Satiate Me

♟. ― He is tired of waking up to the same ceiling. The ceiling lights blink in an unknown rhythm, as though laughing at him for being someone who is neither dead nor alive. The scientists have done it again, probed and prodded at his implant until it hurt badly. Sedation has always been their easy solution, and for once... Cassian much preferred that method as well.

It would be better if that darkness is permanent, yet somehow he always ends back here, still breathing but barely living. And when you have one leg through Death's door, that is when you start seeing things that are a part of that domain.

From his bed, he hears the echoing footsteps of someone approaching. The door does not open, but he enters the room either way. Ah, so it is him. The one that has always been ready to take him through the gates to the afterlife.

❝ We do. Meet again, that is. But I'm afraid I have to disappoint you once more. ❞

The beeping of the heart rate monitor fills the silence. His head finally turns, golden eyes greet him. Cassian offers a subtle smile in return, at the only visitor he has had... in a long time.

The gate-keeper's form shimmers with each strobe of the artificial ceiling lights, flickering then solidifying again. As always, Achlys' arrival is without fanfare or forewarning; Death rarely arrives when one is ready after all.

By this point in the long history of their encounters with each other, the fact that it continues to evade Cassian is something he knows well. But knowing does not still prevent one from trying.

A gentle yet unseen pressure rests upon the man's cheek like a caress. Molten gold drains from gazing eyes; Swirls of honey dissolving and blanketed in milky white.

No, not now. Not yet. Not ever.

A blink later and the amber is back as if it had never left. Achlys settled down on a vacant seat by Cassian's bedside. He observes the other for a few minutes more before he breaks the silence.

"Are you in pain?"

"... Hm." Cyno did not argue back. It was true that poisoning him in this situation would be a very stupid thing to do. But over time, he'd learned many people were willing to do very stupid things for the mere sake of antagonizing a desert-dweller. Where Tighnari stood on the matter was yet to be seen.

Learning the hard way to be cautious around the forest folk had become a rule of survival for Cyno. Pushing away any lingering fluster or guilt, he followed suit and took a bite of the light snack.

"... This isn't meat. What is it?" He asked, after carefully chewing on it for a minute.

The silent admonishment in his look gradually mellows when Cyno demonstrated an effort to meet him halfway by taking a bite of his offered snack.

"It's mushroom jerky," the Amurta scholar explained. "These mushrooms aren't from a part of the native species found in Sumeru. Without intervention, they can spread aggressively and disrupt the existing ecosystems. So to curtail the problem while the forest rangers and my cohort research ways to further remedy things..."

He takes another bite out of his own piece meaningfully.

"At least it's a decent meat substitute."

While they rested in the shade, Tighnari retrieves a pocket book from his backpack. He is silent as he works, sketching a picture of the oasis and scribbling down his observations. It is only when he is satisfied that he draws his attention back onto his 'guide'.

"I know it's not exactly your field of research but could you give me an idea of the plants you commonly come across in your travels across the desert plains? What to expect. What they are used for. Any notable properties?"

Prompt: Introduction Starters

-Stuck recovering data from abandoned orbital outposts that JP's had to leave behind in their war against the Septentriones, just his luck...

-Well, better him than any of his friends who needed the rest more. It was with little enthusiasm that Hibiki walked from hallway to hallway in the abandoned stations, still slightly glowing with the familiar golden glow of the organization's brassy, clockwork aesthetic all the way through. It was all very menial, downloading data, gathering a few drives...

-And it was then, as he was reaching for a somewhat inconveniently placed light switch, a woman's voice rang out in the dark, exactly at that moment where he succeeded in lighting up the area.

"There, I'm good! But thank- HAH-?!"

-Cue the bunny practically jumping in the air out of sheer shock upon realizing someone else was there with him. And, given how cramped the mechanical, clockwork-filled hallways of this abandoned outpost were... he bumped his head on a bit of machinery above him.

"Ough-!" Rubbing his head, he desperately tries to compose himself on the spot at the absolutely generational loss of cool points he just accidentally inflicted upon himself.

His shock upon processing her presence draws soft laughter from the stellaron hunter. Truthfully, Kafka herself hadn't expected to encounter anyone here when she stopped to examine the long abandoned orbital outpost. But seeing as that's the case, there's no harm in going with the flow. Yet.

