The festival was a time of joy and celebration. Children are free to play around and make happy memories while the adults relax and enjoy the festival. In some cases, the festival was a time to make some money. In their case, it's a season of empty purses.
After dinner, Zera fished out a purse with so much money it could buy a country. She then proceeded to drag him out the door. Mu and Yanxi, the two-faced traitors that they were, couldn't be bothered to help him out.
But because he's such a thoughtful brother, he won't make that much of a fuss about it. He'll just hold a grudge until it's them in his situation. Then it'll be his turn to laugh at their misery. Not that either of them are doing any laughing at the moment but he can see it in their eyes.
He thought about all the possible ways he could do to make them pay for their actions, or rather inaction, to the point that he failed to register the street lamp he was about to walk right into. Luckily for him, Zera was incredibly observant and reflexive, and also quite strong.
She pulled him out of the way, only for him to go crashing into an unsuspecting bystander. The poor girl fell from the force alone and released everything she was holding out of shock. This resulted in him sat down on the paved dirt with flowers strewn all over him, making him look like a damsel in distress.
He felt like one too.
"A-ah! Sorry!" The girl apologized, swiftly scooping up the fallen flowers into her basket, which was, funnily, on top of his head until she gently took it off. He was pretty sure the flowers would've somehow gotten into his mouth if he hadn't closed them.
He muttered a few words of apology before getting gifted a few of the flowers that were in better condition. The girl also smiled at him before skipping away into the crowd. He watched her back until she disappeared into the sea of people.
Zera poked his arm.
He turned to face her, only to be met with her questioning gaze.
"What?" He asked. Her face was all the reply he needed, because it was screaming explain or else. He doesn't know what the 'or else' entails but knowing Zera, he wasn't taking any chances.
"She's just a girl I helped, nothing big." Zera seemed to accept it since she stopped glaring at him like he was the scum of society.
Before he could open his mouth to suggest something, he was being dragged off again. He was going to start complaining about his arm getting yanked off, but the bright smile on Zera's face shut him up entirely.
He swallowed his words of protest and accepted his fate. If he can make someone smile as brightly as Zera was doing then, he'll do it. Zera then proceeded to drag him towards 7 stalls in a span of an hour and emptied out half the gold in their possession. A small price for a big reward he should say.
Even though Zera was spending so much coin on trinkets, street food and souvenirs, most of it wasn't for her. She had niece who she doted on and a, sort of, daughter that she was keen on spoiling. It was a sweet gesture, one that he's sure was the reason why Zera was so well liked by many people.
He, himself, got a few items, charms, little toys, a hand fan and treats.
"Soren?" He turned around, expecting to see Zera. But to his surprise, there was a man clad in dark blue robes. He looked so beautiful underneath the lantern lights it made him do a double take. There were so many beautiful features about the man but the one that stood out was the moon mark on his forehead.
"Losen?! What are you doing here?" He asked, with a huge grin on his face. Losen gave him a smile and held out his hand, holding a single flower.
"Finding you, and succeeded as well." Losen was still offering the flower and he gladly took it.
"You found me. Now what?"
"Now you show me around, and get me acquainted with these people. Because I kicked myself out." Losen explained, which made him wince a little. He never expected Losen to follow him down here on a whim. He was about to apologize when he was yet again yanked quite rudely by Zera.
"Who the hell are you pretty boy? You stealing my brother or something?" Zera held onto his arm tighter all the while glaring at Losen like he was some kidnapper.
"Zera, calm down. This is Losen, my… uh…" He turned to the other Void Master, asking for help. He shrugged.
"Okay, Soren's 'uh'. What are you doing here? Last I checked you guys kicked him out, and we were the ones that adopted him—" "That's not legally possible." "—You have no right to come back here and play hero." He groaned in desperation. He needed to clear a few things up before someone gets stabbed.
"Zera, look, I played a mischievous prank on The God and got myself kicked out. My mistake, alright? Losen had no part in my banishment, end of story. Let me take my other half out of here." It appeared to have taken Zera a while to process the information and twice as long to process the last part.
"You guys are a pair?! You never told me you were married?!" Zera screamed in horror, the realization dawning upon her face.
"What?! What made you come up with that conclusion? We're not married!"
"Not married?! You basically called him your soulmate and you tell me you're not married?!" Zera was shaking in fury at that point.
"Well—"
"At least go on a date!" Huh?! Hello? Khamers to Zera? What???
He looked at her baffled, but Zera was too busy shoving coins in Losen's empty hands and making wild gestures and threats. While he stood there like an idiot.
"Quick! Go to that hill over there – the view is enchanting – and be quick about it, because the fireworks are starting in… an hour!" She then proceeded to waste their time on idle chatter and only remembered the limited time they were on when Losen made a backhanded comment about the night not getting any younger.
He and Losen were than unceremoniously pushed out of the crowd and into the wilderness, alone. The two of them made their way to the viewpoint in awkward silence. If it wasn't for Zera pushing them together with force and stubborn determination, they wouldn't even be walking to a 'romantic' outing.
Nothing about the two of them were romance worthy. They were just two sides of the same coin, the yin to the other's yang, sworn brothers you could say. There was no chemistry between them and for either one of them to form a bond even remotely close to a romantic one.
He desperately wanted to break the silence, but he had nothing to say to fill the tense silence. Just then, like the absolute angel that he was, Losen said something that stopped him in his tracks.
"I have one layer of clothing on and it's these robes. Other than that, I'm butt naked right now."
"…" At least you got banished with clothes, was what he wanted to reply with, but he's not losing anymore of his dignity than necessary.
"Do you have anything I can wear for extra protection?" From me or from the stray winds?
"Sure… you can have my jacket." It was probably from the wind, because it was significantly colder on the hill.
In a span of a second, he was shivering. He does not fare well with cold weather and now that he had one less layer of clothing on him, he was beginning to feel the effects of the cold when he felt something drape over him.
"You need this more than I do. I know you can't stand the cold." He was about to say that anyone who knew him long enough would know he lives off of warmth, but he was too cold to make a sound. He nodded in acknowledgement, which was enough for Losen to smile a soft smile.
The telltale sound of a firework launching diverted their attention. They were just in time to see the show.
The first firework blew up in a blur of colours. Red, orange, yellow and white to blue, purple and white. There were so many beautiful colours at once and he will admit, Zera was right in this regard; this was romantic. Too bad they're just two gods with no romantic attraction for each other.
"Losen?"
"Hm?"
"I'm glad you're here with me."
"… I'm glad I'm here too."
Things were less tense and more relaxed now. They were two halves that got separated for a while before being reunited again. If they were other people, they might've kissed, or at least held hands. But unfortunately, they don't swing that way.
A/N: Yet.