Bennett and I had left Chongyun and Xinqiu earlier. We had explored the rest of the harbor.
We stood on one of the boats that tourists were allowed to go on and stared out into the sea. I inhaled deeply and took in the smell of the salty ocean. Bennett made sure to keep his distance from the ledge in case his luck struck and he went overboard. Still, the smile he held never left his face.
"What's got you so happy?" I questioned him. He looked over a bit flustered.
"Oh, I'm not sure to be honest." He rubbed the back of his neck humming to himself quietly. "Guess I just never expected to come on such a journey. I've always been by myself that I'm used to getting half assed adventures I suppose."
I glanced over to him and saw he had quickly averted his gaze towards me. He laughed awkwardly. "And.." he trailed off thinking for a moment. "You're probably the first one who hasn't left me yet."
I lifted an eyebrow, "Yet?" I playfully punched his shoulder, "A little misfortune is not enough to get rid of me. Count on it."
His eyes had a hopeful glint in them and he softly smiled and turned his attention to the water below. The sounds of the waves crashing against the boat gently.
It hadn't struck me that Bennett probably has some major trust issues. Well, if he doesn't I'd be surprised. You wouldn't be able to tell from how he presents himself, but he's been so lonely. That luck of his probably doesn't make anything better. I know he must be hurting some way or another. From what I know, he really only has Razor as someone he can count on as a friend. Minus myself.
It was heartbreaking the more I thought about it.
My emotions must've been showing in my facial expressions because Bennett had shown concern, "Y/N? You okay? You look a bit distraught."
I shook and pulled myself out of my thoughts and turned my attention to him. "Do I? I'm fine." I stated.
He didn't seem to take my response. "Are you sure? Maybe it's the boat rocking, come on, we can go somewhere else." He took my hand and guided me off the boat.
That's just yet another thing about him. He was so selfless, and cares way more about the people around him, than he does himself. I wonder if it's because of how he grew up, or if something really is troubling him.
------
The sun was close to setting now. As the sun went down, it cast a gorgeous orange shade over the water. We continued walking until we were just outside of the harbor and marveled at the sunset.
"It's so pretty." I awed. I nudged Bennett's shoulder with my elbow. "It reminds me of when you saved me on Dragonspine. Not sure I ever properly thanked you for that."
Bennett shook his head. "Nah, this trip was way better than any thanks. It's been a blast." That's when something seemed to mentally click for him. I'm not sure what it was. However, for a split second his eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. But it was faster than I had the time to think about.
"You alright?"
He nodded. "Just fine! We should head back to the Inn before it gets too dark."
------
We hopped off the elevator of Wangshu Inn. It still amazes me, it's just such a fancy elevator.
We waved to the Inn owner and she waved back, as well as called us over.
"So." She started. "Has our um.. Somewhat permanent resident made an appearance?" She asked. "He's kind of an odd looking guy, not hard to miss."
We both nodded. "We ran into him the first day we stayed here. Pretty intimidating to say the least."
"Ah, I see. Hopefully he doesn't get too irritated. Don't worry though, he prefers being alone anyway. Although he does interact with a certain blonde traveler." She said putting a hand to her chin. "Oh, nevermind me. Just rambling. Enjoy your stay."
A blonde traveler? Interesting. We continued up to the top floor of our room.
"Seems he's maybe the loner type." I said as we reached the top of the steps. We could hear a few voices. One I could tell was the guy that was meant to be the permanent resident and two other ones.
"He has company?" Bennett asked as we turned the corner. In front of us was the green and black haired male. The blonde traveler, and a floating pixie.
"Honorary Knight? Paimon?"
They both looked over at the sound of their names.
Bennett and the other guy stood confused.
"Oh Y/N. And.. Bennett, was it?" Aether said turning towards us with a wave. We approached them both and I could tell the green-black haired fellow did not like our presence very much. "Didn't know you were in Liyue." He said.
I shrugged, "Didn't know I'd see a familiar face around here. Who is um.. Who is this?" I asked afraid to point at him in case he'd snap.
"Oh, this is--"
"--Xiao. That's my name." The guy named Xiao finished. For some reason that name sounded almost familiar to me, not sure where I heard it from though. Bennett must've had the same reaction because he had a puzzled look on his face.
"Y/N! What brings you and Bennett all the way out to Liyue?" Paimon questioned floating around us.
"Just touring around."
"Xiao..Xiao?" Bennett said mumbling to himself. "Wait a second.. Is this--" He stopped once he figured something out. "Y/N, this is that adeptia guy!"
My eyes widened. Not only did he say 'adeptus' wrong, but figured it out before I could. "Oh my barbatos.." I mentally cursed myself hoping he hadn't heard when I called him the loner type.
"I did hear it. I'll pretend I didn't" Xiao stated as if reading my mind. I shook myself and awkwardly laughed it off.
"So! Honorary Knight, what brings you here? And with an Adepti nonetheless." I quickly changed the subject.
"Actually, I was asking for Xiao's assistance with something. However, he um.." He said going off and turning his attention to Xiao who had walked away from the conversation and off to the ledge of the balcony. Without warning, he jumped down from the ledge. "Yeah.. he doesn't really do much if it doesn't relate to conquering demons. I should probably catch up to him." He walked over to the edge to where Xiao had previously jumped.
"This might be a bit. Be safe you two, Liyue is much more dangerous than Mondstadt."
Aether jumped down and Paimon floated not too far behind.
"Y/N..." Bennett said. I looked over to him and saw a glint in his eye. "You have such cool friends."
