put it into words, give voice to it

Fic Headers Credits:

It Was a Very Lovely June by Eight

Cinnabar by haruno 

Town of Jade by Mer (for my late 2022–mid 2023 writing)

Icon Credits: @/cleferri

Fandoms:

Twisted Wonderland, Genshin Impact, Shall We Date?: Obey Me!, Honkai Star Rail, Haikyuu!!, Zenless Zone Zero, Reverse 1999

About the writer (very misc):

-Direct messaging is really scary for me, but I do welcome replies (finally, they have sideblog replying aahh) and anon asks. Being tagged in reblog games and fanfic writing is also cool with me!

-I've tried having a queue multiple times (read: it didn't work out. I decided to just embrace my spontaneous bursts of energy.) Sorry if you're expecting something scheduled/timely responses to interactions, but they just happen when they happen and/or if I remember to respond 😭😭I really don't mean to come across as cold/unfriendly.

-If you wanna know who my favorites are just look at this blog's archive and my writing masterlist, you'll spot 'em relatively quickly.

-I feel very strongly about the act of writing itself so there might be writing-related discourse in the occasional reblog. (For example: you won't find me talking favorably about AI art or AI writing.) I'll make sure to keep these tagged under #for-dellet.

-Interacting with the works in my unfinished/abandoned drafts is okay. Same with taking inspiration from the premises/ideas. (Obviously I won't allow full segments of my writing, actual or abandoned, to be copy pasted and/or fed into AI.) The list is my own attempt at being more forgiving instead of perfectionistic and deleting any "unworthy" writing.

[…]

Apparently, her plan of leaving the highstrung vicewarden alone for the day will not come to fruition.

Sure, it’s a good thing that oil and water combination of Crowley and the seven housewardens could keep the meeting going—give her enough time to weigh the pros and cons of climbing out the window—but, she didn’t want to stick around for when the meeting would go from a friendly debate to an oil fire.

So, she loses track of time contributing to the discussion. Finding compromises while taking snark with a grimaced smile.

“—I suppose that will be enough for the day. Thank you, housewardens and Prefect Tang, for your work.”

Crap. She got too into that. Never mind that she let herself bask in the scant bit of acknowledgement found in the Headmage’s words. She can fix her meeting notes later.

She peeks her head out the doorway, spots Kalim and Jamil chatting together, and decides to make her exit in the opposite direction when the former suddenly calls her name.

Her darned adherence to authority makes her stop in her tracks. “Yes?”

“Wanna have tea at Scarabia?” On most days, she would thank Kalim’s many whims and spontaneity for sparing her from unnecessarily being in the vicinity of Jamil—her heart could only take so much—but it was only a matter of time before she would be subjected to it unfavorably.

“Oh, I would…but I left Grim at study hall. I don’t think he’d like being left alone—”

“That’s okay, you can bring him along—Actually, we can go together! Which room is he in?”

Usually, at this point Jamil would be quick to divert Kalim’s attention to something else. Homework, dorm conflicts to iron out, a flat out ‘no.’ But the fact that he didn’t this time—the fact that he’s quietly staying by Kalim’s side, even—gives Lou the feeling that the invitation was not some sudden whim.

[…]

While Grim is being stuffed with crackers and goat cheese, Lou takes sips of her second…no wait, third cup of tea.

So what if she lost count? It’s not like she wanted to constantly sneak glances towards Jamil, trying to gauge whether she really was the source of today’s irritation. A difficult feat, considering that the guy always wore his dorm uniform with the hood up.

Backtracking through what she could remember from her phone’s to-do and her notepad gleaned little, mostly because the freshest thing on her mind was that afternoon’s meeting with the headmage.

So right now, she is completely helpless.

“Lou, would you want another cup—oh, you’ve barely touched it. Is this blend too strong?”

Yes. “No, it’s fine! I think I’m pretty good on tea.” Oops, maybe the way her expression scrunched up along with that sip probably didn’t convince Kalim.

