#can't wait for the archon quest to hurt me!

[theactualsunshinechild]

That last minute or so of Furina's demo where everyone is having a full blown brawl in the background as she twirls and runs around happily has SO much going on, and I can't tell you how much I love it. We've got everything:

We have some guy coming at Wriothesley with a hammer and Wriothesley immediately clocking him in the jaw so hard the guy and the hammer go flying opposite directions

We have Navia and Clorinde having a calm married couple argument in the midst of chairs and tables flying

We have Lyney and Lynette ganging up and positively whaling on someone curled up in the fetal position on the ground

We have Childe doing a flying drop kick into a man's face and then leaping onto him, fists flying

And, of course, how can I forget:

Neuvillette gracefully kneeing some guy straight in the fucking balls

[elixrr]

part 1 here

It's heartbreaking, being a fictional character in a fictional world. But what makes it worse it that his player; his love—his God, grew bored of him and discarded him.

What was he to you? Did you even feel affection for him? He loved you. He truly loved you because he had nothing but you. He's constantly locked in the same fake, digital room, even when you think he's out living his supposed stable life that some temporary code convinces you he's living. He'd do anything to please you, to keep you with him, because ultimately, you were his savior. You were everyone's savior.

And yet, you threw them all away.

Answer him.

What was he to you?

What were they to you? Were they toys to you? Dolls?

He feels betrayed. Rather, he felt betrayed. He can't feel a single thing now. Floating in the void of a digital trash bin stole all his feelings. It stole his supposed friends; it stole his supposed city; it stole his supposed life. His lifeless soul couldn't feel how much time had passed since the day you deleted the game, not that he would want to, even if he could be conscious again. It's dull in a dark void, and everything about him is already on the line. If he were conscious, not only would he have to openly sulk about how worthless he became in your eyes, but he would also have no future to look to. There wouldn't be any point to existing, let alone wanting to exist. If you ever re-downloaded the game, you would probably continue benching him, and that would be an extra sign that you'll never care about him again; that you came on for anyone else but him.

The only thing he'd wish for,

would be complete deletion.

Deletion of the email linked to your game account would result in the deletion of every single file of him and you. Every single fracture of evidence that you cared would disappear.

And, what he'd really want would be his whole self being erased.

In this life of his, he'd have no point. You left him, and probably completely. It doesn't matter what you do. Whether you never play the game again or even start it up again, none of that would matter because he wouldn't have a use in your life. If he doesn't matter in your life, then he wouldn't matter ever until he's possibly featured in an Archon quest or in some event. Even so, you might never use him ever again.

A single tear forms in his eyes. There's no point in existing.

Another tear falls. You never loved him, did you?

His eyes flutter open, and he's back in the team lineup screen. You're there. The supports are there, but he can't bring himself to pose. He can't bring himself to lighten up.

What are you going to do now? Repeat history, strip him of his artifacts, his weapon, and trash him? Slam him down into a pit of despair? A loveless void made for the hopeless and hurt, all of which once loved you and felt you loved them, now suddenly were torn and tossed like old, ragged dolls.

Through his broken heart and blurry eyes, he could see your face. You were about to enter his character detail screen, but you paused. You were looking at him like you were worried, and genuinely so. And, like an angel, you whispered his name with delicate, careful concern.

“What happened to you?”

You abandoned him. That's what happened, and he bets you never knew.

“Leave me alone,” he nearly sobs, “I know you don't want to use me anymore. Rip me apart for all I care—it won't matter when I'm back in that void again.”

“A void..? Wait, never mind that, I do care. What— really, what happened? Wait, you can hear me?”

He wipes his tears away and stands to face you fully. All the supports watch his bravery against the code.

“I could always see you; everyone on the field could. We can hear you.” He takes a moment to breathe it all in. Maybe... Maybe he can get you to listen. Maybe he can help you hear him out.

Maybe he could help you love him again?

“Anyways, the void is where every unused person goes. Once... Once we leave the screen, we just sit here until you use us. And if you remove us from all teams, we're sent— we're plummeted into said void.”

“Oh my God,” you whisper, leaning back, “I need to revisit everyone I...”

“Please, wait, I—” I want to be used. I want to be the one you revisit. I want to be the one you miss.

“Player, creator, whoever you are, just please,” he watches as you scroll through the team lineup options, “please don't leave—”

And you enter another lineup.

And everyone else is gone, too.

“Please. Don't leave me again.”

He falls over, not caring how much it hurts. Nothing works. Nothing will work. It's hopeless.

He'll be stuck here, waiting, waiting, and waiting. Not for you—there's no point in that anyway, but for your second deletion.

He'll be waiting for the game's deletion.

For his final deletion.

You left him, and he's clearly not important to you. As heartbreaking as it is, he accepts it. Even with this dimensional intersection, he can't convince you.

As heartbreaking as it is, he's just a fictional character to you in this fictional world. He loved you, and he thought you did too, but clearly, you don't. Because he is just an abandoned, rotting toy, and you are the player who abandoned him.

And, he thinks, if you want him to rot, then so be it,

Let him rot.

@iridescentrays @inlovewithlondonn @falconclaw244 @shiningpaint-marbleheart @jeremyth @hikaru-sama @ayatoq @krrkt @yureismellslikefanfic @samhelleborewrites @bi-panicatthedisco @hannya-writes @thomaliciouss @notisekais @lovelykrystal @raeharmonia @ayra2452008 @chikai-k @dreamsofmoney @shutingstar

To everyone who wanted part 2 :))

[m1d-45]

hey! not sure if ur taking requests but would love it if u cld.....my mind has been stuck on this for a while

I almost didn't get wanderer on his banner and it broke my heart. From the second I first saw to the little emo boy in the archon quest I've wanted him on my team and was so excited when they announced his banner.... I even prefarmed for him ;-;

But I lost the 50/50 (got tighnari ;-;) and calculated that I'd have only 50 pulls before his banners gone.....I've never gotten a character before 70 pulls so I got really sad and decided on a whim to build heizou since I had the teams and artifacts ready and I even started having fun with him when randomly at 23 pity guess who I get!!!

So I've kinda been living in my own little daydream(delusion xD) that wanderer got jealous of me having fun with heizou and came home.... could I request a sagau drabble or hc or something similar to my insanity totally fine if you can't 🥰🥰🥰

near miss

word count: ~500

-> warnings: spoilers for wanderer lore, minor spoilers for heizou lore, author once again dances around wanderer’s name

-> gn reader (you/yours)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr

< masterlist >

for being the creator, all knowing and all present, you were missed quite often.

your wanderer sat in his banner, looking down at your party as you travelled teyvat. he’d missed your first star shower on account of giving a lecture, and by the time he’d seen the star streaking toward the forest through the window, it had been too late. news of the forest ranger stealing what was his spread quickly, something akin to resentment burning in his chest.

but not this time. he was determined not to miss you again. your attention had been on him for so long; surely you didn’t think he’d just roll over now that you’d invested in someone else? no, he’d wait.. even if it hurt watching you.

shikanoin heizou. the sharpest detective in inazuma—or even teyvat, if you were particularly inclined to praise him. you’d given heizou what you had planned to give him, and he hated it. he was right here, he was listening, he didn’t have any more lectures for the week, so why did you have to insist on keeping your stars to yourself?

(it was his fault. if only he’d paid more attention, as you had so graciously given him…)

“maybe… i’ll get lucky?”

he snapped out of his mind, aware of your presence all at once. he could feel his heart in his fingers where he pressed at the boundaries, and he searched the sky around him despite knowing he’d never see you.

(luck. ‘lucky.’ he’d make his way to you if he had to crawl. what part of that was chance?)

his hat was already discarded in his inventory, so nothing would hinder him from following your star. all he had to do was wait for you… and hope you’d send them out at all.

you wouldn’t settle for heizou, would you? he knows you were enjoying yourself, but that didn’t mean you’d forget about him… right?

a beam of light split the silence, and he pushed at the edges of his banner to reach for them. but even reaching as far as he could, he barely brushed the edge of the star.

it was warm. even that glimpse of heaven set his heart beating a little quicker, purple mist lingering around his fingers.

again. he won’t miss it this time, he swears. don’t settle for a detective when you could have…

…him. would he be enough for you?

the skies split in two, another bright purple star beginning to fall. he reached, grabbing onto the handle of a polearm. with a sharp pull, he was set free from his banner, the silver spear flung elsewhere. hopefully you wouldn’t miss that.

if he’d thought the star from before was warm, then the fall back to the earth was burning hot. your light enveloped his entire being, stealing the air in his lungs. his surroundings were whipped away, replaced with a bright feeling only describable as divine.

still, he landed on his feet. with shaky hands he placed his hat back on his head, allowing himself a proud smile.

“welcome home, wanderer.”

[strawberrylabs]

You and Lyney have been dating for some time and he's really comfortable with you; to you, he's not Fontaine's Great Magician, but just plain Lyney.

Your happiness come crushing down one day when you suddenly tell him you have to break off the relationship. Apparently, your father had borrowed a large amount of Mora from an underground (illegal) money lender with you as the collateral to feed his Sinthe addiction. Now that the debt is due, your father have been more than willing to hand you over to clear his debt.

Lyney panics; he has heard unwanted rumors of the money lender: he has a volatile temper and will take his anger out on his wives as and when he feels like it.

:0 I like the way you think.

Angst is so fun for no reason. Or maybe I just like making my readers suffer, who knows?

ANYWAYS-

WARNINGS: spoilers for fontane archon quest and Lyney story quest. Mentions of abuse, blood, being restrained, physical harm, gore, swearing, implications of SA. read with caution if sensitive to these topics!

Hands off

Synopsis: Your father has handed you over to a notorious money lender, who's known for mistreating the people who are handed to him. Lyney, having heard of this, isn't going to sit back and do nothing.

(Note: will be from reader's POV)

"Alright. Here is my child, as promised."

I didn't look at anyone as my father handed me over to the sleazy man who now "owned" me.

"Good to see you kept your end of the deal. Pleasure doing business."

I was guided away, deeper in the domain that was home to the money lender's association. I didn't look back at my father.

I hope Lyney is ok. I hope he forgives me.

