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Be There

Summary:

Coming back to what Scaramouche considered one of his homes shouldn't feel this hard.

On the other hand, after all this time he'd been gone without a word from the Zapolyarny Palace and his chosen family, he couldn't just waltz in with a husband and pretend everything was fine, could he?

Notes:

Shifting around ideas but I hadn't considered that the answer of where my Scarabedo could live doesn't *need* to be Dragonspine. Snezhnaya is cold too - and thanks to Cricket's fics, I learned about a family where they can be happy too.

I'm referencing his "Then, burn away the old world for me" series (Harbingers Found Family), and indirectly my "Soil" series (Scarabedo2).

I think the story works without the context too because it's a vibe I need right now

[Edit July 2022: I changed some genders according to recent ingame information]

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Scaramouche lifted his head and took in the familiar shape of Zapolyarny Palace against the heavy winter sky in the distance. The eternal ice was as majestic and impressive as he remembered it and for a moment, Scaramouche looked on, eyes searching for the prominent balcony of his room.

"How long must it have taken to shape all of this?" Albedo mused at his side, following Scaramouche's gaze with childish wonder on their face.

"Wait until you see the inside." Scaramouche lifted a hand and pointed to where he could make out colored flowers along the railing far away, guiding Albedo's attention to it. "See that, Albedo? That's an entire room I filled with ice replica of various kinds, mostly flowers from Inazuma. You'll love my collection, you'll see. I've worked weeks on it."

Even to his own ears Scaramouche sounded like an excited child boasting about its passion, but for once, the Harbinger didn't mind and let pride make him stand taller. The amount of detail he'd put into the ice sculptures was work yet to be seen among most present-day artists and stemmed from centuries of experience and hardship.

"I can't wait to see it." With a fond smile adorning their lips, Albedo hopped ahead, coat fluttering around their figure way looser than Scaramouche kept his around himself, and with a new warm feeling inside him, Scaramouche followed suit.

Not that Scaramouche didn't also have second thoughts about his idea of returning to Zapolyarny Palace now of all times.

Coming back to what Scaramouche considered one of his homes shouldn't feel this hard, especially in comparison to how stepping foot on Inazuman soil had been like for Scaramouche after all these years away from Inazuma. Both places were his home at some point of his life - the difference couldn't be that big.

But the worst part of his plan was that Scaramouche couldn't predict its outcome at all.

He hadn't been home at the Zapolyarny Palace for more than a dozen moons without reporting back all this time. Worse yet, during his entire stay in Inazuma, Scaramouche hadn't written a single letter to the other Harbingers, leaving them in the dark about his whereabouts and circumstances.

Now, Scaramouche couldn't just waltz in after so long and pretend everything was fine. Part of him wanted to sneak in the usual way and hide away in his private quarters with Albedo for a while, just until he'd decided which Harbinger would be the least likely to kill him on sight for disappearing like this. He couldn't hold it against them - had any other done the same, Scaramouche would've filled Snezhnaya's winter clouds with lightning the Raiden Shogun would've been jealous of.

"Nervous?" Albedo's soft question startled Scaramouche from his thoughts and made him narrow his eyes at Albedo automatically.

"Why do you think so?" Scaramouche snapped back, less sharp than what was usual for him.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't having doubts about one thing or the other - and by Albedo's knowing smile in return, this much had been obvious to them. Not because Scaramouche was losing his edge or getting soft because of their relationship, but because Albedo was attentive and learning about Scaramouche with every new day, like they had vowed to do forever.

After a while of stomping along the snowy road that led up to Zapolyarny Palace in amiable silence and the howling of eternal winter as their companion, Scaramouche picked up the conversation where it had left off again, not getting the thoughts out of his head any other way.

"Families are fucking scary, that's what," he explained what troubled him insistently, bent down, and picked up a handful of snow to press together into a small snowball absentmindedly. The biting touch of cold was the most grounding feeling Scaramouche could think of right now because of how it connected to the person walking beside him.

