#gi jean

Prologue: The Foodie turned Imposter?!

Part 12: Poisonous Devotion

[ part 11 ] || [ masterlist ] || [ part 13 ]

divider is made by @/saradika-graphics

Of course, despite getting Andrius' approval over your decisions (not that it would have matter since you are an independent baddie 😤) but you couldn't just very well walk up to Mondstadt despite the lack of guards there at the moment.

It was decided that you'd stay for a few days in Dawn Winery, the three of you had already left wolvendom, with Andrius making a promise to tell Razor where you had gone to.

You had moved quickly after finishing your meal, heading to the winery in the blanket of darkness. Most of the maids would have been asleep, as well as the workers. All except for Adelinde who had been waiting for the two brothers to return.

The woman was surprised to see you, though she made no move to comment on your arrival, trusting the decision of the two men who had brought you there. Which led your further planning to take place in Diluc's study.

"Based on the pace the knights are going, there will be an opening for us to sneak you in when they have finished replenishing their resources at the city." Kaeya instructed, unwrapping a map of the city on Diluc's office desk.

"The more worrisome factor is the Fatui. They didn't share their personal itineraries and plans with the knights after all."

Diluc waved his hand "Leave that to me."

You and Kaeya glanced at each other, knowing what he was hinting at.

On your part, all you had to do, to their knowledge, was to be discrete, keep yourself on the down-low and lay low. Do not capture anyone's attention.

"I'll make arrangements for you to stay at the attic, unbothered by the workers." Diluc told you and you nodded, grateful for the man's willingness to hear you out. You gulped, hand massaging your neck, uneasy. Should you make even one mistake, would he cut you down without hesitation.

One mistake.. one mistake could cause you your life.

"[name]"

you snapped your head up, eyes turning to Kaeya who was focused on the map, hand on his chin with a thoughtful expression "perhaps you should turn in for the night." he suggested.

"You won't be of any help if you're tired after all." Although his words were sharp, it contrasted the soft voice he had used.

"Apologies." you bowed your head meekly "I'm sorry for all the trouble and burden I have placed upon you, and of Mondstadt." despite the situation you tried to smile.

⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡

"Madam Adelinde?" The blonde haired maid turned to find the younger workers approaching her cautiously. "Yes? What seems to be the problem?"

One of the younger girls, new hires for the winery twiddled their thumbs "Could there be a ghost in the winery..?"

"huh? What makes you say that?" she asked hands on her hip at the odd questions.

"It's just that! It looks like someone had used the bathroom at night. . and the food from the kitchen has been taken!" One argued. "Doesn't that sound more like a thief than a ghost?" A different maid argued, clearly having different theories on the matter.

"Think about it, would anyone even steal from Master Diluc!" they argued amongst themselves. "You know, it could very well just be a wild animal stealing from the pantry."

"How does that explain that bathroom though?"

"People go to the bathroom at night, geez Brenda get over it!"

They stopped, hearing the sound of someone clapping "Ladies!" Adelinde began to scold them "That attitude and gossip is not tolerated in this household. I will speak to Master Diluc about your concerns, but rest assured if it was a robber or a ghost, the master would have done something already by now."

She had finished by telling them to focus on their own job. Sighing the woman began to focus on her own tasks, hands rearranging the floral arrangements inside the winery.

'Well, I very well can't say that we are housing the supposed imposter. .' her shoulders sank as she felt extremely stressed. She herself was the one that helped you adjust to the bathroom, her fingers traced the smooth petals of the rose, its charming scent did nothing to ease the tension in her stomach.

She couldn't forget what she had saw.

She didn't mean to, it was intentional really! and definitely improper for a maid. She had intended to leave you to your own privacy however just as she was about to close the door, she saw it.

Those hauntingly beautiful scars, glowing, pulsing with wild electro energy.

'I heard that she got attacked by the librarian but. .' Scars like that, of those degrees were life-threatening, and of course, you'd only be able to obtain them from a person with no mercy.

"What has the world come to" she mourned for the past Mondstadt, when had things start to become so. . bleak and dark here in the nation of freedom?

