clara

About me...

I'm someone who finds joy in creating characters and writing stories for them. I love storytelling through visuals, reimagining canon moments, and occasionally creating short stories for my OCs.

On this blog, you'll mostly find content related to my Twisted Wonderland OCs.

However, besides Twisted Wonderland, I also might post about other various interests that, if I were to list them here, would take up a lot of your time to read.

For now, I don't have much else to write about me, so feel free to stick around, but before interacting, make sure to take a look at my boundaries. I will not tolerate any type of interaction or attitude that disrespects any of the points raised there.

I mostly draw, but I also occasionally write about my OCs. If you're interested, you can find my fanfics and long ramble posts on my writing masterlist.

The Rosehearts' study was a place Valentin knew like the back of his hand. Ever since he was little, when he moved next door, he'd studied there with Riddle at least once a week. The routine was always the same: they sat across from each other, helped each other with their homework (mostly Riddle helped Valentin), and occasionally Mrs. Rosehearts would come by with tea and maybe some healthy cookies. It was always the same.

Except for the fact that, no, this wasn't the same anymore, and Valentin knew it. Ever since he'd realized he was also into boys a few months ago, everything had made sense. From the way Val's heart always raced when Riddle was around to the sense of peace he felt when he heard his voice. He had never understood the feeling, but now, it all made sense.

And that became a bit of a problem, because now, Valentin simply couldn't act himself.

He used to be calm, quiet, and relaxed. Everything with him would happen at the right time and at the right moment. He was never one to be anxious, but since he finally realized he was in love with his childhood friend, Riddle Rosehearts, things changed.

Suddenly he seemed a little too aware of how much he noticed Riddle. The way the late afternoon sun reflected the red of his hair, the way his blue eyes looked when he was focused, the way he kept his lips pressed together as he studied—these were all things he felt he had always noticed about his friend, but that he had never understood why he had it all memorized.

At that moment, it was his lips that kept Val from focusing. The way the redhead was precisely writing paragraph after paragraph in his notebook, occasionally stopping to look up information in his textbook, but always keeping his lips pressed into a thin, concentrated, tense line. Occasionally, they parted when he seemed to not understand something at first, and Val couldn't help but quietly gasp.

"Val?" Riddle's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, making the taller boy jump in his chair. "You're staring."

"Ah– Sorry! I, uh..." Val seemed to be fumbling for words, quickly looking down at his notebook and picking up his pen. "I just... I got distracted, but I'll focus again!" He completed, even though none of the words on the book seemed to make sense anymore.

Riddle immediately found his friend's behavior strange, frowning as he watched Valentin rewrite the same sentence for the second time only to erase it again. Valentin had always been absent-minded, far too relaxed for his own good, but he'd never had any visible trouble paying attention. At least not while studying at the Rosehearts' house.

"Are you alright?" Riddle asked, keeping his voice low so his mother wouldn't notice they weren't studying. "Did something happen? Is my study routine overwhelming you?"

"What?" Val asked, lifting his head. "Of course not– we've been studying together forever! Your routine is..."

For a moment, Val's gaze dropped to Riddle's lips again.

"...soft."

"What?"

"S-smooth! I said smooth."

The redhead narrowed his eyes, sighed, and finally closed his book, focusing entirely on his friend.

"Valentin, if something is wrong, you need to communicate it. Otherwise you'll fall behind, and your grades could suffer. That's unacceptable."

Valentin sighed. "My grades are great, Riddle, thanks to your study routine..."

"That doesn't mean you can relax," Riddle continued. "So tell me what's going on. Are you sick? Is it about some personal matter?"

For a moment, the boys' eyes met, and that brief contact was enough to make Val's heart speed up.

Truthfully, both of their hearts were beating faster than ever. Everything would have been much easier if they could hear each other's feelings.

Valentin made a decision.

Swallowing hard, he stood up from his chair and walked around the table. Riddle followed him with an attentive gaze, standing as well when Val stopped in front of him, making their height difference even more obvious. Riddle had to tilt his head back to look at him.

"We're friends, right?" Val asked, gentle but cautious. "I can tell you anything, right?"

Riddle paused for a moment, as if considering the answer. He wasn't particularly used to keeping secrets or talking about feelings, but with Val, it's different.

Natural, even.

"Of course," he said, nodding.

