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Like any library, the House of Daena buzzed with the noise of learners, somewhere between required silence and muffled conversation, filled with the scratching of pens and feathers, the sound of turning pages, footsteps, moved books, the occasional clearing of a throat or sighing. A library's silence was never absolute.
Mini Durin didn't speak loudly, but he knew that sometimes, a voice's volume didn't matter as much as the content of words. His words felt very heavy.
"I'll go to Mondstadt to become a human."
Wanderer's hand stilled over the word he was writing, his pen hovering over the paper without touching it. For a long second, he didn't move at all, staring blankly at the essay paper, but then Wanderer turned a sharp gaze at Durin, who sat perched on a book pile on the table, hidden from the eyes of other Akademiya students. It was at best an adequate hiding place, but nobody dared approach them anyway.
Durin looked up into Wanderer's face with wide but calm eyes, keeping still as well. He had long thought about how to broach the topic. His heart was set and it was all a matter of telling Wanderer that he was leaving.
Durin couldn't read Wanderer's expression, or rather, he didn't know how to name the mix of emotions on Wanderer's face. Hidden away from prying eyes, he had heard other students say strange things about Wanderer, how he was aloof, distanced and cold to everyone else, but Durin knew that it wasn't the whole truth. If Durin had to explain it, he would compare Wanderer with a fairytale book, whose cover was beautiful but hard, but when you flipped it open, it was a deep and captivating story.
And to the ones who knew Durin's story, Durin would maybe quietly say that Wanderer and he had more in common than he would ever have believed himself. Once, people had feared Durin as a monster, but that was before they got to know him as well.
So Durin waited, the tip of his tail twitching occasionally.
"Why?" Wanderer finally asked.
"I ... It's m-my ... duty." Although he had practiced them in his mind over and over again, Durin still stumbled over the words. But the more he explained, the more confident he sounded. "I have a right to the name ... as much as the Durin of Dragonspine. Albedo told me that this Durin is an evil dragon, and if he was revived, it would bring great danger to the people of Mondstadt. So ... I'm gonna replace him."
Surprised, Durin realised that at some point while he had been talking, he had stood up to his full height. At the same time, Wanderer's expression had changed too: his jaw was slack, the perpetual frown gone, his face soft. Why, then, did he look so ... sad?
"But most of all, I want my life to have meaning," Durin ended, and Wanderer closed his eyes, averting his head. Normally, the way he tilted his head would mean that his partner in conversation wouldn't be able to see his face because it would be hidden behind the edge of his hat, but because Durin was small and sitting on his pile of books, he could still see it clearly.
"Of course," Wanderer said, his voice barely above a whisper but very gentle.
The moment passed. When Wanderer opened his eyes again, he didn't look at Durin anymore, but down onto the last line of his essay, where a drop of ink had fallen from the tip of his pen and sullied the paper. With a click of his tongue, Wanderer picked up the paper and slowly crumpled it up into a ball.
"What has it got to do with me?" he asked, pointedly bored, and threw the paper ball into a nearby bin with perfect aim.
Durin jumped from his pile of books with a flap of his wings and made use of the now free space on the table in front of Wanderer to land there and to look up into his face. He patiently waited until Wanderer gave him his full attention again before he said, putting all the sincerity he felt into his words: "I wanted to tell you because you're my friend, Hat Guy. I didn't want to leave without telling you."
"Hmph." Wanderer narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning back against the chair. Staring down at the small dragon, he looked like he was deliberating over something, all the time without breaking the silence or eye contact with Durin. The moment stretched on for so long that Durin felt himself become fidgety.
"Get a move on then," Wanderer finally said, uncrossing his arms to reach for a fresh sheet of paper. "I have to start over with my essay if I want to meet the deadline. What a pesky requirement. Who came up with something this stupid anyway?"
"Hat Guy ..." Durin began, but Wanderer raised a hand to stop him from speaking.
"Save me the trouble, Durin. Be on your way already."
But Durin didn't move. He refused to, not until he had at least said everything that was on his heart. "I'll miss you. I don't know how long I'll be away, but it'll probably be a while. Albedo said it might take time. So ... I'll miss you."
