#so forgive me for the sometimes blatant OOC-ness.

[mixed-kester]

my three DPSes with the one support they all have in common

team: Kaeya, Keqing, Wanderer, Xingqiu tags: @zhongrin @meimeimeirin @ansy-tea

a/n: why the hell does tumblr not have two blue colors?

holy shit this team is...something. on battle, kaeya makes a good burst support along with xingqiu. keqing and wanderer fight for the onfield time, but they're both good at exploration.

off field, however...

kaeya ⇄ xingqiu = frozen

my first ever built DPS and support, oh where do i begin?

both friendship 10 as well, so they have a good relationship with me as their uh...handler, yes, let's use that word.

very good friends, brothers even. 

kaeya looking out for xingqiu when he goes on trips for rare books and xingqiu always being reliable in terms of that sweet sweet commerce guild discount in wine.

kaeya sees xingqiu as his little "brother of sorts", and is generally lighthearted at his pranks. 

he even pranks back. its all in good faith

"And so, our valiant hero now faces his final dilemma; will he save the family he was bound to by blood, or follow his friends who he deems his saviors?" Xingqiu writes triumphantly, his hands trembling from the hours he spent writing on paper. He rubs his red eyes, staining his face (and the mattress) with ink, and reclines back on his makeshift pillow-chair.

"Oh, still awake, i see? Now, our dear Esther wouldn't like that." Xingqiu looks behind to see Kaeya standing at his door, very tall, and sounding very deprived of sleep.

"You're one to talk, sir Kaeya." he would say back... but, Kaeya looks like he's not in the mood for banter.

At a loss on what to do, Xingqiu points to the chair on his bedside. "Bad dream?"

Kaeya doesn’t respond, but shuffles over and sits beside him.

"What do you want me to do?" "Hmm... how about you tell me all about the book you're writing?"

"Okay, but only a sneak peak! This is supposed to be secret.”

I'm worried about you.

keqing ⇄ xingqiu = electrocharged

respectful.

mainly because Xingqiu is like oH MY GOD THE YUHENG???? OH SHIT I GOTTA ACT LIKE A PROPER BOY (he isnt)

keqing is like that one family member who you don't know much about but somehow knows a ton about you and buys a shit ton of gifts to compensate for lost time.

except the thing Keqing isn't compensating for is lost time.

it's her appreciation.

This is the sixth rare book he has gotten this week.

The Man Who Stole the Lone Star is sitting in his desk.

The third volume of Vera's Melancholy, and supposedly the same series which perished amongst the flames of that one big library burning, is in his table.

Xingqiu dares not to touch the book. Besides the obvious, the book's cover is well cared for, the pages in mint condition.

Someone paid a fortune to send this to me, he thinks. But who? Everybody's best sense when acquiring a rare book is to sell it for the people who want it, isn't it?

"Has anybody seen Keqing?" Xingqiu hears Esther asking downstairs. Keqing is missing?

"She went out. Something about books." The blunt voice of the Wanderer answered his question.

"Huh. Oh well, you're up, Wanderer. I need someone to get 24 more Cor Lapis." Esther's voice turns icy.

"Are you sure it has to be me?" Wanderer asked icily.

Silence. Xingqiu coughs loudly.

"...fine, let's get this over with. That old hag better be with me." He grumbles.

Lady Keqing...hmm. Nah, she can't have. Xingqiu shrugs and lounges on his couch, finally reading the new book. Ah, that old book smell.

She might not even know me outside of battle.

wanderer ⇄ xingqiu = swirl: waves

where do i begin with this.

ever since the Wishing incident, I didn't pair him up with wanderer in fear of some kind of PTSD triggering him.

surprisingly, though, i found them together once outside the dinner table together. xingqiu's...cutting his hair.

of course, both of them denied it ever happened.

"E-Esther! Why are you still up?" Xingqiu snaps up, hiding the scissors behind his back.

"Excellent question."

Esther found the Wanderer and Xingqiu in a spare room. They found the Wanderer wrapped up in one of Xiangling's aprons, sitting and his hat off. Xingqiu is concentrating on his hair, trying to cut it as straight as he can. Without a mirror.

Well, was concentrating.

They walked forward, seemingly not seeing a very red Wanderer, and yanked Xingqiu's arm, showing an everyday scissor with indigo strands stuck in it.

Esther looked at it in dumbfounded silence.

"...stay here."

They left just as quick.

Xingqiu dared not look at Wanderer's very, very steely gaze at him, suddenly becoming very interested at his modest, worn out shoes.

Are they angry at me? Am i kicked out? WIll my artifacts be given away and tossed to the-

He feels the scissor being taken from him and....replaced with another scissor? Xingqiu looked up and saw Esther looking sheepish.

"You should have told me. Ah, no, scratch that. This guy over here will threaten you not to." They glare at Wanderer. He scoffs.

"It's good that i found you both actually, because you'll be transferred to him. Not permanent." They added hastily after Xingqiu looked shocked.

"Also, Wanderer. Treat him well. He's your senior. That good?" They looked down and smirked in Wanderer's face. Xingqiu can't see it from his angle, but he imagined that he looks very very angry.

"Fine."

"Alright, go to bed, both of you. The night is young, and the rain howls outside. Good night." Esther straightens up, nods at Xingqiu, and then leaves the room with a soft slam on the door.

An awkward silence fills the air. Xingqiu still stares at the door, at a loss for words.

