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Scaramouche was, to put it rather bluntly, utterly confused. He didn’t like being confused, and it just confused him even more because why was he letting a mere mortal occupy his thoughts? It all began during a festival, one that Scaramouche had begrudgingly attended.
He remembers walking through the streets, admiring all the lights and decorations. He wasn’t alone, of course. Kujou Sara kept a close eye on him, though she was trying her best to hide it. It was annoying, something Scaramouche disliked. He could protect himself, he was a god. He didn’t need anyone keeping an eye on him. He had made it his task to get out of her sight, even if only for a moment. It was difficult to find a place he could hide, but Scaramouche was stubborn and found one.
It was a small area between a house and a concrete wall. Not long enough, nor creepy enough, to be an alleyway. The only other living being occupying the small area was a cat, and Scaramouche is rather fond of cats so he didn’t really mind sharing the space with it. Though he was hidden away from citizens and Sara’s gaze, he still had a good view of the firework show that was going off. It was absolutely breathtaking. He sometimes forgot to enjoy the rare beauty this dull world had to offer. Even the cat seemed entranced by the bright lights exploding in the sky.
Of course, he and the cat weren’t able to be alone for long.
“There you are!” A voice cuts through the peaceful silence, and Scaramouche’s gaze looks over to find a man slightly taller than him. He had blond hair and rather stunning blue eyes. He didn’t seem to be from Inazuma either, so Scaramouche came to the conclusion that he was here for the festival. Not many people came to Inazuma these days.
The cat that had been laying on a crate next to Scaramouche looked over as well, and immediately jumped off the crate, walking over to the man and stretching mid-walk. It was cute. The man picked the cat up once it was close enough, gently petting the cat and kissing the top of its head a few times.
Scaramouche thought the man hadn’t noticed him, he was hoping for it, to be honest. Sadly, the man had indeed noticed Scaramouche.
“You’re the Raiden Shogun, right?” The man asks. It was a dumb question, in Scaramouche’s opinion. There were paintings of him all over the street, anyone would know that he was the Raiden Shogun.
“Yes.” Scaramouche answers, not bothering to hide his annoyance from the question. That didn’t seem to deter the man at all, and he held his hand out to Scaramouche with a faint smile.
“I’m Albedo.” He introduced himself, and Scaramouche stared. For a moment, he wasn’t planning to shake his hand but those damn eyes were staring into his soul and he hated it. He took Albedo’s hand, and he may have possibly shocked him slightly just to get his annoyance across even more. Albedo didn’t seem to mind.
“Thank you for keeping an eye on my cat. Her name is Klee, by the way. My sister named her.” Albedo, for some reason, so openly talks to Scaramouche as if he were some old friend. It was weird. He didn’t really know how to respond.
“That is…” He trails off. He didn’t want to insult the name of the cat. It was a cute cat and the name Klee oddly fit it, but at the same time, he didn’t really care, and didn’t want to talk to Albedo.
“There you are!” Another voice cuts in, and Scaramouche feels himself growing more annoyed. The electricity running in him crackled slightly, the sound of thunder ringing in the air.
Kujou Sara quickly paces up to him, glancing over briefly at Albedo. She must not view him as a threat or else she’d have him knocked to the ground by now, “The festival is nearly over, it’s time for you to give a speech to the people.” Sara informs. Scaramouche forced back a groan, having completely forgotten about the speech he was meant to give. It wasn’t a speech written by him, no, his mother thought he’d write a bleak one, so she wrote one for him.
“Oh. Sorry for keeping you.” Albedo says, suddenly withdrawn from the conversation as he adjusts the cat he was still holding. “I’ll be going, then. I hope to see you again, your excellency.” Albedo then departs, leaving Scaramouche alone with Sara. Scaramouche felt the annoyance within him grow. Not because Albedo left, don’t think that, but because he missed the cat. Yeah. The cat, nothing else.
“He didn’t say or do anything, did he?” Sara asks. Scaramouche heard the underlying worry in her tone, so he assumed he must’ve been making a face.
“No.” He says plainly.
“Are you sure? You look, and I mean no offense, like you’re-” Scaramouche doesn’t let her finish whatever it was she planned on saying, effectively cutting her off with another loud boom of thunder.
Sara drops the topic and straightens herself, “I apologize.” She says, giving a bow to further apologize. Scaramouche just tsked and looked back up at the sky. The fireworks were still going, though they were no longer as beautiful or captivating as they were before. How disappointing.
