beleos: (Default)
beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenoslogs2023-04-21 04:58 pm

The Seeds of Unrest, Phase Two 🌱


UPROOTED
Time has not been kind thus far, and the future will be no kinder.

The slow passage of days to weeks has seen both cities increasingly ravaged by the untamed growth of the enlarging roots. Their size is enough to uproot buildings by their foundations, if not bisect them entirely where they push through unfettered. In the worst-hit areas, entire blocks are left abandoned - if even standing at all, displacing families and leaving businesses in ruins.

Cetina and Kathova have been in near constant contact with Bearers via Communion, feeding them information about which areas to focus their lifesaving efforts. Yima’s Manor and the Seat of the Tribune - despite their closeness to the Trees - have been fortified by your leaders and act as a base of operations for each respective faction. You will be able to return to either to find sanctuary from the chaos beyond, but the innumerable civilians are not so lucky.

Bearers are tasked with rescue and recovery efforts and requested to assist hands on the ground with taking refugees to temporary shelters. Survivors must be dug out of the debris. Those who are capable of healing will be enlisted to assist at hospitals and triage centers. Supplies must be gathered and harvested from areas that are collapsed and too dangerous for civilians to navigate. If you are feeling generous, you can go on search and rescue missions, as many people are considered missing in both Highstorm and Springstar. Some areas are completely cut off to regular foot traffic by the massive, winding roots bearing countless Blight-blooms. Citizens are succumbing to the Blight flower’s effects persistent from phase one with more and more frequency.

While both cities slowly succumb to a deepening catastrophe, the situation worsens.

STIRRING STORMS

As the days pass, inexplicable and unnatural weather occurrences will randomly plague both cities. They can last as long as a full day or as little as an hour before dissolving entirely.
  • Flurries: this snow is tainted by the Blight, making the snowfall look like ash. Any organic matter it touches will be affected by reopening wounds, re-infection of illnesses, or re-experiencing injuries that may have healed over years ago.
  • Thunderstorms: these storms carry a frigid rainfall and heavy cloud cover, making already difficult-to-navigate disaster zones harder to clear. As each thunder bellow crashes overhead, you might swear you hear a familiar voice reaching out to you in the fading rumble… one that sends a message - either from the future or past.
  • Fog: dense clouds of thick, freezing fog will roll in randomly, making visibility even more precarious. In your search for survivors - or your companions, you may find yourself coming face to face with someone else, instead: a version of yourself (or a companion) from another timeline. You may also hear your own voice calling out to you from within the fog, attempting to beckon you further into the mist.
  • General Note: Exposure to any of the above weather patterns will increase your Blight infection.
THE BLIGHT COMES FOR ALL
As if it were not enough to see the cities that have become your salvation at the end of the Timestream falling to collapse and ruin, the Bearers will slowly begin to realize their previous immunity to the Blight is eroding. They will begin to show symptoms of infection that increase into May’s event. ( For more information on the effects of the Blight and purification methods, please see the OOC Summary. )

Now that their last bastion - the Bearers - are just as much in harm’s way as everyone else, the populous’s efforts to formulate a temporary stop-gap solution are being rushed to completion. Time is not on anyone’s side. They will continue to work with those who have been kind enough to volunteer their resources and brilliant minds - collecting materials and attempting to figure out a way to avert their otherwise inevitable destiny.

ORDERS

Orders from your leaders will come as soon as infections among the Bearers have been confirmed.

🌙 YIMA will stress for all Zenite Bearers to prioritize their well-being and to avoid unnecessary exposure, to manage their symptoms as much as possible. They must fight for their own survival to bring in the birth of a new universe - and their lives are too precious to risk. Beyond that, she asks them to save what they can of their people and their most critical structures with the understanding that hard choices may be necessary.

🌞 CYRUS will implore all Meridian Bearers to prioritize the general population's lives and turn their efforts to save as much of Springstar as they can. He will note that Bearers have ways to help keep one another from suffering too much contagion and to coordinate their usages appropriately, to keep one another safe, and watch their backs.

