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Life as a Fatui harbinger is quite busy. This much was especially true for the fourth harbinger, Arlecchino. Otherwise known as “The Knave”, Arlecchino is often busy helping the house of the hearth, her orphanage. She is constantly checking in on her children and acquiring new materials for the organization. Her dedication to her children is second to none, even if she’s quite a harsh “Father”.
Fontaine’s past Archon, however, has much free time as of late. Furina, formerly known as Focalors, is quite bored. Her past duties as Archon used to keep her schedule full and busy, but now as a regular celebrity of sorts, she has little to do throughout her day and often just stays at home eating macaroni until she inevitably falls asleep.
These two with opposing schedules have had trouble meeting up. A little over a year ago, Ms. Furina confessed her feelings to Arlecchino and they were returned. So with these two being official, they both craved each other’s touch. Though Furina was overtly obvious about this fact, Arlecchino was not. Though she did care, of course, she just was a more cold and distant person. But this fact didn’t stop her from longing for Furina’s love and touch.
This sunny afternoon, Furina was feeling extra needy. All she wanted was Arlecchino. All she wanted was Arlecchino to come over to her house and cuddle her. Furina’s always desperate, but this was INTENSE. All she could do was complain and groan about how badly she just wanted to kiss and cuddle her love.
'Waaah!!” Cried Furina as she kicked her legs up and down in anticipation. “When will she come visit??? I need her!!” Furina whined out through gritted teeth. It felt like torture to have to wait for her beloved, let alone having to wait multiple days. It was like a small needle scraping on her skin that she couldn’t remove until someone helped her. That someone being The Knave.
Furina huffed softly, “I’ll just go out! Maybe I’ll bump into her!” she stated. She promptly got up and removed her tank top, putting on her normal outfit. She put on her cute frilly socks and small shoes. She then took a small bag with light blue gemstones on it and strolled outside.
As she walked through Fontaine’s most popular city, she admired the scenery before her sight-seeing was caught short by bumping into someone. She fell over from this impact.
“Ow! Who dares to interrupt my- Oh!” Furina looked up to notice Charlotte, a local photographer.
“Oh my gosh!” She uttered, helping Furina up. “I’m so sorry Lady Furina!!!” Charlotte was a very hyper person but while she might be over-the-top, she is very kind.
“No,” sighed Furina, “It’s fine, and just Furina is alright...” She brushed herself off as she picked up her bag that she had dropped. She then looked at Charlotte. “What are you doing out and about?”
“I’m actually on my way to an interview with Chiori!” She exclaimed happily. This was no surprise to Furina. Charlotte is constantly looking for people to interview for the steambird and Chiori is a great candidate, if she’s willing to talk, that is.
“Be careful, she’s as sharp as her scissors she uses to cut fabric,” Furina noted, bringing this to Charlotte’s attention, only to receive a small giggle in return. “Huh? What is it?”
“She might be sharp, but if you’re on her good side, she’s amazingly nice! And we’re good buddies so I’m all good!” Charlotte held up a thumbs up, causing a happy sigh to erupt from Furina.
“That’s good. Well I must continue my walk, nice seeing you Charlotte,” Furina waved to the pink-haired photographer as she strolled along.
She walked a little further, observing the melusines and fontainians along her path. She noticed how they interacted and how they got along like good buddies. This brought happiness to Furina. This feeling, however, did not last long as her mind trailed back off to her lover. All she wanted in the whole world was her sweetheart, even if that meant running across all of Teyvat.
But, of course, she didn’t actually do that. In her outfit? Never. But she did keep strolling, when suddenly she noticed a tall man bullying a melusine and dangling a paper above her head. Furina knew it was her duty, as the arch- erm.. As the PAST Archon, to put a stop to this!
Furina puffed her cheeks and ran over to the man. “SIR!” She announced, “Leave this poor melusine alone! Give her paper back and apologize AT ONCE!”
This man proceeded to ridicule the two. “An order from the FAKER? I’m not stupid! She doesn’t get this paper, she’s a FREAK!”
This made Furina’s blood boil (of course). She immediately sprung into action, stepping on this man’s foot with her heel, she then kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall over in pain. Furina flipped her hair out of her face before handing the paper that had fallen on the ground to the melusine. “Run along now,” she muttered and the melusine scurried away.
Furina turned to the man with a deathly glare on her face. “That’ll teach you not to bully melusines you slob!” She huffed and continued her walk.
Furina, exhausted from the small interaction, walked slowly through the city. “Arlecchino..” she muttered, “Where are you..?” She took a stop at a small bench, sitting down as she sighed.
