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The grass and the rain were cold. The aura of the approaching figure was even colder.
To be honest, Bennett wasn’t exactly sure what to make of this situation. Even though he should have been used to strange things, being as this was the second week of a very long break from civilized life he was taking, this was one of the most unexpected things that had ever happened to him.
Well, not exactly. The part where he failed a commission was familiar. So was the fact that he got attacked on the way back. Even the fact that his attackers, a bunch of hillichurls, were having some sort of family reunion with what must have been every hillichurl in all of Mondstadt, was only something he shrugged at.
He did not, however, expect one of the archers to shoot a perfectly aimed electro charged arrow straight into a wound on his leg he was healing with his pyro. The overloaded reaction hurt like a bitch. The tumble off of Starsnatch Cliff hurt even more.
When he landed with a sickening crunch onto his side, crushing his bag, he internally cursed himself for being born like this. His bad luck was the center of all his problems, and if he had to choose he would get rid of it in a heartbeat, even if he had to cut off one of his own limbs. Breathing heavily with his sore body against the rough grass, he thought of some other solutions to his problem.
He could go to Albedo. Although, Albedo probably didn’t believe in luck. ‘You’re just a screw up, Bennett’ wasn’t a very comforting diagnosis. Maybe the astrologer Fischl hung out with a lot could help with this? Her name was Mona, wasn’t it?
Bad luck probably wasn’t curable, at least not by any mortal, he decided.
At that point it had started to rain. Like, a lot. Bennett hadn’t really been paying attention to whether or not it was raining during his escape, but now he could clearly feel the water trickling down his skin, the rain washing away all the sweat and blood on his body.
Racking his mind, Bennett tried to think of a solution to his current situation. Since he had just used his burst, he had to recharge some more elemental energy in order to use it to heal himself again. Even then, it couldn’t heal him all the way. However, because of the rain, keeping flames lit for long enough to charge it back up could possibly take an hour. And as much as he loved adventuring and didn’t mind getting hurt, the feeling of an arrow in his leg and blood dripping down his calf made him queasy. Too queasy to just wait out the rain. So, he begrudgingly decided to start walking.
Dragging himself to his feet, Bennett scooped up the tattered leather bag that held his vision and possessions. He cursed to himself as he felt several pieces of what had to be an artifact falling apart. The white haired boy stuck his hand into it, feeling the damage. If it weren’t for his long, thick, gloves, he probably would have cut himself on some of the pieces.
Bennett also felt the shreds of what must have been the commission sheet. Katheryne wouldn’t be happy about that one; she always hated having to reprint stuff. Especially when it was Bennett who ruined said paper beforehand. Though she was very kind, being on the receiving end of one of her glares did wonders to knock down your self-esteem. Even Cyrus had sulked away, tail between his legs, upon returning to inform Katheryne that he had ruined a commission sheet.
Though it took a bit of searching, he did eventually find his mostly intact compass. The glass was even more cracked than before, he noticed as he glanced at the object, but it still worked which was good enough for Bennett. He had learned to accept ‘it still kind of works, right?’ as the best outcome for most of his daily routines.
Although he probably could have figured out where he was by finding the water that was right by the edge of the cliff, the fact that he was injured and couldn’t really deduce much of anything from the mix of fog and trees made him not want to risk anything. So, he started walking West, towards the Statue of the Seven in Starfell lake.
“This is great,” Bennett deduced, only a few minutes into his walk and having trouble with the boar living around the area charging him. “A good adventurer never turns down a challenge!” He sniffled and wiped at his now twitching nose, choosing to ignore the fact that he would probably have a really bad cold in a few days.
A few more trees before reaching the lake, he took a chance to take in his surroundings. Although Mondstadt was the city of the wind, meaning the downpour was akin to small projectiles, the rain wasn’t that bad. Sure, the place being mostly fields meant that he was more likely to get hit by lighting, but the rain was soothing in a way Bennett couldn’t quite explain. Something about it just felt… tranquil.
Fischl would be proud of him for using such a big word, he noted in his mind.
The adventurer held out his hand to test the rain flow from under the cover of a Cuhua tree. Frowning at the fact that it was worse than before, he slumped against the tree bark angrily and-
A big, plump, apple fell directly into his outstretched hand.
Shocked, Bennett quickly scanned the area to make sure he wasn’t being attacked or anything of the sort. Finding only himself nearby, he turned back to the apple. Feeling a maniac grin start to creep onto his face, he shook his head in excitement.
He could practically feel his mood lifting as he held the apple tightly in his one hand. Adjusting the crumbled bag around his waist, he started to skip towards the lake.
“Hey, not bad! This apple looks really good too. And perfectly ripe!” He held it up to the sky, glancing over its red skin. Wow, this was exciting! This had to be one of the best apples to ever exist, he decided. While he thought about saving it to show everyone back home, he quickly brushed the thought off. A sixteen year old prancing with delight over a really good apple made him seem like a child. Besides, he was hungry now.
Swinging his left arm onto his hip, he was about to take a bite out of the apple when a strong force hit him from behind.