Did it start with Stormterror? or was it with your appearance in such a misfortunate timing?

No, she shook her head, it wasn't your fault.

The blonde haired maid winced, finger bleeding having been pricked by a thorn.

⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡

You stood by the bed that had been given to you, alone in the room. You felt content, being by yourself as you thought about everything that happened. It had been awhile since your last session of thinking how screwed you were right now.

Usually isekai animes and stories had the main characters overpowered and happy. You were neither.

You massaged your face, that sounded wrong and almost rude. . in a way you were happy, well you had to be, you had to be happy in a glass-half-full mentality. You were happy to have allies, people who listened to you, thought it felt kind of weird considering you knew them first, intimately, as playable characters rather than a real person.

Still, you liked to think you had adjusted quite well for someone like you.

The only power or skill you had, that you were quite confident in, was in your cooking skills. Your knowledge of recipes from your old world. It had been awhile since you cooked a proper meal though, one where the ingredients weren't improvised or foraged.

Licking your lips you sighed as you plopped down onto the bed, ignoring the tingling sensations of your wounds, courtesy of Lisa.

Perhaps you had gotten used to the pain or the effects were wearing off, but it didn't hurt as much as before unless your wounds touched water. You were probably just getting used to it, considering how the glow never faded.

Pulling up the sleeves of your clothes you stared at your unwrapped arms, it looked like your skin cracked open revealing some sort of magical energy beneath it. Your arm no longer bled, in its place were vibrant purple scars, fizzing with energy, glowing as bright as how you first got it.

Lisa's powers, or maybe it was the Electro element in general but whatever- the element seemed to engraved itself into your skin, woven into your body, hurting you every now and then.

The element was still there, reacting when it touches with another element. With hydro (whenever you washed your body or bathed) you were in pain from electro-charged. After the first experience? you began to bandage it, you didn't want to know what would happen if fire grazed your skin or if dust and dirt got in it, would it make crystals?

You shivered at the thought as you flipped on your stomach, burying your face into the pillow as you groaned into it, letting out your frustrations in muffled noises.

Things were starting to feel suffocating and boring, perhaps this was the real reason why Diluc and Kaeya readily agreed to your plan of staying in Angel's share, right now was probably the assessment of whether you can handle the pressure.

Sitting up, you thought about it for a bit before looking around the room. Although this was technically the attic, there was a bedroom here (rather convenient and odd but you decided not to question it), there were a few more rooms in the hallway, as long as you didn't go down the ladder or the stairway (not that it would matter since both were locked) you'd be safe, Adelinde assured you herself and Diluc didn't say anything about not doing it so. .

'I wonder if they hid their baby pictures here. .' You smiled as you decided to go exploring.

And you were correct, most of the rooms in the attic were storage rooms. Boxes layered in dust, Books hidden away among the shelves, trinkets, antiques and ornaments only brought out for special occasions.

You stirred clear from the rooms that hadn't seen the light of day, as evident by the thick layers of dust that had been accumulated. It seemed like the room with all the books had been recently used or at least cleaned and maintained which meant it was safe for you to touch and move about.

Fortunately it seemed like you can understand the texts and languages used in the books, "Lets see, history, geography. . most of these are boring- what did I even expect?" A couple of the shelves alone were reserved for business and economics focused books.

"Oh!" your hand stopped at a particular spine, pulling the book out you read the complete book title. "Wine fertilization techniques." you read aloud before staring at the rest of the books on that particular shapes, books about different varieties of grapes, different wines, other fruits and vegetables you could make wine off.

Then you looked up at a shelf where it clearly stored more recent books, "Soda pop, juices, blends. . This must be Diluc's. Oh. ." You picked out another book, Edible plants of Teyvat."

Considering all you could do was read, that's what you decided to do. Siting on an armchair close, but not to close, to the window you began to read in ernest. Perhaps knowing more about the edible plants in Teyvat could give you new ideas on what dishes you could make and experiment!

Or even perhaps substitute for the recipes you did know back at home! There were a lot of ingredients at your disposal here in the winery (your shameless butt was kicking in at this point) anyways!

