Chapter Text
“Is it meant to look like that?”
“Ehh, not really. Not at all, actually. It’s fine though.”
Freminet never said he was a good cook nor that he was a cook at all. Freminet did not cook, he was a lost cause in the kitchen. So whoever made Mika think that bringing him in for cooking lessons was a good idea had another thing coming.
“It’s just a little, ehm—lopsided. As long as it tastes good, right?” Mika reassured, patting Freminet’s back as he stared at the dish, clearly trying to bite back a laugh. His bottom lip trembled as the corners of his mouth threatened to twitch. Freminet glared at him unamused when the other’s eyes started to crease, failing to suppress the humour he found in the situation.
The “moon pie” in front of them was somewhat of a lump of coal. That was literal and figurative. It was way past the point of burnt and he doubted he’d live if he tried to eat it. It had one too many craters along its surfaces, and sitting on its flat side, it was also leaning drastically. How they managed such a feat, he didn’t know.
“I’m not eating that.” He deadpanned, walking away to clean the kitchen up. What a mess, and for such a miserable failure too. Utensils and bowls were strewn across all flat surfaces, he couldn’t recall how they used this many bowls and spoons on a single recipe.
“No? It looks—looks—pretty appetizing to me.” Mika’s voice shook, laughter peeking its way through. With his back turned, he couldn’t see the cartographer, but he’d probably see him leaning on the counter trying to contain himself if he could. Freminet grumbled as little giggles turned into peels of laughter. Soon, Mika had his whole body weight supported on the edge of the counter as his knees started weakening and his stomach hurt. Among the sounds of bowls clanking and water running was Mika’s mirth ringing off the walls.
While he was moping about the idiocy that came out of the moon pie, he couldn’t help but also feel disgustingly endeared by his lover’s laughing. The feeling of it lit up flames in his heart and made him all fuzzy–like he was the same dumb kid who first met Mika. He set the bowls on the drying rack to sit and abandoned the rest of the cleaning, instead choosing to take quick strides across the kitchen to wrap his arms around Mika from behind.
Mika only doubled over harder, his shoulders shaking from the force of his laughter. Their height difference wasn’t huge, minimal at best, but Freminet was taller than him just enough to comfortably rest his chin on the juncture between his neck and shoulder without feeling awkward.
“Stop laughing,” he grumbled, feigning annoyance. Like the bad liar he was. He loved the sound of Mika, why would he want him to stop?
Mika had tears running down his cheeks when Freminet buried his face in gold tufts of hair to hide a grin.
“Gah, my brother’s gonna kill us if we don’t clean this up. He’ll kill me , actually. I need to introduce you two so you can share half of my consequences.”
“Introduce me… as your friend?”
“Hm, well–I guess I can’t introduce you as my boyfriend…could I?”
Mika turned around so he was facing Freminet, hands behind him against the counter, more a reassuring grasp than anything. The cartographer looked thoughtful, face tinged with pink, eyes shining as a grin still tugged on his mouth. Freminet doubted he looked too different.
“To your brother? As long as you can meet my family one day. I don’t know how I’d feel telling everyone else though,” Freminet stated. It was a true sentiment, he’d love to be able to stop hiding from his family, especially with the poorly made lies he’s had to conjure in the past just to keep things under wraps. However, telling all of Teyvat was kind of a stretch.
“Let’s find my brother.” Mika decided.
———
When Lyney saw the little note attached to Freminet’s room, he shrugged it off and carried on with his day.
When he saw it again seven hours later, he found it slightly peculiar that the diver had been out for so long, but he paid no mind and went to cook dinner.
When dinner was finished and the plate at Freminet’s seat was cold, that's when he started getting a bit concerned. Freminet wasn’t a toddler; they didn’t establish a curfew with him because there was never a need to in the past, but now he was realizing it would’ve been wise for them to at least mention one and have it on basis as he was getting older and gaining independence.
Freminet was a responsible kid, he knew when to come home, so why hadn’t he?
