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#riptide.works
ajaxeology · 2 years
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1:54AM [Xiao]
genre: hurt/comfort
c/w: takes place after the Chasm Archon Quest, slight spoilers ahead, I've only read through this once before posting
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After wandering the lands of Liyue for an entire day, Xiao finally returns to his abode at the Wangshuu Inn. He had drunk the sights of the landscapes that have remained unchanged for centuries to calm the flurry of emotions and let go of the unanswered questions that plague him. After all, they are the only other being that bore witness and remember the moments he shared with his fellow yaksha. Yet a restless sorrow continues to gnaw at his heart.
He is about to lie down and lose himself in the dark canopy of blinking stars when he notices a silhouette on the balcony of the top floor.
Your shoulders are slumped and your arms are crossed as you rest against the ledge of the balcony. Xiao jumps off the roof and walks up to you, already decided he's going to ask why you are awake.
His light thud behind you gets your attention and you turn towards him. Xiao notices the dark circles underneath your eyes, which were never there a few days ago before he left. You rush up him in the middle and examine him. There is both adrenaline and fatigue running rampant in your eyes, as if you're unsure if you're dreaming.
When you have convinced yourself, you heave a sigh of relief and pull him into a tight embrace.
A pang of guilt strikes at his heart. Under the Chasm, he had readily offered himself for self-sacrifice umpteen times and in the end, he had chosen to go down that path. Even if he was rescued in the end, he did choose to sacrifice himself at the last lap.
Would that mean that he chose his duty and the others over you? Did he choose to let you live in a world without him, even when he knew you would be devastated? Did he choose to hurt you?
Xiao knows nothing about love and sometimes, he thinks you are foolish for choosing to love him. He nags at you to go to sleep, but you pretend not to hear it, asking him what he was doing before he came.
You ask him to help you up to the roof after he tells you that he was intending to rest on the roof. Xiao gives you a look of disbelief and he tells you to go to sleep with his usual cold tone. He helps you up after you refuse to budge. As he does, he notices your iron clutch on his hand. Even when you lie beside him, you don't let go of his hands.
The leaves above rustle as the breeze exhales, exchanging words when the two of you are not. You only ask him if he had found what he was looking for.
It is the only question out of the many that brims out of your mind that you ask that night. When he says yes, you smile at him with crinkled eyes. He thinks your smile would be your answer to his questions and he feels a weight lifted off his weary heart.
You fall asleep, snuggled up at his side. Xiao carries you to your room at Wangshuu Inn and tucks you into bed. He contemplates staying by your side but decides against it. Instead, he'll come back again in the morning before you awaken.
Even if your smile being the answer to his questions is only his own wishful thinking, it doesn't matter for now. Morax has bestowed yet another chance in life for him, another chance for him to give you the love that you deserve.
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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6:35PM [Kazuha]
genre: angst
c/w: separation
note: note: so @rxspbrrry and I had a small discussion about Kazuha. Also shoutout to her for beta-reading this , lovE UUU MWAHH AAAAAA. Sorry to those affected by the repost!
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You detest the sun for how it sprints across the sky. It wasn't that long ago the sun stretched its rays from the horizon. But somehow you are already at the harbour watching the golden orb tuck itself under its blanket.
Annoyance scalds your chest because you still don’t have an answer even after a whole day. What is it that is between you and Kazuha? Friends? Best friends? Lovers? Even the salty air in the space between the two of you doesn't know.
That scene repeats in your head again. When you told him you loved him just before he left because of the Vision Hunt Decree. You watched his back as he walked away, blending into the sea of people before he vanished from your sight. Even though he said that he loved you the same way, just like how a tree loves the sun.
You redirect your anger towards the Raiden Shogun. If only she did not order the Vision Hunt Decree, it would have been different. 
During the decree, you received occasional letters from him. His words are devoid of any romantic love and the thought crushes your cracked heart into itty-bitty pieces. But in between the ink of the poem he's written for you, you think he loves you. Again and again, you pick up the shattered pieces and put them together again with gold.
The only reminder of Kazuha's presence beside you are the light thuds of his steps on the boardwalk. The distant orders of Captain Beidou to her crew grow louder, serving as a cruel reminder of another looming separation. 
When you no longer hear his footsteps, it pulls you out of your mind.
He's always wandering, always moving towards a new destination. So when he stops for no apparent reason, it alarms you. You turn and finally look him in the eye ever since the two of you separated from the others.
Ruby-red. It reminds you of the red you see when you think of him.
Ruby-red. It reminds you how beautiful he is. You don’t know if you can pay the price of loving a diamond like him. One that shimmers with a new kaleidoscopic pattern every time you look at it.
But you don't see the sorrow and remorse that swirls in those red eyes. The breeze has been screaming to him that it is his fault you carry your heavy heart through the days. The salt in the air pricks his eyes, demanding him to return the silent tears that soak your pillowcase in the night.
He sees the red of his eyes in yours, its shade matching the maple leaves that fall behind you. It’s going to be another goodbye again. Kazuha suppresses the urge to take his hand in yours. A touch of you before he departs miles away from you again.
A moment of only the crash of waves lapses. You ask him what’s wrong and he lies that the maple leaves seem to have given him a new idea for a new poem. Forcing a chuckle, you start inching towards the Alcor with him.
He has one foot on the first step when he reaches the stairs that ascend to the deck. Turning back, he asks you if there's anything you want to tell him.
Maybe, just maybe, he would try to stop his feet from running where they please if you asked. Stop trying to run away to another corner of the world, where he'll eventually leave again. 
If you had nothing to say, he’d tell you to forget him.
You feel your desires overflow the bottle you've shoved them all into.
"Stay."
Is what you want to say. But you keep your lips zipped for the weightless word will hold him down as an immovable mountain when you let it loose.
Kazuha is wrong for saying that he loves you like how the tree loves the sun, you think.
You're the tree that stays anchored; feeling the wind come and go. You're the shore that does not move; welcoming the sea when it washes up on the sand and giving farewell when it resides. No matter how hard you clutch onto him, he'll slip through the gaps that you can't see with your naked eye.
"Make sure to send me letters. I’ll be here when you visit again."
Kazuha smiles sadly. He leans down to the crown of your head, lips hovering above your skin. His breath fans your forehead as he asks, “May I?”
He does not have the heart to tell you to forget him and for once, he sees himself as a selfish fool. Unwilling to let go of a gem he cannot appreciate. It’s a pity that he’s the one you love.
You hum. He gives a kiss on your forehead, so light it could have been a feather’s tip brushing against your skin. When he can no longer see the docks from the top of the ship’s mast, the taste of you is already a faded photograph in the museum of his mind. An exhibit he has already made himself walk past.
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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hello hello! i’m from the new server and it’s nice to meet you :’> i saw you were taking requests so maybe xiao + “I can’t believe you still get flustered when I tell you I love you.” ?? and also congrats on 100!<3
Plate of Love - Xiao
Word count: 0.9k
Genre: somewhere in between fluff and hurt/comfort??
c/w: angery customer, food
Note: BLUEEEEE I'm so sorry I took so long to write this!! I only had a good idea lately and I hope it'll be good enough for you :">. Thank you for requesting <3
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The smell of the savoury stir-fried shrimp wafts through the kitchen doors into the dining area. It makes you salivate but unfortunately, it isn’t for you. It’s for the customers that tap their fingers on the table in anticipation of the said dish. 
With the commencement of the Lantern Rite festival at Liyue Harbour, you expected an influx of customers. However, you still underestimated the waves of customers that flood into your shop. 
There’ll probably be more and more people coming each year and maybe it was about time you thought about hiring extra help. Xiao might need a little help in the kitchen too. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it.
As soon as you’re done with taking the orders, you rush to the kitchen. The clang of the spatula hitting against the wok reverberates against the walls. The sound becomes louder as if it’s calling for help, but Xiao continues his craft without any mercy. 
There is nothing but focus in Xiao’s eyes and you see his mind running through the steps like clockwork. Despite having cooked for years, he still has the look as if it’s the very plate that’ll decide if he’ll have your hand in marriage. Your parents had only approved of him when he’d met their expectations with the family dishes. 
Not wanting to disrupt Xiao’s focus, you tend to the pots of boiling soup and serve the ready dishes. The aroma of soup rises out of its pot and the smell propels you to ask Xiao to cook you today. Seeing his deep concentration, you decide to ask a little later.
As you scoop up the soup into bowls, he becomes aware of your presence and calls out your name. You scoot over to his side and he gestures toward two glasses of water on the table behind him. 
“The full one is yours. You should drink some before you attend to the customers again.”
It’s only then you realise how dry your mouth is and how parched your lips are. You chug half of the water down and thank Xiao, giving his shoulder a brief squeeze.
Most customers understand that there are only the two of you working at the store. They show you patience and they are understanding when their dish takes a long time. However, like any food establishment, there’ll be troublesome customers. You don’t know which archon you’ve offended when one decides to walk in during one of your busiest periods of the year. 
You can only tell that he’s not Liyue-ian from his accent when he speaks. Every 2 minutes or so, he asks if his dish is ready. It’s not even 10 minutes when he hollers for you to attend to him.
“Why isn’t my dish ready?”
You didn’t help your parents with the store since young to cower at an unreasonable customer.
“I’m sorry, sir. We have many customers today so your dish may take longer than expected. It will be ready soon, thank you for waiting.”
“Then you guys just have to work faster! I can’t believe I’m kept waiting for so long. If it isn’t ready in another minute, I demand a free plate of matsutake meat rolls.”
The matsutake meat roll is the most expensive dish on your menu and this man just took advantage of the peak hour. Contempt brews in your chest and you realise that your eyes have given you away when the man starts yelling again. The other customers fall silent when he starts throwing insults at the store.
A hand squeezes your shoulders. You don’t have to look back to know who it is. When you hear a snarl in Xiao’s voice, chills run down your back.
