[They're on a bus, and... they're being careful! Yin Yu is probably being careful, anyway. Flayn has unfortunately allowed someone else to prepare her a drink, but it's fine? She watched Beau make it. There wasn't any poison in it.
Although she's definitely a little unsteady on her feet.
And her cheeks are kind of flushed.
Whiskey is strong, okay?
She sees him, but she stumbles before she's able to get there. Help!]
[ yin yu is definitely being careful. he's mostly stuck to the shadows as best that he can on such a cramped bus, trying not to be seen more than necessary. it means checking back in with friends towards the end of the night to make sure they're alright, too, so, spotting a familiar head of green hair, he turns to say hello, and then flayn is stumbling.
oh gods no not again is his immediate, worried thought, and he hurries over to catch her, supporting her easily so she doesn't fall. the concern comes through in his voice, and he leans down to check her facial expression properly. ] --Lady Flayn? Are you alright?
[ his first thought is not alcohol, it is definitely poison. ]
[ the papers that had their personal details on them were... (to say the least) uncomfortable, but yin yu would have been remiss to not check them over, and flayn's didn't escape his notice. she's... even older than dianxia, perhaps even older than the heavenly emperor.... thinking back to the island and the little fact that he knows, it makes sense, but...
well, it's not important. what is important is that yin yu will come to find flayn wherever she might be, now properly dressed in his black clothes, mask back in its normal place--and upon spotting her, he'll give his usual, polite bow, coming up just about out of nowhere as usual. ] Lady Flayn, good evening.
[She's changed clothes. It isn't her uniform, but the outfit is familiar enough that she feels a little more comfortable than she did before... even if she is still pretty uncomfortable about being doxxed.
She sneaks a peek at his face to try and gauge whether or not he's seen the profiles - but his mask is in place again, so that's fairly useless. Curses.]
dancing! they are dancing, a totally unfamiliar thing that he knows absolutely nothing about, especially this kind. yin yu is being extremely careful not to step on her toes, trying to keep her lessons in mind. his eyes are down, watching their feet carefully so he doesn't, which is at least half of the reason that he's stiff, and flayn's voice surprises him out of concentrating. he feels the back of his neck burn with the embarrassment. ]
I warned you. [ it's said almost jokingly, poking at himself, but, he replies on an exhale, sounding sheepish. ] ...sorry. [ he's. trying. relax, relax... he takes a deep breath, trying to drop some of the tension from his movements like that, listening to her quiet voice.
it's. marginally better. like, marginally. he's trying. under his mask, he mouths the counts. one, two, three, one, two, three... ]
are we continuing this in here so we can be messy without everyone seeing it right away...
It is quite alright. You should have seen how stiff I was when I first danced! I am sure it was quite amusing for my teacher.
[She smiles a little to herself. These things take time, but she's sure Yin Yu will be very good at this once he allows himself to relax. The fact that he's trying at all is heartwarming, too -
It's nice to be able to spend time with him like this.]
..hmm.
[She's sort of humming a melody under her breath. Maybe having some sort of music will make it easier to keep the rhythm.]
[ they expected it to happen, but that doesn't make the blow of it any easier. tsurumaru was one of yin yu's roommates, a brightly energetic not so young man with a pet chicken, and certainly not someone who deserved this fate. what lili said keeps echoing - it's lonely, being the first to die.
not only that, but with the kerfuffle from the night before, he'd spent most of the hour before the forced sleep he expected in a fuss, trying to figure a way out of the cabin and concerned as all hell for those outside. his roommate, lili, ookurikara, dimitri... and flayn.
he's one of the first into business mode when it starts, immediately going to investigate, but after that, yin yu makes a beeline to check on those people, and flayn is the first. he spots her at the bonfire; there's a feeling of relief that's immediately covered with a twinge of shame, and he makes his way over as quietly as ever, speaking up to announce his presence. ] ...Lady Flayn.
[ ...he'll take the spot next to her on the log, if she'll let him. ]
[She doesn't have any objection to him sitting down next to her on the log. She looks briefly up at his face as he sits, then down into the fire again.]
Yin Yu...
[She remembers - Lili had said something about speaking to Yin Yu through the cabin door while they were searching for Tsurumaru. She doesn't know what words, exactly, were exchanged, so she doesn't know if he is aware that she was outside the night before.
The night before, they'd sworn that they would find the person responsible for Tsurumaru's death. That they would identify them, and stop them from hurting anyone else, and that it would be alright.
But there is nothing alright about this.
Everything feels mixed-up and ugly - she's so angry about the situation. Furious, even. But she doesn't know who to direct that anger at, because even though Evan was responsible, it wasn't as though it had been intentional. And likewise - if the directors are to be believed - this had never been their intention, either.
What she's feeling settles itself against her heart, knotted up and heavy, and it doesn't lighten when she sees Yin Yu, though she tries for a smile.]
[ yeah. this is garbage! actual, complete garbage.
how much easier would it have been, if there was some great and powerful overlord that said "make this happen"? the cruel gods of that island had been a force to unite against. here, it feels like everything just spiraled out of control.
an accident. it was an accident. it tastes so bitter on the back of his tongue, because he knows how evan must have felt, that entire time, sitting on that, knowing that death could have been avoided, if maybe actions were different, if the circumstances were different. over and over he's sat in that same position and wondered, could i have stopped that? but he--he was an adult, then, and when things spiraled out of his hands, it ruined his life. this young man was just that. a baby, in the grand scheme of things, who must have been terrified.
the small, not quite smile just hurts, because he can tell flayn is hurting, too. he's going to ask her if she's okay, at first, but it feels stupid. he wants to say something -- kind of wants to run, too, but none of that is right, either. ] Lady Flayn. [ he greets, quietly, bowing his head.
there's a pause, and what comes out of his mouth is not anything near a platitude or comfort. ] ....Would you like to take a walk?
