Chapter Text
Truth be told, Freminet was getting kind of desperate.
But oh, sue him that he hadn’t gotten an opportunity to see his boyfriend in nearly 6 months already. The Kamera photos were hardly enough to appease him.
He leafed through his little collection of prints, some of them being photos with fellow knights, or snippets of his travels, he even had a grinning selfie of Mika with a sleeping hilichurl. Odd, but in a Mika kind of way. Those pictures were reminders of what he couldn’t have. His boyfriend. He wants his dear Mika back.
The worst part was that he knew Mika was currently stationed in Mondstadt, if his most recent letter meant anything. Due to his terrible schedule he couldn’t find time to justify visiting Fontaine and coming back to Mondstadt all on the down low. He really appreciated the effort Mika went through for their relationship, especially to keep said relationship secret, but all he wanted right there and then was to go to Mondstadt, pick him up and swaddle him for the coming five years.
He sighed, running the edge of his nail against the laminated image.
Come to think of it, what was really stopping him from seeing Mika? Despite the fact that maybe he’d have to travel a bit, probably think of an alibi to tell his siblings…stay undetected for a bit…maybe need to send a heads up to Mika…
It’ll be a cute little surprise for Mika then, no need for a formal letter.
So at 2:36 AM, when Fontaine was dead silent, Freminet packed a bag and wrote a half assed note with the very creative and thoughtful alibi of ‘I went diving. Don’t look for me.’ It seemed ambiguous enough, he could make it back within a few days and say he made friends with an otter or something and decided to meet the entire otter family.
The note was attached to the door, helpfully held up by a sticker of a bird Mika sent him. The latest little package Mika sent him contained all sorts of stationary, ranging from colourful stickers to standard pens. He had to admit that Mika had a lot more use for all of it than he did, but he found the sentiment cute. Freminet in turn sent him a ridiculous depiction of a penguin, looking like it was drawn by a toddler, and also a matching penguin plush.
He thought for a moment about anything else he might need. Food can be found rather easily, the trip there wouldn’t take too long, and he could think about accommodations after he finally got to his boyfriend.
Everything was accounted for.
———
Everything was not accounted for.
He didn’t realize Chenyu Vale was so hilichurl infested, he could’ve mistaken where he was if not for the fact that he was confident in his boyfriends cartography ability.
No matter though, it wasn’t too big of a deal. He made quick work of the camps he encountered and continued on the path.
Speaking of the path, he noticed minor differences between the actual path compared to what was on paper. At times he had to stop to think about where he was even going. That couldn’t be right though, this was a recent map.
Well, as recent as 6 months ago.
He squinted at the strange writing on the bottom of the map, trying to make out what it was even saying. Every time he looked at it the text seemed more and more gibberish. That couldn’t be any good, but still he followed the map.
———
It was near noon based on how high the sun looked, and he was 100% certain this was not Mondstadt City, because the bulletin board clearly said Liyue Harbor.
How did he end up in Liyue? He followed the map until there was no more map to follow, then he walked thinking he was going towards Mondstadt, but clearly he messed up somewhere.
So his next course of action was to find a way to Mondstadt after checking out Liyue.
He walked through the bustling harbor. Unlike Fontaine, it radiated comfort and home. It was strange, because it was also so loud, and packed with people.
He almost couldn’t work up the courage to ask for directions, but he knew he needed to, so he eventually approached two boys who seemed friendly enough. They were engaged in what sounded like a passionate conversation, so he felt bad about interrupting.
“Excuse me.” He tried to sound as polite as possible while also being as wary as possible. Both boys halted their talk to avert their attention to him. It was only then did he notice their twin visions.
“Uh, do you happen to know the fastest route to Mondstadt?” he asked, trying not to feel so intimidated by guys who were probably his age.
“Mondstadt, you say? Hm, I must say, you certainly don’t look like a Mondstadtian.” The one with darker blue hair seemed to contemplate as he slowly walked a circle around Freminet, who was greatly disturbed and regretted his every decision leading up to that moment.
“No—I’m from Fontaine. I need to get to Mondstadt.”
“How’d you end up in Liyue if you needed to go to Mondstadt? As far as I know, you’d need to cross the entirety of Mondstadt just to reach Liyue from Fontaine.” The one with the lighter blue hair piped in.
