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It began with a question.
“You... You want me on your team?”
The traveler nods and holds out a hand toward Bennett, palm up, warm and welcoming, and with a smile across his face that silently asks what would compel Bennett to ask a question like that.
“Of course he wants you on our team!” Paimon shouts over Aether’s shoulder. She always has been the — ahem — louder of the two. “Who wouldn’t want you on their team? Everyone is better with you around!"
Lots of faces flash to the forefront of Bennett’s mind, and a long list of names rings out in his head. There is no shortage of people that wouldn't want Bennett on their team and, for a moment, he’s lost in it all. Should he remind them that bad luck follows him where ever he goes? That asking Bennett to join their adventuring team is risky business?
Bennett has never been someone who has more than a couple of friends — Fischl and Razor and the Dads of course being exceptions. But aside from them, people tend not to stick around for too long. It kind of sucks if he’s being honest with himself, but he can’t blame them. Willing sticking around Bennett for too long is like daring Celestia herself to strike them with bad luck. Who in their right mind would choose to hang around someone whose mere existence increases their chances of a terrible thing happening to them? A rogue lightning strike, a tornado whisking them away to the peak of a tall, tall mountain that will take 2 and half days to trek down, nothing is impossible with Bennett around... at least as far as bad things go.
All of this to say, Bennett fully expects that Aether and Paimon will be no different. One day, probably sooner rather than later, they too will have their fill of Bennett’s secondhand back luck and they will book it as far away from Bennett as humanly possible. He figures that the traveler would probably be nice about it, but surely the day would come that Bennett would be asked to leave and return to his lonely existence as the sole active member of Benny’s Adventure Team. Maybe it would be better just to decline the invite... It would be bad form to leave his own adventure team, right?
“Please,” the traveler says, shaking Bennett out of his thoughts. “Will you join us?”
Bennett takes the offered hand. This is gonna be epic.
With the traveler and Paimon, Bennett meets a lot of people — and even meets up with friends like Razor and Fischl along the way. He travels further than he imagined, far beyond Mondstadt. It’s kind of amazing and an opportunity that not every adventurer gets. Bennett soaks it all in, every chance that he gets. He tries lots of new food: chicken tofu pudding at the Wangshu Inn, dango milk sold on the streets of Inazuma, goulash cooked with chilled meat that they defrosted and hunted themselves (after defeating the Great Boar King, of course). He even tries some more adventurous dishes cooked by none other than chef Xiangling at the Wanmin Restaurant.
But that day does come. The day he has dreaded more than any other: the day that Aether and Paimon decide that Bennett isn’t a good fit for their adventuring team. It’s with a heavy heart that he accepts their parting words over breakfast one morning in Liyue. They've been back in Liyue for a few weeks now running commissions most of the time but this week has been particularly rough.
“You know,” Paimon says as the team finishes up eating (Kaeya and Xiangling at the current moment — Fischl had been with them for a long while but she left to return to Mondstadt a few days earlier and Bennett would be lying if he said he didn’t miss her). “Paimon thinks that Bennett has been looking a little tired lately.”
Three heads turn to look at Bennett at once and he tries not to cringe under the weight of the sudden attention.
Kaeya nods and taps a finger on his chin. “Yes, you do look a little under the weather if I do say so myself. Definitely tired.”
Bennett rubs the back of his head and laughs nervously. “Tired? What gives you that idea?” He is a bit tired but no more than anyone else on the team. It’s been a rough few days, to say the least, and they could all use some rest.
They started out their week by returning to Liyue to fight the Oceanid. They followed that up by heading to the Taishan Mansion near Jueyun Karst to earn some to help improve Xiangling's elemental burst. Not to mention that the past two days have been a nonstop trek across the plains and valleys of Liyue taking out every tribe of hilichurls that they come across. They were looking for ominous masks but somehow all the hilichurls in Liyue are only dropping rotten arrowheads or worse, nothing at all. After their first day on the hunt with little success, Kaeya, Xiangling, and the traveler were understandably disappointed, but for Bennett, this was just another day. If he needed masks of any kind then all he’d find is sharp arrowheads. If he needed arrowheads then all he’d find is damaged masks. It’s just the way it goes for him.
So, yes, he’s tired. But who wouldn’t be after the kind of week they’ve had. It’s not a big deal.