[ because he knows how to battle his own feelings, how to force them out of the way, and this is too close for comfort. this is decades of buried, looming bad decisions, that bottled once until they exploded. since then he's learned; it is much easier to do something than it is to sit and think. ]
after flayn comes to on the sports court, when dick's done with the immediate treating of her wounds, she tries to sit up and look around. it's a little easier said than done, and she hisses, but—]
Yin Yu—?
[her voice is small as she scans the area nearby for him.]
[ boy that sure was a lot, huh. yin yu's been divulging information and getting his own wounds treated. when flayn calls for him, he's not too far away, back turned, but being fussed over by minako. he nods his head to her--they're conversing about something, and as he ducks his head down in thanks and turns, unfettered recognition lights up on yin yu's uncovered face, then melts into something more relieved.
some of the tension rushes out of his shoulders. with one last, quick bow to minako, he hurries over to flayn, dropping down to one knee beside her, looking flayn over as she's sitting up. a hand comes to hover behind her briefly, just in case she needs the extra support, but.... ] Lady Flayn, you're awake.
[they fucked up. they fucked up!! they sure did fuck up!!! ogata is up for execution for bear crimes, and he isn't even the one who committed them! ...there's a chance, of course, that he may overpower tomorrow's executioner.
but that isn't necessarily a good thing, either.
flayn's heart is heavy and her eyes are downcast when she comes across yin yu at the bonfire. she takes a seat on the opposite end of the bench from him, staring down into the fire.]
[ there is no one in this world who deserves to be falsely accused of a crime.
no one, not the worst person in the world. when yin yu's life fell apart, he remembers jian yu pleading with jun wu--it was my fault--as much as he remembers his own shellshock, staring stunned at his hands in the middle of the heavenly capital. jian yu was so ready to take the blame (and it had, really, partly, been his fault, but yin yu was not the type to blame others for his own mistakes) that he would throw himself on his sword to try and preserve a status that yin yu didn't even deserve.
he would not wish that feeling on his worst enemy. he may not have liked ogata much, but he was one of their own, and the cruel irony of the situation is not lost on him. this time, it's that feeling of something missing that's weighing down his shoulders, and he has no distraction from it, no mask to hide his tired eyes, the downturn to his mouth, the way the exhaustion seeps into his bones. he'd planned on spending the rest of the evening alone, once he'd talked to lili and gotten some details about master grayson.
so, it's a bit surprising when flayn approaches, he glances to her for a moment, gives a gentle bob of his head, and then back down at the fire, staring into it still. ] ...Lady Flayn.
[ he says, quietly, in response. his heart's heavy, too. ]
friday nights are frustrating, because it feels like there's entirely too little to go on and too much to do. three weeks in a row of this doesn't make it any easier, and in the end, after their petting zoo campout, after finding the "body piles", after the announcement, and as the anxiety of the day is winding down, yin yu ends up seeking out flayn. it's become something of a solace, now, a place to ease an anxious heart, and besides... there's something important he'd like to ask.
so where you at, flayn. yin yu approaches with his mask on, but pushes it up to the side of his face to greet her as always.... and then bows his head because he knows he's tall and also he has the same urge she currently does so. go ahead you can go first. ] ...good evening, my lady.
[it is really nice that he bends down so that she can pat his head (which she does), because after what she did in the portal, flayn is really not sure he would have trusted her if she'd asked him to, which... she can't really blame him for at all.
anyway. a soft pat on the head, and she'll wait for him to do the same before she speaks.]
[yin yu attempts to disappear after speaking with guy, as is normal - but as is also normal for two of them by now, flayn refuses to let him. she keeps a careful eye on him as they all disperse from the mess hall, and once she's sure no one will follow her, she hurries after him.
he's quick, of course - she may not be able to catch up to him right away.
but when she does, she immediately reaches for his hand.]
[ last week's scapegoating was... frustrating, but it wasn't as upsetting. knowing that they'd grabbed someone innocent had been softened only in the tiniest of bits by the fact that it was ogata, who was a wild card enough that a murder by his hands seemed entirely likely. he'd voted for ogata then, and was willing to bear the load of that guilt.
but this. they had every piece possible to solve it, and they convicted an innocent man. and just anyone, they convicted --
... it's been a very long time, since yin yu has made a friend on his own.
someone like him. not a ghost, not a lord, not a lady, just - someone he could work with, someone he liked, who he felt camaraderie with beyond the experiences of their 'games' and beyond.
he does escape, for a bit. as always, he's a shadow, able to slip out of the room the minute he needs to, but it's harder to mute parts of his presence now in the face of some people, and yin yu doesn't know where he's going besides to find somewhere quiet to shove all those bitter angry feelings down into the dirt and bury them. it's a good five or ten minutes before flayn will be able to track him down, just sort of standing at the forest entrance where the bark was torn to shreds, as if it will tell him something they didn't already know.
when someone else's presence comes to his attention, he stiffens, about ready to vanish again, but when a hand comes into his, yin yu stops himself, holding perfectly still. ]
...Flayn. [ he says, no title, nothing, voice rougher than usual with held back emotion. he's trying. ]
[...well, they know who to create memorials for, now - and they have. with bouquets in hand, flayn and yin yu head to the memorial hall to place the offerings that they've put together for the dead.
she doesn't really know what to say to him, but...
she's sticking close. if it helps, she'll stay as close as he needs.]