“Leave.”
Under Xiao’s piercing gaze, the man zips his mouth shut. He scrambles to take his bag and stumbles on his way out. 
The store quickly returns to its normal rhythm when Xiao starts walking back into the kitchen without a word. The chatter of the customers starts and the accidental clinks of cutlery fill the room. 
-
It’s still fairly early in the night. You see children run past the shop through the windows. Lanterns remain brightly lit and some of its rays spill through into the window. 
You flip the sign, letting the word ‘CLOSED’ do its work of repelling customers. The shop has run out of ingredients for the day and it fills you with dissatisfaction that you didn't have the opportunity to ask for a meal from Xiao. Especially when you needed it the most today.
From the kitchen, he says, “[name], sit down at a table.”
You drag your feet and plop down on a chair, arms hanging down your sides. Xiao brings out a plate of piping hot matsutake meat rolls and another of stir-fry shrimp. Your heart soars as you watch him enter the kitchen again to bring out cutlery and two bowls of rice. 
When he sets down the rice on the table, he gives your head a pat. The entire time, your eyes remain glued on him as immeasurable warmth bubbles in your heart. 
You barrel into him and embrace him in a hug before he could sit down. Arms still around him, you tilt your chin upwards to meet his surprised eyes.
A smile spreads on your lips and all you utter is “I love you.” 
Light from the lanterns outside illuminates Xiao’s flushed face in the dim room.
Noticing the hints of redness, you release Xiao from the embrace to let out a hearty laugh with your hand resting on your stomach. “I can’t believe you still get flustered when I tell you I love you.”
He plops himself down on the chair and shoves a spoonful of rice into his mouth. After he swallows it, he retorts, “Eat.”
“Alright, alright.”
Xiao picks up a piece of matsutake meat roll and settles it atop your untouched rice. It says “I love you too” on behalf of him.
You push the thought of hiring extra help to the back of your head. With additional staff, you wouldn't get to enjoy such moments with him.
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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for the kiss prompts!! #19 ("if we're caught kissing we're most likely dead but let's risk it") with ayato please >:3 thank you sherry!! 加油 on ur art and thoma fic!! 💖
Word Count: 0.7k
Pairing(s): Ayato x gn!reader
Genre: fluff
c/w: kissing of course <3
note: HELLO THURSDAY MWAH I had so much fun writing this. Thank you for sending in this request <3 and for your encouragement hehehe. First Ayato fic too aaaaaaaa, I hope I did him justice
kisses prompt list
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You slide open the window on the second floor. The howling winds conceal the sandy sound of the paper window being dragged against the wooden frame. Hurling yourself into the dark room with the tatami floors with a light thud, you immediately take off to Ayato’s office.
He better have summoned you for a good reason. As the leader of the Shuumatsuban, summons from the head of the Kamisato Clan are to be expected. But let’s just say he’s been summoning you a bit more than he needs to as of late. It doesn’t help that there’s a swarming number of guards tonight, likely due to an important guest. While you’re confident of your skills, you’re akin to a trespasser to the guards. It wouldn’t do good for the Shuumatsuban if you were to get caught. 
You find your way to the main hall where Ayato sits at his desk. He stops shuffling through his papers and stands up.
You drop to one knee and keep your eyes on the floor, taking in the familiar tatami pattern. Conscious of the guards standing right behind the golden gates of the main building, you greet Ayato with a hushed voice.
“My lord.”
Ayato crouches down to take your hand in his. You finally make eye contact with him to see him smile with closed eyes. The fluttering flames atop of the candles cause the shadows on his face to dance, highlighting the sharp edges of his jaw and nose. 
“[name], you’re here.”
The poker face you commonly wear on your face breaks. While you’re wearing a mask over your nose and mouth, you express faux annoyance with your eyes and raised brows. As an additional measure, you make sure that you sound annoyed, “Lord Ayato, how can I serve you today?”
“I just wanted some time with you before I have to accompany the client.”
A faux sigh escapes your mouth but your lips upturn into a smile. You approach him and wrap your arms around him, patting his back. You wouldn’t admit it to him, but you missed him too.
“Thank you for coming, [name].”
You planned that you’d sit by his side until its time and leave by the window facing the ocean, but Ayato has other plans.
You hear from the faint exchange of the guards on the other side of the door about the arrival of the guest. It’s your signal to leave. You pull down your mask for a moment to give him a peck on the cheek and push the mask back up again. Just as you turn around, he grabs your wrist and tugs you flush against him.
Even in the darkness, you see the mischievous glint in his eyes as he rests his hand on the small of your back. “Not so fast, [name].”
Ayato pulls down your mask and captures your lips in his. The rustling outside the door becomes louder and you tear yourself away from him.
“Not now, Ayato! What if other people see?”
He hums, a grin playing across his lips as he sees your reddened face. “Well, if we’re caught kissing, we’re most likely dead. But let’s risk it.”
Ayato rushes in for another kiss, his hands running up your back to your hair. You’re still listening to the tiny movements outside but your sharp senses are slowly melting as Ayato’s lips convey his yearning. The hushed chattering of the soldiers becomes muffled and the footsteps of the staff become inaudible. Gripping the golden rope hanging around his neck, you tug him closer.
“Lord Kamisato, the guest is here. We’re opening the door.”
Both of you break from the kiss, a little out of breath. His arms continue to encircle you, but his grip loosens and you slide out of it with ease. Ayato looks ahead at the door, smoothing out his sleeves as he adorns his dignified smile once again.
Before he opens his mouth to speak, you whisper, “My lord.”
He angles his face slightly to look at you, expression kept the same except for a raised brow. You kiss the corner of his mouth where his mole lies. A hand resting on his shoulder, you linger.
When the door opens, the guards notice the slightly ajar window.
Ayato simply chuckles, “The moon is bright and beautiful tonight, isn’t it?”
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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#97 and #95 with kazuha (kiss prompt) <3
Word Count: 0.8k
Pairing(s): Kazuha x gn!reader
Genre: hurt/comfort
c/w: kissing, mentions of death, mentions of wounds
Note: Hi there!! Thank you for requesting. As we agreed on, I won't be writing #95 because it has nsfw implications so here's #97 (passionately making-out against a wall) with Kazuha. I hope that you enjoy this <3
Kisses prompt list (requests for this are closed!)
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When the soldiers return to Sangonomiya Island, you wait in anticipation to hear about their victory over the Shogun’s Army. The soldiers, well acquainted with you, only tell you that they’ve temporarily fended off their troops. Upon hearing their answer, you make sure that your hands keep moving. The bandage goes round and round their limbs to conceal your low spirits. You thank them for their valiant efforts and encourage them to push on as you move to the next wounded soldier. 
To each other, they lament about their slip-ups and beat themselves up about the things they didn’t do. You’re content with listening to the various conversations until you hear your lover’s name being tossed around two in the medical room. 
You jerk your head towards the source, staring intently at the two soldiers conversing behind you. With a curt apology, you requested the help of a fellow medic to attend to the soldier you were patching up. Your feet wish to run but you restrain them and force them to maintain composed steps. 
“I’m sorry, did you say ‘Kazuha’?”
A little caught off-guard, the two soldiers stammer over their words a little. “Y-yeah, he was on the battlefield earlier. Even in taking down enemy troops, he was elegant with the winds and maple leaves that swirled around him.”
Without staying to hear more, you stormed out of the medical hall. Everything that happens next plays out like a frenzy fever dream. You just kept running. To where you didn’t know yourself. You let your feet take you to where they wanted to go.
When you spot white-haired samurai outside of a rundown house, you call his name. It falls out as if it’s become unfamiliar to your lips, falling in bits and pieces. You repeat it until it flows out of your mouth like a stream.
Kazuha gets up and walks towards you. Your feet don't slow down and you barrel into him. 
“[name], my petal.”
“Why didn’t you come and see me?”
An arrow to Kazuha’s heart when the anger you don’t hold back drips from your mouth. 
“I’m sorry… Beidou ordered me to come and see you but I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me.”
“So you didn’t want to see me and only came under the orders of the captain?”
“No, my love, that’s not what I meant. I-”
You bury your face in his chest, voice muffled as you spoke, “I was so worried. Almost every night, I couldn’t free myself from the thoughts of you dying.”
He pulls back a little, cupping your cheek and wiping your streaming tears with his thumb. “I’m so so sorry. I wish I could have come back earlier to release you from these agonising shackles.”
There’s a moment of silence between the two of you as you glare at him with arched eyes and remnant tears streaking from the sides of your eye. Grabbing a fistful of his scarlet red scarf, you tug him towards you and kiss him.
The thought of him leaving again makes your curled fingers tense. You clench your fist tighter, keeping him from going away. The muffled sounds of the distant cascade go over your head and the winds hold their breath. In the deception of a stilled time, you let your lips linger on his. 
When you tear yourself away, the wind runs its fingers through your hair. You think it’s going to take him away from you again. Your mind fixates on the breeze until he grips your shoulders. He whirls you around, with his fingers protecting your shoulder blades, he pushes you against the wooden wall behind you. 
Kazuha presses his lips against yours and his lips scream of yearning. He brushes his tongue across your bottom lip. His hand slides up your neck and cups your jaw, tilting your chin. For a moment, he pulls away and his hot breath fans your cheek as he speaks in against your lips, “That’s not fair, my dove. Do you know how much I missed you too?”
He traces his finger on your lips with his unbandaged hand. His hand drops to hold one of your hands in his and he leans in to kiss you again. Your free hand slides up his arm and rests on his shoulder. Two of you move like partners in a waltz, sinking in the familiarity that’s going to be taken away soon. 
