Okay I know I said in last chapter's A/N that this chapter was about 80% done, and that was the truth. Unfortunately, the last 20% still took forever and I kept extending it little by little. I think I wrote about 10 different endings to this chapter lol. At least now it's longer than the previous two chapters combined?
Tangent/vent: I lost at least two drafts of this with hours of edits from trying to edit in the AO3 FFN text box and the internet crashing afterwards T.T Don't be like me and keep the big editing jobs on Google Docs/Word!
Anyway- that's all for my excuses about why this chapter is late, so I hope you enjoy the update :D
Thank you to J. Hellscythe on ffn for reading through the first draft of this!
Fiona puts on her violet-colored, V-line dress a few hours before her first time meeting Yuri. Her dress wraps around her body tightly, enough that it shows off her slim figure and leaves little to the imagination. One of her best qualities, if not the best, is her naturally beautiful appearance, and she knows it. She'd be a fool to not utilize it after seeing how successful it's been in enticing unsuspecting men in the past.
She puts the finishing touches on her appearance by applying her makeup and becomes fully confident as she stares into her mirror reflection.
The idea of failure has never crossed Fiona's mind. This mission is just a checkpoint, nothing more. The 'unfortunate' part of this role is that when she is successful tonight, her chances of becoming Loid's wife becomes effectively zero in the near future; if she breaks Yuri's heart in the middle of Operation Strix, all hell could break loose. She'll simply be with him until the mission is over while keeping tabs on him. She'll still do her utmost to succeed, of course, as failure is unacceptable. Loid's life, her pride, and her mission are at stake.
She slings her handbag over her shoulder before exiting her apartment.
A professional of any kind always arrives early to their appointments. She stakes out from a location with a view of the front of the restaurant an hour beforehand. Nothing notable occurs, so she walks in fifteen minutes before the arranged time as planned.
"I have a reservation." Fiona says to the receptionist at the front.
"Name?"
"Fiona Frost." Fiona may have poked at Franky's civilian name, but she dislikes her own very much. She'll never understand how her organization could rationalize assigning her this absurd name.
"Sit wherever you'd like."
Their appointed meeting spot is at a fancy restaurant that Yor recommends. Yor said she would be coming with Yuri to show him the way here (she made it clear it was only that and she wouldn't intrude by sitting down with them). Fiona chooses a seat with a clear view of the door and the windows. It will be the first time the two women have seen each other since the… cookie incident.
The siblings show themselves walking through the street a few minutes later. Even if Fiona didn't know ahead of time, it'd be easy to tell that the two of them are related with their identical red eyes, black hair, similar posture and builds Yuri is slightly taller than Yor and is wearing a light-colored overcoat on top of his suit. They remain outside and don't make their way into the store immediately, opting to talk on the sidewalk instead.
This is by far the friendliest that Fiona has seen Yuri act with someone after her initial surveillance. The same can even be said with Yor as well- between Yor, Loid, and Anya, there is a tiny distance that stops them from becoming a real family. That distance would be indiscernible to those not looking for it, which Fiona obviously is.
"Yor, I appreciate that you're still looking out for me, but this really isn't necessary…" Yuri says. Fiona may be too far away to hear what they're saying through the glass but knows how to read lips.
"Yuri, don't be like that. If you're single for too long, the secret police will be suspicious and could arrest you!"
He blinks emphatically after hearing that. "Where did you hear that nonsense-'' He starts saying before awkwardly coughing. "...You're right as always! I'll be more careful."
Fiona recalls Loid's report stating that Yor is unaware of her brother's real position. Seeing is believing in their line of work, and she can now mentally confirm it after seeing his behavior.
"Well, I don't want to get in your way, so I'll be going now. Look, she's already here!" Yor smiles warmly and waves her hand emphatically behind the window. Fiona half-heartedly lifts her hand to wave back.
"...She's the one you were talking about?" Yuri stares at Fiona before turning back to Yor. "She looks… I don't know, kind of cold?"
"She might look like that, but she's actually really friendly!"
Fiona's eye twitches. She thinks that I look unfriendly? I will remember that.
