Chapter Text
“...you want me to what now?” Wanderer stared, bemused, at the platinum blond - at Kazuha, he corrected himself. The boy had been very insistent that Wanderer used his first name.
“I want you to show me around Sumeru,” Kazuha repeated, his voice annoyingly calm as usual. Wanderer made the mistake of lifting his eyes too high, and he felt butterflies taking flight deep within him at the sight of the other boy’s almond shaped ruby orbs. Damn his non-existent heart, he shouldn’t be feeling this attached to a mortal - and not just any mortal at that, to Niwa’s descendant !
“Yes, I heard you the first time. But why me? Isn’t Captain Beidou more familiar with the area than I am?”
“Captain Beidou has prior engagements,” Kazuha deflected easily. “Plus, I much prefer your company.”
It took everything Wanderer had to not read too much into the other boy’s words. “He’s just being friendly. He’s probably like this with everyone.”
“Hmph. May I remind you that I, myself, am new to the nation of wisdom?”
“And I’m sure that as a result, there are many places you’ve been wanting to go to, but never had the time or opportunity to visit.”
“…tch. You’re very pushy, you know?”
“Or so I’ve been told.” Wanderer could have sworn that Kazuha’s usually serene smile had a hint of cheekiness to it this time.
“…fine. I’ll show you around. But don’t expect me to know all the best spots, or be able to tell you all the history of the places we go to and everything.”
“Of course. So, shall we meet here at say, 7am the next morning?”
7am? That was way too early - Wanderer had just come off of a seven day streak of pulling all nighters for his finals, and he was exhausted. The audacity of this man, asking him to wake up so ea-
“…yeah, sure. Sounds good. Don’t be late,” Wanderer found himself saying instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid! What the hell did he just agree to? Celestia above, he was going to die of sleep deprivation, but — but the idea of spending the whole day with the platinum blond was too alluring. “ Damn it,” Wanderer cursed his weak self once more.
“I won’t be. See you tomorrow, Wanderer-dono.” With that, the platinum blond jumped off the platform and glided downwards, presumably heading towards whatever lodging the Crux booked for its crew this time around. And thus, Wanderer was left alone with a curious mix of despair, anxiety and excitement.
He paced back and forth, trying to calm the butterflies down before eventually admitting defeat and turning to head back home.
“…aww, you have a date tomorrow?” Nahida’s overly cheerful voice, Wanderer decided, was definitely not helping calm his feelings down. And neither was her choice of words.
“It’s not a date,” Wanderer snapped. “It’s a… it’s just me showing him around. I’m a glorified unpaid tour guide. He’s making use of our burgeoning friendship to get a free tour out of me.”
“Hmm, sounds like someone’s in denial~”
Wanderer’s fingers twitched. The urge to strangle the Dendro Archon had never been stronger. The people of Sumeru would probably be fine on their own, right? Liyue has adapted perfectly to the lack of a ruling Archon, after all, so maybe Nahida won’t be missed.
“Shut up,” was what he said instead. He cradled his head in his arms, trying to stifle the voices in his head telling him that Nahida was right.
“Shouldn’t you be out there, with the others? It is your birthday party.”
“Hmm, the others are having plenty of fun without me. Plus, I think, right now, you need me more.” Nahida sat down next to him, the both of them leaning against his closet. “Tell me, why are you so scared of seeing it as a date?”
“…because…” Wanderer struggled to get the words out. He trusted Nahida, he really did — the Archon had taken him in and given him a home, a place to belong, even after he’d tried to usurp her, after all — but this was different. This was… this was something he didn’t fully understand himself.
“…because what if he doesn’t see it that way?” Wanderer’s voice came out small and weak, a far cry from the usual confidence that permeated his every syllable.
Nahida’s eyes softened, and she pulled Wanderer into a hug.
“That is always a possibility, yes,” she acquiesced. “But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hope. Hoping for something that seems unlikely to happen is part and parcel of learning to live.”
“Hmph, that’s so… idiotic. Do humans really waste their time doing something so unproductive?”