"So sentimental ..." Wanderer sighed heavily and, rolling his eyes, abruptly rose from the chair as if to walk away from the teary-eyed dragon. But as soon as Wanderer had his back turned to Durin, he extended an angled arm and waited. "Come on. If I don't bring you outside, you'll continue wasting my precious time."
"Yes ...!"
With a strong flap of his wings, Durin rose from the table and crossed the small distance to Wanderer. He landed on the offered elbow, talons closing firmly around the arm, and snuggled closer to his friend, who started for the exit of the House of Daena with deadly glances at anyone who remotely looked like they thought about bothering the two of them.
A little while later, Wanderer entered the Sanctuary of Surasthana like a breeze and gently landed on the floor with a hand on the edge of his hat, careful not to disturb the divine tranquillity of this place. While his opinion on divinity hadn't changed in the least, he would rather be caught dead than not be on his best behaviour around Lesser Lord Kusanali, the only Archon that he respected.
That being said, Wanderer couldn't be sure that Nahida would even be here. As small as she was (no offense), it was difficult to find her easily unless she was somewhere in public and surrounded by a crowd of her people. Wanderer had flown a quick round over Sumeru City and ascertained that it wasn't the case, so coming here had been the next logical thing.
"Lesser Lord Kusanali?" he called out and noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He immediately turned in that direction and made his way over to the middle of the Sanctuary, to the former place where the Dendro Archon had once been held imprisoned but now was something of a quiet place for her when she needed it.
Nahida was sitting with her back against one of the dome-shaped pillars, surrounded by slightly glowing, pulsing Dendro vines and flowers that formed a comfortable seat for her to sit on. She had a picture book in her lap, and with a glance Wanderer recognised the story of Simulanka.
Of course.
"Wanderer," Nahida greeted warmly and made a gesture for him to join her, but he indicated with a shake of his head that he planned to remain standing. As always, Nahida didn't insist. "Is there anything that I can help you with?"
Seeing as she was reading about Simulanka, Wanderer strongly suspected that she already knew the answer to her question or could at least guess the reason for his visit, but he humoured her and came straight to the point.
"With your permission, I would like to leave for a couple of days. I will also hand in the proper leave request to that feeble scholar later, although that should only be a formality at that point."
And who had come up with all the bureaucracy and thought that it would be a good idea in the first place? Bad enough that something like essay deadlines existed - why make everything worse with an endless process of filling out and handing in forms?
Wanderer heaved a silent sigh.
"Thank you for coming here to ask me." Nahida's smile deepened insofar as it reached the depths of her eyes, making them dance with silent joy. "If you wish to go, then please go. I know that you think that this is a cage that holds you captive, but the door is wide open. You only need to spread your wings and fly."
"I've told you before that it's my own choice. What's the problem with that?" Wanderer asked without any real bite and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking away. He waited, but when Nahida didn't continue speaking, he asked: "Are you not going to ask where I'll go and what I'll do? Or do you already know the answers to these questions?"
"Do you want to tell me?" Nahida closed the book in her hands, only to flip it open again at the title page.
A borrowing form was loosely inserted there, most of its lines filled with the same person's name in a beautiful, slanted handwriting. Nahida gingerly picked up the form and, extending her hand, turned it so that Wanderer could see the form too. He glanced at it and credited it with a Tch.
"So you do already know. Why ask?"
Nahida shook her head and returned the form to where she had got it.
"I know it's tempting, but please don't go around picking apples before you know that they are ripe. That's a formula for disappointment," she said, and held up a finger against Wanderer's wary gaze. "In fact, I only know that you are particularly fond of this fairytale. I have finally read it, and now I understand why. But it does not give me any answers about your future plans, nor was this my intention behind reading this wonderful book."
Wanderer stared at her without blinking, his brows furrowed, so Nahida added with a tilt of her head: "One of your friends asked me about it a while ago. To be precise, he asked if the story meant anything special because you kept borrowing it from the House of Daena."
Another second passed, then:
"Ah. The green-eyed desert guy," Wanderer realised, finally putting a face to her words and finding confirmation in Nahida's full-faced smile, which turned her eyes crescent. "For someone from the Temple of Silence, he's surprisingly bad at keeping silent about certain matters," he mumbled darkly.
