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The mixed scents of different spices smell delightful as Sethos and Collei are shopping in the Grand Bazaar. Sethos is carrying a small bag with his purchases in it, and Collei is leading him to the best shops in the market that she’s discovered whenever she comes to Sumeru City with Tighnari.
As they walk, Sethos’s attention flits from stall to stall, fascinated by all the different things being sold here. That is, until a familiar wide brimmed, dark blue and gold-rimmed hat catches his attention.
“Wanderer!” He calls out, cheerful voice carrying easily across the bazaar.
The aforementioned male pauses where he was passing through to turn and look at the duo. Collei smiles and waves to him as well, and then Sethos and his honorary cousin Collei are heading across the marketplace to reach Wanderer.
“Sethos. Collei.” Wanderer greets, his voice harsh as ever, though Sethos can tell he’s not being unkind.
Sethos beams back.
“Hey there, it’s my favorite Hat Guy! How have you been?” He asks.
Wanderer scrunches his nose in distaste at the nickname, in a way Sethos finds very endearing.
“Nothing of importance has been occurring. Just dealing with Akademiya nonsense.” He sighs longsufferingly, but doesn’t mention the nickname.
Sethos laughs at that.
“Right. And by nothing important, I’m sure you mean you’ve been cramming for final exams. Come on, every Akademiya student has been doing as much, there’s no need to brush it off.” He teases lightly.
As it always is when he sees Wanderer, it’s like the world narrows down to just him and the indigo haired male and their back and forth banter. However, this banter is cut short with a sudden shout beside him,
“Look out!” Collei exclaims, shoving him forward.
Sethos goes crashing into Wanderer, their chests colliding before they both go down in a tangled heap of limbs, Sethos’s bag of purchases spilling across the ground. Someone around them lets out a scream and Collei lets out a pained gasp from behind him.
“Damn brat!” A gruff male’s voice growls from behind, followed by the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps.
While chaos erupts around them in the bazaar, Wanderer’s indigo eyes lock onto someone past Sethos’s shoulder, and then he scowls.
“Help Collei!” He barks, shoving Sethos off of him, before clearly giving chase to whoever he saw.
Sethos lands on his ass, before he turns to see Collei clutching her hand around an arrowhead sticking out of her shoulder, letting out shuddering breaths. Her green shawl is turning scarlet around the arrow at an alarming pace.
Sethos’s olive green eyes widen in horror. The arrow...Went all the way through the back of her shoulder and is poking out the front. He can hear a scuffle in the background, but his attention is solely on Collei.
“Collei…” He gasps, voice horrified.
Collei’s purple eyes meet his, looking pained.
“It would’ve...Hit you in the head.” She pants out through the pain.
Sethos’s attention snaps to movement past Collei as there’s a burst of anemo in the background. Then, Wanderer comes into his line of sight, dragging the man who shot Collei in the shoulder across the ground. The man is limp and leaving a bloody smear as he’s dragged across the street. Wanderer looks positively feral, his indigo eyes wild.
Collei lets out a whine and collapses towards the ground, but Sethos launches forward to catch her. Her purple eyes are hazy and distant and she coughs harshly, blood coming up. She’s burning up.
“No, don’t let them take us…” Collei mumbles under her breath, clearly out of it.
Whatever clarity she still had after getting shot is gone; Sethos suspects the arrowhead must have been poisoned.
“Wanderer, I’ve gotta – I’ve gotta get Collei to the Bimarstan.” He says, voice tremulous while he carefully rises to his feet, cautiously shifting Collei.
Wanderer doesn’t reply, standing perfectly still and staring at Collei, almost like he’s in a fugue state.
Two Corps of Thirty members rush over.
“We saw what happened. We’ll take this man into custody.” One of them says, nearing Wanderer.
This seems to snap Wanderer out of his daze, and he drops the would-be assassin’s leg, where he had been hauling him across the marketplace.
Wanderer says nothing to the two, but hurries over to where Sethos is struggling to get Collei on her feet. He helps support the green-haired girl’s other side, careful not to jostle the arrow in her shoulder.
“Come on, let’s get you to a doctor.” Wanderer says.
