"Dammit" Kenshin said standing up after he and Jean fell to another room after the ground of the previous one disappeared.
They had a wind glider, so they were unharmed. Although it had been extremely frustrating.
A second after the ground disappeared they had unfurled them, but it was already too late for them to grab at the ledge, and they were slowly descending.
Kenshin had time to tell his whole life to Amber about how slowly he was falling with the wind glider, but all he could do was look at Amber with a grim face.
"Sigh, we were too relaxed" said a frustrated Jean. "We should have been able to detect the hilichurl moving to press the slate".
"Yes, yes, I know" said Kenshin with a sigh. "Especially me, but I tend to avoid looking at hilichurls. Don't ask about it". Looking at a soul screaming in pain made him sick, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Jean looked curious hearing that but chose to listen to Kenshin's plea.
"Kenshin, Jean!" Amber shouted from her position 100 meters above them. "Are you okay?"
"We are!" Kenshin replied. "Just clear the traps you safely can and wait for the other group to come here!".
"Okay!" Amber shouted and decided to focus on Kenshin's order. She was the one who failed to kill that hilichurl, and she felt responsible.
Amber had a rope, but nowhere long enough. She would need to wait for Kaeya and Lisa to arrive with theirs to tie them with each other.
"Now we wait" replied Kenshin sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. "For a few hours".
Jean sighed in exasperation but sat next to him.
"Jean, relax" Kenshin said, sensing Jean's impatience. "Everything is good, no matter what, all we would have been able to do today was to get these crystals and wait for Barbatos to tell me more. We are not losing time".
"That's..true" Jean sighed, feeling calmer now. "I have been so busy that standing still while not working makes me irritated".
"Then I would say your amount of work has exceeded the limits of what is reasonable" Kenshin pointed out while putting his arm around her shoulder. "I want a hard-working Radiant Knight, not a dead one. You should hire some assistants, maybe from Liyue or Inazuma. I understand you need to personally do some things, but the rest don't require your personal attention".
"Maybe" admitted Jean, resting her head on Kenshin's shoulders.
"I have an idea" Kenshin suddenly spoke. "I can show you something special, something only Yae and Sara have seen".
"Is it something you would carry to this ruin?" asked Jean looking at his eyes.
"It is something I can't stop carrying" replied Kenshin with a smile. "It's my soul after all".
And they entered Kenshin's Plane.
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"W-What is this place?" Jean couldn't help but marvel at the scenery. One second they were in the ruins of the Temple, and now they were in a plain with green glass and a tree several times higher than the statue of Barbatos in Mondstadt.
"As I said, my soul" Kenshin replied calmly and pointed at the souls near the tree. "Can you tell me what are those?".
Jean looked at what Kenshin was pointing at and saw a few shining orbs near the tree. One caught her attention due to how similar it was to what Kenshin described as her soul.
"Is that...my soul?" asked Jean looking at the orb that looked to be made of golden fire.
"A fragment of it. Just as you have something mine inside your soul, there is also a bit of yours inside mine" Kenshin explained. "You can touch it, Yae didn't have any problems touching hers. But don't try to touch the others, you shouldn't even be able to see them normally, I don't know how will they react".
Jean nodded and cautiously approached. She carefully raised her hand to the flaming yellow orb, almost as if she was afraid of getting hurt.
"AAHH!"
"AAAAHH!" Jean screamed after getting a scare from Kenshin. "Kenshin!"
"Just touch it, it's not going to burn you or disappear" said a smirking Kenshin, grabbing her hand and introducing it into the orb despite her protests.
"It's..." Jean couldn't think of a word to describe how she was feeling. It was like she felt warm, and safe.....maybe.
"Well, that's why I always say that I sense how you feel" explained Kenshin. "You should feel something between confident and safe, maybe".
"It's not exactly like that, but I can understand it" Jean nodded. "Is this what you normally see?"
"No, here it's amplified and augmented" Kenshin explained and pointed at the others. "What do you think of the rest?".
Jean realized what the others were and looked interested in them. There were a few that caught her attention.
"Those are very strong" she pointed at a few. They were extremely shiny, and even she could feel the sheer power contained in them.
"These 2 are from Ei and Makoto" explained Kenshin, pointing at the 2 orbs with purple arcs of electricity. "They are gods, so it's quite obvious they would be different. And that red one is from Arlecchino, but remember that even if it's shinier than Ei and Makoto's, it doesn't mean that she is stronger. If they fought she would be obliterated in a second".
Jean looked curiously at the shining red orb. Even if she didn't trust her, she had to admit that at least her soul was amazing.
She inspected the others, and while she was amazed seeing them, she thought that the other 3 were more 'flashy'.
"Jean, these are souls of different people, they are obviously not the same" gently explained Kenshin. "There are no good and bad souls, only different ones. Of course, you may feel that some are more intense or strong than others, but that's something that has to do with your tastes".
"Is this why you say that you like seeing different souls?" Jean thought that she could understand it now.