Our last discussion didn't go as I hoped.. although to be fair I don't know what I was expecting...

(flashback)

"What do you mean? I don't understand! We were going well weren't we?"

"Yes, everything was great! You're an amazing person Lyney, and none of this is your fault! It's my father.. he's gotten involved in some... questionable groups.. and I have to go away for a bit...."

I turned away from him. I didn't want him to see me cry.

"...I had a rumour that your father was involved with this one money lender.. (Y/n), you can't be serious! I know you've heard the same things I have, you can't go!"

"I'm sorry Lyney, but even if my father has never been the best person, if I don't go he'll get hurt. And we both know I'd just be hunted down.. they never leave debts uncollected."

I turned and ran before Lyney could stop me. I remember hearing him call out to me as I ran

"Wait! You can't!"

(end flashback)

I felt tears run down my face. I missed him.

But I couldn't risk putting him and Lynette or even Freminet in danger. If I didn't comply, they would've been targeted..

I hope Lyney forgives me..

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when a large, calloused hand harshly grabs my chin and forces me to look up.

I pulled my head from his grip and seethed

"Well, the bastard wasn't lying. You are a looker."

The man grinned a chesire smile. It disgusted me.

"Don't touch me!"

A yelp escaped me as I felt a sting against my cheek.

"Now now, I was hoping you would've been disiplined by your father already. I'd hate to break such a pretty thing before I've had any fun."

A shiver ran down my back at his word. Horrid images flood my mind.

I want to go home. I want to go back to Lyney..

"Leave us. I've got to break in my newest catch."

The men around us left, leaving me locked in with the large, ugly man in front of me.

"Now I'm going to ask you to do some things, and so long as you obey, you might not get hurt.. too much."

I glared at him.

"Careful now. Too much atittude isn't good for your health." His gaze turned sinsiter.

He creeped towards me, grabbing me with more strength than he appears to have.

"Let me go! Don't touch me!"

He places me in shackles tied to the roof, suspending me in the air.

"Now, it's time you learnt to behave"

-----------------------

(narrator POV)

Lyney was panicking.

He hadn't seen you since you ran off.

He knew where you were. You were with that vial thug. The thought of you being in the same vicinity of that man made Lyney's skin crawl.

Lyney needed to get you back. He didn't want to take Lynette. He knows how much trauma she has with these situations...

So he ran to someone else who he knew would help.

"Traveler! Paimon!"

"AHH! Lyney! Don't scare Paimon like that!"

The little fairy screamed as she yelled at Lyney.

The Traveler however, instantly recognised the worry on Lyney's face.

"What's wrong?"

"Its (Y/n)"

---------------------------

Some time later the three of them locate the domain. They divised a plan:

Traveler takes out any enemies.

Lyney gets you out.

And Paimon is Paimon.

Getting in was easy once they found it. Most of the lackies and mercs the man had hired were easy to take out.

Eventually, they made it to where (Y/n) was held.

Lyney gasped when he saw the state they were in

You were hanging by chains from the roof, clothes torn leaving you almost entirley bare, bruises and cuts littered your body. Words like "slut" "brat" and "disobedient" had been.. carved.. into your skin..

Lyney almost threw up.

But what scared him most was that you weren't moving.

Your head moves slightly. You can register the sound of Paimon crying, and someone else calling your name.

Voice strained from crying and yelling, you call out

"Ly..ney?"

"(Y/n), im here! I'm going to get you out ok? You'll be alright!"

Lyney removed the chains with the key they found earlier. Lyney picked you up bridal style, being mindful of your wounds.

"I do believe it's considered theft to steal what doesn't belong to you, magician."

Lyney feels (y/n) tense in his arms.

Lyney sees red.

This is him. The one who hurt his beloved.

Lyney gently placed (Y/n) down, signaling for the traveler to tend to their wounds.

"I'll deal with this one.."

Lyney stood face to face with the man, his face holding an icy glare.

"You'll deal with me ey? Well alright. I'll give you the same treatment I gave your whore of a lover! A stubborn bitch that one was. You should've seen it's face when I-"

The man couldn't finish what he was about to say. Lyney shot an arrow right into his leg, causing the man to curse.

"Dont ever talk about them again. Don't even think about them. If you do, I'll end you myself. I'll let the garde deal with you. They should be just outside with Lynette right now."

Lyney ignored the mans string of slurs and curses as he bent to pick you up gently.

"You're safe now.

No one will ever lay their hands on you again.

I promise."

sooooooooooo

idk how I feel about this ending- I ended up having to stop before finishing and then wrote the ending after work and I feel like there's more I could've done.

so having said that, should I make a part 2 with the aftermath??? maybe some angst and comfort?? bitta ptsd?? idk, you guys tell me.

Hope you enjoyed regardless of the ending!

-Strawberry

Masterlist

Rules

[mimi-cee-genshin]

Denial is Futile: Wanderer x f!reader - Chapter 6

Read on AO3 | Series Masterlist | Taglist

« Chapter 1 | < Chapter 5

Summary:

What would you do if you were stuck with Wanderer indefinitely?

The cute and sweet guy from the bazaar was brought to your place while unconscious. But when he woke up, you were appalled by the amount of snark he had. Was he even the same person? And now you were stuck with him because he could literally die if he stopped holding your hand. You weren't sure if you could tolerate him any longer. Little did you know he was exactly the type of person you needed in your life.

Other info: Fluff, humor, sfw, enemies to lovers, some hurt/comfort and angst later, character growth, occurs after the version 3.3 Archon quest and Tighnari's story quest, female reader

Words: 3.2k

*****

Your arm didn't sting anymore. The pain medication finally kicked in. Despite your experience with fire, this was the first time you'd gotten burned.

You sat on the bench, now settled in Pardis Dhyai, and Tighnari inspected and redressed your wounds.

"You should be fine now," he said, kneeling in front of you, placing the rest of the bandages back into his satchel. "It shouldn't take long to heal as long as you keep it clean and reapply the salve I gave you earlier."

Wanderer slumped on the bench, elbow on knee and chin on hand. You took your arm back from Tighnari and gave him a brief thank you.

The sky was dim as the sun set behind you and the nocturnal insects had begun their hums. "You should probably rest for now," Tighnari told you. "I'll see if I can reschedule our meeting for–"

"Tighnari, you said you'd come hours ago.” A slender lady walked up behind him, placing her hands on her hips. She had pale turquoise hair and her white dress was decorated with isometric diamonds that were different hues of blue and green. You knew exactly who it was. It was Madam Faruzan.

Wanderer raised a brow and a slight scowl spread on his face. He didn't bother trying to hide his annoyance at her interruption. You squeezed his hand tight as a warning to be polite, but he merely snapped a look at you as if you were asking for something unreasonable.

"I could've been preparing for tomorrow's lecture," Faruzan told Tighnari. "Don't tell me you’ve completely forgotten."

The sky was getting dark, and you were tired from the long day. The battle with the Fatui dragged over today's schedule, and your legs were sore, not to mention the added difficulty of an injured arm.

“You're not the only one with places to go, you know,” said Wanderer with a click of his tongue, standing up in front of you. "Can't you see we're busy right now and that she needs some rest?"

You bit your lip and pulled him back onto the bench. Why must he be this rude to one of the esteemed professors from the Akademiya?

"First of all," Faruzan said to Wanderer, crossing her arms, "I was talking to Tighnari here. You should mind your manners, young man."

Wanderer merely snorted.

“Just what is so funny?” Faruzan reprimanded.

You wanted to disappear into the bench. Maybe she wouldn't notice you were here.

“It's just amusing how you thought I was younger than you,” he replied. "Last I checked, I'm actually older than everyone here – combined."

Faruzan took a step back. "What? H-how is that even possible?" she asked. “Then why do you look so young?”

“Are you really asking yourself that?” Wanderer said, rolling his eyes. “You of all people? Just what exactly do they teach at the Akademiya for everyone to be so stupid?”

In your panic, you jabbed him hard with your elbow, to the point where he forced out a cough. You couldn't risk a drop in your reputation that came from being associated with him.

“Madam Faruzan," Collei tapped her shoulder. "Please allow me to explain.”

You gave a sigh in relief, thankful she was here.

“Your meeting is actually with these two,” Collei continued, giving her a bashful smile. “I told Tighnari to wait for them here because Y/n got injured earlier. They saved us from some Fatui we ran into."

"Oh dear." Faruzan turned her attention to you, now noticing the bandaged arm under your sleeve. She knelt down to get a closer look but was careful not to touch it. "I apologize for my rudeness earlier,” she said after ensuring you were fine. “I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that."

“Hmph. I'm surprised you even apologized,” Wanderer commented. You threw him another look.

“Well then,” Tighnari said, clapping his hands together. “Since that's all settled, Faruzan, Wanderer is the one who reacted to the speckled posies the other day.” Tighnari must have spoken to her about your dilemma.

“It was these two?” Faruzan said now connecting the dots. “So that's what this meeting was about. Why did you need to be so secretive about it?” she said with hands on her hips. “And here I thought they were a pair of researchers who just happened to be a couple.”

“What?” asked Wanderer.

“Oh… Umm…” you said, not sure how to respond to her. You really didn't want her to think you'd like someone like him. “Why would you say that?”

“Well, based on how concerned Hat Guy was just now…” she began, glancing at you two. You couldn't help but wonder why she had a skeptical look on her face. Was there something you missed?

“Well… that doesn't matter right now.” Faruzan brushed off the topic. “You wanted me to help you investigate why Wanderer goes unconscious, did you not?”

“That's right,” said Tighnari after clearing his throat. “Wanderer's symptoms were the same as Kartaka’s.” He briefly explained the current complications with Kartaka and discussed how it'd be best to keep his existence discreet. You had no idea this was why he never mentioned this to you earlier.

According to Tighnari, with Faruzan's knowledge of mechanical life forms from the past, he hoped she'd have an idea for why Wanderer had the same reaction as Kartaka did. He had called himself a puppet before but maybe there were some similarities with this ancient technology.

“To be honest,” said Faruzan, “I'm not sure if I'll be much help.”

“I have some other ideas I can experiment,” Tighnari replied. “I'll just need you to observe and see if anything looks familiar to you.”

