˗ ˏˋ•. damsel • 18+ • writer • been studying literature since the age of 11 ! • minors can like and follow and read my non-suggestive posts but please dni ! .•ˎˊ ˗
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𝐔𝐏𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 !
𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒 .
TBD...
𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 .
★ Poison Apple ★
↪ Caleb X Amnesiac!Reader
↪ Status: own work
↪ Estimated word count: pending...
all animated line dividers used in my posts are by @cafekitsune ! all art used in my posts do not belong to me !
From what it sounds like, Rafayel is either very sure or highly suspects that if the other men see Her even through a photo/screen they would also come to awareness. Or maybe be the catalyst for that realization. Are there other factors to how Raf gained awareness before Her arrival?
Good theory my friend 🤭
As for your question... you will be informed of how he came to awareness upon the next chapter, I assure you 🤭😤
★ SYNOPSIS: Tired of the constant back ache whenever you wake up in the morning, you get yourself a pregnancy pillow to cuddle at night—and Caleb. fucking. hates. it.
OR, ALTERNATIVELY... if there's one thing Caleb Xia hates in this world, it's that stupid fucking pregnancy pillow you cuddle instead of him.
★ TAGS: caleb x f!reader, implied past sexual acts, fluff, jealousy, bit of possessive behaviour, and obsessive behaviour, it's caleb duh, he's jealous of a pillow 💀
★ A/N: not a chapter of my story, sorry guys! i just had to post this after seeing a tiktok saying 'pov your wife gets a pregnancy pillow' which had a woman contently hugging a pregnancy pillow while her husband sobbed lying next to her LMAO
"Ahhhh! It's here! It's here!"
Caleb blinks as you speed by, wind from the draft you made slamming right into his face.
Then he chuckles, easy and teasing as he leans his head to the side and asks with a tone that curls, "What's here, pipsqueak?"
"My pregnancy pillow!"
And with just three words, you kill his smile completely.
"Pregnancy pillow?"
His shoulders stiffen, jaw setting in place to accompany the way his eyes narrow a little, staring straight past you into nothing.
"Yeah!" You beam, the sound of a box ripping open echoing through the room. "Now you won't have to wake up in the middle of the night to massage me anymore! If this works, that is."
"'Won't have to'?" You can practically hear the brow raise in his words. "Pipsqueak, you know I love you relyin' on me."
"I know," you drawl after, gaze trailing to the side before shooting back to the box as you pick the plush pillow out. "But I still don't like waking you up at night when you barely get any sleep as is."
He only chuckles in response, and it's right by your ear this time, his breath grazing your lobe as his arms wind around you and he tugs, making you fall back and right into his lap.
"Caleb!"
"Whaaat? Your real pregnancy pillow wants some attention."
You scoff, crossing your arms as he continues to hold you tight against him, almost like he's trying to mold your two forms into one.
"Like you could ever relieve my back ache the way this is about to."
He laughs again, responding playfully, "Maybe not," then his voice drops low, and his breath starts grazing your ear again, warm and wet, "but I know ways to make you forget about it."
Your jaw drops open. Married for 5 years and you still can't get used to your husband's sex jokes.
"You pervert." You push his face away with a hand, willing your heartbeat to calm down as he laughs again.
"You love it."
Later that night, you finish freshening up first, bouncing onto your bed with the pillow trapped between your arms and a huge smile on your face as you lie down ontop of it and instantly feel yourself sink in.
From where he's stood at his side of the bed, Caleb frowns.
"Why do you look happier to see that pillow than ya are to see me?"
Briefly, your eyes narrow in his direction. "Because you're the one who gave me this back problem in the first place."
He grins as he climbs under the covers. "'Course. Can't have you leaving me, now can I, pipsqueak?"
You only roll your eyes in response, readjusting yourself before sighing into the pillow with all the comfort and warmth it brings you.
"I don't like that you sighed like that 'cause of a pillow."
You pry one eye open, lips pursed. "You're the one getting jealous 'cause of said pillow."
