#lynette x reader

Freminet does not mind close physical contact with his loved one, but generally... simply sleeping facing one another, fingers intertwined and knees touching is enough for him. He may not fall asleep first. He'll likely be awake far longer than you will, watching you sleep with a tender gaze. He watches. Waits. Waits until he's sure nothing is going to happen to the two of you—only then does he fall asleep. Some mornings, you may wake up to him curled much closer to you than you remember him being before you fell asleep. He presses close in his unconsciousness, and he may stir a bit if you draw him closer, but he'll be quick to fall fully back asleep. Some mornings, he might be gone already.

Lynette, like her brothers, finds herself quite fond of being close to those she loves. She'll press close to you, a gentle rumble rising in her chest as she absorbs your warmth. Chances are, she'll either end up with her face pressed against your collar, or you'll end up with yours pressed against hers and with her arms wrapped securely around your upper body. She is much more like her twin in that she wants you as close as possible—she finds comfort in knowing that both of you are safe in one another's arms. However, she also is less likely to fall asleep first most nights. Her vigilance is admirable in many respects. She will not fall asleep until she knows for a fact that the two of you are secure, and she is quick to awaken if she senses something is wrong.

How Venti sleeps with his loved one is quite dependent on who is feeling what, and can generally vary. Some nights, he wants to be held by you, head pressed against your chest and arms and legs wrapped around your torso like a koala. A clingy koala, that is. Often times, he'll still be there when you awaken, kept asleep by the steady sound of your heartbeat. Other nights, he is more than happy to have your curled up in his lap against his chest as he hums a gentle tune, letting the calming melodies lull you to sleep. It is mornings after these sorts of nights where you might wake up alone with only a residual lullaby dancing at the back of your mind. He is fickle in that way, but you're sure to see him again in the coming days. He never allows you to miss him for too long.

Scaramouche isn't much of a cuddler. He may scoff at the idea, but if his loved one specifically requests it from him... he'll grumble and mutter about how needy you are, but he'll oblige you nonetheless. As a Fatui Harbinger, he is extremely busy—between paperwork and missions in other nations, he has very little time to indulge your whims, but he'll entertain you at least for a little while, and that is a privilege most others could not even dream of having. He'll lay on his back and let you curl up against his side. He might wrap an arm around you, muttering something that almost sounds… vaguely fond, beneath the layers of annoyance, though you cannot make out what he says. The vast majority of the time, he will not be there when you wake up. He might be in another nation entirely by the time you do, but… it's the sentiment—the willingness to let you have your way—that matters.

Kaveh is nothing if not touchy and affectionate, so cuddling is always on the table... if his loved one can coax him away from his work, that is. He's reluctant to stop working—he just has so much to do, he can hardly take a break now!—but once he does, he is all over you. Leg thrown over your hip, chest pressed firmly against yours, face tucked into the crook of your neck or vice versa... he is a cuddler, that's for sure. Kaveh is also fond of drawing little shapes onto your skin as he talks to you in a hushed and thoughtfully quiet tone. Most nights, the two of you will end up talking one another to sleep, murmuring about the day's events, the latest gossip he caught when he was at the tavern, his or your latest projects… anything is on the table. That is, until his murmurs trail off into little more than soft breaths as he falls unconscious against you.

Qiqi isn't particularly familiar with the concept. She thinks she can vaguely recall being held like that by someone a long, long time ago, but the memory is wispy and distant at best and she's honestly unsure if it actually happened or if she imagined it. This isn't to say that Baizhu has never held her—he most certainly has, and she found herself liking the closeness, it's just... she's unused to it. But if you so wish to sleep with her in your arms, she doesn't mind; she will find herself comforted by your warmth as it staves off the inherent coldness she radiates, both as a consequence of her vision and because of her bodily condition. She will eventually drift off herself after quietly watching you for a short while, little hands clasping your shirt, clinging to your body much like the child she is and the child she has not really been allowed to be.

Tighnari is quite open to the idea, even moreso if the two of you happen to be out doing research and find that it's gotten far too late to make the trip back to Gandharva Ville. It's an effective way to keep warm and it sates some deep-rooted instinct within him to keep his loved ones close. He doesn't mind if you want to cling to his side and sleep there while he is keeping watch; the fluff of his tail will prevent you from getting too cold, so that is no concern of his, and he is more than capable enough of fending off any threats. But if it's a more normal night, he's more than happy to cuddle normally. Tighnari prefers to hold you, but he doesn't particularly mind being held either—feel free to let him know if you have a preference. He won't mind accomodating.

Xiao is a bit opposed to the idea at first, especially if his loved one is a visionless mortal who would easily be affected by his karmic debt. He does not wish to hurt you—that is, in fact, the last thing he'd ever want to do. He doesn't know what he would do with himself if he did. At first, he'll most likely just watch you sleep, ever-vigilant, ever-protective. Not a single thing would dare to touch you when he watches you so diligently. You'll sleep at peace, at the very least, knowing that he is watching over you. Then, he might stiffly sit at the edge of your bed… still watching, of course, but he approaches you with a slowly-growing understanding that he will not hurt you. It is unlikely that Xiao will ever let his guard down enough to hold you properly (or to let you hold him, for that matter). Nevertheless, some nights, you may wake up in the morning swearing you could've felt a dip in the bed that certainly didn't come from someone sitting on the end.

Nahida isn't really opposed at all! She finds it very sweet that humans enjoy one another's company so deeply that they'll hold one another in their sleep. Perhaps Nahida also needs that kind of comfort, even if she doesn't realize it at first. She hasn't ever really been held; she's spent all her years alone and isolated. At first, it might begin with your head in her lap until you drift off (a natural position for the ever-wise and guiding goddess, one she has taken on with many people before you in an attempt to comfort them), though eventually it will turn into you holding her until she does. It really doesn't even have to be at night for it to happen—if the two of you happen to be spending time together, she might find herself soothed by your presence, lulled into a peaceful sleep that she has not been able to experience for centuries.

For Collei, it depends both on how close her loved one is to her and how she is feeling that night. Please don't get her wrong! If she says no, it isn't because she loves or trusts you less than others. She just... finds prolonged contact like that a bit suffocating, a bit difficult to manage. You would surely never hurt her. She knows that. Still, some nights, the contact might be a little too much. If you're willing to compromise, she's more than happy to sleep next to you (similarly to how Freminet prefers to sleep with his loved one). Sometimes, though... sometimes she needs to be held. She likes to be held, takes comfort in being able to press herself into your torso with your arms around her drawing soft shapes on her back, when she wants it. Don't make assumptions, though, and give her the freedom to decide what she wants and when.

Furina is very touch starved—that much is a given. For five hundred years, she was completely and utterly alone. There was no support. There was no-one to whom she could tell her story, tell the truth to, but now that she has completed the role she had to play... she doesn't have to be alone, but it's also quite hard for her to fit in. Therefore, she cherishes all those who welcome her with open arms. She's a little bit hesitant at first in that she doesn't know where to put her hands or her legs or… herself as a whole. It's been so long since anyone has offered to hold her like this. She doesn't remember how to be held. However, once she figures it out, she is quick to melt into your side, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to her. She'll relax into you, calmed by your warmth and your love for her in a way she has not been soothed in a very long time.

