#BUT SHHH | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lovelynim · 9 months ago

Text

Nature's embrace

Genshin Impact - Albedo

A/N: This was such a bliss to write, huhuh, inspiration kicked just in time. Also, shout out for @ticklygiggles for showing me this fanart that gave me the idea for this fic's plot. Also, huge thanks for @eliankrios for sponsoring this work!

Summary: During one of his expeditions to explore nature, Albedo runs into a unique kind of plant.

Word count: 2096 words

This was definitely not the kind of specimen Albedo hoped to find during his field trip. Certainly, it was an interesting discovery - given its unique features - but it would be best to study this plant if he wasn’t about to become its prey… Wait, was “prey” the right term to use here?

Albedo looked down at his limbs, studying his predicament more carefully. Despite lacking (or, at least, seeming to lack) a nervous system, the plant could control each of its vines skillfully. Its movements were… precise, almost calculated. Albedo could even be bold enough to suppose it was also studying him back, fiddling with some random parts of his outfit like if it was trying to find out what his clothes were. Interesting, Albedo noted mentally.

But there was no denying in the fact that the plant already seemed to understand what he was. The way the vines moved around Albedo’s limbs in a serpent-like motion and the surprisingly firm grip it kept on his body were what brought the theory that this plant was preying on him in the first place.

“I can’t reach my sword…” Albedo mumbled to himself in a rather calm tone, looking down to his things scattered around the tree - in which the plant’s main body seemed to be on. The alchemist let out a small sigh, knowing he would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t interested in such peculiar flora. However, having the feeling that he would be molten into a puddle of nutrients and absorbed by the plant’s roots wasn’t exactly enticing his curiosity.

Albedo tilted his head back, leaning it against the bark. The alchemist looked up to his arms, moving his left wrist in circles and confirming, once again, that whatever this plant was up to, it didn’t seem like it was going to let him go.

“Perhaps it is a sentient specimen… It keeps fighting back my attempts to move away,” Albedo noted out loud, noticing that the vines entangled around his legs seemed to behave in the same way as the ones from above - a detail that only sparkled another question within his mind, after all, the plant seemed to be much bigger than he first expected.

Instead of multiple organisms working together to ensnare and feed off a larger prey, this actually was starting to look like one large being. Add to think vegetation would develop to this point… Albedo sighed, he really wished he could have discovered it in a different way.

Getting himself lost in thoughts and theories about his wild captor, Albedo could barely notice the shifts in his surroundings. It was only when one of the vines flicked against his cheek that the alchemist snapped back into reality, the sudden strange feeling catching his attention. Almost as if it was caressing him, the vine gently wiggled, leaving his skin coated with some kind of sticky substance. Maybe the sap?

Thankfully, Albedo thought, this wasn’t some kind of digestive fluid or acid. It didn’t feel like it was burning or provoking any kind of irritation on his skin, it was just… slightly cold. And sticky. Perhaps it was a substance the plant produced to avoid getting its vines dry. He would need to study that further later on.

That, of course, if he could free himself from whatever this plant had in store for him.

Albedo closed his eyes, ignoring the slightly annoying prodding against his cheek and focusing on using his elemental powers. Just carelessly releasing a burst would probably damage - and maybe even kill - this specimen, but if he could focus on producing just enough power to free one of his hands, then he could work his way out.

Still, he could be sure how his captor would react to such a thing. There was the slight chance that the vines would try to rip one of his limbs off his body, but this would also be a chance to find out if this thing had some sort of nervous system, after all.

A small, but bright orange glow started to come from his palm, spreading all the way to the tip of his fingers. Visualize it, Albedo, he thought, imagining some small, sharp rocks cutting the vine that kept his arm restrained above his head.

“H-huh?”

The feeling of something moving around his neck broke Albedo’s focus. One of the vines wrapped itself around his throat, but instead of trying to choke him - like he theorized - that tendril was… poking him?

Albedo narrowed his eyes, puzzled. He leaned his head to the side, trying to block the vine from moving around his neck, but being coated in the sap made it slip past his defenses, continuing to explore the new batch of skin it just found.

It felt… weird, or funny, if you will. Albedo unconsciously gritted his teeth inside his mouth while a confused look remained on his face. It felt like the vine was tracing the side of his neck, rubbing small circles against random spots. Just as Albedo was about to come up with another theory for this new behavior, the plant found its way to the golden star that rested on top of his adam's apple, flicking the tip of its tendril and making a surprised, high-pitched gasp escape Albedo’s lips.

“W-why did- pfft… agh, no,” the alchemist whined, using all his effort to suppress… a chuckle? The alchemist clenched his hands into fists, pressing eyes shut in a vain attempt of ignoring that… strange sensation.

There was no logic behind such behavior. Could this be some kind of defense mechanism because he tried to use his elemental powers? Could this strange plant really think so further ahead as to decide to tickle its prey in a way to incapacitate them? But before Albedo could further analyze the plant, he felt another vine moving. This time, the plant wrapped it around his arm and swiftly made its way inside the sleeve of his coat.

This simply couldn’t be happening.

