Chapter Text
Kazuha Kaedehara was happy with his life. It wasn’t what he’d ever envisioned for himself - turning travelling into a career was really not something he ever thought he’d accomplish, after all. Looking around now, at this small party of his fans, he was terribly proud of his achievements.
They called themselves ‘maples’ - a dedicated fanbase that followed his travel vlogs almost religiously. There were hundreds of thousands of them - across social media platforms, he’d even broken the million mark, but he was sure there were people following him on every single platform in existence so that metric definitely contained some doubles. Still, it was a remarkable feat in his humble opinion.
This current event hosted a meagre 30 of his dear maples. He’d decided a long time ago that he would only do meet-and-greet events in locations he would be visiting anyway - turning it into a part of his travels, rather than a detour, helped with his sustainability goals. He had been meaning to visit Avidya for some time, so when it had finally been time to pencil it into his itinerary, he decided to support the small local community by planning a meet-and-greet event as well.
Small had, unfortunately, meant small . Avidya’s largest venue could cater to 30 at a stretch, but that suited him just fine. In all honesty, it was a relief having such a convenient excuse to make the gathering more… manageable. He loved to meet his maples, and he always felt a pang of guilt when hordes of people were expressing their disappointment at missing out on these events, but, well... he only had so much social energy.
The Avidya event had been lovely so far. Green tea and wagashi were being served all afternoon, while he milled around meeting his maples.
“I nearly coudn’t come!” One maple - Collei, if he remembered rightly - gushed enthusiastically. “My dads have been, uh-- well, they just got back together and there’s been a lot going on so I’ve been looking after the florists and I thought they’d need me to work, but I’m so glad they didn’t!”
She spoke faster than lightning, but he found it rather endearing. He felt his chest warm at the phrase ‘my dads’; how wonderful it was to hear of older same-sex couples! One of his favourite things about leaving Japan had been the sudden abundance of people like him being so unapologetically themselves.
“Florists?” He asked politely, “A family business…?”
“Oh, kinda?” She scratched the back of her head. “We run it, but actually it’s owned by one of my friends’ families. They needed some help managing it, and one of my dads is a botanist.”
A botanist! How marvellous. He never tired of hearing his maples’ individual stories; he met so many people, from so many places and with so many stories! It was always a treat.
He saw some others hovering, clearly waiting for a chance to speak to him, so he invited them into the conversation. Collei was just as positively bubbly and delighted to meet and speak to her fellow Maples as she was speaking to him, it was a breath of fresh air. Kazuha thought perhaps he could make a friend.
“Oh!” Collei spun to him. “Could you sign this?” She asked, sheepishly pulling a small card from her pocket. There was a picture of a bee, with big bubbly letters proclaiming 'can't bee-lieve you missed it!'. “My best friend couldn’t get a ticket," Collei explained, "I thought it would be a nice surprise for her!”
Kazuha felt his heart warm, accepting the card. “It would be my pleasure.” He made the card out to ‘Amber’, wondering idly if he’d be able to make time to meet her while he was still here.
As the group chatted away, he took a cursory glance around the room, wanting to be sure he’d at least greeted everyone who took the time to come today. He thought he could name everyone... w ell, almost everyone.
There was one - there always seemed to be at least one - shy-seeming guy, lurking in the corner. He was wearing a black turtleneck and a beanie, his hands pushed into the pockets of dark slacks and his head tilted to the floor. Kazuha made a mental note to approach him after they'd had their tea, when the mysterious man had perhaps managed to settle his nerves a little more.
The tea and sweets went on a little longer than Kazuha had initially planned - he thought they’d start the live music by 7, but his musician friends were running late. More tea also meant more money spent at the venue and into this lovely little town’s local economy, so he wasn’t opposed to it. That said, when the clock hit 8pm before tech had even set up the instruments, he was a little worried.
He excused himself from the conversation he was having as politely as he could, weaving through the crowd and over to the venue manager.
