Come dawn, Amber is already awake. She makes her way towards the Knights of Favonius headquarters, a not too full backpack on her shoulders, her bow secured to her back and the quiver tied to her hip.
She hums Barbara's latest song; a sweet melody that still hasn't left her mind after quite a few days. Once she gets there she nods to the half-asleep guards as she skips inside the building.
She approaches the board near Jean's office, signing her name alongside the hour of her arrival.
"Oh, Amber, you're here already." Jean approaches her, holding a cup of coffee.
"As usual." The outrider salutes with a smile.
"I was waiting for you, I rearranged your mission for today last minute."
"Sure."
"You'll work with another knight, Lisa and I thought it might be beneficial for the both of you."
"No problem, it's nice to work alongside someone else once in a while."
"Yes, well, that someone would be…"
"Jean, did you have me called?" Eula opens the front door, walking firmly with her back held straight. Amber looks at Jean, pointing to herself and then to Eula. Jean nods.
"Why is the outrider also here?"
"She's the reason why I called you in so early in the morning. Today you'll go with Amber during her expedition, you'll be her direct subordinate."
Eula hunches her brow and shakes her head.
"Jean, I'm the Reconnaissance Company's captain, why would I go on a mission as the only outrider's subordinate?"
"Because the Reconnaissance Company also manages to be so successful due to Amber's effective investigations, she finds and infiltrates enemy sites, so knowing the whole process behind that will also serve you well in forming your future strategies. Furthermore, you and Amber technically belong to the same rank, so I'm not asking you to become her best friend, but at least try and work with her in a civil manner." Jean makes eye contact with Eula.
"Got it, I guess the company will party in my absence."
"Don't worry, I didn't leave them free of assignments." Jean hints at a smile.
"Amber, I trust you, you have much more experience when it comes to the wilderness and infiltrations, keep her from fighting one mitachurl too many and getting herself hurt."
"Yes, ma'am!" Amber salutes perfectly with a beaming smile. Jean goes back to her office and the outrider turns to Eula.
"Hey, since we're gonna have to travel for a few days during the mission, are you filled in on what you need to bring?".
Eula points to her backpack. Amber studies it, it's a lofty bag, a hunting knife's grip and a foldable tent peek through. Secured to her back, under her backpack, Eula keeps a claymore that is almost as tall as Amber.
"Only bring what's strictly necessary, we need to explore Stormbearer's Mountain's peaks and too much weight might slow us down, if we also were to sneak in somewhere that would only bug us more; as for provisions we will eat what we find on our way".
"I don't need your advice. May I remind you I'm the captain of the Reconnaissance Company?"
Amber took a deep breath.
"Sure, but if you need any help don't mind asking me, I'm quite strong even if I don't look the part." Amber raises her sleeve to display her arm as she flexes, her bicep bulging; her sleeve suddenly appears to be two sizes smaller than it was before, the result of years of hard work in the woods.
"I don't think I'll need it, I lift a weapon that is much heavier than you regularly." Eula turns around and walks towards the doorway. Amber sighs.
"Come on Amber, you can do it!" The outrider raises her arms towards the sky, then lowers them vehemently and follows Eula.
They walk for a few hours following the main path, when some trees start appearing near the clearing they go towards them. Amber leads the way, checking the trees on her trail.
"So, what's leading an entire team like?" Amber turns to Eula with a smile.
"I just do my job."
"Well, yeah, but it must be nice to have a team to share moments with, other than just hitting monsters, right?"
"My relationship with my subordinates is strictly professional, nothing more, nothing less."
"So this is what Jean meant when she told me she had a hard time with social interactions". Amber kicks a pebble on the ground, following its tumbling in the dirt, and she notices something sparkling close to where the rock landed, among the bushes. The outrider gets closer, getting the leaves out of the way, and she finds a trap stuck with a chain to a tree trunk. She disables the spring snap carefully, unties the trap and shows it to Eula.
