#|| Dusty vc: my backstory is unspoken suffering and losing the will to live at a young age. Then losing additional hope I didn't know I had

[pastballads]

"Everything in Teyvat has to do with the gods." How he loathes that truth. "From how the nations operate down to the currency humanity uses and the Visions that grant people control over the elements, everything can be traced back to the Archons. They often involve themselves in the lives of man, trivial though it may be."

Nosy indeed. The mirthless musician lamented his poor choice in pursuing more for his meal if being paired with her for a spell was the cost. Silence reigned supreme as he steeled himself mentally, knowing full well how to deliver this practiced speech.

"... disease claimed my parents mere months after my birth, forcing my brother's hand into becoming my caretaker. He raised me until I was five, ceasing his duties once he vanished from Mondstadt without a trace during a horrid storm that lasted three days, around the same window of time Springvale's hunters went searching for a man named Draff. With my caretaker gone, it fell upon the people of Springvale to raise me. They taught me how to survive by hunting and gathering, considering their duties done once I knew everything necessary to keep going."

He marched onward into the dense wood, stepping up his pace so they may reach his roost before their meat burns. She'd probably give him an earful over a trivial issue such as that.

"Not even seven, I was surviving in these woods alone. I taught myself how to play the family lyre, both as a way to honor them and earn the Mora to feed myself. After suffering alone for so long, I turned to the Seven for aid, groveling at statues with offerings, praying by my bed for them to lessen my struggles… muttered prayer eventually fermented into bitter resentment, frothing until it overflowed one night."

"A young boy, screaming hateful blasphemy at the giant statue of Bartatos in the dead of night, at the church's doorstep... I only stopped as I ran from arrest by Ordo Favonius due to disturbing the peace. As I ran, I realized that those serving as extensions to the will of the Archons or upholding their laws could be to blame for my misfortune, as could the Archons themselves."

His cabin came into view soon enough. Having been built in a small clearing, it was easy enough to see through the tree line. Perhaps calling it a cabin was generous, however.

Moss grew wildly across its surfaces, grass and mushrooms sprouted from the decayed leaves on the roof, flowers grew untamed from years of unhampered growth, and the wood was stained black from neglect under these damp conditions. Off to the side, two graves marked with carved wood. Were it not for his admission, he wouldn't blame her if she believed it was an abandoned shack.

"In the days following, I began hearing the malevolent whispers of spirits. Few wound me like those twisted shades masquerading as my brother. They haunt me still." He lingers before the door, wrestling with his pockets for the keys. His sole companion out in this wilderness, a lone crimson fox, pokes its head out from a hole dug beneath the foundation. Whether it was mere curiosity or coming out to greet them... that was for the fox to decide.

"Though I have found minuscule glimmers of golden hope through honing my skills, people believe my talents came from divine blessing instead of exhaustive work. Mondstadt weaves tales about me with few sticking by the truth. As far as I'm concerned, the gods abandoned me when I needed them the most, punished me when I damned them, and left me to fester in my misery. Not a day goes by where I wake up wishing for nothing more than passing in my sleep."

His reaction left plenty to be desired. The short and sweet of it was a prominent disinterest that left him feeling mostly unimpressed with her performance. Was it meant to impress though? Perhaps. Sirin loses that boasting know-it-all smirk the moment she realizes that her singular captive audience already seemed bored with her display. Even if boredom wasn't the right word to describe it, it would have come off as insulting if he hadn't already displayed similar traits before.

He makes very little effort to belittle her powers, however. Perhaps that is the one saving grace that saves him from justifiable retribution. Sirin as a very egotistic little goddess, and when she found that her existence was being critiqued by those of zero faith, it's hard not to feel insulted.

But there is little malice in her eyes. No - what she feels right now isn't a resentment for this man, but rather, curiosity. He doesn't think similarly to most that thrive on this planet do. His faith in gods feels far more strained than others. A very intriguing difference from your usual Teyvat human.

" You're quite unique for a human, aren't you? " As if everything he said had gone in one ear and out the other, she doesn't immediately respond to his previous statements. " Any other human would have had a complete opposite reaction to my power- but you on the other hand.. To call you unimpressed would be an understatement. You seem familiar with this in a sense. " Familiar enough not to be brought down to one's knees begging for mercy and forgiveness at the prospect of insulting the gods.

" I could very well raze this entire forest to the ground in burning hellfire, taking away every last thing you may love about this world. I won't, but I could, and yet you treat me no different than a egotistic little teenager, " (which she was), " Were I not so fascinated by this difference between you and most humans I've come across, I'd be rightly offended. "

" Before, you had me curious of the way you treated me before. Now, You've got my intrigue. Do you have a history with the divine of this world? Call me nosy, but when a human subverts my expectations like that, you can't blame me for being so interested. "

She makes no further attempts to whimsify him with any of her other powers (of which there were plenty), and instead offers to float beside him casually as she and he spoke.