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The door to the rooftop opened and Aether stumbled through, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket and an almost frenzied expression on his face. He noticed Lyney standing by the edge, leaned against the wall surrounding them with a cigarette hanging from his lips.
“Evening,” Lyney greeted as Aether approaching, fishing a box out of his pocket and picking out a cigarette. He placed it between his lips and fumbled for his lighter. “Here.”
Aether looked up from his search to see Lyney holding one finger up, a tiny flame on the end of it. He lowered his head to touch the tip of his cigarette to the flame before he drew away, exhaling. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.” Lyney gave him a smile, somehow looking more raw than usual.
“I hope I didn’t disturb your alone time.” Aether commented, holding the cigarette between two fingers and tapping some of the ash off against the wall.
“You could never. Odd that you’re here though, I would have thought you’d be downstairs celebrating with everyone.”
“I’m not overly fond of huge celebrations. Or that many people’s attention on me,” Aether cringed. “Paimon will keep them entertained in my absence.”
“Understandable,” Lyney nodded. “The attention can be overwhelming on occasion.”
“Speaking from experience?”
“Why else do you think I’m here?”
Aether snorted. They stood there in silence for a while, gazing out at the darkened expanse of the Court of Fontaine before them, still drying in some places with debris scattered all around. It was a merciful outcome, one that would not have been so had it not been for Neuvilette’s intervention in lifting the curse on the people of Fontaine.
“I’m sorry.” Lyney said suddenly.
“What for?”Aether turned to face him, a confused expression on his face.
“Lying to you back then about being in the Fatui. And I know that was a while ago but… I’m sorry for assuming the worst of you. I thought you were a hypocrite because you were friends with a Harbinger but…” Lyney sighed, taking another drag from his cigarette and watching the ashes drop onto his shoes.
“Lyney,” Aether said gently. “My issue was less about you being in the Fatui, and more that you lied about it. I take issue with liars.”
“Ah.” Lyney made a sound.
“I don’t care that you’re a Fatuus, that you were raised by Arlecchino or that you’re one day going to take her place. I just wish you had told me the truth to begin with.”
“I’m… sorry…” Lyney replied stiltedly. “It’s no excuse but… a life with the Fatui is one wrought with lies. It’s almost second nature.”
“It’s like you said, it’s not an excuse. But it is somewhat of an explanation, so thank you.” Aether exhaled, a cloud of smoke dissipating into the air around him.
“I’ll do better,” Lyney said, firm suddenly. “I promise.”
“I know.” Aether gave him a soft smile, one full of trust Lyney didn’t think he deserved.
Dear beloved,
This letter will never reach your eyes because I’m not going to send it. I’ll write another more appropriate one to send to you. This one is for me.
It’s been some days since you departed Fontaine to move onto the next nation in your journey. The Nation of War, they call it. It’s not very reassuring, and even Father didn’t have much information to give me when I asked about it. People don’t leave Natlan, so all we know are rumours and whispers about places like the Mare JIvari.
It’s worrying because knowing you, my beautiful, brave Traveler, you’ll get into some inevitable trouble. Either your bleeding heart will offer to solve the world’s problems, or someone will rope you into something and you’ll say yes. Because that is the kind of person you are. Golden-hearted seems an apt description.
I haven’t slept properly since you left… actually it’s been longer than that I think.
Since we first met, you’ve completely enraptured me. Never in my life have I felt so helpless in the face of my own feelings. I don’t even know how to express them to you face-to-face, which is why I’m putting it all in a letter that’ll never see the light of day. Like a coward.
Lynette thinks I’m being stupid, that I should talk to you about this but that doesn’t seem fair to you, does it? You’re the renowned Traveler, and I’m just some magician from Fontaine who happens to be a Fatuus to boot. You’re too glamorous, too big and bright for someone like me. I think you deserve better, and I don’t want to tie you down in any way or make you feel obligated in any way to me.
I have never been in love before this, but for you I have fallen hard and fast. There was no stopping this, not would I have ever wanted to. You make me want to be a better person, I would do anything for you. It’s dangerous, I know, and I don’t think Father would approve but is it odd to say I don’t care what she thinks? It is you who has consumed my mind, you who I think of day and night. Your amber eyes and golden hair haunt my dreams and my every waking moment, and I would want nothing less.
I fully meant to give you that rainbow flower by the way, despite my blustering about it… I suppose I was just flustered at how impulsive I had been. But I did mean it, and it was most selfish of me. You make me want to be selfish, and it scares me. I don’t think I have the right to be, not with you anyways.
What right do I have when your journey is unfinished, when you have yet to be reunited with your sister and there are still nations you haven’t explored. What right do I have, when I don’t have anything to offer but my heart. It’s not enough.
