i told myself i wouldn’t do huffman pieces except for every 10 posts but i can’t help myself. i am weak for him. he's my reason for living. sometimes i check the huffman x reader tag to see if there’s any new fics, but there’s still really only the ones that i’ve written 🥲
huffman is professional, and treats everyone with respect. he’s truly matured since he hit adulthood, and now has a stellar reputation around mondstadt (although not from diluc). that’s why you’re so drawn to him to start with. he’s pretty, and he seems lovely.
emphasis on the seems part.
the truth is that as a knight, he holds a position of authority over most mondstadters. if anyone gets too close to you in a way he doesn’t like, a simple glare is enough to keep most away.
he’s not above fabricating evidence, if it comes to it. it gives him great joy to handcuff a man that comes too close to you, and it lets it show on his face when confronting him. if the man was wondering who made up the crime, that question is answered when he sees the man’s unapologetic grin.
“now, you’re finally out of the way. didn’t i warn you?”
there are men like albert, as well. you seem very close to him, and he’s even spending less time with barbara, prioritising you instead. if he can’t figure out believable evidence for him, that’s fine. he’s a knight. his duty is to protect you.
even if it comes to bloodshed.
you’ll end up relying on him. he’s going to make sure of it. huffman schmidt is dense- except when it comes to you. you’ll be all his, eventually. no matter what it takes.
and so, when windblume rolls around, who else is there but him?
so we’re starting with albert because he’s such an iconic character and his name starts with a-
a yandere!albert
oh, albert.
all he wants is to help barbara, but prowling around the church only stresses everyone out instead.
and then you arrive.
an outsider to mondstadt, you don’t quite grasp the dynamics of everything yet, so you strike up a few conversations with the man. you think he’s rather nice. he’s hooked.
no longer do the nuns have to keep watch around the church with the knights on speed dial; barbara has one less person to worry about in her day-to-day life. as for you, though… he’s going to start popping up wherever you go.
at the general store, at the adventurer’s guild, at the tavern(s), hell, you’ll even find him in stormterror’s lair if you’re there too. sometimes you look out the window at night and swear you can see a shadowy figure in the distance, but it always disappears if you shine a light on it, like a whisper in the wind.
he seems to know where you’ll be even if you never tell anyone. some days, he’s a step ahead of you, bringing you things that you needed, and so were going to get them today, but… how did he know?
you bring up your concerns to a knight, who’ll fold his arms and say “again? let me know if he’s giving you more trouble- i’ll sort him out for you.”
again? what does the knight mean, again? you don’t get an opportunity to ask, though- here comes albert with a large bunch of cecilias in his hands. his boundless energy earns him a whack on the back of his head. how does he have so much energy? you take the flowers with a smile, suddenly drained. as you touch his hand, something sharp flickers across his eyes. for a moment, you think you might’ve seen something beyond his giddy smile.
something darker, more possessive? a corrupted feeling that a man could get absolutely drunk on? if it was there for longer than a second, maybe you’d reconsider being in mondstadt.
but alas, it was only for a moment, and the uneasiness eventually disappears, with you none the wiser as to how deep his feelings really go.
you got horribly sick once- two men arrived at your door with medication and kind eyes. and you’d fallen hard for swan’s clumsy speech. ever since then, you’ve made excuses to pass through the front gate, just to see his face again.
not that you ever, y’know, talk.
the most acknowledgement you’ve ever seen is lawrence (you think that’s his name?) elbowing him excitedly at the angel’s share, and a quick look from him.
you want to say it’s nerves, but past experience tells you not to get your hopes up.
━━━━━━▼━━━━━━
you shouldn’t worry though. it’s definitely nerves.
lawrence is the worst, with a big grin whenever you pass by; he never hesitates to tease him about his crush. swan makes an effort to only meet you in taverns, when he can pretend the blush on his face is alcohol induced, and not the rush he gets from locking eyes with you.
his gaze never fails to linger when lawrence reassures him that you’re not looking his way and he goes in for a second look, his eyes trailing up your body.
lawrence pats swan on the back and tells him it’ll be okay, because you obviously only have eyes for him. swan makes a face. lawrence can’t help but wonder if his friend will ever believe him.
“have you tried flowers?” huffman asks him.
“no, the problem isn’t figuring out how to ask them out. he hasn’t even figured out that they like him.”
“oh.”
lawrence rubs his temples. “and listen, no offence, but you can’t give any advice, because you’re about as dense as they come.”
swan can see the gears in his friend’s head turn- and then he shrugs and wanders off. days turn into weeks, which turn into months, and eventually a year and a half has passed and lawrence has had ENOUGH.
“you. come with me.”
swan doesn’t get a chance to respond, his friend dragging him along the streets of mondstadt as their shift changes over and his plans are drastically changed.
“lawrence, is everything okay?”
lawrence scowls at him. so, no.
“i have had to sit through you and your pining and your nerves and your worries for a year and a half, and i’m sick of it. so tonight, we’re going to find them, and you’re going to ask them out. you can go to starsnatch cliff, or something. pick some cecilias.”
“no, wait, hold on-”
panic rushes through swan. ask you out? haha, what? he won’t even be able to get the first few words out! you’ll think he’s a joke before he finishes the question!