...

"What are you waiting for?" Xingqiu snaps out and sees the Wanderer glaring at him.

Xingqiu straightens up and nods.

I'll try my best.

keqing ⇄ kaeya = superconduct

good friends.

initially, i was worried that they won't hit it off, but they do, fortunately.

i guess working with the public has its own problems, and having someone to relate to outside of work must be relieving.

keqing is frustrated about kaeya's "laziness", and kaeya feels like keqing is too fast and endlessly toils with her work

he got her to drink one sip of wine to relax, and it somehow devolved into drinking a whole bottle.

"They..they benched me!" Slamming her fist on the table, Keqing sniffles and downs another gulp of wine.

“They didn’t,“ Kaeya assured her. For the fifth time.

This time was supposed to be for relaxation. 

“They told me themselves. You just have, and i quote ‘a very unique fighting style’.“ He now moves his hand to the vice-grip of Keqing’s hand on the wine bottle.

“Now, let go of the bottle.“ He tries to pry her hand off, but she swats it away. 

“...Nooooooooooo.“ Keqing’s eyes are unfocused as she tries to glare at him, but she sways, the chair creaking as she laughs bitterly. 

“You’re not acting like the Yuheng right now.“

“I don’t care.“

The glints of the shards of wine glasses on the table makes Kaeya’s eye flinch. 

I’ll clean that up later. Right now...

Kaeya catches her from falling. Keqing scoffs, yanks her arm away from his hand and drags her chair closer to him, each second punctuated with a sharp crunch.

“You don’t...understand.” She points at him accusingly. “You’re favored. I...”

Her frame shivers as Keqing tries to wipe the tears away from her face. He looks at her.

“I’m unwanted. Do...you don’t know how it feels.” She now curls up on the table, heaving and sobbing. 

He reaches for another wine bottle.

I do. 

kaeya ⇄ wanderer = swirl: blizzard

Seemingly neutral.

Everybody who has been near 20m from them knows this not to be true. 

Kaeya’s banter with Wanderer has always been loaded with snarky double meanings and with more sass than ever before.

Wanderer’s, however, has been more brutal and more contemptuous than the previously mentioned team members. 

It’s like they despise each other or something...

"Ah, but you see, our dear Esther needs me to read these books in order to improve my skills properly." Kaeya drawls out, not-so-subtly showing off his newly made Amenoma Kageuchi in front of a seething Wanderer.

You see, Esther made the very wise decision, Kaeya thinks, to adorn him with a crown for reaching the pinnacle of his Elemental Skill. He will be the first one to be crowned.

Ever.

"That's fine. But don't you think they should crown someone as eminent as me? I mean," Wanderer scoffs, clearly not fine with it. "I have utility off the battle. I can fly, but you can only run."

"And what is that supposed to mean? Don't tell me that, oh, no, the ever grumpy Wanderer is...concerned about his role? I thought you learned your lesson already." Kaeya stoops down and raises Wanderer's hat.

He swats it away.

"Don't touch it. And no, I am not concerned. They clearly favor me before you, after all." He now glares at him straight in the eye, with absolute hatred hidden in lovely shades of purple.

"After all, what use does a Khaenri'ahn have on a team?"

Kaeya's eye widens. Wanderer laughs.

"You think you can hide it from me? The son of an Archon? I know who you are." Wanderer's voice now lowers to a deadly whisper.

The cavalry captain is silent.

"At a loss for words? No matter. This conversation served no purpose." Wanderer now straightens up and stares at his star-shaped eye.

If you ever betray them, I will drag you down to the abyss myself and enjoy tearing apart your limbs one by one.

keqing ⇄ wanderer = swirl: downburst

HERE IT IS, MY SHIP

Except no, at this period in time, this isn't a ship yet.

Wanderer has heard of Keqing's skepticism from the moment he stepped foot outside his room after... yeah, you'll see.

Esther warned him that some of her views are unorthodox for the people here, but he's more intrigued at the fact that a mortal is skeptical of the gods.

He has met many skeptics throughout his wanderings, but most of them border around "this god doesnt grant my wishes so i hate them."

Keqing is more concerned about other matters, though.

"Three condensed resin for Desert Pavilion, two resin runs for ley lines..." The Wanderer heard Keqing groan upstairs.

The house is silent, with the occasional snore of Esther as they sleep under the stairs, separated by only a silk screen.

Why they don't have their own room even though they're the owner, he never bothered to ask. They seem insistent on getting him his very own room, even though he insisted he's just passing by.

They think it's nonsense, even though i don't need rest.

He lounges on the couch, placing his hat on the floor. With nothing better to do, he goes upstairs to get a random book from the library.

"Wanderer. Why are you still awake?"

He looks behind to see the Yuheng, still as poised and tense as ever.

"I don't sleep. I could ask you the same question." He raised an eyebrow at her. She looked confused at first, but then remembered that he isn't human.

A reminder that I don't belong.

"Esther has relegated me the plans for your artifacts. Kaeya and Beidou will lead the team." She replies, hands behind her back and her voice as sharp as ever.

"Whatever. As long as they're out of my hair." Wanderer walked past her, no longer interested in reading a book.

He stops, seemingly thinking of something.

"How about we continue this downstairs?" He looks back on her.

She blinks. Then she nods.

"Might as well. I need to ask you a few questions."

Intriguing.