saudade; raiden ei

xɪɪɪ. library

Now cleaned up, Ei entered the kitchen. There stood Y/n, humming to herself over a sizzling pan.

Ei sniffed the air, her eyes landing on a plate of neatly stacked pancakes. Her mouth immediately began to water at the sight of the sweet honey flowing over them, and the collection of methodically placed berries on the side of the plate.

Y/n eventually noticed Ei and laughed at her expression. The pair then shared a wholesome breakfast filled with Ei's compliments of Y/n's cooking. The soldier was amused, and pointed out the Archon's obvious sweet tooth.

When they finished, Y/n got up, reaching for Ei's plate. However, she moved it away, saying that she'd do the dishes as a token of her appreciation, and refused to take any objections.

The soldier smiled, thanking her. She then slowly began to leave, and Ei asked where she was going from over by the sink.

Y/n responded with "the library", and the Archon looked at her. The former then explained that she likes books as she likes to be prepared for every situation, and there's always something new to learn.

Ei found her knowledgeable, and nodded before saying "okay". She continued to do the dishes, thinking about how much her life has changed since Y/n came into it. However she became sad when she remembered that she has to lie to her.

The Archon finished up, going back to the Shogun and her workshop.

Aether was confused.

To him, everything was moving far too quickly.

He had gone to confront Scaramouche, yet Yae Miko seemed to have beat him to it, the pair appearing in the midst of a heated discussion. Next thing Aether knew, he had passed out and was waking up at the Grand Narukami Shrine.

He groaned, laying still on the floor.

..Until he noticed the kitsune sat by a table, sipping a cup of tea in peace.

Aether leapt to his feet, wearily holding his sword up in a fighting stance. After all, she had been talking to Scaramouche, so who knew the extent of her relations with the Fatui.

Unexpectedly, Yae didn't react. Instead, her gaze unblinkingly turned to him, appearing to stare into his very soul.

Somehow, he felt he was being judged.

"Oh. You're awake." She simply said, going back to her tea.

Aether assumed he had failed the judgement test.

"Don't just say that! Explain yourself, Miko! Have you been with the Fatui all along!?" Paimon yelled, voicing Aether's thoughts.

The Guuji laughed in response.

"Oh dear, no. Could you imagine if someone as influential as me~.." She trailed off, noticing their expressions.

"Why those looks? I'm only teasing. I just didn't think it was necessary to explain my actions to you. But if you insist on prying into my personal matters.. It seems I have no choice but to enlighten you." She paused. "As a matter of fact, I was convincing The Balladeer to back off. He seemed to be quite eager to do so too, after some.. interesting information came to light."

Aether was confused, he lowered his sword and furrowed his brow as the fox envoy turned her attention back to her beverage. He simply stood in silence for a while as he tried to process her words.

'..Interesting information...? What information? Where did she get it? So she didn't make any deals, or have any fights. But.. That doesn't make any sense. The Fatui doesn't just retreat..'