Being Salty Bc Some People Get To Experience This In Real Life

I DON'T THINK FRIENDS KISS EACH OTHER LIKE THIS ( everything has changed after kazuha returned from that trip ).

— genre : fic ( wc ~ 1.2k ). fluff, hurt / comfort. — cw : kissing, flirting, inazuma archon quest, mentions of beidou & thoma. "everything has changed" by taylor & ed. for @starglitterz feb collab !! <3 — characters : kazuha x gn!reader

you step out onto the streets, and the harbour greets you.

ritou, the small island which holds so many memories bitter and sweet. it is the bittersweetness of life that holds people's souls together, you recall a mellow voice speak, held together with ties that cannot be broken even by time.

you smile fondly at the memory, remembering the last time you were in his presence. life was so different then — the vision hunt decree, the war, the rigid rules and suffocating environment that caused him to flee. a life full of doubt and fear and uncertainty, bold risks and willing sacrifices. you remember when this island was ridden with conflict, the environment heavy with revenge and spite. now, as the sun peeks through the dense morning cloud, crimson leaves stark against the sky that looks bluer than ever, it seems inazuma's port is readying itself for the arrival of those dearly missed.

it's funny, realising how much you've longed for those who have been gone. one free - spirited, poetic, thoughtful wanderer in particular. you miss his carefree laugh, his reassuring hands, his silent presence ever so comforting, even while engulfed within the tense air of a wartorn nation's dead of night.

"there it is! the alcor! i see it, i see it!" a high - pitched voice screams excitedly. the child tiptoes over the edge of a railing, hands waving around ecstatically — and sure enough, as you follow the approximate direction their chubby finger points in, you spot the characteristic majestic sails billowing in the ocean breeze. maybe it's a figment of your imagination, but you swear captain beidou's figure is visible too, watching the islands of inazuma approach slowly but surely in all her confident glory. and maybe, if you really squint hard enough, you can catch a glimpse of a wandering samurai perched upon the bird's nest, eyes desperately searching the harbour in anticipation for one special person in particular.

. . .

"kaedehara kazuha." you exhale slowly, ( eagerly ) drinking in the sight of him. he's finally here, standing on the same ground as you, breeze blowing his hair around his face like an angel's halo.

"hi, dove." kazuha is suddenly unsure of where to put his hands now that you're right in front of him. you still resemble your old self — still so, so captivating, he thinks, pretty features coated in joy.

you're home, you want to say, but you know home is not a place on earth according to the avid traveller. but your doubts are interrupted by his voice once more. "your eyes look like coming home," he replies breathlessly to your thoughts.

pure euphoria washes over you when kazuha opens his arms to hug you for the first time in much too long. the moment is short - lived, though, beidou's booming captain voice ringing throughout the harbour. "hey, you lazy sailors! get back here and help thoma and i unload all this stuff of yours!"

"so ... meet me here again tonight?" he asks, pushing stray ruffled strands out of your face.

your eyes crinkle into little happy crescent moons at his familiar request, mirroring the way his eyelashes flutter in content.

"after the moon rises above the silhouette of narukami shrine. as always, kazuha."

. . .

though under the familiar glow of the moonlit sky, seated below the very same branches that have existed for as long as you can remember, something feels different. ( not off, because that implies something is wrong — simply different to before, different to how you remembered it to be ).

"you came."

"of course i did."

a comfortable silence settles, save for the sound of chirping crickets rippling through the midnight air.

perhaps it's because he carries with him the scent of faraway worlds, ones that you haven't visited but long to travel to with him by your side. or maybe it's because his hair is longer than you remember, red tuft accentuated by the scarlet of autumn leaves. or it could be because he's older and grown and so are you, leaving it at a reason as simple as that.

innocent conversations and intertwined hands and a head upon his shoulder turn to doting stares and flickering light in both of your eyes. and before you know it, you realise things feel different because oh my god, i'm in love with —

"can i kiss you?" his voice is almost curious, breath ( and cheeks ) warm. and your answer is clear in the way you lean in to capture his lips with an insatiable, inexplicable desire in a silent confession of your ( clearly mutual ) recent epiphany.

but now he's exactly where he wants to be and kazuha is holding himself back, and so are you — because this is different, this isn't how things were back then. all you know is that those ruby eyes and dimples when he smiles rouse the butterflies in your stomach, the overwhelming feelings you've been holding back all these years, an irresistible magnetism you've been missing all this time.

lips part slowly, reluctantly, and he sighs before running a hand through his hair, eyes still locked onto yours. even if your mouths have let go for air, gazes definitely don't have the strength to tear themselves away from each other just yet.

you pause before asking the question that's on the forefront of your mind, begging to be spoken out loud. "are we friends, kazuha?"

"mhm, why do you ask? we've been friends for long enough now, no?" he grins lopsidedly, one hand still glued to your hip and the other gingerly brushing against your cheek. his tone is teasing but it conceals another emotion you can't pinpoint, something hidden away behind those smooth remarks.

"because ..." words trail off, and you know it's cheesy but you feel like you're getting lost in his eyes — a swirl of complex emotions and conflicting feelings and god, you can see how the turmoil in his heart mirrors yours right now, the hesitation and fear that what if something goes wrong, i don't want to lose you twice.

"because, kaedehara kazuha, i don't think friends kiss each other like this."

he laughs softly, eyes twinkling in amusement and adoration while he thumbs your frustrated tears ( that you didn't even realise began to spill ) away from your face. his touch is gentle and so is his gaze. it understands everything you want to say without any demands — because kazuha doesn't want to force the words that are still stuck in your throat, all the things you wish you could say but can't bring yourself to.

"mmm … then i don't mind being something other than that, lovely. i'll let you choose the label, sound good?" he whispers under his breath before pressing his lips against yours once again. "i won't mind whatever you want us to be, so don't stress yourself out about it, yeah? as long as i'm allowed to know you better, then whatever we're called … whatever name we're given … it all doesn't really matter much to me." kazuha smiles a delicate smile before continuing shyly. "but ... if i were to have a choice, i just want you to know that i'd love to make you mine."

— taglist ( open ) : @xienn @chichikoi @yinyinggie @favonius-captain @dawndelion-winery

---

A collab done on Instagram! Line and colours are by me

---

Hello! If your ask box isn't open, please ignore this I couldn't find anything that said if It is or not, but can I request Xiao, Gorou, Kazuha, Venti, and Aether if you write for him, with a fem reader who is very self conscious and their weight, having big breasts and stretch marks ? You don't have to add all of it or just whatever you'd like, I'm feeling very insecure rn and I love your work so I thought I'd send in a request.

Anyways I hope you're having a wonderful Day/Night and stay hydrated and healthy <3

All my love, Rose 🌹

#you are beautiful

—where you’re self-conscious about your body

CHARACTERS. Gorou, Kazuha, Xiao

THEMES. hurt with comfort. with angst. with fluff.

WARNINGS. anxiety, being self-conscious (without any real specifications)

NOTES. this is quite late i know,,, my head has been aching since earlier and i couldn’t come up with anything for a long time. however after playing my xiao playlist in the background the words just came pouring in. i hope you guys like this! this is one of the most emotional stuff i’ve written here so pls be careful! also, i only put 3 characters because i wanted to get this out immediately and since it’s also in my rules,, no matter how much i wanna write more. also, i hope this would be able to help somehow, rose! thank you sm for requesting<33

DO YOU LIKE MY CONTENT? SEND A TIP HERE!

GOROU knows that something is wrong but he couldn’t seem to figure out what it is. You pull away whenever he tries to embrace you; avoid whenever he tries to reach out for your waist; and above all, he misses you and your touch.

He’s a straightforward man, and he wants to get to the middle of the situation before it gets worse, thus it wasn’t long before he was pulling you aside privately and asking you directly how you were.

“Is there something wrong, honey? You’ve been acting… odd lately. I’m here if you want to talk to me.”

He didn’t know what to expect, but he softened up when you finally told him about the thoughts that ran through your head lately, the shadows that creeped your mind and pushed him away at the same time.

