How likely are they to kidnap their darling? How quickly will they do so?

He wouldn’t kidnap you in the traditional sense of the word nor is it the end goal for him. He wouldn’t want the lovely spark of your eyes to dull, nor is it appealing to clip the wings of someone he adores by confining them. If you had met him during his general days, though, that’d be another story. Aren’t you lucky he has changed his ways? Also, Lilia is fond of spontaneity. Having you imprisoned within four boring walls, with you shackled to it, would kill the chances for whimsicality.

If he were to take you away, how fast it happens depends on external factors out of his control and the chances of it representing a risk to your livelihood. When you find yourself in this deplorable scenario, with your freedom restrained, Lilia’s quite lenient with how much you’re allowed to move. Yet as flexible as he may be, he’s also strict with the measures he takes to ensure you can’t escape. You’re allowed to roam the cottage to your liking, bathe and dress yourself, sleep whenever you like… As long as there’s no imminent death coming your way, you’ll be fine! Hm… but it begs the question: what exactly does Lilia consider a big enough threat?

If Lilia’s going to control some aspect of your life, he first looks at your social circle, then at your environment before he resorts to confining you to a room.

He can assess that you and Ace get along well, but don’t rely too much on him. You must be selective of who you let into your inner circles, as these so-called friends are nowhere to be found when emergency strikes. Don’t forget that his first reaction to your deplorable situation was to point and laugh at you, and the sole reason why he acquiesced to lending a helping hand to find that gemstone was to avoid expulsion. You should seek him out more, instead, who unlike these peers of you, he has your best interests in mind. The search would not only have ended sooner—he’s a fae, after all; his senses are more tuned to magic—he would’ve handled that monster with ease.

Any question you may have about this world, don’t hesitate to ask him. He has travelled far and wide, more than most of the student body and he’s the most accessible to you. Why would you prefer to go through the strenuous effort of asking someone else, when you’ve got your good ole’ friend Lilia. Where others might roll their eyes and huff at your good-natured curiosity, he’s got no qualms with spending a whole night and morning recounting his memories of his vast travels and knowledge. He’s a one-in-all package.

His goal is to make himself so important in your life that he’s your first option whenever you want or need something. By the time you realize you rely on him most of the time, that he’s the first thought in your mind when misfortune strikes you and you seek him for comfort, or when you’ve had joyous experiences too and the first person you go to share what happened is him…it’s late. You get accustomed to his consolation and warmth to the point it’s not the same when you seek someone else. No one gets you like Lilia.

How difficult is it to escape from them? How do they keep you restrained? How do they deal with attempted escape?

Ah, Idia looks so handsome when he worries his lips like that.

Idia almost choked on his own saliva.

His head snapped in your direction, to which you raised an eyebrow.

“Everything okay, Idia?”

“Ah—I thought I had heard something,” he chuckled nervously before facing forward again.

Hehe, the tips of his hair turned pink. I wonder if other parts turn pink too. Like, the tip—

Huh?!

—s of his ears.

Oh…

And the other tip too.

Okay, this was ridiculous. Surely you were just jesting? You must be up to some tomfoolery. Regardless of whether such salacious thoughts meant something significant for the feelings he had been refusing to acknowledge, he wasn’t ready to face them.

I can’t believe I’ll get to be alone with him in the infirmary. Not that I’d expect anything to happen, but it’d be fun if it did. Maybe a little smooch? Pfft, what am I thinking? Knowing Idia, he would run away before anything happened.

That’d be a correct assessment, because while you entertained your imagination about the possibilities, Idia snuck away. The dizziness from that cloud dispersed, and suddenly he felt in condition to run another lap around campus if Coach Vargas asked him to.

If he listened to another word from your mind, he’d combust right there and then. Thus, the reason why he was hiding from you in the first place.

Where did he go? I can’t let him wander alone in that state! Just thinking of Crewel chewing my ear off is giving me a headache.

To his dismay, he didn’t make it far from you, as he could still hear your thoughts.

“Oh, Kalim, have you seen Idia? He was right here with me a few minutes ago, and I can’t find him.”

“Whaaat? I can help you find him!”

Idia panicked. His hiding place was not great in the first place, and adding a high-energy extrovert like Kalim to the equation was a recipe for disaster too.

In the meantime, Kalim chatted with you about something Idia couldn’t bother himself enough to decipher. Idia peeked from the classroom’s ajar door once he heard your voices fading further away. Seizing the opportunity to scurry away now that you both had your backs to him, he pushed the door open and fled… Only to rush face-first into an unsuspecting passing student and send the pile of books he was carrying flying.

ʚ⁺˖↪ LEONA

You’ve been following Leona.

He wasn’t blind or deaf—and even if that were the case, your scent was one he couldn’t ignore. Although, saying that you were following him did paint you in a less than favorable light. In reality, you’ve been waiting for the right moment to approach him, and Leona had a hunch about the reason why.

After the spell-drive training, Leona headed to take much deserved breather under the shade of a tree. Not only was he physically exhausted, as these training matches were accustomed to be, but he was beyond irked from listening to unwarranted thoughts. From the coach to the teammates and other students that went to watch it—he wondered why he even thought in the first place it was a good idea to go. He had gone with the idea to destress after that alchemy class’s disaster where some idiot mixed the ingredients wrong and doused him with a mind-reading potion. It had done the complete opposite.

