💫

you were always a very spontaneous person.

it wasn’t something awful, but it wasn’t something great either. while it helped you with some kinds of stuff, it could be a curse on itself too. you suddenly felt a strong urge to eat vegetarian abalone in the middle of the night, but you had no matsutake nor snapdragon? fear not, why not go to the outskirts of springvale to get some matsutake, maybe near that hilichurl tribe there, and then go to windrise to get some snapdragon?

and that’s exactly what you were doing right now.

maybe some could call you a risk-taker, but you wouldn't really say that. you just really wanted vegetarian abalone, and it isn’t going to make itself, right? you’re not gonna run into anything dangerous, of course. if anything, you knew how to defend yourself, you just happened to run into a lot of dangerous situations very quickly, but that had nothing to do with your spontaneity, or so you thought.

it was in one of those dangerous situations that you met mona, the astrologist whom you sometimes read her columns in newspapers. you were just strolling around starsnatch cliff, looking for some flowers to make a flower crown, when you plucked a sweet flower and suddenly, a pyro whopperflower appeared! thankfully, mona was also strolling around that area, and quickly defeated the whopperflower. 

she then told you that you should’ve been more careful, because, if not for her accurate previsions, you’d be in serious danger. what she didn’t tell you, though, was that she made no prevision — she just felt something was wrong, and started to look around to see what was wrong. 

you ended up giving her the flower crown you’ve been making as a thank you gift, and that’s how your relationship with mona megistus started. 

maybe it was fate, mona thought at the time. it was then that this so-called “sixth sense” of mona started to happen. she would make absolutely no previsions, and yet she could know when you were about to do something you’d really regret later. be it buying a new expensive book in impulse, just so it ended with you not even liking it or reading it after 20 pages, or be it you getting yourself in some really dangerous situation without your knowledge. 

in any case, the moment you arrived in windrise, mona woke up in a cold sweat.

wait, something is wrong, she thought. she looked over to the clock on her wall — 1 am. mona thought of going back to sleep, since she fell asleep on her desk, writing the next column of the newspaper, but she could sense something was about to happen. after shaking off the initial sleepiness, she quickly realized what it was about. y/n! 

mona quickly got up and got her weapon — just in case. then, she teleported to windrise, near the statue of the seven. she looked around, frantically searching for you. after some seconds of searching, she finally spotted you. 

you were near the river, looking for snapdragons. as you looked over, there was something sticking out of the dirt, and it looked like a radish. it wouldn’t hurt to get some radish, right? you thought, making your way to remove it from the ground. as you were about to pluck it, mona screamed at you.

“y/n, wait! that’s a-”

as you retreated your hand from the alleged plant, you heard a noise coming from it. suddenly, it jumped from the ground, and you yanked back, reaching for your weapon.

“...dendro slime”

mona teleported herself near you, fighting the slime with ease and defeating it quickly. thankfully, it was a small one, not the big ones that live near windrise. she turned around after defeating it, looking at you with a deadpan — and slightly sleepy — face. 

“y/n, we’ve talked about this before” she proclaimed, crossing her arms in slight worry. “it’s 1 am! what are you trying to do here?”

“...vegetarian abalone?” you replied, trying to make a cute face to convince her it’s totally fine to go out at 1 am to collect vegetables. but you knew the way to win her heart again. “do you want some? it’s completely free, from yours truly”

mona looked around, trying to pretend her stomach was not growling and she wasn’t interested. “hmmm… maybe i’ll accept the offer. but please, don’t go out at 1 am unaccompanied again! if it wasn’t for my previsions, you’d be screwed” she proclaimed, trying to sound angry, but your cute face was just too much for her.

“...ehe?” you replied, knowing what she was saying was true. but what could you do? that vegetarian abalone wasn’t gonna be made by itself.

“what are you saying ‘ehe’ for?! you’re lucky i love you a lot” mona crossed her arms again, until the realization of what she had said hit her. she started to blush and cough, and you wouldn’t waste this opportunity. you both made your way back to mondstadt with your ingredients in hand, playful mockings and a free meal for mona.

gathering herbs was never an easy task, but it was necessary.

as a healer and a bubu pharmacy employee, it was quite normal. it came with the job, after all. so, here you were, walking around in the eerie abandoned village in wuwang hill. although it was daytime, the fog and darkness in the region made it hard to see things from a distance, making you walk around helplessly as you looked for some violetgrass. 

