#ptternminds

send me 🍒 + a url and i will write some positivity for them | @ptternminds

Len is, I think, incredible. Without a shadow of a doubt. I adore all of their characters, and the dynamics we create. Every time I get a notif from them, I have to read their reply like five times before I even start writing, and then a dozen times after just because I enjoy reading them that much.

And here they were. Now.. where was their brother? Shi Qingxuan looked rather forward to seeing their brother again, but they were even more excited to explore, to see what Heaven really was about and so they started walking.

They followed the heavenly streets, they walked past palace after palace, past other Heavenly Officials that did not pay him any mind, some of them carried so many scrolls in their arms it almost looked they were about to break beneath their weights. It made Shi Qingxuan chuckle, but also feel mildly alarmed. Wasn’t Heaven a place to relax and enjoy the labours of one’s life? Why were these poor people worked like farm horses? Well, they would find out eventually.

Everything around them was beautiful, and Shi Qingxuan almost felt like they were walking a dream, so they reached into their sleeve to pull out their fan, their trusted companion and like this they walked, observing while completely losing themselves in what they looked at.

It was then that they were approached by someone, a rather stern but elegant looking young man who bowed for a second before reaching out to grab Shi Qingxuan by their elbow.

“You are Lord Wind Master, are you not? The construction of your palace is not quite ready yet, so I shall take you to your brother’s residence.”

Their brother! Shi Wudu! Oh, how Shi Qingxuan longed to see him, but they were not quite finished sightseeing yet, plus, they did not like the way the other had just grabbed them, so they gently shook the other’s hand off, before they very spontaneously grabbed the arm of the next Official that walked by.

“Oh, please do not trouble yourself, my friend here already offered to show me the way!”, Shi Qingxuan boldly lied while dragging his unsuspecting victim forward, walking down the golden street, leaving the perplex stranger well behind.

After a while the Official he had abducted shook himself free and shortly after Shi Qingxuan could hear @ptternminds say: you have no idea who I am, do you?

For a moment Shi Qingxuan was perplex. They just ascended an hour ago, of course they did not know who this man was! Their gaze wandered over the other’s attire and up to his face and for a moment they felt a warm blush settle upon their cheeks as they realized how incredibly handsome the other man was. Maybe it really had not been clever to pluck the most beautiful man out of the busy crowd, but what was done, was done, there was no going back.

“Well, I do not”, Shi Qingxuan replied calmly and very politely, “My name is Shi Qingxuan.”

And with that introduction they stepped forward to once more cling to the other man’s arm, looking at him with big innocent eyes.

jean tries to be discreet , and also not seem like a creep but he takes small pics of eren when he's not paying attention and he says that it's for study or science or whatever stupid reason he can muster up . but he absolutely adores eren's long hair - he has a fixation on that . heh .

now this feels like home . the laughter from the festival still hums in the distance — a soft reminder of tonight's epilogue perhaps , tonight ended too and it felt like a dream . the world feels unreal . she can hear the sea when she sits beside him . some days she feels like she's imagining it , the sound of the sea , she would hear it deep inside the sina walls , she would hear it sleeping near the cold window of the soldiers dorms . beneath her , sasha snoring and beside her mikasa with her ever watchful gaze . some days she couldn't join anyone in a conversation , she'd stare at the trees and imagine them leading to the sea . her knees curl , her arms wrap around them with a small smile as her cheek rests on her knee . akina's head it tilted toward eren , but she doesn't see him . she keeps staring at something in the distant . summer night hasn't felt this dreamy in a very long time , the nights of aristocratic balls back in mitras where she'd sneak out and sit on a high building . with her soft flowery dress , with her pearls .

sitting with eren in silence is always better than trying it with anyone else . he drowns in it as comfortably as akina does , doesn't try to start useless conversations when the festival's music dies slowly in the background .

you look like a ghost these days . she's told him , and he's probably ignored her . if he smiled , she didn't see it . her black locks roll like dark water on her shoulder , they cover her lips and her nose . for some reason , it's safer to let her gaze fall on eren now , without letting him see how her lips tug in a small smile ─ then it falters . a frown tickles between her brows . run away with me . the green of his eyes , blending with the darkening streets of marley . akina is quiet for a moment , waits for him to laugh . but he's been laughing less and less these days , he doesn't even meet anyone's eyes these days . a ghost with big green eyes , azure , lifeless . when she speaks , her hair tremble against her lips . ‘ and run where ? we can't walk out of this war . not when everything is burning . ‘ years ago , she was ready to sneak out and go back to mitras . she stayed because she was stubborn but it was always in the back of her mind ─ she stayed and now she can't even fathom thinking about going back . there's no home for her anymore , mori mansion was sold and their triplet tigers taken away from it . to where , she doesn't know ; and eren . eren is a tired tiger , perhaps the closest thing she can get that resembles home . her eyes are fixed on him , never once breaking the eye contact . that's the thing about eren yeager , he's temporary . he's already gone , she can see it in his eyes . he's going , he's leaving . akina mindlessly tightens her fist on her white shirt . ‘ i want to stay here and watch the sunrise . ‘ she smiles , blinks gently and finally tugs her hair behind her ear . ‘ watch it with me ? ‘

Poppy hates him.

