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Feeling and enjoying the rare sun in Nod-Krai almost felt like cheating—whether because the phenomenon brought about in everyone the childish glee akin to seeing a rainbow, or because it made one feel undeserving of the warmth—perhaps even as though the light was mocking them, depending on the day they had just had.
This feeling is Illuga’s old friend, yet still he tentatively allows himself to close his eyes and slow his steps. He wagers at some point during his walk back to Piramida he'll need to slip off his coat with the heat beaming down, but for now, the gold illuminates his face, the song of his dear nightingale companion as she twists around in the air fills his ears where before they would be strained to hear the sound of chaos even amidst the peace, and his polearm serves as a walking stick should his closed eyes betray him in the unreliable environment. (Among other things, of course, but Illuga is for once sickeningly relieved to be free of the aches the rainy weather brings, and the polearm provides comfort over just functionality.)
A sharp whistle pierces the air.
Illuga opens his eyes with an almost dizzy blink, taking a moment to rip himself away from the comfort and recenter—Aedon swoops down and lands on his shoulder, quieting with him.
The whistle is short and followed up with quick, high notes that make for an upbeat, cheerful melody—fluting melody. After a little introduction, the notes are ever-so-slightly lower but the cheer remains—Illuga smiles when he recognizes the melody played at the Flagship. Granted, the rest of the tune misses the fiddle and tambourine that would accompany the flute, but something about its lonesome echoing the barren area leading to the Pillar of Embla, not for a moment lacking in energy, makes it all the more captivating.
Illuga perks his ears and turns to try to find the source of the sound—somewhere east and higher up. He squints and brings up a hand to shield from the glare, scanning the ascending rock and–there.
Barely visible, but a dark figure sits at the log on one of the cliffs, slender legs crossed over each other and arms raised to hold the flute. The breeze tussles the viridian hair and royal blue cape. Illuga’s lips quirk up and he changes his course.
It's almost impressive that the player's body is as still and poised despite playing such an energetic tune—Illuga would think little is needed to make him make some movements, yet here he is, almost professional. He stands patiently behind him as he waits for the tune to end, not being able to help his own gentle sways sideways. The two high notes end the song almost teasingly, and Illuga suddenly thinks how fitting the style is for the person in front of him. He's been surrounded by similar elements all his life, of course, but now he ponders the potential shared similarities between their nations' styles, or, well, he certainly seems to fit just right in Nod-Krai.
"Ah," the young man intones as his lips part from the flute, curving up into his signature grin. He looks up and over his shoulder as Illuga walks to stand beside him, his own cheeks pulling outward. "What is a performance without an audience, hm?"
He laughs gently, "I don't think music has to be performative at all times, but…if you didn't mind."
"Only if you liked it," Lohen chirps back, raising a challenging eyebrow.
"Silly question," Illuga murmurs with a joking frown between his brows before they relax. "I didn't think you'd be inclined to it."
"Pff," Lohen switches his legs so the right one lies across the left now, leaning back to rest one palm on the rough twists of bark and the other twirling the flute. "Not in the land of song and wine? There are limits to how much you can stand out."
"And music is the line everyone draws?" Illuga can’t help an amused, wide grin. "Does that include Grandmaster Varka?"
"Of course! You haven't seen his expertise with a recorder," Lohen waggles the flute at him knowingly and Illuga's face scrunches up at the thought of the Titan of Mondstadt playing a recorder. Lohen bursts into peals of laughter, and he's not even sure whether it's because Illuga successfully fell for a lie or because the Knights would bring something like that up constantly for their own amusement. Both options are equally likely, in all honesty.
"You learn something new every day," he muses in a hum when Lohen quiets down at last. "Still, standing out is all you seem to do. Interesting to learn there are caveats there like everywhere else."
Lohen's eyes narrow in sharp consideration and Illuga scrutinizes his fingers pass the flute between them—he would think a cylindrical object would be unfamiliar due to his penchant for knives, but perhaps the dexterity simply extends to all things that fall into Lohen's palm.
"Is that a compliment?" he asks at last, voice lower in his chest, not even approaching Illuga's pitch nor seemingly deliberate—rather dropping the frills on a mask that makes him look bigger than he is.
"Hmm," Illuga smiles lightly, poking at his thoughts—not a simple question. Yet he feels the need to remain honest, "Depends on how, where, to whom. To stand out is to be remembered. To stand out is for your head to be the first in the chopping line."
Grin widens enough to show gums, "Oh-ho, I didn't expect such things to come from your mouth, Elfchen. Comforts me that it might not be so bad, then. So which is it?"
"Hm?"
"Is that a compliment, coming from you?" he rests his weight on his right arm, leaning closer to Illuga, gaze unblinking on his own. Illuga wonders whether he ought to sit down next to him so as not to cramp his neck, but Lohen seems just fine with the arrangement.
"Hmm…Not at first," he murmurs and smiles a little when Lohen makes a breath as if to say 'obviously'. "But eventually I realized you broke the monotony of my everyday—you stand out in Nod-Krai, Sir Lohen, so I think that does award you some compliments."
He is given a flat look at the title and Illuga carefully controls his lips to not show how much fun he's having. Lohen then curls his brows in and rests his chin on his hand, "Monotony? You?"
He huffs out a laugh, looking over onto the horizon, the ocean, the towering white spire, the foul area yet still lacking that ominous eye, a reminder that always causes in Illuga a vicious joy. "Sure, we never know what every day could bring, life or death, or what kind of it, but even that becomes something you can account for and expect. You are still fully prepared to maybe die, to maybe be maimed, to maybe live another day. And the factors differentiating the days are–well, not the brightest, so it does not make for a…whimsical life to live," he gestures with his finger.
