( open ) summer/fall catchall.

[scriviner]

✿ who ✿ Alhaitham and you!
✿ what ✿ intro with open prompts!
✿ when ✿ latter half-ish of summer
✿ where ✿ around
✿ warnings ✿ n/a!

a. scavenger hunt

[ Games like this don't really interest him, when they're nothing more than contrivances to get people to learn things about others that they didn't really care to know in the first place. However, if it's to get seeds, he'll go along with it.

More seeds means he can give them to Kaveh and keep him out of the house more, which means more peace and quiet indoors for him. This is a flawless plan. If Kaveh doesn’t want the seeds, Alhaitham will simply have to point out to him how the seeds will go to waste if he doesn’t plan them, and that should hopefully to the trick.

To that end, he hands passersby in town a clipboard with a list of scavenger hunt questions on it. ]

Fill this out, if you will.

[ It’s not too far off from collecting surveys for research. Not his favorite academic pursuit, but it makes the task more palatable. ]

a. in the library

[ After becoming aware of a library in town, it’s where Alhaitham begins to spend most of his time. Relatively quiet and away from the hustle and bustle with plenty of new literature to get his hands on. A lot of it is pointless fluff, sure, but even that can grant him insights on this island and its goddess.

Anyway, if you happen to be there, too, he eventually starts piling books on the desk you’re reading at. He offers a quick explanation: ]

Ran out of room on my own.

[ Indeed, the desk he’s been sitting at is piled with books, and instead of putting any of them away, he’s just going to use someone else’s space, too, natch. ]

c. happy hour

[ Another Alhaitham book reading prompt…but this time he’s at the bar! It’s Happy Hour, but he doesn’t seem keen on socializing, even if the drinks here are decent.

Should someone sit down next to him at the bar, he’ll lift his gaze from his book just enough to give them an appraising look, as if deciding whether or not to say something and strike up a conversation…but no. He just goes right back to reading. Don’t take it too personally - the god of wisdom herself could sit down next to him and he would be hard-pressed to start a conversation.

Then he fiddles with his headset - turning up his music, perhaps? ]

d. wildcard

[ Bingo card is here and he is available for any gen prompts. He will put up with a little socialization to fix his roof, thanks. Feel free to reach out to me if you want to plot something specific! ]

Comments

[scriviner]

[ Does she have any idea how ludicrous that all sounds? Well - alright, maybe she does, but whether or not he rolls with the punches doesn’t mean he has to buy into it. ]

You know, that almost sounds like you’re challenging me. That being the case, would you like to fill in a bingo square with me?

[ He pulls his card out of his book and pushes it across the bar to her. Annoying as the bingo might be, working on it will at least get Kaveh off his back, and will prove a point. Which is really all he’s after here. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Easily, ]

Yeah? Alright, then. Let's see what you've got!

[ She's adjusted easily enough to everyone just pulling their cards out. Which is why she does the same, too, to compare in case they have any shared squares. She... reaches into her cleavage to pull hers out I'm sorry it's still Summer so the girls are out and this has been a Bit since she arrived and we're sticking with it.

After she slides hers over, she finally peers down at Alhaitham's card. ]

Wow. Okay, these are... [ his smut squares?????? sir ] I'm seeing a theme, here, but... We have slow dancing in common.

[scriviner]

[ WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP JUDGING HIS SMUT SQUARES!! Just because he's an abrasive and dominating kind of person-- ]

Alright. So, you're asking me to slow-dance with you in the middle of a bar without any music playing?

[ Little does he know about the jukebox. He doesn't know what the fuck that thing does. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Oh he's definitely abrasive, but of course she doesn't know that he's dominating. Nor does she really care. Who wants to be dominated by such a disagreeable person, anyway? If anything, he should be--

Oh, whatever. Anyway. He is so abrasive, in fact, that Ori leans in, narrowing her eyes at him. ]

I didn't ask, did I? All I did was point out that we have that square in common.

[ Congrats, Alhaitham, you've activated Ori's Bitch Mode, a feat that not even Childe has accomplished (at the the time of writing). Anyway, she walks away to fuss with the jukebox until a slow-dance-appropriate song comes on. After that, she turns to face him again, hands on her hips. ]

Now I'm asking you to slow-dance with me in the middle of a bar. With music.

[scriviner]

[ Good, he can engage more easily with Bitch Mode, just look at who he lives with. People who are overly nice typically bore him, anyway. She's managed to offer him a challenge he can stand to benefit from, and his pride won't let him walk away now.

