"  (Or: Dan Heng dreads the thought of outliving you and will do anything to help you achieve immortality. If that means fucking you in his dragon form, then so be it.)

6.5k words. smut, fluff, established relationship, xianxia elements. semi-explicit sexual content (only with dan heng in his human form in this chapter, sorry). reader is gender neutral, afab — they have breasts and bomb pussy game. cultural notes: "yinyue jun" is the chinese equivalent for "imbibitor lunae". please see the end notes for information on cultivation. other notes: this is set pre-1.2. 风月 was based on this fic so some things may feel very familiar! network: @trailblazernet. MDNI.

When Dan Heng—in a rather unexpected move—fell in love with you, he didn’t foresee all the agony that would come with it.

Shockingly, you aren’t the direct cause of this agony: a remarkable fact, given your routine of pestering him for as many hours as the day will allow. Dan Heng often complains about your many inconvenient behaviours (e.g., trying to cuddle with him in the archives, trying to kiss him in the archives, trying to have sex with him in the archives), but to the amazement of his fellow trailblazers, he never actually does anything about it. After getting over his initial embarrassment at such public displays of affection (this took quite some time), he’s come to tolerate it.

You often like to tease him for his leniency, all playful smiles and lilting tones: You don’t have to act so shy, Dan Heng—I know you enjoy the attention. My Heng'er likes to be spoiled, huh?

He always rolls his eyes in response. Consider it a miracle that I haven’t kicked you out yet, he’ll usually say, flicking you on the forehead. He never tells you if he means kicking you out of the archives or if he means throwing you out of the Astral Express itself, right into the vacuum of space. (Most bystanders are astonished that the latter hasn’t happened yet. So are you.)

He also doesn’t tell you how wrong it feels when he isn’t listening to the background noise of your shameless flirting. Or how wrong it feels when he doesn’t get to humour you with a kiss every once in a while.

Which brings him to the root of the problem: the wrongness that he’s feeling right now. The emptiness of the archives without your laughter, the tasteless quality of his food when you’re not there to dine with him, the restlessness of trying to sleep without you—it’s all wrong, wrong, wrong. Wrong enough for it to be a little agonizing, now that he’s nearing one hundred and twenty days of this.

You often have to leave the Express for many months in a row, so Dan Heng is no stranger to these unsettling feelings. Neither are you. If I could spend more time with you, I would, you’d said before leaving last time—and the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that. But I can’t avoid going into seclusion. It’s part of the whole Cultivator gig, y'know—gotta go to a mountain somewhere and meditate for a few months. That’s just the price of immortality if you’re a measly human. Then you’d given him a little smile, pecked him on the lips. Most people do it for years at a time, but I wouldn’t be able to leave you alone for so long.

The first time you’d pointed this out, Dan Heng was startled by the relief that flooded him. Vidyadharas have an intuitively different sense of time compared to human beings, and two or three years should feel like nothing to him: relative to the centuries he’d lived as his previous incarnation—or the decades as his current one—it would be only a fleeting moment.

But in your absence, it would feel like an eternity.

It surprises him how much he hates the crawl of time without you. Dan Heng had never before been a needy person: solitude and isolation had always been the norm for him, in a lifetime absent of human touch—first imprisoned from birth, then exiled from the first moment he got to see the sun. Even after leaving the Alliance, he hadn’t allowed himself to become particularly close with anyone: it would have been too complicated because of the sensitive matter of his past, and he simply didn’t feel deserving of it anyway. Nor was he in need of it.

Then he met you.

Then he met you, and he became accustomed to the sound of your laughter, and then your offhanded, warm touches, and then your smile as you sat in the blue glow of the archive floor and poured baijiu into everyone’s cups. (Scalding, bitter; you had laughed as he made a face and warmed up huangjiu specifically for him next time, and it was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.) And then he became accustomed to talking to you—to letting you unearth things he’d buried for decades, to revealing his suffering and receiving your compassion, to the gentle feeling of your hand on his shoulder. Then the tender, nervous look in your eyes, then the silky press of your lips, then the closeness of your unclothed body, and then the breathless warble of your voice—Dan Heng, I’m close, I’m so close, please—and then the euphoria of having you arch and fall apart so beautifully in his arms.

And then the afterglow. He hadn’t only grown used to that: he’d become addicted to it. Warmer and headier than huangjiu, something that he’d have never been able to imagine while growing up in the night-dark prison of his childhood.

Even the memory of his first taste of sunlight aboard the Luofu pales in comparison to the feeling of having you in his arms. The first time he’d had the privilege of holding you, he caught himself thinking: If paradise is but a dream, then I wish to sleep forever.

And now, each time he lies awake on his futon, alone except for the glow of artificial stars, Dan Heng becomes acutely aware of the emptiness left by your missing form.

He isn’t exactly deserving of your companionship. He knows that.

But he is in need of it.

After one hundred and twenty one days of seclusion, you are ready to return to the Astral Express.

Time moves differently when you cultivate behind closed doors. The act of such intense meditation and training distorts the flow of the world for you, makes entire months feel like days. Emerging from seclusion always comes with a certain anxiety: Are your friends well? Have they forgotten you? Has the Express continued its journey across the galactic railroad, or has some terrible event happened to your home—a supernova, a meteor shower, the destructive force of a stellaron?

And, most importantly: Did anyone murder your boyfriend while you were away?

There is at least one intergalactically wanted criminal who's tried to kill Dan Heng a number of times, and an entire alliance consisting solely of his haters. Half the reason you take your cultivation so seriously is to prepare for the inevitable day that someone is going to seriously attempt to murder him in front of you (probably the aforementioned criminal). You want to be strong enough to one-hit KO Arbiter-General Jing Yuan himself, if it ever comes down to it.

Of course, the downside is that the murder attempt might happen while you're off training, but you're hoping that March 7th and Caelus can cover for you in that case.

Still—while you have nothing in confidence in Caelus’ abilities (you adore March, but will not comment on hers), you sigh in relief when your phone begins to buzz.

> Are you out yet? We're on our way. > Get something to eat if you haven't yet. I'll make sure something is ready for you on the Express too. > I know you can practice inedia, but you're still a human at the end of the day. Please get something to eat as soon as possible.

No hello, no I missed yous, just plain, practical concern—as always.

You are not a practical person.

> GEGE! > GEGE GEGE GEGE > DAN HENG GEGE > come fast i want to kiss u > i'll die if u don't kiss me soon > i missed you!!!!!! > did you miss me??????

You can more or less imagine the expression on your (hopefully unharmed) boyfriend's face: deadpan exasperation. The first time you came out of seclusion during your relationship, you texted him no less than twenty times in a row from a new number, and he reflexively flagged it all as spam. He's since told you to tone down the double texting (and triple texting, and quintuple texting, and dectuple texting…), but always replies anyway.

> The Express is about to warp. We'll be there soon. > I'll do whatever you like, please just eat.

You watch as an ellipsis appears at the bottom of your chat window, then disappears, then appears again. When he finally sends his text, a smile stretches wide across your face.

> And yes, I thought of you the whole time you were gone.

With your return to the Express, you make Dan Heng engage in all your usual couple activities. Which is to say: you act disgustingly sweet with him and the other passengers experience varying degrees of shock and entertainment at his complacent behaviour.

You surprise him as he works in the archives, looping your arms around his waist and pressing against his back so you can whisper things into his ear: Gege, pay attention to me! or Dan Heng, can't you take a break now? or Heng'er, are you really going to ignore your lover like this? So cruel!

