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The air in Fontaine at midnight was cold.
I forgot how it felt like to get out the water so late, muscles tired from swimming, yet so much more relaxed than what they are while I'm adventuring.
He looked a lot less tired than me.
Diving was his passion. Well, more like his job. His true passion was mechanics, tinkering with all sorts of devices. I've known that for a long time.
I also knew that he liked children's toys. That, like me, he enjoyed storybooks. That he liked seafood and wasn't picky about his next dish. That when he didn't want to be seen, he went underwater and stayed near the Blubberbeasts until he had calmed down.
He reminded me of the penguins I saw in Nod-Krai, always looking a little lost.
I was waiting for him after skipping a few steps ahead. I looked at him under the moonlight, his wetsuit still glimmering with saltwater.
"Fremi?"
"Hm?" He catches up to me.
"Let's see... do you think lobsters dream?" I tried holding his hand. He let me.
"Uhm... perhaps?"
I smiled. "Oh yeah? And what do they dream of?"
"Well... shrimps?"
We both started giggling like children. This was our little game, one we hadn't played in a long time. I would ask a weird question and he would try to answer it, seeing how far we could take it before it completely stopped making sense. Sometimes I used them to keep writing my books.
"What are those shrimps doing?"
"They could be dancing, I think."
"Like the pictures I showed you?"
"Like the pictures you showed me."
We kept walking in silence, squeezing eachother's hand to keep it warm.
"...being here makes me a little melancholic..."
"Wh-what?"
"Yeah, like... I've spent all my childhood here, but that was it. The moment I could, I ran off to who knows where. It was fun of course, but I still feel bad. I basically left you all behind."
He stayed quiet. Suddenly I felt like I did something wrong.
"...was that too much? Sorry, I..."
"N-no, no, it's alright! You just followed what you wanted to do. There's nothing wrong with that."
It was my turn to stay silent now. Then I shook my head and leaned into him a bit.
"Do you think someplace's still open? My treat!"
"Oh, uhm, sure."
As it turned out, everything had closed off already — it was midnight after all.
I didn't feel like walking back to the Mansion, nor like parting from Freminet yet.
So, we decided to go to his place.
I have to mention this: I'm pretty sure I had never, ever tried sneaking in the House at night before. I had sneaked in during the day and successfully so. I had to know my magic friends from the street were safe, after all. Going in at night, with the friend I made after getting in the building for the first time, was a new exciting experience. Even if it wasn't dangerous at all.
"Sorry for the mess..."
"Don't you worry about that. It's much cleaner than a lot of places I've been staying in."
The room was small. On the right, there was a wardrobe, a few bookshelves and an armchair with a built in sidetable — that was obviously for Pers to sit by while he read. To the left, there was a workstation, a closet for diving gear, a bathroom and his bed.
We got changed — he gave me some of his clothes, fitting a little too big and with the smell of him so tied to it, it felt like it was used to sew them. We sat down, not before he had meticulously put away all the small gears and tools he had left on the table, then just looked at eachother for a bit.
Then I remembered I had a bag of green tea from Liyue and we had some, one cup for each. I also took out some snacks and, after he gave me a very questioning look, explained that I got them from the kitchen downstairs, hoping Arlecchino wouldn't notice — she would, but she wouldn't be mad.
We were both getting sleepy.
I tried to hide it, but the strain of the day got to me and I let out half a yawn.
"Hmm... Maybe we shouldn't have done a physical activity... you only just got back after all..."
"I'm not... that tired..." right before letting out another yawn. "I'm used to... the post-adventure fatigue by now..."
"...care to tell me about it...?"
By the time I was done with my yapping about the ethereal — more like otherworldly, ethereal is too soft of a word — things I had saw in my latest adventure, I didn't even notice he helped me up and laid me down in his bed. The next thing I knew was that I was somewhere warm and he was looking over, probably trying to decide if to get in himself or sleep in the floor.
I seized the decision and hugged him, pulling him in bed big spoon style, and buring my face at the back of his neck.
"Hmm... cher mignon... you smell... dreamy..." I yawned. "Even better than... that tapir girl..."
His skin warming up and going from porcelain to crimson was the last thing I remember before falling asleep.