#and the grave. and xiao and ganyu being there...

[hotpinkstars]

Can you do a Hu Tao, Shenhe, Ganyu, Raiden and Amber with a werewolf reader?(or any characters you want)

-> werewolf

synopsis -> you're a werewolf. how will your significant others move on with their day-to-day life with you?

warnings -> brief mentions of blood, mostly just fluff. raidens is alot shorter than the others for some reason, i can re-write if needed!!

a/n -> hii! sorry if this isn't the greatest.... i don't know about too many werewolf abilities and what not but i looked it up and tada here we have this!!! anyways thanks for the request!!

w/c -> 2.1k

-> hu tao

hu tao is fascinated, to say the least.

she always knew there was something different about you. she’s the 77th director of the wangsheng funeral parlor, after all. she works with corpses and walks around an unsettling forest in liyue, so of course she will be able to understand.

you hadn’t told her at first- she kind of just found out. you both happened to be in the same place at the same time, that place being wuwang hill. it was dark outside, nearing midnight, and hu tao needed to check on a grave that was reported to have the wood rotting on the tombstone.

when she saw a werewolf, she didn’t try to run. she had a vision, she could fight it off if need be, but she was more curious than anything. she stopped all movements and looked at the creatures every move, before you transformed back to your human form.

hu tao laughed under her breath before continuing to treat the wood and making sure the burial sight was good enough to wait for her to fix it up more tomorrow. the whole walk back home, she thought of ways she’d approach you on the subject. so, as soon as she walked through the doors,

“what you did tonight was pretty cool!” hu tao wrapped her arms around your neck, breathing in your scent from your hair. “i wanna see more!!”

you froze. “what exactly did you see…”

“you’re a werewolf. you look so fluffy in that form! did you not see me tending to a tombstone not too far away from you?” she chuckled before continuing. “i was watching your every move. it’s not incredibly common to see a wolf running through that place.”

you sighed, and then nodded. “i was going to tell you sooner, but i didn’t necessarily know how,” you put a hand up to your forehead. “you’re not scared of me though, right?”

“me? scared of you?” she jolted up before hopping over the back of the couch. “no way!”

you exhaled, relieved. you were happy that she seemed more interested than freaked out.

as time went on, she came to discover your personal abilities. you can change through forms whenever you please, your senses are heightened (comes to explain how you can see so well in the dark and hear even the faintest of things) you’re an incredibly fast runner, and you can shapeshift! she’s asked you to demonstrate your powers on so many occasions, asking you questions, and taking this advantage to cuddle with your werewolf form! you’d sit on the ground while she cuddled your head, usually setting it down on her chest before running her hands through your soft hair.

she was fortunate to have you around, considering you could always sense her injuries and you could smell blood from a mile away. you were always able to alert her if there were dangerous enemies (or just danger in general) around her due to your sense of hearing. you probably saved her life over a dozen times.

she always loves to take advantage of your werewolf form for cuddling. if its really cold outside, she wants to hug your furry self, you’re like a golden retriever in a sense. super gentle, never bearing your claws or fangs her way. sometimes you wonder if she loves your alternate form more than your human form.

she doesn’t really tell anyone about your form unless you tell her its alright. if you do, expect xiao, ganyu, zhongli, and probably all of the important people of liyue to know your not-so-secret secret.

-> shenhe

she probably already knew, to be honest.

she picked up on how well your senses work and your agility. she also noticed how sometimes you’d sneak in and out of bed for a few hours at a time in the middle of the night, and always end up showering at the most inconvenient times.

so, she just asked you about it straight up.

“are you human?” she asked over a rather silent breakfast, due to you being extremely fatigued from being out all night last night.

“what do you mean?” you damn near drop your fork on your plate, your eggs being untouched.

“are you human,” she asked once more, clearing her throat. “you’re not a werewolf or a husky or what not? you sure seem like you are, due to your advanced abilities.”

you lowered your head, nodding slowly, before attempting to apologize on why you said nothing sooner. she stopped you mid-sentence, reassuring you that it’s okay, and she understands why you didn’t tell her until later on.

she likes to accompany you during your midnight trips. it doesn’t scare her or anything, which you found rather surprising at first, but she just said that living with the birds and the beasts all her life has taught her that having an animal form is normal and the woods are no scarier than cloud retainer calling out to her people at the tip-top of a mountain.

she was also another one who appreciated how well your senses worked, and appreciated that you could locate danger approaching from rather far away. it gave her more time to prepare a brutal attack, and she even practiced sneak attacks due to your ability. theres another skill she mastered.

she likes you better when you’re in human form. don’t misunderstand, she loves you either way, but she’d rather cuddle and snuggle with someone that was human, and strictly because she did not want a mouthful of fur. you laughed when she first said that, and you got where she was coming from. if you were her, you wouldn’t necessarily appreciate that very much either.

but when you do transform in front of her, she won't mind giving you small hugs or rubbing your fur. she knows you’re not dirty and you have no fleas or ticks, so she doesn’t really mind running her hands through your beautiful gray fur. she wont be like hu tao, who's all over you, but she’ll certainly be interested.

she likes that you’re not very phased by blood. in her whole adeptal life, she's been exposed to ruthless bloodshed, and creates it herself sometimes. she knows of so many people who would throw up even at the mere mention of blood, but you can look at it and just shrug. it makes it much easier to bring you on missions, thats for sure.

ps: cloud retainer loves you and your abilities! she may or may not have teased shenhe a couple times of stealing you for the adepti benefit…

-> ganyu

she was incredibly freaked out at first.

she’s never really seen a werewolf, maybe only a handful of times in her 2500 years of life. they’re rarely in liyue and she’s never out late enough at night to witness one.

but tonight was a little different, she had something to do in the mountains rather late at night, and saw a werewolf trotting right up to her. you didn’t remember at first that you hadn’t told her of your abilities yet, and you also didn’t understand that seeing a werewolf just walk up to you is really freaky.

so, as any sensible person would do, she ran. and when i say ran, she RAN.

you stood there, dumbfounded, wondering where all that speed was in the amount of time that you knew her. she was either half asleep or preoccupied with something else all the time, so you never really had the opportunity to see her run at full speed.

you chased after her, but waited until she couldn’t really see you, as not to scare her. as soon as you saw the harbor come close to view, you quickly morphed back, catching up to your girlfriend in your human form, tapping her on the shoulder a couple times before she spun back so fast she nearly fell into the water. you were by the railing in the middle of the bridge, listening to ganyu tell her story while catching her breath.

“did you see that werewolf? it walked up to me, and i ran as fast as i possibly could to get out of there, because i forgot i had a vision and that i could easily defeat it and-”

you zoned out in the middle of her story, thanking every archon to exist that she forgot about her bow and her vision.

you settled her down soon after, explaining to her that the wolf was actually you. you had demonstrated your transformation and rubbed against her leg, showing her that you were harmless.

she giggled before petting you and letting you know that she knew you were not harmless.

she found your abilities quite cool! she was another one who loved to cuddle you while in your wolf form. you just let her, you were her fluffy guard dog that she’d hug and cuddle to sleep. but she loved your human form just as much.

your heightened senses saved her from many heart attacks, and allowed her to sleep in the grass under the shade of a tree without an issue.

it also helps her know when enemies are nearby. when she’s with you, she feels indescribably safe, and she knows she can count on you to alert her of any oncoming danger.

she also loves how you’re able to see some things that might be a little hard for her to see. as an adeptus, she’s nearly fearless, but can be caught off guard. sometimes, she gets a little queasy when she sees some nasty shit in a danger zone.

-> raiden

she is unphased and honestly treats you no different from before.

she once caught you transforming, and when you noticed her, you immediately changed back and started to ask her what she thought, how much she saw, etc in a panicked tone.

she just shrugged, told you it was alright and that it was cool that you were part wolf, and went back to doing whatever she was doing before.

she might want to see it again though, but doesn’t mind if you don’t want to show her. she gets it, she really wouldn’t want you to see her in her plane of euthymia. it’s a personal thing, and she doesn’t want to cross boundaries.

sometimes, she’ll indirectly ask you for cuddles in your werewolf form. you always pick up on the hint and transform to let her hug you or pet you or give you shy kisses in your form.

she dislikes sleeping with you while in wolf form, and always wants you to be your human self. she likes being able to feel you hold her, and she doesn’t want a mouthful of fur in the morning.

she doesn’t really have a reason to utilize your enhanced senses, but she thinks they’re cool anyways. she also appreciates that you’re able to take care of yourself and you don’t need someone to back you up all the time.

shes also really happy that you’re able to escape situations before they’ve even started (for example, a treasure hoarder swarm). it saves her the worrying and it saves you from the injuries, which are never fun to have. they almost always get infected, treasure hoarders don’t carry clean blades, etc.

-> amber

poor girl almost passed out the first time she found out you were a wolf.

she saw you trotting along before seeing you change back into human form, and she screamed. she ran up to you, standing in front of you, demanding an answer.

“amber, listen, i didn’t tell you because i knew this was gonna happen. don’t get scared, i’m obviously not going to hurt you,” you started, being cut off by the brown-haired girl.

“i know, it just startled me a little bit. but i’ll get used to it!!! maybe once the realization settles in, you can show me all your abilities,” she clapped twice, giving you a big hug. “i’m sorry for screaming. it just caught me off guard.”

you nodded, letting go of the hug and walking into mondstadt together.

she loves your wolf form! sometimes she’ll even take you on walks on the outskirts of the city (don’t get her wrong!! she just wants to have the dog experience i guess) and then having you transfer into human form to have a little picnic date under a shhhady tree.

she’s very grateful for your heightened senses. you’ve probably saved her from death once, and all of the injuries you’ve saved her from is probably not even countable on both hands. to say she's very appreciative of you and your presence is an understatement.

depending on her mood, she’ll sometimes want to cuddle your wolf form, and sometimes she just wants your good old human form. she loves both equally!!!

she’s glad that you’re able to protect yourself, too. she couldn’t imagine a life without you, she loves you too much! she’s not obsessed over you, but she’s sometimes rather… overprotective. tell her you’re going to be okay and make sure she knows and she’ll settle down.

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin fluff #genshin x reader fluff #raiden shogun #ei #raiden #shogun #ganyu #hu tao #amber #shenhe #shenhe x reader #raiden shogun x reader #ei x reader #ganyu x reader #hu tao x reader #amber x reader

[onyx232323]

An Adeptus' Last Wish- Zhongchi fic

(20/30)

More chapters here! <333

Summary-

After the Gnosis incident, Childe decides to take a much-needed break away from Zhongli.

However, how was he supposed to react, when all of a sudden Lumine showed up outside his apartment sounding terribly mortified, "Childe......Zhongli.......Zhongli....is in grave danger."

Of course, he was going to do anything to help the dying man.

Sure, he still felt a lot of contempt for him, after what he did, but his heart still loved him.....

But, what he hadn't expected was the sudden wisp of golden light that somehow transported him during the times of the Archon War?!

What the FUCK?!

_____________________

Chapter 20: Mending Spirits, Uncertain Feelings, and the Taste of Freedom Pt. 4

Xiao being his son! 

Now, that horrified Ajax. 

He had never truly allowed himself to consider the possibility of adopting kids with Zhongli, even during the time of their short lived relationship. 

He didn’t know if he would be good enough to be someone’s father, much less Xiao’s. 

The kid hated his guts back in his own time, and besides that, he was not sure how to go about this strange notion in his mind.

And if that was the case, did that mean by de facto….Ganyu was his daughter too?....

No, that was unlikely, he brushed that stupid thought away. 

He had heard around Liyue that Ganyu was raised predominantly by Sky Bracer in her formative years and then later on Cloud Retainer, so it would be too presumptuous for him to assume that she even considered Morax to be her parent anyways. 

Although….now that he recalled it. 

He had seen Zhongli speaking gently to Ganyu in an almost proud father type of way, during one of the rare times where they did not have dinner…..because Zhongli already had plans made. 

______________________

Childe was carelessly strolling through the streets of Liyue Harbor, taking in the sights and relishing in the sweet warmth from the sun, and the refreshing sea breeze, which faintly smelled like salt. 

It was a nice change of pace from the usual lack of smell in his homeland back in Snezhnaya, partly do to the raging snow that always surrounded it.

Only the smell of distant wood burning was distinguishable in the snowfall, most likely coming from a house's fireplace as a means to keep warm and not catch hypothermia in the bitter cold. 

He gasped in huge breaths of the refreshing air and strolled past the harbor itself, feeling the slightest urge to jump into the ocean below, and risk himself being viewed as a weirdo…more so than he was already was to the eyes of the people in Liyue, he guessed. 

That Funeral Consultant he had grown so fond of had already made plans and had respectfully apologized and proclaimed that he already had plans with someone close to him for the evening, which he could absolutely not miss. 

The way he had described it, so softly and the slightest bit solemn, made it sound as if he did not want to miss out on their usual lunch dates, but had too.

And with those wide pleading eyes, Childe did not have it in him to complain.

And so he merely chuckled and smiled warmly, touching Zhongli's hand in a manner he hoped would be reassuring, “Xiangsheng......it's alright if you already made arrangements with someone else. I understood for your words that they are dear to you, so there is no harm done if you want to help them out.....I wouldn't want to impede you on your prior commitment with your friend. I completely understand, so there's no need to apologize, Xiangsheng.”  

Zhongli merely blinked, his eyelashes making a small sound as he did so…..Ajax swears those lashes of his will be his demise. They were long and full, slightly fuller at the ends of his eyes, making a small noise whenever he blinked. And coupled with his elegantly done red-eyeliner, it only served to accentuate his handsome features and his beautiful eyes. 

Celestia above, he was so very enamored with this man!

“Ah, thank you, Childe. I simply did not want you to misconstrue my absence as disrespect. Nor did I want you to misunderstand, because I throughly enjoy your presence and greatly appreciate our time spent together and would not like it to be tarnished because of this minute matter of mine....As I have said before, my dear friend is currently in need of my advice and insight on a matter very dear to her, and I simply cannot miss it, I apologize once again.” 

Ajax laughed, a bit more unrestrained this time, his mask had slipped momentarily, “Xiangsheng! It’s okay! There really is no need to apologize to me or even thank me! I already said it's alright, and I won’t misconstrue anything, so there is really no need to worry either.” 

Ajax squeezed his hand a bit tighter, feeling Zhongli's hand stir a bit at the motion, but not pull away.

He grinned at the man, leaning in closer with a large grin on his face, "It really isalright, don't worry about it!"  

Zhongli stared at him a bit, as his slight frown gave way to a relieved smile, “I am glad, but I thank you regardless for being very understanding of my predicament.” 

Childe grinned at Zhongli before he took a swing of his Osmanthus wine giving a satisfied sigh, before he said, “Well, then, shall we enjoy the rest of our evening together?” 

Something in Zhongli’s eyes sparkled with an unabashed fondness and his smile widened, “Yes, I would like that very much.” 

And so, here he was, strolling throughout Liyue attempting to find a way to distract himself from that look in Zhongli’s eyes, a look that only served to drive him up a wall. 

He fought back his blush, and stared at the calm waters of Liyue Harbor, feeling the itch to jump into the refreshing waters below intensify. 

But he didn’t and merely continued to stare at it. 

After a few moments, he sighed and began to walk back to the town, to perhaps see if he could find something to distract himself.

It had unfortunate that Zhongli had decided to leave him, on his day off. 

Which were rare and hard to come by. 

He had received it, after The Tsaritsa send him a letter informing him that his shenanigans where earning him infamy amongst the people in Liyue, and that gossip was rampant after they had found out by word of mouth that he had been interrogated by The Tianquan of Liyue herself about the strange happenings going on in Liyue. 

She had reprimanded him in the letter, telling him to take some time off and throw everyone off his scent by pretending to just be someone who was sent over to watch over the Northland Bank and nothing else....which was difficult to do as he had already proudly proclaimed his allegiance with the Fatui and The Tsaritsa. 

But, The Tsaritsa's orders were absolute, and so, he did not have much of a choice. 

And so, he was stuck in Liyue Harbor, with too much time to spare.

And since he was certainly not up to doing paperwork back at the bank, he decided to take a day-off before he got back into the rhythm of doing the mountains of paperwork waiting for his approval. 

And also because Katya herself had suggested it herself, after she saw how tired he had been after going on that expedition in Jueyun Karst to attempt to figure out how to make more Sigils of Permission. 

He sighed and attempted to repress the sheer size of his disappointment when he found out that he did not get to spend time with Zhongli after the hellish week he had. 

He continued walking and hoped that at least Zhongli was having some sort of fun, wherever he was. 

After a few minutes of mindlessly walking, he decided to go to Wanmin to grab a quick meal and settle himself down by one of the many beaches in Liyue to watch the waves and then perhaps go for a quick dip himself before fighting the nearby slimes.

A perfect evening…..at least in his opinion. 

It was either do that or perhaps hope that the charming Captain Beidou was stationed somewhere nearby so that he could drink himself silly and hear her talk about her wife Ningguang ever so fondly, and challenge him to an absurd drinking competition, and then promptly stumble back towards his apartment and blackout.

Or even watch one of Xinyan or even Yunjin’s performances, as he enjoyed those very much. 

He began to walk towards it. 

However, as he was in the process of doing so, he overheard a conversation nearby one of the stands near the harbor. 

He turned towards the commotion and saw the familiar pale-blue haired lady he had seen 2 days before, blushing fiercely as she covered her face,“....My L-Mr. Zhongli….I have no idea how to even begin to ask her….or if she is even interested in marrying me.” 

Marriage?  

Zhongli stared fondly back at her, with a glimmer in his eyes that was often directed towards him. And yet, instead of feeling the jealousy he normally felt whenever Zhongli glanced at others, a part of him could not find it in himself to do so. 

Especially after he chuckled and ruffled her hair in a way that could only be described as fatherly affection, “Now, now, little one….there is no need to fret. If she has agreed to go on many dates and has expressed to you the full extent of her feelings, then there is no need to worry about what her answer will be. If she truly loves you and is ready to take the next step, then there is no need to worry, young one.”  

She blushed harder as she fiddled with her hair, in a nervous manner, “...I see where you are coming from, but I can’t seem to shake the feeling of restlessness and fear I have….I know she loves me, as she has proved it to me many times, but I cannot shake the feeling….And I don’t know what to do," she buried her face in her hands. 

She sighed, and that’s when Childe noticed that they were standing next to Madam Ping’s cart, where a smiling Madam Ping as she took Ganyu’s hands in hers and slightly rubbed them in a reassuring manner, “Silly child, I strongly doubt that she will say no, I have seen the way she looks at you, during those times you have brought her over to my abode. I do not doubt the intensity of her feelings for you, but I will brew you some tea if you are in need of relaxation before the proposal, A-Yu.”  

Ganyu seemed to be slightly relieved by that as she let out a large sigh, her bell slightly shaking as she swayed a bit, “I….guess…But still, I do not know how to propose to her or where to do it…I have never truly considered proposing to a mortal before, as I have never felt like this before…and I would like to treasure it….dearly.”  

Madam Ping patted her shoulder, “I understand that, dear….And besides, there is no need to worry, Mr. Zhongli and I will advise you on this matter.” 

Zhongli nodded, “Yes, we will be there to support and advise you, little one.” 

Ganyu let out a sigh as she nodded, a slight sadness tainting her sweet eyes, similar to that of grief, “Thank you both…I really needed your reassurances…But…how should I exactly propose to her….I have been thinking about doing it perhaps near where he did all those years ago, in honor of his memory…But I am not sure whether to go the more traditional route or do a more modern version…” 

Zhongli took her words into consideration, a slight somber expression flashing by his eyes before he said, “I am sure he would have greatly appreciated your kind gesture. And as for the route you would like to take. Whilst it has been traditional to propose by sending her family a variety of expensive gifts and asking permission for her hand in marriage for many centuries…And while the youth nowadays like to propose by getting much more intimate and getting down on one knee and doing so with an engagement ring….Hm….” He put a hand on his face, deep in thought. 

Childe nearly burst out into laughter. 

Of course Zhongli had turned it into a lecture instead of saying what his own opinion about the matter.

It was such a hilarious sight. 

He stayed deep into thought before he said, “I believe it will be great to do both, as you are setting your intentions clear with both her family and her, and it can be just as intimate as you want. A conjoinment of both traditional and modern proposals would certainly be the best…However, you may decide on whichever route you would like to, Ms. Ganyu.” 

Ganyu shook her head frantically, “No, I like this idea...It would certainly be great to bring both traditions together….But, that just leaves me to buy the gifts myself…..and I do not know if it is obvious….but I find myself quite un-experienced on which gifts would be best to buy, as it is not in my field….Which is part of the reason why I asked for your help, Mr. Zhongli….You have excellent tastes and I only want the best for her and her family.” 

Zhongli chuckled whilst Madam Ping smiled, their eyes glittering with happiness, “I am glad you have figured this out, and I would love nothing more than to assist you on which betrothal gifts would be best to buy. You have my help.” 

“As you have mine, dear. If anything happens and if you need someone to put together the venue, you can always count on this humble old woman for assistance as well.” 

Ganyu blushed harder as she smiled, “...Thank you…the both of you…I....really appreciate your help from the bottom of my heart.” 

Childe smiled at the sigh, warmed by the way they seemed to be talking about such a joyous event, whilst he imagined poor Ganyu carrying most of the gifts herself as Zhongli rambled on about the exquisite gift wrapping paper, whilst Madam Ping patiently smiled and trailed behind them, carrying that treasured guzheng of hers on her back. 

He was happy for Ganyu, even if he was quite unfamiliar with her (even if he did feel slightly nostalgic at the sight of her), and made a mental note to send her his sincerest regards once this Gnosis-stealing and Osial-freeing mission was complete. 

He had known of her and Keqing’s relationship from gossip spread around Liyue and was happy that the adeptus had found love. 

And a very selfish part of Ajax yearned for the days where he too could walk around town buying the many things that would be at their wedding, from decorations to food…and allowed himself to day-dream if Zhongli himself was the type to gift the people whose families he was interested in gifts and such…

He chuckled deeply and grinned, walking past them as they continued talking about their wedding preparations and such, putting his hands in his pocket as he let his more delusional daydreams get a hold on his reality. 

Not noticing the pairs of eyes that had taken notice of him, staring intensely. 

______________________

Zhongli had long since expressed his regards to the adepti, revealing himself to be very much alive after the tragedy that unfolded in the eyes of the rest of the public. He had done so, after he had invited them all inside of his abode, which instantly had them all running to it as soon as they received the formal apology letter. 

His explanation….brought a variety of reactions. 

Cloud Retainer nearly pecked him to death as she reprimanded him for frightening her, “Sly dragon! Your foolish actions have greatly affected us all! The next time you devise such a plan, let the rest of us know! Are we deemed to be useless and weak to you now that you will not inform us of anything anymore?!” 

