#fizzball.series

warnings: slight manhandling (he pulls your hair/jerks head backwards, covers your mouth, pulls you towards him)

additional information: - requested work - part of a series [previous work] [next work] [masterlist]; cannot be read as a standalone - word count: 1112 - contains: one illuhen reference, bickering, some fluff, lohen being lohen idrk how to explain it - characters: lohen, reader, mentioned illuga , mentioned xilonen, mentioned varka

author's notes: d1 did not remember the name of the actual 5th company captain so i just put down an npc name i remember hearing somehwere 🥹✌️. also illuga my shayla snuck in here. WE HIT 1K FAHHHHH time go to put this on ao3...fahh...this is like breaking a buffer barrier thingie

lohen's letter

Lohen's letter somehow has blood, dirt stains, grass stain, a coffee stain, and firewater stains on the paper. How odd. Lohen doesn't usually drink firewater. Still, you carefully shake it to straighten out the folds and begin reading.

"Hi bunny! How're things back in Mondstadt? Still keeping the place standing? Must be hard work. Give yourself a pat on the back for me."

"Asshole," you mutter under your breath. That's...yes, that's mocking. That's one of the things he does.

"I know I've said this 1000 times before and I'll say it for the 1001st time: the Wild Hunt" (jankily underlined twice) "are some of the toughest enemies I've fought. Wish you were there to see it. You'd blow a gasket at some of the shit I pulled."

"I can imagine," you mumble sardonically. You've long since given up on trying to correct his language in official communications—if Varka doesn't want to crack down on it, then you can't really do anything about it either—but you've adamantly stayed angry about all the shenanigans he pulls with the Wild Hunt. You understand that he's a capable warrior. But he's going to get himself killed if he continues like this. A lot of the maneuvers he describes also put his subordinates at unnecessary risk, something they've articulated in their letters to you.

Well, at least he's coming home now. He can't bother those poor Lightkeepers anymore. You had physically grimaced at the reports of Lohen's miscommunications and quibbles with the keeper of their cemetery, the head of their investigation squad, and even their Starshyna! You had penned the apology letters to all three individuals yourself, and luckily they were all cordial about the quarrels. Still...

It wouldn't do you well to get this pissed off this early into reading the letter. You shake your head and continue.

"Since I'm leaving this place soon, I can say with confidence that my favorite dish here is Lohikeitto. It's simply *delectable*!" (yes, he did draw the stars in) "You must try it. ;)"

You sigh and shake your head. "Ordering me around again, are you, Vice Captain?"

"Indeed I am!" someone yells triumphantly. Your head whips up so fast you nearly crick your neck.

There, standing in the doorway without a care in the world, is Lohen. Your vice captain. (As in, the Vice Captain of the Ranged Company, a company whose captain you are—well, Acting Captain, to be precise; available to handle things in Mondstadt as Anselm handles things in the west—)

"How are you here?!" you ask him, flabbergasted. You rise immediately. Lohen giggles and detaches himself from the doorframe, slinking over to your desk and plucking the letter between his gloved fingers. He plops it on top of a stack of books before hopping up and taking a seat right smack dab in the middle of your desk. He freely swings his legs, which you expected, and then blows a bubble of gum, which you decidedly did not expect. It's a tiny pink one that you watch grow and then pop smoothly, feeling your ears heat up slightly when his pretty tongue darts out to gather it into his mouth and chew it again.

"Since when did you chew bubblegum?" He's always preferred peppermint. Surely he hasn't changed that much. Next thing you know he'll be bedding wedding that squad captain despite all their disagreements with each other.

"No 'hello' for lil ol' me?" Lohen asks, giggling. "Even though I've been gone for five years?"

Oh. Right. "Uh, welcome back. Since when did you—"

Lohen does this odd little hum-huff-giggle thing that he definitely didn't used to do, rolling his eyes and staring downwards at...something. You would know. He used to tease you relentlessly and snicker endlessly throughout, so you had heard practically all the laughing sounds he could make. "Natlan. Some lady from Children of the Echoes gave me some to try."

