Chapter Text
“I hope she’s not out on patrol. If she is, I guess I could go out on another night.”
Aether rushes through the streets of Mondstadt, heading towards a certain house. Said house didn’t belong to just anybody however. In fact, he knew the person living inside said house better than most people, aside from a select few.
It was a weekend night, and so the streets of Mondstadt were busier than normal, with people going about to enjoy their time, already enjoying it, or running about wasted as their alcohol infused bodies attempt to make sense of their surroundings. Paimon was back in his teapot, apparently already snoozing after quite a busy chasing after hilichurls and the random fatui agent.
Soon enough, he walked into a small building, a modest small house amongst the buildings there. He looked at the name tag and smiled slightly at the name imprinted on the decoration, hanging off the wall.
Eula L.
Typical of her. Most other people of her family tend to place their last names up in full display while she preferred to use her first name instead. Always Eula.
He knocks on the door, waiting for a response.
Nothing.
“Eula?”
Aether knocks again, this time placing his ear to the door to listen for anything. Eula wouldn’t usually take this long to answer her door.
It remained quiet, and nobody answered him. Aether sighed.
It seems Eula is out at the moment.
“Oh well, maybe I can ask her tomorrow.” Aether says to himself, before walking off to the lower levels. As he passses by, he couldn’t help but notice the list of currently active knights on patrol. Curious, he took a look.
“Mmm…..Amber’s there. Always at work eh?” He chuckles to himself before continuing to read.
When he finished, his eyes portrayed a look of confusion. Eula’s name wasn’t on the list.
“Excuse me, Hertha?”
“Ah, honorary knight! Yes, is something the matter?”
“Is this list still active?” Aether asks, pointing to the list of names.
“Oh, yes. They’ve only started late in the afternoon. Anyone not there would be in the city or not on duty.” Hertha says. Aether raises an eyebrow at this. He didn’t see Eula on his way over, and she wasn’t home. She wasn’t in patrol too, so perhaps she left for something?
“Did any knight leave the city outside of their duties? Maybe for something personal?” Aether asks.
Hertha hums in thought for a moment before shaking her head.
“Not that I know of. Unless they left quietly, that is.”
No, Eula is way beyond that. She wouldn’t leave without saying anything just like that. The gears in his mind clicked and turned. She wasn’t in his teapot as well; her dispatch is inactive.
That left him with one of two places. Seeing how it's nearer, he decided to go to the closer one first.
“Alright. I’ll head to the angel’s share then. Have a nice evening.” Aether says. Hertha gives him a nod before resuming her duties.
The bar is as rowdy and lively as you’d expect, with loud chatter and high spirits everywhere. Aether smiled as he entered, remembering the time he was bartending here for a week or so. Charles admitted to him that their number of patrons increased over the course of that week, no thanks to someone so famous in Mondstadt handling the drinks.
This time however, a familiar face was behind the bar, idly wiping glasses clean. In front of him, drinking every now and then, sat an equally familiar figure, her modified church outfit making her stand out amongst all the other people inside.
Diluc looks up from the glass when he heard the door open, and he humed when he saw who had entered.
“Ah, Aether. A pleasure to see you.”
“Good evening, Diluc. A pleasure as well.”
Rosaria turns with her glass in hand, not saying anything but raising her glass as a means to greet him.
“Evening as well, Rosaria. Everything good around these parts?” Aether asks, taking the seat beside the sister.
“As calm as it could be, I guess.” Rosaria answers, noting the drunkenly singing patrons at the lower level. “Though I doubt that would be a correct word to describe that lot.”
Aether chuckles while Diluc just shakes his head. “Just another night, I suppose?” Aether asks.
“Like any other.” Diluc answers. “What can I get you?”
“A berry mist please.” Aether says. Diluc nods, going over to mix the drinks.
“Rare to see you hanging around here. Something in your mind?” Rosaria asks, taking another drink of her wine.
“I was looking for someone, and I thought perhaps she’s here.” Aether answered as Diluc passed his glass over to him.
“Oh, and who would that be?”
“Eula. Have any of you seen her?”
“Ah, that knight.” Diluc mutters. “She’s upstairs, probably in one of the secluded tables as she always does.”
