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The sun beating down on Razor’s usual napping spot is bright enough to stir him awake, and he curses it. It was unusual for him to be awake this early in the day, and he could only think of the sudden sun as the culprit. It was odd; his sleeping areas were usually well covered, but he supposes he could get unlucky some days. Leaves move with the wind, after all, but he can't seem to detect any sort of breeze as he moves to sit in the shade by a nearby pool of water instead.
There were a few hours remaining until the rest of his lupical stirred awake in preparation for that night’s hunt, so Razor peers into the pond’s reflective surface in search of something to do. As sleep had escaped him the moment he had opened his eyes, the small gilded fish he spots swimming around lazily would have to be his entertainment for the day.
“Fishy, Razor sees you,” he says to it, and the fish blinks.
When it swims closer to the surface, Razor extends a cautious hand towards it. Having spent his whole life hunting prey, Razor knew how easily startled animals could be, and so he takes care to ensure his movements are steady as the fish approaches slowly. Before his finger can graze the water’s surface, however, it explodes beneath his finger; a blur of gold flashes briefly as the fish vanishes into the depths of the disturbed water.
Confused, Razor wonders if he had moved too suddenly, until a familiar voice rings out.
“Razor?” It calls, and he senses someone approaching. “There you are!”
Perhaps the disrupted nap and frightened fish now had an explanation, though that thought was hardly fair. After all, how could one person be at fault for these things?
Still, the day Razor had spent locked in a cell is fresh in his mind as he turns to greet the boy stumbling towards him, a branch nestled in his hair.
“Bennett! You are in the woods?” Razor asks, pausing when he spots the fresh scratch shimmering on Bennett’s dirtied face. “Hurt?”
“Hi! And, um, just a little.” He chuckles, averting his eyes sheepishly. “I kinda got chased by a boar on my way here. Those things really come out of nowhere, don’t they?”
Razor shakes his head.
“Boars are noisy creatures. Never take lupical by surprise.”
“Maybe having senses like that would’ve kept me from having to dive behind a shrub to lose the thing.” Bennett mumbles to himself, adding quietly after a pause of contemplation: “It would have spared the Windblume, too”
Windblume. Razor had heard the word from Lisa the last time he had visited her, and she had even read him a few of the stories surrounding the festivities before departing. Though interesting at the time, the big words and long historical backgrounds had eventually faded away in his mind, and he now watches Bennett curiously.
Vaguely remembering the mentioning of windwheel asters, he asks, "Windblume...a flower?"
"Yeah! I, um, brought one for you.”
Razor observes Bennett for a moment, failing to see any plants on him, save for the few leaves stuck to his hair; Bennett shifts awkwardly beneath his stare.
"....where is flower?"
At Razor’s inquiry, Bennett laughs humorlessly, his face agitated.
“I’m sorry, Razor. I tried so hard to have it survive the trip here, but those things are so fragile! I tried bringing a dandelion first, but whenever I’d grab one, its seeds would disperse.” He sighs, wiping at the spare bits of fluff attached to his shirt. When they refuse to budge, he glares at them. “Then, I tried switching it out for another type of Windblume, but every flower I asked for was sold out. And now that I finally found one that survived this far, a stupid boar barrels right into me and crushes it.”
Razor watches silently as Bennett’s face flushes, his eyes glistening. He’s unsure of what to say as his friend wipes at his cheeks angrily, so he settles for placing a stiff hand on his shoulder instead, hoping the gesture wouldn’t feel as awkward as it looked. The contact leaves his own face feeling warm, and Razor prods at it subconsciously.
When Bennett relaxes underneath his touch, Razor gains the courage to give his shoulder a few pats. Though he didn’t know much about Windblumes, he knew they were important, usually gifted to those one cared about deeply. If Bennett had come all this way just to give him one, Razor wishes to return the sentiment however he can. As Bennett sniffles, how exactly that can be is unclear to him.
Their conversation from their impromptu adventure a few days ago returns to him after a moment of thought, and he remembers something that can hopefully make Bennett happy again.
“Come,” he says, dropping his hand reluctantly. “Follow Razor.”
“Huh? Are you sure?” Bennett laughs nervously, rubbing his neck. “I’ll probably get us locked in a cell again.”
“No cells in forest,” Razor assures him before puffing his chest out. “I will protect us.”
