#when Paimon wasn’t around I got really really scared

[serelyly-hikari]

SPOILERS FOR 3.5 ARCHON QUEST AHEAD

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVENT DONE THE QUEST!

Okay crack theory time!

Look I came up with this at like…12 AM

And yes…I did play the Archon quest at that hour, don’t at me.

Achem, now that we have gotten that out of the way, on with the crack theory that isn’t really a theory but more like some random tumblr user ranting on something that may not even be true but still wants to share cause thoughts.

So the quest was called “Caribert,” who we now know is the son of Eide (I’m not using his actual name, I don’t feel like writing it all), the Abyss Order Founder Aka, some relative of Kaeya (I will walk about that in a minute.)

The quest starts off with Kaeya, but unfortunate for many of us, he was only present for like…two minutes before going off to who knows where. But not before it gets revealed that he is related to the founder of the Abyss Order. Kaeya brushes this off and goes off his marry way. Again, it was a very short interaction, right?

Well hold that thought.

After a series of…events we happen to find this guy with a hilichurl. This hilichurl is none other than his son whose name is “Caribert.” According to him, Kheanri’ah took in anyone who did not wish to follow a god, meaning that anyone from any of the seven nations could be found in Kheanri’ah. Due to certain circumstances he met and fell in love with a women from Mondstadt. She gave birth to their son but not long after the cataclysm hit and their life was…well…destroyed. Eide says that those of pure Kheanri’ah Blood were cursed with immortality while those who forsook their god (those who came from any of the other seven nations) were cursed to forever roam the land as monsters. These are the hilichurls. Given Caribert was half Mondstadtian, he was cursed to be a hilichurl like his mother.

Towards the end of the quest, after a series of events, Caribert stands at the edge of a cliff and says that “he cannot take it anymore” and takes off his mask…only to explode in what seems to be abyssal energy. From there the player faints and that’s the last we see of Caribert.

Or so it seems.

You see…again…this is just a very very random thought and it could very well not be true…but…I couldn’t help but wonder…

Could it be that Caribert and Kaeya are the same?

Could it be that Kaeya isn’t just related to the found of the Abyss but is the SON of the founder?

Again, I can be completely wrong but like…there was stuff that just didn’t fit.

For one, why would they integrate Kaeya in the quest in the first place? Just to give Dainslef a justification to bring up the founder of the Abyss? Surely they could have found another way to do that, right? And why go through all that trouble just to show him so briefly? In all honesty, it didn’t sit well with me.

So my 12 AM brain went down a rabbit hole and started to connect stuff (I didn’t connect crap.)

Caribert’s mother was from Mondstadt. And Kaeya was left behind in Mondstadt. Interesting, no? I mean, it might just be a coincidence. But you have seven nations to choose from Hoyo, and you so happen to choose Mondstadt? Yeah that sounds a little fishy.

There is also the thing about “you’re our last hope,” thing Kaeya supposedly heard from his father. Okay…what makes Kaeya so special then? Why would he out of all people be the last hope of Kheanri’ah? Idk but if he is Caribert, who was called by his own father, the “Loom of Fate,” that would really give a whole new meaning to that, no?

I know I know…this doesn’t make any sense. But like…WHAT IF?

Anyways, onto a more “tamed” theory.

I bet everyone is wondering what the heck was that crystal that looked the the Defiled Statue, no? Well I sure don’t know what the heck that thing is nor do I have any significant comments on it but I do have a theory on the Defiled Statue (more like a thought.)

For the longest time I couldn’t understand why the Abyss Order stole Venti’s statue out of all the statues of the seven that there are all over Teyvat. Was it just random? Or is there a deeper meaning? Could it be because he is related to the god of time? Maybe (most likely). But now that we know the founder’s wife was from Mondstadt, it really makes you see the whole Defiled Statue situation differently.

Think about it: If your wife was cursed to be a monster because she turned her back on the god she was supposed to worship, wouldn’t you want to like…do something against that god? What better way then to defile a statue of his? It’s just a thought but like…you know…

Any who, I’m going back to my corner. I’ll leave you guys with your thoughts. :D Bye bye~

[stories-and-chaos]

Tarnished pt 5

[Helluva Boss AU where Blitzø’s childhood theft from Stolas’ palace is discovered and major consequences ensue for everyone involved.]

[18+ rating for language, sex, violence, alcohol consumption, abuse, and general Hellaverse-ness]

[CW: child abuse, child abandonment, blood, slavery]

[Part 5/?? Word count 2319]

—————

20 years ago, the day after Stolas’ birthday

Blitzo’s father hadn’t picked him up at sundown. Or as the moon rose that night. The young imp spent a fitful night, sleeping on a lounge chair in Stolas’ room. What if his dad had gotten in trouble? Maybe he got hurt, going back and forth between the palace and circus. Maybe someone saw him with all that fancy stuff and beat him up.

Maybe the Goetia found out.

His dad still wasn’t back in the morning and Blitzo was getting scared. Stolas tried to comfort his new friend, but the young prince was just confused in this situation. The boys ate breakfast, with Stolas insisting that his friend have a seat at the same table and the same meal. Afterwards, they were summoned by King Paimon.

Stolas wanted to be happy since he rarely saw his father, much less two days in a row. But Blitzo was looking more and more scared, his face turning a pale pink when Paimon ordered his presence.

Two of the king’s guards maneuvered the little imp in front of Paimon’s throne. Stolas tried to greet his father like the day before but he was silenced with a look. “You. Imp boy.” Blitzo gulped. “There are a number of items missing from this palace today. Why?”

The boy gulped again. He didn’t dare lie. So he told a half truth, hoping to avoid or at least minimize any punishment. He choked out an answer, “My dad told me to play pirates. I threw them out the window.”

“I see. So you had my son, a prince of the Goetia, assist in your common thievery.” A flickering black aura built at the bottom of Paimon’s cloak.

You were wrong Papa. Nothing is scarier than this. “I…I thought it w-was just a fun game. I d-d-didn’t want anyo- anyone to get in tr-trouble.” Blitzo couldn’t stop his voice from stuttering as he forced the words around the lump of terror in his throat.

“Father, we really were just playing. Neither of us knew what the game was about,” Stolas stepped up next to Blitzo and bravely tried to defend his friend. He’d had no clue that the pirates game was really Blitzo’s father making him steal; surely the young imp hadn’t known either.

“Hmmm.” Paimon rose from the throne and stalked deliberately over to the two boys. “Perhaps you were ignorant of the crime, but you committed a crime against the Goetia nonetheless. Have you wondered why your own father isn’t here, boy?”

Blitzo nodded rapidly. “I w-was supposed to g-go home last night…”

“Indeed. My staff discovered the theft yesterday and I had my security guards looking for your father. It seemed he spotted them and ran. Had he come back with the stolen items I might have let you and him leave with a minor punishment. A few fingers or a hand removed.” Both boys gasped and Blitzo’s legs gave out underneath him. “He has not returned and my servants say that your circus is no longer at their location from yesterday. It seems your father has decided to abscond with our possessions and leave you behind.”

Blitzo was crouched on the floor now, crying. He tried to be quiet but his sobs were audible behind the fisted claws he pressed to his mouth. Stolas, still confused and being infected with his friend’s fear, looked back and forth between Blitzo and Paimon.

“I do not care about the stolen goods. But you and your father have dared to insult the Goetia by committing a crime against us.”

“Father, please-“

“And you, my son, were foolish enough to let them. This will need to be corrected if you are to become the prince of Hell you are meant to be.” Paimon made no effort to hide the distaste in his voice. “Imp boy, I purchased your time for a day. As your father has taken more than was originally agreed, I will treat this purchasing more of your time. You belong to Ars Goetia now. Your servitude will be to my son and will last until your death.” Blitzo continued to cry, unable to move.

Paimon turned his attention fully to the prince. “Stolas. You need to be taught a lesson in status and the dignity of the Goetia. I have something in mind to give you that. You, your grimoire, and your imp will be required in my study at the witching hour tonight. Now go.” The king swept out of the room, bits of his magickal aura pulsing in his wake.

Stolas managed to get Blitzo to his feet. “Let’s go back to my room Blitzo. Maybe we can figure something out.” Blitzo didn’t answer. He just let his friend guide him back. A number of Hellhounds followed and placed themselves at every exit of the Prince’s chambers.

Once back in Stolas’ room, nothing could stop Blitzo from becoming a wailing mess. Just hearing Blitzo like that made Stolas start crying too. His tears were quieter and all he could say was “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” over and over.

Well after the point that Stolas started to feel hungry, Blitzo cried himself to sleep. He passed out, emotionally exhausted, in the middle of the floor. The prince wasn’t strong enough to lift his friend to the bed and the guards stationed around the room made no move to help. So he brought a blanket, pillow and a horse plush from the bed instead. He did his best to make Blitzo comfortable where he was curled up.

Stolas tried to distract himself with books but not even his favorites could get his mind away from what was happening. Not with his first friend terrified to tears on his bedroom floor. He picked at the meals the servants brought. They brought portions for Blitzo as well but he was too exhausted to do more than stir when the doors opened. The guards changed and the red sky of the Pride Ring gave way to a deep black before Blitzo woke up again.

Stolas had started to doze off while reading when movement from the bundled blanket startled him awake. “Blitzo! You’re awake!”

“Yeah, guess so,” the imp mumbled as he wrapped himself in the blanket. Maybe if he was wrapped up enough he’d wake up at home and this would all be a bad dream. He didn’t wake up; instead his tummy growled, telling him he’d missed at least one meal. Probably more.

“Stolas, I’m kinda hungry…” he whispered, his voice hoarse from all the crying earlier. There was something fuzzy and soft wrapped up in the blanket with him. He unwound the fabric a little to find a horse plushie with him. He had to fight to not cry again.

“Oh! Yes, of course! You slept through lunch and dinner after all and you didn’t have much at breakfast.” Stolas rang a buzzer to call the staff, having them fetch something for Blitzo. The platter of food quickly disappeared once it arrived, with how hungry Blitzo was.

He curled back up in the blanket, hugging the plushie to his chest. He and Stolas were sitting on the lounge chair, having no choice but to wait for this “witching hour.” Stolas’s head was bobbing though and he kept leaning on the imp’s shoulder.

“What’s this witching hour thing anyway? Are a bunch of witches gonna show up.”

Stolas jerked awake. “What? Oh, witching hour. It’s at three in the morning. It’s supposed to be when the veil between us and the living world is thinnest and magick is strongest. There’s no witches. At least not here. I’m pretty sure there aren’t.” Stolas continued to talk, his explanation devolving into sleepy mumbles.

“A veil? Like what people wear to get married and junk?” Blitzo was sure there had to be more than that separating them from the living world. Otherwise you wouldn’t need portals.

“Mmnnoo, not that kind,” Stolas managed to reply. “‘s what th’ barrier b’tween realities ‘s called.” After that, Blitzo just heard quiet trilling hoots from the other demon boy.

Blitzo kept hoping his dad would show up, bringing back all the stuff, saying that everyone packing up was just to go to their next stop. But he knew better. Cash liked his friend Fizzarolli more. A lot more. The audience always laughed and clapped during Fizz’s parts in their act. Fizz was just better at all the clown stuff. If it was Fizz here…well Fizz wouldn’t have been left behind at all. Cash didn’t need his “disappoint-o” son with Fizzarolli around.

At some point Blitzo fell asleep too. He must have because the next thing he knew a group of Hellhounds were pulling him up to his feet. Stolas was awakened more gently but they made him get up and out to the hall just as quickly. One of the Hounds made sure Stolas had the grimoire in his hands.

They were brought to a dimly lit study. King Paimon stood up from his desk, grabbing a thin object as he did so. Wordlessly he led the way through a curtain. It shrouded an alcove barely big enough for three adult Goetia to fit in. In the center was a stone altar. Carved circles made a ring border in the stone floor. Stolas expected to see his father’s sigil in the center and his name in the ring but it was blank.

One of the Hounds remained with them. He kept a firm grasp on Blitzo’s small shoulders. Paimon stood to one side of the altar and directed Stolas to the other, farthest from the exit. “Place your grimoire on the altar.” Stolas obeyed silently. His father grabbed his right wrist before he could step back.

“Each grimoire requires a blood oath to wield its full potential. It is more binding than any contract in all the realities and confirms your place in Ars Goetia.” Paimon twisted his son’s palm upward. “You will make a more formal oath at your majority to take up your duties. But this part can be done at anytime. Repeat after me.”

The words of the oath were nothing Stolas recognized. Perhaps if he’d had any studying of his tome he would have but he’d only had it two days. He did his best to repeat it; fortunately the words came naturally, as if he knew them already and just had to be reminded.

As he finished, Paimon unsheathed the slim dagger he’d brought. The gleam of white swirled over the blade; this was a blessed weapon able to wound the highest ranking demons. With quick methodical movement, he sliced Stolas’s palm and pressed the fresh wound onto the book’s cover.

Stolas cried out involuntarily at the sudden pain. Once his bloodied palm touched the grimoire, the circle beneath them filled with Stolas’s name and sigil. Paimon started a new phrase and Stolas repeated the strange words on reflex. A gold light shone from the floor before spinning, little motes of light and letters flowing through the air. They coalesced into something like a bracelet around Stolas' right wrist.

Despite the pain and his fear over what his father was doing, there was also an electric feeling of joy running over the prince. Having the blood oath confirmed felt like a puzzle piece slipping into place. Wielding magick felt right in a way that had only one comparison; spending time with Blitzo.

Blitzo was in awe of the sudden show of power. No amount of illusions in their circus could compare. For all his talk about how cool blood was, he’d been terrified to see the sudden ichor from Stolas’ hand. Before he could really process anything, Paimon grabbed his right wrist, twisted the hand up and sliced his palm as well. He screeched hoarsely which grabbed Stolas’ attention.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him, he’s my friend, don’t hurt him!” Neither Paimon nor his Hellhound acknowledged the prince’s cries. The Hound simply grasped Blitzo’s hand and forced it onto the grimoire. Paimon took Stolas’ cut hand and pressed it onto the imp’s forehead. Both young demons felt a burning pain where the cut and bleeding palm met the black skull-faced heart brand.

Stolas kept saying, “don’t hurt him” over and over. The bracelet of light flowed off his wrist, over Blitzo’s head and to his neck. The sigil spun rapidly before clasping onto the imp’s throat. He screamed again as it fused onto his skin with another burning sensation. His hand against the book singed with pain at the same time.

Then all the pain was gone. Even the cuts and black ichor on the grimoire were gone. Paimon and the Hellhound released them. Stolas staggered back, dizzy. Blitzo scrabbled his claws at his neck, a deep growling hiss bubbling from his chest as he tried to yank the binding off. But it was part of him now, like a birthmark. No way to remove it with his hands. Not only that, the black circus mark on his forehead was now the white crowned heart of the Goetia family. Looking at his suddenly healed palm, Stolas saw the same mark there.

King Paimon stared down at his son. “You are now the master of your grimoire and your imp. Make sure you learn to command both.” Then he was gone.

This time, the Hounds were allowed to carry them back. Otherwise the pair might have fallen asleep right in the alcove or in one of the hallways on the walk back. This time, Stolas insisted Blitzo sleep in the bed too. Blitzo fell asleep as soon as he hit the mattress. Stolas wasn’t awake for much longer. Before he fell asleep, two thoughts started to form.

First: he loved magick as much as he loved Blitzo.

Second: he hated Paimon more than any words he knew could describe.

A/N: I hope this part isn’t triggering for anyone. I have a hard time writing anything negative happening to kids so the binding scene I kept to a minimum. The next couple parts continue this flashback but no more physical abuse, emotional trauma is incoming though.

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[thatgenderfluidmonstrosity]

@friendlesscat

Here’s the Aether Exhaustion Fic!!! I know it took forever, but I think it was really worth the wait!!

I did make it Xiao x Aether (just majorly hinted at, neither of them really make any moves) so I hope that’s okay? If not, I can always try again when I get more energy! (Aether x Xiao is just my go-to)

Aether dragged himself through the weeds of Liyues fields.

He just had to deal with 2 commissions of fighting, and two of incompetent citizens. And he didn’t want to be mean; he really wanted to help people. He loved helping people, but sometimes… it was just too much.

So, after his legs started to burn, he sat himself against a rock to rest.

Just breath… it’ll be okay… He told himself.

He was close to believing that, if it hadn’t been for the Hilichurls that started to gather around in the field.

“Noooo… no no no!” He muttered, frustrated.

He was tired- oh so absolutely tired.

But of course he had a job to do. A duty to the citizens of these nations.

He gathered the strength to pull himself up, and hold his sword steady in his hands.

The Hilichurls then noticed him- growling and hissing as they did.

“Hya!” He called out, sending a whirlwind towards the Hilichurls, knocking some of them back.

“Just- die!” He grunted, slashing others with his sword.

They lunged and one lit their fire stick, taking a moment before barreling towards him.

The fire just barely touched him, burning his shoulder- yet he didn’t have the time to heal himself before another threw a rock at him.

He sighed, slouching over as he turned his head to look at the Hilichurl that hit him.

“Really?” He asked, before slashing that one down too.

As he started to get better, a roar erupted from behind him.

“Fuck-” He muttered, turning to see the Mitachurl behind him.

“Come on! Please! Just leave me alone- I’m so tired!” He yelled, practically begging.

He felt his body slowling down- he didn’t know just how much more he could take.

