As of a few days ago, this story reached almost 100 follows followingly closely behind at 76 favs which has since eclipsed not only Whipped, but any published story I've made on this site. I can't thank you guys enough for giving me your time and more importantly giving this story a chance. The fact you've stuck around this long makes me hopeful for the other ideas I might have in store to share with you, but that's hush hush for now ;)

Further notes at the end; on with the show!

Disclaimer: Genshin Impact and its characters belong to Mi-hoyo and Hoyoverse; I own nothing.

For so long, she'd believed that the only source of entertainment was to be found in the halls of the Epicles. There the lives of her people were brought to attention in brilliant, bombastic displays, often fraught with gripping emotional tension and she hardly had to lift a finger! The Iudex presided over all trials, allowing her to influence verdicts whenever she saw fit to a reasonable extent. All she had to do was sit and enjoy the show, to lose herself in the wave of calamity that each trial was sure to bring.

However, though it was rare, she found herself growing bored with such spectacles and if there was one thing the newly minted archon detested, it was boredom. Thus, when she heard tales of the Traveler, this mysterious but insanely popular figure that was traveling Teyvat, her curiosity was piqued.

Since that first encounter they had in Romaritime Harbor he had yet to bore her even when she took the humiliating trial into account. As much as she loved the elegance and fancy etiquette her people had since embodied, due in part to her influence, it grew dull after a while.

The Traveler's arrival in Fontaine was a breath of fresh air for her in what felt like ages. 500 years might not seem like a long period where divinity was concerned, but it was still a long time to go through the motions. What's more, he was perhaps the first one in ages who had the backbone to go against her whims which, while irritating, was fascinating all on its own. The blond foreigner was quickly becoming a tantalizing topic throughout all of Fontaine, and Furina would be remiss if she didn't share some of that excitement. How could she not?

After all, she was currently being led about by the hand on an underwater escapade that was reminiscent of a scene from some novels she had read once. It was a challenge to focus on the vivid, breathtaking scenery around them instead of how hard her heart was thumping.

It was vexing, to say the least… but all the same, she didn't dislike it.

"Furina, are you ok?" her escort's voice broke into her musings, tossing her back into the now. Well, when all else failed, she could always rely on her trusty mask of haughtiness even though that mask had begun to show signs of cracking recently.

"Quite so, I am merely admiring my realm is all," she replied with a smug smile. "My land truly is the epitome of elegance."

"Would you have said that had I not dragged you down here?"

She spluttered at that wisecrack, glaring sourly at the back of his head. "For the record, you did no such thing. I, in my esteemed graciousness, allowed you to lead me down here and that is what the people shall know to be true."

"The people? You want to tell people about our time together?" the blond asked, glancing back at in surprise.

Furina's retort never made it past her lips, the god suddenly realizing just how scandalous such a reality would become were the people to know.

But, is that so wrong? A tiny, treasonous little voice whispered at her. It's not like he's some commoner.

He's still not a god, she found herself arguing back, briefly pondering why she was arguing with herself.

Would anything change between you if he was?

For once, the God of Justice didn't have an answer to that… at least not yet.

But what she did know was that the Traveler's hand made her feel warm… comfortable.

"P-perhaps," she answered softly with a slight stammer, realizing he was still staring at her expectantly.

"Oh." It might've been a trick of the light, but she swore she saw his face darken with red.

"A-anyways! Since you appear to know your way around, why don't you show me all the wondrous things my realm has to offer?"

"You mean the things you want to see?"

"I-!" she squawked indignantly, her shocked expression turning to outrage as she found him smirking at her. The gall! "Do not dare put words into my mouth, fool!"

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so easy to read, then," the Traveler snickered.

Furina's face burned but for once, it wasn't just embarrassment that was the cause.

Breaking free of his hold, she swam to the front, twirling and coming to a stop right before him. "Now you listen here," she said sharply, jabbing a gloved finger into his admittedly well-toned chest. She quickly shook that notion out of her head before she uttered something regrettable. "Do not think for one instant that I am so predictable, because I am not. I am like the sea itself, always changing and not to be trifled with! Are we clear!?"