Ah. You remembered hearing about this now. "Miss Xilonen was trying to shut you up."

"Oh, really? That escaped my notice," Lohen fires back. There's no venom in it. He's simply playing around. His eyes settle on you, and something in them shifts (again, you're not sure what it is). "You're the same as ever."

"...I'm guessing that isn't supposed to be a compliment," you respond. He simply laughs again, throwing his head back while he leans on his arms. You simply stare at him, waiting for him to calm back down.

The heel of his boot nudges at the back of your calf, and before you know it, he's wrapped his calves around yours, pulling them in and jabbing his knee into your thigh to send you toppling fowards into his chest. Before you can reprimand him, he places one of his gloved hands over your mouth.

His other hand comes up to your shoulder and presses you into him even farther, tugging your face closer to his with the hand on your mouth. Lohen leans up towards your ear.

"Wouldn't you like to know, bunny?" he whispers gleefully, laughing at your shocked gasp. His lips graze your ear as he continues. "Don't tell me that after all these years you want to go back to the way things were. That would be so boring."

"Mmph," you say. It is your most valiant attempt at saying, "Lohen, unhand me at once!", but he just laughs and moves on. You don't lift your hands to stop him.

"You've been the same ever since I knew you. Always so dedicated to their work, never sparing any time for fun..." His hand slides from your shoulder to your ribcage. "Wouldn't you like to have fun for once?" He squeezes your flesh at that.

There is a moment of hesitation before you realize that he actually wants an answer. You nod, so he takes his hands away and stares you in the eye. Seemingly satisfied at what he finds, he blows another bubble of gum and disinterestedly hops from the desk.

The gum pops right in front of your face, and you nearly grow cross-eyed from watching him lick it all back into his mouth. He seems to enjoy that, though you can't exactly pinpoint why.

"Well, I'll be off," he tells you. You stare at him wordlessly as he raises his hand towards your head. To your surprise, he ruffles your hair for a moment—and then you gasp as he fists it and tugs. It stings your scalp. You hiss in pain.

