i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @xiaoriae for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i may or may not be moving all of my works there since i have decided to leave this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
˚₊‧꒰ @genshinology → @xiaoriae ꒱ ‧₊˚
‧₊˚🖇️ old pinned post (navigation) ꕥ archived masterlist
pairing. neuvillette & wriothesley x gn!reader (separate) ★ genre. established relationship au & fluff. ★ wc. 1.2k
synopsis. calling out the fontaine men by their pet names!
contents. pet names (reader's: dear, darling, etc.), lovestruck neuvillette :( , may contain an inaccurate description of the melusine's tail bcs i'm dumb, a really minimal spoiler from the 4.0 archon quest (regarding hydro dragon and rain) in neuvillette's, mention of sedene (the melusine outside neuvie's office), neuvillette just wants his kith >:( , wriothesley might be ooc bcs we all love him despite not knowing him yet, mentions of sigewinne in wrio's, made-up [1] fontaine law and background setting, and an assumption of sigewinne is the one who often treats wrio's injuries(?).
a/n. first, idk who to pull for; either neuvi or wrio bcs i alr have hydro and cryo dps :cries: but srsly, the v4.1 trailer has me on my knees for these two men (in a respectful manner of course).
support banner and animated line dividers by @/cafekitsune on tumblr.
ִ ࣪𖤐 𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄
neuvillete would never admit it out loud.
how you left him in awe every time he heard you calling out for his attention—monsieur neuvillette in a formal setting, but instead referring him as neuvie when in private.
something about it had always made neuvillette's chest just a little bit tightened at the way the name rolled off your tongue oh-so-eloquently, and he often found himself staring at your lips a second longer than what everyone would consider as appropriate.
oh, how he would love to peck your lips, feeling them against his, even for a brief moment.
it was an embarrassing thought sitting at the little corner of his mind. he was ashamed at how easily you had him on your mercy.
"neuvie," your voice came out a tad bit softer after seeing him spacing out—in which was totally not a norm to see him staring far ahead and at you, though not until recently.
"are you alright, love?"
he swore he felt his heart dropped. it was a double kill to him, who recently figured out that he loved you more than he initially thought he would. how endearing of you to call him with such names, it was cute. a perfect adjective to describe you.
"nothing, dear," his voice resonated through the room, and you realised how he looked at the perfect weather illuminating his office through the window.
you looked at him back, skeptical as to why the corner of his mouth seemed to form a fine curve, but you shrugged the feeling as soon as it came. maybe he was happy, considering the sunny and chilly weather outside.
and his feeling mattered to you the most.
"monsieur neuvillette," you called him out again.
this time, neuvillette could barely hide the frown that was about to form on his face. why did you call him that? why the sudden change of attitude? he was confused. especially when he felt the soft touches on his hair.
you were patting his head, occasionally fixing his hair as neuvillette slightly leaned in to feel the warmth only you could exude.
"it is about time for today's trial, chief justice. lady furina must have been waiting for you at the opera house," you gently reminded him, feeling the way his shoulders tensed.
oh—how stupid of him, he thought. he finally understood why you called him by his title, there was sedene all along at the door.
the melusine looked at both of you in amusement, he could tell by the way her tail was wagging.
"another minute, dear?" his voice was low enough, seemingly to avoid the melusine's attention as he sighed.
you beamed a small smile at him, making neuvillette felt ten times heavier to let go of you and go to the court. "no, neuvie," you rubbed soft circles at the back of his hand, and neuvillette fought the urge to intertwine his finger with yours.
he fought the urge to kiss you on your lips—his name sounded so precious coming out from you. it actually pained his heart at how irreplaceable you were in his life.
"after the court sesion is over, we can cuddle all we want, yeah?" you pecked his cheek, and neuvillette thought he could die happily if this was the treatment he would get—a reward worth billions of mora if this was what you gave him from cherishing and loving you.
and he would love to hear and love you forever.
ִ ࣪𖤐 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘
inside the fortress of meropide, the only person that could make wriothesley's burdens felt lighter was you, and only you. to see that you enjoyed your time being here—although the fortress was everything except fun and colours—and sometimes helped sigewinne with her infirmary stuff, he felt a part of him was proud at how kind and brave you were.
wriothesley loved looking at you teasing and babying sigewinne. it was another trait that made him clicked with you so well—despite his profession and the countless dangers he might have brought along.
he remembered the first time you insisted to tag along with him to the infamous underwater prison. no one could enter and exit the fortress whenever they wanted, and you managed to prove him wrong. now that your reputation was well-known within the area, it seemed that the law on permitting outsiders to get into the fortress with thorough screening process didn't really seem to be applicable to you.
every garde recognised you. every staff and people and melusine alike—all had acknowledged you in their work space.
so when you introduced yourself as wriothesley's other half, it was understandable that your name made it in the headlines and became the monthly issue from the steambird.
'after all, the duke doesn't really seem to be the lover type, isn't he?'