“Hmm, you might be onto something Paimon,” Aether says after a moment. “Bennett does look tired. He deserves a break, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes. Paimon thinks Bennett definitely needs to rest. He's been working the hardest of all of us! And for such a long time too.”
“I’m not ti—”
“Don’t be silly!" Paimon says with her hands on her hips. "You've been going nonstop for nearly a year!"
“You know Bennett,” Kaeya says, “it’s important to take a rest when you need one. Burnout — no pun intended — benefits no one."
It occurs to him then just what is going on.
They don’t want Bennett on the team anymore — which he totally understands by the way — but they’re just too nice to come out and say it. He supposes that this is a kind way to do it but it still stings to know that they all must have planned this out behind his back — it’s obvious that Kaeya and Xiangling are in on it too.
“Right,” Bennett says. He knows a dismissal when he hears one and he's not exactly in a position to try to argue. “Okay well, if you insist,” he says as he stands up and pushes away from the table. “I guess I’ll just — I'll just head back to Mondstadt then. To... To rest. I am kind of tired."
"Mondstadt!?" Paimon says but Bennett barely hears her. "But that's so far away! The teapot is right h—"
"I suppose if that is where Bennett is most comfortable," Aether says, "then it only makes sense that he uses a teleport waypoint to head back. It's not our business to judge where Bennett would be most relaxed. If you're heading that way, maybe stop and see Katheryne when you arrive."
"Completely understandable Bennett," Kaeya says. "It's much easier to relax on home turf. Don't get me wrong, Liyue is beautiful, Inazuma too, but Mondstadt is home, and home just hits different. "
Bennett nods and somehow digs deep enough to find a smile. He throws a thumbs up. "Well, this was cool. It's been awesome adventuring with you. We should totally do it again!"
"Again?" Paimon says sounding far more alarmed than the situation calls for. "But you're just taking a rest. Aether! What are you going to do about this?"
Aether shrugs which only sends Paimon into another tirade. Bennett tunes her rant out and her voice fades into the background and he stops listening. He's heard all that he needs to. He grabs his bag and heads for the road.
"Wait!" Someone shouts from behind him when he's nearly to the closest teleporter.
Xiangling sprints to catch up with him, and when she stops, she doubles over, hands on her knees and breathing heavily. "We didn't realize you were leaving so soon. Don't you want someone to walk with you to the waypoint? You don't have to walk alone."
Bennett smiles as something warm bubbles in his chest from the inside. He's sad to be leaving, yes. But he's so lucky to have met so many kind people like Xiangling — even if she made him test taste all of her uhhh...eccentric new recipes. "That's alright, Xiangling! We've had a busy week. I'm sure you're tired too. Don't worry about walking with me. I'll be fine."
Xiangling doesn't look convinced but she doesn't argue with him anymore for which he is grateful. "Alright. If you're sure."
"I'm sure. Mondstadt awaits me!"
"Okay then. See you soon, Bennett!"
As he excuses himself, Bennett finds himself wishing that were true.
Bennett tries not to dwell on the bad. He could be disappointed or sad over what he’s losing, or he could be grateful for what he had. He's been with the traveler for a long time and many people from Mondstadt and beyond have joined them on their adventures. So he won't dwell on what's ending and instead, he'll focus on everything else that happened between that very first question until now.
He'll be grateful for all the fun times. For all of the scary times. For all of the times he got struck by lightning and woke up to Xingqiu’s — a.k.a. the devil incarnate — or Noelle’s — the hardest worker he’s ever met — face as they hovered over him to heal and patch him back up. For that time he got stuck in the mine in Mingyun Village while Fischl and Xiangling panicked on the other side and tried to dig them out with their own hands, rock by rock. That is until two guys walking by happened to cross their path and, thank the Sevens, friends of Xiangling. The one with the cyro vision, Chongyun, summoned his claymore and a few whacks at the stone barrier later, Bennett was free.
Even when his bad luck struck while on the road with Aether and Paimon — which it did and often — it never felt all that unlucky. After all, that's how he met Chongyun and Xingqiu. After they rescued Bennett and Fischl from that cave, they ran into each other a lot. Xingqiu, despite the risk Bennett could be, was always trying to goad Bennett into helping him with his schemes. (And Bennett rarely needed much convincing to join. Bennett smiles to himself. Yes, he's grateful for every adventure that took them to every corner of Mondstadt, Liyue, and even Inazuma where often it seemed like everything was out to kill them.