you didn’t particularly liked being here, but it was your job. the mysterious atmosphere made you quite scared, especially as you were completely alone, since qiqi went to mingyun village to gather her share of herbs. maybe if i had a soulmate, they could come with me, you thought. soulmates existed, but they weren’t quite that usual. maybe one in a hundred people had soulmates, at least in liyue. 

they said time stopped when you first touched your soulmate, quite literally. and that’s how you knew someone was your soulmate — you just had to touch them.

just thinking about it made your heart flutter. having a soulmate who could help you when you’re scared seemed like a good deal. this hill was scary, and the feeling of not being able to see things properly made you anxious. if anything were to appear, like a hilichurl, you knew it would be hard to defeat it. you were a healer, not a fighter. it simply wasn’t really something you liked or enjoyed, so you didn’t really try to learn anything beyond the basics.

you suddenly hear a noise, snapping you out of your thoughts. it was something moving in the grass, but it was too foggy for you to identify what it was. there was something nearby, and you knew it. you looked around, finally spotting a silhouette.

as you reached for your weapon, the silhouette disappeared. the next thing you knew, you were on the ground. 

you opened your eyes, whining in pain. now that it was closer to you, you could see it was a cryo whopperflower. you turned your head in fear and looked for your weapon, but it had been knocked out of your belt and was now laying on the ground, far away from you. even if you managed to get your weapon, it wouldn’t be of much use, since your hand and ankle hurt a lot from the fall.

as the whopperflower prepared itself for its next attack, you closed your eyes. is that it? you thought, the sudden realization hitting you. is this how i die?

suddenly, a warm breeze meets your skin. after a few seconds, you open your eyes, only to see the cryo whopperflower on the ground, defeated. you look around, finding a girl with brown hair with red tips.

she turned around to look at your frightened self, giving you a smile. she wore a hat with a symbol you knew you had seen before, and, as you digged through your mind to find out what it was, realization hit you. she was the director of the wangsheng funeral parlor, hu tao, as the hat indicated. you had heard of her, mostly from baizhu, who seemed to be always annoyed at the director’s persistence to give qiqi her final rest, but you had never really met her. 

“hey there! what were you doing wandering around wuwang hill? it can be quite the dangerous place, you know…” hu tao stopped her sentence, looking at your injured hand. 

she walked towards you, and then lowered herself, as if to check the injury.

“t-there’s no need to check, i’m a healer, i can just-” you said, holding your injured hand with your other hand, but stopped suddenly as she touched you.

a weird feeling made its way to your heart, and the wind seemed to stop blowing. hu tao felt that too, as you both looked around, only to find that everything was frozen in place. the grass, the leaves of the trees, even the animals in the area. you looked at hu tao, and she looked at you, both with widened eyes. 

and, as you looked into her crimson eyes, time seemed to be back to normal, just as fast as it froze. yet, you couldn’t notice a thing. 

you could only stare in surprise as she smiled softly.

sometimes, it was hard to breathe.

every time you went to the city plaza, just to find him sitting there chatting with a girl. every time you went to cat’s tail, to maybe get a nice drink, only to find another person flirting with him. every time you went to the knights of favonius’ headquarters, to look for him, instead finding a new recruit whispering something in his ear. and, each time, kaeya looked at you the same way, pretending nothing was happening before and giving you his signature smile as he walked towards you. 

each time, you put up a smile and pretended nothing was happening.

because how could you say anything? it was his lifestyle, after all. it was what kaeya was known for, flirting around shamelessly and giving out compliments. it was something he was used to, and probably did without giving much mind to it. and yet, you managed to fall for him, knowing this would happen. 

will it ever stop, this feeling? you thought as you stood outside in the cold, raindrops falling harshly against your skin. maybe he already knew what was happening, and didn’t care. maybe he didn’t, but nothing would happen if you told him anyways. why would he ever stop because of you? you were one amongst many. 

as you walked around the city, the usually bustling streets were now empty, shops and restaurants closed. nobody to notice you there, walking around melancholically. maybe, deep down, you wished someone would notice, someone would stop, someone would help. deep down, you wished it was him to stop and help. to ask what’s wrong, to listen to your selfish thoughts. but nothing would come out of it, you reminded yourself. 

after some time in the rain, you were feeling tired. maybe it was time to go home and take a nice, warm bath, you thought. to lay down in your bed and indulge in impossible fantasies. maybe that would make you feel better, for now.

and yet, when you arrived, there was a tall figure standing at your doorstep.

somehow, no words were necessary. kaeya knew what was going on — he always knew. as you stopped, he walked towards you, not minding the strong rain, and pulled you into a hug. he was warm, caring and affectionate as always. it made you remind yourself why you liked him in the first place. his smile, his warmth, everything. it made the cold rain become warm tears, and fall down your cheeks. maybe you didn’t need to feel that way — because he would always come back to you.