Crewel had sent him to the infirmary, and while Leona did so (grumbling), he didn’t heed the nurse’s recommendation to lie down until the effects lessened. Instead, he had gone straight to his spelldrive club.

This is rather embarrassing. I don’t know how to approach him. He clearly isn’t in a good mood. Damn it, Crewel. Why did you send me of all people to look for Leona?

The breeze rustled the leaves, softly swaying Leona’s hair along.

Leona closed his eyes and crossed his arms behind his head to cushion it from the tree’s trunk, finding your thoughts rather amusing than anything else. You were so nervous to approach him he couldn’t help finding it entertaining rather than annoying.  It was a breath of fresh air. Instead of trying to tune you out, he waited for the next string of thoughts.

So you approached him. He commended you for leaping despite your hesitation. Regardless, upon feeling your presence mere meters away from him, Leona didn’t even bother cranking an eye open. This spot here was a rather restful one in the courtyard, far from prying eyes and unwelcomed guests. With the setting sun’s warm glow onto the earth and the zephyr freshening up his sweaty skin, he was way too comfortable here.

“Leona, the nurse is waiting for you to check up on your condition.”

“Tell her I’m resting like she told me to.”

“Well, she can’t see how you’re doing if you’re not there, though.”

Leona frowned. “I’m not moving.”

Yet his refusal to listen didn’t deter you.

You sat close to him, under the shade of the leafy tree too.

“I can’t go back without you. Professor Crewel and the nurse won’t stop pestering me until I bring you back with me.” You sighed, fiddling with the hem of your shirt.

“Suit yourself.”

Uhg, Leona! How can you be so…so…

Go on.

So hot even when just resting. I’ve been trying so hard not to stare at his chest since he lowered the zipper, but it’s hard not to. He looks so firm…

Leona’s ear twitched.

And that buckle under his pecs looks quite tight too. He must’ve been bulking for the spelldrive season.

Would you look at that? Who would’ve thought you harbored such salacious thoughts of him beneath that unassuming exterior. As grueling as dealing with this unwanted mind-reading ability was, this discovery lightened his mood. Since when have you been so effusively thinking of him?

Is he asleep already? He looks tired. I don’t want to wake him up... He’s got pretty eyelashes too. Geez, stop staring at him!

You waited for him for longer than he expected you to.

Well, I’ll tell them I tried.

Just as you were about to head off, Leona caught your wrist and pulled you to sit next to him.

“Quit fidgeting,” Leona grumbled, resting his head on your shoulder. “I’ll go.”

“Really?”

“After I’m done napping.”

ʚ⁺˖↪ ROOK

Before you knocked, Rook’s enthusiastic smile greeted you first upon opening the door. He was wearing that one unique nightshirt of his without the nightcap, and as handsome as he was that only him could pull that look off, you weren’t expecting him to greet you wearing that.

“Ah, trickster! What a sight for sore eyes you are!” he beamed, stepping aside to let you in to his bedroom. “Are you here for that little makeup lesson we agreed on?”

“Sorry, I was just going to check up on you. Has the potion’s effects worn off?”

Wait a minute… Are those freckles? Now that I think about it, I had never seen Rook’s bare face until now. He’s still stunning without makeup.

“Non, but no need to fret! I’m very much capable of mentoring your endeavors to elevate your natural beauté. Come in, come in.” Without letting you hesitate any further, Rook found the small of your back to nudge you inside.

Ah—I feel like I’m intruding. You peered at the lavishly decorated room, the wallpaper harmonizing with the merlot curtains and white canopy atop the bed. Truly a room befitting the Pomefiore dorm. It was a far cry from the ordinary furniture of Ramshackle. You kept stealing glances at Rook, checking that it was really okay for you to be here. Not knowing the severity of the potion’s side effects, you wouldn’t want him to entertain you over resting, but he was humming as he opened the drawers of his vanity to look for the makeup brushes.

Rook briefed you through the steps to prepare your skin for makeup application, like cleansing, hydration, and solar protection. He even helped you choose shades that would cooperate with your skin tone rather than wash it out—and you did your utmost effort to keep up with his explanations… but it wouldn’t be Rook if he didn’t meld his speech with poetic prose.

“This shade of blue and the color of your eyes blend so beautifully they seem destined to confluence, like the gracious merging of two flowing rivers,” it didn’t help that he would compose a poetic prose about your features and the makeup on the spot. Your face was burning at this point. On top of that, he held your chin up with his hand, ensuring you wouldn’t squirm away and smudge something.

We’re so close… I could count his freckles if I wanted to… Wouldn’t it be nice if I could pepper a kiss on each and every one of them? Hmmm, dreaming is free.

"Ahem—what did the potion cause, anyway?” you forced yourself out of your thoughts.

Rook’s lips quirked up, his movements stopping for a moment. “Well, it enhanced my sense of hearing.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound so bad.”

Wouldn’t it be so embarrassing if it were something like mind-reading? Hah, imagine.

