I figured as this blog grows and the more I post, ya'll would appreciate a Masterlist so here you go in advance :)
More fandoms will be added later! <3
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Demon Slayer
Baldur's Gate 3

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@b-blueberry-fields-s
I figured as this blog grows and the more I post, ya'll would appreciate a Masterlist so here you go in advance :)
More fandoms will be added later! <3
AO3 Link
Header and divider creds
Demon Slayer
Baldur's Gate 3
Okay okay but
Giyuu Tomioka who had promised he’d come see you before the Hashira meeting but took longer to get to your estate than either of you wanted so the kisses are hot, sloppy, desperate as you try and soak up as much time as possible before you both need to be at the meeting and you whimper against his lips asking “why didn’t you come earlier?” And he says “because I’m a stupid,” kiss, “stupid,” kiss, “stupid man.”
:/ meets :D
I got tired while shading grrtjejhnfnd
I love them 😭 omg this is adorable
Never the right time
Synopsis: Five times Giyuu asked you to marry him and the one time you said yes
Notes: fluff, friends to lovers, female reader, reader is the leaf pillar, maybe ooc Giyuu, slight smut, angst with happy ending, tiny manga spoilers at the end but seeing as I haven't read the manga myself (have only seen spoilers) I tried to keep it vague
First time: You were kids when he asked the first time. Giyuu, Sabito, and you trained under Master Urokodaki every day and night until your hands grew callouses and the mountain was no longer your enemy.
The first time Giyuu asked you to marry him was late one night after he accidentally hit you in the face with a training sword.
You had been dueling, something you'd done together hundreds if not thousands of times. Your bodies moved in clumsy familiarity. Dodge, kick, swing, dodge again. However, when you moved back to try and avoid Giyuu's sword you slipped which resulted in him hitting you on the cheek with enough force to send you across the training field and into a bush nearby.
He cried out your name and rushed over to you. "Are you alright?" he asked and held out a hand. "Give me your hand!"
When he moved a leafy branch to the side, he was surprised to find you laughing. You held your stomach as you rolled in the bush with tears sliding down your round cheeks.
He called your name again, still concerned. You took his hand and with all your strength pulled him into the bush next to you. Your laughter continued at the look of betrayal on his face.
"You... you!" he pointed a finger at you and shoved you, as much as he could from your positions in the bush. "I thought you were hurt!"
Your laughter calmed and you looked up at him with bright eyes. "The look on your face was priceless!"
He scoffed and pulled his body out of the bush. He swatted at the twigs that grabbed his red haori and held his hand out to you again. "Come on, it's getting late."
You took his hand and this time you allowed him to pull you from the bush. Sticks and leaves covered you both, tangled in your hair and clinging to your sleeves and pants.
You giggled. "You have a thousand leaves in your hair." Without hesitation, you reached up and started gently pulled leaves out of his thick black hair. You used both hands to pull at the leaves that were buried deeper into his wild hair, tongue sticking out.
Giyuu watched you, eyes wide and unblinking, a dust of pink on his cheeks. He could smell the sweat on your skin but also something sweeter, something that screamed you.
You smiled. "Aha! I think I got all of them," you showed him the last leaf you pulled from his hair.
Your cheek began to swell. You acted like it didn't hurt even though he knew it did, but you didn't show it. Instead, you smiled at him.
He didn't mean to blurt it out.
"Marry me."
You froze and your smile left you face. The leaf that you held slipped from your fingers and fell at your feet.
His face burned as the sweet pink that covered his cheeks turned into a harsh red that matched his haori.
"I... uhh..." he couldn't think of anything to say and looked down at his feet in shame.
He honestly expected you to slap him and tell Urokodaki what he said. Surely, he's offended you or weirded you out.
You and Sabito were his only friends, but you were both the best he could ask for. You three were a team. You worked hard and pushed each other to be better every day. The laughs you've shared, the secrets you've spilled, even the fights you've had, it meant everything to Giyuu. And he didn't want it to come to an end.
His thoughts were interrupted by your soft touch. Your hands rose to each side of his face, cupping his cheeks to force him to look at you.
Your smile had returned. Your kind eyes crinkled as you beamed at him.
"We're a little young, don't you think?" you jested.
Giyuu gave you a small smile, eyes not quite looking into yours. "I didn't mean to say that..."
You hummed and with a sudden rush of courage, you placed a quick peck to his cheek before pulling away from him.
"Ask me again in a few years, yeah?"
You walked back inside after that, but he didn't follow.
Giyuu stood frozen where you left him. His blue eyes wide as he starred at the bush you pulled him into. Slowly, he rose a hand to his cheek, the one you kissed, and found himself enjoying the tingles it sent throughout his body.
"Ask me again in a few years, yeah?"
Second Time: It'd been a few years since that moment.
Well after you both passed Final Selection.
Well after you both said goodbye to Sabito.
Since his death, Giyuu's spark in his eyes disappeared and he was more standoffish, quieter, than before.
You understood. Of course you did. You liked to think you still had a spark in your eyes, but you knew it wasn't the same. Not without your friend.
You and Giyuu made it a point to stick together. You needed each other, though neither of you said it out loud.
Things between you two didn't change for a long time, up until recently. You trained like you had always done, but you had noticed a difference lately. Giyuu's physical strength beat yours tenfold, and while you always saw him as your equal, it frustrated you that he was growing stronger while it felt like you suddenly weren't getting anywhere.
No matter how hard you tried, you weren't getting stronger. Not like he was.
No matter how much your trained.
No matter how many nights you stayed up to work-out and build your muscle.
You still felt like you were falling behind.
It frustrated you to all hell.
You and Giyuu had been dueling all morning. Bamboo swords in your hands as you circled each other in the ring. Your eyes scanned his body frantically, looking for an opening, but Giyuu remained calm. A book you suddenly could not read.
You both moved, swords clashing again. Splinters flew through the air, a gush of wind blew your hair back by the sudden force.
You block but your arms ached from the pressure as Giyuu pressed into you, clearly having the advantage. Your knees bent and heels dug into the dirt beneath your feet, but Giyuu continued to push.
Your faces were inches apart, if you stood taller, you were certain your noses would brush.
Before you knew it, Giyuu slipped out of your position and twirled around you, bamboo sword against your neck. He stood behind you now, tall. "I win."
Your knees were still bent, your sword was still held up in a block position, and your mood had officially soured.
You slapped his bamboo sword away from your neck and threw yours on the ground. You allowed your knees to give out, to rest in the dirt, with small rocks digging into your flesh. Your breathing was heavy, and your arms felt like they could melt right off your body.
Giyuu stepped around you and held out a hand to help you up, like he always did, but this time instead of taking it, you slapped in away and glared at the ground.
Giyuu, unfazed by your actions, sighed. "You locked up again. You need to be looser or else your enemy will be able to get behind you."
You gritted your teeth. "I know," you replied with a locked jaw.
"If you knew then why didn't you do it?"
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath to try and zone him out, but unluckily for you, Giyuu was feeling chatty.
"You need to focus," he said your name, stern. "You've been distracted."
That catches your attention. So, he's noticed. Of course he would. Giyuu knew you better than anyone. He could pick you out of a crowd blindfolded. But if there was one thing about Giyuu that always drove you crazy is the fact that he was never one to ask you if something was wrong. He would point it out in a blunt, ungentle way that almost seemed harsh or like he was making fun of you. But he always noticed when something was wrong even if he didn't come out right and ask.
He was silent and you looked up at him, a glare still on your face.
"It's nothing," you wiped your palms on your thighs and stood on wobbly legs. Giyuu reached out for you again, but you stopped him. "I'm fine."
You walked over to your pile of items. His haori, your bag, and of course both of your swords.
You opened your bag and pretended to look for something specific to try and distract your mind.
You couldn't even get him to break a sweat anymore. He didn't even look tired, but you were exhausted. Your legs still felt wobbly, and your arms felt heavier than ever. You were still panting and when you noticed you tried to breathe through your nose to hide it.
Tears pricked your eyes and you blinked harshly as your vision grew blurry.
You knew Giyuu was watching, it felt like he always was, and while you usually ignore his gaze or do something cheeky like strike a pose or blow him a kiss to get a rise out of him, today it was just too much.
You felt weak. And today just solidified a fact that you had been trying to ignore for weeks; you were falling behind. Your promise to stick together was disintegrating right in front of your eyes and you couldn't do anything to stop it.
You both were on the road of becoming Hashira, but you knew Giyuu was going to become the Water Hashira in the end, even if he didn't think he deserved it.
And you were going to be left behind while he goes off to who knows where, meet tons of new people, all without you.
You gave up on trying to keep your tears at bay and allowed them to drip down your cheeks and onto your hands. Your fingers gripped your bag, knuckles white.
You felt him before you saw him.
Giyuu stood next to you, looked down at your bag, eyebrows pinched together. He reached for your bag, but you jerked your hands away.
"Don't. Please," you choked out. "I'm not in the mood." You threw your bag over your shoulder, grabbed your sword, not bothering to attach it to your belt, before you started to walk away from him.
Giyuu called your name after you, asked you to wait, but you continued to march through the trees and brush.
You had been training in a clearing in the forest, where the sun was mostly hidden by the thick leaves above. You picked it out, wanting to get away from the glaring sun while you trained, hoping you could blame your loses on the heat, but it wasn't the heat that caused you to lose to him once again.
Giyuu caught up to you and grabbed your bicep, stopping you in your place. "Stop walking away from me."
"Let go of me."
"Not until you talk to me," Giyuu urged.
"I don't want to talk to you right now, Giyuu, let go." You tugged on your arm to try and pull yourself out of his grasp but he only held on tighter. And that only pissed you off more.
You threw your stuff on the ground and whipped around to face him. "You wanna know what my problem is, is that right? You want to know why I'm so distracted and being such a big crybaby, right?" you poked him in the chest. "Because of you."
"Me?" Giyuu's eyes hardened. "I didn't do anything."
"Yes, you did. You had to have!"
"I don't understand."
"You had to have done something! Trained while I was sleeping or maybe you found a special flower that makes you stronger or something..." you bit your lip. You realized how crazy you sounded, but there was no backing down now. "Because if you didn't do anything... then that means I was right." You looked down at your feet, a fresh wave of tears rushed down your cheeks and neck.
"Right about what?" his grip on your arm loosened, but he didn't let go. Instead, Giyuu put both of his hands on your shoulders and shook you ever so slightly to try and urge you to continue.
Your lip quivered and you tucked your chin further into your chest. "That I'm falling behind," you whispered.
Giyuu was quiet, not surprising to you, but as his silence encouraged you to dig yourself into a deeper hole. "You agree, don't you?" you chuckled under your breath. "I'm too weak to be a slayer."
"Stop." Giyuu's voice was stern, almost angry. "You don't get to stand here and assume you know how I feel." His grip on your shoulders tightened. "You're not falling behind. I never thought you were."
You scoffed. "Yeah right," you said and looked up at him. "There's no way you haven't noticed that I haven't been able to keep up with you recently. I haven't won a fight in ages and before we know it, you're going to be a Hashira and I'm going to be stuck as a Kinoe or something." You wiped your cheeks and under your nose with your sleeves. "All I want is to stay by your side. Be your equal."
You looked at Giyuu and watched him take in your words. His eyes flickered between yours as he thought about what to say.
Your eyes were puffy and your nose was red. Your sniffles continued as you wiped your face on your sleeve.
"Marry me then," he spoke softly.
You flinched back at his words. "What?"
"Marry me, then we can always be at each other's sides."
You rolled your eyes and wiped your face again. "You really need to work on your timing."
He groaned your name, his ears turning pink. "Look, I can't promise that we'll always be at each other's sides, that we'll always be the same rank, but I can promise that I'm not going anywhere."
You felt your chest grow lighter and a small smile crept up on your face. "You promise, huh? You don't give those out a lot."
He sighed. "I don't want to see you cry anymore."
You hummed. "You could've just said that instead of proposing, you know?"
Giyuu rolled his eyes at your teasing and let go of your shoulders. He walked around you and picked up your stuff. He turned back towards the clearing with your bag thrown over his shoulder and your sword in his hand.
You watched his back as he walked away. A small gust of wind swam through the sea of tree which caused his hair to sway to the side.
He looked over his shoulder and asked if you were coming. You couldn't stop the blush that graced your face as you took him in for what felt like the first time.
Since when was Giyyu so... handsome?
Giyuu stopped in his tracks, his eyes softened the longer he looked back at you. His bangs blew in the wind, showing you more of his handsome face to you.
You gulped and wiped your face once more.
"I'm coming!"
Third Time: With years of hard work, literal blood, sweat, and tears, and a change in breathing style for you, both you and Giyuu were Hashira.
Giyuu the Water Pillar.
You the Leaf Pillar.
It took a while, but you and Giyuu realized that the reason why you were falling behind was because water breathing wasn't your calling. Leaf breathing suited you far before and it finally felt like you two were equals again.
Giyuu had become a Hashira before you did, and ever since he was given the title, he didn't talk to you as much as he used to.
At first, you chalked it up to him being busy. Being a Hashira held many responsibilities, being one of the strongest of the corps would of course lead to him being away for missions almost daily.
But you had hoped he'd at least write.
You sent letters whenever you had the time. You updated your longtime friend of anything you could think of. Missions you went on, who you met, what you ate, anything.
But you rarely heard anything back. After a while, you figured the only reason he wrote you back was to let you know he was still alive.
The lifespan of a slayer is always a question. Will you grow old enough to retire, to settle down, like Master Urokodaki, or will you perish a week from now? It's always a risk but knowing that you had Giyuu always made the job easier. Made it worth trying to live your life to the fullest.
Now you were left with crumbs of his attention, of his friendship. And after you told him you were now a Hashira, he didn't write you back. He didn't try to see you. Nothing.
Today was your first time meeting the other Hashira. You'd seen some of them in passing, even had lunch with Mitsuri when you accompanied her on a mission almost two months ago, but this was the first time you'd have a real introduction to all of them.
When you were officially ranked 'Hashira,' the master sent you to go to the tailor to get a new uniform made. Yours had been old, covered in stitches you had done yourself because you didn't want to bother the kakushi. But to be honest, you weren't the best at sewing.
So, you bowed and thanked him once again for the opportunity before you made your way to the tailor.
But oh, do you wish someone would've warned you about him.
Madea.
The perverted kakushi who had somehow convinced you that this was the official uniform you needed to wear. You've been a slayer for years and had always worn long skirts and tops that were made to button all the way up to your neck, but Madea told you that this is what the female Hashira wore.
You didn't believe him at first, but then your mind jumped to the Love Hashira, the only Hashira you had met other than Giyuu. Mitsuri was incredibly kind, high spirited, and a fantastic leader. You admired her strength and skills as a slayer and as silly as it sounded, you hoped to be just like her someday.
And so, with her in mind, you put on the 'uniform' and followed your crow to the Butterfly mansion where you would get to officially meet the other Hashira for the first time.
As you approached the courtyard, you could hear sounds of talking and laughter and tugged at your uniform. Again.
Every step you took, you held down your skirt, afraid even the small gust of wind would expose you to the entire world. And when you didn't have a hold on your skirt, your hand covered the opening in your shirt in a weak attempt to hide your cleavage as much as you could. The lack of chest bindings was already uncomfortable to you, but feeling the breeze on your chest was an all-new experience. You didn't have a haori to provide you cover but made a mental note to get one after this.
Finally, you saw the other Hashira, all gathered on the front porch of the Butterfly Mansion. Some sat on the porch talking while others stood around in their own small groups or by themselves.
You hid behind a tree, spying on them for a moment. They all looked so intimating.
Then your eyes caught a familiar red and checkered haori. You saw Giyuu, standing by himself, eyes pointed at the ground and his arms crossed. Your breath got caught in your throat at the sight of him. It's been months since you'd last seen his raven black hair and deep blue eyes. He looked good. Still the skinny kid you grew up with, but it was obvious he had put on some muscle. His shoulders were widener and his thighs filled out his pants better.
You swallowed and tore your eyes away from him.
You took another deep breath to calm the rest of your nerves, tugged the skirt down one more time, and pulled at the opening at your chest before you walked out from behind the tree and towards the group.
Mitsuri was the first one to see you. She squealed and waved frantically. She called your name. "You made it!"
Your pace slowed as all the Hashira turned and looked at you, curious. Your eyes bounced between all of them and gulped.
"Hi," you greeted with a wave. You introduced yourself and bowed. You felt the breeze between your breasts and raised a hand to cover them before you stood back up. "It's nice to finally meet you all."
Sweat gathered on your temple and the back of your neck. All their eyes were locked onto you. They scanned you, analyzed you, took in the new girl for the first time.
That was when the man with yellow and red hair smiled at you. "Welcome! Please, join us!" he waved you over with such enthusiasm that you almost worried he was too eager to talk to you. But his smile was kind, and his eyes were respectful, locked onto your face.
You walked over to him and fought the urge to tug at your skirt.
"I am Rengoku Kyojuro! The Flame Pillar!" He held out a hand for you to shake. "Pleasure to meet you!"
You took his hand and your whole body shook as he shook your hand. You covered your chest to keep the girls at bay and smiled at him. "Pleasure is all mine!"
He laughed, overly joyous.
Mitsuri came over and pulled you into a quick hug. You tried to ignore how your exposed skin touched hers, but a blush covered your cheeks anyway.
She pulled away and took your hands in hers. "It's going to be so much fun having another girl around! I'm so excited!"
You chuckled at her and allowed your hands to drop.
A large arm was thrown over your shoulders from behind. You jumped when the gold band on his arm touched your neck. It was cold and caused you to shiver.
"My my, look what the cat dragged in," he said as he leaned down close to your ear. "Names Uzui Tengen. God of Festivals, the king of flashiness." He removed his arm and stood in front of you. He took your hand and brought a kiss to your knuckle.
"Uhh, nice to meet you," you stammered out, nervous from his attention. He was quite handsome.
"Pleasure is all mine," he winked before he let go of your hand.
You took a step back out of nerves and looked down at your feet and caught a glimpse of your breasts as you did. You covered your chest again and tried not to make it obvious by tugging at a button. You could feel the others eyes on you, and you were too afraid to look up, worried they were looking at your exposed body just as much as you were.
You swallowed and continued to fiddle with the button. Mitsuri seemed so comfortable in her uniform, not worried about her exposed skin as she bounced around and waved at the Hashira with the stripped haori and snake on his shoulder.
The small breeze that flowed through the courtyard picked up and so did your nerves. Your hands moved down to your skirt just in time to cover yourself resulting in your chest being on display again. Your hands awkwardly moved across your body, and you wished for the ground to swallow you where you stood before you expose yourself to your comrades.
That was when a figure stood in front of you, shielding you from the eyes of your comrades.
You looked up to see Giyuu. Your eyes were level with his chin, inches apart. You hadn't even seen him approach.
"Giyuu," you whispered.
"Why are you wearing that?" he asked you quietly, eyes locked onto the top of your head.
"This is what the Kakushi gave me. Said the other female Hashira were wearing it."
"Oh yeah? Then why isn't Kocho wearing it?"
You looked off to the side and found the Insect Hashira, and sure enough, she was completely covered. Jacket buttoned up to her neck and wearing pants.
Your face reddened in horror. You completely forgot about Shinobu. You had only seen her in passing, never actually getting the chance to speak to her directly. On the occasion you had an injury or a cold, it was usually one of her girls that helped you out.
"But... but Mitsuri-"
"Is too nice to tell that pervert off," Giyuu interrupted. "I don't remember you being so nice."
"Oh, so you do remember me?" you groaned under your breath.
He sighed. His face dropped at your tone knowingly.
"Ah, finally decided to join the rest of us, huh Tomikoa?" Uzui asked. "Although you're blocking the view from our newest Hashira."
You felt the air grow cold as Giyuu's gaze hardened into a glare at Uzui's words. Slowly, he turned his head and glared at Uzui over his shoulder.
Uzui's smirked fluttered slightly and he held his hands up. "Whoa, I didn't mean it like that."
Giyuu continued to glare and you tugged on his haori. "Stop you're embarrassing me," you whispered as you watched the other Hashira turn and look at the scene.
Giyuu turned around, still glaring at Uzui as he continued to block you from view.
Annoyed by his silence, you peaked over his shoulder and smiled politely at Uzui. You tugged at Giyuu's ear and moved him away from in front of you.
Giyuu groaned under his breath and wrenched your hold from his ear to rub it.
Uzui smirked and pointed two fingers at you both. "Ah, so you two know each other, do ya? Nice!"
"No way!" A new voice yelled.
You turned and made eye contact with a larger, more muscular man covered in scars. His white hair bounced against his forehead as he stomped over to you.
He ran his eyes down your body. You didn't get the vibe he was checking you out. It felt more like he was analyzing you.
"There's no way you know Tomioka," he snarled at Giyuu before he looked back at you.
You felt small next to him, even though your nose reached his shoulder. He was the most intimidating one out of them all and not just because of his scars and build.
You looked at Giyuu. His hands were by his sides, wrapped tightly into fists. His eyes were locked onto your face, reading you in a way no one else could. His blood grew hotter the longer Sanemi looked at you.
"We grew up together," you explained. "Trained under the same Master."
"That's interesting," Kocho piped up, a smile on her face. "Tomioka hasn't mentioned you once."
Your heart tugged in your chest.
Giyuu looked at your face. Your eyes were wide, a frown on your face, a small dust of pink on your cheeks as you tugged on the uniform once again.
Giyuu closed his eyes and sighed. He walked back into your space, reached around Sanemi, and grabbed your wrist. He pulled you away from the crowd and up the stairs of the Butterfly mansion.
"Giyuu, what are you doing?" you whispered. Your ears burned in embarrassment as you felt everyone's eyes on you both.
"Kocho has spare clothes in her office."
You tugged on the uniform again, embarrassed that it was so obvious you were uncomfortable.
The smell of medicine and herbs hit your nose as it always does within these walls. You could hear Aoi and the girls talking and laughing a couple rooms down.
Giyuu opened the door to Kocho's office and pointed to a lone cabinet. "She keeps them in there."
You tried not to think about why Giyuu knows that this is where Kocho keeps her spare clothes.
Carefully, you crotched down and started to dig through the spare pants and shirts.
