Work Text:
Applause erupted from the audience. More than half the crowd stood from their seats to give the two on stage a standing ovation. Although everyone knew the applause was more for the boy than the girl, she had at most assisted in all his tricks that everyone believed to be impossible.
There was one boy at the very front who had a small smile and was still sitting while he clapped. He showed the least enthusiasm of the whole crowd, but the duo knew he was one who appreciated their show the most.
There were two in the very back of the balcony seats way where they could not be seen clearly from the stage. One was a woman who clapped for the show with a content, proud smile on her face. Her red eyes watched the two like a hawk. Her companion, sitting to her left, was different; he clapped, however slower than her. He bore more of a condescending smile as his blue eyes were trained intensely on the boy as he disappeared off stage with his twin, causing the uproar of the audience to only grow louder.
"So, that's who you intend to replace you, huh, Arlecchino?" He looked over at the girl, or 'Arlecchino'.
"When the time comes, yes. Now, do me a favor," Her proud warm smile disappeared and her face became cold and emotionless as he had been so used to. "Leave my sight. I don't like being in your presence."
"As you wish. May the Tsaritsa bless you with better luck than Signora." He stood and turned so he was facing the door and his back to her.
"Just leave. I will not make the mistake of underestimating the traveler like she did."
Those were the last words before he walked away and out of the concert hall. Once out, he traveled down the stairs and towards backstage, his expression growing warmer as he got closer.
"You really must be more careful, you could have fallen and twisted your ankle. What would we have done? You're the main attraction after all." The girl brushed her hair, her eyes not leaving the mirror as she got the tangles out of her platinum blonde locks. Her cat ears twitched as she hit a painful knot.
The boy chuckled as he took off his hat, placing it on its designated stand. "Aw, don't be like that, Lynette." He said. "You steal the show with how calm you are during every performance. We're both the main attraction, not just me. Even then, Freminet's eyes were on you the whole time."
"Whatever you say. " She glanced at her brother who was looking at the picture on his mirror as he undid his braid so he could redo it. The picture was that of him and a man they once both viewed as a superior. It was a superior her brother was infatuated with and constantly said he loved him just the same, but she didn't believe that. She was sure their superior was using her brother.
There was no way he loved her brother as much as her brother loved him. He knew she believed this, and didn't believe her. Her brother was impossible sometimes, not only his magic tricks, but to deal with too.
"Brother Lyney," she addresses him. "You do know Sir Tartaglia is Father's coworker; a coworker that Father wouldn't be happy about you being with, I should add."
Lyney just grinned at her as he finished fixing his hair. The tear shaped makeup on his right cheek curved in response to his smile. He had no care how their caregiver would respond to his relationship, he was an adult anyway.
A knock at the door caught their attention. They weren't expecting visitors. They summon their weapons to their hands. Thank the archons they had visions.
Lyney pointed his arrow to the door, charging it with Pyro energy. The little cat head that decorated his bow, surrounded by pink, red stars connected to each other , glowed as he prepared to shoot.
Lynette summoned her blade, holding onto its gold handle. The dark teal star s surrounding the Hilt lead to its own glowing, small, black cat head at the very tip. She was prepared to use her own anemo abilities to help amplify the effects of her brother's pyro.
When the door began opening, they readied for an attack. Lyney was the first to stop his charged attack when he saw who was coming in. Lynette however, did not become so loose so quickly. As her brother set his bow down on his vanity and ran to their visitor, she retained a grip on her sword. Her brother jumped into the arms of the 6 foot man who came in without permission while holding her gaze on the man, ready to strike.
However, she calmed down remembering he was her superior. Even if she did fight him, she couldn't have beat him even if she tried. He was a Harbinger, she was not. He had a delusion, she did not. He had supposedly grown up in the abyss, she had grown up from a circus. She was outmatched in every way compared to him. She made her weapon disappear so she could summon it the next time she needed it then turned to put her hair back in a ponytail.
The man in question held the Magician boy and noticed the bow that had been left out.
"Lyney, were you going to shoot me? I'm wounded." The platinum blonde boy remembered his bow he left out and went to his weapon, making it disappear like his sister did with her own weapon.