"hi, handsome," you waved at wriothesley, who seemed to just finish with an interrogation session with one of the criminals. a stack of papers was in his grip.
his eyes widened at the way you called him with that word which often failed to not make his heart thumped against his chest.
"good evening, darling," he scoffed when he felt the way his voice almost cracked. the random terms of endearment you threw at him had always made his actions cut short and his words to be stuck in his throat. "what are you doing here? did i not say to go back home at 5? it is late."
"mhm," you hummed.
pointing at the clipboard in your right hand which wriothesley had realised was there all along, you explained yourself. "was running an errand for sigewinne. the poor nurse had some troubles so i lent a hand or two," you said while tapping wriothesley's shoulder thrice, feeling proud of yourself for contributing a cent around the fortress.
you then involuntarily fixed his tie, still giving him the proud smile you often wore.
wriothesley sent you a soft smile at that, contradicting the multitude of scars littered across his body.
of course his favourite person was the one who was kind enough to help sigewinne—it was as if you silently repaid sigewinne's past deeds of treating his injuries. how could anyone would not love you for that, he thought.
your heart swelled at the sight. your partner was quite soft at heart when he smiled, despite the roughness he portrayed.
you were staring at his face with those sparkles he never knew could exist in one's eyes. it was too much, but wriothesley thought he would just mentally appreciate the pure loving look you gave him.
"this will do. now my man looks dashing as always."
it took him exactly three seconds to understand what you meant. you were fixing his appearance, and he felt his face became a little bit warmer. my man, he unconsciously repeated the words in his mind.
if sigewinne saw the two of you being so lovey dovey in public—well, maybe both of you were done for.
"the gesture is very much appreciated, darling," he chuckled.
"you are very welcome, sir," you replied, mimicking the small chuckles he sent towards you.
"since both of us have already worked overtime, let us grab a bite?" you swung your arm around his, interlocking with the arm that often held you with such gentleness.
"alright," wriothesley gave in to your suggestion, long forgotten where he should be heading before crossing his path with you. "let us go on a date."
— CONTENT ; alhaitham x gn!reader. modern au, bodyguard au and little angst. reader goes clubbing, alcohol consumption + slightly intoxicated reader, a suggestive comment from alhaitham (barely), profanities and pining. wc; 1.1k
— NOTES ; a repost from my old blog! p/s: please remind me to write this into a full fic later bcs i am definitely normal about bodyguard!alhaitham.
you didn’t quite remember how you ended up being pulled away from the club.
in your hazy state, the only thing you remembered was how strict your father was, practically banning you to enjoy the night life for once, but all he said was no and then you sneaked out of your house, aimlessly walking around until you headed to the infamous club nearby.
all you wanted was freedom from this shitty political life you never ever wanted, but by gods, your father was so delusional of your own safety that he hired a bodyguard for you.
— GENRE ; borderline platonic relationship and fluff.
— WORD COUNT ; 0.9k
— SUMMARY ; alhaitham thought he needed to remind you that this one bad habit of yours should not be a thing for your future assignment under his supervision.
— CONTENT ; akademiya student!reader, the setting is at the library in the middle of the night, reader is alhaitham’s student/apprentice (idk anymore), alhaitham calls reader as angel twice, nothing too vague except that alhaitham is quite bold near the end.
— NOTES ; this is a repost from my old blog! i am quite sorry if alhaitham is slightly ooc, i wrote this piece way before he was officially playable, or that i wrote this when he was like just out in the game.
disclaimer: some things from the scenario aren’t aligned with the real lore alhaitham has in-game, so please, take this with a grain of salt!
“simon says do not procrastinate.”
“excuse me?” you halted whatever things your hands were currently doing, before alhaitham quietly sat in front of you, body facing directly at your side, all papers were scattered throughout the table. even when it was already dark outside, this was the consequence you had to face; staying up late to finish your report.
beside the dimmed light coming from the lantern to illuminate his strikingly built figure, one thing was clear enough to you. he was scolding you behind those childish words.
“you’re so... unbelievable,” you sighed. “if i must say so myself.”
“oh?” alhaitham seemed to find joy in your reaction. he knew that you tended to do things in the very last minutes. contrary to popular belief that alhaitham hated handling those kind of students, surprisingly, he ended up going along well with one student from that trope in the akademiya; you.
sometimes, over the past few years, he more often left with how did you even manage to enter the prestigious academy, but he saw how quick you were in doing things efficiently at the very last few minutes—now that he thought of it, it was definitely his bad to think quite lowly of you in the first place—but as someone who was quite an excellent student himself, he scared that the harsh world of knowledge at the akademiya might result in a more devastating ending for you and your study.
it just happened that alhaitham also cared about you more than he thought he would. the sheer thought of you couldn’t further your study at the akademiya gave him slight chills and fear. no, for him to see and supervise you everyday as his ‘student’, he needed to remind you that this bad habit couldn’t last long, especially when everyone around you was greedy enough to obtain new knowledge everyday.
he had already seen worst, of course he didn’t want all bad things happened to you.
