Removing the red ropes
No AU, fluff
Shenlan ( Shenhe x Yelan )
Shenhe had never felt any type of emotion, not after her dad attempted to sacrifice her, not after cloud retainer took her in as one of her own, training her under the art of the adepti. She was taught how to fight like an adeptus, but she wasn't an adeptus, she was a normal human being who possessed a vision.
She started off as a normal girl, until her father sacrificed her to a monster terrorizing their village in an attempt to get her mother back. Miraculously, Shenhe defeated the monster, being found for a while later by Cloud Retainer.
Cloud Retainer noticed the girls homicidal tendencies and bounded her to wear red ropes that would conceal those tendencies and any other possible emotion.
She still cared for some people but her way of showing how she cared was rather.. Interesting. Her nephew, Chongyun was one of those she cared for, her way of expressing that was keeping him safe from his troublesome 'friend' Xingqiu.
The two cryo users would meet up every now and then so Shenhe could help him better his exorcist abilities. During these meetings he would complain about how Xingqiu made him feel, to which Shenhe would ask her nephew if he wanted her to 'deal' with Xingqiu.
But her offers were denied, she always questioned herself when she would see Xingqiu and Chongyun out in public, holding hands and acting like what she heard of as 'lovers'. Seeing the two made her think, was it possible for her to love someone?
-------------
It all changed for Shenhe one seemingly normal day, she had stumbled across a woman during a walk in Liyue City. A woman who she would later know to be 'Yelan'.
When the two ahd first met Shenhe felt this pounding feeling in her chest, her dark blue eyes would meet with Shenhe's, making Shenhe feel a certain way. A way she had never felt before.
Her dark hair which faded into blue caught Shenhe's attention, everything about Yelan was stunning to her. How she spoke, how she presented herself, the coat she confessed she stole from the Fatui which was draped over her shoulder, everything about Yelan enticed the cryo user.
She would confide in Cloud Retainer about how she felt, " One thinks you might be starting to feel something for this woman you talk about." Is what she would normally say, which was usually followed by a sigh from Shenhe.
She wasn't used to feeling this way, she didn't have a word to describe how she felt. As a last stitch effort to find out what she's feeling is called she decided to ask Yelan herself if she knew what this feeling was called.
------------
" It's called love"
"Love?"
Yelan's hands ran through Shenhe's white hair as she listened to her describe how she felt.
It kind of struck Yelan as adorable, at how clueless Shenhe is to feelings that she would indirectly confess. "I have heard of love, is that's what it's called?"
" Have you ever felt love before?" Yelan questioned, to which Shenhe shook her head, " I don't know" She said, motioning to the red ropes tied around her, that were supposed to block out any emotion.
But from what Yelan had told her, and from what Ganyu or Chongyun would tell her, that's what it sounded like. But she wanted to be sure, was this love?
" What if.." she said, pausing, reassuring herself if this is something she wanted to do, " I take these off." She placed one of her hands at the end of one of the ropes, she hand fidgeting with it as she made up her mind.
" Maybe." Yelan replied, her hand feeling abit lonely now that it was no longer running through Shenhe's hair. She wasn't going to try to convince Shenhe not to remove the ropes or encourage her to remove them, this was entirely her decision.
"Could you help me?" Shenhe asked, standing up from where she was sitting and facing Yelan. Yelan agreed, helping her undo the ropes that had kept her emotions sealed up.
" How do you feel?" Yelan asked, still holding the ropes in case Shenhe wanted them back on. " I feel.." her voice trailed off, not having an exact word for how she felt, " strange."
It had been a while since she last removed the ropes, last time she did so cloud retainer caught her and scolded her, reminding her of their importance.
She felt different that's for sure, the feeling Yelan described as 'love' only strengthened once the ropes were removed.
She had experienced her own fair share of people being in 'love', doing what she had seen many other couples do she leaned in, her lips meeting Yelan's.
" That's what you do when you love someone, right?"
Yelan nodded, there was so much more to love but she would teach that to Shenhe over time. This was something new to Shenhe, Yelan knew that but she was willing to help Shenhe learn.
"Do you love me too?"
" Yes"
Shenhe's face lit up, her pale face turning a light pink.
" What does that mean?"
" That can mean a multitude of things, like dating or just staying friends."
" What's dating?"
Yelan thought for a minute, trying to find the best way to describe it for Shenhe.
" When you can do things like kiss another person or possibly more and you love that person"
"Are we dating then?"
Shenhe curiously asked, which shocked Yelan a bit, she crossed her arms around herself, looking up at Shenhe with a smile.
" If that's what you want."
Shenhe thought for a minute, before finally answering.
" Yes I think that's what I want."
--------
Yelan explained a few more things to Shenhe, trying her best to make it understandable for her. When the two realized it had gotten late.
Yelan helped Shenhe put back on the red ropes, making sure they were in the exact same position on Shenhe as earlier. " How did it feel having them off?" Yelan said as she finished putting the ropes on.
" It felt interesting." Shenhe was now back to her normal self, her body felt overran with all she had just learned.
That night she caught herself smiling, which was a rare sight to see when Shenhe had the ropes on.
Confirming to herself, she truly felt something strong for Yelan.