What Tighnari brought was much more elaborate than you had expected. He pulled out various vials from his satchel as well as other fabrics and materials for testing. You didn't understand what exactly he was experimenting as he discussed his finding with Faruzan, but you simply followed his instructions, hoping they'd come to a conclusion.

A few of the tests required Wanderer to go unconscious again. It had been a while since you'd seen him laying on the ground like that, and you held your breath every time he didn't wake up immediately. You knew you needed to find a permanent solution, but it was difficult to see him in that state considering all the time you had spent together.

“I'm sorry to say that all these tests were… inconclusive,” said Tighnari.

Faruzan sighed before stretching her arms with a yawn. “You know, why don't you just look for a replacement part?” she suggested. “From the looks of it, I think our findings confirmed your original hypothesis. It's as if one of his organs is malfunctioning.”

“But even after all of these tests, we don't even know which part of me is malfunctioning,” said Wanderer. “How would I–?” he stopped himself and sighed, rubbing his palm on his forehead. “We're back where we started.”

You were all circling back to the same conclusion you had with Nahida and Baizhu, the conclusion you desperately wanted to avoid. You bit your bottom lip, reaching for a different answer, one that didn't include the Electro Archon. “There isn't anyone else we could ask for help?” you asked.

“There's always the Doctor,” said Wanderer with a snort. “He had previously figured out some of my inner workings.”

Your eyes grew wide with hope. “Why didn't you bring him up earlier?” you asked. “This could've been fixed by now.”

“Ah. I see,” Tighnari said with a hand on his chin. “I didn't know you were acquainted with him as well.”

“You know him, Master Tighnari?” asked Collei, her voice a little shaky.

“Let's just say I've met him briefly before,” he said while crossing his arms. “He wanted to take Haypasia.”

Collei gasped, hands covering her mouth. Her arms and legs froze and she bit her lip.

“This was a long time ago,” he said. “You know yourself that she's perfectly fine.”

Collei's shoulders remained stiff, and you knew you must have been missing some vital information. “So… is this Doctor not an option then?” you asked.

“No!” shouted Collei, realizing she said that a bit too loudly. “No,” she said again after adjusting her tone. “He might just…” she began to say, but her eyes wavered and grew dark, their usual light was gone. She didn't finish her sentence.

“He'd perform all kinds of experiments on us,” Wanderer finally explained with a sigh. “To say he'll have no regard for our well-being is putting it lightly.”

Collei's eyes grew wide at him. “Did he… ” she rubbed her arm, almost as if to soothe an invisible wound. “You too?” she asked.

“Well, in a different life, yes,” he said with a shrug. “But there's no use in discussing this anyway. He and the rest of the Fatui don't remember a single thing about me.”

So it was the Fatui. Despite learning some of Wanderer's past, you knew very little about his time with them. He mentioned it here and there with very little context, so you could hardly piece together a picture of his life there. Now you received another part of the puzzle; he was a victim too.

You had learned of the Fatui by chance, unfortunately because of Collei's trauma. A Fatui diplomat was in the city while the two of you carried some food from the tavern on the way home. Her trembling hands ruined the cake for Kamran’s birthday, but you were fortunately able to piece it back together. That was when Collei explained her past to you when you got home.

So seeing that Wanderer had a similar past, you had a glimpse of why he wished for revenge. For the first time, you felt like you understood him.

And that was why you'd never go back home.

Faruzan left for the night as the rest of you made your way back to Gandharva Ville. Collei had her bed back and you slept on the floor again but this time with Wanderer next to you. After staring up at the ceiling, you turned on your side to face him and inched a little closer to him.

“What do you think you're doing?” he asked.

You sighed, lying on your back once again. Collei was already fast asleep.

“Nothing. I'm doing absolutely nothing.”

*****

Wanderer clicked his tongue as you dragged him to the House of Dana for the third time this week. The meeting with Faruzan only concluded with what the two of you didn't want to hear: the next logical move was to see that woman.

You had been sleeping in more. It wouldn't have been a cause of concern if you were merely going to bed later than usual. But there were instances where you had trouble getting out of bed, almost lethargic at times. You would quickly regain your energy after eating breakfast, but Tighnari had instructed to keep an eye on your condition.

But you? You were ignoring it.

You continued with the work for your internship, not even addressing the issue of him being stuck to you anymore. He didn't care much either since he was forced to tolerate you and your habits the longer you were together. You would even compromise to his wants when he used to have to force his way instead. It was like you simply accepted that you'd never find a solution to being attached to him.

Until you had fainted.

Wanderer had caught you once again and this time it had taken you two days before you had woken up. And he had to remain by your side as Collei nursed you back to health.

“At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if you just decided to drop me at the ravine over there,” he joked.

It was the obvious solution to your deteriorating health. Just let go of the one who was draining the energy out of you.

“No,” you said. Your answer was firm.

So now here you were in the House of Dana in the dead of night, flipping through any book you could find in hopes of finding a way to keep you both alive. The topics varied widely: mechanical core applications, Archon energy manipulation, ways to access Irminsul, vishap creation myths… the list went on.

“I have no clue how to even pronounce half of these words,” you said, groaning into your hands. You sat on the cold tile floor, leaning your back against his. A book laid on your lap from the ancient alchemy section and neither of you were an expert in the area. “I should just ask some of the scholars in the other departments.”

“And how exactly do you plan on bribing them to do the work for you?” Wanderer chided.

“We could at least ask,” you replied. “There's no harm in trying.”

Wanderer closed his own book. Learning about the history of runes wasn't going anywhere. “Let's go to Inazuma.”

You didn't reply. This was exactly how he thought you were going to react. You had shut down all conversations related to Inazuma, even more so lately, and you tended to avoid whatever you didn't like.

So you didn't talk to him. You continued to look through your stack of books and it slowly dwindled as the hours went by. You let out a yawn and the next thing he knew you had audaciously cuddled against him and wrapped your arms around his elbow.

“What do you think you're–”

“The war in Inazuma created a food shortage,” you told him.

Wanderer raised a brow. That was an abrupt change of topic. And because he was a being who didn't understand hunger, he couldn't empathize.

“What's this got to do with anything?” he asked.

You went quiet again. The library was empty, now nearing dusk, and its high ceiling gave a feeling of hollowness. Your voice had a slight tremble in its timber, but you carried on as if it was nothing of importance.

“My brother was a fisherman,” you said with a smile, but he could feel the rise and fall off your breath against his shoulder. “He didn't worship Orobashi like the rest of the island. He was loyal to the Electro Archon and I never understood why.”

“Why are you even telling me this?” Wanderer asked. “Did you think I'd care?”

You shoved his shoulder. “Can't you just listen?”

“Why would I bother listening to another person's sob story?”

“Ugh. Forget it,” you said, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Why did I even try?”

You picked up another book and Wanderer returned to his. He didn't understand why you thought he could give you any comfort. He didn't remember much from Watatsumi either. His dealings were limited to the delusion factory and nothing was particularly relevant to him from that island besides the Resistance.

He flipped a page but his attention was elsewhere. After a few more pages and a sigh, he finally asked, “Did you go hungry too?”

“What?”

“Forget it,” he said. “If you don't want to answer the question, I'm not going to force you.”

“Seriously? You shut me down just to ask again?”

“You know, I don't even get why you want to tell me.”

“I brought it up because I thought you'd want to know why I don't want to go to Inazuma,” you said, slamming your book shut. “And I thought maybe, just maybe, you could understand because of what happened to you with the Fatui. I could understand why you'd want to avoid them too.”

“Ha. You think I'm scared of them?” he said.

“That's not what I said–”

“I simply just have no reason to associate with them. If anything, I'd rather not go back to Inazuma either.”

You were about to throw back a remark at him, but instead you stopped and you sighed and you rubbed the temples of your forehead. You muttered to yourself something about calming down and you fiddled with the spine of your book.

A moment or two later, you tried talking to him again. “Did you have bad memories in Inazuma too?” you asked.

He sighed and shifted his legs to a more comfortable position. “Why do you even bother asking?” he said, rolling his eyes. “Everything was fine and dandy every single time I was there.”

Despite his sarcasm, you didn't add anything else. You went silent as if you didn't want to touch the topic anymore. He wouldn't care either way. It was over and done with and he was glad you didn't try to comfort him. But was that really what he wanted? Just another person who let him be, and not interfere with the status quo?

He shook his head. No. It was better this way. You wouldn't want to see him when his feathers were ruffled the wrong way. Or worse, like that wild dog that bit Niwa while it was in pain. He was an idiot for nursing it back to health. Wanderer let out a sigh, remembering when his wife scolded him for getting hurt.

You eventually fell asleep on the library floor, giving up on your struggle to keep your eyes open. The amount of effort you'd put into this was absurd. Did you really want to avoid Inazuma at all costs?

You tugged on his arm as you stirred on the floor and he couldn't believe how troublesome you were. With a scoff, he lifted your arm up and muttered to himself about how fortunate you were that Nahida's home was close by. You'd better not slap him when you wake up.

Wanderer attempted to prop you up on his back, but something got caught in one of the books. It was the bandages from your arm and it began to unravel. Wanderer scrambled to reach for it, only for the whole thing to fall apart anyway. He awkwardly froze with no clue how to proceed. If he bent down to pick it up, you'd wake up. Wait. Why did he care anyway?

But before he could fully change his mind, your arm caught his eye. It had mostly healed and when he lifted your sleeve to take a look at it, he saw a scar that he never noticed when he tended your wounds. It was distinct from the burn you got from protecting him. He had seen this type of wound before from a delusion, a delusion made from crystal marrow, and it had been years since he’d seen one.

He decided he might as well bring you to Nahida's. You'd just have to get your wounds dressed again there, whenever you decided to wake up of course. The sun was rising as students began to make their way into the Akademiya. A few familiar faces turned their heads, gawking at the two of you. He rolled his eyes wondering if they had never seen a sleeping student before as he carried you through the school.

I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks for reading and if you take the time to leave a comment, I appreciate them so much!

*****

Chapter 7 >

If you want to be tagged for future chapters, you can use this Google form or just let me know.

[merakiui]

OH MY GODS MERA, FATUI LYNEY. PLEASE EXPAND PLEASE OH GODS OH GODS OH GODS.

