#yes i also wrote this during the old. old ebg games for @/xiaophobic

[ode-to-spring]

♡⋆.ೃ࿔* AN IMMORTALS BURDEN ~

should the day ever come that you are not together, you will continue to shine like gold in his memories . . .

ੈ♡˳ zhongli x reader (romantic) ੈ♡˳ category :: angst, implied breakup, reader has a new s/o ੈ♡˳ warnings :: mentions of death, spoilers for the first liyue archon quest (?), oh no zhongli sad ੈ♡˳ a/n :: have i mentioned that i love the concept of immortality and how it affects those who have it

the wise know that immortality was never once a blessing, but more of a curse— that will, quite literally, forever remain. there are those that were so ill fated that they were born simply to see everyone around them die, to watch from a distance as time stripped every friend they held dear from their fingertips. the hurt of despair, of loneliness, of heartache, it'd accompany them as they walk through the never ending cycle of loving and losing again, and again, and again.

and who else would understand that dreary phenomenon better than he who's walked on teyvat the longest? most people won't be able to guess that the kind funeral parlor consultant they see every day has witnessed countless events throughout his terribly long lifetime. and yet, he still remains. he creates, treasures, and preserves his relationships with people to this day-- despite the fact that he knows he'll still be there when they're already long gone.

to this, you are no exception. when you walked into his life and changed it in ways he didn't even think possible for himself, he swore his own personal contract. one to cherish you and your existence until he can do so no longer, so that at least he'll have the fondest of memories with you to accompany him for the next few millennia. 

and for a while he did, he really did. he loved you so, so much, and he wouldn't trade you for every piece of mora he'd ever made throughout his years. he wanted to live in those moments with you forever, he truly cherished every second he was able to stand by your side. but what the calculative intellectual zhongli hadn't foretold, however, was that you'd leave him far, far before he'd expect. and to rub salt into the wound, that you'd so quickly learn to love someone else after him. of course, he found this much better than outliving you while you were still in his arms, but seeing you in someone else's was far more painful than he'd ever imagined.

so now, whenever he'd see you at the wharf of harbor he brought up with his own two hands, he can't help but look away for his own good. he didn't think he could bear to watch you treat your new lover the way he wanted to do you. it's as if he never even existed to you, despite the fact that your very comparatively short presence in his life would leave an unforgettable impression on him for years to come. he fully entrusts you to this new lover of yours, may they treat you the way he could never have, ensure that the life you live would be filled with the joy he wishes he could've shared with you. he hopes more than anything that you're happy. your presence may be gone now like all the rest, but you'll never truly stop shining like gold in his memories.