The Mitachurl let out a thundering roar, then charged towards him.

He collapsed, holding his head in his hands, unable to even think clearly.

“Im so exhausted…” He murmured, shaking his head.

Wind began to whirl around him- the air keeping the monsters away.

“I'm so sick and tired of this!” He yelled, the wind got harsher and faster.

The ground started to shake and grow orange-hued glowing spikes.

“Just leave me alone! I can't take this anymore! I work all day- I protect everyone! But what's left for me!? Who’s gonna help me!? Huh!?” He screamed, letting all of his frustrations out onto the monsters.

And as the final Hilichurl laid dead at his feet, he fell to the ground once more, his body truly giving out.

“All I wanted… was to find my sister… All I've ever wanted… was to find my sister…” He cried, feeling the tears streaming down his face.

As his eyes blurred with tears, and his body hit the ground, he could only imagine a warm comfort, a body enveloping him in a much needed hug… or was he not imagining it?

The next time he woke up, he was in a familiar place. Wangshu Inn. The midday sun shone into the room, making him feel awake. Though he couldn't really ignore the striking pain in his right leg, and the pressure pain in his left.

“Aether!” He heard a voice call out.

He wiped his eyes, trying to wipe the last bit of sleep from his eyes. He recognized the voice, and he smiled.

“Paimon…” He said, exhausted.

“Oh thank the Archons, you’re alright! Paimon was so worried! You know, Paimon was scared you weren’t gonna wake up, but luckily-!” Paimon (obviously) couldn’t stop talking (or worrying).

“I wasn’t going to let anything happen to him, Paimon.” Another familiar voice said, coming over from the balcony.

Aether looked over and lo-and-behold; Adeptus Xiao. He was sitting on the railing, looking over at the two of them.

“You saved me?” Aether asked, in a bit of disbelief.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I?” He asked, walking towards the injured blond.

“I just… I didn’t call for you…” He muttered, slightly surprised by the kindness of the usually stoic Adeptus.

“You didn’t need to.”

Aether smiled (and slightly blushed), as he began to examine his wounds.

There was silence.

“Paimons gonna let you two speak! Paimon needs food~!” She giggled, then floated off to the dining area.

More… silence.

“Thank you…” Aether said, eventually.

“No need to thank me. I only did what I needed to do.” Xiao said truthfully.

“I um- I’ll find a way to pay you back…” Aether said, “It might take a bit though… These wounds seem pretty bad.” He laughed a bit,

“Why… why would you need to pay me back?” Xiao asked.

“I- uh… just thought- well, you know, you helped me so… I need to help you?” Aether tried to piece the parts together.

Xiao looked at him- he looked upset.

“Wh-what?” Aether asked, concerned as Xiao took a seat on the end of his bed.

“I saved you because I wanted to,” Xiao stated, then he got a brilliant idea, “But if you insist on paying me back… I want you to relax for a couple of days. Not just for your wounds, but for yourself in general.”

Aether's eyes got wide.

“I- I can't do that! I’ve got commissions and requests to complete! I mean, once I can get some food in my system, I’ll be just fine!” Aether said, smiling awkwardly as he tried to convince his friend.

Xiao clearly wasn’t having it.

“You mortals think you are capable of everything in the world…” Xiao sighed.

Aether frowned.

“But you aren’t.” He continued, “And you'll do more harm than good if you don't realize that.”

Xiao’s face was stern, but his voice was softer than Aether had ever heard it before.

“Okay… fine…” Aether gave in, “We can relax, but just for a bit.”

Xiao seemed pleased with this.

“Good, would you like me to help you replace your bandages before we leave?” He asked.

Aether looked confused, “We’re leaving?”

“I actually wanted to take you to one of my favorite places to relax… if that's alright…”

Xiao had meant for it to sound like a comforting suggestion, or even a cheerful one, but it didn’t exactly come off that way. He wasn’t ever good at this stuff, even when he was with… the other friends…

Aethers face got pinker, and he seemed to get flustered but still smiled brightly, “O-oh! Yeah, um, of course, we can do that!”

Xiao felt his face get hot, seeing the blond smile like that.

“Good…” He murmured, looking away to hide his face.

“And yes, I could use some help with these wounds.” Aether replied.

So, Xiao started to help Aether re-bandage himself, making sure to wrap him up nicely.

“Is that alright?” He asked, bandaging where he had gotten burned.

“Yeah, that's- uh, that's fine…” Aether stuttered, his face was a sunsettia red color.

Xiao didn’t know why he was so flustered, till he realized just how close their faces were to each other.

He quickly but carefully finished taking care of the wound, and once he was done, he helped the boy stand.

“There, how do you feel?” He asked Aether.

“Hmm… Hungry…” Aether groaned playfully.

“Oh, right, we should go get you some food then.” Xiao said, holding his hand out for Aether to take it.

Aether took it carefully and they began to walk. His legs didn’t hurt too much, but enough for him to need help.

As they made their way down to the dining area of the Inn, they saw Paimon talking to the chef.

“Oh! Aether, Xiao! Paimon was just about to order her second round of lunch, what do you guys want?” She asked as she floated over.

“Your… second round?” Xiao asked, concerned.

“Don’t worry, this is normal for Paimon.” Aether told his friend, “I’ll have… Tianshu Meat, please.” He asked with a smile.

“Great! What about you, Xiao? Do you want anything?” Paimon asked.

“Oh, I… I don’t-” Xiao attempted to answer for himself.

“He’ll have some Almond Tofu.” Aether smiled.

“Huh?” Xiao asked, looking at him as Paimon floated back towards the chef.

“I know you like it, and you can consider it as some payback… for your help…” Aether told him softly.

“Right… okay.” Xiao agreed.

Whatever made him feel better, he's fine with.

So, the two of them sat at a table, and Paimon soon joined them, along with a feast of breakfast foods.

“And- this is supposed to be your second round of food?” Xiao asked.

“Don't try to think about it too long, I still don't even know how Paimon can eat this much…” Aether whispered to him as they watched Paimon pick each dish off as if they were the Millelith fighting hilichurls.

So, the two of them ate quietly while Paimon did all the talking.

Soon they all finished (including Paimon who was now stuffed). The chef then came over to collect the dishes.

“Oh, here! I’ll help!” Aether offered, attempting to stand on his own to grab the plates.

As he tried to stand, his right leg gave out under him and he fell back into his seat- wait seats don't have arms and body heat-

As he realized what or who he fell onto, he started to apologize.

“Sorry-! I shouldn’t have tried to stand- Im so sorry-” He freaked, transferring back to his own seat.

“Aether, it's okay. You fell, I caught you. It's alright.” Xiao told him gently.

“Wow Xiao! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that comforting!” Paimon mused, smirking a bit.

“Paimon! I-it wasn’t that big of a deal!” Aether blushed.

“Okay! Okay!” Paimon backed off, “Anyway, Paimon will go help with the dishes.”

As Paimon grabbed some plates and floated off, Aether was left very confused.

Since when has Paimon ever wanted to help with physical labor? (carrying things can't be very difficult for her, but still, she was helping nonetheless)

He then realized it was the second time she had left him alone with Xiao.

“So… what other things must I do to complete your request of relaxing?” Aether asked curiously.

Xiao thought for a moment.

“We’ll… if it didn’t bother you too much, we could go to a resting place that I like…?” He posed the question, waiting for Aethers reaction.

“Oh! Yeah, sure! I’d love to see where you hang out when you aren’t here or out battling!” Aether seemed delighted to know more about the Yaksha.

Xiao felt a smile dance on his lips, but he pushed the urge away. He instead focused on how Aether could go from being so happy and bright, to being saddened and in despair. It… made him feel things towards the blond… Things he hadn’t felt in such a long time.

He could barely say that he had friends, and even less so people closer than that. But people like Morax and Aether… made it different.

They were both people that could be close to him without his karma taking effect, and had helped him in many ways. He was forever grateful for them, but was scared to open to them any more than that.

Yet when he saw them smile, or laugh, or be kind to him and share in their comfort… It felt good. He enjoyed it and that scared him.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Aether calling his name.

“Xiaoo~?” The blond called out in front of him.

“Hm? Sorry- must’ve… got lost in my head…” He muttered, turning to face Aether.

“It's alright! Now, about that place?” Aether beamed.

“Oh, yeah, it's just on the coast of Guili Plains. Pretty nice. If we get going now, we’ll reach there by the evening’s end.” Xiao told him.

“Great!” Aether went to stand again, but Xiao was able to steady him before he collapsed again.

“Ah- right. Haha…” He laughed nervously, holding into Xiaos forearm tightly as he steadied himself, putting less pressure on his right leg (It was hurt worse).

Soon enough, Paimon came back from the kitchen.

“Oh! Are you two going somewhere?” Paimon asked.

“Actually, yes! Do you wanna come with us? We are going to relax. Well- I’m relaxing as per Xiao’s request.” Aether explained.

As Aether said this, Paimon seemed to get awfully tired.

“Oh wow!” She yawned, “Paimon’s really starting to feel tired! All that food has definitely caused this… Paimon will stay here and sleep! You two can go off and have fun!”

She then turned to Xiao specifically and said, “Have Aether back before Midnight or Paimon will be very upset with you!”

Xiao looked a little nervous, which surprised Aether. How could he look anything other than brooding and upset? And even more so; how could Paimon make Xiao nervous?

“Okay, okay, Paimon, we’ll stay safe. Now go get your greatly deserved nap.” Aether giggled, being dramatic.

So, Paimon floated off and Xiao and Aether left Wangshu Inn. Aether got a wonderful idea as they began to near the bridge that departed from the Inn.

“Oh! Xiao! Could you pick that flower for me?” He asked, pointing to a Silk Flower bush. “I would, but my legs really hurt.”

It wasn’t really a lie, but it would help him.

“Oh… sure.” Xiao agreed, “I don’t really know why you would want such a plain looking-“

Xiao bent down to pick the flower, when suddenly- Aether jumped onto his back. Xiao managed to stay steady enough to get a hold of Aether's legs.

“A-Aether?” He exclaimed out with a bit of panic and a sigh.

“Sorry! Is this okay?” He asked, leaning over his shoulder to look at him.

Xiao felt his face heat up once more.

What is happening to me? He thought to himself.

As they both got stabilized, Xiao gave him the picked Silk Flower.

“Yeah, it’s alright. Here, the flower you wanted…” He said, handing Aether the flower.

Aether took the flower, then neatly nestled it into Xiao's hair.

“There!” Aether smiled.

Why… why is he making my heart beat so fast? Am I dying? What’s going on?…

“Um- y-yeah… how about we get going?” Xiao asked, looking straight ahead.

“Onward!” Aether smiled, pointing towards the bridge.

The walk was nice, they talked and laughed and even got to watch the sky change from blue to orange, to pink and yellow.

As they got to the shore, sitting under a nearby tree, Xiao couldn’t help but feel… so calm…

“It’s so pretty~!” Aether was mesmerized by the view.

Meanwhile, Xiao was mesmerized by him.

He caught himself staring at the blond, admiring his hair, his eye and clothes. For some reason, he was so enamored by him. Things he had never felt before were rising to the surface, and as Aether looked at him, he couldn’t look away this time.

“Are you alright Xiao?” Aether asked, cocking his head slightly.

“Yeah… I am…” Xiao murmured, allowing himself to smile.

He felt warm.

Aether smiled back, and scooted himself closer to Xiao, which surprised the dark haired boy.

Aether then laid his head on Xiaos shoulder, which wasn't too uncomfortable.

“Thank you, Xiao...” Aether whispered, looking out to the water, “…for today, I mean.”

Xiao looked down at the blond, then back at the gleaming water too.

And as he rested his head onto Aethers, he whispered, “of course… you deserved it.”

Their hands moved to hold each other, and for once, both of them could breath and feel free.

(Also I’m going to sleep immediately after posting this (it’s 11pm for me) so I’ll respond to any/all comments in the morning :3)

Ao3 link if you wanna give this kudos over there! I would greatly appreciate it!

[occasionalsnippets]

Stardust (SAGAU)

A/n: I don’t know why I wrote this, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing where I was like “I have many feelings I need to write”. Lumine is the traveller in this.

Pairing: Lumine X Reader, implied Gen

Warnings: milder side of yandere (?), mentioned cult, religious themes, the usual stuff with SAGAU

Summary: You are the stardust that ran in their veins, the echo behind every breath and the force behind their every motion. Why are you so insistent that they must hate you?

—

Lumine finds you overlooking the ocean as the sun is setting, the sky still a warm red.

There isn’t anyone around, not even hilichurls, in this little area tucked away from the world. It makes sense how no one had stolen you away yet but out of everyone, Lumine was always the best at finding you. You still catch onto her presence before she makes herself known, the same as usual.

“Lumi,” you say, the cute nickname slipping from your lips out of habit, “come to whisk me away?”

“Not really,” she answers as she walks closer until she’s behind you. 

“Paimon?”

“She’s with Amber right now.”

You hum and pat the ground beside you. “Do you want to sit with me?”

It isn’t phrased like it’s an order but Lumine wishes it was. You should be more selfish, she thinks to herself, as the wind drifts past you. Everyone would rush to fulfil your commands, no matter how big or small, to make you happy. But, you never make demands so everyone’s stuck hovering around you, guessing what you want.

She goes ahead and sits next to you.

“Have you been looking for me for long?” you ask first. “I would’ve returned before it got too late.”

“I missed you.” The words that come out are honest but not the complete truth. Of course, Lumine had missed you, every waking moment without you felt like something was missing in her, but she was more terrified that you’d leave and never return. It’s better than before you arrived in Teyvat, at least, back when there was nothing she or anyone else could do if you got bored and didn’t like the world, the people anymore. But still, who wouldn’t be scared that their god had abandoned them?

You stare off into the sea as though you can’t quite comprehend the notion of someone missing you.

Lumine’s heart aches.

“Thank you.” Your words are polite, too polite for a god so far above everyone else.

“(Y/n)-“ she calls because you don’t like the fancy titles and positions and she’s desperate for you to understand what she wants to say as she scoots closer to you, “we, everyone, misses you whenever you leave. I can’t exist, can’t live, without you.”

There is no Lumine without you, no direction without your guidance, no life without your love. It’s so difficult to continue moving without you guiding her, commanding her body to do what you wished. She and Aether had been made for you. The entire purpose of their being is to be yours. The unavoidable truth of their existence was that they were always meant to be extensions of your will from the start.

And Lumine had been lucky to have been chosen by you. Aether wouldn’t hold it against you or her because he is kind. In some ways, she thinks he would have been better suited to be your vessel. He’s warmer, closer to the sun while Lumine is the moon. Still, she’s grateful that you chose her. She doesn’t know what she would do if you hadn’t.

You hold your hand out as a form of comfort for her to hold. Lumine takes it.

“But isn’t it terrible,” you say, “to be stripped of all agency? To be a puppet to whatever I choose to do?”

Even though you aren’t quite responding to what she had said, she knew what you meant. Maybe it would’ve been terrible to the others at the beginning but not anymore, not when they had felt you sinking into their skin, to their fingertips, through their entire being.

“It’s love,” Lumine whispers resolutely, “to us. To me.”

It’s hard to tell where Lumine begins and you end. You were a part of her, in her blood, in her heart, in her mind. She was yours.

And possession was love, wasn’t it? It was love in a way that she could understand.

“Did it really feel like that? Like love?”

You look small in the moment as though you were merely a child, unused to love. You had asked, when you first met Lumine, if she had been disappointed that you were human. She isn’t sure if she could really call you human when the world itself always, always answered your call without fail. 

The universe bows to you and deems you its creator. Could you really only be “human”? Truth be told, she thinks you’re closer to divinity than anyone else in the world, not the Archons, not Celestia, not her.

Lumine sits closer to you and wraps her arms around you tentatively. You hesitantly place your own around her back.

“It’s like stardust in our veins,” she tries to explain. “Like falling but knowing there’ll always be someone there who loves us enough to catch us. In the face of the ever-expanding universe, it’s easier to take comfort in your presence and feel like we exist.”

Your warmth sinks into Lumine’s skin and as your breath tickles her neck, she shivers. It reminds her of when your presence had been draped over her as she travelled Teyvat. Shimmering, bright, guiding the way to those close enough to see your light.

“I love you,” she murmurs like a confession.

And you-

You don’t answer at all.

(Still, you think it’s obsession you see in their eyes, devoutness taken too far, completely delusional at worst, but you think that if you tell them that, they’ll say it’s love.)

(You’re afraid you’ll believe it is too.)

[cleumz-moved]

carving pumpkins with them!

(anemo version)

i'll do others if you think i should!!

contains -jean, sucrose, xiao, kazuha (featuring beigguang), venti, aether, and lumine x reader, aswell as sayu but hers is platonic

warnings!! - knife mentioned/implied, mild cursing (in xiao's)

JEAN -

she just had to make time for you! so insistent on this tradition, and when you suggested barbara join in, well how could she refuse!

she carves a simple face, with triangle eyes, and a wide grin.

she doesn't mind touching the pumpkin guts, so she'll scoop them out for you if you really don't like them.

when halloween night falls, after she hands out healthy snacks (kaeya sneaks the kids candy), she sits near your pumpkins, eerie candlelight illuminating her soft smile, she states,

'i'm glad i have some one as special as you to celebrate with'

SUCROSE -

ohh, sucrose, she was so ecstatic you wanted to spend time with her, she even used bioalchemy to make extra big pumpkins! (much to lisa's horror)

she doesn't find the guts gross, and even bakes them to make roasted pumpkin seeds!

her pumpkin has an intricate little flower design on it, leaving you wondering how she's so skilled with a knife!

on halloween, when you set out the pumpkins, near timaeus' alchemy stall, to hand out sweets, she was so blushy when you kissed he cheek under the spooky silver moon!

