Hello Genshinians! (Is even that a term..?)

I thought I'd try my hand at writing an Aether x Arlecchino fic.

This might go on for a few chapters, so hopefully it's enjoyable.

Fontaine

A blond-haired man let out a deep sigh, looking up and down at the building in front of him. He then shook his head, "You weren't kidding Lumine, this place needs all kinds of work!"

The girl with him, his sister smiled, "Right? But you're just the one to fix things. Do you think you can handle it, Aether?"

"It's not a question if, but would I want to..."

The twins are standing in front of a building called the "House of the Hearth". This orphanage, located out in the middle of nowhere, has seen better days. To call the building "rustic", would be considered an insult to the term. Disheveled would be a better term.

Some notable sights of interest are as follows: Holes in the walls, with poor attempts of patchwork; a leaking roof; ruined and worn-out floorboards; broken windows covered with tattered cloths attempting to covering them; and to top it off, some of the local flora is attempting to claim the building.

In short, things here look bleak.

"Huh?" Lumine blinked, confused. Tilting her head she asked, "Why wouldn't you want to help?"

Aether approached the building, going over some of the outside of it, touching where he was referencing. "Look at all of this decay and damage." Lumine's not a handyman like Aether, but looking around as well, she couldn't deny that the building is standing on its last legs.

"But it can be fixed, right?"

Her brother then groaned, "At this point, it'd probably be better to knock it all down and start over..."

But Lumine can't give up. "C'mon, I believe in you! You're used to handling people's request, well this one's from your own dear sister!" She's got sparkles floating around her, as her hands are clasped together, in a cute, begging posture.

"Lumine..." Aether sighed again, rubbing the bridge of his nose. How does she manage to keep getting him into her interests?

The two go on a back and forth for a few more moments, before-

"Can I help you?" Their attention is then captured by a stern voice all of a sudden. The tone indicates that this person isn't thrilled by what the pair are doing. The owner of the voice then soon steps through the front door. Aether gets a good look at who it is: a fairly tall woman with long, layered black and snow white hair. The woman wears a black pantsuit, with a white jacket over it, the color red, and gems sprinkled throughout her clothing. Very interesting. The woman had her question directed at Aether, since she could only see him from her original position. But looking over, she saw Lumine to the side. Gesturing with her head, she asked the girl, "Oh, Lumine, I thought I heard your voice, and figured you must have been up to something out here... do you know him?"

Lumine cheerfully waved to her, "Hi Arlecchino! I sure hope I know him; this is Aether!"

Arlecchino looked surprised. "This is your brother?" She then looked him up and down. "I've heard about you, you've been doing some work around Fontaine, especially in the Court, haven't you? I've read about you in the newspaper." Aether nodded, guilty as charged. Arlecchino noted, "Hmmm, he's different than you..."

Lumine blinked innocently, "Not cute and sweet like me?"

Aether looked disgusted.

Arlecchino frowned at her, "No, he's quiet and non-intrusive." She then looked again at Aether, "I assume you're responsible for setting her loose on me?"

"Oh wow," Aether chuckled, "Someone else who's annoyed by Lumine. I thought I was the only one."

Lumine huffed in reply, "Hey! I'm not annoying!"

Aether patted her on the head, laughing, "Quiet, adults are talking."

*Grrr!*

"You two are actual comedians..." Arlecchino muttered. One might mistake the slightest smirk appearing on her face. But that vanished quickly. She then frowned, "Again, what are you doing?"

Lumine answered before Aether could, "Aether's here to help!" They both looked at her.

"Help?"

"Help?"

A few moments later

"So," Arlecchino said, looking between the twins, "You want to fix this orphanage up."

The three of them were sitting in Arlecchino's office, discussing things.

Lumine enthusiastically nodded her head up and down, "Yeah! Aether's a kind of "jack-of-all-trades" kind of guy, and he spends his time helping people out with work they need done." Glowing praise! Lumine continued, "Anything that needs done: from catching birds, to exploring ancient civilizations for treasure!"

Arlecchino shook her head, "Those are two wildly different things."

"That's what jack-of-all-"

"I know what that phrase means."

