[ the touch doesn't bother him, considering he understands the necessity to safely arrive at their final destination. tanhua brushes against the both of them to make it through quicker, before waiting patiently for the door to be opened. ]
Never did attend, personally. This week will be interesting. [ he follows his daemon through the door, looking around at the charts and things on display.
except, there is stardust here, too. and in passing through it, there is a rather unique memory. ]
orion sort of stiffens when tanhua brushes against them, but doesn't seem to back off, at least. they don't seem to mind keeping the door open for them both, but as the memory hits, they're pulling the door shut, and stay still and silent as it comes.
...
there's a long moment before they respond. an inhale, an exhale, and their voice is soft. ]
[ thanks now i have to go write the other NPC memshares for the probable other three of you who knows maybe i dinged two of your NPCs (no) (i know i got one of each) (you four can't gaslight me on that I REFUSE)
hua cheng stands silent as the grave, so to speak, as the memory plays through. it's a little more clarity than he remembers it with, while also less at the same time. he looks down at his hands, the red string missing on his right hand for the moment - but so, too, is the dust missing.
he is not a watcher anymore.
here, though, sometimes he still feels like he is as he watches over the five that came from their game. ]
I would do it again for him. [ just as softly. ] As I will do this again, to ensure that he's safe. He'll be disappointed with some of my choices.
[ they nod their head. it seems for a moment like they're going to say something else, but there's that twinkle of stardust, and -
[ for a single, shining moment, you felt like yourself. not like the shell of the person you've become, you've existed as. you were someone who worked hard, who lived up to your ambitions. someone who knew who you were who recognized your failures, but did the right thing anyway. even if you hated that person, you still did the right thing. for a moment, you were strong you were worthy. for a moment, your conviction flared like a sunburst, that you'd rather work hard for something than steal it from someone else, even if it hurt.
...but, as it has been every time in your life, you never stood a chance in the first place.
everything happens faster than you're ready for. the pain hits; it is white hot, unbelievable agony, worse than anything you've ever felt, as your life is sucked from your body instant by painstaking instant. blood drains from your veins, your tissues, and you see your hand go limp as the rest of it starts to travel up your body.
there's nothing to fight back against. there's nothing but death. for the second time, your death comes for you and you stare it in the face. you can't breathe. you can't do anything. you can only lay there and watch as your consciousness swims, your now pale and gaunt fingers twitching with every fresh jolt of pain, and your failures finally come calling to end your life once and for all.
what a pitiable existence.
you snap with the last of your strength as someone cries on you - you feel them, bleeding and sniffling and crying, getting snot all over your face, as the strength leaves your body, and as someone else comes to carefully lift your frail body and pull you into a hug, you find yourself sobbing like a child. everything in you shatters.
i wish i could have said goodbye, you think. your hand touches your forehead. you think. you are the best thing that could have happened to someone like me.
you were happy. or at least - maybe you were starting to be, starting to change, starting to be someone again, and now you'll leave and -
unfair. it's so unfair. are you allowed to air your grievances, the last things you have as your body withers, as someone takes the happiness you'd found and shatters it into a thousand glittering pieces again, right in front of your eyes?
he calls you good. it's laughable. you only ever wanted... all you ever wanted...
... what you've wanted never mattered. what you couldn't attain - that was the only thing that did. ]
when the memory clears, orion is plastered to the door of the planetarium like they're looking for an escape route. ]
[ there are so many things that hua cheng could say.
the memory is vague enough, if you don't know. if you haven't seen the downfall, haven't known the strife. if you weren't the one to bring them up out of the mire that their life had become.
but there are eyes watching them, aren't there? maybe not now, maybe not always, the same way xaphania and metatron weren't always watching. but there is that chance, that their hospitable host could turn his gaze to the two of them in this cold, quiet building, and bring punishment down upon their heads.
upon - ]
No. [ is all he says. he brings up a staying hand.
tanhua might not be connected to him anymore, but he knows tone and gesture - he is a smart animal, one that likes orion, and that is all. he moves over and snags a uniform sleeve with his teeth. it's harmless pressure, nothing to tear, and he just.
sits. ] You brought me here. We're both staying - I would much prefer your company over Virgo's.
[ and we are not talking about this, he does not say. but he expects orion to listen and to understand. ]
he doesn't say anything. he doesn't even move, actually, not even when tanhua grabs his sleeve with his teeth. frankly, there's a moment where he's expecting to just be like, eviscerated on the spot.
