《Your POV》

The sounds of birds chirping and the wind gently blowing through the grass could be heard as you opened your eyes. It was barely light outside, the perfect time to get a good start on your journey.

You opened your eyes, your eyes still adjusting to the faint light of the sunrise. You sat up and turned to Scaramouche to wake him up. Just as you were about to shake him awake, you realized he had tears in his eyes. Was he.. crying? It was a complete shock to you, you'd never expect someone like him to cry, especially in his sleep. You gently shook him.

"Scaramouche..?"

Scaramouche only made a small groan. You thought it was kind of cute to be honest.

You frowned, shaking him again, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Hm?" He sat up, completely oblivious to the fact that his hair was all messed up. It must have been a rough night. He rubbed his eyes but immediately looked at his hands which were now wet with tears, "Ah.. I'm sorry. This happens sometimes. It.. it was just a bad dream."

"It's alright," you reply with a gentle smile, "I get them too."

Scaramouche gets up, stretching a little while also fixing his hair, "Well, we need to head out soon. The sooner we leave, the closer we are to finishing this tedious mission."

You agreed. But something just dawned on you. After this mission was over, what would happen then? Would you and Scaramouche part ways and never see each other again? You hoped that wouldn't be the case. You were beginning to take a liking to him.

♢♢♢

The two of you were only a few minutes into your trip when you remembered something.

You didn't have the charm your brother gave you. You had probably dropped it at the campsite.

"Wait.. I think I left something behind. I'll be right back." You said as you gave him your stuff and ran back towards the camp, Scaramouche just watched you as you left.

《Scaramouche's POV》

Scaramouche sat on a nearby rock as he waited for Y/N. He remembered grabbing something of Y/N's when he was cleaning up the camp.

Suddenly, he had a really bad feeling. His harbinger intuition was kicking in, causing him to immediately run towards where they came from.

Upon arrival, he could see Y/N surrounded by treasure hoarders. Their face didn't seem scared at all, just mildly annoyed. Scaramouche knew Y/N was stronger than they looked, but he didn't want to take any chances.

"HEY, LEAVE THEM ALONE," he yelled.

One of the treasure hoarders glanced at him and smirked, "Well if it isn't one of the har-"

Immediately, Scaramouche had attacked the group. To Y/N, all they could see was flashes of purple lightning. It was all a blur.

That man was about to expose Scaramouche's identity. He couldn't take that chance, so he made sure he wasn't able to finish his sentence. Afterwards, the treasure hoarders were too scared to continue fighting, so they quickly fled the scene.

Scaramouche swiftly ran up to Y/N, placing his hands on their shoulders, "Are you okay?? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine, trust me," Y/N answered, "I could've taken care of it myself you know. I have a way with words."

"You left your weapon with me, you had no way to fight back." Scaramouche said, his hands still on Y/N shoulders.

Y/N looked away, a sad look flooded over their face, "I dropped a charm my brother gave me.. I came back to get it, but I guess I lost it.."

Scaramouche remembered the object he discovered earlier. He pulled it out of his pocket, "Is this it?"

Y/N's eyes lit up, "YES! Oh thank you so much!"

Without a second thought, Y/N embraced him.

Scaramouche was a bit taken aback. Now that he thought about it, he'd never received a hug before. Though it was awkward, he hugged them back, even tightening the hug.

"Please don't go off on your own without a weapon okay..?" His voice was almost shaky, like he was really worried.

Y/N chuckled, "Wow~ I didn't know you cared that much for me!"

Scaramouche pulled away, giving Y/N almost a playful smirk, "As if." He turned around, beginning to walk towards Liyue Harbor, "If you don't keep up, I'll leave you behind."

Y/N caught up to him, "I should be saying that to you."