'Now then… what food does he like?' Furina asked herself on her way to the store. She could do what would be expected of someone like her and make some Fontainian-styled dinner; Aether would also not be used to Fontainian cuisine to the level he would be for the other nations. And Paimon… well, she'd eat anything if it was edible enough. However, a part of Furina couldn't help but wonder if he had a preference for Mondstadt or any other style of cooking.

She did have some cookbooks from the other nations, having gotten them mainly for how they'd make different types of sauce but it was now coming in handy… well, later. In hindsight, Furina knew she should've checked them first before going shopping for ingredients. Not doing so led to her maybe spending more than she should have at the store and having problems seeing where she was going; the two paper bags were stuffed to the brim and heavy, making walking back to her apartment difficult. Furina prayed to whatever deity was watching over her to not trip. However, the blessing she was bestowed was quite different from what she wanted.

"Lady Furina?" The soft-spoken and concerned voice belonged to none other than the esteemed diver, Freminet. Furina couldn't see him but there was no mistaking his voice. "Do you… need some help with that?"

Furina wanted to act tough and decline the offer but fortunately, her rationality won out. "Thank you, can you take one of the bags please?" Her voice cracked slightly as she felt one of the bags slipping from her grasp. She let out a relieved sigh when Freminet grabbed one out of her arms and asked where to. "Follow me, my home is this way," she led him down the street. "Oh, and please. There's no need to call me Lady Furina any more."

"If you say so, Lad— I mean, Miss Furina." That was slightly better and Furina didn't have the heart to correct him any further.

At their pace, it was a few more minutes until they reached their destination; Furina thought it be nice to fill the air. "How have you and your siblings been lately, Freminet?"

"We're doing fine. Lyney was hired to provide entertainment for a party this weekend," the diver shared. "Even though everyone knows we're Fatui, he's still as popular as ever."

Oh… right. That reminded Furina of what she did all that time ago. "Er… I'm sorry about that," she apologised. "I exposed your secret to everyone for no reason." Though she thoroughly believed he was guilty, her revealing his true allegiance proved useless and unneeded since it turned out Lyney wasn't. She's yet to talk to him or any of his siblings and apologised for it since then. 'Well… they got me back in the end…'

To her surprise, Freminet accepted her apology without a hint of resentment. "It's alright, Miss Furina. I believe Lyney would say the same too." Furina felt a weight lifting off her shoulders upon hearing that. A part of her did wonder if he was telling the truth but as of right now, she accepted it as fact. Maybe someday, she could actually face the trio and truly ask for their forgiveness, especially for all they've done for Fontaine.

Soon enough, they reached her apartment building and went up though Freminet restrained himself from entering Furina's flat; he stood by the door and waited for Furian to take her bag back instead. "Thank you for helping me today, Freminet. Here, as a token of my gratitude." Freminet tried to refuse the Mora she wanted to give him but Furina was not taking a no for an answer. In any case, she bid him goodbye as he left to resume doing whatever business he had in this part of the city. 'Now that I think about it… why was he around?' Not only did he live on the other side of town, but his line of work took him out of the city… Well, his official work anyway.

'No, there's no need to wonder about that.' Furina shook her head and instead focused on what was important now: figuring out what she was going to make for lunch.


In the end, Furina settled on making some Mondstadt-styled dishes. She thought they came out well enough and was excited to hear how they'd taste from Aether. He had more experience in that department after all. By the time she finished cooking and laying out the plates, it was almost the usual time when Aether would drop by… not that she kept track of that.

knock knock

Furina knew she would've died of embarrassment if there was anybody around as they would have seen her skipping from joy. She herself didn't know why she was so happy but didn't stop to question it. She opened the door and greeted her guests again, "Welcome back, Aether." It was impossible for her to hide the smile on her face, especially when he smiled back.

He (and Paimon) had also brought back a gift— some macaroons from Navia as they visited earlier in Poisson. Furina didn't have enough time to make any desserts so it was rather serendipitous. Like before, they simply enjoyed eating together and chatted about their day. Aether naturally had more to say, of course, and Furina found herself hooked on his story. He was only talking about what he did for his commissions but she listened to every single word.

Aether also complimented her on her cooking, saying that it was great for how inexperienced she was in this style of cooking. They soon finished lunch and even though she tried to stop him, he helped her with cleaning the dishes. Paimon had excused herself earlier to take a nap, leaving them alone for the time being which provided Furina with the opportunity to ask the question that's been bothering her for a while now. "Aether?" She finally spoke up as they were nearly done.

"Hmm?" He looked up from the plate he was wiping. "What is it, Furina?"

"Why do you keep coming to see me?" She asked quietly, both nervous and embarrassed to hear his answer. He didn't answer her immediately and was clearly thinking of the right words to say.

After a minute of tense silence, he finally opened his mouth. "I—" "It's cause he likes you."

"WHAT?!"

"Paimon, go back to sleep." In contrast to Furina's loud reaction, Aether was completely exasperated. "Don't listen to her, Navia put strange thoughts into her head. And to answer your question… I don't really know to be honest." That… was not what she expected to hear either. "I know I'm worried about you but I feel like that's not the only reason."

"Is that so…" Her heart was finally calming down from both the anticipation and that unexpected joke from Paimon. "I guess it's not important if you don't know, right? But if you don't mind… will you keep visiting me?" She knew she was overstepping her boundaries a bit and putting him on the spot but—

"Of course. I was already planning on it," Aether replied without any hesitation, catching her completely off guard. She asked if he was serious to which he nodded. "So long as you don't mind me also cooking from time to time. That's not to say your cooking is bad, but I don't feel great letting you do all the work every time I come over."

Furina could hardly keep up with what he was saying and didn't realise she was nodding until Aether said she could count on him. Before she knew it, Aether and Paimon were already leaving for the day. She said goodbye and sat on her couch in silence for a few minutes; at last, her mind caught up with all that happened.

"I… don't mind this arrangement," she smiled to herself.


A/N: Sorry for the brief hiatus. Aerina Week crept up to me like that one Office meme and I had to pause writing this and OPB to work on it. It's on AO3 if you want to check it out. In any case, here's the next chapter! To be honest, I actually planned for someone else instead of Freminet but changed my mind at the last second. Who was it supposed to be? I'm not telling~

In any case, that's all for now and see you all next time!