This was the start of something

Faishi wasn’t a morning person. This didn’t really surprise anyone that knew him or his work habits.

The fact that he actually liked mornings in Liyue Harbor, however, tended to catch people who had listened to him grouse about them more than once off guard. But it was true.
He liked the energy that existed when you had to get up at these early gods-forsaken hours, and the potential that was there. Even the purpose behind the people that were moving around, heading towards jobst or finally making their way back home, felt different in the dawn hours. On the rare days when he had a day off or could grab a few minutes before heading into work, he would sometimes get breakfast at one of the stalls as he watched the population of the city streaming by. There always seemed to be something interesting to see, even if it was only something like a store owner being excited about new merchandise.

So yes, mornings in Liyue Harbor were something he enjoyed.

He just did not enjoy having to be out in the streets. Especially when circumstances meant he had walk all the way to the architecture firm where he worked. Like today, for instance.

His limp meant his speed was limited even at the best of times, and he really didn’t appreciate how much jostling he took when he dealt with people who were impatient to get to where they were going, and weren’t paying any attention to what he was doing. It was not exactly his favorite way to start out the day. Particularly when you had someone like that asshole from earlier who seemed to take it personally that he wasn’t moving fast enough and..

“Faishi!” The familiar deep voice rang out from behind him as he made his way down the early morning street, distracting him from the direction his mood was currently heading. He stopped as it reached his ears, and half turned in time to catch sight of the tall figure weaving his way through the crowd.

Before he could call out a greeting, Bran was there beside him, slipping an arm around his waist and planting a surprisingly gentle kiss on the side of his temple, “Mornin’’ he said cheerfully, as if were only the two of them instead of them being in the middle of a street.

Immediately Faishi felt heat flood up his neck and across his face. He knew that he was bright red, and once again hated how obvious his blush was.

“Good morning to you too. Must you do that?” he said in exasperation, but Bran knew him well enough to tell there was no bite behind the words and just chuckled.

“Yep,” was the cheerful reply, and all Faishi could do was sigh. Not that he minded the affection - it was actually a bit comforting to know someone wanted him that much - but he just didn’t think the rest of the world needed to see it. And, as he was swiftly learning, Bran was both the type that both did not mind who saw and was willing to shout that affection from the rooftops without a blush.

Still, running into him this early in the morning was unusual, especially since both of them tended to be busy at this time of day. Bran also hadn’t removed his arm from around his waist, as if he needed the contact.

“Is there something you needed?” He asked, as he looked up at the man. Bran was one of the few people he really did have to look up to meet their eyes. He didn’t exactly dislike that. “Or was this just an ambush of opportunity?”

“Maybe I just wanted your company?” Bran suggested with a wink, which Faishi could only raise an eyebrow at.

“I might have believed that,” he said easily, “but if you really wanted my company you would have stayed over last night so we could have breakfast. Or shown up when I took a lunch break. Not when I’m walking to work.” One thing he had always appreciated about Bran was that he did things like that. Opportunities to spend time together that felt natural rather than something being forced. This felt...slightly different. More purposeful.

Besides, if it had been a coincidence Bran would have just said something about rushing over because he saw him and because he to say hello. Usually he was a straightforward man and it wasn’t like there was a reason to lie.. So Faishi just gave him a Look, “so I assume you needed me for something?”

Bran sighed and Faishi was a bit disappointed when he removed his arm from around his waist to rub the back of his neck, “I actually wanted to talk,” he sounded so serious that Faishi couldn’t help giving him a sharp look. Talk? About what? He hadn’t thought there had been any problems between them, and Bran hadn’t ever said that...

Bran must have seen the worry because he added hastily, “it’s not serious! Really. Just something I wanted to explain to you myself, and it’s kind of urgent. Do you have time? It’s not gonna take long.” Barn was actually looking a bit worried himself which was a bit alarming. Faishi made a swift calculation about how far it was to his firm, and where they were now. Because of his leg he always added in a bit of extra time just to make absolutely sure he could get...well anywhere on time. He would much rather be early than late and with his limp it was harder to make up the time if he was behind. Still, that meant while it would be close if they did talk ,he did have a bit of time. He would take that risk.