Without a moment to lose, he slips his hands on your waist, gently pulling you close and carefully peppering your face with gentle kisses. Unlike any other time, he was slow, letting you relish on how his lips press on your cheeks, temples, the bridge of your nose, the corners of your eyes, and even on your jaw. Unraveled, you were, but all was silent in this very moment, with him helping you learn how to slowly love yourself [again].

“It must have been tough on you, huh? I apologize for only noticing this now, my love. You are worth more than just your outside appearance, but if I were asked, you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my entire life. You deserve more recognition than you think.”

KAZUHA notices how distant you have been these past few days. He watches and continues to observe you to see what seems to be the problem. The way you crossed your arms, look away when he’s professing his love for you, and even avoids his kisses. He can still kiss you, but whenever he tries to pull you deeper, you push him away.

He respects you, he does, but something doesn’t feel right.

For one last time, he whispers in your ear, “My dove, the love of my life, have I told you how much I love you today?”

The words lingered in your brain far longer than it should and sooner, you broke and gave him the answers to his questions—the worries that filled your mind these past few days and prevented you from accepting any kind of affection that he had always given.

With a gentle kiss on your nose, he then leans his forehead on yours, “Your beauty encompasses any other I’ve ever seen my entire life, no matter what you or the others say, this fact remains in my mind, and I wouldn’t mind having to remind you that everyday and every moment of our lives.”

XIAO, above everyone else, is the most concerned. Not only was he confused as to what seems to be the problem, but he also doesn’t know how to address it without having to look insensitive of your mortal feelings. He’s not like you, and that was exactly what he feared of—to hurt you without meaning to; inside and out.

He wanted to reach out, wanted to hold you and be there for you, but what if he was the problem? What if he’s the reason why you’re feeling this way?

Yet, he couldn’t just give up on you like that. He is a weapon, he cannot desert you just like that.

So he decides to confront you about it, standing face to face under the moonlight on the balcony of Wangshu Inn. He prepares himself for the onslaught of the battlefield, but he could have never expected the sharpness of the sword that you had been fighting with all this time, all alone.

He holds your weary and tired body, letting all the cries of your heart and soul about your insecurities fall onto the wind and out into the open. He is not human, he cannot comfort you the way humans could, but he is your weapon. He doesn’t like seeing you this way. If he had to defeat even the negative thoughts in your mind, he would. For you.

He held the back of your head, a sign of reassurance, maybe? Or was it a way to ridicule the voices that pull you into the darkness?

“Foolish human, you are more beautiful than how you think you are. What you see on the outside is not the only basis for such things. How else do you think you’ve tamed even an Adepti like me?”

TAGLIST (pls send an ask to be added)

@softlybeloved @rim0na @icecappa @simplyxkashi @scaraslover @beastielevi @cursedraiden @thesatanofpizza @izayanna @stellumi @coco-goat-milk @nonniechan

---

𝐛𝐧𝐡𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 ˚⁎⁺˳ . ⊹

katsuki bakugo, shoto todoroki, izuku midoriya, & hitoshi shinsou x gn!reader a/n: a late happy valentines day ! a new format that has absolutely no consistency at all so enjoy <33

◞♡° KATSUKI BAKUGO ; the one who always shows up in your morning run to the coffee shop he’s caught your eye the first time you came in. its a smaller coffee shop and you’ve been coming here for years, seeing the variety of people come in and out on their morning coffee runs. but he’s stayed. every morning, 7am on the dot, hes in line, getting his daily caffeine. sometimes you come before him, sometimes you come after him, but at some point hes become a part of your daily morning ritual. seeing his spiky ash blond hair, and tall build at the till ordering his hazelnut latte with no whipped cream (you don’t mean to eavesdrop, he just speaks very loudly) has become something you’re looking forward to, a question in your mind as you make your way to the little shop. you’ve built a relationship on passing glances, and fleeting meeting of eyes. maybe one day you’ll build up the courage to say hello, but for now you were content with the slight squeeze in your heart every time you see his bulking frame, and the pause in your breath every time you catch him looking at your way.

◞♡° SHOTO TODOROKI ; the one who’s browsing for books in the same section your fingers brush the spines of the books on the shelf, your head tilted to the side to read all their names and the authors who write them. finally picking out a book, you pluck it out from its space, and flip it over to read the blurb. unsatisfied, you reach to put it back, and you notice a boy, about a metre away looking browsing along the shelves. he’s probably the prettiest person you’ve seen in your life, and you couldn’t help but stare. the boy notices, and looked over at you, and you swear you’ve never moved faster, your head whipping back to look at the various books in front of you. you pick a random book and squeeze it in your hands, your cheeks aflame as you open it up, attempting to busy yourself with the much too pretty stranger standing next to you. your eyes saw words, but you really couldn’t read anything, mind buzzing and skin prickling at the proximity of the stranger. and it didn’t help every time your eyes flitted upwards, you could see his fleeting glances your way.

◞♡° IZUKU MIDORIYA ; the one who sits down next to you on the bus the gentle rumbling of the large bus soothed your eyes closed, and your head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. all you could really think about was the feeling of finally hitting your head on your fluffy pillow, but it doesn’t seem your eyelids could wait that long. just a moment into your mind buzzing to a quiet, you feel a shuffling next to you, and the thump of a bag next to your feet. you peel open your eyes to see who’s taken up the space next to you, and it was a miracle you didn’t splutter out loud. “hey, sorry i didn’t mean to wake you.” he whispers in apology, eyebrows furrowed in worry. you blink hard, trying to process exactly how handsome this green haired man is.

“no no no, don’t worry about it all.” you breathe, entranced by his jade green eyes and the flush of freckles on his cheeks.

“good.” he smiles, the corner of his eyes crinkling and you didn’t think that your heart could go at a faster rate. you clutch the bag in your lap and look straight ahead, praying your flushed face didn’t betray you. the lights of the city at night sped past you, and you were acutely aware of every movement around you, whether it be the drum of his fingers on his knees, or the slight brush of his large shoulders against your hunched ones. as he takes his leave, hoisting his bag onto his back, he wishes you a good night, and you watch him leave the bus with wonder in your eyes, and parted lips.

◞♡° HITOSHI SHINSOU ; the one in the airport you first notice him in line to immigration. tall and perfectly mussed purple hair, and he’s just somehow commanded your attention, even from across the hall. in fact he was three lines away from you. so you just looked at him, appreciated him, and went on with your day.

the second time you see him is walking towards your gate. The area was sparse of people, with a family of four in the corner and a couple walking along past you. you look up from your phone and notice him walking just in front of you, pulling along his suitcase behind him. your eyebrows shoot up for a moment, and you let out a small breath of laughter to yourself, wondering how rare this must be. he then turns a corner into the bathroom, and you continue along, wondering how far away your gate must be.

the third time you see him is in the coffee shop right across from your gate, as your waiting with your receipt for your name to be called to pick your drink up. tapping your foot, you look at the menu up behind the counter again, taking a more in depth look at the various coffees as you wait. in the corner of your eyes you spot a familiar head of fluffy violet hair, and your mouth visibly dropped open as you fully register who was ordering a coffee. it was the first time you saw him up close, and you were pretty sure your heart stopped for a solid moment. the tired stranger turns around and your eyes immediately dart to the sign behind him, in some sort of attempt to not look like a complete idiot. he saunters over to you (no, not to you idiot he’s just waiting for his coffee as well) and you freeze, heart pumping so hard you were scared it would break through your ribcage and tear through your skin. he stations himself next to you, and pulls out his phone to scroll through. it was kind of insulting to see him so relaxed and for you to feel like you were on the verge of a seizure. but what you didn't know was that he was squeezing his phone tight, peeking up at you through his lashes, waiting for your name to be called just so he could know what it was.

---

“ first i love you ” [ bnha ]

→ pairing: separate, bakugou, deku, kirishima, shouto, denki, hawks, dabi x gn!reader

→ a/n: gn!reader, no real rhyme or reason to who says it first- i just didn't wanna get too repetitive so some of the characters say it first and in some you say it first! just kinda depended. these kinda suck :/ been in a slump.

