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It starts, of course, with Paimon.
They're sitting together after a pleasant outdoor tea--more of an outdoor second breakfast, really, though that's because Lisa had known who was joining them and had planned ahead to ensure that she and Jean would still have a chance at some of the lighter snacks--when Paimon turns to their Honorary Knight.
"After this, we should go to Fontaine and buy chocolates for Valentine's Day! Isn't that tomorrow?"
"It is," their Honorary Knight says calmly, as if Paimon hadn't just proposed hopping over to Fontaine, which is two weeks of sailing away in good weather, as if it was a brief afternoon jaunt.
Not that this is unusual for the pair of them. Lisa smiles as if she isn't still trying, in her secret workroom beneath the library, to work out how their Honorary Knight can be propelled through the leylines from Waypoint to Waypoint without being consumed by the elemental energy that flows through them. It would make visiting her more distant friends so much easier if she could repeat the trick.... But asking these two has never gotten her anywhere. She focuses instead on the less familiar part of their conversation.
"What's Valentine's Day, cuties? I thought I knew all of Fontaine's major holidays, but I haven't heard of that one."
"It isn't a Fontainian holiday. Though I think they would like it," their Honorary Knight says thoughtfully, pausing in steady consumption of the second-from-last adventurer's sandwich. Lisa quickly puts the very last one on Jean's plate while she has the opening. "I learned about it in another world.... It's somewhat like Windblume, in that it's a holiday where you exchange gifts with those you care about. But it's only one day instead of a week, and it doesn't celebrate anything else."
"And the gifts are flowers and chocolate!" Paimon eagerly cuts in. "So you give Paimon chocolate because you love her sooo much, right?"
"Normally, you only give gifts to people you love romantically. But parents do give their children valentines, too, so I suppose I can give some to Paimon again this year...."
"Paimon's not a child!"
"Does that mean you don't want a Valentine's Day gift after all?"
Paimon's eyes go wide. "No! Paimon wants a gift! You give them to friends too, don't you? And Paimon's your very best friend!"
Lisa chuckles along with their Honorary Knight's laughter, then turns to Jean to share the amusement with her, too. Jean's smile, though, is wistful.
"It sounds romantic, doesn't it?" she murmurs, more to herself than to Lisa.
Reaching out, Lisa puts a hand over hers. Jean starts at the touch and looks at her with a more focused gaze, going a little pink in the cheeks.
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't apologize, my dear. It does sound quite romantic. Even if Paimon doesn't have any notion of romance grander than schoolyard chants," she adds drily, and there's Jean's laugh, sweet and warm.
There's still a little bit of wistfulness in her eyes, though. Her dear Jean, always yearning for a bit of romance, always a little too self-possessed to ask for it.... Lisa looks at her fondly. This will be easy enough to give her.
"Quick," Lisa whispers, leaning in. "Eat the sandwich while they're distracted."
Jean laughs louder at that, a giggle bright enough to draw the bantering pair's attention, but she already has the sandwich in hand by the time they realize that she's claimed it. The subsequent argument over which of those two get the last tea pancake is the perfect distraction for Lisa's plotting.
***
True chocolate comes from Natlan, which makes it a bit difficult to get elsewhere. Their trade with the rest of Teyvat is sharply limited by their people's unwillingness to travel. Some makes it out, mostly due to the Fontainian Archon's passion for the stuff, but even in Fontaine all but the highest-class chocolate is made mostly of an inferior substitute lightly flavored with scraps of cacahuatl, the gaps filled in with sugar.
The only other place where you can buy real, pure chocolate as an occasional expensive treat is Sumeru. Knowing how it actually tastes, Lisa has no intention of buying Jean the carob substitutes or coarse adulterated cocoa paste that are all one can find in Mondstadt's shops.
Unfortunately, shipping real chocolate from Sumeru within a day and a half--within a day, by now, really--is as unlikely as popping blithely over to Fontaine. The Honorary Knight has already departed. Not that Lisa trusts Paimon to run that errand without either eating the chocolate or letting it slip to Jean.
Which is why she's in the alchemists' laboratory, smiling sweetly at Albedo while he looks dubiously back.
"The only food I've alchemically replicated up to this point has been basic fruits and grains. The composition of a processed food, even a plant-based one, is significantly more complicated."
"But you could do it, couldn't you, cutie?"
"With more time to experiment, possibly. Within the time constraints we have, I'm afraid I might create something with dangerous effects."
"Oh, I could find you a taste-tester." Sir Bernhard still hasn't brought back his copy of Fables de Fontaine, nearly a week past the due date, and Lisa strongly suspects that's because a beachside mishap she's heard gossip about left it damaged. "And I'm sure my potions could put right any accidental poisoning."
