!!!❤

!!!❤

𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 — 𝐂𝐇 𝟏

chapter 1 — strained relationships.

[fic info here]

You watched with bright, hopeful eyes as the Player began to choose their party members. When it came to the second slot, their brows furrowed in contemplation briefly before they selected you.

You let out a joyful exclamation, pleased that you were going to be used.

You must’ve been blessed with an extraordinary Player— you had only released five minutes ago and they had already managed to obtain you, a five star character! It was praiseworthy.

“Ah? You must be Y/N?” A cool, masculine voice called out to you, causing you to glance to your right, eyes landing on a certain blue-haired male.

Your eyes lit up with recognition— you had heard a lot about him. Wasn’t he the Calvary Captain of the Knights of Favonius? What was his name, again? Kayden… Karen… Kai… oh, Kaeya—! That’s his name.

You beamed, nodding, “Yep, that’s me! And you must be the famous Kaeya. It’s wonderful to meet you,” you say.

The blue-haired male chuckled, seeming to be amused by your choice of words. “Famous? I’m not so sure about that,” he remarked. You opened your mouth to reply, only for a voice to interrupt you.

“I agree. He’s more infamous for seducing the hardworking citizens of Mondstadt.”

You glanced to your right to see a red-haired male glaring daggers at Kaeya, arms folded across his chest. Oh, another person you recognized! Your Player really was impressive.

“Me?” Kaeya arched a brow, “I’m not sure about that. How about you, my dear brother? Somehow, you managed to get Donna to fall for both of your identities. Now isn’t that a feat?”

The pyro user narrowed his eyes at his brother. “I believe in numbers, Kaeya, and I think you have quite the record.”

Upon seeing the rising tension between the two brothers, you quickly interjected, not wanting a fight to start up, especially since you were sandwiched right in the middle of them both. Ugh, your ears wouldn’t be able to take it.

You leaned a little closer to Diluc, giving him a quick wave paired with a cheeky smile, “Hi there,” you chirp, “You must be Diluc! I’m Y/N, the newest playable character.”

Diluc finally noticed you, blinking once before returning your greeting. “I apologize for that,” he murmured, “That must’ve not been a very good first impression of me.”

You merely smiled, “Oh, no worries, I understand. Siblings can be quite infuriating something,” you laughed.

Just as those words left your lips, another character was added into the party, taking up the last slot. Your eyes widened upon seeing who it was.

“Childe!” You exclaimed gleefully the same time Diluc exclaimed, “The Fatui?!”

You stopped, happy expression faltering as you glanced over at Diluc, who looked at you with a shocked expression on his face. You knew exactly what he was thinking— you know this guy?

“Oh— oh, don’t worry, he’s trustworthy,” you say quickly. Well, not really, but he wouldn’t kill you… probably.

Being stuck in the development stages for months gave you quite a lot of time to observe characters, and you knew that Childe wasn’t heartless. Terrifying at times, yes, but not heartless. His love for his family really showed that.

The ginger returned your grin with one of his own, not fazed in the slightest by a new face.

“Hey there!” He greeted, beaming, “Y/N L/N, right? I’ve heard plenty about you, and it seems like you’ve heard a lot about me, too.”

You nodded rapidly, “Well, yeah!” Your smile turned into a bit of a smirk, “You’re Zhongli’s sugar daddy.”

Silence.

Then, Childe burst out in laughter, doubling over. “I-is that what they’re calling me, now?” He snorted, “Y’know, you’d think that with my three names, they’d settle for at least one of them, but no.”

You quickly glanced over at both of the males standing next to you. Kaeya looked mildly amused while Diluc… not so much. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he pieced things together.

You then glanced back at Childe, “Well, I mean— it’s not necessarily a bad nickname?? I mean, you’re getting more attention.”

The ginger nodded, “True, true. I guess you can’t ask for much else, huh?” He wiped a tear away, “Well, it’s great to meet you, Y/N.” His eyes glimmered with mirth, “I have a feeling we’ll get along excellently.”

Did Childe just say that to me?! Your mind screamed, I just got acquainted with someone rich as hell!

Technically, he was a criminal, too, but we weren’t going to talk about that.

You swallowed down the urge to jump around and cheer, thinking up something to say to hopefully continue the conversation. The Player, however, then opened up the character screen, switching to your character, and began to level you up.

Once you were up to level eighty, the Player exited the screen and began to grind a certain domain over and over again, seeming to be trying to get a certain artifact. This was what you did for the next week or two, over and over again.

You understood the pain of being a main, now.

Of course, it was enjoyable, but was definitely tiring. You notified that every time you did a domain, by the end of it, you were completely out of breath, while the three males seemed completely fine.

Luckily, on the fifteenth day, the Player finally managed to get the artifact set they were grinding for. Any longer and you swore your soul would’ve left your body.

They then teleported to a statue— the one near the big tree in Mondstadt— and logged off.

“Whoa!” Childe exclaimed, “It is windy here—!”

“That’s why it’s called Windrise,” you shout at him, hoping he could hear you over the whipping winds, which seemed to be strangely violent today, “And Mondstadt is under the control of the Anemo Archon— what did you expect?”

“True,” he admitted, “Can we get out of here, though? Going to Angel’s Share would be much better than sitting here for the next few days, straining our voice.”

Kaeya jumped on the opportunity, “I agree, don’t you think so, brother?”

The redhead glared at the cryo user before eventually caving when you pointed out that he had been away from work for a whole two weeks. Yep, you knew his weak spot— he was a workaholic.

Soon enough, the four of you were in the tavern— Diluc behind the counter, Kaeya and you sitting at the bar, and Childe… somewhere, probably blackmailing someone.

“Ah, this is much better,” the cryo user hummed, twirling a glass full of wine with his nimble fingers, “It’s been a while since I’ve had a glass of wine.”

You sipped at your own drink, “Really? I’m surprised.”

“Hm?” The blue-haired male raised an eyebrow, “How come?”

“Wine is your favorite drink,” you reply, “And from what I’ve heard, you indulge yourself in it often.”

Kaeya chuckled briefly. “Whoever is telling you this is making me sound like an alcoholic.”

You laughed along with him, “But isn’t that what you are?” You joked.

“What? Of course not,” he said, feigning an overly dramatic innocent expression before immediately dropping it, “You’re beginning to sound like Diluc, you know.”

You paused very briefly, unsure of how to reposed to that. Was that good or bad? You knew that his relationship with the redhead was very strained, and so the last thing you wanted to do was to accidentally strike a nerve.

Kaeya seemed to understand what you were thinking, because he smiled and added, “I’m joking. You looked so serious just now,” he chuckled.

You blinked, snapping out of your thoughts, “I… did?”

The blue-haired male nodded. “Mhm hm. I didn’t even know you could make that expression.”

Heat rushed to your cheeks in embarrassment, “Oh, well, uh—“ you were cut off by Diluc’s voice, causing you to glance over at the redhead.

“We should get going now,” he advised, “The Player said they were only taking a short break.”

You nodded, getting up, “Alright.” You glanced around the tavern before your lips dropped into a frown, face visibly paling, “Hey, uh… where’s Childe?”

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

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