— DABI:

touya thought you were asleep or he wouldn't have admitted the words for months- even if he knew they were true. he's always been more talkative when tired, tucking his face into your neck and mumbling his affections into the skin. telling you that he missed you and that you weren't allowed to leave. but he hadn't crossed that line, tiptoeing around the words. he thought you had fallen asleep hours ago, nestled between you and the couch with your breath against his temple. he's so warm and content his thoughts just... pour out, "i love you." tucks himself further into you when he feels your lips on his forehead, echoing the words.

— HAWKS:

keigo said it accidentally but not without thought. the words had been rattling around in his mind for months, sitting heavy on his tongue. you were sitting on his bathroom floor, one wing folded in your lap and the other tucked away. he was so consumed by you, the feeling of your fingers picking through his feathers- delicate and oil-slicked- it just happened. you helping him preen wasn't rare, but it always took so long- so much effort- and you never complained. he cups your face in his hands, eyes warm pools of honey, and presses a soft kiss to your lips, "thank you." his forehead knocks against yours, nose dragging against your cheek, "i love you."

— BAKUGOU:

katsuki hadn't expected it. he hadn't been doing anything special- he had heated your dinner for you and brought you painkillers for a headache. but when he entered the room, you'd smiled at him, "thank you kats, I love you." his mind runs away from him, words tangling together and weighing on his tongue- burning a hole through his teeth. he wanted to say something, anything, instead he stared at you- watching the part of your mouth around the words. he wanted to say something profound, wax poetic about how much you meant to him- how much you'd always meant to him. instead, he huffed and his shoulders dropped, "better fucking like it." his chest felt tight, lessened when your thumbs graze his cheekbone, "I love you, too."

— MIDORIYA:

izuku had it all planned- plotted out to go perfectly, to show you just how much you meant to him. he'd had the date in his calendar for a month, a date he spent a week getting right and a little monologue he'd written and rewritten on index cards. he wanted it to be perfect, memorable, something you'd gush about to your friends- which it was, just not how he thought it would be. it rained. such a small thing which disrupted his entire day. he saw you, drenched from the rain and beaming at the sky with your head tilted back, he blanked. you just looked so pretty he said it without thinking, "I love you."

— KIRISHIMA:

eijirou always knew he loved you- well before he asked you out- it was just a matter of finding a time to tell you. he puts so much thought into it, plans a date and builds a bouquet with all your favourite flowers. spends half the date swiping his hands on his thighs and rehearsing what he wants to say- how he wants to tell you. you beat him to it, though, running your fingers through his hair under a thick quilt and staring up at the heart patterned roof of your fort. "I love you, Eij." he can't even be mad as he nuzzles further into your stomach, pressing a kiss to any skin he can reach and returning the words.

— TODOROKI:

shouto says it too quickly. sitting across from you on your third date- it slips out. it wasn't anything big, the date, dinner and a movie marathon. but you'd leaned over to wipe his upper lip, one hand curled around his jaw to tip his head back and the other thumb softly swiping at his lip. it made him feel all warm, cared for. he felt that thing- that tightness and heat- fill his chest at the side of your tongue between your teeth, peeking through your soft little concentrated smile, "I love you." he doesn't understand why you get so flustered but is dazed when you cup his jaw and return the affection.

— KAMINARI:

denki hadn't really expected you to say it- standing slack-jawed and doey eyed. he knew that he meant a lot to you, that you went out of your way to think about him, care for him- but loving him was something else. something he hadn't thought about. he's nearly vibrating, shoving his face- large smile pressing into your skin- against your neck. hooks his fingers into the back of your shirt, dotting kisses over the length of your collar, "i love you too." bright eyes meet your own, "so much."

‧₊˚✩ taglist + masterlist ✩˚₊‧

🏷: @izukus-gf , @hirugummies , @uwuthatshit , @mxgenderbender , @akaakeijii , @violetdahlias , @myaaki , @dinodumbass , @rae-tenya , @sugarmaplewings-fics , @tipsyangels

---

may i request a spiderman!kazuha ?? like imagine him knocking on your window to steal u from ur bedroom oh my god.

SPIDERMAN KISSES. kaedehara kazuha

dating the crime fighting hero himself.

ft. kaedehara kazuha x genderneutral reader.

warnings : fluff, slight hurt/comfort, mentions of blood and bruises (not in detail), mentions of falling.

sticky note : SPIDERMAN KAZUHA I HOPE I DID HIM JUSTICE !!! cr to @kazewhara for the "i won't let you fall" part :] also warning this is extremely long,,, uve been warned !!

genshin impact taglist : @irethepotato @cxlrose @avienrose @sohyuki @tb3ih @rqkuya @datu-tadhana @dyedmomijis @dvlfyo @lynnforever @solaxena

pre-relationship.

you're kazuha's first everything. first friend, first crush, first heartbreak, everything. the first time he met you, you'd asked about what he was writing.

he was the new kid, quiet at the back of class, constantly dozing off or looking out the window.

so when you approached him first, he was honestly really surprised, and when you'd asked about his poetry and listened to his rambling, it honestly made his entire month :((

ever since you then, you've been attached by the hip. even at school, he's always been with you, whispering jokes in the middle of class and laughing as you attempt to hide from the teacher.

when he isn't at home, he's almost always at your house, at this point it's a second home to him.

he's practically your un-official roommate at this point. kazuha has to constantly move apartments, and jobs, so the only stability he has is you.

i think kazuha would be the first one to fall between the two of you. at first it's just a small crush, hopeless pining since the two of you were kids.

except everytime he makes an attempt to tell you, or even hint at it, it goes over your head.

you're so oblivious it PAINS him. you're literally cuddling in your bed and you STILL go "we're best friends!"

so for most of your friendship, he's quietly pining, having to stand by as you go on dates, as people ask you out, as you get into relationships! he supports you, even if it's not with him.

when kazuha first gets bitten, his first instinct is to call you and tell you everything. it's like the moment he gets home, he's already dialing your number to tell you about what a day he's had.

you're his best friend, he tells you literally everything. which is why it pains him so much having to keep his identity a secret.

it doesn't help that he SUCKS at keeping secrets. every time he lies, you always, ALWAYS know, it's honestly scary.

kazuha doesn't even know how he managed to keep it under wraps this whole time.

he hates lying to you. it puts a pit in his stomach whenever he does it, but he has to.

eventually, he just starts plain avoiding you because he's sure he wouldn't be able to look you in the eye without spilling everything.

he doesn't sit next to you at school, bee-lining straight to the restroom or to an empty classroom everytime you try to approach him.

he doesn't even reply to your texts anymore, despite you literally BRIBING him.

you: ill buy u,, lunch ,, for the month,, pls reply :(

you: did i do anything wrong? you need to tell me, kazuha.

not talking to you was the hardest thing he's had to do in his LIFE. kazuha has to constantly assure himself that you'll be better off without him, or that he's doing the right thing by protecting you.

i think the breaking point for him would be after one of his first, real battles, he's bruised and sure he has a bleeding nose, but the only thing he can think of is seeing you.

it's 2 am and before he can stop himself, he's already at your bedroom window, watching you work at your desk.

honestly, he wasn't even planning on knocking, kazuha just wanted to look at you for a moment before he had to go home.

but when you looked back at him, he JUMPED out of his skin, nearly falling off your fire escape.

your first instinct was to laugh, but it eventually grew into concern when he didn't reply, you opened your window to peer outside

at that point, kazuha's too deep in to just leave now, so when you offer him a hand, he takes in.

the second he's inside your room, he practically collapses into you. kazuha buries his face into your neck because oh my god he's in your room again and you're hugging him, he forgets he hasn't removed his mask.

"i love you, i love you so much [name.]"

"uhm—spiderman? im? flattered, but im already interested in someone??"

at first he's dejected, mumbling apologies for waking you up and bothering you, crying into the crook of your neck until it finally clicks.

spiderman?

OH SPIDERMAN!

"wait nono—not as spiderman! i meant—agh."

kazuha takes off his mask quickly, then panicks when he realizes what he just did and tried to put in back on and—

you'll have to hold him by his wrists to get him to calm down and not jump out your window.