Despite his words Bran wouldn’t have stopped him on the way to work if some part of him didn’t think it was important. He could at least afford to listen

“Sure,” he said at last, “but not here. This,” he gestured at the stream of humanity around them, “ doesn’t exactly scream ‘private conversation’. It’ll be easier to hear you without a crowd anyway.”

Bran chuckled at that , “You’re probably right,” he said easily. “You always were better at common sense. You have somewhere you want to go then?”

His lover’s eyes flickered towards one of the restaurants nearby but Faishi had another idea. “Yes, and it’s close. Come with me.” He turned and led them over to a small alley entrance he knew of. Luckily they weren’t that far from it, and this early no one was near it. Although it wasn’t exactly hidden, it was squeezed between a couple of shops, and hard to spot unless you knew exactly where it was. As they reached the gap, he noticed with some amusement that Bran, who had been walking beside him, fell back a little, allowing him to enter first.

“Something wrong?” he asked casually as he glanced back. Bran was a big man, not just in height - though he was the sort of over-six-foot that allowed people to use him as a landmark in a crowd - but his build was exactly what you would expect from an Adventurer that habitually fist-fought hilichurls. Seeing him in a narrow alley was something that Faishi hadn’t realized would make his day this much.

Bran huffed a laugh, “some of us aren’t as gangly as you, Fai. It’s a bit tight.”

“And here I thought you liked that sort of thing,” Faishi couldn’t help saying as he threw a smirk back at Bran, “but don’t worry. It’s not a long way.”

He turned back and started moving, hearing Bran stop for a second before following him muttering something under his breath.

The alley really was a little thing, and opened up to a small sunken garden area. No one in the area really knew who owned it, or maintained it, but it had been open to the public as long as he’d been coming here. It wasn’t much, just a small triangular area with a couple of benches, a large potted tree, and several small silk flower bushes, but there was a little fountain here too and a good view of the harbor.

Much to Faishi’s satisfaction Bran neither rushed forward to help him down the short steps into the garden because he assumed he would need it, or hovered as if just waiting for something to happen. Far too many people did that as it was. Once they were in the garden though, Bran slid his arms around his waist from behind and rested his head on his shoulder.

“This is pretty,” his lover remarked, “I don’t think I ever knew this place existed. You can see all of the harbor from here.”

“Not all of it, but enough,” Faishi settled back into the warmth of Bran’s arms for just a small, stolen moment, “I come here during breaks sometimes. It helps clear my head.”
Staying like this for a bit longer was so tempting, but he forced himself to pull away so he could face Bran properly. “And now that we’ve got some quiet, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” He reached up to lay a hand on the side of Bran’s face, his thumb tracing the scar that ran down the left side of it.

“You don’t have to give me that look,” Bran turned and kissed his palm, “I said it wasn’t anything serious, remember? I just got handed a commission that’s gonna take me out of Liyue for a while.”

“What.” Faishi pulled his hand back, “and you didn’t send a note about that because…?” Adventurers, Faishi had learned since he started dating one, often had irregular schedules since they were subject to what their commissions, and the requests from the Guild, were asking. Mostly Bran tried to stay around the general area of Liyue Harbor, but it wasn’t unusual for him to get requests that kept him out overnight. Whenever he thought that was going to happen, he had someone from the Adventurer's Guild run a note over explaining he wouldn’t be around. At first, Faishi hadn’t been sure what to make of it. He hadn’t demanded that Bran tell him his every move after all, and had almost resented that he thought he was needy enough to need it. After a couple of months however, he’d started to appreciate having that sort of consideration, of knowing that Bran for sure wasn’t going to be turning up for lunch that day so he could make plans of his own.

But nice as that was, if Bran was going to ambush him every morning to tell him his schedule, he was going to go back to being a bit annoyed.

“Because I’m going to be gone longer than normal,” Bran admitted, “Thought that was news that was better delivered in person.”