You heard Giyuu gasp behind you which caused you to turn and look at him over your shoulder. He glared at the wall; hands balled into fists at his sides. A dark shade of red crept up the collar of his uniform and covered his face.
The air was thick; tension rolled between the two of you. It'd been months since you'd last heard from him, since you'd last seen him. Surely, he felt the awkward pull between the two of you just as much as you.
You cleared your throat and tried to play nice. You both were Hashira now. And even though he broke his promise and you were mad at him, you still cared about him and clung onto that small part of you that hoped for things to go back to the way they were before.
You grabbed what you needed and closed the cabinet. You held up a pair of pants and laid them over your legs. "Hey, do you think these will fit?" you asked Giyuu. "I think the shirt might still be a little tight but as long as it buttons, I don't care," you laughed to yourself. You looked over at Giyuu again who was still frozen in place.
"Giyuu?"
"I'm going to kill that pervert."
You were taken aback from his words and dark tone in his voice. You looked down at your uniform again.
"It really is that bad, huh?" you flushed with embarrassment. You blamed your stupidity on your nerves.
"He doesn't deserve to see you like that," GIyuu mumbled under his breath, not wanting you to hear it, but you did.
And when he finally looked back at you, you caught it. The way his eyes darted down to take a peek at your exposed skin before he would force himself to look back at your face.
He's never seen so much of your skin before. Your usual uniform covered almost all of your body except your knees and shins. The most Giyuu had seen of you had been your thigh when you got a nasty scratch from a demon.
And even then, Giyuu left the room the second Aoi pushed your skirt up to examine the cut. You never found out why, figured it was because he was trying to respect your modesty.
But right now, Giyuu looked at you like a man who didn't know what the word 'modesty' even meant.
Whether you knew it or not, you had changed too. Your body was fuller. Through the little bit of fabric that covered your body, it was obvious you had built some descent muscle. You had grown stronger, more feminine, since the last time Giyuu had seen you.
He'd always thought you were beautiful, but seeing you for the first time in months, in that perverts uniform, it drove him crazy. Made his mouth water. Made his eyes wonder where they never had before.
He licked his lips, eyes darkening as his eyes took another swipe over your body.
Your hands gripped the clothes in your hands as you swam in the dark blue of his eyes. "Giyuu?"
He was slow to enter your space. He allowed you time to back away, but you didn't.
You weren't blind. Giyuu was incredibly handsome, beautiful even, perhaps the most attractive man you've ever seen. Ever since you were kids, you always had a small crush on him but never gave it much thought. You both were trained to be slayers, to be warriors. You didn't think there was time to have a crush, let alone act on it.
But now with him inches away from you, his breath tickling your eyelashes, the smell of him wafting in your nose, the heat coming from his body, your heart felt like it was about to explode.
Maintaining eye contact, Giyuu took the pants from your grasp and held the waistband between his fingers. He looked away from your eyes and looked down at your thighs waist. Giyuu pushed the waistband of the pants against you, fingers pressed against your hips.
You swallowed your shock; eyes locked on his hair as he pushed into you. His thumbs hooked into the pants and allowed the rest of his fingers to lay against your hips and pull you closer. You let out of a small gasp at his touch, surprised by his movements.
Giyuu looked up at you through his lashes. He didn't say anything for a moment as he took in your flushed face. The smallest smile grew on his face before he let go of your hips and handed you the pants.
"These should be good."
You loosely took the pants from his hands, still in shock from his bold touch.
You watched him turn his back to you to leave so you could change, but your words stopped him.
"You're cruel, you know that?"
He froze and you continued.
"I waited for you to write me back for months. At first, I thought you were busy, but now I see you were avoiding me," you bit your lip. "I didn't deserve that."
You didn't expect Giyuu to say anything, you actually expected him to leave and pretend nothing happened, but instead he looked at you over his shoulder.
"You're right," he admitted. "You didn't." Giyuu turned back around, his heart pounded against his chest as his eyes moved across your face. He hated the way your eyes watered without your consent, how you bit your lip to stop it from quivering, how you held the spare uniform with white knuckles and a slight tremble.
"I'm sorry."
You flinched back at his apology. "You're apologizing?" you scoffed, a smile creept on your face. "Who are you and what have you done with Giyuu?"
He rolled his eyes and turned to leave the room once again, but your hand shot out and grabbed a hold of his wrist. "I'm only teasing," your hand slid down, fingers tangled with his. "Thank you for apologizing." It wasn't much, but coming from Giyuu it was enough. For now.
Giyuu's face was red, he could feel it. His eyes were locked on the door to avoid your gaze as your fingers remained tangled with his.
He nodded once.
You scoffed and let go of his hand. Your fingers tingled and you wiped your hand on your skirt to try and stop the feeling. "I guess I'll change now," you spoke out in the open air. "You can stay there or leave; it's up to you."
Giyuu choked. The thought of you changing with him in the same room caused the heat on his cheeks to travel throughout his body. When he heard the sound of fabric moving Giyuu panicked.
"Shouldn't you..." he tried to speak but his mouth suddenly felt too dry. "But I'm not..."
You titled your head to the side, not understanding. "What's wrong?"
Giyuu swallowed and tugged on his collar. "I'm not your husband. You shouldn't be changing with me here."
You chuckled, a smirk growing on your face as you continued to change. "You can leave if you want, I didn't say you had to stay."
Giyuu continued to fiddle with his collar when he heard what sounded like your skirt falling on the floor, your shirt following soon after.
After you slid into the new uniform, you immediately felt better. The pants covered your legs, and the shirt kept you modest. You no longer feared a gust of wind or a faulty button.
Giyuu was still rooted in his same spot, incredibility stiff. You smirked to yourself and kicked your old uniform towards him. The skirt and shirt hit him in the ankle, and you watched in amusement as his shoulders tensed and his hands tugged at his own uniform, rebuttoning an already done button three times.
You crept up behind him and stood on your tiptoes. You leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "are you nervous, Giyuu?"
Giyuu gulped loud enough you heard it. "No."
You hummed. "Are you sure? You looked pretty nervous."
Giyuu shook his head, still refusing to look at you, even after feeling your breath move his hair and tickle his ear.
"Are you worried I'm standing here, naked, behind you?"
"Stop it," he said sternly. "Get dressed."
You clicked your tongue and shook your head behind him. "Always so serious."
He said your name, a warning, but you didn't listen.
This was fun.
You had never seen Giyuu so nervous around you before and it was incredibility amusing to watch.
"Tell me, Giyuu," you pierced your lips to try and keep your laughter at bay. "Do you want me to be naked behind you?"
Giyuu groaned at your words, something deep within his chest, that sent heat throughout your body. He's definitely never made that sound before.
Giyuu tilted his head turns you, not quite enough to see you, but enough for you to see his expression. He looked angry but there was something else that you didn't recognize.
In the blink of an eye, Giyuu turned around, grabbed your hips, and twirled you around so you back was against the wall next to the door.
You gasped the second you hit the wall. "Hey-"
"Shut up," Giyuu growled.
Your eyebrows pinched and you glared at him. "Can I help you?"
"You could," he tsked. "But not right now."
You raised an eyebrow. "Not right now?"
"Marry me."
Your eyes widened. "Excuse me?!"
"Marry me, then you can help me with everything I need," Giyuu's eyes darted between your eyes and your lips. He licked his own and pressed himself up against you, hands still on your waist, chest-to-chest, a thigh in-between yours.
Your face burned as you looked up at him. It had been months since you were this close to him, although, that was just two friends sparing. This, however, was completely different.
Naturally, your hands landed on his biceps, unsure if you wanted to pull him closer or push him away.
You licked your lips, not missing the way Giyuu's eyes immediately followed the movement.
"And what is it that you need, Giyuu?" you asked, voice softer than a whisper.
Giyuu's face fell closer to yours, less than an inch apart. He took a deep breath. "I need y-"
The door opened next to you and both you and Giyuu jumped apart. It was almost comical how much distance Giyuu had put between the two of you as Kocho walked into the room.
Your back straightened and you hummed. "You're right Giyuu, I forgot that there's salmon in the sake daikon." You let out a pained chuckle. "I thought it was a different kind of fish."
Giyuu rose an eyebrow at you, very confused.
"What?" He asked.
"What?" Kocho asked at the same time.
You let out a nervous laugh and waved a hand. "Never mind. Not important."
Kocho's purple eyes bounced between the two of you. She smirked at Giyuu, "Everything okay in here? We're all waiting for you two, you know."
You blushed. "Yes! Yes, I'm sorry. We just got to chatting and lost track of time." You brushed off your shirt and stood next to Kocho. "So, you're the insect Hashira I've heard so much about! Tell me, how is it that we haven't met before today? I feel like I'm always here."
Kocho chuckled and began to led you out of her office. She began to tell you about how she is always on the move with her other patients, but you couldn't bring yourself to listen.
Instead, you looked back at Giyuu, who was already looking at you, longingly. You gave him a shy smile before you exited the room with the Insect Hashira.
Fourth time: Training the others was exhausting.
In order to stand a chance against Muzan, you and your fellow Hashira agreed to train the other slayers and get them strong enough to not get killed the second they get into a fight with a demon.
It was also an attempt to unlock the slayer mark.
Your job as the Leaf Hashira was to help the other slayers maintain their balance. For their training exercise, each slayer was given stilts to tie to the bottom of their feet and then they had to fight you without losing their balance and falling. In your mind, if they could fight someone like you on stilts with no issue then they could handle any kind of terrain when they have to fight a demon.
You were exhausted.
Not only because you were spending every hour of daylight training the others, but also because you were up all night training by yourself.
Even after all the others went to bed, snoring the day away in your estate, you kept your stilts on and performed all six forms of leaf breathing over and over again until your feet with blue and your legs were numb.
Despite the chill in the air, you were burning up.
The jacket of your uniform already off and laying on your porch with your shirt sticking to you like a second skin from your sweat. You landed sixth form once again, exhaustion seeped into your bones, but you had enough energy to go again.
You walked over to the well and sat down on the roof to take a moment and catch your breath and drink a little water.
The moon provided you enough light to see the state of your courtyard. Usually, your courtyard was clean and well-maintained. The gravel raked, and your flowers bright and carried a sweet smell throughout the courtyard. Now, after days of training the others, your gravel was pushed into random piles with the dirt beneath poking through. And your flowers, your poor poor flowers, had turned into cushions for the others to fall into whenever they lost their balance.
Tanjiro had offered to replant them for you, but you had declined with a laugh. He was a sweet boy. You could see how much he respected you as he held onto every word you said. He took your constructive criticism as motivation to grow stronger and always asked questions on how he could improve.
You thought he was ready to move up to Mitsuri, but decided to keep him around for one more day to ensure he was ready. If he thought you were difficult, well, he had something else coming.
You wiped the sweat from your forehead and braced your legs, ready to go again. That was even you caught sight of him, Giyuu, stood at your gate. He looked like he had been there longer than you had realized. When your eyes met in the darkness, Giyuu finally moved away from the gate. His haori swayed behind him as he walked up the path to the engawa.
He looked tired. His feet drug through the gravel and he actually used the railing near the stairs as he climbed up them.
"Welcome," you greeted as you stood on wobbly legs.
Giyuu didn't reply and leaned against the railing. He watched you approach; head tilted up to look at your face.
You smirked. "Don't look up my pant leg, Giyuu. You know better than that."
Giyuu didn't respond, instead he took his gaze down to the stilts still attached to your feet.
"How do you get out of those?" he asked.
You were surprised by his somber tone but chose not to comment on it.
"I just lean against the roof, untie them, then jump off."
"Doesn't that hurt your legs?"
You smiled. "I try to land as gracefully as I can."
He didn't say anything else. His gaze returned to your face. Even in the darkness you could see the bags under his eyes.
"You having trouble sleeping again?" you asked into the quiet night. "I don't have anything here that'll help with that, you know. I haven't had the time to get more tea-"
"It's fine," he interrupted. He looked off into your courtyard.
You felt anxiety blossom in your chest at his tone. Giyuu usually made you guess what he was feeling, not one to share his emotions. Not one to wear them either.
But you could see it on his face, something familiar to you, something you had grown used to identifying ever since Sabito died.
Giyuu was struggling with his own thoughts, with his doubts, with his fears.
Without another word, you walked over to the roof, grabbed hold of it, and began to untie the stilts. One stilt fell to the ground, kicking up some dust and moving your gravel once again, but before you could tie the other, Giyuu reached up with both hands.
"What are you doing?" you asked.
Giyuu beckoned you towards him with his fingers. "I'll catch you."
You chuckled and wiped your cheeks to try and hide your blush.
"I just told you how I get down," you reminded him.
"And I'm offering to catch you."
You sighed. It was pointless to argue with him and you were ready to finally get out of these stilts for the night. With a tug, the rope wrapped around your foot fell, but you remained on the stilt.
"You sure?" You asked Giyuu.
He rolled his eyes and beckoned you again. As gracefully as you could, you tilted the stilt forward and you began to fall. Before your reflexes kicked in, Giyuu caught you by your waist and pulled you into his chest.
You laughed. "Whoa!" your legs wobbled, now on solid ground. "Thanks!"
You move back but Giyuu didn't let go. Instead, he pulled you closer to his chest with his arms wrapping themselves around your back.
"Giyuu-"
"Shh, just," he sunk into you, unable to finish what he was going to say.
You nodded and wrapped your arms around him, hands flat against his back, underneath his haori and rubbed his back. Your fingers bounced against the fabric of his uniform. He was warm and smelled like the woods. Something earthy, something that felt like him. His hand moved, one remained on your back but the other crept up your spine, causing you to shiver, before it threaded through your hair and cupped the back of your head. He pushed your face further into his neck as his own nuzzled into yours.
You continued to rub his back, but couldn't help but ask, "Giyuu, what's wrong? You're scaring me."
Giyuu squeezed you once before he let out a shaky breath against your skin. "Sabito, he, I just," he inhaled your scent. "I needed to see you," he repeated.
You sighed and melted into him. Your fingers gripped his clothes in an attempt to pull him even closer than he already was.
You felt his tears not soon after. His tears dripped down his nose and onto your neck and into your hair. The mix of sweat from training and his tears were uncomfortable on your skin but you didn't dare move.
You held Giyuu until his cries quieted and he finally rose his face from your neck.
You reached up and cradled his face into your hands. Your thumbs wiped the remaining tears from his face. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Don't be," you shook your head.
He nodded. He slowly untangled his fingers from your hair and brushed the sweaty strands sticking up back down. He didn't meet your eyes, but you smiled at him anyway.
"Sabito, huh? It's been a while since you've brought him up."
Giyuu shook his head. "Was just reminded of him today. Something Tanjiro said."
You nodded. "He's a good kid. I can see why you're so fond of him."
Giyuu didn't comment on what you said. He continued to brush his fingers through your hair while keeping you close. It's not like you wanted to pull away, but he wasn't giving you much of a choice.
"I'm sorry I haven't been able to come see you. I've been busy training these kids," you gestured towards your house where the others were fast asleep. You were glad they were so exhausted because if they saw two Hashira this close in the middle of the night, they might assume something... inappropriate was happening.
Giyuu nodded. "I know."
You sighed. "Can I be honest? It's exhausting. At first it was kind of fun to order them around, especially the cocky ones, but now I just want a day to myself."
Giyuu let out a puff of air from his nose, a small laugh. "Training in the middle of the night probably doesn't help."
You rolled your eyes.
Giyuu poked your forehead. "You need to rest."
You slapped his hand away. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Just did," he poked you again. "So do it."
You scoffed. "I don't take orders from you, Mister." You leaned away from him and poked him in the chest. "You didn't even want to help with the training, so you don't get to say anything."
Giyuu rolled his eyes and loosened his hold on you, hand leaving your hair so both could sit on your hips. Your hands found their place on his chest, and you could feel his heart pounding through his uniform. You played with a random button on his chest until the exhaustion from the day began to weigh on you.
"Get. Some. Rest." Giyuu ordered as he poked you after every word.
You slapped his hand away again.
"I'm not tired just yet," you gestured behind you. "I wanted to get a few more runs in."
Giyuu rolled his eyes at your words. He brought a hand up to your cheek and forced you to look into his eyes. His eyes were puffy from crying, and the redness made the blue stand out even more than usual. But he was still your Giyuu, even when you couldn't tell what he was thinking, even when he can't express himself, he was your Giyuu.
"Where are the other pairs?" he asked.
You tilted your head.
"The other pairs of stilts," he clarified. "I'll join you."
You let out a huff. "You wanna give the stilts a try?"
Giyuu rolled his eyes and finally released his hold on you. Even though you were burning up from your previous activities, now you could feel the cool air and forced yourself not to dive back into his arms for warmth.
"How hard can it be? You do it," he said before he turned around and began to walk back down the stairs to search for a pair of stilts.
You gasped. "You jerk!"
Giyuu didn't respond but you could practically see the cockiness oozing from him as he found his own pair of stilts.
You sat on the edge of your engawa and retied yours on. Even though you could feel every muscle in your body crying for you to sit down, you ignored them, excited to duel with Giyuu. It'd been a while since the two of you dueled. You could feel adrenaline coarse through your veins.
Once your stilts were tied, you used a beam to pull yourself up until you towered over your home, the edge of the roof dug into your hips as you adjusted to the stilts once again.
You glanced over at Giyuu. His stilts were tied to his feet, and he pulled himself up just like you did until his back was straight. He stomped his feet to test the stilts and nodded, comfortable with how they were tied.
When he looked back at you, you felt your breath get caught in your throat. Something about how he looked in the moonlight caused your heart to pound against your chest.
Before, you were worried about your oldest friend. You focused on comforting him, allowed him to cry into your shoulder like you used to when you were kids. But now, something had shifted.
Giyuu walked over to the bucket of practice swords you had placed on your roof and grabbed two.
He walked over to you with bird-like elegance, as if he had been walking with stilts his entire life.
You hadn't realized you were checking him out until he was right in front of you with a raised eyebrow. You blinked and hid your blush with your hair.
He handed you the sword and you thanked him. When you reached out to grab the sword by its handle, your fingers overlapped with his. You tried to ignore how the touch of his skin burned your fingers, despite his hands being freezing cold.
You quickly took the sword and turned around to create some distance. You cursed under your breath. "Get it together," you whispered to yourself.
Not even five minutes ago you held him against you with his face buried into your neck; why the hell were you blushing over a slight hand touch?
You shook out your arms and finally met his eye.
"Ready?" you asked.
Giyuu nodded and adjusted his grip on the sword.
Then you both moved.
Training with Giyuu all your life taught you many things about him.
How he favored leading with his right foot, how he went on the defense to try and tire out his opponent, and how he was quiet about his strength. Giyuu was no Gyomei or Sanemi in terms of muscle but that doesn't mean he was weak by any means. He was stronger than you, that was a fact, but you liked to think you were faster than him.
That was why you rushed around him. You rose your sword to hit him in the back, but he turned on his heel and blocked you at the last second and pushed you back. You flew across the courtyard and landed on your stilted feet before rushing him once again.
You brought your sword down and pushed against him.
"You seem distracted," he said now that he was close.
You pushed him away to gain some distance and backed away from him. He followed of course, your swords clashed over and over as you dodged and weaved.
You scoffed. "Don't know what you're talking about."
Giyuu brought an attack down on you. You blocked but he was close. Too close. His nose was inches from yours and you could feel his breath on your face.
You squeaked and pushed him away again, but he didn't allow you to get much distance. He swung at you again and once you rose your sword to block his attack, he hooked a leg behind yours. His leg was pressed against yours, his thigh pressed against the back of yours, like you were sitting in his lap. He grabbed both sides of his sword and brought it in closer to your neck. You tried to keep it away, but at the strange angle, you struggled to gain leverage to push him away.
"You're cheating," you choked out. "You wouldn't grab the blade of your sword like that."
Giyuu scoffed and pressed himself closer to you, back now against your shoulder.
Fine, you thought. If he's going to play dirty, so am I.
"You know," you swallowed. "If you wanted me to sit in your lap so bad, you could've just asked."
No reaction.
You pushed against him again and swore.
"It's kind of nice actually. Being close to you like this, all hot and sweaty," you continued.
You smirked when he tensed.
"Can you imagine if I was still in that other uniform? You know, the one that-"
"I know the one."
You chuckled at the intensity of his words. They sat deep and heavy in his chest, almost like he groaned when he said them.
Even though your dirty play was working, his hold against you was still strong. Then you came to the realization that if you can't push forward to escape his hold, maybe pushing back against him will work.
In a quick motion, you stopped pushing against his sword and pushed your body back into him. Giyuu let out a small "oof" once he felt the weight of your body push into his and stumbled on his stilts.
You slipped underneath his arms and then you were back in the fight.
Swing, hit, swing, block. Back and forth, over and over again.
Your sore muscles protested as you moved. Your calves and feet screamed at you, tired of being on stilts for the days on end, but you refused to give up.
But the problem with knowing Giyuu as well as you do, is that he knew you just as well, if not better.
He's seen you train with both water breathing and leaf breathing. He watched you adapt to a new technique. He watched you learn how to tackle opponents larger than you without a sweat.
So, when he ducked underneath a swing from your sword and hit the back of your knee, you nearly crumbled to the ground.
"You still lock your knees," he said.
You cursed under your breath and glared at him over your shoulder.
You swear you saw a small smirk on his face and that filled your chest with a hot burst of anger.
With all your strength, you brought down your sword. Giyuu moved to block it, but the second your swords came into contact, they broke.
You stopped after hearing the sound of wood hitting the gravel beneath your feet.
Giyuu stopped as well.
You straightened and tossed the broken practice sword to the ground.
"Don't remember you playing so dirty," you teased.
Giyuu tossed his broken sword onto the ground as well and sent you a pointed glare. You could tell he was mad your little distraction actually worked and smirked at him.
"You're so easy to distract, Giyuu," you chuckle. "I didn't think that would actually work." You put your hands on your hips and clicked your tongue. "What would the others think if they heard you almost lost like that?"
You were too busy laughing that you hadn't noticed Giyuu approach you. You jumped when you turned to look at him only to be met with his chin an inch away from your face.
"I need to get you a bell," you teased.
Giyuu stared at you, face blank, but you could tell he was thinking.
