(Back again! Sorry for not uploading ('°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀) i started school again recently and I gotta say senior year isn't as relaxing as they say it is-)
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"Excuse me," a faint voice could be heard from outside your thin tent. The bright light from the morning sun was piercing through your eyelids. You always found it hard to wake up in the morning, after all, you never really were a morning person.
You attempted to open your eyes. But to no avail, you failed. Turning over on your side, you completely disregarded the person speaking to you and slipped back into a peaceful slumber.
"Prisoner!" The person's voice was more agitated than before, which ultimately caused you to jerk in your place.
You sat up, remembering the situation you were in. That's right. You were on your way to Liyue with Scaramouche and his soldiers. At this point, you should've been used to being in strange situations like these.
As your eyes adjusted, your gaze fell on the soldier at the entrance of your tent. They continued once they noticed your attention to them, "We're departing soon. Please get ready so we can contain you again."
The bonds they put you in was slightly annoying, but you knew very well why it had to be done. To the Fatui, you were a "dangerous prisoner who had to be watched by the 6th Harbinger himself".
You quickly got yourself together and left the tent. Soldiers were already mostly packed. The second you exited your tent, two of them immediately took it down. The Fatui didn't mess around, they were really quick on their feet.
In the distance, you could see Scaramouche talking with a few of the higher ranked diplomats. Of course, it was nothing like a normal conversation. Though their Lord had calmed down in the recent days, he was still intimidating to them. It made you laugh knowing how sweet he could he when nobody else was around.
As soon as he noticed you, Scaramouche walked over.
"Morning, prisoner," he gave you a very low-key smirk as two Fatui agents constrained your wrists once again.
And like that, you set off on your journey to Liyue.
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The trip to Liyue was an uneventful one. The group ran into the occasional treasure hoarder, but other than that, there was no real threats. You were grateful for that too.
Ah, Liyue. How you missed it. You had so many memories there. Not to mention, it's where your brother and best friend were.
Somehow you were finally freed of the bonds and found yourself alone with Scaramouche. He had sent the troops to the Northland band on some errands for him. Scaramouche was never one to do things himself, he had people to do it for him.
You sighed, your soft breath filled with exhaustion. Scaramouche noticed this, "I'm sure you'll want to go see them."
As he finished saying those words, you looked at him. He remembered.
Being as excited as you were to see your brother and best friend, you quickly nodded, "Is that alright?"
Scaramouche gave you a smile that made it seem like he was slightly taken aback, "You don't have to ask for permission. You're not actually a prisoner, you know."
That's right, you forgot. You got so used to him putting on his "unapproachable, scary Harbinger" act around the other Fatui, that you had almost forgotten how he usually acts around you.
"Right," you smiled back, "Would you like to come? I'm sure they'll want to see you as well."
You could tell how hesitant Scaramouche was just from his expression. You couldn't blame him, he was indeed seen as a "bad guy" to your brother. Which was true to an extent. But Lu Wen didn't think that. Or she did and she just didn't want to tell you. Perhaps she only wished to keep you from the harsh truth to avoid you getting hurt. She was such a good friend.
After seeing his reaction to the question, you try again, "It'll be fine, we'll just pop in, say hi, then we can continue doing what we were doing. Easy as that."
Your attempt to reassure the man in front of you seemed to work, since his expression had relaxed a bit.
"Alright. But if things go south, I'm leaving and I'll be taking you with me." Scaramouche responded.
You laughed, "Fine by me."
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Standing in front of the door to your best friend's house, you eagerly knocked on the door. Scaramouche stood a few steps behind you, as if he was nervous. It's not like he was meeting your parents or anything. Well, it might as well have been. Lu Wen was your dear friend, but she acted more like a mother than anything.
The door creaked as if opened, revealing your best friend. She looked all dolled up, was she going somewhere important?
"Y/N! Y/N's boyfriend! What a surprise!" Lu Wen yelled, embracing you in a welcoming hug.
You turned to look at the Harbinger behind you. He had a look of annoyance on his face, as if being referred to as someone's boyfriend bothered him. You were sure it was because he didn't like standing in someone's shadow, so it made sense why he'd react like that.
"We were in town and decided to visit! Where's Tobi?" You asked.
Lu Wen pointed outside, "He's out playing with some friends. I'm sure he'll come back soon! Come in, come in!"
The two do you entered the house, it was quite clean, but there were dirty dishes on the table. You wanted to ask why she was so dressed up but you held back.
As if she read your mind, Lu Wen looked down at her dress, "I actually just had dinner with my boyfriend, which is why I'm all fancy today." She giggled. You had forgotten she'd been in a serious relationship for about 3 years now. You were thoroughly surprised they weren't married yet.
