Work Text:
Recently, Venti has been following around Kazuha like a puppy. This wasn’t unusual, since they both worked in the same department and often had to communicate, but none of their conversations correlated to work as of late.
“So, brunettes or blondes?” Venti interrogated, peaking into their shared classroom where Kazuha was going around picking up stray sheets music.
“What are you on about?” Kazuha sighed, looking up at him, bonking him on the head with a rolled-up paper of music as he walked by, “Asking me about my type again?”
“Guessing you don’t have one at this rate,” Venti glared, leaning against the door frame. That school day had come to an end, but their classroom was a mess due to a student turning on one of the fans, causing all the music to flutter around the room.
“I think that’s the last of them,” Kazuha said, tossing them onto his desk and pulling on his jacket, “Let’s go.”
“You think Jean is gonna come at us for being late again?” Venti groaned, trailing after Kazuha as they made their way to one of the conference rooms.
They all had a staff meeting at least once a month hosted by Jean, and for every one so far he and Venti had been late. The month before it was because Venti had spilled his coffee down a tuba and they both spent an hour trying to drain it, the month before that Kazuha had gotten his hair stuck in between piano keys. It had been quite a rough year.
“I’ll gaslight her into thinking it’s her fault,” Kazuha joked as Venti snickered.
Just then they heard the patter of footsteps behind them, and since the school day was over it had to be another member of the staff who was also late. They both instinctively turned around to see who their other partner in crime was when a new face greeted them.
The unfamiliar male wore a fitted suit jacket over a silk-like dark dress shirt, his hands were shoved in his dress pant pockets and he wore a careless expression despite being late for a meeting. What really caught their attention, or perhaps Kazuha’s a little too much, was the trail of tattoos on his neck that went and hid under the sleeves.
“Damn, who the hell is that?” Venti whispered, but not quietly since he was an idiot, causing the stranger to look their way and quirk an eyebrow at them. His gaze moved to Kazuha and moved his eyes down his body, making Kazuha, who suddenly felt very on display in his mere cardigan, nervous.
“He totally just checked you out,” Venti observed, at least attempting to keep his voice quiet this time around.
“No way, he was just looking cus you’re being loud,” Kazuha replied, shaking his head as he shoved his hands into his cardigan’s pockets.
“Yeah, looking at you,” Venti giggled, faking a cough when the stranger sent them yet another confused stare.
Venti awkwardly chuckled, opening his mouth to question the male's presence when another door burst open, and out came Childe, who looked way too energetic after a long school day.
“There you are! Jean’s gonna kill me. I lost you on the first day,” Childe exclaimed, bounding up to the stranger, “It was my job to bring you to the meeting.”
“Fuck off,” the dark-haired stranger muttered, moving past Childe who tried catching up before noticing Kazuha and Venti.
“Are you guys late, too? Man, we are in trouble.”
“We have an excuse,” Venti countered, slowing his pace so the other two males could walk beside them.
“You think she'll believe me if I said I had to pee and it took a very long time?” The ginger spoke up.
“That didn’t work last time,” Kazuha countered, grinning as Childe shoved him in the shoulder.
“She doesn’t know my bladder!” Childe defended, running his hands through his hair out of stress. Jean could be terrifying when mad.
“Let’s race!” Venti offered, already speeding ahead and turning right, leading Childe to immediately gasp and zoom after him. So much for enforcing the No Running in the halls rule.
Kazuha looked to the stranger, willing himself to go and introduce himself when said stranger continued to walk on, not sparing him a glance as he turned the corner as well.
So much for making a new friend.
“Thank you for joining us,” Kaeya snickered as Kazuha finally slid into the room, shooting the principal a sheepish grin as he took his seat next to an out of breath Venti.
“Where’s Jean?” Lisa questioned, looking around for the head as Kaeya sent her a shit-eating grin.
“She’s letting me host today’s staff meeting since it’ll be brief,” Kaeya explained as Lisa groaned, they all knew Kaeya was as serious as one of the children at the school. Nonetheless, he would make a meeting more fun then Jean would. No offense…
“Anyways, y’all know how we have a vice principal right? This is Scaramouche and Jean is making him work from here instead of at home like the introvert he is,” Kaeya introduced, pointing to Scaramouche who sat beside him with his arms crossed.
“Introduce yourself!” The over-energetic blue-haired male nudged, to which Scaramouche swatted his hand away.
“Fuck off, if that’s it I’m leaving,” Scaramouche announced, already halfway out of his seat before Childe yanked him back down, swinging an arm around his shoulder.
“Go around and introduce yourselves, actually I’ll just do it for you,” Childe retaliated, naming everyone around the table.