"where were you?—i mean it wasn't my business but you just stopped talking to me and i was so worried?? and you're spiderman?? i thought maybe i said something?? or you'd gotten hurt and i didn't get to say i love you and—"

kazuha's barely listening when you make him sit down on your bed, gazing up at you with a sheepish smile as you scold him, bandaging his wounds.

when you're finally done with your rant, he's just staring at you. not even trying to hide it, just flat out staring with an unconscious smile on his face.

"you didn't get to say i love you?"

"what."

kazuha laughs, and you don't know how much you missed his laugh until you've heard it again.

he gets up, kissing your cheek before resting his chin on your shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief for the first time in a while.

"i love you. i love you, i love you—i love you so much."

he whispers, and you wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't so close to you ear, he said it under his breath, like you were the only person he'd ever want to tell.

during the relationship.

MY GOD HE'S SO ANNOYING

ever since you said you loved him back he's been quietly teasing you for it, as if he didn't confess first.

he's at your apartment more often that he is at his ACTUAL house that you're convinced he's a hermit.

kazuha is either home wayy before you are, or home really late at night.

you'd come home and he's already asleep in your bed, or writing at your desk and he's just ",,, welcome home :D ,, haha,," while you sigh.

or sometimes you come in and he's literally bleeding to death on your windowsill and his only excuse is "i didn't want to get blood on ur bed :("

he calls you his personal nurse whenever you patch him up, mumbling about his day or asking about yours.

i think despite everything, kazuha really doesn't know how he got someone like you.

sometimes, really late at night, he whispers poems and phrases that remind him of you, because despite everything, kazuha doesn't want to cry in front of you.

maybe sometimes he'll slip up and let a few tears shed, but he quickly wipes them and tries to change the topic or simply leave whenever it happens.

you'll have to assure him that he's safe with you, and you wouldn't think for him any differently.

pls do he'll cry but it's actually happy tears

everytime he knocks on your window, he's always EXTREMELY tired, hugging you and dragging you into bed, knocking out as soon as he's sure you're comfortable.

kazuha's always guilty that he has so much to juggle that he tries his best to give you little gifts or notes whenever he can so that you don't miss him when he's gone.

things like sticky notes on your laptop and notebooks, or love letters in between the pages of your textbook, or small bouquets of flowers with handwritten cards attached to them.

he signs them with a spider and a leaf and thinks he's being SOO sneaky acting like he's surprised you got any.

"kazuha, thank you for the flowers earlier."

"flowers???? :O !! ppffftt i didn't get you flowers,,,, you have a secret admirer!!"

but really the only secret admirer is him, constantly staring at you in class and stealing kisses in the hallways

after school kazuha likes taking you on small dates, things like study dates or simply just falling asleep together are his favorites.

sometimes he gets really jittery when he's in one place for too long, but he also hates leaving you so sometimes he lets you come with him to swing around the city!

it's something about feeling like you're flying, one with the wind. (hehe)

he's laughing the entire time as you clutch onto him. planting kisses on the top of your head when he can.

"we haven't even started yet—are you sure?"

has the biggest smile on his face when you agree, even if you can't see it from behind the mask. he's super giggly, partly because of his nerves and because he gets to show you something he enjoys.

although he teases you alot during, he's really attentive. constantly checking if you're okay or if he should stop on some person's roof for a breather.

he can't tell if you're screaming out of pure terror or because of the adrenaline, but he's sure to tighten his grip on your waist anyway.

"KAZU—spiderman if you drop me ill haunt you!! so bad!! >:(!!"

i swear you nearly screamed his full name to the entire city

"don't worry! i won't let you fall— ill always be there to catch you."

he giggles and his breath is hot against your skin, kazuha wants to tease you, but with the grip you have around his neck he can't bring himself to.

instead he just enjoys having you so close to him.

"open your eyes! it's beautiful here."

he whispers but honestly wouldn't hold it against you if your eyes stayed shut the entire time.

when you both finally get down, he gets super surprised if you ask to go again, the adrenaline making you bounce around the room.

you both end up going a few more times before he finally puts a stop to it, saying he's too sleepy to go back and you both have school in the morning.

also!! also also spiderman kisses!!! are his favorite!!

kazuha likes surprising you when he's about to leave for patrol by just randomly popping upside-down in front of you and letting you take his mask off

sometimes, he gets too embarrassed to ask for it, or he likes teasing you, but instead of asking or leaning in he just taps his lip until you get the idea.

but tell him he looks stupid upside down and he'll get grumpy and initiate it himself.

overall, spiderman! kazuha,, sigh,, what a guy ‹3,,,

---

The arnis stick I never got to use is sobbing-

Sticc ✨

If you’re wondering what those sticks are - they’re basically used in our Filipino martial art called Arnis!

I’ve been binge watching the 80s karate kid movies…

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓

## ft. akaashi keiji, kita shinsuke, suna rintaro, hajime iwaizumi

## a/n. i saw one angst where y/n talked too much and my heart broke sO NOW ITS TIME FOR COMFORT!! (if u know who is the op, pls send an ask to me so i can cred them for inspo!)

## warning(s). use of “princess”

[masterlist]

AKAASHI KEIJI is quite wary of details, as the meticulous person he is. it is no surprise that he was able to immediately pick up on your quiet demeanour. “what’s wrong, angel?” he cupped your face, smoothing his thumb along the ridge of your cheekbone. once akaashi noticed that there was something bothering you, he would never let it slip past so there was really no point in trying to diss him. the tender love that coated his words coaxed you to let yourself be vulnerable around him, and that it was okay to be vulnerable around him because akaashi would always try to understand. no matter what, he would always lend a listening ear to his angel whenever they need him. when he comforts you with a hug and reassuring words, you would smile against his chest because your keiji will always understand.

HAJIME IWAIZUMI felt a switch flip in him when he noticed how distant your eyes were. he hates that there was a reason that made your eyes furrow in frustration the entire the day and he hates that there was something hurting you so bad that you didn’t want to trouble anybody else. taking long strides towards you, he locked his strong arms around you, pulling you into his chest. “who hurt you?” his seriousness made a smile crack on your face and for a moment, your worries slipped to the back of your mind. you tried telling him that it is okay and that it is nothing much, it even went up to the point where you had to slap his back for him to let you go but he was unrelenting in his grasp. “i would go to the moon and back for you, princess. so please, just tell me what’s wrong, yeah?”

SUNA RINTARO stared at your back that was facing him. suna himself is a quiet person but he just finds it so worrying that the only two words you have uttered today was ‘yes’ and ‘no’. judging from your steady breathing, you were close to sleeping. his finger hesitantly reached out to your shoulder, tapping it lightly. instead of saying anything when you turned around, he leant forward, placing his forehead against yours. your faces were held so close, hot breaths mingling together, waiting for the other to speak. “you…you know, you can tell me anything right, y/n?” suna muttered against your lips and he felt the weight on his chest evaporate when you nodded slowly. chuckling, he lightly pressed a kiss against your lips. “alright, then let’s go to sleep and you can tell me whenever you want to hmm?”

KITA SHINSUKE would slide a bowl of fruits over to you, hauling a chair over to take his place by your side. without a word, he would just take your head in his hand, pulling it to his shoulder for you to rest your head on. it was a simple gesture but it told many words that kita wishes to tell you but won’t because he understands your space. it was telling you that everything will be okay and that he will be here whenever you need him. and when you breakdown, he just lets you speak because he rather you be vocal about your troubles than bottling it all up inside you.

