Drop of Levity

Emil hummed to himself as he sat within his room in the Palais Mermonia, his favoured pistol lay disassembled before him as he thoroughly cleaned each part of the weapon, though his mind lay on other matters entirely. It had come to his attention rather recently that many unsavoury rumours had been flying around him and the Archon of Fontaine, his adopted sister and guardian Focalors, or Furina as she was more wildly known to the populace. Sighing as he leaned back in his chair he carefully placed the barrel of the pistol down on his desk and lightly drummed his fingers as he thought things over. He didn't know if Furina was aware of the rumours, though knowing his sister it's likely she did and was acting like they didn't bother her. Yet Emil felt bad that the rumours lingered despite Furina dating a Harlequin from a well known circus troupe named Risette, Emil and Risette had spoken a few times in the past and things were without a doubt cordial but awkward between the two. A part of him did find it amusing though that both he and Furina ended up falling for performers, where she fell for a Harlequin who was without a doubt a master at improvisation, while he had fallen for a magician's assistant.

Leaning back in his chair he sighed a bit, anyone who was close to Emil and Furina knew the rumours were about as solid as a Hydro slime in the ocean, yet still Emil felt his stomach tie itself into knots as he mulled things over before a stray thought came to mind. Nearly every time Risette and Furina met was usually either in the Palais or Furina's private room in the Opera Epiclese, he couldn't think of a time the two met outside of those two locations, and with a sly grin he got up and raced over to his writing desk. Being raised by Furina put him in an interesting position in society and one talent he had quickly gained was being able to copy the Archon's handwriting to the point only the Iudex or Furina herself would be able to spot the difference, he hoped that the few minor differences between the two styles would go unnoticed for his plan to work, and already Operation: Flaming cake was taking form in his mind as he grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper... he just hoped that Furina remembered to spell Risette with one s instead of two.

One Week Later

Furina frowned a bit as she headed to the spot that her brother Emil had pointed out to her. It was strange though since he usually accompanied her on these excursions into the wilderness of Fontaine when the Garde couldn't follow along, yet Emil had insisted it was vital she go to this spot alone. It wasn't often that Emil pulled something like this, usually she could read him like an open book yet he was clearly hiding something though she knew whatever it was that he was keeping secret was something he was proud of. A part of her wondered if he had decided to propose to the girl he liked, though she hoped that wasn't the case, she didn't want him to end up being a pawn in the Fatui's schemes.

"Furina, you look like you've got a lot on your mind." a familiar voice said snapping Furina out of her thoughts as she jumped slightly not realising she had been walking while her thoughts had been distracting her.

"W-Well, one such as the illustrious Hydro Archon has many many matters of justice and the universe on her mind." Furina said using her best Archon voice before her brain kicked in and she saw her girlfriend standing with an amused look on her face.

"Uh huh, and you'd have a sore shin if you kept walking." Risette responded gesturing to a small rock that Furina had almost walked into.

"I, uh, I was just thinking about... how..." Furina stuttered as Risette laughed softly and walked over to her.

"Just relax Furina, we're far enough that you don't have to play your role out here." Risette said with a small smile as Furina finally took in their surroundings. "pretty good spot too." she added as Furina blinked in surprise, her eyes flicking to the picnic that had undoubtedly been recently been set up and likely for this purpose, judging from the looks of the picnic arrangement it had been there a while and she couldn't be sure that Risette had set this up. Perhaps this was what Emil was looking so pleased about?

"It's been a while since we've been able to relax." Furina started as she walked towards the picnic blanket being mindful to avoid the small stone that had almost caused her some pain as she followed Risette over.

"Yeah, nearly every time i see you is inside the Opera Epiclese, or the Palais." Risette said with a sigh. "Though Emil at least has been kind enough to play messenger when we can't meet, good call though the view is spectacular here, come here often?" Risette asked as Furina laughed softly before something clicked in her brain.

"Wait, you didn't set the picnic up?" Furina asked looking at the Harlequin in surprise who in turn blinked in confusion.

"No, you did, you said so in your letter Emil delivered." Risette said as she produced a small slip of paper and handed it over to Furina who blinked seeing her own handwriting staring back at her. "Furina? you're starting to worry me now, are you feeling okay?" she asked as Furina suddenly started laughing.

"Ah, C'est Fou Chat!" Furina called as she looked at Risette. "I didn't write this, but i think this was all set up by Emil..." she said as Risette blinked. "Why would he set all this up?" Risette asked as she opened the Picnic basket and saw a note that simply had four words written on it in an elegant script that resembled Furina's but not as refined.

Relax and have fun

Risette blinked reading the note before looking at Furina who was smiling in amusement and relief as she sat down on the blanket.

"Emil likely set this up so we could enjoy ourselves, wouldn't surprise me at all if he's skulking about somewhere making sure we're not disturbed." Furina said shaking her head in amusement at her brother's antics.

"You two really ARE close." Risette mused as she sat down beside Furina, a smirk crossing her face. "Are you SURE i don't have anything to worry about there?" she asked as Furina rolled her eyes.

"Hardly, Emil has his eyes on someone else, and he doesn't exactly have the... qualities I'm interested in." Furina said with a small smile as she glanced over at the mountain range across the vast river that divided them.

"Well then, let's see what he's packed for us." Risette said as she opened the basket fully and saw a collection of Fonta bottles of various flavours on one side of the basket and on the other were a collection of sandwiches and other small snacks, but what caught Risette's eye was a bottle of wine with a red and blue checkered ribbon tied around it and a small note that had a small cat scribbled on it.

"well, we have food and booze." Risette said as she held up the bottle and Furina blinked as she recognised the bottle.

"C'est Fou Chat..." Furina said in a softer tone "Emil had been looking into Mondsadt's wine making as a hobby." she said as Risette looked at the bottle and took a close look at the label that had a name written on it.

"Risurina, huh?" Risette asked with a small grin "well, I think we should do as he suggests and enjoy ourselves." she added as she fished out some sandwiches and got comfortable beside Furina as the two looked over the landscape of Fontaine in a comfortable silence.

In the end the wine itself was little more than fruit juice, yet the gesture was still appreciated by Furina and Risette.