“That’s Lisa, she teaches English. That’s Xingqiu, he’s the librarian, oh that’s Hutao the counselor. Aether is the art teacher and Xiao is the math teacher, they’re married. Razor is the groundskeeper and Xiangling is the head chef—,” Childe rambled about everyone and came to a stop at Kazuha, since he was sitting at the very end due to being late.
“And that’s Kazuha, the other music teacher, ok I think that’s everyone!”
Kazuha offered a little wave, to which Scaramouche didn’t reciprocate.
“Scaramouche will learn your names, don’t worry!” Kaeya reassured, but the eye roll the said male gave said otherwise. “Anyways, his office is right next to mine and you’ll have to give your weekly reports to him personally now since Jean wants to keep files, it’s literally the twenty-first century but whatever she wants I guess…”
“Can we go now,” Venti asked, sipping on a comically large coffee drink, “I’ve got places to be.”
“Watching trashy reality tv at home is not a place you gotta be,” Kazuha rebuked, dodging the pen Venti threw at him.
“Wait, I’m gonna make a new staff group chat. So everyone should keep it unmuted, okay now y’all can leave,” Kaeya instructed, pointing them out the door.
Kazuha watched as Scaramouche was the first to leave, tugging his arm out of Childe’s grip and exiting.
“Never thought I’d meet someone more antisocial than Xiao,” Hutao thought aloud, snickering at the glare Xiao sent her.
“He’s not antisocial, just hates everyone,” Childe mused, “But he’s fun once you get to know him!”
“And how long did that take you?” Aether asked.
“I’ve known him since middle school…so,” Childe sheepishly laughed, the rest of the staff groaning.
“At least he’s hot,” Lisa shrugged, walking past Kazuha to leave.
Kazuha nodded in agreement, turning to leave when he saw Venti’s eyes widen with a shit-eating grin to match.
“You think he’s cute!” Venti accused, running to catch up with him as Kazuha made a quick exit to get to his car in the staff parking lot.
“Okay, and?” he rebuked, there was no point in denying it. He could appreciate a good looking man when he saw one.
“I have someone to set you up with,” Venti gleefully said, clapping his hands.
“I don’t think he’s into that sort of thing,” Kazuha slowly said, talking to Venti was like talking to a child at times. No wonder the children got along with him so well.
“We’ll see about that, toodles!” the other male waved, bidding farewell as he skipped to his own car.
Kazuha sighed and slid into his, starting his vehicle up as he pulled out of his spot. He hadn’t found anyone attractive enough to get him intrigued since his last relationship. It’s been years since the incident and he’s only just beginning to move on, so maybe letting Venti get up to his shenanigans would be a good thing.
But another glance towards his dashboard at the fading polaroid photo that laid there, Kazuha didn’t know if he was quite ready.
“Which key is it again?” Kazuha mumbled to himself as he stood in front of his apartment door, his key ring jingling as he looked through the options. He really needed a better organization system.
“The one with the star logo on the key’s bow,” a rather familiar voice drawled behind him as they walked past. Kazuha immediately sought the key out and smiled when it went into the lock. He turned to thank his apparent mysterious neighbor but was instead met with an all too familiar face.
“Scaramouche?!” Kazuha exclaimed, jabbing a finger at him, “Since when did you live here?”
“I’ve been living here for months,” the violet-haired male deadpanned, before unlocking his door and swiftly moving inside before Kazuha could initiate a longer conversation.
“No way, he lives next door?” Venti gasped, sipping on his smoothie. He claimed that it was good for his vocal cords but Kazuha could see him cringing after every sip.
That night Kazuha had gone over every moment from when he first moved into his apartment and couldn’t bring up any recollection of Scaramouche living beside him. Was the other male that much of an introvert where he rarely even stepped outside?
“He must be a real hermit if I’ve never seen him, he didn’t wanna chat for too long,” Kazuha sighed, sliding over his bag of chips towards Venti due to pity, “Stop making those smoothies if you hate it.”
“I can already hear myself improving,” Venti cantilated, before going into a heavy coughing fit, leading Kazuha to slap him on the back. “Anyways, you should keep trying to talk to him.”
“Makes me seem desperate,” Kazuha mumbled as Aether walked into the room, a sheepish smile on his face as he held out a stack of manila folders.
“Can you drop these off for me? Something urgent came up,” the blonde rushed out, bowing gratefully after Kazuha nodded a yes, dashing out the staff room.
“Perfect, now you can go see him!” Venti grinned, before pulling out a folder from his desk, “You might as well take mine.”
“Fine,” Kazuha replied, tucking the folders under his arm and making his way out, not before grabbing Venti’s smoothie and tossing it in the trash as he left through the door.
