Chapter Text
The waves rolled together in the ocean mere meters away from the two brothers still laying in the sand. Freminet looked to Lyney, who had his eyes closed as a small smile played on his lips.
“What’re you smiling about?” He asked him.
“Nothing, just- I’m glad I got to talk to you. Finally,” the magician opened his eyes; they were red and puffy. “I’m sorry it took this long for me to say something.”
“At least you said something,” It shows you still care. Freminet wrung his hands.
Lyney pushed himself off the ground with a grunt. He dusted off his knees before extending a hand down to his little brother. “Let’s go home, yeah? Lynette said she’d cook us a feast if we sorted things out!”
“So you only talked to me to get free dinner?” Freminet rolled his eyes, accepting the help anyway.
Lyney had the gall to gasp and look appalled. “I would never!” His expression fell and with it, the joking atmosphere. “I’m serious, Freminet. I wouldn’t pretend everything is fine for some free food. Lynette only said that because she misses having dinner together.”
“Oh,” the diver’s eyes fell back to the sand he was just laying in. Of course he wouldn’t do that. I don’t know what I was thinking-
“What do you want to eat for dinner?” Lyney asked from in front of him. When had he fallen behind?
“Uh- anything’s fine, I don’t mind either way,” he tacked on a wobbly smile for good measure.
“Freminet,” his brother stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” he nodded his head. In truth, he didn’t know how best to respond to the question. After everything that's happened today, I just want to go home and sleep. Maybe forever.
The walk back to Hotel Debord wasn’t devoid of conversation. Lyney kept talking, as if the silence would suffocate him and steal his vocal cords permanently if he didn’t constantly keep it at bay. Freminet listened dutifully, matched his stride to his older brother’s and kept out of the way. He offered nods and agreements whenever he was asked, and kept his eyes trained on the path in front of them. He was too tired to do much else.
When they got there, the diver departed from his older brother and went to Father’s study. Lyney told him that he and his sister would wait for him in the kitchen. Freminet nodded and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Father beckoned. He did so as soon as possible, not wanting to make her wait and not wanting to dawdle in her presence for longer than he had to.
“I completed the mission today,” He reported meekly, not so certain that she would want to hear about his plights so late into the night. To his surprise, the Knave turned around in her chair to face him as she personally delivered his praise.
“Well done. You finally did something right.” Her hand wove its way through his hair, knocking his hat out of place. He jolted at the contact, not expecting it nor knowing what to do in response, and his face went red at his stupid reaction.
“See what happens when you follow orders?” Father tilted her head to the side as she looked down on Freminet, and it was all he could do to nod in agreement. “Anything else you need to report?” She crossed her arms.
“The man- he’s not doing anything wrong, from what I observed,” Freminet continued on. “He’s seemingly spreading misinformation for fun. It doesn’t look like he knows anything of use.”
“That makes my job harder,” she scoffs and turns back to her desk, sinking down into her chair. “Well, no matter. It’s late, I’ll deal with that tomorrow. You’re free to do what you please.”
Freminet closes the door to Father’s study and slides against it to the floor when he’s finally out. He breathes in a breath of air, holding it for a few before letting it go. He feels better. There’s no real reason as to why, but he’s not feeling as shitty as he was when the day started.
I’m making progress. He smiles a bit to himself and gets off the floor to go to the kitchen. Inside, he sees Lyney and Lynette bickering over dinner.
“Meat will take too long to cook! We should just make that seafood soup he likes!” Lynette swatted at Lyney from the pantry.
“I don’t want to touch that seafood! It’s gross!” Lyney sticks his tongue out at her.
“Then don’t! I didn’t ask you to help me cook dinner! Go set the table or something!”
A fond smile overtakes the diver’s features at the scene. It’s been a while since he last saw his siblings this carefree. He chuckles a bit, and despite the sound being small, it’s loud enough that the twins hear it and instantly stop their fighting. Lynette is the first one to acknowledge Freminet's presence.
“Freminet!” She cries, running over to him to envelop him in a hug. He returns the affection and still holds on to her when they part.
“Yeah?” He asks as she looks up to him.
“Tell Lyney that having meat for dinner is a bad idea!”
