Chapter Text
"So, how do you tell the age of gemstones?"
Zhongli lifted his gaze from where he'd been inspecting the iron deposit, his eyes shifting to the vibrant blonde beside him. She held up a small, glittering gem, its amber hue glinting in the sunlight. He perked up.
"You found Cors Lapis?" Zhongli shifted closer to Lumine, as she brandished the little rock towards him. It was smaller than most of the ones he'd seen before.
"Yeah—there was a small vein right here." Lumine pointed behind a cluster of white iron. "These are your favorite, right? How old is this one?"
Zhongli let out a small hum, holding his hand out under hers. She passed the precious stone off to him, her yellow eyes bright with curiosity as she watched him turn it over in his fingers.
"It's a younger formation," he mused. "No older than a century, it seems." Zhongli watched the shimmer of the stone as it soaked in the warmth of the sun. "If we let the deposit grow, however, it may produce some fine specimens."
Lumine's sudden laugh made Zhongli's heart flutter, briefly, and his gaze caught on the curve of her smile. She reached over and plucked the Cors Lapis from his hand, looking at it with a warm gaze.
"I should've known there was such a thing as rock cultivation," she cooed. "You'd know all about it, wouldn't you?"
"But of course," Zhongli hummed softly. "To cultivate stone is to ensure that those in the future will have materials with which to build and grow their cities." He reached down and traced his fingers over the white iron that they'd been mining for. "It is why the Liyue Qixing have laws against building over mines without proper permission."
"Really?" Lumine gave him a small look of surprise—a raised eyebrow, a tilt of her head. "I've been to a lot of worlds—I don't think I've ever heard of something like that."
Zhongli wasn't sure why he felt a streak of pride at that, but he did. Lumine let the Cors Lapis disappear into plumes of soft gold, and she leaned back.
"So, how do you know?" She asked. "How old a rock is, I mean."
"Well, personally I only need to glance at it to know," Zhongli mused. "For others, though, they tend to check the size of the deposit, the striation count in the cut, and sometimes the level of elemental energy within."
"So I take it the less Geo energy, the older?" She pressed. "I mean, if it forms from Geo energy, that energy is bound to disappear slowly, right?"
"Ah, a brilliant guess," Zhongli cooed. "But it's the opposite. Older stones tend to contain more Geo energy. Some stones are so ancient that they can, under certain circumstances, release a vibration of their energy into the air."
"Like the puzzles on the Chasm's surface?" Lumine asked. Her eyes rounded, her lips parting ever so slightly. "That's so cool..."
She pinched her chin between her fingertips, and she spun to look at the stones on the ground.
"I wonder if that can be used to make resonance stones to find more ore deposits," Lumine mumbled. "If we knew the exact frequency that certain stones resonate at, I'm sure it could be designed similar to Geoculus compasses... Ah, but how would one denote the frequency without releasing the energy from the stone? That would make it difficult to test..."
Zhongli watched with soft amusement as she mumbled to herself, her yellow eyes focused on the ores in front of her. She always seemed so interested in even the most 'useless' trivia that he offered her—always thinking about it and turning it over in her head.
What an admirable quality. He hoped she would always find his words worthy of consideration...
"Oh, Archons, Zhongli, what did you tell her this time?"
Zhongli turned to see Kaeya and Neuvillette approaching them, crystal ore gathered in their arms. The Khaenriahn stared at him with a teasing grin, as he nodded to Lumine.
"I merely mentioned how one can wager the age of a stone," the ex-Archon hummed. "I see no issue in satiating her curiosity."
"Fair, but—"
"Kaeya!" Lumine perked up, as if only just registering that he was there. "Do you know which Darshan in the Akademiya would deal with resonance of energies? Spantamad, right? Or would that be considered a Kshahrewar specialty because of its use in puzzles?"
She jumped to her feet, waving her hand briefly.
"Nevermind, we know people from both so we can just ask around—maybe Faruzan would be interested? I'll send a letter to her later." Lumine perked up. "Oh! Neuvi, you haven't met Faruzan yet, have you?"
"Ah—no, I have not," the Sovereign replied, his eyes widening with slight confusion.
"Then we should set up a meeting immediately! I'll tell you all about her."
Zhongli watched as she trotted over to Neuvillette, practically dragging the Sovereign off as she prattled on about the Haravatat scholar. Kaeya shook his head with a small laugh. Then he glanced at the ex-Archon.
"In the entire time I've known her, no one's been able to completely sidetrack her like you do," the Khaenriahn teased.
"I suppose it's good, then, that you have experience with keeping up with her," Zhongli replied softly. He rose to his feet, moving over and inspecting the crystals that Kaeya had collected. "These should be fine enough for Lumine's purposes."
"Good—" the stones disappeared in that familiar plume of light "—they were getting heavy." Kaeya grinned at him. "C'mon, we should probably catch up with them before she somehow ropes Neuvi into dancing at Zubayr Theater with Nilou."
Zhongli stifled a chuckle, as Kaeya moved to follow after the golden-haired Traveler. The ex-Archon paused, briefly, his gaze shifting back towards the small Cors Lapis deposit.
The way her eyes had glowed still weighed in his mind; the way her fingers had tapped her chin as she muttered to herself was now a quiet mirage in the sunlight.
What a lovely memory to keep.