We’ll get back to her later, but now to switch gears to see what The Knave has been up to this fine day.
Arlecchino had been working all day. Whether it was paperwork, housework, or combat, she had been fully occupied the entire day. Though most would find this exhausting, Arlecchino was doing pretty well. As she sat slowly in her chair, Freminet gently opened the door.
“Father.. Dottore is here..” He muttered gently.
Arlecchino’s eyes widened as she stood up. “Stay in here Freminet,” she uttered as she left her quarters to go see the uninvited guest at her doorstep. Much to The Knave’s dismay, she was greeted by a man with toothpaste colored hair.
“Hello Knave,” he greeted with a wicked smile, causing some children to cower behind Arlecchino in fear.
Arlecchino had never liked Dottore. He was an evil being. His experiments had traumatized many of the past children of the hearth as well as many other children that Arlecchino could’ve saved. She hated his guts and everything he stood for. She had always said that if he was not a harbinger, he would’ve been long gone.
“What is your business, Doctor?” Arlecchino asked with a suspecting glare in her eyes. She didn’t trust this man and was trying to make sure her little ones stayed inside the house and stayed safe, away from this evil being.
The harbinger standing there smirked, laughing maniacally. “Why do you always assume I mean harm? I simply would like to offer you some treats for your children.” As the doctor held out the basket of treats, the knave wasn’t fooled. She knew he had tampered with the basket of treats and that they’d be unsuitable for her children.
She took the basket. “Thank you Dottore, but my children are fine without poisoned food,” she snarked. Dottore was shocked, he had used a very subtle poison that was only intense once digested.
“Whaaaat?? Me? Using a poison? That would be alarming!” He suggested, trying to save himself from getting extremely hurt by this watchful harbinger he stared at.
“If you wish to hurt my children, I have no choice but to hurt you,” She growled, kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. Once he got up and dusted himself off she glared at him intensely. “Dare to tamper with food a second time, and you won’t get to tell the tale. Now scram.”
As Dottore got up and ran in shock, Arlecchino’s children applauded her. This shocked the Knave as she turned around to see her beautiful children happy and safe. This brought a slight smile to her face. However, this quickly faded as her duties as the Knave called for more blunt expressions, as to not be vulnerable to her dear children.
She walked into the House of the Hearth, approaching Lyney and Lynette who were bandaging one of the small children. Though she never wanted to admit it, she did favorite her main three children. Those being Lyney, Lynette and Freminet. She thought of them as a great group of children who deserved responsibility and power to do as they wished. She knew they were worthy and strong children
“Father! Did Dottore harm anyone?” Lyney asked, concerned about his siblings.
"They’re all untouched Lyney, no need to fret,” stated the Knave, placing her hand gently on Lyney’s head as the younger one sighed. She was proud of him for knowing to put the children first, but she was also disappointed at the worry in his voice as she believed it was better when a father or mother hides their emotions well.
However, she had little time to reminisce on this opinion. She had to get back to helping her children.
On Furina’s side of the story, she was EXHAUSTED. Due to her lack of budgeting skills, she ended up spending nearly millions of mora on stuff she most definitely didn’t need. An octopus-shaped pan, ANOTHER bubblerbeast teacup, and much more useless materials.
Nevertheless, she brought her bags of goodies home, plopping onto her bed and sighing. “When will she be back? It’s already 6 PM!!” she whined. This was very dramatic. Arlecchino tends to come home around 8 - 10 PM (on days when she comes home) but Furina was bored out of her mind and knew subconsciously that she couldn’t spend more mora or she’d get a stern talking-to from her dear animal friends.
Furina, not knowing how to spend her time, merely got up to make herself some macaroni. She opened a door to her cabinet, wondering what sauce to use for her delicious delectable pasta. After a few minutes of trying to decide, she settled on alfredo, a classic and yummy cheese sauce that she thought to be the perfect match for her mood.
As she ate her food, she sighed dramatically at the lack of her dear love. She knew this was overreacting but she couldn’t help it. As time by herself went by she slowly devolved into her sad self, full of depression and anxiety. After having to suffer for so long, she has much trauma from this situation and is permanently scarred.
She slowly started to cry, her tears dripping into her macaroni. She desperately wiped them, getting tissues to blow her nose into. She really wasn’t that sad, she simply was surrounded by silence and her body didn’t know how else to react to this. It’s only natural reaction to being alone was to cry. To let it all out. Because ever since she was cursed that was the only time she could let anything out. The rest of the time she had to keep up her facade of divinity.