Hopefully Diluc didn't mind you rummaging through their books!

⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡ ⟡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡

Our cavalry captain found himself back at the city, walking to his office. On his way he had passed Bennett near the adventurer's guild. The boy nearly jumped when he had approached him.

"Hello Bennett" he smiled as the boy nervously greeted him "h-hello Captain Kaeya!" Bennett scratched the back of his neck, one would think he was bullying the poor boy with how nervous he was acting.

"Relax" he chuckled, hand patting the boy's head "I just came by to check up on you, thank you for searching Wolvendom with me last night."

The boy tilted his head confused, almost about to ask what he meant when Kaeya continued "It's nice to know that you youngsters also want to find the Imposter" Blinking, the boy slowly realized why Kaeya was acting so weird, who knows who might be listening in on them.

"you're welcome!" he forced a smile on his face as the man proceeded to ruffle his hair "make sure to say Razor my thanks okay!" "h-hey!"

"and also tell him that you two need to act like your searching for the imposter around wolvendom." he whispered after almost headbutting their heads close together.

"Well then, make sure you rest before your next adventure." He waved the boy off as he continued on his way to the headquarters. The building was quiet, most of the knights that remained looked like they hadn't slept for a few days with how dark their eyebags were.

Knights he had considered friends seemed lifeless, consumed by exhaustion. "You two look like you're on the brink of death." he commented on the two knights that guarded the entrance of the building.

"You should see Amber and the other knights, they've been running back and forth all around Galesong Hill" one of them said with a weak sigh. "Galesong hill? thats a large area inhabited by hilichurls and the like, not to mention that Amber is only leading 10 knights. That wouldn't be enough to search the whole area in just a few days." he worriedly voiced out.

The two knights looked at each other then at the man, "Captain, we heard you've been off to who knows where, ah! In the words of the acting grand master! So you probably didn't know that a few civilians were tasked to join them."

"Y-yeah! She's been very temperamental lately and been ordering the abled civilians to join the hunt, she also instructed amber to hold off on any breaks unless really needed. ." the knight whispered after staring at the empty hallways warily. "I heard even Amber is getting frustrated over things. ."

The search for the imposter was hard enough, but it seems that with Jean's reckless and impatient attitude was slowly bearing down on the people of Mondstadt if even Amber was getting frustrated.

"I see" he frowned, although he didn't approve of their actions in the witch hunt, but they were still the people he grew up with, grew up protecting and working with to protect the region. . "what about Lisa? I haven't heard anything about the librarian."

"She's been locked up in the library, I heard she's been experimenting on ways to find the Imposter, even had someone sent to get Chief Albedo and his students." They explained, not bothered by his questions.'"

"Albedo huh? he's still at Dragonspine isn't he?" Kaeya made a mental check to have Diluc and his allies intercept the knights. Should they get ahold of the Chief alchemist and even one of his students, it would prove difficult should they, and they will most likely succeed, in creating a gadget to find you.

"Yes, it seemed like news of the imposter hasn't reached them." that was no surprise, considering Dragonspine was a hard to reach area. "I see, I'll help find a way to get through to them." he assured the tired knights, taking out his wallet and giving them some mora "I'm sure Diluc hasn't closed Angel's share yet, so when you can, drop by and get yourselves some much needed drinks."

"T-thank you captain!" they practically cried out as the blue haired man headed to his personal office.

"Kaeya," the blue haired captain froze, having just entered his office, only to find that he wasn't the only one in there. From behind his desk stood Jean, her back turned to him as she stared outside the window "Where have you been off to?"

He remained silent as the woman continued "Surely you haven't been drinking your butt off despite knowing that an imposter has been dilly dallying all across Mondstadt doing who knows what?" "How insulting," he huffed, hands on his hips "I just got back after a long reconnaissance from wolvendom, Razor and Bennett can vouch for me."

Despite the beating on his chest, he tried to remain as passive as usual, playful even which was hard. He felt a quite rage and disgust fester in him towards the acting Grand Master, but really the majority of his feelings for respect towards the woman had turned to disappointment.