Lohen's lips quirk a little but quickly fall, and he stares at the space behind Illuga's arms. "Hm. And what, a battle-hungry lunatic is a pleasant change?"
"I wouldn't call you a lunatic," Illuga murmurs almost offendedly.
Lohen raises an unimpressed brow, "You already had, sweetheart."
"I changed my mind," he says, looking away with an elegant, bratty swish of his head to conclude a topic, not unlike a dear friend of his. "And yes. Strange though it is to say, and to have realized, seeing someone who revolves around battle and genuinely likes it–and of course fights on our side, certainly helps—well. It's new. And anything new is good, I think."
"Hm," is Lohen's only momentary response as he stares at him like Flins does his bones for a long minute, deliberating on where to begin placing them. "Isn't that a naïve mindset for a Ratnik to have, o Captain?"
Illuga snorts, spine straightening ever so slightly, "Don't doubt my still-remaining caution, Sir Lohen."
"Oh, I would never! Your caution of me and resulting, mm, activities, is what made me like you," Lohen purrs, batting his eyelashes at him.
Activities indeed. If you could call having the shaft of your own spear pressed against your neck a friend-making activity. "…Regardless. I understand your train of thought, but, mm, maybe I stand out against my brethren for still thinking there's hope and good in this land, in its people and soil, despite its, uh, vehement effort to prove me wrong."
"And I am that good?" Lohen blinks with exaggerated shock, pointing a finger at his chest. "Now that I don't hear often."
"Maybe it's a matter of perspective," Illuga grins lightly and leans down to look Lohen in the eyes. "I say, how much worse can you be than the Abyss?"
"Ah, and here I thought you were complimenting my gallant and valiant self," the knight bemoaned, dropping both elbows on his knees to rest his face in his palms; Illuga couldn't help a laugh that shook his chest. "Still, that's a new dose of appreciation! Maybe I should stay here longer, forever. Would you like that?" he leaned to his right again.
"Mm, well, help is always welcome. As for you…I don't know. Isn't the point of being in Mondstadt that good battles are scarcer and thus much more thrilling?"
"Eh, not necessarily. If people were the only option, sure! But with an endless horde of continuously resurrecting unpredictable monsters? Where I don't have to hold back? Some, ahem, bastardizations of the passed that have remnants of their abilities? Where would the thrill end!"
Illuga nods lightly at the courtesy despite the somber topic and does his best not to dwell on it. Further so tries to bat away the thought of gratitude that most Wild Hunt monsters don't have faces to recognize anymore. "I suppose you're right…"
"Hmhm, I mean, look at you Lightkeepers. Would you cease to protect and fight even if there was no more Wild Hunt to fight?"
Illuga blinks and drops his head to stare down the slope. "…I'm. Not sure. But my first thought is 'no', because there is…too much legacy to uphold, frankly too many systems already put in place that are so efficient it would feel a shame if they were to go to waste."
Lohen curls his lip and looks two seconds away from barfing, "Ugh, you and logistics again. If I ever go to Sumeru to find Eremite mercenaries, I need to remember to get you one of their fancy light screens—so you can make tables and sheets and schedules with a flick of a finger and with a light source."
"How sweet!" Illuga can't help but exclaim through a laugh, hand coming to rest in a gently curled-in fist at his chest, "to think of my eyes—though I do have Aedon. Truly, I think this proves my point on your kindness, Sir Lohen."
The man waves a hand as if the word is an unfamiliar foreign air that his skin isn't sure how to react to, "Well, let me think, a beautiful, caring Lightkeeper who frets over my injuries and makes me soup and bread? I am a knight, after all, flicker." Before Illuga can respond, Lohen gestures to the lantern clipped at his hip, "And besides, you can't torture the lady with your ungodly hours every night, she needs her beauty sleep."
They linger in silence for a few moments, expectantly staring at the lantern. The lantern gracefully says nothing.
"Ah, still doesn't like me," Lohen mourns with his head falling dramatically between his shoulders as if a puppet with its strings cut.
"She seems to like only a few people it seems, don't take it to heart," Illuga reassures him with genuine sympathy but no less amusement, his curled fingers rising to cover his lips.
"Greedy," Lohen chides, leaning down to poke at the panels with his finger. The lantern flashes golden once in warning before settling. "Hmp," comes out of his mouth as he juts his chin up and crosses his arms—truly Illuga is too endeared by brattiness.
"Well, Aedon and I might be inseparable, but I like you plenty." And before he can give Lohen a chance to respond—what with him blinking once at the words with something akin to system-crashing dullness—he continues: "And having said that, do you have any plans for the rest of your day?"
Lohen blinks one more time to dispel the thoughtful haze, although not fully, his voice not quite reaching the height of its usual playfulness, "Oh? Does the little bird want even more of my company?"
"Yes?" is posed simple as a breath and Lohen blinks slowly, blankly once again. Illuga extends his hand, palm up, "I am free henceforth. Why don't I treat you to some homemade donuts at Piramida?"
Lohen stares at the dark glove and perhaps for the first time can Illuga gauge a gleam of genuineness pass over his abyss-colored eyes—for the noxious gases and the bottomless dark. "I would be a fool to reject that proposition from my sunshine, gotta treasure it for its rarity here, no?" he places his palm in Illuga's, looking up at him. He smiles, twisting his hand sideways to squeeze his, "Though, yours is more common."
Illuga hides his awkward cough in a more awkward laugh and easily pulls Lohen to his feet, "I–try. Shall we?" Lohen nods easily and they begin to descend the slope.
It is only a few minutes in when Aedon nudges his hip within the lantern that Illuga realizes he's been holding onto Lohen's hand for all that time. He quickly lets go and sputters a few apologies, walking a few steps ahead to hide his embarrassed face.
He doesn't see Lohen pout and stick his tongue out at the lantern.