...I feel a certain sense of kinship with such a thing. [ xie lian, not sure whether to laugh or cry. ] Perhaps we simply just cannot choose our family, no matter who they are. He wasn't successful, was he?
[ do as rex does, and laugh to hide the pain!! or, alternately, (redacted) ] The apocalypse bit? Yeah. The brainwashing bit? No, but not for lack of trying.
[ Rex's expression sobers here, though, as he looks out across the ocean for a moment. ]
...you're wrong there, though. You can choose your family. My brother's--well, my brother, but I've got other people who're my family now too.
...Mm. [ xie lian softens a little with that, too. he thinks - about a friend, the very closest. someone he misses very much. ] That's true.
If that is the case, I should like to cast off Qi Rong as my family, I think. At least in metaphor. [ xie lian laughs a little at that, though - its one of those situations where you just have to laugh. ] The same to your brother, then. I am very glad that you escaped from such a terrible thing as mind control - that implies you are quite strong of heart.
Yeah, well, I'm a bit tougher than most of the other things he used that tech on. ...I think I'll keep him around for now, though. He's... [ Rex struggles to think of a way to describe him--of a way to comprehend him at all. Eventually, he gives up and stares down at his hands in his lap. ] ...if nothing else, he knows a lot of stuff that's important to me.
[ then he straightens up, lively again because he needs to dunk on qi rong ]
But hey! Get rid of him if you want! There's always better people out there to make family out of. He seems like a pain in the neck anyway, and I only talked to him, like, twice. Although he was kind of fun to poke at.
I understand that. [ after all, their little age discrepancy meant that qi rong knew plenty of things about xie lian - it was hard to discern what was true and what wasn't, with the way that he runs his mouth, and it was unendingly frustrating. as rex looks down, xie lian glances over at him, but the moment of solemnness passes between them both.
rex livening up surprises him, though - he blinks at him for a moment, and then laughs a little, rubbing the back of his neck. his daemon curls up a little a tighter in his lap. ]
He is certainly a "pain in the neck", yes. At any rate, perhaps some time in solitude will do him some good.
xie lian is in the laundry room. he's wearing more traditional western style clothing, now, white pants and a white button up shirt he got from a shop somewhere in town, and is holding his robes over his arm - they're stained with dried blood from the execution.
"Mr. Rex"? [ he snorts ] Who do you think I am, my dad?
[ nevertheless though he looks around the laundry room and... ]
Uhhh...not really. But I think you're supposed to use a bucket and one of those washboard thingies? [ he mimes moving clothes up and down a washboard ]
anyway!!! on this fine tuesday, xie lian is carefully trying to scoop up one of those memory glass shards. not because he wants to share his memories or anything - but rather, because he wants to collect them away so other people don't keep getting surprised by them.
it is too bad that rex happens to walk right into xie lian's line of sight as he's scooping one up! he makes a little noise. ] Oh -
you stand in a great temple - the great martial hall of xianle pavilion. the room itself is filled with soft clouds of insence, making the place feel dreamlike, and everlasting lanterns cover the walls, filled from top to bottom with the prayers of the people of xian le. valuable and beautiful, the great martial hall is one of the treasures of xian le, in its glorious place on mt. taicang.
kneeling in front of a statue of the martial heavenly emperor is your teacher, the guoshi of xian le - mei nianqing, along with three deputy guoshi. the four of them are prostrating before the statue, and you politely incline your head. ] Guoshi.
[ the four of them finish their ritual - all four turn their heads back to you, and mei nianqing's gaze then moves to the altar. you approach, taking an incense stick, and pay your respects in sincerity to the martial emperor. then and only then does your teacher speak.
"Your highness, the four of us have deliberated. In regards to the Heavenly Ceremonial Procession, there are but two ways to resolve it."
the parade, just a few days ago - the one that was interrupted, and ended early. you saved the life of a child who fell from the ten foot high walls around xian le, but it did interrupt one of the most important processions in the annals of your kingdom's history. you are calm. ] Please, do enlighten me.
[ "The first method is to find the child who disrupted the procession, and then we shall conduct a ceremony. At the very least, one of his five senses must be sealed, as penance."
you whip your head up and say: ] No. [ severe, immediate - punishing a child, for an accident? ] Absolutely not.
[ the guoshi's expression doesn't even change, and he nods. "I expected that response from you." he sounds a little fond, if exasperated. "So, we put the weight of our consideration on the second method."
the music obscures a little dialogue, here, but it continues. "The second method is to have your highness publicly repent before the people of Xianle, ask the heavens for forgiveness, and then face the wall in reflection for a month."
you, very evenly, reply - ] Not possible.
