Work Text:
Noises.
Arlecchino got up from her bed. She reached for Furina, but her spot was empty. She forced her breathing to calm down to hear better. There was singing and humming. Furina was going back and forth between the different rooms. It was a song she had to learn for her next play. She hummed the melody when she reached the parts she hadn’t learned yet. The bedroom’s door had been left ajar, letting light in the bedroom.
Arlecchino relaxed. Furina woke up before her. This was unusual, she always woke up last. The light coming out the hallway was nearly blinding. What time was it? She pinched her nose. She was letting herself go.
A silhouette appeared in the light and pushed the door slightly. Furina gasped.
“Arlecchino! You’re awake?”
“Indeed, I am,”
“Oh no, did I wake you up?” she asked, moving closer.
“Yes, you did, but I must admit,” she said, “waking up to your singing is quite pleasant.” as she said it, she tried to get out of bed. Furina stepped in front of her.
“No no no. Stay in bed Arle. You’re tired.”
She put her hands on Arlecchino’s shoulder to push her down.
“I’m never tired, Droplet…” and as if to mock her, her legs gave up under Furina’s pressure. Arlecchino raised her eyebrows. Huh.
“See? You’re too tired to stand up. Go back to bed, at least until I come back. Promise?”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Do you promise?” she insisted.
“I’m not promising anything until I know all the details.”
Furina turned her back toward her and as she left the bedroom, she hummed. “Too bad then, you’ll have to obey me.”
“You still didn’t answer me!” shouted Arlecchino so Furina could hear her. The sound of a door being shut was the only answer she got.
She sighed and settled back down on her… their bed, staring at the ceiling.
Arlecchino had to pressure Pantalone to get the funds necessary to buy this apartment. It was in the middle of a busy street in Fontaine, sandwiched between two ordinary building, and a short walk distance from Escoffier's bakery. It was an ideal meet up spot for each other. Both agreed that making their relationship public would be a bad idea. For now. Furina was now a rising star in Fontaine's world of theatre, while Arlecchino was a Fatui harbinger. If they weren't careful enough and rumor spread of their relationship, both would be at risks. Furina being at risk of being harmed, and Arlecchino being at risk of having a weakness. The idea of people using Furina's wellbeing against her, as a way to manipulate her, troubled her. More than it should.
As she changed position, she noticed a shape on their nightstand. A spider. She put her hand next to it and let it climb on it. It reminded her of her childhood pet, Bambi. She would feed it and protect it from the other children. She didn't receive love in return, of course. Insects weren't able to love. All they knew were instincts. But this one way relationship was enough for her.
In fact, for the entirety of her life, it was the best type of relationship for her. Giving, and receiving nothing in return. No expectation, and no favour.
When she was younger, she was naive. So, so naive. She would work tirelessly and be the first to wake up to impress her "Mother" hoping to receive love in return. But this never came. The harder she worked, the harsher her Mother's expectation were. She would demand more out of her but never love her more. Abuse and insult were common. Her Mother started being kinder toward her when she started to show signs of her curse. But by that time, Arlecchino wasn't so naive. She saw through her Mother's behavior. It wasn't love, it was contempt and fear.
Meanwhile, Bambi never asked anything out of her. Never held it against her, when she couldn't feed her. Didn't scream when she didn't have the time to see her. Never hit her when she destroyed her web. This was ideal to her. But…
Furina.
When Arlecchino discovered the truth behind Foçalors' scheme, she couldn't wrap her mind around it. Sure, the Archon's sacrifice was worthy of respect. But she wasn’t able to understand why she did it. For fame? A week after, all Fontainian went back to their normal life, not speaking of their goddess' sacrifice. As for Furina, she was thrown on the side by her people since she was no longe their god. They only started to care about her when she started to act on stage. For love? Fontainian haven't spoken of their "beloved" goddess and her sacrifice anywhere. Arlecchino was also shocked by this behavior. They were indifferent. A powerful being sacrificed their life for them, and Fontainian reacted by temporary amazement. As if this was what they were owed.
She first got closer to Furina in hope to understand why she did this, why she went along with this. Of course, Furina was troubled by the Knave sudden interest in her. But through her sweet words and gifts, she was able to earn her trust. To her surprise, Furina wasn’t troubled by her people's negligence. She first guessed it was a facade, Furina was a talented actress after all. This led her to dig deeper. But no, the more time she spent with her, the more she became sure these were her genuine feelings. Arlecchino would see Furina smiling at the regular life her people led. Their grocery shopping, their walk downtown…
“Why are you smiling Miss Furina?” she had asked her
“Hm? Doesn’t it make you happy to see others happy?” she had answered
No, not when they don’t appreciate you. She never said it of course, the answer had died on her lips. Her people should have worshipped the ground she walked on, yet they largely ignored her.
As time went on, the role reversed. As they both fell in love, Furina would start showing greater attention toward Arlecchino, which left her uncomfortable. As long as she was the one doing the favor, she was in control. People owed her. She would give and receive nothing in return. There were no balance and expectation. But it wasn’t the case with her. Furina would give and give, to the point they had come near to breaking up, due to the tension it brought.
Why are you so difficult, Arlecchino? I wanted to buy some things! Why do you always push me away!
Furina, I never asked you to do things for me, so don’t.
But the idea of leaving Furina had scared her, it made her feel hollow. So they reached a compromise. Arlecchino would let her dote on her, while Furina would be careful to not be too generous.
A voice in the back of Arlecchino’s mind nagged her. Warned her that she was about to get burned. That Furina will one day asks for what she can’t give. She would get burned, flying to close to the sun.
As she rolled in the bed, careful to not crush the spider, the front door opened.
“I’m back! I hope I didn’t take too long,” Furina said.
Arlecchino sat on the bed.
“No, it’s alright. What’s behind your back?”
She stood at the door of their bedroom, a goofy smile on her lips and her hands behind her back.
She walked toward their bed, careful to not show her back. When she was right in front of Arlecchino, she reached out and showed her what it was.
“Tada!”
It was a bag of pastries from Café Lucete. Furina sat down next to her in the bed and gave her the bag. Arlecchino looked into what’s inside. In it, was a pain au chocolat, a croissant and at the bottom a bunch of sugar powdered beignet.
“Pick whatever you like! I remembered that you liked pain au chocolat and I bought the croissant for mys- uh. Just in case! Pick what you want!” Furina laughed nervously.
Arlecchino stayed silent, staring at the pastries. Furina shuffled awkwardly.
“I mean! You don’t have to accept it! If you really want to, you can pay me back. I don’t want you-”
She was cut off by Arlecchino bringing her into her arms, careful to not let the spider drop on her. Her words were muffled. Furina, oh Furina. Only she could soften her heart.
“Thank you, droplet,” she said smiling, “I love you.”