“I’m so sorry sir,” he began, “it seems they’ve only just managed to set up… I can ask them to cut some songs or--”
“Don’t worry,” the owner of the restaurant said, laughing, “I can stay open late tonight! Let them play their full set.”
Kazuha beamed. “Thank you, you’re very kind. I will, of course, ensure you are compensated for the later night--”
“Kid, your party has brought me more business in one night than I normally get in a week.” He grinned. “Don’t worry about it.”
Kazuha chuckled, giving a quick bow. “Thank you, kind sir.”
The man snort-laughed, a look of fondness in his eyes. Kazuha found most older people responded to him like this, though he was never really sure why.
“You’re a good kid. Go on, meet your fans!”
He bowed again, before turning around to slip back into the crowd. In hindsight, Kazuha should have recognised there were more logistical concerns to consider when his event looked likely to stretch late into the night. Alas, he simply returned to the crowd, seeking out that shy figure from earlier.
He succeeded - he caught sight of the boy again, and his breath caught in his throat.
The guy was looking right at him, piercing indigo eyes highlighted with a flash of red eyeshadow and staring right through his soul. His mouth opened in what seemed like surprise, then snapped shut as he looked away.
Kazuha couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t sure what it was about those eyes that were so captivating, but if he didn’t know his type before he sure did now. That. Indigo eyes and turtle necks and slinking at the side of a party, that was apparently his type--
“Kazuha!” One of his maples chirped, waving a hand in front of his face with a quiet laugh. “Earth to Kazuha!”
He blinked once, twice, willed his heart to beat at a normal pace again.
“Sorry, sorry!” He laughed, still a little winded. He swivelled to look at the maple, “What were you saying?”
“We were talking about why you’re still single!” She giggled.
Ha! Oh, cruel fate. He glanced back in the direction of those eyes, and was thoroughly disappointed to find the young man was no longer there.
“Well, I make a career of travelling.” He answered, the explanation rolling off his tongue easily with the number of times he’d recited it at these events. He understood why his fans were curious, but he was seriously starting to consider just doing a vlog on his non-existent love life and calling it done. Why was he single? Scan this QR code, it's all in there, thank you, goodbye. “It’s rather difficult to maintain a relationship like that, and I wouldn’t condemn anyone to trying.”
The maples all erupted in ‘oh don’t say that!’ and ‘but who wouldn’t want to just join you!’ and other such pleasantries that Kazuha had heard a thousand times. He laughed and smiled and nodded and said ‘thank you’ at all the right moments, not bothering to actually explain himself or debate the point.
“Alright!” Xinyan’s voice called from the stage. “We’re ready!”
Thank goodness. Kazuha gladly took the excuse to slip through the crowd and hop up onto the small stage.
“Thank you so much for waiting, everyone!” Kazuha said, “Slightly later than billed,” Kazuha shot Xinyan a look. The room laughed as she scratched her head sheepishly, “please put your hands together for my favourite musicians, and dear friends!”
The room erupted in applause, everyone clearly having been excited for this. Kazuha took the opportunity to scan the room for those marvellous eyes again, with the stage offering a handy vantage point. Alas, he found he couldn’t see them anywhere. Bathroom, maybe? No, he was not looking for a stranger in the bathroom, he was not that weird…
He hopped off the stage, moving towards the back of the room. He loved Xinyan, and her music, but boy was it loud in person… it blared forth just as he reached the back, and he was glad to be a safe distance from the speakers.
The music went down a storm, Kazuha grinning to himself whenever he saw people checking out the artists on spotify. He spent the entire set wandering aimlessly through the crowd, occasionally dancing, but mostly trying to find that young man again. When the clock struck midnight, he finally gave up. He must have left early… what a shame.
As the evening drew to a close, Kazuha personally thanked each of his guests for coming, seeing them off. He bought his musician friends a midnight snack and some tea, before the venue manager finally shut shop.
Kazuha went back to his hotel that night with an unreasonably heavy heart. Big social events did always make him feel the fact he was single slightly more acutely, but this was different. This was spotting the most breathtaking man across a crowd and not even having the guy’s name . He pouted, flopping onto his hotel bed with a heavy sigh.
