![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN
| 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. 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. 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? 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. N A V I G A T I O N |
no subject
It was best that they did this hard step early on if they truly did wish to live a peaceful coexistence.
"She would have loved you. Talked to you about poetry for hours." his mother would have loved the rapt attention that Huaisang would have given her as she told him stories. He was sure about that.
There was a sad look on his face as he gazed down at his tea, what love did he have that he hadn't betrayed. At the time he even told himself that what he did to Nie Mingjue was to protect himself and Huaisang from his unfettered rage.
"I loved you as well. Still, I find that I cannot hate you, even knowing that you were the cause of my fall. I know why you did it. I would have done the same.
You must have been lonely."
no subject
That he'd loved him, too, doesn't surprise him as much as it probably should, considering how often Huaisang had lied to himself over the years. It was easier to betray the ones who loved him once he'd convinced himself the love between them hadn't been real in the first place or the bonds were as deep as he'd thought.
Huaisang's own hands on his cup are beginning to tremble, sloshing tea against the sides but he forces himself to breathe and take a drink to calm himself.
"I was. Almost unbearably so. I wondering what the point of it all was more than once. Nothing I sacrificed. Nothing I did would ever bring him back to me. He was gone. Then I would get angry because you took him from me. And I would get angry at Xichen-ge for valuing his oath to you over his oath to him. It was all I had left to keep me going."
Huaisang looks away, blinking back sudden tears, face drawn, weary, and pale. There's no real fight left in him, just the sorrow and grief that have been his constant companions for the past ten years.
"I couldn't tell anyone. Not without evidence to back up my claims. And I couldn't involve anyone. If you'd known it was me while you still had the upper hand, what would you have done to me? My sect? Would they have become test subjects for your demonic cultivators to toy with? Would I have become one myself? I was frightened. I was alone and I had no one I could turn to for help."
Time for more tea. He'd initiated this talk, he reminds himself, and it is a necessary one in order to keep the peace. As difficult and painful of a subject as it is.
"I had to learn how to be strong and take care of the matter on my own."
no subject
His own feelings now were complicated, yes he harbored no rage for his killer. But there was also a deep wound there for both Nie Huaisang who had orchestrated his death and Lan Xichen who had carried it out.
Finally. He spoke.
"I am sorry you were holding onto this for so long. I can understand that rage that anger you must have felt. Not only my betrayal but Er-ge's ridiculous need to pacify. To keep the status quo and close his eyes to all the things right in front of his face." he closed his eyes, the tears from that wound threatening to spill over him. There were so many layers under that. How even after he had done so much for the man the second his masks fell to show all the ugly truths underneath...he saw only revulsion. He always knew that was the case with the cultivation world. Be good A-yao, lest they see how filthy you are.
All he had wanted was to have someone love him when he was at his ugliest. He was tired of being good for people in order to gain the tiniest bit of respect.
Lan XiChen didn't even look behind him.
Guangyao finished off the tea in his cup.
"I think it would have been better if we have never sworn that cursed brotherhood, sometimes."
After some thought, he looked at him seriously. "Nie Huaisang, you would have made a poor test subject. Besides, I got rid of a lot of that after I killed my father. The most I would have done was capture you somewhere, caged but filled with pretty things, that you wouldn't have to concern yourself with things on the outside world.
I can understand the fear. I've felt that kind of fear for most of my existence. That fear was one of the things that started this cursed thing, to begin with."
Without being asked to he refilled both of their cups.
"You did. You took down your enemy and protected your sect. You were and are a very strong and formidable man."
no subject
It was true that in the early days, Huaisang had been genuinely unprepared but he'd adjusted to his new role much more quickly than he'd revealed to the cultivation world. The Qinghe Nie would not have followed a leader as incompetent as the Headshaker for ten years. Maintaining control over his sect during his masquerade had been a difficult and exhausting balancing act on its own.
"Many would have benefited if Xichen-ge had made better choices," Huaisang says in a flat voice, his expression hardening briefly with the words.
His bitterness toward the man whose company he'd delighted in as a youth still hasn't dissipated. Maybe it will one day after the anger and resentment has had more time to fade. Right now, the wound is still too raw and picking at it is only going to make it worse. Once his tea's refilled, Huaisang resumes sipping it to soothe his nerves. Once they're a bit more settled, he speaks again.
"Maybe I should've let you win, then. Being locked away with pretty things sometimes doesn't sound half bad to me now. I could use a break from thinking about everything all the time."
But instead, Huaisang's looking at a future of loneliness. Even if he manages to repair his reputation enough to find a suitable wife, he's unlikely to fall in love with her. He'd sacrificed what few friendships he'd had. Those with knowledge of what he'd done will never trust him again. What does he have left to look forward to back home now? Nothing.
no subject
"I wish we all had the opportunity to make better choices. I'm still upset at him. I am. But it wasn't entirely his fault either. It was mine. I accept it. I was the one who chose to make those decisions. I think it was being caught up in the fear of what my father would do to me and what your brother did.
Xichen also was struggling with Wangji at the time, rebuilding Gusu. I...understand how he was thinly stretched.
I just...Both of them saw what they wanted to see in me. Mingjue was convinced I was a filthy irreparable villain and Xichen could only see the good in me. I sometimes felt as if I was being pulled apart at the seams at these two opposing views, and neither could see me as I am only what has reflected them, like polished metal. I loved them both. But sometimes they made it so hard.
