Self indulgent post. Its kinda based off of how I grew up
Wanderer x fem!reader, comfort, fluff, can be read as platonic or romantic, not proofread
If you were to describe your life from the day you could walk and talk to now, the one word would be "lonely"
Dont get me wrong, you had friends growing up. Maybe a lot, maybe only a few, and even then, it still feels like you againts the world.
No matter who you hang out with, the connection between you and your friend was never strong.
You knew, but brushed it off. Because at least having someone to talk to about something, anything is better than being alone.
But you were still "lonely", no matter how many people you surround yourself with.
You get attached easily, to anyone no matter who.
Toxic, boring, stupid, it doesnt matter
As long as they give you just a bit of attention, you'll suddenly cling onto them like theyre youre everything.
Its frustrating. Why does the world want you to be lonely? Why should you feel this way in the first place? What could you have possibly done to anger the gods? Or was this their way of entertainment?
You'd blame all the hurt you've been through to anyone who isnt you. Especially celestia itself. Because if you blamed it on yourself, the more you'd feel worse.
"Lonely" was once your enemy, your foe. But the more you grew older, the more you've become tired with trying to get rid of it whether it be through masking yourself with different made up personalities for every single person you talk to, trying to talk to different people to find the one who matchrs your energy, or blaming the gods of teyvat and all its mortals for making you feel the way you feel, the more you've surrendered and accepted the "lonely" into your life.
Because what was the point of trying at this point?
You can no longer blame people for your misery and woes.
At the end of the day, you are the problem.
Detaching yourself from the world, half of your life became a blur. You didnt remember if you still took up on the act of imitating everyone elses personalites, or if you completely stopped talking to people in general.
But what you did remember was meeting him.
Buying fruits from the bustling stalls of Sumeru, you finally met him.
From the corner of your eye, you saw an interesting figure.
Turning your head to get a better look you studied thr man from afar.
He seemed to be from inazuma judging by his attire. His whole outfit was coloured blue and white, his huge hat sitting on his head in a way which made him look intimidating and mysterious rather than silly, his eyes uninterested and annoyed, as his chesr glowed because of his anemo vision.
You stared at him for a while longer before he dissappeared in a blink of an eye.
You didnt know what you felt. But it was something weird, in a good way of course.
"I wanna see him again" you mumbled.
Months have passed, and from time to time, the strange man from inazuma would pop into your head as you daydream in silence when you were goung out with your friends.
Sometimes you think youre creepy, stupid and yhat you were "doing it again". Mainly insinuating that you'd get attached to someone you barely know and make scenarios of you both being together as a coping mechanism.
One day your friend has decided to invite you to try a cooking class with her. You dont really get invited out that much, so you werent about to pass up on this opportunity.
Both you and your friend arrived and was lead to your perspective stations. The instructor wanted everyone to find someone random around the room to be partners, so everyone can get to know each other and make the place more lively.
Going out of your comfort zone was hard, but thinking youre being a nuisance was harder. So you sighed in defeat.
Everyone finally got a partner but you,
You were standing there awkwardly, getting ready to tell the instructor that you're perfectly fine with being alone. Youve been alone for half of your life, being alone as you were in cooking class with no different.
Before you got the chance to talk, someone barged through the door, making everyone shift their focus on the door.
Your eyes widen when you saw who it was. It was the mysterious Inazuma guy. You were shocked, stunned and frozen in place.
Never once believe that you'd see him again
"Ah youre just in time! This young lady here doesnt have a partner for todays class so you can go right ahead and stand next to her station"
The mysterious men scoffed and walk towards your station standing right beside you without a word.
You were starting to feel nervous as there was no conversation coming up between the both of you. You thought that maybe you were the only one overthinking this because anytime you glance at him he would look unbothered and uninterested just like he did when you first saw him in that market few months back
"You can stop looking at me miss" crossing his arms and looking at you with one eyebrow up.
God he was intimidating and handsome
No no. Just intimidating you correxted yourself
Flinching you quickly apologised and whipped your head back and looked down at the table.
Wanderer knew you saw him on that day in the market, he's very observant what can he say?
"Call me wanderer" he broke the silence, looking down at the ingredients on the table, not listening to the instructor
You looked at him again, blinking
You wanted to question why on earth his name is "wanderer" but got a hunch that he'll be offended and stop talking.
"Nice to meet you wanderer, Im (name)" you responded
"Well (name) let's show everyone here who's the boss at cooking" he smirked a bit, determined to win
You were stunned. This wasnt even a cooking competition you wanted to tell him, but that might ruin the fun
So you smiled a little and nodded. "Right on it!"
Days after days passed, and if youre lucky enough you'd see him on the bustling streets of Sumeru, if you both make eye contact, you'd smile and wave as he nodded then go about your day
Soon that change, from simple hand waves, to small talks, to full blow on conversations to hanging out outside of sumeru city.
His company was nice, it felt warm and comfortable. You didnt have to imitate his energy, and you never tried to. Something about copying his personality just to talk to him felt off.
As much as he didnt wanna admit it, he also felt comfortable with you, not 100% no but if he were to be able to choose to go on walks alone or be with you he wouldnt hesitate to pick one with you.
You finally felt comfortable in your own skin
And suddenly, you didnt feel so "lonely" anymore.