Dreaming Under the Stars

Text Posts: (💫) [in my thoughts]

Vent Posts: (🌑) [into the void]

Answered Asks: (🌠) [make a wish]

Headcanons: (🌟) [twinkling stars]

F/O Letters: (💖) [in my heart]

Self-Insert: (🌙) [stars and moon]

Art: avistellart

Writing: avisteliterature

Last Updated: August 06, 2022

ROMANTIC

Alfonse (Fire Emblem Heroes) (👑) [ golden prince of my heart ]

Líf (Fire Emblem Heroes) (💀) [ even in death]

Louis Amamiya (Code Vein) (🩸) [ drinking in your love ]

Seox (Granblue Fantasy) (🦊) [ hidden behind your smile ]

Diluc Ragnvindr (Genshin Impact) (🔥) [ stars burn for us ]

Barbatos (Obey Me) (☕️) [ to serve and love ]

SilverAsh (Arknights) (❄️) [ warm in your heart ]

Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia) (💖) [ my chosen one ]

QUEERPLATONIC

Sandalphon (Granblue Fantasy) (🪶) [ snarky coffee love ]

Jade Leech (Twisted Wonderland) (🐬) [ sweet and cunning ]

Floyd Leech (Twisted Wonderland) (🦈) [ bite and squeeze me ]

Lilia Vanrouge (Twisted Wonderland) (🦇) [ cutest love ]

PLATONIC

Leona Kingscholar (Twisted Wonderland) (🦁) [ let sleeping lions lie ]

Azul Ashengrotto (Twisted Wonderland) (🐙) [ buying friendships with money]

FAMILIAL

Deuce Spade (Twisted Wonderland) (♠️) [ we can change for the better ]

Camilla (Fire Emblem Heroes) (🌺) [ blooming flowers ]

For the most part, the members of the former Tokyo Branch spent the day hanging out together while eating good food and drinking. Despite the small and humble party, the company was fun to be with, if not a bit loud and rambunctious. C.B. and Cyan did end up getting into a few arguments here and there, but even then, it somehow felt more lighthearted than usual. Even if their situation with the Agency was far from ideal, it felt nice being able to take things a bit more casually.

Although Cyan wasn't one for celebrations, it wasn't like he could just stay holed up in his room when everybody wanted to celebrate his birthday with him. It was a bit of a relief when Akamune decided to end the party early and urge everyone to go back to their rooms and sleep early after they finished cleaning up. Cyan was about to head upstairs when Lunaliya called out to him and ask him to stay behind for a bit.

"What is it?" He asked as the woman led him back to the living room.

"I wanted to give you your gift before the day actually changed over," Lunaliya answered as she approached the couch and went down on her knees on the floor. She reached underneath the piece of furniture and pulled out a small gift bag that she had hidden there in the early morning before preparing everything else.

Cyan was confused. She had already given him something along with everybody else's gifts during the party. This year, she had given him a bunch of different materials he could use in his resin work, and he was already more than satisfied with that. Seeing the confusion on his face, Lunaliya laughed quietly to herself and shyly tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Mm, well, this is a second gift I wanted to give you, but I was too embarrassed to have everybody else see it... I had Mei help out in shooing everybody away and letting us have some time alone," she explained. She then held out the gift bag to him. "Here."

Cyan accepted it and looked inside. There was a card along with a...

The dokubutsu danshi took out the gift from the bag. It was a thin vial filled with resin containing several hues of blues and purples. Inside the resin was a few small pearls, and the vial was topped with a cork cover.

"I tried doing the stuff you taught me on my own. It's not as good as what you make, but I tried, and I hope you like it," Lunaliya said, suddenly feeling more self-conscious than before. It took her a few practice attempts before feeling confident enough to make something worth giving, but even then, she felt as if it was very amateur work.

Just as she said, Cyan could see the imperfections in the resin, such as a few bubbles here and there, but he actually found it rather endearing. He started to wonder if there was a spot in his room where he could leave it and have it on display. It'd be nice if he put it in a place that let him easily see it every day.

As he was pondering that, he took out the small folded card. The front had the words "Happy Birthday Cyan" carefully written on it. Opening up the card, he was then met with a simple sentence:

"Thank you for being born"

When he lifted his gaze, he found Lunaliya staring at him with a tender expression on her face, and she idly fiddled with her fingers. "I know that you might have complicated feelings about... where you came from, and I feel kind of awful for saying this when you consider what happened to all those other toxients, but... I'm glad you're here, Cyan. I am so thankful for your existence, and I'm so happy that you're alive and here with us."

Cyan felt his throat tighten up from the sincerity of her words. Even if he never admitted it out loud, there was a part of him deep down that hated who he was. Made from the deaths and sacrifices of the toxients who most probably didn't want to die. Made to be a tool or weapon used by humans but not quite meeting their expectations. Cyan hated them all. He hated the humans who created him, and he hated what he symbolized to said humans.

He was the first success story of the Agency being able to create an "artificial toxient". That meant Cyan's existence was proof that "such a thing" was possible. His existence became a "precedent"... And Cyan hated that. It meant even more toxients would have to be used" to create others like him, and he didn't want that. He didn't want to be the "start" of it all.