'oh! i made some special candies, if you wanted to try them! they're made from our pumpkins!'

XIAO -

you wanted him to do what?? why would the vigilant yaksha, protector of liyue, do something so childish and strange?

when you finally convince him, with mild begging (how could he say no to those eyes?), he hated the pumpkin guts. disgusting, slimy and cold. you would have to dispose of them yourself.

when he begins carving, he does so quite aggressively, but when you ask to see what he's done, a delicate bird shape adorns the gourd.

as you eat lots of candy, in celebration, you explain, he looks at you with that soft gaze reserved for his to favorite things, almond tofu, and yourself.

'oH- IT'S ALL GROSS AND SLIMY, YOU EXPECT ME TO TOUCH THAT CRAP?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!'

KAZUHA -

beidou came to bully (affectionately) him and ning came along, she walked up and did the childish 'oOoOoOoooOo- kazuha and (name), sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!' ningguang had to physically drag her away to go to the costume party thet were invited to (ning was a mermaid and beidou was a fisherwoman <3)

once you actually start carving, he'll carve the most intricate thing you've ever seen, and he does it so fast it'll make your head spin.

the rest of the crux catches wind (ha- anemo, get it??), they make pumpkins too! the alcor is aglow with a million little lights, and its docked in liyue harbor.

while the crux goes out drinking, you and kazuha sit in the crows nest, gazing upon the stars, he reaches over, and places his hand on yours, and hums contentedly.

'bei- beidou!' 'ahahah- have fun with your giiirlfriieeend/booyyyfriiieeend/significant ooootheeerrrr'

VENTI -

he was soooo excited! he couldn't wait! he talked about it the night before you planned to at the tavern! (diluc got kinda tired of hearing about it lol)

he is so childish. he threw a handful of pumpkin guts at you. right in your face. you weren't too upset though.

he carved a self-portrait! a messy little thing of his wind spirit form! it was soooo cute.

as i mentioned before, he pretends to be a kid to get free candy, so after sorting it on the rug, he shared some with you!

'wha? you want the sweet flower candies i got from sucrose?! nuh-uh! those are my favorites! ...fiiineee i guess i'll share'

AETHER - (not technically anemo, but my they almost never get included :()

while he is looking for his sister, he wants to spend time with you aswell! he remembers carving pumpkins with lumine in a different world, and gets a little sad, but thinks about how she wouldn't want him to be sad right now!

he actually likes touching the goo! thinks it feels neat. he also told paimon it tasted good, like slime, as a joke, but then she actually enjoyed it! then he tried some, as did you, but it really wasn't great (speaking from experience)

he carved pretty stars on it! nothing fancy. paimon carved a fish.

and you sat, on a rock in the wilderness, telling spooky stories around a campfire, while paimon was cowering. he laughed at all the right points in your tale, and even suggested telling some more in liyue harbor, sure the patrons of tea houses would recognize your obvious talent.

'no really! im serious! it's super good!' 'yeah, even paimon got scared!'

LUMINE -

she really likes halloween, remembering all the times she's scared aether, and planned to scare you!

she went and picked the biggest pumpkin she could find! it was soooo big, you all had to work on it together!

on her portion, she carved a scary face!! paimon carved in some bread.

she went to show the knights, proud of her handiwork, and lisa almost fainted! sucrose wanted to know where she found the pumpkin, for research purposes! and klee said it would be super cool filled with bombs.

'maybe klee's right? oh! we could put firecrackers in it! loud noises are scary!'

SAYU - (keep in mind this is platonic)

she doesn't wanna carve the pumpkin, it'll be sooo tiring, she says, but when told it might help her get taller, she immediately agrees!

she doesn't really carve her pumpkin, but gutted it and fell asleep inside! she also added eye holes!

she watched you carve yours through the little holes, and thought it was sooo cool!!

'maybe celebrating holidays with you is so bad, i think i grew an inch!'

- FINISH

happy halloween everyone!!

[celestialarchon]

The Celestial Archon

Chapter One: A Storm of Stars

Genshin Impact x F!reader

In the first chapter, you may find the mystery archon described in a way that doesn’t fit you. That’s okay, it will change to each individual’s own tastes with time. The archon is described a certain way for reasons regarding the story line!

WARNINGS: lots of genshin spoilers, mentions of blood/violence, & mentions of injury.

tag list! @pebblegwn @krexpe @rockinaflock @creation-magician @noythe @weightlessrose @kclremin @vievi @simpinforkirari @red-riots-crocs

Our story began when Mona, the esteemed astrologist made a bold declaration. The stars foretold the return of a mysterious eighth archon. With this information, the most influential people of Mondstat and Liyue set a plan into action. The beloved traveler and his sidekick were quickly dragged into the preparations for the Celestial Archon. Aether and Paimon were looking forward to resting after weeks of hard work but unfortunately were interrupted by a star falling from the heavens. And so, we continue onward with our adventure.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Aether’s legs were sore, his knees began to buckle as he finally made it to the entrance of dawn winery. He yelped, falling forwards and closed his eyes preparing for the impact. It never came as two sets of hands grasped the boy and steadied him. Diluc, the esteemed owner of Dawn Winery sighed as his brother gently removed the mysterious young woman from Aether’s back. The red headed man scowled as the traveler’s knees buckled once more, catching the now unconscious boy.

The knights of favonious stood outside the winery, watching the two men carry the weakened traveler and mystery lady. With the stars still falling in the distance it was quite a sight to behold. Mona gasped as Kaeya approached, the woman in his arms still still sleeping. Her hair was long and wild, strange silvery tattoos danced on her skin, and her body was frail. Kaeya tried to be gentle with her, holding her bridal style but he could feel her losing strength and the warm blood from a wound staining his shirt.

Noelle rushed forward to remove Aether from Diluc, “My apologies Master Diluc, but this young lady needs a free room immediately.”

Diluc nodded, grimacing at the sight of the wounded woman in his brother’s arms. He pushed the doors to Dawn Winery open, making his way to the nearest guest room. Kaeya followed him and Jean yanked her younger sister along. The room was simple with a bed, night stand, and single chair. Kaeya set the woman down on the bed carefully, and rolled her over to see the back of her top soaked.

“Kaeya, go wash up.” Jean ordered, unsheathing her sword.

Diluc steered his brother out of the room while Jean got to work. With speed and precision, Jean’s sword cut the cloth away from the injury. Her eyes widened and she stepped back as the wound as freed. Barbara peeked around her sister and felt nausea building up. Noelle entered the room to see the two sisters in shock. Jean’s eyes were filled with a mixture of sadness and disgust.

“Did she have wings?” Barbara whispered, eyes never leaving the back of the woman.

“No, this isn’t a tear. Somebody or something did this to her,” Jean gritted her teeth, “they carved it into her.”

Noelle glanced over them to see something incredibly awful. There were two deep and wide gashes starting at her shoulder blades and meeting at her tailbone to make an upside down v symbol. Her breathing was shallow as the air hit the open wound. Barbara made her way to the bedside to infuse the wound with hydro energy and try to help the pain.

“Noelle!” Jean barked, “Find the Alchemists and tell Albedo to set up a direct teleport point here. Bring Sucrose here, we will need all the help we can get.”

Noelle nodded and dashed out the door, nearly colliding with the knight’s librarian. Lisa frowned but ignored the rushed girl and stepped into the room.

“Lisa,” Jean sighed as the woman walked in.

Lisa’s hand found its way to the dandelion knight’s shoulder, “Yes, acting grandmaster?”

“Please send word to Liyue Harbor that we need the aid of their best herbalist right now. This is urgent. You may also inform the adepti and Zhongli of the archon’s arrival but we need aid now.” Jean’s tone was serious, it struck a chord of anxiety in Lisa.

Without a word, Lisa strode out of the room and began to do as she was asked. Barbara continued to ease the pain of the sky goddess but grew more worried each second. The wound was infected. Sucrose burst in soon after, tears forming at the sight before her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Liyue Harbor’s esteemed top herbalist arrived with a small zombie girl. Together, the best healers from both countries began to work hard. They poured all their energy into their work and successfully removed the infection. By the time the sun began to come up, the wound was rapid healed but scarred terribly.

Though morning approached, the temporary residents of Dawn Winery found themselves crawling into bed to get some rest. Jean didn’t want to leave the eight archon’s side but was convinced to by her loving sister. The healers slept all day and all night long, missing the arrival of Liyue’s highest regarded people and adepti. Not a single soul dared to peak at the mysterious goddess as she slept, in fear of interrupting her much needed peace.

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24 Hours had passed since the arrival of the eighth archon. The herbalists and knights began to wake finally as morning approached. Unfortunately, when they went to check on the strange woman and her injuries, the room was empty. Dread set over Dawn Winery with the goddess of the stars missing once more.

Noon soon came to pass but there was no sign of the Celestial Archon. Everyone had split up to search for her but had no luck. Aether was frustrated and panicked as he fell onto the grass. Suddenly a large gust of wind blew him over, Paimon clutched to his hair as a winged blue beast shot across their line of vision.

“Dvalin?” Venti stood abruptly, “Could it be..”

Realization hit Aether, “Let’s go! We need to follow him!”

Aether, Venti, Kaeya, and Lisa trailed behind the dragon. Paimon screamed at them to slow down but they were too focused to care. Finally, out of breath, they stopped. Dvalin had landed on the edge of a cliff, his head leaned down to press his snout against the cheek of a beautiful woman. Her hair was still long and wild but not unkempt. Her eyes shone bright like stars and her skin seemed to glow under the sunlight. Aether was awestruck. Was that really the same person he rescued only a day before?

The wind carried her laughter as the majestic beast snuggled up to her. Her hands came up to stroke his scales as her feet left the ground. She truly was floating. Starstruck, Aether and the knights of favonious could only stare. Venti, however, burst forward with a gleeful giggle. The celestial archon turned as the bard crashed into her. Dvalin rested his head atop of hers as her arms wrapped around the childlike god.

“Don’t worry, Barbatos,” She reassured, “I missed you, too.”

“You scared me, you stupid supernova!” Venti nuzzled his face into her chest.

Aether shivered as a growl tore through the air. The noise startled him enough, he fell right on his ass. Xiao shot forwards, ripping the anemo archon off of the celestial archon.

“You bastard drunk,” Xiao’s face was dark, “Don’t touch her as you please.”

“Ehe,” Venti giggled as the adeptus held him by the collar.

Aether stood and sighed, gazing at the shocked woman. He turned, hearing footsteps behind him. Zhongli had found them and the remaining adepti trailed behind him. The eighth archon’s mouth was agape. She flung herself at Xiao, tackling him. Venti escaped the yaksha as the goddess fell ontop of him.

“Oi,” She grinned clutching onto him, “I think I even missed your shitty attitude, pretty boy.”

Xiao’s face was red as he grumbled, “Just shut up, space case.”

Zhongli clicked his tongue, impatient. He pulled the goddess off of the yaksha and embraced her. His sudden affection made her cheeks flush but she returned the hug. Zhongli’s arms tightened around her, fearful that he would wake up from a dream. After a few moments he released her only for the poor bright eyed goddess to be swarmed by the adepti.

She giggled as they each took turns showing her how much she was missed. Even as Cloud Retainer scolded her, the smile never left her face.

“What exactly happened to you anyways?” The female crane adepti grilled the goddess.

A nervous laugh escaped the young woman, “Well, I kept thinking about how my heart was restless. So I guess I kept walking. Eventually this strange darkness consumed me and I couldn’t go anywhere. It was as if all the evil gods I struck down were exacting their revenge. Some time ago, the void I was stuck in opened up a bit and I escaped but was forced into something even worse. There were terrible monsters and powerful beings who sought my abilities I guess. They mistook me as a new goddess and attacked me.”

Aether’s ears perked up. She was talking about the Abyss, he was sure of it. His heart hurt at the way she tried to mask the pain of the endeavor. She reminded him of Lumine a bit.

“So anyways,” She continued, “I ran again and got caught in this space. It wasn’t bad, but nothing happened. I mean nothing, I was actually stuck for real that time and the space seemed to shift around me even though I couldn’t move. Time didn’t pass and my thoughts came to a stop, too. Then I was forced out and I think I was falling? That blonde kid picked me up but I was weakened. Sorry I don’t remember much but that.”

“Forced out, hm..” Cloud Retainer seemed stuck in her thoughts.

“That’s not quite right,” The goddess sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “It’s more like it shattered? I think I fell with the pieces of it.”

“How strange,” Kaeya started, “It almost sounds like a domain.”

Zhongli nodded, “It does. Let’s not discuss this any further for now, it seems to be a painful topic.”

The celestial archon smiled gently at the geo archon, embracing him again. Zhongli stiffened but wrapped his arms around her again. Aether felt Xiao shift next to him, he glanced at the adeptus and had to restrain his laughter. He didn’t think the rough adeptus could ever pour, but there he was pouting.

After exchanging greetings and parting with Dvalin, the group headed back to Dawn Winery. Paimon had already taken a liking to the goddess of stars. Aether couldn’t blame the chubby fairy, the archon seemed oddly mortal to him. The other Archons carried themselves with grace and authority. The Celestial Archon was strangely human. Her appearance was godly and she did have a sort of divine aura to her but she was far more down to earth then even Venti.

“So why did you leave so suddenly?” Aether’s curious eyes met hers as they hiked back to the winery.

“I, uh, well the sun was calling to me.” A bashful smile formed on her lips.

Aether raised his eyebrows, “Calling to you?”

“Yeah,” her eyes were a bit distant, “It’s as if it was reminding me that the sun is a star, too. It willed me to bask in it I suppose.”

Paimon giggled at the archon’s clumsy wording. Aether pondered over what she said, thinking it was unique. Dawn Winery came into view and the traveler noticed that everybody else had returned. Chaos ensued at their arrival.

“Ahem,” Venti cleared his throat, “This is the eighth archon. The Celestial Archon, Seraphim. I call her supernova though cause she’s beautiful and destructive.”

“Hello! Let’s skip formalities, feel free to call me by my chosen name!” She introduced herself cheerfully.

Everybody chose to ignore Venti’s comment on the goddess being destructive. She was far too kind and gracious to be anything of that sort. Aether was the only one among them who noticed Venti’s words. They filled him with curiosity.

“I’m so hungry,” Paimon groaned.

“Oh, I missed food!” The bubbly goddess yelled, “Let’s eat! Can we eat?”

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The dining room was filled with chatter as they celebrated the arrival of the long lost archon. Paimon was stuffing her face as Venti chugged another bottle of dandelion wine, hiccuping. Diluc sighed as Kaeya poured another glass for himself with rosy cheeks. The scarlet haired man found himself looking for the celestial archon again. No matter how heard he tried to distract himself, his thoughts and eyes always found their way to her.

She was levitating above her seat, giggling as people brought her food to try. Xiao was uncharacteristically calm and looked happy even, as he fed her bits of almond tofu. Zhongli was smiling at her as she took sips of tea. The goddess picked up the small zombie girl and sat her in her lap, letting the child introduce “coco goat” milk to her. Things were going well overall.

Diluc watched as the kind hearted goddess set the child down and excused herself. She glided towards the terrace with a lingering sadness in her eyes. The esteemed Ragnvindr swiped the unopened bottle of dandelion his brother was reaching for and uncorked it. For a moment, the man was hesitant but his legs carried him to the open terrace anyways.

“Hello, Mister Diluc,” The goddess greeted him without turning to look at him.

“Pardon me,” He stopped at her side, “I don’t mean to intrude. This is a gift for you, Dawn Winery’s special.”

She glanced at him through her peripheral vision and held out her hand. He sighed and placed the bottle in her slender hand, watching her take a sip. She returned to staring at the stars above, sipping on the wine. The tycoon couldn’t help but stay by her side, seeing the look of longing she had. He felt that if he left her, she might just disappear again.

“It’s good,” She murmured, closing her eyes.

“Thank you,” Diluc tried to hold back the smile growing on his face, “I appreciate that you’re savoring it and not gulping it down like certain alcoholics.”

A snort escaped from the girl, “Barbatos the esteemed anemo archon and local alcoholic.”

Diluc snickered at her comment. She was so surreal. Everything about her felt dreamy, it was truly enchanting.

“I can leave you alone with your thoughts, I am deeply sorry if I disturbed you.” The man sighed and turned, but was stopped by her fingertips grazing his wrist.

“Diluc Ragnvindr, you are not a bother,” She sighed, “I am just a fool who would rather look for answers in constellations than face the reality before me. For me, not much time has passed since the Archon War. So you’ll have to forgive me if I seem cold, I simply am frustrated and depressed by the changes in Teyvat. I missed thousands of years and it will haunt me for a long while.”

Diluc’s jaw nearly hit the floor at the bluntness of the woman in front of him. He was empathetic to her situation, after distancing himself from everyone around him he had moments of sadness as well. He was also fascinated by her adoration for the stars.

“Do the stars give you answers?” He asked quietly.

She laughed, “Not always, but i’m able to read the constellations of an individual, even you Darknight Hero.”

“Oh, fucks sake that’s mortifying!” He groaned and then leaned in, “Wait. I have a constellation? How much do you know?”