"Alright, I get it." Yuri sighs. "I know you went out of your way to set this up, so I'll get this over- thanks for doing all of this. I'll show her my best side."
"Thanks, Yuri." Yor grins and hugs him. Yuri reacts as though he just found water in a desert. "I think you two will really hit it off!"
The door chime sounds as Yuri walks through the entrance.
"Welcome!" The receptionist greets him. "Table for one?"
"Uh- two, and the person I'm meeting is already here." Yuri points at Fiona.
"Would you like a menu?"
"Thanks." Yuri grabs it and walks slowly towards Fiona. If the smile on his face is a fabricated one, it's well made. "Hello, I'm Yuri! Sorry for being late. Nice to meet you."
She gets up to mirror his opener and handshake. "Likewise, Fiona. Don't worry, you came on time. I'm the one who came early."
He looks around before seating himself. "This place is quite crowded now that I look at it."
"I heard this store is growing quite popular these days."
"You heard? You've never come here before?"
"No, this is my first time. But your sister suggested it."
"I see. Then it must be good." Yuri nods to himself and scans through the menu.
The waiter comes while Yuri is still reading and places the appetizer that Fiona ordered ahead of time; cucumber shrimp. "Did you order already?"
"Yes, I ordered the full course before you arrived. You can still get what you want."
"Uh- that's okay… I guess I don't need anything else." He hands the menu back to their waiter.
"Any drinks?" The waiter asks them.
"I shouldn't drink alcohol, I have work tomorrow and I'm not in the mood. What about you… Fiona?"
It's not like having one drink will impair you. "I'm fine as well. I also have work tomorrow." The waiter nods and leaves.
Instead of diving in, Yuri seems to inspect it at first. Fiona eats a few pieces before asking: "What's wrong? Do you not like shellfish?"
"It's not that, I thought I just remembered something.." Yuri's eyes hover over her for a brief second. She takes that to mean that her appearance has successfully piqued his interest. "Never mind, I'll dig in now." He picks a piece up with his fork and puts it in his mouth. "Mm, this is good. Leave it to Yor to find a place like this!"
I'm quite certain that it was Twilight who found this restaurant.
When they finish the appetizer, the waiter takes away the plates and brings out the second course; tomato soup. "Could you tell me how you know Yor?" Yuri asks as he pours the soup into Fiona's bowl."
"Thanks." Fiona takes her bowl back and lifts her spoon up. She doesn't know exactly what Yor has told Yuri, so she might as well go with the truth that Yor knows. "I work with Dr. Forger, her husband. Their daughter left something in Dr. Forger's office-"
"The chihuahua girl?"
"...Chihuahua girl?" Is that a code of some sort?
"Sorry, just talking to myself." He stirs the soup in his No bowl. "Please continue."
"It belonged to Dr. Forger's daughter, so I went to their home to return it. It was then that I met his wife, and we chatted over tea."
"You knew where they lived?"
"Dr. Forger let me know in case I needed to reach him in an emergency, is that so strange?"
"I guess things are different with doctors, usually coworkers wouldn't tell others their exact address. Maybe that's just my job… But anyway, it doesn't sound like it was an emergency? You could've just waited until he returned to the office to hand it to him, right?"
"..." Fiona obviously cannot tell him the real answer, which is that he went to scout out Loid's stand-in wife and sow the seeds to make her feel inadequate. She realized that she was being softly interrogated some time ago, but didn't expect him to point out inconsistencies already. "Dr. Forger already left the day before by the time I noticed it, so I brought it with me when I left the hospital. I happened to have an errand to do the next day that was close to their neighborhood." She analyzes his face to see if that answer satisfies him.
His warm smile tells her that it does. "Sorry, I'm quite protective when it comes to Yor. I didn't mean to come off as nosy-"
Liar. An investigator like you doesn't care about appearances and only cares about the answers.
No sense in rushing into sensitive topics right away. Let's start this off with a light question. She scoops her share of the salad dish that just arrived before speaking. "I hear you are a diplomat. Do you travel a lot for your work? Could you tell me about the places that you've been to?"