“see?” he didn’t move an inch from his position, and god, he was actually distracting you. “this is what i have told you,” he tapped his index finger onto the paper you were currently writing. “—that if you actually followed my instructions and the guidelines, you would not be here until 4 a.m. just to end the report,” you hated how accurate he was, and you admitted that it was your fault for not listening attentively to his briefing about the year-end report he had kindly taught the format last month.
some newer students were complaining about how senior graduates weren’t that much of a help, but you, you were actually so lucky to have alhaitham as the person who took you under his wing. (of course, the first few days weren’t going well due to how you could sense his distaste about all this stupid system of senior-junior thing the akademiya recently incorporated, but literally everyone said you should be thankful to whoever that put you under one of the smartest people in the recent years of akademiya.)
“then why did you insist to join me? i know you’re exhausted and all,” you scoffed. “..and it is nearing 4 a.m,” you didn’t dare to look up once again and met his orange pupils—sometimes, you shrugged off the fact that you might be crushing on him but his eyes were definitely the most beautiful ones you’d ever seen coming from someone else’s—but instead continued to pretend that you were busy thinking to form extensive sentences in your report.
“angel, you need to submit this report by tomorrow, isn’t it?” you almost coughed at the sudden name he called you, and almost dropping your pen right then and there, but you fortunately knew how to contain it well and acted like you didn’t bother by how smooth the word slipped past his throat when he said that. “so, tell me, when should i check your final draft? you need to have my approval first, or the sages will come for you.”
“the most rational timing would be after i have finished my report..” you slapped away all the coming thoughts mentally when you found yourself stuck with him for the past few hours in the library and how suffocating the air was now that you just realised that he did shift his seat to see your progress clearer.
and of course, the manly heat radiating off of him was becoming more evident.
“yes,” he nodded, fully unaware at how even the closeness ticked you off so bad. you were already consumed with guilt, but your brain seemed to stop working because of him, or, because of your exhaustion state. and you needed to act out fast for this report to finish because you didn’t want to burden him with your presence or, wait, was it because you didn’t want to stay with him any longer?
“now that you figured it out,” alhaitham finally stood up straight, but your stomach ultimately dropped when he walked agonizingly slow, seemed like he didn’t feel sleepy as much as you did. “next year, for your thesis, let’s end it in a more systematic way, hm?”
his lips brushed your flaming cheeks ever so slightly as he whispered those words, but maybe it was just your own illogical thoughts. “because angel, you seem so out of place with me all this time,” he redacted his body away from you, but maybe you were just imagining things because of how dizzy you’d gotten. but his words made you felt like hiding underneath the table because he knew. oh, how unprofessional of you.
he knew. of course he knew all this time. about you, and the report. it was the alhaitham after all.
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @xiaoriae for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to leave this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @xiaoriae
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to leave this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to leave this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
— CONTENT ; genshin's quests spoilers ahead (i don't really said them as spoilers but just a little heads-up, especially for those who are new to genshinblr) and slight mentions of blood in childe's.
— NOTES ; reposted from my old blog!
nobleman!ayato x commoner!reader
the kamisato head clan was your least favourite person of all time. this unsure, yet negative feeling you had on him all started since an eight years old AYATO did a prank on your younger self.
a long time had passed by, but since then, ayato seemed to find the joy in stirring your commoner life, until the name ayato engraved at the back of your mind with such revenge and hatred.
it went on and on like this, until one day, he heard the shogunate was going to enforce the vision hunt decree all around inazuma. he had no choice but to obey. after all, he needed to maintain his title as one of the heads in tenryou commission, yet all he thought was you, your stupid smile, and your vision.
he knew he had to do something about it.
“come here,” the moment ayato’s voice called you out, you rolled your eyes. you ignored him, spun and tried to blend in with the crowds, knowing too well that he couldn’t get you in public appearances.
but ayato was faster. all he did was pulling you aside, hidden from prying eyes. “do you have your vision?”
you scoffed, maybe too rude for someone as noble as him, but you did not really care when it was ayato who was right in front of you. “why? you are going to confisticate it? under the behalf of the shogun?”
your choosing of words should’ve made him baffled, or amused, but instead, he didn’t have the time for your nonsense and your attitude. “give me your vision,” his voice asserted command and it honestly intimidated you. “you really want it? no, not with your own hands, kamisato.”
ayato’s grip on your wrist tightened. you didn’t get why he was so stubborn with this, or even wanted to do this, but still, the desperation in his eyes was evident. “give it to me, now,” his tone went cold, and his low tone—almost like a growl—came out from him, frustrated and it left you in a confused yet startled state.
“i’ll take care of your vision, it is much safer with me.”