The old wooden wall of the house starts to rattle and groan. Taking it as a signal, Kazuha pulls away from you. He tugs you off the wall like he’s handling a flower. Fingers tracing your jaw, he looks apologetically, “I’m sorry… I have to go now, I think I’ve kept the crew waiting long enough. I don’t want to risk getting them caught by the Shogun’s Army.”  
Your hands drop from his and dangle a little like they don’t know what to do with themselves now. Did they ever without Kazuha? 
His eyes seem to search your mind, waiting for you to say something. You wonder if he sees your pleas for him to take him with you. But the last thing you want is to be excess weight for a free spirit who goes where the wind leads him.
“I’ll see you soon.”
He kneels and hooks his pinky with yours. "See you, my love."
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ajaxeology · 2 years
Note
ah- sorry for messing things up, I mean to send the request on anon :‘D
May I have kaeya + 63 if you don’t mind??
Remember to drink water too!!
- tired
Word Count: 0.5k
Pairing(s): Kaeya x gn!reader
Genre: fluff
c/w: kissing + suggestive (it's more suggestive than my 2 other kissing prompts fics, but still sfw!!)
note: HELLO TIRED I think this is the first time that you've sent in a request for me (not that my requests are open all the time but still!!). Thank you for sending in a request, I'm very happy to be able to write for you hehe. I hope you like this and that it feeds your recent fat Kaeya phase well
Kissing Prompts List
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Sitting at the tables on the ground floor, you presume that Lisa has returned when you hear the doors creak open. The heavy thuds on the wooden floors of the library instead of the usual light clicks on it tell you otherwise. Without taking your eyes off the papers sprawled on the table, you address the said individual. 
“Kaeya, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, just visiting my darling of course.” 
You look up, seeing him stride towards you. He rests his hand on the ear of the chair you’re sitting on, slightly leaning down towards you.
There’s a flutter in your chest, but you only give Kaeya the satisfaction of hearing your laugh. “Don’t you have things to do? I’m sure the Acting Grand Master gave you enough to do till the end of the day.”
Eyes back onto the papers and pen in hand again, you start scribbling even as he shadows over you. 
Kaeya drags a chair right behind you, wood scratching against the wood. The rough noise that echoes does not even warrant a lift of your head.
“Don’t do that when Lisa’s around. She might punish you for scratching her polished floor and creating noise in her silent sanctuary.”
“You wound me, thinking that I’d do such things in front of Lisa.”
A laugh bubbles up your throat, but you purse your lips to hold it back. Only a stifle escapes. 
Time to turn up the gears. 
Still sitting in a chair behind you, Kaeya circles his arms around your chair and your torso. Your breath hitches, feather pen in your hand stopping its rustling for a moment. Mind a little giddy, you manage to command your hand to continue moving. 
Amused, Kaeya tightens his hold around you and rests his chin on your neck. Your expression is obscured, but there’s wavering in the previously confident, flowy strokes of your pen. 
A gentle puff of warm air tickles the shell of your ear. Light pecks pepper the sides of your neck. As Kaeya moves, the tingling ghosts of lingering kisses cling onto the skin at the back of your neck. 
It’s an understatement to say that your head is spinning. Pen dropped, toes curled in your shoe, warmed up face and ears despite the cold weather. Your mind is trapped in a whirlwind set up by your lover.
“Kae- Kaeya… I need to finish this by the end of today…”
All he does is hum and continue running his lips all over your neck.
You attempt to pry his hands off you, but your fingers are weakened when he nibbles the side of your neck. It doesn’t help that his blue hair tickles your cheek, making you squirm in your seat.
It’s only when you jump out of your seat, you break out of the iron grip of his arms. You pout at him and his shit-eating smirk. In this war of kisses and affection, you’re not going to lose. 
Swooping in for the kill, you press your lips against his and wrap your arms around him. Melting into the kiss, your surroundings become disregarded. Until there’s a sigh that you know isn’t Kaeya’s reaches your ears. 
“My little cute assistant and their Calvary Captain lover making out in the library… How scandalous… What shall I do?” Lisa places her hand on her cheek with dramatic exasperation. 
You meet Kaeya’s eyes to find the same apprehension in his gaze, except that he wears a sheepish grin. He’s totally taking responsibility for this.
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ajaxeology · 2 years
Note
Childe + 12 for the kisses thing? Ahhhh!!!
- Ayu <3
Word Count: 0.4k
Pairing(s): Childe x gn!reader
Genre: fluff
c/w: kissing
note: aaaaaaa I know close to nothing about light waterfalls so everything I know is based off Google (I hope light waterfalls are just as google showed me not something else :">). Thank you for requesting Ayu!! It's a little short, but I hope you like it <3
kisses prompt list
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“There’s a step right in front of you, be careful.”
You acknowledge by humming. Childe has his hands around your eyes, and you only see faint glimmers of light through the cracks of his fingers when you peep a little. 
“Hey, you just peeked right?”
“No, I didn’t.”
He huffs and calls you a liar with faux hurt in his voice. 
“I’ve made sure you didn’t trip over any rocks so far and you haven’t even bumped into the other visitors... Do you not trust me?”
You don’t see it, but you know he’s pouting. In response, you scoff to suppress the smile that tugs at the side of your lips. The muffled sound of water running evolves into the crashing of currents. Tiny water droplets continually hit your cheek as you walk forward.
Childe halts, his hands slightly pressing on your cheekbone as you only stop moving after he does. You feel his hands shift away from your eyes. “You can open them now.” 
A towering natural waterfall stood in front of you. Plants grow out of the cracks of the rocks around the waterfall. Light illuminates the water cascading down, and the colour of the light changes endlessly. Red, blue, purple, green and other colours that your mind can no longer list due to your surprise. They all transition and flow into each other with the descent of the water. 
Satisfied, Childe asks like an excited puppy, “Do you like it?” 
You’re ready with a response in mind to tease him about how he sounds like he’s the one who played a part in making the display. But when you turn to face him, the words fail to come out. Childe’s ocean blue eyes, now iridescent, grips your attention tightly in its fists. 
The ever-changing lights from the waterfall illuminate his face and gently overlay on his shining eyes. A grin appears on your face, and you nod.
Not minding the other visitors around (you're at a corner anyway), you take a tiny step and press your lips on his. 
He tenses up for a moment, which you associate with the sudden nature of this, but he kisses back right after. The water droplets continue to hit your cheek, but it becomes small taps as you get lost in the moment. Childe’s fingers run up your hair, and you're about to put an arm on his shoulder. But it is then when the sensible side of you returns. While you’re sure no one’s looking, you’re overly conscious about the other people walking around you. Ears and cheeks warm, you pull away abruptly.
Childe pouts and you feel a tinge of guilt. You’re the one who started it and you never, never, give him more than a peck in public.
“Okay Childe, listen. Let’s have a deal. We take photos here, then we’ll continue elsewhere, yes?”
He brightens up. “It’s a deal.” 
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ajaxeology · 2 years
Text
Sweet Shenanigans [1]
Word Count: 0.3k
Pairing(s): Childe x gn!reader
Genre: fluff
c/w: Childe's real name (sort of) used once
masterlist | next
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Almost everyone in the store calls you by the nickname ‘Kid’. You’re not particular about it, since you believe that most of them are older than you. It’s kind of endearing. 
Except when Childe says it. 
It used to be okay. You would even say it was funny. On your very first shift, Childe realised he didn’t know your name because there was no requirement to wear name tags. But he had to call for you, so the name stumbled out of his mouth like a box tumbling down a flight of stairs, one awkward step at a time. 
It isn’t funny when you realise he’s the same age as you. Even a few months younger than you. It’s even less funny when you remember he’d asked for your date of birth. 
So the next time you share a shift with him, you figured you'd try to get him to change the way he calls you. 
When you finish serving customers at the cashier, Childe walks over and rests his crossed arms atop the display case next to you. His arms are positioned in between the products on display and you pray he’s not going to flip anything off its stand.
“Jax, you’re a few months younger than me.” 
Everyone calls him 'Jax' so you did.
“Uh-huh.”
Without turning his head, he shifts his eyes onto you.
“You should stop calling me ‘kid’.”
“Whyyy?”
He drags out the end consonant of the word and only stops when you flick his forehead.
“You should call me senpai.”
Bringing his knuckles to his chin, he hums and his eyes wander as he considers your proposal.
“Nah,” He says, leaning on the display case once again (you really have to wipe the glass again). 
“Huuhhh why? Do I look that kiddy to you?”
“You just look younger than me, that’s all.”
A ridiculous alternative pops up in your head. In the heat of the moment, you blurt it out of your mouth. “Oh, I know! How about little senpai?”
Childe stands upright and takes a small step back. With an (exaggerated) shudder in his arms, he expresses his faux disgust and waves his palms in front of him. 
You’re about to respond with an equally phoney disappointment when you two hear your manager yelling from the kitchen to cut the idle chatter. 
A little while later, Childe keeps his word and still calls you ‘Kid’ when he’s trying to get you to help him with a box of cake. 
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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Sweet Shenanigans - Childe [series masterlist]
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Summary: [Modern AU!] The holidays have arrived and you're a little... low on cash. You manage to snag a part-time job at a cake shop and you think you've struck gold when you realise there's a charming guy that's working there. You're content with letting him be just a passing eye candy. But hands brushing unintentionally (a little too much, you think), leaning into you and banter when there are no customers? You think your job has gotten a lot more sugary sweet than you expected.
Pairing: Childe x gn!reader
Genre: fluff
Chapters:
[1]
[2]
note: This will just be a series of (very) short, episode-type stories in a slice of life anime. I don't have an end in mind for this yet and I'll be updating this as I have ideas. It'll just be something I'm doing for fun so I won't be putting as much thought into this as compared to my usual fics. Here's an image of how the cake shop looks like so I can spare myself from describing the place.
My normal taglist will be tagged in this, but let me know if you'd only like to be added to the series only taglist!
