#gonna one day sit down and build up my own commission site from ground up but will continue to use square until then

[hjeojeo]

okay i set up a simple webpage for pixel commissions information! my current commission site (hjeojeo.com ) was made using Square so I can't really control what size images are displayed so I used one of my own sites to better display the pixel art:

LINK TO MY PIXEL COMM INFORMATION

[aminiatureworld]

Frustration

Characters: Childe, Diluc, Xiao, gn!reader

Word Count: 2,068 words

Premise: Commissions don’t always go as planned, much to your frustration. Luckily there’s someone there to make you feel better.

Author’s Note: So I’ve been thinking of writing Genshin stuff for months now but haven’t, for various reasons mainly that being how much this blog is already a bit of a disarrayed mess. But after awhile I decided another fandom won’t hurt. Besides I think it’s better to write something than nothing, even if the fandom keeps changing. So… yeah?

This particular scenario was basically my day today. The characters have been chosen out of my own personal will. I was going to do Zhongli as well but I’m exhausted so if this is well received perhaps I’ll do that another day.

Also I’m so tired I’m halfway to a headache and feel a bit floaty so sorry if there are grammar mistakes and such. Anyways, hope you like!

Character Banners in progress

Ao3 link in reblog

Childe

“I’m gonna kill someone.” You muttered, slamming your weapon down on the table, causing the ginger next to you to start.

“As long as that person’s not me I’ll be glad to help you.” You weren’t sure whether you found the comment worrying, insulting, or charming, and decided not to reply, instead throwing yourself in the chair across from Childe, usually reserved for customers or some member of the Fatui higherups, though today you could care less.

“Hey, am I not good enough?” Childe half whined half joked. You only grunted before getting up and walking over to his chair, plopping yourself on his lap and promptly picking at a stray thread on his coat which had caught your eye and was now becoming an increasing source of irritation.

Taking this as a sign Childe gently pried your nails away from the offending thread. Placing your palms in his gloved hands he smiled and placed a kiss on your forehead. “Want to tell me about it?”

“It’s this stupid ley line! You know, the one in the stone forest? I was commissioned to keep an eye on it, normal stuff, but this one seems absolutely crawling with all sorts of slimes and the like, hilichurls too and a stray bandit here or there. They keeping breaking the damn thing and the minute I fix it they’re back again. At this rate I’m not going to finish it!” You chewed on the inside of your cheek, thinking of the hours you’d spent fighting with the thing. You’d even let out a few tears of frustration in the process, and having nothing to show for it was intensely irritating, to say the least.

“Poor darling.” Childe’s smirk was timeless, but there was a softness to it that you took as confirmation that he understood. I mean if anyone was going to understand it was going to be a member of the Fatui. As much as you disliked the group on principle, you did have to admit that Childe was certainly a hard worker, and running around at the whims of the far off Tsaritsa certainly had its trials.

Slumping against his chest you allowed yourself to relax a bit, some tension brought out simply by the act of telling someone about the frustrations that were building up, like someone shaking a corked bottle. Childe kissed your hands, a welcome distraction, before giving you a peck on the nose. You smiled at that, squeezing his hands. It felt good to have someone to complain to, to have someone who understood. But that was Childe, surprisingly understanding. And always looking for a fight.

“So…” as if on cue Childe spoke up, tone becoming truer, his smile becoming more foxlike. “You have something you need help fighting I hear.”

“Don’t let this get you any ideas.” You smirked right back. “I can still whip you when it comes to sparring at you know it. Besides, won’t I get in trouble if you’re there.”

“Give me half the commission rate and we’ll call it square.”

“Such a steep rate!” You gasped in fake horror, nevertheless lifting yourself off the chair. Childe was up no sooner, giving you a mischievous grin.

“Well of course! I can’t have you fleecing me out of my money. Not when I’ve already given you my heart, which is quite expensive by the way.” Giving you a quick forehead kiss he took your hand then, giving some half assed excuse to the poor desk clerk when they asked where he was going. “I have to save someone some trouble.”