"Be careful with these, they need to be removed because it's illegal to use them for hunting purposes, they can also badly hurt people if they step into them by accident."
"Din't think hunters would still use such brutish measures."
"My job also consists in eliminating traps like this one. They need to be disabled and confiscated, but if you've never dealt with them you can let me take care of it, you'd risk losing a finger or worse if you tried without the right amount of instructions."
"I'll leave such work to you."
Eula turns as she keeps on walking; Amber stares at the ground, securing the trap to her backpack, while her smile fades from her face.
They walk for two more hours in silence; Amber is a few steps ahead of Eula, mostly because she wants the feeling of being judged for her every move to dwindle enough for her to get back to breathing normally. They sift through the ground and trees for a few hours, until lunch time rolls around.
"Sunsettias!" A massive tree stands in front of them, and there are a bunch of orange colored fruit peeking through the green fronds. Amber darts towards the plant and she climbs the branches with such ease that she almost makes it seem effortless. She straddles one of the more sturdy branches, takes a fruit and bites it with no hesitation
"I was starving!" She finishes the fruit in a few bites. Eula catches up to her without hurrying and she stops to glare at her eating with her arms crossed.
"Hey, Spindrift Knight, you hungry?" Amber throws a fruit in her direction and Eula catches it.
"It's not very well mannered to throw fruit at people."
"But it's still good though." Amber bites into another sunsettia. Eula sits on a fallen tree trunk, takes off her gloves and uses a small knife to cut her fruit into slices before eating. The outrider finishes her second sunsettia and she lets herself hang from the branch, holding herself solely with her legs' strength.
"Isn't it good?" She smiles.
Eula looks at her absent-mindedly "You look like a monkey."
Amber's smile falters, she looks at the ground for a few seconds and she pushes herself on the branch, returning to straddling it; she takes a sack out of her backpack and fills it with sunsettias. She hears a rustling noise coming from the bushes nearby, a small tail pops up from the leaves. Amber takes her bow and arrows, aims her shot, tenses the bowstring and she strikes. The arrow pierces through the air, making a hissing noise replaced by the animal's yelp moments later. The outrider jumps down from her spot on the branch as she hurries to get the arrow that stabbed through the abdomen of a rabbit. The animal trembles and cries.
"Oh, no! I didn't manage to finish it off in one hit, I'm so sorry little bunny, I didn't want to hurt you more than is needed". Amber pets the rabbit's head, as it dies a few instants later.
"Stupid Amber, you need to train more with your bow!" Amber takes the arrow out, cleans it with a piece of cloth and puts it back into the quiver; she takes the rabbit by its ears and hangs it on a branch. The blood trickles down. Once each crimson drop has hit the ground, Amber takes the carcass back and goes to Eula.
"We have our dinner, I'd say we could walk to Starfell Lake and then be done for the day."
"Fine." Eula throws the sunsettia's core on the ground and stands up. Amber ties the rabbit to her belt, catching up to her; she takes her sack filled with sunsettias and opens it in front of Eula.
"Have some more, we need to be able to stand until the evening comes."
Eula takes another fruit without answering; Amber does the same and starts walking nibbling it from time to time. The silence between them goes on until they settle their camp around the small lake; the setting sun shines a warm light on the water and tree fronds slightly moved by the wind.
"Would you mind looking for some wood while I skin the rabbit?"
"You're the boss here, you don't need to ask." Eula leaves her backpack near Amber as she heads in the direction of a bunch of trees, her claymore on her back. The outrider watches Eula leave as she sits on a boulder and sighs with relief. She takes a big hunting knife and an apron, which has a red embroidery of her name, from her bag and wears it, switches her gloves, grabs the rabbit and starts working on it.
"I don't know if I'm messing something up, if there's something I don't get…Ugh! I've never had to think this much before speaking to someone!"
Eula returns when the sunlight is barely enough to see right in front of oneself. She carries the wood with both of her arms without struggling and leaves it on the ground where Amber is finishing her process of cutting and eviscerating the rabbit.