Albedo smiled cheekily. "Introducing me to your family should still be easier than introducing you to mine, hara mou."

After a moment of stunned surprise, Scaramouche threw the snowball in hands at Albedo. "What's that last thing about? You're being embarrassing, dumbass."

Albedo saw the attack coming their way and lifted their arms in time to stop it from hitting their head, laughter pearling from their lips. The sound fit harmonically into the majestic impression of their surroundings. Its effect was almost enough to make the retaliation snowball hit its target, but Scaramouche exploded the snowball into bits with a lightning strike in the last moment before it could connect, sending a wave of Superconduct over them that turned Albedo's cheeks red from the reaction's kisses.

"Scaramouche," Albedo complained, breathless, and finally wrapped the coat around their figure properly, fingers more clumsy than normal. "Think about it rationally! I can hardly introduce my husband to a dead dragon, several blood-thirsty creations, and a twin brother who hates my guts, can I?" They smiled widely at Scaramouche. "What danger could ten Harbingers be in comparison?"

"Don't underestimate them," Scaramouche grumbled and looked away, blinded by this much optimism. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that Albedo was right. "We have a history of ... incidents. Nothing I don't know how to stand away from. But not if I'm in the center of it."

 


 

Nothing could have prepared Scaramouche for what he was about to face.

First of all, most Harbingers were gathered in the main room around the chimney. They had moved seats of various sizes closer to the fireplace, sharing blankets and holding onto different kinds of warm beverages.

They didn't hear Scaramouche and Albedo enter; their attention was solely focused on Pierro and Arlecchino who were finishing a round of cards against each other, poker facing each time the other Harbinger had to draw a card from their hand, and breaking out in mocking laughter when the wrong card was picked once again.

"What's the matter, clown? Didn't you say you'll best me?!" Pierro jeered into Arlecchino's neutral face, reached for a card, and picked the one they were passing around this entire time, a Queen of Hearts that was the 'Devil's card' this round. This action was followed by hoots all around and Arlecchino's sweet: "You're not just a clown, Pierro. You're the entire circus."

That's when Il Dottore shot up from his seat as if stung by one of his experiments and exclaimed louder than the rest: "By Sumeru's Archon's missing balls, Scaramouche??? What the fuck?"

In a single moment, the room's focus shifted to the door when six heads turned simultaneously to the newcomers, staring at them. The silence that settled was deafening. A branch cracked in the fireplace as loudly as a shot from a pistol.

"Hey." Scaramouche lifted a hand and waved. He took some steps into the room, letting his eyes wander over everyone present. "Long time no see."

Sandrone, the first to move at all in the silent stalemate, threw the blankets off her shoulders, rose quietly, and closed the distance to Scaramouche, who looked up to the much taller Harbinger in quiet expectation. But Sandrone only put a heavy hand on Scaramouche's shoulder as she passed by, murmured a quick "welcome back", and left the room without ever so much as glancing at Albedo who was lingering slightly behind Scaramouche.

Then, hell broke loose.

Tartaglia was the first to jump up with Hydro blades in hands and storm at Scaramouche with a frustrated battle cry, followed by burning hot butterflies surging up from where Rosalyne was sitting. Scaramouche evaded Tartaglia by side-stepping and deflecting his strikes with trained taps on his arms and legs, engaging in this dance without complaints as he'd anticipated it, and made sure to zap Rosalyne's elemental animals with some Electro before they had a chance to reach him.

"Ay, asshats," Pierro shouted from where he picked the wrong card against Arlecchino once again with a grimace, passing the Queen of Hearts around between them another time, "pay up and settle your debts like real men! Told you that Scaramouche will come back. You owe me big time now, ginger, doctor, m'lady!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, PIERRO," Rosalyne raged and climbed over the backseat of the couch, having left the comfort of her blankets. Her surroundings grew so hot that she vaporized Tartaglia's Hydro blades and made him switch into hand-to-hand combat against Scaramouche instead. "Were you on your honeymoon while we worried about you, you little shit?! And you didn't TELL ME??"