“But boudin noir aux pommes is rejuvenating!” The magician argues back.
“It’s disgusting! Nobody but you likes boudin noir.” Lynette turns back to Freminet. “What would you rather have for dinner? Boudin noir aux pommes or that seafood soup that you like?”
“I already asked him on the way here what he wanted for dinner, and he said it didn’t matter!”
Freminet scratched the back of his neck. That had merely been an excuse he’d told his older brother because he didn’t know what to say. But now that he thinks about it…
“We should make some poisson seafood soup,” the diver declared, much to Lynette’s enjoyment and Lyney’s displeasure. His older brother walked out of the kitchen in defeat to go and set the table. The entire debacle was so normal that it made Freminet smile. He’d come back home and nothing had changed. His siblings weren’t walking on eggshells around him. Nobody was babying him, either. He was just another family member around them. And he loved it. Loved them.
Lynette was staring at him with an incredulous look on her face. “Are you that happy that we’re making soup for you?” Her tone was exasperated, but Freminet could hear some fondness mixed in if he strained his ears.
“Yeah, I am. I mean- it is my favorite, after all,” He admitted. Mentioning that he’s glad they’re not bringing up what happened in the past would do doubt dampen the mood.
Lynette seemed to catch onto his real sentiment anyways, as she put a hand on his shoulder to bring him in for another hug. This one lasted longer, and she held on just a bit tighter than she had beforehand. “I’m glad you’re home,” She whispered to him.
“Me too,” He could honestly answer back.
Dinner was nice, even Lyney begrudgingly admitted so. Freminet had dared to enter Father’s study a second time that night to invite her to the table, and she hadn’t gotten mad at him for the silly request. It had been a while, the diver realized, since they’d all been able to sit down together and eat like this. He was sat across from Lynette and Father, with Lyney to his right, and the atmosphere wasn’t suffocating as he’d feared it would be. Nobody brought up anything from that night, and instead their conversation focused more on the seasoning of the food and the availability of the ingredients from the market.
“That merchant was trying to cheat you, I swear to Focalors,” Lyney pointed at Lynette after she told him the price of the groceries she’d bought a few days ago.
“Even if I’d called him out on it, it’s not like he would’ve lowered the price,” she sighed.
“You have to pick your battles,” Father commented. “You did well, Lynette.”
His older sister preened at the praise. Freminet felt himself smile, albeit small, and returned to his food.
Once dinner was over and the conversation waned out, the diver gathered up the dishes on the table and brought them to the sink. He didn’t notice her at first, but when he turned around, Lynette was right behind him, holding something behind her back.
“How are you doing?” She asked tentatively. Freminet’s eyes darted to the counter next to him before he regarded her. The tap was still running behind him.
“Dinner was good,” He answered instead, turning back to the dishes.
Lynette gave him a bit of silence before she walked up next to him, setting her plate down on the counter. He turned, and saw a small slice of chocolate cake on it. The frosting at the top of the slice and the decadent chocolate butterfly sitting on the tip of the frosting made the slice downright mouthwatering.
“Lyney helped me make this,” she said, her gaze focused solely on the cake slice. “There’s more in the fridge if you decide you like it. Better get to it fast, though, because even though we made it for you, I don’t know how long Lyney will hold up if he knows there’s chocolate cake in the fridge.”
A chuckle makes its way past Freminet’s lips, his eyes dampening with tears. “Thanks,” he says wetly, not taking his eyes off the dishes.
He’d done enough crying today. He’d done enough crying this week alone.
If Lynette heard him sniffle, she didn’t say anything. Her hand laid on his shoulder, warm and comforting, nonetheless.
Freminet took the cake up to his room once he was done doing the dishes. He was finally ready to settle into bed; he’d brushed his teeth, washed up, changed into his pajamas, and was sitting on his sheets as he ate the cake. Pers was sat in his lap, the cool weight of his automation penguin helping to soothe his nerves. He took a bite of the cake and closed his eyes- it was just as good as he’d expected it to be.
Food was starting to taste good again. He was making progress.
Yet again, Freminet felt tears wet his eyes, and since he was in the comfort of his own room, he let them stay there. If they fell, they fell.
Lyney hasn’t come up to wish me goodnight yet.