[ close isn't bad, at least when it comes to flayn. now that things have settled yin yu has disappeared on and off in the afternoon, but he finds his way back to flayn to complete the task they started the day before. he hasn't taken his mask off once since saturday evening, and that hasn't changed now--it's a security blanket--but otherwise, he looks much the same as ever as he approaches flayn.
...except, he's got a couple of things in his arms. a small handful of kindling, a little stone, and maybe the most curiously, a small pile of brightly colored papers.
he bows his head as he approaches and adjusts his armful of objects to take the bouquet from her properly, a quiet greeting as he turns to look at the memorial hall, properly. ] ...This is the first time I've been here.
[By now, she knows that some of the memories getting dredged up this week are unpleasant - so Flayn is attempting to keep to herself. But her path crosses with Yin Yu's, as it normally does, and out of long habit she looks to him to call out with a greeting -
And the next thing they know, he is viewing a battle through her eyes.
...not just viewing, either. She was - and he is, in this moment - in the thick of things. The sound of metal striking against metal, of anguished screams as weapons cut past armor and into skin, rages around from all directions. At the center of the plains, a grizzled, armored man wielding a sword that stretches and expands despite being made of bone advances toward a green-haired, furious woman.
"Lady Seiros," one of the members of their army breathes as he falls. Flayn - Yin Yu - steps toward him, and stretches out a hand that is gripping a staff that may look familiar, but there is a pressure on her shoulder, and firm hands draw her back from the conflict at the middle of the battle. She glances back into the stern face of a man that Yin Yu may not recognize, although he does look a little like Flayn herself in terms of his hair and eye color. He shakes his head; that other man is already dead.
What the army lacks in numbers - and it does, despite how large it looks; Nemesis's forces outnumber them by far - Seiros to make up for in strength. She meets the vicious foe blow for blow, and Flayn shakes off the hand on her shoulder at the sound of screaming from elsewhere on the battle field and runs to where soldiers are facing off against soldiers.
It's these wounded that she tends to, as Seiros battles Nemesis. And there are almost too many of them to count. Some lives she manages to save. Others, she cannot.
She tended to her allies on the field of battle, until she exhausted all her strength—
It's almost too simplistic a retelling. It isn't just her own strength she exhausts. A healer makes an easy target, and Nemesis's forces don't hold back. She had meant it, during the very first trial here, when she said that the stab wound wasn't the worst she'd had - she defends herself from what blows she can, grits her teeth and bears the blows she cannot, and saps the strength from her enemies to knit her own wounds back together as she tries desperately to save even just one more person.
But there are only so many times that Nosferatu can rescue her, and only so many wounds she can possibly heal. There's only so far she can run to try and escape the soldiers who are faster and stronger than her. An arrow has pierced her back; a sword has struck clean through her stomach, and the soldier wielding it wrenches it away. Her blood splatters the ground, and she tries to take a breath.
Gods, but she can feel her life slipping away from her.
"Cethleann!" She is vaguely aware of a lance piercing straight through the swordsman, of him being knocked aside into one of his allies. There's an indistinct form above her, but she can't make out who it is. "No. No!"
Her vision blurs, and then turns to black. She feels something wet on her face - tears? Blood? - but she can't tell what it is.
"Cethleann, open your eyes! Please!"
...when she does next open her eyes, it's over. Yin Yu is there, and she...
wars tear through the land that he lives in constantly. even his master is rumored to have been killed through the yong'an war in the east when he was still human, but he had avoided it. in his pathway to ascension, his own cultivation was the only 'battling' he really had to do.
so, when the world suddenly shifts into a battlefield, and he realizes he's not of himself--that this has to be a memory. it takes over not a second later, and suddenly, yin yu moving into action, a magic in his fingertips he's never felt, humming in his veins as he moves from person to person, injured to injured, powerful, helpful, an angel on the battlefield, and then -
the arrow strikes between the shoulderblades. the sword, the blood (familiar now, green in color), the name -- 'cethleann', the blur to the vision and then --
and then, he's himself again, blinking once, twice, three times as he breathes in, a gasp of air he didn't realize that he needed. the memory is still so vivid that he has to force himself to properly look at flayn (at--cethleann?) and
instinct kicks in first, and he steps forward before she can bolt, because that's what he would do, too. if it was anyone else, he might have let it happen, but it's flayn and yin yu's still processing everything he saw, can still feel the phantom ache of the arrow as if it had hit him in the back. ]
Lady Flayn - [ he says, staggering out of his mouth before he can really think about it properly, because he doesn't know how to react in these situations, but the first thing yin yu does is reach forward and catch her hand.
it's not a hard grip. she can flee if she wants. he's just--stunned, and the emotions all balled up from her battle, surprise into worry into empathy haven't unwound yet in a way that's anything less than a mess, and after watching that, the last thing he wants is for her to be alone. ]
[ things are a little less awkward after the meme wedding. though the events of earlier in the week have not been forgotten - yin yu will arguably never forget, and he's certainly been cagier than usual - it's nice to be back to some semblance of normalcy.
