Despite himself, Zenitsu's gaze drops to Flayn's neck as he reaches up to his own. He's not entirely sure of what he just experienced—it was clearly a memory, but he's not accustomed to feeling scales where there should be skin.
Of course, humans don't take naps that span a millennium, either. What's more unsettling, though, is her expression when he looks at her face.]
[Her? Cruel? That can't be. What is she talking about? Like he said, she's such a sweet girl (even though she's not actually a young girl).
He pauses.
Wait a minute.
Last week?
Last week, the outcome was poor on multiple fronts. He fell, then he fell some more in a less pleasant way. It all feels like a distant memory now, but at the time it was a soul-crushing ordeal.
As his thoughts come rushing to the present from the recent past, he goes beet red with an expression that expresses neither horror nor revulsion, but sheer shock as he shouts.]
[She flinches - though, really, she's expecting... anger. Not just shock.]
Yes. I— I had tried it, myself, and... overall, the effects were positive. When I was around the other person, it was easier to... keep going, despite everything that was happening.
So I thought— I thought it might be helpful to try and give the two of you some happiness, but...
Well, I certainly did not think it would turn out like that. —but that does not excuse what I did.
She strikes him as such a sincere person that he doesn't think he needs to listen for sounds of guilt to hear it. It's there in her countenance and demeanor. Those combined with her earnest explanation render him unable to muster up any anger toward her.
It's not her fault that the strange love from last week was so short-lived. It's not, so he offers her a small smile.]
Was I worrying you that much, Flayn? If so, I'm sorry about that.
Now that it's over, you don't have to worry anymore. But thanks for thinking about me.
[(But Flayn! Why Asch? Why? Why not a cute girl? Why Asch? His kiss . . . his first kiss . . . He's going to cry again.)]
[She isn't sure what exactly caused Asch to fall out of love, other than that it must have been a power of some kind. And she can't even begin to imagine how it must have felt for Asch to be acting like that when Zenitsu was still...]
You do not need to apologize to me — truly, you do not. I... wanted to help the two of you, but I should have thought it through.
[Her gaze drops to the floor.]
...if there is every anything I can do to make up for it...
There's no backing away from this, though. As he opens his mouth to reassure her that her ability did cheer him up, a montage of memories plays in rapid succession, highlighting certain moments before moving onto the next.
There are girls, seven in total, of various appearances and backgrounds, whom you encounter throughout your life. Their fathers own big stores; they are maikos; they work in teahouses. But all of them are beautiful or cute, particularly in the eyes of the memories' beholder. Every single one wears a smile that withers your resistance when she points it your way.
With your first girlfriend, you notice a strange sound behind what appears to be an innocent smile. All living beings emit sounds that your extraordinary ears can hear, ranging from the blood circulating in their bodies to the emotions they experience. In contrast to the straightforward expression of this cute girl, you hear something more complex while she snatches her hand away from you as you reach for it.
"Zenitsu," she says in a sweet voice, "I want that candy from the stall we passed before. Can you buy me one?"
The worst sound in the world is that of a girl's crying. In order to make your girlfriend happy, you turn around with an affirmative chirp and empty what little money you've got left in your wallet.
There's something familiar about the sound pulsating from her that grows louder as the days pass. You still can't quite put your finger on it, but it spikes the second you recount to her a conversation you heard in another room while you were sleeping. Citing that your hearing creeps her out, she later shuts her doors on you and leaves you with nothing but your tears and heartbreak without a single sen to your name.
One day, as you stare into the mirror of a maiko you're dating, showcasing a full head of black hair, you realize it's the same sound of disdain that everyone gives a passing orphan whom nobody loves.
But that's not true, you tell yourself. This girl definitely loves you. She smiles, laughs, and speaks sweetly to you. As someone who truly loves her, how can you doubt her sound?