Series only taglist (open!): @miitchiji
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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The World Is Cruel But I Still Love You
Summary: For @xiaosmoon 's Valentines' Collab - Day 22: Life or Death Kisses. When all one wants to do is to protect the people they love but it comes at a hefty cost.
Word Count: 1.5 - 1.7k
Pairing(s): Time Traveller!Kaeya, Mind Control!Childe x gn!reader (separate)
Genre: angst
c/w: major character death, descriptions of blood, violence, usage of Childe's real name once
note: Thank you Eri for letting me participate in the event! Huge shoutout and thank you to @divinavulpes for thoroughly proof-reading this and giving extensive suggestions <3. This fic would have been nothing without you. The Kaeya fic is also for a 100 follower request here!
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For the first time, Kaeya manages to be by your side for your last moments. Blood thickens, overflows in his hand as he cradles your head and your breaths become shallower. The raindrops from the downpour carry the crimson away, but your skin becomes increasingly pale as they do.
With whatever strength you have left, you grip his hand that’s clasped around his vision. You plead with him not to do what he was about to do.
Tears begin to well upon your eyes when he pries your hand away. When he removes his hand from his vision to cup your jaw, you see imprints of the metal in his hands. Kaeya presses a feather-light kiss to your eyes, then your cheek, then finally your lips; and you struggle to reciprocate.
Against your lips, with steel in his voice, he swears, “Time again and time to pass, I'll come back for you. Always.”
-
Kaeya’s eyes jerk open. He’s sitting in his office, the dazzling sunlight blazing in through its glass windows. The documents are sprawled out just as he remembers them – your application form in front of him, at the very top of the pile.
It should be about time for you to walk into his office. He takes a deep breath and runs through his plan in his mind again.
The door clicks open and Kaeya resumes back into his ever-popular, amicable persona.
He watches as you arrive to stand before his desk and you bow. “Good morning, Sir Kaeya. I am [name], the newly appointed vice-cavalry captain. I will do my best under your service.”
“Pleased to meet you, [name].”
In his heart, he’s relieved it’s the same familiar touch when you shake his hand. He only pulls away when you do.
He takes a seat and props himself up with both his elbows, his fingers intertwining with each other.
“[name], I’m stationing you at Dragonspine with Albedo.”
Confusion crosses your face and you stay silent for a while.
“Sir, please excuse me if this is rude but… Wouldn’t it be more appropriate if I follow you instead? It is my responsibility as the vice-cavalry captain to provide close assistance in your duties.”
Kaeya chuckles, “The Grandmaster has already taken everyone in the Cavalry unit for an expedition. Leave for all but those around Dragonspine, my duties are of no extraordinary note and require no assistance. Besides, it’d be beneficial for you to become a little more familiar with Dragonspine. Albedo’s laboratory has been raided recently too, so I believe he’d appreciate a little extra security .”
“But-”
He stands up and leans into you, his index finger hovering above your lips. “Hush, I’ll train you when the time comes. I’ll come by often to check on your work and progress. Let's head to Dragonspine.”
You open your mouth to protest, but Kaeya walks out of the room without looking back. On the way to Albedo’s lab, Kaeya makes light conversation, asking you about trivial things such as your family. He asks about things he already knew from the previous time loops, careful not to let anything slip.
When you arrive at Albedo’s lab, Kaeya gives Albedo the same explanation as he did to you. He searches Albedo’s face for any sign of knowing. Albedo keeps his eyes on his vials, sparing both of you only a glance. Good, he hasn’t caught wind of Kaeya’s plans yet.
Once all arrangements have been made known and settled, Kaeya takes his leave. When he does, the sensation in one of his hands dulls. He faintly sees the pure white of the snow on the ground through his hand. In the next moment, he can’t and the feeling in his hand returns.
-
Kaeya visits you at least once every week. The looks that you cast Albedo’s way don’t escape him – saccharine honey that drips from your iris, brimming at the edge of your eyes. Its sweetness is made even more palpable as you gaze at Albedo while he’s focused on his experiments…
… The same gaze you’ve given him countless times in the past, and all he felt back then was an overflowing waterfall of love. Seeing that it’s for someone else, makes his stomach churn as if he had too much. Sickeningly sweet.
“Do you fancy the chief alchemist?”
You get frantic and wave your hands in denial. Kaeya forces out a laugh. “I see that your type is calm, collected and incredibly talented.”
You continue trying to refute Kaeya’s claim. He leans into your face, his breath fanning your cheek. With a lowered voice, he asks, “What about me?”
Kaeya searches your eyes. There’s panic and your mind is fumbling for what should be the correct answer.
He retreats backwards. “Hmm, since you can’t give me an answer, how about you fulfil a request for me?”
“I’m sorry, Sir Kaeya. Please, let me know. I’ll do anything.”
Anything, huh?
“Stop calling me ‘Sir’. Just ‘Kaeya’ will do.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Anything, isn’t it, sweetheart?”
After all, he can’t accept you calling him that when you call Albedo by his name.
-
As time passes, Kaeya visits you less. His hands flicker like a flame on a candle more often than he likes, the translucent quality creeping up his arm.
Kaeya doesn’t realise that his vision has been too either. He only does when Albedo points it out after Albedo asks you to help him to collect some starsilver (in which you oblige with great enthusiasm).
“Kaeya, your vision’s flickering again.”
He unfastens his vision from his belt and inspects it. The glow in his vision stops flickering when he brings it close to his eye. The turquoise blue looks faintly duller to him.
Kaeya just laughs, dismissing it with an excuse he pulls out of thin air.
The silence almost settles like dust until Albedo says, “You’ve done something with time, right?”
He says it as if he’s testing his hypothesis, yet Kaeya hears it having a thin layer of disbelief.
Albedo continues, “I’m not one to trust dreams, but I’ve been having dreams… that make sense. I’ve been going along with my day and it's as if things are supposed to be another way.”
Kaeya keeps his eyes on Albedo’s back, staying silent until Albedo tears his eyes away from his concoctions.
All Kaeya gives Albedo is a confident smile. Silence gets its opportunity to settle and rest atop their shoulders with weight. Albedo sighs in defeat and tells Kaeya to let him know if he ever needs anything.
“Take care of [name] for me, will you?”
When he stands up to leave, you return to Albedo’s lab. Kaeya gives you an amicable hello but he doesn’t wait for your response.
Confident that you’ve taken your eyes off his retreating back, he slows his pace. Your laughter is muffled, but the elation that he hears is crisp. It rings and echoes, even though there’s a valley right beside which should have swallowed the sound up.
-
You’re not sure how long Kaeya has resigned from the Knights of Favonius. Some guilt weighs down on your heart. You’ve been too preoccupied with the object of your affections to notice that your superior has resigned.
Even though he doesn’t know the reason, the alchemist reassures you not to blame yourself.
“Perhaps you should visit him?” Albedo suggests.
“Is there anything you need me to do?”
Albedo shakes his head and tells you to run along to Kaeya’s place.
There’s no response when you knock on Kaeya’s door. You turn the doorknob to find it unlocked, muttering an ‘excuse me’ when you enter.
He lies sprawled out on his bed, his limbs peeking out from underneath his blanket. Sunlight filters through the window, and you think that it seems to filter through his skin too. You realise you’re not being delusional when you approach him.
“Kaeya! Is there anything I can do for you?”
You don’t wait for him to respond and you’re about to leave, but he grabs your hand. His hand is almost crystal clear and a wave of worry overcomes you. Without letting go of your hand, Kaeya shakes his hand and says, “I’ll be happy as long as I can see you.”
There’s a bittersweet undertone that you don’t miss and you want to ask him to explain the situation to you. But your thoughts are all in a jumble and nothing comes out of your mouth.
He gestures for you to lean down to him and you do. His trembling lips press against yours. You close your eyes and kiss him back. In that fleeting moment, you forgot about the alchemist that resided in your heart. At that moment, Kaeya saunters into your heart and makes himself comfortable. It's as if he’s been there before.
You feel Kaeya trying to sit up and you help him up without pulling away. His hand slides up your chin, settling his hand behind your ear. One of your hands lies atop of his chest and the other has its fingers tangled in his navy blue hair.
Memories you don’t remember flood into your mind.
Under the stars, he said he would rip out all the stars in the sky for you. At dusk, he said one day he’ll steal a horse from the stables and he’ll ride into the horizon with you. In the comfort of your bed, he promises he’ll tell you his secret and about the weight of a forgotten world he’s carrying.
When you stop feeling his lips on yours, you open your eyes and fall forward onto the bed. He’s gone. There’s no sign of him when you do a quick sweep of the room. You hurl all the doors in his house open. The doors tremble and shiver when they hit against the wall, but with decreasing power, as you make your way towards the last room. What or who you’re looking for and why you’re slamming doors open start to trickle like water out of a palm.
You try to grasp at them, but it is all in vain. Soon enough, you don’t know why you’re standing by a vacant bed with a lonely, dead vision lying on it.
You don’t know that you saw the last of Kaeya. Only the time that swept him away with its waves knows that he loved you. But time only moves forward, it doesn’t stop for anyone. All you can comprehend by standing alone in the empty room is that something wrenches your heart and it feels more empty than you could ever understand why.
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Havoc runs underneath your feet in the form of rumbling as you climb up the hill towards the Golden House. The unconscious bodies of the Millelith line haphazardly outside and they do nothing to quell your worry. Screams loaded with fear cut through the thick air, causing you to quicken your pace.
You burst through the wide-open door into the brilliant gold room. Purple sparks fly against the twinkling gold rays of Mora. Childe hovers in the eye of the storm. Aether’s body lies still at the edge of the chaos, with Keqing, Ganyu and the meagre numbers that remained of the Millelith flanking Childe from all sides. Yet, with every attempt to approach him, he would blink away to the other end of the room.