"You've always played dirty" he said. "I was just taking inspiration from you." He walked away and sat on the edge of your roof to begin untying his stilts.
"You heading home?" you asked him.
Giyuu nodded and tugged on the rope wrapped around his ankle. In his hurry to remove himself from the stilt he created a knot that he couldn't seem to get undone.
You sighed and sat next to him, swatting his hands away. You tugged on the rope with nimble fingers; your tongue poked out of the corner of your mouth as you focused on the knot Giyuu had created.
Giyuus stare burned the side of your face. He watched you, unblinking, as you successfully untied the knot and allowed the stilt to fall to the gravel below. You moved your focus to the other stilt without question.
He was brought back to that one moment when you were children. The one you famously liked to bring up just to tease him. When you had been training late into the night, Sabito and Master Urokodaki asleep inside while the two of you dueled. He remembers you slipping and him accidently hitting you in the face so hard that you went flying into a nearby bush. Shame, guilt, and embarrassment washed over him every time he thought about it. He was worried you'd be upset or cry because he hurt you, but instead you laughed. You laughed, pulled him into the bush too, then picked leaves out of his hair with your tongue sticking out as you concentrated.
Warmth washed away the shame and guilt as he looked at you now. The little girl you once were, was still in there, deep within you. The same little girl that wanted nothing more than to stand by him, to support him, to care for him.
He hadn't realized you finished untying his stilts until he no longer felt your warmth over his lap. He finally blinked and sat up straighter and waited for you to untie your own stilts.
Once you were freed, you looked over at Giyuu with a sweet smile. "I'm so happy to finally be done with those for the day," you said with a chuckle. "You're going to be feeling it in your calves later."
Giyuu didn't respond. His eyes shined in the moonlight, mouth agape as he looked at you. Truly looked at you. His chest burned, his throat felt tight, and he wanted nothing more than to touch your skin, feel your breath on his face, to hold you close until the rest of the world disappeared. Until it was just you and him, together, like you always wanted.
Like he always wanted.
"Giyuu?" you asked, voice soft. "You okay?"
Giyuu didn't say anything; instead, he shifted closer to you. His thigh pressed against yours and his shoulder wedged itself into yours. His arm slid behind you, fingers brushing against your uniform pants. Giyuu leaned in close and shuddered the second he felt your breath brush his face and move his hair. With hooded-eyes, Giyuu stared at your lips. He felt like he was dying and the only cure was to feel your lips against his.
Your body melted into his as he hovered over you. You tried to blame the chill of the night air, tried to tell yourself you were cold and that's why you didn't pull away from him, but who were you kidding? You wanted this. You wanted him.
Your eyes fluttered as you blinked up at him. He looked like he was holding himself back. The hand that wasn't behind you twitched at his side. Your mouth watered and you licked your lips.
Giyuu watched you do it and let out a shaky sigh. "Tell me to stop," he whispered. "Tell me."
You mirrored him with a slide of your hand until it was behind him. Fingers caught on his uniform pants, shoulder pressed against his, chests only a couple inches apart.
You shook your head. "I can't."
Giyuu shivered, "thank god."
Then his lips were on yours. At first, it was awkward, the inexperience the two of you shared obvious, but with a small adjustment his lips fit into yours like they were made for each other.
Fire burned in your veins at the feeling of his lips on yours. You'd be a liar if you said you never thought about kissing Giyuu before. You've thought about it for years, but never truly thought it would happen. Certainly not now, in the middle of the night, on your roof, both of you covered in sweat with sore muscles and feet. But it was more than you could've ever imagined.
Your hands trembled at the intensity of his kiss. To control your trembling, you snaked your free hand up to rest on his chest. You could feel his heart pounding through his uniform, the heat from his skin, and the vibrations of a low groan in his throat.
Giyuu's free hand reached over your lap and grabbed your thigh, fingers digging into the plush skin, blunt nails scratching at your skirt like it personality offended him.
Your lips moved against each other in hurried, sloppy movements. As an experiment, Giyuu poked your bottom lip with his tongue and when you opened your mouth without a second of hesitation he thought he was going to have a heart attack.
Your tongue brushed and you couldn't stop the small moan from slipping out of your mouth and against his lips. His taste, his scent, his touch, it was driving you crazy. When he let out his own moan in response, you forced yourself to pull away. Giyuu chased after you, lips searching for yours blindly, but you pushed against his chest to keep him back.
You giggled. "Hold on. I gotta catch my breath."
Giyuu shook his head, eyes locked on your lips. "No, you don't." He pressed his lips against yours once again like a man addicted to the feeling.
You giggled and broke the kiss again. "Yes, I do." The hand on his chest slid up to his shoulder.
Giyuu groaned and pulled at your leg with the strength of a starving man. He moved you so you hovered over his lap, straddling him.
You threw your arms around his shoulders. "Careful! We're still on the roof in case you forgot."
Giyuu snaked his arms around your waist. You could feel his rough, calloused fingers dragging over your uniform, crawling at the fabric, tugging it to pull you closer.
"I got you," he said before crashing his lips against yours once again.
There was more confidence behind this kiss.
His hands seemed to have a mind of their own. Even though they started on your waist, they moved up and down your back. You arched your back, sensitive to his touch, and pressed your chest against his.
Giyuu's hands found their homes on your lower back and your neck. His fingers tangled into the hair at the base of your neck to keep you close.
You cupped his jaw, thumbs brushing against the softness of his cheeks.
You bit his lip and pulled back slightly. Giyuu's eyes fluttered open for a moment and with a groan shoved his tongue back into your mouth. You took turns swirling and sucking on each other's tongues and with each desperate swipe of a tongue or nibble of a lip you could feel the pool in your belly grow and grow.
You broke the kiss for a second. "Giyuu," you whimpered before he pressed his lips back against yours. "Giyuu."
He broke the kiss. "Yes?"
Your body was trembling, adrenaline and something hotter coursing through you. You were burning, every touch, every kiss left you breathless. Like you had just ran miles and miles to get here.
"You sure?" you asked.
Giyuu's eyebrows pinched, confused, before his eyes brightened in recognition. His wondering hands moved up to cup your jaw, mirroring how you were holding him.
"You've ruined me for anyone else," he admitted, voice strong and firm. "I don't want to stop. And I don't mean just tonight."
Your body shivered, a mix of the cold air creeping up your back and the heaviness of his words.
You nodded and placed a slow, soft, kiss onto his cheek. The same cheek you kissed when you were kids.
Giyuu dropped your face and wrapped his arms above your back. He pulled you into a deep hug, face buried into your neck just like before. You could feel his hands shaking against your back. Your arms snaked around his neck and ever-so-slowly, you rocked your hips against his.
Giyuu's hold tightened and he whimpered into your neck. His eyes squeezed shut and he placed small kisses on your skin. He scooted back, getting further away from the edge of your roof. He moved back so his legs no longer hung off of the side and he could lay down. You adjusted, hands on either side of his head to hover above him, hips still moving.
You could feel his arousal through your uniforms and chuckled when you caught a peak of the blush on his cheeks.
You lowered to kiss him again. Your lips were bruised and your chin was wet, but you couldn't bring yourself to care. You only wanted more.
With a good roll of your hips that set heat through both of your bodies, Giyuu pushed you away. His nose pressed into yours as he fought with himself not to dive back in.
"Say you'll marry me," he whimpered.
In your lust-filled haze, you didn't understand him at first.
"What?" you asked.
Giyuu stopped your hips from rocking, knuckles white as they gripped your hips.
"Say you'll marry me," he repeated. "I don't want to stop, but I can't do this without you saying yes."
You shook your head, finding humor in his timing. You snaked your hands through his hair, which caused a groan to slip through his bruised lips and his eyes to roll back.
"Please," he whispered your name. "Say it."
"Giyuu," you looked into his dark blue eyes. "I love you."
He froze beneath you. The tremble in his hands stopped and his breath got caught in his throat.
"I've loved you since we were kids," you gave him a watery smile. "Of course, I want to marry you." You watched his eyes brighten and your heart broke at his excitement. "But we can't. Muzan, he... he's planning something and... and we have to be ready for it."
You watched Giyuu's eyes go blank and deep frown form on his bruised lips. It felt like his heart was just ripped out of his chest. He knew you were right, of course he did. Muzan was planning something, something big. It's the whole reason why you and the other Hashira were training the other slayers. Why you were up late into the night training on your own. Why Tanjiro keeps showing up on his doorstep every day to ask him about training.
It just wasn't the right time.
Your eyes watered. "I'm sorry," you sniffled. "I'm so sorry."
Giyuu shook his head and pulled you down to lay on him. One hand rubbed your back while the other played with your hair as you cried into his neck. The heat from before was gone, the cool fall air gave the two of you goosebumps as it passed, but neither of you moved.
Giyuu held you tight that night. He never let go, didn't even squirm when the tile from the roof began to dig into his back. Instead, he blinked his own tears away and swallowed his sobs.
"It's okay," he choked out. "I..." he swallowed and turned his head to nuzzle his face into your hair. He inhaled your scent, a mix of sweat and something floral, but all you. He let out a shaky sigh.
"I love you too."
Fifth time: It was over.
No more demons.
No more late nights hunting and killing.
No more training.
It's over.
It took some adjusting. Your body had grown used to waking up with the sun and walking through the night with the moon as your only friend. Now you sleep in and go to bed the second your eyes feel tired.
You hung up your sword, even though it was damaged after the battle, you hung it up on your bedroom wall in its sheath, never to be picked up again.
One of your favorite parts of retirement was being able to dress for you. You wore pretty yukatas in all kinds of colors and patterns and spent your extra money on pretty hairpins at the market to match.
It took some time, but you finally beginning to enjoy retirement.
Your actual favorite part was being able to spend time with your friends. After the war ended, you became a frequent visitor at the Tengen household. They would invite you for meals, to the hot springs, Suma even taught you how to sew last week. It was fun.
Tengen was incredibly kind, even though he liked to tease you. Today you stopped by to bring your friends some homemade bread, an old recipe Mitsuri had taught you ages ago. They asked you to stay and chat but you declined and promised to stop by later in the week for dinner.
Ever the gentleman, Tengen offered you his arm and walked you out to the front gate.
"I'm beginning to think my girls like you more than me," he joked.
You chuckled at his words, something you don't find yourself doing very often anymore. "I have been told that I am quite charming."
Tengen nudged your side with his elbow. "Wasn't I the one to tell you that?"
"Maybe you were." You squeezed his arm and stopped at the gate. "I hope you enjoy the bread. I made a test loaf just to make sure it was actually edible."
Tengen chuckled. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
You let go of his arm and took a step away.
"Have you heard anything from Tomioka yet?" he said before you could get too far.
You froze at his question. You haven't seen Giyuu since the last, and final, Hashira meeting. At first, you both agreed you needed time to adjust, to get used to retirement life, to face your nightmares alone. But that was weeks ago, and even though you've written to him, asked him to come by your home for dinner, he never answered. One time you went to his estate to confront him, but he wasn't there and you couldn't bring yourself to do it again.
And Tengen knew that. You had opened up to him about your feelings for Giyuu over hot food and sake soon after you tried to see him at his estate. Tengen could see how much it bothered you, how you blamed yourself for something that wasn't your fault, how you didn't understand why Giyuu was avoiding you.
You swallowed and looked down at your feet. "No."
Tengen hummed and his eyes hardened with disappointment. He didn't tell you that he saw Giyuu just last week, or the fact that Giyuu wouldn't stop talking and asking about you. If you were eating enough, if you have been sleeping, if you looked happy.
Tengen placed his hand on your shoulder and gave you a polite squeeze. "Maybe you should go to his estate again."
Your heart twisted painfully in your chest.
"I don't know, Tengen. I don't think he wants to see me."
"Oh please. You went over there once when he wasn't home. That doesn't mean he's avoiding you!" he snapped.
Your head snapped up at him. "He hasn't answered any of my letters, Tengen! He hasn't come over even though I've told him multiple times in said letters that he could."
"It's Tomioka," Tengen reminded you as he rolled his eye. "The man is as dense as a rock."
You opened your mouth to argue but Tengen placed a large hand on your shoulder and silenced you. "I know you're afraid, but you both are going crazy without each other."
Your eyes widened. "How do you know?"
Tengen rolled his eyes. "I just do, okay? You talk about each other all the time."
You flinched at his words. "So, you've seen him?"
Tengen said your name, voice softening, eye twinkling. "That's not important right now. Look, you're not stupid. You've never been a stupid woman. But Tomioka has been a stupid man. You need to go to him if you ever want to see him again."
You crossed your arms and kicked dust with your feet. "Why do I have to be the one to do it?"
"I repeat: Tomioka is a stupid man. Try again. Today! Go over there and don't take his silence as an answer. Break down his door if you have to!"
Your mouth twitched in amusement. "'Break down his door?'"
"Yes! Because by God if I have to listen to either of you talk about the other for one second longer, I'm going to take out my other eye!" he exclaimed as he shook your shoulder.
"Oh my god! Fine!" you rolled your eyes at his dramatic nature. "I'll go there now, just, leave your good eye alone." You turned and left his estate without another word.
On your way to Giyuus home, you chewed on your fingernails as your mind ran in circles on what the hell you were supposed to say to him.
Your first thought was to be angry. He abandoned you, again, even after everything the two of you had been through.
But another part of you wanted to cry and hold him. You loved him, he said he loved you, said he wanted to marry you before the battle. But he still left. Never reached out. Left you behind.
Anger and sadness clashed together in your mind until his estate came into view.
Anxiety was the dominating emotion as you stared at the closed gate. Your body screamed at you to turn around, to give up, to go home and crawl into your bed and cry in self-pity.
You opened the gate.
The door drug on the gravel as you pushed it open enough to squeeze through. You stepped in and closed the gate behind you, cringing at the volume of the moving gravel.
You tiptoed through his courtyard and admired his garden. The gravel was racked into a beautiful pattern without a single weed which impressed you far more than it should. You could tell he took a lot of time out of his day to take care of his garden. The flowers in his garden were all open, bright, and smelled amazing.
You slowly approached the front door and with a shaky fist, knocked twice. You waited and tried to listen for movement with your good ear but couldn't hear anything. Embarrassed, you knocked again, a little louder, but still, nothing.
You sighed and lowered your fist. You cursed Tengen before you turned to leave, but then the door opened.
Your head snapped to the door, hand reaching out for the ghost of a sword, but then you relaxed.
"Giyuu?" you asked, voice small.
His blue eyes widened as he whispered your name in disbelief. His eyes scanned your face as if he forgot what you looked like.
Your eyes did the same and you held back a gasp when you noticed he cut his hair.
Neither of you said anything for a while. You just stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move, say something, but everything was still.
You felt tears pool in your eyes and a lump grow in your throat. You forced yourself to swallow and with a shaky sigh you grew the courage to speak.
"You're cruel, you know that?" your own voice felt different. It was raw and broken as you stared at the person who has broken your heart over and over again yet held it so gently, like it was a flower from his garden.
"I've written you letters. Waited for you to come by the house," you pointed a finger at him. "But you never reached out. Never came over." The tears began to fall, and you began to choke on your words.
Giyuu took one step closer, but you backed away from him.
"You're a cruel, cruel man, Giyuu Tomioka. I don't deserve this. After everything, I don't deserve it!"
You waited for a response. You watched his body, waited for him to move, but he didn't. He was frozen, staring at you, as if he couldn't tell if you were real or not.
You choked out another sob and wiped your eyes. You had hoped for a fight, a response, an apology, anything from him but he gave you nothing.
"Fine," you whispered under your breath. "I guess if you have nothing to say then... forget it. Have a good life, Tomioka." You turned on your heel and marched down the stairs to the gate, trying to keep your sobs quiet until you were far enough away.
A hand grabbed your forearm and stopped you in your tracks.
Giyuu whimpered your name and you could tell he was crying.
"Please, don't go," he begged, voice quiet.
You wiped your face on your sleeve. "Is that really all you have to say?" You heart twisted in your chest. "Damn you."
"I've been a coward," he began. "I haven't been fair to you, I know that."
Slowly, you turned and looked at him. He looked younger, healthier, like he had been getting proper rest. But his eyes are what stopped you. Giyuu looked at you with such intensity it was earth shattering. His eyes were begging you to stay, to listen, to hear him out.
"Please, stay. Let me explain."
You shook your head, lip quivering. "You broke my heart when you didn't come."
Giyuu shook his head, hand shaking and tightening on your arm. "Please! Please, let me explain! And... and then if you never want to see me again then," he looked nauseous at the thought. "Then we can go our separate ways."
You struggled with his words, with his pleading. You didn't want to stay; you didn't want to hear him out. You just wanted to go home. But this was Giyuu you were talking to. The same Giyuu that you grew up with. The same Giyuu who was one of your first friends. The same Giyuu that helped you grow as a warrior. The same Giyuu who stood up for you when that pervert tailor made you that goddamn uniform. The same Giyuu who was your first and last kiss.
So, you followed him to the engawa and sat down next to him with a healthy amount of distance and he talked.
He talked until he was practically blue in the face. Until he made sure he said everything he wanted to say without interruption. How at first he needed time to think, to adjust. How he didn't leave his bed for a week until deciding enough was enough and reached out to Tanjiro, to Tengen. But not to you because he could never get his words right and had a growing pile of crumbed papers sitting in the corner of his room all addressed to you.
All you could do was listen. You nodded every time he snuck a glance at you through his lashes. You hummed to encourage him to continue when he got hung up on his words. You listened and didn't look away until he was done.
He trailed off his final thought and the two of you sat in silence. The sound of birds chirping in the distance filed that silence until you finally looked away from him. You watched the clouds above you and tried to make up shapes to distract yourself from your shaky hands and quivering lip.
Giyuu shuffled. "You don't have to forgive me," he said, timidly.
You sighed and closed your eyes. "It's... a lot."
"I know," he admitted. "I'm so, so sorry."
"Please don't apologize," you asked and swallowed the lump in your throat. "I think I need some time to think."
Giyuu nodded. "Sure."
You stood, fists down at your sides. "But," you bit your lip. "I'm open to the idea of... forgiveness."
Giyuu stood up behind you. "Really?"
You nodded. "But I'm going to need some effort from you from here on out. If I forgive you this time, I don't think I can the next," you threatened even though it made bile crawl up your throat, forcing you to swallow.
Giyuu nodded behind you. "I understand. I'll do better." He ran a hand through his hair. "Thank you."
Doubt clouded your mind but took his words with you and left his estate without another word.
Giyuu started sending you letter every day after that. He would ask how you were doing, if you had been to the market lately, if you've been eating enough. He also shared some details about how he was doing. How he visited Tengen and chewed out by the former Sound Pillar for how he's treated you, what he'd been eating, a new book he was reading.
It was... nice. Almost nostalgic. It reminded you of when you were kids and how the three of you passed notes back and forth under Master Urokodaki's nose.
In his most recent letter, Giyuu asked if he could come see you. To your surprise and his, you agreed, and now you waited anxiously for his knock.
You chewed on your nails and paced your living room for what felt like hours. You had deep cleaned your home though you felt silly for it when you remember it was just Giyuu coming over. He's seen your space in all stages of cleanliness throughout your lives, and you felt embarrassed that you scrubbed the floors so vigorously early that morning.
A knock to your door interrupted your pacing. You swallowed and wiped your clammy hands on your yukata before opening the door.
You gasped at the large bouquet of flowers presented in front of you. Giyuu peaked at you over the vibrant pedals and watched your reaction closely.
He cleared his throat and gave the bouquet a little shake, urging you to take it.
"For you," he said, trying to sound causal even though his heart was trying to burst out of his chest.
You took the flowers and gave them a sniff.
"Thank you," you said and stepped to the side. "Please, come in."
Giyuu nodded and entered your home for the first time in months. He toed off his shoes and followed you to your kitchen.
He watched you trim the flowers before putting them in a nice vase.
"They're from my garden," he told you. "I thought they smelled the best." He cringed at his own awkwardness. He felt sweaty, could you tell he was sweaty?
"They're beautiful. Maybe I need to have you come over to tend to my garden."
Giyuu smiled. "I could do that."
You were used to the silence in your home. You did live alone after all. But this silence was different. It was thick, awkward, filled with tension.
Giyuu leaned against the wall of your kitchen. His eyes traveled up and down your body, allowing himself the privilege to look at you in such a domestic setting.
"You look beautiful," he whispered into the silence.
You tensed at his words and cursed your warming cheeks.
"I don't think I've ever seen you in that color before," he continued.
You glanced down at your yukata. It was new, you thought the color complimented your skin tone nicely and liked the designs on the front. Your hair was held by a hairpin that matched, the beads almost the exact same color of the fabric.
"I bought this at the market a couple days ago," you told him.
He hummed in acknowledgement.
You finished meddling with the flowers and gestured towards your teapot. "Tea?"
Giyuu swallowed, throat drying the longer he looked at you. "Please."
The two of your moved through your home like you were walking on eggshells. Stiff, tiptoeing around the space afraid that the slightest movement would scare the other away.
You sipped on the tea in silence on opposite sides of your table. You kneeled in front of each other and sipped. You would glance at him over your cup and would tense when your eyes would meet over the rims.
"I saw Tanjiro the other day," you decided to say, tired of the quiet.
Giyuu hummed. "He mentioned that he was going to see you. He seemed excited. Has it been a while seen you've last seen each other?"
You circled a finger around the rim of your cup with a raised eyebrow pointed at him. "Like you don't know. That boy tells you everything."
Giyuu smiled fondly. "He's a good kid."
Conversation remained light between the two of you for a while. It was all the same stories and topics you shared in your letters, but it felt nice to hear anyway. You were happy for the break in tension.
As your cups ran empty and the stories faded it grew quiet between the two of you again.
You sighed and pushed your cup with your finger.
"I missed you," Giyuu said.
And just like that the tension came back tenfold, grasping at your throat and squeezing at his words.
You frowned and sat up. "Thank you for stopping by," you gestured to your door and shifted to get ready to stand. "It was nice having you."
Giyuu said your name, "don't do that."
"Do what?" you asked, acting clueless.
He said your name again and leaned forward. "I'm sorry."
You shook your head. "Please don't."
"I wanted to reply to your letters before-"
"But you didn't."
