warnings - food, mentions of not being able to sleep, pet names (sweets, angel), childe is shirtless for all of this lmao (no sexual implications though! he sleeps and prepares food shirtless), lots of non-sexual physical touch and affection, sensual kissing
a/n - this is my entry for @xiaosmoon 's holiday collab event with the prompt "day 28: midnight adventures to the kitchen"! big shoutout to eri and all the other wonderful writers who took part in this event, i'm honored to be among you all!! :) <3 i hope you enjoy the story hehe :P (this is peak tart-kisser favoritism but lets ignore that mwahahahaha >:D)
childe was a very handsome man: you would know since you spent the better part of two hours studying every freckle and detail on his face when your attempts to sleep had failed.
part of you felt a little creepy for so casually stroking his ginger locks from out of the constellations of freckles that ran across his face. your thumb had caressed every gap and scar and there was no denying that your fingers had memorized all of the spaces of the canvas of his body. but as much as you'd love to lay with him and memorize the angles of his face, your stomach had other plans as it wailed loudly beneath the thick covers of your shared duvet. you weren't too much of a stellar chef, so childe often took it upon himself to cook up delicious, mouth-watering meals. unfortunately, for your stomach that is, he was already fast asleep with his nose tucked snugly into the crook of your warm neck.
waking him up was out of the question; he'd just returned home from what appeared to be a grueling fatui business trip and try as you might to pry the frustration out of him, you knew he much rather preferred not to disclose anything that could ever worry you (even if it meant he'd have to brood on his own for a while).
continued utc!
still, even if you were an abhorrent cook, there was no use in denying your stomach's hungry calls. but the only problem was unslotting yourself from what childe liked to call your "koala" embrace. your arms were wrapped firm around his upper torso, and his were wrapped snug around both your shoulders and waist. your legs were a tangled mess and surely if you moved too quickly or too rashly, you'd end up waking him up and your silent mission would be for naught.
you began first began slackening your arms and slipping them away from his body. then came your legs, which you somehow managed to detangle despite the reef knot they had been entangled in. lastly came the tricky part: slipping away from his hold. his bear-like grip seemed impossible to escape from at first; no matter how gently you tugged, his arms remained almost glued to your body. in the end, you settled to wriggle out from under which seemed to yield better results. though it wasn't easy, you managed to squirm from out of his grip and nearly toppled onto the cold, hardwood floors if not for the desperate clutch of your hands into the fabric of the sheets. the last thing you wanted to do was deprive childe of any more rest.
careful not to make any loud noises, your bare feet padded quietly along the floors towards the door, making sure to open and close it gently so the hinges didn't squeal and wrench childe from his sleep.
only the pale glint of moonlight lit your path to the kitchen of your shared house. it couldn't be little more than slightly past midnight, yet the house had never seemed darker. you'd memorized all the pressure points of all the creaky woodboards and tiptoed around them like a ballet dancer if ballet dancers also flailed their arms wildly to regain their balance.
just as you were about to round the corner into the kitchen, a pair of arms encircled your torso and drew you back just as a sharp yelp got itself tangled up in your throat.
"why are you up so late?"
the rasps of sleep still clung to his voice as his chin planted itself firmly on your shoulder. your back pressed itself against his bare torso and if you listened close enough, you'd hear the sweet melody of his waking heart and quiet hums of his breath that tickled against your earlobe.
"got hungry." you mumbled and turned your face inwards to press a kiss against his cheek (the side with the little jagged scar near his earlobe—you'd been tracing it earlier and found it beautiful).
"and you didn't wake me? sweets, do you remember the last time you tried to cook?"
you did indeed remember, detail for detail, how you had nearly set your house on fire yet somehow managed to undercook the fish that childe had caught just for you. sometimes you swore that you could still cough up ashen fumes if you tried hard enough.
"i didn't wanna wake you. you looked tired."
childe ran his hands up your sides and thumbed at your hips with a gentle smile on his face before pressing his lips against the top of your head.
"i'm all good, a few hours is all i need any way. now then," he took a minute to stretch the last remnants of sleep from his tired limbs, arms and toned back flexing (deliciously) under the pale glimmer of moonlight,
"what do you feel like eating, angel?"
the pet name made your insides melt like thick globs of honey, which somehow trickled its way up to your tastebuds and suddenly your mouth began demanding for the sweet taste of,
"something with chocolate?"
childe hummed and made his way over to the pantry, ocean eyes searching for something amidst the now sadly, barely-filled cupboards. you made a mental note to visit the market in the morning to restock.