“Eat some real food for archon's sake,” he called out behind him as Venti scrunched his face in distaste. The other male would thank him later.
The walk to the vice principal's office was agonizing, it was the middle of the school day so there were children roaming around and accidentally running into him. He was thankful his classes were later in the day when the children were more tired, his job was exhausting at times.
The office Scaramouche now occupied had been empty for most of Kazuha’s career at the school, so willing himself to knock on it and open the door was a bit of a culture shock.
“Hey,” Kazuha greeted, locking eyes with a disinterested Scaramouche, who seemed to be flipping through a book. He couldn’t see the cover from here but it looked like it was interesting, since the other male was already halfway done with it.
“Hey,” Scaramouche greeted back, tucking a pen into his book to mark his page and setting it down, “Did you need something?”
“Here’s the weekly reports, it’s Aether, Venti’s, and mine,” Kazuha explained, placing the stack on the other’s desk.
“Thanks,” the other male merely replied, taking the files and moving it to a bigger pile on the corner of his desk. He then picked his book back up, but lifted his eyes once again, raising a brow as if he was surprised Kazuha was still standing there.
“Whatcha reading?” Kazuha inquired, craning his neck to look at the binding.
Instead of responding Scaramouche merely lifted it to show the cover better, letting Kazuha read the title.
“A Legend of Sword? I used to have a friend who was really into that franchise,” Kazuha mused, old memories resurfacing as he looked at the cover art. He shook those thoughts out of his head as the other male raised a brow once again at him.
“Have you read it?” he asked, putting the book down just a bit to see Kazuha better. And now that Kazuha had the other male’s undivided attention he was feeling a bit abashed.
“After having seen all the movies, I was forced to get into it. It was pretty good though, I really liked—,”
“There you are!”
Both men turned to see Xiangling with her hands on her hips and standing by the doorway.
“Can you come help me, Sayu is sleeping on top of the fridge and I know she’ll listen to you.”
“How did she even get on the fridge?” Kazuha asked, internally groaning at the loss of the conversation between him and his newfound …crush? (He was not ready to come to terms with that just yet.)
“I don’t know, but please help me,” Xiangling whined, coming in to tug on Kazuha’s arm.
“Alright, alright. Talk to ya later Scara,” Kazuha started, letting out a rushed farewell as he was dragged out the room. To him he simply hadn’t had the time to even say Scaramouche’s full name, but to Scaramouche…Kazuha had just given him a nickname.
“Kazuha!” Hutao greeted as she pulled open her front door, grinning ear to ear as he stepped inside.
Hutao had decided to host a get together that very weekend in honor of the first semester ending, they were all exhausted but proud of their students. It was a tradition they would meet up at one of the staff’s homes to have a couple glasses of wine and party together. Last month there had been an extremely intense uno game, it still gave him the shudders till this day.
“Hey, Hutao,” Kazuha smiled, kicking his shoes off as he followed her inside, “Brought some wine.”
“You are amazing,” Venti slurred, already making grabby hands at the bottle. He sounded drunk but they all know he could handle multiple bottles of alcohol, sort of.
“That’s everyone,” Kaeya clapped, “I wanna make a bet on Just Dance with Lisa.”
“Oh, you’re on,” Lisa grinned, an evil glint in her eye as she and Kaeya grabbed wii remotes and booted up the game.
“Everyone?” Kazuha questioned, glancing around the room as he took a seat next to Venti, who immediately leaned on his shoulder, “Scaramouche isn’t here, yet.”
“We didn’t invite him, he’s just gonna stay home either way,” Childe shrugged, standing behind Diluc as he tried to braid the aforementioned hair, but Diluc kept dodging his hands, “I’ve tried for years, he never really shows up to anything anymore.”
“Won’t he get upset if he isn’t invited?” Jean spoke up, speaking on Kazuha’s thoughts, “I already feel bad for making him move locations.”
“I don’t think so, he hates parties,” Childe hummed, finally managing to get Diluc to give in to his styling desires.
“If you say so,” Kazuha replied, averting his attention to Kaeya and Lisa performing the choreography to Likey by Twice. He tried to enjoy the party, even agreeing to go against a now extremely drunk Venti who challenged him to perform some disney song choreos with him.
Although, he couldn’t help but feel a little ball of worry form in the pit of his stomach.
“Thanks for the ride,” Kazuha thanked, shooting Jean a smile as he practically tripped out of the car. Perhaps a How many shots until I collapse? contest with Childe wasn’t the best idea.
“No problem, stay safe,” Jean smiled, giving him a wave as she drove off with a dozing Lisa in the backseat.
