Chapter 1: How It Began
Chapter Text
Author here!! You can skip this first chapter if you don’t care for “Y/N Lore” or anything about the Sumeru Archon quest. The chapters after will still make sense if you have the basic gist of Y/N’s “Lore”, which is basically just a descender with no memories of her past lol
The universe thrust me into this world, and left me no memory of my own; If I had one in the first place. I seldom know why, or how.
The memory has become increasingly fuzzy over time, as though it had only been a dream. At the time, I likely did think it was a dream.
Suddenly, as if all at once, your senses lit up. The smell of unfamiliar flora began to linger in your lungs, whilst the serene rustling of leaves in the wind filled your ears. It felt as though you had been woken up from a thousand year slumber, as you had been somehow enveloped in total serenity.
As your eyelids fluttered open, the bright sky met your eyes and you instinctively brought your hand up to cover the sun from your eyes.
After you had sat up, you began to examine your surroundings. You were in a field of grass that was adorned by a few purple flowers you didn’t quite recognize, seemingly on a hill of sorts. In the distance, you could make out a city of sorts; A large, tall tree stood above several buildings, and some seemed to rest on the tree itself.
You hadn’t any memory of where you were, but then again, you had no memory of anything that had come before this moment.
That’s when a single fleeting thought crossed your mind.
”Y/N.”
You don’t know how it happened, but you had somehow gotten yourself tangled in a conflict that you had no clue how you got in—Almost as though fate was trying to reel you in.
Sumeru had become your own place; It was where you awoke, so it only made sense to always return back ‘home’.
One day, though, you felt a sort of disturbance. It was like any regular day, and you were going about your errands in the city. You brushed it off as nothing.
News on the street was beginning to spreading, and it turned out that the esteemed ‘Traveler’ had appeared in Sumeru.
You had heard of him previously, his appearance in Mondstat, Liyue and Inazuma travelled quite quickly to Sumeru through word of mouth, and it seemed as though everyone was talking about him. It’d be hard to find anyone who didn’t know of the Travelers’ achievements.
You didn’t think much of it, originally. You found his involvement in the other nations impressive, of course, but it wasn't your primary interest.
That was until you noticed some weird things happening in Sumeru. On the day of the Sabzeruz Festival, everything was perfectly normal. Until the next day, on which everything seemed to…repeat. And repeat, repeat, repeat…and nobody seemed to remember whatever had happened the day before—as if you were the only one with any recollection of the day’s events.
That was until you finally found him—The Traveler.
You felt as though if anyone would know what was going on, it would be him. And your suspicions seemed to be correct.
With him and his floating companion, Paimon, you figured out what had been happening with the help of the Dendro Archon, Lesser Lord Kusanali.
…After that, everything just kind of happened.
You were now part of a plan to fight against the fatui and the head Academia Sage, a fact you quickly accepted as fact.
The most notable part of this experience, though, came when you had to fight against the Sixth Fatui Harbinger, The Balladeer. The Fatui’s plan to create a false god terrified you to your core.
You were there every step of the way next to The Traveler, and at some point, something inside you awoke. You had been so close to death, it seemed like the universe had remembered you once more since it left you here. You were nowhere near as good as the Traveler with these newfound abilities, sure, but you fought long and hard until you finally won.
Everything after that was a whirlwind of emotions and information, seeing Irminsul, finding Greater Lord Rukkhadevata…Which whom everybody seemed to forget, aside for you and the Traveler.
The party after everything was definitely refreshing…Seeing all your new friends was nice after everything that happened. You had questions about what happened to you during the fight with The Balladeer…
..And you got your answer. Turns out that according to Nahida, you were a ‘descender’…Just like The Traveler. You hadn’t thought about it before, but ever since that day, everything made more sense. Your lack of memories was never explained, though—It seemed like even Irminsul had its mysteries.
Some time after all of those events…You went on with your life. New friends, new power, and new knowledge. You couldn’t be any more at ease.
Until you met with The Traveler—again. You thought he had already been off to Fontaine, but he hadn’t. He spoke of The Balladeer again, which had your interest piqued— especially since you didn’t know what had happened to him after the battle. You’d recalled Nahida saying she would take care of him or something similar, so you were more or less unconcerned.
…Until you saw him just out in the open. So of course, you and The Traveler followed him, with suspicion he had escaped. Apparently Nahida allowed him to just…roam. Which you thought was a terrible idea of course. His snarky attitude continued annoying the ever living hell out of the three of you, especially yourself and Paimon.
You all had our concerns about The Balladeer. You three had gone into Irminsul with him, by Nahida’s request. You especially had your doubts—it seemed like Nahida had him as her very own errand boy.
Turns out he was trying to erase himself from history, and he succeeded…To you and The Traveler’s shock. You eventually managed to find him, but he was…Different. He was gentle, and his typical snarky attitude was gone.
Things quickly went south when Nahida returned ‘Wanderer’s’ memories, and you had to struggle to fight, yet again.
