[ so he gets that her master is maybe a different kind of god, but he's not going to ask entirely. that's shenhe's story to share if she wants. ]
Then that must've been kind of scary, actually. [ any new situation like that would be enough to unnerve a person. bless lumine though. he just accepts that this woman solely goes by a title considering vash the stampede and livio the doublefang are running around. ] She must be special if you're actually calling her a friend.
[ he doesn't know shenhe well, but...he can sort of guess they're similar in the way that they only sincerely throw out the word "friend" in serious situations. ]
[god jonas really is so normie but he's taking all this buckwild shit like a champ]
She is. [special, shenhe means. she thinks that maybe friend is a concept she'd like to reach for, but isn't always sure how to approach.
as for the rest:] A while. I had no interest in the competition - I was only there to deliver sigils, but I wanted to help the Traveler. So I did. She stayed for a while after the competition... we saw an opera together.
[ look sometimes you spend a whole night dealing with pissed off ghosts and getting possessed repeatedly and then turning around to wake up dead. eventually you just have to stop thinking about how fucking weird shit is. ]
It's not a bad thing to want to help a person, even if you aren't friends right away. It's...sort of a basis for making friends, I think? And it means becoming closer friends with people anyway. [ ...although. ] An opera?
she thinks about that, though. it's not a bad thing to help people - that's what yun jin said, sort of. that the fact that shenhe was thinking about trying meant that she was closer to being the person she wants to be than she thought.
she swings her legs gently back and forth in the air, slow.]
It was called The Divine Damsel of Devastation. The opera.
[ he doesn't rush her for whatever she's thinking, at least. ]
What was it about? [ maybe that's easier for her to answer. except, hm, wait. ] Maybe that part's less important. Sometimes you can see something you absolutely don't like watching or even really understand but still like it because of the company you're with.
It's fine. It's...pretty obvious we come from really, really different places. So it can't be that boring.
[ it's more that he thinks, for shenhe, this is a good thing for her to practice and do when surrounded by a lot of people that are new to her. mostly because he gets not wanting to always talk about things because it's possible other people won't care about hearing it. ]
it might help that shenhe is a pretty efficient storyteller. and she does need the practice - so while she doesn't get that's what he's doing for her, it is nice of him to do.]
A married couple was very happy together. One of them died, and the other, in a fit of madness, summoned an evil god to bring their loved one back to them. But the monster wanted more than they could give. And so it demanded children be sacrificed to it.
... To stop this evil calamity from destroying her village, a young girl rose with a sword, and soundly defeated the evil with her blade. It's supposed to be a story of a girl becoming a hero.
[ hm, well, this particular story does kind of catch his interest in a few ways even if he's keeping his everything pretty neutral while he listens to her. ]
Sounds like someone didn't read the fine print. [ terrible. ] And it also sounds like that wasn't the end of the story. What...happened to the girl after she killed the monster?
[she's been staring out over the city as she's recounted this - her expression is still serene, as usual.]
Oh, I don't know. I think the story said she was celebrated by the village. [she's not usually a very good liar, but this is easy enough to twist.] The moral was more about the courage of a normal person becoming something extraordinary for... hm, love, maybe.
At least, I think it was. I admit I'm still learning how this all works.
[ jonas doesn't think there's anything amiss about this, even though i do. ]
What, how love and courage and all of that works? Or how stories translate into things people are supposed to relate to? [ because she'd said she'd never met another human prior to going to liyue, so he figures it could be either or. ]
[ huh. she really is out here still learning about emotions isn't she. he's quiet again for a second to think that over. ]
I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing to hear, but there's a lot of people who still don't really get how it all works either. But it's still something you can learn.
[ if the question startles him, he doesn't really let that show. rather, he considers it because he's not so sure. ]
...you could say it's more...I'm unlearning certain things, and relearning them in a different way. Or I'm trying to. It's been. [ ...word choice. ] A process.
And now that we're here there's probably even more time for that process to...process. [ yeah. ] I don't know. Maybe it's not as important with what else is going on.
I think it is. [she looks out back at the city.] Master told me a long time ago that it's possible to attack more than one problem at once if you balance it right. If you don't, they split into very small problems that overwhelm you.
I wouldn't say I disagree with your master. [ because he does think there's some truth to that. ] But I would say that sometimes finding that balance is almost harder than figuring out the problems in the first place.
[ thus sometimes you just go backwards without meaning to. ]
...we can only do our best. And when it gets too weird or unmanageable for whatever the problem is, at least we have...a...tree? [ he sort of grins like he realizes it's dumb to say it like that. ] You get it.