Kazuha found himself staggering just a bit as he made his way up the walkway into his apartment building, struggling to figure out the elevator. Clicking all the buttons seemed to work well enough.
Once he was half sure he was on the right floor he slumped against the wall as he walked towards his apartment, grabbing onto the door knob and jamming the key into the keyhole, growing frustrated when it wouldn’t open.
He jiggled it for a couple of minutes before the door opened, he stumbled forward and a pair of arms pushed him back up.
Kazuha lifted his eyes to see none other than Scaramouche staring quizzically at him.
“What are you doing in my apartment?” Kazuha questioned, leaning against the doorframe to steady himself.
“This is my apartment,” Scaramouche slowly spelled out, squinting at him, “Are you drunk?”
“Teeny bit,” Kazuha answered, bringing his index and thumb finger together to show him, “Sorry.”
“Alright, let me help you,” Scaramouche mumbled, letting out a sigh of exasperation as he grabbed ahold of Kazuha’s shoulder and gently directed him to Kazuha’s apartment, taking the keys from his outstretched hand and opening it for him.
“Why didn’t you come today?” Kazuha asked, the alcohol in his system was leading him to be a tad bit more confident than his usual self, all his words were now unfiltered thanks to the liquid courage.
“To what?” the other male replied as he handed Kazuha back his keys.
“The teachers had a party and Childe said you didn’t like them so he didn’t invite you,” Kazuha gulped, swallowing down the urge to throw up. Sober him would not be able to come back from that.
“Is that so,” Scaramouch drawled, “He’s right, I don’t enjoy gatherings.”
“Still, doesn’t it hurt that he didn’t invite you?” Kazuha pushed, he was going to get this man to open up a bit more.
Seems he struck a nerve though since the violet-haired male’s composed expression fell.
“Don’t pretend to worry about me,” he rebuked, turning on his heel, not even saying a goodbye as he slammed his apartment door behind him.
“Yikes,” Kazuha whistled, his head pounding as he shut his own door behind him. He had fucked up, even drunk him could realize that.
Seems the universe hated him.
The following school week had started and he had to nurse himself back to health the other day after the party due to getting an excruciating hangover.
When he awoke the next morning he was reminded of his actions the previous night and had sat upright to go make his way next door and apologize, but after puking on his sheets he thought better of it.
But now that he was at school he had made way to Scaramouche’s office as soon as he could, an apology on the tip of his tongue as he tried to open the door, but it was locked.
Kaeya, after seeing him struggling at the door made his way over to him.
“Scaramouche is out sick, he tried to come in but he looked like shit so I sent him home,” Kaeya explained, pointing tot he locked door, “I locked it so I would see if he tried to come back.”
“He’s sick?” Kazuha questioned, removing his hand from the knob.
“Yeah, so if you have anything to drop off just put it somewhere on my desk,” Kaeya grinned, “Did you need something?”
“Not really, just had to pick up something…does he have someone to take care of him?” Kazuha added, the image of the other male sitting alone coughing his guts out wrenched his heart. Being sick sucked enough, being ill with no one there to care was far worse.
“He doesn’t have many friends, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t dated in years,” Kaeya mused, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, I feel like he’s a menace when sick,” the blue-haired male though aloud, “I told him to sleep when he got home, not sure if he kept his end of that deal.”
“Huh, thanks for informing me,” Kazuha replied, smiling as Kaeya waved him off, bounding back into his own office as Kazuha continued to stare down the locked door,
He needed to pick up some soup on the way home.
“Shit,” Kazuha let out, putting a hand in front of the container as he parked into the lot. He had almost spilled the soup over his leather seats about five times on the drive home. Maybe he should of seatbelted it but he felt rather stupid when he tried to pull the seatbelt over a container of chicken noodle soup.
He carried the still scalding container into the apartment building and up the elevator, trying his best not to drop it.
He had been mentally preparing himself to apologize to the other male all day, he was still embarrassed the other had seen him drunk.
“You got this Zu,” he murmured, hyping himself up as he made his way towards the door and hesitantly knocked upon it.
A couple of minutes dragged by before he heard the lock slowly come undone and the door opened to reveal a disheveled Scaramouche.
His face was drained of all color, a purplish hue under his eyes indicating he had not slept. His eyes raked over the other’s chapped lips, Kazuha had never seen Scaramouche look so…helpless. It was rather odd to see him in sweatpants instead of the usual stuffy suit, but it was pitiful to see him have to lean on the door to merely peer at him.
“What is it?” Scaramouche croaked out as a greeting, voice dry and frail, “Is it work related?”
“No, I heard you were sick and wanted to bring you soup,” Kazuha explained, holding up the container for him to see.