"Is there no way to have a civil conversation with her?"
"Where does the apron come from?"
Amber raises her head, slightly startled and looks at the woman in front of her
"Huh? Oh! This, yes, I always bring it with me to keep my uniform clean, it'd be awful to spend days on end covered in blood," Amber smiles and gestures to her clothes, then to the lake "sure, I can always rinse them with water, but they're not easy stains to get out, so it's better to use an apron. Even if I wash it and the stains don't come out it's fine. Also see?" Amber points to the red lettering on the fabric "my mom embroidered this, so it's nice even just wearing it".
"Maybe we're making baby steps in the right direction…"
"I asked why you were wearing an apron, not to recount your laundry plans." Eula bends down, moving the branches around to shape the campfire, surrounding it with rocks.
"Or maybe not."
Amber snaps her fingers in the general direction of the pile of wood; it generates a small ember of that, once it makes contact with dried leaves, catches fire. They start roasting the rabbit on the campfire and Amber adds its entrails. Eula looks at her with her brows furrowed and her lips warped with disgust.
"The insides?"
"Of course, we can't waste a bite out of this rabbit"
"Oh Barbatos, I'll gladly leave them to you".
"Oh well, more food for me. You're missing out, the heart and liver can be delicious if cooked in the right way."
Eula covers her mouth with a hand and stares at the rabbit while it cooks.
"Could you keep an eye on it, so it doesn't burn? I need to clean my apron."
"Sure…"
Amber heads towards the lake, kneeling on the shore and rubbing the fabric against the rocks with vigor; the water, dimly lit by the dancing light of the bonfire, reddens. Amber starts to hum to herself once the smell of cooked rabbit reaches her. Once done rinsing, the outrider wrings out the apron as she concentrates her Vision's warmth into her hands. A small cloud of steam ascends towards the stars in the sky. The fabric dries a few seconds later and Amber folds it, storing it away in her bag.
Amber tries to open her mouth to speak a couple of times while they eat, but every time she closes it back as she resigns to stare at the roasted rabbit meat in her hands, sighing.
After dinner's over, they store the leftovers in a clean sack; Eula takes up the duty of carrying it to keep it fresh with the aid of her Vision. The two of them lay out each of their own tents, securing them to the ground with stakes. They extinguish the flame of the campfire with some dirt.
"So, um… Goodnight. If you need anything I'm, uh, you know, in the tent right next to yours, eheh" she forces a smile. Eula nods then she steps into her tent without a single word.
The outrider sags onto herself; Amber's movements turn slower and heavier, she enters her tent, placing her jacket in its corner, eats some candy and curls up into her sleeping bag.
"Guess you can't always get along with everyone".
The night-like silence is only cut off by the crickets' chirps. The grass thinly reflects the moon light, making the glade around them look almost idyllic. Outside the tents some fireflies fly around, entirely unbothered.
Amber turns in her sleeping bag, using it to cover herself up to the top of her head. Without the distraction of the environment around her Eula's scent stands out and forces its way into her mind.
"I should've listened to mom, being in contact with the more omegas I can manage to get used to their scent, but noo! I preferred to go adventuring! But how could I have known that I would have ended up sleeping in the tent next to the hottest omega around? Well, if she didn't have such an awful personality… Ugh, I'm used to mom's scent, but this… this is too much".
Amber blushes, her body feels warm and tingles as her blood flows into the one area that she was praying wouldn't have awoken.
"Oh no, please, anything but this!" Amber covers her face with her hands as she turns again so she can hide against her small pillow, she opens her mouth and stifles a scream.
