to wait [on: xiao's idle animation]
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Another long night, the shadows of trees growing tall beneath the moonlight as Xiao watches from his usual perch above the shrine where Pervases rests. Quiet and peace is a good thing, Xiao knows, but it always stirs a subtle anxiety that he’s missing danger where it must be found.
But he is good at waiting, has had to be to accept the everlasting flow of time that his form will gradually succumb to. And so he stands in silence, awaiting the telltale sound of grudges, the oppressive aura of hatred.
Then a soft pop and a blip of color appears in his peripheral vision. Whipping his head around, Xiao is greeted by the innocuous sight of a small green orb of light, floating at shoulder height.
“Hmm?”
Xiao relaxes slightly when he realizes it is a spirit, a lost soul that is wandering the land.
“You should not be here - I will only harm you.”
Waving the spirit away, he tucks his polearm behind him and resumes his scan of the environment. And yet the orb flits over his head to his other arm, seemingly taking an interest in his flowing sleeve, batting at it much like a cat with a new toy.
Xiao can’t take his eyes away from the unusual sight, standing as still as possible to not scare the spirit away. When it seems to grow tired of its play, the spirit then floats up towards his hair. Startled, Xiao reaches up, only to see the spirit dart beyond his reach, floating away into the night.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Xiao runs a hand through his hair and pulls out his polearm to do a few practice swings. This was the problem with quiet nights, he had too much time to think. Not enough time to do.
Perhaps he should light a stick of incense for Pervases while he waits. Waiting, after all, is nothing to an adeptus, when time is what they have most of.