Diluc x Reader

48

you knew what he was holding in his hands, it was exactly what you had to pinpoint on your mission in mondstadt.

yet there zhongli was, holding the geo variant of it in his hand without much care. "it appears you know." he said after you had remained silent as you gazed at the gnosis with wide eyes.

his words snapped you out of your small daze, your eyes went straight from the object to zhongli, back to the gnosis in his hand and eventually you looked at the male in front of you again.

not wanting to jump to conclusions, you spoke up, "where did you get that?" you said sternly as your eyes went from wide back to normal.

"we all have our secrets." he said as he looked at the gnosis in his hand, fiddling with it in between his index and middle finger now, as if it was some kind of toy.

you contemplated your choices, the fatui needed that piece, it was the top priority. gathering the gnosises from the seven was the main goal or her highness.

you could fix your mistakes if you managed to get this one in front of you. a gnosis was a gnosis, whether it was from the anemo archon, your original mission, or from the geo lord.

'how can i obtain it?' you thought to yourself, a million ways of approach clouded your mind. you could use violence or you could simply ask him for it.

violence wouldnt be smart since you didnt know the abilities of zhongli in front of you. besides, you were in a crowded city and couldnt go all out with your abilities.

and talking seemed too easy for you, there was no way he would simply give you the gnosis. he seemed to know the worth of it too.

before you had any chance to even think of another approach, another idea shot in your head. you spoke up, "what was your deal with the tsarista." you said to him, finally believing in his words.

the corners of his mouth curled upwards as you were finally willing to listen. he inched forward on the couch, one of his elbows resting on his knees as his other hand remained holding the shining gnosis.

"the conditions..." he started off with, his eyes leaving the piece and making their way to you.

you waited patiently for him to continue, and he did. "they are personal." he continued speaking and you furrowed your brows at his answer, thinking you might not learn anything useful.

"although." he said in a low voice, his head tilted fully into your direction now, his singular earring and hair swayed along with the movement.

his amber eyes pierced into yours, "my part of the contract is that i must grant the fatui with this gnosis." he said and you wondered how he would have made a deal like this in the first place.

"which means." he said and stopped mid sentence, he lowered his hand with the gnosis and set it down silently on the coffee table in front of you. his hand remained on top of it.

he slid the piece your way, making an odd sound as the metal slid over the wooden coffee table, you watched everything unfold in front of you with wide eyes once again as you realized what was happening. he just gave you the gnosis without any struggle.

"i am done with my contract now." he finished saying as his gloved hand left the top of the gnosis.

you understood everything perfectly and knew exactly what was happening, it was almost unrealistic how easy it was.

you nodded at zhongli and extended your own hand to grab the gnosis. your fingertips gazed over the top of it and you grabbed it the same way like zhongli held it before.

with your index finger on the top and your thumb supporting the bottom, you held it in between your two fingers.

it was lighter than you expected, you could clearly feel a strong elemental power surge from it too, the metal was smooth and your fingers could easily glide along the material.

"i understand." you said as your eyes shifted from the piece in your hand to zhongli, who had been studying your reaction and never broke eye contact.

you still had numerous questions, one being how he would be able to obtain the gnosis in the first place. you opened your mouth to speak up but were unfortunately interrupted by an over excited hu tao.

she slammed the door open with one hand as she had her other hand hidden behind her back. her grin was wider than ever.

her eyes laid on the two of you sitting on the two opposite couches, "are you telling her about the history of chopsticks again?" hu tao oddly questioned as she cocked her head to the side.

"precisely." zhongli said without much hesitation. you grabbed the gnosis with your full hand, letting the power radiate against the inside of your palm as you hid the object from hu taos sight.

you tilted your head to hu tao and went on with zhonglis excuse, "its very interesting." you replied with a smile on your face, hoping you convinced her enough.

she bought the excuse while making her way to you, "i didnt know you liked chopsticks so much too, y/n." hu tao commented as one of her hands was still behind her back.

you saw her getting closer and stuffed the shining gnosis from the palm of your hand into the pocket of your coat.

she stopped besides the wooden coffee table and turned her body to you, "before you go..." she said as a grin made its way to her features.

"this is for you!" she said and revealed her hand from behind her back, showing a beautifully light red charm. she held it with two fingers up as she showed you it.

your eyes were immediately drawn to it and you unconsciously stood up straight, now with both feet supporting your weight.

taking one step forward you inched to see it upon closer look, "this is beautiful, its really for me?" you said as your eyes went from the lucky charm to hu tao.

she liked your reaction, you could see that by the way her smile grew even more. "yep! here you go!" she said and extended the charm to you.

you lifted your arm up and carefully gazed your fingers over the charm, now fully holding it you flipped it to see the other side and saw a beautiful five leaf white flower.

it would remind you of hu tao, the charm was just like her eyes, a soft red with a white ish flower in the middle of it. you turned your gaze to hu tao again and spoke up.

"thank you, i will keep it safe." you said in your usual voice while the corners of your mouth turned upwards into a genuine smile.

now it was time to end your unexpected journey to the wangsheng funeral parlor, you walked with hu tao to the door of the living room and quickly turned around to see zhongli once more.

"it was nice to meet you." you said politely as you secretly thanked him for his gnosis. he seemed to understand what you meant and gave you a simple nod while he spoke from his seat, "likewise." the male replied in his usual calm voice.