that, and it suddenly starts snowing! so. it's very cold, and yin yu's not entirely sure if he's seen much snow short of on the mountains when completing missions for chengzhu, so... it's very different, too. with fewer people outside, he's more willing to be around during the day, and on thursday afternoon, he's making his way over to flayn with a delivery when he spots a couple other campers fooling around in the snow.
and...well, he gets an idea. it's a little unusual, but, it was something his shidi might have enjoyed back in the day, too. and so, when yin yu approaches the ant cabin, he's got a small tote from the store under his arm, with a few things inside. ] Lady Flayn? [ knock knock. ]
[flayn has been... chilling out (hah) in her cabin, wrapped up in her blankets and a warm, cozy-looking jacket she snagged from the clothing shop. she isn't really expecting the knock on her door. things have gotten... a little more normal, since yesterday, but some part of her had been worried that despite that he would go back to avoiding her.
from the delighted look on her face as she answers the door, it's clear she's very happy that he hasn't.]
this is not a very satisfying victory. it's satisfying in that yin yu knew that nie huaisang did it. in that his assessments of the sect leader were right on target--that he's a politician, not a killer, that he wouldn't have gotten his hands dirty if he didn't have to, but... he had gotten along with whatever front the sect leader presented him, and...there was a strange sense of camaraderie with someone who was from a world similar to his own.
more troubling was what wasn't solved: their islanders, their comrades. three people, taken out at once, with hardly any clue as to how. as usual, there's a mess of evidence to be sorted through hours after.
yin yu sees flayn go by when he's just finished conversing with someone else. though he's not initially going to approach (maybe later) he watches her moving around in that outfit in this weather and just - ] Lady Flayn?
[ startled
he's already taking off his outer robe wtf ] Have you been walking around like this this whole time? [ WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS? ]
[ well! this has been an exciting day. between wrangling flying movies (?) and stopping fights, yin yu's been kept busy through most of it, and it's only around dinner time that he finally gets a free moment.
it figures that his thoughts go drifting, when they do. they've been doing that for quite a bit today...which is simultaneously embarrassing and silly and also kind of nice. besides, after talking with lili, he did promise to get a little information, and there's not really a better place to start than here.
it is absolutely not an excuse to come visit flayn's cabin, knocking a familiar three sharp knocks on the door. ]
[the door doesn't open! apparently flayn has commenced with avoiding him for a five-year timeskip.
okay, no, that's a lie. a moment or so after yin yu knocks, he'll hear footsteps on the path leading to the cabins - and just after that, he'll hear flayn's voice.]
Yin Yu?
[she's further down the path, just coming back from... somewhere, but she'll hurry over to where he is.]
[ when flayn opens the door to her cabin, she'll find a fresh, sweet smelling bunch of lavender in a small jar of water, tied with a surprisingly cutely tied purple ribbon. there's a bag of what looks like tea attached to the ribbon, and the jar is set to the side of the door so it doesn't get knocked over.
skips off to submit my task Not Anonymously but also very anonymously ]
[when yin yu enters his cabin at any point after about 7 am, he'll find a small bundle of fresh honeysuckles, tied off with an elegant-looking black ribbon. he'll also find a black scarf made of a soft fabric. a sprig of lavender has been embroidered onto one end of the scarf with light purple threads.
wow gee i wonder who this could possibly have come from!! it is a mystery!!]
[ this week, it's been a little easier to just... come and see flayn. emotion sharing is prickly and uncomfortable and sometimes too much, but with flayn... he's a little more comfortable letting some of his walls start to come down. it's a slow process, but...
it's nice, to be happy. it's a new feeling, but it's... it's really nice.
he's a bit early to meet her at the entertainment cabin, but maybe that's not surprising. by now, wayward dvd cases seem to have been tamed, and yin yu checks over the shelves to make sure nothing's going to go flying out at them. natalie taught him how to use this earlier in the week, too! so!!
when flayn comes in, she'll see him busily setting up a guard on one of the shelves to keep it all in check. for the moment, he's distracted, mask to the side of his face, focused to make sure none of it falls apart so they aren't both avalanched by falling dvds or something equally stupid.
he looks the same as ever, serious and focused. the only difference, perhaps, is the scarf around his neck, black in color, with a hint of purple and green embroidery at the bottom. ]
[when flayn enters, she's carrying a teapot cradled carefully in one arm and two teacups in another. she's a few minutes early - though not quite as early as yin yu is - and maybe that's why he's so focused on his task, still.
she clears her throat as she steps in through the door.]
maybe yin yu dies week 4 not because of yasusada but actually because of this. that is to say, he is standing in the mess hall kitchen getting ready to cook with flayn, with an assortment of ingredients in front of them. a host of spices, some celery, a bottle of rice wine...but most importantly, there is... a big fish filet. flayn said that she loves fishing. he can't exactly catch her anything, here, but, at least the mess hell seemed to suffice.
when flayn reaches the kitchen, yin yu's already there. he was in the midst of braiding his dark hair back so it's out of the way, and aside from his usual robes, he's got a dark gray apron that i'm going to assume was in the camp store. shut up its week 6 im desperate.
when he spots her, yin yu has a little smile on his visible face, too, as he dips his head in proper greeting. ] Lady Flayn. [ ...aaaaa, god it's a day later and he's still not done being flustered, apparently, but that's fine.
anyway! he reaches behind himself and offers her a similar apron, stitched with the camp logo. hers is a soft purple color because... he thought she might like it, which is a bit embarrassing, but that's fine. ] ...here, my lady. For you. I think I picked out a recipe that should be fairly easy for us to complete together, but some of the ingredients are fairly brightly colored - I would't want you to get messy.
