Nov-Dec Catch-All

[leafwhistle]

Who: Dionysus, Heine, Kazuha & you!
What: Catch-all for Nov-Dec 15th
When: November - December 15th
Where: Various
Warnings: Blanket for potential violence, smut, etc. Threads will have proper warnings when needed.


Kaedehara Kazuha
   🍁 [CLOSED] Setsura
   🍁 [CLOSED] Diluc
   🍁 [OPEN] Vortex of Time
   🍁 [OPEN | NSFW] Unlimited Thirst Works

Dionysus
   🍇

Heine Rammsteiner
   🗡

Comments

[phoenixblessed]

Oh...

[He doesn't talk about his father much. Not even with Kaeya, who had shared so many years of their time together. Not even Kaeya, who has carried the knowledge of how his life came to an end as much as Diluc has.

Diluc hesitates, then, before he replies even to give the man's name.]

He--... His name was Crepus Ragnvindr.

[Though he can feel the other man's eyes on him, he doesn't return the eye contact. He pulls his lower lip in between his teeth for a moment, his brow furrowing.]

Kazuha, I--... I don't know if I can. Talk about him, I mean. It's... [He shakes his head very slightly.] I haven't. Not really. Not since he died.

[leafwhistle]

[Just as the samurai was trying to lead Diluc's body around as a way to vent out his sadness, he was also trying to draw the man's thoughts away from the terrible mercy he had to enact. He knows grief-- how it can settle in your soul, consume your thoughts. The endless worries.

It grieves him to see the taller man sunk so low.

Kazuha pets his hand, and relents with looking at him. He doesn't need the pressure of eyes on him, watching his every expression right now.]

Oh, sweet boy. You're doing very well, though. I'm so proud of you. You don't have to push yourself.

[Kazuha listens to the wind in the trees for a moment. In winter, the night is remarkably quiet. He loves the silence, where the frost cracking on the bark of trees sounds like tiny bells in his ears.]

Don't let your guilt taint your memories of him. Though all lives are transient, in memory we give our loved ones eternity. I can tell just how much you love him.

[phoenixblessed]

It didn't matter, in the end.

[The words come out softly, but there's a weight behind them. A weight more than that laid down by the memory of what Diluc had had to do in his father's final hours. They keep walking and although he cannot hear what Kazuha can he takes comfort from the cold and fresh outdoors in other ways.

Not allowing guilt to taint the memories of Crepus is something long since passed. By now almost every memory he has of the man has been somehow spoiled by either his death or what happened after.]

You know... when it happened, I wanted an investigation. I wanted to make it public. My father had laid down his life to save hundreds. I was the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, and I thought... [He thought they would listen. He thought they would take his request seriously. Diluc frowns. The memory of that day can still boil his blood even now.]

The inspector, Eroch, he said... if people were to discover that a 'mere businessman' had been the one to see Ursa off, it would damage the credibility of the Knights. [The man's steps falter for a moment, but he keeps up the gentle pace that matches Kazuha's own.] Mondstadt exists because of people like my father, and they just--...

[They just turned their back on him. On Diluc. On the sacrifices that had been made. Diluc's jaw tenses. He doesn't want Kazuha to see how angry he can still get when he talks about those events.

A few moments pass then he speaks again, more measured, calmer.]

He was everything to me. My entire world. Nothing meant more to me than making him proud. Even now, it... talking about him feels like a knife twisting in my chest.

[leafwhistle]

[Kazuha nods along, listening to Diluc talk about the events that happened after his father's death. He can't relate to a parent murdered by Fatui machinations, but he can see the bigger picture. In the end, it was obviously Fatui meddling in Mondstadt that lead to his father's death. Kazuha could now say the same for his friend— it's why he came here to begin with.

He considers the things Diluc says against the things he knows now. Could this Eroch have been a Fatui pawn as well, just like the Tenryou Commissioner?]

Corruption taints even the country of freedom. Reputation does the same in Inazuma.

[The Tenryou Commission hardly is kind to any sort of 'vigilante' justice, and as a man of noble birth he's well aware of clan politics. Appearance to the public is something the commission sometimes puts above actually protecting the citizens.

Kazuha doesn't voice these thoughts though; with such a personal topic he doesn't feel like he has the right to draw these comparisons or talk over what Diluc is saying. Instead he just pets his hand, keeping his eyes on the sky and the silhouette of trees.]

You've done very well. [He repeats the soft praise, because he thinks Diluc deserves it. It's a show of strength to talk about these burdens. And also, an out—] We don't have to anymore, but I'll listen whenever, if ever, you wish to tell me more of him. Thank you for speaking with me.

[The short Inazuman pauses again, falling quiet. He's touched Diluc feels comfortable to tell him about these things, but there is a small lump of regret in his stomach to have dragged him through so many negative emotions again. He caused this, coming here with his questions, his conflicts.]

It wasn't my intention to come here and cause you pain.

[phoenixblessed]

[The first thing Kazuha says hits through Diluc like a knife. His jaw tenses, but he holds back on his instinctive need to snap against it. It's fine. Kazuha doesn't know. He has no idea how hard Diluc has worked since to rid the place of that very same corruption that ensured his father was remembered as nothing more than a merchant.

He doesn't want to hear it, doesn't need that gentle praise that comes after - shakes his head a little against it. He doesn't want it. There's nothing he's said here worth praising.]

You didn't.

[Diluc sighs then, letting out his tension in a softly exhaled breath. He shakes his head again, puts an arm around Kazuha just for a moment and then lets it drop with a trail of fingertips across the samurai's back.]

I don't have to talk about my father to still feel the pain of his passing... or what happened after. I don't talk about it because... it doesn't change anything. He's dead because I wasn't strong enough to save him, and he'll never get the recognition he deserves because I was too much of a coward to fight back then. [The young man's brow furrows in a soft frown.]

I don't want to burden Jean with it. When Varka returns to Mondstadt... maybe then. I won't be brushed aside again.

[leafwhistle]

Diluc.

[Kazuha's soft voice a little bit firmer now, but it's born out of helplessness. The rage held in Diluc's body taints the atmosphere— not that it was a very happy occasion to begin with. He wishes he could do something to help ease it, but it seems that everything that he has commented — everything he's said — only seems to fan the embers again.

As the taller man's hand touches his back, Kazuha's eyes fall to the pathways in the garden. Perhaps this was a mistake, as his heart only feels more turmoil now.]

I believe your father will have the justice he deserves.

[And he hopes, some day soon, Diluc's heart feels some relief from his burdens. He reaches to touch the taller man's hand with both now, holding it in between his own as he steps around to look up at him.]

I came here with uncomfortable questions. Thank you for your insight. I will consider what you've said.