୨⎯ how they show they love you ⎯୧
╰┈➤ INCLUDES : fang runin, yin nezha, chen kitay, sring venka, altan trengsin, baji, ramsa
fang runin (tpw spoilers)
by fighting for you and protecting you.
rin is no stranger to the cruelty’s of war, however she would happily burn islands full of people to the ground if you so requested for her too even if it meant she had to relive the guilt of mugen. she would launch herself in front of su daji or an army of hesperians, fully naked, weaponless and her contact with the pheonix sealed off if you needed protecting.
she’s far too aware of what it’s like to loose people or watch those you love wither away, so she does anything in her power to prevent you from being the next victim of mortality.
you knew she loved you as soon as she began telling you about her life before sinegard, and her time under altan, because everyone knows she’d rather keep that to herself - and yet she trusts you with it. she smiles as she tells you all about kesegi or how beautiful altan looked with the wings of fire he’d curate. however she also tells you about how lost she felt after altan died, her encounter with the chimei that haunts her dreams some nights - how you’re her distraction from all the loss she carries.
yin nezha (tdr spoilers)
in the most cocky, proud way possible.
he’s been through a lot in life and he’s constantly hurting, but being with you feels like a breath of fresh air and because of that he’ll never shy away from proving he’s in love with you.
he loves to kiss you quick before you both head into a council (much to rin and kitays disgust as they follow behind you), or spending the time he should be sleeping following you around on patrol. he’s also definitely a sucker for back hugs - he’ll find you while you rest between sparring sessions and trap you against him just to ignore your complains that you’re overheating, or find you while you’re helping kitay with battle plans and snake his arms around you and bury his head into your shoulder despite kitays fake gags and comments to ‘get a room’.
he also shows that he loves you by being truly vulnerable around you - he’s the heir of the dragon republic, and even before jinzha was killed he still felt like he had to uphold appearances to prove he’s just as strong as his big brother, to prove he’s fit to be a general. but with you he’s not afraid to cry after a particularly gruelling battle or after an argument with rin or his father, he’ll let you trace the outline of his dragon tattoo gently as his breathing slows with relaxation despite just the thought of the image on his back causing him pain, he seeks out a place in your arms after each time he or you almost died.
he knows he was an asshole back in sinegard, and so he loves to make up for anything he ever said by treating you like his queen - refusing to let you sew up the hole in your uniform even though he barely knows how to hold a needle, making sure you’ve eaten your fill even when you’re surviving on limited rations by giving you half of his portion, somehow convincing his father to limit your patrol time or at least put him with you so he knows you’re safe.
bonus: he ALWAYS has a little trinket you found/made for him shoved into the inside breast pocket of his uniform - a shell, sea glass, stone, carving into a circle of wood, a bracelet made of washed up fishing nets, whatever — he keeps it close to his heart, like you’re the one that’s kept him alive though all his near death experiences, like you’re his wartime spouse that he’s longing to return home too.
chen kitay
in the most quiet ways, ways in which anyone but you might be convinced he doesn’t love you - silently but calculated.
one of kitays favourite ways is silent reading time - moments between patrols where the two of you sit next to eachother, your head on his shoulder, both engrossed in random books you found buried in piles of things, occasionally pausing to talk about what’s just happened in both with a giggle.
he won’t sling his arm around you in public, or invite you to share his uncomfortable bed when your rest times match up (although he will occasionally when he’s extra tired and wants to be in your presence) - but he will let you sit with him as he curates various small inventions that might help the war, or as he studies battle plans with furrowed brows trying to figure out how to guarantee victory.
sring venka
by acting like she doesn’t love you.
