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Bennett led Razor around Mondstadt by the hand, mostly sticking to the lesser populated areas so his friend won't get uncomfortable. It was the Windblume Festival again, and since last year was spent with the two exploring unknown areas, this year Bennett offered something different:
"If it's alright with you, I figured we could have a day out in the city! I know crowds aren't exactly your thing, so if you ever feel like it's too much, we can always change plans!" Bennett said this to Razor with a friendly grin and a thumbs up.
Despite the offer, he still didn't expect Razor to agree, who, after giving it a moment of thought, gave a curt nod.
"With you, I don't mind." Bennett's eyes practically sparkled in excitement.
So there they were, roaming around the city. They did walk through the main entrance, but only to view the bustling main walkway from afar to soak in the essence of the festival. Bennett was soon to lead his friend off to the southwest side, where things were a little less hectic. The two walked together on the stone path and up the narrow stairs as Bennett began rambling.
"I was thinking we could start off by just seeing the decorations of the festival, but I guess I underestimated how busy it'd be at this time of day," he chuckled nervously, his free hand going to scratch the back of his neck. Razor simply glanced to him, showing he was listening.
"But regardless of that, there's still a lot to do! We could get lunch, listen to some bards tell stories or play, though– haha, I think visiting the taverns is off the table. All the adults go there, and it'll be really noisy anyway. But I'm sure we can find plenty to do!" He swung their connected hands back and forth with another light-hearted laugh. Razor had just the slightest smile, observing the city and decorations as he was being shown around.
Razor was never really a fan of being in the city, but over the past year he's become slightly more tolerable of it. Miss Lisa continues to insist that the two go to the Knights of Favonius' Library for Razor's studying, and after many sessions of nearly being dragged all the way there each time, he grew both more resentful and yet more familiar with the place. It was an odd feeling.
"Hey, how about we stop by Good Hunter for something to eat? It looks kind of vacant right now!" Razor nodded his head and the two made their way over. Razor kept himself a bit behind his friend, wanting to avoid having to talk more than necessary. He had a feeling he was going to need as much energy as he could save today. "Hey Sara! How are you?" He waved as they stopped by the front counter.
"Oh, hello Bennett! And hello, uh.." She hesitated, smiling sheepishly. "Bennett's friend..?" she guessed, to which Razor responded with a simple "hello" and a wave before metaphorically shrinking back into himself again.
"Ah- this is Razor! He's my buddy from Wolvendom," Bennett let go of Razor's hand to put his hands on his hips, proud. "He's pretty cool! We both like meat, and he's pretty good at adventuring! Doesn't like vegetables, though, so we'll probably avoid anything with that today." Razor only stood there awkwardly, not really used to conversations like these. Despite not exactly feeling comfortable being talked about within earshot, he was relieved that at least he isn't carrying the conversation. He should probably say something, though.
"It's... nice to meet you, Sara." He tried offering, and Sara gave a friendly smile in return before going back to Bennett. That's fine.
"I'm really sorry, Bennett, but if you're looking for some chicken mushroom skewers I'm afraid we're all out. That traveller, ah, Aether.. I believe? He happened to have stopped by here earlier and bought our entire stock of skewers for today. And all of our bacon, sausage, ham, flour..." She had the decency to be sheepish about it, knowing Bennett might chalk it up to his unluckiness again. Though she also muttered under her breath in a slightly perplexed tone, "strange character, that one.." in regards to the traveller.
"Aw, just my luck.." Bennett deflated, and Sara mentally checked her guess box. Poor kid, she mused. "Thank you anyway, though! Happy Windblume Festival!"
"Ah- wait, you can still use our oven if you want! Or I can cook up something for you if you want something other than skewers," Sara offered, and Bennett lit back up again. "Though I will let you know it's not going to be a big variety, I'm really sorry. Maybe next week when our stocks are back in." Another apologetic smile.
"Right! I completely forgot," Razor watched his friend get embarrassed, but didn't really understand what the fuss was about. He let it be, though; maybe it's another city thing Razor doesn't know about. Hopefully he'll be able to catch on soon, despite how much everything regarding a conversation can give him a headache. It's all just completely different from what he grew up with.