The thought strayed into his mind against his own accord, and once it got there, he couldn’t shake it out. The magician didn’t need to tuck him into bed every night. He was old enough to do that himself. And Freminet didn’t even like when he did that!
But still… I thought he was going to check on me.
It didn’t matter. Lyney wasn’t responsible for Freminet. He didn’t need to be checking up on him every morning and night.
Honestly, it was better this way. Better that he didn’t keep tabs on him 24/7-
He doesn’t care about you.
That wasn’t true.
As soon as you showed you were fine, that you were better than before, he stopped caring.
Freminet wasn’t better. Was he?
You can stand up on your own now, so why should he still be there as a crutch?
A knock sounded on the door. It startled the diver so badly he nearly fell off his bed.
When did my face get so wet?
He scrubbed at his tears frantically before calling out, “Come in!”
“Freminet! There you are!” Lyney pushed through his door with an air of ease.
“Where else would I be…?” He regretted the question as soon as it slipped his mouth. Of course Lyney would be worried if he couldn’t find him. After all-
“It’s still pretty early! I thought you would still be downstairs!” Lyney deflected his earlier statement, barely even taking the time to react to it.
Is the mask back in place?
“Oh… I didn’t realize how early it was…” In all honesty, Freminet didn’t really care. He just wanted to go to bed. He was so tired, could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones, and was only able to sit up because of the cake he was eating. Speaking of cake-
Lyney’s eyes perked up once he spotted the plate in Freminet’s lap. “You’re eating the cake I baked!”
“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” the diver responded awkwardly.
“Can I have some?”
“There’s some in the fridge.”
“But the fridge is downstairs,” Was Lyney pouting?
“I only have one fork.”
“So? That’s never stopped me before,” Before Freminet could retract his plate, Lyney stuck his finger in the frosting and took some. He popped it into his mouth and squealed.
“You’re right! It is good!” He reached over Freminet’s bed to get some more, but the diver kept the plate just out of reach.
“This is my slice!” He bit out, more fondly annoyed than anything else. When was the last time they bickered about something as trivial as a slice of cake?
“But sharing is caring!” Lyney bit back, reaching just a little farther over. If he leaned any more, he’d fall over, and then they’d both be out of cake.
Freminet sighed. His older brother took that as a win and stood back up triumphantly. Freminet took his fork and scooped out a reasonable piece of cake--knowing his brother’s sweet tooth, Lyney would’ve taken more than half the slice if he had the fork--then handed it to his brother. Lyney took the fork from him happily and ate the cake, smiling all the while.
“I really outdid myself with this one,” He nodded his head to himself. Focalors, he was weird.
“Yeah, yeah,” Freminet shrugged him off and held out his hand. “Give me my fork back.”
Lyney tilted his head, pretended to think for a minute, and then smiled. Freminet knew then that he wasn’t getting his fork back. He sighed in resignation and handed over the slice of cake, his brother happily humming to himself over his successful acquisition of the sweet. The little thief.
Freminet was prepared for Lyney to just go on his merry way now that he’d gotten what he wanted, so he was surprised when his older brother instead opted to plop next to him onto his bed and eat the cake there. Archons, was the diver ever going to know peace?
“There’s more in the fridge if you want it,” Lyney parroted his earlier words back to him. Freminet rolled his eyes.
“I’ll have some tomorrow,” he says, moving Pers to the side so he can lay down.
“Are you going to bed? It’s still early,” Lyney turned to him. Freminet couldn’t see him, but he was sure that the cake was long gone by now.
“I’m tired,” was all the energy he had left to say. He felt Lyney’s fingers sift through his hair softly. His brother ruffled him up some before getting up to leave.
“Okay, well, goodnight then. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” he said as he closed the door. The last thing Freminet heard as he slipped off to sleep were the soft footfalls of his brother, right outside the door, going down the hallway to his own room.
The next morning Freminet wasn’t greeted with Father giving him a new assignment. No, he was greeted with his siblings dressed in casual attire, hurriedly pulling him out of bed so he can go along with them somewhere.
When he asked why, they simply told him that he’d been too cooped up in the house for it to be healthy, so they were taking him to get some fresh air.
Father was nowhere to be found. He decided not to dwell on that for longer than he had to.
