fishingforcompliments: (Default)
a nice girl who is definitely your age ([personal profile] fishingforcompliments) wrote2020-06-06 12:53 pm
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shixiong: i'm trying to distract myself (91)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-17 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ meanwhile tomorrow there will be like 10 people stuffed in this cabin and one of them is going to die -

for tonight, it's just yin yu and flayn, though. there aren't many places in this camp that could be deemed acceptable for something like a 'date', or something 'romantic', maybe, but this seems to be pretty close to it. it's easy to forget about the outside world, just for a few hours, sitting comfortable here with flayn.

as she relaxes against him, yin yu takes a moment to take a breath. as ever, he is meditative, reflective - it gives him a moment to center himself, to marvel at the moment quietly from afar. this sort of happiness is something he'd like to hold onto, for when things are rough. there is someone and something worth fighting for, outside of simply doing his duties. a bond of his own, he'd forged over weeks of companionship, of flayn's gentle coaxing. no matter what happens, there will be this present moment of warmth to fall back on.

slowly, yin yu tips his head, so his cheek falls gently against the crown of her head. it ensconces them a little further, into this more or less comfortable little nest they've created, and the last bit of tension winds out of his shoulders, too. tuning back into the film puts the family in the middle of an opera, and the familiarity of the scene pretty much mitigates any weirdness of it being so modern; the sights and sounds are soothing, even if the opera is designed to be some kind of a ritual exorcism.

hm. as the scene plays, he comments; ]
I can assure you that removing demonic presence does not often include singing or performance in reality.
shixiong: (Default)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-17 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ maybe they have. i hope so.

mm... at flayn's question, he pauses, a bit thoughtful, watching the exorcism on the screen with detached interest. it's all very bloody and gory and horrifying, but it seems to be successful... so there's that. ]
It's usually a messier affair. Talismans or ceremonies, or sometimes through pain to the host person.

It's not unheard of, but I don't believe I've ever participated in one like this. [ that's for sure. masks or otherwise, you will not catch him singing at a demon anytime soon. ]
shixiong: i'm waving through a window (17)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-17 02:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ a bit more solemnly. ]

It is not common for the host to survive. [ which is the same in the film, apparently. the soul of the woman reawakens in the underworld, at a lake of fire and blood, and nearly immediately gets into a fight with a pair of the ghost bride's concubines. ah. unfortunate. ]

There is a reason why a ghost bride is a particularly dangerous ghost to encounter. General Xuan Ji was extremely powerful-- only a level below my master.
shixiong: maybe this writer's block (77)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-17 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
[ haha. looks at xuan ji. sure yeah

flayn's sadness echoes, a little. he glances down, and she'll feel the concern, and a hint of something... a little touched, at her worries. there's no need for them, but that she would be worried is still surprising, and it means a lot. yin yu gives her a small squeeze, trying to be reassuring. ]


I've faced worse, my lady: there is no need to be concerned. Besides, I am not her target - while I may have to deal with her in some capacity, she most likely will not even know I'm there. [ if xuan ji does show her face again - as yin yu predicts that she might - he only knows one person she'll be chasing after. he and chengzhu will be able to clean up the mess. ]
shixiong: is anybody waving back at me? (24)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-18 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ aww, flayn....

it's so novel to have someone care that much. so strange, but so nice, too. it reflects back in his emotions - a bit of surprise, warmth, and then the fact that he's touched - and yin yu looks down at her and away from the film, the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile.

how did he get lucky? for once in his life? ]
...That's very kind of you. [ he. he will do his best to stay safe. yin yu has something that isn't work to live for, doesn't he? for these little moments of warmth, fleeting snatches of happiness he's allowed to have. for her. for flayn.

the urge to kiss her again is there, muted, quiet. ]
I'll do my best to be safe.
shixiong: and maybe it's upsetting (74)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-18 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ ha ha!!!

that looks is so much more troubling than anything. yin yu had made her a promise, to stay there, and he doesn't want to break it. watching her bite her lip like that stirs a small wave of compassion, concern.

he has to try to look out for himself, as much as he can. it's something he can put to the side, for the most part, because he knows he's capable. (tomorrow evening, he will learn his capabilities are the very thing that will be the end of him.) ]


I'll do everything I can to stay safe. [ a pause. ] I... very much feel the same, for you.

[ because he's seen it. he's seen flayn injured. he's seen her worse than that. he's carried her lifeless body to a trial that he only now knows the cause of. each time, he can't seem to protect flayn, enough. but he tries. he's trying. as he reflects for a brief, quiet moment, on everything they've been through, yin yu does lean over. flayn's close to him, now, and their height difference is hard to reconcile in just about any situation, sitting or standing, but here, it's perfect: he's able to press a small, lingering kiss to the top of her head.

because flayn looking up at him like that just makes him want to ensure she doesn't have to make a face like that, again. ]
shixiong: it's a pointless endeavor (73)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-18 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he's a little embarrassed after such an intimate gesture (forehead kissing, how scandalous), but flayn's surprise and pleasant warmth helps keep him from overloading emotionally, and he's able to focus away from her face so he can actually like, have this conversation.

it comes with a little chuckle, half of an exhale. ]
...it's as you said, we tend to worry each other. [ because they care. ] And, I...certainly wouldn't change your bravery, my lady. If you will get into trouble, then I will always do my best to ensure you return from it safely.