"Only because it's taking my wife from me," he whines, scooting closer with a small pout.
But he's disrupted in his journey by the very pillow he scorned.
Caleb scowls.
"Do you really need that thing?"
Your lips curve a little at his tone. "Deffo."
And you don't need your eyes open to see the way he frowns in response, smile still on your lips as you drift off to his mumbled, "Stupid fucking pregnancy pillow."
You awake the next morning to the pillow chucked across the room and Caleb snuggled into your arms, a small, content smile on his face.
Sometimes, you swear your husband can just be so selfish.
Hiya! Are you posting the Self-aware LADS story anywhere else like AO3? or only on here? Big fan, 10/10, good soup 👌🏼
Hey!! I'll prolly post it over on ao3 too once I've got more chapters up ^^ or if I get too impatient and impulse publish lmao (username: DamselNeedsSaving, currently only DC fics there though 💀)
LADS BOYS BUT THEY BECOME SELF-AWARE WHEN THEY SEE F!ISEKAI'D!READER.
P.T.2
★ TAGS: suggestive themes, romance, kind of dark!LADS boys, self-aware!LADS boys, isekai'd!reader, possessive behaviour, jealousy, like crazy amounts of jealousy sometimes, gaslighting, manipulation, especially this chapter, they want you and they are not afraid to fight for you
★ A/N: ahhhh!! thank you all sm for the love and support you've been sending this series so far, i rlly appreciate it 🥹💞 also yes, it's the second chapter and there's already a brief, tiny kiss scene, i couldn't help myself, okay?
★ 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕 ★ | ★ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ★ | ★ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 ★
YOU FIDDLE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON YOUR LAP—
—taking a moment to briefly glance up before immediately flitting your gaze back down.
Rafayel's staring at you with that look again; that infinity.
He gazes at you like you're the cosmos, like all the stars in the night sky one day aligned and drew you—and he couldn't stop staring since.
He gazes at you like you're the ocean, like you're the very source of what gives him life in the first place, of where he lives and all that he is.
He gazes at you like you're one in a million.
Like you're you and that's all he needs.
Seeing that gaze in real life (is this even real life? You still think you're dreaming) as opposed to in-game is… flustering, to say the least.
Hell, you're sure it was never even that intense in the game.
You clear your throat. "Um, are you sure you don't want me at least looking for a job or something?"
It takes him a beat to answer, voice not entirely in the room, drifting off somewhere with his stare, "Yeah."
You briefly glance to the side, meeting a blue-ish pink that's damn near swirling, before quickly looking way again.
"Um, yeah you do? Or… yeah you don't?" You glance at him again, but he just continues staring, so you return to looking at the wall and continue, "'Cause you've already done so much, so I can uh… go ask one of the other guys—"
"No."
You flinch.
His tone.
His tone changed, hardened.
Where before, it was drifting somewhere between pink clouds—just now, it felt anchored, short like the temper of a cat.
He's never spoken to you like that before.
From the corner of your eye, you watch his sharp gaze go blunt again, softening around the edges a little as his shoulders fall and you let your gaze fully encompass him once more.
"I'm sorry, cutie"—he sighs—albeit, a tad louder than your average joe—then kneels in front of you and takes your fiddling hands in his own, gaze just as swirling and devoted as before—"it's just that… well, the other guys…"—his eyes trail to the side—"they wouldn't understand."
You blink. "Huh?"
Then they flit back to you. "They don't know you. Not like I do."
It takes you a moment to process his words, to realise exactly what it is he means, but once you do, it's evident in the way your lips turn down. "…Because I'm not the MC?"
"Exactly."
For a moment, you swear Rafayel's lips twitch up the slightest amount, but they're back to a frowning downturn before long, and you're left wondering whether or not you were just seeing things.
"And because you're not the MC," he continues, his knitted brows just a little too exaggerated as he tilts his head to the side and rises a little to get closer, "they won't even give you a second glance."
You can't help the way your heart cracks at his words, the way you can almost hear it shatter in your ears.
