( It is true his view surrounding Furina and what type of relationship they embodied has shifted over the years. Her absence is very telling throughout his days, especially the commutes without her commentary in his private transport. Meetings are no longer tea parties. She brought more than a simple duty to his days and he can only compare it to companionship only she can provide. Is that not what makes a friend? )
We are no longer working together, so friends seems like an appropriate title.
( He puts his utensil down, bestowing her with his full attention. He searches for the answers himself in all her intricacies. Like softness surrounding similar to a mist of newfound loneliness or her lips letting go of all her tensions. He's unsure how to reach out to pull her out from the depths taking a hold of her. )
[ Where there was once boisterous laughter to cover up a loneliness... there was nothing. Silence, perhaps, was a more painful resolution to their dilemma. That is how Furina suffered for so long, lonely and unable to even utter a word to it.
To her most trusted.
Furina fidgets a bit, fingers grazing over oak wood of the coffee table, prattling like a nervous dancer on stage for the first time. ]
...Fear of the unknown. [ Of what is next? What will be, if not for the security of the torturous role she played for 500 years... ] Many people, when asked why they fear the depths of the oceans have surmised it equates to not knowing what is out there.
[ Yet, her confession falls just a little short. ]
I fear, even dubbed as a 'human', I will be alone. Finding purpose after being given one for so long... how does one tell a bird that has lived in captivity to fly freely?
[ It's not in its nature to, but Furina will save that for when she meets a certain bard from Mondstadt. Maybe. Who knows! Regardless, Furina looks away a bit shamefully. ]
I lied to you. Beyond the 500 years, just recently... to have you here for a simple slice of cake because I am not sure what awaits me tomorrow... or the next day. Time, Nuevillette, is as vast as the ocean.
( Even the god of freedom wound up a lost wisp at some point, but it does not erase the paradox of he who rules on the basis of stolen power. May fate forbid Neuvillette from having a premature encounter with these gods. Although, for Furina here, for all her fidgeting and curiosity and suffering, he will make exceptions. If her will takes her to Mondstadt, he'll accompany her as long as she allows him to...Even if his presence ends up causing a disturbance among winds. )
So in other words, you feel as though your purpose is somewhere in the deep. I, too, have felt like this in the past.
( Ironically, until the nation flooded. Neuvillette glances down at his plate. )
I don't hold grudges against you, Lady Furina. That's why I've come to visit you. Even a lie worth 500 years can flow back into the veins of our planet and fall as rain. I'm quite happy you have the option to feel however you like, or do whatever you wish. It's ultimately what you truly deserve. Today of all days should be something you can cherish and savor before time itself expires. The ocean will always be there.
I will personally support any of your causes to the best of my ability. If it means anything to you, as long as I reside over this nation, you will never be truly alone.
[ Mondstadt may have well called her before Fontaine did, if fate had been different. Furina's gaining her own footing among the city that survived the great flood – but there's something that is something idealistic about traveling free of duties... lost for nothing more than a passion for the arts.
Unfortunately, she still feels unworthy. ]
That purpose is quite murky, is it not?. Never have I thought there would be a chance to see anything other than what I had to do...
[ Even if she was so tired, so lonely. Neuvillette sets his plate down and Furina sits a bit straighter, as if she knows one of those verbose lectures were on the horizon.
She was right, but there's something different.
Word by word, there's humanity there. It's raw and it reads between fanciful lines and loses itself with formalities. ]
The oceans will always be there, but will you be?
[ He says he'll support her... that she won't be alone. Her question is simple, a confirmation to a clause that was deeper than the agreements Focalors had engrained into the Archonhood and Iudex's position. ]
You've taken a lead role, my Iudex... from supporting to center stage is something different. My step back has allowed you to reclaim what was once taken from you, to live to be the ruler the people need. [ And then, her voice cracks – that facade washes away like seafoam. ] I don't remember days without you at my side, but our relationship is different now.
( In truth, these might be borrowed emotions learned after years of observing and living among humans. How they register in his mind and heart will never truly make immediate sense to him. Humanity isn't a skill acquired from books, so no matter how many trials he judges, or how many reports he writes up: what's left behind is true loneliness. The kind only another divine being could fathom.
The rain keeps pelting onto windows outside. He still can't forgive himself for allowing Furina to suffer all those years. As her... Iudex. Friend? As a fellow leader, he should have paid her more attention. )
I, too, will not rule forever, I'm afraid. Although that is something people should not be concerned about for a long time. I can only hope I am the leader people will be happy to follow until the next one rises to the occasion.
Palais Mermonia might be busy these days, but part of me can't help but feel like it's a dim reflection of what it used to be the years you resided in it. Well, I will also say, Sedene is very fond of the cake you used to like now.
I understand you wish to keep your distance from all those centuries, Lady Furina. We don't have to label what we are now. I'm not sure how people would label us. I also don't consider myself an entity ruling over you, either. In my eyes, you are still an equal, so perhaps that's what we will always be.
It goes without saying, yes. I do have authority over the oceans, do I not? My decision is thus: I'll always be here.
( Well, is she thrilled that she knows him so well? She sure got her verbose essay. )
[ Even the thought of him not being there – in some capacity in Fontaine – has Furina feel oddly tense. He'd been at her side and now as she's adjusting to the distances she has to impose on herself...
To separate Focalors and Furina. To live her own life. ]
I'm glad. I hope the halls still smell like that sweet creme. She has a mighty task to live up to ordering as often as I did from the bakery near the plaza.