That was their mistake, and now they’re missing their youngest sibling. But Lynette told him to “trust Freminet”. So the twins went to bed, hoping to wake up in the morning to find Freminet in bed safely.
When Lyney woke up, he had three seconds to lay in bed completely content and motionless; he was facing the new day, awaiting all of its treasures when his brain caught up to him, and he remembered that Freminet didn’t come home last night. He didn't even realize he was tired, that his eyesight was still fuzzy, and that his feet were cold against the title when he barged into Freminet’s room, in a polite and sophisticated manner of course, only to find it in the exact state it was when he went to bed last night.
Empty and Freminetless.
He wanted to trust his brother. But millions of possibilities ran rampant through his mind, all ending with the demise of his youngest brother. What if he had been abducted on his way home? Eaten by a giant wallflower? Fallen off an underwater cliff? Plummeted into the far shadow realm?
He should trust his brother. Maybe he was staying at a friend’s place (he recalled Freminet having no friends close enough to stay over at their place). Maybe he came home and left early morning to continue diving (there was nothing in the room to indicate life within the past 24 hours). Maybe he’s camping, preparing for adventure (Freminet has never and would never camp alone without his siblings).
He should trust his brother.
He wrung his hands together, trying to wring out imaginary scenarios, and resumed his morning with his regular routine. Brush teeth, wash face, get dressed, and by the time breakfast was cooking Lynette came down to the kitchen with one question on her lips.
“Freminet’s not home yet?”
“Apparently not. He’s never been gone this long.”
“He’s okay,”
“Yeah, I hope so.” He pushed a plate towards Lynette’s seat as she poured herself a glass of water.
“I mean, there have been a couple of times before when Fremi’s been gone for a day,” Lynette pointed out as she slid into her seat and began eating her breakfast. Lyney sat down at his respective seat and busied himself with cutting his food up into smaller portions.
“Usually he tells us he’s going out though. And we actually see him home before bed.”
Lynette shrugged. “He’s okay. I bet he’ll be back soon anyway.”
“Better be.”
“You know what’d be funny?” Lynette asked, taking a sip of water while she waited for a sign of acknowledgment from Lyney as he ate.
“What if he ran away with a secret lover?”
The food felt like a comically large lump going down his throat. “Don’t you dare even entertain that.” Lyney glared as he took an aggressive bite of food and chewed it over liberally this time. Lynette only chuckled, airy and light as the two ate in silence.
Trust Freminet. He was more than capable of taking care of himself. He is okay, that’s what he kept telling himself.
“What time is it?” Lynette asked absentmindedly as she finished the contents of her food. Her head was hung low as if she just refused to lift it and check out the clock herself.
“It’s…” Lyney turned in his chair to check the analog clock they had hanging above the door. But that couldn’t be—“4:12? AM…? That can’t be right, it's way past sunrise.”
“Perhaps the clock is broken,” Lynette suggested. She got up to wash her plate, glancing at the clock on her way. A quick look out the window proved that whatever time it was currently, it was highly unlikely to match what the clock was telling them.
“Fantastic, and Freminet isn’t even here to fix it.” He grumbled as he went to pull the clock off its mount. Lyney never really had to reset a clock’s time before, but how hard could it be? He’d seen Freminet do it before, the younger one just removed the back panel, fiddled with the mechanisms inside, and somehow it’d go to the right time again.
Easy peasy. He kept telling himself that after about an hour.
———
It was after a quick run-in with Outrider Amber where he introduced Freminet that he quickly realized traveling would not be easy without wind gliders. He knew his boyfriend could wind glide, but in Mondstadt it was mandatory to take an exam to get a license regardless of any previous experience.
Thankfully, Outrider Amber was available that evening to conduct the exam. So, she sent the couple off with the large wind glider’s manual after a couple more pleasantries (which felt suspiciously like a mild interrogation about Freminet’s identity).