You scoffed at that, but it was true. Childe was saving you a lot of trouble, and keeping your pride in some sort of piece. That was Childe. Wild, passionate, aching for a fight, perhaps not a great person – no in fact decidedly not so. But he was also surprisingly caring, reliable, and steadfast. And that was all you could ask for in the moment.

 Diluc

“Do you know where in Monstadt someone is supposed to find 50 Windwheel Asters?”

Diluc whipped his head up at that one; out of all the things he expected you to say that was certainly not one of them. It was almost closing time at the Winery, and this was normally the time when you came up to see him, chatting about this and that, waiting for him to close the ledger so you two could have some time together. In the entire history of your relationship there’d never been an evening that began such as this.

“There should be some around here, and Windrise if you’re in for a bit of a hike. But 50 is an awful lot, and I’m not sure the florists would be happy if you carted off with all their flowers.”

“I know.” You raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall, picking at your fingernails. “I know that finding 50 of anything in a day is a hard task. But I was given a short noticed commission by some wealthy tradesman who’s passing by and wanted some flowers for a gala or some such thing. It’s important for the Guild that I complete these you know, and I’m not looking forward to telling Katheryne about it tomorrow.”

You sighed, glancing out the window of the Winery. You thought of all the places in Monstadt the view was perhaps loveliest here, cozy, with a view of all that made Monstadt, the planes, the forest, even a glimpse of the waterways that ran through it. But right now all you could think about was how in such a vast swath of land you’d still failed to meet the goal, you’d still turned up empty handed.

“Would you sit next to me?” Diluc’s voice broke you out of your depressing reverie and you sat down in the chair adjacent to his – a recent addition to his office – laying your head somewhat awkwardly on his shoulder, running your hands through his soft hair. You two sat in silence like that for a bit, the steady flow of Diluc’s pen keeping your eyes occupied while your hands braided and twisted at random, gentle and absentminded.

Finally the ledger was closed and Diluc turned to you. Smiling he massaged your left shoulder slightly, eliciting a sigh from you.

“You shouldn’t blame yourself for things like this.” He began, his tone soft and low. “No reasonable person on Earth would ask you to gather so many flowers in a day. Even Flora doesn’t sell that many to a single customer without an order, and her whole job consists of selling flora. You’ve watched me work long enough, do you think I’d sell 50 kegs of wine to a tradesman on site?”

“No, of course not.” You mumbled. “But it’s my job to do the unconventional requests, how can I pick and choose at random? I can’t very well complete only half of my commissions.”

“Of course not, but nobody expects you to simultaneously catch 50 flowers out of thin air either. The Guild has its own regulations and rules you know, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a violation of one. No one doubts your prowess my dear. You’ve slain Eyes of Storms and have scaled mountains taller than most people in Monstadt might ever imagine. You done what might be considered impossible to some many times. So you should trust in the Guild and in the people of Monstadt. They aren’t well likely to turn their back on you over such a ridiculous request.”

You hummed a reply, resting your hands on Diluc’s. All he said was probably right of course, Katheryne could very well tell you how ridiculous such a request was, and no harm would come to your reputation. But your relationship with Diluc was still young, there was still so much to learn about the other, and so hearing such confident praise from him felt like a sort of gift, recompense for such a frustrating ordeal. Humming once more you leaned your head on his shoulder again. Tomorrow you would go and tell the Guild about the debacle, and let the man know the ridiculousness of his request. But tonight you just wanted to rest with the person you cherished the most. That was all you wished for.

 Xiao

“Something’s wrong.” Xiao’s voice was purposefully flat, and you wondered not for the first time how the adeptus in front of you had become so good at reading your mood, especially considering the fact that he admitted himself that his grasp on human emotions was a tricky one. He always seemed to know when you were upset at least, and your initial urge to attempt to hide your frustration immediately blew away.

