oddsandends | 85th ♫ | let’s raise a toast to our final sin

Love and lust are all very well and good, but this meme is for when that white-hot desire tips into something darker, an all-consuming fire that licks at your every thought, that clenches around your every breath. It may be one-sided or it may be reciprocal, you may be the object or the subject or both simultaneously, but at least one of you is obsessed.

You can think of nothing but them. Your world, your heart, your very existence revolves around them.

Unrequited - Subject
1. Innocent yearning - They are unreachable, untouchable, or perhaps you're merely too shy. You're resigned to the certainty that they will never be yours, but you'd still dedicate your life to make them happy. Little gifts, remembering their birthday, you'll be their best friend, their Cyrano, you'll be their shoulder to cry on or maybe you'll only ever watch them from across the office and make sure that one of the morning donuts always makes it anonymously to their desk before they're all eaten.
2. Win their heart - You're going to marry them. Sure, they don't know it yet. Sure, they don't even know you exist. But you've got a plan, and you're going to use every resource in your power to win their heart. No matter what it takes. Their happiness is all important, and the best way to ensure that is to make sure they know how worthy they are of being loved.
3. Stalker - They belong to you. They may not know it, they may even disagree, but they are yours. It's okay. You're content--at least for now--to watch them from afar. To deliver notes and gifts--threats, if they dare to object to your ideas of romance, if they dare to date anyone else--to oversee their safety and even to mastermind minor adjustments in their life to ensure that everything goes... according to plan.

Unrequited - Object
1. Innocent yearning - You have a secret admirer. Little gifts, love poems and notes, and they're always perfectly sweet, perfectly timed, and they always make your day. You're half in love with them already, whoever they are, this person who cares for your happiness above all else. If only you could figure out who it might be.
2. Win their heart - Out of nowhere, one of your friends--or perhaps an acquaintance you hardly noticed before now--has begun trying to court you. It's flattering, but also very intense. They seem convinced that you'll fold to their affections sooner or later, and... maybe. Why not? It's nice to have someone who thinks you're worth the whole world.
3. Stalker - You're being followed. Maybe you know this person--an ex?--maybe you don't. They know you, though, or they think they do. Worse, they think they have some claim upon you. They dog your steps, bother your friends and romantic partners, leave you haunting and unwelcome gifts.

Requited

A. The sun in my sky - Your everyday existence may be dull and drab, but you have one glittering prize in your life. Your love, your partner, your everything. You can get through the daily grind, through the indignities of your life, because you know you're coming home to them.
B. Forbidden - You're in love and it's requited, but that doesn't make them any more accessible to you. Wealth, class, or perhaps an inconvenient marriage is keeping the two of you apart. You'll have to conduct your affair in secret, with your obsession compelling you to take greater and greater risks, until you find a way to run away together -- or until you're caught.
C. Partners in Crime - What's more romantic than a crime spree? You're partners in crime, and what a thrill that is! It certainly spices up your love life. You trust them entirely, they're the other half of you, and they're every bit as wicked as you. It feels as though you're both untouchable, and surely you are. You'll never be caught. Neither of you will ever be hurt.
D. On the Run - You're young, you're in love, and you're free, but you know it can't last. You're on the run, and your stars are crossed. Sooner or later you're going to come to a bad end, but until then you've got this hotel room, this night, this car and the open road. If anyone wants to separate you, they're going to have to catch you first.

Wildcards
Enchantment - A love spell can serve to create obsession where none existed before, and now you have a devoted slave, as long as the spell doesn't backfire.
An Unholy Bargain - You've sworn yourself to an angel, a devil, a cause, a country, a witch, a place, and they are the embodiment of that vow. You're sworn to them inescapably, and the terms of your bargain press you with the sweetest compulsion. It may not be real, but it's love, and it's undeniable.

Feel free to run with your own interpretations of the theme!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Her expression turns a little wry, as does the smile that gradually softens her mouth again. ]

I won't pretend it's been particularly fun... but it's not as though I had much of a choice. It wasn't as though I could leave you to fend for yourself... but hopefully, now you're awake, you'll be back on your own two feet in no time.

Hopefully.

[How on earth was he asleep for so long, though? That's more like a coma than anything, as he mentioned...but it seems to him like Camellia would have eventually resorted to finding an actual doctor.

It's...strange.]

I am afraid that I don't know if that will be today. I fear the pain is too great for me to try to stand just yet.

[And his chest sounds like crinkling paper every time he breathes so that's you know, bad.]

Oh, you're not going anywhere. It's much too soon for you to be thinking about getting up. If you're uncomfortable at all, I can do what I can to get you more settled, but for now, I don't want you to move any more than you absolutely have to. You need time to heal.