"We were. We weren't expecting company, so when you knocked, we prepared for a fight. Sorry about that, Ajax."
'Ajax' smiled. One of Lyney's favorite features about him. That, and the whole 'My-guardian-hates-you-and-you're-my-superior-so-our-love-is-kind-of-forbidden' makes the man that much more appealing to him.
Ajax entered their changing room and closed the door behind him, sitting in the chair to Lyney's vanity. He shifted in his seat, crossing his legs and placing his elbow on the wood surface and resting his head on his fist. He admired the smaller boy, taking in every detail. He noted the pink tint to his cheeks; whether it was from his previous performance, the make up he used to make his face more visible on stage, or a blush from just being near his superior, it was hard to tell. He also bore a small burn on his shoulder, from what, again, hard to tell, but he didn't like it's existence, it meant something caused the boy harm.
Lynette observed the two from her vanity - Watching her superior's mannerisms, trying to find something to prove to her brother he didn't actually love him. So far, her search had been unfruitful. She agreed with their father in her distaste for the man and his attitude, but no matter how hard she tried, there was nothing she could do convince her brother the same. She had no proof. He was overly possessive at times and he'd proven an couple times he could be protective too, bit she had yet to find proof he didn't return Lyney's feelings. Lyney says she's suspicious because she's jealous, however, she figured out she had no interest in a romantic relationship, hardly even platonic ones.
She continued to side eye the the 6 foot man. He sure was touchy, she didn't like it, though she gave him the benefit of the doubt and chalked it up to her own trauma and scared of it happening to Lyney, they had creepy enough fans as it was.
Lyney turned to face the harbinger but right as he did so, his aforementioned superior grabbed him and placed him on his lap so that way the amethyst eyed boy was straddling his waist. Ajax wrapped his arms around his lover's own waist and planted a small kiss on the burn on the boy's shoulder.
"Ajax, I applaud your boldness, but, you know how Lynette feels about our PDA. It makes her jealous, " he voiced with his sing song vocals in hopes to cover his shudder at the contact with his shoulder, it didn't work very well.
"It's fine, Lyney, " his cat adorned sister reassured. "I was just on my way out. I'm going home. If father asks, you decided to go fight the Dirge of Copelia." She paused. "And if he does anything to you you don't like, let Freminet and I know first. Love you, brother. "
Her ever eccentric brother went wide eyed at her last comment.
"Awwww! Lyneeeette! I love you, too!" She just rolls her eyes and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.
The ginger beneath the blonde giggled. "You get so excited whenever she tells you she loves you."
"Well it's not everyday that The Great Lyney gets to hear words of affection from his amazing assistant and sister. She's not one for being very open about it."
They smiled at each other. Slowly, the magician leaned towards the man with the ocean eyes, and the motion was reciprocated. However, right as they came within and inch of each other, a gloved hand kept their lips from touching. Lyney opened his eyes too look at his lover and whined.
"Come oooon. We've been together for 5 months nowwww. Why wont you kiss me yeeeeeet?"
"I will when I think you're ready for it, Koshka. Now, let's go on that date we've been planning for so long."
(Koshka = Cat in Russian)
A loud groan echoed from the Fontainian. "Okayyyy."
The two of them rose from their sitting positions, and left the room.
They left the opera house and took the aquabus to the Court of Fontaine. The whole ride was filled with flirts. It was highly probable they annoyed some of the other passengers. They left the docks and went to the city.
They walked around and enjoyed the sights. Lyney dragged Ajax into a toy store to look at what they had, particularly because Freminet's Per was looking a little rusty so he wanted to get new parts for it. While searching for the parts, Tartaglia took note that everyone was watching Lyney, three girls specifically who kept giggling and following them through the store. The Magician either didn't notice or didn't acknowledge it as he made no sign to react to the girls. Whether he noticed or not, he smiled when his superior's arm wrapped around his waist.
The two continued the walk through the store and Ajax eventually picked up plushies of a cat and a fox without his lover noticing.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to go look at the kids toys for my little brother." He smiled, hiding the plushies behind his back.
"Always thinking about your brother, so sweet. " The teasing tone flowed flawlessly.
"Says the one who dragged me in here for his brother."
