Mar 19, 2019
Day 1
“The final act”
I wasn’t sure if upload this because it doesn´t fit in the concept of myth but instead in the legend one. It’s a part of the history of these two in my little (abandoned and forgotten) AU.
seen from China
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Russia
seen from Canada
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
seen from Canada
seen from Yemen
seen from Singapore
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Yemen
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from Dominican Republic
seen from United States
seen from T1
Day 1
“The final act”
I wasn’t sure if upload this because it doesn´t fit in the concept of myth but instead in the legend one. It’s a part of the history of these two in my little (abandoned and forgotten) AU.
Day 6: Thirst. In this case a thirst for victory
Beneath the Mask
Ray discovers that maybe the myth of the Demon Duelist wasn’t exactly what it’s all cracked up to be.
Day 1: Myth
AO3 | KO-FI
There was endless gossip regarding the current star of the dueling world, the entertainment duelist only known as Zarc. Known for his captivating and violent style; he wasn’t afraid to pull out any punches, no mercy given in his duels and yet each time, he made the audience believe this time would be different. It made sense he would capture the attention of the world.
But he was also absurdly handsome and tragically single which attracted a… different sort of gossip about him.
“I bet he goes all night.”
“He shows such finesse in the field, how much ya wanna bet he’s got some moves in the bedroom?”
“OMG, what if he’s that rough?!”
“Honestly, I bet his dirty talk is super dirty and he can say whatever he wants to me.”
“Ya think he’s got a hidden dragon in those pants?”
“You did not just say that!”
“What?! I’m just saying…!”
“How big ya think it is?”
Ray sighed heavily as she buried her nose deeper into her book, trying her best to ignore the conversation regarding Zarc. He was everywhere; in dueling magazines, on the news, billboards, advertisements. It was completely ridiculous that she couldn’t even go to a coffee shop and just relax without hearing about him.
And mostly, she didn’t want to disappoint those girls about the difference between the man and myth.
There would be a moment where Ray could look back and find this funny. To get past the embarrassment and awkwardness of that night. She just hadn’t realized that when Zarc had said he didn’t have much experience, he meant that there was none.
Maybe he just wasn’t used to being ridden or had mostly submissive partners or hell, had only done this once or twice and only experience the gentlest love-making. She hadn’t expected him to cum so quickly, to be so completely unsatisfied - all because Zarc was a virgin and wasn’t used to anything that wasn’t his hand.
High and mighty Sakaki Zarc, the up and coming duelist with the biggest ego she had seen in a while, the man with a devilish grin and flirty words that made her blush and go weak… that man was a virgin and not even just that.
He lasted barely a minute.
It had been a few days and he hadn’t messaged her. And she hadn’t messaged him. Clearly, he had been much too embarrassed that he didn’t live up to the image she had of him.
Like those poor naive girls, she too was under the impression that Zarc was a force of nature in and out of the field of battle. Perhaps she shouldn’t have expected so much and maybe she had gone too fast? But he could’ve told her to slow down… she could’ve sympathized and understood.
Ray slammed her book closed and groaned. It wasn’t worth hearing those girls now compare who wrote the better insipid story of an innocent fan who tamed his violent heart with her magical virginal vagina. Instead, she just left.
She needed to go on a walk, clear her mind and not think about the demon duelist. But boy was that a challenge as every corner she turned, there was a large scale poster or interview on the monitors, his face on T-shirts… it was ridiculous! Was there no part of town that hadn’t been completely enraptured under his charm?
He was doomed to disappoint them all as he had disappointed her. But the strangest thing was she… she kind of missed him. It was funny seeing him off the field and nervously fumbling and twiddling his fingers around her.
Shy and nervous.
All the advertisements of him around her, the ego and violence were just a persona for the cameras. Sure, he had a cocky moment or two - that was to be expected from a duelist of his caliber. He had a sense of humor, she admired how easily he made her laugh since most of his duels made her ill.
Ray found his touch comforting, slow as she remembered how it felt like he spent every ounce of his concentration to know how to. His kisses warm and needy, not nearly as possessive as she thought they’d be or forceful like hers were to him. He spoke her name so reverently, as though she were the big famous popular duelist that he’d been lucky enough to grab the attention of. As though she were the prize...