As she pulled herself together, she got into bed, curling up and crying into her legs, the droplets slowly falling down, coating them in a wet residue. She just wanted to sleep so she could wake up to her gorgeous girlfriend. So she started to drift off into dreamland, hoping to see her lover next time she opened her eyes to the world.
It was getting darker outside as Arlecchino did some more paperwork. She knew Furina well enough to know that Furina was most definitely at home, sighing her sorrows away. If not, she had already done that and was now crying. This did make Arlecchino feel slightly guilty but she had no time to dwell on these measly feelings. She had her children to care for.
She strolled down the hallway, approaching one of her children named Sable. This was one of her newer children she had adopted from a human trafficking company that she destroyed a branch of.
“Father!” The small girl cheered happily, going to hug Arlecchino.
Typically, Arlecchino wouldn’t humor this, but this child had been through a lot in the past few years of its life, so she simply let it.
“It’s alright dear.. Run along now..” She gently uttered the child to go back to the room where the rest of the 7 - 10 year olds played.
As the child ran along she watched, hopeful that the child would lead a better life under her care. She sighed, walking further down the hallway. She approached Lyney.
“Lyney, do we have any other work that needs to be taken care of before I head back to my house?”
“Well we need to go over finances now that we have six new children here..” He nodded, searching through the papers regarding what had to get done. Ever since Arlecchino challenged the Traveler, Lyney has taken on more responsibilities at the House of the Hearth. Arlecchino hoped this would prepare him to lead the orphanage once Arlecchino couldn’t. She especially hoped that he would be a better parent then the Mother Arlecchino had dealt with during her childhood.
“Alright, sort the finances out and we’ll discuss them after.”
Lyney nodded, going to sort out the finances on his own time. Arlecchino then walked to the children.
“Children who are 13 and older, please begin preparing dinner. Younger children may go play in the courtyard as long as you can agree on a game to play. Anyone who wishes not to play may read a book or sit aside.”
The children nodded and happily discussed what they wanted to do during this time. Some thought to play hide and seek, others preferred tag. Neither choice mattered to Arlecchino as she had a meal to manage.
She went into the kitchen area to see the children preparing the meal. Some were helping others, while some were perfectly content with how they did it and knew how to make the meal well. Today they’d be serving classic spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce. However, some plates were prepared without meatballs to ensure vegetarian children had food. The pasta was all gluten free as well to provide those children with food at this time.
Once the food was ready, the older children called in the younger ones to have seats in the dining hall. During this, Arlecchino simply watched her children eat before glancing at Lyney.
“I must be off to Furina’s place,” she said lowly. “Make sure all the children go to bed on time and keep your eye on the ones who tend to get up early. We can discuss finances tomorrow."
Lyney nodded at Arlecchino before waving as she walked away.
Arlecchino started making her way to Furina's place. She was thinking about how she knew she’d be greeted either happily or angrily by her dear girlfriend. She knew Furina was sensitive (especially when she had been gone) and was quite ready to do all the comforting she needed to ensure her favorite girl in the whole world felt loved and appreciated. Even though Arlecchino is a cold and stand-offish person, she does not and will not make her significant other feel unloved or useless, that would be simply horrible.
Once she arrived at Furina’s place, she gently opened the door.
“Furina, dear, I am home,” she said, putting her coat on the coat rack.
Suddenly, Furina came rushing forward, hugging Arlecchino tightly and wrapping her arms around her. She cried softly into Arlecchino’s chest while the taller woman stroked the smaller’s head.
“I missed you so much.. Please come home sooner next time!” Exclaimed Furina.
“I will, dear, my apologies..” She kissed the top of Furina’s forehead gently to soothe the poor sweet girl.
Arlecchino took a moment to cherish the embrace before leading Furina to their shared room. She pulled up the blanket a bit, gesturing to Furina to go under the covers. Arlecchino slipped off her shoes and got into the bed with Furina, huddling close to her lover. She felt bad for the small droplet, all she wanted was to be loved and embraced.. And Arlecchino, to make up for this, would cuddle all night long with her dear Furina. She whispered small words of love to her girlfriend, enchanting her with every breath. Furina felt at ease as she relaxed in the touch of the woman who she loved more than any other. She sighed happily as she kissed Arlecchino softly, not hesitating to tell the taller woman how much she adored her.
“I love you, Arlecchino..” Furina uttered.
“I love you too, Lady Furina..”
These were the last words shared between the two women before they slowly drifted to dream land, where they would be met with each other again in a soft and comforting dream.