Scaramouche had done his speech, he was able to fake emotion in his words and the people cheered him on. The attention was a double-edged sword. He loved being known, respected, and even feared by others. But Scaramouche also hated it. He had days where he wished people would treat him like some irrelevant person with no importance to the world.
Now, a few weeks have passed since the festival and he’s bumped into Albedo three times now. The first time, Scaramouche had snuck out so he could go to Araumi. He just wanted some peace and quiet, some time to himself to clear his head. Araumi was his little getaway spot. The moon was high in the sky when Scaramouche arrived and sitting at the edge of the cliff was Albedo. He had a sketchbook in his hands and was drawing the scenery.
Albedo had noticed Scaramouche as he was approaching and he smiled as though he was greeting an old friend. It was confusing. Albedo had asked if he could sketch Scaramouche, to which Scaramouche had agreed. His mother always wanted more drawings of him, and her birthday was coming up so Scaramouche thought this would make a good gift.
He had sat next to Albedo for hours. Neither of them spoke, and Scaramouche would’ve forgotten the other was next to him if not for the sound of his pencil lightly brushing against the paper. It was only when the sun began to rise that Albedo said he was finished, and he tore the drawing out of his sketchbook and passed it over to Scaramouche.
Scaramouche had expected it to be like every other drawing and painting of him out there. He expected Albedo to draw him as this powerful being, to get it across that he was the Electro Archon. To his surprise, however, Albedo had just drawn him normally. There was no underlying gracefulness to Scaramouche, there was nothing to show that he was a god. He was just a man. Someone staring off at the ocean. Normal.
“Why?” Is all Scaramouche was able to ask, his thoughts a mess over a simple drawing of himself.
Albedo simply tilted his head to the side and smiled before looking at the ocean, “You may be a god, but you’re just as human as everyone else.”
“You speak as though you’re not human.” Scaramouche says, looking up from the drawing to look over to Albedo. The light from the moon made it seem as though he was glowing, no drawing or painting would be able to capture the beauty of it.
“I bleed and I cry. That’s human enough, is it not?” Albedo responds, a small smile gracing his features as he looks over to Scaramouche. Something told Scaramouche that it took him a while to believe that himself.
Scaramouche returned to Inazuma City soon after to find Sara waiting at the entrance for him. She didn’t scold him for sneaking out, she knew very well he could protect himself but she did scold him for not telling anyone where he was going. Scaramouche didn’t really argue with her, his mind kept going back to the conversation he had with Albedo. Those words stuck with him, and it confused him.
His mother adored the sketch and told Scaramouche that she would love to meet the man who made it.
The second time the archon ran into Albedo, he was with his mother. It was her birthday and he had taken her out for some tea so he could spend some quality time with her. They both decided to drink their tea outside since his mother believed the lovely weather would make the tea taste better. They were making small talk, and it was nice.
That was until a little girl came running up. She was dressed in red and had this weird doll attached to her bag. Scaramouche glanced around to see if he could find her parents but he didn’t see anyone that seemed to be looking for their kid.
“You’re Mr. Scara… Scaramouse? Scaramoose?” The girl tries her best to say his name and as much as Scaramouche hated to admit it, it was kind of cute.
“Scaramouche.” His mother offered, and the girl’s already happy expression brightened more.
“Scaramooche!” She confidently repeats, and his mother coughs to keep herself from laughing.
“What’s your name? Where are your parents?” Scaramouche asks, not bothering to correct the girl.
“My name is Klee! Mom and Dad are traveling the world!” Klee happily replies, and for some reason, her name sounds familiar. He can’t quite figure out why though.
“Well, Klee, who is taking care of you?” His mother asks.
“Mr. Albedo! He’s busy drawing right now, and I promised I would stay in his sight but then I saw Mr. Scaramooche and Mr. Albedo has talked about him a lot and I wanted to introduce myself!” Klee says all in one breath, taking a deep breath once she was done speaking.
“Albedo? Isn’t that the man who drew that drawing you gave me?” His mother asks and Scaramouche nods.
“I thought Klee was a cat.” Scaramouche says, not really as a question, just a thought he said out loud.
“She is! I named her!” Klee proudly says, “She was sent back to Mondstadt after the festival ended with Venti. She kept wandering off, so Albedo was worried that she’d get lost and he wouldn’t be able to find her again. Mr. Venti was very upset when Klee handed him Mini Klee.”
