Chapter Text
“Freminet? Hello? Teyvat to Freminet are you even there?”
An audibly annoyed voice complained, the hint of exasperation in the speaker’s tone marking yet another failed attempt to garner the attention of the boy in front of him. A boy who was visibly awake, yet was mentally in a different place entirely, mind wandering the fields of his imagination endlessly. The boy was currently imagining himself within another adventure with his closest clockwork companion, Pers the local hero of penguin town.
At least, he was until his brother gave up trying to talk to him and just flicked him on the forehead instead. Ouch.
“Huh? What..where?” Blinking a few times Freminet was finally able to get his bearings together. While he was not in Penguin town as his daydream suggested, he did not find himself anywhere familiar either.
Chenyu Vale, the border between Fontaine, the land he calls home and its neighboring city; Liyue. Apparently they had crossed over a while back, and he was just too zoned out to realize. He sheepishly looked back at his older brother, whose periwinkle eyes squinted in mock disapproval.
“You haven’t been listening to a single thing I’ve said since we left! I mean, with the way you’re ignoring me I’d think you’re trying to become Lynette!” The older man complained, pointing to his cat-eared twin who adamantly pretended she couldn’t hear a thing. Which was a valid reaction, their boisterous older brother Lyney had been talking since they set out. Freminet had offhandedly wondered on numerous occasions how he managed to keep it up, especially without nitpicking his own words the second he’s on his own as Freminet tended to do.
Speaking of- well speaking, his older brother watched him expectantly as if he’d said something and required an answer. Which he did. “Could you repeat that..?” Freminet asked quietly, doe eyed and apologetic. His older brother gave a disappointed tut but repeated himself nonetheless.
“Like I was so adamantly trying to warn you, we’ll be splitting up when we get to Liyue Harbor. I know it’ll be really boring and lonely without your dear older brother around but you’ll have to make do.” He explained, wincing at Freminets fearful expression. “We won’t leave you alone for too long! Only an hour or two while we do some material gathering for our next show. The Lyney and Lynette show must go on, even in Liyue. And, there’s a lot to see in the Harbour, Fremi, so take a look around!” He urged insistently, taking a hold of his little brother's hands and smiling encouragingly.
Terrified, he glanced at his older sister, glacier blue eyes widening in a silent plea as he hoped that her similar demeanor would make her understand why he truly could not be alone. Somewhere unfamiliar and so different that he could die from the culture shock alone. Unfortunately, it seemed the twins had discussed this beforehand as she shook her head firmly.
“I’m sorry Freminet, but it would be good for you.” She agreed, a small yet apologetic smile on her face. Her twin grinned, pleased to have backup, and patted the younger boy on the head. “You’ll do great, my dear little brother!” Lyney added, with a soft smile. “Try to have fun, okay? You deserve it.”
“…Okay.” He said mournfully. He would’ve protested more had he not seen the matching hopeful expressions both twins sported, a look that made it clear they were doing that for him. Faced with this realization, how could he deny them?
That’s how he found himself, two hours later, practically stranded in Liyue Harbour. Smack in the middle of all its Lantern rite festivities. Bustling, noisy, and crowded it was the exact opposite of what Freminet was used to. His siblings had ended up leaving him on the dock and now, all alone, the blonde wanted nothing more than to escape underneath the surface of the sea that was painfully close by. He couldn’t though. Freminet wasn’t one to break promises, especially to his siblings. Not when they were doing so much for him and put his happiness before all else- well most of the time anyways.
No, he had to do something. Anything. Trying to recall any of the details he was told on the way here. He remembered that Liyue Harbor was rich in musical based art. Opera, theater, dance, you name it. Now that it was Lantern rite all those art forms were in full swing. Freminet had not been particularly musically inclined, being fond of the ocean made you tend to display indifference to sound entirely. He didn’t hate it though, maybe a new dance or song could be incorporated into Pers’ next adventure.
With that he decided to set out, aiming to find something, at least. Anything he could mention to Lyney and Lynette when they asked about his day.
He barely walked two steps before it hit him that he had no idea where to look for anything, and he had no idea who to ask and how. How was he supposed to just go up to someone and ask for anything music based? They would look at him like he was an idiot, or maybe he’d end up ruining people’s day by showing up in front of them. He couldn’t bother anyone on the most important festival of the year, could he?
Head hung low, he trailed along the dock, prepared to give up and call it a day. If his older siblings asked, he could just claim he tried his best and hope they don’t feel upset. Maybe he could even just go diving, so at least it wouldn’t be a total lie when he says he had fun. The waters of Liyue are bound to be way different than the Fontanian sea he’s used to. The option didn't sound all too bad to him.