Lohen simply laughs as he saunters out of your office, stopping at the door to throw a final smirk over his shoulder before disappearing down the hallway.

~~~

author's notes: MY GOAT XILONEN!!! lohen was indeed staring at the belt buckle earlier in the fic. sorry if this was incoherent, i was lowkey mixing up my family member with a ceiling fan bc i was so sleepy when i wrote part of this this 💔 ALSO!! if you don't have head hair/don't have head hair that is long enough to be pulled, he just put his hand on your head and then kinda shoved it backwards if that makes sense?

warnings: none

additional information:

- requested work - part of a series [next work] [masterlist]; can be read as a standalone - word count: 984 - contains: light character study, setting the scene of the rest of the fic, lohen calls reader "bunny" as a nickname, kinda-sorta rivals - characters: lohen, reader, varka

author's notes: tumblr ate my entire formatting of this freaking post.

captainhood

"As we all know, I'll be departing for the expedition soon," Varka announces to the room.

The audience (the Fifth Company) was completely silent...save for one single resounding snort from its vice captain, Lohen, who belatedly attempted to cover it with a cough. Varka pinned him with an ice-cold glare before continuing.

"I'll be taking three-quarters of our knights with me. I've already appointed all acting personnel for the affected areas of the Knights except for one position. I am here before you now to appoint the Acting Captain of the Ranged Company."

Polite applause fills the room, as well as an obnoxious smack and pop of gum. You bristle from where you're sitting still, waiting for Varka to call you to the podium.

The Grandmaster makes eye contact with you, nodding and stepping to the side. "Please allow me to award this honor to [Name] [Surname] of the Fifth Company."

You stand. Amidst the resounding applause, you hold your head high as you make your way to the podium.

You slightly zone off as you do. It's an immense honor to be rewarded this position—your hard work and dedication over the years have definitely paid off. Still, to not be asked to accompany the Grandmaster...

He needs strong people left in Mondstadt in case it faces danger, you tell yourself. I am one of them. So is Acting Grandmaster Jean, Captain Kaeya, Miss Lisa...and Amber's our only outrider. And we need an alchemist to stay back, too.

Lohen's going to be out of my hair, too. It'll be fine.

"They're an excellent fit for the job and will lead you all capably," Varka is saying. His hand comes down on your shoulder hard enough to push you downward, but luckily, you somehow manage to stumble only a little. "I trust that you'll make their job easy and not difficult."

The clapping resumes and you smile and nod. Varka pushes you back towards your seat, and you move in the same confident way that you did before. You have to at least seem confident, even though you're terrified that the Grandmaster is going to be leaving Mondstadt severely weakened.

"Dismissed!" Varka yells. Everyone shuffles out and the slow drone of voices fills the room, creating a comfortable din that you can get lost in. You're about to exit when you're stopped by a hand on your shoulder.

You turn around to see that it's Lohen, smirking at you with that insufferable piece of gum in his mouth. It's bright blue, the peppermint flavor that you know he has always preferred. He chews it twice will eyeing you up and down.

"Are you going to say anything, or...?"

"Have fun in Mondstadt," he smirks. A frown appears on your face. You both know that the statement is meant to be mocking; he's been giving you shit about being left behind for weeks now.

"Have fun camping," you shoot back. You suppose he won't find it to be that insulting, given his proclivity to unsavory situations. You're proven right by the way he laughs full and loud, throwing his head back to expose his pale slender neck.

Sometimes you really wish that choker was tighter...you can't be thinking that about your own subordinate, but it's an inside thought.

"I will," he tells you. "Bye, bunny!"

Before you can tell him off, he saunters out the door without a care in the world. You stand there with your hand half-raised, face hot with anger, staring at his retreating form in defeat.

You hear Varka shuffle up behind you and thump a hand down onto your shoulder. "Don't worry. I've got to handle him for this trip."

"Good luck," you tell him honestly, turning to clap his shoulder. He smiles down at you and extends his other arm towards the doorway.

"After you."

You thank him and step out of the meeting room.

---

That was five years ago.

Keeping Mondstadt from falling into disarray has been a little bit harder than you would expect. What with Stormterror's unexpected arrival, the Traveler's unexpected arrival, the Abyss Order's fuckery, the drama with the meteorites, the Hexenzirkel, Lord Barbatos losing his Gnosis, and who the fuck knows what else, the Knights have spent a good portion of the last few years running around like headless chickens trying to keep Mondstadt from falling apart. It's worked, for the large part. It's stayed standing so that Varka and the rest of the knights have a home to come back to. That's good.

It's surreal. To think that they've been gone all this time, missed the way that Mondstadt has grown...

You wonder how everyone is faring. You've kept up with letters, of course, trading any information and anecdotes you could to the Grandmaster and asking about your subordinates' experiences out there in the world. Lohen's letters are...a joy to navigate.

To think that the Vice Captain could find so many ways to insult you...you've grown used to it at this point. He does that with everyone. It's fine.

(You've never been that great at necessarily reading people. Whatever they tell you is what you go off of, which has somehow managed to land you in trouble more than you care to admit. You point and shoot. Sometimes people's sense of humor and communication style—especially Lohen's [though Captain Kaeya is a close contender]—can be quite confusing to you.)

You wonder how he's faring now. You haven't seen his face in ages—all you have to go off of are letters and the occasional description from Mika.

You sigh, shaking your head to clear your reverie. This work won't complete itself. You turn to grab another envelope, grimacing when you see the loopy, messy cursive addressing the letter to you. The word "Bunny" is drawn next to it with a little star.

Time to read Lohen's letter.

~~~

author's notes: i am excited for that letter hehe

additional information:- requested work - part of a series [previous work] [next work] [masterlist]; cannot be read as a standalone - word count: 1343 - contains: bickering, some beef between reader and lohen (this whole story is very pseudo-rivals to lovers), self-doubt, mocking, lohen being lohen - characters: lohen, reader

author's notes: i was scared this one wouldn't be long enough but am glad to see it was!! rahhh. also small note, if you prefer to read on ao3, this is cross-posted there too!

lohen's offer

Your feet are carrying you towards the door before you know it. Why? You don't know. Part of you wants to ask Lohen how his experiences were and another part is completely annoyed with him, yet wants to see him anyway. You're not going to try and sort out any of those feelings now. You open it and peer down the right side of the hallway first.

