Grounded

11

Este didn't really know Jean too well.

He had only met her a couple of times without someone else from their friend group being present as well.

She was the daughter of the Gunnhildr family, already had a vision, and was just altogether hard for Este to approach.

He had first met her just like Barbara. The two girls had been with their father on a visit to the church, just like Este and his mother. The two adults chatted up, and Este got along with Barbara like a house on fire, while Jean got a bit left out.

The problem only increased, when Simon and Frederica separated.

Barbara and Este continued to meet during the lessons the church hosted, and kept being friends through those.

Jean on the other hand, got tutors, so she never came for the general education lessons of the church, so she never socialized with the other kids her age either.

Of course, Jean instead started to get a reputation of a good daughter, with prodigal fighting capabilities through what was heard from the knights. Jean was learning the sword from both her mother and at the training facilities of the knights.

Although that reputation painted her in a very good light, in personality and capabilities, she only became harder for Este to approach.

They still meet every once in a while when Diluc drags both her and Este along with Kaeya into his misadventures.

Nonetheless Este got close to Barbara, but the case was never really the same with Jean.

It felt just like a situation where you had a friend who kept telling you about their older sibling, but you never really connected that older sibling with what you already knew of the person.

Este scratched his cheek, feeling lost.

Today is rare in that only Este and Jean are present.

Barbara was supposed to be here, but for some reason she isn't. He'll ask her later, and curse her out in his mind for leaving him alone with her big sister for now.

"Uhm.. Estchel?"

Also that, Jean was insisted on calling him by his full name, when even Kaeya is using the nickname.

He lifted his eyes up from where he had been staring at his twiddling thumbs. Jean's eyes hesitated, and then she pursed her lips with determination.

"Do you happen to know why Barbara isn't here?" The nine-year-old kept her gaze to the ground.

Really, with her usual attitude, it was hard sometimes for Este to see her as someone only a year older than him, but sometimes, like right now, she really acted like a shy kid.

"No... She is usually here by now to pray with her father."

"I- I see..." Jean fell silent.

Este lets out a loud sigh, and Jean flinches in response.

He takes a quick glance around, and smiles a little when he spots the more remote spot of lawn.

Quickly walking over, he signals Jean to follow him. She does so, although with confused eyes.

He sits down on the grass patch he spotted, and starts to pluck the flowers from the ground.

"C'mon. Over here, there is a lot of fully grown dandelions here."

"Dandelions..?" Jean perks up at his words, and Este nods towards her.

"Sometimes, when we're bored, Barbara and I make flower crowns. The sisters here don't really mind if we use the flowers here. It's not really part of the flower bed."

"Really?" Jean's eyes lit up in wonder, and she crouches down where Este is sitting in the dirt. He hands her a couple of flowers and she fumbles for a while with them.

He huffs, gaining her attention.

He gestures for her to look, and quickly starts weaving a flower crown himself.

After a while of her staring at his hands on how he wove the flowers together, she was also quickly weaving them together.

The two of them sat there for a long time, making flower crowns in the dirt, before Barbara finally showed up.

When she did, Este and Jean proudly presented her with their work, and they all three laughed about it as they finally went into the cathedral.