Chapter Text
Kaeya, being the busy knight that he is, had a meeting scheduled with the Knights of Favonius Librarian, Lisa, and the Outrider, Amber, at the Good Hunter. Once he finished with his paperwork Jean had coincidentally assigned to him one hour before the meeting, he hurried out his office, bounding down the stairs as innocent passersby got dizzy watching the taller knight hurry his way to the restaurant. Making his way downtown, he had almost ran into quite a few people, skillfully and swiftly jumping out of the way, uttering a quick apology before continuing on making his way to the restaurant. After checking a wristwatch he had been gifted, he realized he had a little less than two minutes to make it to the meeting place on time.
Unbothered by any onlookers, the knight grabbed ahold of the railings on the various levels of stone walls that enclosed land, throwing himself over the rails and landing swiftly. He continued to make his way to the restaurant, finally coming face to face with the familiar building. He inhaled sharply, his nose taking in the smell of comforting, warm food. He looked around wildly, his eyes—err.. well eye—spotting the two people he was to meet. The two sat at a table, lightly conversing over some drinks, Lisa drinking tea supplied by the restaurant, and Amber drinking a big glass of water.
Kaeya coughed into his fist, awkwardly shuffling over to the table and seating himself. He slumped into his seat, a loud sigh escaping from his lips. He watched as Lisa and Amber’s conversation died down, the librarian pulling out a pocket watch and checking the time.
“You’re right on time,” Lisa commented, softly laughing into her fist as she closed the pocket watch. “I’m surprised.”
“I’m surprised too,” Kaeya remarked. “Jean had given me a whole stack of papers!” Just to let the information set in, Kaeya held out his arms at a sizable length, which earned a chuckle from Amber.
“I’m sure she had something else to attend to,” Amber said, a bright smile on her face. “Besides, at least you’re on time!”
Kaeya hummed and motioned over a waitress, ordering himself a handcrafted beer. The conversation between Amber and Lisa started up again, the two conversing about anything interesting going on around Mondstadt. Amber had seen the golden-haired traveler a few times while out on patrol, and Lisa had commented that she had seen them in the library conversing with a strange pair of people that originated in Inazuma. Instead of joining in on their conversation, Kaeya leisurely sat back in his chair, taking large swigs from his wooden beer mug.
His gaze drifted from the two of them to a specific event happening near the Adventurers’ Guild, specifically happening between Katheryne and a young teenage boy who clearly looked beat up. Around his limbs were loosely and hurriedly done bandages, blood already seeping through the white wrap. The teenager had a huge smile on his face, his thumb sticking up as he beamed when Katheryne began to fuss over his injuries. He waved off her worries with a guilty smile, motioning up to the cathedral after pointing at his injuries. Katheryne let out a long sigh before ruffling the boy’s ash blonde hair and handing him a bag full of Mora, along with some extra rewards for his good deeds of finishing a commission.
Kaeya watched as the boy bit back a wince as he held out his arms to accept the rewards, his shoulder having to deal with what Kaeya assumed was a heavy blow most likely inflicted by a Mitachurl or an Abyss Mage. With a small frown, the knight watched as the young adventurer limped away from the reception area of the Adventurers’ Guild, supporting himself by leaning against railings or against walls. Kaeya let out a small tsk, wondering how idiotic the young adventurer was for making his way up to the cathedral without anyone to assist him. As a matter of fact, why hadn’t he come with his team to claim his rewards from Katheryne?
“Oh? Who is our charming knight looking at?” Lisa asked, glancing over to where Kaeya’s eye was focusing.
Amber followed Kaeya’s gaze and let out a small sigh, resting her elbows on the table and placing her head in her hands with a small sigh. “You’re looking at Bennett, right? The adventurer making his way up to the cathedral?”
Kaeya simply hummed.
“Bennett naturally lures in trouble with his issues with luck,” Amber commented, beginning to pick at her food that had been placed in front of her.
“Hm?” Kaeya asked, raising his eyebrow.
Amber let out a pitied laugh. “He’s known to always attract such horrible luck. I usually find him out and about during my patrol, him getting beat up by the strangest of things. Once, I saw him hanging around with some other adventurers and the few of them came across three ruin guards. Everyone except Bennett had run away in fear. The poor boy had almost gotten flattened if it wasn’t for a few people joining as backup!”
“He doesn’t even have a team to go adventuring with him,” Lisa piped in, a small sigh escaping as she twirled her hair around her finger. “His old team had experienced his infamous bad luck, causing them all to leave his adventuring team. Everyone else is just too scared or too judgmental to join his team nowadays.”