[ even if that trouble is just a jumpscare. ]
shixiong: maybe i'll just descend to dirt (51)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-18 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed. [ yin yu's small smile returns to his face, at that. ]

I think we've done well working together so far. [ their break in went - well, it could have been worse! and they've been on investigations together, talked through problems together, set up memorials, learned flower language... there've been many things they've done together, and worrying or not, the still as ever confused part of him collects them as something incredibly dear. each one of those little interactions is a reminder that he exists. ] It's been my honor to stay near your side.

[ ... ] ...in many capacities. [ .//. ]
shixiong: is this catharsis? (66)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-18 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ back when this started a week or so ago, yin yu had seen a precious memory of flayn's, about her mother and her father. though the memory shares were as ever something of an invasion of privacy, in a way he was thankful for it. not because of the knowledge itself, but because of something flayn said within it. from the words of her mother - we cannot turn back the clock. we must live our lives fully, in the present moment.

yin yu has lived most of his life in the past. whether he walked this world as the xianxianyue officer or not, it haunted him, tailed his every single step. it still does, even now, and it's only with slow, coaxing steps that he's found any sort of small happiness away from it. it colors his every decision, his every thought, his every move. the way he feels about himself. and lately, as he finds himself lingering, thinking, as he always has, that mantra in the sound of her voice has started to cut through the darkness.

right now, the regrets that he has - letting flayn get injured again at break in, their struggles on the island - don't matter. in this present moment, the only thing that exists is the film they've ended up watching, and the girl who has relaxed so easily into his side. the worries of the future can come later, too.

just for a little while, maybe yin yu can be allowed to soak up the present, and being present within it.

he looks down at her again, that little smile on his face, and relaxes, too as he turns back to the screen. his emotions radiate softly content, and more than anything, quite grateful--maybe he doesn't need to say anything at all. this film is almost over; the dark and angry colors of the netherworld have been replaced with a brightness of modernity. as the main character burns the portrait of xuan ruan ji to destroy the ghost groom, the family moves into performing an opera once more, this time, in peace. ]
shixiong: (101)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-18 03:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ as the opera carries on, and the heroine is able to live on in peace with her family, watching their performance, yin yu's thinking much of the same. the brighter colors, the warmth of the scene--it's as if everything just stopped. no one is immune to wanting a happy ending, even people who watch these sort of things out of a want for being scared, or some kind of amusement.

flayn voices a kind of hope he wouldn't, but. for a moment, yin yu thinks of the island, of the revivals of everyone on it, of promises made over memorials with a ship on the horizon. a happy ending they had achieved in the face of terror. ]


...so they can.

[ after all this pain, so many people in this place deserved a happy ending. those who had fallen; those who hadn't. the chance that this could all fall behind them is still there, even if it feels faint in the distance. that's something they can continue to work together, for. ]
shixiong: (94)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-19 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ where he's settled, he can't see flayn's face, but the hope in her voice has struck a tentative little flame in him, too. to protect someone means not to give them naive hopes, doesn't it? to be fair, and honest, and good? ]

...we've done it before. [ he says, weight to his tone, a reflective seriousness.

because it won't be a naive hope. because if he has anything to say about it, he will do everything in his power to make it a reality. someone like flayn deserves a happy ending. that light of hers should never have to be snuffed out. (laughs in week 5)

his fingers curl gently in the fabric of her sweatshirt, and he looks down to her face again. yin yu's expression is a little hard to read, but his emotions are less so; there's some determination, a little fear, a lot of resolve, coated by that warm undertone he's come to associate with being by her side. ]


We will do our best to, once more. [ ...for her, and for the sleeping.

maybe... maybe for them too. ]
shixiong: (95)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-20 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ flayn saying so brings out just a hint of something sad, in yin yu's emotions. something... something lonely. it's tiny.

when this is all over, it... it will be the last time that they see each other, won't it? he had little hope that they would see each other again, even when they pinky promised over it. to suddenly be next to flayn on the bus had been... jarring, and to be thrown into this horrific situation again was worse. her company has been the brightest spot, here.

but flayn doesn't deserve this place and it's games, and its treachery. she deserves her beautiful coastline. she deserves fishing in memory of her mother. her father. her classmates. her magic, her life. and yin yu will go back to the shadows of ghost city, or back to mt. tonglu, to the terrifying eruption of power that awaits them.

when the light of the sun doesn't shine on the moon, the surface of it becomes dark.

inevitably, that is the fate that awaits him, when flayn is gone.

his fingers curl a little tighter, and as the final scene closes, he finally responds. ]
...I am, too.

[ because ultimately, this little piece of happiness that he has found is not just his own. flayn is so unbelievably beloved, it would be selfish for him to think anything otherwise.

he's quiet, for a little longer, as the credits roll, for a moment just watching the screen. ]
shixiong: (101)

[personal profile] shixiong 2020-07-21 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ flayn will easily feel the way his heart swoops when she kisses his cheek -- this sort of simple, tiny affection just sends him reeling, every single time. it helps to push away some of those darker, unhappier thoughts fairly easily, and flayn will feel him smile, too, just a little. he closes his eyes and dips his head, a nonverbal bit of gratitude that reflects easily back to her.

it's something to think about, for later. for now... even someone like yin yu can have just a few snatched moments of happiness, right?

the film returns to the title screen, and he glances back as the music changes, finally, a bit surprised. oh... it's over. hm.... he's not sure he really wants to go back to the cabin yet. ]


....Flayn, [ there's a brief trip of nerves there, and his face pinkens a little, but - ] ...did you happen to bring that novel, with you?

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