Wanderer didn't linger on the realisation that Sethos' curiosity in him had obviously yielded results, unwilling to give him any more credit for something this trivial, and returned to the original topic at hand. "I'm headed for Mondstadt. There's someone I need to talk to."
"Your alchemist?"
"He isn't mine," Wanderer retorted automatically, although he knew that Nahida didn't mean it literally. Her knowing look said it all. "But yes. I need his insight into something."
With a nod, Nahida dropped her gaze to the book in her hands and began to trace a finger over Durin's portrait on the cover. She briefly considered telling Wanderer about Durin's recent dreams, about how his decision hadn't been easy and haunted by nightmares, but that such decisions were rarely easy to make.
Instead, she said: "I'm happy that you care."
Wanderer didn't agree nor deny the statement. After all, what could he do about the fact that Durin's path and his happened to be the same? He couldn't change the map of Teyvat just to change this fact, or the fact that he had been to Mondstadt before and knew the way, whereas Durin didn't.
Sometimes, the world was full of coincidences.
The weather was pityingly bad. Rain was coming down hard and drumming against Durin's wings, and the wind blew from the wrong direction, tearing at Durin's heavy wings as if to force him back to Sumeru City. He could hardly see where he was flying, too focused on beating his wings to stay airborne.
The storm will pass, Durin told himself, flapping his wings harder. By now, it felt like he had stones tied to the end of them, but Durin also didn't want to land in the middle of Sumeru when he had just started his journey. He still had Liyue in front of him, and a good part of Mondstadt.
Durin knew the route from a map of Teyvat that Wanderer had once used for one of his essays - it was rather straightforward, the only dangerous crossing being a larger body of water before Durin would reach Wuwang Hill.
But the weather ...
Durin felt that he was steadily losing height, but he had barely enough strength not to dive straight for the ground and crash. There were no trees underneath him, so he would faceplant in the mud if that happened. As exhausted as Durin felt, he started to think that it wasn't too bad a fate.
Giving up, he was just about to let gravity pull him down, when he felt the direction of the wind around him change. Where just a second ago the wind had been cruel and unpredictable, tearing about him like a beast, it suddenly turned and began to lift him up in a steady stream under his wings, carrying him higher and higher up into the sky again.
Durin yelped and swayed and thought for a moment that he would lose this helpful wind stream, but it followed and adjusted to his movement and steadied him mid-air so that all that Durin had to do was to keep his wings extended.
At first, Durin was surprised about such a fortunate turn of events and the unexpected help, but after some thought, he realised the likely source of it. Blinking against the terrible rain, Durin glanced around, half expecting to see the silhouette of a familiar figure flying somewhere nearby, but of course the skies were quite empty in a weather such as this, and Durin could hardly see in this downpour.
Durin still sent a silent thanks to his friend and helper, more than happy about his presence even if unseen.
Later, the rain eased up and Durin could enjoy the unfamiliar view of Liyue's magnificent stone pillars far below him, noting how much less green Liyue was compared to Sumeru and how much less vibrant compared to Simulanka. The few buildings that were scattered here and there were built in a completely different style, out of stone and very grand and imposing, or from straw and small and homely.
Liyue was different - yellow and orange and full of stones - but Durin really liked the landscape. He would like to travel it properly if ... when he became a human. Like Wanderer.
When Durin finally reached the body of water that he would have to cross, it was already beginning to darken with the descending night, the water glittering like stars in the light of the setting sun. He headed for the ground with steady wing beats. Even with the support of Wanderer's Anemo, he was completely exhausted by now. He barely managed to curl up under the protruding roof of a dilapidated building before drifting off to a deep sleep as soon as his chin touched his calf.
Shortly after, a familiar figure landed in front of the house unnoticed, giving their surroundings a cursory glance for any lurking danger, then Wanderer focused on the dilapidated house itself. It was a questionable shelter, the wood wet with the earlier rain, but someone else might find beauty in the way the drops reflected the last rays of sunlight, forming plump and full to hang from single bars.
Not Wanderer. His focus was on something else. He clicked his tongue with annoyance and crossed the short distance to the soundly sleeping form of Durin, who was completely unaware of the cold drops threatening to fall down on him.
