Did you see lohens trailer ? I just felt tears running down my leg you NEED to write about him
Float Like A Butterfly…
🍓Wrote this in an hour, not edited, just really wanted to write something for him. I know you probably wanted nsfw, but it didn’t go there lol. Hope you enjoy regardless.
TW: Fighting; Reader stabs a guy; Lohen kills a guy; no graphic depictions of blood and gore, but it’s still violence; potentially ooc, he’s not out yet so…; NOT EDITED!!!
Butterflies: Small, harmless, pretty. They flutter about, pollinating the flowers, showing off their pretty colorful wings to the world. They come in a variety of species, monarch, red laced, and the little one on his finger. You’d called it a Morpho, blue wings patiently opening and closing as it rests upon his glove. Lohen likes things like these, innocent and graceful, but holding a poisonous little secret.
What most people fail to understand about butterflies is, while mostly harmless, a large amount of them are full of toxins that make their predators sick. They eat from poison plants as caterpillars and retain their toxins into adulthood. The bright colorful wings are warnings, not just pretty details to make humans ooh and ahh at them. Hmm, reminds him of someone.
Fingers snap in his face, and he follows the hand to your impressively disarming pout. Were his hand not occupied by your little friend, he’d lean his head into it and admire you for a little while. You’d been talking about your garden, how the lack of rain this year had been causing you trouble, he’d heard the whole thing. He never stops listening, especially not to you, but you always doubt it.
“Were you even listening? You’re off in the clouds again—“
“Of course, you’re thinking about trying new soil, right?” He hums, turning his hand to observe the pretty wings better.
“I—“ You stutter, take a breath, and start again, “I was, yes. Flora and I were talking about it, everything’s too dry here this year… she wants to go to Liyue Harbor for something better, but… well I didn’t want her to go alone.”
He pauses, “You’d go all the way to Liyue for some soil?”
You nod, hand on your hip defiantly, “If my plants aren’t growing the caterpillars can’t eat, which means no more pollinators which means my plants can’t grow— er, sort’ve.”
“Vicious circle,” He comments absently, “You planned on going alone?”
You shrug, he doesn’t like when you shrug, so flippant with your own wellbeing, “Probably. Maybe I’d go with some merchants familiar with the area—“
“I’ll come with you,” he states, flat and refusing argument.
Finally he shakes the butterfly from his hand, watches as it erratically flaps its wings, then finds purchase on your shirt. He supposes you’re about as sweet as nectar. Standing, he chases it from your shoulder too. Pettily refusing to share your sweetness with even the smallest of things.
You’re not impressed by any of it, “You have a responsibility to Mondstat.”
“I do…” he hums, almost lamenting, “Oh, and lookie here, a citizen of Mondstat! A very clumsy one, at that. What’s that, it’s my responsibility to ensure all citizens are safe and satisfied?”
“Alright, alright, enough,” you laugh, pressing his shoulder playfully, “if you can get the okay from Jean then I guess I don’t have a problem with it.”
“Why not Varka?” He hums, teasing.
“Varka’s too soft,” you snicker.
————
Lohen shows up on your doorstep three days later with a smug grin plastered on his face and a signed paper excusing him from his duties for the next two weeks. You nearly believe he’s forged it, if not for the fact that Jean herself confirms it when you bump into her around lunchtime, “He’d be insufferable with you gone.” Among other reasons she cites.
So, thoroughly defeated, you and Lohen prepare to leave early in the morning. The trip would be relatively long on foot, but having company makes it easier, at least. The first while in Mondstat is a breeze, and crossing the border doesn’t take much time and effort either. The issue seems to arise when you’ve just begun to arrive in Guili Plains. It’s the longest stretch of road without any settlements or outposts, meaning treasure hoarder presence was high.
You think, certainly, because it’s early morning things won’t be so bad. What idiot strikes in the middle of the day? Lohen is sturdy at your side the whole time, relaxed with his fingers loosely entwined with yours. Another reason to let your guard down. Lohen would never let anyone hurt you, not if he had a say in it.
“Liyue is so pretty,” you comment, taking in the greenery around you.
He hums, “You’ve only been one time before, right?”
“When I was little,” you answer, “My parents came for some celebration with an old friend— I don’t remember.”
“Maybe I’ll have to take you out more,” he muses, “I think you’d like Fontaine—“
“Ooo, yes please! The flora there is just so otherworldly, I’d kill to see it in the wild.”
“Fontaine it is then.”
A loud shout cuts both of you of, Lohen’s relaxed demeanor immediately sharpening, air ice cold around both of you. Your fingers tighten reflexively in his, seeking soothing and comforting him all the same. He squeezes back, stiff, and another shout for help sounds off in the distance. You see the way he assesses the situation, so quick how he breaks down his strategy. You suppose that’s how he became vice captain so quickly. Still, it makes your heart race just how… hot it is. God, you should not be thinking that right now.
“That wall there,” he says, pointing to a crumbled ruin, “Hide behind it. Don’t make a sound.”