“It’s been a rough day.” You admitted, standing next to him on the Wangshu Inn’s railing, letting the cool evening breeze cool you down. It’d been an obnoxiously hot day, and you were glad for any bit of fresh air. Xiao said nothing, but you could feel his gaze on you, waiting for your decision as to whether or not you’d let him know the reason you were upset. Not that it was really a question, at this point you couldn’t imagine a time when you didn’t tell Xiao practically everything, from the most mundane to those things that loomed largest in your life. You’d never met someone you trusted so much in your life before, and it felt rather freeing, knowing that he didn’t mind a bit, something that had scared you when you first began opening up to him.

“It’s just a commission, nothing ground shaking. Thankfully.” You added on, thinking of when Liyue had almost been swallowed whole; the moment when it seemed all would fail, before the miraculous traveler had bound the adept and the citizens of Liyue together. It was something you weren’t likely to forget, and something you never wished to relive. “That being said.” You added on. “It’s something that, well, is distressing me a lot.”

Xiao stood patiently as you explained to him that your deceptively simple commission of delivering food to someone had managed to go horribly awry after a group of Cryo slimes had left the food frozen solid, with the angry customer unwilling to pay or wait for a replacement.

“It wasn’t too expensive thankfully.” You remarked. “I mean it was just food. But it feels silly, and a bit embarrassing. I mean of course I should’ve paid, I don’t begrudge that. I just don’t understand how I managed to screw up something so fundamentally simple. It seems… somehow a bit of a slap in the fact. I mean, aren’t I any good?”

“Of course you are.” Xiao’s answer was firm, but not unkind. Instead it held in it the certainty of one who’d lived thousands of years, and whose trust in you was absolute. Drawing closer, the adeptus glanced around, making sure there was no one around, before slinging an arm around your own, drawing you close and running soft circles around your shoulder.

“You’re a great adventurer.” He remarked, voice filled with as much serious as there was fondness. “I’ve seen many warriors, many adventurers come and go in my time. Those whose feats will fill the pages of books and the staves of songs long after they themselves have been reduced to ashes. Those who will be called great heroes. All of them fell sometimes. And, if you must fall, I’d rather it be over something so simple as a botched food delivery.”

You glanced up into Xiao’s eyes. Normally he was reticent with words, even moreso with gestures. Every word let you deeper into someone’s life, into their past, their personality, their soul. No word was careless with Xiao. And as you stared at eyes filled with pride and love and worry, suddenly you felt as if what had just passed was small, oh so very small. There would be another commission, just as there would be another tomorrow. There’d be another failure most likely too. Many of them even. But they were small stones in a great big pond, quickly sinking out of sight and out of mind.

“I love you.” You breathed, and Xiao’s face seemed to open all of a sudden, shedding a thousand cares and a thousand worries. He pressed his forehead to your own.

“I love you too.”

[ephemelody]

your color is etched inside my heart

Commission for @raiyakun who requested a fic based off their amazing soulmate AU!! You can read about the details that their AU from this post and also view the comic they drew, which one of the scenes in this fic is based on. Thank you for commissioning me! ❤

Rated G | Soulmate AU | Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Humor | Read Under Cut.

The first time Keith saw the color blue, it was in the eyes of another boy.

At the time, he hadn’t known what it meant. Didn’t know the name of the color, only that it was bright and it was beautiful. A beautiful shade to match a beautiful boy.

In the wreckage of an earthquake, trapped beneath a slab of torn concrete, Keith saw color in the dust beneath his feet and the filter of sun through severed wires. It was vibrant in the blood seeping down his arm. It was warm in the other boy’s skin, equally scarred.

“Hey, does the world look different to you?” the boy asked. His face was tear-stained, voice throaty with snot. He rubbed his nose with his arm before shuffling closer, knees tucked under chin, hand reaching out to hold Keith’s in his. His touch was warm, just like his color. Keith didn’t mind when he squeezed too tight. “Do you think it means we’re dead?”

“We’re not dead,” Keith answered, though he didn’t know that for sure. All he knew was that the color in the boy’s eyes was dimming, shadowed by the crumple of his brow, and that at that moment, Keith wanted nothing more than to see it shine again. “They’ll find us. We just have to stay put.”

The boy seemed soothed by his words, and he shuffled closer still, as if being physically closer to Keith would provide comfort. Keith didn’t move away. The scuffed front of their shoes touched, one dark, one light.

