#he's acting normal! hes just not particulary in the mood to do much else than act on his persona

[ccaptain]

  overall, kaeya thinks that he actually needed a breather. a breather with ginger hair and a smile that could rival the sunlight, pulling him by the hand while giggling like a child about it.

  they abandon mondstadt in an hurry, like they're fugitives: past a certaint point, their relaxed stroll breaks into a run as if pursued just for the thrill of it, the freedom tasting sweet on their tongues. they stop around halfway towards liyue, where childe shields him from the looming sight of dawn's winery with an arm around his waist, guiding him into a region he knows a bit better than kaeya.

  it seems like ajax is whisking him away, perhaps to outsiders, but he wants him to do just that.

  it's the most relaxing vacation that kaeya remembers spending: for three weeks he breathes, watches and lives with childe, watching him closely while they travel. he doesn't remember their hands leaving eachother for more than ten minutes at worst, fingers entertwined as one of them trails at the other's side. teyvat is beautiful, and while the foolish notion of traveling all of it is tempting, they simply don't have enough time to do that.

  so they move between liyue and the vast territory parting it from the city of freedom, daring to edge at the chasm and sitting in a comfortable, empty tree trunk that borders in sumeru to rest a while and watch the gynormous sumpter beasts do the same in a large field. kaeya rests his back against the musk and, for once, doesn't find himself disgusted by it.

  sometimes in inns, in and out quick, sometimes in caves, they find peace with eachother. for once there are no fatui, no knights, no political discussions. for once, they're just kaeya and ajax.

  in front of a sunset, after bickering about entrails and fishy kisses, kaeya expresses a quiet wish that this inner peace he feels could last forever. childe softly comments that he likes to share a life with him, both good and bad sides, and kaeya closes his eyes, pacified and bathing himself in the coziness of a camp, with a familiar body warmth to lean into. even the damned, slimy food doesn't taste so bad.

  when they come back to civilization, the city of freedom seems a mountain of unnatural houses, of strangers happily greeting him. the faces all blend together in a blur of days spent chasing cats and scolding drunken citizens from doing irresponsible things.

  the sun shines down over the city, warm and pleasant, but kaeya has grown colder and jaded towards the place who was never this home, if it was further possible.

  if his friends notice, nobody mentions it.