He teleports to the Statue of the Seven that looms over WIndrise, and to no surprise, it's storming when he arrives back in Mondstadt. Given his luck today, he didn't expect anything less. Lightning strikes the ground to his left and he jumps back, startled but completely unharmed.
"Woah, maybe I do have a little bit of luck left in me today! Normally that would have hit me!" It's enough to put a spring in his step as he heads down the winding path toward the city. Maybe he'll see if Kathyerne has any new commissions for him. Or, better yet, maybe she'll have news about when the members of Benny's Adventure Team might come back from leave! It's still early in the day, after all. He knows he's supposed to rest but it would be a shame to waste an entire day.
Yes, he thinks, there is totally still time for this day to turn around.
His day does not turn around. To absolutely no one's surprise, his bad luck doesn't end with getting kicked from the traveler's adventure team or arriving home in a storm. No, it gets much much worse. First off, Kathyerne has very little news for him and shoos him away after he asks about what the other remembers of Benny's Adventure Team are up to. But she does give him a commission. Of course, it's something that is supposed to be easy since he's going off on his own. A lone hilichurl was spotted wandering the road between Springvale and Mondstadt. Easy... More like boring. And, since he would already be heading in that direction, Katheryne hands him a sealed envelope needing delivered to Dawn Winery. This isn't exactly what he'd call adventuring but he accepts them away. He doesn't have anything else to do. And, without any word from his fellow members of Benny's Adventure Team, it wouldn't be wise to go out on any commissions or expeditions that are dangerous anyway.
He's halfway to Springvale when a flash of bright red cuts across his path. His head whips around to... Is that... "Klee?"
Klee skids to a halt on the other side of the road and looks back over her shoulder. Her face lights up when she spots him and she turns on her heels and skips back to him. "Bennett! I haven't seen you in sooo long!"
Bennett rubs the back of his head and smiles. "Yeah, I have been gone for a long time, haven't I?" It doesn't completely erase the pain of being asked to leave the traveler's adventure team so suddenly, but it does feel good to be back in Mondstadt especially with people like Klee around.
"Are you here for playtime with Klee?"
Bennett wishes he were here to play. He kinda regrets begging Katheryne for a commission now. Klee is much more fun than a single hilichurl that may or may not exist is. But playing with Klee is.... dangerous to say the least, and between his bad luck and her bombs, it seems that an accident bordering catastrophic always ends up happening when they're together.
"Where are you off too?"
Klee looks at her feet and rocks back and forth on her heels. "Oh! I'm going fish blasting to get some fish to take Dawn Winery later. You know, for the sur—"
"Klee!"
Klee jumps. "Uh-oh. Got caught," she whispers as Albedo strolls over. Where the heck did he come from?
"I was looking for you. I'm happy to see that you haven't gotten far."
"Mister Albedo! Uhhh, Klee wasn't being bad."
Albedo pats her head. "I know. I was just coming over to remind you that there are some things that need to stay secret a little while longer. Until all the research and experimentation is done, right?"
Klee looks between Bennett and Albedo before nodding. "Mister Albedo?" Klee tugs on the hem of his coat until he bends down so that she can whisper (albeit a loud whisper) in his ear. "We need to get out of here! Fast! Klee is no good at keeping secrets!!" Albedo doesn't get a chance to respond before Klee grabs him by the hand and forcibly drags him away.
"See you in a little bit Bennett!" Klee shouts.
"Klee," Albedo says looking uncharacteristically stressed. He must be worried about Klee being in such close vicinity to Bennett. As her brother, it's his job to ensure she's safe and everyone in Mondstadt knows that Bennett is a hazard on two legs.
"I mean... See you — um. Just... See you!"
Well, that was weird.
After his run-in with Klee and Albedo, Bennett continues to wander down the winding path. It's kind of disappointing that he couldn't go fish blasting with Klee but it's probably for the best. Klee is a super fun kid but she's also a bit of a handful — even with Albedo around to help wrangle her. Bennett would prefer not to blow anything up on his first day back in Mondstadt after being gone for so long from his hometown.
Other than the brother and sister duo, Bennett hasn't come across anyone else on his winding journey through the countryside. Not unless you include the two boars that came out of nowhere and sent him flying. It's like the entire country has just emptied out. Or maybe word of Bennett's bad luck has spread so far that everyone other than Klee knows to stay clear of him.
