Nightmares.
Disclaimer: OOC! Has my (personal) interpretation of their characters... I know chat... I haven't even written pt2 or pt3 's yet! Sorry for inactivity.
Warnings: ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP ( Riddle Rosehearts. Leona Kingscholar ). NON-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP ( Azul Ashengrotto ). M! Reader.
Characters: Riddle Rosehearts. Leona Kingscholar. Azul Ashengrotto.
Part I ( you're here! ). Part II.
Riddle Roseheart ⟢ ֶָ֢
HURT/COMFORT. Reader is implied to be taller than Riddle. They share a bed ( nothing weird happens ).
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Riddle is a dead sleeper, one who doesn't move at all when he sleeps - so in the rare moments where you both sleep together, you know when he has any sudden movements, something is amiss.
Worry quickly swept over you as you awoke to find his face contorted into an uncomfortable expression, sweat beads forming on his forehead. Unsure of what to do, you did the only logical thing you could think of at that very moment..
You shook him awake. At first, he was disoriented, and then, worried and.. Fear soon overcame his expression as he held you, murmuring inaudible words as his hands moved across your body.
As if he was hoping this wasn't a dream. As if he was searching for any signs that you were right there. Right there by his side.
Following the few days after, you'll notice how he subtly moves closer to you, his fingers grazing your own far more often than normal.
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As you shook him awake, he immediately sat up, breathing erratically as his eyes searched the comforts of his room, his eyes darting towards you as he immediately pulled you into his embrace.
"Beloved—! That was just a dream. That was just a dream. It's okay. Everything's okay. Everything's okay." He murmured, repeating the same words over and over again. It seemed as if he was trying to comfort you, but with the tone he was using — the fearful look on his face, it was as if he was trying to comfort himself more than anything.
Trying to convince himself that everything was okay. The usual composed and strict Riddle that everyone knew — right here, right now.. He seemed almost fragile.
As if one wrong move, one wrong word, would make him fall apart.
Noting the fragile and sensitive atmosphere, you knew you had to be careful. Wrapping your arms around him, resting your chin against his head, he tensed before slowly relaxing in your grasp. He held onto you, as if his life depended on it, as if he was worried that if he'd let you go - you'd disappear from his arms.
You hummed a soft tune—one you recalled hearing when you were younger, patting his back gently, your other hand moving to trace shapes.
"It's okay… It's okay, y—you're okay… It was just a dream… Just… Just a dream…"
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A few days had passed, and you had noticed a few changes. Specifically in Riddle’s demeanor.
Riddle was never one for PDA, often blushing and feeling flustered at such impromptu gestures of affection, often muttering how it was improper to do such things in public, you’d merely chuckle, stopping when he told you so.
Though… Recently, it was as if all those ‘improper’ acts started to not have such an effect on him. What was most surprising was that he was the one who started initiating such acts.
Nothing too big, simple touches. His finger often lingering for a bit longer, his pinkie intertwining with yours, even occasionally leaning up to plant a soft kiss to your cheeks. You—of course—welcomed such a change, but something stirred in your gut, something that told you there was a cause to it.
And you’d be right. You just didn’t know what exactly it was.
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Riddle was—terrified, to say the least. Especially after the nightmare he had experienced. The faint memory that lingered, leaving a bad aftertaste on his tongue. All he remembered was the pain, the pain of (rejecting) the overblot. Worse. The pain upon regaining consciousness and seeing you pained.
He tried—desperately—to make up for the wrong he had committed, and it seemed most of Heartslabyul forgave him. You did too.
But… It didn’t mean that after obtaining forgiveness, he’d forget. Every other night, he’d experience these night terrors about that fateful day. About all the harm he’s caused, but that night. That night had been the most gruesome, instead of seeing the chaos that surrounded the gardens and his fellow—friends. He’d see you. Dead. In the arms of that monster, your eyes were dull, long gone was the spark he loved seeing. You were still. Too still—and he was powerless, unable to do anything as he watched the same blot that once consumed him consume you too.
He was afraid. Afraid that when he awoke, that was truly what happened. Seeing you next to him, confused, it sparked relief in him. But, fear settled into him. What if that—waking up, was just another dream?
What if one day, he awoke, and you weren’t there by his side? He wasn’t sure if he could’ve lived with himself.
