Fallen || Genshin Impact

Chapter 4

Mornings in Mondstadt came in the form of a peaceful ambiance and soft sunbeams. The sky was tender to the gaze and basked the city in a warm atmosphere. Unlike when he was in the Astral Express, mornings here were slow.

He never had the luxury of experiencing slow and soft moments like this in the past. His upbringing made it impossible to achieve and even after he was picked up by the nameless, the express always held some sort of adventure or chaotic fun.

Now that he was finally experiencing it, he thought that the peace would've been more enjoyable. Now, he was far too caught up in missing the chaos he grew up in to properly appreciate anything.

[Name] stared with a hazy gaze at his lap, fatigue obvious on his features. Ever since their encounter with Venti last night, the unsettling feeling that followed him around never left. It felt as though the very wind prickled his skin, keeping him awake with endless nerves.

He's gone through a lot of shit, that he knows all too well. He's grown immune to a lot of things but right now, he can't deny the fact that he was severely perturbed by whatever it is that's bothering him.

Did he somehow get cursed?

He didn't know how long he stared down at his lap, trying to compose himself, before something nudged his hand. He turned his gaze a bit to the right and noticed a smaller version of his water dragon snuggling close to his palm. It was tuned into what he felt so he wouldn't be surprised if it were trying to comfort him after sensing his discomfort.

He moved his palm to face upright, allowing the small dragon to hover and swirl around it. Somehow, just watching it move made him relax marginally. As the dragon finally got comfortable in a circle on his palm, it glowed just a bit before disappearing back into his body.

In an instant, he felt a soothing chill go over his body, as though giving him energy. A light expression made it on his face as he hopped off his bed with a stretch. He let a yawn spill from his lips as he made it out into the common area of the small room they rented.

"Are you okay?" Paimon asked slowly, her voice quiet in consideration of the tired man in front of her. Despite his posture remaining the same, the particular tiredness in [Name]'s face had her worried. It was similar to the expression Aether made whenever he got into a depressive slump after finding nothing about his sister in their next nation.

The tiny fairy flew around [Name]'s figure, still observing him as the man moved slowly, sluggish in his steps.

"It's fine," He mumbled, his tone a bit tight as he brought a hand up to cool his aching head. "I just couldn't sleep well." He admitted with a sigh. He turned around and offered Paimon an apologetic gaze. "It's nothing of concern. Thank you, though."

Paimon looked unconvinced but let the topic drop. She quietly ushered [Name] to sit down at the small table they ate at every morning. Neither said a word as they let the morning atmosphere take over, leaving the sounds of birds chirping and winds breezing outside.

Eventually, Aether, their resident cook, came out of the kitchen with different dishes he had prepared. As a traveller, [Name]'s come to learn that they pocketed quite a lot of the resources they come across for other uses.

He quite admires them for that given how much they save up on money by not buying food everytime they need to eat. Besides, Aether's cooking is quite good and [Name] finds himself melting at each bite, no matter the dish.

Since the table had been set long before [Name] had woken up, all that's left was to place down all the prepared food on the table before digging in. As usual, breakfast was a quiet but comfortable one.