rreath

gundham has a cryo vision (he’s the overlord of ice, after all) and kazuichi has a pyro vision

kazuichi’s family used to live in kannazuka like a really really long time ago but they moved to the poorer parts of inazuma city and have stayed there since. gundham was born in borou village but his mom found a job in the city and moved the two of them there when he was like five

they grew up somewhat around each other and have a general disdain for each other, having formed a rivalry when they attended school in inazuma city together

but now these two young adults are fresh out of school and being thrust into the job market. except, neither of them feel ready at all

they don’t teach you much about inventing and zoology in classes focused on writing and reading, after all

so they both independently decide that they want to travel the world of teyvat and learn as much as they can before returning to inazuma and actually starting their careers

kazuichi wants to learn about all the mechanical innovations supposedly happening, gundham wants to learn about the creatures native to other lands

the only problem with that is the new sakoku decree… passage in and out of the country is heavily restricted

so, with the vision hunt decree just announced, a strong desire to explore the world, but no safe way out on their own, gundham and kazuichi agree to team up, just this once, to escape inazuma for a trip around teyvat

the plan was to only stick together until they reached the port of liyue harbour, but the duo quickly realize that surviving on their own outside of the country they’ve always known is a lot harder than it looks, so they have no choice but to stick together during their travels in the six unfamiliar nations across the sea

and, of course, they fall in love along the way

some ideas about their adventures:

in liyue,

kazuichi gains way too much unimportant fishing knowledge. he realizes that the technology that fishermen in ritou use could be improved and makes some sketches to give to the fishing association

gundham somehow manages to tame a baby geovishap hatchling that’s all alone, but they’re able to find the mother after a day of wandering the guili planes and treating the hatchling like their son, protecting it

somehow they end up lost in huaguang stone forest and are able to encounter cloud retainer, who takes an instant liking to gundham but hates kazuichi for being a mess. gundham never lets him forget it

they’re both super scared about visiting the chasm but sneak in together anyway (to make the other think they’re brave and strong) (but they end up running away as soon as they hear some loud noises lol)

they spend a lot of time in liyue harbour and probably circle back to it when they’re travelling between the west and the east. gundham compares the stuff at wanwen bookhouse to the stuff at yae publishing house, and is very pleasantly surprised when there's a lot of fantasy novels. kazuichi examines the dockyard and trips, falling right into the water. the city becomes somewhat of a home away from home for them, and they have some fond memories there

in sumeru,

kazuichi is VERY excited to receive an akasha terminal, but he breaks his by accident as soon as it’s handed to him. to make him feel better, gundham doesn’t wear his own either, claiming it’s an evil device (and he’s actually correct, so they both avoid that whole dream mess)

they are both directionally challenged so exploring sumeru city leads to a lot of getting lost on the winding paths. kazuichi almost gets scammed out of his mora on treasures street, which freaks him out a little, so gundham drags him to puspa cafe to appease him with food

gundham is super excited about the new fauna, but he’s injured by a rishboland tiger, and begrudgingly lets kazuichi carry him back to gandharva ville for treatment. that does not stop him from trying to approach dangerous animals, though. luckily, the spinocrocodile took more of a liking to him

they visit the desert because gundham wants to see the vultures, but they end up spending more time investigating ruins with unique mechanisms because kazuichi wants to learn to replicate the old technology. that being said, gundham definitely befriends a vulture that sits on his shoulder for a while lol. he has a very hard time saying goodbye to it

in mondstadt,

when they get to mondstadt, gundham feeds the pigeons on the bridge a little too much, causing them to flock behind him wherever he goes. it’s funny for like fifteen minutes, but becomes a bit of a nuisance

most of the rooms at the goth grand hotel are taken, so they have to share a bed lmao. kazuichi also definitely jokes about the name of the place and how gundham was meant to stay there someday

thanks to the rivalry, kazuichi absolutely insists that they need to have a drinking contest at angel’s share, which neither of them really win because they both end up equally thrown. cue a very drunk but very fun night in the city, where they wake up in their room with pounding headaches and regret everything because they had planned a hike up starsnatch cliff

they weren’t really planning on going to dragonspine at first, but rumours of a great snowboar king are all it takes to convince gundham that he has to go. kazuichi tries to convince him not to, but gundham has made up his mind, so kazuichi tags along saying that he doesn’t want gundham to freeze to death up there. kazuichis's pyro vision comes in handy and he’s able to keep them warm during their trek, while gundham takes care of any hilichurls in the way. they don’t find the actual snowboar king (because he only shows up when you kill the little boars, which gundham would never allow) but they do enjoy the views and bond through their shared trauma of dealing with the sheer cold

as for the other details...

they each bought their own travel diary in liyue harbor at the beginning, to use to remember everything they’ve learned and seen on their journey. the first pages are like that, of course, but interspersed between notes and stories are gundham's unfinished poems about how lovely kazuichi’s hair looks when it’s flowing in the winds of mondstadt, or kazuichi’s hastily drawn sketches of gundham’s soft smile when witnessing the landscapes in fontaine

once their journey has come to an end, and they’ve heard the news that the vision hunt and sakoku decrees have been abolished, they return to liyue harbour to head back home. but then they realize that this is the end of spending time together, and even though they’d grown so close, maybe the other wouldn’t want anything to do with them once they return…

they both make up a bunch of excuses to waste time and end up missing the boat, causing them to spend three more days in liyue harbour while waiting for the next one. during the three days, they awkwardly dance around confessing to each other, but when evening comes on the third day and the boat arrives, gundham gets his shit together and confesses. kazuichi, flabbergasted, confesses right back

so they both admit they’re in love with the other, they return to inazuma city, and they start dating :) they also eventually get ahold of each other’s notebooks and cuddle while browsing though them and reminiscing lol