Work Text:
This is the link to my work on hoyolab♡
My second (more recent) work on Hoyolab is here♡
This is the link to my Aglaea/Anaxa playlist on spotify♡
Note: The spotify playlist I linked isn't the playlist I would recommend for this fic in particular, it's more so just a playlist for more canon interaction vibes I guess.
P.s. the first Hoyolab link is to a picture with my older artstyle, bear with me.
<< — – ~..my baby, my baby..~ – — >>
Lady Goldweaver herself, carrying a child in her arms...a sight to behold.
She hums softly to the bundle in her arms, holding her close —
The little girl grips her mother's dress tightly.
That hair...it's his, isn't it? Of course it is, and it was his pride and joy to know that anyone who had the fortune of seeing his wife and child would know that the little one was his. No one could deny it.
Her eyes, golden like the rising sun. Rumor has it that her mother's eyes were golden before she blinded herself, so that explains it.
At present, Lady Aglaea is in the bathhouse. She's resting in the warm water with Artemis in her arms, the little girl is floating on her back with assistance from her mother. Anaxa sits near the edge, his overcoat folded somewhere off to the side. He watches them absent-mindedly, idly tracing gentle patterns along Aglaea's shoulders and spine, seeming to gaze at his daughter contentedly.
Aglaea looks from Artemis up to him, or so it seems, her sightless eyes at least in his direction.
“Anaxa, would you hand me a towel from over there please?” she asks before looking back at her daughter, offering him no more than a glance after her attention is back to Artemis. He pays no mind to her dismissive gesture.
“Does it matter which one I give you?” He asks in return, though he doesn't seem to truly care all too much, since he doesn't wait for her answer before handing her a towel anyway.
Aglaea stands up slowly, water running down her figure in a quick rush, then slowing to dripping leisurely. She takes the towel with no sense of urgency, gentle swaddling Artemis to dry her off and to keep her warm.
“it doesn't matter which.”
She places Artemis in a woven basket with blankets in the bottom and around the edges, making it easier to carry her. Anaxa only watches, grabbing his overcoat and then following her to leave the bathhouse. The sun would be setting already, if this wasn't the city where the sun was eternally shining. He falls into step beside her, walking back to their shared home with her. A slightly more secluded area, a humble little abode.
He closes the door behind them as they enter the house, locking it out of habit, then following Aglaea back to the nursery room. She had put Artemis into a little bathrobe earlier before they went to the bathhouse, and now she was changing her clothes and her diaper. She dries her off and dresses her into a little nightgown that suited her perfectly, humming to her quietly. Artemis was still awake, cooing and gurgling softly while her chubby little hands reach up at Aglaea. After she is clean and dry, her little face scrunches up slightly with discontent, her tiny hands making fists resting by her chin. She begins fussing and whimpering quietly, but she's not yet to a point where she feels the need to be loud.
Aglaea scoops her up gently, cradling her close to her chest. Anaxa doesn't say anything, he simply watches with a soft gaze.
“She surely loves fussing during peaceful moments.” He says with a hushed tone, speaking with no purpose, only to fill the silence. She was only half listening anyway, though, so it didn't matter much. She was more focused on getting Artemis comfortable in her arms, and latched onto her chest properly so she could nurse.
He's smitten. Completely and utterly.
He wraps his arms around her waist from behind, burying his face into the curve of her neck, where it meets her shoulder. The window must not be closed properly, because he can hear the soft sounds of the shrubbery in the wind and the crickets chirping clearer than usual. He didn't consciously notice that his mind had picked up on that, it was purely subconscious, but it gave the atmosphere a layer of comfort.
Artemis suckles happily, her hands resting on her mother's chest, and her eyelids slowly drooping. Aglaea tries to make sure she stays awake just a little longer to finish nursing so she can burp her, but there's only so much she can do. Artemis manages to stay awake a while longer, looking up at her parents, her eyes seeming to shimmer in the dim light of the nursery.
She eventually finishes nursing, pulling off of Aglaea's chest with a soft 'pop,' then nuzzling her face into her mother sleepily.
Aglaea lifts her up slightly, Artemis' chin on her shoulder to be burped, so she wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night crying and fussing because of the air bubbles in her stomach.