Val looked him straight in the eyes as he tried to organize what he wanted to say. He knew that if he confessed, he could lose him forever.

But at least he would have finally said it.

"Riddle, I..."

"Yes?"

That was when something in Val's head short-circuited, his mind completely emptying of all common sense, causing him to simply cup his friend's face and lean down to kiss him.

A reckless move, but one that freed him from words and explanations.

The kiss remained completely still, Riddle frozen with wide eyes, having no idea what to do. His face slowly turned redder and redder as the seconds passed.

When Val finally realized what he was doing—and noticed the lack of response—he quickly pulled away.

"Oh my goodness– Riddle, please forgive me, I don't know what I–"

The taller boy was interrupted when Riddle grabbed his shirt. For a moment, Val thought he was about to get scolded, slapped, maybe even punched.

Instead, he got another kiss.

And this time, Val immediately kissed him back.

The initial shock gave way to something much softer, as if the world around them had disappeared. Val's hands rose to Riddle's face, while Riddle's own slid down to the taller boy's waist.

It lasted only a few seconds. Maybe even less.

Valentin slowly opened his eyes, only to find that Riddle was already looking at him. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.

Then Valentin smiled, relieved.

"I'm in love with you," he whispered, returning to his usual self, the version of him that was actually good with words. "Have been for a really long time. I just figured it out recently."

Riddle, however, wasn't relieved.

The problem wasn't liking Valentin, not at all. That part was wonderful, actually. Being in love with your best friend was one of the best situations imaginable when the feeling happened to be mutual.

The problem was that if Mrs. Rosehearts found out, Riddle would be forbidden from seeing him.

"...Val," Riddle called, and he answered with a quiet hum. "I... um. Could we... stop studying for today?"

Val blinked a few times, wondering if Riddle regretted it, if he'd misunderstood something. But the redhead's hands still hadn't left his waist.

In fact, Riddle was holding on rather tightly.

"I want to talk about this with you, but we can't do it here," he continued, swallowing hard. "My mother..."

"I know," Val said, gently stroking his cheek. "You don't have to explain."

Riddle sighed in relief, carefully letting go of his waist so he could hold both of Valentin's hands instead.

"I'm surprised," the taller boy said with a crooked smile. "You didn't panic."

"Oh, I'm definitely panicking," the redhead replied, drawing a laugh out of his...

His...

Friend?

"Are we still friends?" Riddle asked without thinking, immediately realizing the mistake he'd made.

"...Friends," Val repeated with a smile, and Riddle instantly squeezed his eyes shut as his face turned red. "I tell you I'm in love with you, you kiss me, hold my hands, and then ask if we're still friends?"

"Don't start." Riddle opened his eyes again to glare at him. "Don't test my patience right now."

Val laughed loudly, kissed his forehead, and stepped away to gather his things.

"Look, I'm going home, alright? Tomorrow after school, tell your mother you're coming over to my house so we can finish what we were supposed to do today," he said, slinging his tote bag over his shoulder. "You can blame it on me. Tell her I got a headache and we ended the study session early. She'll say that..."

"That she expected you wouldn't be able to handle it," Riddle finished with a sigh. "She thinks you're too soft."

"But she still thinks I'm a good influence," Val replied.

As he walked past him, he pressed a kiss to Riddle's cheek, making the redhead jump in surprise and immediately raise a hand to the spot.

"H-hey– suddenly you're not nervous at all anymore, are you?!"

Riddle's face was bright red as he stared at him, desperately trying to hide his embarrassment.

"See you tomorrow, Riddle," Val said, waving at him as he left the study.

The door closed behind him.

The study fell silent once again, and Riddle Rosehearts was left completely alone with his thoughts. He had spent countless hours alone in that room, yet this time, it felt different.

Slowly, he brought his fingers up to his lips, where Valentin had kissed him, and immediately felt his face grow warm again.

"Idiot..." he murmured to himself.

But there was no irritation in his voice, only embarrassment. And something strange. Light, happy, though still haunted by anxiety.

Riddle looked over at the desk, where the books remained open and the assignments unfinished. Everything looked the same, but nothing was. Because, for the first time in a very long time, he found himself thinking about something that wasn't his grades, his schedules, or his mother's expectations.

Instead, he found himself thinking about tomorrow, and about how eager he was for it to arrive.