“Well, can you take us to Albedo?” His mother asked and Klee happily agreed, grabbing Scaramouche’s hand and pulling him out of his seat. He didn’t really resist, not seeing any real reason to. It was weird having this random kid pull him, the archon of Inazuma, through the streets as his mother followed behind but no one said anything about it.
Klee guided the two to a relatively empty area in the city. Albedo was completely focused on his work, the world around him was his muse. It had been a good few weeks since Scaramouche had seen Albedo so he honestly thought he had left Inazuma. It was nice, oddly enough, to see he was still here. It made Inazuma feel a little less lonely.
“Albedo! Albedo!” Klee lets go of Scaramouche’s hand in favor of gently pulling on Albedo’s arm. Albedo blinks, snapped out of the focused state he was in to look down at Klee, “Look who Klee found!” She excitedly says, pointing to both Scaramouche and his mother. Albedo looked over and he smiled when he saw the archon. It was that same smile from that night on Araumi, and if Scaramouche had a heart, it would’ve probably skipped a beat.
“I see you’ve met my sister.” Albedo says, and Scaramouche could tell he found this situation to be awkward, his gaze kept looking over to his mother, who was looking between the two of them as if she were trying to find something.
“She’s adorable.” His mother speaks before Scaramouche could get a word out, smiling brightly as she introduces herself, “My name is Ei. I’m Scaramouche’s mother.”
Albedo’s eyebrows shoot up ever so slightly at the news, glancing over at Scaramouche as if to confirm what his mother was saying before looking back at her and smiling back, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I’m Albedo.”
“Yes, I know. You made that drawing of Scaramouche.” She says, and Albedo nods along, “You did such a wonderful job, I wanted to thank you in person. I kept pestering Scara to introduce me to you but he refused to even talk about you.” It’s as if she was purposefully trying to embarrass him.
“Oh? And why won’t he talk about me?” Albedo asks, looking at Scaramouche as he asks the question. Scaramouche actively avoided eye contact.
“He doesn’t like talking about things he likes, that includes people. I think he thinks it makes him seem weak and vulnerable, you know?” His mother responds and Scaramouche’s gaze lands on her, his eyes widened slightly.
“Mother!” He shouts, quickly realizing they’re in a public area and lowering his voice, “Don’t speak as if I’m not here!”
His mother teasingly smiled but she listened, always respectful of his boundaries and requests even if she didn’t quite understand nor agreed with them.
“Albedo, I’m tired.” Klee’s voice cuts through the conversation the three were having. She was rubbing her eyes and forcing back a yawn, staring up at the three adults with a tired curiosity. Albedo picks her up and sighs.
“It was really good to see you again, Scaramouche,” Albedo says, his words so incredibly sincere, “It was a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I’m glad you liked the drawing I made for your son. I hope to see you both again sometime soon if the universe will allow it.”
Ei says her goodbyes and wishes Klee some sweet dreams, while Scaramouche just awkwardly stands there, not saying anything. He didn’t know what to say, to be honest. He never knew what to say when Albedo was around.
His mother wasn’t wrong. Scaramouche was a god, an archon that many people outside of Inazuma feared simply because he didn’t exude a nice persona as Morax or Barbatos did. Liking things was never something Scaramouche believed he could do, not because he thinks he’s not allowed to, but simply because it’s something he didn’t know he could do. He has no heart, how could he possibly like or care for things?
The third time he bumped into Albedo after the festival, Scaramouche was in a terrible mood. There was no real reason as to why he was so annoyed, he just was. Because of his annoyance, there was a storm raging outside. It wasn’t the worst storm Inazuma has ever seen, but it was slowly getting there.
Because of this, everyone was avoiding Scaramouche. If he entered a room, people would leave the room. It just annoyed him even more.
Even with the storm raging outside, Scaramouche snuck out. No one would care if he disappeared for a bit, not while he’s in this state. Unsurprisingly, he found himself back at Araumi. He doesn’t really know why he made this his go-to getaway spot but it’s where he feels most at peace.
Much to his annoyance, however, Albedo was there. He wasn’t drawing like last time, probably because the storm would ruin whatever he’d try to sketch. He was just sitting at the edge of the cliff, watching the lightning dance in the sky. He didn’t seem to care that he was getting drenched, he made no effort to seek shelter.
