Hi, hope you had a great new years ^^
If it's okay can I request a fic of Redacted teaching Angel how to ride their bike or just Angel just riding their bike in general?
Hiiii my new year was good! I hope yours (and valentine's,easter,etc) was good as well!!
the date callin me out for how long it's been since jan i'm sobbing /silly
I feel like emo boy would be extremely thorough about teaching them so... Maybe I'll do a part two where Angel actually drives... đđ
~A Riding Lesson~
[REDACTED] was in their personal garage doing some maintenance on his bike when you arrived a little early for your date. All he could offer in greeting were a few sweet words and a quick kiss, due to their grease stained fingers. You chose to silently observe them for a while, sitting at the bench they left their toolkit on. You found yourself leaning forward, watching with pure fascination.
There was precision to each movement as they went about their work with expert hands. Were it not for the occasional smiles he threw your way when he picked up a different tool every so oftenâsmiles that somehow still sent your heart aflutter after so longâyou wouldâve been completely absorbed.
You'd always been curious about how it worked. But there was never really a good time to mention said curiosity. Especially since you were more focused on holding on for dear life whenever they drove somewhere, even at a snailâs pace. You supposed now could be a good time.
âCan you teach me how to ride it?â you suddenly asked once he came over to pack his tools away in the box at your side.
Their scarred hand that was idly twirling a wrench stilled as he looked down at you, light blue eyes glittering with the beginnings of something. â...Yeah, love? Yâmind saying that again fâme?â
Much too late to take it back, you noticed your mistake. You were so absorbed in your thoughts that it felt like you were picking up a conversation. In reality, it hadn't even started. âThe bike, Ren,â you hurriedly corrected yourself. âTeach me how to ride the bike.â
ââCourse. My bike,â [REDACTED] nodded along and continued putting away the tools. The smirk on their face was unmistakable, but they surprisingly held back from teasing you any longer. âMaybe a quick lesson, then.â
âReally?â You perked up.
He nodded towards the bike with an amused smile as he closed the toolbox and wiped off his hands. âWeâve got time.â
Excited as could be, you hopped over and quickly sat in the cushioned seat, immediately fidgeting with the handlebars. It already seemed weird being in the front, let alone by yourself. But your heart got a little louder when your dark haired lover sat behind you on the bike.
You were certain he could feel how you shivered as his hands wrapped securely around your waist and his head rested on top of yours. Stumbling for words, you almost shouted, âSo! âŚWhere am I taking us?â
âNowhere. Yâneed to know where everything is first, Angel.â
âBoooo.â
đđ¤đđ¤đđ¤
After fifteen grueling minutes of quizzing, he finally agreed to let you ride around the parking lot. They hopped off the back of the bike, swinging the key around their finger. Â
Without his weight to balance you, you suddenly felt a little unsure of yourself. You thought he was going to ride with you, so you asked, âDid you only sit on the bike to hug me?â
âYeah, yâlooked so cute I couldnât help mâself,â he admitted shamelessly. They didn't give you the key just yet, merely circled the bike a few times with a careful gaze. âClutch?â
You frowned. The quiz was supposed to be over. âLeft lever.â
âThrottle?â
You remembered that one easily. He always revved the engine with it before leaving. âRight handle," you said confidently as you grabbed it.
âFront brake?â
âUhhâŚâ you started, quickly panicking at the resigned look in their eye. âRight pedal.â
âThat's the rear brake. Maybe next time.â They gave a swift denial of your short-lived dream.
You stubbornly stayed put on the bike, though your hands were no longer holding the handles, instead resting in front of you on the seat. âI could drive it down to the street, at least."
âYâreally think so? Itâs a lot tâhandle,â he cautioned. He reached in front of you with the key in hand, quickly putting it in the ignition. The engine purred in that quiet way you were used to.
You watched as [REDACTED] held firmly on the clutch at one handle, and slowly guided your hand to the throttle on the other. With the lightest turn of your wrist, the engine roared loud, vibrating the seat more and more. But he turned it even further and you could hardly hear yourself think.
It made you nervous. If you werenât sure where the break wasâor which one to useâitâd really spell disaster. âOkay, I get the point,â you sighed. They let go of your hand and the engine died back down to its usual purr. âIâll try harder to remember where everything is. No crashing your bike into a stop sign for now.â
âGood. Just wanâ you t'keep that pretty little head right where it is, love,â he hummed and kissed said forehead. âNow, scoot. Or we can head upstairs so âcan teach ya how to reallyââ
âI meant the bike!!â
Rkgk [REDACTED]
Timelapse ver:
he gon kiss ur boo boo away
Kinda forgot the burnscars again but oh well!!! New brushes and shading try out ^o^
I think that more fanfiction should be written with the aim to tackle the original meaning of hanahaki. Because when the concept of hanahaki disease was originally created, it was intended to be a metaphor for suppressing oneâs feelings.
Your feelings are this beautiful garden of flora inside of your chest. When you express how you feel honestly, you allow for it to grow freely. But when you hide how you feel out of fear of rejection, and try to make it smaller and smaller, the flowers become cramped inside of you, until you choke on your own feelings. Every flower you cough up is something youâve felt, but refused to say.
The whole âdyingâ thing is intended to be more symbolic especially. Youâre killing off bits and pieces of yourself and how you feel, because youâre afraid to express yourself.
Itâs not really supposed to be, âThe one I love doesnât love me back, and Iâm dying from it.â Rather, itâs more along the lines of, âRepressing your emotions is bad for you, and itâs better and healthier to express them freely, even when itâs scary.â
Which is to say that, one, the cure for the disease should be telling the person that you are in love with how you feel. How the other person feels about the person afflicted should have nothing to do with it, as the trope is meant to be about feeling your emotions unapologetically.
And that, two, itâs not an inherently romantic trope. Obviously, it has romantic applications, but it can be written for any situation where a character is hiding how they truly feel. This can include a refusal to address a specific trauma, a desire to indulge in something that theyâre ashamed of, and even really practical things, like wanting to ask oneâs boss for a higher position.
Although (as an aromantic person myself) I donât agree with this conclusion about the trope, this application would also avoid people calling it arophobic. When the thing killing the character is a refusal to be honest with themselves, rather than an unrequited love, itâs on nobodyâs hands but their own to save their life.
There are a ton of ways that this interpretation of the hanahaki disease could be applied in new and interesting ways in fanfiction, and Iâd love to read what things people could come up with!
haha kiddo ren *breakdowns with the childhood ring accident*
p/s: old arts again in discord server ehjdsjjs
everytime I see a shirtless Ren pic with those HUGE TITS, I remember this meme
AFAB Ren & Redacted! dw they're still nonbinary with he/they pronouns ^-^