“And after all of that happened,” Amber started again, a small frown on her face, “he still laughs and smiles even when he comes across his old team members. Even when he’s in a life-or-death situation, he’s smiling as if it weren’t a large deal.”
“He really is too kind and innocent for his own good,” Lisa said. “I pity him. Ah, how I wish for people to stop being so judgmental. Whenever I get the chance to talk to him, he’s always smiling and excitedly talking about his very few friends or his lone adventures.”
After hearing the two’s perspectives on the young adventurer, Kaeya’s heart immediately melted. How could everyone treat the boy so unfairly only after hearing about Bennett’s past experiences with luck as an adventurer? How could they all be terrified of him and not have a single ounce of pity after hearing what he had gone through?
“Please, excuse me,” Kaeya quickly muttered out before slamming some Mora on the table and practically flinging himself out of his seat. He hurried on his way to find the injured boy, the wind almost whistling in his ears from how fast he was running. He finally spotted the limping boy, struggling to prop himself up as he ascended up the stairs.
With a small smile, Kaeya took one of Bennett’s arms and wrapped it around his own shoulders, carrying some of the weight of the boy.
“Thank you, Sir!” Bennett smiled.
Kaeya let out a small laugh. “No need for formalities.”
“Oh, no, please!” Bennett smiled. “Oh, I should probably introduce myself. My name’s Bennett, leader of Benny’s Adventure Team!”
Ah, so that’s the name of the infamous team of his, Kaeya thought to himself, leaving the thought unsaid. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bennett. I’m Kaeya, a knight from the Knights of Favonius.”
“A knight!” Bennett beamed, shaking his head right after clearing his throat. “The pleasure’s all mine. Oh, and please, just call me ‘Benny’! ‘Bennett’ makes me think of whenever I get in trouble and one of my dads starts lecturing me..”
Kaeya just laughed at Bennett’s antics. “So, what happened, Buddy?”
“I accepted a commission that was a little above my level of expertise,” Bennett let out a small, guilty laugh. “I’m fine, though! I did some minor healing back during the fight, but I usually come back to the cathedral to get myself properly patched up and to get all of the minor injuries—”
“Here,” Kaeya started, letting go of Bennett and leaning down, “get on my back.”
“Sir Kaeya—” Bennett panicked, getting cut off when Kaeya sighed and forcefully hoisted Bennett onto his back. The ashen blonde let out a small sound of surprise, linking his arms around Kaeya’s neck to support himself to ensure that he wouldn’t fall off of the taller male’s back.
Kaeya scoffed. “What did I say about formalities, young mister?”
“I’m sorry, Si—” Bennett watched as Kaeya raised an eyebrow at him, “—I mean Kaeya.”
“No matter,” Kaeya started, a small sigh escaping from his lips. “Let’s get you to the cathedral and then you can tell me all about yourself.”
“Alright,” Bennett nodded, a beaming smile on his face.
Kaeya’s corner of his mouth quirked up into a small smile, reserved, yet still warm and welcoming. It made Bennett somehow smile even brighter, Kaeya practically needing to look away from the boy’s smile.
The knight made his way up to the cathedral pretty much effortlessly. He practically flung the doors open to the medical side of the cathedral building, setting down the young adventurer on a cotton ward bed. Once Bennett was sitting on the ward bed, Kaeya gently pushed Bennett to lay down, the boy complying to Kaeya’s wordless request with a small laugh.
“Oh? What’s so funny?” Kaeya asked, raising an eyebrow and rolling up his sleeves to his tunic.
Bennett quickly flushed pink, looking away in embarrassment. “Nothing, nothing!”
“Alright, Kiddo. I’ll get you properly patched up and then I’ll get Barbara to tend to your injuries,” Kaeya said, grabbing a nearby bottle of rubbing alcohol and a handful of cotton pads, along with some gauze and bandage wraps.
Bennett hummed, watching as Kaeya continued to navigate his way throughout the room. He looked down at his own wrapped injuries, then back up to Kaeya who started the process of getting everything prepared.
“Si—err—Kaeya?” Bennett started.
Kaeya looked up curiously at the young adventurer, “Yes, Benny?”
“Have you been in here before? You seem to know your way around things.”
“Indeed, yes I have.”
Bennett just hummed.
Kaeya let out a small sigh with a reserved smile on his face. After he finished preparing everything, he started gently rubbing Bennett’s injuries with the cotton pads absorbed in rubbing alcohol. He looked up to find Bennett just staring off into the distance outside of the windows, the taller male surprised by Bennett’s reaction, or well, lack thereof.
Bennett cleared his throat once he was brought back to his mind. He gave Kaeya a simple smile. “So you want to know about me?” the boy carefully asked.
