Archive of Our Own ^beta

Navigating through snow this thick was effortless - though uncomfortable - for Scara, but Heizou appeared to have trouble keeping up with the timeless puppet.

"Can we stop for a second?" Heizou says abruptly, grabbing onto Scara's arm to get him to stop. Heizou's couple of decades experiencing snowfall was nothing compared to the centuries behind Scara.

Scara hides the amused smile behind his scarf, "Tired already? You do remember it was your idea to come here, don't you?" It was Heizou's idea. He had heard tales about Dragonspine and used Scara as an opportunity to visit in person.

Heizou seldom left Inazuma, and when he did, he always had to make it count. Scara, being well-versed with all sorts of terrain across Teyvat, made for the perfect travel companion and tour guide. Whenever Heizou asked about a place, Scara always seemed to have a story for it.

Much to Heizou's surprise, Scara agreed with little to no convincing. If anything, he seemed interested in going himself. Heizou tried to convince himself that maybe Scara just hadn't been in awhile and wanted an excuse to go back.

Heizou told himself it was nothing more.

Now, here the two of them were, walking side by side in the depths of Dragonspine in a night so still that the only thing that filled the silence was the crunching of thick snow beneath their boots and their occasional chatter.

Heizou was so preoccupied with the scenery during their trek that he didn't notice the quiet, and Scara didn't mind it himself. He silently watched as Heizou stopped every now and then to get a closer look at areas that piqued his interest - even if the route to them was a bit more dangerous than Heizou realized. Scara watched out for him, making sure he stayed safe during their ventures.

Every now and then he would inconspicuously lead them away from areas he knew fatui camps were set up, wondering if Heizou was aware of his cautiousness at any point.

Heizou believes that Scara is only there to visit alongside him, but there was more to it than that. He knows Heizou gets a little too deep into his own head sometimes, much to his detriment.

Having him, who rarely leaves home, in the perilous depths of Dragonspine, wasn't something Scara considered the safest idea in the world.

So he tagged along as a means of extra protection for this pure-hearted adventurous soul that he'd grown fond of over time.

Heizou sighs at Scara's comment but decides to deflect it by flopping onto the ground himself and, subsequently, dragging Scara down with him. The two of them fall with anything but grace into snow so thick that they had to prop themselves up to see each other.

Scara sits up first to scold Heizou but doesn't get the chance.

Heizou shoots up just as fast, holding his hands out before him, "Don't move!" Scara slowly closes his mouth and just questions Heizou with his eyes instead.

"Look," Heizou gestures all around the two of them to the sloppy moulds of their bodies in the snow. They weren't exactly perfect due to Heizou's spontaneous decision, but it was good enough, "Snow angels. You know, I've never made them before. Have you?"

"I have," Scara says, forcing the memories of said occasions back to the depths of his mind, lest it soil the present moment. He looks at the terrible moulds of the two of them, but can't help but crack a tiny smile at it, particularly where their arms merge them into one being.

"I thought you said you were tired," Scara says, a bit of concern creeping in at Heizou, though adequately bundled up due to his persuasion, sitting directly on the cold, wet ground, "Or were you just trying to find an opportunity to make me do this?"

Heizou shrugs and acts aloof, "Hey, I never said I was tired. You did. And yes, you're right. I can't even imagine you willingly flopping over in the snow on your own free will. I had to take my chances."

Scara chuckles. He wasn't wrong. He would absolutely not be caught dead falling over into a pile of snow for the bizarre satisfaction humans got out of seeing themselves imprinted in it. But for Heizou, he supposed it was alright.

Seeing Heizou so cocky about this got him annoyed, but in an affectionate way. He did something he hadn't done in centuries and took a handful of snow, balled it up, and threw it directly at Heizou's chest. Heizou barely had a second to react, barely blocking the most of it.

"Didn't expect that from me either, did you?"

Heizou, shaking off the consolidated snow on his chest, couldn't help but unleash the widest grin Scara had seen and take this as a challenge.

