Chapter Text
Finally, after so many weeks of working and only thanks to her good friend Clorinde she could leave that hideous place behind and live the life she always wanted. Trying to leave past events behind, a new apartment was in front of her- perhaps a new life.
Finally a quiet beautiful place, all cleaned up and ready for all the naps and baking cakes.
Yet even this wasn't enough for Furina to feel any sense of excitement.
What could be the reason? Does she miss something? Or is there perhaps something wrong with the apartment?
‘No, the apartment is perfect’ she thought to herself. Not even her favorite bakery has such a beautiful kitchen. So much storage for clothes. And the biggest bed which makes you sleepy even by looking at its fluffy mattress. It's perfect, how could she feel sadness here?
Suddenly, Furina's thoughts were interrupted by a loud melody coming from the main door.
“Ah” she jumped out of excitement, “Clorinde”. How could she forget? It's her first day in her brand new apartment and Clorinde promised her a little visit.
She ran to her door with her funny looking fish flip flops and opened it.
Of course it was her. The infamous champion duelist Clorinde with quite a rare expression on her face- a simple smile.
“Good morning lady Furina” she said with her neutral, but still calming warm voice while holding a bouquet of flowers and some kind of bag.
Furina could only observe with her ear to ear smile, not even hearing Clorinde's greeting.
Her ex-bodyguard looked different today though. Furina used to see her every day and it didn't change much these past few weeks, since she had to sleep somewhere until her new apartment would be done.
This time she came without her hat. Instead she put a few beautiful hair pieces and clips into her raven hair. Some of them even had little purple flowers.
And she wasn't wearing her work outfit either. Instead her chest was covered by a loose white blouse, partially behind a dark purple vest. Her legs now hidden thanks to black pegged pants. All decorated with her iconic purple bow tie.
“Lady Furina?”
She looked so gorgeous. It was rare for Clorinde to wear something different thanks to her strict lifestyle. Maybe this is the opportunity Furina was waiting for. To see what's behind that cold face.
“Lady Furina, Are you alright?”
Finally Furina snapped out of it and heard Clorinde's desperate calls.
Even a champion duelist like herself started to feel a little uncomfortable in such awkward silence, seeing how the hydro la dame scanned every inch of her body. Or perhaps she was just embarrassed. You never know when it comes to Clorinde and her almost dead emotions.
Furina looked into the eyes of her visitor. She could watch Clorinde's eyes for hours. Those shining purple rings looking at you were the last thing to see for many people, before being thrown into the deepest prisons in Fontaine. But Furina always found them cute, silly even.
“My apologies Clorinde. I'm so happy you came by.” she said with her typical sweet giggle. Clorinde could only answer with a relieved expression.
“Come on, come right in.” Furina fully opened her door and pointed inside the apartment with a little bow like in some kind of theater play. Clorinde was now the only person she could fully feel free around and let these artistic impulses off leash.
While going through the door, Clorinde handed both things to Furina. “Please, take this as a gift, my lady.” she said with her polite manners. Clorinde wasn't her subordinate anymore, so there was no need to act like this. On the other hand ‘her lady’ still silently liked it.
Furina took both gifts from her hands and could finally observe them more closely. A beautiful bouquet where every flower had a different shade of blue and a deliciously looking cake in the bag of her favorite bakery.
“Mmmm a vanilla blueberry, I was craving that today.” her eyes widened while almost drooling over the piece of cake.
“I know.” Clorinde smiled, slowly walking deeper into the apartment, “You always crave vanilla blueberry when you feel excited.”
That sentence made Furina feel butterflies in her stomach. Is she really that easily readable? Or is it just Clorinde being around her a lot?
They finally came into the kitchen and Furina put the flowers into a beautiful crystal vase on the table.
“Thank you so much, they look gorgeous.” she whispered, while experiencing the warm feeling because of having something from Clorinde in the house.
The Kitchen really was majestic, having almost everything a professional chef could ask for, everything colored in light blue, making the place feel really cozy for all sorts of cooking and baking sessions.
“Will you stay for long? I can get you some tea.” She opened one of the kitchen cabinets revealing all sorts of teas and spices.