Anaxa watches, his arms loosening around his wife's waist as he shifts back slightly, kissing Artemis gently on the cheek before moving to the side. “If you see it fit to regurgitate all of that milk, do it on your mother, not me.”
Aglaea rolls her eyes at him, though she didn't hide the fact that she was amused by how he spoke to their little one. “I do believe she would feel more inclined to spit up on you, seeing as I was the one who carried and nurtured her for nine months inside of my womb.”
“Then, shouldn't that mean she would want everything to do with you, including when she throws up?”
“If she did it because she couldn't help it, I wouldn't mind.”
He doesn't tease her further, it wouldn't be fun anymore if he did. He places one of his hands on Artemis' head, playing gently with her soft tuft of pale green hair.
Luckily, Artemis doesn't deem it the right time to barf on either of her parents. She burps softly a few times, looking at Anaxa mindlessly, seeming to admire him, like babies do.
After a moment, Aglaea gently shifts Artemis to return to being held casually in her arms, the little girl getting comfortable too soon in her mother's arms, and sounding discontent after being put into her cradle because of it. After a second or two, she settles down, hugging a pink and white stuffed bunny to her chest tightly. She hides her face slightly, not very effectively, since she was attempting to hide behind the bunny plushie.
“Get comfortable, Άγγελε μου.” Anaxa whispers softly to her, kissing her forehead and her chubby little cheeks gently, tucking a blanket around her, loose enough for her to move a bit of she got uncomfortable.
Aglaea kisses his cheek and looks down at Artemis with a soft gaze, even though it was her threads she saw her child with.
Anaxa straightens back up, sighing softly and walking with Aglaea to their room. That night was mostly peaceful, Artemis didn't wake up as often as she usually does.
Today, Anaxa doesn't have to trek all the way to the Grove to teach, but he still wakes up just as early, out of habit. Teachers wake up hours before the average student, after all. Artemis wakes up yet again, and since Aglaea was still sleeping, he didn't want her to have to get up. He was already awake, so he decided to go check on Artemis before her cries woke Aglaea up. He walks quietly to the nursery, gently scooping his daughter into his arms, holding her close.
“Shh, shh...hush, Άγγελε μου...are you hungry? You woke up not that long ago to eat, though, didn't you?” He whispers as he carries her over to a small table in the corner of the room to change her diaper, kissing her forehead and her little nose.
She coos softly, looking up at him with awe. Her chubby little fingers catch gently on the chain hanging from his eyepatch to his earring, making her gurgle happily.
“Aren't you happy this morning, hmm? Let's go to the kitchen.” He picks her back up after her diaper is changed, holding her with one arm, a minimalistic way of holding a baby that only the truest of fathers use, as everyone knows.
He takes her out to the kitchen, sitting on the floor with her in his arms, grabbing a blank piece of paper, along with a few crayons. She stares mindlessly at the floor, or perhaps the paper, but it's unclear. After a moment or two, she reaches half-heartedly for a purple crayon, whining softly when she can't reach it on her own.
Anaxa grabs the crayon to hand it to her gently. He takes a blue crayon into his own hand, scribbling on the paper close to a corner so she would follow his lead.
She watches him for a moment, then she stares down sleepily at the scribble he put in the corner of her paper.
After a moment, she sees it fit to interrupt the silence, giving a simple noise something like a gurgle or a whimper, then whining again while reaching slightly more towards the paper. He helps her so she can touch the crayon to the paper.
She makes a soft grunting sound with the effort, whining and curling back into his arms comfortably.
He watches her carefully, studying the purple scribbles on the paper.
“is that so?”
She seems to reply with a quiet whimper of sorts.
She looked like she was getting tired again so he didn't say anything else.
Eventually, Aglaea wakes up and walks out to the kitchen, still somewhat sleepy. She must've thought she was still dreaming when she walked into the kitchen to see — does it count as "seeing" with her threads? — her husband sitting on the floor with their baby in his arms while he scribbled on a piece of paper in front of him. He was teaching her how to draw a dromas, it seemed.
“First, Άγγελε μου, we need an oval...see?”
Artemis only gurgles softly in response, watching him draw the oval.
He kisses her head gently, then he continues on with teaching her how to draw a dromas. She gets sleepy halfway through, her eyes drooping slightly.