"Wow. You're a twitchy one, aren't you?" Her footsteps are at a leisurely pace when she steps away from the shadows that shrouded her and into the light he'd just activated. A curious gaze sweeps over their surroundings, observing the clock-work mechanics with idle interest. Maybe Silver Wolf might find some use for the materials in here. She is, after all, more inclined technologically.

"Let's just say I'm someone who likes exploring unknown places in her spare time."

Kafka traces a gloved finger across the surface of the monitor closest to her.

"It's typically more polite to introduce yourself to someone before asking for their name, you know?"

❝ the gods are not cruel, they are merely curious. ❞

❝ i have seen empires rise like prayers and fall like silence. ❞

❝ immortality is a slow kind of hunger. ❞

❝ even the divine grow tired of being worshiped. ❞

❝ i once loved a mortal. now the stars whisper his name. ❞

❝ the sea does not forgive. it only remembers differently. ❞

❝ they called me a myth to make me easier to forget. ❞

❝ the sun envies those who can set. ❞

❝ every prophecy is just nostalgia disguised as fate. ❞

❝ my hands remember the shape of creation. ❞

❝ even the gods kneel to time. ❞

❝ i wore divinity like a wound. ❞

❝ there is no glory in eternity, only repetition. ❞

❝ i loved you in every age, and none of them were kind. ❞

❝ the altar still smells like your prayers. ❞

❝ lightning does not ask for forgiveness. ❞

❝ to be feared is not the same as being known. ❞

❝ my heart beats slower than centuries. ❞

❝ the constellations were once my mistakes. ❞

❝ you built temples for me, but i lived in storms. ❞

❝ love, like prophecy, never asks permission. ❞

❝ i have turned grief into galaxies. ❞

❝ mortals call it tragedy. we call it memory. ❞

❝ i spoke the world into being and have been silent since. ❞

❝ the ocean taught me patience, then drowned me in it. ❞

❝ i am both the curse and the cure. ❞

❝ eternity is not mercy. it is echo. ❞

❝ he swore devotion, and i answered with thunder. ❞

❝ the moon only reflects because it cannot burn. ❞

❝ i am the story the poets feared to finish. ❞

❝ divinity is just loneliness with better lighting. ❞

❝ mortals die once. gods die endlessly in legend. ❞

❝ the fates never speak, but their silence threads everything. ❞

❝ i have loved across lifetimes, and each time, it ruins me. ❞

❝ creation was easy. enduring it was not. ❞

❝ my name has been worshiped, cursed, and forgotten, in that order. ❞

❝ the stars are just old gods pretending to be light. ❞

❝ i do not dream. i remember. ❞

❝ he prayed for glory. i gave him consequence. ❞

❝ thunder is only my heartbeat caught in the sky. ❞

❝ i built the world, but i cannot rebuild myself. ❞

❝ every offering is a confession. ❞

❝ i envied mortals their endings. ❞

❝ the divine bleed in metaphors. ❞

❝ i carved your name into eternity, and eternity flinched. ❞

❝ even olympus trembles when the heart remembers. ❞

❝ i have walked through centuries and never found forgiveness. ❞

❝ the gods are not kind, but they are honest. ❞

❝ i loved you like ruin loves beauty. completely. ❞

❝ the gods are not cruel, they are merely curious. ❞

❝ i have seen empires rise like prayers and fall like silence. ❞

❝ immortality is a slow kind of hunger. ❞

❝ even the divine grow tired of being worshiped. ❞

❝ i once loved a mortal. now the stars whisper his name. ❞

❝ the sea does not forgive. it only remembers differently. ❞

❝ they called me a myth to make me easier to forget. ❞

❝ the sun envies those who can set. ❞

❝ every prophecy is just nostalgia disguised as fate. ❞

❝ my hands remember the shape of creation. ❞

❝ even the gods kneel to time. ❞

❝ i wore divinity like a wound. ❞

❝ there is no glory in eternity, only repetition. ❞

❝ i loved you in every age, and none of them were kind. ❞

❝ the altar still smells like your prayers. ❞

❝ lightning does not ask for forgiveness. ❞

❝ to be feared is not the same as being known. ❞

❝ my heart beats slower than centuries. ❞

❝ the constellations were once my mistakes. ❞

❝ you built temples for me, but i lived in storms. ❞

❝ love, like prophecy, never asks permission. ❞

❝ i have turned grief into galaxies. ❞

❝ mortals call it tragedy. we call it memory. ❞

❝ i spoke the world into being and have been silent since. ❞

