She remembered returning to church very late at night. Sister Rosaria had been up for hours, hunting Treasure Hoarders who thought they could set up a base for their highway robbery on the roads to Mondstadt. She felt content with her work, ready to sleep through as much of the day that she could get away with.

Her body ached, not helped by the fact that, of course, the Church of Favonius sat on the literal highest point in Mondstadt City. Normally, Rosaria would have snuck around the side of the building and chambered up the hundred-year-old stone carvings, between the stain-glass windows, to reach her room. But the onslaught of stairs took it out of her. The air was dull blue, with bruised shadows, of the sun not yet risen. Rosaria told herself that she may be able to get away with slipping through the front door if she stuck to the shadows. The inky black color of her clergy uniform was the one the things she was thankful for in these cases.

The cathedral was quiet and barely lit. There had been a celebration earlier, but Rosaria couldn't remember what it was for because she didn't pay attention. It happened in the evening, which is when Rosaria left to find criminals, so she skipped the party. It looked like everything was cleared up and everyone had gone to bed, so Rosaria expected to sneak inside.

What she didn't expected was for someone to be watching the door as she stepped in.

"Sister Rosaria!" a girlish voice whispered.

Rosaria just barely kept from drawing her weapon, but she recognized Deaconess Barbara.

Rosaria really didn't expect anyone to catch her sneaking in, much less that it would be Barbara. On one hand, it wasn't too out of ordinary for Barbara to be still at the church during late hours. If there were a lot of injuries, then she'd spend a lot of overtime tending to them. But if that were the case, then Barbara should be in the infirmary, not by the door.

Even in the dark, with only the orange glow of candlelight, Barbara's smile brightened the room, "Welcome back!"

Rosaria didn't return the cheerful greeting. She regarded the younger clergy member with suspicion, "What are you still doing here so late?"

"Well, I was—" Barbara's eyes fell to Rosaria's arm and she gasped, "You're injured!"

Rosaria glanced at her makeshift bandage, "It's no big deal."

A Treasure Hoarder got a lucky shot on her with a throwing knife. Although, all he got as his reward was a broken nose and his feet frozen to the ground by Cryo.

However, Rosaria found shepherded by the younger nun towards the infirmary.

Even the infirmary had ornate windows and walls full of history, just like the rest of the church. Rosaria was more familiar with the infirmary, but more as a patient rather than as someone treating wounds. Rosaria wasn't squeamish. No, not even close. She's seen too many horrors growing up for that. But holding someone's life in your hands while they lay wrapped in white sheets, helpless to nothing else but cling to you for their safety and comfort in their possible last moments, that was a responsibility that frankly scared Rosaria. A Cryo Vision was fitting for her, considering she did not often feel equipped to be a warm and inviting person.

Barbara was not the same as Rosaria. The infirmary was her territory. She gently guided Rosaria to a chair right by Barbara's station. Rosaria already had a make-shift bandage, but Barbara removed it. She inspected the wound and made just it was disinfected with no debris caught in it. She murmured encouragingly, "You did really good at keeping this clean."

"Of course. It's not the first time I've been injured," Rosaria responded, somewhat icily. She wasn't just another one of Barbara's patients. She had to take care of herself for a long time, so she wouldn't have even thought of going to the infirmary for something so minor. Still, she allowed Barbara to help, at least for the convenience of it. And Rosaria knew it would have been more of a hassle to say no to her anyways.

Barbara then drew upon her Hydro Vision. Glittering water flittered from her hand with a bubbly gurgle and gave the wound a cooling kiss, almost like how a mother would for her child. The healing waters soaked into Rosaria's skin and the wound closed instantaneously, leaving little more than a red mark. As she did this, Barbara hummed soothingly, almost without thinking, sending gentle notes to bounce off the walls of the empty room. Maybe in part due to Rosaria being exhausted from a night of fighting criminals, she found the combination of Hydro healing and singing relaxing enough that she had to resist the urge to fall asleep.

Barbara paused singing and noted, "Oh, your sleeve is still pretty torn. Maybe I could try patching it up?"

Rosaria was thankful to snap out of her tiredness and answer, "No, it's fine. I can fix it. Thanks."

She moved to stand from the chair and leave, but Barbara made a small noise, "Oh! Um—"

Rosaria looked to her, "Something else?"

Barbara pressed her fingers together and glanced at the table of her station, "Were you…able to attend the party earlier? I didn't see you."

"I was busy," Rosaria shrugged, not going into detail.

"O-oh. I'm sorry to hear that…but! I have something to give you then! Please wait just a moment."

The white-clad deaconess turned to her station and went over to a covered metal platter.

