I need to see this man crying and gasping for air over the injury of the love of his life. I want to see him go crazy and lose his mind. Please, please, please.
cw: mentions of dying/death, spoilers for lohen’s story quest, hurt no comfort? (technically?)
lohen became an adventurer to try to find you is now canon to the au. then when that didn't work he became a knight. he still likes fighting, but at least part of his motivation is to find you.
though what if you never came back because you got really sick/injured and you're dying. it's slowly become harder to travel, but one of your last wishes is to see mondstadt again.
this technically doesn't have to be the childhood friends au, but imagine the next time he sees you it's because you're dying.
no matter how much strength and power he has, he still couldn't save you in the end.
though if this is before/around his story quest do you think he'd also be tempted to use ursa's power to keep you alive?
Summary : In which, Lohen drunkenly reveals he’s already married. (much to the knights shock) And thus starts a frantic investigation to uncover the identity of his mysterious wife.
Lohen X Reader
Warning : Masochism?
The tavern was silent.
Not completely silent, someone in the back was still attempting to sing an ancient ballad with the confidence of a dying goat, mugs still slammed against tables, the fire still cracked faintly... but silent enough that every knight slowly turned toward the vice-captain.
Lohen, the one man crazy enough to be feared by his own men. The man rumored to have once stared at an enemy commander until the poor bastard surrendered voluntarily.
A natural disaster bathed in human flesh. A weapon that learned how to breathe.
Currently was collapsed face-first onto the table with one arm hanging limply off the side.
Drunk beyond reason.
"... Wish my wife was here." he slurred into the wood, strands of his hair falling over his flushed face.
The entire table froze.
"…your what?" one knight asked carefully.
Lohen lifted his head just enough to glare at them with offended exhaustion.
"My wife." he repeated, slower this time. Almost reverent, as though the word itself tasted familiar on his tongue.
Then, as if that single admission had cost him everything he had left, he let his head fall back down again.
Nobody moved for a moment. Even the Grand Master Varka seemed to have sobered up from the sudden confession.
Then the whole tavern erupted into surprised screams.
"THE VICE-CAPTAIN IS MARRIED?!"
The investigation began immediately. Because this was catastrophic information.
First of all, the Vice Captain had never mentioned a wife before.
Which led to the second issue. None of them could even imagine a woman willing to marry him voluntarily.
This was a man who once smiled during a battle against a ruin guard. A man who described battlefields as 'refreshing.' A man who once broke an interrogation chair because the prisoner was 'taking too long.'
And yet, somewhere in the kingdom existed a woman who apparently looked at this terrifying creature and thought,
'Yes. I want that one forever.'
It was unbelievable!
The knights first approached the grandmaster for information.
He only exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. "I have no clue. That was the first time I’ve ever heard him say it. "
He was about to continue, but froze when he saw the scheming looks on his subordinates faces.
"You are not spying on the vice-captain." he warned flatly.
They spied on the vice-captain.
Three days later, six fully armed royal knights crouched horribly behind bushes near a small house at the edge of town.
The hiding was atrocious.
One man was still wearing polished silver armor directly beneath the afternoon sun. Another had somehow gotten his cape caught on a tree branch ten minutes ago and was suffering in silence because nobody dared stand up to help him.
None of them were trained for espionage. Especially not against their vice-captain.
Lohen had entered twenty minutes earlier carrying grocery bags.
Grocery bags.
It was a horrible sight. The image alone had permanently damaged their ability to fear him correctly.
"He was smiling while looking at the carrots." one shuddered as he remembered the memory.
"The apples were the scariest. I still remember he made me do shooting practice with them!"
The men stared into the distance, rethinking every interaction with the vice captain when a sudden crash erupted from the house in front.
The entire group jolted violently.
"What was that?!"
A loud bang followed by another heavy THUD that rattled the windows rang.
One of the younger soldiers immediately grabbed the man beside him by the shoulders, eyes wide with panic. "She’s killing him!"
"No," another whispered reverently. "She’s... winning."
They seemed like they were on the verge of tears.
Inside however, you were laughing.
A chair had toppled somewhere behind you during the struggle, scraping loudly across the floor as you leaned over the table with a victorious grin, pinning your husband beneath you with both wrists trapped in your hands.
To anyone else it would have been a shocking scene. To you, it was just Tuesday with Lohen.
"Darling," you mused, pressing a kiss on Lohen's cheek. "I told you to bring potatoes, riiight?"
Lohen looked up at you without the slightest trace of remorse. "Did you? Must’ve slipped my mind."