Scaramouche stared him down, before sucking his teeth and opening the door a bit wider.
“Bring it inside,” he murmured, already going back into his place.
Kazuha perked up, he hasn’t expected to be invited inside. He eagerly nodded and trailed behind, shutting the door behind him and toeing off his shoes, making his way to where Scaramouche sat slumped at his kitchen island, eyeing him as Kazuha set the container down.
“You didn’t have to bring me shit,” Scaramouche drawled, resting his head against his palm and Kazuha found a Tupperware and transferred the soup.
“Kaeya told me no one was here to take care of you, so I thought I’d bring you something,” Kazuha shrugged, snapping the lid shut and pushing the soup towards the other male, “Do you wanna eat some?”
Scaramouche eyed the soup for a long minute, before shaking his head no.
“Have you eaten anything today?” Kazuha questioned, looking around the kitchen. There didn’t seem to be any dishes in the sink indicating an earlier meal.
“No,” the other male murmured, now resting his head against the granite counter.
He was too sick to even eat?
“I’ll pour you a bowl,” Kazuha offered, looking through the cabinets as Scaramouche kept his head down, silent. He eventually found them along with some utensils and poured some of the contents out, testing the temperature before placing it in front of Scaramouche.
“Do you need to be fed?” Kazuha half-joked, tapping on Scaramouche’s head, his hair soft to the touch. He was a little ashamed to admit how quickly he’d agree to feed the other male if need be.
A couple of seconds went by before Kazuha noticed the gentle rise and fall of the other’s back, he kneeled down to take a look, and sure enough–Scaramouche was asleep. He contemplated looking for a blanket to cover him up but decided against it, he didn’t want to go through Scaramouch’s apartment without permission.
So, with the utmost precision, he scooped his hand underneath Scaramouche’s legs and another behind his back, carrying him bridal style to the couch and setting him down, grabbing the blanket resting on one of the nearby couch chairs and tucking the other male in.
Kazuha had never gotten to take a real good look at Scaramouche before, always sneaking a glance when seeing him in the hallway or squinting at his icon on gmail. The staff often made jokes on how the violet-haired male’s good looks were wasted by frowning and glaring, and even though Scaramouche was hopelessly sick, Kazuha found him even more attractive…but in a depressing kinda way.
He rested his palm across Scaramouche’s forehead, wincing at how warm it was. He found himself scrounging around for a wash cloth and drowning it in a cup of cold water, draping it over Scaramouche’s head and letting it rest there. That should cool him off a bit.
“Sleep well,” Kazuha whispered, placing the now covered bowl of soup on the nearby coffee table, along with a spoon, before letting himself out, locking the door behind him. He didn’t want to overuse his stay, he had done what he had come for. But he couldn’t help but look back as he stepped into his own apartment, a worried crease on his own forehead at the other’s wellbeing.
Perhaps Venti was correct, he was whipped.
Kazuha awoke to multiple messages from Venti, as per usual, and most of them were memes and tiktoks he tagged Kazuha in. The staff groupchat had also been spammed by Kaeya and Childe as they debated the best type of alcohol as Diluc kept unadding himself and getting added back. But there was one contact name sitting at the top that caught his eye.
‘You have received a private message from User ScaraMouche’
If he wasn’t awake then he sure was now.
He shot up in bed and slid open the message, trying not to seem too excited as the prospect of the other male texting him first.
ScaraMouche:
Thx for caring for me last night
U didnt have to
JustKaz:
It was np, happy to do it :)
Read
ScaraMouche:
See u at work
JustKaz:
See u!
Read
He reread the message another couple of times before shooting a glance at his clock to see he was running late, he was lucky he didn’t have any morning classes to teach that day and that Kaeya was relatively laidback.
He made a beeline for the staff room after dropping off his stuff in his usual classroom when he arrived at school, waving at the other children who always happened to be running late and co-workers who were strolling through the halls along the way. He didn’t have time to make himself a cup of coffee at home so the staff room’s machine would have to do.
“Morning, Sleepyhead,” Venti grinned, gesturing towards another mug from where he sat at one of the many tables, “I actually arrived earlier than you.”
“Thanks,” Kazuha replied, rolling his eyes as an afterthought, “Don’t hold your head too high, it won’t happen again.”
Venti merely snickered as Lisa brought him into a conversation from where she stood by the coffee maker, Kazuha listened in for a bit before growing disinterested hearing them discuss an idol band’s new album.
As the morning went on the room was bustling as staff members went in and out, Kazuha leaving when he finally had a class to teach and managing to make it back in time for lunch.