---

back from the dead!

note from kin: the gif for this one’s probably my favourite one so far, but i just know that the quality is going to get nerfed because everyone’s so small

also, just in case it wasn’t obvious, the prompt here is that that you ‘died’ one way or another but then you come back because (plot twist) you didn’t actually die - though it’s a bit different in albedo’s case

fandom: genshin impact

character(s): gn! reader, diluc, kaeya, childe, zhongli, xiao, venti, albedo, a couple of other mentioned characters

pairing(s): diluc/reader, kaeya/reader, childe/reader, zhongli/reader, xiao/reader, venti/reader, albedo/reader

warning(s): death (obviously), blood/injury, implied suicidal thoughts

genre: angst

diluc:

diluc has many feelings about this situation, the main one being: why

why would you do this to him? do you enjoy torturing him? is that it?

no, that’s not fair... he knows you didn’t mean to make everyone think you’d up and died on them

but still. two weeks. two ENTIRE weeks he’d thought you were gone

it had been a simple trek to dragonspine, and you’d reassured him that you’d be fine without him, so he’d stayed behind to deal with business, while you put up a request for some volunteers from the adventurer’s guild to come with you

in the end, a team of five left mondstadt city. only four came back.

three days after you left, diluc opened the door of dawn winery to see those four ghostly, stricken faces staring back at him. not a word was said for a good minute, but in that moment, he already knew what news they were about to deliver

he stopped them before they could recount the details of your inability to outrun the avalanche and subsequent fall. his mind had already laid out every agonising moment for him, from your last thoughts to your last breath - did you think of him? did you call for him, hoping against all hope that he would save you? did you die waiting for a hero that never came?

the next day, he joined the volunteers who set out to recover your body. if any of them noticed the lonely figure trailing behind them, head lowered and dragging his feet as if the weight of the world had fallen on his shoulder, they didn’t say a word

he dug first with his weapon, igniting the metal with his pyro vision so that it cut through the snow easily, and when that became too heavy for his grief-exhausted arms to bear, he dropped it and dug with his hands instead, refusing to give up, even when the cold seeped through his gloves and bit into his hands until the skin began to crack and bleed

but, in the end, they could only bury an empty casket. despite all of his efforts, they couldn’t find your body.

he chooses a quiet place by the vineyards of dawn winery and marks the grave with a simple headstone, vowing that he’ll come by every day to polish it - even when he’s old and grey, and the flowers have stopped springing up in the grass

and, of course, THAT’S when you finally decide to show up

“what’s with the long face?”

there you stand, in the flesh, perfectly healthy if not a little malnourished, still dressed in the now rather tattered clothes that you set out in, and, most importantly, alive

he can hardly believe it. in fact, he doesn’t believe it for a good moment or two; he turns away, blinking hard as frustrated tears threaten to running down his face. surely he can’t be so grief-stricken that he’s started hallucinating?

but then you walk up to him and set a hand on his arm, a comforting and wonderfully solid hand, and the warmth in your voice as you ask him what’s wrong is too true to life, too inimitable to be an illusion. it’s you, and you’re alive!

he saves the questions for later and wastes no time in pulling you to himself, sinking to the ground as his legs finally give out beneath him. you wrap your arms around him, and he’s dimly aware of you speaking, but he’s so awash with his own relief and unadulterated joy that he can’t hear anything but the ecstatic thumping of his own heart

these two weeks without you have been absolute hell. he never wants to feel as he did again. he never wants to lose you again - he can’t lose you again

because this time, at least, you came back. if you hadn’t, and if in the future, you don’t… well, diluc doesn’t know what he’d become

for now, though, he holds you close. he’ll worry about it tomorrow - and tomorrow can wait. it owes him this much.

kaeya:

when you suddenly show up, dripping wet and looking remarkably like you’ve spending the past few days being pickled in brine, to your own graveside wake, kaeya is absolutely beside himself

he’d rather been under the impression that you were dead. deceased. completely gone from this mortal coil.

after all, who could survive being dragged into the waters of qingce by an oceanid? who could suddenly resurface perfectly intact after being trapped under the surface of the water for over four hours?

you, apparently. and kaeya isn’t sure whether he should be throwing himself at you in joy, weeping out of pure relief, or giving you the hardest punch he can for scaring him like that

five hours he’d waited by the lake’s edge, freezing paths over the dark water in hopes that he might catch sight of you in those depths if he went further out, wandering all the way around the lake’s border and then back again, hoping against all hope that you might have washed up on the shore

he knew, though, deep down, that there was no point. you were doomed as soon as he let you slip under the surface.

he’d stayed in the area for the next few days, always finding himself wandering back to the lake, no matter how much he tried to focus on exploring the new landscapes, hoping against all hope that he might see you again

but, of course, he didn’t, and so he returned to mondstadt with a piece of himself missing - a piece of himself that, though he denied it, died as soon as he watched you disappear into the water

no one was willing to dive into that lake to retrieve your body - if there was even a body to retrieve. kaeya tried to return to qingce to do it himself, but jean wouldn’t even let him out of the city.

“i can’t let you go,” she’d said impassively, steeling herself against kaeya’s pathetic, pleading gaze. “it’s suicide.”

kaeya had stared back at her, and his reaction would stay with her for the rest of her life.

“so what?”

in the end, kaeya hadn’t been allowed to journey back to qingce, and the funeral was held without a body

at which point you suddenly walked right up to the morose procession and enquired, loudly, as to whose funeral it was

the brief silence that follows is so palpable that you could probably smash it with a hammer

kaeya's completely frozen on the spot, mouth opening and closing soundlessly as your other friends converge on you, and you disappear under a multitude of tearful hugs for the next five minutes. he stays there, unmoving.

it’s only once the two of you are alone in that deathly-quiet graveyard that kaeya finally lets himself break down. his entire body is trembling as he sinks to his knees right there on the grass, hands reaching up and tangling in his hair as he attempts to come to terms with the tumultuous feelings threatening to overflow from inside him

you kneel in front of him, opening your arms silently, and he can only fall forward into your embrace, burying his face in your shoulder and unable to stifle a sob of pure relief that you’re here, you’re alive, he didn't fail you after all

he tries to apologise for not being able to stop you from going under in the first place, for not being able to save you, for not going back for you, but you refuse to let him apologise for something that wasn’t under his control. you just hug him tighter and promise in whisper that he did all he could, and that you’ll never leave him like that again

eventually, the two of you will have to separate, but right now kaeya can’t bring himself to let him go - not when, mere hours ago, he’d thought he’d never be able to hold you like this again

how much time do you pass like this? neither you nor kaeya know. only the gravestones surrounding you like stone sentinels do - and only they will ever know.

childe:

it’s something he’s heard stories about plenty of times: a lover goes out to war, or to call on a relative, or to sell vegetables at a market in the city, and never returns. but that’s all it’s been to him - a story. he’d always thought of it as something that happened to other people, never something that could happen to him

but it has, and now he thinks he understands why, even in old age, those people’s faces still seem haunted by that loss - indeed, the moment he found your abandoned sword half-buried on one of the beaches of guyun stone forest is one that’ll probably be burnt into his memory forever

a tiny part of him had still clung to the hope that you were alive out there somewhere, but it had already been days since you were first pronounced missing, and you’d never leave your weapon behind - after all, you were visionless. you had no way of defending yourself properly without it.

childe stayed on that beach for a long time. he still doesn’t know how long exactly, but it was long enough for the sun to dip beneath the horizon and for the waves to start lapping impatiently at his boots.

when he did leave, he took your sword with him. but he didn’t bury it just yet - because he refused to let go of that shred of hope

he employed himself for the next few days with looking for any sign of you - day and night, with barely any time to eat or sleep, chasing every lead he could find, no matter how small

but he found nothing, despite pulling out every single desperate tactic he could think of. he began to think that maybe he never would.

eventually, he set off for your favourite spot on mount tianheng, beneath a tree on one of the peaks, but he still couldn’t bring himself to bury your sword there

so, instead, he stabbed the blade into the ground, anchoring it firmly in the dirt - and, after a moment, stabbed one of his own arrows into the ground beside it. he told himself that this arrow would protect your sword as he should have protected you in the first place.

now, five days later, however, when he arrives at that spot to have a quiet moment to himself, the sword is gone. so is the arrow. all that remains of them are two neat little slots in the ground where they’d been stuck

his first thought is that they’ve been stolen, and he feels an immeasurable kind of rage begin to bubble at the pit of stomach - but then he hears a sharp little whizz, and the arrow he’d stuck beneath your sword comes flying out of nowhere and buries itself in the dirt by his feet.

he looks up, and there you are. sitting on a lower branch of the tree, sword at your hip where it always is, wearing that smile that he adores so much.

you hop down, and he stares at you in sheer shock for a moment. finally, he takes two, deliberate steps forward, and pulls you into a silent embrace.

there are no words, no tears, barely even a sound, but the way that his body trembles in your arms tells you all that you need to know.