Albedo still looks unconvinced. Before he can answer, though, Sucrose pops up behind him.
"Could you replicate raw cacahuatl? I have a few scraps left over from some experiments on, on samples that theHonoraryKnightgaveme...." She trails off into a high-pitched squeak when Lisa turns to look at her. Adorable.
"I should be able to," Albedo says. "I will need a few hours to experiment."
"Unfortunately, I believe the fermentation process takes several days, and then it has to be dried before it's roasted." Lisa says, careful not to frown directly at Sucrose. "It was a good thought, though, cutie."
"I can speed it up!" Sucrose says, almost frantic. "I've been developing a process to accelerate wine fermentation. It isn't finished yet, and, um, the casks keep violently depressurizing, but it works a little better on less liquid substances. And Amber has dried seeds quickly for me before. We can test the process on Albedo's initial experiments, and perfect it before we start on successfully replicated beans."
She starts out looking anxiously at Lisa, like a cute little stray ready to bolt. By the time she's finished describing her idea, though, her eyes are lit up and with the joy of a potential experiment. It's a pity she doesn't have a tail to go with her ears, because Lisa is certain it would be wagging.
"It does sound like it would be a worthwhile experiment," Lisa tells her approvingly. "Even if you can't perfect it before tomorrow, it would make for a sweet addition to Windblume."
"We'll get started right away!"
"I'll go find my text on food production in southwestern Teyvat, just to make sure I remember all the steps correctly," Lisa says, and sweeps away before Sucrose asks her for practical help or remembers that she's intimidated by her. Or, entertainingly for Lisa but mortifyingly for the poor girl, both in that order. Lisa has much more chance of getting chocolate out of this if she doesn't disrupt Sucrose's process.
***
As things often do in the Ordo, it inevitably becomes a group production.
Despite her attempt to avoid doing any actual work, after the first few failures Lisa finds herself helping with Sucrose's speed-fermentation process. It really does create the most horrible results with pure liquids, but if they make sure the cacahuatl is dry enough going in, several tweaks to the mechanisms suffice to make it work.
Even then it builds up an alarming amount of pressure in the process, but Klee, who arrives to see what's going on halfway through the third round, has some surprisingly useful suggestions for safe removal. Or not so surprising, when Lisa thinks about it. Informing Jean that all their attempts to teach Klee basic safety standards have started to pay off will be her backup present.
Next, when they've perfected that, is Amber. Sucrose already has a system in place from the seed-drying to deal with Amber's tendency to unevenly heat things, so Lisa leaves them to it. The roasted beans are difficult enough to grind that Sucrose drags Noelle in, too, which proves useful to the pressing stage, and from there it's just following the steps from Lisa's textbook, over and over, until that process, too, yields results.
The first good batch gets devoured immediately. How could Lisa deny her industrious little helpers the treat? Besides, her own taste-test suggests there could be a few improvements, and if they gorge themselves now the later batches will survive to be gifts.
She won't be the only one giving them, now that her helpers have been filled in. "I want to send some to Collei!" Amber tells Sucrose, grinning wide, oblivious to the much better range and quality Collei no doubt has access to. Though in this case Lisa suspects the sender will count the most.
"She'll like that," Sucrose agrees, ears twitching up. "We should both give some to Eula, too."
"Yeah! Albedo, do you want any for someone?"
"Thank you, but there's no need. Klee can have my share." Albedo sets another pile of cacahuatl on the tabletop where they're being processed and smiles at Klee's happy cheer.
"Yay! Klee's going to give it alllll to Dodoco. She uses Klee's stomach, so Klee has to eat it for her!"
Lisa smiles too, then looks over at Noelle. "What about you, cutie?"
"I'll take some," Noelle says, touching the rose at her elbow. As if Lisa doesn't know--but she'll let Noelle keep her secret until they're ready.
"Planning who gets what is all well and good, but we can't give anything away if we don't get it made," she reminds the group. "Let's get a second batch started. I have a few ideas."
***
Her one concern about the teamwork on display down here in the lab is that the unusual concentration of knights will draw someone's attention. Fortunately, when it does, it isn't Jean.
"So this is where everyone went," Kaeya says, peering through the laboratory door.
"Kaeya!" Klee squeals, leaping up from a doze beside Albedo's desk, then frowns. "I put the special sign up! Nobody's supposed to come in."
"Except in emergencies. Not finding you in solitary when Jean's going to go let you out in a few minutes seems like an emergency to me."