Sitting at the steps of the Favonius Church with the weight of the large book in Freminet’s hands, he finally had the opportunity to let its sheer weight and size sink in. He gawked at the offending manual, and Mika swore he could see pain spreading throughout his face as if mentally steeling himself for the volume of information he’d have to absorb and what the exam would hold if this was only the basic manual.
He rested a gentle hand on Freminet’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, there’s no written exam. The manual’s just for you to get a basic idea of the rules since it’ll be a practical exam. And it’s all common sense anyway.”
“Isn’t this size a manual kind of…excessive? Even Fontaine doesn’t offer books like this for our license examination.”
“You’d be surprised at the amount of people who try to use anemo slimes as momentum.”
Freminet heaved a sigh that was definitely exaggerated and opened the large book to a random page somewhere in the middle. His eyes flicked over text quickly, before flipping to another random page and repeating the cycle over a couple of times. Slowly, the furrow in his brow relaxed, and he closed the book with a relieved breath.
“Huh, it is just common sense.”
“Mhm. You’re smart, you’ll be fine.”
The diver set the book aside, stretching his hands out in front of him as he noticed people begin to gather around the base of the Anemo Archon statue. Front and center was a small figure clad in bright teal and distinct black braids.
“What’s going on over there?” Freminet asked as commotion started to arise. It sounded friendly and welcoming, and the person seemed to react kindly to the crowd.
“Oh, that’s the bard Venti. I think he’s about to start his performance. I’ve written about him a couple of times, haven’t I?”
Freminet nodded in reply.
Mika saw Venti summon his lyre seemingly out of thin air. He didn’t know if the lyre followed the same physics as a regular vision holder’s weapon, but it was pretty interesting to see a lyre being summoned like that. He strained to listen when Venti started strumming what looked like a slow tune.
Freminet seemed to notice his staring. “Want to get closer?”
“If it’s not an issue…”
“Never.” Freminet stood up first, prompting Mika to join him as the two made their way to the crowd and joined in near the back.
The bard had his eyes closed as his fingers idly strummed a light melody. The music was accompanied by the odd rustle of nature, quiet muttering or marvelling, but Mika didn’t quite notice.
The song seemed to pull at his heartstrings. Being on an elite team was cool and all, it was tough but rewarding. A downside was that being absent for so long robbed him of being able to experience a performance by Venti more often and being able to visit Freminet more often. He felt oddly warm and fluffy having both at once now, that he couldn’t help but lace his fingers with Freminet’s.
Freminet’s hands were cold, but they lit him on fire. He couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto his face, using the back of his free hand to cover his mouth as he ignored the sound of Freminet’s subtle laughter.
Time suddenly froze, and what felt like two seconds was very well one song with every following song was just as short. He couldn’t be sure, his mind was loopy and unable to take in anything but the feeling of Freminet, his presence, and how surreal it was they were here together. He didn’t realize how much he missed his boyfriend until he had him in his arms and everything came flooding out at once. He was so lucky.
He didn’t even realize time had passed so quickly, and that Venti was playing his last song until he heard his signature, “Ehe—Thank you! I’ll be back soon, everybody! Have an amazing day!”
The couple both flinched as if they had just been pulled from a trance and frantically looked around to make sure no one had seen their hands linked. Fortunately, no one seemed to see anything, and Venti had his back turned to them as the bard was mindlessly picking at his lyre strings.
Mika turned to his Freminet, seeing that the other was already looking at him. “Good right?”
“Sure. I mean, I’m not the biggest fan of this genre, but he’s pretty good.”
A sudden gasp interrupted them, causing the two to snap their heads towards an approaching bard. “Not a fan of my music? You wound me…”
Something vaguely akin to horror took over Freminet’s face. “Not—Not that I don’t like your music! I just don’t regularly gravitate to this type, but you’re very talented…!”
“Haha, please, I was kidding.”
“Sorry! Um—That was a nice performance,” he fumbled on his words, clearly trying to keep cool while also trying to not upchuck any words.
