キラリ★キラリ

the vice captain waves from her couch cheerily. "hello to you too, mutt!"

still in a soft nightgown that ends halfway down her thighs, her hair loose around her face despite it being nearly 4 in the afternoon, she suddenly feels a lot more exposed than normal under lohen's sharp gaze. "how did you get in, what is- what? what is it, what do you want?" she snaps, visibly frazzled.

to his credit, lohen doesn't seem to take nearly as much joy in it as usual. "well, if you must know," he starts, stretching. "im leaving for a little task given to me by the grandmaster personally. tomorrow. it's supposed to last three weeks."

"okay?"

"he won't let me go by myself. it'll be a lot faster if i do, and i know i could get the job done by myself, easy peasy... buuut, he's insisting i take at least one squadron."

"so take a squadron." she starts pacing a bit, clearly uncomfortable as her eyes dart around.

he looks at her pointedly. "taking a squadron is going to slow me down quite a bit."

she finds the hair tie she was looking for and begins tying her hair up, only half listening. "so don't take a squadron. you've found loopholes in his orders before, right?"

"correct, mutt, good job! but what loophole could i possibly exploit? oh, if only i had a knight working under me who was as strong as a whole squadron all on her own...!"

with her hair tied back and no longer distracting her, she whips her head toward lohen as she processes. "huh...? wait. no. absolutely not."

"what else do you have going on?" he grins.

"im... on vacation." she winces, aware of how flimsy the excuse sounds with everything in its current state.

"this..." his gaze flits around her home as he raises an eyebrow. "is vacation? you haven't left your house in..." he does some mental math, gesturing lightly with his hands. "...3 days now. your hair was all fucked. you clearly haven't been cleaning-"

"-like that's any of your business?-"

"-and you probably haven't showered. you been eating?"

she flinches a bit at his words, scowling. " i don't exactly want what's going on with my insides to get worse, so yes."

"good! you're coming with me on the expedition tomorrow." he says it with such finality and a bright smile on his face, like he's delighted everything's cleared up.

andromeda scoffs and crosses her arms indignantly, staring down the trespasser sprawled comfortably on her couch. "i absolutely am not."

lohen's voice turns serious, losing the cheery lilt as his expression melts into something more genuine, determined. "you came back to mondstadt for more routine in your life, something to give you a purpose. structure. a life you don't hate. right?"

andromeda stays silent, expression flickering minutely between the mask of annoyance and wide eyed longing. (frankly, she was surprised he'd remembered at all.)

"let me give you that structure. put your trust in me." he leans forward, gaze never leaving hers. "come with me. i need you."

she takes a few moments to clench her jaw, steady her heart rate, before inhaling shakily. "...i'll think about it."

his eyes soften, just a little, and he finally moves to stand. "good. im leaving around noon. come find me in my office, alright?"

he stops at the door, hand on the knob. "if i don't see you by the time i leave, im dragging you out of your bed myself. understood?"