…It truly was a sight to see—His memories returned, along with his usual attitude. In the end, the gods blessed him with a vision. He used it as though he’d had it forever, and in the end, you had won.
It was like whiplash when he had come to his own. Snarky, arrogant…Him. The whole ordeal was exhausting, but in the end, something good came out of it—At least, something that you perceived as good.
He needed a name, something to call his own for once.
“Icarus”, you’d suggested. The Traveler had nodded in agreement, and Paimon was trying to come up with an ugly nickname for him. You still remember the unamused expression he made after you had made the suggestion.
“…How symbolic. Are you sure you didn’t think this out beforehand?”
You didn’t care for his remark. “Not particularly. I only thought it’d be fitting.” He seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding and letting out a subtle laugh.
“It will do, I suppose.”
Chapter 2: Who does He Think He Is?
Summary:
Y/N has a run-in with Wanderer, or how she calls him, Icarus. They exchange a few not-so-kind words, and go off on their merry way. They really don’t like each other all that much at this point…
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It’s all in the past now, yet you do often think about the events of a year ago. The Traveler and Paimon have gone on their merry way to Fontaine, and you stayed here, in Sumeru. The Traveler offered you to go with him and Paimon—To which you’d declined. It seems a bit silly, but you don’t have a need to know where you came from, or anything of the sort. Unlike him, you have no motivation to find answers or travel to find them.
Maybe it was because of your similar nature that he invited you along, but your priorities were in a different direction. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t wonder where you came from, but now, you find you have everything you could ever need. His motivation is noble—Searching for answers about his sister and Khaenri’ah, that is. In the process, though, he became involved in the conflicts between the nations—Something you have little interest in, despite your accidental involvement in the conflict in Sumeru.
…It’s all in the past now.
The streets had been particularly busy today, with spice vendors haggling with customers and shops operating like usual. You’ve become accustomed to it, but today was one of those days where the noise was becoming near unbearable. Instead of taking up commissions, you chose to come out here—A quiet little meadow on a cliffside for yourself to enjoy the day without any distractions. With your swaying legs hanging off of the cliff’s edge, your eyes fluttered shut, attentively focusing on the soft buzz in the breeze, the wind on your skin, and the soft grass beneath your body. Everything was perfect—“This is so calming”, you thought to yourself.
…Suddenly, the buzzing stopped. Something in the air changed. You opened your eyes, and to your surprise, everything looked exactly how it did just a moment ago. You looked around for a moment, and found nothing noteworthy to explain the sudden change in atmosphere. “Maybe I’m just imagining things.”
Before you could even finish your thought, a familiar voice came from behind you—One you would be able to recognize anywhere.
“You know, if I were somebody with ill intentions…I could have pushed and gotten rid of you with ease.” Without needing to see his face, you could tell that he had that same snarky smirk that he always wears—as frustrating as it is.
You had stood up from your position on the cliff, dusted yourself off, and turned around to face him. Like you’d thought, his expression was snarky as all hell.
“Maybe so, but I don’t know many people that would have enough grievances with me to do such a thing.” You crossed your arms over your chest, leaning on one leg more than the other. “Other than you, of course. You absolutely would if you wanted to, Icarus.”
At your response, his face contorted into a mixture of amused and irritated. His snarky smile was now gone, to your satisfaction. His hand moved up to grip at his hat, adjusting it ever so slightly.
“Please, don’t flatter yourself. I wouldn’t even bother to try it—The mouthful I’d get from Buer if I did is enough to stop me from even thinking about it.” His free hand was now resting on his hip, and his head cocked slightly to the right. “Besides, I have no good reason to get rid of you. Yet.” A soft cackle-like laugh escaped him, as if he thought he was being funny.
That goddamn smirk of his had returned, and he seemed extremely proud of his remark. You only stared at him for a moment before squinting your eyes at him and shaking your head.
“I assume you think you’re hilarious. Haha, so funny.”, You blankly responded, the sarcasm in your voice evident enough for him to pick up on it. Brushing off his previous comments, you quickly turned the attention directly back to him. “Actually, what are you even doing here of all places? I thought I was far enough out from the city that nobody would be able to find me.” You raised a curious brow at him, clearly questioning his sudden appearance. “Unless you were actively seeking me out, right?”
He scoffed and laughed as soon as the question escaped my lips, his expression once again became amused like it had been before. “You truly think everything revolves around you, don’t you, Y/N?” He crossed his arms with his now free hands. “You and I just happen to have a similar idea of where to go when the city gets too chaotic—That is why you’re here, right
He paused and examined you, seemingly searching for any sort of a response from you that came only as a nod.
“I thought so. Besides, what reason would I have to seek you out? I have no interest in following you around—The fact that you thought I would do something so ridiculous is truly astounding.” He shook his head briefly before continuing his monologue. “I stumbled upon you by pure coincidence—If I hadn’t thought it would be amusing to bother you a little, I wouldn’t have come up to you at all. People like you are often so narrow minded.”