ANOTHER EN-TREE-TY
The Tree of Life continues to sicken, yet - thankfully - the progression of the Blight is slow. Still, Bearers will find themselves occasionally compelled to take a moment to sit beneath its boughs and vibrant leaves, even as some begin to show signs of discoloration and rot. Any characters who sit with the Tree with the purple leaf they found on their person after phase one will find it warming to the touch, its veins laced with gold. This effect will be even more effective if taken into the cavernous roots beneath the Tree! While this may fill you with a temporary sense of calm, it doesn't seem to have any other effects... yet still, you are compelled, if not curious.

The Tree has offered you this gift for a reason. Perhaps you will find its use before long.

...As long as you - and Kenos - survive long enough to discover it.

CODING
vapour: (pic#16043064)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-04-29 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Childe loosens his grip to give Zhongli the ability to move back, not personally all that concerned about the Blight so long as he has the ability to take it from Zhongli and anyone else he cares about that needs the infection load to be lessened.

(not that he doesn't take it seriously, and he would never speak of it to Zhongli, but... it's easy enough to expel any accumulation of blight he has by simply finding some poor soul that's more than likely beyond help already. Childe sees nothing wrong with inflicting the blight onto a target that's already marked by death, especially if it's to protect those that he wants to protect.)

His grip will stutter at Zhongli's answer— first tightening and then letting go entirely as if he's not quite sure what he's touching suddenly.

Return to where? For a second he feels terribly cold, as if the entire house has frozen over with them in it. He needs to be with the Tribune? Childe doesn't sense the power of Meridian suddenly running through Zhongli, at least he's pretty sure it's not. He has no clue how the blight might affect that, but...?

... haha, what is Zhongli talking about, this 'not leaving him behind?'

Unable to bring himself to focus his question on that part, he goes straight to the more obvious thing he should respond to. His confusion is still obvious, but he doesn't seem to yet see this apparent behavior change as a threat as he doesn't back away or otherwise close off. Instead, he attempts to be as calm as possible, hoping that if he does so Zhongli will realize he's overreacting in needing to go anywhere, nevermind there.
]

Hey, wait. Calm down... why do you want to go there? Springstar is no better off, and the trek would expose us even more to the Blight, wouldn't it?
sharethememory: MMD by 7Rurutia @ twitter ([MMD] 009)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
An unfortunate distraction.

[ The answer is spoken almost distractedly as Zhongli realizes that he has been effectively caught by another Shard Bearer derelict in his duties. How shameful. It seemed his fondness for the people of Teyvat were a more magnetizing force than he had first anticipated. But what to do about it? What to do?

Nothing, at the moment. Not when the other Shard-Bearer was one that required and inspired his full attention.
]

Greetings, Master Set. While the grace of your presence is ever welcome, I'm afraid my intentions are less personal in nature. The people need protecting, do they not?

[ Zhongli eyes drift from Set to the cornerstone he has turned away from and back to the god once again. Bold to ask where someone was coming from (of where Zhongli had no place being) while simultaneously making haste from a place Set should remain. But perhaps that was what was strangely endearing about the other - that he was so refreshingly blatant in his everything, regardless of what he was doing. A hint of a smile plays on his lips as Set approaches.

(The earth thrums as the sand washes over it, a complementary beat to its rhythm, save for the dissonant notes of a Savant and an Advocate dancing around each other, neither retreating nor touching.)

Zhongli crosses his arms, weight perfectly balanced as he gives a thoughtful hum to Set's inquiry. Really now, he would not be bothering with reports and intel unless it directly helped the people of Springstar, fascinating as the Beyond was in its own right. And as for the date---

Well, Zhongli had never once turned his back on an agreement.
]

As for our future entanglements, with everything going on, you know, I'm afraid it may be some time before I can prepare the proper experience. I would hate to provide something subpar after making you wait so long.
erbe: (172)

:3c

[personal profile] erbe 2023-04-29 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[It's not enough, is it. No, it's not. She's not sure anything short of a miracle could be enough. However slowly she starts acknowledging his part in this. How he feels her, feels for her, and how he was not only dragged along but forced in to helping. He wasn't comfortable. In fact... he was terrified, wasn't he? When they made that arm. She forced it onto him, and she had used him so brazenly.

