Chapter.4 Distance

After a week of commissions and such, Aether finally decided today would be a day to relax inside the teapot, joining all his friends on their day off. Aether decided to take a walk with Jean before they tended to the garden, something that's oddly given the grandmaster some peace of mind from work. Xingqiu was originally going to read in the archives room, but he ended up spending more time talking and teasing with Chongyun. Ningguang sighed watching the two blue haired boys, but also taking some enjoyment in watching them, but gazing out the window, she couldn't help but head outside to join the young traveler and the grandmaster herself, as she always found herself enjoying their company.

Further up the tea pot's mountain was Kazuha, taking a peaceful nap on a rock, enjoying the warmth it held from the sun's rays. On the other side of the bridge, Razor was by his cave, playing chase with the pack of dogs Aether had kindly given him.

It was quite a peaceful day, and while everyone was enjoying themselves, Thoma gladly was cooking a big feast for all his friends to enjoy...although he originally wanted to do a hotpot, Aether refused to ever do such a thing with him after that first time, even though Thoma had sworn to never use cake again.

"Pardon my bluntness but...Why do we grow so many Qingxin flowers?" Jean, harvesting some of the grapes she gently plucked from their vine and tucked them into her basket.

Aether blushed, nearly dropping the basket of flowers he was holding. "W-Well...they remind me of...Xiao" Aether confessed, smiling as he looked down at the gentle white flowers.

"I see… He's that Yaksha correct?"

"Yes, the Vigilant Yaksha of Liyue" Aether's blush grew.

"Was he also the reason for those crystal flies in your hair?" Jean asked, a gentle smile planted on her lips. Aether nodded, red as a tomato.

"I think I recall seeing that Yaksha boy hand them to you during his birthday," Ningguang said as she approached the two, giving the flushed boy a playful smile, amused by his embarrassment.

"Y-You saw that???" Now that Aether thinks about it, maybe that's why Xiao told him to open the letter in private; Xiao must have felt Ningguang's presence nearby. Ningguang giggled.

"I was simply passing by when he handed you the letter, and I couldn't help but notice those beautiful ornaments in your hair later on that day." So Ningguang said, but Aether and Jean both knew how nosey the woman could be.

Jean herself had experienced this when Ningguang had noticed the beautiful new pair of earrings she had received recently, and the conversation of course ended up with Jean admitting that Diluc had given them to her as a late birthday present.

The three of them eventually fell into a comfortable conversation.

Uphill, Razor was roughhousing with the dogs until they were finally tired and ready for a short nap, or just ready to relax. Sitting under one of the pine trees, Razor looked at the small cliff across the bridge where a small house stood, surrounded by maple trees. It was a personal home Aether had made for Kazuha in the teapot, just like the Cave and dog pack he had made for Razor.

The large rock overlooking the Liyue mansion was the very rock Razor could see the young swordsman napping on. Every time Razor looked at Kazuha, he couldn't help but remember that flushed expression he made, the heat that pulled in his groin...the pleading in Kazuha's voice as he called out his name, just from one bite… But Kazuha seemed to act as nothing had ever happened, except for his recent distant outings. Lately, Kazuha has been insisting on having time to himself or hanging around other people than Razor…

Razor used to love their alone time together, watching the stars at night, enjoying the gentle touch of the wind together...and most of all, talking with him.

Razor had wondered if maybe he had made Kazuha mad, but Kazuha never seemed mad...except for yesterday. It was during one of their trips in Inazuma, Aether had gone to go see Kokomi and Gorou. Razor didn't much like Gorou, due to territorial issues but it didn't take long before they were friends...but Razor couldn't help but find that Gorou reminded him of one of those trained house dogs he would see in Monstadt, which was discomforting at times.

Razor was enjoying Gorou's animalistic company regardless, but it wasn't until he found out that he and Kazuha had met once before and were even friends that he felt something stinging in his chest… but what was it?

"Sake truly is a fine drink," Kazuha said with a slight daze to his smile, taking a sip from his cup. Although the young swordsman seemed near tipsy to most, anyone who knew him well, knew Kazuha could hold his liquor better than most and was still just as dangerous if you weren't careful...which always begged the question of how old Kazuha really was. When Aether had first met him, he thought Kazuha was around his age, but from the sound of his voice, including the air around him and how he carried himself, as well as being of age to drink, it was clear that Kazuha was a bit older than he appeared. Xingqiu tried asking one time and was completely dodged with poetic words.

Razor of course didn't drink, but he found it interesting how he could notice minor behavior changes whenever Kazuha had drunk any sake or wine. He would notice a more blissful and almost out of character smile, or how much more Kazuha was open to reading out poetry...and sometimes how much more aggressive he could be, such as that last time when one of the shogun's samurai had made a rude remark about a "Certain fool who challenged the mighty Shogun" back when the vision hunt decree was first announced. Razor had never seen such a dark look in Kazuha's eyes, how quick he was with his blade, to threatening to cut out the samurai's tongue and one by one peal a fingernail off for each cry of pain… Thankfully Aether and Xingqiu had been there to calm Kazuha before he had actually done anything… though Kazuha claimed he was merely threatening the samurai… but they weren't convinced.

