#minty writes

Ghost chuckled, lips smiling under the pushed-up mask. "You will now, won't ya?"

Doc hummed in mild agreement, gaze flickering in interest as her eyes drifted up to his jaw. "How's the stitches here?" She reached up, fingers a fluttering sensation over his face.

"Fine." Ghost tilted his head away, eyes following Doc's face. It was rounded, sweet, with a sinfully plump mouth and intelligent eyes. Her fingers moved over his skin, around the stitches- she was prodding it, gently, testing the area. "Good thing women like scars, innit, doc?"

She grinned, fingers turning, her knuckles stroking his jaw now. "Mm. I can vouch for myself, Ghost." She stepped away, picking up the clipboard, eyes still on him as he rolled the shirt onto his body. Plenty of touches had come from her end- some beyond what Ghost believed a regular medical examination typically called for.

"Tell me, doc." Ghost leaned forward on his knees, sliding off the examination table. "You flirt with all your patients?"

Doc looked up at him from looking at his chart. She smiled, brows cocking at the challenge as her eyes slid down his body. "Only the pretty ones, LT."

Ghost licked his lips, once, glancing back at the door. He slowly looked back towards the doctor, who watched him with eager eyes. His cock twitched- he would have been lying if he hadn't thought about her in every sense of the word 'carnal'. He shifted towards her, tilting his head. She sucked in a breath as if surpressing a sound, turning away from her desk. "Doc, seems like we finished a little early." He stepped towards her, slowly, walking at a leisurely pace.

She leaned back on her desk and dropped the chart behind her, eyes meeting his. "We did."

Ghost walked until he was inches in front of her, hands moving and pressing on the desk, either side of her.

Trapped.

Her eyes flashed up to his, a smile curling on the bright red lips. "You wear that lipstick for me, doc?" Ghost's finger ran under her chin, tilting it back to look up at him.

With a manner that was anything but bedside (more like, in the bed already), Doc looped a finger in the belt on his waist and tugged him in, eyes skimming what she could see of his face. "Depends. If you wanted me to, then yes."

"And if I didn't?" He craned his neck down, breath fanning over her face.

The sultry smile slipped into a sly one. "Then I would say you're wrong about that."

"Good sense, doc." Ghost leaned down, mouth crashing over hers. He stepped into her, pinning the back of her thighs to the desk. Doc's arms moved up, grasping his shirt, his mask, feeling him. Ghost groaned into the kiss, grinding his hips forward, just once, hard enough to get a preview of a moan from her against his mouth. She tasted sweet, foreign, but like want.

Ghost pulled away, reaching a hand up and brushing away at the lipstick, smudged now on her chin. He hummed in approval and stepped away. "What time?"

"Six."

"Done." Ghost called back, stepping out into the hall as he pulled his mask down. He grinned under it, pacing quickly towards the showers.

Xingqiu is always telling (what he considers) harmless little lies. Seeing his friends' reactions and getting a laugh is part of it, yes, but testing their faith in him is the other. It always fills him with a kind of warmth when they believe him unconditionally, when they show they trust him. 'You have to speak it aloud, Lotte,' he says, 'otherwise, how will the wish-granting adeptus of Lantern Rite know how to help you?'

He almost can't believe the malarky coming out of his own mouth; anyone born in Liyue would have rolled their eyes. But Lotte merely listens intently, green eyes wide as she pays him her full and careful attention.

When he watches, holding back a good-natured laugh as Lotte looks so seriously, so thoughtfully at her lantern, he finds himself blindsided and mouth slightly agape when the warmth that usually spreads through his body instead burns in his cheeks.

"Adeptus of the Lantern Rite," she says, her voice soft and gentle and warm, "I'm so very fortunate already, and I already have so many blessings, so um, please grant Xingqiu's family good fortune in my stead--that is, if you could see fit to grant him a break and take some of his workload off, so he might get to travel more as he likes, and maybe if I can be a little selfish, so he can come see me in person now and then, I-I'd very much like that. ...Um, thank you."

The glow of the lanterns partially hide the red on both of their faces, and after a moment of silence, Lotte looks at Xingqiu, embarrassment obvious in her tone. "W-was that okay? It got kind of long..." She fans her face with one of her hands while she clings to the lantern with the other. "This sure is an embarrassing tradition, huh?" she smiles in spite of herself. "The people of Liyue are so bold and honest..."

There's a flash of gold and brown behind them, and Lotte and Xingqiu turn to see a familiar face.

"Monsieur Zhongli," Lotte says excitedly. "How good to see you! Are you enjoying Lantern Rite? Xingqiu was just telling me about wishing on lanterns!"

Zhongli's smile is gentle. "Was he, now?"

Xingqiu finds himself unable to keep eye contact with the golden-eyed consultant, and he clears his throat as he looks away, but no words come.