Aglaea walks closer, slowly. Artemis must've sensed her mother's presence, because she almost immediately started fussing and reaching up in Aglaea's general direction.
She knows that kind of fussing. kneeling slowly to sit by them both, she scoops Artemis into her arms, holding her in her arms and letting the little girl root around on her chest for a moment before deciding to help her begin nursing.
Anaxa stands up slowly, his joints cracking and popping a few too many times. Was it his ankle, knee, hip, or something else entirely? It could've been his back, actually...
Artemis had dropped the crayon she was holding, so Anaxa picks it up, collecting the other ones scattered around as well, picking up the paper and leaving to put it into a file of other papers she had scribbled on.
Aglaea takes Artemis back to the nursery for a nap, changing her diaper before tucking her in with care, soft whispers and gentle kisses. The little girl didn't put up a fight.
After Artemis is asleep, Aglaea leaves the nursery to find Anaxa quietly looking through the other papers their little girl had scribbled on. She leans her head on his shoulder, looking with him.
Artemis sleeps for a couple hours, it would be around noon, technically, but the sun never moves in Okhema. Anaxa is lying on the bed, his back leaning against the headboard while he reads a book. Aglaea is tucked up close to him, the blankets covering her comfortably. She doesn't seem to be asleep, but he doesn't bother to look to see if she's awake. It doesn't matter much to him, since she's not moving, speaking, or bothering him either way.
Artemis can be heard fussing from the other room after a moment, and at this time it is now obvious that Aglaea must've been awake for how quickly she got out of bed to go tend to the little one.
Or maybe that was just maternal instinct.
She comes back with Artemis in her arms cradled close to her chest, sitting back down on the bed and getting comfy again. Anaxa doesn't question anything, nor did he look up at all.
“What did she need this time?” He asks, not seeming to be paying his full attention to her.
He doesn't look up from his book, but he can hear Artemis fussing quietly for a moment, presumably rooting around to start nursing — though all he has to go off of is what he hears since he truly cannot be bothered to look up.
Aglaea doesn't answer him. She doesn't need to.
He eventually looks up after getting to the next section of his book, tiring of reading. Artemis had already finished nursing, been burped, and fallen asleep in Aglaea's arms.
Aglaea was simply playing with the soft tuft of hair on Artemis' head, admiring the little girl.
He scoots in closer to them, one arm draped behind his wife, pulling her close to him.
“How can she sleep so much?..”
He asks with half-hearted bewilderment, burying his face into Aglaea's hair, inhaling her comforting scent. This is a fanfic, so it doesn't matter if that would be a creepy thing to do in real life.
He opens his eye for a moment to glance over her head at the nightstand next to the bed, spotting a platter of fresh seasonal fruits and a selection of different cheeses. How dare she.
She had already eaten most of it without him noticing. Was she hiding it on purpose? Or was she just secretly skilled in going unnoticed when eating? Regardless, he was going to eat the rest of it in spite of her. Does he usually eat? No. But will he steal his wife's lunch? Always.
He reaches over Artemis to grab the platter, carefully scooting away and eating the rest of the food before Aglaea could get the chance to stop him. She never tried to stop him, but he always seemed to think that she would, so he hurries through eating it.
“Who would've ever guessed that it would be that easy to trick you into eating?” She hums softly, teasingly. He had fallen right into her trap.
He can't believe her. This horrible woman.
Wretched.
“How unnecessarily complicated. Why don't you just make some dinner for both of us, hmm?”
As it turns out, that was the worst mistake he's made all throughout his 469 year life.
It already smells like smoke. That's not edible.
“Absolutely not.” is all he says as she places a bowl of...something, in front of him. It's bubbling, horribly, like it's a soup. However, it's black. Completely black. a haunting sludge at best.
Is it alive? Is it breathing? It looks as though it will gain sentience and eat them.
It looks like she tried to add some seasonings that did nothing to add to the flavor, but that was the least of his concerns.
He was already standing up, holding Artemis in his arms to get ready to go to Marmoreal Market.
This was not the first time this had happened.
Walking through Marmoreal Market, Aglaea holds Artemis close, the little girl thankfully not fussy at the moment.