"So careless," Wanderer grumbled, took off his hat and, crouching down, put his hat behind Durin, angling it so that it acted as good shelter. This way, the falling waterdrops would pearl off the hat and not soak the little dragon, sparing him from a potential cold.
Next, Wanderer made a half-turn and sat down cross-legged, his back turned on Durin, his wary gaze scanning the landscape. While flying, he had noticed a group of Treasure Hoarders lurking for wayward travellers not far from here, and there was a Hilichurl camp nearby, sources of danger for unsuspecting sleepers.
How fortunate that Wanderer didn't need to sleep.
So sleepy ...
Durin didn't want to open his eyes although he knew from the tickling warmth that the sun had already risen. It would be a matter of moments before Wanderer came into the room and told him to hurry it up or he would leave for the Akademiya by himself.
Oh, but Durin's wings were so heavy. What had he done yesterday that -?
Remembering, Durin opened his eyes, suddenly wide awake. He wasn't in their shared room alright, but curled up under a random house in Liyue - on his way to Mondstadt!
In that moment, his stomach growled and Durin realised that he had been too exhausted to care about food yesterday night and hadn't eaten since his departure from Sumeru City. He should look for some food here - surely Liyue would have the same kind of fruit, even if the land looked different?
With some effort, Durin pushed himself up, and then froze at the sight of a small heap of carefully arranged fruit at his side, just out of reach should he topple over so that he didn't accidentally squash it. There were Berries, peeled Ajilenakh Nuts and some unknown fruit that Durin didn't know but smelled very, very good.
Durin's eyes prickled with tears of gratitude when he inched closer and began to eat, silently thanking his friend.
Dragonspine had never stopped being inhumanly cold, but most of its regular inhabitants didn't mind it at all. Out of habit, Albedo still kept some torches at his campsite, especially for visitors; after all, both Sucrose and Timaeus sometimes dropped by Albedo's laboratory to discuss their research, share the latest news or check up on his wellbeing.
Albedo usually heard their approach by the crunching of snow. As the bridge leading to his cave from Dragonspine's main path was broken, people had to windglide over the rift, and Albedo was familiar with the tell-tale sound of someone landing on snow. Even when he was absorbed in his research like right now he would catch this sound.
Not with this visitor.
"Durin wants to become human."
The unexpected voice made Albedo's head snap up, a surge of adrenaline rushing through him for the duration of a breath, before active recognition set in. There was one person who didn't need to step on snow before landing in front of his cave, for the one reason that they could fly and were sneaky enough not to be detected by unsuspecting researchers.
Albedo visibly relaxed and turned his head to look at Wanderer, who approached with the jingle of bells that never seemed to give him away when he was flying.
"I'm well aware," Albedo replied instead of a greeting, calmly studying Wanderer's face with igniting interest. A study of his expressions, especially his eyes, was a fascinating and worthwhile endeavour and yielded many more results than his words conveyed, in the sense that his actions spoke louder - or more truthfully - than his words. The art was to do it subtly, as Wanderer disliked being scrutinised and known for who he was. Albedo would never tire of it.
"I have asked Durin to consider my proposal in our last correspondence," Albedo added by way of explanation and turned to fully face Wanderer as he came to a stop in front of Albedo.
Wanderer looked at him thoughtfully, possibly choosing his words carefully, but when he spoke, his tone made it obvious how much importance he placed on Albedo's answer.
"How probable is the worst possible outcome?"
More telling, maybe, that Wanderer didn't try to hide it, a concession that Albedo recognised as a show of trust. He would never betray it.
"There always is a certain mathematical probability for failure," Albedo said honestly, almost bluntly, but then, Wanderer had always preferred to be told directly and without much ado. Just tell it as it is.
"But I have been researching Dragonspine Durin's heart and testing various hypotheses via the experimental method in the attempt to eliminate the margin of error," Albedo continued, unable to leave it at the factual truth, for this elaboration dulled the sharp edge of possible failure. "At the very least, I have greatly reduced it and, according to my calculations, should be able to proceed as planned."
"Figures," Wanderer mumbled, but Albedo shook his head to indicate that he wasn't done talking yet. He reached out and took Wanderer's hand firmly into his, meeting Wanderer's questioning eyes calmly.