"Crystal, Lady Furina," the blond said, that damned smirk still in place.

"You must think you are so clever, don't you? Taking advantage of a poor, defenseless woman's insecurities to lure her down here – and an archon of this nation no less. You cad!"

To her immense satisfaction, her escort's face did indeed burn bright red at her implication. The smirk came easily to her, but she fought it down in favor of letting herself float before him. "My, I fear that you would not receive much leniency from the Gardes if word of this got out."

Seeing his panicked state, after he had so thoroughly teased her was a boon beyond what mere words could describe. But simply put, she was delighted to elicit such a reaction out of him.

Not just handsome, but has a cute side, too, that little voice said just a bit louder.

She viciously shoved it aside before the words could affect her too much. The slight warming of her cheeks at the remark was unavoidable, however.

"P-please don't tell the Gardes, Lady Furina," the blond pleaded, hands clapped in prayer. "I'd really rather not see the inside of a cell again."

Furina had no such intention of course, but she wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily. She was, however, curious about that little admission of his – had he truly been imprisoned at some point prior? In any case, making him squirm a bit was far more important than indulging her curiosity for the now. Folding her arms, she adopted her best affronted act, turning away from him with an offended huff. "Simple apologies won't win my favor this time around, I'm afraid."

"I'll do anything! Just name it!"

Though she would sooner face the Oratrice herself than admit such things, Furina immediately imagined many, many admittedly scandalous ideas of just how he could win her favor. But because she was a generous and forgiving archon, she would offer him a lifeline. It absolutely had nothing to do with how her heart seemed to quiver at even one of those ideas she had.

Glancing back at him, still in his pleading pose, she gave an exaggerated sigh. "Oh very well. Since you are so insistent, let met lay out the conditions going forward. Deviate from these in the slightest and the Gardes will learn the truth of this little excursion, are we clear?"

"Crystal!" the Traveler practically shouted, startling her a bit.

It took all she had not to burst into a fit of giggles.

"The first condition will be thus: there shall be more Lady Furina or Supreme Excellence from here on out when addressing me. Down here, I am not the Hydro Archon and you are not the Traveler. We are just two people, so there's no need for such formalities. I will answer to my name. As for the second," Furina said, trailing off as the heat from before filled her cheeks once more, her gaze averting slightly. "in-in return, I shall refer to you only by yours."

"M-my name?"

Furina's ire rose at the nervousness in his tone. "Is that a concern?" she practically growled at him, fighting back the surge of fear at the thought of offending him somehow.

"N-no, none, not at all!" he said frantically, waving his hands defensively. "It just caught me off guard is all."

"In that case, I shall allow you to go first."

"With what?"

Furina rolled her eyes, and shouted, "My name you dunce!"

"Ah! Then…" the blond seemed to swallow a bit, before a single word left his lips. "F-Furina…"

Up until then, he'd called her name a number of times by itself but somehow, right in this moment… hearing him call her name felt so… intimate.

Never mind what she battled with trying to say. It was just his name, his blasted name! She'd heard the little fairy call him it dozens of times already, so why couldn't she say it?!

Glancing furtively at him, the god turned away from him, trying to coach herself mentally.

I can say it, I can say it, I can say, just say it already! It's just a name!

It's his name, the little voice piped up once more.

Will you shut it?!

"Ae… A-A-Aether," she forced out, blushing madly.

Damn this boy for reducing her to this state. How utterly undignified.

"It's nice to meet you, Furina," the Traveler, no, Aether said with a smile.

Furina scoffed. "Fool. What's the sense in saying such nonsense? We've known who we are for some time, haven't we?"

"Now didn't you say we're just two people down here? We might as well be meeting for the first time, no strings attached. What's the harm in introducing ourselves this way?

Unable to come up with a retort, Furina fiddled with a strand of hair again, hoping that the thumping of her heart would go away in time, even as she tried to maintain eye contact with the smiling boy.

For Celestia's sake, why was he so charming?!

Still, his words held some truth to them. It felt like the final barrier between them had eroded, leaving them bare to one another for the first time since their meeting. It was a terrifying but thrilling prospect.

