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Tartaglia is a confident and proud man. He possessed power and prowess, trained for endless nights, and learned every fighting technique he could encounter. He didn't shy away from trying new weapons and pushing himself past his limit.
Tartaglia had no fears. He didn't fear the Tsaritsa; he respected her, didn't fear breaking a promise, it was in his principles not to, and didn't fear for his youngest brother to discover his job, it was bound to happen, but Tartaglia would try his best to protect his childhood. He didn't fear death; it came with the battle. Cowardice would hinder his ability to improve, and Tartaglia was never interested in it.
It was a foreign concept to him until one day.
Lumine invited Tartaglia to her realm once, permitted him to visit whenever he wanted, and told him to use a room if he needed a stay. She welcomed him in and even provided him with an entire island to train on, if he wished.
Months passed, and one day, he visited her realm to rest and found her in the garden holding a cat close to herself, silent tears falling from her eyes. He sat beside her on the bench but did nothing to fill the silence between them. He was there as a support but wouldn't pry if she didn't want to share. It would be understandable on her part to keep her secrets close, given the nature of their relationship.
A few minutes passed, during which Tartaglia busied himself with watching Crystalflies of all kinds float in front of them. Then, Lumine broke the silence, "This cat resembles my brother a little," her voice was thick with emotion, and Tartaglia listened to her. "I know it's silly, but when I miss him too much, I hug this cat, silently hoping it was him."
The cat in question had long fur and was a dark shade of beige, with amber eyes and a little white patch on its chest. Tartaglia got a little closer to her to be able to reach her, but not close enough for it to be invasive. He put a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring way and gave it a light squeeze. "I sincerely hope you'll find him, wherever he is."
Tartaglia cherished his family, and during the few minutes that he got separated from Teucer in the Ruin Guard factory, he almost lost his mind from worry. He could only imagine how unbearable it would be, being separated from one's only kin.
She didn't say anything else after that, and he didn't leave her side either.
The following day, she thanked him, but other than that, they never spoke of that matter again.
Tartaglia started to notice the cat, named Sunny, more often, now that he knew his emotional value to Lumine and also saw how much she cared for him. She would brush his fur daily, cook him boar meat and chicken, and play with him whenever possible. She also made a deluxe area for her cat to relax in and enjoy the sun.
It was endearing to see. No wonder Teucer liked her so much.
One day, Tartaglia was busy with paperwork in his office when he heard a knock. He frowned since he ordered not to be bothered for the next hours until Lumine's voice reached him from behind the door, asking if he was there. He stood up and opened the door for her, a friendly smile replacing his previous scowl.
She was holding a box with a top handle, a few holes were in various places, but it looked like they were made intentionally and with care. She looked up at him with a rare sheepish expression. He raised his brows but stepped aside to let her in.
"So, uhm," he started seeing as she didn't say anything, "about the box in your hand." She straightened a bit at its mention and cleared her throat. "Yeah, about this box... Can I ask you for a favour, Tartaglia?" Her? asking a favour from him? That was rare.
"Tell me about it first."
"Tubby, the Teapot spirit, said the realm will be under maintenance for a few weeks," she shifted her weight on her legs, "and I'll have to leave for Inazuma in a ship tomorrow." She looked at the box in her hand and then back at him, "I have no place for Sunny, and I can't take him on the ship with me either." Tartaglia was quick to piece everything together. "Could I ask you to look after him for a week please? It's just until I can find a temporary stay in Inazuma."
She was looking at him with the same puppy eyes Teucer would give him, and he couldn't find it in his heart to refuse.
"Sure, I can do that."
"Thank you! I'll pay you back on his food when I come to fetch him. His toys and a list with instructions are inside this carrier with him."
Lumine handed him the box before thanking him again and exiting his office. Tartaglia looked at it and placed it atop his desk. It looked like he'd have to leave his office early today since he didn't want the poor cat to stay trapped in a box for so long.
The walk to his apartment in Liyue wasn't long, and as soon as he got in and made sure that no windows were open, he released the cat. Sunny bolted out as soon as he saw an opening and, within seconds, hid under one of the couches in Tartaglia's apartment.
He raised his brows at the commotion. Sunny was familiar with him, but he supposed being carried in a box and placed in an unfamiliar environment would make the little feline anxious. He peeked inside the box and got the instruction sheet and the toys. He threw some of them around his living room. Maybe having familiar items will make Sunny warm up to the place.
Deciding to read the sheet, Tartaglia grabbed his firewater flask and relaxed on his couch. The list wasn't long but was well-detailed, written for someone who may have little to no experience caring for animals. He was glad Lumine included it since his background with animals only included giving a few stray cats some of his food and running away from wolves and bears when he got lost in the woods.
While going through each line, he took a swig of his flask and sighed. He had been busy lately, and while caring for a new creature in his house may be a chore, he was rather fond of Sunny. He stopped mid-swig when he got to a particular line.
-Sunny usually does his business in the garden. Get a box, and fill it with dirt for him and make sure to clean it every day so he doesn't litter your place.
Oh, Lumine will pay him well the next time they meet. He'll make sure to ask for an extra spar since he didn't need the money.
When he reached the end of the list, there was a pleasant buzz in his head from his drink. Sunny was still hiding under the couch, and it would probably take him the rest of the day to come out. So he set off to prepare Sunny's area and get a few ingredients for both their dinners.
By the evening, Tartaglia spotted Sunny sneaking out from under the couch, walking carefully and sniffing everywhere. The cat's belly almost touched the ground from how low he was walking, making Tartaglia chuckle at the silly display. He shouldn't have done that however, because the next thing he knew, the cat jumped and ran back under the couch.