“Yes, they do. And I don’t think it’s unproductive. After all, there’s always a chance, however small, that he might really feel the same way. And even if he doesn’t… it doesn’t mean he won’t feel the same way in the future. Hoping, in this case, is also wishing that your feelings reach him.”
“…that’s terrifying.”
“…yes, it is.”
“Humans really deal with this all the time?”
“Yeah, they do.”
Wanderer felt a begrudging sense of respect for the lifeforms he once thought was beneath him.
“…well, I can’t lose to them, can I? Fine, I’ll hope.”
Nahida’s hug tightened momentarily. She lifted her hands and gently patted Wanderer’s hair. “I’m proud of you.”
The next day, at 6.45am, Wanderer stood at the spot they’d agreed to meet at and checked his appearance in his pocket mirror. He had spent the entire night researching places of interest to visit with Kazuha, and as a result, he was operating strictly on the power of adrenaline, boosted by the influence of caffeine. He checked his makeup once more, ensuring that the dark circles around his eyes were safely camouflaged away from sight.
“Oh, hey, you’re early.” Kazuha’s serene voice surprised him, and he let out an involuntary yelp, almost dropping his pocket mirror. He quickly closed it and sequestered it safely within his bag before turning to greet the other boy.
“And good morning to you too. As the tour guide, I couldn’t possibly show up later than my guest now, can I?”
Kazuha’s ensuing laughter was music to his ears… until he realised that the boy was laughing at him . He felt the tips of his ears redden.
“…what’s so funny? Hmph, I regret agreeing to this already.”
“Wait, wait, I apologise, I meant no offence, I just… I’m sorry.”
With one look at Kazuha’s sheepish face, Wanderer’s embarrassment faded away.
“Hmph. Let’s go already. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
Their first stop was, of course, the House of Daena — paradise for bookworms like Kazuha, although to students like Wanderer, the place promised not endless hours of entertainment, but endless days of mind-numbing research. In that way, for Wanderer, it was akin to willingly returning to the Abyss, but if it was for Kazuha, Wanderer found that he would stand against Celestia itself.
“…so, this is our library,” he introduced lamely. “Over here we have the fiction section, split by genre and organised alphabetically, by the author’s last names. But you’re probably more interested in that section over there, where the works of poets across the seven nations of Teyvat have been collected.”
Wanderer felt a deep sense of satisfaction as he watched Kazuha’s eyes light up at his words. The boy immediately made a beeline for the poetry section.
“Oh, wow, there’s Sumeran poetry, of course, but Inazuman, too… they even have Matsuo Bashou’s entire collection! Oh, and is that Natlanean poetry? I thought they were wiped out by the Abyss wars!”
Wanderer observed with fondness as the normally reserved boy excitedly retrieved book after book from the shelves, the pile in his arms eventually getting too heavy to carry.
“Wow, if I knew you were gonna be this invested I wouldn’t have bothered planning anything else.”
“-oh,” Kazuha sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Wanderer-dono. I got a bit too excited. We don't have much access to poetry on board the Crux, you see.”
The ruby-eyed boy slowly started shifting through the pile of books, biting his lips in consternation. Each time he reluctantly picked out a book to return to the shelf, he would pet it, as if it were a cat he’d promised to adopt but was now returning to the shelter.
Wanderer found the sight as entertaining as he found it adorable, but eventually decided to take pity on the boy.
“…if you want, I can check some of it out for you. There’s a limit of 10 books, though.”
“Really?” Wanderer was not ready for the sparkling excitement that took over Kazuha’s eyes at his offer. The boy usually reminded him of a dignified maine coon, with his refined upbringing made obvious through his elegant movements, but at this moment, all Wanderer could see was a young puppy being presented with a toy it had always wanted. “ Celestia above, why do his eyes have to be so expressive?”
Wanderer cleared his throat. “Yes, really. Pick out 10 books, and I’ll check them out for you.”
It took Kazuha 45 more minutes to whittle the 30-strong pile down to 10, and Wanderer would deny it if he was ever directly asked, but he enjoyed every second of it — of getting to see a side of Kazuha he had never seen before.