You narrowed your eyes immediately, tightening your grip around his wrists. "Lohen."
His smile only widened.
"I distinctly remember warning you," you continued, voice dripping with amusement, "that if you forgot something again, I’d have to punish you."
"My wife is truly terrifying," he sighed dreamily, sounding far too delighted about that fact.
You scoffed, unable to stop yourself from laughing softly under your breath.
Sometimes you genuinely wondered if he provoked you on purpose simply because he enjoyed being handled like this.
Rolling your eyes, you finally loosened your grip, intending to let him up. But before you could pull your hands away, Lohen caught them.
Slowly, he guided your palms back against his chest, pressing them there until you could feel the steady thud of his heartbeat beneath your fingers. "... What about my punishment?"
"You -" you started.
"Come on," he murmured softly. "I’m waiting."
His fingers slid lazily along your arm, before he tugged you forward.
You stumbled against the table with a startled laugh, and he met you halfway, kissing you before another word could leave your mouth.
Outside, the knights heard nothing except another loud noise and became increasingly convinced you were the only human alive capable of defeating him.
They waited outside for nearly an hour, determined to finally glimpse at the mysterious wife.
But when the front door opened again, it was Lohen who stepped out.
The entire group froze.
His gaze swept calmly across the yard before stopping directly on the bushes they were hiding behind.
A terrible silence followed.
Then, very slowly, Lohen spoke. "...You are loud. Shut up."
The knights felt their souls briefly leave their bodies. One man immediately started praying under his breath. Another simply collapsed face-first into the grass as if accepting death in advance.
Lohen stared at the bushes with visible disappointment, as though deeply offended that these were somehow Mondstadt finest soldiers.
From inside the house, your voice called out. "Lohen! Help me with the dishes please!"
Instantly, the stern expression on his face melted. The transformation was genuinely horrifying.
"Yeah," he answered, voice gentler than any of them had ever heard before. "Coming."
He turned back to the doorway, but paused before glancing at the bushes.
The warmth disappeared instantly. "Leave," he said flatly. "Before I bury you here."
The knights did not need to be told twice. They fled immediately.
The next day, they approached you while Lohen was away on official business. You were in the marketplace buying vegetables when six grown knights appeared around you.
"…can I help you?" you asked slowly, holding a bundle of carrots mid-air.
The eldest knight bowed immediately. "Madam."
The others followed suit, slightly less coordinated, as though none of them had practiced basic human interaction before.
"We merely wish to understand…" another began carefully.
The youngest one finished. "How did you tame the vice-captain!?"
You blinked, smiling awkwardly at the suddenness of the question. "Tame?"
Another knight chimed in. "Yeah! We heard you defeat him yesterday!"
Your grip on the carrots loosened slightly. "Yesterday, I-"
"We were near your house! We heard EVERYTHING!"
A faint heat crept up your face. You were not fighting with him that day, in fact you were doing...something else entirely. "Oh well, that was not-"
"PLEASE TEACH US!"
Somehow, one thing had led to another, and now you were standing in the center of the training grounds with a sword in your hands.
You were fairly certain this was not how your morning was supposed to go.
Yet, the training grounds became utterly packed. Word spread through the city in under an hour.
'The vice-captain’s mysterious wife is going to duel him.'
Knights climbed fences. Servants placed bets. Someone sold pastries as though this were an official festival.
Varka stood at the sidelines with the expression of a man trying very hard not to encourage this while also clearly enjoying it.
Then, finally, Lohen entered.
The crowd immediately fell silent.
He had just returned from a mission, blood smeared across his coat. And seeing you standing in front of him with a sword in hand was a sight he had not expected.
"...Why are you holding a weapon?"
"Your subordinates asked me to duel you." you smiled brightly, swinging the sword to show off your non-existent skills.
He stared at you. Then turned his head slightly toward the gathered knights.
"…After this is over," he said calmly, voice almost pleasant, "you are all dead."
The knights immediately looked anywhere except at him.
The duel began.
Or rather, you attacked while Lohen simply existed.
The crowd watched in growing disbelief as the kingdom’s most terrifying warrior lazily parried your strikes while staring at you like a man witnessing divine revelation.
Every strike you made was reckless with confidence, mimicking the techniques you had once watched him perform with terrifying grace. You knew he would never let you fall.
And he never did.
Whenever your footing slipped against the dirt, his hand was already there at your waist or your arm, steadying you before you could stumble.
