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The first time Lisa has tea with Jean, it’s not planned. The knight is practically in marching order as the blonde comes up to her secret hiding place on the roof of headquarters. She sips on the rim of her porcelain mug, not so secret anymore, but for all that it’s worth, she’s not annoyed at the intrusion.
There’s a soft clink when the cup meets the saucer and Lisa smiles up at Jean, her green eyes windswept, like the plains of Mondstadt.
“Captain Jean, to what do I owe the pleasure?” she says lightly, her cheek resting delicately in her palm as she regards the knight.
“Why didn’t you take the captaincy? You beat Nymph, effortlessly,” Jean asks immediately, her eyes a striking, calculating blue.
What the knight said was true; the spar between her and Field Officer Nymph was over in two minutes. Lisa’s lightning arced at her fingertips as she eased in a waltz between the onslaught of thorny dendro vines. When Nymph charged at her with a full cone attack, Lisa held a smile on her face as she twirled on the spot, before flicking her wrist and releasing a thunderous wave that disintegrated the vines.
It was clear to everyone, to Nymph, that Lisa was only testing the girl. And yet, she pulled her storms away and turned to the crowd, to Grand Master Varka and Jean specifically, and denied the position entirely.
The pure shock on Jean’s face was enough to amuse Lisa to this very moment.
“Nymph is perfectly suited to be captain, wouldn’t you think?”
“She isn’t any more than you are!” Jean argues and that makes Lisa’s brow raise at the implication. That Lisa herself is perfect and Jean says it so surely. Though Lisa had known her for a handful of weeks, the knight never said things carelessly. She’s proper to the letter, diligent and decisive. It’s a curious thing that leaves the witch wondering, though she doesn’t show it.
The knight collects herself and sits straighter in her seat, realizing her outburst. “I’m sorry. What I mean is, it’s clear that you would be a great leader, so why wouldn’t you?”
Lisa tilts her head but turns her attention to the teapot on the table. With a wave of her hand, another porcelain cup appears, and she gently pours the hot liquid into it. It’s a subtle aroma, a hint of flowers hiding beneath a tinge of honey. She offers the cup and Jean accepts it gingerly and takes a sip. It’s surprisingly delicious.
“Well, which answer would you like?” Lisa says, leaning back in her chair as the wind flutters through her tresses and she brings the cup back up to her lips.
Jean regards her strangely. “The… right one?”
Lisa smirks. “Well, the right answer would be yes, Nymph has a ways to go with her magic and her career as a knight. But the honest answer Jean, is that I don’t want to.”
The captain is struck as she blinks in disbelief at the sorceress who looks as though she doesn’t have a care in the world, lounging in her seat with a teacup between her palms, and simply enjoying her time beneath the sunlit sky.
“Then, what do you want?”
It’s an answer Lisa hasn’t found herself yet but she decides to reach for an honest one.
“For now, I’d like to just enjoy some tea with you, if you would honor me, Captain,” Lisa says cheekily but it’s still sincere. It draws a smile from Jean, even though she looks mildly exasperated from Lisa’s mysteriousness. Jean doesn’t even like tea all that much but she decides to accept it with an open mind.
What Jean knows about Lisa is very little, save for the common rumors of her being a talented sorceress, and at one point, a Grand Mage. Lisa denies them all every time, with a beautiful glittering smile.
Jean wants to know more and Lisa ponders the thought that Jean might be the only one who gets to.
The second time they share tea together, Jean becomes Acting Grand Master. It’s a major role to fill and from across the room, Lisa can see the weight of the burden on the young woman’s shoulders. The succession wasn’t a grand one by any means either. Varka simply departs with some of the knights in a sudden expedition, then Jean is the one left to lead them, to lead all of Mondstadt to a future she must envision on her own.
Jean finds her on the rooftop that day and sits across from her wordlessly.
“Long day?” Lisa prompts while pouring Jean a cup.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to be Grand Master,” Jean sighs against the rim. “Everything is just changing so quickly - there aren’t very many knights prepared to fill the roles of the ones he took, there’s political strife with the Fatui within the city, and then the Abyss Order has been acting strangely. It makes me wonder if I can truly lead Mondstadt and live up to my title.”
“Varka wouldn’t have picked you to succeed him so lightly, Jean. He trusts you and you should have a little faith in that,” Lisa comforts with a softness in her gaze.
