#winebornebard

“Kaeya...” For anyone other than Albedo, the name would have come out as a full blown whine, but instead it rolls off his tongue just a little low and pleading, emanating fondness into the stillness of night. The alchemist doesn’t try to deny it either, even he will admit he’s tired. He mournfully studies the glass bottles and beakers in front of him, and while there doesn’t seem to be any change, Albedo can’t go to bed until the experiment is officially finished.

He glances at a clock on the corner of the table, scribbles a note down onto a piece of parchment, and then leans his head against Kaeya’s waist with his eyes still fixated on his work. “If you do that, I’ll have to start over tomorrow... and it will take just as long,” he sighs. It would be so easy for him to bury his face into the fabric of Kaeya’s shirt and let sleep carry him away. He imagines that he’d probably wake up nice and warm in bed instead of leaning against this table. But he can’t. Not yet, anyway.  He makes a mental note to have some real assistants on this one if he ever tries to recreate this test in the future.

“ um... no, i haven’t. ” a pause follows as she fidgets with her fingers. her hesitance is enough to say that they’ve caught her plenty off guard with a question like that. of all the places their conversation could go, this certainly wasn’t the path she expected to take.

“ i think that will make it all the more difficult when i finally do lose someone, though. i won’t know what to do or how to cope, and i know it is inevitable, but... ” the very thought of losing one of her friends or parents is enough to make her uneasy, and so she drifts into silence. this is no longer a pleasant conversation, at least, not when she is the focus. all the more reason to turn the discussion around.

2. intelligence / 3. sex appeal / 5. trustworthiness / 7. scariness / 8. how much mine envies yours / 10. how much mine wants to kill yours

" okay, sure, stealing is bad, whatever. but have you considered: i do what i want? "

arrogant announcement comes after his plans to swipe a particularly shiny necklace or two ( four, is the correct number, but who's counting aside from mr. rattail ) were almost publicly foiled by the man before him. at the time, he had been caught and left the merchandise alone, but everyone takes a break eventually. the moment he was able, a second successful attempt was made, and he almost managed to sneak away... had he not been followed by this guy. archons, with how persistent he was, one would think he was some stuck up millelith guard. and yet, the more cam looked, the less he fit the bill. he seemed too formal, too collected, too... well, appearance rarely played any part in one's occupation, but he was too pretty to be a common soldier.

a little too much of a thorn in cam's side as well, but that was a given.

This was... Probably a bad idea. How many years had it been? Between the battle against that Drake, and his somehow time travelling to now? He had seen him from afar. No one else in Mondstadt had hair as flamboyant as Diluc did.

So far, he hadn’t been seen, and while the redhead had been out of the Angel’s Share, Crepus had snuck in, and moved onto the second floor. He had donned a tattered cloak, looking the part of a weathered adventurer, using the hood to hide his features.

Mona opened the wooden door to the local tavern, welcomed by the warm lights, and the lovely aroma of food and drink. She walked toward her usual spot, where she spotted a bard already seated at the high tops. She navigated through the mini crowd in front of the door and went straight to the bar top, plopping down on the seat to the right of the bard, and asked the bartender for a cider. She looked over at the individual who was in rather unusual attire, but what could she say about it. It's not like her outfit was so traditional either. The astrologist turned toward the bard who appeared to have had a couple of drinks prior to her arrival. In quite the talkative mood, she had come to the decision that she was going to make this bard either an acquaintance or someone she can pester for the time being.

      ❝ So what brings you here, bard? Ran out of songs to sing for the day? ❞