"Oh no!" Klee rises and bolts up the stairs.
"She's covered in chocolate," Noelle exclaims, hand to her mouth, then nods at Lisa and starts after her. "I'll clean it up. Your secret is safe with me."
"A secret, huh? So that's what you're all doing down here."
Amber glares at him. "Don't you dare tell! This is a surprise for Master Jean and Eula. You can't ruin it!"
"Let me guess. This Valentine's Day thing?"
"I see you've been talking to Jean," Lisa says.
He smirks at her. "She thought it was romantic. It sounds to me like a less appealing Windblume, but you know Jean."
"I do," Lisa says, then pauses, considering that more deeply. She narrows her eyes at Kaeya. "If she was telling you about it... does she have plans?"
"If she did, I'm sure she would have sworn me to secrecy." Kaeya's smirk widens. It's all the answer Lisa needs.
She sighs, but can't help smiling anyway at the thought of Jean doing her earnest best to organize a romantic surprise. Her yearning for such gestures embarrasses her; she so often make them towards Lisa instead, one desire sublimated into another that she seems to feel more appropriate for a knight. Not that Lisa doesn't enjoy being on the receiving end. But she tries to watch closely for what Jean inadvertently reveals, so that she can treat her beloved in return.
Noelle comes racing back down the stairs, a soiled towel over her arm. "She's clean," she reports, "and Master Jean didn't even see me. Captain Kaeya, would you like some chocolate too?"
"Archons forbid. I would get stabbed as an imposter if I tried to give it out. I'll leave you all to it."
"Not so fast." Lisa glides forward, reaching out to take his arm. "Production is well in hand, so you don't need me, do you, cuties? I'll be back later, but this is the perfect time to pick some flowers for tomorrow. You can come with me and give me your opinion on my plans."
By which she means nudge her away from any that would conflict with Jean's. There's no need to give her own up if she can make sure that they don't clash.
"If you insist," Kaeya agrees, and conducts Lisa upstairs just in time to catch a happy Klee cannonballing into his legs.
Perhaps they had allowed her to eat a bit too much of that first batch of chocolate. Lisa is happy to let her burn that off gathering flowers on her behalf, though, and Jean doesn't even question the claim that they're taking Klee out to play.
"Don't forget to come by tomorrow morning," she tells Kaeya, then gives Lisa a pink-cheeked, worried glance.
"For the patrol review," Kaeya says smoothly, though with her hand on his arm Lisa would swear she can feel him suppressing the giggle.
"Yes, for the patrol review," Jean says quickly, then steps in towards Lisa. "I have a few more hours of work to do, so I may not get home before you go to bed tonight."
"I'll forgive that this once as long as I get my goodnight kiss now," Lisa warns her, before letting go of Kaeya and leaning in to steal it. Not as deep as she'd like, with Klee watching, but enough to tide them both over until tomorrow.
Jean is pink all over when Lisa lets her go, but she clings a moment before mustering the resolve to let Lisa pull away. Oh, it will be fun to surprise her.
***
By the next day, Jean has managed to rein in the blush. She's not that bad a liar when she has time to organize a story.
"I have a meeting outside the Ordo at the end of the day, and it may run over," she says, straight-faced and calm. "Don't wait here for me. I promise you, tonight I'll go straight home rather than come back to finish up any work."
"So you have been listening the last few times I lectured you," Lisa teases, and leans in to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll see you this evening."
"You will." Even now she doesn't crack and blush, only kisses Lisa's cheek in turn and squeezes her arm before letting go and heading for her office.
Content in that promise, Lisa goes about her day. It's a quiet morning and a quieter afternoon; she lets herself enjoy an extra-long nap before afternoon tea, since Jean, working double-time to make up for her early departure, isn't going to join her for it and catch her on the couch. No patrons need her during her nap. Or none dare to disturb her, which comes out to the same result.
When her shift ends, she lingers to attach signs to each of the library doors to indicate that they're closed for cleaning. That note itself might not keep some particularly voracious readers out, but Klee has kindly drawn a little picture of Lisa's smiling face in the corner of each one, with a bolt of lightning beside it. That should cover most would-be intruders. Noelle will just have to take her chances with Fischl.
She's done it just in time, because she encounters Barbara on the way out the door.
"Hello, cutie. Here to help Noelle clean? Make sure you don't get any of the books wet."
"I won't," Barbara tells her earnestly. "I think Noelle just wanted help with all the dusting. We must be doing the whole library."