“Done?” Wanderer asked, amused, as Kazuha finally chose to return an anthology of Yaksha-era Liyuen poetry to the shelf over a first edition of Molière’s collected works.
“…done,” Kazuha looked back at the shelf, as if regretting his choice. “Yeah, I’m done.”
“Alright, then. Wait here, I’ll be back in a moment.”
As Wanderer lifted the books with his anemo powers and headed to the checkout counter, he looked back momentarily to see Kazuha retrieving the anthology he just returned to the shelf and reading it on the spot.
“ What a nerd ,” he thought fondly.
A few minutes later, he returned to Kazuha’s side, the other boy still engrossed in the aged collection of Liyuen poetry.
Wanderer settled down in the seat opposite him and opened one of the books he’d just borrowed for the other boy, a collection of Natlanean war poems or something along those lines, and peered over the cover, towards Kazuha. The ruby-eyed boy looked unusually animated in his concentration, his eyes widening at what Wanderer assumed to be the clever use of a novel metaphor. Wanderer didn’t really get poetry, but he appreciated that reading it turned the other boy into poetry in motion, and that was the only kind of poetry he truly valued.
After what felt like a mere second, Kazuha looked up and their eyes met. Wanderer immediately shifted his eyes elsewhere, hoping that the other boy didn’t realise he’d been staring at him for the past… how long has it been, exactly?
“Oh no, I’m so sorry! I completely lost track of time!” Kazuha’s apologetic words interrupted Wanderer’s thoughts.
“It’s fine,” Wanderer waved away his apologies. “I was equally invested in the, uh…” his eyes quickly darted down to check the title of the book he had been pretending to read. “The Tribal Tomes.”
“I’m glad you found it interesting! Maybe we can talk about which poem was your favourite after I read it myself?”
“Oh, uh… sure, whatever floats your boat.” Internally, Wanderer wanted to slap himself. Now he had to look for a second copy of the rare anthology of Natlanean poems to read before the other boy could realise he had lied, and, recalling the platinum blond’s earlier words, that was probably a herculean task. Still, though, that was a problem for future Wanderer to solve.
“Shall we go, then, if you’ve had your fill for now? Time’s ticking.”
“Of course,” Kazuha reached over and started packing the books into his bag. After he was done, he stood up, and his eyes made one last sweep of the library, probably wanting to etch the vision of his personal heaven into his memory, when he paused on a door leading deeper into the facility. “Where does that lead?”
“…oh, that’s where we store all the academic journals.”
“Oh. So you spend the majority of your time—“
“—in there, yes.”
“Can we take a look? I want to know more about what you’re interested in.”
Wanderer didn’t have an actual, physical heart, but in that moment, he could have sworn that he felt one skip several beats in his chest. That wasn’t fair. Who did Kazuha think he was, casually saying something like that? He felt the tips of his ears burn red, and hastily turned away to hide the physical evidence of Kazuha’s effect on him from the boy.
“…maybe next time. It’s getting late, we still have a lot more to cover. Let’s go.”
The stifling heat that hit Wanderer upon exiting the House of Daena told him that it was now early afternoon, and they’d spent the better part of three hours in the library. Wanderer quickly reorganised their itinerary in his head. The loss of two hours meant that if they took a detour to the Palace of Alcazarzaray, as planned, they wouldn’t make it back in time to catch the dusk birds singing against the setting sun on the top of the divine tree. Which meant…
“I suppose you’re hungry?”
The two took their place in the queue at the restaurant Wanderer had picked out, a refined place overlooking the port of Sumeru City renowned for their seafood dishes. The waiter, a young woman whom Wanderer recognised from some of his classes at the Akademiya, greeted them exuberantly.
“Ah, Mr. Wanderer, reserva—“
Wanderer silenced her with a glare.
“—table for two, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Please, follow me.”
They were seated near the window, like Wanderer had requested on the phone the previous night. He opened the menu and passed it to Kazuha.
“Here.”
“Thank you.” Kazuha pored over the menu for a while, before looking up and smiling sheepishly at Wanderer. “…I have no idea what most of these words mean. What would you recommend?”