‘Maybe hiding underwater is the only way to make sure everyone else has fun.’ He pondered glumly, entirely prepared to make good on that. Well, until he got spontaneously shoved to the ground.
Panicked, he looked up to see who pushed him, hoping it was either accidental or any other situation in which he could avoid confrontation. Instead, the culprits were merely children running along as if they hadn't noticed him to begin with. His presence never garnered much attention, and he chalked it up to those kids having not noticed him. “I wonder where they were off to.” He murmured to himself, glancing slightly at Pers as if the clockwork penguin could provide an answer.
“They were off to see the Lion dancers perform.” A voice responded, and for a moment Freminet’s eyes widened in shock as he wondered when his little friend learned to talk. A tap from behind him answered that question entirely as he was faced with the actual speaker, a kindly looking middle aged woman with an apologetic look on her face. “I’m really sorry my children pushed you, they get extremely excited when it comes to the lion dancer.” The woman explained with a sigh, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose in slight exasperation.
“Lion dancer…?” He asked quietly, afraid to show the extent of his ignorance. The mother only smiled, pointing to a crowd gathering a few meters away, one that Freminet wondered how he had managed to miss. Thanking the woman, he quickly darted towards the direction she pointed at. At the back of the crowd, he couldn’t really see much. A head shorter than everyone at the back of the crowd, he felt practically blind. However he could hear the traditional music blaring from speakerphones on the makeshift stage. The music itself was upbeat, and lively, and he found himself enjoying it.
What he didn’t enjoy was the crowd, shoving each other aside to see better, yelling and hooting, it was not the sort of atmosphere he was used to. However, he was intrigued. A lion dance sounded insanely cool to him, it felt like something he would dream up in the imaginary world of penguin town. He had to see it for himself. Pulling on his helmet he resolved to do just that, and got on his hands and knees. Crawling through the hoard of people seemed like a better option, and he had hoped his helmet would stop him from getting hurt. Which to his surprise, worked. He popped out closer to the front of the crowd and finally took off his helmet.
He was immediately glad he didn't give up on watching this dance because now he could truly understand the reason for the crowd. A singular figure moved a ways away from the group, swirling and cutting through the air in a dance that kept him elevated from the audience both literally and metaphorically. Something about the way he moved kept Freminet enamored, gaze focused on the dancer with pure awe emanating from him as he watched a fairytale come to life, just by watching a dancer with more magic than anything his siblings could conjure up.
The dazzling Lion boy caught his gaze, and for a moment, time seemed to still. The dancer's blazing scarlett eyes softened ever so slightly, the warmth within them thawing out Fremniet’s glacier blue ones. He had never met someone so unlike him, someone who seemed to own the world he danced in. Yet he had never felt so seen, and for the first time in a long while, he felt at ease.
The moment shattered when he blinked, and as the Lion boy continued his dance Freminet found himself half-heartedly wishing he could catch his gaze again.
After the dance he walked around in a daze, still wondering if that person was even real or if his delusional self had dreamed him up entirely. He started to lean more onto the latter. It did not make sense to him that a human could move like that. Maybe he was one of those 'Adepti' he heard Lyney mention a while ago. The Lion boy was on fire as he danced, wasn't he? And he seemed so attuned with his outfit that maybe he actually was a lion. The thought made Freminet feel kind of giddy. It all made him wonder if he should even mention it to his siblings when they showed up, they had told him to avoid the Adepti at all costs. Speaking of his siblings- where even were they? They were never late when it came to Freminet, and the sun was beginning to set.
Panicking, he was just about to set off looking for them when the familiar voice of his brother called out to him and before the startled blonde could even react, he was unceremoniously picked up and wrapped into a hug. “Freminet!” Lyney called, clearly relieved to see his younger brother for a reason Freminet himself was unaware of. Confused, he looked at his older sister who just shrugged. “I told him you would be alright, but he was convinced someone would take you off the streets.” Lynette muttered with a roll of her eyes, earning an annoyed retort from her twin which spiraled the two into an argument.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Lynette added, shoving her twin to the side. “What did you end up doing?” She asked gently, afraid of making him feel pressured into talking. Her twin had no such qualms and was about to launch into a series of unanswerable questions until he saw the pleased look on his little brother's face and nudged him playfully. “Looks like you had a fun time, hmm?” He teased, grinning at his sister as if to say ‘told you so’, and crossed his arms expectantly. “Wanna talk about it?”
Freminet thought about it for a while, deciding that instead of telling them everything he would simply tell them what everything that happened to him today made him realize.
“I think- I want to learn how to dance.”