An alliance? [ he isn't so much surprised by the words but more by the words coming from shenhe. the competition's going to start soon, and it means they'll both have to be a little more secretive about things and on-point for their teams.
but, then again...there's still the fact that nothing says you can't help out another person sometimes as long as you do what you have to do. hysterically this is an alliance about a fucking tree of all things, but it's kind of a bigger thing than that in jonas's head. it's with that in mind that he takes her hand to shake on it. ]
Okay. Consider us an alliance to speak for the tree. Or whatever.
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Then that must've been kind of scary, actually. [ any new situation like that would be enough to unnerve a person. bless lumine though. he just accepts that this woman solely goes by a title considering vash the stampede and livio the doublefang are running around. ] She must be special if you're actually calling her a friend.
[ he doesn't know shenhe well, but...he can sort of guess they're similar in the way that they only sincerely throw out the word "friend" in serious situations. ]
How long did she stay in Liyue with you?
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She is. [special, shenhe means. she thinks that maybe friend is a concept she'd like to reach for, but isn't always sure how to approach.
as for the rest:] A while. I had no interest in the competition - I was only there to deliver sigils, but I wanted to help the Traveler. So I did. She stayed for a while after the competition... we saw an opera together.
It was nice.
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It's not a bad thing to want to help a person, even if you aren't friends right away. It's...sort of a basis for making friends, I think? And it means becoming closer friends with people anyway. [ ...although. ] An opera?
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she thinks about that, though. it's not a bad thing to help people - that's what yun jin said, sort of. that the fact that shenhe was thinking about trying meant that she was closer to being the person she wants to be than she thought.
she swings her legs gently back and forth in the air, slow.]
It was called The Divine Damsel of Devastation. The opera.
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What was it about? [ maybe that's easier for her to answer. except, hm, wait. ] Maybe that part's less important. Sometimes you can see something you absolutely don't like watching or even really understand but still like it because of the company you're with.
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You're right. Company can make all the difference.
I don't mind telling you about it, though. It's a nice story. But I wouldn't want to bore you.
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but. ]
It's fine. It's...pretty obvious we come from really, really different places. So it can't be that boring.
[ it's more that he thinks, for shenhe, this is a good thing for her to practice and do when surrounded by a lot of people that are new to her. mostly because he gets not wanting to always talk about things because it's possible other people won't care about hearing it. ]
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it might help that shenhe is a pretty efficient storyteller. and she does need the practice - so while she doesn't get that's what he's doing for her, it is nice of him to do.]
A married couple was very happy together. One of them died, and the other, in a fit of madness, summoned an evil god to bring their loved one back to them. But the monster wanted more than they could give. And so it demanded children be sacrificed to it.
... To stop this evil calamity from destroying her village, a young girl rose with a sword, and soundly defeated the evil with her blade. It's supposed to be a story of a girl becoming a hero.
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Sounds like someone didn't read the fine print. [ terrible. ] And it also sounds like that wasn't the end of the story. What...happened to the girl after she killed the monster?
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Oh, I don't know. I think the story said she was celebrated by the village. [she's not usually a very good liar, but this is easy enough to twist.] The moral was more about the courage of a normal person becoming something extraordinary for... hm, love, maybe.
At least, I think it was. I admit I'm still learning how this all works.
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What, how love and courage and all of that works? Or how stories translate into things people are supposed to relate to? [ because she'd said she'd never met another human prior to going to liyue, so he figures it could be either or. ]
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It comes a little easier than it did before.
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I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing to hear, but there's a lot of people who still don't really get how it all works either. But it's still something you can learn.
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It's a relief, I think. [and then she glances at him.] Are you learning, as well?
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...you could say it's more...I'm unlearning certain things, and relearning them in a different way. Or I'm trying to. It's been. [ ...word choice. ] A process.
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Habits can be hard to break. It is a process.
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I will keep unlearning and learning if you do.
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[ thus sometimes you just go backwards without meaning to. ]
...we can only do our best. And when it gets too weird or unmanageable for whatever the problem is, at least we have...a...tree? [ he sort of grins like he realizes it's dumb to say it like that. ] You get it.
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We do have a tree. [she holds out her hand to him.] You and I must make an alliance to make sure nothing happens to it in that case.
[ylfa told her about alliances and now she's All About Them]
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An alliance? [ he isn't so much surprised by the words but more by the words coming from shenhe. the competition's going to start soon, and it means they'll both have to be a little more secretive about things and on-point for their teams.
but, then again...there's still the fact that nothing says you can't help out another person sometimes as long as you do what you have to do. hysterically this is an alliance about a fucking tree of all things, but it's kind of a bigger thing than that in jonas's head. it's with that in mind that he takes her hand to shake on it. ]
Okay. Consider us an alliance to speak for the tree. Or whatever.