anonymous artists
summary: you were an artist in liyue that no one knew, yet your art was seen in a few places among the town. even though you loved painting, your ideas were falling short, so you took a trip to Mondstat to fulfill your creativity. only to be greeted by another anonymous artist unbeknownst to you.
pairing: blackyn! x albedo
genre: fluff
warnings: none
key terms: (p/n) = pen name
part two (coming soon)
a/n: consider this as “I got inspiration from the quests recently and now I want a story about two artists meeting.” Enjoy!
“Coming to have your painting printed again, Y/n?”
“Ah, yes I am.” You answered sweetly to lady behind the counter.
You came down to the publishing house late in evening right before the bustling city woke up for the night.
The old lady admired your painting. “These canvases lately are becoming oddly small for an avid painter like you Ms. P/n. Something the matter?”
For an old lady like her, she sure did catch on to what was wrong. You sighed softly and shook your head, rubbing your temples.
“My inspiration is low. I feel like I have seen Liyue in all of its perspectives: up and down, left and right.”
The old lady chuckled and began to sit aside your artwork. “Inspiration. Now you can never run out of that, my dear.”
“I sure have. I feel like I’ve ran into my first artist block in a while.” You shrugged.
The old lady bent down behind her counter, grunting a little. She moved over ink jars and pens until she came across an old map.
“Do you like traveling?” She inquired, smoothing out the paper in front of you.
You took in the map in front of you. Your eyes widen at the vast amount of places you could see.
“Why yes I do. I do many times for ideas. But I think I have done as much as I could.”
“I believe there are many places you have not seen. Take our neighboring town for example.” With a red pen she circled the place which underneath was titled Mondstadt.
“Mondstadt?”
“A beautiful place might I add. While it is not as busy and enticing as Liyue is, it still has perks that Liyue wish it could even meet.”
You were enhanced by her words and the possibilities that were yet unraveled to you.
“Take this map and travel there safely. This could help in your inspiration.” She smiled sweetly to you as she folded the map and handed it over.
“I will!” You accepted and bowed to her. “Thank you so much. I’ll make sure to come back with plenty of huge canvases just for you.”
“And your fans.” She winked.
You simply laughed off her comment. While you did indeed have fans who appreciated your art, they only knew P/n, not Y/n. And you wanted to keep it that way for a little while longer. Basking in being unknown felt nice for the time being.
As soon as you began to walk away she called your name once more.
“Clax recently made a piece.”
You stepped back up to the counter immediately. “Really?! You have it already?” You asked excitedly.
“Their’s too were small, almost pocket size.” She pulled out the artwork and slide it across the counter for you to see.
The canvas portrayed a statue of the seven that you hadn’t seen before. The painting took place during the day. There was an enormous tree that stood behind it with small crystal blue like butterflies that danced along the side of the statue and the tree. Even though it was small, the art still portrayed tranquility and peace behind the statue.
“Their art never fails to amaze me.” You said, still full of awe.
She gave you the piece of work. “Keep this. You’ll probably see this again once you get there.”
You were confused on why she said that, but you gently placed the artwork into your backpack and thanked her before going to pack for your trip.
After packing you got on your horse and began to set off for a new journey to fill the void that you have been yearning to fill since forever.
You thanked the gods for no rain or storm weather throughout your journey. You took easy paths while you followed the map. Avoiding areas that could potentially have hillichurls or abyss mages. Eventually you finally made it to Mondstadt.
The grass was green and the waters were crystal blue. In the distance, you could see the tops of buildings in which you assumed was the heart of the town. Just from the outskirts of the place, you could feel your brain starting to work. As much as you wanted to take out your notebook to jot down the sights you were seeing, you knew you had to get settled in before night completely came in.
As you strolled in, you secured your horse outside the gate for safe keeping. You walked into city right at dusk. You took your hood off and looked around. While the old lady was right about some aspects, there was one thing she was wrong about. This place was busy. While it was a different kind of busy, they still had their things going on.
You could feel a pair of eyes on you. You went to look into the direction of your apprehension until it was cut short by a gentleman.
“Is this an adventure I see here?” The man was a complete flirt, you concluded.
“Far from it.” You joked and dismissed his statement with an airy laugh. “If I am being honest, I just wanted to explore a bit and then go home in a couple of days. I see that aspect will probably be in the daylight hours.” You told the man who nodded in agreement.
He placed his hand out in front of you. “Kaeya, Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius. A pleasure to meet you. I hope our city is exceptional to your exploration.” He winks.
You simply shook his hand, not being too phased from the flirtatious jokes. “I’m Y/n. It’s nice to meet you. I’m sure the city will not disappoint.”
Kaeya was generous enough to allow you to stay in the rooms they usually have for guests every now and then. You were ready to pay, but he simply declined. New comers always have the first night free, he said. While you thought he was just simply being flirty, you still took him up on the offer anyway.
