Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

If anyone had told Sandrone ages ago that she would be waiting in line and fighting kids for a limited edition stuffed plushie, she would have laughed in their face and continued about her day like it was all merely a huge joke.

Yet, here she was, in line, waiting for the limited edition Luonnotar plushie at Build-A-Seelie Workshop. A huge collaborative effort that was being held between the workshop and her favorite idol of all time, Columbina Hyposelenia, to introduce a new plushie line called Kuuhenki. 

She was embarrassed, to say the least, but her desperation for a Luonnotar won. 

In fact, this wasn’t a want. This, Luonnotar plushie, was a need.

It all started about a month ago, a time when Sandrone was innocent and free from the grasps of knowledge that such a plushie existed. She was on her lunch break, busy browsing reddit on her phone to get her daily updates on Columbina while her coworker-turned-friend Scaramouche talked her ear off during lunch about his favorite idol, Childe. 

“Ugh, he’s so annoying, but why does his catchphrase have to sound so hot…What’s up y’all, it’s your boy Childe,” Scaramouche sighed dreamily, thinking about the boy group member and dropping his sandwich back onto his tray before he finally noticed Sandrone was not listening to him at all. “Uhm, Teyvat to Sandrone? You there?”

“Mhm.” She answered, clearly not listening at all as she continued to scroll through her phone until her thumb froze over an announcement post that came to view.

260821 COLUMBINA HYPOSELENIA COLLABING WITH BUILD-A-SEELIE WORKSHOP TO RELEASE NEW PLUSHIE LINE KUUHENKIS AND EXCLUSIVE LIMITED KUUHENKI PLUSHIE 

Her eyes stayed on the photo that the press released for this exclusive collaboration. Compared to the regular Kuuhenkis that were being released, the limited one called Luonnotar featured long rabbit-like ears, more detailed clothing and facial features, ribbons and a crescent on the back of its head. It was essentially everything that resembled Columbina, and Sandrone wanted it. No, she needed it. 

She clicked on the post to look at the comments and was able to find the release date, the closest location to Snezhnaya that this was occurring at, and the exact hour the doors would be open. By the time she found everything she needed, the lunch hour was almost gone, and she looked up only to abruptly back away when she noticed Scaramouche all up in her space to see what she was looking at on her phone. 

“What the fuck, Scara! What did I say about invading my personal space??” Sandrone hissed out, fortunately catching her balance before her chair could fall back.

“You didn’t hear a single word I said, did you?” Scaramouche simply asked back before finally moving out of her personal space and settling back into his chair. “That Columbina plushie you were looking at is pretty cute. Thinking about getting it?”

Sandrone locked her phone and shoved it into her pocket. “That’s none of your goddamn business.”

“Well, it is if it’s involving any idols. You should have seen the look on your face when you discovered the post. You looked like you saw the heavenly principles or something.” He picked his sandwich back up and took a bite. “You know, you should definitely get it. It’s not like you can hug the real thing, so why not the plushie she’s releasing?”

Sandrone’s face flushed red, and if she wasn’t a proper lady and out in the open in the break room, she would have reached across and flicked Scaramouche on the head but ultimately decided not to. 

“Hmph. At least a plushie is better than a body pillow of your idol all shirtless.” She retorted before she stood up from her chair, it slightly scraping across the floor. “I’m leaving. Finish your sandwich and let’s get back to work.”

Scaramouche’s laughter followed her out of the break room, and she spent the rest of the afternoon with her phone face-down, typing away at her desk while her mind thought of a game plan to get to the workshop on release day.

Now flash-forward to present day. Here, she was at Nod Krai Shopping Center waiting outside of Build-A-Seelie workshop, seventh in line, and surrounded by the chatter of other fans alike. She tuned all of it out and just stared at the closed glass doors, watching the employees move around as they prepared for this event. Well, that was until a small noise interrupted her. 

Bzz.

Her phone buzzed and she looked at it only to see a couple of messages from Scaramouche.

Sandrone sighed to herself, wondering why she ever befriended her coworker before deciding to take a quick photo of the workshop and send it to him.

Urgh, why was she friends with him.

Sandrone huffed and shoved her phone back into her pocket before she could type something she would regret. Okay, so maybe she was a bit embarrassed that she was the only adult without a kid here, but everyone can love an idol, right? Regardless of age? She couldn’t possibly be the only adult there wanting the limited edition plushie for herself, right? Maybe they didn’t call time off work like she did?

Before she could look around to check, the glass doors to the workshop opened and the kids in front of her and behind her started to scream in excitement.

Well, shit, maybe that was confirmation itself.