Kaeya hummed and nodded instead of giving a verbal answer, setting down the cotton pads and starting to unroll the gauze.
“Oh, wow! You weren’t kidding,” Bennett gave a small, self-depreciative laugh to himself before starting again. “Not a lot of people ask about me, and a lot of people don’t really not know who I am.”
“I know enough to know that any mistakes during your life were not your fault,” Kaeya commented, wrapping the gauze around Bennett’s injuries.
Bennett let out a small sound of surprise, his eyes welling up with tears. He opted to move his arm to cover up his teary eyes, holding up his thumb to reassure Kaeya that he was alright.
Kaeya furrowed his eyebrows. Archons, what could this kid had to have gone through to start crying when someone comforts him? The knight shook his head, leaving his thoughts unspoken. Instead of saying anything more to accidentally make Bennett start crying more, the blue-haired male placed his hand onto the young adventurer’s shoulder. He could feel the boy tremble under his touch, but decided not to comment on it.
After a few moments of shared comfort and silence, Bennett finally sniffled and rubbed his tears away. “I’m sorry.”
“Kid, you have nothing to apologize for,” Kaeya said, sitting down next to Bennett and focusing on the boy’s injury on his shoulder.
Bennett shook his head. “You’re already doing so much for me and I’m just over here crying,” he said, a small laugh bubbling out. A guilty smile replaced Bennett’s frown.
“You’re still young,” Kaeya sighed, ruffling the boy’s ash blonde hair. “You shouldn’t be carrying so much weight on your shoulders without someone to help you lift your burdens. Now, tell me about yourself.”
Bennett nodded and thought to himself for a moment. “Well.. I don’t have true parents. My guardians are my dads, who are veteran adventurers from the Adventurers’ Guild! I want them to be happy and I want to bring them luck, even when I’m around. You already know about my bad luck, right?”
Kaeya nodded.
“Hmm.. yeah. It’s okay, though! Even if I am unlucky, I have a few friends who still stick with me, even if my bad luck hits them.. literally and figuratively. Let me think.. Oh! My Vision!”
“Oh? What do you think about Visions?”
“I think they’re signs from the gods, and that they won’t give up on us.”
“Why is that?”
“I got my Vision during a certain incident. I went adventuring one day and I managed to get myself a little more beat up than usual.. I ended up passing out from exhaustion, but when I woke up, all of my wounds were cauterized and I had a Pyro Vision in my hand! I think I got my Vision because the gods had thought it wasn’t the end of me,” Bennett smiled, his unclipped Pyro Vision being held in his gloved hands. The boy held it tenderly and carefully, looking down at it in a fond way.
Kaeya glanced down at his own Vision, then looking back up to Bennett, finding the boy happily clipping it back onto his belt. With a small smile, Kaeya ruffled Bennett’s hair and got up from the bed, setting down any of the supplies on a bedside table that held some fresh Cecilias in a vase.
“I’ll go get Barbara to heal you,” Kaeya said, pushing open the large and heavy doors, making his way to the main part of the cathedral to find the Deaconess.
After looking around the cathedral for a minute or two, he spotted the Deaconess, who was tending to a little girl who had apparently come into the cathedral crying after she fell out of a tree. While Kaeya pitied the child, he also worried for Bennett’s case, hoping for the Shining Idol to finish up with her healing. He inwardly sighed and stood against the wall, leaning onto it while leisurely watching Barbara heal the little girl.
“Now, just make sure you don’t fall out of another tree again, okay?” Barbara smiled.
The little girl eagerly nodded. “Yes, Miss Barbara! Thank you!” With that, the child ran off, her father supposedly outside of the cathedral waiting for her.
Barbara stood up, dusting off her dress after kneeling for a bit when she was healing the girl’s scratched up legs. She hummed a simple tune, wandering around the cathedral for a few minutes as she was tidying up the place. The sound of a throat being cleared startled her, her humming abruptly stopping and a small sound of surprise echoing throughout the cathedral.
“Sorry, sorry!” Kaeya apologized as Barbara held a hand over her fast-beating heart.
Barbara shook her head, “No need to apologize, Sir Kaeya. What can I do for you?”
“I brought in Bennett from the Adventurers’ Guild—”
“Argh, that boy! Always getting himself in trouble and always coming in injured..”
“It happens frequently?”
With a small laugh, which was politely covered by Barbara’s hand, the Deaconess nodded. “It, in fact, does. At least three times a week, I find him in the hospital ward, usually getting treated by another sister. I worry for him! He’s always coming in with huge gashes and bruises. Once, he came in after he was struck by lightning, telling me that it happens almost every time a thunderstorm hits!”
