When the glaze lilies are in full bloom, Zhongli stops to admire them before he plucks a few for himself. It’s been so long, he reminisces. The old god has not been a stranger to this overwhelming feeling of longing and remembrance, but this time he doesn’t hurt, this time he is content. The archon places the bouquet of glaze lilies upon a stone mound. He always knew you loved those flowers.

He’s homesick. It’s normal for Childe to set out on long missions, but this time he can’t help but miss Snezhnaya. He misses the misty cold wind that dances with the crystallized leaves of pine, the frozen lakes, and the small tender kisses you place on his cheeks when you happily wrap a red scarf around his neck.

Because of the Sakoku decree, it has been years since Thoma has seen you. He wonders if you still liked tucking asters on your hair, going to the good hunter, or even listening to that bard sing in front of the cathedral, and mostly he also wonders if you missed him too. He hopes to hop on the next boat just to see you again.

Kazuha remembers you through the spring breeze flowing through his hair, the scent of flowers of a foreign land filling his nostrils, it makes him feel an intense feeling of longing for something familiar. For someone familiar. He only hopes you’d be back in the docks of Inazuma waiting for him to return from his travels.

The child stands up and holds the little flower out towards their father, “For—,” They paused with faint pink tints on their cheeks, probably a bit embarrassed from their initial fall on the ground. They puffed out their cheeks before finally saying, “Flower… for baba.”

That would be a memory he’s keeping forever.

Yeah, Zhongli as a dad is just so wholesome, he’s gonna cherish his baby with all his might!

Raiden Ei:

Now Ei, she would be a mother who is a bit oblivious to all these things. She’s a bit clueless but she manages with the help of Yae Miko—or at least what help she can provide.

However, Ei is the type of parent who enjoys spoiling their child. Do you want that storybook by Yae Publishing House? She has already placed an order for more than five copies. She notices you staring at a particular plushie? It's yours now along with other plushies. Did you point out a lovely flower? The Tenshukaku now has a flower garden full of those specific flowers.

Ei doesn't really force her quiet child to talk, instead, she asks for the best teachers in Inazuma city to occasionally tutor you when you have the time.

She shows her love to her kid with gifts and quality time, and if her little one is timid, she doesn’t really mind spending time with them at home to eat Dango and other sweet treats.

Ei feels a gentle tug on her clothes, and when she looks down she sees her beloved child rubbing their eyes with their free hand and a fox plushie with the other.

A small smile finds its way to the electro archon’s lips, “Are you tired, little one?” She asks as she gently pats her child’s head. And Ei only receives a timid nod and a yawn from her kid. It was late at night after all. The archon has gotten a gist of taking care of her little one, learning what her kid wanted without them having to say any word. Ei then gently carries her child in her arms. 

When Ei has finally tucked her child into their bed, a small hand reaches for her wrist, “Goodnight, mama.” They say with a sleepy voice.

Ei then tucks a strand of her child’s hair with a contented smile, “Have sweet dreams, little one.”

I just know that Ei’s child is one of her safe places.

She adores them so much, and she’d spend an eternity and more loving them.

Venti:

Fun dad! Just so full of surprises and there is not a dull moment when you’re with him.

Venti loves taking his kid to Monstadt, you could see him and his child on his shoulders so often while they walk around outside the Cathedral. Just the cutest pair.

He is a very chatty guy, and I think even if his kid is more on the shy side they can’t help but let out a small giggle and a smile whenever they hear their dad’s voice. And every time this happens, it just melts his heart!

Despite Venti’s playful nature, he is also good at a quiet times. Quiet time with Venti is spending time with his kid in Windrise while he plays his lyre to get them to sleep on his lap. It’s simple and relaxing and it always ends with him whispering sweet dreams to his little buddy.

Small fingers add another crystal fly to be woven on Venti’s head along with the prettiest wind wheel asters the small child could find. It was a breezy morning, the perfect time to visit Windrise and relax with his little one.

“Thank you,” He grins at his child who finished braiding in the last aster on his hair, “Does dad look pretty like this?”

His child nods, the same big grin as their father’s on their lips. Venti laughs, taking one of the asters in his braid to place it behind the ear of his kid, “Now we can be both pretty!”

Also to add, Venti is also the type of parent to use dad jokes as a joke but it’s too often that it seems like he actually makes those types of jokes.

Just know Venti and his kid would be a very happy pair in the future and at the end of time!

“I’m sorry—fuck. Just stay alive for me,” He pleas, unable to stop his sobbing. Tears welled up in his wide eyes, his breath sharp and unsteady. He turns away from you, away from the pain he inflicted, from the pain he has inflicted upon you. Your skin is red and wet. He’s sorry for it. He never meant to hurt you.