Apparently, some boar thought it would be hilarious to run headfirst into his legs as he tried to enjoy his apple. Barbatos forbid he ever have anything, apparently.
Hissing at the shot of sharp, red hot pain creeping up his legs, he toppled forward onto the ground, hitting his chin right on a rock.
The fall had knocked the wind out of him, leaving Bennett to watch helplessly as the apple he was eating landed straight into a mud puddle.
He must have laid there for a good minute in silence, just staring as the apple sank down into the puddle. He felt some blood dripping down from his chin, but was too overcome by shock to even really care. Looking behind him to glare at the offending boar, who was seemingly unbothered, he furrowed his brow angrily.
“God damn it!”
(It has been damned, a bard dressed in green decided, as he ordered a Sticky Honey Roast from The Good Hunter.)
Pushing himself to his feet, Bennett was basically shaking as he got himself back up. He was covered in mud, rain, and blood, and it was disgusting. He was an adventurer, of course, so he was used to this, but this felt like a type of disgusting he had never even seen before. The only other time he felt this pathetic was the time he got his vision. He shuddered at the memory of blood running down every part of his body, the strong smell of iron overwhelming him.
Looking down, he saw that he had crushed his compass a little bit more in the fall. Now, the pointers were exposed since more glass fell out. Water dripped into the device, taunting him. His dad would be so disappointed to learn that he ruined the one thing that was lent to him.
Bending down to pick it up, Bennett suddenly felt like he was about to burst into tears. He was pathetic, covered in filth, and angry. He turned to face away from the lake, towards the trees again. Shoving the compass in his pouch, not even caring that he felt a shard of some sort rip through part of his glove, he angrily focused in on his vision.
He didn’t even deserve a stupid vision. Passion his ass; when he was laying there in the cave dying in a pool of his own blood all he could think about was the fact that it would be over soon. Instead, he had survived, and had gotten the great honor of limping back to Mondstadt coated in the sticky matter. Plus the shame of getting strange stares from all the townsfolk had been humiliating as well, even after he washed off a bit in the river. Bennett was pretty sure they had all thought he was dead.
Though, the look on Barbara’s face when she saw him was pretty funny.
Still, his vision had gotten him through a number of situations where he could have simply died a noble adventurer's death. That’s all he really wanted, in the end. He saw what happened to his dads that lived past their career. He adored them, they meant everything to him- but the idea of having the same glazed over look in his eyes as he forgot everyone and everything scared Bennett more than anything he had ever encountered or heard about.
Clutching angrily at the glass orb, which was flickering a dull orange, he grasped it with his right hand. Just seeing the symbol of fire taunting him made him grip the glass angrily, hard enough that he could feel the wings of the case dig into his skin.
The sharp sensation grounded Bennett a little, but he still felt himself twitching with rage. At some point, hot, angry, tears had rolled out of his eyes and down his face.
“Nobody wants you here,” the white haired boy snarled. “You’re useless.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to the vision or himself now.
Slamming his vision down into the mud with rage, Bennett took sick pleasure in using his boot to stomp it into the dirt.
Watching as it disappeared into the ground made a twisted part of his brain laugh in delight. Watching his reflection on the orb disappear as well made him feel twice as good.
Suddenly, he was overcome with a sort of heaviness; falling to his knees, his crying intensified. The overwhelming emotions made it hard to think. He wasn’t very talkative about his emotions, not wanting to burden others with his own unhappiness. This however, often led to what he could describe as temper tantrums, that he hated himself for afterwards.
“Why… Why am I like this? I just want-“ he hiccuped. Resting his hands on the tree he was next to, he tried to desperately think of a way to ground himself. The scratchy material on the flora in front of him gave the adventurer an idea.
Groaning, he latched his hands firmly onto the rough bark and pulled himself back a bit. Preparing himself, he sucked in air through his teeth.
Bennett then slammed the front of his head into the bark at full force.
He felt the splinters of wood penetrate the skin, he felt the blood running down his face; but the pain was more like a rush of joy to him.
It hurt like hell, and he knew it. His forehead was basically split open, by something akin to the forces of a medium sized rock. But it felt so good, that he couldn’t bring himself to be upset.
He was hurting himself. He had done it before.
Don’t get him wrong- Bennett is perfectly fine. He doesn’t cut or anything, nor does he have more suicidal thoughts that the average person. It’s just that a little bit of pain always makes him feel better. It heightens his senses; it’s a scientific fact. So he doesn’t need help, or anything.
He would rather die than admit he has a problem.
(That thought just proved that you’re messed up, dipshit.)
His chest was still tight, and his throat still felt dry. So he pulled back again and slammed with more force.
The fact that the wound was open made it hurt more, honestly. He was pretty sure he felt a splinter get stuck into a piece of loose skin. But that was a problem for Barbara to be upset about later.
Oh archons, poor Barbara. If she knew that some of his injuries were self inflicted she would be so pissed. He felt horrible- Barbara, wasting her healing skills on stupid Bennett. How would she feel if she knew that everytime she healed him up, he had to resist the urge to break his own bones just to feel the pain again.
