Chapter Text
“Achoo!” Amber sneezed. “Oh God…has he already talked to Jean?! He probably has,” Amber paced about the lobby of the Ordo of Favonius. By the time Kaeya exited Jean’s office Amber’s feet were numb from walking the floor, and the nail of her thumb had been bitten to the nub.
Kaeya opened the door, and Amber quickly dipped into another open room. Peering from the crack in the door, she watched as Kaeya, whose single uncovered eye she could see was red and puffy from crying, walked sullenly upstairs to his quarters.
Oh God…poor Kaeya, Amber thought. She felt horrible for what she’d caused, and she knew there would be hell to pay. Argh! She groaned to herself. It was just a prank! Why did he have to go and be partially disfigured! I feel like I’m going crazy! She ran her hands through her hair, pulling at it trying to get some sense of control. It’s no use. I’ve fucked up…I should have known something was up when he first said no. It was way too panicked! Her thoughts were running wild.
Once Kaeya was out of sight, Amber let out a sigh of relief. Okay Amber, just go in there and speak your piece. Jean isn’t an unjust person, she’s not going to punish you with something you can’t do. She’s not going to fire you.
Amber took a deep breath. Just face the music. It’ll be okay.
The outrider walked up to Jean’s door and gave her signature knock, albeit a bit slower and more hesitant. “Hey…Jean?”
“Amber? Come inside. We need to chat.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Amber entered the room and before she could turn around to close the door it slammed with the force of a mighty tempest.
Amber gulped, though she hardly could. The aftermath of Kaeya and Jean’s visions going haywire left the air of the room dry as a bone.
“Did you see Kaeya on your way in here?”
“U-um n-”
“Don’t lie to me,” Jean warned.
“Yes Grand Master! I saw him.” Amber’s face was flushed completely red, her heart nearly beating out of her chest.
“How did he look, Amber?” Jean, still seated on her sofa, was rubbing her temples as if deep in thought.
“He looked quite distraught ma’am.”
“Distraught…yeah.” Jean sighed. “What in the fuck were you thinking?”
“I’m sorry!” Amber pleaded. She then explained what her idea was and why she went through with the prank in the first place.
Jean stood up from her seat to walk around
“Well aren’t you the patron fucking saint?” Jean sneered. “Amber, he’s one of our hardest working, most talented, and most brilliant knights here in the Ordo. You do not get to judge him to some purity standard that you just conjure up in your head,”she screamed, jabbing a finger at the archer.
“Grand Master please let me explain-”
“If the man likes to flirt with the nuns, the nuns are perfectly able to reject his advances! His character is not that of some ravenous wolf who would harass these women.”
“O-Of course! I know that Jean-” Amber tried to speak.
“So then why is it an issue that he flirts with them?”
“Well, he’s on the clock when he does it!”
“You have had escapades with Eula on the clock,” Jean said, clapping for emphasis.
Amber’s eyes grew wide as saucers and her face redder than a tomato.
“Yeah, you thought I wouldn’t find out, did you? You and your girlfriend won’t be seeing each other for 3 weeks because of this by the way.”
Amber was silent as she lowered her eyes to the floor.
“Oh and since you’re such an advocate for the knights he’s ‘using’ to do his laundry and run errands for him, I’ll have you know that although he is an excellent fighter, he is still considered disabled by Mondstadt law,” Jean continued.
Amber tried to counter, but was swiftly silenced.
“Don’t you open your goddamn mouth Amber! He’s considered disabled by law and is permitted by law to request aid in extracurricular activities should they be work related!”
“With all due respect, Acting Grandmaster, how was I supposed to know this?” Amber pleaded, mustering up a bit of courage. Her voice, though raised, wavered and cracked with anxiety.
“You weren’t! You were supposed to mind your goddamn business, Amber! How about that?” Jean let out a dry laugh as if this was the most hilarious conversation she’d had in a while, but it was laced with sarcasm. “How about you don’t assume the fucking worst of your coworkers, hm? What’s that about? The traveler came to me weeks ago asking about ‘why is Kaeya so shady’ and the only person who uses the word ‘shady’ when it comes to Kaeya is you.”
“I-I…” Amber’s eyes were beginning to water at this point out of frustration and bewilderment. Her heart raced, pounding in her head. “Jean please, I didn’t know…” Out of desperation, Amber fell to her knees. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry… please Jean…please don’t fire me.”
Her wailing and begging seemed to soften Jean’s demeanor a bit. The Acting Grandmaster let out a deep sigh.
“And now we have Kaeya who is a fucking wreck now because of all of this shit, Ambs!”
“Please, I’m sorry! I’ll fix it! I’ll do anything! I already have a list of everything he likes from Master Diluc. I can fix this, please! Just give me a chance!” Amber begged, regaining a bit of hope, hearing the nicknames.
Jean looked at her with pity. “You’ll get your chance. But you have to make this completely right. Take back the shady comments you’ve said about him and expunge the remarks from people’s memory. Do whatever it takes. Find him and apologize from the heart about what you did, and do everything Diluc said. Kaeya will come around eventually, but don’t rush him. This isn’t on him. Act like it.”
“Y-Yes ma’am! I’ll do it all ma’am! Perfectly!” Amber looked up at Jean with still weary and watery eyes. At the very least, her hope grew. There was a possibility to right this.
“Good. Get started.”
Amber shot up from her position on the floor and saluted.
“On it Acting Grandmaster Jean!”
With that, Amber left Jean’s office as well.