Jean is quiet for a moment before her head snaps up and in a bold move, she puts her armored gauntlet on top of Lisa’s on the table. The sorceress’ eyes widen a bit beneath the brim of her hat but she doesn’t pull away.
“Lisa, can I ask you to stay with me? I can’t-” Jean averts her eyes for a moment with a speck of uncertainty and it leaves Lisa a little stunned. Indecisiveness isn’t a trait of Jean’s, not usually, so what makes Lisa different? Jean locks eyes with her again and squeezes her hand. “I can’t do this alone.”
It’s not quite what Lisa’s expects, the act of staying is something that usually carries a deeper sentiment. But she accepts it all the same because it’s Jean, because even though Lisa has been all over Teyvat and hailed from Mondstadt, Jean was unlike anything she had ever seen. A gloved thumb brushes over the plate of armor.
“Just for you, Jean.”
The way she brightens up is enough. Lisa doesn’t envy her position and doesn’t leave her side. It became a commonplace sight to see Lisa lingering in the Grand Master’s office when she didn’t have anything to attend to in the library.
“Lisa, what would you do to handle the strange hilichurl activity outside the city?” Jean asks her without looking up from her paperwork, knowing Lisa is there lounging on a chair with a book in hand.
“I would leave it to Kaeya,” she answers honestly. Jean peers at her from across her desk and Lisa snaps her own book shut. “Believe me Jean, I hardly trust him myself seeing as he can’t handle returning a book on time.” Jean huffs a laugh at the gripe. “But in combat, you can leave it to him. Who knows, he probably has a whole scheme up his sleeve already.”
After a beat of silence she adds, because she knows. “You can leave it to others to help you, too.”
The scratching of the quill on parchment pauses for a moment and then returns, a little slower.
“Thank you, I’ll do my best to remember that.”
There are times where she’ll find Jean asleep at her desk, with mounds of paperwork surrounding her. She smiles and in the middle of the afternoon, she lets Jean rest and drapes a blanket across the blonde’s shoulders. Lisa takes her signature perch on the couch and lies back with another book, the grandfather clock ticking in the silence. It’s often that Lisa dozes off herself and when she opens her eyes, there’s a note on the book cover that reads from sleep well to I’ll be back. As hardworking as Jean is and how she sets those standards on those around her, the knight knew better than to interrupt the sleeping mage’s nap.
Or perhaps it was because Lisa looked so peaceful that Jean wouldn’t dare disturb the bit of solace that occupied her office.
Then there's a blanket that smells faintly of dandelions draped over Lisa’s legs and she can feel something in her chest flutter. She curls it around herself, dozing as if a breeze had lulled her to sleep. Jean returns to a sleeping Lisa and she brushes the woman’s hair to curve around her ear. Lisa smiles unconsciously in her sleep and Jean feels considerably lighter as she takes her seat behind her desk once again.
Tea time becomes a regular event, so much so that Jean has it written in her schedule on multiple occasions throughout the weeks. Lisa is well aware of this journal with events marked down to the minute, every task presented inked into where Jean finds it to be the most efficient. She even has her morning routine written to the hour, from “Run the perimeter of Mondstadt with Amber”, “Make Klee’s Lunch”, “Breakfast Date with Lisa” (Jean writes this part verbatim - Lisa doesn’t think she realizes what she’s implying), and then “Afternoon Tea with Lisa”. Nowhere on the schedule has Lisa seen time set aside for sleep and it makes the sorceress exhausted just looking at it.
Still, she finds it extremely endearing that Jean goes through such trouble to make time for her, a space reserved in Jean’s life reserved just for them. It allows her to see the several petals of Jean’s personality. She remembered the morning she woke to meet Jean for breakfast and the knight had been running late from her run with Amber that she showed up in just a plain tunic, her tights, and her boots. Some of her hair had fallen loose from the ribbon, but Lisa greets her like a beautiful sunrise.
“Did our dear Outrider give you a run for your mora?” Lisa teases that makes Jean laugh into the clear morning air.
“Maybe I’m not so suited to be a grand master,” she jokes as she tries to tame her blonde hair.
“Mondstadt wants no one else but you, Jean,” Lisa reassures and Jean’s mouth opens, a bit taken back by the sincerity. Lisa brushes it away when she links her arm with Jean’s and they walk onto the cobblestone path. “Shall we? The Good Hunter pancakes are waiting.”
