the seawoman ✷ gi

when the ocean becomes wine in a wine glass

DEATH AFTER NOON DANCED in the wine glass; glimmering in mockery. 

Kaeya sat plainly at the bar stool, candlelight illuminating the display of drunkard laughter and lyrical sorrow. 

It was only the dawning of another evening in which wine seeped into his bloodstream anew: an occurrence that repeated itself perpetually. 

However, as Kaeya gazed into the swishing wine glass, a tinge of bitter, seething indignation carved through his two-faced heart with uncanny ease. 

Kaeya's jaw tightens while his fridged eyes sharpen acutely, his grip on the wine glass unyielding. 

'Why are you here?' Questioned Kaeya, the back of his throat parched by his own rancour. 'Why now after all these years?'

Despite Kaeya's burning ponderings, the wine provided no answer, merely gazing back at him with a wist of contempt and ridicule. 

Heaving a leaden sigh, Kaeya promptly places the wine glass on the wooden countertop as he glanced up at Charles- whose wide-eyed expression festered with confusion. 

"Leaving this soon Captain Kaeya?" 

"Ah, yes Charles. I shall call it an early night." 

Kaeya promptly waves Charles off with a nonchalant smile which possessed nothing but a crooked lie. His head shifts towards the door, the smile plummeting to the ground as it morphed into a scornful scowl. 

A placid evening breeze greeted him as the vibrations of crocked tunes dissipated like the background of a sullen, whispy dream. Thus, Kaeya raised his head to the painting of a full moon, the luminance a distant calling of which he could not name. 

Hoisting himself with dull laborious strolls, Kaeya silently trudges through the gradually desolate streets of Mondstadt. The cobblestone subtly clicking with each solemn step. 

As Kaeya poorly waltzed with his dizzying notions, a pool of wistfulness seeped into his skin like blood weeping into garments. 

To the Calvary Captain, the absence of warmth provided a quaint void which could be filled by the vast ocean of wine or the perpetual days of work. Thus, as he kept those he cherished close whilst keeping his enemies closer, Kaeya discerned he would be able to reach farther than brazen killing would. He would cast himself in the shadows; gathering information to serve his final retribution. Even if it meant he had to wait, in comparison to his 'doting' brother who never seemed to stop. 

Nevertheless, as the oceans flooded his crystalline plans, Kaeya could only clench his hands while he fought a child and a rejected adult. 

Kaeya emits a steadfast sigh as the gaping gateway emerged; providing a sense of escape from the stone walls which held both eyes and ears between their cracks. 

Nodding silently to the two knights standing guard, Kaeya ambles over the cobblestone bridge, his steps gradually growing lighter despite the notions that lingered like his own shadow. The moon hung over Cider Lake; twinkling under an untroubled night.

"You truly did like this bridge- didn't you?" Mutters Kaeya under his breath; wordlessly remarking on the sheer spectacle of the steadfast evening. The water rippled slightly while the reflection of the moon unveiled itself on the clear inky waters. 

Bewitched by the spell of the night like an eternal dreamscape, Kaeya's peripheral vision drew him to the quaint image of a lady throwing stones into the lake a couple of feet away. The grass swayed over her legs as she crouched down, admiring the wide scope of Cider Lake with a subdued expression.