Dan Heng doesn't react during these moments, but he also doesn't push you away. Sometimes he'll shove a stack of books into your hands and say, If you have time to mess around like this, then you can work on digitizing these for me. You always agree, but wheedle a kiss out of him in exchange for your hard labour.

(Welt Yang walks in on one such kiss, coughs loudly, and walks back out. Dan Heng pulls away from your lips to stare at the door in abject horror.)

You give Dan Heng a number of books and films from your travels, and keep him company as he dives into them. He always gravitates toward the latest Xianzhou novels first, especially the ones that give mention to everyday life on the Luofu. You suppose that he's never been able to rid himself of his curiosity about the life that he'd been denied, enthralled by visions of night markets and starskiffs, teahouses and cross-talkers. You can see his longing in the crease of his brow, the softening of his eyes as he reads.

Seeing his wistful expressions, it is impossible to stop yourself from keeping him company. You press into his side, resting your head on his shoulder—something that will comfort him, you hope—and read alongside him. Sometimes the two of you fall asleep like that, wrapped up in each other on the archive floor.

(March 7th stumbles into one of these moments and can't help but snap a picture of the two of you. Dan Heng later pales when he sees your lock screen, where your slumbering, entwined forms are clearly visible.)

You often convince Dan Heng to have a proper, sit-down dinner with you in the dining car. He won't ever do it for food from the kitchens, preferring to eat in the archives instead, but he'll do it for food you cook together. The two of you enjoy your meals while watching the interstellar scenery roll by outside, stargazing at distant galaxies. Sometimes you savour the tangy-sweetness of tomato-egg stir fry (your handiwork); sometimes you enjoy the rich broth of delicately steamed xiaolongbao (your boyfriend's handiwork); sometimes the both of you sweat over the punishing numbing-spice of malaxiangguo (a combined effort and favoured couple's activity—right up there with building furniture).

The other passengers wave whenever they see you, impressed that Dan Heng has emerged from the archives. They joke as they greet you: I guess you're the only one that can pull him out of his cave!

(The older ones—Himeko especially—laugh and talk fondly about young love when they spot you. Dan Heng's expression stays as stoic as ever, but the tips of his ears go red and he accidentally burns his tongue trying to eat his own bao.)

You address Dan Heng with an astonishing number of pet names at an alarming frequency; your excuse is that you need to make up for the four months you couldn't call him anything. Mostly you call him 'Gege' in public, which he usually doesn't mind as it saves him considerable face relative to all the alternatives, but this changes when Caelus starts teasing him about it.

Morning, Gege, he starts saying at breakfast, drawing a long stare from Dan Heng. Gege, can you help me with finding these records? he asks whenever he strolls into the archives. Before expeditions, he starts turning to Dan Heng and using his most sugary voice: You'll protect me, right, Gege? And Dan Heng turns to Himeko to flatly state, I will not be held responsible if he dies.

Eventually, Caelus grows bold enough to join you both for dinner: Gege, he asks, do you want me to hand-feed you these noodles too?

Dan Heng replies by rising from his seat and walking straight out of the dining car.

(Your long-suffering boyfriend eventually says, during one of your reading sessions, that Caelus is quickly becoming unbearable with this new habit of his.

Well, you muse, since he’s just teasing you about the way I talk to you, I could stop calling you ‘Gege’.

Dan Heng stops. He looks almost hesitant, like he wants to protest, but his expression flattens into a deadpan when you continue: I could always call you 'baobei' instead. What, you don't like that? But Heng'er, you're my baobei, my xingan baobei, my little little apple and beloved husb—whoa!

You laugh hysterically as you dodge the book he chucks at you.)

Sometimes you do get him to reciprocate your actions. Shockingly—despite his reserved and conscientious disposition—you have the greatest success with this whenever you tease him while he's working. You find it works best to crawl into his lap and kiss at his jawline, whispering into his ear while he tries to focus on his screen.

I’m so pent up, Gege, you often start with. I've been trying to take care of myself, but my fingers aren't enough. You like to straddle his hips as you talk, grind a little if you think you can get away with it. You whine if you do, pressing your face into his neck—right beneath his clenched jaw. Won't you give me some attention? Just ten minutes on this desk is all we need.

Dan Heng can only ever endure about fifteen minutes of this before throwing you over his shoulder. You inevitably find yourself being flipped over in a fireman's carry, being lectured in a flat tone. I don't know where you get off lying like that, he usually comments as he makes his way to your room, ignoring your yelping and kicking. 'Ten minutes'? Every time you act like this, you end up taking up my whole evening.

(He does, in fact, spend the rest of his night in bed with you, making it clear that there is no need for you to ‘take care of yourself’ so long as he’s around.)

But despite all the grief you give Dan Heng with your public, grand displays of affection, your favourite moments with him are the private ones. The ones where you sit next to him on his futon, sharing a pair of earbuds and listening to the latest hits from the various worlds to which you’ve travelled. The ones where you make dumpling skins together during the quiet hours of the kitchen, flour dusting your fingers as you roll out the dough that Dan Heng has kneaded. The ones where you spend lazy mornings in bed together, Dan Heng holding you as you talk at length about nothing at all.

The ones where you pause in your long-winded ramble to find him staring at you, his gaze fond and fully attentive. Met with such tenderness, you have no choice but to lean in and kiss him, long and deep and smiling—and in the privacy of your room, your boyfriend is more than happy to return it.

Some weeks after you return to the Express, Dan Heng gives you a long look after one such moment and says, "You should spend more time with me."

You raise a brow. "Eh? I already spend plenty of time with you, Heng'er. I've been bothering you 24/7 now that I'm back on the Express… It's a wonder you aren't sick of me yet."

"Of course I'm not sick of you," he replies plainly. "I could never be."

The admission makes you blink. Heat prickles the back of your neck. It's not often that Dan Heng is so straightforward with his feelings.

"And I mean"—he looks away, the red paint along his waterline hidden by his lashes—"that it'd be nice if you didn't have to leave the Express so often. If you could stay here all year round."

You can't stop yourself from frowning. "You know I don't like leaving you, but I really don't want to compromise my training." Your fingers sweep gently at his brow, brushing away his hair. "I wanna be strong enough to protect you, Gege. After I get to that level, I promise I'll be around more often." Then you smile a little. "And if I'm lucky, I might even get a long life out of it!"

Dan Heng's brow dips. "A 'long life'? The whole point of cultivation is to achieve immortality, isn't it?"

"Sure, in theory. In practice, almost no human ever becomes immortal by these means. If cultivation were so easy, then people wouldn't turn to shortcuts like magical elixirs or blessings from Aeon Yaoshi." You purse your lips, voice starting to colour with derision. "Not that I'd ever be shortsighted enough to chase either of those things, mind you. I'd rather work hard, have a long and healthy life, and die and reincarnate properly if it comes to that. Immortality isn't worth the strife caused by any other method."

Dan Heng studies you closely, his eyes steadfast on yours. "Then… what do you consider a 'long life'?"

You hum, thinking. "If I don't slack off with my training, I have maybe eighty to a hundred years of youth before I kick the bucket."

"Eighty years?" Dan Heng's eyes go a little wide. You aren't used to seeing it.

"Yes?" You shift, fidgeting. "But that's only if I'm lucky. Pushing for anything more would be tough. I could undergo a qi deviation and die… or I might just not be talented enough to reach that stage of cultivation and pass away from natural causes… someone could also just kill me at any time, given my lifestyle. I've got a lot of options for dying, you know."

Dan Heng doesn't reply, nor does he look at you. It occurs to you that this whole conversation might be unsettling for him, given everything that's happened with the Xianzhou Alliance, with the matter of his past life and that vengeful monster he seems unable to kill. The mere thought of immortality must be painful for Dan Heng.