The panic and self loathing in his stomach started to build up again. He couldn’t breathe- it felt like water was being pumped directly into his lungs. It hurt, the emotions hurt so bad- so much worse than all the injuries.
So one last time, he smashed his head into the tree. This time was gentler- he had no energy left to go any harder. But it was enough to make him feel better. Good lord, did it hurt though.
The noises around him were so fucking loud, as well. The pattering of rain, and screaming of the frogs nearby- if he had been more observant, perhaps he would have noticed the approaching footsteps.
Bennett clutched at his sword angrily, the hilt of the festering desire covered in faint traces of what must have been his own blood splatter. He forced himself to his feet, using what little leverage he had with his free hand to pull himself from the ground. His legs felt like jelly.
For a second his head felt light, whether from blood loss or emotions he didn’t know. But the second it came rushing back to him, the white haired boy stumbled into the bushes and puked.
He hadn’t had much in his stomach to begin with- he never really got hungry these days, after all- but whatever he did have all rushed out of his throat. It was disgusting- the feeling of the bile rushing out of his throat uncontrollably made him wish he was dead.
After it was all done, Bennett licked the back of his now slime covered teeth. The taste was horrible, and the sting made him tense up.
He was about to start crying again. God he was so stupid, he couldn’t even do anything right-
“Bennett?” Upon hearing his name, the adventurer quickly whipped around towards the source of the voice. Standing there was none other than the Spindriff Knight, Eula Lawrence.
So, back to the present moment.
Although it was raining, she looked quite dry. Her clothes were gathering the wet splatters of the downpour, and there were still plenty of dry spots. She must have been camping out in a tent or cave only minutes before. While she had her usual stoic look plastered upon her face, there was a hint of confusion in her multicolored eyes. She was clasping her claymore in her right hand (how that didn’t hurt her wrist, he had no idea) and clutching her vision with her left. It appeared that Eula seemed to believe he was an enemy, which made the teen chuckle internally.
But once he got over that, he realized that this was actually quite a tricky situation to get himself out of. He was bleeding from his forehead, and the rest of his body was also covered in blood and mud. There was the residue of his vomit dripping from his mouth, and his eyes were stained pink from tears. Along with the fact that his stuff was all over the place, Eula probably was pretty suspicious right now.
The Knights of Favonius were efficient- every one of them intelligent and strong. There was no way Bennett could convince the cryo user that there wasn’t anything wrong. Even if he could get her to drop it for now, she would be keeping an eye on him, which he really didn’t want. He HATED when people wasted time to be worried over them- a Knight following him around was way worse.
He racked his brain for what he could say to her; there was a mitachurl, I think I experienced a hallucination, I didn’t get enough sleep last night- he decided on something much stupider.
“Oh, hey Eula! Strange to see you around here!”
She fucking LIVES here Bennett. Literally everyone knows this.
Eula seemed to be thinking the same thing, but fortunately for the white haired teen she always took things at least a little seriously. With the look on her face becoming more confused, she vanished her claymore and moved to speak.
“Is that… so? I guess Amber patrols around these parts more than I do.” This could be his escape!
“Ah, Amber. How is she? Doing good?” He commented, flashing a thumbs up at her.
“Well she’s- fine? I’m sorry, is there some joke I’m missing or is there a reason why you’re covered in blood?” Damn it. He couldn’t slip it by her that easily. Part two of the plan then.
“Oh, well you know me!” Bennett chuckled, knocking his goggles in a playful manner with his free hand curled up in a fist. “Clumsy Bennett. I just tripped and fell.” He bent down to grab his bag, hoping to escape the situation, but as he stood back up he felt another wave of nausea hit him. Slapping a hand over his mouth, he curled inward on himself.
This isn’t happening. There’s no way in hell I’m puking in front of a Knight of Favonius.
He vaguely saw Eula’s boots move quickly towards him.
“Are you ok, Bennett? You look a little pale.” He shook his head, and as she moved to put her hand on his back he panicked.
“Stay back! Please!”
For a tough Knight, Eula gave a look like a kicked puppy. Retreating her hand, she kneeled down a little farther away from him.
Bennett hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, and he instantly felt terrible. Stammering, he tried to think of a way to explain himself.
“I-I didn’t mean it like that! I just, uh- didn’t want you to get dirty! I’m covered in blood, and I’m totally disgusting right now-“
His ramble was cut short by a flash of dizziness, which had Bennett scrambling for the bushes again to throw up more of his guts. He vaguely sensed Eula reaching for him again, but she never came into contact. Though he appreciated her respect for people's wishes, he honestly kind of needed a bit of comfort right now.
As he finished he coughed dryly, pounding his fist against his chest.
“Ugh, not again.”
“Again?” Eula questioned from behind him. “Could it be something you ate?” Bennett chuckled.
“Nah, I haven’t eaten anything today.” Turning his head, the look on Eula’s face clued him in that that was probably the wrong thing to say.
