[ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴏʀ] (ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ ᴠ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄꜱ)

Edgar & Reader against a fake friendly

Warnings: None

Story type: General hcs

Pairings/Characters: Edgar Valden - Painter x Gn!Reader, Margaretha Zelle - Female Dancer, Yidhra - Dream Witch, Demi Bourbon - Barmaid

Banner art credit: smol_kia on twitter

(possible ooc, made during school so possibly lower quality then my others works.)

It was a normal friendly match at first, Margaretha and you were decoding while the dream witch Yidhra stood nearby. Spraying back whenever the survivors sprayed at her and emoting back when they emoted at her. She had seen almost everyone that match other then Edgar who had been keeping his distance from the hunter and had been naturally distrustful of the dream witch. He had constantly been trying to whisk you away from everyone else. In reality, he just wanted to spend alone time with you and let the others decode, maybe even paint you due to the time he had In this match.

You and Margaretha talked as you decoded, joking around and laughing at what one another said. The female dancer continued making small discussion with you until suddenly the leaches Yidhra had on both you and Margaretha moved closer. You didn't think much of it until the leach suddenly swung on Margaretha and terror shocked her, the familiar sound of bells signaling the hunter gaining their persona ability ringing all throughout the map. At first you were confused, maybe Yidhra just wanted to hold Margaretha or wanted the points for downing someone? You went to go heal her until Yidhra swapped to the leach that had connected to you and swung on you as well.

You started getting suspicious of the dream witches intentions as both you and Margaretha were leached onto again. Both of the leaches were soon left inactive as Yidhra moved to find the other two survivors with the leaches standing as guards just in case one of you got up. This was the worst time ever to not run self pickup for some extra healing personas, you weren't sure if Margaretha had it either. You heard the familiar voice of your boyfriend shout "stay put I'm coming!" From a small distance away. At least the baron of the manor gave the survivors a form of communication the hunters could not hear, in this realm this form of communication was crucial. Not a second later you heard the voice of Demi shout "The hunter is nearby!" Edgar quickened up his pace and eventually arrived to where both you and Margaretha were downed.

He didn't pay any attention to Margaretha and started healing you first. "Dummy, how could you fall for that! It's Yidhra for gods sake!" Edgar shouted out trying to cover up the concern in his voice with irritation. He was honestly a bit pissed but not exactly at you, it was more directed towards Yidhra. He was irritated and annoyed at the fact this hunter decided to try and act merciful to only backstab people later. He's had to deal with a lot of that all throughout his life due to his status but having it be done to you made his blood boil. He finds it quite pathetic such a powerful god is resorting to this to win matches. He soon got you up and both of you went to heal Margaretha as you heard Demi get downed across the map. You needed to heal quickly and get these leaches removed as soon as possible. A few seconds later the barmaid was chaired as you got Margaretha up. The second you did Yidhra swapped back to one of her leeches and immediately went for Margaretha. You attention snapped back to Edgar as you told him to go save demi as you would focus on ciphers and supporting Margarethas kite when you could.

3 ciphers later and things weren't looking any better, Margaretha died, Demi was kiting for as long as she could on last chair, and Edgar was across the map from you working on a cipher. You were hoping both you and Edgar could get a prime in time for Demi as you typed on the ciphers keys, rapidly trying to decode it. You heard Edgar's cipher pop across the map as you shouted "Priming!" Hoping that Demi wouldn't get downed before you could prime the cipher. That hopeful wish wouldn't come true though, the barmaid was soon chaired and screamed as she got shot into the sky. You sighed and continued working on the cipher, slightly relieved it was almost finished. That relief was cut short though as you heard the sound and red cloud signifying a teleport. You panicked and ran from the cipher shouting that the hunter was nearby you. Edgar quickly responded with stay put I'm coming. The painter ran as fast as he could towards where your cipher was, as much as he wanted to support your kite and whisk you away from danger he couldn't. Minutes passed before you got downed by the dream witch and as soon as you were downed the primed cipher was popped and you were back up on your feet. As long as Edgar was able to get a exit gate open this could be a tie. Edgar soon opened a gate and kept saying follow me, running towards your location with a painting on the ready. 5 minutes of stressful kiting and close calls later you two barely squeaked by with a tie.

After the match ended, Edgar whisked you away to his room. The second the door closed behind the two of you Edgar was all over you, checking for any wounds that sustained after the matches. "I can't believe that woman, a god and she does this?! Simply pathetic!" You sighed and shook your head, "It's alright Ed, the match is over now. Just relax okay?" You put your hand over his as a slight blush came to the painters face. He quickly shook this off though and soon a frown came to his face. "Are you okay though, my muse?" It was rare for Edgar to express his emotions truly through words, mostly hiding his true emotions behind irritation and stubbornness. You smiled at him, "Yes I'm okay Ed,.I promise." A slight smile came to his face as he grasped your hand harder, silently whispering under his breath "that's good.." You two stayed like that for awhile, sitting silently next to each other as time eternally passed by.