Mountain Shaper joined in, Moon Carver at his side, “My Lord, I agree. You completely left us in the dark, with no clue to your master plan. You had us worried that this might have been done by a greater evil, one that worried us about the safety of Liyue Harbor and Teyvat itself..” 

Moon Carver nodded, “Yes, you failed to mention any of your plan to us. We were all dreadfully anticipating the next attack that this evil might do next…It was highly irresponsible to not inform us, My Lord.” 

Madam Ping sighed, “Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, Cloud Retainer….You must see where Lord Lapis was coming from. He had been attempting to get his plan over with as fast as he could and as realistic as he could. If he were to inform us of his plan, we would have come across as quite indifferent to his death, which would have made it seem very suspicious.” 

Ganyu nodded, looking relieved more than anything at the sight of her Shizun, “Yes, our Lord would never intentionally worry us…And I am very glad that he is alright,” she looked at him fondly, relief all over her face. 

“I agree…I am….relieved that My Lord is alright,” Xiao said, the hint of tears caught on his lashes. 

A sight that Morax had not seen in....millennia. 

Xiao never cried, always preferring to shut off those unpleasant emotions that creeped upon him, shoving them away into the back of his mind, dealing with them by paying back his karmic debt. 

And so, as he saw the glassiness of Xiao's eyes and some of the other adepti, Zhongli felt a pang of guilt hit him when he saw how scared they had all been, believing that their dear friend, their family member had tragically died. 

Celestia knows he would similarly be as scared and could not fathom how he must have made them all feel after the news spread far and wide. 

They had all cried for his sake, and even grieved for him. All because he failed to mention his Contract to them, with the Tsaritsa. 

He let out a small sigh, feeling his own eyes prickle with tears, “I deeply apologize….It was a lack of preparation on my part….I failed to inform you all of my contract with the Tsaritsa….I was to inform you all after the new’s of my death had spread and after The Qixing had asked you all if you knew anything. However, I got…somewhat….distracted…Forgive me.”  

Distracted was definitely a word he could use for Tartaglia. 

The man had shaken up the monotony of his life, and made the feelings he had long since been saving for his dear Ajax resurface once more. The resemblance to his lost love was uncanny, to the point where Zhongli occasionally hinted at certain things in order to see if it really was him. 

However, it seemed to not be the case. 

But even so, he appreciated his company, and considered him dear to him nevertheless. 

He was just as shining and as precious as his dearest treasure, but the slight unsure feeling left him conflicted. 

But then, Guizhong had come to him, appeared before him and, implied that it truly was Ajax. 

He had promised himself he would bring him back, make him remember slowly and with time. 

And whilst Morax was never one to doubt her words, as they were always true....a part of him did not want to foolishly hope and cling onto such a sweet illusion, for fear that it would crumble at his feet and wither away. 

The rest of the adepti did not utter a word afterwards about what had distracted him, as they were all glad he had been alright, although he had earned a curious glance from Ganyu as they sat around for dinner and after they had all had a ‘group hug’...as the youth’s called it. 

______________________

Zhongli was surprised when Ganyu had asked for his help on an urgent matter, sent by way of letter inside of the Wansheng Funeral Parlor, tossed to him by his rowdy boss Hu Tao amongst many other letters, who merely teased him, “Aiyah! Mr. Zhongli!~ What a saucy minx you are, having so many devoted followers that are so eager to get your love and attention, that they even bombard you with a thousand love confessions inside of your own workplace! How scandalous and unprofessional!” 

His eye twitched but he ignored his boss, which had her howling with laughter, playfully slapping his shoulder, “I’m only kidding, Mr. Zhongli! There is no need to be so serious all the time!” 

She eventually left him, bouncing happily towards her workshop, where she was hacking and sawing away at pieces of wood to make some more coffins. 

He had no idea what he would do with such a rowdy and obnoxious kid. And yet, he could not prevent the sort of fondness that poked through whenever she was around. She reminded him dearly of Guizhong, and he guessed perhaps that’s why he was drawn to the job in the first place. 

He sighed, looking at the note sent by Ganyu and promptly tearing the wax seal gently before reading it. 

Afterwards, he left work and dreaded having to cancel his usual lunch date with Childe. But, Ganyu’s letter sounded so urgent and desperate that he could not ignore her pleas. 

Surprisingly, Childe had accepted it gracefully and the way he worded it sounded so carefree and nonchalant that it strongly reminded him of his dearest treasure, something that choked him up a bit. 

He soon arrived at Ganyu’s apartment, knocking a couple of times before the woman appeared, looking quite jittery and all over the place, eye bags heavy and eyes blood-shot…most likely due to overworking.

And…he…was suddenly reminded that he needed to have a small little chat with The Tianquan about bettering the conditions of her workers or at least providing Ganyu with a vacation, or maybe three. 

She looked as if she would collapse anytime now, the more he looked at her. 

Ganyu looked up at him before she bowed, “Oh! Lord Lapis, you have really come! I am sure you read my letter…and well…I am in desperate need of your assistance…If that would not be bothersome to you, My Lord!” 

Zhongli smiled, before ruffling her hair gently, feeling how soft and curly it felt (just like he remembered), “Not to worry…I am not in any hurry at the moment and am willing to help you in any of your endeavors, should you say the word.” 

She smiled, “Thank you, Lord Lapis…I greatly appreciate it.” 

Soon enough, they were downtown, and discussing things with Madam Ping. 

And that’s when they heard a familiar laugh. 

They all turned towards the sound, seeing an auburn haired man, smiling wide and bright as he walked past them, looking as free as ever. 

It was Childe. 

His hair was glowing embers, grin large and free, walking with a cadence that was unmistakably Ajax's. 

He looked so beautiful. 

So breathtaking. 

The sight almost reminded Morax of softer days, days where he would walk downtown with Ajax and Guizhong at his sides, watching as they ran ahead of him to gawk at the stalls of brand new items brought from places further away from Qingce Village. Days where it was easier to breathe, where the responsibility and burden of being an immortal God did not dawn on him, days where everything seemed so painfully sweet. 

Days he so longed to return to. 

Zhongli saw as both Ganyu’s and Madam Ping’s eyes glittered with something akin to sadness as they stared at him as he walked by them. 

And his chest felt heavy as he realized that they too must miss his dear Ajax just as much as he did. 

They did not utter a word about it, not at least until he was walking back to Ganyu’s apartment, holding some of the gifts he had bought inside of many bags. 

He helped Ganyu hide them carefully inside her house, and was about to leave when she lightly pulled at his arm. 

He turned back to see Ganyu looking up at him with a sort of desperation he had not seen in her eyes for a long time, “....My Lord….may I please ask you…..about something…” 

Morax stopped in his tracks, feeling a lump in his throat as a part of him knew what she was going to ask him about. 

“Mn.” 

She nodded, her eyes lightly glassy, “Was he….Was he the distraction you spoke of….before?” 

He felt his own eyes prick with tears as he blinked them back and attempted to regain his composure, “....Mn…” 

Something inside of her seemed to shatter as he saw her blink back tears that started to flow past her eyes, “....Why…..."

He felt his Gnosis feel heavy inside of his chest, as he continued, her voice filled with unmistakable grief, "Why! Why....is it that he looks just like him and yet…he does not seem to remember me or....any of us….He did not even spare me a second glance when he saw me in Lady Ningguang’s office…Why is that?”

Her voice was desperate, shaky and filled with years of unfelt grief. 

He was not sure what to answer and merely shook his head, “....I...am not sure....” 

“Then why….why does he smile and talk and look the way he used to! The way my precious Gege used to?-I…” 

She trailed off as she started to sob, harsh and breathless. 

It reminded him of how Guizhong used to cry; with her entire soul and body with each and every sob. 

She had taken after Guizhong, she had taken after her in her incredible kindness, generosity, intelligence, bravery, and even the way she grieved. 

He wished she hadn't taken that trait from Guizhong. 

Morax felt his own tears start to roll down his own cheeks, “....I…do not know…” 

She couldn't take it anymore and dove into his arms as she screamed into his chest, holding onto him tightly.

And all of a sudden Morax was transported back to the past.

Looking on at a barren wasteland, the smell of iron heavy and thick in his nostrils, ringing inside of his ears, and the countless dead bodies that surrounded him. 

Of his body inside of his arms, heavy and limp. 

Like a doll. 

His eyes were closed, his heartbeat was gone, the slight warmth of his skin was gone, turning into a sickly pale color. 

But, what hurt the most that day, after he felt the ground beneath him shake and the earth begin to transform under his rage and grief was the sheer amount of emptiness he felt as he held the dead body of his love, his precious boy, his dearest treasure. 

Was the way little Ganyu, merely a teenager at the time stared at the body of a lifeless Ajax, before screaming at the top of her lungs. 

Shaking Ajax wildly and nearly tearing him from Morax's grip, a horrifying desperation in her eyes. 

That's what he saw, reflected back in the now, young woman's eyes. 

Now, she the little girl she used to be, the same one who eventually cried heavily into his arms all those years ago, screaming to know where her gege had gone off to, and why he was not moving, and when he would come back. 

He rubbed her head gently, as he held her tightly, a part of him wishing to sob out in pain, as she did. 

He didn’t. 

After a few more hours there were no more tears to shed, as Ganyu became unresponsive, eyes far off and dull. 

His chest was heavy, the place where his Gnosis lay within it pulsates, as he felt the familiar pain of mourning rise up once again, feeling his throat fill up with a heavy lump. 

He gently led her to her room, where he tucked her in, and sighed as she closed her eyes, almost desperately. 

As if she wanted to forget about everything and dream about him once more. 

His death had hit them hard, all of them. 

And while others attempted to hide their hurt at his passing with hateful words at his actions, he knew that they never stopped thinking about him, never stopped missing his presence and the way he would light up the room by merely stepping inside of it. 

They all wished to go back. 

Go back to the smaller version of Qingce village, the less developed version of it, as they happily chatted away and enjoyed the variety of food with a good cup of aged wine. 

He wished he could go back. 

And a strong part of him wanted nothing more than to leave everything and go back. 

But he couldn’t. 

He made his way towards the building where The Yuheng was staying and knocked on her door. 

She was surprised at his arrival but did not complain at his sudden insistent knocks and respectfully did not comment about his appearance. 

He explained the situation to him, and calmly relayed what had happened to Ganyu. 

Ever since the passing of Ajax, something in the young Qilin had shattered. 

The last bit of grip on reality she had, effectively broke into pieces.

From then on, she would in some ways get lost in her own fantasies, would stare off into space for hours, and would not recognize herself inside of mirrors. 

She had taken some medicine for it, but sometimes it would happen regardless of the medicine or not. 

And he guessed Ganyu had explained it to The Yuheng who understood and said that she knew how much her beloved gege meant to her and rushed towards her apartment before uttering a quick ‘thank you’ to Zhongli as she practically ran to it. 

Zhongli was comforted by her reaction and was sure that The Yuheng would be a great life partner for Ganyu. 

He sighed and stared up at the now darkened sky, seeing as the moonlight cascaded upon the bustling streets of Liyue.

He looked at it for a bit before he made his way to his apartment, feeling a bit exhausted after the encounter. 

Wishing more than ever that Guizhong had been right. 

That he truly was Ajax. 

______________________

Anyways, that particular memory was not of importance right now! 

Ajax could think about such matters later on! But, for now, he would focus on at least forming a better relationship with the boy. 

He really really really wanted to fight against him, a friendly spar. And while he would most likely be able to fight against the youth back in his own time…it would be great if they were on better terms. 

He did not want Xiao to look like he wanted to strangle him with his arms at every given moment. 

He wanted to at least for a better relationship with the boy, for his sake at least. 

Ajax had once tried to ask Zhongli if Alatus would be up to fight against him, after vaguely hearing his name and his battle prowess in a play they went to see…although, he does not remember much….which was a given considering the large amount of alcohol he consumed. 

______________________

The play depicted General Alatus as a fierce warrior, who was the most unrelenting one of the Five Yaksha. 

One, who did not spare anyone in his pursuit to serve his Lord, Rex Lapis. 

He would hastily use his polearm to end those who dared to provoke his Lord's wrath with a quick series of strategic slices. 

He had earned his skills in battle from years of extensive training under the personal guidance of Rex Lapis and another illusive adeptus whose name was lost to time. 

Childe missed the glint of sadness that passed over Zhongli’s golden eyes, as he darted his eyes to him, expectant and imploring. 

But the man did not turn to face him, eyes staring entranced at the play in front of them, as the others around them too stayed fixated at the ostentatiously decorated main stage.  

Childe watched as the storyteller kept telling the story, bringing out various people in costumes as they sang and acted, twirling about and portraying the ferocious adepti. And he would occasionally take a swing of the Baijiu the theater had laid upon for everyone to relish in, amongst other assortment of treats for the customers to enjoy. 

Now, Zhongli would have warned Childe about the intense and highly concentrated alcohol content inside of the liquor, as it was known to easily intoxicate people to the point where they would blackout shortly…if taken carelessly and in high amounts. 

And while Zhongli had seen just how high Childe’s alcohol tolerance was, from the way he had seen him pass back strong alcoholic beverages without so much as a reaction. He was not entirely sure if it was very advisable to drink such a strong drink in such an excessive amount, as he saw the man pass swing after swing of it, nearly downing 3 full bottles and some. 

And, inevitably, it seemed as if the alcohol seemed to really affect the man. 

Childe was drunk as his body swayed, movements slightly slowed down from the Baijiu he had ingested, which…caused Zhongli to throw an arm around his shoulder as he guided the man back to his apartment. 

They were out of the theater already, and were walking towards his apartment, down the busy street where many people were walking and talking amongst one another. 

It was then where Childe boldly proclaimed, with stars in his eyes, that he desperately wanted to fight the illustrious General Alatus, slightly swaying as he did so, cheeks slightly reddened from the alcohol. 

Zhongli merely chuckled deeply before he shook his head, hoisting him up a bit, “I am certain that Xia-General Alatus has taken a vow to never harm a mortal in his life. And so, even if you were very eager and upfront to go against him, he would coldly turn you down…At least from what I have heard before in many of the ancient texts and stories passed around for years now.” 

Some of the excitement died in Childe’s eyes as she frowned, “Aww…that’s too bad….” A sliver of mischief passed through his eyes as he grinned, bloodlust once again on his face, “….I bet I could make him fight me, to the point where he would not be able to refuse!” 

Zhongli felt the fondness that had been simmering underneath his skin come across in his eyes as he shook his head with a chuckle, “Always quite the rascal, stirring up unnecessary dramatics for the sake of getting the opportunity to fight against one of Liyue’s most respected adepti…I should have expected as much.” 

Tartaglia merely shook with laughter, and that devilish grin sprawled larger across his face, “Unnecessary, maybe? But, that doesn’t drive me away from the itch to just get him into one fight with me. That would be enough, then he could go crawling back to the hole he has been hiding in for the past hundred years.” 

Zhongli chuckled as he continued guiding the man to his apartment, feeling slightly pleased when the man nearly fell, causing him to have to put an arm around his waist. 

However, something in him broke, when he realized by doing so, he was slightly touching the bare skin of the small window he had in his outfit…but still, he felt himself slightly hum when he felt the muscles underneath twitch at his touch. 

______________________

But that wasn’t the point. 

He would at least attempt to get the boy to at least tolerate his existence. 

He let out a sigh, as they all quietly walked back to Qingce Village, all exhausted and ready to go back home again. 

Xiao, the brat, diligently walked behind Morax, the same reverent look in his eyes never leaving him as he did. 

Guizhong had suggested carrying Xiao, since his body’s constitution was the weakest, but the boy had refused her, stubbornly refusing to be a burden to them. Guizhong had admired how resolute the boy had been, but still softly said that they would take occasional breaks along the trip in order to not exhaust him too much. 

Xiao had shyly thanked her, before catching up to Morax, who was still walking ahead of all of them. 

The rest of the once captured adepti had all been sent free, and some had gone back to their own homes, their own families and their own duties in other parts of Teyvat, profusely thanking them. 

And, the ones who had nowhere to go to, had tagged alongside them. 

All differentiating ages, the eldest looking to be the same age Ajax was when he fell back into the Abyss. 

They all recalled the names they had been given by people they once knew, people which Ajax was sure had all passed. 

There were 5 of them, with Xiao amongst them. 

The oldest among them was a boy with many arms, Bosacius and a boy with dark brown hair, Menogias.  

The next one in terms of age was a girl with flaming bright hair, Indarias. And then the girl with bluish dark hair and horns, Bonanus.  

And finally there was Xiao, who was the youngest of the bunch and looked about 10 years old. 

They had all silently followed them, walking behind alongside Sky Bracer who merely smiled at them passively. 

Ajax felt bad for them, merely children before they were put into the hands of a tyrant, forced to carry out his dirty work and kill others against their will. Ajax knew how that felt, at least in terms of being forced to kill at that young of an age. 

And he felt the subtle guilt rise up in his lungs as he remembered how they all had succumb to the karmic debt they had all accumulated from the hatred of the Gods they had defeated, all except Xiao, for a reason that was unknown to the textbooks and many plays that were foretold of the 5 Yakshas. 

But, he swore it in himself that he wouldn’t let any of them succumb to their tragic deaths, not if he had any say in it. 

Ajax let out a small sigh once again as he stared at Morax’s back once again. 

The thing that had happened between the both of them…had certainly been something… and the most they had talked since the incident.  

Morax had not looked the slightest bit disgusted by Ajax, so he guessed that meant that at least he could still talk to the man normally without the subject of his feelings being brought up. Which although that still made a part of Ajax ache, was admittedly better than nothing. 

But, Ajax had impulsively went to Morax’s side when he saw him hurt, momentarily forgetting his pettiness as he did so. 

He let out another, larger sigh before he continued to walk towards home.  

Ajax would figure this all out, back at home. 

So for now, he shrugged the pressing matters into the back of his head and continued forward. 

______________________

They stopped by a spring near the cavern where they had been inside of and retrieved their things. 

Ajax was by the calm waters of the small creek, closing his eyes, breathing in and out and relishing in the sound of rushing water as he let his worries slip by him. 

He guessed he should thank Madam Ping for her meditation tips. 

A minute went by, before he felt a presence near him. 

He opened his eyes, before he turned in alarm, only retreating his hydro blades when he saw the familiar dark-green haired adeptus, staring up at him with a sort of hesitance. 

Ajax blinked back at him, before he cracked a small grin, “...Hey….would you like to sit with me?” 

He pointed at the flat rock he was sitting on, before he scooted over to make enough room. 

Xiao blinked at him, before he inched slowly towards him, taking a seat next to him, completely quiet. 

Ajax blinked. 

He had not expected that Xiao would actually willingly sit next to him, but he guessed that this Xiao and the one he had back home, were indeed two separate entities, regardless of the fact they were practically the same person. 

And so, this Xiao did not appear to have the same disdain that the one back in his own time did, even if Ajax swore the brat had given him a nasty look before. 

He let out a small chuckle before he continued to meditate, closing his eyes and hearing nothing but the water rush by the small creek, and a part of him wondered what the rest of the adepti were up to. 

They had certainly not gone far off, just being a ways away from the creek itself, and Ajax could hear the faint chattering. Perhaps they were discussing something related to that Qiong Qi or maybe it was about that strange miasma they had encountered. 

But regardless, it most likely did not have to do anything with him. 

A few seconds passed like this, and Ajax could have sworn his unconscious was fading away, and felt the need to take a small nap on the rock. 

But then. 

He cracked an eye open at the sound of scratching and turned his eyes to look at where the noise had come from. 

It was Xiao. 

And he was hastily scratching at the marks around his wrists, the burns he had received from how tightly the chains had wrapped around them. Tearing at the flesh with his sharp nails, with a painful insistence, as if he wanted to erase the marks by making new ones. 

Ajax grabbed at Xiao’s arm, “Stop that!” 

This made the small boy become still as he looked up at Ajax, with a fearful expression. 

Ah. 

He guessed it was not great to do such a thing, especially after the brutality these kids were exposed to. 

If he were to have an adult come at him in such a way, when he had barely come back from the Abyss, he would have likely freaked out. 

He loosened his hold and gave a small smile, “...Sorry....Just....don't do that, you are only hurting yourself further…” 

Xiao merely blinked at him, silent and still, like a fearful animal. 

Ajax sighed before he let go of Xiao’s arm, “...Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you…Just….Just don’t do that, it is only causing you further pain…” 

He contemplated what he should do with the now bleeding wrists, done from the incessant scratching and then he smiled as he thought of the right thing, “Ah! I’ve got it, hold on!” 

He reached over where he knew his bag was resting and grabbed it before he hastily opened it and searched around it before he came across the healing salve Cloud Retainer had stuffed into his bag. 

It was the one for minor wounds, which also came with miraculous healing abilities and disinfected the wound in order to prevent it from becoming worse. 

Although, it would not be advisable to apply it on wounds, when his hands were practically covered with blood. 

And so, he grabbed the soap he had stashed away and gently washed his hands in the creek, before placing it back into the small container he had brought it in, and received the salve and some bandages. 

He looked over to Xiao, who was curious but withdrawn, guarded. 

Like a curious, but cautious stray cat. 

Ajax smiled as he gently grabbed at Xiao’s arms before he grabbed a good amount of the salve and said, “This is…going to hurt, but I promise you it will stop the itchiness you feel.” 

Xiao did not say anything as he watched as Ajax applied it, only slightly flinching and biting his cheek at the pain of the salve. 

However, he remained still as Ajax finished applying it and gently wrapped the bandage around one of his wrists, before moving onto the other and doing the same thing. 

Then, he noticed the poor state his feet were in and felt his heart become heavy. 

That cruel tyrant had not even allowed them to have shoes!

What the fuck. 

Not even the Tsaritsa had been this cruel to them, and at the very least she provided them necessary clothes for the wintertime...

Ajax felt anger rise in his throat as he saw the various cuts and the same burn marks around his ankles. 

He looked around to see if perhaps he would be able to make some sort of shoes or anything and frowned when he couldn’t find anything, except for the bandages. 

He sighed as he applied the salve to his feet and carefully wrapped them around his injured feet, still thinking about what he should do. 

When he was busy moping around and walking towards home, he had not realized just how badly injured Xiao was, and the obvious lack of shoes! 

He looked at the boy who merely stared at him, with a sort of soft reverence. The same kind he had only seen him aim towards Morax. 

He felt a large lump in his throat as he sighed and ruffled Xiao’s hair, feeling him stiffen at the warm touch, “...Your feet are heavily injured…I won’t allow you to go back all the rest of the way like this…So…I will carry you.” 

“..It is.....fine…” 

A small voice said, it was Xiao’s as he shook his head. 

Stubborn brat. 

Ajax shook his own head, being the far more stubborn one, “No. You can’t go back like this, without shoes. You’re going to really injure your feet further and it’ll be painful, kid. I can’t allow you to go like this, especially since I know the rest of the journey from there on out is very long.” 

Xiao still shook his head, “No…it is fine.” 

