Kinda came out of nowhere when I was thinking about Tartaglia, then started wondering about how the others would be about it. I don’t do this usually, but yeah! Had fun thinking about it. Enjoy!
Albedo
Very absent-minded in his affectionate gestures. Sometimes he doesn’t even realise he’s taken your hand. It’s not always possible to hold his, however, when he’s so caught up in alchemy, and if not that, painting. Much easier to sidle up to him while he’s at the easel and gently loop your arm through his. However, he can be attentive to the extreme when he’s focused on you - lots of tracing the lines of your palm. He often kisses on the back of your hand when he lifts it to his lips.
Bennett
He’s excited to have you with him, pulling you everywhere to see everything, even when it goes wrong. His hands are always a bit sweaty, because he’s always having to grab his blade and channel the heat of Pyro when something like an inordinate amount of slimes come bouncing at him. At first he was worried something bad would happen to you if he held your hand. he was private about that fear for a long time. It took a prolonged moment of handholding in silence to prove his fears wrong.
Chongyun
Very shy about hand-holding, because it gives him the warm fuzzies, and anything warm is something he has to be cautious of. That’s not to say he doesn’t like it! He’s just…always a little bit worried. Just having you next to him is oftentimes enough.
Diluc
Grabs your hand because you’re too slow keeping up with him and that’s all there is to it, honestly. Definitely doesn’t think about how much he misses human contact later when he’s alone, looking at his hand and remembering the feeling of another’s hand in his.
Kaeya
He’s the smooth operator, always finding a way to gets his fingers in between yours when he wants. He’ll ply you with a debonair kiss on your knuckles, or on your palm. He’ll complain of a cut or something else small and ask you to inspect it. Except when you find nothing there and look at him in confusion, he simply smiles, delighted in his successful ploy. Always tells you to take better care of your hands, because it would be such a ghastly shame if they got all calloused and rough. Then who would hold his handsome face so softly?
Razor
Doesn’t…really know how to smoothly hold hands? It’s always a bit clumsy or awkward. But he absolutely gets a warm fuzzy feeling in his belly when you initiate. He finds it really special if you tend to any wounds on his hands, wrapping them with bandages. Remark on how rough his hands are, and he will be very proud about how not even the spikes from Wolfhooks can prick his skin anymore.
Tartaglia
Takes your hands in his when you complain about the cold, breathes warmth over them, maintaining direct eye contact with a cheeky little smile all the while. Chides your for not bringing mittens of your own, says you can hold his hand if you want. All that said, he’s ridiculously sensitive about his wrists.
Venti
He freely romanticises the gesture when it’s to do with other people, but plays it off as nothing special to him. He doesn’t talk about the fact that he cherishes such a gesture, or how his heart lifts when you hold your hand out to him, or take his. Hands are such a wonderful thing, he thinks, and he frets if you get cuts or sores on them.
Xiao
No hand holding. He grabs your wrist if you’re too slow, or straight up grabs your shoulders and drags you along for the lunge he’s about to do. Ever fall asleep near him though, and he’ll spend the time to curiously trace the curve of your relaxed fingers with his, even as he thinks you’re a fool for falling asleep near him at all.
Xingqiu
It’s hard to wrest his hands away from the pages of whatever book he’s reading in the moment. Jokingly comment that maybe you should ask the book to hold hands because it must be such an excellent hand-holder, and he’ll get flustered and apologise. Yet, there was definitely the briefest hint of panic in his eyes, that you really would steal his book, but all is well when he surrenders one hand to yours. You can feel him squeeze a bit tighter when things happen in the story.
Zhongli
He most enjoys dozing in the dappled sunlight under a tree, head on your lap, relaxing as your thumb brushes over his knuckles slowly, languidly, soothing him to sleep while your fingercomb his hair. He’s a stickler about his gloves staying on though, insisting he can still feel through them.
Bonus: Dainsleif
He’s a bit of a mess when it comes to handholding, as though someone’s told him to stop an ice sculpture from melting in a volcano. You definitely have to lead the way, definitely tell him when he grips too tightly out of a certain deep-seated fear in his psyche. He doesn’t feel like he deserves any of it, when he melts a little at the gentle gesture.