“Timmie wrote a really grotesque story about a robot killing people for him,” Lisa went on, taking a sip of her juice (She had heard Venti abandoned his smoothie diet and now had him on a juice cleanse), “Is that normal kid behavior?”
“He drew a picture of something robot-like killing his enemies in class today,” Aether added, pulling out his phone to show them a picture, “No wonder he hogs all the red crayons, he uses it for blood.”
“He terrifies me,” Lisa nodded, zooming in on the picture.
Kazuha listened in, not speaking up too much himself even though he had many Timmie stories to speak on. A Legend of Sword had been on last night and he couldn’t bear to not give it a watch, safe to say he didn’t sleep much. He wasn’t even a huge fan, it was just that the film had brought him good memories.
The staff room door was then pushed open, the old wooden door letting out a creak and they all looked to see Scaramouche, surprisingly.
Before anyone could make a snide comment at the male finally socializing, the said male made a beeline for him and placed a bag in front of Kazuha, one with a familiar restaurant logo upon it.
“Thanks for last night, it’s sushi,” Scaramouche deadpanned, already turning around.
“It was no problem,” Kazuha called out as the other male exited, not making any attempt to speak to anyone else.
Kazuha peered into the bag, surprised that Scaramouche and he had similar tastes. He looked up to offer some to the others but was instead met with blank stares.
“WHAT DOES HE MEAN LAST NIGHT?” Venti bellowed, practically tearing out his hair as Childe bounded up and helped himself to the fortune cookie that came along with the meal, happily munching on it before spitting out the paper.
“You’re supposed to take the paper out first,” Kazuha pointed out but was met with more yelling.
“No wonder you came to work so late and disheveled,” Lisa smirked, giving him a knowing look, “So, how is he? In bed I mean.”
“It’s not like that!” Kazuha insisted, placing his palms on his cheeks and groaning, “I swear!”
“I ship it,” Aether laughed, ignoring the pout Kazuha sent his way.
“People think we fucked,” Kazuha announced instead of a greeting, letting himself into Scaramouche’s office.
“Good Morning to you,” Scaramouche drawled, not looking up from his computer screen as he typed away, Kazuha taking this as an invitation to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk.
“You’re not upset?” Kazuha asked, raising a brow as the other male finally looked up from his screen.
“Am I supposed to? I literally don’t give a fuck.”
Instead of being offended by the other’s vulgar language, Kazuha simply grinned.
“Is this your way of saying you don’t mind fucking me?”
Scaramouche’s fingers stopped typing for a second, before he picked it up again, shaking his head. He had finally managed to fluster the other, even if it was for only a second.
“I’m asexual,” he straight-faced, finally pulling his hands off his keyboard and leaning back into his chair, crossing his arms, “Is that all you came in to say?”
“Let’s go get a meal together, I got you soup and you got me sushi and we both ate it alone. We gotta break even,” Kazuha offered, placing his arms on the desk and leaning forward, “Whaddya say?”
“You got me food and I got you food, are we not even?” the other male replied, staring down at him.
“Then let’s make it a date,” Kazuha casually said, a slow smile creeping up his lip as seeing the other male squirm in his seat uncomfortably.
“You should go with someone who’s better,” he replied, uncrossing his arms and going back to his work, disinterested once again.
“But I’d like to go with you,” Kazuha insisted, how he had caught feelings for someone so stubborn. Seems he had a type.
“I don’t do relationships,” Scaramouche continued, “It’s better if we don’t.”
“Don’t you get lonely? I’ll do all the talking for you,” Kazuha pressed.
“You get used to it,” he murmured, abruptly getting up, “Leave or stay, I don’t care,” he added, making his way around his desk and pushing the door open, about to exit his office.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Kazuha called out, trailing behind him until he caught up, nudging Scaramouche in the shoulder when he finally did.
“Home,” Scaramouche deadpanned, finally gracing Kazuha with a stare, “Don't tell Jean.”
And with that the other male left, turning the corner and disappearing from Kazuha’s vision.
His own shoulders deflated.
Perhaps this was the universe’s way of telling him he already had his one love, and there wasn’t a point in chasing after another one.
But unlike Scaramouche,
Kazuha never grew accustomed to being lonely.
“Let’s hang out, it’s Saturday!” Venti chirped from the other end of the phone line.
“Can’t today,” Kazuha sighed from where he laid on his couch, head hanging off the end as his legs were kicked up so he was upside down, “I have to go see a friend.”
A week had passed since Kazuha’s failed attempt at asking out his coworker, perhaps it was for the best. When he had told Venti about it the other man insisted he try again. ‘A little persuasion never hurts.’ But it had just mentally exhausted him, it was wrong of him to even fathom starting a different relationship.