"Well, yes" Kenshin admitted with a shrug. "But it's not like I will make every single special soul appear here. Even I, probably the most knowledgeable person about souls in Teyvat, don't know how or why they are appearing here. There are a lot of things in this world that have no explanation".
Jean had a grim face upon hearing that. She still remembers how Kenshin looked like after 'peeking' as he put it, in that accident that took his sight.
"Well, at least I will know when I like someone" Kenshin joked, making Jean shake her head. "Now, let's sit. This tree is great, and I personally feel very comfortable in the Plane".
"Me too" Jean nodded taking a deep breath and enjoying the scenery.
They both sat with their back against the tree and closed their eyes.
"Kenshin, what are you doing?" asked a confused Jean, looking slightly downwards to look at Kenshin's eyes.
Kenshin made Jean sit on top of his lap, so they were face to face, Jean's leg around his waist.
"Well, we have a few hours, and we have this beautiful scenery, so I thought, why not?" Kenshin calmly said, looking at Jean's beautiful grey-blue eyes.
"I-I-I'm not ready" Jean stammered before saying it.
"We are not going to fuck here Jean" Kenshin said, still looking at her. "Not until we are sure of this. I am, but I think you need a bit more time".
Jean nodded not because she agreed with what Kenshin said. Even if there were a few things they would need to clarify and talk about, she was sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Kenshin. She nodded because doing it would allow her to 'survive' for a little longer.
"But that doesn't mean we can't have some innocent fun" added Kenshin with a smirk.
"Innocen-"
Kenshin suddenly kissed Jean, but not like the last time. This time he introduced his tongue in her mouth without asking for permission.
Jean blushed and tried to take a step back, but Kenshin didn't let her.
After a bit, she finally started kissing him back.
Jean had always been a closet pervert. When she was young she was already reading smut books, and Kenshin didn't stop sending her more.
She was usually embarrassed, but she also had her needs.
And she felt bad when every person her age started going out with another person, 2 or 3 at the same time in some cases, while she was working.
But now that Kenshin was here, they were both adults, and they were in this situation, she asked herself....why not?
She had been living for Mondstadt her whole life, and maybe now that she had some free time and someone she loved to spend it with, why shouldn't she take the chance?
Why would she need to be embarrassed?
"Aren't you a bit eager?" asked Kenshin between kisses. Now he was the one on the receiving end.
"Why shouldn't I?" replied Jean, pursuing his mouth.
While they were exchanging that deep kiss, Kenshin's hands moved to her firm ass and started groping it, making Jean moan.
They continued making out, until Jean finally separated, with a red face from the pleasure and tiredness.
"We should go back" she regretfully said.
"Well..." Kenshin obviously didn't want to but nodded.
And they reappeared in the same hole they were.
"There they are!!" Amber shouted, making Kenshin and Jean look up and see the other 4 faces.
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"Really Jean" muttered Lisa with a grim face. "We were exploring the ruins while you were making out with your 'lover'".
Jean didn't reply, and kept going forward.
"Of course we were" replied proudly Kenshin. "And it was great".
"Lothario and Jean were kissing, under a tree...." Paimon found this whole thing funny and tried to tease Kenshin.
"We were" admitted Kenshin. "There was a very nice tree, and an even better sight in front of me".
"Was there?" asked Paimon scratching her head. "I don't remember seeing a tree down there".
"You had to focus on the wood" replied Kenshin.
"Kenshin!" Jean shouted in shame.
"Don't tell me you didn't touch the wood" answered Kenshin with a pointed look. "You started getting 'excited' about it at the end".
"I didn't!" Jean shouted with a red face.
"Liar" Kenshin replied with a smirk. "You pervert".
"As much fun I am planning to have at Jean's expense" interrupted Lisa, who threw Jean a stinky look. "We need to get the last crystal, and we need to beat that".
A huge slime, as tall as a house, was blocking the way.
"Lumine, you deal with it" and Paimon disappeared.
"I...can't deal with that alone" confessed Lumine. This slime was at least 10 meter tall, her sword wasn't going to do anything and her domain over Anemo's energy wasn't on that point yet.
"I will take care of him" said Kenshin stepping forward. "I got an energetic drink midway".
Jean blushed under the pointed stares she was receiving.
Kenshin approached the slime, and under the stunned stares of everyone but Jean, he took the slime to his Plane. A single spear the size of the Jade Chamber destroyed the core. And he was out.
"GG" he said with a victorious gesture.
"What the hell" Lumine couldn't believe what she had just seen. She knew Kenshin was hiding something, but she never expected this. He had killed the huge slime in a second, judging by the human-sized fractured core by his side.
"Now, I want my reward" Kenshin said looking at Jean and opening his arms, but Jean ignored him. "Oohh, my Knight is still embarrassed".
Jean ignored that too, and walked to the crystal, gesturing to Lumine to take it, as she knew Kenshin was going to tease her more.