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It was just like any other day in Nasha Town, the streets bustling with all sorts of newcomers, all from different parts of Teyvat.
Today, The Flagship was particularly crowded, and its bartender, Demyan, was already exhausted.
Everything seemed to be going wrong, the guests were noisy and the day was moving way too slow.
He could barely catch his breath, his hands moving on autopilot to wipe glasses or mix and serve new round of drinks.
He lifted one of the glasses to examine it closer just as the front door opened, revealing a new but familiar guest.
Kyryll Chudomirovich Flins, one of the lightkeepers in Nod-Krai.
The new guest walked through the entrance, a tall pale figure covered with a black uniform paired with a silver chain at his waist
He had long, dark blue hair with light blue tips, and his eyes were golden but strangely, he had no pupils, only dark circles underneath his eyes.
Demyan exhaled with relief, finally someone he knew... somewhat.
"Sir." He smiled and Flins nodded his head as a greeting when he noticed Demyan behind the bar.
"It's been a while, Demyan." He greeted in a calm tone.
The blonde man nodded in agreement, "Mhm, you haven't been to Nasha Town for long... for a few months now."
"But I see nothing changed, you are busy as ever" Flins sat down on one of the bar stools.
He looked around the bar, noticing how noisy it was today; Demyan followed his gaze and sighed, "Vacation season, my favourite..."
"You don't enjoy the increased business?" Flins asked, returning his gaze back to the bartender.
"Yeah, but... ugh." He didn't even try finish, deciding to instead change the subject: "Sir Flins, are you staying in town for a few days? Your usual room is empty, I usually keep it unoccupied."
Flins tilted his head slightly, “Just for the night this time." he replied, “I have business with one of the merchants here.”
The bartender leaned forward slightly, “Are you after a coin again, or is it a gem this time?”
Flins smirked at Demyan’s question, “You know me too well, Demyan... this time it’s a gemstone.”
Then he added: "A light blue sapphire, I’ve been looking for it for a while now, actually.”
“Are you sure the merchant doesn’t have a fake, how can you tell if a gem is genuine?” The blonde man tilted his head.
Flins raised an eyebrow, “Hah, don’t worry, I have my own ways of ensuring its authenticity, after all, I’ve been in this business for a long time.” He assured him.
Demyan leaned back, “Of course you know, sir, um- do you want a drink?”
The blue-haired man nodded, “Yes, I’ll take the usual.”
“I’ll be right back.” Demyan smiled politely and immediately got down to business.
But just then, one of the noisy guests stood up, “Hey bartender, another round!”
Flins looked to the side and towards the quest, keeping an eye on him just in case.
Demyan remained unfazed, used to dealing with drunk and loud guests; with practiced ease, he prepared another round of drinks along with Flins’.
Shortly after, Demyan placed his drink on the bar, "Here you go, sir."
"Thank you, Demyan." Flins took a small sip of his drink, watching as the other man made his way through the crowd, skillfully dodging between the tables.
The drunk group that requested another round seemed to be adventurers from Mondstadt, judging by their uniforms.
The adventurers' laughter grew louder, one of them slamming a mug of beer on the table, spilling some on the floor.
Demyan immediately noticed it and warned them, still wearing a polite expression on his face, "Please, dear guests, keep in mind-"
Before Demyan could even finish, one of the adventurers interrupted: "What? We can't even have good time anymore? We are celebrating our successful mission!"
The blonde man's polite expression was not flattering for a moment, "I'm glad you're... happy, but please don't make a mess."
The adventurers scoffed at Demyan's request.
The leader of the group, a man with a smug smile, leaned back in his seat, “What’s the problem? We’re paying guests. We can do whatever we want, right?”
The bartender finally frowned, “No, there are rules even for paying guests.”
The group of adventurers immediately laughed at Demyan’s firm response.
The leader then stood up from his seat, “Rules, huh? And who’s going to make us follow them? You?”
