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Arlecchino would consider herself a rational woman. She was not one who fell victim to boughts of thoughtless outspokenness nor could she remember the last time she shed a tear over anything, regardless of what emotions might tear away at her from the inside and beg for release. No. She was better than that. Whatever burned within her, she would squash without a second thought. Putting it lightly, years of practice and refinement had left her with more self control than the average person. She had big plans, and she could not let something as trivial as anxiety, uncertainty, or pride give her away and ruin all that she’d so carefully cultivated over the years. Arlecchino, above all else, is a careful woman.
And then she met you. You who spoke to her despite the waver in your voice and the wariness in your eyes. You who cared for the children of the Hearth above all else. You who took her cursed hands gently in yours with a reverence that seemed heretical to bestow upon someone like her. A Fatui Harbinger. A murderer. A monster. She would watch as your hands traced over her own. Your touch was slow and feather-light, a curiosity in your movements as you explored. Arlecchino briefly took note that she let you continue, an abnormality to how she normally would have reacted to this kind of touch. She was brought back as the feeling of your fingertips brought chills to her skin. She was not, it seems, careful enough.
The children of the House of the Hearth were more perceptive than she perhaps gave them credit for. Of course, she had raised them to be aware of everything happening around them. To look for information, read their opponents, and grow from every experience is a habit Arlecchino had instilled into them from the beginning. Their very survival depended on them being observant, from simple reconnaissance missions to more dangerous assignments that were meant to tie up loose ends. She just hadn’t expected them to read her. At least, not so easily. Of course, she knew they were watching her, always analyzing her movements as though they might be able to discern what she would do next in any given situation. She was their Father, after all. It was only natural for them to try. Though the inner machinations of her mind were not something they were usually privy to, in relation to how she felt about and regarded you, they seem to have succeeded in their attempts at reading her.
Looking back, she probably should have suspected they’d come to put her feelings together eventually. Though she definitely thought she was being discreet, she certainly had not been. From calling you to her office more often, letting her gaze linger longer than it needed to, and even to letting you physically touch her when most others knew to keep their distance, the children most certainly had enough clues to put together what was going on in her mind. She figured she’d allow it just this once. You, at the very least, seemed to still be none the wiser.
That’s how things stayed for a long while afterwards as well. Being a patient woman, Arlecchino saw no need to rush into her feelings, even when she noticed you would flush at her touch or smile at her when you thought she wasn’t aware. It was endearing to see, though she knew that she had to be very careful with how she went about dealing with the whole situation. This was no normal pining between two individuals. She was The Knave, number four of the Fatui Harbingers, and quite honestly the last person someone like you should be falling in love with. While she still had to decide how to handle her feelings, she found it fun to play with you, at the very least.
It wasn’t much, in all honesty. It started with her being the one to seek out your touch. She'd let her hands linger on you, nails scraping gently against your skin before she’d remove herself from your space entirely. A small, knowing smile would make its way to her face when small actions like that would leave you adorning a lovely flush. Eventually, she’d catch herself calling you ‘dear’ as well.
Though the outcome of her decision was clear as day to the children, it wasn’t until a couple months later that it became clear to The Knave herself. It was a sunny day when she stood outside in the shade of a tree, watching you play with the children that she decided the House of the Hearth might once again have a Mother.