Chapter Text
Bright stripes of colour splashed out on the sky above you, signifying the nearing evening. Your coat was the only thing protecting you from the cool winds billowing around you, whipping your hair over your face. You lifted a hand up to try and move it back out the way, but soon found it was pointless. The soft tip-tapping of your shoes on the concrete path was fast paced, you had somewhere to be.
Eventually, you turned down a street and into a driveway, fiddling with your pockets until you procured a set of keys. Sticking them into the keyhole, you turned them, pausing just before opening the door. You sighed, knowing that the calm quiet you've been walking in is about to be shattered.
And shattered it was. You pushed open the door and were immediately greeted with loud arguing.
"You little shit stain, who do you think you are!?" The shrill voice of Scaramouche (though more commonly called Scara) sounded out, and you shook your head before closing the door behind you.
After taking off your shoes and hanging your coat up, you meandered into the living room where all the commotion was. Scara was holding Venti up by his hoodie, screaming down into the latter's amused face. You turned and saw Heizou sitting on the kitchen breakfast bar eating what looked to be popcorn. Kazuha sat on the couch on his phone and Xiao, as usual, was nowhere to be seen.
You wandered over to sit next to Heizou and reached over to grab a handful of his popcorn. "So what are they fighting over this time?" You asked, swinging your legs casually.
"Venti’s been using Scara's shampoo and now it's empty." The wine haired man leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.
You nodded in understanding. "I thought it looked emptier than it should be. Didn't he just buy a new one a couple weeks ago?"
"Yeah, that's why he's so pissed. Turns out Venti's been using them for the past few months. Dunno how he got away with it for so long." Heizou mused, throwing up a couple kernels and catching them in his mouth.
"Oh, you're back. Welcome home." The soft voice of Kazuha piped up. You turned to see him leaning his head backwards over the couch to look at you.
"Hey Kaz, hope the noise isn't too bad for your writing." You grinned over at him.
He smiled and shook his head. "It's nothing unusual in this house. I think we're all used to it at this point." He let out a soft chuckle.
"How long has this one been going on for?" You asked curiously.
"Hmm, I zoned out pretty quickly so I'm not sure." Kazuha replied sheepishly. You both looked at Heizou.
"It's been almost an hour and a half I think." The man tapped his chin in thought. "Xiao booked it upstairs as soon as he saw Scara's face."
You sighed before patting the space next to you. "Come sit with us." You said to Kazuha and plucked the bowl from Heizou, waving it slowly in front of you. "We have popcorn~" You tempted.
He chuckled and stood up, pocketing his phone and coming to sit beside you. "You make a good offer."
The three of you continued to watch the argument ensuing in front of you, while also trying to catch popcorn in the air. Venti had long since noticed you had gotten back, playing up the ignorance for your amusement.
It wasn't long before Scara noticed the constant switching of focus. "Pay attention to me, you stealing rat! Weren't you ever taught an ounce of respect growing up!?" The indigo haired man seethed, shaking Venti slightly in his rage.
"Kinda hypocritical since our housemate came home and you didn't even say hello." The cheeky man sniped back, turning once again to look at you. Still enraged, Scara whipped his head over to look at the three of you. Your hand froze as you were bringing a piece up to your mouth, not expecting the sudden attention. Heizou snickered next to you, earning a vicious glare from Scara and subsequently choking on his popcorn.
The fire in his eyes dimmed slightly when he turned back to you. "You're back home?" He asked aloofly. You nodded. "Welcome home." He bit out quieter, much to your surprise. The room was quiet for the first time in a while, before he sharply looked back to Venti. "Just– buy me a new one and don't do it again."
Unceremoniously, Venti was let go and dropped to the floor. He gazed up at Scara in shock before grinning. "Sure. You got it boss."
"Now that that's done, can we please have dinner?" Kazuha sighed out, hopping off the counter onto the floor. “I’ve been drying the fish all day and I don’t want them to get crusty.”
“Ew, gross.” Venti muttered, standing up and brushing the dirt off him.
“And what was stopping you from just cooking it before now?” Scara asked slyly, the rest of you following tonight's designated cook into the kitchen.
“It’s supposed to be eaten hot, you know this. And if I cooked them while you were arguing no one would have come and eaten except Xiao. And then the food would've tasted like shit. And I would have gotten your infamous wrath telling me my cooking is awful." Kazuha didn't even spare any of you a glance, just rummaged around the cupboards for spices.
You and Heizou shared an amused look before turning to see Scara tsk. He noticed your look and glared. "And what are you looking so happy for?"
"Oh nothing, just finding it funny how accurate our boy Kaz is about you." Heizou grinned, reaching forward to pat the pissed off bowl cut man on the shoulder.
Scara slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me, you cretin." He snarled.
"Cretin?? You sound so fucking old, man. What're you gonna say next, 'you bite your thumb at me, sir?'. Ppfft, Shakespearean ass mother fucker…" Venti giggled, sliding in beside you all and slyly trying to steal a piece of fish, only to be swiftly hit on the hand with a spatula.
"You touch it and I'm feeding you the fish intestines." He said cooly, still not breaking his concentration, skillfully manoeuvring his knife and cutting the fish how he wanted them. You’ve gotta hand it to him, he’s a damn good cook.
"Are you sure being an author is your calling? I think you'd fit right in as a chef, in my opinion." You mused, leaning on the bench next to him.
That got him to look up. "I do enjoy cooking, but writing is my passion. Though, when Diluc needs extra help, I'm always down."
Venti laughed. “I’ll be sure to let him know!”
“Oh, that reminds me- You’re working today, right?” You asked your musically inclined friend, to which he nodded in response. “Ah sweet, can I catch a ride with you and Xiao? I was gonna meet Tighnari and the gang to catch up.”
“You’d have to ask Xiao, it’s his car.” Venti pointed out.
“And you didn’t invite me? Rude.” The indigo haired man piped up once more, suddenly very interested in the conversation.
“Scara, you decline everytime they ask if you wanna come.” You deadpanned.
His face reddened slightly, much to the delight of Venti and Heizou who began snickering. “Yeah well maybe I don’t want to go to every single insignificant meetup you all do. I have better things to do then sitting around a table talking about meaningless topics.” he sneered.
“So why do you want to go now?” Kazuha asked distractedly, somehow already finishing with the fish and pulling out a blow torch to heat them.
“Wh- I- I didn’t say I wanted to go!” Scaramouche squawked indignantly.
You grinned over at him. “So you don’t want me to ask Xiao about saving the both of us some space in the car?” The teasing lilt to your voice had him sending you a glare.
“...You asshole, you know what you’re doing. Go tell Xiao whatever you want.” He muttered, wandering out the kitchen.
“Oh, if you’re going up to see Xiao, can you take his part of dinner up to him please?” Kazuha asked, handing you two plates of his now finished signature dish.
“Yeah sure thing. Probably tastes as good as it smells, Kaz, thanks!” You chirped back, taking the two dishes out the kitchen and upstairs, Kazuha’s soft chuckles falling behind you.
You rounded the corner to find your reclusive housemates room and tapped the door with your foot since your hands are full. Shuffling was heard before it creaked open and you were greeted by golden eyes.
“Hey Xiao, I brought dinner! And conversation, if you’re down?” You smiled, holding up his plate for him to see. The corner of his mouth tugged slightly upwards as he nodded and opened the door wider for you to come in.
“Come sit.” He said quietly.
So in you went.