Demyan was ready to argue for a moment, but his colleague Leszek intervened, he was much bigger, no wonder he acted as tavern's bodyguard when he wasn't occupied with bounties.
The adventurers’ confidence quickly disappeared when Leszek appeared, "Behave yourself, or I'll throw you out myself." He said and then looked at Demyan.
Demyan sighed, "Thanks..." with that, he returned back behind the bar, back to Flins.
"Demyan." The blue-haired man called out as the bartender returned, his voice had a touch of dry humor when he opened his mouth: "You should consider charging them extra for the inconvenience."
The bartender snorted at the suggestion, "Do you think they of all people would actually pay extra?"
Flins smirked into his drink, "No, but it would be fun to watch them argue about it."
Demyan returned a smirk back, "You want me to get in trouble?"
Flins tilted his head, "It would be fun, but I'd rather not see you get thrown out the window for my amusement."
He took another sip of his drink before adding calmly: "Demyan's face is too pretty to bruise."
The bartender's light blue eyes widened at the compliment, to hide his flustered demeanor, he quickly got busy with glasses behind the bar.
It was amusing to see the normally calm bartender touched by such a small comment, making him fiddle with glasses.
“Be careful.” he teased, “You might drop something important.”
“Um, this is hardly anything important, I mean, it’s just a few glasses, it wouldn’t be the first or last time I’ve… dropped one or... two.” He continued scrubbing the glass he was holding.
“So, breaking glasses is a common occurrence, hm?” he teased once more, leaning back slightly, “That’s not very reassuring for your customers.”
Demyan lifted his head to look at him with his eyes still wide, “N-No, it’s not common! I rarely drop them, but it happens from time to time.”
“Ah, so only ‘from time to time,’” Flins replied with a nod, his tone full of amusement.
He noticed that Demyan tried to avoid eye contact with him, liking the man's attempts to hide his blush.
And before he knew it, Flins' glass was already empty, "Looks like I need another one."
"Another one? Be careful... you have to meet the merchant tomorrow." Demyan says as he begins to pour another glass.
"Don't worry." Flins says casually as he leans against the bar, "I can handle a few glasses of wine."
He then brought his glass to his lips, taking a deliberate, almost excessive sip.
"Mm, perfect." He sighs in satisfaction, "Just the way I like it."
His eyes once more seized the tavern, noticing that it was getting late and the guests who didn't have rooms were slowly starting to leave.
"Looks like your night is finally coming to an end." he remarked, lazily swirling his wine.
“Thank the Cryo Archon.” Demyan wiped his forehead, but then looked back at the adventurers from earlier, “Though those drunks still haven’t left.”
Flins’s gaze followed Demyan’s, his eyes narrowing slightly as they settled on the said group.
As if the men could sense, the leader looked towards the bar, “Bartender, another round!”
Immediately, the blonde man sighed, but got down to business.
"Gentlemen, we're closing soon, so make sure you cover the bill." Demyan warned as he served them.
As predicted, one of them frowned, "Closing? It's still early!"
Another one joined, "Yes! We're paying guests, you can't kick us out yet!"
"You don't want the bodyguard to kick you out yourself, do you?" Demyan leaned slightly in their faces, a mistake on his part.
The leader of the group suddenly grabbed Demyan by the collar and yanked him forward, "Oh, you going to cry to your big friend again?"
There was no need for Leszek to step in this time however, because Flins moved first and in one fluid movement, he gripped the group's leader's wrist tightly.
"Let go." He said firmly, his grip making the man wince.
Leszek was already behind them, ready for them to intertwine if needed.
The adventurers finally realized their mistake, scared into submission by taking one good look at Flins.
The leader finally decided to listen and let go of Demyan, "Y-Yes, of course..." he stammered.
Leszek crossed his arms, towering over them, "Bill." He growled.
The men immediately started pulling mora, basically throwing it into Demyan's hands.
Suddenly, Kruchek, a fatui recruiter, jumped over his booth's counter and laughed, "I swear here is more exciting than with the fatui."