ʚ⁺˖↪ LEONA

Doesn’t even offer a surprised blink when you ask him. Instead, he simply motions you to lie on top of him on his bed, no further explanations given. Not very sure of what he has in mind but eager to find out, you make yourself comfortable on top, a folded leg on either side of him. Leona doesn’t offer anything more than a small grunt, and soon enough, you feel his hand land on the small of your back to angle your torso closer to his face. You brace the fall by quickly supporting yourself with your forearms against his pillow, but he had positioned you in a way that your chest was at level with his head. “How do you expect me to suck on your tits if you don’t come closer?” He’s so annoying, but you don’t linger too much on the thought because he hooks his fingers beneath your shirt and rolls it up, bunching it on top of your breasts. At the clear absence of a bra, Leona sends you an amused glance as he pinches a nipple between his fingers and rolls it. “You were eager for this to happen, weren’t you?” “Please, I know you’ll enjoy it as much.” Leona’s hand encloses around a breast, almost purring at the softness, before his tongue drags upwards in slow motion, your nub becoming taut from the stimulation. Without letting go of you, he opens his mouth wide to taste more than just your nipple, tongue tracing around the areola and savoring you. Soon, he finds himself seeking more, growing greedy and sucking at the sensitive spot—not covert enough in how he keeps teasing you with his fangs each time he draws your nipple into his warm mouth, slathering more and more saliva the longer it goes.

ʚ⁺˖↪ JAMIL

Lips in a straight line and impassive eyes—Jamil’s expression hasn’t changed since you brought this up. However, the longer you look at him, expecting him to say something, you see his cheeks taint with a reddish hue. When you try to take a better look at him, he faces away and pretends to need to do something before retaking the conversation. He doesn’t get far with that little ploy, though, as you’re familiar with his tactics. He’s another one that needs a gentle push in these endeavors. Not because he’s timid (although there’s some level of unease given his limited experience with intimacy) but more so because of his tendency to hold back his desires. Nevertheless, it’s not too difficult to get him to plop on the velvety cushioning of his bed. At first, Jamil allows you to take the lead when you get on top of him and kiss him with the intention of alluring him. In some way, he’s like a cat that tolerates your advances as long as it’s within his terms yet the moment you tiptoe out of it, he readjusts the dynamic. Jamil’s rather sensual without meaning to in the way he caresses your body. His intention is to maintain a degree of self-control by first sliding his hands from your hips to your sides, lips pressing into the side of your neck. His lips are soft against the tender skin, taking his time to descend upon the exposed areas by your shirt. Ever the observant, Jamil considers that your enjoyment of him taking his time with you is a plus even if this gentleness comes from another intention. While garnering your reaction, his thumbs brush the sides of your breasts. “You might lose balance if you keep writhing like that.” “It’s hard not to when you’re touching me like this, you know?” His mouth is still attached to your skin when his hands snake under your clothes, feathering the tips of his fingers along your waist until his thumbs end up brushing your nipples. Despite it being a faint touch, it was enough to garner a breathless reaction from you, rewarding you with another trail of his fingers on them. Jamil massages them with upwards and downwards motions, alternating with circular caresses. It reaches a point you can’t hold it back any longer, and you take it into your hands to undo the buttons of your shirt, urging him to do something about the dizzying ache. Jamil’s aware of the speeding thrum of his heart at the sight but remains collected on the outside. His eyes are closed once again when he leans closer to you, lips fluttering down your collarbone and in the direction of the center of your chest, where he prefers to nuzzle his face while both hands get to work. He maps the overall shape of your breasts with his palms, the softness, and any textured blemishes that stand out to his digits. Once he’s had enough of it, then he latches onto that taut nub that has been standing for attention.

ʚ⁺˖↪ MALLEUS

You exhale and drop your arms by your sides, shooting a pointed look at him.

The petition hung in the air, and you went back to swabbing the flesh with gauze before he had the audacity to repeat it. The antiseptic solution flared a sharp burn across the lacerated tissue upon contact, and where other people would’ve complained about the pain, an odd-sounding gasp came from Lohen.

“You know, I just want to make sure that I’m receiving what I’m requesting.”

By the time he insisted, the wound had been cleaned and ready to stitch up. The sole reason why you accepted his requests to nurse his injuries was because you had a great relationship with the medical team and you weren’t clueless about how to stitch up a wound like this one. In fact, even the knights ought to pass through the basics in case they could help a fellow companion amidst the battlefield. On top of that, you’d be lying to yourself if you said you weren’t at least a little intrigued by him…

As you pulled a needle out to stitch his wound, you avoided meeting his expectant eyes.

“…I ran out of ingredients for the amplifier, though.” you hovered the needle over the candle’s flame to sterilize it.

“I still have some leftover from the one you gave me,” At your hesitation, Lohen continued. “Well, you don’t need to if you don’t want to. I can test it on myself on my own.”

Goosebumps tingled on your skin at the mere implication. No stranger to Lohen’s lack of self-preservation, you could envision him underestimating the level of damage he could inflict upon himself. On top of that, no amount of dissuading would rid that idea off him, much to your chagrin.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“There’s a hidden pocket inside the waistcoat. Right side.”

You feel across the fabric, and when your fingers bump into the undeniable shape of the vial you gave him a few days ago, you pull it out. The deep violet liquid sloshed within its glass confinement, reflecting the candle’s flame into your sight.

Lohen reached out for it, but before you stretched your arm to offer it, you retracted.

“Why don’t I concoct one less potent?” you held it close to your chest. “This one could be very well out of your pain thresholds.”

“I doubt it’s worse than any wound I’ve suffered from an ambush.” Before you could hesitate again, he snatched it from you. “Also, a less potent one? Where’s the fun in that?”

With a thumb, he sent the cork flying to a forgotten destination.

Devoid of a second thought, Lohen tipped his head backwards, emptying its content onto his tongue until the last drop rolled down the vial’s flange.