Aether’s face turns concerned in a split second. “How long has she been here?”
“An hour, maybe less, maybe more. She’s already up on her…uhm…..fourth bottle by now.” Diluc says, indifferent.
Aether sweatdropped. Eula has a high tolerance sure, but four bottles of fine liquor would do things.
“Oh, I just sent her fifth one up too.” He adds.
Not good.
“Ah, alright. Uhm, I’ll head up then, I’ll make sure she’s fine.” Aether says, a little worried as he picks himself up. Diluc and Rosaria both nod, before resuming their (quiet) business.
No sooner had he went up the stairs, he found her.
Eula was seated at the corner table, her back towards him as she swirls the glass in her hand. What Diluc said was true; five bottles now adorn the table, though the fifth one is about a quarter full. Eula herself looked worse for wear, even Aether can tell from looking at her back. She swayed in her seat, her head nodding on and off. He sighed, and carried himself over to her.
“Eula?”
“Uhn….huh? What do you want?” Eula says, not even looking at him. Her slur was so thick he could barely make out what she’s saying.
“Eula, it’s me.”
“If you want to say something, do it later on. ‘m in no mood for all this *hic* nonsense.” Her hiccup sounded quite bad, and she visibly tensed at it. She must’ve had a lot to drink.
“Eula, it’s me. Aether.”
“*Hic* Uh, huh?” Eula finally takes a good long look at him.
He stands there, face etched with worry but he breaks a slight smile. Eula takes a few seconds, looking at him up to down to up, blinking and rubbing her eyes.
“O-oh, it’s you. Hmph, I never guessed you’d *Hic* be here as well.” Eula says, finally realizing it was Aether before her.
“Well, I was looking around for you actually, and I guess my hunch was right.” Aether says.
“Huh, that’s rare. *Hic*”
“What is?”
“Someone *hic* looking for me. Why would anyone want something to do with *hic* me anyways?” Eula says, dropping her head on the table. Aether places his drink down and seats himself across from her. There’s a lot he could say, he himself was one who would gladly talk to her and relate with her a lot.
He stayed silent, waiting as she continued to rant.
“Just another day in my *hic* cursed life. Why can’t I just do everything the same way like *hic* others could so easily.” She continues, taking a long swig of her drink before continuing. “Even if I so much as *hic* appeared, people would start talking. Everyone seems to be wary of me, so careful, so *hic* alert about me, despite me doing nothing.”
“Why…..why is it so hard just for me *hic* to live my life without all this happening. So unfair.* She murmured to herself, emptying her fifth bottle and, to Aether’s surprise and horror, grabbing a 6th one out of nowhere and plopping it open, drinking it straight from the bottle.
“Guh….at least this makes me able to *hic* ignore it.” Eula mutters, half-slamming the bottle to the table. Aether was surprised neither the table nor the bottle broke after that.
“And you.” Eula turns to Aether. “Why would you *hic* even want to look for me like this? What purpose do you have *hic* to be with me.” Eula says.
“Eula, there’s no reason for me to stay away from you. I have no grudge against it all.” Aether says, calmly.
“Yeah? Well *hic* people don’t see it that way.” Eula mutters, before grimacing and looking away, one hand to her mouth. Eula muffled a deep and unpleasant burp, feeling something come up short of her mouth. She swallowed whatever it is back down, exhaling with a sick groan before turning back to Aether.
“You have a harmonious name in Mondstadt *hic* for someone coming from outside, and I don’t hold a grudge against you. *Hic* In fact, I frankly say you deserve it.” She takes another drink. “But if people start seeing you around me a lot *hic*, they would simply grow more distant to you rather than grow to accept me.”
“Eula, that’s not true.”
“It is! It will happen like that! *hic* and nothing will change that, even if my name is changed or whatever. The ties to *hic* my heritage has been sealed since long ago.” Eula mutters, her tone still slurring but growing lower.
“People don’t appreciate me for what I am. I’m nothing *hic* to everyone.” She says, suddenly growing sadder by the second. Being drunk out of her mind, her shift in moods was as swift as it was painful to watch for Aether.
“Eula, there are people out there who would appreciate you, you know that?”
