thenearshore | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei, Zhu Hong (also this is a catchall so hmu if you want a starter!)
Where: Temple of Mars & neighborhood
When: March 9, 2017
What: Zhu Hong wants to apologize for embarrassing drunken conversations and Shen Wei's invited over to see just how unfit for human habitation Yunlan's managed to make his room in a mere few months. Shenanigans, probably.
Warnings: Guardian end series spoilers, discussion of death/mourning, Zhao Yunlan being uncharacteristically insecure, but, look, he would like to point out he's got reasons. Other warnings in headers if anything comes up!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[On the plus side, she doesn't remember last night and she's smiling at him with every appearance of calm. On the minus side, he doesn't know just how much of that smile might be sincere, and how much due to not remember most of the conversation....]

I can't blame you! My first night here, I got smashed, too.

[The corner of his mouth tilts in a crooked grin, and he spreads his hands.]

It's a shock. And I didn't even remember anything else. On the plus side, shinki don't have quite as much responsibility.

So, I don't know if you remember the introductions, but -- Zhao Yunlan. And you're Zhu Hong, right?

[Today's game of "let's play pretend" seems to be going swimmingly.

Zhu Hong looks down and shakes her head, laughing a little.]

Yes, I am. [She points towards her temple.] Would you like to come in for a coffee? It's the least I can do after last night.

I wouldn't mind, but -- are you sure?

[Maybe she really doesn't remember last night, but she hadn't looked that thrilled to see him then. Devastated, is more like it.]

[Her temple is pretty modest when compared to Shen Wei’s, but she doesn’t mind. It reminds her a great deal of Fourth Uncle’s house back in the Snake Tribe village.]

I insist. I have a...

[She looks embarrassed again.]

I don’t know what to call her. The person yesterday said she was a soulless, and even though I’m not sure what that means, she’s an excellent cook. I’ll ask her to make snacks.

[The doors to the temple open magically as she approaches them. The outer courtyard is neat and the garden is well-cared for as they approach the inner courtyard. Those gates are somewhat grander and once they’re inside...

A change comes over Zhu Hong. The legs of her skinny jeans split as her legs merge into a massive snake’s tail from the waist down.]

Damn, I liked these. [Then she realizes.]

Oh, shit.

[How had she forgotten? Her Zhao Yunlan had seen her snake tail countless times. This Zhao Yunlan, though?]

Shen Wei mentioned the, uh, alien thing last night, didn’t he? I’m remembering that correctly?

Edited 2018-12-20 05:53 (UTC)

[He starts back at the snarl of ripping denim, and blinks down at her new snake tail, and then up at her face again. If he wasn't feeling quite so off balance, he'd probably have to make a comment about her sudden pantsless state, but as it is--]

You must go through a lot of jeans.

[Alien is one thing, turning into a half-snake is, well, a little weird.

On the other hand, he's already met another guy who turns into a cat, so snakes aren't that much more surprising. It does, still, take a few minutes of blinking.]

And yes, he's mentioned.

[Zhu Hong laughs, a little self-consciously.]

Not usually. I should have more control over this. Must be a god thing.

[She slithers towards the main hall. It still doesn’t look like much from the outside, but on the inside it’s like stepping into a very chic luxury hotel.]

It wasn’t just the Dixingren who fell on that spaceship back then. There were others who mixed their genes with animals or plants and gave birth to the Yashou—the Wild Tribes. I’m from the Snake Tribe. How do you like your coffee?

Might be. Shen Wei gets these fancy ancient robes every time he steps into his temple, and the antique hairstyle to match. [He gives her a careless grin-- well, he'd meant it to be careless, but he's having to hustle to keep up with that slither. On nature videos, big snakes always look slow, but apparently big magic snakes not so much.]

I haven't heard of any other gods having that problem, though.

[It's a good thing, because he's pretty sure Bakugou's reaction to being forcibly toga'd would be explosive.]

[Zhu Hong busies herself making coffee. It was usually Wang Zheng or Xiao Guo’s job to make it, but she’s done it enough time to know the Chief’s general preferences.

She snorts.]

We must be special.

[She hands him the coffee and starts pouring one for herself.]

Oh, shit, sorry, I didn't-- [--answer her question; but the coffee's black and sweetened, which is how he likes it anyway. He takes a sip, and nods to her.]

Thanks.

And maybe so, or maybe it's something about the fact that you've already got that ability to change?

Honestly, even after a few months here, I've still got a lot to learn about the place.

[He shrugs easily, cradling the coffee cup in his hands.]

You've got a nice temple. You said it's just you and one of the soulless shinki in here?

[She just takes her coffee black, so it isn’t too dissimilar from Yunlan’s. She’s not the biggest fan of sweet things (being a carnivore and all), not unless she’s in the mood for them.]

That’s as good a theory as anything, probably. They wouldn’t give me a clear answer yesterday about why any of this is even happening. There’s a bit of whiplash, going from the worst day of your life to godhood.