"Ah, do you happen to have Sweet Madames– or maybe grilled fish?" He got excited again. "Oh, even Pile 'Em Up! Three steaks is kind of a lot, but we can split it!"
"Hmm, steak..." Razor mumbled, already having chosen his preference just by the description. Bennett beamed when Sara confirmed she had them all in stock. "Bennett, we should get the steak." Razor looked to him expectantly. Bennett had no issue immediately agreeing, just by eye contact alone. He glanced back to Sara, a certain joy in his tone and the way his eyes crinkle with his little smile.
"One Pile 'Em Up, please!"
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"Mm, did not know it had potatoes," Razor smiled, having taken the top steak with the potato dressings onto his own plate and digging in. "Very good. I like!" He tried not to talk with his mouth full as he complimented the dish. Bennett grinned, eyes twinkling from across the table.
"I'm glad! I honestly didn't expect there to still be so many options, either — maybe today is a lucky day!" It didn't take even a minute before the poor kid ended up nearly choking on a piece of steak, though, which Razor had to slap his back to help knock it out of Bennet's throat. "Haha, guess I should've seen that coming," his usual self-conscious smile made its way to his face again, making Razor frown a little in that passively worried sense.
"Smaller bites. Chew slow," Razor offered, mild concern seeping through as he sat back down. Bennett just gave a thumbs up and went back to chowing down as though he didn't just nearly choke to death less than a minute earlier. Razor shakes his head at his close friend's disregard, splitting the third steak between them.
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"Let's see... We could go gliding around the rooftops! Amber actually showed me last month how to glide from the Barbatos statue to her house— though, uh- I think she might've said something about other houses being a no glide zone.." Bennett rambled on again, leading his buddy up to the statue. Razor didn't seem as interested in the idea, though; he messed with one of the tassels of his bandana with his free hand, the other holding onto Bennett's like a lifeline again.
"Not.. very..." Razor stumbled, trying to recall one of the new words Lisa taught him recently. Started with an E... "Hrmm.." he grumbled, wracking his brain for the word as they walked.
Bennett paused once they were close to the statue, patiently letting Razor think. "Got any synonyms or the definition?" He offered.
Helping out with recalling words was a bit new, having started helping only a few weeks ago with a few more distant occurances, but Bennett was more than happy to help a friend in need. Also, Razor's thinking face was kind of cute in a sense; eyebrows all pushed down, one of them twitching once or twice in annoyance, looking down and off somewhere at the ground like he's searching for the thought between the cracks in the ground. Not to mention sometimes he chews on his inner cheek and pouts, though that part is hardly noticable besides the slightest movement and frown. The only reason Bennett even knows about it is because one time Razor mentioned he would usually just gnaw on a piece of meat or something when he tends to think deeply, but when he doesn't have food in his mouth he just ends up chewing on his own cheeks or tongue.
"Anything similar, or maybe a few letters you remember about it?" He added on, softer, after a few moments of nothing. There was a gentle smile that stayed, though Bennett didn't realize he was making it.
"Started with E. Meant something like, not happy? But not sad... Excited for something." Both of them metaphorically scratched their heads, until Razor figured it out first. "Ea-ger!" They both reveled in the minor victory for a moment or two, before getting back on track.
"I am not eager to jumping on houses.." he shook his head, "or gliding, either. Sorry." Razor deflated a bit. Bennett just shrugged it off, smiling.
"It's no problem! Gliding can be pretty scary sometimes anyway, haha." He glanced up to the rather talk statue, and an idea flickered. "Hey, Razor– how about we get a picture in front of the statue instead? Bennett and Razor's day out in the Windblume Festival!" He pumped his fists in front of himself, clearly excited.
Razor couldn't help but smile.
"Okay."
– – – ✿ – – – ✿ – – – ✿ – – –
Bennett had asked someone nearby to take the picture for them, rushing back to stand next to Razor and posing for the Kamera. Razor didn't quite pose, but tried to make himself look as least awkward as possible. There was still a lingering smile, though, and Bennett was the cause.