“Heh…..for what?” Eula asks, shooting a drunken glare at him. “There’s nothing special *hic* that I can do, nothing I can do that anyone else *hic* probably could, and so how would that make anyone appreciate me? Ugh, such a waste…..” She drops her head on her hands on the counter.
Aether could just make out the barest of sniffles from the spindrift knight.
“I should just go sit in my room and do nothing *hic*, that way people wouldn’t have to care in the first place.”
Aether sighs. He knew a sober Eula wouldn’t have these thoughts, but he couldn’t help but think that deep down, Eula holds these thoughts to herself. He knows she normally wouldn't care, putting up a wall of ice between her and any malicious comments. But, too many comments would crumble any wall, and he knows it’s only going to get worse for her.
He knows that Eula keeps these thoughts buried under ice, only cracking and showing with the help of alcohol. It wasn’t going to go away, not that fast, and not until she truly realized that people would appreciate her for her actions.
She needed to feel appreciated for her work, for who she is. Not burdened by a name that, to him, means nothing at all. Eula thinks that, name or not, she’d be worthless in her drunken stupor, and this will only tear away at her mentality with time.
Aether needed to think of something. But before he could throw words of comfort at her, Eula abruptly gets out of her seat.
“Ugh….*hic* I don’t feel so good.” Eula says, snapping Aether out of her thoughts. “I need to get back and sleep this off. Thanks for *hic* being here anyway.” She says, trying but failing to take a step away from the table. She grimaces as the abrupt movement unsettles her already sick stomach further, threatening to spill out if she carelessly moves again. She clutches it painfully, not realizing just how bloated she was from all the drinks she drank.
Top it off, she didn’t have dinner yet.
Aether rushes to her side, propping her up. “Come on, I’ll get you back home.”
“Ugh, weren’t you listening *hic* to what I said? You’ll be disrespected if you walk with me *hic*, so just let me walk on my own.” Eula tries to prop him off her, but in her drunken state she couldn’t even get a hold on him.
“And have you stumble through Mondstadt like this? Come on, last time I let you go because I was busy, I’m not going to do that again.” Aether says.
Eula, finding herself too sick and dizzy to argue, just weakly nodded, her breath mixed with hiccups and groans. “Now come on, let’s get you back?”
Not two steps in, she suddenly goes limp, throwing all of her weight onto him. Aether barely manages to catch her before she falls over. “E-Eula?!”
“Zzz…*hic*...zz…”
Aether blinks a few times, finding Eula’s sleeping face near his as she leans onto him fully for support. Realizing he’ going to have to carry her all the way back himself, Aether carefully grips her legs and lifts them up, settling one hand on her back and another on her legs into a carrying position. Eula, passed out from alcohol, is unaware of this as he makess his way down.
The patrons are mostly too drunk or simply don’t care. Rosaria has already left, probably doing her usual duty, while Diluc raises an eyebrow at him.
“Uh, I’ll be back here tomorrow. Mark my own and her tab on me, please.” Aether says as he passes.
“As you wish. Thank you.”
“Hmm?” Aether raises an eyebrow. “For what?”
“For carrying her back. Her fellow knights are quite ....hesitant, should I say, to carry her back when she’s passed out drunk, and it would be quite a hassle indeed unless Amber is around; even then she would have trouble lifting her up as easily as you do. You’re doing a favor for many.” He says, his face still somewhat indifferent.
Aether smiles a bit when he hears. “If I’m around and she’s passed out again, just hit me up, I’ll pick her up back.”
“Noted. Have a great evening.”
“You too.”
Aether closed the door behind him, readjusting his grip onto her before slowly making his way back. All the while, Eula snores slightly in his arms, grimacing every now and then when a hiccup makes its way up.
In a minute or so, Aether opens the door to her room, thankful she somehow left it unlocked. He walks over to the bed slowly, placing her down onto it. She stirs a bit, mumbling something incoherent before settling in with another soft burp. Aether notes that she seems to be uncomfortable in her sleep, no doubt due to the amount of alcohol she drank and how its not doing any favors to her.
He takes off her footwear and hair ornaments, but opts to leave the rest of her outfits as it is. He didn’t want to change her outfit himself, that would be a little too much of him. Aether may be a man, but he’s not a pervert. If he dared do that, Eula’s Song of Broken Pines would be aimed at his head when she woke up the next day.