Something dropped very slightly in Faishi’s chest. He took a breath and met Bran’s eyes. “Just how long do you mean?” he said slowly. He’d had a feeling that Bran wouldn’t have shown up just to tell him he was going to be out for the day. His lover wasn’t that doting, no matter how much Delun teased him about it.

Bran sighed before saying, “around a week. I’m hoping it won’t go on that long, but if it does….” he gave a helpless shrug.

“A week?” Faishi found himself repeating in astonishment as he struggled to keep his voice even, “what kind of commission did they give you!?”

That got a small chuckle out of Bran, “Sometimes these things just take time, hun” he said, “but this particular commission was recommended for me from the Mondstadt guild, and it sounds urgent. I couldn’t turn it down.”

“That doesn’t really answer the question,” Fai Shi said, exasperated, “and if it’s so urgent why did they send all the way out here for you? Surely they would have someone at their own Guild who could deal with it?” He hadn’t even realized Adventurer Guild’s did that, send an Adventure from another guild commissions. Certainly Bran hadn’t even brought it up before “And you’re really going all the way to Mondstadt?”

Bran gave a small little headshake, “it’s out by Dragonspine,” he said, “but I won’t be going all the way into Mondstadt….I think.”

“You think!?”

“The commission details were a little vague,” Bran admitted, “but it’s fine. They asked for me because I’ve got a bit of experience working from almost nothing,” he gave a little smile, “I’ve actually kind of made a career out of it. So it’s not my first rodeo when it comes to dealing with weirdly ambiguous clients.”

Still, Faishi found himself frowning before he took a deep breath. He had known that Bran had something of a reputation, at least around Liyue. It just hadn’t occurred to him how far that reputation would reach until now. It made sense really - he wasn’t even from around here, and the Adventurer's Guild had called him ‘respected’ even back after he first arrived. He’d seen how the other Adventurer's looked up to him too. You didn’t get that kind of respect just for getting through a domain or two.
But, that kind of reputation meant it’s own sort of responsibilities apparently.

“Then I suppose you have no choice,” he said briskly. Though he didn’t really like that the commission was vague, and didn’t like it was so far away, Bran had always been an adventurer through and through. He had to respect that Bran knew what he was talking about, and that this was just another aspect of the job. Certainly Bran offered him the same courtesy when it came to his own career after all.
“A week then,” Faishi repeated, mostly for himself “I guess you’re going to be leaving soon?”

“Soon as I told you about it was the plan,” a statement that seemed all too soon to Faishi, but he didn’t voice it. Bran, however, was far too cursed observant to not notice something, “Don’t worry, hun,” he caught Fai Shi’s hands up in his and brought the knuckles up to his lips. “I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“I’m not worried,”was the automatic reply. He wasn’t worried, he told himself firmly, just...mildly concerned. “Just watch yourself out there, all right? You might be the knowledgeable, experienced adventurer out of the two of us but you were just telling me the other day how easy it was for an accident to happen.” Granted that had been Bran grumbling about some of the reckless, younger adventurers’ that tended to rush in without thinking, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good advice.

Bran actually seemed startled for a moment then leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss, a chaste thing that barely brushed his lips. “I’m always careful,” he muttered against his lips before starting to pull away again, “I’ll…”

Faishi just pulled his hands free, only so he could grab Bran and pull him down into a proper kiss. It had the delightful effect of catching him off-guard, something that rarely happened. His lover’s arms were around him within almost immediately despite that and he allowed himself to just melt against him until Bran pulled away.

“What, trying to make me not want to leave,” Bran muttered against his lips quietly. It gave Faishi a little pleasant shiver.

He smirked a little, “only giving you a reason to come back.”

That got a small laugh, “even though I already had one?”

Faishi kissed him again then. He felt like had too.

When they finally broke apart again, he almost sighed. “We should get going,” he said at last, reluctantly, “we both need to get to work.” Even though he really didn’t want to think about what that meant right now.

Bran slowly released him, looking equally reluctant, “yeah,” he said as he stepped away. “Can I walk you over to the office?”

