[semi-open] august island retreat

[indispensable]

Who: Alhaitham + Hideaway Crew
Status: Opened primarily to the Hideaway crew
Where: Mainly The Roost, but other places depending on things~
What: One not a cat man who is totally not sulking whatsoever
Warnings: Probably gay the moment Kaveh gets involved somewhere. You know the drill.

A) up in the gardens (roost gardens)

[After a certain disastarous night out (in Alhaitham's personal opinion, anyway), it becomes clear that something needs to be done to diffuse the building tension and stress that Alhaitham has not been managing very well at all. Thus, a decision is made for them to head over to the Roost to stay there for at least a little bit, with the hope that the physical distance and the change in environment will help with the matter.

Thus the two of them appear back on the Roost somewhere in the first week of August, potentially having dragged a certain Inazuman with them as per Kaveh's insistence, but other than that not really saying anything about it or making much of a show of it at all. The only real difference is perhaps the fact that it becomes clear quickly enough that the two of them are staying here for a much more extended period of time, in contrast to their usual preference of heading back to their house in Eltrut.

Though perhaps the biggest difference is the fact that Alhaitham is staying around the island much more than he usually does, sticking around Kaveh when he's present and toddling off to his own business otherwise when not. That is not to say he doesn't do his fair share of work though, much like right now, where one may find him up working on the gardens of the Roost. Since he's doing manual labor he's shed off his usual cape and detached sleeves, so his arms with their rippling biceps is in full view for all to see as he helps with taking out the weeds, carrying plants over as needed and shoveling out new irrigation channels as planned out by Kaveh. He's usually not one to go out of his way to do manual labor, but some mindless tasks is what he needs right now to serve as a distraction from all the other things in his mind.]

B) an unwanted coupling (gryphon nests/locale)

[Of course, there is much more to the Roost, and the gryphons are part of it, and while Alhaitham also doesn't tend to make his way over here he does perhaps have a bit of a softer spot for the one that'd helped him back during the whole... incident with Garuda. It hadn't been too hard to find that particular gryphon, since it'd taken a bit of a hit that day too, but Alhaitham did his best to show his appreciation according to what he'd learned from the other crew members by gifting it some food and feathers that he'd found back in the stalls on Eltrut.

Unfortunately for him, this has somehow been interpreted as an acceptance of courtship or something along those lines, because that is the only reason as to why Alhaitham is finding himself being subject to the same song and dance he'd seen it do on Kaveh those few months ago.]

...no.

[Alhaitham does his best to be succinct here, hoping that his very simple and direct answer is enough to bring this whole situation to a halt, but apparently that does not seem to be the case. The gryphon only reboubles its efforts, preening itself far more boldly than before, and all Alhaitham can do here in response is to give the creature a patently flat look. Did they not already go through this before? Why is it still trying despite that? They should be more intelligent than this.]

C) everything in its right place (roost library)

[Alhaitham in the library is nothing new or exciting to write about, given his predisposition towards books, and the fact that Kaveh did make sure to build this place with most of his needs and specifications added with everything else. Thus, he is a common enough sight in this particular room, to the point where one could not be blamed for thinking he might simply be living in here.

But on this one particular occasion, when one comes into the library instead, rather than seeing Alhaitham doing his usual reading in the corner he is instead... removing all the books from the shelves. It can either look like he's taking them out from seemingly random spots or emptying a whole shelf entirely, but it doesn't change the fact that he is very much trying to do something, regardless of the time or day or how inconvenient it will be for anyone who comes it with the potential urgent need to grab a book or two from the shelves.]

D) everything else

[Feel free to wildcard up anything else if none of these prompts work! Special shout out to the sacabambaspis pool which is unironically Alhaitham's favorite spot but I couldn't figure out anything for. :c But know that he is very much there lmao.

For other peeps who are not a part of the crew but may want something with Alhaitham, feel free to drop me a comment on the Sail With Me post or hit me up in the discord server! Definitely open to potential MANTA board quests or whatever else that can work. :D]

Comments

c.

[empyrean_mirror]

[Kaveh's doing very well at coping with stress, that's why he's reinventing irrigation systems. But one cannot spend all day frittering about the garden, and Alhaitham's been missing for a few hours so he's come to find his husband and instead found...this.

Whatever this is.]

Did the organization system offend you in some manner?

help him senior you're the only one

[indispensable]

That depends if this place even had an organization system to begin with.

[Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't, but with the time that has passed since and the traffic this place gets its probably not a big surprise that most of it has gone out of order. Anyway, the point of the matter is that its not meeting Alhaitham's standards, so he is now correcting this egregious mistake.]

You can help by getting started on the books on that table over there. [He points in the direction of said table as he says this.] If not, then I'll find you later when I'm done.

[...which will probably take a while, given the size of said library. But that does nothing to deter him in the slightest.]

