Broken Homes of Different Sizes pt12
Borrower Lyney and Lynette, Human Freminet (Slight au with borrowers existing, everything else is the same as canon)
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“Freminet.” The diver shook his head at the quiet voice. He knew, realistically, that he was being childish, hiding under the covers like a kid. But after the meeting with Father his heart had yet to calm down, even after returning home and carefully letting the twins go.
He had swiftly apologized and retreated to his room, desperately wanting to go diving, but feeling guilty that Father had managed to abduct the twins earlier. So initially when Lyney had climbed onto his bed, he had acknowledged him, but didn’t say anything.
This, of course, caused the eldest’s stubborn streak to appear as Lyney continuously prodded at his face and repeated his name. He let out an amused huff as Lyney decided to give up, flopping against his neck. “Lyney?”
“Oh, now you want to talk.” He heard the pyro user grumble, followed by an ineffective smack against his cheek. “Well too bad, I’m tired.”
“You forgot what you were going to say.” Freminet accused, a small smile creeping onto his face as he adjusted his position so he could cradle his hand around Lyney protectively.
“No, but…” He felt Lyney twist to be cupped in his hand. “We’re worried about you. The whole time we were there, I could see your fear. Fear of Arlecchino, fear of pushing us towards the House of the Hearth, in the path of the Fatui.”
“Worried about me? No- I should be worrying about you and Lynette!” Freminet felt all of the emotions he had fought to suppress make an ugly reappearance. “Father kidnapped you both! Used you as bargaining chips, I- I’m sorry for dragging you both into my life. I don’t des-” “If you say you don’t deserve us, you do. We’re in this together now.” The boys turned to see Lynette had climbed her way onto the bed as well. Freminet sighed and turned to lay on his back, carefully moving Lyney with him. The hand Lyney was laying in was now facing palm-up, the other laying over his stomach. Lynette joined Lyney as they curled up together, content on his cooler skin.
They sat in silence for a moment before Freminet twisted again to curl around the twins. “I guess I’m just… scared. The future has no certainty now. I admit…before I met you both I… didn’t really have anything to live for other than Pers and orders from the Hearth.”
“Well you’re stuck with us now.” Lyney chuckled, shoving at one of his fingers. “Whatever the future holds, we’ll face it together.”
“Yeah…” Freminet hummed. “We should address the Vishap in the room, huh.”
Lynette and Lyney sat up so they could look up at Freminet properly.
“The Prophecy of Dissolution, result of Fontaine’s Great Sin.” He whispered. “According to the prophecy, all inhabitants of Fontaine are born with sin that cannot be absolved. The prophecy also states that one day, the water levels in Fontaine will rise, and all individuals with sin will be drowned and dissolved, with only the Hydro Archon remaining, weeping on her throne.”
“And… is it true?” Lyney asked slowly. “Not every myth is based in fact.”
“No one knows for sure.” Freminet sighed. “But one thing we do know is that the water levels are rising at the base of the Fontaine Mesa. Though that may be due to the ruins of Remuria near Petrichor.”
“Then where should we start?” Lynette crossed her arms. “It sounds like there are no real leads.”
“I think… it might be tied to the Disappearing Women’s case.” Freminet grimaced. “They’re gone without trace, all that is left is their garments and some sort of liquid.”
“You don’t mean to imply-” Lyney’s face turned white.
Freminet sighed as he slowly sat up, cradling his siblings carefully. “Yes…Someone has already figured out how Fontainians dissolve while leaving their clothes behind, meaning it isn’t just some run of the mill acid. And it’s definitely tied to Sinthe.” He pulled a small vial from his inventory, the liquid within shined faintly, sparkling like glitter mixed with water. “I found some being smuggled in Poisson while on a mission and learned it was diluted from some dangerous chemical. I’m guessing that ‘chemical’ is actually the thing that dissolves Fontainians.”
“So if you can find who is distributing and creating Sinthe, as well as the person behind the Disappearing Women’s case, you may be able to stop the prophecy.” Lyney nodded, placing a hand against the glass vial.
“That’s the… general idea, yeah.” Freminet returned the vial to his inventory. “I think we can start looking into that tomorrow. I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with other people after the meeting with Father earlier.”
“We can understand that.” The twins agreed in sync, making Freminet laugh softly. He stared at the two silently, the emotions that were threatening to drown him earlier seemed so… distant now. He gently pulled the two closer and felt the rumble of them purring against his chest. He slowly leaned back until he was laying back on his bed, hands draped over the two borrowers protectively.
With a new clarity and a settled mind, he drifted to sleep.
Day broke and Freminet hissed softly at the light filtering into the room. He froze, heart thudding in his chest as he realized two things, one it was past dawn, meaning he was late to report to the Hearth, and two, the two small weights he had fallen asleep with on his chest were missing.