So, fine. He'll dance with her, even if the music is a bit corny for his tastes. Surprisingly enough, he does know what he's doing - dancing is another one of his mysteriously acquired skills, much like fighting.

Offering her a hand: ]

About time. Let's get a move on.

[ Time's a-wastin'! ]

[hearthwarming]

[ She tries her very best not to sigh when she takes his hand and settles in for the slow dance. Her other hand alights on his shoulder as she looks up at him.

...What a waste of a handsome face, honestly. His stature, his build, and his silver hair remind her of M-21, but M-21 would never treat her like this... ]

What were you reading about?

[scriviner]

[ Anyone decent wouldn't treat her like this tbh, but at least she'll get a bingo out of it. For his own sake, he won't make the dance itself unnecessarily frustrating.

What he might say, on the other hand, may yet still prove even more frustrating. ]

Some economic history about the island. Would you like to hear about it?

[hearthwarming]

Hmmm...

[ She is. Pretending to think about it as they start to settle into some kind of slow... dancing. ]

Only if you found something interesting about it.

[scriviner]

[ Cue the Stardew Bop...but no, Alhaitham actually seems to be a pretty decent dancer! Because of course he is. He probably read a book in dancing once and somehow mastered it, because he's the worst. ]

That depends on what you classify as interesting. If cricket infestations eating crops is your cup of tea, I could regale you for hours.

[ This is a bluff. Probably. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Ori, on the other hand, isn't terrible, but she's certainly not the best dancer by any means. Luckily, she can follow his lead easily enough.

She's not particularly bothered by the topic of cricket infestations, but... ]

Hm, I'll pass... How about this? Tell me about the world you came from?

[scriviner]

[ A shame. It's a gripping story, of which he would have spared no detail, but since she asked: ]

It's called Teyvat. Heard of it before?

[ He wouldn't be surprised, given the population of the island being like, 50% people from Teyvat. ]

[hearthwarming]

— Oh! I have, actually.

[ She is closest with Amber, but she's since figured through various conversations that Diluc, Childe, and Aether are also from there... ]

Seems a number of you here are from that world. Are you from, um... [ what was it ]... Mond..stadt...?

[scriviner]

[ Oh, and she's familiar with Mondstadt? Alhaitham hasn't encountered the Mondstadters himself, but this marks a rare occasion where he might actually seek another person out. ]

I'm not. I'm from Sumeru. Same as Tighnari, Cyno and Kaveh. Quite unexpected odds, don't you think?

[ Or rather, odds have nothing to do with it. He's rather of the mind that the goddess is actually just a little shit. ]

[hearthwarming]

Hmm... Quite, indeed! Really makes you wonder what the Goddess was thinking...

I know Tighnari and Cyno, though! I suppose a little bit of familiarity might help you settle in easier. That's good!

[ cries in forever lcw bc lol oc ]

[scriviner]

[ Sorry to rub it in, Ori...even if Alhaitham might be a bit envious of the position she's in. ]

I would have rather they didn't get dragged into the mess either.

[ He wishes he was a lcw :C ]

[hearthwarming]

Did you all know each other where you're from, too...?

[ It would be one thing if the Goddess pulled in random people from the same worlds, but from what she can tell... Those who come from the same worlds tend to all be close with one another. It's a curious thing, really. ]

[scriviner]

We did. Kaveh is actually my roommate back home, and, unfortunately, that trend has continued here.

[ He sounds extremely thrilled about it! So thrilled, in fact, that his enthusiasm has dropped even lower than before, which is saying something. This will make her meeting with Kaveh even more incomprehensible... ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Truly incomprehensible, have a terrible day. ]

Oh... Still, at least you get to skip over all of the parts about getting to know your roommate and figuring out if your lifestyles mesh well...

[ Though... His tone is troubling. ]

Unless... You were troubled roommates at home, too?

[scriviner]

I did say "unfortunately", didn't I?

[ Her suspicion is entirely correct. They're a little more than troubled roommates - that's putting it lightly. ]

I can't think of anyone I would have a harder time seeing eye to eye with.

[hearthwarming]

[ Well, based on her initial impression of this man, she can only assume that his roommate is somehow worse, or is actually one of the nicest people around... ]

Uh... Well, maybe the Goddess will let either one or both of you move out if you make an offering...?

[ Damn. She really got lucky with her roommate, huh. Phrasing!! She can't imagine living with someone she can't see eye to eye with! ]

[scriviner]

[ It depends on who you ask...really, whether you ask Alhaitham or literally anyone else. ]

Huh. I didn't realize she would listen to such a request. I might have to consider that.

[ Editor's note: but he did not consider that, he smashed his roommate instead. ]