She wanted to see more, so much more. Right now, underneath these waves, he belonged to her and nobody else.

As it should be, the little voice whispered again only this time, Furina found herself slightly agreeing with it.

Allowing herself a smile of her own, she allowed the feelings in her chest to bubble to the surface, letting them show for the first time. "Ehe, maybe so."

Aether said nothing, however. He just stared, his mouth hanging open slightly.

Furina blinked, cocking her head to the side slightly. "What are you staring at?"

"Ah! Uh, nothing… uh… hey, do you want to race?!"

Furina stared at him, stunned by this sudden mood swing. What the devil had gotten into him? "Why of all things did that come to your mind? What purpose would it serve?"

"Oh, so you're afraid to lose to me?" Aether challenged, which had the desired effect of kicking her spiteful side into high gear.

"Pardon? If you believe that you can beat me, the Hydro Archon at any form of contest, you are quite mistaken."

"Someone's cocky," Aether remarked, wading over to her.

Instead of feeling nervous, Furina grinned at him, swimming around him like a fish, ending up behind him. "Tis only fair for those confident in their abilities," she teased, bringing her hand to her chest. "So, are you prepared to concede?"

The question was a challenge on both fronts – to the race, and to their delicate waltz around each other's heart.

Ever since their first meeting, the Traveler had yet to disappoint her and this time appeared to be no exception.

"You first, Furina."

The only sounds that could be heard in the Iudex's office was the scritching of his pen and the tick-tock of the clock hung in the corner.

Neuvillette found himself both at peace and oddly unsettled. This kind of solace was rare even when Furina was occupied with something other than the trials to alleviate her acute boredom. He was enjoying it of course; he'd managed to chronicle all the day's verdicts into his personal memoirs, something he rarely had a chance to do with the archon's whining and general intrusion of his privacy. The Chief Justice had even managed to get a table at Hotel Debord for dinner, an instance that had left the staff scrambling to meet his expectations.

Still, it was strange.

Under usual circumstances, she would perch herself right at my shoulder and badger me about the verdicts themselves, claiming she should've been the one to make the final decision, he thought in an almost fond manner.

But today was quiet... after Lady Furina had excused herself, the trials had proceeded without incident. Testimonies were heard and exchanged, allowing both parties to make their cases to him and allowing him ensure the Oratrice had the means to make the final verdict. For instance, the trial between Mr. Brunswick and Mr. Carlyle had ended in a surprising turn of events. New evidence had come to light, revealing Carlyle to have had an long-standing affair with Brunswick's wife all in an elaborate but poorly thought of scheme to frame Brunswick for infidelity and his wife had since come clean about it. Thus, Mr. Brunswick walked free and with his reputation intact, though he would be going home alone this night.

Humans... where is the sense is turning on one's chosen partner? he wondered. Was it because of their love for one another?

He quickly dismissed that notion.

No, Carlyle's mistress only cared about latching onto a new, younger form of sustainability for her lavish lifestyle. Feelings shouldn't be taken into account there. That said, Lady Furina would have surely been engrossed in the proceedings if not for her outburst.

Neuvillette took a sip from his evening tea, mulling the thought over in his head for a moment.

It's odd. I've never known her to be absent from the Epicles for an extended period of time, and barring that she should've at least returned to the Palais by now.

Perhaps what he had been hearing held some merit, and if so, then she was in capable hands.

If nothing else, it keeps her out of my affairs for once. Though it is unnaturally quiet in here...

The Iudex stilled at that thought, his eyes widening slightly, lowering the cup to the saucer on his desk.

"Gods... is this what they meant by the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder"?"

It seemed humans were frighteningly insightful despite everything. He'd have to study them more carefully in the coming times.

From the Salacia Plain, through the Elton Trench and finally the bowels of Elynas itself, Aether did his damndest to keep up with his competitor but it was no use. It didn't matter if Furina never set foot in the ocean; she'd taken to the aquatic world below like, well, like a fish to water. Even with that extravagant dress of hers on, she still managed to swim circles around him as easily as breathing. Somehow he wasn't too surprised – she was the Hydro Archon after all. But there was one thing that did surprise him about her.