It was so stupid.
She groaned heavily, throwing her coffee into a trash bin.
Yea, screw this!
Ray was getting tired of this and instead whipped out her phone, rapidly texting as she started moving down the street with a steadfast purpose.
---
Got a free minute?? I wanna come over…
He gulped as he laid on his couch and stared at the message. From Akaba Ray herself. He was certain he’d never hear from her again and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. That night was filled with blunders and his was the biggest of them all. The look of surprise on her face and disappointment in her eyes wasn’t something he wanted to relive. He felt mortified enough thinking about it.
Literally, he needed to tell her no. Or just leave it on ‘read’. That was best.
… sure, where you at?
Shit!
Of course he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to see her again. Well, she was probably across town and it would be a couple of hours or even like later in the day. Hell, maybe she’d ask for just a drink later in the week and give him plenty of time to mentally prepare himself for this next encounter. He could think of a good apology for his… ill-timed endeavor. His phone dinged again.
Outside your building. Literally coming up.
He threw his phone across the room as he fell off the couch in a shock - as though he were punched in the gut.
Zarc was running his hands through his hair, visibly anxious as he started shoving clothes into the hall closet and grabbing whatever trash had been piling up around the apartment into a bag and trying his best to make his bachelor pad look livable. Why was she coming up now? Couldn’t she have given him more notice?! Even if it was impulsive…!
He didn’t have time to think whether it was a good thing or not; he wanted to think it was a good thing, she was willing to see him. Hell, wanted to see him! But he needed to clean and sweep and-
A knock at the door.
The best Zarc could do was shove the bag of trash under the table and grabbed an air freshener, spraying quite liberally as he made his way to the door. He gulped heavily, his heart pounding as he opened the door - hardly having a moment to breathe normally. “Oh hey, afternoon - were you just… in the neighborhood?” Zarc tried to slow his breathing, distract her from seeing how frazzled he’d become. Small talk would help.
“No, I came straight here.”
Goddamn Ray.
She pushed her way past him and neatly removed her shoes. He definitely didn’t invite her in but like hell was he about to stop her when she was neatly putting her shoes to the wall and hanging up her coat as though this was a daily routine she’d done there a thousand times already. A loose thought of her saying ‘I’m home!’ echoing about the walls.
But that was silly.
“Oh, so ya didn’t give me a bit more head’s up because…?”
Ray shrugged. “I was getting some coffee and some girls were talking about your incredible… talent and I just thought I’d come see you. I know, super impulsive, but...” She chewed on her bottom lip, stepping out of the foyer but now at a loss of where to go or what to say. She was so focused on seeing him that she hadn’t come up with anything clever to say. To be honest, she didn’t think she’d get this far. “You’re not mad, are you? If it’s too awkward, I can always take a walk around and come back… later.”
A chuckle of disbelief escaped him as he followed behind her; Akaba Ray was not an impulsive woman. No, she had to have every moment planned and with purpose! The fact that she was compelled to see him… Zarc shook his head. “Nah, I could never really be mad at you. Hell, I just figured you didn’t want to come back after that um…” His cheeks reddened heavily, so much so that he could feel the blush spreading from the tips of his ears, down his cheeks, and even spreading to his neck. “I’m… I didn’t really mean to disappoint you, it’s just-”
“It’s really not a big deal!” She turned, and the blush on her was just as bad. “It happens to every guy! I mean, I haven’t been with every guy to know that - no wait, that’s not…! Ugh!” She could tear her hair out. This was harder than she thought and she just wished she knew what to say to make this all the less awkward. Not as though she could laugh it off since laughing was… probably not the best option.
He frowned. “No, you can be mad - you don’t gotta stroke my ego, I’m not a baby!”
“I’m not stroking your ego, damn it! I’m tryna be comforting!”
“... this is not a comforting type of situation, ya know that, right? Like. I get it. You probably expected a wild night with ‘the demon duelist’,” his tone was pure mockery as he said his title before he scoffed, “and I definitely didn’t live up to my legend. It’s embarrassing as fuck, I know but it happened. I can admit that… I dunno, you fluster me. I didn’t know you’d move so fast and just…” Zarc was rubbing the back of his head, averting his eyes for the sake of sanity. An ill attempt to hide the shame burning within his eyes.