It was just unfortunate that immediately after the picture was taken, a small chunk of stone fell right from the sky onto Bennett's head. Both the picture taker and Razor were worried about concussion, but he just lifted up a wobbly thumbs-up and said he'll be fine in a second.
The picture even caught it moments before it hit — if they looked closely, there's a zooming grey blur right above his unsuspecting head. Bennett, of course, laughed about it like it didn't just give him a bad bruise.
Razor just tilts his head, continuously perplexed by his friend's unending optimism. Though, he was pulled from his thoughts when Bennett slung an arm over Razor's shoulders — eyes widened, cheeks and ears slightly warming alongside his surprise — but Bennett was busy babbling on about something to do with showing the photo to his dads. Razor relaxed after a moment and sighed, listening to him ramble for a while longer.
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"Let's see... Oh! We should get some flowers! Flora always has the best variety, especially after the help of Aether picking a bunch to show at the front!" Bennett once again led his best friend by the hand over to Flora's stand, who greeted the two warmly.
"Welcome to Floral Whisper! Just browsing, or do you have a flower you're looking for?" She smiled, watching Bennett look over the assortment.
"Do you have any dandelions?" Bennett asked, hand still holding on as Razor subtly inched a few steps behind him.
Razor kept his eye on the kid, both of them exchanging somewhat weary looks; Flora's more than the other, though he didn't fully understand why. He knows he's a bit of a rumor around the city, but having avoided most citizens throughout today he's not really been bothered much with it until now.
He's also been visiting the Library the past few months, though every time he's made the trip he did his best to avoid people when he could.
Flora politely broke the short staring contest and smiled at Bennett. "Of course! Are you looking for a bundle, or maybe a single or some seeds? We also have a bit of size variety, but most of them right now are more or less the same in range."
Her eyes seemed to light up as she searched her relatively small stand while she talked.
"Oh, we actually have a few pretty large ones, if that interests you? Lots of people love blowing on them or letting the wind carry the seeds away, and the bigger ones have even more seeds!"
Bennett wasn't hard to convince, nodding excitedly as he took out his small pouch of mora. "Two big dandelions would be awesome, thank you!"
As Flora completed the transaction, she glanced once more to Razor, who had taken almost zero interest in any of her flowers on display. He was still partially behind his friend, either observing him or looking around at his surroundings. His shoulders were pretty square, making her wonder if he's been on edge because of her or just because it's the city.
"And that's all for today?" She smiled again.
"Yup! Thank you again, Flora!" Bennett carefully held both dandelions in one hand, leading his friend off outside the gates to a quieter area. He let go so he could hold one dandelion in each hand, motioning with his elbow and shoulder for Razor to follow as the two made their way past the fisherman Nantuck and over to the docks.
"Watch your step — they haven't really gotten around to smoothing out the boards just yet," Bennett chuckled, stepping over one of the split boards. The sun was still relatively high in the sky, a warm breeze carrying the almost fishy lake smell into land. He could guess that it's around afternoon, though Bennett tries not to look directly at the sun like he accidentally does almost every time.
Razor was careful in his steps, though he kept more of an eye on Bennett in the more likely case he would fall. He wanted to be able to catch his friend before he could get hurt.
Thankfully there were no mishaps, and the two stood together at one of the ends of the docks. Bennett had turned around and gave Razor a huge smile, one that lifts his ears up just a little and creases his eyes. He quickly composed himself, though, offering one of the big dandelions with a smaller smile.
"Happy Windblume, Razor!" The huge grin returned. He just couldn't help himself.
Razor was a little confused, but took the flower anyway. He tilted his head, prompting Bennett to elaborate; he was getting good at reading Razor's body language over the months, even if this particular moment was a more obvious silent question.
"Ah- so, the gift giving of flowers in Windblume Festival is a type of tradition! It doesn't exactly have one set meaning, but overall you're supposed to give flowers to someone or someones you care about!" Bennett couldn't help the nervous grin growing back on his face.
"Depending on your intentions, there's various meanings for friends, family, lovers, ah- uhm—" his cheeks warmed, panicking just a little when he realizes his implications. Razor only stares, curious.
