Work Text:
Empty.
The hole in Furina’s chest was only partly healed. Bruises littered the area, a mess of brown and purple painting an ugly picture around her once perfect skin. Whenever her shirt so much as grazed the injury, she flinched.
It used to be worse. She often had to excuse herself in the middle of trials and meetings so she could muffle her cries of pain into her coat without being seen. Sometimes, she would double over or trip over her own feet in front of Neuvillette or occasionally other people, just to jump back up (No matter how much pain it caused her) and assure them she was fine, that she only tripped on a rock.
But the ruse would only last so long.
Furina sprinted into the bathroom.
Tears that she had barely held in her eyes all came spilling out, flowing down her face like small waterfalls. She clutched her chest and hunched over, somehow keeping herself from screaming. She yanked a towel from the wall, burying her face in it and letting out a sob, which came out like a muffled grunt.
Furina laid the towel on the ground and flopped onto it, curling into herself enough for her entire body to fit on the cloth. She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes, trying to get herself to just relax, to calm down for just a second.
She woke up an hour later, still curled up on the towel. Still in pain.
Furina glanced at the clock and shot up, almost immediately falling back down to her knees. She shakily stood up and, after putting the towel away, returned to Neuvillette’s office, where she had been before going to the bathroom.
Neuvillette raised an eyebrow and set down his document. “There you are. Where have you been for the past hour?”
Furina laughed, back to her old self. “Sorry, Neuvi! I was in the bathroom, but-”
“In the bathroom for an hour?”
“No, no,” Furina assured him. “Actually, as I was coming out, um... a melusine! Yes, a melusine came over to me and asked for my help with something- sorry to keep you waiting for so long!”
Neuvillette sighed, obviously not believing her. “Furina, I can tell when you aren’t telling the truth.” His gaze softened and he tilted his head like a lost puppy, and Furina practically melted with guilt. “Are you alright?”
Furina looked at the ground. “Yes, Neuvi. I’m fine.”
“If you say so,” He muttered. But Furina caught him sneaking glances at her for the rest of the meeting, occasionally opening his mouth but not saying anything.
She knew her chest would hurt with sadness if she could feel anything in it.
Is it considered stalking if you are doing it for the other’s own good? Say, for example, you suspect they are lying to you about not being hurt, and take hour-long bathroom breaks daily. Is it okay for me to follow them around sometimes to make sure they are not dying? - A Worried Dragon
Dear Worried Dragon:
Hi, Navia from the Steambird’s advice column here! Personally, I feel that you should, well, check up on the person. However, if they’re not telling you even after you’ve asked them for a while (Do not, under any circumstances, anger them! If they start getting annoyed with you, DO NOT KEEP GOING. It’s not going to help!) I suppose you could start checking up on them every once in a while... technically, though, what you provided to me did sound like stalking...
Best wishes, Navia
Neuvillette crumpled up the newspaper and stood up from his desk. Well, that was all the information he needed. He headed to Furina’s room to gather some evidence- she was currently at one of her ‘fan meetings’ and wasn’t currently residing in the Palais.
Her room was pristine as usual- the pale blue wallpaper perfectly complemented the white furniture and bedding, and everything was put away neatly. Neuvillette quietly opened one of her drawers, then another, then another. After not finding anything, he walked out of the room, only to be greeted by Furina, her hand hovering over the doorknob.
Neuvillette’s face grew pink, and Furina’s mouth flattened into a thin line. She slipped past him and slammed the door, a gust of wind tickling his back.
He sighed. Only his first attempt to find out what was wrong, and it had already gone awry? Of course it had.
He turned back to the door, knocking on it softly in an attempt to apologize to Furina.
“Lady Furina? I apologize, I did not mean to-”
Her muffled voice came out from behind the door. “To sneak into my room? When I wasn’t here? Neuvillette, that’s a breach of my privacy! If I didn’t know better, I would have you arrested. What was your goal? In, you know, sneaking into my room?”
“I simply wanted to ensure your safety. You have been hiding things from me lately, and I, in fact, do not believe you are-”
“I’m FINE!” Furina screamed.
“Nothing is wrong. I never got hurt. Nothing happened. I’m fine. I’m safe. Nobody- nobody attacked me, or- or anything, I don’t-”
Sobs rippled through the doorway, and Neuvillette opened the door. Furina was curled up on her carpet, hugging her knees to her chest, her face buried in the small pocket in between. She was shaking.
“Furina...”
“No, no, no, no- no, nothing is wrong. I’m... fine. Arlecchino- Arlecchino never did a thing! I was...”
Furina looked up at Neuvillette, who was standing in front of her, fists clenched.
“What did she do to you?”
Furina touched her hand to her chest. “...She tried to kill me.”
Suddenly, it made sense. Furina’s strange desire for Neuvillette to go to the meeting with her. Her odd behavior recently. All the times she had almost fallen flat on her face from tripping on smooth ground.
Thunder struck outside, coupled with dark clouds and booming rain.
“She what?”
“She wanted the gnosis- as you know, I’ve put it in the Oratrice for the time being, in... preparation for the prophecy. But she didn’t know, and she- she stabbed me with her hand- did you even know that being stabbed in the chest by someone’s fist could hurt so much? Well, I didn’t, until a few weeks ago.”
Neuvillette kneeled down next to Furina, clutching her small hand with his larger one. “Furina, say the word, and I will find her. I will kill her, and I will throw her cold, dead body into the deepest depths of the ocean for doing that to you.”
Furina’s eyes widened. “N-no! That would ruin our reputation with Snezhnaya, and it wasn’t even that great to begin with! Neuvi, do. Not. Kill her. It’s fine.”
“I don’t care. She should at least be tried for attempted-”
“And have another Fatui Harbinger sent to the Fortress?! Neuvi, are you insane?”
“When it comes to your safety, I will go as crazy as necessary to ensure you are alright.”
“How touching. I promise, I’m fi-”
Furina gasped and hunched over, clutching her chest tightly and shaking violently. “This... it’s just a little s-side effect, no big...”
She collapsed on the floor, eyes fluttering shut. “Deal...”
Neuvillette tried to shake Furina awake, but eventually gave up when she curled into him and let out a small sigh. He smiled softly and ran his hands through her hair, making a silent plea to Celestia.
Don’t let her get hurt again.