bakerstreet | sunday texts

Ayato.

What do you know about Shikanoin Heizou?

Aether.

[ Ayato allows his echoing of the other's name to linger momentarily. Aether is welcome to interpret the intention of that move as he wishes. ]

That young doushin from the Tenryou Commission? Not all that much more than anyone else, really. He's garnering himself an interesting reputation these days. I'm sure you're already aware that the seedier individuals skulking about are taking him as quite the threat, no? Did something in particular spur you to inquire about him?

He suggested that he might have theoretically beaten you at a game of Genius Invokation TCG.

I wanted to know if there was any truth to the insinuation.

[ aether this is, in some circles, a casual declaration of war!!! ]

Oh? And what brought about this theory?

[ He really should have expected Heizou to think he'd earned himself bragging rights. It was bad enough already that besting him had put the idea in Itto's head to challenge Ayato twice as often until he got his own victory, but now he's bringing Aether into it too? Honestly... ]

The two of you haven't been talking about me behind my back, have you? [ Perhaps if he nudges the subject this way— ]

I would never, as I'm sure you're aware.

But if he wasn't just trying to get a reaction out of me, then I'll have to take this a lot more seriously.

Edited 2022-10-10 15:22 (UTC)

Am I aware? [ A beat. ] I jest, of course. I know well you are a good friend above lowly gossip.

Has he challenged you? How interesting that he thinks he needs to rely on tactics of intimidation rather than his own merits. Or perhaps motivating you to offer your best efforts was his intent? How bold, if so.

[ the truth of the matter is more just that aether doesn't think it's a great idea to get on ayato's bsd side rather than that he's a particularly good friend. but that's the kind of thing he doesn't say aloud with respect to thoma and ayaka.

sometimes he thinks he's not a particularly good friend to them either. ]

Probably the latter.

[ he has the feeling that ayato is going to continue dodging the question. well, that's fine too. ]

It's not really that serious.

I think he wanted to make a bit of a spectacle of it. You can watch us in Hanamizaka tomorrow if you'd like.

[ Ayato is a person that chooses his words carefully. Therefore, he does not say to whom Aether is a good friend. He knows it isn't to him, at least on a personal level. Not because of anything Aether has or hasn't done, but because Ayato only allows others so close.

This does nothing to diminish the great respect Ayato has for him. He has been there in times he could not be, preventing him from losing things he couldn't bear to lose.

The least he can do is indulge this conversation. He could have ignored it easily.

(It had been a little tempting to. He is not at all being a sore loser.) ]

You probably shouldn't tell him that. There will be no spirit present in your competition if you don't take it just a little seriously.

[ And wouldn't Ayato get just an earful if a certain oni found out he was doing anything but kindling Aether's warrior spirit? ]

And bolder still he grows. I can't say his confidence is unwarranted, what with his array of accomplishments. In Hanamizaka?
Yes, that should be doable. It wouldn't hurt anything to take a brief detour tomorrow to support you. At what time?

[Sometimes Aether thinks that it would be nice to give in to the perfect fantasy where everyone at the Kamisato Estate is his friend. Where Thoma is always happy to see him (in some respects he is) and Ayaka values him as a dearly trusted friend (in some respects she does), and Ayato is this distant older brother figure who has always quietly given his love and support (in no respect is he particularly like this with Aether at all except perhaps on surface level). It's not that the traveler doesn't like them; as as a matter of fact, he values Thoma very deeply, and if it had been anyone but him bowed in front of the statue of the Omnipresent God that day, Aether's not certain he would have lifted his blade to strike down the Shogun's men so suddenly, without thinking, without fear, and with full faith in himself.

But. What he always thinks about, privately and to himself, is that he said no, at first. That he didn't want to be involved in a civil war between a god and her people, at first. And when he fought Ei in the Plane of Euthymia it was with every intention of reconciling her with what she'd done and the faithful friend that had waited for her for years beyond measure, but — there's the thought, always, that he always has to consider and then let go: that he was cornered, persuaded, pushed to look at the problem and take in the abuses of Inazuma's leadership until finally his no turned into a yes. And it was a wholehearted yes and he knew what he was wagering, but sometimes — sometimes.