That was the first and only time Razor had been scared of Kazuha… though he's pretty sure Aether and Xingqiu felt the same.

But returning to yesterday's memory, after Kazuha had mentioned the greatness of the sake, Gorou had said something, something that made Kazuha smile. Razor didn't like that.

He wasn't sure what he said, but that's when Gorou had reached a hand toward Kazuha, and something inside of him snapped. He lunged his head forward, but instead of biting Gorou's hand, his teeth were met with the armor protecting Kazuha's bandaged hand. He was quick to pull away, almost horrified at the idea he could have hurt the swordsman… Everyone around the dinner table had looked at Razor with surprise, while Kazuha had given him a sharp look, nearing a glare that spoke for itself.

Everyone was shocked at Razor's sudden aggressive outburst. Aether was the first to speak up to try and calm the situation, but since Razor wasn't even really sure what got him so angry before, all he could focus on was the clear disappointment and anger from the look Kazuha had given him. It only took less than a minute before Kazuha's staring forced Razor out of the room… Razor wasn't sure what happened after he left, he just remembered after leaving, he felt so frustrated, as the stinging in his chest continued, angered by the memory of another dog; said dog being Gorou, getting so close to Kazuha bothered him… but what he did was wrong and remembering that look Kazuha gave him made him sad…. hurt. He didn't mean to make him mad, he didn't even mean to bite him, but he didn't want Gorou to touch him… He didn't like that Kazuha smiled so much around him…

After that, they all left to go finish up some commissions, but Kazuha was quiet that entire day. Razor didn't like thinking about yesterday, and today didn't feel any better… Kazuha was still quiet today and kept to himself. Aether was the only one that could barely get a few words out of him… So was Kazuha mad at him? Razor lowered his head…

Was it because… Kazuha preferred Gorou over him? Razor knitted his brows, feeling frustrated. He would never regret meeting all his friends, but living with the wolves had never caused him such confusing problems before...

Once the moon had risen, everyone sat down for dinner that Thoma had so kindly prepared. Thankfully because he was aware of Xingqiu's dislike for carrots and Chongyun's issue with spicy food, he was able to create some special dishes made just for them.

Everyone sat down around the table except for Razor.

"Is Razor asleep?" Aether asked, but no one around seemed to know. Aether began to worry as he wondered if it had anything to do with yesterday…

Getting up from his seat, Kazuha headed for the door. "I'll go fetch him. I'll try to make it back before you all finish" He said with a reassuring smile, before closing the door behind him.

Once Kazuha was alone, he looked up at the sky, before heading up the mountain. He knew Razor always spent his time with the dogs and just as Aether had suspected, Razor was sound asleep, but as soon as his ears caught the faint sound of Kazuha's footsteps, he sat up from the small pile of dogs that surrounded him.

"Kazu...ha…?" Razor looked up at the young swordsman, surprised to see him as he figured the swordsman was still angry with him, regardless, Razor was overjoyed to see him.

Kazuha had originally been composed, but when he saw the joy shine through the wolven boy's eyes, he couldn't stop the smile that broke through his composure.

"Razor, everyone is having dinner, they're waiting for you." Even though Kazuha said that, instead of taking him back to the others, he instead sat beside the wolf boy.

Razor watched him the entire time.

"Razor...I'm sorry. You must have noticed my recent behavior…" Razor shook his head before nuzzling his head against him. Kazuha's cheeks lit into a soft pink at the sweet gesture.

"I make Kazuha mad….I bite you...not good." Razor frowned at the memory, feeling a tinge of disappointment with himself.

"You're not wrong...but, it was negligent of me to take as long as I did to talk to you about it. You're a dear friend to me, Razor. Very precious." Hearing that, Razor's cheeks turned a soft pink and practically broke out into a smile. You could almost see his nonexistent tail wagging behind him.

"I precious to Kazuha??"

"Yes," Kazuha confirmed, holding back a chuckle.

He wanted to ask Razor why he had tried to bite Gorou...but right now, he just wanted to enjoy the wolf boy's presence like he used to, to just forget about yesterday and just be at peace.

"Kazuha precious to me too!" Without warning, Razor rubbed his head up against Kazuha's, even managing to brush their cheeks together. Kazuha was surprised by the action as his cheeks heated up...but it was nice. Razor could be incredibly fierce and vicious, but at his core, he was a kind, sweet, and curious boy who questioned his identity… Kazuha was honored to be one of the few people in Razor's life that he showed such tender affection to.

Letting out a big yawn, Kazuha couldn't help but notice Razor's canine teeth, blushing at the memory of how they felt against his neck… how hot Razor's breath had felt, the way his tongue wet his skin…

His gaze drifted to the ground towards his own feet as he held a hand against his neck where Razor had bitten him.

Razor watched him and remembered that flustered expression Kazuha made after he bit him, how he had called out his name… He wanted to see that face again, he wanted to hear Kazuha call out his name, to let out cries of heat… but after that last time, Kazuha had started avoiding him. Doing that must have made Kazuha mad with him…

"Come, let us rejoin our friends for dinner," Kazuha said, standing up to his feet as he smiled at the wolf boy. Razor nodded and stood up before walking with the young swordsman back to the Liyue mansion where they were welcomed with warm smiles.