Perhaps one day in the future, if you come back here to Fontaine, I will tell you how I feel. Perhaps one day, I will pluck up the courage to tell the world that my heart belongs to you and only you. But until then, I will remain here while you save the world. I will remain here and perform my magic and do my duties to the House of the Hearth, but just know that every show I do will always be dedicated to you.
Yours, always
Lyney
The letter laid on Lyney’s desk after he finished with it, waiting for the ink to dry before he folded it up to hide away in between one of his books. In that short span of time, Lynette found it, read it with a smile and sent it off to Natlan with Aether’s name stamped on it. When asked about it by a panicked Lyney, she merely feigned ignorance, pretending she had no knowledge of such a letter.
Meanwhile in Natlan, a letter arrived to Aether during a rare day off in the midst of their current crisis. He had been sat with Mualani, Kachina and Kinich when a courier from the Scions of the Canopy swung over to hand it over.
“A letter?” Paimon questioned, watching Aether flip the envelope over to read the sender’s name.
“I suppose. Doesn’t say who it’s from, but the paper’s thick and expensive.” Aether hummed.
“I could find out where it’s from.” Kinich offered.
“Let me read it first,” Aether slipped a small knife under the flap and sliced the envelope open. Two pieces of paper fell out and he unfolded the smaller one with his name on it first. “Oh, it’s from Lynette. Dear Aether, this is a letter from my brother. I found it on his desk and it was addressed to you. Once you read the letter, it’ll be clear that he never meant for it to be seen by you, but I thought he was being stupid, and that you deserved to see it. Uh…”
“Is this normal?” Kachina asked warily. “Or legal?”
“Don’t worry about legalities, Lynette is Lyney’s twin sister so it’s fine. Letter from Lyney, huh?” Aether tucked Lynette’s letter way and unfolded the bigger paper, recognising the swooping handwriting that he knew belonged to Lyney. He stayed silent as he read, his face changing expressions from blank to shocked, his cheeks flushed and his eyes glimmered as he read.
“Jeez, what’s it a love letter or something?” Mualani asked.
“Basically?” Aether replied hysterically. “I mean, he kind of bore his soul and he doesn’t even know I’m reading it.”
“Can Paimon see?”
“I’m keeping this one private, actually.” Aether folded it back up, tucking it into one of his pockets.
“Well, you have to write one back!” Mualani insisted.
“As soon as things calm down here, I’ll take some time to sit down and write one.” Aether promised.
“Let me know when you do, I’ll find express delivery. We can get it to him in no time.” Kinich said.
“Thanks guys.” Aether laughed.
It turned out, getting things to calm down did not happen quickly nor easily. A whole war, fixing Ley Lines, dealing with the aftermath of it and everything involving Capitano and the Ruler of Death later… and Aether could finally take a moment to breathe. It had been less than a year since he left Fontaine for Natlan and already he felt so changed. Nothing could have prepared him for the war that engulfed the Nation of Pyro, nothing at all could have prepared him for how similar it all looked to his past, to wars he fought in with his sister millenia past.
He sat alone while everyone celebrated the success of the war, thinking about how Capitano should have been here after everything he did to help. Thinking about how he didn’t really feel like himself anymore, and thinking about… thinking about Lyney, waiting back in Fontaine.
“You look melancholy.” Mavuika commented, sitting beside him.
“Mavuika,” Aether looked surprised. “Shouldn’t you be with everyone?”
“I’m taking a break. You’re thinking about the Captain, aren’t you?” She asked.
“Partially.”
“I know… I know because I am too.” She sighed.
“He deserved to be here too,” Aether whispered. “And I can’t even be angry because it was his choice to do this.”
“He’s not dead,” Mavuika reminded him. “If fate is kind, maybe we’ll meet again someday.”
“Yeah. Maybe.”
They sat in silence for a while, listening to all the cheering and singing from behind them coupled with the sound of fireworks and glasses clinking together as people shared drinks.
“Any plans for now?” Mavuika asked, breaking the silence.
“A boy wrote me a love letter and I told myself I’d write back when we were done here, but now it doesn’t feel like enough…” He murmured.
“Go see him.” She urged.
“That’s the plan,” He nodded with a sigh. “A long journey but one worth it, I think.”
“Tell me about him?” She nudged him, a warm smile on her face.
“He’s… a magician from Fontaine. Lyney, maybe you’ve heard of him. He’s in the House of the Hearth, one of the Fatui working under Arlecchino and he’s slated to take her place one day actually,” Aether began. “I… in the beginning we had a rough start, he didn’t tell me the truth about who he was and it really upset me. But he apologised, and I forgave him. I helped him, and he helped me. Not long after I got here to Natlan, a letter came from his sister saying he wrote me a love letter and was never going to send it so she sent it on his behalf without his knowledge.”
“My, what a matchmaker.” Mavuika laughed.
