Work Text:
the commission was simple. or well, it was supposed to be. a flower stall near yoimiya’s firework shop had run out of stock, and the shopkeeper didn’t have the time to go out and grab new flowers. of course, you decided to do it; now that everything with ei had been mostly handled, you needed some time for yourself. or you would’ve if you hadn’t run into arataki outside the city’s border. he had a bag full of sweets. no doubt he just ruined some child’s day by winning a silly game. he grinned once he saw you, bounding up to you with a hearty laugh.
“traveler! good weather today, huh? hey, look at this.” he reached into his bag and tossed you a small pouch. you rolled your eyes at him, opening it up and looking down into its contents quizzically.
“what is this, arataki?” you could tell it was lavender melon, but it was cubed, and seemed to be coated in something. you plucked one from the pouch, looking between it and arataki.
“oh! candied lavender melon. here.” he plucked the melon right from your hands, grinning. “open up, lemme feed ya’.”
“arataki, i don’t think that’s-”
“c’moooon!” he pouted. how could you say no to that face? you rolled your eyes at him and opened your mouth for him. he popped it into your mouth, watching you eat it with excitement. “do you like it?”
it was quite good. running into him did end up doing more than boosting your mood. not that the sight of him didn’t always do that - arataki always made you happy… not that you wanted to think too much on that. you smiled and nodded at him, sealing up the pouch. “i did, thank you. but, i have to get going. i just got this commission-”
“can i come?”
“i think you’ll find it a little boring… i have to go flower picking.”
he paused for a moment, thinking. somehow that huge grin of his just got bigger. “you think i’d find that boring? anything with you is an adventure. what flowers do you need?”
“i was told anything that was an inazuman native flower. the man running the stall just needed enough to last him the rest of the day.”
“then it sounds like you need some help anyways! shops around here, even flower stalls, tend to stay open for quite a bit. hold on.” arataki ran up the steps into the city. within minutes he was back already; the bag he had held all his sweets were empty, and he had a roll of twine.
“this is for the flowers; we can bundle them with the twine, then put them in here. i’ll carry the bag, you just pick everything.”
it’s impossible to say no to that face.
“... alright, arataki. let’s look around narukami first.”
flower picking takes a lot longer than you, or arataki had thought. you had to stop to take a break once you got to yashiori island, both of you resting against the statue of the seven that sat across the gorge where you had once met gorou. you sat in comfortable silence with arataki, letting your legs rest. that was until he switched positions, resting his head on your lap. he smiled up at you, letting out a grunt as he stretched.
“traveler?”
“yes?”
“do you know how to braid hair?”
you paused. it had been a while since you thought of your sibling. well, you thought of them every day. but it was more in the sense of saving them. memories you always forced yourself not to dwell on, and if you were honest, you barely had time to focus on them. you were saving city after city, battling it out with people, and helping townsfolk. but the question brought up a memory; one where you were putting little braids in their hair one day, weaving in flowers.
a sad smile spread across your face. “yes, i do. why?”
“ah… could you braid mine? you see, some little girls said my hair would look cool with some braids. i wanted to see for myself.”
“i think i know a way to make them super cool.”
“then you better make me look like the coolest man in all of inazuma!”
you let out a chuckle, opening your bag. you had a jar of glaze lilies and silk flowers, a decent amount too. arataki peered at the jar carefully, watching you unscrew the top. you noticed him looking, and lowered a silk flower to his nose. arataki breathed it in, letting out a soft sigh. “jeez, this smells good. this is from liyue? i think i’ve seen them before..”
“yes. i use silk flowers, the red ones, for cooking sometimes. i also a have a friend who’s found of them. the glaze lillies are also something a friend likes.”
he looked up at you, scanning your face. maybe you were showing it too much, or maybe itto was just that perceptive, but he frowned a little. “why do you look sad?”
you let out a sigh, shrugging. you started on the first braid, taking hair that was close to the base of one of his horns. “just thinking about the last time i braided someone’s hair like this.”
“why’s that sad?”
“last time it was my sibling.”
“oh.”
silence. you felt bad. you didn’t mean to dampen the mood. you forced a light smile. “sorry, arataki-”
“don’t keep bein’ so formal with me, traveler! just call me itto.”
“ah… okay, itto.” he smiled up at you before it started to fade a little.
“so… what is the story there?”
“hm?”
“with your sibling. i got the gist of it from thoma, at one point, but i’d like to hear it from you.”
you paused. you hadn’t got into it about your sibling since… well, maybe since you got to liyue. the people of liyue were much more involved with their god, or they were. you were dealing with so much more than mondstat in a lot of ways, your sibling’s full story seemed to get a backseat. once you got to inazuma, everyone who asked got the short version.
“well… we came here together. my memories of getting to teyvat with them are blurry, to be honest. we’re world travelers; we never have stayed in one place for very long. i haven’t gotten so close with so many people in one world before. we mostly studied cultures, explored a lot, then moved on to the next place. the first thing i remember is the unknown god. she… she took them. took my ability, and i assume theirs, of being able to move to a different world or universe. i fell… asleep, i suppose. more like a coma. i woke up and got my bearings a little bit, met paimon, and we’ve been together since. but recently, things got a lot more complicated.”