Jean pulls her in a little closer to her side and nods, content.
Later in the day, as Jean passes the library to meet Lisa before they go to their afternoon tea, she hears the sorceress mutter a curse beneath her breath. She knocks on the wooden frame to the library and the brunette whirls around with a frown on her face. Jean immediately closes the distance and takes Lisa’s hands that had been clenched into fists.
“Lisa? What’s wrong?” she asks worriedly. “Did something happen?”
Lisa’s frown persists. “That damned Kaeya, he hasn’t turned in his book on time, again!”
Jean releases the breath she’s holding in relief because it wasn’t anything worse, but she knew Kaeya was in for it. Jean squeezes their joined hands and her thumbs brush over her knuckles and Lisa relaxes slightly.
“Let me get the book back for you,” Jean says.
“Jean, you have plenty to do, you don’t need to waste time on that-”
“Oh, but I have a duty to the people of Mondstadt, I think this certainly constitutes an emergency, wouldn’t you say?” Jean cuts her off with a knowing grin. Lisa pauses and the frown disappears, replaced with a smirk on her pink lips. She would never be able to stop Jean from whatever she set her mind to and the witch considers herself lucky that Jean is set on her.
“Fine. Whatever would I do without you Grand Master?” the librarian asks dramatically, feigning a faint for the drama that makes Jean roll her eyes good naturedly.
“You’ll never have to know,” Jean says convincingly and Lisa has to wonder if the knight would ever know the weight of her own words when it came to Lisa’s heart. She continues on, unfazed. “I’ll meet you for tea, I’ll take care of this. I won’t be late, promise!”
Lisa is left standing in the library alone with a dumbfounded expression as Jean dashes away with wind at her heels. Her hands that had been held by Jean drop to her sides as she lets out a sigh. When afternoon comes, as soon as the midday bell rings, Jean comes striding in with an accomplished smile on her face as she presents the book Kaeya had borrowed.
“Don’t worry, I passed the message along as well,” Jean informs, taking her seat beside Lisa. The sorceress doesn’t ask what she means by that as they sink into time set aside for them, sharing stories and retelling of each other’s day.
Lisa forgets all about her frustration and instead laughs about the time Jean fought her first slime as a child, which resulted in slime in her hair that wouldn’t wash out for weeks. Later, Lisa hides another laugh behind her gloves as she spots Kaeya walking around with a small bump on his forehead and a grumble beneath his breath.
When Stormterror comes and the midday bell rings, Lisa is left alone with nothing more than a note between the covers of her book. It’s Jean’s handwriting and Lisa finds herself reading it over and over until the steam from her cup fades and the liquid goes cold. Sometimes Lisa hates that Jean loves Mondstadt so much. That the knight wouldn’t hesitate to put her life on the line, as if honor in death could cure the grief around Lisa’s heart if she were to ever lose her. Jean is a fool for thinking it would be enough.
Lisa - I’ve gone to confront Stormterror to bring peace to Mondstadt. I don’t know when I’ll return. But know that I’m doing this for you too. Please, be safe.
“You idiot, that’s my line,” Lisa mumbles to herself.
She has faith in Jean but she’ll blame the stormy clouds above for her gloom. Another day passes and Jean still hasn’t returned; Lisa leaves a seat open for her anyway and lets the tea grow cold as she waits. She doesn’t even know where she had gone, across Teyvat or to some floating lair in the sky. The sun is out today but she feels everything but.
“Lisa?”
The call of her name breaks her out of her reverie and her heart flutters for a moment before sinking, realizing it wasn’t who she was looking for. Amber regards her with concerned eyes but Lisa sees a bit of worry there too that isn’t reserved for her. Lisa gives her the best smile she can muster and offers her seat, Jean’s seat. The knight wouldn’t want her to be alone anyway.
“Amber, what brings you all the way up here?”
Amber offers her a half-hearted shrug and it surprises Lisa, the usual vigor of her personality is completely absent. “I’m worried about Lumine, she left to confront Stormterror. I know she’s from another world and super strong but… I can’t…”
Lisa places a gentle hand on the Outrider’s head with a kind smile as the young girl peers up at her through her bangs and a rosy blush.