When you call out Childe’s name, he doesn’t even spare a glance your way. You’re clueless on what warranted this from him – this was nothing like him at all. You take a few steps towards him, getting a closer look at him.
Cuts on the armour blanket his body, blood brimming on its edges and spilling over. A stubborn arrow lodges in one of his forearms, crimson red trickling out. He swings his arm and sends a soldier flying as if the arrow only inflicted an ant bite. Blood outlines his jaw and drips down his chin. Catch a glimpse of his eyes from the sides of the mask when he turns his head away, you see is the bottom of the ocean where light has no reach.
Keqing cautions you to stand back, but you pay her no heed, taking a few more steps closer to him. You call his name again. He releases another ray of purple electricity towards Ganyu and she dodges it by a hair.
There’s a voice in your head that warns you that you'll anger him by using his real name in front of others; but the dire circumstances before you have pushed you to the edge of your composure.
“Ajax!”
Childe’s raised hand halts in midair and he turns his gaze to your direction. A crimson red instead of purple glow in the orb embedded in the mask. It flickers between the two colours.
Your name comes out from his mouth muffled and broken up like an unstable connection. The hand that hovers in midair starts to quiver, moving towards the mask. The flickering of the eye of the mask intensifies. The red abruptly takes its place again, his hand dropping to his side as if he’s done a reset of himself.
You realise there’s something about Childe’s Foul Legacy form that even he himself has failed to realise. Something grave that has led to the consequences in play at this moment.
Your mind starts racing. The puddles of crimson on the ground below Childe tell you they’ve been battling for quite a while. Concern starts seeping and piling into your heart – you don’t know how long more Childe's body can last.
From the corner of your eye, Keqing charges up her sword that glows a vibrant purple. You step in her path. She pulls back and her amethyst eyes widen at something behind you. You dodge Childe’s attack, his clawed hand scraping your arm.
He gets persistent in his attacks and you dodge all of them by a hair. You realise that who – or what’s – controlling Childe has deemed you a threat to be eliminated.
From the corner of your eyes, you see the others striking him. Bringing their sword down on him, throwing spears and firing arrows. You plead for Keqing and her troops to stand back, tone teetering on the edge of a demand.
You almost fail to dodge yet another attack. You notice Childe’s hand wobbling as it nears his face again. The red flickers to purple and back again. A puzzle piece clicks in your head.
When Keqing runs towards him for an attack, you parry her sword.
“Please! Stop! I know how to end this, so please help me!”
You turn your head in Ganyu’s direction, entreating her, “Ganyu, please, shoot his mask!”
She shoots a glance at Keqing beside you, hesitant to follow your request. It’s only seconds but to you, it was precious time ticking away before Ganyu aims her bow at him at Keqing’s nod.
You don’t ask for Keqing to help, but she dashes up behind. She supports you as you fend off Childe’s attacks from others and yourselves.
To keep his attention on you, you yell his name and insult his attire (which in reality, you think is neat but the ends justify the means, so you lie). His attacks become less thought through and he starts to look like he’s only flailing about. Cracks start to spread around the mask, about to shatter. Everything goes on until he realises that Ganyu has become the biggest threat.
Before any of you could stop him, he discharges a ray of electricity towards Ganyu. She narrowly dodges it but breaks her arm in the process. You blink and he’s already towering over her with a raised hand that grips a violet spear wrapped in sparks.
Ganyu scrambles up and dodges the waves of his spear. You urge her to run over to you. Childe’s attention turns in your direction. He thrusts the spear towards you.
You leap towards him, reaching out for the mask with cracks that run across it. Ganyu passes you and the spear impales your torso. The pain paralyses you and you almost black out, but you remind yourself of your conviction. Mustering a last burst of remaining strength, you claw against the mask. Your fingertip brushes the tip of his mask and it breaks in half.
The sight of a familiar ocean blue eases the immense anxiety in your chest. At the sight of his widening eyes, you forget the pain for a brief moment and cup his face in one palm, leaning in towards him. The next moment, the spear fades and you drop to the ground. Childe catches you but his hold on you is weak. His knees buckle and he kneels on the ground with you lying in his arms.
His eyes do a sweep of the surroundings. The Millelith help their injured comrades out of the Golden House. Keqing’s authoritative voice thunders through the gilded chamber, desperately ordering her troops to request help for you. When he looks at the gaping wound on your torso, his eyes widen.
“[name]... [name]... I’m sorry.”
He chokes on his apology and tears brim in his eyes. A few teardrops trickle down his cheek and drip on your closed eyes. Your eyelids twitch and it opens, half-lidded.
With a shaking hand, you outstretch your hand to cup his cheek again. You tug at the little amount of skin that you’ve pinched. It’s always been the silent way both of you ask for a kiss.
“Ajax, I’m sorry too.”
Childe shakes his head before his lips only brush against yours. He yanks his jacket off and applies pressure to your wound. The blood soaks his jacket through within a matter of moments.
You sputter out a laugh, quipping, “I’m glad I chose to love a hot man.”
“Stop joking, [name].”
Everyone sees the panic in his eyes. The notoriously fearless harbinger has quivering lips and a face that screams about the cruel deed he’s done to you. He remains motionless while staring at your face. The sight of this extraordinary scene unsettles everyone before it, including the ever-rational Keqing, who’s trying to keep her composure. Childe hears her race to the entrance, questioning with impatience as to when medical help would be arriving.
In a hushed tone, you ask with the same half-lidded eyes, “Ajax… Are you there? I can’t see you.”
Childe chokes on his own breath, opting to hum as a response while he tries to hold back a barrage of tears. His hand that cradles your head tightens and he kisses the crown of your head.
“I’m… here.”
He pecks your lips, repeating his previous words when he speaks against your lips. Your eyes flutter shut, and it’s not long when he feels your body still.
Every part of Childe’s body aches, but nothing more so than the heart pounding in his chest. He leans down and brushes his lips against yours. His thumb rubs circles on your scalp as if in a forest searching for signs of life. He breaks away but not long later, he presses another kiss, his hand pushing your head towards him.
You will wake up. Just like in those fairytales where true love’s kiss brings characters doomed to slumber back to the waking world like a magic spell. He wants to believe such magic exists. He has to. He has to… If not… If not..
Doubt is the downfall of any endeavour of chance. That day, he learns that truth the hard way. (And he even doubts that he was your true love).
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All likes and reblogs are appreciated! Please fill in the taglist form on my navi to join the taglist :>
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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Pocky Game headcanons
Summary: They play the pocky game with you
Pairing(s): Childe, Zhongli, Diluc x gn!reader (separate)
Genre: fluff
c/w: none
Childe
He’s heard about it but he’s never played it with you
“Oh? A challenge?”
Or he might say “Aw [name] if you want to make out with me just say so <3”
You turn to walk away and right after, he scurries after you saying “I’M KIDDING, PLEASE”
He thinks to himself maybe if somehow he pulls the pocky towards himself, he’ll pull you closer and fluster you
He jerks himself backwards but unfortunately you didn’t budge, so the pocky stick broke instead
He whines in frustration and demands a rematch bc “I nEvER lOSE”
In the second round, he just plays the game normally without trying anything funny
You have sweet kiss, the taste of chocolate filling your mouth, and of course he wins because you forgot you were in playing a game and you broke away first <3
Zhongli
You think Zhongli wouldn’t know what the pocky game is, but he’s heard of it and he’s got the gist of it. He just has to clarify some tiny details with you
He keeps his gaze on you without looking away the whole time
It makes you flustered and you look away because you know the feeling when you’re embarrassed about being shy but other people look like stuff is nothing to them? Yeah that
you secretly think he’s played this game before and he wants to catch you off guard
(But you don't notice the way the tips of his ears gradually redden)
He doesn’t try do anything funny at all which makes you even more nervous that he’s got something hidden up his sleeve
When you hesitate in advancing, he continues. When his lips brush yours, you fall backwards out of embarrassment
He lets out a hearty laugh and chases after you for a kiss.
Diluc
He scowled when you asked
(but you know he’s just shy)
The shorter the length of the pocky stick left, the more he looks away
If you’re embarrassed like him, there are times the game comes to a standstill and both of you are so close to each other your faces get VERY hot
You say, with the pocky still in your mouth, “Do you want to stop? It’s okay-”
“No, we’ll continue.” (says Diluc, with hints of shaky determination.)
And right after that he takes a small nibble on the stick
You have to suppress the urge to giggle throughout the game
Both of you finish the game, with Diluc briskly making his way out of the room (and the heat of his lips lingering on yours)
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Taglist: @almondoufu @ohmykazuha @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @icecappa @abyssheart @tsubaki3192 @geolatt3u @mikachuchu @kallmekoi @shxnosuke
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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Flower Shop Headcanons - Albedo
Summary: Albedo has a flower shop
Pairing(s): Albedo x gn!reader
Genre: fluff
c/w: none
note: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND WELCOME BACK @mikachuchu!! Fortunately or unfortunately, I'm your secret santa for @/ohmykazuha and @/almondoufu 's secret santa event!! I hope things have gotten better for you. I wanted to wait a little while more but since you're back, I thought I should just post this for you as a welcome back gift as well. I hope the pining I've included is good hhhh.
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Albedo’s flower shop is a crowd favourite. He grows the sweetest and brightest flowers in the neighbourhood, or even across a few neighbourhoods.
But his flower shop isn’t like the others because other than growing flowers, he dabbles in alchemy to create exotic flowers. Just like the regular flowers, he takes orders for exotic flowers too, though it’ll be a lot more costly.
You first meet him when you tag along with your friends who were curious about his flower shop. You and your friends were like all his other customers who simply admired his exotic flowers.
That's until you start asking him about the meanings behind his exotic flowers.
You start frequently coming back to get his flowers for others. Even when you don’t order exotic flowers, you choose to buy flowers and order bouquets from his shop.