“ayato?” your voice sounded small, and you were left speechless with his actions. did he really go all this length just to protect your vision?
but... why?
he looked down on you, slowly pulling the vision away, and you nodded, and that was all it took for ayato to have your own consent. “take care, little one. i am hoping that you don’t go around making a fuss with the shogunate.”
you didn’t know why you believe him in the first place, but you did.
and now, your vision was in the hand of your worst enemy, yet he saved you from many unfortunate occasions under the decree.
fatui harbinger!childe x adventurer!reader
CHILDE was a cheerful and an easygoing person. one look at him and everyone instantly knew, that this man, was someone who didn’t take things too seriously.
that was, until your name came out.
both you and him, or maybe all of the people around you, knew that you hated childe with all your heart, and vice versa.
picking up occasional fights with him was normal. belittling each other in combats and talking big about who was better were your daily routine, yet him being like this was certainly out of the norm.
“what do you think you’re doing?” you frowned, retracting your body away from his hold. however, childe was stronger, and there was no point of you trying to fight his strength.
“who did this to you?” he boldly looked up and down at your whole dirty, and bloodied clothes, gently touching all cuts and bruises—in contrast with him forcefully made you sat down in front of him prior to whatever this was.
“why do you even care?” you pulled away for the tenth times from his touch. a foreign feeling bubbling inside your chest, and childe’s gaze was filled with rage, and you were stunned with his face.
“because you are someone i care about.”
you mentally cursed at your damned heart for skipping a beat at that, but childe seemed oblivious with his previous words. all you saw was the ginger in front of you slightly shook and his eyes burned when he saw your injuries.
he truthfully worried, what ifs questions were running around inside his mind, and all he could think of was his subordinates, the fatui.
he knew that they didn’t like him, and he knew that they purposefully injured you, you had been there once, and it was because of him.
sure, you didn’t look like you were hurting, or weak—you were strong, he knew that—but he couldn’t contain himself when he saw how awful you came back from outside of the city.
demon!itto x human!reader
ITTO was a cocky being.—
that was among infinite traits you didn’t like about him.
that sly smirk you had been aching to wipe off of his face. how he practically flaunting his muscles everywhere with no shame. yes, you slightly cringed at the sights but that couldn’t compare with how full he was of himself.
and by gods, he didn’t even give you a time alone. whenever you went, he would be following you behind with his narcissistic side, saying that he would protect you or something along the line of, “don’t worry, this is the one and oni, arataki itto, will protect you.”
no matter how many times you ignored him, that much would be a payback of how clingy he was towards you afterwards.
such a childish act for a huge guy.
“y/n!“ if you could do it sooner, you would’ve shut his loud mouth with a tape, because oh my god, he was loud as hell, and you were getting tired of keeping up with his random bursts of energy.
they said that you shouldn’t be around an oni for too long, but itto seemed harmless. too human although he was a half-demon that was supposedly be feared.
“what is it?” a heavy sigh passed your lips. you just wanted to go out for a morning walk, nothing more and nothing less, and what a wonderful way for you to start your day, you thought.
“just want to greet my favourite person,” he gave you a hug, tone too happy for someone who had just been whining about how he lost in a duel. his face slightly rubbed beside yours and you swiftly ducked your head, ultimately freeing your body from the figure who was too close in your opinion.
“aww,” he slightly whined. you didn’t understand his mood, so you were frankly, straight to the point. “what do you want, itto? you usually want to cut my head off, but today you’re acting like a baby.”
“hey! if you’re shorter than me, you are definitely a child. no room for argument,” he huffed. yep, definitely too whiny for a guy who could’ve break you with a single punch.
“although i badly want to duel with you, since, you know, i uh.. lost yesterday, but isn’t today’s your birthday?”
“and?”
“come on, now. you’re no fun,” he pulled his arms into his chest. “that is why i would like to make your dull life much more brighter,” he faked a cough. “happy birthday—
"yeah, cut it off, arataki itto.”
adeptus!xiao x human!reader
how did someone could be hating on social interactions so much?
that was the first question you only had, and it was for a specific adeptus.
XIAO was too lonely, and when he always shrugged you off, you decided that you didn’t like that side of his.
what was the point in protecting liyue but having a solitude life? did he really feel that bothered by having someone talking with him?
your numerous questions were answered when verr told you his backstory, and maybe you were being dramatic, but his reason was so heartbreaking for you to hear.
“don’t,” xiao’s hard tone warned, because you stared at him too much until he couldn’t bear to see your eyes. he knew that you figured out one thing or two about him, and he didn’t like the fact that there was guilt everywhere inside you. “i do not need your mortal pity.”
you almost cried when you remembered his karmic debt, because all this time, you treated him so bad, and now you were weighing with continuous guilt, guilt and guilt.
“xiao,” you finally, finally voiced out after long session of looking at the adeptus. his green spear in his hand, that mask beside his waist. “i’m sorry.”