Giyuu ran a hand through his hair. "And I'm sorry for that."
"Stop it," you snapped. "Stop apologizing."
"No!" Giyuu sat up straighter. "I will apologize over and over again until you stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" you scoffed.
"Like I'm just some random guy sitting in your house."
"Well, right now you are."
You watched the hurt flash on Giyuus face, but he was quick to hide it. "I told you that I would do anything to make you forgive me."
"And what if that never happens, huh? What if I tell you to get out and that I never want to see you again?"
"Do it then! Don't hang it over my head!"
You pointed a finger at him. "Don't you dare get mad at me. This is your fault!"
"I know it is!"
"Then why are you yelling at me like it's mine?!"
Giyuu stood and you copied him. You glared at each other of the table and empty cups.
"You were the one that broke his promise."
"I needed time! I told you that!" Giyuu shook his head in disbelief. "I told you why I did it. I told you how I regret it. Damnit, I love you!"
"'Love me?!'" you couldn't help but let out a humorless laugh. "That was love? You ignoring me? You avoiding me? That was you loving me?"
GIyuu sighed through his nose, his glare darkening. "I will do anything to take it back, but I can't. I can't take it back! I regret it. But I will do everything in my power to make it up to you."
"I still don't understand why it's so hard for you to keep one promise."
"I told you why!"
"Because you're a coward?"
"Because I'm afraid!"
"Of what?"
"Of losing you anyway!"
Neither of you spoke for a moment. Your heavy breaths filled the tight space. Your hands were wrapped in tight fists at your sides, knuckles white with a slight tremble.
Your eyes were watery, but you blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay.
"I don't understand you," you choked out. "Muzan is gone. There are no more demons. And yet, you're still scared of losing me? What, you think you're going to wake up one day, come over, and find me dead on my floor?"
"Don't say that," he snapped. "Don't even joke about that."
"Then help me Giyuu! Help me understand because there's something I'm missing!" You wiped your face with your hands and began to pace in front of him. "It's all finally over. The training, the hunting, the killing, the blood, the screams, it's done. We finally have time to be normal people! To heal! We can take time out our days to learn how to sew, garden, and bake bread!" Your knees buckled but you caught yourself on a nearby wall. Giyuu reached out to steady you, but you rose a hand to stop him in his place. "Why don't you want that with me?" you asked pathetically.
GIyuu wiped his eyes on his sleeve and looked away from you. He glared at the front door and debated on whether to storm out or not. He bit his lip until he tasted copper.
"Time isn't guaranteed for us." Giyuu dug his fingers into his eyes and took a deep breath. He shook his head, still avoiding your eyes. "I don't think I can handle finally having you in my grasp... just for it to be taken away."
Realization sunk into your body.
You both had unlocked the mark during the battle. You both knew what that meant and it hung heavily in-between you.
"We can pretend to be normal. Sew, garden, bake bread," he sniffled. "But I don't want to wake up one day and have you not do the same." You finally caught his eye and he shrunk into himself. "I couldn't handle it."
"Then why even make an offer? Why beg for my forgiveness if you're so afraid?" you asked. Your skirts brushed the floor as you moved in front of him. You ducked your head to try and get into his line of sight that was now directed toward the ground.
You allowed the tears to fall down your cheeks. He looked so small... so broken by the thought that you won't get the time together that you deserve.
Giyuu choked out a sob and wiped his face on his sleeve. "Because I'm a selfish man," he shook his head. "A selfish, selfish man that loves you."
You choked on his words and allowed yourself to crumble to the floor.
Giyuu kneeled in front of you and didn't hesitate to pull you into his lap. You wrapped your arms around his waist and buried your face into his neck and sobbed. You cursed him as you cried but only pulled him in closer.
Giyuu cried into your shoulder, hand in the middle of your back to keep you against him. Your legs were straddling his thighs, locked together behind him back. You were curled into each other and let everything out. The weight of everything that has happened to you came crashing down in waves. The Infinity Castle, the screams, the blood, deaths of your comrades, your friends, the injuries you left with, everything.
When the sun began to set your sobs came to a stop. Your eyes were swollen and itchy, Giyuus were no better. Both of your shoulders were soaked in tears and snot, and your hips and backs were achy from sitting on the floor in such curled positions, but neither of you moved.
"Giyuu?" you whispered in his ear.
His hold on your back tightened as he hummed.
"I think I'd like to try again."
Giyuu cleared his throat and nuzzled into the soft skin of your neck. "Try what again?"
You slowly pulled away from his shoulder and wiped your face on your sleeve. Giyuus hand gripped the fabric of your yukata and his eyes widened in panic.
"Shh, shh, I'm not going anyway," you cupped his face and wiped his tear-stained cheeks. "I mean, try this retirement thing out again together. Enjoy the time we have with each other instead of hiding behind letters and closed doors."
Giyuu cleared his throat and gave you a small nod. "I would like that."
You hummed and slid your hand down his arm and pulled it out from behind your back to interlace your fingers with his. The callouses that once covered his hands were almost gone, his skin was soft and warm, a little clammy, but you didn't want to pull away.
"We'll take it slow, okay? Be selfish together."
Giyuu sniffled. "Yeah, I think I can do that."
And that's what you did.
You and Giyuu took things slow as you rebuilt your friendship without the pressure of time or fear of demons lurking in the dark.
It started with you teaching him how to make Mitsuri's bread recipe and enjoying it on his engawa later that evening.
Then he showed you his garden and what he learned from the many gardening books he picked up. He kept his word and began to make daily visits to your home to take care of your flowers. They were quite happy.
You showed him your sewing projects. You playfully smacked his shoulder when he laughed at your first attempt at making a shirt.
He invited you every time he went to visit Tanjiro and his friends. All of whom were so excited to see you.
When the two of you visited Tengen and his girls, Giyuu had been a gentleman the entire night. Probably because he chewed him out last time they talked, or maybe, just maybe, Giyuu was still thinking about how Tengen looked at you in that damn uniform. You glared at Tengen's teasing smirk when GIyuu pulled out your chair for you and offered to carry the sewing box Suma let you borrow so you could practice more at home.
You allowed him to guide you through the crowds at the market with his hand on your lower back even though he hated crowds.
He allowed you to brush his hair and fuss over how soft it had begun now that he was able to take frequent baths and wash it.
After a month, Giyuu had asked you on a date.
"Just dinner," he had said.
But it was more than that. The restaurant was nice and the food was some of the best you've had in a while. You couldn't remember the last time you smiled so much or laughed so hard.
Giyuu walked you home, like he always did, with an easy smile on his face. You held onto his bicep the entire time. Giggles slipping through your lips as you walked, the air light and warm.
When the two of you stood at your door, Giyuu looked down at you and smiled.
"I had fun tonight," he said.
You giggled and squeezed his arm before letting go. "Me too."
Giyuu lingered at the door like he wanted to say more but couldn't find his words.
"Giyuu, would you like to come in for bit?" you asked, fingers crossed behind your back.
Giyuu's eyes widened and he swallowed. "Sure."
The air outside may have been light, but inside, it thickened with anticipation. Nerves swam over the two of you, stealing shy glances before looking away with soft smiles and rosy cheeks.
You both said each other's names at the same time and chuckled.
"Please," Giyuu gestured to you. "You first."
"I just wanted to say thank you."
Giyuu took a step closer. "For tonight?" he asked.
You took a step. "For everything you've done for me this past month. I really appreciate all the effort you put into our time together."
Giyuu smiled and ran a hand through his hair, something you noticed he does more often now that it was short. "I promised you I would do better."
"Yes," you nodded and took a step. "I've enjoyed being selfish with you."
Giyuu took the final step so you were inches apart. Your chest bumped into his as you breathed. You stared at him longingly. Even after all this time, he was still the most handsome man you had ever seen; even more so now that he was getting proper sleep and ate three meals a day. He was finally at peace, and it looked so good on him.
"So, thank you," you whispered, looking up at him through your lashes.
Giyuu's eyes fluttered closed for a moment and he inhaled.
"I would do it all over again if it meant you forgave me for being such a coward."
You giggled, chest light, cheeks aching from how much you were smiling tonight.
"I do forgive you."
Giyuu sighed in relief and pressed his forehead against yours, drinking you in.
"Does this mean I can kiss you again?" he asked.
His breath tickled your face, and you squirmed against him. "You've thought about kissing me again?"
"Only every time I look at you," a timid hand reached out and grabbed your hip. "Ever since I kissed you on your roof."
You gasped. "Really?" you asked, surprised.
Giyuu hummed.
"But didn't you want to say something too?"
Giyuu shook his head, his nose brushing against yours playfully. "Not important anymore."
You brought your hands up and hooked them around his neck. "Well, I think I've kept you waiting long enough, don't you?"
Giyuu shivered when your cold hands touched the back of his neck. "Mhm."
Not wanting to waste another second, you reached up and pressed your lips against his. You both let out sighs of relief when your lips slipped together just as easily as they did all those months ago. Giyuus hold on your hip tightened as he tugged you closer to him, body pressing against yours, eager to get as close to you as he possibly could. You stood on your tiptoes to press your lips harder against his and he groaned.
Kissing Giyuu washed away everything that had been swimming your brain for the last month. The guilt, the fear, the doubt, everything. You only felt him, his passion, his kindness, his love.
Your fingers crawled up the back of his neck and tangled into his hair. He moaned against your lips and pulled away just a hair to try and catch his breath.
"I never told you," you whispered against his lips. "But I really like your haircut."
Giyuu chuckled and placed a sweet peck on your lips. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. It's almost softer than it was before."
Giyuus hand cupped your cheek. "I'll keep that in mind," he teased with a smile before he kissed you again.
What started as sweet kisses turned into desperate swipes of the tongue, nibbles to the lip, all with sweet moans mixing with the wet sounds of two people relearning how to kiss each other.
You don't remember moving, but you gasped when your back suddenly came into contact with your bedroom door. Giyuu chased after your lips, unable to pull himself away from you for more than a second at a time. His touch was everywhere. Your hip, your back, your neck, in your hair, until his hand patted your butt and he asked you to jump.
You squealed in surprise when he caught you.
"I got you, don't worry," he promised before finally giving your lips a break and trailing his lips down your cheek to your jaw then your neck.
You couldn't stop the small moans from leaving your bruised lips as he nipped and licked at your sensitive skin. You rolled your hips against his, desperate to get closer to him and he groaned into your neck.
He gently set you back on your wobbly feet and pressed back against your hips to keep you still.
"Hold on, hold on, hold on," he begged. Giyuu looked down at you through his dark blue eyes and let out a soft moan before pressing his lips against yours once more like he was trying to savor your taste before he pulled away again.
He mumbled your name and nudged your nose with his, hand shaking in your hair like he was forcing himself to hold back.
"My values haven't changed," he choked out, voice thick with lust. "I don't want to stop, but I can't do this without you saying yes."
Even in your clouded mind you knew what he was trying to say and couldn't help but laugh.
You cupped his face lovingly, thumbs brushing against his pink cheeks.
"Then ask me."
Giyuu smiled at you, practically beaming before he slowly got down on both of his knees in front of you. He held your hand tight, fingers interlacing as he looked up at you with those bright blue eyes you have grown to love after all these years.
He said your name, practically purring it out of his bruised lips.
"Will you marry me?"
Your eyes watered and you fell to your knees in front of him.
"Yes," you chuckled with tears streaming down your face. You pecked his lips and sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner."
Giyuu shook his head. "Don't be," he pecked your lips once, twice, three times. "You were worth the wait."
So, we all agree the cheek she kissed was the same one Sabito hit when they were kids, right? The same cheek where Giyuu's mark appeared? Yeah, yeah good.
Also Giyuu gives me vibes that he'd get on both knees to propose sorry not sorry.
This has been sitting in the drafts for a while so I'm happy it's finally finished! Hope you enjoyed! :D
Single Mages are dying to meet you!
Not quite platonic
Gale x f!reader
Moments in your journey where you realize that there may be more than meets the eyes with a certain wizard companion of yours.
Notes: Reader is not very familiar with magic. Can be read as a fighter or barbarian. This follows the stories events in order, but nothing is exact. Proofread but at mid-night so it doesn't really count as proofreading lol
Warnings: semi-graphic details of a wound, blood, skin-pulling (the wound closing), semi-smut (they make-out and grind a little bit tehe)
When you first pulled Gale out of the mountain you didn't think much of him. He was handsome, sure, but clumsy and awkward.
Although, to give yourself credit, you did have a lot going on at the time with the nautiloid, hell, a random githyanki, and of course, a fresh tadpole swimming around your brain. However, after you spent nearly every second of everyday together, Gale quickly began someone you cared about. Deeply.
Not only were his skills in magic unlike anything you'd ever seen before, but he was kind, funny, and a true, loyal friend.
It's why you always asked him to stay by your side, and why he was always happy to do so.
It wasn't until your fight with the duegar where you realized that maybe you liked having him by your side for another reason.
You hadn't seen it coming, the hexing spell. You were fighting a duegar that went by the name of Thudd, a strong opponent already, but after casting the 'enlarge' spell on himself which caused him to double in size, he became more of a threat that you had originally thought.
Block, swing, block again.
A constant back and forth.
Your head was on a swivel as you tried to keep an eye out for your companions as they fought their own fights, but Thudd was proving to be more difficult that what he was worth. You were forced to give him all your attention. A swing of your axe here, a block of his own swing there. You waited for him to grow tired and drop his guard, but it felt as though his energy was endless.
You brought your axe down with all your strength, a roar bursting through your lips as you felt the weight of the axe slice through his shoulder. The wound dropped him to his knees before he plopped onto his stomach. Dead.
You took a deep breath and fetched a healing potion out of your pocket. You popped off the lid with your thumb and threw the potion back, welcoming the taste of mugwort.
That was when you heard the panicked call of your name.
A flash of purple entered your vision. Gale, who had moved closer to you as the battle went on, now stood directly in front of you. His arms were raised as if he was coming in for a hug. His biceps hovered above your shoulders, next to both of your ears, pink magic twirling from his hands down his arms until it faded away. You heard the sound of magic behind you followed by a groan from a duegar.
You whipped your head around and saw a spell caster shaking out their hands.
"What happened?" you asked, breathless from your fight with Thudd.
"Hexing spell," Gale answered, eyes sharp and alert. He lowered his arms. "I countered it."
"Hexing spell?" You wiped your mouth. "That's nothing! Do not react to something so simple, Gale!"
His eyes scanned your face, your body, before he reached around him and grabbed hold of his staff.
"Apologizes," he said, breathless. "But I need you strong."
Your mouth grew dry at drop in his voice, something you noticed he did when he was especially serious about something.
You heard it when he first told you about the orb. You heard it when Nettie poisoned you after you told her about the tadpole. You even heard it when he taught you how to channel the weave at camp.
Such a beautiful night.
You weren't familiar with magic. Sure, you've seen it before and have read about it as a kid, but getting the privilege to be taught how to wield it, even if only for a moment, was something you greatly appreciated.
The way Gale looked at you that night crept into your mind more than you'd care to admit. He had a sparkle in his eyes that you yet to see from him until that moment. Evidence that he had a passion for magic that went deeper than anything you could imagine. It seemed to make him happy to teach you the ways of the Weave.
And now, even covered in a thick layer of blood, and an even thicker layer of sweat, Gale looked at you with those sparkling eyes. It was different this time, however. This time Gale wasn't teaching you anything, you weren't in the safety of your camp, and both of you exhausted beyond words. But his eyes sparkled at you.
He smiled at you and rose a hand. A small ball of fire appeared in his palm.
"Looks like we're not done yet," he said and tilted his chin back as he looked behind you.
You looked over your shoulder and groaned as another small group of duegar entered the hall. You rolled your shoulders back and fixed your grip on your axe.
You glanced back at Gale and smirked. "Got my back?"
His hands shifted and his fire grew larger, hotter, and began to circle his feet as you took a step away from him.
He smirked and with a wink he said, "always."
The teasing came soon after.
It was obvious to your fellow companions that you and Gale shared a deep bond.
You have for a long time, since before the tiefling party. Hells, since before you entered the goblin camp. You both had been teased by Astarion once or twice, obivously, but it never went further than that. In all honestly, you ignored the teasing remarks from your fanged friend, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of your embarrassment.
But now, as you sit in an abandoned temple to rest before you continued your search for the Githyaki Crethe with everyone surrounded by the campfire with full bellies and a few extra bottles of wine, your friendship began the main topic for conversation. And unfortuntely for you, it wasn't just Astarion this time.
"So," Astarion looked at Gale, a goblet of wine in hand. "How are you two faring now that we're in the mountains? I can only imagine how stuffy it gets in your tent now that we're out of the Underdark."
Gale choked on his last bite of soup, and kneeled over. He sat his bowl down and coughed. Wyll, who was sat next to Gale, pat his back.
Once recovered, Gale swallowed and gasped. "Pardon?!"
Astarion smirked, "what? I'm not allowed to ask questions?"
"I don't understand why you asked me that question," Gale clarified. He glanced over at you. You laughed at something Halsin said, oblivious to their conversation. "We aren't sharing a tent, Astarion."
Astarion rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't tell me you're waiting until marriage for that sort of thing. You laid with a literal goddess and now you want to take things slow?" he clicked his tongue. "Honestly Gale, how boring can you be?"
Gale's face flushed a bright red. "I don't know where you got this idea that we are," he looked over at you again. "Courting, but we're just friends."
Silence.
You noticed how quiet it had gotten and shrunk underneath the eyes of your companions, who were all staring at you like you had two heads.
Gale looked like he wished the ground would swallow him whole. Astarion looked confused but you watched in, what could only be described as horror, as a smirk grew on his face.
Shadowheart, ever the gossip, leaned forward, and looked at you over Halsin's lap. "You're not courting?"
You blinked in surprise. "Courting? Who's courting?"
Shadowheart rolled her eyes. "Don't be daft. Aren't you and Gale together? You know, romantically?"
Gale groaned in his hands. "No, we're not."
Halsin chuckled. "Really? Huh, I thought you were."
"Me too," Lae'zel chimed in as she glared at you. "I thought that was why you rejected me that night."
"Lae'zel, you must stop bringing that up," you said to her with a roll of your eyes.
"Why else wouldn't you want a taste if you weren't, as they say, 'off the market'?"
"I... we'll talk later."
Gale stood and waved his hands around. "Listen, not that it would be any of your business, but we," he pointed to you, "aren't courting." He laughed nervously and wiped his hands on his pants. "Never were!"
You swallowed the hurt that crept up your throat at his blunt denial. He's right, you were never courting. Did it cross your mind once or twice, of course it did. You cared greatly for Gale. You had always found him handsome, charming in his own nerdy way, and as loyal as loyal could be. You'd be a fool not to think of him romantically once or twice in your daydreams.
Hells, even today when your group hiked up the mountain to search for Lae'zels kin, your mind wondered to him.
As did your eyes.
He had been in front of you as you made your way up the mountain. You had watched his arms flex every time he adjusted his pack. His legs whenever they peaked through the bottom of his robe, covered by those tight pants that made his thighs look muscular. The sweat beating down his neck, his hair sticking to his skin, his tongue licking his lips every now and then...
Yeah, so what if your mind wondered there.
You weren't courting, he's right, but you'd be a liar if you said you hadn't thought about it.
A part of you had hoped that maybe he had noticed those things about you too. You've caught him staring at you when you weren't paying attention more than once. And he said, quite awkwardly mind you, that he didn't mind your natural musk... so you had thought that maybe there was a chance he could like you that way... but it looks like you may have been mistaken.
"So, why not?" Halsin asked Gale.
You jumped in your seat and reached down to pinch Halsin's thigh. The druid had no reaction as he rested his elbows on his knees. "You're so attached to the hip, surely you've thought about it."
You pinched the druid again, but still, Halsin did not back down.
How thick are his pants?!
Gale paled at the question, hyperaware that everyone was awaiting his answer. "Well... I... uhh," his eyes avoided yours. He sunk back to his seat between Wyll and Astarion and ran a hand through his hair.
"Oh, come on now," Astarion purred. "Don't leave us in suspense."
"Hush," Gale hissed.
Disappointment flowed through your veins at Gale's hesitation. You could taste his rejection on your tongue.
If you had been asked the question, you'd be embarrassed sure, but you'd answer.
Gale couldn't answer the question, and that was enough for you.
You cleared your throat and sat up straight. "Come on now, don't bombard him with ridiculous questions."
Everyone's heads snapped towards you, even Gales though you didn't meet his gaze.
"We're friends. Close, friends," you smiled and shrugged your shoulders. "I trust him with my life. Just like how I trust the rest of you with it as well. That's it."
The tension from Gale's lack of response only seemed to grow thicker with yours.
You cleared your throat and stood from your seat. "It's getting late. Karlach, Halsin, Wyll, Astarion you're all on watch tonight," you ordered before you walked away from the fire.
Astarion and Karlach's groans in protest could be heard behind you, but you didn't turn around. Instead, you made your way to the cliff edge, underneath the lone tree that provided the perfect amount of shade during the day and made an even better backrest in the evening.
You sink to the ground with dirt and glass getting into your sandals and dust kicking up after you plopped your butt onto the ground. You shook out your sandals with a huff as you tried to distract yourself with the quest at hand.
Your next move was to find the Crethe to see if Lae'zel's people could help you with your tadpole problem. If you were being honest, you didn't think they were going to have the answer you needed, but you felt like you owed it to Lae'zel to at least try. No matter how hostile the Githyaki could be.
Your body relaxed against the tree as you watched the stars make their appearance. Astarion was right, the mountains were much warmer than the Underdark, but the breeze that danced through the mountains and trees had a nip to it that caused goosebumps to raise on your skin.
"Here," you heard. "You'll need this if you're going to sit out here."
You jumped and looked up to meet Gale's eyes. A blanket that was folded unevenly was held out to you. It looked like the one he had on his bedroll. It was a deep blue color and incredibly soft.
You didn't take the blanket. Instead, you crossed your arms over your chest and returned your gaze back to the horizon. "You shouldn't bring that out here. It'll get dirty."
"Oh, that's not a problem. I know a spell that'll clean it right up."
"Really?!" you exclaimed.