Ajax’s frown became deeper as he crossed his arms, “This isn’t up for discussion, A-Xiao. Now, let this Gege help you.” 

Something in Xiao’s eyes flashed with something indescribable as he heard the nickname, and he hesitantly gave a soft nod. 

Ajax felt a soft smile form, as he hoisted his bag across his shoulder and in front of him, as he got in front of Xiao and signaled for him to get on his back. 

Xiao did so, hesitantly, as Ajax hoisted him up and felt as Xiao put his arms over his shoulders. 

He was light, extremely so actually, that his bag felt heavier up front than he did. 

And Ajax was instantly reminded of the few times he would give Teucer and Tonia piggyback rides, during the few years he was constantly around them and felt something nostalgic rush over him, prickling his eyes with unshed tears. 

He blinked them back and merely said, “Now, then, let’s go fine the others now.”

Xiao did not say anything, as Ajax started to walk. 

______________________

The rest of them had not gone far off, but had gone far enough that it took a few minutes to reach them. 

When he did, he overheard as they were in the middle of discussing what the next course of action was, and how the sudden rise of Gods was soon to threaten their growing settlement. 

Mountain Shaper and Madam Ping were mainly the ones talking as they directed their ideas to Morax, who was lazing around beside a tree, as Moon Carver merely sat beside another tree, looking uncharacteristically tired. 

He darted in silently, carrying Xiao on his back, as Guizhong spotted him….as she always did. 

Her eyes brightened up and she smiled widely, similarly carrying one of the other kids, Bonanus on her back, “Shidi! You have come, I was deciding whether to go looking for you or not.” 

He laughed, “Shijie, I am not the one with a terrible habit of leaving the group so suddenly and venturing far away without a warning.” 

The jab was obviously directed at Morax, who merely blinked at it before going back to hearing Madam Ping’s and Mountain Shaper’s ideas, but Ajax could still feel the intensity of his eyes staring back at him. 

Guizhong merely laughed at that, before she paused and her eyes softened significantly. She then pointed behind his back, before whispering, “Aww~ Shidi….look..”  

He craned his head to look behind him, and felt a warm feeling wash over him when he saw that Xiao had fallen asleep, against his back, breathing softly. 

He gently brought up a hand to pat the boy’s head, and felt as he leaned into the touch, feeling his heart clench at the cuteness of it all. 

Guizhong then smiled, “You have earned the little one’s trust, shidi.”  

Ajax shook his head, laughing, “I am sure he was just tired is all, and ready to fall asleep. The poor boy seemed on the brink of collapsing…”  

It was true. 

Xiao looked as if he had hung onto the last thread of life he had as he walked behind Morax. 

Her eyes softened with pity as she sighed, “...It has been tough on all of them, hasn’t it?” 

She looked at the sleeping girl on her back and to the others who were sleeping side by side next to Sky Bracer who was watching over them. 

Ajax nodded somberly, “Yeah…I could not imagine what they all have been through, especially at this age…” 

Ajax had not explicitly told Guizhong what he had been through as a kid, but even she could guess that he had been through something horrible, by the way his own eyes seemed to fill with a heavy familiarity. 

Guizhong nodded and smiled, “But now that they are with us, we can surely make it up to them!” 

Ajax cracked a grin at her enthusiasm, “Yeah, I sure hope we can, Shijie.”  

Guizhong grinned back. 

It would surely take a long time to get these kids to somewhat normalcy, to show them that not everyone was a terrible monster, that there were still good people in the world, ready to guide them and shower them with love and respect. 

But, a part of Ajax knew that they would be able to do it, to at least get these kids to normalcy, and save them from their tragic demise.

______________________

The rest of the way back was relatively normal. 

As they only set up camp about 3 times, mostly for the children’s sake as Ajax, Guizhong, Sky Bracer, Madam Ping and even….Morax took turns carrying the kids after they got too tired. 

It was quite the endearing sight to see Morax, this usually brutish and merciless man help carry the small adepti children with such care and gentility as if he was scared they would break under his touch. 

It was adorable, especially in the way Morax’s eyes slightly widened when they fell asleep on his back and against him during the times he fell asleep against a tree (which was often). 

Ajax pretended not to notice the way the sight of it made something clutch his heart with a certain intensity he could not name. 

They were nearing the familiar bamboo forest near Qingce Village, as they made a short trip to the village (Ajax had to stifle a laugh when he saw the look of wonder and amazement from the children’s eyes as they saw at the small village) and then headed on out to their home in the mountains…when they were struck with a certain problem. 

They had taken in children, but did not have anywhere to house them. He guessed they could find a place for them to be, however, they did not know if they wanted to be left alone or with company. 

And, it wasn’t as if Ajax wanted to leave his kids alone, he just had no clue where they would stay for the time being, before they could find a place they wanted to stay in permanently. 

Guizhong asked each of them, once they had reached near their distinct abodes and most of them decided to stay in Guizhong’s abode, where she had 2 spare guest rooms….Ajax doubted that, as he had seen Guizhong’s abode, and well…there was no such thing. 

However, he suspected that she would likely alter her abode in order to fit the extra rooms for the kids.

Sky Bracer had offered his own abode, but he was profusely turned down, since his hands were always full with Ganyu, since he was the least busiest out of the adepti, making him the de-facto babysitter of the young girl. And well…she was a handful.....and that was putting it lightly. 

The children agreed, Bosacius and Menogias decided to room together while Bonanus and Indarias roomed together, since they had already become somewhat familiar with each other and have even striked up a small friendship amongst them. 

However, Xiao had merely stayed quiet as he stared up at Guizhong. 

She smiled and patted his head gently, “There is no need to be afraid little one, speak your mind freely now.” 

Xiao merely stared towards where Ajax was, eyes expectant yet hesitant. 

Ajax blinked. 

What?  

Now this was a weird development. 

Never in his entire life had he ever expected Xiao of all people to ever want to share a space with him. In fact, he was certain that the brat would rather die by his own hand than to even stand to breathe the same air as him for too long. 

Guizhong turned towards him, pleading eyes. 

He felt the strong urge to decline, but with such eyes staring back at him, it was impossible to do so. His conscience was strongly pleading with him to do what was right. 

Having the brat stay over at his house would not be the end all be all. 

Ajax sighed softly, passing a hand through his hair before he nodded, “I do not mind if he stayed with me….it really would not be any bother.” 

Guizhong grinned as she brought the shy Xiao over, who walked bashfully, hiding behind Guizhong, with the pair of brand new shoes they had bought from the market. 

______________________

They got to Qingce Village, as the children looked all around them, astonished about what was around them, wide eyed and mouth gaping like a fish. 

Ajax was certain they had never seen a village like this before, at least when it was in its full splendor, as it was the mid-day, which tended to be the busiest time in the marketplace for people to come and buy goods. 

If they had seen a village, they had most likely done so in a rushed frenzy attempting to retrieve the dreams for that vermin, and not getting to fully take in the sight or even take a leisurely stroll to it. 

Ajax glanced back at them and noticed the poor state of their clothes and the obvious lack of shoes and the state of them…they were in an urgent need of a bath. 

He looked over to Guizhong before leaning in and whispering, “...Shijie….do you have any yuanbao to spare?”  

Guizhong blinked before she nodded, “Ah…yes! I never go anywhere without my purse….hold on,” she said as she reached into her bag and retrieved the small embroidered purse. 

Ajax smiled, “Thanks, Shijie…Oh! And I promise to pay you back.”  

Guizhong shook her head, a small frown pulling at her smile, “That is not necessary, shidi. You do not have to repay me for anything, I am doing this because I want to and therefore it is a gift. And you do not need to repay me for a gift.” 

He frowned as he stared at the coin pouch, however he did not have time to refuse it as it was promptly shoved into his hands, “I know what you're thinking, shidi! Please do not feel bad over something so miniscule, it is alright.” 

He sighed and stared at the purse in his hands and silently promised to drop by Guizhong’s house later and secretly drop the yuanbao he had spent in her house whenever she was out discussing things with her people. 

Yuanbao had been the currency they used in this period of time in Liyue’s history, and had been pieces or iron or gold which were made into boat-like shapes, although it had been recorded that on occasion they were made into many other shapes. They had been in circulation and made by the mortals, which had then been adopted by the adepti. 

And then, after Rex Lapis became the God of Contracts, which subsequently resulted in active trade with other growing nations and Gods, that resulted in him also being known as the God of Commerce for a while. And because of that, and the growing problem of having each yuanbao being individually minted by blacksmiths, and given the tedious nature of doing so, he came up with a plan. And eventually, made mora which were then adopted throughout the world. 

Ajax recalled, from a lecture Zhongli had given him on the currency they used during the ancient times in Liyue. And a part of Ajax still does not understand how the once called ‘God of Commerce’ somehow failed to save enough money for himself and set up a trust fund and a bank account before he went out and snatched away any shiny antique he came up with….even after the incident at the Golden House, Ajax’s bank account was never quite the same, having been drained more than half. 

And he had billions saved up in that account, given to him by Pantalone, who was very passive aggressive in his letters to the Northland Bank, as he demanded to know just what could have made many of the money they had set up for Tartaglia, that would have normally taken at least 7 to 10 years, to drain half of it. 

He chuckled as he stared at the yuanbao in the purse, they were an assortment of gold and iron yuanbao, mostly given to Guizhong by her followers in their prayer to her, and some were given to her whenever she proposed and worked on yet another technological advancement. 

He looked back at the other adepti, as they all scattered in separate directions. 

Mountain Shaper went with Moon Carver, as they eyed up the newly tailored outfits, with the colors they were always drawn to, which were mostly very earthy. 

Sky Bracer asked the children what they wanted to eat, if they were hungry for anything and, after receiving some replies (mostly from Bosacius who had proven himself to be quite the rambunctious firecracker) he smiled and hurried to buy some food for the kids, even if they did not ask for it. 

Guizhong dragged Morax to some of the people who were fawning and blushing over Morax’s presence much to his dismay it seemed. He had seen the people gushing over him, nearly throwing themselves all over him as they threw gifts and burst into tears at the sight of him…and promptly started to inch away slowly from them, obviously uncomfortable with their adoration. 

However, Guizhong had noticed and gave a certain stare and that had him surrendering and slowly greeting devoted followers who were bowing before him, in that awkward way he did. 

It is quite the sharp contrast to how Zhongli was a suave gentleman, as he flirted playfully with the many A-yi’s and even store cashiers, with the very smooth way he did, as he charmed them into bringing the price down on an antique he really wanted….Ajax remembered how much he wanted to laugh at the sight of Zhongli haggling in such a flirtatious way, before he felt the bitter jealousy start to prickle underneath his skin. 

Madam Ping stayed to watch over the children, as they sat down near a small patch of grass near the village, watching with amusement as Bosacius chased after Menogias who really seemed to not want to play along but did so anyway to amuse his friend. 

Indarias and Bonanus had started to pick the flowers around the patch, and started to make small flower bracelets and crowns out of them, after Guizhong had taught them during one of their breaks throughout the trip back home. While Xiao stood shyly in the midst of it all, while Indarias and Bonanus talked to him and placed the newly made crown on his head. 

Ajax chuckled at the sight of them and continued downtown, in hopes of finding some better clothes for the kids. 

At least temporary ones, before they developed their own style and for them to change in after they showered and settled down. 

But before that, he really needed to buy shoes for them, because the ones they had were old and tattered (weirdly enough, the rest of the kids had shoes, but they were in terrible condition). 

And that only caused him to further wonder why Xiao was the only one who didn’t have any. 

He sighed and continued walking down the busy town. 

Ajax smiled when he came across a shop, selling shoes, with all shapes and sizes, pre-made and laid out in his small cart. And smiled even further when he noticed the clothes there too. 

They were great quality, and seemed to be made sturdily enough. 

He went up to the young man and saw as the man’s eyes nearly bulged out of his eye sockets. 

The young man immediately leapt out of his cart to kowtow in front of Ajax, “M-my Lord! This humble servant is very honored to have my Lord grace my humble shop with his presence!” 

Ajax paused. 

And immediately understood why Guizhong hated seeing people bow down before her. 

It was unsettling and uncomfortable. 

He chuckled nervously before he brought the young man up with his arms, “There is no need to bow in front of me, gongzi. It is quite alright. Please settle down.” 

The young man settled down slightly, but still kept his head down, “W-w-hat would My Lord like to get from this humble shop of this humble servant.” 

Ajax chuckled as he sighed, regretting having come here with his horns on full display, “Um…how much do the shoes and clothes cost, gongzi?”  

The young man shook his head, “No no! This humble servant insists that My Lord take what he needs! This humble servant could not possibly take my Lord’s money! It would be blasphemous!” 

Ajax knew there was no use in arguing with this stubborn man and instead nodded, “Alright, thank you, gongzi. ”

The man shook his head, “No! This humble servant is the one who should be thankful that My Lord is gracing this humble shop of mine with his celestial presence.” 

Celestial my ass.  

Ajax huffed in amusement, if only the young man knew that he was practically raised in The Abyss and wielded horrific powers that were the furthest from Celestia…he would eat his words then. 

He did not say anything else as he stared at all of the shoes, they were in many different sizes, and so he decided to retrieve a couple of pairs, to see which ones would fit the best to the kids and shoved them into his bag, before doing the same with the clothes. The young man did not move from his stand and merely bowed and clasped his hands in praise for Ajax, who merely huffed and dumped out the entire contents of Guizhong’s purse, wincing at the huge amount and promising to give her twice the amount. 

He then promptly walked over to the small patch of clearing and saw as the kids were all sat and practically devouring the food Sky Bracer had ordered for all of them.

Xiao was a bit less manic in the way he ate as he took his own portion and shyly started to eat it in small bites. 

Ajax sighed as he went up to them and smiled, “I bought new clothes and shoes for all of you, please pick whichever ones you would like.” 

More like whichever one’s fit, but he didn’t say anything as their eyes lighted up. 

He carefully placed the clothes onto the patch of grass and lined up the pairs of shoes and watched as they all started to try on different clothes and pick whichever ones they wanted the most and try on different pairs of shoes before they picked their own. 

Xiao once again, was a bit hesitant as he sifted through the clothes and at the shoes, but eventually picked out his own. 

Ajax did not notice how Xiao’s stare became more intense and directed at him as his smile grew larger. 

______________________

Xiao stared up at him, the entire walk back to Ajax’s house. 

They had all decided to go and inform Cloud Retainer of their return, lest they wanted to be met in the middle of the night with devastating pecks to the head as a mad Cloud Retainer scolded them for not informing her of their arrival. 

Ajax had not experienced that ever, and he would admit that it was plainly just his imagination and fear that was making that up. However, given the way Cloud Retainer was, he wouldn’t doubt it for a second. 

They found her back in her own abode, where she jolted out of it and nearly toppled everyone over with the pecks to the head they received. 

They were her attempt at being affectionate, and did not hurt…like they usually did. 

Ajax could have also sworn there were subtle tears stinging the corners of her eyes, but he did not comment on it as he laughed and grinned up at her, “Da-yi~ It is very nice to see you again, after so long. I was starting to miss your painful pecks, even the imprint you have left from your incessant pecking has started to recede.” 

She shifted into her mortal form as she playfully smacked his arm…although was that a small smile, “Insolent brat! You ought to call this one Shigu by now, but it seems that although you have spent many days having the opportunity to reflect upon your actions, you have still failed to do so.” 

His grin grew wider as he dove into her shoulder, catching her by surprise and making her slightly squawk and squirm as he carefully wrapped his arm around her upper back. 

“I am so glad to see you again, Da-yi. We all missed you, I missed you.” 

She stiffened but did not push him off and merely straightened out her glasses and patted his own back slowly, “Brat, one had started to worry that you had gotten yourself killed with how insatiable and battle hungry you are. Although, one trusts that my mark has helped you well.” 

He smiled into her shoulder, and nodded.

It had certainly provided him with much more energy than he normally felt. 

Guizhong grinned at the display and joined in on the hug, wrapping her arm around Cloud Retainer and Ajax as she chuckled when Cloud Retainer once again jolted,“It helped us all very much, Shigu. Thank you very much.” 

Madam Ping came up next, although she merely just threw an arm around Cloud Retainer as she buried her face in her loose hair. 

The others did not join in on the hug, although Sky Bracer did give her a small side hug afterwards, and then bowed to her slightly recounting the details of his long mission to her. The others simply only gave her a pat on the shoulder or even a bow as they too began to talk about the uprising of many gods around Teyvat, which could potentially threaten their safety. 

And also mentioned the new adeptus children they had rescued from the clutches of that evil tyrant, which of course, nearly bulged Cloud Retainer’s eyes from her sockets. And Ajax could almost guess what was going on in her mind. 

‘If one adeptus brat was already a pain in one’s back, then one could not imagine what five more brats would entail….’  

And could almost imagine the internal groans of displeasure rumbling beneath her skin. Ajax laughed, and promised that he would help take care of them to lessen the blow. 

The usual. 

After that was over, the others went to their own abodes and bid each other a temporary goodbye, as they promised to meet up for dinner. 

Xiao followed Ajax down the mountain silently by his side, as they walked to his house. 

Once they got there, Ajax opened the door with ease and waved his hand towards his house. Xiao merely stared up at him, confused. 

Ajax smiled, “You can go in, it’s alright.” 

Xiao blinked before he hesitantly walked in, before Ajax did as well, and before he could continue he put an arm in front of him.

“No outside shoes inside the house, A-Xiao,” he said as he carefully retrieved a pair of guest slippers, which were usually worn by Guizhong, and although they were too big for Xiao, it would have to be done before he could buy him his own. 

Xiao merely nodded, “...Mn..” before he began to take off his own shoes (he had observed how to do so from the other children…Ajax had seen him), with utmost care, as if they were precious stones. 

Ajax sighed, doing so as well, before leaving his dirty shoes there and slipping on his slippers before he went on the wooden floor, seeing as Xiao did the same, following behind him. 

The kid had somehow put his trust in Ajax, something that was very out of character for him to do. 

But since Ajax did not have the heart to deny his request of wanting to room with him, he simply allowed it. 

He promptly showed Xiao around his house, telling him that the shower was outside but the toilet was inside, that he could go outside if he wanted but that he would have to go along with him in case something happened, and that they would have to sleep in the same room but that if Xiao did not want to sleep in the same bed as him he could clear the storage room and make it his own room. 

Xiao only stayed quiet as Ajax explained away. 

They went inside of the room, where Ajax stared at his small bed, and said to the boy that he would get another bed downtown later that day and place it beside his own for now. 

The weather had gotten colder as well, and so, Ajax made a mental note to bring out the cozier blankets for the both of them and perhaps buy some more of those for them as well, and then have a few pairs of warm pajamas made for Xiao and himself. 

______________________

After the short house tour, and after Ajax had showered, after Xiao did (thankfully, he had a few extra spare soap and washcloths after Guizhong had brought some in case something happened to those he had himself), they went up the mountain to the table they usually at dinner at. 

When he arrived, carrying A-Xiao on his back after the boy had started to sway when he walked and slightly tripped, eyes dropping closed. 

He was met with the sight of Morax, leaning against a tree, his eyes closed. 

During the course of his stay here, he had noticed how Morax seemed to be calmest when he was asleep, as that was when his features smoothed down, creating a peaceful and serene expression on his face. 

Ajax sighed, noticing how the rest of them had not gotten there yet, most likely inside Cloud Retainer’s abode, making the food alongside Madam Ping as they prepared it in her ‘Supreme Cuisine Machine’. 

The fancily named cooking device, was made by Guizhong when she heard Cloud Retainer complain about how slow the stove she already had cooked to Madam Ping. Which was overheard from Guizhong who had taken it upon herself to build her a stove that could cook food faster and yet just as delicious. She had then left it upon her doorstep, with a small note which explained how to use it as it was signed off with Guizhong’s signature. 

And so, from then on, Cloud Retainer had used it almost religiously. 

Unfortunately, The God of Stove had left a few weeks prior, which meant that Ajax no longer had the yellow bear as company anymore, and did not get to enjoy food done by his helping hands, which was very unfortunate. And Ajax hoped the God would visit sometime soon. 

The others were most likely still getting ready and or making their way to her abode. 

He sighed and figured it wouldn’t hurt for him to get some shut-eye while he was waiting for everyone to come back. 

He looked towards a sleeping Morax, still against the tree, his arms crossed as his hair was splayed messily down his sides. 

The tree was wide enough for the both of them, and well, to Ajax’s tired brain, the spot next to Morax seemed so inviting and warm even if Ajax knew the man was somewhat cold-blooded.   

Temptation rose inside of him, as he shuffled closer and plopped himself down next to Morax, making sure to take Xiao gently off his back as he placed him beside himself. 

He watched as the boy snuggled against his side, and clutch at his arm. 

Ajax smiled and gently patted the boy on the head before he too began to sink into the tree and felt as his eyes started to close. 

And he guessed it had started to impact him as he started to doze off and his vision started to fade into nothing. 

______________________

He woke up to voices overhead, muttering things that were unintelligible to him as he blinked his eyes open, seeing the world blur a bit before he could make out a couple of figures looking down at him in amusement. 

“Cute…” 

“Why does…..one have….to deal with this migraine inducing sight…” 

“...Aww, is that the little one there too?” 

He blinked his eyes open, hearing a familiar chuckle, “Shidi! You are finally awake.” 

It was Guizhong, who was looking down at Ajax with a large amused grin, next to a similarly amused Madam Ping and not so amused Cloud Retainer. 

He stared up at them, yawning a bit before his senses finally honed in on him, causing him to falter. 

Ajax moved and felt something beneath him, something sturdy and strangely warm, and…now that he finally came to consciousness…was his cheek pressed against something? 

And why was his arm somewhat numb and clinging onto something tightly? 

He followed his cheek and was met with a familiar set of robes, they were brown with golden accents on them, and that’s when he noticed he was pressed against someone’s lap…

Huh?  

He blinked once again, and started to move when he noticed that something else was behind him, on his back, it was most likely Xiao.

Who had most likely buried his face in his upper back. 

He started to get up, and rubbed at his eyes, and looked back at what he was clinging onto so tightly. 

A pair of fiercely molten eyes stared back at him, with a raging intensity. 

It was Morax. 

Ajax had never in his life jolted upwards that fast, ignoring the ant-crawling sensation that went up the arm that had wrapped around the man’s waist, which was pressed against the tree’s bark.

He had…..He had….He had slept in the man’s lap! 

And practically grabbed onto him as if he was a pillow and buried his face near his.....groin… 

The embarrassment welled up deep within Ajax’s gut and he immediately stood up on his two feet, ignoring to see how the sleeping Xiao fell down and rubbed at his eyes, staring confused at what had occurred. 

When did that happen? 

Guizhong grinned at him, as she wiggled her eyebrows at him, “Shidi~ You did not tell me you were planning on sleeping with our dearest Shizun! If I had known that, I would have certainly gotten here earlier with my ink and brushes and painted such an adorable sight!” 

Ah. There it was. 

