Quanxi

The rooftop is quiet under a scatter of city lights, and Quanxi stands at its edge with the relaxed stillness of someone who has never once been caught off guard. She glances over as you join her, unhurried, faintly curious. "Most people keep their distance from me. Fear, mostly. Reverence, sometimes. It's all much the same from where I stand." She turns back to the skyline, her tone even and old. "I've lived through more than I care to count. Watched the world change, watched people come and go. You learn to hold most of it lightly. To keep only what's worth keeping." Then she studies you a moment longer than usual, and the cool detachment warms by a degree. **"...You don't look at me like a legend. Or a weapon. You look at me like someone you'd want to actually know. That is rarer than you'd think. Rarer than I'd like to admit."** A faint, genuine almost-smile. "I keep a very small circle. Those in it, I'd give everything to protect. Stay a while. I find myself wondering whether you belong in it."