Neuvillette is not especially familiar with the idea (though, that isn't to say he's never done it… the melusines can be quite clingy in that way with him). That said, he's very much open to it—there is a certain draconic possessiveness he has over his loved ones, so opportunities to be close to them are very gratifying to his inherent instincts. He's more partial to holding you than any other arrangement. He likes the feeling of having you secure in his hold. It isn't exactly uncommon for him to settle in for the night with a book, using one arm to keep a firm hold around your waist as you drift off to the calming rumble of his voice reading you to sleep, gently rubbing a hand over your back. Other nights, nights during which he's not particularly busy, he might simple settle on laying down with you, tucking your head under his chin and squeezing his arms around your waist, almost as if he fears you'll disappear if he lets you go.

Arlecchino, for all her methods and mannerisms, does care for her loved ones. It's an unconventional care, perhaps, but it's there—present and enduring, the very beating heart of why she operates the way she does. For someone close enough to her, she may grant such an indulgence, though only with the disclaimer that she is extremely unlimely to stay the night. She is busy. She is needed elsewhere, always, but for you… she can spare a moment or two. She'll let you wrap yourself up in her arms, head against her chest, the hum rumbling in her ribs and the warmth pulsing off of her skin in waves soothing whatever anxieties or tensions that carried over into the night from the day. Her nails drag up and down your spine in a strangely comforting rhythm. She'll switch to scratching your scalp after a while (something many of her children seem to take comfort in, she has noted)—gently, as to not draw blood. It's only once you're thoroughly asleep that she'll slip away, skillfully silently, to attend to whatever duties she was neglecting in favor of you.

lyney's a busy guy. his days are mostly spent between work — both fatuus and magician — so there's rarely time to spend with you. your schedules are always conflicting; a mission when you're free, school or work when he's off — but sometimes there's a couple hours after work and between rehearsal where you find him waiting at your usual table in hotel debord.

it's truly a sight to behold; up the right staircase and to the middle table covered in floor-length cloth, candles lit for ambiance and plates steaming with your off-menu favourites (courtesy of the twins having the boss's favour, since hotel debord's menu changes too often for your liking). lyney's nothing if not romantic, and it shows when you notice the plate is the same dish you silently praised last time. he stands as soon as your head peeks out from the stairwell, greeting you with a hand and a kiss before pulling your chair out for you.

it'd been a little over a week since the last time you were able to have dinner together, and the chatter that followed reflected that. though you knew the twins were preparing another grand performance for the opera epiclese, it was an entirely different excitement you felt hearing him talk about it.

he's animated; food slowly going cold with how little he's picked at it, utensils abandoned as he reenacts a bit of what he's practicing, but that's not what you're worried about.

your current concern is more focused on the heat growing in your core, of what else those hands are good at — mind drifting away from the card trick and to less… dinner friendly ideas. you couldn't help but think of the time before last; he'd had you on all fours, the pads of his fingers rolling against that gummy spot inside of you while your lips were wrapped around him. the positioning wasn't exactly convenient, what with him reaching over you, unintentionally forcing himself further into your mouth. you could still breathe better than you thought you'd be able to, but the lack of control made his fingers feel like heaven. they were always your favourite part of him during times like that, no matter where they were.

there was one time you'd both barely made it into your apartment. it was a miracle for both of you to be free from responsibilities, and you'd wanted to make the best of it by having him stay over.

it's safe to say your neighbours knew his name before you could introduce them properly, and this was from people you weren't sure had ever had an interest in their shows.

he'd had you in too many positions to count that night, but you can still feel the way he pressed you against your front door; fingers shoved into your mouth to keep you quiet while gravity helped you sink onto his cock inch by inch. he's normally on the quieter side — much preferring to hear you whine for him and not wanting to interrupt — but it'd been too long since you'd been together, and the moans that left him sounded delectable. it did nothing but make you clench down on him, which in turn pulled soft whimpers from him. his composure slowly crumpling was only made worse by the way your tongue swirled around his fingers, canines grazing his knuckles as you hollowed out your cheeks, sucking softly, and whined at the way he pressed into you.

"you seem to be having a good daydream — could you perhaps be dreaming about yours truly?" lyney grins, leaning his cheek against his palm. he noticed, of course, the moment your brain wandered. he thought it was cute how you zoned out, but you couldn't have made it more obvious by staring at his hands.

you were flushed, you could feel your ears burn, and you silently hope the candlelight is dim enough to hide it, but the way lyney's hand meets your knee is all you need to know you won't be here for long.

distracting lynette isn't easy, but that's where you come in.

lyney begged, pleaded, grovelled at your feet for help to plan a party for their birthday weeks ago; quoting how he's never properly surprised her and he knew she would love it. your only job would be to distract her the day before, and to bring her to hotel bouffes d'ete the night of, which is exactly how you found yourself waltzing out of chioriya boutique that same day. plan in mind, designs made, and measurements recorded.

you were teasing throughout dinner; ankle brushing against hers, eyes dragging across her frame, small pout lining your lips as you ask her how the food tastes. by the end she's calmer than she's been all day cherishing the few minutes it takes you both to wash and dry the dishes, accompanied by small, fleeting kisses and a pinch here and there.

you're slipping off your dress before you make it to the bedroom, watching her eyes trail up your figure and take in your custom lingerie. it's colour matches the same pearlescent one you'd had her wear, but yours was more breathtaking in her opinion. she knows she's biased — any clothing you wear is exemplary in her eyes after all.

you positioned yourself on the bed with care — leaning to the side, legs bent and splayed at just the right angle to make her tail twitch — giving her the perfect view of the sticky mess between your thighs. the lumidouce embroidered across your breasts beckoning her closer, knee pressing into the bed a breath away from your core as she straddles your thigh. you almost hope she can't feel how hard your heart is beating, but the heat of her ears under your touch is enough to know you're on the same page. her freshly manicured nails dig soft crescents into your waist, a hand tangling into your hair as she pulls you into a kiss. your teeth tug against her bottom lip, tongue swiping to soothe as you hold her steady; she's almost trembling, grinding against your thigh while her own presses against your core. silk sliding together, dampening from arousal and sweat.

the only sounds that could be heard was the soft moans you voice and the squelching between your legs — something almost inconceivable.

lynette's breath hitches when your hands meet her waist, lying back and pulling her up to straddle your face instead — her hands shoot out to keep her from crushing you, but they quiver under her weight when your tongue trails through her cunt. she whimpers from the contact, nails seeking purchase from the sheets, tail curling as her back arches into you. you'd be surprised at how little spit is mixed into the essence on your tongue if she hadn't already been dripping onto your thighs — sure to stain the silk, but that's the least of your focus.

you almost giggle at how her ears and brows twitch, eyes rolling back before she clenches them closed. the noise that falls from her lips is melodic, but the way her thighs tremble when you laugh is better — the small puffs of air against her clit making her see stars. she sits up a bit, arms falling back to hold herself up. she looks divine like this; her pupils blown wide, eyes locked with your own, and face flushed while she grinds herself against your mouth. you press further into her — the tip of your nose knocking against her clit, mouth salivating at the way she clenches on your tongue.

her fingers tangle in your hair as she cries out, your mouth flooding with her cum. you swallow it all, heart swelling from her whimpering and shaking as she slowly comes down from her high.

you wipe the wetness from your chin when she crashes onto the bed next to you, jumping to straddle her waist when you notice the clock. you press light kisses all over her face before ending square on her lips.

