[Aw, that's cute Akihiko art, up there in the layout you made!]
I'll gladly take tea. Thanks.
[Right now, something soothing sure would be welcoming. That 'expulsion' was going to be quite alarming to watch, he had known that ever since he found out everybody was forced to come along and see what would happen, but it sure was...oof, it was something]
I have a feeling anything we talk is going to be difficult too.
[ the goodest protein boy deserves the goodest art. ]
Of course. Lavender and chamomile, to soothe nerves and aid in rest. Whether it be done with sleep or not. [ there's a little clatter of porcelain as he puts the top back onto the teapot, setting the kettle back on the stove and waiting for the tea to steep. ]
... it will be, yes. When one is witness to something, but unable to act, it makes it all the more difficult to process.
[Akihiko waits patiently. He leans against the wall]
I'm starting to think there's a lot I haven't heard about yet, and all of it will be ugly. But I haven't gotten to where I am by turning away from the painful things. Don't hold anything back, Zhongli.
[......]
What you said about Jing Yuan...explain that, please?
[ at least akihiko is willing to face the hardest fights, regardless of how literal they are. he silently moves the teapot and cups in preparation for serving the tea, pensive, organizing his thoughts. ]
There was nothing behind Jing Yuan's eyes, when he was taken away last night. No remorse, and a callousness that I was not familiar with, despite this brief time we have known him. Jiaoqiu will be able to give more insight into his character, but I doubt he will be feeling up to it at the moment - so best to let him rest, rather than bring it up first.
When I spoke with him, in containment, he said that he killed Charlie and set up those traps for boredom. Dismissive, uncaring, unrepentant. He was a man who smiled and offered levity, yes, but it did not feel as if he was that sort of person where it mattered.
... and I do not think that Jiaoqiu would have tried to stand in his place, if he were a malicious man.
I heard from Marcoh that was what that man had said. I was pretty upset about it. [To think Charlie had died because someone felt 'bored'. It was so bizarre, and Akihiko couldn't even begin to understand that] You trust Jiaoqiu's judgment that much? We haven't known either of them for that long.
[Akihiko has a hard time believing Jing Yuan can't have been a terrible person all along since, you know, he and the rest of S.E.E.S got backstabbed by someone they thought they knew well and none of them saw that coming. For all Akihiko knows, maybe Jing Yuan was good at hiding his true nature too]
... I know, from Mister Marcoh, that their people usually die from two things. Madness, or falling in battle. If Jing Yuan succumbed to the madness that might have been dormant in him, waiting for him to be vulnerable, then there is naught to have been done for it. We might have compassion for his condition, but not forgive him for what he'd done.
If he was hiding ill intent for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, to the point that Jiaoqiu would believe in him... he was very adept, indeed.
I just have a hard time of believing that it was only madness, or maliciousness, behind what happened when the angels haven't been able to pinpoint the source of the barriers and everything that happened today and Thursday night.
[ zhongli isn't inclined towards the ikutsuki route for this, but he's only giving what he knows and his opinions rather than staunchy saying this is the truth, there's no other possibilities. ]
[Akihiko listens. So, Jing Yuan would have to be fooling Jiaoqiu for hundreds of years, to the point that Jiaoqiu would try to take the blame...Zhongli has a point there, really.
And there's also that yeah, the whole barriers thing shouldn't be left aside. It's a big part of the mystery. Akihiko stares at his cup of tea as if that'd give him answers]
...I have to talk with Jiaoqiu about it. [Not today, but yeah, he'll have to] Maybe once I hear what kind of person that guy is supposed to be I'll figure out how to feel about this.
The angels have promised to do their best to look into the cause of what happened, in regards to Thursday night and the expulsion, and I have faith in them that they mean it. Their God is apparently unhappy and found all of this unexpected, but being in charge of all of Heaven makes it difficult for them to know everything, apparently. [ it isn't said with disdain, but still seems... disapproving. ]
I don't want to see this happen again. I doubt anyone does. So while I'm cautious about saying outright that it was the General acting wholly of his own volition - madness or not - I hope that it winds up being the case.
