Amiable warmth pervaded the air as he shuffled the papers heâd taken notes on here and there, ever aware of the quiet presence in his kitchen. The soft tinkling of dishware that he had offered to help with, only to be shooed away under the pretense that he had been the one to cook in the first place. As if she hadnât been present the entire time.
As his mind drifted to her and far away from the information he was going over, memorizing, analyzing, and trying to understand, he found himself smiling softly. He glanced at the sigil she had given him some time ago, mulling over the events that had led them here, to a place where perhapsâhe hopedâthey could consider themselves more than mere acquaintances. After all, when was the last time he had been so content? He knew, but he certainly couldnât understand the feeling. It had been so long ago now that he was unsure if it was even comparable. That, however, was a thought for another time. He had long since given up searching for something that would one day be long forgotten. It didnât hurt to settle into something he hoped to remember in the future. After all, it was always the past that helped shape the future if people cared enough for it and while it was never his own forte, it was hers and little else could make him care more than the things she held important.
The thought pulled him up short, his back straightening with the epiphany. There was a strange discomfort, anxiety really, that settled into his being with the realization of her importance to him. Was it a selfish importance? Was that why he had called her back so many times? Was he simply wasting her time? What were the whims of mortals in their finite existence in comparison to the eternal? A chill settled over him, one of his own making. Morbidly funny, considering his own partnership with Hydro. It took very little to chill him, but nothing had ever succeeded quite like his own thoughts. He couldnât bring himself to glance back at her, standing in his kitchen. Rather, he fought desperately to put away his thoughts of Wysteria and replace her, for just a moment, with the envoys of Snezhnaya. He did have information to pass along to the cavalry captain and Mondstadtâs most eligible bachelor, after all. His two highest bidders. But the irony of it could only appease his mind for just a moment.
The sudden silence from behind him told him that she had finished with the dishware. A strange relief settled over him, because it would be easyâalmost too easy, reallyâto ignore his own meandering ideas to listen to her speak, even if only for a short time. Perhaps he could ask her some clarifying questions that he really didnât have to have the answers to in order to lift the weight that had taken up residence on his shoulders. Something else he would find selfish, in hindsight, he was sure. But even still, he couldnât bring himself to turn around.
At least, not until she spoke.
If he had believed his own thoughts to be chilling, he found now that they were nothing more than a quaint breeze in comparison to what she said. Finally, he found himself able to move, to turn, to stare at her with the utmost incredulity. The weight shifted all at once from his shoulders to his heart before expanding to his entire being. He was going to suffocate with the weight of it.
Noticing the hand sheâd retracted, he found a sudden ache for the casual touch that had never been. He wished, desperately, that he could find the words, but his head was filled with Fatui, Knights, Wysteria, eternity, and selfishness. None of it coming together quite quickly enough.
But it was too late. Of course it was, as she melted into the air with little more than a thank you.
With her, though he had always heard that the cold followed cryo users everywhere, all the warmth in his home had slipped away. He wondered when, exactly, he had allowed her to become something so important that she left a distinct hole in her absence. All consuming in the way his tumultuous feelings gravitated toward it.
He turned, snatching the sigil from his desk, panic riddling every crevice that threatened to open up as those words replayed in his head over and over again.
You only really talk to me for information. You make me smile. Thatâs enough for me. Each statement was on loop, like a broken record spinning endlessly, pushing every other piece of information out of mind. Was it selfish, he wondered, to want her to understand that he would be content even without information? That there was a decided thrill at the thought of him being the reason that she smiled in any capacity? Perhaps it was.
But there was too much apprehension in those words she had given him to allow it to grow.
He had watched one important piece of his life slip away like snow melt. He couldnât bring himself to be passive in such loss again.
Not if it was simply misunderstanding that threatened that balance.
She had sensed the magnetic pull of his sigil as soon as she had entered the microrealm of atmospheric frost, as vast and all-seeing as it was limiting. Still, she didnât want to think of the possibility that heâd try to reassure her - she would be fine without it. She always had been. A few days would pass, and he would surely call her to him in the pursuit of knowledge, and she would respond, as usual.Â
And so their interactions would provide some respite from eternity, with mutual benefit. Memories of warm spring, to tide her over when winter inevitably arrived again.Â
... She told herself that when he called again, she would come. But the next time she felt the call of his sigil, she was diverted by the distress call of anotherâs. And the next time, the same. From Sumeru to Snezhnaya to Liyue, it seemed duty was pushing her across the land except where she really wanted to be - in his presence.Â
At this point, it seemed almost foolish to respond. Logically, she was fairly sure that she could explain that she had been busy for the past few weeks, and he would likely understand. But... he hadnât called in a few days. Would it be rude to simply show up at his doorstep?
She remembered that he liked calla lily seafood soup. Maybe she could give him a bowl - at the very least, it might begin to pay him back for the meals he had offered her.Â
Dawn was breaking over the Skyfrost Nail, atop which she stood overlooking the Dragonspine mountain. If no one else called her for anything particularly time-consuming, she could visit Mondstadtâs Cider Lake peripheries for the calla lilies, then Liyue Harbor for the seafood, and have the dish at his doorstep for lunch.Â
Still, as her eyes scan the mountainside far below, looking for any humans in need of assistance in the treacherous climate... theyâre drawn to a certain figure who seemed to have aggravated a Frostarm Lawachurl.Â
.... This wouldnât take long, surely.Â
But as she leaps from surface to surface mid-air, descending from the hovering landmark, she realizes who the figure is -Â
And leaps down, completely disregarding the distance or the impending freefall, nearly forgetting to melt into the frosty air so she wouldnât hit the ground harshly.Â
