Chapter Text
Jue was pretty familiar with Jinhsi - having raised the girl since birth, the Sentinel had familiarised themselves with many of her mannerisms. The way she’d give herself a small pep talk before addressing her people, or the way there’d be dragon scales creeping up her neck and cheeks whenever she felt an especially strong emotion. How she always tried her best to be righteous for the people of her city.
Through their shared connection, Jue had experienced many of the same emotions that Jinhsi did. Happiness. Sadness. Determination. Stress. And, in rare cases, anger. Whenever the Magistrate of Jinzhou was dealing with a particularly stubborn foreign official, or uncovering corruption within her own ministry, Jue had the sudden and inexplicable urge to cleave a mountain in two. The dragon tried to refrain from doing so, of course, especially if it was Loong’s Ridge in Mount Firmament. They quite liked the dragon-shaped mountain, even if it was a little bit self-righteous.
However, emotions that Jue did not often feel from their Resonator were nervousness and shyness. Sure, Jinhsi had the occasional pang of anxiety before addressing the public with a speech, but the girl was, by and large, mature and confident. However, while dwelling in the depths of their ‘cage’ in Mianloong Chamber, Jue realised that they were feeling nervous and shy more often. Or rather, Jinhsi was feeling nervous and shy more often. The Sentinel didn’t have the slightest inkling as to why until they were freed from their prison and saw the fucking Lord Arbiter standing next to her.
Then, everything clicked into place.
Jinhsi had a crush. A crush that loomed over her like the statue of the Threnodian loomed over the Desorock Highland. A crush that was more obvious than the 300,000 damage crit nukes that she performed in the Tower of Adversity.
Though, Jue had to confess that they weren’t that focused on the fact that there was a chance their Resonator was about to find love with the Sentinel’s former master and instead on the crisis of time that was about to cause Mt. Firmament to implode on itself, taking everyone and everything there along with it. (Secretly, if that came to pass, Jue would have at least a bit of satisfaction knowing that a good chunk of the filthy Fractsidus would be killed along with it.)
Of course, Jue knew the prophesied fight between them and Jinhsi was to occur soon enough, the deadline creeping up on the pair like shadows in the night. Unfortunately, the future beyond that point was too blurry to see. Though they were ashamed to admit it, there was a part of the Sentinel that honestly did not care if Jinhsi survived the encounter, such was their blind rage.
Yet somehow, with the Lord Arbiter’s presence in Jue’s Sonoro Sphere, there was a comforting sense of familiarity, faint memories of the time when Jue was but a few decades old, rather than centuries. The hand that guided them in the past was here to stop them now, and they had saved Jinhsi and the rest of Jinzhou in the process. Besides, something told them that Rover probably wouldn’t be very happy if Jue ‘accidentally’ hit Jinhsi just a little bit too hard, resulting in her untimely demise.
It’d probably be on the level of filicide, considering how the dragon had raised the Magistrate since she was but a crying infant.
But our story’s not about the heroic acts of Jinhsi and Rover as they ventured forth to save the world. Go play Wuthering Waves Act VII - Thaw of Eons for that.
All of this is besides the point. What is the point is that Jue had had a slight inkling in their draconic body that maybe their Resonator had… What's the term? Caught feelings. Which part of their body? Probably the tail end, with how much bullshit rhetoric they had been spouting upon their farewell to the Lord Arbiter while internally freaking out.
As much as a deity of time could freak out, anyway.
And the Sentinel could bet every scale on their body that Rover felt close to the same for the Magistrate of Jinzhou, considering how worried and concerned he had been over her well-being post-battle.
The fact that the girl they had raised was now hopelessly smitten with their former master posed a philosophical problem. On one hand, they were undoubtedly happy that Jinhsi had found happiness, or, at least, was soon to find happiness. On the other…
Rover was at least centuries old, chronologically. A fact that Jue decided to keep hush-hush because god forbid what sort of mental strain it would put their Lord Arbiter and the Magistrate through once that realisation came around.
Though they had a feeling that Jinhsi and Rover were too lost in each other to care.
Hm. Perhaps another decade of hibernation would do the trick and ease the potential issues this union would cause from Jue’s mind. Thus, they settled back into the waters of their Sonoro Sphere, and fell back into sleep.
Intelligent as they were, the irony that Jue had brought their Lord Arbiter what could be considered a future wife was not lost on them. They even compared it to a cat dragging in a mouse as a gift to their owner, though the comparison was a little unflattering to both Jinhsi and themselves. All in all, they were pleased with this outcome. Perhaps the Lord Arbiter would regain some faith in their former creation after all.
There wasn’t a higher being that Jue could pray to except the Lord Arbiter himself, so all they could do was wait it out and hope that Jinhsi had the gall to confess by herself, because there was a significant chance that Rover would remain oblivious to her pining and her affections unless she said it straight to his face.
Ah. There they went again. For an all-knowing, millennia-old being, they were certainly far too excited over this pairing, almost like a schoolgirl…
But Jue would’ve smited anyone who dared make that comparison, and thus, for the safety of others, they kept these thoughts to themselves.