Your cheeks would burn up after each word he said, slowly realizing that you had dug myself into a hole you couldn’t seem to talk your way out of. You couldn’t give a flying fuck what he thought of you, but for some reason, you still felt embarrassed for misenterpreting his sudden appearance. Accusing him of stalking you of anything was a low blow, you can admit. “Gee, sorry I even said anything. I didn’t know you enjoyed places like these—Or that you found amusement bothering those trying to enjoy them.”
He very clearly saw through your facade of false confidence, and it became obvious on his face that he had felt as though he had won somehow. “Now you know, don’t you?” He uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides. “Don’t make a mistake like that again—It makes you sound terribly narcissistic.” He turned his back to you and raised a hand up, waving goodbye as a means to end the conversation—he then left just as soon as he came.
You sighed in annoyance, and honestly, frustration. That guy really has it coming for him, you swear. He doesn’t feel a need to be remotely polite to other people, and his tongue seems so sharp it could cut through stone. Truly, what an arrogant individual.
…You decided to get your mind off of him—If you didn’t, you thought you would start developing a headache. Instead, you chose to sit back down in your previous spot on the cliffside. The wind had returned to normal—the buzzing, too.
The sun has begun setting—Hues of reds, oranges, pinks, and subtle hints of blues adorned the sky. You hadn’t realized how quickly the time had passed, and the fact that you spent a portion of that time being enraged by him made your frustration grow larger.
“About time to go back home, it seems.” You let out a sigh of relief before standing up, once again, on your own two feet. You then made your way back to the city, where the crowds had dissipated and the sounds had disappeared—only the same faint buzzing from earlier could be heard through subtle hints of conversation between the few people still outside.
Once home, you prepared yourself to sleep the day away. Despite the irritating interaction from today, you let it all fade away for the sake of a good night’s rest. The lingering thoughts from the day slowly faded away as you, too, drifted off to sleep.
Tomorrow is another day.
Notes:
Truly, I love writing their interactions. I hope I’m writing Wanderer’s character well—Feel free to write any feedback on it, if you feel inclined to do so!! Thanks for reading<3
Chapter 3: Please, universe…Not now.
Summary:
Y/N gets caught up in a battle while on a commission. Nahida strikes her up for a deal—but she doesn’t quite know what she’s gotten herself into.
Notes:
I’m still scared of writing Icarus OOC lol ;o;
Happy reading<3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It’s become more and more apparent to you that since that day, you’d been seeing his face more and more often. You don’t know why, but it’s become a problem for your sanity. Why? Because you don’t know how to deal with him and his unpredictable behavior.
At first, you didn’t think much of it. You both live in Sumeru—Obviously you would run into him every once in a while, especially with his big hat and unmistakable attire. It only became a problem when you started seeing him every day.
Sometimes you see him simply walking around the City. Other times, whenever the day becomes busy, you find his face in a large crowd—on the rarer occasion, you see him off in the distance whenever you go further away from the city. Even if it’s for just a moment, he will be there.
It’s not like you interacted with him—you would rather fight the Heavenly Principles than involve yourself with his bad-demeanor and attitude. You almost thought he was playing a prank on you at first, since he seems to bother you whenever you least expect it. It’s almost like he enjoys your suffering.
…It makes you sound like a wimp somehow, but it’s not because you’re scared of him. You’re more annoyed than anything. It needs to come to an end—if not, you might just drive yourself crazy.
Instead of driving yourself mad thinking about Icarus, you’d settled on taking on a commission that was posted on a billboard near the Adventures Guild. It didn’t seem particularly difficult, all things considered. It mentioned finding a lost item; Something simple you could distract myself with for a few hours.
…That was until you found yourself here. You can’t say how far from the city you were, but it felt like you’d been searching for eons—all with no luck in finding this lost item. You really should have thought this out better. A groan of dissatisfaction escaped you. “Seriously, where the hell is this thing?!”
Before you could even finish with your frustration, you heard a rumbling and whirring sound from somewhere behind you—the sound of…gears?
As soon as you turned to face the rumbling noises from behind you, your heart immediately dropped down to your chest—a Ruin Drake was now quickly making its way towards you, despite your own disbelief.
Sure, you’d been in battle before, but any of your fighting experience had been with The Traveler or a stronger, much more experienced ally. You had neither of these things at this very moment—plus, you had only barely learned how to control your elemental abilities. How could you fight a Ruin Drake?!
…The next best thing seemed to be to run, so that is what you did. No matter how fast you ran, though, the Ruin Drake always seemed to be on your trail. Shooting missiles at you and only barely missing you by a hair, the dread—and exhaustion—building in your body only became worse. The only things you could hear were the sounds of your panting, the ringing in your ear, and the loud clicking of gears.
With nowhere else to run, you decided that if you were going to have to try to fight. Despite already being exhausted, there was no other option—unless you wanted to die.