“how so?” itto watched you carefully. you moved into your next braid, moving your fingers slowly as you watched his face. it was comforting, somehow. this was the first time since maybe amber, someone was so intent and interested to hear you out about how you got here and what happened to your sibling. it touched a part of you, but not in the same way it had like with amber.
you had met a lot of men similar to itto - loud and proud, excited to show off their strength, but caring at heart. but it was something different about itto. he was.. sincere. he wanted you to braid his hair and stick pretty flowers into the gaps, he was willing to go around on commissions with you, and he was… there. you had so many people you had met and cared for, yet you normally felt quite lonely. itto didn’t make you feel that way. for the first time in a long time, you felt seen as a person. not just as the big hero, or the person who can bring peace to any city and bring any peace to any land - you felt like just a regular person.
itto made your heart beat a little faster. he always did, since the day you met him. which wasn’t that long ago, but he was different. although you were always formal with him, he never really was with you. he held you in high regard, but not because of your accomplishments in the heroics - the first compliment he paid you was something about how talented you must have been, to learn so many recipes from all across different cultures and lands. it meant more than any compliment about how well you worked with a sword. itto touched something in you, and maybe… maybe it was deeper than a deep platonic affection.
you were silent for a little too long. suddenly there was warmth on your face, touching your cheek. you jumped a little, but itto didn’t pull away. his hand cupped your face, concern decorating his face. “traveler?”
you blushed, a hand resting on his arm. “sorry, sorry. i was just thinking.” he moved his arm away, and looked on at you expectantly.
“so… through most of my time here, we heard all about how the abyss was headed by someone. a royal of the abyss, i guess. we thought it was the fatui or something but we were wrong. we found out why they even existed - khaenri'ah. they are… they’re people, used to be, turned into monsters. they want revenge. against the seven for destroying the nation, and my sibling… is their leader. i saw them for only moments when they revealed all this to me. this whole time i’ve been unknowingly fighting against them. they had been close by this whole time.” you let out a breath. you felt the burning of your nose, a signal tears were coming. you held them back, braiding itto’s hair in silence as you finished talking. you added another three braids to his hair before he said anything.
“i cannot imagine how conflicted you are. you’ve been meeting god after god, and no one has an answer for you. not even your sibling… how are you not angry?”
“because i have no time to be. i have no time to do anything other than look ahead these days. everything i’m doing is to find them… even if it takes another five hundred years, i know i will. they’ll come back to me, itto. i know they will.”
“that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be angry, though. just because you have no time to feel it, doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of you that aren’t.” itto paused again. “you know how i always bother kujou tengu for that rematch? it’s not even fully because i lost. it’s because of who i became without my vision.”
you winced a little, trying to imagine itto be as depressed and without a clear path or without a sense of self as the people you had met who’d had their visions taken away. he even looked uncomfortable to think about himself in such a way.
“i met people when i first came here that had their vision taken. it’s really hard to imagine you like them. you’re one of the most lively people i know. seeing you like that, even imagining you like that… it hurts.”
itto smiled a little bit up at you. “heh. you’re soft for me, traveler?”
your cheeks flushed, looking away and pretending to check on the flowers you set aside. itto had a lot of hair, for it to look nice and full of braids he would have to stay there for a while. you fell into a comfortable silence, adding braids. you had a lot of leftover fabric from when you bought it to aid in building some furniture in your teapot. you elected to cut strips of it to tie the ends of the braids. as you were trying off the last couple braids you did, itto spoke up.
“so… what will happen when you find them again?”
“well. if i’m lucky, we can come together again. maybe we can go back to traveling.”
itto frowned. “you’d leave?” he sounded a little hurt. it made you feel bad, but you and your sibling had never really stayed in one place long. teyvat had become one long and confusing exception. it was the only thing you had to consider a home, in all the places you’d been.
“well… maybe. it depends.”
“i don’t want you to.”
“itto…” you said his name, softly. the feeling was bittersweet, knowing he wanted you to stay. not many people voiced this to you; figuring you’d just object and it would become a sore subject. but lately, you’d been wanting that validation - that you’re wanted. that the people you’d met along the way truly wanted you around, and you mattered more than just because you saved a city.
“i don’t want you to leave at all. you’ve been here this long, you still have so much to explore. you should stay-“
“itto, if they want to go, we will go. they’re the only thing i have here that’s keeping me truly going-“
the man shot up. your heart dropped into your stomach. you didn’t mean to hurt him like that, but with everything culminating it did feel like your sibling was the only thing propelling you these days. the people of inazuma truly needed you and you were happy to help… but ultimately, that was also for them. handling things in inazuma was the only way to get forward.
