Chapter Text
If you asked Alhaitham what he thought of his position on the Yaoqing, he’d tell you he thought it was troublesome. He was the Cauldron Master, or, in other words, head of the Alchemy Commission. He had originally signed up to be only an average worker. He took apprenticeship under the previous Cauldron Master only because no one else was available at the time he had been accepted into the program, and she had volunteered to mentor him due to having known his past incarnation.
According to members of the commission, he was a ‘natural’. Privately, he thought they were all just incompetent, not that he’d ever say that to their faces. He soared far above the other trainees with minimal effort, and he enjoyed that he could do well without giving it much thought. His ability to use cloudhymn— albeit not very well, he hadn’t yet been bothered to dedicate himself to the hundred-odd years it’d take to master the art— helped him more often than not, and many fellow trainees claimed he was using it as a ‘cheat code’ of sorts, despite most of them being vidyadhara as well.
Needless to say, he graduated top of the class, and was swiftly placed high up in the commission. He continued to train under the previous Cauldron Master on top of his regular work, and although the woman never said it, Alhaitham knew why, as much as he disliked the answer.
“Haiyi, dear,” Said the older woman, the closest thing he had ever had to a family member.
Alhaitham looked up from what he was reading, giving her his best attempt at a smile. “Yes, grandma?” They weren’t actually related, but the two had known each other since he was little, and had grown fond of each other.
She sat beside him, placing a hand on his thigh. “As I’m sure you know.. I’m getting older. I won’t be here much longer,” She began, and Alhaitham had to will himself not to roll his eyes. He knew this talk was coming, but he had been hoping they could hold it off for a few years. His tail curled around his leg— a show of discomfort.
“I talked with General Feixiao and… we came to an agreement.” here it comes. “We want you to take over the title of Cauldron Master when I undergo hatching rebirth,”
Knew it.
“If this is not something you’re interested in, you can tell me and I’ll find someone else to replace me, I just need to know before official arrangements are made.”
Alhaitham sucked in a breath, thinking over his response carefully. “As if I’d let any of those fools take over the commission.” He decided on, smiling smugly. His grandma chuckled and let go of his thigh, a weight clearly taken off her chest.
“Well, since that’s settled, I’ll go discuss it with the General and have it officialized soon.” She hums, getting up and leaving him to his own devices. Part of him wishes she would stay for a little longer, knowing her hatching rebirth was impending and he didn’t have much time left with her. He pushed those thoughts down, deciding he would unpack that later(read: never).
A year after this, his grandmother would undergo a hatching rebirth, and as he had agreed, Alhaitham took over the commission.
Which puts him where he is now, an Amber Era later and still Cauldron Master, much to his dismay. No trainee was good enough to take over the commission, and he couldn’t simply retire without a replacement or else the IPC may take over.
Alhaitham had never been fond of the IPC, and much less of the way they seized control of the ship, stripping the Yaoqing of its architecture and culture. He would never understand why General Feixiao willingly cooperated with them(not that he’d ever asked).
Shutting down those thoughts as he heard a knock on the door, he begrudgingly shut his book. More than sure it was another IPC grunt planning to offer him a position he would once again refuse, he sat up in his chair to look more professional. “Come in.”
Instead of an IPC lackey like he had expected, however, he is greeted by a familiar face— two, actually. Through his door comes Feixiao and her personal doctor, Jiaoqiu. He had met both of them before, and was actually quite fond of the two. Though, he rarely saw them together. They usually came alone to his office, and he only saw them when he bumped into the General on the street.
He perks up, relaxing back into his chair. “I wasn’t expecting the General and her healer,” He hums, not bothering to hide his surprise. “What’s the occasion?”
Jiaoqiu settles in the chair across from him, while Feixiao relaxes onto the bed, leaning her back against the wall. “Is it illegal to just want to visit?” She asked, yawning dramatically. He didn’t fail to notice the tenseness of her shoulders and the furrow of her eyebrows.
Alhaitham raises an eyebrow, it wasn’t often the Arbiter General came to visit him for reasons other than treatments. When Jiaoqiu was unavailable, she occasionally came to him when her illness became too much.
When neither of them offered an explanation beyond that, the vidyadhara shrugged, leaning back and opening his novel once again. Delicate, content silence settles amongst them, all three too scared to ruin the fickle peace(read: Jiaoqiu and Feixiao didn’t want to bother the Cauldron Master while he was reading).
Practically feeling their eyes boring into him, Alhaitham sighed, placing his bookmark into the book and setting it on the desk. “Alright, spill it. I know something happened.”
Feixiao let out a sigh of relief, sitting up straight and practically jumping at the opportunity to rant about whatever was on her mind. “Okay, so I was negotiating different trade routes with the IPC, because—”
“Because the current arrangement messes with tours of both the pavilion and the theatre. I’m aware.”
