Work Text:
Day in the Yilong Wharf is at its peak and the streets are crowded as you expect at such times. Charlotte finally finished a pretty boring interview for “the Steambird''. It’s pretty rare for her to call an interviewed person not interesting but this one was undeniably like this!
Of course, as a professional journalist she knows how to present herself and how to act so that big shot didn’t even notice her boredom and just talked about how much money they make and how good their business is. Why did Euphrasia ask to interview him again? Charlotte wants to ask her after she gives her the finished article. There even is no need to dig under him because this man is like an open book and she easily can find many cracks in what he’s saying..
Is this the reason she woke up earlier than usual just to get here? And he even managed to be late for his own interview! How rude.
Well, she can tell she definitely was in a bad mood after this and just wanted to get to Fontaine, finish redacting the text and then give this new article and forget about it for good. You know, not everything must be interesting in your job, but you have to deal with every circumstance and make them work and look great. That’s what she’s good at.
After the interview, Charlotte walked down the street, still lost in her thoughts: “Archons, this was really boring, what can I do to turn this boring speech into a juicy article? From the information that I already have, this stingy guy likes to crush his competitors, hmm.. a headline about another corrupt system would be nice, really...”
Charlotte's job was never to dig through dirty laundry. More precisely, all journalists do this, but she had a slightly different approach to it. Revealing a person’s identity without finding some kind of personal and humiliating information is quite difficult, and only completely motivated people/journalists (like herself) are ready to do this. And Charlotte, let's be honest, loves to face challenges. And problems. Several assassination attempts have already been made on her life because of her disclosure of other corruption schemes; this time, most likely, it will be the same, perhaps not on the same scale as during the disclosure of a fraud. Charlotte always fought for justice, achieving her goal no matter the cost.
Charlotte would have walked the entire street, perhaps even bumping into something or tripping, but someone’s loud voice called out to her:
“Oh, wait! You're Charlotte from “The SteamBird!” The voice seemed quite familiar to her. So sonorous and to some extent sweet? A journalist cannot describe it more precisely.
She turned around and saw Gaming, the guy who performed the Wushou dance during the Lantern Rite, and he was already running up to her. They also crossed paths before the event, because Charlotte was asked to talk to Gaming’s father under the pretext of an interview (but the journalist will not deny that she was interested in hearing about tea and where it is produced, and ect.).
“I’m so glad I ran into you at the port now!”, Gaming said, out of breath, “It’s hard to meet such famous bigwigs like this.”
“Oh, it just happened that I was interviewing the director of a dubious company from the very early morning, they knew it.” Charlotte, as expected, maintained the conventionally formal tone of a journalist. Yes, even after work she sometimes communicated like that, forgetting that she could also be an ordinary person. But the Wushou dancer did not pay much attention to the tone and choice of words. Gaming always looked so friendly and understanding.
“Apparently, that guy was very boring, since you tried to get away from him as soon as possible?” - Gaming said, simultaneously rolling his eyes and putting his hands on his hips.
“So you were watching me?” Charlotte asked a little warily. In general, she often encountered various fanatics or another mercenary who was paid for the assassination attempt; it’s good that the girl managed to avoid them.
Gaming laughed and shook his head.
“Nope, it’s just that when I noticed you, you seemed to be thinking about your own things, but outside of work I didn’t see you and put two and two together. You know, now it’s just lunch time, and I would like to say once again how grateful I am to you for your help with my father during the holiday-»
But Gaming didn’t have time to finish, because he was interrupted:
“There is no need for gratitude, this is just my work, and even though this was organised by the Traveler, I, in fact, did absolutely nothing here.”
“Huh, I still consider it my duty to repay you! The Traveler's friends are also my friends, and I really value them!” - and how does this guy consider almost everyone he meets as friends? It's both fun and somewhat risky.
“So I'd like to invite you to the lunch. At my expense, of course!” Charlotte looked at Gaming with round eyes. As if for a moment she forgot that she was a journalist and she needed to maintain a façade of seriousness and professionalism, then, turned her head away, and replied:
“I'm sorry, but I cannot accept such an invitation.. I need to get busy with the interview-“
“Then can we assume that you are interviewing me?” - Gaming asked friendly. And, Oh, Archons, how can you refuse him? No, of course, Charlotte could easily refuse people if she didn’t want something, but at the moment something pulled her not to do it. This is turning the situation around from an invitation to lunch into an interview... he really knows how to persuade people just like that. Damn, this guy.
“I-if that’s the case, then I can’t refuse. Besides, I can definitely tell from you that the conversation will be very interesting.”
“What are you talking about? It definitely won't get any worse! Let's go, I know one good place where they also give out free cookies at this time. You will definitely like the dimsum with lavender melon, they’re so finger-licking good!”. And how can he talk so much about food? Although it’s difficult to say that it was something bad, it’s actually very good. And the mention of lavender melons reminds Charlotte of one of her work visits to Inazuma, where this fruit is a local specialty.
Without another word, Gaming moved in the direction he had come from, and Charlotte followed him. She thought it would be cliché if he took her hand and they ran towards their destination together, like characters from a Yae Publishing House romance novel... Wait, why did she imagine that in the first place? After all, they practically don’t know each other, but it seems that people were right when they said that with his “radiant” character, Gaming is able to charm like this. Returning to reality, their path turned out to be not so long. They quickly walked through the street and headed to the shops with goods. Next to them there was a mobile bench and a couple of tables, apparently related to it. Gaming headed towards this modest shop.
“This is the place I was talking about.” the dancer said joyfully.