"Sometimes I wish I was born a beta or an omega just so I could avoid all of this. Amber, get yourself together, you're twenty one, you're no longer a teenage girl! Also because…" Amber saddens, rolls on one side and hugs the sleeping bag tight, "I already knew Eula…"
Amber was six years old when she crossed paths with Eula for the first time. She had gone to her grandpa's house without telling him, to surprise him with a visit, and she had found him in the yard with a little girl with azure hair, mud on her cheeks and holding a sword much bigger than her. Grandpa was next to her, teaching her how to use it. She looked a tiny bit older.
Amber hid behind one of the bushes near grandpa's house and watched them for a few minutes. She had no idea who the other girl was, but she admired how she kept on practicing, even if her face was dripping with sweat and her breath was heavy with fatigue. Once she was done slashing through the air with the sword, Grandpa had smiled at her and stroked her hair; she looked nothing short of radiant.
Amber waited until the other child had left, only then did she approach the man; he was tidying up the makeshift training camp they had arranged.
"Oh, Amber! What a great surprise, what did you come for, dear?" Grandpa left his work undone and stepped towards his granddaughter.
"Grandpa, who wath that girl?"
"Oh, you mean Eula? I met her not long ago, found her after she ran away from home and gave her some hot chocolate. I saw she was giving some looks to my sword, so I decided to teach her some moves. Since that day she's come back often."
"Why'd she ran away from home?"
"Because unfortunately not all parents love their children for who they are".
"Then they're dumb parenth!"
"I agree Amber! The dumbest in the world".
Amber stood in silence and rubbed her thumbs together; the man lowered himself so that he could look at her face directly.
"Are you alright, dear? You know you're still Grandpa's favorite even if I take care of other kids, right?"
"It'th not that Grandpa, I know you love me. I jutht thought she was super good with the thword". Amber fixed her gaze onto the ground.
"I could introduce you if you'd like, I'm sure you'd be great friends." Grandpa smiled at her and caressed her cheek.
"I can't Grandpa, what if she findth out? I thtill need to learn how to hide better; what if I make a mithtake and she tells other people? What if we get exiled? I know you and Momma really like Mondthtadt, I don't wanna make uth leave." Amber eyes couldn't focus on anything, for they were clouded by tears; Grandpa hugged her.
"Hey hey, little one, easy, your mother and I trust you and you know you're perfectly fine when it comes to hiding you're an alpha." The man dried the first few of the tears that started streaming down her face. "And, in any case, even if we happened to be exiled it wouldn't be your fault, but of those who decided there isn't a place for alphas like us in Mondstadt. Even if we had to leave if we stick together we'll be happy, so don't keep yourself from enjoying life, make friends, do something crazy instead of going to bed even if it makes your mother angry, fall in love, do whatever can make you happy. And if trying to form a friendship with Eula can give you even a bit of joy I'll be glad to introduce you to her." Grandpa smiled at her, took a handkerchief out of his pocket, cleaned her face and made sure she blew her nose.
"Thankth grandpa, I thwear I will, but I don't feel ready right now, I want to be thure I won't be thcared to stand next to a friend, so I'll wait until I'm braver; but thank you! You're the betht Grandpa ever, I already feel great!" Amber smiled.
"Glad to hear that, I will always be here for you Amber, whatever happens."
Amber nodded firmly and held Grandpa.
"I wish you were still here…" A couple of tears quietly dampen the outrider's sleeping bag and she falls asleep a little before dawn.
Amber awakens at sunrise, feeling as if she ran the marathon instead of sleeping. She sits up and look down.
"Not this." She groans, a little morning wood peeking from her legs.
"I know it happens often, but does it need to be this often? Thank god for containment boxers". Amber gets ready quickly, eats the first candy of the day and gets out of her tent, heads to the lake and submerges her whole face in the cold water. She stays like that for a few seconds and she then emerges swiftly.
"Okay! I'm ready! I'm professional! The best outrider ever, I won't let myself be scared by something so stupid!"
"Were you trying to drown yourself and failed miserably or were you attempting to fish with your mouth?"
"I, uh, well, um."Amber gestures wildly and without direction, the water flowing without restraint on her skin, flushed by embarrassment. Eula sighs as she heads to put her tent away.