He shrugged, reaching into his bag to procure the map he had been following, “I noticed it was probably a bit wrong when I followed it, so after a while I gave up and just kept wandering,” he explained.
Light blue haired guy took the map from his hands, not missing the cold radiating from him. It wasn’t uncommon for cryo vision holders to run cold, he knew that well enough, but there was something strange about this guy.
The other one came to stand beside his friend, taking in the contents of the map.
“What does this say here?” Darker haired guy asked, pointing at what could only be the illegible words of which no one shall understand.
“I don’t know.”
Darker haired guy scoffed—laughed? Something between an airy laugh and a menacing taunt, “Helpful.”
Freminet pulled his shoulders up to his ears, immensely uncomfortable. The other two seemed contently oblivious to him while they nitpicked at the map. His boyfriend's map, and hard work.
“If I may, could I have the map back?”
Wordlessly, he received the map back and tucked it away. Safe.
“Xingqiu. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.” The darker haired boy, Xingqiu, held his hand out awaiting a handshake.
Freminet, who’s hands felt unreasonably clammy at that point, still reached out to accept the handshake.
“Freminet.” He introduced himself, quickly retreating his hand. The other boy, clearly aware of the lingering awkwardness, opted to nod and introduce himself as Chongyun instead, which he was glad for.
“What are you going to Mondstadt for?” Xingqiu questioned, obviously taking the initiative out of them to be civilized.
“I have business to take care of.” He replied. He didn’t know if visiting Mika counted as formal business, but he kind of needed to say something.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Mondstadt before, have you?” Xinqiu said, aiming the last part to Chongyun.
“No, Mondstadt’s way too far for me to travel.” Chongyun seemed to sigh. Freminet could almost resonate with him, Mondstadt was too far for him to visit regularly, and there just weren't enough excuses he could use to travel between two nations while making sure his siblings weren’t suspicious.
Keeping their relationship secret was a mutual decision, they both valued their privacy and found it suited both of their interests to keep it hidden. Sure it got hard to sneak around their families all the time, not to mention basically everyone else in their respective nations, but it was all worth it.
“So, I think your best bet is probably to talk to Xiangling,” Chongyun started, “she’s been to Mondstadt plenty of times. Neither of us could help you.”
“Xiangling?”
“Mhm.”
“Uh—Where can I find her?”
“Down at Wanmin Restaurant.”
“Wanmin Restaurant?”
“Mhm.”
“Um. Thanks.”
And the three boys stood there for a moment. Staring at each other so awkwardly it made him even more tense than before, until he figured, no, they weren’t gonna clarify who exactly Xiangling was or where exactly Wanmin Restaurant is, so he was the first to look away, utter another thanks and scurry away.
Asking for directions and staying there was definitely not worth it.
———
It was late evening when he finally found the girl named Xiangling.
After talking to the two boys he felt deeply disturbed and didn’t feel like talking to anyone else. All he wanted was to see his boyfriend, how hard is that?
She was cleaning up the store by the looks of it, so he once again felt bad for approaching her.
“Xiangling?”
She perked up hearing her name, her sights immediately zoning in on him. Once again he felt incredibly tense around her, but unlike with the other guys, she overwhelmed him in an energetic way.
“Hi! Can I help you?” She beamed, way too lively for a greeting at such a late hour.
“I heard you know how to get to Mondstadt…” He started, which was all he needed to say, because it launched her into talking all about Mondstadt.
That was fine, he can listen.
He stayed around to listen to her rant about her Mondstadt escapades, her recipes from Mondstadt, everything possible about Mondstadt until the shop was clean and ready to close. And only then did she stop to take a breather.
“Aha—I’m so sorry I was rambling…Ahem, so, about Mondstadt…”
“I need to get to Mondstadt.”
“Mondstadt City?”
“Yeah—Yeah Mondstadt City,”
“Well…it is kind of late…” She trailed off, reluctant to go out at the time, but also unwilling to let him go by himself in case something bad were to happen.
“You can give me directions. I can take care of myself.” He turned his body a bit to show a glimpse of his vision, hoping the sight of it reassured her enough to help him out.