Either Barbara is a much better liar than her sister, which Lisa has long suspected, or she genuinely doesn't know why Noelle has asked her here. As long as they're careful, it doesn't matter to Lisa. Noelle is the one person she trusts to bring food into the library and leave not a crumb behind. There's an excellent chance she'll come in tomorrow and find the entire place just as clean as if that had been Noelle's only goal in the first place.
"Have fun," Lisa tells her, and continues on down to the alchemy lab to collect her chocolate and flowers. Noelle had pressed the chocolate into a dozen different adorable shapes yesterday, and Albedo had promised to renew the flowers so they would be perfectly fresh.
He's not there, but there's her flowers on the edge of his desk, and a lovely box beneath them that proves to contain the chocolates. Collecting her gifts, Lisa leaves the Ordo and begins a wandering walk home. Best to give Jean plenty of time to finish up her preparations.
In the gardens beneath the Ordo, Amber, Eula, and Sucrose are sitting around Lisa's usual tea-table, two bundles of flowers set carefully aside at Eula's left and two boxes of chocolates open at the center as they animatedly discuss the letter that Eula is scribing in her elegant calligraphy. Lisa veers a little wide to avoid disturbing them. From the grim look on Eula's face, Amber and Sucrose are both going to be the recipients of much grander bouquets by tomorrow, and at minimum some elaborate baked good.
Her next stop is the Angel's Share, where Master Diluc is at the counter at a far earlier hour than usual. He looks up as Lisa enters like he's expecting someone, and she would swear there's a hint of disappointment before he gives her a curt nod.
"I need a bottle of wine, cutie," she tells him, leaning over the counter and giving him a winsome smile.
"For Jean?"
An interesting question. "Of course. Something that will go well with sweets."
He nods and steps into the back room. While he's gone, Lisa scans the back of the bar. There's a little gauze bag in the corner, tied with a red ribbon. Tucked behind the bottle beside it is a single red rose, petals just peeking out above the bottle. So it isn't just Kaeya whom Jean has told about the otherworldly holiday.
When he emerges, Lisa smiles and thanks him, only checking the label after she's paid and on her way home. She wonders if it's the spirit of the holiday or merely the fact that it's for Jean that got her what must have been a substantial discount. Either way, she appreciates the favor.
***
Lisa must be moving faster than she'd realized, because Jean is still lighting the candles on the dining room table when Lisa comes through the door. She looks up, wide-eyed and adorably startled for one split second. Then she draws herself up with all the alacrity one would expect from the most excellent--and most beautiful--of Mondstadt's knights. It's a pleasure to see her eyes go wide again, though, when Lisa holds out her gifts. Her wondering smile is luminous.
Naturally, Lisa has to kiss it. Jean lets her, setting the gifts hastily aside when Lisa presses in close. She breaks away before Lisa can wrap her arms around her and distract her entirely, though, gesturing at the table.
"When I asked later, Paimon said that Valentine's Day often involves a meal together, too. Which could have just been Paimon, but... I didn't think you would mind, whether or not that was accurate."
The table is set with all the finery they rarely bother with, a lovely blue tablecloth and the best placemats, scented candles in ornate holders replacing the plain candelabra that's all they usually use. Salad and soup has been set out in bowls, their favorites of each, which means there must be leftovers in the kitchen that will spare them both the work of cooking for at least the next few days. Grilled fish and mushrooms are piled on a bed of lettuce on each plate.
The whole display is topped off with a vase of pink and white and red roses and a small plate, piled with little round chocolates, at Lisa's place.
"It looks delicious. I hope preparing this didn't cut into your meeting," Lisa adds, teasing Jean just to see her blush that lovely pink.
"There was no meeting," she admits. "Though you must have realized that."
"Darling, when have you ever missed a chance to do something sweet for me?" Lisa smiles up at Jean from under her eyelashes and makes sure her teasing tone is clear as she adds, "I'm only disappointed that you didn't realize I might. Then again, you have quite outdone me."
"I wanted to make it special," Jean protests, then glances again at Lisa's flowers on the table, that same wondering smile as earlier flickering across her face. "You did more than enough. Thank you."
"I'll still insist that I make dinner next year, to balance this out."
Jean giggles. "If you insist. Let me get a vase for those, and then we can eat."
"Get some wine glasses, too," Lisa adds, pulling out the bottle of wine. "I brought us this for dessert."
Everything is quickly laid out, the cecilias and windwheel asters Lisa had picked for Jean set in their own vase on the other side of the table, a drier wine poured to sip with the fish and soup and the dessert wine set aside with the chocolates. The food is, unsurprisingly, delicious. Jean is an excellent cook when she has the time to truly dedicate herself to a meal.
