fidelity || gi

origins: jean gunnhildr

• mondstadt, 4 years ago. •

before her promotion, as a teenaged girl, veritas worked as a secretary for the knights of favonius.

aside from grandmaster varka, her masters and mistresses varied, depending on who was kindest, who needed her assistance the most, and particularly who deserved it the most. she tended to have a fair amount of free will over these things.

one of the individuals visited and assisted most frequently was jean gunnhildr, eldest daughter of the ancient, revered clan of gunnhildr, renowned dandelion knight, but above all, a humble, beautiful and generous young woman.

"tea, master varka?" she propped the door of the grandmaster's office open with her boot, shuffling in as the man behind the desk's face split into a wide grin.

"ah, there you are, tassie! i would love a cup of tea, thank you. you're an angel." he took the cup gratefully, setting the porcelain down on his desk as veritas set the teapot on the table to the right of the room, away from his paperwork.

a blonde woman stood behind his chair, looking out of the tall, arched window with her back to the rest of the room. she opened then closed her mouth as she turned to see the girl in the room, clearly having been interrupted in her train of speech.

"oh- master jean. i'm sorry, i wasn't aware you were in here. if i was, i would have brought another cup." veritas said apologetically. "would you like me to do so?"

"if it's not any bother, i wouldn't mind a cup of my own, yes." she smiled kindly with two perfect rows of straight, white teeth.

veritas bowed her head quickly then rushed out of the room, to the kitchen located in the ground floor of the knights of favonius headquarters, her steel-toed boots clattering on the floor as she walked, and the sound bouncing off of every surface.

she made her way down the concrete steps to the kitchen, and went straight over to the cupboards, taking out a matching cup to the one she had given the grandmaster. the rim was decorated with gold flakes, and it was painted with an minimized oil painting of the windrise tree. it was a fairly famous image that was in a lot of mondstadt citizens' homes and establishments. these were all copies, however, and the original had been lost many years ago- nobody knew where it was, and it was said to be worth fortunes.

veritas thought she had a slight idea where the original oil painting might be, however; it was hanging above her bed, after all- but you can never be too sure about these things.

"here, i have your-" veritas attempted to abruptly open the door to the grandmaster's office, but she was met by an unknown force on the other side. she heard a muffled grunt, and tried again, more carefully this time, to open the door.

"my apologies." a smooth voice coughed as veritas entered the room.

the girl looked up to see the young captain diluc, the cavalry captain, standing to the side of the doorway.

"your cup, master jean." she nodded at the woman politely and she smiled, thanking veritas.

"as you were saying, captain." varka gestured his hand to encourage diluc to continue whatever he had been saying before. "diluc! eyes off the secretary."

veritas jumped at the mention of her title, and turned to see the red haired boy gazing at her intently, a dazed smile dancing over his lips.

he shook his head, a mortified expression taking over, and his cheeks turning as red as his hair as he snapped back to reality. he was holding a stack of papers in his arms, which he dropped at her eye contact. veritas held her hand out and the papers slowed before they hit the floor, flitting over to the table at the side of the office and stacking themselves swiftly with a gust of wind. the corners of her mouth twitched humorously.

"you should watch your butterfingers, sir." she remarked, turning back to the teapot to prepare jean's drink.

"she has- you have a vision?" the boy's eyes flicked between the grandmaster, jean and veritas with a bewildered expression. "how long have you had that for?"

veritas grabbed the vision tied to her belt and fiddled with it. "had it since i was tiny. long as i can remember." she shrugged.

"hold on. she's had a vision longer than captain diluc or i have, and she's preparing my tea rather than taking the vacancy we currently have within our ranks? i can't believe you've worked here all this time, and i've never noticed." jean shook her head in disbelief.

"i don't wear it very often." veritas explained. "i don't have much use for it."

"of course you don't, if you're a secretary." diluc scoffed. "how strange, grandmaster. i respect any decision you may make, of course, but i myself find it rather odd, to be completely truthful."

"i'm happy where i am." veritas quickly defended the grandmaster. "i don't feel anything is being held from me."

"you mean to say you declined the open captain's position within our knights?" jean's eyebrows raised incredulously.

"not... necessarily." veritas blinked awkwardly, her face heating up from all the expectant eyes on her. "i haven't been offered it."

diluc and jean simultaneously turned towards varka, who raised his eyebrows amusedly.

"i feel pressured." he remarked humorously.

"please don't! i really am quite content-" veritas protested politely.

"so, you would decline the offer given the chance?" varka challenged her.

veritas looked at her shoes. "it's... unlikely."

"is there anything standing in the way of you taking the position of captain of civil affairs by tomorrow morning?" varka's eyes narrowed, the corners of his mouth turning up.

"aside from the lack of a letter of acceptance in my hands? nothing comes to mind." veritas replied boldly.

varka grinned, holding out his hand. "i couldn't be more honoured to welcome anyone else to our ranks. i'll be honest, you were high on my list of contenders for the role, but i didn't want to push you into something you weren't ready for."

veritas shook his hand firmly. "i was born ready, grandmaster. i may be young, but i assure you i will not let you down."

"well. we will discuss this further later, veritas. diluc, would you please continue?" varka turned his attention to the red-haired boy.

"yes. well, sir, i turn 18 next week, and i was wondering if i could take a day's leave in order to spend it with my father..."

-

jean was just as good a grandmaster to veritas as varka had been. arguably better, in veritas' opinion. veritas spent most of her days working in the same room as jean, and when she had first been appointed acting grandmaster she had been witness to many breakdowns, panics and 'im not cut out for this's.

veritas had stood by jean in her best and worst moments, lifting her up continuously and praising every small victory. as much as jean liked to tease the girl, she couldn't imagine a work day without that comforting presence across the room from her.

veritas felt very much the same way; she was anxious to please jean, and her very worst fear was disappointing her. she understood her dry jokes and the teasing, but the day she ever genuinely angered, displeased or upset jean would be a terrible day indeed.

both women found themselves wishing their friendship went further than work, but neither wished to disturb the other's professionalism, or cross any silently established boundary. instead, they made the most of any time they stole between one another socially.