Things went on like this for a few days, with his siblings herding him around the nation, going to this place and that, all with the excuse of him spending too much time indoors. At this point, he’d spent so much time outside that he’d forgotten what his room back at home looked like!
Don’t get him wrong, Freminet loved his siblings, and he loved hanging out with them, but they could be overbearing at times.
This was one of those times.
It’d been days. Days since he was able to rest at home all by himself without being bombarded by his siblings and, quite frankly, dragged all over the nation against his will.
When they came into his room this morning, he told them no.
“I can’t go out with you guys today,” he sighs, pulling the covers back over his head.
“Why not?” He hears Lyney whine.
“I’m tired.” He leaves it at that, not willing to tell them to their face that they’re being overbearing. He doesn’t want them to back off, go back to leaving him alone in the dark and only talking to him when they have to.
“So we can stay at home then,” Lyney suggests, taking a seat on the bed.
Freminet doesn’t turn to face him, even as he feels his brother’s hand sift through his hair. “You guys can still go out to do whatever you had originally planned to do,” he tells them. “I think I’ll just stay here and… sleep.”
“You sure?” Lyney prods him once again.
Freminet nods into his sheets. He hears his siblings sigh, hears the soft pad of their footsteps as they leave his room and go down the hallway.
When he’s sure they’re gone, he sighs to himself, feels himself melt into the mattress a little, and curls the blanket just a bit tighter around himself. He can’t shake this feeling of dread that he has, and it’s making him too tired to do much of anything.
He wasn’t lying when he said he was tired. The diver had spent the majority of his morning laying in bed, alternating between listlessly staring at either the walls or the ceiling and sleeping. Pers was on one of his pillows, comfortably laying on his bed, and its presence gave him peace of mind.
That peace of mind was interrupted when a stray thought entered into his mind.
Mika.
The last time the two had talked, it was at a tavern. The blonde had told him to back off and give him some time, but that was weeks ago. Had Freminet waited long enough?
It would do him no good to apologize again, seeing as that didn’t get him anywhere the first time. Mika had still accepted it, but he’d turned his back on Freminet and left him, and Freminet was determined to fix that.
Why should I care what he thinks of me? He asks himself. It’s not like I’ll see him again.
But ending things on such a bad note? It didn’t sit right with the diver.
Minutes pass. Freminet debates over the idea, turns it around in his head, and even goes to Pers for help. His automation penguin offers him nothing but a blank stare in return, and that gives him as much of an answer as he needs.
What could he do to make things up to the cartographer?
Freminet thought back to their first conversation. He’d offered to take pictures of the underwater landscape of Fontaine for Mika, and the blonde’s face had lit up with a downright adorable smile.
He knows what he’s going to do today.
Getting out of the house is an ordeal, what with his siblings asking him where he’s going and Lyney’s incessant whining about how he’s leaving them behind to go have fun on his own. He merely tells them that he’s going to go diving, since he hasn’t had time lately to do so (and if he sends a pointed glare in his older brother’s direction then that is no one’s business but his) and asks them if they have a Kamera he can borrow. Lynette is the one who gives it to him in the end, and he’s off.
Freminet decides that taking pictures of just one area might be boring, since Mika’s apparently in Fontaine to cartograph the entire nation. He starts close to home first, then makes his way to Erinnyes, and takes a stop at Lumidouce Harbor. From there, he swims to the Fort Charybdis Ruins and decides to call it a day there. The sun starts setting, and as it dips into the horizon, casts an array of orange and pink hues over the ocean, Freminet can’t help but stare. He takes a photo of the scene, stores it with the rest he took today, and decides to rest a bit on top of a hill. From here, he can see birds flying in the sky, no doubt heading to their nests to retire for the day. He can hear the shouts of various treasure hoarders in the distance, but can’t find it in himself to care, much less engage in combat with them.
He does pick himself up to head home after a bit, noting that the water will no doubt be colder now that the sun has fallen from the sky. When he arrives, his siblings are waiting by the door, and he has no time to wonder why before they envelop him in a hug.
He grunts, not prepared for the sudden affection and stumbles off balance.
“Why did you need a Kamera if you were just going diving?” Lyney asks him once the twins let him go.
