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HEAT SEEKER.
| — CALL ME OUT; | |
>> post murdergames, AU settings, redacted alternate loops, What Ifs, fractura au worlds, etc + canon visit prompts: xie lian | yin yu >> need a prompt? - tfln - intimate bathing - kiss meme - morning after | |
| — CALL ME OUT; | |
>> post murdergames, AU settings, redacted alternate loops, What Ifs, fractura au worlds, etc + canon visit prompts: xie lian | yin yu >> need a prompt? - tfln - intimate bathing - kiss meme - morning after | |
canon visit
sure enough, the idyllic walk, lined with red, red maple trees, brings you up the path to a tiny building with a sign reading Puji Shrine Now Accepting Donations by the door.
the building itself is nicely, if simply, built but it looks a bit like a work in progress - the roof is hastily put on, and messy in spots, and there's a tarp covering what must either an incomplete wall or a giant hole to the right.
and as for the daozhang himself? well.
something in the air smells kind of funny. it... maybe could be food? or it could be noxious chemicals.... it is coming from the direction of the little shrine, itself.
it seems something might be cooking in puji shrine.
how unfortunate. ]
> canon visit
being dropped off in ghost city, whether it's via a portal or something else entirely, gets you dropped right in the middle of utter cacophony. you stand in the middle of a market that seems to stretch on as far as the eye can see, the darkness above your head mitigated by bright red lanterns, and the sights and sounds of a city. rather than humans, however, everyone around you seems to be some sort of... creature, of some kind. demons like caterpillars slither between your feet; a butcher with the head of a pig loudly hawks his wares, a stew made from "meat freshly slaughtered!" (is that a human leg sticking out of the pot?), and other creatures hustle and bustle past you. ghostly women with three eyes shout for your attention, lifting their silks when you look too close, and merchants crow about demon's blood cures and real dragon scale jewelry that's definitely not cursed. medicine, charms for fortune, for potency, for romance, curses for your enemies, poisons, and fine black market goods - it seems if you want it, and it's not normal, you can probably find it here.
down the street rises the gambling den, a large, raucous building, where you can gamble your time away, and further down than that, paradise manor looms, casting its eerie red glow over the entirety of the city. without a mask, you probably can't blend in. maybe get one? or... maybe wander the city? head for the gambling den? peruse the wares?
whatever it is, it seems your on your own...at least for a little while. welcome to ghost city! ]
it's technically a canon visit because she's.. from his canon.. and visiting.. im sorry
it is, however, deterring enough of the villagers that her approach is going more or less unnoticed! which suits her... she wouldn't want to frighten any of them. she's carrying something in her arms, but with the way she's got her arms wrapped around it, her sleeves are covering it up, so it's hard to tell what it is.
her hands are full, though, so instead of knocking, she just calls out softly:]
General Hua?
picks banyue up and puts her in my pocket
and yet, when he hears that quiet voice, xie lian perks from where he's standing at the kitchen in puji shrine, hands on his hips and frowning down at his frankly horrifying meal. he sighs, after a moment, puts the lid on the pot to muffle the scent, and then turns around to go open the door. ]
Banyue! [ immediately, a smile crosses his face, as friendly as ever; he glances up to the talismans at the door and waves them off, pulling it open all the way. ] It's so good to see you - what brings you to Puji Shrine? Come in, come in!
a pocket ghostie
a very tiny smile tugs on the corners of banyue's lips as takes down the talismans to allow her in. it's nice to visit; xie lian's shrine is comfortable.
...even if the cooking does leave a bit to be desired. oh well.]
Pei Su gege and I received vegetables from the Lord Rain Master, so I wanted to share them with you...
> canon visit 3
by which i mean! visiting xie lian in his realm is something he discourages for a while. by time shenanigans it takes a little under a decade before he's ready to be visited, though, who knows - with world hopping, maybe that doesn't matter? - but finding xie lian in this time period is not as hard as you would think it would be.
... rather! it seems he's set up in a small house on the edge of a desert city teeming with life. those who participated in chasma will find it quite similar to ankheen - the weather is just as hot, but the oasis itself is beautiful, and the markets are vast and vibrantly colorful, with locals from all walks of life practically exploding out of the streets. xie lian's little house is in fairly decent shape - though it is not really the royal livings of a prince, it is a home, and a permanent one at that, and he's styled himself as a daozhang, helping the people here with daily life.
there's a small bell on a beautifully made door over the entryway. when it rings, signifying a visitor, the sole occupant of the house is nowhere to be immediately found - but there's a quiet Welcome! and a moment later, a familiar wriggly sight comes bounding off of a counter and up to the entrance.
the currently named ruoye chitters to greet the visitor. hello, friend! ]
no subject
anyway! after quite a long time worldhopping (and being tricked into not going back home by quite a few people, bless this idiot's heart), shi qingxuan is finally returning to zhongguo. only this is most definitely the wrong time and place, though she doesn't know it yet - she chalks it up to just a quirk of the worldhopping and figures someone she wanted to see is probably nearby.
so she looks around, and rings the bell, and... well. there's ruoye! she crouches down to get a closer look at the daemon.]