While they walk, Artemis opens her eyes and looks around curiously, spotting something or someone and reaching lazily with a chubby little hand, whining quietly.
“What's over there, Άγγελε μου?” He asks as he notices her pointing more insistently, her whimpering and whining growing louder.
There, standing in a shop, Artemis must've recognized him, shopping for...what even is that??
“Mydeimos, what brings you here?” Aglaea asks with a soft smile, while Artemis reaches out to try to grab at him.
Mydei stands there holding a basket full of strange looking carrots and something else that seems alive with how it's writhing.
“Phainon challenged me to a cook-off to see which of us is a better cook. I have the perfect dish in mind.”
How very...Mydei.
“So, I am gathering ingredients.”
Aglaea readjusts Artemis so she doesn't try to lean too far to reach Mydei.
If his hands weren't full, he would've taken Artemis into them without hesitation. Alas, he cannot.
“Is that so? Well, then, I wish you two the best of luck.”
“I will make sure he knows to never challenge my cooking skills again. Not only will my dish crush the competition completely with its ancient Kremnoan history, but a side of dromas carrots will set my victory in stone.”
Anaxa hadn't been paying much attention until he heard dromas carrots.
What??
“Excuse me, dromas carrots? Were any dromases harmed in the production of those dromas carrots? How disgraceful, the dromases, such— ”
Blah, blah, blah.
He continues to rant about dromases until Aglaea gets fed up and drags him away, which didn't take long, considering her 'Anaxa yapping tolerance' was likely zero.
She pulls him along with her, bidding Mydei farewell, and good luck for the cook-off.
As they get to the Marmoreal Diner, a hostess guides them to a table for two, placing two menus on the table and then walking away.
Aglaea pulls her own seat out, and not only did Anaxa not pull it out for her, but he pushed it back in before she could sit down as he moved to sit in his own chair.
Unfortunately, her threads had reached his chair before he did without him noticing, and they pulled it out from under him right as he went to sit down.
Artemis nearly jumps at the loud noise, starting to cry softly. Aglaea hushes her quietly, kissing her little face and head comfortingly.
Anaxa simply lies there on the floor, staring at the the ceiling blankly. Artemis continues fussing.
Aglaea is still comforting the little one, smiling serenely, now sitting in her own chair.
A waiter comes over eventually, looking down at Anaxa, who is still on the ground.
“...uh...would you like some help, sir?..”
Anaxa doesn't reply. He slowly, ever so slowly stands back up, pulling his chair carefully under him, sitting down only once he knows it's not going anywhere.
He would've had a snarky comment for Aglaea, but he couldn't get the words out of his throat as he watched Artemis closely, her little body quivering slightly with her sobs.
The little girl slowly stops fussing, eventually falling asleep in her mother's arms.
“I would like a water, light ice, and no lemon. Thank you.” She says like a loud whisper, trying not to wake up the baby.
The waiter smiles and looks at Anaxa now, waiting for his drink order.
“...Water.” He says shortly, almost begrudgingly. Why? Because he's still salty about what Aglaea did.
After they get their drinks and their food later on, they eat quietly. Artemis wakes up after maybe 45 minutes, still looking sleepy, but patting her mother's chest gently, whining. Of course, now of all times.
Aglaea has to try to hurry up with finishing her food so she could take her somewhere less public to nurse her. She has to leave her food unfinished, since she didn't want to risk Artemis getting too impatient and fussing any louder.
Although he would never say it, Anaxa was lonely eating by himself while he waited for her to return. He didn't eat a single bite of his food while she was gone.
It's comical, the way his eye brightens the moment he sees Aglaea coming back to the table with Artemis sleeping against her chest.
They finish their food peacefully, he pays the bill, and they leave.
On their way back, they spot Phainon. He's presumably buying something from someone. He's slips something into a bag of what they can assume to be groceries. He shakes hands with the salesperson, and they walk away. Phainon spots them as he turns around, waving happily.
Aglaea's threads vibrate subtly.
“Lady Aglaea! Professor Anaxa!”
“That's Anaxagoras to you.”
“I didn't expect to run into you two here! Though, I'm not complaining, of course. Especially since I get to see this little one!”
He shifts the bag up to his arm so his hands are free, scooping Artemis into his arms and cooing softly, playing with her and tickling her gently.