“Lynette is quiet, but she has her moments too,” Aether chuckled. “It was a beautiful letter, truly. I… never dreamt he’d feel the same way, and I want to tell him all the fears he talked about in the letter were stupid and unfounded but I have to do that in person. It feels like a face-to-face kind of conversation, you know?”
“I understand.” Mavuika nodded.
“He’s funny, Mavuika. He makes me laugh, and he’s such a flirt but whenever I would flirt back, he got so flustered,” Aether laughed at the memory of Lyney’s cheeks flushing. “He’s kinder than he shows, kinder than he thinks he is, and so caring to his family. And me. He means a lot to me.”
“I can tell just from the way you talk about him. That look in your eyes… it’s a look of a man in love.”
“I mean… I am.”
“Saves us a lot of trouble. If you’d been talking about him like that without realising you were in love, I would have had to smack you.”
“Lucky for us, there’s no need. I am painfully aware of my feelings, and they’ve only grown in the time I’ve been in Natlan. You know what they say… distance makes the heart grow fonder,” Aether sighed. “My heart is so fond.”
“Alright, loverboy.” Mavuika laughed.
The next morning, he packed up his things and said goodbye to everyone recovering from their hangovers at the Stadium, promising to come visit again sometime before heading to Nod-Krai, considering he’d need to pass through anyways. Then, him and Paimon set off, back through Sumeru to Bayda Harbour.
Aether was a swift traveler, cutting through swaths of sand in the desert in no time until he finally crossed into the rainforest, seeing the sails of some of the boats docked in the harbour. He dropped Paimon off at one of the restaurants and went around asking for each boat’s destination until he found one that was heading to the Court of Fontaine. It would be somewhat slow, considering this was a smaller harbour, but he didn’t mind as long as it got him to where he needed to be. Besides, he could always nudge the boat along with some Anemo or Hydro. Once he secured their place on the ship, Aether found Paimon and they boarded. It was nearing nighttime now, so they both settled in in the small cabin aboard the ship and Aether fell asleep so quickly, exhausted by the days travels.
They tried to keep themselves busy on the journey to Fontaine; Aether kept up practicing with his sword on the deck of the ship during the day-time, going through his forms slowly at first in a sort of meditative state before he moved quicker. Eventually, some of the sailors asked to spar with him and he, of course, wiped the floor with every single one of them. The time passed quickly following that, and before Aether knew, they were docking in the Court of Fontaine.
It was coming to be night-fall, so Aether waved goodbye to everyone on the ship and traipsed through the Court until him and Paimon arrived at the Hotel Bouffes d’ete. Paimon barely waved goodbye to him before she zoomed off to the restaurant, leaving the golden-haired traveler in the lobby alone, shaking his head in amusement.
“Traveler?” Lynette’s soft voice came from behind him and he whirled around to see her standing there with a gentle smile on her face. “What an unexpected surprise.”
“Lynette, hi,” Aether approached. “I got your letter, I wish I could have come sooner.”
“We heard what was happening in Natlan. I’m glad you’re safe.” She shook her head.
“My condolences, for the Captain. I wasn’t sure if you knew him well, but…” He shrugged.
“Well enough, thank you,” She accepted graciously. “My brother has been beside himself with worry since we heard it all ended and no one sent word on your status. We couldn’t even get anything from the Fatui operatives stationed there.”
“I didn’t work too closely with them, so I suppose they wouldn’t know. I didn’t mean to make him worry.” Aether sighed.
“My brother always worries when it comes to you,” She said, pausing for a second. “He’s outside, through the back door.”
“Thank you, Lynette.”
“Take me out for tea and sweets sometime,” She waved him goodbye as he hurried to the back door.
It was a clear night, Lyney thought, not a cloud in sight. He sighed, leaned against the wall, looking out over the Court. He fumbled through his pocket, unearthing a squashed box of cigarettes and removing one to tuck between his lips before he returned the box to his pocket. Just as he was about to light it with his Vision, he saw the flicker of a flame beside him and turned his head.
“Light?”
The cigarette dropped to the floor as his mouth fell open in shock. Aether stood there, glowing golden beneath the moonlight, his hair in a messy braid, still dressed in clothes he must have been travelling with. He emanated a new warmth, a familiar Pyro Lyney knew was the same as his own, as if the flame above his finger wasn’t indication enough.
“Aether?” Lyney asked weakly, blinking rapidly as though he wasn’t sure what he was seeing.
“Lyney.” Aether smiled.
“You… you’re okay.” Lyney breathed a sigh of relief, a boatload of tension leaving his body. He nearly tackled Aether, wrapping his arms tightly around the other, and tucking his head in the crook of his neck. He heard a shocked inhale from Aether before he hugged Lyney back.
“I meant to get word to you quicker, but there was no time,” Aether mumbled against the side of Lyney’s head. “Then by the time it was all over, I thought it’d be better to come see you myself.”