A small, barely audible hissing sound through the air is the only thing that prompts you to lurch backwards and suck your stomach inward. Your hand snaps out to catch the dart flying your way, stopping it in the middle of its path.

You look down. It's a tiny yellow plaything. It would've hit you in the side if you hadn't had instincts beaten so deep into you that you could literally catch darts in your sleep.

You sigh. Some things really still are the same.

Lohen's signature maniacal giggle cuts through any thoughts you would've hoped to have. "Oh, bunny. You've kept your skills sharp over the years."

You don't need to look over to know he's sauntering over from the left side of the hallway. It's one of those little manuevers of his that seems so obvious in hindsight, one of the oldest tricks in the book, and yet always manages to catch you off guard. He's probably swaying his hips as he walks over, smirking that way he always does during battle.

"I would hope so," you respond coolly. "I'm the acting captain of this company, after all."

You gracefully neglect to mention that it had been he who was in charge of selecting people for the expedition and that it had been he who recommended that you stay behind. Yes, you being appointed Acting Captain of the 5th Company was a tiny reassurance, but you often suspected that your position was more of a gimmick than anything, because like the Cavalry Captain, your entire company had been taken in the expedition. You were more of a glorified assistant for Jean, if anything.

This, along with many other things, leads you to doubt yourself as a warrior. Are you really that strong, or is your position simply a ploy to appear as though Mondstadt is more defended than it actually is? Did Lohen truly think that your skills were subpar, or was there another reason that he recommended you stay behind? (What Lohen truly thinks of you, both as a warrior and an individual, is too large of a question to be mulling over right now, especially in his presence.)

"Your office was so full of paperwork," Lohen purrs, his voice a little louder now. Evidently, he's slunk much closer to you without making a single sound on the carpet, much like a cat. His gloved fingers find your chin and tilt it toward him. Just as you thought, he's wearing that familiar smirk. "Tell me, bunny, when was the last time you had an actual good fight?"

"Long ago. Is there any particular reason you've decided to show up here in person?" you say blithely.

Lohen does that odd little hum-huff thing again, causing your eye to twitch. "No, not really," he replies lightly, smiling wider at the glare that is beginning to overtake your face.

He always manages to push your buttons perfectly.

"At least, not in a professional context," Lohen tells you. "No, I'm here to ask for more of a...personal thing."

Yeah, that's totally not suspicious as hell. What could you possibly owe him? What is he trying to drag you into now? Still, something compels you to stay silent and allow him to continue.

"Come with me to Nod Krai."

You balk.

Lohen's still smiling, tilting his head slowly to take you in. You try to make eye contact, but his gaze seems to be fixed on something lower than your eyes.

Is he being honest? Does he actually...

"Really?"

"Yes," Lohen says decisively, nodding once.

"Actually?"

"Mmhmm."

"You're being serious."

"Wanna come or not, bunny?" Lohen asks. He's smiling a little less now, starting to get annoyed. You nearly rush to reassure him when he says, "It's not like you'd be missing much anyway, what with your gimmick job."

"I—excuse me?!" you shout. It's directly in his face, but he doesn't look fazed at all. He simply shrugs.

"Your choice. I've already told you about how wonderful it is there. Up to you whether or not you wanna see it for yourself," Lohen says flippantly. "Now, personally, I would take the opportunity. But—"

"You and I are not the same archons-damned person," you growl.

"That a no?" He sounds so unbothered about it.

You stay silent and try to jerk your head away angrily, but his grip tightens on your chin. Theoretically there are a million ways you could punch him and get him to take his hand off your jaw, but something in you prevents you from doing any of those things. Instead, you shake your head resolutely.

"That's a yes," Lohen confirms. You nod.