"Speaking of!" She sits down at the dark wooden table, "How are you two? Is it serious?~"
You were quite flustered and taken aback at the question.
"It's very serious." Scaramouche piped in, glancing over to you, which made you quickly turn your head. The fact that he said it in such a serious tone made you want to laugh.
Lu Wen practically squealed, "Aww! How sweet! It must be so nice to travel freely with someone you love so much!" She leaned back in her chair, "One day, if me and my love get married, I'd love to travel all of Teyvat with him." She sighed.
You glanced over to Scaramouche, who seemed to be deep in thought, as if something Lu Wen said struck something within him.
Scaramouche couldn't help but think of the statement Lu Wen had made. While she was under the assumption that you and him were simply traveling the world together, that wasn't necessarily true. Your relationship was way more complex and complicated than anyone could ever know.
You two went through so much, and yet there you were.
He gave you a head nod and a quick gesture, informing you that he was going to step out for a second. Perhaps he just wanted to leave you and Lu Wen to catch up, or maybe he had a lot on his mind.
Either way, you nodded back to him as he left the house. You knew it would probably be uncomfortable for him, so you weren't upset about him leaving for a bit.
Lu Wen quickly leaned in closer to you as Scaramouche closed the door behind him, "Sooo! What have you guys done?"
"Hm?" You looked at her in complete confusion. In all honesty, you had no clue what she was even asking.
"Like, have you kissed yet? Made out? Or perhaps, have you two done the deed-"
"LU WEN." You yelled at her, not expecting that to come out of her mouth at all. Those questions left you in an embarrassed state.
Though you hadn't actually done anything worth noting with him, you still felt flustered at the mere thought. You quickly glanced away, "Even if we did do any of those things, I'm not obligated to share."
"Hm. You're right, it's none of my business. But I was just curious!" She smiled at you, "Ever since.. your mom passed away, I haven't seen you interested in anyone, like you felt you didn't deserve it. But now that you've found someone special, I'm really happy for you.."
Lu Wen started to tear up. Was it that surprising? You understood why though, you did close off your heart when you're mom died, but it was probably subconsciously.
"Sorry, I'm just glad you and him are doing well. Who knows, maybe you'll get married one day!"
Marriage..
You never thought about it before, let alone being in a relationship. Of course, you weren't one to marry someone you just met, so that was completely out of the question as of now.
You rolled your eyes and grinned, "It's way too early to think about that kind of stuff." You smirked, leaning on the table, "What about you though? When are you and your boyfriend going to tie the knot, huh? It's been about 3 years."
Lu Wen giggled. Yet that laugh eventually turned into a serious tone, "Honestly, I'm starting to think he doesn't want to settle down.."
The atmosphere totally changed from an enjoyable aura to a somewhat depressing one.
She continued, "I know he loves me, I just don't know if he's willing to take me as his wife. He's always busy with work, and I know he finds time for me, which is great, but I don't see him changing career paths just to be with me."
As you were going to say something, she started speaking again.
"I also don't know if he's ready for kids, either. I of course want kids, but having them might slow him down at work.." Lu Wen glanced down at her bracelet, which was gifted to her by her boyfriend, "Maybe I should talk to him about it."
You gently took her hand, looking into her tear filled eyes, "If he loves you more than anything, he'll go wherever you are. I wouldn't worry too much, he's a great guy, maybe he's just nervous to ask you!"
She smiled, "Maybe. Thanks Y/N. You've always been a good listener, that's part of the reason I love you."
You have Lu Wen a comforting hug. Just as the moment had ended, the door swung open.
You both turned around to see Tobi dragging Scaramouche into the house by the arm.
"I caught the bad guy!" Tobi yelled. Scaramouche obviously looked annoyed, but he knew better than to retaliate against him. After all, he was just a little kid, and your brother at that.
You quickly got up and separated the two, "Woah, Tobi! Be nice, okay?"
Tobi glared at Scaramouche as you knelt down in front of him, "Hey, even if he was a bad guy, you don't bring him into the house, got it? What if he really was bad? What if he stole all of your candy? What would you do then?"
"I'd beat him up!!" Tobi confidently grinned, making his hands into fists.
You couldn't help but laugh, "That's right!"
Tobi's tone changed, "But he really is bad! I saw him with those mask people!"
"Mask people?" Lu Wen glanced over at Scaramouche, then at you, "What does he mean by that, Y/N?"
A/N
Ayyyeee it's been a hot minute
School started a few weeks ago, I've been having friend issues, I'm failing my AP class, so you can imagine how I've been lmao
Gonna try and write more, I'm also planning on making that one shot book soon, so again, if you have suggestions, feel free to tell me!
Anyways, stay hydrated <3