He chuckled at your enthusiasm and began to unfold the blanket. "No, but for you, I will be sure to find one." He kneeled on one knee and placed the blanket in your lap and pulled it up just under your arms that were still crossed.
"There. Better?" he asked as he moved to sit next to you.
The blanket was warm in your lap. You resisted the urge to pull it closer.
"Thanks," you mumbled.
It was silent between the two of you. Both of your gazes were up towards the stars. Your eyes searched for familiar constellations to distract yourself from the man that sat beside you uncharacteristically quiet.
"Look I," Gale whispered. "I'm sorry about earlier."
You sighed through your nose as the hurt returned to your chest.
"I realize I may have hurt your feelings by not answering Halsin's question."
You huffed a sarcastic laugh through your nose. "And who told you that?"
"Well," Gale scratched his nose. "Halsin. He, uhh, told me that you were pinching his thigh to get him to stop."
"Did he say it hurt?"
"He did, actually."
You let out a small laugh. "Good."
Gale was quiet for a moment. You peaked a glance at him, deep in thought, as if trying to find the right words.
You sighed through your nose and relaxed against the tree. "Don't worry about it, Gale," you turned your head towards him. "I'm not upset."
"But you were hurt."
His words felt like a large needle was being pushed into your chest. A subtle sting that liked to linger, no matter how much you try to brush it off.
He said your name under his breath and leaned closer. "I want you to understand that I wasn't embarrassed by the question because of you. I was embarrassed because... well," he chuckled. "Because of how fast my answer came to my mind."
Your body tightened. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes. Believe me, I would have answered if it was just Halsin."
"You would've confided in Halsin?" you laughed.
Gale shrugged. "Why not?"
You laughed again and shrugged. "Just an interesting choice is all," you leaned in and whispered. "He's a bit of a gossip."
"Halsin?"
"Almost as bad as Shadowheart."
"But not as bad as Astarion, right?"
"No one is as bad as Astarion."
The two of you laugh and the night air, despite its initial chill, seemed to warm. It felt good to laugh with Gale, and you had always found it hard not to. Even when he told jokes that you didn't understand or that maybe weren't all that funny to begin with. He made laughing easy, and you loved to laugh.
You could hear the idle chatter of your companions near the fire, primary Karlach who, by the sounds of it, was sharing another story from her time in the hells. You were almost jealous you were missing it but wouldn't dare move away from this tree.
"I care for you, deeply, you know," Gale said into the silence. "I've told you things that I have only confided in Tara and my mother. Whom I must say, does not give as good of advice as you."
"Who? Tara or your mother?" you snickered.
Gale chuckled and pointed a knowing finger at you. "I better not speak that into the air. I'm afraid if I do they will somehow find out, and I will be in loads of trouble then."
You laugh and tried to let the moment fade but Gale continued.
"But seriously, I care for you. I care about you. You're my dearest friend, and maybe in some aspects, more than that."
You didn't move. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him, afraid that if you did the moment would disappear.
Gale shifted closer to you. His thigh touched the side of your blanket. You own fingers dug into the meat of your arms.
"I think about you all the time. At the break of dawn, the second I open my eyes I wonder if you're awake, if you slept well, how you're going to do your hair." His voice drops slightly. The heat of his gaze burned into the side of your face. If it weren't for the breeze, you would been able to feel his breath on your neck. You wished the breeze would stop.
"I think about you as we continue our journey. If your feet hurt, if your pack is too heavy."
You uncrossed your arms and let your arms relax at your sides, palms in the dirt. The ghost of a smile present on your face paired well with the blush on your cheeks and ears.
"I think about how you approach a battle. How you swing first and ask questions later, even if it gets us into trouble." Gale chuckled under his breath. "It brings me great pride that you trust me so much. To protect your body from harm on the battlefield. To protect your mind from your anxieties as our leader. To protect your heart by keeping the secrets you whisper to me."
You felt his fingers touch the back of your hand. Your breath hitches at the soft touch and you break eye contact with the mountains to look down at your hands.
Gale gently hooks his pinky finger with yours, not daring to go all the way, but you could see the tightness in his fingers. He wanted more, but he waited for you to meet him halfway.
You licked your lips and smiled up at him. He had grown much closer than you had thought. His nose just barely brushed against yours. The breeze had stopped and you were finally able to feel his breath against your skin. Your eyelashes kissed your cheeks as you smiled at him, shy under his gaze.
You closed your eyes and tried to find your courage to speak. It felt as though his words sent your body to the Hells, the Heavens, and back again. Never had you ever imagined someone would think about you in such a way that went beyond even the closest of friendships.
With a shaky breath, you leaned your forehead against his. With aching cheeks and watery eyes, you said, "I've thought about it too."
Gale let out a shaky sigh in relief and pushed his forehead further into yours.
He opened his mouth to respond but you heard footsteps approach you from behind. The two of you pulled apart and created a friendly amount of distance between you just as Karlach's horn was seen towards the bottom of the hill.
"Hey Solider, Gale, could one of you take over for me for a moment? Nature calls."
You smirked. "Got anything else you wish you share? Perhaps what kind of nature "
Karlach rolled her eyes. "Don't make it weird. Just," she gestured behind her and huffed. "I said please!"
You chuckle and nod. "I'll be right there."
She nods in thanks before she returned to the fire.
Once alone again, you look at Gale who looked extremely disappointed.
"You okay?" you asked.
Gale scratched his beard. "Yes, of course."
You cupped his cheek and tilted his chin towards you. With a smile, you whispered, "we have time."
The disappointment cleared and the familiar sparkles returned, along with the charming smile.
"Yes, we do."
The Shadow Cursed Lands exceeded your expectations as to what true darkness was. And the shadow curses that roamed the lands cut deeper than you would have thought literal shadows could.
You, Karlach, Lae'zel and Wyll had taken it upon yourselves to leave camp early one morning (at least you think it was morning) to explore the Mason's Guild.
After your party ran into Dammon at Last Light Inn, he told you about the Mason's Guild and how he believed there could be some inferno iron there. Karlach practically bounced with excitement, and it was no question that you'd go there to retrieve it.
Usually, you would bring your right-hand wizard with you, but after a long, difficult conversation with Elimister, you told him to stay back and take some time to think. You begged him not to take Mystra's mission, but it was obvious she had gotten under his skin.
You told Halsin to keep an eye on him while you were gone.
That was hours ago, judged entirely by the way your eyes burned, and exhaustion seeped into your bones. You figured it was close to midnight, way passed the time you wanted to be back at camp. But the darkness had other plans for you.
To your party's upmost surprise, the Mason was still there, and he was not one for warm welcomes.
You cursed as he vanished right before your eyes, invisible to your naked eye, hidden in the darkness.
Before you could call Wyll over with his torch the Mason reappeared behind you. You cried out as the Mason tore through your flesh with its claws and crumbled to the ground. You cupped the wound on your side pathetically as you tried to keep your blood inside your body. You could feel it pour out of the wound and coat your hands. Your eyes clouded over before you could fully process what you needed to do.
"By Balduran's bones, no!" Wyll cried.
He rushed over to you and made quick work of tearing a piece of his undershirt off to hold it against your wound to try and slow the bleeding.
"I've got you," Wyll whispered.
You could only groan in response.
Together, you and Wyll placed a great amount of pressure to the wound, but you knew Wyll was doing the majority of the work.
After the last shadow fell, Lae'zel and Karlach rushed over to you and Wyll.
"Oh, solider..." Karlach muttered as she kneeled down next to you.
"Do you have any potions?" Wyll asked you, voice steady but you could feel the tremble in his hands.
You shook your head no. Sweat dripped from your temples as you whimpered once again. You squirmed as Wyll pressed harder.
"You?" he asked Karlach.
"No, I don't."
He asked Lae'zel who answered the same. No one had any healing potions, and none of you were healers.
"We have to get them to camp. Halsin or Shadowheart can help," Wyll said. "Lae'zel, do you have any cloth? We need more to wrap the wound."
Your hands slid off of Wyll's as you tried to catch your breath, the pain blinding as the wound began to pulse. You glanced down at the cut and gasped at the amount of blood that poured from it. The cloth Wyll tore was already soaked.
"Wyll..." you stuttered out, eyes wide and panicked.
"Shhh, hey," he placed a hand on your shoulder and gave you a squeeze of encouragement. "You're going to be okay."
Just as you’re about to nod, Lae’zel reaches underneath and ties a cloth around your waist. You yelp in pain as she tied the knot but she didn’t stop until it was secure.
“We’ll have to carry them,” Lae’zel pointed out.
“I’ll do it,” Karlach said without hesitation.
“No! You’ll burn her alive!”
“I’ll do it!” Wyll snapped before he carefully reached under you. With one arm under your legs and the other secure behind your back Wyll lifted you off the ground.
You cried out at the movement and grasped your side.
“I’m sorry, my friend. You’ll be alright. Just don't look at it.”
You think you nod but the pain clouded your mind. Tears and snot ran down your face as you cried into Wyll’s chest.
Your companions took off in a sprint. Lae’zel led the way as she guided your party through the shadows with Wyll's torch in hand.
Wyll was right behind her. He tried to be steady, you know he did, but it was obvious that you needed medical attention fast and they didn’t have the time to be careful.
Karlach had her axe out and ready. She was in the back as she watched Wyll carry you over rogue roots and cracks in the ground.
Wyll spoke to you the entire time. He spoke of his time in the city as a boy. He explained his magic and what being a Warlock meant. He even spoke of his favorite food and asked you what yours was hoping- praying you'd answer.
You could feel how his fingers dug into your skin. His nails left crescents in your skin as he tried to keep you awake. He was scared. They all were.
You’d never felt a pain such as this. In all your years of fighting, killing beasts, and taking hits, you’ve never experienced anything like this. The shadow had drained your strength before it sliced its claws into you. You could still feel it, the claws.
You couldn’t stop crying. The pain level never dulled and the feeling of the blood pooling into the make-shift bandage was quick to grow uncomfortably sticky.
“We’re almost there,” Wyll told you. “You’ll be alright.”
You couldn’t answer. You bit your lip to try and keep your whimpers at bay, but Wyll shook you.
“You don’t need to do that. I know it hurts,” he pulled you closer. “Let it out if you must.”
Immediately after he said those words you couldn’t stop the cry that let your chapped lips. The wound throbbed, the pain felt like it was spreading. It was all too much.
You heard Lae’zel ahead, she shouted at someone, but you couldn't make out the words.
Darkness swallowed you for a moment, slowly, suddenly. Voices moved in and out, echos of your companions calling your name.
Then you felt hands, soft and warm. They held your face so gently. A welcomed change from the white-hot pain from your side. Your skin tingled and you coughed up a smile. You knew these hands.
“Hi,” you whispered, iron on your tongue.
Gale’s hands shook as he cupped your face. “What happened?”
You realized then that he wasn’t talking to you, nor were you in Wyll’s arms. Instead, you were laying on a spar bedroll near the fire.
“Hold her still, Gale,” you heard at your side. “I need her still.”
Halsin was over your side. His hands glowing a gorgeous gold as he hovered over the wound.
The skin around your wound tickled as Halsin’s magic caressed you. It felt like a feather was being dragged across your skin, gentle and soft.
The gentle touch quickly turned into agony. The feather turned into a knife as your wound began to close. Blood, dried and not, covered your body. The dried pulled at your skin and tugged at hairs and any other small cuts you had hidden underneath your armor. The fresh pooled onto the bedroll below you and left behind a sticky feeling that reeked of iron.
Tears streamed down your cheeks once again and loud cries left you.
Gale cupped one of your cheeks and forced you to look at him.
“Keep your eyes on me, okay? You’ll be alright,” he said. His free hand grabbed yours, fingers interlaced and he squeezed. “You’ll be alright.”
You could hear Halsin mumble under his breath. Sweat dripped from his forehead as his eyes, usually warm and kind, hardened in concentration.
Shadowheart was nearby. She mumbled under her breath as well, her own magic flowing over you in a sweet shade of blue.
Another wave of pain shot through your body. You let out a scream you could no longer hold in as you tried to move away from Halsin’s magic.
Gale pushed you back down, holding you by your hip and shoulder. He ran a hand through your hair, ignoring the sweat and knots.
“You must stay still,” he reminded you.
You choked out a sob. “Gale,” you whispered. “It hurts…”
You could see his heart break at your words.
He swallowed. "I understand," he bit his lip, but you still saw it quiver. "You're almost done."
"No, no!" you cried. Another wave of pain shot through your body. "Stop! Please!"
Gale pressed harder against you. "Stop!" he cried out your name. "You must stop!"
"Gale!" Halsin growled.
"I'm trying!"
"Here!" you felt a second set of hands. "I've got this side."
You looked over to see Wyll. His hands were still wet and from what you could tell his shirt was soaked with blood. Your blood.
Your heart sped up and your breathing grew heavier.
"I'm... I'm sorry," you said to the warlock.
Wyll shook his head and swiped damp hair off your forehead. "You need not apologize to me. Just hold still."
Shadowheart called out to you. "You need to calm down. You're only going to make things worse if you panic!"
"Must you be so cruel!" Gale yelled at her.
"I'm trying to keep them alive!"
"G...Gale..." you whispered.
His head snapped back towards you, eyes soft. "Yes, my love?"
You took three deep breaths. "I'm tired, Gale."
Gale shrunk into himself, his head lowered as if he was the one in pain. He brought you blood soaked hand to his lips and kissed your knuckles. You could see his lips move but couldn't hear his words. The grip you had on him and Wyll began to slip and your eyes rolled back.
You woke up hours later.
For a moment, you couldn't remember what happened, but then you shifted on your bedroll and felt the tug of your wound.
You winced and cupped the wound, now bandaged. You pressed into the bandages and from what you could feel, it was completely healed. Just tender and sensitive.
You laid in your bedroll and traced the roof of your tent with your eyes. You weren't an idiot, you knew your body needed rest. You were in no rush to get out of bed and continue traveling through the shadow cursed lands.
You wished you could lay in your bedroll forever. You didn't want to get up and face the shadows again. The feeling of the Masons claws lingered in your skin. You still feel it there. Your fingers traced the cut over the bandage.
You heard footsteps outside your tent and what sounded like a water bucket.
Slowly, the flap of your tent opened, and a familiar wizard walked through. He hadn't noticed you were awake just yet, his eyes most likely trying to adjust to the darkness of your tent. You watched him set down the water bucket and pull out a rag. He wrang out the rag and shuffled next to you. Gale brought up the rag before his eyes locked onto yours.
He gasped and, in his shock, dropped the rag right over your eyes.
You flinched; the rag was freezing cold compared to your burning skin.
Gale cursed. "By Mystra's weave! I'm so sorry!" he removed the rag and tossed it back into the bucket. "Are you alright? How're you feeling?" he placed a hand on your forehead and tsked. "Still warm."
Gale shuffled away to grab the rag just to wring it out once again before he carefully placed it on your forehead.
"There. That should help with the fever."
The rag felt nice on your skin, even though droplets of water dripped down the rag and into your hairline, it felt good.
"Thank you," you whispered, voice coarse. "I don't know what I'd do without you." You tried to laugh but it came out as more of a choppy wheeze.
Gale was silent. He stared at you, eyes filled with emotion, none of which you could name.
"What is it?"
"I should've been there."
Your body tense at the tone of his voice. Now you can see it, the anger radiating off of him.
"If I was there then you wouldn't have gotten hurt. You wouldn't have almost..." he stopped and made a fist.
You wanted to shuffle closer to him, but the ache in your side protested at the thought. Instead, you reached out and took his closed hand into yours.
"It's okay," you said weakly, unsure how to reassure him.
His face hardened into something you have never seen from him before. Pure rage.
"Don't say that. I swore that I would be by your side for everything. And the one time I wasn't, you got hurt."
You chuckled humorlessly. "It's not like you're the one that did it."
"Yeah but I could've prevented it."
"You're not a god, Gale. There was no way you could've seen the shadow before it got me. Hells, I couldn't even see it and I was standing right there."
Gale stood and began to pace your small tent. "This is not the time to joke."
"I'm not joking."
You removed the wet rag from your forehead and, carefully, propped yourself up to lean back on your elbows. You ignored the tug at your tender skin as you sent Gale a pointed look. "Don't do this to yourself. I'm alright-"
"You could've died!" he yelled. "Do you seriously not understand that?!" he glared at you.
"Of course I understand that!" Your eyes watered without your permission as you glared back at him. "I'm the one on this gods damned bedroll with a chunk of flesh missing! Trust me, Gale, I understand completely!"
"For the love of- please don't say it like that!"
"It's the truth Gale! It's done. It happened. I'm here. I'm alive! There's nothing anyone can do about it now!"
He was quiet for a moment. His jaw was tight and his hands were locked into fists. "I should've been there."
"I didn't want you there."
His eyes widened in disbelief. "Bullshit."
"It's true," you pushed yourself up to rest on your palms, elbows locked. "You had to think about Mystra's offer. That isn't something I wanted you to take lightly."
"Yeah? And what good did that do you?!"
"Well, you're still here, aren't you?!"
Gale didn't say anything, so you continued.
"That's all that matters to me. That you're still here," your bottom lip quivered. "She has no right to take you from me."
Ever so slowly, Gale approached you before he got down on one knee. He brought a hand up to your face, slow enough where you could pull away if you wanted to, but when you didn't, he thread his fingers through your hair. You sighed at the feeling.
You wiped the tears that pooled in your lashes.
"I need you here," your voice cracked. "With me." You glanced at the bandages. "Obviously."
Gale smiled, his own eyes watery. "As do I." He shifted so he was sat on both knees. "I've never been more terrified in my entire life when I saw Wyll bring you into camp." His hand trembled in your hair. "I thought you were already dead."
You hummed in acknowledgement.
"And when I saw you were still alive, well," he let out a watery chuckle. "I wanted nothing more than for you to live."
"Mission accomplished," you joked.
He chuckled. "Mission accomplished," he copied.
You stared up at him and allowed yourself to take him all in. Every freckle, every wrinkle, the faint purple markings from the orb, the grey in his beard.
"Beautiful," you whispered.
Gale blushed and guided you to lay back down. He brought the blue blanket, his blue blanket, up and tucked it under your chin.
"Comfortable?" he asked.
You nodded and allowed your eyes to flutter close.
They shot back open and you gasped. "Is Wyll okay?"
Gale chuckled and pulled out a book to settle down next to you. "Nothing some serious therapy won't fix."
It'd been a while since the Shadow Cursed Lands, or the newly healed Shadow Cursed Lands. After reuniting Thaniel and Oliver and defeating Kethric Thorm, your party made their way to Baudler's Gate. Finally.
After your injury, Gale refused to leave your side. He ignored Astarion's teasing as best as he could, but the blush that would creep onto his face would give him away.
You have always thought Gale was attractive, but now there's something scratching at the surface of what your relationship truly was. What you felt for him was nothing platonic and vice versa, but he has yet to make a move.
You almost made a move yourself but found yourself hesitate to do so. Doubt clouded your mind, even after you confided in Shadowheart and she called you an idiot. She claimed that he clearly liked you back in that way, but you still found yourself hesitate and shy. And most importantly, patient. You could wait for him. You would wait for him, as long as he needed. He just has so much going on with Mysta's request and the impending doom that would follow if he went through with her request... yeah, yeah, you could wait.
But sometimes he makes it really difficult.
Recently, you found it harder to pull your gaze away from him. The way he ran his fingers through his hair, how he chewed on his fingernails when lost in thought, how the veins in his hands made their appearance when he played with his magic.
All things you've noticed in the past but now make you ache for more than a sweet handhold or a friendly hug.
You returned your mind and body to the campfire you were in charge of until Halsin returned from his evening walk.
You never bothered to ask him what he did out there, but today you hoped he’d hurry the hell back, so you weren’t tempted to stare at Gale across the way.
The wizard in question sported his usual purple lodge wear and slippers with a book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. He looked good in this light. He was far enough away where the heat from the fire didn't touch him, but close enough where the light covered him in a soft, orange glow that made his strong features stand out. His thick brows, his nose, his-
You hissed. The stick you were using to stir the fire had caught flame and climbed up your stick while you stared at your friend like a pervert.
You tossed what little of the stick remained into the fire and wiped your hand on your shirt.
“You alright?” A deep voice asked.
You turned and sighed in relief to see Halsin stood next to you, a bundle of firewood tucked under his large arms.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Just burned myself a little is all,” you shook your hand out and looked at your wound. It was a small burn mark, nothing serious, but you’d be a liar if you said it didn’t sting.
Halsin set down the wood and kneeled down next to you. He held out his hand. “Let me take a look.”
You smiled and placed your hand in Halsin’s. His hand was much larger than yours. You could feel the rough calluses on his palm as he held your hand. Yellow magic danced across your skin, and you couldn’t help but watch in awe. Magic was still something you were still getting used to, and it never seized to amaze you.
The sting faded and when Halsin dropped your hand from his, you saw the burn mark was gone.
You ran your thumb over the mark and smiled at him. “Thanks Halsin. Don’t know what I’d do without ya,” you teased.
Halsin chuckled and grabbed the firewood. “Anytime.”
You moved away from the fire to sit on a nearby log and watched Halsin return to fire duty. His arms flexed as he moved the firewood he brought, tossed a few in, and poked it with a new stick.
Now that you were free, your eyes couldn’t help but glance back at Gale, and to your surprise, his eyes were already on you.
Even from a distance you could tell he was frowning. His thick eyebrows were pinched together and his jaw looked tight.
Embarrassed to be caught, you give him a polite wave to try and play it off. Whatever trance he was in broke the second he realized you were waving at him. He sent you a smile and a wave of his own before he beckoned you over.
“I’ll be back,” you told Halsin as you stood from the log.
Halsin looked at you then towards Gale and smirked.
You didn’t hear what he said as you walked away. You could only hear the way your heart pounded against your chest as you walked toward the wizard.
His eyes were locked onto you, even as he summoned a stool for you to sit on and relit one of his many candles.
“Good evening,” you greeted Gale.
He smiled and gestured towards the stool. “And to you. Please, have a seat.”
You did so and crossed your legs before your interlocked your fingers in your lap. “What's up?” You asked.