Sometimes he's keenly aware that he's of probably no more particular value to Ayato than a usefully positioned piece upon a chessboard, and Aether, politely, just doesn't talk about it.

They had wanted and needed him to be a hero who would turn the tide because the alternative that they were fighting a war they had no hope of winning was too difficult to bear, and he agreed to play that role, uncomplaining, because he knew that about them too.]

Early afternoon, around 13:00.

It should be quite the show.

Edited 2022-10-12 13:58 (UTC)

[ Aether, indeed, was like a chess piece to him. He had been a late addition to the game, a gambit to bring rebellion to the board that would break the rules in their entirety. They had all known that day just what pushing him forward would do. Ayato, for his part, feels no guilt for it. Even if it had gone differently, if they had been ultimately punished and the board tipped into their demise, he would not have died with remorse for what he had chosen. He knows, though they have never spoken on the matter and never would, that Aether knows this.

Ayato knows just as well that Aether did not deserve to have this role forced upon him. A lack of regret does not belie awareness of the notion that he is, at the end of it all, a simple man with a simple wish, and the Kamisatos had not possessed the right to tear him away from fulfilling that hope of reunion he carried with him throughout Teyvat.

But still, they had. He had.

No matter how bleak a scenario, it was difficult for him to believe that Ayaka would ever have resorted to such tactics if he had not taught them to her.

And Thoma...

Ayato does not know if he would have done what Aether had. If he would have been willing to step forward, to face the lightning's glow, in the name of protecting the dear ambitions of someone who meant so much to him. In the deep corners of his heart where his own ambitions lied, it was so simple and easy to say that he would do anything for Thoma. Move mountains, part seas.

Reality is so much more harsh than the safety of dreams within one's heart. There are pressures at every turn, weights bearing upon him without falter, expectations and duties and fears telling him that he must stay away, must not bend, must not play his hand even at the expense of his most treasured friend if it would mean endangering the name of the clan and the promise of a future for his sister.

But it didn't matter, in the end. Aether was a hero. He was a chess piece, the beginning and end of a coup de grâce, a willing extension of his own hand that was able to touch and do the things he could not. (Would not?)

Ayato does not feel guilt. They are not friends. But... there is something. Something he feels about this man.

Maybe it is that he owes him an unpayable debt. ]

That I don't at all doubt. I must admit, it will be nice to have something so exciting to look forward to. You've invited others as well, I presume?

[They're not friends, but they pretend to be friends because it's the only polite thing to do when their loved ones love them so respectively and so wholeheartedly, and sometimes Aether hates it, but he keeps that down, too. He swallows it down like the bitter taste of everything that has happened in Inazuma and the salt of the tears he sometimes hides from Paimon when he thinks about how things there didn't have to be that way, but the past isn't within his power to change. They're not friends, but sometimes Aether looks at Ayato's hands more than his face because it is easier to think about him as the things he does than as the man he is or is supposed to be, and he tries, sometimes, to pretend that he doesn't have opinions like like and dislike when it comes to people. It's dangerous for Aether to voice an opinion where people might hear it. Senseless to take away the image of the altruistic hero when that's what everyone wants to see.

They're not friends, but the one good thing that Aether has to say about Ayato is that, of all the people he knows in Inazuma, Ayato is probably the only one who will understand when he one day disappears.]

Actually, I didn't.

[Ayato can think whatever he wants about that, too.]

But you can make a day of it if you'd like. The Arataki Gang will probably be in the vicinity. Yoimiya tends to take a stroll around the city at that time, too.

[ They are not friends, but they could have been. In an Inazuma allowed to move forward without the crushing grip of a near-sighted archon, where the departed Kamisatos still breathed and living as a child for just a bit longer had been within his reach, where Aether and his sister had come to Teyvat for far happier reasons. It was abundantly clear, however, that the mechanisms of fate had made no turns in allowing them to actually touch the opportunity that was so close yet so far. And hadn't they questioned the principles of the heavens enough already?

Ayato, long ago, had grown accustomed to the cold company of could be's and what-if's. He cannot commiserate with Aether about the pain of them, because he has become necessarily numb. His mask will not budge, and by the actions of his hands are the only way to know him.