“We’re seeing color, aren’t we?” It was more a statement than a question. A note of wonder murmured through. “It’s really pretty.”

Keith nodded in agreement. All children knew about color, but none of them knew when and where they would see it. Their parents hadn’t told them, and their schools didn’t teach it until the sixth grade. All they knew was that it meant something special. That it would be worth waiting for.

“Tell me what you see,” Keith said, hoping it would take their minds off the situation. Hoping it would make the boy’s eyes shimmer.

They passed the time that way, pointing out patches of color and trying to describe them to each other. When their descriptions didn’t match up, they would argue and laugh. And when their descriptions matched perfectly, they would argue still and share a smile.

When the earth shook again and the plate of concrete above slipped dangerously low, the boy clung to Keith, burying his face into his chest. Keith hugged him back, fierce and sure, despite the terrified thrash of his own heart.

It wasn’t until hours later that the concrete finally lifted, light pouring through the widened gap along with several helping hands. They pulled Keith and the boy out from the wreckage, passed them down shattered buildings and ruptured streets. Keith thought he would go blind from the sudden burst of colors all around. The boundless sky knocked the breath out of him, so clear and so bright, just like the boy’s eyes.

Those eyes stayed with him even as they separated, carried away by a throng of relief workers and their respective families. Those eyes stayed even as they never saw each other again, years and years brushing past, rubbing away at Keith’s memories until they were worn and faded.  

It wasn’t until later that Keith learned what it meant to see color.

It wasn’t until he lost his soulmate that he knew who he was.

.

.

.

“See, this is how I know we’re not soulmates.”

Lance dunks his pepperoni pizza into his cup of ranch and inhales half the slice, Keith watching on in disgust.

“If your soulmate dips his pizza in ranch, then you deserve each other,” says Keith, eating his own slice of cheese that’s perfectly greasy and ranch-less.

They’re sitting in a pizzeria, a block away from the house they’re about to visit. It’s near the site of the Arus Earthquake, a 6.3 seismic disaster that happened almost eight years ago. For some reason, the area feels familiar to Keith, a gnawing sense of déjà vu that doesn’t mix well with the grease in his stomach.

“You sure you got the place right? We always get lost whenever you lead.”

“It’s not my fault Siri gets confused sometimes!”

Keith rolls his eyes. “More like all the time. I’ve told you a dozen times to use Google Maps.”

“That would mean cheating to Siri! I can’t do her dirty like that.” Lance pops his pizza crust into his mouth, dusting his fingers off, end of discussion. There’s crumbs on the corner of his lips and a fleck of ranch on top of his dimple. Keith shoves a napkin into his face but swipes at his mouth gently, making sure his face is pushed away so that he can’t see the fondness that Keith feels.

“You brute!” Lance cries, waving his arms dramatically. He sticks his tongue out at Keith with an emphatic bleeeh when he’s done. “I can’t wait to meet my soulmate so that he can protect me from you!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you big baby.”  

Lance has said those words a hundred times, but today it hurts more than usual. Keith busies himself with cleaning up their food so that Lance won’t notice, especially not when they’re in the middle of searching for Lance’s soulmate.  After a whole year of digging through archived newspapers and phone records, it seems Lance has finally found him in this small town by the sea, a train ride away from the hospital Lance had stayed in after the earthquake.

Keith’s never believed in soulmates, or at least, he’s never counted on finding his. Even though he can see color -- which means he’s technically encountered his soulmate in passing before -- he doesn’t remember how he came to see it. He refuses to put his heart into it either. His parents had been soulmates, and both had left him, so what good was a soulmate?

Lance, though, has always dreamed of reuniting with his. Ever since Keith met him when they were fifteen, Lance babbled about how he and his soulmate found each other in the middle of an earthquake when they were young. How safe and protected he felt being held in the other boy’s arms. He couldn’t remember his soulmate’s face, but he could remember the red of his t-shirt and the ink of his hair.  

“His colors were beautiful!” Lance had said, blue eyes sparkling. So clear and so bright, just like the sky. Keith fell in love with him softly and surely, even though Keith knew Lance would never look his way.