He couldn’t afford to spend any more time in Liyue, his siblings are sure to be getting suspicious after it had been nearly a full day without him. He could’ve been in Mondstadt right now had he not gotten lost.
After a moment of pondering by Xiangling, she agreed to give him directions, giving him a very specific map with very very specific instructions to stop by an inn and turn in for the night.
He’d admit he was getting pretty tired, so he agreed and, with a box of food, he was on his way.
Liyue Harbor was nothing like Fontaine, but he could appreciate the place now that it was starting to empty out. The scenery was truly breathtaking. Earlier on he was so caught up in moving quicker than he couldn’t take it all in properly. But now that he could, he made sure to commit it all to memory.
What better way to do that than take a page out of Mika’s book?
He set his things down on a ledge carefully, taking his Kamera out and holding it in position for a selfie. He made sure that his background had a clear shot of the buildings behind him before flashing a meek grin and snapping a photo and taking the print to let the ink dry.
Mika would love the photo.
———
This time, his map reading skills didn’t fail him, and he actually ended up at the inn. As promised he checked into a room and started to settle down for the night. The lady at the front desk, Verr Goldet, was actually very kind to him, a great contrast in energy compared to all the people he’s talked to in Liyue.
It had been a full 24 hours since he disembarked on his mission, and apart from a couple mishaps, this couldn’t have been the worst outcome.
He sat on the floor with his back against the bed as he unboxed the food Xiangling gave him. He recalled it being two dishes called rice buns and Qingce stir fry. It probably would’ve tasted better had he eaten it right away rather than let it go cold, but it still tasted good so he finished the food in a matter of time.
He threw the empty boxes into the trash can and went to change into a pair of sleeping clothes and get ready for bed. If all went smoothly tomorrow (technically only later in the morning) he’d finally be in Mondstadt.
So he flopped into bed and rolled until he was comfortable enough to sleep.
And he rolled.
And rolled.
And rolled until he was pretty sure he melted a hole straight through the mattress.
Maybe sleeping in a foreign nation was just bothering his ability to sleep, or the fact that he left the face of Fontaine without any better notice, or the fact that he swore he felt someone's eyes boring into him for the better part of half an hour.
That couldn’t be right though, he was near the top floor, and no way someone could see him from up there.
He turned onto his stomach and grabbed the pillow to place it over his head while he smashed his face into the sheets.
Trying to tune anything out and catch sleep before another day of travel. It actually worked for a while too, he felt all the exhaustion catching up to and soon his eyelids felt heavy enough that he actually thought he was about to fall asleep.
And that of course is an example of a moment in his life when he felt despairingly wronged. When life wasn’t fair and knocked him down despite the fact that he was already knocked down just for the sake of making him feel crappy. Freminet felt like some part of Celestia was playing a prank on him.
He was this close to nodding off, to let sleep finally embrace him after 24 hours of straight depletion, when every force on Teyvat yanked the pillow from above his head and shook him with a might that could’ve rivaled Morax himself.
He flailed like a fish, trying to find clarity in his half dead state. He felt a violent gust of wind slap him clear in the face before he could open his eyes. He was way too tired to deal with this. Too tired.
He flopped onto his back and promptly passed out.
———
And just as he fell asleep, he awoke the drowsiest he’s ever been.
Somewhere during his sleep he managed to throw the pillow off the bed and nick his shoulder, which really wasn’t a great feeling when he tried to stretch his limbs out.
He groaned and rubbed his eyes, figuring since he was already asleep he should get on the move.
He felt his joints pop as he stood up and stretched once again, raising his arms over his head to try and get rid of all the stiffness. What a night.
After he showered, he thought he might as well make use of everything, so he stuffed a couple of the small bottles of soap and bath gel in his bag. The bottles looked new so he figured most people that booked rooms also took things, and the inn just had no choice but to keep replacing them.
He also grabbed the small mechanical clock with him on the way out, because he needed to tell the time, and he happened to not bring one from Fontaine. Speaking of the time, it was already creeping up to noon again, so he needed to get a move on.
Verr Goldet saw him out, thanking him for his business and asking if he’d like some food.
Food—he completely forgot. It wouldn’t do him any good to travel on an empty stomach. So he begrudgingly sat down and ate a meal while the chef, an edgy kind of man he was supposed to call “Smiley Yanxiao”. That was fine, he finished his food, thanked him for the hospitality and left some Mora on the table.