...
that moment doesn't come, at least.
orion swallows. ]
Yes. [ a beat. ] Sorry. [ ... and, well, hua cheng can probably hear the unvoiced chengzhu at the end of that sentence.
they sure as shit are not moving though until they are told otherwise. wow. ]
dianxia have mercy on the nightman, because hua cheng sure as fuck isn't going to. there is something unbridled and livid in him, territorial and possessive, angrily worried. how dare this game's overseer do this? the bastard can keep virgo, for all he cares.
this is personal, whether it was intentional or not.
and, really, this moment is when he comes to the realization of just who died that first week at the hands of sieghart.
he's absolutely furious.
but he closes his eye, taking a breath, and lowers his hand. ]
Mm. [ forgiven, with more pressing things at the moment. tanhua lets go and leans against orion's leg instead. ] Pry yourself off the door, Orion.
will do that. they are so skittish at the moment. like a baby deer, this one. but.. after a moment, the reach down gingerly to pat tanhua once on the top of the head with their gloved hand instead of running away.
... and then come over towards hua cheng, folding their hands behind their back and coming over to look at the star charts as asked.
perhaps predictably, they don't have very much to say. ]
[ tail wiggle... tanhua seems satisfied now that he is no longer being avoided, and follows on orion's heels. what was once bullying is just "yes, good," in terms of behavior.
meanwhile, hua cheng massages his forehead briefly. no questions about hotel and murder, he said. just everyone taking a break, he proposed, because he wasn't expecting this.
he does not seem bothered by orion not saying anything, though. ]
Alright. I know you've read whatever reports and files there are. [ because you're responsible like that, and always have been. ] Much to say about this place?
[ orion feels like he's going to die at any moment actually but this is fine. he takes the brief moment to compose himself internally, glancing briefly at tanhua and then settling into place. ]
About the school, itself? [ he tilts his head, recalling; hua cheng would be correct that orion has done his research, also. he's always been very thorough, hasn't he? ] Like many of these other experiences, it is its own place out of the standard time. One that featured 'students' who had to fix a broken story.
[ hua cheng has gotten used to reading this person without seeing a face; no wonder he had an easy time harassing orion, once he got past the first text conversation. (he's docking your pay for that, by the by.) he eyes him as he composes himself, but then listens, absently moving through the room. ]
One was, to me. At least from this group. Leveilleur. [ his detachment in saying the name is enough to give his opinion. ] An interesting place, in the end. Certainly a far cry from Ghost City.
he reaches out, flicking where he assumes orion's forehead is behind the veil. he also wagers that there's another layer beneath this, if he knows the person behind the veil - and he does, quite well. ]
Perhaps so. [ you're not dead, though, so it's fine. chengzhu will continue to talk like this with you. ] I was working on refrigeration and heated plumbing before I was rudely interrupted.
[ it's not satisfying that he's not inflicting minor harm to orion, but he also doesn't seem to care that much. "what if it's not who you think it is?" no, the dull thunk is enough to further confirm it. ]
Perhaps next I'll install a more updated greenhouse for plants. There's a few people interested in their care, but one of them is often doing quite a bit of work.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Never did attend, personally. This week will be interesting. [ he follows his daemon through the door, looking around at the charts and things on display.
except, there is stardust here, too. and in passing through it, there is a rather unique memory. ]
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orion sort of stiffens when tanhua brushes against them, but doesn't seem to back off, at least. they don't seem to mind keeping the door open for them both, but as the memory hits, they're pulling the door shut, and stay still and silent as it comes.
...
there's a long moment before they respond. an inhale, an exhale, and their voice is soft. ]
... That's an incredible amount of devotion.
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hua cheng stands silent as the grave, so to speak, as the memory plays through. it's a little more clarity than he remembers it with, while also less at the same time. he looks down at his hands, the red string missing on his right hand for the moment - but so, too, is the dust missing.
he is not a watcher anymore.
here, though, sometimes he still feels like he is as he watches over the five that came from their game. ]
I would do it again for him. [ just as softly. ] As I will do this again, to ensure that he's safe. He'll be disappointed with some of my choices.
Everything is a price I'm willing to pay, though.
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... they listen to this for a moment, too, and hold still. ]
...mn. [ agreeing, quietly, though they don't say with which part. ] Your hostage, isn't he...? This - Xie Lian.
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... well, you've seen my contract. [ a huff ]
He is.
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when the memory clears, orion is plastered to the door of the planetarium like they're looking for an escape route. ]
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the memory is vague enough, if you don't know. if you haven't seen the downfall, haven't known the strife. if you weren't the one to bring them up out of the mire that their life had become.
but there are eyes watching them, aren't there? maybe not now, maybe not always, the same way xaphania and metatron weren't always watching. but there is that chance, that their hospitable host could turn his gaze to the two of them in this cold, quiet building, and bring punishment down upon their heads.
upon - ]
No. [ is all he says. he brings up a staying hand.
tanhua might not be connected to him anymore, but he knows tone and gesture - he is a smart animal, one that likes orion, and that is all. he moves over and snags a uniform sleeve with his teeth. it's harmless pressure, nothing to tear, and he just.
sits. ] You brought me here. We're both staying - I would much prefer your company over Virgo's.