You nod, obediently following his instructions. He watches you until you can’t see him any longer, and you’re sure he watches some more just to be safe before he stalks off in the opposite direction to deal with whatever it was you’d heard. Your heart is racing, but you trust you’ll be alright. Lohen couldn’t be too long, not with the way he fights.
Still, seconds tick by and your breath is ragged from nerves. You try to stay calm, but your heart races even after the shouting stops. Nothing less than Lohen would soothe you now, but what else can you do but sit and obey?
Footsteps, heavy and uncaring come from beside you. You clamp your fingers around your mouth, tuck your knees to your chest. Whoever they belong to is muttering something under their breath, his voice is unpleasant, like sandpaper to your ears. You pray they’ll just move on, leave you alone, but of course they don’t.
They stumble down the steps in front of them, landing squarely in front of you. For a moment, both of you are frozen in place, terror seizing your being. Then, this large man about twice your size, lunges at you. It takes all you have to doge out of his way, but you manage it. Scrambling up to your feet.
Fight or flee? Maybe it’s all the time you’ve spent with Lohen, but when he lunges at you again you kick him squarely in the stomach. He stumbles back, recovers and comes at you again. Faster, harder, angrier. It’s all you can do to move out of the way, still he clips your shoulder and you come down with him.
The wind rushes from your lungs, leaving you gasping for air long enough for him to find his way on top of you. Legs swung over your hips, weight crushing your body hard enough you’re afraid they might fracture. His hands are wrapping around your throat the second you get enough air, squeezing tight, blocking the flow.
“Boss’ll give me a pretty penny for someone like you,” he sneers, teeth dirty and breath foul.
What that means, you don’t want to find out. You won’t find out. It’s a rookie mistake to leave the hands free, which is exactly how you’re able to get the dagger from your side. A gift from Lohen when he’d first started courting you. Ironic how you’d sworn up and down you’d never need it. You take the handle, and stab it as hard as you can into his forearm.
Instantly he crumples, releasing you long enough you can stab into his side. He lets out another strangled sound, falling off you to the ground. You scuttle away, terrified and desperate. The man, somehow still coherent enough, grabs your ankle and keeps you there. Dirty fingers in a bruising grip, so hard you nearly feel the bones snapping.
His face is twisted up into pure, unfettered rage. Murderous. You try to kick at him, try to reach over and stab, but he’s learned his lesson in restraining. Grabbing your wrist tightly with his other hand. You feel small, helpless. Like your wings had been ripped off in one fell swoop.
His face is near satisfied, anger melting into crazed excitement. Then a spear rips through his skull. You flinch away at the sight of it, dagger dropping to the ground in favor of shielding your face from the gore. His grip releases as you tug away, and a familiar presence takes his place instead. Not before kicking the corpse to the side, of course.
You don’t fully process who saved you, though, curling away from the touch. Terrified another, more angry, more violent man had come after you. And, yes, those things are true… this one would never hurt you. Even as he pries your hands from your face in a less than gentle grip, he lets you kick at him until your brain catches up.
When it does, you nearly throw yourself at him, wrapping him into a tight hug he reciprocated without hesitation. He is eerily calm, heart rate even and steady, not like the usual battle hungry man you know. It scares you a little, the mania he usually has replaced with a calm, simmering rage so unlike him.
“I’m-“
“I made a miscalculation,” he states, pulling you up without releasing, “You fought hard, good job.”
It was factual, lacking the usual teasing lilt he normally had. You push away, just enough to see his face, and find it just as flat as his tone. Some of it melts away when you look at him, relief you think. He was angry, though, burning with it. Boiling behind his eyes in a way he normally resisted. No delight in the hunt this time.
“Are you alright?” You ask, fingers finding his face. They’re bloody, you realize, but he doesn’t flinch at all.
He takes a deep breath, letting himself calm just a little, then his usual smirk is back, “Should’ve tortured him, would’ve sent a clear message to his friends.”
“Lohen—“
“I know, I know,” his hands go up in mock defense, “Let’s just get out of here and get you cleaned up.”
You gaze down at your bloodied clothes, grateful it isn’t yours, and nod in agreement. He takes your travel sack from your shoulders and picks the discarded dagger from the ground. You watch him play with it for a little while, attackers blood still shimmering on the blade.
“I think I’ll have to teach you self-defense before we go to Fontaine,” he mumbles, flipping the dagger one last time.
You huff, “I think I did pretty well for myself.”
“Sure you did,” he grins, “but you can do better. I’ll make sure you do better.”
“Whatever you like, Lohen,” you give up with a shrug.
He watches you a couple seconds longer than he needs to. Clothes stained with the blood of your attacker, eyes tired. Still, somehow the prettiest thing he’s ever seen. Then, as if the universe heard his thoughts, a yellow winged butterfly floats over and lands right on your shoulders. He swipes it away once more, replacing it with his arm around you. Yeah, they really were like you.
This is exactly how I imagine Lohen to be and I am kicking my feet reading this for the 3rd time