Was it so wrong of you to hope that maybe, just possibly, the men you spent so much time fantasising and fangirling about could feel just a fraction of what you feel for them, for you?
It hurt. Like a dagger to the chest. Knowing they're so close yet so far. That they belong to another despite being (bullshittingly enough) literally made, or coded, for you.
Typical that the second they become 'real', you can't have them.
"Hey now," Rafayel's voice draws you out, ushering your gaze back to his own, gentle one, "I know that look. You're not upset about that, are you?"
You purse your lips and don't respond.
Rafayel frowns. "Well, we can't have that, now can we, cutie?"
With a sudden yank of your arm, you're up, and Rafayel is in front of you, leaving you only a few blinks to register his hand still in yours, guiding you forward right with him.
"Wha—?! Rafayel! What are you doing?!"
"Taking you somewhere, duh."
He says it with that sly smirk, the one he tosses over his shoulder at you as he pulls you along to the private beach he owns, because you now know someone who own a whole ass beach and that's no longer just a fictional thing.
Yeah, still settling in that this might not be a dream.
"C'mon, cutie, I dragged you out here so you'd leave the clouds, not keep drifting in them."
Another yank pulls you out your thoughts, and you blink, and he's suddenly so close.
Nose-to-nose. Breath-to-breath. You can almost feel his lips on yours. His pretty, soft-looking, pink lips.
Your gaze lingers on them for a beat before you realise just how obvious you're being—dammit, [Name], this isn't a fictional character anymore, stop ogling him!—and quickly pull back.
You don't get far though. He doesn't let you.
His grip on your wrists tightens a bit, and he pulls you back in, gaze lost in your own.
"Don't think about them," he whispers, breath mixing into his words. "You have me."
And then… he kisses you.
You remember the day you first woke up in this world.
You remember the days leading up to it too.
You had been logging in to the Love And Deepspace app daily, and something… strange had been happening, to say the least.
You had your home screen set to all the boys, just for fun, having any one of them surprise you at any given time was nice. Or at least, that would be the case.
But lately, you had only been getting Rafayel.
You didn't think much of it the first two days. Then the third day came, and you clicked off the app several times, being told you'd been away for too long each one and having to log back in all over again.
And each time? It was Rafayel that had greeted you.
After that, you had tried logging out and in again a couple more times, before relenting and choosing to completely remove Rafayel from the option of LIs who'd greet you when you logged in. Just out of curiosity.
It didn't work.
In fact, the opposite happened.
No other LI could be picked.
You tried tapping their icons repeatedly, but it was like the screen has frozen, like the game wasn't letting you pick.
Something even more peculiar:
"Something the matter, cutie?"
Your jaw dropped, finger paused in mid-air, hovering right over Xavier's icon to try and fail for the fifth time to pick him.
Rafayel had never done that before, had he?
They don't speak during that screen… so then why..?
Dismissing it with an almost suspicious look, you had returned to the interaction screen.
Rafayel looked the same as ever.
You tried goading something out of him, poking and prodding at places you would never touch had he been a real person stood in front of you, but all you ever got was the normal dialogue you were used to and had heard a hundred times over (still didn't stop you from giggling at them each time though).
You dismissed it as a weird bug.
But the bugs kept on coming.
Weird camera angles. Zooming in close at Destiny Café. Random chuckles when you're ranting about something with the app open and nearby.
It had started to freak you out a little, so you looked it up online.
All you could find was self-aware fanfic.
They couldn't be… could they..?
Of course not, this was real life, and that kind of thing only happened in fanfiction.
But then, one day, while the app was open and you were readying up for a date with a nervous smile and a gorgeous set of earrings newly placed in, your phone screen lit up, loudly white and obnoxiously bright.
And then you blinked, and you were in the most gorgeous open space you had ever seen in your life, with a man you thought only fictional stood right in front of you.
Arms held out as if to steady you, lips parted like he was breathing out awe, blue-ish pink stare reflecting you and you only.
LADS BOYS BUT THEY BECOME SELF-AWARE WHEN THEY SEE F!ISEKAI'D!READER.
