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It’s way past midnight when Lohen steps in his chamber, uncaring for his surroundings since he never noticed any malicious presence nearby before in the building, nor did he notice anything uncanny right now. Hence why he didn’t notice them lying in his bed, bare foot beside his pillow and drooling on the uncovered part of the mattress, the black minidress revealing a little too much of their thighs to be innocent in his imagination.
By the soft ‘click’ of the door he looks up to the familiarly serene figure of his beloved friend’s drunk state. Lohen sighs, closing his eyes for two seconds to mentally prepare himself for the questions he has to ask in case he wants to sleep in peace.
“Hey, dummy, wake up.” He gently pokes their face with his gloved knuckles, the left hand held his cape and Vision. “Wake up, you dumbass. Why are you in my room? This could get the both of us in trouble and I don’t wanna hear Varka and Jean’s same ol’ nagging.”
Drowsy and slightly dizzy, the feminine figure spurs from the sleeping land and pushes their torso upwards causing a strap of the thin fabric to slide down their shoulder and look ridiculously sensual on them, the translucid black stockings marking their legs and matching perfectly with the dress. The way their hair is a beautifully messy photograph cemented in his brain from now on, thrown over the right side of the middle parted way of the scalp. Lohen gulps down to not allow his thoughts wander too far away from his chivalry. A needy groan rolls out of their lips, blinking softly to adjust the vision to the little lightning provided by the moon out and high in the skies of Teyvat.
“Hmm?... Ah, hm, Lohen?” They mutter with a sweet voice. Too sweet for him. He sits down by their side ─ their legs draped over the messed up pillowcase ─ adjusting the shoulder strap with urgency. Meanwhile they didn’t even realize they were being touched, his hand trained with efficiency and the swiftness of an icy blade. “Sorry man, I, uh… What?”
The young man sighs, shaking his head with no hopes of getting a wink of sleep tonight, instinctively communicating through whispers. “I asked what you are doing in the knights' dorms? How did you pass by everyone with no verification or ID on you? You’re wasted! You reek of wine…” Lohen didn’t get enough attention to his questions, he was absolutely ignored by their curiousity.
“...y’know, I always found it odd how you just… Don’t taste any alcohol and shit. Not even the lightest wine in Dawn Winery is appealing to you. Hah, are you a lightweight or what?” They bit the tip of their thumb nail with a smirk. These two dynamics have always been like this: teasing each other, ragebaiting one another and ending up the day with a philosophic conversation just the same. A good friendship with a shared dose of existential crisis. “Or do you just hate the taste of alcohol? Weird for a mondstadtian but it’s alright, I guess…”
“I don’t drink because of the taste, although I find it to be wacky in general. I don’t like being around drunk knights all the time.” He confesses while taking off his boots and placing them by the side of the small shoe cabinet with a steel holder to keep it in the correct shape and avoid the wrinkling effect. “You don’t understand how loud and unbearable the troops were at Nod-Krai ─ thanks Archons, it's over now.” He mutters the last part.
“Huh…” They remain silent for a long time while Lohen stares at nothing in his room, calculating if he should give in to the exhaustion and take the bed right by your side or find a comfortable place on the armrest and have an unpleasant night’s rest and awful back pain in the morning. “So…” They start. “Does my company bother you?” He blinks once, surprised by the suddenness of the question asked. “Am I… Am I a bother?” The friend’s voice dies down in the air, their words not higher than a murmur. Gazing unsure at the opposite direction of Lohen’s gaze, they stammer a little, unable to come up with any good complement for what has been spoken out loud.
“No, no. No way you bother me. Where is this coming from?” They didn’t sound like they misunderstood his reason for distasting alcohol, but rather that it ignited a stream of thoughts they couldn’t get out of. Lohen wasn’t unaware of their negative thought forming process, especially when the sun dies down on the hills and the quietness of the night turns every little thought too entertaining to not give it attention. With both hands over their chest, watery eyes and trembling voice, the feminine person dares to lift their gaze in Lohen's direction although still tipsy.
“I know you enjoy challenges, pulling pranks on your crewmates and stuff but I… I have a feeling I’m not enough. For some time I’ve wondered if you keep me around ‘cause you pity me or because you simply tend to avoid unnecessary conflict about feelings and relationships until they die out. I’m not the best with poison either so why… Why do you… Ugh!” Tears roll down their cheeks as they do the best they can to avoid stirring up more drama. “Why are you around me if I can’t provide anything you like? I usually know how to answer those questions ─ you know I do ─, but when I reflect on them and come up with something, am I being delusional and hyping myself up because I enjoy being around you or do I know the truth of your feelings and intentions towards me?”
They cannot control it, keep it hidden anymore and start crying pitifully yet hopefully, leaning on his shoulder with a fierce grip on the man’s biceps despite the drunk state.
“We’re so unalike. When will you get bored of me…?”
After a long pause he manages to mutter a response.
“Never, bunny.” Lohen grabs their face with an unknown gentleness, one he didn’t know to possess most of the time unless he was around you. Always with you. A shame you never picked up on that clue to respond to your own insecurity. “My amusement doesn't come solely from that, you know? Whenever you ramble about TCG tournaments, I listen to you. If you didn’t like a poison of mine, I would kill myself for even daring to forget and use it on you again. You love ballads and bars, being so full of culture which I admire a lot. You have your limits and dislikes and I’m fine with that because I couldn’t care less about how different we are!” He holds their chin up, staring right into his piercing red eyes in this dark dorm room. “I like you because you don’t cower. When we first met and you were a runaway bandit, you didn’t scream or beg me for mercy… Quite the contrary. You laughed, cracked a joke and turned yourself in with the brightest smile I’ve seen so far. That alone set my mind for one goal after your release from jail: to know more of you. Damn it, I only felt my body react this way when I first spiked Varka’s apology Dandelion Wine!” He holds their face closer, stroking his thumb against their mascara and tear stained cheek. “Don’t think of yourself like that ever again. Your presence in my life is one of the most valuable miracles I still have. Please… I can’t lose you too.”