[ guoshi looks taken aback. "we're not asking you to face the wall to reflect, really, you just look like you ar..." and he trails off, glancing back at the statue of the heavenly emperor, and sweating a little, "....as long as you are sincere, it will suffice." ]
No. [ you say. guoshi sighs. "and the reason?" ]
Guoshi, when I descended the mountain today, do you know what I saw? [ your voice picks up a little volume, but it stays steady. ] Not only did the people at the royal capital not condemn the accident that happened during the Heavenly ceremonial procession, they very much approved of it. This proves that the people all believe to save the child was right.
[ you are still thinking about the face of that little boy, his face wrapped in dirty bandages, his single, awestruck eye gazing at you as if you were the sun itself, holding tight to your robes. you can't regret such a decision. you won't even pretend to regret it, not when it saved someone's life, and not when your people are proud. ]
If I were to do as you say, and be punished for something that was done right, what would they think? Doesn't this only tell anyone that to save a life, not only do we not obtain fortuitous merits, but instead, we are punished, for our sin? How should they think, or act, after that?
[ you have always been so stubborn. stuck in your beliefs, your attitudes, about the world, and this is no different. you will not stand down from this for a moment.
guoshi looks at you, and says, "Whether it's right or wrong is't important. Only that you must choose between the two paths. Nothing is perfect in this world. Either that child shoulders this blame, or you do.
you lift your head. ]
Whether right or wrong is very important. If I must choose, then I choose the third path.
[ rex has just been wandering around the little makeshift town, ostensibly patrolling for any ghosts who might get Ideas, but really just going wherever the hell I need him to for any given PC.
When he spots Xie Lian, though, he stops. goes rigid, a little. blinks. ]
[ xie lian is.. here! actually, he's still kinda hanging out where joonghyuk did his group heal, san lang qilin formed and wrapped around his back, eyes closed.
when he hears a voice, he opens his eyes, and offers rex a gentle smile in greeting. ]
[ sighs ] So...I don't actually remember anything from before the week I died. I remember Ahnkeen, but nothing before that. I...didn't think we'd actually talked before.
[ oh. well. rex doesn't really know what to do with that. or what to say to it. he just stares at the ground between them both for a moment, until-- ]
...wait here a minute.
[ Rex will run off! And a few minutes later, he will return with a small bundle of napkins. When he unwraps it, there is...a chocolate cupcake! It. it looks pretty bad. and gross. and, y'know, molding a lil. as weeks-old baked goods do.
rex has his eyes down on the cupcake. he can't quite bring himself to look Xie Lian in the face right now. ]
[ what a BABY? if this was older xie lian he would have eaten this right away, but instead he just looks very surprised, a little wide eyed -
- and then that expression shifts into a smile. ] ...Oh, Rex. How thoughtful of you.
[ weh. he holds out his hands for this gross cupcake. ultimately, it's the gesture that means the most, so xie lian will bow his head a little and take it. ] Did you like them? I'd never had chocolate before, so I had to ask around, and these cakes were the suggestion I was offered.
[ stop he'll examine it and give it back!!! cuppycake... mold edition ]
Of course we would. [ honey ]
All of you worked so very hard over here, and have done so much to look after us. We on the other side giving you all offerings was the very least we could do, and - truthfully, I was glad that you wrote me in specific, and I was able to pick something you liked!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ninetydegrees
w0, saturday
on 2021-10-03 01:37 am (UTC)So...cousins, huh?
no subject
on 2021-10-03 02:10 am (UTC)closes his eyes. ]
...It is somewhat hard to believe, isn't it?
no subject
on 2021-10-03 02:15 am (UTC)Not really. Family can be weird.
...it sure isn't any harder to believe than knowing there's a cannibal around, anyway.
no subject
on 2021-10-03 02:21 am (UTC)[ god. xie lian taps the spot next to him! come sit. ]
...And mine may perhaps be the oddest. At least, of this current group of people. I... am sorry you had to experience any of that.
no subject
on 2021-10-03 02:43 am (UTC)Making some pretty bold assumptions there, aren't you? You don't know what my family's like--or anyone else's around here!
no subject
on 2021-10-03 02:55 am (UTC)[ he does deliver this very wryly at least ]
no subject
on 2021-10-03 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
on 2021-10-03 03:26 am (UTC)wow. ]
...I feel a certain sense of kinship with such a thing. [ xie lian, not sure whether to laugh or cry. ] Perhaps we simply just cannot choose our family, no matter who they are. He wasn't successful, was he?
no subject
on 2021-10-03 03:33 am (UTC)[ Rex's expression sobers here, though, as he looks out across the ocean for a moment. ]
...you're wrong there, though. You can choose your family. My brother's--well, my brother, but I've got other people who're my family now too.
no subject
on 2021-10-03 03:38 am (UTC)...Mm. [ xie lian softens a little with that, too. he thinks - about a friend, the very closest. someone he misses very much. ] That's true.