"I made an ass out of myself, but it's not like I can tell her I was trying to get my shit together after having to put up with her scent all night. God, that sounds like something a huge virgin would say, I want to die."Amber uses her Vision to dry herself as she follows suit storing her tent.
They have breakfast with a few sunsettias they picked the day before and they walk for the whole day without saying a word to each other. They finish the leftover meat for lunch and then start their hike on Stormbearer Mountains.
Amber leads the way, but she too often has to stop to wait for Eula to catch up to her. The Spindrift Knight is slowing down the climbing, but she keeps going without a complaint.
"Hey, do you need help carrying some of your stuff?" Amber looks at her and extends her hand.
"No." Eula keeps going, trying to hide her panting that is becoming heavier with every step she takes, but the outrider notices.
"You mostly explore in the plains with the Reconnaissance Company, right? We need to climb way higher, if you're not used to it it's easy to tire yourself out; it used to happen to me all the time when I first started out, come on, give me something." Amber smiled and stepped closer to Eula.
"There's no need, I'll get used to it". Eula walks past Amber without looking back.
"This is the worst way to get used to it, come on, hand me something, there's no shame in accepting some help from time to time." The outrider surpassed Eula and kept walking while staring at her.
"I'll manage without a peasant's help."
"We have a schedule to keep up with and if you don't, it's not only your pride that gets torn down, but also the success of our mission."
"It won't be hard to speed up."
Amber strokes her temples and runs her fingers through her hair, frustration painted all over her face.
"You're impossible! Listen Spindrift Knight or whatever, Jean put me in charge of this mission." Amber stepped towards Eula, glaring at her and throwing her arms in the air from the amount of gesturing. "So forgive me, but I need to formally ask you as the leader to hand me your claymore so you can move your royal ass more efficiently." The outrider leaves her open hand towards Eula, an abrupt gesture that leaves no trace of her usual kind demeanor.
"Vengeance will be mine." Eula untied the claymore from her torso and gave it to Amber; the outrider takes it and fastens it to her back, under her bag.
They keep walking in silence, talking to each other only when needed, until the end of the day, Amber in front and Eula not too far behind with her arms crossed. When the night comes Amber is far too exasperated by Eula for her omega scent to cause any other type of emotion in her.
The remaining days are spent in silence and Amber doesn't smile at all, unless she happens to be by herself. Two days later, they manage to finish the first round of exploration, as they approach the very last portion of the trek back home.
On the third day, Mondstadt is on the horizon. The grass rasps under their feet each step they take. The trees slowly dissipate, leaving space to the clearing.
"Wait." Amber closes into one of the trees and moves the bush that is hiding its roots; deep incisions caused by quite a sharp knife are present.
"These marks have been left by a Fatui agent, one of their hideouts is near the area, there are some I don't quite understand" Amber takes out her notebook and pencil from her backpack and sketches the gashes' shape, she then takes a knife and uses it to erase the signs left on the tree trunk.
"Follow me and make sure you don't make any noise." Amber crouches down and enters the forest full of foliage. Eula follows her with her head down. They don't spend a long time crawling before they find themselves right in front of a small Fatui site hidden behind plants and situated in a cavern. Inside, a small team of Fatui seems to be intent in studying a map.
"Stay here and keep watch, I'm going to try and sneak in to see if I find anything useful".
"We should just go in and fight them."
"No, we can't risk a whole diplomatic incident!"
"It's not a diplomatic incident if they're the first ones to attack." Eula forcefully snatches her claymore from Amber's back and stands up, out in the open. The outrider grabs her wrist and holds her back, looking into her eyes, but Eula tugs herself free and calmly approaches her targets.
"Good evening gentlemen, would you care to tell me what you think you're doing so well hidden outside Mondstadt's walls?"
The Fatui agent that appears to be the captain of the small group takes a step forward.
"Oh, a knight, greetings. We were just enjoying the pleasant climate of your nation."