She hates the way he looks at her with such disdain, like she can't possibly understand the weight of his suffering. She hates the way he talks at her - yells at her, hisses at her - without leaving room for her to respond. Her handwriting is barely legible and her hand is cramping and for what?

To try to insist to this stubborn mule of a being that he should care?

(Poppy doesn't hate him).

Warm brown eyes are locked in on frozen ice, narrowing as Patrick seemingly decides they're done here and straightens.

She could cry. She could scream, a wholly foreign desire that sends a shiver up her spine at the reminder of what screaming usually means for her.

How could he be so callous?

(She doesn't know, of course. His age, what he's been through. Patrick won't let anything out through the cracks on his armour, where Poppy feels like she's bleeding all over the floor all the time).

Now, Poppy's no angel when it comes to death. Quite often she's selfish about it, when it comes to the deaths that she witnesses or fortells - but there's still a guilt, after, lingering in her bones. She's never able to do anything. These people who don't deserve to die - all she can do is stand by and call to the world that it's happening, with no way to stop it.

This conversation is going nowhere.

Poppy's mouth twists. Is it even a conversation? Or is it just Patrick imposing down on her?

Frustrated, defeated, Poppy takes a step back - tearing the pages of their argument out of her notebook. It's easy to track how it devolved, her pretty neat handwriting getting more rushed, and crushed, as she tried to keep up.

Those pages get torn in half, and in half again, flung in Patrick's direction in a fit of childishness. It doesn't achieve what she wants it to achieve - the paper scraps have zero impact, and several don't even reach his chest, floating sadly down to the ground between them.

Then-

"Not...worth-"

In all the three realms there probably wasn’t anyone as carefree as the Crown Prince of Xianle. He was the darling of the heavens, beloved by his kingdom. He barely had anything but his cultivation to worry about, but it didn’t make him ignorant, no, it was quite the opposite. The people of Xianle loved him and in return Xie Lian loved them back, his love didn’t stop at those that were supposed to be inferior to the royal family. That was why he dropped everything he was supposed to be doing the moment he realized that the man that was raised and trained to be his advisor wasn’t doing well.

Xie Lian had three of them. Three young men that usually trailed him like shadows for three different reasons. His bodyguard, his advisor, his servant. They all had roles to play, but while they all had their purpose in the great scheme of things, the crown prince saw all three of them as his friends. His best friends. That was why he was so upset about Hua Lian downplaying his illness, or the fact that he had tried to ignore and hide it in the first place.

Hua Lian’s pride and willingness to push himself to his limits without any regards for his own well being was nothing new to Xie Lian, but that didn’t mean he approved of that. The prince could see and appreciate the other’s hard-working nature, the constant urge to learn, Xie Lian was much the same when it came to his obsession with swords and martial arts, but he couldn’t see what good it was to put one’s own health on the line. And for what? So they could be on time for a meeting with the state preceptor?

“I know you are not well”, Xie Lian replied as he turned to take a proper look at Hua Lian. It was admirable, really, the way he carried himself, refusing to show any weakness, but now that Xie Lian was aware of how unwell the other was there were many little indicators. The way Hua Lian seemed to have to remind himself to hold his head high, the dark circles under his eyes, the way he was squinting against the sunlight and then.. a fleeting touch to the prince’s upper arm to stir him into the right direction before he remembered his place in the kingdom’s hierarchy. Not that said hierarchy meant anything to Xie Lian.

But before Hua Lian could retreat completely Xie Lian reacted, he gently took ahold of his advisor’s hand to turn it with its palm up, then using his other hand to swiftly check Hua Lian’s pulse. And just as expected, it was way too fast for the calm walk they had through the capital’s streets, proof of how much energy it actually cost Hua Lian to keep up with him.

“You’re my friend, of course you matter to me. Hua Lian, you need rest. Come.”

And without letting go of Hua Lian’s hand Xie Lian continued walking, but this time in the opposite direction of where they were supposed to be going. The state preceptor would have to wait, Hua Lian needed to take a break first. And Xie Lian would not accept no for an answer.

If she moves enough, it almost sounds as if pieces of her bones rattle inside the confines of her flesh; like a box of tic-tacs. Every breath is heavy, and though she is far from any water, it somehow feels as if she is drowning. She wonders if it's her own blood filling up the space in her lungs.

She is the only breathing body among corpses, keeping herself upright with the help of the wall. The assassin will not be able to hold on for much longer, and the darkness that beckons feels heavier.

Amelia is scared.