"I'm sorry, Gege," you say. "It's insensitive of me to talk about these things with you. Anyway—I'm not seriously trying to become an immortal, so you don't have to worry about me. I'm not looking to break any taboos."

Your lover gives you a long, unreadable stare before replying, "Right. Of course. Nothing good can come from the pursuit of immortality." Cinnabar paint flickers as he looks away. "Human life should be as morning dew—fleeting and ephemeral."

Dan Heng starts to behave strangely, after that. Quieter and withdrawn. Not just subdued in his affection, but absent in it.

When you bother him in the archives, he no longer scolds you or distracts you with any work—merely continuing with his tasks, completely immersed in them. When March 7th and Caelus tease him about his many pet names, he doesn't get flustered—only rolls his eyes and ignores them. When the other passengers catch sight of the two of you dining together and fondly comment on your relationship, he hardly reacts. He only continues eating, staring absently at his dish—usually something you've made, because he seems uninterested in eating anything else these days.

(Are you sure you don't want actual food from the kitchens instead? you ask once, studying what's supposed to be dough for fried breakfast buns. For whatever reason, you can't get the consistency right. The Express chefs are way better than me, you know.

No, he insists. You made it, so I want to eat it.

You don't need to be so polite!

I'm not being polite. He looks down at your fingers, dusted snow-white with flour. It's just what I want.)

You wrongly assume, for a little bit, that he's somehow lost interest in everything but your cooking. It only feels like the logical conclusion, especially when Dan Heng gets into the habit of ignoring you for most of the day despite your use of every trick in your arsenal—from kissing him to teasing him to begging him for sex. He simply tells you that he'll entertain you later, and is otherwise too deeply absorbed in his work to pay attention to you.

"Is something wrong, Dan Heng?" you eventually ask, voice small. "Is it that you don't feel the same way about me anymore? Do you want to break up?"

Dan Heng goes stock still when he hears this. Without saying a word, he puts down his tablet, locks the door, and kisses you long and hard. And then—for the first time in your relationship—he proceeds to actually fuck you in the archives. He rails you next to the terminal for the better part of an hour, forces an earth-shattering orgasm out of you that ruins the carbon-fibre surface you're laid out on, and then he fills you up to the point that his spend starts trickling down your thigh.

Hazy and fucked out, you wonder idly if it's dripping down onto the phosphorescent tiles below. Dan Heng will probably make a fuss about it, especially since this is technically a public space, and the terminal is its most high-traffic area. He'd have a stroke if anyone ever saw this mess.

When he stands up, you assume that he's getting right to cleaning, like usual. The guy can hardly ever relax.

You don't expect it when he gets onto his knees and puts his head between your thighs.

"Gege?" you say, solidly confused, but before you can ask him what he's doing, you feel the press of his tongue against your dripping entrance and then all you can do is moan.

By the time Dan Heng is done with you, the two of you are messy and breathless, collapsed and tangled up in each other on his makeshift bed.

You stare at the ceiling, mind whirring even in your exhaustion. It had been hard to process the situation while your boyfriend was railing every thought imaginable out of you—but now that he’s finally done, the shock is settling in.

Holy shit, you think, Dan Heng never gets this nasty. Something really is wrong!

You think of broaching the matter, but Dan Heng beats you to it. He turns to you, says, "I don't want to break up," and then gets back on top of you for another round.

You decide to put your foot down.

The next night, you invite Dan Heng into your bedroom. You're all business this time. There's no whining, no teasing, no Heng'er, you don't want to touch me? There are no desperate and indirect plays to get his attention while you simmer in anxiety about what he's hiding from you. (This change is not because of your own strength of mind—of which you have none, when it comes to your boyfriend—but because you're now sure you won't break up, whatever happens.) Instead, you seat him at your table and regard him with a firm expression.

You're careful to keep your voice gentle, but you still don't hesitate: "I know something's been bothering you, Dan Heng. Can we please talk about it?"

Dan Heng is prepared for the question. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you," he says instantly. "It won't happen anymore. I'm very serious about our relationship, and I have no wish for it to end."

You know he's being earnest. After spending the rest of his night fucking you—slow and sweet in your bed, rather than the desperate way he'd done it in the archives—he'd woken up this morning and gone back to normal. Paid attention to you, paid attention to others, humoured your public displays of affection and initiated his own in private. Acted like the past two weeks never happened, and that nothing’s been weighing on his mind.

Were he anyone else, you'd assume that you're simply being strung along for sex, or perhaps being distracted by it. But Dan Heng isn't anyone else: he has absolutely no interest in physical intimacy without the emotional kind. He'd slept with you as an affirmation of his feelings for you. (He probably also did it because you kept begging to be fucked, but that's neither here nor there.)

Still, as much as you liked having your back blown out in the archives, semi-public sex isn't exactly a healthy way to deal with relationship problems.

"I know you'll be more mindful of my feelings now," you reply, "but I'd still like you to tell me what's been bothering you. I won't force it out of you, but if you did tell me, we could maybe fix it?"

"It is unfixable," he replies, "and not a problem to begin with. Simply the nature of things that I must accept."

His tone is neutral. Factual. Certain of the insignificance of whatever the issue is, even though you know that he's not the type to be bothered by insignificant things.

You frown, confused. "If it's the nature of things, then it won't hurt for me to know."

Dan Heng isn't looking at you anymore, instead fixated on the view beyond your window. Peering at the many moons of this galaxy, he finally relents: "'The night-blooming cereus flowers only once.' This is how Vidyadharas describe human life."

You consider his words, contemplating the bittersweet air of the idiom.

"Because human life feels ephemeral to you?" you discern.

"Yes. The lifespan of a human is but a fraction of ours. It's never bothered me before, but"—he's finally looking at you now, and his expression guts you—"four months without you feels unbearable. I can't imagine four centuries."

You go quiet.

Dan Heng is right: this is the nature of things. Skilled as you might be, you aren't likely to be one of those rare few humans who can ascend to immortality without Yaoshi's fruit. He’ll likely need to spend the better part of his life without you, and then every lifetime thereafter. Such is the reality for a Vidyadhara choosing to love a short-life species.

“...I’m sorry, Dan Heng,” is all you can bring yourself to say, but he shakes his head.

“There is no need for you to apologize," he says plainly. "I should have prepared myself for this eventuality when I chose to commit myself to you. It cannot be helped."

Dan Heng loves this phrase, you think to yourself. It cannot be helped that I had to live alone for so many years. It cannot be helped that I was exiled from my home. It cannot be helped that I was punished for the sins of Yinyue Jun.

It cannot be helped that you will someday leave me.

A splinter digs into your heart. You reach out, squeeze his hand, and wish that you could do more.

"It cannot be helped," you agree, "but that doesn't make it any less painful."

Dan Heng does not speak, but the way that he closes his eyes is enough of a reply. No matter how unfeeling he makes his voice, his pain is evident.

You wait for him to collect himself. Listen to his breaths—deeper than usual, meditative, reflective. There is hesitation in his eyes when he finally looks at you. A weakness that he only ever shows at night, after waking from a terrible dream.

"...I know it's a cruel thing to ask of you," Dan Heng eventually says, and the bitter edge to his words surprises you, "and perhaps a sign that this soul of mine will never change in its sins, no matter how many times it is reborn—but is there no way for us to spend a life together?"

You forget how to breathe.

What he's asking you is not just heretical for him—it's traumatic. An echo of the crime he'd committed in his past life, the tragedy that marked him for suffering in this one. He must be desperate for an answer if he's voicing the question at all.

You struggle as you think through your options.