“You really should eat, you know.” Eula commented, standing up and reaching her hand out for him to grab. “Especially if you’re going to be doing outdoor work like commissions.”
Bennett nodded at her, clutching her hand and pulling himself up. He felt shaky on his feet, but other than that, he was doing ok. Miserably, he realized that his bag and vision were still on the ground. He tried to bend down again to grab it, but Eula stopped him with a firm tug.
“Allow me.” She said, reaching down for his bag. Upon noticing the empty clasp in the bag, she scanned the area visually until she spotted a hint of the glimmer of the Pyro vision.
“Eula, I couldn’t possibly have you dig through the mud for my vision!” Bennett sputtered, waving the hand that wasn’t leaning on her frantically. At this, Eula turned her head and raised an eyebrow at him.
“It’s just a little mud.” Guiding him forward, she stuck her hand into the dirt and pulled the vision out quickly. “But, if you’re so worried about it-“ a thin layer of ice covered her hand and the muddy parts of the vision. With a swift movement, Eula smacked her hand into the tree bark, and the ice crumbled to reveal a now clean glove.
The blue haired knight handed the vision back to him, and it began to hum happily in his hands. Although they hadn’t been separated for very long, Bennett felt himself feeling a bit better once it was in his grasp. He set off a small flame from the tip of his pinky, chuckling as he made it dance to and fro. The adventurer looked up for a second, to find Eula gently looking at him with what appeared to be a smile on her face. Embarrassed, he turned away quickly, feeling his face burn up; he could have swore that she seemed embarrassed as well.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Eula cleared her throat and motioned for Bennett to lean on her.
“Let’s get a move on, then. Hopefully we can make it back to Mondstadt before it gets too bad.”
As if on cue, a large bolt of lighting hit a tree a bit in front of them. A startled squirrel screeched and ran from the trees to cower under a nearby rock. Though the squirrel was spared from the new assault of strong rain, the two Mondstadtians were not- getting more soaked than before.
Bennett felt guilt shoot up spine, a familiar feeling of disappointment settling into his skin. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Eula spoke first.
“I don’t think we can make it to Mondstadt. We must find shelter nearby.”
“How about one of the nearby hunter settlements? One isn’t very far from here.” Bennett suggested. As he looked to Eula’s face for approval, he was disappointed to find that she was frowning a bit.
“I don’t think that-“ she took a deep breath. “I’m not sure they would let me…” trailing off, Eula turned her head to the sign to mumble awkwardly. Getting the hint, Bennett dropped the topic while Eula pondered to herself.
“Ah, we can just go to the tent that I was just at. Hopefully, my first aid skills should be enough to tide you over until the storm stops.” Eula finally spoke, shifting her arm so the younger boy could lean on her a bit more.
Bennett nodded, falling into her careful but quick step pattern with ease.
—
Eventually, they reached the aforementioned tent. It was a small stop put up for tired adventurers, complete with many pots for cooking and a sleeping bag inside. It was probably abandoned due to the fact that it was probably too prone to wild animal interference, Bennett observed, the outside of the tent being cut into small tusk shaped scratches. Besides the holes, it was pretty dry inside. The broken part of his glove exposed his skin to the cloth material as he felt around inside, on his knees now.
Eula was behind him, probably making sure he wouldn’t fall over at the sudden elevation change in his body. Once the cryo user recognized that he was fine, as Bennett crawled into the tent, she quickly followed after him. She was about a foot taller than Bennett, so she had to shrug her shoulders into herself when entering through the opening.
They both settled into a sitting position on the floor, Bennett having to take a moment to tug at an accessory caught on the tent fabric before Eula reached over to help him with it.
Bennett was silent for the next couple of minutes. In all honesty, he was spacing out looking at his bloodstained gloves. He felt like he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. The adventurer shook his head back and forth, his headache pounding in a swinging motion in his skull.
He was so caught up in his dissociation, that he hadn't noticed that Eula had taken out a small first aid package. She tapped his shoulder gently but firmly, and when he looked up she made a sweeping motion by her hairline- asking for him to get his hair out of the way. With a nod, Bennett pulled down his goggles and pulled them back up, but this time with his bangs caught in the strap like a headband. Feeling a little vulnerable and Eula obviously eyed his injury, he took to staring at his feet while she got to work.
The dab of the healing solution made him hiss a bit, as the texture and feeling of the alcohol against his wounds practically screamed at him, but Bennett willed himself to keep quiet for the sake of getting this over with.
When Eula grabbed the roll of gauze from the package, she tilted his head up to have the teen look at the ceiling for a better view. They locked eyes for a second, and Bennett felt like his skin was being pried away by the intense glare on her face. She prod the cotton swab back against a tiny scratch near his eyes.
“Have you slept recently?” she asked, innocent in meaning but demanding in tone.
“That bad, huh?” Bennett chuckled, reaching his hand to scratch the back of his head. “I guess I could look better.”
“You’re dodging the question again, Bennett.” Eula said in a blank tone. Bennett blinked at her, feeling a bitter feeling rise in his gut.
