[ kaeya frowns as the bottle is taken from him, but... allows this, folding his arms instead. he listens intently, and as he does, there's something in his eye (hole?) that softens. blooms of tired callalilies. then he blinks, and it's blue again, as starry as before. a lover and a fighter. ]
Sounds just like Venessa then...
[ the lion's fang. the dawnlight. ]
Minus the... bringing beautiful young men to the heavens, but. The rest... yes.
Oh? Are you going to spirit me away? Or maybe someone else?
[ he smiles. fine. whatever!!! ]
She helped free Mondstadt from the aristocracy... not long after the Dawnlight's passing. She became the first Grand Master of the Ordo of Favonius, the group I'm part of... the Eagle of the West, the Lion's Fang. Story goes, she said...
"We must fight and claim our own freedom. We can not beg for it. We must not kneel for it. Freedom given freely is only a guise for another shackle."
[ he looks into his lap quietly. ]
When she passed, her spirit rose to Celestia in the form of an eagle. To protect those who wield Aquila Favonius in her name.
She was... sometimes I think Jean tries to be too much like her. Her shoes are too enormous, she lifted the shackles from an entire city of freedom. Jean is different. She can lead in her own way... I think she's learning this.
That is a legacy, we are meant to carry it, not to simply wear the same tired clothes over and over again. You must beget progress, not more of the same. I think... sometimes Jean doesn't realize that. That she can breathe too, that she's allowed that.
[ this is why he does double the work and no one knows except maybe god. he lifts a hand to pluck a stray feather near his eye, flicks it off into ash and then nothing.
in a flash, he smiles, like nothing has happened, turns. ]
I wonder if sometimes, a moment to breathe gets in the way of the progress and goal you'd like to achieve.
[ they say this idly, listening to kaeya as he muses on this jean person. for a moment, they are looking away, gaze focused across the room - maybe lost in their own thoughts.
...kaeya brings them back when he turns towards them, though, and they laugh. it's a similar reaction. like nothing even happened. ] Quit fishing for compliments.
[ STOP!!!! SMACK SMACK, but weaker, babier smacks until he just kind of sinks into the seat like he's trying to melt into it. maybe relief? maybe tired? who knows ur on his eyepatch side. ]
A torrid love affair! Incredible. I know a bard who would love to write a story about you, I'm sure.
I'm fond of a bard or two. A legendary song about me would be pretty great.
[ teasing, there. they bat at kaeya's hand with the baby smacks gently but mostly just let it happen, preening a bit. as he sinks into the chair, he can feel a strange, sort of soft, if cold presence, as one wing curls around him. ]
You know precisely what I meant, [ nudging his leg underneath the table, but behaving otherwise to stay ensnuggled in a wing. ] I just didn't have anything to rhyme with "they" that would make proper sense.
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Sounds just like Venessa then...
[ the lion's fang. the dawnlight. ]
Minus the... bringing beautiful young men to the heavens, but. The rest... yes.
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they laugh, though, glancing down at him. ] Well, who knows if that part suits me or not. Venessa?
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[ he smiles. fine. whatever!!! ]
She helped free Mondstadt from the aristocracy... not long after the Dawnlight's passing. She became the first Grand Master of the Ordo of Favonius, the group I'm part of... the Eagle of the West, the Lion's Fang. Story goes, she said...
"We must fight and claim our own freedom. We can not beg for it. We must not kneel for it. Freedom given freely is only a guise for another shackle."
[ he looks into his lap quietly. ]
When she passed, her spirit rose to Celestia in the form of an eagle. To protect those who wield Aquila Favonius in her name.
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[ absently. but, they listen to that for a moment. the dawnlight. eagle of the west.
... ]
I see. Sounds like an inspiring leader.
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That is a legacy, we are meant to carry it, not to simply wear the same tired clothes over and over again. You must beget progress, not more of the same. I think... sometimes Jean doesn't realize that. That she can breathe too, that she's allowed that.
[ this is why he does double the work and no one knows except maybe god. he lifts a hand to pluck a stray feather near his eye, flicks it off into ash and then nothing.
in a flash, he smiles, like nothing has happened, turns. ]
You really think I'm pretty.
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[ they say this idly, listening to kaeya as he muses on this jean person. for a moment, they are looking away, gaze focused across the room - maybe lost in their own thoughts.
...kaeya brings them back when he turns towards them, though, and they laugh. it's a similar reaction. like nothing even happened. ] Quit fishing for compliments.
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[ but at the last remark: ]
No. Whosoever gave me my good looks deserves to have them flaunted and praised.
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and then laugh. ] How bratty. [ teasing, though. they boop him on the nose with a claw. ] Or how spoiled? Maybe both.
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But who spoils you, Aquila?
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Oh, the Nightman. You know.
[ this is a joke ]
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You allowed to talk about your boss like that?
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[ they are
so full of bullshit, snickering as they are rightfully smacked. ]
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A torrid love affair! Incredible. I know a bard who would love to write a story about you, I'm sure.
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I'm fond of a bard or two. A legendary song about me would be pretty great.
[ teasing, there. they bat at kaeya's hand with the baby smacks gently but mostly just let it happen, preening a bit. as he sinks into the chair, he can feel a strange, sort of soft, if cold presence, as one wing curls around him. ]
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Don't know about legendary, but...
[ and he will start to carefully carve out a beat on his knee. he's from the country of freedom and revelry after all. ] Let's see...
I once was a bird, so keen were they
With wings so strong, and demeanor quite gay
Aloft the winds of dawn they flew
Despite this miserable cage.
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My demeanor is fond of men and women, thanks.
[ they knew exactly what he actually meant and yet ]
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kaeya may stay ensnuggled. ] Maybe you’re not suited to be a bard, actually.
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Mmm-mmm. But, a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.
This is what I'm meant to do.
Few people see what I am really.
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and then glance down at him. ]
And what are you, Kaeya?
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and catch his nose between their shadowy knuckles again. ]
Stop that.
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I think I'm scared. Of what happens next... I'm not even going to say it... give the asshole ideas.
So I have to laugh. [ tilting his head ] You know?
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But, I don't think that was a joke, was it?
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It's quite a story.
I already have to concoct another, you know...
[ he'll tell them if they want to swap out the second story from before. ]
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