"Seeking out the Peaches of Immortality is out of the question," you start. "And Sanctus Medicus is just a bunch of nutjobs—no way could they make me immortal. Demonic cultivation is another Path, but I don't think you'd like the thing I'd become by the end of it."

A brilliant river of stars streams past the window, like the one in that ancient folktale about the bridge of magpies. You can see the reflection of your lover's face in the window: muted, sorrowful, already mourning you. And of course he's mourning you long before your death, with how much he'd lost long before his birth.

Oh, Heng'er, you think, even if I drank from Meng Po's bowl and lost every memory of you, I'd still find my way back to you in my next life.

It would be too cruel to say aloud, so you remain quiet—merely staring at the galaxy before you, hoping quietly to see some kind of bridge.

Then a nearby sun flickers, and you remember something.

"...I guess there is another option," you say slowly, "but I can't imagine you being happy with it."

He straightens up. "What is it?"

"Well…" You take a deep breath. "Sometimes people practice dual cultivation as a way to extend their life. It's quite safe, but would be difficult given our relationship."

Dan Heng stares. "What exactly does it entail?"

"Well… it's basically cultivating by having sex. If I slept regularly with an immortal being with highly refined qi, I could probably exchange energy with them and achieve longevity that way." You make a face at the thought. "But it's not exactly easy to find an immortal who'd want a lifelong friend with benefits… and I'd really rather not have sex with anyone other than you, anyway."

It would probably make him miserable.

You're surprised when Dan Heng looks thoughtful, rather than disturbed. He studies you for a long moment, considering.

"Vidyadharas are immortal," he says, "and the qi of a High Elder is much more powerful than that of any other species. Is it not helping that we're already coupling so often?"

"Not really." You reach out across the table, hold out your palm, and he knows to give you his hand. You turn it over, tracing a finger along the length of his wrist. "Dual cultivation with you wouldn't be very useful. You might have extraordinary qi as a Vidyadhara, but it's sealed when you're in your human form."

You feel for the warm glow of his meridians, even though you already know what you'll find—an ordinary, unremarkable life force coursing through his body.

Dan Heng doesn't seem discouraged, though, when you look back up at him. Only curious.

"Then," he says, "what about my dragon form?"

It doesn't end up being very straightforward.

For a full ninety minutes, Dan Heng sits in your room and listens to you discuss the mechanics of dual cultivation, also known traditionally as the 'art of the bedchamber'. As its name would suggest, there are quite a few nuances and technical considerations involved: different positions enhance your qi in different ways; certain acts are more useful than others; mutual pleasure must be attained for the greatest possible benefit.

It isn't just a lecture that you give him. You take out one of your cultivation manuals and show him various diagrams and poses. You whip out your tablet and visit "questionable websites" for "video demonstrations". You quiz him intensively at the end of each unit.

At around the seventy-minute mark, you catalogue Dan Heng's expression—thousand yard stare, stiff posture, red ears—and decide that you're overwhelming him. So you tell him the most important takeaway, which is that one thing he must absolutely do is—

"—finish inside you?"

"Mhm." You sound completely unbothered. "As much as possible. And as many times as possible."

He gives you a long, blank stare, and then crosses his arms. "...all of this is just a ploy to get me to do one of your favourite things in bed, isn't it."

"What? No! I wouldn't lie to you about something like this, Gege!" You're being truthful. Though your sex drive can sometimes drive you to try insane things, it never drives you to be cruel. "I'm being dead serious right now. This really will extend my life. Those cultivation manuals were proof!"

Dan Heng considers you. "You're right. You wouldn't lie about something like this."

"Thank you."

"You're already so shameless about begging for it—I don't think you'd see the need to come up with an excuse."

Wow.

"...okay, yes, but you're also pretty shameless about giving in."

Dan Heng clears his throat, and you try not to laugh. "Well, I've never had a reason not to, since we don't need to worry about pregnancy…" He tries very, very hard to assume some semblance of dignity as he deflects: "Anyway. I think I understand the gist of it. You more or less want me to do the usual things."

"Yes—but while you're in your original form, of course."

"Right." His eyes narrow, and his expression becomes uncertain: something you've only seen a handful of times. "...I do need you to know that taking that shape… complicates things. There is a reason why my powers are usually sealed."

You nod. You've known for a while now that Dan Heng hates invoking his Vidyadhara powers—he considers it as taboo as much as a Xianzhou native would. Truthfully, it did occur to you some time ago that exchanging qi with a dragon would make your cultivation progress leaps and bounds, but after learning about how much he despises that form of his, you'd scrapped the whole idea and put it out of mind.

You're surprised that he's even consenting to this, all things considered.

Noticing the tension in his body, you leave your teaching set-up (tablet, an annotated cultivation manual, and smartboard with various stick figures you've drawn) to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know if we have to worry about that. The Alliance only sealed Vidyadhara powers due to historical reasons relating to the Sedition, right?" you try to console him. "Rather than anything to do with your nature in this lifetime, I mean. You aren't inherently dangerous."

You can see the conflict in his eyes; your words run exactly counter to everything he must have heard while imprisoned on the Luofu.

"I don't know," Dan Heng finally says, "but for better or worse, things are still different when I take my true shape. I'm no longer used to it." He frowns a little. "The amount of power feels overwhelming to me now. It's fine in normal circumstances, but—" He struggles for a moment. "...I don't know how I'll behave in… these circumstances with you."

"Ah, I see. You're worried that you won't be able to control yourself while fucking you're me, huh?"

He gives you a disgruntled look. "Do you have to use such crass language?"

"Sorry, Gege. I'll try to speak eloquently like you: Yinyue Jun may fall to his base instincts once he's crossed the threshold of the chrysanthemum gate, right?"

His expression turns from disgruntled to disdainful. Evidently, he's not a fan of your erotica novel slang.

"Please be serious for once. We need to be careful if we do this. I might behave impulsively—do something rash. Accidentally hurt you."

You hum, considering his words. "That's surprising. I thought dragons were generally supposed to be pretty calm and wise…" Then you think about how you couldn't walk this morning. "Though I guess you weren't particularly calm yesterday."

He snorts. "Well, I usually am. Unfortunately, I find it exceptionally hard to control myself around you, with how much you like to provoke me," he says plainly. "It'll just get worse if I switch forms."

You try not to stare at him, shocked at how unbothered he is by these admissions. You suppose that multiple rounds of semi-public sex might have forced him to cross an event horizon of shame, and now his face is finally getting thicker.

"It isn't just my behaviour I'm worried about," he continues. His arms cross again, and his brow furrows. "You might find my form… unattractive. You probably won't like it."

You frown. "I can't imagine that. I bet the real Cold Dragon Young is super handsome."

It's a testament to his anxiety that he hardly reacts to your stupid comment. He just studies you carefully, uncertain. Apprehensive.

"I guess we'll find out."

END PART 1

notes: for those unfamiliar, this fic is set in the same universe as fengyue. fengyue was actually based on this fic, but due to my inability to manage deadlines, it came out way ahead of this LOL

i'm sorry there was no dragonfucking in this part when i have been promising dragonfucking for ages on this blog. but i am 12.5k words into part 2 and i can assure you that there is an excessive amount of incredibly nasty dragonfucking in it, so please look forward to that

this was written way before 1.2 came out (and in fact, before I had even caught up to 1.1 content). hopefully the characterization still holds up ok!

big, big thank you to @petrichorium for helping me navigate canon lore and riffing w me on this piece. please go check out their works, they have banger star rail content!

cultural notes:

cultivation is the practice of using martial and spiritual arts to cultivate one’s qi, gain spiritual powers, and attain immortality

dual cultivation is the act of refining your qi through having sex

I will be honest. I cannot remember the other cultural refs I dropped because I just kind of blindly write them in so please let me know if you have any questions about things LOL

translation notes:

gege is a term meaning "older brother", though it is often used for non-familial relationships that are very close; it can come off as either flirty or childish. heng'er is a diminutive of dan heng's name.