[She gives him a sardonic little laugh.]

That’s why I was drinking.

[And why she still wants to.

Instead, she gulps down bitter coffee]

Mm, I guess. On the outside, it kind of looks like the house where I grew up. Add Ayi to it—I call her that because she acts like an auntie. I’ve been here two days and she’s already telling me that I need to eat more. Next, she’ll try to find me a husband. It’s very familiar.

I'm not sure they know. From what I've heard, people showing up here like you and me is a new phenomenon. Started just over a year ago, and nobody's admitting to knowing why it's happening.

[Which doesn't mean that no one knows -- but at this point Zhao's pretty sure that anyone who admitted to being in on the reason why people are appearing and disappearing would get themselves ripped apart by an angry mob.

He chuckles at her complaint about the shinki.]

Aw, she just wants to look out for you. Probably.

[Zhu Hong smiles.]

Probably. The passive-aggressiveness feels just like home. Speaking of which...

[She motions for Yunlan to wait and slithers into the next room. When she reemerges less than five minutes later, she’s balancing a tray piled full of snacks.]

She really outdid herself. She’ll be heartbroken when I tell her you’re taken.

[His eyebrows shoot up at the size of the snack platter. Oh man, that looks good, too -- snagging a cake, he takes a bite, and mugs an expression of eyes-rolling pleasure.]

Do you have to tell her? I could get used to this kind of bribery.

[That aside, and the rest of the cake disposed of in a few quick bites, he gives her a more serious look.]

... More seriously, though. How are you doing? This must be a hell of a change.

[And it had just been 'the worst day of her life,' and this place looks like her home, reminds her of her home, except the only company she has here is a woman who doesn't have any real personality beyond what Zhu Hong's projecting on her. Zhao's met soulless shinki. They creep him out.

He might not be the best person to try to help, not if she's seeing him as the guy who stole her boss's boyfriend, but someone should, and he's here.]

What she doesn't know can't hurt her.

[The joke and the smile that goes along with it leave a bitter taste in her mouth. She takes a sesame ball and munches thoughtfully, both enjoying the familiarity of joking around with Old Zhao and recoiling at the wrongness of it all. She wishes she had raw, red meat instead of these dry cookies and cakes.

She looks away from him.]

It is. How are you coping, yourself?

[It's confusing as hell for her, but she has all her memories. How is he feeling now, after the disaster that was last night?]

[His serious-helpful-senior face falters, and he hides it by looking down at the platter, focusing on the serious question of which snack he should try next. It works for the few seconds it takes him to look sincere again when he glances up.]

Ah, I'm doing all right! Sorry about ditching the two of you last night, but I was starting to feel like the third wheel.

It's an adjustment for shinki like me, too, but we've got an advantage: this place is all we know.

[There's nothing to miss except their entire lives.

It's a lot to miss, actually, and it's been eating at him despite the way he tries to ignore it-- but dwelling won't help, talking it over won't help. And he doesn't want to make her help him with his problems, considering. Maybe he'll talk it over with Bakugou later; the kid's going to insist.]

[She shrugs a little helplessly; last night had been deeply awkward for all parties involved.]

Can't say I blame you; I was a trainwreck last night. You missed Shen Wei attempting alcohol, though.

[She smiles. Maybe a funny story about his boyfriend might put him a little more at ease? If she phrases it right, it shouldn't put Yunlan in danger. She hopes.]

The last time he attempted heavy drinking he passed out cold and needed IV fluids after a single shot.

[The smile fades. Why does this hurt so much?]

I can't imagine what that must be like, not knowing who you were before this.

After one shot? Okay, he told me he didn't drink, but I had no idea.

[He gives her a smile in return, even though it doesn't last much longer than hers had, and waves at the snack tray.]

You should have some of these too, your auntie's made way more than I can eat on my own.

... It does get to me sometimes, not remembering. [He blows out a breath.] Even so, I'm someone now. I've just got to figure out who that is.

It was strong, but it wasn't that strong.

[Even Xiao Guo hadn't gotten too drunk and miserable from it. Well, a little. A lot. Just not as badly as Shen Wei had.

She pokes around at the snacks and grabs another small sesame ball, forcing herself to chew and swallow even though it tastes like sawdust in her mouth.]

How long have you been here, as a shinki?

[She looks uncomfortable. Zhao snorts at the refusal to excuse Shen Wei's shitty alcohol tolerance, and slouches back in his chair, picking out one of the sesame balls for himself. It can't be the snack putting that look on her face; they're great. Mildly nutty, not too greasy. He wonders if "good cook" comes included with those creepy soulless in place of an actual personality.]

A couple months now. I know, I know, I've got to pick up the pace.

[It's just that figuring himself out's apparently a tricky task. Who knew, right? Except for millennia of philosophers and monks, but what do they know about self-knowledge, anyway?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only