chapter 15 - the adventures of tessa and klee

I stood in front of Jean's office at the Favonius Headquarters. I let out a big sigh and knocked on the door two times.

"Come in" I heard her soft voice from inside. I entered her office, she sat behind her table, she seemed busy with writing something.

Jean looked up to check who needed for her.

"Hello Jean" I greeted her with a small smile.

"Oh, hello Tessa, how can I help you?" she smiled back, putting down her quill.

"I... came with not personal matters" I started. "I wish to ask permission to borrow the Spark Knight for a while"

"Oh, you're leaving Mondstadt?" she raised an eyebrow. "It's... quite sudden"

The plan already formed in my head last night, at the closing party of Weinlesefest. I had a chat with Jean last night, but I haven't mentioned my plans yet.

"I received a small research task from the Akademiya" I lied. "And I don't want to leave Klee alone again, I feel like she can use some field training"

"That's a great idea" she gave me a reassuring smile. She opened a drawer in her desk. "How long will you two stay away?" she asked.

"I am not sure yet" I shrugged. "We might return for Christmas, or sooner"

Jean just nodded and pulled a piece of paper out of the drawer.

"This is the form for requesting a knight to temporarily stay away from their duties. As Klee is a minor, it is a task of a family member to fill it. You have to enter the starting date, expected return date, reason, etc. And you can sign it on the bottom" she gave me the form and a quill. I took the paper and started filling out the form. Once I finished I handed it to Jean, who signed it.

"Permission granted" she smiled softly. "Have a safe journey, and, this time don't forget to send letters"

I gave her a closed-eyed smile. "Thank you Jean, I'll try"

I left her office and closed the huge, heavy door behind me.

"Are you running away again?" I turned around to find the source of the voice. Kaeya was leaning to the wall next to Jean's office, folding his arms.

"Were you eavesdropping?" I smirked at him, but didn't answer. I started walking to the direction to the door of the Favonius Headquarters, Kaeya followed me.

"Is it a problem?" he asked simply. "You would've tell me about it anyway, it's not like it's a secret you're leaving, right?" he asked with a provocative tone.

We left the building, once we were outside, I turned around to face him. "I am not running away, Kaeya"

"Bullshit" he stated, walking past me, down the stairs. "Care to explain? You know, I am here to talk to or whatever, but seems like you keep forgetting that I am your friend and you can trust me."

I sighed. "Do you want to have a drink?" I asked.

"It's 3PM, Tessa" he laughed.

"And have you done any work today, Kaeya?" I mocked him.

"A drink sounds great" he nodded.

We entered Angel's share, only a few hangover people were there, drinking coffe, or the tavern's 'hangover cocktail' which was quite popular.

Charles was behind the bar, he seemed to be kind of hangover too.

"Miss Tessa, Mr Kaeya" he greeted us. "How can I help you?"

"Two dandelion wines, please" said Kaeya. Charles didn't question our choice, he poured us our drinks and handed them to us.

"Thank you, Charles" I grinned.

"Let's go upstairs" suggested Kaeya. We walked up the stairs, the area was empty thankfully, we could have a private talk.

"So?" Kaeya raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to start talking.

"As I said, I'm not running away" I sighed, looking down at my drink. "I just... need to clear my head a little. It's just... suffocating here right now."

"But leaving Mondstadt would not solve your problems" he pointed out.

"I will come back" I stated. "It's just... a couple weeks, not longer"

He sipped his drink, quietly staring at it for seconds. Then, he looked up, his uncovered eye found my glance.

"You have to face him eventually"

I started giggling at this. Oh, well.

"What's so funny?" he rolled his eye.

"I've already talked to him yesterday" I shrugged. "We met randomly at Windrise"

"And?"

"Nothing" I smiled softly. "We talked about things, but long story short, he literally stated he's not good enough for me right now, and that's enough for you to now."

He facepalmed. "Oh, I really want to punch Diluc in the face sometimes" he mumbled.

"But that's not why I am leaving for a short time"

"Then what's the reason?" he finished his drink waiting for my answer.

I sighed, extending my arms on the table, laying my head on my left arm.

"Well, I feel like I am kind of stuck in life. I enrolled in the Akademiya back then, because I had nothing else to do and I love learning, but... I didn't have any topic that really interested me"

"What are you talking about?" he questioned. "You researched visions..."

"Yeah and I was really enthusiastic about it at first... but my only motivation was that I needed a research topic, and..." I stopped. Maybe I should start my explanation at the beginning.

I raised my head and sipped from my cup.

"I received my vision when I decided to enroll to the Akademiya" I looked down at the small dendro vision hanging on my corset belt. "And I feel like... I haven't done anything to earn it. I wanted to know why I received a vision and why this one"

He snorted. "Does it matter?" he asked. "I did nothing worth mentioning before I received my vision, but when my dear adoptive brother tried to take my life, I suddenly received this silly cryo amulet"  he stared at his own vision, gently touching it.

"Sorry, I don't really have an answer for that" I bit my lip. "Or, at least I have a huge research material and I think you don't want to hear my temporary conclusions"

"I really don't" he smirked. "I don't want to know how fucked up I am"

I wanted to oppose his statement but he raised his hand.

"So why are you leaving?" he asked once again.

I bit my lower lip. "I... want to find a purpose to my life. Something I can be really good at"

"You have plenty of time for that, Tessa" he glanced at me softly.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I will find nothing during this trip. But just sitting there, immersing in lovelife drama is truly making me crazy. I haven't done anything worth mentioning since I finished my thesis. I need to find a path"

"You could join the knights" he offered.

I giggled. "Maybe I will. Who knows?"

We continued talking for a while, downing another drink in the meantime.

"I need to tell the news to Klee" I stood up. She should arrive home soon.

"Take care during your travels" Kaeys squeezed my shoulder. "And maybe, you know, you could write a letter or two"

I grinned at him. "Maybe I will"

We said goodbye to each other in front of the tavern then I headed home. Klee was already there, drawing in her "adventure book".

"Hello, Klee" I greeted my little sister, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Big sis" she hugged my waist. "How was your day?" she asked with a wide grin on her face.

I patted her head, ready to tell her the news.

"Remember the booklet you gave me for my birthday?" I asked and she nodded. "How about... making it true?" I gave her a smile.

"Yaay, are we going on an adventure?" she jumped up enthusiastically, dancing around in the living room.

"Yes, we do" I nodded and grinned. "And Master Jean let you go"

Klee was singing and dancing at the news, she was really cute. Then she ran to me and placed her hands on my knees. "And when are we going, big sis?"

"How about tomorrow?"

Klee clapped her hands. "Then I should start packing!" she exclaimed loudly as she disappeared in the bedroom. I chuckled lightly.

Honestly, I was looking forward to this adventure as well...