[it's kind of exciting, but it's a little nerve-wracking at the same time. flayn's cooking skills have definitely improved since she arrived here, but she knows she's not exactly a talented chef, and she doesn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.
(even if, by now, she's relatively certain he would never judge her.)
she takes the apron and puts it on, reaching back to try and tie the strings in a bow behind her. it's a little awkward, but she can manage.]
I look forward to - um... to cooking with you, Yin Yu.
[it's later in the evening by the time flayn catches up to yin yu.
she isn't the only one who's missed him, in the time he's been... gone. the others must have their chance to spend time with him, too. so she keeps her distance to give him the chance to do that, and after some time passes, she goes to seek him out.
that's how she ends up at chipmunk cabin, knocking lightly at the door, because she hasn't found him in the other places they've frequented.
[ it's taken a little bit for yin yu to make his appropriate rounds. he wanted to try and clear the air on some things, and speak to a few others, but by the end of the night, when a quiet settles over the camp, he's coming back to try and awkwardly change out of the more modern clothes he'd snagged from the campsco and back into his normal robes. it's not going super well - the plan was originally to get changed and then immediately go find flayn, but these wings are entirely too immense, and his shirt's sort of half hanging off of them when there's a knock.
he pauses, wriggles enough to pull the turtleneck with the awkwardly cut holes for his wings mostly back down, and goes for the door with a quiet, ] ...Sorry, Akira, I didn't mean to lock you out -
[ and when he opens it, it's the exact person he was hoping to go see once he finished.
yin yu blinks, a little surprised --he's still sort of half trapped in the turtleneck, one arm sticking out of it, the fabric pulled up past his bellybutton--and then, his cheeks flush, and there are those butterflies that, despite how embarrassing they can be, he's really, really missed. ] ...hello.
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fishingforcompliments) wrote2020-06-06 12:53 pm
w0
Although she's definitely a little unsteady on her feet.
And her cheeks are kind of flushed.
Whiskey is strong, okay?
She sees him, but she stumbles before she's able to get there. Help!]
—Yin Yu!
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oh gods no not again is his immediate, worried thought, and he hurries over to catch her, supporting her easily so she doesn't fall. the concern comes through in his voice, and he leans down to check her facial expression properly. ] --Lady Flayn? Are you alright?
[ his first thought is not alcohol, it is definitely poison. ]
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w0, sunday @ camp
well, it's not important. what is important is that yin yu will come to find flayn wherever she might be, now properly dressed in his black clothes, mask back in its normal place--and upon spotting her, he'll give his usual, polite bow, coming up just about out of nowhere as usual. ] Lady Flayn, good evening.
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[She's changed clothes. It isn't her uniform, but the outfit is familiar enough that she feels a little more comfortable than she did before... even if she is still pretty uncomfortable about being doxxed.
She sneaks a peek at his face to try and gauge whether or not he's seen the profiles - but his mask is in place again, so that's fairly useless. Curses.]
It is nice to be off that bus, is it not?
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w0 dancing task, overflows are for chumps
dancing! they are dancing, a totally unfamiliar thing that he knows absolutely nothing about, especially this kind. yin yu is being extremely careful not to step on her toes, trying to keep her lessons in mind. his eyes are down, watching their feet carefully so he doesn't, which is at least half of the reason that he's stiff, and flayn's voice surprises him out of concentrating. he feels the back of his neck burn with the embarrassment. ]
I warned you. [ it's said almost jokingly, poking at himself, but, he replies on an exhale, sounding sheepish. ] ...sorry. [ he's. trying. relax, relax... he takes a deep breath, trying to drop some of the tension from his movements like that, listening to her quiet voice.
it's. marginally better. like, marginally. he's trying. under his mask, he mouths the counts. one, two, three, one, two, three... ]
are we continuing this in here so we can be messy without everyone seeing it right away...
[She smiles a little to herself. These things take time, but she's sure Yin Yu will be very good at this once he allows himself to relax. The fact that he's trying at all is heartwarming, too -
It's nice to be able to spend time with him like this.]
..hmm.
[She's sort of humming a melody under her breath. Maybe having some sort of music will make it easier to keep the rhythm.]
............i mean,
you're valid, sisi
the actual reason was because i was too lazy to make an overflow top level
still valid
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post w0 deda lol
not only that, but with the kerfuffle from the night before, he'd spent most of the hour before the forced sleep he expected in a fuss, trying to figure a way out of the cabin and concerned as all hell for those outside. his roommate, lili, ookurikara, dimitri... and flayn.
he's one of the first into business mode when it starts, immediately going to investigate, but after that, yin yu makes a beeline to check on those people, and flayn is the first. he spots her at the bonfire; there's a feeling of relief that's immediately covered with a twinge of shame, and he makes his way over as quietly as ever, speaking up to announce his presence. ] ...Lady Flayn.
[ ...he'll take the spot next to her on the log, if she'll let him. ]
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Yin Yu...
[She remembers - Lili had said something about speaking to Yin Yu through the cabin door while they were searching for Tsurumaru. She doesn't know what words, exactly, were exchanged, so she doesn't know if he is aware that she was outside the night before.
She isn't sure if she should bring it up or not.]
Tsurumaru, he...
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w0, saturday
The night before, they'd sworn that they would find the person responsible for Tsurumaru's death. That they would identify them, and stop them from hurting anyone else, and that it would be alright.
But there is nothing alright about this.