“Please, I’m sorry, I should have listened to you, I should’ve—” He shook you, trying to find any just any reaction. A simple cough or breath. It would be enough. “Someone, help.” His voice is weak, faltering, and tired. No one could hear him. No one was here to help him.

How did this happen? He recounted in his head, it’s all blurry now like his line of sight. All he could recall was the anger in his voice as he asked for an explanation about that badge you kept on you, and then the horror on your face when you tried to hide it. But now it seemed all pointless.

“I’m so sorry [Name]. I’m… archons please,” He didn't know who he was begging to, if he was asking a god up there to answer his prayer or if he was begging the dead body to miraculously rise up. Diluc was not a religious person but he’d pray for any archon, god, adepti, or whatever celestial being to answer his pleas. 

His fingers graze over the fatui badge just above his lover's wound and he couldn't help but let out a tight cry. To Diluc it didn’t seem to matter anymore. He should’ve realized that Fatui or not, you were still his. You were still [Name], and that should’ve been enough.

You would be enough.

But now he stands in front of a coffin. He’s supposed to give a eulogy, but no speech dares to leave his mouth, it felt wrong. Wasn’t he the cause of all of this? And now he was to give a tribute to your life—a life he ended. But no one knows. No one could force the blame on him and somehow he wished he was caught red-handed. Then maybe he’d be able to live with this burden honestly.

“We are all gathered here,” His lips tremble, “To celebrate the life of [Name]—” and his voice breaks, and the dam of tears he tried to keep together comes crashing. His hands are shaking and he feels his knees get weak. 

“I’m so sorry,” He chokes out, but no one understands him, all of them thinking he was apologizing for breaking down.

Only Diluc Ragnvindr would ever know he was apologizing to the coffin next to him.

It was just before sunrise, and both you and your lover strolled in a field of glaze lilies. You knew how much he adored those flowers, how he gently pluck them out from the ground, and would always tuck one to your ear. It would not be the first time the both of you spent time in this place. He always told you that when he looks at glaze lilies he would often remember you—at least that’s what he tells you.

He shakes his head before his eyes fall on the patch of glaze lilies on the ground, “Nothing. I just love you,” He whispered, but something in his voice makes it sound like he was convincing himself he loved you rather than declaring he did and it makes him internally wince. But you don’t notice that. You never do.

Perhaps that’s why he was a bit frustrated; how you let him hold you with no repercussions or any venom in your voice, how you still kiss him tenderly or let him stare at your eyes despite trying to find something else from it. He was a selfish man. It disgusted him terribly.

“I just wanted to tell you I love you dearly,” he quickly adds, but his downturned head says otherwise and your smile slowly drops.

“Are you sure?” You placed your hand on his cheek to make him look at you, “I’m worried now.” You frowned. You try to look for anything wrong with the area or think of anything that happened before you arrived that could've made your lover upset. But there was nothing.

And Zhongli could not look at you at that moment, as all his guilt comes crashing down, and like claws, it bares through his heart that he thought he surely locked away. How could an archon like himself feel so helpless under your caring gaze? He truly did not deserve you—That was for sure.

“Please look at me,” You whisper but it comes out as a plea. This was the first time Zhongli has ever avoided your gaze, and you start to second guess yourself. “Have I done something wrong to make you this way, my love?”

He widens his eyes and finally turns to you as he cups your cheek, “No, you could never Ghuizhong—” And he stops himself, his mouth slightly opened as he watched your lip tremble in confusion.

And at that moment he knew he had done something terrible, unforgivable even. His soft hands that cup your face drop to his side, “[Name]...” His voice trails.

“Ghuizhong,” You murmured to yourself as your heart tightens, a lump in your throat growing as you looked at Zhongli who was once more not looking in your direction. His stature was explanation enough to let you know what was going on. 

“I see,” you meekly said. And if you were in a better position you would’ve let out an airy chuckle, I mean— what took you so long to figure out your lover’s odd actions and occasional distance. “Have I been a placeholder for her all this time?”

You were a lot of things, but you were not a fool. You could easily put two and two together and in fairness, you could thank Zhongli’s honesty in helping you. Ghuizhong was not a name you knew nothing about, your lover has always been so open in his life as an archon who has lived years in this land. But never did you think that Ghuizhong was someone he held close to him.