The blonde haired woman turned to face him, disheveled hair, bags under her wide eyes resembling that of a wild, angry beast. She slammed her hands down on his desk, some of his trinkets tipping over.

Still he stared at her, quietly as he waited for whatever reaction she would throw at him.

"It's not enough, the other soldiers and Amber had already scoured their assigned areas, not once or twice, but trice! You haven't even explored your assigned area, what have you been doing?!" She yelled, her once calm-headed demeanor, long gone.

"The creator would be disappointed in you!"

'Oh trust me Jean, the creator is far more disappointed in you.' "How could you let an imposter roam about, even if you didn't believe in the creator, you should show your respect and stop with your lazy attitude! This is serious Kaeya."

He exhaled "Listen to yourself Jean, look at our knights and the people, they- we" he caught himself, almost slipping at his words as he placed his hand on his chest "we want to catch the imposter too, as much as you do but at this point you're stretching them too thin!"

"I know!" she yelled, gritting her teeth before trying to relax, taking a deep breath as she began to chew on her nails "if only me and Lisa had killed that vermin, then we wouldn't have to worry if that imposter made it out alive.." Kaeya stopped, hearing her spat those words out.

"Maybe then. . maybe then the creator would finally look at me." she wistfully said to herself. Hysteria seemed to take over the woman. "Ugh if only we had killed her! then again" she smiled to herself "she wouldn't have gone that far with her injuries. ."

Where had the responsible and devoted knight disappeared to?

There she was, replaced with a crazy one, drunk on devotion and insecurities. She didn't even regret what she did to you, or even at least seemed serious and respectful. There she was, laughing over the damage they had done to you, even wishing they had finished you off that night.

He clenched his fists, "why won't you look at me oh most perfect divine" she clasped her hands together almost praying "must I torture that wretched copy cat for you who tried to besmirched your good name?"

That anger and disgust grew more and more as he listened to what seemed to be a shade of the once respected acting grand master. .

A part of him wanted to curse her, to ask on what basis did she have to say or decide what was best for the Creator? She may been been one of the few chosen but she was by far the least favored of them all, just like Lisa, just like amber, just like. . him.

As you can tell I'm building relationships between [name] and the more older characters, aka the bachelors and possible love interests (I can't do all cause it'd be hard to foster any romance between a lot of people). I'm thinking about one if not both the brothers, though I'm personally leaning to Kaeya for this one!

Though a part of me wants to just scrap the idea of romance here to make it more heart-warming, and for [name] to fit into the creator who, in this story, is referred or known as the mother of all.

or just have only one main love interest (Who'll be considered as the Father???) while the rest are just one-sided, hmmm, decisions decisions.

taglist:

@fantasyhopperhea @rhoswen-drake @cchiiwinkle @aman3kkun @coffee-or-hot-cocoa @bunniotomia @esthelily

Diluc isn't a rugged man he's actually very pampered, his bedding must made of the best, the finest silk sheets layered with the fluffiest of duvets, and to top it off a velvet coverlet. When it comes to his hair products he has to have the best down to the type of bristle in his brush. And his bathing routine is always very specific hot water, fancy soaps, and a dimly lit room are some stables.

Continuing on from the previous hc despite enjoying his pamperings he's certainly not afraid to get dirty, getting covered in blood, dirt, or whatever strange substances abyss monsters produce is just part of the job.

I also imagine that on his murder spree he got way out of comfort zone he grew up very privileged now he's living off the land traveling the nations, he didn't have those comforts at his finger tips anymore. Not that it mattered much, I doubt he cared anymore, he was so depressed I don't believe he thought much of how well he was caring for himself.

The Ragnvindrs are known for being very masculine men, large and burly, yet Diluc doesn't fit that generational standard he's short for a Ragnvindr, slim and has soft facial features. If you were to look at portraits of all of the Ragnvindr patriarch's Diluc's would stand out.

