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Fall
"Why do the trees change in the fall?" Raiden recalls her daughter asking, and her mouth curls with amusement, putting down the quill pen and meeting those opal eyes. "Time changes everything, dear."
Anxiety
“How could my friends be so mean?” It’s a cacophonous combination of words riddled with frustrated wrought, and she could only frown, enveloping trembling shoulders with protective arms.
Remark
“Auntie’s smart,” the curious little girl begins, harvesting a triumphant grin from Makoto which she returns, opening her mouth to agree when— “but you’re the prettiest lady in the whole wide world!”
Music
Beyond nights where entwined voices, one with a low timber and the other youthfully light, filled the retro-styled car, Raiden thinks she didn’t have much else to look forward to in nighttime.
Question
“Who’s he to you, mom?” She remembers being asked, a brisk tug at her sleeve, and of all things, it’s this silly little thing that renders him speechless.
Arcade
The first time Raiden finds herself in an arcade is with him, eyes trained on molten gold, brows a deep brown caught in a frown, a new spectrum of determination in this cycle of failed attempts to win a prize.
Promise
“Tell her you won it,” Zhongli reiterates not because he thought her deaf but because the unsettling frown adorning her gentle features worries him so. “I don’t mind.”
Ponder
In dimmed quietude, she finds herself thinking about the way he held her ungloved hand after having won the stuffed toy on that fateful day.
Gift
“Miho,” Raiden calls out, cooing with a gentle, soothing low timber. “The nice man from the other day got you something.”
Undoing
The next day, she sees him in the train station wearing a fine trench coat, gazing upon his watch— his schedule is with flaw when Miho greets him with great cheer, “Mister, thanks for that teddy bear!” and he gazes towards her, she looks away, he says, “You didn’t tell her?”
Quarrel
“It was something you won, I couldn’t just—“ She insists, harvesting a shake of the head. “I told you it was fine,” So unusually calm, Miho looks up at the two of them, the sound of trains in motion eluding her. “Did I not?”
Concede
“Fine,” She concedes after a while, tangling the light brown hair of an owner idle on her lap, zoning in and out of the exchange of riddles. “I’ll just have to win one of my own next time.”
Focal
Only when her filial angel says, “Um, about the other day… I don’t think you should stress yourself out over a toy, mom! I just wanna spend time with you!” does Raiden realize that perhaps she missed the point a tad.
Forever
Forever is the age of princesses and pirate ships for a pristine child such as her; forever is then not Raiden’s strife but the motivating factor behind her unnervingly calm strikes.
Fourteen
Zhongli has exactly fourteen cents when they meet in a cafe when her slight irritation is mitigated by the hollow crash of a few Mora against the coffee table, then followed her laughter— soft yet audible enough to accelerate his pulse.
Remembrance
A rough blend, mostly unfiltered, almost a deep red— that’s what she remembers him by, his taste, and it’s good enough (… she supposes) entertainment on the way towards Yae’s place where she was forced to entrust Miho to at least for today.
Fool
Yae notices how particularly giggly she is and thinks it odd until the stoic prune’s screen flashes open, revealing a notification from Zhongli sent around six minutes ago; ‘Ei, I can’t find my phone. Could you call it?’
Vehemence
“You don’t have to get it exactly right—“ She remembers interrupting Saiguu with an unusually vehement shake of the head, voice almost breaking, “I do, I have to.”
Stone
In the solitary reign of thunder in a graveyard, a less than suitable theater for its mighty flash, she thinks about how pathetic it is that some concrete standing upright, engraved with a name she knows best, could draw large, genuine tears from her eyes.
Fortune
Her car breaks down and she thinks to call Yae, caressing the hair of one sleeping girl all the while. Finally, her friend picks up and is informed of the situation, yet she prefaces her thoughts with: “Why don’t you ask that good friend of yours to give you a ride?”
Askance
“Pfft,” Venti snickers, unbothered by the glowering purple sparks. “Give you a ride, eh? Sounds like a plan.”
Product
He does, in fact, promise to give her a ride for as long as the car is being fixed… yet his cheeks are dusted a muted pink when she tells him of Venti’s comment.
Assumption
Raiden likes the fact that her subordinates assume her and him a couple because of their little contract; all fiction, noise, until one morning; “See you later, dad!”
Sage
“In his long life, he has met countless people, and shall meet countless more still.” She forgets that her life is just as equally unpredictable, fickle, and to her, his smile is first and foremost the sweetest relief before anything else.
Denial
"Would it kill you to be a little more honest with yourself?" With that, she fights the urge to pry the pink minx's fingers away from her hair.
Myriad
“Try acting upon your feelings a little more!” Venti suggests and Zhongli shakes his head, looking at the occupied woman dressed in opulent purple as he answers with: “My feelings will only prove to be a burden.” because he knows she isn’t listening.
Favor
“She’s inviting some friends over for her birthday,” For some reason, it’s him she’s saying this to yet he makes no comment on the oddity of it all. “Could you help me with it?”
Awkward
When he comes over, Miho is too occupied with her toys to notice how they’re sitting too far apart on the couch in silent supervision.
Maelstrom
Gone is his composure when she draws closer to adjust the tie gone messy thanks to Miho’s shenanigans, and gone is it still even after she’s out of his radius.
Candlelight
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, happy birthday…” It begins, the children’s lively song riding their steady claps— “Happy birthday to you.” She sings along and because he’s closest to her, he knows her artful tune best.
Refrigerator
Raiden finds herself grieving the lack of saccharine leftovers to eat, and by some hopeful innate voice, she goes downstairs, in the middle of the night, to come to terms with the tragedy— it’s how she finds him brooding on the table, how her tired self leans down to tell him: “It’s not good to stay up… as you would often tell me yourself.”
Mystery
Raiden thinks it’s strange that he says she’s funny when all she ever does is say what’s on her mind.
Waterways
Fatigue flows like a tenfold a waterfall’s pressure the very next day, and she slouches towards the kitchen, the prominence of food filling her senses. It’s something she’s always struggled with, really, and to extend her gratitude towards the ever composed chef, she entwines her fingers with his in a lazy weave— she doesn’t notice his momentary flinch.
Thoughts
Raiden thinks about all the times he doesn’t push her away, doesn’t reject her touches, how his gaze is sometimes trained on her lips, and how she hates that it’s these things that peel her exterior.
Answer
“Soooo, who is he to you?” This question seems familiar, she thinks and this time, laughs, whispering something into Miho’s ear that makes her gasp, leaving Zhongli in the hands of guesswork.