“What’s with that look? It’s almost as if the one about to get stitched were you instead,” his lips pulled into a grin and tilted his head to a side. “Could it be that you’re worried about me?”

“Stop moving, will you?”

You held onto the sterilized needle, the pointy end inches away from the throbbing skin. Even though this was not your first time treating someone’s injury, the fact that he was under the amplifier’s influence made you reconsider, but you didn’t have much choice. The effects wouldn’t end until the next day, and by that moment, it’d be too late to stitch him up.

With the most precise control you could, you punctured through Lohen’s reddened skin, and he took a sharp intake of air. He squeezed his eyes shut, nose crinkling at the outburst of sensations, and you faltered.

“It could be stronger,” Lohen groaned.

“I’m so done with you. Don’t you ever ask me to do this again or I’ll kick you out of my tent.”

“I’m just messing with you. I didn’t actually drink the potion; it was grape juice.”

“Oh—I swear to the sevens, you—”

“Not going to lie, it was nice to see that you do care about me. Hah, what’s with that frown?” Your irritation was inconsequential to him, because that infuriating grin of his didn’t waver, not even for a split second. After a brief silence of you working the stitches (slightly less careful as you fumed), Lohen didn’t backtrack from his previous statement. “But the amplifier could be stronger. Fatui spies have become more stubborn, and it hasn’t been as easy to get information out of them.”

“Why don’t you try something else?”

“And what do you suggest? Keep them hostage until they feel like piping up? I’m hardly enthusiastic about going through the motions of interrogation to begin with,” he played with the vial. “This little solution I’ve got here gets rid of unnecessary stalling. I trust I can keep counting on you?” albeit the tilt at the end of his voice, you knew better.   

“I can provide you with the solution for as long as you need it, but regarding intensifying its effects?”

“If you’re so confident about there being a better way to get them to sing faster, then I may ask your chief alchemist to lend me you on my next interrogation.”

A front-row seat to watch how Lohen terrorizes a lackey? “I was just going to say that I’ll need to gather the plants needed, geez. As I said, I ran out of ingredients.”

With that, your handiwork was done. Even though an actual healthcare practitioner would’ve had better results, yours was decent enough. Lohen spared a glance at the sutures holding the once-torn flesh together, a pulsating soreness remaining in their wake.

“How long will it take you? Varka appointed me an offensive operation, and the target must be brought back alive,” Lohen slipped his left arm through the dress shirt hole, and before you could stop yourself, you helped him get his wounded arm through the corresponding one. An action that didn’t escape Lohen’s attention and an opportunity to tease you that he seized. “Committed to a fault, aren’t you?”

You wouldn’t give him the reaction he waited for, though. You’ve amused him enough already. “I’ll have it ready tomorrow.”

“Perfect.” Lohen slid off the table, throwing his coat onto his shoulder. “Good to see there are still competent people around me. See ya.”

The following morning, you embarked on your little journey to restock your ingredients in wooden crates. Even though you would need to drift from the standard procedure to concoct Lohen’s request, the general set of steps were identical; the sole difference would be the main ingredient and the quantity. The specimen skittered along the plain where the Favonius Keep was stationed, and even though it was about an hour-long walk, it was doable.

All you could think of was the mountain of papers that were waiting for you back in Mondstadt. A bunch of research notes longing to transition from scribbles to an actual research paper with its mandated format. It soured your mood.

As you were about to detach the pine amber’s core from the main blossom, a rustling of leaves interrupted your forage.

Since you were, well, in the middle of nature and sauntering around wildlife’s habitat, you didn’t think twice about the sudden sounds. However, it had been increasing, and this time, a chill traversed through you. Rather than going back to what you were doing, you surveyed the nearby bushes and trees and the rock outcrops too. Your watchful gaze lingered atop the shadows by the rock formations, looking out for any unnatural movement.

Not without first sending stuttered side glances, you went back to plucking the core with a hand, while the other reached into your pocket.

A meager beat later, someone barreled against you, driving you into the dewy grass. Pain blossomed in the back of your head upon impact, flashes of white clouding your eyesight.

The culprit in question pinned you into the moist ground, jittery hands enclosing your neck. While dark spots still obfuscated your vision, the man’s bellows were nothing more than nonsensical sounds amidst your stupor. The hand gripping around the handle of your dagger weakened, as did the one grasping his wrist. The world around you threatened to fade into nothingness, a distant thrumming taking ahold of your head as you fought to stay awake.

At the last moment, both sound and sight rushed back in place.

“You need to help me! Hurry before he finds me!”

Although your arm trembled, your resolve spurred you to grip the dagger again and deliver a decisive slash across his cheek, causing rivulets of blood to trickle down his jaw. With renewed displeasure, his scowl deepened, and he strangled you with rekindled ire—only for something to catch his attention in the middle of it, and his face paled.

With a curse, he got off you and fled the opposite way.

With painful, hacking coughs, you sat up, oxygen hurrying into your lungs.

He didn’t make it far before an arrow shot from somewhere and embedded itself into the back of his knee, tearing away at the muscle and sending blood splattering onto the ground. With a hindered leg, the man stumbled to the ground with a thud.

“I didn’t picture you having it in you to lash a blade against someone,” Without stopping his meander, Lohen appeared from behind you, sending you an intrigued glance. “I guess I need to be more wary of you, hm?”