zhongli

it was a peculiar feeling, this thing mortals called jealousy. 

it was an overwhelming feeling as well, consuming every part of zhongli’s mind, only growing stronger with the passing of time. his throat felt tight, along with the million words he wanted to say to your pursuiter, but never came out. what was this feeling, after all? zhongli had never felt this before, and he made a mental note of studying this so-called “jealousy” afterwards.

zhongli sipped his tea once again, looking at you, who was talking to your friend. it was quite obvious what was happening, even for zhongli — your friend wanted to ask you out, and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. you weren’t even that close to this friend, as you had met them a few weeks ago and since then, they had been infatuated with you. zhongli couldn’t blame them for being infatuated, as he could say the very same thing about himself. but this? this was too much.

“y/n, are you really sure you don’t wanna go out today? perhaps tomorrow, or even later? i’d be willing to wait, you know” they said, apparently oblivious to your uncomfort. 

they already knew about zhongli too, and yet didn’t seem to care at all he was there to watch it all. before their arrival, you both were drinking some tea at heyu tea house, enjoying the performances as zhongli told you curious facts about liyue. everything was fine before, so why did they have to show up? 

“ah… i’m quite busy recently, i’m afraid I won't be able to hang out with you…” you replied, turning back to sit again with zhongli. 

yet, that rascal decided to grab your wrist as you were leaving, and that was the breaking point to zhongli. he slowly put down his tea and got up, having enough of this discussion. your friend backed up a little bit, but tried to maintain his facade. you were confused, too. zhongli was a peaceful and polite man, but you couldn’t see the usual calm in his eyes.

“aren’t you aware they are saying ‘no’? shall you still bother them with such idle chatter?” he said, staring into your friend’s eyes. your friend never heard zhongli talk, but it seemed like being questioned by him made them quite frightened. “or should i explain what ‘no’ means?”

your friend gulped, staring between you and zhongli back and forth. they surely hadn’t anticipated zhongli would step up, and he knew it. maybe seeing the tall man make his way towards them was enough to make them feel afraid, and maybe cornered. perhaps then they would stop bothering you?

“uhm… yes, now that i look at it, you don’t seem interested… sorry for bothering you, y/n” your friend said, and quickly made their way out of the tea house. 

you looked at zhongli and gave him a mischievous smile, knowing fully well what had happened. he only smiled back, the usual calm coming back to his eyes now that your pursuiter was gone. zhongli grabbed your hand and guided you back to the table, sitting beside you with a relaxed figure. 

“it seems like the tea is still warm. well then, shall we continue with the tales of liyue?”

albedo

albedo never thought he’d be doing something like this.

this was just supposed to be a short trip to the library, albedo thought. but what am i doing? he wondered, pushing himself to the darkest and most hidden corner he could find, just so he could hear what was happening. he was quite surprised to hear your voice while looking for some alchemy textbooks sucrose asked him to get for her, and was about to greet you, until he heard another voice. now, albedo was stuck between two bookshelves, trying to perhaps find out what this was about.

“...but this is so interesting to hear! say, do you have more to tell me about sumeru academia?” you said, voice full of excitement. it was one of the things he liked about you, your endless excitement over the smallest things. 

maybe this was considered eavesdropping, and albedo knew it. but it’s for research reasons, of course, he thought. it was always a research, everything involving you. it was a research for both you and him, as he was quite new to all these feelings he suddenly found himself having. albedo wasn’t one for relationships, but everything you did… it was fascinating. it made him want to give it a try, for once. maybe it wasn’t a waste of energy and time if it was you, after all.

“i’d love to tell you more! what you say, we go out for a date- i mean, a dinner, and i could tell you more-” the voice said, but a sudden loud noise made the library ground tremble. 

you stopped listening and went to look for the source of noise with worry, just to find textbooks on the ground, next to albedo’s emotionless figure. seeing your face, albedo let out a small smile, which quickly disappeared at the sight of your other companion, a young sumeru scholar who had just showed up in mondstadt. you lower yourself, trying to help him with the mess he had just made. this was unlike him, and he knew you knew, but maybe albedo just accidentally stumbled over himself and let the books fall, right?

“hi, albedo! didn’t see you there, are you fine?” he quickly nodded with a slight smile, lowering himself as well to help with his own mess. 

maybe it was subconscious, but his hand quickly made its way to yours, brushing it lightly while grabbing the books. you looked at him with blushed cheeks, while he kept on collecting the books, trying to hold a smile. you quickly recollected yourself, grabbing the rest of the heavy textbooks.

