i know we don't know much about wriothesley but
con man reader x wriothesley tho
MANNNN that would be, like, one of the most satisfying slow burn enemies/rivals to lovers with Wriothesley ever HAHAH
(I,,,,, got so carried away with this. So very very carried away with this oh my god.)
Like imagine the reader being a con artist, but in a robin-hood esque kind? Like, they scam a lot of the corrupt nobles and the residents of the higher-end of the city that wouldn't even feel a few hundred thousands of mora leaving their pocket, all for them to use it to support the residents of Fontaine that the rich don't often bat an eye at.
And the reader is good at sneaking around and being a criminal (being an antihero, you would argue) but the authorities of Fontaine are also good at their job, and you've been caught once. For your first transgression, you had been sent to the Fortress of Meropide for just a few months. Then, Wriothesley didn't think much of you. You were just a convict under his care for a bit. Attractive, maybe, and perhaps the first time he saw you he couldn't help but think that you're his type. In your time in the fortress, you even converse with him a little bit, and he learns about you and your motivations and who you really are. He won't lie and say that he doesn't enjoy talking to you, or that he won't miss the way you both easily fall into conversation like puzzle pieces. But for your own sake, he hoped that he wouldn't see you in this prison ever again.
But then, when your time is up and you're let out back into society, it isn't even three weeks before news reaches his ears about your newest scam, and how the guards are on the hunt for you once again. When he hears the news, his hand is already reaching up to cover his eyes and massage his temples. He sighs, deep and frustrated at your antics because what the fuck.
You're caught sooner than later, and once more toted back to the Fortress of Meropide, and Wriothesley is there to chew you out for being an idiot and landing yourself back there again, this time with a much longer sentence.
("Oh, don't be so mean to me, Wriothesley. You're going to make me think you're not happy to see me!"
"Well I'm certainly not happy to see you practically on my doorstep in handcuffs. Again." )
But to his utter bewilderment, you somehow manage to escape the fortress. He doesn't know how the hell you did it, and no investigation that anyone tried to do over the coming weeks turned up any signs to how you did it. It's like you just upped and vanished out of the Fortress one day. You even managed to snag your weapon and your vision from their storage room on your way out! If he wasn't so flabbergasted that you pulled it off, Wriothesley might have actually been impressed.
You con more people, you continue to rob from the rich to give to the poor, and Wriothesley reads all about it in the paper. Then you're caught just like before, and Wriothesley is once again receiving you at the entrance of the fortress, though he can't help but think that you look much too happy with yourself to be there.
("Should I be expecting an escape attempt from you anytime soon?"
"I only just got here and you're already planning for my leave? Looks like you missed me much less than I missed you."
"Just–" He sighs. "Can you not escape again? I'm not exactly looking forward to greeting you a fourth time, you know."
"No promises, warden!")
No promises, indeed. You escape a third time, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh. Each time, you do it without leaving a trace and without much fuss. You're just there one day and gone the next. No surveillance or maximum security measures hinders you at all.
Each time you come back, a wide grin on your face, calling out your greeting to him before he can even begin to scold you. Each time you're back, you have new stories to tell him of the things you'd done in your freedom (in-between gathering funds for those under your care, of course.) You tell him of travelling to Liyue and sampling their food. Of going to Mondstadt and learning of their culture. You're even gone to Snezhenaya, and felt the chilly air freeze you to your very bones.
The eighth time you're brought to the Fortress, however, you seem a little different. When you talk to him, it's not about how you pulled off your latest endeavor or your newest discovery in a far-off land that doesn't know your name.
("The people that I provide for... they've told me they're happy now. That I don't need to risk myself for their sake anymore."
Wriothesley remains silent, and you shoulder on. You don't look at him, eyes towards the ceiling of the fortress, gaze locked on some far-off view hidden beneath the miles and miles of ocean that traps you in.
"They told me that I should be living my life for myself now, and that I should look for my own happiness."
"And?" he asks. "Will you?"
You look at him then. You're deep in thought as you stare at him, mulling the thought over in your mind. Your own happiness. For once, the look in your eyes is unreadable. Wriothesley can't make heads or tails of what you're thinking in that moment, all he knows is that this is possibly the most somber he's ever seen you.
"...I don't quite know if i should.")
You escape again, because of course you do. But unlike every other time, there is no word of you even a week after you're gone. No mention in the papers of any of your newest schemes, no indications of anyone in Fontaine having sighted you. The only mention is how you've escaped and the authorities are on the prowl for you once more.
Even after another two weeks, then a month, then several months, you don't pop back up again, and your deeds eventually fade from the forefront of public concern. For some reason though, Wriothesley can't help but still search for your name in the papers every day. Because, and against everything telling him that he absolutely should not hold sentiments for you, he does, in fact, miss you. Quite a lot, actually. But above all else, he's glad that you're somewhere else, hopefully living a better life, hopefully looking for your own happiness now. And secretly, even though he shouldn't, he still hopes that he can meet you again one day, and that you'll regale him of even more stories of what you've been up to while you were gone.
(Years pass. Many of the Fontaine rich have forgotten about you. What you've stolen from them was easily made back, after all. Wriothesley, however, has never once stopped wondering about how you're doing.
It's during a bright spring day in the city while he passes by a new cafe. He's heard this one originates outside of Fontaine, and that had been popular enough to open a branch here. It's still early enough that no one has yet entered, and he thinks to himself that it wouldn't hurt to learn what all the fuss is about.
When he enters the counter is devoid of personnel, and he thinks that they must still be preparing supplies in the back, so he takes his time in looking through the menu.
"The Valberry Black Tea is one of our bestsellers. Just the right flavor combination of the fruity sweetness of the berries while still holding onto the mild bitterness of our black tea. I think you'd like that one."
And there you are, leaning over the counter with a wide grin that's all too familiar to Wriothesley. To his relief, you seem happy. Brighter, even, than before. These last few years have been kind to you, is a thought that brings a smile to his face and a skip to his heart.
"I made that one specifically hoping that you'd try it one day, and that it would be to your liking," you tell him, straightening up and readying all you need to make his drink. Over your shoulder, you flash him a fond smile, and he can't tear his eyes away. "Grab a seat and I'll be right with you. There is so much catching up we have to do.")
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