The rest proceed in a remarkably similar manner. Willfully blinding yourself to the sounds of girls who seek only to rob you of your money and enslave you to their whims, not one of them ever lets you reach for their hand—nor does that sound in the background ever change. It all comes to a head once your seventh girlfriend leaves you on the ground with the shoed foot of a debt collector on your back to elope with her lover, when an elder sporting a pegleg inquires after your predicament . . . ]
[i'm so sorry i started to reply to this for real and then work blew up. anyway.
When the memory fades out, Flayn finds that, well... she can't help but think that in the very unlikely event that she ever ran into any of the girls from Zenitsu's memories, she would have some very stern words for them.
He deserves so much better than what he's gotten.
(He definitely deserves better than what he got after she meddled in his affairs.)]
...I hope you know you deserve to be treated much better than you have been, Zenitsu.
[He opens his mouth, perhaps to protest some point, but doesn't speak right away. It's always weird, being told that when he knows how crazy he can drive people.]
Well, the cultivator who took me in treated me a lot better.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fishingforcompliments) wrote2020-06-07 04:10 pm
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Despite himself, Zenitsu's gaze drops to Flayn's neck as he reaches up to his own. He's not entirely sure of what he just experienced—it was clearly a memory, but he's not accustomed to feeling scales where there should be skin.
Of course, humans don't take naps that span a millennium, either. What's more unsettling, though, is her expression when he looks at her face.]
Flayn?
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...I really wish this place would stop showing people that particular memory...
[It could be worse, though! It definitely could be worse. For what it's worth, there are no scales anywhere on her now.]
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So much about Flayn is a mystery. He doesn't want to unveil it if it'll discomfit her.]
W-we don't have to talk about it if that's what you want! It's just a memory, anyway. It has nothing to do with this place.
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I—
[well
she knew zenitsu was kind, but.]
...you... you really believe that?
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More than anything, he wants Flayn to feel comfortable and safe.]
Yeah. Why wouldn't I? It doesn't matter to me what or who you are. You're Flayn.
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...this is not the first time I have said so, but... I really am lucky to know you.
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Is someone giving you a hard time about that memory? If so, you can tell me. I'll make them stop!
[Just that once, he will swing his demon slaying sword around and maybe even stab a person to prove a point.]
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[Zenitsu, please do not wave that sword around (unless you're going to stab her with it).]
This is simply something that... in my homeland, I have taken great pains to hide. Not everyone is as understanding as you.
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It infuriates him beyond measure that people in her world would wrong her in any way, shape, or form.]
What's there to understand? How could they! If they'd just get to know you, they'd know what a sweet girl you are!
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I—
[Zenitsu probably doesn't mean to make her feel guilty, but - there is undeniable guilt on her face. Oh, no.]
I do not think that you should be saying that... not to me.
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That's what he gets for mouthing off, really. He looks sincerely remorseful.]
Sorry! I should've thought about it first. You can forget that I said anything!
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[She just can't stand there and let him say nice things about her when—]
...I did a cruel thing to you last week. My intention was not to be cruel, but the outcome...
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He pauses.
Wait a minute.
Last week?
Last week, the outcome was poor on multiple fronts. He fell, then he fell some more in a less pleasant way. It all feels like a distant memory now, but at the time it was a soul-crushing ordeal.
As his thoughts come rushing to the present from the recent past, he goes beet red with an expression that expresses neither horror nor revulsion, but sheer shock as he shouts.]
That was you?
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Yes. I— I had tried it, myself, and... overall, the effects were positive. When I was around the other person, it was easier to... keep going, despite everything that was happening.
So I thought— I thought it might be helpful to try and give the two of you some happiness, but...
Well, I certainly did not think it would turn out like that. —but that does not excuse what I did.
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She strikes him as such a sincere person that he doesn't think he needs to listen for sounds of guilt to hear it. It's there in her countenance and demeanor. Those combined with her earnest explanation render him unable to muster up any anger toward her.
It's not her fault that the strange love from last week was so short-lived. It's not, so he offers her a small smile.]