His giddy smile is back in a flash. "Thank you, bunny! Pack up, be ready by about...oh, I don't know four in the morning? Meet me by the Windrise tree with the statue of Lord Barbatos. We'll take the boat from Dornman Port right up to the shores of Lempo Isle."

Lohen is still smiling like a maniac when he leans in close to your ear, fingers still holding your jaw. "Don't be late, bunny, or I might just have to leave you behind." This is the second time today that his lips have ghosted over the shell of your ear when speaking into it. You don't find it quite as annoying as you thought you would.

"Duly noted, Lohen," you tell him sardonically.

He leans back. "Alrightie! See you then!"

You watch, dumbfounded, as he skips down the hallway. The daze you were in snaps suddenly.

Did you just agree to go with Lohen to Nod Krai? And for what? Nobody asked except him. He said it was a personal favor...is he even authorized to be in Mondstadt right now?!

You're fucked! You don't even know how long you'll be gone! Jean is going to be saddled with sudden leave to take care of and if you don't inform her, they'll report you missing!

Why the hell did you agree to this?!

You huff angrily and storm off towards the door. Even if it's going to be complicated, you hate to admit that you're much more inclined to go than to not go. Lohen, that bastard...in all the letters he sends he somehow manages to make Nod Krai seem like heaven on Teyvat. Despite yourself, you are a little curious about whether all of what he talks about is true.

And to be honest, you've been itching to leave Mondstadt anyway. It's sweet here, yes, but the whole reason you were so insistent about going on the expedition was to see the world. You do want to be out there.

You enter your office and stare at the piles of paperwork on every possible surface. You don't want to let anybody down, but if you look at this stupid shit about 7 more times you will combust and that is not a threat but a guarantee. You've been working a lot lately. Might be best to reward yourself with a little something—

—the little something being traveling to a different nation without prior permission and not even knowing what your true objective is with your rival who also happens to be deeply suspicious in many ways.

That—that's fine.

"Just focus on the paperwork," you mumble to yourself, sitting down at your desk and taking a piece of paper from the piles on it. Everything seems fine until you see...

What is that under your desk?

You bend down to peer under and then yelp as a hand covers your mouth and quickly drags you off your chair under the desk.

The paperwork remains forgotten.

~~~

author's notes: the plot for this one deadass bloomed overnight (OMGIMBLOOMING), let's hope it stays as it is and doesn't change. i watched lohen's character teaser today and am so glad i did bc now i can add an extra layer of beef between him and the reader ehehehe

masterlist

ship: lohen x reader warnings: none completion status: incomplete, ongoing

also up here on ao3!

additional information: - requested work

author's notes: thank goodness tumblr didn't lose the ask this time. this also called to me to make multiple parts so here it is!

~~~

[captainhood]

[lohen's letter]

additional information: - requested work - part of a series [next work] [masterlist]; can be read as a standalone - word count: 1455 - contains: fluff, slight character study - characters: illuga, reader

author's note: i decided to split this up into several parts because the request was already waiting for a month and i didn't want to keep anyone waiting any longer!! i believe that this way i can also get it done faster.

the very beginning of the investigation

“My favorite food?”

“Yeah! You’ve got to have one, right? Most people have a favorite food.”

Illuga smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. Blood rises up towards his cheeks and the flush continues down his neck too, a fact that you definitely don’t focus on. “I, uh, I don’t really have a favorite! Food’s food, and so long as I can share it at the table at the end of the day with my comrades, I don’t care what it is.”

You frown questioningly at him. “Are you sure? There’s got to be something that catches your fancy more than other things out there. If there’s multiple favorites, that’s also okay.”

“No, I’m being honest, I swear,” he chuckles. The blush on his cheeks is really, really cute. “Whatever you make, or—uh—whatever anyone makes, really, is fine by me. I’ll find it delicious.”

“Ooookay, if you say so!” you respond cheerfully. You definitely aren’t plotting to do anything with that revelation later at all—no, that would be preposterous. You were not planning to do anything of the sort.

