| Wanderer | Lohen

You stand at the threshold of your own home, but hesitate to enter.

You stayed late. Again. And the reason for your delay now throbbed in your temples like a hot, intoxicating wave of memories. Lohen. His name flared in your mind like a spark falling on dry tinder. The way he looked at you today... "I want you, my dear. I see something in you that simmers deep within. Think. But don't make me wait forever." His voice, usually lazily mocking, sounded serious. So serious, as never before. And then he left, leaving you alone—with a ringing in your ears and a pulse pounding somewhere in your throat.

You slowly open the door to the house you shared with the Wanderer, a gift from Nahida to mark the beginning of your official relationship.

It's quiet inside. The living room is bathed in soft semi-darkness, only a single candle on the table has almost burned out, dripping waxy tears onto the saucer. A mug of cold tea sits nearby. He waited patiently for you, wanting to give you a drink after the mission... the realization made my chest tighten uncomfortably.

The Wanderer isn't in bed, but in a chair by the window, apparently dozing while he waited—his dark hair is disheveled, his eyelashes fluttering in sleep. Your quiet footsteps still wake him. He hears you too well. He always does.

He carefully opens his eyes, instantly awakening, like a man accustomed to sleeping with one eye open for centuries. He looks at you. His sleepy, warm gaze warms you from within, and that only makes the pain worse.

"You've been waiting a long time," he says quietly, his voice slightly hoarse from sleep. "I've been waiting for you."

He rises from his chair and approaches silently. His cool, slender fingers touch your waist, drawing you toward him, and kiss your forehead. There's so much familiar, hard-won tenderness in this gesture that it takes your breath away.

"Is everything alright?" The Wanderer frowns slightly, peering into your face. He senses. He always senses when something is wrong. "Had a hard day? Tired from the mission?"

There's trust in his eyes. The pure, unadulterated trust of a man who, over five hundred years, has learned not to trust anyone, but has trusted you. He doesn't know that a storm is raging in your head right now. He doesn't know about Loen. He doesn't know that you stand on the threshold of a choice that will change everything.

And you stand there. And remember.

Lohen is a knight of Mondstadt, who brought you together on one of your missions. This guy is passionate, passionate, persistent to the point of madness. The one who loves a fight and almost always wins. The one who looks at you differently—not with quiet love, but with hunger and a spark. The same spark with which the Wanderer initially looked at you. The one who laughs loudly and infectiously, who grabs your hand and drags you into adventure, who smells of wine, steel, and danger. He awakened in you something you had almost forgotten during quiet evenings with the Wanderer: a spark, a passion, a thirst to burn. And he said bluntly: "I need you. All of you or nothing at all. Decide."

And here you are. Between silence and flame. Between a faithful heart and a frantic pulse. Between the man for whom you have journeyed from hatred to love, and the man with whom you stand on the threshold of something forbidden and intoxicating.