P.T.2
★ TAGS: suggestive themes, romance, kind of dark!LADS boys, self-aware!LADS boys, isekai'd!reader, possessive behaviour, jealousy, like crazy amounts of jealousy sometimes, gaslighting, manipulation, especially this chapter, they want you and they are not afraid to fight for you
★ A/N: ahhhh!! thank you all sm for the love and support you've been sending this series so far, i rlly appreciate it 🥹💞 also yes, it's the second chapter and there's already a brief, tiny kiss scene, i couldn't help myself, okay?
★ 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕 ★ | ★ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ★ | ★ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 ★
YOU FIDDLE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON YOUR LAP—
—taking a moment to briefly glance up before immediately flitting your gaze back down.
Rafayel's staring at you with that look again; that infinity.
He gazes at you like you're the cosmos, like all the stars in the night sky one day aligned and drew you—and he couldn't stop staring since.
He gazes at you like you're the ocean, like you're the very source of what gives him life in the first place, of where he lives and all that he is.
He gazes at you like you're one in a million.
Like you're you and that's all he needs.
Seeing that gaze in real life (is this even real life? You still think you're dreaming) as opposed to in-game is… flustering, to say the least.
Hell, you're sure it was never even that intense in the game.
You clear your throat. "Um, are you sure you don't want me at least looking for a job or something?"
It takes him a beat to answer, voice not entirely in the room, drifting off somewhere with his stare, "Yeah."
You briefly glance to the side, meeting a blue-ish pink that's damn near swirling, before quickly looking way again.
"Um, yeah you do? Or… yeah you don't?" You glance at him again, but he just continues staring, so you return to looking at the wall and continue, "'Cause you've already done so much, so I can uh… go ask one of the other guys—"
"No."
You flinch.
His tone.
His tone changed, hardened.
Where before, it was drifting somewhere between pink clouds—just now, it felt anchored, short like the temper of a cat.
He's never spoken to you like that before.
From the corner of your eye, you watch his sharp gaze go blunt again, softening around the edges a little as his shoulders fall and you let your gaze fully encompass him once more.
"I'm sorry, cutie"—he sighs—albeit, a tad louder than your average joe—then kneels in front of you and takes your fiddling hands in his own, gaze just as swirling and devoted as before—"it's just that… well, the other guys…"—his eyes trail to the side—"they wouldn't understand."
You blink. "Huh?"
Then they flit back to you. "They don't know you. Not like I do."
It takes you a moment to process his words, to realise exactly what it is he means, but once you do, it's evident in the way your lips turn down. "…Because I'm not the MC?"
"Exactly."
For a moment, you swear Rafayel's lips twitch up the slightest amount, but they're back to a frowning downturn before long, and you're left wondering whether or not you were just seeing things.
"And because you're not the MC," he continues, his knitted brows just a little too exaggerated as he tilts his head to the side and rises a little to get closer, "they won't even give you a second glance."
You can't help the way your heart cracks at his words, the way you can almost hear it shatter in your ears.
Was it so wrong of you to hope that maybe, just possibly, the men you spent so much time fantasising and fangirling about could feel just a fraction of what you feel for them, for you?
It hurt. Like a dagger to the chest. Knowing they're so close yet so far. That they belong to another despite being (bullshittingly enough) literally made, or coded, for you.
Typical that the second they become 'real', you can't have them.
"Hey now," Rafayel's voice draws you out, ushering your gaze back to his own, gentle one, "I know that look. You're not upset about that, are you?"
You purse your lips and don't respond.
Rafayel frowns. "Well, we can't have that, now can we, cutie?"
With a sudden yank of your arm, you're up, and Rafayel is in front of you, leaving you only a few blinks to register his hand still in yours, guiding you forward right with him.
"Wha—?! Rafayel! What are you doing?!"
"Taking you somewhere, duh."
He says it with that sly smirk, the one he tosses over his shoulder at you as he pulls you along to the private beach he owns, because you now know someone who own a whole ass beach and that's no longer just a fictional thing.
Yeah, still settling in that this might not be a dream.
