frost bitten, twice shy

Freminet stares at his cake in front of him silently for a while, wringing his hands, before:

"They're twins, right? So we'll have to make sure we get two cakes."

“...Lyney would probably scold me for being too hard on myself... And Lynette would just call me an idiot...”

“But... I’m glad that if just one of us was sent here, it was me because... because at least they get to stay together...” Freminet misses them desperately, but he knew it would be a lot harder for the twins to be separated. Everyone did.

❝ That's an intriguing coincidence. My brother has a pyro vision, too. And while I don't have a sister, someone I consider quite close has an anemo vision, ❞ he speaks, parting with that information fairly easy.

though at the small noise of pain, that all comes to a screeching halt, not wanting to see the poor boy suffering for whatever it is. when he'd talked, the flower hadn't hindered him, but in his silence一

“Unless you’ve visited Fontaine, you probably haven’t heard of my siblings either... but you’d probably know our organization. It’s— ngh...” Freminet cuts himself off with a wince, another flower blooming just under his beret.

“...They’re not related to me by blood. Lyney and Lynette, I mean.” Luckily, Freminet has plenty to say about his family that isn’t secrets. “They’re twins, but I never had siblings before I met them. Sometimes I’m envious of how close they are, but I’m happy to have a family at all. My siblings and our Father... Even if I still have to carry out—”

Freminet struggles to pivot again, but the subject of parents is unfortunately touchy and leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I hate my blood father...” Freminet's usually shy and quiet voice drips with vitriol. “He abandoned my Maman and me...”

Feeling his eyes start to water, Freminet holds Pers the Penguin up in front of his face, hiding his expression behind the toy.

And it sank cold in his chest. Leaden, a weight on his hearts. The voice change, the helmet covering his eyes. Wolfwood's breath hitched, flashes of his own younger brother flooding his mind, him as a sweet kid, the last time he saw him, that mask, that cold expression.

Unfortunately, in battle, it only takes a split second of hesitation to completely screw you over. He's lucky again that someone else was here to intervene, whether avoiding him taking a bullet or a claw to the chest.

Exhaling, he readies himself. "Ain't much of a commander." He fires a shot at the things' leg,

“Copy.”

Taking advantage of the distraction, Freminet darts in, arcing his blade upwards. The metal bullet lodged inside the beast’s foreleg makes a useful conductor with which to freeze the leg solid. Freminet brings his blade down with a crushing blow, snapping the foreleg clean off.

With an outraged snarl, the monster drives its head downward, teeth snapping. Bringing up his claymore just in the nick of time, Freminet barely blocks it. It’s not as difficult as blocking one of Father’s blows, but the shadow beast puts its whole weight behind the attack. Unable to withstand the pressure, the wooden claymore splinters against Freminet’s hand pressed up against the flat of the blade.

"Oh!" Even though he looks familiar, she can't place where. Even when he mentions blue, it takes her a moment moment remember the time the entire place, including others, was colored.

"Ah....I'm..." she feels bad for not veing able to remember him, but!!!

Hanabi smiles and nods. "I'm feeling much better." A lot happened. She's gone through so many trials and errors. She misses Haru, but she keeps those she misses and loves dear in her heart.

“...It’s okay to cry if you don’t. I won’t be upset with you if you cry... But I understand if you don’t want to cry in front of me. I try to only cry when I’m alone too,” Freminet adds, his face as expressionless as always.

“I am... fine. Nothing much has changed... but I like it when things don’t change.”

Freminet can practically hear his brother yelling at him: ‘You have to offer up more information about yourself, Fremi! How is anyone supposed to carry on a conversation with you?’

"Or, perhaps I should address him? Question: what is your name? And the name of the sir holding you?"

“Oh! ...This is Pers. He will talk to anyone who can listen, but most people don’t know how to, so I speak for him most of the time...” Freminet turns the key at Pers back. The little mechanical penguin stops his feet and waggles his arms cutely, in a way that could be easily interpreted as excitement.

“...He says it’s very nice to meet you, and that he appreciates being addressed directly. He also says... I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Freminet,” he adds shyly.

“Um... Qu-question...? Are you asking about us because it’s your directive to gather information?” Freminet wonders if the inquiry is part of the meka's programming, designed to collect data as a standard function. However, he also considers another, less likely scenario, reasoning internally that it seems unusual for a clockwork meka to want to gather information about what most would perceive to be a toy. This leads him to question—

"That's a lovely story your maman told you," Vivi says, "my maman says freckles are kisses from the sun. The more you have, the more the sun adores you."

She pulls out a small candy from her pocket and holds it out to the younger one. "Your freckles are very nice, too, jeune monsieur." Young sir.

His excitement temporarily distracts Freminet from noticing he’s been complimented, but as soon as he does, he feels his face grow warm. Ironically, the redness only makes his freckles stand out more.

“...I don’t think the sun likes me very much, but th-thank you very much, madamoiselle. M-my name is Freminet.”

Freminet hesitantly accepts the offered candy with a small ‘merci beaucoup’. He inspects it warily.

“...Is it poisoned?” Freminet blurts out. He covers his mouth with his spare hand and averts his eyes in embarrassment.

Swallowing, he starts to speak, thinking that maybe the boy was looking for conversation, too, and he mentioned Fontaine, so he's from Teyvat, and-

"Maybe...do you think that Dragonspine is so snowy, because the Hydro Dragon is crying for Durin...?" His voice faltered to a whisper, his red eyes falling on the gem on his chest, and then looking back to the sky. Inhaling, he shouts:

“You startled me,” he says, though his face barely changes and he continues speaking in the same monotone voice.

“...Durin? The dragon who stole the stars from the sky because they were all that he had left of his mother?” Freminet pauses, deep in thought. “...When I would read that book, I would imagine that my own maman turned into a star and was looking down on me from the night sky, too. I would reach up and think about what it would be like to feel just a fraction of her warmth again... If I had the power to touch the stars, I’m sure I would have done the same thing.”

Usually, talking about his maman with strangers, more specifically about how she wasn’t here anymore, made Freminet feel as if there was a wrench thrown into his gears, or like he wanted to run away and hide under the sea... But for some reason, this subject, along with the presence beside him, felt strangely... familiar. Freminet clutches the bloodstained pendant around his neck tightly.

“Yes... If even someone like me can sympathize with Durin, I’m sure one as kind as the Hydro Dragon must cry quite often for his poor, unfairly judged dragon brother.”

Freminet gives the newcomer more than a fleeting glance for the first time and realizes that they are a teen around his age. He's dressed like a fairytale prince, but even beyond that... The color of his eyes and hair... The shape of his horns... Freminet realizes that the other teen—

while he is a terrible liar, so he tries to avoid doing so, Freminet is normally very reserved and guarded, hardly ever voicing his thoughts -- never mind as unfiltered as they'll be in this event! he also worries about spilling one of his and his family's many secrets...

this is a starter call for Freminet for this event!