[empyrean_mirror]

And yet, you didn't want to be Grand Conservator.

[Kaveh sighs and shakes his head, before going over to look at the table.] You do realize no one else here will know what the system you're using is unless you teach it to them, right?

[indispensable]

[On the table is one stack of books which Alhaitham has already organized—very clearly meant to be a 'test run' of what he is now doing to the rest of the library itself. Since its Kaveh its easy enough for his senior to extrapolate from there.]

I'll write something out later when I'm done. [Though if anyone will read it, much less understand it, is another thing altogether.]

the adopted victorian son (sherlock)

[indispensable]

[Time, ever unphased, continues to march on as usual, despite all the problems that currently plague Alhaitham's otherwise mostly idyllic life. While he is far from pleased at the current state of things, he also has to accept that there is only so much that can be done at the moment, and that regardless of his problems life unfortunately does not stop for him, just as it does not do so for anyone else. The sun still rises and sets, the Leviathans continue on their endless migration, and he is still not back in Teyvat.

Having sensed his restlessness, Kaveh had ended up convincing (read: dragging) Alhaitham out with him for this particular round of butterfly readings that he wants to do on Elah, on the premise that they'll be far less likely to bump into people they don't wish to see at this time (read: Fatui). It's a compromise Alhaitham can settle with, even if the thought of being outside of the Roost for long periods of time does still make him a little... tetchy.

Still, for now he is fine, and with both of them wearing their bracelets he can at least be aware of his senior's presence even while they are apart. Which they are at the moment, due to having to bring these butterflies to different spots on the leviathan.

So here is Alhaitham walking down the street with a mechanical butterfly in hand, heading to the destination that'd been marked out in order to get this experiment underway.]

Hi Dad

[astudyinviolet]

[ Sherlock had come to Elah to look something up in the archives and to confirm that he hasn't been banned from the premise for his book page replacement. His search went quickly, and his activities hadn't been discovered. (For once, something has gone his way.) With his task done, he is just walking around before he decides to return to his residence with his ring and save himself a seasick return trip.

That is when he spots the familiar face carrying a beautiful mechanical butterfly. Why does that seem familiar...? Ah! ]

Alhaitham, is that one of the butterflies for the MANTA request?

[ Kaveh had made the request, hadn't he? That would make sense as to why Alhaitham would be carrying one around. ]

hello son

[indispensable]

[Alhaitham pauses and turns at the familiar voice, only needing a second afterwards to place a name to the face. Sherlock. Certainly far from the worst person to bump into out on the street.]

Yes. [He confirms with a slight nod.] Kaveh decided to survey Elah today.

[Well its really more of an excuse for them to not be so cooped up in the Roost but nobody needs to know that. Now that he'd been walking a bit Alhaitham can appreciate being able to stretch his legs after the days he'd spent in the confines of the island base.]

take your child to work day

[astudyinviolet]

The butterflies measure some kind of energy, correct?

[ Sherlock hadn't read too closely to the request because he couldn't create any magical energy. He quickly wrote it off as a case he couldn't help with. Perhaps he might have been able to assist the first time the request had been posted. However, Sherlock had been too busy with other matters, mainly the eternal emberblooms and the disappearance of his brother. ]

Has his research revealed anything?

D - Let's go kill some sheep

[scooba]

[Why did Freminet sign himself up for this quest? He didn't know. All he wanted was to get out of Arlecchino's house and distract himself from all the misery he was feeling. Between dealing with his "Mother" in the abyss and the reveal of who he was to most of his friends, it was a rather difficult time. That said, he just hoped that he didn't have to kill too many sheep as he did not want to cause a lot of violence.

So far, it seemed that he wasn't doing too bad of a job as he managed to take down one. Although, he didn't the violent sheep, he just took it down in hopes it would stop flying. And yet, all he could do was give a very frustrated sigh as more came toward him.

What was he to do?]

somebody's gonna have a baa-d time

[indispensable]

[The good thing about flying sheep: they're big, bulky and make for easy targets.

The bad thing about flying sheep: they're big, bulky and make for easy targets. Also, can't forget the wool. Lots and lots of wool. Alhaitham supposes if it had been somebody else it wouldn't be that much of an issue, but he is unfortunately not that lucky; while his Dendro blades can cut into the giant, woolly bastards the way they fly and weave around causes him to miss more often than he'd like. That alone is already bad enough, but missing also means that half the time his blades are shearing through their wool instead, which is... well. Not ideal, to say the least.

But with that having been said, Alhaitham has noticed that the activity of the sheep seems to have changed in the last couple of minutes now. Did they find another target, or is somebody else attracting their attention by doing the same job nearby? Only one way to find out...