Aether watched them go back and forth, and smirked, "Who's the comedians now?" Arlecchino rolled her eyes. But now Aether had a question for Lumine. He's always busy, in between jobs. But lately, at the end of the day, Lumine had been telling him about something she had gotten interested in. Aether hadn't really been listening too much, but now he's found out that Lumine's sole focus was this orphanage. His question was: "How'd you even find out about this place?"

"Oh that's easy! You see-" Lumine then went into a whole flashback, with chibi animations and all.

"I see you're used to this already." Aether then said, commenting on Arlecchino's lack of reaction to Lumine's story time.

"Yes, unfortunately."

"Are you both listening?!"

Arlecchino dryly replied, "Yes, yes. You were chasing after a weasel thief, and then stumbled upon this place. Riveting story."

Lumine pumped her fist, "See, I help too!" Aether had a pained smile on his face.

"Look," Arlecchino said, getting both of their attentions, "While I've 'enjoyed' this discussion, and I'm sure you're a nice guy and all, we're not looking for anyone's pity here." She has a way of getting right down to business.

"There's no pity here, trust me." Aether replied, giving Arlecchino a hard look back at her. "Lumine just asked me to come by and look at the place, and give my opinion of things."

Arlecchino raised an eyebrow, "And your assessment?"

"Start all over again, from the bottom up."

"Well, I can't do that..." Arlecchino muttered, although she didn't sound so surprised. "Mora's very tight around here."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Lumine asked, almost desperate.

"Well, that's the cheapest way. Either that, or painstakingly, and expensively, replace just about everything."

Arlecchino seemed to be thinking about something, but then ultimately shook her head. "Well, I appreciate your time, Mr. Aether, I'm sorry it didn't work out." She then put out her hand to shake his.

Aether then did the same. "Yeah, sorry. I hope everything works out." Lumine looks heartbroken. Then, a new voice interrupted them.

"Father! We saw a strange man outside! Is everything-"

*Snap!*

"Oh, oops." A boy with ash-blonde hair appeared suddenly. He had begun to barge in, but when he did, the doorknob he was holding onto broke off in his hand. The wood the door was made of had begun rotting here too.

Arlecchino sighed, resting her head on her hand, with a tired look on her face. "Yes, we're fine. Thank you, Lyney..."

Lumine then called out to the two other children hiding behind Lyney, "Lynette, Freminet, It's okay. No one's in danger here." Not feeling like their "Father" was in any danger, the trio of kids left. Aether had a raised eyebrow on his face. Lumine shrugged, "I've gotten to know the kids here." She then gives Aether the saddest, most pleading look anyone's ever seen, begging Aether to help everyone out. He's seen how much they need the help.

"Well," Aether started, "It wouldn't be very nice of me to turn my back on so many in need..." Lumine nodded vigorously. "I think I can move some things around, and make this work." When Arlecchino started to protest, Aether assured her, "It's not about pity. We'll just call it... volunteer work." Arlecchino seemed content with that, for now. Lumine on the other hand was ecstatic.

"Yay!" She hugged Aether, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Her brother pried her off of him, muttering for Lumine to let him go. But she wasn't going to let his sour reaction get her down. Running off, she could be heard throughout the orphanage saying, "Kids, great news!"

Aether sighed, slumping back down into the chair he had been sitting in. Lumine would never have let him hear the end of it if he didn't help out anyway.

Arlecchino had a mildly amused look on her face. "Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"No, but this wouldn't be the first time. I think I can handle it."

Chuckling rather darkly, Arlecchino gave him a warning, "You may end up regretting getting involved..."

Pausing for a second to take in her words, Aether remained committed. It was almost personal now. "Challenge accepted!"

Seeing as she wasn't going to dissuade him, Arlecchino then changed gears. "Can I offer you some weak coffee?"

Aether smiled and nodded, "Sure, why not?"

There were plains to go over, but it looks like things will be able to continue smoothly. Toasting with their coffee cups, this looks to be the beginning of something interesting.

*Clap!*

There we go!

Pretty sure I ruined Lumine's character, idk.

Until next time!