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H I N A

♡𝒊 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕!

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I Need Them So Bad

i need them so bad 🙏😞

~~~~~

Eyes like jade vine

1.6k words

After a little too much wine, you and Zaros go for a stroll in the garden. The party inside is lively, but you prefer the still of the garden and the quiet company of one another.

~~~~~

"What are you doing? Stop that!"

Zaros shouts in a whisper, stealing the wine glass from your hand as you attempt to consume more alcohol. You're going to be the death of him someday.

"Oh, come on. I only had two glasses thus far," you state, your eyes half lidded, squinting, and your hands reaching out to grab what was stolen from you.

"Which is two glasses too many for a lightweight. You will not have another drop."

He sighs with exasperation at the sight of you. The Earis he knows is cheeky and clever. But right now, you're tipsy and pouting. You eventually give up trying to retrieve your glass as Zaros sets it down on a table out of your reach. As much as you are embarrassing yourself, and him while you're at it, he can't help but revel in the scene. Zaros has never seen you come so undone before, and if he's being honest with himself, he thinks it's quite amusing.

Zaros pours you a glass of water and hands it to you, much to your disliking. You drink it, though, simply because you feel that he won't stop shoving it in your face until you have. But your brain is still foggy and you're still sulking from the bitter taste of the water you drank compared to the sweet taste of cherry wine you had five minutes ago. Your rival sighs at the scene. What is he going to do with you?

Zaros comes closer until he's one breath away from your ear.

"Let's go," he murmurs, grabbing your arm to gently guide you outside. "Maybe a walk in the gardens will sober you."

Without much fight, you follow him out the ballroom holding onto his arm like a crutch to steady your clumsy feet. A few minutes later, you feel a cool breeze brush over your cheeks as you take in the midnight air. It's chilly outside, but you feel refreshed by the change of temperature after drinking more than usual and being surrounded by people in a stuffy ballroom. The scenery changes from yellow lights and crystal chandeliers to the gardens shadowed by the midnight sky, the only light source being the lampposts shining white light down the walkways.

"Just wanted to get me all alone now, did you?" You joke.

"What?!" Zaros scoffs. "Of course not. I was preventing you from making a fool of yourself even more than you already did. But I can leave you to do whatever you like if that is what you want."

If your mind were clearer, you would've seen the light blush creeping up his ears. It's a sight to behold, but Zaros would never live it down if you remembered this.

You hear crickets creaking quietly in the bushes. You still hold onto his arm as you walk down the shale garden paths, heels clicking against the grey stone. It's peaceful here, which is something you haven't truly felt in a long time.

"No, please stay," you smile. "It wouldn't be as fun if you left."

Zaros simply stares at you. Why? You don't know. You just take it as Zaros being Zaros again and continue walking past lilies, chrysanthemums, hyacinths and the like, until you reach one of the greenhouses. One of your favourite plants catches the light of a lamppost nearby. Jade vine.

"Wait, let's rest in there for a bit," you beamed, immediately abandoning your companion to admire the plant in plain view.

You open the glass door and enter the establishment, the air still warm after a full day of sun. This greenhouse is the smallest in the garden as it only houses this one plant in its entirety, but still holds enough room for it to be considered spacious. Jade vines hang down from wooden beams, sleeping next to one another as the night grows darker. A second pair of heels can be heard clacking on the tiles behind you.

You don't speak at first, and neither does he. You feel that if you break the silence now, it will disturb the peace too soon and disrupt the calmness of the moment. You take everything in, feeling whole and content and warm.

A bench sits empty under the wooden structure and you decide to fill up the space. Zaros follows suit, sitting down to your right, and gazes up at this peculiar plant. He's never been in this greenhouse before, so this is the first time he's ever seen it.

"Do you know why I like jade vines?"

"Enlighten me," he says sincerely.