He could get his name from the guest list. The guy was the only person he didn’t speak to, so he’d know who he was from which name was unfamiliar--
No.
No, that was weird and creepy. Bad Kazuha.
If the guy wanted to talk to him, he’d have talked to him. He had ample opportunity. He chose to slink around the edges and then disappear into the night.
Hardly a love story.
Kazuha sighed again, his inner poet trying to make the whole situation more romantic than it was. Maybe the guy had a family emergency and had to dash off and now he was also staring at his ceiling and thinking about Kazuha and---
No.
Stop.
Bed time.
Kazuha awoke to his phone’s incessant buzzing.
That was usually a bad thing.
He sighed, rolling onto his side and picking up the monstrous device. Honestly, if his entire career didn’t depend on social media he’d have thrown the damn thing into the ocean years ago.
The buzzing was the result of several messages from his close friends, all sending him the same link. He rubbed his eyes, opening it.
It was a long, angry post by someone called ‘Amber’ wherein she was bemoaning the state of society. He could relate. Everything she said was true; it was a biting but brave account of her friend’s recent experience, walking home from a small event in Avidya--
He paused, reading the account more closely.
Her friend had been walking home from a small event last night, and was… followed.
A small event in Avidya. Amber. Amber’s friend.
A quick scroll of her socials revealed she was, indeed, a maple. And-- yep. There were several pictures of her and Collei together. It must’ve been his event . This must've been Amber who he signed that card for. He sighed, opening the messages with Xinyan.
Kazuha: Thank you for sending me this. I think the friend in question was the young girl with the green hair, Collei. Do you have any further information?
Xinyan: nope, just what was in the post :( U ok??
Kazuha: I am alright, yes. Just feeling rather guilty for not considering the safety implications of a later event for the many relatively young, single guests. I think I’ll go and apologise.
Xinyan : bless i dnt think anyone will think its ur fault kazu
Kazuha: Yes, well. I’d still rather apologise. Thank you for sending this to me.
Xinyan: np np
Kazuha rolled begrudgingly out of bed, getting ready for the day. Florist, that’s what Collei had said, if he wasn’t mistaken. Perhaps he could catch her there…
Dressed and ready, he checked the map for nearby florists and was delighted to find there was exactly one ( one ) florist in Avidya. Pfft. It really was a tiny town, how lovely.
He strolled down the road, taking the time to enjoy the morning sun on his face. It was calming, in the face of the morning he'd just had and the task he was about to undertake. He’d booked a few extra nights here, planning to make a vlog entry for the quaint town. This area of the world had always intrigued him, there were some fascinating legends about the forests around here. A stroll through the ancient trees… that’s what he needed. But first, he had an apology to make.
He reached the florists and pushed the door open. A little bell above the door chimed, which he thought was rather cute indeed.
Inside, all voices fell silent and four heads turned to him. Collei, a man perhaps a few years older than her with a black bob-like haircut, another man that age with long white hair, and--
Beautiful, beautiful, piercing, indigo eyes.
Oh, dear.
No one said a word. Kazuha realised, after spending a moment too long staring like a dummy into indigo eyes, that they were probably waiting for him to speak.
“Um… my apologies, am I interrupting something?” He asked quietly.
“No no,” The man with the bob-cut began, offering a warm smile. “Welcome to Avidya Floristry, don’t worry about these guys, they can take their conversation upstairs.” He shot a look at the rest of the group, but seemed surprised to find the mystery man and Collei both gaping helplessly at his new customer.
“Kazuha Kaedehara.” Collei breathed.
“Kazuha?” Mr. Bobcut repeated, looking between the two of them, “As in--?”
“Yes!” She beamed, “Oh my God hello!”
He laughed a little, finding himself feeling rather bashful at how delighted she was. “Hello there, Collei, right?”
She nodded quickly, face brightening further. “You remembered my name!” She marvelled.
He chuckled, “Of course I did. I also remembered you mentioned working here, I was hoping to find you.”