And he was on his way again. He didn’t know how he didn’t notice that he was in Liyue before, because Liyue heat was unforgiving compared to Mondstadt or Fontaine. He didn’t think he’d be able to survive traveling to Natlan one day.
A couple miles in he had to shed his outer layers in favor of breathing. Maybe yesterday was just a cooler day compared to this scorching heat. He stuffed the clothing in his bag and carried on.
He did stop on occasion to take a Kamera photo with different scenery, to take a quick breather and also to get a drink of water. It wasn’t long until he reached Stone Gate and soon he could see a glimpse of, according to the map, “Dawn Winery''.
He stopped a distance away to stare at the building. Sure he’d heard of it in passing from Mika’s letters, he just didn’t pay any mind that it actually existed.
If he was in Mondstadt, did that mean he was old enough to drink? The drinking age in Fontaine was older than Mondstadt, so while Mika and him were both 16, Mika was the only one who could drink. He’d love to try the greatly praised Dandelion Wine with Mika if he could.
No mind though, he kept walking, taking in the beauty of Mondstadt. It seemed dandelions were an abundance around there, wildlife really was incredible, maybe later he could find good diving places too.
He was getting giddy when he could barely make out the sight of Mondstadt City. He was so close to finally seeing Mika again. He checked the clock in his pocket, barely 4 PM. That was great, he could make it there within two hours and find Mika in no time.
Don’t mind him that he picked the pace up, that he was basically rushing to cross the bridge. The only person who minded was this little boy that screeched at him for “scaring away the pigeons”. He hardly even noticed there were any pigeons, but he apologized anyway and quickly left, head hung low.
The two Knights guarding the front gate stopped him when he approached, calling him a “strange yet respectable traveler” and asking about his intentions. He just stated that he was visiting from Fontaine, which seemed to fly with them.
Mondstadt, like Liyue, radiated a homely atmosphere, it wasn’t hard to tell this was the nation of freedom. Now if he were Mika, where would he be?
His best bet would be where he worked, or his home, but he didn’t know where either of them were. And he was not willing to have a repeat conversation like in Liyue. So like in Liyue, he walked around until he saw something that looked remotely like a place that the Knights Of Favonius would work at.
Which was a lot easier said than done. Mondstadt was like one big maze, where instead of having main paths and directing alleys, it was all fend for yourself and good luck.
Luck for him was in store though, because instead of having to approach a person, someone approached him instead. A man with a strange eyepatch and dark blue hair. He looked to be someone important, and there wasn’t missing that cryo vision.
“Looking for something?” The man inquired, his voice sounding a lot more sly than necessary. Did he already rack up suspicion? He didn’t recall doing anything out of the ordinary.
“No, I’m just looking around.” He rubbed his hands together, trying to not show weakness. Really, all he did was talk to the guards and walk around aimlessly for a while…Okay, so maybe it did look a little strange, but clearly he looked like a tourist, so what is the big deal? Tourists tend to get lost.
“Anything in particular I could help with?” The man seemed to pull a coin out of nowhere and started flipping it idly. His fingers moved dexterously, but Freminet thought it was just a show of how quickly his hands could move. A subtle threat.
“Well, I need to talk to the Knights Of Favonius,” he said slowly. He saw the taller man's eye seem to light up, and he realized that he was right about him being of importance.
“Well, you’d be talking to the very Cavalry Captain of the Favonius Knights, Kaeya. How may I be of assistance?” Lucky him.
Obviously telling this guy he wanted to find Mika would not be very good. The two were fellow Knights, and that’s giving someone in Mika’s workplace tidbits of information. It wasn’t as if he could point out where exactly Mika was anyway, the odds of that happening was way too low to even entertain trying.
“Uh…”
Kaeya raised a brow watching him hesitate. So not good.
“Are you needing help from anyone specific?” The Knight prompted.
Help, that’d be a fantastic alibi.
“Well…I heard that Mondstadt has this great cartographer…” he paused to pull the map of Chenyu Vale from his bag, holding it out for the Captain to see, “I want to ask about this map—and also to maybe get another one,” he explained, half of it coming out as fumbled nonsense.