He doesn't think much of it at first as he makes his way over to where he'd recalled one of the flying sheep having been felled earlier—one that he wasn't involved in. Since it is a job on the MANTA board it's hardly a surprise that there will be others on it too, but he can say with a fair amount of certainty that the last person he'd expected to see once he he'd arrived on the scene was Freminet of all people.]

... [There's definitely a moment here where Alhaitham had been caught by surprise, but he only lets it linger for a moment before he marches forward to where the kid is and then turns to face the flying, bitey sheep.] Your claymore isn't going to be of much use here, so just stay back.

Omg

[scooba]

[Upon hearing a certain voice, Freminet immediately froze up. For a moment, he was a deer caught in some headlights. He just stared awkwardly at the tall scary man before realizing where he was. Seeing all the flying sheep around them made him aware he had a task to deal with.]

U-Uh...okay then.

[Should he even bother to talk to Alhaitham? He didn't know, he just decided to take a step back and let him do most of the work. He wasn't going to argue against him, he didn't want to upset him anymore than he already did. He didn't need to know what or how he reacted when his brother told him the news.

Instead, he'll just....stand there as he awaited to see what the man would do next.]

the joke was there i could not resist

[indispensable]

[It's impossible to not notice the way Freminet freezes up the moment they make eye contact, but to be fair a reaction like that is nothing new on Alhaitham's end. The context around it, however, is another story altogether. If Alhaitham were a pettier man he might have taken some joy in seeing somebody from the Fatui cower at his presence, but contrary to popular belief he doesn't let himself quite sink to that level. Of course, the fact that Freminet is nothing like his brother also helps; the Cryo user is far more amenable compared to him, as currently demonstrated.

Alhaitham steps in from where the other steps back, giving the flock of flying sheep before him a glance before he summons out his Dendro blade and sends it flying into the air. Since the sheep are now targeting him its far easier to ensure that his attacks land where they need to be, and he starts picking them out one by one, not really thinking much of the way they drop down from the sky once they're no longer able to fly.]

c 📚

[phoenixdominant]

[Much like the other booksmart people on their crew Joshua finds himself in the library often enough. He has added a few of his own collection to the shelves as well. This is why when Joshua enters quietly that evening to see Alhaitham doing... whatever it is he's doing... Joshua inquires.]

Doing a bit of reorganization, I see?

[Or is he doing something else?]

[indispensable]

[The only response Joshua is going to get in return is a short grunt of both confirmation and also acknowledgement. 'A bit' of a reorganization may be a bit of an understatement, given how many shelves he has already emptied, and its clear that he doesn't seem to have an intention of stopping anytime soon.]

Feel free to look through if you're here for a book.

[They're all gonna be resorted anyway so he's not too fussy about people poking around... this time, anyway.]

[phoenixdominant]

[Joshua will come to scan over a few piles, fingers picking at a few titles here and there. Which one does he want to get lost in tonight...]

Might there be a reason why you're moving them all?

[He doesn't mind the man doing that. He trusts Alhaitham's ability to be organized and respectful of their collection. He's only curious. Is this the ocd urge to just perfectly reorganize everything in sight?]

[indispensable]

[No its just a way for him to burn off some of his restlessness because of Things. Not that Alhaitham is going to mention any of that because why would he.]

To make things easier in the future. [For himself, that is.] Everyone's been starting to bring in more books, or acquiring more, so its best to establish a proper organizational system before there's too many to keep track.

[Though even as he says that Alhaitham is a hundred percent certain it'll eventually get messed up again. Such is how things are in the House of Daena, and he doesn't see that changing even in a place like this.]

b!

[garudas]

[Through the gryphon's preening and advancing on Alhaitham, there is a sharp whistle that echoes out from behind, beneath the flap of large wings. Immediately, the gryphon backs off, folding its wings and bowing its head as a much bigger one embellished in golden brown feathers much brighter lands on the cliffside they had been standing on.

Benedikta hops down from the back of Kaj, the Patriach of the nest, and she eyes both Alhaitham and the smaller gryphon as it squawks at Kaj, and they break out into some bickering that Benedikta rolls her eyes at and ignores. Sometimes she thinks they have far too much personality for their own good.

And theirs, apparently.

She narrows her eyes, but when she speaks, there is a note of amusement edging her voice, betraying her neutral—if a bit curious—expression.]

I should hope Kaveh knows of your little tryst.

caught in 4K ultra HD

[indispensable]

[The sharp whistling sound draws Alhaitham's attention as well when it comes, though it doesn't take very long for his unspoken question to be answered by the new arrivals that come. He's only seen the head of the gryphons a few times, but even he can't help but be impressed with how she looks, plumage and all, especially once she makes her landing.

Still, even the striking appearance of the gryphon's patriarch does little to deter to the figurative thorn in Alhaitham's side, as it almost immediately goes into what he can best guess to be some kind of squabbling. That much, at least, is far more familiar to Alhaitham, and he can't help but huff at the display. Maybe after this he will finally have some peace for future visits to this place.