“nope, no holding on. i’m not interested in suffering anymore, so you’d better figure out what you want to say.”
has he daydreamed about you reciprocating his love? of course- but he’s long since resigned himself to the fact that that’s simply just not… possible. but here he is in front of you, a sweet madame in your hands.
his stomach rumbles, and swan wants to curl up into a ball and die.
“hey, my friend wants to ask you something important.” lawrence gives him a pointed look, and the knight can see sara trying so hard not to look, but not being particularly successful.
“okay.” you smile, biting your lip a little. archons above, you’re so, so, so cute. “whatever you need from me, you can have.”
swan misses the double meaning in your words, but lawrence doesn’t, and lets out a loud sigh. “swan, ask.”
he swallows. you have no idea how your bright eyes scare him so.
“um, i- uh. i wanted to-” he coughs. this is awful. this is the most terrible experience of his life. “i wanted to ask you out on a date…?”
you blink. “and this isn’t a joke?”
“no!”
a wide smile spreads over your face. you wipe away at your eyes and apologise profusely.
“sorry, crying over being asked out? that’s really embarrassing-” you sniff, and wipe away at your face one last time. “well anyway, the answer is obviously yes. i kinda can’t wait, so don’t put it off!”
a sense of euphoria washes over swan. uh, that thing about this experience being terrible? it was definitely wrong. he looks at his friend.
requested by @ash-11037 | i'll do a masterlist once i hit 10 posts
perhaps her perfumes are simply just love spells in disguise. maybe that's why timaeus fell for her so easily, and why you were entranced at first sight.
ft. completely oblivious reader
ying'er is amazing. from her smile to her beauty to her personality. maybe she's already caught onto you; you can't help but visit her every day, pretending to simply just being insanely interested in perfumes.
you decide you don't mind. is she simply just being friendly with you, or is she flirting back? maybe flirting is as close as you'll ever get to being with her, because it's not like you'll be able to ask her out. what if she doesn't swing that way?
there was a man from mondstadt, once. you're pretty sure he fell in love at first sight, and to be honest, you get it. you've visited her again, today.
ying'er grins at you when you approach, and you can't help but smile, albeit embarrassedly.
"hello, again."
"good morning, gorgeous."
"any new perfumes?"
"you sure go through them speedily."
"i just like having a collection, if i'm being honest," you lie, and then smile at the irony of saying something like that. her own smile remains on her face, and you wonder if she's seen through it your poorly constructed lie.
“if you’re being honest…” she muses. “i guess i thought i was being clear enough, but maybe there’s still some doubts? that’s okay. i don’t mind making the first move.”
huh?
wait. is what you think is happening actually happening? you’re not making it up? you’re not daydreaming?
ying’er takes your hand and pulls you closer. “you’re not very good at lying, i’m sorry to say.” ah. so she did see through you. you bite your lip.
“but you’re so cute that i don’t really mind.”
aha. you can only really focus on her hand, intertwined with yours. her eyes, sparkling.
“by the way, you’re blushing. you really are super cute. so- how about we go on a date? i’ll take you out to lunch.” oh. oh, it’s really happening. so all the comments really were flirting?! how could you not have noticed?!
“i’m sorry for not noticing sooner,” you say. you can’t wipe the smile off your face.
“it’s alright! as i said, it’s adorable. i really like you.”
later on, she does take you out to lunch. you can’t help but feel your crush deepen. a lot more dates happen after that, and eventually you become each other’s significant others.
you pay her back for her confession, eventually. it involves a ring and a deeper commitment.
i ascended to world level 8 on the side account because i was going to help oomf get her last 30 hydroculi. i did not mean to get to wl 8, but i’d coasted so much on wl 6 that it boosted me up to ar 55. i’ll be relying on my lisa more than ever now T_T anyway since i’ll be stuck doing dailies in mondstadt for a while, here’s lessig:
a yandere!lessig
spoilers for the final inazuma archon quest, eula’s quest
he came back from sumeru different. that journey through the glass- world? bottle? he’s truly unsure as to what he should call it- was eye-opening. but life was certainly harder back in mondstadt.
he still experiences the same distrust and contempt from mondstadters, but his family is calling him a traitor now as well. life is certainly not easy for lessig at the moment- so really, you should have foreseen this.
yeah, it’s all your fault.
you are a lifeline for him; the light at the end of the tunnel. you noticed his change in character, his efforts to blend into normal society, and held out your hand for him to grab. of course he got attached? duh?
yandere!lessig is obsessed. obsessed with everything that makes you, you. he can’t figure out why you decided to take an interest in him, but it’s this mystery that sends him digging through your trash late at night, picking out any of your old belongings. you ask a knight about a coat you accidentally threw out but wasn’t in the bin the next day. the knight says he heard rummaging, but nothing more.
during windblume, he makes sure he takes up all your time. nobody else can get a word in. he doesn’t let your eyes wander. there is only him. you’re only interested in him, right? you don’t even realise he’s sucking up all your attention until it’s too late.
he’s not one to get his hands dirty- personally. no qualms, however, about paying someone off to do a hit and run. his family’s had dealings with the fatui in the past, and now that that harbinger’s dead, it’s pretty easy to find a bored enough fatui to take the mora. the chaos caused by the death(s?) only enable him to spend more time with you.
he’s had marriage on his mind since you validated his efforts on that fateful day. and lessig lawrence is not going to let you slip through his fingers.