His gaze frantically swept the room, growing more panicked as the twins were nowhere to be seen.
“Calm down Fremi.” His breath hitched as he zeroed in on the soft voice, eyes landing immediately on Lynette as she stood on the corner of his nightstand, arms crossed. “Remember, you’re on a personalized mission now. Everything is at our pace, not the Hearth’s.”
Freminet nodded slowly, still fighting the shallow breaths down to deeper ones. He was having so many attacks lately, his gaze fell onto the movement at his side and he took a deep breath as Lyney scaled up onto the mattress next to him. “Where- where did you go?”
The twins exchanged a look, and suddenly Freminet was reminded that regardless of how close they had gotten over the last week, they lived completely different lives than him, and really owed him no explanation to their whereabouts.
Lyney sighed. “We were trying to fix breakfast for you. But even with Rosseland’s help, nothing was working. So I was cleaning everything up and sent Lynette back to check on you.”
Huh.
“Huh?” Freminet blinked slowly, reaching over and holding out a hand for Lynette, pausing as Lyney decided he wanted to join his sister in his hold. He slowly pulled himself out of bed and traipsed towards the kitchen, wincing at the mess. “I-Well, it’s the thought that counts.” He didn’t have to look down to tell Lyney was pouting at him.
Instead he silently placed the twins down on the counter and began cleaning up the attempt, thankfully since the two were small, so was the mess. Of course he would never say that outloud.
Instead he happily put on his kitchen apron and made some crepes, trying not to laugh at the entranced expressions of the borrowers, especially Lynette who kept attempting to get into the Bulle fruit filling. Eventually it was finished and he plated portions for both himself and the twins, moving the plates to the table then coming back for the two. Before he could even offer his hand, he felt his heart drop as they scaled up his arm to his shoulder, leaving him stunned.
“You okay?” He gaped at how clear Lynette’s voice was, obviously due to the proximity, but it made him notice the subtle drawl to her voice that he had missed from farther range.
“Fine, sorry.” He whispered, knowing how close they were to his throat, he was sure his voice would be that much louder. And considering the twins had sensitive hearing already-
“Whoa, your heartbeat is so loud.” He fought back the urge to flinch at the soft touch against his neck as Lyney set his hand on top of his carotid artery. A sudden feeling of vulnerability washed over Freminet as he realized at this range, one elemental or Arkhe infused attack could do significant damage. He swallowed roughly, trying to subdue the instinct to get rid of that weakness and vulnerability as quickly as possible, as that meant hurting the twins and the thought alone made him nauseous.
He tuned out the worried voices of the two and quickly sat down at the table, reaching up and gently pulling them down and away from his- from the danger he posed. He set them down on the table and settled his head down on his arms.
“Hey.” He blinked as Lyney turned away from the food and looked at him sternly. “What’s wrong?”
“...’m not hungry anymore.” He admitted softly. “‘s all.”
Lyney sighed, glancing at Lynette, sharing some secret understanding and making Freminet feel worse.
“Is it about the Hearth?” Lynette said hesitantly, as if testing unknown waters. He sighed and closed his eyes, wishing briefly he could just hide in his helmet for a while.
“In a way.” He admitted after a moment, eyes still closed tightly. He wasn’t sure he could keep talking if their expressions were anything but simple curiosity. A deep breath calmed his nerves a little as he continued. “I’m really not used to anyone wanting to be close to me…I’ve always tried to stick to the shadows, stay out of the limelight and just- stay as uninvolved as possible if I’m not on a mission.”
He swallowed, not hearing any prompting, but also no signs to stop. “There’s a lot of, well, Navia calls it trauma, the Hearth calls it the instincts to survive.” He opened his eyes slowly, seeing the two listening raptly, nodding to show they were listening, but the lack of judgement left him feeling more bold. “I haven’t had any- I guess you would say physical contact with another person unless it was to-” He hesitated. “To trick them- deceive o-or… kill.”
“Being that close to your neck really stressed you out, huh.” Lyney sighed, shaking his head. “We won’t do it again, promise.”
“No that’s-” Freminet frowned before sighing as well. “I trust you both…way too much. That’s the problem…I don’t know how to react to that trust. Especially when I think about how I’ve used trust to betray my targets- but! That’s not to say you would ever take advantage of it or something I just-” He felt like he was sinking further and further beneath the waves of his own words. Just like him to get tongue-tied trying to explain feelings he didn’t even have an explanation for….
“You trust us, but you are afraid to.” Lynette glanced at Lyney. “Sounds like how we felt after my dear brother made an Oath with a human.”
Lyney rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Well, I can’t be faulted too much- I mean I was right about him being a good person after all.”
Freminet stared at Lyney in a mix of shock and confusion. Him? Good?