“I know what you mean,” Lisa offers in some consolation. Though Jean isn’t from another world, she may as well be sent from the skies with the strength and beauty she holds. Amber nods, seeming to understand what Lisa means, and looks at the teacup in front of her, full and untouched.
“Master Jean went too, didn’t she?”
The tea is still, not even a ripple across the surface.
“Yes, she did.”
Amber perks up in her seat that it rattles the table and Lisa looks at her slightly bewildered at the sudden change. Amber’s eyes have a spark of determination in them, a fire that rivals the Vision at her hip.
“Then they’ll definitely come back! They’re the strongest warriors in Mondstadt after all!” Amber says brightly with a wide grin. Lisa’s lips part in surprise at the sheer amount of confidence Amber has, the amount of hope, really. The words die in her throat and she settles for a smile instead. Amber leans in and presses a hand to the back of Lisa’s. “We’ll wait for them, won’t we?”
There’s a silence that turns into a quiet laughter from the sorceress and Amber is wearing a matching grin. Lisa can see it so clearly in Amber’s face, just how much faith and love the young girl holds in her heart for the honorary knight that fell from the sky. Lisa wonders if Jean sees the same when they look each other’s way.
“Of course we will.”
There’s a roar in the skies and Lisa comes to a halt just before the city gates. The other knights gather around with their weapons out and stances ready. The shadow of a dragon descends on the bridge and Lisa feels electro pulse in the core of her palm. Stormterror lands but like a star out of the sky, Jean hops off its back with Lumine, Diluc, and Venti in tow.
“Please! Stand down! Dvalin is no longer a threat!
At the call of his name, the dragon seems to let out a content sigh through its nostrils before being surrounded by a cloak of anemo then ascends to the sky away from the city. The knights cautiously put their weapons away at the Grand Master’s order as Kaeya manages the crowd, even Diluc joins him to calm their concerns. It seems to work because Lisa can hear the cheers and sounds of joy but all she can see is Jean, a bit bloody and a bit tattered, but breathing and alive, alive, alive.
Jean spots her in the crowd and ignores her wounds as she runs up to Lisa. There’s a gash on her forehead, a slash on her collarbone and thigh, and her hair falls freely from her lost ribbon in curtains of silk, and Lisa forgets how to breathe.
The midday bell rings and Jean’s hand is on her cheek and at her waist, and Lisa sinks into her ocean blue.
“Were you waiting here for me?” Jean asks in a whisper and it’s almost pathetic how much her voice soothes her heart.
“You’re late,” Lisa says sternly, the tears on the edge of her eyes betraying her true feelings.
“I know, Lisa. I promise I’ll make it up to you,” Jean breathes and Lisa feels renewed at the sound of her name, Jean taking her rightful place in her heart once again. She steps into Jean’s arms and tightens her hold when she hears the knight laugh softly in her ears. On her peripheral, she can see Lumine twirling Amber around in fits of laughter.
Lisa pulls away to look at Jean and the knight is wearing a smile that’s mixed with a plea for forgiveness and the joy of being alive. Lisa pokes her cheek and Jean holds her grin that makes the sorceress scoff. Jean, the Grand Master of Mondstadt, the highest authority amongst the knights, wears a silly smile akin to that of a child and it shines on Lisa’s soul in a warmth like the sun, cradling her as though she were the dearest thing to her.
Lisa doesn’t know if Jean loves her or not; if she does, it doesn’t happen in some grand declaration. Rather it comes as the breeze through Mondstadt, a fated occurrence and belonging to nowhere, and no one else. No matter if she does or not, Lisa is hers because she is always meant to be.
To be perfectly clear, Jean loves Lisa. It starts in the form of a question, an echo from the past that rattles her entire core, the feeling of being utterly sure an overwhelming one.
“Am I the one you’ve wanted all this time?” Jean whispers, lips brushing against her own as she speaks.
Lisa never knew the honest answer until now, what she had been searching for all this time.
“For now, and forever,” Lisa replies and the way Jean holds onto her makes her feel like it’s possible.
If there is any doubt about it, Jean clears it away, the sun parting through storm clouds when she kisses Lisa on the rooftop, tea cups and breakfast between them. If Lisa still doubts it, Jean responds in a kind, full-hearted way that leaves her complete.
“I love you.”
It isn’t grand, it isn’t fireworks shooting off into the night sky. To Lisa, it’s a place to rest and to love, and be loved in return.