Making sure she’s comfortable, he sits at the edge of her bed, watching her as she sleeps, her body rising and lowering as she breathes. His thoughts stir at her earlier words. Eula’s not one to usually break like this, but lately he knows the knight has been wallowing in her own sorrow a little more often than not. Sure, she has good company around in Mondstadt too, Amber and Jean are examples of them.
But, despite knowing their appreciation towards her, Eula doesn’t seem at all that moved. Perhap it’s because of everyone else in Mondstadt taking a dislike towards her because of her name. She’s surrounded constantly by people despising her, and it would surely eclipse those who truly appreciated her.
Aether held his head in his hands. He didn’t like to see Eula like this, he wanted her to feel like she’s truly appreciated, liked, and even loved by others. Perhaps h e wouldn’t be so troubled when it comes to some others, but with Eula, it hits differently. He finds spending time with her something he cherishes amidst his schedule of working and exploring, and something that almost always makes him return to Mondstadt time and time again.
And now, he really wanted to get her to see how good she is in the eyes of others. In the eyes of people that see her true form.
Perhaps, she could also come to realize how magnificent she is as an individual, something he told her many times but she hasn’t really taken into account.
Or so he thought.
Then, as he mulled it over, an idea hit him.
He got up slowly, making sure she’s still nice and tucked in before leaving the room. He pauses at the door, peering inside one more time. “Good night, Eula. Have a pleasant dream.”
Eula mumbles something, but he didn’t catch it as she’s probably just autonomously responding to external stimuli.
And with that, he closes her door and makes his way to the favonius HQ.
Walking in, he was greeted by the guards with a salute as he entered. He returns then in kind, making his way to the grandmaster’s office.
He knocks a few times, though he could make out not one but two voices coming from inside.
“Jean? May I come in?”
“Oh, Aether is that you? Yes, come on it.”
He opens the door, revealing himself to the grandmaster and, apparently, the outrider in the room.
“Aether! Hi! Rare to see you here so late at night!” Amber says, waving as he sees the traveler enter.
“Hehe, likewise, Amber.” He says to the cheerful outrider. He turned to Jean and gave a smile and a nod.
“Hehe, it’s good to see you. Is Mondstadt’s night pleasant?”Jean asks.
“As it can be, though I’m afraid I’ve stumbled into something quite unpleasant.” He says. Amber and Jean both turn to him with slightly concerned looks. “Enemies?”
“No, nothing that can endanger Mondstadt as a whole.” Aether could see that Jean breathed a sigh of relief before he continued. “Have you guys met Eula recently?”
“Ah.”
Jean and Amber’s united response shows that they understood what he meant. Amber’s bunny headpiece seemed to droop as well.
“Yeah. I have. She’s been out of it lately.” Amber admits. “I’ve told her many times to ignore them, to stand her ground and to just go along without caring much, but it seems that its taking its toll on her.” The outrider admits.
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I’ve been trying to task Eula with more outside tasks to prevent her from being berated by our own peers, but even then it’s not working well.”
“Wait, why do you ask? You met her?” Amber perks up, asking.
“Yeah. Angel’s share.”
Amber and Jean immediately look at each other with an expression of concern.
“I’ll go get her then, is she?”
“No, no. I happened by when I couldn’t find her. I carried her back, she’s asleep.”
“Oh, thank the archons. Thank you for that Aether.” Amber says. Jean gives him a smile, but stays rather silent.
“That said, I want to……try and help her, if that’s okay with you.”
“Hmm? I suppose if you have anything, you could go on ahead.” Jean says.
“Well, this is actually quite a big request from me…..” Aether says, blushing a bit as he scratches the back of his head. Jean was unaware of how close Aether was with the captain, but Amber was. She simply held a smug smile, which didn’t go unnotice by the traveler.
“Oh? Are you sure she wouldn’t swear more vengeance on you?” Amber asked. Aether huffed in response.
“Well, approved or not, she’ll still have much more after I carried her back earlier.”
“Ah, right. Hehe, fair point.”
“Well, Aether.” Jean says, interrupting their friendly banter. “Let’s hear it out and see what we can do.”
“Alright.”
“Can you give her a month off?”