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“i need not comfort.”
“i know,” you eyed the man who laid before you. he feigned coldness, implying that the matter you were concerned of is not to be dwelled upon.
“zandik, you may claim to not need it, but i shall still tell you what i have meant to say all these years,” the man uttered a sigh, seemingly coming to terms with your stubbornness.
“now that teyvat is at peace, you are allowed to be vulnerable,” his eyes drifted away, simply afraid of laying himself bare in front of you despite having done so many times before.
“you now have a chance at living, a chance at belonging.”
“belonging means permanence,” he responded albeit hurriedly, “permanence is not ideal. i stay for benefits, i leave when the present benefits me no longer.”
“aren't i a sense of permanence to say the least?”
“you are different.”
“am i really?”
“...do not question me.”
“questions are necessary.”
quiet swallows the room in its entirety, he seems to have lost his rhythm of comebacks.
“this isn't my attempt at comfort, but perhaps you should treat it as such,” your hand reaches his own, intertwining itself with the other's.
“from the moment you were brought to this world, your birth was deemed a misfortune to your mother and father, declaring you a heretic by name, your fate already written. but we've broken free from the shackles of fate, and we are allowed freedom as we wish, no longer beneath the heaven's control,” you paused for a moment, adjusting the placement of your hand, drifting from his hand to his face.
you'd been laying in bed beside him, back against the headboard, legs sprawled out atop the sheets. the topic at hand subconsciously finding its way into conversation at some point in time.
“you need not remind me of the past.”
“i apologize, but allow me to continue.”
“...go on.”
“you are allowed to live. so please, build a life with me here, zandik.”
caressing his cheek, you patiently pull his face towards your own. he seems to have caught up with your intentions and leaned in voluntarily, closing the distance, meeting your lips in the middle, breaking apart shortly afterwards.
“as you wish, عزیزم.”