...well, aren't you cute!
no subject
Good afternoon. Are you seeking to make an offering to the shrine?
[ surprise it talks ]
no subject
the tone is comfortingly familiar, and shi qingxuan finds herself thinking that it might be nice to see xie lian before she goes to deal with her whole mess and inevitably gets banished or worse. maybe she should try to track him down before she goes up to the heavens? that's something to think about later. this cute little animal is asking her a question; it'd be rude to ignore it!]
Certainly. To which god would I be making an offering, hm?
[she is already reaching into her sleeves for gold because she hasn't stopped being a rich binch yet.]
no subject
ruoye settles beside it and nods. ] The Crown Prince of Xian Le. For protection. Any offering is accepted.
no subject
anyway! shi qingxuan looks surprised, and then delighted, and she reaches back into her sleeve to pull out even more gold because, frankly, xie lian deserves as many nice things as possible, and she may not have many nice things to give him in the future. better to give them to him now.
once the offering has been placed on the altar, she closes her eyes, claps her hands together, and prays -
Hello, Your Highness! Thank you for your protection!
...though the follow up thought comes unbidden:
I'm really going to need it...]
no subject
there's no immediate response, but it seems like the little creature is listening. his ears twitch, and he takes the little gold pieces from shi qingxuan, then starts to stack them up on the altar - when it finishes, it settles on the altar and watches her very keenly, little dark eyes focused. maybe he can hear those prayers? wild ]
no subject
shi qingxuan's thoughts wander, as they tend to do (this is perhaps surprising to anyone who assumed she has no thoughts at all). to be entirely fair, she's spent centuries listening to and answering prayers; she hasn't spent much time praying to her colleagues. maybe she would if they all had cute little animal companions like this!
she realizes, ruoye stacks the last of the gold pieces up with a little clink, that she's gotten distracted, and resumes her prayer.
I hope that you are doing well and that your Hua Cheng is taking good care of you. Well, I suppose I don't have anything else to ask for, so that's it for now.
...aaand she's done! she returns her attention to ruoye and gives a polite bow.]
I suppose that's it. Offering made! Thank you for your assistance.
no subject
... and a moment later, a familiar figure comes into the room! the whole being immortal thing means that xie lian looks the same as shi qingxuan would know him. he's dressed in white robes, though they're less scrappy than usual, made of a decent quality of silk, and has his usual white bandages wrapped around his neck and arms. the straw hat even hangs from his back, as usual, though his long hair is tied up in a ponytail at the top of his head. ]
... Excuse me, young lady. [ ....
how does he tell this cultivator woman that he's the god and he heard you say "your hua cheng" without saying so. ] Ah... um, you don't have to leave so quickly. Would you like to have a cup of tea? Please allow this daozhang to treat you in thanks for your offering to the Crown Prince.
no subject
well! well. shi qingxuan seems amused when he speaks, because she recognizes him. he doesn't seem to recognize her, though? which actually gets her thinking - it's not like this is the first time she's encountered someone from her own world at a different time. and she'd thought that the city they were at the outskirts of had seemed a little familiar, but hadn't quite put it together until now.
on the one hand, it would probably be kinder to just admit she knows him. on the other, maybe it wouldn't be? maybe it would be crueler, actually, because it would be confusing.
...a cup of tea with xie lian sounds nice, even if it's not a xie lian who remembers her.]
Ahaha... I didn't make an offering to make you feel like you had to treat me to tea, you know! But I wouldn't mind the company, if you really wouldn't mind sharing a cup.
no subject
he's just a newly created calamity, but to xie lian, he's just his soldier, his companion, his dearest san lang. so to hear someone refer to him as 'hua cheng' is entirely too curious, and xie lian is too clever to let it slip away.
...he's also just a nice person! so. xie lian bows his head. ]
I wouldn't mind at all. [ c:
and with that, he goes over to the stove to fetch the implements to make tea! he's still a completely horrible cook, but tea is easy to do for any version of xie lian, and the quality of the tea he has is a little finer than he would have had at this age otherwise. as he's prepping it, ruoye leads shi qingxuan over to a little floor table area, then scampers off to go fetch cups. ]
Does the young mistress have a name?
no subject
perhaps not. it wouldn't be so surprising, after all - she'd ascended after his first and second ascensions, and he'd wandered the mortal realm while she was in her prime. it's not as if she's going to introduce herself as the lady windmaster. after all, she's under the impression she won't be the windmaster for much longer; she's wrapping up loose ends before addressing the problem with her ascension, and once that's addressed, it's sure to be all over for her.
it should be fine to use her name. she smiles, following ruoye over to the little floor table, and takes a seat easily.
it's comfortable here. but then, xie lian - when she'd known him - had always had a way of putting her at ease. what a guy!]
I'm Shi Qingxuan. [she smiles at him, idly fanning herself. it's a habit she's going to have to break once she doesn't have this fan to carry any longer.] And you are?