The Fatui agent glimpsed behind his shoulder, crawling away in a futile attempt to escape. The pathetic display earned a scoff from Lohen, who clutched the man’s arm and yanked him into standing up.

“Can you walk?” Lohen paused to look back at you.

“My head hurts, but I can walk on my own, yes.” you gather your bearings and stand up on your feet, brushing the dirt off your backside.

“Great. If you feel like we need to stop, tell me. Don’t go passing out on me. Who knows if a wild beast finds you before I do when I come to retrieve you.”

“Hilarious.”

Even though you didn’t lie about being able to hold yourself, there was still some stagger in your walk. Brushing your fingers at the source of the pain sufficed for a wince to emerge, and you assessed your hand, confirming that the warm liquid clinging to your fingers was indeed blood. Your head must’ve smashed against a rock when that bastard plummeted you to the ground.

“I never imagined there’d be a day where a prey would escape from the vice-captain’s clutches.” You hurried your step to keep up with his, casting him a sidelong look.

“Escape? Oh, no—you’ve got it wrong. I told him to run as far as he could. Right, buddy?” In a mocking imitation of a friendly gesture, Lohen patted the agent on the back hard enough to make him hack a cough. “As I expected, he didn’t get very far, though.”

You wondered why you even bothered asking. In some way, the image of a snow leopard toying with its prey to exhaust it before killing it appeared.

At last, the terrain shifted into a more familiar one: barrels, carts, and red banners with the Knights of Favonius’s emblem, leaving the endless plains of swaying grass behind you.

“You can drop by for a visit tonight. Your vial will be ready.”

“Mhm. One more thing,” Lohen barely gave you enough time to turn around, as a flask was already thrown your way, and you caught it on time by chance. “You can use that.”

It was the healing potion you gave him over a month ago. The cap had not been moved until now that you opened the flask to check its state. Some people would assume that it was because he hadn’t faced any injuries in the past month, but given your little rendezvous the night prior, that wasn’t the case.

You muttered a complaint under your breath, narrowing your eyes to his distancing figure. Every knight received one of these as a precaution, but Lohen shared little interest in using it.

You went back to your tent and started working.

Did you bite more than you could chew? A little bit. By the time you were done with the potion, you were exhausted. Varka had passed by a few hours ago to ask if you would go to the Flagship amongst the rest of the unit, but you turned the invitation down. That was how drained you were.

The stars were already accompanying the moon in the nightfall; in some way, they too kept you company during your studying. Gazing at the night, you jotted down notes and waited for Lohen’s visit.

“You spend an awful amount of time looking at the sky rather than your surroundings.”

You were short of leaping out of your chair when his hands suddenly appeared on your shoulders.

This was a rather unwelcomed way to greet, so you made it clear by scrutinizing him from head to toe.

“I’m an alchemist, not a knight,” you cleared your throat and placed both your notepad and pencil on the table. He was right that you should be more observant, but it was hard not to engross yourself in your studying, and you didn’t want to give him the reaction he wanted. “Studying the stars is part of my duties, after all.”

“No good. What if someone wanted to whisk you away? You’d make it so easy for them,” even though his tone remained lighthearted (as lighthearted as Lohen could be), there was this disquieting sharpness in those reddish pupils.

“What? Is the someone in question you?” you followed along with his joke.

“Do I seem that untrustworthy to you? You wound me.”

“I can imagine." You brushed him off and reached for the wooden rack lined with vials, pulling his out to place it on his awaiting gloved palm. “The amount inflicted should be two times stronger. Any more than that, and I’d have to come clean with Albedo to ask for permission to distribute it to you. Unlikely he’ll approve.”

“Neat. I’ll let you know how the trial run goes.” He slipped it into his back pocket.

You questioned yourself if it was a good idea, but it was too late.

“Lohen…” you furrowed your eyebrows; that encounter back when you were gathering ingredients—you hadn’t stopped thinking about it. “Did you really allow that agent to escape deliberately?”

“Yes. What about it?”

“Next time you do something reckless like that, make sure I’m not within the perimeter, you know? If you hadn’t arrived on time…”

Lohen snorted a laugh. “Pfft, the agent could’ve taken a boat to another nation, and I would’ve still tracked him down. In any possibility imagined, I would’ve arrived on time,” before you could argue, his hand found the back of your head, right where the aftermath of the agent’s attack was. “You took the potion, right?”

“Of course I did. Your vial wouldn’t have been done if I hadn’t,” your frown deepened.

“Is alchemy that hard? It looks like you’re throwing whatever into the beaker to me.” his hand abandoned its position on your head.

“It is hard.”

“I can think of other things that are harder than that,” he snickered. “Is making a pain amplifier hard?”

“It’s not, but since most of the ingredients used are not local to Nod Krai, I had to improvise. On top of that, you can’t use it as soon as it’s done. It needs a while to settle.”

“I see, I see. What about an aphrodisiac?”

“Well—”

“Have you tested one out?” his lips quirk up with a knowing smile. “Or is it another case of you blindly trusting something is going to work out?”

“Mmh…” your cheeks heated up, taking into consideration the turn of the conversation and what he was implying. “It’s more akin to a case of following instructions.”

“Yeah, that much is obvious to me. You do stick to protocols and whatnot,” he tilted your chin up with his finger. “Why are you looking to the side? Are the notes on your desk more interesting?”

“Lohen…” at your call, his grin widened. Could he feel your accelerating pulse through his finger? Why else would he be looking at you this way, with that amused look, hoping you’d take the bait. “Are you…saying that you want to…?”