And now, Ray could laugh. “... it just… you could’ve told me to slow down. I would’ve…”
“And disappoint you?”
“I wouldn’t be disappointed…” No, she imagined his husky voice and shaky fingers begging for her to slow down, that he wanted to cherish the moment and prolong their pleasure for as long as he could. If anything, Ray would have sobbed in delight.
“It was still pretty bad though.”
“Not-” She watched her words, seeing his brows furrow. Ray always had a way with her words - always finding exactly what to say. Except now; somehow, Zarc had a terrible effect on her. “Ok, it was pretty bad but not all bad…” Ray took slow and careful steps toward him, tentatively interlocking her fingers with his own, “I mean, you have nice hands… and you’re not a bad kisser.”
“Oh?” That was a good start as his trademark glorious grin began to unfold on his handsome face as he brushed his nose against hers, adoring her shy smile that crept in. “Did that make up for the rest of the night?”
“Well… maybe.” Ray pressed her lips to his, a chaste kiss and quickly pulled away before he could grab her, pull her against his chest and have the kiss go further… perhaps move toward the couch. “It’s enough that we can try again.” His heart raced and he tugged on her hands, trying to pull her close before Ray yanked her hands out of his eager grip. “But that’s for another day, we have to go slow - remember?”
Goddamn it, Ray!
Day 4 – Fantasy
ZarcRay Week: Day 4
Fandom: Arc V Ship: Zarc/Ray Rating: T (for language) Genre: Humor
Ray has terrible friends and would very much like to murder at least one.
-
Hands pinned her in place, grip on her wrists firm and unyielding. He was close, so close. Surely he could hear the pounding of her heart. Unease squirmed, low in the pit of her belly, and yet excitement had her blood racing through her veins as she watched him lean in to claim her lips—
“Ray Akaba!”
Ray jolted, quickly snapping to attention.
“T-The answer is forty-two!” she yelped. Laughter exploded and she blinked in confusion. What happened?
“Oh my god!” Grace laughed, hooting and tooting in a way that was more fit for a raucous sailor. “I can’t believe Miss Straight-A Student got the answer right even when her brain was a thousand miles away!”
“Quite,” Gloria said, giving her sister an exasperated look. Ray flinched, however, when that same look was turned on her. “I know you already know all of this, but if you could refrain from fantasizing about your boytoy when we’re supposed to be studying, it would be much appreciated.”
“B-Boytoy?!” Ray felt like she was about to combust on the spot, blushing from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. “I— I wasn’t—!”
“Boytoy!” Grace parroted gleefully. Her voice was loud enough that several other students on the far side of the quad glanced over at them. Ray quickly grabbed the loudmouth, jamming both hands over her cackling maw.
“There’s no boytoy and I was not fantasizing!” she hissed furiously.
“Oh really.” Gloria’s voice was so dry, it might as well be the Sahara desert. “Then, you weren’t drooling either.”
At that, Ray quickly wiped at her mouth, horrified. Unfortunately, that gave Grace enough room to break free.
“I was kidding,” Gloria said blandly, not at all minding as her twin playfully took refuge behind her. “Your actions do tell, though. So, let’s agree that you were fantasizing about Zarc—”
“Wha—”
“—and that you’ll stop so that we can study for our final properly.”
“Now wait just one sec!” Ray sputtered indignantly. “I’m not agreeing to anything! Because I was not fantasizing and Zarc is not my—!”
“Boytoy!”
“He is not!” She threw her hands in the air, thoroughly flustered. “Goddammit, Grace—”
“What did she just call me?”
Ray squeaked, whirling around to come face-to-face with—oh, the pleasure and the horror—a bemused Zarc. Distantly aware of the gleeful giggling behind her, she swore that she would one day murder her good friend and make Gloria an only-child.
“Z-Zarc,” she stuttered, flushing a bright red. Oh, gods, please don’t let him have heard about the fantasizing and the boytoy comments.
“Ray,” he greeted back, still looking faintly bewildered. However, like the good boyfriend he was, he let it go and gave her a crooked grin. The one that made her eyes immediately zoom in on the curve of his lips. With the urge to kinda, sorta, definitely kiss them.
Frankly, it was pathetic.
