Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the heart of the Aventa Quarter, the area right where the Upper and Lower Districts meet, there is a bakery. The bakery is owned and maintained by a 67-year old retired Royal Protector, who simply wanted to enjoy his last decade or so left that he had.

Corvo wasn’t even good at cooking. At a young age, his mother did most, if not all, of the cooking, and he occasionally had gotten to lick the spoon and the bowl. When he got to Dunwall and became Jessamine’s Royal Protector, there were even servants for that. All he had was a cookbook his mother gave him before he had left Karnaca (that he had rewritten page-by-page in order to preserve the recipes before they got damaged from time) and a very nice set of cooking supplies his daughter had sent him in a crate from Dunwall.

At first, this had been nothing more than a late night fantasy. Something that he had joked about with his daughter during a time of peace on a rooftop. He never expected that Emily would actually take it seriously and buy him a shop, much less supply him with money and ingredients to start going. But here he was. In a decently clean and empty shop with numerous crates and boxes surrounding him.

He even had his own room, just above the bakery itself. A very nice, but simple, apartment-styled set of rooms with a small kitchen attached to the living room, with a simple bedroom and an even simpler bathroom, equipped with a bathtub, a faucet, and what appeared to be a shower, but he wasn't quite sure about it being an actual shower. He’s not wanting to risk using it, if he was to be honest.

But if one thing is for certain, it’s that he’s not going to work by himself. Luckily, Corvo already has someone in mind. It may just require the work of his remaining agents (that are really just now contacts at this point) to get in touch with him, but he’s certain they’ll pull through. But now, he just has one last concern on his mind other than how the absolute hell he’s going to pull this off.

How is he going to get all of these boxes up stairs? He’s getting older, and that means it’s much more difficult to lift all of these heavy supplies by himself.

It looks like he may need to request help from the shops around him.

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The next day hadn’t been any easier than the first. There was the matter of buying ingredients, setting up stands and other supplies, and even fixing the kitchen(as the last “owners” of the place had been nice enough to leave a very large and questionable puddle of blood in the corner.). There had also been the matter of associating himself more with the shops surrounding him on the street, as he had not discussed more than what was necessary when his neighbors, those of which included: a very nice lesbian couple with two very adorable adopted boys who run a clothing shop together on his left, an old man on his right who owns an Audiograph shop that keeps calling him his nephew despite Corvo being 67 years old, and a gym across from him full of very muscular men to help him get all of his boxes from the moving cart to his upstairs bedroom. Corvo literally had men who had bigger muscles than him in his most fit age lift his furniture up the stairs for him. It had been a great experience, all in all.

Now, Corvo wasn’t necessarily anti-social. If anything, he didn’t mind being polite and respectful to those around him and even becoming somewhat close, but he wasn’t a social butterfly by any standards. He had remained quiet throughout most of the journey involving box lifting, but he had paid attention to the old man pointing out noticeable flaws within the ground floor (“Your space for a cold storage has a leak,” the old man had said, “and your plumbing needs better work. Your shower may not be functioning, so I wouldn’t risk it.” Well, it’s a good thing he hadn’t been planning to anytime soon). The two women had offered to find him contacts to buy baking supplies from in mass production, as going to the market and purchasing ten bags of flour wasn’t optimal for a man of his age, despite having a considerable amount of strength left in him. They had also offered to promote his shop once he was completely up and running. Corvo was shocked by how nice they were being to him.

None of them had seemed to recognize who he was, and if they had, they never commented on it. He had a sneaking suspicion at first that the two girls had known who he was, and it was definitely confirmed when one of them called him “Mr. Attano” despite him never mentioning his name. The other had simply put a single digit to her mouth and grinned. “Your secret's safe with us, sir. That is, if you want it to be a secret.” Corvo quickly had reassured them that there was no need to be secretive about his identity, and no formalities were required. “Just Corvo.” He had told them, making them giggle. “Alright, Just Corvo. Our door is open to you anytime. We’re always willing to help.” They had soon left to their shop after that, leaving the retired Royal Protector with four very buff men and the old man who was mumbling something about using a snake to unclog the kitchen sink.
The four buff men had finished the task rather quickly, setting the furniture down in locations to Corvo’s liking (that he didn’t actually comment on, so he was questioning how they had just known) and immediately nodding to Corvo. When asked for their names, all of them responded with “Michael” but one, on the very far right.

“What’s your actual name?” Corvo asked and had been genuinely curious that the last man, a short, but equally as muscular man with black hair, did not share the same name. The man had simply pounded his chest with pride and gave a toothy grin, revealing that three of his teeth were missing. “Me is Big Boy Knuckles.” The buff man responded. A simply nod was all that the man received from Corvo at the time. Like the girls before, they left, but not before explaining that if Corvo needed something he was allowed to go into the gym to ask. They were notified afterwards that he may have need of their assistance once more when he gets shipments of ingredients. All of them had agreed and they were gone, the old man awkwardly following behind him without a word. Corvo hadn’t even learned his name, or the name of the girls, for that matter.