"Such refined tastes, I'm sure the mold on the cavern walls by the sunset can appease your gazes." Eula takes a step forward and the Fatui grip their weapon.
"Are you also here to enjoy the weather, knight?"
Eula chuckles. "Don't misunderstand me, the lush greenery of my land is one of the best things I can lay my eyes upon. Why don't you all show me your travel permits needed to visit Mondstadt so we can all keep enjoying our walk with the peace that most fits this place?"
"Is that really necessary? I mean, we were only resting." The remaining Fatui group around the agent.
"I'm afraid so, it's a simple bureaucratic procedure, it shouldn't be an issue if you don't have anything to hide, no?" Eula looks at the Fatui and smiles. The agent sighs.
"I'll leave this to you."
The other Fatui behind him throw themselves towards Eula. She starts to twirl, sending a shove to her claymore strong enough to knock down the first few Fatuis. The agent dashes at Eula together with his remaining comrades, creating a massive commotion that could almost eradicate the trees surrounding them. Eula manages to keep up with her enemies easily, her claymore separating her from them as if both a blade and a shield.
The Fatui agent takes advantage of the ruckus to creep behind Eula and strike her, but he gets stopped by a flaming arrow piercing his shoulder. The Fatuu screams, but his mask warps his pained cry.
"Retreat!" The Fatui grab everything that was on their table as they run away amidst the shrubs. Eula sticks her claymore in the soil and leans on it with her arms.
"Cowards."
Amber gets out of the bushes and walks towards Eula with a relentless pace.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Amber looks her straight in the eye, a scalding heat scorching deep in her whole body.
"I performed my duty." Eula holds her gaze without wavering.
"Your duty? Eula, you could've gotten yourself killed! You've just risked a diplomatic incident and tore months of my efforts to shreds!" Amber points to ground, to the traces of the fighting that just occurred.
"I was still tailing them, now they're going to be much more careful when it comes to leaving traces behind!" Amber's eyes wide and her jaw is locked, while her teeth grind.
"It was merely a warning to make them aware of exactly what they would get in exchange for hostility towards Mondstadt." Eula is nonchalant as she looks at the outrider without backing down or lowering her gaze.
"A warning?! What the fuck is your problem? Did all your bullshit blabber on aristocracy and vengeance get to your head? Do you realize that this is not your fucking Reconnaissance squad's job? I look for information, I sneak in, I earn all that YOU need risking MY life inside the enemy bases! It's not about sweeping the area with dozens of men!" Amber gets close to Eula enough to leave barely a few centimeters between them.
"A show of strength will more than suffice in making them desist, there's no need for such furtiveness; from my standpoint you don't need to put so much effort into exploration. We already do a good portion of the work in the Reconnaissance Company, you might as well join a division instead of needlessly putting yourself in danger. "
"Take that back."
"A lady never takes back her word."
"TAKE. THAT. BACK!" Amber raises her arm, ready to strike Eula with a slap.
"Amber!" Esther's voice echoes in her mind.
"Momma?" little Amber turned towards her bedroom door, where Esther was standing and looking at her. The building blocks the little girl was playing with earlier were scattered in pieces on the floor.
Falling bunny ears and a small ruffled tail were in place of where her ears and lower back used to appear entirely human.
"I heard a bit of a commotion, what happened?" The woman stepped closer and got down on her knees near her daughter.
"I couldn't thet it up well tho I got mad and I thmashed it, thorry I didn't wanna worry you." Amber stared at the ground, rubbing her thumbs together. Her mother stroked her head.
"Hey, don't worry, dear, everyone gets a little mad sometimes, what's important is learning how to not get overwhelmed by it."
Amber nodded and leaned into her mother's touch.
"Additionally, you need to be more careful than other people, because only alphas and omegas get animal ears and tails when they're feeling really strong emotions; the problem is that the candy you eat can only weaken your smell to resemble a beta's, the smell of an omega is too specific to get duped." Esther pets Amber gently.