It's then that he sees someone familiar up ahead... It's the absolute last place Bennett would have expected to run into Kazuha Kaedehara. He speeds up and waves a hand over his head.
"Kazuha?" He says, sounding a bit confused. On the dirt road between Springvale and Dawn Winery wasn't exactly the first place that Bennett would have anticipated running into another former companion of Aether and Paimon.
"Ah, Bennett," Kazuha says, looking the tiniest bit panicked — not that Bennett can blame him. Kazuha is well acquainted with Bennett's bad luck from their time traveling together. "The winds told me you might be here," he says with a soft smile.
"They did?" Bennett scratches his head. "Well, that's weird. But who am I to question the winds, am I right? I'm sure Barbatos knows what he's doing. Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, that. I seem to have gotten myself lost. I was seeking —" he pauses and pulls a slip of paper out. "Right, I was on my way to Dawn Winery with Yoimiya when not only did we get lost... I also seem to have lost her." Kazuha shakes his head. "Under normal circumstances, I prefer to wander. The scenery here is wonderful." He pauses for a moment and takes in the surroundings. Bennett supposes it is quite lovely. He's never stopped to appreciate this particular bit of path between Mondstadt and Springvale.
"Yes. The scenery here is wonderful, surely enough to convince anyone to become a wanderer," Kazuha finishes. "I prefer to wander when I explore a new land but it's not the most efficient of methods when you are expected to arrive somewhere at a particular time."
"I guess that makes sense. Wait — did you say Dawn Winery?"
Kazuha nods.
"I'm headed there too! I can totally show you the way!"
Kazuha looks back at the slip of paper. "Uhh. I appreciate the offer but I should probably find Yoimiya before I get any further. I could never abandon my fellow countryman in a land foreign to both of us."
Bennett lets out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Figures. It would have been nice to have company for the rest of the walk but this is just his luck today.
"I see you are disappointed. Perhaps fate would have us meet there. Until then, however, safe travels."
As Bennett continues down his path, he tries and fails to ignore how lonely it feels after nearly a year of traveling with others. They were like a little family, ya know? Bennett takes a deep breath. Wow. It hasn't even been an entire day and already he misses them. How pathetic.
He's distracted from his thoughts when, from up ahead, there is a rustling in the bushes. For a second, he thinks it's going to be another boar and he prepares to book it in the other direction as fast as he can. As much as he'd like some meat right about now, he's in no mood to chase down food that wants to chase him back. He's already been thrown to the ground by a boar twice this afternoon.
However, what does pop out of the bush is infinitely worse than a boar would have been. From the ground in front of the bush, a cryo whopperflower bursts forth in a flurry of sparkling snow and sets its sights on Bennett. For a moment, both of them hold completely still as they come face to face. It's a cryo whopperflower. Just cryo. Perhaps Bennett still has some luck after all. If it were a pyro flower, this would be a very different story. That is to say, Bennett would be utterly fucked.
Bennett takes a deep breath and summons his sword. Good things come to those who don't wait around. He starts sprinting toward the monster right as it lowers the crown of its head and takes aim. "Let's light it up!"
On his own adventures and while traveling with Aether and his team, Bennett has faced monsters and people of all kinds. From Fatui, treasure hoarders, and every kind of hilichurl imaginable, he's fought against them and won whether by himself or in a team. He's fought the cryo regisvine — an overgrown cryo whopperflower — for Kaeya more times than he can count. This, while tedious, won't be difficult if Bennett can keep his bearings.
Bennett raises his sword, poised to strike the moment he's within range but the whopperflower disappears into the ground once he is just steps away. It pops back up not a second later and right behind Bennett. He doesn't even have time to turn around before it's gone again popping up several meters away. Its shield goes up in a flash of ice that glitters dangerously under the bright afternoon sun. These flowers and their stupid shields. If only Mister Zhongli was here. He has the strongest shield of anyone that Bennett has ever met.
The whopperflower lifts its petals high over its head, hovering just for a moment before lowering its crown and sending a torrent of frosty elemental energy in Bennett's direction. He dodges and sprints to the side in an attempt to keep ahead of the ice, narrowly missing the last one. As the attack comes to an end, Bennett seizes the opportunity to bring his flaming sword down on the monster's head. With one strike, he can already see the cracks forming in its shield. He can do this. He can totally do this.
