Work Text:
zhongli
he would be the last to know. everyone else could see how smitten he is, how a simple mention of your name could steer his attention from whatever he’s doing. he thinks himself a man of subtlety, but he is not.
his realization comes when he finds his mind wandering from the confines of his office. zhongli wills time to move faster, the hands of the clock seemingly stuck at a quarter to noon. his feet tap impatiently, eager to meet you for lunch, body poised to run out the door the second the chime is heard.
"you'll have to pay them back one day, you know." zhongli sighs, nodding in defeat. you'd always be the one to hand over the pouch of mora at the end of meals, and though he'd want to do the same, he hadn't had the time to finish his affairs in order. end of an archon and all that.
"at this rate, you'll have to be the one to pay for their wedding!"
as the waiter leaves, warmth spreads from zhongli's chest, creeping to the tip of his ears. upon your return, you notice that his eyes seemed to shift in the light. what once was just brown, now molten honey. "what're you thinking about, zhongli?"
he turns away, clearing throat, unable to meet your gaze. "marriage," he mumbles.
jean
it would trouble her, having to realize it at such an inopportune time. with papers stacked one after the other, requests filing in from citizens in and out of mondstadt, and the constant streams of diplomats watching her every move, this is just very... inconvenient.
lisa strolls into the room, a grin on her lips and a bottle of dandelion wine in tow. "something troubling you, grand master?"
jean merely grunts, waving away the tease and accepting the wine wordlessly. the two sit in silence for a moment, letting the air cool as the stress of the day rolls down jean's shoulders, albeit for a moment.
"i'm in love." her voice is monotonous, though lisa catches the hint of both fear and excitement underneath the surprise. she laughs, not even asking who. "come on, is it really that bad?"
the weight of a hundred lives on her shoulder is crushing, and the very thought of putting you in danger makes nearly sends her stomach out the window. and yet, you choose that moment to open the door, a sheepish smile on your face.
lisa shakes her head, ushering you into the room as she saunters away, shooting jean a knowing grin.
annoyance is quick to fall away, as you present her a basket, the familiar waft of pizza from the cat's tail filling the air. as the two of you clear away her desk, jean lets herself go. as she fixes her gaze upon your smile and the laughter that rings in her ears, she thinks that no.
no, falling in love with you isn't bad at all.
bennett
him vying for your affection had been a running joke in the guild. it stemmed from jealousy, after all, as you were only second to barbara in terms of healing capabilities and would usually be the one to treat the unlucky adventurer. bennett joked about you being his saviour, and the other adventurers took that moment of vulnerability into a pyre for everyone to mock.
despite this, you continued to treat him, your attitude to his wounds not changing a bit. you spoke to him like an equal, genuine concern lacing your voice even as you scolded him. he goes along with the other's jokes, hiding behind the veil of feigned attraction to hide the truth of actually wanting a connection. for though his heart sings for you, he doesn't dare make a move. he knows that affiliating with him had already taken a toll with your reputation. he doesn't wish to tarnish it any further.
you snap your fingers in front of him, breaking him out of his trance. the pensive look on his face is replaced with a mask of joy — one you long to break.
"i would tell you to be careful," you begin, packing away your supplies. "but i don't think you ever listen."
bennett shoots you a grin. "you make it sound as though you care about me."
"i do." you say this plainly, not a hint of a tease.
as he exits the room, he chalks up the burning on his cheeks as the effect of his vision — and not of the touch of your lips against it.
beidou
love had never been on the horizon for the captain of the crux fleet. though her lips know the taste of lipstick and the brush of stubble, these encounters would rarely last more than a night. whatever time she spends on land, she enjoys the gifts of the harbor's spoils, skipping through wonderful vices like a grocery list.
so when you board her ship as a deckhand, she doesn't think much of the stolen kisses and the late night rendezvous. she doesn't think much of it at all. not when your hands seem to caress, rather than simply touch. how your eyes seem to swallow her whole before you even lean in.
no, beidou doesn't think about this at all.
whatever she had with you was casual. merely a tryst between captain and shipmate, to satiate carnal desires that could be fulfilled with anyone else given the chance.
yet the very thought of you in the presence of someone else, making the same expression as you did with her made her blood boil. her hand twitched, her claymore humming with power.
"something the matter, oh captain my captain?"
she near topples over the edge of the ship, throwing you a stern look as you pull her back, a gentle hand on her arm as you're racked with laughter. the casual touch sends fire through her veins, and she is quick to pull away. beidou doesn't miss the hurt that flashes through your face, gone too quickly for her to dwell upon it.
"nothing that concerns you, my sweet."
she hates it when she calls you that — the playful nickname now sending her heart into overdrive. it seemed too brazen, to call the object of your affection in the open.
it is then that it dawns on her. whether she wanted to or not, she was indeed smitten. and she'll have to deal with that, as there was little places to hide in a ship who'd see no land for another month.
diluc
he's not sure when he stopped seeing you as a friend and wanted you as a lover. he's not sure with life's ends and beginnings, as you've been in his for as long as he could remember.
your smile was one of the things he remembers fighting his brother over, the tinkle of your laugh and the warmth of your hugs so comforting the two would stage fights just to receive them. you caught on pretty quickly, and thus they had to resort to cleverer tricks.
even now, when the distance between him and kaeya was a gaping chasm, you had remained. you had tried to reconnect the two, and it still pains diluc how he snapped at you, the look of surprise and fear at his raised voice one that haunts his dreams.
irony tastes familiar on his tongue, and he had long since given up on trying to wash it away with wine. he sees less of you now, though he supposed he had a role in that. though your post was one of the calmer regions in liyue, his heart still thrums in nervous energy whenever he's alerted of trouble.
he knows that you could best most knights in battle — many a time had he found himself covered with earth as you knocked him off his feet. yet his heart longs to have you close, to be able to catch a glimpse of you through the square, out of the confines of your uniform.
there are few things that diluc regrets. he does everything he can to ensure that every move is the best foot forward, every decision scrutinized from every angle. but one of the biggest that weighs heavy on his heart, is the truth that your departure had not been abrupt, and had he willed it, he could've prevented it.
he was just too much of a coward to make a move.