dijun | ᴛᴜʀʙᴏ ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ ☁️ ali zoph

[ curiouser and curiouser... zhongli is seated at idk a bench or something on the boardwalk, having gotten a slice of pizza that he's assessing with a small frown on his face. not unfamiliar, necessarily, but slightly bemused. when he sees ali coming down the walk, he tilts his head in greeting. ]

Mister Ali. How are you fairing this morning?

[ Zhongli is distracted, once everything has been taken care of for jiaoqiu. he's actually in the kitchen at the moment, waiting for water to boil in an old-fashioned kettle on the stove and simply... staring into the wall above the stove, his hands absently resting on the handle for the oven below. his stance is still just as upright as usual, but his shoulders are still tense while he lets himself be lost to his own thoughts.

it's only when the kettle begins to whistle that he rouses from his thoughts and notices ali, shaking his head and offering a small smile. ]

Tea? [ might as well offer some, as he reaches for the kettle, going to pour it into a porcelain teapot waiting on the counter. ] I thought it might be good to brew some, after that.

[ i had perfect, prewritten starters for anybody that asked for them at the start of this week. they were wonderful!

and then a fucking cerbegoose happened.

zhongli is seated in the lobby when everything dies down, and ali might brave exiting the safety of the interior of the mansion. he's as dressed down as it gets for him, still dragoned out - but the pointier ears that poke out of his hair twitch when he hears footsteps. so, he looks up from where he's pouring himself a drink of something amber colored in a clear wine bottle. at least it's not the ominous stomping of the goddamn goose. ]

... much too exciting for an end of the day. Did you get out of it unscathed?

[Ali isn't hungover anymore but there's another headache to deal with!]

Two this time...

[He is not looking forward to the trial tomorrow.]

[ POUNCES on top of his new dragon friend with a little baby roar, in the middle of their game of tag, although he's careful not to hurt his wings as he commences a play fight. ]

[ fresh outside air... zhongli is just standing out here looking upwards, at the sky, arms folded behind his back as he does. ali can come join him and he will give a small hum of acknowledgement to him being there, but doesn't say anything right away. ]

Edited 2025-03-02 03:27 (UTC)

[ i'm going to drop us directly into memshare so that i can make sure we get everything taken care of. so whether they're in the funhouse or step through a doorway and find themselves there...

well, congrats! you've been chosen for a memory of dust for this one! if you want another one later on in the thread or the week i've GOT you. ]

[ you get to find zhongli at the always hotel, one ankle propped on the opposite knee as he sits at the bar counter. he's got a bottle of osmanthus wine at his elbow, a half-filled glass along with it, and is watching the living while also scrolling on his phone to follow their text conversations. in his other hand is the motivational pen, which he's tapping absently against the journal he has opened - he's taken down the morse code messages, as well as any important observations so far.

the emotions here are well-deep, instead of distantly down a hallway, but calm. steady as stone. there's a bit of a pensive undernote, but he's focused and no longer tense. ]

... care to join me? [ said once there's a blip of realization. hi ali. ] It's been a long weekend.

wk 0; monday

wk 0; sunday

no subject

Week 1, Friday

wk 2; monday

wk 2; saturday

wk 3; monday

wk 4; sunday