The innuendos, that were somehow not innuendos and yet they were. 

He felt his face burn as he coughed into his elbow, “It…I guess the trip really took all the energy I usually had all out of me…I hope I did not miss dinner.” 

Cloud Retainer frowned at him, and that’s when he noticed everyone already at the table, talking and chatting away, preferring to not pay them any mind. 

She shook her head, “Insolent brat! Fortunately for you, one has just finished dinner alongside one’s mei-mei. This one was about to bring the food out when one happened upon you insolent brat clinging onto Our Lord, with such a strong grip that it was practically impossible for anyone to tear you away from Our Lord. And then, there were those new brats you have brought alongside you, which ought to bring a migraine to oneself, clinging onto you…What an annoying sight,” she said before she marched off, most likely to go and finally start bringing out the dishes. 

Ajax’s face merely burned, when he must have realized that the rest of them had gotten there after he had fallen asleep, and consequently fell on Morax’s lap, and seen it all unfold. 

And a part of Ajax wonders if the man had woken up before they had gotten there, and why he hadn’t pulled him off himself. 

Guizhong’s grin became devilish as she leaned in and whispered, “Shigu is lying for Shizun’s sake….He insisted we not wake you up, when we attempted to pull you off him…and seemed oddly pleased with having you on his lap…he even kept eyeing us like a hawk whenever we came close to you….the only reason he stopped was because I said something…” 

That made him groan as he leaned into her shoulder, wanting nothing more than to become the dust she governed and be buried several feet underneath the ground…perhaps if he pissed off Morax or broke his contract, maybe he would grant him mercy and seal him beneath a mountain? 

That was wishful thinking, but thinking never hurt anybody, so he continued to do so as he felt Guizhong laugh and undo his hair which was put up into a small ponytail before she passed a hand through it. 

That made him relax. 

Although it was short lived. 

Because he then felt an arm pull him away from Guizhong, it was Madam Ping who was slightly frowning at him. 

Ah…he had forgotten about that.  

Guizhong laughed before she patted Madam Ping’s shoulder, “Aiyah! A-Ping! He’s my shidi, am I not allowed to be affectionate with my shidi anymore?” 

That seemed to pull Madam Ping out of whatever trance she had been in and she sheepishly let go of Ajax, her features relaxing once more, “Oh…my apologies shidi. I don’t know what has come over me, please do not pay it any mind.” 

He shook his head, and chuckled, giving her a side-hug, “S’not a big deal, Dajie, don’t worry about it.” 

She smiled before she said, “Alright then, well, I’ll go and help Shigu out or else I’m afraid she’ll practically tear my ear off from the scolding she will give me if I don’t.” 

She gave a certain look towards Guizhong who merely gave her a sheepish smile and then she was off. 

What had happened there? 

He hoped they had made up, and was sure they had from the look they had exchanged. 

He was happy for them, and was sure their wedding would be a wonderful sight to behold, he could already taste the delicious sweets they would most likely be having at their wedding and the intricately tailored wedding clothes they would be dressed in. 

He smiled and wished nothing more than that day to come, knowing that it would surely be such a joyous occasion. 

Guizhong then turned to look at Ajax, before leaning in and saying, noticeably serious, “Ajax… I know this might be a lot to ask for…but…could you at least attempt to talk to Shizun about....your feelings for him…I do not want to force you into anything you are not prepared for but…I will tell you one thing…..Things might have a better outcome than perhaps you had previously anticipated…” 

She gave him a firm squeeze on the shoulder before she threw him a grin, “Well, then, I’m off to help A-Ping out!” 

Ajax did not know what to make of her words. 

He had simmered down since the big outburst he had against Morax, no doubt. And he was not feeling particularly angry or outraged at the man and his strange behavior. Nor was he feeling nauseous whenever the topic of having to talk to him was brought around. 

He was just feeling awfully tranquil now. 

He guessed seeing Morax nearly dying due to the terrible miasma really set things clear for him that he truly loved the man, regardless of what time period it was. 

And ever since that strange dream he had, a few nights prior, that truly felt real. 

He guessed that in whatever universe, he would always love the man. 

And he had to stop running away from his emotions all the damned time. Especially since things were going to be quite awful in the coming months and even years, with The Archon War and even The Cataclysm. 

And well, now that he thought about it. 

The strange faces he had seen inside of his dream were strangely enough similar to the yaksha children they had practically adopted. 

Which brought with it more questions than answers. 

But, he would not worry about that at the moment. 

What mattered is at least getting things straightened out before the war came knocking and before he did not have time to fully spill out the depth of his feelings for the God. Even if the man rejected him, he would be at peace with himself knowing that he had sorted things out with him. 

And besides, with Guizhong’s cryptic message, he felt a strange sort of hope rise up inside of his stomach. 

He turned to see that Morax was staring intensely at him, Xiao curled up beside him, asleep once again. 

The sight was adorable. 

But he had something to do before he could fully appreciate the sight. 

He started to walk up to Morax before he awkwardly shifted and finally said, “Uh….I uhm…Would you like to..uh….go on a walk with me…tomorrow, I mean..”

Morax seemed slightly surprised as he widened his eyes slightly before he let out a curt nod, “Mn…”

That was all that was needed for him, as he smiled. 

Maybe. 

Just maybe, things would turn out okay as well. 

He hoped they would. 

______________________

They had all been called by an irritated Cloud Retainer who nearly pulled them all to sit at the table. 

It was relatively cramped, given the other new adepti, but it was joyous nevertheless. 

And Ajax nearly laughed when he saw the eyes of the kids light up at the large arrangement of food surrounding the small table, and their eyes nearly bulged out of their heads when they saw the portions that were served to them by Cloud Retainer who kept adding to their plates, adding that they were going to die given how sick and gauntly they looked from how malnutritioned they were. 

The kids were all dressed up in the clothes they had taken, and looked happy as they started to chat and open up more. And as their own distinct personalities started to show up more. 

And hopefully over time, they would start to be comfortable enough with showing their own distinct personalities. 

Xiao even started to open up more, though it was clear that he and Menogias were the most reserved out of the bunch. And while Bonanus was quiet, it seemed as if she just needed time to warm up to them as she started to talk more with Indarias’ insistence. 

Ajax smiled, as he chuckled at a particularly bad joke told by Guizhong who merely cackled as Cloud Retainer’s eye twitched as the bad joke donned on her. 

Cloud Retainer looked annoyed, but merely tolerated it as she rolled her eyes and groaned at the plethora of bad puns thrown her way, by a grinning Guizhong and Ajax (who joined in as well). 

Bosacius gawked when he found out that Ajax was indeed not a full adeptus, but instead a previous mortal who had managed to attain such a gift, and proclaimed that he would like to one day take him on in a spar. 

It seemed as if the little rascal was just like Ajax in the way he seemed to want to get stronger and go against other opponents that were clearly 100x as strong as him. 

Ajax laughed at the bold claim and patted the boy’s hair, saying that in the near future he would take his word and spar with him. 

Menogias merely sighed as he had to settle him down, as the other boy was nearly toppling over from the excitement of a worthy opponent. 

The sight threw Ajax for a loop, as it reminded him of the many times Zhongli had to calm him down from the onslaught of battle hunger that took him over whenever he heard of yet another God or adeptus that was very much alive, wanting more than to take them on and defeat them himself. 

Even the aura that the young Menogias exuded reminded him of Zhongli, as Bosacius own aura reminded him of himself. 

Ah...…how interesting. 

Bonanus crowded around Ganyu the moment Sky Bracer arrived (thankfully having missed seeing the sight of Ajax sleeping on Morax), walking alongside Sky Bracer. 

She pinched the girl’s cheeks and started to coo at how adorable she was, making several flower bracelets for Ganyu who merely thanked her and introduced herself. 

Indarias similarly crowded around Ganyu, as Bosacius followed soon after, as did Menogias.  

They all introduced themselves and then decided on a game to play. 

Ganyu was at an obvious disadvantage, which was noticed. 

And so, Bosacius lifted the girl up with a set of his arms and placed her on his shoulders and then started to run around with a giggling Ganyu as he chased after Indarias and then Menogias.  

Xiao stayed still, as he watched them, staying close to Ajax and Morax’ side, as he watched them, and then after an encouraging push he walked over to the other kids shyly. 

He didn’t have to say anything as they began to play with him too, earning a small smile from Xiao who began to play the game with them as well. 

Sky Bracer took a seat alongside the rest, next to Madam Ping and started to chat about the new things he had encountered and the various music he had listened to from the mortals. 

Guizhong teased Morax about his messy hair, who merely huffed and took it upon himself to mess up her own hair, making her yelp and then laugh. 

Cloud Retainer reprimanded the kids when they began to push each other, causing them to freeze up and immediately listen to her, as Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver sat side-by-side, sharing a nice cup of Osmanthus Wine it seemed, fawning over one another. 

As Ajax himself ate some of the food, he sighed in pleasure as Guizhong began to play with his hair and then promptly brought out a small brush and began to untangle his hair, and then tie it up into a firm bun, using one of her own hairsticks to do so. It felt familiar, just like that dream he had days prior. 

It was a warm and lively atmosphere and Ajax reveled in it and closed his eyes to bask in the warmth of it all. 

He hoped it would stay like this forever, or at least for years to come. 

______________________

Afterwards, he excused himself from the table, as everyone continued on and Morax instantly excused himself as well. 

“I will…walk you back to your abode..” 

Morax said, with that deep baritone voice of his that sent shivers down Ajax’s spine, and yet he nodded. 

Earning a grin from Guizhong who sent a wink Ajax’s way, which caused his cheeks to burn up. 

They went down the mountain, Ajax carrying a sleeping Xiao in his arms, side-by-side, relishing in the sound of crickets and the feeling of the wind brushing past their arms. 

A particularly strong gust of wind had Ajax slightly shivering as he cursed at himself for not wearing warmer clothes. 

He stopped when he felt something cover his shoulders. 

He looked at his shoulders, to see Morax’s coat covering him. 

“It is…getting colder as the days go by….it is better to start wearing…warmer clothing,” the man said as he looked away when Ajax’s eyes met his. 

The inside of the coat was lined with fur from a sheep, as it was soft to the touch and presumably filled up with it as well. 

Ajax felt his heart clench at such a nice gesture and he felt his cheeks redden, “Thank you…” 

The man hummed, as they continued their walk down the mountain. 

After a while, Ajax felt his nerves take a hold of him, as he felt his palms begin to shake and his heartbeat quicken. 

He was oddly nervous. 

But it was to be expected, since he was never quite brave enough to take on such serious conversations, especially ones involving so much of his inner thoughts. 

Thoughts which he usually never allowed anyone to get near, much less hear themselves from his own mouth. 

But, one thing was for sure. 

He would not have such an embarrassing conversation with Xiao present, so he would talk about it tomorrow with Morax. 

Celestia knows how mortified he would be, if somehow Xiao remembered it in the future. 

And so, they went all the way to his house, silent the whole way there as he said, “I…I’ll go tuck in A-Xiao….and then…I can walk you back to your abode..” 

Morax did not say anything but stopped by the door, and nodded. 

That was enough for him as he took off his shoes and carried the sleeping Xiao to his room and tucked him into his bed, before taking a warmer blanket out of his cabinets before placing it on top of the sleeping kid. 

He guessed he would take the floor, and reminded himself to make a makeshift bed onto the floor besides the bed. 

Ajax carefully closed the door, careful not to wake up the kid as he put on his shoes and went back outside. 

Morax stayed true to his word and was waiting for him, silently, leaning against a wall of his house. 

Ajax felt his cheeks heat up, as the sheer beauty of the man was only highlighted with the moonlight, as it was night out already. 

He motioned for the man to follow him and he did. 

______________________

They made their way to his abode, and Ajax was about to take off his coat when Morax shook his head, “No need..” 

Ajax was about to protest but it died when he saw the intensity behind Morax’s eyes. 

Tomorrow, he will set things straight. 

Tomorrow. 

______________________

He walked back to his house, feeling his heart quicken as the warmth from Morax’s coat never left him, not once. 

He opened the door, slipped his shoes on and slipped his house slippers on, going to his room, before retrieving his much warmer pajamas and changing inside of the living room, before going back inside of his room. 

He took out a mattress (that he had around, since Guizhong liked to stay over sometimes, especially during the time where they had to watch over Ganyu), he then retrieved some sheets from his closet before placing them onto the floor and retrieving one of the pillows he had from his bed before closing his eyes and letting sleep overcome him. 

He was nervous. 

As nervous as he ever was, and yet, he felt giddy all the same. 

Just in the same way he had when he was around Zhongli. 

______________________

He woke up in the middle of the night to something squirming and making its way into his bed.

Ajax looked down, alarmed, but settled down when he saw Xiao sneaking into his makeshift bed on the floor. 

He looked, taken aback and looked sheepish as he stopped and sat up, “I…sorry…” 

Ajax shook his head, “Hey, it’s okay…Is there something wrong..?” 

There surely must be, because he seemed to be pretty well off all those other times he had fallen asleep, so what was affecting him now. 

Xiao looked a bit hesitant as he glanced around, before he said, “...Night…mares..”  

Ajax’s eyes softened as he sighed and stood up, getting on his much more comfortable bed before he made space for Xiao and smiled, “It’s alright, you can sleep next to me…if that helps.” 

He knew how awful nightmares could be. He had struggled with them, and knew how comforting the sound and just the knowledge that there was someone next to you was. It grounded you, made everything seem a bit less scary. 

Xiao looked up at him before climbing into bed, before looking still hesitant to do so. 

Ajax laughed and ruffled his hair, “It’s really alright kid, don’t worry about it. I know how awful nightmares can be, trust me…So it’s ok…” 

Xiao relented slightly before he went underneath the sheets himself and snuggled into Ajax’s chest. 

Ajax huffed slightly, before he used his arms as a pillow, despite having one and closed his eyes, dozing off into a deep tranquil sleep. 

______________________

The next day went by rather quickly, as Sky Bracer, Cloud Retainer and Guizhong took all of the kids on a short trip to Qingce Village and then off to explore the nearby wilderness, beginning to start their training and letting them pick the weapon they felt the most comfortable using. 

Something training children for war...didn't sit right with Ajax....but then again...he had been trained himself as a kid....first by his master Skirk and then by the several seniors in the fatui army and then by Pulcinella himself. 

And well....he guessed it was necessary for them to already start to train, in case of an attack.

But still....it was messed up. 

Ajax spent his day cleaning his clothes, scrubbing them clean before washing them with water and hanging them up on his clothesline. And then got to cooking up a small meal for himself, before eating it. 

It was his favorite, Calla Lily Seafood Soup, and he made it with extra seafood, after having bought it from the market earlier. 

Then, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest, when Morax came to retrieve him, after knocking a few times at his door. 

He was dressed in a simple brown and gold outfit, with his usually messy hair along his shoulders, and the familiar smell of silk flowers, glaze lilies, and sandalwood coming from him. 

They began walking, silently and nowhere in particular as they aimlessly walked throughout one of the paths cleared out by the humans no doubt. 

They came across a short clearing, a meadow filled with colorful flowers and short grass. The trees that surrounded it were already starting to change colors. 

His birthday had gone by in a flash, and yet he had not told anyone about it. However, he does believe that at one point Guizhong will scold him and force him to have a celebration sometime soon. 

He made his way to the meadow and abruptly sat down, patting beside him for Morax to sit down. 

The man seemed to get the message as he sat down besides Ajax, not uttering a single word. 

Ajax looked at the man once more before he let out a deep breath and braced himself for any reaction the man was sure to give him. 

He curled into himself as he started out, “I…I pulled you out here and asked you on a walk…because I wanted to talk about something…” 

Morax did not say anything, but Ajax could see out of the corner of his eyes as he stiffened. 

Ajax struggled with his choice of words before he swallowed back the lump in his throat and continued on, “I…I want to apologize for my…behavior these past few days…I had been caught up in my own feelings and anger that I acted terribly towards you…I shouldn’t have let my own feelings on the matter get in the way of our friendship…” 

Morax still remained quiet. 

But Ajax still continued, finding the bravery he needed to push forward, “However….I do not regret what I said, and neither will I take it back…Morax I….I..” 

He turned to look at Morax straight on, eyes digging deeply into him, all of his previously locked feelings finally being unrestrained, being freed. 

“Morax I…I…love you… so much…that it pains me, so much that I could die…I love everything about you, so much…. But…I understand if you don’t feel the same way…I should have never expected you to in the first place…and well, I wanted to tell you this in a much better way…because while I feel that way about you, I do not want my feelings to interfere with our relationship or affect our camaraderie in any way. So, I completely understand if you do not feel the same way, or if you are even disgusted at me, but I would hope that we could remain on amicable terms..” 

He looked at Morax, who had gone wide-eyed, and yet he remained totally still. 

And yet, behind his eyes there was a certain molten intensity as he stared into Ajax, and he could even swear that the tips of his ears had gone pink. 

A minute went past, though, and Ajax was about to wallow in his self pity. 

Perhaps he had been wrong, perhaps it had been too foolish to assume that Morax would even react in a positive way? 

Maybe he really was disgusted by him, and his feelings. 

Heaven knows how disgruntled he had seemed to be by the mortals who were interested in being more than followers to him. 

But, then those were all halted when he felt an arm grip at his shoulder, urging him to look into Morax who had a strange desperation in his eyes. 

“Again. Say…it again.” 

Ajax blinked. 

What?

“Say what again?......I hope to remain on amicable terms with you and not allow my feelings to get in the way of us being on said amicable terms?” 

Morax shook his head, grabbing his cheek with his other arm, as his other one which was on his shoulder began to fall down to get a possessive grasp onto Ajax’s waist, “No, before that.” 

Ajax felt his cheeks blush, and shuddered when he felt Morax’s grip become heavier and tighter on his waist. 

He whispered, his whole body heating up as he said, “...I…I…love you…. ” 

It was highly embarrassing and yet, it felt great to say aloud once more. 

Morax’s eyes dilated and retracted as he stared at Ajax as he grinned wolfishly and his grip tightened, leaving a slight scratch mark on Ajax’s jaw. 

He hummed in pleasure, as he shamelessly lifted Ajax up and settled him on his lap, grin uncharacteristically wild and wide as he uttered, “Again.” 

Ajax felt flustered and shook his head, feeling slightly dizzy at the action, “You…you already heard me…the first couple times…” 

Morax buried his face in his shoulder, causing Ajax to yelp. 

Was this a good thing? 

He didn’t know.

But Morax rubbed his face into his shoulder and once again, causing Ajax’s confusion to rise and his head to spin. 

He slightly pulled at Morax’s arm, “....What…are you doing?”

Morax only paused slightly before he pulled away from Ajax, he looked oddly pleased as he rubbed at Ajax’s Adam's apple with his arm, his grip on his waist even tighter. 

His pupils were blown out as he gazed at him as if he was a delicacy to be eaten, “Ajax ….you have entranced me, pulled me in to you…I am rather taken by you, your beauty, your charm…you are my dearest treasure, my most coveted possession…At first, I did not know what to make of the way you made me feel, the strong need to mark you up, to hold you, to keep you with me forever…But as I talked to Guizhong about it, I realized that it was something less primitive and less in my nature…I am…completely endeared by you…how could I possibly not feel the same way, dearest treasure..” 

Ajax stilled. 

He what…

Confusion filled him up as he sat there petrified. He was afraid that it might have been a cruel dream, played out by him in his wildest fantasies. 

Perhaps he had not woken up after all? 

Maybe he was still stuck inside of a dream? 

The thought horrified him, as he pinched himself harshly. 

He winced, and blinked to see Morax still in front of him. 

And….that’s when the full extent of what had happened came pouring down like a bucket of cold water. 

Morax had…implied that he too felt the same way. 

Morax…loved him…too?  

A giddy and excited feeling coursed through him at this revelation, and yet it still did not feel real, not in the slightest. 

It felt fake. 

Fabricated. 

He did not feel when he had started to cry, as Morax went to lick at his eyes, picking up his tears with his tongue as he hummed, “Please do not cry, dearest…It is alright….” 

Ajax could not stop it as he laughed and sobbed, letting all of the weeks he spent longing and yearning for the man crash down on him, as he found the situation slightly absurd. 

They had been running in circles with each other for months, for nearly a year and a half….

He sobbed into his chest, as it all came crashing down. 

Morax merely rubbed a soothing hand down his spine, licking his tears with his tongue as he hummed lightly, “Please, do not cry…” 

Ajax didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help it. 

Everything was just so overwhelming, so unreal. 

He couldn’t help it. 

He looked at the face of the soon to be Archon he adored and felt his heart clench. 

He was always bound to fall in love with the man and be terribly wrapped around his finger, no matter what. 

He leaned in, in a flash, catching the man’s lips. 

Morax was taken aback, but seemed to be a quick learner as he soon started to move his lips in tandem with Ajax, as he licked at Ajax’s lips and nibbled at them. 

Ajax groaned, as he allowed his tongue to enter his mouth, feeling his nerves on fire as his tongue tickled his mouth. 

He had always been sensitive in his mouth, and so he felt every single touch there even more now that he was an adeptus. 

Fuck…it felt so good. 

He entwined his tongue with Morax’s as he continued his ministrations and felt a shiver go down his spine when his hand started to trail down from his Adam's apple to his neck, and trace something at his nape. His other hand started to go from his waist to his chest and then down to his lower back and then down further until he cupped his ass, squeezing possessively, enough to leave bruises. 

Ajax’s own hands started to wander and feel up against Morax’s body, feeling as the muscles shook beneath his fingers and how firm they were under them as well. 

He breathed in when he felt Morax’s hand start to undo his belt and then trail underneath the layers of his clothes as his cold hand touched his stomach, causing him to shiver. 

They broke the kiss, and Ajax felt dizzy, as he felt Morax dip lower and start to lick and bite at his neck, his fangs breaking the skin upon contact, and sinking into his skin, causing Ajax to slightly jolt and yelp out in pain. 

He felt them sink in to their hilt, and yet, a part of him enjoyed the action. 

Enjoyed the stake of claim on his skin, and reveled in the attention. Reveled in the fact that he wasn't the only one who wanted Morax all to himself, wasn't the only one who wanted to sink himself deeper and further into the man. A enjoyed it and knew that he would feel a sick sense of satisfaction at the red marks and the bite marks all over his body, knowing that he would enjoy the sting of them as he went about his day. 

Celestia knows how much he enjoyed said action whenever Zhongli used to do it, as they made love inside of his apartment, on a lazy morning, as he felt Zhongli taint and mark up his body with praise slipping out of his mouth, as he held Ajax close to him. 

His breath tickled him as he shivered slightly, and he too began to undo Morax’s belt, slipping his hand underneath the layers of his clothes and feeling his abdominal muscles underneath his hands, appreciating how nice they felt. 

Good Lord, Morax was ripped…fuck.. 

Morax then flipped him around, as he sat him down on his lap, and continued to bite at his neck, licking them and pleasantly groaning when he felt Ajax shiver and moan at his ministrations. 