If that is the case, I should like to cast off Qi Rong as my family, I think. At least in metaphor. [ xie lian laughs a little at that, though - its one of those situations where you just have to laugh. ] The same to your brother, then. I am very glad that you escaped from such a terrible thing as mind control - that implies you are quite strong of heart.
no subject
on 2021-10-03 04:18 am (UTC)[ then he straightens up, lively again because he needs to dunk on qi rong ]
But hey! Get rid of him if you want! There's always better people out there to make family out of. He seems like a pain in the neck anyway, and I only talked to him, like, twice. Although he was kind of fun to poke at.
no subject
on 2021-10-03 01:28 pm (UTC)rex livening up surprises him, though - he blinks at him for a moment, and then laughs a little, rubbing the back of his neck. his daemon curls up a little a tighter in his lap. ]
He is certainly a "pain in the neck", yes. At any rate, perhaps some time in solitude will do him some good.
[ what is a murdergame execution ]
no subject
on 2021-10-05 07:04 am (UTC)He might just get more annoying instead.
w1, monday
on 2021-10-05 02:24 am (UTC)xie lian is in the laundry room. he's wearing more traditional western style clothing, now, white pants and a white button up shirt he got from a shop somewhere in town, and is holding his robes over his arm - they're stained with dried blood from the execution.
in front of him is the laundry.
he looks
hopelessly confused.
help. ]
no subject
on 2021-10-05 07:02 am (UTC)[ buddy, ]
no subject
on 2021-10-05 11:16 am (UTC)--Oh! [ oh. his ears flush pink. ] Mr. Rex, um. I'm fine, I just.
[ .................. ]
Do.... you know how to do... [ vague gesture at the laundry room ] ...this?
no subject
on 2021-10-05 09:36 pm (UTC)[ nevertheless though he looks around the laundry room and... ]
Uhhh...not really. But I think you're supposed to use a bucket and one of those washboard thingies? [ he mimes moving clothes up and down a washboard ]
no subject
on 2021-10-05 10:39 pm (UTC)he does not. ]
....I see. [ he does not. ]
no subject
on 2021-10-06 02:22 am (UTC)[ Rex rummages around the room for one of those buckets and whatever looks closest to a washboard!! ]
See? Easy peasy!
w2 tuesday!!!!! backdates this to when you asked im crying
on 2021-10-14 04:53 pm (UTC)anyway!!! on this fine tuesday, xie lian is carefully trying to scoop up one of those memory glass shards. not because he wants to share his memories or anything - but rather, because he wants to collect them away so other people don't keep getting surprised by them.
it is too bad that rex happens to walk right into xie lian's line of sight as he's scooping one up! he makes a little noise. ] Oh -
2/2
on 2021-10-14 04:55 pm (UTC)you stand in a great temple - the great martial hall of xianle pavilion. the room itself is filled with soft clouds of insence, making the place feel dreamlike, and everlasting lanterns cover the walls, filled from top to bottom with the prayers of the people of xian le. valuable and beautiful, the great martial hall is one of the treasures of xian le, in its glorious place on mt. taicang.
kneeling in front of a statue of the martial heavenly emperor is your teacher, the guoshi of xian le - mei nianqing, along with three deputy guoshi. the four of them are prostrating before the statue, and you politely incline your head. ] Guoshi.
[ the four of them finish their ritual - all four turn their heads back to you, and mei nianqing's gaze then moves to the altar. you approach, taking an incense stick, and pay your respects in sincerity to the martial emperor. then and only then does your teacher speak.
"Your highness, the four of us have deliberated. In regards to the Heavenly Ceremonial Procession, there are but two ways to resolve it."
the parade, just a few days ago - the one that was interrupted, and ended early. you saved the life of a child who fell from the ten foot high walls around xian le, but it did interrupt one of the most important processions in the annals of your kingdom's history. you are calm. ] Please, do enlighten me.
