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An afternoon, one where the sun lit up Sumeru's sky into beautiful shades, yet it was certainly not what a certain two people had in mind, for this was an afternoon where one of said people told the other to follow him to some sort of secretive place without any given context.
"Where are we going?"
After walking through a total of six streets and passing by twenty five trees, Scaramouche could not stop himself from questioning aloud. He had concluded for this to be some sort of friend group meeting conducted by none other than the Dendro Archon herself, or even worse, another one of Wanderer’s foolish ideas. The mere thought of needing to meet with further stupidity gave rise to a frustrated frown on The Balladeer’s features. He swore to end the other’s petty life at the instant if his query was not met with a tolerable response.
"There's a festival near the two of us."
Wanderer responded, paying no mind to Scaramouche’s audacious tone as he continued to lead the way towards their destination.
A simple sentence, one that could easily cause confusion to any other person, yet Scaramouche was not just any other person. If there were to be someone out there who could claim to know Wanderer the best, it would be him, for they were once the same. Of course, this applied to the scenario as well. He knew exactly what Wanderer meant.
They were heading to a festival, alone and together. Or in mortal words, it was implying that they were on a date. And to that thought, The Balladeer frowned once again. His mind desperately tried to deny any possibility of the other bringing him on what the mortals refer to as a date.
“There must be some other reason.”
Traveling in silence, The Balladeer thrived in gaslighting himself, ignoring how a gush of disappointment ran through his veins at the “truths” he revealed to himself.
It took a few more streets of walk for them to reach their intended location, Grand Bazaar.
Perhaps it was due to a festival happening, the usual shops appeared extra lively as the vendors strived to make good sales. The Balladeer expected this much as he strolled past the shops by Wanderer’s side. What he did not expect though, was how Wanderer chose to contribute to one of the shop’s sales. And on top of everything he could have bought, he purchased food, something that neither of their bodies require to function.
Scaramouche eyed Wanderer in disbelief as he placed his order, a total of two Rice Buns.
“Do you guys… perhaps have something going on?”
A question, followed by a playful wink, as well as a “oh i know what you are” smile from the vendor as she took the Mora from Wanderer’s hand.
“We are merely acquaintances.”
The teal dressed man replied monotonically, before receiving the ordered food from the vendor’s hands.
To that exchange, Scaramouche was not sure if the pit of sourness at his abdomen occurred due to how Wanderer referred to them two as only acquaintances, or the fact that the vendor’s hand lingered on Wanderer’s for just a second longer than he liked. Yet instead of commenting on it, he only shoved his thoughts to the back of his mind, before accepting the snack from Wanderer’s hand.
Snacking on the Rice Bun as they walked along the road, the pair soon arrived at Zubayr Theater, where a performance had just started. On stage, a red-haired girl performed. Not far from the stage, stood two identical, human-like puppets, looking at her dance. There was a small crowd near the stage, yet it could still be considered as peaceful and chill.
It was only when some of her late, yet overly eager fans arrived abruptly that the scene turned chaotic. Said fans rushed, and squeezed the swarm of people in front of the stage, wanting to grab a front row view of their idol. Feeling the physical impact, Scaramouche frowned for the third time that afternoon.
Being squeezed like a jam packed sandwich was surely not part of activities he enjoyed. Yet instead of leaving the venue as a whole, Scaramouche only subconsciously leaned closer to the other as he gave his best attempt to give way to the insane Nilou fans. Normally, he would have long been gone once the crowds had gathered, yet perhaps he was in an extra good mood that day, or it was simply due to the fact that Wanderer was there, The Balladeer remained.
Even though he stayed, his patience was most definitely running thin with every passing second. Loud noises, unwanted physical contact from the crazy fans, all of it were slowly driving him closer to madness. Parting his lips, he wanted to sigh, yet before he could, a familiar hand found its way to his.
Without a single word, Wanderer matched their hands together, before dragging him out of the crowd of nosy human beings. Wordlessly, Wanderer continued to hold his hand as he led him to a nearby bench. One not too far from the venue, nor too near to the swarm of people.
It was only when they sat down that Wanderer realized what he had done. He held the other's hand, palm to palm, just like how the shy couples they walked by did.
Almost instantly, he attempted to dart his hand out, to pretend nothing was out of ordinary, to once again bury the feelings he deemed unwelcomed towards the other. Yet it was as if the other caught on, Scaramouche chose to return the hold at the exact moment, letting his fingers intertwine with Wanderer's.
Wanderer froze, before taking a peek at the other, only to witness an almost unnoticeable smile lingering on his pretty lips. Thankfully, Scaramouche did not have the same thought of studying Wanderer, for he was giving his best to focus on the performance, or more accurately, to distract himself from the affectionate action he had just performed.
Scaramouche was watching the show, and Wanderer was watching him. Wanderer watched how his eyelids closed and reopened, watched how the gentle wind swayed his soft, kissable hair, watched how his indigo pupils reflected the performance's lights. He knew he should be focusing on the once in a lifetime staging, yet he physically could not, especially when a being so ethereal was right next to him.
Of course, Scaramouche had noticed the rather intense stare after it had occurred for quite a while. Yet, he did not mutter a single complaint of it, for he was secretly very much enjoying the other's undivided attention. Ah, how much, and how long had he wished to be the other's sole focus. Even though he believes himself to not be worthy of the other’s grace, at that moment, he could not stop his thoughts, maybe he could be just a little more greedy, maybe he could have just a little more.
"It's... a little chilly today."
The Balladeer mumbled out of nowhere, before tentatively pressing his shoulder against the other’s.
It was obviously a lie, for it was impossible for neither of them to be affected by the minor changes of atmospheric temperature. Yet, neither party had the wish to unravel said lie as Wanderer too, gleefully responded with the same action.
With that, they simply sat on the bench, watching the show, enjoying each other’s company as their hands stayed together. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary- Oh wait, almost missed the slight blush painted on their ears!