Zhongli breathes out in defeat. You were as straightforward as ever, perhaps one of the qualities that attracted him to you. “I do not mean to compare you to her, both of you are different people in different times—”

“—But you do, don’t you? You look at me and see her in a way,” You don’t let him finish, not especially when he still won’t look you in the eyes. Your hand threads on the lily on the side of your head before you handed it to the man in front of you, “That’s why you can’t bear to look at me.”

And in the leftover courage he had left, Zhongli’s head looks at your teary-eyed face, and he hated the way when he saw you he caught a glimpse of someone else’s teary look instead of yours. He then realized that he could never keep you or Guizhong to himself at the same time.

And the lily that had been on your hair falls to the ground.

A creak from the door interrupts him, and a figure stands at the door frame with hands still holding the door knob, and hesitance to step inside.

“[Name], my dear, you’re here,” He calls out to you when he stands from his sitting position, “I’m glad you’ve returned, I was worried you would never come back—”

“—I just came to get my things. I don’t plan to stay long.” You could've sworn a flash of pain appeared in his eyes but you don’t have the time to dwell on it.

The whole time it was uncomfortably quiet. The only sounds you could hear were your shuffling and footsteps as you gathered your things. Finally, you entered your once shared bedroom, taking the last of your belongings, and soon it would look like you’ve never even placed an imprint of yourself in this bedroom. 

Like you’ve never been there in the first place.

An uneasy pause. Zhongli can’t see your eyes, but he can still feel the slight tremor in your voice as you say “Thank you for your hospitality.”

No doubt that your emotions aren’t quite at rest just yet, the wound of that day still fresh. It has been eating up on you the past few days you’ve left the house, the unnerving thought that you were hardly in his mind, and that you were simply an easy replacement for a position someone else holds in his heart; You just happened to be the nearest substitute.

“You’re leaving already?” You despise the worry in his voice, you felt like he was mocking you, and continuously tugging on the edges of your heart, hoping that you’d look at him and falter.

“I don’t have any more reason to prolong my stay here, don’t I? I have nothing here,” The truth spilling with every word you say. You face him straight in the eyes, you do not falter like you expected, you were much braver than him just by choosing to look at him.

Your gaze swallows him whole and Zhongli has to swallow the lump in his throat. He feels your stare, you look at his eyes, then the conquered expression on his face, and then lastly your eyes land on the glaze lily he was still holding.

This was stupid, you thought. Zhongli despite his godly status and might is a coward—a coward who could not speak what was in his mind, he could not give any explanations, nor any apologies. He was usually a man with honor, wisdom, and just the right words to say but apparently, it seems like he has no words for you. You start to think he might’ve thought you didn’t deserve any.

You walk to the door and your hand touches the door knob one last time, “I will be leaving now. I hope all the best for you Zhongli.”

You wanted him to beg you to stay, you wanted him to kneel on his knees and apologize, you wanted him to shed at least just one tear upon the thought you’d leave him. But he doesn’t, though that did not mean he was going to stand idly by, so he grabs your wrist one last time.

“I hope you find what you deserve, someone who would long for you, and hold you with no other reason but just the need to hold you,” he whispers, almost inaudible. His grip tightens around your wrist, he doesn’t let go of your hand until you’re out the door, and the door closed behind you.

Another thing he learned after a long life was that when things fade, you would have to let go. But he doesn’t want to. 

And he’d only hope you don’t notice the glaze lily he quickly slipped inside your pocket when you left to the door.

Amber’s heart flutters whenever you suddenly interlock your hands with her to drag her to the cafeteria, she doesn’t mind it, but when you do it so suddenly she might just die! Don’t you realize how red she gets when you do this to her? Yeah, that’s probably the exact reason you do it.

“Amber, why are you so red all of a sudden, do you have a fever?”— “What? Oh, this? Just, a bit warm, yeah. Just very warm in this place.”

Lisa can’t help but stare at your lips when both of you go study in your university’s library. You seem to pout whenever you don’t understand something, and whenever you are very into a story you also bite your lips in anticipation of the next chapter. Because of this she’s constantly thinking about your lips, and about what would feel like to kiss you.

“If you keep being cute like that, darling. I wouldn’t know what to do.”

It’s hard for Jean to concentrate on her thesis essay if you lean so close to her like that. Why was it suddenly hot? Did the librarian turn down the AC? Why were her cheeks starting to flush? Oh my god was she overworking again? Lucky—not so lucky—for Jean, there was nothing wrong with her, she was just, uh, distracted by a certain someone who seemed to innocently lean so close to her face to read what she was typing. Please let her do her work in peace

“[Name], you’re so close, it’s a little bit distracting.”