Goodness, how many absolute juggernauts with a complex about Saving Everybody is she going to meet? Is she just a magnet for them? A little relief falls over her. If only because even if exposing her recent fears is terrible, it's at least a small reassurance to know something familiar.

After drying her face Rin shuffles the coat around yet again. While wearing it she leans more of her weight against him. Her front draped against his back, and her chin perched on his shoulder.]


So that wasn't the first time you've made that weapon, huh?
sharethememory: ([screenshot] 094)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, yes. But I see no other way around it. As long as we make haste to the nearest cornerstone, our exposure should be minimal.

[ Zhongli's tone is as calm and rational as ever, but Childe will know that he is anything but. Childe had always been able to read him so easily except in that which was so obvious. Everything feels heavy, grounded, pulled toward of the gravity of Zhongli's attempts to persuade. This was not where Zhongli was supposed to be, and it did not have to be where Childe was anchored. And yet. And yet---

Was this always to be their fate? Zhongli wishing Childe by his side when Childe had already sworn an oath to another? What could Lady Yima offer that Zhongli could not with time. He just needed time to help the Meridian reach their end goal, and then those tiny fragile shards of life in the foyer could truly become the family that Childe longed for. Childe could regain all that he had lost. Time could for once be blessedly turned back.

("But there is something I understand better than most: When the door opens, it is time to leave.")

Foolish words from a foolish god who had grown complacent under the heel of a higher power. If they could have everything back---

One long steady exhale and the tension dissipates. Save for the fluffed up state of their furry companion and the swirling waves of hydro that surround all of them, one could almost describe the space as still. Not tranquil, no. But lacking in that fervent energy of moments before.

As to why:
]

I made a contract with the Tribune. Childe, you know this. You know why I must return to Springstar.
vapour: (pic#15074377)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-04-29 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
You didn't, Xiansheng. You made a contract with Lady Yima. Don't you remember, you did it to— [ ...save me. No. No no, that's wrong. He can't let a thought like that gain hold no matter what. Zhongli did it because it was necessary in order to protect what was left of Teyvat.

The harbinger is clearly trying to avoid contributing to anything that is driving Zhongli right now. That means he needs to be careful of his own emotions and his behavior.
]

I don't sense anything suggesting you are aligned with Meridian. I think... I think you need to rest, you've been overexerting yourself while being fully exposed to the Blight.
sharethememory: ([screenshot] 115)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yes. I must admit, I have been a little careless. Perhaps pride has gotten the better of me. When first encountering these roots, it was possibly for much longer exposure before I started to feel the effects. Now it seems the Blight is carried on the very winds itself, impossible to avoid.

[ Practical to almost a fault, Zhongli will certainly see the logic and value in having those who would come to offer aid to those who were at the proverbial frontlines. New fresh soldiers to replace the exhausted. As someone who usually stayed behind as others did the more dangerous work until the situation became truly dire, there was always a trade-off. There was no reason to not accept this offer, except--- ]

Though I greatly appreciate the generous offer, I am also a person who believes strongly in mutually beneficial agreements. Might there be something I can assist you with in return. For example, some area of the city in particular you wish to see salvaged or investigated.
kinaesthesia: (17)

[personal profile] kinaesthesia 2023-04-29 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
It does feel pretty good, being able to put this strength to use helping people.

[Normally she just uses it for fighting. Which is fun, don’t get her wrong, but there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of doing something for the good of others. It was the whole reason she’d taken up studying medicine in the first place.]

Think our skills might make a pretty good combo here, though.

[She grunts as she carefully scoots one big piece of rubble out of the way, tail swishing behind her slowly to help her keep her balance. She inspects the next one with a curious tilt of her head, then glances back Misa’s way as she continues.]

If you can really pull them out with that skill of yours, then it’ll be faster if I can clear enough of a path for you to reach them, right?

[Definitely faster than doing it all by hand, and probably safer too—it can be kind of a gamble, digging through a mess like this.]
gravings: (042)

[personal profile] gravings 2023-04-29 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's right on all accounts. The truth of it sits between them in a few seconds' silence. ]

I'm not sure what the... common procedure is when so many pass at once. I've never seen this many dead waiting to be taken care of.