"What can I say? Freminet is too cute to resist spending money on. I'm almost done here, so I'll join you when I am."
"Actually," he paused and brushed the bangs from the younger's shimmering eyes. "I'll meet you at the fountain with a surprise, okay~? So be a good subordinate and wait for me there." The blush that spread across the boy's face as he lowered his voice was the highlight of his day so far. He pulled away from him, leaving Lyney stunned and switching the plushies in front of him to keep them secret a tad longer.
Tartaglia approached his true destination, the customization area, and was shocked to see the female co-worker he spoke with earlier customizing a couple ballerina dolls. On a normal occasion, he would approach her, but now, he'd much rather not risk her learning of his relationship. That would not end well for him. Instead he went to a station that she couldn't see so he wouldn't be caught. He'd have to be fast with these customizations, thank the archons he knew how to sew.
He looked at the materials in front of him, all organized neatly with their respective accessories. There was a pile of any color ribbon you could think of, buttons galore, and even fake vision accessories that could be added. Unfortunately, they were all styled in the Fontaine vision holder, but it would make do. There were also tons of thread colors to choose from. He picked up a beautiful, deep red ribbon, a golden thread, buttons that were shaped to be a star and a tear (why they thought to make buttons of those shape, he would never know, but he appreciated it), a gray bow, and lastly two fake visions, one Pyro and one hydro.
Taking the accessories, he quickly got to work, starting with the fox, sewing the ribbon halfway around its soft orange neck and leaving ends in the front and back that remained loose. The hydro vision got pinned right above the fox's right back leg and that was the end of the first part. He switched over to the cat now, but as he did so he heard a voice that caused him to hide his work.
"Tartaglia?" He was spotted. No surprise, there weren't a lot of people in this part of the toy shop. He turned to be met with a cold, confused look despite the warm vision the woman in front of him adorned on her back. Her black and white hair only added to the scariness as it blended with her flaming red eyes, and suit to match both that showed vague ideas of her curves.
"Arlecchino, didn't expect to see you here. " Her gloved hands carried the ballerina dolls she had been customizing, they were a little out of his sight.
"Dolls in the House of Hearth were broken recently and I decided to customize 2 new ones." She looked him up and down. The eleventh was trying to hide his nerves from the woman, but he could only imagine he wasn't doing a very good job. "What are you doing here?"
Shit.. "I'm just making a toy for my brother. He's been wanting a plushy from here for a while. "
Please don't look. Please don't look. Please don't look. I'd like to live to see your adopted son again, please don't look.
Arlecchino hummed in response, her eyes narrowed in distrust. She definitely noticed he was sweating. "Alright, " she said, then she left.
He released a sigh of relief. She wasn't normally so terrifying, but when it came to her almost finding out about his and Lyney's relationship, she became his worst nightmare.
He finished the cat so that it had a tear and a star button eye with the bow above the tail and the vision attached to the bow. There, he was done. Hopefully Lyney wasn't kept waiting for too long. The harbinger got up and paid the cashier before running towards a café and buying a Mocha latte for Lyney and black coffee for him.
The magician, after he had left the toy shop, had gone straight to the fountain as he and Ajax agreed to meet. He noticed rather fast that a group of girls were following and when he got to the fountain, the crowd only grew larger. He could put on some street tricks for the audience.
The crowd 'Oo'ed and 'aw'ed and gasped at his tricks. They enjoyed when he disappeared and appeared again behind the crowd. The trick he put on for them weren't nearly as complicated as the ones he performed on stage, he didn't have the materials. His personal favorite part of his street performance was when he made a little deaf his assistant for a trick. The boy was so happy to see him talk to him in sign language. Deaf people usually were the biggest fans of his. They couldn't hear the boring announcements that went along with his tricks, they just watched the magic happen and it amazed them.
Eventually, he ended the performance and bowed. The audience, which had grown big enough he had to stand on the fountain side to be seen, applauded him. Some, he was guessing tourists, even threw mora in his hat when he bowed. He tried to give it back to them, but they refused. They were indeed tourists; one wore the uniform from the Akademiya in Sumeru.
Giving up, he placed the mora in his bag and turned to wait for Ajax but was shocked to see the girls that were following him before so close behind him. It caught him so off guard that the magician accidentally backed into a meka.