“Well, our resident cartographer is currently off the clock, you’ll have to catch him tomorrow. He also doesn’t commission maps.” The man said, clipped and short. How is this guy just the Cavalry Captain? He acted more like someone who ran the entire place.
“It’s not for a work thing, I have a couple questions about cartography in general, and I’d like to talk to the cartographer as well.”
“So it’s personal?”
“Uh.”
“You realize I can’t take you to him for his job if he’s off the job, right?”
“When will he be back on the job?”
“6 business days.”
“6…?!”
There was no way, Mika was still working and busy, it was the entire reason why Mika couldn't visit him instead. This guy had to be lying, but why lie? It's not like he'd do anything bad.
“Let me see the map better.” Freminet broke from his train of thought and handed the map over, watching as Kaeya took all the details in. It took a moment, but eventually he got enough of the map and handed it back to Freminet.
“You say you got that map, where?” He asked, crossing his arms.
“Someone in Fontaine.”
“Hm. Come, I’ll take you to the cartographer.”
Freminet let out a quiet breath of relief. The other didn’t wait for him to start following, so he had to scramble to keep up with his longer strides. They weaved through people and went past a couple large buildings, and also some he recognized as homes. He even managed to spot a place that Mika sent him a selfie with the background as.
Knowing that he was so close to his boyfriend was making him so antsy.
Soon though, they reached a large building with two more Knights guarding. They instantly perked up upon seeing the Cavalry Captain, but only gave him second glances as he followed him in.
The inside of the building was surprisingly empty. He didn’t know what he expected but it was very void of anything special, or worth noting.
“This is the Knights Of Favonius Headquarters. Our cartographer usually works in the library when he’s not out on some expedition. Come along.” And through they went a large set of double doors. His eyes immediately scanned along the shelves, the walls, any surface area until his eyes laid upon blue and yellow.
Yellow tufts of hair tinged with gold, blue coat with white accents, heck, he’d recognize his boyfriend from a mile away. And clearly, Mika felt the same way.
Because his boyfriend was merely looking up from his work to check who came in, but froze seeing Freminet follow Captain Kaeya in.
The pair approached Mika, who had completely forgotten about his work and was staring slack jawed. Kaeya just assumed it was the usual Mika around strangers thing, though he was never so…obvious about it.
Kaeya turned to Freminet to introduce the two, “Strange yet respectable traveler, this is Mika, our cartographer.”
There was a heavy pause. Kaeya was expecting Freminet to introduce himself, as he didn’t know the mysterious boy, but all the boy did was stand there staring at the cartographer with a meek smile. Mika couldn’t be described too differently either.
“Uh, Mika, this is a strange yet respectable traveler, who I presume is from Fontaine. Who also wanted to talk to you about maps,” Kaeya continued the introduction, shifting his stance slightly. Strange was a perfect word to describe this traveler indeed.
“I—I—Yes…um, of course!” The blonde fumbled with his words, more than likely just surprised rather than shy. It was still cute nonetheless, and Freminet couldn’t help grinning like an idiot.
“Captain Kaeya, I can take it from here on,” Mika said, much to the shock of said Captain. It was evident that he was shocked as well, his face not too off from how Mika’s looked only a moment prior.
“Are you sure?” Kaeya questioned, showed just as much concern as shock, because how often is it that Mika Schmidt, possibly the shyest boy on the face of Teyvat, willingly chooses to be alone with a complete newcomer.
“Absolutely.”
Kaeya shrugged in response, “alright then. Holler if you need me.”
And then he was turning on his heel to walk away, but Freminet couldn’t watch him go, because as soon as footsteps could be heard walking away, Mika launched himself at him and engulfed him in a hug so tight it could cut off his circulation.
He didn’t mind, he’d let Mika cut his circulation off any time he wanted to.
He returned the embrace, closing his eyes to really soak in the moment of finally having his boyfriend back.
It had been so long, and yet everything about Mika felt so familiar, the scent of pine and honey, the cold of his vision, the way they both knew how they fit together in a hug. He missed this way too much.
“What are you doing in Mondstadt?” Mika whispered, close enough to his ear that he didn’t even need to strain to hear.
“I missed you, it’s been so long, too long.”