FOAMING ST THE MOUTH WHERE DID U GET THI S IDEA???

(spoilers for act one of the Fontaine Archon quest)

AAAAAAAAAA SO I RECENTLY FINISHED ACT ONE AND IT'S REVEALED THAT LYNEY AND LYNETTE ARE WITH THE HOUSE OF HEARTH (a Fatui organization overseen by Arlecchino, who everyone calls Father; this also gives me so many ideas about a Promised Neverland au hehe, but I digress). Lyney admits to the Traveler after the trial is over that he is indeed a Fatuus and that he's with the House of Hearth, but that he and Lynette only wish to help save the people of Fontaine from the prophecy, which (according to him) is also Arlecchino's goal. She saved the twins from an abusive noble when they were both young and thus offered shelter and protection to the twins because they both had similar plans.

So, after hearing this information, naturally I had to think about what he might be like if he was more than just a Fatuus but a powerful Harbinger. >:) omg can you imagine how easily he would be able to hide such a scary, secret identity? And you'd completely underestimate his strength, too swept up in his theatrics to even question things. You fail to see the soldiers who lurk in the shadows, watching over you and Lyney, ready to strike should you prove to be a threat to the Lord Harbinger. Lyney seems so harmless, albeit a little silver-tongued, but he appears to be just a kind magician dedicated to his craft.

You have no idea this same magician holds so much power in the palm of his hand, commanding troops and having a seat amongst the rest of the Tsaritsa's Harbingers. Lyney doesn't take any twisted enjoyment in frightening you. Rather, he loves you and wants to show you all of the pretty, pleasant sides of the world, even if the concept of love is abstract and foreign to him; and he isn't one who truly understands romance in all of its capacity. But the love (infatuation) he feels for you is so special. You can't blame him when he frets over you and your safety. You can never be too careful! He's just looking out for you; ignore those undercover Fatui agents who seem to linger near and around your house and other places you frequent.

Lyney isn't hollow, though. He's smart and calculating, but he isn't a monster devoid of emptiness. He only goes as far as he must, never pushing it unless he absolutely needs to, but when you've witnessed so much misery and bloodshed over the years, whether directly or indirectly, you'll become numb to the horrors. He promises you won't be hurt so long as you just listen to him. Please let him explain. He never intended to deceive you! This was just...an unfortunate happening. Really, he'd rather you remain blissfully ignorant to who he is outside of the sparkling title of magician.

But it's all right. He'll fix this. After all, he's a renowned magician who can make anything and, by that extension, anyone disappear. Only, unlike on the stage, you won't be reappearing. And it isn't magic that keeps your disappearance sealed shut, but you can pretend it is when you wake in his home, pampered and waited on. Lyney only wants what's best for you. But sometimes even the sweetest romances are tinged with a little difficulty and angst. This he understands well enough.

[pennpenn]

FremiMay Day 8- Fatui

I took some inspo from Collei's background for this one!

Fatui Experiment Fremi!

It was mainly so I could practice drawing a different pose that I wasn't used to. You guys get a bit of line work just for a treat.

This probably comes from an au where he is sent off to Dottore before Arlecchino became knave. He gets long hair because I said so.

More details about the experiment au below because it has mild spoilers to the Fontaine archon quest

Tomorrow's prompt is 'kitty'!

The experiments being conducted would be related on how to get Fontaine-born people to resist the primordial sea water.

Dottore's plans are to see how much a person can take and what puts them on the brink of dissolving. He also wants to study dissolving and why it happens. Yet, Dottore isn't actually aware of the Fontaine people being Oceanids.

Freminet happened to be the experiment where he found the perfect point of: becomes water but doesn't dissolve. He is completely unable to control his powers and mental state. Just like Manga Collei he just kinda... Gets possessed? He becomes more Oceanid than human, the voices of his Oceanid brothers and sisters scream to him. Freminet loses the ability to act on his own and has a period of time where he just rampages.

His body has a blue tint to it, but can retain some color. Such as his hair still being blonde.

His Oceanid can escape his body but it causes his body to melt into a puddle. The tail of the Oceanid cannot leave the puddle. When the Oceanid returns to the puddle it takes a bit for his humanoid body to return.

Freminet also likely has issues with sensations. He can't necessarily feel pain due to his body being water, but he also can't necessarily die by being stabbed. Because his body is water.

Talking about his body being water, let's talk about elemental reactions:

Having cryo be used on him is probably the closest he'll ever get to the sensation of death. His body and mind are frozen, it's as if his time has completely stopped.

He cannot feel the force of geo. If you were to crush him with a geo construct he would end up reforming in a few days. If you were to trap his body within a geo construct his mind would still work. He can't necessarily die without more primordial seawater turning him into a full Oceanid at this point, so he would just have to wait patiently until he is freed.

Freminet typically avoids dendro because it zaps his energy. It becomes harder for him to fight his Oceanid urges and he loses control easier. He does, however, move slower when dendro is being used on him.

Electro makes him jittery! He violently shakes when he is imbued with electro unless he is touching something to transfer the charge. If the electro pulse is too strong then he will become immobile.

Pyro is probably the closest Freminet will get to actually feeling 'hurt'. His body literally boils if it gets too hot. If he gets too much heat then his body will be unable to keep its form and he may melt. So if you are bringing him to the Sumeru desert make sure you bring a bucket! Otherwise you may have to shovel some wet sand in your bag and wait for him to reform later.(He luckily does not evaporate)

Anemo doesn't necessarily do anything special to Freminet. If he is hit with a strong burst of wind that would shred his body apart he typically reforms quite quickly. (When he is a puddle it takes a lot longer to reform than if he just has to rebuild some water to get a neck or arm again)

Hydro doesn't necessarily effect him. He kinda works like a hydro slime. But on the note of water, liquids that aren't room temperature may risk him experiencing discomfort.(Like if you were to try to microwave a mug of cold water, sometimes half of the water is warm and half of the water is cold. It's uncomfortable to drink. He gets that feeling when drinking things other than his current temperature)

Not me coming up with an entire universe and lore for a simple art prompt.

I could go more into a ramble on if he escapes then his own personal Amber(as she is Collei's hero) would be Chongyun. Cuz I think that would be cute.

Anyways kudos to you if you actually read everything. If you want me to make this into a full fledged au lemme know in my ask box or in the comments. If you wanna be goofy then if you read this far put 🪼 in the comments. I like jellyfish.

[kittyamore0]

Genshin men with a fatui harbinger! S/O:

[Part I]

Little note I: I was reading Cloud Strife post and got the urge and idea to do a Genshin post Little note II: I will do the other element men and women, but i was busy while making this and i got a headache, so im only able to do Anemo and Geo for now

Little note III: I might do a Cloud Strife post and put Final Fantasy 7 remake on my masterlist, maybe...

Fandom: Genshin

Tumblr genre: Headcanons

Rating: SFW

POV: Second person

CW: Swearing, mentions of battles/violence, GN! reader, nice, fatui harbinger! reader and hip straddling

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ANEMO MEN

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KAZUHA

He's not quite fond of the fatui

But he doesn't really mind them either

So its 50/50 for him

See what i did there

I actually lost the 50/50 to Diluc and i wanted to cry

At first, you had introduced yourself as someone else

When you did tell him about your identity, he was a bit conflicted

Did you not trust him enough to tell him who you truly were?

He usually brushed it off, but still wondered if there was anything else you had not told him

But nevertheless, if you're uncomfortable telling him something, he'll wait.

He doesn't want to rush you to end up scaring you away

He's a very patient and kind man

Depending on what commisson the Tsarita had given you, he'll maybe come or not, wanting to protect you when he does go

And when he doesn't, he's patiently waiting for you in your  Serenitea Pot 

soft hugs when you've made it home safely!

And if otherwise, he'll treat your wounds, kiss them, and nurse you back to health!

When he told Beidou about you, she didn't really trust you too much

But when she did get to meet you, she realized how she could trust you!

You were nice for one of the fatui harbingers

She could see why Kazuha had fallen in love with you now

VENTI

He didn't really care about fatui members all that much

We all know that hes very carefree

When he did meet you, he thought you were quite kind and gentle for a fatui harbinger

He teased you for that

Not in a bad way, of course!

Was impressed with your rank

He'd like to tag along with you on commisson's the Tsaritsa had given you

He mostly goes to help you and ensure your safety

You try telling him that it's okay, but he refuses!

"Windblume, i may be the weakest archon, but rest assured! I am still an archon, and therefore will i take care of you."

Sometimes he'll go to earn some mora!

We all know how the poor baby is very broke

If you get hurt while on a commisson, he'll quickly come to your aid!

Soft scolds about how you should've let him come

He gets reminded of when his old friend had passed, and he tears up

I cried on his story quest bro

"Windblume, why had you not told me about this quest? You could've gotten seriously hurt had i not come sooner...I can't lose you...not you."

"Im sorry, Venti."

"Its okay, love..."

He most likely wont let you go on anymore commisons for a while, no matter whom they come from

He'll have them delayed

he just wants the best for you!

SCARAMOUCHE

You both had fallen in love while you both were fatui harbingers

You spent most of your time doing commissons and quests together

The rest of the fatui thought you guys were quite an odd couple

The exact definition of 'opposites attract'

Scaramouche, the tempered, cruel, insensitive man

[Name], the patient, kind, thoughtful person

Huh, what a weird tone that is.

Most of the fatui would go up to you and ask questions like, "How do you deal with Lord Scaramouche?"

"Must be hard having to deal with Scara. Huh, comrade?"

"I would have never really imagined you and the 6th Harbinger together."

You'd just laugh them off

Truth to be told, Scaramouche had a soft side for you

It wasn't the 'mean to everyone, but you,' thing, no.

Not at all.

He was still rude to you, but you knew he hadn't meant it

And he was just joking

Or he was in a bad mood!

He was just less rude to you, more careful with you than anyone else ever

And sometimes, his so-called 'insults' would come off as him complimenting you.

"Oh, just go already. I can't stand seeing your perfect face,"

He had muttered the last part

But alas, you still had heard it.

"You think my face is perfect?"

"...I I never said that!"

"Oh, but you did!"

"No, i didn't!"