It's really weird to hear something unexpected happened in a god's heaven. [Maybe axolotls aren't very good at being celestial creatures.
Akihiko nods gravely]
Thanks for explaining that about Jing Yuan, anyway. There's so much wrong in this all it's hard to figure out where to start unraveling it, but it's looking less difficult now.
At any point that I did not know about something happening in Liyue, I had a network that would report on it - or simply deal with it, themselves, so that it might not pose a threat. To have angels under them, you would expect something similar in a place so wholly devoted to their power.
[ maybe they aren't. he has no idea, but he has very low opinions about god so far. ]
Of course, Akihiko. Please, I hope that you will take what I've told you and seek out further context and answers from those that might have them for you, as in this situation... I unfortunately can only give so much.
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no subject
I'll gladly take tea. Thanks.
[Right now, something soothing sure would be welcoming. That 'expulsion' was going to be quite alarming to watch, he had known that ever since he found out everybody was forced to come along and see what would happen, but it sure was...oof, it was something]
I have a feeling anything we talk is going to be difficult too.
no subject
Of course. Lavender and chamomile, to soothe nerves and aid in rest. Whether it be done with sleep or not. [ there's a little clatter of porcelain as he puts the top back onto the teapot, setting the kettle back on the stove and waiting for the tea to steep. ]
... it will be, yes. When one is witness to something, but unable to act, it makes it all the more difficult to process.
no subject
I'm starting to think there's a lot I haven't heard about yet, and all of it will be ugly. But I haven't gotten to where I am by turning away from the painful things. Don't hold anything back, Zhongli.
[......]
What you said about Jing Yuan...explain that, please?
no subject
There was nothing behind Jing Yuan's eyes, when he was taken away last night. No remorse, and a callousness that I was not familiar with, despite this brief time we have known him. Jiaoqiu will be able to give more insight into his character, but I doubt he will be feeling up to it at the moment - so best to let him rest, rather than bring it up first.
When I spoke with him, in containment, he said that he killed Charlie and set up those traps for boredom. Dismissive, uncaring, unrepentant. He was a man who smiled and offered levity, yes, but it did not feel as if he was that sort of person where it mattered.
... and I do not think that Jiaoqiu would have tried to stand in his place, if he were a malicious man.
no subject
[Akihiko has a hard time believing Jing Yuan can't have been a terrible person all along since, you know, he and the rest of S.E.E.S got backstabbed by someone they thought they knew well and none of them saw that coming. For all Akihiko knows, maybe Jing Yuan was good at hiding his true nature too]
no subject
If he was hiding ill intent for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, to the point that Jiaoqiu would believe in him... he was very adept, indeed.
I just have a hard time of believing that it was only madness, or maliciousness, behind what happened when the angels haven't been able to pinpoint the source of the barriers and everything that happened today and Thursday night.
[ zhongli isn't inclined towards the ikutsuki route for this, but he's only giving what he knows and his opinions rather than staunchy saying this is the truth, there's no other possibilities. ]
no subject
And there's also that yeah, the whole barriers thing shouldn't be left aside. It's a big part of the mystery. Akihiko stares at his cup of tea as if that'd give him answers]
...I have to talk with Jiaoqiu about it. [Not today, but yeah, he'll have to] Maybe once I hear what kind of person that guy is supposed to be I'll figure out how to feel about this.
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I don't want to see this happen again. I doubt anyone does. So while I'm cautious about saying outright that it was the General acting wholly of his own volition - madness or not - I hope that it winds up being the case.
no subject
Akihiko nods gravely]
Thanks for explaining that about Jing Yuan, anyway. There's so much wrong in this all it's hard to figure out where to start unraveling it, but it's looking less difficult now.
no subject
[ maybe they aren't. he has no idea, but he has very low opinions about god so far. ]
Of course, Akihiko. Please, I hope that you will take what I've told you and seek out further context and answers from those that might have them for you, as in this situation... I unfortunately can only give so much.
no subject
[He can always appreciate a more knowledgeable person. He knows his own limits]