Scaramouche would’ve left to find another place to sulk at if he were a different person but this was his spot, he’ll be damned if anything changes that. So, without saying a word, he sits down next to Albedo and the two of them just sit in silence for a bit, both of them getting drenched by the rain. The only noise filling the silence between them was the rain and thunder.
That was, until Albedo spoke up, “I’m heading back to Mondstadt in a few days.”
Scaramouche doesn’t entirely know why but he felt more annoyed than he has ever felt before by this news, the storm raging harder the more annoyed he grew. It didn’t show on his face but he wasn’t exactly hiding it either, “Oh.” If all he was able to say, his gaze still focused on the ocean.
Why did this upset him? It’s not like he can care for Albedo, he can’t miss him.
“You know you don’t need a heart to feel things, right?” Albedo’s voice cuts through his thoughts and Scaramouche can feel himself tense up, looking over at Albedo slightly confused.
“How do you know?” He asks, and Albedo doesn’t turn to look at him.
“I ran into Ei yesterday. She told me that she created you, and that she was never able to find you a heart.” Albedo explains, and Scaramouche feels himself relax slightly.
“And what makes you believe that I don’t need a heart to feel emotions?” Scaramouche then asks. Even his mother doesn’t know if he could actually feel emotions in full without a heart, and she’s the one who created him.
Albedo doesn’t respond for a moment, but Scaramouche watches as he presses his hand up against his chest, an almost bittersweet expression on his face, “I don’t think I was given a heart when I was created. I don’t feel one beating in my chest.” He spoke quietly, the rain making it slightly difficult to pick up his words but Scaramouche was able to catch them. The way Albedo spoke about this topic, it felt like he had just told Scaramouche something he’s never told anyone before, “I feel things, though. More than I would like to feel.”
“What do you feel when you think of me?” Scaramouche suddenly asks, really before he could think about it. He was curious, though. People refused to be honest with him about how they felt, so he’s never really sure how many people actually like him and how many just put up with him.
This is when Albedo looks over at him. There was a slight glow to his eyes. It felt like he was staring into his soul once again like he could see him, and not the front he puts up, “Confused. You’re a mystery to me, one that I feel drawn to. I guess that’s why I’ve been so hesitant to leave Inazuma. I was supposed to leave yesterday, actually. Klee has already left. I sent her off with Mona.”
“Mona?”
“A friend. She came all the way to Inazuma just to tell me about the dream she had about me. I think that’s why I decided to stay a little longer.”
“Why? What did she dream?” Scaramouche asks, and Albedo tenses slightly at the question, clearly not comfortable with answering.
“Just… a message the universe gave her. Nothing important.” He lied through his teeth and Scaramouche wanted to press for answers. He forced himself not to, though. He didn’t want to ruin whatever connection the two seemed to have.
Neither of them spoke up for quite some time. The storm slowly began to die down as Scaramouche felt himself growing calmer. He and Albedo just stared at each other, Albedo seeming to be deep in thought while Scaramouche was just too captivated to look anywhere else. It wasn’t awkward, it was actually quite nice.
“Can I kiss you?” Albedo suddenly asks, and Scaramouche blinks.
“Why?” He responds, unsure of what else to say.
Albedo furrows his brows, seemingly unsure himself, “I don’t know. I just… I really want to kiss you right now.”
Scaramouche gave it a moment of thought before nodding, “Yeah.”
Albedo wastes no time. He gently cups Scaramouche’s cheeks and kisses him so gently. It didn’t feel like fireworks, not the way those cheesy romance novels his mother read describe. It felt like the feeling of watching fireworks. It felt enough. It didn’t last long, either. The two of them pulled away rather quickly but they didn’t put any distance between each other.
“How do you feel?” Albedo asks, keeping his voice quiet. It was one of those moments where it felt like speaking too loud would ruin everything.
“Strange.” He responds. It was the only word he could think of to properly summarize what he was feeling. He’s never felt like this before, never thought he could feel like this. It was such a foreign feeling, one that fascinated him. He liked it.
“Yeah. I agree.”
The moment ended after that. The two sat in silence with each other until the sun was rising, and then they parted ways with the promise of meeting again to say goodbye.
All of this has led to Scaramouche traveling to Ritou, thinking back on the past few months in hopes of sorting through the confusing emotions that he felt. He went to both Sara and his mother about the stuff he felt, and they were no help at all. Sara got awkward and said she only felt what he was describing when she trained with Kokomi, and his mother said that she understood what he felt but when he asked her more about it, she just smiled sadly and told him it was a story for another day.