You went straight to unpacking your bag. You pulled out a stand and placed a canvas on top of it. You placed your brushes on the table next to it and then laid on the bed. You sighed loudly before looking at your watch. It was going on midnight. Even though you were tired, you wanted to step out and and see what creativity you could gather from the silence of the night. You took your notepad and pencil and slipped outside.
You walked to the center of the plaza where the fountain was. You took a seat right on the edge of the fountain and and looked around tentatively. You closed your eyes first to take in the sounds around you. You could hear the crackling of the fire from the restaurant. You could hear the soft jingles from bells that hung from the door because of the wind. Then of course, you could hear the water behind you. You opened your eyes slowly and leaned your head back to look into the sky. You gazed at the stars, allowing each one to create a path that directed your eyes to the moon. You were amazed by how different the stars looked form another location. The scenery just from at night was taking the wind right out of your chest. You looked down at your notebook and began to write down the sounds and right down descriptions of how the area around you made you feel.
“Peace, stillness, solitude, warmth, and... and....” Your ears were following he sound of the water again.
The constant rhythm it provided was lulling you sleep before you knew it. You tried to fight it, but your eyes were feeling the weight from today’s travel. Your body swayed due to not having back support. Before your body could give out, you felt two pair of hands grip your shoulders gently.
“Hey, excuse me? Are you okay?” A man asked. His voice was gentle, light, and soft. If it weren’t for the situation you were in, you would’ve asked him to read you a bedtime story.
“Oh! I’m sorry. Yes, I’m fine!” You tried to wake yourself up, rubbing your eyes quickly before having a chance to stare at the man in front of you.
He had what almost seemed like messy hair and he wore a white that hugged his arms just a bit. He had on black jeans and somewhat dirty, black boots. You looked in his eyes and the moon was giving just enough light for it to reflect into them. His turquoise like eyes stayed glued on you, making you flustered a bit. On your right shoulder you felt an object poking at you. Finding as the perfect opportunity to break eye contact, you looked at your shoulder to see what the object was.
He removed his hands immediately. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to grab you so suddenly, but I noticed your body swaying and I wanted to prevent you from falling backwards.” He informed you.
You noticed how he folded his notebook close and brought it to his side.
“Besides, you ruining your notebook would probably be devastating.” He added, shrugging slightly.
“You’re right. That’s what I get for trying to be ambitious at midnight.” You joked and he laughed.
His laugh sounded just as gentle as his voice. Thanks to the moon once again, you were able to see his smile for a moment.
“Albedo, Chief Alchemist and Captain of the Investigation Team of the Knights of Favonious.” He introduced himself. He offered a hand to you.
You took it to shake, but he gently pulled you up. “I-I’m-” You caught yourself before slipping out your pen name. you were still in your artist mindset, and that could’ve ended badly. So you thought. “I’m Y/n. I’m just simply traveling for change of scenery.”
“From where, might I ask?”
You bit your lip in thought. It wouldn’t hurt to say from where. You just wanted to be cautious with that kind of information.
“Liyue.”
Albedo hummed softly and nodded. “That explains the alluring accent.” He spoke to himself.
The comment alone, even though he had no flirtatious intent behind it, had you flustered once again.
You switched the topic quickly. “Captain of the investigation team, yeah? I’m sure that’s why you’re out here and spotted me right? I’m already noticeable as it is.” You rubbed the back of your neck.
“That is not why I was out. I was out for... for a stroll. Yes, a stroll.” He concluded with a nod. “Besides, you are noticeable in a good way. You have already peaked my interest more than once and it is only our first encounter.” He spoke bluntly, but his voice was far from bluntness. “Why are you out so late?”
You could see his eyes trail down to your notebook which you had already closed. “I like to... write down things I see when I visit new places.” You thought of something quick. “For my... grandmother. She is an avid reader so I paint a picture with words on paper for her to read. She loves it so much.” You gave him a smile.
Little did you know, he was shortly taken aback by the tired smile you displayed to him.
“Fascinating... and to think that joy of reading and the creation of writing was beginning to die down.” He said.
You yawned before you could stop yourself.
“My apologies. I have held you long enough. May I escort you back to your room?” He asked so formally that it left you baffled.
“N-No need. I can head back myself.” You gave him a sleepy yet meaningful smile.
Your smile once again caught him off guard. He covered his unknown flustered state with a small cough.
“All right then. Take care. I’ll go back to helping myself find creativity.” He said.
The statement had you tilt your head a little, but you shook it off. The phrases felt fit for artists, but maybe your sleepy mind was just playing tricks on you.
“A-All to mean, heading back to my stroll.” He cleared it up a little, chuckling a little at his own awkwardness.
Before you both had a considerable amount of distance between you, he stopped and turned around.
“Y/n? How about later in the morning we meet here.”
You turned back and saw him gesturing towards his alchemy table.
“I have a place in mind for your writing if you desire to see?” He asked, hoping maybe you cared to see him again.
“Of course. That just gives me plans to look forward to.” You agreed.
A glint of excitement danced in the alchemist eyes.
“Until then.”
You both parted ways silently, but deep down there was a roaring party within both hearts.