“There is not a very large selection of dishes here, as in a restaurant, but, in my opinion, they cook with soul, and this is the main thing in food.”
“Then can I trust your taste?”
“Of course, sit down, I’ll order some local dishes and grab dimsums.”
After that, Charlotte sat down at one of the empty tables near the cart, feeling a little awkward. Gaming himself called this an interview, and such a practice, when the conversation takes place at the lunch, is quite common, then why is she feel embarrassed?
Before Charlotte had time to think about it, the guy quickly returned, already carrying something to eat.
“Tea-Smoked Squab takes time to prepare, but tea and snacks are right there, try not to eat them right away.” Gaming said jokingly, putting food and cups on the table.
“Can we drink tea now?”
“It needs to sit a little longer for the taste to develop better. Although different varieties are infused differently, with Chenyu tea I am definitely confident in my words. But in Fontaine you have plenty of your own varieties, right?”
“Oh, oh, understood.. And as for tea in my homeland, such connoisseurs (like Duke Wriothesley) are rather rare, mostly residents drink coffee or in a tea-bags.”
“And what about you?”
“It depends on the situation, but usually I add half cup of milk to everything.”
“It would be worth asking about this earlier, I wonder if something could be combined with goat’s milk? Hah, I’ll have to find out later, but now it seems the tea has brewed, I’ll pour it now!” Gaming still spoke joyfully.
Charlotte nodded at his words, watching as he poured liquid into both cups and then moved one of them towards her. He shook his head towards this cup, thereby most likely saying “help yourself!”
The journalist carefully took the cup in her hands, feeling the warmth with her surprisingly cold fingers. Cryo vision really gave her an advantage not only in combat or cooling down Monsieur Veride, but also in some everyday affairs where sensitivity to heat could interfere with a common person. Blowing a little on the tea, Charlotte took a sip. At first the taste seemed tart, but after that pleasant fruity notes were felt.
“Mm, it tastes pretty good.”
“Oh, oh, I knew you’d like it, as if a whole river of fruit was spilling in your mouth, right?..” There was an awkward pause, “Hah, I’m bad with metaphors.. I would have made a bad writer, but not Let's talk about sad things.”
Gaming talked about something for several minutes and persistently suggested that Charlotte try those jadevein tea eggs. The girl did not refuse the offer and took one from the bowl. The egg had an interesting pattern, like marble, and it also tasted different from the usual ones: it was denser, but at the same time creamy. Definitely something to note and remember.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the dimsams Charlotte agreed to taste in the first place. And of course lavender melons were tasty, how could she not forget their taste? The puree texture mixed with squishiness of dimsum’s dough gave it a nice touch. And the general sweetness was just a cherry on top.
The seller approached their table (since there was no one at the other places) along with the dish, and then returned back. Now the same tea-smoked squab was on the table. It seemed to Charlotte that it had been pressed down with something heavy during cooking so that the pigeon would have such a “flat” state.
“This is the dish for which I’m ready to come here even in the middle of the night. Even if no one is working here at this time.” Gaming said, tearing the leg off the bird.
“Come on, the thigh is the juiciest here! Mm... I don't think it compares to Fontaine’s fast-food.”
“This kind of food is more aimed at making you quickly grab and go about your business, as the slogans say. But the kitchen there is still kinda fishy, huh.” Charlotte remarked, then took a bite of her squab. Surprisingly, it turned out to taste even more tender than chicken! And everything was prepared naturally, apparently.
“Mm, did you stick your nose in there too?” asked the dancer, having finished chewing a piece.
“Certainly! I need to know what the residents of Fontaine are really being served.” Charlotte dramatically hit the table with her free hand.
“Ah! Apparently I missed this number, what a bummer! But still, it seems that you have already been everywhere you can and cannot imagine.” Gaming laughed slightly at his own words. And, well, he was absolutely right, Charlotte had a finger in every pie just because she wanted justice.
Journalist wiped her hands, and then took off Monsieur Veride. She put him on the table and pressed the recording button. Gaming raises one eyebrow, not understanding why Charlotte did that.
“Yes, that’s true, but enough about me. I remember your performance at the Lantern Rite, it was an amazing spectacle, but I’m interested to know if your troupe managed to perform anywhere else after that?”
“Oh, oh, mm, after, it seems, we performed on the streets of Liyue a couple of times, now I’m overwhelmed with work again and I just wouldn’t want to disrupt the performances if they suddenly assign me another task. Ehh.. but I think if I make an agreement, I can perform on stages in a couple of tea houses.” Afterwards, Gaming took a sip of the now cooled tea and wiped his lips with his sleeve.
“I would love to perform somewhere in the future, for example, at the Fontaine Opera House, but I’m not sure whether such elegant people will appreciate the dance of another culture.” Gaming put his hands and head on the table, thinking, to which Charlotte patted him on the shoulder in support.
“Are you afraid that they won’t appreciate it? I doubt it, if we have a trial almost like a performance, believe me, Wushou would be also interesting. I definitely heard this from the Fontaine members who were present.”
“Then this gives me hope!”
The two were still chatting. It is not clear how much they chatted. It seems that Gaming should have already left, but he continued to carry on the conversation, forgetting about the time. Or maybe he really liked to empty out the local street kitchen, Charlotte probably can’t decide what theory would fit more to him. Gaming also suggested they take a photo together, because good memories should’ve been pictured!
And In the end, Charlotte decided she wants to publish an article about this little lunch chatter rather than about boring scumbag. The only thing is to convince Euphrasie to agree..