ercookies | TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN

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TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN

00. Arrival

You come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface and carrying you to shore.

Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. If you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they may even usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you will be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed!

Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see beyond what arrivals before you have helped to rebuild. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased.

With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. THUNDERBOLTS AND LIGHTNING

Erku's new arrivals may not be the only residents left dripping wet. Although the weather on the Island is almost always dreary, clouds begin to multiply and darken over the days before that first arrival, turning ominous shades of purple and blue which may look familiar to Islanders who have been around since Erku's beginnings. Perhaps robots will advise Islanders to fortify their shelters and get ready to accept refugees, and they hope their charges take the warnings to heart! When the rain finally falls, it is a non-stop torrent. Even though the weather is warm, the rain itself chills to the bone.

Shacks and beach tents won't stand up to the downpour for long, and the shabby apartments may leak and flood. New arrivals who aren't handy enough to make quick repairs may be forced to take shelter in the homes of current Island residents, or else huddle together in the 12 rooms of the barracks for the full week that rain falls on the Island. Cats, dogs, and little dragons will also be begging Islanders for a warm place to stay!

Beware of lightning strikes, too, because the skies rumble with thunder throughout the storm. Buildings and residences are frequently damaged by strikes. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and that's very true on Erku - Islanders who are struck by the lightning might find themselves temporarily blessed with god-like super strength.

Such power might not always be a good thing for those who aren't used to wielding it, so please be careful not to damage your friends or property! Islanders may choose to keep their new powers, but a bingo square can be used to wish them away.

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II. A TASTE OF ERKU

In need of shelter and credits? Then the robots have a task for you! Erku's robot population has taken note of how much Islanders seem to love the humble potato, and they want to contribute! Ready as always to please, the robots have filled the hospital cafeteria with mountains of potatoes in every imaginable variety and color: russet, red, gold, purple, chartreuse, sweet, savory, spicy, and so many more! But wait, there's more: they have provided knives, cutting boards, and peelers too, and are eager to see Islanders work their magic in their open cafeteria kitchen! Robots will monitor every dish produced, as they are eager to improve their food replication repertoire.

No worries if you aren't culinarily skilled, however. Islanders will be rewarded in credits for whatever they can contribute, whether it's a gourmet meal or simply a basket of peeled potatoes. Robot-provided potato preparations are also freely available to snack on while you work, though as always, they're liable to be spiked with something to encourage Islanders to get more "friendly" with one another. Of particular note is an invention the 'bots are quite proud of, sure to delight your organic tastebuds: the potato cocktail, which packs quite a punch and - strangely enough - tastes just like a hearty steak dinner?

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III. NOSTALGIA FOODS

Seeking a bit of refuge and some comforting food to warm you up? Signs and flyers are out informing residents of the Straight From Home Special going on right now at the Flashbang diner! Come In For All The House Favorites! For the next few days anyone can walk in and receive a free meal (or two if you’re really nice) from the robot cooks behind the counter!

And it just so happens that they know exactly what you want. You will be served a meal of your favorite foods from home just the way you like them. Did you tell them? No. How did they know? Don’t bother asking, they’ll just say that the Cook Always Knows. The robot waitresses will make sure your drinks are topped up and you have everything you need, just like any hometown diner or pub you may have heard of.

Eating any of the foods will bring out such nostalgia. Feelings of fondness, sadness, longing, anything when you think about the memories of your past and even of recent events. You won’t be able to stop yourself from sharing those thoughts and feelings with those around you. You’ll want to talk about your life, your opinions on the weather, the sex you just had last night and in great detail. The waitresses are listening and so is everyone else nearby.

When you leave the diner you might just have to keep on sharing your thoughts about anything that comes to mind. Walk by someone you think is attractive? You’ll have to tell them. Don’t like someone’s outfit? Definitely have to tell them. Suddenly remembering having sex on the beach? Maybe the person next to you on the trolley won’t mind hearing all about it!