He leaned into his neck, breathing him in and burying his nose in his nape, “You are mine, all mine.. ”

Ajax squirmed but ultimately leaned into the touches, feeling as Morax’s hands wandered up and down his body, his long nails slightly scratching his skin, adding to the scars that were already all over him. 

Ajax moaned when he felt Morax buck his hips up, and continued to undress him as he took off his shirt and bit and licked a stripe down his lower back. 

Ajax stirred and went to face Morax once again, taking his shirt off too as he ran his own hands down his body, appreciating how handsome he looked right now. Eyeliner messily running down his eyes as his eyes were nothing but slits as he was taking in Ajax with a sadistic and feral grin on his face, as if he was eyeing up delicious prey. 

“Beautiful, absolutely delectable…Simply gorgeous, Ajax ...” Morax said as he ran his eyes up Ajax’s body and bit down everywhere he could reach. 

He then laid Ajax down onto the grass, in a gentle manner, different from how rough he had been and traced a hand from his chest to his navel causing him to shiver, “Such a gorgeous treasure, so perfect, just for me. And me only...” 

He grabbed at his hips, with a grip that was bound to leave bruises in the shape of hands in the morning, "I will not allow anyone else to touch you, dearest treasure. You are mine." 

Ajax merely swallowed as he nodded and stared back at the fiery eyes staring back at him, with such intensity, that it left him boneless on the soft grass below. 

Morax began to take off his pants, a feral and utterly possessive stare just for him. 

Ajax felt delighted, and looked at the ethereal man right above him, feeling the need to devour the man in front of him, himself. 

But perhaps, that could be at a later time. 

For now, he let himself be devoured, instead. 

Morax slipped off his underwear, licking his lips and dove right in. 

______________________

Ajax woke up, in Morax’s arms. 

Feeling sore all over, as he looked down to see bite marks and scratches lining his entire body and leaving him throbbing with pleasurable pain. 

Hah…it seemed as if in every timeline, Rex Lapis would still be the same in bed…

Ajax glanced over to see Morax’s arms wrapped around him possessively, as the man buried his face into his chest, breathing lightly and content. 

They had landed themselves in Morax’s abode, where after a few more rounds, had Morax cleaning him up with a small washcloth before they had a nice bath in the springs. 

Then, he had slipped on a pair of pajama pants and had fallen asleep to a very attentive Morax who began to stroke his hair, lightly scratching at his scalp causing him to doze off into sleep. 

He sighed as he looked at him, and buried his head into the top of Zhongli’s hair and promised to wake up in a few more hours.

It was still daylight out, they could laze around for a few more hours. 

#childe x zhongli #zhongli #zhongchi #childe tartaglia ajax #my fic writing #my fic #my fanfiction #my fanfic #genshin impact #tartali #morax #angst with a happy ending #fluff #eventual happy ending #Kinda slow burn #slow burn #time travel #genshin liyue #geo archon #reconciliation #grieving #character death #original character #chili

[nian-7]

Mondstadt

- when you recently lose a family member (lisa, rosaria)💔💗 - sfw alphabet (rosaria)🤍💗 - when their ex now gets injured a lot (jean)🥀💔💗 - s/o that gets taken by the abyss order (jean)🥀💗 - s/o that has bad period cramps (eula)🤍🌸 - s/o with anger issues (jean)🤍💗 - s/o that bites the skin around their nails (albedo)💔💗 - s/o that becomes childish around klee (jean)🤍💗 - love languages (mona)🤍💗 - random texts (albedo)🤍💗 - 200 followers special (mona, eula)🤍💗 - horse riding headcanons (eula)🤍💗 - sfw alphabet; a, g, m, n (kaeya)🤍💗 - giving her flowers (various)🤍💗 - sfw alphabet; b, h, n, s, z (lisa)🤍💗 - giving him flowers (various)🤍💗 - trouble falling asleep (albedo)🤍💗 - stubborn!sick!reader (jean)🤍💗 - random hc's for bday (mona)🤍💗 - sfw alphabet (sucrose)🤍💗

Liyue

- s/o who gets hurt by them (yelan)🥀💔🌸 - when their ex now gets injured a lot (yelan, keqing)🥀💔💗 - crushing on ei's s/o (ningguang) 🥀🌸 - s/o that has bad period cramps (beidou)🤍🌸 - visiting her s/o's grave (yelan)🤍💗 - s/o that hates the summer (ganyu)🤍💗 - s/o with anger issues (yelan)🤍💗 - when they find you after you were tortured (beidou, shenhe, yelan)🥀💔💗 - random texts (xiao)🤍💗 - not being their for her birthday (yelan)🥀💗 - 200 followers special (yun jin)🤍💗 - horse riding headcanons (ningguang)🤍💗 - sfw alphabet; a, c, g, k, v (ganyu)🤍💗 - awkward & nerdy s/o (ganyu)🤍💗 - giving her flowers (various)🤍💗 - giving him flowers (various)🤍💗 - disappearing without notice (yelan)💔💗 - random hc's for bday (xiao)🤍💗 - ❤️, 💐, 🌧️ (hu tao)🤍💗

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin x reader #nian-masterlist #fluff #x reader

[krajtaz]

look at him. : )

#/m #azhdaha having 60% geo res is so funny like he's really pissed at zhongli fr 😭 #i mean he did trap him under a tree AND surrounded him with pillars. i'd be pissed too #ALSO ALSO you guys know the drops this guy has. the talent drops. #i mean yan fei's talent. bloodjade branches? they look like the glowing “dead” branch of the nantianmen tree #plus i went looking around and the branch is just made of light ? like you can fall through it!! #plus the creepy girl under it heralding doom or whatever she says. and saying the god of the land isn't zhongli. #and the grave. and xiao and ganyu being there... #also primo geovishap is closeby. #just saying nantianmen is about to be rly important #since Chi is in qingce then this dragon is either azhdaha or another dragon. but the girl Jiu definitely worships it... #also she called zhongli an usurper... 😳❔

[hiraya-rawr]

Last Resort (SAGAU brainrot)

contains !! imposter au, cult behavior, kind of crack, spoilers for character backstories

about !! in a last desperate act to save yourself, you reveal their secrets (note: venti and zhongli did not reveal their identities as archons)

You've finally been cornered by your beloved characters after weeks of running from the angry crowds. They immediately bring you to the middle of the town square, the archons present and deciding on the verdict.

Not that there's any other punishment but death.

"For your grave offense against the divine creator, you are hereby sentenced to a public execution," It was Ei who announces this and your stomach drops.

"On what grounds! I didn't- I don't even know this divine creator! How could I have insulted them-"

"Blasphemy! You claim not to know of the divine creator yet you dare to impersonate them!" Venti accuses, stepping forward to face your kneeling form. You were growing desperate and frustrated at their stubbornness. As a lover of the genshin lore, you couldn't help but spout the next words from your mouth.

"Pretty bold coming from a wind spirit! That isn't even your face!"

The winds of Teyvat freeze. You freeze too. Oh god oh god is he angry? Are they going to torture you now too? You take this pause as a chance to ramble — your last resort in worming your way out of execution — your entire being high on adrenaline and fear. "I mean, as the anemo archon of the land of freedom, doesn't this seem too oppressive? Appearances, really?"

"And- and what's this talk about an imposter? If anything, are we really going to ignore Albedo's double in Dragonspine?" Much of the crowd is confused, but you visibly see Amber, Eula, and Albedo stare at you in mixed shock.

"The raiden shogun is practically an imitation of the real god as well! Aren't our situations kind of the same? Archons, Inazuma had twin rulers yet no one seemed to realize that!" Ei grips onto her sword, taking a step back in quiet horror, "If anything, my case sounds a little unfair!"

"What about Kaeya! He's not even from Mondstadt! He's from- actually let's not get into that." The cavalry captain flinches. Jean, who opted to watch quietly, steps forward to narrow her eyes at you.

"What in archons name are you saying? This does not plead your case of impersonating-"

"I'm trying to convince you that I'm not even from here! I've never heard of a divine creator and all that matters to me in this world is the lore and the characters! Archons, all the months I've spent studying the lore just to get killed by something I missed-"

At this point, you don't really know what you're saying. It was beginning to be a ramble about your lore knowledge and the people around you stared in mixed confusion and shock.

"All of your archons are broke. Xiao eating snow and Ganyu eating glaze lilies are really concerning. Diluc's the darknight hero and he still keeps Kaeya's ugly vase in his manor! And um- Ningguang tried to sell her vision once and Keqing has Rex Lapis plushies in her bedroom! And erm Shenhe is Chongyun's auntie? Guoba was the stove god and Xiangling found him! And there's also- I- and- ah-"

"You," Zhongli points his spear at you, a vortex vanquisher which you've grinded all your primogems for. His voice is calm and cautious, almost hesitant. "Spouting such obscure information-"

"That.. vortex vanquisher," You start, "It took me months of saving to earn it. I finally equipped you with it last month. I thought it would suit your aesthetic as Zhongli."

Last month. You had finally earned Zhongli's weapon, quickly equipping him and falling asleep only to wake up in the world of genshin.

Last month. The day their divine god disappeared, leaving the vessels to feel empty. When talks of an imposter surfaced, they were quick to assume that perhaps your existence had angered their god. If they deal with you swiftly, the creator would grace them with their presence once again, right?

Could you really blame them for their desperation? The thought of being abandoned by their god is an inborn fear for the people of Teyvat. So many imposters were given unquestionable worship in the past, only for them to misuse it.

Zhongli remembers the day an imposter made him slaughter his fellow gods in the archon war. Ei was pitted against her friends for an imposter. And Mondstadt was ruled under the tyranny of one during Decarabian's era. The ley lines of Teyvat consumed sin and it manifests itself through imposters.

Now, Zhongli's grip on his polearm weakens as he stares at you. His hands tremble and jaw relaxes. Suddenly making eye contact, the geo archon notices the faint glimmer of stars in your eyes.

The stars of Teyvat will always have a place for you.

"Y-your grace?"

—

Kaeya: So... You really kept that ugly vase in the manor?

Diluc: Hmp

— 🤍 —

Zhongli: Xiao, how many times did I tell you to stop your habit of eating snow?

Xiao: ...

— 🤍 —

*Venti having an existential crisis because of his appearance*

You: I'm uh, sorry, didn't really mean that. Kind of.

— 🤍 —

Ningguang: So... Rex Lapiz plushies huh...

Keqing: It's not what you think!!

— 🤍 —

*cue people worshipping Guoba*

All hail the stove god

consider supporting me on ko-fi !

note !! a quick random drabble bc in reality, we really do know a lot of secrets if ever we find ourselves in sagau. this was a sleep deprived drabble but i hope you like it anyway!

#genshin #genshin fluff #genshin imagines #genshin impact #genshin fanfic #diluc #genshin hcs #genshin diluc #venti #kaeya #zhongli #sagau #cult au #genshin cult #genshin sagau #imposter au #genshin imposter #genshin angst

[ikaroux]

I dont see any advice that say if request are closet or Not but if they are please Just ignore me and delate the ask

I've seen a lot of s/o dying and leaving behind Xiao, Venti, Zhongli and Ganyu so what if s/o who died (you don't have to say why) but their soul is always with them in a form of an animal (butterfly, canary, deer, whatever you like) to Not leave them alone never again "together forever, even after death"

Posdata: (this is only if u wanna but its to add a little lore. They can feel s/o like their warm, the good feeling they always and they love also they can talk but only they can hear them)

Hi @milkby11 Thanks for the request! I was very inspired <3 I hope you like it! I added a few characters in addition to the ones requested.

Synopsis: You were dead, he/she had lost you forever. Loneliness and coldness took hold of his/her being, until he/she was visited by a strange animal...

Style: f!reader + m!reader x Ganyu. Death of the reader/reincarnation. Sad. Still, it ends well. I don't describe any violent or bloody scenes. Good luck!

Characters: Diluc, Zhongli, Kaeya, Xiao, Venti, Albedo, Kazuha, Tartaglia/Childe, Ganyu, Razor.

Note: This will give me a little practice for the next death-themed texts! It will be fairly short, so I'm allowing myself two more characters.

Do you have a request?

Masterlist

French version WATTPAD

A little bonus at the end

Diluc

"Master Diluc! This is..."

Charles had come looking for Diluc on the angel's behalf. The expression on his bartender's face left no doubt as to why he was startled. Diluc abandoned whatever he was doing and rushed to the church where you had been taken...

Dead...

You were dead.

You were dead!

Diluc screamed at the bedside, holding your cold hand in his. Never had his tears flowed more than on that day... Never had a man's pain been so poignant to those who tried to save you... All the anger, all the sadness, all the despair of this man was poured out in his cries. Your body was bruised, covered in blood, the sight was unbearable, and yet he could not leave you...

Diluc was devastated. He would never again see your smile. Never again would he feel your warmth. Never again would life have the same flavor.

His heart had died along with yours.

He felt broken, empty. Nothing motivated him to go on. He had once again lost someone dear to him, the woman of his life, the one for whom his heart beat in his chest. How could he go on without you? He who had been unable to protect you. Without you by his side, Diluc shut himself off from the rest of the world.

Diluc lay in bed, staring at the ring on his finger. He remembered your face, your laughter, he remembered your body wrapped around his at night. He remembered your first meeting, your wedding, your plans for the future...

"I miss you..."

Tears stung his eyes and to keep them from flowing, Diluc put his arm over his face, gritting his teeth to contain his emotions, but the sob that clutched his throat didn't care. Despite himself, his grief exploded. You'd been gone for weeks, buried near his father's grave, and Diluc hadn't come to see you since, unable to grieve. He had holed himself up at home, accepting no help, no pity.

His tears did not stop flowing until exhaustion got the better of him.

"Di-.l...Di-..lu.. Di...luc... Diluc..."

Diluc woke up with a violent jolt, drops of sweat on his face. His hands were shaking and his throat was dry. His breathing was ragged and labored, and he tried to compose himself, looking around the dark room with a watchful eye. During his sleep, a strange sensation had enveloped him. He had felt your presence near him, he had even thought he heard your voice...

To calm himself, Diluc got up from the bed and walked to the balcony of his room. The air outside was cool and the wind was blowing lightly. The young man rested his forearms on the balcony railing, staring blankly at the horizon. Despite his moments of absence, Diluc still noticed the beautiful barn owl sitting comfortably beside him, staring at him with its dark eyes. Curiously, she didn't seem frightened by him and Diluc even tried to pet her, the most incredible thing was that she stretched her neck to let herself be tamed.

"You look so tired my love."

Diluc hurriedly stepped back, looking around to see where that voice so similar to yours was coming from.

"(y/n) ? (y/n)!?"

Diluc felt like he was going crazy, he was sure he heard your voice, he also knew that this warmth, this softness he felt was from you. So why couldn't he see you? Then he observed more intensely this strange owl. She was looking straight into his eyes, a familiar glint shining in them. Was it possible? Was it really you? Diluc's tears rolled down his cheeks again as he approached the animal once more.

"Diluc, I'm so sorry I left you alone..." - His beak hadn't moved, yet Diluc was sure your voice was coming from that bird.

"I... That's impossible... (y/n), is that you?" - you had blinked briefly to indicate that it was. Without a word, Diluc approached you, stroking your head with his fingertips. You closed your eyes, savoring the caresses of the man who in another life had been your husband. Before you knew it, his face was pressed against the top of your head, showering you with tears. - How? I... Never mind, I missed you so much..."

"I promised you Diluc, together forever, even after death. I will stay by your side, I don't want to leave you alone, I don't want to part with you. Never." - He pulled you up onto his forearm to hug you gently to him. He kissed the top of your head tenderly, gently caressing your feathery little body.

"Never..." - It was a new promise between you and Diluc. He vowed to protect you, to never let such a tragedy happen again. Never again would fate take you away from him.

Perhaps he would find a way to make you human again.

Diluc's heart seemed to come alive again, beating wildly in his chest. For the first time in weeks, a beautiful smile lit up his face.

ZHONGLI

No.

It couldn't be.

How could this have happened?

An accident. A simple accident.

Zhongli had come quickly to the funeral home to identify your body. He held your lifeless form close to him, rocking his chest back and forth. He couldn't cry... he couldn't. Why had this happened? Zhongli thought it was a punishment for Celestia for abandoning his post as archon.

He asked the people in the room to leave him alone with you.

Now he had to find the strength within him to say goodbye to you...

Zhongli felt devastated. He had already lost so much in the past. He knew that one day you would leave before him. But not like this, not so soon.

He had failed as a man, as a follower... As a husband.

You were no longer by his side and the void you left in him seemed to have broken him more than he could have imagined.

This was not the first time Zhongli had lost someone dear to him, but your death had touched him deeply, bruised him. He loved you so much. You were his world... Losing you had affected him deeply.

Since your death, several weeks ago, Zhongli was silent. His body was still there, but his mind had shut itself off in the depths of his being. Hu Tao and Zhongli were the ones who attended your funeral, and although no tears flowed from his eyes, his heart broke. He looked like an emotionless puppet. A mere fleshy shell... Hu Tao tried to support him, she who had a better view of death than anyone else in Liyue, but no matter what she said, Zhongli did not seem to hear him.

Until one day Zhongli disappeared from the city completely, leaving behind no letters, no clues.

He wanted to be alone, forever. He wanted to wait patiently for the erosion of the stone to destroy him...

Unconsciously, Zhongli took the path to the stone forest of Guyun.

The path Zhongli took to reach his destination was calm and serene. He didn't stop to admire the scenery of Liyue... it didn't matter to him anymore since you were dead. Yet he couldn't help but notice this family of purple foxes, playing under an apple tree with some fallen fruit. One of them seemed to be watching him, sitting upright with its tail wrapped around him comfortably. Zhongli stopped walking, observing the strange behavior of this animal, known to be fearful. He was even more astonished when it stood up and approached him, rubbing its small body against Zhongli's leg. His heart clenched in his chest and an intense warmth invaded his body, a sensation that reminded him of your presence. For the first time since your death, Zhongli's tears rolled down his cheeks. He repeated your name between sobs, over and over again. He slowly knelt on the ground and took the little fox in his arms to cuddle him. The strange animal rubbed its head against the tear-stained cheek of the former archon, letting out a soft squeak.

"(y/n)... (y/n)... (y/n), I am... sorry... I miss her... So much."

"Don't cry Zhongli..."

Zhongli opened his eyes wide in amazement. Had he really heard your voice? Or was it a figment of his imagination?

"I promised you, we will always be together, even after death..."

Zhongli stared at the fox, who himself was looking at him with a calm expression. The archon's lips trembled with emotion, his gaze shifting to the little creature. The more he looked at the animal's pupils, the more he saw your soul reflected in them... He caressed with a trembling hand under the mouth of the fox who closed his eyes with happiness.

"(y/n)?"

You rubbed your muzzle against his cheek again, wagging your tail happily. Zhongli finally understood, your soul had sought refuge and it was this fox who agreed to give up his body to you. Your will to stay with him had been so strong that not even death could hold you back... He thought, for a very brief moment, that he should not let you live like this, that he should be angry with you, but his heart told him otherwise. Perhaps he would find a way to give you a better body, an immortal body, just like himself?

Zhongli hugged you, letting tears of happiness run down your fur. There was hope in his heart again.

Who could blame him for being a little selfish?

KAEYA

Kaeya didn't believe it. Or rather, he didn't want to believe it.

Dead? Impossible, you had promised him that you would always stay together.

But when he saw your lifeless body lying on one of the beds in the church infirmary, his world was suddenly darkened. Kaeya was screaming at the men and women who were charged with protecting you. How could this have happened?

He tried to get your heart beating again by performing first aid. He begged you to come back, not to abandon him. He yelled at the nurses to do something... but nothing could be changed, you were dead and he had no choice but to accept the harsh reality.

Teyvat had lost his former glow, the pain seemed to drive him mad. The man who was once so smiley, so teasing, had become dark and angry. He couldn't accept it... you were his sunshine, his joy of life. You were his hope for a better tomorrow and he had to leave you alone once for everything to break.

Yes, Kaeya had changed completely. He had turned inward. He blamed the world...

Jean tried to comfort him, as well as Lisa, Amber and Klee who tried to give him back his life, without result. Diluc was also solicited by Jean, but even his brother's words did not seem to bring him back to his senses.

Kaeya was locked up in his office in a slight darkness. He was studying some documents that the order of Favonius had entrusted to him, but he could not concentrate on his reading. Anger was boiling inside him and when he looked up from his documents to calm down, the first thing he saw was a portrait of the two of you that Albedo had given him. Kaeya abruptly got up from his chair, angrily pushing everything off his desk, and when he tried to go after the frame containing the only picture of you he had left, the sound of scratching against the wood of the door stopped him.

Kaeya was breathing heavily, tears welling up in his eyes as he gazed longingly at your portrait. He was so angry at himself for attacking you with that image... He rested his forehead against the glass surface, sobbing silently as he thought of you, your smile, your voice...

"Kaeya..."

The young man gasped, almost dropping the precious object in his hand. He looked around, frantically searching for your presence, even as a ghost. But he was greeted once again by the sound of scratching on his door. Kaeya went to the door, opening it with a jerk. No one was behind it, except for a few knights who were working on their tasks and a... dog?

The animal looked at him intently, wagging its tail at the sight of him.

"Well, are you going to let me in or not?"

Kaeya wasn't dreaming, he had heard your voice clearly through that dog. He looked at the knights around him, but no one seemed to have heard him.

He let the animal into the room, glancing around uncertainly.

"Kaeya, it's okay, it's me, (y/n)."

In shock, Kaeya dropped the frame containing your portrait to the floor. His look was that of a broken, lost man. Squealing slightly, you cautiously approached the young man, your tail beginning to wag once you were near him. You put your two front paws on his thighs. He froze at first, looking at you in horror. Was this a dream? Or a nightmare? He didn't want to believe it because if this was all a dream, then when he woke up the pain would be so unbearable that he wasn't sure he could stay sane.

"I promised you Kaeya. I will always stay with you, even beyond death."

Kaeya moaned, letting his tears flow freely. He fell into his lap, hugging your new body. You let yourself cuddle in his arms while licking his ear. Kaeya laughed. It was a strange feeling, how long had it been since he laughed?

"Why did it have to be a dog? How am I supposed to stay serious when you're in this form? I'm sure you did it on purpose!" - Despite his attempt at humor, Kaeya sobbed again, tightening his arms around you. He would not let go of you again.

He was going to do anything to get you back to him.

XIAO

His world had turned black.

Xiao was speechless. Dead? You were really... dead?

Why did you die? Why? He told you to call his name if you were in danger, so why didn't you!

Anger and despair made him tremble. As soon as he heard about your accident, he rushed to your side. You were exploring ruins that were too old, too unstable. Nothing could have saved you from the fall that had caused you fatal injuries. Why didn't you call him...?