“I… why would you care?” He laughed dryly, batting away the hand from the cut she had been cleaning up. While Eula was probably offended by his words, she didn’t show it as she retaliated.
“How couldn’t I care? You look like you’re on the verge of death.” A patch of gauze was put and pressed onto his forehead wound, a dull pain gathering in that area. “Just answer yes or no.”
Bennett tightened his fists.
“I will presume that’s a no, then?” Eula’s face twitched with a smirk of victory, as she made sure the gauze was secure.
“It’s no big deal. It’s part of being an adventurer.”
“You say you’re an adventurer but…” Eula sighed. “You don’t seem to venture outside of Mondstadt.”
“How would you know where I’ve been?”
“You’re kind of a hot topic around Mondstadt. I hear from the girls about you all the time. Ah, Noelle, Barbara, and Klee I mean.” Bennett chuckled at the idea of Barbara and Noelle ranting angrily about his recklessness.
“You seem quite popular yourself, Eula. You are a Knight, after all. I mean, how cool is that!” Bennett felt a bit of excitement bubble up in his chest at the fact that he was talking face to face with a high ranking Knight of Favonius. The distant look on Eula’s face made him shut up quickly, however, as he snapped his attention back towards the ground. Deciding to change the topic, he spoke again.
“Besides, I can’t just leave Mondstadt. Even Dragonspine was a bit of a stretch.” Eula’s face straightened out again, and she frowned.
“Why can’t you?” She asked it so seriously, so innocently, like she had no idea what he could do to others. To himself. He suppressed a laugh.
“Well,” Bennett smiled sadly, fingers fidgeting. “Just because I’m an adventurer, doesn’t mean I’m good at it.” Eula still looked confused, so he continued.
“I mean, I almost get myself killed every other day. My swordsmanship is sloppy at best, and I don’t have as much control over my vision as I would like to have. All in all, when I eventually… bite it, I would at least want to be discovered quickly and easily.” Now it was Eula’s turn to frown.
“What makes you so certain that you will die?”
“It happens to everybody, eventually.”
“I know that, of course. But why do you think it’ll happen so soon?” She plucked a splinter out of the torn forehead skin, making Bennett wince.
“It’s part of being an adventurer, you know?” The teen felt like this was an obvious fact, but the cryo user still seemed out of the loop.
“Not necessarily. I mean Ollie from the guild- he’s retired now, but he went on plenty of adventures and he’s practically unscathed.” Bennett perked up at the familiar name, jostling the bandages, much to Eula's annoyance.
“Oh yeah, Dad’s always bragging about that. He swears he’s invincible.” He could see Eula pause for a second.
“He’s your father?” She said, with a hint of shock plaguing her voice. It appeared that not everyone was familiar with his familial situation. Bennett shook his head a bit, thinking of how to phrase this.
“Not biologically. All the older adventurers in the Guild are my dad. They adopted me.”
“Really? I had no idea. Are you from Mondstadt, or?”
“Ah!” Bennett rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “It’s a kinda weird story.” Eula only nodded at him, encouraging him to continue. He gulped, a bit nervous.
“Well, he was on an adventure one day, in some super strange and dangerous place. There were big walls of fire everywhere, and no people in sight. Suddenly, when he thought everything was hopeless, he saw me on the ground.” Bennett laughed, holding his hands up for dramatic effect. “He said I was a child abandoned by the world itself’, which is kinda funny.”
Eula seemed entranced by the story, fully focusing on the adventurers words and seemingly forgetting her current task.
“He came home with me, and he proclaimed that I was the most valuable treasure of all. There’s this picture of him and I, it’s super cute! He was-“ he paused suddenly, overcome with a sense of guilt.
“Something wrong?” Eula inquired, tilting her head.
“I-it’s nothing. It’s just that, I never got to thank him. He came home with me and a few weeks later he-“ Bennett took a big shuddering breath. “He died.”
A cold comforting hand was suddenly on his shoulder. Eula met his gaze and a gleam of what must have been concern came over her eyes.
“I’m sorry Bennett. I’m sure he was a great man.”
“Thank you Eula.” Bennett sniveled appreciatively. Suddenly feeling a bit awkward about spilling his guts to a Knight, he tried to change the subject.
“Wow, we’re really learning a lot about each other today, huh? Who would have known that my little adventure would turn into a whole ordeal.” Praying Eula would take the bait, he waited.
Eula continued working on the wound, picking at
more tiny splinters of wood. “Yes, of course. You know, Mondstadt is a small city, but we really know nothing about each other, huh? I have a good friend from Liyue, and she seems to know everybody.” Bennett nodded.
“That’s one of the things I don’t like about Mondstadt. I mean, it’s great here, don’t get me wrong but…” he trailed off, deciding to fiddle with the fabric on his gloves, which he had removed a bit ago. “It feels so big and empty, that sometimes it’s like…”
“Lonely?” Eula supplied helpfully. Glancing up at her quickly, Bennett nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah! It gets really lonely, sometimes.” He thought back on his old adventure team, on how basically everyone else in the guild avoided him. About Royce’s words; Royce didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, on that day in the domain- but it didn’t really matter to Bennett when he reflected on how he thought he saw pity in the travelers eyes.
