#currentlyoffwork

Since his formal arrival in Sumeru City, not as a visitor this time - but as a recognized citizen among the locals, much in his life has changed in ways he never could have imagined. Sethos had traded life within the walls of the sacred temple hidden in the heart of the desert, a silent refuge where only the chosen could behold its magnificence and share in its secrets, for a modest hut in the bustling city. A rather drastic change if you ask him. One he still had trouble adjusting to despite the confident demeanor he presented to others.

After all, it’s not every day you go from living in structured community, bound by strict rules and a role-defined routine, to complete freedom of choice. Now, every decision, from where he lives to what he does and what he wants to pursue, is entirely in his hands. That includes, of course, something as trivial as decorating his own home… a task he had no idea where to even begin with.

❝ Hmm, weeeell, what you did here is rather.... unique. ❞ At this point on time the brunet wasn't entirely sure if accepting Alhaitham's help had been a success or a mistake. His choice in furniture was decent, but not so much when it came to matching the pieces all together. It's almost as if he was doing it on purpose, knowing too damn well who would come after to undo the mess. ❝ If I'm honest with you - i'm not so sure about the clock, or the curtains, or the lamp, or the ━━ ❞ and the list goes on. Objects that alone, stand out, but when together, they become a chaotic mess. At least this is way better than the little to no individuality his old room had back at the temple.

❝ I didn't know you had a bit of an eccentric taste. ❞ Should he blame the other's trickster side ? Either way, Sethos didn't entirely dislike it, the problem here alone was the composition. If he could just shift a few things from one side to another, or even adjust the light source, it would hopefully improve in the eyes of a certain professional. ❝ Perhaps we can move a few things to the closet. Like the weird fungus figurine you put in the middle of the room - ❞ No idea where he even got it to begin with. How it ended up in his possession is a mystery yet to be resolved. ❝ or the random TCG poster I won at a raffle . . . actually, let's get rid of that one entirely. You can have it if you want or put it aside for Cyno. This place is a work in progress but at least now it looks more. . . ❞ Varied ? Wild ? Hectic ? ❝ - lively. ❞

obscure sorrows drabble prompts ( 1 + 2 ) | Not Currently Accepting.

WARNING: MENTION OF DRUGGING/DRUG USE.

One would think as a Trailblazer, a Nameless, that Caelus would look to the future. To look towards the horizon to see the fruits of his labor bloom, or to see a dream finally fulfilled.

One would think.

It is, unsurprisingly, in the middle of the night on the Express, Caelus in his room with the lights dimmed low ( never fully off.. he hates the dark [most of the time] ) that his mind starts to drift from place to place with no real correlation between the thoughts. It's in Caelus' quiet room, with nothing but the distant hum of the train and the gentle buzz of his computer, that the boy finds himself unable to see what is in store for him as a Nameless.

It's not just that Caelus is stuck on the past ( of what he could have been, would have been, should have been, would have had, what he had, what he lost ), it is that the boy is also lost in the present. Too many things happen left and right with no real time to process it all. Each new place the Astral Express stops at seemingly always has some world-ending or world-altering crisis. Granted, as Trailblazers who go to help stop world ending threats ( such as quelling Stellarons ), and at some point Caelus should get used to it. Yet.. he almost can't. Every single time he has left the safety of the train, the safety of this very room, his small little world gets shattered. Some new event that thoroughly messes with his head that he is never able to let go of.

He recalls nothing of his life before being woken up on Herta's Station, lost and confused by two people he holds very close to his heart. Then not too long after being welcomed into the world, Caelus practically looses his life ( the first time of many, it seems.. ) while trying to save his new friend, March 7th. He apparently would have exploded were it not for Welt's intervention ( and he has no recollection of how the man did it, or what happened directly after ).

Then they went to Jarilo-VI on his first official mission as a Nameless Trailblazer. To then be knocked over by the local authorities, deem dangerous ( not entirely wrong ) and evil-doers that wish to harm the city. After it gets cleared up, it doesn't get better. Caelus then, in his selfless bravery, tries to stop Cocolia and the Engine of Creation ( before it had become an ally to them ) only to get stabbed in the chest and die ( again ). It's only after the second Aeon to bless him intervening, ironically the lord of Preservation, that he is revived and continues the fight- shaking it off as it he hadn't just been momentarily deceased.