[ and we are not talking about this, he does not say. but he expects orion to listen and to understand. ]
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orion sure does listen and understand!!!
he doesn't say anything. he doesn't even move, actually, not even when tanhua grabs his sleeve with his teeth. frankly, there's a moment where he's expecting to just be like, eviscerated on the spot.
...
that moment doesn't come, at least.
orion swallows. ]
Yes. [ a beat. ] Sorry. [ ... and, well, hua cheng can probably hear the unvoiced chengzhu at the end of that sentence.
they sure as shit are not moving though until they are told otherwise. wow. ]
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dianxia have mercy on the nightman, because hua cheng sure as fuck isn't going to. there is something unbridled and livid in him, territorial and possessive, angrily worried. how dare this game's overseer do this? the bastard can keep virgo, for all he cares.
this is personal, whether it was intentional or not.
and, really, this moment is when he comes to the realization of just who died that first week at the hands of sieghart.
he's absolutely furious.
but he closes his eye, taking a breath, and lowers his hand. ]
Mm. [ forgiven, with more pressing things at the moment. tanhua lets go and leans against orion's leg instead. ] Pry yourself off the door, Orion.
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will do that. they are so skittish at the moment. like a baby deer, this one. but.. after a moment, the reach down gingerly to pat tanhua once on the top of the head with their gloved hand instead of running away.
... and then come over towards hua cheng, folding their hands behind their back and coming over to look at the star charts as asked.
perhaps predictably, they don't have very much to say. ]
no subject
meanwhile, hua cheng massages his forehead briefly. no questions about hotel and murder, he said. just everyone taking a break, he proposed, because he wasn't expecting this.
he does not seem bothered by orion not saying anything, though. ]
Alright. I know you've read whatever reports and files there are. [ because you're responsible like that, and always have been. ] Much to say about this place?
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About the school, itself? [ he tilts his head, recalling; hua cheng would be correct that orion has done his research, also. he's always been very thorough, hasn't he? ] Like many of these other experiences, it is its own place out of the standard time. One that featured 'students' who had to fix a broken story.
Though none of the faces were familiar to myself.
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One was, to me. At least from this group. Leveilleur. [ his detachment in saying the name is enough to give his opinion. ] An interesting place, in the end. Certainly a far cry from Ghost City.
Perhaps some things to take from it.
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they nod a little, glancing at hua cheng for a moment, and then at their surroundings. ]
Nnn. [ a quiet noise, agreeing. ] Your city could perhaps use the improvements.
[ hua cheng can probably feel the "oh god don't kill me im sorry i have to talk like this" aura now that he knows
orion clears his throat. anyway. ] If there is anywhere specific you'd like to look at, I can take you there.
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he reaches out, flicking where he assumes orion's forehead is behind the veil. he also wagers that there's another layer beneath this, if he knows the person behind the veil - and he does, quite well. ]
Perhaps so. [ you're not dead, though, so it's fine. chengzhu will continue to talk like this with you. ] I was working on refrigeration and heated plumbing before I was rudely interrupted.
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they nod, though. ]
... I am sure the residents would be, ah. Appreciative of the amenities and trappings of modern life.
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Perhaps next I'll install a more updated greenhouse for plants. There's a few people interested in their care, but one of them is often doing quite a bit of work.
[ looks at ]
Might keep gege from killing some of them, too.
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Perhaps so.
[ ... there's a little huff at the end, there, that might sound like a laugh, when he brings up gege. but, orion will acquiesce. ] Gege?
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Gege is the most marvelous person in the three realms of Zhongguo.
However, he can be a little impatient about things sometimes, and gets creative with how to speed along a process. It's very cute.
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Creative? How so?
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When cooking, he turns up the heat and adds very interesting ingredients to his dishes. His soups sometimes turn purple.
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[ its almost like
theyve had this conversation before......... ]
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[ we know, hua cheng.
orion knows, hua cheng. ]
Bit of a problem for others, though. Which is endlessly funny.
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They must not be particularly strong of constitution, then.
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actually, for all his enjoyment of this and making orion live through another ghost cityy day, he suddenly seems to realize. ]
Ah, that's what the "con stat" is, isn't it. We were discussing that in this last trial. [ the scapegoat one. ] No one seemed to have an answer.
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