His touch lingered just long enough for him to guide your body back into balance before allowing you another hit against him—as though the duel existed solely to indulge you.
The Vice Captain wasn't even trying. Every lazy parry carried restraint. Every blocked strike looked suspiciously gentle. The knights watching from the sidelines began exchanging horrified glances as realization dawned upon them.
Their vice-captain was not losing because you were stronger.
He was losing because he adored you.
Then you moved suddenly.
Your foot swept behind his ankle, your body twisting with sharp precision, and before anyone could react, Lohen crashed onto his back with enough force to shake the dirt beneath him.
You planted your foot against his chest, pinning him down as your sword tilted beneath his chin, gleaming beneath the sunlight.
"You lose, Lohen."
The arena exploded behind you, people screamed, some clapped, some threw their helmets to the sky after seeing someone beating the most feared warrior.
But Lohen heard none of it. Not when you stood above him like this.
The sun framed you in gold, wind tangling through your hair as you smiled down at him with triumphant amusement. His heartbeat pounded violently beneath your foot, and to his own embarrassment, he realized this might genuinely be the happiest moment of his miserable life.
His gloved hand slid slowly around your ankle. Not to move you, but simply to touch.
His thumb brushed against the fabric gathered near your calf before trailing higher in a teasing stroke that made your breath hitch.
"We should do this often..." he muttered.
You tried to pull your leg away, but his grip only tightened slightly, trapping you there with infuriating ease.
His gaze dropped lazily to the foot pressing against his chest, "I think," he said, voice rough with laughter and something warmer, "I just discovered I enjoy being humiliated by my wife."
You snorted, tilting his chin back slightly with your foot. "You are so weird, Lohen."
Still, you indulged him. Because no matter how ridiculous he was, no matter how utterly hopelessly devoted he became around you...
you never got tired of him either.
His grin softened at your insult. "And yet, you married me anyway."
Unfortunately, that was true.
Sensing the sudden romantic atmosphere, the crowd slowly dispersed.
Knowing if anyone interrupted whatever deeply concerning moment this had become, Lohen would happily gouge their eyes out for witnessing it.
And from that day onward, the knights accepted two undeniable truths.
First, Vice-Captain Lohen was catastrophically and humiliatingly in love with his wife.
And worse....
She was somehow even more dangerous than he was.
Fin
ANOTHER LOHEN FIC CUZ HE'S RELEASING SOON!!
We don't know Lohen's age but I do believe he is older than 20. Obviously they aren't married in this, but it's just that Lohen wants to call her his wife. So all this is just a misunderstanding from the knights part 😝
in which lohen asks (forces) you to go out with him for a month. what could go wrong?
lohen x fem!reader, fake dating trope
reader is a medic for the KOF and lives with him
author's note: the poll has decided so it is my sacred duty to write it. pray that i'm romantic enough for this.
also to those who previously displayed their interest in scare actor!lohen dw i'll tag you guys when it comes out.
"no."
lohen snorts and moves from his previous post at the dining table to the kitchen, where you're leaning over a pot cooking dinner. he's dressed casually now, after a long day at work, wearing a frilled undershirt with the strings undone and loose pants.
(you've told him multiple times to tie them but that only resulted in him undoing even more of the strings just to piss you off. the bastard.)
lohen braces both hands on either side of you and rests his chin on your shoulder, his hair tickling your cheek. he always does this when he wants you to go along with his whims and tonight's no different.
"you barely gave it any thought. am i really that undesirable to you?"
you sigh. deep breath in, deep breath out. if you let lohen get to you, you might as well be agreeing to that outlandish proposal of his and all the snow on dragonspine might as well melt before that happens.
speaking of outlandish, this idea is probably one of the more outrageous ones lohen's deranged mind has come up with. what made him think you'd be willing to enter a fake relationship with him for a month just to win some one-sided bet?
sure, you're not exactly innocent, listening in on the knights that talk about lohen during their stay in the infirmary. and maybe it's ethically immoral for you to gossip about the friend who took you in and kept you from the streets when you were at your lowest, but who can resist?
you just didn't expect that pitching the idea of whether lohen would be a good partner or not would come back to bite you in the ass. now it's spread like wildfire throughout the fifth company, reached his ears and lohen wants to prove your fellow colleagues wrong.
the last time his competitive spirit was stirred like this, it was during a sparring match and you had to reset another knight's dislocated shoulder due to lohen's overzealousness.
even now, with his arms looped around your waist and leaning his full weight on you, lohen's yapping on about how the two of you could act to appear as a more legitimate couple.