“If paradise is but a dream, then I wish to sleep forever” - this was a reference to the chinese version of dan heng’s ult line. in english, he says “this sanctuary is but a vision”. however, in chinese, he says “洞天幻化，长梦一觉” which is closer to something like “paradise is an illusion, reveals itself to be a long dream”

"The night-blooming cereus flowers only once" - this is how I rendered the idiom "曇花一現", which describes thing that are short-lived

"Human life should be as morning dew" - this is how I rendered the idiom "人生如朝露", which describes the ephemeral nature of human life

yes I really made dan-gege break out the chengyu and poetic speech... I'm not sure how he sounds in english but my man has his super literary moments in chinese haha

|| When there’s only one bed. || Wind Breaker ||

thank you so much for the support on my first ever multi character post it gave me enough confidence to try again haha due to certain circumstances there’s one bed don’t question it lol

: Sakura Haruka. Suo Hayato. Nirei Akihito. Umemiya Hajime. Kaji Ren. Togame Jo.

❥ Sakura is frozen like a statue at the sight of there being only one bed in the room. His brain is taking a while to take in the information, so it’s up to you to bring him back to reality. He’s startled when you suddenly touch him on the shoulder, for some reason you don’t know he’s super red in the face. He’s quick to declare that he sleeps on the floor before you even have a chance to protest and he’s adamant stubborn about it too. When you offered for him to share the bed with you and he almost woke up the neighbors with how loud he declined. Sakura has never slept in the same room as anyone before so this is new to him and he’s nervous about it. At first, Sakura couldn’t fall asleep because he jolts awake from every sound and noise you make but eventually he does. When he wakes up he’s in for a surprise to find you curled up beside him on the floor-arms wrapped around him. Now this time he really woke the neighbors up. Afterwards when you’re both up and awake he’s blushing and stuttering nonstop but realizes that having you sleep beside him wasn’t bad at all, in fact he maybe wishes for a next time.

“Why are you on the floor?! You’re s-supposed to be sleep on the b-bed!”

❥Suo only has a calm smile on his face when he sees the situation. As a gentleman, he’ll offer to sleep on the floor but when you refuse and ask him to take the bed, Suo is quick to offer a solution to solve both your problems. Why don’t you both sleep together? Who knows what will come crawling if you sleep on the floor. You wouldn’t like that, would you? He wouldn’t either. It’s a win win situation. You’re blushing at his choice of words of “sleeping together” while he’s teasing you on how naughty your mind is. You were almost dying in anticipation wondering when Suo will take his eyepatch off but he doesn’t and you’re left disappointed. Suo has no trouble falling asleep while you’re wide awake is what he wants you to think. In truth, he’s actually pretending to sleep to see what you’ll do to him. Maybe take a peek at his eyepatch? Only when he knows you’re actually asleep does lean closer to place a kiss on your forehead whispering good night, and finally lets his guard down, really falling asleep this time.

“I meant just sleeping, but we could do something else if you’d like…”

❥Nirei is having a panic attack because there’s one bed what should he do? The thought of sharing a bed together with you has him burning red. Afterwards, he’ll immediately blurt out that he’ll sleep on the floor. You’ll have to calm him down and tell him that you can sleep on the floor instead but Nirei is also quick to refuse that too. Eventually you’ll have to give up because Nirei is really insistent and even thought of a list of excuses on why he should sleep on the floor instead. When it’s time for bed, Nirei’s head is running overtime with thoughts that he ends up mumbling some of them out in which you hear. Unable to take it you’re now sitting up beside him while he lays down, gently stroking his hair humming him to sleep. He’s flustered but he can’t fight your warm touch, it’s too comforting.

“Suo-san said that s-sleeping on the floor is a part of my t-training!”

❥Umemiya practically ran for the bed when he saw it. Immediately tossing and turning, moving around the bed almost jumping on it. When you offer to sleep on the floor he instantly shuts your idea down before you could finish your sentence. The only choice you have is to agree. Now it’s time to sleep, and Umemiya wasted no time in pulling you to his chest. Saying that he always sleeps using a body pillow but there isn’t one so you’d have to be it’s replacement. You wonder if Umemiya can hear how loud your heart is beating but he doesn’t because as soon as he says good night to you, he's lights out. His grip is iron tight, you can’t wiggle away. You couldn’t fall asleep right away so you spent the time admiring his cute sleeping face. You almost jumped through the ceiling to wake up finding his face super close to yours.

“Oh, let’s have a sleepover party with everyone next time but of course you’ll sleep next to me!”

❥Kaji almost crushed the lollipop he was eating but after a while his face returns to normal. Before you could say anything he already announces that he’ll sleep on the floor. He goes over to the bed and places the pillow on the ground marking his spot. When the time for bed arrives, Kaji mumbles a good night to you before lying on the floor. What he doesn’t want you to know is that he’s nervous and probably wouldn’t be able to fall asleep because you’re going to sleep in the same room as him. He switches to his wireless earphones, eyes closed trying to focus on falling asleep until he feels one of his earphones being taken out. Kaji almost let out a shout to find you lying beside him, with one of his earphones in your ear. You tell him you couldn’t fall asleep so you thought listening to some music might help. Kaji tries to hide his blush by turning on his side away from you but secretly a smile is creeping on his face.

“Urgh fine, you can listen but don’t blame me if you can’t fall asleep!”

❥Togame isn’t worried in the slightest that there’s only one bed. He seems as cool as a cucumber as he goes to sit down on the bed. You’re left standing, cheeks dusted pink, you quickly say that you’ll sleep on the floor but Togame refutes. He says he gets scared of sleeping alone so you’ll have to sleep on the bed with him. You’re steaming red now but you agree nonetheless. In truth, Togame sleeps just fine alone but since you’re here too why not share the bed? Why sleep on the dirty floor when there’s a perfectly good bed right here for the two of you? You don’t know if it’s on purpose but his face is awfully close to yours but when you turn your back on him-he wraps his arms around you from behind pulling you to his chest. Which causes you to freeze, his head buried in your neck, trying to nuzzle even closer, his breathe tickling your skin.

“This is comfortable, let’s just fall asleep like this….” 

𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭

warnings/info: scaramouche x gn!reader, scaramouche lore spoilers, not proofread very well, ~1k words, fluff, overuse of italics, no other warnings

notes from tori: continuation (prt3) to the husk of opulance miniseries. i am planning on writing a part 4. please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in that!

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 (you are here)

Nights on Yashiori Island were painfully dark. Dark enough to be vulnerable, and yet, Scaramouche had kept your quaint pair so safely hidden while he formulated whatever plan he was concocting. Currently, you were sitting across from the man, orange firelight between you casting deep shadows across his dramatic features, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared intently at you. The pads of his fingers were pressed together in front of his mouth, but despite his contemplative, overall calm posture, you couldn’t resist squirming under his burning gaze. The violet in his irises glowed, reflecting the embers below, and he stared. He stared at your face, studying each curve without expression. 

“Kunikuzushi.” You murmured, feeling the need to coax him from his thoughts. Aching to sever the tension before it stirred up the raging thoughts you’d had since that night.

That night. 

His hands had been calloused yet delicate against your skin when he slid on your shoes. Like he cared. Perhaps that wasn’t far-fetched at face value, but anyone who knew Scaramouche knew. They knew how monumental such a gesture would be. 