Anaxa almost pounces him for touching his daughter, but he ultimately holds himself back.
Phainon utters not a single intelligible word, save for when he calls Artemis something cutesy. It's all random gibberish — baby talk.
Who else but Phainon?
Possibly a few others.
“What are you doing here, Phainon?” Anaxa says after a minute, crossing his arms, almost like he was waiting for Phainon to hand the child back over.
“Ah, I guess I didn't say yet, did I? Heh...”
Phainon scratches the back of his head almost nervously like he always does, the lil goof.
Anaxa does not look amused.
Phainon clears his throat before handing Artemis back to Aglaea. “Well, I'm here buying ingredients for a cook-off I'm going to have with Mydei over this weekend. I actually just came across a salesperson who was selling a special kind of frying pan...she said it would give it a nice smoky flavor and scent, it sounded perfect for the kind of salad I have in mind.”
“Ah, I see. Well then, be careful not to burn everything down while you're cooking.”
Phainon waves dramatically to Artemis as they leave. The little girl looks at him curiously, her eyes basically shining with adoration.
As they return home, Anaxa throws his overcoat onto the back of his chair at the dining table as he walks past it. The dreadful black goop-in-a-bowl was still at his place at the table.
He goes straight back to the bedroom and crashes onto the bed, already having kicked off his shoes by the foot of the bed.
From the other room, he can hear Aglaea humming quietly to Artemis in the nursery. She was likely feeding her again before putting her to sleep, though he can't seem to keep his eye open for long enough to care. He was already asleep by the time Aglaea got to the bedroom.
When he wakes, Aglaea is asleep next him, curled up comfortably under the blankets. The sun was still in the sky, shining as brightly as ever. It gives him a headache.
The comfort of sunset was something he dearly wished for, but in Okhema, of course, that won't happen.
He gets up to go check on Artemis, carefully sliding out of bed so Aglaea wouldn't wake up. Artemis was already awake in her crib, not fussing or doing anything, but undeniably wide awake. She was staring at the ceiling contentedly.
He picks her up carefully, cradling her close.
“Awake already? I can't blame you, the sun here is bothersome to try to sleep with.”
She seems happy, reaching up and patting his cheeks with her little hands, cooing softly in response.
“Yes, Άγγελε μου.”
She spits out her pacifier gently, drooling slightly as she looks up at him with awe. She seemed to love that he responds to her gibberish like she was any other person conversing with him.
“Well, then. Let's go to the kitchen.” He says softly, kissing her forehead and her cheeks.
He carries her to the kitchen, looking in the fridge for the pre-filled bottles of milk. He holds her as he thinks a way to warm up the milk, but he didn't know what he was doing, so he had to think for a few more moments before deciding on a method for heating it up.
Eventually, he successfully gets the milk to the proper temperature for her, so he holds the bottle for her to drink from it.
He kisses her head a couple times absent-mindedly, simply because that is the correct thing to do when a baby is in your arms.
She plays with pieces of his clothes sleepily while she drinks the milk, tugging on his shirt gently.
Aglaea comes out to the kitchen shortly after Artemis finished eating. Anaxa has the little girl in his arms, a small, fluffy blanket over the her as she lies on her father's chest while he lies on his back on the couch, a book in one hand and his other hand gently rubbing Artemis' back.
“I was just thinking, dear...”
She says sleepily, walking slowly over to the kitchen to make oatmeal for breakfast. She would make some for him too, so he would feel obliged to eat, since she knew he wouldn't eat otherwise.
“We haven't stopped by the bathhouse in forever. I would quite like to go there today.”
“We were there two days ago.”
“...Well, we're going today.”
He didn't care to argue further. He was too focused on his book anyhow.
Aglaea managed to cook the oatmeal porridge without burning the house down, barely. She took Artemis from him, holding her close while they ate.
“By Cerces, woman, are you trying to kill me? This tastes like it has half of my body weight in brown sugar in it.” He says with a dramatic cough or two.
“Perhaps that would not be too shabby of an idea, killing you.” She hums to herself, turning her face away abruptly as she, too, tastes the mass amounts of brown sugar that she put into it. She can't risk him seeing her reaction.