One day, when you drop by to collect your flowers, he asks you for your opinions on the ideas he has. He takes note of your creative inputs very often too. Then it happened again another time you came in to collect another order. Again and again (and he enjoys it, but he just doesn’t know it).
You even become friends with Sucrose and Timaeus. There are many times the four of you talk about growing and creating flowers. It influenced you to grow flowers and think about creating your own flowers (but you dismiss the idea because you don’t know anything about alchemy).
Soon, he starts to wonder if you have a partner and he’s oddly relieved when you say you don’t.
He puts all his ideas in a sketchbook. In that same sketchbook, he starts to include sketches of you.
That amazement on your face when you collected your very first order from him? He captures as many details of that look until he gets it down on paper. That day you came in formal wear? Sketched and refined.
He only realises he’s fallen for you when he’s running his fingers over his inked sketches of you. When he looks carefully at the flowers he’s growing, there’s always some part of you in it, whether or not you’ve contributed some ideas.
He begins to relish in the brief touches of your hands when he passes you the bouquets you’re buying. And he wonders when you’re coming back.
He always opens his shop a little earlier and closes his shop a little later than the stated time, because maybe you’ll drop by or walk past his shop? (You do a few times, but it's 'only' a few times for him :/).
There’s once he let himself lay his head on the counter and watch his glass door, hoping you’ll walk in.
When he’s not looking and the doorbell rings, he deflates a little when someone else other than you walks in.
You always come in to order flowers for the people you care about, and he realises that you probably don’t get a flower of your own. He starts to think about a flower that could represent.
The orders from customers don’t baffle him much. But your flower stresses the heck out of him because he wants to create a flower that embodies you and one that you’ll love.
After a few months, he finally creates the flower for you.
On a day when you come in to collect an order, he places his sketchbook at the counter, a single stalk of the flower atop of it. When the collection time for you to come nears, he heads to the back of the shop where customers are denied access.
You call for his name and for the first time, hearing his name falling from your mouth has never been so nerve-racking.
When he doesn’t respond, you first admire the flower. It’s one you’ve never seen before and you make a mental note to ask him about it.
You then eye his sketchbook and think about flipping through it. You’ve only had glimpses of his sketchbook but you wanted to see all that goes on his head. Looking around and without a trace of Albedo, you start flipping through his sketchbook.
Needless to say, your face got very red. You put it down and Albedo walks out from the back of the store (where he was hiding).
With a smug grin on his face, he teases you, “I didn’t know you were the kind to look through others things.”
You cover your face with both your hands. He gently wraps his hands around your wrist and guides your hand away from your face. Even with all that smugness, he can’t hide the red tips of his ears after all.
“What do you say about running the shop together?”
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ajaxeology · 2 years
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Rent-A-Boyfriend
Summary: There’s a lot of talk about the boyfriend rental services lately. Since the agencies are very strict with the things you can do with your rental boyfriends, you decided that there’s no harm trying it. You’re not supposed to fall in love with them, but you do anyway.
I suggest yall listen to this or sth while you're listening
Word Count: about 0.3k-0.5k for each character
Pairing(s): Thoma, Zhongli, Childe x gn!reader (separate)
Genre: fluff
c/w: Usage of pet name once in Childe's, not thoroughly checked so not of the standard of writing I usually do if I had any 🤪 , probably self-indulgent (Also, in case you're worried, I promise this is sfw. 200% sfw I assure you, you'll get it when you read it).
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Thoma meets you at a popular cafe in the city area. Since you’ve already paid him using cashless payment, he doesn’t ask you for the payment. As usual, he runs through the date plan you’ve sent to him for that day. Though, you notice he’s ordered a souffle other than the drinks for the both of you.
You ask him what the special occasion is and he gets slightly panicky. “Huh? Uh… I thought I just wanted to share it with you… I come here often and I think it tastes great! Yeah!”
You narrow his eyes at him but you don’t probe further. You like Thoma and seeing him fumble over his words make you hopeful but… He’s probably too professional to break any rules. Including the one you’ve broken. Maybe he’s just secretly nervous on all these dates and just needed to get his act together for the new things he’s trying.
Both of you eat a few bites of souffle. Then, Thoma puts his fork with a piece of the souffle out towards you. He playfully raises his eyebrows and moves the bit of souffle closer to your lips.
You look away before opening your mouth for him to feed the souffle to you. He chuckles and red blooms on your face like the sakura trees outside.
The flowers fall throughout the day and you admire the skyline adorned with the falling sakura. A whole sakura flower falls on your hair and Thoma picks it out of your hair. He tucks it behind your hair, the touch of his fingers ghosting the shell of your ear. He eagerly suggests for both of you to take a photo.
A part of you is annoyed at how smooth this man is and how he does it to all his other clients. But you can’t help but indulge in that fleeting moment.
Before you leave, you smile at him as you always do. When you turn to enter the train station, he grabs your wrist.
“I know I’ve already accepted the payment for today but… Please go out with me and let me pay you back a hundred times more?”
You nod and he lets out a long sigh of relief. You laugh at how he’s dropped his confident facade and just seems to be a tangle of nerves at that moment.
He’s not as professional as you thought, huh?
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Zhongli meets you at a quaint cafe in the outskirts of the city. He usually meets you at the cafe first to collect the payment. You have no idea how he’s learnt to be thick-skinned because he just asks for it without beating the bush. You find out he’s VERY strapped for cash and it gets endearing when he rambles talks about his lack of Mora. Today, you’re about to pull out some cash from your wallet when he stops you.
“Hold on to the cash today. Let’s go.”
He doesn’t let you ask any further when he takes your hand in his. When you step out of the cafe, he asks, “Pardon me for doing this, especially when you’ve already planned something. May I bring you around for the date today?”
You nod, secretly worried that he thinks your date plans to be boring. Your date plans have been getting sloppier as of late but you just want to see him. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You can never get tired of the way
He brings you to the less-known, nonetheless beautiful, places in the city.
There’s the tranquil park near the outskirts of the city, where he tells you about its history he’s interested in.
There’s a row of shophouses that hasn’t been touched by the modernity of the city, where he tells you of the good photo spots. You take a few photos. Some by yourself, some with the two of you holding hands.
There’s a spot near a serene neighbourhood that overlooks the city, where he shows you a picturesque view of the setting sun straight out from a painting.
“These are all my favourite places and I wanted to share them with you.”
You start blushing and get fuzzy inside until you remember he’s your rental boyfriend. There’s a nagging feeling he’s probably done this with a lot of other people who rented him for his services.
You sigh and decide to end the date there. You take out your wallet again, about to pull out a wad of cash.
Still looking into the distance, with the glow of the sun’s rays highlighting the curve of his jaw, Zhongli asks, “How about going out with me? I’ll cancel all my future bookings.”
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Childe meets you at the train station nearest to your home. He would meet you at your doorstep, but his agency doesn’t allow rental boyfriends to have information on clients addresses. He takes the train with you to the nearest arcade and tells you that he’ll beat your high score you made at one of the machines.
As he gets all pumped up about beating you, you recall the first time you rented him and brought him to an arcade. His fingers clumsily stabbed the buttons which ended up getting the both of you kicked out because he almost destroyed the machine.
In the next date, you know he’s done his research and practice, showing a lot of familiarity even with the machines you don’t commonly play. You think it’s endearing that he puts in so much effort for his job, but you remind yourself he probably does this for everyone else that pays him. You found out this guy is rich, so you’re pretty baffled on why he’s doing this job. When you ask him, he says he’s just doing it for fun in his spare time and that he wants to make people happy.
Now, he’s an expert. But you always tell him he’s far from beating you.
That day, a new machine arrives in the arcade and Childe familiarises himself with how the game works quicker than you. When he sees you having some trouble, he shoots you a smug grin. But he comes up behind you right after that, his hand on yours to guide you with the controls. You are overly-conscious of how his body hovers over yours. The freezing cold arcade has gotten fairly hot for once.
At your usual games, he throws mock tantrums as if he’s a kid and refuses to give up until he beats you. You have to drag him out of the arcade before he spends too much money there. As much as he’s a rich guy, you’d feel irresponsible letting him spiral down the rabbit hole of arcade games. Sometimes you wonder why you’ve fallen for him, but he’s just charming that way.
But most of your dates have been to the arcade, he’s probably going to fall for someone classier and people who ask him to go on fancy dates.
He pays for dinner, again. With rental boyfriends, usually the client pays during dates. You think he’s going to run out of Mora and you hope for him to find someone who’ll watch out for him (you. But you think you’re a joke because he’ll probably like someone better who doesn’t argue with him when he pays too. Spoiler alert no!!)
You see your bus coming, so you take out your wallet to make payment for the date. He commonly forgets to collect money (because he didn’t sign up to do this for money in the first place), so you’re the one who remembers to pay him. You hope people are decent enough not to take advantage of this.
He pushes your hand back to you and passes you a slip of paper.
“Here’s my number, since we’ve just been talking through the rental application. Oh, and stop calling me Childe or Tartaglia. I go by Ajax for people I care about.”
He winks at you.
Your bewilderment shows all over your face and he continues.
“I’ve cancelled all my bookings and deleted the application. If you're good with having me, I’m dating you now, sweetheart.”
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a/n: this was inspired by rent-a-girlfriend. I don't really like the show but the premise was interesting. I may not finish watching it so I don't know how the anime executed the ending but here's how I think the boys would have done the confession. Figure-drawing fried my brain so I thought whatever and just wrote this HAHA.
Taglist (open): @almondoufu @ohmykazuha @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @icecappa @abyssheart @tsubaki3192 @geolatt3u @mikachuchu @kallmekoi @shxnosuke
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ajaxeology · 2 years
Note
Hi!! Congrats on 100 followers!!! <3
For the event “If I kiss you once, it’ll only make me want a 100 more” with Childe and fluff please? Thank you and once again congratulations!!