And so, just to ensure you were still there. Still alive. Still breathing, with that same spark that lights up in your eyes, the same one he fell in love with at the very start. He could disregard any rule about improper gestures of affection.
If it meant sleeping well at night, as peacefully as he could.
Leona Kingscholar ⟢ ֶָ֢
HURT/NO COMFORT ( Leona Kingscholar ). Bad communication ( Leona Kingscholar ). Reader is implied to be shorter/similar height to Leona. Childhood friends ( Leona Kingscholar ). Leona bruises reader's wrist. Reader is a savannaclaw student.
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Actually would be terrified, genuinely. But he wouldn’t tell you, either fear of coming to face his own feelings or perhaps fear you might think differently of him.
Would avoid or distance himself from you for a while, being a tad bit colder than usual
Won't talk about it with you, but you can notice watchful eyes — terrified to be near you for a short period of time, as if genuinely believing he was capable of harming you, he'd ask Ruggie to accompany you whilst he tries to get over it.
When you finally confront him for it - at first he'll shrug it off as nothing, as if you were the one being paranoid. Then, finally—he'll lash out. Why are you even with him? He can hurt you. He will hurt you. He has hurt you—didn’t you remember the overblot incident? Why were you still with a beast like him? Are you nuts?
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As the wind breezed past you, you made your way through the halls of NRC, trying to find a specific feline who seemed to be missing today.
You had noticed that Leona had been avoiding you, it made you.. Confused. Have you done something? No.. You couldn't start thinking like that, perhaps something had just upset him or taken up his time.
Making your way towards the botanical garden — where you were certain your sleepy lion was hiding — once you walked in you noticed the sounds of rustling coming from your lion's favorite spot, making your way over — you spotted him, laying down with an arm over his eyes. Of course he’d be napping during school hours.
Leaning down, your fingers grazed his face when you noticed his ear twitch. You smiled when you saw him open one eye. "You…"
You let out a chuckle as he groaned, moving his arm to rest on his forehead, a small scowl on his face. You decided to ask the golden question; why was he avoiding you?
"Hm? Why have I been avoidin’ ya…?" You merely nodded, waiting for him to give you the answer you’ve been wondering for weeks now. He stayed silent for a while before scoffing and rolling over — facing away from you as he let out a yawn. "I haven't been. You're worryin’ over nothing,"
You rolled your eyes, not really believing him. Your finger moving to poke him on his cheek, causing him to let out an annoyed grunt. He rolled over once more, looking at you as he sat up, sighing as he moved his arms behind his head. "It's nothing…” You arched a brow as if pressing him sooner.
“No, nothin’ happened." His eyes locked into the plants around you, not daring to look at you — and for a split moment; you wanted to press further.
He had always been distant when you were younger, only changing after his overblot, if you could even call that not being so-distant. Pursing your lip, you moved to lay down beside him. He didn’t want to talk, but… You were willing to wait until he was ready. Whenever that would be.
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Two weeks passed. Two more weeks had passed. You were fed up with it, he was… He wasn’t talking, you knew what you were getting into when you were dating him, but, man — this sucked.
So, you decided to find him.
He was off napping, and you decided to corner him.
And here he was, scoffing as if it was inconveniencing him, fed up with his personality, you two ended up arguing. Well… It was more of you arguing and him responding with the occasional grunt.
“Why do you care so much?!” He scoffed, and you fought the urge to—punch him, or something.
You didn’t like this, who liked this? Who would like arguing with the guy you’re in love with? Especially when he was acting like a total douche. “Why are you even with me, then? Tt. You knew what you were gettin’ yourself into.”
You scoffed, unable to even respond to that. Feeling exhausted, and frustrated, you could only pinch the bridge of your nose and face away from him, uttering how perhaps it was better for you both to take a break from one another.
Leona didn’t know why, why he felt a pit in his stomach as he looked at you, he let out a small, disgruntled noise as he turned away. Murmuring a soft: “Tt. Yeah. Shoulda done that sooner.”
What does that mean?
You turned to him, your brows furrowed as you pressed him about his comment. And all Leona did was chuckle, striding towards you, he gripped your wrist—enough to hurt, but not enough to bruise. “Don’t ya’ see it? Or are you just dense?”