The flower sends a wave of ice spikes sharp enough to kill toward Bennett and the force of the attack sends elemental particles and tiny bits of ice into the air like smoke, momentarily clouding his vision. When the dust clears, there isn't one whopperflower staring him down and preparing to strike, there's two. Now, this might be bad.
From behind someone shouts "BURN!" and that's all the warning he gets before Diluc Ragnvindr brings his flaming claymore down right on the head of the cryo whopperflower closest to Bennett. Both whopperflowers go flying from the force of the attack, landing with a harsh thud several meters away dazed and confused. Diluc turns his head to face Bennett but keeps his claymore raised.
"Bennett. I've been looking for you."
"For me?" The letter Katheryne gave him flashes in his mind. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Diluc, I have the letter right here."
"Letter? I'm not— Now's not the time for that. Are you hurt?"
Bennett shakes his head and tightens his grip on his sword. "No. Just a few scratches. Maybe a bruise or two." Or six or seven. But Diluc doesn't need to know that.
"Good." Across the field, the whopperflower gains its bearings and jumps up, ready to take aim. Diluc adjusts his claymore. Let's finish this swiftly."
Bennett nods and tightens his grip on his own flaming sword. "Teamwork is dreamwork!"
The whopperflower lowers its head and wastes no time launching its next attack but just before Bennett starts to dash straight for them, Diluc says, "you go left and I'll go right. If we're lucky we'll back them both into a corner and we can finish them off that way." Bennett doesn't get a chance to respond before Diluc forges ahead, dashing for the flowers.
Bennett grins and starts sprinting himself. "Off we go!"
Between the two of them, they're able to take the enemies out in record time. The final blow comes when Diluc unleashes his elemental burst. Bennett has seen it before on multiple occasions but he's just as blown away now as he was all those other times. It's as magnificent as it is powerful.
"Time for — RETRIBUTION!"
The whopperflower is no match against Diluc and it collapses to the ground in an instant before disappearing into shimmering dust.
Bennett wipes his brow and lets out a little laugh. "Wow, I got really lucky that you came along, Diluc."
Diluc hums. "That's one way of putting it." He heads toward the path and beckons Bennett to follow him with a nod of the head. "All that matters now is that you're safe. What we're you doing out here on your own? Is there nowhere you are meant to be?"
Bennett looks at his feet. Idly he kicks a stone that's in his path. "I was just thinking." It's not a lie, per se. It's just not the full truth either. He likes Diluc and he really loved getting to see his fighting style in person for the brief period of time that they were both traveling with Aether, but he doesn't know him too well outside of that. He's not sure if it's appropriate for him to pour out all his troubles to Diluc. But Diluc kind of reminds him of the Dads. Despite his stern expression, Bennett is fairly certain that underneath lies a warm and kind person.
"Ahh, I was with the traveler and Paimon," he begins, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "But they asked me to leave. And since then, everyone I've run into has either been busy or they've practically run away from me. And then I couldn't find the hilichurl Katheryne asked me to deal with. It's not been the best day so I was just—" He gestures to the woods around them and shrugs. "I dunno, thinking... Or trying not to think, I guess."
Diluc halts and Bennett would have run into him if he hadn't looked up just in time. He turns to Bennett and blinks. He opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again. "Wait. You think—" A pause. "You think that Aether and Paimon were—" Diluc, normally so put together and eloquent, is completely lost for words.
Bennett takes pity on him and finishes his sentence for him. "Yeah. They asked me to leave the team." He holds up his hands in a placating gesture as Diluc stares at him looking absolutely flabbergasted by Bennett's explanation. It's a stark contrast to his usual deadpan expression.
"It's totally okay! Don't look so surprised! People come and go from the traveler's team all the time! Some even stay for no more than a day. It's how I was so lucky to meet so many amazing people from so many amazing places! I'm so lucky for all the time I got to adventure with them!"
"Bennett," Diluc says gravely. He leans down so that they're eye to eye and places a hand on one of Bennett's shoulders. "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I have it on very good word that neither Aether nor Paimon has any plans to forcibly remove you from their team. Although — if the time did come that you wanted to leave and forge your own path, I'm sure Aether would understand. But that's of your own volition. No one is forcing you to do anything. "
Oh how Bennett wished that were the case. But he knows all things have their end. Mister Zhongli taught him that. "I appreciate the kind words Diluc, but you don't need to try and cheer me up."