"C'mon, cutie, I dragged you out here so you'd leave the clouds, not keep drifting in them."
Another yank pulls you out your thoughts, and you blink, and he's suddenly so close.
Nose-to-nose. Breath-to-breath. You can almost feel his lips on yours. His pretty, soft-looking, pink lips.
Your gaze lingers on them for a beat before you realise just how obvious you're being—dammit, [Name], this isn't a fictional character anymore, stop ogling him!—and quickly pull back.
You don't get far though. He doesn't let you.
His grip on your wrists tightens a bit, and he pulls you back in, gaze lost in your own.
"Don't think about them," he whispers, breath mixing into his words. "You have me."
And then, he kisses you.
You remember the day you first woke up in this world.
You remember the days leading up to it too.
You had been logging in to the Love And Deepspace app daily, and something… strange had been happening, to say the least.
You had your home screen set to all the boys, just for fun, having any one of them surprise you at any given time was nice. Or at least, that would be the case.
But lately, you had only been getting Rafayel.
You didn't think much of it the first two days. Then the third day came, and you clicked off the app several times, being told you'd been away for too long each one and having to log back in all over again.
And each time? It was Rafayel that had greeted you.
After that, you had tried logging out and in again a couple more times, before relenting and choosing to completely remove Rafayel from the option of LIs who'd greet you when you logged in. Just out of curiosity.
It didn't work.
In fact, the opposite happened.
No other LI could be picked.
You tried tapping their icons repeatedly, but it was like the screen was frozen, like the game wasn't letting you pick.
Something even more peculiar:
"Something the matter, cutie?"
Your jaw dropped, finger paused in mid-air, hovering right over Xavier's icon to try and fail for the fifth time to pick him.
Rafayel had never done that before, had he?
They don't speak during that screen… so then why..?
Dismissing it with an almost suspicious look, you had returned to the interaction screen.
Rafayel looked the same as ever.
You tried goading something out of him, poking and prodding at places you would never touch had he been a real person stood in front of you, but all you ever got was the normal dialogue you were used to and had heard a hundred times over (still didn't stop you from giggling at them each time though).
You dismissed it as a weird bug.
But the bugs kept on coming.
Weird camera angles. Zooming in close at Destiny Café. Random chuckles when you're ranting about something with the app open and nearby.
It had started to freak you out a little, so you looked it up online.
All you could find was self-aware fanfic.
They couldn't be… could they..?
Of course not, this was real life, and that kind of thing only happened in fanfiction.
But then, one day, while the app was open and you were readying up for a date with a nervous smile and a gorgeous set of earrings newly placed in, your phone screen lit up, loudly white and obnoxiously bright.
And then you blinked, and you were in the most gorgeous open space you had ever seen in your life, with a man you thought only fictional stood right in front of you.
Arms held out as if to steady you—all the while shaking themselves—lips parted like he was breathing out awe, blue-ish pink stare reflecting you in its gaze and you alone.
Hihiii! Just found you but already love your work! Would it be alright to ask to be added to the taglist for isekai!reader and selfaware!lads? 100% fine if not!! Keep up the amazing work and stay safe ♡
Hiya!! Thank you so much for your support <333 I'd love to add you to the taglist ^^ But just for future reference, and this is for everyone, please ask to be added to any taglists in the comment section of the specific series you'd like to be tagged for. It's just hard to keep track of when I'm being asked here, there and everywhere 😅
This is not me singling you out though, dw!! I'm just letting everyone know <333
LADS BOYS BUT THEY BECOME SELF-AWARE WHEN THEY SEE F!ISEKAI'D!READER.
P.T.1
★ TAGS: suggestive themes, romance, kind of dark!LADS boys, self-aware!LADS boys, isekai'd!reader, possessive behaviour, jealousy, like crazy amounts of jealousy sometimes, gaslighting, they want you and they are not afraid to fight for you, rafayel lowkey blocking caleb's view of you
★ A/N: first love and deepspace series ^^ i hope you guys enjoy!! check out the masterlist for the full description of this series <333 first chapter follows caleb and his investigation of why the light in the mc's eyes died out, and who that new woman rafayel keeps sneaking around with is 👀
★ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ! ★ | ★ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 ★
CALEB FIRST REALISED SOMETHING WAS WRONG WHEN HE NOTICED THE LACK OF LIGHT IN THE MC'S EYES.