[ How many gravekeepers are there in the city? Surely they'll be overwhelmed. Gray isn't particularly excited at the prospect of helping them with their work, but the thought of these bodies sitting out indefinitely sounds much more grim. ]
sharethememory: ([screenshot] 027)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
A contract with Lady Yima?

[ A contract with a higher power who wished to create the new world order as they saw fit. Beautifully constructed on paper, but in reality - the reality is the world cloaked itself in endless shades of grey while trying to present itself as good or bad. And those that had the power to rewrite history as they saw fit - they were truly the most terrifying of them all.

The world needed to be restored, not reset.

Zhongli shakes his head.
]

No.

[ And then another shake of his head. ]

No, that makes little sense. I would not fall into such an agreement a second time...
kinaesthesia: (69)

[personal profile] kinaesthesia 2023-04-29 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
You’d be surprised how useful an extra pair of hands can be.

[And with as quickly as they sometimes have to move in situations like this, anyone willing to help out can do a lot of good too. Her attention is solely on looking over the woman’s wounds. She’ll need to stay off that ankle, but it should heal alright once they get it set. The wound on her side, though…

Without glancing over at Ernesto, she motions with a hand over to a long table sitting along the inner wall of the tent that's set up with a lot of their supplies.]


There should be some stuff we can use to make a splint for her, over on the right. And down below that should be a couple of crates, one of them should have some cloth bandages. Grab ‘em for me, wouldja?
vapour: (pic#15074506)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-04-29 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
...No?

[ No?

Childe furrows his brow at the denial. Zhongli definitely is Zenith... but if he keeps thinking this way, is it possible he'll somehow unharmonize?

(Ah... he doesn't want ... that to happen. So, what does he do?)

For a moment, Childe considers. What is the best way to deal with this... he pushes his own anxiety away in favor of focusing on Zhongli's. If he deals with the archon's, then his own will go away, too. Should he ... go along with Zhongli's claim then? or will that make it worse?

He tries to force a reassuring smile for the consultant, now.
]

I... see. My mistake. Well, then... You can't go back on your contract, so I won't keep you here. Let's make sure your symptoms are in control enough for you to make such a journey, first, though, okay?

[ this has to be the infection's fault. If he can get Zhongli to let him help him with it, then it should clear things up, right? (This is going to get really messy if he's wrong, though, with him talking like this.) ]
sharethememory: ([screenshot] 034)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ Zhongli knows that smile.

While Childe may claim that he does not like the subterfuge and politics that the other Harbingers choose to involve themselves in, that doesn't mean he is not skilled in it. Had their ever been another Harbinger that had lived mostly harmoniously for so long in any city of Teyvat, even if he was met with the usual mistrust of the Fatui? Childe had navigated Liyue months before the fruition of Zhongli's plan had turned the city against him. He had charmed more than one person into thinking he was just a simple Fatui bank worker, and he had made his own side deals while he was there (coconut trade for a young zombie and overpriced incense included).

That is the smile of Childe trying to placate and disarm someone.

But why? Why would Childe think that he was Zenith even if he spoke otherwise? It doesn't make sense.

Unless...

That was not what Childe was trying to placate him over.

Flatly:
]

You are not coming with me.
intervener: (▣ elephant's foot.)

[personal profile] intervener 2023-04-29 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ maybe she has some kind of Martyr Magnet... maybe... Rin, look deep inside yourself...... 👁

Vash tilts his head just slightly when her position shifts, making herself comfortable on her Plant-perch. well, alright then; it seems she's managed to wrangle herself from the (probably much-needed) mini-cry she had that he totally doesn't know about. so, he'll keep looking on out into the strange expanse of their limbo, humming his assent thoughtfully. ]


Don't like making a habit of it, though.

[ it's a little odd to be having this talk, honestly; he hasn't met a soul who hasn't feared for their lives after seeing something like that. but... he could nearly swear she had almost been expecting it. it can't be true, of course - but still... considering the state her sister had been in, perhaps frightening occurrences and life-or-death deus ex machinas aren't as strange as they should be to this girl. ]

...You're pretty tough, you know that?
intervener: (▣ desert rose.)

[personal profile] intervener 2023-04-29 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ a man of equivalency... Vash considers the offer, but inevitably, the thing he'd like to bargain for isn't too complicated and strikes him pretty quickly. ]

How about a drink when all this is through? Something to celebrate when we're over the hump and things are looking up, yeah?

