#dualisume

There is a slight furrow to his brows that dents his fair complexion at this newly shared information. A ligma... ? In his almost five hundred or so years of life he must say he has not heard of such a thing. Furina does have him beat by a couple of years he supposes, perhaps this is knowledge before his time... perish the thought. "Hm," he is contemplative, staring at this water and this unknown ligma alignment she has just warned him about. Is it... some type of illness? Preposterous. Neuvillette has fallen ill before, he is hardly immune to such things, but his systems are far more resilient than that of humans, more so now that he has gained his full authority.

He rests his gloved hand underneath his chin, feeling defeated. Lost even. He sees nothing strange in this water either and yet she seems to see something worth expressing her concern about. "Lady-Miss Furina," horrible habit he needs to move on from, "What is... a ligma?" He finally concedes, finding there no reason to rummage through his head if it's not even something he's heard of in his years of life. Perhaps she can shine some insight for him, newfound information of sorts.

@dualisume: Well it's his birthday that's for sure, && Furina with the melusines had conducted a full proof plan on how to surprise the iudex , just like she always has done on his birthday this past 500 years, this time however, it was much more simpler && less grandeur compared to the past -- since after all this is her surprise to neuvilette as furina && not the archon she used to be. So when the melusine's had made sure to send him into a short break . Furina had decorated his office with blue and white birthday decorations. On the middle of his table , a cake that was made by yours truly, which is furina && a jug of water from the oasis of sumeru that she bought from a local sumerian merchant. Once the door knob started to fiddle and the door open, farina popped the surprise party popper before singing. " joyeux anniversaire à toi , monsieur neuvillette ~ "

      let  it  be  known  his  awareness  of  certain  social  norms  was  nonexistent,  &  even  though  he  was  learning  there  were  situations  that  neuvillette  failed  to  properly  discern.  officer  sedene  came  into  the  office  a  couple  hours  ago    ——    expressing  her  concern  over  his  lack  of  repose,  &  the  iudex  could  not  help  but  listen.  even  though  he  acquired  more  responsibility  as  now - ruler  of  fontaine,  the  workload  was  already  beginning  to  wear  him  down.  no  one  else  knew,  however,  for  he  wore  an  indomitable  front.  leave  it  to  a  melusine’s  enhanced  sight  gleaning  an  underlying  problem  brewing  inside  him.

when  he  was      ‘   allowed   ’      back  inside    (    strange  . . .  to  be  not  allowed  into  his  office  for  an  even  more  prolonged  period  of  time    ),    the  decorations  strewn  about  bewildered  him  at  first.  then,  draconic  gaze  lowers  to  furina,  the  party  popper  in  her hands,  cake  +  water  jug  . . .      “   furina  . . .   ”      this  celebration  should  be  for  her    ——    a  human  with  godly  willpower,  in  honor  of  the  sacrifices  she  made.  he could  hardly  matched  her  resilience.  maybe  this  was  the  former archon’s  way  of  integrating  back  into  human normalcy.

      “   your  generosity  knows  no  bounds.   ”

he  knows  he  is  ill-equipped  to  act  as a  COMFORTING  shoulder  to  lean  on.  every  word  that  leaves  ren's  mouth  may  very  well  be  the  antithesis  of  reassuring.  even  so,  he  still  finds  himself  compelled  to  put  forth  an  effort  to  try.  (  no  matter  how  feeble  nor  clumsy  his  attempt  may  be.  )  ❝  ...  don't  forget  to  breathe.  ❞

@dualisume &&. liked for a STARTER.

@dualisume: " is there a tea you can recommend~?"

           𝐢𝐟   𝐨𝐧𝐞   𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭   𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞   𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝   𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲   a   month   or   so   ago   that   the   the   (   former   )   hydro   archon   would   be   standing   in   his   office,   requesting   his   opinion   on   teas   (   of   which   he   had   many   )   he   probably   would've   punched   them   in   the   face   for   wasting   his   time.   then   again,   fontaine   had   changed   as   quickly   as   the   weather   for   them   -   in   no   small   thanks   to   @sourcewater's   mercurial   moods   of   course   -   so   he   supposes   it   was   now   no   longer...   out   of   the   realm   of   possibility.   still,   even   wriothesley   can't   hide   his...   well,   surprise.   and   wriothesley   is   never   surprised   these   days   -   but   he   supposes   the   plight   of   mortals   was   to   be   just   that.   there   really   was   no   such   thing   as   'never'   for   them,   especially   for   furina   de   fontaine   and   all   she   had   given.

fontaine.

truthfully, if he had it his way - he wouldn't be venturing to the land of hydro. however, with circumstances as they were, he could scarcely afford to turn down such a lucrative contract. nor could his ego as an artist refuse the honor of being sought out by another country for such a critical project. it would be no easy task to add housing districts to a city with a finite amount of space, but his mind was already racing with possibilities.

the problem was, of course, going there meant that he couldn't avoid his mother any longer. and... well, while lesser lord kusanali was a being with such a gentle temperament and hand with her people, he'd heard that the hydro archon was a different animal entirely.

and with his luck - with how he was with difficult clients - the writing for how this would end seemed to be already on the wall.

nonetheless, here he was. the city was not particularly.. ah. nice to look at at distance, but once inside it was abundantly clear that care and love had been placed into every brick and stone that comprised it. kaveh tried not to dawdle, to get lost in conversations with new faces and new peoples and the beauty of an entirely different approach to aesthetic - but he was who he was. it's a nice excuse to quickly flee his mother's new family home, bolting down the streets after a hasty greeting and a promise to catch up later.

( actually maybe jail would be preferable, he'd rather be there than discuss the shame he'd brought to her former family name )

he's almost late to her meeting chambers. almost. he bursts through the doors with his arms full of blueprints, out of breath, but determined to make the most of his time here.

"greetings, your majesty!" he takes a few steps, and then stops, remembering to bow. as he does so, several scrolls slip free of his grip and tumble to the ground. he feels the sweat beading at his brows. what a great first impression.

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝. As the sovereign that presides over life itself, over the waters that bear with it creation and destruction both he has always understood this. Water is the beginning and so too much all return to its source. Even he himself must meet his end at some point and such a prospect comes to him with no fear or trepidation. It simply is. His predecessors have met their ends as well. He remembers little of it. Not their births, not their deaths. He hardly recalls his own beginning, but there will be no querulous trembling with the tolling of his own end.

Knowing all this. Knowing the natural order of this world that not even he himself can truly alter…

Why does such a question bring a storm that rips away all defenses. Strips him to his very raw and bleeding core. Caught in the blistering winds that lash at his very being, he remains still as stone. Eroded through and through yet the refusal to move is as much his feeble attempt to gain some semblance of control of his own emotions. The threads of his heart rips apart and he clings desperately to them, tangling it all into his a mass within himself, pulling his heartstrings back within.

For over five centuries he’s lived through this world and dwelled amongst these frail and fragile creatures. He has learned of them. Loathed and loved them all. He has watched them grow and watched them wither away. Returned once more from whence they came. Countless numbers of lives and names, each one etched upon the walls of his heart. Vautrin. Carole. Eventually will there be more to join their number.

And some day far too soon, will she be amongst them as well. One day will he have to carve Furina within himself as well.