Barbara pulled off the cover. She didn't realize that Rosaria discreetly watched, seeing the once-hidden cup of tea and a slice of cake. However, Barbara froze when looking at the cake. It had once been very fluffy vanilla cake had dried up and flaked unflatteringly. Barbara silently panicked and snatched up the tea before covering the cake up again.

Now Barbara turned towards Rosaria with the tea. She set the cup down with a gentle clink of the ceramic. Rosaria rose her eyebrow at it, "What is this?"

"It's tea from the party earlier. It should still be good," Barbara said. "I'm sorry that you missed it."

Rosaria was taken aback. She stared at the cup, and, to her, it just looked like a flimsy, fancy cup full of colored water. She didn't understand the gesture.

"Why go through the trouble?" Rosaria asked.

Barbara blinked, surprised by the question. She answered, "That's because I don't want you to feel left out!"

Rosaria went quiet.

There was a soft chime of the clock on the wall. Barbara made a little noise when she looked at the time, "Oh, I should head home soon."

Rosaria's head snapped up automatically, "I'll walk you back."

Barbara waved dismissively, "I have a Vision. I'll be fine!"

Rosaria scowled, "Just because you have a Vision doesn't make you invincible. If anything, it just makes you an even bigger target. I'll accompany you."

Her words were cold and unflinching as her blade. Barbara pouted lightly, but a reconsideration entered her eyes, especially when she noticed that Rosaria hadn't touched the tea yet. Barbara finally wrung her hands and said, "Oh…okay. How's about this? I'm going to finish cleaning up while you enjoy your tea, then we can walk together."

"Do as you will."

Despite Rosaria's dismissive response, Barbara smiled and hurried off, "I'll be quick!"

This then left Rosaria alone for the moment with her stinging wound gone and the tea cup still in hand. She stared at it for a moment before finally bringing the smooth ceramic to her lips.

When she drank the tea, it didn't taste like honey and tea leaves with a dash of chocolate. It also didn't taste like something that Rosaria would have expected to drink while standing around a cake, sharing a joke among acquaintances. To Rosaria, the tea tasted like something you might drink with a friend. The tea had long since gone cold, but it left a warmth in her chest, of an elusive normalcy she rarely pursued.

That taste clung to her memory, where it stayed quietly buried, until she found herself drinking another, unexpected cup of tea. This time, she sat at the counter for the tavern Angel's Share. Kaeya, the calvary captain for the knights, sat in the stool next to her, laughing airily while a floating, child-like figure named Paimon angrily stomped her tiny feet in the air. Paimon was behind the counter alongside a blond young man named Aether, a strange but helpful traveler.

"If you want another cup, it better be because you liked it so much!" Paimon squeaked with gritted teeth at Kaeya, "Not because you're pretending it's bad just so you can get more for free!"

Kaeya put his hand to his chest. While one eye was covered by his eye-patch, the other was full of a fake broken-heartedness and playful mischief, "Now, now, is that really what you expect from me? I thought we were better friends than that."

Rosaria made an amused scoff at their banter and sipped more of her tea. It was unusual for her and Kaeya to have anything other than alcohol at the tavern, but this was a nice change of pace. Rosaria also didn't mind the pleasant memories it stirred. Unfortunately, she found the last of it slipped through her lips, leaving her with an empty cup. She hadn't expected to finish it so soon. A glance at the window told her that it would be dark soon enough and time for her to resume her solitary hunt.

She then felt a cool hand on her shoulder and she glanced over at Kaeya.

"What do you say? Do you want a refill too?" he asked. The playfulness in his voice had a hint of something knowing. Kaeya probably knew she was thinking of heading out. Aether and Paimon also glanced over curiously. They all looked like they hoped she would stay.

An old instinct itched in the back of her mind. She didn't like to stick around in public places or let people learn about her, since she was always on guard of being taken advantage of. It took a long time for her to even understand what having a friend even meant, because it had been ingrained in her that people only did things for each other when they expected something in return. But being saved by the knights, staying at the church, and especially meeting Barbara had turned that understanding on its head. Rosaria was still reclusive, but she said no less often to hanging out. In fact, if she had said no to Kaeya today, then she wouldn't be where she was right now, the warmth of the tea staving the cold while trusted faces sat alongside her.

Rosaria felt a separate warmth stir in her chest. She pushed her empty cup forward and answered, "Sure. I've got time."

END


CatCrescent: Rosaria and Barbara struck me as two people who act like sisters but aren't really related, and I think there's a lot of potentional for sweet interactions, so when this event revealed that Rosara fondly remembers a nice gesture that Barbara did, I knew I wanted to try my hand at writing it out. I'd love to hear what you guys think!

I meant to post this back in JULY! Unfortunately, I got so wrapped up in trying to finish my 'No Littering' horror story in time for Halloween, I didn't get the chance to complete this until now. The last part of this little series will be coming up right after this so stay tuned!