Leszek raised an eyebrow as he replied dryly: "You're too easy to entertain, Kruchek."
"Bar fights are my favorite, but not with the staff, of course." He grinned at Demyan.
Demyan rolled his eyes and gave him a sarcastic laugh, "I'm glad to know I'm spared from your entertainment."
Flins crossed his arms, watching the exchange between tavern's coworkers, "Quite an interesting crew." He thought.
Leszek was a big man, with thick muscles, always wears a frown, and is a bounty hunter at that.
Demyan was slim and fair, his expression usually polite and reserved, his light blue eyes almost puppy-like.
Kruchek, on the other hand, was the complete opposite; energetic, loud, and always smiling, although you could never see his whole face.
And then there was the host, Paavo... a kid?
Flins' eyebrow raised slightly as his gaze fell on Paavo, a wide-eyed young boy walking around the tables, preparing everyone to pay.
"That one." Flins pointed at the kid, "He definitely doesn't belong here."
And yet, there he was, laughing too loudly at the bad jokes of drunk guests.
Demyan put his hand on a hip and leaned to the side, “Don’t worry, we’re not giving him alcohol.”
Kruchek continued: "And if you think he's naive, don't worry, when he arrived first time, I asked him to join the Fatui, and he called me a dog.”
The other two staff members looked at him, Demyan only now finding out about this, "What? You asked a child to join the Fatui?”
“What’s wrong? Teach them young, it’s a shame that guy Omesov is literally standing in front of the tavern and fills everyone's heads with garbage!” He squeezes his fist into the air.
“Of course.” Laszek sighed, “Because teaching literal children to become ruthless killers is such a noble cause.”
Having enough of listening to them, Demyan raised his voice so that everyone can hear him, “Okay, shift’s over, we are closing!”
Leszek moved towards the door, together with the Fatui recruiter who immediately, like a dog, started barking at his former colleague who was still outside, discouraging people from joining.
Demyan and Paavo settled all the bills, the guests who had reserved rooms went to rest, while others left the bar.
In the end, only Flins and the bartender who mopped the floor remained in the bar.
Once the floor was clean, the bartender gave a weary sigh and climbed onto the stool from outside of the bar.
He noticed that a certain fae was still standing there, "Not going to your room?" Demyan asked.
Flins only then approached him, "Not yet, I think I'll stay a little longer."
The blonde man tilted his head, "That's not allowed, dear guest, we're closed tonight."
"Then I guess you'll have to escort me to my room. " he teased back.
Demyan sighed and waved his hand, "Nevermind, my shift ended for tonight anyway..."
He pulled out a bottle of wine from inside the bar and sat back down on the stool.
"Wine at this hour?" He sat on the seat next to Demyan's, “Do you mind if I join you?”
Demyan hummed in approval and passed him the bottle, "Knock yourself out."
"Very kind of you, if I remember correctly, this is the good one." Flins looked over the bottle before pouring it to himself.
“Sir, you know we only have the best.” Demyan nodded proudly, "So.... how are your good deeds coming along? Purifying darkness as usual?"
Flins was surprised by the new subject, but his expression remained calm, giving nothing away, "You know a lot about me, but it seems like I barely know anything about you."
Demyan scratched his head, "Uh, there is nothing interesting to learn, just a humble upbringing."
Flins took him for word instead of pressing further, "Well then, how very... ordinary." Then he added: "Your life must be very peaceful then.”
“Well, peaceful is not quite the word when I work here, BUT it’s good to experience chaos every now and then.” Demyan chuckles, "I like chaos once in a while, until it doesn't get me, maybe it's selfish of me to enjoy someone else's misfortune."
Flins smiled slightly, "It's not selfish, I think it's human nature."
Demyan snorts, “You seem to know about human nature, despite being a snowland fae.”
"Because I’ve lived for a long time, I’ve had plenty of time to observe human nature, in all its glory.” The fae says casually.