“I don’t know, miss alchemist, you tell me. If offering myself to test an aphrodisiac wasn’t obvious enough, I don’t know what else will do,” despite the playful edge in his voice, he had taken a step closer and caught a lock of your hair to twirl it absentmindedly.

“You’re not going to play me again, will you?”

“Do I look like the type to constantly deceive people? Matter of fact, I’ll let you pour it yourself.” he pressed a kiss to the lock of hair.

To some extent, you weren’t shocked about how things ended up like this. You had a hunch he, likewise, was as intrigued by you as much as you were by him. The frequent visits to your office before coming here, waltzing into your tent, the little excuses to drop by…there was a particular look in his eyes too whenever you chatted. The funniest part of all was that it didn’t bother you.

You extended your arm to grab the aphrodisiac vial awaiting by the rack, but Lohen beat you to it.

“Should I question why you’ve got an aphrodisiac on stand-by?” Lohen didn’t bother hiding his amusement with that sly curve of his lips. “Do you use it on yourself?”

“Lohen—”

“Hey, nothing wrong with some self-loving,” he uncapped the vial; however, he didn’t place it on his lips, but on yours—grazing the its rim into your bottom lip without tilting it. “What if you took it instead? Would you show me how you play with yourself?”

“…Maybe on another occasion,” you pushed his hand. “You offered yourself as the test subject, after all.”

“Fine by me. Next time, however, you should let me use it on you…” his tone descended; an underlying promise of holding you up to your words. Lying the aphrodisiac into your palm, Lohen curled his hand around yours to guide it towards the enticing pink of his lips. “You know, just to make it even!”

Lohen tipped his head back, welcoming the liquid into his throat. It was warm and syrupy, leaving traces of a spicy sweetness that clung to his tongue. Entranced by the movement of his Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped down, you ignored that he hadn’t let go of your hand yet.

“Mmm, it’s sweet,” Lohen licked his lips.

Without missing a beat, he tugged you forward and clashed his lips against yours, drinking up your gasp. With the way he hadn’t hesitated to find your tongue with his and lick into your mouth, you had to balance yourself by placing your hands on his shoulders. Through his adamant display of affection, you tasted traces of the aphrodisiac leftover on his tongue, and even though it was a miniscule amount, it wasn’t long before your body reacted to it.

You were running out of breath, but each time you tried to pull away, Lohen’s grip around your waist and wrist tightened. Instead of granting you a second to collect yourself, Lohen chuckled and deepened the kiss, ensuring his mouth swallowed each gasp and moan of yours.

By the time he let go of your bitten and crimsoned lips, you were lightheaded.

Albeit the uncommon tenderness with which he cradled your face, his gaze pierced through your visage with great excitement. Lohen guided you onto your bedroll, claiming his place between your legs. When he leaned down to devour your mouth, his aching arousal pressed snug into your core, sending a jolt of pleasure through your nerves. Lohen was as aware as you that you could feel each other through the fabric and shoved his hips into yours.

“You like that, huh,” with a breathless laugh, Lohen seized your hips to force your body into meeting his harder. It was strong enough for you to feel his shape. “You act all demure, but in truth you’ve been wanting this as much as me, haven’t you?”

“Stop teasing me,” you realize he was right when, despite covering your face, you canted your hips upwards too.

“Then don’t make it easy.”

Lohen hooked his thumbs under your pants and underwear to slide them off. You weren’t as flabbergasted when he exposed you to the air when, suddenly, he lifted your hips until your upper back was touching the bed. In this position, with your calves dangling over his shoulders, not only were you exposed in the most intimate of ways, but Lohen had an intimate view of your need. Bared. Nowhere to hide.

“Mmh, as I thought. All nice and wet already,” Lohen drank up the view with his eyes, and at your embarrassment, he pounced on the opportunity to further tease you by blowing on your slick heat. Your body twitched under his attention, and his mirthful laugh sat your cheeks ablaze.

“Is this position necessary?” however strong Lohen was, you couldn’t help worrying. On top of that, this position was way too humiliating.

“Why? Is it mortifying? But if you weren’t enjoying yourself, your pussy wouldn’t be twitching and drooling like this,” with that, Lohen’s tongue dragged flat up your slit, and you keened at the sensation. Lohen hummed at your natural taste, sending tremors across your already delicate flesh. “See?”

Lohen dived back into your cunt, tongue darting into your insides and licking into your slickened walls, not even faltering for a second when it got messy, your juices smeared around the corners of his lips. With him clutching your legs open and keeping your knees away from each other, you couldn’t do anything more than receive his onslaught. You were confined to his hunger, subjected to a position you couldn’t shy away from despite the continuous jumps of your body each time he rolled your clit with his tongue, lapping and wrapping his hot mouth around it to suck.

Not knowing what came over you, you found purchase by reaching towards Lohen’s grayish-teal hair and tugged—maybe you wanted to tell him to wait a moment, that you were about to stumble upon the edge—to which Lohen shuddered into your touch with a riled-up groan. You hadn’t believed it would be possible for someone to eat out with such ferocity, but your small incentive (even if unintentional) reignited the zeal for it.

When that last bit of impulse was missing, however, Lohen disengaged from your core. Lohen gazed at you, and you aren’t sure if how he licked his lips was to rid the string clinging from your cunt to his mouth or if it was at the tears prickling your eyes.