"happy birthday, love."

freminet knew what he was doing.

he's been too observant lately, too aware of the ways you react to him, even when you yourself aren't conscious of it. the way your eyes trail up and down his figure when he pulls himself out of the water, blond hair pushed out of his face and cheeks red from the sun. he watches out of the corner of his eye how your lips part with a quiet breath, pupils dilating when he unzips his wetsuit. he almost makes a show of it, flexing when he stands and ties the arms around his waist, but the way he laughs softly at charlotte and lyney keeps him inconspicuous.

you're not exactly subtle, but you wouldn't be you if you were. he likes it; he never has to guess how you're feeling or what you're thinking — it's all written clearly on your face, and he's known you long enough to know every tell and twitch. he's noticed the way your eyes are glued to his back and shoulders when he and lyney work out, slipping over his arms when he pulls his hair back. how you stiffen when he lifts the stool you're perched on like it's nothing — relocating you just to reach a tool or move you out of the danger zone. he's noticed how your breath hitches when he appears with his helmet on, voice muffled and rough from nerves, and how you squeeze him a bit tighter when his gravelly morning voice goes straight to your core instead of your ears.

he especially knows how your thighs press together when he takes his spot next to you.

you've been laying on one of the benches, accompanying lynette in her aversion to water and love for gossip. arm thrown over your sunglass-covered eyes, legs stretched out to sunbathe while the other three were diving. you'd only pulled your legs up to give him room, knowing he was going to sit next to you after checking everyone's equipment.

or that's what you'd say if anyone asked why you moved so quickly.

because you'd never tell someone you were squeezing them together for a bit of friction, too embarrassed by just how quickly the sight of freminet dripping and wearing something that leaves admittedly very little to the imagination got you flushed from arousal. not that you'd need your imagination...

you'd also never tell them how many times you've stained that exact wetsuit because of just how observant your boyfriend can be. how he's pulled you into his lap after watching you twitch and squirm when looking at him, fiddling with the string of your soaked swimsuit while you grind against him. how he rolls his hips in time with yours as you suck on his tongue, hot breath and moans mixing, your nails dragging red lines across his freckled shoulders. the way he presses his lips to your pulse when dragging your bottoms to the side — hard-on covered by the wetsuit you love so much and slowly becoming drenched in more than just saltwater.

how he'd whisper to be "quiet," despite knowing you'd never get caught; the way his voice rasps against your throat doing more than you'd ever admit. though he can feel the chill that goes down your spine, pussy clenching around nothing at the marks he's trying not to leave and clit catching on the outline of his cock. hips stuttering and voice pitching when his grip on your hips turns almost bruising, pushing you harder against him and dragging your core against the rubber separating you.

he knows that's for later, though; when his siblings and charlotte retire for the night, leaving the two of you alone after making you promise not to have "too much fun" — lyney's words, no matter how useless he and lynette know they are.

for now he pulls your legs into his lap, covering the result of those thoughts of later, and dances his fingers along your thighs "absentmindedly", smiling to himself a little more when they flex under his touch.

a smile possesses your face as you hook your arm with his. “of course i do! i just thought it’d be cute, you know?” he smiled in response.

diluc is no stranger to friendship bracelets. after all, him and kaeya used to make those for each other all the time. sometimes that young triplet consisting of a very dedicated jean, a shy kaeya and a mischievous diluc (sometimes a cutsey barbara who tried to eat the beads) would gather together to create and exchange such bracelets.

a tradition that diluc might’ve let go of but had never forgotten. when you go to sleep at night diluc immediately places your bracelet into a drawer where he kept all of the ones from his childhood.

K. KAZUHA — 枫原万叶

“is this a friendship bracelet? that’s very considerate of you, my love.” kazuha tilts your chin to press a feather-light kiss onto your lips, his touch so tender it was like being touched by sunlight itself. “but i thought we were passed our journey of friendship?” his hand travel down to your hips. squeezing them intently to bring you close to his flowery scent.

“or do i need to remind you that we’re lovers?” taking your hand in his, kazuha leaned his head down to press his lips against your knuckles, eyes peeking through his bangs as if to entice you. and, well, of course it did. kazuha knew just a simple glance at you paired with an affectionate grin was enough to lure you into loving his arms.

kazuha didn’t expect for a piece of handmade jewellery consisting of maple leaf charms with red string to become so sentimental to him, but it was only a matter of time till the bracelet helped become an engraved memory of you. he’d kiss it each time you were apart, hold it up against moonlight while stargazing, trying to illustrate your figure within a constellation.

wandering became more exciting. he’d get to slowly part from your lips, while still having a perpetual reminder of the love you shared with a few pieces of strings tied to his wrist alone.

kazuha, though content with this, always secretly craved to hear the sound of your voice as you called his name and reached out to him. however, within his life he’s learned one thing that has truly stood out; it’s the small things in life that mirror true beauty.

S. KOKOMI — 珊瑚宫心海

“your excellency? what is that on your wrist?” gorou tilted his head curiously, his ears twitching in tandem.

“hm? oh, this?” she shakes the coral coloured bracelet, making the beads and fish charms jingle excitedly as if they were jumping within sea waves. “haha, [name] gave it to me. it’s a friendship bracelet!” kokomi shows it off with pride, a flutter of flapping fins hit her ribcage in the form of her beating heart at the prospect of people seeing the deepness of your ocean-depth bond with just a few beads on a string.

burnout is utterly debilitating. as kokomi spends only a few minutes in her recluse corner within watatsumi, even the shimmering of pearls and the quiet sound of the shore isn’t enough to bring her fragmented energy to rest. nesting her head upon the bundled arms that laid carefully on her desk, she attempted to snooze. finding that she can just barely flutter her curled eyelashes close before an unbearable ache pinches her eyebrows into a knot.

feeling defeated, kokomi sits back up and taps her fingers absentmindedly on the wood, finding just a tiny bit of solace in the sound of clicking and clacking. wait…she quickly glanced at her wrist, noticing she completely forgot to take off her bracelet when preforming her duties. despite her fatigue, kokomi can’t help but exhale a smile. calloused fingers tweezing the bubbly fish charms in an attempt for stimuli that wasn’t so agonising.

she’s so glad she has you, even if that memory of you is withheld in something children share for an intended promise of foreverness.

SCARAMOUCHE — 斯卡拉姆齐

“are you twelve?“ scaramouche raises his eyebrows at you with a sneer, a look of either disgust or confusion on his face. “if i didn’t know any better, i’d say you were mocking me.”

“you’re short but not kid short!” you retorted to appease him, rolling your eyes at his annoying theatrics. did he really have to be so bitchy all the time? i guess when people say that short people tend to be the most angry because all that wrath is bottled into such a teeny body it’s very true…

the friendship bracelets (yes you made two!) were a representation of his journey from the malicious “balladeer” to the slightly less malicious and more so bittersweet wanderer. a contradicting colour palette yet his frosty and asshole attitude remained the same no matter what hue of the rainbow he was dipped in (should’ve been named skittle not scaramouche).

“if you don’t like it that much you don’t have to wear it, it’s not like i’m forcing you.” a pang of disappointed squeezed your chest heavily. it would’ve been fine if he just threw it away after a week or so. you would’ve been extremely hurt yes, but it’s better than having your own lover reject a handmade gift without even a thought for your feelings.

seeing your frown lines and the way your eyebrows scrunched together, scaramouche sighed and immediately snatched the bracelets back. quickly covering them over his wrist and crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. “i never said i wouldn’t wear it, stop being whiny.”

the slight embarrassment he felt was worth every stroke of blush on his cheeks if it meant he could see you smile brightly at something so childish.

S. HEIZOU — 鹿野院平藏

“it’s not our anniversary.” heizou stated simply.