Demyan hummed at his words, “Sometimes I forget you’re a fae… I wonder why I’m one of the people you’ve told."
“Because...” Flins starts, “you’re not like others.” He takes another sip of wine, “And you make decent drinks.”
The blonde man raised an eyebrow, “Really?”
He didn't expect to get anything more from Flins, so he searched for another topic in his head, “Uh… ah yes!” He quickly found it, “Have you heard any news from Varka lately?”
The blue-haired man shifted in his seat, “Varka?” Not recently, no... I guess he’s gone off on some mission again.”
“The Knights of Favonius are keeping him busy I guess…” The blonde man said as he filled Flins’ glass when the latter motioned for Demyan to pour him another.
Flins suddenly asks: “How long exactly have you been drinking?”
Demyan frowned as he thought, “I don’t even remember."
“You mortals forget things so easily." He shakes his head, "Though, how old are you exactly?"
“I never told you how old I am? We’ve been drinking buddies for so long!” Demyan voiced in disbelief.
The bartender groans at himself for such oversight, he then folds his arms, “I’m twenty-six!”
“Twenty-six?” Flins repeated, “You’re a real spring chicken, kid.”
At his words, Demyan pouted, “You- well if we went only by appearance, you'd be about same as my age, maybe thirty?”
Flins had to chuckle a bit louder at that, Demyan leaned into his space and raised his glass, "But don't worry, no matter who you were or are, to me, you're my drinking buddy."
"Well, at least you're right about that." he agreed and also raised his glass, mimicking Demyan's gesture.
The two drank for a while, their glasses slowly emptying one after another.
"You know, you have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, is being a bartender made your tolerance high?" Flins asked.
“Well, not sure about that, but what I know is that hanging out with Varka made it higher…”
Of course it did, Varka can outdrink the entire tavern on his worst day.
They were rudely interrupted by a doorknob turning, Demyan immediately stiffened beside, definitely not expecting anyone at this hout.
“Should we be worried?” Flins looked at him.
“Paavo locked from outside when leaving and I don’t expect anyone unless it’s one of them forgetting something? But… they’d be banging by now.” He slowly stood up from stool to check.
Flins watched the bartender move forward, “Wait.” he stopped him.
He joined him in front of the doors, the doorknob turned once again, then voices could be heard.
Demyan stepped back, "They're trying to pick the lock."
Before Flins could say anything, the door swung open, making Flins immediately step in-between Demyan and intruders.
Several thieves stopped in their tracks immediately, their eyes widening.
Flins watched them back with a calm but dangerous expression before muttering: "Run."
The thieves exchanged panicked glances, one of them stammering weakly: "W-We didn't mean to!"
"You didn't mean to?" Flins had to snort at the bad excuse, "You broke a locked door at night."
The thieves remained in place for another second and then fled like frightened rabbits, one of them tripping over his own feet.
Demyan sighed with relief, "What's wrong today? First those drunk idiots, now treasure hoarders, what's next?"
The fae turned to him, "Just an ordinary day in Nod-Krai."
But all of this also reminded him why he preferred solitude.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on the jukebox, getting an idea and walking up to it to select some song.
Once he did, he turned to face the bartender, bowing slightly and offering his hand, "Would you like to dance?"
He could see immediate surprise on Demyan's face, dancing was probably the last thing he expected to be doing tonight.
The blonde man hesitated, but eventually accepted.
And as soon as the bartender took his hand, Flins pulled him closer.
He had Demyan swaying slightly despite the man's obvious inexperience, he stumbled slightly, obviously out of his element.
He looked up at Flins, "So you've learned to dance back in..."
"Back in Snezhnaya, yes." he nodded, "I spent a lot of time on ballroom dancing."
"You never told me why you left that life behind, why did you join Lightkeepers in Nod Krai? Don't you miss Snezhnaya?" The bartender's question touched old memories in Flins.
He was silent for a bit before answering: "It doesn't matter now."
The song continued to play as they continued dancing slowly, "You're better at this than you let on." Flins complimented.
