Chapter Text
After waking up, it takes Merakia’s injuries several weeks to heal while she oversees the integration of servants into her household.
Less than a month after her arrival in the Crimson City, Merakia paces in the shadow cast by the manor while she waits for Kaeya and the outing soon to follow.
Soraha sits on a bench while Mera paces back and forth in the gravel. The spirit fans herself with a hand. “You’re going to wear a hole in your shoes if you keep pacing like that, Mera.”
“No I won’t. My shoes aren’t that poorly made.”
Soraha groans. “You’re wearing me out. Why in the abyss are you so nervous?”
“I’m not really nervous.”
“You could have fooled me.”
Merakia sits next to the spirit. “I think I’m more excited than nervous. This is the first time I’ve really gotten to go anywhere besides the palace. I don’t know very much about the people around me, but I’m excited to learn, excited to see the world around me.”
“And what about your false lover?”
“Kaeya? That makes me a little nervous. This is the first time since the ball that we’ve been seen in public together. What if everyone sees through us?”
“I doubt it. Prince Kaeya seems to be very skilled in the art of maintaining a charade. Let him guide you.”
The manor gate swings open to admit a royal carriage, drawing the eyes of both spirit and girl.
“And there’s your prince.”
The carriage rolls to a halt a few feet from Merakia and Soraha.
The door opens and Kaeya hops out. “Good morning, Meramera.”
Mera rolls her eyes at the nickname as she stands and approaches the taller man. “You do know that’s not my name, right?”
“Am I not allowed to give my lovely partner an equally cute nickname?”
Soraha coughs. “If you could save your sweet talking for after you’re out of ear shot, I would be grateful.”
“Or maybe not sweet talk me at all.”
Kaeya snickers. “I have to try.”
“Mhmmm.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
Kaeya offers her a hand up. “Then shall we?”
Several minutes later the carriage rolls down evenly paved streets. Mera sniffs the air a few times. In the last few weeks her sense of smell seems to have sharpened, affording her full taste of Kaeya’s scent. She smiles a little at the fragrance, though she finds it a little strange that something so sharp would be so pleasant.
“How are you feeling, Mera?”
“Better. Soraha had a healer help my shoulder along, so it’s not even sore anymore.”
“That’s good. Alhaitham is not an easy taskmaster, so it's good that you’re not sore anymore.”
“Alhaitham?”
“Alhaitham and Cyno have volunteered to oversee your basic training. He’s spent the last week putting together a training regimen. But don’t worry about that right now. You’ll be called back to the palace tomorrow and we’ll discuss it then. Today is about having fun.”
“Where are we going?”
“A seventh day market.”
“A what?”
“Every seventh day, markets across the city open a special market. It showcases the best of the best of that week's work. It’s the best day of the week for buskers and crafts.”
Merakia raises an eyebrow. “How often have you snuck out of the palace to go to this seventh day market?”
“Me? Frequently enough, though not as much the past few decades. Now that Diluc, Cyno, and I are at the top, I have to work my schedule around if I want to go. At least D gets to go as a part of his work.”
“What do you mean?”
“D’s in charge of domestic information, while I focus on foreign affairs. Once you’re done with training camp, Diluc will be in charge of you.”
“I’m going to be busy, aren’t I?”
“Very.”
Mera leans against the side of the carriage, watching as the buildings pass by.
She frowns when she realizes they’re bypassing the nearest business district completely.
“Are we not going to the business district?”
“Not this one. The more affluent seventh day markets aren’t very entertaining.”
“Oh.”
A couple hours pass in relative silence before the carriage stops.
Kaeya pushes the door open and descends, before offering Mera his hand.
“Are you ready?”
Merakia takes his hand and allows him to help her down. “Mhmm.”
A few minutes later, Kaeya leads Merakia into a massive town square.
“Oh my. It’s huge.”
The square itself is lined by various shops, while in the middle the center green has been taken over by a forest of tents.
“They do this every week?”
“Almost. It’s a bit quieter in winter, but in autumn it’s so big it starts spilling into the side streets. At least right now there’s room for people to eat.”
“This is incredible. I’m not sure Mahyn Island could put together something so large.”
“Mahyn Island isn’t very large, lady mahi. Crimson City is.”
Merakia’s stomach gurgles and Kaeya laughs.
“We can visit any shop you want, but maybe we should eat first.”
“Probably.”
The day passes quickly. Kaeya orders half a dozen skewers to keep them satisfied while they pursue other tents.
After a while Merakia hums in contemplation.
“What is it, Meramera?”
