Chapter Text
Sitting at the top of a crate, with his other hand on his chin, Thoma was lazily flipping his golden coin, as he awaits for the arrival of The Alcor that Captain Beidou is running with The Crux fleet, at the harbor of Ritou.
“Alright! Men, you can all go to Sailing Breeze and save us some seats! Don’t forget the free flow of cold beer! OK?, it’s on me, but don’t forget to get tons for the ship. We need stocks!”
“Aye aye Captain!”
Thoma looked up ahead as soon as he heard the familiar voice. Such a deep voice for a woman, and an instruction to get cold beer, there’s no mistaking, Captain Beidou and her fleet must have arrived. Jumping on his feet, he leaped and met her onto the docks.
“Ahoy, there!” He greeted them with a smiling face.
“So you finally made it. You sure kept me waiting Captain”.
“And it appears we have a couple of stowaways…or perhaps I should say, honored guests”.
He was pointing at the two new faces walking alongside Captain Beidou, who both seemed to not have come from Liyue according to the kinds of clothes they’re wearing. The other one is more peculiar as it is so small, and is flying.
Apparently, the blonde guy seemed scared to expose his arrival as he looked down trying to hide his face by his palm, while the flying animal was making weird faces as if it was trying to silence him. Smiling with a blanked face, he turned to Captain Beidou for an answer.
“You can blame your Almighty Shogun. The tempest around Inazuma have been growing all the more fierce lately. Though the fleet was fully up to the challenge, the inclement weather still caused some delay.” Beidou answered to his baffled questioning face.
“Now then, let me introduce everyone.” She continued and faced the blond guy.
“This is Thoma, a trade partner I’ve gotten to know recently,” Captain Beidou introduces him to the blonde guy as she points at him with her palm facing upwards.
While Beidou is introducing him, he suddenly just recognizes who might have been the guests. The famous traveler, Aether and his flying companion, Paimon. Couldn’t he be more lucky?
“Heh! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to see you.” Thoma seconded after Captain Beidou introduced him as he realized who they were.
Captain Beidou turned to face him afterwards to introduce the two.
“Thoma, these two are - “
“Heh! No need for introductions, their reputation precedes them. Seems the stormy seas can’t keep rumors of these outlanders’ sterling deeds at bay.” He cut her with his compliments about the traveler.
“Nice to meet you Thoma. Surely, the rumors are exaggerated.” With his hands scratching the back of his head, Aether shyly replied.
However, contradictory to how he reacted, his small companion seems somewhat pleased with what he said. Giggling, it replied, “Hehe! It sure is nice to hear you say that~”.
Captain Beidou let out a short chuckle, as she crossed her arm and replied, “Ha! With any luck, it’ll give you a head start here.”
She continued to address the traveler, “Aether, Thoma’s resided on Ritou for quite some time now. It wouldn’t be going too far to say he’s the fixer around these parts. If you run into any problems here, just talk to Thoma. But if he tries to pull any moves on you, I’ll be sure to deal with him personally the next time around.”
Thoma can’t help but laugh at Captain Beidou’s comments for him to the traveler. His hands on his stomach as he shook with laughter, he replied, “ Hahaha! No need to worry. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”
“Good! Then if it’s settled, I’ll be going. I just need to pick up our supply of food and beer at Sailing Breeze to the ship. I wouldn’t want to be caught with my sails down here, I do have a wanted fugitive on board, after all.”
“Oh right! Kazuha…!” Paimon replied.
“Until next time, Aether. Remember to give it your all, no matter what perilous storms you may encounter.”
“We got this. Thank you Captain Beidou. Looking forward to seeing you again!”
“Fair seas Captain Beidou! Bye bye!” Paimon seconded.
With that, Captain Beidou left.