Her mouth fell into a little ‘o’. “You were?”
“I was.” Kazuha confirmed, managing to keep his eyes on her despite the pull he felt to that mysterious man stood at the side of the room. “I saw your friend’s post.” He moved through the aisles, coming closer to Collei and showing his phone to her. “I assume this happened after my event…?” He asked, worry creasing his brow. “I wanted to apologise.”
“Apologise?” Collei asked, blinking at him.
“Yes.” He nodded furtively, head a little bowed. The levity of the situation was sobering, making his intrigue about that man feel comparatively unimportant. “I should’ve-- given how late the event ended, and the relatively young age of the attendees, I really should’ve made arrangements to make sure people got home safe. I apologise. I hope the matter was resolved peacefully?”
“Oh, yes, it was!” Collei squeaked, waving her hands in front of her. “There’s no need to apologise, I should’ve been smarter--”
“No.” The two slightly older men said, at the same time. Kazuha blinked at them, impressed by how seamlessly in-sync they were.
“It’s not your job to be smart enough not to be followed, Collei.” The one with the bob-cut said, in a soothing tone. He shifted his weight onto the foot closer to the white haired man, leaning towards him. The movement looked almost instinctual, and Kazuha wondered if these two were perhaps an item.
“Men just shouldn’t follow you.” The one with the longer white hair added, with a huff. He did the same thing, weight shifted onto one foot and leaning closer to the other man. Yes, probably a couple.
Kazuha nodded his agreement with their sentiments. “Though I still believe, in a world where this behaviour is undeniably and disgustingly common, I should’ve been a more responsible organiser in ensuring your safety. Regardless, you are not at fault in any way. I’m glad it was okay, though…?”
Collei smiled. “Yes, it turns out he” she waved at the side of the room, to where the mystery man was standing, “ wasn’t really following me --”
Kazuha’s attention whipped to him immediately, “It was you?” He choked. Great. He sure knew how to pick ‘em.
The mystery man huffed, folding his arms over his chest and looking away. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“He didn’t!” Collei added quickly, and Kazuha (reluctantly) returned his attention to her. “He uh, it turns out he actually doesn’t live far and he was just at the event as well and going home, obviously at the same time!”
Kazuha glanced at the other man again, an unreasonable amount of relief settling in his chest. So he wasn’t a weirdo? Thank fuck. “I remember you there…” Kazuha began, trying to sound nonchalant, “though I don’t think I had the pleasure of speaking to you.” He knew for a fact he did not get that chance, he had been really hoping for that chance--
Those indigo eyes turned back to him, meeting his gaze again at long last. Kazuha held his breath for what felt like an eternity (but in actual fact was probably scarcely seconds). Too quickly, the man was looking back down at his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yeah.” He mumbled. Kazuha found himself leaning closer, clinging to the rather lovely sound of his voice. Was he still… shy? Nervous? No… that didn’t seem quite right…
“Scara’s actually, uh-” Collei paused, like she didn’t know what she wanted to say. Scara, though. That must be his name. Scara. Skya-ra.
“Collei’s my… niece? I guess?” Scara offered.
Kazuha couldn’t keep the surprise from painting itself across his face. Niece? There must have been a hell of an age gap between siblings for Scara to be in the same generation as one of Collei’s dads--
Scara caught the white-haired man’s gaze, “We’re both Kusanali’s kids, in a way. Right?” He grumbled.
The white haired man shrugged, conceding the point. “I suppose.”
Kazuha’s inquisitive gaze shifted to him. “And you’re… Collei’s… father?” He must have looked even more confused than before, because… what? Yes, this guy looked older than Collei, but not-- 20 or so years? No way.
“Adopted.” Collei smiled. “Cyno and Tighnari raised me.” She explained, waving a hand back at the two of them. "They're the dads I mentioned!"
Kazuha looked between them, feeling something fond bloom in his chest. He was a sucker for stories of found families. Everything about Avidya was turning out to be cute, and warm, and quaint. “I feel like you would be a lovely family to have dinner with.” He said fondly.