Ayato is the Comissioner, Aether is the hero, and between them is everything they must keep safe. ]

Oh? Really?

[ He imagines when that day comes he will not even be there to say goodbye. ]

A day of it? Hm. I may need to push a few things around, but I imagine it can be done. You make the company [—"of friends," he wants to say, but his fingers do not obey his intent—] sound quite inviting. Shall I bring Ayaka and Thoma along? They would be overjoyed to see you again.

[Always with Thoma and Ayaka between them. Because without them, there wouldn't be anything. It's just the way it is.]

If they're free. No pressure either way. If you do all show up, I'm sure the people of Inazuma City will be delighted to see the Shirasagi Himegimi and the Yashiro Commissioner together.

At this rate, Guuji Yae and the Raiden Shogun are going to attend our duel, too. Heizou had better be prepared.

[ Though they are not what they could be, they are still something, and something is better than nothing. ]

In their case, I think there are a great number of things that could suddenly be put on hold if it was for the sake of you being in town. Yes, I'm sure they would be. How will she ever be able to decline the invitation when there are so many reasons in favor of accepting?

I cannot help but think it would be somewhat humorous if they did. Oh, but wouldn't it be a shame if he got stage fright at the last moment because the Almighty Shogun made an appearance?

I don't know if Heizou would be so easily rattled. And in the spirit of an honorable match, I should meet him on even footing.

On the other hand, I do feel Miko would be offended if I didn't invite her...

Best to be polite, wouldn't you say?

[ ...

They're not friends but they might be

co-conspirators???? ]

Nobody could hold it against him if it did rattle him. Her Excellency is quite a sight to behold.

Certainly. Politeness is a worthwhile policy to abide by. Who can imagine what she might do if she were to feel slighted?

[ Co-conspirators does have an awfully delightful ring to it. ]

Right, exactly. Never cross a fox.

[ but run a poor detective into the ground?! ]

I'll make sure Her Excellency arrives too. Might even contact the other Excellency on Watatsumi Island.

I hope you enjoy the show tomorrow, Ayato.

[ Heizou has brought this all upon himself. It isn't Ayato's fault that there's no mercy for that kind of hubris~ ]

Goodness, at this rate it might become an international affair. Perhaps a clash between the esteemed traveler and the cunning detective shall end so grandly that we will celebrate it in festivals to come.

I'm sure I will, Aether. You never dissapoint. I suppose this is farewell until then, hm? Be sure to rest up. I don't doubt that boy will give you a run for your money.

I've won my fair share of matches. I'm pretty confident.

But if you aren't too busy at the moment, would you have time to discuss what strategies are popular in Inazuma right now? I'm used to the meta in Sumeru and don't want to be caught off guard.

[ nerds. ]

Oh? You want my help? Hmmm... I don't know if I should. Wouldn't giving you my aid count as an unfair advantage?

Kidding, of course. I would be happy to. After all, I'm sure Heizou is off scheming with Itto regarding all this about now. It's only balancing the odds if you have someone to consult as well.

[ It's not. ]

Let's see, then. Have you made any new additions to your deck since your arrival? I'll have an easier time advising you once I have knowledge of what you're working with already. If there are strategies available to you now that weren't before we should be taking full advantage.

[ Loser men engage in deep introspection and then discuss card games, more at 11! ]

Sure. Attack-speed sweeper setups are really popular in Sumeru right now, so I usually run a defensive damage-over-time deck to counter that, but I feel like I see a lot of people in Inazuma running Thunder Manifestation cards...

[ ...the conversation goes on like this for a while. children's card games are SERIOUS BUSINESS when one's reputation is on the line!!!

tune in next time for the thrilling duel and its aftermath... ]

sunday texts

bc the thread with heizou was fun...

omg hi!! i had so much fun with that thread too :'D

（<ゝω・）☆

☆ヾ(＾∇＾)!

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gasp. you've tricked me into introspection!

this is only step 2 in my master plan,

villain! villain!

mwahahahaha!!

>:O

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thinking about there being a meta got me in hysterics

i'm inviting GOD to my CARD GAME to PSYCHOLOGICALLY THREATEN MY OPPONENT