"What's next, you're going to confess your undying love for me?"

"..."

Hes so flustered

And you know it

Endless teasing from you!~

When you had found out about his plan to betray the fatui, you wanted to be a part of it. To help your lover.

"I want in."

"What?"

"Scara, i know you plan to betray the fatui. I want to help."

"He in all honesty, wasn't complaining.

If you wanted to help, you wanted to help.

"Fine. Just don't do anything stupid."

XIAO

Im going to be completely honest,

He hated you at first

He is really not fond of the fatui

And his hatred only grew more when Childe had tried to take Rex Lapis's gnosis

Not only did he seek his archons value and try taking it by force, but he had hurt the traveler as well.

Yes, he did later find out that Zhongli had meant to give it to La Signora, a fatui harbinger

But that still made Xiao hate Childe for his absurd actions

He was certainly weary of you

He first noticed your bubbly acts

He thought it was just to make him let his guard down

But then you had helped him conquer demons

He then realized that you being overly nice, was not an act.

He had loosened around you

It wasn't like he liked you and was now being nice to you

It was more like you went from 'hate' to 'dislike'

Sorry yall

He did grow use to you being around

Because of your strong determination to show him that you really wont going to use him or do anything bad, you stuck around him

Being overly nice to him

I mean, just because your a fatui harbinger doesn't mean you can't be nice

But you being friendly doesn't mean your naive either.

He honestly finds it weird when you're not around

Since you're stuck on him like glue 24/7

Showing him things, hanging out and what not

The day he realized he yearned for you was days after you had given him your favorite flower

Let me play it out,

"Xiao, Xiao!"

He huffed and turned around to you holding beautiful flower

"What is so important?"

You softly pouted for a moment, giving his heart a slight panic attack

"Close your eyes for me, please?"

"No."

You pouted even more, but then your eyes lit up and you had a devious smile on your face

You tapped his right shoulder, making his head swiftly turn to his right

You then sneaked to his left and stuck the flower into his hair

"Wha? "

You clapped your hands.

"You look so pretty!"

A pink blush spread across his cheeks.

You pulled him to a nearby pond to have him look at himself

He was honestly too stunned to protest

"Look, look! You look so pretty with my favorite flower in your hair! Don't you think so?"

He pursed his lips and let everything process in his head

Your favorite flower, in his hair, pond, you calling him pretty, You.

"Its alright...i guess"

You knew he wasn't good at dealing with compliments, so you settled down for that.

"Xiao, look at me for a second."

He looked at you, eyes locking.

A bright, but small dot glowed within your index finger.

You raised your hand and slightly tapped on the flowers petal, as Xiao felt it sorta freeze.

"There! Now the flower won't die, and you can preserve it."

Thats so cute.

Xiao sat in a field of flowers with the traveler as he let the memory replay in his mind.

"Traveler,"

"Hm?"

"Have you felt a certain way for somebody...? as if it was just yesterday you had hated them, but now you yearn for their touch...?"

"..."

"Xiao, that's love, or sexual attraction."

Oh.

"Well, we have to meet up with Zhongli, so we have to go. Bye, bye, Xiao!"

Paimon chirped.

"Alright then..."

He let them leave while he thought about the travelers word.

Love, huh?

When you had gotten back from your quest, the first place you sought was the Wangshu Inn.

Where Xiao was residing

"Xiao? Xiao! "

An arm slipped around your waist and you were pushed back onto an warm material

Pieces of teal hair landed in front of your eyes

"Xiao...?

He hummed into your hair

Now, it was your turn to be stunned and flustered to protest.

Heizou

I feel like he had approached you first, since hes a detective, and you're a fatui harbinger

You usually dont see em' harbingers walking around so freely

He was surprised by your friendly behavior

You were very chirpy

inviting him without a care

Were you playing a trick on him?

As a detective, body language was the way to see if you were just tricking him or not

Your body language? completely pure.

There was no bad intentions behind them, but he kept cautious

Like with Xiao, you hung around him, and he hung around you

If he was being honest, he was getting use to your presence

And maybe liking it even.

Before he knew it, his eyes usually searched for you

Getting to the place you guys hang out at before you do

And you're usually first.

You could say the same thing was happening to you

Always looking for the red head, wanting to be near him.

You were head heels over him.

You, a FATUI HARBINGER, in love with a detective.

Well, its not like the fatui has to know.

He realized his feelings when you two had spar

You had won, due to being a fatui harbinger and you had a weapon.

You sat there, straddling his hips, your spare knife to his throat when he had knocked your weapon to the side

You head dipped down, breath fanning against his unusually warm, red ears

"I won," you whispered into his ear, sending shivers down his body.

You smirked and lifted up your head, only to now realize the position you were in, and what you had done.

Your smirk dropped and placed with a shocked looked

The knife in your hand cluttered on the floor.

"Hei Heizou, I Im so, so sorry. I "

He placed his lips on yours, shutting you up.

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GEO MEN

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ARATAKI ITTO

This man would be approaching you, being goofy around you.

Challenging you, telling you that you don't scare him

But your friendly behavior throws him off

"Oh, i hope to not scare you. Im sorry if i did,"

Huh?

Why were you acting nice...

I mean, don't get him wrong; he likes nice people, but he didn't expect that attitude from a fatui harbinger

He expected you to act like a snake, nice with bad intentions behind that mask, an overly confident person, a cruel person.

You were neither of those, which made him warm up to you quickly.

Yes, it was naive of him to warm up to you so quickly just because you acted friendly, but if you really had a trick up your sleeve, you wouldve pulled it early.

He would ask questions about you being a fatui harbinger though, since your friendliness didn't add up.

"Why did you become a fatui harbinger?"

"My childhood best friend, Childe, wanted to join the fatui, but i would have to lose him in the process. So I joined him."

He does get that, but he thinks being a fatui harbinger doesn't suit you all that well.

Well, except your strength, but otherwise no.

You're probably the only true nice one there!

And he was right.

Everyone was a two-faced piece of shi well, except Childe.

He became quite protective of you, because of your kindness.

Though, you didn't need it.

He clung onto you like a leech.

A leech in love with you.

Yea, you heard me.

He had fallen in love with you hard in the process of protecting you, but so did you

His caring, protective side caused a spark within you

He was always flirting with you, but when you tried to flirt with him as well to give him a hint

He didn't get it.

So you waited for him to keep flirting, maybe go over bored and then you'd make a move

Until,

"Psh, I'd be the better kisser anyways,"

You quirked an eye brow at him

"Oh, really? Then, why don't we test that theory?"

You don't even give him time to process what you had said before your lips on him

Lawrd hav merthy

ZHONGLI

Zhongli met you through your childhood best friend, Childe.

"[Name], come here! This is Zhongli."

There you were, running away from the mini shop you were checking out.

"Zhongli, the man who milks you for mora?"

Ouch.

Wow, Childe, wow.

He sends a strained smile in Childe's way while Childe's just nervously laughing

"Um, to some extent. When he ne needs it though!"

Your laugh is what keeps Zhongli from sending his rock down onto Childe.

"Ah, [Name}, you are a fatui harbinger just like Childe, no?"

"Yes, i am."

You two started to chat, and Childe left you two to be.

Zhongli had grown fond of you very quickly

Your friendly persona is something he finds himself loving

You're the type of person he can go to have a nice chat

And that's how he found his eyes wandering for you everywhere

He didn't know if it was for a good, nice chat or just an excuse to see you again

All he knew was that both were pleasant

You two both grew closer to each other every time you guys saw each other

He started to imagine you both together, and it confused him.

He was an archon. You were a fatui harbinger.

Why was he thinking about such things?

And in all honestly, you felt the same way about Zhongli

You noticed his slightly nervous acts around you

It had made you upset.

Did he feel uncomfortable towards you?

So, you asked him out to dinner.

He hesitated, but complied.

Lets play it out,

Your arms laid limp on the thin railing, while you snuck glances at the old archon

"Do i make you uncomfortable?"

His mouth parted, and he let his gaze fall upon you.

Make him uncomfortable? More-so you make him happy, and feel many positive emotions.

"No, not in the slightest. Has that been on your mind this whole time?"

You slowly nodded

Guilt had taken over his heart

"I deeply apologize if it seemed that way. It really isn't."

He placed his clothed hand over yours, as the warming gesture made it into your stomach

"Then what do you feel, about me?"

He averted his stare from yours.

"What i feel is that you somehow make me feel warm, happy and relaxed. You are the highlight of my days."

Your lips slightly twitched up into a smile

"Charmer..."

He let out a chuckle

He stood there, as you let your head rest on his shoulder.

GOROU

He did not like you at first.

No, not at all.

He didn't trust you.

Whenever his tail was wagging and he saw you, it would stop instantly.

His ears would flop down

And honestly, this made you upset

"Gorou, was there something i did wrong?"

He huffed.

"You're a fatui harbinger. You should know."

You hung around him, mostly to make things right

He would always purposely loose you everyday

Until, he saw you with the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi island, Kokomi

And for the first time ever he felt bad, and for you?

After you were done talking to her, you laid eyes on him and held a sad expression on your face

He had never realized how beautiful you were in that moment

Just a few minutes after you had left, Kokomi had called him in

"Why have you been treating [Name] in such a way, general?"

He was speechless. Your ass just snitched on him!

"They are a fatui harbinger. We cant "

"We?" Kokomi raised her eyebrows. "You, you mean. There is no 'we,' I trust them, and I expect the same amount of trust and respect I give to them coming from you when talking or even going near them, Gorou."

He nodded and cleared his throat.

"Yes, Divine preistess."

She sighed, "just dont be...how you've been around them. Ease up a bit, okay?"

He nodded once again.

The next time he saw you was when he approached you, which surprised you because he never does so.

"Is there something wrong, Gorou?"

He shook his head.

"I want to apologize for how i acted and treated you."

You hummed, but you were not ready for the next words to come out of his mouth.

"Lets be friends,"

Your eyes ad slightly widen and you looked at him with shock plastered on your face.

"If If you want to, of course "

"I'd love too."

You cut him off, as a dopey smile over took his lips

"Gre great!"