“do you need help taking these to sucrose?” you offered, to the sumeru scholar’s dismay. he was about to protest, until albedo looked at him for a brief moment, and then back to you.

“i’d enjoy your help, if you don’t mind” he replied.

albedo knew he was fully capable of lifting those books alone, but who was he to deny your help? and he needed to find out why his heart felt so tight when you were next to the scholar. maybe he could make some notes about these feelings later. as you two left the library, you replied with a soft “i’m sorry, but i think i’ll pass” to the sumeru scholar. albedo’s heart felt lighter, and now he could focus on accompanying you.

xiao

anguish. 

seeing you with another person, oblivious to their blatant flirting, gave him anguish. it was just a normal night at wangshu inn, you had brought xiao some almond tofu and was about to leave, until some merchant from fontaine stopped you to start some small talk. you, of course, dropped everything you were doing and started talking. how could you just carelessly stop to talk with some random merchant? what if he was dangerous? thoughts concerning your safety went through xiao’s head like a hurricane.

no, he wasn’t jealous, he was just concerned about this stranger — or at least that’s what he would like to think. 

one minute passed. then five. and then twenty. xiao had enough at this point, as only his gaze wasn’t enough to intimidate the pesky merchant, and you looked fairly tired of talking. the adeptus made his way to the both of you, your eyes immediately shifting towards him with curiosity. he wasn’t one to show many emotions and he knew it, but this was too much. the merchant looked at xiao with annoyance as he tried to grab your attention once more.

“y/n” xiao said, and you looked at him with confusion in your eyes. “i see you’re tired. do you wish for me to accompany you through your way home?” 

you looked very confused. xiao never offered to do something like that before, and he knew you were wondering. “i wouldn’t like for you to run into any monsters, that is” he added quickly, making you look at him with even more confusion. yes, he knew you could fend for yourself, and at first he didn’t mind your presence much, but you had grown to become something he cherished. so, it was only normal for him to offer to take you home, right?

maybe this will be enough to scare him off, xiao thought. and yet, he was wrong. 

“actually, i was thinking the same-” the merchant started to say, but suddenly stopped at the feeling of xiao’s gaze on him. maybe it had finally worked, staring at him with unmatched anger. “oh no! i just remembered i have something really important to do! see you, y/n!” and, with that, the merchant was quickly gone. 

xiao could only sigh in relief. 

childe

childe was jealous, and that was obvious to everyone around him. 

both of you were strolling around liyue harbor, enjoying one of his rare off duty days. it was a sunny day, the breeze was nice and the streets were bustling with people looking around shops and enjoying their day. everything was perfect, the way your hands intertwined, the way you laughed at his flirtatious jokes, the way your hair flowed with the wind. 

so why had your ex suddenly appeared?

it was funny, really. your ex didn’t even recognize childe, neither as your current boyfriend or one of the fatui harbingers. if he did notice you both were having a date, he was surely happy to intervene. it made childe’s eye twitch slightly out of annoyance, but his facade was perfect. well, almost.

it was his body language that made it clear for you. the way he held your hand slightly more tight, as if you were going to leave him at any moment. the way his stare made its way between you and your ex, switching between you both constantly. it was clear that he was annoyed, but you couldn’t do much about it, as your ex just wouldn’t stop talking. he would ask you about your family, about your current occupation, about the present. you were quite uncomfortable, but what could you do? just turn away and go?

on childe’s mind, that’s exactly what you should do, but he knew you were way too polite to do something like that. so, he waited. for a while, that is. as the conversation seemed to have no end and you seemed quite uncomfortable, childe decided it was time to intervene. 

“hey comrade, i’m sorry to interrupt but me and y/n were about to go eat something together, i believe they must be quite hungry, right?” he looked at you, and you instantly nodded, noticing his quick plan to get rid of your ex. 

“oh? i’m sorry, who are you? we are having a conversation here, if you can’t tell” you ex replied, and something sparked in childe’s eyes. 

it wasn’t anger, but rather amusement. 

“my name is childe, but i also go by tartaglia. nice to meet you!” as childe said his name, he noticed a sudden fear in your ex’s eyes. he retracted back, looking at the other like an alien. 

“t-tartaglia, you say?” your ex said, and childe nodded enthusiastically. this is fun, he thought. your ex turned to you, looking frightened by your current boyfriend. “ah, i’m sorry, y/n, but i suddenly remembered this thing i have to do… farewell!” he said, quickly making his way away from you both with trembling legs.