It wasn’t long before the line pushed forward in an orderly fashion with security coordinating it as each family got to go in one at a time to ensure that no chaos occurred before they let in the next.  Thankfully Sandrone was seventh in line and only had to wait a good 30 minutes before she finally got to go in and have the workshop to herself.

When Sandrone finally stepped inside, she was greeted by an employee with the signature blue apron and seelie logo on it. However, compared to most Build-A-Seelie employees where they showed their face, this one had a hoodie on with the hood covering the top part of their head and a face mask that covered most of their face. 

Strange, Sandrone thought, but she didn’t pay attention to it too much as her eyes landed on the fabric shell of Luonnotar.

“Hi there! Welcome to Build-A-Seelie Workshop! I will be assisting you today with your Luonnotar plushie. Which one would you like to bring home today?” The employee asked, pointing to a bin of the plushies’ unstuffed skins. 

For some odd reason, the way the employee spoke sounded familiar. Almost too familiar. It felt like she heard it before. However, not wanting to keep the employee waiting, Sandrone began shifting through the box of the plushie’s unstuffed skins before settling on one that felt just right to her and handing it over to the employee so they could get it stuffed. 

“This one please…” Sandrone grumbled out because the next few parts were probably the most embarrassing part of the process. 

The employee took the skin carefully, holding it with both hands. 

“Before we start,” the employee said softly before continuing, “can I ask why you picked Luonnotar specifically?”

Sandrone blinked at the question, not expecting to be asked about it.

“I… just really like the design,” she answered, looking anywhere but at the person right in front of her. “Luonnotar is cute with its rabbit ears, ribbons, and crescent.”

“Mmm, interesting. It wasn’t because of…Columbina?”

Sandrone’s face flushed immediately. God, this was so embarrassing, she thought before voicing out, “That’s none of your business!”

A chuckle escaped from under the employee’s mask.

“Alright. That’s fair enough.” The employee then turned toward the first station. “You can follow me over here and we can fill your Luonnotar with love.”

They both made their way to the first station, which was a table that had a container filled with multiple red silken hearts. 

“So, the first thing we’re going to do is a heart ceremony. You’ll pick the heart that calls out to you the most and you’re going to fill it with love.” The employee explained before pushing the bin closer to Sandrone. “Go ahead and pick one!”

Sandrone, wanting to get the whole process over with quickly, just stuffed her hands into the bin and grabbed the first one that she felt.

“Awesome! Now you’ll need to fill it with love. In order to do this, you’ll need to give it a kiss.”

“Is this really necessary–”

“It’s tradition. Every Luonnotar today needs a little love before it goes home. Can you please give it a kiss? A quick one at least? I’ll even close my eyes.” The employee then closed her eyes just like she said.

Sandrone’s face burned even more somehow before she glanced around to ensure that no one else was watching. This whole process felt ridiculous, but she lifted the tiny silken heart to her lips and gave it a quick kiss to get the whole ordeal over with as fast as possible. 

“There! I’m done!”

However, to her mortification, when she looked up, the employee was actually watching her the whole time when she thought she wasn’t. Her purple eyes peeked out from under the hood, looking at her all amused. 

UGH! WHAT A LIAR! 

“That was perfect.” The employee’s eyes glinted even more with amusement. She took the heart from Sandrone, their hands brushing briefly, before then carefully tucking it into the back of the plushie skin. “Now we’ll fill her up with more love.”

They moved to the next station which was the stuffing machine station. The employee guided Sandrone’s hands, showing her how to hold the skin open while the stuffing poured in. Every time their fingers brushed, Sandrone felt that same stupid heat climb up her arm this time around. She somehow managed to keep her eyes locked on the growing plushie and tried not to think about how familiar the employee’s quiet humming sounded.

Actually it sounded way too familiar…

Wait a goddamn minute.

It was a melody she had on loop for months. A melody that she drove listening to at work. A melody she would listen to in order to go to sleep. A melody that was beginning to drive her insane. 

Sandrone’s breath caught and she forced herself to look up again when the realization hit her.

Columbina Hyposelenia was standing there in a Build-A-Seelie apron, stuffing a limited-edition plushie that was part of her collaborative event she had with said workshop, and she had clearly decided to spend her day at this specific workshop, watching Sandrone’s dignity collapse one station at a time.

“You got to be fucking kidding me. You’re... you're Columbina Hyposelenia.” Sandrone’s hands tightened around the half-finished Luonnotar plushie.

“The one and only.” Columbina didn’t even bother trying to deny it as she pulled her mask down, beaming a small smile.  “I know we’re the only ones here right now, but I would appreciate it if you watched your language. There are still children around.” 

