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Entry tags:
CMO ; they're dollops of paint on a new work of art
| — CURRENTLY VOICETESTING; | |
+ canon visit prompts: xie lian | yin yu >> need a prompt? - tfln - intimate bathing - kiss meme - morning after | |
| — CURRENTLY VOICETESTING; | |
+ canon visit prompts: xie lian | yin yu >> need a prompt? - tfln - intimate bathing - kiss meme - morning after | |
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[ his grip loosens, of course, when aquila goes to actually push himself out. tempting as it is to just yank him back into the water - chang geng might lash out, sometimes, but he's a good boy other times - he's definitely not dressed for this stupid lazy river. (neither of them are) (not the point) ]
You may act all innocent, but no one else is here to do that. [ god. with his hair all in his face and sopping, he undoes his ponytail as he sits on the bank, dripping water, trying to wring it all out. ]
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Didn't see the bird overhead? Big fuckoff bird? Came down for a fish!
[ sure that feels like a vax answer. also it's a little tongue in cheek because heh bird
also he's in a good mood because chang geng is sulking and it feels much more like the sixteen year old he left at home!!! this is great even if he's soaking wet. ]
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just think of peaceful things and not smushing your maybe friend, maybe yifu's face into the mud. ]
There's no fish in this water. [ can he say this 100%? no. but he's going to say it confidently. ]
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[ why is he like this.
he just waves a hand from where he's settled, and then props himself up; his hands disappear underneath the veil, as he seemingly props his chin in them. truly, aquila cannot help himself. ]
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anyway
splat. chang geng hits him with his giant ponytail which makes him splutter. it's through his veil, so it's mostly just secondhand (genshin voice) wet, and he laughs, big an bright and startled. it's less than his usual gravel voice, though still modulated by the magic of the veil itself, and he poofs up a towel from his sleeve and tosses it in chang geng's direction in ""Retaliation"" ]
Rude.
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[ ( gu yun voice )
but he accepts the "retaliation" of the towel, grumbling softly to himself as he tries to use it to its maximum effect. maybe he can use it to dry some of himself off, too, if his hair isn't too bad...
problem is, he's no longer vigilant like this. chang geng can't avoid the stardust that happens to sprinkle over their heads.
the winter chill is heavy in the air - even early in the day, even with stoves and lamps burning all across the capitol, it permeates even to the bone. but you have much to do, too much, it feels like. yifu is going to be leaving, soon, leaving with your supposed brother, and no one knows when he'll be back.
anxiety bubbles up in your chest, but you have to push it back down. no distractions. don't think about it. he'll come back. you'll blink, and then he'll be trying to drag you out of your room again, saying the wrong thing without thinking, saying the right thing without meaning to.
he'll be back, and it'll be home again.
yifu has been getting up earlier and earlier every day, heading to the palace, and coming home later and later. you're not sure how much time you'll have to prepare, and you also don't know when he'll be home, but at least you have help. uncle wang does the best that he can, toddering along and finding the old silks that cao niangzi runs up to you with, wanting you to help decorate the training puppet.
ge banxiao makes a comment about how it shouldn't match the fake girl, and you look away when cao niangzi punches him in the arm, going to direct the puppet to the best place to greet yifu when he comes back. they can decorate it - you don't mind.
you do mind having to figure out everything else, though.
as such a picky eater, you don't want yifu to eat something that he won't like, or will turn his nose up at, because -
(you can't bear the thought, actually. how embarrassing. how mortifying. you don't want to think about how upset you would be.)
- because it's his birthday. you want to celebrate that.
while cao niangzi paints blush on the puppet, standing on tiptoe to reach its blank face, ge banxiao helps prepare the longevity noodles, fanning the fire and slopping the ingredients in. it's enough to splatter broth on both of you.
you'll have to change. you give him a dour look, while he apologizes and says it's alright, big brother, he won't notice a drop missing! we'll get it cleaned up, and you can add the egg, no trouble!
you can help it - he'll definitely notice this kind of thing! but it is alright. you have time.
considering how long it takes for him to come home from the palace, you maybe have too much time. but you think you have it gauged right -
"big brother, the marquis is back!"
your heart jumps into your throat, in the middle of fiddling with some of the decorations that have livened things up, here at gu manor, and you scramble to get the noodles and the egg into the bowl for serving. distantly, you can hear them talking in the courtyard - cao niangzi, general shen, and yifu, coming closer.