“Have fun cheating on me,” Venti joked, bidding farewell as he ends their call. Kazuha mumbled a goodbye as he heard the phone click, dropping it on the floor as he looked up at the ceiling.
Perhaps he should get going, though it didn’t matter if he was late.
The wind rustled his hair in greeting as he made his way through the greenery, a bouquet in his right hand and a small bag hanging on his back.
The sun was up but the weather was cool, a gentle breeze caressing him in a hug as he made his way to an all too familiar spot.
Underneath a small canopy tree stood an engraved stone. The grass tickled Kazuha’s legs as he sat in front of it, pulling his knees to his chest as he read the name for the nth time.
Kaedehara Tomo
Loving son, friend, and husband
May he rest in peace
He grazed his finger over the writing, stopping at the husband.
“Hey, Tomo,” Kazuha greeted, pulling out the flowers from the bouquet’s wrapping and placing it in front of the stone, “How are you?”
He arranged them neatly before sitting back, admiring his work and nodding to himself.
“I’m not doing too well,” Kazuha smiled, trying not to let his voice waver too much.
The leaves above him rustled as if they were urging him to continue.
“It’s not very fun to be alone, I ended up unpacking your stuff, it makes the apartment feel more full. It doesn’t fit though, since I had to move from our house. A teacher's salary can only do so much,” Kazuha croaked, biting on his thumb, “I know how much you liked it, but I just can’t afford it without you.”
“I found all your legend of sword merchandise, the hoodie doesn’t have your scent anymore, though,” he murmured, taking off his bag and unclasping it to dig inside, reaching in to pull out said book.
“I gave it a read a couple of days ago, but it wasn't the same without you beside me, telling me all the hidden details. It took me a while to even be able to look at the cover without crying,” he went on, flipping through the pages, “Your annotations are still in here, it’s like you’re talking to me when I read through them.”
He placed the book down, ignoring how his eyes were starting to sting, and went on.
“I asked a guy out and he rejected me. It stung but maybe that was your way of telling me to not pursue him?” Kazuha asked, twirling a blade of grass between his fingers and holding it up, “Is it too soon for me to hold feelings for another?”
The blade escaped the grip from his fingers and followed the gust of wind carrying it to the left, Kazuha’s eyes followed it and caught sight of a certain violet-haired male.
A slight smile grew on his face.
“Thank you for your blessing, Tomo,” Kazuha murmured, gathering his things and taking one last look at the gravestone before making his way out.
There was a set of unspoken rules when visiting a graveyard, and one was to not bother anyone else there that was visiting out of respect. But he couldn’t help but gravitate towards the familiar male, the sight of him curled up in front of a stone was too pitiful to ignore.
“Hey,” Kazuha greeted, keeping his voice quiet to not startle the other, but the other male merely looked over his shoulder, a distant look in his eyes as he eyed Kazuha.
“Hey,” Scaramouche greeted back, turning around again, but he scooted over a smidge as a silent invitation.
Kazuha took the bait and sat down next to him, crossing his legs and reading the stone they sat in front of.
He was prepared for silence but was pleasantly surprised when Scaramouche spoke up once more.
“Who are you visiting?” he asked, turning his head to face Kazuha, he was met with a look Kazuha wasn’t used to seeing on Scaramouche, he looked lost in a sea of gravestones.
“My husband, he passed a couple of years ago,” Kazuha answered, his fingers instinctively going to his left ring finger before remembering he had taken the ring off a couple months ago.
“Sorry,” Scaramouche murmured, looking back at the stone in front of him.
“What about you?” Kazuha repeated, curious as to any detail from the other’s life.
“My mother,” Scaramouche answered, his eyes trailing to the ground.
“Were you two close?”
“Not at all,” he sighed, “And that’s what bothers me.”
“I’m sure she’s glad you’re visiting,” Kazuha reassures, which earned him a look from Scaramouche.
“Tell me about your husband,” he offers, which garnered a smile out of Kazuha. Perhaps this encounter was all they needed to open up to one another a bit more.
“He’s a lot like you, very stubborn. He was obsessed with that book series I caught you reading, he did–” Kazuha rambled on, stopping himself after a minute or two, “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” the other male supplied, a wistful look in his eyes as they glazed over.
The two men sat in silence as the wind blew wisps of hair into their faces, petals from bouquets adorning the graveyard flew by in an array of colors and landed in their laps.
“You were right by the way,” Scaramouche started after a while, dusting the petals off his pants, “I am tired of being lonely.’
Kazuha reached over to grab ahold of one of Scaramouche’s hands, enclosing it in his own.
“Then let’s be lonely together.”