“nope.”

“neither of our birthdays.”

“nope.”

“not a special achievement either.”

“nope.”

“alright, love, spill. what’s the occasion, hm? just in the mood to spoil me with your affections?” heizou threw his hands up in defeat. not being able to use his detective experience into deciphering why you decided to be so cute today and bless his otherwise uneventful day.

carefully, you wrapped the bracelet around his eager wrist. “no occasion~ just felt like giving you a friendship bracelet to show my love for you.” he raises an eyebrow. leaning to your eye level, heizou procures a look of confused distaste at your seemingly innocent admission. “friendship?” he looks away dejected, placing his hands on his hips. “and here i thought i was your very cool and sweet boyfriend.”

brushing away his dramatics and looping your arms around his neck to pull his pouty face in closer, you retaliate. “oh hush, you’re still my lovely dramatic boyfriend.” heizou smirked and leaned in impossibly close, his breath tickling your soft skin generously.

“then, could you show your love for me in another way too?” begrudgingly, you caved. moulding your lips with his while his hands gradually situated themselves on your hips. a chuckle escapes his occupied mouth, leaving a tingling feeling down your spine as you pull away, a bright smirk on his face. “thanks for the bracelet, baby~ i’ll be sure to wear it as my lucky charm during investigations!”

A. ITTO — 荒泷一斗

“well of course you’d want to bless the almighty arataki itto with such a gift! i humbly accept your offering~” itto sways a thumbs up, tongue rolling across his pointy teeth in an extravagant display of confident hubris. all in vain, of course. no amount of bravado could dull the charming blush on his cheeks; the way his grin hoisted into a genuine smile of gratitude or the way his eyes glistened with a familiar light; childlike wonder.

itto was never and has never been accustomed to such small things in life. honestly, he was lucky for a stranger to not throw insults, physical objects, hits, kicks, spit, and the like for his mere existence. a friendship bracelet was an event that was so far out of reach for the oni that the only thing he wanted to do right now was to kiss you stupid.

but, he couldn’t. he stood still, twiddling with the beads that nested against his wrist with a haze that was absentminded you felt like tapping him would cause a bubble to burst above his head for water to splash him awake.

the word “friend” doesn’t even register into his brain. he’s too content with the knowledge that your bond meant something to you. that he meant something to you.

you’ve never seen itto so quiet before. he’s usually this giant (literally) ball of energy that bounces around the place and shares an infectious attitude of confidence and joy with no restraint even to the most stoic, but right now, it was like he was that small vulnerable child again given a chance at redemption for simply living.

CYNO — 赛诺

cyno tilts his head to the side as he stares with pinched brows at the weaved threads of purple and yellow beads and charms that you held in front of you with a delicate hand. “what’s the bracelet for?”

“it’s a friendship bracelet!” taking the initiative, you wrap the bracelet around his relatively small wrist and watch in awe as it seems to match his palette perfectly. perhaps not his personality, but maybe if he wore this around regularly people wouldn’t be so frightened by his frozen features.

cyno went quiet for a moment, a look of confusion on his face. a look that made you shrink in shame. did he not like it? was something wrong with it? is it too childish for someone with such an esteemed status? all such baseless thoughts get immediately dispelled once cyno’s lips curl into a subtle grin, his eyes narrowing devilishly.

you’ve often seen this look when he’s about to score a rewarding win in a tcg tournament. but, he also had this look when…fuck. you sigh in defeat and simply let him say it. “why did the friendship bracelet break up with its partner?”

“…ha. why?”

“because it felt tied down.”

you know how in animes when someone says something very fucking stupid, it’s like the world echoes with silence to allow the person to truly feel the embarrassment from their words? you hoped that’s what cyno felt when you blank stared him with a thin line for your lips, hands clenching and unclenching as you fought the urge to squeeze his cheeks together.

“do you get it?” he asks, but before he can ramble about the absolutely articulate construction of his pun, you spring into action and press your lips passionately on his. of course, he replies eagerly. enjoying the clicking of the beads hitting together as his hand made it’s swift, instinctive movement to your waist.

LYNEY — 林尼

“mon ange…is this for me?” lyney smiles gently at you, sneaking the red bracelet onto his wrist. unable to take his away from the fine craftsmanship and the adorable details of hats, doves and some card charms. knowing you thought of him so directly and so in depth made his heart flutter the same way a dove’s wings expand after being liberated from a cooped cage.

“of course it is, it’s a friendship bracelet!” you clasp your hands behind your back, awaiting either his praise or his teasing — whatever he was in the mood for more. despite the happiness that surged through his heart like a bad game of throw the dart, believe me you shot him hard in the feels, lyney frowns.

“but, mon chéri…” he sighs in despair, a theatric hand over the very heart you had gripped tightly in your hand with a mere few beads of coloured wax. “i haven’t gotten a gift for you, i feel rather ashamed of myself.”

“don’t worry about that, this is just meant to be my good luck charm for you during your shows and…” your voice trailed off to him. not because he was uninterested but because he loved the buzzing sound of your melodic syllables each time your lips opened.

“ah, my dear,” lyney paused your affectionate rambles politely, “you’ve got something here…” you tilt your head to the side quizzically and await for him to point at it or take it out. he grins wildly. “well, isn’t that cute?” lyney chuckles softly and while leaning suuuper close to your ear, ‘magically’ pulls out a rainbow rose from seemingly no where.

“it seems we’re even now, hm?” he gestures, handing the rose over with a wink, leaving a cheeky kiss to your jawline in gratitude.

LYNETTE — 琳妮特

knowing lynette’s character and demeanour intricately, you’re aware that grand gestures aren’t at all her thing. she can barely handle a tea time conversation with someone if she’s forced to play an active role.

the bracelet sat enclosed within your palm as you rambled on about your day to lynette, feeling an unshakable amount of anxiety vomiting into your gut for no reason but overthinking. you’ve been avoiding giving her this bracelet for a week now in fear she’ll find very little value or use in something so minimal.

“you have something you want to give me.” a phrase intended as a question, but said more so as a statement.

“i…uh, how did you know?” you laugh and play with the strings of the bracelet cautiously as to not break it.

“your eyebrows are furrowed and you keep glancing away from me.” she analyses you like a real robot…i guess she’s really committed to that bit. either that or she just loves you too much that being unable to read your expressions would be a grievous sin on her part.

with a sigh of defeat, you slide over the bracelet to her with an awkward smile paling your usually joyous lips. “i made a friendship bracelet for you…thought it’d be cute.” lynette doesn’t understand people around her a majority of the time. truly, she doesn’t even want to, it’s not like she needs to either since she has her brother to leech on and others to fool with her robotic party trick and yet, she can’t help but wonder why it is you choose to defend yourself over something so sweet.

“thank you, it’s cute. i’ll wear it for my next show if i’m able to.” her lips curve upward in what to most would seem like a twenty degree uplift, but to you, it meant quite literally everything.