…The MC? Since when did he start to refer to her name as a title?
And when… when did he start to refer to her as MC?
Her name… Caleb could've sworn it was something different—remembers it so, like a distant silhouette on a heavily foggy path.
Everything has been distant lately, vacant, just like MC's eyes, like her hands and her touch. She doesn't speak unless spoken to, and even then, her words are… dull, robotic.
It's like all the life has been drained from her, like whatever was behind her eyes has left, and in its place, there's only emptiness.
Caleb, on the other hand, feels… vast? Awake? More aware?
It's hard to describe what he feels, just that the world suddenly seems a little smaller than before, and not in the way that makes him long for the skies either.
He's been seeing things, noticing more…
…like the way that clingy painter has withdrawn from his childhood friend.
Perhaps, to anyone else, that might've meant nothing—life happens, people grow apart, it's only natural.
But no, Caleb knows better. He knows that of the four other men she interacts with frequently, none would ever let her go so easily.
So why?
Why did the painter suddenly withdraw at around the same time MC lost the light behind her eyes?
"MC?" Caleb frowns, waving a hand in front of her face.
She barely blinks. "Hm?"
He stares for a second, and it's almost like nothing stares back at him.
So he sighs. "Nevermind."
And she doesn't press. Doesn't let out a noise of disapproval, or express concern in any which way. Just continues to stand there like a blank canvas waiting to be painted on.
That artist had to have done something, stolen her paint and all of her colour without so much as a second glance before slinking off somewhere into the shadows to hide for good.
Caleb's eyes narrow.
He can try to hide all he wants. Caleb will find him.
The next day the Fleet Colonel can't do much sneaking around. He's already planned for something with the MC (and yes, he had to be the one who planned it, not her, not anymore). But even in spite of that, luck seems to be on his side.
He catches a glimpse of purple strands in the crowd.
At first, he doesn't believe his eyes, thinks it might be some sort of trick of the light, the sun's rays reflecting off a slanted mirror somewhere, but then he does a double take, and he sees it again.
"Stay here, pips, I'll be right back."
The MC hums once again, not even protesting for as little as a second, but this time, Caleb pays it no mind, sinking into the ocean of people like just another wave.
His eyes scan the crowd for that glimpse of purple again, and his lips turn down when a few seconds pass without it.
"Where the hell did you go?"
He squints, scanning again, but to no avail, it's like the hair up and disappeared.
His chest rumbles, a growl leaving his lips like clockwork as he runs a hand through his hair and leaves the eye of the crowd to settle somewhere at the side and try his luck again.
And then, there it is. Purple hair.
The painter.
Caleb's quick to follow this time, pushing through seas of shoulders with enough force to keep up, but nowhere near enough to alert. At least, he doesn't think so.
But the little shit is more perceptive than Caleb gives him credit for, and with one glance over his shoulder, begins to speed up.
It's only then that Caleb notices the hand the other man has around someone's shoulders.
The Fleet Colonel squints, attempting to make out any features other than the vague outline of shoulder blades covered by the painter's arm, when said artist shifts, and the person is ushered in front, and just like that, Caleb loses view.
With a low curse, he tries speeding up, but his focus is twisted, and his vision is tunneled, and before he even knows it, he's stood with a soaked shirt and a profusely apologetic lady bowing in front of him.
It's only when he dismisses her with a light grin that just barely reaches his eyes and a small wave of his hand that he looks up again—
—and the painter and his companion are completely gone.
"That'll be all. You're dismissed."
The Colonel doesn't bother to look up to check whether his subordinate left properly or not, eyes glued to the screen in front of him with the back of one hand propping up his cheek, and the front of the other fiddling with his mouse.