The corner of Albedo’s lips threatened to curl up in a smile as that damned vine began to prod at the middle of his underarm and as if that alone was not enough, the tendril around his neck continued to move, tracing the underside of Albedo’s jaw in a way that sent shivers down the alchemist’s spine.

Albedo lowered his head and tried to pull his arms down, fighting the urge to smile that was building within himself. If this was, in fact, some sort of strategy to stop him from freeing himself, then all he needed to do was to focus. I can do it, Albedo told himself inside his head, putting up his best efforts to channel his attention away from the ticklish feeling.

The picture of sharp rock edges cutting the vines was harder to visualize, as if the image was getting blurry. Albedo pressed his lips shut, his breath hitching while the tendrils moved as they wished against his body.

The vine around his neck continued to explore each inch of skin that it could reach, stroking behind his ear, then down against the side of his neck and back under his chin. No matter how much Albedo tried to block it by moving his head and scrunching up his shoulder, that devious plant continued to find a way to slip past his defenses.

Of course, the one “attacking” his underarm was not far behind. For some reason, the sensation of it sneaking inside his coat made Albedo feel even more sensitive to its touch, feeling an electric sensation run from wherever it touched straight up to his brain. The vine wiggled against the middle of his hollow and even slid further to poke at the top of his ribcage - something that made Albedo want to crawl out of his skin and desperately jerk his arm down.

But even under all this stress, the alchemist felt like he was getting somewhere. He could feel a tiny stone forming above his palm, slowly taking the desired shape. The struggle, however, was to not get ahead of himself: if Albedo released that small amount of energy, he probably wouldn’t be able to damage the vines enough to free his arms and would have to start gathering it all over from zero. Steady, he told himself, feeling his body tremble with the quiet giggles that left his lips. Even if it was slow, there was still some progress and-

“Hnngh! N-nohoh! Gehehet out!” Albedo groaned, caught by surprise when another tendril started to move against his thigh. When did it even get there?!

Letting out a fit of laughter, the stone in Albedo’s palm shattered in a couple of tiny pieces that ended falling on top of his head. Great, there it goes with all his hard work, Albedo would’ve thought if he wasn’t busy laughing.

How could this thing even know which spot could disrupt his focus like that? Albedo tried to kick and pull his leg back, but this weird plant already had one of its vines wrapped around his ankle making sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

Albedo couldn’t resist any longer. Technically speaking, wasting his energy in resisting the urge to laugh would take him nowhere. The alchemist laid his head on the tree’s back and laughed - maybe this would be enough for the plant to let him go?

Sadly (or thankfully) it was the opposite. It seemed that the more he smiled, the more he giggled, the more enticed to go on the plant got.

A fourth tendril crawled his torso, finding the opening between his shirt’s buttons and getting itself inside, quickly becoming part of Albedo’s demise as it tickled his stomach and chest.

The sensation of the sap against his bare skin made Albedo cringe, but he couldn’t get bothered by it for long as the tickling would soon take the room left in his brain. “Eheheh, l-leheheave me alohohone!” Albedo laughed, starting to blush a little.

If he had to name the worst one among his assaulters, it would definitely be the tendril tickling his leg. It kept wiggling back and forth between the back of his knee and under his thigh, pushing all the buttons to make Albedo utterly helpless and reduce him to a puddle of laughter.

At some point, Albedo somewhat wished this thing was actively trying to eat him. At least, he would be able to handle the situation or have his flight-or-fight response kicking in and making him more useful.

For some reason, Albedo didn’t feel like he was in danger. It could be the effect of some sort of pollen to make it less likely that he would harm the plant, but he felt… like having fun? Of course, he didn’t even want to start to think about how embarrassing it would be to get rescued from such a situation, but at the same time… he thought there was no need to hurry to do so.

The rational part of his brain, however, couldn’t help but feel uneasy about this whole situation. If he continued to laugh and squirm because of the ticklish attack of the vines, he would, eventually, be too weak and tired to fight back. What if the plant revealed its true man-eating nature at such a point? What would he do?!

“A-agh, sohohomeone- ahahah, h-hehehelp me!!” Albedo cried out softly through his laughter. Just as he called for aid, he felt the vines moving a little faster, tickling him harder and more mercilessly, almost as if they were… punishing him for it? “AhahAHAH, o-okahahay! I’m sohohorry!!”

Just how helpless did he need to be to be begging for mercy to a plant? Still, Albedo let out a sigh of relief when it seemed to work. The vines eased the pressure against his skin and slowed down again, making Albedo think this was indeed some sort of playful creature that just wanted… to mess with him.

“Don’t worry, Albedo, help will arrive at the right moment,” Aether mused to himself. The traveler, sitting on top of a high branch, used one hand to hold the binoculars in front of his eyes while the free one swung and twirled mid air, almost as if he was a puppeteer pulling the strings… case in point. “For now, let’s keep having fun,” Aether chuckled, channelling more dendro energy to summon a fifth vine and making Albedo’s laughter raise a pitch.

#genshin impact #genshin impact tickling #albedo #lee!albedo #ticklish!albedo #tickle fic #there is a bit of #ler!aether #but shhh #commission #to: eliankrois

170 notes · View notes