"hey, are you listening? we should hang out together more in public. it'll sell the whole 'blissfully in love' image, y'know?"
"i'm not agreeing to this."
"oh, don't worry, it won't be difficult at all! we'll just have to act like we are now and it'll be perfectly natural. so much so we might as well actually date."
you stick the spoon you were mixing with in his mouth, hoping that he would shut up for once to spare you from the embarrassment prickling at your skin. a brief look of surprise flashes across lohen's face before he lets out an appreciative hum, making a small "pop!" as he licks it clean.
"not bad, could use a little more salt. anyways, how does one month sound? i'll waiver off the rent if you do a good job."
you do a double take and turn around to look at him. lohen only arches an eyebrow and smirks like he's already convinced you to do his bidding.
"...you're kidding."
paying rent was an agreement between you and lohen when you first started to live with him. you didn't like taking advantage of his kindness for free, so you insisted on this arrangement in order to pay him back somehow. that being said, lohen isn't exactly the most conventional landlord. the forms of payment can range from mora to sparring with him for the whole day depending on his mood.
you always pray that he doesn't choose the latter so you don't end up covered in bruises.
lohen takes a playful bow, hand on his heart and eyes peering up at you, like a knight swearing an oath. or maybe it's more akin to a bunny staring at you with beady eyes with the way he's trying to look as non-threatening as possible. whichever description works.
"i swear on my title as the vice captain of the ranged company. knight's honour."
you stare at him for a while longer and try to look away, the keyword being 'try' as lohen grabs your face and angles it back towards him. he squishes your cheeks together, the action making your lips jut out and him laugh in turn. even when you reel your head back, lohen's hand keeps a firm grip.
"i could just keep you here like this until you give me an answer, yeah?"
you really want to bite his hand and rip off one of his fingers, but lohen would probably enjoy that. so begrudgingly, you nod and he releases you with a closed-eyed smile, a dull ache appearing in place of where his hand once was.
"great! i'll go set the table, m'kay? love ya."
with that, lohen kisses you on the cheek and saunters off into the dining area, leaving you to process the entire interaction.
archons, what have you gotten yourself into?
"uh, dr. (name)? if i may ask, are you and vice captain lohen really dating?"
you pause and glance up at the knight you're tending to. in an instant, he averts your gaze and instead stares intently at a spot on the floor, seemingly adamant on not making eye contact with you.
right, you rehearsed for this, just stick to the story.
"yep. just got together last week."
you try to make your tone as neutral as possible, as if you were talking about the weather and not the ticking time bomb of a lie your relationship is. the knight nods and hesitantly opens his mouth to speak again.
"it's not some...special punishment he's in the process of creating, is it? for the rest of us, i mean?"
his words make you wonder what kind of torture they go through under lohen, though you're fairly certain you know as lohen himself tells you all his tactics over dinner every day. what kind of training he put them through, which unfortunate soul couldn't finish a specific drill, who cried that day, so on and so forth. truly unlucky, those poor knights.
"it's not, don't worry. look, if lohen makes another one of you guys cry again, come to me alright? i'll talk to him."
the knight immediately raises his hands and shakes his head, a panicked expression forming on his face.
"we wouldn't dare! the vice captain already said not to trouble you. if we do, he'll—"
he visibly shudders, as if remembering something unpleasant. related to lohen, no doubt. you prompt him gently.
"what did he say?"
"well, he said that..."
during morning roll call, lohen made an announcement that sent the whole squad into shock.
"hey, listen up! as of last week, dr. (name) and i are officially in a relationship. yes, the (name) who is our medic."
"so if i hear anything about some idiot who tries to mess with or bother her unnecessarily, they'll be answering to me. is that clear?"
huh. now you know why the knights have been on edge around you ever since the day started.
for the most part, the weeks pass by as normal. during the day, the knights still treat you the same, you do your medic work, and lohen performs his duties as vice captain. when night falls, the both of you walk home together.
it's nothing different from your usual routine, yet you feel like something's changed.
lohen visits you more often in the infirmary, even when you're not on break, bringing you snacks or just lingering to chat with you on unimportant topics. he's made a space for you in his quarters on the nights both of you stay back to finish endless piles of paperwork, sometimes moving his chair to sit across from you. gradually, he started to sit at your desk instead of his.
on the days you have to make a trip into mondstadt city, he even escorts you all the way, not leaving until he's sure you've safely made it past its gates.
even though it makes your heart flutter in the sweetest way, you still remind yourself that this side of lohen is only temporary. that he's just doing it for the act. once the month is over, the two of you will go back to being two people living under the same roof.
no matter what, you cannot fall for him. you won't survive the heartbreak otherwise.
