Chapter Text
The rap of knuckles on wood shot Furina out of the shallows of sleep, to great delirium. Her apartment swam by in the blur of her vision as she stumbled to the front door. At its threshold she paused, leaning against the wall beside it as a great yawn tipped her hazy head back, peeks of the cavity of her mouth visible even behind her open palm.
Another knock rattled through the hollows of her ribcage; her head buzzed at the edge of a headache from too-little sleep. She wipe the crust of spittle that had dried at the corner of her mouth, silently grumbling at the earliness of an hour, though a glance at the clock would tell her how she had missed afternoon tea - if she could even see as she blearily blinked, eyes fixed straight ahead.
Still caught between wakefulness and sleep, Furina grasped the handle and yanked the door open with hardly a thought.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she groused, remarkably coherent despite the exhausted slur of her words.
It was mere moments before she got her answer that she recognized the professional, collected dress of the man before her.
"Of course, it's just about a quarter to four." The response had not a hint of mockery to it, a matter-of-fact answer, if tinted by a hint of regret. "I apologize, I did not consider that you might be asleep at this time."
Recognition dragged Furina up into sudden, sharp clarity - with it, a hot wash of shame crushed her back down.
"M-monsieur, what a... what a surprise." Still gaping for air like a fish, she was suddenly too aware of the shapeless nightgown that draped over her like a plastic bag, the tufts of hair that stuck out from the tangled mop on her head. It had been comfortable enough a state to fall asleep mid-morning from a full night of ready, but wasn't anywhere near flattering for her former colleague to catch her in. "I... didn't expect you to visit?"
"For that, I must further apologize. I'd rather have sent word that I would come by, but unfortunately, the time is rather short, so I thought it better that I speak to you in person."
As Neuvillette spoke, he did not even bat an eye over Furina's state, and that - whether out of politeness or if he genuinely paid her appearance no mind - only served to deepen her shame. She tugged at the ill-fitting pajama gown, as if it would do anything for her situation, and attempted to surreptitiously rake her fingers over her hair to tame it. And Neuvillette neither commented nor averted his gaze - of course he hardly cared at all, but Furina cared, and that was enough to make this a disaster.
Of all days to have pulled an all-nighter reading! Curse those Fleur Vasseur detective novels! She could simply devour those - and that she had, at rapid pace. There were, after all, around twenty-seven volumes, with a new one to release in just a few months. She had to catch up!
Now she had half a mind to return her small collection, just for this insult they brought upon her.
"Well, I suppose it just cannot be helped, then. To what do I owe this... pleasure...?"
"I came to request your assistance with a diplomatic matter," he said, as if he spoke with held breath.
And for good reason, because before the word 'diplomatic' had fully passed his lips, Furina was already shaking her head. "Oh, no, no. Monsieur, I couldn't possibly. I'm no longer involved with anything to do with running the nation. You can't - ahem."
She cleared her throat before the whine could escape it. Furina balked at the idea of involving herself with official affairs. It was too soon. The wounds upon her heart were too fresh, the scars still sharp and apparent. Him asking her to step up was just too unfair.
"What I mean is that I'm hardly qualified."
"I know this is asking a lot, but it's not exactly a formal diplomatic meeting. More that... I'm asking if you could host a tea party."
"A... what?"
"The... Archon of Sumeru wishes to visit Fontaine." Contempt fell across his face like a shadow, but a second later, Neuvillette's usual placid expression returned. "A tea party is sufficient for what she's requesting. However, I'm afraid I've never put together such a thing before, and I wouldn't be much of a good host. And besides..." He closed his eyes, coughed. "Well, I suppose I may not be the best companion considering our stations beyond our relative governmental positions."
Furina stared. She wiped a sweaty palm against her nightgown, swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. Back in her room, a clock tick, tick, ticked through the seconds.
All the while, Neuvillette didn't budge even a hair's breadth. If not for his breath, he might have well been a statue.
"Surely there are people more qualified if all you need is a tea party."
"No." Neuvillette's response was immediate, decisive. "I'm well aware of your hosting talents, and besides - "
The butt of Neuvillette's cane struck the ground. He raised a foot just to replace it in the exact spot it had been, then did the same to the other.
Oh. Furina realized that, despite his indifferent exterior, he was exceptionally nervous about this request between them as well. Somehow, knowing that even the always-collected Neuvillette was ruffled because of her managed to soothe her own nerves.
He continued, "There is no one else I trust more with this matter."
An anxious giggle bubbled to her lips; her pulse fluttered at the flattery. He made it hard to refuse. Even so, Furina knew from previous experience that if she simply put her foot down here, then he would cave. She didn't have to accept. Neuvillette's nervous tics only demonstrated that his imposition of her was about to come to an end.
Furina sighed. She dug her toes against the cold floor, a hand against the door frame.
"I'll do it. Just a tea party, right? Nothing more?"
She watched the relief bloom in Neuvillette's face. It was like every muscle relaxed, even those that she didn't know existed.
"Yes. Nothing more."
With their agreement reached, Neuvillette took his leave shortly after. Left to the solitude of the disaster zone within her apartment, Furina threw herself back into the tangle of blankets on her bed and screamed into her pillow. Waves of shame crashed hot over her body, again and again, with her heart pounding in her ears. If she hadn't been in such a daze of exhaustion, she wouldn't have answered the door at all. Not to Neuvillette, and not to anyone else. The fact that the Iudex had been on the other side only made the humiliation a million times worse, no matter what Neuvillette himself thought about the matter! Oh, her mind would never let her live this down, not if she survived for a thousand years more!
Yet even if she hollered at her expense, or if she flailed and kicked at her mattress, that wouldn't change what had happened, or what she had agreed to. And although what she agreed to was merely a tea party, something she had hosted thousands of times before, already she regretted assenting to it. Dread had begun to birth worms, writhing and squirming, in her gut.
And to an Archon, no less? Did they know what happened in Fontaine? Did they know of Furina's centuries-long deception? What did they think?
What would they think, once they met her?
A pitiful moan rumbled in her throat; Furina rolled over onto her back to stare at the ceiling. Could there even be someone more pitiable than her, in this anxiety hell of her own making? She dragged her hands over her eyes.
Then, once she had sufficiently languished in her self-pity, Furina sat up again, and she reached for her notebook. At the very least, she should start to brainstorm some ideas. The only way to go in life was forward, as they said, and so she did.
In that moment, Furina had no clue that Sumeru's Archon wouldn't be the one causing her grief.