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[lumenstellaris]

if teyvat had anything even remotely resembling the game bingo, she wondered if her card would have get smacked around by a hydro abyss herald in an underground ruin in the desert. it wasn't the first, nor was this the last that she fought against that specific abyssal being, but really. the desert? what water would it control here, anyway?

still, she supposed there were some advantages. like fine-tuning her control of anemo to dry herself off without getting sand in any unfortunate crevice of her flesh prison.

[lumenstellaris]

To say she froze like a deer in headlights—or whatever Teyvat's equivalent of headlights was—isn't too far from the truth. But she unfreezes a few moments later, and proceeds to shuffle over to the group. Arapacati and her brothers seemed at ease around him, if the way they beckoned her closer was any indication. The Aranara have always been good judges of character; if they trusted Al-Haytham, as stand-offish as he's been at times, then it was for a good reason.

"No offense, but..." She trailed off, wondering how to phrase this in a way that wasn't so rude. Unfortunately, etiquette lessons went in one ear and out the other—she hadn't the time to deal in fake niceties when she'd much rather leave a conversation and duck behind Aether. "You never struck me as the type to believe in the Aranara. Honestly, I thought Tighnari would see them before you."

Still, he wasn't the one she intended to visit today. Upon reaching them, she crouched low, hands perched palm-down on her knees as she greeted Arapacati, Arasaka, Arachatora, and Araphala. "Hello! Paimon couldn't come with me today—she got sick after one of our adventures got derailed, but she'll be fine soon. We found a bunch of new recipes since we last saw each other, and I'm sure we could adjust it to the Aranara's taste."

If the way they swarmed around him was any indication, Al-Haytham was a guest long since welcomed here. Perhaps long before Nara Varuna even journeyed with the Aranara, given their familiarity with him. But if that were true... How old was he, then?

Once upon a dream, he'd been dreaming for so long. It was strange to be within Mahavanaranapna after a full decade, those centuries feeling blurred and indistinct in how they blurred together. Like experiencing a long dream, those moments of lucidity were enveloped by longer periods of darkness, as equally indistinct as trying to piece the fragments together between days that seemed as one.

It was a comfort to be in this familiar place forever bathed in twilight, perhaps one of the few constants in such an endlessly changing world. Even someone such as the Acting Grand Sage had moments when he longed for the familiar, however far removed this time was from his past. Although he technically wasn't there in the truly physical sense of the word, his presence was still accountable enough.

Golden Nara? Al-Haytham pivoted at the sound of the address, surprised to see the Traveler herself within the Aranara's realm. Even if it was less surprise when tempered by the fact that it was more to be expected when the blonde had accrued a considerable reputation within Sumeru. That, and he trusted Lumine implicitly.

"Hm, long time no see, Lumine. Not the place I expected to see you, but all the same." He inclined his head in greeting, but otherwise didn't say more. At least, not in that respect.

"Probably not the place you'd expect to see me, but you have to admit, it's easy not to be so bothered here."

[lumenstellaris]

"if you bet your eye, then you'd have to wear two eyepatches." the response stumbled out before she had the chance to really think about it. beyond that, she couldn't explain the certainty of her answer, couldn't explain why she's so, so sure that he'd lose his eye. fate wasn't on her side. destiny wasn't on her side, simply because teyvat's destiny was written by those in celestia.

in teyvat, the stars in the sky will always have a place for you. according to mona, fate cannot be changed or reversed. if destiny was on her side, then she would've caught up to him before the portal closed. she wouldn't risk life and limb in exchange for the barest hints of information regarding her missing kin if fate sided with her.

no matter how her friendships with teyvat's residents developed, one single fact remained: beyond her titles—honorary knight, hero, captain, okuzumeshuu, first sage—lumine is an outlander. a starchild. she'll leave these friendships—and her friends—one day. it's inevitable.

but far be it from her to dampen the mood. her gaze lifts to meet kaeya's, and she offered him a small smile. "thank you. really, i mean it. mondstadt is the homiest place i've ever been to so far."