"- general shen has also come, just in time, we can all eat noodles together."
"very well, it's better to arrive on time than to arrive early!"
you've trained with this puppet so many times, now, that it's easy to understand what you need to do to have it carry the bowl. it's hysterical, and you know that yifu will have something to say about it, but ge banxiao had grinned with the suggestion, and considering...
it moves forward, lights and flowers and silks so terribly out of place, soulless and comical, and yifu predictably has something to say immediately:
"bastards, is the sword training puppet for you all to play with like this?"
"marquis, sir, the fake girl applied the blush. i helped make the fire for cooking the noodles, and big brother put in the egg!"
yifu stands there, looking... stupefied, maybe. there's something amused in you to see him dumbfounded and struck silent, for once in his life, as you observe everything. he makes no move to take the bowl right away.
lightly, you say, "yifu, eat the noodles first before entering."
it hides the nerves, you think. you hope he likes it.
if yifu notices, he, for once, does not point it out. instead, he simply says "alright," and takes the bowl. he looks your way, and without any further comment... he picks out the egg, first.
you have to bite the inside of your cheek as he begins eating, but there's no hiding the way that a smile starts to pull at your mouth as he neatly finishes everything.
your heart is so warm, it causes the cold of winter to bleed away.
frickin MEMSHARE ]
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instead, this memory hits gu yun like a punch in the gut. because that's who he is, of couse, not vax'ildan. and in his timeline, in his life, chang geng has only just come back from a separation where they had gotten into a huge fight - where chang geng went off with the monks (he will never be over this) and things were awkward, and strange, and he was fairly sure chang geng hated him. he'd pretend it was fine, but really? chang geng hating him is one of those things gu yun is actually terrified of, and so to see this memory, with his chang geng just a few years younger, feeling all these worries and this want to make him happy, to make the perfect meal -
he remembers slurping that meal down, remembers the occasional crunch of eggshell, and wants to reach over and - god, he doesn't even know, he wants to ruffle his hair and also tease him and he also sort of wants to smile like an idiot but he can't do that, he can't even react.
at that age, he was especially unsure of what he was doing. gu yun's not sure if he's gotten any better, but...
he swallows down an absolutely massive lump of emotion in his throat, that feels like the warmth in chang geng's heart finding its way here, just utter affection that makes his heart feel three sizes too big, and finally, manages: ]
Aww.
[ that's. about all he can do, actually. that's the best vax reaction even great liang's greatest garlic can properly manage. ]
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but the world is always moving forward, with or without you. better for you to seize it so that you aren't left behind.
better to make sure that you and your loved ones survive what it dishes out, too. ]
... better that memory than any of the others that people have seen, here and in the prism, I suppose.
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not that gu yun's ever been afraid of that... except... well, he kind of always is. it's not like he has any examples for how to raise a child, or how to spend time with children at all, and, it's not like he's unaware that he has no idea what he's doing, because that's his state of mind most of the time, and it's not like he's unaware of how badly that can screw up a child, considering his own life, but...
...well, it's nice, is all.
he's quiet for a little longer than he should be, laying back in the grass, face still blissfully covered. when chang geng speaks again, he glances up at him through the gauzy fabric of his veil, and feels an irrational flash of irritation at the idea that chang geng has memories that are bad, because it means that someone's treated him badly, but he manages to keep that under wraps, too.
mostly because gu zixi can't let a sleeping dog lie, he asks, in his very good affect of vax'ildan's gravelly, low voice; ] So...your 'yifu', huh? Seems like he liked it.
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were it another lifetime, that love would have turned into something different. it's still devoted, still borderline obsessive, still endless - because this is the man who saved his life. taught him things, whether they were intentional or through chang geng's power of observation. gu yun is the man who gave him a home instead of a tomb.
and, while he teases behind the mask of aquila, he won't shy away from this. no reason to. ]
... he's particular, about his food. [ picky like a child, he doesn't say, but it's there in the undertone. ] That he ate it meant a lot.
[ he didn't have to. gu yun didn't have to eat a single bite of those longevity noodles, but he had eaten everything down to the crunch of shells and poorly cooked ingredients. it's something that he's always going to remember, that the great marquis of order had eaten the food that his ward had made him for his birthday. ]
I'm looking forward to celebrating more birthdays with him in the future, once this is over with.