Scaramouche didn’t respond to your meek call of his name, and you shivered internally, warmed by the fire and yet so cold within. 

“Is everything-”

“At dawn, I will be leaving for a time.” He interrupted matter-of-factly, his words leaving no room for argument. “I will be coming back. You better stay put while I’m gone.”

“What?” You guffawed, your voice barely cutting across the smokescreen. “Where are you going? Why can’t I come?” His eyes narrowed at your interrogation, but he remained otherwise calm.

Keep reading

patched || kaji ren x gn!reader

✧ i just wanted to write vulnerable kaji okay he deserves some hugs.

✧ content: established relationship, spoilers for kaji's backstory (sorta, it ain't said but it's there between the lines), fluff, minor descriptions of wounds

✧ a/n: i will and shall make every windbre boy soft or vulnerable or both. so have some soft kaji y'all before his official introduction to the anime this week yeehaw- it's also close to 1 am when I'm posting this so if it's rushed towards the end. no it's not.

Hiragi Toma rarely came over to your house.

Instead, you would just be one of the many people he would wave too when out on patrol, just with a deeper friendship - if he's not particularly busy you two would even strike a conversation, just to catch up.

But Hiragi Toma rarely came knocking on your front door.

So when you hear the firm, yet somehow gentle clear knocks on your front door - only to open it up to see Hiragi's bloodied knuckles? You can only answer with a confused glance back and forth between his embarrassed expression and the fist that is still raised up, ready to knock on your door that is very much open.

"... I had to knock him out."

Ah.

"Is he okay?" is the only thing you ask as you turn towards the side to reach for the first aid kit that you have stored next to the front door - quicky grabbing it and handling it to Hiragi while you swiftly put on some shoes.

"Depends on your definition of 'okay" the third year mutters, walking briskly ahead to lead the way once you've locked the door. "No broken bones?"

"Then yeah, he's fine." Hiragi answers, guiding you through some alleyways until you get to a semi-open area. In the middle you see Kusumi and Enomoto crowding around you assume is an unconscious Kaji on the ground.

Even without getting close you can already smell the blood surrounding the air - the the pile of passed out delinquents to the side was most likely the main reason.

"Kusumi-kun, Enomoto-kun, thank you for your hard work." you call out, the two vice captains turning towards you whilst you wave at them. And only then do you see their shoulders relax. "I can take it over from here."

The two students scurry quickly away, albeit not too far in case something were to happen when Kaji woke up. A needless worry you would always say to them.

Kaji would never hurt you after all.

So whilst Hiragi and the second year vice captains clean up the area, you're busy propping Kajis head on top of your lap, brushing aside his bloodied bangs to wipe away the dried blood on his face with a cloth.

It doesn't take long before Kaji stirs awake from your actions. It starts with a jolt of his fingers, followed by his eyes squeezing even tighter together. But it's only when you dab a cotton ball with disinfectant at an open wound that his eyes snap open in surprise.

Kaji would've almost headbutted you if you hadn't already cradled both of his cheeks in your hands, the distraught boy letting you tip his head up whilst you bend your own head to make eye contact with him. "Good afternoon sleeping beauty." you whisper, a smile on your face whilst you tighten the hold you have on his face, thumb gently stroking his cheek while he gasps for air. "How are you feeling?"

Kaji doesn't answer, he merely raises his hands to grab onto your wrists - his hold on you tightening which makes you unable to continue your ministrations of cleaning his wounds. His eyes dart back and forth questioningly, probably wondering how you ended up here although he's unable to directly ask you seeing that he's still heaving for air.

"Hiragi-san came to get me. Figured that it would help you calm down faster." you answer, wriggling your fingers in one hand to make him loosen his hold before wrapping your own fingers gently around his own wrist to press his trembling palm against your cheek. You let him stay like that for a moment whilst you keep an eye on his expression with a smile. It's only when you feel his thumb slightly brush against your cheek that you turn your head to press your lips against his palm, your eyes still trained on Kaji's own hazy ones.

"... The others?" Kaji finally whispers whilst letting his arm fall limp back down to the ground. A silent sign that you can continue tending to his wounds. "Helping Hiragi-san, quite a few of them managed to run back here, with you chasing them and all." you reply, placing a compress on a particular nasty scratch on his forehead.

"There! We're all done now!" you inform beaming, admiring your own handiwork with a triumphant smile. Kaji, however doesn't move from your lap - attention still at Hiragi and his vice captains that have begun to make small talk with the townspeople wondering what happened.

"So I only made trouble for both you and Hiragi-san again, didn't I." It was a statement rather than a question, perhaps that's why Kaji won't look your way. Too afraid to see what sort of expression you're sporting.

"... Ren," you call out softly, hands once again cradling his cheek to make him face you. There's a slight resistance at first, but Kaji soon let's you move his head to face upwards towards your direction again.

Kaji alternates between staring at you and looking slightly to the side to avoid your soft gaze. You can tell he's getting a bit nervous with how the fingers by his side keeps wriggling a bit, almost like he wants to dig them into his hoodie pocket to grab a sucker, anything to avoid saying something that can potentially hurt your feelings.

After all, behind that unbothered facade, lies a fragile boy still afraid of losing the people who had accepted him.

Every part of him.

Even the part he hated himself for.

In the end, he settles on balling them into a fist before taking a deep breath - directing his gaze back to you with furrowed eyebrows. "What-"

Before he can voice out his question, you're already bending down to slot your lips against his. The sudden kiss makes Kaji freeze, mouth slightly agape in surprise. The angle let's him easily smell the slightly sweet fragrance you have on your neck, paired with the smell of freshly dried linen.

A sweet peach scent, a stark contrast to the the rusty smell of blood that's been penetrating his senses since he woke up.

When you pull apart, it's only to give him a reassuring smile again before pressing your lips against his forehead, "You know I don't like it when you say you're being a bother." you gently remind. "If you were, I wouldn't be here now, would I?" you say.

Kaji doesn't say anything, merely staring at up at you with a glazed look. It takes a few seconds before he abruptly sits up straight and turns around to face you. The action making you jump in surprise, but you can barely move before his arms are wrapped around your shoulders with his face snuggled against your neck.

"... You smell good." He finally says, snuggling closer to inhale the fragrance left on your skin. "I know. It's your favorite after all." You answer with a laugh, wrapping your own arms around his waist whilst settling your own head against his shoulder.

And you'll stay there in his arms, for however long it takes for Kaji to pick himself up again.

TSUBAKIII ♡♡♡♡

Ways of loving

Finally second part 🥂 (it took way longer than I meant for it to do)

Bofurin second and third years:

Hajime Umemiya, Toma Hiiragi, Ren Kaji, Takeshi Enomoto, Yuto Kusumi, Tasuku Tsubakino, Uryu Sakaki, Seiryu Sakaki

1. Words of Affirmation

Yuto Kusumi - being fond of his frizzy hair

You came into your boyfriend's room like usual on the weekends, ready to spend your free time together. You were so happy and waited for Yuto as he got ready in the bathroom, yet when he came out of the bathroom with his hair still in disarray you could see the disappointment and slight irritation present on his face.

After using yet another shampoo he was annoyed to see the frizzy locks on his head. Even with all the time and money he spent on buying and testing all the different shampoo brands he didn't find one that could get rid of his problem with hair.

"Is it yet another shampoo that doesn't work?" You asked the rhetorical question and he nodded sadly. He went towards you and sat on the bed making your legs touch. Yuto leaned his head on your shoulder and your hand immediately went behind him and moved along his back to bring him some comfort.