Everything feels mixed-up and ugly - she's so angry about the situation. Furious, even. But she doesn't know who to direct that anger at, because even though Evan was responsible, it wasn't as though it had been intentional. And likewise - if the directors are to be believed - this had never been their intention, either.
What she's feeling settles itself against her heart, knotted up and heavy, and it doesn't lighten when she sees Yin Yu, though she tries for a smile.]
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how much easier would it have been, if there was some great and powerful overlord that said "make this happen"? the cruel gods of that island had been a force to unite against. here, it feels like everything just spiraled out of control.
an accident. it was an accident. it tastes so bitter on the back of his tongue, because he knows how evan must have felt, that entire time, sitting on that, knowing that death could have been avoided, if maybe actions were different, if the circumstances were different. over and over he's sat in that same position and wondered, could i have stopped that? but he--he was an adult, then, and when things spiraled out of his hands, it ruined his life. this young man was just that. a baby, in the grand scheme of things, who must have been terrified.
the small, not quite smile just hurts, because he can tell flayn is hurting, too. he's going to ask her if she's okay, at first, but it feels stupid. he wants to say something -- kind of wants to run, too, but none of that is right, either. ] Lady Flayn.
[ he greets, quietly, bowing his head.
there's a pause, and what comes out of his mouth is not anything near a platitude or comfort. ] ....Would you like to take a walk?
[ because he knows how to battle his own feelings, how to force them out of the way, and this is too close for comfort. this is decades of buried, looming bad decisions, that bottled once until they exploded. since then he's learned; it is much easier to do something than it is to sit and think. ]
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w1, thursday
after flayn comes to on the sports court, when dick's done with the immediate treating of her wounds, she tries to sit up and look around. it's a little easier said than done, and she hisses, but—]
Yin Yu—?
[her voice is small as she scans the area nearby for him.]
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some of the tension rushes out of his shoulders. with one last, quick bow to minako, he hurries over to flayn, dropping down to one knee beside her, looking flayn over as she's sitting up. a hand comes to hover behind her briefly, just in case she needs the extra support, but.... ] Lady Flayn, you're awake.
[ relief... ] How are you feeling?
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the desperation of backtagging ancient threads.png
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w1, saturday
but that isn't necessarily a good thing, either.
flayn's heart is heavy and her eyes are downcast when she comes across yin yu at the bonfire. she takes a seat on the opposite end of the bench from him, staring down into the fire.]
...Yin Yu.
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no one, not the worst person in the world. when yin yu's life fell apart, he remembers jian yu pleading with jun wu--it was my fault--as much as he remembers his own shellshock, staring stunned at his hands in the middle of the heavenly capital. jian yu was so ready to take the blame (and it had, really, partly, been his fault, but yin yu was not the type to blame others for his own mistakes) that he would throw himself on his sword to try and preserve a status that yin yu didn't even deserve.
he would not wish that feeling on his worst enemy. he may not have liked ogata much, but he was one of their own, and the cruel irony of the situation is not lost on him. this time, it's that feeling of something missing that's weighing down his shoulders, and he has no distraction from it, no mask to hide his tired eyes, the downturn to his mouth, the way the exhaustion seeps into his bones. he'd planned on spending the rest of the evening alone, once he'd talked to lili and gotten some details about master grayson.
so, it's a bit surprising when flayn approaches, he glances to her for a moment, gives a gentle bob of his head, and then back down at the fire, staring into it still. ] ...Lady Flayn.
[ he says, quietly, in response. his heart's heavy, too. ]
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MY TAG WAS SAVED... BLESS,
APPLE HAS DECIDED TO LET US LIVE JUST THIS ONCE
only this once and never again
our living privileges have been revoked
my computer said we have no rights
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w2 friday pm!!! good morning
friday nights are frustrating, because it feels like there's entirely too little to go on and too much to do. three weeks in a row of this doesn't make it any easier, and in the end, after their petting zoo campout, after finding the "body piles", after the announcement, and as the anxiety of the day is winding down, yin yu ends up seeking out flayn. it's become something of a solace, now, a place to ease an anxious heart, and besides... there's something important he'd like to ask.
so where you at, flayn. yin yu approaches with his mask on, but pushes it up to the side of his face to greet her as always.... and then bows his head because he knows he's tall and also he has the same urge she currently does so. go ahead you can go first. ] ...good evening, my lady.
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anyway. a soft pat on the head, and she'll wait for him to do the same before she speaks.]
Good evening, Yin Yu...
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to be entirely fair it feels like it's been a wholeass year. anyway 1/2
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w2, saturday
he's quick, of course - she may not be able to catch up to him right away.
but when she does, she immediately reaches for his hand.]
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but this. they had every piece possible to solve it, and they convicted an innocent man. and just anyone, they convicted --
... it's been a very long time, since yin yu has made a friend on his own.
someone like him. not a ghost, not a lord, not a lady, just - someone he could work with, someone he liked, who he felt camaraderie with beyond the experiences of their 'games' and beyond.
he does escape, for a bit. as always, he's a shadow, able to slip out of the room the minute he needs to, but it's harder to mute parts of his presence now in the face of some people, and yin yu doesn't know where he's going besides to find somewhere quiet to shove all those bitter angry feelings down into the dirt and bury them. it's a good five or ten minutes before flayn will be able to track him down, just sort of standing at the forest entrance where the bark was torn to shreds, as if it will tell him something they didn't already know.
when someone else's presence comes to his attention, he stiffens, about ready to vanish again, but when a hand comes into his, yin yu stops himself, holding perfectly still. ]
...Flayn. [ he says, no title, nothing, voice rougher than usual with held back emotion. he's trying. ]
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w2, sunday
she doesn't really know what to say to him, but...
she's sticking close. if it helps, she'll stay as close as he needs.]