And of course, he gets the brilliant idea that she should try out some authentic Scalding Sands honey and dashes off to the kitchen with Grim in tow, leaving her alone with…

Jamil pours himself another cup, doesn’t even take a sip as he sits next to her. Well, there’s an empty seat in between them, but if it was removed then they would basically be seated beside each other.

“Something on your mind, Prefect? You keep looking at my direction.” And he has the gall to trace a finger along the design of the teacup. The poor, poor teacup.

Motherfu— “I guess, yeah. You wouldn’t leave Kalim to get some jars of honey on his own.” She braces herself for another few drinks of the tea. Despite its wonderful fragrance, it leaves a sour aftertaste. “That’s not usually like you.”

“There isn’t any stopping Kalim once he’s got his mind set.”

“Yeah, but most of the time, you’re quick enough to stop him before that happens.”

“Hm, is that so?”

The change in tone is subtle, but still just noticeable enough that it stirs her curiosity, that she meets his gaze.

(Oh, it’s evil to see and be seen in turn. Especially by someone with a side profile as gorgeous as Jamil Viper. Those long eyelashes, the artful line of his kohl, the shape of his nose—)

….which gives nothing away. That means it’s up to Lou to make something happen or let herself be suffocated by the dizzying whirlwind of her thoughts and the heat of the Scarabia dorm. Great!

Her reflex to self-soothe kicks in and starts combing a hand through the ends of her right pigtail. “I don’t know, I thought you were upset or…I don’t know—See, like right now!”

“I’m not upset,” Jamil deflects. Lou is sure that it is a deflection by the frown that he quickly wills away. “I just have a lot of responsibilities.”

“You mean a lot of somethings on your mind, maybe?”

He frowns again. Or, hm…maybe he’s not specifically looking at her face but…

Lou tries her best not to flinch when Jamil’s fingers close around her wrist, stopping her from fidgeting with her hair. Suddenly that suffocation option sounds a dozen times more appealing than what was happening right now.

“…Fine, so I have been bothered by something today. But it isn’t something you should concern yourself with.” His hold tightens, punctuating the silent demand in his words.

Lou keeps her eyes trained on the side of his cheek, giving the illusion that she was still holding eye contact. “Okay! I believe you!” She tries pulling her hand free.

Not that she’s in pain, but she feels like she might explode if this continues, at this intensity. ‘Jamil -Viper-Induced Spontaneous Combustion,’ she wants to call it. In case it ever happens. Could her temperature get any higher than this?

Mercifully, he lets go of her. “Ahem, I’d prefer that I only deal with your meddling once.”

That gives Lou pause. Once? Of all the times she inserted herself into the messy business of NRC’s students, he felt that she’s only meddled one time? Then when was that specific incident? “What, you mean like when you—Huy!”

“That’s enough cheek from you.” Jamil’s expression is hidden behind his teacup. But Lou knows for certain that he’s keeping a smile to himself.

This motherfucker just tugged on her scrunchie.

Whatever warmth she’s feeling from proximity morphs into heated irritation. But of course, before she can fire off one more retort, Grim tumbles into her back and makes her spill her drink all over herself. And a bit onto cushion she was using.

This is all Jamil’s fault, obviously!

At least Kalim managed to find the honey for their tea all on his own.

[…]

Jamil would rather swallow pins than admit this aloud, but it felt wrong to see her usual hairdo adorned with blue. It was usually either red or

He didn’t appreciate the extra cleaning up after the impromptu tea and snacks, but he felt just a tiny bit vindicated with how that conversation ended.

She’s almost always turning red, so it stands to reason that it should be her go-to color for her hair ties.

Should he feel bad about this? Treating her like some sort of mouse to bat around whenever he felt like it? Maybe. But as a fellow creature of habit, she would find herself back in their orbit sooner or later. That had to mean something—

No, it simply spoke more about Lou’s character than it did about his. That sounds right.

(Jamil’s heavenly vindication would only last for fifteen more minutes until he spotted Lou and the obnoxiously bright yellow scrunchies she chose for the day.)