“I could hurt ya,” he grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He scoffed, letting go of your wrist as he turned on his heel, arms behind his head. “…I will hurt you.”
Azul Ashengrotto ⟢ ֶָ֢
HURT/COMFORT. Reader is taller than Azul ( Leech twins type of tall ). Reader is a shark!merperson. Mentions of reader harming Azul ( manner similar to Floyd ). Reader is kind of a nutjob (｡﹏｡") and Azul is a sopping wet... Cat? (ᵕ ´ ∇ ˋ ˶)
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He — just like the others — would distance himself from you, but he’d go out of his way to do it. If he couldn’t, whether because of joint classes and such, he’d make sure there were people close to the both of you, be it Jade or Floyd or even another student.
He’d throw himself into his work even more. Whenever you talked to him about it — he’d shake his head, uttering how you were being ridiculous, how he never intended that and how he’s just busy.
When you asked Jade or hell — even Floyd, it was no use. Those two didn’t even know what could’ve happened to cause such an abrupt change in the cecaelia’s demeanor. But Floyd had made it abundantly clear how he found it to be annoying because it was also starting to disturb his “work flow” …whatever that meant.
When you confront him, he’d look shocked before chuckling. Telling you that it didn’t matter, and to simply “let bygones be bygones”, you couldn’t help but notice that distant look in his eyes. How could he ever look you in the eyes? After all that he’s done, how could you still want to be his friend?
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You hummed a small tune as you swept the floors of Mostro Lounge, although you seemed present, you couldn’t help but let your thoughts wander — to Azul. The octopoid had seemed distant lately, something that was quite off for someone like him. Whenever you asked, he’d simply say how he was so busy with the multitude of consultations from fellow students, and his business ventures.
You had even failed to notice the figure looming over you. “Sharkyyy–channn~” A playful voice called out — there stood Floyd with his usual grin. “Hm?” He frowned, his eyes flicking to your surprised face — his eyes narrowing. “Whaddya mean I scared youuu?”
“Haha! I managed to scare youu?” He barked out a laugh—a hand on his hip with his usual grin until it faltered when he noticed you not saying it was a joke. His eyes widened for a moment before his grin falls to a frown, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t tell me you’re just as mopey as Azullll,” he draws out. When you tilted your head, looking at Floyd — his eyes widened. “Ehhh? You didn’t know?”
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Hm. Now this was just… Great. Two times. Two times! You tried talking to Azul. Only to be blown off by him completely!
The first time…?
He completely ignored you when you came up to him! Who did he think he is… Tsk tsk!
The second — he muttered a quick excuse. Something about work overflowing, how he didn’t have time for a small chat with you. Truth be told — you were starting to feel frustrated. Maybe if you found him — get ahold of him, you could just chomp down on him.
But, ah… Seeing your octopoid hurt wouldn’t be all that amusing.
Well… Thirds time the charm.
With an annoyed huff — you kept watch of (stalked) him. And the moment he was alone you breached. Catching him by the waist — the both of you tumbling down onto the ground. “Urk!” Azul’s eyes widened as he looked at you — his cheeks dusted red, he swore his heart would’ve leaped out his chest. “You — what do you think you’re doing?!”
“…Wh — what?!”
“No! I’m not — I haven’t been ignoring you!”
“I — I swear!”
Liar. You could hear his heartbeat pounding against his ribs — the sweat that began to trickle down his temple, the way his palms had begun to dampen, the way his eyes were stuck onto you, the way his posture was stiff.
You’d known him for quite some time to know all his ins and outs — and, well, being an apex predator made it much easier too. You barred your teeth to him — not caring if others would walk by, not caring if they’d misunderstand the situations. All you cared about was — huh? …is. Is he crying?
“Please — just leave me alone.”
Standing up, you looked down at him — for once. You felt your chest ache. It was an odd feeling. One you weren’t used to. Stepping back, you turned away. You were so used to… Huh?
“I’ll — I’ll just end up hurting you.”
Was that it? Was that why he was avoiding you? You weren’t sure how you should respond. Should you have laughed? Cried? …there was one thing you knew you should do.
“Wh — what are you—!”
Azul stumbled — his hands shooting out to grab onto your shoulders, your hands gripped firmly on his hips.
Silly Azul.
Even if he did hurt you — you don’t think you’ll be leaving him anytime soon.