a long while later, the two of you finally pull apart, and he sniffs bravely, then says with some of his usual bravado, “well, you have to tell me all about what happened now.”

and that’s the end of that - or so you think

for weeks afterwards, childe finds himself lying awake into the small hours of the morning, unable to go to sleep. he’s scared - no, terrified that, if he closes his eyes, you won’t be there when he opens them again

it’s almost funny, to be honest - first, you taught him love, and now you’ve taught him fear

but, in a way, he’s grateful that he’s learned to feel it - because, as long as this fear persists, he’ll be able to protect you with all he’s got.

zhongli:

it must have happened during osial’s attack, but he didn’t find out until an entire week after the fact

zhongli hadn’t dwelt on the incident for long, selfishly indulging in the freedom of a life free of an archon’s responsibilities, completely unaware of what had happened to you

he did of course wonder why you hadn’t come to see him, feeling almost a little hurt, but he reassured himself with the thought that you were probably busy helping out around the city - becuase, despite the traveller, adepti, and qixing’s best efforts, liyue harbour did sustain a fair bit of damage from the whole ordeal

but then he’d spotted a poster pinned up beside one asking after the traveller’s missing twin - a poster that, somehow, he’d completely missed for the past few days (or was he simply refusing to see it?)

your face smiles at him from the yellowing paper, and the single word stamped above your head seems to echo around him

how had he not realised that you were missing for an entire week? had he really been so idiotic as to think it wasn’t odd that he hadn’t seen you on the streets at all?

or did he realise the truth when you didn’t return to him as soon as the battle was over? was he simply refusing to accept it until this moment?

he doesn’t know. to be honest, he doesn’t care.

two days later, your posters start disappearing. no announcement comes, but the absence says two words loud and clear - ‘presumed dead’.

he finds it impossible to enjoy his freedom now, when every smiling face on liyue harbour reminds him of you in the most damning way possible

the reflection of his eyes in the tea in the bottom of his cup seems to warp into your own eyes, glaring back at him accusingly, asking, why did you let me die?

because - and this is the worst part of it all - zhongli only has himself to blame for all of this

none of this would have happened if he hadn’t made that deal with the fatui. osial only rose again because zhongli allowed those harbingers to do what they did.

he lingers for a long while over this, but in the end, there are only two things he can do. everything is over; he can either continue to regret, or move on.

he decides to light some incense for you, and sets out to buy some from a local merchant

and it’s there, as he attempts to make sense of the multitude of numbers being thrown at him, that he suddenly sees your face amidst the crowd milling around the harbour

that isn’t anything out of the ordinary anymore, but then he blinks and looks again, and you don’t swim out of view or fade away; you’re still very much there, wearing a faintly annoyed expression as the crowd around you continues to buffet you back and forth

zhongli makes a decision in a split second, abandoning the incense in the surprise merchant’s hands and charging after you, calling your name with barely-disguised desperation - and you barely have time to turn around before he’s crashing into you at such a speed that the two of you go toppling clean over

the people around scatter, some simply shaking their heads at the disturbance and others standing in shock at the sight of such a man behaving like this, but zhongli can’t be bothered to keep up his image at a moment like this

“you’re alive,” he whispers, indescribable joy rising in his chest when you laugh in reply. he didn’t think he’d hear that sound ever again.

the two of you must be a sight, tangled together and half-lying in the middle in th middle of the street. it’s the sort of behaviour that one would associate with lovesick teens, not the refined gentleman of a god that he is

then again, he can’t really help it. this is just the sort of thing you do to him - and he’s absolutely fine with it

xiao:

he should've known better than to let you see him in the first place, let alone get attached enough to keep allowing you to meet him over and over again

bad luck follows xiao around like a shadow, and it isn’t picky about who it affects

still, he did it anyway - he continued appearing to you whenever you asked him to

it was idiocy - though others might have called it love. for xiao, there isn’t really a difference - because only a fool would think they were deserving of love after committing the crimes that he had.

at first, you were never in danger when you called his name. he came anyway, of course - but then, one day, you were in danger, and he didn’t, not until it was already too late

the two of you hadn’t even been that far apart - he had perched atop one of the stone pillars in huaguang stone forest, and you’d been nearby on mount hulao. if only he’d responded as soon as you’d called, he would’ve gotten there on time.

but he was selfish, and chose to stay there on the pillar for a few moments longer, wanting just another minute to quiet contemplation before he joined you on the mountain

and, as the most damning torture of all, fate had you fall just as he landed on the mountain. he could only watch as you disappeared under the geovishap’s gargantuan claws

the minutes after that are unclear. all he remembered afterwards was the sure weight of his spear in his hands, the wind whipping against his face as he moved faster than he ever had before, the burn of tears in his eyes

xiao had thought that he’d long since lost the ability to cry. how cruel it was that this was how he learnt that he hadn’t.

when he became fully conscious of his surroundings again, the geovishap was stone dead, and you were nowhere to be seen.

still delirious (with grief or anger he didn’t know), xiao fled from the mountain, leaving behind the geovishap’s corpse, and a lump of amber that hadn't been there before

he didn’t know where he was going, only that he was running - and maybe, if he ran fast and hard enough, he’d be able to run straight out of his nightmare, and wake to find you alive on the other side

but, of course, he wasn’t dreaming, and he couldn’t wake up if he wasn’t asleep in the first place

which brings us to now. the last days since the incident have passed in a grey blur, and the fog is finally starting to lift enough from xiao’s mind for him to make a realisation

the amber on mount hulao - would it be too presumptuous to hope that his fellow adepti knew of his bond with you, and protected you where he couldn’t? he almost dares not to hope, but…

he moves faster than the wind itself, and he’s touching down at the spot before he’s even fully aware of it, the geovishap’s body has already melted away into the grass, leaving only the lump of amber that he’d somehow not taken account when he left all those days ago

breath held in anticipation, he raises his spear, and strikes the amber with the sharp edge of the blade. several shards splinter away; he spots something familiar within the orange resin

he works feverishly, and soon enough the last of the amber falls away, revealing you, in perfect health, and a little annoyed by the fact that he took this long to get you out

you can’t really stay mad at him for long, though, not with him looking at you like that, eyes wide and almost wondering

xiao surprises both you and himself by abruptly throwing his arms around you. he’s never initiated contact with you before, and you yourself have never gone beyond just patting his arm

it feels nice, he decides. he can only thank the universe - and his fellow adepti - for the fact that he’s able to lose himself in your embrace like this.

venti:

he heard the news one late afternoon, as he stood playing through his usual repertoire beneath the statue outside the cathedral

he’d picked up on your name amidst a conversation between two people passing by, and while his outward demeanour didn’t give anything away, he was listening intently almost immediately

“...don’t know what happened, but they found their boat by starsnatch cliff this morning. no body or anything, though.”

“talk about unlucky… they must have gotten caught in a storm or something.”

that was all venti managed hear before the two move out of earshot, but it was enough to shake him right to the core. his fingers stumbled on the strings of his lyre, so tense that he accidentally snapped a string

the crowd started murmuring amongst each other as he slowly lowered the instrument, face frozen and eyes wide. then he suddenly turned and sprinted in the direction of the knights of favonius’s headquarters, ignoring the loud complaints coming from his audience

he burst into the building without bothering to wait for approval from the guards outside, and they probably would have arrested him if lisa hadn’t walked out of the library at that moment and stopped them

venti practically dropped to her feet, begging her to tell him what happened - surely what he heard wasn’t true?

but lisa only shook her head and offered to bring venti to the site of your wrecked ship. she didn’t know either

the knights escorting the librarian to starsnatch cliff didn’t say anything about the bard following them, but the pitying looks they shot him said it all. they didn’t think there was a chance that you had survived.

in the end, venti couldn’t bring himself to face the wreckage - because he knew he would lose all hope if he did

he spends the next five days sitting at the precipice of starsnatch cliff, gazing out across the endless seas, desperately wishing that he might see the shape of a raft or a boat riding the distant waves. several times he falls asleep and dreams that your figure was sailing back to him from the fog, only to wake to see nothing but empty horizons again, and no amount of wind can swipe away his bitter tears then

then, on the evening of the fifth day, he suddenly sees something - a lone figure seemingly stumbling across the surface of the water itself, lurching every now and then

it’s been a long time since he’s used his powers like this, and his abilities have waned since the loss of his gnosis, but now he’s able to spur himself to his feet, gathering masses of winds beneath him, and he flies straight for the figure with wild abandon

and - joy of all joys - it’s you!

