#mythlived

This kitchen had become rather familiar as of late - she had grown accustomed to the organization system, the placement of the clay pot in the cabinet and the silverware in the wooden drawer that creaked just enough to be noticeable. 

Rarely did a place other than solitude feel anywhere close to home - but this was what a mortal home felt like, right? The last droplets of rich broth it would be impolite to lick off the plate, the routine she had inadvertently fallen into of melting into frost flakes whenever called with the sigil she had gifted Emery. He was pleasant enough company - brushed past her aloofness and what Esther called lack of friendliness but she preferred to call low tolerance for indulging unnecessary interaction - and seemed content enough with fleeting smiles and tacit comfort. 

Honestly, she wasn’t sure why she had granted him one of her sigils. He was no traditional academic, nor researcher, nor even a self-professed dilettante in history, like the other mortals she usually favored. Most of the days of her eternity were spent traversing glacial air between the Academia in Sumeru, advising on theses sparsely or obtaining relics for their study, and their scholars flung far and wide across Teyvat - securing their safety as they in turn secured the preservation of history beyond her, beyond their own lifespans. 

Emery, on the other hand, was a information broker - more interested in her gift of hindsight for more recent events. A gift, which still proved a faster and surer source of knowledge across the nations than other hearsay, even if she only had jurisdiction over the memories of hours past rather than present. Still... the offerings of food were touching, at the very least tempting. 

Adeptus’ Temptation, indeed. 

As she dries the plate off, the silence settles comfortably around the two, the memory of laughter well steeped like a warm tea in the air. 

Still... her hands pause midair after carefully replacing the plate on the counter - the fate of a Cryo Vision, with insecurities melting like icecubes into even the sincerest of warmth. 

Without turning - she knew he was surely mulling over the information on some Fatui activity near the Chasm provided by her earlier - she speaks. At least... to reassure herself with grace, to not be a fool. Not to a mortal. 

“I know... you only really talk to me for information. But... you make me smile. And that’s enough for me.” 

A few quick steps to approach the back of his chair, a hand hesitantly reaching to touch him, even for a moment, before retracting at the last second. A smile that lasts longer than a moment, yet- 

“Thank you for the food.” 

She leans in with a conspiratorial smile towards Heidi, taking the juice box with both hands, as if it’s a precious treasure. “Thank you! I won’t tell if you won’t,” she whispers back. 

As Oliver trails in too-soon, Kaoruko slips the juice box behind her, where he can’t see, and immediately passes Heidi a notebook from another class, plus a special pencil bag filled with colored pencils - to keep her entertained in class.

“Here, I kept this on me for you.”

Hopefully the colors were okay - she’d started collecting colored pencils for Heidi, but she still felt the rainbow was lacking. Nothing was too much for the little girl she considered her baby sister, even if she herself was technically the youngest sister in her own family.

「 ♡ 」 As perceptive as she was, she didn’t miss the fact that his ankle should’ve been broken after rolling it like that: him playing it off like it didn’t hurt wouldn’t fool her. That only concerned her more in the end, and her brows furrowed. Did he expect her to not want to help? All she’d done was offer to walk him home and wrap his ankle for him. ( If she’d heard it break, she would’ve already called an ambulance, but since it appeared to not be too serious, she held off on that. )