He sighed, closed the book he had grabbed from Wanwen Bookhouse about caring for little companions like cats, and got up from his spot on the couch. He had already put food on Sunny's plate and prepared the dirt box for him. He only had to wait for the cat to explore the new place at his own pace.
Tartaglia decided to do his daily night stretching before going to bed. He had a long day tomorrow, and would prefer get the rest he needed to function at his best capacity. That night, as soon as there was an added weight on the bed, his eyes flew open, but he quickly relaxed when he realized it was Sunny. Closing his eyes again, Tartaglia tried to hold his sneeze and smile when Sunny came close to his face, sniffing him and tickling his nose with his whiskers. The cat also stepped on his face before jumping off the bed.
Tartaglia's days are about to get a lot more exciting with his new companion. For the next two days, Sunny got more relaxed in his new environment and started showing Tartaglia his mischievous side. First, it was digging in the dirt too much and getting it all over the floor. Next, it was scratching the couches, and last, the worst of all, trying to get out of the house.
Tartaglia sighed as he looked at Sunny standing up on its back legs and reaching to the door's handle while meowing and looking at him. He bent down and picked up the cat, thew him with an archer's precision to the couch, and bolted out of the house, closing the door and glancing to his sides for extra measure.
Taking care of a small feline proved to be as much work as babysitting his little brother, except the cat couldn't speak and would meow for minutes to no end at the exact time Tartaglia decided to sleep. It was a little taxing, but he was getting the hang of it. Adapting was a necessary skill for a warrior, after all.
Everything was going well, until on the third day, it wasn't.
He didn't know when he slipped and got careless, but when he got home from work, Sunny was nowhere to be seen. He called for the cat, shook its bowl, and even put on a fish on the stove to attract him.
Nothing.
The house was radio silent except for the sizzling of the fish. Tartaglia checked under the couch, under his bed, under every single cabinet in his apartment, and even opened some to look inside. This was NOT good. Sunny meant so much to Lumine, and losing her brother and then the cat that reminded her of him? It would probably cause her a mental breakdown.
Tartaglia took a deep breath to calm the sudden leap in his heartbeats and splashed his face with some water. He tried to recall every second of the morning when the cat could have escaped the house, but nothing came to mind. This morning he had been feeling a little awful and didn't toss Sunny on the couch before going out since the cat didn't rub his leg or try to reach the door's handle.
He should have sensed that something was off then, but he didn't pay much attention. He should have.
Tartaglia quickly grabbed a b piece of fish and stored it in a bag. Sunny couldn't have gotten too far away since he was easily startled. Tartaglia had spent hours outside, calling for the cat and checking every possible place it could have fled to.
By the evening, he had already searched every nook and cranny of Liyue Harbor and found no Sunny in sight. Tartaglia walked back to his house in shame, his eyes glued to the ground as the hammering in his chest never ceased.
As he closed the door to his apartment, he recognized the terrible feeling that was washing over as fear. Something he thought he had abandoned with the little boy in the abyss.
Tartaglia didn't take off his boots as he usually did and only grabbed his Firewater bottle and threw himself on the couch. He didn't know how to inform Lumine about the matter. She had entrusted him with a companion she cherished a lot and he had failed her by letting Sunny escape.
She came to him for help, her supposed enemy, even though she could have gone to any of her friends in Liyue or Mondstadt. Surely, one of them would have been free. But she chose him. She trusted him, and he rewarded her hard-earned trust with nothing but carelessness and betrayal.
The bottle in his hand was half empty by the time he decided to hug a pillow and lay on his side on the couch. He had never felt this miserable and anxious since he joined the Fatui. He felt overwhelmed with emotions, yet couldn't bring himself to do anything but let his thoughts spiral down. Not only will Lumine's trust in him shatter, but she would most definitely cry.
He hugged the pillow closer and curled in on himself. And just as he was about to down the rest of the bottle in one go, he felt the couch's cushion dip. He got up so fast he could swear he felt dizzy. But that dizziness was forgotten as relief washed over him when he saw Sunny stretching and yawning with no care for Tartaglia's inner turmoil.
He slowly grabbed the cat and held it in the air for a few moments as if to make sure he was real and alive and well before he held him close to his chest in a hug. He had no idea where the cat had been hiding this entire time, but he was glad no harm came to him.
The next day, Tartaglia brought back a collar with a little bell on it to put on Sunny. He refused to go through what had transpired yesterday again. Luckily for him, the cat didn't resist much and only scratched the collar a few times at the beginning.
The next few days were uneventful for Tartaglia. The only thing of note is that Sunny started to sleep next to him on the bed, and by the last day of the week, Sunny would be curled up on top of Tartaglia, enjoying head scratches and pats.
Lumine visited his office on the exact day she promised she would retrieve Sunny. She thanked him profusely and handed him a pouch filled with Mora. He refused it.
"Why don't we spar instead? I'm not exactly short on Mora, and I'd appreciate a little exercise." She raised a single brow at him and smiled, "I'll teleport back to Inazuma and drop off Sunny before coming back."
"Sure," Tartaglia decided to hold off on telling her about the incident with Sunny.
He'd tell her a few months later, only after inviting her for a drink. That would be the safest option.
Tartaglia was one of the strongest soldiers in Teyvat, possessing enough power and prowess to make anyone quiver on the battlefield.
However, he had a single fear; losing Sunny and experiencing Lumine's wrath.