“don’t, it’s useless,” xiao wondered how you suddenly became like this. usually, you would bicker with him, saying that he needed communications and daily conversations in his life but today, of all day, where he felt so heavy with karma, you decided to soften your heart and looking at him with such sympathy.
he truly hated that look you had been giving to him for hours now.
he knew you knew, your eyes told him everything.
you felt like comforting him, but you didn’t know how. it was weird when all you did was fighting with him, babbling about all the things surrounded him and then suddenly, you wanted to put him at ease.
so you decided to let the day passed by, silently enjoying the sky view from the rooftop of wangshu inn. no words were told to him, and he, for the first time, appreciated your treatment.
— PAIRINGS ; albedo, childe & diluc x gn!reader (separate)
— NOTES ; a repost from my old blog!
as his assistant, alongside sucrose, and sometimes acted as klee’s unacknowledged babysitter, spending your time at ALBEDO’s base in dragonspine had been your daily routine.
you rarely set your foot in the big city. only been there to serve important matters, or when albedo sent you to become his attendant.
how attached you were to him was something beyond words. he was your partner in crime and your closest friend, so when you accidentally opened up the topic of finding and wanting to try a relationship other than those platonic ones at him—with how busy you were with helping him in his researches—the least thing you expected to hear was how straightforward and blunt his response was.
“but you have me,” that simple sentence left you in a shocked state. you knew he didn’t really filter his words but that, that particular sentence, you didn’t want to misunderstand him or was he really that serious, just like his eyes?
sure, albedo was inexperienced with relationships and social interactions in general, but, he knew. this foreign, warm, and fuzzy feeling inside his chest—how his heart went a little bit faster when you were around. those signs were more than enough to convince him that you meant much more to his life.
as per promised, CHILDE decided to treat you after you’d gotten back from a one-day comission back in mondstat.
seeing the harbinger smiling and hurriedly hugged you somehow made your exhausted body felt much, much better and recharged. your friend was your happy pill, and you were thankful to have him by your side.
both of you decided to take a stroll in the city of liyue, all bustling and busy—kids running around, fairy lights hanging everywhere and the continuous chattering of people—all in one amidst the preparation for the lunar new year festival.
a couple, not so far from you was eating and exchanging their love languages to one another, and for a fleeting moment, you stared at them for too long.
of course, childe noticed this, and when he was about to ask why you were looking somewhat deep in your thoughts, your eyes darted back to the couple and blurted out how did falling in love felt like exactly.
was it exciting? or just how did the feeling of basking in someone else’s affections felt like? the butterflies in your stomach?
all was unanswered by the ginger beside you, but when the night sky lightened up, with fireworks decorating and dancing across the dark canvas up in the air, the question of, “do you want to try them with me?” fell from his lips.
it was a rare sight to see you didn’t greet him at the tavern, and DILUC thought it was definitely a rarer to sight see you all alone at the corner. he couldn’t pinpoint just what you were doing there, seemingly depressed and slumped so why shouldn’t he check up on his friend, no?
usually, you would casually walking in through the wooden door, sat on the stool in front of the counter whilst ignoring all the prying eyes like you owned this place—not that he didn’t mind though—and sometimes, if you were in a such mood, you often interrupted him while he was working.
when there were lesser people, diluc smoothly came out from behind the counter. he quickly placed himself beside your seat. diluc was smart, he could sense something was off about your attitude.
but instead, as your friend for years, he knew more than everyone else to just let you be until you were the one who told things that had been weighing inside your mind.
diluc expected you to say something about how horrible your day had been, or how you complained about all these nasty people you had been handling with as one of the knights. yes, it was ironic to think that diluc had been in a good term with you despite your association.
what he didn’t expect for you to tell him was that your parents were pressuring you to find someone as your lover. something about wanting you to involve in a relationship since you were around that suitable age, but you were so confused with your current feelings that you decided to contemplate about this all day, and it was tiring, both physically and mentally.
“let’s meet up with your parents,” he finally voiced out, he was your friend, but why did you feel all tingling and nervous when his next words were, “i’ll convince them that i am beside you, always.”
CHILDE was a friendly roommate, that was the first and significant trait you’d noticed since day one he walked into the small shared apartment.
he wasn’t scared to communicate directly with you, exchanging introductions felt less awkward and more livelier with his playful tone and that signature smile of his.
you didn’t think childe was richer than ordinary people like you to be honest. he probably was a broke student, just like you. after all, he did split the rent with you and so you assumed that he underwent the same financial problems people around your age did.
but when he spoiled you on your first birthday you celebrated together with him, only the two of you in the small, cozy, living room, you almost choked out the soda in your hand when you saw the necklace you drooled over the other day you went shopping, or rather, window shopping with him along the city, was in front of you.