After the apology, you two hung out more

He actually enjoyed hanging out with you

And you've always enjoyed it

He started to look forward to seeing you more

A lot so that his tail began wagging whenever he saw you

His ears perked up upon hearing you

He had started getting warm around you, maybe more than warm

Even the Divine Priestess, Kokomi had noticed

You, of course, felt the same way about Gorou

You had found it cute at his reactions, especially whenever you patted his head

And one day, you were patching up his wound

He had just come from defending the Watatsumi army

He hissed, as you applied pressure to the bandaid

"Shh," you cooed

"Sorry..." He whimpered out

He laid his head on your shoulder after you were done taking care of his wound the best you could.

He stared into your [eye colored] hues, bathing himself in them.

He leaned forward, slightly startling you

He placed his forehead against yours.

And you happily reciprocated.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[fatuismooches]

I'm coping so hard with the fact I'll probably have to wait ~2 years to see Pantalone bc he literally has no reason to leave Snezhnaya🙂💧

At the very least I hope to see Sandrone in Fontaine please, please, please

I heard theory that Arlie will betray the Tsaritsa (bc Childe said he'd do that and Scara called her "wolf in the sheep's clothing", plus in trailer she's surrounded by harbingers figures, but not a part of them). Maaaybe GI will finally add more morally gray characters in character rooster and Arlie will follow us (and become playable as a result) only bc of her own benefit (kinda like Yae Miko). One thing I want is - please, don't change her appearance, especially her clothes, she's perfect the way she is. Don't add her skirt or shorts with kneesocks, leave her her cool tuxedo😔

Another theory I heard is that her arms are black not bc she's wearing gloves, but it's a damage from using delusion. Which... Gives me a small angsty idea. As we saw in Inazuma archon quest, delusion drains vitality out of their user, as for Crepus - he was in such great pain from using it that Diluc had to kill him. So, imagine Reader being concerned for Arlie bc she's in pain after using her delusion, but she brushes it off, after all she's a high-ranked harbinger, maybe she'll even try to hide her pain from Reader as much as possible to not seem weak in their eyes

-can I be 🥀 anon if it's not taken yet?

LITERALLY SAMEEEEE 🥀 ANON IT'S LITERALLY NOT FAIR AT ALLL 😭 Pantalone really is chilling in Snezhnaya, controlling the economy and money flow ig 😭🚶‍♀️ I also can't think of a reason why he would leave, other than perhaps a Liyue mission, because Yelan does say he has his eye on Liyue. I do have a lot of faith that Sandrone will appear in Fontaine, so I'm very excited for her at least!

Yup yup I've heard that theory too! I think it's super cool, and I can really see it happening. But it also makes me wonder how she'll survive if she betrays the Fatui. The Fatui probably doesn't take traitors lightly so she might have a lot of people after her if she does betray them. Girl's gonna be on the run I guess. And now who's gonna run the orphanage? The Fatui are losing their top members hella quickly, makes me wonder how the fight against Celestia is gonna play out. And i completely agree, she needs to keep her tuxedo!! But if she does betray the Fatui, it'll probably end up getting changed a bit, just to cut off association with them.

I've been wondering for a while why her arms are black even though she's not wearing gloves, and that's actually a really interesting theory. I can see her as a person willing to do anything for her goals... even if that means she gets injured herself (though she's always ready to use someone else to take the fall for her.)

You did not need to be a fighter to know the dangers of using a Delusion. It could grant you unspeakable power, but also have drawbacks better left to the imagination. Sure, the Harbingers were capable of controlling it. But sometimes things don't always go as planned.

She was strong, extremely strong, you believed that more than anyone. But you couldn't help but worry, especially when she nearly burst into your shared room, making you jump from the unexpectedly loud entrance. It seemed that she didn't expect you to be here right now, not at this time. You were usually elsewhere in the mansion. And she was usually not home at this time. And you immediately knew why.

"You're hurt," you quickly stood up. Something almost unnoticeable flickered in her eyes as she rebutted your statement.

"It is nothing. I am fine," she replied calmly, brushing off your words. You furrowed your eyebrows at her dismissal.

"Arlie, please consider taking a break from that... thing. It simply isn't good for-"

"[Name]. You know what my mission is. What I have to fulfill." Her voice came off sterner than she intended it to be and she realized as she noticed your quietness.

"There is no bleeding," she stated, returning to a softer tone. "I truly am fine. You need not worry. I just came to pick something up for business." You didn't want to sigh in front of her. Though her face had no trace of pain, you knew she was lying. She was hiding it from you.

You knew better than to push the subject. So right now, the only thing you could do was let it go, as you walked up to your lover and slowly wrapped your hands around her from behind. Arlecchino was still stiff from the tension in the conversation.

"Just... be careful out there." Arlecchino didn't respond, but she brought her hands up to cup your arms. Nothing else was to be said as the two of you stood there, relishing each other's company.

But your heart still hurt when you saw the medical supplies and pills you left for her were used.

[aetheternity]

Its been a year my love 💞

By the time this is posted I will have been a Venti main for a year and I can't even begin to properly explain how much this sweet angel has done for me. He doesn't even realize how much he's impacted my life.

I've talked about it a couple times before but when I started playing Genshin, Chongyun was my favorite character but after I had finished the archon quest Venti had quickly made it to the number two spot within the next three months he'd became my favorite. (Because Chongyun refused to come home and because Xingyun shippers ruined him for me ya'll know the drill at this point.) I remember saying that despite my love for him I wasn't going to pull for him because I hated using bow characters on my laptop.

I had had such a difficult time with the Dvalin part of Mondstadt's archon quest and I kept dying with Venti though I found humor in it as his dying line kept going waa waa waaah. I started playing through the Liyue quest and once I was done with that I found myself missing Venti so much. I quickly returned to Mondstadt to do his story quest and it was during his trial period that I knew I wanted him so much.

After that I started training everyday to get good at using bow characters. I would use my Fischl's aimed shot as much as possible and worked myself up until I was very comfortable using bow characters. His rerun ended up being a good five months after all of that and I didn't pull any characters on any banner except for Gorou on Itto's first ever banner. He came home during the Irodori festival with one pull sixty one soft pity, guaranteed because I had gotten Mona on the last banner.

I was so excited I sobbed because I finally had my beautiful boy and he's barely left my team since. I only take him off when I'm fighting anemo related bosses or anemo resistant bosses.

I love to think that he was waiting for me to pull because he came home so fast. I told my friend at the time how much I love him. He's just such a beautiful character.

I wanna properly explain all my feelings and the reason I love him the way the way I do and I finally feel mentally prepared to get it all out there.

So here we go. Around the time I started playing Genshin I had recently gotten out of a pretty messy breakup. The guy in question and I had started dating when we were eighteen our relationship lasted till we were twenty. During this time my now ex had been trying to help me cope with the fact that I was a child abuse victim.

Not gonna get too deep into that but I had realized when he was talking to me about his family and the kind of relationship he'd had with his mom that my childhood wasn't normal and I was extremely jealous of how kind and gentle his mother was towards him in comparison to how my parents were. Which lead to resentment pretty early on which made me lash out at him a lot. I had spent a lot of that time trying to piece together my feelings trying to cope with all this new found hurt and I was so young I didn't know how to.

But even before he'd made me look at it genuinely I'd always had this feeling. This gnawing weight on my chest like I wasn't breathing as though a weight were sat on my chest. It started when I was probably about thirteen that I didn't feel free. I'd go to school and be happy to be out of my house but I everyday I felt an immense sense of dread at the knowledge that I'd have to go back home. I knew I was dealing with something bad because I grew less and less happy as I aged and everything made me mad. I was always mad or sad and I took it out on everyone.

When I was sixteen I was diagnosed with depression. Things get darker from here so trigger warning.

Circling back to when I was eighteen. I had asked my mom if I could go to therapy because my ex had told me I needed it for my anxiety (which I'd had my whole life) and my depression (Keep that in mind). I was paired up within a few weeks with a man who was in sixties. Long story short he didn't help me and I ended up leaving therapy with more trauma then I'd gone in with. He'd constantly made really gross remarks towards me and asked me about my period and when I was going to get on birth control.

He'd even asked me when I was planning to have sex with my then boyfriend and when I'd told him I wasn't sure if I was ready he'd told me to hurry and decide or my now ex would probably dump me for an easier girl.

Something I've neglected to mention until now was that even with my boyfriend back then I hadn't felt like he was a completely safe space. We fought a lot and he'd often said things that made me feel worse about myself. He slut shamed me and got really mad when we had the exes talk and he found out I had more exes than he did. He'd screamed at me a couple times and he had lovebombed me less than a month into the relationship. But I was a dumb eighteen year old who thought I was in love so yeah..

That weighed feeling was so intense with him because he never left me alone and he didn't respect my boundaries at all. I'd ask him to give me an hour of space he'd get mad and guilt trip me into shortening the time or telling me I didn't love him. He'd cry and I'd stay. Once we had actually broken up he'd cursed me out so bad said that I'd been a horrible girlfriend and that I was a loser yada yada yada. He'd turned all our friends against me but we had stayed friends because I still had feelings for him.

During that time he made fun of anything I said. Told me he hated me and wished I'd just fuck off and confessed to me that he hadn't been truthful during our relationship about never having done anything sexual with anyone. (We were both bisexuals) he'd given oral to a guy two years before we dated and I had never done oral or anything sexual with anyone which I had been honest about.

Once I'd finally cut ties with him for good the entire weight of every single thing he'd done, everything my parents had done to me, my old therapist all of it came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. I had started cutting again for the first time since I'd been hospitalized at sixteen and I had been gifted a new therapist she is the same woman I still have to this day. At the time I was nineteen and by the time I was twenty I had slowly started to get slightly better. By the time I finally picked up Genshin I was twenty one years old. I was still suffering pretty bad mentally from all the horrible pain I'd suffered in a relationship with my ex and my relationship with my parents was god awful I couldn't talk to them about anything.

I played through the first story quest of Genshin and Paimon had asked Venti what the god Barbatos stood for and when he said freedom I felt like I could breathe again for the first time. Like he'd shoved that boulder on my chest away and was pulling me out of the rubble I'd been buried beneath for so long.

