Chapter Text
The bright lights of Liyue harbor are a harsh difference from Zandik’s home back in Sumeru. The harbor itself seemed to be alive, buzzing with the energy of people around it. He gripped his mothers hand, so as to not get lost. He had come to Liyue with his parents because of a research project they were participating in.
Zandik looked around, wanting to take all of it in. Liyue didn’t seem like a horrible place to live, although the buzzing atmosphere is one to get used to. Merchants were selling their products for absurdly high rates, fishermen were rowing in their boats for the night, and children were running around, savoring the last minutes of sunlight left before their parents called them in. Lanterns were strung up between rooftops, and even more were being added as he looked. His mother said that the people of Liyue were preparing for their “Lantern Rite” in a couple of weeks. Zandik had asked if they could stay and watch it, but his father declined, saying that their time in Liyue would end before the lantern rite started, however maybe they could go sometime in the future as a family vacation.
His mother was haggling with a merchant over some type of plant that originated in Liyue, needed for their research. Why they didn’t go look for the plant themselves confused Zandik, but he wasn’t going to walk off and look for it himself. He let go of his mothers hand, and walked a few feet away to another stall that sold mechanical parts. The merchant was bragging that they came from something called a “ruin guard”. The concept was new to Zandik, but he was intrigued. Could these monsters be controlled? Could they be used in a productive manner? Could one build one? All these questions bounced around in his head as he started at the mechanical parts. The merchant noticed him looking at it, and handed him a part so he could see better.
“Intriguing isn’t it?” The merchant asked with a grin, putting away mora from the last transaction.
“Yes…,” Zandik said, trailing off. His parents had given him money to buy something. Did he have enough? He really wanted it….
“It’s 20,000 mora, if you are interested,” said the merchant. Zandik almost coughed. He certainly did not have enough for that, however he wanted it so much he almost debated running off with it. He quickly dismissed the idea. He was sure the merchant could run faster than he could, and he didn’t know anything about the layout of the harbor. He gently put it back onto the table, careful not to damage it further.
He apologized to the merchant, and the merchant smiled at him, and told him he’s welcome to come back anytime. Zandik nodded and turned around to walk back to his mother, lost in his own thoughts. The concept of these creatures intrigued him beyond explanation. Perhaps he could ask his parents about it, or maybe the Akydemia would accept him as one of the youngest scholars to research the creatures.
He was deep in thought when someone crashed into him. He got knocked back onto the pavement, scraping his hands as he tried to catch himself. His head was spinning from the crash, and he could barely make out the voice of another person asking if he was alright. He looked up, dazed, and saw the blurred outline of a child around his age, apologizing profusely. When his eyes came into focus, he saw the kid was on the verge of tears, still apologizing. His big, round glasses were cracked, probably from the crash. Zandik sat up, holding his head. The same merchant from before is kneeling next to him.
“Are you alright young man?” He asks, checking his head for blood. Zandik can only mumble in the affirmative.
“I’m sorry!,” said the other kid. “I wasn’t watching where I was going, I’m so sorry!,” tears formed in the corner of his eyes.
“No, it’s alright,” Zandik replied. His head was still pounding, and if the kid started to cry, it would’ve made it so much worse. “I wasn’t paying attention either,”
The kid nodded, and outstretched his hand to help him up. Zandik took it, and carefully pulled himself up. He looked down at the kids' clothes, and winced. It was practically in pieces, and looks like it’s been sewn together hundreds of times. The merchant concludes that Zandik and the other kid are not bleeding, and walks back to his stall. Zandik’s head is still pounding, and the kid apologizes again.
“Apologies get us nowhere,” Zandik cut in. “I’m fine. I understand it’s a mistake. Just learn from it next time, as I will,”
The other kid nodded, messing with his hair. “Alright, take care then I guess…,” he replied, trailing off. He turns and starts to walk away, and Zandik starts to walk back to his mother. He walks a few more feet before realizing that his bag was lighter than it was before. He quickly opened it, digging around, trying to figure out what was missing. His notebook was still in there, along with his things from home. Only thing that was missing was his bag of mora. He frantically looked around on the ground for the bag. He ran back to where he fell, and it wasn’t on the ground, nor by the stall he was just at. He looked around, and faintly saw the kid with glasses who ran into him. His mora bag at his hip.