“how much is this?!” your eyes bulging out, partially because of the shock and because you knew how expensive it was.
of course you were staring at it for too long on that fateful evening both of you strolling around the city. the necklace caught your attention the moment you saw it was shining under the sun and was displayed right there in front of you, behind the big glass.
the only thing that was holding you back from barging into the jewelry shop was because of that insane price tag.
childe instead shrugged your question off with his laugh, he cautiously took out the necklace from its purple box. “i caught you staring at it, and your eyes shone so bright, they didn’t lie when i asked you if you wanted this necklace or not, unlike your words,” he recalled the moment you quickly shoved him aside from peeking at what you were looking at and pretended that you didn’t want the item.
“as i said before, it wasn’t necessary—
childe’s hands suddenly appeared in front of you, since when did he make his way to stand behind you? you didn’t notice that.
"what—
the cool feeling in contact with your bare skin made you speechless. childe could be a gentleman when he wanted to, it was a rare occasion, of course, but if he did this to you, you might or might not have a teeny little crush on him and that was definitely a bad sign.
the moment he secured the piece of jewelry around your neck from the back, childe quickly spun you around to face him standing as you cooled down your racing heart, and the beats picking up again when you felt him patting your head.
"happy birthday to you, my first, precious and lovely roommate. now you would at least bring a piece of me with you.”
DILUC was a man who would rather keep all things to himself than talking the out with you.
that was how things had always been from the first three months both of you had started living under the same roof.
he was introverted, and you were perfectly fine with it.
he was minding his own business, and you did the same too. nothing clashed, no fights, and although you somehow met with a dead end trying to bonding more with your roommate, it always ended up with the thoughts that he might be uncomfortable if you indulged yourself to have a proper conversation with him.
he always came back home late way passed the twelve o'clock and you always wondered, what did he do for a living?
yes, you were so delusional that sometimes you thought he was doing illegal things at nights. he sometimes did intimidate you by his looks so you wouldn’t stray off that far, right?
well, the answer to your question was finally answered when your friends brought you to crash at a local, famous tavern, and oh, you were shocked, super shocked to see diluc, the mysterious roommate stood behind the counter.
“diluc, why aren’t you looking at me?”
he swore you gave him a headache. just why did you end up drunk and he knew that he would be the one taking you home.
“diluc,” you whined, for some reasons, you were super clingy, acting like a lost puppy and followed him everywhere when he tried to close the tavern.
there was no breathing customers in sight, it was late at night and even your friends left you for him to handle your drunken state.
if he could leave you alone here, he would probably do it, but to say that you peaked his interest that night was an understatement.
you ended up landing your face onto the counter, waiting eagerly for diluc to wipe off the counter and you said what weighing inside your heart the most. “diluc, let’s be friends.”
his actions ultimately stopped when he saw you looking at him with a pair of eyes that almost made his heart skipped a beat. you looked so innocent, he never thought that you were capable of doing that, or was it because you had some possible effects on him?
“hm?”
“i said, let’s be friends,” you sighed dramatically, and suddenly bumped your head hard onto the wooden counter. diluc almost slipped out the small glass in his hand hearing the loud thud. “i want to know you more. it has been like, what, 3 months since we knew each other yet i only knew you work here today,” your hands flying all over the place before your roommate placed both of his hands on your tensed shoulders.
“calm down, y/n,” he sighed, but a small smile started to form on his lips. “we have years to come, you will eventually know me, right?”
you started to freak out with his words, slapping his face away from you and a scoff was heard by the man in front of you. “you’re weird,” you commented.
diluc acted like nothing happened, he had came across a lot of situations with drunken people and he knew you weren’t going to stop until he said what you wanted. “yes, friends.”
“pinky promise?” a wide grin plastered all across your face as soon as you heard diluc words, and diluc almost, almost went red with how his heart tugging at how adorable you were right now. well, you did have an effect on him after all.
and so, your fingers intertwined, a childish promise was made before diluc pulled his hand away from you.
“now, let’s go back home together. i’ll have to take care of you so do not act foolishly along the way.”
XIAO wasn’t fond, or even acknowledged, that there was literally another person living with him. to say that you at least felt distant from him was an understatement, and maybe, just maybe, you did feel hurt sometimes with how cold he was.
your friends, who often crashed inside your small apartment seemed to notice how quiet he was. it was like he wasn’t there in the first place, ignoring you and your friends as he casually went inside his room, shutting the door and never came out again for the rest of the night.
yes, you did feel worried about him. how he was so alone and didn’t socialise with people made you wonder how on earth did he manage to share this place with you, and still treated you like you were some sort of an invisible entity since then.
no matter how many times you tried to talk with him, coincidentally, or consciously, bumping into him while doing the dishes or the laundry, sitting down next to him while he was alone on the couch only for him to say nothing and got up leaving you slightly disheveled at his actions, he just wouldn’t get the hint of you wanting to know him more.
you were bored, and xiao acting like this wasn’t going to cure your boredom anyway.
and of course, as someone who basically lived for human interactions, you knew you had to be bold enough and break that stupid barrier he had in him, that barrier in which blocking you and his solitude life far away from another.
so, one day, a thing that you knew you would never do onto your roommate caught up inside your mind, weighing onto you for the entire day, contemplating all over again whether you should or shouldn’t, because this might turn horribly wrong and you feared that the thin line of relationship you two might have would turn out to be more awkward than it already was.