Mika laid a hand on Freminet’s shoulder to try and keep him steady. It was an awkward move, everything about him stiff. Bring two socially awkward people together with a stranger and this is what would happen.
“Why, thank you! You’re a tourist, perhaps?” Venti inquired. He planted both his hands on his hips as he smiled, face seeming to light up like the sun, choosing to ignore the obvious and painful tension in the air.
Freminet nodded meekly. “Visiting from Fontaine.”
“Fontaine, hm? It’s certainly been a while since I’ve visited. Next time you come to Mondstadt, do me a little favour and bring your archon along with you.” Venti casually laughed as if he didn’t just ask Freminet to invite an archon to Mondstadt without any further context. And what’s worse was that the two boys couldn’t even tell if the bard was joking.
“Er, bring…her? You want me to bring Lady Focalors?”
“Haha! Mondstadt would be so colourful with her here.” Venti seemed to giggle to himself as he looked off to the side for a moment. “Well, take my request with a grain of salt.”
Freminet nodded, choosing to ignore that the bard never cleared up the “request” as a joke.
“If you guys aren’t staying long, do see me play in the Angel’s Share. The drinks are by far the best in Mondstadt.” Venti recommended with a blinding smile.
Mika hesitated. “I’d love to listen to you play but I…think I’d rather spend my time with Freminet away from alcohol.”
“Ehe, of course! Ah, the things I’d do to relive teenage love…” Venti sighed dreamily, zoning off into his own world for a moment.
Not that Freminet or Mika noticed him drifting off, their jaws were slack the moment Venti uttered teenage love. There was no other context for Venti to mention that unless he knew they were an item.
Panicked eyes met each other in silence. Mika had thought they’d always been subtle with their relationship, but since no one’s ever mentioned anything maybe they’d been a little less cautious than they had been in the beginning, but surely nowhere near to the extent that someone like Venti would ever notice.
If Venti knew, could it be possible others did too? How would that affect their relationship? Mika guessed not much. Sure it’d be a kind of breach of their comfort zone, not to mention privacy, but that wouldn’t change much, hopefully.
“You know, I hear Starsnatch Cliff is a popular tourist location.” He suddenly brought up, before winking and then strolling away with a bounce in his steps. The wind seemed to follow where he went, leaving the couple to pause and recollect their thoughts for a loud second.
“It seems everyone I meet in Mondstadt gets weirder and weirder…” Freminet mused, turning around to look at the idle people in the city. Most people were milling around, busy with their jobs or just simply minding their own business.
“That’s what happens when the people in the land of the free are free.” Mika shrugged as he thought a bit deeper about the citizens of Mondstadt. “Yeah, I guess people here might seem a bit weirder than what you might be used to.”
“Weirder than him?”
“I don’t know many people who ask travelers to bring their archon to Mondstadt, so I couldn’t tell you,” Mika stated, a small grin tugging at his lips as he thought of the ridiculous conversation they just had. “Let’s go to Springvale. You can practice before your exam.”
———
Kaeya had been stocking up on groceries at Mondstadt General Goods when he spotted Mika at Good Hunter taking a seat, and he was juggling the idea of approaching to greet him when he noticed another kid slide into the seat across from him.
He raised an eyebrow, recalling that it was the same kid who he’d brought to meet Mika only a couple of days ago.
Odd. He didn’t think he’d see those two together. Sure, he introduced them, but to see them become friendly and comfortable enough to eat together after roughly 3 days was a little strange, especially when taking into account the fact that it was Mika.
Kaeya recalled the other boy to be somewhat similar to Mika in terms of personality. The strange traveler seemed reserved and—for lack of a better word—awkward. Perhaps the common traits between him and Mika made them connect. He wasn’t complaining though, the more friends Mika made, the more he’d step out of his shell.
“Captain Kaeya!”
Kaeya looked around him for the source of the call, finding Amber walking up to him waving. He smiled lightly and returned a small wave.