“I’m glad you came.” Lyney pulled away to look at Aether’s face, furrowing his brows at the exhaustion clear in his eyes, and the smattering of new cuts and scars he could see, some on his neck, some along his arms and there was even a fading one peeking out under his shirt.
“I’m okay.” Aether said before Lyney could say a word, already noticing his wandering gaze.
“I’ll take your word for it.” Lyney let go, albeit reluctantly, choosing to stand beside Aether instead. The other man took out a cigarette of his own, placed it between his lips and lit it with his own Pyro. He inhaled, removed the cigarette and exhaled, holding it out for Lyney to take. The magician took it, trying not to think about how the cigarette had been between Aether’s plush, pink lips and now it was between his own.
“Lyney,” Aether began, lighting another cigarette for himself. “I know… there’s things I should have said to you before I left Fontaine, things we both should have said to each other maybe. And I kept thinking about those things… and you… the whole time I was in Natlan, especially in the thick of the fighting. It was all I could think about, sometimes it kept me going. And I… I think we both had our own reasons for not speaking to each other, maybe some of them similar, honestly, but I don’t think I want to keep quiet anymore.
“At the beginning of everything, not long after I got to Natlan, I received a letter from Lynette,” Aether said, maintaining eye contact with Lyney through the smoke. “She told me she’d found a letter on your desk addressed to me, and she sent me the letter.”
“What?” Lyney’s jaw dropped for the second time, but the cigarette had been in between his fingers this time. “She… that’s where it went? Lynette, you –”
“Lyney,” Aether’s voice turned firm. “I’m glad she sent it to me. There were things in there I don’t think you would have ever told me, and I’m sorry I read it without your permission, but I… I’m glad I read it.”
“You weren’t supposed to know,” Lyney said weakly. “I didn’t tell you for a reason.”
“I didn’t tell you for a reason,” Aether countered. “I’ve had feelings for you for a long time now, and I never said anything because it didn’t feel fair to you that I wasn’t going to always be there. That I was travelling, looking for my sister. Not to mention the conflict of interest you’d suffer considering how many problems I find myself causing for the Fatui and vice versa. It didn’t feel fair, but then I read your letter and I thought… he had to know he’s it for me.”
“You have feelings for me?” Lyney’s eyes widened. The cigarette in his hand was burning away, dropping ashes onto the floor in a little pile.
“Who else would it be?” Aether said in a matter-of-fact tone. “There’s no one but you, Lyney. Only you. And… I’m sorry if you ever felt like you weren’t enough, because you are. I don’t need anything more, I just want you… Lyney Snezhevich.”
“I wouldn’t have minded… you being away all the time… I know you have a mission, I get it..”
“I know.” Aether nodded, dropping his cigarette and stepping on it to put it out.
“And I don’t care about altercations with the Fatui. My loyalty is to Father at the end of the day, to my family.”
“I know.” Aether smiled, coming closer.
“I love you.”
“I know,” Aether cupped his face with both hands, the gloves warm against Lyney’s cheeks from Aether’s Pyro. “I love you too.”
“I must be dreaming, I’ve wanted to hear those words for so long that it doesn’t feel real.” Lyney whispered, his breath brushing against Aether’s lips.
“It’s real.” Aether reassured him, sealing their lips together in a kiss. Aether was a shock of warmth against Lyney’s body, pressed against him everywhere. His hands burned in the best way on his cheeks, their chests heaving against one another and their lips… it was everything Lyney had dreamed about and more. Kissing Aether felt right, more right than anything he’s ever done in his life, it was perfect. They fit together like they were always meant to be together, like this was just an inevitability that was going to happen no matter what.
Aether walked him back until Lyney’s lower body was pressed against the railing that ran around the terrace area they were on and suddenly every part of him felt like it was on fire. He was hot, so burning hot and more still from the press of Aether’s body. He muffled a groan as Aether’s lips trailed away from his lips and down to his jaw. Aether’s hands left their perch on his cheeks and settled on his hips, firm. He kissed marks along Lyney’s jaw, the sting of his teeth a welcome pleasure.
“Lyney.” Aether murmured against his skin and Lyney felt a shudder at the sound of his name coming out of Aether lips so reverently.
“Hm?” Lyney nudged Aether’s chin up, kissing him.
“We’re outside still.”
“So?” Lyney whispered between kisses.
“People might see us.”
“Let them.” Lyney’s fingers dropped from Aether’s chin, dipping to his waist and beneath his shirt, relishing in the warmth of his skin.
“And the perfectly good bed you have inside?” Aether hummed. All of Lyney’s blood rushed south at his words, so quickly he felt almost lightheaded. “We don’t have to go inside, we can stay here…”
“Inside,” Lyney rasped, his voice hoarse with want. “Now.”
“Your wish is my command.”