Illuga grins at you, cheeks still tinged pink. He’s beautiful when he blushes like that. His blue-red eyes gain a new sort of sparkle to them that they didn’t have before and they crinkle at the corners with his smile. His thin yet succulent lips are beautiful, parted slightly to reveal pretty teeth and curved upwards at the corners in a shy smile. When his eyes find yours, he blinks once, eyelashes fanning out over his cheekbones, and then looks away like a maiden setting eyes upon her suitor for the first time.

Holy crap, he is CUTE. Your captain cannot possibly be this cute.

“Something tells me that you don’t believe me about that,” he says. His eyes close to make happy crescents. “You won’t stop until you get an answer.” “So you admit there’s another answer!” you tell him triumphantly. The squad leader of the Nightmare Orioles giggles again, giving you a look so fond it makes your breath hitch. You’re…definitely thinking things you shouldn’t in present company, but can you honestly be blamed?

“I’ll be trying my best with you, Captain.” You playfully shove his shoulder, smiling so wide it nearly hurts.

Illuga laughs and shakes his head. “It’s on, [Name].”

The conversation continues on for a few minutes after that, a rare moment of levity between two regular humans surrounded by a war against the supernatural, before Illuga is called away by another squadmate to attend to something or other. Though the Orioles are in Piramida just for a few days, it seems that his work has not give up in its relentless pursuit of him. You watch him go, feeling your heart grow a little heavier as he leaves. The corners of your lips slip downwards a little.

Sometimes you worry about him. The Lightkeepers fight for the named and the nameless, for those who found their homes in Nod Krai, for keeping this elysium built by human hands safe for the future generation. Illuga is no different. He would sacrifice everything he has for the safety of his nation. He would give his life for people he doesn’t even know. He’s at the forefront of every patrol and battle that you see him on, and if he’s not the person with the highest rank, he’ll often flank them instead while heading into the battlefield. The way he throws himself into danger so readily and so often worries you. Is it because he doesn’t care that much about coming back?

It’s no secret that he shines brightly for everyone, burning the light that he carries within his heart for everyone around him. They fear what would happen if that light went out, but you fear what’s happening right in front of your eyes as he burns himself dry for everyone else. You can tell that he wants to be perfect—you can tell from the shaking of his hands as he pushes himself to complete another report even when it’s well past midnight and everyone has gone to sleep, you can tell by the bags under his eyes when he goes on yet another patrol or covers someone else’s shift, you can tell by the way he avoids the medical tents unless he’s checking in on people he knows and always wraps his injuries himself when he thinks no one’s looking. If the desire to be perfect made perfection, Illuga would’ve been perfect a long time ago.

But he’s not perfect, and that’s okay. He doesn’t seem to think that, though. You know he believes that he has to do everything that he possibly can to avert crises. When he inevitably fails (because failure is a part of human life, and not every battle is won in Nod Krai…not for lack of effort, but because of every other uncontrollable factor), you fear what he’ll do to himself. He’s harsh in his own self-imposed punishment, and you wonder if…

No. It won’t do you any good to ruminate on those sorts of scenarios right now. You’re hoping that maybe, just maybe, you can convince him to let loose a little. You wish that eventually, he’ll let himself bloom and thrive as a human being, not just the war machine that Piramida has made him out to be. You want him to eventually lay down his spear, his pen, his papers, and instead pick up a paintbrush, or a guitar, or a rose instead without feeling guilty about it. He won’t survive if he keeps pushing himself on like this. His existence would be much more merciful if he didn’t live in some sort of self-imposed purgatory.

(You want to see him happy. Even if he’ll never have you in that capacity, even if he would never look your way as a lover…you want him to be happy, whatever that looks like for him.)

Illuga might think that this question of yours is innocuous enough, but the first reason you asked it is so that he might slowly begin to think of himself as worthy of the same care and attention he gives others. It’s one step in a long series of steps, but it’s almost as if there’s an unspoken agreement between you and the rest of the Nightmare Orioles and the other Lightkeepers who are close to Illuga, plus the people from the other factions of Nod Krai that he associates with, that you all want to try and get him to love himself more. (Actually, now that you think about it, it is somewhat spoken. You and the rest of the squad, led by Anleifr, have created a secret schedule of ganging up on him to get him to eat dinner.)