You instinctively summoned your weapon and held it tight in your sweaty palms—The Drake only got closer by the second. By pure adrenaline, you began sprinting towards the cause of your dread—You ran circles around it, attempting to damage it from seemingly weak spots. Striking it with whatever you could give, it seemed to become weaker every blow you hit it with—Your groans were becoming more labored as you continuously gave it everything you had—you were almost winning.
You managed to release an earthquake underneath the drake when it had touched the ground, leaving it without any proper footing. You saw this as your opportunity to finish it for once and for all.
…But while you were distracted with trying to maintain it grounded, the Drake released several missiles from its back that were heading towards you in all directions—you tried to dodge them, but unfortunately, one had gone unnoticed by you—maybe from exhaustion, or burn out—and it had hit you head on.
The impact from the missile was nothing like you had ever felt before. The missile exploded on impact—the explosion sent you flying back into the corner you had inevitably run yourself into, your weapon fallen on the ground somewhere you couldn’t see between your fuzzy vision and the incoming danger of the Drake approaching you once again. You lay on the ground, powerless to whatever was going to happen to you when the Ruin Drake reached your body.
Before you could form any semblance of a thought, you had passed out. The combination of exhaustion, pain, and impending doom seemed to be too much for your body to handle any longer—perhaps it knew you wouldn’t want to feel the pain any longer before you left this world.
“This is where it ends, right…?”
“The pain is too much to bear…”
“Please, universe…Not now.”
“I can’t die now.”
As you began coming back to consciousness, your vision remained blurry—all you could see was presumably the figure of the Ruin Drake, not near your body—but rather fighting something else— something that moved too quickly to identify with your current visual status.
The only other thing you could identify was the swirling sensation of the wind around you—it was stronger—fiercer than it had been earlier.
It wasn’t long before you drifted out of consciousness once again—in your current conditions, it’s shocking you even came to again.
As you awoke again from your unconscious state, you found yourself now being…carried? At least, it’s all that you could make out initially. The pain from your battle was no better—you winced when it finally registered in your brain once again. Your eyes opened and you were met by a familiar face—one you’d normally be unhappy to see by regular circumstances. In this moment, though, only a wave of relief washed over you.
“Icarus…?” You managed to mutter something before quickly wincing with a groan at the pain in your chest once again.
Icarus turned his attention to you, his eyes flickering down to meet yours—you could swear you saw a hint of relief in his expression. “Oh good, you’re awake.” He looked back forward—seemingly watching the trail ahead of him.
“What…What happened?” You continued looking up at his face, despite his inattentiveness to yours. The events from earlier slowly began coming back to you, as though they were only part of a nightmare. “The Ruin Drake, how…How did you—“
“What happened to that piece of junk metal shouldn’t be your biggest concern right now…You’re lucky that your body was durable enough to take a hit like you did.” He didn’t look down at you—not once. His typical unbothered tone of voice remained the same—but it was softer, almost caring in a way. “As for how I found you…Buer sensed you were in danger—and I was sent to rescue you.”
You continued looking up at him from your position in his arms, taking in the information he was providing you. “Nahida…saw me in danger?” You figured it was likely some sort of mental bond; similar to one you had previously made when communicating through your thoughts.
“Did you not just hear me? I know you’re injured, but you aren’t deaf.” He was frowning, or at least, you thought he was—from your angle, it was difficult to see much of his facial expressions.
Of course, it wouldn’t be him without some sort of degrading comment. “I was only asking.” You knitted your eyebrows together, your expression becoming slightly more annoyed at his comments. You sighed. “I…Thank you—I don’t know what would have—“
“You would be dead.” He quickly cut you off before you could finish your sentence—his tone shifted to suit his regular demeanor, except it felt…serious. “You would have died—that is what would have happened. Pathetic.”
His shift in tone made your eyes widen in surprise. The air suddenly felt thicker—what he said was true. You would be dead right now if he hadn’t shown up to save you. “…Right. I got it—Thanks..” You swallowed hard. You’ll definitely prepare more after today’s events…
You both eventually arrived at the Sanctuary of Surasthana after a particularly silent long walk—thanks to Icarus carrying you all the way there. After your initial conversation, Icarus had merely stopped talking, so you followed suit and did the same.
Icarus maintains his hold on you as you enter, and you are both greeted by Lesser Lord Kusanali; Also known as Nahida. Oh, Y/N…I wish I could have prevented this somehow…Icarus, bring her over here—she’s heavily injured, be gentle—”
“I know, I know—What do you think I’ve been doing?” He brings you to where Nahida had instructed him and he slowly places you down on your feet, maintaining his hold on you—as to make sure you don’t fall and hurt yourself even further. “I tried getting to her as quickly as I could, but it seems the Ruin Drake got to her before I could.”
“Ow, hey, now is not the time for your comments, okay?—“
“Thank you, Icarus…Don’t let her go—I have to scan her for any internal injuries.” Nahida begins administering an exam on your body—one you can only assume it to check for internal bleeding or something or that field.