"I don't actually travel that often, my superiors do." He shrugs and begins to gather his portion of salad. "I'm not that important, sadly."
If he is going to point out any holes in her story, she feels she should do the same. "Your sister told me a story where you just came back from a trip when you first met her husband." Yuri's deep frown at the mention of Loid doesn't escape Fiona, even if he immediately wipes it off his face .
"That's the last place I've been to; Hugaria. That was already a couple of months ago. Since then, I've been stuck here."
"A couple of months isn't that long ago. I've been to Hugaria myself a few years ago. It's quite a beautiful city."
"I agree! I wanted to take Yor there after visiting. There were all these lovely cafes and we found this neat old one. They said it was the favorite of the empress back in the day!"
"I've heard of that one. Weren't there a lot of great wines near there, too?"
"That's right! Even at a small shop, you can find a great selection. I bought one there and later gave it as a present to Yor when I learned about her marriage."
"That's nice of you. Dr. Forger said it was good, but more pricey than he expected."
"It wasn't that expensive, he's just a cheapskate. It was around 200 dalc."
Straight from the Ostanian Intelligence Training manual. Not very creative or up-to-date. It's 300 dalc presently due to inflation and the long grape shortage. It could even increase its price again in another month or two. "Dr. Forger has also been there."
"Yeah, he said he was there when he was a medical student or something. It must really be something for all of us to have visited there, huh?"
"Indeed."
They take a short break from talking to eat their salad. When the sea bass fish dish arrives, Yuri squints at it. "Can I ask you another question? You don't have a seafood allergy?"
Fiona ate the shrimp appetizer earlier right in front of him and is in the middle of chewing her fish, so she's lost as to how he came to that conclusion. "I'm confused about how you got that impression?" She asks once she swallows.
"Yor told me."
Where did she get that idea from? Fiona's brain goes into overdrive trying to find out why Yor said that. Fortunately, they've only met a handful of times so she can limit her range. Our first meeting… was it when I was talking in code with Twilight? She remembers that they were using the simplest and most practical code; mouthing different words than the ones said out loud. She never paid much attention to the words that she said out loud when using that code, but her saying something along those lines does sound vaguely familiar. "I'm not allergic to seafood."
"I guess Yor got her facts wrong?"
His sister can be a sensitive topic. Let's not say anything that would risk triggering him. "She had a lot of things on her mind at the time, so she may not have heard me properly." Fiona omits saying that she was probably the reason that Yor had a lot of things on her mind.
For a moment, she feels like he's seen through her ruse. "She can be a scatterbrain sometimes." Yuri shrugs and Fiona inwardly exhales.
Fiona remembers how Yor nearly poisoned her and has to restrain herself from subconsciously nodding. "It was my mistake for not being completely clear with her."
Yuri takes a chug of his glass of water. "You remind me a lot of her husband."
Hearing Yuri say that out loud is far more satisfying than it has any right to be. Even if she doesn't know what specifically he is referring to. "Thank you for the compliment. Dr. Forger is widely respected."
"I'm dying to know something-" Yuri leans in slightly, "what's it like working for him?"
Finally getting to the meat and potatoes of the conversation. She means that both figuratively and literally when the waiter lays out their sirloin steak with potato puree on the table.
He's amazing and incredible. He's perfect as a doctor, as a spy, as a man. The love of my life. What I wouldn't give to assist him at home in addition to work- Fiona desperately dampens the words in her head before saying them out loud. This part of the job has always been her strength ever since the day Loid told her to hide her emotions. "Dr. Forger is a man who's climbed up to the top of the psychiatry world with his own hard work. No matter how hard he's worked, he never fails at showing a warm smile in front of all patients, not just his own."
"Hm, I see." Yuri's smile and eyes speak two different things. "I never realized before meeting him that psychiatrists face a lot of risk. I've seen him have some injuries and he always says they're from work."
"Other psychiatrists give him the patients they do not want. He doesn't turn away anyone. That can lead to the more problematic patients losing control and even getting violent. The scars are proof that he is the greatest."
Yuri aggressively cuts up his steak before putting the sliced portion into his mouth. "I take it he's a good boss?"