“Well, how long are you in Avidya?” Tighnari asked, smiling. “I’m sure we can rustle up an extra plate or two.” He glanced over at Scara and was that-- a wink? Scara looked slightly mortified. Tighnari tried not to laugh.
Oh-- oh, okay. Kazuha felt a smile curving up his lips. If his family’s actions were anything to go by, Scara wasn’t shy, or nervous - he was interested . He felt hope flutter in his chest.
“Oh, a few days at least.” Kazuha beamed, “If that’s a real offer, I’d be delighted to accept.”
“Great!” Tighnari grinned. Collei looked thrilled, and Scara was wearing the kind of mortified look you would wear if your sort-of-brother-in-law just set up a dinner date for you and invited himself. “Let’s say tomorrow evening?”
“I look forward to it.” Kazuha beamed. Chaotic family dinner!
“In the meantime,” Cyno began, glancing at Scara for the briefest moment before looking back at Kazuha with what could only be described as a mischievous smile. “How about Scara shows you around?” Kazuha’s heart nearly stopped, he could not believe how many wing-people he had in this room right now-- “I’m afraid the three of us are tied up at the florists today, but Scara’s free this afternoon…”
“Am I!?” Scara snapped at Cyno.
Kazuha flinched, the fluttering in his chest shifting from excitement to nerves as he looked between them cautiously. Were they just… messing with him? Was he not interested…?
Scara immediately stiffened up - Kazuha thought he saw a panicked kind of regret in his eyes, but it could easily have been hopeful thinking. He brought his hands up in front of himself frantically. “I-- no, it’s not that I--”
“It’s okay.” Kazuha chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, I think it’s a nice idea, especially since I missed out on your company at the party… but if you’re busy, it’s really alright.” He glanced between the floor and Scara, trying not to let the nerves show too clearly, but it was very hard when he was so very invested.
A sound like a snort came from the counter, and Kazuha glanced over to see Tighnari biting down on his lip.
“Bless you.” Cyno said, “Is your cold still bothering you, babe?”
“Oh, only a little now…” Tighnari covered his mouth.
Ah. The weather had been rather bad lately. Perhaps he should help with preparing that meal tomorrow…
“I’ll… yeah.” Scara mumbled. Kazuha quickly looked over in time to catch indigo eyes lifting from the floor to meet Kazuha’s nervous gaze. “Yeah, I’ll show you around. Um. Now?”
Kazuha felt his chest lift, his poet’s heart gloating in triumph, mocking his brain for having spent the whole night doubting this love story. “That would be fantastic.”
Scara threw a quick look back at his family before shuffling through the aisles. Kazuha realised then that he’d never actually seen the other man move before, since he blinked and the man was gone. Scara kept his eyes on the floor as he slid through, coming to stop beside him before finally meeting his gaze again.
“Shall we?” He asked.
Kazuha could hardly contain his excitement, the sight of those eyes right beside him-- “Yes.” He hoped he didn’t sound as breathless as he thought he did.
They threw quick goodbyes over their shoulders, then slipped outside.
(The moment the door closed behind them, Tighnari burst into loud laughter. He doubled over, using the counter for support as he cackled. Collei crouched on the floor, laughing just as uncontrollably. Tighnari could feel Cyno’s hand on his back as he laughed too.
“Holy fucking shit that was--!” Tighnari wiped tears from the corners of his eyes
“The definition of oblivious mutual pining --” Cyno slapped a hand on his knee.
“You two can’t laugh!” Collei protested, head whipping up to them, “You were worse!”
“We were never--”
“ Excuse me --”
They protested, but Collei was having none of it-- “Cyno brought you honeyed dates for months before you even thought he might like you! And Cyno-- you didn’t even start trying to talk to him until I told you how in love you were!”
They continued to cackle, unable to deny her claims. Still. Those two were something else.)
Outside, Kazuha clasped his hands nervously behind his back, taking light steps up the high street.
“So,” he ventured, “where should we go first?”
Scara glanced around them, eyes flicking just about anywhere other than Kazuha.