The effects of the nostalgia will last for half a day or until the completion of an auspicious act.

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N A V I G A T I O N

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mingjue's arms around him just has him moving closer, letting that warmth soak into him as his eyes close, Xichen breathing in and letting the familiar scents wrap around him, his fingers gripping Mingjue's robes. It's been months and he's been functioning, but the nights were the worst, the nightmares of watching Mingjue suffer like he had, of what he'd done in that state.

Of seeing his coffin. He makes another choked sound before trying to compose himself, to find words. "Da-ge...I..."

Giving in, Mingjue just wraps Xichen up in his arms as tight as he can. Whatever the hell is going on, it's clearly something that means Xichen needs reassurance, which Mingjue can definitely do. "Hey, hey, it's alright," he soothes, running a hand down Xichen's hair and then down his spine. He doesn't have any pieces to put together beyond the fact that Xichen took one look at him and broke down, so that's what he goes for: "I'm right here, you don't have to worry. Breathe now and talk after, yeah? Can you breathe?"

He's completely blind to the rain, to anything but the man in front of him, those arms holding him and Xichen manages a slow nod after a few moments, trying to compose himself.

"I never thought I'd see you again." When he can finally speak, when he's gotten some level of control back, his voice strained but he's able to look at Mingjue, to pull back slightly and find his feet.

"I'm sorry, I just... I never imagined.."

He kneels there, growing soggy as they remain half-in, half-out of the apartment, and he does his best for Xichen. The fact that he's been alone and adrift on an island full of metal constructs maybe makes him a little clingier than he might otherwise be, but even so.

As Xichen sits back and then goes to stand, Mingjue goes with him that way, too, staggering up to his feet before trying to tug Xichen inside where it is very slightly less wet and there is at least something soft to sit on. "I didn't expect to get kidnapped out of a war and dropped into some kind of secret or mustard-seed realm, either. But I figured if it could get me, it could get someone else." That was to say he wasn't as worried as Xichen seemed to be—and there's a hint of a question in his tone. He's still confused, but he's nothing if not resilient.

He's back on his feet, his gaze never leaving Mingjue, at least until he speaks and that has Xichen frozen, his hands dropping back to his sides, gaze still locked on Mingjue.

"...But the war's been over...You were...I.." He trails off, furrowing a brow. "I don't..."

To say that he's sad for the loss of Xichen's touch is an understatement, especially when Xichen's expression is doing whatever-the-hell it's doing.

Nothing good.

"The war just started," he tells him bluntly, because that's the truth. Something weird is going on. Frowning, he tells Xichen that, too. "Something weird is going on. What's wrong with you?"

"...Da-ge, it's been over for years for me." Xichen answers after a moment, his expression still confused, but reality filtering back in. "The Wens are gone, all of them." Which will at least be a relief for Mingjue, Xichen reaching to touch his shoulder, his fingers only hesitating briefly.

"We can talk more inside."

For a long, confused moment, Mingjue processes that news. War over. Wen dead. He stays in frozen suspension, eyes on Xichen without really seeing him, as he works around that idea and what that means for...anything. He only snaps out of it when Xichen touches his shoulder.

"Good," he says in response to both, adding in a sharp nod of his head. But he has no solid conclusions beyond 'time's fucked.' He beckons Xichen. "Get in out of the rain. You're soaked."

"I was trying to make sure other people were safe." He answers after a moment before moving into the structure, gaze drifting to the ceiling for a moment.

"This rain is making things difficult given the state of the buildings. Normal conversation at least, something inside him relaxing at the familiarity, although the fact Mingjue is both here and alive still has him a little shaken.

"Of course you were," he says, though he's gruffly fond about it, and he tries to steer Xichen around the worst of the puddles. One of the corners of the room is positively soaked, but the bed's dry, so that's where he directs Xichen. "They're shit buildings. You would think with as helpful as those metal things are, the buildings would leak less." He indicates the mattress. If they pull their feet up, the growing floor puddles won't catch them. "Here. Sit on the bed."

