#marka

“Perhaps I do. I was right though. I swore I’d be able to carry the whole world, and since you walk around like you’re carrying the weight of it on your shoulders, I have both the whole world and my whole world in my arms,” Mari explains, her tail swaying back and forth, balancing the extra weight through sheer force of will… and maybe  also her geo vision strategically placed on the soles of her heels.  

“You’ve been spending too much time with Barbatos if you’re giving out declarations like that. Since when are you the charming one? What happened to the little cat that would blurt out whatever she’s thinking, even when it comes out all messed up?” Varka asks, his hands on her shoulders squeezing lightly. If she wasn’t so warm, he’d almost forget she’s supporting all his weight, but every connection of her body to his makes his heart race, from where his hands grip to his thighs on her hips, to her own grip on his lower back. 

“I still put my foot in my mouth too often, but thanks to my prolonged contact with you, Mr. Silvertongue, I’ve decided to let some of your charm rub off on me. Alice has been lamenting to me lately though. She says the ‘cute’ Fontanian accent I used to have is being whittled away from all my time traveling, and somehow also blames you for changing some of my vocabulary.”

 It’s not entirely true. Varka’s pretty sure her accent comes out very clearly when she’s seething mad or when she’s just woken up m, but thinking about the latter is far more tempting than the former, especially when he remembers how clingy she is in bed. 

Mari’s hand placement shifts, making sure he’s able to keep a tight hold around her hips. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s definitely enjoying this, she thinks before continuing.  “I can handle the motherly harping though, considering how often she sends my letters to you faster than even my courier service can move them.” It’s hard to turn off the thought that as good as her business is, it’ll never beat a witch’s magic. 

Varka shakes his head, the summer breeze curling through his hair as it rustles blue and white blooms nearer to the ground than he is, their petals lifting and riding loosely on the wind that feels almost like home. “You could always deliver the letters yourself.” He says this even while knowing she hates mixing business with pleasure, but hoping anyways that she’d make an exception. He doesn’t realize that if you’d asked her, he’s often her only exception for many things, whether it’s making extra and completely unnecessary trips to Mondstadt or slipping him fatui intel she’s gleaned from their use of her couriers. 

“Actually…I was thinking of taking a step back from field work for a while. I’ve got so many new clients that I think a break is in order to get all my ducks in a row, at least when it comes to the financial aspect,” Mari muses, though Varka can tell from the pitch of her voice spiking just a little higher that she’s beating around the bush about something else. 

“Would you mind sharing your address with me? It makes it easier to get correspondence if I have an actual place to receive it, and you know how I hate to put Diluc out when I visit,” she says, forcing her eyes to go anywhere but him, which is difficult given that he’s very much in her personal bubble.

Varka takes a second to process it before he barks a laugh out, much too entertained by how she worded that question. “That is maybe the cutest way you could’ve asked to move in with me, save for showing up at my door with a suitcase.”

“It’s not moving in! I’ll be…renting off you. My monthly payment may be meals and helping with your paperwork, but that’s still payment,” she insists, though this was an inevitable embarrassment she’d planned for, because being vulnerable almost always comes with this small price. 

It’s not quite commitment in the normal sense, but it's her attempt at it, and they’ve known each other far too long now to bother with the push and pull of trying to force what others would deem as ‘settling down.’ “If you want, I could manage 5,000 mora a month! 10,000? How much is rent nowadays? I usually just camp-“ Mari starts again, now backpedalling on her earlier courage. 

Before Varka can get a single teasing word out, the sound of a heel snapping and two bodies rolling down a flowering hill somewhere in Fontaine rings clear through the wind.