“They’re well known for their kolambi bhaat - that’s like, uh, prawn biryani - but if you’d prefer fish, the ayala mulakittathu ’s pretty popular too.”
“…what are you getting?”
“…curry and naan.”
“Spoken like a true Inazuman native,” Kazuha teased lightly.
“…shut up. I haven’t been living here for long, my tastebuds haven’t adapted.”
“Of course," Kazuha acquiesced, and Wanderer was grateful that the other boy hadn't protested his flimsy excuse.
"…I’ll get the alaya… alaya mukalittathu?”
Wanderer tried to stifle the snort that arose after hearing Kazuha butcher the dish’s name, he really did, but it came out anyway. The smile it elicited on Kazuha’s face, though, made all the butterflies he’d thought he had conquered return in full force.
“… ayala mulakittathu it is.”
Wanderer quickly placed their orders, and, once the waiter had left and the two were enveloped in silence, he found himself not knowing what to do with his hands.
“…do you like living in Sumeru?”
Wanderer, thankful the other boy broke the silence first, let their eyes meet momentarily before shifting them away, embarrassed.
“It’s… adequate enough, I suppose, as far as cities go. Much better than Inazuma City.”
“Hmm… you know, Inazuma City has changed since the Shogun repealed the Vision Hunt and Sakoku Decrees.”
“…or so I’ve heard. I still have no desire to return.”
“Of course, of course. I understand. I myself have chosen to remain with the Crux, after all.”
“How about you? How do you find Sumeru City so far?”
“It’s a beautiful place. I love how intertwined the city feels with nature, it’s as if it’s a garden first and a city second. If I had one complaint, though, it would be—“
“—that it’s too damn hot,” Wanderer finished for him. “Yeah, that’s my main gripe with this place too. Can’t take three steps outside without getting my haori drenched in sweat.”
Kazuha’s melodious laughter made the oppressive heat a little more bearable.
“Maybe you should take after the locals, then. I’m sure their clothing is much better suited to this tropical climate.”
“…you’d think so, but look around you. Their sari s look almost as stiflingly hot as our haori s, don’t they? A slight reduction in heat for the price of being less fashionable just doesn’t seem worth it.”
“So you haven’t tried one on, huh?”
“…no,” Wanderer admitted. “Just never had the urge to.”
“Why not? I think you’d look pretty in a sari .”
Wanderer choked on his saliva, coughing and sputtering as Kazuha reached over to pat him on the back. Thankfully, he was saved from having to reply to the boy’s comment by the waiter, who served them their orders.
This time, it was Wanderer who looked on in mild amusement as Kazuha coughed and sputtered after eating the spicy fish dish.
“Too hot for you?”
“…water, please—“
“Tsk, tsk, such a weakling,” Wanderer teased, taking delight in having turned the tables. He poured Kazuha a glass of ice water.
“…thank yo— oh archons, it’s even worse now. How is it worse now?” Kazuha’s coughs intensified.
“…oh, you didn’t know? Water activates the capsaicin, making it even more potent,” Wanderer revealed smugly. “If you really want it to stop burning, I’d suggest getting some milk.”
“…then milk… please…”
Wanderer chuckled, taking pity on the boy and ordering a glass of milk for him. When it finally arrived, Kazuha downed the glass in an instant, and like Wanderer said, the burning sensation calmed down significantly afterwards.
“…you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean? How was I supposed to know that you had the spice tolerance of an infant?” Wanderer asked innocently.
Kazuha’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not fooling anybody, Wanderer-dono. …but I must admit, this dish is indeed quite delicious when you take away the spice.”
“…take away the spice and you’ll offend the entirety of Sumeru,” Wanderer retorted dryly.
“…true. I suppose I’ll just have to put up with it, then.” Kazuha grimaced, before taking another bite of the spicy fish.
Several minutes — and countless glasses of milk — later, Kazuha finally conquered the dish.
…or so he thought. Wanderer would give anything to replay the memory of Kazuha’s face of utter despair when he found another fish hidden underneath the red sauce.