“Why are you like this?” you pushed your pelvis upwards to try and get him to give you your deserved reward. You have been entertaining each of his whims, yet he couldn’t give you this one to you?

“It feels so much better when you hold it off, trust me,” he sent a leer across your shivering frame, the mere memory of your taste increasing the tent concealed under his pants. “But if you really want it…you know, sometimes, you need to force things to go your way. Lock your legs around my shoulders and press me riiiiight into that sweet pussy of yours.”

“I…”

“Or you could just wait until I feel like giving it to you.”

If not for the throbbing coursing fresh through you, you would’ve taken a more level-headed approach. However, with the way Lohen had left your senses thrumming with pain, through your bashfulness, you ended up enclosing your legs tight around his shoulders to encourage him to get back to work.

Rather than easing you back into pleasure, Lohen picked up with the same intensity before he had abandoned. The harder you yanked at his hair, the harder he would draw your nub into his mouth. In turn, though, he would dig his fingernails into your skin. It wasn’t deep enough to cut you, but if he gripped you any firmer, it would. Notwithstanding that, the sinful combination of the tenderness from a denied orgasm, pleasure, and pain sent you spiraling towards your orgasm faster than expected.

Thus, with one last devilish flick of his tongue into your clit, you came undone.

Seconds ticked by, and your tremors diminished with each one that passed. Lohen, on the other hand, wasn’t as merciful and instead of letting go, remained snug in your hole. Gathering the slick with the tip of his tongue, sliding it along the sensitive lips that dripped with your lustful overflow.

“See? That wasn’t difficult,” Lohen sat your lower body onto the bed again, and you heaved a sigh of relief. Your heart tripped over its own beats; the world he had opened to you had left you speechless in a way that was both good and disastrous. “Hahaha! You’re still out of it?” at your silence, Lohen tapped your cheek to force you back to reality.

 “Lohen, what about you? The aphrodisiac’s still in your system and—”

“Relax, we’ll get to that in a minute. My, I hadn’t pictured you to be this needy in bed,” That earned him a swat on his arm from you. A swat that earned you nothing, because he enjoyed it. “Come here. It’s your turn to make me feel good. You’ve got no complaints, right? If you do, I’ll have to put you through it a second time for good measure.”

“That’s not necessary,” you sat up. Had Lohen given you the best orgasm of your life? Lying would be a disservice to the effort he went through, so yes. Did you want to be manhandled into the most mortifying position he could’ve given you oral in, though?

Lohen leaned back and parted his legs, giving you a thorough view of the bulge tenting his white pants. It had grown twice in size since the last time you peeked at it before he got you in that daunting position.

Since he had come here without his cape and waistcoat, it wasn’t long before he discarded his dress shirt. You had been sitting there, watching him undo button per button, baring his lean torso to your attentive stare. Thanks to the training regime knights underwent, there was a considerable amount of muscle on his overall lean frame.

 “Hah, why are you so far? Are you afraid I’m going to bite you?”

“You already did. When we kissed,” you deadpanned, but found yourself inching closer to him. With caution, you placed your hands next to him and leaned in for a kiss. Lohen lunged into your lips, followed by a grunt when you caught his bottom lip between your canines. “Like that.”

He didn’t allow you to retreat, instead capturing your waist while his other hand unfastened his trousers. This was about to become another kiss in which you’d have to bargain for at least one mouthful of air if the way his lips locked on yours was anything to go by. In the meantime, once the fly was unzipped, he pulled his length out of its confinements. He guided your hand to it, making you squeeze and stroke him. He was running hot, scorching thanks to the aphrodisiac. Sturdy. Unyielding. Each time your thumb brushed on the drooling tip, he’d furrow his eyebrows and groan into the kiss. Due to pent-up pleasure, the aphrodisiac had had him leaking into the fabric.

A small gasp forced its way out of you when Lohen found your cunt, thrusting a finger as deep as he could go. From your previous release, your walls and inner thighs were drenched alike, and with the rough handling he delivered to your aching core, more arousal leaked, trickling down his knuckles.

As he found a comfortable position between your legs, you couldn’t help sneaking a peek at his cock. Slender, long, and straight. Lacking a curve, it would be ramming into the innermost reaches of your body without mercy.

Of course, your not-so-sneaky peek wasn’t fast enough to go unnoticed by Lohen. “You seem a little distracted.”

Lohen gripped his cock and nudged it into your folds, smearing the head with your juices. Every time it glided up, it would prod your clit and reignite your need. In a situation in which he’d keep dangling your satisfaction in front of you like a carrot tied to a stick, his patience ran thin and jutted his body forward, his length opening space into your insides.

He pushed and pulled, with measured thrusts. At first. Seeing as he had prepared you and met little resistance when he slid into your cunt, every sense of self-control turned into nothing but an afterthought. Lohen kept his arms taut next to your head, looking down at you with a half-lidded observation, taking in every twist and turn of your expressions. His pelvis impelled into yours with the intent to ravage, sweat clinging to the sides of his face from the speed.

“You look spent, sweetheart. Tsk-tsk-tsk, not good,” his chest heaved with a breathless laugh. “Should I train your endurance?”

You didn’t have the mind to process the actual implications of his words, succumbing to the most basic of instincts. Yet, that didn’t deter him from lifting one of your legs to pass it over his shoulder, positioning it next to the other one. This slight change of position made you tighten around him, increasing the intensity of his unforgiving plunges into your cunt. Moreover, the change in angle made it so he would brush against an overly sensitive spot in your walls, making you arch your back and moan his name.

