18+ ᵇˡᵒᵒᵈˡᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ

what if we kissed?

fiyero is staring at her lips. nicolette knows that fiyero is staring at her lips. it's a game, then, one that he's very eager to participate in. uncrossing his legs and crossing them again the opposite direction, he makes more space for himself to lean in on the couch they're sharing, towards her.

   his gaze only briefly flicks up to her eyes, seen by the small lift of his lashes. then they're back on her lips. a clawed hand reaches out, thumb and index finger framing her chin. he gently nudges her closer, as though he wanted to examine her more closely.

   intentionally casual, perhaps meaning to tease where she's being rather forward. really, she could just ask for a kiss and he'd give it to her, but this back and forth is nice, too. working for it can be exciting sometimes, even if fiyero has a reputation for being easy.

   ' i was admiring your handiwork. you simply must be aware of how well it accentuates your beautiful features. ' a thumb flicks up to trace at her bottom lip, the very tip of his talon, careful not to pierce. ' such a bright red ... it makes your eyes stand out. as it should, really. it's an alluring colour. '

   retreating his hand with a flutter underneath her chin, fiyero brings his thumb to his own lips and tongues at it cheekily, frames it in the split of his tongue. ' i'm always more cautious with the brightest reds ... i'm already bright enough as it is, don't you think? ' looking at her intently, lowering both of his hands to place one on her thigh, fiyero gives her a meaningful grin. ' i prefer darker violets. '

If her companion were less charming and not so easy on the eyes, she might've gotten her amusement in watching them squirm, but Nicolette can't help pushing her luck with such a fine specimen finding their way into her sights. It's minute, the movement she makes to lean just a breath closer into the hold on her chin.

The eyes staring back are a bright, endless void, so easy to get lost in if one wasn't careful ( not that she wants to be ). As that sharp talon falls away from her mouth, a pink tongue peeks out, mirroring Fiyero's provocations by swiping along her bottom lip as if to chase the lingering taste of his touch. Eyes narrowing and smile curling sharper, a soft hum is the only answer to his copious praise, akin to the purring of feline satisfaction.

❝ A trade, hm? ❞ The hand on her thigh stirs a simmering heat in her gut, legs uncrossing with effortless grace and parting slightly wider on their shared seat. A harmless tease. ❝ What do you suggest? ❞ It's an innocent inquiry, if not for the way Nicolette seems to melt against the sofa, head tilting to rest along the back cushions and present the alluring stretch of her pale neck.

He calls upon all of his experiences now to decipher what he's feeling at this moment: cold one second, hot the next. Nicolette is standing in front of him and baring her heart out, and Wang Yi recognizes that she's telling him that she's lonely.

What was loneliness?

Solitude without peace, a beginning without an end. A hole in your heart, he thinks, so that even when it's beating, a piece of its warmth is still missing. Of course he knew that Break and Zhilan were gone too, but his sensations were duller, more muffled. He and Nicolette were still living well, he assumed, so the best thing was to continue like they always had.

I thought you were doing fine, he thinks guiltily, brows furrowing. She had smiled and teased as always—but of course. Asking him to sleep over, inviting him to stay.

He's stupid for not getting the memo until she tells him outright.

"You know..." Wang Yi leans in. Nicolette is staring at her shoes, so he just rests his cheek against the side of her face while pulling her closer to him. "Anywhere I go, Sao Ling's coming along too. If he scratches up the furniture and Break comes back, I'm counting on you to defend me, yeah?"

He tosses that out to lighten the mood, but his next words are quieter, murmured right by her ears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"All this time you were in the mansion I was thinking, 'Nicolette's living like a queen by now, she can sleep in a different room every night.' The fact that the house is still there after Break left—I figured it was his gift to you and Zhilan. You guys are close in your own way, so I didn't want to get between that."

He's used to being the odd one out, an extra that doesn't quite fit in. Even if he tries, something inevitably sours—so it'd been him in the condo and them in the mansion, and everything had been fine.

Still, to be pulled into his arms so quickly is a surprise. The warmth of his cheek, heat trapped between their bodies and voice murmuring soft words directly to her ear saps all the tension from her rigid shoulders. Nicolette seems to melt into him without a fight, eyes falling closed as she tucks her face into the curve of his neck. As he speaks, the vibrations lull her into a comforting sense of safety.

It feels so nice to be held like this, as if something cherished and beloved.

He squeezes her tighter, and she raises her arms to hold him back. Fingers press into his clothed back before clutching into the fabric like they're afraid he'll slip away. Wang Yi manages to say all the right things. Surely he can feel the smile forming as she breathes out a long, relieved sigh. ❝ You really mean it? ❞

The smile grows, brushing the question against his skin. ❝ The sounds perfect, ❞ she whispers, rewarding him with a single press of her lips to his throat. ❝ It doesn't matter if he doesn't want you there— I do, and I always get what I want. You could never get between anything, when I want you by my side. ❞ If anything, she trusted that Break would prioritize her happiness over his grudges.