"Because they're the colour of your eyes."

~~~~~

Talking comes easy to the two of you as more time passes and the greenhouse fills with chatter and laughter. It feels freeing for both of you, with the air of informality enveloping the conversation. You wish it were always like this between you two.

"Are you sober yet?"

You hum a little before answering, as if to gather your thoughts.

"I'm not sure. I guess we'll know if I regret all this in the morning," you scoff, another small, rare smile gracing your face. It seems to be appearing a lot this evening, but you never usually smile like this, at least not around Zaros.

Yeah, you're definitely still tipsy, he thinks.

He looks toward the jade plant again, thinking of the colour, the shape. He thinks of how strange it looks and if you meant something more when you made the comparison with his eyes.

"What does it mean?"

"Hmm?"

You open your eyes after almost dozing off right then and there. The alcohol seems to be wearing off, but your tiredness increases with each minute that passes.

"The plant. What does it mean? I'm assuming you know, since you're so obsessed with the message behind every flower," he says, rolling his eyes teasingly. "It reminds me of when we were back in the Academy and you'd give me random flowers you picked from its gardens."

"Yes, I remember like it was yesterday," you chuckle, as you lean against the back of the bench. "I always gave you ones meaning 'Hate' or something of the like just to spite you. But as for the jade vine..."

You softly trail off to gather your thoughts, humming quietly to yourself as if to recall the information faster. You tap your fingers against your arms to increase your concentration with the sleepiness setting in quickly.

Zaros watches you carefully as your eyes close, taking in every change of your face. From the quirk of your lips to the scrunch of your nose to the lashes gently settled on your cheeks. He also finds your muttering to yourself particularly amusing. He secretly memorises it all like it's his lifeline.

"Something to do with apathy? No, that's wild roses. It can't be love either. It's not red," you mutter under your breath.

Like a lightbulb, you express to him out loud, "Ah! In simple terms, it symbolises flow and flexibility in life."

"How insightful," he teases.

You huff, bothered by his interruption, "Well, if you'd let me finish, you'd know the rest of it.

"Jade vine means to magnify your ability to fully integrate into the world around you without being influenced by the emotions of others. Another meaning could be accepting life's changes and letting life's journey take its natural course."

Zaros repeats your words over in his head. Perhaps you didn't mean anything more by the comparison than the plant's simple colour, but knowing you as well as he does, he can't help the feeling that his first suspicion was right.

"Don't think about it too much. I just thought it was pretty."

"Is that why you associate this plant with me? You think I'm pretty?" Zaros says with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, as if he just discovered a new piece of information to hold over your head.

Without hesitation, and evidently no thoughts, you blurt, "I always thought you were beautiful."

You turn your head to look at him in the eyes. The sober version of you would never say something like that to Zaros, or at least that's what he thinks. Which is exactly why instead of having an inflated ego, Zaros' smirk drops and his eyes soften. You'd almost think he'd fallen for you right then and there.

Zaros looks away first and clears his throat.

"We should get going before they notice how long we've been gone," he says before standing up and walking away from you. On a normal day, Zaros would've just walked off, leaving you behind to prevent you from seeing him like this - like he feels something for you - but instead, he waits for you to get up and follow him back to the ballroom because he still thinks the alcohol hasn't worn off yet and that you need to be watched while in this state.

Zaros hates how much you affect him. You were supposed to strictly stay rivals, enemies even, not get closer with each passing day. You were supposed to fight with one another, but here he is, guiding you back to the ballroom after walking in the gardens and talking about flowers and how you've always thought he was pretty. He hates how easily you make his heart race.

If only he knew it was mutual. If only he knew that you've been sober for the last five minutes and that you were sober when you called him beautiful. You both return to the party in silence and avoid each other for the rest of the night, wondering how the hell you're going to go back to normal after this.

~~~~~

A/N: I'm not back for good. I just really wanted to finish this fic bc I love it even though I don't listen to audio roleplay anymore :) I have one or two more in the works, but only time will tell if I'll post it. I'm either going to be a lurker from now on or I'm just going to stop using the account completely after I post the last fics (if I choose to) :)

I came up with the title bc I discovered the jade vine plant when i started this fic back in Feb or March and I made a (very inaccurate) connection that it's basically the colour of Zaros' eyes. Did I feel like Hozier coming up with the title? Yes, yes I did. I also decided to write in 2nd person so that there are no pronouns involved like my other fic. I was really conflicted last time lmao :) oh also, I have no knowledge on alcohol (shocking I know) so bear with me.i really wanted to write this :)

Also, I triple checked his eye colour bc I wanted to be really sure about it. But I don't really care (/lh) if his eyes are green or turquoise like I thought because I was IN LOVE with the idea that his eyes are the same colour as a jade vine plant. I was really motivated to write this because of the concept. If you squint at Zaros' thumbnail long enough, you'll see turquoise green like I did the first couple of times lmao. Anyways, please be kind and I hope you enjoyed :))

I Need Them So Bad

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