“…alright, alright. Stop forcing yourself to eat that. Here, swap with me.”
“…are you sure? Didn’t you say that your tastebuds—“
“—my tastebuds, apparently, are stronger than yours. I have no problem with spicy food.”
“…thank you.” Kazuha sheepishly took the offered plate of curry and naan from Wanderer’s hands.
The rest of the meal went by surprisingly fast, and after a quick verbal sparring match to decide who would get the bill — Wanderer won, of course — they were back on the streets of Sumeru City, heading to their next destination: Pardis Dhyai.
“…we’re here,” Wanderer announced as the two boys took their last steps up the winding pathway that led to the garden that doubled as an Amurta research facility. “These flowers are called Padisarah, they’re said to have once been the go-to flowers for people to offer to the three gods of Sumeru. They’re actually named after one of them…” Wanderer launched into a brief overview of the history and etymology of the purple flowers.
After a while, though, he realised that Kazuha was staring at him. And not just staring normally, either, although that would have been embarrassing enough — Kazuha was smiling . “…what? Is there something on my face?”
“…oh, no. Not at all.”
“Then why are you staring at me like I have clown makeup on?”
“It’s nothing, really. I just find it amusing that you’re suddenly so knowledgeable about Sumeran history, when you claimed that you wouldn’t be able to tell me any of this yesterday.”
Kazuha wore his typical serene smile as he said that, but Wanderer could have sworn he detected a hint of smugness somewhere. He didn’t know whether he wanted to punch Kazuha in the face or to run away and hide, so he settled for a third option: denial.
“…shut up. I’m a Vahumanan scholar, history’s my major.”
“Of course.”
Wanderer didn’t believe for a second that Kazuha believed his excuse, but he wasn’t so prideful as to refuse the escape route offered to him. “Yeah, so… stop saying weird things and let’s head deeper in.”
The whole time they were walking around the facility, as Wanderer blabbed on and on about the architectural considerations behind the building and the various plants they studied within, his mind was stuck on one thought, and one thought only. “Was Nahida right? Does Kazuha… like me?”
All signs pointed to maybe, which was incredibly frustrating. Wanderer wanted - no, needed - a straight answer, but he was too afraid to ask, and the other boy refused to tell. Celestia above, the sheer audacity of this boy, to be playing with his non-existent heart like this — he’s lucky that he’s cute, or Wanderer would have walked away a long time ago. He stifled the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like the Dendro Archon, saying “no, you wouldn’t~”.
“…so, that concludes the tour of Pardis Dhyai. Any questions?”
“Yes, one, if I may. Are you alright? You look… distracted. Do you have a fever?” Kazuha placed his hand gently on Wanderer’s forehead, and his brain shut down.
“…I most certainly do not. Come on, it’s almost sunset. We have to make haste if we want to make our last stop before dinner.”
Wanderer turned on his heel and made a quick exit, using his anemo powers to glide faster than Kazuha could walk. He was sure his face was redder than a dendrobium now, and he’d be damned if he let Kazuha see him like this.
…it also gave him a weird sense of satisfaction to see Kazuha desperately trying to catch up to him.
After he was sure his face had returned to normal, he slowed down and let the other boy catch up to him. The sun, however, was already starting to set over the horizon — they’d clearly spent too much time dilly-dallying around — and at this rate, the dusk birds would be long gone by the time they arrived at the top branches of the divine tree.
Making a split second decision to save the date, Wanderer turned to Kazuha and said, “hold on tight.”
“Hold on tight to wha-“
Without even waiting for a response, he took the other boy into his arms and took off into the skies, aiming straight for the top of the divine tree.
The two boys touched down just in time to hear the very first notes of the dusk birds’ song. The fifty-strong flock took to the skies, drawing a rainbow across the sunset as they serenaded the city of Sumeru.
“...woah,” Kazuha whispered, enraptured by the performance. “This is… wow.”
“Speechless for once, huh?” Wanderer whispered back, sitting down on the branches. Kazuha soon followed suit, taking his place right next to him.