"I wasn't!" Because of the scorching heat blowing his way, Scaramouche and Childe automatically evaded backwards and away from Rosalyne during their uninterrupted fight, even when Scaramouche kicked Tartaglia off-balance repeatedly. Height had its advantages, sometimes. Survival instincts had theirs too. And experience with La Signora's eruptive rage that put Natlan's volcanoes at shame most likely too.

"YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD, SCARAMOUCHE! Childe was RUNNING around Inazuma, LOOKING FOR YOU-"

"I did NOT," Tartaglia retaliated immediately, but as if on cue, Arlecchino produced a set of letters from inside her wide clown costume with one hand and lifted it up without looking up from her cards: "Lies, child, lies!"

"NO!" Childe shouted and almost got a grip on Scaramouche's shoulder. However, his hand slipped on the ice that unexpectedly manifested behind Scaramouche, and the arms that did manage to sling around Scaramouche and drag him back against their chest were Albedo's.

"Everyone, freeze!"

Albedo's Cryo that they centered at their palm radiated against Rosalyne's scorching heat and negated the worst of its effect, juggling with the room's temperature like Arlecchino and Pierro traded the same card around as if there was no reason to make a fuss.

"Do you think a little Cryo Delusion will stop me, the Crimson Witch of Flames?" Rosalyne hissed at Albedo.

"Rose, let me remind you that you usually cool down through a Cr-", Dottore spoke up from his place at the chimney and snapped his mouth shut when she turned around and fixated her evil eyes on him instead. "Hey, with all love. Don't go around murdering me now. I'm just a scientist."

"Let's be happy and rejoice that our beloved sibling has finally found his way home instead", Il Capitano spoke up for the first time since Scaramouche's arrival. He had blended into the heap of blankets once wrapped around Rosalyne so well that everybody was surprised to see him on the couch. "The family is reunited once again and the evil lands of the Raiden Shogun have not brought him to his knees as someone, speak the Doctor, has feared. Which is why Tartaglia ran off in the first place to search for you in all of Inazuma, Scaramouche. Wouldn't believe that he has such a big heart, would you?"

He rose from the blankets, shedding them like a second skin, and walked over to the stalemate between Scaramouche and Albedo, and Rosalyne, whose fire grew less intense with the second.

"I didn't do it out of worry," Tartaglia, caught awkwardly between the fronts of hot and cold, made sure everyone understood. Il Capitano threw him a weak smile as he passed the younger Harbinger by, stopped in front of Scaramouche, and extended his mug of hot chocolate to him, waiting that he took it.

"If you ask nicely, Kruzchka will heat it up for you."

Scaramouche extended his hands and took the mug, pouting openly.

"If the welcome had been warmer, I wouldn't need to heat anything," he said even though most reactions had been within his range of expectations, and leaned back against Albedo, who closed their arms around Scaramouche from behind and kept looking warily for more signs of danger.

That's normal, Scaramouche tapped against his mug, trusting Albedo would understand.

In front of the fireplace, Pierro cried out in joy and slammed down the winning cards, pointing fingers at Arlecchino and laughing that he knew he'd win from the very beginning. Arlecchino in return sunk over the cards and planted her face on the makeshift table they'd used to play cards on.

Il Dottore, who had watched everything unfold from his safe place at the chimney, happy that for once, he didn't need to be involved directly, clapped his hands.

"Now that the childish fits are over, we can finally talk like adults." Dottore pushed off his place at the chimney and stepped next to Rosalyne. He leaned against her comfortably. She didn't shake him off.

"A Cryo Delusion, huh. I wonder where you got that from, Scaramouche," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. They both knew where Scaramouche had stolen it from. Or rather, from whom.