After they finish eating, she takes Artemis to the nursery to change her clothes into a little robe-like dress she had made for her to wear to the bathhouse. The little girl loves it.
On the way there, Artemis coos happily, somewhat recognizing the familiar way they were going. Her favorite thing ever is going to the bathhouse with her parents.
Anaxa walks with Aglaea, taking Artemis with them up to the bath on the second floor using the lift. The little one always tries to reach out and pop the bubbles around them while they ascend.
As they get there, Anaxa takes off his overcoat and puts it somewhere off to the side where it won't get wet. He kicks off his shoes as well, along with his socks, because no one in their right mind would get into the bath in their socks and shoes.
That doesn't mean he's in his right mind, but he definitely has some basic decency.
To some extent.
Unlike some white haired girl who was said to have stepped into a river with her socks and shoes on.
That's not from this universe, so disregard this~
Aglaea holds Artemis cradled to her chest for a few moments before slowly letting the little girl touch the water, holding her hand under the little one's back to assist her in floating on the warm water contentedly.
After a while of floating peacefully, Artemis looks over at Anaxa, one hand reaching for him while she fussed quietly.
He takes her gently, hugging her close and kissing her forehead. “Did you want me, Άγγελε μου? You just wished for me to hold you, hmm?” he slowly sits down in the warm water, holding her like Aglaea was before to help her float gently.
“She prefers to have equal amounts of quality time with us, I have noticed.” Aglaea says without seeming to look at him, though her threads were wrapped loosely around him and Artemis. She twirls a strand of her own hair, swishing her hand under the water gently.
Artemis falls asleep in Anaxa's gentle hold, the warm water undulating softly around her little body. Aglaea shifts to sit closer to him, leaning her head on his shoulder and sighing quietly.
They get home later than they thought they would, but it was alright, since the sun never set.
He tucks Artemis into her crib gently after changing her into a little nightgown that looks almost identical in pattern to one of Aglaea's. They matched often, and it was adorable.
He kisses Artemis gently all over her face — forehead, cheeks, temples, nose.
After the little girl is asleep, he sighs, returning to his room where Aglaea was already sitting on their bed.
He flops into bed next to her, curling up close.
“...It has been a while since I've been back to the Grove. We'll go there tomorrow. I need to grab a few books. I might run a few experiments while we're there, if we visit by my office.”
“You're just so desperate to get your ideas made into experiments, aren't you? Don't blow anything up.”
“I will.”
And with that, he blows out the candle on the nightstand, cuddling up to her and falling asleep.
If she wasn't also tired, she would’ve made fun of him for being so clingy.
Maybe in the morning she would.
They spend the next day mostly at the Grove. Artemis is in Aglaea's arms while Anaxa looks through shelves of books — who could know what he's looking for.
Aglaea leaves to go sit somewhere outside. She didn't want all the dust from the books and bookshelves getting into Artemis' little nose.
After an hour or two, Aglaea was sitting in a section of grass outside with Artemis lying bundled in blankets next to her, reaching her little hands up and giggling as golden nymphs flutter around her playfully.
One of the nymphs carry a small flower to her, a little golden yellow flower that matches her eyes. She almost tries to eat it, but Aglaea ever so gently takes the flower before it gets to her mouth, placing it carefully behind her ear in her hair.
“Such a beautiful little girl, aren't you, my darling?” she coos softly, scooping the little girl into her arms and kissing her face.
Artemis looks up at her mother with awe, or perhaps it was adoration.
The scene is interrupted by an explosion in the background, not close enough for the smoke to be inhaled by either of them. It was likely Anaxa's doing.
Who are we kidding? It was definitely Anaxa.
After the smoke had cleared most of the way, faint, maniacal laughter can be heard.
The noise startles Artemis, her bottom lip quivering and her eyes tearing up slightly. She wasn't crying yet, but she was definitely about to.
..“Shh, shh... you're okay, my little butterfly.” Aglaea says with a soft, almost melodic voice while rocking her daughter gently, kissing the little one's face again.
Anaxa comes out after another 10 or so minutes, holding a bag slung over his shoulder. Vials of some form of substance were packed neatly into it, sticking out slightly. It was foggy, like a light grey rain cloud.