When he moved away, you grabbed your bag from the floor and searched through it. Finding the conditioner you took it out and moved back on the bed making a place for your boyfriend. "Well then, I can't make it disappear but I can help with the issue a little bit." You shook the tube showing it to him and then patted the sheets in front of you. "Come on."

Yuto reluctantly shifted closer to you, and you got started. Kneeling you squirted some of the conditioner on your hands and moved towards his hair. You massaged his head, combing through his strands and making his unruly hair a little better.

"You know I actually really like your hair." You said trying to pick him up. He responded with a hum that meant something along the lines of "Why would you like the mess on my head?" while scrolling through his phone. "It's so soft to touch and you look really handsome." Your voice was teasing but you really meant what you said. "And it's pretty easy to tell you apart from everyone else because your hairstyle is pretty unique."

Yuto chuckled at your words and put away the phone before turning to you over his shoulder. And as you finished you leaned to the side and kissed his temple.

While the conditioner didn't help getting rid of the frizz, your words certainly made him feel better.

Seiryu Sakaki - adoring his fashion style

Seiryu was one of the, if not the best-dressed person you knew. It was not only because his clothes were stylish but also the fact that despite looking so fashionable they also felt good. They were so comfortable you took any chance you had to wear his shirts or jackets. Because of that you always couldn't wait for June, because it meant rain and rain meant whenever you got soaked while walking with your boyfriend you had a chance to wear his clothes.

During one such day after completing getting drenched, he pulled you as you ran back toward his home. He let you in first and moved deeper into his house to get you some towels. He placed one on top of your head as you entered his room and you started drying your hair. "Do you want some clothes to change into?" Seiryu asked taking off his shirt and moving towards his wardrobe to pick some clothing for him and you. "I thought you'd never ask." You said putting the towel over your shoulders and came closer to him.

He put on a fresh shirt first and then thought deeply, moving some shirts trying to decide which one would be the best for you before finally deciding on one. "You're a true fashionista, Sei." You said absentmindedly watching all the outfits he owned. You knew some of it was his brother's but still the ones that were his.. He had so many, it was easily twice or even thrice as many as you had.

"Well, that's true." He said matter-of-factly. You furrowed your brows at him trying to hide the smile from appearing on your face, he was so confident it made you adore him even more. "I like it when you wear my things. They match you." He added as you took the shirt he picked for you.

You ran your hands through it noticing it was one of the softer shirts he had. He knew you liked it and chose that one specifically. "I like them too, they are so comfortable. Not to mention you look great in them." You replied joyfully and switched your soaked shirt for the dry. "But I look better." You joked.

"As long as I get them back later on." He teased you back poking his tongue at you. "Of course, can't steal the amazing wardrobe of my fashionista diva boyfriend. Who do you think I am?" You played along and did the same in return before turning away from the couch.

Seiryu snorted before plopping on you smashing you against the couch and you giggled at him patting his head.

2. Acts of Service

Toma Hiiragi - taking care when ill

Dating Toma, you knew all about his issue with stomach aches and about his addiction to Gasukun 10. You appreciated that despite his health problems he still tried to take care of everyone and tried to solve their issues, putting them before himself.

Yet whenever he didn't depend on someone when he was sick you would get concerned but annoyed. You rapped at his door waiting for him to open it. You tried to call him but he didn't pick up so you sent him a message you were coming. Finally, he opened the door and he looked shocked as he saw you with a shopping bag tightly held in your hand. "What are you doing here?" He asked his voice raspy and before you could answer he sneezed loudly. "Umemiya told me you got sick." You replied pushing him back to his apartment and closing the door behind you. "Of course he did."

You took off your shoes before picking the bag a little higher so he could clearly see it. "Why? You don't want me taking care of you?" "No, just don't want you to catch a cold." He answered honestly. "Don't worry about me." You stepped into his kitchen and noticed the package of his "favourite" medicament. "Wait, please don't tell me you took the Gasukun."

"Not yet, I was about t-" Toma took the package but you immediately stole it from his hands and put it behind you. "No, you won't take it. How many times do I need to remind you it won't help you with everything?" You scolded him and he tried to reason with you. "Huh? But-" You cut him off again before picking up the shopping bag you brought and pulling out a bottle.

"No buts, you have a fever, not stomach ache. Here." You handed him a vitamin water. "Drink this and I'll make you some porridge." You unpacked the rest of your bag and as you started preparing things for the dish he still stood beside you. You turned to him raising your eyebrow in question. "Do you need help?" He asked but you weren't about to use him when he was sick. "No thank you, I'm taking care of you today. You go get some blankets and lay in bed."

After finishing the porridge you brought it to him. Toma sat up with fluffy blankets around him and turned to you to reach for the bowl. "Open up." You said suddenly and his hands froze, his eyes widened as he looked at you holding the spoon for him to eat. "You know you don't need to feed me." He said tiredly his hands falling down on his lap. "But I want to, you don't mind right?" Your eyes were so soft as you stared at him. He knew he couldn't resist you.

Toma was weak for you even when he was healthy and you knew he wouldn't say no to you.

Uryu Sakaki - packing bento

While you were at school your phone vibrated signaling a new message. You unlocked it to see your boyfriend texting you. Uryu: "I'm dying.." You snorted to yourself at his dramatics. Y/n: "??" You waited for his reply and it came soon enough. Uryu: "I left my lunch at home, I'm dying... Need food.."

That did explain his dramatics. Food was something Uryu couldn't live without even for some hours and you were very much aware of that. Y/n: "Why not go to the market near your school?" Uryu: "Can't. Busy"

A thought about going to the supermarket yourself, after your classes, and bringing him food did cross your mind but the bell soon rang for your next class. You left him on read then as you moved to the classroom. It was home economics and how lucky was it that you were to cook during the lesson.

As you finished cooking and got it graded your friends ate the dishes while you packed the ones made by you in two containers. Home econ was your last lesson for the day, and so you quickly changed your shoes in the locker and made your way towards Bofurin school. Y/n: "You at school?" Uryu: "Yes - rooftop, are you coming?" Y/n: "Yes" He liked your response and waited for you while doing the tasks he got from Tsubakino for the day.

The moment you entered the school and climbed the stairs up to the rooftop, you saw the twins moving some fertilizer and soil bags around. "Working hard?" You asked and your boyfriend quickly ran up to you. "Hi, (Y/n), you came to help?" He asked softly and leaned closer trying to kiss your cheek.

You, however, seeing that he was wearing the dirty apron stepped away from him with a grin, for which he pouted at you. Not wanting him to be sad and hungry you took off your bag and then took out the two containers. "If you mean helping as bringing you food then yes." Your boyfriend's eyes shimmered in excitement and he quickly started taking off his apron and gloves. "You're the best."

His eagerness was noticed by his brother who looked at you curiously. "I got some food for you too Seiryu." You called to him and he smiled before joining the two of you for a lunch break. "You're lucky I had cooking at today's home econ class." You told them as the brothers stuffed their faces with food. "I'm lucky to have you." Uryu said sneaking a cheek kiss and you nodded at him. You were also lucky to have such a good boyfriend as him.

3. Gift-Giving

Hajime Umemiya - buying books for each other

Gardening was Hajime's greatest passion, right after keeping the town safe. With him being your boyfriend, you knew that all too well, as his passions came with a lot of shopping for daily work so that the plants grow properly. "Is it heavy?" He asked in concern moving towards you, ready to take the bag you were carrying. "No, it's fine." You waved him off observing the shops along the streets.

Your gaze stopped at the bookstore and you slowed down making him match your peace as he observed what caught your attention. "Do you want to go in?" He asked motioning towards the shop. "If you don't mind." He smiled at you and moved quickly to the doors opening them for you. "Go on." He let you in following after you. You asked the cashier if you could leave your bags near the cash and she happily let you.