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...except, he's got a couple of things in his arms. a small handful of kindling, a little stone, and maybe the most curiously, a small pile of brightly colored papers.
he bows his head as he approaches and adjusts his armful of objects to take the bouquet from her properly, a quiet greeting as he turns to look at the memorial hall, properly. ] ...This is the first time I've been here.
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wow i saw the typos in the tag before the last one ... *sense of
me, a fool: ...there was a typo???
w3, monday
And the next thing they know, he is viewing a battle through her eyes.
...not just viewing, either. She was - and he is, in this moment - in the thick of things. The sound of metal striking against metal, of anguished screams as weapons cut past armor and into skin, rages around from all directions. At the center of the plains, a grizzled, armored man wielding a sword that stretches and expands despite being made of bone advances toward a green-haired, furious woman.
"Lady Seiros," one of the members of their army breathes as he falls. Flayn - Yin Yu - steps toward him, and stretches out a hand that is gripping a staff that may look familiar, but there is a pressure on her shoulder, and firm hands draw her back from the conflict at the middle of the battle. She glances back into the stern face of a man that Yin Yu may not recognize, although he does look a little like Flayn herself in terms of his hair and eye color. He shakes his head; that other man is already dead.
What the army lacks in numbers - and it does, despite how large it looks; Nemesis's forces outnumber them by far - Seiros to make up for in strength. She meets the vicious foe blow for blow, and Flayn shakes off the hand on her shoulder at the sound of screaming from elsewhere on the battle field and runs to where soldiers are facing off against soldiers.
It's these wounded that she tends to, as Seiros battles Nemesis. And there are almost too many of them to count. Some lives she manages to save. Others, she cannot.
She tended to her allies on the field of battle, until she exhausted all her strength—
It's almost too simplistic a retelling. It isn't just her own strength she exhausts. A healer makes an easy target, and Nemesis's forces don't hold back. She had meant it, during the very first trial here, when she said that the stab wound wasn't the worst she'd had - she defends herself from what blows she can, grits her teeth and bears the blows she cannot, and saps the strength from her enemies to knit her own wounds back together as she tries desperately to save even just one more person.
But there are only so many times that Nosferatu can rescue her, and only so many wounds she can possibly heal. There's only so far she can run to try and escape the soldiers who are faster and stronger than her. An arrow has pierced her back; a sword has struck clean through her stomach, and the soldier wielding it wrenches it away. Her blood splatters the ground, and she tries to take a breath.
Gods, but she can feel her life slipping away from her.
"Cethleann!" She is vaguely aware of a lance piercing straight through the swordsman, of him being knocked aside into one of his allies. There's an indistinct form above her, but she can't make out who it is. "No. No!"
Her vision blurs, and then turns to black. She feels something wet on her face - tears? Blood? - but she can't tell what it is.
"Cethleann, open your eyes! Please!"
...when she does next open her eyes, it's over. Yin Yu is there, and she...
...
Well, she kind of looks like she wants to run.]
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wars tear through the land that he lives in constantly. even his master is rumored to have been killed through the yong'an war in the east when he was still human, but he had avoided it. in his pathway to ascension, his own cultivation was the only 'battling' he really had to do.
so, when the world suddenly shifts into a battlefield, and he realizes he's not of himself--that this has to be a memory. it takes over not a second later, and suddenly, yin yu moving into action, a magic in his fingertips he's never felt, humming in his veins as he moves from person to person, injured to injured, powerful, helpful, an angel on the battlefield, and then -
the arrow strikes between the shoulderblades. the sword, the blood (familiar now, green in color), the name -- 'cethleann', the blur to the vision and then --
and then, he's himself again, blinking once, twice, three times as he breathes in, a gasp of air he didn't realize that he needed. the memory is still so vivid that he has to force himself to properly look at flayn (at--cethleann?) and
instinct kicks in first, and he steps forward before she can bolt, because that's what he would do, too. if it was anyone else, he might have let it happen, but it's flayn and yin yu's still processing everything he saw, can still feel the phantom ache of the arrow as if it had hit him in the back. ]
Lady Flayn - [ he says, staggering out of his mouth before he can really think about it properly, because he doesn't know how to react in these situations, but the first thing yin yu does is reach forward and catch her hand.
it's not a hard grip. she can flee if she wants. he's just--stunned, and the emotions all balled up from her battle, surprise into worry into empathy haven't unwound yet in a way that's anything less than a mess, and after watching that, the last thing he wants is for her to be alone. ]
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1/2.
2/3, jk, enjoy this monster :)
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w3, thursday afternoon
that, and it suddenly starts snowing! so. it's very cold, and yin yu's not entirely sure if he's seen much snow short of on the mountains when completing missions for chengzhu, so... it's very different, too. with fewer people outside, he's more willing to be around during the day, and on thursday afternoon, he's making his way over to flayn with a delivery when he spots a couple other campers fooling around in the snow.
and...well, he gets an idea. it's a little unusual, but, it was something his shidi might have enjoyed back in the day, too. and so, when yin yu approaches the ant cabin, he's got a small tote from the store under his arm, with a few things inside. ] Lady Flayn? [ knock knock. ]
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from the delighted look on her face as she answers the door, it's clear she's very happy that he hasn't.]