[ But, even her flip-floppy way of addressing the situation falls short. Her eyes tremble when Neuvillette's words become more sincere, more raw. It was like she was looking more to a man, than an incarnate of draconic origin. ]
...Is your throat not parched from such long-winding words that follow the flow of Fontaine? [ She laughs, perhaps the first genuine kind in a long while. Her eyes try to shut tight enough to keep tears from trickling down but she fails. Doubling over just enough to cut into her cake to hide it. ] Well then. If you're here, do sample and partake in the finest things Fontaine can provide us. Culinary comfort in confections and... the company of ones we hold dear. Perhaps we can find ourselves here more often, sharing.
no subject
We are no longer working together, so friends seems like an appropriate title.
( He puts his utensil down, bestowing her with his full attention. He searches for the answers himself in all her intricacies. Like softness surrounding similar to a mist of newfound loneliness or her lips letting go of all her tensions. He's unsure how to reach out to pull her out from the depths taking a hold of her. )
What sort of fear is it?
no subject
To her most trusted.
Furina fidgets a bit, fingers grazing over oak wood of the coffee table, prattling like a nervous dancer on stage for the first time. ]
...Fear of the unknown. [ Of what is next? What will be, if not for the security of the torturous role she played for 500 years... ] Many people, when asked why they fear the depths of the oceans have surmised it equates to not knowing what is out there.
[ Yet, her confession falls just a little short. ]
I fear, even dubbed as a 'human', I will be alone. Finding purpose after being given one for so long... how does one tell a bird that has lived in captivity to fly freely?
[ It's not in its nature to, but Furina will save that for when she meets a certain bard from Mondstadt. Maybe. Who knows! Regardless, Furina looks away a bit shamefully. ]
I lied to you. Beyond the 500 years, just recently... to have you here for a simple slice of cake because I am not sure what awaits me tomorrow... or the next day. Time, Nuevillette, is as vast as the ocean.
no subject
So in other words, you feel as though your purpose is somewhere in the deep. I, too, have felt like this in the past.
( Ironically, until the nation flooded. Neuvillette glances down at his plate. )
I don't hold grudges against you, Lady Furina. That's why I've come to visit you. Even a lie worth 500 years can flow back into the veins of our planet and fall as rain. I'm quite happy you have the option to feel however you like, or do whatever you wish. It's ultimately what you truly deserve. Today of all days should be something you can cherish and savor before time itself expires. The ocean will always be there.
I will personally support any of your causes to the best of my ability. If it means anything to you, as long as I reside over this nation, you will never be truly alone.
no subject
Unfortunately, she still feels unworthy. ]
That purpose is quite murky, is it not?. Never have I thought there would be a chance to see anything other than what I had to do...
[ Even if she was so tired, so lonely. Neuvillette sets his plate down and Furina sits a bit straighter, as if she knows one of those verbose lectures were on the horizon.
She was right, but there's something different.
Word by word, there's humanity there. It's raw and it reads between fanciful lines and loses itself with formalities. ]
The oceans will always be there, but will you be?
[ He says he'll support her... that she won't be alone. Her question is simple, a confirmation to a clause that was deeper than the agreements Focalors had engrained into the Archonhood and Iudex's position. ]
You've taken a lead role, my Iudex... from supporting to center stage is something different. My step back has allowed you to reclaim what was once taken from you, to live to be the ruler the people need. [ And then, her voice cracks – that facade washes away like seafoam. ] I don't remember days without you at my side, but our relationship is different now.
[ The honesty slips through her words. ]
I do not know what we should be.
no subject
The rain keeps pelting onto windows outside. He still can't forgive himself for allowing Furina to suffer all those years. As her... Iudex. Friend? As a fellow leader, he should have paid her more attention. )
I, too, will not rule forever, I'm afraid. Although that is something people should not be concerned about for a long time. I can only hope I am the leader people will be happy to follow until the next one rises to the occasion.
Palais Mermonia might be busy these days, but part of me can't help but feel like it's a dim reflection of what it used to be the years you resided in it. Well, I will also say, Sedene is very fond of the cake you used to like now.
I understand you wish to keep your distance from all those centuries, Lady Furina. We don't have to label what we are now. I'm not sure how people would label us. I also don't consider myself an entity ruling over you, either. In my eyes, you are still an equal, so perhaps that's what we will always be.
It goes without saying, yes. I do have authority over the oceans, do I not? My decision is thus: I'll always be here.
( Well, is she thrilled that she knows him so well? She sure got her verbose essay. )
no subject
To separate Focalors and Furina.
To live her own life. ]
I'm glad. I hope the halls still smell like that sweet creme. She has a mighty task to live up to ordering as often as I did from the bakery near the plaza.
[ But, even her flip-floppy way of addressing the situation falls short. Her eyes tremble when Neuvillette's words become more sincere, more raw. It was like she was looking more to a man, than an incarnate of draconic origin. ]
...Is your throat not parched from such long-winding words that follow the flow of Fontaine? [ She laughs, perhaps the first genuine kind in a long while. Her eyes try to shut tight enough to keep tears from trickling down but she fails. Doubling over just enough to cut into her cake to hide it. ] Well then. If you're here, do sample and partake in the finest things Fontaine can provide us. Culinary comfort in confections and... the company of ones we hold dear. Perhaps we can find ourselves here more often, sharing.