Thanks the sevens everyone else was away from the camp; there was no way you would’ve been able to hold your voice in with the way Lohen rammed into you, sending your torso to slide into the bedding each time he pushed and pulled.

You were convinced that it couldn’t get more maddening, but the moment his fingers brushed your clit, all you could do was grip the sheets to ground yourself, and the obscene slapping of skin mingling with the sounds of enjoyment made the entirety of your being heat up further. Nevertheless, the outburst consumed each thought you could’ve had as your second orgasm raced to that finish line, and the snug enclosing of your pussy sped Lohen’s too.

Seeking a sense of closeness beyond the lust, your last resort was to reach towards Lohen’s hand. For a moment, you thought he’d ignore it, since this kind of tenderness wasn’t something characteristic of him—but at the very last second before you reached completion, he grasped it in his scarred hand.

You squeezed it so hard you thought you’d break his bones when your orgasm struck. Even through his own, Lohen didn’t stop moving, riding the dwindling release until all but the faint thrumming was left. It wasn’t until he let go of your legs and you finally rested that the angle allowed for his hot cum to ooze from your battered cunt. You didn’t meander too much about that, as you had worked on your fair share of contraceptives before.

After a while of Lohen pressing open-mouthed kisses to your neck, he pulled away.

Limp on the bedroll, your breathing evened out. Suddenly, your bed was the comfiest it had ever been, and the seconds between your blinks stretched more than normal. You followed Lohen’s movements with your eyes, which became droopier with exhaustion with each passing second, until you saw him climb on top of you again, making your once stabilized pulse to rattle again.

“Didn’t you promise I’d get to play with you next?”

“…Right now? Aren’t you tired?”

Rather than receiving a verbal answer, Lohen grabbed your face and pushed his thumb into the side of it, forcing your mouth ajar. It wasn’t until the distinct bitterness of a pain amplifier coated your tongue that it punched you out of your dreamlike haze to sit up and cough.

“Oops, wrong one.” Lohen fiddled with the empty vial in his fingers.

“Seriously? Please get out of my tent.”

“Kicking out a partner after such passionate sex? How unromantic,” Lohen finished buttoning his pants. He reached for his dress shirt next. “I’ve got some unresolved business with you, however.”

You scramble to get dressed too while Lohen stepped closer, his slow footsteps sending every panicking signal to sear through you. With practiced ease, Lohen cornered you with his trusted dagger. The blade glinted beneath the moonlight as the end pointed in your direction. Waiting a centimeter away from you.

“I need you to do one thing. I’m not asking for much, am I?” without letting go of you, he made you walk toward your desk and sit on the chair. Standing behind you, he slid a sheet of paper and your quill before you. “Write a letter about how an emergency back home has made you retreat sooner than predicted. Addressed to Varka.”

You glanced at the paper, then at the quill, and then you craned your neck to peer back at him. His eyes had never looked this dull before to you, but despite how devoid of light they were, you still had in you the will to refuse. Seconds ticked by, and the silence within the tent suffocated you with each accelerated beat of your heart.

Notebooks, stacks of papers, and a potion rack stumbled upon the floor along with the desk in your scuffle to put space between Lohen and you. You gain the upper hand for the same duration that a blink of an eye lasted, much to your dismay. Lohen slapped his hand around your arm to grab you, the slight echo reverberating, mirrored the small—yet painful—pulses at the impact. A simple action that forced a yelp that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise without the aid of the amplifier.

“Oho, I see you’re not going to make it easy. I like that!” he twisted your arms behind your back to secure you in place, his hot breath tickling the side of your neck. You grit your jaw when you feel his mouth lock by your pulse, sucking at the sweaty skin to leave a mark. Furthermore, the way he kept pressing into your backside, and you felt a rather prominent feature poking into it… “You know what? Since this has been all too easy, why don’t we turn it up a notch? Yeah, let’s heighten the stakes here. Run as far as you can. Didn’t I say I wanted to train your endurance too? Let me see how long you can make it before I catch you.”

With an insignificant shove, he let go of you.

Tears rushed to your eyes and with clenched fists, you snapped an aggrieved glare at him. You didn't dare linger there lest he changed his ming, and fled from there.

You made it to the road by the Favonius Keep and onto the other side. You called at the door of the Lightkeeper’s outpost, to no avail. You head to the second closest outpost available, and in the lack of an answer, you realize that you’ve wasted precious minutes. This lack of Ratniks meant that they must be somewhere fighting the Wild Hunt, but trying to trace them would be counterproductive and would also place you in harm’s way. Heading towards Piramida was a bet against time too, and seeking a hiding place amongst the sharp edges and rocky formations near Kipumaki Cliff was a surefire way to get wiped off the face of Teyvat by the Wild Hunt. This isle didn’t bless you with a bunch of options, meaning that you’d have to place your sights yonder.

There were no sources of light if you strayed from the road; murky shadows lingered to enwrap anything that dared to wander into the vast, forlorn plains of swaying grass by the fleeting imprints of civilization. To traverse the solitude that stretched across the wilderness to make it to the shore where, hopefully, a humane fisherman could take you to the where the ocean met the sky and beyond was necessary if you wanted a chance at escaping the clutches of the vice-captain.

Yet, what chance would you have, when not even a trained spy could outrun him?