Chapter Text
You could say it practically became a tradition for Lyney, Lynette and Freminet to visit Liyue every year for the Lantern Rite Festival.
The first time they visited Liyue was three years ago — a mission “father” sent them on. Walking around the Liyue Harbor during their free time made them stumble upon the festival for the first time.
They've heard about it before, obviously, but they've never had the chance to see everything up close. It was so much different from their daily lives in Fontaine — the bright, warm lights, the delicious Liyuean food that they've never got the chance to taste before, and most importantly — the performances.
Naturally, the siblings, especially Lyney, absolutely adored any kind of performance. He would approach the citizens, asking them about the culture, the music, anything.
Lynette, as his assistant, also enjoyed the various forms of celebrating the festival, clapping with everyone else. Though she would only speak up when Lyney was starting to get ahead of himself, she enjoyed listening to what different people had to say about the Lantern Rite.
Freminet… He wasn't too fond of social events. Truth be told, it took the twins a lot of convincing to make Freminet leave their shared hotel room for anything other than their mission and going out to eat dinner.
He stuck close to the twins through the whole festival, afraid of accidentally getting lost in another nation.
He wasn't interested in the small talk between Lyney and some of his fans that apparently recognized him and Lynette. He stood behind the twins, head lowered, trying to not attract any attention to himself. He was unknown. It was his decision to not take part in their shows and he would stick by it. The last thing he wanted was fans asking the twins who the boy behind them was.
There were a few encounters like this, where Freminet would stay behind, until they finally arrived at their final destination for the evening — the wushou dance.
They found a place to stand slightly away from the big groups of people to make sure Freminet wouldn't get overwhelmed by everything happening around him. Freminet was always thankful for his siblings watching out for him.
That evening, he wasn't expecting to become so… mesmerized by the dancer.
Even from far away, he could see him clearly — he was like a star, everyone's attention focused on him, admiring his movement.
What he felt while watching the performance might as well be compared to the familiar feeling of fondness he felt when watching Lyney and Lynette's magic shows.
Despite the loud noises surrounding him, he could tell he was beginning to feel relaxed, as if he was alone under water with only his thoughts about the dancer.
The excited noises of people clapping and cheering began to fade away in the back of his head.
That was enough for Freminet to decide that he wants to see the dance again. He knew that when Lyney snapped him out of his mesmerized state, telling him that they will be going back to the hotel soon — he hadn't even realized he spaced out. Lyney teased him about it, asking if he liked the performance.
Freminet couldn't even bother denying it. He gave a small nod in response, avoiding looking too excited — Lyney probably wouldn't drop it for days if he showed too many positive emotions regarding the dance. After all, it's not often that Freminet is so enthusiastic about anything outside of his small range of interests.
They spent the rest of their evening talking about what they would do the next day (which was mostly Lyney's suggestions.)
Usually, Freminet would try to at least listen to what his brother was saying, just in case he would blurt out something stupid. He and Lynette would just look at each other, sighing in sync.
Freminet was too busy thinking, though.
It was normal for him to space out, to overthink things that he really shouldn't. But this time, there was really nothing for him to overthink.
‘You should socialize more.’
“Father's” words suddenly rang in his head. He could have come up to the dancer, talked to him, asked him to hang out with him… That's something he would have done if he was anything like Lyney — if he wasn't so scared, so introverted, to the point he's afraid of buying food for himself.
‘He wouldn't want to be friends with someone like me. I am nothing like Lyney or Lynette… Why do they tell me to socialize when–’
“Does that sound good to you, Freminet?”
He shuddered when Lynette called out to him, throwing him out of his overthinking state. He tilted his head to look up at her, seeing the same emotionless expression she always wore. He quickly lowered his gaze again, looking down at Pers in his arms.
“Sorry… I wasn't listening… What were we talking about?” he mumbled sheepishly, catching the attention of the twins.
“We were discussing if we should visit Liyue again in a year. We all enjoyed the trip greatly.” Lynette spoke, her voice as gentle as ever.
“Besides,” Lyney interrupted, which immediately got him an eyeroll from Lynette. “We told you you should try to make some friends!” he pouted in that dramatic way he always did, wrapping his arms around Freminet as Lynette fiddled with the keys to their room, paying them no mind.
Freminet stiffened under his touch, mumbling a quiet ‘get off…’
Shortly enough, Lyney was forced to get off him, entering the room with an exaggerated sigh.
Now that the three of them were alone, away from all the stares and voices, Freminet let himself relax again… not for long before Lyney began to bother him again.
“Also… We've already decided we want to perform at the Lantern Rite next year.” Lyney added, a huge smile plastered on his face as he took in Freminet's shocked expression. “And we would love for our little brother to support us, right?”
A magic show… in Liyue.
Freminet had no doubts about the outcome of it — after all, Lyney and Lynette are Fontaine's greatest magicians. It doesn't matter where they perform, it should be as great as always.
There's nothing holding him back from coming to Liyue again…
“Does father know…?”
Lyney's smile faded for just a second before he grinned again.
“She won't mind.” he shrugged, confident in himself.
Freminet kept quiet for a moment. He wasn't necessarily thinking about Lyney's words — sometimes it just got hard to speak, even around his siblings.
“I'd like to come back to Liyue with you two.” he finally managed to mutter out, his voice laced with honesty. Locking his gaze with his brother, the latter quickly enveloped him in a hug.
“Aww, Freminet! You're truly the cutest little brother I could ask for!” Lyney cried out in his usual dramatic way, leaving the boy in his embrace with no choice but to reciprocate the hug.