"how do you feel about hot chocolate?" he asked, crooking his neck back to peer at your through wisps of his ginger locks.
you nodded, smiling, "hot chocolate sounds lovely."
you moved to help with the utensils: a pot, a spoon, the bowl of milk you kept preserved with the help of some cryo slimes, all while childe brought down a little pouch from the cupboard that read "dark chocolate powder".
"i know it's not the mix you usually like—mister zhongli gave this to me as a gift for the holidays." childe hummed and slipped the little pouch into your hands.
"that's alright, it'll still taste good." you hummed and slipped your arms around his waist while he got to work lighting a match and setting the milk in the pot to heat.
though sleep wasn't on the horizon in the slightest, his heartbeat sang lullabies of soothing tenderness to your heart and pressed down on your eyelids to shut and revel in the bare, scar-covered skin of your lover. you felt his lips touch base on your forehead, and his hand come around to rub soothing lines up and down your back as his other hand moved the wooden spoon around the pot of heating milk so the bottom wouldn't burn.
"angel, you wanna get some of the biscuits that we bought yesterday? they'll pair nice with the hot chocolate." he murmured into your temple, gentle breath tickling against your earlobe.
you hummed an affirmation and pressed a kiss to his bare sternum before unlatching yourself from his body and stooping down to sift through a nearby basket for the swaddles of biscuits you'd bought with childe the other day in a nearby market.
the wooden spoon clinked with dull thuds against the metal rim of the pot. childe extended a dexterous finger, where a stable droplet of hydro emerged. he pressed it against the burner of the stove and extinguished the firey plumes that had been heating the milk. just as you finished setting two biscuits on two ceramic plates, childe set down a steaming hot mug of delicious smelling hot chocolate. the flavor wafted up from the steam and invited itself through your nostrils to settle on your tongue—you were practically drooling from how good it smelled.
"come on, let's go watch the snow." childe suggested, his own plate and mug in hand.
with a crook of his head, you were supple in his hands and followed him to the living room, where he set his plate and cup on the coffee table and gestured for you to come sit beside him on the soft fabric of the couch. you set the plate of cookies onto the table but kept the mug in your hands as you sunk down and melted into his side as his arm encircled your shoulders and brought you impossibly closer to him. the rim of the mug met your lips and the sweet concoction he brewed for you floated past your tastebuds and down your throat, bathing your stomach in a symphony of warmth.
"taste good?" he asked, smiling when you nodded with a thin film of chocolately liquid resting on the top of your lip.
his calloused hand gently caressed the side of your face, urging you closer and close until his lips brushed against yours. he stole the breath almost directly from your lungs and if not for the vice grip with which you held onto the mug, it'd have long crashed to the floor and scattered into pieces. his lips melded so delicately and gently against your own that you'd never believe this was the feared eleventh harbinger of the fatui: just a man who made you hot chocolate at midnight and kissed you until you were breathless.
"you're right," he hummed after pulling away with a gentle tug of your bottom lip, his own stretching into that all-too-familiar wolfish grin of his as his tongue ran over the span of his lips, "it does taste good."
you huffed and rolled your eyes but couldn't fight the giggly smile on your face. the back of your knuckles gently knocked against his bare chest in a reprimanding manner, "come on, you really couldn't come up with something that wasn't cheesy? you have your own mug, y'know!"
his lithe fingers tapped against his chin a few times before he replied, "your lips were closer," and dove back in for another taste of the sweet chocolate on your lips.
━━ ☆ SUMMARY: the seasons change with the passing of time and it does not pick favorites. when autumn comes, memories of summer’s delights fall just as much as the yellowed leaves do.
━━ ☆ WARNINGS: death, arguments
━━ ☆ OOGA BOOGA: reblogs are much appreciated!!
“kazuha,” the man in question blinks, turning his attention to the traveler who was approaching him with a concerned frown, “you’ve been staring out at the sea for quite some time now… are you okay?”
“ah, yes… thank you for your concern. i was just thinking about… things…”
the traveler didn’t miss the wistful tone he bore but he thought it’d be better not to question it. some things in this world were better off untold, if only out of respect for those who bore the weight of the tales. instead, they sat beside him on the ledge, muttering a quick thanks when kazuha scooted over to give them space.
“may i ask a question, friend?”
“a question, huh… go ahead…”
kazuha returns his gaze back to the unknown, “what’s your favorite season?”
AAAAAAAA I actually forgot that I didn't write today's so apologies if it's short and terrible >W<
Ganyu often stayed at work late. Sometimes, it felt like she was married to her job. Of course, she always apologised, but it wasn't the same. You wanted her, to talk to her, go out with her, love her.