"Lyney, hi!" He rubbed the back of his head and watched the meka walk away unfazed. Those things hurt.
One of the girls waved her hand in his face to get his attention before greeting him. "Hello!"
The third girl didn't say anything, just looked at him.
"Bonjour, Mesdemoiselles~." They squealed, loudly. "What have I done to deserve the attention of such stunning and radiant ladies such as yourselves? I must apologize, I saw you earlier but I thought that surely, no archons as lovely as yourselves would follow me. What might your names be?" He flicked a hand and three Marcotte flowers appeared in his hand, handing each to a different girl. They happily took them, smiling largely. These were his more infatuated fans. He tried to avoid these and the creepy fans as much as he could without being rude, but sometimes there was no escape.
One of the girls tucked the flower behind her ear and jumped to answer. "My name is Colette. You're so sweet to call us Archons. We could never hope to compare to Lady Furina."
"Nonsense, you're just as lovely, if not more so, Colette. Don't tell Lady Furina I said that, though. I'm still hoping she'll want to come see one of my shows in person." He grabbed her hand and kissed it. He didn't like it, it felt like a betrayal to Ajax.
The second girl piped up. "Also, you say an Archon wouldn't follow you, and yet you have a vision. You're so talented, and gorgeous. My name is Sylvie."
"Sylvie, I appreciate the compliments but I'm positive you have way more talent than I could ever possess. I can see it in your eyes." Sylvie blushed, and didn't respond. She looked at him with an infatuated look. It set him on edge. He turned to the third girl, she looked more timid than the others, she was about as tall as Ajax, so he had to look up at her to look her in the eyes. "And who might you be, Mon amour?" Again, it felt wrong on the blonde's tongue, but only 4 people, him and Ajax included, knew about their relationship.
She giggled. "My name isn't as pretty as Sylvie and Colette, but I'm Genevieve."
He widened his eyes slightly in shock. "Genevieve.. " Lyney only whispered, kept loud enough that his surprise could be heard. "Why, that's the most exquisite name I've heard. Genevieve, Genevieve, oh you think I'd leave, but without your light I could never see." Her face turned a bright pink in response to his flirts.
One of the girls, Colette, squealed so high he looked at her to make sure she wasn't going to destroy her voice. Right as the 5'4" male turned to face her, she lunged at him and grabbed his hands.
"Marry me, Lyney!" Colette almost demanded him. There was no hint of politely asking him to marry her, no, she just flat out told him to do it.
Sylvie quickly followed in demands. "No! Marry me! "
Even the shy Genevieve joined in. "Or you can marry all three of us! We'll gladly be housewives for you."
Her friends nodded before they all begged in unison, "Pleeeeeaaase?"
Lyney opened his mouth as he prepared to turn these poor girls down, but instead was pulled away from Colette and warm, coffee flavored lips met his.
Not a creep. Are you serious?
He looked at who had the balls to steal his first kiss, but when he saw the identity of his kisser he lost all will to fight back and kissed back eagerly. Arms wrapped around the smaller waist possessively. The magician had forgotten how jealous this man could get.
The girls watched in utter shock as the blonde boy they were obsessing with was kissed by a tall, slim, fit redhead who definitely did not dress like he was from Fontaine. The aforementioned tall guy even flipped the three girls off and hugged Lyney close as he separated from the kiss. An audible whine sounded from Lyney as the kiss ended; clearly he wasn't happy about finally getting what he wanted to have it taken away. It was adorable.
"I know he's pretty, sweet, and adorable, but this ass is mine, you three. Get your own and fuck off." With that his hand found Lyney's butt, grabbing it and lifting him up.
"Hah?! Ajax!” He turned a bright red, the painted tear on his face standing out perfectly against his skin.
The girls ran off as Tartaglia glared at them and made sure his vision was visible, scaring the three off. He did notice that the tallest used a kamera to take a picture of the two of them. Would that cause problems for Lyney down the line?
…
No, it should be fine.
"Sir Tartaglia, put me down. " Oh, shit. Lyney was upset enough to use honorifics and not even flirt with it; that was rare. Though, he was probably more embarrassed than anything.