The space behind his eyes grew tight, as he suddenly remembered all the harsh words he had ever been told by other members of the guild. It was pathetic, really. If even the guild didn’t want him, then who could?
Composing himself, he scrubbed at his face and willed the tears to go away. Satisfied when he felt his senses relax, he looked back up at the Spindriff Knight and plastered a big smile onto his face. While she did not smile back, she did let out an appreciative huff before getting back to tending his wounds.
The young adult tightly wound the bandage, securing it to Bennett’s forehead. She then went to work on his leg, cleaning out the gash before removing the arrow swiftly. The young boy gasped, and Eula murmured an apology before tightly wrapping it with more bandages.
Soon enough, the tight, familiar, feeling of a leg wrap was sensed and Bennett opened one eye lazily to see that Eula was done. The Knight put the supplies away in a little tin box with small paintings of Baron Bunny and Dodoco decorating the lord, which Bennett found quite amusing.
“Why don’t you get some rest,” Eula said softly. “You’ve had a long day.” Though he felt bad about making Eula protect him, he couldn’t bring himself to argue as he moved to lay down, using his backpack as a pillow. Within seconds, his eyelids slammed shut like a heavy iron door and he drifted off.
-
The smell of moon pie jolted Bennett awake, and as he groggily rubbed at his eye with a hand he realized that he was covered in a wool blanket of sorts. He yawned, snuggling back into the sheet. Maybe, he could get just a bit more sleep-
“I know you’re awake. Come on, it’s time to get up.”
Mumbling a protest, Bennett heard the smack of a plastic utensil against what must have been ground meat of some kind.
So he really did smell moon pie. Wriggling over to his right side, he saw Eula sitting at the entrance of the tent, facing away from him. The rain must have stopped, as only soft beams of light shone through. In front of her was a travel sized cooking pot, that was sizzling a bit with something in the black pan.
Now, Bennett didn’t want to be rude, but he had just now realized how hungry he was. He just hoped Eula wouldn’t mind him using the pot to cook up an egg or something.
“Hey,” he rasped out, voice still heavy with sleep. “Do you mind if I cook something using the pot? I won’t make a mess, I promise.” At this Eula turned to face him and frowned a bit, confusion glazing over her eyes.
“Oh, I shouldn’t have just assumed you wanted moon pies. It’s my fault, really. I apologize.” Looking somewhat disappointed, Eula awkwardly avoided his gaze.
Bennett blinked, processing what he just heard.
“You wanted to… share your food with me?” She turned back to him, before shrugging.
“Not exactly.” His stomach dropped a bit. “I’m not hungry, so I just made something for you.” Eula then crawled fully out of the tent, and the sound of clinking plates and cutlery could be heard.
Bennett just paused, a bit surprised. He hadn’t had anyone make food for him in so long. A warm feeling was building up in his gut, and he suppressed a giggle. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, then fully sitting, he listened carefully to the sound of Eula work.
Only a minute or two must have passed, before a small triumphant ‘aha!’ was heard from outside the tent.
“Alright, finished. Come on out to eat, we wouldn’t want to get crumbs on our belongings.”
Crawling out on his hands and knees, Bennett hissed at the bright sunlight that met his eyes suddenly. When he adjusted, he saw that Eula was holding out a pretty white and blue paint, with a crescent shaped moon pie with a slice cut in it. Some flowers adorned the side of the plate as well, bringing it together in a nice relaxing tone. It was so pretty he almost felt bad eating it.
His stomach growled.
Almost.
Taking the utensils laid to the side of the plate, Bennett eagerly cut into the moon pie. First he lifted the already cut piece up to his mouth, and found the taste heavenly after a few days of eating either his own cooking or raw fruits and vegetables. He had wanted to keep at least a bit of dignity in front of Eula, but as the sweet meat warmed his tongue he felt his composure slip away like it was covered in slime condensate.
Soon enough, the plate was empty; the only proof of there being any food at all were the small dainty crumbs coating the plate.
Bringing his fist up to his mouth, Bennett hiccuped a bit.
“That was like…” Eula sucked in an anticipatory breath. “The best moon pie I’ve ever had! You’ve got a real talent.” A flustered expression plastered itself to Eula’s face.
“Oh, you think so? I’m flattered.” She mumbled, pink dusting her cheeks. Bennett nodded eagerly, wiping the plate off with a handkerchief he carried on him.
“Of course I do!” A realization dawned on Bennett, and a grin covered his face. “Hey, I know! How about I make something for you to eat? I know you said you weren’t hungry, but I just feel bad making you watch me eat like a pig.”
“Ah, you don’t have to do that for me. I’m fine, really.”
“Really! I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want any food. But without you helping me, I probably would have had to crawl back to Mondstadt covered in dirt and blood. I ought to be begging you to make food for you!” He felt himself grow excited, but a bit embarrassed at the thought of making something that a Knight of Favonius would get to eat. Eula gave a thoughtful look for a second, before sighing.