The rest of the day had been uneventful, and it wasn’t until the third day that something interesting happened. Something, that would make things even more interesting in his shop.

Chapter Text

The first person Corvo wanted to hire in his newfound bakery was a witch. No, not one of Delilah’s lackeys or fanatics, but one with good intent. Corvo met the witch during the Rat Plague, making potions and bonecharms for a group of assassins whose service was sold unwillingly. The leader of said group kicked the witch out and Corvo somehow gained a new ally, one who was excellent at making different types of potions, poisons, and much more, all for simple companionship and protection.

After the plague, they parted ways, the witch wanting to go back to Karnaca, but not before recruiting any of the remaining witches left in Dunwall(Corvo did not learn of this, or of Daud’s actions, until after Delilah attacked them). Now, years later, Corvo recalls the witch still lives in Karnaca, having founded a school for young women and men with talent, titled the “Academy for Gifted Children” almost 20 years before.

Corvo sent what little of his old spies he had left to fetch the witch, and now it was just a matter of waiting for them to show up. The retired man took to cleaning what he could of his bakery, immediately cleaning the puddle of blood and the kitchen itself. He was still waiting for his potential suppliers to message him back, and if that did not turn out successful, he could always message Emily in order to get the necessary tools and ingredients to start his work.

In the middle of him cleaning, the door to the front of the bakery opened with the chime of the bell attached to the top of it. Corvo did not turn towards the door, knowing immediately who it was, and resumed cleaning. As soon as he was finished mopping, he took the broom and went to clean out the front lobby, still not looking or acknowledging the person who entered.

“Are you going to tell me why I was asked here or are you just going to keep sweeping around dust bunnies because as entertaining as it is to watch you fail at cleaning, I have things to do.” The person commented, their deep voice sounding annoyed. Corvo looked up and grinned at them, putting the broom down.

“Hello, Yuona. Haven’t seen you for a while. How have you been? I’ve been grate” He replied, the shit-eating grin on his face not disappearing, and nodded his head towards an ironically-placed cheese grater not too far from where he was standing. His companion groaned and rolled his eyes.

Now, here’s the thing about Yuona Dark. He was, surprisingly, a male witch, which completely baffled Corvo back then, and still does today. There were absolutely no markings on the younger man’s body that showed he was a witch, allowing him to fool anyone that he was just a simple alchemist(but with how reckless he was with his work, Corvo was surprised the man was not carted off by Overseers yet). He never quite looked his age, which was even more surprising, as he was 52, and looked like he was barely even 30 yet. When Corvo first met him, Yuona was 24 and looked like he had just turned 18. When asked, all the witch would reply is that it was “magic”, and that would be the end of that.

Yuona was also extremely playful. Theatrics and shitty jokes was what he lived off of, but he was also capable of being a very serious man, having experience in medicine and politics and excelling at both. He was well-known with the people in Karnaca, but Corvo had only ever seen him on newspapers once in the span of knowing him; that was during the coup, when he publicly denounced Delilah as a witch of ill intent and was promptly arrested for it.

Onto business, Corvo’s grin dissipated and he gave Yuona a very serious look, “I know you have experience with cooking. I, unfortunately, may end up burning anything I touch, having lived in a palace all of my adult life and completely forgetting how to even use an oven. So, I want you to work for me. I’d pay you, once we get business starting, and you can still continue your alchemy business, or whatever you do in the Academy, if you’re still into that.” He watched the younger male’s brows furrow while considering and questioning the proposition. It didn’t take too long for him to consider, and Yuona gave him a sly grin.

“I suppose you caught me at a good time, then. I was considering handing down my position as Head Master to my second soon, anyway, so I suppose this gives me a good and easy job to do as retirement. Just one thing though..” Yuona trailed off, looking towards the door. This time, it was Corvo who gave a questioning look, also looking towards the door, only to find nothing there. “What?” Is all he asked.

“I have three children now. They could also help out, as two of them are unhappy with living in the Academy and the other… well, I just want her to stay out of trouble and have a job while she’s in college. Is that fine?” Yuona walked over to the shelves and wiped a finger over the top of it, picking up dust and wiping it on his coat, only turning towards Corvo once more when he finished. The retired Royal Protector nodded, and picked up the broom once more.

“That’d be great. I also have a small apartment upstairs if you have to stay late or close up. More the merrier, I suppose. Let’s just hope they know how to cook.” Yuona snorts at that and starts heading towards the door.

“Will that be all? Because if so, I have to go and set up a ceremony for me to hand over my title. I’ll have my children show up later so you can introduce yourselves.” All he gets in reply is a nod. Yuona blows a kiss to him and opens the door. “Might need some more cleaning supplies than some soap and water. I’ll have Audrean bring them over. Ciao!”

Well… that was that. Corvo managed to hire an old ally and his three children. He sits at the table nearby and drops his head on it, sighing. Out of relief or annoyance, he wasn’t sure.

At least things will start getting interesting.