“Well, you like nature, right?” He mumbled. “And nice scenery?”
Kazuha blinked. He’d almost forgotten this guy was a fan of his vlogs. He grinned. “That I do. Apologies, it seems I have some catching up to do.”
Scara finally looked at him, only to raise a confused eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I haven’t any idea what you like. It feels rather rude of me, with you remembering my interests so well.” He offered what he hoped was a soft smile, willing the butterflies in his stomach to calm down . He hadn’t been on a date in so long… was this even a date? It seemed like a date.
Scara’s mouth twitched, curving into the smallest of smiles. His eyes softened just slightly, the tension easing from his shoulders. He wasn’t sure what about his simple statement had warranted the reaction, but he was grateful for it.
“Yeah… so what do you want to know?” He asked as his stride became easier, more leisurely.
Kazuha hummed, “How about… I get one fact for each you know about me, that I haven’t told you myself.” He decided.
Scara snorted, a quiet amused sound. “Alright, but it’s a long list.”
Kazuha chuckled, “Well, we can take it one step at a time. You just told me I like nature and nice scenery. So two things that you like, please.”
“Black coffee and umeboshi .” He answered, smirking at the way Kazuha’s eyebrows immediately shot up.
“ Umeboshi ? Really?”
“Yes. Surprised? I know the taste isn’t for everyone…” He waved a hand, almost haughty.
Kazuha laughed, “I’m mostly just surprised that you’ve ever eaten it.” He explained, grinning at how Scara’s haughty air gave way to surprise. “Did you spend a lot of time in Japan?”
“I… lived there.” He said - though, like when describing his family, he really didn’t sound very sure of himself.
“Oh? How wonderful, do you speak the language?” Kazuha decided not to linger on the strange hesitance for now. He missed speaking his mother tongue, it was English everywhere he went…
“I… yes. But my accent is atrocious, you probably wouldn’t even understand...”
Kazuha laughed, switching into Japanese. “ Try me .” He said.
Scara looked awfully uncertain, but sighed, seeing no way out. “Alright.” He agreed, in Japanese. “What would you like to talk about?”
His accent was not atrocious.
Kazuha blinked at him in awe, surprised by the flowing lilt in his tone. Both the tone and vocabulary sounded almost ancient, like he’d learnt the language exclusively from historical texts and old recordings.
He must’ve been staring at him for a moment too long without response, because Scara’s face slowly took on a pinkish hue. He pulled the collar of his turtle neck up higher, hiding half of his face and looking away from Kazuha again.
“Told you it was bad.” He grumbled, switching immediately back to English.
“It’s not!” Kazuha said quickly, reaching across to take his wrist gently. He only meant to pull the other’s hand away from his collar, missing the sight of his face already, but Scara’s eyes widened at the contact and he found himself immediately dropping the wrist. “Sorry,” he laughed, sheepishly scratching at the back of his head.
Scara shook his head, releasing his collar and shoving his hand in his pocket again. “It’s… not bad?”
“No… it’s rather poetic, I’d say.” Kazuha smiled at him, delighted at the way the pink staining his cheeks grew darker with the complement.
“Shu-- no. You don’t mean that, you’re just being nice…”
Kazuha laughed, switching back to Japanese. “I most certainly do mean it,” he said, “where did you learn to speak like that?”
Scara pressed his lips together, seeming to fight with what language to use, before finally deciding on Japanese. “History.” He said, and did not elaborate further.
Kazuha chuckled. “It’s beautiful.” You’re beautiful , is what he wanted to say, but he figured it would definitely be a bit much. Scara already looked about ready to burst with even this much praise.
“Um.” Scara cleared his throat, then turned abruptly down a side street. “Forest.” He said, looking back at Kazuha. “There’s a, uh-- a really nice-- oh, you’ll like it, just trust me.” He huffed, in English again.
Kazuha laughed, following after him quickly. It was like having a particularly grumpy cat as his guide, and he really wasn’t opposed to it.