❝ And Sao Ling is always welcome— I'll bribe him with treats to keep his claws in check. I'll spoil him. I'll spoil you both rotten, but especially you. ❞ Nicolette expresses her satisfaction by pressing herself against him completely, peppering the expanse of his neck and jaw with audible, quick fluttering kisses.

"Mm-hmm?" His gaze on her is patient and sincere; he's not sure where she's leading him exactly, but he can follow the cues step-by-step.

"I like the idea of that."

Other than Break, Wang Yi is one of the few people that— past carefully curated masks and lies— is able to understand her, regardless of how hard she tries to hide. He still manages to miss the mark sometimes, but they've done well so far, for a pair that both feels too much and is learning how to feel at all.

She trusts him. Despite all the missteps, all the hurt, Wang Yi makes her feel seen. It's terrifying, and suffocating, but also beautiful and addicting.

❝ Actually, I feel... really alone. ❞ The confession is a whisper, and Nicolette breaks his gaze to stare at their feet, blinking away the threat of hot tears. ❝ I had no attachment to the Rainsworth Mansion— not the way Break does, with all the fond memories of his family, before here. But... it became that for me, too, the place with... the people I love. It's— it feels like my home. I've never had anything like that, before. ❞

❝ Now... it's so empty. I hate being there, in the silence. Sometimes I wake up and feel like I've lost everyone, and I just wish I could turn over and see you there or— or walk down the hall and selfishly wake you up. I want to eat breakfast with you, and walk through Zhilan's garden and stay up late before saying goodnight. ❞

That's good, he thinks, and brushes hair back from her face absently as he grins at her answers.

"Staying at the library huh...that'll depend on the books."

"Besides, so much stuff's digitalized nowadays that we can make our own library wherever we want."

They were making their own already, weren't they? By staying here, and filling it up with their memories.

"I wanna change a few things about your offer," he adds. "If I like the librarian so much, I'd just open my own library card with her. And if she thinks being a librarian's miserable..."

The hand not held securely by his own wanders to the locks of pink hair hanging over his shoulder, curling it around her fingers. Oh, she wants to kiss him, but now that she's started this conversation, it'd be best to finish it without getting distracted.

Perhaps after, if the request doesn't blow up in her face.

❝ If I can be whatever I want... then I want to be yours. I want you to open a library card with me. ❞ Her brows knit in thought, eyes seemingly searching his for some kind of answer. Or the existence of something that might give her the answer she wants.

❝ And I want the place we meet... to be a place we stay, together. When I open and close the library, I want you to be the first and last thing I see. ❞

When she finally speaks, he perks up to pay attention, but blinks at her question.

"Who—you mean Qin Xian?"

"...you just made me imagine some really weird scenarios, Nini."

His hand squeezes hers before he pulls her up short. Standing before her, green eyes gaze earnestly into purple ones as Wang Yi organizes his thoughts.

"It's true that he's helped me a lot, and there's stuff about him I still can't figure out because he gets so damned vague...but just because a guy's mysterious doesn't mean I'll fall head over heels for him. That stuff just passes by me all the time."

He crinkles his brows, trying to parse his thoughts.

"It's like...I checked out library books on his card but didn't return them by the due date, so I gotta help him pay back the fines, sorta? Maybe he likes me, but he's never told me, and as for me—"

Wang Yi blinks, then laughs.

Regardless, she wants him to take this seriously. She won't have to courage to ask him what she wants to, otherwise.

His attempt at seeming lighthearted elicits a petulant huff as her response. Her face grows hot with shame, but Nicolette can tell he's trying to answer sincerely, even if he doesn't understand. She can't help but smile, clearly charmed.

Her hand grips his own tighter, a sign that he's getting it right, in his own unique way.

❝ Being a librarian sounds miserable, ❞ she replies, trying to follow his lead, ❝ but you'd be my favorite patron, even if you were using another man's library card. ❞ Her worries seem so silly, when he puts it that way. Wang Yi would never lie to her, but she knows it's unlikely to be that simple. Their relationship must be too complicated to truly put into words

The same could be said for them, couldn't it?

Her eyes did widen a moment when it was mentioned how she made things sound. "Mm... I don't think its immoral. We should all be allowed to dress the way we're most comfortable, right? I admire women that are comfortable showing their skin... even if it makes me blush sometimes." She was dodging the reason it made her blush though. That pansexuality that she didn't publicize. She didn't express it in the way most people did, but she could be attracted to most genders.