For a breath Faishi let himself stand there with his hand resting lightly on Bran's chest, then he pulled away, “Sure,” he said not sure what else to say, “I guess we should be going then.”

After they had made their way back onto the main street, Bran reached down and tangled their fingers together. Faishi didn’t even try to take his hand back.

They didn’t talk much as they made their way over to his workplace. Just small things, talking about what was happening around them. People they knew, events that were coming up. Just things to pass the time.

It was odd, Faishi couldn’t help but think. Normally he didn’t really think about the work Bran did, even when he was gone for a couple of days. It was just another part of who he was. He never doubted that he would be all right. It was hard to picture him doing anything but succeed. Yet somehow knowing that he would be that far away, that the details were uncertain, was making him uneasy. Bran had been doing this for decades, he knew that, and was more than capable of taking care of himself. He didn’t want him to think he was fussing or clinging.

Still.

Still.

This felt different to him for some reason. It was pushing him off-balance because he wasn’t sure why this had hit him like a blow.

Eventually they reached the stairs that lead up to his workplace. He paused for a long moment before squeezing Bran’s hand before letting..

“We’re here,” he said needlessly, “I suppose I’ll be seeing you in a week, then.” A statement not a question. He wasn’t going to doubt.

“Yep,” Bran reached out and reached up to smooth a hair out of Faishi’s face, “try not to overwork while I'm gone?”

Faishi bristled, “I do not…”

“Skipping meals is working to hard, hun”

Fai opened his mouth to deny that, but couldn’t really say anything. Not when this wasn’t the first time Bran or Delun had been...concerned with his eating habits. Normally he would have argued about it. But this time suddenly it didn’t feel as important even though he was an adult and didn’t need someone to tell him to eat.

“Fine,” he said in exasperation instead, “if you’re going to fuss that much I’ll try to take a break more often. But.” He held up a finger, “ Only as long as you promise to keep yourself in one piece.” His voice started to fade near the end of the sentence, regretting what was coming out of the mouth the moment he spoke. It was childish, clingy, he shouldn’t….

Bran kissed his forehead out of nowhere and just smiled, “It’s a promise,” he said. “That’s considered a contract in Liyue, isn’t it?”

“Sometimes, of a sort,” Faishi looked around hoping that it was still early enough that no one had seen that but he caught one of the vendors from across the street staring in their direction and swiftly looked away hoping they wouldn’t remember what they had seen.

“I’ll be sure to keep it then,” Bran was beaming for a moment before he looked more serious, “if something happened while I’m gone, go to the Adventurer's guild. They’ll know how to contact me if nothing else.”

That set Faishi back for a moment and then he could only shake his head, “I think I’ll be fine for a week, Bran. I’m going to be in the middle of the city. You’re the one heading out into the howling wilderness.”

“Still, keep it in mind, please?”

“I will,” Faishi finally sighed, “although I still say you’re worrying a bit much. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, you know.”

Bran gave him a grin, then looked up for a long moment as if he was gauging the sky, and then turned that into a sigh of his own. “I really should leave,” he said reluctantly, “so sorry but..” “I understand,” Faishi’s grip on his cane tightened, “we did just talk about this. Just be careful out there.” The last came out before he could stop himself.

“I will,” Bran said and then leaned down to steal a quick kiss before Faishi could even think. “I’ll see you soon. Be careful yourself.”

Before he could protesti again that he was going to be the safest between them, Bran wishered a soft ‘bye’ and then he was gone.

It actually happened so fast that Faishi was frozen, and Bran was partway down the street before he realized it. Bran did turn back to him a wave, and Fai Shi waved back, feeling slightly annoyed.

Not that he really had much time for long good byes, he realized. Time to head to work, and hopefully take his mind off where Bran was.

He had never been one to ask the gods for help, not really. Yet, he found himself sending a brief prayer to Rex Lapis, asking him to make sure that Bran could keep the promise they had made. After all, like he had told Bran, a promise was a form of contract after all….right?