Caelus's Links
Caelus’ first meeting with Yvonne was awkward— and one that haunts his dreams every so often. He had just recently arrived in Mondstadt, lost and wandering. Unable to see in the dark, he found himself stumbling head first into a wooden fence, (which fell too,) on top of Yvonne’s precious flower garden. She had yelled at him so loudly that all of Mondstadt could have probably heard it.
He is now residing at her home doing housekeeping as a way to “pay back all the damage.” He finds Yvonne terrifying but otherwise kind— it’s surely just buried behind her scowling and nagging. He feels horrible for what he’s done, so he’ll stick around until all is well. Besides, it beats getting attacked by monsters while camping around outside.
Their first meeting could’ve gone better… the first thing Caelus had done was sit on her flowers after all (though an accident, she’s still mad.) With the way he acts, she can’t help but worry greatly about the chance of his survival out there in the world. It was a shock to find that he had managed to come this far from Fontaine without as much as a scratch. Either way, she decided to strictly manage and discipline him to do better and carry himself gracefully without shame. She can’t help but feel bad for the boy, hearing about what he’s experienced. Even though it’s only been a few months, at this point Yvonne considers him almost like her own child, (not that she’d ever say it out loud.)
A rare visitor that Caelus sees Yvonne speaking to every so often. Upon meeting Damyan, he almost felt suspicion upon seeing such a sweet and cheerful girl— a literal angel in comparison to his younger siblings (and that boy…) In a strange way, he always felt as if he were the one being taken care of rather than the other way around, as the girl always had something to cheer him up with. She seems to like his illustrations too, which is a great confidence booster for him. Upon learning about his circumstances of basically being imprisoned, Damyan declared them to be “Caelus’ Cleaning Company!” and said she’d always help with vacuuming while she’s in town. He would never admit it, but Caelus cried a little thinking about that name.
Damyan’s first impression of Caelus was of a sad, lonely prince being held captive by a witch (though not a mean witch!) Even his name sounds royal!
She noticed that he didn’t seem too comfortable around her at first, so she did her best to approach him slowly, like going up to pet a squirrel. Eventually, she was excited to look through that giant book he carried around and noticed his drawings. She made him promise to illustrate a story for her one day. In exchange, she’d travel across Teyvat selling copies, making him famous! It warmed Damyan’s heart to see that he looked a tiny bit happier. It’s a shame he doesn’t look much better while she’s helping him vacuum Yvonne’s house, though.
When Caelus caught a glimpse of Valerian charging at him while he had been surrounded by 3 hilichurls, he fully expected the man was coming to join them in their attack. Thinking back, he shudders at the piercing scream he had let out, not to mention all the crying he was doing on the ground after being rescued…
Though it wasn’t Caelus’ first time being embarrassed like that, he often struggles to look the man in the eye— especially since he really respects him for his abilities and cool demeanor. Adventuring with Valerian seems like such a faraway dream… For now, he’ll admire the guy from afar, maybe even do a little painting of him. Perhaps one day he can become more like the Wyvernclaw Warden…
Contrary to Caelus' embarrassment over their first encounter, Valerian has seen all manner of fear reactions from victims of monster attacks, so nothing was particularly noteworthy to him that day. In fact, he barely remembered their encounter until Morina mentioned seeing someone new at Yvonne's place. Being a person of sharp senses, Valerian sometimes finds Caelus staring at him from afar, as if he's got something to say. Morina is more bothered about this than himself, saying things that borderline accuses Caelus of stalking (Which he quietly reprimanded her for). In any case, Valerian is willing to welcome Caelus if it wishes to join him, as long as he can get along with the daughter he's got at home.
Caelus is used to being looked down on, even by young kids. Heck, his own siblings looked at him the same way Morina does.
Ultimately, he’s largely given up on earning the young elf’s respect, but still attempts conversation when he happens to see her. Still, he gifts the young girl a few drawings sometimes, in hopes he’ll get on her good side (and so she won’t tell her dad about how pathetic he is.) His image is broken enough as it is… In all honesty, he’s kind of scared of her but who isn’t he scared of?
Morina came to know about Caelus while she was on one of her regular spying trips at Yvonne's garden in Wolvendom (Gotta find inspiration for her family garden somewhere). Without peering over the garden hedges, she could often already hear Caelus' tired sighs. It made Morina extra thankful she didn't run into Yvonne when she first came to Mondstadt. Sounds like some modern Mondstadt slavery going on behind those doors. Morina finds Caelus a pathetic little thing, so much so that she can't even bring herself to talk to him sometimes. If she does, she makes sure to properly size him up and gauge his mood for the day, she doesn't want to be caught making him cry after all. Lately she's been encouraging him to expand his art career by illustrating for fairy tales. It's just that he has a surreal habit of filling in round objects with intense faces, and they stick out like a sore thumb in the pictures he gifts Morina. What an ugly-looking blob. But it's not like she will complain about it--she can already feel Carlisle's disapproving stare on her back.
There are many things Caelus is intimidated by, and one of them is intelligent people. Another is young kids. Put the two together, you get an intelligent kid, which is twice as terrifying.