"y'know, you and lohen have a good thing going. it's rare to meet someone able to tame that rascal."
"...you know about us?"
"of course! if the rest know, why wouldn't i? plus, lohen talks about you all the time. and boy, let me tell you, he's absolutely smitten by you! i've never seen him smile so much when talking about someone."
"you gotta cherish each other, alright? i'll be waiting for the wedding, hahaha!"
up till now, you still haven't told lohen what varka said. there's no point, you think.
it's been five days since you've last seen lohen. five days since he's been sent on a mission. and today's the last day of the month.
you've been trying to distract yourself, burying yourself in work, going out on your days off to take a walk, anything that would stop your mind from running, but lohen still manages to pop up in your mind like an annoying bug. everything reminds you of him, from the trees to the flowers to even dornman port itself. how much of himself has he integrated into your life that you can't imagine one without him anymore?
"perhaps you're lovesick. after all, absence makes the heart grow fonder." is what herstal had supplied when you confided in her over tea.
you must be, surely. you didn't even give him a second thought when he left for the expedition to nod-krai for six whole years, how is it possible that you can miss him so much after five days? or maybe you're just hyperaware that the deal is going to end tonight and you won't even get the chance to discuss it with lohen.
the pouring rain outside renders the visibility to zero, with night time making it even less likely for you to see anybody come up to the cottage. after a while, you move from your position at the window and head to bed. seems like he won't be coming home tonight.
you wake up to a knock at the door, loud and incessant. outside, you can still hear the storm going on strong.
for a moment, you hesitate to get up and continue lying in bed, hoping that whoever's outside would just leave. who would even visit you at this hour, especially in such poor weather? however, even when you squeeze your eyes shut in an attempt to block out the noise, the pounding eventually becomes impossible to ignore.
you grab a kitchen knife and hide it behind your back as you make your way towards the front door. when you open it, you almost think you're dreaming.
you blink once, twice, then rub your eyes with your free hand. when the man in front of you doesn't disappear, you start realising this isn't some hallucination your sleep deprivation caused you to have.
it's lohen. he's actually back.
his hair is plastered against his face, clothes dripping with rainwater that forms a small pool beneath his feet. his eyes are locked onto yours and you notice how he's panting heavily, shoulders moving up and down in time with his breaths. did he run here? you hurriedly raise a hand to wipe the water trickling down his face.
"you're gonna catch a cold! don't you know it's raining right now?"
"i missed you."
you freeze. lohen takes a step closer to you and pulls the knife out of your hand, throwing it to the side and cradles your face with both hands. they feel icy cold even through the gloves he's wearing.
he looks at you with some form of subdued craze, like he's holding himself back from doing what he truly wants to. as lohen bumps his forehead with yours, he takes a shuddering breath and holds you tightly against him.
"archons, you're so pretty. i missed you so, so much. forgive me?"
you don't get to ask what he means before he smashes his lips against yours.
the kiss is anything but gentle, as with all things regarding to lohen. it's a messy clash of teeth and tongue, full of the desperation, want and yearning lohen's been keeping in for a month. he kisses and nips and licks until you feel your lips becoming red and swollen, so much so he draws blood out of them, the coppery tang spreading on your tastebuds.
lohen only breaks away when he hears you panting, a drunk look in his eyes and a loopy grin on his face as he caresses your flushed cheeks. compared to you, whose head is still spinning, he looks far more composed. you relax as lohen pulls you further into his embrace, nuzzling your nose into his neck as he does the same. even though he smells of the rain, it still brings a great comfort to you.
"please be mine. you have no idea how much i thought of you those five days."
you laugh and place a chaste kiss to his jaw, feeling a strange sense of joy when lohen shivers in response.
So irl time and genshin time clearly don't directly translate because months pass in game and it'll be like 2 days for us so I'm just pretending that genshin uses real time. or there's a weird ratio/conversion where more time still passes for them but not us.
anyways I did talk about this in like a dozen of my other old posts, but I'm also combining it with another idea I had. The creator doesn't even play genshin and only watched friends/a roommate play.
then of course, your roommate stops playing because burnout and also their storage is dead. so they delete the game off their pc, you don't really care because you have no desire to play yourself.
the characters (do we still call them acolytes idk) are extremely distressed. Your presence was already very faint, because you weren't the one playing, but now it's completely disappeared.