“Yes! Good, you know. Less backstory I have to give,” She half-cheers. “As I was saying, I was negotiating with the representative— some lackey I didn’t catch the name of— and this little prick threatened to have me fired! As if the kid even had the authority for that! I mean, the audacity! My claim was entirely reasonable!” She huffs, crossing her arms.
Just as Alhaitham was going to ask how exactly that correlated with her current position in his office, Jiaoqiu spoke up. “We came here so she could cool off, she looked like she was about to pounce on the poor kid. I wasn’t sure where exactly she could go without being questioned too thoroughly, and the commission was the only place that came to mind where I knew we wouldn’t be turned down.”
Alhaitham nods in understanding, offering a small smile. “You can stay, though I’d rather you not stay in my office, preferably. I have paperwork to get done. I can give you the room in the back if General Feixiao needs time alone, if not, you’re free to wander the commission. No one will bother you.”
“I think… we’ll take the back room, if that’s not too much trouble,” Jiaoqiu said after a swift look at the general. Alhaitham gives them a thumbs up and points to the door off to the side, leading to the room where he typically tended to patients in critical condition. It was currently unoccupied, though, so he had no qualms with letting the two stay there for a little while.
Jiaoqiu smiled at him and guided the general into the back room, closing the door once they were both in there. He heard gentle, unintelligible conversation through the door and welcomed the background noise as he returned to his book, determined to finish it before the end of the day. He actually did have paperwork he needed to file, but none of it was overdue, so it was not top priority in his mind.
Man. He really should get his priorities straight.
—- —-
Not long after— a system hour or two, at most—, the two left in a hurry. He guessed they likely received some urgent call from the verdant knights, because he only got a quick “Gotta go!” before they rushed out the door. He didn’t take it to heart, knowing he would’ve done the same had he been in their position.
Alhaitham debated locking the door to his office, not wanting any more distractions for the rest of the day, but he ultimately decided against it. If someone came directly to his office for care, it meant they were in desperate need of help… or they were General Feixiao. Either way, he knew it would be wrong to deny them, especially for something as trivial as a novel he truly wasn’t that interested in.
It was nothing he hadn’t read before, the same overused trope with slightly different characters and a plot that was mediocre at best. He was never a fan of cliches, but he didn’t have any other options until his next visit to one of the other ships. He was stuck reading whatever copy-and-paste fiction the IPC pumped out until then. He did have to commend the author for slight originality, however. His one positive critique was how the author took an overused trope and adapted it to something worth buying.
The book was a fantasy adventure set in the world of Teyvat, following an unnamed blonde traveler trying to find his sister. He was currently on book 4 of the series, having picked them all up from the local bookstore. The traveler was currently in Sumeru, the nation of wisdom, guarded by the Dendro archon.
He settles in to finish the novel, even if he was almost completely sure he knew exactly how it ended. They had been setting up for one of the siblings— Alhaitham believed it would be Lumine, stories rarely killed off the main character— to die since the first book. Only 5 books were currently released, with the 6th one on the way, he would have to make a mental note to revisit the series once it was complete. As much as he disliked the story, he hated not seeing the end of a series even more.
The plot of Sumeru is by far his favorite thus far. For once, the archon is actually interested in helping the traveler, rather than just forcing him to fix their nation’s issues. He enjoyed reading about the samsara as well.
He was currently on Act 4 of the novel, with the traveler in the desert alongside the General Mahamatra and the Akidemiya’s scribe. They were investigating something to do with Canned Knowledge— something he wished the author had expanded on a bit more— and the birth of whatever archon the Akidemiya was trying to create.
—- —-
Just as he was about to begin act 5, he hears a violent, erratic banging on his door. He shot up from his chair, walking over to the door and creaking it open.
The sight he sees is a bit of an unusual one, but certainly not the strangest.
In front of him is a sickly pale Halovian, fancily dressed in a way that makes him stick out like a sore thumb against the locals.
The man has golden blonde hair— outshone only by the halo above his head—, crimson red eyes, and wings where his ears should be.
“You the Cauldr’n M’ster?” He slurs, swaying a little as he tries to walk inside. Alhaitham puts a hand on his back— careful to avoid his wings— and guides him toward the back room. Usually, he would try to disinfect before allowing another patient in a room, but he knows he does not have the time for that.
As he is about to lay the man on the medical mattress, the halovian passes out, head hitting the hard pillow in a way Alhaitham was sure would hurt when he woke up.
He wasn’t sure if he was dealing with the average drunkard tourist or someone who was genuinely ill, maybe both. Either way, he would give them his full attention until he was sure they were okay
Because that’s what a good doctor does.