《Your POV》

"It's about time!" Childe impatiently said as you and Scaramouche walked back into your house, dripping from the rain, "Man, you two are so dramatic. What is this, a romance novel??"

Scaramouche scoffed at him, "You're just jealous that I have a lover and you don't." He sounded mature, but his face showed how childish his intent really was.

"I do too!" Childe snapped back, acting as if he was a 7 year old competing with a sibling over something stupid.

"Yeah? Who?" He smirked.

Childe looked away awkwardly, "Uhh.."

"Exactly." Scaramouche sat down in one of the chairs at your table. It squeaked a bit, after all, this furniture had been in your family for generations.

As much as you were enjoying the liveliness, you really needed to get to work. There were many flaws in the plan you'd all come up with, so it was important to map out several backup plans, in case anything went wrong.

The group decided to go with the story that Scaramouche was faking a relationship with you to gather information. It seemed the most excusable out of all of the options. Though it sounded quite tame, one wrong move and your cover would be blown.

You had to convince the Tsaritsa that Scaramouche wasn't actually in love with you, which meant you would get to see the side of him everyone else sees.

In all honesty, you were really nervous. The mere thought of him behaving that way towards you scared you, even when you knew he would just be acting. Although you were frightened, you were also somewhat interested. You'd never seen the full potential of his "bad personality". You were quite curious actually.

After taking the time to thoroughly discuss your plan, the three of you had decided what to do.

Scaramouche nearly placed a piece of paper into an envelope, "This is the new letter we'll send back to the Tsaritsa, it addresses the situation."

"You know," Childe took the letter as Scaramouche handed it to him, "By doing this, you're directly disobeying your Archon."

He glared at him, "She's not technically my Archon."

You folded your arms, coming to a realization, "Oh that's right, you're from Inazuma," you'd almost forgotten, "How come you're in the Fatui then?"

Scaramouche didn't even look towards you to respond, "It's a long story."

There was still so much you didn't know about him, you'd come to realize that. Perhaps along with it, was painful memories that he'd rather not disclose to others. You couldn't blame him, after all, you had a similar situation.

The plan was, Childe would deliver the letter to the Tsaritsa in Snezhnaya while Scaramouche had business in Liyue. You would accompany him as a "dangerous prisoner" that needed to be under his watch 24/7. That way, if the Tsaritsa was still suspicious, the two of you would travel to Snezhnaya and prove to her you weren't in love.

It sounded simple, but in actuality, you were frightened. If the plan didn't work out, it would be the end of you. You wouldn't be able to fulfill your late mother's dream, you'll never be able to surpass the traveler in skills, you won't ever get to see Mondstadt again.

So why were you doing it? Because of Scaramouche of course. Even though you knew you shouldn't tempt fate to throw away your current life simply for a man, you couldn't help it. You loved him, even if it ended with both of you being executed, in the moment, it sounded like a peaceful way to go.

Maybe you were just lovestruck. You were sure once it came down to it, you could leave him in order to ensure your safety. You didn't want to of course, but if that's what it took to stay alive, you'd have to turn Scaramouche into a distant memory.

But for now, you had high hopes that it would work out. The Tsaritsa would approve, send you back to Mondstadt where you could continue to work towards your goal, and you could stay with Scaramouche in a.. somewhat stable relationship.

You hoped that Scaramouche was really genuine. If he did turn his back on you or lash out at you, you knew Childe would be there to stop him.

Even if you two got off on the wrong foot, Childe was a good person at heart and he would protect you from Scaramouche if it came down to it. After this whole situation, you learned to better appreciate him.

It then occurred to you how selfish your thoughts were. If you were already thinking about him betraying you, why were you still with him? You'd been having constant thoughts about Scaramouche's "other personality" and how you'd leave him if it got out of hand.

Were you so blinded by your love for him that you didn't even care about the consequences? Even if he did go mad and start to manipulate you, would you really have the courage to leave him then?

Maybe not, but instead of dwelling on the depressing subject, you snapped back to reality.

Childe had already left with a squad of Fatui agents to Snezhnaya. Scaramouche was scheduled to leave for Liyue the next day, and he'd be taking you with him.

Scaramouche was at the table, glancing over some maps of Snezhnaya. Perhaps he was planning an escape route in case things go south with the Tsaritsa.

Meanwhile, you were anxiously sitting on your soft couch, looking out your window at the pink-ish sky. It was growing darker by the second. Every second, every minute that went by was causing you more and more stress.

You were scared, and you had every right to be. There was a chance you wouldn't be able to see Mondstadt again after you leave the next day. You didn't even have friends to say bye to.

The only friend you really had was Lu Wen, who was still looking after your brother. You promised yourself you'd visit them again once you arrive at Liyue. And this time, you didn't have to lie about Scaramouche being your boyfriend, because this time it was true.

It gave you the butterflies even thinking about it. You wanted to show him off but at the same time, you didn't. He was a harbinger after all. Then again, Lu Wen didn't know that. Maybe you'd tell her the truth, since she was your best friend.

Once again snapping back into reality, you could hear Scaramouche's voice. Apparently, he was speaking to you.

"Y/N? Earth to Y/N," he said, his body turned in the chair to face you.

You stuttered, "Y-Yes?" You we're almost embarrassed to have zoned out like that.

"Come here for a second," Scaramouche said, turning back to the mess on the table.

Without question, you got up and sat in the chair next to him, quickly scooting it closer so you could see what he was doing.

"So about our plan B and our escape route," Scaramouche started talking.

You shamelessly stared at his face instead of the crumbled map that laid on the table. Though you never told him to his face, you thought he was probably the most beautiful guy you'd ever seen. His skin looked so smooth and fair, he had such a handsome face, his eyes were breathtaking. There were so many things about him that made him perfect.

If he weren't a Fatui harbinger, and if he had a better personality, people would be falling for him left and right. But who knows, maybe there were weirdos out there who were into short, angry men who are evil and manipulative. You guessed you were just one of those weirdos.

You hadn't realized you zoned out again until Scaramouche grabbed your face with his hand. He squeezed your cheeks, "Hey are you listening?"

"Uh-" you didn't know what to say. Honestly, you didn't have an excuse to give. You would've come clean and told him you were simply admiring his features, but you thought it would be creepy.

You blushed, "Sorry.. I zoned out."

He sighed, "Honestly, what am I going to do with you." He let go of your face, "Well, it's getting late anyway, you can go to sleep."

"What about you?" You asked, standing up. You were eager to finally rest your eyes.

Scaramouche smiled, "I think I'm going to do this for a bit. Don't worry about me, I'll join you later."

You hesitantly nodded and walked into your room. Even after all this time, it still felt weird having someone in your house for this long. Well, he did just invite himself here, you didn't really ask him to stay. Even so, you didn't mind it either. You liked it, in fact. You liked the feeling of waking up with somebody next to you. It was quite thrilling.

After you'd gotten ready, you hopped into your bed and tried to doze off, hoping the journey you were about to embark on would all work out in the end.