[ Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and months turn into the better part of a year.
It has been about that long since Oriphi found an old friend on the doorstep of an abandoned cottage she was trying to make her own. "Do you know anything about this missing princess," he'd asked her, and when she stepped through her doorway on that day she had not known that she was opening another right into a life of adventure and questing. Now, several months to nearly a year later, they have traveled across nations and continents in search of ancient, powerful stones, thwarting many a political plot, curtailing many a natural disaster (brought on by unnatural means), and busting a few cults for the sake of stopping an powerful wizard from returning from a realm beyond.
For Ori, though it had always been about finding and saving her sister... She would have never guessed that in the midst of it all, she would fall in love, too.
Now, with their grand quest to save the world from being plunged back into a tyrannical, evil rule finally put to rest, Oriphi and her friends - the heroes now known to the world as the Alchemighty - are slowly beginning to forge their own paths. A few - Dae, a wizard powerful in his own right and the original heir to the "Alchemighty," Sian, an enigmatic warlock, and Mellon, a well-meaning but often-stumbling monk - continue to adventure and travel lengths across the world to where they are needed and where they can do good. Others return to their homes to rebuild what Gran Karrefour's machinations had ravaged. Cibark goes back to the forest and the riverside haven in which he grew up, Aerie returns to the ruins of an ancient library once built by her family, and Colin to the kingdom of Duskvale, where he seeks to take up his princely mantle in his own way.
But Oriphi, who may have embarked on this quest from a house but has never truly had a place to call home, instead finds her home in the heart a man by the name of Diluc Ragnvindr. It is him that she returns to when all is said and done.
When she and her friends were first pursued by a man seeking to return a runaway princess to her home, Ori would have never known that some time later, she and her friends would be seeking refuge at his home and finding out that he had been a well-known nobleman all along. She would have never known that some time after that, they would be head over heels for one another, and that it would be his home she would be returning to at the end of her journey.
She arrives, naturally, through the trunk of a tree somewhere outside of his manor. Her body and soul are tired, weary from a long, dangerous adventure finally coming to an end, even wearier still for having been made to be apart from the one she loves time and time again. But no more of that, she thinks. Now they can finally be together.
She finds his falcon, first, and asks the avian companion to guide her to where he is. There's nothing more she wants than to run up to him and embrace him and kiss him the moment that she sees him - and yet when the moment finally comes, all she can do is stand there, looking at him in disbelief, as if it's taken all this time up until then for it to hit her—
She's here. Everything is over. She saved her sister, saved the world, and now she can simply be. At least, for now. And as such, all that she manages to voice when their eyes finally meet is nothing more than a simple, quiet, ]
[ Diluc's own introduction into adventuring was a lot less gentle. For him, it involved the death of his father and the subsequent betrayal of a brother and his knights' order both. That awful day began a quest for answers and for vengeance, and in the process he swore an oath to Barbatos and to the cruel, corrupted world around him that he would do all in his power to strike down the darkness where it stood. In practice, his targets have become twofold: the Fatui, who had caused the death of his father, and a secretive organization known as the Abyss Order.
Not that he is above attempting to right lesser evils as they present themselves. His first encounter with the group that is now known as the Alchemighty was an attempt to return a kidnapped princess to her homeland. Upon actually meeting the group, princess in question included, he quickly abandoned the quest. He parted ways with them on not-quite-friendly terms, but at least he did so without hostility. He had his own path to walk, his own battles and political plots and literal dragons to face.
Little did he know then how intertwined his life would become intertwined with theirs whether he wanted it to or not. Their paths crossed several times over this past near-year, including one time where they ended up in his homeland of Mondstadt of all places. And each time they met, he found himself more and more endeared to the lot of them.
None moreso than Oriphi, however. He could perhaps call the rest of them friends, but Ori is none other than the love of his life. And for a man who was--and still is--so focused on justice and righting the wrongs of the world, finding this kind of romance is simultaneously an awkward and perfect fit. If nothing else, it's allowed him to hold onto (regain?) some part of his humanity, ensuring that he too doesn't fall to corruption and despair.
As he remains in Mondstadt to assist with the recovery from the damage that Stormterror wrought, Diluc keeps an ear to what's happening far, far away in the Alchemighty's fight against Gran Karrefour. He has full confidence in their collective capability, but still finds himself worried that winning the fight may end up claiming one or many of them.
And then, not long after news of their victory reaches Mondstadt, Ori is here before him.
Vennessa heralds her arrival, flying over him with a screech to get his attention and make him turn around to see her. Their eyes meet, and Ori remains weighed in place by the enormity of what she's just been through and what it means for her going forward. No matter--he's more than capable of decisive action, and doesn't even think twice about closing the distance between them and gathering her into his arms. ]
Words cannot express how relieved I am to see you safe and sound like this. Welcome back, starlight.