As if a switch has been flipped, Collei starts to cry and struggle against them.
“No, no, not him! The treatment is killing us, he’s going to kill us-” She sobs, still clearly not in a right state of mind.
With her uninjured arm, Collei starts scratching at her neck, where Sethos knows the seal to the god remains inside of her was placed by Cyno. Wanderer’s eyes widen in horror at the red angry scratches she leaves on the delicate skin of her neck.
“Collei, stop!” Sethos yelps, grabbing her arm to prevent her from harming herself in her delirious state.
She flails and kicks out her legs, trying to shake off his grip on her arm. When that doesn’t work, she begins to thrash in their holds, screaming wildly and desperately in a way that Sethos knows is going to hurt her vocal chords.
Sethos’s heart sinks, feeling sick that the usual soft spoken, kind girl he knows has been twisted into this feral state by poison.
Cyno is going to kill him and then have him scrubbed of the family records once he’s dead for getting Collei in such a state. Sethos knows Collei is the heart of this found family. Hell, she has two dads (Cyno and Tighnari) and two pseudo-dads too (Alhaitham and Kaveh).
A Mahamatra comes over to the trio as Wanderer and Sethos struggle to haul Collei to the Bimarstan, looking uncertain.
“Get Cyno and Tighnari both to the Bimarstan!” Wanderer snaps at him.
The Mahamatra salutes and sprints off. Then, the indigo-haired male turns his attention back to Collei.
“You’re strong Collei. You’re going to get through this, and you’ll be fine again. You can’t let yourself lose to memories; you’re stronger than that. You can’t be beaten by something you already survived.”
His voice is the softest Sethos has ever heard from the other male. Collei, however, doesn’t seem to register his words in the positive way they were intended.
“No, noo, please, don’t make me go back to him. The Doctor is going to kill us.” She whines hoarsely, her voice breaking probably due to the strain on her vocal chords from screaming.
Wanderer grimaces at that. Then he alights slightly into the air to help move her easier. He and Sethos are moving as fast as they can carry her still struggling and squirming self to the Bimarstan. It takes an agonizing couple of minutes until they arrive, and Collei’s struggling begins to lessen more and more, presumably as the poison really starts to kick in.
“We need help!” Sethos shouts as soon as they arrive at the hospital.
There’s a breathless moment of pause, and then they’re swarmed by doctors and nurses.
“The arrow in her seems to have been poisoned, and we don’t know what kind, but she’s hallucinating badly.” Wanderer explains to the first doctors to arrive, and Collei’s struggling renews with gusto.
The doctors look grim as take in the sight of Collei’s struggling form.
“We’ll have to sedate her, there’s no way we can get the arrow out while she’s thrashing like that.” One of them says.
Sethos’s stomach drops, but he nods, looking at Wanderer helplessly.
“We have a small dart sedative that we can inject her with, but we need to do it quickly. The sedative is known to not have any reactions with any other drugs or poisons, don’t worry. This poison, however, needs to be out of her system immediately, alongside the arrow.” One of the doctors says.
A nurse arrives with a small dart and immediately injects it into Collei’s uninjured arm. The effect is instantaneous, and the green-haired girl starts to droop, her eyes filling with tears.
“No, please, ‘m sorry. I’ll behave…” She slurs.
Thankfully, the sedative is quick working and her head lolls to the side as she passes out.
Sethos’s eyes sting and he blinks rapidly as the doctors take his honorary cousin away on a stretcher. He hangs his head, turning his face away from Wanderer while the tears drip down his cheeks.
This is all his fault.
Wanderer sighs longsufferingly beside him, before speaking.
“I can practically hear your thoughts. This is not your fault, and if you’re stupid enough to blame yourself, then let me tell you otherwise. You had no way of knowing an assassin was going to go after you today. If it’s your fault, then it’s my fault that Collei got hurt too, because I distracted you from your surroundings.”
Sethos silently shakes his head, Wanderer’s words doing nothing to thaw the icy chill that has settled in his heart. Wanderer lets out a quiet sigh, more like a soft exhale than a sigh. And then, Sethos is pulled against a cool chest in a hug.
