Chapter Text
The traveler, Aether, was enjoying a warm Fontaine afternoon. No commissions, no crisis in need of solving, just him and the gentle breeze. That is until he made his way towards the Fountain of Lucine during his stroll.
“I had a feeling I’d find you here!”
Aether promptly turned around to meet the familiar voice, a smile forming on his face. “Well hello to you too, Lyney. Is something the matter?”
Lyney returns his gesture, shaking his head in response to his question. “If you are referring to some kind of life-threatening situation or secret operation, then I am afraid not. But I do come baring an important delivery!” He then takes his hat off and extends it towards Aether.
Aether carefully puts his hand into the hat, pulling out a white letter with a familiar red seal. “Is this…?”
“A direct letter from ‘Father’ herself! Don’t worry, I haven’t taken a look at it.”
Aether unseals the letter, taking it out and reading it. A quiet gasp escapes his lips by the time he finishes. He’s brought out of his stupor by Lyney’s gentle laughter.
“Well, I think it’s time for me to depart. Despite the time I had to search for you, I still have a magic show to prepare for!” As he walks away, he turns back to look at Aether, who is looking over the letter's contents once again. “Also… ‘Father’ sends her regards.”
As Lyney walks away and Aether silently mulls over the letter for a third time, his longtime companion appears, eyes brimming with excitement. “Aether! Paimon’s ready to go Café Lutece!… Aether…?”
“I’m sorry Paimon, but there’s been a change of plans…”
“Wait what!? But Paimon—“
He quickly pulls out a pouch of mora, “Would it be alright if I take today and tomorrow for myself?”
Paimon, always willing to negotiate for mora or food, happily obliges. “Roger! Paimon will go stay with Furina and Neuvillette for now!” She then happily flies away.
Once Aether’s alone, he can’t help the happy clap he does thanks to the letter’s contents. He walks away from the Fontaine with a radiant smile on his face. He then suddenly stops.
“Wait a second… I need to prepare for tomorrow!” Without further delay, he makes a beeline for someone in Fontaine he knows he can rely on for these types of situations.
“So… let me get this straight. You were invited to some kind of fancy date, and you need me to help you come up with a good outfit for the occasion?”
The shorter blonde twiddled with his fingers as he looked to the side and nervously replied, “Y-yes…?”
Navia—president, boss, and head of the Spina di Rosula—pondered for a moment, and couldn’t help the grin that made its way onto her face. “Hehe… don’t worry partner, you’re in good hands! Now…” she started, grabbing his hand as he nearly tripped over himself due to her sudden fervor, “it’s time for a shopping trip!”
“Thanks for allowing us to use the boutique for the day Chiori!”
The brunette hyper fixated on her work replies without much of a glance, “It’s no trouble at all Navia, it’s a convenient way for me to pay back the traveler for the assistance he has provided for Chioriya Boutique.”
The center of attention—the traveler—while thankful, can’t help but ask, “Are you sure this won’t be an issue Chiori? We don’t want to get in the way of your business.”
The boutique owner simply gets up and walks out the front door, and flips the sign from ‘open’ to ‘closed’. “Business?” She replies as she makes her way back inside, “Whatever business could you be referring to traveler? Chioriya Boutique is closed today due to the owner requiring time to herself so she can process orders and recuperate.”
The traveler didn’t dare open his mouth to voice his opposition to her decision. All he could do was nervously nod his head and politely thank her.
“See partner? I told you that Chiori would be more than willing to help us?” The taller of the two blondes then turns towards the other, “Now… let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work!”
The traveler returns her affirmation with a determined nod, said determination though all but fades when he recalls his current situation. “U-um… where should we begin though?” He turns to look at the array of different suits and dresses on display. “There is a lot to look through.”
The boutique owner from her corner in the back makes her presence known once more, “I have an array of suits and dresses in the back that may suit your tastes.” She unlocks the back room of the boutique, the sounds of her rummaging through old catalogs and her voice carrying over, “They were part of a catalog order for a formal event in Fontaine, but the event was unfortunately canceled and I haven’t decided on what I should do with them yet.”
Before the traveler could protest in his altruistic manner, Navia chimes in “So we’d basically be doing you a favor right?”
