#[ guizhong / v: guili assembly. ] it's great to have it back but i want to go back to the world. and start with guili plains.

[iniziare]

He was leaning in an archway, partially hidden by the vines that had decided to climb it. His head hung low, eyes closed as he listened to the melody she was singing. The lillies around her opening their petals, as though they too, were listening to her. A strange kind of calm fell upon him, shoulders relaxing just that little bit. To anyone who may see him in that moment, they could have mistaken him for being asleep. The smallest smile was at his lips, yet he daren’t disturb her. How long had it been since he took a moment to simply exist like that? Too long… far too long.

The smile was akin to one borne in childlike wonder; the way the corners of her lips rose at the sight of the lilies; as if she were a witness to something otherworldly (the irony was not lost on her); for what flowers bloomed in the dark of night, within this blanket of black and blue serenity? Maybe the answer lay within the stars before her as they momentarily drew her gaze — she could have sworn that they glowed just a little brighter at the thought — or perhaps, much like herself, they enjoyed the sound of song. And so she continued, for them and for him, as uninvited as he may have been; not that she ever minded, of course. If only he'd stood before her, he'd have seen the subsequent curl of her lips and twinkle within those eyes of grey as proof of such a claim.

As for the song; she would never claim it as one of her own. In truth, it feels stolen, as if it had never even been meant for anyone else to hear. But when it left its confines of four wooden walls that night, when her sole companions were the same celestial bodies that hung overhead tonight, she'd paused and listened, as if it had demanded an audience. Were it a mother to her child, a woman to her beloved; she'd questioned. It'd sounded so as a melody of certain devotion, of love; these were intricacies these humans under their care showed, when they bloomed as the lilies could and did. She wondered then whether, perhaps, as two fingertips traced a petal with the utmost care, that was why she smiled as she did, both then and now. "I have not lost count as to how many songs that makes," she'd ceased in her hums, her voice soft and barely a whisper while the corners of her lips remained risen as they had been, and perhaps even rose a little more at her jest. Would he manage to see it within the silhouette that the light of the moon rendered of her, when her head turned towards him? It was a hopeful invitation in more ways than one, "—that you owe me."

Unprompted / @enacrai (for Morax/Rex Lapis/Zhongli, he who we so adore)

#[ guizhong. ] wisdom is like water. it nourishes all those who receive it and in it; is a reflection of the truth. #[ guizhong / threads. ] after the goddess of dust was taken by the wind; the last glaze lily in guili plains withered away to dust in turn. #[ guizhong / inquiries. ] that her mechanical accomplishments were judged superior was one suspects; in large part to her sheer eloquence. #[ guizhong / v: guili assembly. ] it's great to have it back but i want to go back to the world. and start with guili plains. #enacrai #[ hey did you know i'm scared? ] #[ but also-- did you now morax needs to know how to sing and if not; he's gonna learn? ] #[ probably at the hands of one of the little girls in the village. ] #[ i know you said you're ready but-- buuuuuttt! ]

[yuelun]

“Everyone seeks a home, a refuge.” He reaches out to take her hand in his, pressing a single kiss to the back of her hand; a smile on his face. “You have made that; for them. I am sure they would see their home as a part of you.” // Unprompted @archoniic

Preposterous he was with these words of his. He always was— such statements spoken as evidently and consequentially as the boulders that resonated at the behest of no more than his fingertips. These same ones that now enveloped her own within his hand; she'd forgotten whether the smile that had settled amidst strands of ashen and grey had been borne from his words, or his actions. Perhaps both. But whichever its origins, she lingered within its warmth. "When will you cease this, Morax," her lips succumbed to a tighter pull of amusement as she paused, the smile bordering into a chuckle that nestled itself into the fabric lain on his shoulder, pressing lightly into his side. "Where you paint me as little less than utterly remarkable." She'd risen onto the very tips of her toes then, a free hand resting onto his arm for guidance and stability, reaching as high as she could possibly manage before her lips rested just beneath a jawline and closed into a kiss as gentle as the sound of her voice. "I might grow weary of reminding you that it was not me who built their homes." And yet, within the kiss that always coveted for more, within her corrections that came in ever tenderly-spoken words, and the touch that would never cease to linger on his person; she ached for him to know that she was grateful. Grateful for his faith, this belief in her that seemed to never falter even when she'd been able to point at every shortcoming at her hands. The tip of her nose touched, one could argue intentionally so, the bare expanse of his neck amidst the descend which marked her retreat. "It was them. They are who bear a resilience and strength that is bewildering." She might have stolen one more kiss, but tempted to claim more. "They are the remarkable ones." And you. And then, caught within the secret of her smile, she nestled her cheek back into the fabric of his robe, until she kept it a secret no longer. "And you."

When her gaze finally settled onto this joint venture of their hands where he and she turned into them, she wiggled her fingers within his grasp— as if to the ghost of a tingle left behind by his kiss. She craved for it to return, and wondered still why this was a truth lodged so firmly in her chest. And so when her remark to it finally came after all else, it was filled with gaiety, joy, and an utterance of laughter. All because of him. "Careful, I may never want you to let go of it if you continue."

#archoniic #[ ic. ] had you not decided to search for that mystery adeptus; perhaps these stories too; would have been lost to the sands of time. #[ answered: ic. ] hmph. she always had a way with words. #[ guili: archoniic. ] with shortness of breath; i'll try to explain the infinite. how rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist. #[ v: guili assembly. ] it's great to have it back but i want to go back to the world. and start with guili plains. #[ 5000 tags later-- i present to you: guizhong who is slowly becoming rather smitten with morax; lord of geo and obnoxious words that... ] #[ mean a lot but also are. well. obnoxious because they cause things. ] #[ this is why he becomes/is the lord of contracts. jfc. ] #[ but also guizhong really really really really likes him. ] #[ he's stupid but endearing. <3 and by stupid i mean very intelligent but just causes feelings. 😭😭] #[ i've missed writing them so much kay. please know this. ]