“She’ll be okay.” Wanderer murmurs, lightly tracing shapes on Sethos’s back.
Sethos clings to him like a lifeline, trembling slightly as he does so.
“Come on, lets go sit down while we wait for news on her.” Wanderer says, not releasing him from the hug but maneuvering them towards the indoors of the Bimarstand.
Once inside, they both sit on a bench in the Bimarstan’s lobby while they wait, tears dripping down Sethos’s cheeks that Wanderer is kind enough to ignore.
---
Wanderer holds Sethos until he falls into a light doze after crying himself out. The puppet keeps his arm wrapped around the brown-haired male’s back, letting the other’s head rest on his shoulder.
He keeps an eye on their surroundings while they sit inside the Bimarstan’s building, all while waiting for any doctors or nurses to come back to them with news on the violet-eyed girl.
When did he get so soft again that he cared about mortals enough to comfort them?
Wanderer sighs.
No, it’s not all mortals. Just these in particular – Sethos especially, plus Collei too. She’s wormed her way into his icy heart somehow.
The front door to the Bimarstan is thrown open and Cyno rushes into the building, expression intense. Wanderer raises his arm that isn’t wrapped around Sethos to flag Cyno over while Sethos startles awake at the loud noise of the door slamming into the wall.
Upon seeing Cyno, Sethos looks ready to cry again, but pushes away from Wanderer’s hold to stand to his feet.
“Collei took an assassin’s poisoned arrow meant for me. I’m sorry, I failed to protect her.” He says, voice tremulous and cracking from his tears trying to flow again.
Wanderer stands up as well.
“It was an assassin’s arrow aimed for your head. Had she not shoved you out of the way, you’d be dead.” He responds harshly.
Sethos says nothing to that, but only bows his head in shame. Cyno closes his eyes and exhales deeply. Then he opens them again, locking crimson with olive green eyes.
“Are you okay?” He asks the brunette.
Sethos blinks rapidly, looking caught off guard. He quietly nods.
“I’m sorry. I should have kept a better eye on my surroundings, I-”
Cyno places a hand on his shoulder, sighing wearily.
“That’s not what I asked. Are you okay, Sethos?” He asks.
Sethos nods silently.
Cyno nods back, and then speaks again.
“Sumeru City is supposed to be safe. You shouldn’t have to keep an eye on your surroundings all the time.”
Then he looks between Wanderer and Sethos.
“Thank you for getting Collei here swiftly.” He says, settling in to the bench next to where Wanderer and Sethos had been sitting waiting for news on Collei.
The time passes in a bit of a slow moving, unsteady rhythm after that point. Wanderer is certain it’s been a few hours when the Bimarstan’s front doors open again and Tighnari rushes inside. Cyno stands to greet his husband.
At that exact moment, another door opens and a doctor emerges, striding towards the group on the bench.
“The arrow has been removed and the poison counteracted with medicine. She’s resting now, but she should make a full recovery.” The doctor reassures the group, and Wanderer feels the tension flow out of his body.
Sethos lets out a shaky exhale, and Tighnari and Cyno both untense significantly.
“Can we go see her?” Tighnari asks.
The doctor hums,
“Only her immediate family is allowed in right now. So, if you are her parents, then yes.”
Tighnari nods.
“We are.”
Cyno turns back to look at Sethos and Wanderer.
“She’s going to be okay. Thank you both for waiting for her.” The General Mahamatra says, nodding his head in gratitude towards the two.
Then, the husband duo follows the doctor further into the building.
Sethos plops back onto the bench, giving Wanderer a wobbly smile.
“You don’t have to stay with me. I’m sure you have lots of Akademiya things you need to do.”
Wanderer rolls his eyes.
Humans. They can be so annoying sometimes, trying to act stronger than they actually are.
“I will stay here with you as long as I see fit.” The indigo-haired male snaps, sitting down beside Sethos with a huff.
Then, he reaches over, and intertwines their fingers together, gently joining their hands. Sethos’s smile becomes more real as he glances down at their interlocked fingers.
He wisely doesn’t say anything about it.