Where am I in that? Who can I be within those lines? Most of the time I don't know the answer to that myself.
Oh, Huaisang. I...You don't belong in a cage. I lived in a golden one as well, and it's tiring."
He reached out and tentatively touched his hand, just a light brush of fingers.
"Then let us not think for a while. We've been given a new life in a new world. Let us bury the past of it in the cultivation world where it belongs. Let us build our home for what we want it to be.
Somewhere beautiful. Somewhere safe. A place our shared people can be happy. One where we can heal and be happy as well, someday."
no subject
Huaisang doesn't pull away from that touch or recoil, however, his fingers brushing back in response. He listens to every word though, smiling sardonically at the comment about not belonging in a cage. Huaisang's been living in a cage for ten years and Jin Guangyao had been the one to put him there, destroying what remaining freedom he'd had when Nie Mingjue's death forced him to inherit. But what's done is done and he's tried his best to make the most of an unhappy life.
"Building a new home that's peaceful sounds nice. One with more color and elegance, perhaps."
Huaisang sips his tea for a moment, eyes straying to his half-eaten food. It's fairly normal for him not to have much appetite.
"For now though, A-Yao, I think we should get some rest. I suppose I should find a vacant room for the night. I'm not sure I'm ready to face Shi-xiong or anyone else tonight."
Huaisang sighs.
"Unless you mind if I just sleep with you?"
no subject
He squeezed the hand beneath his and smiled. "With the two of us working together, style and elegance are a given result." with one last squeeze he took the leftovers of the food and began to wash the plates and put things away.
"There is no need to find a vacant room. You're so tired, I'd worry about you passing out on your journey.
You are welcome to come to sleep with me. I'll try not to wake you when I get up for work."
He was ready to lead him back to his rooms. It was getting rather late after all. "Let's go."
no subject
"Thank you. A good night's rest will help."
Huaisang gets up from the table to follow, a little less wobbly than he'd been prior to eating but still in dire need of a bed.
"What rooms did they give you?"
no subject
Rebuilding trust was always the hardest part of a relationship. He had failed so spectacularly with Nie Mingjue, perhaps he would have a chance to rebuild with Nie Huaisang. As long as he was alive he could work on making things better.
He walked alongside him, curling an arm around his back to steady him in case, much like they did when they were younger in an effort to offer support.
"Ah. I'm the western residences with Master Xiao and Master Shen. It works out well when we have to start early to open up the shop."
He made a turn at the courtyard as they got closer, letting go to open the rooms. They were neat and organized. Guangyao's meager belongings were arranged neatly along with the rooms, Hensheng hung up by the ugly white IKEA bed.
A maid's dress hung on a hanger on a wall next to the Lanling Jin's sect leader's robes, ready to be worn in the morning.
"Here let me get you out of those heavy robes, I can throw them in the wash after my job tomorrow if you like."
no subject
"I see. That would be convenient. I know so little about their lives now," he murmurs to himself along the way then falls quiet.
Once they're actually in Jin Guangyao's quarters, Huaisang raises an eyebrow at the maid outfit on the wall, lips quirking in a slight smile. It's pretty charming for one of the odd outfits the outsiders wear. As for himself, he never had quite made the jump to their clothing, preferring the familiar comfort of his own robes. When Jin Guangyao speaks, he snaps out of his tired daze a bit.
"That would be helpful. Thank you. If you have a spare under robe I could borrow for the night, I would appreciate it. That is, unless you have an objection to me sleeping nude in your bed."
He's half-joking. Honestly, Huaisang should probably get a bath first before slipping into bed but he's just so tired.
no subject
He made a thoughtful face, He really didn't have any spare clothing to lend him. The one he was wearing was all that he had, the qiankun pouch that carried his spares were woefully left behind in the temple.
"Sadly, this is all I have. I don't mind if you're naked. I have enough blankets to share. It shouldn't be too cold." only on helping him undress, he noticed how much sand salt was on him. Neither of them would be comfortable in the state he was in.
"Let me give you a bath first, you have sand in your hair and it'll get all over the sheets if you sleep right now. Come on." He reached out and grabbed his hand leading him to the adjoined bathroom.
no subject
Huaisang allows himself to be led toward the bathroom but not without a pout and yearning glance at the bed. It's not as if he likes being dirty and he knows he'd regret it in the morning anyway. But it'll take effort for him to stay awake.
It's been a while but given how much time Huaisang spent in bubblebaths the last time he was here, he still remembers how to work the faucets. He starts drawing the bath himself then steps back to wait for it to fill.
no subject
Guangyao gave a small laugh and began to help untie his hair, using a small comb to shake out the sand from his hair, and untangle any knots, working quickly, he will deal with sweeping up the mess after work the next day.
"You don't have to be too thorough, just enough for the salt and sand to go. I'll go get the bed ready, let me know if you want me to wash your hair for you."
no subject
"You can wash my hair. I'll be done quicker that way and then we can both go to bed."
Once the tub is full, Huaisang turns off the faucet and sheds whatever layers of clothing that remain and sits down in the bathtub. He lathers up a washcloth with soap and gets to scrubbing off the sea grime.
no subject
"You have as much seaweed in here as you do hair. You're practically a water ghoul now." He said laughing softly. It was a silly comment, but it was better to wind down from their serious conversations earlier.
With a small mug he kept on the side, he began to wash out the soapy and sandy mixture from his hair.