"This was wonderful, my dear," Lisa tells her as they finish, standing just before Jean can to gather up the plates. Smiling warningly, she shakes her head when Jean tries to take them from her anyway and sweeps them off to the kitchen herself to pile them in the sink. Tonight, cleaning them can wait.
By the time she gets back, Jean has recorked the dinner wine and poured Lisa's purchase into fresh glasses. Lisa picks up the box and sets it in front of her before collecting her own little plate.
"Oh, these are adorable," Jean exclaims when she opens her up. "Where did you get them? I've never seen any with these shapes."
Lisa smiles, smug and proud. "The alchemists and I made them. The shapes were Noelle's innovation, I have to admit, but I provided the guidance for everything else. She and Amber gave us a little extra help."
"So that's why I didn't see anyone around yesterday! I thought everyone was out training. And, well, that you were napping...."
"No, I was far too busy. I had to make up all my beauty sleep today." Lisa props her chin on her hand, watching Jean. "Taste them."
Jean does, a small, polite nibble off the little star-shaped chocolate she's holding. Her eyes light up.
"This is like that Sumeran chocolate you bought me last time you visited, with the chili powder mixed in."
"You liked it so much, I insisted we make one batch with some in for you." Noelle had taken the rest of that batch, but Lisa will keep that secret even from Barbara's sister until the two of them are ready to tell. "There's a few regular chocolates in there too. We tried the sort of caramel-filled ones you can get from Fontaine, but that just came out a mess. Maybe we'll have it down by next year."
"Thank you," Jean breathes, giving her that luminous smile all over again. Then she nods to Lisa's own plate. "You should try yours, too."
After all the good chocolate she'd eaten yesterday, Lisa has to hide her trepidation as she picks up one of the little balls. Mondstadt's confectionary industry truly isn't up to snuff. But her first bite dissolves away all her worries.
"How did you get chocolates from Natlan on such short notice?"
"Diluc," Jean says, blushing anew. "He keeps some for some of his business partners. Several sorts, but he only had a few of the valberry-filled ones, and once I explained the holiday he wanted to save those."
"Who for?" Lisa asks, recalling the little bag and the rose.
Jean leans in as if there's someone lurking in the hall to overhear. "Sister Rosaria."
"I thought she had an arrangement with Kaeya."
"As far as I know, they still do. Kaeya isn't exactly romantic, though, and Diluc has never been... physical." Jean shrugs, a little awkward, then shakes her head. "If they're happy, then I don't wish to pry."
"Of course not," Lisa agrees, setting the matter aside to pry out of Kaeya herself the next time they go drinking together, and changes the subject. "I should have thought of asking him myself. Then I wouldn't have had to go to all that effort yesterday."
"I am grateful that you did." Jean sets her chocolate down to reach out, putting a hand over Lisa's and looking at her with such earnestness in her gorgeous gaze that Lisa feels fondness nearly overwhelm her. "I am sorry you went to such trouble, but to have you put so much effort in, merely to make a gift for me...."
"There's nothing 'mere' about it, my dear." Lisa turns her hand to squeeze Jean's, letting a little ripple of static flow between them. "You're always worth whatever effort I put in."
Jean looks at her as she always does at every little gift and gesture, as if she doesn't know how she earned Lisa's care, as if she can't quite believe she deserves it. As if her own ardent heart and loving kindness aren't enough to make her worthy. As if it isn't more than enough reward, every time, to see that smile.
Rising, Lisa rounds the end of the table and tugs Jean out of her seat to pull her into a kiss. This time she doesn't let Jean tug away. She clings tight, arms around her, deepening the kiss until Jean returns the embrace and a breeze is stirring all around them, making the candles dance.
"It occurs to me," Lisa finally breaks the kiss to murmur, resting her cheek against Jean's own. "Surely there's an additional step to celebrating Valentine's Day that Paimon wouldn't know about. One that takes place in the bedroom."
"You don't know that," Jean says, then laughs softly in her ear. "But there's no reason not to."
"We are the first people to celebrate it on Teyvat. I think that makes us the authorities on how it's celebrated here."
Lisa steps back just enough to take Jean's hand again. Jean needs no tugging at all to follow her away from the table, though she does stop at the door to blow all the candles out with a stronger gust of wind. Their chocolates are still sitting on the table half-eaten, the wine half-drunk--but all of it can wait.
Lisa would be more than happy to let Valentine's Day spill over into tomorrow. There already aren't enough days in the year where Jean will let Lisa indulge her as much as she deserves. She's happy for any excuse she's given to add another bit of romance into her beloved's life.