"Ah- but!! This one in particular that I'm giving is for us to make a wish!" Bennett holds out his big dandelion, raising it to his face just a bit. He was still smiling; it was really hard not to when Razor was around.
"See, you put it a little bit to your face like this, and you think of a wish you really want coming true, and then you blow really hard to scatter the seeds so the wind can carry your wish! Like this–"
Bennett took in a breath, before blowing out and scattering the seeds to fly off wildly into the far water. They both watch as the pappus of each seed floats around, seemingly dancing wherever the wind sees fit to take them. Some of them manage to get pretty far, actually.
Bennett turns expectantly to Razor.
"Okay, now your turn!"
Razor was... A bit perplexed, to say the least. The seeds are supposed to make his wishes come true?
But he imitated Bennett's instructions anyway, thinking of something to wish for before blowing all the seeds off of his own dandelion. It was almost pretty, in a confusing sense. He turned to Bennett, who seemed to startle with flushed ears and quickly glance away. Razor tilted his own head, just slightly.
Bennett soon made a show of clearing his throat, looking back and giving a toothy smile.
"Well, we still have a few hours left of the day; wanna have a picnic?"
Razor had no hesitation in agreeing. He's been itching to run around in the wild for at least an hour.
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The two had more or less snuck their way inside the Adventurer's Guild, though the few of Bennett's dads that occasionally noticed him and his shadow only waved warmly before continuing with whatever they were doing.
Bennett had dragged a mildly battered basket from a closet and started packing non-food items into it. Seemingly satisfied, he offered Razor his free hand. He took it, and the two made their way back out to return to Good Hunter.
"Hey again Sara!" Bennett towed his buddy along, who was more than used to it by now. Honestly it lowered the chance of Razor getting lost in the city by himself, which admittedly is terrifying especially at this time of year.
"Oh- Hey, you two! So, how's your date been going?" She comically winked at Bennett, who might as well have turned into a strawberry. He fumbled on his words, but didn't manage to make any coherent sentence for at least a couple seconds.
Date... That's what Lisa calls her time out with Jean, sometimes. Lisa always ends up teasing Razor about finding a date for himself when the time comes, but Razor never really understood it. Dates are for two friends who like each other a whole lot, if he got the meaning right. Lupical spending a lot of time together is normal, and they aren't shy with contact within their families. He obviously knows about the courting thing, having seen some of his pack court other wolves while he'd be out hunting or relaxing. He usually doesn't mean to watch, looking away after a moment or two.
But neither of them were fully wolves, as much as a part of it pains him to think that he's not really a wolf. But, he didn't really care much about courting anyone, either. Seemed like a headache.
Still, he doesn't think he would mind all that much if Bennett did consider this a human date — he does like him a lot, though he is admittedly unsure of where exactly the line is to cross for something like that. Either way is fine with him, as long as they can spend time together.
Bennett barely was able to make a sentence after a bit more spluttering, shaking both his head and waving his arms. "N-no no! Don't say things like that so casually!! We're- we're just here for, um–"
"Food. Hungry." Razor offered, hoping to finish this interaction already so that they can leave.
"Yeah! We're gonna have a picnic and we need some snacks and stuff for it!" He seemed to have mostly recovered, though Razor notices the lingering smile and hint of red left on his cheeks. It really brings out his eyes.
"I'll see what I can cook up for you two. Be right back!" She winked at Bennett before leaving, which caused the poor boy to flare up again and focus on pretty much anything that wasn't in Razor's direction. Was he being teased? Razor chews on his inner cheek as they both waited. Bennett continued to look pretty much anywhere other than Good Hunter or Razor's direction, even trying to hum a tune to distract himself.
Eventually Sara came back out of the door with quite a few things, setting them all on the counter with a proud smile. All of the food that needed to be wrapped up or protected was, and anything small was bundled together for ease of transport.
"You don't need to worry about the pay this time; go have fun, you two. Just this once though!" Sara let them be, deciding the poor kid has probably had enough teasing. She hopes the two have a good picnic, mentally praying to Barbatos that the weather doesn't turn for the worse on them.
