[ zhongli is minding his own business at the train stop, with a to-go cup of what smells like coffee upon getting close enough. he's waiting for the train, having seen people get on it - but he glances over when he hears footseps coming this way.
seeing hawke reminds him of his insistence to learn more about dragons. ]
Ah, Mister Hawke. Good morning. It appears the rails have become active, now, if you would care to join me in finding out where they go.
[ honestly rng choosing beach is wildly appropriate. zhongli can be found with polearm in hand, point angled downwards but grip tight and ready rather than absently loose like it had been for most of the week so far. he's walking the length of the beach and scanning it with brow furrowed, expression severe, like he's just - looking. for anything. where charlie was, any signs of a scuffle or struggle or fight or anything, but coming up short the entire way.
approach? he hasn't immediately registered that someone else is there with him, to be honest. ]
[ good thing hawke had the grand idea to come out and stare at the water in deep contemplation. lucky for him, zhongli is more interesting than staring at the ocean so he'll just waddle over and do his best not to spook yet another grandpa into a heart attack ]
[ help. good news is that he's hard to startle! even though right now he's on edge, he doesn't try to shank hawke on approach. just lifts his head up a little more quickly than he has for the week so far, before some tension eases out - but only some. ]
Nothing. Some of us were out here, last night, and don't remember falling asleep. But nothing roused us, either.
[ back straight, arms still behind it with polearm in one hand, zhongli is quiet but lets hawke fall into step with him without question. he is... pondering. frowning. ]
No, likely not. It was the eleventh hour, as they say, and not an expected result from it.
[ 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 hawke 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?
here zhongli comes, marching up the steps to where hawke is being kept. he's brought some osmanthus wine with him again, but with styrofoam cups he's gotten from the convenience store - something that he finds distasteful, but he would rather not give him anything that someone could try and use against him - as he makes his way over to the veritable cage.
his tail flicks behind him, his eyes far more draconic than they have been all week, and scales overtaking much of his visible skin, now. ]
Hello, Mister Hawke. Care for some wine, before tomorrow?
[ there is no real preamble to this one; zhongli snags hawke and drags him off to the dark gate. it's barren and there's very little to damage, here, depending on what happens. ]
I cannot take my adeptal form, still. But I thought you might take an interest in getting some of your pent up energy out, especially if it came to helping me test just how much of my power I have back.
[ see hawke would say something along the lines of he's getting kidnapped away for zhongli to have his wicked way with him but he actually likes the guy and the chances of getting buried into the dirt for it is Not Low. it's almost like he's learned tact! (he hasn't)
the !!! delight probably helps though ]
And here I thought I'd be forced to be on my best behavior this whole time.
[ 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 hawke. ] It's been a long weekend.
[ shakes in having this open to reply to but all of That happens in the process. oh boy!!!!!!
meanwhile, hawke, notorious day drinker and problematic adventurer wades in like he's rolled out of bed sometimes in the pm and immediately headed for the bar. he flops on the seat right next to peepaw and flops a hand. it might be a hello.
[ hey guess who's in the bed next to these clowns in the medical room, covering his eyes from a massive headache of overstrain. squints at my own english but leaves it that way ]
I would kill again for an elfroot potion right about now.
zhongli had been talked into coming here to reassure people, but once he was walking long enough the blood loss took him. my man usually has almost 40K HP and is now running on, like, 20. ]
Would that I could prepare some food that actually healed in this place.
[ howdy, hawke, you may find zhongli... in the chop & chill kitchen! his hair is tied back as always, but he's wearing a simple apron and has his sleeves rolled up to show off his arms as he works on... multiple projects, it seems like? his chao, kedou, is seated on the counter where it's flipping through one of the numerous cookbooks that have been stacked and collected for zhongli to reference. he's in the process of chopping a wide variety of vegetables at the moment, however, so he's not paying much mind to the cookbooks, putting each vegetable into its own large mixing bowl as he goes.
he's so absorbed in what he's doing that he hasn't noticed that hawke has joined him, thoughts sort of... faded out? like they're absent, background noise in his mind, but it seems he's running through different recipes that he needs the vegetables for. the various names of the recipes are a mix, things that sound similar to what's found in autumn alley, french dishes, western in general. it matches the books that are stacked up on the counter. ]
[ well, once hawke's been wrapped up like a mummy by everyone doing triage for all of his FUCKING HOLES, zhongli arrives again to the health center with his jacket shed and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. the odd colored skin of his arms is just as bloodstained as his shirt and vest, but he doesn't pay it much mind as he approaches the bed that he deposited hawke into.
and then he just drops to sit a chair next to it, staring at him with a severe expression. ]
I have a healing item. And you are going to take it.
[ getting off the stop to see candy land sure isn't what he expected, after having watched from the other side for the past few weeks. zhongli takes one look at the destruction and waste, and summons his polearm from thin air to hold onto as he had before their powers were given back. especially with the sounds that he hears every now and then.
running into hawke, he inclines his head slightly in greeting before looking out at the streets. he immediately goes to fill in the space of hawke's blind spot, though.... ]
Certainly a change, here. Perhaps the most drastic, considering the other stops have, at least, still retained their general setting despite all of the destruction. Do you hear that, Hawke, or is it just me?