She’s a bit more straightforward. Beidou loves the way your face flushes red, and the widened eyes you have as she places a discreet kiss (or more) during any of your shared lectures. To say she isn't also a tad bit flustered would be a lie, but she would never admit it and tease you instead. Both of your hands are under the table as she rubs small circles on your palm. She isn’t stopping this habit anytime soon.

“Mrs. Beidou, what are you both doing with [name] back there?” — “Nothing unusual, teach. Just sharing notes.”

After fixing the mess you have caused, you silently mutter apologies to anyone who might’ve got splashed by your coffee. After all that, you look up to hopefully find that stranger but he was already gone.

In the next weeks, you somehow managed to push away that event from your mind and continue on your usual schedule of going to your favorite coffee shop just next to your university.

Just as you were about to leave the coffee shop, you bumped into a figure.

“Ah, sorry. I should’ve been more attentive, my deepest apologies— wait. It’s you." And all of it just clicks, your eyes widen, and realized who it was you bumped into. That guy. That blue-haired stranger that day in the crowd. You drop your coffee again.

That day, he buys you coffee. You insisted that you could’ve bought your own cup but he says that it was the least he could do for your troubles, and by troubles, he meant, “Being too starstruck to see him.”

You learn his name was Kaeya Alberich and in fates luck, he went to study at the same university as you.

What do you do with this information? Nothing. What does he do with this information? He now buys coffee in the same coffee shop just to see you and then he walks you to your first class. Like a gentleman.

You both eventually bond as friends by sharing coffee in the morning and walking to university together and eventually, maybe even more than friends.

Who would’ve thought spilling coffee would bring you to Kaeya Alberich?

Diluc Ragnvindr:

Trope: Childhood friends to lovers

That trope wherein you slowly fall in love with your best friend since diapers. The painfully slow pining you both experience. When you suddenly more than want to hang out with your best friend.

Diluc has always been your safe place, the first and last resort, your home away from home—it’s always been this way. And you would do anything to keep it that way.

You’ve always loved him. Despite his seemingly stoic display, Diluc has always been so caring in his own way. Like that one time you got sick and he made it his duty to take care of you. (He catches the same sickness you had that day and now both of you were bedridden for a week)

And as time passes, both of you realize that you don’t want to stay friends forever—both of you wanted more.

So you decided today, with the sun on your face, and your heart on your palms—that you wanted to spend your life with Diluc. I mean, what better way to fall in love with your best friend?

“Diluc, I-” you pause, trying to gather any courage you had in your body. “I love you.”

Your confession merely came out as a breathless whisper. You stare at his dumbstruck face with his mouth gaped. You fear that he hardly heard you, so you repeated, “I’ve always loved you and I get that it’s all so sudden, If you reject me I wouldn’t be mad—”

“—I have loved you my whole life.”

Safe to say you were shocked, not expecting your feelings to be reciprocated.

You also find out that he was going to confess to you that day but you, unfortunately, beat him to it. He also prepared this whole candle-lit dinner in his apartment. Oh well, at least everything turned out smoothly.

Both of you start dating right after, why delay the inevitable?

Albedo:

Trope: Study Partners

It was the start of a new semester and the college professor was assigning pairs for a research paper to be passed by the year’s end.

Luckily, you were paired with Albedo. You’ve heard he was one of the smartest people in the class and plus, he’s really chill.

Studying with Albedo is not what you expected. He is a total nerd. Okay, that might be exaggerating it a bit, the guy’s just really passionate about academics, especially in chemistry.

It starts off as simply being… well, study partners. But as the days turn into weeks, weeks into months, you start seeing the man differently.

You start to feel giddy whenever you both meet up in the library or a nearby coffee shop, then the looks and glances that last longer than they should, and unconsciously writing his name onto your notebook during lectures.

You were smitten, indeed.

And finally, it was the year’s end. Both of you have passed your project and no longer need to see each other. That was the end of late-night studying till’ the library’s lights turn off, the end of texting in between lectures, the end of small talks, and the end of meeting Albedo.

Or so you thought.

Graduation day arrived too fast, yet you felt like you were nowhere ready to leave. While all the other graduates chit-chatted with their classmates in the venue, you found yourself inside the school library. The library was empty today.

“I knew you’d be here,” You heard a voice from the door.

“Albedo? What’re you doing here?”

He walked up to you and cleared his throat, he turned his head away before extending a paper to you, “It’s for you. I didn’t know what to give you for graduation day, and well, I won’t lie that I have missed your company.”

You took the paper and your heart did flips when you realized what it was. It was a charcoal portrait of you.

That drawn portrait of you still hangs on Albedo and your's shared bedroom

Obviously, both of you did nothing but stay with each other even after college. Thank the Archons for research papers!