You should've backed out.

You knew Childe organizing anything meant disaster, and yet there you were... standing outside the mall entrance, regretting every decision that led you here.

"Hey, Y/N!" Mona waved, skipping over in a cute jumper and sparkly boots. "We're waiting on Fischl and—"

"Fear not!" came a familiar voice echoing across the parking lot. "The Prinzessin der Verurteilung has arrived to bestow her presence upon this realm of capitalistic wonder!"

You blinked.

"Hi, Fischl," you said.

She adjusted her eyepatch dramatically. "Verily. I sensed your aura from across dimensions."

Childe, standing beside you, leaned over and whispered, "So what dimension was she in when she Snapchatted me five minutes ago?"

You snorted. Then your stomach flipped a little.

Scaramouche was walking toward the group, hands shoved in his pockets, hood up, looking like he hated being alive.

You waved.

He gave a small nod, eyes flicking from you to the rest of the group like he was already regretting this.

"Scaramouche!" Childe grinned. "Didn't think you'd actually show up."

"I didn't," he muttered. "I'm just here to keep Y/N from getting abducted by mall kiosk vendors."

"Aw," Mona cooed. "Protective and cranky. What a combo."

"Don't push it."

⸻

First stop: the food court

Childe demanded bubble tea. Fischl demanded a table. You ended up standing in line with Scaramouche while the others fought over who was paying.

"I'm getting the taro milk tea," you said.

"You always get taro," Scaramouche replied, reading the menu.

"Because it tastes like purple and purple is a fun color !! What're you getting?"

He looked at you like you asked if he wanted to drink bleach. "I'm not."

"You came to a boba place and you're not getting anything?"

"I'm here to judge silently."

You rolled your eyes and ordered for both of you anyway. When the drinks were ready, you handed him a black milk tea.

"I got you the least offensive one."

He blinked at it.

"...Fine," he muttered, taking a sip. "...Not terrible. I guess.."

"High praise," you said with a grin.

⸻

After that, things devolved pretty fast.

Mona dragged you into a makeup store to try glittery lip gloss and 100 lipsticks. Fischl knocked over a perfume display and then dramatically claimed it was a sign from the universe, and when that didn't work she blamed it on childe and ran. Childe ended up paying for the perfume and tried on sunglasses at every single store and forced everyone to vote on which pair made him look like a spy.

And Scaramouche?

He hovered.

Not like clingy hovering. More like I'm pretending not to care but if anyone gets within ten feet of you I will tase them with my eyes hovering.

He kept a safe distance. But you could feel him watching. Which made things really awkward when Heizou showed up again.

"Oh my god," you muttered, spotting him near the escalator.

He waved.

Childe raised a brow. "Friend of yours?"

"Uh yeah actually"

"Looks like he's coming over."

Of course he was.

"Y/N!" Heizou grinned. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon."

You laughed nervously. "Yeah, funny how that works..."

"Hey, if you're not doing anything later, I was thinking—"

"She is," Scaramouche said flatly, appearing out of literal nowhere. He held onto the lower part of your back protectively.

You stood there not expecting the touch

Heizou blinked. "...I didn't even see you standing there."

Scaramouche didn't blink. "Good."

The tension was thick enough to slice with a plastic boba straw.

You coughed. "Uhhmmmm thanks for saying hi, Heizou! We should totally catch up another time! I'll totally text you Kay?"

Heizou looked between you two, then nodded slowly. "Sure.... See ya, Y/N."

When he was out of earshot, you turned to Scaramouche. "Dude."

"What?"

"You can't just materialize like an angry raccoon every time someone talks to me."

"Then tell people to stop acting like you're a walking love confession."

You stared at him. "You're being weird."

"I'm being cautious."

"Jealous."

He looked away. "...Cautious."

You sighed and then laughed at his seriousness.

⸻

Eventually, the group broke off to wander and shop. Scaramouche followed you into a tiny bookstore near the food court.

You ran your fingers across the spines of vintage paperbacks. "It's weird being here."

"Because of your memory?"

You nodded. "Feels like I should remember hanging out at places like this, but it's all just... fuzzy."

Scaramouche leaned against a shelf. "It doesn't have to all come back at once. You can make new memories too."

You raised a brow. "That was suspiciously deep."

He shrugged. "I contain multitudes."

You smiled.

Then pointed at a cheesy romance novel. "This one looks like something you'd secretly read and pretend not to like."

Scaramouche smirked. "If you gift me that, I'm burning it."

You picked it up immediately.

He rolled his eyes, but you swore you saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

⸻

The sun was just starting to dip as the group reconvened outside.

Everyone had shopping bags. Mona was reapplying lip gloss in a compact mirror. Fischl was mid-monologue about consumerism. Childe was trying to juggle two pretzels.

You leaned against the mall railing, sipping your tea, and Scaramouche came to stand beside you.

"Still hate malls?" you asked.

"Yes."

"But?"

He glanced at you. "It was tolerable."

You smiled at the cup in his hand. "You finished your boba."

"No proof."

You bumped his arm with your shoulder playfully, "yeah right Mr grumpy pants"