[ HIS TREE SNACKS................. everything is so depressing he's depressed looking at it. this does not stop him from eyeballing Zhongli in mild I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING but otherwise he says nothing on it ]
Whatever it is, I doubt it's friendly. I've a feeling our welcome was rather unwelcomed, hm?
reaches and takes the wine one from him. is it already opened? ]
Mages do not exist in a traditional sense, in Teyvat, so we will likely have to fashion you a false Vision so that you can blend in with the commonfolk and they won't ask as many questions when you're throwing fireballs around. Not that they'll ostracize you, but they will ask questions.
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wk 0; monday
seeing hawke reminds him of his insistence to learn more about dragons. ]
Ah, Mister Hawke. Good morning. It appears the rails have become active, now, if you would care to join me in finding out where they go.
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I would be honored.
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Come, then, I'm sure that you have many a question that you would like answered.
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wk 0; friday
approach? he hasn't immediately registered that someone else is there with him, to be honest. ]
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Anything?
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Nothing. Some of us were out here, last night, and don't remember falling asleep. But nothing roused us, either.
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w0, post trial sat
Talk about a dramatic turn of events. Not even the drunkest of tavern dwellers would believe it.
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No, likely not. It was the eleventh hour, as they say, and not an expected result from it.
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wk 1; tuesday
and then a fucking cerbegoose happened.
zhongli is seated in the lobby when everything dies down, and hawke 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?
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I got a bloody tree thrown at me.
[ but the 11 says the wood only bonked him lightly so he's fine. .....never mind he's probably full of splinters actually. ]
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wk 1; saturday
here zhongli comes, marching up the steps to where hawke is being kept. he's brought some osmanthus wine with him again, but with styrofoam cups he's gotten from the convenience store - something that he finds distasteful, but he would rather not give him anything that someone could try and use against him - as he makes his way over to the veritable cage.
his tail flicks behind him, his eyes far more draconic than they have been all week, and scales overtaking much of his visible skin, now. ]
Hello, Mister Hawke. Care for some wine, before tomorrow?
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We may as well! Hello to you, ser Zhongli. My thanks for the save earlier.
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wk 4; monday
I cannot take my adeptal form, still. But I thought you might take an interest in getting some of your pent up energy out, especially if it came to helping me test just how much of my power I have back.
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the !!! delight probably helps though ]
And here I thought I'd be forced to be on my best behavior this whole time.
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wk 4; sunday
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 hawke. ] It's been a long weekend.
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meanwhile, hawke, notorious day drinker and problematic adventurer wades in like he's rolled out of bed sometimes in the pm and immediately headed for the bar. he flops on the seat right next to peepaw and flops a hand. it might be a hello.
whaddup my friend ]
Anything exciting?
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w5, thurs
I would kill again for an elfroot potion right about now.
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zhongli had been talked into coming here to reassure people, but once he was walking long enough the blood loss took him. my man usually has almost 40K HP and is now running on, like, 20. ]
Would that I could prepare some food that actually healed in this place.
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wk 6; monday
he's so absorbed in what he's doing that he hasn't noticed that hawke has joined him, thoughts sort of... faded out? like they're absent, background noise in his mind, but it seems he's running through different recipes that he needs the vegetables for. the various names of the recipes are a mix, things that sound similar to what's found in autumn alley, french dishes, western in general. it matches the books that are stacked up on the counter. ]
wk 6; thursday
and then he just drops to sit a chair next to it, staring at him with a severe expression. ]
I have a healing item. And you are going to take it.
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hawke blinks his one eye, the other newly wrapped and throwing his already precarious balance entirely off ]
You don't like the new look?
[ even raspy and tired, hawke will apparently be hawke ]
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wk 7; monday
[ getting off the stop to see candy land sure isn't what he expected, after having watched from the other side for the past few weeks. zhongli takes one look at the destruction and waste, and summons his polearm from thin air to hold onto as he had before their powers were given back. especially with the sounds that he hears every now and then.
running into hawke, he inclines his head slightly in greeting before looking out at the streets. he immediately goes to fill in the space of hawke's blind spot, though.... ]
Certainly a change, here. Perhaps the most drastic, considering the other stops have, at least, still retained their general setting despite all of the destruction. Do you hear that, Hawke, or is it just me?
[ shambling, in the distance... ]
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Whatever it is, I doubt it's friendly. I've a feeling our welcome was rather unwelcomed, hm?
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w7, endgame
So! Tell me more about this place you mentioned. How are they on mages and will I have to watch my mouth?
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reaches and takes the wine one from him. is it already opened? ]
Mages do not exist in a traditional sense, in Teyvat, so we will likely have to fashion you a false Vision so that you can blend in with the commonfolk and they won't ask as many questions when you're throwing fireballs around. Not that they'll ostracize you, but they will ask questions.
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