The Most Important Gear

Chapter 1

"huh? {robot name}, what's going on?"

currently, it was around 9 in the morning and you were waking up due to the fact that your robot was climbing on you, urgently trying to tell you something. it was odd considering that it never did that, so you were quite alarmed. 

your robot ran out your bedroom door, making you slip into your slippers and follow it to find scaramouche sitting in your living room, reading one of your books. "uhh... what are you doing in my house, kunikuzushi? i didn't expect to see you here."

"oh, good morning," scaramouche replied, looking up from his book. "did you sleep well?"

"yes...? but you still didn't answer my question. how did you even get inside?"

"your robot let me in," scaramouche replied as you walked to your kitchen. "i guess it could recognize me."

the two of you still lived separately, mainly because nahida wanted to keep a close eye on him just to be on the safe side. your house wasn't that far from the akademiya, and in fact you enjoyed the walk there since it allowed you to get some fresh air. it didn't really matter, considering that you saw him every single day without fail, even if it was only for a few moments.

"yeah it has facial recognition," you smiled. "by the way, do you want some bitter tea? i got some imported from inazuma recently."

"maybe just a little bit," he said, and you laughed due to the twinkle in his eyes that spoke volumes more than he did. 

"you're so predictable," you smiled, grabbing the tea and warming it up, pouring it into a small cup and giving it to him. "here you go. let me go get ready and i'll be out in a moment."

he nodded, "sure. i have somewhere i need to go later, would you like to join me?"

"alright," you said. "i'd be glad to go with you! where are you gonna go?"

"i have a meeting with lesser lord kusanali. that's one of the reasons i'm here actually. she requested for you to attend as well."

"oh alright," you yelled back from behind your bedroom door as you got changed. "i have a few more things to do, i'll be out in a minute."

scaramouche didn't reply, seeing a small shelf filled with framed photos that caught his attention. he got up and decided to take a look, seeing the various photos with you in it. one of them was a photo of you in fontaine alongside some sumeru scholars who all went with you. another photo had you, al haitham, and kaveh; it seemed the selfie was during al haitham's graduation due to the attire that he wore. another photo was of cyno when he won a tcg competition, you in the background hugging him in joy. 

scaramouche scowled and turned the photo around.

another photo showed you, covered head to toe in oil while smiling at your creation: {robot name}. he took the photo down and turned it around, seeing the date was a few years ago. scaramouche smiled fondly at the photo, seeing how tired yet happy you looked.

his eyes landed on the next frame, one of you throwing a ruler at al haitham's face. scaramouche laughed deviously. hah. he had it coming.

the last photo on the shelf was the test photo that he took, the one of both of you kissing. his face began to get hot, why the hell would you use that one? it's so embarrassing that other people can see it...

it had been a month since the two of you officially began to date, and he swore that he had taken so many photos of the two of you. out of all the nice ones that he took, you just had to choose that one, didn't you? ugh... well at least everyone who looks at these photos knows that we're together.

"all done! i'm ready to go," you said, walking out with your tool bag in hand.

"let's go," he said, waiting for you at the doorstep and slipping his shoes on, you doing the same. he opened the door for you, allowing you to walk out first and he followed. the two of you walked to the divine tree, on your way to the sanctuary where nahida was waiting for both of you.

"i wonder what she needs," you thought out loud. 

"it's just a short briefing about some things that she needs me to do. although, those 'things' she had told me about are still a mystery to me."

"huh... interesting," you hummed. "i guess we'll find out when we get there. also, you're wearing your old outfit?"

"not by choice," he muttered. "i was told by lesser lord kusanali to wear this one."

"oh really? how come?"

"i'm not quite sure myself," he admitted. "... i despise this attire."

"i know you do," you said, understandingly. "it's just for today, so it won't be that bad."

"..." scaramouche remained silent and looked over his shoulder, scowling. 

you grew a little confused and worried by this, "what is it?"

"i believe that we're being followed," scaramouche said to you, continuing to act normal. "it's probably the traveler and that annoying floating thing."

"don't call them that," you frowned. "they're friends of mine!"

"maybe they're your friends, but not mine," he said bitterly. 

"you'll warm up to them eventually," you reasoned. "and besides, maybe they're here to see nahida as well."

scaramouche sighed, "... i knew that lesser lord kusanali had something else in mind when she mentioned that this was going to be group work."