“It has.”
Neither of them wanted to move, but obviously time still needed to pass, so reluctantly, Freminet was the first to back away.
“I’ll have to sneak you into my home somehow…” Mika mused, pushing the other’s hair out of his face so he could marvel at him properly, “oh, but your siblings will be concerned…”
“Ah, I didn’t actually come here with my siblings,” The diver supplied, scrunching his face when Mika poked around his freckles.
“What, did you come here on some super secret covert mission?” He joked, finding the way Freminet contorted his face to be funny, though he quickly caught onto the fact that his boyfriend never answered the question.
“Wait, did you actually?”
Freminet only laughed in reply.
———
Dinner that night was at Good Hunter.
It was honestly a little daunting to be in public together, but logically, they rarely did PDA, so they could pass as two friends to the majority of people. It’s how things always worked during their dates in Fontaine, so the same goes for Mondstadt.
Mika ordered for the two of them while Freminet sat down at the most secluded table possible (it wasn’t at all secluded). He twiddled his thumbs and tapped his feet, finding the chill to be a bit much and putting his outer layers back on.
The blonde soon came back with food, and Freminet watched as he placed two matching bowls in front of their designated seats.
“Cream Stew. I figure you’d want to eat something rich after traveling.”
The diver beamed, thanking his boyfriend before taking his spoon to try some. He burnt his tongue, but it was still delicious.
The two ate in peace while Freminet recounted his journey, from the stupid note he left on his door, to the dreadful sleep at the inn, to Captain Kaeya finally leading him to the Knights Headquarters.
“Your siblings must be worried sick you know, it’ll be two days since you left tonight,” Mika said through a mouthful of stew. Freminet thought about it for a bit. Sure they’d be worried, but his disappearance wouldn’t cause anything major to happen.
“I guess so. They’ll live.”
Mika chuckled, “maybe not if the stove stops working.”
“That’d teach them not to take me for granted.”
They both laughed at their jokes, even if Freminet found some truth in them. They’ll live though, and he will too.
———
Sneaking Freminet into Mika’s room was so much easier than they thought. Mika worried the entire time over his brother, but slipping past him was an easy feat.
He sat on the bed waiting for Mika to finish whatever he was doing downstairs, and while that was happening he occupied himself by falling backwards and bundling himself up in the blankets.
The bed was so amazingly comfy, if he closed his eyes he knew he wouldn’t be shaken awake by an unreasonably strong force.
No, he’d get jumped on by an unreasonably strong force.
He wheezed upon Mika making impact, but quickly recovered to hug him to his chest. The two laid there basking in eachother’s warmth. Or, as warm as two cryo vision holders could get.
The two visions were thrown somewhere to the side in a matter of seconds.
“How long do you think you can stay here for?” Mika asked after a while. It was obvious he didn’t want Freminet to leave, but he knew he needed to one day.
“I’ll stay for as long as physically possible, if you’ll have me,” He answered, tugging on a lock of blonde hair. The cartographer squirmed wildly and swatted at the attacking hand.
“Of course I’ll have you. I just wouldn’t want you neglecting anything important,”
“Mmh, by the way, I took a couple photos for you, they’re in my bag.” He casually mentioned.
Mika perked up and crawled off the bed to retrieve the prints. He let out a loose giggle when he saw them.
“Is that a Whopperflower? How did you manage to take that?”
It was indeed a Whopperflower. The photo was madly distorted, a blurred image of himself with wide eyes mid scream as he ran away from the Whopperflower that he thought would be funny to take a photo with.
Safe to say, he’d never do it again but hearing Mika laugh was worth the experience.
“Your boyfriend risked his life to take that photo and you’re laughing?” He accused, trying to fake sounding scandalizing. Mika saw straight through it though.
“My boyfriend isn’t dumb enough to die to a Whopperflower.”
“No, but your boyfriend’s dumb enough to love an idiot like you,”
Mika gasped, putting the back of his hand to his head, playing the part of a damsel in distress, “my, whatever shall I do…”
He turned around and fell backwards towards the bed, being just too far to fall comfortably, instead hitting his shoulders on the bed and crumpling the rest of the way.
The two burst into laughter, moving to cling to each other as they tried to calm down. God, he missed this.