His gaze is penetrating, unfazed and never faltered most of the time. Not even in front of the most formidable enemies in Teyvat did he show anything other than calm amusement with raw battlefield spirit. Tonight is the exception. Only him, their beloved friend and the moon’s gaze could sense the vulnerability he rarely devotes to himself to show, even to his loved ones. This emotion is dedicated to them alone and despite their drunk state, they can see that he, too, has his share of insecurity. Would it be too egotistical on their part to thank their damned hurt ego for confessing what they wanted to after such a long time just to see the light in his teary eyes?
“Lohen… Don’t you dare think of yourself like that.” The tables turn and it’s their voice that regained that poised confidence of always. With a swift movement, the friend’s hands are now cupping his face with more force than necessary, they sit on his lap with too much ease but does he interrupt this sudden action? They fit perfectly in the middle of his legs and it’s not like that’s the first time they have tackled him. “I know you didn’t say it with full words, but I know what you’re thinking. You still believe you’re weak, you still think you’re only for the sidelines but I’ve seen how you steal everyone’s air from their lungs once you step in the battlefield. For Barbatos’ sake, you were blessed with a Vision! That alone tells how much you are. If not to the gods or to Teyvat, to me. You matter to me more than you realize and─ Augh, fuck…!” Their head starts spinning again and Lohen resorts to stabilizing their balance with both hands on their hips, definitely settling them on his lap while their hands find sustenance on his shoulders.
“How odd… I should be the one saying those words to you.” He weakly laughs, nestling his forehead against theirs, stroking their hair with his right hand. “You’re incredible, bunny. You need to understand that once and for all. No one can steal your place in my life. Never. And I can’t get enough of you”
“If that’s true, then show me.”
What?
That’s the first thought that pops up in his mind. It’s difficult to see in the dark, but he can definitely feel their hands slowly guiding his’ down their body… Lower and lower until his right hand is forcefully squeezing their left cheek while the other is nestled on their inner thigh, parting them with his fingers unintentionally teasing under the minidress. That surprised him, he did not realize the compromising position you two were in until right now.
“Woah, woah, woah! Stop right there! Now’s not the time for, um…” He could feel when every blood cell seemed to find their way to his face, leaving him pathetic under their gaze full of desire. “How much did you drink?!”
“Doesn’t matter… I trust you with my honor.” They slowly slide back down the fallen strap of the dress with their thumb while undressing from the black cotton overall, making sure to smile and sigh in clear expectation.
“For heaven's sake, chill out!” He grabs both of their shoulders and shakes them a little to see if they wake up from this state, careful enough to avoid raising his voice while scolding them or else any curious knight could witness the scene. “Snap out of it already! You’re in no headspace to give out your full consent… To me nonetheless!”
“What the fuck are you on about?” They purposefully snap their hips down, leaning their torso closer with a smirk. At that moment he somewhat understood how menacing a smile like that can be ─ he felt like a prey, a helpless one at that. He understood what his enemies felt (and discovered a new thing about himself at the same time). “Lohen, I’m just tipsy. It’s not enough for it to hinder my notion of consent!”
They were raising their voice a little and it was merely one in the morning. So, afraid someone might knock on the door looking for trouble to resolve, he covers their mouth with one gloved hand while the other finds itself on their lower back, a little more and he’ll pin them down on the bed. This doesn’t help in anything at all because once their mind is settled on something, they don’t stop until they obtain the desired result ─ an admirable trait, Lohen would usually say, but not in times like this.
“Ooh! Kinky~! You wanna keep me quiet so I behave like a good girl?”
“Note to self: never let you drink again.” Lohen whispered, fighting against his most formidable foe yet: the temptation to give in. “I have my honor as a knight and as a chivalrous man and, I say and repeat: I will not have sex with you while you’re drunk. End of conversation.” He squints his eyes with a scowl, serious in a way they’ve never seen before. But unfortunately, they don’t give up easily especially when their mission is to annoy Lohen as much as possible.
There is a brief pause during this hard staring contest they share.
“You’re so damn attractive when you’re commanding me like this. Makes me wanna try out the recruitment for the Knights of Favonious just so you yell at me.”
He lowers his head down in defeat and they laugh out loud, falling forward until their forehead finds rest on the curve of his neck. Sighing in relief after a heartfelt laughter, they smile with fondness never felt before. “I promise I’ll be a good lover. I’m good at cooking rice and making chicken stuffed potatoes. I’ll put extra Jueyun Chilis just how you like ‘em.”
“Hah… Is that a promise?” Lohen kisses the shell of their ear more calmly at the sound of your voice lacking the teasing remarks; both serious with each declaration spoken in the middle of the night.
“You bet…” Drowsiness started to drift their consciousness back to the dream realm. Lohen notices it and covers both of them with his weighted blanket, slowly adjusting his position to lie down without letting go of them.
“If you become my lover, I’ll worship you everyday.”
“You better… Or I’ll chop your head off if you don’t.”
“Haha… That’s my lover, alright.”