The kid smiles at Zandik, and runs around the corner, out of sight. Zandik swears under his breath, thankful his mother wasn’t in earshot. He runs after the kid, jumping over some crates and weaving in between the crowd. He turns the corner, scanning for the kid. He runs to a jeweler’s stand, gasping for breath.
“Have you seen a boy with cracked glasses?,” he eventually manages to gasp out. He makes a promise to himself to get better insurance, as this was ridiculous in his opinion. The jeweler looks at him weird, looking him up and down.
“Where are your parents dear?” She asked, but then shook her head. “Actually, he went down that way. Told me not to tell ‘the kid with blue hair’ but he recently stole quite a lot from me, so I’m not too inclined to help him,”
Zandik nodded, having barely caught his breath, and ran in the direction she had pointed out. He ran past more and more people, careful not to run into anyone else. A group of younger children run past him playing some game, laughing. He stops, out of breath again. He leans against the wall, already mourning the lost mora. Would his parents be upset? He looks up to the sky, looking at the lanterns. He looked at the people still stringing them up. The sun had set by now, and the lanterns were absolutely beautiful. He smiled a little bit, even considering the circumstances.
“Beautiful isn’t it?,” says a voice from above him. Zandik stands up startled, and walks out from underneath the platform to get a better view of who spoke.
“You don’t run very fast,” says the boy with cracked glasses. Zandik glared at him, and ran to the staircase up to the platform. The boy didn’t try to run, just remained leaning against the red wooden railing of the platform. Zandik runs next to him, and tries to snatch the mora bag away from the boy, but he pulls it away from his reach.
“What is wrong with you?,” Zandik yells at the boy. The boy winces a little at the sudden noise, but otherwise remains unbothered.
“I promise I need the mora more than you do. Though I’ll be willing to split it with you if you really need it,” he says, looking into his eyes.
Zandik pauses, actually taking in the boy for the first time. His glasses were cracked, the frames are inches away from falling apart. His clothes are a bit too small and tattered. All the anger Zandik had felt to the boy went away, and he deflated.
“You can keep it. It’s alright. I can always get more, it looks like you can’t,” Zandik replied, leaning against the railing next to him. The boy laughed.
“I like your honesty. I can always get more. I have mastered the art of pickpocketing. Most people aren’t as aware as you,” the boy responded, moving away from the railing to the staircase next to it. Zandik followed him against his better judgment. The boy walked up three flights of staircases before stopping at the top, waiting for Zandik to catch up. He finally made it to the top, slightly out of breath. The boy smiled at him again, and jumped off the railing. Zandik rushed to the railing, prepared for the worst, but all he sees is the boy looking up at him from the rooftop.
“What are you waiting for?” The boy asks, a smile on his face. Zandik thought it was odd that he had yet to open his eyes, yet he moved with such grace and delicacy. Zandik jumped down next to him, unsure of where this was going to go. His mother always warned him of the dangers of strangers, though he was sure that if it came down to it, he could win a fight against the boy. The boy started to walk along the gable of the rooftop. The silence was uncomfortable, but Zandik wasn’t about to start a conversation with someone he barely knows, and probably won’t see again after this night. After walking to the end of the rooftop, the boy stopped and turned around, opening his eyes and analyzed Zandik’s face. Zandik had never seen eyes like his. One was a golden yellow, one was a deep purple.
“Your eyes look like rubies,” the boy said. “I like them.” Zandik paused, caught off guard by the compliment. Most kids at school made fun of him for the alarming red color, but this kid was different. Zandik didn’t see any signs of sarcasm nor joking around. It seemed like this kid genuinely… liked his eyes. He was lost in his thoughts so much, he didn’t realize he was staring at him.
“Are… are you ok?,” the boy asks, concerned. “You just froze up,”
“Mhm? Oh, yes I am just fine,” he says, looking out to the harbor. There were a few moments of silence before Zandik realized he never thanked the boy.
“Thank you, for the compliment,” he says, looking over to him.