“Outrider Amber. Good day?” Kaeya greeted her with a slight drawl.
“Good as I can be. Jean wants you to drop in later by the way. I think she needs you to double-check some schematics and then a recap on the Dragonspine issue,” she reported.
“Hm, I’ll see to it.” Kaeya’s eye flickered back to Mika and his friend. Where was he from again? Sneznhaya? No, his attire seems too casual. Perhaps Fontaine? While he was trying to recall, Amber seemed to have caught his distracted demeanour and followed his gaze until she pinpointed the two boys.
“Oh, Mika and his friend? I met him yesterday at his wind gliding exam,” she paused to ponder for a second, voice trailing off. “Freminet, I think? I never knew Mika had more friends, but I’m glad he does.” Amber finished as she observed the two. They seemed to be in light conversation, probably about the menu.
“I…also met him a couple days ago. It was a slow endeavour.” He thought that was a vague enough way to describe how immensely pained he felt at that moment. He knew he probably couldn’t blame either of them, but looking at them now he wondered if they already knew each other during the introduction he tried to give. Would it be possible for Mika to be so comfortable in such a short period?
Mika wasn’t an easy kid to get along with, in the sense that you’d meet him, but you wouldn’t actually meet him. Breaking that outer shell wasn’t an easy thing to do, the Traveller was lucky they managed so quickly. Amber was still “Ma’am” to him after all this time.
Come to think of it, he did see something peculiar the other day.
Kaeya had just begun walking away when a loud ‘oomph’ sound made him pause and whip his head around.
What he was expecting, he didn’t know. Maybe he expected someone to be on the ground, fallen as the other helped them get back up, or for someone to have gotten hurt somehow in the 3.5 seconds his back had been turned.
He didn’t know, but what he definitely did not expect was for Mika to have his arms wrapped tight around the strange yet respectable traveler’s body, looking to be holding on so tightly he feared for the integrity of the other’s ribcage.
Odd, especially given the delayed introduction where he didn’t even learn the strange yet respectable traveller’s name, and the fact that this was Mika.
He was even more surprised to see the traveler reciprocate the hug, his arms wrapping around Mika’s neck as the two stood there, oblivious to everything around them.
He stood there perplexed as they started mumbling words to each other. They were muted, inaudible to anyone but them, but loud enough that in the quiet library, he was able to tell that words were being spoken.
Strange indeed.
He didn’t stay to mull over what exactly he just saw, he left as soon as he saw Mika nuzzling the other, almost like a cat. Something that he truly never thought he’d witness from Mika.
He boiled the entire incident down to, what? What was he meant to think? He had nothing come to mind, and very eagerly chose to forget the incident ever happened. Maybe the two did know each other before that day.
Kaeya was about to turn his attention back to Amber, to say goodbye and walk to the Favonius HQ and report back to Jean when he caught movement.
He watched with eyebrows shot straight up as Freminet reached across the table and laid his hand over Mika’s, gentle and affectionate. Both their eyes met, but neither of them spoke. Oblivious to the world around them, Kaeya stood once again in surprise when Mika didn’t fumble up a storm, rampantly stutter paragraphs, or yank his hand back in fear. To Kaeya’s shock, he shyly smiled and continued talking.
It was just as quick that Grace came with their food, the two swiftly retracted their hands and shared soft glances before they started eating.
Amber and Kaeya shared a questioning glance. Communicating through rapid eye contact and blinking as if to say, “you saw that too, right?”
“That…”
“Uh…”
“I—er,”
Kaeya let out an exasperated sigh, raising a hand to rest on his forehead as he tried to rethink everything he ever knew about Mika.
“Well. I’m going to check in with Jean. Have a good afternoon, Amber.” Kaeya exhaled, punctuated by his shoulders drooping dramatically as Amber bid her farewell.
He walked away with his head held up high, not letting his sight divert back to Mika and Freminet as he started to roam his thoughts.