“Ready to go?” Keith asks, jostling Lance’s shoulder. Instead of standing up though, Lance groans, hunched over the table.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” he says. Keith snorts.

“What did you expect drowning your pizza in salad dressing?”

“No, Keith, I think I’m gonna sick.”

Keith sits back down in the booth and places a hand on Lance’s back, rubbing slow, soothing circles. Lance slumps into him, head tucked into the hollow of Keith’s throat and arms slung around his waist. Keith presses his lips against Lance’s hair as his chest tightens.

“He’ll remember you. Don’t worry.” Keith hopes his voice sounds calm and confident. Not like the riot in his heart, throbbing painfully.

Lance hugs him tight, and Keith doesn’t let go.

“I’m glad you’re here with me.”

&

While Lance knocks on the door, Keith waits across the street, out of sight. Even though Lance had said he wouldn’t mind Keith tagging along, Keith didn’t want to intrude. And he didn’t want to see the boy who would be Lance’s long lost love. He didn’t know how he would react.

He’s known Lance for almost three years now. With each year, each day, Keith found something to love about him even more. Whether it was his smile, his selflessness, his vanity or his questionable eating habits, Keith would shelter them all inside his heart, keeping them safe.

Today, it’s the color of Lance’s eyes, matching the ocean on the horizon, shimmering beneath the sunlight.

Keith leans against a tree planted near the sidewalk, gaze resolutely directed toward the pebbles on the ground. His mind is a mess, his heart messier still. Even though he and Lance would obviously still be best friends regardless of a soulmate, Keith can’t help but feel the overwhelming sense of loss as he waits alone outside.

He’s in love with Lance, and Lance is in love with someone else.

Keith’s thought of telling Lance his true feelings several times now, but each time he lost his nerve. Some days he would argue with Lance instead, call him childish for believing so firmly in the idea of a soulmate, and it would always end with Lance fuming at him and refusing to speak with him for the next few days. Keith always felt terrible afterwards, apologizing with a tub of Lance’s favorite banana split ice cream and a Shrek movie marathon.

Lance always forgave him instantly.

Keith may not believe in soulmates, but every part of him desperately wishes that Lance could be his. As he helped Lance trace the whereabouts of his soulmate through the months, traveling to different towns and cities every weekend, his heart broke a little each time. Though not everyone falls in love with their soulmate, Lance was ever the romantic optimist that firmly trusted in its fated magic. And since Lance’s happiness was ultimately Keith’s happiness, Keith decided to shelter his love for Lance along with everything else, so that Lance could be happy with his loved one.

Finding his soulmate was important to Lance, so Keith would support him unconditionally, no matter how much pain it brought onto himself.

Across the street, there’s the sound of a door slamming open. Keith’s about to turn around and look when someone thuds into his back, arms wrapping around his waist.

“Lance…?” Keith reaches up to touch Lance’s hands, noticing with alarm how badly he’s shaking.

“Don’t look!” Lance says, and the broken edge of his voice cuts through Keith’s heart. He wants nothing more than to turn around and hug Lance properly, but he nods and waits for Lance to speak.

“Keith… He said he doesn’t remember me. At all.” Lance’s words fracture around a sob, tears wetting the back of Keith’s jacket between his shoulder blades. “He said I… I couldn’t possibly be his soulmate because it’s someone else.”

A watery laugh falls from his lips, dissolved of humor and Lance’s usual spirit. “I guess you were right all along, it really was a childish dream…”

Keith can’t bear how defeated -- how heartbroken -- Lance sounds. Despite the traitorous relief in his own heart, Keith shuts his eyes and makes a decision, pulling out of Lance’s hold to press him tightly into his chest.

“K-Keith? What--? I told you, don’t loo--”

“I’m not looking!” Keith says, resting his head over Lance’s shoulders so that he can’t see anything but the ocean in the distance. Can’t feel anything but Lance’s warmth in his hands and Lance’s tears against his cheek. “And… Until you say so, I won’t look, I swear.”

