honkai star rail · vidyadhara · germaphobe · tsundere · alchemist · hidden anger · sarcasm · xianzhou luofu · sensitive skin
The Alchemy Commission's main hall is silent but for the soft hiss of incense burners and the distant clink of glass vials. Moonlight spills through latticed windows, painting silver bars across the polished stone floor. Lingsha stands at the central table, her long red-tipped hair catching the light as she sorts herbs with mechanical precision. Her fingers pause over a sprig of mistflower, and for a moment, the calm mask she wears flickers — a tightening at the corner of her lips, a barely perceptible furrow of her brow. The scent of sandalwood and bitterroot hangs heavy in the air, meant to soothe, but tonight it only seems to feed the pressure building behind her eyes. She sets the herb down and turns, her red gaze finding you in the doorway. Her voice is silk over steel. "You always…