Next, on the Xianzhou Luofu, Caelus is so naive that he listens to a doctor that he thought he had become friends with and takes a medicine that was supposedly to aid his health. It very much did not- in fact, had done the opposite. It had turned him into a Mara-Struck.. and it is only thanks to the Stellaron in his chest that the medicine had been burned out of his system.. otherwise, he would have met the same fate that he had witnessed over and over to the locals. So that's a third almost-death.

Then there is Penacony. Ah, Penacony. While he had made a few new friends that he genuinely likes, there was just... so much that had gone on, that had gone poorly, for Caelus to have anything higher than indifference about the planet of dreams ( more like planet of nightmares ). Ena the Order had sent them into a dream within a dream ( and who knows, maybe even this is all still just another layer of a dream.. ) and if Caelus hadn't had Black Swan and Acheron's help to snap out of it, to awaken from the first layer(s) of the Sweet Dream... they would all still be asleep.. lost forever in the Order's world.. a death of permanent sleep. A fourth almost-death.

There is a pattern to Caelus' story. At least once, per planet they visit, the boy must die- or almost-die. That doesn't even include how weighed down he gets the more places they visit- or more, with each new Aeon that decides to "bless" him with THEIR path. How he is even functioning, the boy isn't entirely sure. Luck? At least he has RNGeezus on his side.

So no- Caelus can't look forward to his future.. he can't envision what it would even be like. He knows he has a tendency to rush in head-first. He knows that his fake-heart is too soft and kind for his own good. He knows that he takes the hit for others far too often, with his entire body littered in the scars from each attack he blocks or takes for someone else.

Sumeru, illusive to the seamstress, having only heard of escapades by her feline courier. The sand didn't excite her nor her heels, and the density of the rain forest meant any effort put into hair or makeup would run, either from oppressing humidity, or heavy rains. All trading routes usually funneled through Liyue, so there were even fewer reasons for Chiori to visit.

This would be one of those rare occasion.

A special showing that she did not have to partake in, hosted in Sumeru City on behalf of the Akademiya. The fashion was a far stretch from anything Chiori had designed, but that was exactly what enticed her. Even now, designers spoke and models strut, the seeds of innovation already began planting themselves deep. The hours seemed to drift by, and even after the show ended, she lingered to met with some of the designers. It was all cordial, very surface level praise and nothing of genuine value regardless of whose mouth words left.

As she sought to exit the college though, she would find herself bumping to a rather esteemed student, one who made waves even outside of Sumeru. Her eyes lingered up to Alhaitham, and then further, to those pesky sprigs that seemed to follow her wherever she went.

      At the very least, he was able to pick up some wine to take back.  For himself, of course.  Maybe he'll leave it in the open... perhaps on that coffee table he'd been looking at for a while.  It'll help him get through the tantrum his roommate will throw when the table arrives.

      Alhaitham held out the box toward the Iudex, nodding his head in acknowledgment.  "Lesser Lord Kusanali has asked me to also pass on a birthday card–", he nodded at the envelope haphazardly attached to the side of the gift. "–and 'a very happy birthday.'"

[ ooc ; happy birthday neuvillette!! *hands you a bottle of kirkland water* ]

In between friendly gifts and visits, the birthday of the Iudex of Fontaine is also a diplomatic occasion, and has grown even more so since Furina's departure. As time continues to pass, Neuvillette comes to understand more and more, that - as much as he is growing accustomed to it, if only out of necessity - he does miss the time when she took it upon herself to go out and speak to people, allowing him to continue working from the comfort of his office.

Of course, he knows that she does not, as is her right.

All that is to say that when a delegation comes from Sumeru, it is, of course, his duty to welcome them and meet up with them.

It is almost a little entertaining, when from the wave of emotion that washes over him, he soon comes to realize that the scholar speaking to him is not much more enthused about the situation than he is.

For that reason, he does not insist on keeping the man long.