Bennett packed the food in the basket with a little help from Razor, and the two headed to the north of Windrise. They entered Whispering Woods, though Bennett nearly tripped on one of the roots on the path and would've ate dirt if Razor didn't catch him.
"Careful. Watch step." He smiled, just a little, and without fail it made Bennett's chest do flips. The moment was short-lived as they continued on their way, not wanting to lose too much sunlight so they could eat before it gets dark.
They strayed off the path to the west, climbing up a bit to get to the ledge that offered an incredible view of both Mondstadt and the distant mountains to the north. Even Dragonspine was visible past a few trees in the south, taking Razor's breath away.
Bennett couldn't help but chuckle a little when he noticed how Razor was standing and taking in the view. He knew he picked out the perfect spot; he couldn't be more happy that Razor seemed to enjoy it.
"Here seems good," Bennett set the basket in the grass, inhaling deeply the gentle breeze and stretching his arms out. "Weather is gr-ohp!" Bennett slapped his hands over his own mouth before he could finish, startling Razor just slightly. He gave Razor a sheepish look. "Sorry, don't want to jinx it so soon."
Razor decided to just kneel down by the basket and start unpacking everything, Bennett soon joining in and helping set everything out. The distant chirping and warm breeze carrying the faint salty air returned the atmosphere to amiable silence, Bennett occasionally glancing to the sky to make sure there aren't any surprise clouds rolling in specifically to ruin their day.
Thankfully everything went smoothly, and the two were snacking away on Sara's on-the-house food. There was a lot of meat based snacks, which he supposes he shouldn't really be surprised since that's what the restaurant usually works with. Still, it seems almost deliberate that many of the snacks had either a normal amount of or no vegetables in them. Bennett took the liberty of eating all the vegetable ones, noting how a lot of them had cabbage and many had sautéed mushrooms. Mmm.. sautéed mushrooms....
"View is good. I like this spot," Razor tilted his head from the view of the lake to Bennett, a tiny sparkle in his eyes. His mouth may not have been smiling, but his eyes definitely were. Bennett returned a big grin, proud of himself.
"Yup! I saw it a few days ago when I had a commission to clear out some slimes around here." Bennett stretched out and landed on his back with a 'pomf,' the blanket pushing out some air and squashing the grass underneath. He used his arms as a pillow behind his head, letting it drop to the side to watch Razor.
The afternoon sunlight cast quite a glow on him, warm rays changing the colors of his hair and jacket to something more of a piece of art than a feral wolf boy. Even the gentle smile as Razor looked out to the lake ingrained itself into Bennett's mind.
"You look really cool."
It was out of his mouth before he realized.
Bennett once again slapped his hands over his mouth, though this time he was burning with embarrassment. What for? He didn't really have an answer.
Thankfully, Razor didn't seem to think it so weird; his eyes left the horizon to meet the vibrant green of Bennett's, pausing just a moment before that subtle smile came back.
"You are cool, too. And funny."
Bennett's eyes widened.
"H-huh?? Funny?"
"Your face is like.. an apple. Right now. Funny, in a good way."
Bennett might actually have steam coming out of his ears, frozen in place with zero idea of how to even begin processing what was just said. Unfortunately for him, it didn't help his case at all.
Razor snorted a little, before breaking out into snickering that grew into well-meaning laughter. Bennett had to sit up, absolutely entranced by what he was seeing.
Bennett hasn't experienced Razor's laughter... possibly ever. It was something he hardly ever thought about before, but now he can't seem to stop thinking about it.
He hardly was laughing for longer than a few seconds, letting it die down as quickly as it bubbled up. Razor looked back to the horizon, lingering traces of joy still left. Bennett thinks that scene will replay in his mind for months.
"Razor wished that the day would stay sunny. For you."
Yet another thing that caught him by surprise.
"Huh? I mean-" Bennett rubbed frantically at his cheeks, willing himself to calm down "Was- that was your dandelion wish.. wasn't it?"
Razor nodded. Bennett's cheeks flared up again, if only a little.
"Wh- uh, wait, I don't think the- you're probably not supposed to say your wishes out loud! I- I think?" His brain was still a little scrambled, but it was coming back to him.