[ because it will reach a point of celebration. they will find a way through all this; it isn't a matter of 'if,' just 'when,' of course. and in the way of a man striking a perfectly reasonable bargain, Vash is offering his gloved hand for a shake - as one does when making things official; right, right! ]
goldendeceiver: (your broken records and words)

[personal profile] goldendeceiver 2023-04-29 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ A high stress situation will bring out the worst in most people. Ernesto gets it, even if he's the kind of person who at least appears unflappable even in the worst situations. He's got his limits, of course, and times when even his even temper will disappear for a moment.

But when it's something like this, there's no one person to blame for the misfortune. What he's seeing around him is awful, but it's not as though there's anyone to toss that ire at, so it is easier for him to let it go and focus on what he can do.

And right now, what he can do is move this big old rock slowly, while laughing weakly at the clear agitation in the voice of the woman behind him.
]

I'll do my best not to make you wait too much longer then.

[ Not that he wants to be taking his time with this, but this thing is massive, and he's putting all of his body weight against it to make it slide to the side in the first place. It is at least budging a bit, and if Jyn has sharp eyes, she might notice that as he shifts it ever so slowly, a small hole in something that resembles a (very broken) floor starts to come into view. And if Jyn has sharp ears, she might also hear what Ernesto did earlier, the sound of shallow breathing coming from somewhere down in the depths of the hole. ]
goldendeceiver: (every crack)

[personal profile] goldendeceiver 2023-04-29 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ At a moment like this, Ernesto would love to be able to reach out and help Misa as she comes close to tipping forward and falling on her face. Instead, he keeps his hands to himself. While he might have passed off his symptoms for side effects of being in the biting cold for awhile, it's become abundantly clear what's happening to him at this point.

It's the reason for the slight shift away from her as she tries to move in close. This Blight spreads with terrifying ease, and while the changes are good that Misa will come into contact with something infected at this point, Ernesto's not trying to unwittingly be that cause for anyone else.

Though he does have to wonder if in his attempt to help, if he passed it on to anyone else first. The thought does sit heavy and uncomfortable on his chest.
]

The streets of Springstar were already crawling with Shard-bearers trying to lend a hand, so I figured that people here might need some help as well. Things are pretty bad everywhere you look, aren't they? Though...

[ His smile is pained as he holds back up his discolored hand, they're close enough now that there's no way Misa won't see it. ]

I'm not exactly in any condition to be helping anyone at this point.
goldendeceiver: (your broken records and words)

[personal profile] goldendeceiver 2023-04-29 05:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ So it's that kind of help she needs, is it? Well... this sort of thing Ernesto can manage just fine. He never trained in medicine, but you see people having to put together makeshift splints or tourniquets all the time in the middle of a fight. More often than that, Ernseto saw the army working with what supplies they had to patch up the men after a fight though.

Grabbing supplies and bringing them over to the good doc is an easy enough task, and probably a good breather from hauling full sized humans around.
]

Got it.

[ And indeed he does, snagging the stiff material for the splint off the table while simultaneously pushing the crate further out from under the table to make it easier to reach into. ]

Probably not the most sterile now that I've touched them, of course, but...

[ He's got the goods in his hands, and he's gladly handing them back over to Gavial. ]
settingup: (of a partnership)

[personal profile] settingup 2023-04-29 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ By the time Atsumu comes to a stop in front of Amos, his breathing is heavy, though years of intense exercise means he doesn't look much worse for the wear other than that. His physical state is one thing, but his emotional state is another matter entirely. Atsumu's brows are knit together in agitation as he looks disbelievingly at Amos asking him a question that fucking casual, considering--

Atsumu's gaze snaps down to Amos' hand taking in the frost-bitten look to his fingers, before he looks back at the man's face with growing disbelief.
]

Yeah, yourself. The hell are you doin' leavin' medical care when you're the one who needs it the most?

[ Not that there is any real cure for the Blight, or that the people inside that clinic could really do anything to help Amos, but still... ]
vapour: (pic#16043080)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-04-29 06:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ of all the times for zhongli to be stubborn? ] How am I supposed to come with you?