Fuck, she just cussed right in front of her idol. FUCK FUCK FUCK. AND SHE GOT REPRIMANDED.

“You’re– You’re actually–”

“Helping a fan build her limited edition plushie.” Columbina finished for her before asking when she noticed Sandrone frozen in her spot, “Hey…are you okay?”

“I’m just processing everything.” Sandrone snapped under her breath. “This is a lot to process. I just– pardon my language– fucking found out that I’m building my Luonnotar plushie with Columbina Hyposelenia.”

“You know, most fans just scream or ask for a photo when they see me.” Columbina chuckled like this wasn’t an unusual occurrence to happen at all.

“Well I guess I’m not like most fans.” Sandrone groaned out, mortified knowing that this was how she had met her idol in person for the first time. 

“Oh I can tell. You’re different, but I like it a lot.”

Sandrone had nothing to say to that as her face flushed again. 

“Alright,” Columbina said after a moment and then gave the Luonnotar plushie a small squeeze. “She’s almost full. I’ll handle the rest. You can take a look at the accessory wall and pick whatever you want for her? I’ll stay here and finish the final steps.” 

Sandrone hesitated because leaving the plushie with the Columbina Hyposelenia felt strange, but the alternative was standing there staring at her idol like an idiot and possibly combusting and cussing up a storm once she remembered that this was her favorite idol of all time she was sharing the same space with. She muttered a quiet “okay” and walked over to the accessory wall which was a couple of stations away.

The second Sandrone’s back was turned, Columbina took this moment to reach into a bin hiding behind the stuffing machine station to grab a voice box and press the record button. 

Once she was done recording, she slipped the voice box into the back of the Luonnotar, tucked it securely somewhere in between the stuffing, and sewed the opening closed with neat stitches from what she learned from the employees that welcomed her early that morning. By the time Sandrone returned with a small selection of ribbons and a tiny crescent charm, the plushie looked completely finished.

“Find anything you like?” Columbina asked softly once she noticed Sandrone was back.

Sandrone held up the few accessories she found, and it wasn’t long before they both attached the accessories to the Luonnotar. Their fingers occasionally brushing before the Luonnotar was fully dressed.

“Aww she’s so pretty,” Columbina cooed while holding the finished plushie out with both of her hands.

Sandrone took it from her idol hesitantly, not quite believing the events that happened today. 

“It’s just a limited edition plushie…” she eventually muttered, holding the plushie to her chest. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Mmm if you say so.” Columbina teased with a small smile before pulling her mask back up and saying, “I’m glad you came to visit the workshop. Take care of her for me, okay?”

Sandrone could only manage a short nod. It was the best she could do without her voice cracking from seeing such a smile. She clutched the Luonnotar against her chest a little tighter.

“Ma’am, if you’re all finished, I can take you over to the register,” another employee said, appearing beside them. 

Sandrone nodded again, still a little dazed before she followed the new employee without looking back. It wasn’t long before Sandrone paid and walked out of the workshop holding the plushie she had been thinking of for a month within her arms. 

She really hoped this wasn’t all just a dream. It truly felt like one, but she hoped it wasn’t.

Sandrone made it home later that evening. The apartment was quiet. She dropped her keys on the counter, kicked off her heels, and carried the Luonnotar straight to the couch.

For a long minute she just sat there holding it and staring at it. The whole day replayed in her head – Scaramouche’s stupid texts, the line full of kids, the heart ceremony, the moment she realized who was standing next to her when she was stuffing her plushie, and the amount of times she had cussed right in front of her idol. Today had been awfully embarrassing, and she wasn’t sure if any of it had been worth it. Part of her wanted to bury the plushie in her closet and never look at it again; however, the other part of her refused to let go.

Sighing, she pulled the plushie closer and hugged it tightly. At least she was home now and nothing else could possibly make her feel embarrassed again, right? 

A soft click sounded from inside the fabric.

Columbina’s voice came out of the voice box, clear and teasing.

“Hey, I think you’re cute. If your Luonnotar needs another mom, call me at–”

The digits followed right after. Sandrone’s arms tightened even more around the plushie, if that was even possible. Her face went hot all over again as she sat frozen on the couch, listening to the message loop once more before the voice box fell silent.

Then she groaned and dropped her forehead against the soft top of the plushie’s head.

Of course this would only happen to her.

Of course the one time she actually met her idol, she spent the entire time red-faced and swearing under her breath. And of course Columbina thought it was funny enough to leave a voice message calling her cute in the plushie they made together.

Sandrone stayed like that for a long time, face buried in her plushie, already knowing she was going to save the number and already dreading the day she actually used it.