“Your constellation is Noctua, and it’s fairly easy to read. I know that you pretend like everybody is bothering you at all times, because you don’t want to be disappointed again as your brother disappointed you after the loss of your father. You feel the need to be strong and never seen as weak, somewhere between inferiority complex and social anxiety.” Her words made his heart pound.

“But,” She continued smiling, “I understand. I also have daddy issues of sorts. And it often feels easier to put up those walls.”

Diluc was speechless. Their conversation was interrupted by clapping, as Kaeya made his way out of the shadows. Any vulnerability left Diluc at his brother’s entrance. He quickly exited the balcony seeing Kaeya’s smug expression.

“You are interesting,” his voice was almost sultry, “Tell me, what do you see from my constellation.”

The goddess gave him a sour look. She was quiet for a minute, eyes narrowed at the man. He waited, expectantly.

“Pavo Ocellus,” She sighed, “A complicated constellation. You do carry a heavy burden savior of Khaenri'ah. So much of you is shrouded in mystery, although that’s fitting isn’t it? I don’t know enough to see you as a threat, however your dishonest habits and constant tests you put people through seems irritating.”

“Oh, you’re bold,” He grinned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “Bold, beautiful, and busty. Just my type.”

“And you say things like that so casually,” She pushed his hand away, making her way back to the dining hall.

“Sir Kaeya, you should be careful saying such things. If you aren’t, somebody might fall for you. It’s like a honey trap. Give the wrong person the wrong idea and you’ll find yourself in a pinch.”

With that, she left the calvary captain alone with his thoughts. He was pulled in by her, but knew she was dangerous. His mind shifted back to Venti’s word earlier and he clicked his tongue. The bard may have been onto something.

When Kaeya returned to the banquet, the Celestial Archon was back to eating and being doted on. Xiao’s glare was locked in and targeted as Kaeya sat a short distance from the goddess. Kaeya merely winked at him, sticking his tongue out slightly. The yaksha’s hand flew to the spear by his side as he snarled at the cryo wielder. The goddess noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere and moved to the adepti’s lap. He blushed and scowled, but set his head on her shoulder.

The young woman’s affection towards Xiao didn’t go unnoticed and soon Zhongli was offering her tea while Venti offered her booze. Even Jean was attempting to seek some attention from the goddess. For once, Diluc and Kaeya had the same thought. That woman is troublesome.

[restlessfandoming]

campfire in the snow (chilumi)

hey friends back again with that fanfic writing :^)

this is my headcannon that childe absolutely suffers during the colder winter months as a hydro user (based on this post here) so SOMEONE’s gotta take care of him

in other words, a chilumi...chilumine? lumichilde? CHILDE X LUMINE sick fic !!!

thanks for reading as always <3

[Fic Masterlist]

“campfire in the snow”

“Ahchoo!” 

Lumine glanced at Childe, watching him sniffle miserably as they walked through the woods towards Mondstadt. 

The sky was overcast, giving the land the hazy gray glow of winter, and the chilly temperature felt stiff against shivering bodies—their coats only warming them slightly. Their shoes crunched in the snow from last night’s snowstorm; the promise of another snowfall hung in the air. 

“Are you sick?” Lumine asked. 

Childe gave a weak smile. “Of course not. In top shape as always.” Then, AHCHOO! Another sneeze. 

Paimon popped up in front of the Harbinger’s face, staring directly at his red nose. “You don’t sound so good to me. Paimon thinks you’re sick!”

“Hate to say it, but I definitely agree with Paimon,” Lumine said, ignoring the guide’s flailing arms of anger. “I think we need to get you somewhere warm.” 

The orange haired man playfully scoffed. “All I need to do is speak with the Grand Master of the Knights. Easiest mission of my—sniff—life.”

The traveler stopped in her tracks, and took off her own scarf, holding it out for Childe. “Then at least take this. I think you need this more than me.”

He looked at the scarf, eyes almost glazing over from yearning. He shook his head. “I’d never take something from a lady in need.” 

Lumine almost threw the scarf at him. “I’m not in need.”

“And she’s not a lady; have you seen her eat?”

“Paimon.”

“Paimon only tells the truth!”

“Thank you, really, but it’s just a little reaction to the colder weather. No big deal,” Childe assured, walking past Lumine’s offering. 

“What’s his problem?” she muttered, as he walked ahead. She heard him coughing in the distance. Why won’t he just take it? 

“He doesn’t seem so threatening now, does he?” Paimon said. “Paimon’s never seen him so weak…”

“Weak…,” Lumine echoed. 

Of course. 

Childe was a member of the Fatui. A Harbinger. A deadly fighter. Someone who used a bow despite it being his weakest weapon. 

He would never accept help like this, not when it made him feel weak. 

Lumine groaned in frustration. Stupid, stupid man. She continued on the path, picking up her pace to try and catch up to him. 

Except he was nowhere to be seen. The cold set into her body a little more. 

“Childe?” she called out. She ran down the path, eyes scanning every inch of the snowy road and fields. Then—

“Lumine, look!” Paimon shouted, speeding over to Childe’s body laying in the snow. 

The blonde traveler quickly scrambled to his side, flipping him over so his face wasn’t buried in the snow. He was drained of color, and his body felt ice cold. There was barely air leaving his nose. 

“Childe!” she called, shaking him. Wake up; please, wake up! 

He didn’t move. Lumine cursed. 

“What should we do?” Paimon asked frantically. 

Lumine took a deep breath in, then took off her own coat and scarf, placing it on Childe’s shoulders. She shuddered as the winter air nipped at her skin. 

“Now you’re gonna freeze to death!”

“It’s okay, Paimon,” she said, beginning to pick up the unconscious man. “We need to find somewhere to stop and start a fire.”

Paimon nodded worriedly, trying to (unsuccessfully) help Lumine shoulder Childe. The traveler eventually had his arm slung across her shoulders, and her arm gripped his waist. 

The three shuffled down the path, searching for any sort of shelter or firewood. As time went on, Lumine felt colder and colder, her whole body beginning to ache under the weight of Childe. Every so often, she would call out his name, hoping to hear a response, but there was nothing. 

As she crested the top of the hill, she spotted a tiny cabin at the base. Her ragged breath became concentrated as she mustered up the last of her energy to drag Childe there. 

“Almost...there…,” she strained out. No response. 

“Come on! You can do it!” Paimon cheered, though her scared expression betrayed her positivity. 

Lumine was mere feet away from the door when she heard a familiar high pitched and distorted laughter ring out behind her. 

An Abyss Mage! 

She turned to see it prancing around in its bubble, icicles swirling around it. 

Great, a Cryo Mage at that.

She set Childe down gently, then drew her sword. The blade shook in her hand, her teeth chattering. And she still felt winded. But I have to protect us. 

“Try to wake him up,” she told Paimon. The tiny fairy nodded and started tapping his shoulder.

Lumine charged the mage. Her blade scraped against the frozen barrier. She slashed frantically, making miniscule scratches. Around her, icicles fell as the mage chanted spell after spell. It took all of her will to continuously dodge the attacks. Charging enough energy, she unleashed a Palm Vortex. The shield cracked considerably. 

I can do this. She leapt at the mage, striking a few times, then casted a Gust Surge. The bubble crackled. A few more hits and the shield will be down. Then, it’ll be a piece of cake. 

She started concentrating, trying to summon another Palm Vortex, when an icicle came unexpectedly from the side, slamming into her. She crumpled to the ground. 

Nononono. She tried to get up, arms shaking, fighting the exhaustion in her body. 

The sinister laughter drew closer as the mage floated towards her. It raised its staff, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

“Hey!” 

Lumine looked past the mage. 

There stood Childe, hunched over, gripping his side, but standing. She almost cried out in relief. 

The mage made noises of anger, blinking away, then reappearing closer to Childe. 

The Harbinger raised his hand, droplets forming from his palm. 

No, Childe wait—! His Hydro elements didn’t stand a chance in this battle. 

The beginnings of his spear formed. But then, the water quickly crystallized, turning into shards of ice, and dropping to the ground. Childe winced painfully. 

Lumine jumped up on her feet, her energy renewed, and raced towards the mage. 

The mage raised its staff again, forming a huge icicle above Childe. He wouldn’t have enough time to move, especially in his condition. The shard started falling. 

“Childe!” Lumine screamed. 

He closed his eyes. The mask sitting atop his head began to glow. It crackled with purple electricity, and spiraled out, creating a barrier. The large icicle shattered on impact. The mage shrieked in confusion. 

Lumine took the distraction, and destroyed the Abyss Mage’s shield, then stabbed its critical point: right through its head. It vanished into the air. 

“Good job...traveler…,” Childe said between heavy breaths. His voice sounded distorted, his eyes and expression darker than before. The electro-shield came down, and Lumine watched as he fell to his knees, before rushing over, and catching him before he fell down completely.

She felt his forehead on her bare shoulder. “You’re burning up,” she whispered. 

He laughed weakly, before descending into coughs. “I hate to say it, but I think you were right,” he murmured. 

She saw Paimon opening the door to the cabin. “Okay, c’mon, we only have a little bit to go, then we can rest.” She felt him nod. 

When the three finally got into the cabin, Lumine laid Childe down, folding their scarves to make a pillow, and covering him with their coats. Paimon helped carry some pieces of wood to her, and soon a small fire was started. The guide disappeared back into her world to let Lumine rest. 

Lumine finally let out a sigh of relief. She looked over Childe, making sure he didn’t have any injuries she didn’t notice before. Her eyes fell on his mask, the mask that created the electro-shield earlier. 

Two elements? That shouldn’t be possible. Was he different, like her? Not of this world? There was certainly something dark about the mask, lurking beneath the surface. 

She reached for the mask. Childe’s hand weakly sprung up, catching her before she could touch it. His eyes were still closed.

“Now, now, we don’t touch things that aren’t ours—isn’t that right, girlie?” he teased quietly. His voice was hoarse, strained. 

“Even on the verge of death, you love teasing me,” Lumine responded. He still hadn’t let go of her wrist. “And anyways, I dragged you all the way here. You could at least tell me what that thing is.” 

He opened his eyes, narrowly. “Sorry, sweetheart, Fatui secret.” Lumine tried pulling her wrist away, but he held onto it, then shifted it so he was holding her hand. “Thank you, Lumine.” 

She blushed. “I couldn’t just leave you out there to die.” She looked at their intertwined hands. “Why did you take this mission anyways? You know it’s dangerous during the Cryo months for a Hydro user like you.” 

There was a long pause of silence. She almost thought he had fallen asleep. 

“It was for Mondstadt,” he finally replied. “I knew you would be here.”

She was feeling warm. Too warm. Is it the fire? Am I getting sick too?

“You should get some sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up,” she said, completely avoiding what he said. He nodded and closed his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. 

Lumine observed his sleeping face, how harmless he seemed right now. None of his antics. None of the mystery surrounding him. None of that lurking darkness. Just a sick, lonely boy. A sick, lonely boy completely vulnerable to the world. 

She started to get up, maybe to go cook some stew for him, but to her surprise, Childe held tightly to her hand. 

“Stay,” he said, hazily. His eyelids were fluttering, like he was struggling to open them. 

“...Okay.” Tired herself, she laid down next to him, tucking herself under the coats as well, glad for the warmth. 

He pulled her closer, letting go of her hand, and instead wrapped his arms around her waist, tucking his head under her chin, like he was listening to her heartbeat—a heartbeat that was surely beating way too fast right now. This sickness is making him delusional…

She was about to start protesting when he started speaking. 

“No one ever stays,” Childe whispered. It had been no louder than a small leaf rustling in the nighttime wind; Lumine might not have heard it if she wasn’t listening. Her heart broke a little. 

She wrapped her arms tightly around him. You’re not alone.

“I’m here,” she whispered back. “I’m right here.”

[versadies]

hello hello and congrats on 700 followers (seeing as you hit that milestone before I sent this in!) ❤️ from your 600 follower event prompt list, could I please request red roses + ganyu, where y/n is the one confessing, and separately monster w/ ganyu as well? thank you so much!! 🙏

SWEATER (drabble, songfic)

penpal: hope you like this!!

prompt: three || angst, in which one of you, an immortal, know that the other won’t be able to be with them forever.

sypnosis: although birthdays are supposed to be something to celebrate happily, you and ganyu knew that it was nothing but a sad reminder. 

warning/s: mentions of character death, talk of life, age and death, sad ganyu

note: i decided to put “xx” in the reader’s age because i was having a hard time deciding on whether or not i should put a specific age. anyways, enjoy the fic! 

i know we’ll never grow old together

cause you’ll never grow old to me,

“happy birthday, love.” ganyu said softly, placing down your cake in front of you. “i hope you like this cake, i made it with your favorite flavor.”

your heart melted at the sight of the cake your lover made you. “oh my... thank you so much.” you immediately grabbed your fork and have a slice of the cake.

you hum in delight when you first taste the cake. “it’s really good.” 

she smiles gratefully, a blush is evident on her cheeks. “i’m glad.”

you’re the pink in my cheeks and i’m scared

‘cause that means i’m a little bit soft.

“the others will arrive during dinner,” ganyu explains. “traveler and his companion would visit to celebrate as well.”

you look up at your spouse with a surprised look on your face. “from snezhnaya?” 

ganyu nodded in response. “they’re going back here to discuss matters with rex- mister zhongli and for your birthday.”

“...i see.” 

the both of you stayed silent. 

but don’t beat yourself up, bonnie. 

it wasn’t just the sun that i was hiding from. 

“oh that reminds me,” ganyu excuses herself to go to another room, only to walk back with a box. “i uh, have a gift for you.” she said.

“the cake wasn’t the gift?” you ask with an amused smile. 

“no,” she with a smile. “here, try to open it. i want my gift to be your first to open.” she then places the gift on top of your lap. 

you slowly unwrap the gift and open it, only to see a sweater. 

“...love, i do hope that you didn’t forget about liyue being a hot nation.” you said jokingly, bringing out the sweater from the box and stare at it in awe. “i must say though, this sweater looks comfy.”

ganyu laughs. “well.. i honestly didn’t know what to give you since i already gave you everything until yaoyao suggested me to make a sweater.” 

your eyes widens in surprise. “you know how to knit?” 

“well,” she looks away shyly. ���i may or may not have taken a few lessons from someone recently just for your gift.”

“what about your work-”

“i, uh.. multitasked.. but don’t worry about how much time i put, what matters is that you like it!” she says happily. 

before you could comment more, she interrupted. “i just want you to have something to hold on to whenever i’m away for work. i’m always busy with the qixing and... i don’t want you to feel so lonely.” she confess.

your eyes softens at her confession. “you don’t have to worry about me being lonely, ganyu. you know i’m happy to be with you and that you feel the same way with me.” you then place your hands on top of hers. “although you and i won’t last forever... i’m just happy that i got to be a part of your life and made you happy.”

ganyu couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. “oh, y/n..” she wraps her arms around you. “i’m happy that i get to be a part of your life, as well.” 

you hug her back with a relieved smile. “that’s good.”

suddenly you heard knocking by the front door. 

we were messed up kids who taught ourselves how to live

and i’m still scared that i’m not good enough.

“ganyuuu!!! y/nn!! it’s us, aether and paimon!” paimon said from the other side of the door. 

the both of you part away from the hug. “i’ll get it.” ganyu said before heading down to the front door. 

as you watched your lover greeting your friends by the door, you couldn’t help but glance at the certain number of your cake.

“happy xxth birthday, y/n!” 

i’ve always felt like a monster, long before i was bit.

only seen as a monster, let’s just say i’m used to it.

“...happy birthday, y/n.” ganyu greeted, kneeling down in front of you with yet another cake. “sorry that i’m late.” 

she places a bouquet of glaze lilies and silk flowers beside your grave. “i was busy looking for the sweater. i didn’t notice that it was on your old room this whole time.” she explains with a sad smile. 

“the others will arrive here soon to greet you,” she added. “traveler... already found his sister at last so they’re away from teyvat. paimon will visit on their behalf.” 

she brings out the sweater from her bag, still staring at your grave intently. “i still have your favorite sweater. i made sure it’s clean and being taken care of.”

“our dear friends...” she takes a deep breath. “they have grown a lot. xiangling’s now the boss of wanmin restaurant, chongyun and xingqiu are still best friends as always.. xinyan is becoming more famous... mister zhongli and miss hu tao are still working and ningguang is still as strong as ever.”

and i grew tough ‘cause love it only hurt me back

but loving you is a good problem to have and i’m used to that but i could get used to this. 

as she continues to talk, ganyu finds herself hugging your sweater. 

“everyone grew so fast...” she whispers. “and i’m still the same.” 

she closes her eyes to prevent herself from crying. she didn’t want you to get sad over her overwhelmed tears.

ganyu knew that this was bound to happen in the early years of your relationship— she knew this every single day. from the adepti reminding her, the pity looks she sees in those who knew of her state, and from your sad look whenever your birthday comes to a close.

even though ganyu prepared herself for your death, it still hurts.

it hurts that she can’t follow where you went after your death. it hurts that she can’t just forget the memories you two made together. it hurts that you’re not the only one she’s going to lose from mortality. everything just hurts.

but she has to live on. for rex lapis, for you, and for all the people she cares for.

she clings onto your sweater tightly, smelling the scent that you used to have whenever she hugs you.

“i miss you… so so much.”

for the record i stole your sweater,

‘cause i just wanted you close to me.