Demyan looked down at their feet, "Maybe you should start giving me lessons every time you come to the town?"
Flins' smile sharpened at the suggestion, Every time I come to Town?" he repeated Demyan's question before spinning the bartender around, pulling him back in.
"I might start thinking you want me around more often." He watched Demyan's face turn red at his words, the man immediately stuttering: "W-Well, uh, you could use some company."
Flins hummed, as if giving it a thought, "I'm not much of a guy that likes to socialize, but if the other person is just too good, maybe I shouldn't pass."
As the blue-haired man said this, the song ended abruptly and he dipped Demyan, causing the latter to gasp in surprise.
"You okay?" He asked softly, getting a weak sound as the answer.
Flins straightened up, pulling Demyan back up with him in one smooth movement.
There was a silence between them for a moment before Flins let him go and took a step back, “You’re welcome for your first dance lesson.”
Demyan smiled back, then looked back towards the bar, his gaze quickly returned to Flins, “Are you going to sleep? Uh, I’m not sure if you faes even sleep… do you?”
The fae studied him for a moment, "Yes, I do rest."
“Really? I’ve heard rumors that you spend your nights patrolling around, do you rest during the day?”
The other shrugged, "Yeah I do patrol, and sometimes I do rest during the day, but not always, I don't need much sleep, two hours at most and I'm back up."
"I see..." Demyan looked away just for a moment, when his gaze returned back, the fae was gone and in its place was only a floating lantern with a blue flame.
The blonde man was immediately startled by the sight, "M-Mister Flins???"
The fae didn't meant to scare the bartender, but watching the man panic was quite amusing, "I'm still here." His voice came from the lantern itself.
He quickly returned back to his fae form, holding the lantern in his hand, "Happy?"
Maybe it was the alcohol, but upon seeing this, Demyan immediately fainted.
Flins caught him before the bartender could fall to the floor, "Really?" He muttered to himself.
He then effortlessly lifted the unconscious man and went to find the bartender's personal bedroom.
Luckily it was hard to miss, he entered and placed the man gently on his bed.
He carefully draped a blanket over Demyan, watching him carefully for a few moments, again, this is why he preferred solitude...
-
The next morning, the tavern filled up as quickly as ever.
Demyan leaned against the bar, rubbing his head.
Flins left from the guest rooms' hallway, preparing to go out and meet the merchant.
“Good morning.” he greeted, "Having a headache?"
Demyan hummed as the fae appeared in his sight, “I had a rather strange dream... we were dancing and then you suddenly turned into a lantern, the one you carry." He looked down at the item.
Ah, so the man didn't remember last night.
"That seems like a very good dream, though, no?" he played along.
The man groans, shaking his head, “I don’t even remember when I went to bed, I need to stop drinking after closing.”
He then looks at Flins, “Are you going to that meeting for the gemstone?”
“Mhm” Flins nodded, “I was just on my way.”
“Good luck then, and may you find that sapphire you’re looking for.” Demyan smiles brightly.
“Thank you." Flins turns to leave, "I will stop by afterwards before I leave Nasha Town."
Once the Lightkeeper leaves, the bartender sighs, knowing that after today, Flins will be leaving Nasha Town, who knows when it will be next time they see each other.
The entire day slowly passed, Demyan spent it talking to the guests, then to Kruchek, the Fatui recruiter immediately noticing his longing.
He smiled sharply as he leaned against the bar, "You seem sad, let me guess… a certain Lightkeeperis leaving the town?”
Demyan side eyed him, “How do you know about that?”
Kruchek’s eyes lit up with amusement, “Come on, it’s not that hard to guess, you ALWAYS mope around whenever the Lightkeeper leaves.”
“Well… he’s my friend, and he fights the Wild Hunt, that’s so courageous of him, you know." Demysb blushes, “I spend my days behind the bar, and he fights every day.”
Before the Fatui recruiter could tease any further, the familiar Lightkeeper walked through the front door with a pleased expression on his face.