Maybe they met before through Varka on a mission to Fontaine.
———
He didn’t know how he didn’t hear the rapid footsteps earlier, but when he finally did it was pointless because the person had already crashed into him and caused him to stumble on his feet.
“Mika! You’re back!” An arm wrapped itself on his shoulders and patted him viciously while he tried to stand stable on his two feet again.
He felt Freminet grab his arm to try and help him as another set of footsteps approached, though it wasn’t accompanied by a brutal shove. For that, he was grateful.
When he was able to stand up straight again, he turned his head to look at the two new presences, seeing a boy about their height with platinum hair and goggles perched on his head, a bright smile plastered on his face. Another boy of similar height with longer gray hair stood close by.
“Oh, hi!” Bennett greeted Freminet after noticing him, glancing at Mika as if waiting for the introduction.
“Uh, Bennett and Razor, this is Freminet.” Mika motioned his hands from one side to the other. “Freminet, these are Bennett and Razor, a couple of friends I have from the Adventurer's Guild.”
Bennett removed his arm from Mika to offer a handshake to Freminet. The diver looked at Mika with blank eyes as he took up the handshake. The adventurer seemed none too affected as he happily shook the other's hand.
Razor, on the other hand, seemed to stare at Freminet instead of giving a greeting, trying to observe him, possibly. “Fre…mee..nay?”
Bennett rested his elbow on Razor’s shoulder, leaning his weight onto his friend as he whispered something in his ear before turning back. Razor seemed to accept it and offered up a smile of his own.
“I am Razor.”
“Nice to meet you guys,” Freminet said as he acknowledged Razor with a nod.
“You should’ve told us you’d be in Mondstadt, Mika. I’ve been hearing about this awesome domain, all four of us could go explore someday!” Bennett excitedly rambled about the specifics of the domain while Razor watched him raptly, trying to follow along the words.
Freminet seemed to also be watching him intently, though it looked like he was having an easier time deciphering some phrases better than Razor was.
“What do you guys say? Wanna come along?” Bennett looked at the two expectedly, clear that he wanted their company on their little expedition.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to come along. He came to know the pair as good friends. As an honorary member of Benny’s Adventure Team when he was actually in the city, he’d follow on their adventures at times.
But Bennett and Razor were strangers to Freminet, and he didn’t want to make his boyfriend feel uncomfortable, especially given the dynamic these two brought.
He looked at Freminet, hoping to communicate through eye contact. He was giving him the choice. Freminet stared back, scrunching his nose and furrowing his eyebrows, trying to refuse to be the one to decide and relinquish the right back to Mika.
“Ehh, it’s perfectly okay if you guys don’t want to come! We’re fine on our own.” Bennett interrupted their silent debate. Razor had moved to wrap both his hands on Bennett’s upper arm as he stood closely by him. The pair looked a bit uncertain, timid even.
“I—It’s not that we don't want to come along…!” Mika tried waving his hands in a motion meant to convey what he was trying to say.
“We just don’t know if we have anything else planned for today,” Feminet interjected.
Bennett made a sound of understanding. “That makes sense. I mean, Razor and I literally just decided we wanted to explore the domain now.”
“Just now? That seems super last minute.” Mika commented.
“Mhm. Wolves. Not happy.” Razor piped up, face remaining neutral as ever.
Mika nodded to that sentiment, finding it reasonable that the wolves might not have wanted Razor to leave just yet when Freminet leaned into his personal space. Maybe a bit too close for what they considered “no PDA in public during a secret relationship” with a hand on his lower back, thankfully hidden from the pair in front of them.
“Wolves?” He whispered, voice sounding incredulous, matching the look on his face.
“I’ll explain in a second,” He whispered back as the two turned their attention back to the adventurers in front of them.
“Well, if you two decide to come, we’ll be at…” Bennett trailed off for a second, seeming to recall information, “we’ll be at Dawn Winery,” Bennett informed them as the two bade farewells and then walked away.