Gale suddenly looked pale and his eyes darted around the opening of his tent. “Well, I- uh,” he grabbed a book on top of a random pile and flipped through it. “I wanted to show you this interesting take on magic. See,” he licked his fingers and flipped the page. His eyes lightened in recognition. “They call it a Bladesinger. A wizard who uses a weapon such as a sword and the hum of magic to soar around the battlefield and heal your allies whilst harming your enemies,” he explained.
You watched as his eyes sparkled. The ever-so-familiar excitement on his face well known to you by now, especially when it comes to magic. His brown eyes were brighter when he spoke about things he was passionate about. His hands waved around in excitement as if he swatted at a fly.
He glanced over at you and his smile remained. Gale turned the book around and handed it to you, pages still open. “I thought you’d find it interesting, seeing as you yourself are quite talented with a sword.”
You beamed at him as you reached for the book. You felt his fingers underneath yours as you gently took the book from him. Your breath hitched at the touch. His hands were much softer than Halsin’s, hell, softer than your own.
You have spent the majority of your adult life training with a sword. The roughness of your hands was normal, expected, familiar. The softness of Gales touch was foreign but welcomed. You wondered what those soft hands would feel like against your body-
You swallowed and quickly began to flip through the book's pages.
"Thank you, Gale," you stood from the stool. "I shall go read this by the fire."
"No!" Gale grabbed your forearm before you could leave.
You jumped at his outburst. "What?"
Gale's cheeks reddened and he quickly let go of your arm. He cleared his throat. "Please, I have plenty of room over here. I can even summon a few more throw pillows if that would make you more comfortable."
He rocked on his heels and fiddled with his fingers.
You glanced back at the fire, at Halsin, and shook your head. "That's alright. I'll be able to see better if I go sit by Halsin-"
With a snap of his fingers, Gale summoned a fireplace inside his tent. Your eyes widened in awe as you peaked through the tent's flaps.
"No way!" you gasped. "You can do that?!"
"I can summon anything your heart desires," he boosted. "Will you be able to see well enough now?"
You nodded. "Certainly! You're sure I'm not imposing?"
Gale shook his head and grabbed a book for himself. "Of course not! Who doesn't love a reading buddy?"
You watched his face pinch in embarrassment and bit your lip to hide your amusement.
With Gale right behind you, you entered the tent. He glanced back at the fire before he closed the tents flaps.
The light from the fireplace bounced off the tent's blue walls. There were also a few candles loitered throughout the space that helped light up the area.
"I ought to warn you about all this fire. You are in a tent, you know," you teased as you got comfortable on one side of the tent on a mountain of pillows.
Gale chuckled and settled into his own spot. "I'll be sure to hang onto every warning you give me."
The giggles and playfulness settled as you both dove into your books. Gale's tent was cozy with it's warm fire light. The fireplace gave off a nice warmth to keep you from burying yourself into the pillows, but not too much where you were sweating in your lounge clothes.
In your awe of Gale's magic and the book he lent you, you almost forgot about your inappropriate thoughts about him.
Almost.
After reading a large portion of the text, your eyes grew tired of reading, and a small headache blossomed in-between your brows. You weren't much of a reader compared to your companions.
It felt as though Gale read a new book every day, whatever he could summon from his tower in Waterdeep and whatever he could find throughout your journey.
Astarion wasn't far behind him in terms of books read during your journey. It takes him a couple days to finish a book, but that's still much faster than you.
The book Gale gave you was thicker than anything you've ever read willingly. You appreciated the thought behind it and loved being able to spend quality time with him while things were slow, but you couldn't help but wonder why he was so insistent on you reading it now, with him.
It felt dangerous, to be in such tight courters with him. Alone.
Your eyes drifted over the pages and to the wizard before you. His eyebrows were pinched together as he took in the contents of the text. He seemed relaxed, body slumped against his own mountain of pillows, in his fancy purple lounge wear and slippers. He had a knee propped up with an elbow resting on top of it. Your eyes traced the veins in his hands. They seemed larger than usual. His fingers as well, seemed longer as they gripped the ends of the book and flipped pages. As if in slow motion, Gale rose his hand to his mouth, gave his thumb a quick lick and flipped the page once more.
Your jaw dropped before you closed it in embarrassment.
Suddenly the fire from the fireplace felt too hot and you were drowning in your pillow mountain.
You took a mental note of the page you were on before you set the book down and shrugged off your outer layer, which was a long sleeve you were certain belonged to Wyll.
You heard the slightest gasp from the wizard in front of you. You froze and looked up at him. "What?"
He was no longer reading his book, instead Gale watched you shrug off your overshirt with darkened eyes. He licked his lips and shook his head. "What are you doing?" he whispered, voice thick with something you couldn't name.
"It's just a little hot in here is all. Don't worry, I won't take everything off," you joked.
But Gale didn't laugh. Instead, he asked,
"What if I want you to?"
The air in the tent was thick. Tension pouring through the worn seams.
You froze, hand still on your discarded shirt that now laid on the tent floor. At first, you weren't sure if you heard him correctly, but after meeting his eyes, you knew you did.
Confidence surrounded Gale, you could practically see it seeping off of him. His eyes were dark with lust as they drank you in. He didn't even bother to bookmark or glance at the page number before he tossed this book to the side.
Like a moth to a flame, Gale shuffled towards you. On his hands and knees, Gale's eyes never left yours as he crawled over you. He drank you in, eyes locked on your skin even though he had seen your bare skin multiple times before. This was clearly different than those times.
You could feel his breath hit your face and the heat of his body cover yours.
"Gale," you whispered, unsure of what else to say.
You wanted this. You wanted him. You've been waiting for weeks for him to make a move and now that he finally was, you couldn't form a single thought that didn't involve him, naked, with you at this very moment.
"I know," he growled before he pressed his lips against yours in a fiery kiss.
You both moan into the kiss. Your hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him closer by the collar of his shirt. His beard tickled your cheeks and nose, soft against your skin as you pressed your lips against his harder.
His hands grabbed your waist and dug into the meat of your hips as if he was afraid you would slip away.
But you weren't going anywhere.
He pushed back against you which resulted in you falling back against the pillow mountain behind you. The kiss broke but it didn't take long for Gale to chase after you. He pressed his lips against yours once again, but this time cupped the back of your head and weaved his fingers through your hair. He gave your hair a small tug, resulting in a gasp falling from your lips, which gave him the opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth. His tongue danced with yours; it was messy and wet but felt too damn good to stop.
Your hands trembled in nerves, excitement, lust, adrenaline as they returned to his shoulders. You opened your legs to allow Gale to wedge in-between your thighs. He hips grounded you and allowed you to feel each other through your evening clothes.
Gale groaned into your mouth and pulled away for air, lips still touching yours. "Do you want this? I want to be absolutely certain before we go any further," he whispered to you.
You couldn't help but chuckle at his words, not out of mockery, but out of something pure, something deep, that took you both way too long to say.
"Gale," you cupped his cheek and ran your thumb over the skin where the orb left its lingering mark. "I love you. I've never been more certain that you are the one for me."
Gale huffed out of his nose and smiled that charming smile you know and love. With sparkling eyes, he said, "I love you too. More than you could ever know."
You reached up and gave him a sweet peck. Your eyes bounced between his eyes and lips. "Then prove it."
He chuckled and with a sweet blush and a cocky smirk, he said, "Certainly."
-------------------
There's just something so sexy about Gale using Counter Spell I'm not sorry.
Also, I thought I was ready to write smut, but I don't think I'm quite there yet! Sorry if it felt like a fade to black moment!
I may make a part 2 that contains smut later if ya'll want a part 2!
Thanks for reading!
Honestly, a hug from Gale could fix 99 of my problems
The Crown of Madness spell in BG3 is so interesting to me.
Just the thought of going literally mad and having zero control over your actions as you attack your dearest friends and lover in a fight. There’s something so powerless and terrifying about it from tav’s pov and the companion’s. I wish there was a reaction dialogue after someone breaks free from it, similar to when we fight the harpies near the grove.
I kind of want to write an angsty fic about it
Thoughts?
HELP I WATCHED THE HOBBIT MOVIES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND-
I’M IN LOVE
The Burn He Left (Chapter 6)
Hey... hey... how ya'll doing?
CW: blood, death, mentions of limbs, implications of depression and anxiety, reader digs nails into her palm. (Let me know if I missed something)
When the next morning came, the Ice Hashira welcomed the sight of the early sun.
The conversation she had with Kyojuro the night before circled through her mind an embarrassing amount. The intensity of his gaze, the gentleness of his touch, his caring words, the ghost of his lips on her skin.
This new feeling of uncontrollable giddiness covered the Ice Hashira head-to-toe, painting a permit smile on her face. She ran her thumb over her palm as she remembered the feeling of his lips there.
If someone had told her that Rengoku Kyojuro would be taking up so much space in her mind, she would have rolled her eyes and said they were lying. But now it was hard to not imagine him in her life at all.
She craved him. She craved his eyes on her, his callused fingers running down her skin, the feeling of his lips on her.
The giddiness was too much to bear alone, and the Ice Hashira knew just who to send a letter to that morning to help.
Mitsuri arrived at the Ice Mansion minutes later carrying a basket of fresh pastries she had made that morning. (Y/N) was quick to set out two cups of tea on the table in her living space with a couple of plates and napkins.
The two girls dug into their pastries and got comfortable.
"So," Mitsuri began, cheeks full. "What was so important that you invited me over so early in the morning?"
That's when (Y/N) swallowed and told Mitsuri everything that happened the day before. The dueling, the sparing, the touches, the decision to finally begin courting, everything.
As she always did, Mitsuri listened with bright, attentive eyes. She latched onto every word (Y/N) said, hung onto every detail, all with a smile on her face.
By the time (Y/N) wrapped up her story, her hands were shaking in nerves, the familiar giddiness, and anticipation. Her heart pounded against her chest and her cheeks were warm. She fished another pastry off her plate and took a bite.
"That's everything I think," she mumbled with stuffed cheeks.
Mitsuri was quiet for a moment, allowing the last details to soak into her mind. Fingers resting against her chin, deep in thought.
(Y/N) licked her finger and waved a face in front of her friends face. "You still with me?" she asked with a chuckle.
The air between them was light and carefree. Sunlight crept through the windows of the Ice Mansion, casting a soft golden glow into the room. Even as the weather grows cooler with each passing day, (Y/N) feels warm and fuzzy. She's never felt as comfortable in her own skin as she did when Mitsuri was around. Both girls were still in their lounge wears, hair barely brushed, and socks not pulled up all the way. A manger perk of the Love and Ice Hashira's estates being so close together are moments like this.
There was something about her dearest friend that made all the worries on (Y/N)'s shoulders brush away, covered by laughter, heartfelt words, and gentle touches.
Before meeting Mitsuri, (Y/N) didn't have any friends, boy or girl. She envied the young girls in her neighbor who were allowed to play dress-up, do each other's hair, and talk about boys. Having only her father and the local doctor to speak to, (Y/N) was unfamiliar with how to speak to people her own age. When she first met Mitsuri, she was entirely to formal. It was embarrassing to look back on now.
--Flashback--
It was her first time attending a mandatory Hashira training session since she had become a Hashira herself.
The Hashira trainings were for the Hashira only, of course. A courtyard reserved just for them where they could let loose and train with those who were considered their equals in strength and experience.
(Y/N) could hear the clashes of wooden and steel swords as she approached the courtyard, her crow, Yuki, leading the way. Her fingers traced the leather details of her swords handle as she tried to force her shoulders away from her ears. Not only was she the new Hashira, but she was the first Ice Hashira in decades. (Y/N) knew expectations were high; and she refused to disappoint.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and pointed her chin up high as she rounded the corner and entered the courtyard. She lingered by the entrance, her eyes taking in the new, unfamiliar environment.
Two larger men were sparring already, both sporting white hair, muscles flexing as they pushed and swung at each other. The one sporting golden bands around his arms was smirking, acting cocky. The other, littered with scars, cursed so heavily that (Y/N), who had heard and used such language before, blushed at the vulgarness of the language. It looked as though he was losing and clearly wasn't very happy about it.
Her eyes scanned the others. There was a young boy practicing with some training dummies that reminded her of the ones from home. His long hair covered most of his body, but even from a distance she could tell the boy was strong. Next to him was probably the tallest man she had ever seen. The tall man held red beads in-between his palms, rubbing them together while giving notes to the boy.
Before she could get a good look at the others, a bundle of pink and green swarmed her vision.
"Oh my gosh! You must be the new Hashira! (L/N), right?" she squealed and waved her hands around. "You are so beautiful! I love your haori!"
(Y/N) flinched back at her enthusiastic natural and blushed at the attention. "Yes... I'm (L/N) (Y/N)," she bowed. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Oh stop! You don't need to be so formal!" the pink haired girl grabbed one of (Y/N)'s shoulders and guided her to stand at her full height. "I'm the Love Hashira! Kanoji Mitsuri!"
Her introduction went in one ear and out the other as (Y/N) looked down at the hand on her shoulder.
As politely as she could, (Y/N) brushed Mitsuri's hand off her shoulder with two fingers. She straightened her haori and tucked her hair back into her cheap hairpin.
Mitsuri gasped and turned bright red. "Oh I'm sorry! I tend to touch people without asking them first!" she waved her hands again, eyes widening. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable!"
(Y/N)'s head tilted curiously at the girl who seemed one second away from a breakdown. Her face was bright red and her hands continued to wave in a dramatic manner. The Ice Hashira looked around the courtyard wondering why no one was reacting to the girls antics.
Suddenly, Misturi dropped down on her knees, head touching the gravel below their feet. "I'm so embarrassed! I will do whatever it takes to fix this!"
As if she needed to cough, the Ice Hashira let out a small chuckle before her small chuckle turned into a bundle of giggles that hurt her stomach. She bit her lip to try and keep her laughter at bay to save the girl at her feet from more embarrassment, but the chuckles wouldn't stop.
She had never been apologized to so dramatically before. It took her completely off guard. The pink haired girl, Kanoji, was not what (Y/N) was expecting when she envisioned a Hashira. Though, she couldn't say she wasn't glad to see someone so silly hold the Hashira title.
(Y/N) held onto her stomach when she finally got her laughter under control. Her eyes met the sparkly, bright green eyes of the Love Hashira, her pinks cheeks only darkening the longer she stared up at (Y/N). A weird fuzzy feeling blossomed in (Y/N)'s chest and she held out her hand.
Mitsuri smiled at her and allowed (Y/N) to pull her up off the ground.
Mitsuri brushed herself off. "I really made a fool of myself, didn't I?" she asked, cheeks still pink as she rocked on her feet.
"No," (Y/N) lied as she rubbed her mouth to force her smile to go away. "I shouldn't have laughed. I apologize."
Mitsuri giggled into her hand. "It's okay. I'm just glad I didn't make you uncomfortable." She gestured behind her. "Let me introduce you to the others! Then maybe you and I can duel? Forget about this whole thing."
(Y/N) nodded once, a smile returning to her face. "Sure."
--End of Flashback--
Even after all this time, (Y/N) still saw that awkward, goofy girl every time she looked at Mitsuri. Only now, their bond was stronger than anything (Y/N) had ever experienced. It was like they were made to meet. One side of the same coin.
She finally had someone she could play dress-up with, that could do her hair and was always down to talk about boys.
Mitsuri smiled brightly at (Y/N), grabbed her hands. "I'm so happy for you!"
(Y/N)'s cheeks hard from how hard she was smiling. "Really?" she couldn't help but ask. "It still doesn't feel real."
"Yes!" Mitsuri exclaimed. "He's been crazy about you since you two met! It's about time he finally says something!" She grabbed another pastry and took a large bite.
(Y/N) flinched back at her friends' words, surprised. "Since we first met?"
Mitsuri slapped her friend on the shoulder playfully. "Don't act like you didn't know. You couldn't take your eyes off each other." She finished her pastry and wiped her hands on a napkin.
"I barely said anything to him when we first met. I was sure I had scared him off," (Y/N) reminded her friend.
Mitsuri smiled, knowingly. "That didn't his eyes from following your every move. It was so cute!" Little hearts swam in her eyes. "I've never seen him so starstruck!"
--Flashback--
(Y/N) followed behind Mitsuri, the pink haired girl rambled about how excited she was to have another girl around, but (Y/N) wasn't really listening.
Her chuckles were long gone as she took in the courtyard. There was so many different types of equipment that the Hashira could use. It was almost overwhelming. The training dummies so saw earlier were definitely on her list, but she also looked forward to tackling the small obstacle course that had the swinging dummies that would smack you silly if you weren't careful.
"Oh! Rengoku! Got a second?" Mitsuri waved at a man's back as he sliced away at some bamboo pieces, cutting them in-half flawlessly.
(Y/N) analyzed the man's back. His haori gave him away, (Y/N) knew right away that this man was the Flame Hashira. She heard rumors about him as she climbed in ranks. That he was incredibly strong. That he was very passionate about what he does. That he was very loud...
His wildly yellow hair with red tips swung behind him as he moved, some sticking to his neck. His back muscles flexed as he swung once again. (Y/N) felt a blush creep up her neck and tried to rub it away with her hand.
"(Y/N), this is Rengoku Kyojuro, the Flame Hashira!" Mitsuri gestured to him, waiting for him to finish his warm-up, as she smiled at (Y/N). "This is our new pillar, (L/N) (Y/N), the Ice Pillar!"
"Ice Pillar huh?!" Kyojuro boomed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "It's been decades since there's been an Ice Hashira."
(Y/N) nodded even though he wasn't looking at her.
Kyojuro laughed as he sheathed his sword and put his hands on his hips. "What an honor it is to finally-" he turned around and froze. His laughter died quickly in his throat as his owlish eyes widened, soaking in every detail of her face. A soft pink grew on his cheeks and ears the longer he stared at her.
(Y/N), who would've normally shrunk under the intensity of his gaze, froze when her eyes found his face. Her breath was caught in her throat. His features were bold. His thick black eyebrows stood out on his face, but they didn't take away from his golden, red eyes. She felt an unfamiliar feeling brew in her stomach as her eyes moved from his forehead down his nose and to his mouth, which was hanging open as his eyes did the same.
Mitsuri coughed, breaking their staring contest, and smiled behind her hands.
(Y/N) swallowed and bowed. "Please to meet you, Rengoku."
Kyojuro bowed as well. "Pleasure is all mine," he stood before she did, eyes following her body.
When (Y/N) stood tall once again, she gasped when her eyes locked onto his once again.
Before either could say more, a voice in the distant called for Kyojuro, causing him to look away from her and towards the voice.
(Y/N) looked over as well, as if her own name was called, and saw the man with white hair and gold bands waving Kyojuro over.
When she looked back at Kyojuro, he was smiling at her. "It was a pleasure meeting you!" he repeated. "I look forward to seeing what you can do!" he bowed once again before he moved to brush passed her. As he did, their eye contact remained. A brush of heat circled (Y/N) as he walked away, causing a shiver to snake down her back. Their heads turned until their necks ached in protest and he was out of sight.
But that didn't stop either of them from glancing back at the other. Every time (Y/N) looked back at Kyojuro's fiery form, she found him already looking back at her with a polite, friendly smile.
(Y/N) found herself smiling back, the ghost of a blush brushing against her cheeks as her eyes scanned his body.
She only looked away when a giggle came from the Love Hashira.
"What was all that about?" Mitsuri asked.
(Y/N) blinked, her attention returning to Mitsuri.
"What?" she asked dumbly.
Mitsuri giggled. "Do you two know each other?"
(Y/N) shook her head. "I've never seen him before. Rengoku, was it?"
"Rengoku Kyojuro," Mitsuri confirmed.
(Y/N) brought a finger to her chin in thought as she snuck another look at him. "Wasn't there a Hashira named 'Rengoku'?"
Mitsuri nodded. "His father, Rengoku Shinjuro."
(Y/N) nodded and adjusted her haori, suddenly feeling warm. She gulped and gestured towards the courtyard.
"Did you still want to train?"
--End of Flashback--
"I don't remember it like that," (Y/N) told Mitsuri, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.
Mitsuri waved her off. "Don't need to when I do!" she giggled and gasped. "Rengoku's coming over today, isn't he?"
(Y/N) nodded. "Later this afternoon, yeah. That was the plan."
"Can I do your hair for your date?"
(Y/N) choked on her spit. Her face turned bright red as she tried to force air back into her lungs with Mitsuri slapping her on the back with more force than necessary.
(Y/N) patted her chest as her coughing subsided.
"Sorry, sorry just-" she cleared her throat and calmed her nerves. "Please do my hair."
Before Mitsuri could leave her seat, however, Kyojuro's crow made an appearance in a nearby window with a note tied to his foot. (Y/N) stood and approached the bird, running two fingers over its back in thanks before taking the note.
My Dearest (Y/N),
I send you my deepest apologizes, but I will not be able to come to your estate this afternoon. A demon was sighted just up the mountain, and I was ordered to slay it.
Please, forgive me. I was much looking forward to seeing you. Especially after we spent so much time apart.
Yours,
"Kyojuro..." (Y/N) mumbled and crumbled the note in her hand.
"Is everything okay?" Mitsuri asked behind her.
(Y/N)'s lip quivered before she bit it. She let out a deep sigh and held the note out for Mitsuri to take and read. When she did, Misturi rubbed a comforting hand on (Y/N)'s back.
"Are you okay?"
(Y/N) sighed again and shrugged. "Are we, Kyojuro and I," she swallowed, "making a mistake?"
Mitsuri's hand stopped. "What do you mean?"
(Y/N) looked at her friend over her shoulder, pathetic tears pooled in her eyes. "I mean, I haven't seen him in a month. And when we finally have time to spend together, it gets taken away. Just like that." She shook her head and wiped her eyes with her palms. "We spend every free second that we have together, and it still doesn't feel like it's enough."
Mitsuri pulled the Ice Hashira into a hug, hand rubbing up and down her back once again.
"I just want to see him," (Y/N) muttered into her friend's shoulder.
Mitsuri nodded into (Y/N)'s shoulder and waited for her to say more, but she didn't say anything else. Disappointment seeped through her veins and a bitter, ugly feeling, swam along with it that she couldn't name. She felt pathetic, crying over not seeing a man. If her father saw her now, he would call her as such. But she wasn't with her father, she was with Mitsuri, who whispered calming, sweet words into her ear as her mind began to spiral.