“Well, if you must. But I will remember this.” The words were barely out of her mouth before the sound of an eggshell being cracked on ceramic was heard, as well as a cry of protest as some of the said eggshell fell onto Eula’s shoe.
Only a few minutes later, the egg was already done and eaten. It was a modest thing, crispy around the edges with Bennett’s signature decorative toothpick stuck in the middle. While it didn’t last long, Eula commented that she found the taste to be quite enjoyable; the Knight stated that she had grown accustomed to the taste of crispy food, due to Amber’s cooking trends.
The two then switched the conversation to a friendly debate about favorite and least favorite foods. While Bennett loved a good meaty broth, Eula found that she could not stand it. On the other hand, Barbara’s spicy specialty was enriching to the Knight, while Bennett found it made him wheeze (although, he still ate it; as not to offend Barbara.) The talk was lighthearted, for a talk between a Knight and a teenage boy, and the two found themselves forgetting about going back to Mondstadt for a bit.
Eventually, however, they remembered the city that they loved so much. Deciding it was time to head out, Bennett and Eula packed up their things and got to their feet.
“Can you walk?” Eula questioned, holding out a hand for Bennett to pull himself up. He grabbed on, and scrambled awkwardly to his feet.
“Yeah, I can. I’m a bit sore, though.” On Eula’s insistence, he stood near her for support just in case he fell.
The walk to Mondstadt was incident free, which was very surprising to Bennett. Usually it was rainfall and mobster attacks galore; now, only sunny skies and foxes lounging happily on rocks were within range of the unlikely duo. So far, it was a pretty good day, Bennett would say.
And then Swan came along.
Now, usually, Swan stood guard with pride at the front gate of Mondstadt; it just so happened, that as he jogged into their line of sight, that he had an errand to run.
Swan didn’t notice them at first, but he was moving his mouth. The closer he got, the more that Bennett heard. He heard kissy noises made in quick succession from the male Knight, and waved at him with confusion.
Swan finally looked up and spotted Eula and Bennett, eyes wide in surprise. Rushing over, the brunette skidded to a half in front of them.
“Hey, you two!” He gasped for air, putting his hands on his knees. “Have you seen a cat around here? I scared Roger off earlier and the staff at the Cat’s Tail are concerned.” The two shook their heads.
“No, sorry. But I hope you find him soon, Swan.” Eula said the words so flawlessly that it seemed like she hadn’t even thought about it- she just knew the right words to say.
“Thank you.” Suddenly turning towards Bennett again, his eyes widened in a mix of shock and relief. “Ah, Bennett! Glad to see you again, ey? Even Fischl had no idea where you had gone.” The sound of a small crunch and a frantic meowing snapped Swan out of the conversation.
“Ah! Roger, come back!” His voice faded as the guard ran after the panicked cat. Bennett chuckled at the comedic sounds that could be heard from the desperate Knight chasing the extremely evasive feline, but his laughter felt awkward when he felt his companions eyes on him. Swiveling his head, he was met with a confused expression.
Admittedly, it made sense that Eula didn’t know about his recent… extended vacation. Being a Knight didn’t make you the teenager patrol- she had plenty of other more important people to worry about. But he still felt his face go red a bit at the thought of Eula thinking he was some sort of deviant.
“I didn’t run away or anything,” he blurted out suddenly. “So don’t worry about it.” Trying to walk a bit faster, he tapped quickly towards the bridge.
Being as injured as he was, Eula was very quickly able to catch up.
“Is that why you looked halfway dead?” She questioned, bringing her hand up to push her headband back. “Because you were living out here?”
“I wasn’t halfway dead.” Bennett mumbled.
“You were covered in your own blood. And you tried to get me to ignore it.” She sighed, crossing her arms and donning her signature pout. “I was a teenager once too, you know. I’m only 21.” Bennett wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. He was a bit shocked, but flattered, at the support she seemed to be offering out to him.
He wanted to talk to someone, anyone. But when he looked back at all the instances of him slamming his head onto hard surfaces, of him lighting his vision too close to his skin, of him just sobbing pathetically in the middle of the night- it was so pathetic that the only appropriate response from any person would be disgust.
So he had decided long ago to give up on talking to anyone about his emotions and preferred to just bottle them up. Big deal. Didn’t mean that Eula should be wasting her time with him.
I’m perfectly normal and stable, Bennett concluded. It’s this city that seems to think I am strange.
Realizing that they were now entering Mondstadt, Bennett took in the surroundings. As always, everything was exactly the same as it was when he had left it. The flower shop was still up, Flora looking over it. Wagner was still his usual grumpy self. Even the adventurers loitering outside the guild seemed familiar, although they tended to be on the move due to the nature of their work. All in all, it was just Mondstadt.
“We should get you to Barbara’s.” Eula suggested, directing the teenage boy's attention towards her again. In his peripheral vision, as he looked at Eula, he saw other residents of the city staring at the two of them. He supposed it was natural, seeing as they were quite an unlikely duo. Still, the hateful glances made him uncomfortable.