Scara led them expertly through the woods. Well, Kazuha thought it seemed pretty expert; he was ducking between trees like he knew the place intimately, leading him off the beaten path and through the dense woodland. Of course, they could be completely lost and Kazuha would be none the wiser--
With a start, Kazuha realised something.
Scara glanced back at him, noticing him stop. He folded his arms, and Kazuha couldn't help but anxiously note the clear definition of muscle there. Scara raised an eyebrow. "What is it? We'll lose daylight, this place is way less fun in the dark."
"...I met you yesterday, and you're leading me off the usual path into a dense wooded forest, away from civilisation…" Kazuha smiled, nervous. Making this confession was quite possibly the stupidest thing he could do - if Scara was actually dangerous. For some reason though, he couldn't shake the feeling there was no threat here. Instead, he found he simply wanted some kind of… reassurance, from the other man. Besides, he could still find his way back right now. He'd always had keen senses, and he could still hear the town, so it wasn't too late… if he needed to escape.
Scara blinked at him, "You're… scared?" He seemed startled, but then-- his eyes lit with mischief. He gave Kazuha a quick once over, curling his lips up in a wicked smile. " Oh , I am stronger than you now, aren't I? Like, a lot stronger. Oh, that's fun." He laughed, leaning forward playfully, hands on his hips.
Kazuha felt the man's laughter, his words, touch something in the back of his head. It almost felt like… deja vu? He found himself grinning easily along with him, fondness warming his heart but-- then came the most unexpected headache. His smile faltered, eyes squeezing shut and a hand pressing to his forehead.
"Kazuha?" Scara asked, by his side in an instant. "Hey, what is it? Your head?"
Kazuha nodded. "I don't… sorry, I know I just implied I think you're a murderer or something but I swear I'm not making this up, my head actually just started--"
"No, yeah, I believe you." Scara muttered quickly, his tone soft. "We can go back to the town, or the place I wanted to take you is just beyond these trees. We can sit down there, too."
Kazuha chewed his lip. His senses were very keen, and the last thing he wanted with a killer headache coming on was crowds and noise.
"Then let's press on." He glanced up to see Scara hovering nervously by his side, worry tugging at his lips. His hands hesitated in the air, the other man having reached for him before thinking better of it. Kazuha took a step closer to him, straightening up. The motion made him dizzy, so he quickly hooked an arm around Scara’s.
“This okay?” He asked, smiling faintly. “Sorry, I’m sure this will pass soon… it happens sometimes.”
Scara bent his arm a little, making it easier for Kazuha to take it. He leant against his side gratefully.
“It’s happened before?” Scara asked, tugging his arm in a little closer. He continued onwards through the trees, walking more slowly now, careful.
Kazuha nodded. “I just get… weird dizzy spells, and headaches out of nowhere. I’ve been to the doctors about it before, they can never find anything. Apparently, they see similar symptoms in around… 15? 15% of the population, I think she said?”
“More like 50…” Scara muttered under his breath.
“...what?” Kazuha glanced over at him, but he just shook his head.
“Nothing… I just… I happen to know a lot of people who have similar symptoms.”
“Oh? Really?”
He nodded, “Tighnari, you just met him, the florist? He gets it… used to happen to Cyno too. And Collei. I think.”
Kazuha hummed, “Wow… nice to know I’m in good company, I suppose.”
Scara snorted. He seemed on the verge of making some other remark, but they stepped out past the next pair of trees and were greeted with a wide open clearing. Scara stopped, glancing around with the softest of smiles.
“Knew it was around here somewhere…” He murmured, before turning to Kazuha. “C’mon, let’s sit you down.”
Kazuha nodded in lieu of speech, unable to articulate a response to his surroundings. The clearing they were in was breath-taking; a natural pool sat in the centre, thin capillary-like tributaries feeding it from all around them. Trees lined the edge in a wide arc with the tributaries disappearing between them, but the greenery stopped at the west of the clearing. A stream ran from the pool to that western edge, where it fell off the edge. The lack of trees there made for the most spectacular view off the side of the cliff, miles of beautiful greenery visible well into the distance.