“i want to be like that. to you.” itto looked deadly serious. the braids you did blended nicely into his hair. if this wasn’t such a moment you’d be praising yourself out loud and teasing him. “i want to be a reason you keep going. i want…” itto frowned hard, turning to look into the huge gash in the island that was by the statue. “you know how i asked if you had a soft spot for me?”
“yes, i do.”
“i have one. for you. the day i met you, i just knew i couldn’t leave you alone really.” he chuckled. “i wanted to know a lot about you. you’re the talk of the town, and you were so awesome sounding, but the day we met, i saw you slip.”
“what do you mean?”
“when thoma introduced us,” he started. “the kamisato girl he works with was there too. and yoimiya showed up not too long after… and while we all talked among ourselves, i was watching you. you were quiet and… you just looked so alone. your face gave away how alone you were in a crowd full of people.” he moved to be sitting next to you, hand grabbing yours. “it was intense loneliness. it was almost radiating off of you, and…” he trailed off with a sigh. “it was just what drew me to you. and then i got to spend so much more time with you, like now.” he gently squeezed your hand. “i have a deep… affection for you, traveler. it’s hard to explain without getting so ahead of myself. i’m always like this, i suppose. but you bring it out in me. the whole, losing myself to my feelings.” he chuckled and looked at you.
“ultimately… i don’t want you to go. the thought of you not being around is, frankly, a little terrifying. but just know if you leave, i’ll follow you forever. i’ll go wherever you go. i love you.”
you stared at itto, and the tears you fought back before spilled out. he reached to wipe your face but you shook your head. his words, the fact that he noticed you out of everything and everyone… it made everything better. somehow it did. it made everything a little less sad, less bleak.
itto made you feel how your sibling did, but on so many deeper levels. safe, secure. he made you feel seen. the bittersweetness of life, you tended to feel the sweeter side of the bitter when around him. but you were at too much of a loss for words to say something. but your body moved before you could say much of anything. you pulled itto close, cupping the back of his head and pulling him into a kiss. itto froze, his hands coming up out of shock. it didn’t last long though. one hand came to rest on your waist, the other wrapping around and placing a hand on your back. he relaxed into you, holding you close as the kiss went on. he pulled back first, and he cupped your cheek with a warm smile.
“can i hope that means you feel the same?”
you laughed, wiping at your eyes and nodding your head. “of course i do. i…i love you, itto.”
he softened. he kissed you again, pulling you so you were practically sitting in his lap. it was a deep, long kiss that almost made you dizzy with how intense it was. he let you go soon enough, letting out a sigh. “i have one last request then, before we have to head back and we keep talking about… that.”
you raised an eyebrow. “what would that request be?”
“could you finish my hair?”
you laughed and nodded your head, fixing your position so you were once again sitting with your back against the statue, patting your lap. “there. i’ll try to be fast so we can get back to the city before dark.”
he just nodded, getting comfortable in his new spot, laying back on the ground with his head back in your lap. you worked in a few more braids, securing the ends with fabric ties before you worked on the flowers. to keep them stable and to make sure they would stay in place, you covered the end and part of his hair in slime condensate. you alternated between which flowers went in which braids. some braids only having silk flowers, some only glaze lillies, others have a mix of the two. you found an extra dandelion in your bag and stuck it into a braid that was hanging closest to his face, making it the only flower in that particular braid. once you were done you gently tapped his shoulder, and he sat up slowly, careful not to dismantle any of your handiwork.
“don’t worry,” you soothed. “they’re being held in by alone condensate. sorta like hair gel, i guess, if i had to make a word for it.”
itto nodded, then frowned. “i wish i could see it… it might not be as nice by the time we get back to the city, and i have a chance to look at myself.”
you pondered for a moment. then you looked around in your bag for a moment, before lugging out the kamera. “this! it takes pictures. have you seen a kamera before?”
he nodded. “yeah, i have… oh! are you going to take mine? so i can see?”
“yes, blockhead.”
itto’s hand came to his chest, acting hurt, before letting out a laugh. he got in a little pose; sitting cross-legged, a big cheesy grin on his face and a thumb upheld close to his face. it took you a moment to take the picture, but sure enough, the film came out. you watched it develop slowly before the picture fully showed up. it came out perfectly. you handed the picture to him, and itto grinned wider than he did in the photo.
“they look amazing! you did great. i cannot wait to get back and show this to everyone, and if any flowers come out, i’ll save them. there’s got to be some way to preserve them…”
you giggled at his musings, putting all your items back in your bag. itto followed suit, collecting the bag of flowers. he stood slowly, still careful of his new hairdo, shifting the bag to one hand. his free one reached for yours. slowly you took his, and he squeezed gently. he looked at you, and his gaze softened.
“well then… let’s keep going. i should start following you forever right now.”
you laughed, leaning into him.
“you don’t have to follow me for that long. i think my forever is holding my hand.”
he kissed you one last time before starting to walk forwards, the sun at a perfect point in the sky to illuminate his features perfectly. he turned back to face you as a breeze picked up.
“then you better follow it.”