Was I worrying you that much, Flayn? If so, I'm sorry about that.
Now that it's over, you don't have to worry anymore. But thanks for thinking about me.
[(But Flayn! Why Asch? Why? Why not a cute girl? Why Asch? His kiss . . . his first kiss . . . He's going to cry again.)]
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[She isn't sure what exactly caused Asch to fall out of love, other than that it must have been a power of some kind. And she can't even begin to imagine how it must have felt for Asch to be acting like that when Zenitsu was still...]
You do not need to apologize to me — truly, you do not. I... wanted to help the two of you, but I should have thought it through.
[Her gaze drops to the floor.]
...if there is every anything I can do to make up for it...
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It's not your fault. You were just trying to cheer me up, weren't you? As strange as it was, it kind of worked.
[It's way too weird to admit that, but he does it for Flayn's sake.]
You don't have to make it up to me.
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It... it did?
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There's no backing away from this, though. As he opens his mouth to reassure her that her ability did cheer him up, a montage of memories plays in rapid succession, highlighting certain moments before moving onto the next.
There are girls, seven in total, of various appearances and backgrounds, whom you encounter throughout your life. Their fathers own big stores; they are maikos; they work in teahouses. But all of them are beautiful or cute, particularly in the eyes of the memories' beholder. Every single one wears a smile that withers your resistance when she points it your way.
With your first girlfriend, you notice a strange sound behind what appears to be an innocent smile. All living beings emit sounds that your extraordinary ears can hear, ranging from the blood circulating in their bodies to the emotions they experience. In contrast to the straightforward expression of this cute girl, you hear something more complex while she snatches her hand away from you as you reach for it.
"Zenitsu," she says in a sweet voice, "I want that candy from the stall we passed before. Can you buy me one?"
The worst sound in the world is that of a girl's crying. In order to make your girlfriend happy, you turn around with an affirmative chirp and empty what little money you've got left in your wallet.
There's something familiar about the sound pulsating from her that grows louder as the days pass. You still can't quite put your finger on it, but it spikes the second you recount to her a conversation you heard in another room while you were sleeping. Citing that your hearing creeps her out, she later shuts her doors on you and leaves you with nothing but your tears and heartbreak without a single sen to your name.
One day, as you stare into the mirror of a maiko you're dating, showcasing a full head of black hair, you realize it's the same sound of disdain that everyone gives a passing orphan whom nobody loves.
But that's not true, you tell yourself. This girl definitely loves you. She smiles, laughs, and speaks sweetly to you. As someone who truly loves her, how can you doubt her sound?
The rest proceed in a remarkably similar manner. Willfully blinding yourself to the sounds of girls who seek only to rob you of your money and enslave you to their whims, not one of them ever lets you reach for their hand—nor does that sound in the background ever change. It all comes to a head once your seventh girlfriend leaves you on the ground with the shoed foot of a debt collector on your back to elope with her lover, when an elder sporting a pegleg inquires after your predicament . . . ]
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When the memory fades out, Flayn finds that, well... she can't help but think that in the very unlikely event that she ever ran into any of the girls from Zenitsu's memories, she would have some very stern words for them.
He deserves so much better than what he's gotten.
(He definitely deserves better than what he got after she meddled in his affairs.)]
...I hope you know you deserve to be treated much better than you have been, Zenitsu.
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[He opens his mouth, perhaps to protest some point, but doesn't speak right away. It's always weird, being told that when he knows how crazy he can drive people.]
Well, the cultivator who took me in treated me a lot better.
[Maybe even better than he deserves.]
He's the old man from the end of that memory.
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[But lord, Zenitsu. Please cultivate better taste in lovers. Find yourself someone who will cherish you and let you hold their hand!!]
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More importantly, don't blame yourself for what happened. Yours wasn't the only power that was at work last week.
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...well... no, but it seems to have been the catalyst for the others.
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