“Hey, you should be more grateful I got to you when I did—that thing was about to turn you into dust if I hadn’t gotten there when I did.” He didn’t look at you, but rather straight ahead at a wall—you didn’t have the energy to care about where he was looking at that moment, though.
“I am grateful—“
“The scan is complete—it seems you have bruising and visible tearing on your skin…but nothing on the inside seems to be badly damaged.” Nahida seemed to look like she knew what she was doing…so you only nodded in response to what she was saying. “I’m going to need to monitor you through your recovery, if you wish to fully recover.”
“Monitor?” You looked down at her in surprise—sure, you were pretty busted up, but being monitored? And, since when was Nahida a doctor? What does she even mean by that?!
“Yes, Y/N—The damage is not terrible, but it’s not just a scratch either…It might take longer for you to recover without my assistance.” She looked up at you, the worry visible in her eyes—if you declined, you would be dealing with this pain for much longer than you’d need to—you weighed your options in your head and decided.
“I suppose I do need to get this healed as soon as I possibly can…” You nodded in agreement to her offer. “I’ll let you monitor me—thank you, Nahida. For everything.”
“Buer, you’re seriously taking this upon yourself? It was her own incompetence that got her in this state in the first half place. You have bigger things to care for.” His comment made you furrow your eyebrows and send him a nasty look, which he returned with his own.
“I’m glad you are worried about my time, Icarus—but Y/N cannot be left in this state.” Once she finished her sentence, she seemed to begin thinking. She looked at me, then to him, and back to me. “You’re not wrong in worrying about my priorities…it is true that I have many things to tend to—“ She paused for a moment, and the air had gotten heavy around us. “—So why don’t you take care of Y/N?”
“What? Why would I bother to do such a—“
“Because I asked you to. Will you do this for me, or will you decline my request?”
He had paused, seemingly thinking about his options at this moment. You seemed to also be mostly against the idea—the thought of Icarus of all people taking care of you in an injured state sounded like a true nightmare. Earlier though, there was something different; A hint of care for your wellbeing—unless you were misinterpreting again, like you had done the last time you both met on the cliffside.
“…I’ll do it.”
You looked mildly shocked at his response, since you had thought that he would 100% say he wouldn’t do it and make a remark of some sort—instead, he agreed in a soft tone; One similar to the one he had earlier before.
“Great! Lets get Y/N to a room, then.” She excitedly clapped her hands together at his agreement—You could only watch and wearily smile.
.
.
.
What the hell just happened?!
Notes:
Phew, longest chapter yet!! I didn’t sleep to write this. Hope you enjoyed :D
Feedback is appreciated❤️❤️
Chapter 4: What a Nuisance
Summary:
Y/N is locked up in the Sanctuary of Surasthana and wants out. She gets taken care of by Icarus, despite her own wishes, and Nahida continues being super helpful(/j).
Chapter Text
The reality of the situation hadn’t fully set in before, but now, you find that you’d trapped yourself in a corner. Figuratively, of course—even if it did feel as though you were caged in. The worst part about it was that it hadn’t registered in your head that you would be staying here with him—despite your previous efforts to get far away from him. Even worse, he would be the one looking after you—as if this situation couldn’t get any more embarrassing.
As Nahida led you to your temporary new room, you couldn’t help but block out all sounds of her speaking. You quickly began realizing how you had quickly just become a burden not only to Nahida, but also Icarus. You were on ‘good’ terms, sure—but you understood his nature. Aside from Nahida, you’d be surprised if he enjoyed any company. A voice snapped you out of your unfocused state.
“Y/N, are you all right? Are you feeling disorientated? You should sit down—“
“No, no, I’m feeling fine…Thank you.” You smiled awkwardly at Nahida, her worried expression only made your previous thoughts worse. “I just zoned out.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.” She smiled up at you, her eyes filled with sincerity and care. “Anyways, here is your room! Make yourself at home. Feel free to ask if you need anything!”
“I will, thank you, Nahida.” You took a quick glance around the room. It wasn’t small by any means, but it wasn’t large either. It was decorated with quite a few potted plants, a bed, a desk and chair, and a small light on a small bedside cabinet. “It looks comfortable enough,” you’d thought to yourself.
Nahida had walked away, presumably to continue her work, whatever it was. You’d almost forgotten you were being followed by Icarus—that was until you locked eyes.
“…What? I was just about to leave.” He stood with his arms crossed, staring at you as if you were a piece of garbage in his way.
“Nothing.” You narrowed your eyes slightly at him. Sure, you were thankful for what he did—that doesn’t mean you liked him though. It was clear you were just as much of a nuisance to him as he was to you.
“Good.” He replied sharply, turning his back to you. “Don’t wander. It’s against Buer’s recommendations.” He paused and turned his head back to face you for just a moment. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He then walked out without another word.