The second reason for asking this question on your part, however, is that once you set your mind to something, you’re determined to acquire it, no matter how hard that may prove to be. Shoot your shoot for the moon, and you’ll land amongst the stars! (Considering current events, however, it might be more apt to say, “Shoot your shot for the moon, and you’ll get your cheeks clapped by everyone in Nod Krai.” So the meaning still stands, but not the literal action.) He’s caught your heart in his gloved, scarred hands without ever knowing he did it. It’s never been useful to you to be afraid of any question, so you aren’t scared of the question you’ll ask him eventually:

Will you have me as your partner? 

Will you let me be by your side? Will you let me wipe your tears in the night? Will you let me laugh with you, cry with you, be mad at you, be hurt by you, be so incredibly in love and disgustingly affectionate that it makes the rest of Piramida gag?

If the answer’s a no…well, that's just part of life, isn't it? You win some, you lose some. You'll still want him to be happy. You’ll still treat him as a friend. He would never throw you away over something like this. (Right?)

The favorite food question is just the first part of the answer to the last question. You’d better get to investigating soon. Hmm…he technically has tomorrow off. You overheard him muttering to himself about it just before you sat down with him, and he confessed that even though it was his day off tomorrow, he would still try to do work. You reminded him that the old man would have his head if he tried to do that one more time. Illuga promised you he would try his best to sneak it past him.