I'm a Zenite and we're at war. Do you really think they're gonna turn a blind eye to that especially with all this Blight and the surrounding panic? We both know how people get when they're scared.

[ of course Childe's own concerns are nowhere near any of this actual conversation, and are all about getting Zhongli to agree to the cleansing ritual. Although he will ask, perhaps a little callously: ]

Why, does that matter to you?
sharethememory: MMD by 7Rurutia @ twitter ([MMD] 007)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 06:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ A drink...

Some people brought to Kenos were really just too kind hearted. But hmmm... yes, there is a way for Zhongli to make it an equivalent exchange up to his standards.
]

Do you enjoy tea? It just so happens I know quite a lovely teahouse here in Highstorm and would be delighted to treat you to anything that might catch your interest.

[ Zhongli was not unfamiliar with handshakes as a method of sealing agreements, so he will raise his hand in turn (taking a moment to wipe off the dust as best he can) and wait for Vash's confirmation before proceeding with this very sacred gesture of making things official. ]
sharethememory: ([screenshot] 035)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-04-29 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
We are not yet at war though I cannot deny that such may be inevitable. Currently the Blight is everyone's focus and in stopping it we are united. That is why I am able to stand in front of you here in Highstorm with little worry for my own safety.

[ Perhaps if the argument had been left there, the rest of this conversation could have returned to something more amicable and less heated. This was a ridiculous argument to have after all - when both parties just wanted to help out the other.

Why does that matter to you? Later, Zhongli will admit to himself that such an accusation unsettled him in ways that he could not fully comprehend. The events in Liyue had surely made this strained for a time, but he thought they had worked passed all that.

(It turns out they had worked passed nothing. Broken trust was hard to mend after all, and ever patched could never return to what was. Perhaps not dealing with such an issue directly had only caused this issue to fester further.)

So, if trust was not something Zhongli could request or expect, and if his past actions were not proof enough of his intentions--- the path forward was simple. Zhongli would have to work harder to repair this rift between them. And that assuredly meant that Childe could not be left behind here to play this conversation in his head over and over, coming to the worst possible conclusions like he before Manon's revival. No, it was more imperative than ever that Zhongli prove exactly what he meant.
]

I know that our past makes things complicated, but your safety and well being are very important to me. It is selfish of me to ask this from you as you have done nothing but offer me shelter and company since I arrived here, but at least in times of duress such as this one, I wish to know personally that you are unharmed.
vestments: (Default)

[personal profile] vestments 2023-04-29 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
( typically speaking, marc isn't called upon for rescues, not like this. he isn't superpowered, isn't capable of abnormal feats of strength, has never held much of a reputation for saving instead of destroying — a harsh assessment, perhaps, given that he very much can, but even he's willing to concede he's always been better at violence than anything else. still, this — all of it — very much falls into the remit of 'protecting [the] travellers of the night' and even if it hadn't, marc's not a monster. he has a conscience. he wouldn't have been able to sit idly by.

he doesn't know the other shard-bearer he's ended up working with, and they haven't really conversed much so far — there'd been little need to — just vague directions here, odd commentaries and explanations there — meant predominately to drive the two of them in helping those who need it.

marc watches as the family they've just helped hurry off, gaze following them until they're lost amongst everyone else. zhongli's quiet too, for the moment, and marc brushes distractedly at the dirt and the dust that have accumulated on his clothes (it does nothing) before looking up at the sky, grey and ugly as heavy drops of rain start to fall.

great, marc thinks, as zhongli speaks and marc's attention snaps back to his companion. I think a storm's coming, he says, and marc's lips quirk, the barest hint of a smile (acknowledging, not so much humorous), and he murmurs a soft noise of agreement. )
As long as it doesn't come down too hard, we should be okay. ( by a definition of the word, anyway. 'okay' not by any measure of actually being okay, but in the comparative scheme of things. ) Getting a chill will be the worst thing... ( other survivors will have to contend with, at least immediately. from there, yes, it'd get worse, but—.

marc pauses, a flicker of what he thinks to have been movement catches his attention, and he gestures in the direction of (yet more) rubble and debris. )
—There.
vapour: (pic#15074382)

i.