Razor's smile morphed to one of confusion, turning back to Bennett.
"No?"
"Well, I'm not fully sure- but people sometimes say it's to do with your wish not coming true if you say it out loud." Bennett's hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it with a nervous smile. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. Honestly it's crazy lucky of us to not have run into any rain almost all day. Though- I don't doubt there's probably something coming soon that'll crash everything down, eheh."
Razor just contemplated for a moment, before shrugging.
"Does not matter. Day out with lupical, I had a fun time." He smiled again, one that made his eyes close all the way and tilted his head to the side. The afternoon sun almost haloed him from Bennett's view, slowly slipping itself behind one of the flat hills.
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Just as Bennett predicted, it would downpour so hard by the time evening hit that the two were rushing to pack up whatever was left and find shelter. Razor originally was thinking of finding a fallen log in the Whispering Woods for the night, but the urgency of Bennett gently tugging Razor's hand led the two of them back to the city gates absolutely soaked to the bone. Bennett made a direct line to the Adventurer's Guild, coaxing Razor inside as well. One of his dads shouted across the room for them to keep the water by the door, though it had no actual anger behind it. Another one brought over towels with a corny joke, ruffling of the hair, and a smile, and Razor couldn't find it in himself to be too anxious about the environment. It was honestly pretty quiet, the few adults that were inside doing something like reading a book, writing, or relaxing. The ones that hovered over Bennett were kind, too, and extended that same kindess over to Razor.
It wasn't hard for him to compare this as Bennett's lupical, watching as they take his goggles and gloves to go dry them off. Both of them had ditched their waterlogged shoes at the door, and were ushered to the showers to finish cleaning up.
Admittedly that part was a bit strange, but he knew it was just the difference of wolf and human.
Razor wouldn't settle down after until he was able to physically see where his clothing was, having been given temporary clothes while his other ones tumbled around in a weird box. He had walked up to one of the windows, eyebrows raising when the sky was much darker than it was earlier and stars were already dotting the heavens. It filled him with a bit of anxiety not being able to tell his own lupical that he was here, but he reminded himself he wasn't a pup anymore and could take care of himself.
Bennett was watching from afar, an invitation for Razor to stay the night rolling around in his mind. He knew he'd probably be rejected, Razor likely only sticking around long enough for his clothes to be returned to him so he could run back to Wolvendom. Bennett would be okay with that. A little sad, sure, but it's not like he won't be able to just see him tomorrow.
Still...
"Hey, Razor?" Bennett stood by his friend, who looked like he just came back to reality. Razor gave him a curious glance. "Wanna stay the night? Just so you don't have to worry about running back home in the dark!" He added the second part quickly, already getting flustered again.
"Wolves have good eyesight in the dark. Do not need to worry." Razor offered. Bennett felt like he was grasping at straws.
"Y-yeah, right, my bad— but, um- would you still want to stay? Just for tonight?"
Razor pondered it. He was comfortable almost anywhere he went with Bennett, granted aside from any harrowing moments or when Bennett would be struck by lightning or a rock or anything similar. Those would be times he'd be more worried about the survival rate of his best friend than he would think about comfort.
Razor nodded.
"Just tonight, I will try."
So the two set up a cot for Razor, and after lying down for a while Bennett decides to ask what Razor meant when he implied Bennett was lupical.
"Lupical is many things. Family first, and friends. Lupical can also be loved ones." Razor supplied, staring up at the ceiling. He longed for the comfort of his bandana on his chest. "Lupical can be chosen, too." His eyes landed on Bennett, who widened them just a bit like he got caught staring. Razor doesn't mind.
"Razor chose you, as part of lupical." His eyes did that same thing again, crinkling just a bit as a smile in place of his relaxed mouth.
Bennett could feel his heart beating a little too easily, ears warming again. Now he was the one staring at the ceiling.
"That's... thank you, Razor. I'm glad to be your lupical."
Bennett couldn't help the big, almost giddy smile that crept onto his lips. He carried the admission with him to sleep, dreaming of things that made his heart soar.