“Tea sounds good.” The duelist sat down at the well laid table, “And depends on you, it's your big day, lady Furina, so I will be here as much as you want me to.”
Furina turned around to put a kettle on the stove, desperately trying to hide her ear to ear smile again. Of course she was happy to have Clorinde here. Spending time alone was a nightmare for Furina, so such a company was more than welcomed.
After a little while, the kettle started to whistle and Furina poured the boiling water over some tea herbs in a cute cup with a cat face on it.
“Here you go. No sugar, the way you like it.” She handed it to Clorinde on a small plate, already hearing her polite “Thank you, lady Furina.”
Furina on the other hand unpacked the cake and sat right in front of the duelist, ready to eat it.
The first bite was so delicious, she could feel the cream melting in her mouth, together with the mild sourness of the fresh blueberries. But even such a dessert couldn't keep Furina’s attention. Right in front of her was the beautiful champion duelist, slowly sipping tea, her hands covered in scars holding the cup so gently. Perhaps this is the reason why she always wears her gloves, being uncomfortable showing her bare hands in public.
Was this a good time to finally admit that Furina has a secret crush on Clorinde? Nonetheless, she had to make sure not to stare much and started to eat her cake again.
“Hey, wanna try it? It's really good.” Furina said while still impatiently chewing the previous bite.
Clorinde giggled softly, “No, no thank you, you know my stance on sugary things.”
Oh she knew . Someone so close to Furina not liking sweets almost felt like heresy, but Furina had her ways to make Clorinde try at least something from local bakeries. And even the famous champion duelist like herself needs to put some sugar in her body.
“Come on, just one bite. This one is not even that sweet.” Furina cuts a small piece and hands the fork with it to Clorinde.
She only sighs upon the look of Furinas big ‘pretty please’ eyes. Suddenly she leans her head to the fork and bites the cake softly right from Furinas hands.
Furina looked like she froze in time, not expecting this at all and leaving her hand motionless above the table. She could feel her cheeks filling up with redness again, trying to hide it by pretending to clean her mouth with a napkin.
“It’s good.” Clorinde said right after swallowing, “But yours are way better… When was even the last time you baked?”
If the last scene wasn't enough, now Furina felt like a steam locomotive, the heat being so much it felt like erupting from her in any second. She never knew Clorinde liked her baking, always suspecting she pretended to like it, since they were so close- jobwise of course .
“Ehm… Y- yeah,” Furina stuttered, “It feels like years since the last time I baked.” An unhappy face appeared on her, “I would love to bake again, but now it doesn't feel right without all the people around.”
“I could assist you some day.” Clorinde interrupted with her idea, “Navia told me a few cooking tricks.”
That name left Furina speechless for a few seconds. She knew Clorinde spends lots of free time with Navia. Seeing them together some days made Furina feel jealous, to the point when she thinks about it the whole night.
“Do you go to bakeries with Navia often?” Furina asked, almost like interrogating her.
“No, not really.” Clorinde sipped from her tea cup, closing her eyes for a moment, “She just talks about cooking from time to time.”
“I see…” Furina only looked down at her half eaten cake, now with no appetite to finish it.
“Is something wrong? You always start to look tense when I bring up Navia these past few weeks." She showed a worried face, clearly seeing through any kind of ‘pretending’, “Did something happen between the two of you?”
“No, nothing like that, no need to worry.” Furina tried to smile, but she is terrible at it when she’s not in the mood.
A long silence swallowed the whole room for a moment. Furina had no intentions to ruin their precious day, but she can't help her emotions sometimes. Clorinde really is the only person who cares for her these days and she doesn't want to lose her.
“If you feel like my friendship with Navia is somehow changing my view on you, then there is no need to worry, I promise.” She assured and gave Furina that cute smile from before.
This made Furina feel a lot better, still having a weird feeling in her guts, but a promise from Clorinde always meant a lot to her. She would trust her with her own life.
“The baking sounds really nice, Clorinde.” a heartwarming smile formed on Furina’s face.
Clorinde giggled, “So tomorrow morning, my lady?”