He scoops Artemis into his arms, stealing her from Aglaea to rock her gently and kiss her little nose. She was still fussing slightly, but she seemed to calm down the rest of the way when she looked up at her father.
He hums softly to her, holding her close and rocking her gently. “Hush, my little love...I'm here.”
After they got home, Artemis was already asleep. Riding a dromas all the way from the Grove back to Okhema was no short trip. He changed her into her little purple dromas onesie since Aglaea wasn't in the room to stop him. He then kissed her little forehead and placed her gently into her crib.
He walks back to the bedroom to find Aglaea lying with the covers only halfway up her body with the lamp on her side of the bed on. She was sitting up most of the way, pretending to read a book.
He knows she can't see the words.
But regardless, she seems to be paying so much attention to the book that she doesn't even pay any heed to his presence.
She must be joking around.
Regardless of whatever in the world she might be doing, he doesn't care, so he changes into a ridiculous light blue dromas onesie of his own, and he lies down next to her.
She uses less threads while she sleeps, so since she's getting ready for bed, she's not as aware of her surroundings.
Of course, she knew he was in bed now, but she was unaware of his choice of clothing.
If she was aware, she would likely make him sleep on the floor.
The next morning, finally. The weekend is here.
Aglaea had done laundry that morning while Anaxa was with Artemis.
They are outside in the grass, Aglaea has a basket of clothes she washed next to her. She takes piece after piece to hang them carefully on a clothesline.
Anaxa sits somewhere close by in the shade to hide from the sun with Artemis in his arms.
“Really, I will do that for you if you would like.”
“I'm quite fine. Though, do pay mind to Artemis, dear.”
He sighs, looking back down at the little girl. She gurgles softly as she lies on his legs, looking up at him with bright golden eyes. “She is content at the moment, do not worry. If she were to start crying, then —”
He cuts himself off, looking up abruptly.
“Did you have something in the oven?” He asks with a suspicious, or perhaps cautious glance back at the house.
“I do not...is something the matter? My threads are not picking up on any —”
She too cuts herself off, nearly dropping the article of clothing she was holding in the process of looking up as quickly as she did.
Fire.
Some of her threads were burned, the smoke was creeping into their yard from the neighboring house. The fence blocked little of the neighboring yard, smoke shrouding most of it, save for the blossoming fire reaching high into the sky.
Faint arguing can be heard over the crackle of the fire.
Anaxa stands up with Artemis cradled close to his chest, using the small blanket she was holding to help cover her little nose to prevent the smoke from filling her lungs. He takes her inside quickly, grabbing a vial from the satchel he brought home from the Grove yesterday. He passes Artemis to Aglaea, who had followed him inside. He makes his way next door, jumping the short fence and trying to see what was happening through the smoke.
To him, it smelled like burning wood, but it was not normal campfire or bonfire wood. Something else in the mix, along with the putrid smell of burning grass.
He tossed the vial to where he assumed the fire would be, the vial audibly hitting someone on the head before it shattered and a fluffy light grey substance bubbled up like it was swallowing the fire, effectively putting it out at the source, which was...
Next to Phainon and Mydei, who were currently paused in place, likely trying to see what happened, though they couldn't because of the smoke. Mydei seemed to be ringing Phainon's neck, while Phainon had one hand up, holding his head. Once the smoke cleared enough for them to see even slightly, they look up at Anaxa, who was almost giddy with excitement.
“It worked! I knew I had it just right, there were no mistakes in the concoction.” He says with almost childish amusement, a comical look on a man of his age. He clears his throat and his face deadpans when he notices them.
“Just what is going on?” He asks with a surprising shift in emotion, considering his previous giddiness.
They both point at each other swiftly.
“He did it.”
“I didn't do it!”
They say at the same time, nearly in sync.
Anaxa was not amused.
Eventually, Phainon sighs, and Mydei lets go of his neck so he can step back.
“...Well, it's kind of a long story...” He says with a short, nervous laugh under his breath.
.
.
.
Interlude.
Cipher sneaks around Marmoreal Market, she wears the disguise of a salesperson.
She carries with her in tow a little stand with trinkets, price tags jingling quietly. She sets up and starts calling out to passersby to advertise her stand.