[personal profile] vapour 2023-04-29 06:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ unlike Amos, Childe doesn't feel all that much of anything towards Highstorm and its population— And while he would never leave a fellow Zenite in need he also doesn't particularly feel anything beyond an obligation to assist. He is quick to assist those that need help the most, those unable to care for themselves by is far less willing to put his neck out for just the general population. He simply can't afford it.

Childe can't because there are exceptions. There are always exceptions, and those exceptions must always take priority. Amos is one such exception; an exception enough that the Harbinger is willing to remove himself from doing his own thing and actively assist, as well as someone to look out for. Afterall, Amos is pushing himself hard on all fronts, so someone's gotta watch out for him when he's too busy watching after the whole of Highstorm to include himself in there.

Not that Childe acknowledges any of this, of course. He doesn't simply linger and watch too make where his focus lies blatantly known, either, choosing to move around and assist Amos in every way he can.

Sometimes, he disappears without a word only to reappear as if he never had been gone to begin with but for the most part remains a consistent asset and companion to Amos and his excavation efforts.

At the question, Childe immediately stops whatever he's doing, snapping his attention from their immediate vicinity to expand a little further out as he listens. Hear someone? Quite possibly, but there's a ton of white noise to sift through out here for someone like Childe, including that eerie silence that doesn't feel normal. He's used to silence and the solitary feeling it brings— but the one that blankets Highstorm currently is one that whispers them being alone couldn't be further from the truth— they could never be so lucky.
]

Hm... don't think so. What do you hear? Like someone calling for help?
helloween: (054🫀)

[personal profile] helloween 2023-04-29 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
He said you'd like it since you like plants.

[ Dark says it easily, matter-of-factly. Though Gavial's eyes didn't light up when she took the leaf from him, Dark can only suspects it's because she's like Kai Harn— maybe shy and unused to or untrusting of grown men. That's fine! He'll show her the light. ]

Well, listen. Here's a plot twist to suck on: me and Lucien are one in the same. Aaand I think I owe you one for how you helped us out before, don't you think? What do you say, Gavial?

[ Kabedon pose. The wall behind Gavial rings hollowly under Dark's palm and he eyes her over as if she's a delectable little slab of meat. Not the fatty kind, but one that's lean and dense— firm and packed with lots of protein! ]

Tonight I'll reward you and make you feel really, really good.
vapour: (pic#15016253)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-04-29 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ If he was told he still didn't trust Zhongli and that was why he asked such a thing, Childe would probably deny it. He doesn't see it as a trust issue, even though it actually is.

Childe sighs, looking terribly unmoved by Zhongli's proclamations. Does he realize how worked up Zhongli is getting over this? Maybe, but no one ever said Childe was kind and selfless. He has his own priorities right now, and making Zhongli feel like he's done a Good Thing here isn't one of them.
]

Our past has nothing to do with it. It's just who you are, isn't it? Between me and Liyue, of course we know you would choose Liyue. I don't really mind that, but in the end, what are you planning for here?

Are you thinking you can absolutely convert me, or are you already aware that you may have to simply choose Springstar and the Meridian over me, too? That's not going to do much for my 'safety' in the end.

[ it's not something he would normally say so lightly— but in this moment he says it now incredibly so. There's no feeling to it, no anchor that suggests Childe acknowledges or otherwise understands the weight of his own words and what he's accusing the other of right now. In truth, he doesn't. No matter how much he might think it and resent it on the inside, he would never throw such a thing in Zhongli's face for real. It's only to be expected that he would prioritize his homeland, even if he weren't an Archon. It's not as if he can want to receive special treatment if he isn't willing to give it himself, as well, right?

Besides, they never had anything that would warrant that kind of commitment too each other to begin with. The fact Childe even could feel rankled over Liyue from that angle was laughable even to the Harbinger himself.
Neither Springstar nor Highstorm are either of their homes, but it's just all too easy with them suddenly standing on opposite sides again to play substitute, especially considering how Childe doesn't allow himself to reflect on anything that slips off his tongue.
]

Anyway, you won't get rid of me that easily. I promise I'll be fine. Which is more than you are going to be if you keep arguing and don't let me help you with the infection.

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