“Of course,” Chiori replies. “The clients didn’t desire to claim their orders so the least I can do is offer them to someone who could put them to proper use.”
The traveler remains silent for a moment, before finally responding. “Well… let’s get to work.”
“The perfect combination of both cute charm and refined taste!” The most extroverted of the group exclaims.
The expert nods, “one can never go wrong with a classic.”
The shorter blonde can’t help but feel a little embarrassed under the analytical gaze of the two women, examining the sleeves of his sea blue suit and white cravat.
“Actually hold on a moment!” Navia makes her way behind Aether and starts to unbraid his hair.
“H-hey! You could’ve at least warned me,” the traveler couldn’t help but pout.
Navia pauses when she realizes what she is doing. “S-sorry! I guess I got a bit ahead of myself, I just thought of a hairstyle that could go well with this.”
The traveler sighed but couldn’t help but laugh a little. “It’s alright, go ahead. I did ask for your help after all.”
When Navia finishes her work, she steps back to admire the fruits of her labor. “The ponytail definitely adds to the cutesy look!”
The traveler looks in the mirror to judge his overall appearance. “Although it isn’t a bad look, I don’t think this is the one. Sorry Chiori…”
“It’s no issue at all, why don’t we move on to the next item then?”
Navia can’t help the gasp she lets out when the traveler steps out of the dressing room. “Oh ho! I had my suspicions of this beforehand, but seeing it in person all but confirms that you definitely can rock a dress!”
“I concur,” Chiori replies. “A fine example of beauty and elegance.”
The traveler, face tinged red under their watchful eyes, can’t help but do a few twirls as the ocean blue fringes of the cloudy white dress follow suit. He pauses for a moment, his hands then make their way to his hair as he goes about undoing the ponytail.
As he continues with his work, Navia pipes in. “So partner… what’s this date about by the way? Come on! You can’t expect me to not be a little curious!”
“Oh really?” Chiori asks in genuine surprise, “I was unaware that this was the occasion you were dressing up for.”
As the traveler heads back into the changing room to go through the remaining selection of suits and dresses, he replies, “W-well it’s a bit of a formal event… she invited me to attend the opera performance that’s taking place tomorrow.”
As Chiori critiques the next suit, Navia gasps. “Wait! You mean La Tragédie des Larmes!? How lucky!” She then gets a mischievous smirk on her face as she prods once more. “‘She’ must really want to treat you well, huh?”
The traveler does not respond and simply goes back into the changing room to try out the next dress.
“H-hey! Don’t ignore me, partner!”
“I apologize that none of the outfits matched your tastes traveler.”
“No no, it’s alright,” the traveler apologizes. “I’m sorry for being such a difficult customer. They were all really great, but they just weren’t what I was looking for.”
Chiori ponders for a moment, “Did you have something in mind perchance?”
The blonde thinks for a moment, “I did have something in mind…”
“Well then how about this,” the brunette starts. “Why don’t you place a custom order for me, free of charge even.”
Shocked by her words, the traveler replies quickly, “I can’t do that to you! Besides, I would need it by tomorrow, isn’t that too soon for you?”
“Nonsense, I take my craft seriously. In fact, I think I could even get it done by tonight if you can give me a good idea of what you would like.”
The traveler pauses to think, “Well… if you’re sure, then yes, I would like to place a custom order.”
Chiori nods, stepping out of view as she gathers a sheet of paper as she prepares to take notes. As she does this, Navia steps back into the boutique after needing to resolve an issue earlier. “Sorry about that partner, one of our clients needed me urgently, did you find something you liked?”
“Not exactly, but I’m about to place a custom order instead.”
“I see! Well, in that case, we can use the downtime while you wait for the order to focus on other things!” Navia replies excitedly.
“S-such as…?”
“Hmm… well for starters, we need to decide on things like your hairstyle… oh! Don’t forget how essential makeup is for Fontaine beauty! And!…” as his partner droned on, the traveler could only shudder at the fact that this would be quite a long day for him.
“Traveler,” he turned around—Navia blissfully monologuing behind him, unaware that his attention was turned away—to face Chiori, notepad, and pencil in hand. “Can you tell me your idea now?” He gives her a nod, as they get to work.