Scara led them over to the pool and Kazuha noticed an old stone flooring set into the ground around it, broken only by the tributaries and stream. His feet tapped softly on the stone as Scara took them to a log, one of a collection of logs and other larger stones that had been fashioned into seats around the pool.
“How's the head?" He asked, dropping onto the log like it was an unremarkable piece of garden furniture.
"Scara… where are we ?" Kazuha asked, staying on his feet and turning in a small circle to take in the view.
Scara laughed, "Thought you'd like it."
"Yes-- but really-- what the--?" Kazuha wanted to swear-- he never swore--, " Where?"
Scara shook his head, amused. "Sit down, you dummy." He swung his legs over the log, facing the view off the cliff instead of the pond. "You can still see it from here."
Kazuha dropped onto the log beside him, staring out at the view.
"I need to vlog this." He murmured.
Scara snorted, "Did you even bring a camera or anything?"
"No, but I have my phone, I can just--" Kazuha pulled his phone from his pocket--
Scara yoinked it from his hands, holding it just out of reach.
"You can’t tell anyone where this is, you know." He tutted, "You have millions of followers, if they all descend on Avidya and start wandering through these forests? Alone? The place is dangerous, you even get bears in the summer."
"...ah." Kazuha sighed, pouting a little. "Fine, you're right. I won't mention where I am in the post then, but… well, I started vlogging for myself . To log my travels. I can't not log this -" He waved his arms around, "It's extraordinary!"
Scara sighed, handing him back his phone. "Yeah, yeah, okay." He said, with a roll of his eyes and a fond smile. "No specifics though."
Kazuha grinned, pulling up his camera. He flipped to selfie mode and held it out in front of him. "Hello Maples! Today, I have had the most amazing guide-" He turned the camera briefly towards Scara- who yelped , pushing the phone away harshly.
It fell from Kazuha’s hand, and hit the floor with a hard ‘crack'. He looked down at it, then back at Scara. A (very pretty) pink blush dusted his cheeks as he stared at the phone, mortified.
"...sorry." He mumbled, ducking into his turtleneck.
"...are you okay?" Kazuha asked, not even bothering to pick the phone up. Instead, he shuffled slightly closer to Scara.
"I just-” He tugged at his hair, ducked his head. “I don't do the Internet."
Kazuha laughed.
Scara’s blush darkened, lips pulling into a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Kazuha immediately stopped laughing.
"Oh you're serious." He winced at how Scara visibly retreated further into himself-- "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm-- I didn't mean to--"
"Make fun of me?" He grumbled.
"...yes. Sorry. It's just… I've never met a maple who... doesn’t internet ?” He bit his lip, trying not to laugh again. “How did you even find me?"
Scara shrugged. "A friend thought I'd like your videos, that's all… and it's not that I don't use the internet at all, I just… don't like the idea of my face being immortalised on the web forever. It creeps me out."
Kazuha smiled, finally reaching down to grab the phone again. “Okay, I get that.”
“...you do?” Scara peeked up at him, those lovely eyes shining with something hopeful. Kazuha felt warmth curl in his heart-- it hadn’t even been a day since he met this guy! God, he was so screwed.
“Yes.” He said, smiling gently and taking Scara’s hand in his own. “No videos of you. Promise.”
“You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life.” Scara murmured, shifting their hands so their pinkies were interlocking instead. He blinked, blushing darker and immediately pulling his hand away. “Fuck, sorry, that was dumb.”
Kazuha laughed, “Keep it all your life? I haven’t heard that one before.” He held his pinkie out again.
Scara hesitated for a moment, then hooked their pinkies together. “Uh… the full rhyme is kinda… weird.”
Kazuha leaned a little closer, curling his finger around Scara's a little tighter. “Now you have to tell me it.” He teased.
“Well… fine.” He sighed, looking down at their hands. “You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life.” He began, bouncing their hands with the rhyme. “You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again.”
Kazuha stared at him.
“...where the fuck did you grow up?”
Scara cackled.