VANGUARD

Its grip on the card is tight enough to likely leave impressions, his claw shaking with anger. Its "favorite" card, huh? This reeked of an old forest god it knew. Of all the obnoxious, taunting things it could have been granted, this? This was targeted. And it was sure of that.

It had barely even noticed the individual peering over his shoulder until he spoke, and he practically jumps with the realization that he's being watched - and from so close.

"$#^%!"

"Wh- no? Does this look like a tarot card?"

It's shaking the card for emphasis, monitor turned to look at the stranger encroaching on his space.

"It's a stinking beast card. And the one I'd never want to see again! Not my damned favorite!"

Yeah, he definitely understands what's going on.

As best he could to track the image whilst it trembled in the claws gripping it fiercely, Aichi attempted to identify the image in line with the question. His knowledge of tarot was scattered, but the beast wasn't a title he knew to be one of its figures — so he'd commit it to memory and correct that.

"I wonder why the Stars would take away a tarot deck?" he mused. His decks hadn't been confiscated, but they bore no power by themselves, so they couldn't exactly be classified as weapons. Perhaps it had powers tied to its cards? "I'd like to think leaving you with the beast is a joke and not something more mean-spirited.

and what is happiness when everything that you know has been proven wrong? not once, but twice? it speaks of arrogance to ask the remains of a beast if life is precious, when self-termination was the choice nearly all of them took. now there is no more chorus of voices and no corpse to remember the king they mourned, there is only the last living piece of beast I.

he wonders if that man would have grieved them if his creation had perished first. there is no way for goetia to know, there is no way for him to ever know. all he can do is remember that laughing face and agree that the king became human and that dream unintentionally became what his magical ritual went through.

Was it all so bad? It should be. It should be, and yet...

Years had gone by and no rebellion rallied, no uprooting of the order. Life simply carried on. There might be complaints but never further did they escalate.

"Do you think... they're happy here? We struggle here, but not as much as in the worlds we come from, whether they're everyday matters or as big as saving the world. But in all the people here, no-one's stood up and made their feelings clear about wanting things to change. Not on a grand scale, or to seek out those of like minds".

In that scenario, would he cheer them on? Of course. The Stars weren't bad people but if someone wanted to lead the charge and unveil all the secrets behind those stars, wasn't that a freedom they should be permitted? Even knowing there was an enemy who sought to stir discord, with intentions equally unknown, those under the Stars' charge remained in the dark.

"well, I don't think we'll need to worry about that, Lumine would enjoy his company just as much. she'll probably be busy fussing over him for the first ten minutes." it wouldn't surprise him if she'd made friends with plenty of the wildlife back in Teyvat by the current point of her journey. she seemed to have a way with gaining them along the way, human or otherwise.

"Then I'll let Wingal know he'll be welcome, and she can handle herself if he gets a little overexcited — but that he should still behave.

The sentiment she followed with was one he could understand — as much as he missed everyone from home, pulling them into the line of fire to ease his loneliness would be more selfish. Just as many days passed without issue, there were those tests, and being ordinary teenagers, they would be at great risk.

When the kid asked about places to work, Burnice let out a thoughtful hum. "Well I'm a bartender where I'm from, so the place I'm working at isn't one for kids. However, maybe there are daycare's or babysitting jobs you could do. People are always looking for others to look after t heir kids.

Babysitting jobs, huh... Of the siblings, it was usually Emi's self-appointed duty to look out for him despite being the younger. Though stepping up wouldn't be the leap it might have once felt — in fact, upon reflection, his experiences here had laid some groundwork upon which to build.

"I caaan't! I have to be good with my money!" Yumoto anguishes. Without Gora to handle household finances, and without a consistent income, he can't just blow his money on cute trinkets! Even when he wanted to...

He rubs his knuckles against his temples, as if that would generate some sort of decisiveness. However, he halts at the offer, blinking.

"Eeeh? You'd do that? But we just met." He responded in shock. Pleasant shock, but shock all the same. He quickly bows in thanks. "Thank you, thank you, that's really nice of you! I'll pay you back sometime, Promise!"

He beams up at him, the burden of choice lifted from his shoulders.

"It's alright, don't worry about paying anything back — think of it as a present. You've got a lot on your mind already, so I wouldn't want to add to it by you feeling in debt, no matter how small". Besides, the two keychains would surely be happy staying together, that feeling shouldn't be soured by a heavier sentiment.

"...so you're saying that, if we pass these evaluations of theirs, we can get our weapons and stuff back?" Now she wanted to know more.

He hummed contemplatively to hear of the other market, recalling something of the sort though without investigating it personally yet. Even if a perfect replica couldn't be acquired, having something resembling an important item from home must be comforting.

"Good call! These things aren't suitable for flamethrowers at all," she said with a grin.

With that scare over with, he could help clarify what was really on her mind, and thankfully, it wasn't more experimentation.

"That's right. I'm not sure on the details, but the Stars have a system by which they seem to evaluate us. At certain stages, they return weapons confiscated or lift restrictions put on abilities that someone has".

Cat or dog... an answer felt impossible to reach — how could someone choose between them? He'd never be able to say.

I'm making this post as a last resort kind of deal. My dog, Lulu, has been feeling rather ill, with frequents vomits after almost every meal. She does have a heart murmur, but up until relatively recently, the murmur hadn't been a problem. I'm afraid the cause of her vomiting is caused by her heart murmur, but on my own, I do not have the funds or capability to take her to the vet.

Please consider commissioning me for any of your iconing needs

Or please consider simply donating! Any little bit helps and is greatly appreciated.

Here is the link to my gofundme!

Photos under the cut of WUWU WAGGINS THE SWEETEST <3

It didn't seem feasible, yet as she spoke, the young woman confirmed exactly that. Something experimental to the point of surely impracticability. There was no way—

"Unfortunately, the loved ones I once knew are long gone. I'm mostly just looking around and trying to decide on what I may be having to burn off through training later." A truth as far as he knew up until he finished that sentence. Everyone he knew was gone except one.

"Actually, maybe there is one person I can surprise. I owe her for that extravagant birthday party she snuck up on me some years back. Wonder if I can actually pull off a small surprise," a thought now as he figured it'd probably backfire in the sense he'd be beaten to the punch by the end of it all. He wasn't real good on holidays at times, and he wasn't even good at remembering his own birthday. So maybe this time around, he could pull something nice for Hansol.

It couldn't be helped that their friends weren't about — they were where they belonged, and no longer in the crossfires of the Stars' research. But turning off the longing to see them wasn't so simple as their disappearance could be made so. At least the other had a good distraction — something to keep both body and mind busy, and strengthen himself for whatever else may come.

"Like a ball? Notices tend to go out earlier than the time left between now and the day. In any case, it might not be everyone, so you'll be in company of those who aren't partaking, or even interested".