The diver feels himself heave a sigh, knowing that he’s not going to be let out of this one easily.
“I was taking pictures,” he supplies unhelpfully. As if there’s anything else you can do with a Kamera.
Lyney tells him just that, with a raised eyebrow to boot.
“Were you taking them for someone?” Lynette prods him. “Did Father want something?”
Freminet shakes his head. “No, she hasn’t asked me to do much of anything lately.” Which was weird. He was sure that she would’ve wanted him to look further into that man from earlier. Did she not think he was capable of doing it for her?
“But… it is for someone.”
“Who?!” Lyney’s eyes widen at the admission, and Freminet hides a grimace. He shouldn’t have mentioned anything. If he had a Kamera of his own, this all could’ve been avoided!
He looks between the twins, and upon realizing that neither is going to let this go as easily as he would’ve wished they did, he resigns to tell them--albeit through bits and pieces--about Mika. He merely mentions that in one of their conversations, Freminet had offered to take pictures for the cartographer and that was what he was out doing today.
And, of course, Lyney is the one who suggests that they go out to help him.
“It’ll be fun!” He says. “We can all hop on a boat and head out to sea for a while!”
“But you guys won’t even be swimming with me,” Freminet rebukes.
“So?” Lynette says, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “Me and Lyney can entertain ourselves just fine without you.”
“I’ll bring my stack of cards! Once we go through all the tricks we know, we’ll play a round of Old Maid.” Lyney interjects, already pulling out his cards.
Freminet sighs. Of course they’d find a way to tag along. Was he even really surprised at this point?
“Alright,” he relents, since there’s no point in delaying the inevitable.
And so they all go out on a boat the next day, back into Lumidouce Harbor. Freminet gets more photos of the flora and fauna living underwater, and picks up a few lumidouce bells to carry with him for later. He doesn’t particularly like them himself, but he has a feeling that a certain cartographer might fancy them more than him.
True to their word, Freminet comes back onto the boat to see Lyney and Lynette in the middle of a match of old maid, with Lyney seemingly in the lead for now. The diver decides to sit and watch, letting their game become hsi background noise as he sorts through all the photos he got today. He knows they’re not much, the photos themselves are very bare-bones, but he hopes this will convey his sentiment to Mika.
He just doesn’t want to lose the only person who’s wanted to be his friend.
When he hears a muffled grumble from Lyney, Freminet knows the match is now in the hands of his older sister. It isn’t long until the sound of cards slapping onto the deck of the boat turns into Lyney groaning about how he’d win if they played just another round, and Lynette ignoring him by counting her winnings. It seems they’d bought snacks along, and had been using them as gambling chips this entire time.
The sight hit him, all at once.
His siblings were enjoying his company. They were hanging out with him because they wanted to. They weren’t obligated to do this. He hadn’t asked them to come along- quite the opposite, actually. But they’d tagged along anyway. And they weren’t attached to his hip, either. They weren’t constantly monitoring him, assuming that as soon as he dipped below the surface of the water that he’d never emerge again.
They trusted him.
Dare he say it, they loved him.
Freminet had to fight the urge to burst into tears on the spot. Surely that would ruin the moment. He could play it off by saying it was just the water from his hair, but he didn’t feel like lying to them right now.
It all felt like too much. Too much love, too much affection, even though they weren’t doing anything to him.
Just being there was enough for him to feel it, however.
Lynette turns to him as Lyney shuffles up the deck again, concern in her eyes and thickly laced in her voice.
“Everything alright?” She asks, softly, her hand reaching out to cover his.
Instead of verbally responding, Freminet nods. He diverts his eyes back to his little stack of photos, and deems this a fine amount for today. Lynette’s gaze never truly leaves him, even as she turns her attention back to their older brother.
Freminet wonders how he never saw it before.
How he never noticed how much they watched him. He’d always chalked it up to be worry; worry that he’ll fail his job, or doubt; doubt that he’ll do his job right, or- dare he even think it- pity; pity when they see him beaten and broken, with nobody but himself to pick up the pieces on the floor that were so mercilessly ripped from him.
He never saw them look at him with love.
He never knew he could look for that in them.
From what he always believed was obligation- was love, wasn’t it?