[ Plenty of time. As long as it takes. Camellia's happy to wait it out and eventually, he'll be happy too. ]

Is the pain that bad, though? I'm not much of a doctor, but I'm sure I could give you something for the pain – I went and bought some medicines while I was settling us in here.

Mm...it might help, yes.

[Maybe some sort of potion or something...surely those exist alongside the veritable thanksgiving dinners people in Teyvat use for recovering health.]

I wouldn't reject it, at any rate.

Okay. I'll go and see about getting it ready for you.

[ She half-rises out of her seat to leave, but then she hesitates. ]

You're comfortable like that? I know you're in pain, but laying like that isn't making it worse anywhere, is it? Do you need a blanket, maybe?

Oh, don't worry too much about me. I'm used to far colder.

[CONSIDERING]

I will simply await your return with baited breath.

[ Even though he can't exactly get up and run off, Camellia feels oddly discomforted leaving him here by himself. This whole situation feels fragile and dreamlike, like he might just disappear if she takes her eyes off him for too long.

But the important thing here is helping him get better. He really can't afford for her to hesitate on that front. So she gives him one last smile and then stands up and leaves him be, making her way to the kitchen so she can prep the medicine as promised.

It's nothing overly complicated – a blend of spices and herbs and whatever else that need to be ground into a paste and mixed with hot water, to be ingested in liquid form. She's heard enough about it that she has some confidence in its effectiveness but there's no way for her to be sure about it until she sees it for herself.

She'd been told not to let him take the stuff on an empty stomach, but she's also fairly sure he's not quite ready to manage a meal yet. So when she returns, it's with a tray, carrying the medicine in a small bowl and a stack of dry, bland crackers for him to at least try and eat his way through. ]

Here you go. I know you're probably not ready for food yet, but you can't drink this on an empty stomach. I thought these might be a little easier to eat than proper food, for now at least.

[It's so strange, having to be treated as an invalid like this. It's hardly anything that can be helped, but it's still not at all ideal. He wants to be back in Mond right away, checking up on the other knights and regrouping with Jean and Lisa to see what can be done about this whole new situation they've found themselves in. He'd love to assume that this attack was a personal plot, but he knows better.

Mondstat has a target on its back, and it has ever since the conception of the Fatui, the Abyss Order, even the existence of Hilichurls themselves. They're simply not safe in this world, and because of that Kaeya doesn't feel right just sitting here until his body is mended enough to allow him to do something.]

Thank you, Camellia. Whatever that is, it looks awfully bitter and distasteful...which I imagine means it will work quite well.

[ She titters a little to herself. ]

I'm afraid so. I wish I could give you something better tasting to wash it down with, but I think we both know that wouldn't be a very good idea.

[ She's a little nervous even just giving him as much food as she is right now, but... well, if it'd be dangerous to him, she's fairly sure a doctor wouldn't have recommended it. Probably. Hopefully.

She sets the tray down and then reaches out to carefully help ease him up into a sitting position, assuming he can get that far without too much pain. ]

Will you be alright to sit up and take this yourself or do you need help?

[When will they devise a medication that is alcohol based? That Kaeya could see himself enjoying.

He lets her help him sit forward, raising a hand to steady her hand.]

I'll be fine, don't worry. They may have gotten the jump on me this time, but that doesn't mean I'm-

[He stiffens once he's sitting up properly, his complexion paling a little as something in his back cracks like an old man.]

[ Yikes. Her lips pull a little tighter, with sympathy and concern. ]

Oh dear, that didn't sound good at all. The pain isn't any worse like this, is it?

O-oh no no, I'm fine...I'm fine, really.

[HE SWEARS...]

Here, let me just take that medicine...surely it will start its work on me sooner rather than later.

[ She hovers anxiously by his side for only a moment longer, before giving in and easing the bowl into his hands. It's not hot enough that it'll scald him if it spills, but it's not like he can easily hop into a change of clothes if that ends up happening. ]

Take it slowly, alright? And then make sure you get down at least a few of the crackers once you've had some.

[Kaeya takes the bowl carefully, his hands at least steady where the rest of him is not.]

Thank you. Why don't you tell me what has been happening in my absence while I eat? I know I haven't been asleep for that long, but...for some reason, it feels like I was out for years. You know?

Ah, well...

[ Try as she might, it's impossible to miss the way she hesitates before answering him. It's not a surprise that he'd want to know what had happened in his absence but... the last thing he needs is to have the Knights to worry about when he's supposed to be recovering.

So she tells him... some of it. ]

The truth is, I don't know much myself. I just happened to be passing through Mond on the way to Liyue and I decided to show my face and see how everyone was doing. I thought it was strange for you to be absent when it didn't seem like there was anything going on but when I asked, the Acting Grand Master just said you'd been out of contact for some time. It didn't seem like you at all, so I offered to keep an eye out for you when I left to make my way to Liyue and well... here we are.

85th ♫ | let’s raise a toast to our final sin

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