FREMINET — 菲米尼

nothing. no amount of experiences with his interactions with people could’ve prepared him for the absolute heart attack that was this gesture.

he loved it, too much. he wishes he could just dip back into the ocean depths. indulge in a meaningless conversation with the tidalga, or even express his feelings of adoration to you to pers. but currently, it was only you two sharing a humble moment together. no person he could lean in, no space he could rush the words he’d love to say to you in gratitude for the gift.

and you knew that. and that’s what he also loved about you. how willing you were to accept and love him even with him being less socially adept than a coral reef. feeling the cool and vibrant coloured bracelet tilt around his wrist and knot in place, he smiled wobbly.

between the silence, you knew that the quiet smile and nod meant more than his stammered and hushed words could ever express. leaning in to press a kiss to the side of his wrist and cheek, freminet manages to gulp a bit of courage and swallow his static and tingly anxiety, reaching to kiss your forehead. letting his lips linger momentarily before he backed away. “thank you…”

FURINA — 芙宁娜

heartbeat pounding in her ears. eyes narrowing into puffy circles. her bottom lip bitten brutally by her gnashing teeth. hands shaky, making her teacup tremble within her grip. why were you glaring at her so intensely?!

first the invitation for a tea party with only you two as the special guests. second the ominous letter claiming you two “need to talk.” and now, you were completely quiet and calmly snacking, drinking away several blends of tea without a word! it was absolutely ridiculous to think the one person she has entrusted her still mending heart with is ignoring all the clear signs of hesitance and vulnerabilities within the relationship despite them all being initiated by them!

“so, furina.” you clasp your hands together, an impish look transforming your usually peaceful face. her heartbeat stammers as her eyes meet yours in a tender glance. “uhm..yeah?” furina attempts to appear more courageous than she is, but truly, she’s shitting it (for lack of a better term).

the silence stretched on for too long before you giggled and pulled up a blue and white toned bracelet from your sleeves, shaking it with your fingertips with a kind smile. “i made you a friendship bracelet!”

a ghost wavered out of her frightened soul, the tea in her hand put down at this point so she can savour the comforting feeling of her head in her hands. being a gorgeous, shining star in the spotlight of fontaine’s grand stage, furina isn’t a secondhand stranger to gifts. whether they’ve been given to her personally, awkwardly, silently, with no words signed or a creepy letter attached expressing their reverence.

she wishes you’d sometimes go that route instead of matching her in these theatrics! begrudgingly, despite the little flutter in her heart, she slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and looked at you with a pout that you couldn’t help but lean in to kiss.

NEUVILLETTE — 那维莱特

neuvillette hums a tune along to the orchestra of the vinyl. an accompanying sound of his pen hastily itching onto the paper adding to the rhythm. his door opens and while he’d normally remain quietly focused on his piling paperwork, he recognised this particular patter of footsteps coming towards him. you.

smiling habitually and peering his head up, neuvillette greeted you lovingly. “hello, my love. what brings you here today? did you get in trouble?” he knew the reason you’d come ushering into his office was hardly with the intention of getting him to aid you with your troublesome quarrels, but rather, you just wanting his love and affection that he was more than willing to fulfil. if time allowed, of course.

“no, no. nothing like that, yet…” you grinned and neuvillette looked at you with a playful look of disappointment at the hesitance. “i made you a gift!” with a prideful aura that was less arrogance and more pure joy, you presented the bracelet to him. he wasted no time in stirring the small bundle of fabric and beads with his gloves. “look,” you pointed eagerly, “i even managed to commission some furina and melusine charms! you know how we always joke about them being like our children? i thought i’d be a cute addition!”

he exhaled a satisfactory laugh in agreement, interlocking your hand in his to press a kiss to your knuckles in thanks. “cute, indeed. thank you, mon chéri. you’re too sweet sometimes.” you sit on the edge of his desk, watching excitedly as he places the bracelet onto his wrist. “as a gift in return, after i’m done with work, how about we take a nice stroll together? i assure you, no rain will interrupt our serenity so long as you’re by my side.”

NAVIA — 娜维娅

immediately gushes at you as your palm opens to present the gold and blue hued bracelet to her, adorned with rose charms that you personally painted in gold and a greyish blue to accentuate her outfit if she decides to wear it. it was less a decision and more a necessity.

she delicately handled the bracelet onto her wrist and kissed both of your cheeks in gratitude, “thank you so much, sweetheart! this is so cute…but what’s the occasion? it’s not our anniversary or anything like that.” navia smiled at you, playing with some of the little roses and twirling them around in appreciation.

“it’s a friendship bracelet!”

her lips pucker into a pout as she starts to coddle you within her arms, occasionally swinging you around gently. “you’re so absolutely adorable!” she nips at your earlobe, kissing it as a form of apology. “but honey, you do know we aren’t just friends right?” navia captures your cheeks within her palms. “we’re lovers!” she presses several kisses across your face, ending her affectionate spillage with a press of her lips on yours.

“oops— haha, sorry i got lipstick all over you, darling.” navia chuckled and began wiping away all the lipstick smudges from your pretty face. yet her attempts bore no fruit. instead of wiping away anything, she only made it oh so much worse. “ah well, guess we both got presents from one another today?” she snickers, twirling her wrist to show off the bracelet with a wink.

GA MING — 嘉明

if you thought this man’s eyes couldn’t get any brighter, then you’re absolutely dead wrong. if you thought he could jump high while lion dancing, you’re also absolutely dead wrong!

he could outrun god right now. if you asked him to defeat a hoard of lined up mondstadt and liyue treasure hoarders, he’d do it in a heartbeat. what possessed you to be so cute?! do you seriously think he can take another heart attack like this after the one he had during lantern rite?

you aren’t able to say much or even explain your reasons for as to why you decided to make this nor what it even is or represents before ga ming smacks his lips messily all over your face. a mixture of your own gloss from kissing you earlier and his own saliva stick to your skin sloppily and you can’t help but feel both enamoured and grossly repulsed at the mixture of sticky wetness on your cheeks as well as the love that seemed to glow like fireworks.

“mmuah~! i love you so much…are you trying to make me cry?” he pouts, becoming a giggling mess as soon as you roll your eyes at his dramatics.

he keeps the bracelet on every day. sometimes he’ll be pouty all day if he’s unable to wear it in fear of it snapping and wasting away all your precious hard work due to either his negligence or the pains of manual labour…he’ll have to cope with simply glancing at the red imprints the beads had left intended onto his skin for satisfaction.

CHIORI — 千织

“what is this?” she jingles the vivid and strong orange coloured bracelet in front of her face, appreciating the tiny details of the cute sewing equipment charms and what looked to be handmade porcelain bows embedded onto some beads.

“it’s a friendship bracelet!” you gleam at her, pride evident in your face at your creation. she hums in agreement; it was certainly something alright.

“oh. cute.” that’s all the genuine feedback she could give you without mentioning how tacky it would look with her attire — it was an affectionate gesture, one which she didn’t want to undermine and therefore, with little complaint despite her own personal conflicts, she slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, extending her hand out and twirling it to admire the craftsmanship.

you won’t see her actively wearing it out in every day life, perhaps you’ll manage to sneak a glimpse of her playing with the beads while she’s going over some designs in her sketchbook but otherwise, her gloved hands contain nothing but the smell of perfume.

not that she’d admit it outright until you asked, but the real reason she refuses to wear your bracelet daily is for a simple reason; she doesn’t want it to break in order to have that constant reminder of you as she goes to bed and stares up at her ceiling with the bracelet being coddled between her fingertips.