At the Marmoreal Market, Phainon is buying different kinds of lettuce and seasonings for a salad he was going to make at the cookoff.
He walks through different little shops, coming across a salesperson who seems to be selling interesting little things. One of them caught his eye.
A wooden frying pan.
He seems intriguinged, but cautious. The salesperson lays it on thick, trying to sell it to him like their life depended on it.
“I promise, it's worth the price. It really does give that...smoky flavor, it's perfect for salads that need a little extra texture, more of a...smoky aroma...”
“I see...are you really sure that this is safe?..” He asks as he looks at the frying pan, admiring it suspiciously.
She doesn't say yes or no. She continues talking it up, and eventually she convinces him. He buys it, and he slips it into the bag he had already full of ingredients for his dish.
He turns to see Lady Aglaea and Professor Anaxa walking with Artemis with them, and he waves above his head to get their attention before calling out to them.
Later, at Phainon's house, Mydei has already come by and is set up, talking all about how he will win. Phainon keeps up with his own competitive remarks.
Mydei is grilling something that smells delicious, and Phainon puts his salad ingredients in the pan, putting olive oil in the mix before turning on the heat and stirring the lettuce gently.
Yes, it catches on fire almost instantly.
It burns quite well, considering it's wood.
While Phainon is running around willy nilly, Mydei is still standing by his little makeshift station, yelling at him for buying a wooden frying pan.
After the smoke starts getting worse, the fire spreads to the grass, and Phainon runs into Mydei on accident when he tries to come help. Mydei grabs his neck and shakes him while he scolds him.
.
.
.
Aglaea had arrived with Artemis bundled up in her arms after the smoke had cleared. She heard enough of the story to get the gist of it.
Artemis was nuzzled into her chest.
Anaxa was ready to strangle Phainon, much like Mydei had previously, but he holds himself back. All four of them help clean up a bit, and Mydei gives Phainon an actual frying pan.
All is well that ends well.
I guess.
Aglaea and Anaxa return to their own home to finish the laundry, because they left in the middle of that if you recall.
Before bed, Anaxa hugs Aglaea's waist from behind tightly as she tucks Artemis in.
He watches over her shoulder with his face mostly buried into her shoulder.
She hums quietly to the baby in her arms, rocking her gently while the little one wraps her chubby little fingers around one of her mother's.
Once Artemis falls asleep, Aglaea puts her in her crib and tucks her blankets around her securely.
“Come with me, out here to the kitchen.” he whispers softly, hugging her tightly for one more moment before pulling back and walking out of the room.
She smiles and glances back as he leaves. She looks down at Artemis again and then follows Anaxa, curious.
There's music coming from somewhere, soft and slow. It was mostly quiet, she didn't even notice it until he pulled her by her arm into his chest, one of his hands resting on her hip while his other hand moves to hold her hand up.
She scolds him lightly for being so rough, but he silences her thoughts with a gentle kiss. Well, even if it didn't silence her thoughts, she at least stopped voicing them to him.
“What is it you say, dear? "Won't you dance with me"?” He seems proud of himself for poking fun at her in the manner he did.
She doesn't reply with more than a soft, exasperated sigh. She moves her hand up to his shoulder, letting him hold her other hand.
He dances with her slowly, holding her with their chests pressed together. It was a slow waltz, a little sway to the small steps they took.
The steps were minimalistic at best, but it was almost as though those steps represented how they were right now, holding each other ever so leisurely. It wasn't much, at all, but that didn't matter to them.
It was relaxing to dance slowly with each other. It is enough to melt away any other thoughts when they are like this, or so it seems to them.
There is only him.
There is only her.
They dance for hours, they lose track of time while in each other's arms like this.
They only come back to when Artemis fusses quietly in the other room.
Aglaea looks up at him slowly, kissing him, and letting it linger for a moment before she steps away to go see what their baby girl needs.
He gazes absent-mindedly at where she was moments ago, one hand eventually coming to his lips gently, touching ever so lightly.
When they eventually went to bed, he held her tightly while she slept, watching her without a thought behind his eye. He didn't need thoughts when she was so peaceful, sleeping in his arms.
He kisses the top of her head gently, whispering sweet nothings to her while she slept.
“Sleep well, Aglaea...”
“I love you.”