This coaxes a giggle out of Bennett, but Razor isn’t sure why.
“Okay. Lead the way, then.”
The cluster of wolfhook bushes Razor has in mind isn’t normally hard to find, though the trip to them is significantly more difficult than usual today. The pair stumbled over roots that were not there the last time Razor had walked past, and there had been a few wrong turns taken that prolonged the journey.
Every difficulty that arises seems to sour Bennett's mood further, and his constant apologies become the backtrack of their trek through the woods, though Razor isn't sure what exactly there is to apologize for. He couldn't be the reason behind the string of unlucky coincidences they were experiencing, even if Bennett claimed otherwise.
Eventually, they make it to the intended spot, and Razor has little trouble finding what he was after.
Bennett watches him quietly as he extends his hand to him, the largest wolfhook he could find resting in his palm.
“Here.” Razor tells him softly, his heartbeat inexplicably faster than usual underneath the other's gaze. “My Windblume to you.”
He watches as Bennett’s face reddens, and the reaction catches him off guard; Bennett had responded similarly when upset earlier. Had Razor done something wrong? Perhaps there was a vital step he had skipped when gifting Windblumes, and his stomach knots anxiously as he begins to wrack his brain for the words to apologize with.
But Bennett smiles then, reaching his own hand out to accept the berry with a brush of their fingers. An odd jolt of electricity races through Razor’s body at his touch, and he wonders if his Vision is malfunctioning. He would have to ask Lisa about it sometime.
Bennett laughs, holding the berry close to his chest.
“Thank you,” he says simply, and a new expression Razor can’t read appears on his face.
The gentle look in his eyes is captivating, and Razor finds that he can’t look away.
He grunts, averting his eyes once his face begins to feel warm again. “You are welcome. No more sadness, okay?”
“Okay.” Bennett repeats, slipping the wolfhook into a pocket and observing the bushes around them with a determined look. “But now I gotta get you one, too. An even bigger one!”
The search is only on for a few seconds before a dire problem arises.
“Wolfhooks...too soft.” Razor mumbles, inspecting the fourth bruised berry Bennett had recently discarded. “Old.”
Bennett holds up another wolfhook in a similar state and shakes his head, bewildered.
“Huh? There’s gotta be a good one somewhere, right? There’s no way they all just...simultaneously rotted.”
A big word. Razor repeats it in his head as Bennett goes through the bushes around them once more.
“Aha!” He calls triumphantly after a minute, reaching into a bush to pick a berry off. “Here’s--ow!”
The sound sends Razor racing to his side, where he spots a new cut on Bennett’s finger, a squashed wolfhook laying by his feet.
“Wolfhooks sharp. Bennett hurt?”
“Bennett fine. I’m used to it at this point,” he says with a laugh, but it lacks its prior joy. He sighs, crossing his arms as he stares at the ground intently, his brows furrowed in concentration. After a beat, his face lights up once again. “I know! We can go back to Mondstadt, and I’ll buy you one. Flora should’ve restocked by now, and it can’t get ruined if it’s out of my hands quickly, right?”
The underlying uncertainty in his voice is enough to have Razor shaking his head.
“Windblume is not needed. Being with you today is enough for Razor.”
Bennett makes a face, lightly kicking the discarded wolfhook on the ground as he mumbles, “Even though I ruined everything?”
“Nothing is ruined.” Razor assures him, and after pondering the matter, he voices the thought that had been sitting in the back of his mind for a while now. “You’re a good person. Happy to see you, always.”
Bennett grins, his expression shy as he looks away with a scoff.
“Well, now I really want to get you a Windblume,” he says before seizing Razor’s wrist. “Come on, it won’t take long.”
Razor doesn’t check the sky for the sun’s position before agreeing, the night's hunting trip outshined by the prospect of spending more time with the boy in front of him.
They walk out of the woods, Razor silent as Bennett shares the mishaps and small adventures he had experienced during their days apart. Though his tales are always interesting, Bennett’s hand remains around Razor’s wrist, and this small detail mysteriously hoards all of his attention. Bennett makes no move to drop his hand as he leads the way back to Mondstadt, and the contact brings with it a warming sense of security.
The waning sun’s rays paint Bennett in soft hues of orange, his green eyes shimmering excitedly, and Razor finds that any day spent by his side is a day well spent.
Even if, after the long walk, they’ll come to discover Flora has closed her shop for the day.