Weeks had passed since he and Scaramouche had talked in the graveyard, not the ideal place for a first date, but it worked out, …sort of. They both had gone to a nearby cafe to grab something to eat afterwards, sitting in a comfortable silence. That was where they both agreed to navigate a relationship, but quietly and without interference from their nosey teacher friends.
It had taken them a little under two months of confirmed dating to even kiss, it was awkward and messy but they got the hang of it and had finally come to a consensus of being more outward about their relationship.
Neither of them wanted to outwardly say ‘Hey, we’re dating!’ so they opted to just let everyone figure it out themselves, a sequel to the XiaoAether situation of sorts.
“Kazuha, look at this,” Lisa chirped, shoving her phone into Kazuha’s face.
They were currently in the conference room, once again awaiting Kaeya to start the meeting but he was busy arguing to Scaramouche about something, or rather Kaeya was arguing. Scaramouche didn’t look much like he cared.
“What is it,” he hummed, peering at her phone to see a picture of some male he didn’t recognize.
“This is my friend, Thoma, he works at a different school. Want me to set you guys up?” she asked, swiping through her friend's Instagram as Kazuha awkwardly shook his head.
“I’m okay, thank you though,” he replied, letting out an involuntary chuckle as he saw Scaramouche look in Lisa’s direction once hearing the nature of their conversation.
“Don’t you think it's time you get back out there,” Venti added, listening in on them from beside Kazuha, “I need me some drama,” he huffed as Aether giggled at his antics.
“Why don’t you set someone else up?” Hutao spoke up, eyeing the table, “Someone who would be a challenge.”
“Imagine finding Scaramouche a date,” Childe offered, pointing to said male who was now seated beside the ginger, finally escaping the conversation with Kaeya.
“Fuck off,” the other male rebuked as he didn’t look up from his phone.
“Perfect, let’s get him a date!” Xiangling gasped, clapping her hands.
“If he were just a bit nicer he’d have everyone on him,” Venti pointed out, “Maybe we should make him a dating profile?”
“I’m already in a relationship,” Scaramouche deadpanned, not sparing them a glance, “So shut the fuck up.”
“No way!” Venti practically yelled, “How’d you get into one before me?”
“I don’t believe it!” Hutao inquired, jabbing a finger at him, “Show us proof!”
“Perhaps he is telling the truth, he isn’t too bad on the eyes,” Xingqiu hummed, tilting his head, “But it is rather peculiar.”
Kazuha watched the chaos in front of him that Scaramouche had started, stifling a giggle as he slowly raised his hand.
“I’m the one dating Scaramouche,” he announced, which gained all their attention. There was a full second of shocked silence before all hell broke loose once again.
“HOW DID HE PULL KAZUHA?”
“I refuse to believe it!”
“Since when?!”
Scaramouche practically shrunk in his seat before Childe dragged him back up, shaking him violently as the violet-haired male covered his eyes in disdain.
“I know we’re supposed to be talking about our new curriculum but I’m much more invested in this,” Kaeya smiled, eyeing the two of them, “Do tell us.”
“It just happened,” Kazuha shrugged, which earned him a hit on the shoulder from Venti.
“Details please,” he begged, repeatedly abusing Kazuha’s shoulder.
“It’s like Xiao and Aether but in a different font,” Xiangling pointed out, “Why do the emo bitches always get the most hoes?”
“Can’t believe I’m considering asking for dating advice from him,” Childe shudders, releasing his grip on Scaramouche who immediately got up and turned to leave the room, closing the door behind him.
“Meeting’s over I guess, I don’t feel like talking about the curriculum so just wing it!” Kaeya cheered, the teachers all getting up and gossiping about the events as they too left the room.
“You are telling me everything later,” Venti playfully glared, squinting his eyes at Kazuha as he left the room.
Kazuha followed them, about to turn to go see where Scaramouche ran off to when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked left to see his lover leaned up against the wall right outside the conference room they were in.
“That was kinda crazy,” Kazuha smiled, moving to lean against the wall with him, “I wasn’t expecting you to be the one to announce it.”
“I was sick of them trying to set you up,” Scaramouche mumbled, releasing his hold on Kazuha’s sleeve to cross his arms, “It was annoying.”
“No need to be jealous,” Kazuha reassured, reaching over to link arms by his elbow with the other male and tugging him away from the wall, “I’m only into you.”
Scaramouche rolled his eyes, but instead of pulling away, he let their arms stay linked as Kazuha led them to the staff room.
“Prepare for all the double date invites incoming though,” Kazuha warned, which earned a groan out of Scaramouche.
It had taken him a while, but he had finally warmed up the icy heart of his co-worker.
Now he just had to prepare for the interrogation Venti had waiting for him.