Kaeya furrowed his eyebrows. Surely Barbara must be exaggerating.. he couldn’t possibly have that much bad luck for him to end up in the hospital ward at least three times per week, the knight thought to himself. He brushed off the thought and just gave Barbara a small smile.
“In any case,” Kaeya started, pushing himself off of the wall, “he’s injured and waiting in the hospital ward at this very moment.”
Barbara gave Kaeya a small smile before leading him to the hospital ward, effortlessly pushing open the doors to the room in the cathedral and sending Bennett a death glare. Bennett flinched away from Barbara’s hardened gaze, which then softened as she started to examine what injuries had accumulated on the poor young adventurer’s body.
“You need to be more careful,” Barbara sighed, hovering her hands over Bennett’s injuries and carefully healing them with her Hydro Vision.
Bennett nodded. “I know, I know..”
“You’re lucky you got up here in one piece!” Barbara flicked Bennett’s forehead, the boy letting out a small groan. “And you’re extremely lucky to have someone else here, or else I would’ve taken more precautions to get the idea of safety through your little noggin.”
Bennett gave a guilty smile and a small laugh. “I’m sorry, Barbs.”
Barbara shook her head. “Don’t you ‘Barbs’ me, thinking you could get away with your reckless actions!” She sighed once again, patting him on the shoulder gently. “You need to stop being so reckless and go out adventuring without at least one person.. It’s practically like you’re asking to get beat up so horribly! I hate to see you here so often, practically beaten to death every time I see you arrive.”
“I’ll get someone to do commissions and to adventure with me, I swear on my life!” Bennett made an X over his heart, a serious and sincere look on his face.
Barbara just laughed softly. “I care about you, Benny, and I hate to see you getting beaten up. Try and get Razor or Fischl, or even Traveler, to go out and do commissions or to adventure together, okay? Or maybe try and find some adventurers from the Guild to join your party?”
“I will! Thank you, Barbs,” Bennett smiled.
Barbara nodded. “I’ll be off then, and I hope to see you here in the ward less.”
With their departing words, Barbara exited the hospital ward, Bennett letting out a large sigh of relief. Kaeya just chuckled at Bennett’s large exhale, ruffling the boy’s hair and sitting down next to him on the ward bed.
“You know, if you need someone to go to; to just patch up your injuries, I can be your go-to person. Come find me at the Angel’s Share, and I can patch you up all nicely,” Kaeya offered.
Bennett’s eyes practically lit up in excitement and he ecstatically nodded. “Thank you so much, Sir Kaeya!”
Kaeya let out a small laugh and started on his way out of the hospital ward. Once he made it to the door, he looked over his shoulder to see Bennett watching him curiously.
“Well?” Kaeya started, motioning at the door with his head.
Bennett tilted his head in confusion. “Well what?”
“I haven’t got all day,” Kaeya said. “Let’s head down to the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“For what?”
“For you to get a new teammate.”
“Wait, what?!”
With that, Kaeya made his way out of the cathedral, Bennett rushing to catch up with him. The two of them walked down to the Adventurers’ Guild, Kaeya requesting for his name to be put under Benny’s Adventure Team! , Katheryne, as well as some passersby adventurers, quite surprised to see the unlucky boy finally getting another team member. The knight continued to look the receptionist dead in the eyes until she complied and wrote his name underneath Bennett’s adventuring team, sincerely welcoming the blue-haired man to the boy’s team.
She explained to him the rules and safety precautions of being in an adventuring team, as well as giving him some information on how it all worked. Kaeya more-or-less drowned out her whole spiel to pay attention to the young adventurer’s reaction to having a new teammate. After Katheryne finally finished with her whole lecture, she let the two of them walk off.
Bennett looked up to Kaeya with a confused look on his face.
“What’s that look for, Kiddo?” Kaeya asked as the two of them leisurely walked down Mondstadt’s streets, looking at all of the vendors and their stands.
“Are you.. actually joining my team?” Bennett asked, his jaw practically to the floor in disbelief.
Kaeya chuckled and ruffled the boy’s ash blonde hair. “Of course. You need another member, right? What’s a team if there’s only one person? There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’, you know!”
Bennett sniffled, rubbing away tears that formed from his own eyes.
“Wha—” Kaeya cut himself off. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just.. so happy!” Bennett smiled through his teary eyes, the tears glistening in the bright sun.
Instead of receiving a verbal response, Bennett received a firm shoulder squeeze from Kaeya as the two continued to make their way down the Mondstadt streets, the two stopping occasionally to buy a gift or two for various different people.