"And if I let the earth come out they'll find out, right? Will it happen even if I'm really happy or thad?"
"Exactly, good girl; I don't want you to keep yourself from life's great feelings Amber, just remember that in the moment when you feel like you're about to burst you need to take a deep breath and calm yourself down. But never forget that you don't have to be scared of what you feel, okay? Mom is always going to be here to support you."
Amber nodded with vigor
"Come on, let's build this mess back up together." Esther giggled and started taking the pieces on the floor one at a time with Amber's help.
The outrider's hand stops just before it collides with Eula's cheek. Amber takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky for a few seconds before going back to look at the other woman.
"Listen, you're not here to judge my work nor give it any worth, I don't even know why Jean paired us up in the first place." Amber's voice is cold, the rage that was permeating it just instances before dwindling to the point that it's merely an aftertaste in her words, clear enough to be heard without misunderstanding it, but thinly veiled. "Even if you think what I do is useless it's important to me, it's something only I can do, it's my way of helping Mondstadt. I don't have the gall to tell you what you should do as a captain, so I hope that your extensive noble education includes showing respect for people doing their job. Having said that, let's hurry up, we're half a day's walk from the city and forgive me if I dare utter that I would rather interrupt a mission with someone that doesn't appreciate anything I do as soon as possible. Now give me your claymore and let's get going."
Eula lends the outrider her weapon; Amber starts walking without checking to see if Eula is following. She looks at the outrider walk, swallows emptily, bats her eyelids a few times and sighs.
"Vengeance will be mine." Eula's voice is but a whisper in the middle of the woods; she follows Amber only after enough distance forms between them.
They reach the city by the evening and they head to report to Jean. The shops are closing down and the shopkeepers whisper to themselves as the two knights walk by.
Once they get to Knights of Favonius headquarters Amber gives Eula her claymore without talking to her. The walk inside Jean's office in silence and Amber reports with precision, retelling the events in a professional and objective light, without smiling once; she calls her fights with Eula "conflicts due to differing viewpoint" and she takes her leave without looking back.
Jean looks at Eula with such confusion that she looks as if she just suddenly found herself in charge of the kitchen at Angel's Share. Eula groans.
"What is it now?"
"What is it? What is it? Are you serious Eula? What the fu- What did you do to make her act like that? She looked as if a lawachurl trampled her face!"
Eula steps closer to Jean's desk firmly.
"Oh please, as if I didn't catch any of your machinations, Jean." She crosses her arms.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Play dumb for all I care, as if I didn't realize that you told Amber to be nice to me on purpose. You know how much I hate this type of scheming, Jean, I don't need people to pretend to be kind to my face." Eula crosses her arms in front of her chest with her back held straight. Jean strokes her temples and sighs loudly.
"Lord Barbatos, give me strength; Eula, I didn't tell Amber to do anything except to not take your awful temper to heart, if she was kind to you it's because she wanted to".
Eula blushed and coughed a couple of times to clear her voice.
"Well, she must've done it to not seem impolite, so my point still stands."
"Eula, it's Amber, she plays with children in her free time, does charity work in the retirement home, does everything she can to help anyone even with the most trivial things". Jean raises her voice as she stands up "She always goes on missions by herself, risks her life in enemy bases, and yet she still comes back with a smile, and you think someone like that could have pretended to be nice to you? Fuck, Eula, we're not talking about the Lawrence clan or most people in Mondstadt!"
Eula covers her face with her hand; Jean sits back down.
"I have to apologize to her."
"You sure do."
Eula hurriedly exits the room.
Note:
I'll admit I didn't know Eula and Amber were childhood friends when I wrote the first chapter, but this gave me more ideas to make things angsty eheheh; I'm going to update weekly on Mondays, Tuesdays if I happen to have a very busy week ;)
Reminder to follow the fic's official English translator and beta Nyarass over here ;) /nyarasss