Since their mission all that time ago, Kyojuro hadn't left her mind. His presence introduced a new definition, a new meaning, to the word warmth. He brought it into her life in a way that (Y/N) would never have guessed she'd ever experienced. Especially as a Hashira.
He was the first person she thought of when she woke up and the last person she thought of before falling asleep. She cherished every second of his time the world gave to her, but recently, the world hadn't been so kind as to gifting her time with Kyojuro.
After seeing him yesterday, talking to him and touching him, it felt like the weight of the world was finally off her shoulders. Like she forogt what it was like not to have him around. She wanted to chase that feeling, breath it, live in it. But going back and forth from seeing him all the time to rarely seeing him at all was harder than she cared to admit.
And Mitsuri knew that. So, she continued her sweet, reassuring words. "Rengoku cares about you deeply. I've never seen him so happy than he is when he's with you. I mean," she giggled and pulled away from (Y/N)'s shoulder. "He talks about you all the time."
(Y/N) doubted her friends' words, no matter how much they stirred the butterflies that laid quiet in her stomach. "But we're Hashira. Who knows how many more cancelled dates there will be. Think about how much of his life and my life will be spent apart because we're out slaying demons or recovering from injuries instead of being together."
Mitsuri's face hardened. "(Y/N)," she said sternly. "You know I love you, but you're not thinking clearly."
"You know I'm not wrong, Mitsuri. The next day is never promised in the corps."
"But that shouldn't matter! You should spend every second you have with him, with him. Without the fear of what tomorrow could be." Mitsuri removed herself from (Y/N) and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you care for him?"
(Y/N) rolled her eyes. "Mits-"
"Answer me."
"Yes! Of course I do!"
"Then that should be enough!"
The room grew quiet. Kyojuro's crow long gone at that point. Yuki and Mitsuri's crows no where to be seen. The Ice Hashira's house was still as the air grew thick with tension, with truth.
(Y/N) swallowed, disappointment still present but lighter than before. She rang her fingers out in front of her as she glared at her socked feet. Her pride wouldn't allow her to say it, but she knew Mitsuri was right.
She misses Kyojuro, more than anything, and she had looked forward to seeing him that afternoon. Eating left over pastries and sipping on the tea in her cabinets. But the life of a demon slayer got in the way. Something that will happen again and again until it drives both the Flame Hashira and the Ice Hashira crazy.
But Mitsuri was right.
He was worth it.
Mitsuri ran her fingers through (Y/N)'s hair to move it out of her face. "Do you want me to stay?"
(Y/N) nodded with a childish pout on her face.
Mitsuri clapped once and bounced on her tiptoes. "Sleepover!"
———————————————
The sleepover didn't happen. Later that afternoon after her talk with Mitsuri, (Y/N) was assigned a mission.
Irony laughed at her as she read the mission report. It informed her that there was a large number of disappearances in a local region that was a two day walk away.
Apparently, lower ranked slayers were sent on the mission a couple weeks ago, but they failed to return. So, now the corps was sending a Hashira. Sending her.
She got dressed, packed a bag, and walked with Mitsuri out to her gate. Her friend wished her luck and told her to travel safely before giving the Ice Hashira a hug and waving her off as they walked in different directions.
That was a month ago.
It’d taken her weeks to track the demon. Following its trail day and night, eyes peeled, ears perked, all with a firm grip on her sword.
It was fast. Smart too. Every time she thought she had it cornered, it would disappear and she would have to start her search over. After finding lodging in a small town at the local in, (Y/N) learned that the demon traveled through the fog. Witnesses claim that the demon waits for its victims in the thick fog before grabbing them. When the Ice Hashira asked where the demon was taking the victims, no one had an answer.
(Y/N) was in a constant state of motion. Eating as she walked. Sleeping only when necessary. Her sword always in her grasp.
She barely had time to think about anything else other than the demon. So much of her time and energy was spent hunting for it. She even failed to write to Kyojuro like she usually did when she was sent on a mission.
There was a moment early into her mission, right before she fell asleep, where she worried he would think she was angry at him, but that worry vanished as her eyelids grew heavy and she succumbed to sleep.
She didn’t have time to think on it again.
Finally, after a long month, deep into the starless night did she find the demon hiding away in a cave. Feasting. The smell of blood and rot hit her nose, which caused it to curl up in disgust. Her blood boiled as she finally laid eyes on the demon that’s taken a month from her life.
The demon turned, eyes widened in fear. It trembled as she approached, eyes dark and narrow, her knuckles white as she gripped her sword tight.
Home was finally in sight.
“Hey! What are you doing here?” The demon snarled. It licked its hand and dropped the limb it was holding to the ground. The sound echoed off the cave walls. “I thought I left you in the dust ages ago! How did you find my-”
Ice Breathing… Fourth Form… Icy Breeze…
In a gust of wind, she glided across the muddy floor of the cave, as if the mud beneath her feet was solid ice. The freezing air followed her as she moved and sliced the demons head off. It rolled on the ground and whimpered pathetically.
“No fair! No fair! No fair!” It cried.
She swung her sword to the side, its blood coating the cave walls, before she put it back in its sheath and let out a deep breath. Frost pooled at her feet with every step she took towards the demon's head. Her breathing visible thanks to the drop in temperature.
The demon stopped its rambling and trembled. It's body finally began to turn into ash behind her.
“You’re-” it began, but she kicked its head.
She kicked it so hard that the second it hit the cave wall it splattered, as if she threw a rotten piece of fruit. Ash removed the splatter soon after.
She dared to look at the pile of bodies in the corner and her hands shook.
Four.
And none of them were the younger slayers sent before her.
Fury and frustration pooled in her stomach. Her hands closed into fists and her knuckles turned white. Her nails dug into her palms but she made no attempt to loosen the pressure. She didn’t stop until blood dripped down her knuckles and into the mud below her feet. The sound of her blood hitting the ground broke her trance and then she began to move the bodies.
She took her time as she dug four holes. She closed each of the victims eyes and laid them in their new graves right outside of the cave.
She kneeled before them and said a quick prayer.
She also begged for forgiveness.
The Ice Pilar stood after that, turned on her heel and made her way back home without so much as a glance back.
—Back at the Ice Mansion—
(Y/N) returned home late in the night. Moon hung over her as she walked through her gates. The mission weighted heavily on her, her body was tense and her head was hung low. Feet drug through the gravel, limbs feeling like mush.
She cried the whole way home.
Her father’s words wouldn’t stop echoing through her mind.
You have to be fast enough, or else people are going to die because of you.
If you fail, you must punish yourself and remember the feeling. That way, you never want to fail again.
It doesn’t matter if you’re tired. Tired gets innocent people killed.
It was driving her crazy.
Her greasy hair was sticking up different directions after running her hands through it multiple times.
The calluses on her hands were pealed after she repeatedly picked at them. Her fingernails were no better, chewed completely to the nub.
Her appetite was gone. She hadn’t been able to stomach more than a few bites of rice before a whiff of the cave hit her nose and she grew nauseous.
She should be used to seeing bodies now, she’d seen plenty during her time as a slayer, but it wasn't easy. She didn’t think it could be easy for anyone who has seen the horrors she has. Those four innocent faces lingered in her mind just as much as her father’s words.
Returning home usually felt like a gift, but this time, guilt leaked from her skin. Returning home usually felt like a privilege, like a gift. But she didn’t think she deserved it this time.
She sat down on her porch, kicked off her shoes and removed her sword from her belt to lay it beside her. Her legs dangled over the edge, toes brushing the gravel below her as she idly swung her feet. She stared down at a random rock in her garden and suddenly it felt like the world around her disappeared. Everything was grey and silent.
She was so tired.
It felt as though someone was standing on her shoulders, pushing her down lower and lower until she curled into herself. (Y/N) brought one knee up into her chest and wrapped an arm around it, holding it close. Eyes never leaving the rock.
She didn’t hear Yuki land next to her. (Y/N) only knew she was there after she pecked at her hand, accidentally drawing blood after she pecked too deep. But (Y/N) didn’t move, didn’t react. She continued to stare at the rock, face blank.
Yuki stopped after that.
After a while, a soft glow from the sun peaked over the fence. A beam of bright light flashed right into her eye and that was when (Y/N) finally removed her eyes from the rock and looked up.
The sunrise was beautiful. Soft oranges and yellows covered the sky with pink clouds mixed within. Her eyes sparkled as she watched it grow before the sky returned to its usual shade of blue.
(Y/N) swallowed and looked to her side and saw Yuki, sleeping, next to her hand. She lifted two fingers and brushed the crow's head. “Stupid bird…” she mumbled, no malice in sight.
—Two Days Later—
It was time for the monthly Hashira meeting at the Ubuyashiki Mansion. Master Ubuyashiki set them up to hear what each of the Hashira have accomplished over the past month. He was always so eager to hear what everyone had to say.
The Ice Hashira usually looked forward to these meetings. Eager to brag about her own accomplishments and see her fellow comrades all in one piece.
Today was different.
(Y/N) was awake by the time Yuki woke up and made her way over to her futon. Usually, the crow had to poke and claw at the Ice Hashira to wake her up, but Yuki looked as surprised as a bird could to see her already awake.
(Y/N) scratched Yuki’s chest. “Hi pretty bird," she greeted the crow, voice hoarse from lack of sleep.
When the time of the meeting was drawing near, (Y/N) stood from her futon and got dressed, slowly, taking her time with every button on her uniform. Balancing on one foot to slide each leg into each pant hole before securing her pants with her belt. She brushed a hand through her hair until she no longer felt any knots and deemed it good enough. As she left the comfort of her home, she grabbed her haori right before the door shut and slipped her arms through as she descended down the steps.
As she made her way to the Ubuyashiki Mansion, her father's words made their daily reappearance. HIs presence glared down at her as she walked, like a dark cloud that wouldn't let go of her shoulders. His voice echoed in her ears, diction so clear it almost sounded as though he was walking right next to her.
As a Hashira, no one should die on your watch. You should be able to kill the demon before it kills innocents.
She swallowed the bile that crept up her throat and rubbed at her tempts.
“The dead have a unique way of haunting your dreams. And they should. That way you won’t make the same mistakes.”
—Thirteen Years Ago—
“Are you listening, (Y/N)?” Father asked.
“Yes, Sir!” The seven year old exclaimed. “I shall never fail or make any mistakes if I want to save people! Just like you!”
Her father patted her head. “Don’t put all my efforts to waste.”
(Y/N)’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at her father. In her eyes, he was the strongest man in the world. He was once a powerful warrior, destined to be the strongest Hashira, according to him. She hung onto every word he said and followed every introduction perfectly. She wanted him to be proud of her, so she endured everything he threw her way. The conditioning drills, cardio exercises, dueling, sparring, everything. Every training session was her chance to be strong just like her daddy.
To be his perfect little warrior.
—Present Day—
(Y/N) couldn't help but think about how disappointed he'd be in her right now. He’d probably yell, criticize, and berate her for not doing what she was made to do. To be the strongest Hashira, to never fail, and to makes no mistakes.
It was odd to her, thinking about him after all these years. She hadn't given her father much thought since the day she left. So, why were his words haunting her so much, now, after all this time?
She entered the Ubuyashiki garden and saw her comrades all standing outside the opening of the engawa, waiting for the Master to arrive.
Mitsuri was telling a story, (Y/N) could tell by how her friend threw her arms around, waving them frantically as she spoke. She had most of the other Hashira’s attention, except for Giyuu who was sitting off to the side on a large rock. He was looking down at his feet instead of Mitsuri.
Although (Y/N) knew she should probably make her presence known, she wasn't ready to talk about her mission yet, so she walked over to Giyuu instead.
She cleared her throat. "Can I sit here?" she asked him.
Giyuu looked up at her, arms crossed, as if he was bored. He nodded without a word.
She sat down, knee brushing against his thigh as she did. She uttered an apology and scooted over.
Just as she had hoped, it was silent between the two of them.
Unlike some of the other Hashira, (Y/N) had no issues with Giyuu. She thought he, in his own way, was kind. Despite being shy and a little awkward.
She leaned back on her hands and closed her tired eyes. She heard Giyuu move to sit next to her, putting a little more space between them, before he copied her.
“Why aren’t you... with the others?” He asked.
She peaked an eye open and looked at him. He was looking up at the sky instead of at her, blue eyes following the clouds.
“Why aren’t you?” She fired back.
He didn’t answer, and their silence continued until-
“Ah! Well look who snuck her way in!” Tengen exclaimed as he stomped over to where the Ice and Water Hashira were sitting.
(Y/N) sighed through her nose, a headache already forming between her brows.
“Good to see you alive and well, Ice Princess,” Tengen greeted. "You were gone awhile!"
(Y/N) peaked up at him through her lashes and closed her eyes again.
“Ahh come on! Don’t be like that!” She felt Tengen lean over her. He propped himself above her, leaning on one arm as his face hovered. Enjoying her personal space.
“What happened to you? You look like shit.”
She felt like punching him.
She reached up and pushed against his chest, barely moving him an inch. She moved closer to Giyuu as if he was going to protect her.
“I’m not in the mood for you, Sound Boy, beat it,” she snarled.
“Sound Boy?! How dare you? I am a God!” Tengen’s face twisted, ugly, and he poked her in the chest. “You will treat me with respect!”
“I don’t have to do shit.”
The smallest of snorts came from beside her.
“I’m really not in the mood, Tengen, so if you could be so kind,” she waved a hand at him before returning to her relaxed position, but far more tense than she was before.
“Then why don’t you tell me what’s wrong instead of hanging out with Tomika?”
She sat up straight again and poked him in the chest. “Because I like Tomika. And he doesn’t tell me I look like shit! Now go away!” She laid down on the top of the rock then and threw her arms over her face and huffed.
She could heard Tengen open and close his mouth, lips smacking together dramatically as he gasped at her attitude. She was surprised to hear him walk away, shoes crunching the gravel as he did. He scoffed as he went and she heard him mumble something about telling Kyojuro about her ‘attitude problems’ but she didn’t move.
She groaned into her arms. “He’s so annoying sometimes.”
She could feel Giyuu’s eyes on her and she threw one arm off to the side. “Go ahead, tell me I was rude.”
“Okay, you were rude.”
She sat straight up, dizzy from her movements and lack of breakfast. She grabbed his shoulder. “Tomika! I wasn’t serious! Was I really that rude?” She didn’t give him time to respond as she slid off the rock and paced in front of him. “Do I have an attitude problem? No, no way. I would’ve noticed by now. It’s just because I’m tired. Right? I mean, I… well…” she hummed and stopped pacing.
“Uzui can be a lot sometimes. It’s not your fault you got frustrated,” he said.
(Y/N) looked up at him and choked out a small chuckle. “That he is,” she chuckled again, the comment surprising her. “That was funny. Thanks, Tomika, I needed that.” She sat back down next to him, feeling lighter than she had since she returned from her mission.
The two then got comfortable once again as they continued to wait for the Master. The idle chatter around them died down, the small crowd that surrounded Mitsuri broke off as she then turned her attention to Obnani.
(Y/N) watched as her friend gushed and fanned over Obnani, who looked one second away from exploding from her attention. She couldn’t help it, (Y/N) nudged Giyuu and leaned over to whisper to him, “you see Mitsuri and Obnani over there?”
Giyuus eyes followed hers and he nodded.
“Don’t tell anyone I said this, but she’s got a massive crush on him,” she shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Every time they get close to maybe being something more, they get nervous and the moments over.”
Giyuu hummed, obviously bored, but polite enough to engage in the conversation. “Sounds like you and Rengoku.”
She gasped and choked on her spit. (Y/N) pounded a fist against her chest as she tried to force air back into her lungs. Giyuu’s hands hovered over her back, panicked by her reaction, and slapped her once on the back. Hard.
She gasped again but this time air filled her lungs as her breathing returned to normal. She reached around and rubbed the sore spot where he slapped her. Her skin bristled and she was sure there was going to be a bruise.
“Are you alright?”
“It feels like you punched a hole in my back.”
It took a moment, but the pain faded away, as did (Y/N) reassured Giyuu he didn’t actually put a hole in her back. He apologized for hurting her as she fanned his face.
“It’s okay. Please don’t- Tomika stop looking like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want the ground to swallow you whole,” she joked, giggling at him.
“Wow! It looks like you two are having fun!”
(Y/N) looked up and her smile only brightened at the sight of Kyojuro. Seeing him after so long felt like a breath of fresh air.
She looked him up and down and noticed he looked stiff. His arms were crossed over his chest, his fingers gripping his biceps, veins visible from where she was sitting. And his face, adoring the usual smile yes, looked more like he was in pain. His smile was tight, like he was gritting his teeth, his eyebrows pinched together, and his eyes, well, one of them was twitching.
“Good morning, Kyojuro,” she greeted.
Kyojuro, who was looking at Giyuu, looked at her, faced more relaxed. “(Y/N)! Looking radiant as always on this fine morning!”
She blushed at the familiar compliment.
“I have missed you when you were away! I especially miss the time we’ve spent at your estate, just the two of us!” He yelled, volume increasing as he talked. His eyes flickered between her and Giyuu, large eyebrows twitching.
“You were gone for so long! I’m excited to hear all about your mission later! Perhaps at your estate! Just the two of us!” His voice only grew louder, echoing throughout the garden to everyone to hear.
(Y/N) couldn’t even enjoy the display in front of her, even though she thought it was funny to see Kyojuro in this jealous state. At the brief mention of her mission, (Y/N)’s chest felt heavy once again, as if her laughter was wasted. The weight of it pulling her down once again, taking her smile with it.
Kyojuro’s smile dropped at the sight of (Y/N) shrinking into herself. He reached a hand out to her and nodded his head to the side. “Come with me for a moment,” he asked, voice visibly quieter than it was a few seconds ago. It was almost like a whisper.
She excused herself to Giyuu and stood from the rock. She took Kyojuro's hand and allowed him to take her off to the side of the mansion, far enough away from the others for privacy.
He didn’t let go of her hand as she leaned her back against the wall and he leaned on his shoulder. His eyes danced around her face and then moved down the rest of her body.
"I was disappointed to not hear from you while you were away," he licked his lips and looked down at his feet. "I thought perhaps you didn't want to see me."
(Y/N) shook her head and took a deep breath. "No, Kyojuro, that's not it."
"Then what's wrong? I haven't heard from you in weeks, and you didn't come greet me when you got here," his voice grew quieter as he spoke. It was clear he was embarrassed by his tone. He played with her fingers, running his thumb carefully over the chewed nubs of her fingers and the reddened rough patches on her knuckles.
(Y/N) shook her head again. "It's not that either."
"Then what is it? Please," his eyes locked onto hers. His thick eyebrows pinched together in worry. "Tell me what's wrong."
“Nothing wrong. I’m just tired,” she lied.
“Don’t lie to me,” he frowned. His nose turned up as if he smelled something rotten. “I know you well enough by now to know when you are lying. Don’t think for a second I don’t see this," he held up her hand for her to see, gesturing towards her nails. "Or the fact that you lost weight.” He let go of her hand and turned her to face him, hands on her shoulders, thumb brushing on the skin of her neck.
(Y/N)’s lip quivered as she blinked up at him. She tried to turn her head to escape his piercing gaze but he cupped her cheek, stopping her. She licked her lips. “Tengen put you up to this? He tell you about my 'attitude problem?'” She asked, fake smile on her face as she tried to change the subject.
“He did. And while he was jesting, he was also worried. Said you looked tired.” Kyojuro moved closer to her. His thumb brushed against her cheek as his eyes flickered between hers. “Tell me how I can help.”
She didn’t know how he could help her. He couldn’t bring those four people back to life. He couldn’t go back in time and make her faster. He couldn’t stop her father’s voice from ringing in her head.
Her eyes watered, tears threatening to escape as she looked up at him. She couldn't help but bask in him. The heat of his hands on her, the gentleness in his eyes, the way his voice grew softer when he spoke to her. It felt good to be in his presence again after so long. She knew she missed it, missed him, but it was almost overwhelming now that he was in her presence again.
She blinked away the tears before they could fall. She sniffled. “I…” she tried, but the words weren’t coming to her. “I… um…”
“The Master has arrived!” Two little voices called.
Like clockwork, (Y/N) and Kyojuro broke apart and rushed around the corner to join the others, kneeling as their Master came out.
As he always did, Master Ubuyashiki asked about the sky and then how everyone was doing, his voice coating them like a soft blanket was being draped over their shoulders.
(Y/N) felt the heaviness on her chest leave at the tone of his voice. She took a deep breath in and allowed it to leave her lungs slowly. She blinked the lingering tears away from her lashes as she looked down at the gravel below her.
Obnani greeted the master and soon the meeting had begun. Mitsuri had retold the story from before, just as enthusiastic as before. Tengen shared his own mission success story, then Tokito soon after that. What he could remember anyway.
That was when the Master called on her. “(L/N), you just returned from a month-long mission a few days ago. Did you not?”
“Yes, Master.” She swallowed and could feel the air thicken.
“Well, I’d love to hear about it.”
Her hand, the other that wasn’t perched on her knee, shook in the gravel. She knew it was coming, but there was a small part of her that was hoping the master would, just this once, forget about her.
“I… uhh…” her jaw tightened. “Uhh…” she could feel the others look at her from the corners of their eyes, concerned and confused no doubt. They were used to her eagerness, her wanting to share every detail of her successes. But this wasn’t a success. She killed the demon sure, but she was too slow. Too late. And people lost their lives because of it.
She couldn’t find the words. She couldn’t tell the master she killed the demon but failed to save the people. It was her job to save people. To protect them. And she failed.
Failed. Failed. Failed.
In the midst of her panic, as she tried to calm her mind down enough to tell her master what she had done, she felt the smallest touch on her pinky finger. A rough finger nudged her own, feeling the grooves of her skin, before it wrapped around hers, securing itself in place.
She ever so slightly tilted her head to the side and looked at Kyojuro with an unusual frown on his face.
Kyojuro wasn’t shy about physical touch, (Y/N) learned that rather quickly in their friendship. Before their first mission together, (Y/N) and Kyojuro had only spoken a handful of times, mostly him asking her questions about herself while she either ignored him or answered only out of politeness. But after their mission and her first time visiting the Rengoku estate, Kyojuro couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of her. He held her hand without shame, always wanted to escort her with her hand wrapped around his arm no matter where they went, he’s even helped her with her hair once. Well, he tried.