“Oh don’t look so shocked.” Lynette deadpanned, glancing up at him, making him wince at being read so easily. “You are a good human, and we trust you.”
He took a deep breath before gently holding out his hand, watching the two lean into his touch, regardless of their size difference, regardless of his instincts and feelings. “Thank you.” He smiled softly. “I trust you both too…”
They sat in silence before Lyney pushed at his fingers. “Alright, now that all of that is sorted out, I am starving, move it!”
Freminet snorted and moved back as they all began to eat the slightly cooled meal.
As he cleaned up the dishes and put them away, Freminet held back a flinch as Lynette sat against his neck, at Lyney’s insistence he would try to get used to the further proximity. However, it also meant he was hyperaware of his movements, out of fear he would jostle her and potentially knock her from her perch on him.
Meanwhile, Lyney was heading back to their home behind the bookshelf to grab their borrowing equipment, as it had been left behind when they had been kidnapped by Father.
“Your heartbeat got faster again.” Lynette hummed, and he winced. “Surely the dishes aren’t giving you that much trouble?”
“No- just-” He sighed, putting down the last dish into the drying rack. “I respect Father as the Head of the House, but also…she put you and Lyney into danger…I put you two into danger. I was just…reminded of it and let it get the better of me.” He frowned at himself. He was usually pretty good at controlling and suppressing his emotions, marching onwards, unyielding and unwavering like his meka. But around the twins, it seemed like it was impossible to hide behind his old facades.
“You’re a person, emotions are there to be felt and experienced. They build you into who you are, and shape who you will become.” Lyney hummed as he emerged from behind one of the tiles in the kitchen wall. “Maybe you should go out and get some air, or go diving, you tend to do that a lot.”
“I haven’t in a while.” He frowned. “I don’t know- the Fontaine Sea isn’t exactly friendly, even to humans.”
“Then a walk it is.” Lyney grinned. “C’mon.”
Freminet sighed and nodded, despite his reluctantness, he smiled at how excited the twins seemed to be at the idea of going outside. He swallowed, thinking back to their walk to the Southern Garden just two days ago, it felt like a lifetime ago now.
He watched the twins duck back into the walls after telling him to meet them by their outside entrance after he was ready. He yawned and quickly showered, then pulled on his divesuit, the material familiar. Even if he didn’t plan on going diving, it didn’t hurt to be prepared for the chance.
He exited his home and pulled out one of his empty hip tanks, normally they stored rations or he used them to store small meka components he found while diving. But he had spent a little bit adding an oxygen converter and some soft padding. A pocket would only protect them so much, and if he ended up somewhere crowded, he would rather them have a spot to retreat to for safety.
Somewhere they couldn’t be taken from.
He attached it to his hip and crouched down next to the grate, holding out a hand as the twins emerged, he pulled them up and glanced around quickly before bringing them to the pocket he had sewn into his dive jacket. He waited patiently as they settled, before picking a direction and just walking.
Every so often he would see one of them peek out and look at their surroundings, and he would immediately pause to give them a better view, but also to shield them from any onlookers. After about an hour of wandering he paused by one of the signboards near the Palais Mermonia.
“Are you interested?" He jumped at the voice behind him, one hand immediately darting down to the pocket, to hide the twins if they had been looking out.
He turned to see a well-groomed man, likely some upper echelon of Fontaine.
“Uhm.” He glanced back at the signboard in confusion. “In what?”
“The tale of the Lochknights of course!” The man grinned, gesturing to a small flyer, almost hidden by all of the others. “Even Lady Furina and Monsieur Neuvillette will be in attendance!”
Freminet blinked. It was rare for the Hydro Archon to sit in on plays that didn’t include her in some way, and rarer still for the Iudex to have the free time to watch something other than one of the many infamous trials. “That’s a…an impressive feat…”
“Truly, it will be something that Fontaine will remember for many years to come!” A shiver ran down his spine as an odd edge appeared in the man’s tone. His eyes glinted in an almost shimmering way, setting him on edge. “Ah- I apologize, where are my manners! My name is Cowell, I directed the play.” He bowed theatrically, which Freminet supposed made sense, before standing back up and holding out a piece of paper. “Here, as an apology. One ticket to the opening performance, front and center seats! I hope to see you there!”
Freminet took the ticket, looking up to ask when the show would be, only to stare as the man was gone. He glanced around before shrugging.
His eyes were drawn back to the ticket, and he blinked as he realized the man had accidentally given him two tickets instead of one. He frowned, feeling bad for the mistake, but made the mental decision to give it to the ticket clerk if he decided to go.
“Huh, it’s for tomorrow evening.” He blinked. “Odd, an event with both the Archon and the Iudex and it seems so short notice too…”
He had to admit…he was a little curious, and a little excited.