"I'm not — " Diluc groans and his mouth pinches into a thin line. "I'm not trying to cheer you up. I'm simply stating facts."
"Are you feeling alright, Diluc? Don't take this the wrong way, but you look a little constipated."
Diluc inhales sharply and immediately starts to hack and cough. He releases his grip on Bennett's shoulder to pound on his own chest once then twice.
Oh no. This is all Bennett's fault. Diluc is choking and it's no doubt due to his chronic bad luck. He should do something. He should help. He's... Wait! He's got it!
"Don't worry Diluc! I'll get you healed up in a jiffy! Everybody stand back!" Bennett leaps into the air but before he can summon his elemental burst, Diluc shoots out a hand and grabs him.
"I'm fine," he rasps. "There's no need for that. Just come with me. There's something I need to show you."
With no adventure team waiting on him, he doesn't really have a reason to decline so Bennett nods and follows Diluc toward Dawn Winery.
Bennett hears the winery before he sees it. The low rumble of dozens of voices talking over each other interspersed with the occasional cheer and laughter. And underneath it all is the constant hum of music.
"Are you having a party?" Bennett asks as they round the corner and the winery comes into view. Sure enough, even from here, its clear that dozens of people mill about the grounds outside the winery sipping on drinks, eating plate upon plate of hor d'oeuvres, and enjoying each other's company.
Diluc hums. "Yes, I suppose I am."
"What's the occasion? Oh, wait! Am I interrupting your party?! Did you have to spend your birthday rescuing me!"
"It's not my birthday, no. And if it were, this certainly isn't how I would spend it. As for the answer to your first question, I think that is best found by walking up there yourself. I'm not much for parties. You head on up, I need a moment before I head back."
As he gets closer to the party itself, he's able to make out the faces of the attendees, and to his surprise, he recognizes more than he doesn't. Xiangling is manning a table brimming with snacks. Nearby Xingqiu is goading Chongyun into trying some food that's unrecognizable to Bennett — godspeed Chongyun. In the very front of the estate's doors, Venti is standing atop a table, belting out a tale and backed up by Xinyan and her guitar. He spots Klee weaving through the crowd, Diona on her heels with Albedo and Kaeya not far behind. Though from his gleeful expression, Kaeya looks like he's causing more trouble than he's preventing. Noelle is fluttering between the snack table and the dance floor, being sure to ask everyone she passes if there is anything she can help them with before Hu Tao grabs her by the arm and pulls her onto the makeshift dance floor where Fischl, Razor, and Yan Fei are bobbing their heads in time with Xinyan's shredding guitar.
Everywhere he turns is another face he recognizes. It's like everyone he's ever met or known from Mondstadt, Liyue, or Inazuma are all here.
"Diluc found Bennett!! Look, everybody! He's here!" someone — probably Paimon — shouts. "Everybody! You know what that means!"
"SURPRISE!!!"
It ends with a question.
“You... You threw me a party?”
The traveler nods and holds out a hand with a smile across his face that silently asks why Bennett would ask such a question in the first place.
“Of course we threw you a party!” Paimon shouts over Aether’s shoulder. “It's an anniversary party! You've been adventuring with us for a whole year! That's a cause for celebration if Paimon has ever heard of one."
"You just want to eat all the tasty food," Aether says.
"Hey! Paimon can think that Bennett deserves a celebration and eat lots of tasty food!"
Aether covers a laugh with his hand. "Uh-huh. But it is true what Paimon said. We wanted to celebrate you and all that you've done to help us. That's why we've gathered so many of our friends here."
Their conversation as the breakfast table that morning flashes through his head. Suddenly, everything that's happened today makes a lot more sense. So they hadn't meant... Bennett releases a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. This was all just a big misunderstanding.
"Bennett?" Aether says. "Are you—"
Bennett grins as a wave of overwhelming warmth and happiness crashes over him. "I'm fine," he says, a little in awe of it all. To think they did this all for him. For all his bad luck and all. It's a lot to take in.
"Good!" says Paimon. "Now the party can really get started now that the guest of honor has arrived!"
With all of his friends here from Mondstadt, Liyue, and beyond, there's no doubt about it, this, Bennett thinks as Razor and Fischl nearly knock him over with the force of a hug, is gonna be epic.