ice crackles from your feet with each, heaving step you take, and he realises that you’re clutching a blue-glowing stone in one hand

in that moment, venti forgets all enmity between him and tsaritsa, and thanks her with all his heart for granting you a vision

he swoops down and catches you in his arms, and the wind follows in his sheer joy, sending the two of you tumbling this way and that, before finally depositing you gently on the shore, mere metres away from your wrecked ship

venti doesn’t even speak for a good while, just clings to you desperately and refuses to let go for even a moment, and somehow that’s even worse than if he’d been in floods of tears instead

you just hold him in return, trying to catch your breath, and the two of you end up falling asleep right there and then, despite how uncomfortable it is there in the sand

venti’s been all cried-out for hours now, and your limbs are so heavy with fatigue that you can barely move, so there the two of you stay, huddled together like children

venti has already loved and lost once before, and that had been enough to think he would never love again. then you came along, and he loved, and lost again, but this time you came back to him, and for that he will always be endlessly grateful

albedo:

the two of you had been out on an impromptu resource-gathering expedition (read: secret date) on wuwang hill. it was your first time in liyue, so you were practically buzzing with excitement, and albedo felt more content than ever with watching your face light up at every new thing you saw

but the evening had quickly soured when the two of you came across a gang of treasure hoarders taunting an injured fox

albedo attempted to calm you down, wanting to deal with the situation as diplomatically as possible, but you’d been positively beside yourself, and flew forwards, aiming a punch at the leader of the group

somehow you managed to punch him hard enough to knock several teeth out of his mouth, and as he stumbled backwards with a yell of agony, the rest of the treasure hoarders turned on you as well

albedo couldn’t very well leave you to fight them off on your own (and, to be honest, he didn’t think very highly of the hoarders’ behaviour thus far), and so the two of you stood back to back, fending off all sorts of projectiles and punches being aimed at you

but neither of you were fighting to kill, only to defend and possibly incapacitate, so the things the two of you could do were limited. albedo imprisoned a decent number of them in geo-produced prisons, but they just kept coming - it was like two arrived to replace each one you knocked down

soon enough the two of you were cornered right on the edge of the hill, and, noting the dizzying fall behind, albedo turned to tell you that the two of you should retreat

everything that happened next seemed to be in slow motion. you turned to look at him, stance wavering for just the briefest of seconds - and a stray thrown blade struck you directly in the chest

in that moment, as you teetered on the edge, eyes wide and seemingly staring directly into his, everything around him seemed to drop into darkness

everything came to a standstill as you fell. the treasure hoarder that threw the blade stood there in shock, and as albedo stood there, frozen in horrified disbelief, his friends quickly seized him by the arm and ran for it

a wise choice - because, if they’d still been there when albedo suddenly came to, they probably wouldn’t have survived the encounter

instead, with no one around to take his anger out on, albedo could only hurry to find you down below on the rocks, using his geo vision to create steps along the steep cliff face

you aren’t breathing when he finally gets to you.

time seems to slow down. he sits there beside you for what feels like an eternity, until the sun has gone down and the blue sky is replaced with a carpet of darkness and stars

it’s beautiful, but he can’t bring himself to look at it. as far as he's concerned, the stars went out the moment he watched you fall, and he has no interest in looking at a dead sky

then, suddenly, he realises something. he doesn’t have medical training, now has he ever learnt to heal… but that doesn’t mean he can’t fix you in other ways

he knows that he doesn’t have the strength to carry you all the way to his laboratory in dragonspine, but he brings plenty of things everywhere with him - and there are plenty of other methods he can employ as well

taboo things, maybe, things that he never would have even thought to try on any other occasion - but he’s desperate, and there is no such thing as too far when it comes to you

he works with almost maniacal fervour, trying one thing after another and another, refusing to let himself rest for even a moment - because each passing minute marks even more distance between the two of you, and he cannot, will not let you drift out of his reach

hours later, the stars have disappeared again, and you open your eyes to see albedo gazing down at you with a faint smile.

---

lady ragnvindr and klees afternoon out

diluc ragnvindr x reader ft. klee | nothing but fluff | 2.8k +

rest.

your only job today was to rest or at least that was what your husband requested of you. after a few weeks of non stop commissions and helping out with the daily tasks that diluc normally swamps himself with, your body and mind were more than worn out and it didn’t take diluc long to notice or bring up his concern that you’ve been putting too much on your plate and ask that you take some time off to rest.

he found it impossible to tell you no when you had asked to start taking on some tasks around the winery shortly after your marriage and he doesn’t regret it one bit; how could he with such a hard working, admirable wife and partner? but that doesn’t stop him from worrying about you when you overwork yourself and seem to be more tired than he is these days. so today he offered to personally see to your tasks around the winery and bar and made you promise you wouldn’t take up any commissions, all he wanted was for you to rest.

you tried, you really did, but sitting around the winery with nothing to do started to drive you mad. you only lasted a good 2 hours after sleeping in before you found yourself slipping on your boots and starting to make your way to mondstadt. normally you’d be heading into town to help out at the angels share or take up a few commissions but you want to keep your promise to your husband. you have no intention of helping out at the tavern or stopping by the guild, instead you’ll stop by to see blanche and sarah to grab ingredients for a special surprise dinner for you and your love to share.

of course diluc would not consider spending all day in the kitchen preparing and cooking an extravagant meal as ‘resting’ but it also wasn’t work and that’s enough for you to justify it for today. besides, after a few extra hours of sleep you’re feeling much better than yesterday, like you really could go back to work or check off a commission or two without breaking a sweat but you shouldn’t, and to keep you honest in your promise not to work you leave your weapon at home and dress in something casual and comfortable instead of your work attire.

the sun is shining but a gentle cooling wind keeps it from being too hot and the breeze fills your nose with the scent of sweet grapes from the winery, slowly fading the farther you make it from home. your exposed skin soaks up the spring warmth and you’re a little thankful diluc didn’t take no for an answer when you protested that you were fine. if you hadn’t slowed down today how beautiful the day is might have passed you by without you even taking notice. it’s nice to walk at a leisurely pace and enjoy the quiet afternoon, your only wish now is that your beloved was here to enjoy it with you.

your admiration for the afternoon is cut off by a loud explosion coming from behind a thicket of trees not too far from the path. you’re only halfway to springvale but it’s too late to turn back to grab your weapon now. why didn’t you at least grab a small weapon?! you curse yourself thinking about the kunai you know is sitting in your night stand that could have found itself useful right about now. you might have just ignored the noise and moved on with your day, hilichurls are often around this area causing some trouble amongst themselves and that was reasonable enough to look the other way but when you hear the voice of a little girl you know you can’t just walk away, it’s your duty to check it out and help if someone is in need.

you move quietly, sneakily peaking through the trees to try to get a good look without alerting any kind of potential enemy of your presence. you can see the hilichurl camp in the distance, there are a few the explosion woke up that are wandering the outskirts of the camp curiously but the smoke is not coming in that direction and there are no enemies in the direction the gray cloud is coming from, though what- or more so who is beyond the smoke is not particularly harmless or defenseless.

“klee, what are you doing out here by yourself?” you ask, coming out from behind the trees. you kneel at her side, next to the big hole she dug, or maybe she blew up? you aren’t entirely sure.

“oh- hi!” she looks up at you and smiles big when she remembers who you are. just as quick as her greeting, she turns her attention back to what she was doing and puts a small chest into the ground and starts to push the loose dirt back where it came from..

from behind her she looks a little dirty but her movements are as free as they ever are, a good indication she’s not hurt. but that doesn’t stop you from asking. “are you okay? i heard an explosion a second ago, you didn’t get hurt did you?”

her head shoots up and she turns to you quickly, looking at you with worried, pleading eyes. “please don’t tell master jean! i didn’t hurt anyone or blow up anything but the ground! i promise!”

you can’t help but chuckle. “don’t worry about that, it’s our little secret as long as you’re alright.” as long as she’s not hurt you don’t see the harm in not informing jean. if kaeya can get away with it, so can you.

