#i'm also writing a (non snz) novel as a personal proj

[suddencolds]

hey vanessa !! i'm just wondering, will there be any new fics coming in? ofc take your time with it all! i understand it can be really tiring so this is just out of curiosity ! no pressure or anything :) <3 also i really love your fics like i always come back everyday to read them :D

Hi anon!! :) I have 3 WIPs atm and they are all... blatantly unfinished and it's taking a lot out of me to write them. I've been unconfident in my writing for the longest time, and I'm also really slow at writing fml

But since you asked, here are some excerpts from each! - I can't promise I'll get around to finishing them (I think it's actually unlikely that I'll get to all 3). But if any of these seem worth continuing, lmk

1. (Diluc) - Kaeya asks for Diluc to accompany him on an expedition - really, it's an excuse to spend more time with him. He doesn't expect Diluc to come down with a miserable cold in the process.

“An expedition,” Diluc repeats.

“Yes.”

“You’re asking me to go with you.”

Kaeya laughs. He’d already expected that Diluc would have questions about this, but it’s not as if he can tell .

“Amber is leading her own expedition,”—busy scouting out some temples in Starfell Valley, after they’ve caught wind of Fatui activity in the area. It’s an assignment that Kaeya thinks Diluc would be much more interested in, but that’s besides the point—“and Eula is out sick this week. So are nearly half of the Knights. Jean suggested I find you.”

Perhaps if he phrases it this way—as if this is a last resort—Diluc will be more receptive to it. It’s not technically a lie. Jean hadn’t advised him to do anything—actually, Jean had told him that she hadn’t wanted him going up on Dragonspine alone. Technically, with Diluc’s company, he would not be going alone.

If Kaeya is taking her words out of context, then no one has to know.

“Where is it?”

At least it’s not outright a no. “Dragonspine,” Kaeya answers carefully. “You’d understand why a pyro user would be good for that.”

“And if I say no?”

There it is. Kaeya waves an arm dismissively. “I told her you wouldn’t want to… well, never mind. I suppose I can bring a few unactivated warming bottles and hope for the best.”

—

2. (Childe) - After the entire fiasco with Liyue and Rex Lapis's passing, Childe throws himself into work with a fever, gets injured, and begrudgingly seeks Zhongli out.

(This was supposed to be for Childe's birthday 3 weeks ago, and now it's sitting in my drafts as a 4k word unfinished WIP)

“How do you know Mr. Zhongli?”

Her question catches him off guard. “We used to be close,” he says, though maybe that isn’t completely accurate. “Now I think he might hate me, or… something.”

The ferrylady sets aside the papers she’s dealing with. “I am doubtful that Mr. Zhongli would hate anyone.”

Childe laughs, bitter and humorless. “Not without reason, I’m sure. But if he despises me now, I think it would be justified.”

He coughs into a raised hand, ducking slightly so that she can’t see how he grimaces after. “I mean, I didn’t set out to bother him just because I’m injured, ahaha! To be honest, I…”

Truthfully, he doesn’t know who else to turn to.

“...I think he would at least have the decency not to turn me away.”

Zhongli is the first person he’d trusted—entirely, foolishly—in a long time.

“He was... good at playing the part of a good friend.”

He knows that coming here has been selfish.

“I mean, he really had me fooled!”

“Is that so?” The ferrylady says softly. “From the way you speak about him, it seems like the two of you had a lot of history.”

Had they? His head is swimming now—perhaps he hasn’t been keeping up on sleep as much as he should’ve. “...You could say that,” Childe says, blinking slowly. “I’m sorry, I’m... rather tired. Do you mind if I shut my eyes for a second?”

He’s asleep before he has the chance to hear her response.

—

3. (Zhongli) Zhongli - after he's given up his godhood - comes down with something, though he hides it well. Childe takes notice.

(I just wanted to write a character study for Zhongli sfkjsh; I feel like he would still be exceptionally dignified and polite when ill, just... it would take a lot out of him to keep up that front)

They walk for a few minutes in silence. When the caverns splits off into two different entryways, Childe turns on his heels to ask for directions.

He’s met with Zhongli, ducking his head, a gloved hand over his face as his shoulders jerk forward, sharp and violent, even though it sounds contained. It takes another moment for Childe to recognize the action for what it is.

“Bless you, xiansheng!” he says. “Is something in the cave bothering you?” Childe had assumed that Zhongli’s archon status had made him unaffected by things like dust, though perhaps Zhongli is not impervious to everything human, after all.

“I am doubtful that anything inside this cave is causing this,” Zhongli answers.

Childe shrugs. “Well, let me know if you want to head back.”

Zhongli hums. The cavern is intimidatingly silent, save for the rush of water, so Childe passes the time, talking about the recruits he’s been training. He’s halfway through a tale about a ruin guard he’d encountered out in Guili Plains when Zhongli leans away slightly to cough into a raised arm.

“I apologize,” he says, when Childe stops mid-sentence to look at him. “I did not mean to interrupt.”

His voice is rough. Childe wonders why he hadn’t noticed earlier—perhaps because Zhongli has been speaking so quietly. He looks him over.

Zhongli looks, with every inch of him, as presentable as always, though the cavern is so dark it’s hard to say if anything is off. He meets Childe’s eyes with his usual, steady glance, sniffling softly.

The possibility that he might be ill is so fleeting that Childe almost dismisses it.