“So aggravating”, You thought to yourself. silently walked over to the bed and sat down gently on it, let out a deep sigh and laid back with a plop on it. If only you hadn’t decided to take that commission, or if you’d only fought just a bit harder—
It’s useless to think about what you could have done. It’s all been done already—and now you’re here, despite your best wishes. Hopefully you’d recover soon, so that you could get away from here—and from him.
A yawn escaped you, and you realized how quickly time had passed—or maybe you lost track of time when you passed out. It didn’t matter now. You got in a more comfortable lying position on your side and slowly drifted off to sleep.
It was now morning time, and once you awoke, you’d sat up and stretched wearily. You’d almost forgotten about the pain you were feeling before you went to bed—but it was now back, and stronger than ever. As you were sitting up on the bed, writhing in pain, you could hear a loud knock at the door, catching you off guard. “Come—come in!”
Opening the door and entering the room was Icarus, a face you were not happy to see as soon as you woke up. You were visibly displeased at his arrival.
“‘Morning, sunshine’.”, He said sarcastically as he walked in through the door, holding a cup and a bowl of food—seemingly some unique looking Shimi Chazuke. “You look so happy to see me.” Again with the sarcasm. Does he somehow think he’s funny?
“Do I? I don’t quite believe that.” You stood from your place on the bed, wincing slightly from the hurting in your side.
“Sure do.” He had placed the bowl and cup on the table and slowly made his way to you, only to push your shoulders down, forcibly sitting you back down on the bed. “Now sit down, will you? Or are you just that eager to leave?”
As he sat you down, your eyes widened in surprise and you grabbed his arms tightly—probably trying to resist his grip. “Seriously, what the hell? Ow.” Being under his gaze made you feel uneasy. He has a serious staring problem, and it doesn’t really make him look friendly in any way. “I’m not leaving.” You felt your face burn up slightly, likely from annoyance at his demand. Your brows furrowed.
He looked down at you and squeezed your shoulders for a moment before letting go and walking over to the table, grabbing the bowl and placing it in your hands. “You need to eat, by Buer’s request.” He took a step back and maintained his eyes on you.
“Right…thanks.” You replied dryly, knowing he was just executing orders for Nahida. You sat there just staring at him for a moment. “Are you…going to watch me eat?” You questioned him awkwardly.
“What, am I bothering you?” He responded just as dryly. “I didn’t poison it. Just eat.” He continued watching as he leaned against the table, arms still crossed and expression blank as ever.
“…I somehow have trouble believing that.” Despite your hesitance, you looked down at the bowl and your mouth had started watering—you couldn’t lie, it definitely didn’t look poisoned. If anything, it looked delicious. You grabbed at the chopsticks placed on top of the bowl and began eating, and your suspicions were correct—it was absolutely delicious. You hadn’t realized just how hungry you were before, but by the way you were gulping it down, it seemed like you hadn’t eaten in weeks.
As you finished the bowl of food, you turned your attention back to Icarus, and he remained in that same position he held earlier—his expression now amused. “See? Told you.”
You only stared back at him—you could only muster up a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah yeah, thanks.” He stood straight once again and made his way back towards you, grabbing the bowl from your hands and replacing it with the cup. It had a clear liquid inside, that you assumed was water(?). You looked up at him for some conformation.
“Drink. It’s for the pain.” You nodded at his remark, taking the cup to your lips and drinking its contents.
After you took the first gulp, you gagged slightly at the flavor. “Yuck, what is this stuff—?”
“I just know it’s pain medication—Don’t be a wuss and just finish it, unless you’d like to go through the day in pain?” He replied back sarcastically, tapping his foot on the ground, waiting.
“Fine, fine…” You persevered through it and finished drinking the rest of the liquid, despite the terrible taste. “That stuff is disgusting—“
“Well, you’ll have to drink it every day. Buer’s orders. Bummer, right?” He grinned snarkily at your statement before taking the empty cup from your hands and placing it inside the empty bowl.
“You’re kidding me, right?” You groaned in disbelief. “I somehow don’t believe you.”
“That’s really too bad if you don’t. Just ask her yourself, you’ll see.” Once he had everything in his hands, he walked out of the room without another word.
“Ugh, you—“ You stubbornly stood up from your spot, about to start chasing after him, then you paused. It would be stupid to follow him, wouldn’t it? You sighed. You truly hated how angry he made you sometimes, it was almost like he was baiting you into rage. Now, though, you won’t let him bother you.
Since you were already up, you decided you were going to take a walk around the Sanctuary of Surasthana—the last time you recall coming here was back when Icarus had erased himself from Irminsul. You decided to shake that thought away for now—trying to distract yourself from him for a little while.
“Y/N, good morning!” A familiar voice came from behind you, and you turned around to face the source of the voice. It was, of course, Nahida. “I assume Icarus already gave you your breakfast and medication?”
“Good morning, Nahida…Yes, he did.” You nodded as you replied.
“And your symptoms? Are you still in pain?” She continued clouding you in questions, and you replied to each one, and you were starting to wonder when she would stop bombarding you.