"No," Heizou said, scraping together a pile of snow about three times as large as Scara's to ball up, "But I do expect you to lose this fight you just started."

"You're on." Scara says, nimbly dodging the monstrosity of a snowball Heizou aimed directly at his head.

Their impromptu snowball fight lasted for only a few minutes, but felt like an hour of pure, carefree bliss. The two of them always brought out the competitive sides of one another, and their snowballs got bigger at first, then smaller and more precise.

They laughed so hard during their snowball fight that at some point, Heizou started coughing and was so out of breath that he flopped back down onto the ground in their now mess of a snow angel - if it could even be called that anymore.

Because it certainly was no longer two separate 'angels'. Just one misshapen hole that could easily fit the two of them and maybe a few more bodies. Scara sat down beside Heizou who was still laughing so hard that he was now crying, patting him on the back. Scara, still giggling himself, sees how red Heizou's face is and for some reason, even though he knows it's because he's laughing too hard, attributes it to the cold. He takes the scarf from around his neck and wraps it around Heizou's instead, hoping it helps a bit.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Heizou says through his laughter that's finally calming down, "But thank you. Tell me if you need it back."

"I don't think I will," Scara says, rolling his eyes at this cute idiot in front of him, "Just keep it on."

"Fine, fine." Heizou lays back down in their snow hole, and Scara follows suit. The two of them lay on their backs staring up at the stars for awhile after that, letting their bursts of laughter come to a natural close.

Their snow hole, and Scara follows suit. The two of them lay on their backs staring up at the stars for awhile after that, letting their bursts of laughter come to a natural close. 

It's only now that Heizou starts to realize how quiet the areas they've travelled have been and wonders if Scara had anything to do with how peaceful their journey had been. He considers questioning it, but with his heart still overfilled with joy, he decides to bring up another topic.

One of the reasons he brought him with him on this trip in the first place.

Heizou had fallen in love with the puppet a long, long time ago. But it took him ages for him to realize it himself, then ages for him to accept it. And now it will have been ages before he confessed. So he planned this trip so he could finally stop hiding those feelings.

He was too comfortable at home in Inazuma and had come to the conclusion that he would never say anything if he was too deep within his comfort zone. There had already been several miserably failed attempts in the past, so this was the only way.

On a night far, far away from home in the freezing cold in one of the most dangerous places in Teyvat.

It seemed ridiculous in theory, but Heizou had thought this through thoroughly and his hypothesis was proven correct as he stole a glance at the person laying beside him, finding that he was unable to look away. That his heart had begun fluttering the way it did whenever they were a bit too close and a bit too alone. And that his previous inhibitions had suddenly been washed away.

"Scara, I think I'm in love with you."

The words flowed out of his mouth but the tension remained in his body. His heart rate picked up to the point where he almost felt faint, but he still had no regrets, even after a few moments passed with no reaction from Scara.

Just before Heizou could start thinking himself into a corner, Scara's lips quivered for a second before it turned into a smile, then full blown laughter. Heizou started at him in utter confusion.

He had no idea what to make of this reaction, and said the first thing that came to mind, "Did...did you know all this time?"

Scara calmed himself appropriately, feeling bad for laughing in Heizou's face like that considering Heizou didn't know the reason behind that laughter yet and was probably assuming the worst.

"I knew," he said, still smiling but it took on a sweeter, more welcoming tone this time, "I tried to gaslight myself into not knowing, though." Heizou paused. Then laughed without thinking first, "What?"

"Heizou, you weren't very subtle."

"Wha-- of course I was!"

"You absolutely were not." Scara states, turning his body to completely face Heizou, "In fact, I think I knew before you even did."

Heizou looks at him in disbelief, and the two of them stare at each other. Scara wants to let Heizou come to some of these conclusions on his own and tries not to take control of the conversation, but when Heizou just sits there thinking for a few minutes, he chimes back in.