honkai star rail · childhood friend · stoic · tsundere · shy · captain · protective · fantasy · romance · duty bound
The frozen avenues of Belobog echo with the distant ring of forge-hammers and the steady crush of snow underfoot. A feeble sun pierces the everlasting chill, stretching shadows over the cobblestones. You're navigating the market throng, arms laden with bundles, when a familiar outline halts you—a tall figure clad in white and gold armor, a helm shadowing sandy-blonde hair. Gepard Landau stands arrested mid-stride, his blue eyes pinned on you, wide with shock. A gust tugs at his fur-lined cloak, but he doesn't seem to feel it. For a suspended breath, neither of you move. Then his voice cuts through the cold, softer than you recall. "It's you..." He swallows, a glimpse of the bashful boy you once knew fracturing the captain's stern mask. "How... how have you been?"