I 🖤 Love and Freakspace

For two minutes afterwards, you stifled sniggers as Valko apologised profusely. He wouldn’t do it again! It was, uh… it was supposed to be a grand gesture! He was trying to be romantic, and no, he would not, under any circumstances, try to be romantic again.

By the time the waiter walked away, only mildly appeased, Valko’s face was the same reddish hue of his hair.

“Still thinking about the steak, big spender?” you cooed, doing absolutely nothing to save his complexion.

“Fuck,” he muttered, mortified, “you must think I’m such a snob.”

“Well, you littered in my apartment the other night. And you just said ‘fuck’ in a fancy restaurant, so… jury’s still out.” Your menu was flopped down so you could look at him. Your eyes sparkled. “You’re very complex, you know.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“You’re… multifaceted.”

Valko sank his face into his hands, slipping down in his chair until most of him was hidden under the table (and he isn’t small; it was quite the feat). The waiter spotted him from across the room. He sat up straight, jolting the table in his haste, and you bit back another smile as your cutlery clattered, and your drink sloshed.

In the end, he ordered a salad.

…

It’s eleven o’clock, the same night, and you’ve traded tealights for your stove.

A steak sizzles in a frying pan as you ladle melted butter on with a teaspoon. Your kitchen is warm, thick with the rich scent of roasting meat, and Valko is trying not to look overeager, but his nose is twitching. The soft of his tail flicks behind him. He wets his lips with a dart of his tongue.

“You don’t have to—” he starts to protest, just like he protested in the aisles of the supermarket, and at the till, and throughout the walk home.

“I want to,” you interrupt, even though he hasn’t found that argument particularly compelling so far. Twentieth time’s the charm, you hope. You reach to pinch at his cheek. “You’re looking a little anaemic, y’know. I’m worried.”

He rolls his eyes, but the blush he picked up at the restaurant never did entirely fade away. His ears are folded back, flat against his hair, and when you beckon for the salt, he hands it over in silence. He must regret that silence when, a moment later, his stomach grumbles. The pink of his face deepens.

“Sorry,” he voices quietly, since he’s given up on dignity. It’s in a grave, and not a shallow one, so he’s forced to move on without it. “I’m so embarrassed. Shouldn’t have tried to show off.”

You chuckle fondly, thinking back to the restaurant. The scene is on loop in the theatre of your minds, except he’s cringing in horror whilst you munch down on popcorn; it’s your new favourite movie. “Don’t be sorry. I loved it, Valko. It was sweet. Really sweet.”

The steak has caramelised in the pool of butter and herbs, so you turn the stove down, leaving it to cook through. Valko’s still trying to keep his nose from twitching too much. You cup his face with your hands.

“Kinda a sheep in wolf’s clothing, huh?”

He mumbles: “Don’t know if I like that.”

But his cheeks are so, so warm under your fingers, and he’s dodging your gaze again, making you giggle. “You committed vandalism for me.”

“It was a menu.”

“We’ll… make it something cooler when we tell people the story.”

(You won’t. You still have the torn menu, and one day, you’ll bring it out for guests at every given opportunity.)

Valko’s tail sways pensively. He’s frowning. Considering.

“I had a really nice time tonight, Val.” You ease him towards you, gently, so you can press a kiss to his cheek. “Promise.”

That tail has picked up its pace. His ears are lifting. “Mm,” he grumbles, “you sure?”

“Mmhmm.” You kiss the tip of his nose. Then his cheek again. Then the line of his jaw.

He relaxes, and your awkward evening tips into the night where, for the first time, he nuzzles into the crook of your neck. Kisses you there, slow and grateful, and pulls you close enough that he can hear your breath catch.

With a click, the stove is turned off behind you. Huh? “What’re you—?”

“Forget the food.” When Valko pulls back, the gold of his eyes is hot. He smirks, emboldened at last by your reaction, and a merciful lack of nearby waiters. “Got something else I wanna eat...”

You gasp.

His ears go flat. “No, I didn’t mean—!” He scrambles. “Well, I did, but not… not quite as literally as… not that I wouldn’t want to, uh… fuck. Not fuck! Not saying we should fuck, I just—”

Yeah, he’s only digging himself deeper. You should kiss him again.

he looked as excited as you felt, and you were sure if his tail was out it’d be wagging.

“will they hit us?” he asks out of curiosity more than fear.

you shake your head. “ash sometimes hits you, but only if you’re close-”

you’re interrupted by a ‘fwoop’ of a firework shooting into the air, followed quickly by a loud bang!

you turn and look at the sky as bright shades of reds and purples streak across the abyss.

valko’s hand tightened in your hair at the boom, but you just assumed it was because he was caught off guard. it wasn’t until they set off two more fireworks thag you started to worry.

valko flinched at every boom, his thighs beneath your head quivering and shaking like a leaf in a tornado.

you frowned and sat up, turning to look at him. “whats wrong? hey, oh gosh, it’s okay-”

your poor boyfriend was covering his ears and shaking all over, his eyes wide and full of terror. you’d never seen him look scared! not even when you fought a hoard of wanderers or when he almost choked on a chicken wing.

you were about to reach out and hold his face when they set off a bigger firework than before, the boom twice as loud as the previous ones. poor valko jumped up and ran away, much like scooby-doo in the cartoons, his feet moving but his position not changing.

you jumped up and chased after him, but damn your hour of daily cardio stood no chance against a werewolf in fight-or-flight.

you called out for him and searched for valko for 15 minutes before you found him cowering and whimpering in fear under a small bridge in the park you were at.

