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[outofoffice]

Comments

[leaveofabsence]

Of course not.

Because you did not drink alone. Am I correct?

[outofoffice]

Correct! So there's nothing to worry about!

[ No promiscuity lectures either, today is a win ]

[leaveofabsence]

Good then.

[ And he points to one of the unoccupied tables in the dining area. ]

Shall we talk?

[outofoffice]

If this setting is okay with you, yes.

[leaveofabsence]

[ A bit of a shrug ]

The cameras have already seen everything.

[outofoffice]

Mmm . . . fair enough.

[ Wandering over to drop heavily into one of the chairs ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ Before Zhongli sits down, he leans down to properly redo Venti's braids.

It's been bugging him since Venti showed up. ]

[outofoffice]

[ Oh right, that . . .

He holds very still, eyelids fluttering now and then like the gentle, rhythmic tugging could put him right back to sleep. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ He pats them flat when they are done to his satisfaction. ]

Did you fall asleep on me?

[outofoffice]

Nope.

[ Running his fingers over the completed braids a few times ]

I'm wide awake.

[leaveofabsence]

[ He takes a seat, crossing one leg over another as he folds his arms across his chest ]

How many dreams did you wander through?

[outofoffice]

[ Not quite the question he expected . . . ]

Only two, including yours.

[leaveofabsence]

And how did you fare in the other one? You need not give specifics if you wish to protect the privacy of the dreamer involved.

[outofoffice]

Ah-- Well . . .





[ yeah. ]

[leaveofabsence]

. . .

[ He places his hand carefully over Venti's ]

[outofoffice]

Since you asked, I take it you were a traveler as well as a dreamer.

[leaveofabsence]

Yes, I traveled several. Five different dreams, in fact.

[outofoffice]

How cruel. Not that I'm surprised.

[leaveofabsence]

I suppose it is. But---

That is not why I asked.

I was just thinking how much difficult it was to wake the dreamer from the dream then to dream the dream itself.

[outofoffice]

. . . What?

Are you sure about that?

[ Not that Venti would have frame of reference to know himself ]

[leaveofabsence]

Yes. The dreamer does not decide whether or not to wake, after all.

[outofoffice]

[ He twists his hand, lacing his fingers with Zhongli's ]

And yet some had to endure both.

Is that the only thing you settled on in your musings?

[leaveofabsence]

No. I thought about many things.

But mostly - how none of us would be the people we are today without the past that has shaped us. And even if the world was idyllic, even if those friends were still alive, I cannot say for certain that the losses such a world entails are an equivalent price.

Would you and I have been as close if Guizhong had risen to be the Geo Archon? Or is it the opportunity of our mutual positions and understanding that drew us close together? I do not know if we will ever know the answer to that.

[outofoffice]

. . . No, we won't.

But would it be an acceptable exchange if you could be as happy as you were in that dream? We'll never know that either.

[leaveofabsence]

Do you think it is impossible for me to be that happy here?