[definitelynotsuzumi]

Zapped to Another World [Chapter 4}

I can finally update now that its school break! Thank you all for your patience!

[Masterlist]

Aether wiped off a stray droplet of sweat, weaving the plant fibres into the shape of a lantern. It has only been 2 days into the festival and already, he was swamped with the task of creating more lanterns to take to people who were too far from the harbour.

“Aether, Aether look! Look at this! Doesn’t it look like Paimon?” His white-haired floating fairy chattered excitedly, waving around what looked like an amber on a stick.

“What’s that, Paimon?” Aether paused in his lantern making to give the stick a once-over.

It was artfully sculpted to look like the said fairy and it smelled incredibly sweet.

“The lady said it was Karamel! I got another for you too!” Paimon excitedly fished out a star-shaped one. Cautiously, Aether gave it a lick. It tasted warm and sweet. It reminded him of home. Lumine…

“You’ve been at that lantern for the past 2 hours. C’mon, take a small break.” While Paimon may have been wrong about several things before, Aether knew that she was right on this fact.

“Alright, let’s have a break then.”

After 3 days(and night) of walking and riding on the back of wagons, you had finally reached the gates of Liyue.

Liyue looked spectacular with the lanterns adorning every corner of the street. You were in awe. You thought it looked beautiful in the game, but in the flesh…It was more than you could ever dream of.

Each lantern had its own unique design. You could hear the drums and cymbals crashing as performers danced under a giant suit that looked like the Adepti of Liyue. The scent of grilling fish and sweets wafted through the thick hair of the harbour. It felt so homely, almost like one of the carnivals you had attended.

“Woah…Ow!” You bumped into a ginger-haired man. Tartaglia.

Cold reality slapped you across your face. The Fatui is everywhere.

“Oh! Sorry, are you alright?” Concern lit his handsome features. If you were not careful…You very much wanted to pull away your hand but you hesitantly let Tartaglia pull you up. You definitely did not want the man suspecting you about anything.

“Uhm, uh yeah sorry, I wasn’t looking. This is my first time seeing all of this…” You tried to gulp down your fear of the man.

“I feel you! Hahaha, are you new here? Well, you must be. I have not seen such a pretty lady like yourself around these parts before.”  Despite your fear of the Fatui, you felt your face flush in response to his flirting.

“Yeah, very much so, I’m afraid. I’m looking for a friend of mine. About yeh high and has a white floating fairy by his side.” You gestured a rough height.

“Oh! What a small world!” Tartaglia beamed at you. He seemed so innocent as he aimed a bright and friendly smile at you, but you knew better.

“Uh…Do you know him, by any chance?”

“Know him? Well of course! I dare say that he is one of my good friends! Come, come, I’ll take you to him!”

He gestured you to follow him, and reluctantly you did so.

Tartaglia had never seen someone so shy and scared before. Is it because I am part of the Fatui?

You looked so innocent when he bumped into you at the gates. The way you gaped and looked around Liyue like you’ve never seen it before… It almost reminded him of Teucer and his sisters in Shneznaya.

“Please don’t be afraid of me. While I admit, I am not that nice of a guy, I promise I won’t do anything bad to you.” Seeing you stiffen at his words, Tartaglia felt a particularly large drop of sweat dribbling down.

Did that just backfire?

“Childe?! What are you doing here?!” A familiar high pitched voice reached your ears. You could feel her disgust all the way from your place.

Yup, that was Paimon. By her side, was Aether, with his arms akimbo.

“Relax, I mean no harm. I bumped into this cute little girlie over here and thought I’d help her out in finding you.”

“Finding us? Wait what? Who are you?” Paimon frowned.

“Uh...Uhm I’m (Y/N)…Please let me follow you on your journey!” You bowed 90 degrees, hoping you could hide the flush on your cheeks. You’ve always dreamed of this moment but now that it is in your face, you felt your tongue being weighed down by iron ore.

“What?!” The sheer shock on their faces would have been comical under other circumstances, but right now, it did not do favours for your nerves.

“If…You would let me join? I’m sorry, was that too forward of me? My dad always talks about you and I thought maybe, if I joined, he would-“

“That’s okay. Please, it would be great to celebrate the Lantern Rite with more friends.” Aether fixed you with a warm smile that felt genuine.

“How about me?” Tartaglia winked at Aether.

“No.”

Aether felt slightly apprehensive when he saw you with Tartaglia, but taking in your clothes and the lack of the Fatui insignia and signature mask on your person, he was certain that you were innocent.

“So, where are you from?” Paimon asked as your group leisurely walked through the bustling streets.

Seeing Tartaglia by your side, you decided to tell a white lie.

“Mondstadt! My dad’s an Adventurer at the guild so he’s told me all about what you did!” You definitely felt better when Aether fell in step with you, walking and talking by your side. You couldn’t help but feel bad as you realized the amount of lies you were telling was increasing.

“Wow, we’re famous!” Paimon grinned at Aether.

“Yeah! You were amazing in that battle with the Stormterror! I thought…Maybe I could grow stronger if I journeyed with you. Ah, but don’t worry, I can cook and clean-“

“You can cook?!” Paimon began to salivate.

You nodded. You were able to cook a few dishes, thanks to your Home Ec classes.

“Can we have a taste?!”

You bit your lip as you surveyed the ingredients you had. A handful of sunsettias, berries, flour, sugar, butter and half a bottle of milk. Looking at your group waiting expectantly outside of Wanmin Restaurant, you smiled.

‘Guess I’ll let them have a taste of Dorayaki.’

Xiangling had also let you borrow a little of their ingredients in case you did not have enough to feed your group. Of course, you had paid her a generous tip for lending you her ingredients.

Combining some eggs, sugar and honey that Xiangling had, you whisked it up the best you could with a fork. You carefully passed the flour through a noodle sieve into the mix. You could feel his stare piercing you from behind as you tried to focus on cooking.

Mixing it all together, you fashioned a mini ice box with your Cryo powers to rest your mix and turned to making the sweet filling. With a sharp knife, you chopped up the sunsettias and berries and sat them in a pot of sugar.

You heated the sugar and fruits together, humming a soft tune as you fished out a mandarin orange and squeezed its juices into the berry jam you had made. Sliding the jam into a clean jar, you sat it in the ice box you had made.

Taking your rested mix, you added and mixed in a tablespoon of water before readying a skillet, greasing it over with butter.

Slowly but surely, you created a stack of perfectly brown and fluffy pancakes. Taking your cool jar of sunsettia and berry jam, you spooned out equal amounts of it onto the pancakes before pressing another pancake on top.

It was done! You placed the still warm dorayaki onto 3 plates, serving it to Aether, Paimon and Tartaglia.

“Woah…It smells…Incredible!” Paimon dove into the dorayaki right away. Paimon made the dorayaki look delicious as she enthusiastically gobbled down her treat.

You noticed Xiangling’s eyes glitter as she stared down at the dorayaki. You looked down at your own share. You honestly wanted to dig in too, but seeing her doe eyes made you sigh and surrender your portion to the young female chef.

“R-Really?! I can have this?!” You nodded with a soft smile as Xiangling leapt for joy before biting down. You did not think it was possible, but the light in her eyes shone even brighter as she tasted your dish.

“Say, wanna join the Wanmin Restaurant instead?” Xiangling asked, her bright smile spreading wide across her lips and eyes.

“…I’ll have to decline, I wanna travel with Aether more!” You sheepishly turned down the offer. Aether and Tartaglia clearly enjoyed the treat as you noticed them both licking off the jam on their fingers.

“I don’t know about you, but I accept her into our travel group!” Paimon declared as Aether laughed, wiping off the last of the jam on her chin.

“Hey, how about me?” Tartaglia grinned hopefully.

“Nope.”

“Still, a no from me.”

Tartaglia then turned his attention to you, trying to use his puppy dog eyes on you.

“Hey, (Y/N), how about me?”

You silently turned away from his gaze.

“Why are you three so cruel?”

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 3.4

Two weeks later.

"Did Xiao ever say when he'd return?"  You caught up to Aether at the front of the group.  "I'm getting worried.  And what about Mr. Zhongli?"  The team had just entered Liyue Harbor to inspect three nameless treasure boxes that you'd found all over western Liyue.

"Nope.  Not a clue.  But we can stop by the funeral parlor to look for Zhongli if you want."  

"Paimon thinks you worry too much.  The Vigilant Yaksha can handle himself just fine."

"I-I know that!"  You spoke a little too loud and a few pedestrians gave you the side eye.  The tips of your ears burned red.

"I have some business to attend to regarding the winery.  I'll meet you tomorrow morning."  Diluc walked off without another word.

"He's not a people-person just like Xiao, don't you think?" Paimon nudged you suggestively.

"What're you saying, exactly?"

"It seems our emergency food forgot her place," Aether defended you despite his urge to tease your urgency over Xiao's return.

"Stop treating Paimon like that!  I am not food!"

"She's not wrong though," Childe cozied up to you.  "A little eager to see Xiao again, are we?"

"I already told you guys, it's not like that!  I'm just antsy because he said he'd be back soon and it's been a few weeks now--"

"Sounds like you really like this Xiao person!" Bennett chirped.  "I wonder what he's like?"  He swung his arms at his side, completely carefree despite the soreness in his previously-broken arm.  It had healed within a day because of his healing abilities.

"You guys are just teasing me because I'm the only girl on the team!" You pouted and crossed your arms.

"Oh come now, don't be like that." Childe put an arm around your shoulder.  "What else did Xiao tell you before you left? How much he loves you and how much he'd miss you while you were away?  If you want, I can tell you those things too, ojou-chan〰"

"Cut it out, Childe!"  You snapped and pushed him away.  That's when you noticed a few strangers were whispering and pointing at the Harbinger.  "Hey--"

"Ah, don't concern yourself with them."  Childe returned to a more serious nature and continued to walk behind Aether.   "Let's just say I'm not as welcome in Liyue as the Traveler here."

"That's because he kicked your butt!" Paimon taunted.

"Do not forget that I've grown stronger in recent months.  If you are so certain he could defeat me a second time, I'm more than happy to prove the two of you wrong."

"Why does it feel so tense all of a sudden?"  Bennett whispered in your ear.  

"They have a weird rivalry going."

"Ah."

"We're here--annnd it's closed," Aether's shoulders drooped once the group reached the antique shop.  "'Open at 6p.m.'  Great."

"That just means we have time to relax! Quick, Paimon wants to go eat some classic Liyue dishes!"  She dragged Aether with her before he could protest.  

"Uh...we'll meet here at six!"  He called over his shoulder.

"I still don't understand how she could eat so much," Childe shrugged.  "Well then, I'm off.  I have some business to take care of at the bank.  See you soon."

"Guess it's just you and me?"  Bennett laughed nervously.

"Wanna eat lunch first?"  

Your offer lit his eyes up.  The two of you had practically become best friends during these past few weeks, and he found it a relief that you weren't phased by his bad luck even when it did backfire on you.  To think he had found such a great friend and adventure team no less--was incredibly motivating.

After several hours of eating and checking out all the harbor had to offer, you and Bennett ended at the docks.  The sun was nearly setting and cast an orange glow on its subjects.  You dangled your feet over the edge and soon enough he did the same.  

"I had so much fun today! Thank you for showing me around!"  Bennett ate the dango you had bought for him.

"Mhm!"  You didn't feign cheerfulness, but by now it was exaggerated.  Bennett caught on.

"Hey, are you okay?  You've been acting weird since this morning."

"I don't know.  I just feel lonely without him."

"The Xiao guy?  I get how that feels.  I'm always lonely," he sympathized.  "You can rant to me if you want.  I'm a good listener."

"See, that's the thing.  I'm not sure if it's safe for me to talk about it with anyone."  There were brief moments in the night in which a gentle breeze would caress your skin, but they were briefer than the first and infrequent.  Your heart ached and missed the comfort of knowing he was watching over you the longer he was gone.

Bennett quietly pondered your words while he swung his feet in the air.  "If there's anything I know about thoughts and feelings, it's that they'll tear you apart the longer you keep them bottled up."

"Yeah...you're right."  You let out a long sigh and lay your back against the cold wooden planks.  "I want to get closer to him, but it feels like something bad will happen if I do."

"What do you mean?"

"He says we might be in danger, but he won't elaborate on it.  I feel like unless that danger is eliminated, I won't have a chance to get to know him fully."

"I see."  Bennett copied your position and reached toward the sky. "Well, I think--"

"There you are," Childe entered your field of vision.  "We're all waiting for you.  The antique shop is open now."

...........................................................

"--These markings are those of Liyue," Linlang of the antique shop continued to explain as you approached the rest of the group.  "You can see inscribed here is the anecdote of Azhdaha.  They say Azhdaha was a dragon spawned by a convergence of the spirits of Geo in Liyue, and that even Rex Lapis could not easily subdue it.  Rex Lapis thus summoned three adepti to his aid, and together they created a cavernous realm.  Rex Lapis then battled the creature, luring it into the cavern, before ordering the adepti to seal the entrance, trapping Azhdaha within.  

"The patterns on the things you brought seem to describe the three adepti joining hands to create the cavern.  This crane must be the adeptus Mountain Shaper, and this deer might be Moon Carver...But this last one...huh?  It seems like this pattern has been intentionally ground away by someone to the point where I can't make anything out.  Who was this third adeptus?  Eh, no matter; this is beyond me.  Regardless, it is a complete set.  Would you like to sell them or keep them as keepsakes?  I can make a generous offer."

"We'd like to sell them!"  Paimon nearly yelled with excitement over the potential mora.

"Wait! May I see the third artifact?" The clerk held it out to you, and you examined the damaged box in your hands.  Something about this box called to you, though you didn't know why you felt that way.  You were mesmerized as you rubbed the ground-out etchings in the material with your thumb.

"Do you know something about these?" Childe suddenly became much more interested in the conversation and leaned toward you.

"I've never seen these before, but...I feel like this one is familiar."

"But there's nothing readable on it," Bennett remarked.  "How can you think it's familiar if there aren't any distinguishing features?

"I...don't know..."  She said these were depictions of three adepti, right? Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper...Could it have been a depiction of Cloud Retainer? But why would it be scratched out if that were the case?  Maybe it's one of the yakshas?  W-wait a second--

"Do you want to keep it?" Aether pulled your head out of the clouds and you lost your train of thought.  

"No, that's okay."  You placed the box on the counter, mind wondering once again as LinLang explained her offer to Aether.  Hopefully you'd get the chance to look at the artifact set again.  Maybe you could ask Xiao about it when he returns--wait.  Your eyes locked onto the damaged box again.

Was it possible that he was the one depicted on the box?

The theory made sense...The Guardian Yaksha worked in the dark, and he wasn't really known in the mortal world.  Festivals were thrown for the adepti, but no one mentioned or prayed to him.  He could have scratched the box himself, or it could have been Rex Lapis's doing.  Your hands curled into determined fists and you walked away from the group before anyone could notice.

Xiao!  You silently called his name once you returned to the docks along the harbor.  Xiao!  I know you can hear me.  No response; the wind was absent.  Why is it that I'm running into more things relating to adepti ever since you departed?  You dunk your hand into the ocean and traced a figure-eight in the water as you thought to yourself.  We found some interesting boxes with three adepti etched into them.  It's strange; one of them is scratched out, but I feel connected to it, almost like it's connected to you.  Weird, huh?  You shook your head at yourself.  What a silly idea, to think that one of the mighty yakshas could hear you.  I'll leave you alone now. I'm sure you're getting tired of listening to me ramble every day.  Or maybe you can't hear me at all in the first place.

A hand suddenly landed on your shoulder.

"Xiao?" Your head snapped behind you in high hopes that the adeptus had returned.

"Ouch," Childe winced and grabbed his chest as if he got hurt.  "It's just lil ol' me."  He took the liberty to sit next to you.

"A-ha, you scared me there.  Sorry."

"You really like him, huh?"

"I guess so.  I don't really know what to do with myself since he left."  You watched the moon rise over the horizon.

"Do you know where he was headed? I can go find him for you."  You shook your head.  "I'm surprised he didn't take you with him.  The two of you were practically attached at the hip."

Hm?  The hair rose on the nape of your neck.  Something about his words was off.

"Childe, do you know something about why he left?"  Your eyes left the moon and locked onto your questionable teammate.

"Whatever do you mean, ojou-chan?" He was good at feigning ignorance, but you didn't fall for it this time.

"Tartaglia."

"Now why would I be interested in the adepti?  Why are you so suspicious of me all of a sudden?"  His eyes narrowed dangerously.  "If you're looking for a reason to fight me, all you have to do is ask and I'll say yes.  I'd love to fight you and go all-out.  It's been awhile and I could use the exercise."

You opened your mouth and shut it.  You couldn't throw around accusations like they were Childe's Fatui money, after all.  If your suspicions were unfounded, it would cause strain in the team.  And he was true to his word on fighting; he could take you out in a single blow if he thought it was necessary.  You thought carefully about this and decided to drop it.

[salami2]

← Chapter 1 →

They Call It Teyvat…

⇥ fem!reader x genshin men ⇤

(n) a homesickness for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.

Synopsis: It felt like a dream when you first arrived to this odd land. No clue on how you got there- let alone leave. Soon enough, you met Paimon and started the journey of finding all the archons of Teyvat. Along the way, you catch the eyes of numerous men… to your demise.

Word Count: 1.6k

Warning(s): Nothing really! Mentions of Venti, Dvalin, dresses, etc.