Zarc moved to place a paper bag on the table, the thing rather bulky. “I brought you guys snacks for your study sesh. Muffins and stuff.”
“Ooh!” Grace bounced over, eyes shining. “Any blueberry?!”
“Yeah, since it’s your favorite. Poppyseed for Gloria and chocolate for Ray, too.” He glanced bashfully in Ray’s direction, eyes clearly hopeful. Did I do good?
Oh, yes, Ray’s terrible, dirty mind went. So good.
“Goo’ hoff, b’rch’r!” the bane of Ray’s existence chirped. Thankfully, she had stuffed her mouth just enough that Zarc only looked confused.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Gloria sighed. Hand pulling Grace by the back of her neck with practiced ease, the blonde started walking for another table. “We’ll give you two a bit of privacy. Don’t take long, though, this final is forty percent of our grade.”
Grace cheerfully waved at them, bag of baked goods tucked firmly in her other arm.
There was a pause, just enough for Ray to suffer and bemoan her choice of friends in peace. Then, Zarc’s innocent expression melted into an evil—evil!—smirk.
“So, boytoy, huh?”
“Oh, fuck me,” she groaned, grinding the heels of her hands into her eyes. Her boyfriend’s next words, though, were what nearly killed her.
“If that’s what you want, sweetheart.”
Follow the Leader
Rating: T
Summary: In which Zarc is an expert in the one thing Ray sucks at
Ray gasped as she wiped the sweat from her brow. The dance studio was empty, but she still flushed more from shame rather than exertion. Even without a partner, she had stumbled through the steps like a klutz. At this rate it would take a year before she stopped stepping on people’s toes.
After complaining about needing to get more exercise, she hadn’t expected Reiji to respond by gifting her a membership to Maiami Dance. While she knew Asuka taught ballroom there, dancing had never been her thing. Still a gift was a gift, and being best friends with an instructor would make it easier for her, wouldn’t it? Why should she have passed up the chance?
The answer soon became clear after a few weeks of lessons: she was a terrible dancer.
At first Ray have blamed it on just being new to the activity. But as the other students moved on from the basic steps, she still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of a box-step. Second, she could have blamed the partner she had been assigned, but that would ignore the fact they rotated partners near constantly, and even when Asuka herself lead, Ray still had two left feet. Third, she had just hoped that maybe waltz just wasn’t her dance, but even though cha-cha was entirely different, Ray still couldn’t get the tempo right.
Honestly, she doubted Asuka would be too hurt if she went ahead and threw in the towel, but the idea of just giving up after so long didn’t sit right with her. Akaba’s weren’t quitters, and they certainly weren’t able to skill she saw eight year-olds accomplish with ease.
Unfortunately as she continued to review the same steps over and over again, maybe she did need some training wheels of sorts.
“Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone try and dance both parts at the same time.”
Ray swiveled around to face the voice so quickly, she nearly fell smack on her face. Standing in the doorway was Asuka’s partner, Zarc.
She had meet him before in passing, but outside the studio when going out with Asuka or inside when he popped by class. For their ease with shit-talking each other, they were acquaintances at best, knowing little about each other’s personal life. Still Ray knew three important facts.
1. He was hot.
2. He was single.
3. The last thing she wanted was to look like a fool in front of him and give him more ammo.
But she also knew she had a smart mouth, so before she could hold her tongue, she was already snarking back.
“Didn’t know I was putting on a performance. I’m sorry, did I forget to bow as well?”
“Please, I don’t expect practice to be perfect, just don’t know what you’re even trying to practice.”
Ray’s face burned. “I’m trying to be a lead.” She brought herself up to her full height and tried to regain some confidence. “It’s unfair that the women are not only expected to wear high heels, but have to do all the spins and flips. Y’all have it way easier.”
Zarc cocked his head at that. “Oh?”
“Why does it matter to you? Worried about having to compete with me when it comes to wooing cute girls?”
“Well i’m not sure just yet,” He laughed, and she felt sparks crackle inside the pit of her stomach. “How about you give me a test run?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know any advanced stuff, but I can follow, myself. Gotta make sure I can woo cute guys away, you know.” He winked, and Ray couldn’t tell if this still counted as flirting or not.
But, Akaba’s weren’t quitters, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.