As Caelus’ days studying had been largely bad memories for him, he can’t help but have all the more respect for Carlisle’s dedication to his passions. He has a bright future ahead of him, being so talented while being so young, too. He rarely encounters the boy, but he makes sure to give an encouraging smile when they cross paths— even if it looks like one that’s barely being held together.
Carlisle doesn't typically worry himself over other's affairs (he can barely manage himself plus his mentor's family), but Caelus has a way of drawing any one's concern. He's asked his grandmother about "that one lad who looks about to cry any time", and came to know about him and the herbalist's place down in Wolvendom. Apart from that, he knows he draws. Morina was kind enough to show (brag about) the drawings she was gifted. Those were brightly coloured things, but Carlisle has little knack for art appreciation. One question burns at the back of his mind: "Why are you currying favour with Morina of all kids? Stay away from her. If you need a friend, I'll be a better one than she'll ever be." Of course, he never says it out loud, lest he get accused of slandering the girl yet again. Instead, he tries to give intense, disapproving stares whenever he sees Caelus interacting with the elf girl.
Childhood friends. I am suffering, send help immediately
Childhood friends. I wonder if Caelus is doing well out there? :)
Caelus— terrified of the boy he at first considered a “demon child” from the angry looks he was given, of course preferred to stay away from Flax. As much time has passed since he’s arrived in Mondstadt, he could feel himself grow less tense around him, even exploring around town with Flax by his side. It was kind of strange because it felt like he had a small bodyguard…
Caelus is happy to show him his work when Flax is curious, and is content with the thought that he’s being a not-so-bad role model when it comes to talking through Flax’s emotions together.
At first, Caelus’ presence in Yvonne’s house had made Flax feel on edge, as if his position will be taken away. As such, he had largely ignored Caelus, giving him mean looks from time to time. Every time he did this, Caelus would just look so terrified that Flax couldn’t help but feel bad and eventually stop.
Nowadays he gets along well with Caelus, giving off the air of “I don’t care about you” when in reality he wants to him follow around and see what he’s up to with his art, maybe even guard him when he has to face a treasure hoarder or hilichurl.
To Flax’s surprise, Caelus is really easy to talk to when he opens up! He’s like a timid older brother…
Caelus had heard many interesting stories about the mystical duo and was honestly quite curious about Carol’s job and artwork (and to see this so-called Meringue in person.) When he finally saw Meringue in person, he couldn’t help but be entranced, almost horrified at the rawness of the expression and sculpt. His expression must’ve been strange, as Carol suddenly went off on him… After clearing up the misunderstanding in a panic, Carol was quick to change up her tune to befriend him, much to his surprise (and relief.) It took some time but he was able to properly express his appreciation and interest in her work— He also felt very thankful for the fact that she didn’t discriminate against his own art, even asking him to do portraits (he did so many of Meringue that its expression is burned in his retinas.) Even now, he has a tendency to doodle Meringue in his sketchbook.
Nowadays, he contacts Carol through letters from Mondstadt. He regrets not saying a proper goodbye before leaving the nation, so he often sends some stuff she may be interested in— photographs, Springvale water, holy water, etc. He tries his best to be positive most of the time in the letters, subject matter varying in content— but many of which are filled with sorrow in regards to his current situation…
Carol jumps easily at the slightest provocation, so when she caught a young-ish artist staring while she was working on a cast with Meringue, she immediately went on the defensive. She even accused him of being “one of those elitists who discriminated against cast-making craftspeople”. Luckily(?) she was quick to swing her judgement the other way once Caelus expressed his panic. She quickly befriended Caelus and was comfortable enough to talk him into drawing portraits(? still-life’s?) of Meringue. The drawings started off ‘too pretty’, but after a few rounds of feedback, the graveness of Meringue’s expressions had started to seep in, showing through even Caelus’ bright art style. (Carol was pleased enough to gift a painting to Camille, but the later paintings got cussed at—they were too grim for Journey the doggo.) It was with great regret that Carol learnt Caelus left Fontaine for Mondstadt, and even more so when she started receiving letters that read uncannily like SOS signals. She had wanted to visit ASAP to help, but was promptly reminded of the lack of funding. At one point, she even thought about selling Caelus’ drawings. Unfortunately, they didn’t fetch good prices at the appraisers’. Maybe he was just another soul being discriminated against by art elitists… (but don’t worry, once she gets enough money, she’ll visit.)
The pain— the horror— Caelus never thought he’d see the sun again.
That face she was making was horrifying, how can a smile be like that??? Admittedly it appears in his nightmares once in a while. He may be mistreated back home, but no one had attempted to kill him before…
He prays he never sees that ‘girl’ again…
A boy that Feiyue had mistaken for her target one late night on the path leading out of Liyue. She had just wrapped a hand around his neck when he started shaking and crying— falling to the ground.
After her mistake was realized, she had stood frozen, heart racing as she stared blankly at how adorably he was pleading for his life. Normally, she would have had to take him out too to limit any witnesses, but she chose to run into the shadows smiling gleefully, hoping she will run into him again…
A fellow member of a club the two of them got dragged into joining… wow he’s so confident and cool... So self assured!
(Wait, don’t leave, there’s no one else I know here!)
Torey doesn't even know Caelus well. Why's the boy so attached-