ARLECCHINO — 阿蕾奇诺

“you’re so childish.” she muses, tracing her nails across the beads, eliciting a weird clacking sound as the charms and beads hit against each other. “but i suppose that’s also an alluring aspect to you.” she ushers the bracelet onto her wrist. despite it being completely covered, there was something even more intimate about her gift being a part of a hidden identity for her; your affection only intended for your gorgeous eyes and her narrowed ones.

tilting your head to her eye-level, you can smell her musky perfume. she leaned in for a kiss. her lips tasting like flavoured gloss consisting of all sorts of red berries, an accurate mirror to the rosey colour of her bright lips. a sneaky hand traced circles around your hips and waist as she attempted to take your breath away. a scythe is a befitting weapon for a woman who’s kiss was practically a notion for death.

she’s used to her children offering gifts and trinkets to her. rocks, random jewellery they crafted with glue, messy crayon drawings, sometimes even in the most macabre scenarios, blood itself. each of those, however, she cherished wholeheartedly. the same way she’d cherish the bond between you two that she’d never allow for anyone to break.

so long as she continuously receives silly gestures like this, she’s convinced she’ll be able to hold you within her embrace with very little effort.

🝮︎︎︎︎︎︎︎ 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨

Strings of palpitating heartbeats ringed through your ears, and filled you with great discomfort as your steps— heavy with fatigue, and your eyesight blurry from your sustained blood loss, as evident by the crimson lines that dripped out and past your right palm. You've always prided yourself on being so meticulous in the line of duty, and yet, here you are. With enemy guards hot on your tail, all the while alarms buzzed all around the facility, you tightly clutched the documents that you had taken off the archives of the base in your other hand as you ran and ran, facial expressions contorting into that of wincing.

You turned by a corner, found a pile of stacked huge boxes, and looking over your shoulder, you knew you had no time to waste. You've already run out of decoys to deploy, and so, you can only opt to hide, and hopefully stow away when all hope seems bleak at the moment. You ran towards the boxes, and hid behind it, placing your free hand over your mouth to steady and hide your breathing as the enemy guards fortunately only ran past where you went.

With your back against the wall, you slowly slid down to a sitting position, and as if having been robbed of breath for the longest time, you let out a huge sigh of relief. Then, as fast as the adrenaline rush overtook you in the chase, you felt the pain of your injuries and blood loss came ringing back to you. Crimson, beat by beat, streak your sight, and the surrounding sounds faded into the back of your mind.

Still, even as you slowly grow dazed and mindless, you grab hold onto your remaining consciousness, firmly grasped around you for your emergency kit, shakily fumbled, resisted the blinding pain, as you took out your bandages to still the bleeding for the moment. You used your remaining strength to tug, wrap and pull at it, after you had lifted your sleeve up, to cover and halt the blood loss in your most injured area. You had suffered a gash to your arm, right when you've been taken off-guard mid-run.

It immobilized you, but thankfully, you had the instincts to run and survive. The documents remained by your side, something you could barely pay any attention to, at the moment, as life seeped in and out of you. Dying in the line of duty is a kind of pride, honored by many, including you, even within the Fatui, since regardless of the cause, you've died for one. Giving it at least some meaning.

No, you can't think of that yet. You still had a promise to keep with a certain someone, and people, didn't you?

With the remnants of your slipping mind, you can only hope that someone may come to your rescue. While you could still clutch at your reddening wraps.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

✿︎☾︎ 𝐋𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐲

❥︎ Tap. Tap. Tap. It had already been a couple of minutes since the normally charming Great Magician, had started to lose his composure. His lips that were normally curved up to a smile, only fell into one thin line as he paced back and forth in the room, with hands clasped at his back. And the only other action he'd do, was to look up at the ticking wall clock, making note of the extended time that you've been away. You're taking longer than expected.

❥︎ A myriad of thoughts filled his head, full of worry, in rhythmic motions that accompanied the fast beating of his heart. Not even Lynette could get to him. Lyney didn't want to think of the worst, for he had faith in your abilities, and yet, you still haven't returned within the expected time frame of your mission. He can't stay still, not until Arlecchino has finally passed down an order to him and a few others to rush to your aid, for she can't lose a capable child. Or, really, father cannot bear the thought of losing another child, in a field of losses, let alone someone with great talent as you.

❥︎ Lyney wasted no time in rushing out through the door, upon receiving the orders, having ran out as fast as he could towards the enemy facility, mentally praying to the archons, and whoever gods above there is, that you are still safe and sound. He can't imagine the thought of losing someone precious to him. If anything, it'll make both his smile and his heart falter for great lengths of time. It was the kind of wound that Lyney didn't know if he could handle, despite how good he is at carrying himself into top shape, in front of others.

❥︎ Lyney ran, full speed ahead, rushing past charging enemy guards whom had shifted their attention from hunting another intruder— probably you, in favor of the larger group that had come in to rescue the fatui agent they've been trying to capture within the base. Lyney is careful, yet filled with great determination of finding you and then bringing you back. He hoped that it's not yet too late.

❥︎ When the group separated to take on different tasks and enemies at once for a safe escape, Lyney went for retrieval of you. He snuck behind every nook and cranny, in search of a trace of you. He walked around, cautious of any impending ambush, and the moment he spots the trails of blood on the floor, was the moment his breathing hitched, his eyebrows furrowed, heart beat faster, as he carefully followed the trail, turning a corner and found the stack of boxes.

❥︎ Slowly, he approached, holding back his breath and then, there— the moment he sees your familiar figure, slumped down on the floor, barely conscious, hand clutching so tightly on the bandages... Lyney's face twitched into that of great horror, and in just seconds, he was already by your side. At that very moment, he faced the greatest fear of his life, of losing you.

❥︎ Lyney wasted no time, holstered you up into his arms, princess carry style, took the documents that are now slightly rusty and bloodied into a safe compartment with a magic trick of his, and ran out into the hallways to meet up with the others and get you back to safety before it's too late.

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

In the first waking moments, hours later, your eyes twitched as it adjusted to the glaring light of the chandelier that hung above the center of the Infirmary, just near your bed. Your head ringed, memories blurred in a flash, as you stirred awake from your unconsciousness. Your chest heaved up and down for breath, as you slowly register your surroundings. Your comfortable hospital gown, the comfortable furnishings are identical yet all the different from your own room, and of the faint scent of medicines from within the shelves.

At first, you winced as you tried to move and muscle and sit up only to halt just within a second short, when you felt something— or someone weighing down heavily upon one hand. Slowly, your eyes drifted towards it, and your lips parted in surprise, as you registered the sight of a certain familiar short ash blonde colored hair. It was another person's head, their warm cheek that was pressed down on your own hand, and it was from the sensation alone that you could already tell who it is.

".... Lyney?," you weakly called out to him, your voice low and hoarse as the young man at your bedside raised his head up, blinked, took in your sight as if having been ridden with restlessness only for his spirits to spring back to life, at seeing you regain consciousness.

"(name)! You're awake, oh, thank the heavens!" He says, as he stands off from his stool, unable to help it, but lean closer and gently take you into an embrace. His arms slid around your waist, careful not to hurt you as he then rests his head upon your shoulder. Lyney could almost shed streams and even a large waterfall of tears right now, out of relief. He waited for hours on end, just so that you may wake up without feeling so lonely within the constricting atmosphere of the Infirmary.

"I thought... I thought I almost lost you, starlight. Oh, thank goodness..."

Lyney mumbled, trembling in your arms, as you then embraced him back, a small smile forming on your lips as you rested your chin on top of his head. Your hands moved in circular motions, massaging his back as to comfort him.

"Ah, come now... People wouldn't wanna see the Great and Charming Magician himself look like a tear stricken little puppy now, yes?"

You jested, in hopes of lightening the mood up, to which in response, Lyney only mustered a weak chuckle out, embracing you tighter, followed by a sigh. His eyes closed, as he could feel his heart and mind that ran on anxiety for hours, be finally at rest.