"..If I sit on the floor, the bed won't end up soaked." As he stops short of the bed, glancing at Mingjue.

"So the bed will be able to be used when night falls."

"I'll find another bed." Mingjue sat and patted the space beside him. "Or I'll flip the mattress. No use you getting even more soaked. Wring yourself out, sit, and tell me why the hell you're calling me da-ge."

He only hesitates for a few moments longer before doing as he's told, although it takes longer than Mingjue probably intended to wring himself out, given his layers. But he does finally settle on the bed, gaze drifting to Mingjue.

"...After the war ended, we became sworn brothers, Myself, you and Jin...he'd be Meng Yao to you, if you've met him already, but he later becomes Jin Guangyao." Xichen explains quietly, gaze drifting back to his hands.

"And you being the oldest, we took to calling you Da-ge."

Since Mingjue's not one to flutter or fill the air with idle chatter, he just sits (im)patiently on the bed and doesn't worry too much about Xichen leaving that much more water spattered all over the floor. Lans and their layers. While he sits and Xichen wrings, however, he doesn't offer to help, only observes; Xichen doesn't need him fussing with all that fabric, and he doesn't look like he's going to collapse again. Instead, he tries to catch any flaws in Xichen's performance, for all that his gut tells him that Xichen's real.

But then Xichen says 'sworn brotherhood.'

He has an emotion about that, immediate and visceral, and a startled smile springs to his face. Huh. That wasn't something he'd thought of before this moment, but just as being called da-ge didn't bother him, he wasn't opposed to that either. "I like it," he informs Xichen. "And I'm not surprised we ended up sworn to each other."

Now, there's a chance that this is all bullshit and Xichen's really some figment of this place has come to tell him everything he wants to hear (War won. Wen dead. Xichen sworn to him.) but he's willing to treat it like it's real for the moment. Xichen's distress is still lodged somewhere in his ribcage, and the way Xichen keeps his eyes on him... It's all very over-elaborate. And honestly he's curious.

"But Meng Yao?" he continues, not bothering to hide his confusion, not with Xichen. "I've barely made the man my deputy. What happened that would have made it appropriate for me to swear brotherhood to one of my subordinates?"

"...That is likely a longer story than I should tell here," After Mingjue's had a moment to digest and Xichen considers his answer. He's never been one to lie, but there are things better left vague if Mingjue hasn't yet experienced them.

At least, to some degree. "...You sent him to his father several months into the war, but as far as we knew, he vanished. He eventually surfaced in the Wen camp but he was working as a spy for us, at the time and it was his information that allowed us the progress we made with the war. However, while he was spying, not everything he had to do was necessarily a good thing by our standards, given he was trying to get close to Wen Ruohan." Xichen pauses again, folding his hands in his lap and not quite meeting Mingjue's eyes as he speaks.

"He was the one who killed Wen Ruohan at the end and it earned him a place in the Jin sect and we later became sworn brothers after everything had settled down."

"I swore brotherhood to a spy?" Eyebrows raised, expression bemused, Mingjue doesn't bother to hide his doubt. And it is doubt.

Deep doubt.

Because he isn't an idiot. He knows what spies need to do to remain spies and what kind of man Wen Ruohan is. Even if he did get the killing blow upon the leader of their enemy and somehow the Jin decided to actually claim the man, and even if he liked Meng Yao...well enough, at the moment, that sounded like a lot of mess that wouldn't endear the man to him at all. Which meant: "What'd you do to convince me?"

"You did." Xichen confirms quietly, his expression carefully neutral as he speaks, his eyes focusing on his hands before he lifts his head.

"I didn't. You weren't exactly kind to him but you agreed to the idea and went through with it."

"Probably because you suggested it." Mingjue snorts. A spy, for fuck's sake. Of course he wouldn't be nice about it. That he went through with it, though...