“I was just thinking about a story I was told when I first arrived here.”
“Oh?”
“Is it true a hydra statue bit you on the rear?”
Kaeya laughs. “Yes it’s true.”
“What happened? Aki just glossed over it.”
“It wasn’t anything overly big to start with. I was probably around 5 when one of the older cousins was playing around with his vision. Really, it was nothing abnormal. He decided that he was going to try animating statues. And it worked. The nannies spent several hours chasing various statues.”
“One of these was a hydra.”
“Yeah. The last of the bunch he animated was a hydra. I was the unfortunate person who passed by, resulting in a bite on the butt.”
“Was it always that chaotic when you were growing up?”
“With as many cousins as I have and as powerful as we all are, absolutely. What about you? What was growing up on Mahyn Island like?”
“Much calmer. My siblings and I studied a lot.”
“And when you weren’t studying?”
“Fishing. Running around the meadows outside of the University town. Sometimes one of the anemo mahi on the island would summon wind currents so we could go gliding. No one got bitten by animated statues.”
Kaeya brushes his knuckles against Merakia’s. “Do you mind if I hold your hand?”
“Hold my hand?”
“Mhmm. It’s something pretty commonly done by girlfriends and boyfriends.”
“Oh.” Merakia flushes scarlet. “Sure. I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I’m alright with it.”
Kaeya reaches out and takes her hand, his larger one completely engulfing hers.
“Where do you want to go?”
“You should show me all of the good stores.”
“I don’t know. That could take hours.”
“We have time don’t we?”
“Yes, yes we do.”
Kaeya shows Mera around, taking her into any shop that catches their eyes.
Eventually they migrate to the center of the green, where the market goers are dancing to the music of a fair sized band.
“Would you like to join them?”
“I have no idea---”
“It doesn’t really matter. Circle dances are fluid and forgiving in nature.”
The current song ends and the dancers break apart, some leaving the circle while others join.
Mera purses her lips. “Fine. If you dance with me.”
“Of course.”
At the start of the next song, Kaeya pulls her into the fray.
Before she has a chance to breathe, the dance circle is moving, spinning and twirling.
Mera finds that Kaeya wasn’t wrong about the nature of the dance. The music seems to carry the group along. Somewhere in the crowd she can feel disguised anemo spirits subtly lending their power and guiding the dancer’s spirits higher and higher.
One song ends and another begins and Mera finds herself being drawn further into the circle. Faster and faster and faster. Several times she stumbles only to be pulled along by the group.
When she and Kaeya finally break away, dripping with sweat, both are laughing.
“Ow, ow, ow. My face hurts,” Mera pants as the two collapse under a tree. “That was so fun!”
Kaeya looks down at Mera. She’s sprawled out on the ground, skirt twisting every which way. Her hair has escaped from its confines and circles her face in a dark halo of frizz. So lovely.
His alpha snorts his agreement. Ours.
Maybe. Maybe not.
“Circle dances are a highlight of the seventh day market.”
Mera grins at him, her eyes wrinkling in unconcealed pleasure. “Did you know that there were spirits in there? They were making things just a little more intense, bringing things that much closer to a fever pitch. Everyone there was feeling a fragment of what is felt during the growth dance.”
“I’m glad you liked it. Is there anything else you wanted to see?”
“Not really. Why?”
“I’ve got something else planned. But our destination is a little bit away.”
“I’ll follow you.”
One day, sweet Mera, I hope you won’t have to.
While Kaeya and Merakia walk around the market, Alhaitham and Diluc sit with Zhongli.
“So this is the plan?” Zhongli asks.
Alhaitham nods. “Diluc and I will be taking her out of the city for a several month training course. Strength training, combat, basic survival skills, communication. Depending on how she does, we could be back in two months or five. Her two spirits get to stay here.”
“I see. And how do you expect her to learn to use her maha?”
“She has a base level of control. She can start lessons with you after she gets back. I don’t mind if she uses her spirits when we move on to information finding, but she won’t need them for most of it.”
“I don’t disagree. If Kaeya signs off on this, we’ll consider this the official plan. I do have one more worry.”
“And what might that be?”
“She’s close to presenting. No doubt she’ll do so while you’re away.”
Diluc and Alhaitham share a look. “We’ll do what we have to,” Alhaitham says. “She’s not mated so the heat or rut shouldn’t be a fuck-until-you-pass-out sort of ordeal.”
Diluc nods. “I remember helping all of my younger siblings through theirs. I just hope she trusts us enough to let us.”
“Like I said, we do what we have to. Is that all?”