The glow hugs his face like an old friend, and his eyes flit across it like one too.
After all, Caleb is no stranger to the Internet. It was practically his best friend when he had no other means to check on MC.
There's a lot of things one can find online, especially when pertaining a certain popular figure.
As Caleb had suspected, he isn't the only one to have noticed the artist's new companion, and only a simple search was enough to pull up several articles, each one with candid shots of the painter and a woman.
So it's a woman he's sneaking around with.
The article titles are nothing short of scandalous, ranging from 'BREAKING NEWS! RAFAYEL QI SPOTTED WITH NEW GIRL TOY SEVERAL TIMES' to 'BREAKING NEWS! RAFAYEL QI SUSPECTED OF CHEATING ON GIRLFRIEND WITH NEW GIRL'. But he is a popular painter, so this is nothing new.
Instead, the thing that grabs Caleb's attention—or the things that grab his attention—are the pictures.
Each one holds the same formula, Rafayel stood with his back towards the camera and the woman heavily obscured from it, like he knew he was being stalked and photographed and purposefully kept the lens from capturing too many of her features.
Another common theme: his arms around her. The painter seemingly never let go of her, every photo showing him in contact with her in some way, shape, or form, like he can't live without her touch, her hold.
It's certainly enough to give Caleb whiplash. The artist was never even that handsy with MC—
—so why this girl?
He squints, clicking an image and zooming in as much as he could to the featureless woman.
★ SYNOPSIS: Lately, Caleb has noticed a change in the MC. Her eyes seem more lifeless, like the soul behind them has been sucked right out, and her movements—mechanical. She feels more shell than human. Pair this with how one of her usual 'entourage' members, the painter, has seemingly withdrawn from her, spending more time with another woman instead, one Caleb has never fully gotten view of, and the Fleet Colonel can't help but feel the need to investigate.
★ TAGS: suggestive themes, romance, kind of dark!LADS boys, self-aware!LADS boys, isekai'd!reader, possessive behaviour, jealousy, like crazy amounts of jealousy sometimes, gaslighting, they want you and they are not afraid to fight for you
★ SYNOPSIS: Sometimes... you swear Xavier just gets so jealous of the littlest of things.
★ TAGS: xavier x f!reader, jealousy, like crazy petty jealousy, bro's even jealous of himself, xavier side eyeing everyone that talks to you, or looks at you, including animals, fluff, crack, a little bit of possessive behaviour, okay maybe a lot—
★ A/N: if you recognise me from somewhere... no you don't, also, this was inspired by xavier's in-game crazy jealousy levels 💀
Xavier has never been one to share.
It's a fact as simple as nature. The sun rises in the east, the sky is blue, and Xavier doesn't like sharing you.
You knew this when you first became his partner, but, safe to say, every passing moment spent alongside him since has only seemed to strengthen this belief.
Take today, for example.
"Awww, look at the cute little kitty!"
From the corner of your eye, you spy Xavier crossing his arms, his gaze somewhat sharper when it lands on the fluffy creature nestling against your palm.
"I'd hardly call it 'cute'," says he, as soft-spoken as ever, yet voice tinged with something a little bit harsher than usual.
"What do you mean?" you hum, keeping your eyes locked on the cat, but him in your peripheral. "Look at its fluffy fur! There's nothing cuter here."
"Nothing cuter?"
To the naked ear, Xavier's voice may sound the same, but you know better, can hear the slight hurt laying beneath, laced a little with offence and topped off with a sprinkle of 'I'm way cuter than that thing. Pay attention to me!'.
You roll your eyes.
"Yes. Nothing cuter."
Xavier doesn't miss a beat.
"What about me?"
You pause your petting for just a second, letting your silence and frozen stature drag out before turning slowly towards him, gaze lidded.
"Are you being for real with me right now?"
He only frowns back at you.
"I suppose that kitty is the cutest thing you've ever seen then, and I'm just an ugly creature you put up with every day."
Your jaw drops for so long, the cat grows disinterested in you and walks away, something which you swear makes Xavier's lips quirk the slightest bit up.