---
Collei blinks her violet eyes open blearily, feeling disoriented and in pain. Her throat aches, almost as if she screamed at the top of her lungs, and her shoulder feels like it was stabbed.
“Collei, how are you feeling?” Tighnari greets her as she blinks at the two amorphous shapes in the room she’s resting in, until the forms of her dads become clear in her vision.
Cyno looks worried and Tighnari looks quietly nervous, which is only visible in the way his ears twitch ever so slightly. Anyone else but those close to Tighnari wouldn’t have picked up on that detail.
“What happened? I feel like I just woke up from a long nightmare.” Collei croaks, her mouth feeling dry.
Tighnari quickly offers her a glass of water, and Cyno nods seriously as she sips from it.
“You jumped in front of an assassin’s poisoned arrow aimed for Sethos. The poison caused you to hallucinate. Wanderer and Sethos carried you to the Bimarstan, where we’re at currently.” Cyno explains.
Collei blinks at that.
“Oh. Is Sethos okay?” She asks.
Cyno sighs before settling into one of the chairs next to her bed.
“You saved Sethos’s life, Collei. From what I understand, the arrow was aimed for his head; he wouldn’t have survived that. You prevented a tragedy – but you gave us all quite a scare.” He says, looking very serious.
Collei fiddles with her hands nervously.
“Am I in trouble?” She asks, voice hesitant.
Tighnari speaks up this time,
“No, we’re not upset with you and you’re not in trouble. You moved on instinct and saved Sethos’s life, that’s not something to hold you at fault for. I just wish you hadn’t gotten injured in the process. But we’re just so glad you’re okay.” He smiles at her softly.
Collei worries at her bottom lip with her teeth.
“Well...Would you like a hug? You both look very shaken up. Just um, preferably not too tight of a hug, my shoulder hurts.” She says, glancing down at her bandaged up shoulder, and then back to her dads.
Cyno and Tighnari exchange glances.
“Do you want a hug? Don’t force yourself, just to make us feel better.” Tighnari asks, voice gentle.
Collei pauses, thinking it over.
“I- I think I would, actually.”
With that, her dads approach and gently wrap their arms around her in a group hug.
When they pull back, Cyno remarks,
“Sethos and Wanderer might still be waiting for you to wake up.”
The green-haired girl blinks in surprise at that.
“They waited for me to wake up?” She asks, voice quietly awed.
Cyno nods.
“Yes. They were very worried about you too.”
Tighnari clears his throat.
“I’ll go speak to the doctors and see if you’re okay to be discharged today. But I’m sure Sethos and Wanderer would be very happy to confirm that you’re okay with their own eyes.” He says softly.
Tighnari leaves the room and Cyno returns to the chair next to the bed Collei is resting in. He is clearly in guarding mode, but Collei can’t help but smile softly at that, feeling the care in his actions.
A few minutes pass in silence, and then there’s a quick knock on the door. Tall black fox ears poke in as the door opens and Tighnari tilts his head inside to look at the duo within.
“I brought Sethos and Wanderer with me. The doctors said you should be clear to leave soon. I need to go take care of the paperwork for your release.” He announces.
The door opens fully and Sethos and Wanderer both enter the hospital room, before the door closes behind them while Tighnari goes to take care of the paperwork. Sethos looks so happy and relieved to see Collei, and he smiles at Collei brightly, his eyes crinkling from the force of the smile. Wanderer, meanwhile, gives her a curt nod.
“I’m glad you are okay.” The indigo-haired male says.
Collei notes their intertwined hands, but says nothing about it. Instead she looks down at her own hands, somewhat sheepish.
She really messed up their day, didn’t she?
“Thank you. I’m...Sorry that this ruined your plans for today. But thank you for waiting for me to wake up.” She says.
Sethos looks like he was struck by lightning with the way he jolts and goes so stiff and still.
“You have nothing to apologize for! If you hadn’t taken that arrow, I would be dead. You saved my life, Collei. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings.” Sethos exclaims.
Wanderer smacks Sethos on the shoulder, then turns to Collei.
“You both need to stop apologizing. The only one who should be saying any sort of apology, is that would-be assassin.”