“Alright, let’s start simple.” Ray placed her hand on her shoulder as she usually did while dancing, but immediately something felt wrong. “Wait a sec,” She tried to remember what the lead’s hold was like; by now she had danced with plenty of guys, why was it so difficult to recall?”
“Here,” Zarc guided her hand to the small of his back with an easy confidence. “Now what are you leading me in?”
“Let’s start with a waltz I guess,” Tentatively she tried the box-step, and to her miracle, it was a success. Well to be fair, she stepped on his toes a few times, but nobody fell. Ray was so proud of that accomplishment, she almost missed his next remark.
“You gonna take me anywhere? The waltz is a traveling dance after all.”
Horror consumed her. What steps besides a box did she know?!
Methodically, she racked her brain. While she had enjoyed the idea of leading and being able to make her own decisions rather that having to guess what her partner wanted, she had vastly overlooked one thing. Leading required actually knowing things. For the most part as a follow she had just prayed a few times and tried her best at the moment rather than memorize any specific maneuvers.
Carefully she waited, gathering up her courage. Then she tried to do the impossible, make the box-step move forward. Painfully they inched across the floor, bumping knees and tripping over each other.
“We’re getting off beat Ray--”
“I know--”
“Come on we can get back to it, one-two-three, one-two-three--”
“I don’t need your help--”
“Spin me, Ray!” He twirled and fell into her arms, knocking them both to the ground.
Well, talk about a way to kill a crush...
“Hope I didn’t go too far,” Zarc gave a surprisingly sheepish smile as he crawled off her. “I just wanted to try out a bit of teaching myself.”
“Teaching what? That I am an awful dancer and will never get it?” Ray groaned as she curled herself into a ball. “Because I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I know that pretty well already.”
“Gheez there’s no need to be melodramatic,” Slowly he dusted himself off and stood. “Leading and following are two different skills, but they’re equally difficult. Rather than try and search for a short-cut, you just need to know what you want to do and commit to that.” He extended his hand down towards her. “We can try again if you like, but if you just want to guard your ego, it isn’t gonna go any easier.”
Ray studied his hand. Akaba’s weren’t quitters, but maybe she shouldn’t be saying that like it was a good thing. Nobody had forced her here. Why torture herself for nothing?
But when she looked up at soft golden eyes, she remembered the pure joy Asuka and he had shared as they glided across the dance floor. Even her classmates, as clumsy as they looked in comparison, had shone with the same glow while she kept finding excuses to keep from joining them.
“I’m willing to try,” Ray took his hand. “Just promise not to be a little shit this time.”
“Ah come on you can’t blame me for wanting to get to spin some too,” He laughed and those sparks burned hot once more. As he switched positions this time and rest his hand against the small of her back, it seemed it might take more than just some tomfoolery to damper this attraction. Ugh.
“Now I’ve seen your type before, so you’re far from a lost cause. Let me guess, you’re used to be good at things aren’t you?”
“Yes...” Ray pressed her chin against her chest. “I’m a perfectionist, so sue me.”
“Well there is a lot to be a perfectionist about in dance, but you really can’t worry about it now, especially when you’re just doing it for fun. You gotta accept it when you’re out of your depth.”
“Easier said then done,” She blew a strand of hair out of her face.
“I mean, you seem to be doing pretty ok now.” Ray looked down and realized that they were doing a perfect box-step right then and there.
“How did you do that?!” She tried focusing on their movements, but just ended up tripping up before, Zarc steadied her.
“Just had to get you in your element, which seems to be anything else but dancing.”
“You know you would be so much cuter if you didn’t have to open that mouth so much.”
At that, Zarc stumbled and nearly plummeted into her again.
“Wait, what did you say?” A flush painted his cheeks, and it seemed this time it was his turn to be out of his element.
“Just teach me that face-to-face thing.” A smug smile slowly spread across her lips. This was one dance she wouldn’t mind leading him in.
Due to work and life related stress, I’m pushing back zarcray week for another week so it will be from March 18th - March 25th instead.
Official post has been changed with the dates.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Prompt: Seasons
Zarc lives among the volcanoes; he'll freeze and die if he's too far from his warm home for long. Ray is Winterfolk, and she'll melt if she doesn't leave with winter each year.
It's a curse to love someone that you can't even touch.