He paused, resting back on his hands on the mattress to consider the leaking ceiling.

Meng Yao was a good deputy. A compelling man. A rare genius. Something that was already apparent, even in the short time he'd known him. What would make him agree to swear brotherhood with Meng Yao, to put him on equal footing with Xichen, of all people?

He frowned. Pursed his lips in thought. Tipped back upright to study Xichen's terribly neutral expression and the way he'd picked his words delicately and stared at his hands. All the little tells. If this wasn't nonsense, then, "I saw something in him, didn't I? I'd have to, to swear to a spy."

"You did see something in him, yes." Nothing good but that could be dealt with later, maybe.

"Huaisang liked him a lot as well. A-Yao was always bringing him presents when he came to play for you."

All at once, Mingjue decides he doesn't care enough about this theoretical future Meng Yao to worry about it. None of this is anything that he's experienced and there's no way to verify it. He can brood on the idea later, consider how it connects to his Meng Yao. For now, though he just says, "Good. If he was someone I cared enough about to swear to, however ridiculous the idea is, it'd be a shame if Hauisang didn't like him."

He lets out his breath and eyes Xichen. "That's something answered, then. Next question. What's wrong with you? I keep asking and you keep not telling me and 'the war's been over for years' isn't the kind of answer that would make you collapse like that. Did something happen to you in being kidnapped?" With a faint twist of amusement, he adds, "Someone that your 'da-ge' needs to take care of?"

This is honestly the question he's been dreading and his fingers twist in his robes as his gaze focuses on the opposite, Xichen's eyes closing after a few moments. "It happened months ago for me, but it happens years in your future." He begins quietly, going quiet again so he can choose his words carefully.

"A-Yao was coming to play for you more and more regularly, using the song of clarity to try and keep you stable but it didn't work in the end. You..." He swallows hard. "You had an episode that you didn't come out of until it was too late, Da-ge. There was nothing we could do."

"Oh. I died?" To say he's stunned is an understatement. "Huh."

He blinks at Xichen in consternation. Runs a hand over his hair. Then chuckles. "That explains why you looked like you saw a ghost."

Though now, knowing what he does about Xichen's first reaction, how his legs had gone out from under him, he's uneasy, and the amusement dries up immediately. He's not sure he wants that kind of effect on Xichen, even if—well, he's not sure it's worth it. What was future-him thinking, to let Xichen get so attached? "That's why all the good news, then, to make the bad go down easier."

He feels like he's stuttering through his reaction, quick snippets of thought that come straight out of his mouth as he works his way through the idea that at some future point, Xichen lost him to qi deviation.

After a heartbeat, he continues, "At least I get years. Though it sounds like not quite as many as I'd hoped. Tell me I told you that there was nothing you could have done."

He wasn't sure the reaction he'd been expecting but it wasn't necessarily this, Xichen exhaling a shaky breath, listening to Mingjue talk about it, his fingers curling in his robes again.

"...You didn't have time to tell anyone anything. It was...a complicated situation when it happened and Huaisang was there as well. We've been doing our best to help him since though."

Not ideal. Maybe it's the absolutely miserable conditions or the fact that he only half-believes in whatever future Xichen is describing or the knowledge that his worst fear came to pass/would come to pass and Huaisang was/is/would be left alone, but he doesn't really feel it.

"You and he were there, then, when it happened? Did I hurt anyone?" The question comes out detached. Then with a spark of the anger he'd expected but didn't quite feel, he swears sharply and adds, "I wanted him to have more time before he became sect leader."

Did I hurt anyone? He probably should have expected the question but it still leaves him silent for too long. "You weren't yourself. They knew that and their injuries were all treated." Xichen isn't going into specifics on that, his eyes focusing over Mingjue's shoulder.

"He's not alone, Da-ge. He has A-Yao and myself."

00. Arrival

I. THUNDERBOLTS AND LIGHTNING

II. A TASTE OF ERKU

III. NOSTALGIA FOODS

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