outofoffice | what are the elderly up to

[ Venti sits cross-legged at the base of Venessa's tree, as he often does, lyre in hand as he picks a slow and distracted melody. The Traveler is off to unknown lands -- for Inazuma is no longer the familiar and welcoming place Venti remembers visiting long ago -- and things in Mondstadt are blessedly peaceful. The Knights uphold their duties, Diluc brews his wine and defends the city by night, and Dvalin soars freely through the skies.

Still, the news out of Liyue sits like a stone (ha!) in his stomach. "Rex Lapis is dead," say Liyue merchants who've come to trade their wares for valuable Mondstadt wines. "Did you hear the news about Morax?" the Fatui "diplomats" whisper to themselves behind their hands.

(The wind hears everything.)

He knows he must go to Liyue himself, to confirm beyond a doubt, to offer his condolences to the Adepti, to pay last respects as he and Morax always did for the other five. But he continues putting it off, getting drunk in taverns and pranking locals and doing performance after performance -- anything to keep busy. In moments like this one, though, there's nothing but his lyre, the Anemo crystalflies, and his thoughts.

His thoughts he would very much like to turn off.

His fingers strike a discordant chord and he grimaces, head thunking back against the trunk of the tree. ]

Ughhh-- c'mon! Get it together.

Edited 2021-09-29 20:43 (UTC)

[freed from his godly duties for... well, the rest of time, zhongli finds himself with so much spare time that he hardly knows what to do with it all. hence deciding to get away from liyue for a while, and see the only other archon he knows well, and now a fellow former archon.

the moment zhongli steps through the gate, he wonders where barbatos would be... and where the nearest bar is. with a city like mond, there's sure to be plenty of them, and it's just a matter of which one the flighty god would be in. so he pauses and asks for directions from one of the guards on duty, who seems rather happy to have conversation-- and zhongli indulges him for a while before moving on.]

[ Venti thinks he senses something the moment Zhongli steps over the border, of course. Gnosis or no, a being as powerful as Zhongli doesn't go unnoticed.

He's having delusions, and he's not even drunk!

Still, some childish part of him can't help itself -- he sends the wind along on a lark, gliding over fields and through the streets of Mondstadt, until it finds its target.

A sudden, inexplicable breeze tugs at Zhongli's coattails, ponytail, bangs. Like it's looking for answers. ]

[a breeze flutters around him and refuses to go away, though to any onlooker, it just seems like a particularly good day for the wind. but zhongli knows better, and notes that this is the doing of a god.

more specifically, an old friend.

unbothered, zhongli allows his hair and coat to be rustled, and merely brushes his fringe out of his hair when it passes him by. this does mean that barbatos should be somewhere close, though he gives the nearest bar, the cat's tail, a pass, when he remembers that barbatos is allergic to them. especially when the name is not just a name, with the cats everywhere. instead, he heads towards the one called angel's share, supposedly near the back gate of the city.]

Edited 2021-10-06 10:43 (UTC)

[ Venti makes haste into the city, though he would deny that if asked -- what does he need to rush to an old buffoon for?

One who he thought was dead?

Because there's no denying what the winds tell him (the winds never lie), and all that's left is a mountain of questions. The reign of Rex Lapis has been one of the only constants in Teyvat all these millennia. So why?

Zhongli probably has barely any time to get seated or order a drink before a violent wind gust blows open the door to Angel's Share, bouncing it on its hinges. (It's fine, Diluc can just add it to his tab--) Rather than waltzing in like he owns the tavern, as he normally does, he stays rooted in the doorway and frantically scans every face in the bar. ]

[zhongli was indeed about to order from the bartender, examining their stock, before the banging of the heavy wooden interrupts him, making the closest patrons and the bard jump. but zhongli keeps calm, turning around on his own time, and raising an eyebrow when he sees who's just barged in.]

Ah, there you are. [like he's not the one who's just faked his own death in a very public way that would spread to all corners of teyvat.

not like any of the humans here would know, anyway.]

[ Barbatos is not well known for having a temper. In fact, if one could lay an accusation at his feet, it's that he's far too glib about seemingly everything.

But unfortunately for Morax, his mere presence in this tavern has managed to violently drag that temper up from the depths.

Did Morax plan this? Was his death all a ruse? Why would he come to Mondstadt now? Does anyone know, even in Liyue?

Did he even stop to consider that Barbatos might hear the news and believe it?

(In the back of his head he knows the answer -- it wasn't intentional deceit, but plain and simple blockheaded-ness. Barbatos's reaction probably never even occurred to him.) ]

[ Of course, none of that makes him less mad.

If anything, it throws pettiness on top of the pile. ]

Don't you "there you are" me! Like I'm the one who was missing! Who do you think you are, huh?! Just some dead guy, probably!

[ Sorry Master Diluc, people are now staring ]

... Ah, it seems like you're angry. [he has to wonder... no, he doesn't actually have to, when barbatos himself has already mentioned dead men and such-- clearly word of rex lapis' death has reached the flighty anemo archon's ears.

but making a scene here wont do, and zhongli strides forward, hand outstretched to put it on barbatos' shoulder.]

Come with me.

[ His hand fidgets, some truly bratty part of him wanting to smack that hand away.

. . . But it's grounding, the tactile proof of a friend he thought he wouldn't meet again in this life, just like all the others. It takes at least some of the wind out of his anger. ]

Fine.

[ He pivots on his heel and marches out of Angel's Share, assuming Zhongli will follow. "Come with me" apparently meant "Come with Venti" and not the other way around. ]

[he cant help the tiny smile of exasperation and knowing that blooms on his face, before he turns around to give the bartender and the man with the pyro vision a small bow in apology. they've earned that courtesy at least, especially with the outburst.

though he cant help but think that they do owe zhongli even just a little bit-- barbatos isn't known for his restraint with alcohol.

still, zhongli follows barbatos out into his city, trusting the drunkard to know the best spot for a private conversation.]

what are the elderly up to

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dw notifs . . .

dw has been v hungry for them recently

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