“Don’t worry about it. Your eyes are very pretty,”
There was more silence, but more comfortable this time. The boy looks out to the harbor with Zandik. A cool breeze comes in from the harbor, blowing back his hair a little bit. A thought suddenly struck Zandik, and he had to ask the boy.
“What’s your name?,” Zandik asked, turning to the boy. His eyes were closed again, and he seemed very relaxed living in the moment. He smiled, and turned away from the harbor.
“Are you going to pay for that information?,” he says, sitting on the rooftop, legs hanging over the edge.
“You stole all my money,” Zandik says, sitting down next to him. Normally he would be scared this high off the ground, but he is unnaturally calm. He feels safe with the boy.
He laughed, and smiled. Zandik had never seen anyone so happy for no good reason. All the kids at school are so serious, focused on their academics, rarely laughing even if something was funny. This kid was a wonder.
“That I did!,” the boy managed to get out between laughs. Zandik was a bit worried that someone would hear him and they would get in trouble, but the noise on the ground was too loud for anyone to hear them. “Guess you can’t know my name then,” he says, still grinning from ear to ear. He looks back to the harbor, still smiling. Eventually his smile fades, and he starts to talk again.
“I heard your mother say you are leaving tomorrow. Back to Sumeru,” the boy starts, messing with his hair again. “You don’t seem half bad. If you weren’t here for just two weeks, we could’ve been friends. Although maybe stealing from you wasn’t the best impression,” smiling again.
Zandik wrinkled his nose a bit. The idea of being friends with this boy, or friends with anyone, didn’t appeal to him. Friends normally was a distraction from academics, and a distraction Zandik didn’t need. The boy was looking at him, and Zandik didn’t have the heart to crush this boy’s dreams, especially when he would never see this boy again.
“Yeah…,” Zandik starts, “I would’ve liked to be your friend as well…,” he says trailing off, wincing at the lie. The boy didn't seem to notice, or he didn’t seem to care. His smile grew, and turned back to face Zandik.
“If you come back to Liyue at all, come and find me. I’ll give your money back by then, and maybe we can write to each other or something of that nature,” Zandik had to admit. That didn’t sound too horrible. The boy was interesting, and the fact that Zandik didn’t know much about this boy propelled his interest in him. Writing to each other wouldn’t be a bad idea either. He could respond when he had time, or if he wanted to, never respond and forget about this boy forever. Either was fine by Zandik. He was about to respond, when his mothers voice cut through the noise down below.
“Zandik!,” she shrieked, drawing attention from everyone below. They looked up to see him and the boy on the roof. They are well above a hundred feet off the ground. “Get down here! Immediately!,” she continued to yell up at them. The boy giggled a little, and stood up, offering a hand to Zandik.
“Let’s go, Zandik,” he says, a hint of amusement in his voice. Zandik rolls his eyes, but takes his hand anyway. The boy helps him over the railing of the stairs, and follows him down to where his mother is standing. His mother rushes over to him and wraps him into a hug when she sees him, fussing over if he had any injuries on him.
“Zandik! What were you thinking?,” she exclaims, still checking him over for injuries. “You can’t go running off without telling me!” She looks past Zandik to the boy, who has his eyes on the ground. Zandik’s mother looks at him, then grabs her son's hand and walks away, still ranting about stranger danger, and asking what he was thinking when he ran off. Zandik didn’t think to mention that he lost the mora they gave him, as to not make her more stressed. He looked back to try and see the boy, but he was lost in the crowd. He faced forward again, tuning out his mother, who’s still rambling. They pass by the stall with the mechanical parts, and his mind goes back to his plans for the mechanical parts and ruin guards.
They walk for a few minutes, away from the heart of the city, the noise slowly fading away to a low hum. His mother opens the door to the room they were staying in, he takes out his notebook to sketch his ideas for these ruin guards, and their mechanical hearts, when his mora bag falls out onto the ground. The crash startled him, but then he was confused. He saw the bag on the boy's hip, and can’t think of when he could’ve slipped it back into his bag, but he wouldn’t put it past the boy to find a way. He puts it back in his bag, and pushes the boy into the back of his mind while he works late into the night.