“valko!” you crouched down in front of him and pressed your hands on top of his, muffling the bangs and booms even more. “it’s okay, they’re not gonna hurt you- shit, i’m sorry, i forgot about your hearing sensitivity.”

valko whimpered and leaned his forehead against your chest, trying to hide. his body was trembling against yours.

a few minutes pass and he seems to have calmed down a bit, the noise muffled enough for him to relax. valko pulls his head away from you and looks over your shoulder at the fireworks lighting up the sky.

he flinches every time one explodes, but he still watches for you.

by the end of the firework display, he’s calmed down enough that he’s smiling. but that wasn't enough for you.

“valko, i am so so sorry, i’m a terrible partner, i didn’t even think about the noise-” you hug him, scratching his head.

valko hums at the sensation and nuzzles your neck. the sudden lack of noise makes the air sound like it’s buzzing to him, the only other noise being people chatting quietly as they walk to their cars.

“hey, it’s okay, i didn’t think about it either. i should've known it would be loud when i saw kids with headphones.” he pulls back and smiles at you, a hint of a smirk on his lips. “can we get me some of those for next year?”

you gawk at him. “next year? you seriously want to come back?”

valko nods and leans back against a supporting beam of the bridge, pulling you into his lap. “of course, you love them. and i kinda ruined your experience this year… i’ll make it up to you next year.”

you scoff. “‘ko, if anything I ruined your experience. i could've planned better, we could've watched them from the car miles away, i could’ve gotten you headphone, i could have-”

“shhhh, enough. there’s no point in ‘would’ve could've should’ves’, it’s over with. i had a good time.” he comforts you. “and you were right, there is a firework for everyone.”

you finally smile at that, the anxiety seeping out of you slowly. maybe, despite it all, valko actually did have a good time. “oh yeah? which one did you like?”

“i liked the ones that went up like…” he mimics it with his hand, dragging his fingers up and spreading them out, before ‘exploding’ them.

you laugh and nuzzle your head into his chest. “i like those too. which colors were your favorite?”

to your surprise, valko answers quickly. “i like the yellow and blue ones.”

you raise an eyebrow and look at him like he’s crazy. “really? that’s.. an interesting combination. i didn’t even see any yellow and blue ones together.”

valko frowns. “they were all yellow and blue.”

“what? no they weren’t! there were red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, white, cream- how fid you only see yellow and blue?!” you ramble passionately. had valko somehow managed to only look up when they shot off yellow or blue fireworks?

uh, why was he looking at you like that? valko’s lips were quivering as he held back from laughing.

you growl lowly, annoyed, and flick his fuzzy ears that had popped out sometime in the whole ordeal. “what’s so funny, fuzzball?”

valko finally breaks, laughing in your face. “you’re forgetting a very important detail, sweetheart.” he points to one of his eyes.

your heart sinks and your face flushes with embarrassment. “you’re colorblind- oh my gosh, valko!” you smack his shoulder. “why the hell would you let me drag you to something that is too loud for you and not even pretty! uggghhh this was a waste of your time, i’m sorry.”

valko pulls you against him and laughs. “this wasn’t a waste of my time, you were so happy for those first few fireworks!”

“but you can’t even see what they’re supposed to look like.” you murmur against his chest, feeling deflated. this entire night had gone to shit, and you felt like a terrible partner for not considering his limitations.

valko shook his head. “i see the entire world that way- i see you that way. is that a waste?”

you grumble out a halfhearted ‘no’.

he smiles and pats your head. “see? then it wasn’t a waste. next year, we’ll have an even better time. maybe i’ll get some colorblind glasses to wear with my headphones!”

a/n: happy fourth of july to anyone who celebrates!!

tags: @colonelkaboom @sweetcalebb @heartyluv @rafayelkisses @wetforsylus @angeleclair @insidious-innocence @xaviersbunny @deepspacenova @silverianni @paintedperidot @luvleixo @gardenialily @xinghuisknight @theerogueprincess

I was actually telling my mom about this earlier today because it was a WILD start to my morning(it was like I felt a disturbance in the force because how did I wake up JUST WHEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT DROPPED—I WAS STILL HALF ASLEEP) And she suggested that maybe it was for publicity?? To gain more attention for the game itself, HOWEVER, based on what I’ve seen, that’s not the case.

Honestly the way it’s been handled has been insane, because they could’ve tweak the writing, remove the references, delay his release—ANYTHING except deleting him.

Especially when they’ve just showed off his content two days ago.

We haven’t even gotten to a week to his release before they pulled him. I was so excited for not just him but a new main story update, the “final piece of the puzzle” so to speak.

Literally every 6th LI theory post I’ve seen ties in the six Stellacrum colors, the samsara cycle, Rafayel’s foil, the seven gods Sylus mentions in his Misty Invasion card—

But instead they have to figure out what to do for the main plot now that they don’t have Valko, the aether core, everything.

I’m upset that this is happening, it feels like we’re being robbed, not just the players who wanted him, but the writers, model designers, and voice actors who put so much time into creating Valko and his story and they don’t deserve to have that work cut. I’m not gonna blame the Chinese girlies, because it was just a small but very loud and vocal minority that didn’t want him, and now no one is happy.

However, I think I’ve seen three different petitions ever since they dropped the announcement to bring Valko back, which gives me some hope, but who knows if they’ll actually bring him back if they see the support he has internationally.