Freminet watched the pair as Bennett raised both his arms and clasped his hands together at the back of his neck, looking casual as Razor trailed along with a bounce in his step. He watched them leave earshot before swiveling to face Mika.
“Wolves?” Freminet repeated, sounding as if a million different scenarios were going through his mind. To be fair, not many people nowadays speak about wolves. It wasn’t as if he reacted too differently when he first met the feral boy.
“Mhm. Razor grew up with wolves. I believe he still lives with them, but he’s slowly trying to integrate into society. Bennett sure is a great help.” Mika almost laughed as he watched Freminet’s face contort into a bout of confusion, disbelief, and overall speechlessness.
“Is Bennett normal?”
“Pretty much. He’s just super unlucky. The last time I tagged along with him, the entire team ended up stranded on the side of a mountain ledge. We were there for hours.”
Mika watched Freminet look off to the side, blink a couple of times, open and close his mouth and smooth a hand through his hair. “Everyone here is so weird…”
“Really? Am I weird?” Mika held Freminet, his hands lying lazily on the diver’s biceps as he leaned in slightly closer. While they were already standing quite closely, it seemed now they were only a brush of nose tips away.
The diver’s breath hitched. The only thing he could see, could ever possibly look into was his boyfriend’s eyes.
“You–You’re…”
“Weird?” Mika watched pink creep onto the tips of the other’s ears, collect on the centers of his cheeks and splatter across his nose bridge. For all that Freminet’s love language was physical touch, he seemed way flustered. He found it rather endearing, that after all this time he’d still be able to melt his heart like that.
“Ahem.”
Both boys flinched at the stark sound and immediately snapped away from each other. It suddenly dawned on Mika that they weren’t standing in the comfort of his home, or a mildly secluded area in Mondstadt City, but right in front of Hertha, the Reputation Advisor of Mondstadt.
They were going past her to leave Mondstadt City through the market district exit when they ran into Bennett and Razor, who presumably were picking up bounties. Then, they all probably got a bit distracted and forgot where exactly they were, or who their company was.
They had never rushed out of a place so quickly before, leaving Hertha in turmoil to battle with what she had just seen.
———
Xiao didn’t know how to feel when he watched the blonde traveler flail before going limp. He sensed life in the kid, but his actions were concerning, to say the least. Was this a regular mortal thing? He had watched Aether sleep before (under no creepy circumstances) and maybe he could see how going limp could correlate to sleep, but the flailing? The pillow suffocation attempt?
And so, like any other confused person, he reached out to the local god among mortals he happened to be acquaintances with.
Zhongli chuckled as Xiao sat on the railing of Wangshu Inn’s balcony, repeating to him the memory of the strange person.
“I assure you this mortal was merely attempting to rouse himself to sleep. I believe people choose to employ this technique when they are especially tired.”
Xiao pondered with this information. He found it rather crude, considering he stepped in assuming this person was actively harming themself. How could he have thought it was anything else?
“I see.” He intended to leave at that moment and tend to more pressing matters now that he had what he was looking for.
“A moment, Xiao.”
He paused, facing Zhongli as he patiently waited to hear what he had to say. The Archon seemed to be picking his words out carefully.
“What did you say you did when you saw him?”
Well, he supposed he couldn’t fault Zhongli for needing a recap. Although he had mentioned all that he could remember, he did spent a good portion talking about his confusion with mortals and their sleeping and suffocation habits.
“I removed the pillow, shook him, and tried to wake him up.”
“You removed the pillow, and shook him. And tried to wake him up.” Zhongli echoed. His tone of voice wasn’t different at all from how he regularly spoke, but somehow he sensed that something was wrong.
“Yes,” He confirmed, not understanding where the other was going. What did he do wrong?
“How hard did you shake him?” Ah, so Zhongli was doubting his strength, perhaps? Surely he knew he’d do enough to prevent the harm of any mortal, his purpose after all.