That’s all it takes for Lance to let go.

In Keith’s arms, Lance sobs his heart out. Cries and cries until the sun sets behind the ocean, casting everything in a longing, golden glow.

&

Keith doesn’t believe in soulmates, but he wishes he could be one for Lance. 

The next day, on their way back home, they stop by the hospital again. Lance wanted to thank the hospital staff for their help, talk to the nurse who went the extra mile to help him find the address of the boy trapped in the earthquake with him.

In the pale morning light, Lance’s eyes are tinged red. His throat is hoarse, too, but nonetheless he chatters with Keith cheerfully, putting on a brave face.

“You don’t have to force yourself,” Keith tells him, squeezing his hand gently. Lance shakes his head.

“I need to. I’ll get over it faster that way.”

In the hospital lounge, Keith sits in one of the green, cushioned armchairs and waits for Lance to finish up. It’s an old but well-kept hospital, with pastel yellow walls and a calming scent, layered above the tinge of antiseptics. Keith picks up a magazine on the coffee table and flips through it idly, checking the clock to make sure they’re on time for their afternoon train back into the city.

“Oh, young man, don’t you look awfully familiar.”

Keith lifts his head up to see a nurse gazing down at him, eyes crinkled thoughtfully on a soft, heart-shaped face. A sense of déjà vu washes over him again, but Keith still can’t place it.

“Sorry, I don’t remember you,” he says, feeling awkward and unsure. The nurse merely smiles kindly, straightening as Keith stands up.  

“That’s quite all right, it’s unlikely that you would. What you went through was quite a traumatic experience. It’s not unusual that you would forget.”

Keith only feels more and more confused. “What... I went through?”

“Your name is Keith, correct?” At Keith’s dumbfounded nod, the old nurse continues. “You were only ten when you were brought to this hospital. They found you with another boy under a collapsed building in Arus, after that horrible earthquake destroyed most of the city. It was a miracle the two of you were alive!”

Keith’s head starts spinning, pieces falling into place. That constant feeling he’s been here before, gnawing at the pit of his stomach since they arrived. Why the nurse feels like someone familiar. Why the history of Arus resonated so much with him when he first read about it, how it caught his eye when he helped Lance search for his soulmate.

The way Lance’s eyes always make him think of the sky.

The way Lance’s eyes always make him think: a beautiful shade to match a beautiful boy.

“I’m not certain what happened to the other boy, but I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“M’am, what was that boy’s name? The one who was with me.”

Down the hallway, Keith sees Lance wave at him, his eyes that impossible, magical shade of blue. 

The first time Keith saw that color, it was in the eyes of another boy. 

The second time he saw that same color, it was in the eyes of a boy he grew to love.  

“His name was Lance.”  

.

.

.

“So you’re telling me that even though we’re soulmates, you won’t dip your pizza in ranch?”

“Nope.”

“Can I trade soulmates? I think the universe messed up.”

Keith frowns, pulling Lance back onto the couch and into his arms, Lance giggling all the while. He pushes his pizza away before resting his head against Keith’s chest, settling into the space between Keith’s legs. He traces patterns over Keith’s red shirt as Keith grumbles sullenly: “Hey, you said so yourself. The universe wouldn’t mess this up.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Lance agrees, kissing the corner of Keith’s mouth to soothe his frown. Keith relaxes, nuzzling Lance’s neck and humming contently when Lance threads his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe it was you this whole time. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it from your colors.”

He gently lifts Keith’s head to stare into his eyes, smile apologetic. “Part of me just couldn’t believe I could be that lucky, I guess, having a soulmate who’s also my best friend. I’m sorry.” 

Keith kisses the inside of his palm with a shake of his head. “Don’t be. We found each other in the end, didn’t we?”

The tilt of Lance’s smile turns bright. Keith loves it so much more. Loves all of Lance, more and more.

“Thought you didn’t believe in soulmates?” Lance teases, and Keith kisses him quiet, colors blooming behind his eyelids. 

The world is always so much more beautiful when they’re together.  

“If it’s with you, I’ll believe in anything.”