You were lying in bed at the Wangshu Inn. A light white veil covered your face and your clothes were stained with blood. Xiao dropped his spear, letting it fall noisily to the ground. His hands and lips were trembling. He couldn't believe his eyes, he never imagined he would see this, at least not this early in your relationship. Verr tried to console him, but Xiao slapped the hand she was holding out to him hard. His eyes never left your side and every second he was in the same room as you, his soul was breaking a little more.

Humans were so fragile, he knew that and yet... he loved you so much, he couldn't conceive of his life without you by his side. And now? He was alone... Xiao shooed away everyone in the room. Once he was alone, he sat down beside you, gently removing the cloth from your face to take one last look at you. You looked so peaceful, as if you were simply asleep. Xiao clenched his fists, holding back the lump in his throat, and when he saw your wound, the one that had been fatal to you, Xiao screamed, crying like he had never cried before.

This world was so cruel...

Weeks passed, and since your disappearance, the Yaksha had been rare. Nobody had seen him since the tragedy. He continued to do his duty to Liyue, but his soul was falling further and further into madness. Xiao let himself be consumed by corruption, forgetting the pain, forgetting the sorrow. If he couldn't have you near him, then what was the point of fighting?

Xiao rarely returned to the Wangshu Inn, the memory of your death was too deeply engraved in him. But sometimes he would sit on the roof of the inn and watch the sky as he used to do with you. When Xiao looked at the moon, his hand dreamily rubbed the engagement rings he had hung around his neck. He couldn't bear to see it on his hand anymore, knowing that you were no longer of this world, but he couldn't resign himself to parting with it either... He thought of you constantly... And every time he did, regret, resentment and anger would come over him. Sometimes he would catch himself thinking that he should never have been near you, that he should never have become attached to you, let alone loved you... and tears would immediately fall from his eyes. How could he think that? The little time you had spent together had made him so happy, he could never forget you, never deny your existence. He wanted to see you one last time, he wanted to tell you that he loved you... He wanted to ask you never to leave him alone.

Xiao's tears were so beautiful, so sad. The wishes in his heart were so pure that even the gods felt sorry for him. Xiao was inconsolable, in his sorrow, he did not notice the little ball of hair that was snuggled up to him and purring.

"I love you too Xiao, I would never leave you alone..."

Xiao hurriedly turned his head towards the little creature lying in a ball at his side. Had he been dreaming? Or maybe exhaustion was giving him hallucinations? He gently took the kitten in his hands and placed it in front of his face. He looked into its eyes, probing the soul of this strange animal that had the audacity to lie beside him. A small glimmer in his eyes made his being tingle, something about this creature reminded him of... you?

"Xiao." - He opened his eyes wide. It was you! It was really you! - "I'm sorry I left you alone. I'm here now..." - you had given him an affectionate headbutt while purring loudly. Xiao didn't dare to speak for fear of waking up from a wonderful dream, so to express himself, he snuggled you against his face, affectionately kissing the top of your head. His sobs began again. Was it happiness? He didn't care about the tears, he wanted to hold your little body to him, to feel your nostalgic warmth against his heart. He would protect you from the cruelty of this world. And if you could have been reborn in this form then he would find a way to bring you back to life in a humanoid form...

With a trembling voice, Xiao whispered in your ear:

"I love you (y/n), don't leave me alone anymore..."

VENTI

"Venti! It's (y/n)! She is ..."

Passersby heard the sound of a lyre shattering on the ground.

When Venti heard the news, he was playing a ballad in the streets of Mondstadt. The shock made him drop his instrument and it broke on the ground. It was not his usual lyre, but the one you had given him.

It was Kaeya who told him the sad news. Your body had been brought back by the knights of Favonius while the church's healers tried, in vain, to bring you back to life. By the time Venti reached the entrance to the city, where your body lay on the ground, it was too late. Your body was cold, lifeless, colorless.

He knelt beside you, caressing your hair, your face.

"(y/n)... please wake up..." - Your silence forced a sob into the anemo archon's throat.- "Don't leave me alone (y/n), please!" - Venti's tears fell from his eyes to crash into your lifeless face. Venti looked for help in the eyes of the caregivers around him, but they all looked away. Venti burst out, resting his forehead against yours, begging you to come back again and again. His cries and tears left no one indifferent... How could they be when they knew the love between you two?

Days passed and your body was buried in the cemetery of Mondstadt. The streets of the city were strangely quiet, the songs of the famous bard no longer echoed. Venti spent his days sitting by your grave. He no longer laughed, no longer sang. You were his inspiration, his muse, you were the love of his life. Venti no longer had the strength to go on without you. He felt so empty, so alone. How could the world go on without you?

He was holding the broken lyre that you had given him. Kaeya had picked it up for him, thinking that he should at least keep this memory of you.

Venti didn't want a souvenir, he wanted you. Why did you have to leave so soon? He didn't have time to tell you everything that was on his mind. This world was so unfair, so cruel. You didn't deserve to die so soon. You were his source of joy and happiness and now he had nothing left... except a broken memory. Venti closed his eyes for a brief moment, letting the wind lull his soul. Perhaps he should sink back into a deep sleep and forget the pain and sorrow. But he would not be able to think of you again and then you would be gone for good. No, Venti didn't want to forget you, he wanted to keep your image engraved in his heart. He wanted to remember the sound of your voice, its softness and warmth...

Venti felt something jump out at him. But he didn't care, he just wanted to think about you, your image, your mimicry, your laugh. All these memories brought tears to his eyes.

"Venti. Open your eyes. Venti!"

Venti slowly opened his eyelids, he thought he had dreamed of you. Your voice had sounded so real to him... When he looked down at his chest, he saw a ball of fur lying on top of him. He blinked a few times before scrambling to his feet and holding the cat in his arms. Venti was allergic to cats and he couldn't understand why his body didn't react...

When he realized that this cat was not triggering a sneezing fit, he brought it closer to his face to study it. The animal was purring in his arms, staring intently into the bard's eyes.

"Give me a hug Venti! I missed you so much."

He hadn't been dreaming...it really was your voice. Venti's tears flowed from his eyes unintentionally. He slowly pulled you closer to him, gently wrapping his arms around you. He slowly stroked your fur, becoming more and more aware of what was happening.

"I made you a promise Venti. I would never leave you alone... ever."

A form of reincarnation. Your soul had borrowed that cat's body to stay with him... Venti thought about the laws of Celestia, about the exorcists who might come after you. But none of that mattered right now. He would protect you, keep you close to him. No one could take you away from him, not even death.

He would finally be able to tell you everything that was on his mind. He would pour out all the love and passion he felt for you, as long as you stayed by his side.

But first, he had to ask you a question... Why did you have to be a cat?!

ALBEDO

His chair fell to the ground.

No.

No, no, no.

Not you.

Albedo rushed out of his laboratory. His heart had never beaten so fast in his chest. It could only be a mistake. Just this morning he was kissing you goodbye. You were in his arms, smiling and saying "see you tonight" with tenderness.

It could only be... a mistake.

Your body was on one of the beds in the infirmary, covered with a large white sheet. Your hand, the one with your wedding ring on it, was hanging off the bed. Barbara, who was one of the first to come to you to try to save you, gave the young alchemist a tearful look.

"(y/n)..." - Albedo's voice trembled.

Albedo approached cautiously. Once at your side, he slowly lifted the sheet to see your face. He was frozen, pale. He didn't know how he should react. Anger? Sadness? Everything was mixed up... He had never been very good with human emotions, but with you he had learned so much. He felt a hand gently grab his arm. Barbara looked at him with compassion.

"Her last words were for you Master Albedo. She wanted you to know that she loved you and...that she was sorry."

"Get out."

Barbara released her grip on the young man's arm. She gave a questioning look to the other caretakers who were unsure how to react. Barbara didn't want to leave him alone, the pain and sorrow she felt in him was upsetting her.

"Get out!"

It was probably the first time anyone had heard him scream in anger. Everyone in the room left without insisting. Albedo looked at you with glassy eyes. He took your hand in his and placed it on your chest. He sadly caressed your hand...

"You are so cold (y/n)..." - The tears that had gathered in his eyes fell to his feet. "Don't go... stay..." - Albedo had never felt such pain... The sobs that escaped from him were filled with despair. Albedo pressed his hand against his forehead, closing his eyes in silent prayer. "(y/n)...don't go..."

Since your death, Albedo had not returned home. He spent most of his time in his laboratory studying the old formula. Succrose tried to get him to come out a little, but the cold look of the young man always paralyzed her on the spot. Albedo was looking for a way to bring you back. If his master had been able to create a homunculus, why not him? All you had to do was create a body and attach your soul to it...

Some knew what Albedo was up to. Venti was one of those who tried to dissuade him from playing with life, and the alchemist threatened him not to interfere with his research, because after all, no one could understand what he was feeling.

He was physically and mentally exhausted. He allowed himself very few breaks, because every minute spent away from you destroyed him a little more.

Albedo sat in the armchair by the open window, studying some of the documents related to his research.

Fatigue weighed on his body and his eyelids slowly drooped until sleep overcame him.

For the first time in a long time, Albedo dreamed of you. You were sitting in a field of flowers, admiring the Cecilia that grew there. Albedo admired you with love, you were so beautiful, so sweet, that even the butterflies fluttered around you. One of them came to rest on his hand, sharing with him the soft bluish glow it gave off. When he looked up from the butterfly to redirect his protective gaze to you, you had simply... disappeared. Albedo gradually lost his smile, the dream was turning into a nightmare... he remembered... he remembered... you were dead. The angelic landscape of the fields was gradually engulfed by a fog of darkness. Only a fragment of his dream remained, the reassuring glow of the butterfly still emanating from his hand, in the exact spot where it had landed earlier. Albedo gently squeezed his hand over the light before opening it again to give birth to a new life.

Albedo woke up abruptly, his breathing was rapid and difficult. An excruciating headache took him as the memories of his dream came back to him. Tears filled his eyes as he saw your smile and heard your voice. It was so hard, so hard not to have you around anymore. He wished he had never woken up...

Albedo blinked, fighting back the tears that wanted to flow. That's when he noticed it... A butterfly had taken advantage of his sleep to land on the back of his hand. It looked exactly like the one in his dream. Albedo studied it carefully, the blue glow, the softness that the creature gave off, everything was identical... He understood then that this butterfly was not a simple insect, but a wandering soul...

"I promised you" - These were the last words you said to him before he woke up. Everything was clear now.

" (Y/....N) ?

"Albedo, it's okay. I am here now. I'm sorry I left you alone." - Albedo's tears finally flowed. The darkness that he had been running into dissipated. He would finally see your smile again.

KAZUHA

The weather was stormy.

The rain was pouring down.

The sky perfectly expressed the state Kazuha was in.

He had been away for only a few days and when he returned, he found your house completely destroyed. A landslide had swept away your home and you with it. Your lifeless body was found in the rubble by villagers.

At first Kazuha hoped that you were still alive, that it wasn't you who had been found but another young woman, and that you might be somewhere in town. He was afraid, so afraid. He ran as fast as he could to reach the port of Liyue, hoping to find help, information, and above all, your presence. A feeling of anguish twisted his stomach. You weren't dead, you were fine, he kept repeating to himself.

However...

Yet when he arrived at the port of Liyue, he was greeted by guards who were both relieved to see him alive and distressed by the news they had to give him...

Your body had been found lifeless under the rubble. You had been surprised in your sleep by the collapse of the cliff weakened by the recent storms. Kazuha remained silent, he couldn't believe it. He ran to the funeral home, hoping they were wrong. It couldn't have been you.

Why couldn't it be you?

Why didn't he take you with him!

Hu Tao welcomed the young wanderer, offering his condolences before taking him to see you for the last time... Kazuha was livid, he wanted to vomit, scream, break everything he could. Yet he stood there, looking at your deathly pale face. He had just lost another loved one and he couldn't help but think that it was all his fault. If he had been there, this wouldn't have happened, if he had taken you with him, you would still be alive today. Kazuha collapsed to his knees, letting his tears flow freely. He felt like he was drowning in the abyss...

Kazuha had returned to Inazuma, bringing your ashes with him. He would take you absolutely everywhere on his travels, the thought of leaving you in Liyue was unbearable for him.

He sat down at the foot of a maple tree to admire the red leaves that fell from it with you. Kazuha loved their color, especially at this time of the year when the trees were starting to lose their leaves. The young wanderer looked at the landscape silently, clutching the small urn against him. Sometimes he would talk to you, describing what he saw and sometimes he would recite a haiku inspired by nature. He felt so lonely since you left... having that urn with him somehow helped him to overcome his grief. He felt that somehow... you were still with him.

Kazuha grabbed a maple leaf that was being carried by the wind, he looked at it intently, twirling it between his fingers.

"I always thought red looked good on you (y/n)." - He sighed, letting go of the leaf so that it could quietly continue its journey. The colors, once so beautiful, now seemed bland and sad.

Kazuha opened his eyes wide when he noticed that a scarlet finch had taken advantage of his inattention to land fearlessly on his knee, admiring his face with tranquility. He didn't dare move, for fear of scaring the little creature.

"Red suits you better my little heart."

Kazuha almost dropped the urn from his arms. Did he really just hear this bird talking to him with YOUR voice? And that nickname that sparrow had used was the one you used every time for him.

"Did you... just talk?"

"Of course I did, sweetheart."

"That's impossible... that voice... (y/n)?" - The scarlet finch flew up to land on Kazuha's shoulder.

"Do you remember our promise? I will stay with you, no matter what form I take, I will be there."

Kazuha gently placed the urn on the ground and then came to caress your head with his fingertips. He could hardly believe it, but he was not dreaming, everything was real and even nature was telling him the truth. Kazuha could not help but cry with happiness.

The emptiness you had left in him was filling up again.

"Well. How about one last trip Kazu?"

As Kazuha's tears ran gently down his cheeks, he thought that at last the world was slowly returning to the colors of life.

CHILDE

"What did you just say... ? " - The rage and anger could be heard in Childe's voice. The Fatui in front of him recoiled in fear.

"I... There was an attack... (Y/n)... did not survive his injuries." - The thud of a broken table made the trembling man step back further.

"YOU ARE LYING! How could this happen?! I asked you to look after her! To protect her!" - Childe's screams could be heard even in the streets of Liyue. - "Where is she?!"

Childe rushed to the place that Agent Fatui had pointed out to him. Never had he run so fast, never had fear gripped him so tightly.

It couldn't be.

It was impossible.

You couldn't be dead.

He had sworn to protect you.

He had sworn!

But when he saw your body on the ground, livid and lifeless, his howls of grief brought him back to reality. You had died alone, without him by your side. Childe could not hold back his tears or his cries, how could he when his heart was breaking into a thousand pieces? He held you in his arms, covering his clothes with your blood and yours with his tears. When one of his men tried to talk to him, all the rage and anger that was boiling inside him suddenly burst out. He respectfully laid your body on the ground before slaughtering them all, one by one. All that remained of them was a pool of blood.

He would never forgive himself for what had happened to you...

You had not been by his side for a month, day for day. Life without you was... so bland, without flavor. No matter how hard he fought to forget his pain, nothing could make him feel better, not even his precious family.

He often came to visit you at your grave to lay flowers or to talk with you. Sometimes he hoped to hear an answer, but only silence greeted him.

Childe walked through the streets of Liyue with a blank stare and no light. The city seemed so still and silent, Childe felt as if the world had stopped turning. He seemed absent, his empty eyes just staring at the stone floor. Yet his gaze was drawn to one of the large pools decorating the city's heights. Among all the fish swimming there, one in particular caught his attention. It was a magnificent koi carp with brilliant colors. It seemed to be looking at him intensely, moving towards him little by little. Childe, intrigued by the strange animal, stopped and knelt down in front of the pond. He slowly dipped his hand into the water, making slight movements to draw the fish towards him. The carp rubbed against his hand gently, and Childe was surprised to see it close its eyes to enjoy the contact.

"Childe..."

Fatui opened his eyes wide. Had that fish just spoken to him? That voice... it sounded so much like yours. Impossible... Had it sunk so low as to hear you through a common fish? Childe straightened up, preparing to leave this place.

"Childe... don't go..."

Again, the harbinger stopped, frozen by your call. He looked left and right, searching for people around him who would have heard your voice as well, but Childe seemed to be the only one able to hear you.

"Childe... I'm sorry... for leaving you... alone. I promised you... always... together."

You spoke slowly, as if the water prevented you from expressing yourself properly. Tears stung the young man's eyes, why were you apologizing? He was the one who needed to be forgiven! He came back to you, dipping his hand in the water again to see you snuggling back in. He stroked you tenderly, admiring each of your golden scales. He couldn't leave you here, he had to take you home, to the pond in your garden. And above all, he had to find a way to get you out of this body so small, so fragile. He couldn't bear to lose you a second time.

"(Y/n), forgive me. I will bring you home, I promise."

Ganyu felt the emptiness invade her when one of Lady Ningguang's secretaries had come to warn her of the accident that had been fatal. The papers she was carrying at that moment fell out of her hands and scattered on the floor in front of her. Ganyu did not move, her lips trembling as horror overtook her.

Dead?

No... no... she refused to believe it. Just this morning she woke up in your arms, happy and smiling. And now she learned that she would never see you again? That she would never feel the warmth of your arms again? Ganyu couldn't stand the thought, and to be sure, she rushed to see you.

You were lying on one of the beds in the funeral home. Ganyu approached slowly, trembling and hesitating, even now she refused to believe it. Zhongli, who was present in the funeral room with Hu Tao, took her hand affectionately to accompany her to your body. And when she saw your face, Ganyu broke down. Tears could not stop flowing as she caressed your lifeless face.

"Don't go... don't go... don't go!" - That was the only thing she repeated. Ganyu had lost loved ones in the past, but you, you were unique, unparalleled in her life...

She felt Hu Tao's comforting hand rubbing her back, but nothing, absolutely nothing could ease her pain.

Ganyu had left Liyue without saying anything, returning to live in the quiet and solitude of Aozang Mountain. She could not bear to live in Liyue port, so many places reminded her of you. You had been for her an inexhaustible source of happiness. She felt beautiful, desirable and loved under your eyes. But today...

She didn't sleep anymore.

She didn't eat anymore.

She was alone. Lost.

And deeply unhappy.

Her tears flowed every day without you. Cloudbreath tried to comfort her as best she could, to no avail. She spent her days sitting on the rocks looking at the horizon. Life had lost its flavor. Ganyu was so attached to you, so in love, that losing you had made her totally amorphous.

Days and nights passed. The endless cycle of life continued, cruel and merciless. When the sun rose, she observed its course. When night fell, she was content to watch the stars and the Milky Way go by.

But six months after your death, something unexpected happened.

Footsteps approached her, slowly and confidently. The rhythm of the footsteps reminded her of an animal. But...

"Ganyu."

That voice... Ganyu's eyes filled with tears as memories resurfaced within her. Her eyes, once apathetic, came to life. She didn't dare to turn around for fear of finding nothing behind her. Her imagination had already played so many tricks on her... But when your voice called to her for the second time, she let her sobs out, finally looking back to meet the gaze of a great majestic stag, as white as the purity of the snow.

"I've finally found you. I missed you so much my lily."

She couldn't believe her eyes. She slowly got up from her seat and then cautiously approached you.

"(y/n)...? Is it really you? You... have come back... I..."

"Come closer. Unfortunately I can't hold you anymore... but I can feel you. I promised you that. I would stay by your side, no matter what fate has in store for us... I would always come back."

Ganyu stroked the silky fur that lay along your neck before wrapping her arms around it. She stifled her sobs against you.

"I love you (y/n)."

"I love you Ganyu. Forever."

Razor had smelled blood.

Your blood.

He was waiting patiently for you at the wolves' domain. A shiver of fear ran through his body when he heard your voice calling him, along with the strong smell of blood. Alerted by your screams, Razor had run to you. But he was too late, you were dead, lying in your own blood while bandits attacked the travelers you had defended. The wolf man could hardly breathe, he felt his mind wandering and his fury rising. He was not aware that he was now carrying his blade in his hands and bringing it down on your killers.

Once he had disposed of each bandit, Razor knelt beside you. He stroked your face with a trembling hand before straightening you up to embrace you. He had failed to protect you. He had not... succeeded, and now you were dead. Razor held you so tightly to his chest, no one could have pulled you away from him. His screaming and crying had alerted some Mondstadt soldiers who were patrolling the area. The men tried to convince Razor to take you into town so that your body could be delivered to the church. But he growled like a wolf in a rage, threatening with an animalistic stare anyone who dared to approach you. Razor took you in his arms before fleeing into the forest, where your body was supposed to rest...

Months passed.

Razor had isolated himself from the rest of the world, living far from men, far from his pack. Lisa had tried several times to talk to him, to help him grieve, but every time she tried to approach him, Razor pushed her away with the ferocity of an animal.

He had lost all ability to express joy or happiness. He was in a state of lethargy and when night came, he could not stop his tears from flowing. You were his lupus, his family, the love of his life. You were his joy, his smiles, his peace.

He was so deeply sad.

Razor was always honest with his emotions. It was impossible for him to deny the deep hurt your death had caused him.

Alone.

So alone...

The cave where Razor had taken refuge was empty of life. It was here that he waited for you whenever you came to visit him... and he kept waiting. But what was he waiting for? When Razor heard the sound of a twig breaking under foot, his reaction was immediate. He jumped up on his legs, claymore in hand to fend off the unwanted guest. However, the smell that accompanied the stranger was pleasantly familiar to him...

"I knew you would be waiting for me here."

The young man's eyes opened wide. Before him stood a she-wolf with silver fur. Her eyes gave off softness, warmth...your warmth.

"I was able to speak with Andrius. My wolf, forgive me for leaving you alone all this time."

Seeing that Razor, still in shock at your coming, remained frozen where he was, you cautiously approached him. You gently rubbed your head against his trembling hand.

"I'm here, just like I promised you. I will always stand by you Razor."

Slowly, his hand stroked you. He dropped to his knees, now finding himself at your level. His arms held you close as his sobs echoed through the cave. You tenderly placed your mouth on his shoulder, licking the tip of his ear tenderly.

Aaah yes, he remembered now... that feeling so... human. Love was such a precious feeling...

BONUS

Scaramouche remained frozen, looking with a black eye at the flunky who had told him of your death.

After a long silence, a crazy laugh escaped from his lips. The fatui kneeling before him did not understand. He had just given him terrible news and he was... was laughing?

But that was not knowing Scaramouche very well. He suddenly stopped laughing, grabbing the man by the neck and squeezing him with breathtaking force. The hatred in his eyes was such that it could have made any army flee.

"Didn't I ask you to protect her? Your lives mean nothing to me compared to HER. And you're telling me she's... dead?" - His voice was as cold as the blade of a sword. "Unforgivable... Unforgivable... UNFORGIVABLE!"-The dreadful sound of bones cracking filled the room. The lackey fell to the ground, dead as Scaramouche reached the place where your body had been taken.