When Diluc was young he once asked his father where he came from since he didn't have a mother Crepus told him that he grew him in the garden with the grapes and Diluc believed it

Diluc sleeps with his hair down and in a victorian style night gown. It's just the vibes okay. ("Who goes there" Ahh)

Crepus would use baby Diluc as a distraction while he went and got into mischief with Varka.

When he gets injured fighting or when he overworks himself to the point of sickness he hides it till he physically can't anymore and by the time he reaches that point he might be dying.

Diluc tried to eat a cryo slime alive. That whole "if I had to choose between eating a cryo slime alive or joining the fatui id rather be crushed to death by a meteorite" was way too specific.

After becoming practically nocturnal he's become very pale (even by redheaded white boy standards) and always looks sleep deprived it makes for an almost sickly appearance and it concerns people sometimes especially because he used to be so bright.

When Diluc was little he looked up to Vanessa not only for being an amazing warrior but for having the same red hair as him. Having an idol to look up to that resembled him made him feel so seen especially having such a rare hair color

Those old enough to compare Diluc's childhood/teenhood vs now kinda can't help but see him as if he's going through a bit of a goth "phase" (they know he's a ray of sunshine deep down)

This one comes from someone else but I wholeheartedly agree the Ragnvindr manor is incredibly haunted.

Crepus had tight curls while Diluc has large loose curls/waves that make his hair appear very fluffy.

Diluc has always had a MAJOR sweet tooth (probably cried as an infant when people ate cake infront of him).

Diluc is the reason for that one Mondstadt daily where you have to fight the slimes outside the knights gates.

Cannot tan for the life of him, he either burns or freckles.

He has his mother's facial features but his father's hair and eye color (say for slight differences in shades).

After Kaeya was adopted he begged his father to let him move out of his bedroom and share a room with Kaeya.

Every baby Ragnvindr has had a portrait painted of them wearing one specific vintage baby gown that has been passed down through the generations. Crepus painted Diluc's himself.

Diluc was a child born out of wedlock because of this Crepus feared his son would be viewed poorly, but from the moment Diluc was born Mondstant was absolutely eat up with him. He was just as much the cities baby as he was Crepus's.

Like the trailblazers in HSR Diluc has a wanted poster in Snezhnaya but it's drawn, horrifically.

Diluc and Kaeya once decided to play with scissors which resulted in Diluc cutting his bangs off and Kaeya cutting the hair on the side of his head. Both boys had a horrible haircuts till it grew back.

Diluc can get incredibly talkative when he's speaking with someone one on one or just generally comfortable and it weirds people out sometimes.

Before he was a knight Diluc would try to sneak onto the knights carriages or onto training grounds to watch them fight which had one of two outcomes either Varka enabled it and let him watch maybe even teaching him a little or it resulted in Varka scuffing Diluc by his shirt and returning him to Crepus as if he was a lost cat.

He genuinely really loves gardening not just cause it's part of his job.

He probably has some weird collection of strange nicknacks he's hiding somewhere.

Varka got to hold Diluc and Jean both the day they were born.

Since Crepus died Diluc has struggled with compliments, that doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate them he just doesn't know how to respond to them anymore.

Diluc was 10 or 11 when he joined the knights being so young and admiring Varka so much he often clung to him.

When Diluc returned from his time in Snezhnaya he could hardly recognize his brother, Kaeya had changed so much and it really added to the feeling everything had been a lie, even if deep down he couldn't fully believe that.

If you've made it this far thank you for reading! If any seem familiar i originally wrote out a few of these for a tiktok but for my tumblr version I ended up to adding on twenty more headcanons...I'll probably end up putting those as a part two and maybe three for my tiktok. 😅

Im sure the Acting Grand Master has a silly crush on him. Like her heart is squeezing when he smiles to her or animals. She wants to throw up in the bushes, when little kids come to him and hug him. All grannies of Mondstadt want to feed him their pastry and he is just letting them, because he wants them to be happy.

Jeans heart cant take it - it's too painful

By the way - go read my story about jeans and ventis first meeting!

archiveofourown.org/works/62322031…

Lisa: Well, Jean and I-

Jean: *elbows Lisa*

The most reliable members of knights of favonius 💪