“i’m fine!” she reassures you and returns to her work, though this time it seems she’s taking the chest back out instead of burying it. “this is the place i test out my dried lizard tails,” she puts the chest in front of you and opens the lid to show you it’s contents. “did you want to see which ones i’ve got to explode?” her eyes gleam at the thought.

you instinctively check around you to ensure the near by hilichurls still haven’t noticed you, one has wandered close but as long as there’s nothing loud to draw it’s attention, you should be fine. “i don’t think so, it’s not very safe to do that here..” just as your eyes pan back to the little girl, she’s several feet away from you, outside the shelter of the trees mixing her explosive concoction “wait klee, don’t!”

your pleas fell on deaf ears and even if she had heard it, it was too late to stop the small fire she had already started that would set it all off. luckily the hilichurls have no sneaking skills when it comes to spotting humans so you don’t even need to look back to confirm your position is definitely blown but unlucky, their loudness easily alerts the others.

without wasting a moment, you run in klees direction and scoop her up in your arms, running back towards the dirt path that leads to springvale. you may be a little slower carrying the extra weight of klee but it was still faster than her little legs trying to outrun the monsters and keep up with you at the same time.

“wow, that was awesome!” she gleams in your arms as she stares behind you, watching the hilichurls follow you from their camp, the smoke from her latest bomb still rising in the air.

you let out a nervous chuckle, too focused on deciding which way to go to lose them quickly to tell klee that was in fact not awesome because you have no way of fending off the hilichurls. but if you found the right path, you could shake them off your tail, worst case they’d follow you all the way to springvale where the knights would deal with them.

you go from the path when you hear the big mitachurl heading your way and look back slightly to confirm how far it is from you. klee wiggles in your arms, reaching for her backpack to grab something out just as you spot a hill you know leads to a path close to where one of the knights is regularly posted.

stopping just at the edge of the slop to ensure it’s safety, you hear a clink on the ground and hear the small sparks of one of klees bombs.

“y/n let’s go! my bombs got this!” she says and doesn’t contain her excitement.

if the bomb didn’t get you first the mitachurl was sure to, you’ve got no choice but to jump.

“hold on tight klee!”

you aren’t sure what’s got you giggling like a child as your feet come to a stop at the bottom of the hill and your butt slides to the ground. was it klees laughing being contagious as she kicks her feet in your arms or how ridiculous you both look covered in dirt and soot from the bit of the bomb you weren’t able to avoid or perhaps the way her ridiculous bomb actually drove the hilichurls away? this was a lot more eventful than you had planned your day.

as both your laughs slow, you look down at her with a smile and ask for the second time today. “are you okay?”

“that was so fun! you got so messy!”

your laugh fills the air once again as you see how dirty her entire being is and how you’re sure you don’t look any better. “so did you.”

as much as she enjoyed your encounter with the hilichurls, the whole thing had tired little klee out and she fell fast asleep in your arms on the way back to mondstadt, her head resting on your shoulder as her small arms clung to your neck. you had to admit you were feeling just as tired as she was after that but you couldn’t stop and risk jean seeing either of you like this, you’d both be in trouble that not even diluc could talk you out of. all you needed was a good wipe down with a wet cloth, just enough to get klee mostly clean before you could leave the rest to kaeya.

slowly you made your way over the bridge before deciding it was best to enter from the side entrance closest to angels share, your next destination where your husband is bound to be. you were going to be in a little trouble with diluc when he sees you like this- not resting.

the knights manning the entrance don’t hide their curious and humored eyes when they spot you and you wave them off, watching as you quickly scurry off away from the gate and onto the next. you’re less likely to run into jean this way too, you could easily b-line it to the tavern and sneak in through the back with only a handful of eyes ever catching you and klee getting into trouble. but of course, the most important pair of eyes is one of the first to see you enter the city looking like hell.

diluc had happened to be outside the tavern checking over some wine barrels when your soot-covered figure entered his peripherals and he only had to look once to confirm, yes that was indeed his wife. his wife that should have been at home resting and more importantly archons- please don’t be hurt.

he’s by your side in an instant, his gloved hand gently pulling up your chin so your eyes meet. he might seem mad with his furrowed brows behind his bangs and deep frown on his face had it not been for the unsuppressed worry that lay behind his ruby orbs.

“i’m okay,” you assure him before he can say anything. you give him a reassuring smile, leaning into his touch as his fingers come to your cheek, his thumb attempting rubbing at the dirt off your face. his eyes only break from yours to look at the child in your arms. “we’re both okay, just dirty and a bit tired,” your hand comes up to cover your chuckle at the memory of your recent events.

the angelic sound of your laugh eases dilucs worry, though he’s still going to thoroughly check you over himself once you’re inside and he expects a full explanation of what led to this and not you spending your day at the winery, reading and resting as you please like he thought you were going to. “what happened?”

“archons y/n, running from hilichurls?” he asks after you’ve explained your day up until this point.

water splashes in the bucket as diluc rings out a rag next to you, exchanging it for your dirty one as you wipe the remaining dirt out of klees hair and begin to work on your own. she’s still fast asleep; now resting on the bar top, dilucs coat laying under her head for support. how she’s sleeping through all this movement you have no idea.

“why didn’t you have your weapon with you? you could have -”

“i know it wasn’t ideal,” you’d normally love to hear his voice and happily listen to what he has to say but sometimes it’s best to cut him off when you know when he’s getting away with his worries, it’s better to stop them in their tracks. you hate to see him in his own head worrying about the worst when you walked away unharmed, something he’s seen with his own eyes after checking you out personally. “but i was trying to keep my promise to you and i didn’t want to tempt myself into taking just one commission since i had it on me. i couldn’t leave klee when she needed my help either though.”

he admires your loving, caring nature and your fighting spirit, he just wishes it wouldn’t get you into trouble as often as it does. he wants nothing more than to protect you and keep you safe, a promise he’s made to you over and over again and it’s one he intends to keep with every fiber of his being. letting out a sign, he rings out another rag and takes a step closer to you, trapping you between him and the wall of the tavern. his loving, yet stern eyes scan your face as he brings the warm cloth up to your cheek to get the smudge you missed, his touch lingering on your reddening skin for a moment before moving down to your neck, the cloth remaining warm thanks to his vision.

“i appreciate that you wanted to keep your word but your safety is most important to me,” once he’s satisfied with your neck being clean he meets your gaze once more. you smile sweetly, inconnectly and the rest of the lecture he had for you was forgotten as he got lost in your sparkling eyes. “i’m glad you’re alright.”

“i’ll be more careful next time, i promise,” you whisper as he leans down to kiss your forehead, the smell of wine and oak taking over your senses as he presses his lips to your soft, warming skin.

“good,” he replies, pulling away slowly and you swear your knees would have given out at the sight of his smile had it not been for the way your heart was racing at his proximity. even if they had given out from under you, he would have been there to catch you.

he turns to klee who’s begun to stir, slowly waking up from her nap. as she sits up, diluc asks for her permission to carry her back, sliding on his coat before scooping her up in his arms when she says it's okay and that her legs are too tired to walk anyways.

klee gets comfortable quickly against his shoulder, snuggling against him as he begins to walk towards the door with you in tow and you swear the butterflies in your stomach we’re going to burst out of you any moment at this sweet interaction between the pyro users.

“it seems i’m going to have to make sure you rest by doing it myself, aren’t i?” he asks, his eye brow raising, a small smirk on his lips as he looks at you after locking the back door to the tavern.

“if it means you’ll come home and take a hot bath with me then yes,” you grin, grabbing onto his free arm as you make your way down the streets of mondstadt. he couldn’t say no to that, and he can’t lie that he’s missed your presence a lot today. “can i still make you dinner?”

you did mention the whole reason you were coming into town was for that very reason. he can’t help but smile at your thoughtfulness and the thought of enjoying a meal with you, something he doesn’t get to do as often as he’d like. “i’d enjoy that.”

“so that’s what you look like when you smile?!” klee exclaims, staring at him with a wide smile of her own.