Collei nods quietly, looking abashed at that. Then she looks up, having had a sudden thought.
“Oh, right! Are we still having dinner with Kaveh and Alhaitham tonight?” She asks.
Cyno tilts his head to the side thoughtfully.
“If you feel up for it still. You’ve had a long, rough day, and nobody would feel upset about us just going straight home to Gandharva Ville after everything.”
Collei hums before she nods firmly, looking at her dad’s crimson eyes.
“I want to go.” She affirms.
Cyno nods as well. Then he turns to look between Sethos and Wanderer.
“Kaveh and Alhaitham are holding a dinner tonight. I expect to see both of you there – no excuses. If Collei is going after getting shot, then, Wanderer and Sethos, I look forward to seeing you both there as well.”
Sethos looks at Wanderer with cautious hope. Wanderer, for his part, simply huffs and places his free hand on the brim of his hat while he looks away.
“Whatever.” Wanderer mutters, though his tone isn’t as bitter as it would be if he was truly displeased with going to the dinner.
---
Sethos and Wanderer both arrive at Kaveh and Alhaitham’s shared house. Collei, Cyno, and Tighnari are also accompanying them from the Bimarstan, after having dropped by a stall to purchase Collei some clothes that aren’t bloodstained.
Wanderer’s earlier calm has dissipated more and more the closer they get to the house, until he looks ready to bolt at any given minute. Sethos sends him an amused smile while Collei goes up to ring the doorbell.
“Relax. It’s just Alhaitham and Kaveh. They aren’t scary.” He teases lightly.
In response, Wanderer rolls his indigo eyes so hard it’s a wonder they don’t roll right out of his head.
“I’m not scared of them. I’d just rather not listen to their unending bickering.” He snaps.
The front door opens and Kaveh peers out with a smile.
“Hello there!” The blonde greets cheerfully.
Cyno waves before gesturing to where Sethos and Wanderer are standing behind him and Tighnari. Sethos waves to Kaveh awkwardly, while Wanderer grimaces and looks away sourly.
“We’ve brought another pair of guests, hopefully you don’t mind.” Tighnari explains.
Kaveh blinks his scarlet eyes, clearly caught off guard for a moment, before the expression fades into another friendly smile.
“Oh! No I don’t mind at all, welcome, come on in.” He says.
Then he seems to realize something.
“Ah! I’ve got to get back to the food before it burns!” He exclaims, rushing back inside, and the group heads in through the door he left open for them.
Sethos inhales deeply as they step through the threshold of the house, enjoying the delicious smells wafting out of the kitchen.
“Of course Alhaitham has been MIA as per usual when it comes to preparing any food for these group dinners.” Kaveh laments from the kitchen, and Tighnari shakes his head with a smile.
Sethos nudges Wanderer and mutters,
“Can the Scribe even cook?”
Wanderer levels him with a flat look.
“Can you even cook?”
Sethos giggles quietly,
“Touche.”
Collei pauses, looking back between Sethos and Wanderer, and then back in the direction Kaveh is in, looking like she’s had some sort of realization.
Sethos grins at the green-haired girl.
“What’s up? You look like you’ve had an epiphany of some kind.” He teases.
Collei blinks at him in surprise, before shaking her head with a soft smile.
“Just...Realized some relationships are more similar than I realized. That’s all.” She says.
Sethos gives her a confused smile, but seeing as she has no intentions to elaborate further, shrugs.
“Alright then.”
Kaveh pokes his head out of the kitchen for just a moment,
“Collei, do you think you could set the table?” He asks.
Collei nods, right as literally everyone else except for Kaveh and Collei says some version of “That’s not a good idea”. Collei blushes while Kaveh blinks, wide-eyed, before realization seems to set in.
“Oh. Eleazar’s after-effect flareups? That’s okay Collei, I can take care of it!” He reassures the girl.
Wrong realization, but still sweet, nonetheless.
At that moment, the front door opens and Alhaitham enters carrying a book tucked under his arm. Sethos can’t help but note the title, “Remedies for Pain and Medicinal Reactions to Different Poisons”.
