Pairing: Iris-centric, with a bit of Iris x Hazel (F!Hayden x F!MC. Asian Hayden, Black MC).
Rating: G
Summary: A set of drabbles exploring Iris’ responses to change, over time. Begins with the Japanese tea garden scene from the Harajuku diamond option, and ending at the scene in her new home.
Word Count: 2,487 words
(Faceclaims: Justine Skye as Hazel, Jung Ryeo Won as Iris)
Ribbit Ribbit
“Hey! When did you turn into our resident jokester?”
For as long as she is allowed to live, Iris will never forget this moment. The wind teasing her Hazel’s purple ombre hair, the lighthearted glow in her dark eyes. On the tree next to them, a cocoon hangs; a newborn butterfly struggling to emerge out of it. Around them bits of haiku-stained paper rustle, above them the stars begin to move unseen.
The stars are not the only ones. Deep within her, beyond the wires and metals and motherboard, Iris can feel something shift within her too. Some thread is loosening inside, slowly setting every other thread attached to it free. A part of her that was ripped apart when she realized she wasn’t human, now feels like it’s being stitched back together.
Box step, reverse, spin, twirl*. An arrangement of dance steps. Until you came along, that was all Liam ever imagined the Cordonian Waltz to be.
Oh, he’s listened to the history of this dance form a million times. Had a dozen dance masters scold him for his stiffness, his aloofness, the distance he never fails to maintain between him and his partner. This isn’t just any dance, they’d say: it is a conversation*. Flirtation in fluid motion. A way to show her how you felt when you weren’t allowed any other way**.
With Olivia somehow, he’s always gone through the motions. They grew up together on this dance, practising the steps in the palace ballroom till their backs ached and their feet were sore. There’s an easy familiarity in their footwork and hand-presses, in how they glide and fall together. A tendril finds its way out of her elegant chignon as she twirls, and she looks flushed and happy, he thinks. He’s glad because this sight is so rare.
And then it’s your turn. He remembers the first time you told him you didn’t know how to waltz, how you followed his lead and entrusted yourself in the safety of his arms. He wonders if he needs to do it again, and realises he would kill for a chance to do so.
But you don’t. You move backwards when he moves forward, allow his arms to frame you, glide effortlessly against him. When he spins you he notices that your eyes never leave his*. Suddenly he can’t stand to be stiff anymore. You move together, poetry in motion. Suddenly he feels so alive and even as you joke about this being just a “choreographed waltz in the dance floor of a private ball”*** both of you know this isn’t entirely the truth.
He twirls you just like Maxwell did, your back against his chest, his arms around you, his heartbeat quickening behind your ear. He whispers against your hair. Yes, you are special to him, he says. You look up. Your face is flushed. You stay ensconced in his arms a second longer than the dance dictates. Your stupid expressive face tells him everything he needs to know.
It’s then that he understands. What this dance means. Why it exists. Who it was meant for.
It’s then that he realises. You’ve ruined him for anyone else. He can never dance the Cordonian Waltz again without remembering how you made it feel. He can never dance the Cordonian Waltz with another woman again. Not without thinking “this isn’t how its meant to be”.
The Cordonian Waltz will never be the same again.
He will never be the same again.
–
* If you choose the diamond scene with Hana where she teaches you the Cordonian Waltz, she uses these terms, tells you that 1. the dance is like a conversation, 2. the man tends to place pressure on the woman’s palm to get her to move backwards, 3. focus on a spot when he spins you.
** Maxwell tells the MC that this waltz was the only way couples used to flirt.
***Liam says this when the MC says “fancy running into you” as soon as she starts dancing with him.
Pairing: Sloane Washington & F!Hayden Young (platonic), mentions of Basil (M!MC) x F!Hayden (black), hints of Basil (M!MC) x Sloane.
Rating: G
Summary: A set of drabbles exploring Sloane and Hayden’s (later, Sage) first weeks together as roommates and friends. Many constellations and asterisms (and one planet!) ahead!
Word Count: 4,064
(Faceclaims:
Sloane Washington: Nelly Muse
Hayden Young: Lupita Nyong'o)
Ursa Major
She doesn’t know you don’t know each other. She doesn’t know you don’t know each other.
Sloane knew this wouldn’t be easy. She’s seen Hayden in every way possible, from the moment she was nothing but coding on a computer and wires inside a mould - has seen this girl develop layer on layer in front of her own eyes. She’s called her by her Match code. She’s seen Hayden glitch and her systems break down, more than once. She’s heard her “maintenance mode” voice: blank, robotic, devoid of emotion. A far cry from the animated, carefree woman walking around her flat today like it’s her space too, acting like they’ve been living together for years.
It’s like bringing her work home, only her work isn’t allowed to know that it’s work.
This is a very recent one - I wrote it February of this year for Sloane Washington Appreciation Week, and I really enjoyed connecting Sloane’s astronomy knowledge with her daily life and relationship with Hayden! I’m happy to have more people see it…I’m proud of all my fics, but especially proud of this one.
Book:Open Heart: Second Year (Post 2.5) Pairing:Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Genevieve McClure) Word Count: 1043 Rating:T Category:angst Trope(s):and they were at a gala/fundraiser, and there’s some good ol’ pining
Summary:Post Book 2, Chapter 5 - After helping Gwenyth Monroe, she invites the team to attend the “Influencer’s Ball”, where Ethan and Gen wrestle with their feelings for each other.
Warnings:none
A/N:100% inspired by LJ in that dress and also maybe from the last song from the unofficial Bridgerton musical… Literally just these idiots being idiots.
The ballroom is grand, like something out of a fairy tale. The enormous chandelier shining like a cluster of stars in the middle of the ceiling. Genevieve and the rest of the diagnostics team had been invited to the Influencer’s Ball by Gwenyth Monroe, as a thank you for saving her life.
None of them wanted to go, but when the board got wind of the invitation - the potential for generating patients and profit - the team had been forced.
And it only made Ethan angrier. He barely gave her a second glance when she walked in. Offering only a cold expression before turning back to his drink. It’s the complete opposite of the man from a few nights ago.
The one she helped create a pictagram account for. The one that looked at her with barely concealed longing.