“Hard enough to wake him.”
“...And what happened after he woke up?
So that's where he messed up. He got down from the railing and kneeled on one knee, bowing his head as he spoke. “I apologize. I used my anemo on an innocent traveler. I did not foresee any issues with what I did in my haste to ensure his safety, but now I realize that I could have harmed him further. I will be—”
Zhongli held his hand out. “Hush, Xiao. You did not harm the traveler, so let bygones be bygones.”
The man gently pulled him up to stand, though his head remained fixed towards the ground. “I am not disappointed by your actions. You did what you thought was necessary. Although, maybe a little intense,” Zhongli laughed a bit. “Your actions are a display that you’d do anything to protect those whom you swore to. Is that not a good thing?”
“...I suppose” He muttered, slowly lifting his head. His neck was starting to ache.
Zhongli smiled, not that Xiao could even see it.
———
Starsnatch Cliff was popular for a reason. It stood high, overhanging a beautiful ocean, providing a breathtaking view of distant land and forests. And it just so happened to be a couple’s location.
So he considered himself incredibly lucky that when they made their way up, the cliff was empty. It was late at night, the sun wouldn’t be up for a couple of hours, but that’s what he wanted anyway.
Mika laid a tarp down a safe distance away from the edge of the cliff, setting down his bag and sitting down, Freminet following suit. They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, soaking in the sky and stars.
Freminet had already been gone from home for a week, and it’d take him a day and a half to travel back to Fontaine. He needed to leave, and so he thought it was fitting that their last destination would be atop Starsnatch Cliff.
“I’m gonna miss you, you know,” Freminet muttered, reaching for Mika’s hand and squeezing his palm.
“I’ll keep sending photos then. And I’ll visit you more. I’ll even send you more packages.”
“No more stickers please, I can’t keep explaining where I get them from.”
“I’ll hand deliver them. I think my team will be reassigned to Fontaine soon,”
Freminet beamed with delight. “You can meet my siblings! Then I won’t have to hide your ridiculous stickers all the time.”
“Can I really meet your siblings?” Mika asked.
“Sure, I mean, I met your brother.” Freminet shrugged, not wanting to force Mika to do anything he didn’t want to.
Meeting Mika’s brother, Huffman, was emotional. There was no other way to describe it. He came home after a long day shift, exhausted to the bone. But he saw the timid-looking boy standing beside Mika. After Mika gave him a quickly muttered, “This is my boyfriend”, Huffman had leaped for joy, sweeping Freminet up in a long and bone-crushing hug before sitting down, blinking away tears in his eyes as he welcomed Freminet into the family.
Bone-crushing hugs were apparently a genetic trait. Huffman, despite his obvious fatigue, happily stayed awake to talk to the couple, even going as far as to show some photos of baby Mika while he was in the kitchen getting water. It was as successful as it could’ve been, the night ending with Huffman sobbing incoherent sentences, tears falling into Mika’s hair, and crying something along the lines of ‘you’re growing up so fast’, ‘I love him already’ and ‘please don’t forget about me’.
Freminet only hoped that Lyney and Lynette would be as likable as Huffman was, but something told him they’d be more wary of Mika. It didn’t matter though, he’d be happy to defend him.
The moon hadn’t exactly made it to the horizon yet, he guessed there’d be around two hours until daylight. He squinted to see the stars in the sky, seeing some in the shapes of constellations. Though, he didn’t know any of their names. It was a shame, a moment like this felt perfect for star gazing.
“Mika?”
He turned his attention to Freminet, seeing him holding a little bundle of Cecelias in hand, weaved into a pretty flower crown.
“Will you accompany me back to Fontaine?” He asked, a gorgeous smile on his face that haunted him as he slept. So how could he ever say no to that?
“Anything,” He muttered, quickly closing the gap between them. And he could hardly even remember what he was holding until he dropped it in favour of tangling his fingers into pale hair, and cold fingers were caressing his cheek.