Freedom was all I ever wanted to have. All that I had been secretly pining for and ever since then Venti's had such a deep place in my heart. I fell in love with him so fast. I found LunAsmr about three weeks later and I listened to Venti tell me he loved me. Sometimes I wish I could tell him personally just how much he's changed my life cause who knows where I'd be without him.

I don't know maybe I've said too much but every time I hear a new voice line from him or I get new information about him I fall so much more in love with him. I felt like I was too broken to be loved or to feel love towards another living thing but he came along and took all of that worry away. He's not a comfort character he's THE comfort character and I am so thankful that Hoyo made him because he's my everything now. I'm in such a better place.

He has the biggest room in my teapot and the number one spot on my team because he's just that important to me because he's so honest and kind and everything I never knew I wanted.

If you've actually read this far wow and thank you. All of this stuff is so heavy but I knew I wanted to get this out for the anniversary of my favorite character coming home to me. I know I'm putting a lot of information out there for a bunch of strangers to read but I wanted people who I will never see in real life to know everything, all of the beautiful things Venti has done for my life because I can't tell Venti himself!

I'm so happy to have mained this amazing archon for this long though and I can't wait till we reach two years. I hope other Venti mains have just as much peace in his existence as I do everyday.

[yostresswritinggirl]

So I just watched nahida's teaser and decided you'll be the one to hear my crying for her and Scaramouche cause these two give me so much cuteness aggression you don't even know

I love the small parallels between them being lonely children that just wanted to be loved

Nahida who was just a newborn when the sages found her, only to be imprisoned for most likely eternity if traveler didn't help, treated horribly by her own people because the god they want is gone and refusing to accept her

Scaramouche having to roam the world already feeling abandoned and hurt not understanding why Ei let him go, being hurt repeatedly with no one to help him process all the pain and sadness he's feeling until it's too late and now all he wants is for it to stop

The fact that they both want the same thing really, to be a real archon. Even if Scaramouche wants it moreso out of spite and hoping it'll stop him from getting hurt again, unlike Nahida that wants to be loved and respected by the people she cares for so much

Genshin is really starting to feel morally gray with Sumeru's archon quest (I can't wait for more angst material in the future)

Actually just make an off-canon au of these two being siblings

Let Scaramouche have someone to not only look after that he could trust to never loose but also someone who'll teach him all about humanity and how these emotions he can't help but have be something good, give him a chance to have another being that understands how it feels to be abandoned like him

Let Nahida have a genuine companion that won't put her on a pedestal or hold up expectations for her as an archon, someone that listens and understands her fascination with humans while learning about them by her side

Hoyo wins this round for making me feel so parental towards Nahida

Don't you dare call me soft for this I swear 🔪/lh

-Vagabond Anon

I've seen her goddamn teasers so many times now but it never fails to make me tear up, I'm so weak like that

But omayghad, this just opened up a whole new world for me awwww they really could be siblings, seeing as they're technically the same age (Nahida being older most probably)

I'm betting for their voicelines about each other, I think it would be really nice to see them sympathize for each other. And you know what else!! Omg pls put them in the same team and imagine Scaramouche's redemption arc is showing Nahida the world she's been locked away from djfhdkmd

Fuck every other found family, this the real shit, Nahida deserves every bit of family after that

[seelestia]

oh no the poor lil meow meows... *accidentally drops two umbrellas through the window* and jfc heizou you're a detective, not a burglar....

on second thought let's not i think i would cry if random men and women start throwing their heads onto zhongli's chest while we're strolling about in the city-

"a lost verse from the holy book of simping 101" hsldkfjlsjdklfjsld

and i'd be the kind of teacher who couldn't help but laugh at you whenever you did so and in the process i would be making a fool of myself in front of this very attractive coworker of mine orz hslkdhflskd omg he totally would. him being a guest lecturer and yet he knows more than the actual teacher. also him slipping when they brought in a small hatchling:

"normally dragons of these kinds are quite docile unless provoked. their favorite diets are the various types of rocks. most dragons in particular find magic crystals to taste delectable, however, i personally am fond of cor lapis- i mean-"

"meimei, are they running away from me. why are they running away." brb crying why is he this adorable i can't-

h-he actually came home, yes. my second time winning 50/50 i am very honored lord kamisato sir- what did you threaten him with??????

i took him about 72+ pulls to come home but i still have my savings for husband #2, the 'feeble' scholar bc i did some exploring, so i'm very happy!

ohhhh congrats for the double 5 stars!! fingers crossed i get the same luck with al haitham... he'll be out when it's my dad's birthday so i'm going to ride on his birthday luck and bribe him with food so he'll pull al haitham for me lmao

scaranya zoomies :D he'll come home on his rerun for sure!! time to start saving heheheh "emotional attachment purposes" hsldkfjlskdf i have yet to play the archon quest interlude but i think i found a name i want to use for him!! my brother already did the quest on his account and he named him 'hokuto'. what did you name him?? :D

also shldfkjslkdjf it's BEEN SO LONGGGGGGGGG i hope you're doing well <3 <3

RIN JIE !! sorry for the long wait, aaaa. i'm so happy i finally found enough time to respond to this ask after it marinated for so long 😭

heizou going thru the window is smth we shall not speak about and i also can't believe i'm saying this so shamelessly: but i can indeed confirm that he is both a detective and a burglar because— *momentarily regrets everything* because he stole my heart a while back <3 and into the earth i shall bury myself (/j)

LOLLL if people start throwing themselves at zhongli (literally), i can see you holding in the urge to politely pry them off. it is alright, rin jie, your hubby is vv good at sidestepping people! gracefully so too! to the people: his chest isn't a practical nor traditional place to wish for mora, you'd better off robbing the northland bank instead. (/j)

I AM LIVING FOR OUR GENSHIN POTTER BRAINROT. rin jie, you are the embodiment of trying to look cool by leaning against a non-existent wall and falling— zhongli just concernedly holds out a hand like "?? are you hurt???" truly, my fav grandparents in the entire world <3 (/lh) ALSO. purely hypothetical but if we were to turn it into a series, what do you think would make a good conflict for each chara 🤔 aight, who's gonna be voldemort and why is my mind saying dottore. (/j)

AND YES, I SAW !! you won ayato and got alhaitham on 1 pity??? *wipes a dramatic tear* your unlucky era has come to a glorious end. they're finally learning from itto! and iirc, your dad is a math + physics teacher, so i can't help but imagine alhaitham harboring some level of respect for him LOLL (similarly, my respect for your dad also went 📈 because math and physics?? that deserves a wow /pos) and abt ayato coming home, there was no threat... you just have to put your best puppy eyes and tug on his sleeve. easy peasy, lemon squeezy! (/lh)

hokuto sounds so cute??? i can actually hear scara's jp va saying it in my head <3 i named him ren! ren means 'lotus' in japanese and they believe that lotus resembles rebirth, so i thought why not?? >:) but that name sounds too handsome and boyish for someone like him (/j)

[vynsvision]

Miscellaneous thoughts on the 3.1 update Archon quest (IM ONLY UP TO MEETING UNCLE ANPU OK)

Spoilers to follow !!!

I love how many animated segments there were!!!! It never disappoints. Devs never miss.

Dottore truly is scary. Hes also intelligent and skilled. If he wasn't so terrifying and abusive I'd definitely find him attractive. Knowing too what he did to Collei and how much lasting trauma she has from his actions... yeah, no thanks. He does have lots of charisma, but I'd like to kick his ass. I wonder what his vision and delusions are!

On another note, again, hes fucking terrifying. His lack of boundaries and his idea to catch the Traveler in a well- planned trap. I hope Setaria is ok!!

Hypasia's whole situation... again, from Dottore and Scaramouche, but I have to admire the ingenuity and manipulation at how well done it is. Hypasia's total belief and how she is reacting- yeah, if I was connected to a god, I'd be pissed too if no one else seemed to care or was suddenly cautious of me! And her excitement to show the Traveler and then Scaramouche's whole backstory and the show of his devolution to this new state- Is he back as a Harbinger? Is Dottore bending the rules to help him, if they're even working together?

The animation of the Balladeer's backstory too was beautiful. He continued to try to make friends and work through his creation, but I think by the child, he hadn't even done anything wrong. Unless he had died? I couldn't tell what sin the third friend had committed, but it would track for Scaramouche to misread a situation unfortunately and take things farther than necessary. I can't fault him as he was truly hurt and misled by the first to who had hurt him, but again, I really couldn't see what the third person did.

His monologue tho was so spooky and I was like 😧😲 the entire time lol. I also love the 2D animation as much as I love the 3D.

And then the third animation clip, some more Scaramouche as Nahida swaps her consciousness with the traveler. Both parts of this are beautiful and the second part is haunting. Honestly great timing for spooky month to have Scaramouche on the fringes of the Traveler's sight, setting up for a battle that hopefully Scaramouche survives (even if solely for all those Scaramouche savers... oof). I'm quite interested how his story is gonna turn out because I was hoping for him to turn out a little like Childe in how he is flexible on his morals and maybe potentially set up to help the Traveler. We'll just have to wait and see.

The final animation bit <3333 enemies/rivals to lovers <333333 the ship potential is off the goddam charts I'll tell you what. Its gorgeous to watch and thrilling to see the boys have at it and sass each other. Cyno's whole intro scene. I wanna kiss him. I want him to kiss Alhaitham. I want to kiss Alhaitham. I want us all to kiss each other. And then Dehya rocks up and Candace tells everyone to shut up and get along. *aggressively passionate chef's kiss* peak.

The rest of the story is really good and interesting too, possessing people and convincing Setaria that she has abandoned King Desheret and that she needs to step up.

Really enjoying this so far!

[hungnitan]

Genshin anon back again, faster than Ayato's normal attacks to thank you for the advice! (≧◡≦) ♡ It's settled then, mistsplitter here I go! (hopefully lmao)

And honestly I'm the same as you, playing genshin because I love the handsome faces and love the lore xD So believe me when I tell you that Raiden has come a long way for me, and I've skipped her so many times (a few times I skipped her bc I was poor tbh and the other times out of pure spite lmao xD) I'm of the opinion that Inazuma's storyline was kinda messy and it didn't let the region's characters shine like they should, specially their leader, as you said.