Edited (there was a typo and I could not let that stand :c) 2022-05-20 22:09 (UTC)
Hearing him say those words makes a warm, pleasant feeling bloom in her chest. These are words that most anyone would take for granted, a harmless greeting said to someone who's returned. But to Oriphi, who wasn't sure she would be returning, or much less have somewhere to return to... the words carry with them such a great weight. It means that she survived. And it means that, unlike the lonely childhood that she and Valphi had... she wasn't alone anymore.
Her arms rise to return Diluc's embrace, her fingers pressed firmly against his back as she buries her face in his chest, drawing in a deep breath. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be in his arms like this. She never wants to almost-forget again. ]
I missed you so much, moonlight...
[ It's probably a good thing that she and her friends have all gone off to do other things, because Ori and Diluc would never hear the end of it if they'd heard them call each other such sweet names.
After a quiet moment of simply enjoying his warmth around her, she angles her head so she can look up at him, at those scarlet eyes she loves so much. ]
[Diluc is equally grateful that it's just the two of them in this moment, with no peanut gallery from either group of friends and allies. Surely, there would be teasing and no few reminders that despite the deeply-felt and obvious love they share, they technically aren't even courting. They both have had more important things going on in their lives to deal with something as selfish and personal as romance.
Now that Oriphi has triumphed and his own mission is at a lull, however, perhaps they might be able to indulge in these feelings. Time will tell.
For the moment, however, Diluc is more than content to hold her in his arms and keep her close. He looks back down at her, soft and fond.]
I would have waited forever. [He squeezes her with gentle affection.] But I'm glad I didn't have to. I've missed you, too.
[ Ori cannot help but sigh in such a way that almost feelsā¦ inappropriately girlish, coming from someone with a great many powers at her fingertips, someone capable of a cruel violence as much as she is of wondrous healing and warmth. But she knows Diluc to be the same, and they both know that despite these darker parts of themselves, despite their cruel histories and the things they have been made to do for the sake of their respective quests or missions, that they are capable and deserving of love, most of all from each other. It had been a difficult feeling to grapple, over the course of theirā¦ non-courtship, but now, more than ever, Oriphi finds herself ready to give Diluc all that she can give.
How to go about doing just that, however, is a complete mystery, perhaps even moreso than some of the actual mysteries she and her friends have faced over the last year or so. Sheās never courted or been courted before, having previously thought it to be something that was never in the cards for her.
All she knows is that, as she gazes up at him and he gazes down at her, the love in their eyes mirrored perfectly against one another, she would really like to kiss him— but she doesnāt know if that would be improper. Thereās Dilucās standing as a nobleman to consider, too, and despite having been in the presence of many a member of nobility during her adventures (one of which is her own best friend) itās not as if their ways have rubbed off on her. ]
Dilucā¦ The only āforeverā I want to think about from now on is the one Iāll spend with you.
[ However, she also doesnāt want to not kiss him; so at length, when she brings herself up to the tips of her toes to close the distance between them, she plants a soft, loving kiss on the scar that traverses his eye instead. That should be fine, rightā¦? ]
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alnifolia2022-05-20 03:16 pm
this is the ending of the beginning
It has been about that long since Oriphi found an old friend on the doorstep of an abandoned cottage she was trying to make her own. "Do you know anything about this missing princess," he'd asked her, and when she stepped through her doorway on that day she had not known that she was opening another right into a life of adventure and questing. Now, several months to nearly a year later, they have traveled across nations and continents in search of ancient, powerful stones, thwarting many a political plot, curtailing many a natural disaster (brought on by unnatural means), and busting a few cults for the sake of stopping an powerful wizard from returning from a realm beyond.
For Ori, though it had always been about finding and saving her sister... She would have never guessed that in the midst of it all, she would fall in love, too.
Now, with their grand quest to save the world from being plunged back into a tyrannical, evil rule finally put to rest, Oriphi and her friends - the heroes now known to the world as the Alchemighty - are slowly beginning to forge their own paths. A few - Dae, a wizard powerful in his own right and the original heir to the "Alchemighty," Sian, an enigmatic warlock, and Mellon, a well-meaning but often-stumbling monk - continue to adventure and travel lengths across the world to where they are needed and where they can do good. Others return to their homes to rebuild what Gran Karrefour's machinations had ravaged. Cibark goes back to the forest and the riverside haven in which he grew up, Aerie returns to the ruins of an ancient library once built by her family, and Colin to the kingdom of Duskvale, where he seeks to take up his princely mantle in his own way.
But Oriphi, who may have embarked on this quest from a house but has never truly had a place to call home, instead finds her home in the heart a man by the name of Diluc Ragnvindr. It is him that she returns to when all is said and done.
