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A/N: Hello, people!
I don't own Genshin Impact.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
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It happened on the way home. He was trying to carry all of the bags he'd ended up with, with the Traveler had generously appeared and offer to help him.
They'd been walking from the main market, and he had never realized until his arms were full of weight, that the inclines all over Sumeru City are so very annoying! Lumine seemed entirely unbothered, carrying more of the bags than him though. Must be that heroic strength of hers.
Somehow, they'd ended up in a discussion about Aranara because Kaveh had gotten a few little wooden carvings of them in Port Ormos and the lovely box they'd been placed in was at the top of one of the bags.
"You know, it's a bit odd that you can't see the Aranara," Lumine said as she shifted the bags around a bit to get a better grip on them. "You feel so very open-minded and appreciative of life's simple joys that it would make sense for you to have your own little Aranara friends trailing behind you, offering to help all the time, and keeping you company."
Kaveh knew of them, of course. That's why he bought those cute figurines that looked close enough to what he'd always imagined.
Everyone grew up believing that they had their own little imaginary friend that was an Aranara. Kaveh even had one when he was little, before he entered the Akademiya. Sadly, over the years, he had forgotten what he had imagined his own friend to look like.
And no one could ever really agree well enough on what they actually look like. Some suggested little round cabbages and others suggested rocks. There was once the thought that maybe Aranara were actually Bloatty Floattys and the reason they did not grow in Sumeru was because children were encouraged to grow up too quickly and that's why they didn't exist in their nation but could exist everywhere else.
Now that the former Sages who had participated in crimes against the Dendro Archon had been given their sentence and new Sages were being chosen in their place, the Akasha had been shut down entirely, and everyone now had to deal with dreaming again, it was more than likely that the Akasha had been doing something to them unawares, which was why the Sages had to be punished.
Alhaitham wasn't the kind to talk about secrets that weren't his to share. If there was one positive thing about him, it was the fact that he would not be sharing legally sensitive information with anyone unless absolutely necessary. Kaveh had to piece things together by himself through talking to others and the Traveler's own words.
What happened to Lord Kusanali was very bad. What the Sages had done to the people of Sumeru was just as bad. Lumine had been there to help solve both issues. She knew even more information that anyone else did because she was a close friend of the Dendro Archon!
So, for Lumine to talk as if Aranara were real… that had to mean they were very much real.
"It's funny to think of, but Alhaitham having a little trail of Aranara that follow him everywhere and look after him is so unexpected but adorable. Don't tell him I know, though. They call him 'Book Nara' and call you 'Art Nara' and often tell him that he needs to 'go home to his Art Nara' when the workday is up."
She was smiling sweetly. "Cameras can't pick up the existence of Aranara, unfortunately, so I've been unable to capture the scene of him in the Grand Sage's office, as his lap and desk are just covered in little Aranara humming to him."
"Humming what?" Kaveh asked, feeling breathless all of a sudden. As if this very moment would make or break something inside of him.
"Laaaa la-la-la luh la, laaaa la-la-la luh la laaaa," Lumina sang softly, and the longer she went on, the more familiar the sound became, and until a similar but unrelated song came to mind… and it slipped out.
"That's the song they sing for Nahida," Lumine explained when he finished a few lines. "Maybe, when you were young, your Aranara friend taught it to you."
"But I- I don't remember them anymore," he confessed, feeling guilty.
"That's okay," she told him softly. "They understand how Nara grow up and move on because their time is limited or their lives force them to do so quickly, but they've never left your side anyway so you wouldn't be alone."
Never left his side…
As in still there.
Even when Kaveh forgot them.
plip plop plip plop
A companion who watched over him even when it seemed as if everyone and everything else had forsaken him.
plip plop plip plop
And perhaps… had been there in those times he'd managed to survive passing out from exhaustion, heat stroke, and dehydration in the desert.
plip plop plip plop
Kaveh stopped in his tracks as the odd sound got louder and louder, and looked around to try and find the source.
And there, right behind him, was a small creature, very much like a cabbage but with little arms and legs and a hat made out of green leaves. Its face bore a calm smile, and it carried a brown spoon in its right… hand. On its tummy was a small, swirl-like shape. It looked almost exactly like the carvings did!
The little Aranara stopped movement and looked up at him, the little plip plops of its footsteps going silent as well.
"Nara Kaveh remembers?" the Aranara asked, its head tilting to the side in concern. "Arakasyapa played with Nara Kaveh before Nara Ferdowsī was lost to Valuka and the call of Marana."
…He hadn't heard his father's name in ages. There was no one around to say it anymore. And no one left who even knew him.
"Are you… the Aranara friend my father's journal spoke of? When he was a boy?"
Its head bowed. "Arakasyapa learned much from Nara Ferdowsī. Good Nara. Returned to Sarva and the roots, worry not. Vana remembers and remember, Arakasyapa does too."
Lumine shifted all of the groceries she held into a single hand while taking the rest of his as well, so she could pat his shoulder. "It's a lot to take in. Want to get home before you cry?"
He wasn't even offended that she assumed he would cry, because she was correct. All it took was a miniscule nod from him, before Arakasyapa reached out to grasp his pant leg, and Lumine hoisted them both up, one-armed, over her shoulder, and began sprinting down the nearly empty city street.