Diluc nods again and stands. “We’ve said what we need to. Zhongli?”
“There is nothing else. Thank you both.”
Alhaitham takes his papers and leaves the room.
Diluc follows, leaving a soft “enjoy your date” behind him.
A couple hours after the circle dance, the royal carriage stops at the gated entrance to a large park.
Mera frowns at Kaeya. “What’s here?”
“You’ll see.”
Merakia follows Kaeya up one gravel path and down another, until they’re deep within the park.
There they find Zhongli sitting on a large blanket.
“It took you two long enough.”
“Seventh day, typical traffic,” Kaeya replies with a groan.
“If you two want to sit, I packed dinner.”
Merakia and Kaeya sit, the former arranging her skirts neatly around her, though there's no disguising the grass and dirt stains on it.
Zhongli passes out sandwiches, which disappear quickly.
“Have you had a good day, Merakia?”
“It’s been amazing. This is so different from Mahyn. I love it.”
“Did you not love your home island?”
“Even there, abyssal mahi tend to be outcasts. My siblings were all very loving, but once I found my maha’s alignment I was never going to truly be a part of society. It’s different here. I want to do this again.”
“We’ll make sure you have the time then.”
Merakia flops on her back, raising her eyes to the darkening sky. “I wish this could be every day. I know it can’t be, but I wish it could.”
Kaeya and Zhongli share a look, before laying on their sides next to the young woman.
“No, it can’t be,” Zhongli replies, “but there will be more days like it. Perhaps next time, the three of us can go together.”
Mera raises her head to look at Zhongli. “You can circle dance.”
“Pffft.” Kaeya laughs, filling the area with a bright, happy scent. “The Esteemed Zhongli joining a dance circle. I think I’d pay to see that.”
“Just because I haven’t in several millennia doesn’t mean I never did. It’s simply been a long time since I’ve had a reason to do so.”
“You should,” Merakia says softly before yawning.
“Move over here a little, Merakia.” Zhongli raises his arm in invitation.
Mera moves into the space he made, laying her head on his upper arm.
“If you want to sleep a little, we’ll make sure you get home safely.”
Without any further invitation, Mera closes her eyes and dozes off.
Zhongli wraps his arm around his napping girlfriend and looks over at Kaeya.
“So?”
“Thank you for insisting I find the time. I agree with her on just how fun this was. It’s nice to be out of the palace for something other than work.”
“This is going to be the last chance we have for a while. Alhaitham and Diluc are taking her out for long-term, intensive training.”
Kaeya sighs and rubs the skin under his eye patch. “As much as I like seeing her, she needs it. We can’t have a spymaster who is incapable of everything except speaking to spirits. I think I’ll miss her though.”
“Both of us will. If you’d like to sleep as well, I don’t mind.”
“No. I’ll sleep when we get back. I want to enjoy this last bit of time we have, even if Meramera is asleep.”
“‘M not that asleep.” Merakia drags her eyes open. “You should have told me that we wouldn’t get to see each other for a while. Do you mind if we shift around? You’re warm and smell so nice, but Kaeya should be over here, too, if he wants. He smells good too.”
Kaeya chuckles. “I never mind. And I’m glad you find our scents pleasant.”
The three move around so that they’re sitting against a tree. Zhongli sits in the middle with Kaeya on one side and Mera on the other, both laying their heads on his chest.
“You guys will write me letters, right?” Mera asks, yawning again.
“Of course. As often as possible. I’ll make sure you get all the gossip you’re going to miss.”
“I hope so.” Merakia hesitates, before speaking again. “What do I do if I present while I’m gone?”
“Alhaitham and Diluc will help you,” Zhongli responds, threading his fingers through her hair. “You can trust them to make sure you're safe and as comfortable as possible.”
“Are you sure?”
“You have my word. They won’t willingly hurt you.”
“Alright. I’ll trust them.”
The trio fall into a comfortable silence.
When they do finally move and make their way back towards Merakia’s manor and the palace it isn’t without a sense of reluctance.
The sky is fully dark, when Merakia returns to her manor. Kaeya helps her out of the carriage one last time. When he pulls his free hand from behind his back, he holds a single ice rose.
“It’s perma-ice, so it won’t melt no matter where you put it.”
“I think I’ll leave it here. Not because I don’t want it, but because I don’t want it breaking.”
Kaeya lifts Merakia’s hand to his lips. “Good night, pretty mahi.”
“Good night, Kaeya. I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Take as long as you need. We’ll be waiting.”
Just before bed, Merakia thinks back on Kaeya’s words. She’s still smiling when sleep claims her.