THEEEEEE tsundere (i’ve not used that word in years lol), she’ll act like she couldn’t care less about you being around her despite having previously confessed how head over heels she is for you.
she pretends that she doesn’t care that you’re following her around, blabbering about some rumour you heard from another soldier, crossing her arms after firing a round from her crossbow during training while acting like she’s not completely enamoured by the way your eyes light up when explaining a new concept you read about from one of kitays books. but in reality her cheeks are turning pink at the way you’re smiling at her, and her heart rate is speeding up so much at the way your hands brush when walking next to eachother that she’s worried it might jump out of her skin.
however sometimes she lets this facade down, because she trusts you and that’s how you know she loves you - she shows you the vulnerable side she vowed to keep hidden from everyone. when she wakes up in a cold sweat following yet another nightmare about her torment at golyn niis and immediately seeks your comfort out, and when she sinks into your arms and her breathing slows once again and she falls into a light slumber, you know she’s truly in love.
altan trengsin
in private moments of fleeting touches and comfortable mumbles.
in public, the most he’ll give you is a quick whisper of ‘stay safe’ or ‘i love you’ in your ear, or a soft smile during a meeting to let you know you’re plaguing his mind as usual.
altan is the kind of person to shut down under pressure (as we’ve seen lol) and refuse to speak to people unless needed, the kind of person to snap at everyone around him when under pressure - except you. when he’s overwhelmed, he craves your presence more than anything and will send for someone to bring you to his office, where he’ll ask you to stand between his legs and just sink into you - his arms around your waist, forehead pressed against your sternum as he exhales the stress pressing against his temples.
in private, he’s unafraid to prove how much you mean to him - his hands are constantly seeking you out, his knee resting against yours, smiling as you lean your head against his shoulder, a soft kiss pressed to the top of your head as he mutters a shy ‘i love you’ — because nothing else matters except you in moments like that. he feels like he can almost forget the rage and vengeance that’s constantly masking his judgement, that’s constantly contorting his thoughts and feelings, like you’re the key to his real mind.
baji
by teasing you RELENTLESSLY. this man is SO mean but in the most loving way that you can help but adore his teasing comments.
he doesn’t often say ‘i love you’ because that feels far too serious, that feels too much like a promise of forever, and everyone knows that shamans don’t have forever. so instead he falls back on poking fun at you with the most adoring look in his eyes, relentless teasing all while he looks at you like you single handedly hung the stars.
however - in private moments, usually late at night, or after a particularly scary battle where he came close to loosing either you or himself, he’ll find nonverbal ways to remind you that all his teasing comes from the most loving, deepest part of his heart. he’ll sit next to you, an arm draping around your shoulders, sitting in silence with his leg pressed against yours.
ramsa
as loud and proud as possible - the cutest fucking kid ever who will never shy away from telling you or even showing you how much he loves you no matter the situation.
in the middle of a meeting with the rest of the cike? he’s wrapping an arm around your shoulders and whispering silly little comments in your ears about how altan looks like he wants to strangle someone, or that baji is nodding off to sleep after having night watch. just finished a battle, covered in the blood of those you’d just killed? his arms are squeezing your shoulders from behind despite altan or chaghans comments to behave.
he’s purely just a playful, annoying kid at heart, and isn’t afraid to show everyone just how much he loves you - because if he can find his soulmate in a world plagued by war, why not show off his miracle?
however like baji, if one day after a particularly hard battle he’s riddled with anxiety of loosing you - he’ll pull you aside, hug you in a way that buries your face into his shoulder, make you promise to stay safe next time because he loves you and he can’t loose you.
my first ever post!! why is tumblr so confusing :,( i started the poppy war at the start of summer and i have slowly realised there is NOT enough fanfiction etc so for once i’ve resorted to writing it myself! lol
i’m terrible at knowing if things are in character etc so sorry if a few are a bit ooc (they’re most definitely probably ooc in terms of tbg because i’m current only on tdr sorry!)!! and apologies for no chaghan, qara or suni - i want so badly to add them in future but currently i have no idea how to write for them oops. in future i will 100% add them to other hcs, and maybe add jinzha??? i am a SUCKER for an mcs older brother, that scrumptious man (no pun intended).
any feedback, recommendations, requests etc are always welcome ♡