shipwrecked || furina & neuvillette

🫧 24 🫧

Furina bites her lip, refusing to look at him. She doesn't want to see the hurt in his eyes, doesn't want to see the way his brows furrow together as if the world is ending. Doesn't want to see him scan her face for invisible signs, doesn't want to tell him about those three days in Dottore's prison. The rain doesn't fall on her, the two of them stay perfectly dry. She's not sure how he does it - how he controls it like that.
"What did he do to you?" Neuvillette asks her, his voice quiet, but strong enough it could cut through ice.

For a split second, she considers telling him. She considers telling him that Dottore kissed her forehead and when he whispered in her ear she could feel his lips, considers telling him that she can still feel the way he'd force her to look at him. It was three days, but it was going to be a lifetime of memories. And she didn't want Neuvillette to hate himself any more than he already did. She didn't want him to be even angrier. Furina is sure that if he could, he'd go back and kill Dottore right now - if she were to tell him the truth. She doesn't want that - she doesn't want Neuvillette to do that. Because although he seems convinced that he could kill him - Furina knows that he is not the sort of person to be able to let it go. Once the anger subsided and the consequences of his actions became apparent. Once Snezhnaya found out what he'd done... who knows what would happen to Teyvat. So Furina just presses her lips together in a tiny smile.
"Nothing, Neuvillette. He didn't do anything. He just wanted my Vision, that's all. You know what?" Furina tries to change the subject, even though she knows it's no use. "It is getting a little late and I am pretty tired so-"
"Do not change the subject," he tells her.

Furina is relieved to see Navia, and she practically leaps towards the blonde woman, begging for a distraction.
"Are the children okay?" Furina asks, turning her back to Neuvillette. "Are you looking after them? You didn't send them all away yet, did you?"
Navia gives a small giggle. "Furina, they are safe with the Spina de Rosula. They are fed and they are warm, they have lots of questions of course - most of which pertaining the whereabouts of a rainbow rose."
"Can I see them?" Furina asks, ignoring how she can feel Neuvillette's eyes peering into her.
"They just sat down to have dinner," Navia tells her. "I've just been to see Chiori regarding the whereabouts of a dress I've asked her to design for me - but I'm heading back to the Fleuve Cendre if you would like to-"
"Yes!" Furina is grateful for the interruption.
"Furina-" Neuvillette pleads behind her. "We're not finished with our conversation."
Furina gives a nervous laugh, still refusing to look at him.
"I've got to go and see the children before nightfall," she says. "I... I..." she trails off, sighing. "I'm sure that I'll be in good hands - if you wanted to go back to the Palais Mermonia."
"Very good hands," Navia agrees. "But you're more than welcome to come, Neuvillette."
Neuvillette shakes his head. "Please ensure that someone escorts Miss Furina home when she is finished. We have an important conversation to continue when she gets... home."
He hesitates before he says home, and Furina picks up on it instantly. If she weren't so desperate to get away from the conversation, she'd have asked him about it.
"I will escort her back to the Palais Mermonia myself." Navia nods with a smile.

Furina feels guilty - she knows that she should be going with Neuvillette... but she's scared of that conversation. She's scared of the truth - of saying the words out loud. Because that makes them real. Right now, she's the only one who knows exactly what happened - it's a secret, it's almost as if it doesn't have to be real. The moment she were to admit it to Neuvillette, the moment she were to say the words out loud - they'd be real. They'd be true, black and white laid out in front of her. She's not ready to blow away the smoke and mirrors just yet - even as Neuvillette turns and walks into the lift. She glances over her shoulder as she walks away with Navia.
"Are you alright?" Navia asks her quietly, and Furina bites her cheek.
"Yes." The answer is short and sweet, but Furina knows that Navia will see right through her. She's that sort of person - Navia will always know what you're thinking but not saying. But Navia knows that the streets of Fontaine are not the right place for that conversation, so she just reaches out and squeezes Furina's hand.
"I've been practicing a new cake recipe," Navia tells me. "I think, if we're lucky, there might be a couple of slices left for us. We can talk about it later." Her voice is warm, so shiny and positive. Furina wishes that she had that same optimism.
"How have you had time to bake a cake?" Furina asks, grateful to have steered the conversation away from herself.
Navia laughs, thronging her head back. "It's my most favourite hobbie, of course! I always find time for baking. I rather enjoyed seeing Clorinde's look of distaste last night as I ate the mix right in front of her."
Furina smiles, imaging Clorinde in the kitchen.
"All of the kids haven't stopped talking about you since the moment I took them in," Navia nudges her. "I think that you've got a new fan club."
"I just... I hope that we can find their families - surely they have families." Furina sighs. "I still don't know for certain what Dottore was planning on doing with them."
"Well... it can't have been good." Navia tells her. "They looked as if they hadn't eaten a proper meal in their lives. It's concerning if he is planning on using children as weapons," Navia pauses. "That's going to be incredibly difficult. I mean, I'm all for attacking members of the Fatui and the monsters that Dottore creates - but I... kids have no place on a battlefield. I truly dread to think about what he was using them for." Navia sighs, adjusting her hair. "I know we haven't always been too close, Furina... but I... I just wanted to say that I'm always here if you need to talk."