[They didn't catch her on anything he thought they were looking for. They still don't know exactly how things shook out--they'll never know why Hikari came back to the warehouse. He didn't bother going to see Yang Guifei, since her motive seems obvious enough--but even though he doesn't feel that bad about catching her, it doesn't make it any easier to bear the thought of going back to a warehouse with a missing person.]
...I wish we could see the stars a little better here.
...but in a way, the non-answer is an answer in and of itself. she looks up at the sky, squinting at the few stars they can see through the glow of the city lights, and sighs deeply.
[It's not--but at the same time, it's the best way he can convey what he's feeling. He's still hurt by Hikari's loss, and he doesn't hate Yang Guifei, either. His sorrow is shapeless, with only his usual undercurrent of guilt to give him any sort of anchor point.]
Yeah. ...It's the same in the capital of Fontaine. I went a few years ago.
[Which was not a comfortable experience for him either, so. It's familiar, in that way.]
[fontaine... the land of Law... they have trials there ................ fontaine is just a murdergame setting. i've connected the dots]
Oh...
[she looks to kaveh with concern. the way he says that does not sound like it was a pleasant visit, and with what she knows about him just by virtue of being sumeru's archon, she can guess why.]
[OUR SWEET NAHIDA. I think she should go to Fontaine, as a treat.]
Well, I travel to Port Ormos all the time. And the desert, of course. But outside of Sumeru... I went to Inazuma as a student once. We were doing a unit on international building techniques, so we went to study the differences in architectural styles between worshipers of the Raiden Shogun and those of the Orobashi.[...] Apparently, my father took me to Natlan once, but I was too young to remember.
[i'll be real with you pixi after eight weeks of murder and trials she is not going to want to touch fontaine and its justice system with a ten-foot pole]
Fascinating...
[maybe she should take a course that would take her outside of sumeru's borders to study? ...on second thought, no. by the time she makes it out of here, she'll have been away from sumeru long enough. (also, the professors would probably have a heart attack if the dendro archon enrolled in their classes.)]
Do you remember much about the architecture in Inazuma, Kaveh? Could you tell me about it?
[they are both Sad, and she can't do anything to fix the things making them so, but... maybe she can at least provide kaveh with something else to focus his attention on for the moment.]
[That's fair. Kaveh never goes to Fontaine anyway for sad reasons.
But honestly--he'll take this. He thinks she could do with the distraction too, to be honest.]
Well, they use different wood than we do. Primarily maple, but Aralia is more common on Watatsumi Island. Inazumans have to take into account the salt in the air from the ocean, and their buildings are mostly concentrated on air flow--they use rice paper to keep the temperature more even. They also use a supple wood called Yumemiru and red paint for their shrine structures, as it's a common belief that red wards off evil and bad luck.
[maybe they should have used more red paint when decorating their warehouse...
no! no, she is not letting her thoughts trend that way. it's silly - painting the warehouse red wouldn't have made yang guifei choose someone else. nahida doesn't think that "luck" was really involved with it here at all.]
I see... being so close to the ocean would pose its own challenges, that's true. They have to do things a little bit differently in Port Ormos as well, don't they? Especially closer to the docks... though the further inland you get, the fewer precautions they'd have to take to keep the salt in the air from affecting the structures.
[Honestly, that makes sense, though. Kaveh isn't superstitious, per se, but it's hard not to blame bad luck when things go so wrong, so quickly, so often.]
They do, but for Port Ormos, we had the large tree to work with. That's where I took my inspiration for the structural renovations. Inazuma has to take space into account as well, but that's because they're working with narrow, mountainous islands, rather than inlets. They also have to use special sealants to protect the wood from the moisture in the air once its been turned into proper lumber, but they use a different formula than we do.
They must use ingredients that are local to them, right? Because importing the ingredients for the sealant would be very difficult for something that's used on so wide a scale...
We were studying already finished structures back then. But that was shortly before the Raiden Shogun declared her Vision Hunt decree and closed the country--later, we got to compare illustrations of the monument before and after it had been renovated to house confiscated visions.
