Chapter Text
The evening wasn't unusual. Lyney and Lynette had just finished their workday in Hotel Debord. The familiar door of Hotel Bouffes D'été basically greeted them with a huge, warm hug as they made their way inside. Or would the air conditioning make it a huge, cold hug?
Regardless, it was a rather aggressive hug for sure. Lyney and Lynette immediately drooped as soon as they were inside.
The doors had barely closed behind them when Lyney took off his hat, placing it on the ground so the black cat inside the prop could jump out. 'Well, after such a tiring day of work, even Rosseland must be tired of piloting the puppet all day, right?' Lyney wondered to himself, being immediately answered by Rosseland stretching himself and rubbing against Lyney's leg. Lyney made a note in his mind to treat the cat with some pâté for dinner. He deserved it.
Lyney was still on his “presentation mode”, but Lynette switched to power saving mode the second she walked in. Kicking off her boots and almost ripping out her gloves, just to immediately dive into the cats. Bonnie and Rosseland knew it was their cue to cuddle with their favorite cat-human (not to be confused with human-cat, since that would be Lyney).
In Snezhnaya, it was rather common for people to take off their shoes as soon as they got home, and their last visit to the snowy lands surely must have rubbed off on them, because now the little magic duo did that as soon as they were indoors, much to the other “siblings”’ confusion.
“Lyney, Lynette! You're finally back!” Foltz ran towards the entrance. The younger members of the house were very fond of Lyney and Lynette. Well, that was no surprise. Foltz and Heloir had made a habit out of tackling their older brother with a hug.
Although, Heloir didn't come this time.
“Bonsoir, Foltz.” Lyney greeted the affectionate gremlin crushing his bones. “Aw, come on now, we weren’t even gone for that long.” “But you say that every Friday!” Foltz answered back. It was true, on Fridays, they left at dawn and returned well after dusk.
Most members in the house knew Lynette was hit-or-miss when it came to physical contact, so the “designated greeters” tended to avoid tackling her the same way they did with Lyney.
Lynette, still with her head focused on the cats, finally decided to be social. Somewhat. “Hm? Where is Heloir?”
“She is helping Chapleau sort through the mail.” It wasn't usual for Chapleau to sort mail, though the younglings were usually busy being menaces to even bother to help. “We have so many new letters, we even got one from big sis Katya!”
Now, thankfully Lyney was a master in the art of masking his reactions, because if he wasn't, confusion would have definitely bled through his expression. 'I was under the impression the Chasm didn't provide postal services.'
“Lyney!” Chapleau’s voice echoed from the lobby. “You got a letter!”
The magician made his way to the lobby, intending only to greet his siblings then quickly go into his room, take a bath and dive into the bed. “Bonsoir, Chapleau, Heloir.”
...However, he was quickly interrupted by the smell of food from the kitchen.
“Bonsoir, Lyney!” Heloir said, getting up from her seat to tackle her brother just as Foltz had moments earlier. “Freminet said he was gonna make Poisson Soup for dinner! You're gonna eat with us today, right?” Now, if there is one thing neither Lyney nor Lynette could resist, it was seafood. Suddenly, Lyney no longer felt tired. “Of course I am!”
Chapleau was still sorting through letters. “Huh… Snezhevich?” was addressed to Lyney, sure, but it sure didn't look like regular fanmail. It was clearly someone Lyney knew well enough for them to know his full name. Not to mention the paper wasn't the regular papers used in Fontaine. “Lyney… have you ever been to Natlan before and didn't tell us?”
“Not that I'm aware. Why do you ask?” Lyney asked, still having his attention focused on deciding between dinner and sleeping.
“Who is… Uhm… Mali?” Chapleau struggled to read the name on the letter.
Well, that sure did it.
One second, Chapleau was trying to understand the letter, the next, Lyney had already snatched it and shoved it in his pocket.
Chapleau looked at Lyney with disbelief. The magician could only utter one word in his defense: “Magic.” which was immediately followed by “Ta-da~!”
The look Chapleau gave him was the epitome of unimpressed. But what was Lyney supposed to do? Say “Oh yeah, there is this hot guy from Natlan I met two years ago during one of Lépine-Pauline's events, he thought I was delirious because I was hugging a fungus, I thought he was crazy because he was talking to a pixelated lizard, but now we talk through letters and he is one of my best friends and I am also kinda in love with him”?
Absolutely not.
To be fair, no one said it would be easy to keep it a secret, especially from Lynette. The quickly approaching dinner offered Lyney no subtle exit to his room. All he could do was sit down on the dining table, and pray no one asked about the envelope-shaped bulge in his pocket.
It was a rather short lived prayer, because he immediately caught Orest staring.
Luckily, his best accomplice, Rosseland, managed to distract Orest by... Biting his hand. "Ow! Lyney, control your cat!" Orest exclaimed in pain. "It's a cat, Orest. You can't — or rather, shouldn't — control a cat." Lyney answered in a calm state of panic.
Luck struck once again as Freminet finally brought the dinner to the table. All Lyney had to do now was to eat, evade conversation to the best of his abilities and run to his room. Of course, it was easier said (thought?) than done.
Never had he ever wished to run from the dining table more than this... Well... Except twice, but it wasn't worth mentioning those bitter memories anymore.
The soup was great, Freminet clearly knew what he was doing and it showed. Though Lyney couldn't quite shake the feeling Lynette spent the whole time staring at his soul. Quite terrifying.
As soon as they finished eating, Lyney immediately bolted towards the staircase. "Bonne nuit !" He exclaimed.
The door was merely a carefully sliced tree, yet Lyney treated his like a sacred artefact. After all, he had the key.
Closing the door with a soft thud, Lyney finally exhaled. This letter had traveled so long, and now he could finally read what his long-distance friend had written to him. 'Oh, gods... I'm so pathetic,' Lyney thought 'acting like a fool because of a single damn letter?'
Regardless, Lyney calmly sat down on his bed, taking the envelope and reading it.
→ From: MLP KNC
→ To: Lyney Snezhevich
The seal was simple, a tiny piece of tape. Yup, that's about what Lyney was expecting, and it made his heart melt every time.
Lyney opened the envelope carefully, intending to eventually put the letter back inside of it so he could place it with the others. Much to his surprise, several pictures fell out of the envelope.
Lyney had once sent a kamera to Kinich because he had mentioned having one would make his life easier, but they were super expensive in Natlan. Who knew he'd return the gift with a few little surprises of his own?
One picture was of Ajaw sleeping, another was of people surfing, and one particular picture caught Lyney's attention because it was apparently taken by someone else, as Kinich was currently in the frame, carrying a small green saurian — which was apparently called a Yumkasaurus — with great care. 'Oh, by the seven above, this man is perfect...'
Lyney took a deep breath, and finally took the letter from the envelope. As he unfolded the familiar brownish paper, he could already spot places where Ajaw had decided to comment on what Kinich was writing. He finally calmed down, and began to read it (like a normal person).
“Dear Lyney,
As I'm sure you're aware, I've been enjoying the gift quite a lot. Mualani was also thrilled when I told her.
Mualani and Kachina have been asking me to take pictures of everything now, and Ajaw has made a habit out of stealing the kamera
'cuz its funny :p'
Well, the Pilgrimage for the return of the sacred flame will be starting soon, so I apologize if my letters become somewhat delayed. I'll make sure to send you some pictures of it when it's over
Malipo Kinich
'and kuhul ajaw'”