Tartaglia looked at him. He was incredibly embarrassed and it was the cutest damn thing. His metallic colored bangs covered one of his eyes just a little which only made his flustered and angry face cuter. It wasn't hard to make Lyney even the slightest bit flustered but he usually combatted it with his own flirt, to get him flustered enough to being unable to flirt back was feat all on its own
"Let me think about that for a second," he teased, using one hand to tap on his chNo thoughtfully."No."
"Sir Tartaglia, we are in public and unfortunately for you, I'm not into the weird public shi-! That means keep your mouth off my shoulder."
"All I did was kiss it."
"It doesn't matter-" Lyney pushed his face and turned his head but as soon at he did so, he stopped. "Shit. I can see Father. Put me down and make a run for it before she sees us. Correction, before she sees you with me."
"Fuck, yeah. Shit." Lyney was set down. "I got you a mocha latte, it's by your bag, come find me when the coast is clear."
"Thanks, love you, run. " Ajax wasted no time grabbing his own drink and a bag from the same toy shop that contained a surprise for Lyney. He was out of sight and disappeared almost as fast as Lyney could. He was grateful he wasn't the only one who knew how to disappear into thin air.
Approaching the bag and drink that belonged to him, he picked them up taking a sip of the coffee and quickly swallowing it, sticking his now burnt tongue out. That coffee was HOT. Tasty and foamy, but HOT.
"Lyney." There was a stern voice behind him and he nearly felt the heat of the coffee on his skin instead of tongue or through a cup.
He turned around, putting on his best act of 'what a coincidental meeting I totally wasn't with the guy you hate'. "Hello, Father. It's rare to see you out and about. Did you come to the show?"
"I did, I had an annoying companion with me, but I was there." Arlecchino met eyes with the boy.
"What did you think?"
"Your posture slouched a couple times and you were careless and almost fell off the stage. Lynette was off time with one of your acts and when you used your vision to help cover it up, you burnt yourself." She sure was observant, but the noticing of the small things meant she liked the show in general
"Thank you for the critiques. I'm sure Freminet has more for me at home. Glad you liked the show, though." He smiled greatly, he loved constructive criticism, it helped him get better. He was gonna need it if one day he was gonna perform in front of all seven of the archons and travel all of Teyvat. He would even perform for the Pyro archon and thank them for his vision, or the ever elusive Anemo archon. It was said Barbatos loved performances, so he surely would love his. He just needs to be good enough, and he'll get there with criticism.
Father nodded. "Oh, Lyney. "
"Yes, Father?"
"Tartaglia is in Fontaine." He was already aware of that, but he wasn't going to tell Father that. "If you happen to cross paths, be respectful and then walk away. I don't want him around you." She never did.
He bowed. "Yes, Father. Understood."
People walked by, no one paid them any mind. They didn't question why he called Arlecchino 'Father', or why he bowed. They didn't question how they spoke like a family but at the same time, a superior and her drone. The welcoming shimmer of Fontaine blended everyone to everything. They didn't think about the Northland Bank or the visions from Snezhnaya. The water fountain sounds covered the lies of all who've come before it, drowned out, never to be heard again.
Father patted his shoulder, her gloved hand felt cold despite the fiery vision on her back. She left him to his devices from there. Their exchanges were rarely long. He wished they were longer sometimes.
Lyney grabbed his back and drank his coffee as he went to return to his lover. On his way he ran into a fan of his. A woman from Sumeru that he was able to converse with like old friends. He had helped her when she was in a slump about leaving her son. He was an adult when she moved, but she still felt guilty. The woman had gorgeous lightly tanned skin, long, golden yellow to dirty blonde hair and eyes the color of Garnet and as sweet as a humming bird's hums.
They talked for a bit, he found out her son was an architect and they stayed in contact via letters. He wasn't very financially stable, so he's unable to visit her, but he learned that her son was living with an old school friend of his. She's pretty sure the two of them love each other and just don't want to admit it. Her evidence was how her son talks about the man and their interactions. It was funny. It sounded like they bickered like an old married couple.
By the time they stopped talking and he found Ajax, his coffee had cooled down.
He was talking with a girl who was examining a stuffed black cat that had a bow with a fire vision on its back. Was that a cat based on himself? The girl held it gently in her hands, turning the cat to examine it.