[ "The first method is to find the child who disrupted the procession, and then we shall conduct a ceremony. At the very least, one of his five senses must be sealed, as penance."
you whip your head up and say: ] No. [ severe, immediate - punishing a child, for an accident? ] Absolutely not.
[ the guoshi's expression doesn't even change, and he nods. "I expected that response from you." he sounds a little fond, if exasperated. "So, we put the weight of our consideration on the second method."
the music obscures a little dialogue, here, but it continues. "The second method is to have your highness publicly repent before the people of Xianle, ask the heavens for forgiveness, and then face the wall in reflection for a month."
you, very evenly, reply - ] Not possible.
[ guoshi looks taken aback. "we're not asking you to face the wall to reflect, really, you just look like you ar..." and he trails off, glancing back at the statue of the heavenly emperor, and sweating a little, "....as long as you are sincere, it will suffice." ]
No. [ you say. guoshi sighs. "and the reason?" ]
Guoshi, when I descended the mountain today, do you know what I saw? [ your voice picks up a little volume, but it stays steady. ] Not only did the people at the royal capital not condemn the accident that happened during the Heavenly ceremonial procession, they very much approved of it. This proves that the people all believe to save the child was right.
[ you are still thinking about the face of that little boy, his face wrapped in dirty bandages, his single, awestruck eye gazing at you as if you were the sun itself, holding tight to your robes. you can't regret such a decision. you won't even pretend to regret it, not when it saved someone's life, and not when your people are proud. ]
If I were to do as you say, and be punished for something that was done right, what would they think? Doesn't this only tell anyone that to save a life, not only do we not obtain fortuitous merits, but instead, we are punished, for our sin? How should they think, or act, after that?
[ you have always been so stubborn. stuck in your beliefs, your attitudes, about the world, and this is no different. you will not stand down from this for a moment.
guoshi looks at you, and says, "Whether it's right or wrong is't important. Only that you must choose between the two paths. Nothing is perfect in this world. Either that child shoulders this blame, or you do.
you lift your head. ]
Whether right or wrong is very important. If I must choose, then I choose the third path.
no subject
on 2021-10-15 07:14 am (UTC)Thankfully, things like "saving a child's life" don't really require a comprehensive understanding of any person's given life or world. ]
The third path, huh?
I like it. If the rules don't work, break 'em and make your own.
w7, friday
on 2021-11-20 05:42 am (UTC)When he spots Xie Lian, though, he stops. goes rigid, a little. blinks. ]
...hi.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:49 am (UTC)when he hears a voice, he opens his eyes, and offers rex a gentle smile in greeting. ]
Ah... Rex, how nice it is, to see you again.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:53 am (UTC)...again?
no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:54 am (UTC)[ :c??? ]
no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:58 am (UTC)... Since you died...?
no subject
on 2021-11-20 06:00 am (UTC)[ sighs ] So...I don't actually remember anything from before the week I died. I remember Ahnkeen, but nothing before that. I...didn't think we'd actually talked before.
Sorry.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 06:05 am (UTC)...I see...
[ hm. ]
Well... we did, though not often - and, even if we hadn't, I would still have been glad to see you once more. There's no need to apologize.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 07:26 am (UTC)...wait here a minute.
[ Rex will run off! And a few minutes later, he will return with a small bundle of napkins. When he unwraps it, there is...a chocolate cupcake! It. it looks pretty bad. and gross. and, y'know, molding a lil. as weeks-old baked goods do.
rex has his eyes down on the cupcake. he can't quite bring himself to look Xie Lian in the face right now. ]
...I saved one.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 02:07 pm (UTC)- and then that expression shifts into a smile. ] ...Oh, Rex. How thoughtful of you.
[ weh. he holds out his hands for this gross cupcake. ultimately, it's the gesture that means the most, so xie lian will bow his head a little and take it. ] Did you like them? I'd never had chocolate before, so I had to ask around, and these cakes were the suggestion I was offered.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 04:55 pm (UTC)I did. They were good.
...I didn't think anyone would send me anything.
no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:01 pm (UTC)Of course we would. [ honey ]
All of you worked so very hard over here, and have done so much to look after us. We on the other side giving you all offerings was the very least we could do, and - truthfully, I was glad that you wrote me in specific, and I was able to pick something you liked!
no subject
on 2021-11-20 05:30 pm (UTC)You were the only one who sent me anything. Specifically to me, anyway, and not just "the dead as a whole."
I was told I should...try to reach out to people. But I didn't know what to say. So I just said I like chocolate.
I wasn't expecting to actually get anything back.