She deposited him at his front door not too long after and knocked thrice before patting him again. "Spending your whole life with things being one way, and then so much changing in so little time lately, is a lot to work through. It's okay to not be okay all the time."
The door to the house opened to reveal Alhaitham in all his dressed down glory, staring between Kaveh, Lumine, and the little Aranara now nestled in the crook of Kaveh's arm. And yes, his gaze made very direct contact with Arakasyapa before nodding once. "Thank you for helping him," he told Lumine, accepting all of the bags she'd been carrying with ease. "Sorry if he caused you any trouble."
Lumine waved him off and gave Kaveh one more solid pat on the shoulder. "He's just had a bit of a shock, but with you here I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll be in Gandharva Ville for the next three days if you need either myself or Paimon. We're going off into the desert for some special mission Paimon wants us to undertake so we'll be gone for a while after that."
She was then gone in the blink of an eye, as if she'd never been there at all.
"Come in before anyone sees you," Alhaitham told him, already heading for the kitchen. "Can't have your precious secret getting out because you were too careless."
Kaveh couldn't even find it within himself to snark back because he was simply too shocked by the implications of everything. Alhaitham seeing Aranara and getting followed by them while at work. Kaveh having his father's Aranara friend as his own 'imaginary friend' as a child, who still followed him despite Kaveh losing the ability to see them. And if Alhaitham could see the Aranara then he had to know of Arakasyapa's existence long before now if Lumine's claims were true.
"How do you always know when to come and get me from the tavern?" Kaveh asked, feeling lightheaded and emotional.
"Hm?" Alhaitham hummed from the kitchen. "Speak a little louder, please."
"How do you always know when to come and get me from the tavern?" Kaveh repeated, standing in the lounge and wondering just how he hadn't thought about it before. How oddly skilled Alhaitham was at knowing when and where Kaveh was on the bad nights.
Alhaitham returned to the lounge and sighed upon seeing Kaveh's sad face. Like he was giving up in a sense. "Arakasyapa comes to get me."
The little Aranara sitting in Kaveh's arms waved its little hands around, as if greeting Alhaitham, who gave a little wave back. "Your father taught them how to read and write Teyvat Common when he was just a child and they've been with you ever since I can remember."
Which meant even before the Akademiya when Kaveh had met his roommate for the first time in the House of Daena. Truly… before his father had perished in the desert.
And Alhaitham knew such personal information, and even the Aranara's name, meaning they had to have had a conversation. At least one prior to this moment. Yet Alhaitham had never thought to bring it up.
Would Kaveh have even believed him if he did?
"Arakasyapa knows how special Book Nara is. Arakasyapa knows how much Book Nara cares for Nara Kaveh. Trusted, Book Nara is," the Aranara revealed.
The corners of his eyes began to sting, and Kaveh tried desperately to not lose any more of his dignity in the process. "So, when you said I'm not really alone and to not just give up on things…"
"It wasn't just because of Arakasyapa watching over you," Alhaitham stated frankly. "Tighnari and Cyno are also your close friends who have your back should you need them, and vice versa. And I surely would not bother going to get you, paying your tabs, and carrying you home all the time if I did not care. I don't do things that hold no meaning, you know this."
That had to be the most Alhaitham way to share one of the most beautifully sentimental things Kaveh had ever heard.
"Also, since we're doing the emotional thing now, I might as well tell you that all the rent you've been paying has been going into a secret fund. This month you've reached enough to pay off your debt entirely, including the interest you've racked up, so you can finally stop stressing about Dori harassing you and sever all ties with her from now on."
Kaveh couldn't hold back the floodgates anymore and the tears overflowed with ease. They were fat and hot, and practically poured out of him once he gave up trying to hold it all in.
Leave to Alhaitham to be the one looking out for Kaveh, even when it seemed like he couldn't care any less.
A soft piece of fabric touched his face, forcing him into shocked silence as his roommate tried to dry the tear stains on Kaveh's cheeks. "Haitham?" he asked softly, wondering what this moment could mean and wondering if he was going crazy for thinking it meant more than expected.
The Aranara in his arms patted his hand twice before jumping down to the floor so it could… vanish in a little twirl of its arms.
"Kaveh," Alhaitham said in response. "Feeling a bit more calm now?"
"...Yeah," Kaveh sniffled. "Um… Lumine said that when you're at work, you have Aranara practically hanging off of you. Is that true?"
"I wouldn't necessarily say that they're 'hanging off me', rather that they like to sit on me or near me as I work because I am calm and relaxed in pretty much any environment."
There was something just so adorable about the idea of Alhaitham being trailed by little Aranara.
It was said that such creatures were drawn to those pure of heart. Nothing could be a bigger green flag. The creatures that were drawn to the innocence of children were as equally drawn to Kaveh's dear roommate. And they brought him to Kaveh whenever Kaveh was having a rough night.
So… he took a chance. "Haitham, if you don't kiss me right now I might just expire."
"No need for the dramatics. If you want me to kiss you, just say so."
"Kiss me then!"
"Best idea you've ever had, I'd say."
Oh, of course he'd be super smooth and a good kisser! Why'd it take this long to find out?!
A/N: Finished!
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See ya! :D