Oh! Hello, Yin Yu.
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1/2
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w3 post trial
this is not a very satisfying victory. it's satisfying in that yin yu knew that nie huaisang did it. in that his assessments of the sect leader were right on target--that he's a politician, not a killer, that he wouldn't have gotten his hands dirty if he didn't have to, but... he had gotten along with whatever front the sect leader presented him, and...there was a strange sense of camaraderie with someone who was from a world similar to his own.
more troubling was what wasn't solved: their islanders, their comrades. three people, taken out at once, with hardly any clue as to how. as usual, there's a mess of evidence to be sorted through hours after.
yin yu sees flayn go by when he's just finished conversing with someone else. though he's not initially going to approach (maybe later) he watches her moving around in that outfit in this weather and just - ] Lady Flayn?
[ startled
he's already taking off his outer robe wtf ] Have you been walking around like this this whole time? [ WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS? ]
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But she does freeze with just a sliiiightly guilty look on her face when Yin Yu asks her that.]
Not the entire time, no...
[she was still wearing Majima's jacket until she gave it back]
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w4 maybe monday eveningish?
it figures that his thoughts go drifting, when they do. they've been doing that for quite a bit today...which is simultaneously embarrassing and silly and also kind of nice. besides, after talking with lili, he did promise to get a little information, and there's not really a better place to start than here.
it is absolutely not an excuse to come visit flayn's cabin, knocking a familiar three sharp knocks on the door. ]
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okay, no, that's a lie. a moment or so after yin yu knocks, he'll hear footsteps on the path leading to the cabins - and just after that, he'll hear flayn's voice.]
Yin Yu?
[she's further down the path, just coming back from... somewhere, but she'll hurry over to where he is.]
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w4, tuesday evening. an anonymous delivery!
skips off to submit my task Not Anonymously but also very anonymously ]
w4, wednesday - anonymous delivery!
wow gee i wonder who this could possibly have come from!! it is a mystery!!]
weds evening. c:
it's nice, to be happy. it's a new feeling, but it's... it's really nice.
he's a bit early to meet her at the entertainment cabin, but maybe that's not surprising. by now, wayward dvd cases seem to have been tamed, and yin yu checks over the shelves to make sure nothing's going to go flying out at them. natalie taught him how to use this earlier in the week, too! so!!
when flayn comes in, she'll see him busily setting up a guard on one of the shelves to keep it all in check. for the moment, he's distracted, mask to the side of his face, focused to make sure none of it falls apart so they aren't both avalanched by falling dvds or something equally stupid.
he looks the same as ever, serious and focused. the only difference, perhaps, is the scarf around his neck, black in color, with a hint of purple and green embroidery at the bottom. ]
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she clears her throat as she steps in through the door.]
...Yin Yu?
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w4 tuesday actually because that looks better in timeline and also wow i'm desperate
maybe yin yu dies week 4 not because of yasusada but actually because of this. that is to say, he is standing in the mess hall kitchen getting ready to cook with flayn, with an assortment of ingredients in front of them. a host of spices, some celery, a bottle of rice wine...but most importantly, there is... a big fish filet. flayn said that she loves fishing. he can't exactly catch her anything, here, but, at least the mess hell seemed to suffice.
when flayn reaches the kitchen, yin yu's already there. he was in the midst of braiding his dark hair back so it's out of the way, and aside from his usual robes, he's got a dark gray apron that i'm going to assume was in the camp store. shut up its week 6 im desperate.
when he spots her, yin yu has a little smile on his visible face, too, as he dips his head in proper greeting. ] Lady Flayn. [ ...aaaaa, god it's a day later and he's still not done being flustered, apparently, but that's fine.
anyway! he reaches behind himself and offers her a similar apron, stitched with the camp logo. hers is a soft purple color because... he thought she might like it, which is a bit embarrassing, but that's fine. ] ...here, my lady. For you. I think I picked out a recipe that should be fairly easy for us to complete together, but some of the ingredients are fairly brightly colored - I would't want you to get messy.
[ considerate as always! ]
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[it's kind of exciting, but it's a little nerve-wracking at the same time. flayn's cooking skills have definitely improved since she arrived here, but she knows she's not exactly a talented chef, and she doesn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.
(even if, by now, she's relatively certain he would never judge her.)
she takes the apron and puts it on, reaching back to try and tie the strings in a bow behind her. it's a little awkward, but she can manage.]
I look forward to - um... to cooking with you, Yin Yu.
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w6, saturday
she isn't the only one who's missed him, in the time he's been... gone. the others must have their chance to spend time with him, too. so she keeps her distance to give him the chance to do that, and after some time passes, she goes to seek him out.
that's how she ends up at chipmunk cabin, knocking lightly at the door, because she hasn't found him in the other places they've frequented.
(maybe they're just missing each other?)]
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he pauses, wriggles enough to pull the turtleneck with the awkwardly cut holes for his wings mostly back down, and goes for the door with a quiet, ] ...Sorry, Akira, I didn't mean to lock you out -
[ and when he opens it, it's the exact person he was hoping to go see once he finished.
yin yu blinks, a little surprised --he's still sort of half trapped in the turtleneck, one arm sticking out of it, the fabric pulled up past his bellybutton--and then, his cheeks flush, and there are those butterflies that, despite how embarrassing they can be, he's really, really missed. ] ...hello.
[ ...embarrassing. ]
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Phone tags u from the taco bell drive thru
think outside the dw comment box,
ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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