"I've never had a boss as good as him. I strive to be like him someday." And with him.
Yuri leans back in his chair and looks around. "Is that all the food? I'm stuffed."
"There's a dessert menu as well."
"Eh- I'll pass. I'm not big on sweets and I've got an early day tomorrow."
"Very well." Fiona raises her hand to grab the attention of their waiter. "Check, please."
They exit the restaurant after splitting the bill and Yuri stretches his arms once they are outside. "Alright, I'm heading back to my place now. Night'." He says.
She flutters her eyelashes at him. "Can I come with you?"
"Hm..." Yuri closes his eyes and takes a few seconds to mull it over. "I enjoyed being with you tonight but… I don't like moving too fast."
"Too fast?" She has never heard those words from her targets before.
Yuri scratches the back of his head. "Sorry. I probably shouldn't have said anything."
"No, please tell me. What do you mean by that?"
"Well... maybe you should know for future reference." Yuri sighs. "Look, I'll say again that I enjoyed being with you tonight. But why are we eating at a fancy restaurant on our first meeting? And why are you ordering for me before knowing anything about my preferences?"
"Your sister recommended it." Fiona repeats.
"Well, I guess I can see that. And I'm sure you're a nice person since you're friends with Yor. But- and I really shouldn't say this- why are you getting advice from her of all people? She forgot to tell her brother she was married!
"I'm sure this isn't the case, but you give off the vibes of someone who's never been in a healthy relationship before."
Just like how his comment about Fiona being similar to Loid ushered a positive feeling in her, his final comment provokes an even stronger negative reaction inside. So much so that the comment about her being friends with Yor is merely an afterthought. It is true that she approaches men to exploit them, which is exactly the case here, but she never expected to be confronted about that. Her previous targets appreciated her efforts to take the initiative, so why is that not what's happening here? "…I'm sorry if I came off that way."
He scratches his cheek. "It's not your fault. And normally I wouldn't mind overlooking those things-"
You're really going to say that after everything else?
"But I'm not really in a position where I can explore new things. I already have an important project coming up-"
Hm? An important project?
"-that will require my full attention for at least the next few months. If you don't mind waiting until after it's done… Let's talk then. Is that okay?"
This short term project could be any number of things; Wise, Operation Strix, or Twilight himself... Though she desperately wants to erase him right now, retaliation would serve as nothing more than short-term satisfaction. Best to keep all options open for the future. "...Sure."
"Thanks for your understanding. Do you want me to walk you home? Nights can be dangerous for a lady."
"No, I can get a taxi." She can't trust herself to be alone with him for much longer and keep her killing intent down. At least for tonight. "You can leave first if you want."
"Okay, if you insist. Good night."
"Good night."
Yuri waves before leaving first as promised..
Fiona picks up her bag and slings it across her shoulder before going home. Unlike what she said to Yuri, she walks in case anyone tries anything with her. If they do, she can perform self-defense for some much needed stress relief.
Nothing happens on her way back. She sighs and gives up once she's at her front door. This is not my day.
After opening her door, she cracks open a bottle of vintage wine that she's been saving for a rainy day- and if today doesn't constitute as a rainy day, then when?
When she finishes, she heads to the bathroom to shower. As she pulls aside the shower curtains and emerges, she stands in front of the mirror on top of her sink. And then she finally lets her lividness become visible.
She wipes off the steam that covers the mirror so she can see her reflection. She glares at herself and hardens her resolve.
Yuri injured what she considered her most valuable emotion; her pride. Her pride as a professional spy, someone with an impeccable track record, someone who always charms her targets. And her pride as a woman. That pride has been torn to shreds because of him. She has never failed to seduce any of her targets before.
To hell with the mission, this is about her and her pride. Pride as an agent who never fails. And pride as a woman. I have never been humiliated like this before. I will get you back for this, Yuri Briar.
Sorry if you were expecting their first meeting to go smoothly, but… I really can't picture that at all. Thinking of a way to finish their date is the main reason for the delay and I'm still not sure about it tbh, but I don't want to keep it just in my head and docs forever lol