I see... that must have been a very interesting experience.
[the vision hunt decree, though... her brows furrow a little at that. it's not really her place to judge how another archon runs their country, considering she let the sages run hers for so long, but it's still hard to wrap her mind around an archon confiscating visions from their people like that.]
Hmm... of all the architecture you've seen on your travels, which was the most inspiring?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[she takes a seat on one of the swings next to him.]
How are you feeling...?
no subject
[They didn't catch her on anything he thought they were looking for. They still don't know exactly how things shook out--they'll never know why Hikari came back to the warehouse. He didn't bother going to see Yang Guifei, since her motive seems obvious enough--but even though he doesn't feel that bad about catching her, it doesn't make it any easier to bear the thought of going back to a warehouse with a missing person.]
...I wish we could see the stars a little better here.
no subject
...but in a way, the non-answer is an answer in and of itself. she looks up at the sky, squinting at the few stars they can see through the glow of the city lights, and sighs deeply.
it's really not much like teyvat at all.]
...it's unsettling. Not being able to see them.
no subject
Yeah. ...It's the same in the capital of Fontaine. I went a few years ago.
[Which was not a comfortable experience for him either, so. It's familiar, in that way.]
no subject
Oh...
[she looks to kaveh with concern. the way he says that does not sound like it was a pleasant visit, and with what she knows about him just by virtue of being sumeru's archon, she can guess why.]
no subject
It was just for my mother's wedding. It wasn't a bad trip--I just couldn't get used to the city.
no subject
well. she has not, because she was not alive before "losing her memory," but it's not like she knows that.]
...what other trips have you taken?
no subject
Well, I travel to Port Ormos all the time. And the desert, of course. But outside of Sumeru... I went to Inazuma as a student once. We were doing a unit on international building techniques, so we went to study the differences in architectural styles between worshipers of the Raiden Shogun and those of the Orobashi.[...] Apparently, my father took me to Natlan once, but I was too young to remember.
no subject
Fascinating...
[maybe she should take a course that would take her outside of sumeru's borders to study? ...on second thought, no. by the time she makes it out of here, she'll have been away from sumeru long enough. (also, the professors would probably have a heart attack if the dendro archon enrolled in their classes.)]
Do you remember much about the architecture in Inazuma, Kaveh? Could you tell me about it?
[they are both Sad, and she can't do anything to fix the things making them so, but... maybe she can at least provide kaveh with something else to focus his attention on for the moment.]
no subject
But honestly--he'll take this. He thinks she could do with the distraction too, to be honest.]
Well, they use different wood than we do. Primarily maple, but Aralia is more common on Watatsumi Island. Inazumans have to take into account the salt in the air from the ocean, and their buildings are mostly concentrated on air flow--they use rice paper to keep the temperature more even. They also use a supple wood called Yumemiru and red paint for their shrine structures, as it's a common belief that red wards off evil and bad luck.
no subject
no! no, she is not letting her thoughts trend that way. it's silly - painting the warehouse red wouldn't have made yang guifei choose someone else. nahida doesn't think that "luck" was really involved with it here at all.]
I see... being so close to the ocean would pose its own challenges, that's true. They have to do things a little bit differently in Port Ormos as well, don't they? Especially closer to the docks... though the further inland you get, the fewer precautions they'd have to take to keep the salt in the air from affecting the structures.
no subject
They do, but for Port Ormos, we had the large tree to work with. That's where I took my inspiration for the structural renovations. Inazuma has to take space into account as well, but that's because they're working with narrow, mountainous islands, rather than inlets. They also have to use special sealants to protect the wood from the moisture in the air once its been turned into proper lumber, but they use a different formula than we do.
no subject
They must use ingredients that are local to them, right? Because importing the ingredients for the sealant would be very difficult for something that's used on so wide a scale...
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
[the vision hunt decree, though... her brows furrow a little at that. it's not really her place to judge how another archon runs their country, considering she let the sages run hers for so long, but it's still hard to wrap her mind around an archon confiscating visions from their people like that.]
Hmm... of all the architecture you've seen on your travels, which was the most inspiring?