(but all birds eventually leave the nest. a traveler will eventually leave home. that's inevitable. that's what the universe demands of its children.)

` 冰 。𝖫𝖴𝖬𝖤𝖭𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖫𝖫𝖠𝖱𝖨𝖲 — 𝖫𝖴𝖬𝖨𝖭𝖤​ ₒ​

ah. there’s the issue with many conversations when the topic inevitably steered towards her (presumably still) missing brother. she chanced a brief peek at kaeya’s lone visible eye, knowing perfectly well that the star in his pupil was the same as the one in dain’s eyes.

khaenri'ahn. just like dain, just like halfdan. part of her wondered if the curse affected him too, and unwittingly, her gaze traveled to his eyepatch. was it hiding the area affected by the curse? or did kaeya just… not have any signs of it? who knew. certainly not her.

ah, he was still waiting on a reply. right. “i… truth be told? not well. not well at all.” it’s a half truth, at least. definitely more believable than an outright lie. “i miss him more and more with each passing day.” 

The pause which arose within their conversation was abrupt. It was as if time held its breath between them. His gaze maintained towards the traveler, almost in curious observation. Unlike the wide-eyed outlander once introduced to him before Dvalin’s attack, he could almost notice how Lumine had somewhat changed. From desperation to determination, there was a sense of courage which came from despair. 

His lips parted with words which he sequentially held back. Talking through a glass wall of secrets, he had never felt the barrier between them so heavily dense. 

Kaeya smiled. “ You’ll be okay. ” He told her with a sense of deep knowing. “ I don’t doubt you will reunite with what was lost or taken from you. It’s a shot to the moon, but I’d bet my eye destiny is on your side. ” 

“ Besides, you have the knights to rely on if need be. ” 

[lumenstellaris]

.

[lumenstellaris]

today's a good day to open the window and tell celestia to fuck off. (please ignore the cussing, nahida.)

[lumenstellaris]

"everyone in teyvat is pretty. it isn't fair."

[lumenstellaris]

lumine (the traveler, really) had to have been good at charades. how else would they have spoken to paimon in the two months they were learning teyvat's language? this said, i raise a lumine who forgets the word in teyvatian, but knows it in a language that isn't from teyvat.

paimon is unfortunately somewhere else, maybe being a taste tester for xiangling or at the grand bazaar. what does lumine do when her handwriting is okay at best and indecipherable at worst? charades.

[lumenstellaris]

"tea sounds good." the traveler murmured, standing from the table to rummage through the cabinets. granny furuta of the yashiro commission recently gave her a jar of sweet sakurazuke, and she remembered placing it in one of the drawers a few nights ago. after a few more moments of rummaging, she procured it from the cabinet.

"have you had sweet sakura tea?" pause. then, she frowned. "does sakura tea go well with dango?"

Ei    looked    down    at    the    offered    sweet,    picking    it    up    by    it's    stick    she    looked    it    over    taking    a    bite    out    of    it    slowly.    '    oh...that    is    really    good...t-thank    you  �� traveler.'    She    smiled    abit    taking    another    bite    into    the    round    balls    of    food,    after    a    few    moments    she    finished    placing    the    stick    neatly    onto    the    plate.    '    You    know    what    goes    well    with    dango?    some    tea,    what    do    you    say    traveler?    would    you    like    a    cup?    '    

[lumenstellaris]

she shook her head, gaze darting around. "weasel thieves are easy enough to scare off." there! there it was again, that strange whirring noise— "that. did you hear that? it sounded like a mechanism or something."

@lumenstellaris​ sent a meme:

“wait, did you hear that?”

“…it’s probably just a Weasel Thief again.” Why were there so many around lately? “Why, are you worried you have something valuable on you?”

[lumenstellaris]

"i'm sure!" she nudged the platter of tri-color dango in ei's direction, mouth quirked into a small smile. it was an olive branch of sorts, after the inevitable awkwardness of running into her at the test of courage. "guuji yae mentioned you had a bit of a sweet tooth, so here."