That's not the only instance of his petty jealousy, either, for not even a day later, it strikes again, at a street vendor on the end of a busy road.
"Well, look at you!"
You blink, turning once, then twice, before pointing at yourself. "Me?"
"Yes, you! Pretty girl in the pink dress."
The hand wrapped around your own tightens.
"My jewellery would suit you perfectly! Come come!"
Before you can open your lips to respond, possibly accept because his jewellery does look good, your companion answers for you.
"No thanks," comes his brisk, almost unbothered but masking a bit of bite, tone. "She has standards."
He tugs you away with your jaw dropped once more, and the vendor's face looking like he just got told his ex-wife is doing better without him.
The next instance is a few days later, when you're at work—yes, he's even that shameless at work.
It's at a meeting, some case debrief about wanderers. You jokingly make a comment about how Lumiere would be up to the task and Xavier falls deadly quiet, doesn't even speak for the rest of the meeting. Now, that wouldn't really be unusual, but something about his silence this time hangs heavier than normal.
So you approach him after the meeting.
"Xavi, are you okay?"
His lips are spread thin, and his head is tilted a little down, brows furrowed in that very slight way that tells you something is bothering him.
"Xavi?"
"I suppose you want Lumiere to be your partner."
You blink, and he continues, gaze meeting yours.
"Because he's just so much more efficient than me? More handsome and gentle?"
Your jaw drops again. But this time, you've learned. This time, you gather yourself up again, picking up the strands of thread that unravelled the second he opened his mouth and furrowing your brows to ask, "What? Xavi, what are you even saying? You are Lumiere."
His lips turn down. "But to you, we're different."
"Wha—?"
He takes a step forward, and you take one back.
"You refer to us separately, so we're different, no?"
"Wha— uh— yeah, but, that's just—"
He doesn't let you finish.
"So mentioning him, when I'm right here..."—he keeps coming, crowding you against the wall—"when I'm the one that's your partner?"
Once again, you find your jaw hung open, his hands situating themselves right on your hips as he gazes at you infinitely.
"That isn't fair to me."
You try to speak, but all that comes out is a garbled mess of sound and yelps that make you feel pathetic more than anything.
His touch feels electric against your clothed skin.
You never thought you'd be reduced to a flustered school girl again.
"[Name]! Xavier! Are you two coming?! The kids are here!"
You blink out of your state of shock as Xavier moves away, though not before quite the significant pause, almost hesitant.
Kids. That's right. Captain Jenna mentioned a group of school kids visiting HQ today as part of a school trip in the meeting.
"We should, uh, we should go."
You clear your throat, not waiting for a response before briskly walking past Xavier and striking yourself several times in the chest if just to calm your beating heart.
That's when the final instance of Xavier's petty jealousy hits.
You're walking around with a kid, an aspiring Hunter, as he told you himself, showing him the training grounds and giving him a quick demonstration, when Xavier finally catches up to you, his lips almost immediately tugging down at the sight.
"Wow, miss! That was amazing!"
You almost can't help the proud smile that draws itself onto your cheeks, fists finding their way onto your hips as your chest puffs out a little.
"When I'm older, can I be your mission partner?"
Your smile softens then, and you crouch down, opening your mouth to reply to the kid as gently as possible—
—but the voice that comes next doesn't leave your mouth.
"No."
Your lips close again, then open, then close.
You turn slightly to the side, finding your actual mission partner stood there with his sword by his side and his gaze sharper than the blade.
The kid before you frowns.
"Why not?"
"Because," Xavier answers simply, not a hint of anything sweet or sugar-coated in his tone, despite that still gentle voice carrying itself through the wind. "You can only have one mission partner. She is mine."
Now you're sure you've turned Lemurian, because you're gawking there like a fish because there's just no way he's jealous of a child asking to be your mission partner in a future where that's already impossible.
But he is, and he tugs you away just as quickly as he did when you were staring straight ahead at a street vendor, and yeah, maybe your partner is a little on the crazy, possessive side.