You smile deviously. You know what you’re going to do.

~~~

author's note: reader is such a gremlin in this one

additional information: - requested work - part of a series [previous work] [next work] [masterlist]; cannot be read as a standalone - word count: 1162 - contains: breaking and entering (not that serious), fluff, and kinda-sorta tattletelling? - characters: illuga , reader, nikita, mentioned flins

author's notes: i hit the post limit, idk if i mentioned that, so all the linking will be done posthumously and also the minute i get my posting back i will be posting all of these at once and then linking. so uhhh yea idk

a course of action

“Starshyna Nikita,” you say, snapping into a crisp Lightkeeper’s salute. He waves his hand in an “at-ease” motion before your hand has arrived at the appropriate position. 

“Illuga plans to work tomorrow, despite it being his day off,” you tell him. Nikita’s eyes immediately narrow. His eyes are sharp when they meet yours. You do not flinch.

“Is that so?” The Starshyna’s voice is stern, tight with restrained anger.

You nod. There is a beat of silence wherein he stares into your eyes, seeing past all the layers and into the true you. You resist the urge to flinch. You will swoop in to his request to aid with the situation, and you won't have to—

“Spit it out, kid.”

Nothing is ever able to get past the Starshyna. You sigh. If you’re the one making the offer, it doesn’t look as cool and noble! Eh, whatever. Anything works as long as it gets you to be able to do what you need to.

“I can watch over him for the day,” you say. “Everyone has the same day off, but I know that the rest of the squad is busy visiting with family or partaking in other leisure activities. I can intercept him before he gets his hand on a pen or a weapon at all.”

“How do you plan to occupy him?” Nikita asks with all the seriousness of a battle-hardened general, as if the two of you aren’t in here literally discussing how to babysit his son.

“I will try to find out what his favorite food is,” you answer. “He said he doesn’t have one, but I’m very sure he was lying. He seemed embarrassed about it.”

At that, Nikita snorts. “Oh, you aren’t wrong about the embarrassment. I’ve always found it concerning. But since you’re so determined to spend time with him tomorrow,” he continues, eyes narrowing with a knowing glint in them, causing you to gulp and curse mentally because nothing makes it past the Starshyna, apparently, not even your attempts to try and court Illuga with plausible deniability (curse that old man and his perceptiveness even as his bones creak at all hours of the day), “I’ll let you investigate it yourself.”

“Yes, sir, Starshyna, sir!” you tell him, saluting again. He laughs and shakes his head.

“You will supervise him for the entire day. Here, I’ll make a note. You will not let him do any work that he usually does, including but not limited to completing reports, patrolling for the Wild Hunt or doing anything for the League. If it’s related to his job, it will not fly. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. Dismissed.”

You nearly skip out of Nikita’s office, clutching the signed note between your fingers like a lotto ticket for 5 million Mora.

---

“Ah, ah, ah!”

Illuga looks up from his papers, face morphing into one of confusion. His mouth is slightly open, his brows are cutely furrowed, and he looks like a baby deer that was just told it couldn’t eat a barrel of corn. Your singsongy words shock him into momentary distraction, which is all you need in order to sweep the papers off his desk and put the pen back in his drawer. Still sitting in his chair, your captain turns to face you, craning his neck to stare at your face.

“How did you get into my house?”

“I picked the lock!” you tell him proudly. His eyes become the size of saucers, and you take the opportunity to dangle the Starshyna’s note in front of his face. He smoothly plucks it from your fingers, eyes scanning over and becoming narrower and more appalled as they do.

“You did not.”

“Did too.”

“I—you—I—”

“Nobody’s on your side for this battle, Illuga,” you tell him gleefully. “You’re taking a day off—a true day off, a day of relaxation, of self-discovery! Starshyna’s orders.”

“[Name]...”

“Surely you don’t have anything to do today. It’ll be fun! We can look at new books, go to lunch, maybe on a wa—”

“I have to deliver supplies to Sir Flins today,” he tells you. You freeze, a big smile on your face, hands frozen in midair while you’re gesturing about some load of baloney concerning his future and making the description of today seem like a brochure for the Easybreeze Holiday Resort. 

What. The fuck.

Nikita didn’t say jack shit about this.

“He can starve!” is the phrase that falls out of your mouth next before you quickly slap a hand over it instead. That is not how you meant to say that! Wrong humor, wrong time, wrong place, definitely the wrong person. Your eyes find him, wide in fear, while he looks at you utterly aghast at what you just said.

“What the fuck?!” Illuga yells, shooting up from his cha—shooting up from his chair, oh fuck, you've messed up big time, yikes, yikes, yikes. “What did you just say?!”

“That's not what I meant! Sorry, sorry, I—I didn't mean that at all; what I meant to say was that he’ll probably be fine if the supplies are late! He never uses them anyway!” You say back, cowering a little. He takes a step closer and you take a very frantic step backwards, stumbling over your own boots as you do.

The captain takes in the sight of you holding your hands defensively in front of you, fingers twitching ever so slightly as if a zephyr is sweeping across them. His eyes, full of righteous anger, meet yours, seeing the fear in them. At that, his shoulders relax and he exhales in a short puff, anger dissipating almost as quickly as it came. His eyelids come down and he lifts his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose before looking back up at you with a slightly exasperated look on his face.

“No, he doesn't,” Illuga admits. “Still…I feel bad about not going.”

“If he needed the supplies he’d make you do it on your working days, not your days off,” you point out. You can see Illuga mulling it over, becoming a little more disappointed as he realizes that it makes sense.

He heaves a sigh. “Alright, I won't deliver him supplies today.”

“Wonderful!” you shout, jumping up and clapping your hands together. A fond smile tugs his lips upwards, familiarity with your antics causing him to chuckle and roll his eyes. Your hand finds his and tugs him up to come with you.

“We have a lot to do today, Illuga,” you tell him, leading him out of the house while he shakes his head.

“Keeping me busy even on my day off, huh?” Illuga asks you playfully. You laugh lightly as the pair of you finally exit Illuga’s house.

You reach over Illuga’s shoulder to shut the door behind him, locking it quickly. “Of course! I have to find out your favorite food!”

Illuga groans. “Someone save me, please.”

You giggle and walk off with him in tow.

~~~

author's notes: being banned from posting is forcing me to get stuff done. huh. that's...quite helpful actually.

masterlist

ship: illuga x reader warnings: none completion status: incomplete; ongoing

also up here on ao3!

additional information: - requested work

author's notes: im so sorry this took so long! but i hope everyone enjoys this lil thing. also i have no clue what's happening with my pretty colors (*stares mournfully at my pretty colors) but just ignore it ig

~~~

[the very beginning of the investigation]