"I'm more hung up on the person he's snuggling up against. Aren't you the chief alchemist of Mondstadt?" Rosalyne asked drily, lifting her chin in suspicion. Tartaglia meanwhile kept looking back and forth between the five with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He looked suspicious of something too.

"I'm his brother," Albedo said, not yielding the comfort of being in Scaramouche's space without any shame. They'd noticed that Scaramouche had tensed up against them again. "My name's Albedo."

"How curious." Tartaglia tapped his elbow now, unable to hold in the energy coursing through his veins. "I know an Albedo too."

"My twin brother's name is Albedo, yes.

"What a common name in Teyvat then."

"Your point being?"

"Don't pay attention to him", Dottore, Capitano, and Rosalyne said in one voice.

"He's like that with his siblings too," Capitano added drily. "Some might call it overprotective when it comes to relationships of his family members. Would put you through some questioning first, if you get me. Not that Tartaglia's sentiments aren't shared by everyone else here in the room either."

"However, do know, Albedo," Dottore showed his widest grin, which was partially hidden behind the mask covering most of his face, but still pointedly sharp, "we will keep an eye on you. Make Scaramouche cry and we will know. I take it you understand what I mean?"

"I do." Albedo pressed Scaramouche closer to their chest, ignoring the little sound of surprise he made. "I would never."

For a moment, silence returned between the Harbingers and despite the situation, it could almost be called peaceful. Somehow, this had gone more smoothly than Scaramouche had imagined.

Only Childe was rocking back and forth on his feet, a question burning on his lips.

"Rosalyne," he spit it out once he figured nobody else would rise to speak, "why'd you decided to call Scaramouche's absence a honeymoon? When he came in, no hesitation. What prompted it? How'd you know?" Childe gesticulated in Scaramouche's direction and jumped at La Signora's expression. No way she knew more than him - right?

"Look at the ring on his finger, Ajax," Rosalyne deadpanned as if everyone had to have noticed this very obvious sign from the very beginning. And there it was again, the same look she'd given him in Liyue during the final moments of her stay - only because he hadn't realised that the man he'd been having lunch with every day was Rex Lapis himself. Childe called it "the older sister look", mostly because he had no older siblings in his birth family.

"So?" Childe lifted his hands, showing his fingers. "I wear rings too. As does Zhongli, for example. What about it?"

"You can't be actually this naive, can you. Tell me," Rosalyne reached out and moved Scaramouche's arm with the warm mug aside to reveal the matching ring on Albedo's ring finger to plain view, "that this doesn't scream Scaramouche proposing from fifty miles away. I dare you, Tartaglia."

"Rose ..." Il Dottore lifted a hand to his face, covering his mouth. "You're talking to the man who didn't recognize Rex Lapis when he was eating lunch and dinner with him every day up until you told him. Do you really have to ask ..."

As they broke into bickering, Il Capitano gently pushed Albedo and Scaramouche out of the room, exhaling once they'd stepped into the relative darkness of the hallways.

"You two must want to rest now", he said kindly, keeping his hands on respectively Albedo's and Scaramouche's shoulder with a light smile. "I suggest you let all of this sink in first. Betting that Rosalyne will insist on a second wedding that she's in charge of in terms of planning. I myself can't believe that you're the first of us to marry ... and such a handsome young ... fellow. Right, what are your pronouns, lad?"

"I generally prefer they them pronouns", Albedo answered, which earned a delighted hum from the other.

"Mh, sharp choice. Welcome to the family. You make a nice addition." Capitano retracted his hands and straightened up. His next words were directed at his younger chosen brother.

"It's good that you've returned, Scaramouche. We missed you. More than you can imagine", he told Scaramouche.

"It's good to be back", he answered, breaking into a genuine smile.

Notes:

In case anyone wondered, the "hara mou" early in the story was my attempt at transcribing Greek letters and is a term of endearment (the headcanon: since Khaenri'ah's based on Greek stuff, their language is [ancient] Greek).