“I’m fine, really, I feel much better—“ You waved your hands around trying to emphasize that you really are okay, but she insists on checking your physical condition.
This brings you to another room, one that has a few medical supplies and things of the sort. “You may feel okay now, but you just took the pain medication…It skews your perception of pain.” She begins wrapping a few parts of your body with medical tape—the parts where you had been previously bleeding.
Whilst she applies the first few bandages, you notice from the corner of your eye that Icarus had entered the room without you noticing him. Nahida seemed to notice him as well, to which she spoke, “Icarus, glad you’re here! Can you finish applying the bandages? I trust you to know what to do.” She then turned at you, smiled reassuringly, gave the bandages to Icarus and left. Just like that. Guess she was busy or something…?!
“…Great.”, He said while standing there, semi dumbfounded before seemingly giving up and walking towards you. You could only stare at him as he came closer—why did he have to say anything yesterday!! You only stood there as he continued what Nahida had started, only now you were more alert than you had been before—not necessarily because you thought he would hurt you (even if that was a slight concern of yours), but because he was intimidating, and you were kind of anticipating to get annoyed at something he said or did.
To your surprise, he was being uncharacteristically quiet. Maybe he was just really focused on bandaging you up right or something, but you definitely noticed the change in his demeanor. You decided to break the silence. “…So, are you almost done?”
He had been standing in front of you—you were close enough to see the details in his eyes as he looked up at you from the bandages around your waist, and you now realized you should have stayed quiet. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He cocked his head slightly to the left and narrowed his eyes slightly, which made you furrow your eyebrows and look away in annoyance. He made a ‘tch’ noise before moving his hand to hold your forearm gently, holding it out perpendicular to your body and starting to bandage a part of it where you had a medium sized gash.
He took his sweet time patching you up, which you appreciated for what it was—but you had started becoming more impatient by the second. At some point, once he finished on your forearm, he crouched down to the ground and began patching areas on your leg. You only looked down at him until he was done.
“There you go. Did that take so long?” He asked sarcastically as he stood up, his eyes continuing to linger on yours.
“No—Thanks.” You replied dryly, since he thought he was so funny. “Am I allowed to leave? I’ll come back.” After everything that had already happened, you honestly just wanted a breath of fresh air.
“You can do whatever you want—Buer wouldn’t be happy, though. I don’t necessarily care, but she would get on my ass if you got hurt again on my behalf.” He stood with his arms crossed, staring you down.
“Then I won’t get hurt.” You stubbornly walked out of the room and made your way towards the entrance. You obviously care about Nahida’s opinion, but honestly, you needed to get out of here. You faintly heard Icarus’ voice getting louder behind you as he followed you to the door.
“Hey! I was going to say that I could go with you—“ His eyebrows were furrowed and he was clearly annoyed that you had run off so quickly. “I don’t want to, but unfortunately I’m responsible for you at the moment.”
You groaned. “Whatever, okay? Just don’t bother me.” You walked out the door, and he followed after you.
“What a nuisance,” He thought to himself.
Notes:
Hope you enjoyed the new chapter, I’ve been busy with work, but I’m going to try to release at least a chapter per week.
Chapter 5: The Fake Sky
Summary:
Y/N and Icarus bickering and interacting. That’s all lol
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After you and Icarus had left the Sanctuary of Surasthana, you spent the majority of your time just exploring the city—with Icarus trailing behind you. It felt like you were being monitored at all times, but it was your best resolve.
At some point you had left the city—at this time of day, it was common for the streets to get crowded, and you desperately needed to be alone. Well, semi-alone.
You now found yourself walking along a path leading away from the city—it was quiet, just how you liked it. Shadows were being cast onto the path from trees high above, adding soft contrast to the bright scenery of nature surrounding you. You could faintly hear Icarus’ footsteps following behind you—you were quite surprised he hadn’t said a word yet.
You hadn’t recognized the path was coming to an end until you came to a large field of grass. You stopped walking and looked around for a moment before you were startled by Icarus’ voice.
“Has your urge to explore been fulfilled yet, or do I have to wait another hour for you to be satisfied?” He said it in such a sharp matter you could almost confuse it for a knife. You turned towards him, shaking your head in disbelief.
“Satisfied? Really? Hah, you haven’t even seen the end of it.” You replied sarcastically, of course. If he wanted to be arrogant, you’d gladly return the favor. He scoffed in reply.
“How blissfully ignorant you are, Y/N.” His face seemed annoyed at your remark, which you quite enjoyed seeing.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He didn’t answer, to your annoyance. He only showed that damning grin.
You huffed in reply to his lack of a response, and walked over to a pretty patch of grass on the field, in a weak attempt to distract yourself from his edgy attitude. You took a deep breath then laid down on the grass—shifting your body to where you were comfortable. Your eyes lingered on the sky, the clouds, and the sun—as beautiful as you remembered them.
“You look pathetic.” You had almost forgotten about Icarus, but here he was, leaning down above your face, making sure you’d heard him clearly. “What an idiot”, you thought.