Hajime looked around all the shelves before gasping as an idea came to him. "Let me pick a book for you." He proposed. He was curious if he could find something you'd like. "Fine, but I'll pick one for you then." You replied almost instantly and he nodded with a big grin on his face. "Okay, see you in 15." He said and turned left moving deeper in the shop looking at the different genres and thinking about the best one for you.

Fifteen minutes passed just like that and when you walked back to the counter Hajime already paid for the book. "What did you pick?" He asked as soon as you stood in front of him tasking the bag of gardening tools you previously carried. "I saw the new volume of the series that you like!" He added in excitement before you could respond to his question. You smiled at him, happy he listened to your rant from a few days ago about the new volume. Seeing your smile his grew even more, if it was possible.

"Thank you, Hajime. And I bought you something about gardening." You thanked him sincerely before showing him the book you had in the bag. "Oh my! Thank you so much, babe. You're the best." He bounced onto you and you almost fell down because of all his weight being put on you. He left a soft peck on your nose before pulling away. "Let's go bring the tools back to Bofurin and then we can go back home to read." He said opening the doors for you. "Mhm." You hummed in approval and walked with him in the direction of the school.

After leaving the gardening tools in the shed in his high school you spent the evening together sitting on the couch, with Hajime gasping and highlighting things in his new book every few minutes. He was sure to use the newly acquired knowledge for his rooftop garden and grow the best plants possible for you.

4. Quality Time

Ren Kaji - sharing music together

Ren Kaji - sharing music, creating playlists with new songs You and Ren sat together by the corner shop on the bench waiting for Hiiragi who went to buy some stuff before their patrol with the rest of Bofurin members. You were joining them this time and Hiiragi decided to put you with Ren just so he can watch over you, if you have any trouble.

As the third year went to buy some more Gasukun10, you talked with your boyfriend about the new songs you found. "You know I got a nice song recommended recently." You mentioned and he turned to you a lollipop in his mouth. "Huh?" By the sound you knew he wanted to learn more so you grabbed your phone before searching through the tracks you recently listened to. "Wait, let me search for it, I saved it some- oh I got it. Here." You turned the phone to him with a song titled 'Uncontainable' shown on the screen. "I can play it if you want." You added. "Sure, go on." He nodded and put his headphones down from his ears.

You were used to him having them on even if no music was playing, but you always appreciated whenever he put them down when you wanted to show him something or wanted to talk about some concerns you could have.

Turning the sound up a little you held the phone speaker up so you could hear the music better. As the first sounds came out you noticed Ren moving his head slightly to the rhythm and you smiled knowing the song was in one of his music types. "Hmm.. it's nice, what was the title again?" He said when the chorus finished and you moved the phone back down and showed him the title and band name. "Thank you." He said taking out his own phone and writing the names in his notes. "No problem. By the way, did you perhaps finish putting the playlist you mentioned last week?" You questioned remembering that he promised that and you wanted to listen to it.

You loved getting to know new kinds of songs and music that Ren deemed good enough to listen to. You also showed him some new songs or playlists you put up and because of that your playlists constantly changed in volume. "Yes, you can come over later on and I can show it to you." He responded and smiled softly when he saw the joy on your face, a small blush appearing on his. "That'd be great, thanks." At that moment Hiiragi came back putting the medicine in his pockets before standing near you. "You going together after the meeting?" He asked and you quickly answered. "Yes." "Gonna have another heated conversation about music?" Hiiragi said.

He knew well enough that some of your meetings ended up in friendly arguments about the different types of music, he was a witness to some of them and he was still surprised how one second you could argue but another you were in agreement. Music was truly something that both connected you and Ren and at the same time divided you, as your opinions would clash, fortunately rather rarely.

"Oh, shush it Hiiragi. It's a deep discussion about music." You argued back as the boys stood up ready to start the patrol. "I think Hiiragi is right." Your boyfriend muttered and you looked at him in shock. "Reeen, how can you betray me like that?" You whined following after them. "Sorry, but it's true." He patted your shoulder trying to apologize to you that way. Still, you pouted at his words and he sighed. "Either way I like them." He said quietly, barely audible to you, before speaking louder. "Do you want to listen to the playlist or not?" "Fine, let's go." You run up to them walking side by side with your boyfriend.

Tasuku Tsubakino - doing skincare together

You had a deal with Tasuku, namely one weekend you spent however they liked while the other was prepared by you. That way you could become closer and get to know more interests of each other. This week your partner was the one to pick an activity and it was having a day off and doing some skincare. It wasn't the first time for you, as Tasuku was very fond of taking care of themselves.

Previously they taught you all things about haircare like the different conditioners, oils, and herbs that could be used to make the hair more silky and well cared for. You weren't sure about it at first, but when your hair turned softer and looked even better, you started following some of the advice that was given to you.

This time, however they decided for the said skincare day. As you waited patiently for Tasuku to come back with all their products you patted the towel over your face just like they taught you. "I tried to pick the best one for your skin." They brought a box full of products and showed you the mask.

A smile appeared on your face when you saw it was one of those animal masks. "Okay, put it on." You said lying down on the bed while they opened the package and took out the mask. As soon as the sticky substance on the mask touched your cheeks you flinched back, a shiver running down your back. "Hey, hey don't move now." They said trying to put it on your face but you squirmed away as soon as it touched your skin. "But it's cold." You whined and they chuckled before putting it on you and moving their fingers over your face straightening and correcting the mask.

The warmth of their fingers helped a little and you stayed still enjoying the activity more and more as the time passed. The whole day was very relaxing overall and helped you ease up.

You were slowly getting used to Tasuku pampering you up with makeovers and skincare routines. You didn't like it as much as they did, not yet, but you did like spending time together, so it was an easy choice every time they proposed it.

5. Physical Touch

Takeshi Enomoto - cuddling while watching yakuza movies together

The movie collection of Takeshi was enormous, and you were quite sure it grew with each time you visited him. Most of the DVDs were action movies about yakuza or mafia but if you looked closely you could find other genres as well. Well, it didn't really matter as your boyfriend loved watching his favourite movies once more with you, letting you on the "fascinating", at least surely for him, and "well-written", in most cases, story plots.

After deciding on one of the movies he put it on and sat down next to you, who was already snuggled in the blanket, lying on the couch. He moved you before lying next to you and then placed you on top of him like usual. It was your favourite position to watch the movies whenever you were tired and Takeshi actually liked how close you were together. Being able to hold you was his go-to point during your movie night and it was either you lying on him or you sitting next to him with your legs over his.

"You want some?" He asked mentioning the snack in his hand he previously placed on the table. You only nodded and opened your mouth not wanting to take your arms out of your blanket. He sighed seeing your antics and moved his hand around you trying not to disturb you lying on him as he picked some crisps (chips) from the package he held in his other hand and then moved his hand back and towards your mouth. "You're so lazy." He said with a smile and you reciprocated it to him before pushing a little up and kissing his jaw and moving back to your comfortable position.

"You're just too comfy and it's difficult to leave this cozy position." You teased him grinning at the look he sent you. He sighed before placing his hand on your blanket-covered back and moving it up and down before he moved his head down and placed a peck on the top of yours. "You're lucky I love you." He uttered before focusing on the rest of the movie.

Easy to say you didn't make it through the whole movie as you fell asleep several minutes before the end. Sleeping on Takeshi was very comfortable, he made for a perfect pillow while embracing you and playing with your hair making it impossible to stay awake.

Tags: @misticbullet