Her smile.

Furina wore smirks and grins like a mask, concealing her true feelings from others with good reason. So the fact that she felt comfortable enough now to drop such facades made him feel something he couldn't yet describe.

All he knew was that he was gradually wishing this day wouldn't end. That they could continue to swim through Fontaine's waters without a single care in the world, just the two of them…

A whirl of movement from her right found himself locking eyes with a beaming archon, the girl orienting herself to float just in front of him, hands on her hips. "Well~? She drawled, grinning.

Aether couldn't help but sigh. "Fine, you win."

What had he been thinking? Challenging the Hydro Archon to a race in the sea. He might as well have challenged Venti to an archery match.

Venti would've at least given me a chance, he groused bitterly.

Furina on the other hand showed him no mercy. Said girl beamed, twirling once like a ballerina. "Ah, nothing delights me more than to hear those words, especially from you," she giggled. "Now I feel redeemed."

"I tried to warn you about that weasel," Aether pointed out, causing her to wince.

"Ahem! Yes, well, such mistakes are an unfortunate aspect of life it seems."

"You just don't want to admit you got beaten by a weasel thief," Paimon jeered, popping out of her space with a smirk.

Furina's face flared up, her eyes set upon the little fairy like a drawn blade. "Let us be clear on the matter, shall we? The cretin proved a worthy adversary and thus I deemed him worthy of continued existence."

"Sure, sure," Aether chuckled, playing along. It was surprisingly fun to tease the Hydro Archon like this, especially since she always could bite back in her eloquent manner. "So, what about the creatures down here?"

"Oh, they are wondrous by comparison but apart from that, I hold no interest in them. After all, most would sooner see us fish food than not, and vice versa," Furina explained snootily, crossing her arms.

"That so?" Aether drawled, glancing at Paimon with a knowing smirk. "I don't think she'd care much about Berrypuff then."

Paimon giggled. "Yeah, Berrypuff is way too boring for her, huh."

"Excuse mois? Would you care to enlighten me as to what is so intriguing about this… Berrypuff creature?" Furina demanded, coming very close to a pout.

"Oh it's nothing Furina. Berrypuff is just a friend of ours we made recently, but you don't have to worry. We won't drag you along to see something so boring," Paimon assured her, grinning.

If there was one thing Aether had since learned about Furina it was that the archon didn't back down from a challenge. She was far too prideful for that, after all.

"I shall be the judge of such matters, thank you," Furina snapped before adopting an imperious-looking pose, one hand on her hip and the other pointed at them. "Seeing as you are my escort on this venture, you shall not even consider abandoning me. As such, you will take me to meet this… Berrypuff."

Sharing a quick devious look with Paimon, Aether lowered himself into a bow before answering. "As you wish, my lady."

"Ack!"

Aether blinked twice, quickly turning to look at Furina… whose face was now rapidly darkening red, a gloved hand held up to her lips as she stared at something elsewhere. "Furina?"

"I – ahem! It's nothing! Lead on, before I reconsider this course!" Furina exclaimed, falling back into formalities briefly.

Aether merely raised an eyebrow at her before turning to lead the way, checking quickly to see if Furina was following him. She was, but she now keeping a respectful distance from him all of a sudden…

Strange. Had he really said something that shocking?

"As you wish, my lady," his words came back, and this time, even he couldn't ignore the implications of that phrase.

His face warmed several degrees, his mind beginning to whirl at the notions of what he actually meant.

Surely, he only meant it to play along with her character, right?

…right?

Maybe Paimon has a point this time around. But I still don't know yet. Furina is… damn it, what is she to me?!

Now more than ever he needed the answer before he went insane.

Originally I was going to have this as one giant chapter, but for the sake of pacing, I split it to make room for the next one. Rest assured there is a method to my madness, you'll see.

Also look forward to our lovable archon submitting to the ultimate form of cuteness in Fontaine (besides the green and red crabs, of course; damn you Hoyo for making quests that have me kill them).