And yet, out of all the times he’s touched her, this small gesture is what drove her the wildest. He was reminding her that he was there, that everything was going to be okay, that she was safe.
She was mentally hitting herself for thinking that maybe they wouldn't work out. That maybe they were being silly, chasing the dream of courtship... of love. But she was wrong.
And Mitsuri was right.
So, with a deep breath (Y/N) told the story. About how she spent weeks hunting the demon before finally finding its cave. About how she decapitated it without a lick of remorse. About how she failed to save those people but gave them a proper burial before she eventually came home.
The Master was silent after she finished before he thanked her for what she had done. It didn’t feel like he was disappointed in her, in fact, she truly believed he was proud of her.
That brought all the heaviness that had laid on her chest up and off of her completely. It no longer felt like she was struggling to breathe. The garden grew more colorful and the sweet scent of the flowers in the garden returned to her nose as she took a deep breath in and out.
Kyojuro’s pinky tightened around hers, as if he knew what she was feeling. She unhooked her pinky from his and slid her fingers over the top of his hand. She didn’t squeeze, she didn’t interlock any fingers, she just rested her hand on top of his. She soaked in the feeling of his warm hand under hers, enjoying the rough skin of his knuckles underneath the soft pads of her fingertips.
Her hand laid there for the rest of the meeting.
When it finally ended and everyone wished the Master a good day and to remain in good health. He finally stood, daughters under his arms, and retreated back into his home.
The second he was inside, Kyojuro flipped his hand over, small pebbles of gravel stuck to his clammy skin, and threaded his fingers through hers.
Kyojuro stood, pulling (Y/N) up with him, only letting go for a second to wipe his hand on his pants to brush off the gravel and sweat. He took her hand again and brought it to his chest.
(Y/N) smiled at his gentleness. “Thank you, Kyojuro.” She could feel the steadiness of his heart under her fingers.
Kyojuro hummed and grabbed her free hand. “What for? I didn’t do anything.”
“You know what you did. Don’t make me spell it out for you.” She tried to pull her hand free, but he only held on tighter.
Kyojuro looked up, pretending to think.
She giggled at his act and lightly kicked his shin.
Kyojuro chuckled and brought her hand up to his lips. He kissed her middle knuckle; eyes locked onto hers. “I know you may not want to hear it, but I’m proud of you.”
Her heart swelled. (Y/N) felt electric waves course through her body, from the top of her head down to her toes. That same bubbly feeling she got the first time he told her that resurfaced.
“You tried your best and that’s all that matters. I know you’ll try even harder next time and that’ll be just enough!” He continued. He kissed her knuckle again and laid it on his chest next to her other hand. “You don’t have to hide your fears and anxieties from me.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She rubbed her nose on her shoulder. “Okay,” she said, voice small.
Kyojuro let go of her hand and cupped her cheek. He turned her head and he sighed when their eyes met.
“Beautiful and strong as always.”
“Eeeek!”
Kyojuro and (Y/N)’s heads snapped to the side and saw Mitsuri staring at them, face pink, and literal hearts circling around her face.
(Y/N) and Kyojuro tried to move away from each other, as if they remembered they had an audience, but Mitsuri bounced over and wrapped her arms around them, squealing. (Y/N) and Kyojuro grunted at the strength of the hug.
"I love you two so much! You're so perfect for each other!" She pulled away and fanned herself. "I'm so happy you're finally courting! You used to be so shy and awkward around it each other it was killing me! This is so sweet I can hardly stand it!"
(Y/N) and Kyojuro sported deep red faces, flustered by the attention, shaking their heads at their friend.
"Courting, huh?" Tengen, ever the nosey man, entered the conversation with a knowing smirk on his face. "It's about damn! I was growing tired of feeling like I was interrupting something every time you two made eye contact."
Mitsuri giggled. "Oh gosh, me too! Do you remember Tengen? How shy they'd get every time the other walked into the room?"
"I do remember that!"
(Y/N) rolled her eyes. "I don't!"
Mitsuri and Tengen shushed her, causing her to flinch back at the audacity of her friends. The two continued to tease and Kyojuro let out a low chuckle that rumbled against (Y/N)'s chest.
"What?" she asked.
"I'm glad you're home," Kyojuro whispered in (Y/N)'s ear so their friends couldn't hear. "I missed you, deeply."
She shivered and pressed her hands deeper into his chest, fingers rubbing against his uniform pockets. "I missed you more."
Kyojuro smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer. He gently rested his forehead against hers, eyes fluttering closed. "Not possible."
As her own eyes fluttered shut, basking in him, (Y/N) mentally kicked herself for thinking they couldn't make this work.
Life as a Hashira would get in the way of their relationship more than either of them may realize. They had a duty to uphold, lives to save, newbies to train. But that makes the moments they can spend together that much more special.
And for the next few days, the Flame and Ice Hashira spent every second they could together.
Kyojuro was home for the evening? Of course he's sending (Y/N) an invite, no longer feeling the need to hide his want to see her through Senjuro.
(Y/N) was training in the Butterfly Mansion courtyard? Kyojuro magically appears two minutes later with lunch.
Kyojuro is going on patrol with Mitsuri? (Y/N) is asking if they could switch partners, and of course, Mitsuri is more than happy to do so.
Even though life as a Hashira is busy and chaotic, they make it work, because in their eyes, it's worth it.
Wow this one took a second.
I'm sorry for such a slow update, I was having such a hard time with the beginning of this chapter. It feels like I rewrote it a hundred times, and even though I'm still not super happy with it, I knew I had to just suck it up and post it.
I hope you enjoyed! We're itching closer and closer to the events of the anime. Remember I wanted to try and establish their relationship first so that's why we're taking a second to get there.
Thank you for your patience! Let me know what you thought of the update! <3
The Burn He Left fans!!!!
New chapter coming next week!!!!
I’m sorry it took so long!!!!
I’M SO HYPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Burn He Left fans!!!!
New chapter coming next week!!!!
I’m sorry it took so long!!!!
I’M SO HYPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
based ofc on this
Still my most shameful moment of my BG3 Act 1 playthrough
Who to go to...
Who you go to for certain things around camp.
This can be read either platonic or romantic! Barely proofread <3
Shadowheart is who you go to when your clothes and hair needed a little help.
Camp life isn't for everyone. You don't mind it, maybe not fulltime for months on end, but it wasn't all that bad. But overtime your hair and camp-clothes started to show their own complaints. Shadowheart had been brushing her own hair when you walked by. She noticed you were tugging at a piece of hair that was caked in what she assumed was a mixture of blood, sweat, and mud. It wasn't like you were an animal rolling around in filth every day, but sometimes it was difficult to pull yourself out of your bedroll to go wash up after a long day of killing and exploring. Knowing this, Shadowheart sighed and called your over to sit on her stool. She helped detangle, wash, rebraid/retie your hair so you didn't look like you lived in the dirt (technically you did but not everyone needed to know that). That's when she noticed your camp attire had one to many holes. Her own camp attire had its fair share of wear and tear so when you left camp the next morning, she sewed your clothes for you. When you asked her why she did it, she would simply say she was bored and needed something to do. When in reality, she wanted to show you that she appreciated everything you've done for her. It was her way of returning the favor, and she was glad to do it time and time again throughout your journey.
Gale is who you go to when you need a distraction.
You've said it once, you've said it a thousand times, but you really shouldn't have wished to live in more interesting times. Adventuring, killing goblins, seeking a cure for the tadpole in your brain, gosh, it was hard not to fantanize about the simple life you had before the tadpole. You catch yourself yearning for your own bed with your favorite book in one hand and perhaps a warm cup of tea or the bread your neighbor used to make in the other. Don't misunderstand, one side of you is glad for the tadpole because without it, you wouldn't have met some of your favorite people in the world. But, on the other side, you wish you could step away from it all for a moment, some kind of distraction to take your mind away from it all. Gale noticed how you would space out, how your eyes would linger on abandoned bookshelves, how you would mention your hometown when you were feeling homesick. So, on a rather slow evening at camp, he invites you to his tent and hands you a fiction book he found while you were exploring. He thought you would enjoy sitting with him reading and drinking some (bitter) tea for the evening to get your mind off things. He would tell you about his library in Waterdeep, even promised you that when you visit, because you're going to visit, you had free range to his collection just as long as you promised to give him his books back. After that night, if someone couldn't find you in camp, they knew that you were most likely in Gale's tent, a cup of tea in one hand with a book in the other, swimming in the simplicity of it.
Wyll is who you go to when you need some advice.
It's no secret that Wyll had a way with words. His storytelling puts bards across the Faerûn to shame and his vocabulary almost gives Gale a run for his money. As the leader of your group, it's expected that not everyone will agree with your decisions, not everyone you talk to will be happy, not everyone needs saving. You always try to make the best decisions, the best choices for your group, but sometimes it's difficult to tell what the correct move is or was. So, naturally, you go to the man who knows the feeling all too well. He too has had to make some difficult decisions for the sake of others. Wyll was more than happy to share his thoughts on anything you needed. Need a second opinion on armor? He suggests this. What did he think about this decision while you were exploring? Well, he probably wouldn't have done it, but he understands why you did. He's always careful, thoughtful with his words, because he understands the toll being a leader can take. The questions, the second thoughts, the doubts that follow leadership is a feeling he knows all too well. He was extremely flattered you asked him for advice and patted you on the shoulder with that charming smile of his. You may not always agree with his advice, but hearing his side of things really helps put things into prospective. And he always makes sure to tell you how great of a job you're doing.
Halsin is who you go to when you need your back popped.
Look, carrying around your heavy pack all day filled to the brim with treasures, weapons, potions, and scrolls, on top of your armor and personal weapons... it's no wonder that your back hurts. You have to give it to Karlach and Halsin, who carry the bulk of the camp whenever you're on the move. You could only handle your own items before your back starts to complain, let alone everyone else's. Gale has a lot of books! You had been stretching near the fire, twisting and turning your back, begging for it to pop to relieve your discomfort but you just couldn't get it on your own. Halsin noticed your discomfort from his spot on a log before standing and waving you over to him. He spun you around and grabbed your elbows. He crossed your arms over your chest, pulled you flush against his chest before he lifted you off the ground. He gave you a little shake before your sore back finally popped. Relief flowed through your bones as Halsin gently sets you down back on your feet. You were finally able to stand up straight without the knot in your back complaining and you melted right back into Halsin's chest. He laughed and told you to come back if your back started acting up again. And that's what you did, so much so it was an almost a daily reoccurrence that Halsin pops your back for you. His large arms already open by the time you return to camp after a long day of being a hero.
Astarion is who you go to when you need to complain.
Sometimes it felt so good to get things off your chest. Sometimes... you just have to be a bitch. Being the leader of your group was more exhausting than you think your companions realize. Your decisions outside of camp can make or break trust between your companions, not everyone is going to be happy, and you know what. What's worse is when you're out exploring and encounter a multitude of people on your jounrey, some getting on your nerves more than others. Sometimes you don't want to be nice to everyone you meet. And Astarion gets it, more than anyone, how tiring it is to be nice to random people you meet without any kind of compensation for going out of your way. You've got your own problems. You don't care that someone is missing their items or that their affair letters are lost but for some reason you're made out to be the bad guy when you state that you don't care. Astarion is always there to back you up, not afraid to voice his opinions like you are, especially in front of your companions. On those particular days, where your frustration burns your chest and makes your skin itchy, you know exactly who to go to. There have been days where you don't need to say anything, walking right up to Astarion's tent, and he's already pouring a glass of wine and patting the pillow next to him. When you complain, sip, and scuff about annoying, frustrating things that happened that day, Astarion listens to every word, chiming in when appropriate, and sharing his own complaints. He always reminds you that you're too nice to people and that's when you joke that that's why you keep him around to balance it out.
Lae'zel is who you go to when you need to release some anger.
Not only does she have a training dummy with a literal mind flayers head on it for you to punch, kick, or whatever to help you release some anger, but she's more than willingly to spar. And Lae'zel doesn't hold back either. You'd swear that she looks forward to seeing your angry ass storm up to her, needing to let out some steam. Through these sparring sessions, you learn more than you may realize. Not only is Lae'zel a fierce warrior who teaches you new moves to use against your enemies, but you also learn a few selected Githyaki swear words. It almost becomes an inside joke between you two, whenever she swears in her native tongue, you have to hold yours from laughing at her colorful language. Whenever you approach her to let off some steam, Lae'zel rarely asks you questions. It's not because she doesn't care necessarily, it's mostly because she's not the best with words. Lae'zel shows she cares through action. She also appreciates that over time you don't just go over to her to release some anger and frustration but to learn from her. Learn about her culture, her language (even if it's just the swear words right now), but also her skills as a fighter. Even though your body will ache and be sore the next morning, your heart doesn't feel as heavy and your temper won't be as hot, and your friendship with Lae'zel will remain lighthearted, fun, and energy driven.
Karlach is who you go to when you need a good hug.
After Dammon helped cool her down and you shared your first hug at Last Light Inn, you can't stop hugging Karlach whenever you see her. While she still burns hot, the warmth that comes from her skin feels more like a warm blanket than an infernal fire to you. After everything she's told you, not being able to touch people in worry that she'd melt their face off, you made sure to hug her whenever you saw her. In greeting, in fear, in comfort, or just because, Karlach could expect a hug coming along whenever you were near and she loved every second of it. Her arms wrap around your waist or shoulders like they were meant to be there. She always squeezes you tight right before you let go. Even sitting around the fire after a long day of exploring and killing, it wasn't a surprise to anyone that you lean onto Karlach, resting your head on her shoulder as she excitedly tells the others what you saw that day all with an arm wrapped around your shoulder. After a particularly long day, one that drug you through the mud and sat heavily in your bones, you walked right up to Karlach. And even though you were filthy, covered in mud, sweat, and blood, Karlach pulled you into a hug with a hand cupping the back of your head and the other around your waist, holding you close as you cried into her shoulder. She told you to let it out in that sweet voice of hers, rubbing your back, and promising that Mama K was there. No matter the day, no matter what events took place, Karlach was there to give you a really good hug.
Halsin has a crush on you, and it was so painfully obvious to everyone but you.
From the moment he saw you march and kill your way through the goblin camp, swaying your sword to axe through the air with a twist in the hips like it’s nothing, he was smitten. Especially because you decided to help him, while he was in wild shape, not knowing that he was the cave bear behind the iron bars. Yeah, he kept an eye out for you after that.
He remembers when he brushed passed you at the tiefling party. You were talking to Zevlor, listening to his tale with a goblet of wine in your hand and a polite smile on your face. Halsin had been asked to grab a fresh bottle for someone and he ever-so-politely, with delicate fingers, moved your body to the side to grab what he needed from the crates, by the meat of your hips. Mumbling a polite “pardon me” while trying to keep his old mind from wondering too far. And you, oblivious to his mind and ignoring his touch completely as you nodded along to Zevlor’s story. He only needed to grab something, you were in the way, who cares how strong his hands felt or how polite he was about circling around you? Oh, but Halsin’s mind and eyes never truly left you, even after he turned you down that night.
As you made your way through the Underdark, the Mountain Pass, hells, even entering the cursed lands of the Shadow Curse, Halsin couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting over to you. Just the other day, when your group had found a decent place to make camp, everyone was setting up their respective tents and helping others carry the heavier items if needed. You walked through camp with Shadowheart, carry a crate that was filled with some of her items and spare food, laughing at something she said. Halsin found himself distracted by you when you came into his view. Your lower back arching, your hips grinding into the wood of the crate you were carrying, the way your thighs flexed through your camp attire. He was so entranced by you that he bumped into Gale, causing his to spill all his books to the ground.
It wasn’t until after you returned from Moonrise Towers after freeing the tieflings and gnomes imprisoned there, that Halsin realized his little crush was a lot larger than he had originally thought.
You and your crew returned back to camp late that night. Muscles aching, feet dragging, wounds throbbing. You, Gale, Astarion, and Karlach all moaned and groaned as you settled by the campfire Halsin sat maintaining.
Karlach was holding you up, your arm thrown over her shoulder as you limped together. Halsin stood and helped guide you to a nearby log with little effort. Karlach steadied you before standing and rolling her shoulders.
“That warden put up quite a fight,” Karlach said openly.
Halsin nodded. “I can see that. Is everyone alright?”
You groaned and huffed. “Shit, my leg is killing me.”
“Yeah everyone’s fine!” Karlach replied. She patted you on the shoulder, ignoring your dramatic wince. “I think I'm going to hit the hay solider. You want me to go grab Shadowheart for you?”
Before you could answer, Halsin shook his head at Karlach. “Shadowheart is fast asleep by now. Please, I can heal them no problem.”
Karlach’s eyes bounced between Halsin and you, knowingly, before she shot Halsin a wink. “Alrighty then, see you lot tomorrow.” She patted you on the shoulder on last time, mumbling to get some rest, before making her way over to her tent. Astarion and Gale mumbled the goodnight before returning to their tents as well.
It was just you and Halsin remaining, and he could feel his palms grow sweaty at the thought. You pushed yourself up, adjusting into a more comfortable position, with a wince. Halsin was quick to reach out and steady you. You slid off the log, butt in the dirt, back now resting against the log. Leaning back against it, you sighed in relief and closed your eyes.
Halsin licked his lips, quietly shaming himself, before he kneeled down on one knee beside you.
Your hand was pressed into your leg, trying to keep pressure on the deepest area of the cut that travel from your hip down to just above your knee.
Halsin's hand hovered over your wound, his hands glowing yellow as he assessed the wound. You felt the magic from his hand move over your skin, tingling. You opened your eyes and let out a small chuckle.
Halsin's magic stopped. He smiled kindly at you. "What's so funny?"
You smiled at him and adjusted again. "Nothing. Just ticklish, I guess."
Halsin chuckled warmly. "I would never have guessed you were ticklish." He returned to your wound, hand hovering once again, magic pouring over the wound.
You winced at the feeling. The dried blood that covered your skin pulled at the hair on your legs as your wound closed, skin moving to connect again.
You shook your head. "You caught me, my greatest weakness is that I'm ticklish." You set a hand on his bicep, giving it a playful squeeze. "Don't tell anyone, alright?"
Halsin froze at your touch. The warmth from your hand sending shock waves through his entire arm. His magic wavered slightly, before he shook his head and returned his focus to your leg.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he told you before his magic faded away, your wound now closed. "How do you feel?"
You removed your hold from his arm, and he missed it as soon as you did so. He licked his lips as he watched you sit up and flex your leg. You were slow, bringing your leg up to your chest before laying it back down on the ground. You peaked through the torn fabric of your clothes to see the only evidence of the wound was the faintest pink scare. You smiled at Halsin, eyes fluttering as your body finally allowed itself to relax. "Better. Thank you."
Halsin felt his ears flush under your gaze. He looked down at the tear in your pants, avoiding your eyes. "No pain? Discomfort?"
"It aches a little but nothing some sleep and rest can't fix." Your hand returned to his bicep, and you pulled him to sit down next to you against the log. "Seriously, thank you for being here."
Halsin allowed you to pull him over to sit, side now pressed against yours. He could feel the warmth from your body pressed up against him, but thought didn't stop him from getting comfortable. He looked up at you and felt his breath catch. Even though you were covered in dirt, sweat, and blood he thought you looked beautiful. His heart pounded against his chest, and he could only pray that you couldn't hear it.
He patted your thigh with his hand affectionally before allowing it to rest there, just above your knee. "Don't thank me. You did well today, saving everyone from the prison." He looked back down at the opening of your pants. "I only wish you returned unscathed."
You chuckled and placed your hand over his, holding it against you. "It's alright. As long as I have you around, nothing scares me."
Halsin chuckled bashfully at your kind words. "Is that so?"
You nodded, leaning in closer to him, eyes moving slower between blinks. "Yeah, it is."
You smiled at him, small, reserved, only for him. Halsin leaned closer to you, moving his hand out from underneath yours before taking hold of it. His thumb rubbed against your dry knuckles.
"It's good to know I'm not the only one," he spoke softly, watching your eyes flutter once again, trying to stay awake. You placed your head on his shoulder, body finally succumbing to sleep after a long day, soaking in his warmth.
Halsin only grin at you, feeling your hand relax as sleep took you. He slowly brought your hand up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on one of your knuckles, before letting go. As much as he wanted to stay there with you, to fall asleep under the stars with your in his arms, he knew that your journey in the Shadow Lands were far from over.
You had time.
He cupped your head as he moved to squat next to you. He tucked his arms underneath you before lifting you off the ground effortlessly. In your slumber, you nuzzled your face deeper into his chest. Halsin swears his heart left his body at your movements and was glad you were fast asleep so you couldn't see the blush he knew covered his face.
It's been a long time since Halsin blushed for someone the way he does for you.
He gently took you to your tent, opening the flap with his shoulder and ducking inside to lay you on your bedroll.
He pulled your boots off your swollen feet and removed your weapons, placing them on the ground next to you. He brought your blanket up, tucking it underneath your chin, before he brushed your hair away from your face. His hand lingered on your forehead, watching your eyebrows twitch. He assumed you were dreaming, hopeful that it was something sweet.
Halsin exited your tent with a small smile unable to leave his face. As he walked back to the campfire, he couldn't stop himself from glancing back at your tent over his shoulder. Almost wishing to see your smiling face come out, ready for the day, but knew that would have to wait for that tomorrow.
"Oh dear," a voice stopped him in his tracks. "Looks like our druid has a crush," Astarion teased.
Halsin sighed as he cringed at Astarion's teasing tone.
Astarion chuckled darkly, a goblet in his hand, liquid swirling inside. "It's so obvious my friend. I'm surprised it's taken them so long to notice." He took a sip and sent Halsin a wink.
Halsin chose not to respond to Astarion's teasing and instead retreated to his tent for the evening.
He couldn't stop Astarion's comment from swimming in his mind.
Was it really that obvious?
Can I just say, thank you all so much for the love I’ve received on my fics lately🩵
I’m still new to writing fanfics and all your likes, reblogs and comments really motivate me to keep writing and have fun doing it
So again, thank you, and I look forward to posting more soon :)))))