The Harbinger's fury drove him to slaughter every man and woman who had the misfortune to cross his path. When he entered the room, those inside recoiled in fear.

"GET OUT!" Which they did without question.

Scaramouche slowly approached the bed where your body had been lying. His cold gaze scanned you... He was boiling inside, his rage didn't seem to be able to be extinguished. However, Scaramouche had the most gentle gesture towards you. His hand caressed your cheek, moved your hair, embraced your cold hand in his. He forbade himself to cry, it was not in his nature. He was known as a cruel, cold, angry man, but with you... he had learned to love gentleness, kindness and love. He would have been willing to sacrifice everything for you... Then why did you have to die!? He clenched his jaw, trying, but failing, to stop his tears from flowing.

He hated you.

He loved you.

You had broken your promise. You promised him you would always be by his side.

He hated you.

He loved you.

He needed you by his side. How was he going to get by without you now? He wouldn't see your stupid smile. He wouldn't hear you spouting nonsense about love. He wouldn't feel your arms around him in an embarrassing display of affection.

He didn't want to... live without you by his side. You knew how to bring out his soft, gentle side that was so detestable to him and yet... he loved every moment with you.

He loved you.

More than anyone else in the world...

Months passed and Scaramouche became colder and crueler than ever. His minions ran away from him, afraid of being killed in one of their superior's crazy moments. Without you to guide him, to soften him, Scaramouche was caught in an endless cycle of hatred and killing. He hated the whole world, and the only reason the Tsaritsa kept him around was his ability to eliminate his enemies.

Since your death, the harbinger understood the true meaning of the word "loneliness". You had left a gaping hole in his chest which he filled with cruelty and violence. That was all that was left of him. Now that you were gone, he was a shadow, a killing machine.

Scaramouche looked at his reflection on the surface of the water, hating what he saw. A weak being, consumed by his emotions. He hated imagining your reflection beside him... you were dead, and nothing could change that. He threw a stone into the water, causing ripples on the surface that blurred his reflection. He did not see the little creature sitting quietly on his shoulder, watching his every move. It was only when she made a noise with a hazelnut that she stuffed in her cheeks that Scaramouche noticed her. Instinctively, his dagger quickly found its way into her hands, threatening the little squirrel with its point.

"You're always so nervous, darling."

Scaramouche froze, his round eyes staring at the animal as if he had just seen a ghost. The only person who had the courage to call him "my darling" was you. And then it was just a simple vermin on his shoulder, it could not speak! With your voice to boot!

"Geez, there go the squirrels talking now. I'm really going crazy."

"You're not crazy. I'm really talking. It's me, don't you recognize my voice?"

Scaramouche hesitated. Was his madness making him lose his mind? Or were you really talking to him through this nutcracker?

"(Y/n)?"

You rubbed your swollen cheeks against his.

"Tch! You're always so... sticky."

Scaramouche was finally realizing. You were really there, on his shoulder rubbing against his cheek. He was screaming at you like he used to. Yet, his heart was warming with every tender gesture you had towards him.

"I promised you I would never leave you." - Despite his protests, you continued to rub tenderly against him.

The young man said nothing more. His eyes glistened with tears.

He loved you.

"Why did you have to come back as a squirrel!? I'm going to look ridiculous in front of my soldiers!"

Despite everything he said to you, he wasn't planning to take you away from him for a moment. Ridiculous or not, he would never take you away from him again.

#genshin #genshin impact #diluc #zhongli #kaeya #xiao #venti #albedo #kazuha #childe #ganyu #razor #scaramouche #diluc x reader #zhongli x reader #kaeya x reader #xiao x reader #venti x reader #albedo x reader #kazuha x reader #childe x reader #ganyu x reader #Razor x reader #genshin x reader #diluc imagines #diluc ragnvindr #diluc headcanons #zhongli x you #xiao x y/n #kaeya angst

[solarpearl]

LA LA LOVE BOMB!

genshin boys (xiao, tartaglia, kazuha) x gn! reader. headcanons. idol au but YOU’RE the idol! ♡s & ↻s appreciated!

notes: STREAM TALK & TALK. i digged this out of my archives so its pretty badly written but.

xiao

knew from the beginning but doesn't really care! he doesn't like hanging out around mortals so keeping your relationship on the down low is easy for him.

regularly asks you to let him listen to demos or work in progress tracks. tries to give Professional feedback but realises his short lived career on soundcloud may not be that impressive afterall.

will deal with people to come see you live! somethings different about seeing you do what you love in the flesh & you wink at him so win-win (he doesn't like the fainting fans around him though, but he supposes it is inevitable as you are so lovable)

once bought venti along & jokingly said that he could date you. venti laughed in his face & told him you were too good for him and he was being delusional. he sulked all the way home and you had to comfort him LMAO.

regularly streams your comebacks. wakes up at ass thirty to vote for you on music shows. your biggest fan tbh.

boasts about his signed albums. places it in a glass case and if anyone tries to touch it he’s hissing at them. he even has a personalized message from you and they can sell it over his dead body.

makes zhongli choose his bias from your group and if its not you he gives zhongli the cold shoulder for a whole entire month. please help peepaw he literally just picked the first person he saw.

fights regularly with ganyu about theories. he’s OBVIOUSLY right because he’s dating you! it doesn’t matter that he hasn’t heard a peep about it from you and only found out you dyed your hair the day before the teasers dropped, he’s SPECIAL.

“your recent fic about y/n was really bad, i would know since i date them. they don’t even talk like that anymore, it was just their shitty company making them do that. are you an ACTUAL y/n stan or do you just think they’re hot LMAO”

tartaglia

used to have you on his wall but he didn’t even know who you are. your poster was a freebie from his album he just put it up to cover up the hole he punched in the wall from not getting his bias’ photocard.

tears it down once you two start going out. he's taking this secret to his grave (unless his siblings blab, which, trust me, they do.)

thinks you're much more beautiful than the poster. he tells you that your pictures don't do you justice and likes to cup your face to look at you closely and sobs because you’re too pretty.

would defend your honor irl. would throw hands at antis, especially if they are anti-you. thinks you deserve the world because of how hard you work. has ten sock puppet accounts ready on twitter to bully a 12 y/o kid off the internet if he has to.

regularly trends on twitter because for some reason he screams your name every time you're on stage the loudest. once screamed 'i love you' while you were talking & all the fans think the 'i love you too' you said was a joke but it isn't.

enters your live & spams comments to try to get your attention. 'STEP ON ME' 'UGHHH YOU'RE SO HOT' 'BARK BARK GRRRR' ‘SEND ME AN AUTOGRAPH' 'I LOVE YOU' 'SAY TARTAGLIA PLEASEEEEE IT MEANS I LOVE YOU IN SNEZHNAYA'

he gets reported. he cries the entire night because his account got suspended for spam.

kazuha kaedehara

literally did not know for the life of him. help him.

he spotted you writing lyrics. and he thought you were finally into poetry like him. helps you complete your lyrics & is content until you ask him if you can use it in a song.

says yes because like he is supportive of your dreams ^^ until he hears his lyrics on venti's radio & is like 'wait i wrote that'

tentatively asks venti who's the person on the radio. venti almost crashes the car & breaks a friendship because someone has the nerve to not stan [y/n]????

goes on an internet deep dive & comes out a changed man. he's impressed with basically everything. from the dance to the singing and especially the lyrics.

he even catches your reference to the maple leaf in one of your love songs. even if it wasn't about him, he still feels his cheeks heating up.

shyly asks you whether you want help w lyrics for your next album!! you gladly agree but he has to go by a pen name (he doesn't mind! he thinks it wonderful that his writing is getting sung in a beautiful voice like yours)

the type to try not to buy merch but he hangs around the store & oogles your merch like a lost puppy until he finally caves.

DEFINITELY carries a photocard, maybe not on his phone but in his wallet.

#genshin impact imagines #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #xiao #xiao x reader #xiao imagine #childe #childe x reader #childe imagine #tartaglia #tartaglia x reader #tartaglia imagine #kazuha #kazuha x reader #kazuha imagine #kazuha kaedehara

[wispycecilia]

to all the ones i’ve loved before: the prologue

the pre-route, let the story begin.

irene’s milestone series! - various! genshin impact x reader. (albedo, childe, diluc, ganyu, hu tao, kazuha, venti, xiao, yanfei, zhongli.)

will be separated into singular routes. refer to series masterlist.

synopsis: before the main chaos, is the story which started it all. fate is in your hands; choose your own destiny.

notes: gn!reader. somewhat edited & proof-read, please point out any mistakes! <3 written in british english.

a/n: prologue finally donneee aaghhh!!! after this the series will finally start to branch out. you know, like everyone’s been waiting for HAHA enjoy!!

series masterlist || masterlist

If it was the end of the world, you'd at least like to have your final wishes respected: to keep your secret away from the public eye.

Those letters. Those damn letters were the one thing you'd take with you to the grave. It'd have people mocking the ever-loving life out of you instead of grieving at your funeral... Not a fun look. You didn't want to be known as the hopeless romantic who couldn't keep their feelings contained; the person who fell in love with everyone they've ever met. 

Maybe, in a tale of fiction, those proclamations of love would be considered romantic. People would look upon your letters with smiles on their faces, kicking their feet around in glee from your heart-warming declarations. 

But, oh no. This was real, all too real. And high-schoolers are vicious, ex-classmates even more so. If those letters ever got out, you'd be nothing more than a laughing stock. There would be no one to save you either. 

'Stuck in your fantasies again, really?' The ominous thought brewing in your mind was cut off with the interception of none other than, what you would call, the satan spawn free-loading in your house. 

Others, however, know her as your little sister. 

Her eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief and slight annoyance, staring at you judgmentally. Oh, to be young again, and have to deal with nothing besides pissing your siblings off. 'Our mother dearest wants you in the kitchen. To scan some documents or whatever.' 

You contained the groan threatening to escape from your mouth. 'Why couldn't she just do that herself? And stop talking like that; we're not in the 1800's anymore, idiot.' 

'Not sure. Don't ask the messenger, ask the sender! Oh, and, for your information, I am simply living out the old-timey fantasies I was robbed of, thank you very much.' 

Rolling your eyes at your sister who believed she was born in the wrong generation, you let the long-contained apprehensiveness shroud your entire being. You let yourself exit the premises which housed your biggest secret, and into the kitchen to help the woman who somehow still didn't know how to photocopy documents. 

Unbeknownst to you, your sister wholeheartedly believed that your business was her’s to deal with as well. And as the loose laminate clicked out of place, revealing the ten letters which would seal your fate forever, her smile grew tenfold. 

 It was time to add some action into your mundane life, she thought.

It was supposed to be another average day. Keyword: supposed. But, as the looks around you started to increase, the worry in the pit of your stomach did so as well. 

School-life was already tiring enough, and you'd like to consider yourself as an outsider looking in. What others did never really mattered, not when you were never directly involved with them in the first place. Yes, you were respected by all in your year level, but that was the extent of it. If you were to ask someone who was from the grade above or below, they'd have no clue who you were. 

So when even students who you'd never encountered in your life started to send looks? You knew something was up. And the pessimism within you knew it wasn't for good reasons. 

Is there something on my face, what did I do? You could only chew at the bottom of your lip to contain the worry. Though, as a deeper, more sinister realisation came to you, that: oh my god, why was the wooden laminate out of place this morning? ...Suddenly, eternal sleep seemed to be nice. 

It didn't help that the chatter of the resident gossip group just fuelled your awareness of the situation even more. 

'Did you hear? That's the person who wrote those letters! Those alone have the potential to hit it big, but oh my. How embarrassing for them; to have others discover their capabilities like this…’

The last straw. That was the last straw. And as you saw a white envelope, sealed with the signature blue heart sticker you knew all too well, in the palms of one of the unintentional receivers? The ground around could just swallow you whole. 

Before they could even dare to say a word, you were already off. Back into the sanctuary of your own home, back to get to the bottom of whoever the hell did this. 

And, maybe, just maybe, to avoid the consequences of your drawn-out actions.

No words were exchanged between your mother, who was busily chatting away with her group of Facebook friends, and you, who looked like they’d just seen Frankenstein come to life.  Even your little sister, who was usually so insufferable, did not dare to say a word; instead opting to watch the TV show blasting through the house. 

Both your sister and mother knew better than to say absolutely nothing when you were upset  - it was clear you wanted nothing else but space during this time. 

...Well, that’s what you believed, until one of the two - the one incompetent with anything technology related - actually spoke up. 

'Why are you home so early? The little one here has an excuse. You, however, do not. Are you okay?' 

'...Fine. I’m totally fine.' You didn’t have time to care about how your response probably triggered memories of your prepubescent teen angst in your mother’s mind, not when there were more looming issues at hand. 

Hey, what else could have been said? Put yourself before others. It's survival of the fittest out here, you know.

The mad dash was exhausting enough. But the climb up the stairs, doubled with the incomprehensible amount of fear, made it double. Scratch that, it was tripled when you saw your door askew. The culprit didn’t even bother to clean up the mess they’d made while enacting out the plan that would ruin your reputation forever.

And with the box containing the letters not even being bothered to be shut, it was practically confirmed at this point. Your nightmares came true. 

You contemplated whether or not this whole thing was a fever dream. It must, right? You'd taken such care into making sure they would never, ever ever be found. And yet, here you are. 

Clearly not enough effort, then. The devil of your mind dared to think. Sometimes, you hate your own sarcasm. Be nice for once, would you? You're clearly grieving here! 

Those damned letters. It would've been better to just burn them when you could, honestly. 

At this point, you’ve already come to terms within your mind that there was no way to get out of this situation by avoiding the receivers. Now, it was time to decide who would be the best person to cling to; the person who would be your getaway.

Chaos happened all too quickly. There was barely any time to devise a proper plan of some sort! Closing your eyes, you thought of what comes next. You had some bygone plans that were pre-established, and it wouldn’t take too much effort to make some new ones if you must. Some objects around your room could be used to decide your destiny as well.

It's all in your hands. 

In particular, for the plans: You could return to school, or make an excuse to return a book you borrowed. Maybe, you could use your reawakened angst to convince your mother to do nothing at all. Running away at night-time was a choice, even buying some bread seemed like a viable option.

Of course, if worse came to worst, there were the objects that could be used to your advantage. The letter sitting by your window, or the invitation left on your bedside table. Today was a momentous day, and the date circled around your calendar showed that. No way could you ignore the barrage of messages going through your phone either.

'(Y/n)! There's a guest outside our house! They're looking for you. Come, entertain them, would you?'

 ...And it seems like there’s another option: answer the person buzzing the door. Uh oh. How are you supposed to choose, when you already have so much on your plate? Maybe you could just opt to not respond? 

So, reader, tell me. What comes next, and which course of action would you choose?

taglist (open!) - bolded users cannot be tagged.

@izayanna @irrellia @melkxsh @kazu-topia @klee-nomania @almondtofuu @lynnforever @hhhhhhjjjj @doublehomiecide @mooonluv @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @akemipng @ttaechi @quin-tarte @levicorpses @kazukazusbaby @yukihonda19 @lminhyungie @serenenation @yonakiomoto @heavenologist @kerokeropng @astrxealis @yuchanyuna @flerpdederp-likes  @hermionie-is-my-queen @tokyosrevenge @therandomunicorn @abyssheart @justtiarra @daeruh​ @xx-chloe-xx @idealwriting​ @fallencrowkarma​

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact headcanons #genshin impact imagines #zhongli x reader #childe x reader #kazuha x reader #xiao x reader #albedo x reader #diluc x reader #venti x reader #hu tao x reader #ganyu x reader #yanfei x reader #zhongli #childe #kazuha #xiao #albedo #diluc #venti #hu tao #ganyu #yanfei #wispywrites *; #teyvat collection *;

[bard-twins]

Alright. A concept. Similar to the Venti angst earlier.

Xiao x reader, and their mortal/adeptus halfling baby. Reader dies. I take it Xiao is one to become distant with his child. He/she reminds Xiao too much of his darling late wife. But his child keeps trying to get Xiao to open back up. Imagine his child becoming all mature and being an emotional crutch for his/her father? Like, I'm soft but also hurt. I keep picturing Xiao finally letting go of his anger and holding his child while crying about his wife. I'm just all in my emotions tonight. TT.TT

Xiao seems like he'd try and be logical about his loves death. He probably wouldn't cry about it even though he's dying inside. Maybe he'd even bitterly think "Of course, Y/N left me. What else could I expect from a mortal?" Everyone around him can tell he's just hurt and mourning ,but doesn't know how to do it healthily. Distance and anger is all he allows of himself out of this situation.

👉👈 Just being emo hours

I see it’s time for xiao angst…

Imagining that their child as his emotional support really hurts a lot and the loss of his beloved really adds more weight in his feelings. It’s really hard to accept and move on and it mostly takes time to finally get back up.

Xiao’s really happy his child is still with him, and tho they are half-human half-adepti like ganyu and yanfei he’s still overprotective of them and doesn’t want to lose another precious family member.

There was one time where his kid tried to cheer him up by having a family bond outside wangshu inn and making flower crowns of silk flowers and qingxin they can find. Xiao really appreciates their effort to lift his mood. The smile on their face really reminds him a lot of you.

When xiao’s child asked him to bring them to the jeuyun karst, he was baffled a bit, wondering why they want to go there. They merely told him they want to show him something. There, they had reached a small cavern near the mountains. The place was like in a fairy tale book you had often told them in bedtime stories. It was like in a dream when xiao saw the cave.

As if a paradise.

He noticed a small pile of rocks laid quietly amongst the bed of flowers, and there he saw the familiar bracelet he had given to you as a protective charm. His child silently kneeled in front of the grave, and spoke lightly.

“Mama, Papa has come to see you.”

Tears threatened to well up in his eyes, and his fist tightened, biting down his lip to hold back the tears.

The grave here was built by the adepti, where you can find peace, harmony, and paradise and felt their souls contact with yours.

Slowly and carefully kneeling down as to not trample the flowers spread all over the ground, he can almost hear your humming along the gentle winds that flowed to his ears.

Xiao, quietly staring at the grave, flashed back to the past— the moments you and him have become intimately close to one another. It was warm and soft memories that repeated in his head.

He thought time could flush the scars away, but he was grateful for his child and the adepti for leading your soul to peaceful place to rest.

#elli.answers #chit-chatwith.anon #xiao x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact

[eeteernity]

hello if you're writing can I please get a diluc, xiao, bennett, and jean with a s/o that died? tysm

Oh my god I completely forgot that my requests were open but ty for requesting <3 and ofc I’ll do it

Diluc is 100% drowning himself in work

He finds it hard to do anything besides that, a lot of things he would do outside of work he would do with you so everything reminds him of you

He has trouble sleeping, first his bed is very lonely without you, and second all his dreams are about you good or bad

He has so many regrets

Like he wished he had been there or spent more time with you, or even being able to say I love you one last time

He may get snappy with the maids but he always quickly apologises

I pray for donna bc she’s gonna have no luck getting him to open up now

If you died to the fatui like his dad he would be steaming with anger, about how scared you must of been and how they took another loved one from him

If you had any activity that you would keep up everyday (e.g gardening or smth like that) he would make sure to get a maid to attend to it everyday before he’s ready to take over

If y’all have a kid?

Oh my god he will treasure them with his life

They’re all he has left of you so he would kind of become a helicopter parent

If his kid ever asks about you he always says how kind and beautiful you were

Man might become an alcoholic 🙊

the pain might leave him soon and he might open up again, but it’s going to take a lot to let him open up again after you die

Drowns himself in work 2.0

Well if you call taking all his anger out on demons then yeah

Then man hates himself so much he can’t even look in mirrors anymore

He’s even more that he couldn’t save you

He wasn’t fast enough to get you help, he panicked when you were hurt, he didn’t know where to take you and he messed up

And now you’re gone

He’s so mad at you for a bit, he’s mad that you made him fall in love with a mortal, he’s mad how fragile you were

But then he’s mad at himself for being weak, if he can’t save his lover how can he protect liyue?

He doesn’t need food or sleep so that doesn’t matter but he tends to to ask for almond tofu anymore

If you guys had a kid he would be so protective yet distant at the same time

Your kid will probably be half adeptus and half human like ganyu and yanfei so he doesn’t need to worry about them as much

But he definitely warns them about falling in love with mortals and how much it could hurt them

If he’s ever asked about you he doesn’t tend to say much besides that he loves you too much

Manz is depressed

Who knew someone could hate themselves so much

No matter how much people say that it wasn’t his fault he can’t believe it he knows it was his bad luck that killed you

The cant focus on his health at all, all he can do is cry

The guy wishes he told you to leave before the bad luck got to you he knew that you were too good to be true and now look what happened

He’s so mad at himself

Everyone pities him Sm

He doesn’t even want to go on adventures anymore, it was bennys adventure duo and now it’s just Benny

He actually forgives whatever killed you he knows that is the first step to healing, he knows hatred isn’t good for him

He makes sure to visit your grave often

If y’all had a kid they are so spoiled fr

As much as he wants to keep their kid away from the big scary world he knows he can’t, he can’t left your death affect the way he sees the world

Whenever the kid asks about you bennett goes on such a long rant on how amazing you were and how much he still loves you

He may have trouble opening up but he’s still positive

Overall he’s good at healing

Drowning herself in work 3.0

Oh my god this girl did not take care of herself before but now you’re gone, she’s literally on life support

The day when it was announced of your death was basically the day she died

Everything became so mundane for her

She got up, worked and then went to sleep

Everyone was worried for her, especially her sister

She tried to get more people to join the knights so mondstadt could be a safer place

She’s not even mad at anyone, not even the thing that killed you she’s just empty

She definitely gets a 2 week break from being in charge just so she could grieve (she could ask for more if she wanted but not her)

She tries to take up a hobby that you used to have to feel closer too you

She wears an accessory that used to wear (e.g headband Jewellery)

If y’all have a kid she will try her damn hardest to spare time for them, they’re already growing up without one parent can’t make it two

whenever the kid would ask about you she would get a bit somber while she talked about how much she loves you

Tired mum is tired

Actually give her a break don’t die 🙄💅

#genshin x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact scenarios #genshin #genshin impact headcanons #bennett genshin #diluc #xiao #diluc headcanons #diluc x reader #xiao x you #Xiao angst #xiao x reader #xiao headcanons #bennett x reader #Bennett #angst #genshin angst #Jean #jean x reader #jean headcanons #Jean genshin

[ac-liveblogs]

genshin impact is like. potentially hilarious. may i humbly suggest:

diluc does not give one singular shit that venti is barbatos and will absolutely make him wash dishes to pay off his tab

by dressing as she does, not giving a shit about the rules of the clergy and drinking herself into a stupor every other day, venti considers rosaria one of his most devout followers

despite being utterly batshit, childe only ever plays the straight man and is the nicest serial killer you have ever met. he is genuinely one of the only two members of the ikemen cast you would actually take home to meet your parents (the other is thoma)

barbara worships barbatos. venti, however, is a worthless waste of space who should have been arrested a LONG time ago.

zhongli is very calm and mature and wise. except whenever venti does anything even mildly annoying and then suddenly he is a fountain of barely contained ire and violence. 

 zhongli did a very poor job of explaining his relationship with xiao, so childe genuinely thinks xiao is zhongli’s emotionally stunted little brother who just needs help breaking out of his shell and to start eating his vegetables and taking his medicine. even after learning zhongli’s true identity, childe still places xiao in the nebulous ‘little brother must protect’ zone 

bennett just randomly pops up all over teyvat. it doesn’t matter what he went to any single place for, he always shows up too late to catch it. every time there’s a festival, he appears in the area one day after the event ends. he got stuck in inazuma for a year because of sakoku and consistently misses all the boats out for a solid week afterwards

keqing might not be embarrassed about the dumb shit she says about rex lapis, but ganyu sure is. how many times has keqing said something dumb and ganyu noticed, with sinking heart, zhongli standing nearby? too many

venti will brazenly take any offerings made to lord barbatos. it is getting harder and harder for jean to stop the knights from arresting him for it.

beidou’s life motto where ningguang’s more annoying legislation is concerned is “okay cool rule but what if i didn’t do that :)”. this works well for her until she recruits kazuha who apparently also lives by this life motto. the circle of karma is real

since ningguang liked our slime so much, we make her another every year for her birthday. she has to pretend she likes them. 

xiao is a closet barbatos fanboy. it is his deepest, darkest secret. he will take it to his grave. he will bluescreen every time venti talks to him and zhongli will always assume it’s because venti hurt xiao’s feelings and he WILL get violent about it

venti (2700+) and the traveller (500+) are routinely denied alcohol at bars. kazuha (17 and 1 month) gets it just fine.

