imeeji_frontstage | (no subject)

A soothing sky room? If that wouldn't be too bold of me.

You don't need to worry about being too bold with me. That sounds perfect. You'd better make the tea, however. I can manage it, but yours will be better.

And I get the impression that preparing it is soothing for you. [ Grounding rituals are important after a shock! ]

You know me so well. Indeed, I'd be happy to brew some.

You are a fascinating subject. I may not be the best with words, but I watch how people move. [ Actions speak loudest with her on every level. ]

Aradia keeps all sorts of tea around, I'm sure you can find something. Possibly something sweet as well, and I can even join you since I've had my scars fixed up. [ Thanks to an unsolicited gift she feels horribly guilty about, but she felt she had to use it once they refused to accept it back. ]

Oh, I am glad to see that.

[Not being able to enjoy food is surely the worst thing that could happen to you here.]

Hurricane suggested that Zhongli and I have a live showing off our tea collection.

It is better to have them gone. Yvette gave me the points because I was complaining about not being able to eat, and then she wouldn't take them back. I'll have to find a way to make it up to her. [ 4,000 points is a lot! ]

That sounds nice. I'll bet you could work with sIV and their self-care activity if you wanted more points for it. Or LiliS, I'm sure they have something that would coordinate well.

Oh, I could. I've been meaning to visit sIV anyway to pet their ghost cats.

Edited 2022-03-11 01:29 (UTC)

You'll sit at the kotatsu and then have to live there, I'm sure [ not really though because of sofaform ]. I can't speak to the ghost cats, even they're afraid of me. Do remember to mind the faucets.

And you'll get to know some of my favorite people. [ sIV is basically her second home, between Venti and Kitsu. And Freya, she's hoping. ]

Could I purchase a kotatsu for HSS dorm, or is that sIV exclusive?

I don't really know the limits on the dorm upgrades. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

I'm hoping not, I really don't want any gargoyles in my training hall when I manage to get it.

[ Getting closer to the more populated area now, so she glances over. ] You want me to let go of your hand, since we're bound to run into people? [ She doesn't have any shyness issues to speak of, nature of the literal beast, but wants to respect his. ]

[He squeezes her hand more firmly in reply.] I can live with the teasing if you can.

[ That does make her smile, in delight with a tinge of amusement. ]

I have a stunning tolerance for teasing. But I don't think we're likely to face that. [ She's pretty open overall with touch, after all, and plenty of people here are varying degrees of similar. People will probably just shrug. She cares more about his comfort than anyone else's. ]

Prying questions from your unitmates?

[Or his. It'd be fair coming from Hurricane, honestly, goodness knows he's teased Hurricane about Izanagi plenty.]

Not if they know what's good for them. [ She says it quite cheerily, but there's a threat in there somewhere. She doesn't have to justify herself to her unitmates, and it won't go well if they push. ]

We can tell people whatever you'd like. If that's nothing, then it's nothing. [ She makes a point not to kiss and tell unless she has permission for that (like with Lupine). People's curiosity is their own problem. ]

Well... I don't mind if people know we're involved. The details are none of their business, is all.

[Despite what certain people will tell you on the internet, there's nothing scandalous about holding hands with your significant other.]

Mm, of course. [ She tends to be bad at secrets if she's struggling with a problem, but good at talking about things without naming names or specifics. And, aside from a general inquiry about potato sacks and the acquisition thereof, she hasn't said a thing. If there's one thing she has no intuitive talent for, it's this. ]

If people know, you might be subject to one or more -- well, some of my friends are protective. They might want to size you up, or they might be curious.

[People could want potato sacks for all kinds of reasons, that doesn't mean anything.]

I worry about disappointing... But I will do my best, at least.

I don't worry about that. And they wouldn't go too far, at all. It's just that they know I can sometimes seem fragile. I like to think I'm stronger than that, but I can't fault them for caring.

[ She does put everything on her sleeve, which she sometimes thinks contributes to people considering her weak or overly needy. She needs people to process her emotions, is all. Trying to do it alone makes her miserable. ]

Indeed not. I'm glad that you have people looking out for your happiness.

[He will still fret a little, but his self-worth is... not great at the best of times.]

I'm very lucky to have them. I only wish I was closer with my unit, but some things take time I suppose. [ Unlike HSS, Zrael is... prickly. And Aliza can certainly be that, but she doesn't want to be, which makes it difficult for her to decide how close she even cares to be with them. ]

Some people are harder to connect with than others. Not that I can comment on your unit much, but...

[They seemed. Interesting, but maybe not the most friendly.]

There's a reputation at play there. You'll hear it if you haven't yet, and it's not unearned.

There were several transfers from my unit very recently, and the two that have been there longest are lamenting that the unit isn't so close anymore, but unfortunately they haven't tried to get to know me very much. If I had to guess, I sought out people from other units because I felt excluded.

And they didn't treat me very well in the game, either. I know everyone was pretty off, but even so. I'm willing to work on it, but I'm not willing to be -- ruthless. Even if it means losing.

I wouldn't call that 'not willing to be ruthless', truthfully. Not wanting to lose yourself to madness and violence, in your position, is perfectly understandable. That you were able to keep yourself from doing that is a personal victory.

[ She has to pause for just a second, because hearing him say that is so -- like a breath of air she hadn't known she was lacking. ]

It doesn't feel much like one, but I guess it was. Zhongli told me after that he was proud of me, which was... it meant a lot to me. [ She has struggled with Zhongli specifically because she felt that disappointing him was inevitable, so to hear that was meaningful beyond words. ]

I'm not sure how much they understand of it; I tried to explain during the game but it was the worst possible time. I'm trying to explain it better now. I didn't trust them enough to share that memory before the game, so it's not their fault for not knowing what I didn't share.

I can see how that would go badly. We had arguments on our team, and we were all more or less on the same page.

[Not even getting into the 'killing and eating one of their own' thing.]

I hope you're able to explain it, at least.