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One Hundred Kisses - Childe
Word Count: 1.9k
Genre: fluff, slight angst (seemingly unrequited love?) but happy end :) + fake dating
c/w: none
Thank you to my lovely nephew @solaaresque for proof-reading this for me <3
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“Childe, isn’t this too much?” You hiss by his ears, watching as he pays $200 for a pair of tickets.
“Well, I’d like it if we end this on a bang.” He takes your hands and you find your hands easing into his.
You make sure you memorise the way his hands as both of you walk through the gates. The sun hasn’t fully risen, but the image of the setting sun is already so vivid in your head. And the days after where your hand would stay empty without his.
“It didn’t have to be this… lavish. It’s not going to be believable to people if we break off after something like this, and I don’t even think Aether is following us?”
You sneak a glance over your shoulder. But with the crowds of people following behind you, it was as if you never checked.
“Don’t worry about it, [name]. Just take this as thanks and I’ll manage whatever comes after.”
He gives a reassuring smile for a second and in the next second, he cheers like a little kid, pointing at the roller coaster ride in the distance.
It takes all of you to remain indifferent in the face of his smile.
You were at your locker when someone swung an arm over your shoulder. “Hey, [name].”
You stiffened up. Childe was in the same classes as you, but beyond the occasional banter and waves in the corridor (that you’re pretty sure he does with everyone), you had no idea what warranted this overly-friendly gesture.
In a hushed voice and a tone of desperation, he pleaded, “Please, play along with me.”
He briefly glances to his left and you see a blond boy, Aether, frozen at the turning of the hallway. His expression shifted and he stomped off.
Childe’s arm still slung on your shoulders, you wiggled out of his hold. Without you asking, he explained that he had rejected Aether but he was annoyingly persistent. You thought it was odd because you knew Aether to be prim and proper, but you never knew him personally anyway. Not as personally as Childe.
“Alright, I’ll help you until he backs off. But first, I’m gonna draw some boundaries.”
“No kissing.”
“Of course I’m not going to kiss you!”
“Just in case! I’ll never know if you get driven into a corner and rob my first kiss.”
“And we only hold hands in school. Outside of school, no.”
“What? What if we see other people outside of school?”
“Then we’ll do it for a while until they get out of our radar.”
Both of you start with those, adding rules along the way.
(Of course, there is the unspoken never to fall in love with each other.)
You chide yourself internally for breaking the unspoken rule for the nth time. If you could, you would go back in time and prevent whatever that incident was that made you catch feelings for him.
But WHEN did you break the rule? Was it when he beat up that group of boys who were disturbing you at the park? Or was it when the two of you had a snowball fight in the light snow and you fell atop of him, your lips a few centimetres away from his? No, it was when he stayed up all night on the phone with you when you were upset, right?
“[name]? You look pretty lost in your world.”
Oh, those ocean blue eyes that steal the thunder of the vibrant whirl of colours in the amusement park.
“Oh, no nothing. I…” Your eyes dart around, in search of an excuse to pluck out of thin air.
“You can tell me you’re nervous to ride the roller coaster,” he says as he gestures towards the sharp dip in the tracks and pats his arm, “My arm’s here for you.”
“As if I need it.”
He banters with you often, but sometimes you can’t help seeing a flirty glint in his eye.
(Spoiler, both of you were terrified on the ride and clung to each other.)
He whips out his phone from his pocket and you suppress a frown. Throughout this whole fake relationship, he often takes his phone out and frantically sends messages to someone. You tell yourself he’s sick of pretending to be in a relationship with you and lamenting about it to a friend. Maybe Zhongli?
But a nagging voice at the back of your head tells you he’s talking to a person he actually likes.
You suggest for him to take a photo in the queue, so he would have something to post at the end of the day (and take his attention from his phone).
Both of you head to lunch after a few rides and you see the eateries flooded with people. The thought of having to fight for seats, queue and pay for an over-priced meal dampened your spirit.
Childe leads you to a bench and urges you to take a seat on the bench when you stand up long enough in confusion. He pulls out two boxes of homemade food from his bag and passes you a box.
“You made this for me?”
Expecting an “I made too much for myself so I thought I would prepare some for you using the leftovers”, you looked away to open the box and begin eating.
But he gives a short affirmation that hangs awkwardly in the air. The chatters of other visitors and the screams of children fill the silence between the two of you. You do nothing to fill it (neither does he) and you refuse to make eye contact with him until he takes his phone out again.
After hours of running around the park and basking in his laughter, you tug Childe towards the ice cream stand. Childe lists off your favourite flavours before you could take your order. He shoots you a satisfying smile when he sees your expression, knowing he got the mark. You realise you don’t remember his favourite flavours and you feel a pang of guilt (but not that it’ll matter).
A family of three comes up to him, seeking his help for directions. He pores over the map with them and offers to guide them to the attraction. As he walks off, the elderly ice-cream lady teases you, “Is that your boyfriend?”
Was he? Technically he is, but technically he wasn’t.
You blurt out a ‘no’. She sighs and continues as she passes you two cones, “Ah, that’s a pity… There’s that slight sparkle in his eyes when he looks at you.”
Your mind blanks out. You utter a thank you and quickly take your leave.
You start on your ice cream first, but do not pay attention to the taste with the what-ifs that run through your mind.
Not long later, Childe jogs back to you. He wraps a hand around yours to take a curious lick at the top scoop (and you lock your screams in your heart). As he takes the ice cream from you, his eyebrows perk up. He puts the ice cream out towards you, offering you a bite.
You remind yourself that all these were only for show and you unknowingly clench your jaw. Everything that you’ve done would just be poorly captured by a photo and reduced to a tool on social media. Even your family has been duped into thinking he was such a charming young man who was head over heels for you. It’s all just for show, so why did he want to make you so immersed in this performance of his too?
You shake your head and walk off without a word.
“Can I have a bite of your scoop?”
You shake your head, your eyes fixated on the path in front of you.
Seeing the orange hue starting to seep into the sky, you look at your watch. You were so much closer to the end of the day.
“[name], are you okay?”
You hate how childish you were acting and you mustered up a smile. For the first (and the last) time, you take Childe’s hand of your own will and lead him to the event area.
“Let’s go get a good spot for the fireworks.”
~
“Are you not going to take a photo?”
“No. Let’s just… keep this moment between the two of us and not turn it into something that corroborates this stupid act.”
“[Name], what’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird since we got the ice cream and you’ve been looking at your watch a lot. Are you unwell?”
You shake your head, keeping your eyes trained on the sky. You’re scared he will decipher your thoughts and true emotions from your face.
“Look at me.”
You don’t budge and a hint of desperation creeps into his voice.
“You’re holding my hand really tightly, I’m worried. Look at me, please?”
He places a finger on the opposite side of your jaw and tilts your head towards him. While no one takes notice of the two of you, heat rushes into your face when Childe does this.
“Archons, stop looking elsewhere. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m sorry, I-”
The fireworks go off and you take your eyes away from Childe for a brief moment. When you turn back, you find him looking intently at you.
It could be the reflection from the fireworks, but you think you see sparks flicker in his eyes. The ice cream lady lied, it wasn’t just a slight sparkle. The words fall out of your mouth before you can catch yourself, “I want you to kiss me.”
You clamp your hand over your mouth and turn away from him. Your entire body screams at you to run and you do. You will never to look him in the eye ever again. Oh, he must be so horrified.
But a part of you wished you stood your ground and faced him, for him to reject you like how he rejected Aether. Then you’ll move on.
You only run a short distance before you stop. You do want him to reject you the way he rejected Aether, then you’ll move on like you planned.
Though there’s a whisper of hope in your mind that it was never one-sided.
Another wave of fireworks set off and you see a familiar silhouette on the ground, the running figure coming to a stop behind you.
You gather whatever dignity and courage you have left and abruptly turn to face him, to see the ocean blue eyes you adored so much look at you with raging desire.
“Are you sure? If I kiss you once, it’ll make me want a hundred more.”
Oh, so the sparks are real. You nod and he places his hands on your shoulder before closing in for a kiss. It was feather-light but you know he is reigning back his hunger, and you can’t help but think he’s liked you all this while (or possibly, even before that).
“I’ll give you a thousand more. On one condition.”
“Hm?”
“Date me. For real.”
“I’ve always wanted to.”
A thousand more is a deal sealed with one.
Extra:
“If you don’t mind me asking, who have you been texting?”
“Oh, jealous, are you?”
His tone of amusement still makes you jab his arm.
“It’s Aether.”
“What?”
He shows you his screen, which has Aether screeching in caps in a group chat with Zhongli. You can see his frustration at Childe for the terrible flirt he is for the past months, especially with Aether’s texts.
DID YOU REALLY JUST FALL ATOP OF HER AND PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED??
OH, got ballsy today trying to protect her from other guys? You should have just confessed, it’s PAINFUL watching you.
YOU CAN’T EVEN CALL THAT A PICK-UP LINE. PLEASE NEVER TRY THAT AGAIN.
FINALLY!! CHILDE!! THE ONE GOOD THING YOU DID!! I’M GLAD MY SACRIFICE PAID OFF
It hits you that the plan has always been to get you to fall for him and you had played right into their plans.
But you don’t wish otherwise.
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a/n: I know I said I'll only work on requests after my exams but I had an idea and I was too eager to start on it so I was doing it during my free time.
Hi anon! Thank you for requesting! I don't know if I've gotten kicked out of everyone's dashes but I hope you're seeing this and that you like this!
Taglist (open): @almondoufu @ohmykazuha @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @icecappa @abyssheart @tsubaki3192 @geolatt3u @mikachuchu @kallmekoi
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ajaxeology · 2 years
Note
Hi!
Can I request: Childe
Prompt: "It's not time for us to say Goodbye" Type: Hurt/Comfort.