❝ Speaking of things to blush about— I think you really underestimate what a good pair of panties can do. Comfort is a must, but more importantly... don't you think there's something fun about wearing a sexy secret that only you know about? ❞ The differences between her and the mage were obvious, but it still managed to fascinate her when their contrasting ways of thought collided.

What a strange picture they must make, walking beside one another.

Send me a ✍ and I'll draw our muses together!

this one was fun lol they’re like a manhwa couple

Do I like getting eaten?

"Yeah—? Huh, okay?"

An oblivious Wang Yi follows Nicolette into the maze, clueless as to what she wanted to ask. After all, he didn't put her and Qin Xian on the same level. That guy was part of his plot progression, an important key to unlocking his past but also someone he owed a debt to.

Nicolette was—obviously, first. In this world, she was priority.

...he wondered whether his ability to jump flawlessly from one setting to another might've been one of the reasons Break got annoyed with him in the past.

They entered the corn maze side-by-side and are soon surrounded by walls of green. Faint conversation and laughter from children—other participants of the maze—sound in the distance around them. Wang Yi squeezes Nicolette's hand and puts on a smile, deciding to let the matter drop for now. She'd share when she was ready, anyways.

It gets harder to remember, the more people she loses.

❝ This way, ❞ she murmurs, pulling him towards the left, away from the sounds of other festival-goers. Suddenly, she wants to be alone with him, as much as possible, without any other eyes looking upon him but her own.

Their interlocked hands swing slightly as they walk, and Nicolette hardly pays attention to where they're going, peeking at Wang Yi from her peripherals. ❝ Are— were you two very... close? ❞ She cringes slightly at how obvious and insecure that sounds. It doesn't help how unbefitting their surroundings are for such a topic, but it's not like they've talked about it much before. ❝ Do you ever feel with him... what you feel with me? ❞

When dealing with wild animals, overreaction is akin to blood in the water, and running an invitation to be hunted. She knows, having been both the predator and the prey, but Nicolette promised herself many years ago to never be a victim again.

Least of all to someone so lacking in finesse.

❝ If you call that embarrassing display a party, then you've got bigger problems to worry about, ❞ her scathing review is made at a distance, lest he delude himself into attempting the same blunder again so soon. It's not fear, but the very idea of him fantasizing about the taste of her flesh between his teeth is enough to make her skin crawl with revulsion. It sends a flash of hot fury through her veins, tempered only by the façade of indifference.

One may assume he's waiting for her guard to lower, to strike when she's distracted, but Nicolette can see him watching her as she watches him— recognizes the creature behind his gaze as one that lacks the concept of repressing his bloodlust.

Perhaps he sees no need to, or has yet to face the consequences of biting indiscriminately and without self-control. Has he ever had blood on his hand he didn't mean to put there? Does he know the crushing weight of regret? Is he more beast than man? Is she?

"I-it's not like that!"

Qin Xian— he's mentioned him before, and she's smart enough to come to her own conclusions. There must be a reason he seems to pop up in more than one story, right? She cannot decide whether she wants to know everything, or nothing at all. Which would make her feel better about it?

❝ Do you— ❞ like him more than me? Does he know you better? Her mouth cannot seem to speak the words. They're too humiliating. ❝ Never mind, let's just go in. We're right here. ❞

Nicolette understands that Wang Yi's life outside of the island requires he evict her from sole occupation of his heart when not around. It does make her happy to accept it, possessive as she is, but it remains fact all the same. If she desires to have any of him at all, this is how it must be.

"It depends on whether I'm still conscious."

"I've done both—eat someone and be eaten, I mean. I know I didn't feel the first much after I swallowed, but for the second it was a pretty woozy experience until I got digesting. Maybe you'd have to keep my brain intact somehow, or else it'll just be like regular food—"

He breaks off to snort.

Fern closed the gap between them and placed her hands on Nicolette's shoulders, staring her dead in the eyes. "I'm asking you because I trust you won't make me wear anything that would make me uncomfortable." She had her reservations, but she still believed Nicolette respected her enough.

Regardless of her own taste in clothes, it'd be foolish to believe the volume of visible skin had any bearing on fashionable worth or appeal. ❝ Like I said, you've asked the right person. You could make a trash bag look good if it was accessorized correctly! ❞

"another round so soon? do take care, it would be a shame to end the evening too early." gesturing toward the empty seat next to the woman, she smiles, although it's the same one to grace her lips whenever she's searching for something. "do you mind if I sit here? I think I've had quite enough of uninteresting conversations for one day."

A slight incline of her head towards the unoccupied stool in unspoken invitation, she hums softly. ❝ Are you worried for me? ❞ It sounds like a question, but the amusement in her tone suggests otherwise.