The Astrologer and the Harbinger

"Rich Asshole"

i kinda have a headcanon that albedo mona and sucrose are all in a little friend group cause of their voicelines ab each other hehe

"I can't believe it." Mona groaned and threw her bag down on the bleachers next to Albedo. "I cannot fucking believe it."

"What's wrong?" Albedo asked, never lifting his head from his sketchpad, or notebook, or whatever. "Surely it can't be that bad."

"Ohh, it's bad, Albedo. How did I even get myself into this mess?" Mona splayed her arms across the seats, complaining dramatically. Albedo, Mona, and sometimes Sucrose always ate lunch out in the football stadium, mostly because it was more empty, as opposed to the chaotic cafeteria inside the school. 

"Well, start from the beginning, and maybe I can help you work your way out of it." Albedo encouraged, his gentle voice calming Mona nearly immediately. 

"Okay, so you know how I was trying to convince Principal Paimon to keep the astrology club going? I was busy presenting that thingy you helped me make, and then that little piece of shit with a bad haircut walked in and destroyed everything you and I worked so hard for!" Mona pounded her fist into her hand, frowning at the thought.

"Scaramouche?" Albedo asked.

"Yeah, the dumb one." Mona continued. "And then, he told Principal Paimon about how his grades were dropping, expected, but Principal Paimon made us work together! Ugh." Mona collapsed across the seats, closing her eyes at the injustice of it all. 

"What do you mean by work together?" 

"I'm supposed to tutor him because his grades suck ass," Mona blew a raspberry. "And he's supposed to help me keep the astrology club open. I, personally, don't see how he can do that when the idiot doesn't even know the proper name for the club."

"Right. Did you get his contact information?" Albedo asked, still sketching. 

"Scaramouche has my number in his phone now," Mona groaned. "And I'm pretty sure we're going somewhere for me to tutor him this afternoon."

"The best option for you to take, in my humble opinion, is to tutor him, tolerate him, and then maybe you two will be more civil to each other from now on. You both get benefits." Albedo suggested, biting into an apple.

Mona's stomach rumbled. She supposed it was lunchtime, after all, but she was too worked up about having to work with Scaramouche that it was hard to focus. And, she'd run out of her Mora allowance again.

"What are you even drawing anyway?" Mona asked, sitting up and peeking over Albedo's shoulder. She caught a glimpse of a beautiful sketch of Sucrose, light reflected over the tip of her nose, before Albedo jerked away.

"H-hey, don't look at my sketches without permission!" Albedo said defensively, clutching his sketchbook to his chest protectively.

"I saw that," Mona smirked. "Crushing on Sucrose, are we?"

"You- your phone is buzzing." Albedo deflected, pointing at Mona's bag with his pencil. 

Hmph. Albedo was telling the truth. Mona supposed she would tease him about Sucrose later, then. 

Mona pulled out her phone and opened the messages app.

???

???: Are you there?

???: Mona?

???: I will come find you if you don't reply.

Groaning, Mona realized it was probably Scaramouche. No one else could be so annoying.

 chill :mona

what do u want :mona

???: How did you know it was me?

u were annoying me and i thought hmm thats scaramouche :mona

also :mona

why tf do you type like a founding father :mona

Smiling to herself a little, Mona quickly changed Scaramouche's name in her contacts to           rich asshole.

rich asshole: Shut up.

rich asshole: When do you want our first tutoring session to be?

rich asshole: I would prefer this afternoon.

fine. :mona

but i want to go to that new bubble tea place :mona

rich asshole: Good Hunter?

yeah :mona

that one :) :mona

i might as well drink something tasty if i have to put up with u :mona

rich asshole: Fine. 

rich asshole: Does 4pm work for you?

mhm :mona

bye bye :mona

Mona rolled her eyes and put down her phone. She was planning to stay late after school today and write another astrology column for Teyvat High's newspaper, but whatever. It seemed like her plans would be cut short today.

---

Shit. Mona was late for her meeting with Scaramouche. She had wanted to be earlier than him, to show off or something, but had gotten caught up reading a new pamphlet about astrology that had been released today. 

Mona checked her phone nervously, racing through traffic to get to the small bubble tea shop. It was 4:09 already, and Scaramouche was probably one of those people who was always obsessively early. 

The doorbell to the tea shop jingled pleasantly as Mona pushed her way inside, face flushed from her hurry to get here. Scanning the tables, she didn't see Scaramouche at first. Maybe he was even later than she was?

Mona spotted Scaramouche sitting at one of the tables in the very far back of the store, leaning back in his chair casually and staring out the window. Her heart fluttered involuntarily at how handsome he looked, hair casually messy.

Stupid. Mona shook her head slightly and pulled her bag higher over her shoulder. 

"Scaramouche!" Mona called, winding her way through the tables, sofas, and cushions all crowded together. Scaramouche lifted his head, and his face lit up like he had just won the lottery.

"And here I was thinking you were going to stand me up." Scaramouche smirked and crossed his arms, looking Mona up and down. There was something wavering in his voice though, that didn't make him seem as confident. Mona blushed under his stare and threw her bag off to the side.

"This doesn't concern you. I'm here for the bubble tea, and that's it." Mona smirked and dug out her Mora pouch, only to find it empty. Shit. Had she really spent her weekly allowance on astrology magazines already?

"Out of Mora?" Scaramouche asked, a half smile on his face. 

"Sh-shut up," Mona hissed, her face red. It was no secret to the rest of the school that she was constantly out of Mora, but she still didn't like to be teased about it.

"Look, I invited you out. I can pay for your bubble tea if you like?" Scaramouche offered, his hands extended.

Wait, what?