Kazuha nodded, not wanting to interrupt the birdsong that enveloped them both. It was as if the two of them had been transported straight into a fairy tale - the dusk birds flew circles around them, painting fleeting pictures filled with whimsy, accentuated by the glittering colours of the birds’ feathers refracting the orange sunlight.
The birdsong, meant to gather the entire flock together before night fell, carried with it the promise of home, of a place to belong, and at that very moment, Wanderer was unable to live in denial anymore. He loved Kaedehara Kazuha, with all of his being.
Eventually, the entire flock herded together as one, and the birdsong, having fulfilled its purpose for the day, met its finale. As the sun dipped completely below the horizon, the dusk birds flew off towards Mawtiyima Forest, leaving Wanderer and Kazuha alone.
“...thank you, for today. I really enjoyed myself,” Kazuha’s soft voice broke the barrier that had formed between the two upon Wanderer’s realisation of his feelings.
“...yeah, well, you better have. I didn’t give up my rest day just to hear you’d rather have spent the day doing something else.”
Wanderer leaned almost imperceptibly towards Kazuha, his head dangerously close to the other boy’s shoulders. Against all odds, the date had gone perfectly well – okay, maybe not perfectly well, but well enough – and the adrenaline that had kept him going thus far finally ran out, leaving him feeling like a dead man walking. All he wanted to do was to rest his head, and Kazuha’s shoulders looked awfully comfortable right now… but he still had his pride, so he forced himself to be satisfied with just the feeling of the other boy’s warmth across his side.
…until Kazuha reached out and hugged him, bringing his head to a rest on his shoulder.
“W-w-wha–”
“Shhh… you must be exhausted. You stayed up all night preparing for today, didn’t you?” The way Kazuha’s hands stroked his hair gently felt heavenly, and Wanderer found himself letting his guard down.
“...yeah, I did.”
“Thank you. For doing so much for me. I… I really, really appreciate it.”
“...mmm.”
The two sat like that, the silence between them not awkward, like it had been before, but comfortable and safe . As the city lights blinked into existence beneath them, Wanderer found himself drifting off to sleep.
“...I love you.”
Wanderer’s eyes popped open. Did he hear that right? He turned to look at Kazuha, who was gazing down at the city, a serene smile on his face. Oh. It must have just been the beginning of a dream, then.
Just as Wanderer allowed himself to relax again, Kazuha shifted his body, turning to look at him. Their eyes met, and there it was again.
“I love you.”
…oh. This was real, wasn’t it? This was really happening. The person he loved was actually confessing to him. It was mutual – something that he thought only happened in the cheesy romance novels that Sethos loved to read so much.
“...you what?” Wanderer whispered, his voice soft and tentative, filled with equal parts hope and fear.
“I love you,” Kazuha repeated again, his smile widening as their eyes met again.
As the saying goes, third time’s the charm, and this time, Wanderer’s brain finally caught up to reality.
“...why me?”
“...there are a million reasons why,” Kazuha replied, his eyes shining with the depth of his feelings. “I could write a thousand poems about you, each one illustrating a different reason: how your snark makes me swoon, how your voice makes me melt, how your presence makes me feel like I’m home… but in the end, it all boils down to one, very simple thing… you’re the only one who makes me want to stay.”
Wanderer felt his world stop, and the sheer sincerity of Kazuha’s words finally tore down the last of the walls he had built up around his heart.
“...I love you too,” he confessed quietly.
Kazuha’s smile turned into a grin, and his arms tightened around Wanderer’s body. “I know.”
“...you could at least have the decency to pretend otherwise, you know,” Wanderer’s face flushed a deep red. He wasn’t sure if he’ll ever get used to the effect Kazuha has on him. All he knows is that he doesn’t want it to fade away.
“I apologise,” Kazuha said with a laugh that felt like home. “Can we try again?”
“Too late,” Wanderer stuck out his tongue at the other boy. "No takebacks."
“Oh, well, then I guess all that I can do is…” Kazuha leaned in, quick as a flash, and captured Wanderer’s lips in a searing kiss. For the first time, Wanderer found himself grateful that he didn’t need to breathe – a feeling that was quickly replaced by the fear brought about by the realisation that now that he knew what it felt like to kiss Kaedehara Kazuha, he never wanted to stop.