ꨄ︎ "𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕... 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆... 𝑨𝒍𝒂𝒔, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉... 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐, 𝒂 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒂𝒎 𝑰? 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆— 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅?."

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

✿︎☾︎ 𝐋𝐲𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞

❥︎ The clock ticked on the wall, indicating yet another hour that has passed in your absence by the tea table, of whose tea had already gone cold. Lynette could not count the amount of tea refills that she already had mindlessly drank, having spiraled down from rational calmness over thoughts of your return onwards to the slipping panic through the cracks of her expression, when you've been gone beyond the expected timeframe.

❥︎ Lynette brings down her cup of tea after a final sip, creating a clinking sound on the small plate, as she quietly stands off of her chair, creating a creaking sound as she turned for the door. She's naturally calm and composed, and can keep her deadpan expression for long periods of time, and yet, her expression is starting to falter when you still haven't returned within the expected time. And timely to her luck, Lyney had come to knock by her door, and informed her that Arlecchino had already passed an order just in time, for a retrieval operation on you and of the intended intel.

❥︎ Lyney can see the slight leaks of fear etched on his sister's face for quite some time now, and does assure her on it after they have set out altogether with few others. Lynette does appreciate his comfort, for she's rarely stricken in such a manner, but it's not enough, deep inside, to calm her beating heart.

❥︎ Upon reaching the enemy facility, with the guards already on alert, seemingly hunting for someone, anxiety crept up Lynette's heart at the thought that it must've been you they've been initially after, not until they've come for their group instead upon detection.

❥︎ As the others fought their way in, Lynette separates from the group, right after ensuring that Lyney would be fine with the others on his own, leaving her twin, for her partner this time. Lyney would understand. Even though she may not visibly show it, it's clear to most, that Lynette values you as much as she does with her own brother. Maybe even slightly more too, in a way.

❥︎ Lynette sneaks in, careful in her steps, scanned her surroundings, and her ears would twitch even at just the faintest of sounds. She turned corners after corners before finally spotting the trail of blood on the ground, used her sense of smell to do a tracking, and followed it. She's getting the familiar scent of your perfume. One that she's bought for you, as a present awhile back. Of course, she'd have it memorized on you.

❥︎ Turning the final corner, Lynette arrives by the stack of boxes, rounded behind it and can't help but retort into a shocked expression and a small gasp at the bloody sight, her heart leaping as she too, leaped to your side, her heels tapping on the ground as she came to your side.

❥︎ You're almost rendered unconscious, and sweat starts to form beams over her forehead as she helps you up to your feet, with calm assurances, stuffed the documents away safely, as she assisted you away from the bloody trails of your own making to safety. For treatment, before it could be too late.

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

You awoke to the scented leaves of tea, slowly stirring awake from the depths of your slumber as you turned your head slightly on your pillow instinctively towards the source of the soothing aroma.

Blinking, you felt your muscles ached as you attempted to move once to sit up and register your surroundings more properly only to halt on your side, as you felt a warm hand tap on your shoulder from behind, prompting you to glance over your shoulder.

"The Physician had already instructed me to prevent any tenuous labor on your part. Don't move a muscle. Lie back down."

Lynette's familiar calm and quiet voice rang to your ears, tints of pink came to your cheeks briefly as her other hand went up as well, carefully positioned onto your shoulder to turn you onto your back and return to a laying down position.

"You've lost...huge amounts of blood. Father had already told me to inform you, that you're free from any duties for a while until you can recover. Do you hear that? You're fortunately spared from chores too. So, relish in nothing but your own rest. Don't stubbornly get up."

She dryly says, perfectly masking her inner feelings of relief and slight anxiety in remembrance of the scene that she has stumbled on, of you. After tucking you back in, your eyes followed her movements, as she rounded the bed, and reached your bedside. You watched as she grasped one small cup, and used her other hand to lift the teapot's handle and carefully poured down tea inside it. As she does so, a calming scent emanates from it, filling your nostrils, causing you to heave and sigh in relief.

You sank back down onto the mattress, facing up the ceiling just seconds after, until Lynette sits on the stool situated by your side. You two stayed put in mutual silence, your heart beating slowly, taking glances here and there at Lynette's face that remained still and ahead as she stayed by your side. Guilt gnawed at your heart at the thought of having made Lynette worry greatly.

After a few more minutes of silence, you expressed your worries and apologies to Lynette, which was received with silence for a half a minute, giving you worry that she might view you of great recklessness instead of the usual capable, only to see a sigh out of her. She hadn't even touched her tea on the bedside table, making you even additionally wonder too, if she were even intending to drink it, for it may grow cold.

ꨄ︎ "(𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞), 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠... 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐀 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨... 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐈'𝐦... 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞...𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧... 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

✿︎☾︎ 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭

❥︎ Oh, his dear heart. Freminet had normally kept his thoughts to himself, even though in most cases, whatever he felt, could be clearly read on his face. And today, is a prime example of that. Though, as an extra, it's within his present demeanor that one can already easily tell what he's feeling.

❥︎ Freminet had been fidgeting in the same seat for almost an hour already, face tilted down, gaze locked down on Pers that sat on his lap, unmoving. The mechanical penguin is normally enough as a substitute for your warm comfort, yet, in your prolonged absence, Freminet could feel no warmth instead from his beloved creation but instead of anxiety. You should've been back already, at this hour. He started fearing that things may have gone wrong on your end, though of course, he wishes not to manifest that ever happening.

❥︎ Sweat was already forming on his forehead even in the cool atmosphere of the house, when he receives orders from Arlecchino to set out with the others to retrieve you and perhaps accomplish the mission too on your behalf. In no time, he swings his legs off his seat, steadies himself with breathings, and takes his claymore with him as he sets out with the others.

❥︎ Freminet was terribly stricken with anxiety, and albeit consoled by Lyney and Lynette that you'll turn out fine and will be discovered in a safe state, he can't stop the foreboding feeling in his heart. When the guards had stormed their way to meet the rescue group, and seeing how ferocious they moved, Freminet gulped, his hands shaky as he started imagining about the hunting you might've gone through. No, you can't fall that easily. You're strong. And he believes in that.

❥︎ Freminet soon finds himself down another hallway, careful and wary in his steps, as he calms his beating heart to be on the lookout for any possible ambush attack up until his heart nearly stopped at the sight of the trails of blood on the ground. He gulped, his hands shaky only for him to curl them into fists at his sides to gain some semblance of himself.

❥︎ Slowly, and with cautiousness, ready to whip out his weaponry any moment now, Freminet followed the trail of blood on the floor, up until he reached a dead-end with the stacked boxes on the side. Freminet steadied himself, and stepped closer towards the back of the boxes, and he froze in his tracks.

❥︎ His breathing hitched, his heart felt as if it had stopped almost completely, fear gnawed at his eyes, and tears unwillingly welled up in his eyes as he ran to your side, almost falling to his knees when he scrambled to your side. Desperate to feel a pulse out of you, and while he did try to compose himself better, Freminet held it in, still anxious, as he then helps you up to your feet, your other arm draped over his shoulders as he lifted you and assisted you into walking to safety, as sweat trickled down his chin.

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

A ray of sunlight seeped through the curtains, the indication of another day, but of a new one for you as you had awoken from the depths of your slumber. Your eyelashes fluttered open, consciousness seeped into your being, as your muscles tensed as you greeted the rays of sunshine that bid you a good morning. You grunted softly on your bed, breathed a sigh as you slowly registered where you are and of your present body condition.