A/N: ITS FINALLY HERE! I’m sorry, I closed the requests just so I could work on this crap. Anyways this is just pt. 1 to many chapters. Enjoy!! Really though, enjoy!

“Hey… I need you to wake up now. I know it might be hard…”

A thousand voices rang through your mind, getting lost in a sea of voices. The one that called out was different then the rest. Calmer, quieter… more desperate.

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake-“

Your mind jolted awake, sweat growing on your forehead and body. What a horrible feeling of waking up to a nightmare, you thought. The voices were still ringing around your mind.

The feel of spikes underneath your fingertips convinced you that this cushioning was not your bed. You came up from the grassy ground, dirt dug deep into your nails.

“I must’ve thought I was clutching my bed sheets..” You thought while scraping away the grim.

But you were right. This in fact was not your bed- nor your bedroom. No. In fact, this was a grassy area in a not too familiar scenery.

It was lushious. Like a calm summer's day. Dew drops on the bright green grass made it almost sparkle in the daylight. And the smell of rain could be smelled. Fresh in the air.

Oh, this was most definitely not your home…

Goodness what were you doing here? Your mind tried to trail back to what you could remember. And you could only think of bits and pieces.

You remembered pitch black; owls howling in the nearby trees. Remembering that you cried asleep.

“Thinking back isn’t going to help me, wherever the hell I am…”

You thought. Inside, you were panicking. This was not your home. It was strange, nothing looked familiar to you. And yet it felt familiar.

This place, this time. It feels too nostalgic for you to say it’s new. To say it’s unfamiliar.

“Oh, my god it looks like I’m stuck in a.. fantasy novel! This scenery is gorgeous.”

It suddenly occurred that you were on a cliff side. You carefully trudged over to the end of the cliff, looking over to see the view. What you could see amazed you..

There were walls. They stood so tall and grand. Peaking over those walls was something to be expected.

It was a city, from the looks of it. Hiding away behind those walls. With even bigger towers and buildings. With windmills! And massive buildings in the back. Maybe they were the important ones.

Wait, what were you doing just standing here like a fool??

There’s civilization out there! And all you could do was gawk like a fish? You embarrassed yourself. Still- that place looked nothing like you’ve ever seen before.

Your first thought was somewhere in Europe. The scenery seemed that way. And from first glance, Germany? Yes. The structures would explain it all!

“heeeeeyy!”

A faint sound ringed from the distance. Coming from the bottom of the cliff. From what you could make out, it was almost like a child.

Children? No, it can’t be. The voice was quite childish, but it couldn’t be. And where they calling out to you?

Suddenly the voice started to grow; louder and louder. Until you could see the face behind the voice.

Whatever it was was tired, screaming, and flying right into you.

Wait-

You fell back with the force from the flying child. The thing fell into your arms, swirls in its eyes and a red bump on its forehead.

It didn’t take long for the thing to wake up, though. Immediately flying up to your confused expression.

“S/O! There you are! Paimon’s been trying to find you everywhere, and this is where you’ve been hiding!?”

It’s face came inches away from your own, huffing in frustration. So far all you could get was that this thing was named Paimon. And it was angry, for some reason.

“I-I’m sorry, Paimon,” you managed to get out, “I just wanted to see the scenery. Y’know?”

She huffed. “And you better be! Now c’mon, I brought you a simple dress for you to wear. Be grateful Paimon is such an amazing companion.”

The flying girl looked proud of herself. Thinking it was stupid of her to be proud of a pointless feat. But then again, she was quite small and frail. You’ll let this slide.

She was right about one thing: you needed to change.

Peering down to your legs, you noticed the attire you were sporting right now. A… hospital gown, from the looks of it.

The fine dress she had picked out for you was decent. Basic and brown with a leather belt. Perfect for being unnoticed. Along with a satchel with simple embroidery. You felt a little worried as to where Paimon might have gotten this from…

“Thanks, Paimon. Uh- should I change here, or?” You asked. She puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

“NO! Are you a savage or something!? Here, Paimon will take you to somewhere remote and then we can go to that city over there. Uhhh, what was it called? Oh yeah, it’s called-“

“Mondstadt. It’s called Mondstadt…”

Rigid bark against your palm went smoothly along the trunk of the tree.

You and your lovely companion, Paimon, had found a spectacle that was still unfamiliar and new. An old statue resting underneath a grand, oak tree: just sitting there while the world went by.

Standing underneath it alone made you feel intimidated. Wondering how the hell a tree could get so big.

“Wow… damn, I wonder how old this girl is..” you said to yourself. “Hey, Paimon? Can you tell me where we are again?”

“Uhhh, Paimon doesn’t know the name. Oh! But Paimon remembers they call this continent Teyvat! That’s about it, though.”

You hummed to yourself.

“Teyvat… wait, a continent? Then that means there’s countries inside of this place. Or whatever this world follows.”

Before you and Paimon left, you had mentioned Mondstadt before she could. Funny- you had never known of that city before and yet the word seemed to fly out of your mouth.

Paimon floated up near your shoulder, looking panicked and scared.

“S/O! I saw something weird in the sky!” She exclaimed, taking a small hand and pointing up towards the clear, blue sky.

You stepped away from the tree to see what she was rambling about.

It was like an instant did the flying green object go by. Leaving you and your floating companion speechless.

“AHHHH- DID YOU SEE THAT!?” Paimon exclaimed while tugging on your sleeve.

You couldn’t help thinking to yourself. “Huh. You don’t see that everyday-“ still in awe at what just happened. “C’mon Paimon! We have to follow whatever that thing is!”

She gasped dramatically. “Follow!? Did you SEE how scary that thing was??”

You rolled your eyes as you stepped up the pace and started jogging. “Paimon, if it is what I think it is; that thing that was in the sky might just be a dragon!”

“AND HOW DOES THAT MAKE IT ANY BETTER!?”

While she groaned in detestment, Paimon quickly trailed behind you. You- being determined to find that dragon- kept running towards the direction it was going.

It took a while, but you stopped in the middle of a thick forest. Hearing grunts of an animal getting louder and louder as you peaked from a nearby tree.

What you saw shocked you; to say the least.

A boy, arms reaching forward near the snout of the dragon. Smoke coming out of its nostrils.

“… Don’t be afraid.” He said, trying to calm the beast.

“… It’s alright now. I’m back.”

You felt something happening crawling on your skin, arms. It was odd. Looking away and at your arms, you finally saw. Eyes widening.

Turquoise veins appeared- running down your arms. Glowing for what seemed like a split second. Soon it stopped. Your veins, disappearing.

The dragon roared. It echoed across the entire forestry. The young boy's arms went to cover himself as the dragon tried to attack.

“Who’s there!?” He called out. The dragon, now enraged, spread its coloured wings and flew off to who knows where. While the boy vanished with a bright light.

The same bright light that you encountered…

“Oh, my god… what the fuck was that?” You were too staggered to mind tongue. Looking back at your arms.

“A-are you ok? Your arms…” Paimon said under her breath.

Ok? Ok wasn’t the word. You were… lost, scared, thunderstruck, worried, anxious, terrified to your wits ends.

But all you said was-

“I remember.”

“So wait, Paimon is confused-“

The day still burned brightly as you walked down yet another gravel path.

“Confused about what? I remember. I remember being in a… hospital. Yeah- a hospital. Also, there were people surrounding me and I just… passed out.”

Your face while rembersing showed Paimon enough to know what you were gonna do.

“Paimon… I have to get back,” you said, “I- I remember, there’s something I need to do!”

The flying toddler was confused and hazy. Get back? Another world?? She didn’t know how to respond to what you were saying at all.

“Uhh- well, if you need to get back home, Paimon might know a way…”

“Really?? What do you got?” You persisted.

“Well, all over Teyvat they mention these deities called the seven archons…”

“Deities…” you mumbled under your breath, thinking out loud.

“A-and they created all the elements of the visions you see today. So, if anybody can get you home, maybe they can…?”

Suddenly, your hands flew to Paimon’s shoulders. A shining beam plastered across your face. Oh yeah, Paimon was scared.

“I’m in a new world full of magic and mystery, trying to find seven gods that might take me months, years, or even DECADES to find… LET’S DO THIS, PAIMON!”

You scurried away. Seemingly towards the massive towers you could see in the distance. Paimon gasped, catching up to you.

“A-are you crazy!? No way you could ever do that! Paimon could never dream of such a… ridiculous thing!!”

Alas, you could not hear her over the feeling of pure excitement and adventure in your eyes. This is just like in the books! Where there’s magic and powers and hidden romance- everything you loved to read!

“Too late! C’mon, let’s get to Mondstat quickly so we can find the first god!”

You ran off ahead. Leaving an annoyed Paimon to trail after you.

Oh yeah, this was most definitely gonna be a journey to remember…

@salami2

[wolfprincesszola]

Home (Childe x Reader)

Ahahahaha, I should probably update my followers on what I’m writing now. You can check my fandoms here, but I guess I’m gonna go on a genshin impact x reader arc now and go crazy? Idk man, but it’s been a while. Sorry y’all, but I promise I’m alive. Anyways, enjoy! ——————– Summary: You get injured and when Childe is the first visitor you have while you’re recovering, you can’t help but think about him.

Trigger Warnings: None

Content Warnings: Swearing ——————– You blinked as soon as you woke up. The light was too bright as you started to adjust to the sight of the room in the back of the pharmacy.

You sat up too quickly, feeling pain in your lungs and you groaned as you sat back down.

“Oh you’re awake, I’m glad. Try not to sit up, as you’re still recovering.” Baizhu looked over at you, “The other two are in the other room. I can go and call-”

“No, it’s okay. No need.” You replied stiffly, “Thank you though.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah...just give me a few minutes alone. I’m still a bit...weak and I don’t know if I’m ready to look at them just yet.” You replied, clutching your aching head.

“Do you need some painkillers?”

“Yes please,” You replied.

When he had left, you looked around, ignoring the pulsating headache.

Through the curtain, you could see Childe and Zhongli laughing in the other room. You smiled, glad that they were both alright.

“Here you go,” Baizhu replied, giving you the herbs for your headache.

“Thank you.”

“Of course, just let me know when you’re ready to see visitors.”

You nodded, smiling. You took the painkillers before looking at the rest of the Traveller’s adventure team rushing over to Childe.

It was hard to feel so out of place in your own found family, and yet there you were, feeling as if you were intruding on a special moment.

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

“Hey…” Childe smiled at you.

“Hey,” You replied hoarsely. “I’m surprised you got out earlier.”

“Well...I also wasn’t refusing the healing from Qiqi...nice kid.”

“Yeah...” You replied.

“Are you doing okay?” Childe asked as he sat down on the chairs. “You didn’t allow anyone to visit you the first day you woke up.”

“I couldn’t even open my eyes from the splitting headache I had. I didn’t want anyone to see me like that.”

“That’s...not what I meant,” Childe replied.

“Yeah...I know.” You sighed, “You meant it in a more mental state.”

“Well?”

“I’m okay.” Childe replied, “You?”

“I’m recovering, but I’m doing much better than you.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” You rolled your eyes at the Fatui Harbinger sitting next to you.

Childe laughed and you fooled around for a while before a comfortable silence came between you two.

“I was really scared, Y/N...that I would never get to tell you...”

“Tell me what?” You hummed.

“That you don’t ever have to feel like you have to hide something from the team. Your walls are up and you don’t feel like you can trust us as a found family just yet, but I promise that I will be there for you through everything. Just like you’ve always been there for me.”

“Thank you, Childe,” You whispered, your voice betraying your thoughts of believing the man.

“When I woke up...Zhongli was by the edge of my bed, eating his signature slow-cooked bamboo shoot soup. You, on the other hand, woke up to no one. Just a nurse taking care of you.”

“You saw me stir, huh?” You snorted.

“I did. The pure pain as you tried to sit up was quite amusing.”

“Oh shut up, Childe. Like you weren’t in pain when you first woke up.”

“Fair enough...but I had someone there. I had the whole team there. Not even Paimon came to watch you and they hate me more than you. You’ve been there for all of us, and I’m sorry that no one was there to visit you so you felt safe when you woke up.”

You hid your face, not wanting the tears to spill out. You had felt so alone, but you were used to this feeling, so why did it hurt so much every time it happened?

“there’s no reason to apologize.” You muttered, “You woke up first. Of course, they’d want to check in on you first.”

“You woke up minutes after I did. That doesn’t justify-”

“I know.” You whispered, “I just want a reason not to cry.”

Childe just pulled you in a hug and you squeezed tightly.

That’s what you were missing. Childe was the missing piece. The one you had been missing for all your life that you couldn’t quite find the words to describe.

Your home.

[teyvattherapist]

Another one, set directly after the one where Sandrone finds Childe~ :)

-

Sandrone-- by a feat of miracle-- snuck Ajax into his Academy room and squirreled the boy away into the cramped bathroom while he snuck into the infirmary again to retrieve a first aid kit. When he returned, Ajax had stripped off his coat and scarf, leaving him in a shirt that was more holes than fabric and his bloodstained shorts. Wordlessly, Sandrone handed him an energy bar he'd swiped from the cafeteria and wetted a towel, rubbing away the dirt and grime that layered Ajax like a second skin. As the dirt washed away, the wounds were brought into stark relief. Hundreds of them, layered over each other and crisscrossing Ajax's skin like gaping mouths. Some were fully healed, nothing but thin, silvery lines. Others were an angry red and purple, bruised and swollen around the edges. All had clean cuts, suggesting an expert hand behind the blade. "Who did this?" Sandrone asked. He wasn't really expecting an honest answer, anyway. But Ajax was always one to surprise him. "The Abyss. I fell into a hole in the ground, and I was taken away to somewhere." "Was it scary?" Sandrone didn't look up from his ministrations, choosing to focus on the mangled mess that was Ajax's knees (how hard did he fall?) "It was," Ajax sighed dreamily. "But the things I saw down there... it spoke to me. The Abyss spoke to me, Sulien. It told me things that scared the everloving hell out of me, but I'm grateful to them." "Why?" Sandrone finally looked up. There were a hundred questions packed into that one word. Why are you still alright? Why are you thanking the Abyss? Why do you sound so different?

And from the bloodied fragments of Ajax's face, the eye of the Abyss stared back at him, milky and purple. Ajax smiled, a pristine tear in the mangled visage of a beast rebuilt from the ground up. "So I can protect you."

IM SCREAMING, ALMOND, THIS IS

KJFDSKJDFS??

SULIEN BEING A SNEAKY LIL SHIT IS SO TRUE, THAT'S JUST HOW HE WAS-

BUT THE SO I CAN PROTECT YOU?? SO I CAN PROTECT YOU!! OH MY GOSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. THE ?? JFDDF YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!! I KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW THE LOFE, BUT THAT FITS SO WELL IM SCREAMING

as promised. Part two of Desiderium under the cut.

Another nightmare, another sleepless night. This nightmare was real though, it wasn’t like his usual ones, the ones where he was bound by chains and forced to- No, he didn’t want to think about those. His mind wandered to the latest one. He had given thought to Zhongli’s words, he was longing for somebody. But who? The God had never brought it up again, so he didn’t know. It had to be Lumine right? She was pretty, sure. Strong, good with a sword, her eyes were a nice shade of gold. But something still felt off.

He needed to take a walk.. He stopped when he reached the living room, blinking at.. Lumine? Asleep on his couch? The blonde stirred and pushed herself up some, blanket falling around her shoulders. “Sandrone? Ah- your mask- I- Sorry.” She averted her eyes and Sulien realised he wasn’t wearing his mask. This was his house! Of course he wasn’t wearing his mask. He cleared his throat.

“I thought I heard voices.” Ajax commented from the hallway, hair messier than ever from sleep. “I hope it's alright I invited Lumine to stay with us while she’s in Liyue Harbour. It's closer than the inn.” Ajax explained, seeing the panicked body language only he could understand on his fellow harbinger made him feel bad that he forgot to bring it up. Paimon snored away on the armchair, clearly unbothered by it all.

Without his mask, without his gloves, his scars and face on display. He felt uncomfortable. Incredibly uncomfortable. “I’m going for a walk.” Sulien pivoted and made a beeline for the entrance. Lumine rubbed her sleep riddled eyes, a small yawn escaping her as she looked up at Ajax who was busy staring at the archway into the entrance.

The door slammed shut.

“I’ve only known him for a month or so but,” she yawned, “I take it this is abnormal?” She sat up properly, tightening the blanket around her though. Liyue evenings could get quite cold. Ajax nodded his head in response to her question. Abnormal indeed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen such an influx of emotion. Perhaps when they were kids? That was probably it.

Sulien breathed in the fresh air, late at night, he didn’t need his mask, he didn’t need to be his rank. He could just be another nameless person in the streets, he preferred it this way. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants as he walked down the streets. Very few people were out and about so late at night, but he enjoyed watching them. A ghost of a smile on his lips as he watched lovers enjoying a late night getaway or a tired sailor returning home late.

But despite his usual late night activity that often cleared his mind, his mind began to fog once more. Trailing back to his dream, it wasn’t even that bad, especially compared to the usual ones. But being abandoned in a dream, he supposed, tied into the feelings he had been having recently. The stabbing pain in his poor heart, the squeezing of his lungs, stripping his body of blood and air.