Scenerio: Reader gets injured, maybe taking a hit meant for Childe? They're hurt pretty badly and he has to get them to a healer/doctor. As he's carrying them, the reader tries to tell him how they Love him so much, and getting ready to say goodbye but he won't let them. Happy Ending please? Thanks So Much!
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Goodbye - Childe
Word count: 1.0k
Genre: Hurt/comfort
c/w: blood, mentions of his real name
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No one will disagree that Childe is a bloodthirsty warrior who was meant to be dressed in blood. He belongs to the battlefield with a blood-streaked face. But your blood was one that he would not want even a pint of, yet it begins to taint his grey jacket from its tips.
Childe carefully moves your head from his forearm to the grass. He yanks his jacket off and drapes it over the wound on your torso to cover it from the rain.
With a weak voice, you quip, “Wow, you’re so hot, especially with that drenched hair of yours.”
The drizzle starts to become heavier. There’s a tinge of annoyance in his voice.
“Cut it out.”
He helps you up onto his back, afraid to move whenever you wince.
You force out a laugh, making jabs at him, “Seeing fear all over the eleventh harbinger’s face is a once in a lifetime sight to behold.”
“Archons, [name], enough!”
It’s a downpour at this point but the rain doesn’t hide the distress that his voice contains. You finally desert the forced smirk on your face.
You reach up to his face but his hand squeezes it before your fingertips touch his cheek. He lifts you onto his back. He doesn’t let go until you’re fully on his back.
He stands up and commits the mistake of looking back behind him. A patch of grass stained red where you lay churns his stomach and turns it upside down. He runs.
Mount Aocang is a distance from Liyue Harbour and while he’s usually cocky about his abilities, his confidence wavers. He doesn’t think he can make it there in time.
“Childe.”
With the blood that trickles down his bare back, he knows where this is going.
“Ajax.”
He bites the inside of his cheek.
“Don’t talk. It’ll worsen the injury.”
The water droplet pelts his eyes and he curses under his breath. You take a deep inhale. “Ajax, please don’t blame yourself. No one saw that coming.”
After a moment of silence, you say, “I love you and g-”
Your words reach him even before it falls off your lips. He snaps, voice a little loud, “Please. I don’t want to hear any of it.”
It startles you, but it doesn’t do much to drive away the temptation of closing your eyes. He apologises to you, choking on the last syllable of his ‘I’m sorry’.
The rhythmic movement of your breathing against his back becomes faint elicits anxiety from him.
“[name]?”
Taking his eyes off the path ahead, he turns to see your eyes flutter open. You give an almost inaudible hum. He almost slips on a puddle and he clenches his jaw.
He contemplates whether or not he should tell you all that he ever wanted to say to you. That he should have been warier of the hilichurls while he was clearing the camp. That he thought that he never deserved love, yet the blood on his hands never stopped you from giving him all that you could. That you are the brightest star he’s ever seen since he fell into the abyss.
But he bites back his words. Saying them would be equal to admitting defeat. If you couldn’t hear it in this life, then he’d carry the words to his next.
Instead, he repeats your name over and over with increasing loudness, even when you stop responding to him. He says it as an assurance. As a plea for help. As a prayer.
The torrential rain stops as his feet step on the wooden bridge into Liyue Harbour. You hear ragged breaths and desperate cries for help just before you black out.
You wake up to warm hands that envelope yours. Childe sleeps on the seat by the bedside. He wears a grey Liyue tangzhuang that fits him just right. Your eyes trail up his arm that was usually concealed, to his faintly red, tear-stained face.
Herbalist Gui walks into the room with some medicine and makes his way to your bedside. He keeps his voice hushed not to wake Childe as he gives you a rundown of your condition. You shoot glances at your boyfriend, expecting the light sleeper to awaken.
But Childe doesn’t and Herbalist Gui catches on your worry.
“He’s having a slight fever due to the rain and exhaustion. He sat outside the operating room and refused to budge when we told him to take a shower and get changed. When he comes to, please try to persuade him to take his meds and rest in the bed right beside yours.”
You nod and he leaves you to rest. As you are about to drift off to sleep, Childe stirs in the chair. You force your eyes to open and you squeeze his hand.
His grip on your hand loosens and one of them cups your cheek.
“Don’t you dare pull that shit ever again.”
You’re about to protest that he would protect you from danger any day, so he shouldn’t tell you not to. But he doesn’t let you continue.
“It’s not time for us to say goodbye,” he mumbles, “Not now. Not in the near future. Not in our next lifetimes.”
“Alright, there’ll never be goodbyes between us. Only ‘see you’s.”
Both of you don’t realise that he’s been holding his breath until he lets out a long exhale. You get him to eat his medication and persuade him to get some proper rest. But he ends up wrapping his arms around one of yours, whining about how he doesn't want to be separated.
You think about teasing him for the big baby he is, but you spare him due to your fatigue. Without trying to aggravate your wound, you shift your body to make space for him. You pat the small space you’ve made on the bed and he climbs onto it.
Both of you shift around a little more to make some space for each other on the tiny bed meant for one. You finally settle in his arms around your body. Not long later, his breathing steadies and you figure he’s finally gone into a deep sleep.
Resting your other arm on his side, you drift off to sleep. Bodies flushed against each other, the thought parting ways distances itself from your mind. Neither of you will admit it, but a ‘see you’ would hurt all the same too.
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a/n: to the anon who sent this, I'm sorry I took a while and I hope you'll see this :">
Taglist (open): @tiredzephh @rxspbrrry @almondoufu @bluexiao @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @chichikoi @bookuya @under-a-starry-night @mikachuchu @serenenation @shxnosuke
Please fill in the taglist form on my pinned post to join the taglist
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ajaxeology · 2 years
Note
Hi! This is for the 100 followers event :]
Can i request venti and kazuha with "i thought my crush on you was obvious"?
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Stargazing - Kazuha
Word Count: 0.8k
Genre: fluff
c/w: mention of drinking
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Beneath the canopy of stars in the sky, it’s just you and Kazuha. You and your best friend that you like. Both of you lie down on a blanket on the wooden boards of the Alcor. It is a chilly night, but the cold doesn’t help much with the heat that fills your face.
Kazuha asked you earlier in the day if you wanted to stargaze with him. You readily agree to it, but you only find out that he didn’t ask anyone else.
While your eyes are on the stars that are sprawled above you, your mind fixates on his presence right beside you. Your heart thumps hard in your ears and you only dare to steal side glances at him.
You forget you never get away scot-free from Kazuha’s keen senses. He catches your gaze and he laughs as your eyes dart away. You think he’s moved his attention back to the sky, but you look at him again to find his maple red eyes trained on you.
You try to keep a straight face, but your stammer betrays you, “Wha- What is it?”
He says, “I’ve gotten a little tired of looking at the stars in the sky. For a change, I’d just like a little time to gaze at the stars in your eyes too.”
You pretend to be unaffected but a part of you is so sure that even the night cannot conceal the hues of red that bloom on your face.
“There aren’t stars in my eyes.”
“There are. There is a whole galaxy in your eyes. You just don’t see it.”
You cover your face and turn to your side, away from him.
He puts a hand on your shoulders. You let out an unintentional squeak and hope he doesn’t hear it (he does).
“[name], please don’t look away. There’s no need to hide your beautiful face.”
Oh, he's going to be the death of you. You detest how such flattering words could easily fall out of his pretty lips and how you always have to convince yourself not to twist its interpretation. He has a way with his words and there are just matters he talks about a lot more easily than others.
Still looking away from him, you stand up. You mumble “Don’t say things like that. It makes me think you like me.”
“But I do like you.”
You think you’re going to fall into the sea until he gently wraps his fingers around your hands. Your head spins harder, but his hand anchors you.
“You finally looked at me, huh?”
He rubs circles on the hand that he’s holding and you think you’re going to fall overboard. His mind and soul is always elsewhere and never on the ship, so why would it be on you?
You realise you might have spoken your thoughts aloud as Kazuha’s expression changes. Kazuha stands up and he puts both your hands in his.
“[name], I’ve always liked you.”
Kazuha still sees the disbelief on your face and mused, “What more shall I do to persuade you? I thought my crush on you was obvious and I believe I made it very much so tonight.”
In hindsight, maybe he was obvious. He always chose to help you out of everyone on deck. He always chose to follow you whenever you had to go on land. While the memory was hazy, you think he helped you when you had a hangover. You remember him pushing aside the hair pricking your eyes then, his fingers gently grazing across your forehead.
You just refused to believe any of it. He seemed weighed down by his friend’s death such that you never thought he’d make space for you in his weary heart.
You say with a shaky breath, “Say it again.”
He lets go of one of your hands and circles his free arm around your waist to support your trembling body.
“I like you, [name].”
“I like you too, Kazuha.”
“I know. The wind, waves and the stars told me.”
You burst out laughing, but you stop immediately and listen out for the footsteps of other crew members. When you don’t hear anyone, you settle for a fit of giggles, right in his arms.
Kazuha asked in a tender voice, “May I call you ‘my love’?”
The stars illuminate his face and you see slight red at the tip of his ears. You can’t help but feel flustered too. You nod.
Both of you lay on the blanket again. You and your lover. Your head on his arms, your fingers intertwined with his. Kazuha gazes into your eyes and you ask him to tell you what else he sees.
You soon take your leave to rest in your cabin. The name reserved for you since long ago falls off his lips with ease, right into your ears as his breath tickles them.
“Have a wonderful evening, my love.”
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a/n: Sorry if this is a little on the shorter side, I still hope you'll enjoy it.
Thank you to my wonderful friend who brainrotted about this with me, ILYSM AAAAAA <3
Taglist (open): @almondoufu @ohmykazuha @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @icecappa @abyssheart @tsubaki3192 @geolatt3u @mikachuchu @kallmekoi @shxnosuke
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