He approached them, being careful not to bump into a Meka before running into a Melusine and apologizing.
"How long have you and your boyfriend been together," he heard the girl ask. He wanted to know how his love talked about him when he wasn't around, so Lyney paused and sat nearby so he could hear and not be caught.
"5 months. He's the best. His sister doesn't trust me. " His voice was sweet when talking about him.
The girl hummed. "Why is that? "
"She thinks I don't actually love him."
"Do you?"
"I do. In fact, if we make it longer than a year and a half I'm planning on risking my life to get his guardian's permission to marry him. "
Lyney felt his face heat up hearing that and the girl cooed.
“Why would you risk your life?”
“His guardian doesn’t like me-” Ajax’s voice faded into the background.
He intended to marry him if they lasted long enough? And with how long he wanted, that would give Lyney enough time to turn 20. Since he'd be 20, surely Father wouldn't object too much as he was old enough to fully make all his decisions. Would the Tsaritsa allow a romantic relationship with one of her Harbingers?
Him, a low ranked Fatui and Magician, with the Eleventh Harbinger, Tartaglia. Just dating seemed like a dream sometimes, the idea of being married one day? Ajax would be traveling a lot but if he does become a touring, Nationwide known magician, he would be too. How would they communicate? How often would they see each other? They already only saw each other about once a month.
What if after this he-
NO! IT'S WAY TOO EARLY TO BE WONDERING THAT!
Ohh archons,what had this man done to him? He buried his face in a gloved hand, the other held his coffee and bag, and stayed there like that.
Suddenly, he felt a fluffy substance on his face. He looked up to see who it was but a set of fingers made contact with the skin of his from behind and lightly squeezed the sides, tickling him. His shoulders hunched to try and stop the tickling. He laughed, causing a few of the exquisitely dressed people of Fontaine to look at him. He didn't care, he was used to attention. His lover certainly didn't mind, he liked to be an attention whore from time to time.
The fingers were removed from his neck, ceasing the harmonious laugh. He turned and locked eyes with brilliant sapphires for eyes and fluffy red hair to frame them. Freckles adorned his face, not a lot, but they were there, and it added a sense of cuteness in contrast to the strong neck and Jawline that made him as attractive as he was. His simple gray and red outfit contrasted with the elaborate multi-colored ones of Fontaine. He looked a little out of place with it. He also bore one singular earring, hanging from his left ear, it looked beautiful.
“Hello~ Earth to Lyney, I know I'm stunning, but I'd like to be able to talk with my boyfriend.” He snapped out of his trance and smiled at Tartaglia.
He apologized and his lover laughed, following it up with “You had the dorkiest most infatuated look on your face. It was cute, but I'd rather hear your lovely voice.”
He chuckled. “So we have to make it another 13 months, huh?”
“You heard that, did you?” He placed two stuffed animals in Lyney's arms. A cat and a fox that resembled both of them, they were so cute. “I customized them for you. I hope you like them.”
“They're adorable.” He grabbed the back of his lover's neck and forced him to bend so he could kiss him. One of the drawbacks to having a six-foot boyfriend as some who, without the boots, is 5 '3 and a half. The kiss was returned, enjoyed by both parties.
This was the best.
~
“I'm telling you, Lynette, Freminet, Father will never know. Ajax-”
Lynette coughs, whispering “Sir Tartaglia.”
Lyney looks at his sibling. Freminet just looks between the two of them.
“Ajax and I have made it 7 months now and Father still hasn't the slightest clue.” He opened the door to their place. “And she'll continue to be in the dark for another- Why do you look frightened Freminet?” The shy boy's eyes were wide as he cowered behind his sister. “She's behind me, isn't she?”
Lynette nodded, crossing her arms. Lyney turned and prepared to bow to the woman he called ‘Father’ when he noticed she was grabbing a very familiar redhead by the ear.
“Forgive me, Lyney, I let it slip.” He grinned sheepishly. Looking between the red eyes that were calm but burning with rage and the blue ones that were basically screaming his exact thoughts he knew it. They had been found out and they were in trouble for it. Shit.
“Can I interest you to know we'll finally be performing for Lady Furina?”