…but Kazuha was only human, and he needed air, even if Wanderer didn’t, and so, reluctantly, the two boys eventually broke apart.
A loud growl emanating from Kazuha’s stomach interrupted their mutual stares, and Kazuha let out an embarrassed chuckle.
“...sorry. I guess I worked myself up too much.”
“...it’s getting dark, anyway. We should go grab dinner. What do you want to eat?”
“...um, something that’s not spicy, please…?”
“Alright, alright. Man, lunch must have scarred you pretty badly, huh? I’m almost sorry I brought you to that restaurant.”
“Don’t be,” Kazuha reassured him immediately. “It was delicious, and the curry and naan were heavenly. I just… need a bit more training before I can eat that… uh…”
“… ayala mulakittathu.”
“ ...before I can eat ayala mulakittathu again. I really did enjoy the blend of sour and spice, and the fish was so fragrant–”
“Yeah, yeah, alright, you don’t have to wax poetry about spicy fish, I get it. Come on, I’ll bring you somewhere that won’t kill your delicate tastebuds.”
“...much obliged.”
After dinner, which was – to Kazuha’s relief – chicken biryani that was easy on the spice, the two walked back to Kazuha’s lodging, side by side.
“...so, how long are you going to be in town for?”
“We leave for Port Oromos on the second Friday of November.”
“...oh,” Wanderer tried to keep the disappointment and loneliness out of his voice. He quickly realised it was futile, however, because…
“...but we’ll be in Sumeru until November ends,” Kazuha quickly reassured him. “Port Oromos isn’t that far from Sumeru City, we can still meet whenever you want.”
“...that’s true.” Celestia above, they had only been officially dating for two hours, and Wanderer was already dreading having to say goodbye to the ruby-eyed boy. “How pathetic,” he thought to himself. He used to laugh at the protagonists of all the romance novels Sethos forced him to read, finding their attachment to their partners absurd, but now look at him. He was worse .
“...unless you want me to stay?”
Wanderer stopped in his tracks. Did he hear that right? Kazuha really was being merciless with all the bombshells he’d been casually dropping tonight, wasn’t he?
“...I– but you… I couldn’t possibly–”
“I told you, didn’t I?” Kazuha turned to look into Wanderer’s eyes, his hands finding his way to his hips. “You make me want to stay.”
“...yes, of course I want you to stay. But I don’t want to get in the way of your life, I mean.. What if you grow to resent me? What if–” Wanderer babbled incoherently, the ease with which everything he’d been repressing for centuries came bursting forth surprising even himself. And although there were still a lot of things he found terrifying about the current situation, he found that letting the ruby-eyed boy into the darkest recesses of his soul wasn’t one of them.
“Shh… I’m not staying because you’re asking. I’m staying because I want to.”
Wanderer felt the omnipresent butterflies in his stomach evolve into bullfrogs doing backflips, and he was pretty sure he was blushing, again, so he did the only thing he knew would prevent Kazuha from looking at him – he embraced the other boy, burying himself in his neck.
“...thank you. Thank you, thank you,” and as Kazuha hugged him back, for the first time since he was created, Wanderer felt like he found where he belonged.
“So, this is who you ditched us to spend your birthday with, huh?” Captain Beidou’s loud and boisterous voice resounded around the bar, and Wanderer was unable to avoid her one armed-hug.
“No wonder Kazuha gave such warm hugs, he must have picked it up from the captain… wait, birthday?”
“Today’s your birthday?!”
Kazuha sheepishly turned to look at his boyfriend. “Uh… yes? Did I forget to mention that?”
“No shit you forgot to mention it! If I had known, I’d have–”
“…you already gave me the best gift I could have ever asked for, Wanderer-dono.”
As Captain Beidou made a gagging motion and quickly made her retreat, Kazuha reached out to take Wanderer’s hand in his, intertwining their fingers together.
“You.”
“...how the hell are you able to say that with a straight face?”