"Allow me to point out a weakness in my plans that might be of great interest to you," Albedo said and briefly hesitated. For a moment, he doubted if he should even be saying this, but then continued anyway, as it would do no harm. Believe in fate or not, but Wanderer's presence at such a crucial junction was fortunate. "I have, as of now, no way of telling what effect the merging of their characters will ultimately have and which side might be the stronger one between Mini Durin and Durin of Dragonspine. Based on what you have told me about your past, however, I would assume that Durin might go through a similar experience, and if that were the case, I believe that your assistance would be of great importance to him. It's mere speculation, though."
As Albedo had been talking, Wanderer had raised his free hand and cupped his Anemo Vision, which hung so prominently over the spot where there should be a beating heart, his thoughts inscrutable. Then he looked up sharply and shifted his focus on the birthmark on Albedo's throat, a golden star that was barely visible on Albedo's skin. His scrutiny made the spot tingle, but his earnest words had a worse effect on Albedo.
"If it's you, that's good enough for me," Wanderer said easily, unaware of how these words made Albedo's breath hitch. For that, Wanderer was too focused on the birthmark, the symbolic proof of a perfect creation. His attention was scorching. "But I don't know if I can be..."
Wanderer exhaled through clenched teeth and shook his head. "I'm not Lesser Lord Kusanali and never will be. If Durin turns out to be evil, he'll have to live with the consequences of that fate, as stupid as it is. There's nothing I could do."
"I object." Albedo had to look away from Wanderer's intense, searching gaze and turned his attention to the table next to them, over which individual sheets of paper were scattered in a sort of methodological disarray, the fruit of his years of study. There certainly were a lot of things that someone couldn't change - for example the possibility of failure in anything -, but Albedo truly believed that Wanderer was mistaken in this case. The question was - how could he explain it?
Albedo coughed into a fist, all too aware of the faint blush that had crept into his cheeks, but was determined to elaborate on his thought.
"You are the Hero of Simulanka," he said simply, wondering if the oft repeated argument held any weight. "Your fates are intertwined."
"So what can I do?"
"You sound suspicious." Albedo decided that it did not. "In that case ..."
As Albedo was still holding onto Wanderer's hand, he had felt how Wanderer had tensed up at the magnitude of the endeavour. At the very least, Albedo could help with that.
Returning his gaze to Wanderer, Albedo first feigned hesitation, then invaded his space by slowly leaning in and pulling him closer by his arm as if to tell him something else. Pretending to choose his words carefully in order to stall for time, he watched Wanderer's gaze grow more expectant by the second in the belief that Albedo had answers. Lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, Albedo said: "For starters, you could look through my research."
A startled laugh escaped Wanderer, the vigilant anticipation in his eyes making way for amusement when he realised what Albedo had just done. Look for the answers yourself if you want to.
"Oh? And why would I want to familiarise myself with your research?" Wanderer asked in equally feigned ignorance, smugly tilting his head as if to bridge the remaining distance between them but staying infuriatingly distant anyway. "Did you forget that I was created differently from you?"
"Not at all." Albedo hummed. "I'd greatly value your insight."
Wanderer huffed, the fleeting breath caressing Albedo's face like a touch.
"You and your honeyed words," he all but purred, his amusement lacing his voice with a similar quality. But Wanderer only dropped his gaze to Albedo's lips without making a move, slightly narrowing his eyes in calculating contemplation. "You're making it difficult to say no."
"I would hope so."
At the same time, Wanderer let go of Albedo's hand and wormed his hand under Albedo's coat to put a warm touch in the small of Albedo's back, pressing them closer together, other things momentarily forgotten. Their lips met in a brief kiss before Wanderer broke away and brushed his lips over Albedo's, mumbling against them: "Fine. Have it your way."
Instead of an answer, Albedo wrapped one arm around Wanderer's warm body and reached his free hand into Wanderer's hair, pulling him into another, longer kiss. One of the good things about kissing him was that Wanderer didn't depend on breathing and, while he didn't hold his breath, completely relinquished control to Albedo.
The other good thing that Albedo could think of was how easily Wanderer held his weight with just one arm, so that Albedo could relax into his grip as much as he wanted to.
They would probably have continued kissing for a while, maybe moved against the research table, if not for a giggle interrupting.