“what are you up to, hm?” xiao jolted at the sudden voice behind him. he almost burnt the pancake he usually did for breakfast. sometimes he did for you too, knowing that you woke up later than him who was a night owl and an early bird all at once.
he stayed silent, but you knew he was cooking breakfast for you too. seeing the amount of multiplied ingredients in front of you made your heart all fuzzy and warmed. at least, he did care for you, even the slightest.
xiao was taken aback when you suddenly hopped onto the counter beside him. somewhere in the back of his mind, he was questioning why you were acting so happy and bubbly. you were always like this, but seeing you being this cheerful and positive made him looked at you with a calculating gaze.
“what?” your legs swinging back and forth. “stop giving me the judging look, xiao,” you scoffed. sure, xiao was a handsome man, and maybe you just couldn’t stand his good-looking face staring at you for too long.
“why are you here?” his question was straightforward, yet his tone was stern and he continued to act cold. if you could describe him, xiao would give the most 'tsundere' vibe you’d ever found in a man.
“oh, you know, just watching you doing stuff,” answering without any hesitation, you instead asked him. “do you need help in anything? you do this for me too.”
to say that xiao was flabbergasted with you pinpointing his deed was more than enough for you to understand his situation, and xiao faked a cough, proceeding to ignore you at his side and flipping the pancakes.
when he finally done, you jumped off the counter and quickly grabbed the plates nearby, serving them for you, and for him too.
“what is this for, y/n?” oh, so xiao knew your name after all, you nearly thought he’d forgotten about it. you didn’t blame him though, you were just another unimportant person in his life. “let’s eat breakfast together,” you gave him a cheeky grin, and xiao still stood firm although you had placed the pancakes onto the small dining table, yours and his were opposite of each other and you smiled at the thought of your plan since last night doing well so far.
“it’s fine,” xiao hurriedly took his plate, and you truly knew where he was heading, it was either his room, or the living room. so you did what your instinct told you, gently slapping his hand away from the plate and although you’d already sat and he was still shocked with your hand wrapping his arm, xiao quickly looked away, closed his eyes and gave you a big sigh.
“come here,” you pulled him to sit in his place, and to your suprise, he didn’t fight you back.
“where is this going?” he asked, and you felt like smacking his head for being too oblivious with your situation of wanting him to feel like he was your roommate and not just another stranger lounging across the apartment.
you pulled up your spoon. “do you want me to lecture you on how to be close with another person?” flicking his forehead with your spoon instead only for xiao to still stay emotionless and frowned slightly at the pressure on his face. “just eat, big boy. i swear if you’re acting like a lost child once again, i might go feral.”
“why do i have to listen to you?” he still didn’t want to back down, and still questioning all your actions so you quickly got up from your seat, your hands found his face and xiao’s eyes widening at your warm touch on his face, you were bold, he gave that.
“xiao,” you called his name gently, and he felt how his heart dropped at your sad eyes. “can we be more than just strangers?” you murmured. the way xiao looking up at you intently made your heart almost cried at the sight. he was a good roommate although there was a lack of interactions between the two of you, xiao still cooked your breakfast occasionally.
but you weren’t going to ignore the fact that there was something felt lacking between you and him.
and now, when you felt xiao’s hands taking your hands away from his face, you almost exploded in emotions. was this the direction of your relationship and him left you alone again? why did you feel so emotional, did xiao really had an impact on your life?
maybe he did, he was the one taking care of you in the shadow after all, although he was silent about it.
were you really that desperate for his attention?
and all was shut up when you felt xiao stood up, holding you near him, wrapping his arms around your waist and although the hug was awkward and he was stiff, it was enough to soothe you.
“i’m sorry,” his voice turned softer, silently blaming himself for doing this to you, and you were taken aback with the smell of his cologne, the small space between you and him and the gentle tone he was using.
“i’m sorry, i’ll try improving myself and be a good roommate to you, y/n.”
the first thing to note about ZHONGLI was how cautious and gentle his actions were towards you.
everything he did was so admirable and you couldn’t help to adore this mature side of him, minus when he started to go all in with an insignificant topic like who invented the coffee table or when wine was first made in the industry.
he could be an old man if he went on rambling about all these knowledgeable stuff until your brain went black, malfunctioning, and couldn’t process the information you actually wouldn’t need and use in your daily life that you just had to stop him from continuing his speech.
not to mention, he was quiet popular between the neighbours. even your friends would sometimes wanted to meet him only to drool over him and his look, and sometimes you would cut them off and said no.
the only downside of him was how he seemed to borrow your money all the time. his look could pass off as the rich if you didn’t live with him, but well, guess that was his financial problem.
even how he seemed to ace in economics and unconsciously showing his things—branded things by the way—he yet still borrowed your money just because his memory wasn’t good enough to bring his wallet with him.
he could memorise everything perfectly fine but a precious item, namely his wallet, wasn’t his priority and you were scared to see him broke one day.
thank god zhongli was such an intelligent human. too wise for people around his age and this, of course, you took an advantage of asking him to teach you when you had exams around the corner.
and you were so grateful to have him as your free tutor. he might do bad at his job but hey, at least your grades were improving.