There was no way it was about Lumine though. He didn’t feel anything when he looked at her except the pain, there was nothing underneath. He sighed, finding himself at the docks. He looked out on the dark water, lilac eyes searching the depths for answers. He furrowed his brows, all he could think of when he looked at the water, all he was reminded of.. Just one thing.

Ajax.

Sulien shook his head, no, he shouldn’t think of Ajax of all people. He couldn’t, that wasn’t allowed as far as he was aware. Well no relationship was allowed in general, he was their puppet after all, he couldn’t have any strings except to Her. But still.. This seemed somehow worse. His heart lurched at the thought and he hissed in pain, bringing his hand up to his chest, scarred fingers digging into the black fabric of his shirt.

All the books he had read, all the research he did. None of it had any answers for this. And he wondered why he felt wrong. Sulien sighed, sitting on the edge of the docks, legs dangling above the water. Ajax seemed happy with Lumine either way, right? They were much cuter together. Sulien never really belonged anyways, an outsider looking in on everybody else. He sighed, leaning back on his arms.

There were footsteps on the dock behind him and he tensed his body, ice already forming in his fingers. Then the familiar scent of cologne hit him and he watched as Ajax sat down on the docks beside him, wrapped up in Sulien’s coat of all things. Sulien’s heart hurt and he looked out at the water, it was becoming so frequent that it was more of a dull ache. Ajax deserved better than him, better than some man who couldn’t give him what he wanted.

“Talk to me.” Ajax whispered, dull eyes trained on the ocean. “You’re hurting and I want to be there this time.. I wasn’t.. I wasn’t last time.” The man hesitated, pulling one knee up and rested his arm against it. Sulien wished nothing more than for the waves to take him away, drown him until there was nothing left. He could not tell the man beside him how he felt, it was wrong. It wasn’t fair.

“I’m just sick, I’ll be fine.” Sulien manipulated his voice so he sounded more hoarse, as if to hammer in the point that it was nothing more than some freak illness. “We have field work tomorrow, you should go back home and sleep. I’ll walk you back.” Sulien stood and Ajax slowly followed him. But before Sulien could head off the docks, Ajax grabbed his elbow, stopping him.

“Please talk to me when you feel ready.” Sulien merely smiled, one of the ones that Ajax knew was fake and full of lies. But the ginger accepted it in the moment.

-

Sulien sighed as he summoned his claymore, flipping the massive weapon in one hand. The conversation from the day before played in his head, over and over. But he had work to do now. Why did Ajax care? What did he mean when he said he wasn’t there last time? Sulien swung his weapon, the frostbitten blade slicing clean through the arm of the Ruin Guard. He didn’t expect to be smacked by the automaton’s other arm, he barely protected himself with a wall of ice.

“Sandrone, pay attention!” Ajax called, utterly confused on why his colleague was so lost in thought. Ajax ripped apart his bow, the hydro blades forming as he slashed at the ruin guard. It was a simple side mission, really. Destroy the ruin guard near the skirmisher camp. Easy peasy between the two of them. Hell even alone, just one of them probably could have done it. But it was rare they both were allowed into the field together.

Sulien froze the ruin guard and Ajax’s daggers turned back into his bow, he nocked an arrow and drew his string back. Right through the core, bullseye. “Alright that’s that!” Ajax’s bow dematerialised as the automaton fell. There was a whirring nearby and Sulien narrowed his eyes, Ajax didn’t seem to hear it. But he did.

A wall of ice protected Ajax from the incoming missiles of another automaton. Sulien barely dodged the drill of a ruin hunter. Why were there so many all of a sudden? Ajax easily flipped out of the way of the hit of the ruin guard that had attacked him, sliding back to where he had been when fighting the first one. His bow appeared in his hand and he got into position again. “Tartaglia! How many did the Skirmishers report?” Sulien questioned as blocked an attack with his claymore.

His arms shook as the hunter tried to keep cutting downwards with its long sword-like attachment. He had to yield, ducking underneath it. Ajax bent down on his perch, pointing his bow upwards he released multiple hydro arrows into the air. “They only reported one ruin guard! There was no mention of multiples, let alone a hunter.” Ajax called back as another hydro arrow appeared between his fingers.

Now underneath it the ruin hunter decided this was the time to use lasers. Sulien barely constructed the dome around himself in time, manipulating the frost in the air and creating a solid ice dome. A fourth automaton had Ajax seething, how in the hell did their subordinates miss this? When the one he had been fighting slammed its hand onto Ajax’s perch he used its arm as a bridge, bow turning into a polearm.

The ice around Sulien melted but before he could react a second ruin hunter was slamming into him, sending him flying backwards. “Sulien! Careful!” Ajax called, stabbing his polearm into the core of the ruin guard. Sulien got back up, dodging out of the way of one of the hunters. He ran for his claymore, weaving between various attacks as quickly as he could while Ajax struggled with the ruin guard.

Sulien picked his claymore back up and adjusted his grip on the weapon, he slashed at the legs of the ruin guard Ajax was battling, sending the automaton to the ground, the whirring of its body stopping. Two ruin hunters left- Sulien turned around and was faced with three. What in the world- “Something is summoning them here, Tartaglia. This is abnormal.” Sulien adjusted his grip on his blade, peering through the new crack in his mask. He’d have to fix it again.

A bright light beside him blinded him and Sulien hissed as he turned away from Ajax. He didn’t really have time to focus on the transformation as he shielded the both of them from the incoming missiles. A wall of ice reinforced with vines splintered and exploded, the shards turning into snowflakes as they fell from it. At least the wall had lasted against the missiles.

While Sulien thoroughly distracted one of the ruin hunters, Ajax focused on the other two, he brought his hand down, summoning multiple thunderbolts onto one of the ruin hunters, causing it to collapse to the ground, stunned from the electricity. His bow turned into a water spear as he dashed forward, the water from his weapon spraying the automaton, thoroughly frying it. Sulien’s claymore became encased in ice once more, and the ruin hunter he had to deal with was down for the count.

Ajax turned his attention to the last ruin hunter, turning in time to watch the missiles coming at him. He used his ability to blink, reappearing closer toSulien who was looking worse for wear quite frankly. Ajax lunged forward once more, a wheel of electrified water surrounding the ruin hunter, tightening on it. Sulien stepped forward, releasing a blast of ice that froze the machine, causing it to fall from its awkward frozen position, shattering upon contact on the ground. Ajax was beaming, still in his Abyss form but he let himself actually touch the ground rather than float and he turned towards Sulien.

Sulien's claymore dug into the stone and he used it to keep himself up. Ajax closed the distance between them, his weapon floating beside him. Sulien collapsed onto his knees, the large weapon giving out underneath his weight and clattering to the stone floor of the ruin. Funny.. This didn't hurt as much as the heart problems had been hurting.. Life was funny that way. "Hey, hey what happened?" Ajax shifted back, he was exhausted from the fight and using foul legacy. His eyes trailed down to where Sulien's hand was pressed against his side. Ajax gripped the man's hand, pulling it back. The dark green of his palm stained even darker.

"The ruin hunter hit me." Sulien's head hung low, the mask he wore finally giving out, falling to the stone floor, the crack that had started to form fully breaking through the fragile mask. Ajax wished that Sulien didn't look so void, maybe it could help him assess the extent of the wound. Ajax helped Sulien out of the coat he wore, discarding the heavy material onto the ground. The touch was electrifying to Sulien, whose heart only clenched more. So many things unsaid.. But even now, he figured, he didn't deserve the right to say them.

Ajax pulled the man's shirt up, inspecting the wound. It was bad. Really bad. Sulien didn't even flinch when the man used his hydro vision to try and get rid of some of the blood to see better. "I never wanted this." Sulien mumbled as he stared up at the sky. Yes that much was true, Sulien never wanted to be on the battlefield. He was not a warrior. At one time he wanted to be a scholar, he wanted to teach. All of that ripped away with his memories. This was the end Ajax wanted, surrounded by bodies on the battlefield. Ajax ripped the banner he wore, pressing the fabric against the wound.

"Sulien, keep your eyes open, okay? I'll get you help." Would he be strong enough to carry Sulien and his weapon all the way back to Liyue Harbour? Sulien laughed, it was bitter though and it made Ajax's heart hurt. They both had so many things left unsaid. Ajax grunted as he lifted Sulien, the man hadn't listened. Though, when did he ever listen, Ajax mused. The harbinger had to use foul legacy again, there was no way he'd be able to get from the ruins all the way back to the harbour. The warm blood on his hands made the decision for him.

The stares he got as he moved through Liyue Harbour meant nothing to him, he kept Sulien's coat over the man in question, shielding his face and wound from the general public. The claymore in his free hand as he quickly moved through the streets. There were so many things Ajax hadn't said, so many things he felt, so many things he wanted to do. He gripped the man in his arm tighter.

Ajax kicked the door open, much to the surprise of Zhongli and his guests who watched as the large abyssal creature ducked to get through the doorway. Ajax dropped the claymore in the entrance way, letting the weapon clatter to the ground. He then shifted back, all but falling to his knees, Sulien’s still body rolling from his arms. Ajax slammed his hand into the ground as he tried to push himself back up.

“Help, help him please.” But he found himself unable to get up, breathing too unsteady, his own wounds catching up with him as the adrenalin was all but gone. Zhongli dropped his teacup, moving quickly he picked up Sulien, bringing him further into the house. At least Ajax could rest now, leaning his head against the hallway wall.

“Lumine, go get Baizhu please. Paimon, could you bring me the medical kit from the kitchen?” Zhongli lowered Sulien down onto the couch, pulling the fabric away from the wound the God grimaced. Lumine nodded, stepping over Ajax to get out the door as fast as she could. Paimon also listened, despite her small frame she managed to drag the medical kit into the living room. Zhongli peeled his gloves off and rolled up his sleeves as he tried to stop the flow of blood now staining his furniture.

-

“He should recover if he doesn’t get an infection. But do you think it is wise to treat Fatui? One less Harbinger may be-”

“I appreciate your concern, but Sandrone is a good friend no matter his occupation. He can’t help his work. Thank you for coming. Have a good night Baizhu.” Zhongli shut the door soon after and then returned to the living room. Sulien was asleep on the couch, a thin blanket covering his lower half while his torso was wrapped in multiple bandages. Ajax, meanwhile, was sitting on the ground, holding Sulien’s hand, head resting against the couch.

“They look kinda cute.” Paimon’s whisper was absolutely not a whisper, but at least she tried as she floated between Zhongli and Lumine, a smile on her face despite the fact it was two harbingers in front of her. She couldn’t know, there was no way for her to know what the two men in front of her have been through. Both alone and together. The scars could give her a hint. But that was it, and she was too naive to get it. And so to her, they were just bloodsoaked warriors who fought in the name of something she did not understand.

To Zhongli though, he’d seen this story play out thousands of times throughout history, and all he could muster was a frown, especially as his eyes traced the scars on Sulien's bare chest. As he retraced their previous conversations, he had first thought maybe it was Lumine. But as he watched the way Ajax nearly killed himself for the man. Zhongli sighed softly. What a tragic position to be in indeed.

“I’ll bring him home. Thank you for helping.” Ajax stood slowly, wincing at the pain he felt. He was in a bad state himself. Lumine held out the tattered coat, the black and navy fabric stained in hidden crimson. Ajax took it, wrapping it around Sulien before hoisting him up with a grunt. Sulien stirred in his arms but remained asleep. “I’ll pick up his claymore tomorrow.” Ajax couldn’t carry the weapon right now.

“Be safe.”

-

Sulien blinked at the ceiling of his bedroom. It was light outside, but the room was dark, the curtains drawn shut. His side hurt like hell, the events of what happened melding into his fragmented memory though, and he couldn’t quite recall at the moment. He felt weight shift in the bed beside him and he tensed immediately. There were very few he’d ever let close enough to him who-

“I know you’re sleeping but..” Ajax started with a soft sigh and Sulien promptly squeezed his eyes shut and evened out his breathing as if he were sleeping. “I think I know why you’ve been sick lately.. It’s the same reason why I’m sick.” Sulien wanted to furrow his brow as he quickly grew confused but opted to continue pretending he was asleep.

“I thought spending time with Lumine would take my mind off of you but it didn’t.” So he had been doing it on purpose. “Lumine is nice and all. But she’s not you.” Sulien could feel Ajax’s warm hand against his cold one, his long slender fingers playing with the scarred skin of Sulien’s hand. “I just don’t want to ruin the friendship we have if you don’t feel the same. So I tell you when you’re asleep like a coward.” Ajax sighed to himself. “This is so pathetic of me.” He mumbled.

“And then it’s my fault you’re hurt, they were my subordinates and my mission.” Ajax’s voice cracked and he didn’t even try to hide it. Though, Sulien supposed when you’re talking to somebody who is asleep, there’s nothing to hide. “All I do is fail you, what kind of friend am I? If I can’t even be a good friend, how am I supposed to be a good enough lover to tell you how I feel?” Ajax intertwined their fingers, but his touch was so hesitant. His hand was so warm, too.

“You say it all the time.. We’re just pawns in all of this.. This is one choice I have control over in this mess and yet I can’t even make it. You deserve so much more.” Ajax pulled his hand away and Sulien missed the comforting warmth. “You deserve somebody who can help heal those wounds, not.. A bloodthirsty monster like me. Whew, okay.. That helped. Good job Ajax.” Ajax mumbled to himself, a soft sigh of relief now that the weight was off of his chest.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Ajax sat up, dull eyes wide as he looked down at Sulien whose eyes were still closed. “I don’t really know how love is supposed to feel. But I think I feel it.” The man sighed, he didn’t know very much it would seem. “Could I have your hand back? I like how warm you are.” Sulien finally opened his eyes to Ajax staring at him, a range of emotions on the ginger’s face. Huh.. Had he always had that many freckles on his face? Cute.

“How much did you hear?!”

“All of it.” Ajax inhaled sharply, panic setting in. Sulien reached out, grabbing Ajax’s hand, warm. “You deserve somebody who understands the things they are feeling. And I’m not that. But I can try to learn..” Sulien cleared his throat, it hurt to speak but he couldn’t really remember the last time he had. He must have been hit pretty hard. “Te-” he hesitated, looking away from Ajax’s shocked expression and out the window. “Teach me.”

Ajax settled back down on the bed, intertwining their fingers once more. “Okay.. I’ll teach you.”

[xstarlightthemoonwolfx]

Finally reunited

Albedo x reader (oc)

♡❁*❁*♡

Albedo x f! s/o Sum: s/o is an alchemist like albedo ,s /o also is albedo's partner in the alchemy ,they work together under albedo's master hands,when albedo is send to Mondstadt ,s/o have go with him and stayed for a few weeks ,but it seem like their master had other plans for the female alchemist,and she was soon send to Liyue ,even with that they still contact each other though letters for many years, after another wonderful successful year of research s/o was finally finished her duties as the alchemist of Liyue,her alchemy at Liyue has reached its end,and the night of Christmas eve .s/o decided to met up with the acting grand master jean and tell her how she want to work with the master of alchemist albedo ,jean take the offer ,not knowing that you knew albedo before and that night on Christmas Eve was the night albedo and his Darling s/o met again and will never leave too.❁*ﾟEnjoy❁*ﾟ

'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪

s/o was standing in front of the gates to the City of freedom Mondstadt,she had just left Liyue two days ago.s/o was so excited about working with albedo as his partner once again,the guards was nice checking if your somewhat dangerous thing that could bring harm to the people of Mondstadt.but of course you easily got in.walking your way to the see master jean .....but you got lost,you were looking around and finally you decide to ask for help it was at this moment (that he knew he f***ed up) someone bump into you you and that person quickly stand up and apologies even if you did nothing wrong ,when you were younger you have habits of apologizing even if it your fault and albedo always said that was a cute trait of yours,even if you were sorry your monotone made it hard for others to accept the apologize.Now back to reality,you looked at the person and it was a boy around 15 blond hair Honey eyes with a cute human kid like flying companion .you asked the boy where was he heading only to find out he going to see master jean s/o told the boy that she was looking for jean as well but you got lost ,the boy who you know is the traveler the hero that saved Mondstadt & Liyue ,help you to see jean as a apologize for bumping into you. With only few minutes we have arrived at jean's office.

Aether and paimon which you could they learn their names while walking to knights of favonius HQ, walked into jeans office only to come out with some papers and talking with each other something about hunting monsters like slimes ect...s/o The traveler and his companion for disappearing behind the office door.Aether and paimon quickly left us together some important ingredients for the Christmas Eve celebration at the knights of favonius HQ thank you to the knights for their hard work protecting the city. As you walked in Jean open her mouth and start talking to you(J=jean s/o= significant other) J:"greetings , you must be the new Tourist in town". s/o:"indeed it's a great honor to finally meet you master Jean" J:"please Jean is just fine , may I know your name?" s/o:"ah, my apologies where are my matters, I'm s/o Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour" s/o said in a monotone voice while she bow in front of jean,Jean was surprised to hear the Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour came to visit Mondstadt and to see her in such a cold month of the year. J:"please stand up, may I ask what brings you here?and why shouldn't be at Liyue?" s/o:"as you see i finish my research at Liyue and also want to add more mystery of the world to my book ,so i think Mondstadt would be a good place to stay for now." s/o:"I came here for proposal I was wondering if I can work with the Chief alchemist of the knights of favonius Albedo?" Jean almost fainted by the proposal that Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour offered. J:"and may i ask why?" Trying to keep her position without jumping in joy ,s/o open hear lips to answer Jean's questions.while that was happening Albedo in the other hand was in the village buying supplies for his experiment, walking though the crowd and stopping to buy some seed in a flower shop accidentally over hearing a conversation between the shopkeeper and a young woman,"did you know that Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour announce that she has finished her researchers in Liyue,and she decided to go on a journey to research more?","really? I heard that she was a beautiful girl with a genius mind too","I heard that too people in Liyue said that its true but I guess we'll never know","I also heard from people who had with our Chief alchemist of the knights of favonius Albedo that her alchemist is the same level as Albedo". Albedo quickly snap out of his thinking about the mysterious Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour,and paid for the seed only to find out its free just for him Albedo walked out of the shop just for him to think about this mysterious other Chief alchemist,the problem is that you ,s/o had never mentioned anything about you being THE Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour . So he's going to be in for a surprise tonight at the Christmas eve celebration.Back to s/o,you had just finished talking to Jean about your proposal ,which jean accepted the offer.s/o was invited to the Christmas eve celebration as a way to welcome and also introduce you to everyone else. s/o walked around town to buy some food, having fun as she had never been on a day without work before so she's trying to enjoy it as possible.