Eula seemed to notice something behind him too, and though he was not looking he heard the faint whispers of the adventurers hanging around outside. It really was his unlucky day, seeing as the one day he was with a Knight everyone seemed to be more gossipy.
Bennett turned to look up at Eula, softening his gaze. Sorry that you have to be seen with me, it said. The Knight mirrored his expression, as if apologizing to him,
The gloom of the day affected other parts of the town; the only bright colors Bennett could see were the greens of Venti’s outfit as he contently sat over an empty plate of what looked to be a type of meat.
Still, they kept on, and they eventually trudged through the doors and had Bennett taken away by a peeved Barbara, scolding him for his carelessness.
Eula decided to sit in the cathedral while she waited. She could have easily just left, but she wanted to make sure Bennett was feeling ok. He said he was fine, but she felt uncertain due to the tone of his voice. It was the tone Jeans made when she was feeling under the weather, but didn’t want to rest.
Barbara reappeared 5 minutes later, shaking her head back and forth.
“He’ll be fine, so don’t worry. What on earth happened to him though? Apart from the wound on his leg, which I won’t even get into now- the gash on his forehead was huge, as if it had been hit repeatedly.” Eula pondered this for a moment, wondering what could have happened before she arrived. Bennett was against that tree, she remembered, but the idea that he could trip and hit his head against it several times seemed ridiculous, even for him.
Taking her silence as an excuse to keep talking, Barbara continued.
“Plus, he’s covered in all sorts of burns. I didn’t know Pyro users had such a hard time controlling their visions- but in Bennett’s case, it’s much worse.” Now Eula frowned. For some reason, that just didn’t seem accurate.
Now, she knew fire was dangerous, obviously. And she knew that visions, representing ambitions in the way they did, could grow extremely large and powerful- but she had never felt so out of control with her vision that she accidently hurt herself. Cryo was a strong, ice cold force, and she knew when using it against enemies that it did not feel good. But not once had it turned against her.
Her pondering was interrupted by the sound of boots walking across the tile floor. Turning her gaze upwards, Eula met the emerald eyes of a Bennett who was in better shape. The forehead gash was gone, and even if there was a scar white locks of hair covered it. Though the adventurer wore a tired smile, she could tell that he felt much better already.
“Eula,” he rasped. Clearing his throat, Bennett tried again. “Thank you so much for helping me get back. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” The Knight shook her head in response.
“You don’t have to pay me back. It’s what any decent person would have done, isn’t it?” Bennett looked a bit surprised, but his shock turned into joy as he grinned at the older girl.
“You’re way more than a decent person, Eula!” Bennett laughed, nose wrinkling. “You’re a really good person!”
Eula’s heart warmed a bit at the genuine compliment, too shocked to speak for a second.
“Ah, thank you so much. That means a lot to me, really.” Feeling herself lighten up a little, Eula did all she knew how to do in the moment.
She smiled at him.
-
After confirming that Bennett didn’t need her assistance any longer, Eula trotted back to headquarters. Her report had nothing worthy to note related to patrol, but for her personal experience the encounter that day meant everything.
By the time she finished her report, and the paperwork that came with it, the sun was already setting. Seeing as it was early spring, it was not that late- still, it was later than expected.
She met up with Amber, and they walked to Eula’s apartment for dinner. Although Eula wasn’t very hungry herself, watching Amber attempt to cook something edible was like kicking a puppy. So, one mess in the kitchen and eaten skewer of grilled fish later, Amber was content.
As per usual, the pair danced to the noises of the city before weariness began to set in. It must have been around 9:30 when the two changed into bedclothes and crawled into bed. It was another 10 minutes of goodnight kisses and Eula trying to press her cold feet against Amber before they really tried to sleep.
Being spooned with her face turned towards the window, Eula could see the outline of the gates of Mondstadt as the night guards rotated shifts with the evening ones. One guard slipped away into the Adventurer’s Guild, the slight opening of the door letting soft light filter onto the street before the door was shut again.
She hadn’t even realized that she had lifted her head up a bit to get a better look, not until Amber made a small noise of discontentment.
“What… why’re you looking?” A sleep soaked voice arose from the warm lump next to Eula. She shook her head.
“Just thinking.” Though she meant for Amber to go back to sleep, the bright reflection of a pupil indicated that she was curious about the Cryo user’s thoughts. Eula sighed, knowing that she wasn’t getting out of this one.
“Have you ever… burned yourself with your vision before?” Amber thought about it for a second, the weariness getting to her brain, before shaking her head no.
“You can’t hurt yourself with your vision directly from the source. Even if you light something else on fire, as a Pyro user you’re very fire resistant. Unless you wanted to leave a burn, you definitely couldn't.”
“Ah.”
A few moments of silence passed. Eula knew that Amber was curious, but she was probably too tired to provoke her.
Eula’s mouth was a bit dry. She licked her lips.
“… Amber?“ A small shuffle was heard.
“Yeah?”
“Would you want eggs for breakfast tomorrow morning?”