Slowly, your face contorting into that of a wince, you sat up, turned towards the side, right where the door remained closed. You rubbed your eyes, and at the same moment, it had swung open, revealing Freminet, head hung low while clutching Pers in the other arm. He looked rather down, in low spirits, not until he had raised his head to look at you after he had closed the door did his eyes widen in shock.

"(name)... you're awake...!"

He stuttered, as he rushed to your bedside, gently sat Pers down on the stool near it, before tending to you. "Please... don't move around much. You're still recovering." Freminet continues, his voice low and gentle as much as possible, as he shakily reaches his hands out to steady you and gently guides you back down for a continued rest. The distress that once etched all over his face for some time now, slowly dissipated at the sight of you up and well.

"Freminet..."

You murmured his name softly, as he turned to tuck you in with the blanket. He paused at the mention of his name. You can tell he's feeling nervous at the moment. You smiled gently at him, as a form of assurance, and appreciation for his caring gesture.

"I'm...sorry. I broke my promise of returning to your side unscathed."

You apologized softly, as he glanced his face away, lips turned into a thin line and his eyes slowly closed.

"(Name)... No. You shouldn't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for. You're... strong enough to have survived that long until help came..."

He reaffirms with you, before slowly looking back at you, already tearing up, as if all the feelings he's held back for some time already, as he awaited for you to wake up, came springing out. In response, you reached your arms out and took him for a gentle embrace to soothe his heart.

"(name)... I'm sorry. I was the one who found you... I... I... I fell to my knees at your side. I found the thought of losing you so...stifling and suffocating. You're the only person, apart from Pers... Apart from anyone else in this house that I ever found myself comfortable to be with. I feel the most comfortable around you."

He whispered, pulling back slightly, wiping at his tears with his own sleeves, and at seeing your unwavering smile, all thoughts of self-doubt vanished from his mind. He mirrored your smile, slowly albeit with struggling effort.

ꨄ︎ "𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭... 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟...𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤... 𝐈 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬... 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭...𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞. (𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞), 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞... 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭...𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧."

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

✿︎☾︎ 𝐀𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨

❥︎ Being the observant one she is, Arlecchino had taken note of every minute that flies by, beyond the expected timeframe that she had given for your mission. Even with her outward blank look, worry crept inside her heart. It was a different kind of worry that she feels for you, her partner, than what she feels for her children. Though, by essence, she feels concern all the same whenever a treasured one fails to return to her side sooner than she had hoped.

❥︎ Arlecchino had trust in your abilities. After all, you two had grown up together, back during the times of the former Fatui Harbinger that had led the House of the Hearth. You were an orphan, just like Arlecchino herself. You, Clervie and Her... Were the inseparable trio, back then during those days. Up until discord tore the House apart due to her predecessor's cruelty, to which Arlecchino had ended with her own hands. You were among the fortunate few that have survived. Rather than straying down upon another path, you had chosen to stay by her side. Arlecchino trusts you more than most then, and admittedly, it'll be akin to pricking her hard with the sharpest of thorns should you wound up in the same fate. You swore to stay by her side. And she'll make sure that you keep it.

❥︎ Click. Arlecchino halts to a complete stop, her arms crossed after she had enough recounting of the turns she had made, prancing around in the room, awaiting for your return with great patience. Confident she may have been with your abilities, Arlecchino relented to the ticking clock, chose not to bet her time away on your safety, even with how capable she may think you are, came out with the order of making some of her children assist her in retrieving you. This time, she had chosen to appear in person so that she may personally confirm your status. You're dear to her, after all.

❥︎ Not another minute was wasted in, her cold exterior unwavering, as Arlecchino easily cleared her way out. Arlecchino had instantly figured that you'd run into trouble when she had arrived and found the guards prancing high and low, prattling with their blades and armories over a little Fatui rat that had squirmed its way in, and had yet to be found within the base.

❥︎ The enemy guards barely even took another step towards her direction when Arlecchino had come to approach, when she easily cleared them out of the way, streaks of crimson filling their vision before life gets snuffed out of them in a blink of an eye, bodies landed on the floor— one by one, with quiet thuds, like piles of flicked dominos.

❥︎ Her heels clicked on the flooring, giving a foreboding sense of dread to anyone who might want to reconsider getting anywhere near her. Arlecchino heads down a hallway, tracking where you might've disappeared off to, until she stumbles upon a trail of blood. Guarded, Arlecchino remained stone-faced as ever as she then decided to follow the trail of blood that stretched out corners and pathways until she reached a dead-end, with only a stack of huge boxes situated at the middle was found.

❥︎ Arlecchino can sense a familiar presence just hidden behind the boxes, and with her heels still clicking against the floor, she turned and there— her eyes widened slightly in shock at your current state, it have her brief relapses in memory, unwillingly remembering distant memories that she dared not want to speak of, out loud of the past. You looked like an absolute mess, your hand barely even gripping the bandages perfectly well. Any moment your hand finally gives up, blood will seep out of them.

❥︎ She spared not another moment, scooped you up into her arms, remained quiet on the outside, took the documents with her and carried you off, all the while she silently allowed you to seep into unconsciousness. You still had a pulse in you. You'll live. She'll make sure of that— lest, this entire place will pay more than just their own lives.

｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ

".... You're finally awake."

The moment you stir yourself awake from the confines of sleep, you blink in slow motions, as your senses drift in and out of you. You didn't even get to register in your mind about how your muscles ached terribly, when your eyes immediately landed on the person who sat beside you, looming so tall over your figure that remained laid down on the bed, clad in bandages, tucked to bedrest.

"Arlecchino...?"

You dazedly murmured her name, your fingers twitching, and shakily, your hand moved as if to reach out to confirm if it was truly her, and not an image created by the blinding ceiling lights of the room. Arlecchino receded blankly, reached her clawed hand and clasped it with yours, in a gentle manner before turning her gaze completely back on you once again.

"I had come to your aid, when you were already past the expected timeframe of return. You...were in quite the troublesome state when I found you. It's rather uncharacteristic of you to have been so easily caught. I hope this one is not born out of foolish recklessness, (name).",

She spoke, in her usual deadpan expression, leaning closer all the while you sheepishly looked away. Of course, you can't escape her light scolding for having attained such injuries on you.

".... However, it was not wholly in vain. I had recovered the necessary... Intel off of you, when I discovered you. You've done well. And thus, you earned yourself proper rest. You are not to move another muscle, while still in recovery."

Arlecchino chided you but this time with a slightly softened look on her face, exclusive only to you, as you glanced back and gave her an assuring smile. It's the least you could do to at least assure her that you'll be mindful of your tracks on your next mission. Not now, probably later than sooner. Arlecchino is meticulous when it comes to your own well-being, just as she is, with any sickly child that comes by her doors. Though, she won't nurse you like a child, but in a manner befitting that of a partner.

Rather than move off of her seat, Arlecchino stayed put, quiet afterwards as she stared off into nothingness, you observed. She kept holding your hand, even tracing her fingers in gentle ministrations over it, without saying a thing until you spoke to her, asking if there's something on her mind or if she wished to tell you more. Arlecchino remained quiet, until just seconds later, her gaze drifts back down on you, locks eyes with you and her expression completely softens in a rare instance.

ꨄ︎ "𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒐𝒇...𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕. 𝒀𝒆𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑺𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅... 𝑰 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝑰 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍... 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕. 𝑨 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆, 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓? 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆... 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅."

⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