But aside from that, the patriarch did not come on her own, and Alhaitham glances over to Benedikta, catching her gaze for a second before she speaks—with the words that she says drawing out a dry snort from Alhaitham back in turn.]

Considering the fact that it tried with the both of us the last time, I'd say he's more than aware of the situation. [If anything Kaveh would probably appreciate the update, and maybe even find some form of amusement in it.

...he's also not going to tell Benedikta how it was discouraged the last time because he's not stupid, okay.]

[garudas]

[Perhaps if she had brought the Matriarch instead, all of the gryphons on this ridge would heel to her, but alas. It is not her whose favour Benedikta has somehow won... So she understands Alhaitham's plight well. Which is all the more reason to tease him for it. Now he should just hope that the gryphon does not take it upon itself to tell Benedikta about the last time—]

You would think that after being apart from humans for so long, they would be a little more wary of us. Instead, they try to curry our favour.

[Benedikta's eyes land on the large golden gryphon, and he turns to her and preens when he sees that she is looking before he goes back to bickering with the younger one about manners or some such. She doesn't listen long enough to find out what exactly.

With a dismissive sigh, she turns back to Alhaitham.]

... It is not often that I find anyone else up here.

d feeeesh

[ramuhs]

[Cid was going through the various grottos scattered throughout the caverns in search of an ideal pool for some new fish he and Benedikta had brought back the other night to permanently move into. They were in a decent pool now, but he feels they could do with a bigger space and be able to traverse through more freely, so he's managed to make his way towards that sacabambaspis pool where, not to his surprise, he finds—]

Ah, Alhaitham. Back here again, I see.

[Well not the first time he's seen him there, so mostly just joking a bit.]

glorious, beautiful feesh

[indispensable]

[Alhaitham hears the footsteps before the person themselves (which, to be fair, isn't hard, considering how much sound these tunnels carry along with them), but given where they are he isn't too concerned with whoever it is that comes by. There's really only a few options as to who it could be, and it doesn't take long for him to see that it is... the second person on his list.

Cid isn't Kaveh, but his appearance has never been unwelcome, so he gets a small nod of acknowledgement before he returns his attention to the book that he's reading. Kaveh, of course, has done a bit of furnishing to this particular spot since knowing how much Alhaitham likes this place, so its now as much of a cozy reading nook as one can ever make grotto into.]

[ramuhs]

[Stepping in a little further, Cid looks around.]

Looks like you've done a bit more since I was last here. Really made it a place for yourself, eh?

[A playful, teasing grin, not really expecting a response from the usually silent man.]

But no to worry, I won't tarry here long. Just wanted to check on the fish and how the water was here. Brought in some new ones and just trying to find a better place for them than where they are now.

c, very late but I HAVE to

[netherese]

[The library is a frequent haunt of Gale's, as well— he's long been in the habit of seeking out the nearest library wherever he goes, and having one of their own here in the Roost is quite convenient as far as that particular need is concerned. Many afternoons find him in this place, browsing or reading or even furiously taking notes, and he and Alhaitham pass one another with enough regularity that he's not surprised in the least to find the scholar there before him this afteroon.

What does strike him as odd is the fact that Alhaitham seems to be in the process of rearranging the place entirely on his own.

Gale clears his throat somewhere behind Alhaitham as the scholar finishes emptying an entire shelf, announcing his presence.]

Am I interrupting something?

always happy to backtag \o/

[indispensable]

[Now, it would be a lie to say that Alhaitham isn't aware of Gale's frequent visits to the library—though the same can be said of anyone else who comes by often enough. But there's no denying that Gale probably is one of the most frequent visitor as far as Alhaitham knows.

But even with that having been said, Alhaitham also pays exactly zero attention or care to any of those things, as evidenced by the way Gale catches him in the middle of rearranging the entire library at a time where Alhaitham probably would know that he'd be around.

Unfortunately, if anybody had expected Alhaitham to feel even remotely sorry or ashamed for the inconvenience he is no doubt causing right now, he expressing exactly neither of those things.]

No. [He says so very easily, not even batting an eyelid as he turns around to look at the other man.] You're free to grab whatever book you need.

[This is a public... publicish place after all, and Alhaitham certainly isn't going to stop somebody from needing a book if that's what they need. It might just need a bit more work to get said book than usual, that's all, btu he trusts that Gale can handle it.]

❤️

[netherese]

Oh, I fully intend to help myself.

[It's going to take more than a bit of a mess to keep Gale from making his way to a book he has his heart set on! Or, in this case, a bit of browsing— but that can wait a few moments, as he finds himself quite curious about the library's current state of affairs.]

That said, did something in particular bring this on? Are you intending to renovate?