“You look silly.” You replied, matching his tone. “Could you move? Your big head is in the way.”
“Tch.” He moved at your demand, sitting down beside your form, looking towards the sky as you were. “You know this sky is fake, right?”
You moved your gaze to him, raising a brow questioningly. “Fake? It seems pretty real to me.” You hummed whilst thinking about his statement. “Even if it is, does that make it any less beautiful?”
He scoffed. “I never said that. I was simply stating a fact.” He looked away and instead began staring up towards the sky. “I suppose it is quite alluring.”
You had expected him to disagree, but here he was, admiring the sky just as you were—you could swear he looked almost endearing.
You moved onto your side, facing towards him. He heard your body shifting and turned his attention back to you—to see you were only staring at him. “Do I have something on my face?” The grit in his voice was prominent, but he was simultaneously just as calm and quiet.
“No, I’m just looking at you. Something wrong with that?” You were being quite sarcastic, a silly smile planted on your lips. He took note of this and scoffed as he looked away.
“And why would you do that?” He held his hat and turned it down slightly so his face would be covered from your sight. “How irritating.”
“Seriously?” You sighed. “I don’t know, I just felt like it. Am I not allowed to look in your direction?” You inched closer to him and took hold of his hat, quickly pulling it away from his head—the look on his face was priceless.
“Hey—! You-“ He turned his attention back towards you and his stolen hat, to which he saw you hiding behind your now sitting figure. “Give that back.”
“Why should I?”
“Because I told you to—come here, you“
He attempted to grab your arm, but you moved away before he could grab onto you—you then stood up on both feet, moving back away from him, laughing up a storm. You then placed the hat on your own head. “Look at me, I’m Icarus, ‘you look pathetic’ haha.” You mocked him and his earlier statement, to which you could tell he was fuming.
“Cut it out, now.” He stood up quickly after you, moving closer and practically chasing you around until he could get his hat back. It was quite amusing, really.
Until he did grab onto you. You were too busy laughing and giggling to notice he had caught up to you running around in circles, so you were quite surprised when he grabbed onto your wrist. “You really have a knack for being annoying, don’t you? Tch.” To make sure you couldn’t run away again, he wrapped one of his arms around your waist—while the other reached onto your head to grab his hat back. Your laughter ended there.
“Ah, I just—uhm,” You couldn’t quite focus with him holding you like this, and you maintained your eyes on his expression whilst he took his hat back from you—it was a mix of annoyance and amusement, more so annoyed than anything. You couldn’t quite form a full response with him at this proximity, despite how bizarre it sounded.
He seemed to notice your inability to reply, and once he took his hat back and onto its place on his head, he maintained his positioned arm around your waist. “What? Cat got your tongue?” He looked quite angry, but that was really the least of your worries right now.
Crap. You were in for it now, weren’t you? You felt your cheeks burning up as his eyes burned holes into your own—he looked angry, but you weren’t necessarily scared. You were looking right back at him, eyes wide with shock—your breath had caught in your throat. What is happening?!
His face softened for a moment and his grip on you loosened—he was clearly slightly concerned that he had somehow hurt you. “Teyvat to Y/N, hello?”
As you finally started regaining your composure, you placed your hands on his chest and pushed him away. “I’m fine! What is your problem?—“ You took a few steps back, your stance wide and face flushed.
He scoffed. “My problem—?! You are the one who decided to annoy me with your antics!” Seeing him mad was kind of funny, especially over something as silly as a hat.
As you took a deep breath and recollected yourself, a lighthearted grin formed on your lips. “You mean borrowing your hat? It probably looks better on me anyway.” You had begun chuckling at his reaction and your own antics.
“Wh—You—“ He groaned slightly as he brought a finger up to pinch his nose in disbelief at your idiotic personality—he couldn’t believe he was entertaining you right now. “Unbelievable. I should’ve just let you go outside alone.”
You continued laughing, something which you didn’t think you could genuinely be doing around him of all people. “Get over yourself, I’m only having fun.”
“I’m not entertaining your antics anymore.” He turned away from you and started walking away.
“Wh—Wait!” You followed, catching up to walk beside him and meeting his walking speed. “Where are you going?”
“Back to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, obviously. I’ve had enough of babysitting you.”
“Babysitting—?! You—“
“It is what I’m doing right now!” He scoffed. Just as you were having fun, he had to go and ruin it with his insufferability. What a bummer.
He can be such a prick when he wants to be.
Notes:
Shorter chapter, but thank you for reading as always! Forever will love their bickering.
KylieDarkAura on Chapter 1 Mon 01 Sep 2025 01:16PM UTC
Comment Actions
Birdieeeee on Chapter 1 Mon 01 Sep 2025 04:23PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ao3Lover:3 (Guest) on Chapter 3 Mon 01 Sep 2025 11:43AM UTC
Comment Actions
Birdieeeee on Chapter 3 Mon 01 Sep 2025 11:44AM UTC
Comment Actions