❝ the ocean taught me patience, then drowned me in it. ❞

❝ i am both the curse and the cure. ❞

❝ eternity is not mercy. it is echo. ❞

❝ he swore devotion, and i answered with thunder. ❞

❝ the moon only reflects because it cannot burn. ❞

❝ i am the story the poets feared to finish. ❞

❝ divinity is just loneliness with better lighting. ❞

❝ mortals die once. gods die endlessly in legend. ❞

❝ the fates never speak, but their silence threads everything. ❞

❝ i have loved across lifetimes, and each time, it ruins me. ❞

❝ creation was easy. enduring it was not. ❞

❝ my name has been worshiped, cursed, and forgotten, in that order. ❞

❝ the stars are just old gods pretending to be light. ❞

❝ i do not dream. i remember. ❞

❝ he prayed for glory. i gave him consequence. ❞

❝ thunder is only my heartbeat caught in the sky. ❞

❝ i built the world, but i cannot rebuild myself. ❞

❝ every offering is a confession. ❞

❝ i envied mortals their endings. ❞

❝ the divine bleed in metaphors. ❞

❝ i carved your name into eternity, and eternity flinched. ❞

❝ even olympus trembles when the heart remembers. ❞

❝ i have walked through centuries and never found forgiveness. ❞

❝ the gods are not kind, but they are honest. ❞

❝ i loved you like ruin loves beauty. completely. ❞

But that’s how life works, making sacrifices to find answers- she paused quickly with her thoughts. Realizing how similarly she was thinking like her tormenter, it made her sick.

The momentary lapse of Naomi's concentration did not escape the consultant's notice. Alas, the conclusion they both reached is one that is unfortunate yet their best option to date. He can understand if this revelation disturbs her.

Although Zhongli cannot be certain how far down the proverbial rabbit hole her thoughts have taken her. He'd been poised to ask when Naomi responded.

"I see. Then perhaps you may find the journey pleasant. We will need to travel to Qiaoying Village by boat from the piers of Yilong Wharf. If I may ask: do you happen to live in a seaside town?"

Keqing. Cyno gave a curt nod as he listened, branding that name in his own mind, all while at the same time taking notice of just how much Zhongli knew about the governing body of Liyue and its history.

He imagined that, were this man to ever visit the Akademiya, he would easily fluster even some of the most outstanding scholars in the Vahumana Darshan... perhaps even the Sages themselves.

Not only that, he seemed to speak with a certain degree of... passion? Gratification, maybe, even behind that well-poised and dignified air of his. Almost as if Cyno could see a hidden light shining behind the man's eyes.

His gut instinct summoned the image of a very old man reminiscing about his days of youth... only Zhongli did not look much older than himself.

Then again, if Xiao had taught him anything in their brief time together, it was that looks could be extremely deceiving.

"The Traveler and Paimon were always particularly reserved when it came to the details of their journey... I'm beginning to understand why." They sure had a knack for stumbling upon crisis after crisis, it seemed. The good news, from that, was the reassurance that those two would be as discreet about what they had witnessed while in Sumeru, as well.

On that note, the General chose to pursue his own curiosity.

An approving smile graces the ends of the consultant's lips at Cyno's remark.

"Indeed. I have heard a fair share of tales regarding their travels. Their journey is quite an eventful one."

Zhongli takes the momentary lull in conversation to deliberate over his next words before he posed his request.

"If you are not opposed, may I take a look at this 'suspicious device' the Conqueror of Demons spoke of? I myself am a collector of sorts where it comes to antiques and artifacts, perhaps I could offer up valuable information after examining it."

That such innovation existed is somewhat of an amusing and curious thing. He cannot deny the fact that a part of him is quite interested to know what the criminals are planning to do with his essence.

Upon being questioned about his identity, Zhongli's smile widened a fraction.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Along the same vein: I am but an ordinary mortal with broad connections."

Keeping you Warm <3