Genshin x Reader Oneshots

Just A While Longer (Zhongli x GN!Reader)

Warnings: Blood, weapons, death (I hope that's it) If you're not comfortable with any of those things, then don't read this chapter ^-^ 

~ ~ ~ 

 "See, Zhongli?" You said, cupping the little caterpillar in your hands. "It's like a little baby right now," you placed it in a wooden bin, tossing a bunch of silk flower leaves you've picked earlier. "If you watch it eat some more, then it'll grow all fat and chunky." You laughed at that thought, smirking. "Like a dick–"

"Y/N..." he scolded.

"Alright, sorry!" You waved your hand in his face. "I was just kidding, alright?"

"These types of jokes are inappropriate."

"If they're too inappropriate for your liking, why'd you agree when I asked you to go on a date with me to Qixing Peak?"

Zhongli had to think for that one. "I actually...don't know..."

"Exactly."

~ ~ ~

Zhongli had come running into your room that morning, holding the little habitat that the two of you had made. "Y/N, it's making a cocoon!" He exclaimed, eyes wide. "It's making a cocoon...!"

You leaned over, resting your head on his arm. "See, now it's squirting cum–"

"Y/N!"

"Looks like you when you're–"

"Silence!"

At his responses, you just laughed, leaning into his side. His responses were always hilarious, making you wheeze. You didn't know why, but it was probably the way he always said things in the most poetic language possible. The Morax really wasn't something you'd expect him to be.

Amused by your laughter, Zhongli cupped the side of your face, burying his nose into your hair with a smile. "Alright, calm down now."

"Z-Zhongli, you sound like an old grandpa–" you cut yourself off with a yelp, feeling his hands linger against your sides, then his fingers digging into your waist, tickling you.

"I am not that old. Only a couple thousand years..."

"AHA- only a couple thousand?!" You squirmed, trying to escape his grasp. "That's a whole couple centuries older than I am!"

~ ~ ~

When the two of you had to let your little butterfly go, Zhongli almost seemed to be struggling with something. When you had asked him what, he told you that it barely seemed like any time had passed at all. And your little insect was already ready to fly away, and make its own little family of caterpillars. It was like a cycle. A cycle that was too short for Zhongli's liking.

"Lives are shorter than you think, actually," you explained, in your normal teasing tone. "Insect lives tend to be a lot shorter than human lives. And if I'm being honest, it probably seemed like raising this little bad boy seemed like mere seconds to you, hm?"

He nodded.

"Time always seems to go by so fast for you, doesn't it?" You smiled. Quite a sad smile compared to what he was used to. "It'll be alright, I'm certain."

"How could you be so certain?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm the amazing Y/N! I know everything! Even more than you do, Morax," you declared proudly.

"Very well," he agreed, deciding to go along with your childish antics. Zhongli tapped one of your shoulders with his hand, then the other. "I now grant you the title as the all-knowing Y/N."

"Yup!"

~ ~ ~

Now Zhongli truly understood what you meant by 'time passes quickly'. Now, as he held your body close to his, his hands pressed over the ripped flesh on your abdomen. He could smell the metallic scent of blood. He, himself was covered in his own, though he still felt perfectly fine. The soldiers...the monsters, and the others all lay around him, completely still. But he paid no attention to them. He couldn't. Not when he could practically feel your warm, sticky blood seeping through his fingers.

"Oh, Zhongli..." you whispered, bringing an arm over your eyes. "Looks like I did eventually manage to get impaled. This time, it isn't with your dick–"

"Shush, Y/N!" He snapped, squeezing your hand. How could you be joking at a time like this?! This certainly wasn't a place to be jesting!

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry–" you coughed, your face scrunching in pain. Each time you breathed, it felt like your world was spinning.

Zhongli's brow furrowed. He hated seeing you look like this. It really made it feel like his heart was being torn out of his chest. Especially now...since he knew that he won't ever see that bright, cheeky smile of yours again. No. He can't tell himself that. Everything is going to be fine. "Hang in there a little longer," he told you.

You smirked at his persistence, though that smirk didn't last long as the realization sank in. You definitely weren't going to make it home tonight. "Zhongli..."

"Silence, Y/N. Don't talk. Come on–"

You swallowed the lump in your throat, only to choke on it as a sob ripped out of your throat. "Zhongli, stop being immature. Please..."

"Please, Y/N. Just a little longer...a little longer," he whispered, trying to scoop you up onto his back. He just needed you to hang in there for just ten minutes. And if he ran, he could get you back to Liyue under five. He didn't want you to leave. He didn't know what he was going to do if you just slipped away...with him right here with you.

Part of him felt like this was his own fault. That he brought it upon himself. But humans...humans were so easy to love. They were innocent, untainted by the world's dirt and ash...and all the dirty things they've done that comes with age. But they were oh, so delicate. It was like if you loved them too hard...they'd slip right through your fingers. If he just never loved you in the first place...but he couldn't help it. No matter how hard he tried in the beginning.

"We never adopted cats."

Zhongli nodded, trying to keep his hands from shaking.

"Oh, and we still have so many caterpillars at home to raise..."

"I-I'll...I'll r-raise all o-of them." He promised, biting down on his lip.

With a smile, you nodded, closing your eyes with a sigh. "Damn. I'm an idiot."

"You are..." he cried, pressing his forehead against yours. He let out a shaking breath, closing his eyes as well. "It's okay. As we part...and as we grow apart..."

The last thing that you remembered feeling was a tear fall onto your left cheek. You really wished it hadn't been. Just that one little drop...it broke your heart.

Zhongli rested his hand on your chest, feeling your heart come to a stop. "As such, I have no regrets in meeting you, my, Y/N. And alas, the day has come where we cannot be together anymore," he slowly placed a hand to his chest, watching your blood drip down his wrists. His chest ached. "You will continue to shine like gold in my memories." It was an ache that he believed would never go away, but he had no regrets. No regrets at all in meeting you.

If it weren't too cliché, he'd say that meeting someone like you was the best thing that has ever happened in his whole entire life. Even though he was certain that he'd never meet someone as eccentric and stunning as you again, he wasn't upset. In fact, he was glad that you were one of a kind. And that empty little spot in his heart is just a reminder of how wonderful of a person you were. 

It really sucks ass being immortal, doesn't it :p