That wasn't possible. You were just her assistant. Nothing more, nothing less. You could only watch as she worked herself to the bone for the city that she would die for.
This was one of such nights.
"Lady Ganyu, please take a break. You've been working for five hours with barely any breaks, and pausing to drink coffee does not count."
"I need to get this policy drafted up for Ningguang." Ganyu leaned back, rubbing her eyes and reaching for a coffee cup that had long since been drained. She peered at you tiredly.
"Go home, Y/N. You've done enough," Ganyu smiled. "I can take the rest from here."
"But I--"
"I don't think you want to do overtime with me, do you? I'm an adeptus, I don't need sleep. You, however, do."
"It's alright." You smiled at Ganyu. Anything to keep her company again. "I still need to clean up some of the paperwork in the cabinets."
Ganyu looked unconvinced, but she makes another sleepy grab for her coffee cup. "Could you refill my coffee? Black with--"
"Cream and two sugars, I know." You giggled at her wondrous expression. "I can hardly forget if you drink the same coffee every time, can I?"
That, and you had taken it upon yourself to remember her coffee preference. You headed out to the market, intending to buy Ganyu some tea. It isn't healthy to drink only coffee, and at such a late hour at night... yeah, no.
As you walked, you pondered the idea of confessing. Preferably, you would invite her on a date, maybe a picnic? Ooh, or a dinner date! Those were really romantic, weren't they?
You'd treat her gently, and encourage her to come out of her shell a little. Ganyu may not look it, but she actually had a wicked sense of humour. Her shyness just overshadowed everything.
Oh, how you wanted to take her out on a date. You wanted to talk to her, to get to know the "her" behind the mantle of Lady Ganyu.
But when you found yourself standing in front of Ganyu, her sleepy hand reaching for the tea like a wilting plant straining for sunlight, your resolve crumbled.
Ganyu deserved better.
And so you stood by quietly, watching as Ganyu drank her tea, the moonlight haloing her like she was a divine being from Celestia.
diluc had his chances, but he had let them slip through his fingers.
this um. isn’t that good lol but!!! here
“master diluc!” your cheery voice brought him out of his solid thoughts, and he nodded as a greeting to you. your smile was bright, brighter than ever before.
diluc hated noticing the small things.
your smiles, the glimmer in your eyes, the happiness extruding from you whenever you came to see him.
he had a chance.
“(s/o)! ah, and master diluc, hm?” kaeya’s smirk had always annoyed diluc. that easy, deceiving grin, he thought to himself, it was irritating beyond means.
he had lost his chance.
he hated how he saw your face brighten at the sound of his supposed brother’s voice. how you and he would hold hands, enjoy each others company, and speak about the small things that didn’t really matter.
his mind jumps back to the moment where he did have a chance.
that fateful night, where you two had chosen to lie awake, staring at the sky, speculating and viewing the constellations that were scattered amongst the dark night.
he remembered it clearly, he remembered you clearly; your eyes were dusted with stars, you looked excited beyond means. he was happy, for the briefest of moments, and you were happy. he could’ve said something, complimented the look in your eyes, thanked you for being here. he had hoped, that maybe that was the day. the day he would tell you everything.
but he had failed in everything.
was it his fault? his hands were shaky, he couldn’t speak. his throat clammed up at the thought of confessing his feelings to you. and before he knew it, you were swept away by his brother, his fake charm and his deceitful smile.
did you love him? before you were loved by another, did you love him?
maybe you had thought he had given up on you. maybe you were only visiting him out of pity, pity for his lonely days. you and kaeya, giving him endless amounts of torture, forced to spend time with you both. but who was he to say no? he didn’t want to disappoint you. because he had loved you.
maybe it was okay for you and kaeya to be together, anyway. even if he had lied, betrayed him and his family, maybe kaeya deserved an ounce of happiness. at least he got to see you, he thought, at least the two of you had never stopped being friends.
“diluc? are you okay?” he studied your face quietly as you frowned. a sigh, a nod, he looked away.
“well, we should order something, since we are at a tavern after all, the most famous in mondstadt!” kaeya grinned once more, though he looked as if he knew what diluc was thinking about, “aw, don’t give me that look, master diluc! we should celebrate.”
“celebrate?” he repeated, confused, but he grabbed a few glasses nonetheless.
“yes, of course! to our friendship, hm? oh, and to our lovely relationship.”
friendship. you and he would be nothing more, nothing less, just friends, close as you two could be.
kaeya, maybe he deserved happiness. you and he would be good together anyway, he lied, turning to pour a glass of whatever he would be able to find. he had a long night ahead of him.