🌸 : ⌗ "how about a little midnight snack?" for ei! ( @lumenstellaris )

''    You    certain    you    wish    to    share    such    a    delicious    snack    with    me?    won't    you    need    it?    '    Ei    blinked    not    really    use    to    such    things    as    this,    usually    she    was    alone    medicating,    but    the    fact    that    she    was    being    offered    a    snack    by    the    same    person    her    puppet    tried    to    kill    was    odd.    

[lumenstellaris]

i know it's like. a thing in genshin fanon that the twins have a sun and moon dynamic, with aether as the sun and lumine as the moon, but maybe it's not like that. maybe it's the traveler who's the sun, and the abyss twin who's the moon.

i know some dialogue from the aranyaka quest line implies this, like arama describing the traveler as someone as golden as the sun, but i'll have to do a deep dive into aranyaka lore again.

[lumenstellaris]

Is now a good time to mention that she's figured out some part of his identity that's related to a certain fallen nation? Beyond that, there has to be a reason that she met two Khaenri'ahns and someone made by a Khaenri'ahn in Mondstadt.

(Barbatos is very much alive too, and she doesn't doubt that he knows who Kaeya is. If he hasn't done anything against him yet, then maybe he can at least let Jean know.)

lumenstellaris

Isn't that even more of a reason to go to therapy? Alcoholism as a means of escapism isn't good for a person's liver, and Kaeya has one of those, right?

He has to keep his entire existence and identity a secret from everyone, Lumine. And that includes therapists. He could not care less if they say they keep things confidential. He is not going to take that chance. He has made a promise once... and even for his own safety, he better honor it.

[lumenstellaris]

with how many of teyvat's vision-wielding population seem to need a therapist, i'm surprised i haven't run into one yet. a therapist, i mean.

[lumenstellaris]

do akademiya students still drink water or is their blood just made of coffee?

[lumenstellaris]

i touched on this in a thread a while ago, but lumine doesn't have any internal organs. no heart, no lungs, no spleen, no nothing. aether taught her how to "breathe" the way people do, as well as how to fake a pulse. feel along her wrist and the underside of her jaw for a pulse, and you'll find something steady and strong, fitting for someone who looks like a healthy young adult. but feel for a pulse over where a heart is supposed to be, and there won't be anything.

though she's long learned to regulate both her pulse and breathing, she still gives herself away in the most... conspicuous way possible: both pulse and breathing stay steady even after a physically demanding activity, be it a fight or constant running. then again, no one ever pays attention to either of the two, so she believes herself to be in the clear.

the only ones who might know about her lack of proper organs are venti, albedo, and kazuha. possibly nahida as well since they exchanged bodies in dreams, emptiness, deception (act 3 of the sumeru archon quest).

the closest thing she has to an organ is her "stomach", though that's just a mini void located around her abdomen. and unfortunately, it doesn't get full from normal human food. she could eat just as much as paimon does, but the only thing that'll sate her appetite is elemental energy—like hypostasis cores, the energy inside a delusion (or vision), regisvine cores, or even the oceanid/thunder manifestation.

her plan when it comes to enemies capable of wielding the elements is simple: eat their attacks. not only does that tactic offer an element of surprise, it also means she can eat while in battle. she gets materials after eating, which is great! paimon also enjoys this fact after being shocked for a while—this means lumine's share of the food often goes to paimon, which helps keep their food cost down.

lumine's ranking of teyvat's edible elemental beings: aleph, beth, daleth + electro, anemo, cryo slimes (best-tasting) cryo regisvine he ayin zayin thunder manifestation oceanid (tastes like angry water) bathysmal vishap herd (the twin vishaps) pyro regisvine electro regisvine jadeplume terrorshroom gimel energy from delusions golden woflord / rifthounds (worst-tasting, do not recommend)

tl;dr: lumine has no internal organs. while she can eat regular food, she only feels full when eating elemental energy. the hypostasis cores are her favorite, simply because they're a bite-sized meal to her.

[lumenstellaris]

i'm here to rep the zeros. they're important too.

[lumenstellaris]

Wanderer and his big mouth