“How’s your shoulder?” The gray-haired scribe asks Collei as he shuts the door.
Kaveh’s crimson eyes catch on the name of the book and widen in horror.
“What on Teyvat do you need that book for?! Did someone try to assassinate you?!” He exclaims, rushing over to check Alhaitham for any wounds.
The Scribe snarks back immediately,
“It’s just a precaution. I needed to read over it again.”
Kaveh huffs out a relieved yet annoyed sigh. He turns on his heel to return to the kitchen,
“Alright smartass, you can set the table then, since you didn’t help cook at all.” He calls over his shoulder as he returns to the other room.
Alhaitham shrugs and starts setting the table, surprisingly co-operative.
Sethos exchanges a glance with Wanderer, and Wanderer sighs wearily.
“I need a drink if I’m going to bear witness to this much flirting.” He mutters.
Sethos snorts out a laugh.
“Yeah? We’re too young to drink in the city. The desert laws might be different, but here in the city we aren’t allowed.”
Wanderer groans.
“How about we keep alcohol out of tonight overall?” Tighnari offers, nodding his head discreetly towards the kitchen where Kaveh still is.
Cyno and Alhaitham both grimace.
“Agreed.”
Kaveh emerges from the kitchen with a plate full of panipuri, none the wiser to the conversation that just occurred. He sets it down on the table which Alhaitham has just finished setting.
“Alright, dinner is ready. Here’s the first appetizer, and I’ll get the rest. Feel free to start eating!”
With that said, the group gravitates towards the dining room, and dinner goes smoothly, with lots of food, laughter and conversation. After dinner is over, Collei heads for the couch and plops down, falling asleep in record time.
“Is she alright?” Kaveh asks softly as he grabs a blanket to lightly cover her with.
Cyno and Tighnari exchange glances, but clearly decide not to broach what happened today. Not yet.
“Yeah. Just had a long day.”
There’s a moment of quiet, and then Cyno stands up,
“Alright, who’s up for some TCG?” He asks.
Tighnari groans.
“Count me out. I’d rather help Kaveh clean up dinner.” He mutters, and then the aforementioned blonde and him both head into the kitchen.
Cyno turns to level Alhaitham with a look, and he shrugs.
“Why not.”
Sethos watches as the two set up on their match on the dining table while Kaveh and Tighnari are moving the remnants of dinner out of the dining room to either clean up or put in the cryo-box.
“And here I didn’t think you’d participate in a meaningless party game.” Wanderer remarks.
Alhaitham turns his piercing gaze to the hat-wearing male.
“Not every game is meaningless. This game is quite good for practicing critical thinking on the fly.”
And with that, they get into the flow of the game. Alhaitham is good at the game, but Cyno is the master, and so he cinches the win after a while of playing.
Tighnari and Kaveh emerge from the kitchen together.
“Where’s Mehrak?” The black-haired male asks.
Kaveh gestures off towards a closed door.
“She needed to charge after a long day of working on blueprints together.”
Sethos quietly joins Wanderer in watching Cyno and Alhaitham’s next match, sitting in the chair next to the other male. Kaveh and Tighnari take the other end of the table to spectate as well. Collei continues to sleep comfortably on the couch, knowing she’s safe and among people who care about her.
This is Sethos’s family – whom he loves, and he’s so glad to be here with all of them.
His attention strays to the pretty indigo-eyed man beside him, and he sends him a small smile. Wanderer doesn’t quite smile back, but his eyes do soften minutely, and Sethos feels him take his hand under the table.
Cyno wins in TCG again, and then turns his crimson eyes towards Wanderer.
“Wanna play a round?” He asks.
Wanderer opens his mouth, clearly about to retort an obvious “no”, but seems to have a visible pause, and huffs out a sigh.
“Alright.” He agrees, a moment later.
Cyno’s lip quirks up in a smile, and Wanderer releases Sethos’s hand to pull out his own TCG deck from his Vision holder pocket space. The game begins, and Sethos cannot help but watch them, transfixed, as he cheers on Wanderer.
One day, he hopes he and Wanderer can be official. That he’ll be part of his family too – as his partner.