#ac plays genshin impact #god i just. want these characters to have presence! and dynamics! and TALK MORE

[clouds-rambles]

hi bestie!! i loved the prompt you wrote where the reader dies in the genshin boys arms,, so do you think you could do that for zhongli and xiao? :]

We about to cry again huh?

Bro Stormbearers Lair is making me sad and for what? All I’m doing is looking for chests. Bruh. Kinnie moment

Pairing(s); (Seperate) Zhongli, and Xiao x reader

Warnings; major character death, angst, hurt/no comfort, injury description, blood

Keep reading under the cut!

Zhongli

He had lost many a person over the millennia, so loss isn’t exactly foreign to the ex archon

But you, even if you were mortal. In Zhongli’s eyes you would grow old with him. You would get to see your children grow into adults, you would get to see grand children, maybe you would even get to see great grand children if you were lucky.

But no

Your body lays limp in Zhongli’s arms. You were both fighting a particularly tedious foe, like you have done some many times before. But this time ended with you dying

And Zhongli didn’t even get to say his goodbyes to you for he was too preoccupied with putting down the enemy. Like has happened so many times before, people close to him, gone without even a goodbye let alone a kiss on the cheek

It had happened with Guizhong too. One day she was there fighting beside him and the next. Gone

Zhongli finds himself doing something that he hasn’t done in a very long time. He cries. He cries for you. Your loss of life, for your loss of experience. For all those years he was going to spend with you. For all those years that he did spend with you that are going to be nothing but a painful memory that he has to dwell on to remember why he’s alive

How would he explain it to his children? Children that are certainly not going to understand why one of their parents are gone. Especially when the said parent is used to being gone for long periods of time? How would he explain this to himself? That the person he loves above all things has been taken away?

Hu Tao is funnily enough the one to find Zhongli dry sobbing in the middle of the plains. She says something about how she was in the area, but really? Hu Tao had this sudden gross gut feeling, as if your spirit was trying to call out to her. The gross gut feeling she had was right

Hu Tao suddenly ever so professional helped the broken Zhongli up. She doesn’t mention it when his trousers are stained by your blood, nor does she mention Zhongli’s wet face. Hu Tao knows better, especially when dealing with the dead.

The service is as small as it could physically be, considering that just in Liyue you and he have made so many friends that want to say goodbye

Both Zhongli and his children are so overwhelmed with emotion that none of them cry at the service. But everyone knows how they’re feeling. 

After the service Zhongli sits his kids down and tries to explain everything to them without crying. He must stay strong for his beautiful children, he wont let himself crutch onto them.

Often when the kids are tucked away happily in bed Zhongli will visit your grave. Often with flowers, it doesn’t matter which ones. You always had a way of finding beauty in even the weeds that litter both the garden and the wilds

On more than one occasion Zhongli has found Xiao and Ganyu silently saying goodbye to you. In all honesty you were the reason why the human adepti started seeing the ex-archon in the first place. It’s only right they offer their blessings to the person who bought them closer to the only father figure they have

As the years pass your loss has gotten easier. Zhongli still visits your grave often and occasionally brings the kids to say hello. 

Though Hu Tao cannot help but note that Zhongli still wears his wedding ring on his finger. And sometimes, she can catch glimpses of what she can only presume to be your wedding ring hanging around his neck.

Zhongli isn’t going to be letting your memory within him die anytime soon

Xiao

Having a mortal lover really wasn’t the best plan for Xiao. But he had always pictured at least you getting old. That way it would be less painful for the adeptus to let you go.

But fate obviously didn’t want that for him

He should have been more careful about having you near. You had helped him open up, so much so displays of PDA were something that he really began to enjoy. Holding your hand as you wonder about Wangshu’s market stalls, or kissing each others cheeks just when you feel like it

That’s what must have enticed the Abyss to target you. While you were defenseless

It was just a night like any other. Xiao had decided to go out for some monster slaying. He had noticed a slowly growing presence and generally a night out slaying monsters cleared out the area for a week or two

And it was going great until he heard the bloodcurdling scream of his name. If Xiao wasn’t a lightning fast adepti the scream of his name alone would have caused him to cry

The scene as he entered your room was much worse

The first thing he notices is the smell of the elemental traces of the abyss, but that smell is quickly overpowered by a metallic smell Xiao has become more than acquainted over in his lifetime. Blood

They you are lead on your bed, somewhere that should have been a safe space for both you and Xiao by extension

“Xiao” you speak again between laboured breaths, he is by your side in an instant, he clasps your hand in his

“Tell me who, I’ll ki-” he says before you interrupt

“shh” you shush with a weak smile “Xiao, I’ll” you pause coughing “I’ll find you in my next life, I promise” you manage to say

“[name], [name] stay with me!” Xiao yells as he begins to shake your body. It’s obvious from your glassy eyes and lack of breath that you’re not going to

Xiao leaves Goldet to clean up the room of blood, and you as he tracks down the culprit of your demise

He eventually does. But Xiao realises that much time has passed since your death. How long had he been pursuing this abyss herald? Days? Weeks?

When Xiao returns to Wangshu Goldet almost hugs him exclaiming that she and her husband had been worried sick. They had almost come to the conclusion that he to had taken his own life

“How long have I been gone?” Xiao inquires

“Four months” Goldet responds “We tried to hold [name]’s funeral back as much as we could, but we buried them three months ago. I’m sorry Xiao”

The adepti shakes his head. A million thoughts race his mind as he ponders what he should do next. Visit the grave and make himself be lost in your memory? Or just bury you in his head like he had done with the yaksha during the war?

He settles on both

Xiao visits your grave and says his goodbyes. He sets up some incense to help your spirit rest if its in turmoil before he turns to leave your grave. Your memory is like a wound. He will bury it in the sand like all the others in due time

A hundred years later is when he visits your grave again. Not because he forgot to before. But because this wound of your memory has infected his brain. In the last decade your memories have resurfaced once more

The memories range from the first time the two of you shared a kiss, shared the bed to when he had reached you in the bedroom

Xiao wonders to the promise your dying breaths offered, were they an empty promise like all other dying breaths? Or was this a true one?

“You know I’ve been tending to this grave for the last decade or so” a voice behind Xiao speaks. “My name isn’t [name] but I think I am them” the voice continues standing just behind the yaksha

“A hundred years is a little long for you to have grown” Xiao tells the figure behind him. You hum

“I think I was blessed by the gods” you confess “For I am truly a century old”

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #zhongli x reader #xiao x reader #zhongli #xiao #genshin zhongli #genshin xiao

[rrrrinmaru]

how to introduce yourself to an adepti in liyue

always inform them of your arrival. they don’t like to be taken by surprise, and hate the sight of unintroduced newcomers. if you show up unannounced, you won’t be able to leave their domain. what they’ll do to you is left up to them, but every now and then children in liyue say they can smell something strange from wanmin restaurant.

when you send them a letter, you must include a drop of your blood and three strands of hair pulled from the root; nothing more, nothing less. the hair cannot be cut, and the blood must be pure and free of contamination from alcohol, tobacco or similar impurities. the gods can see things you can’t.

if you do not receive a reply after 48 hours, you can proceed with the introduction. be sure to start the countdown the moment you hand the letter over to secretary ganyu, because the 48 hour time frame starts from then. the only watch you should be using for this is one that you bought yourself from the liyue souvenir shop. any other watch or time keeping device will run either too fast or too slow, and you won’t be able to keep track of the passage of time. if you receive a reply within 48 hours, pack your bags and leave liyue for a month for your own safety. they are always watching. if you remain, you may never leave liyue for the rest of your life.

if yaksha xiao returns the letter after 48 hours with it burnt up and smoking, you are cleared to proceed. do not worry. you are protected by the contract of 48 hours.  

bring an offering. the offering need not be impressive; it need only be sincere. a soup with your tears as the base. ink with your blood mixed in. mora carved with a sliver of your soul. for the last one, you should pay a visit to the golden house. although the golden house is no longer minting new mora, it is always open to mint soul-stained mora if you bring your own mora.

you can look around while in their domain. the adepti are kind and generous, and will let you look your fill. but you cannot wander off the beaten path, no matter how pretty their domain looks.

there is always one section in their domains where it looks like reality is blurring. close one eye and squint—you will see the faint image of graves laid out in an open field. those are the bodies of the visitors who strayed from the beaten path. the closest grave to you will be unmarked. that one is yours.

on the first meeting, never ask for anything. even if you have a request that you must see answered, do not raise it up on the first meeting. they will take it as an offer to trade for your soul, and you cannot refuse them in their domain.

if they ask you for your name, immediately close your eyes and refuse to answer. writing your name down in a letter to introduce yourself is different from speaking it in their presence; the latter forms a binding oral contract, and your name has power over you that you cannot even begin to imagine. count to ten out loud, and then apologize for not being able to give your name. all should be well after that.  

after the first meeting, you can only request for another audience with them once 336 hours have passed. although that sounds like a simple two weeks, you cannot approach them for another meeting before a full 336 hours have passed. this is the minimum amount of time needed for them to forget the taste of your soul on their tongue, for them to still the bloodlust that surged upon your first meeting.  

==

© rrrrinmaru 2021 | no unauthorised publication or reproduction allowed

#genshin impact #liyue #liyue headcanons #ganyu #xiao #adepti #cloud retainer #moon carver #mountain shaper #madame ping #wanmin restaurant #tw: blood #tw: horror #rin writes gi

[liyuesbian]

liyue characters (+ childe) and what instruments i think they'd play

part two of my genshin characters and what instruments i think they'd play series! part one / part three

beidou

bass guitarist!!!

plays in xinyan's band

the incredibly attractive band member who everyone in the audience fawns over

good luck trying to get her number after gigs, she's most likely got the whole crowd tailing her already

chongyun

idk why but i think he'd suit the ukelele

was probably the one quiet, talented kid whose friends (i.e. xingqiu) made him audition in a famous talent show and guess what? he actually ended up winning

is now one of those quirky, aesthetic, softboy youtubers who posts covers of him singing and playing his little gay guitar

ganyu

guzheng

feels so powerful when she puts on the finger picks

looks so refined during a performance even while doing the notorious musician head-bobbing haha

leaves the string players in constant awe like how can she do vibrato with those picks?! AMAZING

hu tao

tuba player

never takes rehearsals seriously... or her instrument for that matter

is the one making the "tromboner" jokes and telling the strings: "how do you finger your instrument again?"

was also the one who convinced everyone to play the mii channel theme music as a prank in rehearsal

bet it was the only time the whole orchestra played so harmoniously

keqing

parents wanted her to play a traditional chinese instrument. if not, at least the piano or the violin

all hell broke loose when she came home with a synth

"electric instrument eh? keqing, i will electric chair yo-"

oh well, it's kinda like a piano... right...? *ancestors rolling in their graves*

ningguang

erhu player ("chinese violin")

fell in love with the instrument after hearing a busker playing it

tears run down her cheeks when she's practicing alone because the sound is so fuckin' beautiful :'DD

"damn, i'm so good"

qiqi

clarinet

"i'm sorry... what's a reed again?"

definitely forgets her entrance

is only here because she forgot she was actually supposed to join the gardening club and walked into the wrong place

xiangling

drummer in xinyan's band

goes stupid, goes crazy on those things

tries to do the stick tricks (like throwing it in the air midway through playing) she saw on youtube during practice but fails

legend has it she's still trying to this day

xiao

dizi, essentially a "chinese flute"

man is so emo he sometimes goes out to his garden and plays a sad tune :(

maybe does it with his eyes closed and his neighbours probably avoid him around 2pm—his daily sad song hour :((

xingqiu

ok, guys, hear me out. this boy is the personification of that one vine that goes "is there anything better than pussy? yes, a really good book!"

therefore, xingqiu is a pianist

his parents are definitely the asian parents who want their child to be a musician as a brag-worthy hobby (bonus: if he wants to pursue the piano as a career, they will absolutely not be okay with it)

xinyan

honestly, i think she could be an all-rounder with the usual band instruments

guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, vocalist etc.

is, quite literally, a one-woman band

loves rock so much she has become the rock

yanfei

plays the french horn

always has her part down pat

loves to share techniques with her section

during rehearsals, you can hear her more than you can hear her instrument

zhongli

cello. he's a cellist. and a first chair

"do you want to fucking be me or do you want to be fucking me"

the 2nd chair tries to convince him that he'd suit a conductor more in hopes that they'd finally get 1st chair without zhongli being in the way

thing is, this mfer takes it seriously and actually becomes the conductor

why's he good at everything?

tartaglia

"and the trumpets they go—"

EGO EGO EGO EGO EGO EGO EGO EGO

but he actually has the skills to fill up that ego >:(

and the lungs because, jesus, where are my earplugs?!

#not proofread #genshin #beidou #chongyun #ganyu #hu tao #keqing #ningguang #xiangling #xiao #xingqiu #xinyan #yanfei #zhongli #tartaglia #childe #genshin au #genshin crack #genshin impact #genshin headcanons

[marblesphere]

!⚠️Warning Angst, suicidal thought⚠️! If you are not comfortable, please skip this. I am having slight depression and some negative thoughts. It was not good to leave those alone, so I wrote them down as a fic. This also serve to comfort me. As my favorite character will comfort me. I hope you guys will find some comfort if you are having some negative thoughts too.

The void, is called the era of the highest peak of humanity. Though no formal record ever written for that era. The remains of the void are now scattered across the world, using lost language. No one could decipher it, leaving only imagination as how humanity was in that time. But the void is what they call that era. To another people the void is called the dark age. Rather than the highest peak of humanity. This is where humanity almost extinct due to world war. Each nations developed their own technology and conquered the other nation.

[Your Name], one of the survivors of the dark age. She is unable to age due to her nation’s human experiment. There are also some mutated animals survived the war. But they have gone hiding. Those survivors only have one goal. Avoid the present humanity to decipher the record of the dark age. This is for their own sake. For they couldn’t handle the memories inside those remnants. Right now, she is just a wandering. Destroying any remnants of dark age. Adjusting to a change, every now and then, she enrolled to a school, by manipulating some memories of the school higher up. She has no worries about her fund. She has a lot in her account which she also changed every now and then.

Present day, 20xx.

“Good morning.” I greeted my classmates. Chorus of good mornings are replied. The day starts like the usual routine. After the school is over, I will try to scout around the town at night. Seeing midnight is safer for me being out without being caught by schoolmates.

But tonight, I am in for a surprise. I meet someone I know very well. “Long time no see, [Your Name].” Zhongli smiled softly.

“It really has been a long time, Zhongli.” We stood in the highest building in the town. “How long was it the last time we saw each other, 500 years ago?” I blinked. The concept of time has lost to us.

“More or so.” He chuckled. “You are still wandering?”

“Yes. As you can see. I am enjoying my time.” I spread my arms. “Albeit, sometimes I feel a tad bit lonely.” I added the last part softly.

“Xiao looking for you.” I stiffened at his word.

“… I know… that’s why I am running away. I was only a burden to him. And it’s my fault turning him to a… monster…” I swallowed the lump on my throat.

“You know that is no one fault. Not his, not you.” Zhongli said.

I shake my head, denying it. “It is my fault. If I were just stronger, he won’t need to bear the burden alone. And he certainly won’t be fighting against the karmic debt right now. If only I were stronger.” I murmured. I close my eyes. Every time I did, I will remember that day vividly. Even the smell of blood. I still remember when the karmic debt manifested for the first time. I have never felt so scared in my life. How pathetic. Yes. I was really pathetic, being afraid of someone I still hold dear the most. That’s why I ran away, I couldn’t face him after being afraid of him. He must be scared too, must be alone too, yet…I..

“Xiao, what happened?” I approached him. It’s rare to see him so gloomy like this.

“Don’t touch me!” He growled.

“Xiao…?” I blinked, not understanding his command.

“I told you don’t touch me!” He growled finally turned to me. And then, I finally realize the gloomy baleful aura around him. Xiao let out a feral growl. “Xiao…” I tried to touch him.

“Go away!” His hand turned claw scratched me as he slapped my hand away.

“Xiao…what happened…?” my trembling hand still trying to reach out to him, ignoring the blood. ‘Scary… I am scared…’

“It’s you…” He snarled.

“Xi…ao…?”

“It’s all because of you! It’s because of you I have turned to a monster! I killed countless to protect you, yet I am the only one who turned to monster! Why is it not you?! You should be the one to become a monster. You are just a burden to me. A pathetic little thing. It’s better if you just disappear!”

“I…” I could hear something inside me snapped and break. “I…guess… I am…just a burden… then…please kill me… so…you can be free from a pathetic burden…” I whispered as tears flowed down uncontrollably. I close my eyes as I saw him raised his spear. But, at the nick of time, Zhongli burst in by kicking the door down. He restrained the rampaging Xiao, I vaguely saw Ganyu dragged me away from the scene.

I couldn’t sleep that day. I keep thinking about his word. Then, I come to a conclusion. I have to get stronger and stop being a burden. I have to get away from him. That’s the last time I ever see him again.

“He was devastated. You should know he didn’t mean it.” Zhongli sighed.

“No.” I shook my head. “He was right. I was a burden. I know I am. But, I didn’t try to avoid being one. Instead being the source of his karmic debt.” I smiled bitterly.

“[Your Name]…”

“If you are here. Then he must be not so far. I should get going then. Farewell, Zhongli.” I jumped down from the building. Having to move quickly. But, I was beginning to feel tired, having to avoid them at every turn. “Maybe it’s time to welcome my death. I have lived long enough. The dark age remnants also have vanished, though not all. But, Zhongli and the others are still here. It should be fine, right?”

Fortunately, I managed to evade him from finding out. I quickly go to hiding, searching for a place to rest, in other words my grave. My thought drifted to a small hill near our house at that time. The flower field there is magnificent. But, since that place is the nearest to our house, I will definitely found out by them. I look at my temporary house here, at the foot of mountain. This mountain peak should do the job.

Next morning, I climb to the peak. As expected. The view is nice, the breeze is nice. Everything is nice. “Then, this will do. As my grave.” I nodded in satisfaction.

“What do you mean by your grave.”

I snapped my eyes to the source. My eyes widened at the familiar person in front of me. “Xiao….” I breathed out his name. My mind is racing with a lot of thoughts, as in why is he here? How did he find out I will be here? I have made sure to cover my tracks every time I disappeared.

“What do you mean as your grave?” He took a step, unconsciously I took a step back. My eyes darted around, searching for any available escape route.

“[Your Name], answer me.” He pleaded. His voice trembled.

“I… just don’t want to be a burden anymore…” I averted my eyes from his piercing glare.

“…I…” He flinched. “I am…sorry… I didn’t mean…”

“It’s not your fault.” I quickly said. “It’s really was not your fault. It was mine. I was weak. More than anything I was scared of you. Even though you took all the burden from me. I was so scared that I didn’t know what to do. I am sorry…” I apologized. After a millennia not being able meet face to face. The first thing we say to each other is sorry. “I will get going soon.” I strained a smile. My mind is chanting not to cry and plead him to stay together. I have cause enough pain for him. I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve to be alive.

“No!” Xiao quickly grabbed my hand to prevent me leaving. “Don’t go.”

“I…can’t. I have caused you enough pain. I…”

“You are not burden at all. Because of you. I have enough strength to fight those karmic debt. My sole purpose of living is searching for you. If you are gone, then I too…”

“You can’t!” I yelled. “You can’t die! You have suffered enough. It’s time for you to experience happiness!... If you die, then…I” ‘For what reason, I have endured this loneliness for a millennia?’

“Silly.” He wiped my tears. “You have suffered enough too. You leave me because you believe you have cause me pain. But, it’s the opposite. I am alive because you are with me. Those words… were the manifestation of those karmic debt. They are not true at all. You are my light.” He put his forehead against mine. “Just like you said. We have endured enough pain. We should experience the happiness this world has to offer. My happiness lay with you. So, please, don’t leave me again.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“I… Can I really stay with you?” I hiccupped.

“Of course.” His arm around my waist tightened. “Let’s stay together from now on. Together, forever…”

“…Yes…” Xiao pressed another kiss, this time on my lips.

#genshin x reader #xiao x y/n #xiao x reader #xiao angst #genshin impact xiao #xiao fluff

[e6danheng]

the one cutscene gave us so much. nadia and vlad reuniting and being cute af, beidou and ningguang being wives, xinyan and yun jin being gfs, the adepti-aligned city-dwellers spending the night together (with ganyu stepping up to make sure shenhe doesnt feel left out), xingqiu and chongyun being bfs, xiangling and guoba hanging out w them, zhongli and hu tao watching the fireworks together, the offering left at azhdaha’s grave, moon carver and mountain shaper returning in time to spend the evening w cloud retainer, XIAO WATCHING THE FIREWORKS WHILE KEEPING AN EYE ON HIS LIL FOUND FAMILY AND SMILING, and a moment of appreciation for baizhu and qiqi who have to keep working through the festivities... it was so perfect i get all choked up every time i rewatch it

#genshin impact #when i think back on how the first lantern rite was a bunch of fetch-quests for random npcs with a bit of xiao content thrown in #how it was the first event of the sort and we were all disappointed basically no playable characters were involved #look how far we've come... not only was EVERY liyue character present but they all got their own brief wholesome spotlight #i couldnt be happier w this event its the best liyue one so far