Demyan immediately turned around, looking like a dog seeing its owner after a long day.
“Did you manage to get it, is it real?” Demyan asked as Flins approached.
Flins smiled, “Mhm. It took a while, but…” He set a leather pouch on the bar, pushing it towards Demyan.
Demyan opened the pouch and gasped when he saw light blue sapphire inside.
Kruchek's smirk vanished immediately as he leaned forward, his eyes scanning the gemstone.
The Fatui member reached out to touch it, but Flins quickly took the sapphire.
The man with the mask gasped, "He can touch it, but I can't?"
“That’s right." Flins stared at him, not saying anything more.
The other man huffed and returned back to his booth.
Demyan took out a wine glass, “I’ll pour you a drink before you go home, to celebrate your catch.”
And just like last night, they stayed drinking after closing hours.
Demyan suddenly began: “You know… are you actually good at dancing, you were in my dream.”
Huh, Demyan STILL thought that was just a dream.
Flins tried not to smile at the mention of dancing, not wanting to reveal anything, "Dancing, eh? Yeah, I'm good at it."
"Do you mind a round?" Demyan walked up to the jukebox, already choosing a song.
He then approached Flins who nodded, "Mhm I have time for a quick dance."
The jukebox began to play a slow Snezhanayan song as Flins took Demyan’s hand.
As soon as Demyan joined the dance, Flins led with ease, occasionally turning Demyan around.
Still like yesterday, Demyan stumbled once in a while, but Flins didn't comment on his errors.
Demyan looked at his face, "So you danced before with both women and men?"
The fae nodded in confirmation, making Demyan continue asking: "How does ballroom dancing even work? You just pick random people?"
"No." The man shook his head, "You don't pick random people, you ask someone to dance, or they ask you, and then you're expected to accept."
"Isn't that the same as choosing, what did I say wrong?" Demyan frowns.
Flins couldn't help, but smile slightly at the bartender's innocent confusion, "You didn't say anything wrong, just..."
He then spun Demyan around before pulling him back in, “You made it sound like you just walk up to someone and say: ‘Hey you, dance with me.’”
Demyan chuckled, "Ah I see, of course there is a certain etiquette, so was I also supposed to bow when asking you?"
"Exactly." The Lightkeeper confirmed, "Next time I expect a proper bow."
Demyan squeezes his hand, "You'll get it, I promise."
"Unfortunately..." Flins suddenly said, "It seems like it got pretty late."
Demyan involuntarily squeezed Flins' hand again, sad that the man had to leave for now.
He felt the latter return the squeeze as a way of confirming that the dance was over before he pulled away, "Thank you, for the dance."
Demyan quickly smiled and bowed respectfully, using an overly polite tone: "It was my pleasure, sir."
Flins found his attempt rather cute, "Then, see you next time, stay safe." He moved towards the door.
"Don't be a stranger, visit Nasha Town once in a while." he heard Demyan say from behind him.
The blonde man only got a hum as the answer before the fae stepped out into the night.
As soon as he was completely gone, Demyan sighed, only then he felt something in his pocket.
He made a little noise of confusion before slipping his hand into his pocket; suddenly, his fingers closed around something.
Once he took the item and pulled it out, his eyes widened in surprise when they met the exact same sapphire that Flins showed him just earlier today.
Why would Flins just...?
Did he slip the gemstone into Demyan's pocket while they were dancing and he didn't even notice?
For a moment he wanted to run outside to return it, but he knew very well that Flins was probably gone by now.
Instead, he simply sat down at one of the empty tables and played with the gem.
What could he possibly even do with this thing? He could sell it and make a fortune, but... no way, it was a parting gift from Flins, he'd never give it away!
He picked it up with a sigh and decided to rest for tonight, heading to his bedroom.
Still holding the gemstone in his hand, he walked over to the mirror.
But when Demyan looked at his weary face, he froze in his tracks when he finally realized: his eyes were the exact same shade of blue as the sapphire.