“why did this nation called wind as anemo in the ancient times? it’s so complicated,” you frowned at the long text engraved in the thick book. it just happened that history was the last paper and you just couldn’t comprehend why the term existed when they could’ve just call it as wind.
“it’s in greek,” zhongli seemingly super patient with you and your whiny attitude, he decided to just let you be. “and dendro is also in greek,” he added. “only these two are in greek, there is no need to be theatrical about this.”
“yeah, i know, but with how many papers i’ve gone through this week, my brain has insufficient space of storage for now and this makes me feel worse. i am doomed,” you turned towards him dramatically, maybe you were being exaggerated like he said but the nervousness about failing history was unbearable at this point, for you and your mental health.
“nonsense,” he cut your acting and you quickly glared at him. “the human brain is capable of storing memories up to 2.5 million gigabytes, and there’s never too much for your brain,” he leaned back onto the cushion chair beside yours, bringing his hands to his chest and looked at you as if he was quite disappointed with your little to no efforts.
“one synapse of the brain could—
"okay, mr. zhongli, i’m sorry,” you cut his words before your supposedly history lesson with him turned out into some sort of a neurology class and you definitely didn’t want that.
“let’s be real here,” you spun your chair to see his face directly in front of you, ankles immediately meeting with his and you almost flinched at the contact. zhongli was unfazed so you decided to casually push your chair back a little without making it look awkward due to his intimidating aura when he was serious, and to make more distance between the two of you.
“so, the famous history of teyvat civilization,” you brought your fingers. “there are seven thriving nations,” you continued before seeing that zhongli was staring at you intently. it was too much for your heart to handle. he looked so cool and you were scared of looking stupid.
“ugh,” you groaned, bringing your chair back to the table. “just why do i have to memorise all these facts about this inexistent world in the first place?”
“you have to,” he answered unknowingly. “now, do you want to revise or..?” the calming voice beside you made you felt like an idiot compared to a smart man like him.
“alright,” you sighed, zhongli did have a point. this was for your final semester grade, and you knew you would instantly regret it if your grade ended up low.
“enlighten me then,” he did what he always did when you asked him to tutor you or to supervise you studying.
you took a deep breath. “there were once seven gods people in teyvat worshipped,” you peered your eyes at zhongli and he nodded calmly at your words. “the god of anemo, geo, electro, dendro, hydro, pyro and cryo. all these gods also have their own titles which are freedom, contract, eternal, wisdom, justice, war and love respectively,” you trailed off. even only in a single sentence, your brain jammed trying to process them.
“i couldn’t do this, we aren’t even at the part of each of the nations yet,” you gave up, closing the book before getting up from your seat and ultimately backing away from your study. “time to go out and get some fresh air!” you ignored zhongli’s gaze at you, and when you were about to pass zhongli and get out of your room, zhongli pulled you back from his seat, only for you to land on top of him and a silent gasp came out from your mouth.
what the hell was he even thinking about?
“you are not going anywhere,” his deep voice made your insides tingling. your heart skyrocketed and with how fast he pulled you into him, he placed you back in front of your study like he didn’t do that with you in the first place. your face felt hot, red and you somehow felt nauseous all at once.
where the heck did he learn to do that from?
did he know your poor heart couldn’t take that?
“cat got your tongue?” zhongli’s chuckle resonated through the thick atmosphere within your suffocating room.
“what’s that for?” in that short span of time, you decided to chin up and not showing him how affected you were by his actions. your insides was screaming yet you gave him a look to hide the embarrassment you felt.
“i know you would not even bother to read after this, that was definitely an uninspiring argument you had,” he pulled his chair to become much more closer than you intended him to.
there was no way you were going to focus with him acting like this all of sudden.
“y-yeah, i’ll continue,” you stuttered, and zhongli found it was an adorable sight to see.
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to leave this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to leave this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to deactivate this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to deactivate this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to deactivate this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to deactivate this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
i have finally done setting up my new blog! you guys can find me on @berrywoo for now although it is a little bit lackluster atm. i'll be moving ALL of my works there since i have decided to deactivate this blog in another week or two. just would like to say that thank you for 2 years worth of memories here and it's still unbelievable that this blog hit 1.7k milestone as of i'm writing this update.
hope we'll meet each other again soon on a brand new page! thank you once again for all the loves and supports ‹3 signing off, auni.
@genshinology → @berrywoo
— old pinned post (navigation) | archived masterlist