When she and her friends were first pursued by a man seeking to return a runaway princess to her home, Ori would have never known that some time later, she and her friends would be seeking refuge at his home and finding out that he had been a well-known nobleman all along. She would have never known that some time after that, they would be head over heels for one another, and that it would be his home she would be returning to at the end of her journey.
She arrives, naturally, through the trunk of a tree somewhere outside of his manor. Her body and soul are tired, weary from a long, dangerous adventure finally coming to an end, even wearier still for having been made to be apart from the one she loves time and time again. But no more of that, she thinks. Now they can finally be together.
She finds his falcon, first, and asks the avian companion to guide her to where he is. There's nothing more she wants than to run up to him and embrace him and kiss him the moment that she sees him - and yet when the moment finally comes, all she can do is stand there, looking at him in disbelief, as if it's taken all this time up until then for it to hit her—
She's here. Everything is over. She saved her sister, saved the world, and now she can simply be. At least, for now. And as such, all that she manages to voice when their eyes finally meet is nothing more than a simple, quiet, ]
Hi...
no subject
Not that he is above attempting to right lesser evils as they present themselves. His first encounter with the group that is now known as the Alchemighty was an attempt to return a kidnapped princess to her homeland. Upon actually meeting the group, princess in question included, he quickly abandoned the quest. He parted ways with them on not-quite-friendly terms, but at least he did so without hostility. He had his own path to walk, his own battles and political plots and literal dragons to face.
Little did he know then how intertwined his life would become intertwined with theirs whether he wanted it to or not. Their paths crossed several times over this past near-year, including one time where they ended up in his homeland of Mondstadt of all places. And each time they met, he found himself more and more endeared to the lot of them.
None moreso than Oriphi, however. He could perhaps call the rest of them friends, but Ori is none other than the love of his life. And for a man who was--and still is--so focused on justice and righting the wrongs of the world, finding this kind of romance is simultaneously an awkward and perfect fit. If nothing else, it's allowed him to hold onto (regain?) some part of his humanity, ensuring that he too doesn't fall to corruption and despair.
As he remains in Mondstadt to assist with the recovery from the damage that Stormterror wrought, Diluc keeps an ear to what's happening far, far away in the Alchemighty's fight against Gran Karrefour. He has full confidence in their collective capability, but still finds himself worried that winning the fight may end up claiming one or many of them.
And then, not long after news of their victory reaches Mondstadt, Ori is here before him.
Vennessa heralds her arrival, flying over him with a screech to get his attention and make him turn around to see her. Their eyes meet, and Ori remains weighed in place by the enormity of what she's just been through and what it means for her going forward. No matter--he's more than capable of decisive action, and doesn't even think twice about closing the distance between them and gathering her into his arms. ]
Words cannot express how relieved I am to see you safe and sound like this. Welcome back, starlight.
no subject
Hearing him say those words makes a warm, pleasant feeling bloom in her chest. These are words that most anyone would take for granted, a harmless greeting said to someone who's returned. But to Oriphi, who wasn't sure she would be returning, or much less have somewhere to return to... the words carry with them such a great weight. It means that she survived. And it means that, unlike the lonely childhood that she and Valphi had... she wasn't alone anymore.
Her arms rise to return Diluc's embrace, her fingers pressed firmly against his back as she buries her face in his chest, drawing in a deep breath. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be in his arms like this. She never wants to almost-forget again. ]
I missed you so much, moonlight...
[ It's probably a good thing that she and her friends have all gone off to do other things, because Ori and Diluc would never hear the end of it if they'd heard them call each other such sweet names.
After a quiet moment of simply enjoying his warmth around her, she angles her head so she can look up at him, at those scarlet eyes she loves so much. ]
Thank you for waiting for me.
no subject
Now that Oriphi has triumphed and his own mission is at a lull, however, perhaps they might be able to indulge in these feelings. Time will tell.
For the moment, however, Diluc is more than content to hold her in his arms and keep her close. He looks back down at her, soft and fond.]
I would have waited forever. [He squeezes her with gentle affection.] But I'm glad I didn't have to. I've missed you, too.
no subject
How to go about doing just that, however, is a complete mystery, perhaps even moreso than some of the actual mysteries she and her friends have faced over the last year or so. Sheās never courted or been courted before, having previously thought it to be something that was never in the cards for her.
All she knows is that, as she gazes up at him and he gazes down at her, the love in their eyes mirrored perfectly against one another, she would really like to kiss him— but she doesnāt know if that would be improper. Thereās Dilucās standing as a nobleman to consider, too, and despite having been in the presence of many a member of nobility during her adventures (one of which is her own best friend) itās not as if their ways have rubbed off on her. ]
Dilucā¦ The only āforeverā I want to think about from now on is the one Iāll spend with you.
[ However, she also doesnāt want to not kiss him; so at length, when she brings herself up to the tips of her toes to close the distance between them, she plants a soft, loving kiss on the scar that traverses his eye instead. That should be fine, rightā¦? ]