Breathless, dishevelled, his lips slightly swollen from Wanderer's loving bites, Albedo turned his head to see a small giggling red figure next to the fireplace at the entrance of the cave, her hands pressed against her mouth to stifle her giggles but her eyes dancing with mirth.
"Big brother Bedo is kissing Mr Hat Guy," she sang when Albedo's eyes landed on her, swinging from side to side with excitement. Klee skipped closer, barely able to contain her excitement, practically vibrating with it.
"Klee." Albedo loosened his grip on Wanderer and cleared his throat, all too aware of his current state. He did, however, try to pretend that he wasn't when Klee barrelled into him with a hug. "What brings you here?"
Klee beamed up at him.
"Klee came here to tell Bedo that big brother Durin has come to Mondstadt," the child said and let go of Albedo to turn to Wanderer, who went down on one knee to close her into a proper embrace. "He is now with the Knights of Favonius, but not in solitary confinement. He said he'll wait in Bedo's room."
"Hello, Klee," Wanderer greeted and retracted his hands, releasing Klee from the embrace, but didn't rise from his crouch. Instead, he lifted a finger to his lips in a hushing gesture, prompting another suppressed giggle from the child when he said: "Klee, can you keep a secret for your good friend Hat Guy and not tell anyone what you saw here today?"
"Whyyyy?" Klee asked cutely, and Wanderer's lips curled into a smile.
"I don't want Durin to know that I'm here. It's an important day for him and he has to focus. I don't want to distract him." A knowing glance at Albedo, almost too quick to catch. "Can you do that for me, Klee? Can you not tell anyone?"
"Pinky promise?" Klee asked, extending her little finger and waiting until Wanderer hooked his pinkie with hers before she shook their joined fingers with a very serious expression. "Okay! Klee promises."
"Thank you, Klee." Wanderer stood up and wanted to cross his arms in front of his chest, but found his hand caught in Klee's grip and left it there. He turned his soft expression to Albedo, and a silent understanding passed between them, even if they hadn't talked about everything that might happen in the future.
"You're going?" Wanderer asked.
Albedo nodded.
"It's time. While I'm away, take care of Klee, please," he said, then his breath caught as he seemed to think of something. "And please don't go fish blasting. It's the Windblume Festival and a season of some peace and quiet. I believe that it is safe to say that some distractions would be detrimental to the process."
"Nooooo ..." Klee protested, while Wanderer raised a challenging eyebrow, doing nothing to reassure Albedo.
Albedo met the gaze calmly, unwilling to relent, even when Klee grabbed onto his hand without letting go of Wanderer's and began tugging at it with more protests. They would be careful, she promised. And when could she ever go out and be allowed to play with Mr Hat Guy? He was always away in Sumeru or out with Albedo when he was in Mondstadt, and Klee really wanted to go fish blasting! She would be reeeeeally careful and only blast few fish, Klee promised!
And then - Albedo closed his eyes with a defeated exhale.
"At least not in the direct vicinity of Mondstadt," he amended, and Wanderer chuckled, a sound that almost got lost over Klee's happy "Yippie!".
"Sure. We can do that," Wanderer said and lowered his eyes to Klee, who now, both hands in the air, was jumping up and down with joy. "Ready?" he asked, and Klee immediately jumped to his side and ran ahead, leaving the two of them alone in the cave.
"I'm concerned about Teyvat's fish population," Albedo mumbled under his breath, watching her go.
"You should be." Putting a hand on the edge of his hat to angle it back, Wanderer leaned in to peck a kiss on the corner of Albedo's mouth, whether to mollify him or not unknown. "Take care," he said seriously and opened his mouth to add something, but was interrupted by a pouty shout from outside.
"Stop kissing! Klee's waiting!" Klee shouted.
"Alright, alright!" Wanderer called back over his shoulder but didn't move until Albedo gave a slight nod.
His eyes changed and began to glow with the power of Anemo that rushed through his body and set its markings aglow as well. At the same time, his hat disappeared from his head, forming a circle behind him. One blink, and Wanderer was gone.
Watching the cave entrance, Albedo waited until he couldn't hear the sound of laughter anymore before he sighed and turned back to his research.
It was time for a grand creation.