He was so caught up in his thoughts and emotions that it wasn’t until Albedo came into view that he realized he had arrived at the docks. It was awkward at first, neither of them really knowing what to do or say. Sara coughed and excused herself and the awkward tension melted away once the two were alone.
“How have you been?” Albedo is the first to speak, clearly trying to keep the mood light.
Scaramouche, however, was not trying to keep the mood light, “Will I ever see you again?” He asks, watching the smile Albedo was forcing drop slightly.
“I don’t know.” He answers honestly, “Maybe someday in the future, our paths will cross again. I feel as though we’re connected by the universe.”
The universe is a sham. Is what he wanted to say in response, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Scaramouche wasn’t fond of the idea that the universe or Celestia had some play in his life.
“I see.” Scaramouche says instead, refusing to look at Albedo and instead choosing to stare at the boat behind him, “Perhaps you’re right. I enjoyed the time we spent together, however brief it may have been. I hope your journey back to Mondstadt is swift and safe.” And though Scaramouche wanted to stay, he forced himself to part ways with Albedo.
Albedo called after him but he ignored him. He could feel something boiling up inside of him and it grew worse the longer he looked at Albedo. He didn’t want to feel these things, he didn’t want to deal with these new feelings that he didn’t have a good grasp on. He just wanted to be alone, to forget about the connection he and Albedo seemed to have.
Sara rejoined him soon after, and it was clear she had questions but she didn’t speak. Scaramouche didn’t want to answer whatever questions she may have. The journey back to Inazuma City was in complete silence. Occasionally, the two would get into short fights with any Nobushi or Kairagi that crossed their paths. Scaramouche took out his frustration on them, Sara would sometimes even have to drag him out of a fight to keep him from going too far. No matter how much he fought, his frustration continued to grow. So much so, that a storm was beginning to form.
By the time he and Sara returned to the city, Albedo’s ship had set sail. Scaramouche found himself wondering how far he was, and how he was feeling. Albedo was hiding something from Scaramouche, and it frustrated and annoyed him even more not knowing what he was keeping from him. It was too late to ask for answers. The rain started to fall.
The moment Scaramouche entered the Tenshukaku, his mother started asking him questions.
“How did it go?” She first asks, not aware of the storm of emotions raging inside her son. It wasn’t her fault but Scaramouche felt himself becoming annoyed by her presence.
“I want to be alone.” He states.
“Did something happen between you two?” She then asks, no longer interested in any potential gossip and instead worried. Scaramouche clenched his fists and thunder loudly boomed.
“Mother, I want to be alone.” He repeats.
Though hesitant, she listens. She gently pats his shoulder and offers a reassuring smile before leaving the room, leaving Scaramouche alone to his thoughts and supposed emotions. He could feel the electricity burning inside of him, begging to be released. The storm raged harshly, the winds blowing hard and lightning striking every few minutes. It felt like he wasn’t in control of his very existence right now, the sudden new emotions he felt shocked him so much he felt like a completely different person. Nothing really felt real right now.
He’s not sure how long he just stood there alone, listening to the rain and thunder as he sorted through his thoughts and emotions. It felt like an eternity but realistically, he was probably only there for a full night.
Snap.
Scaramouche’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden feeling of emptiness. His hand shut up to his chest as if he were looking for a heartbeat even though he knew he wouldn’t find one. His thoughts silenced but his emotions continued to rage on. The odd connection he felt with Albedo, the one that had formed during the time they spent together, was suddenly gone.
The door to the room slid open, the loud noise of it doing so echoed in the room and Scaramouche looked over to see Sara standing there, drenched from the rain. His mother stood behind her, and neither of them said anything but their expressions alone as well as the sudden emptiness he felt told him everything he needed to know.
He felt a sudden wetness on his face and his eyes burned, his vision blurring. He wipes his face and blinks a few times, realizing he was crying. He didn’t know he could cry. He looked back up at Sara and his mother.
“I’m sorry.” Sara quietly says, and his mother rushes into the room and drops to her knees, pulling him into a tight hug. More tears fell as he stared blankly at his hand. “His ship capsized not long after sailing due to the storm. We’ve sent a rescue team out to search for survivors but they’ve found no one yet.” Sara informs.
It’s your fault. How strange.
The storm never stopped. Scaramouche didn’t want it to. He wanted the world to know how he felt. The pain he felt would last for an eternity, and so shall the storm.