Night have arrived,and you? You were still in your everyday outfit but for others they called it the lab outfit since you never actually had a day off so the Lab outfit is like your daily outfit,you were never really cared about your outfit so you just walked to the knights of favonius HQ . walking in you ask the other knights that was invited to the party were it was they told you the way as they left to buy some needs for them or for the party,as you walked closer to the door you hear chatting, you knock on the door hearing a light "ah ,that might be our new member!", you said"hey ,jean can i come in?"still in your monotone.On the other side of the door, Albedo really didn't want to come but if it was for klee happiness he'll do anything aside from that Albedo was also wondering like other knights including Aether ,paimon and not surprisingly venti what the new member looks like or their background or how they got in was a mystery to them ,a knock was heard and jean let out"ah ,that might be our new member!" and responding to her was a light "hey ,jean can i come in?" the door muffled the person voice only for the words to be heard only ,jean said"yes ,you can . Everyone i want you to met our new member she going to be working with albedo from now on" jean had surprise everyone in the room,as the door open everyone eyes was on the that person though the door. You look at the people in front and seeing Albedo had make your eyes shine and more colourful with the red blood like iris it had,"Hello everyone, I'm s/o Chief alchemist of Liyue harbour I'm happy to-" before you can finish your words , Albedo hug you tightly pulling you and him to the ground. everyone was lost for words at Albedo's action.Albedo then ask you"So.... what is it?".you reply "huh?" .then to remember the moment before you left him to visit Liyue .

*flashing* "I'm missing you already" Albedo said in a sad tone ,only you can bring his emotions out"I'll promise when im done we'll met again, Albedo", Albedo pulling you into a hug and kiss you softly and said "when you're back let me know if you want to be my Prinzessin? But for now think about it" it was the last thing you remember leaving you surprised before the cart leave for Liyue*end*.

Albedo looking at your eyes it was the most interesting thing that he never ever get bored of. Albedo ask you"so I'll ask again, will you s/o be my Prinzessin(princess) to honor my title as the Kreideprinz?".s/o breaking her emotionless Act by smiling softly, that smile of yours could kill Albedo but he'll still be happy,s/o was more than happy that she could Only find five words.s/o start crying this wasn't sad tears,no...it was the same happy tears that fall down that day when you found out Albedo feels the same about you, Albedo worries ask your tears fall down he was scared that he did something wrong .s/o open her lips and Said"YES!a million times yes!"hugging Albedo tightly, Albedo on the other hand was satisfied by your answer, cupping your cheeks and pulling you into a heated kiss.

'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪❁꫶͙ꪳᬽ'ꫂ͙ꨩ⃟͙˖⃟꒰ ཻུ۪۪

Wow that was LONG but hope you enjoy my first ever one shot on Tumblr!♡❁*

[tyvt]

@rougeborders​  sent  :

“ where's your partner at? ” hu tao almost pops up behind paimon like a ghost. it wasn't to scare the little thing though, she swears! “ i rarely see you two apart! do you need a new traveling buddy to explain things to and talk with? because i'm open! ” it's... an odd offer, but one that comes from the best of places. why wander around aimlessly alone when they could wander around aimlessly together!

“  don’t sneak up on paimon like that !  ”  paimon yells, crossing her arms and huffing at the energetic funeral director. she’s not even playing up her reaction, really  —  she hates being surprised, and always has. it’s something she’s had to deal with more than ever now that she’s in teyvat and pretending to be an unassuming sprite.  “  and why would you need things explained to you !  you live here !  ”  of course, even the most knowledgeable of teyvat’s residents doesn’t know as much about their world as paimon does, but most of her knowledge is not of the shareable variety  —  and she tries to tailor her infodumps to her companion’s needs  (  which in aether’s case is usually either knowing if something’s edible, if he can climb it, or if it’ll try to kill him back  ;  but she’s not entirely sure what sort of explaining she’d need to do for hu tao  )  .  “  unless you wanna help paimon find where aether’s run off to ?  ”  he said he needed alone time, and paimon got a little bit distracted chasing a geo crystalfly to see if they’re edible and has no idea where he is now.  “  or if you have snacks. paimon will gladly accompany you if you have snacks.  ”  food is her number one thought at all times.

[aamccarthy]

Lucifer and Thomas - The Duck Feet

Wattpad Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/186855778-lucifer-and-thomas

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7 

Chapter 8

Alice loaded the boys up into the car as bit by bit, people filtered away as they all went home. Thomas was talking non-stop and Lucifer sat quietly in the back of the car, staring out the window as Alice drove.

“Did you have a good night, boys?”

“Yeah! Luce is really good at games! You should’ve kept playing, you could’ve won so much more!”

Lucifer looked away from the window and smiled, “Perhaps, but they may have stopped me from playing if I won too much.”

“Nuh-uh! They can’t do that!”

“Thomas, sometimes it’s good to have a bit of self control and modesty. Luce is a very mature boy.” Alice smiled, glancing up in the mirror at the two boys in the backseat of the car. She couldn’t quite remember how Thomas met this Luce, but he seemed to fit into their family quite well. He was a very level-headed boy and strangely mature for his age. His father was very… weird, and touchy, but surprisingly old school. She pondered wondering what to do about morning tea. Scones perhaps? “Did you boys want to eat anything in particular in the morning?”

Thomas leaned forward, resting his chin on the back of his mother’s chair. “Hash browns!”

“Thomas, what if Luce doesn’t want hash browns?”

“It’s OK, Mrs Wood.” Lucifer smiled, “I’ll eat anything. Hash browns sound fine.”

“Hash browns it is then.”

“YAAAAAAAY!”

By the time they had arrived home, Thomas had drifted off to sleep. He was sleeping with his head resting against Lucifer’s shoulder. Alice pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, opening Lucifer’s door. “Is he bothering you?” Alice asked softly, kneeling down as she brushed Thomas’ brown hair from his eyes. The boy was fast asleep.

Lucifer shifted slightly as he unbuckled his seatbelt, “No.” He murmured quietly, “Should I wake him?”

Alice chuckled softly and reached past Lucifer, unbuckling her son and lifting him up, carrying him on her shoulder. “He’s a heavy sleeper. I doubt you’d be able to wake him.”

Lucifer brushed his fingers through his hair, the red flecks springing back up as he attempted to tuck one behind his ear.

“Why red?” Alice asked, tilting her head.

“Huh?”

“Your hair. Why did you choose red.”

Lucifer blinked, not quite comprehending the question, “... I didn’t choose red?” He grabbed a red strand, twisting it as he looked at it in thought, “It just came out that way.”

Alice gave a slight nod then gestured towards the house, “C’mon. Let’s get inside. It will probably start snowing tonight.”

Lucifer nodded, tightening the scarf around his neck as he followed her inside the house. He watched Alice carefully, observing as she tenderly carried her son up the stairs, and placed him in bed. She pulled off his jacket and shoes then tucked him in bed, before giving him a kiss on the forehead. The makeshift mattress that Lucifer had stayed in was made up beside Thomas’ bed, the sheets were recently ironed and were crisp and clean. “When Thomas told me you hadn’t seen fireworks before, I figured I’d get a bed ready for you. Thank you for coming out tonight, Luce.” She leaned forward, brushing away his black hair and lightly pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“G-goodnight.” Lucifer stammered, unsure how to react. Alice turned off the light and closed the door and Lucifer dropped to the bed, confused. He touched his forehead in question, where she had placed her lips, it felt strangely warm. Calming.

He unraveled the scarf and slid off his jacket, kicking off his boots. Lucifer, like his Fallen brothers, didn’t have a mother. The concept was so foreign to him. They had their Father, the All Mighty Creator as well as numerous brothers and sisters, but no Mother. Apparently their Father welcomed a mortal woman into the Empyrean, the Holy Realm… What was her name? Margaret? Madeline? Mary? He shook his head. He couldn’t remember, but she was definitely a mortal woman. He had bestowed upon her the highest honour because she had carried and given birth to their Father’s One True Son. Lucifer frowned, agitated.

He hated his Father. The arrogant, selfish prick. Lucifer noticed blue light in the room then looked down at his hands, where blue flames had emerged. He quickly shook his hands, putting out the flame and took a deep breath. Temper. He needed to control himself.

Sighing, he flopped back onto the bed and closed his eyes. A soft smile was on his face as he remembered the fireworks display. He had never seen anything so, beautiful like that before. To think, that Humans who were masters of destruction, could create such beauty. He wondered idly if it was possible to bring some fireworks back to Hell. He could put on a show.

Lucifer chucked to himself, no. If he suggested that, Berith, his idiot little brother, would likely try and upstage him by summoning lightning or brimstone from the sky as a challenge. No, it was probably safer to keep human creations in the human realm. He wondered how Berith was going. Despite his showy Cataclysm the other day and the resulting damage, Berith had successfully managed to eradicate nearly 80% of the Summon Circles in the region. At least he was enjoying himself and the free reign that Lucifer gave him.

“Luuuucee… Share the candy apppllleee.” Lucifer blinked in surprise, sitting up and looking over the brown haired boy. Thomas had rolled over and one hand was resting on his cheek, while the other hand was reaching and grasping air.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow, “Tom?”

“Noooo, you’re going to eat it all!”

Thomas rolled over, face to face with Lucifer, his eyes were shut and he mumbled quietly.

Ah. The boy was dreaming. Lucifer snickered to himself then laid down on the pillow, rolling over. He liked the kid. He was very open and easy to read like a book yet very honest and pure. It was nice to be around someone where Lucifer didn’t have to worry about being backstabbed. Hell was a very cut-throat environment and the only ones he trusted whole-heartedly were his brothers from the First Sphere, the Eight Generals of Hell. Lucifer raised both his hands, holding them up in the darkness. He counted off seven fingers pulling in his thumb, index finger and middle finger on his right hand. It was seven, wasn’t it? The original inhabitants of Hell were the Royals… Lucifer started to count them off on the remaining seven fingers, trying to remember when Leviathan and Paimon had attempted to explain the Hell Hierarchy. It was shortly after Lucifer took the title of Satan away from Belial; he had just been banished from Heaven to Hell, and with him Lucifer brought an one third of Heaven’s Angels with him. It was a very satisfying war and the victory definitely nursed his ego after his banishment.

Lucifer frowned, having lost his train of thought. That’s right. What were the rankings again? It was the Kings, the Dukes and the Princes. He counted off three fingers, trying to remember the rest… then it was the… ah, yes, the Marquises, Counts, Knights and Presidents. He counted the last four off on his fingers.

Berith was a Prince of Cherubim, the only Cherub Angel of the Generals, second in rank to the Seraphim Angels, which is what Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan and Asmodeus were. Given Berith’s Cataclysm was able to destroy such a large number of Summon Circles, the being behind this would rank in power to that of a Throne or lower, the Thrones were third in rank in terms of power. The Kings definitely stood on par in terms of power against the Princes of Thrones, but would they betray him, their Lord Satan? Lucifer breathed out, sighing deeply. He’d ask Leviathan in the morning. He had hoped that with the amount of destruction Berith caused, that at least the perpetrator behind all this would reveal themselves, but they hadn’t. This meant one of two things, either they were weak and got scared and fled, or they were biding their time and hiding their true strength.  

It had been a few thousand years since Lucifer last went to war.

He smirked and rolled onto his side, closing his eyes. He could use a little more excitement in his life.  

Bright light filtered through the window and Lucifer shifted in his bed. He could hear the chirping of birds outside and after spending a few days on Earth was now accustomed to their sound. He sat up, raising his arms above his head as he stretched and looked at the empty bed beside him. That was unusual, normally Thomas would wake him up.

He kicked the blanket off and yawning, trudged out the door and down the stairs.

“Ah, Luce. Good morning.” Alice smiled as Lucifer entered the room.

Lucifer nodded in response then covered his mouth as he yawned again, pulling up a chair. He had found Thomas. The poor kid had a hash brown scrunched up in his little fist, but his head was laying top of the plate before him. He was well and truly asleep.

“He woke up about an hour before you did and wanted to eat. He ate half of his breakfast, but as you can see,” she waved her hand at her son, chuckling, “tiredness won.”

“Mmm.” Lucifer nodded. He rubbed his eyes, being in his mortal form made him susceptible to mortal weaknesses, like being tired. He had never felt tired in his Fallen form before. Alice placed a plate in front of Lucifer and there was two strips of bacon and a hash brown. “Thanks.” He murmured. He hadn’t even asked for bacon, yet this woman knew he liked it. It was difficult to get food like this in Hell after all.

“Your Father said he’d be around at about 11. It’s 9am now.” Lucifer paused, almost forgetting she meant Leviathan, not his actual father.

He munched on his bacon, nodding in response.

“Did you want to go back to bed, or stay awake? I can put the TV on if you like?”

“S’ok.” He said in between bites, “I’m awake now.”

“Alright. I’ve left your clothes on the end of Thomas’ bed. Feel free to have a shower and get changed after you eat.” She reached over and ruffled up his hair, smiling affectionately before picking up Thomas and laying him on the couch. Somehow he managed to hold the hash brown in his small fist the entire trip and still remain asleep.

Lucifer quickly finished his food then thanked Alice before going up the stairs, two at a time. He grabbed his clothes and ran to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He stripped out of his clothes and hopped in the shower, turning on the water.

Sighing deeply, he felt his skin vibrate as he released his human form. His body grew from 4 and a half feet to his full 7 foot height. His red hair twisted together, growing out into full horns and red fur rippled down from his waist, across his legs and down to his feet. There was a slight click has his hooves grew through and they tapped the tiled floor, his tail behind him flicked out behind him.

There were no showers in Hell, hot springs yes, but showers, no. The first time Thomas had shown Lucifer a shower, he was curious what it would feel like upon his Satan body. The half human-half goat form he wore now was one that was only bestowed upon a Demon that carried the title of Satan, and no other being could take this form. Lucifer had his Seraph form from when he was an Angel, and could still take it on, but he always felt… dirty, in that form. It reminded him of his Father. Urgh. He didn’t want to think about it.

He lifted the shower head slightly, attempting to fit under it and turned up the water pressure as the warm water dripped down his body. Closing his eyes, he sighed in contentment, feeling completely at ease and relaxed.

KNOCK KNOCK.

Lucifer froze as the door to the bathroom door handle turned. FUCK!

He quickly stamped his hoof, and dropped down to his human form, just as the door opened. Looking around the shower, he saw his red fur on the tiles and tried to jump up to reach the shower head to quickly wash his loose fur away, but promptly slipped.

“Ahhhhhhh, faaaarrrkk.” He hissed in pain, rubbing his backside.

The shower door opened, and Thomas stared at Lucifer who was sat on the bottom of the shower, wincing in pain.

“Fuck kid, I thought it was your mother.”

“You shouldn’t swear.” Thomas replied, his brown eyes furrowed in all seriousness, the boy paused then looked at Lucifer, tilting his head, “Why are you on the floor?”

Lucifer placed a hand over his face and sighed deeply, “I slipped.”

“You know we have adhesive duck feet.” Thomas pointed to bright yellow silicone objects on the wall.

“Who the duck now?”

“Duck feet!” Thomas reached over behind Lucifer and pulled off one of the yellow objects from the wall and dropped it on the floor. Lucifer blinked, staring down at the offending object. It was bright, and yellow… and shaped like the imprint of a duck’s foot. Huh. What did you know. “Stand on it.” Thomas instructed, pointing.

Lucifer pulled himself upright then placed a foot on the silicone object and attempted to push it with his foot. It didn’t budge. What sorcery was this?

“See. You should really use the duck feet, then you won’t slip.” Lucifer blinked, he understood what Thomas was saying, but was still struggling to comprehend how this little bit of rubber refused to move when he tried pushing it with his feet. “Luce?”

Lucifer looked up at Thomas, his black hair stuck to the side of his head and his red streaks hung down a bit further than his hair, his raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?”

“Why is there red fur in the bath?”

Lucifer groaned, then placed his hand on Thomas’ face, pushing him out of the shower, “Please let me shower in peace.”

Thomas grinned, “Okay! But don’t take too long!” With that he ran out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Lucifer reached forward, placing his hands on the tiles of the wall. That was close. What if it had been Alice who came through that door instead of Thomas? He looked at the rest of the duck feet stuck to the wall, and grabbing them, he tossed them at the floor of the shower. “May as well use them.” He muttered to himself as he started kicking his fur down the sink.

Continue to Chapter 8