However my archon collection needs to increase as well, as I only own Venti and Zhongli (strongly devoted to those two lol 🙏) and in the future versions I'll try to pull for radish god Nahida, but farming her flowers is a pain similar to the handguards, RIP (╥_╥)

Also! Are you pulling for Xianyun aka Ganyu and Shenhe's momma aka Cloud Retainer? xD And have you seen Gaming? He is a must pull for me, but I will forever mourn his beta/original design that was leaked a while back, truly sad (-ω-、)

Ahahaha you really reply faster than Ayato NA this time Genshin anon-chan🤣, well glad can helped then. If I need the reason for pulling Raiden (which won't happens anytime lol) is just her e skill really useful and that's it which become one of reason I pull Yae before.

Let's be clear then, if you need to increase archon's collection, Nahida and Furina are enough for now, their lore really solid. Me too had archon collection except Venti Raiden, for Venti I need to wait for more lore reveal I guess (lol). And I know what I gonna said will make Mei series lovers hate me but Raiden shogun just famous because of Mei AU and archons title for godness sake, she even can't cook or doing something different like other archons (maybe can't cook consider special traits lol)

The things with handguard (and additionally dust mushroom for Nahida) are even you kill those kairagi samurai mushroom in all Inazuma Sumeru to getting its 3* rarity are more lower than chance like you getting Ayato in 10 pull. BUT handguard definitely had more thorny side since most Inazuma characters and weapons want that sh*tty items. I even hold Haran and Mistsplitter sword since I scare with Kairagi lol

If you want to prefarm Nahida flower, I suggest to weekly buy the flowers at Aranara shop from now (if you already finish Aranara world quest)

PS : in term of hard local items, the number one for now is Cyno scarab and side by side is subdetection unit Wriothesley. Cyno definitely not worth the hard work (he even had ER issue lol), even you can appreciate Wrio more since he's cryo catalyst

I definitely skip any pull since there's info saying about Siggewinne Arlecchino at 4.6. Did you know one meme about Madame Ping and Cloud Retainer mentor-student meme ? Like Ping more into kids and small while Cloud Retainer into sexy and big team so yeah I prefer small one (Guizhong more into my target lol) while I can't pull for Gaming especially Lantern Rite event definitely giving us one chooseable 4* for free include the newest one. Oh yeah Gaming prototype feels more wild but this one too isn't that bad I guess~ talking about prototype Skirk definitely hitting us in very hurt part (lol)

[spiriteddreams]

played the archon quest and got so scared for xiao so here's some hurt/comfort

the prospect of death has never scared xiao. he's always known that there will be a time when he might not be able to continue on in teyvat. he's fought for thousands of years, physically and mentally, to be a saviour of liyue whether the people remember him or not. the distance he puts between himself and others has always been comfortable for him. never too far that he can't appear at a call for help, but never too close for him to become attached.

and then you fell into his life, stumbling and bright, tempting him with almond tofu and sweet smiles. he wanted to push you away, tried to put as much distance between you and him because he was afraid your touch would burn him to ashes. and he watched from a distance as your smiles faded when he wouldn't answer your call, the light in your eyes dimming when he didn't touch the plate of almond tofu left out for him.

"you came." you're surprised and yet your tone is flat. tired.

"you called my name." you don't react to his words.

"i didn't think you would." xiao wants to curse himself for the way you've seemed to pull away from him. this was what he wanted, right? and yet he seems to be more dejected that you are, even if there's barely a smile on your features. it's his fault, he screams at himself in his head, this is why he cannot get attached.

"thank you, though." xiao blinks as the smile begins to grow on your face, "i'm glad you're here. do you want almond tofu?"

"you're not mad at me?" he blurts out. his eyes betray him and they stare at the bowl of dessert that you gesture to on the table.

you grin at him and xiao's chest hurts at how much it brings him comfort. "oh i am." forget it, he's going to run away and ensure you never cross paths with him again.

"but i thought that you could use a friend right now." you sit down at the table and stare at him, waiting for him to pull up his seat. he wants to refuse, to scoff and tell you that you're not friends. but his feet move him forward and he's collapsing into the chair, reaching for the bowl of almond tofu before his mind even catches up with him. it tastes sweet and warm on his tongue, melting away the worries in his mind. you laugh at his relaxed expression and he glares at you but doesn't say anything, shoveling another spoonful into his mouth.

"qingxin flowers will be in full bloom in a few days." xiao clears his throat and looks at you, absolutely horrified to see that you're staring right back at him. "do you want to see them in jueyun karst?"

you know what he's trying to ask. he doesn't quite know the right words to say it, but he's trying. so you smile and reach out your hand, gently resting it atop of his. "i'd love to."

reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated! <3 a/n: finished my last day of classes for the quarter so i can finally just relax and touch up on my finals before turning them in!

[maplleaf]

"Act Professional"

Al-Haitham x gn!Reader (small spoilers about chapter 3 Sumeru Archon Quest, written in 3.0 before the story of 3.1)

In Sumeru, information is the key for everything. Researches need information for their papers. Eremites needs as reliable information as possible to complete their tasks without risk. The whole foundation of Sumeru's title as "The City of Wisdom" is based on information that the previous Archon and her citizens found.

It's the same for Al-Haitham. As much of a genius he is, his name and face is known both outside and within the Akademiya. Therefore gathering certain information can be tricky at times.

That's where you came in.

You're not a genius like Al-Haitham, but you are capable of having more inside connections than him. Being an informant has its perks.

Whether it's the Eremites, merchants, Akademiya scholars; you'll give any information they need for the sake of a paycheck, and for Archon's sake does it pay well.

Al-Haitham became aware of you from a rumor that spreads a year ago; "An informant that could tell you what you need with proof." As a man of rationale, he knew that having connections with an informant such as that would do him well.

It would be a lie to say that you don't interest him beyond your professional relationship; your latest meeting as something that he couldn't get out of his mind.

And so he became one if your regulars. Granted, finding out how to be your client is a difficult task; almost as difficult as becoming Dori's customers. Fortunately, the hard work pays off as you gave him any information and proof that he needs.

______

"My favorite client! What do you need today, pretty boy?" you called out. Teasing Al-Haitham with nicknames seems to be your favorite hobby everytime you two meet.

Al-Haitham cut to the chase, numbed to your teasing. "The words 'world...forget me,' does it seem familiar to you?"

You pondered for a moment, "not that i know of, though for a special pay I can find intel on it." You gave him a smile only merchants seeing a business opportunity could give.

Al-Haitham thought about it for a moment, "seven-hundred thousand mora, with evidence."

You faked a sad tone, "We've been working together for months and you can't trust based on my words alone? I am incredibly hurt."

After receiving an unimpressed look from Al-Haitham, you waved off his cold nature, "loosen up would you? Even Kaveh and I have more chemistry."

You stepped away from behind the building, a place that wouldn't catch other people's eyes. "I'll get it done as soon as I can. Better have my payment ready after."

_______

Meetings between the two of you usually goes that way; you tease him, Al-Haitham requests what he needs, one of you offer the payment, and you leave. The mention of his roommate is what's been bothering him.

Al-Haitham operates solely on rationality, he doesn't see any reason why he would be bothered by the mention of Kaveh. No, he definitely didn't glare at his poor roommate this morning, and the morning before. He's just in a bad mood these past few days.

It didn't help that he can't mention you to Kaveh to ask him. The deal between you and your clients is that they can't mention you, for the sake of your business' safety.

When Al-Haitham received a letter about your the next meeting time and location, his swinging moods seems to change for the positive. Kaveh is silently thanking the Gods for that.

Al-Haitham met up with you within the following days, this time inside a hidden café near Sumeru City. You were already there when he arrived, sitting cross-legged as you waited for him.

As he sat down, you begin to speak. "Nice place right? Better than behind a run down building," you started. The decorations of the café is classy for a hidden one, Al-Haitham began to grow weary. "Don't worry, I know the owners. They won't do anything."

"That's reassuring," Al-Haitham took notice that you don't have any sort of items with you, or something that could be described as evidence.

"Let's get straight to business," he started, making you chuckle.

"As stern as usual," you commented. "I couldn't find any physical evidence and the source said that they wouldn't come. So I'll say that the price would be decreased to.... around two-hundred thousand."

It's bad for business, you knew that. But even an informant like you have your own morals when it comes to selling intel.

"'World...forget me,' is coming from Irminsul. A God is related to it, about what God specifically no one knows," your past few days' research only came to that. Getting intel about a recently berserk Mizri and a strange blonde traveler with the flying mascot is hard, even if it's only two sources.

Despite the lack of supporting information, Al-Haitham seems pleased. "That's good enough, pleasure doing business with you again, (y/n)." He slid the bag of mora that you're owed, though sliding a second one right after.

"Although, I have one more question," you're confused, Al-Haitham usually leaves right when business is over. Not even sparing a moment for you to make small talk. Though it would be a lie to say you're not amused at the change.

"And that would be?"

"What's your relationship with Kaveh?"

You wanted to laugh, though kept it to yourself. You remember mentioning Kaveh at your last meeting, honestly it's adorable how a genius like Al-Haitham would be bothered by a meaningless comment.

"Oh? Using our professional relationship to ask such a private question?" You smirked, trying to prolong a feeling of superiority over Al-Haitham. You even moved closer, arms on the table as you leaned over to him.

"You did take the payment, (y/n)," Al-Haitham pointed out. He kept his composure, much to your disappointment.

You let out a chuckle, placing your finger under Al-Haitham's chin to make his head look up. You satisfy your sadistic needs by looking up at him. Al-Haitham began to sweat involuntarily. He held an unbothered, or even annoyed look. Though inside, he feels his heart racing the more his informant continue.

You took notice almost instantly, somehow being able to move your mouth directly next to his ear.

"Act professional, Al-Haitham."

You stepped right back after, an innocent smile appearing instantly. With your needed payment and an added bonus, both monetary wise and to tease your favorite client, you're completely satisifed today.

"I've only worked with Kaveh once, and i didn't like him enough to be included as my regulars."

And with that you walked away, oh so innocently.

Unfortunately you purposefully left the internally confused and flustered Al-Haitham. Such a rare moment you wishes you had brought your kamera...

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First time writing a fic solely bc I'm hungry for al haitham content