If he really thought about it, his existence was the catalyst for so many of the tragedies that had befallen the other members of the Tokyo Branch. An in particular was a direct test subject. If Code: Franken didn't exist, Supporter wouldn't have lost his family in the terrorist attack. Dion wouldn't have to be worried sick about his imprisoned brother.

And yet... despite all that, Lunaliya said that she was happy for his existence. She accepted who he was, and because of her, Cyan felt as if it was okay for him to continue living.

Lunaliya smiled softly at him, reaching a hand up to gently stroke his cheek. She took one step forward, closing the distance between them, and whispered. "I love you, Cyan. I hope that your days are filled with lots of good things because you deserve so much happiness in your life. I really do mean it when I say that I'm happy that you were born and that I was able to meet you."

Born. Not "made" or "created". It was okay for him to be a person and not a weapon to battle against Voids. That there was more to him than just fighting.

Cyan could feel his eyes growing wet, but he stubbornly blinked away any tears that might have threatened to form. He chest ached with all kinds of emotions. "...Thanks," was all that he was able to mumble out, unable to find any other words as he lightly squeezed the gift bag in his hand.

He truly... loved this person standing before him.

Lunaliya flashed him one last smile before taking a step back. "It's kind of late. We should probably head off to bed now."

The dokubutsu danshi grabbed her hand before she could leave. "Not yet," he said, gently pulling her towards him once again.

He set the gift aside on the couch for a moment and then cupped Lunaliya's face. He leaned down to kiss her, short but sweet. His lips lingered near hers, and he stared into her eyes through his lashes.

"I want to stay with you for a bit longer," he admitted in a whispered murmur.

Before Lunaliya could reply, they heard voices coming from the stairs, and the couple reluctantly separated themselves from each other to check it out. As they approached, they could hear the others arguing with each other.

"I can't see!"

"Wait, C.B., you can't—!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Hemlock, you're crushing me!"

"Branch Chief, are you okay?"

"Shh! We're gonna get caught!"

"Hey, don't push!"

"Wait! I'm gonna fall!"

"Stop it, all of you! It's dangerous!"

"UWAAAHH!!"

There was a loud crash as everybody fell from the stairs and landed as a pile of bodies by Cyan's and Lunaliya's feet. The nosy and meddling group looked up from their awkward positions and found Cyan glaring at them with an unimpressed look on his face, his arms crossed over his chest. As for Lunaliya, she was wearing a wry smile, having expected this kind of behaviour from the group. She kept a loose hand on Cyan's arm as if to stop him from exploding on them.

Chain managed to quickly untangle himself from everybody else and stood up, dusting himself off. He cleared his throat and placed a hand on Cyan's shoulder. "If you'll let this go, I can try to find some love hotels for you to stay in with Liya."

"I don't need it!" Cyan exclaimed to hide his embarrassment at the offer, swatting the man's hand away.

Lunaliya exhaled an exasperated sigh. "Chain... You really shouldn't tease him too much."

The Branch Chief meekly spoke up. "Er, well, actually... We did figure that you two might want some time alone, so we all agreed to sleep down here in the living room while you and Cyan can stay in—"

Lunaliya raised her hand to interrupt him. "Stop right there. You. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is when you say it out loud like this rather than... I don't know, finding a more subtle way?"

"I think it's subtle enough," Chain argued with a grin. "It's not like we know what you two will be up to, anyways. You two could be 'having fun' on your own, or you could just fall fast asleep in each other's arms, and not one of us would know. We just wanted to give you an opportunity. Isn't that right, An?"

An nodded his head. "Mm-hmm! We wanted to give you space!"

Lunaliya smiled, but her gaze was distant. Without a doubt, everybody here except for An had the idea that she and Cyan would be spending their time together being physically intimate. Having An say that without understanding the nuances of the conversation was a bit awkward embarrassing for her, but she really couldn't say anything to him about it without having to explain things to him.

Chain continued, "Besides, we were going to wait for when you two went back up. C.B. would have then 'suggested' having a slumber party with everyone, fully expecting Cyan not to join. After that, it was a matter of asking you to 'keep Cyan company so he wouldn't be lonely', but... Well. You two were taking a while, so we got curious and ended up snooping. Buuut... as you can see, we got caught like this instead."

"Such a messy and convoluted way of doing things..." Cyan clicked his tongue. He then grabbed Lunaliya's hand and pushed past everybody else there to head upstairs. "The rest of you should just hurry up and grab your stuff for your stupid slumber party!"

"Oh my." Ergot covered his mouth with his hand, surprised to see Cyan actually go along with it.

Both Dion and Chain were hunched over with laughter, unable to take it. They truly didn't think he would play along, figuring he would be too embarrassed. But he must have really wanted to be with Lunaliya tonight considering his response to the ridiculous set-up, and both Dion and Chain couldn't help but find that amusing. Ever since his relationship with the researcher, they've been seeing all these new sides of Cyan, and they were completely eating it up.

Cyan heard it all behind him, but he chose to ignore them with a scowl and simply dragged Lunaliya with him. The woman quickened her pace to match his, and she squeezed his hand to get his attention.

"Cyan."

"What?" He squeezed her hand in return.

"You left my gift for you back there," she pointed out with a suppressed giggle.