this same song and dance

7

Teucer skulked by the area he'd arranged to meet Agent 1029 and get his own coat back. This had been a long day for both of them. It was time to clock out, go home, and demand some answers.

While he waited, Teucer draped the borrowed coat over the back of a nearby chair so he could pace unencumbered. What had his big brother been doing here? How had he gotten ahold of Lord Tartaglia's signature outfit? What happened to the toy convention he was supposed to have been at all day?

Teucer was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't react in time to keep from being seized from behind and bundled into the storeroom that had the vinegar.

"You..." Lord Tartaglia held onto Teucer's shoulders as he growled, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Teucer shot back without hesitation, "What are you doing here...sir?"

"Don't 'sir' me!" Ajax shoved his mask to the side of his head. "You don't even know the shock it gave me to see you go flying out the window, then start swinging all over the hall."

Teucer pulled his mask off as well, so they could actually face each other. "What about my shock when I looked down and saw you onstage delivering the Eleventh Harbinger's speech?"

"Stop turning my questions back on me! Teucer, this is the Fatui, why are you here? What happened to your overtime for the Fishing Association?"

"I...ah..."

Staring into Ajax's eyes and seeing the concerned expression on his face, Teucer floundered for words.

Now seemed like an opportune moment to take Tonia's advice and come clean. Just admit to his big brother that Teucer's new job was with the Fatui and not the Fishing Association. Tell him the truth and stop worrying that he'd find out someday, that he'd let Ajax down by lying to him all this time.

...wait a second.

Ajax had sort of found him out already. There was probably a part of his big brother that was already disappointed in Teucer for being here. Telling him the truth would only disappoint him more. Ajax didn't look kindly on the Fatui, he would be upset that Teucer was actually one of them. Not only that, Ajax would worry for him, worry about him.

Teucer couldn't do that to his big brother. Ajax shouldn't have to worry so much. He should continue living his quiet, peaceful life with Zhongli, selling toys and bringing joy to the children of Liyue.

At this point, the best Teucer could do was mitigate the current situation. It took some effort, but he managed to squarely look Ajax in the eye and say with a straight face, "...this is it. This is my overtime."

Ajax's grip on Teucer's shoulders loosened. "Pardon?"

"Remember all those new fish I mentioned the other day?"

Ajax nodded slowly. "The pufferfish that sounds like paper. And the medaka, I think you said."

Unlike last time, Teucer actually knew something about both those types of fish. He'd spent some of his breaks and lunches studying up, much to the confusion of his fellow agents (one in particular had even looked alarmed by his sudden and inexplicable interest). But now Teucer was reasonably confident in his ability to hold a conversation about fishing. He might not fool a professional, but he knew enough to deflect the focus off his barebones knowledge.

Teucer nodded back, but in a conspiratorial manner. "Well, it turns out the Fatui know more about the matter than we do. So the Fishing Association wanted someone on the inside to poke around for a bit-"

"-swing from the rafters during the speeches-" Ajax murmured.

"-and gather some intel for them." Teucer gave his brother a pointed look. "That was all part of the plan."